Bryan Caron's Blog, page 7
June 2, 2019
Movie Mayhem – Godzilla: King of the Monsters
Shared universes aren’t a new thing (Universal had one back in the 30s and 40s when they teamed up their monsters in several films), but they have recently become a much more accepted and desired route for every major studio. After Kevin Feige put his Midas touch on the Marvel superhero franchise, other studios hastily attempted to build their own shared universes. Jason Blum has found relative success in what’s now known as The Conjuring universe, and DC failed early in their attempt at creating a similar superhero universe, but the tide may be turning with recent critical and box-office hits like Wonder Woman, Aquaman and Shazam!
Even Universal tried its hand at resurrecting their monster universe, but after two failed attempts (Dracula Untold and The Mummy), cracking the Marvel formula has been much harder than expected. And it’s not because of the monsters. If it wasn’t already apparent after watching the post-credit sequence on Kong: Skull Island, Godzilla: King of the Monsters makes it absolutely clear that Warner Bros. has slowly and quietly set in motion its own monster franchise.
And the producers aren’t subtle about it. Even though you don’t necessarily get to see the giant ape (or hear his name) in King of the Monsters, it seems you can’t go ten minutes without hearing some type of reference to Skull Island throughout the film, which also brings on board a slew of Godzilla’s other friends and enemies that could potentially spawn off into their own solo films.
I’m not a Godzilla aficionado by any means; I know most of Godzilla’s nemeses, like Mothra and Rodan, by name only. But director Michael Dougherty (taking the reigns from Gareth Edwards) does a nice job of introducing us to this pack of titans without going overboard on exposition. We’re given just enough information to whet our whistles until each one of them gets their chance to fight (or help) the king for dominance.
The creature designs are all beautifully captured and take advantage of the fact that each one is in some way irradiated with nuclear energy. We saw in Godzilla’s first revival outing in 2014 that his scales light up one-by-one like a video game character charging up before he blows a stream of blue fire of energy at his opponent. But now we get our first introduction to Mothra in all of her glory, lighting her wings up like an angel savior, and Rodan with a hint of flame constantly lighting the edges of his wings. Even Ghidorah has a fancy superpower, able to conjure and build superstorms to hide his overpowering and dominant presence.
Which is basically what King of the Monsters comes down to: a tale as old as time as two warring creatures assert their toxic masculinity across the globe to completely dominate the rest of the pack. Ghidorah wants to wipe all of humanity off the planet while Godzilla simply wants to coexist (and at the same time, keep the human population in check so as not to completely ravish and destroy the world). That’s apparently why nature has woken these giant beasts from their slumber to begin with; so that they can help bring life back to a dying planet.
But what about the humans? Like most Godzilla films (and all giant monster movies, for that matter), the humans play an important role in the film, even if they are simple, one-dimensional characters with one purpose — to unleash hell so that we can get giant monster battles. Here we have Jonah Alan (Charles Dance), a man so desperate to bring life back to Earth, he’s willing to wipe out billions of people to make it happen.
To do so, he must first kidnap Dr. Emma Russell (Vera Farmiga), who has created a device that can control the beasts to either calm or attack based on the frequency waves it emits. When returning players Dr. Ishiro Serizawa (Ken Watanabe) and Dr. Vivienne Graham (Sally Hawkins) recruit Emma’s husband, Mark (Kyle Chandler), to help find the Orca and put a stop to Jonah’s plan, it’s a race to close Pandora’s box and save the world from annihilation (and his daughter (Millie Bobby Brown), who was in the wrong place at the wrong time when Emma was taken).
It’s great to see Chandler finally getting his due with top billing as a lead character in a feature film. For decades, Chandler has delighted us with his annoyed charm on television, but, like Scott Bakula or Mark Harmon, could never seem to break into film in any meaningful way. Now he’s front and center, and he does a great job as the frustrated scientist grieving the loss of his son during Godzilla’s last major battle in San Francisco.
The rest of the cast does an outstanding job as well, including Bradley Whitford, who keeps everything light with perfectly timed quips and comic relief. Just because each character is for the most part one-note, and there really isn’t any character arcs to been seen (there is one, but it’s a bit spoilery), doesn’t mean they aren’t fun to watch and, in some sense, relatable, mostly due to the actors’s willingness to go one hundred percent, no matter the circumstances.
Though the plot is simple and familiar, Godzilla: King of the Monsters is an entertaining ride from start to finish. Like the actors, I found myself to be all in, no matter what foolish scientific explanation a character might spout out or the stupidity of a character’s actions. Because, really, what we’re here for is to see giant monsters battle each other for complete supremacy, and in that regard, the effects, the creature design and the action (including the breathtaking destruction of a city as Rodan’s massive wing-span causes the wind to wipe it off the map) are all top-of-the-line. It all leaves you with a great deal of anticipation for the upcoming battle between our two favorite Kings in 2020.
My Grade: A
Bonus Reviews:
I don’t know if it’s because I’ve been out of high school for twenty years, the over-the-top, silly characterizations of almost every single supporting character, or because of the blatantly hardcore PC-aspects of the script, but Olivia Wilde’s directorial debut, Booksmart, came off as rather tired and false, despite the performances by Kaitlyn Dever and Beanie Feldstein. C+
What if Superman turned evil? That is the question posed by Brightburn, a very disturbing, grotesque look at a young boy (Jackson A. Dunn) who once crashed-landed in a ship as a baby going through puberty without the warm, compassionate Kent family in his corner. It’s an interesting twist that doesn’t spend enough time giving us a reason why. B
Next week, new movies include Dark Phoenix, The Secret Life of Pets 2 and Late Night. If you would like to see a review for one of these, or any other film out next week, please respond in the comments below.
April 29, 2019
Stepping Back Into Minor Hiatus
Friends, family and followers: With the release date of my new novel, Threads, looming on the horizon, I will be taking a semi/short hiatus from my blog, social media and networking for the month of May.
What does that mean? It simply means I will not be posting any movie reviews throughout May (reviews will return in June), and I will be spending less time (if any) on social media and networking events so that I can put my full energy behind finishing the edit for the book and make sure it is in perfect shape for it’s publication on May 21.
Thanks for all of your continued support, and I will see you again in a month with a new novel!
[image error]Threads — Coming May 21, 2019
April 28, 2019
Movie Mayhem – Avengers: Endgame
22 movies over 10 years all come down to this — Avengers: Endgame. Prior to 2008, attempting to tell a continuous story over ten years probably seemed impossible, a pipe-dream that would never come to fruition. Yet producer Kevin Feige somehow managed to masterfully weave dozens of characters, stories and directors into a grand symphony that have only had a few missteps among a bevy of incredible highs. (Even more astounding is how they only had two major and one minor cast change throughout). It’s a feat that is, and will be, incredibly hard to replicate as evidenced by the mostly critical, if not financial failure of those producers who have tried ever since Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) announced that he was Iron Man and was first approached by S.H.I.E.L.D. director Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) about the Avengers Initiative. And now here we are, at the end of an era; and oh, what a ride it has been.
As anyone who has seen Endgame (which by now is probably everyone who didn’t get dusted by the snap), you know it’s incredibly hard to discuss the film, as it’s chock-full of spoilers. What I can say is that all of the major players that have been around since phase 1 (with maybe the exception of 1 or 2) are given satisfying conclusions to their stories, completing arcs that were set up a decade ago. And those that haven’t been around as long? Well, they’re given fun teases as to what to expect from them, and Marvel in general, moving forward.
What’s even more impressive about Endgame, and in a lot of ways, Avengers: Infinity War before it, is how well balanced everything is. Each major character is given at least one true superhero moment, some that will leave you cheering, some that will leave you devastated, and some that will leave you bawling while whooping and hollering. There’s one moment in particular involving Steve Rogers/Captain America (Chris Evans) that has been several years in the making and ends with the perfect crescendo of power.
Like all of Marvel’s slate of films, Endgame isn’t without its perfectly-timed layers of humor. Don’t get me wrong, because the film picks up right after Infinity War, the first half hour or so can feel a bit depressing. But what would you expect after so many beloved heroes were dusted with the snap of Thanos’s (Josh Brolin) fingers. However, the moment Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) is inadvertently rescued from the quantum realm, that gloomy misery is gently spun back into typical Marvel stasis, and it remains there until the third hour when the film explodes into pure cinematic superherodom.
Everyone including, Rudd, Downey Jr., Evans and Scarlett Johansson, continue to play the roles we’ve come to expect from them in all of their appearances. Their are two players, though, that really stand out among the crowd in both character arc and humor — Bruce Banner/Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) and Thor (Chris Hemsworth). After their incredible pairing in Thor: Ragnarok and the struggles that plagued them both throughout Infinity War, both characters get an upgrade (well, maybe not upgrade, but alterations) in Endgame that are striking changes from what’s come before, yet both work perfectly well within the framework of the film and the series going forward.
If there is something negative to say, it would be the lack of character development in a few characters, most notably Clint Barton/Hawkeye (Jeremy Rennar). After his entire family is dusted, Clint becomes a rogue vigilante, spreading his anger around the globe. Yet this activity isn’t given a lot of time to grow before it’s all but doused with his return to the Avenger fold. This makes it hard to connect with him on a level that warrants the emotion needed later in the film.
I was also slightly let down by the lack of Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel (Bree Larson) in the actual film. Based on the way Carol was played up in Captain Marvel, it felt like she would have more of an influence in Endgame than she actual does. That’s not to say that the scenes she is in aren’t spectacular, I just expected her to be more than simply a Mighty Mouse deus ex machina.
There are certainly some expected pairings as the Avengers go on their final mission to reverse what happened in Infinity War, but it’s the pairings that we haven’t yet seen that are fun to watch. Rudd and Downey Jr. pair very well together as the yin and yang of technological brain power, and though I would have liked to have seen more of Downey Jr. and Rocket (voice of Bradley Cooper), the interactions they do have are fun and exactly what you’d expect.
There are also a lot of character moments in the last hour that fall slightly short of expectations. On the other hand, there are a lot of character moments in that last hour that also exceed expectations, and that’s why most of the negatives can be forgiven. The actors bring their all to every scene they’re in, giving the audience exactly what they came to see.
We all knew going into Endgame that this would close the door on a major chapter in cinema history, and it’s everything you’d want and expect from not only Marvel, but superhero films in general. What it does right is subtly set up the future of the series. This may be the end of one chapter, but it is certainly not the end of the franchise. Reboot? Not in this universe. Like the comics, the characters will live on, but in slightly different iterations, and the story that was initially started in 2008 will continue for as long as fans continue to support them with their wallets and acclaim.
Thank you Marvel for ten years of pure marvelous entertainment. I can’t wait to see what you have in store for the next decade!
My Grade: A
Bonus Review:
Secretly part of the Conjuring Universe, The Curse of La Llorona does a good job with the haunted aspects of the film, but doesn’t develop the characters enough for us to fully become invested in their plight. B
Next week, new movies include The Intruder, Long Shot and UglyDolls. If you would like to see a review for one of these, or any other film out next week, please respond in the comments below.
April 14, 2019
Movie Mayhem – Little
Body switch films have been a staple for a very long time. Whether it’s two people switching bodies (Freaky Friday, Vice-Versa) or a kid becoming an adult overnight (Big, 13 Going on 30), they’re popular because we can relate to what struggles may weigh upon us as we discover the world through a different lens. The idea of traveling in someone else’s shoes to allow this new perspective to change us in a meaningful way, not only physically, but emotionally, is something we’ve all pondered at some point in our lives. But, like any genre, these types of films don’t always work, either because the writing is flawed or, in the case of Little, the newest entry into the body-switch genre, the person afflicted with the magic to become someone new fails to grow in any meaningful way.
That is to say, Jordan Sanders (played as an adult by Regina Hall and a pre-teen by Marsai Martin) does change, but I didn’t buy one second of it. As a kid, Jordan is bullied in school and told by her parents that she just needs to grin and bear it until she’s an adult, when her life will change for the better. She of course takes that to mean that she can then become the bully. Getting past the fact that this conversation feels like one you might have with a five-year-old as opposed to a budding teenager, it all makes the setup for the film feel fabricated.
As an adult, Jordan is the owner of a large app developer who belittles and bullies her employees to the point you wonder why anyone puts up with her. One day, she has a run-in with a kid (Marley Taylor) who wishes that Jordan were as young as her. With the help of whatever mystical forces are at play, the next day, Jordan is back to her pre-teen self and must figure out how to be a better person in order to become the person she’s meant to be.
There are a few truly strong moments in the film, unfortunately, they don’t make up for the overall laziness of the script. I like where writers Tracy Oliver and Tina Gordon were trying to take the film, but the execution of their ideas fail on several levels. Take for example the moment Jordan finds out she has become twelve again.
Oliver and Gordon spend a large amount of time early on focusing on Jordan’s morning, in which she wakes up, puts on her slippers, berates her assistant and finds a cool outfit before finally heading down to the lobby of her lavish apartment to get her coffee and go to work in her fancy car. So why then, after transforming, would she go straight down to the lobby in her nightgown and slippers? I know Oliver and Gordon want to play out the scenarios of her going through her routine without realizing she was young, but with the personality they set up, it makes absolutely no sense that she wouldn’t have gotten dressed in something extremely fashionable, thus she would certainly have noticed the switch prior to leaving her apartment.
The rest of the film becomes the art of setup with no follow through and missed opportunities. When a social worker forces Jordan to enroll in school, she meets a hunky teacher played by Justin Hartley. She is smitten with him, leading to some awkward, but amusing banter between the two. However, once the scene is over, we never see that character again. There’s also a musical sequence that makes no sense within the context of the film.
There are only two plots I can point to that are in any way resolved. The first involves the pitch of a new app to Jordan’s top client (Mikey Day), which ends in a funny, unexpected way. The other is the main plot that’s supposed to help Jordan learn why she shouldn’t be so cruel, but the entire arc feels tacked on and unimportant. By making Jordan a kid again, it leaves the door wide open for her to find out what everyone truly thinks of her, but all it really does is become nothing more than a missed opportunity. The whole point of this type of film is for the protagonist to learn a valuable life lesson, and I don’t think Jordan does; at least not fully. She may say the words, but the reaction and the resolution are wholly unearned.
If there was one character that did find any growth it would have to be Jordan’s assistant, April (Issa Rae). The protagonist in every body-switch movie needs a great sidekick to help them through the change, and Rae does a beautiful job of filling those shoes. If Jordan wasn’t the one who became little, I would think this was supposed to be April’s story, as she is the only one that has a believable arc.
I guess what I’m saying is the story beats are all off. It’s a bit ironic that there are a couple of Saturday Night Live veterans filling out supporting roles, as the film is very sketchy, with five-minute setups that go nowhere before moving onto the next sketch. And despite the aggressive nature of the lead character, the film is extremely light with a bright and colorful decor, as if Punky Brewster puked Skittle dust all over everything. It is a fantasy after all and it shows in every corner of this far-too perfect aesthetic.
I have to give kudos to Martin for having the wherewithal, nerve and talent to pitch the idea to producer Kanye Barris. She is very talented and with age and experience, she is bound to have a long career ahead of her. Those who ultimately executed her idea, though, didn’t do her any favors with Little, a film with a solid foundation that feels like it was written by a twlve year-old, forcing it to quickly go off the rails with very little opportunity for redemption.
My Grade: B-
Bonus Reviews:
Despite a few political misrepresentations, The Best of Enemies does a terrific job discussing a topic in a way that our current society has been lacking for several years: with honest, respectful debate in which opposing viewpoints aren’t disregarded offhand and emotions are kept in check when making important decisions. A-
Though it paints itself as a modern-day Brontë story, After is a respectable, yet safe teen romance without anything new to say about love. B+
Next week, new movies include The Curse of La Llorona, Breakthrough and Penguins. If you would like to see a review for one of these, or any other film out next week, please respond in the comments below.
April 7, 2019
Movie Mayhem – Pet Sematary (2019)
Adaptations of Stephen King novels and short stories have been happening since 1976, when Sissy Spacek first went psycho prom queen in King’s first official novel, Carrie. Since then, there have been some super highs (The Shawshank Redemption, Stand By Me, The Shining, It and Misery), some incredibly low lows (Needful Things anyone? No thanks!), and a few remakes and sequels that aren’t necessarily good, but aren’t necessarily bad.
Pet Sematary, the story of a man who discovers a way to bring things back to life, sat closer to the Needful Things end of the King adaptation spectrum. Even though it stayed mostly true to the book and had one frightening little four-year-old, Sematary was one of those films that was in need of a heavy makeover. After thirty years (and one wholly unnecessary sequel), we finally got it. And although the last third of the newest adaptation is mostly altered from both the original film and the book, these changes (including a role reversal) work to improve the story within the context of how directors Kevin Kölsh and Dennis Widmyer have set up.
Jason Clarke takes over the role of Louis, a loving husband and doting dad to two children who moves his family to an old home on fifty acres of land after accepting a physician’s job at a local University. When Church, the pet cat, is killed by one of many trucks speeding past their home on a consistent basis, his new neighbor, Jud (John Lithgow), guides him to an area beyond the local pet cemetery that brings life back to the cat — but with a cost.
Many know what happens after that, but for those who don’t, I won’t spoil it. All I will say is this is where Kölsch and Widmyer deviate the most form the source material. When I first learned they were doing it, I wasn’t a fan. Since you aren’t supposed to judge a book by its cover, I kept an open mind, and upon seeing how all of the pieces were fitting together, accepting the change wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be.
Unlike much of the cast of the original film, everyone involved in the updated version is perfectly cast, especially Jeté Laurence as Louis’s daughter, Ellie. Each one is talented enough to know what type of film they’re making, so instead of performances that chew the scenery or are as wooden as petrified bark, we’re treated to honest emotion that showcases the depth of joy, pain, fear and regret that each character must endure throughout the film based on each of their sometimes sordid backstories.
And then there’s Church the cat. I applaud Kölsch and Widmyer for choosing to use a real cat instead of relying on CGI to make it work. Back in January, A Dog’s Way Home used a computer-generated mountain lion that completely ripped you from the supposed emotion it was trying to garner from its bond with the title’s canine. Using a fake cat in Sematary to heighten each case of demonic behavior would definitely have been noticeable and would have made the overall film feel fake as well. By creating these moments with a real cat, it allowed to keep a lot of what the cat does subtle, and thus much more frightening.
And that’s what Kölsch and Widmyer do well throughout the film. A lot of the original film felt phony because it was so exaggerated. Here, we get a nice, serene backdrop within a looming atmosphere of danger and mysticism. Kölsch and Widmyer create a reality for their characters and stay true to the rules they set up very early on in the film.
One example is in how they keep everything lit in a darker manner, as opposed to being so well-lit, you’d think you were in a romantic comedy. A lot of the scenes in the original film are shot during the day, which makes those scenes at the cemeteries seem a little off. In the updated film, these same scenes happen at night, which makes what happens more believable and chilling.
There are still a few things I’m not sure make much sense within the context of the film, but that’s mostly King’s fault. This includes the disturbing backstory of Louis’s wife, Rachel (Amy Seimetz), who inadvertently killed her ailing sister when she was younger and has never quite recovered. In both versions of the film, it doesn’t seem this story line really goes anywhere or does anything for the story except add in a few jump scares, some very creepy visuals, and provide a reason to regret something from her past, adding a juxtaposition to how Louis deals with the idea of death. At the same time, those scenes are also done incredibly well, filmed in a way that add to the sense of despair and regret, and make the characters feel human and relatable.
There’s no way to perfectly adapt any book to the screen, but when you show respect for the source material while making it your own, that’s when real magic happens. And even though Kölsch and Widmyer make some very glaring deviations from the original text, they prove that there can be a synergy between both film and book that make for one terrific experience.
My Grade: A
Bonus Reviews:
Keira Knightley is beautifully captivating in this slow-burn melodrama about a grieving mother who has an affair with a German during The Aftermath of World War II. B+
Zachary Levi and Jack Dylan Grazer make a terrific comedic duo, and along with a bevy of funny, on-point performances and a well-written script, Shazam! is a ridiculously fun addition to the Marvel universe that can’t shazam its way away from being a DC property. A
Next week, new movies include Hellboy, Missing Link, Little and After. If you would like to see a review for one of these, or any other film out next week, please respond in the comments below.
March 31, 2019
Movie Mayhem – Dumbo (2019)
Over the past few years, we’ve seen a handful of live-action remakes of some of Disney’s classic animated films. Some have been almost shot-for-shot recreations (Beauty and the Beast) and some have diverted a little from the source material (Cinderella, The Jungle Book) to offer a fresh look on the story. Each one has found success at the box office, which means only one thing — more. And we are about to get it. The first of three new live-action remakes that will hit theaters in the next four months is Dumbo, which turns the simple story of an elephant learning to fly into a loving portrait of the importance of family and how anyone has the ability to spread their wings and fly.
Because the original Dumbo was just over an hour, director Tim Burton had no choice but to alter the story in order for the remake to work. He does so by expanding on the last couple of the minutes of the original, in which a montage shows Dumbo becoming famous for his ability to fly. Instead, Burton introduces us to V.A. Vandevere (Michael Keaton), the owner of a massive citywide circus, who entices Max Medici (Danny DeVito), the owner of the small but family-oriented Medici Brothers Circus, to partner with him and make Dumbo a star.
Another way Burton helps expand his world for a new audience is by focusing a lot of his attention on Holt Farrier (Colin Farrell), a wounded soldier returning from World War I to rejoin the Medici Brothers Circus where he and his wife performed as horse wranglers/cowboys. Unfortunately, during (and possibly because of) his absence, the Medici Brothers Circus has lost it’s zeal and his wife succumbed to an illness, leaving behind two children, Milly and Joe (Nico Parker and Finley Hobbins, respectively), which forces Max to sell most of Holt’s assets — including his valuable horses.
In order for Holt to continue to work (and perform) with the circus, he must become the chief elephant wangler. His first task — make the newborn elephant’s oversized ears disappear. After all, Max didn’t pay for a deformed elephant. During Jumbo, Jr.’s first appearance, in which his ears are tucked inside a baby bonnet, an accident occurs (as is a normal occurrence for Dumbo), revealing his new name to an audience of scorn.
What to do with the elephant? Make him part of the clown troop. There are two sequences in the original film in which Dumbo jumps off of a burning building, the last of which is when he flies for the first time in front of an audience. Burton cuts this to one, but does a fantastic job in recreating the sequence, and doing so in a way that will help him merge this into the second half of the film.
On that note, Burton does a great job making sure to include most of the iconic sequences. Most of the changes work well, including a beautiful homage to the pink elephants sequence and a much stronger story arc for Dumbo and his mother, which Burton structures the overall story, giving it a much stronger purpose.
One of the most obvious changes between the two films is the move away from the talking animals aspect. To do this, humans become surrogates for the animals, most glaringly, the crows and Timothy Q. Mouse, who befriended Dumbo and traveled with him along his entire journey, including being there whenever he flied. The majority of their purpose now rests on the shoulders of Milly, and Parker does a great job building a loving bond between the the two outcasts, conveying empathy with Dumbo in relation to her own character’s circumstances.
Although Burton does provide a nod to Timothy Q. Mouse in the film, it doesn’t do much except show that Burton knows he’s missing and has no idea what to do with him. For the most part, he’s just one of three mice that Milly uses to try and keep Dumbo company when no one else is around. But consider this…
In the sequence in which Dumbo first flies, he’s stuck on the ledge of the burning building and Milly climbs up to give him his magic feather. I understand why this is important, but in the overall scheme of things, her doing this isn’t absolutely necessary. What if, instead of Milly climbing up to Dumbo, her father refuses to let her go, so she tasks the mouse to climb up with the feather. Once there, he gives Dumbo the feather and then rides him back down to the ground. This would have provided hardcore fans one last perfect homage and given the mouse more importance to the film.
Like a lot of great directors, Burton likes to recast similar actors in his films, and it was great seeing a reunion between Batman Returns co-stars DeVito and Keaton, especially because their roles are slightly reversed this time around. As for as the rest of the cast, outside of some characters getting the short shrift or forcefully given some “Burton-esque” qualities, everyone plays their part perfectly in creating the usual sense of wonder you’d expect from a Tim Burton film. He does well to keep all of the action and the special effects poignant and necessary for the story he’s trying to tell. He doesn’t do too much, but doesn’t hold back either, and the mix sets a somber, yet whimsical tone that fits perfectly in the era the film is set.
Films like Beauty and Beast are already terrific films, so changing them up would do a great disservice, which is why I expect both Aladdin and The Lion King to follow similar recreations. But with a film like Dumbo, which doesn’t have a whole lot of meat on its bones to begin with (and one that you may not remember the same way after years of having not seen it), in order to tell a cohesive story for a new generation, you need to give it some weight, and I think Burton was an aoutstanding choice to bring the story to life. He does exactly what I expected, giving us a story that pays great homage to the original, but takes it in a direction that satisfies the child in us all.
My Grade: A-
Bonus Review:
Unplanned, the story of former Planned Parenthood clinic director Abby Johnson, who became an anti-abortion activist after witnessing an abortion on an ultrasound, may be a little one-sided when it comes to discussing such a controversial debate, but with some disturbing and graphic sequences of what could happen during an abortion, the film doesn’t hold back when it comes to its deeply-rooted convictions. A-
Next week, new movies include Shazam!, Pet Sematary and The Best of Enemies. If you would like to see a review for one of these, or any other film out next week, please respond in the comments below.
March 24, 2019
Movie Mayhem – Us & Captive State
What makes a good twist in a film? When every piece is placed perfectly throughout the film so that it comes out of nowhere, but upon repeat viewings, makes perfect sense, leading you to wonder why you didn’t see it coming in the first place.
What makes a bad twist in a film? When everything is so blatantly obvious, the film is so bland you have nothing better to do than to piece everything together, or upon repeat viewings, it makes no logical sense.
A pair of new films with different goals do their best to create the most compelling story that ends with a killer twist, but end up flawed because of how the rest of the movie was set up. Captive State, a new alien invasion film, falls short of captivating your senses but ends with a bang, and Us, Jordan Peele’s new psychological thriller, treads somewhere in the gray, where although the film itself is rather intriguing, when the twist occurs, you have to scratch your head and wonder if what’s being revealed makes any sense.
Us follows Adelaide Wilson (Lupita Nyong’o) and her family — husband Gabe (Winston Duke) and two children, Zora and Jason (Shahadi Wright Joseph and Evan Alex, respectively) — as they head out to the lake for a vacation. After taking a trip to the nearby beach, Adelaide begins to be haunted by an incident in her past, which culminates in a complete replica of her and her family terrorizing them at their home.
Who are these people? How did they evolve? And where did they come? These questions permeate the viewer’s mind, if not so much the actual players. Not a lot of focus is put into attempting to figure out these answers, though that may be justified, as Adelaide and her family are running for their lives through the majority of the film, so that type of query might not be top of mind.
Every actor is on double duty, playing both themselves and their doppelgänger. I have to say, though, Nyong’o is really the only one worth watching. Everyone else, though decent, never fully captures the intensity of the moment or the confusion and fear behind what’s happening. (I take that back; Alex also does a pretty good job on both sides of his role.) As Adelaide, she protects her family with a subdued strength that is only unleashed when absolutely necessary; as the other, she tones everything back, a shadow of her more attentive double.
But a film like this rises or falls with the third act. I like where Peele was going with the idea, however, I fear that the building blocks he used to create the story couldn’t hold up once he begins providing answers. Unlike Peele’s first directorial effort, Get Out, in which the twist fit perfectly into both the story and the sociopolitical message, the twist in Us was slightly disappointing, partially because I saw it coming prior to the ultimate reveal, but mostly because when I really thought about it after the fact, it didn’t quite fit into the scheme of things.
Us could have been a masterpiece had the writing been tightened up just a little to give the twist some power. There are simply too many questions as to how certain aspects of the reveal could have occurred, and how things eventually played out.
Captive State, on the other hand, can’t seem to make much sense of itself. We’re dropped into the world several years after an alien species has taken over all nations on Earth and created a new world government system in which everyone is tagged with a literal bug to make sure they stay in line. Naturally a group of outcasts known to the local police sergeant (John Goodman) as Phoenix aim to fight back.
Watching the team of rebels communicate with each other is clever and fun, however, it’s also rather confusing, as we’re never sure what’s happening or why specific people are being targeted. Which is a problem overall as no one in the film seems to know what their purpose is. Character development is boiled down to a person’s name as everyone simply runs through the motions of a script without any true character arc. This makes appearances by Alan Ruck and Vera Farmiga a complete waste as they are unable to provide anything of value to the film.
There are several stories intertwined with one another, and none of them get the respect they deserve, including and most importantly what may be considered the main thread involving the younger brother (Aston Sanders) of one of the Phoenix leaders (Jonathan Majors). We jump back and forth from one story line to the next with no real through line, making the film as a whole seem chaotic without a lot of structure to hold each separate piece together.
That is until the final five minutes when everything they’ve been building toward are finally revealed. It almost felt as if the filmmakers were putting together a puzzle upside down, and when finished, turned the puzzle over to reveal the full picture. It’s a revelation that makes sense in the scheme of things and answers a lot of questions (while raising a few more), but by the time we get to it and understand what was really going on, is it too late for redemption?
It only goes to show how good the movie could have been had they spent more time developing these characters and the world they live in and less time trying to hide everything from plain site.
My Grades: Us: A-; Captive State: B-
Next week, new movies include Dumbo and Unplanned. If you would like to see a review for one of these, or any other film out next week, please respond in the comments below.
March 17, 2019
Movie Mayhem – Five Feet Apart
You know what you’ll be getting before even purchasing a ticket to a film about cancer or terminal illness. There will be plenty of discussions concerning the illness itself and how it affects everyone around it; there will be plenty of jokes about having the illness; there will be a death of a pivotal character that will help someone in the film find some sort of truth; the third act will be, in a lot of ways, bittersweet; and there will be lots of tears from the viewing audience. Five Feet Apart doesn’t back away from any of these tropes, but it still manages to build upon them in a creative way that the film doesn’t feel so much like just another teen cancer movie, but a song for life and the need we all have for companionship, love and family.
Stella (Haley Lu Richardson) was born with cystic fibrosis (CF), a disease that causes the difficulty breathing and excessive coughing due to the build-up of mucus and constant infection. During her current stay in the hospital as she waits for a pair of lungs to become available for transplant, Stella meets Will (Cole Sprouse), another CF patient with a tougher form of the disease. Due to the fact that their individual bacterial strains can be transferred through saliva, patients suffering from CF are urged to stay at least six feet away from other CF patients. As Stella and Will begin to grow a deeper bond with one another than either was expecting, they decide to break that rule and take back just one foot, hence the title.
For a movie like Five Feet Apart to work, you need a pair of strong leads with a bounty of chemistry and a clear understanding of how to handle the heavy material and keep the tender atmosphere from becoming schmaltzy.
Richardson is terrific. Her sense of humor, humility and the way she’s able to portray the depth of her character is beautifully orchestrated. There isn’t a moment when you wonder whether Stella is real; she just is. I felt every ounce of pain, regret and joy displayed on screen. She’s like a new friend you instantly connect with. Natural and caring, she never tries to exploit the situation; she is who she is and nothing more. Every decision, from her ecstatic OCD issues about her (and everyone else’s) treatment regiment, to her sudden changes in mood and appreciation for life make the film flow from smart drama to morose tearjerker without force.
Sprouse, on the other hand, doesn’t connect quite as well. His performance is fine, but compared to Richardson’s fire, the flames of intensity are doused dramatically. He tends to float through the film rather than drive it. His character is harder to pin down; in some ways, this is expected, as until he meets Stella, he doesn’t care much about doing what’s necessary to survive. And he does a good job portraying that side of his personality. It’s the sensibility and vigor missing from his eyes that keep the character from fully forming. There are moments when the spark is ignited and we finally see the love, joy and pain resting in the shallows of his decisions, but it isn’t enough to pull you in the same way Richardson is capable of doing.
This imbalance causes a slight problem between the two as they bond throughout the film. I love the idea that one is fire and one is ice, complimenting one another and finding love based on that dichotomy. However, I never felt the pair truly connected the way director Justin Baldoni needed for the film to be the powerful, bittersweet film it’s aiming to be. Yes, the final scenes will most definitely rip at your heartstrings in some amazing ways, but this is more despite Sprouse than because of him. The reason the third act resonates so tremendously well lies solely in Richardson’s ability to draw you in. Even in the most desperate of scenes, Sprouse stays rather flat in his ability to raise the scene’s tension.
I actually found more chemistry between Stella and her best friend, Poe (Moises Arias), the supportive best friend bordering on cliché gay bestie. The way the two play off one another is pure and without conjecture. There’s no denying the love they have for each other as friends and family. In fact, now that I think of it, Arias has better chemistry with Sprouse as well, able to bounce a soft tenderness off one another, allowing him to open up further than he’d probably be willing to go otherwise. It may be what helps Sprouse spread his wings as far as he can with Richardson. I have to wonder: where would the chemistry be without Arias to liven the pair up?
Underlying the trio’s performances is the beautiful writing. Mikki Daughtry and Tobias Iaconis paint a portrait of life, love and the pain that comes with the roadblock of being unable to do certain things because it may kill you even faster. At what lengths will you go to keep yourself alive, and at what point do you find the strength to simply live? Stella says at one point that she’s been spending the last year living for her treatments instead of doing the treatments to live, and that speaks volumes to her character, as well as for the film itself.
One of the greatest ideas the movie offers is using a pool cue, generally around 5 feet in length, to make sure Stella and Will stay that far apart as they spend time together. It’s a cute idea that shows how determined they are to be with one another, but do so in the safest way possible.
Five Feet Apart is a pure love story. It’s central theme is cancer and how young people born with a very specific illness must cope with not only their fate, but the tragedy that comes along with it. However, the core, the beating heart, is how these three characters pull for each other to survive. More to the point, it’s about how love can pull you forward and, in a way, keep you alive. The chemistry between the two leads may not be entirely perfect, but everything else, supported by the strength of Richardson’s performance, makes the film and the message resonate in a tremendous, emotional symphony.
My Grade: A-
Bonus Reviews:
At a scant 85 minutes, Wonder Park holds plenty of emotional magic, however, other than the relationship between June (Brianna Denski) and her parents (Jennifer Garner and Matthew Broderick), there isn’t enough character development between June and her furry imaginative friends to build a compelling coming-of-age story. B+
Though it’s incredibly odd seeing Chris Pratt as a grizzled, bushy-bearded villain, the performances in The Kid, including Dane DeHaan as Billy “The Kid” Bonney and Ethan Hawke as lawman Pat Garrett, are all on point as it chronicles the last days of Billy’s life through the eyes of a young boy (Jake Schur). B+
Next week, new movies include Us. If you would like to see a review for this, or any other film out next week, please respond in the comments below.
March 10, 2019
Movie Mayhem – Captain Marvel
It’s been 11 years since Marvel began their journey of creating one of the most lucrative cinematic universes in film history. Through those many years, there’s been some major highs (Iron Man hitting big, Captain America: Winter Soldier changing the game, Guardians of the Galaxy proving little-known titles could also score big, Black Panther nominated for a best picture Oscar, and securing a deal with Sony for the rights to include Spider-Man) as well as a few stumbling blocks (director controversies; Thor: The Dark World), but even the most mediocre film in their arsenal is better than sitting through Suicide Squad. So, it’s a bit hard to talk about Marvel’s newest entry, Captain Marvel, not because it’s bad, but because it comes off a little flat in comparison to the majority of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
There’s plenty to admire about Captain Marvel, starting with Brie Larson, who brings the title character (aka Carol Danvers) to life. She imbues Danvers, also known as Vers, with a strength that allows her to be vulnerable without being weak. She is funny, smart, caring and fierce all rolled into one, creating a well-rounded character that doesn’t have to be ashamed of her emotions while standing toe-to-toe with the villains trying to take her down. Every beat of the character’s journey from loyal foot soldier to betrayed friend is played with the utmost honesty, and Larson brings you along for the ride with the perfect amount of flair.
It’s also great seeing Clark Gregg back on the big screen, sharing screen time with Samuel L. Jackson as younger versions of Agent Coulson and Nick Fury, respectively. They both found their groove in a more idealistic presentation of the characters before they were hardened (or desensitized) by the realities of the universe. The de-aging technology that Marvel has been employing in several of their films now has progressed to the point of wondrous. Never did I believe that either actor was being manipulated or computer-generated in any way. And with Jackson’s near lead role in this film, that’s a testament to how far the technology has come in its young age.
Then there’s Goose, the awesome tabby cat that always seems to find a way to tag along with Danvers and Fury as they try to stop the Skrull, a shape-shifting alien race led by Talos (Ben Mendelsohn), from tracking down a weapon that could wipe out the Kree, the blue-skinned alien race who’ve popped up in not only Guardians, but had a major arc in season 5 of Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. The cat is used as the perfect sidekick, never seen as a nuisance or a prop.
The majority of the rest of the cast fits in well, from Jude Law as the commander of the Kree army, to Annette Benning as both Danvers’s mentor and the image Kree high intelligence generates when Danvers must meet with the A.I. that control all of Kree actions. The action was on par with the best of what we’ve seen prior and the references to nineties culture were used sparingly and never felt forced. Finally, much like Solo, we get some references to nostalgic moments, finding out what Ronan the Accuser (Lee Pace) and other Kree warriors were prior to the events of Guardians, learning the reason behind Fury’s eye patch (not near as bad as how Han got his surname) and subtle hints to the future of the MCU.
Where it seems to fall flat is in the direction and the overall story.
Directors Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck fail somewhat in capturing the true heart of the character or her meaning within the universe as a whole. It feels slightly muddled with a off-kilter editing style, a color palette and cinematography that are nothing special, and the inability to fully capture the fun moments when they occur. The balance between humor and drama is also a little weak in some places, making it feel as if they weren’t quite sure how to manage it all, pulling from what’s come before, then pretending it’s all new and fresh.
The story Boden and Fleck (along with Geneva Robertson-Dworet) chose to use to map out Captain Marvel’s origin also comes off a little weak — not in the overall writing, which is right on par with every other film in the series, but in the placement of the film itself. They can’t quite seem to manage the fact that the film takes place prior to every other film. Several moments come off weak simply because hardcore fans of the series (and even those who have just seen all of the films) already know what’s coming, which inherently make some of the twists and story beats feel outdated and rushed. One of the major story threads, in fact, felt odd up until the major reveal. But by then, is it too little too late?
Compared to other films outside of the Marvel universe, the film stands as a great movie. It has a lot of terrific moments, some great acting and a lot of well-delivered action sequences that help the film stand on its own two feet. As part of the MCU, though, the film falls a little short as it tries to manage your expectations while delivering a character whose overall backstory doesn’t quite fit right among the rest of the films.
I have no doubt that Larson herself will fit right in among the rest of the team when she enters the fray in next month’s Avengers: Endgame, but will her presence be enough to give her the power to help the team find a way back from the events of Avengers: Infinity War and defeat Thanos on a level that feels authentic and natural? I hope so, because I believe Carol Danvers and her alter ego are strong characters that deserve to be given the royal treatment. I just felt in this instance, Captain Marvel was given a bit of the short straw when it came to developing the backstory of a character that can be just as innocent as she is badass.
My Grade: A-
Next week, new movies include Five Feet Apart and Wonder Park. If you would like to see a review for one of these, or any other film out next week, please respond in the comments below.
March 3, 2019
Movie Mayhem – Greta
Chloë Grace Moretz is a terrific actress. There is no disputing that. However, with the release of Greta, the new thriller in which she stars as the focus of a lonely, mentally-unstable stalker named Greta (Isabelle Huppert), I’m starting to believe that she is not suited to be a star. By this I mean, Moretz is much more powerful as a character actor, someone who is more suited to be part of an ensemble, or support others as opposed to standing in the spotlight.
There’s nothing wrong with this. Character actors are brilliant at what they do. You may not always know their name, but you know their face because they not only show up in several films a year, but they make those films better by creating memorable characters no matter how little time they are actually on screen. (Sam Rockwell and Octavia Spencer are examples of more well-known character actors, but who knows ? You may not know him by name, but I’m sure you’d recognize him if you saw him). Moretz was the best part of both Kick-Ass movies, and no disrespect to Denzel, but she brought life to every scene in The Equalizer (which made her sorely missed in the Equalizer 2). But it seems that any time she’s required to carry a film (see The Fifth Wave and Carrie), that weight tends to get the better of her.
There’s nothing special about Moretz in Greta. She plays an average New York waitress named Frances who returns a purse she found on the subway to its rightful owner, despite the objections of her friend and roommate (Maika Monroe). This act of kindness turns dangerous when she discovers that the woman places these purses all around, hoping someone will bring them back to her.
The pair instantly connect over similar losses: Frances is still reeling from the recent loss of her mother, and Greta is distraught over the loss of her daughter. They compliment one another, and Frances’s decleration that her mother once said she’s like chewing gum — she tends to stick around — makes Greta’s desire to make that a reality even more intense.
However, that bond the characters share doesn’t quite translate to the bond between actors. Part of the reason has to do with Neil Jordan’s direction. He doesn’t reinvent the wheel, filming each scene with a competent eye, but doing so in a gloomy, slow pace that keeps things from igniting in the way the script calls for. Because of this, neither actor seems to know quite what to do with their characters, keeping mostly subdued by default.
Moretz seems settled into the groove of a depressive state, unwilling to ever want to break through the banalities of Jordan’s vision. This strategy does make sense for the character, but without Moretz filling her eyes with life, we can’t connect to her need to reconnect with her mother, or for her compassion toward someone else dealing with a loss. When she gets a chance to let loose a little, that initial spark is quickly doused by this restraint, or by the next scene, returning her to a state of depressive sleepwalking.
Huppert, on the other hand, isn’t allowed to let her character be as menacing as she should. Instead, she contains her deepest desires, unwilling to give them life outside of vague references and secondary accounts. It doesn’t help that Jordan makes Greta out to be some type of indestructible super human, showing up in places that at times seem impossible, and going against the film’s own rules, simply for a scare.
There are some bright spots throughout the film that I’m sure people who have had the experience of being stalked by someone might truly connect with. Moretz is at her best when she knows Greta is out there waiting for her, unable to feel safe at work or in her own home because there’s nothing the police can do and she never knows where or when her stalker will show up. Whenever she enters an elevator or turns a corner, that unknowing sense of fear resonates incredibly well. The times when Huppert needs to be subdued, as when she simply stands outside of Frances’s place of work, are also expertly done. It only goes to show how good the movie might have been had Jordan given his actors more reign to bring life to their characters.
However, even though the third act makes perfect sense within the context of the script, because these two actors are unable to make a solid, satisfying connection, it never rings true, making the whole third act seem wasted and unwarranted. By the time we reach the somewhat predictable conclusion, I wasn’t as concerned about Frances as I should have been, even as Moretz and Huppert finally start to find the life they’ve been suppressing the entire movie.
I just don’t believe that anyone’s heart was truly in making this film. Although the premise was strong, and there are some good, strong moments sprinkled throughout, it never truly comes together as a satisfying thriller.
My Grade: B
Bonus Review:
Run the Race, a new faith-based film that follows a high school athlete struggling with his faith after the death of his mother and an injury that could derail his future career, does well to keep its preaching to a minimum as it creates a strong story with a satisfying, albeit bittersweet, ending. A-
Next week, new movies include Captain Marvel. If you would like to see a review for this, or any other film out next week, please respond in the comments below.
