written and directed by Sigrid Andrea Bernardo
I haven't done the math, but I'm reasonably certain that in the 100-plus years or so that movies have existed as a medium of storytelling, a healthy percentage of the stories told have been love stories of one kind or another, which means that anyone looking to tell such a story will almost certainly never be able to tell a story that hasn't been told before. That's why I applaud even just an effort to tell a different love story, which is certainly what Sigrid Andrea Bernardo and her dedicated cast and crew have done with the charming romantic comedy Kita Kita.
Lea (Alessandra de Rossi) a young Filipina living and working as a tour guide in Sapporo, Japan, has trouble getting her longtime fiance Nobu to actually commit to a wedding date. He has made a habit out of forgetting their anniversary and frequently standing her up. She learns, to her shock, that this is because he's cheating on her with another woman, and the discovery proves too much for her to bear; she literally goes blind from the stress. Not too long thereafter, Lea is sitting quietly on the terrace outside her house when she is visited by her neighbor, fellow Filipino Tonyo (Empoy Marquez) who, after being repeatedly rebuffed by her, manages to befriend Lea. His multiple attempts to get her to eat his FIlipino cooking finally succeed when she agrees to eat his sour broth, or sinigang, as we call it in the vernacular. As Lea takes Tonyo, who is new to Sapporo, to the many places to go, their friendship helps bring back some light into the darkness that has shrouded Lea's life, and she finds that she may yet love again.
If the plot description reads like a bunch of romantic story tropes strung together to form yet another tired old romantic comedy, then good; the best way to watch this movie is to go in thinking you know exactly what's going to happen, only to find out that you don't.
The first thing that really struck me about this movie was how utterly authentic it felt, and this was down to Bernardo's writing and some winning lead actors in De Rossi and Marquez. De Rossi, dubbed by some writers as the "Indie Film Queen" really shines in movies like this, and despite her towering stature and striking good looks, she projects her characters as being very down to earth. Marquez, who up until this point has basically made a career out of being somebody else's sidekick or comic relief, finally comes into his own as Tonyo, the broken-English speaking Filipino overseas worker who has more in common with de Rossi's Lea than she realizes at first. Their time together onscreen is most of the movie's running time, and they make good use of it thanks to some wonderful dialogue by Bernardo (though one wonders if Marquez did a bit of improv considering his comedy background), and some palpable chemistry. The foreign setting definitely helps, as it helps highlight the sense of loneliness both characters feel so far away from home, and although Bernardo certainly isn't the first writer to adopt this particular backdrop, she uses it very effectively.
More than just tell yet another love story, though, Bernardo weaves a touching tale about the healing power of kindness. It's not quite groundbreaking and in fact it's the second movie I've seen in a fortnight or so using non-linear storytelling, but as someone I know observed Bernardo makes very good use of her storytelling technique. She's very efficient; almost every little detail early in the story pays off in the end, and it all ties up remarkably well. There are seams in the production, though, and one pivotal scene I can think of wasn't presented very artfully. Furthermore, while I get that the director probably chose the song because she liked it, I found her use of Air Supply's "Two Less Lonely People" at key points of the movie to be distinctly cloying and manipulative, a pet peeve of mine, especially in movies meant to evoke a strong emotional response. The narrative, I honestly think, could have held up on its own without it, and a proper score should have been employed instead, or better yet, perhaps an original Filipino composition.
Still, this movie, which had initially been slated for release in a film festival, was a surprisingly sweet confection, and it deserves the success it is garnering right now. May there be many movies made with the same sensibility and production value on display here.
8.5/10
Friday, August 4, 2017
Sunday, July 23, 2017
When Heroism Rises Above Horror: A Review of Dunkirk
written and directed by Christopher Nolan
Dunkirk is one of those movies that only a filmmaker with huge balls would be able to make, considering that, unlike most of the successful movies that have been made about World War II in the last 70 years, it doesn't a) feature Americans, b) depict a decisive military victory, or c) make any mention of the Holocaust. While the evacuation of Dunkirk in 1940 is probably known only to WWII buffs and very studious Brits, thanks to this movie, that's all set to change.
The film tells the story of the evacuation of Dunkirk, albeit from three perspectives, that of the soldiers awaiting evacuation on the French coast, desperate to get home, as represented by the travails of Tommy (Fionn Whitehead), his silent companion Gibson (Aneurin Barnard) and Alex (Harry Styles), that of members of the Royal Air Force out to protect the evacuees, namely Farrier (Tom Hardy), Collins (Jack Lowden) and their unnamed squad leader (played by Michael Caine's voice), and that of the civilians whose boats were requisitioned by the English government to rescue the trapped English soldiers, represented by Mr. Dawson (Mark Rylance), his son Peter (Tom Glynn-Carney) and Peter's friend George (Barry Keogh). Their stories are told in three separate but ultimately interweaving narrative threads. Kenneth Branagh also stars as Commander Bolton, who supervises the evacuation from the Dunkirk pier and who also provides some pretty convenient exposition, such as an explanation of why the British Navy can't just swoop in and save the 400,000 English soldiers stranded on the beach (the short version: the waters are too shallow for big ships).
In telling this simple story, Nolan brings his considerable visual storytelling prowess to bear, establishing the urgency of the situation right out of the gate with a superb first few minutes that show the squad of soldiers to which Tommy originally belonged get wiped out by unseen German shooters. He may not have invented the split narrative technique, but he uses it to astonishing effect here, as he ratchets up the tension with each passing moment, especially given that the three narratives are out of sync with one another. Each set of protagonists, while all caught up in the same overarching event, faces different perils. The soldiers on the beach try desperately to get off the beach, only to fail several times, the pilots must ever be mindful of both enemy planes and their limited fuel loads, while Mr. Dawson and his two companions are basically sailing into hostile territory with nothing more than Mr. Dawson's experience and their collective grit.
The payoff of narratives like this is seeing everything eventually tie together, which it all does in fine fashion.
This film has been hailed by many critics as the greatest war movie ever, as while I'll certainly join them in their praises for the most part, I wouldn't go quite so far to say "the greatest," especially since the yardstick cited is the seminal Saving Private Ryan.
The film does an incredible job of conveying tension during wartime while eschewing the gore and usual shots of people getting riddled with bullets, but where it falls slightly short for me is in convincing me why I should root for Tommy in particular to "get away" considering there are hundreds of thousands of soldiers in similar straits to his. I get that, in contrast to the Spitfire pilots and the civilians coming to the rescue, the soldiers scurrying to get home are basically everymen, not really "heroes" in the traditional sense, but there is something important about feeling a connection to these soldiers, wanting to see them safe from harm. "Good show, lads," an elderly gentleman says to two of the soldiers who made it home, to which one replies, "all we did was come home." Because all the soldiers are just "coming home," this emphasizes the importance of being able to connect with them, which, for some reason, I did not. Tommy is depicted as a would-be queue-jumper who says precious little, and I don't know whether it's down to newcomer Whitehead's muted acting or Nolan failing to flesh out the character, but truth be told I didn't really see myself cheering him on any more than the thousands of others who needed saving. I felt similarly indifferent towards Harry Styles's Alex, but at least he showed some kind of self-awareness towards the end.
The accusation that the film does not have an emotional core does not feel valid, but I think it's fair to say that there's some deficiency in its emotional heft. Maybe someone like Asa Butterfield or Tom Holland would have done a better job with the character, and to my mind the mere fact that the character doesn't have much dialogue shouldn't have been a barrier to him generating some kind of emotional resonance with the audience, independent of the sheer magnitude of what was happening to him.
Speaking of young actors, I was genuinely annoyed by Keogh, who basically mumbled all of his lines.
Also, I wasn't a fan of Hans Zimmer's virtually omnipresent music score, which Nolan clearly leaned on quite heavily to help him create tension, sometimes at instances where it really wasn't necessary. Anyone who claims that Spielberg leaned on sentimentality to manipulate the audience in Saving Private Ryan should also consider that the throbbing, frequently overbearing score by Zimmer is used to similar effect in this movie. It's not unlike how Alfonso Cuaron used Steven Price's music in Gravity, but in that film the music substituted for sounds that could not be heard in the vacuum of space, while here the music being pounded into my skull just felt like overkill.
Those nitpicks aside, I was a big fan of the performances of Rylance, Hardy, Lowden, Cillian Murphy as a PTSD-afflicted soldier, the exposition-spouting Branagh, and even James D'Arcy, who has a small role as an Army Commander and basically gives Branagh's Bolton someone to whom he can explain everything that needs explaining. This is the most British that a Hollywood blockbuster has even been outside of Harry Potter-related movie, and the quality of the acting (for the most part) benefits from it.
As WWII movies go, this is definitely one of the best, and will certainly be regarded as a definitive dramatization of what happened during the Dunkirk evacuation.
8.5/10
Dunkirk is one of those movies that only a filmmaker with huge balls would be able to make, considering that, unlike most of the successful movies that have been made about World War II in the last 70 years, it doesn't a) feature Americans, b) depict a decisive military victory, or c) make any mention of the Holocaust. While the evacuation of Dunkirk in 1940 is probably known only to WWII buffs and very studious Brits, thanks to this movie, that's all set to change.
The film tells the story of the evacuation of Dunkirk, albeit from three perspectives, that of the soldiers awaiting evacuation on the French coast, desperate to get home, as represented by the travails of Tommy (Fionn Whitehead), his silent companion Gibson (Aneurin Barnard) and Alex (Harry Styles), that of members of the Royal Air Force out to protect the evacuees, namely Farrier (Tom Hardy), Collins (Jack Lowden) and their unnamed squad leader (played by Michael Caine's voice), and that of the civilians whose boats were requisitioned by the English government to rescue the trapped English soldiers, represented by Mr. Dawson (Mark Rylance), his son Peter (Tom Glynn-Carney) and Peter's friend George (Barry Keogh). Their stories are told in three separate but ultimately interweaving narrative threads. Kenneth Branagh also stars as Commander Bolton, who supervises the evacuation from the Dunkirk pier and who also provides some pretty convenient exposition, such as an explanation of why the British Navy can't just swoop in and save the 400,000 English soldiers stranded on the beach (the short version: the waters are too shallow for big ships).
In telling this simple story, Nolan brings his considerable visual storytelling prowess to bear, establishing the urgency of the situation right out of the gate with a superb first few minutes that show the squad of soldiers to which Tommy originally belonged get wiped out by unseen German shooters. He may not have invented the split narrative technique, but he uses it to astonishing effect here, as he ratchets up the tension with each passing moment, especially given that the three narratives are out of sync with one another. Each set of protagonists, while all caught up in the same overarching event, faces different perils. The soldiers on the beach try desperately to get off the beach, only to fail several times, the pilots must ever be mindful of both enemy planes and their limited fuel loads, while Mr. Dawson and his two companions are basically sailing into hostile territory with nothing more than Mr. Dawson's experience and their collective grit.
The payoff of narratives like this is seeing everything eventually tie together, which it all does in fine fashion.
This film has been hailed by many critics as the greatest war movie ever, as while I'll certainly join them in their praises for the most part, I wouldn't go quite so far to say "the greatest," especially since the yardstick cited is the seminal Saving Private Ryan.
The film does an incredible job of conveying tension during wartime while eschewing the gore and usual shots of people getting riddled with bullets, but where it falls slightly short for me is in convincing me why I should root for Tommy in particular to "get away" considering there are hundreds of thousands of soldiers in similar straits to his. I get that, in contrast to the Spitfire pilots and the civilians coming to the rescue, the soldiers scurrying to get home are basically everymen, not really "heroes" in the traditional sense, but there is something important about feeling a connection to these soldiers, wanting to see them safe from harm. "Good show, lads," an elderly gentleman says to two of the soldiers who made it home, to which one replies, "all we did was come home." Because all the soldiers are just "coming home," this emphasizes the importance of being able to connect with them, which, for some reason, I did not. Tommy is depicted as a would-be queue-jumper who says precious little, and I don't know whether it's down to newcomer Whitehead's muted acting or Nolan failing to flesh out the character, but truth be told I didn't really see myself cheering him on any more than the thousands of others who needed saving. I felt similarly indifferent towards Harry Styles's Alex, but at least he showed some kind of self-awareness towards the end.
The accusation that the film does not have an emotional core does not feel valid, but I think it's fair to say that there's some deficiency in its emotional heft. Maybe someone like Asa Butterfield or Tom Holland would have done a better job with the character, and to my mind the mere fact that the character doesn't have much dialogue shouldn't have been a barrier to him generating some kind of emotional resonance with the audience, independent of the sheer magnitude of what was happening to him.
Speaking of young actors, I was genuinely annoyed by Keogh, who basically mumbled all of his lines.
Also, I wasn't a fan of Hans Zimmer's virtually omnipresent music score, which Nolan clearly leaned on quite heavily to help him create tension, sometimes at instances where it really wasn't necessary. Anyone who claims that Spielberg leaned on sentimentality to manipulate the audience in Saving Private Ryan should also consider that the throbbing, frequently overbearing score by Zimmer is used to similar effect in this movie. It's not unlike how Alfonso Cuaron used Steven Price's music in Gravity, but in that film the music substituted for sounds that could not be heard in the vacuum of space, while here the music being pounded into my skull just felt like overkill.
Those nitpicks aside, I was a big fan of the performances of Rylance, Hardy, Lowden, Cillian Murphy as a PTSD-afflicted soldier, the exposition-spouting Branagh, and even James D'Arcy, who has a small role as an Army Commander and basically gives Branagh's Bolton someone to whom he can explain everything that needs explaining. This is the most British that a Hollywood blockbuster has even been outside of Harry Potter-related movie, and the quality of the acting (for the most part) benefits from it.
As WWII movies go, this is definitely one of the best, and will certainly be regarded as a definitive dramatization of what happened during the Dunkirk evacuation.
8.5/10
Tuesday, July 11, 2017
So...How About Those Twists, Huh? (SPOILERS GALORE FOR SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING)
With Spider-Man: Homecoming having conquered the American box office and several others across the globe last weekend, there is no doubt in my mind that comic book geeks all around globe are now discussing the story twist in the movie in which comic book mainstay Liz Allen was revealed to actually be Liz Toomes, or the daughter of the film's villain, Adrian Toomes, aka the Vulture.
At that point, I was so happy with the movie that they could have just given me a generic showdown and I still would have enjoyed it thoroughly. As it was, though, so late in the film the storytellers still managed to throw me for a loop. Peter Parker's reaction was portrayed to utter perfection by Tom Holland, who has, in my mind, at least established himself as the definitive Spider-Man and Peter Parker. Peter's profound discomfort at the discovery that his worst enemy was actually the father of his longtime crush and homecoming date was a superb piece of acting, and Holland didn't even need his perfect Queens accent; his expressions said everything. The car ride from Toomes' mansion to the high school was the real payoff, and I guarantee that people are going to be talking about that sequence for years to come, way more than they will be about the CGI fight sequences. It's easily one of the most tense confrontations in any superhero story ever put to film.
Quite a few of the films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe have had story twists over the years, starting with the not-so-shocking revelation that Obadiah Stane had hired mercenaries to have Tony Stark killed, the slightly-out-of-left-field revelation that Ben Kingsley's ruthless Mandarin was, in fact, a drunken, washed-out actor, the disclosure that S.H.I.E.L.D. had been taken over by HYDRA, and most recently the blatantly-telegraphed revelation that Bucky killed Tony Stark's parents. As twists go, however, this one was, for me, anyway, the most effective one, considering that it came out of nowhere and had the most visceral impact. The car ride that followed the reveal was really something else. Also, while it's not the first time that a bad guy figured out who Spider-Man was without an unmasking (which, laughably enough, has happened quite a lot over the course of the five previous movies), the depiction of how Vulture figured out Peter's secret was the most well-conceived that I've seen so far.
And then, of course, just when we think the film is about to wrap up, there's the moment that Aunt May walks in on Peter while he's wearing the high-tech Spider-Man suit that Tony Stark has just returned to him. It's considerably less dramatic than the Vulture twist and played more for laughs than anything else, but it sure made for a heck of a cliffhanger. Truth be told, Marisa Tomei's Aunt May was tragically underused in the film especially considering how important the character of Aunt May is to Peter, but I get that the imperative of this film was more to establish his relationships with his peers rather than show him as the "aunt's boy" he was in previous films Still, this particular sequence seems to indicate that they've got big plans for the character for the inevitable sequel.
This film delivered on so many fronts for me I was more than ready to embrace it even without these little"bonuses," but these have just sweetened the pot all the more and now have me even more excited for the prospect of more movies from this team. May they make many more movies as good as, if not better, than this one.
I just hope they work his Spider-sense into the next film.
At that point, I was so happy with the movie that they could have just given me a generic showdown and I still would have enjoyed it thoroughly. As it was, though, so late in the film the storytellers still managed to throw me for a loop. Peter Parker's reaction was portrayed to utter perfection by Tom Holland, who has, in my mind, at least established himself as the definitive Spider-Man and Peter Parker. Peter's profound discomfort at the discovery that his worst enemy was actually the father of his longtime crush and homecoming date was a superb piece of acting, and Holland didn't even need his perfect Queens accent; his expressions said everything. The car ride from Toomes' mansion to the high school was the real payoff, and I guarantee that people are going to be talking about that sequence for years to come, way more than they will be about the CGI fight sequences. It's easily one of the most tense confrontations in any superhero story ever put to film.
Quite a few of the films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe have had story twists over the years, starting with the not-so-shocking revelation that Obadiah Stane had hired mercenaries to have Tony Stark killed, the slightly-out-of-left-field revelation that Ben Kingsley's ruthless Mandarin was, in fact, a drunken, washed-out actor, the disclosure that S.H.I.E.L.D. had been taken over by HYDRA, and most recently the blatantly-telegraphed revelation that Bucky killed Tony Stark's parents. As twists go, however, this one was, for me, anyway, the most effective one, considering that it came out of nowhere and had the most visceral impact. The car ride that followed the reveal was really something else. Also, while it's not the first time that a bad guy figured out who Spider-Man was without an unmasking (which, laughably enough, has happened quite a lot over the course of the five previous movies), the depiction of how Vulture figured out Peter's secret was the most well-conceived that I've seen so far.
And then, of course, just when we think the film is about to wrap up, there's the moment that Aunt May walks in on Peter while he's wearing the high-tech Spider-Man suit that Tony Stark has just returned to him. It's considerably less dramatic than the Vulture twist and played more for laughs than anything else, but it sure made for a heck of a cliffhanger. Truth be told, Marisa Tomei's Aunt May was tragically underused in the film especially considering how important the character of Aunt May is to Peter, but I get that the imperative of this film was more to establish his relationships with his peers rather than show him as the "aunt's boy" he was in previous films Still, this particular sequence seems to indicate that they've got big plans for the character for the inevitable sequel.
This film delivered on so many fronts for me I was more than ready to embrace it even without these little"bonuses," but these have just sweetened the pot all the more and now have me even more excited for the prospect of more movies from this team. May they make many more movies as good as, if not better, than this one.
I just hope they work his Spider-sense into the next film.
Sunday, July 9, 2017
Peter Parker's Day Off: A Review of Spider-Man: Homecoming
directed by Jon Watts
written by Jonathan Goldstein, John Francis Daley, Watts, Christopher Ford, Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers
For the third time in fifteen years, Sony Pictures unleashes a new big screen iteration of Marvel Comics' single most beloved superhero, the amazing Spider-Man. This time, however, they've got the might of Marvel in their creative (and marketing) corner, and the results are exactly what millions of fans the world over have been hoping for since it was announced that Sony was finally allowing Spidey into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, including this longtime fanboy.
Peter Parker (Tom Holland) is a fifteen-year-old high school sophomore with typical high school problems; he has a hard time talking to girls, particularly his dream girl Liz (Laura Harrier). He has to deal with school bully Flash (Tony Revolori), and apart from his best bud Ned (Jacob Batalon), he doesn't really have that many friends. He also has the proportionate strength, speed and agility of a spider, and a super-hero secret identity, that of Spider-Man. As the film begins he has just taken part in an attempt to capture Captain America. Having quietly flown him to Germany for the aforementioned mission, Peter's mentor Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.), quietly drops Peter off at home back in Queens where he lives with his Aunt May (Marisa Tomei) and leaves his driver/bodyguard Happy (Jon Favreau) in charge of making sure he stays out of trouble.
Unbeknownst to Stark, however, since one of his companies, Damage Control, booted out contractor Adrian Toomes (Michael Keaton) from a clean-up job he and his crew had gotten from the City Government of New York to clean up after the Avengers' battle with the Chitauri many years ago, Toomes and his cohorts have been stealing technology left over from the Avengers' battles to build extremely dangerous weapons and sell them to criminals. One such gang of criminals tries to use the tech to rob several ATMs...right in Peter's neighborhood. Spider-Man stops the robbery, but when he tries to track down the people selling the weapons, he finds that his desire to play superhero comes into direct conflict with his life as a high school student, the latter of which, to a kid who is both as smart and as marginalized as Peter, is not particularly fulfilling. To get off the very short leash on which Stark keeps him, Peter has Ned, who accidentally discovers his identity, hack into the Stark-built Spider-man costume and he sets off on his self-appointed mission to unlock its many high-tech goodies, which he feels he will need to stop Toomes. Peter will soon discover, however, that it's not the suit and powers that matter but the hero that wields them.
Much has been written about how Peter Parker's youth is the single biggest asset of the film, and I definitely agree with that assessment. None of the previous films focused much on Peter's life as a high school student. The first film had him graduating halfway through the film, and the first reboot, while it featured a Peter who was still in high school, noticeably treated it more like an incidental fact of his life rather than a defining aspect of it. Previous filmmakers seemed eager to get it out of the way, but in conceiving this movie, director Jon Watts and his army of writers, no doubt under the watchful eye of Kevin Feige, wisely used the high school setting to establish the key lesson that defines Peter Parker's journey as Spider-Man: with great power comes great responsibility. Peter's got both brain and, thanks to his spider bite, the brawn to do all of the super stuff, but he learns the hard way that there's quite a bit more to being a hero than just having super powers and knowing how to use them. He's the avatar for every kid who's ever felt trapped by the constraints of school, especially the gifted kids, and it's gratifying to see the filmmakers reaching out to what is undoubtedly this film's core audience with something heartfelt to say about being young and all of the awkwardness and frustration that entails. It's funny, exciting and compassionate, and a film that's easily one of the best that Marvel Studios has ever produced.
I'd go as far as to say it stands on par with Spider-Man 2, still regarded by many as one of the very best films the superhero genre has to offer, and in many ways it even exceeds it. After all, this is a movie that features a wisecracking Spider-Man, a genius who can make his own web fluid, and a kid who is every bit as shy out of the costume as he is cocky in it. It also helps that this film, unlike any that came before it, pays homage to one of the most iconic moments in the character's published history, one which dyed-in-the-wool comic book Spidey fans will recognize instantly.
The visual pyrotechnics are all topnotch, of course, with Sony Pictures Imageworks and Digital Domain churning out state-of-the-art effects, but that's to be expected from this kind of movie. I was personally glad that the film didn't degenerate into a generic CGI orgy in the last act. While there are clearly visual effects involved; it plays out a lot better than, say, the ultra-generic battle at the end of Wonder Woman. Still, whatever artistry the VFX wizards would have brought to the table would have been all for naught had the writers left their brains at home. Just ask the guys who worked on the Transformers movies.
The good news is that, despite having six writers, often a recipe for creative disaster, the film's script feels solid and mostly coherent. Watts, who was apparently chosen to direct this film because of a little independent film called Cop Car which featured pre-teen boys as protagonists, coaxes exemplary performances from his cast. Carrying the movie on his slight shoulders, however, is white-hot British actor Tom Holland, who snagged this role two years ago in what was apparently a very competitive auditioning process, and who turns in a note-perfect performance as one of the most beloved superhero characters of all time. Holland's youthfulness helps him portray Peter as eager and callow, but it's Holland's earnestness and commitment to his portrayal that really enables him to nail a rather tricky performance. Tobey Maguire, in the first iteration of the character, went a bit too broad, and Andrew Garfield, while his love for the character was fairly clear, just couldn't quite nail the awkwardness of Peter. Holland gets the balance just right, and helping him along are a talented, if sometimes low-key supporting cast in Batalon, Zendaya and Laura Harrier. Batalon is a real scene-stealer here, and I'm not just saying that because he's of Filipino descent.
Also, it's worth noting that for once, the hero faces off against a villain who is not only formidable but very well-developed, courtesy of a smashing performance by Michael Keaton. In breaking away from recent tradition, Keaton's Vulture is the very best MCU since Tom Hiddleston charmed moviegoers' pants off as Loki, the god of mischief five years ago. Keaton brings his considerable acting chops (and comic book street cred) to bear as he renders a performance that is all at once terrifying and surprisingly sympathetic, even right up to the end. Keaton's is actually the first face the audience sees as the film opens, and he leaves a heck of an impression. I'm not actually shocked; I've been a fan of this guy since 1988's Beetlejuice, and I know that, even without Batman on his resume, he's got some serious acting mojo, but I was pleasantly surprised that he turned in a wonderfully nuanced performance rather than just sail on through for an easy paycheck. People like Paul Giamatti and Jamie Foxx may have gone all Jim Carrey on their Spidey villains but Keaton not only dials the menace up to 11 with his character, but manages to keep him human at the same time, which makes him even scarier.
There's not much to say about Robert Downey, Jr. and Jon Favreau as Tony Stark and Happy Hogan, respectively, other than that they were the necessary glue between this iteration of Spidey and the bigger Marvel Cinematic Universe, but unlike the awkwardly shoehorned Falcon scene in Ant-Man, Stark and Happy are reasonably well-integrated into the narrative, with Stark standing as a welcome substitute for Peter's late Uncle Ben, whose death, I am glad to report, is no longer depicted and who, in fact, is only mentioned very obliquely. In case I missed that point, I'm happy to point out this isn't an origin story, and the film is all the better for it.
It's got its flaws; Spider-Man's "spider sense" or the preternatural ability to sense danger is conspicuously absent from this film, though to be fair it also winked out at somewhat inconvenient moments in past films as well. My son pointed out his weak chemistry with his romantic lead, Liz, which was a little disappointing after Wonder Woman got the superhero love story down pat. A direct reference to Ferris Bueller's Day Off was a little on the nose, considering the film does an effective homage all on its own, with Peter spending most of it playing hooky. These, are however, but minor quibbles; I really enjoyed this film. Also, while he doesn't quite match his wonderfully quirky work on Doctor Strange, composer Michael Giacchino comes up with a pretty strong theme for Spidey, even though I'm sure this film will be better-remembered for the orchestral version of the old 1960s TV show that ushers in the "Marvel Studios" logo in the beginning.
And so, Sony has restored some luster to the crown jewel of Marvel's cinematic characters, and I take great encouragement from Kevin Feige's pronouncement that this version of Spidey will soon usher in a new era for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, following the cataclysmic events of the upcoming Avengers: Infinity War. The MCU could not ask for a better standard-bearer.
8.5/10
written by Jonathan Goldstein, John Francis Daley, Watts, Christopher Ford, Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers
For the third time in fifteen years, Sony Pictures unleashes a new big screen iteration of Marvel Comics' single most beloved superhero, the amazing Spider-Man. This time, however, they've got the might of Marvel in their creative (and marketing) corner, and the results are exactly what millions of fans the world over have been hoping for since it was announced that Sony was finally allowing Spidey into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, including this longtime fanboy.
Peter Parker (Tom Holland) is a fifteen-year-old high school sophomore with typical high school problems; he has a hard time talking to girls, particularly his dream girl Liz (Laura Harrier). He has to deal with school bully Flash (Tony Revolori), and apart from his best bud Ned (Jacob Batalon), he doesn't really have that many friends. He also has the proportionate strength, speed and agility of a spider, and a super-hero secret identity, that of Spider-Man. As the film begins he has just taken part in an attempt to capture Captain America. Having quietly flown him to Germany for the aforementioned mission, Peter's mentor Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.), quietly drops Peter off at home back in Queens where he lives with his Aunt May (Marisa Tomei) and leaves his driver/bodyguard Happy (Jon Favreau) in charge of making sure he stays out of trouble.
Unbeknownst to Stark, however, since one of his companies, Damage Control, booted out contractor Adrian Toomes (Michael Keaton) from a clean-up job he and his crew had gotten from the City Government of New York to clean up after the Avengers' battle with the Chitauri many years ago, Toomes and his cohorts have been stealing technology left over from the Avengers' battles to build extremely dangerous weapons and sell them to criminals. One such gang of criminals tries to use the tech to rob several ATMs...right in Peter's neighborhood. Spider-Man stops the robbery, but when he tries to track down the people selling the weapons, he finds that his desire to play superhero comes into direct conflict with his life as a high school student, the latter of which, to a kid who is both as smart and as marginalized as Peter, is not particularly fulfilling. To get off the very short leash on which Stark keeps him, Peter has Ned, who accidentally discovers his identity, hack into the Stark-built Spider-man costume and he sets off on his self-appointed mission to unlock its many high-tech goodies, which he feels he will need to stop Toomes. Peter will soon discover, however, that it's not the suit and powers that matter but the hero that wields them.
Much has been written about how Peter Parker's youth is the single biggest asset of the film, and I definitely agree with that assessment. None of the previous films focused much on Peter's life as a high school student. The first film had him graduating halfway through the film, and the first reboot, while it featured a Peter who was still in high school, noticeably treated it more like an incidental fact of his life rather than a defining aspect of it. Previous filmmakers seemed eager to get it out of the way, but in conceiving this movie, director Jon Watts and his army of writers, no doubt under the watchful eye of Kevin Feige, wisely used the high school setting to establish the key lesson that defines Peter Parker's journey as Spider-Man: with great power comes great responsibility. Peter's got both brain and, thanks to his spider bite, the brawn to do all of the super stuff, but he learns the hard way that there's quite a bit more to being a hero than just having super powers and knowing how to use them. He's the avatar for every kid who's ever felt trapped by the constraints of school, especially the gifted kids, and it's gratifying to see the filmmakers reaching out to what is undoubtedly this film's core audience with something heartfelt to say about being young and all of the awkwardness and frustration that entails. It's funny, exciting and compassionate, and a film that's easily one of the best that Marvel Studios has ever produced.
I'd go as far as to say it stands on par with Spider-Man 2, still regarded by many as one of the very best films the superhero genre has to offer, and in many ways it even exceeds it. After all, this is a movie that features a wisecracking Spider-Man, a genius who can make his own web fluid, and a kid who is every bit as shy out of the costume as he is cocky in it. It also helps that this film, unlike any that came before it, pays homage to one of the most iconic moments in the character's published history, one which dyed-in-the-wool comic book Spidey fans will recognize instantly.
The visual pyrotechnics are all topnotch, of course, with Sony Pictures Imageworks and Digital Domain churning out state-of-the-art effects, but that's to be expected from this kind of movie. I was personally glad that the film didn't degenerate into a generic CGI orgy in the last act. While there are clearly visual effects involved; it plays out a lot better than, say, the ultra-generic battle at the end of Wonder Woman. Still, whatever artistry the VFX wizards would have brought to the table would have been all for naught had the writers left their brains at home. Just ask the guys who worked on the Transformers movies.
The good news is that, despite having six writers, often a recipe for creative disaster, the film's script feels solid and mostly coherent. Watts, who was apparently chosen to direct this film because of a little independent film called Cop Car which featured pre-teen boys as protagonists, coaxes exemplary performances from his cast. Carrying the movie on his slight shoulders, however, is white-hot British actor Tom Holland, who snagged this role two years ago in what was apparently a very competitive auditioning process, and who turns in a note-perfect performance as one of the most beloved superhero characters of all time. Holland's youthfulness helps him portray Peter as eager and callow, but it's Holland's earnestness and commitment to his portrayal that really enables him to nail a rather tricky performance. Tobey Maguire, in the first iteration of the character, went a bit too broad, and Andrew Garfield, while his love for the character was fairly clear, just couldn't quite nail the awkwardness of Peter. Holland gets the balance just right, and helping him along are a talented, if sometimes low-key supporting cast in Batalon, Zendaya and Laura Harrier. Batalon is a real scene-stealer here, and I'm not just saying that because he's of Filipino descent.
Also, it's worth noting that for once, the hero faces off against a villain who is not only formidable but very well-developed, courtesy of a smashing performance by Michael Keaton. In breaking away from recent tradition, Keaton's Vulture is the very best MCU since Tom Hiddleston charmed moviegoers' pants off as Loki, the god of mischief five years ago. Keaton brings his considerable acting chops (and comic book street cred) to bear as he renders a performance that is all at once terrifying and surprisingly sympathetic, even right up to the end. Keaton's is actually the first face the audience sees as the film opens, and he leaves a heck of an impression. I'm not actually shocked; I've been a fan of this guy since 1988's Beetlejuice, and I know that, even without Batman on his resume, he's got some serious acting mojo, but I was pleasantly surprised that he turned in a wonderfully nuanced performance rather than just sail on through for an easy paycheck. People like Paul Giamatti and Jamie Foxx may have gone all Jim Carrey on their Spidey villains but Keaton not only dials the menace up to 11 with his character, but manages to keep him human at the same time, which makes him even scarier.
There's not much to say about Robert Downey, Jr. and Jon Favreau as Tony Stark and Happy Hogan, respectively, other than that they were the necessary glue between this iteration of Spidey and the bigger Marvel Cinematic Universe, but unlike the awkwardly shoehorned Falcon scene in Ant-Man, Stark and Happy are reasonably well-integrated into the narrative, with Stark standing as a welcome substitute for Peter's late Uncle Ben, whose death, I am glad to report, is no longer depicted and who, in fact, is only mentioned very obliquely. In case I missed that point, I'm happy to point out this isn't an origin story, and the film is all the better for it.
It's got its flaws; Spider-Man's "spider sense" or the preternatural ability to sense danger is conspicuously absent from this film, though to be fair it also winked out at somewhat inconvenient moments in past films as well. My son pointed out his weak chemistry with his romantic lead, Liz, which was a little disappointing after Wonder Woman got the superhero love story down pat. A direct reference to Ferris Bueller's Day Off was a little on the nose, considering the film does an effective homage all on its own, with Peter spending most of it playing hooky. These, are however, but minor quibbles; I really enjoyed this film. Also, while he doesn't quite match his wonderfully quirky work on Doctor Strange, composer Michael Giacchino comes up with a pretty strong theme for Spidey, even though I'm sure this film will be better-remembered for the orchestral version of the old 1960s TV show that ushers in the "Marvel Studios" logo in the beginning.
And so, Sony has restored some luster to the crown jewel of Marvel's cinematic characters, and I take great encouragement from Kevin Feige's pronouncement that this version of Spidey will soon usher in a new era for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, following the cataclysmic events of the upcoming Avengers: Infinity War. The MCU could not ask for a better standard-bearer.
8.5/10
Thursday, July 6, 2017
An Almost Obligatory Cash Grab: A Review of Despicable Me 3
directed by Kyle Balda, Pierre Coffin, and Eric Guillon
written by Ken Daurio and Cinco Paul
When I first saw the posters for the animated sequel Despicable Me 3, the premise of which is that the protagonist, ex-supervillain Gru (Steve Carell) has a twin brother, also played by Carell, I snickered at the tag-line printed in big, black letters: "Oh, Brother" and thought to myself, how very apt.
As much as I enjoyed the very first Despicable Me film seven years ago, and, to a lesser extent, its sequel four years ago, I knew, after that second film, and especially after the trashy, unabashedly commercial Minions spin-off/prequel, that creatively, this team pretty much had nowhere else to go with their conceit of a supervillain gone straight. I also knew that, considering the gargantuan grosses of both the latter two movies (with Minions racking up over a billion dollars at the global box office), making a DM3 movie was pretty much a no-brainer. I just didn't figure on it being a no-brainer storywise, as well.
The premise is so lazy one wonders how much thought even went into it. When Gru, working for the Anti-Villain League that was introduced in the second film, is unable, yet again, to capture 80's themed supervillain Balthazar Bratt (Trey Parker, playing an over-the-hill child star in a bit of "meta" casting given his own, long-gone fame), he loses his job, as does his wife, Lucy (Kristen Wiig) when she tries to stick up for him. At the same time, Gru's minions (Pierre Coffin) who have been egging him on to resume his life of villainy, are fed up when he refuses, and quit working for him, with the exception of two of them. Also at the same time, Gru is invited to meet his long lost twin brother Dru, whose very existence his mother (Julie Andrews) had concealed from him because of an acrimonious divorce. Dru apparently lives in opulence as the number one pig farmer in the (fictional) country of Freedonia, but he has a secret that Gru, still smarting from losing his job, will soon learn to his chagrin.
The gang's all back from the last movie, with the exception of Agnes and Edith, who have both been recast presumably due to the voice actors having grown up, and to be truthful the film feels as stale as a sequel to a franchise that's run out of ideas would feel. Parker, best known for the bawdy humor of his South Park series, seems pretty lost when placed in a family-friendly film, and in any case his "Balthazar Bratt" is nowhere near as entertaining as Jason Segel's Vector and Benjamin Bratt's El Macho from the previous films were. I'll admit to being entertained by the 80s-themed dance battle, though really, I wonder if anyone not of my generation is even going to appreciate the reference.
The worst part was seeing (or more appropriately hearing) Carell and the other voice-actor mainstays phoning in their roles, which, for all I know, is literally what they were doing. Carell brought so much life to Gru when the character debuted the better part of a decade ago, with his zany, vaguely Russian accent and just the right mix of malevolence and vulnerability. Now he genuinely feels like he just doesn't give two s**ts about his character or his belatedly-introduced brother. And the less said about Julie Andrews' revisiting the character of Gru's mom, the better. Suffice it so say her sole purpose here is basically as an exposition device, and she can't even be bothered to put on a specific accent this time around.
The Minions, the official avatars of Illumination Studios, have an insufferable subplot that's not even worth describing other than that it gives the filmmakers an excuse to crack tired, old prison jokes.
About the only notable thing about this movie is how the writers sort of manage to address the issue of how to have more adventures with Gru and the Minions without having Gru revert to being a bad guy (mild spoiler alert there). This issue is addressed, after a fashion, and the results are mildly entertaining. The film even looks good, which is an area in which Illumination continues to impress, considering they spend considerably less on their films than their rivals at Disney and Dreamworks. They'll probably be able to rake in several hundred million dollars (at least) from a few more films of this series.
But really, as a creative endeavor, this film franchise has really run its course.
5.5/10
written by Ken Daurio and Cinco Paul
When I first saw the posters for the animated sequel Despicable Me 3, the premise of which is that the protagonist, ex-supervillain Gru (Steve Carell) has a twin brother, also played by Carell, I snickered at the tag-line printed in big, black letters: "Oh, Brother" and thought to myself, how very apt.
As much as I enjoyed the very first Despicable Me film seven years ago, and, to a lesser extent, its sequel four years ago, I knew, after that second film, and especially after the trashy, unabashedly commercial Minions spin-off/prequel, that creatively, this team pretty much had nowhere else to go with their conceit of a supervillain gone straight. I also knew that, considering the gargantuan grosses of both the latter two movies (with Minions racking up over a billion dollars at the global box office), making a DM3 movie was pretty much a no-brainer. I just didn't figure on it being a no-brainer storywise, as well.
The premise is so lazy one wonders how much thought even went into it. When Gru, working for the Anti-Villain League that was introduced in the second film, is unable, yet again, to capture 80's themed supervillain Balthazar Bratt (Trey Parker, playing an over-the-hill child star in a bit of "meta" casting given his own, long-gone fame), he loses his job, as does his wife, Lucy (Kristen Wiig) when she tries to stick up for him. At the same time, Gru's minions (Pierre Coffin) who have been egging him on to resume his life of villainy, are fed up when he refuses, and quit working for him, with the exception of two of them. Also at the same time, Gru is invited to meet his long lost twin brother Dru, whose very existence his mother (Julie Andrews) had concealed from him because of an acrimonious divorce. Dru apparently lives in opulence as the number one pig farmer in the (fictional) country of Freedonia, but he has a secret that Gru, still smarting from losing his job, will soon learn to his chagrin.
The gang's all back from the last movie, with the exception of Agnes and Edith, who have both been recast presumably due to the voice actors having grown up, and to be truthful the film feels as stale as a sequel to a franchise that's run out of ideas would feel. Parker, best known for the bawdy humor of his South Park series, seems pretty lost when placed in a family-friendly film, and in any case his "Balthazar Bratt" is nowhere near as entertaining as Jason Segel's Vector and Benjamin Bratt's El Macho from the previous films were. I'll admit to being entertained by the 80s-themed dance battle, though really, I wonder if anyone not of my generation is even going to appreciate the reference.
The worst part was seeing (or more appropriately hearing) Carell and the other voice-actor mainstays phoning in their roles, which, for all I know, is literally what they were doing. Carell brought so much life to Gru when the character debuted the better part of a decade ago, with his zany, vaguely Russian accent and just the right mix of malevolence and vulnerability. Now he genuinely feels like he just doesn't give two s**ts about his character or his belatedly-introduced brother. And the less said about Julie Andrews' revisiting the character of Gru's mom, the better. Suffice it so say her sole purpose here is basically as an exposition device, and she can't even be bothered to put on a specific accent this time around.
The Minions, the official avatars of Illumination Studios, have an insufferable subplot that's not even worth describing other than that it gives the filmmakers an excuse to crack tired, old prison jokes.
About the only notable thing about this movie is how the writers sort of manage to address the issue of how to have more adventures with Gru and the Minions without having Gru revert to being a bad guy (mild spoiler alert there). This issue is addressed, after a fashion, and the results are mildly entertaining. The film even looks good, which is an area in which Illumination continues to impress, considering they spend considerably less on their films than their rivals at Disney and Dreamworks. They'll probably be able to rake in several hundred million dollars (at least) from a few more films of this series.
But really, as a creative endeavor, this film franchise has really run its course.
5.5/10
Saturday, June 3, 2017
Wondrous! A Review of Wonder Woman
directed by Patty Jenkins
written by Allan Heinberg
The most recognizable female superhero in the world, DC Comics' Princess Diana of Themyscira, aka Wonder Woman, finally gets her own feature film, and it is a doozy.
On the island of Themyscira lives a community of warrior women known as the Amazons, led by their Queen, Hippolyta (Connie Nielsen). It's a peaceful place, one hidden from world, and it is here that young Diana (Lily Aspell), the Queen's daughter, lives, away from humanity and, in fact, away from all men. Diana finds herself drawn to the constant military training the Amazons, led by their fierce General Antiope (Robin Wright, who at 51 can still kick some serious ass), much to the distress of her mother. Hippolyta tells Diana the story of the Amazons, about how they were created by the god Zeus to protect men, and how Zeus's son Ares, full of resentment, pitted men against one another, starting wars, wars which included even the gods as their casualties. Zeus struck Ares down with his dying breath, but the threat of his return remains. Zeus has left a weapon the island capable of killing him in the event of his return. Diana then begins training in secret with her aunt. As Diana (Emily Carey) gets older, Hippolyta catches her secret training, and disapproves, but eventually realizes the need for it, telling Antiope to train her harder than any Amazon on the island. As a result, by the time she is an adult (Gal Gadot), she is a truly formidable warrior.
The peace on the island is then disrupted when an American military pilot Steve Trevor (Chris Pine), crashes into its waters, almost immediately being followed by several German pursuers. Fighting on the island breaks out, and while the Amazons vanquish the Germans, lives are lost. The Amazons interrogate Trevor, who tells that he is trying to bring an end to "the war to end all wars" which has claimed millions of lives. He was working as a British spy behind German lines when he learned of a deadly gas being made by Doctor Maru (Elena Anaya) for her principal General Ludendorff (Danny Huston), one which could kill millions more than have already died. Diana is convinced that this war (World War I) is the handiwork of Ares, and she leaves the island with Steve, intent on stopping him.
It's been four years since Zack Snyder kicked off what is now known as the DC Extended Universe with Man of Steel, a surprisingly bleak take on the Superman mythos, and a year since its follow-up, Batman vs. Superman, a movie that borrowed from Frank Miller's deconstructionist comic-books of the 80s but which, without the context that had preceded them, and some pretty bad writing, felt more like an extra grim Michael Bay movie than anything else. For many (including myself) Wonder Woman's tiny sliver of screen time was one of the few highlights of that film because it basically felt like one of the few moments of joy throughout over two and a half hours of running time.
Director Patty Jenkins and writer Allan Heinberg must have picked up on that because what they give us is a marked contrast from that dour throw-down between Bats and Supes. In fact, what they've given us is a distinct throwback to brighter superhero origin stories like Richard Donner's Superman and even the more recent Captain America: The First Avenger by Joe Johnston. Comparisons to the latter film will be inevitable considering that both share a wartime setting, and in fact the Wonder Woman character was created during World War II, but this film is still very much its own thing. Jenkins and her crew also exploit the whole period setting to the hilt, with lavish sets and costumes and generous helpings of early 20th century atmosphere. By setting the film at that particular point in history, they also cannily put Diana in a position to appreciate misogyny, though it's noticeably sanitized. It could be that I'm a sucker for period films (which, I confess, I am), but with some thoroughly impressive production value, this movie was really $120 million well-spent, for the most part.
Of course, pretty sets and lighting would mean nothing without effective storytelling, and fortunately, right out of the gate, this film charms with some really strong performances, especially from Gal Gadot and Chris Pine, whose chemistry is also one of the highlights of the movie. Gadot's performance as the intelligent but guileless Diana is a fine balancing act that could have easily gone over the top but which she pulls off perfectly. She anchors the film, though I'll admit I was surprised by how strong Pine's performance was, considering how a lot of love interests in superhero movies these days, ranging from Rachel McAdams' Christine in Doctor Strange to Amy Adams' Lois Lane in Snyder's Superman films feel distinctly underdeveloped. Pine genuinely made me regret that WB hadn't cast him as Green Lantern or a superhero lead; with a performance of this caliber he could definitely carry a movie, and possibly even a franchise, on his own. I also enjoyed the relatively brief turns of the Amazons of Themyscira, specifically Nielsen as Hippolyta and Wright as Antiope. Both of them come across as strong and compassionate at the same time, and both actors effectively convey, in their relatively short screen time, just how important they are to Diana as role models. I was particularly impressed seeing Wright doing action scenes in her 50s, even though I'm sure her stunt double did the lion's share of them.
I also appreciated the writing here, with Heinberg showing a lot of attention to detail, like explaining how Diana could speak English to Trevor, and why she knew much of the world and yet remained naive to its harsher realities. I also appreciated Heinberg's judicious doses of humor throughout the script, especially as delivered by capable actors like Lucy Davis as Trevor's secretary Etta, Said Taghmaoui as the part-time spy and part-time con-artist Sameer, and Ewen Bremner as PTSD-suffering sharpshooter Charlie.
I wasn't quite so fond of the bad guys, particularly Huston's assembly-line German general, but I've almost come to accept underwhelming villains as a trade-off for well-fleshed out heroes.
The film also has generous helpings of action, but while I enjoyed them for the most part, I felt that a lot of the fight scenes suffered a little bit from director Jenkins' excessive use of the Snyderesque "slow-mo/speed-up" technique of depicting action that was basically done to death in 300 and Watchmen, and which he actually avoided conspicuously in both Man of Steel and BvS. It seemed Jenkins' inexperience in directing action showed a little bit in those sequences.
Speaking of action, the film's climactic, CGI-engorged final battle was a bit of a generic letdown and will almost certainly invite comparisons to a lot of other generic final battles, and even to the first Captain America movie, but even as the film sags Gadot carries it all the way through. This movie would have risen or fallen on her performance, and the good news is she delivers handily.
This film is a solid first outing for an iconic superhero, and it is quite important, after the failure of cinematic adaptations of DC stablemates Supergirl and Catwoman and Marvel's Elektra that this movie turned out to be this good, because in a world besieged by reinvigorated misogyny, whether in small communities or among world leaders themselves, the symbolic value of this character is arguably higher than it's ever been. I'm glad it was a movie like this, rather than one centered around a much more cynical character like Marvel's Black Widow, that is now leading the way for superheroine movies, because at times like this we need hope and optimism. We need to believe in the good in humanity, and to believe that this good can prevail over the unrelenting darkness that threatens to engulf us every single day. We wouldn't have gotten this from a movie about an ex-KGB assassin.
Bravo Warner Bros. and DC. Thank you for giving us this film, and may there be many more like it.
8/10
written by Allan Heinberg
The most recognizable female superhero in the world, DC Comics' Princess Diana of Themyscira, aka Wonder Woman, finally gets her own feature film, and it is a doozy.
On the island of Themyscira lives a community of warrior women known as the Amazons, led by their Queen, Hippolyta (Connie Nielsen). It's a peaceful place, one hidden from world, and it is here that young Diana (Lily Aspell), the Queen's daughter, lives, away from humanity and, in fact, away from all men. Diana finds herself drawn to the constant military training the Amazons, led by their fierce General Antiope (Robin Wright, who at 51 can still kick some serious ass), much to the distress of her mother. Hippolyta tells Diana the story of the Amazons, about how they were created by the god Zeus to protect men, and how Zeus's son Ares, full of resentment, pitted men against one another, starting wars, wars which included even the gods as their casualties. Zeus struck Ares down with his dying breath, but the threat of his return remains. Zeus has left a weapon the island capable of killing him in the event of his return. Diana then begins training in secret with her aunt. As Diana (Emily Carey) gets older, Hippolyta catches her secret training, and disapproves, but eventually realizes the need for it, telling Antiope to train her harder than any Amazon on the island. As a result, by the time she is an adult (Gal Gadot), she is a truly formidable warrior.
The peace on the island is then disrupted when an American military pilot Steve Trevor (Chris Pine), crashes into its waters, almost immediately being followed by several German pursuers. Fighting on the island breaks out, and while the Amazons vanquish the Germans, lives are lost. The Amazons interrogate Trevor, who tells that he is trying to bring an end to "the war to end all wars" which has claimed millions of lives. He was working as a British spy behind German lines when he learned of a deadly gas being made by Doctor Maru (Elena Anaya) for her principal General Ludendorff (Danny Huston), one which could kill millions more than have already died. Diana is convinced that this war (World War I) is the handiwork of Ares, and she leaves the island with Steve, intent on stopping him.
It's been four years since Zack Snyder kicked off what is now known as the DC Extended Universe with Man of Steel, a surprisingly bleak take on the Superman mythos, and a year since its follow-up, Batman vs. Superman, a movie that borrowed from Frank Miller's deconstructionist comic-books of the 80s but which, without the context that had preceded them, and some pretty bad writing, felt more like an extra grim Michael Bay movie than anything else. For many (including myself) Wonder Woman's tiny sliver of screen time was one of the few highlights of that film because it basically felt like one of the few moments of joy throughout over two and a half hours of running time.
Director Patty Jenkins and writer Allan Heinberg must have picked up on that because what they give us is a marked contrast from that dour throw-down between Bats and Supes. In fact, what they've given us is a distinct throwback to brighter superhero origin stories like Richard Donner's Superman and even the more recent Captain America: The First Avenger by Joe Johnston. Comparisons to the latter film will be inevitable considering that both share a wartime setting, and in fact the Wonder Woman character was created during World War II, but this film is still very much its own thing. Jenkins and her crew also exploit the whole period setting to the hilt, with lavish sets and costumes and generous helpings of early 20th century atmosphere. By setting the film at that particular point in history, they also cannily put Diana in a position to appreciate misogyny, though it's noticeably sanitized. It could be that I'm a sucker for period films (which, I confess, I am), but with some thoroughly impressive production value, this movie was really $120 million well-spent, for the most part.
Of course, pretty sets and lighting would mean nothing without effective storytelling, and fortunately, right out of the gate, this film charms with some really strong performances, especially from Gal Gadot and Chris Pine, whose chemistry is also one of the highlights of the movie. Gadot's performance as the intelligent but guileless Diana is a fine balancing act that could have easily gone over the top but which she pulls off perfectly. She anchors the film, though I'll admit I was surprised by how strong Pine's performance was, considering how a lot of love interests in superhero movies these days, ranging from Rachel McAdams' Christine in Doctor Strange to Amy Adams' Lois Lane in Snyder's Superman films feel distinctly underdeveloped. Pine genuinely made me regret that WB hadn't cast him as Green Lantern or a superhero lead; with a performance of this caliber he could definitely carry a movie, and possibly even a franchise, on his own. I also enjoyed the relatively brief turns of the Amazons of Themyscira, specifically Nielsen as Hippolyta and Wright as Antiope. Both of them come across as strong and compassionate at the same time, and both actors effectively convey, in their relatively short screen time, just how important they are to Diana as role models. I was particularly impressed seeing Wright doing action scenes in her 50s, even though I'm sure her stunt double did the lion's share of them.
I also appreciated the writing here, with Heinberg showing a lot of attention to detail, like explaining how Diana could speak English to Trevor, and why she knew much of the world and yet remained naive to its harsher realities. I also appreciated Heinberg's judicious doses of humor throughout the script, especially as delivered by capable actors like Lucy Davis as Trevor's secretary Etta, Said Taghmaoui as the part-time spy and part-time con-artist Sameer, and Ewen Bremner as PTSD-suffering sharpshooter Charlie.
I wasn't quite so fond of the bad guys, particularly Huston's assembly-line German general, but I've almost come to accept underwhelming villains as a trade-off for well-fleshed out heroes.
The film also has generous helpings of action, but while I enjoyed them for the most part, I felt that a lot of the fight scenes suffered a little bit from director Jenkins' excessive use of the Snyderesque "slow-mo/speed-up" technique of depicting action that was basically done to death in 300 and Watchmen, and which he actually avoided conspicuously in both Man of Steel and BvS. It seemed Jenkins' inexperience in directing action showed a little bit in those sequences.
Speaking of action, the film's climactic, CGI-engorged final battle was a bit of a generic letdown and will almost certainly invite comparisons to a lot of other generic final battles, and even to the first Captain America movie, but even as the film sags Gadot carries it all the way through. This movie would have risen or fallen on her performance, and the good news is she delivers handily.
This film is a solid first outing for an iconic superhero, and it is quite important, after the failure of cinematic adaptations of DC stablemates Supergirl and Catwoman and Marvel's Elektra that this movie turned out to be this good, because in a world besieged by reinvigorated misogyny, whether in small communities or among world leaders themselves, the symbolic value of this character is arguably higher than it's ever been. I'm glad it was a movie like this, rather than one centered around a much more cynical character like Marvel's Black Widow, that is now leading the way for superheroine movies, because at times like this we need hope and optimism. We need to believe in the good in humanity, and to believe that this good can prevail over the unrelenting darkness that threatens to engulf us every single day. We wouldn't have gotten this from a movie about an ex-KGB assassin.
Bravo Warner Bros. and DC. Thank you for giving us this film, and may there be many more like it.
8/10
Tuesday, May 16, 2017
Captain America Plays Daddy: A Review of "Gifted"
directed by Marc Webb
written by Tom Flynn
I had originally planned to make this review my inaugural vlog, but time constraints and a need to get familiar with the format kind of scuttled that, especially since I wanted to get this review out while it was still relevant (which I'm not even sure it is at this point).
Anyway, this film is about a rather unconventional family; boat repairman Frank Adler (Chris Evans) takes care of his niece Mary (McKenna Grace) in a quiet blue-collar neighborhood. After having home-schooled her for several years, Frank decides it's time to send Mary to school, over the objections of motherly neighbor and landlady Roberta Taylor (Octavia Spencer) who doesn't think she'll fit in well. At school, after run-ins with her teacher Bonnie Stevenson (Jenny Slate) and School Principal Davis (Elizabeth Marvel) which prompt a meeting with Frank, the truth comes out: Mary is a math genius, just like her deceased mother, Frank's sister. The school authorities want her moved to a school for gifted children where she can maximize her potential, but Frank wants her to stay put so that she can enjoy a normal childhood. Soon, however, Frank's mother Evelyn (Lindsay Duncan), from whom Frank had been hiding Mary all these years following her mother's suicide, shows up, and a battle for custody, and Mary's future, ensues.
While the movie works off a simple premise and is fairly predictable, family dramas like this aren't about twist endings. A movie like this will rise or fall on the strength of the performance of its actors and from Evans, Grace, Slate, Duncan and Spencer, director Marc Webb, nicely slipping back into indie-auteur mode after the disastrous Amazing Spider-Man 2, coaxes some fairly powerful performances. I don't know if people realize how talented Evans is as an actor; even digitally making him skinny in the first Captain America would not have worked if he hadn't acted the part, and the earnestness he showed there really shines through here. Most important to the story is his chemistry with the precocious McKenna Grace, and the two of them really knock it out of the park. While his romantic chemistry with Slate kind of fall flat, the manner in which he and Duncan play off each other is something really special to watch. In depicting the struggle between Frank and Evelyn, Webb and screenwriter Tom Flynn really try to toe the fine line between family squabbling and a more black-and-white hero-vs-villain struggle, and often find themselves veering a little too much into the latter territory at times, but it still works. Evans and Duncan do a good job of depicting a strained mother and son relationship, but one still sees the vestiges of familial love here and there. Grace is a revelation as the child prodigy Mary, though I don't quite expect her to be the childhood name that Dakota Fanning was in the noughties. I suspect we'll be seeing her again at some point.
It was nice to see Captain America swap his tights and shield for jeans and a workman's tools for a change.
7.5/10
written by Tom Flynn
I had originally planned to make this review my inaugural vlog, but time constraints and a need to get familiar with the format kind of scuttled that, especially since I wanted to get this review out while it was still relevant (which I'm not even sure it is at this point).
Anyway, this film is about a rather unconventional family; boat repairman Frank Adler (Chris Evans) takes care of his niece Mary (McKenna Grace) in a quiet blue-collar neighborhood. After having home-schooled her for several years, Frank decides it's time to send Mary to school, over the objections of motherly neighbor and landlady Roberta Taylor (Octavia Spencer) who doesn't think she'll fit in well. At school, after run-ins with her teacher Bonnie Stevenson (Jenny Slate) and School Principal Davis (Elizabeth Marvel) which prompt a meeting with Frank, the truth comes out: Mary is a math genius, just like her deceased mother, Frank's sister. The school authorities want her moved to a school for gifted children where she can maximize her potential, but Frank wants her to stay put so that she can enjoy a normal childhood. Soon, however, Frank's mother Evelyn (Lindsay Duncan), from whom Frank had been hiding Mary all these years following her mother's suicide, shows up, and a battle for custody, and Mary's future, ensues.
While the movie works off a simple premise and is fairly predictable, family dramas like this aren't about twist endings. A movie like this will rise or fall on the strength of the performance of its actors and from Evans, Grace, Slate, Duncan and Spencer, director Marc Webb, nicely slipping back into indie-auteur mode after the disastrous Amazing Spider-Man 2, coaxes some fairly powerful performances. I don't know if people realize how talented Evans is as an actor; even digitally making him skinny in the first Captain America would not have worked if he hadn't acted the part, and the earnestness he showed there really shines through here. Most important to the story is his chemistry with the precocious McKenna Grace, and the two of them really knock it out of the park. While his romantic chemistry with Slate kind of fall flat, the manner in which he and Duncan play off each other is something really special to watch. In depicting the struggle between Frank and Evelyn, Webb and screenwriter Tom Flynn really try to toe the fine line between family squabbling and a more black-and-white hero-vs-villain struggle, and often find themselves veering a little too much into the latter territory at times, but it still works. Evans and Duncan do a good job of depicting a strained mother and son relationship, but one still sees the vestiges of familial love here and there. Grace is a revelation as the child prodigy Mary, though I don't quite expect her to be the childhood name that Dakota Fanning was in the noughties. I suspect we'll be seeing her again at some point.
It was nice to see Captain America swap his tights and shield for jeans and a workman's tools for a change.
7.5/10
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