21 Jump Street

          Okay, some movies I just have to put under the category of ‘guilty pleasures’.  This is yet another remake spoof of a series from the 80‘s. It was one of the original series from the then brand new Fox channel, but it will probably best go down in history as the show that started Johnny Depp on his road to fame.  The premise of the show and this movie is young looking cops infiltrate high schools as students to fight crime.  It’s a ridiculous premise as it’s hard to suspend disbelief as these guys clearly don’t look under 18.  It became so ridiculous in the old TV series that they eventually had to change their mission to infiltrating universities (they still looked too old).  Jonah Hill (Schmidt) and Channing Tatum (Jenko) are mismatched as partners, but it is some of what makes the movie work.

This movie goes out of the way to embrace the cliches of these shows and even acknowledge it.  The police Captain Dickson (played by Ice Cube) proudly proclaims himself a stereotypical angry black police Captain.  There are many references of the lead stars being asked if they were held back because they look 40.  In one particularly hilarious highway chase scene, where we are used to seeing constant explosions, nothing ever blows up.  After shooting several rounds into a leaking gas trailer, a confused Schmidt exclaims; ‘I really thought that one was going to blow up’.  

The drug dealing ring plot is generic and just there to provide comic set-ups for the fish out-of-water detectives who are trying to assimilate.  Jenko is confused that having a muscle car is no longer cool because it is not ‘green’ and picking on gay people is not funny like he thought it was and even a hate crime in modern high schools.  Video gamers and comic book geeks are the new hip crowd and his old jock notions of cool are out.  

I really could find nothing that I would call redeeming about this film, but I laughed constantly throughout and that has to count for something.  For those who remember the old series, it’s fun to catch the numerous cameos (and one cameo in particular makes the whole movie).  Channing Tatum proves he has some comedic talent and has a dumb jock expression as good as any I’ve ever seen.  The bantering between Tatum and Hill is something I could listen to all day without getting tired.  Jonah Hill is the master of the mumbling rants.

This is a short review, but there really isn't much more I could think of to say about the movie. It has little substance, but a lot of laughs.  I’m ashamed I liked this film as much as I did, but I suppose that’s why they call them ‘guilty pleasures’.  

I rate this movie:  ** 1/2 stars.  I want to rate it higher, but my conscience won’t let me.

The Hunger Games

       As an avid movie goer, there is nothing I enjoy more than being surprised at the movies.  ‘The Hunger Games’ is a young-adult  novel by Suzanne Collins.  I went in reluctantly because of the weak trailers and all the hype that pronounced this the next ‘Twilight’ franchise.  I expected another ponderous teen soap of adolescent angst and pubescent alienation. I was taken completely by surprise and knocked off of my high horse as I found this film, while definitely targeted for the ‘Twilight’ audience, to be a smart, well crafted, intimately dark Science Fantasy story.  The advance publicity makes this seem just like an action packed reality show, but it is far more and deeper than that.

‘The Hunger Games’ is the story of 16 year old Katniss Everdeen (played by the less glamorous than usual Jennifer Lawrence).  She lives in a post-apocalyptic world where the government has divided what remains of Pan Am into 12 Districts.  Every year, each District must offer up one boy and girl to participate in the televised Hunger Games.  It is like the show Survivor only the battle is real and the winner is the last one who is left alive.  The children are chosen each year from a lottery and are referred to as tributes.  When Katniss’s little sister is the one chosen, she steps in and volunteers in her place.  She and Peeta (Josh Hutcherson), a boy she grew up with, are whisked away with great ceremony to The Capital where they are put under the mentorship of Haymitch (played by Woody Harrelson who is in his element), a former Hunger Games winner.  They are to be trained and gather sponsors while they prepare for the Hunger Games.

Science fiction has always been used as exaggerated metaphors for present day issues.  The poverty of the Districts compared to the lavish riches of the citizenry of the Capital can be interpreted differently depending on your political bent.  What really stood out for me is that this film really explored the depth of the characters rather than relying on lavish productions and impossible fight scenes which tend to happen in these type of films.  Katniss’s love for her sister is what drives her and you feel her need to win every bit as much as she does. She doesn’t want to be a pawn of a system she despises, but the system is too big and doesn’t provide any easy answers.  There is a futility to rebellion and the urgency of her reality overcomes any ideals she may have.

As the games are launched, we see these teens we came to know and care about devolve into a ‘Lord of the Flies’ world where each must kill each other if they hope to survive.  Some of the scenes are unflinching in their brutality and they don’t try to make the violence antiseptic. It’s hard to watch, especially as the younger children begin to fall, but this is where I admire the movie.  It doesn’t try to portray this as a glamorous ‘Rocky’ story.  Katniss is brave to be sure, but you share her terror and pain as she fights for survival.

There are many great performances in this film and a lot of big name stars.  Donald Sutherland plays the omnipotent President Snow with imperial arrogance.  Stanley Tucci plays the smarmy game show host Caesar Flickerman to plastic perfection.  An unrecognizable Elizabeth Banks plays the eerie Effie Trinket.   Even a shorn Lenny Kravitz turns in an acceptable performance as Katniss’s handler, Cinna.  A lot of talent and some great performances for something I went in considering a teen movie.

I do have some criticisms, but they were minor compared to my overall enjoyment of the film.  I felt some of the deaths were contrived as well as some of the alliances.  As much as I enjoyed Woody Harrelson’s character, Haymitch, I thought he went through dramatic changes without impetus as well as having Katniss change his perspective on life without ever really getting to know her.  Still, minor flaws in a good movie.

If you’re going to this movie just to see an action flick, you might not get what you hoped for.  There are adrenaline rushes; however, they are pulled from dramatic tension and outrage for the characters’ predicaments.   These are somber characters leading lives of quiet desperation who are suddenly thrust into the world of celebrity and violence.  I’ll probably rate this film higher than I should due to how pleasantly surprised I was but I can’t help it.

I rate this film **** stars.

John Carter

John Carter has taken it’s time coming to the big screen.  Written in the 19th century by the famed Edgar Rice Burroughs (of Tarzan fame), this story has been trying to get to the big screen from as early as 1939.  Finally, in an age where special effects technology have made it possible for this film to be made, Disney has stepped up and produced this 240 million dollar epic.  Unfortunately, despite good intentions, it’s on its’ way to becoming a flop.  This is not to say the film is totally without merit, but it does not live up to its’ promise.  There are many things to criticize in this movie, but I think the largest failure is that Taylor Kitsch was completely miscast as John Carter and didn’t have the acting chops to pull it off.

Based on the original work entitled ‘Princess of Mars’, the film is a faithful adaptation of the pulp story.  Written in an era before science fiction was fashionable, this book was ahead of its’ time and you can see the seeds for all the great movies it inspired.  From Dune, to Star Wars, and even to Avatar, all these movies can trace some if not most of their inspiration to this story.  Given this was written before the concept of modern science fiction was even fully formed, I would place this more in the ‘Sword and Sorcery’ genre.  There are so many things that seem cliché in this movie until one realizes, this is one of the stories that started the clichés .

John Carter (Taylor Kitsch) is a former Confederate War captain, who searches the Arizona wasteland for his fortune in gold mining.  Through a series of events, he finds himself in a cave where he confronts a mysterious magical being and is transported to Mars.  Upon Mars, he discovers that the lesser gravity gives him great strength, which most notably manifests itself in his ability to leap great distances.  Almost immediately, he encounters a war-like race of 12 foot, four armed, green warriors called Tharks.  He is imprisoned by them and begins to learn the ways of Mars, or Barsoom as the natives call it.  The politically embattled leader of the Tharks, Tars Tarrkas (played by Willem Dafoe [recognizable only by his voice]) takes an interest in John Carter as he realizes what a valuable asset he is as a warrior.

While this is going on, on another part of the planet, more human looking Martians are in a civil war.  The red people of the Kingdom of Helium are being attacked by the blue warriors of Zodanga (Crypt colors even back in the 19th century).  Mysterious priests of great power give the Zodangan General, Sab Than (Dominic West) the means with which to conquer the Kingdom of Helium in exchange for his obedience.  In a desperate attempt to save his kingdom, the King of Helium offers his beautiful daughter Dejah (played by the enchanting Lynn Collins) to Sab Than as his bride.  Dejah does not go into this willingly and takes her first opportunity to escape.

John Carter rescues the Princess and she accompanies him on his journey to find his way back home.  All the while, the Princess has ulterior motives and seeks to enlist John Carter’s aid to help save her Kingdom and as a result, all of Barsoom.  Along the way, they discover the source of the power behind Sab Than and the true depth of its’ power over the planet.

Like I stated earlier, this movie wasn’t all bad.  It is a wide and expansive epic and it’s a lot of fun to see a classic story (well, not really a classic as it is relatively unknown to most people) come to the big screen.  For as much money that was spent on it, the special effects sometimes seemed artificial and wooden, not as artificial and wooden as Taylor kitsch’s acting, but lame in may parts nonetheless.  On a brighter note, Lynn Collins as the Princess Dejah delivered an incredible performance and I’m not just saying that because of her beauty and skimpy outfits either.  She is a classically trained Shakespearean actress and it really shows in her performance.  She is also a black belt in real life and she holds her own in her fight scenes alongside John Carter.  

Overall, I can’t recommend this movie and I’m very disappointed that after all the money and resources possessed by Disney, they couldn’t bring this character to life in a more compelling way.  Fun for a matinee, but that’s it.  If it’s any consolation, the comic book ‘John Carter: Warlord of Mars’, was an incredibly disappointing read from my childhood as well.

I rate this film ** stars