Movie Review - Knives Out

The trailer for Knives Out presents what looks like a classic whodunit while also hinting that we should expect some distinct differences.  The cast includes some hot current actors as well as some popular established actors who we haven't seen much from lately.  This provides a nice balance and will likely help to draw in a varied crowd.  Clips from the trailer also show that the writer and director are obviously having a little fun with the genre and filling it with humor amid the somber topic of murder.
 
In many ways, the story is reminiscent of an Agatha Christie or Conan Doyle story.  The patriarch of a wealthy family has been found murdered in his luxurious estate and a brilliant investigator shows up to help the police in their investigation.  Before long, it becomes clear that everyone has a motive and the clues are elusive.  Naturally this review will try to steer clear of any spoilers that would ruin the experience, although it is unlikely that anything but the most overt spoiler would lead a reader to a correct deduction.
 

Once the initial plot is set forth the movie plays with the viewer in a few ways.  First, we are presented with a series of unreliable narrators each telling their version of what happened "that night."  Rather than just let us discover the inconsistencies in their tale later on, the movie lets us watch the "actual" sequence of events that the character experienced and then see them tell the detectives a slightly different story.  The story draws the audience into a special confidence by giving us information that the police don't have.  In doing so, the audience is also subtly persuaded to try and solve the crime before the investigators.

Movie Review - Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

There has been a TON of hype leading up to the release of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Starting with trickling rumors years ago and cascading into a marketing behemoth, the movie finally released to an amazing opening weekend money grab coupled with a bunch of lackluster reviews. My suspicion was that after months (years) of anticipation, people went in with expectations that were just too high. Accordingly, I lowered my expectations slightly and went in ready for some fun-filled popcorn entertainment.

(NOTE: While I will try to stay away from major/specific plot points, this review will definitely teeter on the edge of having SPOILERS)

The story of this movie is very ambitious. It serves not only as a sequel/follow-up to Man of Steel but it also re-launches a Batman movie franchise and introduces Wonder Woman and other members of the Justice League. Even with a run time of more than 2 1/2 hours, that's a lot of story to pack into a single movie. As you might expect, there are some elements that felt well fleshed out while others felt a bit rough and disjointed.

The film begins by showing the final major battle from Superman's last film, Man of Steel in which he and General Zod fly around Metropolis leveling buildings and creating huge disasters. Bruce Wayne is on the ground struggling to reach his own Metropolis high rise in an effort to save his employees and the countless civilians on the ground.

The opening sequence is frantic and tragic and frames the animosity that Wayne/Batman has towards Superman. This anger drives Wayne/Batman to be more focused but also more ruthless and violent. Alfred tries a couple of times to point out to Bruce that he may be going a little too far.

Back in Gotham, we see Batman taking down criminals with violent resolve that attracts the attention of Clark Kent at the Daily Planet who pitches a story idea for someone to investigate and try to stop the violent actions of the Bat vigilante. Thus right from the beginning, we see our two heroes with their emotions on edge.

Movie Review - Tomorrowland

In case you didn't see my super mini review on opening night, it consisted of a picture of the movie tickets, my own Tomorrowland pin and the words "loved loved loved loved loved it!" For those who know me and know the general gist and history of this movie, the mini-review shouldn't have been too surprising. I've been anticipating this movie for at least the last 3-4 years when initial rumors started becoming more concrete. Even with the slow filter of hints and rumors, the overall plot stayed fairly secret until fairly recently. With all that build up and hype I knew I would either completely love this film or it would suffer from an inability to live up to my expectations and be a total flop.

Glancing at some of the negative reviews I have to agree that there are some holes in the plot and some definite imbalances. I agree with the people I've talked with that I would have loved to have spent more time in the idyllic version of Tomorrowland and experience more of its shiny fun. Still, I can see a distinct risk in presenting TOO MUCH time in the utopian bright and wonderful Tomorrowland. The idea of Tomorrowland is a place where boundaries are truly pushed...a place where technology and innovation have taken huge leaps. By showing us just a few brief moments, the audience gets a sense of the grandeur and awe that's been created without spending so much time that we start to see beyond the smoke and mirrors. It allows more to be left to the imagination of the viewer which means the viewer will criticize their own personal interpretation of futurific leaps rather than those of the director (which could quickly become dated or look cheesy).

Movie Review - Jupiter Ascending

From the initial trailers, Jupiter Ascending looked like a fun and exciting sci-fi flick with some refreshing new creativity and ideas. From the trailers, I knew that Jupiter Jones (a lower class girl in Chicago) has somehow been identified as "alien" royalty and as a result she has become the target of some very high profile groups in the universe. Beyond that, I knew very little. I didn't read or hear any previews or reviews so I went into the movie with moderate to high expectations for a good new science fiction movie.

The movie starts out with narration from Jupiter explaining that she is an illegal alien living in America. Not an "outer space" alien but she tells the story of her parents tragic life back in Russia and how she (Jupiter) was born while her mother's family were traveling across the ocean to sneak into America. We then have a few scenes showing her misery as she goes through her day-to-day life working with her mother and her aunt as cleaning ladies for homes around the city.

We then get a glimpse into the aliens. There are multiple races...some look distinctly "alien" ranging from reptilian to some sort of monkey like faces and other varieties. The main aliens we'll be dealing with in the plot are distinctly human in appearance. We are later told (spoiler) that they ARE human and that technically the Earth's human race is descended from this alien race.

The main group of space-humans we deal with are a trio of siblings from an ultra-powerful family called Abrasax who apparently owns a large chunk of the universe. Their parents have died and in stereotypical "rich family" fashion, the 3 kids are squabbling over inheritance and trying to figure out how to one-up each other and become the richest and most powerful. Apparently the Earth is one of the most valuable planets in their inheritance and as a result, they all set their eyes on it. Even more important than the value of the planet is the existence of Jupiter Jones...who we learn is the 'genetic reincarnation' of their mother and as a result she has the power to re-claim the inheritance that came from her death.

Each sibling has his or her own distinct plans and motivations ranging from the simple murder of Jupiter to convoluted psychological and political maneuverings. Each sibling has hired different forces and individuals to carry out their plans. Caine is one of the hunters and when he learns Jupiter's true identity he works harder to try and keep her safe from all of the other parties involved.

Right from the start I enjoyed the storytelling aspect of the movie. I really liked the way Jupiter narrated the early life of her parents and the way the movie transitioned to the story of her current life and the intrigue and plots of the Abrasax family. The transitions and the story felt very personable and "real" (as real as can be imagined in a sci-fi story like this). I was quickly drawn into the film and found myself excited to find out what was going to happen next.

Movie Review - Frozen

As a lifelong Disney fan, I knew I'd see Frozen eventually. From the very initial teaser trailers I had no idea what to expect. They certainly weren't giving away much of the plot at all. But the animation looked good so I was encouraged. As more trailers came out, I became more encouraged and then once it was released and started getting good buzz, I was more excited to go see it.

Going back to fairy tale roots, Frozen is a very loose adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale The Snow Queen. While it shares some general similarities from a high level, the overall plot is significantly different from the Andersen tale. In Disney's version we have the story of two sisters, princesses of Arendelle. Unfortunately the older sister Elsa has a magical problem...she can freeze things at will.

As a child Elsa's powers are limited but as she gets older her powers grow in strength as well as in difficulty to control them. Elsa is a good girl with a good heart but since she can't control her powers, she's forced to hide them and live tucked away from everyone.

Her younger sister Anna doesn't understand and wants them both to go outside into the world. As time plays its course, Elsa's secret is revealed and we find that the power has grown significantly. Elsa gains some control but not before plunging the world into ice.

The animation is fabulous. They did top notch in balancing the beauty and harshness of the frozen countryside. The snow and ice effects were great and the characterizations were a ton of fun. Each of the character's are distinct and have great visual nuances and style.

Movie Review - Catching Fire (The Hunger Games, part two)

I read the Hunger Games novels back in 2010 and really enjoyed the series. As always, I was a bit apprehensive about a movie adaptation so I was pleasantly surprised with the good movie treatment for the first book. This fall we return to Panem for Catching Fire.

In the same way that book two ratchetted up the anxiety and distress, the second film really draws you in and keeps you off balance and emotionally destabalized throughout the film. Wide sweeping camera shots showcase the huge disparity between the poverty and slave-like conditions of the "citizens" in the District and the aristocratic excess and ignorance of the people within the Capitol.

We get more close up interaction with President Snow. We see his slimy interactions with the new Gamemaker as they come up with "moves and countermoves" to try and stiffle any sense of rebellion or defiance within the Districts by stripping them of any sense of Hope. We also see his interaction with his young niece who seems so pure and innocent when set alongside President Snow. Strangely I felt like the movie, more than the book, tried to frame a little bit of the idea that Snow was just caught in a bad place and truly was acting to try and save the stability and sanctity of Panem rather than just trying to save his own neck and maintain his power and position. I saw glimpses of this but they were really fleeting and were always quickly replaced by a sense of utter repulsion for President Snow and all that he stands for.

Back in District 12 we find Katniss reunited with Gale and trying to figure out life. She very realistically lets him know that she is just too traumatized at the moment to think of any kind of true relationship with him or with anyone, even Peeta. We see evidence of a sort of post-traumatic-stress-disorder as she has halucinations and nightmares related to her horrific experience within the games.

Katniss's interactions with Peeta and Haymitch are required due to her new status as Victor but she is just as cold and distant with them as ever. As they begin their "Victory Tour", she warms up a little to Peeta, Haymitch, Effie and others as she sees evidence that the world is unraveling and becoming more and more dangerous for everyone.

Movie Review - Thor: The Dark World

Thor has had a pretty good run in theaters over the past couple of years. In 2011 he had his own film which I generally enjoyed. In 2012 he came back to light up the screen with his lightning again as a central member of the Avengers team. And now in 2013 we have Thor: The Dark World. I went into this Thor sequel with many of the same fears I had going in to Iron Man 3. Specifically, would it be possible to return to a franchise with just a single super hero after having had a blockbuster film in which that super hero was part of an over the top team? In other words, could Thor 2 be an adequate follow up not only to the first Thor film, but also to The Avengers. From the trailers, I wasn’t entirely sure.

The film starts out with a few minutes of backstory as we learn about a race of Dark Elves who literally live in a world of darkness and centuries ago created a weapon (the Aether) which, if used at the moment when all of the realms of the universe are aligned (the Convergence, could plunge the universe into the complete darkness that existed before any “let there be light” moment way back when. Odin’s father apparently fought in the war to defeat these Dark Elves and take control of their weapon. Unfortunately the weapon was too powerful to be destroyed so it was hidden deep away in some undisclosed location. The Asgardians thought they had utterly destroyed the Dark Elves so they weren’t too worried. Naturally they were over confident for the leader of the Dark Elves cloaked his ship in some sort of invisibility shield and then he and his crew placed themselves under a deep sleep to be awakened when the next universal alignment is imminent.

Fast forward to 21st century Earth. We’re quickly reacquainted with Jane (played by Natalie Portman) and her intern Darcy (played by Kat Dennings). I like both of these actresses and was especially pleased to see Darcy getting a lot more play in these first few scenes (she’s even hired herself an intern). There was a lot of very cheesy and quirky banter between them as they investigate strange phenomena in London in search of a way to find Thor. Naturally the Convergence of the realms is about to happen. This is creating wormholes of sorts and all sorts of physics-defying anomalies. Jane and Darcy stumble across one of these anomalies and Jane manages to get herself into trouble.

Thor, meanwhile, has been battling for peace all across the universe but instead of celebrating and enjoying life he frequently checks in with Heimdall to vicariously spy on Jane. When he learns that there’s a possibility that Jane is in danger, he whisks away to Earth to find her. Upon seeing the nature of the problem he then brings her back to Asgard, much to the chagrin of Odin. At the same time due to the arrival of the Convergence, the Dark Elves have awakened and are on their way to Asgard. They arrive shortly after Jane and there’s a big battle with all sorts of explosions and popcorn-blockbuster-movie special effects. Thor comes up with a plan to save the universe but more importantly (to him) to save Jane. Of course the plan relies on Thor being willing to release Loki from his cell and trust him to help save the day.

Up to that point the movie had been fun and rather entertaining. Once Loki starts getting his screen time alongside Thor, the humor and fun stepped up to a new level. Loki and Thor just have a great chemistry and work very well together. They both seem to be having a ton of fun with their roles. Loki is as mischievous as ever. In spite of his rotten side he is played out as a sort of tragic hero and the audience is given plenty of opportunities to try and sympathize with him and to root for his success.

Movie Review - Ender's Game

The perennial sci-fi classic Ender's Game has been a book loved by readers for three decades and over the years there have been many rumors of the possibilities of movie adaptations of the story all of which were shot down by author Orson Scott Card due to creative differences. So when the movie project was finally recently green lit with a screenplay and cast, I was definitely stoked.

Any time you bring a book to the screen there are going to be plenty of trade offs. Even with Card's semi-prophetic sci-fi elements such as Ender's "desktop" or the Internet-like forums used by Valentine and Peter there were still a number of elements that definitely needed to rely on over the top special effects. Generally I was impressed by the effects and the natural way the various scenes in outer space felt realistic. The battle sequences and alien depictions didn't feel like over-the-top CGI and worked quite well.

Movie Review - Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2

I never saw the first Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs movie and I never read the book. My kids enjoyed the first film and wanted to see the second so we gave it a try. The movie was made in 3D so I did have a little worry about potential "gimmicky" 3D presentation and while there were one or two moments that bordered gimmicky, the 3D was non-intrusive for the most part.

This sequel picks up (apparently) immediately after the end of the first movie. In the first movie, Flint Lockwood dreams of becoming a famous inventor and eventually succeeds by creating a machine that makes food (of any kind requested) from water. His machine helps local citizens and creates a booming tourist economy until it ends up launched into the air and eventually gets out of control sending too much food and even creating living food that attacks Flint and his friends as they try to stop the machine. At the end of the first movie they destroy the machine and things are hopefully in a "happily ever after" state (after some much needed clean up, of course).

The second film starts out by showing us that the machine is still working, barely. It's looking very broken but it's sitting in a pool of water and it starts slowly popping out some food again. At the same time, Flint and the town are standing in the town square and surprised by the arrival of famous inventor-scientist Chester V, head of Live Corp.

The Chester V character feels like an extreme caricature of Steve Jobs. He sort of flits around with a semi-yogi zen state of ideals and creativity coupled with intense drive and manipulation. Almost every time he had a key role on screen I was reminded of Steve Jobs's behavior in his various keynotes and Apple announcements.

Movie Review - Austenland

I read the book Austenland about 4 years ago and generally enjoyed it. It was a whimsically fun modern take on the Jane Austen obsession that was enjoying a resurgence thanks to recently updated movie versions of Pride and Prejudice. Even though I enjoyed the book, my wife enjoyed it even more (she's recommended it to a number of friends and has also gone on to read the sequel Midnight in Austenland…which I still haven't done, though perhaps the film has jumpstarted my desire).

It was no surprise that my wife was super excited when she heard they were turning the book into a movie and that Shannon Hale would be involved in writing the screenplay (to make sure it didn't get screwed up). It had a run at the Sundance Film Festival and even though we live close, we didn't end up getting tickets. So we waited for the limited official theatrical run. Even then, it's only showing at a few local theaters and some of them have it sharing a screen with other "bigger" hits and only playing once a day. So it was pretty clear that the industry doesn't have a lot of faith in this as a money maker. Still, we picked up our tickets and went into the theater (ignoring the fact that the movie name wasn't even above the door).

The movie starts out by showcasing the obsession shown in the trailer. Our heroine Jane is thoroughly obsessed with all things Austen. While she still has a "normal" life in terms of having a job and doing some dating, the quick scenes at the start of the movie show that she is much more excited about Jane Austen's world than the world of the 21st century. The film pulls together a ton of cheesy hilarious Austen memorabilia that can be laughable individually but which comes off as somewhere between funny and sad when compounded to take up her entire room/apartment.

Enter "Austenland", a Jane Austen themed resort. Set on a large country estate in England, Austenland serves as a place for an Austen aficionado to escape the real world and become fully immersed in the world of Jane Austen. Tenants are to "eschew all things modern" and live as though they were in the Victorian era. The manor is staffed with actors dressed in period costume and versed in the etiquette and manners. The acting staff also includes a romantic partner for each vacationer. Over the course of the retreat, there will be walks in the garden, horse rides, hunting, croquet, sewing, reading and all other forms of Victorian recreation for the young well to do in Jane Austen's world.

Movie Review - Red 2

When RED hit the theaters a couple of years ago, it was an immediate hit with our fam. My wife especially loved it and it's been one of her favorite flicks in recent years. So naturally, we were very excited to hear news about a sequel. Still, as always, we approached the sequel with a little anxiety that it might not live up to the original or (worse) it might fall flat. Paul Hogan (of Crocodile Dundee fame) once said that if a sequel is not at least 250% better than the original, you shouldn't make the sequel. We were a little bummed that Morgan Freeman wasn't being resurrected for this movie but we were intrigued to see how Hopkins and Lee would do (we were a little skeptical about Zeta-Jones).

The movie starts out pretty much as the trailer would lead you to expect. Frank (Bruce Willis's character) is trying to live a normal live and keep his muggle girlfriend Sarah (Mary-Louise Parker) safe. Sarah is bored and really wants to get back in the excitement so when Marvin (John Malkovich) shows up, she is super eager to hop back into the action. Right from the start (and throughout the film) you'll notice that a lot of the gags are rehashes from the first film or consist of one-liners shown in the trailer. So yes, you've already seen a fair amount of the humor already. Still, there are plenty of fun and unique moments that may catch your giggle-reflex off guard and get you laughing.

Particularly fun (at least for me) was when the team meets up with Bailey (Anthony Hopkins). I really enjoyed Hopkins's character as an off-kilter scientist who's been locked up for ~30 years and seems to be quite a bit crazy. I loved the zany expressions and reactions Hopkins portrayed in the various scenes. You're never quite sure just how crazy he is or how much he might actually understand what's going on.

Movie Review - Despicable Me 2

When it came out in 2010, Despicable Me was a favorite with my kids and I had a lot of fun with it as well. So when the previews for a sequel started popping up, the kids were super excited. So much so that when they received movie gift cards as Christmas presents last winter, they explicitly set them aside so they could see Despicable Me 2 quickly after release.

The first film was filled with ridiculous Looney Toons style hilarity and madcap slapstick hijinks. Over the course of the movie, Gru has to come to terms with being the best world famous villain or loving the three adopted girls in his life. 

The second film starts by showing us that Gru has turned over a new leaf and given up his life of villainy. He's still the quirky anti-social weirdo that he was before, but he has "turned legit" and is working on becoming a good guy. He's fully entrenched in being the good dad to his girls and doing all he can to make their lives happy. We also see a push early on to bring a lady into his life…initially with neighbors trying to set him up on dates as well as his youngest daughter, Agnes, hinting at the lack of a mother as she prepares for her part in the Mother's Day pageant at school.

In spite of the semi-mundane family life, things quickly take a turn for the zanily adventurous when Gru is kidnapped/recruited to be part of the "Anti Villain League" in order to hunt down an unknown villain with a powerful new serum. Gru is reluctant but eventually accepts, presumably to try and get some excitement and adventure back into his life. He is paired up with another agent, Lucy, who is overly enthusiastic about the mission and also quite enamored by Gru. It doesn't take long to realize she's going to become the lady in his life. The two take up a position running a store in a local mall to try and scope out the potential villain. There are a bunch of over-the-top characters in the mall.

Throughout the investigation and subsequent adventures, there is a lot of crazy slapstick comedy mixed with Gru's humor laced with his indistinct Eastern European accent. Gru's minions play an even bigger part in this film than they did in the first. We see them working to care for the girls as well as taking care of details around the house. Where they really become part of the plot though is when they start getting kidnapped by some mysterious force thus making it evident that the unknown villain is definitely very much aware of Gru and his schemes.

The plot and story arc is more over the top cheesy than the first movie at least in terms of trying to be saccharine filled sweetness. We have similar cutesy excitement from the girls, particularly young Agnes. We get to see the softer, loving, caring side of Gru in all its ridiculous beauty. And we get hit over the head with the message of the importance of love and family. It's all cute and nice, but felt a little heavy handed at times.

The jokes and physical gags were overused and very reminiscent of the humor of the first film writ large. The minions are taken up a few notches in terms of their annoyingly crazy silliness. I didn't feel like this movie had as many memorable gags or one liners as the first one ("knocked over", "it's SOO FLUFFY I COULD DIE", etc) but it still kept the humor up and made for a lot of great laughs. The kids loved it and I had a lot of fun and plenty of giggles as well. On the whole, I probably enjoyed this one a little less than the first film but still had good fun with it and can say if you liked #1, you should have fun here as well.



3.5 out of 5 stars

Movie Review - The Lone Ranger (Disney 2013)

I went to see The Lone Ranger with fairly low expectations which is apparently a good thing based on the reaction from family and friends who went in with high expectations. Even though I generally enjoy Johnny Depp's characters, from the trailer I was expecting tons of cheese from his "Jack Sparrow turned zany Indian" paired up with the hapless cowboy. While this sounded entertaining and the trailer showed a fair amount of running, jumping and exploding action, I still wasn't expecting a 5 star movie. I'm not quite sure why.

The movie opens in 1933, which confused me at first until I quickly surmised that we were going to receive the story in flashback form. The first character we get to know is a young boy dressed up as the Lone Ranger wandering through a carnival museum of the old west. I actually really liked the kid they had playing that part. He wasn't the best actor but he had a lot of childish awe and wonder as he listened intently to the origin story of the Lone Ranger being presented him. I loved his wide-eyed amazement and questioning as aspects of the story played out. He made for a fun intermediary for the story.

As to the main story, it's told mostly linearly but with a little skipping back and forth at times as well as a few instances where we skip over key moments in the actual story that are just left unanswered ("how did you get out of jail?", for example). The storytelling is generally pretty straightforward though at times it tries to explicitly leave elements mysterious or unanswered in some attempt for dramatic tension. In these moments the hidden bits felt either obvious or pointless comments and in either case didn't seem to add any tension to the story. The few surprise twists, on the other hand, were handed to us in the form of clues that weren't explicitly brought forward as clues and thus there was some payoff in figuring things out as a viewer. The biggest revelation was actually pretty well played. Thanks to the clues, I was able to deduce the mystery long before it was revealed but I still felt like the clues were subtle and obfuscated well enough to make it interesting.

The plot had one major story arc but also has a few related story lines that spur off the central arc and return again by the end. From a very high level the story seems to be about the Ranger hunting down the main villain with the help of Tonto. As the story progresses, we find other story lines interlacing with this central plot until we have a variety of plots for many of the central characters, each of which intersects with the main story in a compelling way. While there were a lot of coincidences (as is often the case), I felt like the story lines were compelling and the overall plot was pretty interesting.

One of the big complaints against the movie that I've heard has to do with the level of violence. Rather than sticking with the comic-book style violence of the old Lone Ranger stories or the more "off-screen" violence from the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, this film has more on-screen violence than may be expected. The central villain in the film is brutally violent in ways that are more over the top than your standard Disney film. And while true-to-nature, the senseless and brutal way the "civilized" soldiers dealt with the Indians was a stark contrast to the comic humor the writers tried to bring in elsewhere in the film.