Reviews
RED 2 (2013)
Mostly predictable spy thriller, includes anti-Iranian racism
Willis and company are back in a dumbed down retread of RED 1. I could spend a couple of paragraphs talking about the plot, but the truth is if you've ever seen a Bond movie you already know the drill. Nuclear terrorism, MI-6, CIA, rogue operatives, blah blah blah. The movie occasionally has moments of intrigue and there are a few surprises. Mary Louise-Parker gets a chance to kick some ass and Anthony Hopkins is enjoyably diabolical. But the majority of smart, character-driven twists and flourishes from the original are absent here.
I must also mention the appalling Iranian embassy scene in London. Apparently all Iranians in this embassy are terrorists, which of course gives Willis et al. free license to shoot, stab or explode anyone with dark skin and black hair. Granted, some of the terrorists in this story are indeed Iranian, but to cast an entire embassy as bad-guys simply for the sake of an exciting shootout is unforgivable. If Jason Bourne had acted similarly in the US embassy, for example, and killed every American soldier in the building, the movie would have been boycotted.
The embassy scene represents maybe five minutes in the movie's two hour run time but there is absolutely no excuse for it. Even if RED 2 was spectacular entertainment, this scene would make it unwatchable.
RED 2 (w/o embassy scene): 5.5/10 (w/ embassy scene): 0/10
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: FZZT (2013)
Finally, the episode fans have been waiting for!
One of the reasons I enjoy Agents of SHIELD is that this team cares about people. It's not just the innocent victims they're trying to save, the members of SHIELD need saving too. If the writers continue to focus on the hearts of these characters, Agents has a chance to expand into something truly valuable in the Marvel Universe.
On first glance, there's no way a show like Agents could hope to match the splendor of The Avengers. The budget of a television show pales next to the tens of millions spent on even the lesser Marvel movies. But if you look closer, it's not the spectacle that has kept Marvel fans coming back for over fifty years. It's the characters.
Tony Stark is a billionaire who uses his considerable genius to create amazing machines, but above all he yearns for a personal connection. The Mighty Thor is a god with unknowable power, but he was happiest when he was a simple human. And Captain America is, at is his core, a small man struggling with the greatness thrust upon him. We may initially watch the Avengers because they do big deeds but we return to them because they are still people, flawed and trying to find their own way.
To date, I have read many complaints online about how Agents of SHIELD isn't up to Marvel's usually stellar standards. How the action is subpar, the plots aren't thick enough, there's not enough tension/danger and the characters aren't that interesting.
Arguably the first five episodes of Agents have had only limited degrees of success in finding the right combination of action, super/technology, mystery, suspense and drama. I believe episode six, F.Z.Z.T, is the first episode to get it right.
F.Z.Z.T focuses on an alien virus that causes static electricity to build up in the body until it becomes fatal. Initially contracted from a Chitaurian helmet found during the Battle of New York, the virus kills three firemen who performed search and rescue after the fight. Then, in the process of SHIELD's analysis, Jemma contracts the virus. Without any knowledge of alien biology, the news is a death sentence.
How each member of the team responds to the upcoming tragedy solidifies their individual characters and makes us care about them not just as heroes but as people. Coulson's stoic denial of death, Grant's silent horror, Skye's frantic helplessness, Fitz's desperate measures and Jemma herself, terrified and yet still able to find courage in her final moments.
I will not do the reader the disservice of spoiling the ending. I will just say this: Watch it. If you don't feel something by the end of this episode, check your heart beat. You may be suffering from an alien virus yourself.
Marvel's Agents of SHIELD doesn't have the budget, sets, star-power or CGI that a Marvel movie does. F.Z.Z.T proves the show doesn't need them. It's the heart of the characters that really matter.
The tagline of the show says "Not all heroes are super." This episode proves it.
Tron: Legacy (2010)
Beautiful, stylish and sleek...if that's all you want in a movie
(If you have not seen the original Tron, this review will contain spoilers. If you have, then you've already seen the most intriguing parts of Tron: Legacy)
Tron: Legacy is an attractive but predictable sequel almost 30 years in the making. The shame of the movie is that it had the possibility to re-invent and re-ignite a genre. Instead it settled for good-looking mediocrity.
The first Tron, released in 1982, was years ahead of its time. The special effects were new and startling: Balls of electricity could be thrown, bounce off walls and destroy digital floors or even digital people; A disc held in the hand would transform into a day-glo motorcycle; An electronic version of water could be absorbed to restore health; People could hitch a ride on a Sailbarge attached to a laser- beam and watch as an electronic landscape spread in all directions.
The ideas, too, were radical: A digital world existed parallel to our own, populated by programs written by humans, each of whom had lives and personalities that reflected their human counterparts; A human could be attacked by a malevolent, hyper-intelligent computer and transformed into a digital signal no more significant than an Excel Spreadsheet file; There would be a time, very soon, when digital and analog creatures would co-exist in the same space.
The original Tron was just that: An original. No Science Fiction movie to date had successfully fused a computer world and the real world. There was no precedent.
Fast forward almost 30 years later and we have Tron: Legacy. If it were a computer program it might be considered Tron 1.3.7.
There is nothing ground-breaking about this movie. You will see no effects in this movie that haven't been done somewhere else before. The neon-lights, the glossy black surfaces, the zooming vehicles, the exploding bits of data, the outfits - all of them have already been used in one way or another.
As for story, once you know the background of the original Tron, the narrative is as basic as a game of Pong: There is a plot by a powerful bad guy to do what megalomaniacs are prone to do and the hero has to stop him. You can check your brain at the door when you pick up your 3D glasses.
However, even if Legacy does not push intellectual or technical boundaries, it does give us an updated, 2010 version of everything we HAVE seen before. On this point it succeeds brilliantly.
Everything is rendered in breathtaking, cutting-edge CG. The art design is stunning. The much-advertised lightcycle race is indeed spectacular to watch. In addition, everywhere you look there are electronic bits and bytes. Costumes glow with a light of their own. Beverages are topped with digitized ice cubes. When a player in the games is "de-rezzed" they shatter like glass.
Like every action movie sequel, additions have been made to the original Tron. New characters. New vehicles. New "toys." (All of which Disney is happy to offer you at your local toy store)
All in all, if you're interested in a popcorn movie that looks great and will entertain you for a couple of hours, this movie fits the bill.
I just lament the possibilities of what it could have been and isn't.
How about computer/human hybrids? What about the horror of a computer virus? Or the concept of Re-Rezzing (undelete)? How about vehicles that could move in multiple directions at once? Brainwashing using digital technology to make a program believe it is human? What if a program could talk to a human? Imagine making a friend - not with another human using cyberspace - but forging a connection with the digital world directly? The concept of God vs Human creative power in the digital world? And please, please, please - give us some better futuristic weapons than simply a disc and a few bright orange rods!
There could have been so many possibilities. Unfortunately, Tron:Legacy, like the character of Sam, is neither as fascinating or as inspiring as its predecessor.
Perhaps, in another 30 years, we'll get a movie worthy of the original.
American Movie (1999)
We should all be so inspired...
It is too easy for a viewer to separate himself from most movies, because almost all movies are fictional.
The difference between a fictional movie and a documentary is that if the main character in your documentary is fascinating and inspiring, you have the option of believing in him.
Mark Borchardt, the subject of "American Movie", has more passion and drive to create his movie "Southwestern" than most people have about anything. He refuses to let life stop him. Mark has less than no money: He owes thousands of dollars in loans and bills to the IRS, the phone company, and to credit card companies. He has no facilities for film editing. He has no actors. Mark's family refuses to believe in him. Plus Mark has three children for which he owes back child support, and which he feels responsible for.
And yet, as depressing as all this sounds, Chris Smith's "American Movie" could not be more uplifting. The only word to use for filmmaker Mark Borchardt is indominitable. No matter what happens, he will not give up his dream of making a movie. How does he overcome all of his obstacles? See "American Movie" and find out.
If you have any interest in learning about the true challenges and rewards of maverick independent filmmaking, or if you want to meet an individual who will inspire you, I recommend this movie.
X-Men (2000)
intelligent and significant
With so many movies out right now that are designed solely for entertainment puposes--from "Gone in 60 seconds" to "MI-2" to "Scary Movie"--it is promising to sit through a 90-minute film based on a comic-book that actually gives you an opportunity to think and be challenged.
Bryan Singer's "X-men: The Movie" is nothing more than an introduction to the lives of the characters from the comic book. The very fact that his movie doesn't try to add new elements, or change elements that already existed within the comic, is what makes it so successful.
X-men the comic series has been around for more than 30 years. And for good reason. It has dealt with all of the important elements that good storytelling includes--rejection, loneliness, hope, fear, distrust, love, selfishness, power, and the price you pay for doing what you believe is right. By consistently exploring various difficult elements of humanity, the X-men comic has been able to be not only entertaining but stimulating as well.
Thankfully, Singer's movie translation is no exception. "X-men" is very well executed, with excellent character work for the leads (Logan, Rogue, Magneto and Xavier), a good exploration of the motives of each character, and dialogue that is sharp and intelligent. However, lest you think X-men is only intellectual, let me assure you that the special-effects department has done an incredible job of mingling the human elements of the story with action. From Wolverine's claws to Rogue's devasating touch, from Storm's namesake displays of nature to Magneto's awesome power, "X-men" constantly finds new and arresting ways of showing-off each mutants power. And the closer you get to the end, the more exciting it is.
True, the movie was not perfect. Certain story elements were modified slightly for big-screen adaptation (nothing, however, that is disloyal to the ethic of the series). The soundtrack was only sufficient, rather than being something truly memorable. And not all of the characters were given equal time on screen (some important characters were completely missing).
But for a 90 minute movie that needs an action plot, it's obviously impossible to give all the X-men (and their evil counterparts) equal attention or character development. In fact, the sheer scale of the series alone all but requires a sequel to flesh out what was missing in this first, "Intro to X-men" movie.
Yet, as a beginning exploration of the "X-men" universe, this movie shines. It is attractive, fun and meaningful. Whether you're an X-men fan, you're looking for something that will make you think, you want an action movie, you enjoy sci-fi, or you just want to leave the theater feeling like you didn't just waste a couple of hours and seven bucks, go see Bryan Singer's "X-men." You won't be disappointed.