Shedding the Mortal Coil (Mortal Engines, 2018)

In the future, there are predator cities and there are the cities trying to survive. What does this mean? Uhhhh…well, a gravelly voice informs us of the 60 minute war that left the world devastated. To survive, people built mobile cities that roamed the countryside. Smaller cities were more like miner towns of the old west, except the towns are mobile. They also face the threat of predator cities, which are dedicated to roaming the land and overtaking smaller cities for scraps.

Set amongst all this is the plans of Hester Shaw, a mysterious women hellbent on revenge against Thaddeus Valentine, who overseas the giant predator City of London. London is desperate and running on fumes, but Valentine believes he has found the answer in the ancient technology that destroyed the world. So, ambitious people.

The film actually opens with one of the dullest “car chases” I have ever sat through. I was bored during the majority of the large city on city stuff. Early in the film there is a fairly exciting on foot chase, which is the true inciting incident forcing a mismatched pair (a young Londoner unaware of Valentine’s deviousness until it is to late and the previously mentioned Hester Shaw, who spends a good chunk of the film annoyed with him). There are rebels, who live in a sky city, scavengers and slave traders…it is a miserable world, except for the mystical city that Valentine hopes to overrun with his powerful new weapon.

Honestly, the hard part of the film for me was…well, it begs far more questions than the movie has time to answer. How on earth did the roving cities come about? The film also references parts of that history that are interesting, but unable to be examined. Why if this was a book… (it is)

See, suspension of disbelief is a really weird thing. First, it can vary from person to person. But some stories make it a little easier. ”

Why can this guy shoot lasers from his eyes? Genetic mutation!”

“How are dinosaurs and giant apes on this island? The island has been cut off from the rest of the world for centuries, and evolution went it’s own way!”

But here? There is just so much that does not make sense. Why roving cities? Who came up with the notion? How was this done???

And sadly, the story is just not interesting enough to override the questions. I found myself bored repeatedly, and that made the moments of heart or interest more disappointing than anything.

It is visually nice, though if a bit dreary, but everything is functional. it lacks any real sense of wonder. Mortal Engines just lacks the life needed to make it work.

December 20, 2018 0

A Battling We Will Go (The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, 2014)

The Battle of the Five Armies is a very long and busy film. From it’s opening moments, it is all about trying to out do Return of the king. Dragon fights! Giant battles against orcs! Wizard Battles!

Bilbo and the Dwarves had failed to stop Smaug who attacks Lake Town. As the citizens try and escape his wrath, the Bard seeks to fulfill his family’s promise and slay Smaug. After ending Smaug, the citizens make their way to the ruins outside the the mountain fortress of the Dwarves.

Thranduil arrives with an elven army to reclaim what he feels the elves are owed by the dwarves. However, Thorin becomes obsessed with finding the Arkenstone. To make matters worse, he seems to be falling pray to paranoia. Unknown to the dwarves, Bilbo has found the stone. Concerned that Thorin is being spiritually poisoned by his obsession, he slips out to give the stone to the Bard as a bargaining chip. This only makes matters worse.

Eventually, the armies must unite against the armies of orcs and other evil that sets upon the mountain. This culminates in a battle royale between Oakenshield and Azog.

The Battle of the Five Armies is really a culmination of the desire to recreate the Lord of the Rings. The changes of the first Hobbit were not really needed, but mostly harmless. But the snowball started in the Desolation of Smaug. And here, the battle is the focus. And everything is gigantic. It consumes a large part of the time, and it gets kind of confusing. And everybody starts to blur together.

So many things feel like calls back to the Lord of the Rings. And granted, this is a prequel to those films. The book the Hobbit came before the Lord of the Rings books. But the films are a prequel. And it is expected to see some loose connections. But here, it feels like nothing can stand as it’s own.

This all makes for a rather disappointing final. I did not hate the movie, but I don’t think it comes close to, say, Jackson’s very flawed but still well done King King. The flaws make the good stuff harder to enjoy here.

I don’t hate these movies quite as much as some. This may in part be due to the fact that I don’t have a real tight connection to the series. I did not read the Lord of the Rings books until after I saw the films, as I was nearing thirty. I did not read the Hobbit until after I started watching the films in 2012. So, I never entered the films with presumptions of what I would see, beyond vague memories of the Rankin Bass cartoon from the late 1970’s.

But unlike the Lord of the Rings films, I do not feel the strengths overcome the flaws. And so the Hobbit trilogy is nowhere near as satisfying a watch as the Lord of the Rings films.

December 15, 2017 0

To Rule Them All Thrice (The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, 2003)

All stories must conclude. Some just take longer than others. A lot longer. But more on that later. Sauroman is defeated, Aragorn and the people of Rohan have defended Helms Deep and Frodo, Sam and Gollum are at the door of Mordor.

Te film actually opens by jumping back several hundred years before the story we have been watching where we see hobbits Sméagol and Déagol fishing in a small boat. After being pulled into the water, Déagol finds… The Ring. Both are gripped by obsession for the ring, resulting in murder.

Aragon and the others make their way to Gondor to unite the armies of men against Mordor and it’s seemingly endless forces. We see most of our characters reunited. Sam and Frodo’s relationship is tested by the duplicitous nature of Gollum.

Without question, the visual effects, costume and set design are top notch. There really is not much to say here that I have not recognized in my previous reviews. Sure, there are minor slip-ups (hobbits that are clearly height doubles wearing masks of the actors) and a few of the “Legolas being amazing” sequences in battles are surely CGI.

Faramir and the hobbits all get better deals here. Both Merry and Pippin get to be more than comic relief, with downright heroic moments and emotional moments. There is a scene between Pippin and Gandalf where they say nothing, but share a look of great heart break from across the room, as if Gandalf knows Pippin is about to face some truly unfair tests.

Gimli, unfortunately, has never recovered from the Two Towers and remains embarrassingly frustrating comic relief.

Elijah Wood tells the story of how Jack Nicholson told him he left after the first ending. And this film has, like the book, several endings. Though, most lamented is the scouring of the Shire, which the extended edition and theatrical cuts never included (the first film paid tribute to it in a vision with Galadriel). Here, the extended cut moves the unceremonious end of Sauroman from the scourging to earlier in the story.

But the frustrating part is that each “ending” feels somewhat necessary. Each gives a certain sense of closure to the tale. For all their flaws, the trilogy comes together and has far more to love than hate. The strengths of the performances, the overall writing, the effects, the set design, the costumes…brings together one great epic.

December 12, 2017 0

Two Rule Them All (The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, 2002)

Picking up in the aftermath that split the fellowship apart, the Two Towers has a lot on it’s shoulders. Frodo and Sam are now on their own, making their way for Mount Doom to destroy the ring. Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli are trying to rescue Merry and Pippin, who are believed to have been kidnapped by Orcs.

We quickly learn that Merry and Pippin found escape from the orcs on their own. Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli are diverted by Gandalf who directs them to Rohan. Gandalf realizes the time has come to prepare the armies of men for an epic battle against Sauron and his forces.

Rohan is under the influence of the Wizard Sauroman. Their king is in a sickly trance, poisoned by Wormtongue, the agent of Sauroman. Upon arrival, Gandalf excises the presence of Sauroman and chase out Wormtongue. They warn the people there of the coming danger, and all agree they must make their way to an old fortress to protect everyone.

Meanwhile, Merry and Pippin discover the ancient race of Ents. The Ents are ancient and sentient trees. Pippin becomes determined to convince Treebeard and his fellow Ents to fight against the advancement of Sauroman and his orc army before it can join Sauron’s army.

And of course, there is Frodo and Sam. Theirs is a somewhat less exciting route, as they are trying to avoid being seen. Frodo confronts Gollum, who has been shadowing he and Sam in his attempt to get the ring back. Frodo takes pity Gollum, and chooses to take him along as a guide.

In the first film, we only had glimpses of Gollum. This character presented a huge challenge and still stands as a monumental achievement in CGI effects. Coupled with a terrific performance by Andy Serkis, Gollum comes to tragic and frightening life. Serkis takes on a voice that can seem almost painfully childish and monstrous…sometimes at the same moment. The film has a great moment using reflections and camera angles in which Gollum argues with himself over serving Frodo faithfully versus betraying him and stealing the ring back.

In the book, the stories are separated into two parts. The first half follows Frodo and Sam and the second half follows the other characters. In one way, this does allow some interesting storytelling moments. Frodo and Sam’s story will reference them seeing stuff we only see played out in the second half of the book. But it also can make the Two Towers a tough read. It does not break up the story enough.

Gimli continues his slide into little more than comic relief and Legolas even ends up having plenty of his swashbuckling antics coming off as comedic and cheesy (using a shield as a surfboard).

The film also undermines the character of Farimir, brother of Boromir. In the book he is not tempted by the ring in any way. He is a strong and confident man in ways his older brother was not. Unlike Tom Bombadil, this not being tempted is an effective statement of Farimir’s character. The film makes him much less sure of himself. He is haunted by the ghost of his brother and his father’s greater love for Boromir. He does, of course, make the choice he makes in the book, but the overly wrought drama of giving him severe daddy issues works against the character in frustrating ways. Yes, it allows Sam to be a dramatic voice of reason…but it really is an unnecessary detour that also makes Farimir come off as needlessly cruel at times.

The Two Towers does start to feel a bit meandering at times. The extended cut suffers from this even more, though some of the additional scenes are quite entertaining. While not quite an Empire Strikes Back (which is a bit leaner storytelling) it still is a pretty impressive film.

December 11, 2017 0

To Rule Them All (The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, 2001)

John Rogers, one of the writers of the abysmal Catwoman film once also wrote “There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old’s life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs.”

And the Lord of the Rings is definitely one of those book series that had legions of admirers. Ralph Bakshi has adapted the three books into two animated films in 1978 and 1980. And there were a lot of false starts until the late 90’s. The first plan was to try and make one film…then they thought they could convince a studio to do two…but somehow, Peter Jackson convinced New Line the only proper way to do the film was to adapt each novel and film them back to back. They then took it a step further and released the special edition DVDs. These sets were expanded to include many scenes not used in the theatrical releases. My reviews will be of the Expanded Editions.

The story of the Lord of the Rings is that long ago the evil Lord Sauron tricked the leaders of the Elves, the Dwarves, and Man, creating powerful rings for them all…secretly creating the one ring that would rule them all. In a battle between Sauron and the final alliance of men, dwarves, and elves, Sauron was defeated. Instead of destroying the ring, Isildur keeps it for himself. He is eventually killed. The ring was then lost to time. It was found by a creature who hid with it in the mountains. It eventually fell into the hands of the Hobbit Bilbo Baggins. He has had it ever since. The Fellowship of the Ring is the beginning of the final push to destroy the ring.

The wizard Gandalf the Gray calls upon Frodo, nephew of Bilbo for this task. He sends Frodo on, promising to meet in a small town. Frodo is accompanied by his friend Samwise (or more simply, Sam). Soon after leaving, they are joined by fellow Hobbits Merry and Pippin. As they go on their journey, they pick up help from the mysterious ranger Strider (Revealed to be Aragorn, a descendant of Isildur).

When Frodo is wounded by a Ringwraith (the souls of the original nine kings of men who were enslaved to Sauron), he is whisked away to the Elvish city of Rivendell. There they meet up with what are to be the final members of the Fellowship of the ring, the Elf Legolas, the Dwarf Gimli and Boromir, son of the Steward of Gondor.

They find themselves constantly under attack, primarily from Sauroman, a wizard like Gandalf, but having chosen to serve Sauron. Using magic and a new generation of Super Orcs he tries to stop them at every turn.

Filmed in New Zealand, almost every shot of this film is awe-inspiringly beautiful. The Hobbit Shire has been carefully created bringing the environments of the book to life in a vibrant way.

Along with the sets, the film’s costumes are incredible. Everything has power and weight. The craftsmanship of the weapons and costumes immerses you into this world.

The visual effects have withstood the test of time. A lot of Weta Workshop’s work is a combination of digital and practical. But unlike far too many movies, the digital is groundbreaking and almost never distracting (except in it’s dedication to looking natural). The Fellowship of the Ring broke new ground in its digital work to create massive armies that seemed to move without being duplicated.

The film also uses a lot of practical tricks to create the illusion of different heights. Both Hobbits and Dwarves are supposed to be significantly smaller than the rest of the cast, and in spite of actors who are as tall as anyone else in the cast, using perspective tricks, smaller actors as stand-ins they manage to create a nearly seamless illusion.

And then there is the cast. Some scoffed when Elijah Wood was cast as Frodo. The books describe Hobbits in a fashion that insinuates, they are naturally a bit hairy and pudgy. But Wood (and really the other hobbit actors) are rather attractive. But They all do quite well. And Wood and Sean Astin really sell the deep and heartfelt friendship between Frodo and Sam. Frankly, I love the fact that the films capture this love. Films featuring male relationships can often be quite superficial.

Ian McKellen, so compelling as Magneto in the X-Men films carries great weight here as the wizard Gandalf. He is warm, yet can seem stern and menacing when necessary. And he brings a sense of grandeur so necessary for such a character. Viggo Mortenson brings a quiet nobility to Aragorn. And Cate Blanchett’s Galadriel as an unearthly and elegant beauty.

This is not to suggest there are no flaws. While not as large of an issue here, Gimli can often be reduced to comic relief (the same with Pippin and Merry). On the other hand, the storytelling is more expedient than the books. Often, Tolkien can seem a bit obsessive in his world-building, with sudden diversions into poetry and legends and language of Middle Earth. The filmmakers wisely cut the Tom Bombadil sequence. While this is a fairly loved section of the book, the screenwriters are correct that it undercuts the narrative of the Ring to suddenly have a character who is not impacted at all by it. Especially so early in the story. Personally speaking? I don’t care for that section of the book, and so I did not miss it within the film.

The Fellowship of the Ring is s very strong adaption of the book, full of epic adventure. It was a risky venture that paid off quite well for the filmmakers and the studio.

December 10, 2017 0

Marvel Begins (Captain America: The First Avenger, 2011)

Captain America was a hotly debated character for the Marvel Films. Could a character so tied to American Nationalism be a hero the world loved? Joe Johnston (who directed Disney’s fun comic book movie the Rocketeer 20 years earlier) was brought in and found a way to make that answer be yes. Among the choices made were to set the film in World War 2, rather than begin in Present day. Chris Evans was hired on to play Steve Rogers. This was not his first foray into a Marvel Property, He was Johnny Storm (the Human Torch) in the 2005 and 2007 Fantastic Four Films. He was also one of the Evil Exes in Edgar Wright’s adaption of Bryan Lee O’Malley’s Scott Pilgrim graphic novels.

The film quickly establishes Steve Rogers as heroic, in spite of his physical weakness. He will take a beating. Standing up for him is his buddy ‘Bucky’ Barnes. This is one of the film’s biggest deviations. In the comics, Bucky was a teen sidekick to Captain America. The filmmakers (rightly) realized that may not play so well. And there is a twist to having Bucky go from Steve’s savior to needing saving by Steve. Steve’s multiple rejections by the military catch the attention of a part of our military that is looking for someone to be a part of an experiment. While many try, scrawny Steve Rogers keeps managing to stand out, not by his physical prowess, but by ingenuity. This catches the eye of British officer Peggy Carter.

One of the things the movie does so well is that they avoid tropes. Peggy and Steve are smitten before his transformation. She is impressed by who he is, not what he is. It would have been easy to make her yet another obstacle for her to notice only after he is physically altered. And yet, due to a terror incident that destroys the remaining Super Soldier serum, Steve is still unable to see combat. Instead, he is reduced to a promoter of War Bonds and propaganda.

Evans really sells Roger’s frustration and even feelings of humiliation. But while on a USO tour, he ends up making a big save, convincing the military they need him. This leads to crossing paths with the Red Skull, who is determined to rule the world through Hydra. Hydra begins as an arm of the Nazis, but has it’s own goals.

The film ultimately hangs on Evans to sell the character of Captain America, and boy does he sell it. He comes off as kind, dedicated to justice and most of all, simply heroic. He is supported but a great cast of actors. Tommy Lee Jones is perfectly cast as Colonel Phillips. Hugo Weaving got one of the better villain roles, since he gets to simply be Nazi Evil Incarnate. The movie makes the choice to introduce the Howling Commandos (Sans Nick Fury) as the team that works with Cap. They are an entertaining bunch.

But the standout is Haley Atwell. She is more than Cap’s love interest. She is a tough and clever military officer. But at the same time? She and Evans have a real solid chemistry, and when the film reaches it’s inevitable conclusion, their exchange (certain Steve is heading to his death) is heartbreaking.

Johnston gives us a terrific film that stands on it’s own, even if part of it’s purpose is to set up the first Avengers film.

September 27, 2016 0

Alien Bomb Coming Through! (Transformers: Age of Extinction, 2015)

The title of the review comes from an actual line in the film. Of course, nothing seems to challenge Michael Bay’s toy based Franchise…as of this writing there are three more films (one being a Bumblebee spinoff film) in the pipeline. There is no stopping it…not even this film. It picks up ten years after the destruction in Chicago. They have repaired and now the government is trying to wipe the Autobots and Decepticons out entirely. To that end they have a space robot helping them who has an agenda of his own.

Nobody knows where Optimus Prime is…and it turns out he suffered massive damage and is now asleep in an abandoned movie theater. He is found by failing inventor Cade. Cade and his hot daughter are on the verge of losing their house. His friend Lucas, hot daughter Tessa and her street racer boyfriend escape their house after government agents show up to claim Optimus Prime (who Cade revived). Much of the film seems to be going in the direct of Cade finally being less distrustful of his daughter and accepting her boyfriend Shane. Shane shows himself to be highly competent throughout much of the film. So it makes sense that maybe they become friends.

They discover that businessman/genius has been building his own robots, his pride and joy being Galvatron. You can probably see where this goes way wrong. Eventually he teams with Cade to save the planet from a bomb left by the Robot Bounty Hunter who reveals that the folks who created the Autobots and Decepticons want to take them back and get rid of them. Basically, it is the plot from Prometheus.

Remember my thoughts on Cade and his relationship to his daughter and her boyfriend? Boy was I wrong. For some reason they opted to make Shane totally incompetent and a complete fool that Cade has to suffer through. And when Cade saves the days? His daughter grabs her boyfriend and gives him all the credit for saving them. It is a sudden and unnecessary character change to make Cade look good, but it just does not work in any way. It is not even funny.

This is a better film than Revenge of the Fallen, but then, that is not saying much. But it does have Optimus Prime Riding a Robotic T-Rex.

August 5, 2016 0

What Script? (Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, 2009)

The story goes that they started filming the movie without a full script. Not a rough script…an unfinished script lacking an end…among other things. It is a real mess of ideas and makes for a completely incoherent film. Sam goes to college, leaves Mikaela behind until the action kicks in. And the army guys and Autobots are a team. Remember how the Autobots came to Earth for the All Spark? Wait, it is not why…now they came to stop the Fallen, who came to earth thousands of years ago. And Optimus Prime is Autobot Jesus. There are black stereotype Autobots (what is it woth Bay and race based “humor”?). The film brings in the Constructicons who make one big vacuum cleaner.

The cast is, as before quite good. But they seem lost and unsure where they are going…I almost expect to see a script supervisor to run into frame and hand people pages with their updated lines and story. The mess has great effect, but raises weird questions. The Decepticons send a sexy girl to go after Sam. She looks and apparently feels human to the touch…if this is a possibility…um, why are they turning into cars and planes and tape decks?!

Why?

This is the film that got Megan Fox in trouble…she called Bay Hitler. And word is Producer Steven Spielberg sent her packing. But I suspect it was different than that. Bay sticks with the Cleavage and Explosions formula. But in the end…nothing save this from being a complete implosion of a film.

August 3, 2016 0