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Movie Review: Iron Man 3

Posted on February 26, 2014 | Leave a comment

Iron Man 3Title: “Iron Man 3”

Director: Shane Black

Writers: Drew Pearce, Shane Black

Stars: Robert Downey Jr., Guy Pearce, Gwyneth Paltrow

My rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Well, it’s “Iron Man.” What do you expect?

Iron Man has a unique position in what is now known as the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), which are the movies based on Marvel comics that tie together (which does not include the Spider-Man or Fantastic Four movies, for example). The first “Iron Man” launched the MCU, and this movie starts Phase 2 of the MCU, being the first movie in the MCU to take place after “The Avengers.” How does it measure up?

Based loosely on the “Extremis” storyline in the comic books, Tony Stark is left haunted by his experience in the aforementioned “The Avengers.” Unable to sleep, he remains awake all night tinkering, building new suits and technology, including creating tech to mentally link to and control his Iron Man suit. A series of attacks credited to a terrorist called the Mandarin create unease, and in one attack Happy (Jon Favreau) is seriously injured. The Mandarin specifically targets Tony Stark, Pepper is kidnapped, and Tony must rely on his wits and tech expertise as the Mandarin’s terrorist organization spreads fear and try to track Stark down to eliminate him as a threat to their plans.

This is a fun movie, even if it’s not brilliant. The first movie was great fun and gave hope for what had already been announce as the MCU. The second Iron Man film was okay, but ultimately a disappointment. This movie falls somewhere in between the two. It’s better than the second film but doesn’t quite capture the magic of the first.

Part of the problem is that for a movie about Iron Man, he is rarely in the suit during the film. That’s right. This isn’t so much an Iron Man film as it is a Tony Stark film. Now, when he is in the suit(s), it’s great with awesome visual effects, and this film has a final battle sequence that dwarfs those in the previous two films in scale. But it takes a long time to get there. This film also has a great plot twist that you may have heard about, but I won’t reveal here just in case. However, this film also has a terrible ending, with plot threads wrapped up (or not) off-screen and in a matter of minutes because, well, they just didn’t feel like addressing them with the weight that they deserved.

It’s a decent and fun film, with good action sequences if you have the patience to get to them. It’s better than the previous Iron Man film, but more dependent on drama and mystery than on action, and with Robert Downey, Jr. playing a more haunted Tony Stark, it carries a different tone. Not a bad tone, but still different.

“Iron Man 3” earns 3.5 out of 5 stars.

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Movie Review: Star Trek Into Darkness

Posted on February 24, 2014 | Leave a comment

Star Trek Into DarknessTitle: “Star Trek Into Darkness”

Director: J.J. Abrams

Writer: Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman, Damon Lindelof, Gene Roddenberry (created by)

Starring: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana

My rating: 2 out of 5 stars

Again, this is a movie that I came into with a lot of bias. I enjoyed the old “Star Trek” television series and the movies (well, some of the movies). If there was one movie that had so much potential yet became such a letdown, it was “Star Trek Into Darkness.”

The previous “Star Trek” was enjoyable and exciting, even if it wasn’t perfect. As a reboot of the franchise, I give the filmmakers credit for having made the reboot part of the plot rather than just saying, “This is what we’re doing now because we say so. Deal with it!” For those who don’t know, the previous movie involved a time travel plot that altered the past and created a new timeline, so everything is now new and has an in-movie explanation for being different from the original series. Which was the reason that “Star Trek Into Darkness” was so disappointing.

In this film, the Federation is dealing with a terrorist who seems to know all their military and security secrets and is bent on their destruction. How this ultimately plays out will cause the audience to ask what the point of the reboot was. All this movie did was recycle old plots and characters from the original timeline, so much so that it amounts to little more than lazy writing and a lack of imagination. With a whole new world opened up through the reboot, why did they feel the need to go back to old plotlines?

It gets worse. Not only are old plots recycled, but old scenes are recycled. But they’re not just recycled. They are altered just enough that it’s not just retreading old stories, but parodying them. In what was supposed to be a particularly serious scene, people in the audience were laughing because the way the scene was recreated was ridiculous. And the deus ex machina ending will leave the audience shaking their head. Handwavium seems to have survived to this timeline.

Admittedly, the movie does have some good action and decent special effects, but not much we haven’t seen in the previous movie (aside from the neat effect of a Starship crashing into San Francisco; that was nicely done). If you haven’t seen any of the old Star Trek series or movies, this might be a bit more enjoyable, but if you know anything at all about the old series, this movie becomes a bit of a groaner.

This makes me more than a little concerned for J.J. Abrams’ take on “Star Wars.”

“Star Trek Into Darkness” earns 2 out of 5 stars.

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Movie Review: The Invisible Woman

Posted on February 23, 2014 | Leave a comment

The Invisible WomanTitle: “The Invisible Woman”

Director: Ralph Fiennes

Writer: Abi Morgan

Starring: Ralph Fiennes, Felicity Jones, Kristin Scott Thomas

My rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars

Based on Claire Tomalin’s book of the same name, “The Invisible Woman” follows the story of Nelly Ternan, the woman who became Charles Dickens’ secret mistress. Told in a series of flashbacks, we see Nelly as she meets Dickens during the height of his career and follow their relationship (and his relationship with his wife) up until his death.

Many will probably find this movie rather dull and not without cause. Much of the drama in this movie, with the exception of a couple of scenes, feels a bit forced, as if the filmmakers needed standing there telling the audience that they’re now supposed to feel tension, now they’re supposed to feel sad, and so on. But ultimately, it doesn’t feel terribly natural.

The performances are quite good. Ralph Fiennes portrays Charles Dickens as a light-hearted and flamboyant writer and actor, as well as a man who saw little use for Victorian convention. Felicity Jones plays Nelly beautifully, with a youthful wonder and enchantment of an already established and famous Dickens. She also portrays Nelly as being very caught up in Victorian morals and a desire to remain within the bounds of what is socially acceptable.

This is where most of the drama comes from. It’s not necessarily a conflict between characters, where, as I said before, the drama feels forced. Most of the conflict comes when the principals find themselves in conflict with Victorian social norms, particularly regarding marriage and sex. It’s drama that acts as an undercurrent, and never fully manages to break the film’s surface, but it’s there if you pay careful attention.

The costuming (for which this film is nominated for an Academy Award) and the set design are quite good. Well, the set design is when you can see it. Many scenes in the movie are very dark. I don’t mean that in terms of tone. I’m actually referring to the lighting. Ambient lighting can sometimes be a problem with this movie. While theses scenes do take place at night, there’s still something to be said for visual quality over authenticity at times, especially when a movie is slow with understated drama. You risk putting your audience to sleep.

Ultimately, “The Invisible Woman” is passable. It’s not really bad, but it’s not really that good, either. It’s one of those movies that’s just kind of there. While it has wonderful performances and great costuming, it suffers from understated and at times forced drama and low lighting that make the film feel slow and frustrating, and it can be so slow at times that it can feel like a chore to get through. I enjoy the works of Charles Dickens, but this biopic is only okay.

“The Invisible Woman” earns 2.5 out of 5 stars.

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Movie Review: The Wind Rises

Posted on February 23, 2014 | Leave a comment

The Wind RisesTitle: “The Wind Rises (Kaze Tachinu)”

Director: Hayao Miyazaki

Writer: Hayao Miyazaki

Starring (English voice cast): Joseph Gordon-Levitt, John Krasinski, Emily Blunt

My rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Okay, let’s start this review honestly: This is a Miyazaki film, so it’s extremely hard to come into this unbiased. “Spirited Away” is still one of my favorite films of all time, animated or not, and since Miyazaki has announced that this will be his final feature film before retiring, it’s hard to not come into this with some preconceived opinions (although Miyazaki later retracted the statement about his retirement, so who knows?).

“The Wind Rises” is quite different from Miyazki’s previous films, which use very strong fantasy elements to tell their story. This film is actually an animated biopic about Jiro Horikoshi, an aeronautical engineer who was responsible for designing the Mitsubishi A5M and A6M Zero fighter planes, which were both used by Japan during World War II.

Two things to keep in mind while watching this film is that it is a highly fictionalized biography and it’s highly stylized. Instead of fantasy elements as many of Miyazaki’s most popular films have relied on, this film uses dream sequences and stylistic wind to convey a sense of wonder and the abstract without leaving reality. Being a biopic, it’s generally a very realistic film that focuses on the major historical events that occurred during Horikoshi’s life, including the great Kanto earthquake of 1923 and the looming World War II, and how they affected the course of Horikoshi’s life and his thinking.

The film is beautiful. It’s thoughtful. It’s emotional. But it’s also not without controversy. Many will likely be upset that this film is about a man who designed machines that were used to killed thousands. The film answers this by portraying Horikoshi as a man who simply dreamed of building beautiful flying machines but was upset by their potential to be used in war., even at one point suggesting that they could lighten the aircraft’s weight by removing the guns. Whether this is true or not I couldn’t tell you and is beyond the scope of this review. But, again, this will likely cause and has caused some controversy in certain circles.

While the story of an engineer might seems dull, it’s really a story about dreams and about love and loss. It’s a story that is set firmly in the real world, based on real people and events, and shows how with big enough dreams, we can create wonders, but to guard those dreams carefully because they can just as easily be manipulated to create horrors. It could be disconcerting to watch such a realistic film by Miyazaki if the viewer is only familiar with his more fantastic works, and this film is not completely without fault, such as when one character begins to cry and water starts gushing out of her eyes, which seems out of place in a film and story so firmly based in reality. It also has a slow pace and little direct conflict outside of Horikoshi’s own mind, so the viewer to remember that this is a thoroughly artistic movie. However, with mind-blowing animation, some of the most beautiful cel drawings I have every seen, a wonderful and heartbreaking story, and a haunting soundtrack, “The Wind Rises” is a fitting swan song to one of the greatest animation writers and directors in the world.

“The Wind Rises” earns 4.5 out of 5 stars.

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Movie Review: Ernest & Celestine

Posted on February 23, 2014 | Leave a comment

Ernest and CelestineTitle: “Ernest & Celestine”

Directors: Stéphane Aubier, Vincent Patar, Benjamin Renner

Writers: Gabrielle Vincent (book), Daniel Pennac (screenplay)

Starring: Forest Whitaker, Lambert Wilson, Pauline Brunner

My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Ernest is a bear that lives on the outskirts of the city. Celestine is a mouse that lives with other mice under the city. Mice and bears don’t mix well, but when Celestine helps Ernest and gets cast out of the sewers, they both become fugitives and have to rely on each other and overcome their prejudices.

Based on a series of children’s books by Belgian author and illustrator Gabrielle Vincent, this movie is adorable. Created in a simplified hand-drawn animation style, it immediately grabs your attention with its minimalistic visuals, while at the same time painting the screen like a beautiful watercolor painting. The characters are cute and friendly for the most part. Ernest and Celestine are both endearing characters, although the secondary characters can feel two-dimensional. That’s not necessarily a bad thing with this kind of movie. The other characters are supposed to be somewhat villainous, or at least closed-minded, afterall, and it is a movie whose primary audience is children.

While the plot is simple and its moral basic, it’s still a great film for children and their parents. Overall, the message this movie contains is to avoid prejudices and that friends can be found in the most unlikely places. All around, it’s a great movie for kids and adults alike with a great mix of humor for all ages, and an ultimately life-affirming lesson. Highly recommended if you can find it.

“Ernest & Celestine” earns 4 out of 5 stars.

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