The Wolverine

Has anyone ever owned (or reprised) a role more than Hugh Jackman with the character that put him on the map; The Wolverine?  This is the 6th time we have seen Jackman as this character in films and the 44 yr old actor has never looked better.  In the beginning X-men movies, Jackman was only occasionally shirtless, now it’s his natural state.   James Mangold takes on the Director’s chair with this take of a story loosely adapted from the iconic ‘Wolverine” mini-series of the 80’s by Chris Claremont and Frank Miller that is widely acknowledged as the definitive Wolverine story.  I very much respect trying different things with the same character.  Mangold attempts to take Wolverine away from the super hero genre and towards a more reflective and thoughtful direction.  However, Wolverine is a super hero and the film is actually at it’s worst when it goes down the path of super heroics.  This film is a dark and introspective take on our favorite X-man and I applaud the risk.

The film opens serenely and beautifully on a quiet sunny day in 1940‘s Japan.  As the camera slowly pans out, we realize that a prison camp is nestled in this idyllic scene and off in the distance 2 large planes  tranquilly approach.  It slowly dawns on us that they are B-29s and the camp is in the city of Nagasaki.  Wolverine, aka, Logan is a POW (of course shirtless) and a young Japanese guard named Yashida attempts to free the prisoners as he realizes the impending doom.  It turns out Logan rescues the guard and creates an eternally grateful and awestruck Japanese soldier.

Flash forward to the present, we find Logan wandering homeless in the Canadian wilderness, essentially a hermit haunted by the ghost of Jean Grey, the woman he loved and was forced to kill in the last film.  Jean’s beautiful etherial presence is an odd choice and I’m not sure it worked effectively, but it didn’t detract from the film.  After starting a bar fight, Logan is confronted by a young japanese martial artist name Yukio who tells Logan that her master Yashida is dying and wishes to thank Logan for saving his life all those years ago.  Wolverine agrees and is wisked off to Japan.

As it turns out, Yashida has since become a billionaire as head of the largest company in Asia. Yashida’s true wish is not to thank him rather to transfer Logan’s ‘curse’ of immortality to himself.  Helping Yashida is a beautiful (if vacant) doctor.  Svetlana Khodchenkova plays the physician and also lethal mutant named Viper like a runway model. In this case, I felt this insertion of a super villainess character (who is nothing like the comic book version) was gratuitous.   The rest of the film becomes a story of international intrigue as Logan becomes immersed in a family struggle of Shakespearean proportions.  Yashida is willing his company to his grand daughter, the lovely Mariko (Tao Okamoto).  This transfer of power upsets everyone and makes her a target of everyone from family to the Japanese Yakusa mobs.  Wolverine being Wolverine takes on the role as her protector.

The Director Mangold seeks to further distance himself from the superhero realm by having Wolverine’s healing power taken away, making him vulnerable.  Wolverine must deal with pain and limping after a fight like anyone else.  Mangold has an obvious love for showing us different aspects of Japanese life and many of his scenes and filming techniques are reminiscent of Japanese film makers like Akira Kurosawa, but ‘hey’ Chris Claremont did the same thing in his comic book series, so why not?  Like I said, it doesn’t really fit the super hero mold, but that made it all the more intriguing. There is obvious connection between Logan and Mariko, but it is never developed to the level it was in the comic book series.

Of course, there does have to be super hero moments and with the exception of an incredible fight on top of a speeding 300 mph bullet train, the scenes are generic and not worthy of what the film was trying to accomplish.  Overall, I enjoyed the film immensely, my only critique is that they could have done much better.  If you are going to commit to taking the character and tone in a different direction, commit all the way.  Lest you walk away thinking you missed out on your fix of super hero coolness, as always, make sure you stick around until after the credits.  We are assured this is far from the last time we will see The Wolverine.

I give this film *** stars

http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi1660725529/

Pacific Rim

        I have to confess, I completely enjoyed this film.  And just because I enjoyed it doesn’t mean it was good or had any redeeming value.  This is the definition of a guilty pleasure.  This is what ‘The Transformers’ should have been.  If I were a 14 yr old adolescent, I would be seeing this movie over and over again.  It’s giant monsters versus giant robots in epic city leveling confrontations.  What is not to love?  It brought me back to my Saturday morning ‘creature features’ movies with classics such as Godzilla vs Megalon, only with incredible special effects and actual production value.  It is adolescent nerd Nirvana.

A brief synopsis; in the near future, Earth is being invade through an inter-dimensional rift at the bottom of the ocean.  From out of these vortexes comes giant building size monsters called ‘Kaijus’ bent on destroying the nearest coastal cities it can find.  In response, humans build equally massive robots called ‘Jaegers’ (German for ‘Hunters’) that are so large it takes two pilots to operate who are linked through a telepathic bridge called ‘drifting’.  At first, this seems to be working and the pilots of these robots are treated like rock stars throughout the world.  Then it becomes apparent that the monsters are coming forth from the abyss more frequently and each more powerful than the last.  The human robots are being defeated faster than they can be built.  Humanity begins to become aware that they are facing extinction. C’mon, my inner kid is going nuts over this.

The special effects are what really makes this film work.  Throughout the entire film, I found myself whispering; “cool”, no matter how lame the dialogue or how improbable the plot line.  The pilots of all the robots are video game square jaw generic and the down and out protagonist’s story is almost cliché.  That doesn’t mean there aren’t some real actors in this film giving respectable performances.  Idris Elba (this guy can do no wrong in my book) plays the resistance commander Stacker Pentecost (love the name btw). Many people don’t realize that Idris is British because he usually uses an American accent in movies, so it almost seems fake when he uses his actual accent.  He reeks the manly gravitas and authority necessary for a global commander.  Charlie Day (of ‘It’s Always Sunny’ fame) and Burn Gorman play the comic relief as the scientists racing to find a way to stop the onslaught of monsters into our world.  Each providing welcome lightness in an, at times, overly dark film.

Director Guillermo Del Toro is someone I have followed since his days as an indie film maker.  He always has a unique, and slightly macabre, vision that is often under appreciated due to his low budgets.  His ‘Pan’s Labyrinth’ was a masterpiece that went widely unnoticed due to it’s creepiness, but sticks in my mind as an incredibly powerful and unique artistic vision . ‘Pacific Rim’ is a big budget film that fits Guillermo’s strengths.  It allows him to utilize his love of monstrous and exotic creatures even if it does not allow him to fully display his skill as a story teller.

If you are able to put aside your disbelief, this movie can be a fun ride.  Anyone with even a rudimentary knowledge of engineering or physics knows that it’s impossible to have robots or creatures this big as they would collapse under their own weight.  Who cares?  Take whatever kids you have in your life, grab a big bucket of popcorn and a ‘Big Gulp’ soda, go to your nearest multiplex theater, and have fun watching a matinee movie.  Prepare to say ‘awesome’ as often as the kids as you watch this (even if you have to roll your eyes at it’s cheesiness just to keep up appearances).

I give this film **1/2 stars

http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi513124633/

The Lone Ranger

I so wanted ‘The Lone Ranger’ to be good.  I was skeptical when I saw the trailers, but the movie disappointed even more than I expected.  I want to know which movie execs watched this and said: ‘Yea! that’s what we want to release’.  This is a painful 2 1/2 robbery of time out of my life.  This is an overblown film that couldn’t decide whether it wanted to be a comedy or action film.  I don’t blame the actors as there is a lot of talent in this film and given the right direction, there could have been a lot of great performances.  This movie was painful from start to finish.  It was a gamble to begin with as there are few people under the age of 45 who were clamoring to have this movie made.  They could have done something great and re-introduced an American legend to a new generation.  The opportunity was squandered

Let me start off speaking politically, which is something I rarely do.  For people who know me, I am extremely liberal on some things and conservative on others.  I must confess that I am getting fatigued by Hollywood’s insistence at portraying all W.A.S.Ps as evil, bumbling, misguided idiots and every other ethnic group as suffering, noble, and oppressed.  I find this very racist as it portrays a homogenous and non diverse view of all people.  Good and evil can be found in all shape, sizes, and colors (and sexual preferences). To deny this shows a lack of character on the writer’s (and Director’s) part and denial based on racial and political perceptions.  This movie has several scenes mocking Protestant spirituality while glorifying Indian and Chinese spirituality.  Whether you believe or not, all are worthy of one’s respect.  To continually wallow in self criticism and mockery is an exercise in guilt and self hatred. The political portion of the review is over.

The team that brought us ‘The Pirates of the Caribbean’ tried to recreate the same magic with this horrible film.  It is a revisionist, apologetic re-telling of the famous radio show of the 30’s that later became a beloved iconic show of the 50’s.  The Lone Ranger actually pre-dates Superman going as far back as 1933.  One could argue that he was the first superhero.  He was always portrayed as strong, confident, and despite what Hollywood thinks, egalitarian.  This version portrays the Lone Ranger (Armie Hammer) as a bumbling, ‘fish out of water’, eastern dandy, whom Tonto (Johnny Depp doing his ‘Captain Jack Sparrow playing Tonto’) must constantly put up with.  I loved the new Tonto look and Depp does a fantastic Jay Silverheels (the original Tonto) impression.  The problem is that the director went too much for the comedic and did not focus on the friendship.  

The story is basically the same as previous incarnations; a group of 7 Rangers set out after the evil Butch Cavendish gang.  They are ambushed and only John Reid survives.  He makes a mask from his slain brother’s vest and sets out for justice with the aid of Tonto, his spiritual guide.  William Fitchner is almost unrecognizable as the Butch Cavendish.  You may not know William Fitchner’s name, but you know the face.  He is probably one of the best and most consistent utility actors out there.  He shows some great acting skills in this and was one of the few highlights of the film for me.  

I was hoping to see some sort of transformation of John Reid into the legendary Lone Ranger, but they couldn’t let go of the bumbling fool with teeth-way-too-white for the time period angle.  The Lone Ranger was played as the consummate buffoon trying to be Dudley-Do-Right. The Director was more concerned about making political anti-gun statements than trying to capture the essence of the legendary lawman. Jokes were cracked often and frequently inappropriately (one traumatic mass slaughter scene had some sardonic quips between Tonto and the Lone Ranger that were offensive given what just occurred).  Most of the bad guys were generic evil and the pyrotechnics seemed out of place given the time period.

Helena Bohnam Carter was just weird as the local Madame Red Harrington.  It seemed like no one told her that she wasn’t in one of her husband Tim Burton’s films.  The whorehouse scene seemed like a cross between every Tim Burton film and Moulin Rouge.  The joke of The Lone Ranger and Tonto playing health inspectors fell flat (did they even have those back then?).  Tom Wilkinson (another of my favorite utility actors) was wasted as the evil railroad Baron.  Ruth Wilson played the long lost love Rebecca Reid uninspirationally.  

There are a myriad of issues I have with his film.  Only a few of which I have listed.  I suppose my biggest issue was just the total and utter lack of chemistry between The Lone Ranger and Tonto.  It was a legendary friendship and bond that inspired almost every other big screen and pulp fiction camaraderie that followed from Batman and Robin to Captain Kirk and Mr Spock.

If you are in the mood for another Hollywood revisionist mockery of iconic American stories, then go for it.  Judging from the box office take this weekend, it looks like I’m not the only one who is growing tired of it.  This is a film that had all the parts to be great and it was squandered in the attempt to create a big box office repeat of Pirates of the Caribbean.  I mourn the 2 1/2 hours I have lost from my life.

I give this zero stars

http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi3207308313/