This is my third such piece, and I have to say that, immediately after writing a review from which I must withhold spoilers, it is incredibly cathartic to just express my thoughts on all the twists and turns that usually characterize big blockbusters. It'd be nice if people shared their comments and views as well, but writing the piece itself is fulfilling enough.
Such is the case with Star Wars: The Last Jedi, which, honestly, really just features several different variations on one specific twist: almost no one's plans work out the way they want.
The Resistance's plan to escape doesn't quite work out, Finn's and Rose's plan to take out the First Order's tracking device doesn't work out, Snoke's plan to wipe out the Jedi doesn't work out, Rey's plan to turn Kylo Ren back to the light doesn't work out, and Kylo Ren's plan to turn Rey to the dark side and stamp out the Resistance doesn't work out either. What makes Johnson's storytelling so unique is that he actively makes it a point to subvert expectations, and he virtually telegraphs his intent when Luke Skywalker blurts out the line "this is not going to go the way you think!" Johnson recognizes, especially in the wake of the backlash against the first Star Wars sequel in over ten years, that the franchise was in dire need of some serious shakeups, and whatever one thinks of his approach, one cannot deny that for the most part, he's trying something different. I know this new approach to telling stories in the Star Wars Universe hasn't gone over well with everyone; the film currently has a 57% or "rotten" user rating over on the controversial review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes, and at least one person I know says this movie makes him actually appreciate George Lucas' prequels. While that last statement made me throw up in my mouth a little, part of me does understand where this antipathy is coming from.
As a cultural touchstone, the Star Wars films, at least the original trilogy of films and the volumes of comic books and novels that they spawned between the 70s and the 90s, have left such an impression on the collective consciousness that they're basically the cinematic equivalent of comfort food. It's hard to mess with a recipe that everyone knows, like KFC's 11 herbs and spices or the Big Mac's special sauce, as no less than Star Wars creator George Lucas learned to the detriment of his reputation when he did the prequel trilogy at around the turn of the millennium. I suspect this is also why legendary producer Kathleen Kennedy, who is to the new Star Wars Universe what Kevin Feige is to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, has kept all of her directors on a very short leash and has fired no fewer than FOUR directors from various Star Wars projects. If the stories are true, Kennedy rules the SWU with an iron fist that makes Feige's creative muscle-flexing over the MCU directors and writers seem absolutely limp-wristed. The bottom line is that messing with the formula can be a fatal mistake, which makes the fact that Rian Johnson's vision even saw the light of day a miracle of some sort.
For me, some of the attempts to subvert convention didn't work, but fortunately, most of them did. Johnson asked and answered one of the simplest questions that could be asked in the franchise: what if those crazy, virtually impossible plans the rebels are always hatching actually go awry? It also asks and answers the question: how far will the rebels go when their backs are absolutely against the wall, with a powerfully visceral moment that features Laura Dern's Vice Admiral Holdo making the supreme sacrifice to save the fleeing Resistance members.
Speaking of characters' swan songs, my hat goes off to Rian Johnson for giving Luke Skywalker a properly epic sendoff, as his confrontation with Kylo Ren and the First Order forces on the planet Crait, while brief, is utterly thrilling. Essentially, Luke saves the day, after all of the plans and ideas of the various characters have fallen by the wayside. It really was brilliant; having just successfully deceived Kylo Ren into thinking he was actually right in front of him when he was just projecting his consciousness all the way from Ahch-To, Luke has scored an unqualified victory, and his act of fading away while sitting still, amid a glorious sunset paying homage to his moment in Episode IV was a perfect ending for this character, especially when Rey describes his passing as a peaceful one. I'm sure hardcore Star Wars geeks picked up on the nature of Luke's appearance much sooner than we casual fans did, with Luke having cleaned up and everything, but for me, even knowing what was going on would have taken nothing away from the moment. So Johnson continues Abrams' tradition of killing off OT characters, but at least he does it with considerably more panache.
Now, regarding Luke's successor, Rey, there was something distinctly gratifying about the revelation that she is not in any way related to Skywalker, Kenobi or any other family that has left its stamp on this universe, and that her parents are so anonymous they're never even named but are described only as "junkers." Kylo Ren may have been a clear-cut bad guy by the film's end, but he was right in declaring that the overarching story needs new blood and that all of the old things need to be washed away, which is somewhat ironic considering his own heritage. Also, having Rey finally meet up with Luke and learn about the Force from him made her act of saving the day by clearing away the boulders all the more satisfying in a way that her curiously out-of-the-blue lightsaber fight with Kylo Ren at the climax of the first film simply wasn't. To me it felt more like she'd "earned" her hero moment this time around.
Also, it was deeply satisfying that the "evil emperor" wannabe Snoke was handily dispatched in this film, and that all of the protagonists, going into the last movie of this new trilogy, are in no way related to any of the Skywalkers. I also found it interesting that the entirety of the new iteration of the Rebel Alliance could basically fit in the Millennium Falcon. These are exciting new times.
Finally, I confess I have mixed feelings about Finn's and Rose's doomed mission to Canto Bight, the casino planet. Rian Johnson takes the opportunity to talk about social inequity by showing audiences a planet full of opulence and decadence, where people who have no problem selling weapons to both sides of the conflict go to spend their blood money. It's a wonderful conversation to start having, and it helps that the characters in it, Finn, Rose and even Benicio del Toro's DJ, are all persons of color. Elements like this are the driving force behind wars in the real world, not hopelessly broad concepts like "good" and "evil." The movie takes on a fascinating new complexion at this juncture. My problem with this, however, is, that this is a conversation that deserves its own full-length film, one that repaints the entire new trilogy in a shade of grey, the way Rogue One did for the original trilogy, with its decidedly more realistic look at the sort of things insurgents often do. All we get, unfortunately, is a subplot that bloats the film's running time, complete with a tacked-on romance, which feels all the more ridiculous considering that by the end of the movie, Rose has only known Finn for less than a day. I did like that Johnson gave some closure (or appeared to give closure) to Finn's arc with his former boss, Captain Phasma.
The very end of the movie, though, with the stable boy on Canto Bight showing the ability to manipulate the Force, however, shows that Rian Johnson is not done exploring his 'haves and have nots' concept. I hope Disney isn't, either.
The bottom line for me is that, even though not all of the notions brought forward by Johnson work, this series, now 40 years old, needs new ideas if it's going to stay relevant past Episode IX, especially considering a new trilogy is planned. This movie makes a strong argument that Rian Johnson is just the man to bring those ideas to life.
Sunday, December 17, 2017
Saturday, December 16, 2017
The Force is Strong with this One: A Review of Star Wars: The Last Jedi
written and directed by Rian Johnson
Over forty years after the release of the very first Star Wars, Disney/Lucasfilm releases the ninth film in the series, the highly-awaited The Last Jedi. It is, in many respects, a conspicuous improvement over its predecessor, though it's still not quite the best the franchise has ever offered.
Following the events of The Force Awakens, the First Order, led by the sinister Snoke (Andy Serkis), having laid waste to the leadership of the Old Republic, now seeks to wipe out the last vestiges of the Resistance, being led by General Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher). Spearheading Snokes' efforts to snuff out all resistance are General Hux (Domnhall Gleeson) and former Jedi-in-training Kylo Ren, a.k.a. Ben Solo (Adam Driver) who, as the film opens, are bearing down on the last remaining Resistance fleet as it evacuates its headquarters. The fleet escapes, but only momentarily, and at terrible cost. Leia finds herself having to deal with her ace pilot Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac), whose skill in the cockpit is matched only by how brash he is, a trait that could spell the difference between successfully escaping the clutches of the First Order and getting completely annihilated. Meanwhile, fellow Resistance fighter Rey (Daisy Ridley) is on a mission to the distant plant of Ach-to, where she attempts to recruit the last remaining Jedi, Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) to help the Resistance, and learn more about her mysterious past. Finally, former First Order Stormtrooper Finn (John Boyega) wakes up from the coma he fell into in the last movie, and tries to desert what he feels is a doomed Resistance, but fate has other plans as Rose Tico (Kelly Marie Tran) a mechanic and the sister of a fallen Resistance fighter, stops him in his tracks by tasering him. In the ensuing conversation, he and Rose figure out how the First Order is able to track the Resistance, and devise a plan that involves finding a codebreaker (Benicio del Toro) on an intergalactic Monte Carlo and then sneaking onto Snokes' very own destroyer. Finally, Rey and Ren, mysteriously, develop a telepathic bond that enables them to communicate directly, even though great distance separates them, and this just may spell the difference between the Resistance falling to the First Order, or defeating it.
I'll readily admit that, while I enjoyed Star Wars: The Force Awakens, I was one of the many who felt that J.J. Abrams' film was, for all intents and purposes, a remake of the very first Star Wars movie, now called Episode IV: A New Hope. While it was, of course, a sequel, it was so hamstrung by Abrams' desire to show proper reverence to the original trilogy that it failed to bring anything truly new and fresh to the mythology. Rian Johnson's film is far from perfect, but quite significantly, it suggests that Lucasfilm has both learned from Abrams' mistakes as well as from the success of last year's spinoff film Rogue One: A Star Wars story.
For one thing, Johnson isn't afraid to take a movie that could have just as easily been The Empire Strikes Back, Mark II and instead go in a significantly different direction. I don't dare say more for fear of spoiling anything (and I'll have a separate post to discuss that). For better or worse, Johnson really puts his stamp on these characters, especially the newer ones like Rey, Ben Solo, Finn and Poe Dameron. He continues the threads that Abrams began, and enriches them significantly, at least in the case of Rey and Ben. Finn gets his own dedicated story arc, one that introduces a sort of love interest for him, and delves into his past as a stormtrooper, with a fairly satisfying payoff, even if the subplot does feel a little bloated. Dameron has a bit of an arc himself, one that brings him in direct conflict with General Organa and her subordinate Vice Admiral Holdo (Laura Dern) but while it has its interesting moments of tension, it still feels distinctly underwritten. Rey and Ben/Ren get the most character development, which is a welcome thing, considering how sparsely Abrams wrote their characters when he introduced them. Kylo Ren benefits the most; he gets a notable upgrade from the petulant Darth Vader wannabe he was in the first film of the new trilogy, which bodes well for the next (and last) film of this particular saga.
More importantly, however, Johnson avoids the one big mistake Abrams made in The Force Awakens, which was to give the old characters short shrift. Abrams royally screwed Han Solo, and I don't even mean by killing him. Abrams basically transplanted the Han Solo of the original trilogy into a new movie. Sure, he had white hair, wrinkles, and a lot of regrets, but he was still dodging people he'd outfoxed/swindled and basically acting like the guy that Obi Wan Kenobi and Luke Skywalker ran into in the very first movie. And honestly, Han died like a punk, something hardly befitting a character who is arguably the most popular hero of the original trilogy.
Luke Skywalker, who comes to prominence in this film, is another story. Johnson takes the fact that Kylo Ren was a product of Luke's training and absolutely runs with it. Luke isn't just a little older and grayer; the events of the last thirty years, especially the events that led to Ben Solo joining the First Order, have left him a profoundly changed man, and while it's easy to poke fun at the whole grumpy old man shtick Hamill puts on for much of his screen time, there's so much more to him than that, and it's evident not only from Johnson's script but from Hamill's acting. Yes, Star Wars fans, Mark Hamill, who managed to stain the entire franchise's most iconic scene with some awful line delivery ("Nooooo!!! That's not true!!! That's IMPOSSIBLE!!!") actually manages to ACT here. He doesn't exactly turn into Daniel Day-Lewis, but it is a remarkable step up from what we've seen before from him. And unlike Han, he gets a fantastic "hero" moment in the movie, as well as a stirring callback to one of the most iconic sequences of the first film which involved a sunset and a swelling John Williams score. THAT, Mr. Abrams, is how you do a proper hommage, not the copycat BS you sold us two years ago.
Speaking of John Williams, I was pleased to note that, whereas in The Force Awakens his music just felt like generic white noise, here he seems to have rediscovered what makes composing for these films so special; he doesn't just lean on the decades-old themes here but brings some new, if slightly familiar-sounding tunes to spice up the story.
I feel it's worth mentioning this film's astonishing production value; even though it should be a given, and even though the last two films under the Disney banner have both been very well-put-together, I'd like to acknowledge, having failed to do so before, how this new series of films really puts premium on things like location shoots and practical effects as opposed to George Lucas' CGI-infested clusterf**ks.
Ultimately, the film could have been trimmed a little bit, but as a narrative, it works quite well for the most part, and I can honestly say I enjoyed it just as much as I did Rogue One.
8.5/10
Over forty years after the release of the very first Star Wars, Disney/Lucasfilm releases the ninth film in the series, the highly-awaited The Last Jedi. It is, in many respects, a conspicuous improvement over its predecessor, though it's still not quite the best the franchise has ever offered.
Following the events of The Force Awakens, the First Order, led by the sinister Snoke (Andy Serkis), having laid waste to the leadership of the Old Republic, now seeks to wipe out the last vestiges of the Resistance, being led by General Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher). Spearheading Snokes' efforts to snuff out all resistance are General Hux (Domnhall Gleeson) and former Jedi-in-training Kylo Ren, a.k.a. Ben Solo (Adam Driver) who, as the film opens, are bearing down on the last remaining Resistance fleet as it evacuates its headquarters. The fleet escapes, but only momentarily, and at terrible cost. Leia finds herself having to deal with her ace pilot Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac), whose skill in the cockpit is matched only by how brash he is, a trait that could spell the difference between successfully escaping the clutches of the First Order and getting completely annihilated. Meanwhile, fellow Resistance fighter Rey (Daisy Ridley) is on a mission to the distant plant of Ach-to, where she attempts to recruit the last remaining Jedi, Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) to help the Resistance, and learn more about her mysterious past. Finally, former First Order Stormtrooper Finn (John Boyega) wakes up from the coma he fell into in the last movie, and tries to desert what he feels is a doomed Resistance, but fate has other plans as Rose Tico (Kelly Marie Tran) a mechanic and the sister of a fallen Resistance fighter, stops him in his tracks by tasering him. In the ensuing conversation, he and Rose figure out how the First Order is able to track the Resistance, and devise a plan that involves finding a codebreaker (Benicio del Toro) on an intergalactic Monte Carlo and then sneaking onto Snokes' very own destroyer. Finally, Rey and Ren, mysteriously, develop a telepathic bond that enables them to communicate directly, even though great distance separates them, and this just may spell the difference between the Resistance falling to the First Order, or defeating it.
I'll readily admit that, while I enjoyed Star Wars: The Force Awakens, I was one of the many who felt that J.J. Abrams' film was, for all intents and purposes, a remake of the very first Star Wars movie, now called Episode IV: A New Hope. While it was, of course, a sequel, it was so hamstrung by Abrams' desire to show proper reverence to the original trilogy that it failed to bring anything truly new and fresh to the mythology. Rian Johnson's film is far from perfect, but quite significantly, it suggests that Lucasfilm has both learned from Abrams' mistakes as well as from the success of last year's spinoff film Rogue One: A Star Wars story.
For one thing, Johnson isn't afraid to take a movie that could have just as easily been The Empire Strikes Back, Mark II and instead go in a significantly different direction. I don't dare say more for fear of spoiling anything (and I'll have a separate post to discuss that). For better or worse, Johnson really puts his stamp on these characters, especially the newer ones like Rey, Ben Solo, Finn and Poe Dameron. He continues the threads that Abrams began, and enriches them significantly, at least in the case of Rey and Ben. Finn gets his own dedicated story arc, one that introduces a sort of love interest for him, and delves into his past as a stormtrooper, with a fairly satisfying payoff, even if the subplot does feel a little bloated. Dameron has a bit of an arc himself, one that brings him in direct conflict with General Organa and her subordinate Vice Admiral Holdo (Laura Dern) but while it has its interesting moments of tension, it still feels distinctly underwritten. Rey and Ben/Ren get the most character development, which is a welcome thing, considering how sparsely Abrams wrote their characters when he introduced them. Kylo Ren benefits the most; he gets a notable upgrade from the petulant Darth Vader wannabe he was in the first film of the new trilogy, which bodes well for the next (and last) film of this particular saga.
More importantly, however, Johnson avoids the one big mistake Abrams made in The Force Awakens, which was to give the old characters short shrift. Abrams royally screwed Han Solo, and I don't even mean by killing him. Abrams basically transplanted the Han Solo of the original trilogy into a new movie. Sure, he had white hair, wrinkles, and a lot of regrets, but he was still dodging people he'd outfoxed/swindled and basically acting like the guy that Obi Wan Kenobi and Luke Skywalker ran into in the very first movie. And honestly, Han died like a punk, something hardly befitting a character who is arguably the most popular hero of the original trilogy.
Luke Skywalker, who comes to prominence in this film, is another story. Johnson takes the fact that Kylo Ren was a product of Luke's training and absolutely runs with it. Luke isn't just a little older and grayer; the events of the last thirty years, especially the events that led to Ben Solo joining the First Order, have left him a profoundly changed man, and while it's easy to poke fun at the whole grumpy old man shtick Hamill puts on for much of his screen time, there's so much more to him than that, and it's evident not only from Johnson's script but from Hamill's acting. Yes, Star Wars fans, Mark Hamill, who managed to stain the entire franchise's most iconic scene with some awful line delivery ("Nooooo!!! That's not true!!! That's IMPOSSIBLE!!!") actually manages to ACT here. He doesn't exactly turn into Daniel Day-Lewis, but it is a remarkable step up from what we've seen before from him. And unlike Han, he gets a fantastic "hero" moment in the movie, as well as a stirring callback to one of the most iconic sequences of the first film which involved a sunset and a swelling John Williams score. THAT, Mr. Abrams, is how you do a proper hommage, not the copycat BS you sold us two years ago.
Speaking of John Williams, I was pleased to note that, whereas in The Force Awakens his music just felt like generic white noise, here he seems to have rediscovered what makes composing for these films so special; he doesn't just lean on the decades-old themes here but brings some new, if slightly familiar-sounding tunes to spice up the story.
I feel it's worth mentioning this film's astonishing production value; even though it should be a given, and even though the last two films under the Disney banner have both been very well-put-together, I'd like to acknowledge, having failed to do so before, how this new series of films really puts premium on things like location shoots and practical effects as opposed to George Lucas' CGI-infested clusterf**ks.
Ultimately, the film could have been trimmed a little bit, but as a narrative, it works quite well for the most part, and I can honestly say I enjoyed it just as much as I did Rogue One.
8.5/10
Friday, December 15, 2017
The Power of Compassion: A Review of Wonder
directed by Stephen Chbosky
written by Chbosky, Steve Conrad and Jack Thorne, based on the novel by R.J. Palacio
These days we find ourselves living in nasty times, with so much unpleasantness greeting us every single day, every moment we open a newspaper or turn on the news. While most of the movies I watch are a welcome escape from the drudgery of everyday existence, with their fantastical worlds and characters that can overcome all adversity with their gumption and, occasionally, their super powers, it's not often that I watch a movie about completely ordinary people that is so comprehensively enthralling that it just overwhelms me with how life-affirming it is. One such movie was the 1994 masterpiece The Shawshank Redemption, and anyone who has seen Frank Darabont's prison drama will know the magnitude of the intended compliment when I say that the new film Wonder is similar in its emotional impact.
August "Auggie" Pullman (Jacob Tremblay) is, for the most part, just like many other American ten-year-olds. He loves science, computer games and Star Wars, he has a loving family in his parents Isabelle (Julia Roberts) and Nate (Owen Wilson) and his big sister Via (Izabel Vidovic), and he's about to start middle school after having been home-schooled his whole life by his mom. The only problem is that the reason that his family has kept him away from the outside world for so long is that a birth defect has left him with prominent facial disfigurement, even after multiple surgeries have been performed on him to basically build his face. When he arrives at his new school he meets some nice people, like Principal Tushman (Mandy Pantinkin), and homeroom teacher Mr. Browne (Daveed Diggs), but as expected, he runs into a very unpleasant bully named Julian (Bryce Gheisar) who makes his life a living hell. Fortunately, even amidst these tribulations, Auggie is still able to connect with some kids Jack Will (Noah Jupe) and Summer (Millie Davis), but even that may not be enough to drown out the sheer meanness of Julian and his cronies. Through it all, Auggie, for the love of his parents, does his best to make his new situation work, and it all comes down to whether the people who surround Auggie will choose to be kind or cruel to him.
Given the film's subject matter, a highly-affecting, much-beloved young adult novel, it would have been easy enough to lay the sentimentality on thick with elements like an overbearing orchestral score and lots of weepy moments. Julia Roberts may be fifty, but she did star in Steel Magnolias nearly 30 years ago, so she knows her way around a good tearjerker. It all would have made perfect sense; Auggie is the ultimate outcast, after all.
Stephen Chbosky, however, goes for a surprisingly nuanced approach, one in which nearly every pivotal character, even the initially unsympathetic ones, gets a little slice of the narrative. As difficult as Auggie's life may be, he's not the only one with problems, and this little nugget of truth is best exemplified in his sister Via's narrative arc, in which she feels abandoned by her best friend Miranda (Danielle Rose Russell) who, in turn, has a sad story of her own. Jack Will, the boy whom Auggie befriends, has his own little story before they even meet. It's a remarkable technique that one usually only sees in English ensemble pieces, but Chbosky uses it to remarkable effect here, and it works well because he coaxes solid performances from every one of his actors, including his child actors, especially Trembay, who works harder than anyone else through heavy prosthetics. Julia Roberts, the biggest star in this movie by a long shot, restores quite a bit of the luster she lost of over the years, and demonstrates that she's got quite a bit of shelf-life left. Isabelle's reaction when Auggie walks out of school with a new friend, something that catches her completely off-guard, is priceless. Star Wars characters Chewbacca and Darth Sidious make hilarious and highly effective cameos.
Make no mistake, though, this film still goes for the broad moments; music still swells when it needs to, there are moments of agony and of redemption. It does jerk tears. More importantly, the film makes a clear and unequivocal statement about the virtues of kindness and the evils of bullying, and in this day and age, when heads of state are known for being petulant bullies, it is perhaps more relevant now than ever as it seeks to convey its needed message to those who need to hear it the most: children of all ages.
10/10
written by Chbosky, Steve Conrad and Jack Thorne, based on the novel by R.J. Palacio
These days we find ourselves living in nasty times, with so much unpleasantness greeting us every single day, every moment we open a newspaper or turn on the news. While most of the movies I watch are a welcome escape from the drudgery of everyday existence, with their fantastical worlds and characters that can overcome all adversity with their gumption and, occasionally, their super powers, it's not often that I watch a movie about completely ordinary people that is so comprehensively enthralling that it just overwhelms me with how life-affirming it is. One such movie was the 1994 masterpiece The Shawshank Redemption, and anyone who has seen Frank Darabont's prison drama will know the magnitude of the intended compliment when I say that the new film Wonder is similar in its emotional impact.
August "Auggie" Pullman (Jacob Tremblay) is, for the most part, just like many other American ten-year-olds. He loves science, computer games and Star Wars, he has a loving family in his parents Isabelle (Julia Roberts) and Nate (Owen Wilson) and his big sister Via (Izabel Vidovic), and he's about to start middle school after having been home-schooled his whole life by his mom. The only problem is that the reason that his family has kept him away from the outside world for so long is that a birth defect has left him with prominent facial disfigurement, even after multiple surgeries have been performed on him to basically build his face. When he arrives at his new school he meets some nice people, like Principal Tushman (Mandy Pantinkin), and homeroom teacher Mr. Browne (Daveed Diggs), but as expected, he runs into a very unpleasant bully named Julian (Bryce Gheisar) who makes his life a living hell. Fortunately, even amidst these tribulations, Auggie is still able to connect with some kids Jack Will (Noah Jupe) and Summer (Millie Davis), but even that may not be enough to drown out the sheer meanness of Julian and his cronies. Through it all, Auggie, for the love of his parents, does his best to make his new situation work, and it all comes down to whether the people who surround Auggie will choose to be kind or cruel to him.
Given the film's subject matter, a highly-affecting, much-beloved young adult novel, it would have been easy enough to lay the sentimentality on thick with elements like an overbearing orchestral score and lots of weepy moments. Julia Roberts may be fifty, but she did star in Steel Magnolias nearly 30 years ago, so she knows her way around a good tearjerker. It all would have made perfect sense; Auggie is the ultimate outcast, after all.
Stephen Chbosky, however, goes for a surprisingly nuanced approach, one in which nearly every pivotal character, even the initially unsympathetic ones, gets a little slice of the narrative. As difficult as Auggie's life may be, he's not the only one with problems, and this little nugget of truth is best exemplified in his sister Via's narrative arc, in which she feels abandoned by her best friend Miranda (Danielle Rose Russell) who, in turn, has a sad story of her own. Jack Will, the boy whom Auggie befriends, has his own little story before they even meet. It's a remarkable technique that one usually only sees in English ensemble pieces, but Chbosky uses it to remarkable effect here, and it works well because he coaxes solid performances from every one of his actors, including his child actors, especially Trembay, who works harder than anyone else through heavy prosthetics. Julia Roberts, the biggest star in this movie by a long shot, restores quite a bit of the luster she lost of over the years, and demonstrates that she's got quite a bit of shelf-life left. Isabelle's reaction when Auggie walks out of school with a new friend, something that catches her completely off-guard, is priceless. Star Wars characters Chewbacca and Darth Sidious make hilarious and highly effective cameos.
Make no mistake, though, this film still goes for the broad moments; music still swells when it needs to, there are moments of agony and of redemption. It does jerk tears. More importantly, the film makes a clear and unequivocal statement about the virtues of kindness and the evils of bullying, and in this day and age, when heads of state are known for being petulant bullies, it is perhaps more relevant now than ever as it seeks to convey its needed message to those who need to hear it the most: children of all ages.
10/10
Monday, December 4, 2017
Pushing Buttons and Jerking Tears as Only Pixar Can: A Review of Coco
directed by Lee Unkrich and Adrian Molina
written by Adrian Molina, Matthew Aldrich, Jason Katz, and Lee Unkrich
After two mediocre sequels in a row, Pixar returns to the artistry that made it arguably the best animated studio in the business with the original animated film Coco, set in Mexico during the Day of the Dead.
The film tells the story of Miguel Rivera (Anthony Gonzalez) a young boy who dreams of becoming a musician like his idol Ernesto de la Cruz (Benjamin Bratt) but who, unfortunately for him, belongs to family in which music has been banned for several generations, owing to the fact that his great-great-grandfather, a musician, left his great-great-grandmother, never to return. Such is Miguel's passion, however, that he is willing to defy his grandmother (Renee Victor) to play during a Day of the Dead concert. His determination is further fueled when he sees evidence that suggests he might actually be related to de la Cruz. When he loses his guitar, though, he finds himself desperate for a new one for the concert, and is even willing to "borrow" de la Cruz's guitar, which is enshrined, along with his remains, in his mausoleum. Unfortunately, playing a dead man's stolen guitar on the Day of the Dead has dire consequences, and Miguel finds himself stuck in the Land of the Dead, discovered first by his family headed by his great-great grandmother Imelda (Alanna Ubach) who will only agree to send him back if he renounces music. Unable to give up his dream, Miguel seizes on a plan to have de la Cruz, whom he believes to be his great-great-grandfather, send him back instead, and he sets out to find him, with the help of the shifty Hector (Gael Garcia Bernal). Time is not on his side; if he does not return by sunrise the next day, he will remain in the Land of the Dead forever.
Visually, the film is a home run as only Pixar can deliver. From the lived-in, bustling barrio in Mexico to the vibrant, charmingly retro cityscape of the Land of the Dead, and its brightly-hued alebrijes ("spirit guides"), the film's visual presentation is sensational. While others may occasionally come close, when Pixar are in the zone, nobody can deliver eye-candy like they can, and with this film, they are absolutely hitting all the notes, firing on all cylinders, and whatever other metaphor for perfection there is. Even on the musical front, with a rich score by Michael Giacchino and stirring new songs by "Frozen" composers Kristen and Bob Lopez, the film is right up there with the studio's very best.
Given Pixar's track record with respect to its original work (as opposed to its sequels), I was fairly surprised, therefore, to find that it was in the story department that Coco proved to be a letdown. The narrative was surprisingly cliche-ridden and a lot more predictable than I would have imagined a Pixar movie actually being. I don't dare go into details lest I spoil plot points, but suffice it to say even if Coco does tug at the ol' heartstrings every now and again, it's still a far cry from their best work. In a day and age in which animated films can be so much more than ninety-minute diversions for kids or cloying tearjerkers, I found myself surprisingly disappointed with Pixar for playing it as safe as they did here.
The good news is that even with a surplus of story tropes, Pixar still works a good deal of its magic here, thanks to the aforementioned visual magic, the enchanting music score and songs, generous helpings of humor, heart and some sterling performances from its voice actors, including young Anthony Gonzalez, animation newbie Gael Garcia Bernal and seasoned voice actor Benjamin Bratt, among others.
Some reviewers have compared this movie to an older animated film about the Day of the Dead as well, the Guillermo-del-Toro-produced The Book of Life, and the comparison is not altogether unjustified, considering that, apart from the Mexican holiday and a hero who journeys to the Land of the Dead, the films also share a story involving a family that hates music. Truth be told Book felt a tad more iconoclastic in its storytelling, and less reliant on well-worn story tropes. It was nowhere near as successful as Coco, though, even if it was at least as good, or even better, and that's a pity.
Still, I'm glad we got this film before we got yet another Toy Story.
7.9/10
written by Adrian Molina, Matthew Aldrich, Jason Katz, and Lee Unkrich
After two mediocre sequels in a row, Pixar returns to the artistry that made it arguably the best animated studio in the business with the original animated film Coco, set in Mexico during the Day of the Dead.
The film tells the story of Miguel Rivera (Anthony Gonzalez) a young boy who dreams of becoming a musician like his idol Ernesto de la Cruz (Benjamin Bratt) but who, unfortunately for him, belongs to family in which music has been banned for several generations, owing to the fact that his great-great-grandfather, a musician, left his great-great-grandmother, never to return. Such is Miguel's passion, however, that he is willing to defy his grandmother (Renee Victor) to play during a Day of the Dead concert. His determination is further fueled when he sees evidence that suggests he might actually be related to de la Cruz. When he loses his guitar, though, he finds himself desperate for a new one for the concert, and is even willing to "borrow" de la Cruz's guitar, which is enshrined, along with his remains, in his mausoleum. Unfortunately, playing a dead man's stolen guitar on the Day of the Dead has dire consequences, and Miguel finds himself stuck in the Land of the Dead, discovered first by his family headed by his great-great grandmother Imelda (Alanna Ubach) who will only agree to send him back if he renounces music. Unable to give up his dream, Miguel seizes on a plan to have de la Cruz, whom he believes to be his great-great-grandfather, send him back instead, and he sets out to find him, with the help of the shifty Hector (Gael Garcia Bernal). Time is not on his side; if he does not return by sunrise the next day, he will remain in the Land of the Dead forever.
Visually, the film is a home run as only Pixar can deliver. From the lived-in, bustling barrio in Mexico to the vibrant, charmingly retro cityscape of the Land of the Dead, and its brightly-hued alebrijes ("spirit guides"), the film's visual presentation is sensational. While others may occasionally come close, when Pixar are in the zone, nobody can deliver eye-candy like they can, and with this film, they are absolutely hitting all the notes, firing on all cylinders, and whatever other metaphor for perfection there is. Even on the musical front, with a rich score by Michael Giacchino and stirring new songs by "Frozen" composers Kristen and Bob Lopez, the film is right up there with the studio's very best.
Given Pixar's track record with respect to its original work (as opposed to its sequels), I was fairly surprised, therefore, to find that it was in the story department that Coco proved to be a letdown. The narrative was surprisingly cliche-ridden and a lot more predictable than I would have imagined a Pixar movie actually being. I don't dare go into details lest I spoil plot points, but suffice it to say even if Coco does tug at the ol' heartstrings every now and again, it's still a far cry from their best work. In a day and age in which animated films can be so much more than ninety-minute diversions for kids or cloying tearjerkers, I found myself surprisingly disappointed with Pixar for playing it as safe as they did here.
The good news is that even with a surplus of story tropes, Pixar still works a good deal of its magic here, thanks to the aforementioned visual magic, the enchanting music score and songs, generous helpings of humor, heart and some sterling performances from its voice actors, including young Anthony Gonzalez, animation newbie Gael Garcia Bernal and seasoned voice actor Benjamin Bratt, among others.
Some reviewers have compared this movie to an older animated film about the Day of the Dead as well, the Guillermo-del-Toro-produced The Book of Life, and the comparison is not altogether unjustified, considering that, apart from the Mexican holiday and a hero who journeys to the Land of the Dead, the films also share a story involving a family that hates music. Truth be told Book felt a tad more iconoclastic in its storytelling, and less reliant on well-worn story tropes. It was nowhere near as successful as Coco, though, even if it was at least as good, or even better, and that's a pity.
Still, I'm glad we got this film before we got yet another Toy Story.
7.9/10
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