directed by Chad Stahelski
written by Derek Kolstad
I'll be honest; I expected so little of the original John Wick, the 2014 sleeper hit, that when it came out in theaters I didn't even bother to see it. For one thing, I had been badly burned by Reeves' disastrous, overpriced action-fantasy 47 Ronin, and from what I saw from the trailers, John Wick really looked like just another run-of-the-mill shoot-'em-up. I ended up getting it on DVD, as I was intrigued by the glowing reviews it had gotten during its theatrical run. With its simple but interesting premise of a retired (and fabled) hitman taking revenge on the son of a Russian mobster who killed his dog and stole his car, and its virtuoso action sequences courtesy of co-directors David Leitch and Chad Stahelski, it won me over and not only did I enjoy it, but I found myself looking forward to its sequel when I first read that they were making one. The Russian mobsters who called him 'Baba Yaga' or 'The Bogeyman' in the first movie may have been terrified by his return, but I was pumped for it.
The film John Wick: Chapter 2 picks up just where its predecessor left off, with the titular retired assassin played by Keanu Reeves having just wiped out an entire Russian gang on account of the mob boss's kid having killed his dog and stolen his car. Wick gets ready to settle back into retirement as he asks his friend Aurelio (John Leguizamo) to patch up his nearly totaled car (the one the Russian mobster's son stole), and prepares to resume grieving for his dead wife Helen (Bridget Moynihan). He takes all of the guns that he dug up from his basement in the first film and cements them over again. No sooner has he done this than a visitor comes calling: Italian mobster Santino D'Antonio (Riccardo Scamarcio) pays John a visit and asks him to do a job. John, wanting to resume retirement, refuses, but there's a bit of a problem; Santino has what is called a marker; it was through him that John was able to leave his life as an assassin behind. To put it differently, Wick owes him, and he's going to collect...or else. Wick's arm having been twisted, he learns that the target is no other than D'Antonio's sister Gianna (Claudia Gerini) who is about to ascend to a prominent position at the "High Table" or basically the top brass of all criminal organizations in the world. John knows he's in for a world of trouble if he does it, but he has no choice, and as a result, all hell breaks loose, and Wick's problems start with his Gianna's bodyguard, a fellow assassin named Cassian (Common), and just keep on getting worse from there. Not even his connections to the assassins' community and the sanctuary of the Continental, headed by Winston (Ian McShane) may be enough to keep him safe from what he has unleashed. He may need a little help from a mysterious figure from his past, the Bowery King (Laurence Fishburne).
These days it's hard to watch a violent movie and have a whole lot of fun; where I live thousands of people have been summarily executed by vigilantes and potentially crooked police officers in the last seven months. Even though John Wick's world is clearly some kind of hyper-reality with its extremely complex underground society of assassins that even has its own currency, I still felt uncomfortable throughout some of the lengthy shooting sequences. It's sort of like an extended version of the hate church massacre in Kingsman: The Secret Service, albeit without the semi-comedic undertone, and that made me uncomfortable way before my own country was drenched in the blood of alleged small-time criminals. Even under the best of circumstances, how many times can one watch Keanu Reeves flip someone over and shoot them in the head and say 'cool!' anyway?
That said, Stahelski and his crew deserve a huge pat on the back for showing audiences what's possible in an action movie. An ex-stuntman and trained martial artist, Stahelski has put his knowledge of how to construct the perfect action scene to good use in this film, particularly in his depiction of the hand-to-hand combat scenes, with the centerpiece of the film being the confrontations between Wick and Cassian, culminating with a brutal knife fight on the New York subway. There are no quick cuts, computer-generated trickery or even wire-fu here; just some meticulous choreography and canny choices of camera angles. The film has a gratifying old-school feel to it, which is easy to appreciate, even amidst the near-pornographic violence. There's more to Stahelski than that, though; his use of visuals here was pretty inventive. The early gunfight in the catacombs of Rome and the climactic confrontation in an art museum filled with mirrors reflecting neon colors were strikingly unconventional set pieces and all the more memorable for it.
What's also interesting is that the non-stop nature of the violence in this movie, which racks an even higher body count than the last one, seems to serve as a sort of commentary on how violence never really ends. Wick does this one last job to be able to leave his life as an assassin for good, only to open up several new cans of worms. Maybe I'm giving screenwriter Derek Kolstad a little too much credit here, but if nothing else he does a commendable job of expanding a story that originally wasn't mean to even have a sequel. Here, as in the previous film, he also gives viewers glimpses into Wick's humanity, and not just by showing his tender affection for his dead wife, but by the fact that he actually spares the lives of a number of characters throughout the film, a decision which may yet prove significant in the future. And yes, minor spoiler: the film definitely sets up a sequel.
Whether it's the directing or the script, though, none of this would have worked without a leading man who was utterly committed, and the filmmakers have it in Keanu Reeves, for whom Stahelski served as a stunt double in The Matrix movies. Keanu's dedication to this role is wondrous to behold, even without the minute-long youtube video showing him shooting three types of guns and consistently hitting targets at a rifle range somewhere in California; Stahelski's aversion to quick cuts means that there is generous exposure of Reeves doing his own shooting, punching, kicking, grappling and throwing, looking all the while like he has The One Ring tucked away somewhere, keeping him from getting even a day older. Granted, I'm pretty sure no one can really accuse Reeves of acting a whole lot in this movie, but as was the case with Jan de Bont's Speed and the Wachowski Siblings' The Matrix (the first one at least) Reeves' real gift as a performer is the ability to let the story drive the action without drawing too much attention to his own shortcomings as a thespian, even when he's the lead character. The role of the taciturn assassin is as smooth a fit for him as the tailored suits his character wears throughout the film.
This film is a rock-solid piece of well-crafted entertainment, though anyone queasy about hardcore violence should probably sit this one out.
8/10
Thursday, February 16, 2017
Thursday, February 9, 2017
Teen Romance in Space (Sort of): A Review of The Space Between Us
directed by Peter Chelsom
written by Allan Loeb, Peter Chelsom, Richard Barton Lewis, Stewart Schill and Tinker Lindsay
As a kid growing up in the 80s I was repeatedly exposed to two things: 1) movies involving visitors from outer space and 2) teen romance movies. Of course, the 1980s following the runaway success of Steven Spielberg's E.T. The Extra Terrestrial, every other movie that came out for much of the remainder of the decade featured benign visitors from another planet. Notable examples, for me, include Cocoon, Flight of the Navigator, Batteries Not Included, and My Stepmother is an Alien, to name but a few. There weren't quite as many teen romance movies that I saw, but they were part of the pop culture landscape as well. Years before Patrick Dempsey set the small screen on fire as "McDreamy," I saw him as the gangly nerd in one or two teen romance movies. John Cusack was a staple of my youth.
Watching The Space Between Us, a teen romance movie about a boy born on Mars (Asa Butterfield) and the earthbound love of his life (Britt Robertson), I found myself distinctly reminded of both those types of 80s movies, and I have to say, for all the film's flaws, I found myself having a genuinely good time.
The film starts with a crew of astronauts being sent on a mission to colonize Mars, a project that's the brainchild of bazillionaire/philanthropist Nathaniel Shepherd (Gary Oldman, looking suspiciously like Richard Branson). The leader of the team (Janet Montgomery) turns out to be pregnant, a fact only discovered while the crew is en route to their destination, and she ends up giving birth on Mars, in their colony dubbed East Texas. The reduced gravity results in her death, while her son, Gardner, survives. Because of the PR nightmare involved in sending a pregnant astronaut into space and having her die, Gardner is kept a secret from the world for 16 years, and raised on Mars by the scientists who colonize East Texas. As a teenager (Butterfield) with irrepressible curiosity, however, he yearns to see the world of his mother's birth, as well as his online (and only) friend, a troubled teenager named Tulsa (Robertson) and the team of scientists who raised him, led by Kendra Wyndham (Carla Gugino) relent. After his skeleton is given carbon fiber reinforcement (don't ask), he rockets off to Earth. His body, which grew up in much lower gravity, almost immediately reacts badly to the new environment, but you can't keep a good teen down, and before long Gardner escapes his quarantine to meet up with Tulsa, whom he recruits for a special mission of his own: to find his father. Unfortunately, with the Earth's gravity constantly wreaking havoc on his body, Gardner is on borrowed time. Still, even borrowed time is enough time to fall in love.
As I write this, this film has received a critical drubbing and has been savaged at the U.S. box office. That said, there's actually a lot to like about this movie, which boasts an impressive cast and really remarkable production value.
Chelsom has an extraordinary eye for beauty, as shown by his brief Mars shots and the shots of Gardner and Tulsa driving cross-country to find his dad which show some truly gorgeous scenery. There's a shot I particularly loved: the two of them are driving en route to Arizona and in the background, the sky is filled with hot-air balloons. Had this movie been better-received, this is one of the shots with which it would have been identified.
Another thing, to my mind, really works is the chemistry between Butterfield, who turns in a truly amiable performance, and Robertson, even though she looks noticeably older than her character's seventeen years. While I could have done without their 80s-ish sex scene, and a lot of their banter kind of fell flat, I did enjoy the back-and-forth between them, and the contrast in their characters, that led them to where everyone knew they were headed. One memorable moment, for me, was one in which Gardner spies Tulsa playing (and singing) a song she composed on an electronic organ in a Costco. There simply weren't enough of these in this film.
And that, ultimately, is the problem. Although the film looks great, its script is littered with so many absurdities and gaffes in simple logic that not even the star-crossed lovers or their supporting thespians Oldman and Gugino can elevate it. The movie asks us to believe that a kid who's never been on Earth, and who is actually infirm, can not only escape quarantine, but then consistently elude the authorities, even with all of the technology at their disposal just by walking and hitching rides. It almost plays out like a running gag throughout the film. Then there's all the pseudo-science about Gardner's terrestrial condition, which makes one wonder why nobody thought this would happen in the first place. It's just a lot of bad writing, which is a shame because the premise was really interesting, and had the film been better constructed the love story, which has shades of Roman Holiday, would have played out a lot better.
I'm ambivalent about recommending this movie to anyone but the most die-hard romantics, but I think it's fair to say that this movie is quite likely to strike a chord with people who remember the young-love stories of the 1980s, which had their fair share of silly scripts.
5.5/10
written by Allan Loeb, Peter Chelsom, Richard Barton Lewis, Stewart Schill and Tinker Lindsay
As a kid growing up in the 80s I was repeatedly exposed to two things: 1) movies involving visitors from outer space and 2) teen romance movies. Of course, the 1980s following the runaway success of Steven Spielberg's E.T. The Extra Terrestrial, every other movie that came out for much of the remainder of the decade featured benign visitors from another planet. Notable examples, for me, include Cocoon, Flight of the Navigator, Batteries Not Included, and My Stepmother is an Alien, to name but a few. There weren't quite as many teen romance movies that I saw, but they were part of the pop culture landscape as well. Years before Patrick Dempsey set the small screen on fire as "McDreamy," I saw him as the gangly nerd in one or two teen romance movies. John Cusack was a staple of my youth.
Watching The Space Between Us, a teen romance movie about a boy born on Mars (Asa Butterfield) and the earthbound love of his life (Britt Robertson), I found myself distinctly reminded of both those types of 80s movies, and I have to say, for all the film's flaws, I found myself having a genuinely good time.
The film starts with a crew of astronauts being sent on a mission to colonize Mars, a project that's the brainchild of bazillionaire/philanthropist Nathaniel Shepherd (Gary Oldman, looking suspiciously like Richard Branson). The leader of the team (Janet Montgomery) turns out to be pregnant, a fact only discovered while the crew is en route to their destination, and she ends up giving birth on Mars, in their colony dubbed East Texas. The reduced gravity results in her death, while her son, Gardner, survives. Because of the PR nightmare involved in sending a pregnant astronaut into space and having her die, Gardner is kept a secret from the world for 16 years, and raised on Mars by the scientists who colonize East Texas. As a teenager (Butterfield) with irrepressible curiosity, however, he yearns to see the world of his mother's birth, as well as his online (and only) friend, a troubled teenager named Tulsa (Robertson) and the team of scientists who raised him, led by Kendra Wyndham (Carla Gugino) relent. After his skeleton is given carbon fiber reinforcement (don't ask), he rockets off to Earth. His body, which grew up in much lower gravity, almost immediately reacts badly to the new environment, but you can't keep a good teen down, and before long Gardner escapes his quarantine to meet up with Tulsa, whom he recruits for a special mission of his own: to find his father. Unfortunately, with the Earth's gravity constantly wreaking havoc on his body, Gardner is on borrowed time. Still, even borrowed time is enough time to fall in love.
As I write this, this film has received a critical drubbing and has been savaged at the U.S. box office. That said, there's actually a lot to like about this movie, which boasts an impressive cast and really remarkable production value.
Chelsom has an extraordinary eye for beauty, as shown by his brief Mars shots and the shots of Gardner and Tulsa driving cross-country to find his dad which show some truly gorgeous scenery. There's a shot I particularly loved: the two of them are driving en route to Arizona and in the background, the sky is filled with hot-air balloons. Had this movie been better-received, this is one of the shots with which it would have been identified.
Another thing, to my mind, really works is the chemistry between Butterfield, who turns in a truly amiable performance, and Robertson, even though she looks noticeably older than her character's seventeen years. While I could have done without their 80s-ish sex scene, and a lot of their banter kind of fell flat, I did enjoy the back-and-forth between them, and the contrast in their characters, that led them to where everyone knew they were headed. One memorable moment, for me, was one in which Gardner spies Tulsa playing (and singing) a song she composed on an electronic organ in a Costco. There simply weren't enough of these in this film.
And that, ultimately, is the problem. Although the film looks great, its script is littered with so many absurdities and gaffes in simple logic that not even the star-crossed lovers or their supporting thespians Oldman and Gugino can elevate it. The movie asks us to believe that a kid who's never been on Earth, and who is actually infirm, can not only escape quarantine, but then consistently elude the authorities, even with all of the technology at their disposal just by walking and hitching rides. It almost plays out like a running gag throughout the film. Then there's all the pseudo-science about Gardner's terrestrial condition, which makes one wonder why nobody thought this would happen in the first place. It's just a lot of bad writing, which is a shame because the premise was really interesting, and had the film been better constructed the love story, which has shades of Roman Holiday, would have played out a lot better.
I'm ambivalent about recommending this movie to anyone but the most die-hard romantics, but I think it's fair to say that this movie is quite likely to strike a chord with people who remember the young-love stories of the 1980s, which had their fair share of silly scripts.
5.5/10
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