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 superheroes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label superheroes. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Monday, July 7, 2008
Hancock (2008)
Links: IMDb * Wikipedia * AllMovie * Rotten Tomatoes
Premise: A washed-up superhero reforms himself with the aid of a public relations agent.
Stars: Will Smith * Jason Bateman * Charlize Theron
Review: As everyone else notes in their reviews of this movie, this could've been an excellent deconstructionist take on the superhero movies - and in the summer of Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Hellboy II, and The Dark Knight what a coup that could've been.
Peter Berg's The Kingdom was excellent. The Rundown is a movie I still repeatedly watch. Friday Night Lights was good, but not a standout high school football movie.
Add in Will Smith, and it should be a no-brainer.
But what the two concocted is horrible. There's no single coherent plot throughout the movie. (Which can probably be blamed on the five years of development hell prior to its release.)
Plot 1: Drunk superhero gets a makeover
Plot 2: Drunk superhero is alone in the world and rejects it as it rejects him. He makes friends and works to improve.
Plot 3: Drunk superhero is one of a pair of angels/demigods/gods with the other being his wife who left him 80 years earlier after a vicious attack by humans.
Plot 4: Drunk superhero is a god who lives among people and is supposed to protect them. He was created simultaneously with a partner that his supposed to join him in life, make him mortal and allow him to experience life after millenia living as their protector.
Plot 5: PR man who believes in a charity he's attempting to create that will heal the world meets a drunken superhero. PR man has a hot wife who gives the drunk superhero odd looks.
Plot 6: A hidden society of god-killers has been working to eliminate them all and only two remain, a drunk amnesiac and one that remains hidden.
Plot 7: A housewife with a hidden secret has her former lover reappear in her life, threatening to expose her to her new family.
Honestly, any one of these plots could've been a great center of a movie if the other six - and I believe there are more I could write up - did not continuously show up and distract. Not only that, there are hints and lines that would serve to increase a layered back story, but they're all hit and miss - a line during the showdown and constantly referring to 'they' serve as remnants of a backstory that could've really taken this movie to another level.
The special effects are poor to mediocre. A hellish, freakish storm appears in downtown LA and does no damage - the damage comes from the combat between the two superheroes. When the superheroes are around each other, there's supposed to be heat - it is apparent in two scenes, but not in several others where they are together. Honestly, if a man's head is shoved up another's ass a) the insertee would be in the hospital for months b) the inserted would be dead of asphyxia in minutes. The constant screaming near the end - Theron and Smith - goes on way too long.
This movie could've been so much more. As it is, it's a waste.
Overall: Bad
Premise: A washed-up superhero reforms himself with the aid of a public relations agent.
Stars: Will Smith * Jason Bateman * Charlize Theron
Review: As everyone else notes in their reviews of this movie, this could've been an excellent deconstructionist take on the superhero movies - and in the summer of Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Hellboy II, and The Dark Knight what a coup that could've been.
Peter Berg's The Kingdom was excellent. The Rundown is a movie I still repeatedly watch. Friday Night Lights was good, but not a standout high school football movie.
Add in Will Smith, and it should be a no-brainer.
But what the two concocted is horrible. There's no single coherent plot throughout the movie. (Which can probably be blamed on the five years of development hell prior to its release.)
Plot 1: Drunk superhero gets a makeover
Plot 2: Drunk superhero is alone in the world and rejects it as it rejects him. He makes friends and works to improve.
Plot 3: Drunk superhero is one of a pair of angels/demigods/gods with the other being his wife who left him 80 years earlier after a vicious attack by humans.
Plot 4: Drunk superhero is a god who lives among people and is supposed to protect them. He was created simultaneously with a partner that his supposed to join him in life, make him mortal and allow him to experience life after millenia living as their protector.
Plot 5: PR man who believes in a charity he's attempting to create that will heal the world meets a drunken superhero. PR man has a hot wife who gives the drunk superhero odd looks.
Plot 6: A hidden society of god-killers has been working to eliminate them all and only two remain, a drunk amnesiac and one that remains hidden.
Plot 7: A housewife with a hidden secret has her former lover reappear in her life, threatening to expose her to her new family.
Honestly, any one of these plots could've been a great center of a movie if the other six - and I believe there are more I could write up - did not continuously show up and distract. Not only that, there are hints and lines that would serve to increase a layered back story, but they're all hit and miss - a line during the showdown and constantly referring to 'they' serve as remnants of a backstory that could've really taken this movie to another level.
The special effects are poor to mediocre. A hellish, freakish storm appears in downtown LA and does no damage - the damage comes from the combat between the two superheroes. When the superheroes are around each other, there's supposed to be heat - it is apparent in two scenes, but not in several others where they are together. Honestly, if a man's head is shoved up another's ass a) the insertee would be in the hospital for months b) the inserted would be dead of asphyxia in minutes. The constant screaming near the end - Theron and Smith - goes on way too long.
This movie could've been so much more. As it is, it's a waste.
Overall: Bad
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
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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