Super Wanted

Wanted’s goal is terribly simple: let the bullets fly, let cars crash, let blood flow and let the audience just hang on for the ride. It’s not rocket science to be sure, but what they’ve created here is a beautiful mess of violence, and while the Wanted is littered with flaws, the film makes it easy to get swept away.

Wesley Gibson is a 25 year-old account manager who doesn’t have much of a life. His boss berates him constantly, he suffers from a repetitive stress disorder, and his girlfriend is sleeping with his best friend. But things change for him when a woman named Fox shows up one day, and tells him that his father was the greatest assassin who ever lived, and that Wesley had a greater destiny waiting for him. He joins the Fraternity of Assassins, a group of killers who live by fatalistic code. After enduring their incredibly tough training, Wesley goes on a quest to kill the man that killed his father. But not is all that is seems.

Fans of the comic will no doubt notice that the movie’s synopsis doesn’t exactly match up with the source material. But really, you have to let it go, because in some ways, this story’s a lot better. Mark Millar’s original work seemed more interested in shocking you rather than telling a strong tale. The movie really reins it in, keeping the spirit in a much tighter package. It’s not perfect by any means: the third act gets bogged down by a stretched out monologue that shouldn’t really have been happening, some plot elements are absurd, the use of voiceover is hit-and-miss, and there’s a gaping plot hole that you could drive a dump truck through. But you won’t really get a chance to think about that, because the film throws absolutely everything at you.

Timur Bekmambetov is an absolute master of violence, a mad genius at crafting action scenes. Years of movie watching have probably made you think that you’ve seen it all when it comes to action, but you’re wrong. Bekmambetov is the conductor of a mad orchestra of violence, playing a rather powerful symphony of killing people and blowing stuff up. It’s breathtaking, and at the end of some of the sequences, you may feel like giving a person beside a high five. Bekmambetov takes a lot of old tricks and uses them in new, inventive ways. Slow motion shouldn’t feel this new and exciting, but it does here. Through the use of it, he allows even the bullets to have a story.

But while the action is great, what really makes this movie tick is James McAvoy. This film, with so many ridiculous elements to it, really hinged on the abilities of its lead actor. Which is to say: they’re really lucky to have James McAvoy. He’s probably the best actor of his generation, and his performance as Wesley pretty much carries you through the film. Angelina Jolie spends the entire film pretty much just looking tough, and she does that well enough. Morgan Freeman’s performance is a bit unremarkable, and the rest of the cast aren’t given all that much to do.

Wanted isn’t the smartest film you’re going to see, but it’s certainly one of the most fun. It’s just so relentless, and at times, even exhilarating. The film just throws the most absurd things at you, and Bekmambetov somehow makes it work with enough panache that it just leaves you smiling. And McAvoy’s carrying of this film is quite impressive as well. If there was just a little more discipline in the scriptwriting, this could have been a perfect little summer flick. But even in its current, flawed form, it’s just a lot of fun waiting to be had.

Funny and Getting Smart

Bringing a classic TV show to the cinema is no easy feat. Translating a show with the stature of Get Smart is an even more daunting task. This new remake approaches the problem by trying to hit audiences with a big, blockbuster feel. While not really capturing the spirit of the source material,Get Smart offers large explosions, good performances and big, easy laughs.

Maxwell Smart is an analyst who works for CONTROL, a secret spy organization devoted to protecting the world from terrorist threats. Max dreams of becoming a field agent, but he never gets the chance, despite being qualified. But when CONTROL is viciously attacked by a rival organization, they have no choice but to send their only qualified agent out into the field. Teamed up with the deadly and beautiful Agent 99, Max must use his unorthodox skills to thwart a deadly nuclear plot that could put the entire world in jeopardy.

There isn’t much to say about the plot. The script doesn’t really give us all that much to consider as it mostly speeds from one joke to the next. There is enough of a narrative to keep the film together, but it’s obvious from the get-go that the filmmakers wanted to focus on big joke pieces. And there are a lot of laughs in this film. However, it’s worth noting that the film takes a much simpler route to laughs than the show ever did. While the show worked by using wit and generally satirizing the entire spy business, this film goes much broader with slapstick and some toilet humor. It probably won’t concern most people, but it does feel a little easy.

The biggest problem with the film is that it veers a little too close to 2003’s Johnny English, which is strange considering the great well of ideas they already had access to with the original show. The film does try to give nods to its source material, and these little moments are often in a class of their own. To its credit, the film goes much, much bigger. Blending action and comedy is Peter Segal’s forte, and a couple of sequences in this film truly shine. There are a couple of odd flashbacks in the film that don’t really fit stylistically, but otherwise, the entire film moves quickly enough.

There is nothing to complain about in the acting department. Steve Carrell is the perfect choice to fill the shoe phone. It’s obvious how much he admires Don Adams, and his performance certainly reflects that. He does employ a lot of his own old tricks, and that can divide people. Anne Hathaway is a good choice for agent 99, with bright eyes filled with easy competence. Alan Arkin plays the Chief much tougher, but it’s hard to argue against such an immense talent. The supporting cast is filled with great comedic talents, and they all do their best to have you rolling in the aisles.

Get Smart is a terribly difficult movie to judge. It is certainly funny enough for people looking for an easy, breezy comedy, but fans of the show might be a tad disappointed. While the great talent involved will probably keep you entertained, it just doesn’t capture the magic that the old show brought. The TV show was a show with a distinctive sort of humor and style, and this film settles for the broad humor of modern comedies. Still, it’s hard to deny just how truly the film and its cast can really be. It at least deserves a mild recommendation.

Prince Caspian Always Wins

Narnia 2 is a markedly different animal from the first Narnia film, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. It’s certainly brasher and much more action-oriented, moving at a much faster clip than the first film ever did. But all the speed came at a price, and while the film does deliver a few grand scenes, a lack of thoughtfulness and character development strip the film of all its magic.

The Pevensie children have now been living in London for a year, after having returned from being the high rulers of Narnia. They are having trouble adjusting to the normalcy of their day-to-day lives. They are suddenly called back to Narnia, where they find that thirteen hundred years have passed, and that the kingdom that they once ruled is in ruins. Narnia, it turns out, is now ruled by a ruthless usurper to the throne, the uncle to the rightful heir, Prince Caspian, who is now leading an army of Narnians to overthrow the corrupt rule. The Pevensie children must once again go into battle to help out Prince Caspian and bring back the balance in Narnia.

The script focuses mostly on delivering action, and it does it pretty decently. It moves at a pretty good pace, and it manages to keep one’s attention for most of its remarkably long runtime. It does this, though, at the expense of character development and thematic resonance. Maybe it’s a problem of the source material itself, but the Pevensie children don’t seem to have grown as characters, despite managing to age to adulthood and ruling a kingdom. There are also seeds of pretty powerful theme in here, but the script just isn’t up to tackling any of it. This story also suffers from a crippling reliance on an almost literal deus ex machina, although you can hardly fault the film for it, given the circumstances.

The film is directed by Andrew Adamson, who directed the first two Shrek movies. His background in animation shows, as the animated characters really steal the show in this film. He just gets inventive when dealing with his animated creations, often bringing more life and expression to the film than the actual living people. Past that, however, Andrews’ filmmaking is pretty unremarkable. While the production is pretty lavish, the filmmaking comes off as rather staid. They’re aiming for an epic, magical feel here, but it just doesn’t come through, leaving a pretty mundane feel to all of it.

The cast is a mixed bag. Of the Pevensie siblings, Edmund, played by Skandar Keynes, fares the best, obviously benefitting from having spent so much time with Tilda Swinton in the first film. Anna Popplewell does well enough as Susan, being just charming enough to keep your attention. William Mosely, who plays Peter, is unable to project the pathos that his character calls for. Georgie Henley seems content to just ham it up as Lucy, and it can get annoying. The best part of the cast is Peter Dinklage, who is just fantastic in everything he’s in.

When all is said and done, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian is okay, but it’s hardly noteworthy. It suffers mostly when you consider that it’s a sequel, and while it does have some charms, it just doesn’t capture the same magic that the first movie had. There are a couple of really good action sequences in this film, but all the character stuff is terribly weak. And while good action can certainly perk up a movie watching experience, it’s ultimately the character stuff that’ll make you care. I suppose if you’re a fan of the books, this film is a foregone conclusion. If you’re a kid, you may get a kick out of it. For everyone else, other films have done it better.

Indytastic!!!

Indiana Jones 4 has the odds stacked against it. It needs to, all at once, satisfy a rabid fanbase that’s been waiting for this film for nineteen years, introduce a character to a new generation that wasn’t born when the last film came out, and move the franchise’s timeline to a new status quo that takes into account the age of its primary actor. That’s a tall order for any film, and in many ways, this film didn’t stand the chance. Having said all that, however, this film is loads of fun, and while it doesn’t really live up to the rest of the franchise, it’s a rollicking good time.

It’s 1957, nineteen years after the events of The Last Crusade. America is in the middle of the Cold War. A greaser named Mutt Williams asks a recently fired Indiana Jones to help him decipher a letter sent to him by a mutual friend. The letter reveals the location of the Crystal Skull, which according to legend will grant great power to whomever returns it to its rightful place. Indy and Mutt travel to Peru to figure out the puzzle, only to find that the Russians are after the same prize, and that there is more to the legend than meets the eye.

On the surface, there’s a lot to like about this film. It has all the elements of an Indiana Jones picture: big fights, crazy stunts, treasure, a villain with an accent, deathtraps, and a pretty big mystery. Unfortunately, it doesn’t go much deeper than that. The script is problematic, relying hard on big action-y moments to distract us from the lack of structure and character development. Throughout the entire film, you get a sense that you’re somehow missing something, like there’s a missing scene or a piece of dialogue that would help explain why we should care about certain characters or events. The film is littered with brief asides and disposable moments that only hint at the bigger picture that the film needed to paint.

But honestly, for the most part, you won’t be thinking about the script deficiencies. It’s Indiana Jones! He’s back! It’s hard to think about the weaknesses of the plot when Indy is jumping from one truck to another, punching out Communists. If there’s one thing this film got right, it’s the action. It’s all very exciting and very well done, capturing the high adventure feel of the earlier films. Spielberg definitely knows his stuff, and combined with the classic John Williams score, the charm is undeniable. It’s also worth noting that Spielberg brought Janusz Kaminski along to shoot this film, making this the prettiest film in the series.

Harrison Ford is still a great leading man, providing a charisma and a physicality that seems to be lacking in today’s stars. His Indiana Jones, while older, is still every bit the same action hero, and Ford seems to be having a great time playing him. Shia LeBeouf does a pretty decent job against Ford, but his character, Mutt Williams, isn’t really fleshed out enough to be a showcase for his skills. By far, Cate Blanchett is the best thing about this film. She makes a truly engaging villain, and you end up wanting to see more of her. It’s also a joy to see Karen Allen as Marion Ravenwood again, and she seems to feel that joy, too. The cast also features stalwarts like Jim Broadbent and John Hurt, though their involvement is pretty minimal.

At times, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull feels like it started a punch line without giving us the joke. The film seems content to just get by on the strength of its property, without really giving us the meat that say, Raiders of the Lost Ark did. It’s a good thing, then, that the property really is that strong, and that Indiana Jones is still one of the best characters to ever grace the silver screen. And for all the script weaknesses, there’s enough skill behind the camera to distract you from all of it. My advice: turn off for a bit, grab some popcorn, and enjoy the ride. Just don’t expect it to be Raiders.

Unhappening...

The Happening is somewhat of a test of M. Night Shyamalan. His last film, Lady in the Water, didn’t do so well, and his films before that mostly got by on the strength of his debut. People have really started to wonder if Shyamalan actually deserved his place in Hollywood. If people are basing their opinions solely on The Happening, then the answer is a resounding “no.”

One morning, people in Central Park suddenly start to behave rather strangely, resulting in quite a few deaths. In Philadelphia, Elliot is teaching his science class when they all get the news that Central Park may have been the target of a terrorist attack. People rush to leave the cities, all the while getting reports of more places being affected by the attack. We follow science teacher Elliot as he tries to figure out and escape the threat with his wife, Alma, who he’s recently been having some problems with, and his friend’s young daughter.

At times, while watching this film, I felt like a practical joke was being played on me. The concept is solid enough, and the central threat in this movie is one that is rarely explored. But the script isn’t really up to really fleshing out this threat, and it fails to at least make the threat consistent from scene to scene. Sometimes, when the threat reaches people, people die. Other times, people don’t die. At a couple of points in the film, a character speaks up and says that some things are acts of nature, and that we won’t ever understand them. This is just frustrating, lazy writing that we shouldn’t have to tolerate in this day and age. The characters are pretty weak altogether. Almost none of the characters talk like a normal person, and they all act pretty illogically. Besides that, the driving conflict between Elliot and Alma is just terribly weak.

Shyamalan’s filmmaking can be pretty off-putting. It feels like he’s trying a bit too hard in this one, giving his scenes a strange pace. To his credit, this approach leads to some very tense and effective horror and action sequences, but it also leads to a lot of clunky drama. Any scene with just two people talking feels a bit wrong. Tak Fujimoto’s cinematography feels a bit odd at points as well. There are a couple of sequences where it feels like the camera should have been in a completely different place.

This is a fairly strong cast, but the performances come off pretty weird, as well. Mark Wahlberg appears to have been told that teachers always talk like they’re talking to a class. Zooey Deschanel appears to have been instructed to simply act odd and confused all the time. John Leguizamo does well enough, comparatively, but he couldn’t save some of the film’s most terrible lines.

The Happening has a couple of good ideas, but ideas just don’t make a movie. You need a screenplay that does more than close its eyes and wish the plot holes away. While there are a couple of scenes in the movie that show a spark of imagination, the film mostly feels like a strangely pretentious and preachy B-movie. Given the level of talent associated with this film and its budget, that’s just unacceptable.

Hulkable Smash!!!

Contrary to popular belief, 2003’s Hulk wasn’t really all that bad. It just wasn’t what people were expecting. It was a bit too heady, a little too stylistically alienating for an audience that only really wanted to see a big green guy smashing things. This new version, The Incredible Hulk set out to be the complete antithesis to the previous film. It goes a much easier route, providing pretty strong popcorn thrills and lots of explosions at the expense of any sort of complexity. It doesn’t make for the most inspired film, but one just can’t deny how fun it can all be.

The film begins with Bruce Banner hiding out in Brazil, learning techniques to control his anger and trying to find a permanent cure for his unfortunate condition. He is corresponding with a biologist back in the States, who is making promising strides toward eliminating the Hulk. General Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross is still on Banner’s trail, and has teamed up with Emil Blonsky, a ruthless and fearless special-forces soldier who will do absolutely anything to gain the power to defeat the Hulk. Banner must travel back to his home, where the potential cure may be found, and his only love is still waiting for him.

Zak Penn’s script is at best, utilitarian. The story is very simple, and every scene is peppered with all the information that you might need to understand what’s going on. There isn’t a whole lot of subtlety, but the Hulk doesn’t really call for a lot of subtlety. The script mostly moves things along, moving Banner and the Hulk to where they need to be. Character development suffers a bit along the way, but this story is so easy to follow that people might not even notice.

For most people, it’ll come down to the action, and it just so happens that director Louis Leterrier is somewhat of an action prodigy. Best known for Transporter 2, Leterrier is an artist of destruction, and it really shows. His fights are brimming with energy, and a kinetic filmmaking style keeps up with all the movement. He’s able to convey the monstrous strength of the Hulk quite convincingly. Where he suffers is in the dramatic/romantic moments, where he has to fall back on some of the oldest tricks in the book. His use of the score in underlining every moment between Banner and Betty Ross gets pretty tiresome. It’s not particularly terrible, but it comes off pretty rote compared to his pretty stellar action scenes.

Edward Norton does well enough as Bruce Banner. He’s taking his cue from the Bill Bixby version of Banner from the television series, and it’s an effective, if a bit familiar approach. Liv Tyler doesn’t fare as well. It’s difficult not to compare her to Jennifer Connelly, who played Betty in the 2003 film. Connelly’s a far better actress. Liv Tyler only really has one trick: when she needs to say something important, she whispers it. By far, the best thing about this cast is Tim Roth as Emil Blonsky. As Blonsky, Roth is a heady, complex mix of arrogance and desperation. He steals every scene he’s in.

I think it’s fair to say that this version of the Hulk aimed much lower than the previous film. It stuck to the very basics, avoiding all the psychological hoodoo that can bog down (or alternately, elevate) a Hulk story. The end result is a film that isn’t particularly deep. But people mostly want to see Hulk smash, and in this way, the film delivers. There’s enough Leterrier madness and geek love in here to help people ignore the weaknesses of the script. While not nearly as strong as Marvel Studios’ first outing, Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk is still pretty strong popcorn fun.

Kung Pow Panda!!!

KUNG FU PANDA is a great movie this 2008. I most concentrate more on reviews than writing on my own life. So enjoy!!!

Everything you need to know about Kung Fu Panda is in its title: there’s kung fu in it, and there’s a panda in it. If that isn’t enough to get you rushing into the theater, you obviously have no heart. But to be serious for a moment, Kung Fu Panda is an absolute joy to watch. Fast, funny, and full of heart, this film is probably the best Dreamworks animated feature yet.

Po is a lazy, clumsy panda who works at his father’s noodle shop, but dreams of becoming a kung fu master. He gets his chance when he accidentally gets chosen to become the Dragon Warrior, a warrior destined to gain unlimited power and defend the town from Tai Lung, an evil snow leopard obsessed with getting revenge with the people who imprisoned him. Po receives lessons from Master Shifu, an old kung fu master who has trained the greatest warriors of the land. But while Po is eager, he shows no skill, and Master Shifu doesn’t quite believe in Po’s greater destiny. With Tai Lung quickly heading to the village, the two must overcome their issues and find the secrets of the very heart of kung fu.

It’s your basic clumsy-loser-discovers-he’s-the-chosen-one story, a pretty familiar trope, but a fitting one for a movie so rooted in a long tradition of films. They make their intention pretty obvious, as the film works as a loving tribute to classic kung fu films. There are bits of Five Deadly Venoms, a little bit of Drunken Master, just a touch of 36th Chamber of Shaolin. But beyond the tribute aspect, the script is also surprisingly tight and remarkably clever at points. The film relies heavily on visual gags, but it doesn’t waste them, strangely managing to tie even the silliest together in the end.

The animation is gorgeous. The problem with most Dreamworks animated features is that they often don’t really have any style. They look good on a technical level, but often fail to portray any sort of artistic vision. Kung Fu Panda finally bucks that trend, giving us visuals that are most than just technically proficient. The film uses a sparser style that helps give emphasis to the action. And there’s a lot of good action in here, too. There are limitations to martial arts that can pretty much be ignored in animation, and what we end up getting are some of the craziest fight scenes ever put to film.

This is a pretty good voice cast. Jack Black as Po the Panda is just common sense. He completely shines through the character, constantly entertaining and just endlessly funny. Dustin Hoffman is a bit of a strange choice for Master Shifu, but he does a fine job here. Ian McShane as Tai Lung is just plain genius, as no one does evil like McShane does. The rest of the voice cast turns up some pretty surprising names, like James Fong, Seth Rogen, Angelina Jolie, and Jackie Chan. They don’t get nearly as much time as Black or Hoffman, but they do well with what little they have.

Dreamworks Animation has kind of always been the runner up in animated features. They’ve produced some pretty good films, but none of them have even come close to anything that Pixar has ever done. Kung Fu Panda, however, is a somewhat different story. While it would probably be hyperbole to say that it matches up with the gold standards like The Incredibles or Finding Nemo, it certainly does put up quite a challenge with a lot of clever little bits and a ton of heart. This film is just tons of fun for anyone. And really: kung fu and panda. What more do you need?