Tag Archives: Action

Serenity (2005)

20 Sunday Dec 2015

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When we reach the distant future,
Full of ships traversing space,
What if life were not that different
With the same self-seeking race,
Governments with dark agendas,
And the sins we can’t replace?

How could anyone continue
In ideals that aren’t esteemed?
Only with a firm believing,
Truer than it ever seemed,
Can a world of lies and secrets
Be perhaps in part redeemed.
__________________

MPAA rating: PG-13

 

After my introduction to Joss Whedon’s cult classic TV show Firefly (and its inclusion on my Top Twelve TV Series list), I had to check out its big-screen conclusion Serenity, and it was a home run! In the same way that Firefly was criminally underrated when aired and was canceled after merely eleven episodes, I’ve seen Serenity in the bargain DVD bin for $3.99 when it deserves so much better. Putting all of Whedon’s considerable talent on display, Serenity offers an equally entertaining alternative to Star Wars and Star Trek.

Luckily, all of the main cast of the show returned to reprise their roles, a winning ensemble of mostly lesser-known TV actors, with the villain played by then-lesser-known Chiwetel Ejiofor. The crew of the Firefly-class spaceship Serenity aren’t freedom fighters against the imperialistic Alliance nor noble voyagers exploring the ‘verse; instead, they are simply in search of their next job, which typically entails smuggling or some other less-than-legal enterprise. Captained by hard-nosed Malcolm Reynolds (Nathan Fillion, who continues to reference the show in other roles since), Serenity includes his old war comrade Zoe (Gina Torres), her pilot husband Wash (Alan Tudyk), amusing cutthroat Jayne (Adam Baldwin), cute engineer Kaylee (Jewel Staite), and the Tam siblings Simon (Sean Maher) and River (Summer Glau), who are fugitives from the Alliance and grudgingly welcome guests aboard the ship. Also included are those who have left the ship, peaceful but secretive Shepherd Book (Ron Glass) and Mal’s unacknowledged love interest Inara (Morena Baccarin), a Companion or respectable prostitute.

With all that information and more previously established in the show, Serenity is an impressive balancing act, offering a conclusive episode for the fans hungry for more and a surprisingly accessible adventure that can still appeal to newbies. Such is Whedon’s talent with ensembles, whether it be his cult TV series or movies like The Avengers. In some ways, I might compare Serenity with Guardians of the Galaxy, another fast-paced space tale with an ensemble of potential unknowns. Like Guardians, Serenity throws out all the information viewers need to know along with ample humor and characterization and doesn’t waste time ensuring that the audience is keeping up. Instead of the pop culture references of Guardians, though, Serenity combines its sci-fi trappings with a western desperado style to craft a unique blend of East, West, and future.

Serenity also proved to be an outlet for Whedon’s creativity. Within the first fifteen minutes, there’s a dream within a holographic log and an ingenious four-and-a-half minute tracking shot that introduces us to the entire ship and crew. Likewise, the dialogue is another Whedon trademark, full of clever colloquialisms, Chinese exclamations, and so much breakneck wit that I wonder why it wasn’t nominated for Best Original Screenplay. I also admire that, despite his atheism, Whedon emphasized the presence of religion and belief in this space-faring future, something Star Trek only did with alien cultures. (No aliens here.) In the first few minutes, I even recognized a knockout gadget that Whedon reused in his Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. series.

All this fawning over it, and I’ve hardly said anything about the actual plot. Throughout the series, River had acted consistently weird due to the government’s experiments on her, and brother Simon acted as her rescuer and advocate, though there were hints that she could take care of herself. While the actual explanation and solution for her behavior don’t make total sense, the film offers insights and resolutions for many elements that the show didn’t have time to conclude: River’s actual rescue, Kaylee’s crush on Simon, the Alliance’s reasons for wanting River back so adamantly, River’s untapped talents, and the nightmarish Reavers, the bands of space maniacs as mindless as zombies and ten times as ferocious. Mal is not only caught between the Alliance’s coolly murderous Operative (Ejiofor) and an unrecognized threat on board his ship; he’s also caught in a web of right and wrong, heroism and disillusionment, cynicism and belief. This futuristic world is unforgiving and sometimes painfully harsh, but Whedon keeps a masterful balance among the dramatic, comedic, and jaw-droppingly awesome. One scene toward the end is especially stunning and practically gave me goosebumps.

If you haven’t seen Firefly and happen to have fourteen hours to burn, watch it first, but there’s so much excellence evident in Serenity that I recommend everyone see it regardless. A few aspects of the end may not be ideal, but the film as a whole is an exciting success as both a standalone film and the finale Firefly never got. Like Firefly, it’s an underrated science fiction treat.

Best line: (Mal) “Half of writing history is hiding the truth.”

 

Rank: Top 100-Worthy

 

© 2015 S. G. Liput

350 Followers and Counting

 

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 (2015)

17 Thursday Dec 2015

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Children fought within the Games,
As posh patricians praised their names,
And through the safety of TV,
Let death abound for all to see.

Now death has bounded through the screen,
And at the urging of a teen,
The poor plebeians meant to lack
Have gained the courage to fight back.

When tyrannies use violent means
And worship death on TV screens,
It then should come as no surprise
In violence do the people rise.
For freedom, violence intervenes,
For can mankind learn otherwise?
________________

MPAA rating: PG-13

 

After watching the final Hunger Games film and contemplating whether I liked it or Catching Fire best, I’ve come to the conclusion that Mockingjay – Part 2 is the best installment of the series. The final chapter of any franchise is typically meant to be the grandest and most important, a rare but desirable feat that is indeed met by this last portion of Katniss Everdeen’s story.

Though I’m one of the few people not to have read the books, I’m well aware that Mockingjay is the least favored of Suzanne Collins’s trilogy, and some reviews for Mockingjay’s two film adaptations have been similarly blasé, since they say the book is better and its predecessors are better still. Yet Part 2 delivers on the setup of Part 1, trading in the previous film’s relative lack of thrills for the fast-paced intensity of the Maze Runner series.

I’ll try to be general to avoid spoilers: Katniss (ever-outstanding Jennifer Lawrence) and President Coin’s rebels aim for President Snow and the Capitol, even as the archer struggles with her split affections and Peeta’s recent brainwashing. Considering how Part 1 used Peeta’s sudden indoctrination as its climax, I was glad that it wasn’t swept away as a minor setback; instead, it becomes an ongoing risk, as well as a satisfying method of ironing out the reality among all the lies. The actual mission grows in importance as they continue, and the Hunger Games-style dangers encountered make Mockingjay – Part 2 the most intense film of the franchise, with one sequence that seemed fit for a horror movie.

Considering everything that has come before, it should be no surprise that there are many deaths along the characters’ difficult journey, and I suspect this is part of what many fans disliked. Killing off characters is most painful when it seems unfair, and such displeasing deaths can cause fans to be angrier at the storyteller than the characters responsible. (A recent example I disliked was in How to Train Your Dragon 2). Mockingjay – Part 2 has twists that aren’t exactly what fans would want or expect, but the story makes the best of them and ends up sadder but wiser, yet still fulfilling.

While the biggest complaint about Mockingjay is how it has been split into two parts for the sake of money, Part 2 actually served to vindicate that decision for me on the narrative level, at least somewhat. One hope I had for the Hobbit trilogy was that, by stretching the dwarves’ screen time, their characters would grow more familiar and not just be thirteen interchangeable companions. While Jackson failed in that regard, I felt Mockingjay succeeds. With so many new characters introduced between Parts 1 and 2, it made sense to establish some earlier on to distinguish them from the redshirts who don’t have enough screen time to leave an impression. (To use a Marvel comparison, whose death had more impact, that of Coulson, who was seen in multiple films, or that of Quicksilver, who had one?) While the decision did Part 1 no favors, it works to Part 2’s advantage.

As the capstone of The Hunger Games franchise, Mockingjay – Part 2 is both an exciting blockbuster and a dark climax for a dark series. While some elements may not satisfy, such as the resolution to the whole love-triangle friction, the majority do. The expansive cast perhaps aren’t fully utilized, but plot progression is more important than characterization at this point, since we’ve already gotten to know the important players over three films. (I was glad that Philip Seymour Hoffman’s role as Plutarch Heavensbee wasn’t much affected by his death earlier this year; his absence was only felt in one scene and was well sidestepped.) Most importantly, amid the chaotic action and sci-fi spectacle, the film reaffirms the franchise’s ultimate message. As Katniss has grown from fighting for survival to fighting for freedom or revenge, the struggle has not simply been against monosyllabic presidents but against anyone with contempt for life. It’s a theme still very much relevant today and one I hope will be ever in our favor.

Best line: (Katniss) “There are much worse games to play.”

 

Rank: List-Worthy (joining the other three in the series)

 

© 2015 S. G. Liput

349 Followers and Counting

 

Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)

19 Thursday Nov 2015

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While Iron Man, Thor, and the heroes we know
Are saving the planet from many a foe,
Way out in the cosmos, a misfit or five
Are trying to stay on their toes and survive.

One’s seeking revenge, two are out for the loot,
One’s plotting betrayal, and the last’s in pursuit
Of a powerful stone that is death’s guarantee
If it falls in the hands of a villainous Kree.

Five mavericks not fitting the hero-type mold,
Five pasts black as sin and five hearts made of gold,
May find that a battle alongside a friend
Can give them a reason to bond and defend.
_______________

MPAA Rating: PG-13

 

Everyone seems to love Guardians of the Galaxy. Coworkers, friends, critics, and random bloggers were singing its praises last year, and I was eager to see it in the theater. Unfortunately, I knocked a sideview mirror off my dad’s car, and the movie money went elsewhere. So when I finally got to see it on DVD, I was ready to be impressed, and though I wanted it to be the best Marvel movie yet, well, it wasn’t.

Don’t get me wrong. It’s an enjoyable space ride of an origin story, yet perhaps my expectations were a bit too high. I had hoped for constant laughs, but the script seemed to be trying too hard at times (the fake laugh, for example). I can’t help but wonder if my appreciation might have been heightened by seeing it in the theater, where I could have shared in that unique experience of an entire audience laughing out loud (like how my mom has described her 8-½ screenings of Star Wars back in 1977). The story was also so crammed full of unfamiliar information with Xandarians and Ravagers and varied motivations that I couldn’t completely keep up, and my VC was totally lost at times. I know we’re supposed to just roll with it and enjoy it and let future viewings show how layered and intricate it is, but being confused can detract from a film’s enjoyment.

Okay, complaints aside, I’m glad to say that I saw it again, and my opinion has improved. I still don’t believe it’s Marvel’s best film, but it is up there. For some reason, the humor was much more appealing this time, and I was able to follow the plot more fully, and I can admit that Guardians of the Galaxy is a small miracle. Iron Man was never as popular as Batman or Superman, but at least people had heard of him. When Marvel gambled on an entire film dedicated to a rebooted superhero team from as recent as 2008, most non-comic experts went “Who?,” a joke the film itself toys with right from the start. Without widespread knowledge of these characters, the filmmakers were able to flesh them out in their own way, with lots of quick-mouthed humor along the way.

The film is full of strengths, from the nostalgic, retro-cool soundtrack of 1970s tunes to spot-on performances from the main cast: heroic rogue Peter Quill (Chris Pratt), assassin with a heart Gamora (Zoe Saldana, continuing her apparent attempt to star in every major franchise), literal-minded avenger Drax the Destroyer (wrestler Dave Bautista), experimental raccoon Rocket (Bradley Cooper), and lovable living tree Groot (Vin Diesel, who could probably have been replaced by anyone who could say three words in a deep voice). The special effects are phenomenal, particularly the final battle and the CGI creation of Rocket and Groot, who are both surprisingly endearing. As I said, there is a lot, and I mean A LOT going on, but my second viewing allowed me to recognize the impressive balance between nonstop action, spitfire wit, and sweet character moments, like Groot’s flower gift or Drax’s comforting of Rocket. (Who didn’t want to pet him after all?) I also noticed a potential recurring gag when Quill states he has 12% of a plan; remember the beginning of The Avengers, when Tony offers 12% of the credit for Stark Tower to Pepper? Hmm.

It’s true that it’s not perfect. The villains Ronan and Nebula (Lee Pace and Karen Gillan) are generic baddies, people can somehow survive exposure to space, the bigger names like Benicio del Toro as the Collector (also Glenn Close and John C. Reilly) are vastly underused, and it might have been more kid-friendly considering it’s gotten its own animated spin-off series. Yet these gripes matter little amidst the fun of escaping a weightless prison or dive-bombing an attacking spaceship. Guardians of the Galaxy throws a lot at the screen, and most of it sticks to provide a fun space adventure that’s part Star Wars, part Marvel, but mostly its own unique adventure.

Best line: (Gamora) “I’m a warrior, an assassin. I don’t dance.” (Peter) “Really? Well, on my planet, we have a legend about people like you. It’s called Footloose. And in it, a great hero named Kevin Bacon teaches an entire city full of people with sticks up their butts that dancing, well, is the greatest thing there is.”  (Gamora) “Who put the sticks up their butts? That is cruel.”

 

Rank: List-Worthy

 

© 2015 S. G. Liput

344 Followers and Counting

 

Source Code (2011)

20 Sunday Sep 2015

Posted by in Movies, Poetry, Reviews, Writing

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Time moves forward, onward toward
A future none can change or guess,
A train that all must get aboard
And some debark with suddenness.

But what if one could board again
To pick up pieces not yet broke,
To change the now before it’s then,
To douse the fire before the smoke?
____________

Rating: PG-13

 

Have you ever noticed a movie that you immediately wanted to see because you could tell solely from the trailer or the premise that you would like it but for some reason or other you just never got around to seeing it even years after it came out? That never happens, right? Well, that’s what happened with me and Source Code, but finally I saw it and found it to be exactly the kind of film I was hoping for and expecting: fast-paced, compelling, and mind-challenging.

When Captain Colter Stevens (Jake Gyllenhaal) wakes up in the body of random commuter Sean Fentress on his way to Chicago, he is shocked at having no memory of how he got there and even more shocked when the train explodes and kills him. Next, he wakes up somewhere else and is told he is part of a secret government experiment for “time reassignment,” which can repeatedly give him the last eight minutes of Fentress’ life in order to figure out the identity of the bomber. Instructed by a sympathetic adviser (Vera Farmiga) and the demanding creator of this Source Code technology (Jeffrey Wright), Stevens returns to the train, where every passenger is a suspect and every repeat reveals something new.

If it seems like a mix of Quantum Leap and Groundhog Day, well, it is, and there’s not a thing wrong with that. I love the concepts of both, and fusing the two was what initially attracted me. Yet as easy as it might be to write the film off as unoriginal, Source Code takes some unexpected turns that not only question the morality of Stevens’s situation but bend its sci-fi idea to turn a no-win scenario into an oddly satisfying ending. (My VC was of a different mind and felt the ending was too unbelievable to be fulfilling.)

Throughout it all, Gyllenhaal provides a surprisingly emotional performance through his eight-minute missions, and the mystery was both enjoyable and urgent. (It was cool how the filmmakers incorporated Quantum Leap’s Scott Bakula for a brief but significant unseen role.) There are certainly unanswered questions, such as the overcomplicated details of how the Source Code actually works and what happens to the real Sean Fentress every time Stevens jumps into him. Nevertheless, like Groundhog Day, Source Code overcomes all its repetition and deserves multiple viewings; just remember, “everything is going to be okay.” Here’s a funny parody from MAD that made me want to see it even more:

 

Best line: (Stevens) “Christina, what would you do if you knew you had less than one minute to live?” (Christina, a fellow passenger) “I’d make those seconds count.”

 

Rank: List-Worthy

 

© 2015 S. G. Liput

340 Followers and Counting

 

Big Hero 6 (2014)

19 Friday Jun 2015

Posted by in Movies, Poetry, Reviews, Writing

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Though Hiro Hamada has bots on the brain
And uses his genius for fun and for gain,
His brother impresses
That cooler successes
Result from hard work to assist those in pain.

The huggable Baymax, Tadashi’s creation,
Is there for young Hiro through grief and temptation.
When evil arises,
His crew improvises,
Inventing a tech-fitted team transformation.

Revenge and respect struggle in good and bad,
And heroes are born from the hopes of a lad.
To overcome grief
And a merciless thief,
New bonds must be forged to replace what he had.
_______________

Rating: PG

After so-so CGI attempts like Bolt and The Wild and vastly improved near-classics like Tangled and Wreck-It Ralph, it’s now safe to say that Disney animation has found its stride. As an animated superhero film, Big Hero 6 doesn’t just copy The Incredibles but succeeds as a unique and entertaining fusion, of Disney storytelling and Marvel action, of Californian and Japanese culture, of soft-bellied caretakers and hard-edged vigilantes.

Too often lately, animated films give so little away in the trailers that it’s hard to get excited about a film we know little about. Thus, while I was tempted to see Big Hero 6 in the theater, I opted to wait for the DVD, a decision I now regret. It has everything you could want in an animated superhero tale. The animation is crisp and detailed, and the characterization of Hiro and his friends is smooth and effortless, elements that serve to heighten the tension and appeal of the action sequences. It’s rare nowadays, but I found it refreshing that every character (aside from the villain) was smart and likable, with the stand-out being the film’s mascot Baymax, that marshmallow man whose endearing innocence and literalness manage to keep the superhero team grounded. Again, I was pleased at how fond I became of this lovable sidekick, sort of like how I was surprised that Olaf was one of the best aspects of Frozen. The character designs and voice acting are perfect, especially for Hiro, Go Go, and hilarious Aunt Cass, and once the fully powered team assembles, the action occasionally approaches an Avengers level of awesomeness, offering new angles and even the unwritten rules of car chases. In addition, the film passed my personal test for animated films, in that I immediately wanted to see it again.

With mind-controlled microbots, experimental wormholes, and unexplained kite turbine things floating above the city (seriously, what were those things? Wind power?), this is obviously not the real world, if the culture-clash of San Fransokyo wasn’t a clear enough hint. Yet the film’s moral speaks to very real emotions of grief, anger, bitterness, and letting go. Hiro’s relationship with his brother Tadashi defines his goals for the future, and despite the holes in his heart, it is encouraging and touching how Baymax manages to fill them. While the film overall is refreshingly original, the core bond between Hiro and Baymax has recognizable resonances with The Iron Giant, and anyone who enjoyed one will most likely love the other. (At one point, I almost expected to hear “You go; I stay,” but that would have been too obvious a connection.) Big Hero 6 also completes an unexpected trilogy of films in which James Cromwell plays the father of some great advancement in robotics, the other two being I, Robot and Surrogates.

While the film’s science is clearly comic-bookishly advanced, certain up-and-coming real-world technologies were included as goals to strive for, such as the idea of a soft care robot or the 3D printer that Hiro uses to create everything from robot parts to costumes. It’s been said that the “geeks” and “nerds” are the ones who change the world, and this film is part of a growing trend to put animated nerds in the heroic spotlight (like Hiccup’s reading in How to Train Your Dragon or Flint’s inventing in Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs). Big Hero 6 is a home-run for Disney animation, which has now firmly planted itself above DreamWorks and just short of Pixar. From the funny and sweet short film Feast before it to the unexpected after-credits scene that cements this as a Marvel movie, Big Hero 6 is a super hit from start to finish and deserved its Oscar win.

Best line: (Aunt Cass, having prepared hot wings) “All right, get ready to have your face melted! We are gonna feel these things tomorrow, you know what I’m saying?”

VC’s best line: (Baymax, referring to the cat) “Hairy baby, hairy baaaby!”

 

Rank: List-Worthy

© 2015 S. G. Liput

319 Followers and Counting

Genre Grandeur May Finale – Children Who Chase Lost Voices (2011) – Rhyme and Reason

31 Sunday May 2015

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Here’s my review for my chosen genre of non-Disney fantasy animation, courtesy of MovieRob’s monthly Genre Grandeur. Thanks a bunch, Rob!

movierob's avatarMovieRob

gg may 2015

For this month’s final entry for Genre Grandeur May – Animated Sci-Fi/Fantasy (Non-Disney/PIXAR) Movies, here’s a review of The Children Who Chase Lost Voices (2011) by S.G. Liput of Rhyme and Reason who chose this month’s genre for us all.

If you missed any of them, here’s a recap:

This month we had 18 review for GG:

  1.  Quest For Camelot (1998) – Past Present Future TV and Film
  2.  Planet 51 (2009) – Movie Reviews 101
  3.  Robots (2005) – Tranquil Dreams
  4.  9 (2009) – Ten Stars or Less
  5.  The Pagemaster (1994) – Past Present Future TV and Film
  6.  The Iron Giant (1999) – Movie Reviews 101
  7.  The Iron Giant (1999) – Digital Shortbread
  8.  Titan A.E. (2000) – Past Present Future TV and Film
  9.  Thumbelina (1994) – Past Present Future TV and Film
  10.  The Tale of the Princess Kaguya (2013) – Sidekick Reviews

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Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)

05 Tuesday May 2015

Posted by in Movies, Poetry, Reviews, Writing

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With S.H.I.E.L.D. out of service,
At least on the surface,
Six awesome Avengers defend the world still.
Since HYDRA arose,
They’ve empowered new foes,
Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch, twins with ill will.
 
Once Tony Stark’s had
An epiphany bad,
He then starts preparing for “peace in our time,”
But Ultron’s created
And quickly upgraded,
Equating true peace with a murderous crime.
 
Against these new threats
And alarming skill sets,
Our heroes must deal with their goals and their fear,
And when all agree
To save Earth mightily,
The smackdown is epic and worth a good cheer.
____________________
 

As my first review for a film still in theaters, Avengers: Age of Ultron is luckily just the kind of film to see on the big screen, with all the eye-popping action and comic book culmination that drive superhero fans like me nuts. The first Avengers stands as one of the most breathtaking feats of any superhero franchise, bringing together characters from past films and achieving a surprising balance between action, heart, and geek heaven character interaction. It’s a high point in the superhero genre that won’t be easily topped, and though Age of Ultron doesn’t quite match it, it comes close enough to still be worthy of the Avengers name.

Like X-Men: Days of Future Past, the cast is potentially unwieldy. There’s the heroes we already know and love: Iron Man (Robert Downey, Jr.), Captain America (Chris Evans), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), plus other familiar faces like Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders), War Machine (Don Cheadle), and at least three others. Add to that Ultron, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, and at least three others, and you’ve got a likely mess in the wrong hands. Luckily, we have Joss Whedon’s hands to mold it into a mostly satisfying blockbuster, with all the wit, humor, pathos, and awesomeness you might expect from his name.

With the glut of old and new characters, their treatment and screen time necessarily vary. Iron Man and Captain America get little more than some funny exchanges about foul language and disagreements about how to make safe the world, while there’s some unexpected development for Hawkeye, Widow, and Hulk, making the most and least super of the group sympathetically human. Though the presence of recognizable faces from past films will fill hardcore fans with glee, a few are so fleeting that the filmmakers could have left them out, if only to avoid confusing the less initiated. The same goes for would-be antagonists like Baron von Strucker (Thomas Kretschmann) and Ulysses Klaue (Andy Serkis), who barely stick around long enough to make an impression. (I find it interesting that those two previously appeared together as shipmates in Peter Jackson’s King Kong, though with opposite fates.) As for Quicksilver (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen), the two newest an/pro-tagonists don’t stand out as much they should have, in some cases being treated as afterthoughts amid all else happening. Quicksilver isn’t quite as fast or memorable as Evan Peters’ version of the character in Days of Future Past, but he and his Eastern European sister manage at least a couple scenes that highlight their eventual importance to the still growing team.

As you would expect from so many characters, there’s a lot going on. If your mind wanders at the wrong moment, you might be wondering why everyone is suddenly headed to a fictional African nation to visit Gollum or why Thor is skinny-dipping in a mystical Norse pool. (I’m still not sure I understand that last one). A couple added plot elements are even introduced with little to no explanation, trusting the audience to simply keep up. Just as the first film has Thor and Iron Man going toe to toe, this one sees Iron Man and Hulk duking it out. Despite all the urban devastation throughout the film, the end places special importance on the safety of civilians, and some sacrifices toward the end do touch the heart, if not very deeply.

Ultron himself is more charismatic than just some bloodthirsty robot, and James Spader’s voice gives him a compelling personality with darkly humorous and strangely religious overtones. Yet his motivations and origins are consistently murky, similar to Peter Dinklage in Days of Future Past, a villain who deep down admires his prey but intends to extinguish them for nebulous reasons. His evil plot is astonishingly inventive (though one of his creations leads to a promising new character and his inevitable downfall), and the battle to thwart it is eye-popping, including one of those goose-bump-raising extended shots with all the heroes kicking enemy butt like only the Avengers can.

I didn’t intend to make three references to Days of Future Past here, but I suppose both of these films exemplify the trend in superhero films, to bring past triumphs together into an overstuffed but breathtaking array of comic book goodness. These films and Guardians of the Galaxy seem to draw their energy from a “the more characters, the better” mentality, so long as an even-handed writer and director keep everything balanced and entertaining. Time will tell if DC can pull the same thing off with their Justice League intentions or if Marvel is destined to remain the big name in superhero hits. Age of Ultron was almost everything I had hoped, yet another sign that Marvel has yet to stumble.

Best line:  (Tony Stark) “We’re the Avengers; we can bust weapons dealers the whole doo-da-day, but how do we cope with something like that?”
(Steve Rogers) “Together.”
(Stark) “We’ll lose.”
(Rogers) “We do that together too.”
 
 
Rank: Top 100-Worthy (to join the first one)
 

© 2015 S. G. Liput

305 Followers and Counting

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay — Part 1 (2014)

30 Thursday Apr 2015

Posted by in Movies, NaPoWriMo, Poetry, Reviews, Writing

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In District 13, Katniss Everdeen waits,
Unsettled by District 12 citizens’ fates.
Deep under the ground with her saved family,
She worries for Peeta interminably.
Both Plutarch and resolute President Coin
Are eager for her to recover and join.
 
Insisting that Peeta be rescued someday,
Poor Katniss agrees to be their Mockingjay,
The hero for all districts, sure to inspire
The masses and light an unquenchable fire.
Since staged propaganda does not work as well,
She heads to the war zones to get mad as hell.
 
Her anger at Snow for the cruel devastation
Extends to the people who rise from privation.
Yet who should appear on the Capitol screens
But Peeta, denouncing the riotous scenes?
The boy’s brain seems washed, but he still tries to warn
The rebels of sudden barrages that morn.
 
When Capitol power is violently cut,
The rebels move in ere the window is shut.
The three captive tributes that Snow has been holding
Are surely a part of his scheme still unfolding.
Though Katniss is eager for Peeta’s return,
She’s shocked at the lesson Snow wants her to learn.
_________________
 

(Since this is the last day of NaPoWriMo, my reviews will probably be less frequent from now on, but I thought I’d go out on a more well-known film.)

This latest installment of the Hunger Games franchise wasn’t as well-received as its predecessors, and it does stand apart from those films in some crucial ways. For one thing, there are no actual Hunger Games, the televised blood sport that managed to thrill both the citizens of Panem and countless readers and viewers. Instead, the film chooses to focus on District 13 and its commissioning of everyone’s favorite grieving archer to lead the revolt against the Capitol and President Snow. They basically have her do what she’s done in the past: grieve for the fallen, land awesome arrow shots, and make rebellious statements against tyranny, just more forcefully than in the past and this time caught on camera. In this case, there’s quite a bit of Katniss grieving: for the decimated District 12, for Snow’s current victims, for her captive boyfriend Peeta (their love was real; who knew?), and the comparatively brief scenes of action and tension don’t exactly balance out her emotional turmoil. Every time Peeta came on screen and people either booed him or asked what Snow had done to him, I kept wondering why no one considered that he had been brainwashed. That seemed like the most obvious explanation. And of course, the film’s greatest weakness is the stigma of being Part 1, a film in which the first half of a relatively short book is dragged out and concluded on a far from satisfying note.

All that being said, Mockingjay — Part 1 is still an important piece of the franchise, however financially exploitative it may be. The events following Catching Fire are given greater emotional weight, and Jennifer Lawrence continues to project a compelling mix of strength, vulnerability, and concern for both friends and family. While it’s a bit jarring for her to go from fighting for survival to filming propaganda pieces, Katniss’s transition from tribute to freedom fighter feels well-earned and depicts the motivating power that revolutionary media can have on a volatile populace. The film’s best scene is the dam attack in which a haunting folk song (with lyrics drawn from Suzanne Collins’ book) is employed as an anthem of rebellion. “The Hanging Tree” is one of those unique aspects of this franchise that transcends the story itself (like the three-finger salute or that familiar whistle), and it stayed with this viewer much more than Lorde’s Globe-nominated “Yellow Flicker Beat.”

Thus, while it would have been better to film Mockingjay as one film, this one still has merit. We get to meet Julianne Moore as District 13’s President Coin and see more of the late Philip Seymour Hoffman as Plutarch Heavensbee. The few moments of tension certainly are thrilling, and that twist at the end surely took everyone who hadn’t read the books by surprise (even if that’s just me and five other people). While much of the film does feel unnecessarily prolonged, such as Katniss’s repetitive calls to Snow at the climax, I for one was still glad to spend more time with this story and these characters. Plus, the film fulfilled its main purpose; I’ll be there with countless others to see Part 2 this November.

By the way, here’s a musical version for those of you who could use a laugh. This is just one of three hilarious parody videos, all of which are well worth seeing. Enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=am1tzttZ8Pc

Best line: (Effie Trinket, who apparently wasn’t much in the third book) “They’ll either want to kill you, kiss you, or be you.”

 
Rank: List-Worthy (joining the other two as one series)
 

© 2015 S. G. Liput

302 Followers and Counting

The Towering Inferno (1974)

26 Sunday Apr 2015

Posted by in Movies, NaPoWriMo, Poetry, Reviews, Writing

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I am the fire that burns out of sight,
Starting my rampage as merely a wisp.
Celebrate victory into the night;
I will burn you and your spire to a crisp.
 
Why do they build these skyscrapers so high,
Making it simpler with every floor
For me to cut off and trap in the sky
Everyone over my fiery roar?
 
Look at the people who panic and flee,
Visitors boasting illustrious names.
Look at the firemen battling me,
Feeble to fight in the face of my flames.
 
I am inferno, the new height of heat,
No other bastion of bragging is hotter.
Top of the world, Ma! None can defeat
Me or my mayhem, except—oh no—water!
________________
 

(Today’s NaPoWriMo prompt was for a persona poem, one written in the voice of someone/something else. I’ve written a few like that recently, but this film offered another good opportunity.)

Released at the height of the 1970s fascination with disaster films, The Towering Inferno is one of the best films produced by “Master of Disaster” Irwin Allen. Featuring one of those great ensembles of former power players, the film plays as a modern land-based version of the Titanic story. Just as the Titanic set out without enough lifeboats for everyone aboard, the Glass Tower’s builder (William Holden) sees no problem with holding a top-floor party in a 138-story building with no working fire suppression system and later refuses to understand the severity of the situation. Likewise, the Titanic did have all the boats it was required to, just as the corner-cutting engineer (a loathsome Richard Chamberlain) insists that all the systems he installed were “up to code,” which is just not good enough, as the high-reaching disaster starkly proves.

In addition to the danger of irresponsible cost-saving measures, which are most commonly to blame for human-liable disasters, the film is an early realistic tribute to the heroism of firefighters, embodied in Steve McQueen’s Chief Mike O’Halloran. While he at first blames the tower’s architect Doug Roberts (Paul Newman), he wastes no time in taking charge and using everything at his disposal to stop the conflagration and rescue the stranded partygoers, from helicopters to a breeches buoy to a life-risking explosive mission. Not only does it foreshadow more recent firefighter stories, but certain scenes may even remind you of Die Hard or, more soberingly, the 9/11 attacks.

There’s everything you expect from a big disaster movie: building tension, children in danger, ill-fated lovers, lamentable panic, harrowing visual effects (the stars did their own stunts for the wet finale, which was filmed in one take), daring rescues, and an enormous cast of big-ish names, some of which aren’t necessarily safe from flaming death. In addition to the ones above, there are Faye Dunaway, an aging Fred Astaire, Robert Wagner, Robert Vaughn, model Susan Blakely, everyone’s favorite football player O. J. Simpson, Dabney Coleman, and the final film role of Jennifer Jones. Reportedly, Paul Newman and Steve McQueen clashed egos in who would receive top billing, resulting in a clever compromise in the credits, with McQueen’s name on the left but lower than Newman’s. Plus, those who remember 1970s TV might recognize the sheriff from The Waltons (as an electrical worker), Gregory Sierra from Barney Miller (as the bartender), and The Brady Bunch’s Mike Lookinland/Bobby Brady (as a boy in peril).

Rising from its B-movie potential, The Towering Inferno is surprisingly well-done, though not without some faults (a few overlong suspense scenes and victim incompetence), and it won Oscars for Best Cinematography, Editing, and Song, as well as a Best Picture nomination. While I prefer The Poseidon Adventure (which also won Best Song two years prior for “The Morning After,” which was also sung commercially by Maureen McGovern), this film has enough star power and thrills to still entertain. If Jaws made you afraid to go in the water and The Poseidon Adventure turned you off from cruise ships, The Towering Inferno may give you pause the next time you head to the top of a skyscraper.

Best line: (Doug Roberts, to the tower’s ambitious builder) “Don’t you think you’re suffering from an edifice complex?”

VC’s best line: (Doug Roberts) “If you had to cut costs, why didn’t you cut floors instead of corners?”

 
Rank: List-Worthy
 

© 2015 S. G. Liput

299 Followers and Counting

Bottom-Dweller: X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)

17 Friday Apr 2015

Posted by in Movies, NaPoWriMo, Poetry, Reviews, Writing

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X-Men United? Well, not all that much.
There’s six or so heroes, and Rogue who can’t touch.
The rest of the mutants unfortunately
Line up with Magneto or stay absentee.
 
A cure for mutations has been synthesized,
And soon its great risk is sensationalized.
Meanwhile, Jean Grey has returned from the grave
To murder the friends that she perished to save.
 
As evil Magneto initiates war,
The X-Men fight back, as they’ve all done before.
For those wishing for Bryan Singer on hand,
This thankfully isn’t the X-Men’s last stand.
___________________
 

When it comes to movies, I’m fairly easy-going. Even in films that others tear apart, I tend to see the positives and end up liking them to some extent (Spider-Man 3, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull). Yet there are a select few movies that I honestly despise, six special films that carry my cinematic slur of “bottom-dweller.” Not all of these are bombs; some were even critically lauded. Yet they all have something in common. They disappointed me deeply, and no film exemplifies this fault like X-Men: The Last Stand, a film that seemed at the time like a franchise killer.

Having seen it again, I believe it had the potential to be a worthy follow-up to the truly great sequel X2. The plotline involving a mutant cure poses a divisive “what-if” development that offers both hope and fear, and the characters’ reactions to it are believable for the most part. Except for some scenes with Angel’s wings, the special effects are top-notch, particularly Magneto’s hijacking of the Golden Gate Bridge. (I remember once seeing this movie the same day as Monsters vs. Aliens and noticing that both featured the same bridge’s destruction.) Had The Last Stand focused solely on the “cure” plot thread, it may not have gone so wrong, but its greatest mistake is the maddeningly disappointing adaptation of the famous “Dark Phoenix Saga” from the comics. (Spoilers ahead.)

Perhaps the Honest Trailer (a satirical YouTube video series) for the X-Men trilogy summed it up in stating that, after Brett Ratner’s taking over for original X-Men director Bryan Singer, we get to watch him “kill off your favorite characters, leave out your favorite characters, and depower your favorite characters.” The worst aspect of the film is its treatment, or rather mistreatment, of these characters. X2 ended with Jean Grey’s heroic sacrifice to save her teammates from certain death, and it offered a bittersweet conclusion that left room for more. Putting aside all the action of The Last Stand, this film essentially resurrects her, only for her to disintegrate her lover Cyclops, her mentor Professor X, and a whole lot of other people until she is finally taken down by Wolverine. Not only does this diverge from the comic source material, but it makes for an entirely unsatisfying superhero film, one in which major character deaths are given no nobility and the few hints at future film prospects are woefully deficient, considering the damage already done to the franchise.

Other complaints could range from the overstuffed, underdeveloped host of new characters (including [Lost alert] Ken Leung as a punk with retractable quills) to the underwhelming face-off between Iceman and Pyro to the continuity-clashing prologue in which Charles can walk and he and Magneto are still on good terms (First Class pretty much ignored this film). Plus, even if Magneto is the villain, he always seemed to have a misguided yet understandable reason for his villainy, but his abandonment of Mystique after she saved him makes him unnecessarily shallow and selfish. Despite the welcome additions of Kelsey Grammer and Ellen Page as Beast and Shadowcat, respectively, every single character was given short shrift and deserved so much better.

After this film, most subsequent X-Men films had to hearken back to the origins of its most popular characters since this film left little to work with, yet this movie certainly wasn’t a worthy conclusion to the original characters’ story. Ultimately, it took the return of Bryan Singer with X-Men: Days of Future Past to clean up the mess left by The Last Stand and give us the happy ending this bottom-dweller never could.

Best line: (Storm’s eulogy, one of the few genuinely poignant moments) “We live in an age of darkness: a world full of fear, hate, and intolerance. But in every age, there are those who fight against it. Charles Xavier was born into a world divided, a world he tried to heal… a mission he never saw accomplished. It seems it’s the destiny of great men to see their goals unfulfilled. Charles was more than a leader, more than a teacher. He was a friend. When we were afraid, he gave us strength. When we were alone, he gave us a family. He may be gone, but his teachings live on through us, his students. Wherever we may go, we must carry on his vision, and that is a vision of a world united.”

 
Rank: Bottom-Dweller
 

© 2015 S. G. Liput

295 Followers and Counting