Premise: Shellhead is back.
Stars: Robert Downey Jr * Don Cheadle * Mickey Rourke * Gwyneth Paltrow * Scarlett Johansson * Sam Rockwell
Story: Tony Stark has announced he's Iron Man. The son of his father's Russian rival (Mickey Rourke), embittered at Stark's success, makes an attempt on Tony's life. Failing, he teams up with Stark's business rival (Sam Rockwell) to go after him again. Don Cheadle makes an appearance as Stark's best friend and Gwyneth Paltrow reprises her role as Stark's potential love interest/business partner/secretary. Scarlet Johannson and Samuel L Jackson appear as the Black Widow and Nick Fury, both working for SHIELD.
Review: Honestly, on first viewing I really liked the film. It's hard not to love Robert Downey, Jr. and his performance of Tony Stark. The action pieces were timed well and the eye candy - Johansson, the suits, the cars, Paltrow, occasional violence - was liberally sprinkled throughout. Rockwell, another immensely likable character actor, nearly steals the show from RDJ when they're together, and easily plays off the patient menace of Mickey Rourke. And Samuel L Jackson doesn't chew the scenery as normal, so the more cerebral approach keeps him from playing his normally hammy self.
The only performance that I felt was weak was Don Cheadle's as Lt. Col (simply Colonel early in the film) James "Rhodey" Rhodes. Cheadle's a great actor (Hotel Rwanda, for example), but he brings a stiffness to Rhodey in the film, one that wasn't there in the first film. Granted, there is a new tension between the two due to the machinations of the government to acquire the technology, so maybe this can explain the stiffness.
So the performances are pretty spot-on. The special effects crew also do a great job.
The problem this time, tho, is the writing. There are elements of the plot that make little sense. The "buddy fight" between Stark and Rhodey is completely not believable. The exposition in the film implies that Stark somehow knew Rhodey would go get the armor and attempt to "knock some sense" into him. The "accidental" blast where the two suits' repulsor beams hit each other, creating a shockwave of course is used later.
How did Vanko know that Stark would just walk out onto the race track and take his driver's spot? Vanko appeared in pit crew gear at the same time while Stark is getting in the car - yet doesn't appear hurried or scrambling to get into the clothes to infiltrate what was an unexpected set of events.
Vanko builds another set of constrictor whips on a suit of armor. If Vanko knew the suit specifications and language of the War Machine armor to lock it up, why not create a backdoor in case his original plan is hacked? To say, lock up the suit when he personally gets involved? Or turn it into a time bomb to explode? Any number of possible plot points arise from the notion that Vanko could at any time deal with Cheadle's suit. Or, for that matter, given that the suits worked the same, why not retro-engineer a code to take over Stark's suit?
When Vanko removes his helmet during the fight with Iron Man and War Machine, why didn't one of them simply shoot Vanko in the head? Why bother with the repulsor shockwave?
The blood poisoning. So it starts slowly and then takes a big giant leap when Stark does nothing noteworthy or any strenuous activity. It took a larger leap in a shorter amount of time (going to Monaco) than it did during all the flying and fighting of the previous movie put together. Shouldn't that be reversed?
The blueprints for a new element. Seriously? A map of an EPCOT Center ripoff (the Stark Expo) is somehow a new element design that just happens to resolve the blood poisoning? Howard Stark is supposedly dead a decade or so, the film is from the seventies (given Stark's age and the film technology) and somehow Stark Sr. foresaw the need for a new element that would save Tony's life? If it's just a new element that can't be synthesized yet, why not leave some notes in a safe for Tony? It's just a little far-fetched.
I liked it. It's fun, it's not very complicated and it doesn't really engage the brain beyond a few questions here and there. I call it an empty calorie movie, or a run of the mill popcorn flick. But it's not the equal of its predecessor.
Overall: Mediocre
Other Sites: Wikipedia * IMDb * AllMovie * Rotten Tomatoes
Showing posts with label comic books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label comic books. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Friday, May 29, 2009
X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)
Premise: The origin of Wolverine, one of the X-Men. A mutant is born into a world where the only person that understands him is his brother. Unfortunately his brother grows vicious over time, leading to a parting of the ways. Adding to his misery, his brother works for a covert ops unit that is operating beyond the law.
Stars: Hugh Jackman * Liev Schreiber * Danny Huston * Lynn Collins * Taylor Kitsch
Story: Most genre fans know of Wolverine (Jackman). Most non-genre fans know he's a supposed badass with a chip on his shoulder and steak knives attached to his knuckles. The movie serves as an origin (of sorts) for the eponymous mutant. We learn that he apparently sprouted bone blades before puberty and has an amazing healing factor. He also has a "brother" of sorts who serves as a protector and enabler for young Wolvie's tantrums. Due to a family tragedy, the two brothers set out, watching each other's backs for the next century, going through war after war as it seems they were made for killing.
Eventually Wolverine's conscience begins to show - of course - and his brother (Schreiber)'s does not - of course - setting the two on that age old Cain v Abel conflict wherein brother is pitted against brother via some mechanism - in this case, basic morality.
When the final split comes, the two brothers are members of a covert black ops team under the direction of Stryker (Huston), a military figure connected to the perceived mutant menace. Predictably, Stryker has an agenda surrounding mutants and their abilities, and this leads to personal tragedy for our hero who then undergoes a multi-million dollar process to have a rare metal bonded to his skeleton. During the process, Wolverine discovers the truth, goes berserk, escapes the military, and then sets out for revenge against all those who oppose him.
Review: The acting is sub-par on just about every facet, except Liev Schreiber. This one scene-chewing performance reminds me that even as a nice guy, Schreiber is one of those actors that just barely contains a sense of menace and general badass-ness. I really want to see him in Defiant to see how he plays a similar character in a reportedly well-done film. There really is no other actor fully portraying a character. Lynn Collins' Silverfox is a female cipher, Huston portrays a regular ham-fisted general straight out of the funny books and Jackman acts anguished or pissed-off the entire movie basically, no stretch for him, either. The actors were cashing in on their performances, but honestly, what can you expect?
The effects and scenes were easily stupefying. An escape scene turns from fleeing into motorcycle vs hummer to hummer vs helicopter. A hastily arranged combat scene between Gambit (Kitsch) and Wolverine is easily recognized as a set-piece, as do many others. Explosions, murders, torture, laser beams, etc. are all loud and noisy, presumably designed to distract you from the bad writing and acting. Sure it's a comic book movie, but honestly, this film is somewhere in that genre around the Incredible Hulk. It's hard to expect another The Dark Knight, and it's at least better than the deplorable Ghost Rider, but this is one of those films that seem designed for those who shut off their brains when they go to the theater.
Overall: Bad
Other Sites: IMDb * Wikipedia * AllMovie * Rotten Tomatoes
Stars: Hugh Jackman * Liev Schreiber * Danny Huston * Lynn Collins * Taylor Kitsch
Story: Most genre fans know of Wolverine (Jackman). Most non-genre fans know he's a supposed badass with a chip on his shoulder and steak knives attached to his knuckles. The movie serves as an origin (of sorts) for the eponymous mutant. We learn that he apparently sprouted bone blades before puberty and has an amazing healing factor. He also has a "brother" of sorts who serves as a protector and enabler for young Wolvie's tantrums. Due to a family tragedy, the two brothers set out, watching each other's backs for the next century, going through war after war as it seems they were made for killing.
Eventually Wolverine's conscience begins to show - of course - and his brother (Schreiber)'s does not - of course - setting the two on that age old Cain v Abel conflict wherein brother is pitted against brother via some mechanism - in this case, basic morality.
When the final split comes, the two brothers are members of a covert black ops team under the direction of Stryker (Huston), a military figure connected to the perceived mutant menace. Predictably, Stryker has an agenda surrounding mutants and their abilities, and this leads to personal tragedy for our hero who then undergoes a multi-million dollar process to have a rare metal bonded to his skeleton. During the process, Wolverine discovers the truth, goes berserk, escapes the military, and then sets out for revenge against all those who oppose him.
Review: The acting is sub-par on just about every facet, except Liev Schreiber. This one scene-chewing performance reminds me that even as a nice guy, Schreiber is one of those actors that just barely contains a sense of menace and general badass-ness. I really want to see him in Defiant to see how he plays a similar character in a reportedly well-done film. There really is no other actor fully portraying a character. Lynn Collins' Silverfox is a female cipher, Huston portrays a regular ham-fisted general straight out of the funny books and Jackman acts anguished or pissed-off the entire movie basically, no stretch for him, either. The actors were cashing in on their performances, but honestly, what can you expect?
The effects and scenes were easily stupefying. An escape scene turns from fleeing into motorcycle vs hummer to hummer vs helicopter. A hastily arranged combat scene between Gambit (Kitsch) and Wolverine is easily recognized as a set-piece, as do many others. Explosions, murders, torture, laser beams, etc. are all loud and noisy, presumably designed to distract you from the bad writing and acting. Sure it's a comic book movie, but honestly, this film is somewhere in that genre around the Incredible Hulk. It's hard to expect another The Dark Knight, and it's at least better than the deplorable Ghost Rider, but this is one of those films that seem designed for those who shut off their brains when they go to the theater.
Overall: Bad
Other Sites: IMDb * Wikipedia * AllMovie * Rotten Tomatoes
Friday, June 27, 2008
The Incredible Hulk
Resources: IMDb * Wikipedia
Premise: Scientist experiments on self, creates monster. Monster becomes a superhero.
Stars: Edward Norton, Liv Tyler, William Hurt, Tim Roth
Review: A typical comic book adaptation, the movie does not pretend to be much more. Driven by CGI monsters, pseudo-military adventure, the characters play second fiddle to the spectacle. Enjoyable for popcorn-movie lovers, but don't expect much more than that. Norton, Roth and Hurt, all strong character actors when given meatier roles, are all drawing paychecks here. I never expect much from Steven Tyler's daughter, so it's not a letdown here.
The Hulk, the Abomination, and the explosions are what people will go to the theater to see in this movie, and they won't be let down.
Overall: Mediocre
Premise: Scientist experiments on self, creates monster. Monster becomes a superhero.
Stars: Edward Norton, Liv Tyler, William Hurt, Tim Roth
Review: A typical comic book adaptation, the movie does not pretend to be much more. Driven by CGI monsters, pseudo-military adventure, the characters play second fiddle to the spectacle. Enjoyable for popcorn-movie lovers, but don't expect much more than that. Norton, Roth and Hurt, all strong character actors when given meatier roles, are all drawing paychecks here. I never expect much from Steven Tyler's daughter, so it's not a letdown here.
The Hulk, the Abomination, and the explosions are what people will go to the theater to see in this movie, and they won't be let down.
Overall: Mediocre
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Batman Begins
Resources: IMDB * Wikipedia
The premise: Revenge fantasy of a billionaire child.
Directed by: Christopher Nolan
Stars: Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Tom Wilkinson, Liam Neeson, Rutger Hauer, Morgan Freeman, Katie Holmes, Cillian Murphy, Gary Oldman
Review: Admirable. Much better than the last two, and to be honest, I feel it is on par if not better than the 1989 version and its immediate sequel. The origin story, the training, the confrontation between Scarecrow and Batman, all are good. Then in the last portion of the movie, it breaks down. In order to have Batman come full circle, it is revealed that Ra's al-Ghul is still alive, and threatens to destroy Gotham; that the League of Assassins (Shadows in the movie) serves to destroy old, decrepit cities and was thwarted in an earlier attempt to destroy Gotham.
Even this would be an acceptable showdown if it wasn't framed in the concept of multi-layered trains heading into a central hub. This megalomaniacal, James Bond-esque (of the 70s/early 80s films) plot device is foreshadowed in the film, so it's not made out of whole cloth, seemingly from nowhere. But instead of the character-driven, intense film of earlier, it escapes that and leaps into straight-out-of-comic-book fantasy. Whereas the film could've been great, and still doesn't leave one feeling unsatisfied like some comic book adaptations, it remains merely good.
Score: Good
The premise: Revenge fantasy of a billionaire child.
Directed by: Christopher Nolan
Stars: Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Tom Wilkinson, Liam Neeson, Rutger Hauer, Morgan Freeman, Katie Holmes, Cillian Murphy, Gary Oldman
Review: Admirable. Much better than the last two, and to be honest, I feel it is on par if not better than the 1989 version and its immediate sequel. The origin story, the training, the confrontation between Scarecrow and Batman, all are good. Then in the last portion of the movie, it breaks down. In order to have Batman come full circle, it is revealed that Ra's al-Ghul is still alive, and threatens to destroy Gotham; that the League of Assassins (Shadows in the movie) serves to destroy old, decrepit cities and was thwarted in an earlier attempt to destroy Gotham.
Even this would be an acceptable showdown if it wasn't framed in the concept of multi-layered trains heading into a central hub. This megalomaniacal, James Bond-esque (of the 70s/early 80s films) plot device is foreshadowed in the film, so it's not made out of whole cloth, seemingly from nowhere. But instead of the character-driven, intense film of earlier, it escapes that and leaps into straight-out-of-comic-book fantasy. Whereas the film could've been great, and still doesn't leave one feeling unsatisfied like some comic book adaptations, it remains merely good.
Score: Good
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
300
From 2007---
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0416449/
The premise: Small band of warriors fight to defend the homeland from millions of CGI enemies.
Directed by: Zack Snyder
Stars: Gerard Butler, Dominic West, Lena Headey, David Wenham
Review: Pretty damn nice flick... Bombastic, pompous, aggressive (even if a bit slow in the beginning)... you could tell they spent the money on what you saw on film instead of some asshole actor's $20 mil / airplane / personal island paycheck... The story plays with history a bit, but as with modern myth-making, or reinterpreting legends, that is to be expected...
Honestly, think about... the Greek gods were myths that developed from legends and reality... the American pantheon itself.. Washington has his myths and legends... Franklin and Jefferson as well... even though they're closer to our modern times... So is it that hard to expect that we take our stories that we grow up with and develop them with little regard to history? After all that is what movies do, create legends or myths out of facts (or the closest we can get to the facts)... So I'm not worred about the history being played with in 300, as it tells a pretty good story...
Of course there was the nudity... half the crowd snickered when they saw Gerard Butler's naked body in silhouette or when Lena Headey proved that women without implants can be attractive topless... The Oracle's dance was quite, revealing as well...
Score: Good
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0416449/
The premise: Small band of warriors fight to defend the homeland from millions of CGI enemies.
Directed by: Zack Snyder
Stars: Gerard Butler, Dominic West, Lena Headey, David Wenham
Review: Pretty damn nice flick... Bombastic, pompous, aggressive (even if a bit slow in the beginning)... you could tell they spent the money on what you saw on film instead of some asshole actor's $20 mil / airplane / personal island paycheck... The story plays with history a bit, but as with modern myth-making, or reinterpreting legends, that is to be expected...
Honestly, think about... the Greek gods were myths that developed from legends and reality... the American pantheon itself.. Washington has his myths and legends... Franklin and Jefferson as well... even though they're closer to our modern times... So is it that hard to expect that we take our stories that we grow up with and develop them with little regard to history? After all that is what movies do, create legends or myths out of facts (or the closest we can get to the facts)... So I'm not worred about the history being played with in 300, as it tells a pretty good story...
Of course there was the nudity... half the crowd snickered when they saw Gerard Butler's naked body in silhouette or when Lena Headey proved that women without implants can be attractive topless... The Oracle's dance was quite, revealing as well...
Score: Good
Ghost Rider
From 2007--
Watched Ghost Rider with Cameron and Doug Friday night... http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0259324/...
Directed by: Mark Steven Johnson
Stars: Nicolas Cage, Peter Fonda, Eva Mendes, Donal Logue
Review: The movie was OK, but seriously Cage should not have played Danny Ketch, er Johnny Blaze (the name was Johnny, the appearance and everything else was Ketch).. Honestly, the man is like ten years older than Eva Mendes, and he looks it... they're supposed to be the same age, right? And what's with the Elvis pose with the finger pointing?
Ghost Rider himself was pretty cool, but the movie was like a video game... Level 1, defeat the earth guy.. Level 2, defeat the air guy... Level 3, defeat the water guy... By the way, wtf is a swamp doing in the middle of the desert in Texas? It was like a goddamn bayou right next to a desert town... Btw, when you looked down the hill from where Sam Elliot was, THERE WAS NO DAMN SWAMP.... And level 5, defeat Blackheart... Speaking of Sam Elliot, yeah was pretty sweet having the character of Carter Slade (the original Ghost Rider) appear, but just to turn into a Ghost Rider form and then ride off into mist? What the hell?!?
And Peter Fonda did his best Gary Oldman as Dracula imitation... That was lame....
Plot hole... the cops arrest Johnny Blaze as he was a suspect? Wouldn't he have been a 'person of interest' who would only be taken in for questioning and released? Then he turns into GR IN JAIL and walks out? And only one cop tries to stop him, yet the entire police force shows up minutes later chasing him in the cars that were parked outside the police station? Jeebus... piss poor writing...
Still, the f/x were nice...
Score: Bad
Watched Ghost Rider with Cameron and Doug Friday night... http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0259324/...
Directed by: Mark Steven Johnson
Stars: Nicolas Cage, Peter Fonda, Eva Mendes, Donal Logue
Review: The movie was OK, but seriously Cage should not have played Danny Ketch, er Johnny Blaze (the name was Johnny, the appearance and everything else was Ketch).. Honestly, the man is like ten years older than Eva Mendes, and he looks it... they're supposed to be the same age, right? And what's with the Elvis pose with the finger pointing?
Ghost Rider himself was pretty cool, but the movie was like a video game... Level 1, defeat the earth guy.. Level 2, defeat the air guy... Level 3, defeat the water guy... By the way, wtf is a swamp doing in the middle of the desert in Texas? It was like a goddamn bayou right next to a desert town... Btw, when you looked down the hill from where Sam Elliot was, THERE WAS NO DAMN SWAMP.... And level 5, defeat Blackheart... Speaking of Sam Elliot, yeah was pretty sweet having the character of Carter Slade (the original Ghost Rider) appear, but just to turn into a Ghost Rider form and then ride off into mist? What the hell?!?
And Peter Fonda did his best Gary Oldman as Dracula imitation... That was lame....
Plot hole... the cops arrest Johnny Blaze as he was a suspect? Wouldn't he have been a 'person of interest' who would only be taken in for questioning and released? Then he turns into GR IN JAIL and walks out? And only one cop tries to stop him, yet the entire police force shows up minutes later chasing him in the cars that were parked outside the police station? Jeebus... piss poor writing...
Still, the f/x were nice...
Score: Bad
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