Tag Archives: Action

Batman: Under the Red Hood (2010)

10 Saturday Dec 2016

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Insults bring about turmoil.
Injuries cause blood to boil.
Sin and sufferings embitter,
Making spite a heavy hitter.
Malice merits some requital;
Are not victims so entitled?

Vengeance is a worthy cause
For those who follow their own laws.
And when reprisals hit their mark,
The soul falls further into dark.
Revenge does what justice intends,
But when it starts, it never ends.
___________________

MPAA rating: PG-13

I love animation, whether it be Disney, Pixar, anime, or any number of cartoons on television, so I’ve never thought of myself as prejudiced against animated media. (Would that be called an animationist?) My VC is of that mind, considering animation to be, if not inferior, then at least less effective than live action, and we’ve had some strong disagreements on that front. However, I’m split over the various DC animated films that have been released direct-to-DVD over the last decade.

While they all seem to attract excellent voice casts and usually critical appreciation, I can’t help but feel they are second-tier animations. Why else would they be released direct to DVD? The few I’ve seen have been good, but even acclaimed ones like the two-part The Dark Knight Returns seem to fall short of greatness because, well, they’re animated. No, now I feel guilty for even saying that. It’s not that they’re animated; it’s that the animation seems less of an effort and causes me to lower my expectations, even though The Dark Knight Returns is undoubtedly better than, say, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.

All this debate is to provide context since I’ve now seen an animated DC film that does stand toe-to-toe with its live-action cousins. Batman: Under the Red Hood holds to the much darker trend in the DC animated universe, evident right from the beginning, where the Joker (John DiMaggio) mercilessly beats the second Robin/Jason Todd with a crowbar and Batman (Bruce Greenwood) arrives too late to save his sidekick. Jump ahead five years to Gotham City, in which a new vigilante called the Red Hood (Jensen Ackles) keeps criminals in line by becoming a feared crime boss himself. As Batman investigates this lethally skilled foe, his past confronts him in ways he never expected.

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Deserving of its 100% Rotten Tomatoes score, Under the Red Hood would have been fantastic enough with its explosive action sequences, but the triple confrontations between Batman, the Joker, and the Red Hood cut right to the heart of Batman’s morality. He and the Red Hood agree that criminals must be kept in line, yet their methods are diametrically opposed, with killing as the great line that Batman refuses to cross, for reasons rarely so compellingly delivered. Their final faceoff provides both tragedy and food for thought, an epic clash of moralities backed by the dark madness of the Joker. This version of the Joker is memorably malicious and unpredictable, and even if DiMaggio still sounds a little like his Adventure Time and Futurama characters, he once again proves how playing the Joker brings out the best in an actor, even a voice actor (except Jared Leto, that is).

Watching Under the Red Hood, I was tempted to throw it into the good-not-great category, but animated or not, it’s a mature and outstanding Batman movie. I wish the ending wasn’t so ambiguous, but this film gives me hope that perhaps other DC cartoons will be better than I’ve given them credit for.

Best line: (Red Hood, about killing the Joker) “What? What, your moral code just won’t allow for that? It’s too hard to cross that line?”
(Batman) “No. God Almighty, no. It’d be too damned easy. All I’ve ever wanted to do is kill him. A day doesn’t go by I don’t think about subjecting him to every horrendous torture he’s dealt out to others, and then end him.”
(Joker) “Awwww, so you do think about me.”
(Batman) “But if I do that, if I allow myself to go down into that place, I’ll never come back.”

 

Rank: List-Worthy

 

© 2016 S.G. Liput
436 Followers and Counting

 

Princess Mononoke (1997)

05 Monday Dec 2016

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The forest stood for centuries,
In peace made permanent by trees
Whose roots sucked deep of earthen milk,
Whose branches guarded all.
And then came humans and their ilk
Who made the trees to fall.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

Mankind pushed on for centuries
Through mountains, deserts, woods, and seas.
From cave to tent to town, they rose
With wonders underway.
Too often, nature did oppose
And kept progress at bay.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

Both stories hold an equal truth.
Both man and nature from their youth
Have wished romantically for truce
That ended in conquest.
Cooperation or abuse—
We choose which path is best.
___________________

MPAA rating: PG-13

Hayao Miyazaki has a filmography full of films considered great cinema, and each of them seems to fit a particular target age group. While they are all beautifully drawn, the maturity level for his features could be generally ranked something like this: Ponyo (5 years old and up), My Neighbor Totoro (6 and up), Kiki’s Delivery Service (7 and up), Castle in the Sky (8 and up), Porco Rosso (9 and up), Spirited Away (10 and up), Howl’s Moving Castle (11 and up), Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (12 and up), The Castle of Cagliostro (13 and up), The Wind Rises (13 and up), and the one most clearly meant for adults, Princess Mononoke (14 and up).

Princess Mononoke is different from any other Studio Ghibli film, both in its narrative complexity and its level of violence, and when I discovered the Ghibli films and had myself an anime marathon, it caught me completely off-guard. I was shocked that heads and arms were being lopped off within the first fifteen minutes, and I turned it off then and there. It took me some time to give it another try and look past the savagery of certain scenes. Luckily, those scenes are the exception rather than the rule, and I found that Princess Mononoke was something few animated films can claim to be—an epic. From the sweeping landscapes and moving Joe Hisaishi score (he really is one of my favorite movie composers) to the huge cast of characters and nuanced themes, it’s a film so ambitious that I don’t know if there’s anything else to compare it to.

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The story follows Prince Ashitaka (Billy Crudup in the English dub) in ancient tribal Japan, before forest gods and demons became mere legends. While defending his village from a demon boar, his arm is infected with a curse, and he must journey to a distant forest in the hopes of a spiritual cure. What he finds is an ongoing struggle between industry and nature, as the hardworking folk of the lakeside Irontown battle against the forest gods, led by the giant wolf Moro (Gillian Anderson) and her adopted human daughter San (Claire Danes).

Before Spirited Away came along, Princess Mononoke had every right to be called Miyazaki’s masterpiece, and while it’s far from my favorite of his films, I certainly see why it is deserving of that distinction, more so than Spirited Away, to be honest. Princess Mononoke is as expansive an experience as one can find in an anime film, with Ghibli’s ever-detailed artwork transporting viewers to another time and place full of action, beauty, and menace. It’s not a film I connected with personally, and certain things detract from it in my eyes: the aforementioned violence, the heavy pagan mythology, some grotesque imagery, an ending that doesn’t seem to punish the character most deserving of it. Yet there’s so much to impress that objections like these seem small by comparison.

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The plot and characters are the most impressive ingredients on display. The conflict between humans and nature has resonances of Miyazaki’s Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, from the strong female characters right down to the final scene of both, but there are more than two sides to the dispute, and every side has its own distinct motivations that are far from black and white or simple good and evil. There’s Lady Eboshi (Minnie Driver) and her Irontown loyalists, who are embattled with San and the wolves, while a herd of vengeful boar also joins the fray, while a devious monk (Billy Bob Thornton) plots to steal the head of the Great Forest Spirit, while some iron-greedy samurai make war too. And in the middle of everything is Ashitaka, urging peace on all sides as he seeks to heal his cursed arm, which gives him super-strength but will eventually kill him. How all these various factions clash is key to the film’s epicness, yet Miyazaki’s knack for character is also on display. Lady Eboshi, for instance, isn’t a typical villain, trying to act in the best interest of her people and demonstrating concern for the lepers and women under her care. It’s unfortunate then that the multitude of characters proves too much to negotiate by the end, where the strife is wrapped up a bit too neatly, but the bulk of the film balances it all amazingly well.

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The sheer length and scope of Princess Mononoke are enough to make it a landmark anime, even if it’s not for all ages. It played a role in bringing Studio Ghibli to greater attention in the West and, like Akira, showed audiences that anime could be intricate and mature and more than Saturday morning cartoon fare. Though I find several of his films more engaging than Princess Mononoke, if you want proof of Hayao Miyazaki’s talent as a filmmaker, this is it.

Best line: (Hii-sama, the wise woman of Ashitaka’s village) “You cannot change fate. However, you can rise to meet it, if you so choose.”

 

Rank: List-Worthy

 

© 2016 S.G. Liput
433 Followers and Counting

 

Tomorrowland (2015)

04 Sunday Dec 2016

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Tomorrow, tomorrow,
With no time to borrow,
The future may very well sink into sorrow.

It’s hard to predict
When our views contradict,
And the fears that some carry are dreams others picked.

The future is ever
In danger; however,
We mustn’t believe it’s a futile endeavor.

Are trends that we set then
The kind we’ll regret? Then,
It’s clear dark tomorrows will come…if we let them.
____________________

MPAA rating: PG

What happens when everyone says a movie is bad and you like it anyway? Every review I read of Tomorrowland painted it as an unwieldy flop in which every positive element was spoiled by a negative. Thus, I skipped it, preferring to spend my 130 minutes on something more critically favored. Yet, when I finally gave it a chance, Tomorrowland proved to be a highly enjoyable ride, a sci-fi wonder in which every negative had a positive to mostly redeem it, at least in my opinion.

Beginning at the 1964 New York World’s Fair, young Frank Walker presents David Nix (Hugh Laurie) with a homemade jet pack that isn’t quite fully functional, and Nix’s girl companion Athena (Raffey Cassidy) is impressed enough to invite Frank to the titular technology wonderland. Cut then to teenage Casey Newton (Britt Robertson), who goes out of her way to keep alive the hopes of the Space Age by prolonging her engineer dad’s NASA contract through sabotage. She’s an incorrigible optimist, unwilling to bend to the downbeat world, and when Athena appears again to give her a mysterious pin and a glimpse of Tomorrowland, Casey is eager to pursue it. Joining with a bitter, grown-up Frank (George Clooney), they embark on a thrilling chase to reach the other-dimensional utopia where all does not seem to be well.

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I’ll focus first on everything Tomorrowland has going for it. All the actors excel, especially Raffey Cassidy who shines in a wise-beyond-her-years type of role. As a director, Brad Bird also knows how to direct a visually exciting film. With its jetpacks, robots, and floating swimming pools, the striking metropolis of Tomorrowland that appears whenever Casey touches the pin has wonders tailored to both 1960s and present-day tastes. In addition, many aspects of the film feel inspired by the intrigue of Men in Black, incorporating imaginative gadgets, geeky thrills, and futuristic plot devices hidden in plain sight. With all the killer android chases and high-tech detours, it’s easy to let the plot carry you along and ignore the fact that it’s not really going anywhere worthwhile. By the time we see Tomorrowland itself, it feels like a hollow piece of false advertising, though that does make sense for the plot. I do wish that we were able to see Tomorrowland the city as more than just an unreached potential, but it’s a case of the journey overshadowing the destination, with the journey being pretty entertaining.

I see what others have criticized about the uneven plot, the disappointing goal, and the borderline creepy relationship between Clooney and 12-year-old Raffey Cassidy, and they’re not wrong. But Tomorrowland is a prime example of a film that depends on how much the viewer is willing to let such faults bother them. While the two films are nowhere near the same league, I could point to 2012’s Les Miserables as another such film; half of viewers complained about the singing of Hugh Jackman and Russell Crowe and couldn’t take the constant singing seriously, while the other half (me included) were captivated by the film’s emotional and musical power. I can’t say those of the other opinion are wrong; their objections just didn’t ruin the film for me. Sometimes, if the majority of a film delights, a half-baked ending can be forgiven. And the objection about Clooney and Cassidy depends entirely on the strength of your suspension of disbelief; based on Athena’s character as written, it doesn’t have to be creepy.

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What Tomorrowland tries to be is an antidote to the constant stream of dystopian fiction in our media. Zombie outbreaks, totalitarian governments, natural disasters—it seems that Star Trek is the only proposed future that is actually worth looking forward to. Tomorrowland takes that fatalism literally and suggests that such warnings are more harmful than good if no one heeds them, a cautious lesson worth more than a casual thought. Perhaps, the film insists, optimism itself can change the world for the better. Yes, it sounds corny, going overboard in the soapy commercial-like final scene, but if the constant pessimism of grim social commentaries can captivate audiences, can’t the polar opposite have its day too? I recognize the flaws of Tomorrowland, not least of which are smacks of elitism in the recruiting of the best and brightest to populate a separated utopia that doesn’t seem to directly better the world at large, but it appeals to the dreamer, the hoper, and the lover of sci-fi adventure. That’s good enough for me.

Best line: (Casey) “There are two wolves, and they are always fighting. One is darkness and despair. The other is light and hope. Which wolf wins?”
(her dad) “Come on, Casey.”
(Casey) “Okay, fine. Don’t answer.”
(dad) “Whichever one you feed.”

 

Rank: List-Worthy

 

© 2016 S.G. Liput
431 Followers and Counting

 

VC Pick: Escape from New York (1981)

15 Tuesday Nov 2016

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In a world
Where the prisons are cities walled in,
Realms of wrongdoing and centers of sin,
Where breakers of laws have a death wish when caught,
Thrown in with the worst of a dangerous lot…

In this world
When the President’s stranded inside,
Held captive by villains who know how to hide,
One man and his eyepatch must enter this strife
To rescue this hostage…and save his own life!
_________________

MPAA rating: R

The ‘80s was a decade full of cheesy action movies that were forgivably, entertainingly so, but there are different categories of action cheese. Take The Running Man, for instance. Its dystopian world of reality show violence run amok could have been kept on a serious level, but Arnold Schwarzenegger reveled in terrible one-liners that kept the dark plot as tongue-in-cheek as possible. John Carpenter’s Escape from New York, on the other hand, bears a different kind of shabby grit that may have preposterous elements but at least takes itself seriously.

Surely the best thing about Escape from New York is its iconic main character. Kurt Russell as the eye-patched prisoner Snake Plissken is the embodiment of the tough-guy anti-hero, a self-interested mercenary with an attitude. When he’s injected with an explosive on a timer and tasked by gruff police chief Bob Hauk (Lee Van Cleef) with rescuing the captured President (Donald Pleasence), Plissken must venture into the walled-in prison that is New York City to recover his target before time runs out. The distant dystopia of 1997 (I must have blinked and missed it) seems to include more than a little source material for The Purge series, full of shadowy alleyways and sewers full of crazies, at least as far as the film depicts, not showing anything of the world outside the lawless prison-city. It’s not all gloom, though; the film does have its own sense of humor, but it’s a bit more low-key than cheesy one-liners, like how everyone comments that they thought Snake was dead or when Snake takes shelter from roaming loonies in Chock Full O’Nuts.

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Of course, as an action movie, the dingy urban setting is only the backdrop for Plissken’s exploits, with a car chase through enemy territory being the standout thrill. The personalities he encounters along the way may be underdeveloped, but their actors make memorable characters out of them, from Ernest Borgnine’s amicable Cabbie to Harry Dean Stanton’s calculating Brain to Isaac Hayes’s menacing Duke. The budget and limited special effects are felt in certain scenes, such as only showing the President’s plane crash through some radar animation, but the film and its hero thrive on aggressive moxie that makes the most of their resources.

A world-building action movie with more atmosphere than pyrotechnics, Escape from New York is among John Carpenter’s best cult classics. It may not be one of my favorite action movies, but I see why it’s popular with my VC and many others. While I suspect it is inevitable, something in me hopes that it never gets a remake.

Best line: (Bob Hauk, who sends Snake in) “You going to kill me, Snake?”   (Snake) “Not now, I’m too tired. [pause] Maybe later.”

 

Rank: List Runner-Up

 

© 2016 S.G. Liput
422 Followers and Counting

 

Suicide Squad (2016)

11 Friday Nov 2016

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Evil is as evil does,
And evil doesn’t mind because
While good is following the rules,
The baddies laugh them off as fools.

To be a nut or psychopath,
You dwell in envy, greed, and wrath
And do your best to put the pest
Of conscience finally to rest.

Despite the evil laugh and smirk,
A qualm or two may be at work.
Though hearts of darkness look askance,
Perhaps the good just needs a chance.
_________________

MPAA rating: PG-13

Suicide Squad proves that an awesome trailer does not always mean an awesome movie. Like many, I was disappointed with the dreary excesses of Batman v. Superman and had real hope that Suicide Squad would be a much-needed dose of cheeky fun for the DC Extended Universe. While it could be seen that way, the packaging leaves much to be desired. Suicide Squad continues the DC trend of jamming as many plots and characters as possible into a feature-length film and never reaching the full potential of any of them. I keep coming back to what one of my coworkers said after watching it. As a DC purist, she excitedly announced, “That movie was… [I expected descriptors like “awesome,” “thrilling,” “hilarious,” but no, she said] …not bad.” Okay, I’ll give her that.

Suicide Squad is DC’s version of The Dirty Dozen. Ruthless government official Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) decides to recruit the most skilled prisoners of Belle Reve Prison as an insurance policy against rogue metahuman threats, one of which crops up from her own meddling with supernatural beings. I have to admit that it’s a talented cast they’ve assembled here. Will Smith as gunmeister Deadshot could be considered the heart of the team, with his concern for his young daughter, and Smith’s natural likability makes him the most sympathetic of the group, along with Jay Hernandez’s fire-wielding Diablo. Margot Robbie gets all of the attention as bat-crazy Joker groupie Harley Quinn, while Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (Lost alert!) and Jai Courtney can’t quite represent Killer Croc and Captain Boomerang as more than one-note characters with some occasional comic relief. And that’s not even mentioning team chaperone Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman), his dark-sided lover June Moone/Enchantress (Cara Delevingne), his sword-swinging bodyguard Katana (Karen Fukuhara), and one other member of the Squad who is given such little attention that he might as well have “REDSHIRT” taped to his back. Oh, and wasn’t the Joker in this too?

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Let’s be honest: this is DC trying to do what Marvel did with Guardians of the Galaxy, teaming up purported baddies as a ragtag fighting force that falls somewhere in between the definitions of “hero” and “anti-hero.” Guardians succeeded with that middle ground, thanks to the fact that one was repentant, one was driven by grief until a moment of realization, and the other three weren’t all that bad at heart, but Suicide Squad stumbles by giving us actual villains without much in the way of reform. This commitment to anti-heroism leaves the audience grasping for someone to root for. Every time you start sympathizing with a character, you’re reminded that they’re an unrepentant psychopath or a brutal enforcer, and that’s supposedly okay? Waller herself is no better than her minions, willing to kill her subordinates without a second glance or any repercussions.

The tone and look of the film also fall short of the mark. The special effects are top-of-the-line, but the editing and visual aesthetic are frequently choppy and muddled. What was intended as gritty, fun, and irreverent turns out to be loud, garish, and confusing. Perhaps the latest version of the Joker exemplifies the film’s unsavory aspects. Jared Leto is not a bad actor, but as the Joker, he’s no Heath Ledger or Jack Nicholson. Instead of the maniacal jokester we’ve come to expect, he’s basically a gaudy gangster whose craziness fails to stand out from that of the other characters. While some have complained about his limited screen time, I didn’t mind.

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It wasn’t my intention for this to be an entirely negative review. Suicide Squad is not without its strengths; they’re just buried in the mountain of plot that the filmmakers couldn’t bear to part with. While Deadshot and Harley Quinn have received most of the acclaim, I preferred some of the less developed characters. Diablo’s remorse for his past misdeeds made him the most admirable of the group, coupled with some cool powers, and I would have liked to have seen more of Katana and her soul-capturing sword. One moment of hallucinations revealed the positive dreams that even villains have, and I wish they could have built on that source of sympathy. Flashbacks aside, the plot actually made for a decently paced action movie, even if it yielded to the familiar overblown climax toward the end. And though there was nothing laugh-out-loud, I suppose I appreciate the fact that Suicide Squad wasn’t afraid to chuckle at itself. Plus, it at least didn’t have any obviously stupid twist like Batman v. Superman.

I wanted to enjoy Suicide Squad more than I did, but while my respect for many films often increases with time and thought, this one has actually lessened in my estimation the more I think of it. It’s not terrible, just muddy and flawed. DC may still be a powerhouse moneymaker, but if they can’t churn out a better superhero movie soon, they won’t have the longevity of Marvel. Wonder Woman looks pretty darn good at this point, and I just hope that the trailer is actually a good representation next time.

Best line: (Griggs, a petty prison guard afraid of Deadshot) “Ames, If this man shoots me, I want you to kill him, and I want you to go clear my browser history.”

 

Rank: Honorable Mention (only because I’d probably see it again)

 

© 2016 S.G. Liput
421 Followers and Counting

 

Kubo and the Two Strings (2016)

09 Wednesday Nov 2016

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In ages long past, a boy dazzled his town
With music and magic and tales of renown,
With legends and stories he conjured and staged
As fierce paper battles and paper wars waged.

His paper-fold figures delighted the folk,
Who sang the boy’s praises before the spell broke,
But no one would guess that the sagas he spun
Held echoes of truth for this samurai’s son.

The rush of a rousing adventure well-told
Can wither as soon as the papers unfold,
But when real adventure emerges from lore,
The tales and their memories mean a bit more.
________________

MPAA rating: PG

I had the pleasure of seeing Kubo and the Two Strings as a sort-of double feature with Suicide Squad, and as the reviews of the latter would suggest, Kubo was easily the better film. In fact, I believe it has surpassed Chicken Run as my favorite stop-motion animated film, and mainly because it did something no other stop-motion movie has. The jerky movements or macabre aesthetic of past such films have defined the medium for years, but for the first time, Kubo made me forget I was watching stop motion. That makes it not only a visually incredible adventure with an imaginative story to boot, but a new high-point of achievement that Laika Entertainment can claim in their chosen field.

Kubo and the Two Strings is a heroic adventure influenced by ancient Japanese myth. Young Kubo (Art Parkinson) has been brought up in a seaside cave by his mother, who tells tales of how she saved him from her father, the Moon King, in an escape that cost Kubo one of his eyes and left her in a faltering mental state. Despite her warnings not to stay out after dark, one mistake leads to them being discovered by her menacing sisters (Rooney Mara), and, joined by a protective Monkey (Charlize Theron) and a dim-witted Beetle (Matthew McConaughey), Kubo is launched on a mystical quest to find his father’s lost armor, his only hope of survival.

Of course, the film’s most immediately remarkable trait is its animation. For once, Laika’s animation isn’t set on the creepy or grotesque, leaving such weirdness to only a few unnerving threats along Kubo’s journey (such as a preoccupation with eyes, also seen in Coraline). The freedom of the camera to capture all kinds of angles and both sweeping vistas and carefully crafted details sets the animation bar so high that only Laika will probably be able to outdo themselves in the future.

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Despite the eerie effect that usually accompanies stop motion, Kubo and the Two Strings succeeds in balancing a variety of tones, from light and humorous during Beetle’s introduction to poignant during the mother’s backstory to absolutely wondrous when Kubo unleashes his magical shamisen (Japanese banjo) that controls origami puppets for his live performances. The plot may veer into some odd territory as it progresses, but Kubo and the Two Strings is aware of it, even encouraging viewers to hang with it in Kubo’s opening address. In doing so, the audience is taken on a dazzling ride with some darker-than-usual plot directions.

Alas, Kubo is not without some faults. Kubo admits to not being very good at ending his stories, and the filmmakers mirror that shortcoming to some extent. The final confrontation between Kubo and the Moon King is a bit randomly overblown with sentiment, and the resolution feels strange and manipulative, especially considering the importance the film places on memories. In a way, I see what the filmmakers were attempting, but they weren’t wholly successful. In addition, describing the Moon King as a celestial ruler of cold perfection might be seen as a criticism of God, but its basis in myth softens that objection, especially if compared with the cold “perfection” of other villains, like the Borg in Star Trek. Nevertheless, these complaints don’t ruin an otherwise outstanding film, and even if the ending could have been improved, I liked how the seemingly awkward title was given touching significance.

In an age of remakes and constant adaptations, Kubo stands out first and foremost as a work of pure originality. Animated films like The Secret Life of Pets are content to borrow other movies’ plot elements wholesale, but the folks at Laika have crafted something unique and presented audiences with sights they’ve never seen before. In a perfect world, that’s what a great film should do.

Best line: (Kubo, at the start of his stories) “If you must blink, do it now.”

 

Rank: List-Worthy

 

© 2016 S.G. Liput
418 Followers and Counting

 

Skyfall (2012)

04 Friday Nov 2016

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The sins of the past are forgotten
As soon as their echoes recede.
But sins of the past
Rarely lie where they’re cast
And will often requite
What you keep out of sight.
Ever someone will keep
In mind malice to reap
To repay an unpunished misdeed.
Of that, you may be guaranteed.
_____________________

MPAA rating: PG-13

After thoroughly enjoying Daniel Craig’s first two Bond outings, I was eager to check out Skyfall, the film that so many seem to consider the best of his Bond films. Well, they’re right. In fact, despite my fondness for the campy days of Roger Moore, I think Skyfall may be the best Bond film period.

Skyfall starts out with the kind of opening at which Bond films excel, a chase, but not just a usual car chase. Between the motorcycles zooming along rooftops and a train set piece with one of Bond’s most superhero-esque moments, it’s clear that the filmmakers are going all out, especially when Bond is shown to not be untouchable after all. The adventure that follows pits Bond and M (Judi Dench) against a mysterious antagonist (cool and calculating Javier Bardem) with a special vendetta against M and incredible foresight for his vengeful plans. Also added are government man Gareth Mallory (Ralph Fiennes) and new versions of Moneypenny (Naomie Harris) and the technology-savvy quartermaster Q (Ben Whishaw).

With an especially intelligent script and Sam Mendes taking over directing, Skyfall feels like a different animal from its predecessors. There’s a greater attention to artistry than your typical action film, elevating sequences that are already exciting to another level. One particularly superb scuffle sees Bond wrestle with a sniper in silhouette, all in one take and lit from behind by a colorful moving screen on a nearby building. My VC thought the silhouettes almost looked animated, but it was stunning and possibly my new favorite scene of any Bond film. The exotic settings and impressive action epitomize Bond’s appeal for thrill-lovers, and there’s an effort to keep things at least moderately realistic, with an amusing sideways jab at the gadget excesses of past adventures. That komodo dragon pit is straight out of Johnny Quest, though.

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The other element that sets Skyfall apart is that, after five decades and twenty-two movies, we actually get some character development for Bond himself that goes beyond grieving lost love interests or the vague hints of Casino Royale, and it even gives the title a significant part of the story as opposed to just something that sounds cool. Actually getting a glimpse of Bond’s roots makes him that much more human, which is an important factor to offset his superhuman feats and the extreme punishment he often endures. Bond’s prickly relationship with M also gets attention, questioning the hard decisions she’s made with him and past agents and adding depth to the testy but synergetic rapport they’ve established. The ending even takes a risk in incorporating a change in the status quo that had never been acknowledged in past installments of the franchise.

Skyfall may not be quite perfect, thanks to a semi-anticlimactic ending, but it’s as close as I’ve seen the franchise come, being more engaging than Casino Royale and more straightforward than Quantum of Solace. I’m still not entirely sold on Daniel Craig, but he makes the role his own here and rises to the acting challenge. Skyfall has all the ingredients one would predict in a Bond film, but it surprises by going beyond the typical suave escapades we’ve come to expect by adding vulnerability, consequences, and some profound Tennyson lines. Even if he’s not my favorite Bond, I must admit that Craig’s films are the best, with Skyfall at the head of the pack.

Best line: (Q) “Age is no guarantee of efficiency.”   (Bond) “And youth is no guarantee of innovation.”

 

Rank: List-Worthy

 

© 2016 S.G. Liput
418 Followers and Counting

 

Star Trek Beyond (2016)

18 Tuesday Oct 2016

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Space, the final frontier
Entices the brave pioneer.
Adventures await
When cadets graduate
At the start of a thrilling career.

Yet in between alien wars
And interdimensional doors,
The truth is that space
Can be one boring place
For a hero in search of encores.

Sometimes a more perilous foe
Must devastate our status quo,
Reminding us why
We decided to fly
And where we’re committed to go.
_____________________

MPAA rating: PG-13

After the rebooted Star Trek had its glorious return in 2009 and its original-continuity-referencing sequel in 2013, it’s logical that the filmmakers for its third entry asked “What next?” Surely they thought it wise to distance Star Trek Beyond from the original series timeline and stories that so influenced the first two, and I’m glad to say they succeeded. Star Trek Beyond feels like it’s settled into the story-of-the-week format that the series had, and this particular story both references that potentially dull routine and spices it up with audacious sights we’ve never seen before.

The famous characters have already been established in prior films and pop culture, so the film doesn’t spend much time on new character development (aside from the brief but unnecessary implication that Sulu is gay). Yet the film still finds a way to insert emotional weight at the beginning, from a much more mature Kirk (Chris Pine) dealing with how the thrill is gone to Spock (Zachary Quinto) getting some sad news. We also get to see the eye-popping Yorktown, a space station so futuristically cool it makes you wonder why we’ve never seen it before in the Star Trek universe (though it does have visual echoes of Inception and Upside Down).

This setup is rather slow at the start, but once the action starts, it doesn’t let up. Before you know it, a swarm of bee-like ships are crashing into the Enterprise’s hull, and all hell breaks loose. Much of the crew become stranded on a nearby planet, hunted by a mysterious alien named Krall (Idris Elba). To make sure everyone in the ensemble gets their fair share of screen time, they’re split into twos, a method that works rather well in spreading the characters out and exposing them to different elements relevant to the plot. Also added is Sofia Boutella as another stranded ally named Jaylah, who helps the crew battle Krall.

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Being a fan of Star Trek: Voyager, I noticed that this latest film seemed to draw some inspiration from that show. In the third season episode “The Swarm,” Voyager runs into a fleet of small swarming ships not unlike Krall’s armada, and they even defeat the swarm in a similar manner, though admittedly with less style. Voyager also seemed to have more episodes where one or two crew members were stranded on alien planets, making that aspect of the film also feel more familiar.

Even more than the others, Star Trek Beyond is an action movie, with new director Justin Lin bringing some flair from his experience with the Fast and Furious franchise. The camerawork makes the running and explosions a bit more frenetic and hard to follow at times, but there’s no shortage of dynamic thrills. Several impressive scenes and set pieces just left me saying “Dang!” (in a good way, of course), though if there was any Trek movie I would not want to be a redshirt in, this is it. The effects are still awesome to behold, not least of which is “that scene,” the one so many reviewers have noted as being particularly over-the-top, for good or ill. I for one thought it was brilliant and spectacular, especially on the big screen, as well as a nice musical callback to the 2009 film.

The only place Star Trek Beyond seriously stumbled was the villain. Elba is all right as Krall, though hard to understand at times, but his character’s backstory was far too ambiguous. Why did he look the way he did? Where did the fleet of alien ships come from? I’m not sure if these questions were answered and I missed it, or if the writers just glossed over those details. Either way, it could have been clearer.

Of the reboot trilogy, I still love the first most, but Star Trek Beyond is just as good and more original than Into Darkness. Couple the rousing action with the bittersweet tributes to deceased cast members Leonard Nimoy and Anton Yelchin, and Beyond becomes a well-rounded addition to the Trek canon. Yelchin’s death, in particular, throws the future of the series into doubt, but I certainly hope that there are more Star Trek stories to tell.

Best line: (Krall) “You can’t stop it. You will die.”   (Kirk) “Better to die saving lives, than to live by taking them. That’s what I was born into.”

 

Rank: Top-100-Worthy (Joining Star Trek into Darkness)

 

© 2016 S.G. Liput
413 Followers and Counting

 

X-Men: Apocalypse (2016)

28 Sunday Aug 2016

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The X-Men are back…yet again, it would seem.
Professor X still is collecting a team
Of mighty good mutants, both young men and ladies,
But what kind of evil would threaten the ’80s?

An evil so great none remember his name,
Who’s awfully annoyed at the loss of his fame
And wants to subdue the whole world since he can.
Now that’s an original motive and plan!

A good thing for us that some teens will defend us
From egos tremendous and costumes horrendous.
Destruction is nigh…yet again, it would seem,
But we know the future, so don’t worry, team.
____________________

MPAA rating: PG-13

Most were doubtful as to whether Bryan Singer could follow up the success of Days of Future Past with a worthy sequel. X-Men: Apocalypse confirmed that those doubts were not unfounded, yet this is no The Last Stand. Singer has proven that he can produce a great X-Men movie, so it stands to reason that he can also give us a mostly good one. Even if Apocalypse is the awkward third child of the most recent reboot trilogy, it still received enough care and attention to be a worthwhile member of the family.

Set in the 1980s, ten years after mutants were revealed to the world in Days of Future Past, the film reintroduces younger versions of other characters from the original trilogy: Cyclops (Tye Sheridan), Nightcrawler (Kodi Smit McPhee), Storm (Alexandra Shipp), and Jean Grey (Sophie Turner). In Cyclops’s case, we get a firsthand example of a new student being introduced to the school (through his brother Alex Summers/Havoc from First Class) and learning about his new powers, echoing the early days of Rogue’s arrival in the first X-Men. In addition, there’s quite a bit of globe-hopping, from Magneto’s too-good-to-last family life in his native Poland to Mystique’s mutant rescue missions to Moira McTaggert’s discovery of the long-dormant super-mutant known as En Sabah Nur or Apocalypse (unrecognizable Oscar Isaac). As Apocalypse gathers empowered minions to his cause of, you know, the end of the world, it’s up to the X-Men to band together and stop him.

I do want to make it clear that I enjoyed X-Men: Apocalypse, seeing all of the characters together again, the action-packed showdowns and references to other films, from Nightcrawler’s Catholicism to an explanation for Xavier’s baldness. While the reason for his presence is never really resolved, a visit from Evan Peters’ Quicksilver proved to be the highlight of the whole movie; he got the best scene in Days of Future Past, and once again his standout moment alone was worth the price of admission.

I liked a good deal of this Apocalypse, but there are some unavoidable flaws that bothered me as well. The most noticeable issue is an excess that’s hard to put into words. Certain scenes were just a bit…much. The opening scene, in which ancient Egyptian rebels bury Apocalypse under a very poorly constructed pyramid, has a lot of noise and effects without much context. Other scenes are similarly over-the-top. One big oh-no calamity is blaringly melodramatic, intercut with worldwide reactions and an extravagant “you-are-nothing-compared-with-me” speech from Oscar Isaac. Likewise, the pacing sometimes lags in the big fights as the clearly overpowered Apocalypse delivers “I-will-destroy-you” monologues while the heroes encourage each other to “release your power!” which they, of course, do. It’s rather wearisome by the end.

The other problem is one that seems to have annoyed me more than others: continuity. I love and value attention to continuity, and it’s one of the aspects that made Days of Future Past so amazing, since it delivered a satisfying and believable closure to both timelines. Yet for the events of X-Men: Apocalypse to make any sense with the original trilogy, we must assume that Days of Future Past began an alternate timeline, such that the other films never will happen or at least not as the movies depict events. In Apocalypse, characters meet when they shouldn’t yet, Wolverine shows up with Stryker in a way that seems to ignore Origins, and the writers have given up trying to make Mystique into the villain from the first X-Men. Remember that last tantalizing little Stryker/Mystique scene from the end of Future Past? It’s entirely disregarded. The other prequels had their continuity issues too, but so much in Apocalypse has to be taken separate from the other films that it indeed feels like an alternate timeline, making one wonder why Singer had to muddy the waters. I suppose that’s not hard to believe; unlike the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the X-Men films have probably gone on far longer than anyone expected them to, leading different filmmakers to essentially make it up as they go along. It’s just made more confusing for us continuity seekers when Singer actively tries to reference events that will happen, like the whole Dark Phoenix debacle.

I’m not the first to point out Jean Grey’s self-referential line as she and her friends exit a screening of Return of the Jedi: “Well, at least we can all agree the third one’s always the worst.” As X-Men films go, Apocalypse falls squarely in the middle of the pack; it’s nowhere near the best, but DC’s efforts this year have at least saved it from being labelled the worst superhero movie of 2016. As much as I enjoy these movies, I can’t help but feel that, after nine films, the X-Men franchise might be ready to end. Hugh Jackman is supposedly hanging his claws up after one more outing as Wolverine, which is allegedly set up by the after-credits scene that will make no sense to non-comic readers. There’s so much comic material still uncovered, but I wonder if the X-Men have been played out. I wish the franchise could end on a high note like Days of Future Past, but only time will tell.

Best line: (Charles, defying Apocalypse and still able to sum up the entire point of the X-Men) “Those with the greatest power… protect those without. That’s my message to the world.”

 

Best line: List-Worthy (joining First Class)

 

© 2016 S. G. Liput
404 Followers and Counting

 

King of Thorn (2010)

21 Sunday Aug 2016

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The world was collapsing
With panic forecast
And death in the news everyday,
Yet we were persuaded
That one short sleep passed
Would sweep the dark future away.

We woke to a nightmare
More dire than the last,
Confronted and hunted and trapped.
We slept to thwart death,
Which would not be outclassed
By sleepers with secrets untapped.
________________

MPAA rating: Not Rated (should be R)

One movie-watching emotion that I especially love and rarely get the chance to experience is the feeling of having my mind blown. The best example I can point to for that would be Inception, and to a lesser extent The Prestige, both Christopher Nolan features with unspoiled twists and a provocative narrative boldness. All too often the twist is either spoiled for me (Predestination, The Sixth Sense) or it’s not all that surprising (The Usual Suspects, Interstellar), so when a film provides me with that rare blend of shock and wonder, I treasure it. King of Thorn did just that.

I had heard that this anime film was a combination of Inception, Aliens, and Lost, and…that’s exactly what it is, with a little Matrix and Akira thrown in for good measure. In the first scene, we see a woman commit suicide by jumping off a building, but when she lands, her body shatters, revealing the effects of a new fatal disease dubbed the Medusa virus. This plague that turns humans to stone quickly becomes a worldwide pandemic; in response, the Venus Gate organization selects 160 infected individuals to be put into a Cold Sleep until a cure can be found. When the diverse group is awakened from stasis, surrounded by thorny vines, a horde of monsters attacks them, thinning the herd (not unlike the plane crash at the beginning of Lost) in a scene sure to make you even more afraid of falling down an elevator shaft. Only seven survive, including timid Kasumi, who had to leave her twin sister behind and now must survive with the others and escape from this nightmare.

Now the typical viewer might think that they slept in stasis for hundreds of years to awaken in a post-apocalyptic future, and that’s actually exactly what the characters assume at first. But let’s just say there’s more to it, a lot more. Almost every character has a secret or a past trauma, and the plot twists just keep coming. Like Lost, the film even teases suggestions of what is really going on. Is all of this a dream? Did Kasumi and her sister somehow switch places? There’s no way I’m going to spoil it, though, and I guarantee you that you’ll be kept guessing right up to the last ten minutes.

Because King of Thorn is so packed with plot, from repeated flashbacks that slowly reveal more to overly explanatory references to Sleeping Beauty, it’s not surprising that not everything gets a resolution. Some plot points are dropped without a second glance, and the ending doesn’t even try to address a major uncertainty. Plus, even if I think I understand how everything came about, I’m not sure I get why it all happened the way it did, perhaps due to the significant omissions from the manga the film is based upon (which everyone who’s read it seems to agree is better than the film). Yet the fast-paced action and thought-provoking narrative made up for these faults. If you’re one of those people who hated all the loose threads in Lost, King of Thorn will leave you equally perplexed; but I for one didn’t mind at all, and I know quite a few friends and fellow bloggers who would find this film fascinating. I’ve already introduced it to a friend of mine, and he loved it.

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On the down side, it’s a film worthy of an R rating, with gruesome killings and a little nudity toward the end. Yet, the gore was far from constant, and like Aliens, it’s the kind of violence one can easily see coming and just turn away from at the right moment. At least, that’s what I did. As for the question of whether to see the subtitled or dubbed version, both have their strengths. The English dub features accents that make it clear that the survivors are from around the world (British, Italian, American, Australian), but it also has the foul language one would expect from an R-rated horror thriller. If you care about avoiding profanity, the original subtitles have far less.

Despite the few negatives, King of Thorn is an exceptional sci-fi thriller that played with my mind in the best way and even managed to touch the heart. The cast of characters are all unique and sympathetic as their back stories are clarified, and the music adds to an epic sense of mystery, especially in the early scenes. (The song “Edge of This World” also earns entrance to the End Credits Song Hall of Fame.) The animation beautifully brought to life both the thrilling and the grotesque, and even if some might complain about the occasional merging of 2D and 3D animation in the action scenes, I didn’t find it distracting. In the days since I first saw it, King of Thorn has only risen in my estimation, and while it might further mess up my original Top Twelve Anime List, I think I’ve got another favorite to add.

Best line: (Marco) “Even if you’re overcome by unspeakable loneliness, endure it and encourage someone who can follow where you left off.”

 

Rank: List-Worthy

 

© 2016 S. G. Liput
404 Followers and Counting