directed by Travis Knight
written by Marc Haimes, Chris Butler, and Shannon Tindle
Since they burst onto the scene seven years ago with their acclaimed adaptation of Neil Gaiman and Dave Mckean's modern classic children's book Coraline, Laika Productions has produced consistently astonishing movies featuring off-beat stories and unusual heroes. Kubo and the Two Strings continues that proud tradition, and I dare say, on both a technical and storytelling level, it is their best work yet.
Kubo (voiced by Art Parkinson) is a one-eyed Japanese boy who lives on a cliff with his mother, a half-catatonic woman with a mysterious past who washed up on shore one late evening with her newborn baby whose eye had just been plucked out. Kubo spends his days and earning a living of sorts entertaining people from the nearby village with his storytelling, in which he uses what appear to be magically-animated origami figures and the skillful playing of his shamisen to captivate his audience. He leaves before the sun goes down, however, on his mother's warning not to stay out after dark. Kubo's heart aches, though, because of the absence of his father, whom his mother explains was killed when he was a baby. One day, at a festival for the dead, Kubo stays out late, hoping to commune with his father's spirit, and tragedy strikes. Now, to save himself from dark forces out to harm him, he must find a magical, mystical suit of armor, which he can only do with the help of his friend, a magical monkey sent to protect him (also Theron) and a mysterious warrior beetle (Matthew McConaughey). He'll need all the help he can get against the power of his mother's malevolent sisters (both voiced by Rooney Mara) and the powerful, sinister Moon King (Ralph Fiennes).
Anyone who reads this blog knows I have great affection for Disney's Zootopia, a film I ranked a perfect 10, for its blend of entertainment and its unflinching look at racial prejudice, at a time when a stand on the issue had to be taken. As much as I love that film, though, and as brave as I felt it was, this, in my honest estimation, felt even braver, with its mutilated hero, dark subject matter, and equally unflinching look at the importance of human kindness, which, per this story, must be extended to even the most odious of beings.
Laika's craftsmanship is, as it always has been, vastly impressive, and has significantly improved since the days of Coraline. It's a pretty awesome marriage of the age-old technique of stop-motion animation and modern day technology. Even with all the advances, though, it took a total of five years to make this film.
However sophisticated the storytelling tools, however, they are nothing without a good story to tell (just look at several of Dreamworks Animation's recent offerings), but the good news is that the ladies and gentlemen at Laika have that bit pretty much down pat.
As delightful as it was to hear Oscar-winners Theron and McConaughey voice key characters in the story, it's Parkinson's earnest performance that does the heavy lifting in this film as Kubo is defined by his imagination and ultimately his compassion, all of which come through in Parkinson's voice acting.
I realize I'm venturing into slight spoiler territory when I say this, but this film is quite defiantly not-entirely-kid-friendly with some frightening antagonists (my three-year-old turned away in fear at the ghostly twin ninja sisters of Kubo's mother), and its surprisingly tragic tone near the end. That's what makes it rather endearing in my eyes; the studio could probably have made a couple of more million at the box office with more conventional storytelling, which makes their act of sticking to their narrative guns all the more impressive.
This film is a classic in the mold of a Studio Ghibli production; it's completely uncompromising, and utterly mesmerizing.
10/10
Sunday, October 30, 2016
Sunday, September 25, 2016
Solid, if Not Quite Magnificent Action: A Review of "The Magnificent Seven"
directed by Antoine Fuqua
written by Nic Pizzolatto and Richard Wenk
I was never much one for Westerns, but I have been more or less consistently a fan of Denzel Washington since watching his Oscar-winning performance in Edward Zwick's Glory back in 1989. In fact, I've watched almost every one of his films this millennium, whether on the big or small screen. This film marks his third collaboration with director Antoine Fuqua, who directed him to a Best Actor Oscar in 2001's Training Day.
The town of Rose Creek is besieged by the murderous prospector Bartholomew Bogue (Peter Sarsgaard), who, with his thugs, burns their church and beats their Pastor (Mark Ashworth) to within an inch of his life. One of the townspeople, Matthew Cullen (Matt Bomer) speaks out against Bogue and is shot, along with several other townspeople. Desperate, Cullen's widow Emma (Haley Bennett) seeks out men who will help their town, and finds warrant officer Sam Chisholm (Denzel Washington). Sam, turn recruits a somewhat motley bunch: gambler Josh Faraday (Chris Pratt), Civil War sharpshooter Goodnight Robicheaux (Ethan Hawke) and his traveling companion Billy Rocks (Byung Hun Lee), outlaw Vasquez (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo), tracker Jack Horne (Vincent D'Onofrio), and Comanche warrior Red Harvest (Martin Sensmeier). They are all highly-capable, and make a considerable impression on Bogue's goons when they enter the town. In response, Bogue assembles an army, and the seven get to work training the townspeople of Rose Creek to fight one hell of a battle.
While I never saw the 1960 film by John Sturges which was the direct progenitor of this film, I did watch the 1954 film Seven Samurai, which inspired both of them back when I was in college, and as a result I did have some basis for comparison. Truth be told, I remember very little about that film save for the lovable buffoon played by Toshiro Mifune and the deadly swordsman of the group who could kill an enemy with one sword stroke, who may have been the inspiration for Ethan Hawke's sharpshooter character, but I do remember the climactic battle of the older film, and in that aspect at least, this film compares pretty well.
In terms of setting up the conflict, introducing the seven and leading up to the big showdown at the end, Fuqua and his screenwriters pretty much play the movie by the numbers, but there is some real joy here in seeing the actors who portray the seven play off each other. Washington's Chisolm and Pratt's Faraday have a fairly easy chemistry, as do Chisolm and his long-time friend Robicheaux, perhaps a shout-out to Washington's and Hawke's first on-screen reunion since Training Day. Less well-defined but occasionally amusing is the friendly rivalry between Faraday and Vasquez, which occasionally ventures into vaguely racist quips by from Faraday. Sensmeier's Red Harvest is kind of just...there, while Lee's Billy Rocks character, of unspecified ethnicity (his description as a Chinaman is a bit of deception in the film) gets quite a bit of screen time, mainly to show off his mad skills with knives. I did enjoy D'Onofrio's Jack Horne, though, as he turned in a particularly quirky performance for this character, including an odd bit of falsetto for much of the film. Washington offers another turn as the noble bad-ass he has played to perfection since 2004's Man on Fire, though with a couple of twists this time. Pratt, similarly, is also pretty much the lovable cad from Guardians of the Galaxy. Sarsgaard and the men playing his goons make some effort at being bad but in the end they might as well be villains out of a Marvel movie; they're basically people who do very bad things but fail to come off as particularly memorable, though there is considerable satisfaction when Bogue gets his inevitable comeuppance. Bennett does a creditable turn as one of the film's many innovations over its predecessor: the strong female character.
While some hype has been made about the film's diversity, in terms of actual execution, it feels more like a marketing gimmick than an attempt at meaningful storytelling, and in truth the closest the film ever gets to talking about racial tension is the throwaway jokes between Faraday and Vasquez. This was something that could really have set it apart from its predecessors, whose septets were ethnically homogeneous, and while I understand Fuqua and his writers weren't exactly shooting for Oscar glory here, I really think there were quite a few wasted opportunities, especially since there seem to be vague attempts to liken the bad guy to Donald Trump.
Where the film succeeded for me, though, was the action sequences, and Fuqua, his actors and his stunt crew really pulled out the stops for these scenes, and they are at least as intense as a PG-13 rating (R-13 here in the Philippines) would allow them to be, which, as it turns out was quite a bit. I had approached this film with a measure of trepidation after Fuqua (and Washington) had let me down a bit with The Equalizer, which had the one outstanding action scene and a bunch of lethargic ones, and as a result I was quite pleasantly surprised by how Fuqua put together his vision of the iconic showdown from the first two movies, complete with its blazing gunfights and staggering body count. I found the action quite well-choreographed, and even though some moments (including death scenes) worked better than others, I thought that it played out quite well on the whole. I know stuntmen took over for much of this, but the actors, particularly Washington, got some pretty generous face time during these sequences.
Particularly remarkable for me is how credible Denzel Washington, at the ripe old age of 61, still is as an action hero. For reference, when he was 60, Harrison Ford starred as a submarine commander in K:19 the Widowmaker, not exactly the kind of role that had him running around, and appeared as an old codger of a crime-lord in Cowboys and Aliens. Washington isn't exactly denying his years--in 2010's Unstoppable he played a long-time train operator approaching retirment--but the fact that he can pull off this role by simply dyeing his hair roots a little bit was really something special to behold. I would love for Chris Pratt to rope him into a future Guardians of the Galaxy cameo one day.
Fuqua makes clear his affection for the Western with his sweeping vistas, and while it's hard not to think of what this film could have been I still found myself appreciating it for what it was: a reasonably entertaining romp. Also, while I would have wanted something a little more high-profile as the last project for my favorite composer James Horner, this movie feels like a much better sendoff than Fuqua's boxing drama Southpaw or the little seen mining drama The 33 would have been. Horner's music pervades throughout the film and even though the score was co-composed by frequent Horner collaborator Simon Franglen I really got the sense there was an effort to hew as closely to Horner's style as possible. It's also a bit sad that Horner's music was inevitably overshadowed by Elmer Bernstein's iconic theme, but if nothing else I am grateful that, thanks to this film and much more restrictive bans on tobacco advertising than the ones I grew up with, there is now a whole generation of viewers that will properly identify the theme of The Magnificent Seven with The Magnificent Seven, and not with some cigarette commercial like I did. If for this and nothing else, this movie deserves my genuine affection.
7/10
written by Nic Pizzolatto and Richard Wenk
I was never much one for Westerns, but I have been more or less consistently a fan of Denzel Washington since watching his Oscar-winning performance in Edward Zwick's Glory back in 1989. In fact, I've watched almost every one of his films this millennium, whether on the big or small screen. This film marks his third collaboration with director Antoine Fuqua, who directed him to a Best Actor Oscar in 2001's Training Day.
The town of Rose Creek is besieged by the murderous prospector Bartholomew Bogue (Peter Sarsgaard), who, with his thugs, burns their church and beats their Pastor (Mark Ashworth) to within an inch of his life. One of the townspeople, Matthew Cullen (Matt Bomer) speaks out against Bogue and is shot, along with several other townspeople. Desperate, Cullen's widow Emma (Haley Bennett) seeks out men who will help their town, and finds warrant officer Sam Chisholm (Denzel Washington). Sam, turn recruits a somewhat motley bunch: gambler Josh Faraday (Chris Pratt), Civil War sharpshooter Goodnight Robicheaux (Ethan Hawke) and his traveling companion Billy Rocks (Byung Hun Lee), outlaw Vasquez (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo), tracker Jack Horne (Vincent D'Onofrio), and Comanche warrior Red Harvest (Martin Sensmeier). They are all highly-capable, and make a considerable impression on Bogue's goons when they enter the town. In response, Bogue assembles an army, and the seven get to work training the townspeople of Rose Creek to fight one hell of a battle.
While I never saw the 1960 film by John Sturges which was the direct progenitor of this film, I did watch the 1954 film Seven Samurai, which inspired both of them back when I was in college, and as a result I did have some basis for comparison. Truth be told, I remember very little about that film save for the lovable buffoon played by Toshiro Mifune and the deadly swordsman of the group who could kill an enemy with one sword stroke, who may have been the inspiration for Ethan Hawke's sharpshooter character, but I do remember the climactic battle of the older film, and in that aspect at least, this film compares pretty well.
In terms of setting up the conflict, introducing the seven and leading up to the big showdown at the end, Fuqua and his screenwriters pretty much play the movie by the numbers, but there is some real joy here in seeing the actors who portray the seven play off each other. Washington's Chisolm and Pratt's Faraday have a fairly easy chemistry, as do Chisolm and his long-time friend Robicheaux, perhaps a shout-out to Washington's and Hawke's first on-screen reunion since Training Day. Less well-defined but occasionally amusing is the friendly rivalry between Faraday and Vasquez, which occasionally ventures into vaguely racist quips by from Faraday. Sensmeier's Red Harvest is kind of just...there, while Lee's Billy Rocks character, of unspecified ethnicity (his description as a Chinaman is a bit of deception in the film) gets quite a bit of screen time, mainly to show off his mad skills with knives. I did enjoy D'Onofrio's Jack Horne, though, as he turned in a particularly quirky performance for this character, including an odd bit of falsetto for much of the film. Washington offers another turn as the noble bad-ass he has played to perfection since 2004's Man on Fire, though with a couple of twists this time. Pratt, similarly, is also pretty much the lovable cad from Guardians of the Galaxy. Sarsgaard and the men playing his goons make some effort at being bad but in the end they might as well be villains out of a Marvel movie; they're basically people who do very bad things but fail to come off as particularly memorable, though there is considerable satisfaction when Bogue gets his inevitable comeuppance. Bennett does a creditable turn as one of the film's many innovations over its predecessor: the strong female character.
While some hype has been made about the film's diversity, in terms of actual execution, it feels more like a marketing gimmick than an attempt at meaningful storytelling, and in truth the closest the film ever gets to talking about racial tension is the throwaway jokes between Faraday and Vasquez. This was something that could really have set it apart from its predecessors, whose septets were ethnically homogeneous, and while I understand Fuqua and his writers weren't exactly shooting for Oscar glory here, I really think there were quite a few wasted opportunities, especially since there seem to be vague attempts to liken the bad guy to Donald Trump.
Where the film succeeded for me, though, was the action sequences, and Fuqua, his actors and his stunt crew really pulled out the stops for these scenes, and they are at least as intense as a PG-13 rating (R-13 here in the Philippines) would allow them to be, which, as it turns out was quite a bit. I had approached this film with a measure of trepidation after Fuqua (and Washington) had let me down a bit with The Equalizer, which had the one outstanding action scene and a bunch of lethargic ones, and as a result I was quite pleasantly surprised by how Fuqua put together his vision of the iconic showdown from the first two movies, complete with its blazing gunfights and staggering body count. I found the action quite well-choreographed, and even though some moments (including death scenes) worked better than others, I thought that it played out quite well on the whole. I know stuntmen took over for much of this, but the actors, particularly Washington, got some pretty generous face time during these sequences.
Particularly remarkable for me is how credible Denzel Washington, at the ripe old age of 61, still is as an action hero. For reference, when he was 60, Harrison Ford starred as a submarine commander in K:19 the Widowmaker, not exactly the kind of role that had him running around, and appeared as an old codger of a crime-lord in Cowboys and Aliens. Washington isn't exactly denying his years--in 2010's Unstoppable he played a long-time train operator approaching retirment--but the fact that he can pull off this role by simply dyeing his hair roots a little bit was really something special to behold. I would love for Chris Pratt to rope him into a future Guardians of the Galaxy cameo one day.
Fuqua makes clear his affection for the Western with his sweeping vistas, and while it's hard not to think of what this film could have been I still found myself appreciating it for what it was: a reasonably entertaining romp. Also, while I would have wanted something a little more high-profile as the last project for my favorite composer James Horner, this movie feels like a much better sendoff than Fuqua's boxing drama Southpaw or the little seen mining drama The 33 would have been. Horner's music pervades throughout the film and even though the score was co-composed by frequent Horner collaborator Simon Franglen I really got the sense there was an effort to hew as closely to Horner's style as possible. It's also a bit sad that Horner's music was inevitably overshadowed by Elmer Bernstein's iconic theme, but if nothing else I am grateful that, thanks to this film and much more restrictive bans on tobacco advertising than the ones I grew up with, there is now a whole generation of viewers that will properly identify the theme of The Magnificent Seven with The Magnificent Seven, and not with some cigarette commercial like I did. If for this and nothing else, this movie deserves my genuine affection.
7/10
Monday, September 5, 2016
Something Cool Happened While I Wasn't Looking...
A few days ago I was feeling pretty good about myself...somewhat heroic, in fact, and so to reward myself I went onto youtube to listen to my favorite "heroic" themes, such as the main theme from Gladiator by Hans Zimmer and the original Marvel's Avengers theme by Alan Silvestri. While listening to the latter, I found myself scrolling through the comments to find, to my delight, that Silvestri, whom Marvel replaced in last year's Avengers sequel with Danny Elfman and Brian Tyler will be returning as composer for the next two Avengers films. It turns out, this was announced three months ago.
This may not mean much to people who aren't movie nerds, or comic-book nerds, or comic-book movie nerds, or movie music nerds, but Silvestri, along with the likes of Elfman, Zimmer, the late James Horner, Bruce Broughton and a handful of other composers were a staple of the movies I grew up with in the 1980s, many of whom worked with the soaring orchestral sounds perfected by industry legends John Williams and Jerry Goldsmith. Silvestri, whose signature soundtrack will, to me, always be his Back to the Future theme, is among the very best of that bunch, and arguably one of the most prolific next to Hans Zimmer.
Anyway, the bottom line is I'll be very happy to welcome Mr. Silvestri back to the MCU!
This may not mean much to people who aren't movie nerds, or comic-book nerds, or comic-book movie nerds, or movie music nerds, but Silvestri, along with the likes of Elfman, Zimmer, the late James Horner, Bruce Broughton and a handful of other composers were a staple of the movies I grew up with in the 1980s, many of whom worked with the soaring orchestral sounds perfected by industry legends John Williams and Jerry Goldsmith. Silvestri, whose signature soundtrack will, to me, always be his Back to the Future theme, is among the very best of that bunch, and arguably one of the most prolific next to Hans Zimmer.
Anyway, the bottom line is I'll be very happy to welcome Mr. Silvestri back to the MCU!
Wednesday, August 31, 2016
Woody the Cowboy and Buzz Lightyear as Dogs: A Review of The Secret Life of Pets
directed by Chris Renaud
written by Brian Lynch, Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio
From Illumination Studios, the people who brought us one highly entertaining, original film with Despicable Me and a string of cookie cutter follow-ups after that comes one of the biggest box-offices successes of 2016, The Secret Life of Pets a movie that purports to tell us viewers what our pets, be they dogs, cats, birds or fish, get up to when we leave them to go to work.
The "hero" pet of this film is Max (voiced by Louis CK) a Jack Russell terrier who adores and is adored by his owner Katie (Ellie Kemper), whose return from work he patiently awaits every day, until one day she brings home a new dog she rescued from the pound, the large, hairy mongrel, Duke (Eric Stonestreet). Max, whose happy little bubble is threatened, shows dislike towards Duke, who responds with aggression as he threatens Max point blank that he will get rid of him if he has to. Max responds by breaking various items belonging to Katie and threatening to frame Duke for it, which causes him, in turn to submit to Max. The conflict only escalates, however, and eventually the two dogs find themselves lost and surrounded by all manner of urban perils, including an army of stray cats, animal control hot on their tails, and later, an army of bitter, rejected pets led by a vengeful rabbit (Kevin Hart). Max's disappearance prompts his secret admirer Gidget (Jenny Slate) to lead a motley bunch of pets including three dogs, a cat, a hawk and a hamster, to find him. Ultimately, though two dogs who hate each other must learn to work together if they are to have any chance of getting home.
Basically, this movie is Pixar's Toy Story but with pets instead of toys. I'm surprised I didn't pick up on this from one of the later trailers, but sitting through the movie, I found the the similarities too glaring to ignore. The main character who is used to being the center of his beloved owner's attention, is displaced by a new object of affection, and this leads to conflict between them. The only difference is that here, Duke, the Buzz Lightyear analogue, is antagonistic to Max almost immediately, and does not harbor fanciful delusions of living a different life the way Buzz does. Basically Max and Duke are Woody and Buzz, but without any of the quirky charm of either of those characters. In fact, they're both downright unlikable.
None of the characters, in fact, is particularly memorable, save perhaps for Kevin Hart's Snowball, and maybe Albert Brooks' hawk Tiberius. Every other character is fairly disposable, and even worse, with few exceptions, none of the voice actors is even particularly funny.
In an era in which animated films can intelligently tackle such hot-button topics as racial intolerance, like Zootopia, or even child prostitution, like Spirited Away, a movie that rehashes a twenty-one year old animated film feels distinctly uninspired. This movie isn't even anywhere near as good as the first Despicable Me.
The good news, though, is that there's plenty of slapstick comedy, which I honestly enjoyed, the animation is topnotch, and the score by Alexandre Desplat is a snazzy, jazzy delight. I found it exceptional, in fact. It's been a while since I've heard a music score for an animated film this lively.
Overall, The Secret Life of Pets is a reasonably fun watch, especially for those with children, though, and it did get me to look forward to Illumination Studios' next offering, the musical Sing.
6.5/10
written by Brian Lynch, Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio
From Illumination Studios, the people who brought us one highly entertaining, original film with Despicable Me and a string of cookie cutter follow-ups after that comes one of the biggest box-offices successes of 2016, The Secret Life of Pets a movie that purports to tell us viewers what our pets, be they dogs, cats, birds or fish, get up to when we leave them to go to work.
The "hero" pet of this film is Max (voiced by Louis CK) a Jack Russell terrier who adores and is adored by his owner Katie (Ellie Kemper), whose return from work he patiently awaits every day, until one day she brings home a new dog she rescued from the pound, the large, hairy mongrel, Duke (Eric Stonestreet). Max, whose happy little bubble is threatened, shows dislike towards Duke, who responds with aggression as he threatens Max point blank that he will get rid of him if he has to. Max responds by breaking various items belonging to Katie and threatening to frame Duke for it, which causes him, in turn to submit to Max. The conflict only escalates, however, and eventually the two dogs find themselves lost and surrounded by all manner of urban perils, including an army of stray cats, animal control hot on their tails, and later, an army of bitter, rejected pets led by a vengeful rabbit (Kevin Hart). Max's disappearance prompts his secret admirer Gidget (Jenny Slate) to lead a motley bunch of pets including three dogs, a cat, a hawk and a hamster, to find him. Ultimately, though two dogs who hate each other must learn to work together if they are to have any chance of getting home.
Basically, this movie is Pixar's Toy Story but with pets instead of toys. I'm surprised I didn't pick up on this from one of the later trailers, but sitting through the movie, I found the the similarities too glaring to ignore. The main character who is used to being the center of his beloved owner's attention, is displaced by a new object of affection, and this leads to conflict between them. The only difference is that here, Duke, the Buzz Lightyear analogue, is antagonistic to Max almost immediately, and does not harbor fanciful delusions of living a different life the way Buzz does. Basically Max and Duke are Woody and Buzz, but without any of the quirky charm of either of those characters. In fact, they're both downright unlikable.
None of the characters, in fact, is particularly memorable, save perhaps for Kevin Hart's Snowball, and maybe Albert Brooks' hawk Tiberius. Every other character is fairly disposable, and even worse, with few exceptions, none of the voice actors is even particularly funny.
In an era in which animated films can intelligently tackle such hot-button topics as racial intolerance, like Zootopia, or even child prostitution, like Spirited Away, a movie that rehashes a twenty-one year old animated film feels distinctly uninspired. This movie isn't even anywhere near as good as the first Despicable Me.
The good news, though, is that there's plenty of slapstick comedy, which I honestly enjoyed, the animation is topnotch, and the score by Alexandre Desplat is a snazzy, jazzy delight. I found it exceptional, in fact. It's been a while since I've heard a music score for an animated film this lively.
Overall, The Secret Life of Pets is a reasonably fun watch, especially for those with children, though, and it did get me to look forward to Illumination Studios' next offering, the musical Sing.
6.5/10
Tuesday, August 23, 2016
Sitting Through a Two-Hour Commercial for a Video Game: A Review of Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV
directed by Takeshi Nozue
written by Hajime Tabata
In 2001, Sony Pictures released Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, an ambitious, purely motion-capture animated film that was intended to usher in a new era of animated films, riding on the popularity of the Final Fantasy video games, even though the film itself had nothing to do with the storyline of those games. The era never took off, though, as the film flopped at the international box office and was largely seen as the reason why the studio that made it, Square Pictures, went bankrupt.
Since then, rather than continue to venture into feature-length animated films designed for a wide audience, Square Enix, the video game developers who effectively absorbed Square Pictures, have used the feature film as a marketing platform for the aforementioned Final Fantasy video game. They did it in 2005 with the release of Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, and have done it yet again with Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV.
Kingsglaive is set in the fictional world of Eos, in which the Kingdom of Niflheim has conquered just about every other nation or kingdom in the world save for the Kingdom of Lucis, with which it is currently at war. While the royal city of Insomnia remains under the protection of a magical force field, the remainder of the territories of Lucis are under constant attack. Among those fighting to protect Lucis are the king's loyal elite guard, the Kingsglaive. After a battle in one of Lucis' territories results in heavy losses for the kingdom, Niflheim sends its Chancellor Ardyn Izunia to offer a truce to Lucis' king, Regis Lucis Caelum CXIII (voiced Sean Bean, one of the three known actors in this production) under which Lucis will cede all of its territories beyond the city of Insomnia to Niflheim in exchange for peace. Then there's the bit about Lucis' prince Noctis, supposedly an important character but one never seen onscreen, marrying the princess Lunafreya (Lena Headey). In any case, the Kingsglaive, many of whom come from homes outside the city, feel betrayed by their king, with the exception of Nyx (Aaron Paul), who remains loyal and determined to protect the king as the day of signing the truce approaches. The problem, though, is that, as is usually the case, things are not what they seem.
After failing to appeal to broad audiences with Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, I guess it makes some sense that Square Enix crafted this film exclusively for fans of the FF games, but watching this film it still irked me that its makers apparently couldn't be bothered to tell the story a little more effectively for the rest of us. There's a perfunctory bit of exposition at the beginning of the film for the uninitiated, but really, the filmmakers basically just drop the viewer into the thick of things without really demonstrating why one should really care what happens to any of these characters. There's a story here, but the writer didn't really feel obligated to tell it.
What was even more grating than the underdeveloped story, though, was the cringe-inducing dialogue and voice-acting. Basically, apart from Paul, Bean and Headey, just about every other performer in the film is either not an actor by profession (several of them appeared to be animators), or not a very good actor at all. Several of the scenes without the three leads were somewhat painful to listen to, and even the leads themselves seemed to be struggling with some of the leaden dialogue. One actor who particularly grated on me was the Chancellor of Niflheim, whose acting was easily the most overdone of all them.
There is no denying that this movie is utterly gorgeous to behold, but really, the filmmakers seemed to forget their first job was to tell a story. Not only that, but the action which was supposed to be a major selling point of this film had a distinctly muddled, chaotic look that makes the much-maligned quick-cut, shaky-cam action of many Hollywood blockbusters look as clear as day. Also, some of the rather silly character designs significantly diminished the otherwise striking photo-realism of the characters, like the utterly absurd design of the Chancellor, who looked like he had a plastic wing strapped to one arm, and the generic anime design of Lunafreya. For heaven's sake, they got the gorgeous Lena Headey to appear in their movie, one would think they could have gotten permission to incorporate at least some of her striking features into the character. Paul's and Bean's characters are less distracting, but for the mullet that Nyx sports, though personally I was struck by how much Nyx resembled former Walking Dead actor Jon Bernthal.
One writer said it quite well; this entire experience is basically one long "cutscene;" it never quite feels like an actual movie. I'd probably be kinder to it if I had seen it on television (where the resolution would no doubt have been better), secure in the knowledge that I had not paid to sit sit through it, but, well, I didn't.
3.5/10
written by Hajime Tabata
In 2001, Sony Pictures released Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, an ambitious, purely motion-capture animated film that was intended to usher in a new era of animated films, riding on the popularity of the Final Fantasy video games, even though the film itself had nothing to do with the storyline of those games. The era never took off, though, as the film flopped at the international box office and was largely seen as the reason why the studio that made it, Square Pictures, went bankrupt.
Since then, rather than continue to venture into feature-length animated films designed for a wide audience, Square Enix, the video game developers who effectively absorbed Square Pictures, have used the feature film as a marketing platform for the aforementioned Final Fantasy video game. They did it in 2005 with the release of Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, and have done it yet again with Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV.
Kingsglaive is set in the fictional world of Eos, in which the Kingdom of Niflheim has conquered just about every other nation or kingdom in the world save for the Kingdom of Lucis, with which it is currently at war. While the royal city of Insomnia remains under the protection of a magical force field, the remainder of the territories of Lucis are under constant attack. Among those fighting to protect Lucis are the king's loyal elite guard, the Kingsglaive. After a battle in one of Lucis' territories results in heavy losses for the kingdom, Niflheim sends its Chancellor Ardyn Izunia to offer a truce to Lucis' king, Regis Lucis Caelum CXIII (voiced Sean Bean, one of the three known actors in this production) under which Lucis will cede all of its territories beyond the city of Insomnia to Niflheim in exchange for peace. Then there's the bit about Lucis' prince Noctis, supposedly an important character but one never seen onscreen, marrying the princess Lunafreya (Lena Headey). In any case, the Kingsglaive, many of whom come from homes outside the city, feel betrayed by their king, with the exception of Nyx (Aaron Paul), who remains loyal and determined to protect the king as the day of signing the truce approaches. The problem, though, is that, as is usually the case, things are not what they seem.
After failing to appeal to broad audiences with Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, I guess it makes some sense that Square Enix crafted this film exclusively for fans of the FF games, but watching this film it still irked me that its makers apparently couldn't be bothered to tell the story a little more effectively for the rest of us. There's a perfunctory bit of exposition at the beginning of the film for the uninitiated, but really, the filmmakers basically just drop the viewer into the thick of things without really demonstrating why one should really care what happens to any of these characters. There's a story here, but the writer didn't really feel obligated to tell it.
What was even more grating than the underdeveloped story, though, was the cringe-inducing dialogue and voice-acting. Basically, apart from Paul, Bean and Headey, just about every other performer in the film is either not an actor by profession (several of them appeared to be animators), or not a very good actor at all. Several of the scenes without the three leads were somewhat painful to listen to, and even the leads themselves seemed to be struggling with some of the leaden dialogue. One actor who particularly grated on me was the Chancellor of Niflheim, whose acting was easily the most overdone of all them.
There is no denying that this movie is utterly gorgeous to behold, but really, the filmmakers seemed to forget their first job was to tell a story. Not only that, but the action which was supposed to be a major selling point of this film had a distinctly muddled, chaotic look that makes the much-maligned quick-cut, shaky-cam action of many Hollywood blockbusters look as clear as day. Also, some of the rather silly character designs significantly diminished the otherwise striking photo-realism of the characters, like the utterly absurd design of the Chancellor, who looked like he had a plastic wing strapped to one arm, and the generic anime design of Lunafreya. For heaven's sake, they got the gorgeous Lena Headey to appear in their movie, one would think they could have gotten permission to incorporate at least some of her striking features into the character. Paul's and Bean's characters are less distracting, but for the mullet that Nyx sports, though personally I was struck by how much Nyx resembled former Walking Dead actor Jon Bernthal.
One writer said it quite well; this entire experience is basically one long "cutscene;" it never quite feels like an actual movie. I'd probably be kinder to it if I had seen it on television (where the resolution would no doubt have been better), secure in the knowledge that I had not paid to sit sit through it, but, well, I didn't.
3.5/10
Sunday, August 14, 2016
With Charm to Spare: A Review of The BFG
directed by Steven Spielberg
written by Melissa Mathison
After sitting through a glut of sequels, reboots or remakes over the last few months, the quality of which has ranged from the fantastic (Civil War) to the distinctly uninspired (Jason Bourne), I fervently longed to watch a new film, meaning something that is neither a sequel or a remake, regardless of whether it was original material or adapted from another medium. I thought I'd found it in Warner Brothers' Suicide Squad, which presented the novel idea of a superhero film centered around supervillains, but while it was decent, that turned out to be a somewhat derivative action flick.
Truth be told, I hadn't even really planned on watching Steven Spielberg's adaptation of the Roald Dahl novel The BFG; I had thought of just getting it on DVD or watching it on cable, but when my daughter asked me very nicely if we could see it, I really couldn't resist and so we went to see it, and boy, am I glad we did.
Sophie (Ruby Barnhill) is an orphan who lives and a London orphanage and who can't sleep at night, as a result of which she walks around the orphanage in the wee hours. During one such nightly patrol, she sees a giant hand picking up a trash can, and as she gasps in fright she alerts the giant (Mark Rylance) who, fearing that she will betray his existence to the world, kidnaps her and brings her back to his land, giant country. There, after being understandably upset at being kidnapped, Sophie learns more about the "Big Friendly Giant" and comes to empathize with him. She also eventually discovers why he was wandering around London in the first place: he gives people their dreams, which he harvests from a magical tree. As wonderful as this is, she also discovers the BFG's unpleasant reality: he is regularly bullied by nine much bigger giants than he, led by the fearsome Fleshlumpeater (Jemaine Clement). Unlike the BFG, who only eats an awful vegetable that grows in his country, the giants eat flesh, and in fact ate the last human the BFG brought to his home. Sophie then hatches a plan to deal with the brutes once and for all.
The BFG marks Spielberg's return to live-action pop culture for the first time since he made the reviled 2008 sequel to the Indiana Jones franchise, and while this movie may not have had the built-in box-office strength of that sturdy franchise, it was head and shoulders its superior in terms of sheer storytelling. This movie has the kind of storytelling verve that made kid-oriented movies like E.T. so eminently watchable; the lead characters Sophie and the titular BFG, are eminently likable, which is really quite something considering that the latter is effectively a kidnapper. Credit must go to Rylance for a truly endearing performance; I missed his Oscar-winning turn in last year's Bridge of Spies, but after this film, I'm definitely a fan and will check out Spielberg's Cold War opus as soon as I am able. Newcomer Barnhill channels the charm of one-time child actress and fellow Dahl veteran Mara Wilson, who played the title character in the 1996 adaptation of Matilda.
But there's more to it than the performances; the visuals, the music and the overall storytelling evoke a wonderful sense of whimsy I haven't seen in a while. I'm a fan of Roald Dahl adaptations like Henry Selick's James and the Giant Peach and Wes Anderson's The Fantastic Mr. Fox, both stop-motion animated films, more than the somewhat perfunctory live-action adaptation of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Tim Burton (which, incidentally, remains the most successful adaptation of a Roald Dahl novel to date), and The BFG feels a lot more like its stop-motion siblings than its live-action one. There's quite a lot of heart to it, as well. The scene in which the BFG shows Sophie his "dream catching ground" which can only be reached by jumping into an enchanted lake and coming out on the other side, is just pure magic. It also helps that the legendary John Williams is in top form here, doing so much more than the rehashing of Star Wars themes that kept him busy last year.
For some reason, Roald Dahl adaptations, with the exception of the aforementioned Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, do not fare particularly well at the box-office, despite several adaptations that date back to the 1990s. It saddens me that a storyteller whose work has been embraced by generations of readers, for some reason, is not similarly appreciated on the big screen. The Fantastic Mr. Fox did not even come out here in theaters in the Philippines. Maybe someday, someone will crack the secret to both winning box-office battles and crafting a film that captures the magic of his books, but until then I will be happy to patronize films like this one.
7.5/10
written by Melissa Mathison
After sitting through a glut of sequels, reboots or remakes over the last few months, the quality of which has ranged from the fantastic (Civil War) to the distinctly uninspired (Jason Bourne), I fervently longed to watch a new film, meaning something that is neither a sequel or a remake, regardless of whether it was original material or adapted from another medium. I thought I'd found it in Warner Brothers' Suicide Squad, which presented the novel idea of a superhero film centered around supervillains, but while it was decent, that turned out to be a somewhat derivative action flick.
Truth be told, I hadn't even really planned on watching Steven Spielberg's adaptation of the Roald Dahl novel The BFG; I had thought of just getting it on DVD or watching it on cable, but when my daughter asked me very nicely if we could see it, I really couldn't resist and so we went to see it, and boy, am I glad we did.
Sophie (Ruby Barnhill) is an orphan who lives and a London orphanage and who can't sleep at night, as a result of which she walks around the orphanage in the wee hours. During one such nightly patrol, she sees a giant hand picking up a trash can, and as she gasps in fright she alerts the giant (Mark Rylance) who, fearing that she will betray his existence to the world, kidnaps her and brings her back to his land, giant country. There, after being understandably upset at being kidnapped, Sophie learns more about the "Big Friendly Giant" and comes to empathize with him. She also eventually discovers why he was wandering around London in the first place: he gives people their dreams, which he harvests from a magical tree. As wonderful as this is, she also discovers the BFG's unpleasant reality: he is regularly bullied by nine much bigger giants than he, led by the fearsome Fleshlumpeater (Jemaine Clement). Unlike the BFG, who only eats an awful vegetable that grows in his country, the giants eat flesh, and in fact ate the last human the BFG brought to his home. Sophie then hatches a plan to deal with the brutes once and for all.
The BFG marks Spielberg's return to live-action pop culture for the first time since he made the reviled 2008 sequel to the Indiana Jones franchise, and while this movie may not have had the built-in box-office strength of that sturdy franchise, it was head and shoulders its superior in terms of sheer storytelling. This movie has the kind of storytelling verve that made kid-oriented movies like E.T. so eminently watchable; the lead characters Sophie and the titular BFG, are eminently likable, which is really quite something considering that the latter is effectively a kidnapper. Credit must go to Rylance for a truly endearing performance; I missed his Oscar-winning turn in last year's Bridge of Spies, but after this film, I'm definitely a fan and will check out Spielberg's Cold War opus as soon as I am able. Newcomer Barnhill channels the charm of one-time child actress and fellow Dahl veteran Mara Wilson, who played the title character in the 1996 adaptation of Matilda.
But there's more to it than the performances; the visuals, the music and the overall storytelling evoke a wonderful sense of whimsy I haven't seen in a while. I'm a fan of Roald Dahl adaptations like Henry Selick's James and the Giant Peach and Wes Anderson's The Fantastic Mr. Fox, both stop-motion animated films, more than the somewhat perfunctory live-action adaptation of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Tim Burton (which, incidentally, remains the most successful adaptation of a Roald Dahl novel to date), and The BFG feels a lot more like its stop-motion siblings than its live-action one. There's quite a lot of heart to it, as well. The scene in which the BFG shows Sophie his "dream catching ground" which can only be reached by jumping into an enchanted lake and coming out on the other side, is just pure magic. It also helps that the legendary John Williams is in top form here, doing so much more than the rehashing of Star Wars themes that kept him busy last year.
For some reason, Roald Dahl adaptations, with the exception of the aforementioned Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, do not fare particularly well at the box-office, despite several adaptations that date back to the 1990s. It saddens me that a storyteller whose work has been embraced by generations of readers, for some reason, is not similarly appreciated on the big screen. The Fantastic Mr. Fox did not even come out here in theaters in the Philippines. Maybe someday, someone will crack the secret to both winning box-office battles and crafting a film that captures the magic of his books, but until then I will be happy to patronize films like this one.
7.5/10
Saturday, August 6, 2016
Seen at Home: A Review of Risen (Um...spoilers?)
directed by Kevin Reynolds
written by Kevin Reynolds and Paul Aiello
Christian movies are a curious thing; they kind of exist outside of the mainstream of filmed entertainment. With few exceptions they are relatively small earners; their theatrical release is generally limited to the United States or other select countries, and in terms of critical reception they receive middling reviews at best. On average, Christian-themed movies tend to get poorly reviewed. I have a number of theories, one being that critics don't like religion mixed in with their entertainment, another being that people don't like being preached to (though the success of films like Schindler's List and any number of movies geared towards social justice would seem to indicate otherwise), and another still being that for the most part, Christianity-themed movies simply aren't very-well made.
The thing is, I can't be sure that the third theory holds any water, having seen the quite obviously Christianity-themed film Risen, which tells the story of Christ's resurrection from the point of view of a Roman Tribune named Clavius (played by Joseph Fiennes). He's not a person mentioned in the Biblical account of the crucifixion or resurrection, so this story can best be described the way my son described it, as "Bible fan fiction." We didn't get a theatrical release of this in the Philippines, so I had to content myself with a DVD viewing.
Anyway, Clavius is an ambitious young Tribune working in Judea during the time of Jesus, and the film opens just around the time of the Crucifixion, with him and his troops quashing a sudden uprising by Jewish Zealots and killing the ringleader, who happens to be the Biblical Barabbas. His mission a success, Clavius is then tasked by Pontius Pilate (Peter Firth) to ensure that the crucified Yeshua (Cliff Curtis) dies and the body properly disposed of, lest his disciples steal it and declare him resurrected. Fortunately, a wealthy philanthropist, Joseph of Arimathea (Antonio Gil) offers his family tomb for Christ's interment. The body is entombed, with a heavy stone rolled over the entrace which is in turn then sealed with wax, with guards posted to watch it, all done at the insistence of the Jewish Sanhedrin, led by Caiaphas (Stephen Greif). When Christ's body is gone three days later, Clavius, with his subordinate Lucius (Tom Felton), is on a frantic mission to find it before the body decomposes beyond recognition and the disciples are able to claim that their leader has truly risen from the dead. What the unbelieving Clavius finds is enough to change his life forever.
The production value of this film, which was shot on location in Malta and Spain, is really quite striking. Oddly enough, it's not the first time I've seen a movie like this; it bears some similarity to the 2006 film The Final Inquiry which I saw on television some years ago.
This film is a more interesting take on that kind of story because it plays out like a police procedural, with Clavius leaving no stone unturned in his search for Yeshua's body. The film being a Christian film, and not the kind that leaves ambiguity in order for the viewer's own beliefs to fill in the gap, the risen Christ does appear, and I have to say I am a really big fan of Cliff Curtis' performance, which he reportedly achieved through a curious bit of method acting. While casting a Maori to play a Middle Eastern man is still not ethnically accurate, I was glad that the producers at least went for a person of color for this role rather than going for the usual generic Caucasian. Curtis' portrayal, as brief as it may be, is still something special, with its gentleness, and with the love he shows his disciples, all of whom are racked with guilt at having abandoned him at the hour of his death. As a Catholic I have to give special mention to the shot in which Curtis depicts the dead Christ, with eyes open, and a look of profound sorrow and pain frozen on his face. It's the visage many of us Catholics see in church when we look up and see Jesus on the cross, and Curtis nailed it (pun intended).
Fiennes, as the lead actor, does a creditable job carrying a movie with a fairly thin premise. As the driven but cynical Clavius, he effectively depicts a man struggling with his own convictions, especially when they are shaken by things he cannot explain. Tom Felton pretty much played his role as he was expected to, having been typecast thanks to the Harry Potter films. Firth and the actors who play the apostles contribute to the overall atmosphere of tension and urgency.
It is a shame, though, that the film delivers its emotional payoff relatively early (though still quite late in the film), as this is clearly meant to be a film about a man struggling with great inner conflict and in search of peace, a fact the character himself states in one way or another more than once through the film. What works well for me, though is that even after Clavius has his epiphany, he remains cautious and skeptical, and at a loss as to what to do next. He does not drop everything to become an apostle, and in fact the film is framed by him sitting alone in a sort of tavern, trying to figure out what to do with himself following his life-changing discovery. This, I think, mirrors the struggle that the movie's intended audience faces.
I got the impression that, the "non-believer" protagonist notwithstanding, the movie isn't meant to convert anyone who doesn't already have some kind of religious upbringing, but rather has a very specific audience in mind: agnostics, or people who were raised with a belief in God, and who have every reason to believe in the presence of God in their lives but who, for one reason or another, have drifted away from their faith while in pursuit of other things. Clavius is young, driven and arguably quite career-oriented, but in the end what he really wants is to live in peace, which mirrors the situation of a lot of young Christians today. Clavius is challenged, as are the agnostics watching: the key to obtaining peace is right before you; all you have to do is take it. It definitely preaches, but shows surprising, and commendable restraint towards the end.
As message movies go, this movie was not a bad one at all.
7.7/10
written by Kevin Reynolds and Paul Aiello
Christian movies are a curious thing; they kind of exist outside of the mainstream of filmed entertainment. With few exceptions they are relatively small earners; their theatrical release is generally limited to the United States or other select countries, and in terms of critical reception they receive middling reviews at best. On average, Christian-themed movies tend to get poorly reviewed. I have a number of theories, one being that critics don't like religion mixed in with their entertainment, another being that people don't like being preached to (though the success of films like Schindler's List and any number of movies geared towards social justice would seem to indicate otherwise), and another still being that for the most part, Christianity-themed movies simply aren't very-well made.
The thing is, I can't be sure that the third theory holds any water, having seen the quite obviously Christianity-themed film Risen, which tells the story of Christ's resurrection from the point of view of a Roman Tribune named Clavius (played by Joseph Fiennes). He's not a person mentioned in the Biblical account of the crucifixion or resurrection, so this story can best be described the way my son described it, as "Bible fan fiction." We didn't get a theatrical release of this in the Philippines, so I had to content myself with a DVD viewing.
Anyway, Clavius is an ambitious young Tribune working in Judea during the time of Jesus, and the film opens just around the time of the Crucifixion, with him and his troops quashing a sudden uprising by Jewish Zealots and killing the ringleader, who happens to be the Biblical Barabbas. His mission a success, Clavius is then tasked by Pontius Pilate (Peter Firth) to ensure that the crucified Yeshua (Cliff Curtis) dies and the body properly disposed of, lest his disciples steal it and declare him resurrected. Fortunately, a wealthy philanthropist, Joseph of Arimathea (Antonio Gil) offers his family tomb for Christ's interment. The body is entombed, with a heavy stone rolled over the entrace which is in turn then sealed with wax, with guards posted to watch it, all done at the insistence of the Jewish Sanhedrin, led by Caiaphas (Stephen Greif). When Christ's body is gone three days later, Clavius, with his subordinate Lucius (Tom Felton), is on a frantic mission to find it before the body decomposes beyond recognition and the disciples are able to claim that their leader has truly risen from the dead. What the unbelieving Clavius finds is enough to change his life forever.
The production value of this film, which was shot on location in Malta and Spain, is really quite striking. Oddly enough, it's not the first time I've seen a movie like this; it bears some similarity to the 2006 film The Final Inquiry which I saw on television some years ago.
This film is a more interesting take on that kind of story because it plays out like a police procedural, with Clavius leaving no stone unturned in his search for Yeshua's body. The film being a Christian film, and not the kind that leaves ambiguity in order for the viewer's own beliefs to fill in the gap, the risen Christ does appear, and I have to say I am a really big fan of Cliff Curtis' performance, which he reportedly achieved through a curious bit of method acting. While casting a Maori to play a Middle Eastern man is still not ethnically accurate, I was glad that the producers at least went for a person of color for this role rather than going for the usual generic Caucasian. Curtis' portrayal, as brief as it may be, is still something special, with its gentleness, and with the love he shows his disciples, all of whom are racked with guilt at having abandoned him at the hour of his death. As a Catholic I have to give special mention to the shot in which Curtis depicts the dead Christ, with eyes open, and a look of profound sorrow and pain frozen on his face. It's the visage many of us Catholics see in church when we look up and see Jesus on the cross, and Curtis nailed it (pun intended).
Fiennes, as the lead actor, does a creditable job carrying a movie with a fairly thin premise. As the driven but cynical Clavius, he effectively depicts a man struggling with his own convictions, especially when they are shaken by things he cannot explain. Tom Felton pretty much played his role as he was expected to, having been typecast thanks to the Harry Potter films. Firth and the actors who play the apostles contribute to the overall atmosphere of tension and urgency.
It is a shame, though, that the film delivers its emotional payoff relatively early (though still quite late in the film), as this is clearly meant to be a film about a man struggling with great inner conflict and in search of peace, a fact the character himself states in one way or another more than once through the film. What works well for me, though is that even after Clavius has his epiphany, he remains cautious and skeptical, and at a loss as to what to do next. He does not drop everything to become an apostle, and in fact the film is framed by him sitting alone in a sort of tavern, trying to figure out what to do with himself following his life-changing discovery. This, I think, mirrors the struggle that the movie's intended audience faces.
I got the impression that, the "non-believer" protagonist notwithstanding, the movie isn't meant to convert anyone who doesn't already have some kind of religious upbringing, but rather has a very specific audience in mind: agnostics, or people who were raised with a belief in God, and who have every reason to believe in the presence of God in their lives but who, for one reason or another, have drifted away from their faith while in pursuit of other things. Clavius is young, driven and arguably quite career-oriented, but in the end what he really wants is to live in peace, which mirrors the situation of a lot of young Christians today. Clavius is challenged, as are the agnostics watching: the key to obtaining peace is right before you; all you have to do is take it. It definitely preaches, but shows surprising, and commendable restraint towards the end.
As message movies go, this movie was not a bad one at all.
7.7/10
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