Tag Archives: Thriller

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

 

The Conversation (1974)

02 Friday Dec 2016

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Relax, I can calm all your eavesdropping fears;
Don’t worry; we’re shielded from unwelcome ears.
I’ve turned off my phone, which I’ve hid in my lawn,
So it’s muffled in case it’s remotely turned on.

I’ve checked every lampshade and drawer that I’ve got
And crushed every bug, whether living or not.
I’ve emptied the bookcases, checked every crack,
And covered the windows with tarps painted black.

I’ve wrapped my computer and cameras in wool,
So no one can use them to get an earful.
And while I apologize for all the noise,
It’s safest to speak while I blast Beastie Boys.

So now we can talk, privately and secure.
And yet, in this world, can we ever be sure?
_______________________

MPAA rating: PG

Francis Ford Coppola had a good year in 1974, where both The Conversation and The Godfather Part II were nominated for Best Picture, the latter winning, of course. Both have solid critical acclaim, but it’s easy for The Conversation to be overshadowed by its more epic cousin. It’s a slow-moving thriller very different from Coppola’s other films, hanging predominately on Gene Hackman in the lead role of Harry Caul, a surveillance expert who believes he’s overheard evidence of a potential murder yet to happen.

Hackman is always excellent, and while I can’t say it’s one of his most memorable performances, he makes the mustached Caul sympathetic with his intensely private, loner lifestyle and his guilt over a past job gone wrong. Next to him are early appearances by Cindy Williams, John Cazale (Fredo in The Godfather films), and even Harrison Ford, but the other star of the film is the surveillance equipment Caul employs. In our current world of advanced electronics, The Conversation feels significant if only to capture the methods and technology of the surveillance profession decades ago, such as the huge reel tape machine that Caul uses to listen to the same enigmatic sentences over and over throughout the film. While most of it seems antiquated, I was actually surprised by one gadget that could remotely turn a telephone into a listening device, and those were old-fashioned corded phones!

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All that being said, The Conversation is a thriller of a different style than we’re used to nowadays with constant car chases and explosions. It’s slow and meant to be slow, relying on suggestion and paranoia that doesn’t always keep it interesting. That does change toward the end, as the truth of the conversation comes to light, especially with a memorable scene involving a toilet. After the masterfully enacted twist, though, it’s as if the film doesn’t know how to end. The final scene boasts some powerful paranoia (enough even to overwhelm Caul’s religious devotion), but it’s not what I consider an ending. Perhaps it would have benefited from a little less ambiguity toward a climactic irony, which I only learned of while reading about the film afterward.

The Conversation may not be my cup of tea, as far as thrillers go, but it’s an anxiously plausible and well-made meditation on privacy or the lack thereof and a reminder that the meaning of a conversation can hinge on the stress of a single word.

Best line: (Caul) “I’m not afraid of death, but I am afraid of murder.”

 

Rank: Honorable Mention

 

© 2016 S.G. Liput
429 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

 

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

 

VC Pick: Silver Streak (1976)

04 Sunday Sep 2016

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Planes are too risky, and cars are too slow,
And don’t get me started on cruises and ships.
It seems that the safest conveyance for trips
Is travel by train; ‘tis the best way to go.

The scenery passes in hurtling flashes,
And movies have proven how romance can bloom.
But murderers too ride the train, I assume,
And safety is sometimes as rare as a crash is.

If you beware of endangered females
And manage to somehow remain on your train
Or if you fall off, to get on it again,
Then maybe your travels won’t go off the rails.
_____________________

MPAA rating: PG (should be PG-13 for innuendo and language)

In honor of the late Gene Wilder, I thought I’d review one of my VC’s favorite films of his. Murder on a train has certainly been seen before, like in 1974’s Murder on the Orient Express, but Silver Streak two years later milks the concept for sheer entertainment rather than mystery. Wilder plays George Caldwell, an editor in search of the boredom of riding a train, who meets his flirty room neighbor Hilly (Jill Clayburgh) and shares some garden-related pillow talk with her. And then a dead body appears outside the window. Talk about a mood killer.

Wilder isn’t quite as neurotic as his Leo Bloom in The Producers, but he’s likably nervous while he uncovers the conspiracy on board the Silver Streak, which connects L.A. and Chicago. There are shoot-outs and FBI agents and hidden evidence and a spear gun, and even if the plot gets a bit convoluted, the intrigue never falters.

The humor tends to stick with innuendo and mild amusement, that is, until Richard Pryor as the helpful criminal Grover joins the party. Silver Streak was the first partnership between Wilder and Pryor, and while I haven’t seen their other films together, they were no doubt striving to recreate the buddy chemistry on display here. There’s no real depth in their relationship, no moment of bonding, but they get along so well that it’s not needed. Their black-and-white appeal delivers some of the best moments, such as Wilder’s attempt at acting black to avoid the police.

The rest of the cast also get their memorable moments, including Ned Beatty, Scatman Crothers, Patrick McGoohan, Clifton James, Ray Walston, and Richard Kiel, playing a metal-toothed thug a year before he played Jaws in The Spy Who Loved Me. Perhaps the most memorable scene is the big unstoppable climax, which has been echoed in other train scenes like that in Hugo. While it’s not the best or funniest of Gene Wilder’s films (those would be Willy Wonka and Young Frankenstein for me), Silver Streak is an entertaining ride combining the American countryside, conspiratorial mystery, excellent casting, and a reminder of its star’s inimitable talent. RIP Gene Wilder.

Best line: (Grover) “I’m a thief!”

 

Rank: List Runner-Up

 

© 2016 S. G. Liput
404 Followers and Counting

Inside Man (2006)

25 Thursday Aug 2016

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Here I sit within a bank,
With hostages at my disposal.
The cops know my demands are frank
And no suggestion or proposal.

While they scramble, stupefied,
And try to gain the upper hand,
I wait with patience here inside,
Assured in every twist I’ve planned.
__________________

MPAA rating: R

I didn’t know much about Inside Man going in, and that proved to be an advantage to take in the twists of this heist thriller as they came. Directed by Spike Lee, Inside Man begins with an enigmatic monologue from Dalton Russell (Clive Owen) about pulling off the perfect bank robbery. Within minutes, we see the heist begun by four masked robbers, who blind the surveillance cameras and take everyone in the bank hostage. The police soon react, and Detective Frazier (Denzel Washington) is sent in to assess and resolve the tense situation.

As with most heist films, the actual mechanics of the theft are the most intriguing to watch. Once the robbers seal off the building, it becomes clear that they’re not interested in the cash in the vault. They force the hostages to also dress up in masks and start drilling in a store room. While it’s unclear what their goals and motivations are, they’ve obviously thought through every contingency. The chess-like moves between gruff Frazier and mysterious Dalton are cleverly riveting, and the tension is visceral even without any shoot-em-up action. Intercut with the main story are police interviews with the hostages, who are all suspects in this puzzling caper.

The film would have done well to keep its focus on the heist, for it stumbles on the outside. Jodie Foster adds star power as a smug fixer sent in by the bank’s owner (Christopher Plummer), but she feels out of her depth in this kind of volatile situation. Her scenes mainly consist of self-confident threats; she probably does have the political connections to carry them out, but her toughness rings hollow in the face of an unpredictable criminal. Likewise, even though the climactic twist is ingenious, the ultimate outcome feels half-baked and unsatisfying. Not every question is answered, and we’re ultimately urged to sympathize with an enigma because someone else is worse. In the end, the film didn’t convince me that what should have happened did or would.

Inside Man is well-executed where it counts the most: the heist itself. The acting is serviceable, but the strategy of the “perfect bank robbery” is the main strength of the film, which also showcases the racial tension and ethnic diversity in New York (Albanian, Sikh, etc.). Heavy on the unnecessary language and occasional violence, it’s a movie left in “just good” territory, let down by only half-fulfilled promise.

Best line: (Russell) “But inevitably, the further you run from your sins, the more exhausted you are when they catch up to you. And they do.”

 

Rank: Honorable Mention

 

© 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

 

Casino Royale (2006) / Quantum of Solace (2008)

19 Friday Aug 2016

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An agent of will
With a license to kill
And a suavity sporting equivalent skill
With word or with fist
And a need to be kissed
Is an asset the British are brandishing still.

Yet even James Bond,
Whether black-haired or blonde,
Has the human weakness to grow overly fond.
Such a passionate path
Leads to rancor and wrath
In the cruel aftermath and the danger beyond.
__________________

MPAA rating for both: PG-13

I’ve never been particularly well-versed in the James Bond franchise. Although I didn’t grow up in the ‘80s, I was first introduced to Roger Moore as 007 so he’s always been my preferred Bond. Yet whether he’s played by Sean Connery or Pierce Brosnan, what’s there to know? He’s a dashingly handsome British spy with gadgets, who thwarts international villains while bedding international women. With such a simple premise and narrative room for plenty else, the franchise has been content churning out stand-alone features with mainly Bond and his superiors M and Q (and occasionally a villain) as the constants, even if they’ve been recast over the decades.

Thus, when I finally decided to give my attention to Daniel Craig’s now-ended run as Bond, starting with 2006’s Casino Royale, I was surprised to see that the filmmakers went with a more overarching storyline, continuing into Craig’s second film Quantum of Solace. Resurrecting Bond from the campiness of the Moore and Brosnan years, Casino Royale serves as a sort of origin story for the famous agent, even depicting how he obtained his Aston Martin; we still know little of his early years, but witnessing the beginning of his 00 career provides a larger context for Bond himself.

Craig plays the character with grim determination and only a sliver of the charm of past Bonds. He’s certainly skilled at the no-nonsense side of the job, but while his emotions do simmer beneath the spy façade, I still find him rather deadpan, even in the plaintive scenes. The always good Judi Dench as M is the only connection to past Bond films, and her scolding mother-style relationship with Bond provides a pleasant friction to the proceedings, since this less-experienced Bond is prone to rash decisions and unintended force.

Casino Royale sees Bond match wits with Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelsen), a banker for terrorists who is pushed into holding a high-stakes poker tournament in Montenegro to satisfy his debts. Tagging along to advise and assist are Mathis (Giancarlo Giannini) and the beautiful treasury agent Vesper Lynd (Eva Green), a Bond girl whose relationship with Bond starts off with cold barbs but takes them both much further than one would expect from the famous womanizer.

The brisk action, cracking dialogue, and slick intrigue are the strongest elements, especially a thrilling “gotcha” struggle with a bomber at an airport runway, but Casino Royale takes a left turn in showing Bond truly in love rather than the usual lust, even being willing to quit MI6. Once things settle down after the card game, we get an unexpected amount of romantic bliss right before the climax. It certainly shows a different side to Bond, but it also interferes with the pacing that one would expect from a 007 movie. The final scene does make up for it, though, ending with a perfect lead-in for the subsequent film.

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Quantum of Solace picks up right there, not with further adventures in the meantime but right after Casino Royale. That makes it the only Bond film I can think of that will leave viewers seriously confused if they haven’t seen its predecessor. For most Bond films, certain characters rather than events are the touchstones, yet here both are equally important. Perhaps this is one of the reasons why Quantum of Solace is considered Craig’s weakest outing; by no means is it a bad film, but if one goes into this Bond movie expecting a self-contained plot, they will be disappointed. Yet for someone like me who loves continuity and didn’t have to wait two years between watching the two, I actually found Quantum of Solace better in some regards.

The most notable improvement is the pacing. It feels more like a James Bond outing, just with the action levels ratcheted up to eleven, making Quantum supposedly the most violent of any Bond movie. There are car chases, foot chases, boat chases, plane chases, Bond chasing others, others chasing Bond. The set pieces are thrilling, and Craig’s Bond continues to be a respectable combination of tough and clever, even if he has a problem with killing potential suspects. The character and plot holdovers from Casino Royale add to the story, and as the mysterious Quantum organization and its conspiracies are discovered, the vendettas pile up, both for Bond and for Bolivian companion Camille Montes (Olga Kurylenko).

Despite the introduction of the still-enigmatic Quantum, I will admit that the plot is downright convoluted. Even with the early secret agent escapades at the beginning, Casino Royale had a focused plot that can be summed up rather easily. It’s not as easy to recall the main point of Quantum of Solace; there was a double agent and a secret meeting at an opera and an evil general and something about oil and the environment that didn’t cast world governments in the best light. By the end, I couldn’t quite keep up with who had a grudge against whom, particularly in the final semi-redemptive scene where Bond confronts two previously unseen characters. (Maybe I was just too distracted by the surprise at seeing Bakshi from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Beckett from Castle together. I did like the scene’s significance once I understood it, though.)

Neither film is perfect, but as a dual foundation for Craig as the new 007, they’re among the best Bond films I’ve seen. Casino Royale is a uniquely paced debut for the stern-faced Craig and sets up the complex plot and tremendous action of Quantum, which astonishingly leaves at least one female character free of Bond’s sexual charms. I’m still partial to Roger Moore’s incarnation, and A View to a Kill is still my go-to for the series, but Craig’s more solemn version has my respect. I do think it’s laughable that, by the time of Quantum of Solace, some critics were grumbling about the overly serious tone when they used to complain that the old Bonds like Moore were too silly and lighthearted. There’s no pleasing some people, but Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace have convinced me to check out Craig’s further adventures. Skyfall, here I come.

Best line from Casino Royale: (Bond, after losing a lot of money) “Vodka-martini.”   (bartender) “Shaken or stirred?”   (Bond) “Do I look like I give a damn?”

Best line from Quantum of Solace: (Bond) “They say you’re judged by the strength of your enemies.”

 

Rank: Both List-Worthy

 

© 2016 S. G. Liput
404 Followers and Counting