News Archive
5-31-2009
Wizard World Philadelphia
The Wizard World comic conventions expanded to include Wizard World East in Philadephia, PA in 2002. So far we've made the convention every year and this year is no exception. However, this year may be shaping up to be one of the best.
There's always interesting shopping to be had and some years offer better programming than others, but one of the coolest parts are the guests. Sure, in the past WW Philly has attracted some interesting Star Wars guests but this year the list of stars showing up is pretty incredible whether you're a TV, film or comic book fan
Big names this year include Edward James Olmos and Michael Hogan from the incredible "Battlestar Galactica" series, Marina Sirtis from "Star Trek: The Next Generation," Ray Park who played Darth Maul in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace as well as Snake Eyes in this summer's G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra, and Kristanna Loken who is probably best known for her role as the T-X in Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines.
Are you as big a fan of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" as we are? Then you'll be interested in your shot at meeting Emma Caulfield who played Anya for 4 seasons on the hit series. Also scheduled are Ted Raimi, Erin Gray and Peter Mayhew, Star Wars' Chewbacca. Besides the usual list of professional wrestlers at this year's con, you can also meet a real warrior, Matt Serra, the former UFC Welterweight champion.
If Kristanna Loken and Emma Caulfield don't fill the Hot Broad category, make room for Cerina Vincent, Chanel Ryan and Leyla Milani.
Oh, did I also mention there'll be some comic book artists and such there? It's going to be an entertainment bonanza.
Wizard World Philly runs from June 19 - 21 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center. You can see a complete guest list and purchase tickets at WizardWorld.com. We'll have a wrap-up report that weekend and maybe even a live update from the show depending on time.
5-29-2009
What the Frak?
Although it came out on DVD a few weeks ago, I finally got around to watching "Caprica" which is a prequel to "Battlestar Galactica." While this is a pilot for a proposed television show, it was released as an hour and a half movie back on April 21st. Standard spoiler alert applies...
Set 58 years before the Cylon attack that kicked off the "BSG" series, the movie tells the story of the Adama and Graystone families. Joseph (Esai Morales) and Daniel (Eric Stoltz) are brought together when a terrorist attack on a train kills both of their daughters as well as Joseph's wife.
Joseph is William Adama's father, a lawyer originally from Tauron, who had taken the name Adams when he emigrated to Caprica. Although he would go on to become a famous civil liberties lawyer, in "Caprica" Joseph is a mob lawyer for the Ha'la'tha crime organization.
Daniel Graystone runs an extremely profitable computer and engineering company which, among other things, had created the Holoband. The Holoband is a virtual reality internet where you can log in as a realistic avatar and interact with others. Think of it as Facebook on heroin.
Graystone's 16 year old daughter, Zoe (Alessandra Torresani), is a disillusioned, yet genius, kid who rebels against her parents by hacking the Holoband and following religious teachings that center on one true god rather than the multiple gods that most of the other people in the "BSG" universe believe in. She plans to run away to Gemenon with her best friends, Lacy and Ben, but Lacy cops out at the last minute and Ben turns out to be a bomb-strapped whack job. He blows up the train that he and Zoe are on, taking with them Shannon and Tamara, Joseph's wife and daughter.
Zoe, however, is not entirely dead. While her father has created an early version of what would become the original Cylon Centurions, designed for the army, Zoe has worked to make a true artificial intelligence version of herself in the Holoband. After her death, Daniel stumbles across her avatar and eventually realizes that Zoe had accomplished something he couldn't, awareness via computer programming.
Daniel, thinking that he now has a way to bring his daughter back to life, offers Joseph the same opportunity for his daughter. Joseph, while going along at first, finally meets his daughter's avatar who is not yet complete and as aware as Zoe. He realizes his error but Daniel continues on, cutting a deal with Joseph to use Joseph's mob contacts to obtain an advanced computer processor from a competitor. He uploads his daughter's AI to the chip and inserts it into a Cylon. The program fails to bring his daughter back but does give him the knowledge and technology to complete an autonomous Cylon that the government can buy for their military.
Of course, this film wouldn't be a pilot if it didn't have a twist ending. Just as we think that the Zoe Cylon is dead, it rises from a work table in a lab, awake and aware, and phones up Lacy and asks for her help.
Joseph's encounter with Tamara makes him realize that she is truly gone and that he needs to focus on what's left in his life, his young son William. He takes back his Tauron heritage, telling William that their true name is Adama, and they should not hide that fact, it's what makes them strong and gives them their identity.
While the shaky camera, gritty space ships and running war are still in the future, themes in "Caprica" are similar to those we saw in "Battlestar Galactica." Terrorism, religion, family, values, all things that were flipped on their head and examined in "BSG" are here but set against a more peaceful backdrop making the look unique to that of the earlier series.
The acting is fine in the film although I've never been a big fan of Stoltz. Morales is perfect as William Adama's father and you can see that pieces of his character's mannerisms must have taken a cue from Edward James Olmos' turn in "BSG."
I've read that Sci-Fi Channel has picked this up as a regular series and ordered 20 hours of programming. I think that there's enough drama and story left to tell that it could make a good run of it. Seeing the birth of the Cylons and how the two human/Cylon wars came about would be an incredible ride.
If you are a fan of "Battlestar Galactica" you should pick up this DVD and give it a watch. We still have "Battlestar Galactica: The Plan" to look forward to this year but I'll take any chance I can get to spend more time in this awesome universe. Sticking with review tradition I'll rate this one and give it a positive 4 wheels of cheddar out of 5.
5-28-2009
Television
I never got back to this topic last week but the upfronts are finally over and we have a look at which of our favorite shows are coming back next season and which ones got the shaft. Most of the networks announced their new shows and while there are a few that sound good, there are a few that sound like they're basically repeats of other shows that we've seen before. But, before we get into the new shows, let's take a minute to remember a couple favorites that won't be back this Fall.
"My Name is Earl"
Obviously there are always shows that end that I really miss but it's the ones that come to a surprise ending that are the hardest. The first one to fit that bill this year is "My Name is Earl." The lead show in NBC's Thursday night comedy block, "Earl" has been one of the few sitcoms I've bothered to watch, ever.
I'm also a big "The Office" fan but besides "Earl," the only other comedy shows I watch are "My Boys" and "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia." "Earl" has had a few bad moments, mostly the prison arc, but had really come back this season as far as I was concerned. Some of the final episodes this season were so funny I had to watch them twice to catch what I'd missed while laughing so hard. Unfortunately, karma ran out for "Earl" before he was able to finish his list.
Apparently NBC was shopping the show to FOX and CBS so I suppose there is a slight glimmer of hope, but I haven't heard anything new on this so I'm going to assume that we've seen the end of Earl and Randy, Crab Man and Joy and Catalina jumping around. I think I'll miss Nadine Velazquez the most...
"Life"
The other major blow was the cancellation of "Life." The show starred Damien Lewis as Charlie Crews and Sarah Shahi as his partner, Dani Reese. Crews, a cop, had been in jail for a murder he didn't commit and on his release received a huge settlement from LA as well as a detectives job. The weekly crime stores were fun to watch but the search for the people behind framing him for the murder was where the real drama was.
Its first season was shortened by the writers strike which, ironically, may have saved it for a second season in the first place. Apparently it didn't get the ratings in the second season because it didn't get picked up. Lewis was awesome in the part of Crews. Equal parts Zen and calculating investigator, he was an interesting character that could have had a long run.
Shahi's Reese made a good foil for Crews as well as being in the mix of the conspiracy; her father may have been a dirty cop that helped frame Crews. Plus, she's hot as hell.
5-27-2009
Hot Broads You've Never Heard Of
Rachel Nichols is a girl you may actually have heard of, she's been popping up more and more on television and in films since 2004. She worked for J.J. Abrams as Rachel Gibson on "Alias," she's the hot chick getting chased around the parking garage in P2 and took the role of Julia in The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2.
But this year she really turns things up with three films.
Earlier this month she worked for Abrams again, where she played the hot, green Orion chick, Gaila, that Kirk hooked up with in Star Trek. Later this year she'll star opposite Skeet Ulrich in For Sale by Owner and finally, she brings life to Scarlett in the big budget G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra opening in August.
This is one girl you're going to want to know, and keep an eye on.
5-22-2009
Somebody save me
Terminator Salvation opened last night at midnight in a lot of theaters but breaking with this month's streak, I didn't go until this morning. After being severely let down by Angels & Demons last week, the thought of paying $10 to sit in a cramped theater, in a bad seat, and watch a film that may not totally rock seemed less than appealing.
Instead, I saved a couple bucks, sat in a great seat and only had about 15 or 20 other people in the theater with me today. Good choice. Terminator Salvation is one of the few films that has left me completely indifferent after watching it. I felt the same way after last year's Indiana Jones movie and while I may not hate the film it's still sad that two hours of explosions couldn't generate a little excitement.
Terminator Salvation takes place in 2018, Skynet is now in power and has unleashed its robotic army on humanity. The resistance is fighting back and has been developing a weapon that is supposed to render the automated robots useless. John Connor, played by Christian Bale, is not yet the leader of the resistance but is a commander and up and comer. He's also achieved the level of prophet for his knowledge of the machines, much to the dislike of his superior officers.
Bryce Dallas Howard plays Connor's wife Kate, who was introduced in Terminator 3 by Claire Danes. Anton Yelchin takes over for Michael Biehn playing a teenage Kyle Reese. New characters to the franchise are Moon Bloodgood's Blair Williams, Sam Worthington as Marcus Wright and Helena Bonham Carter as Dr. Serena Kogan.
Here there be some time traveling spoilers... Unless you're reading this last week.
Salvation starts off in 2003 with Marcus Wright sitting on death row, moments away from his lethal injection. Dr. Kogan shows up to ask him one last time to donate his body to her research. She's dying of cancer and wants an otherwise healthy Wright for medical testing. Cut to 2018.
The resistance is infiltrating a Skynet base looking for information that will help them defeat the machines. Connor leads a team into an underground bunker where he finds the computer he's after but also a large number of humans who are being experimented on. Skynet retaliates for the intrusion and nukes the base, killing everyone but Connor and, as we see later, a newly revived Marcus Wright.
While Connor is extracted, a disoriented Wright makes his way to nearby Los Angeles where he encounters Reese and his young friend Star, played by Jadagrace. This sets the scene for the rest of the film which involves Connor discovering that Skynet is kidnapping hundreds, if not thousands, of humans and imprisoning them in their base in San Francisco, and that Kyle Reese is one of them. Connor mounts a rescue with Wright.
Here's where I need to take a step back from unrolling the plot and mention a few things. First, it's been reported that in the original draft of the script for Salvation, John Connor had a small part and the bulk of the film centered on Marcus Wright. After McG, the director, approached Bale to be in the film as Marcus Wright, Bale decided he wanted to play John Connor instead, but rewrites would be required to increase Connor's role. Jonah Nolan, who wrote The Dark Knight with his director brother Christopher, was called on for the script re-write.
Although I don't really know what the original script was about, or how much of it was kept, I can say that the film feels like one that was re-written. There are some scenes in the film that kind of don't work. It's as if certain scenes were left in but the supporting scenes were taken out or re-written with Connor in them and we were left with inconcistencies. I'm drawing a blank on a specific example but there were times in the film where all of a sudden someone knew another character's name without having been really introduced. Or a character gave an order or told someone to do something, like getting to the transports during the film's climax, without ever having ordered transports in. Things like that. They stood out and provided several WTF moments.
From reading several articles it also seems like the ending was changed, which reportedly had the real John Connor die at the end. John Connor does not die in the released film, thanks to Marcus Wright. One of the worst kept secrets, one that you new about just by watching the trailers, was that Marcus Wright was actually a terminator. A human robot hybrid, or cyborg, created by Skynet as an infiltration specialist. In other words, he's no T-800 being sniffed out by dogs. The human side of Wright included a heart which, in the end, was what was used to save Connor. While that completed Wright's journey of redemption, it didn't really have any emotional payoff.
Actually, the whole film lacked some emotional payoff. It looked pretty most of the time, and you can't say that Bale doesn't like to get his growl-n-scowl on, but you can only get so much out of a film with that.
Some of the other characters in the film, such as Common's Barnes or Michael Ironside's General Ashdown, don't have a lot to do which, again, may have been because of the new script. Top nods to ILM for the visual effects which were mostly stunning, creating burned versions of LA and San Francisco and plenty of flying and shooting robots. Also tops to Stan Winston Studios for the awesome versions of the Terminator robots.
Two of the best cameos in the film were Linda Hamilton and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Hamilton appeared as Sarah Connor in a photo and as a voice on a series of recordings that John listened to, while a younger version of Arnold appeared via ILM effects which painted his face on Roland Kickinger who body doubled for the governor. There were other little tips of the hat to the previous Terminator films including Connor telling his wife, "I'll be back." Unfortunately Bale's Connor had none of the dry humor of Edward Furlong's T2 Connor or Thomas Dekker's computer geek from "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles." "T:TSCC," especially, was really not acknowledged in this film other than the possibility that Summer Glau's Cameron Phillips was similar to Worthington's Wright model of terminator.
Anton Yelchin, fresh off of Star Trek, provided most of the heart for the film. At the end of the day, he was as important, if not more, than John Connor. Sam Worthington did a great job with what he had to work with. It's been said in some other reviews that this guy is going to be big in the near future, and I would have to agree. While Salvation won't cement that future for him, this year's James Cameron film Avatar will probably do it.
The nuts and bolts of Terminator Salvation were fine but the assembly was flawed. The explosions were pretty to look at, the robots were believable and the acting was fine in bursts but there was something missing to tie it all together to make a huge hit. I don't think this film will sink the franchise, there are definitely stories that can still be told and I'd even like to see Bale and Yelchin come back to tell them. Only next time make sure to get a script together that focuses on the correct group of heroes from the beginning. And if James Cameron were to helm it, well, all the better
Don't go see this film thinking it will be Terminator or Terminator 2 Judgment Day, it's not. It may be at least as good as Rise of the Machines, however, and it's definitely better of a movie than Angels & Demons. I'll lay out 3 wheels of cheddar out of 5, but I'm being a little generous due to the individual performances of Worthington, Bale and Yelchin. Sometimes the sum of the parts is better than the whole.
5-19-2009
24
Last night was the season finale for Day 7 of the show "24." Overall it was a good season. Plenty of action and intrigue and, of course, Jack Bauer beating up on some motherfuckers.
We even got treated to some Kim Bauer action, no mountain lions in sight. The two hour episode last night was pretty good but I do have a few issues with the way they left it.
We already know that FOX is picking "24" up for at least another season so we didn't really need the cliff hanger ending that we got. Small mark against an otherwise good 24 week run.
I will mention, though, that one of the best parts of the season was Annie Wersching as FBI Agent Renee Walker. That's a hot broad!
5-18-2009
Upfronts
This coming week is when the television networks publicize what current shows have been picked up for the 2009-2010 season, what old favorites won't be back and what new shows will be vying for our eyes.
While we know some shows that have already been renewed, I wanted to take a couple minutes to look back at two shows that we know have come to an end.
Prison Break
I've been a loyal watcher of "Prison Break" since it started four years ago. The series was about two brothers, Lincoln Burrows and Michael Scofield, and their escape from Fox River prison in Chicago.
Lincoln was in prison, on death row, for the killing of the vice president's brother. Michael, a brilliant engineer, faked a bank robbery and cut a deal to be in Fox River prison, with his brother, with plans to break him out. Assisted by a full-body tattoo which contained prison blue prints and chemical equations to assist him, Michael also recruited a sketchy bunch of fellow inmates in his quest. The payoff, in the first season finale, was their escape.
The second season consisted of the escapees on the run while the third season, although shortened by the writer's strike, found Lincoln cleared and Michael back in prison in Panama. The brothers were once again tapped with an escape, now in the service of the shady Company which had orchestrated Lincoln's imprisonment in the first place.
Finally, this past season was the payoff for the loyal viewers. Out of prison again, the brothers and a handful of strays they had picked up along their journey, were our to bring down the Company and clear their names once and for all. While there were twists and turns in every episode, the finale last Friday wound down with it looking as though the brothers would finally have their freedom. Unfortunately for one, that was short lived.
During the final season Michael had been dealing with a type of brain aneurism that was supposed to have no treatment. An advanced technique invented by the Company saved him, or so we thought. As he was celebrating his freedom, defeat of the Company and impeding fatherhood with his girlfriend Sara, his aneurism nose bleeds returned. The final shots of the series showed Michael's closest friends, his brother and Sara, along with his five year old son, visiting his grave.
While I enjoyed the entire series, including the lackluster third season, I was kind of disappointed that after saving those truly closest to him, Michael never got the happy ever after that he deserved. Although it wasn't the "Sopranos" cut to black or a whimpering mid-season cancellation that did the show in, there's something about that ending that didn't feel fair. Still, it was a good series, it ended its run on its own terms and provided a ton of entertainment value for the past four years. I'm going to miss the show and actually have to thank FOX, of all networks, for sticking with the edge of your seat tangles that made the show so watchable.
Battlestar Galactica
Although this show had its final episode almost two months ago it deserves a few minutes of reflection. The newly imagined "BSG" ran for four seasons but took nearly five years to play out. It started as a mini series in 2003 and spawned two spinoff films, "Razor" and "Battlestar Galactica: The Plan," which hasn't aired yet.
From the start, this show took a hard look at society through the lens of science fiction. The writers looked at racism, terrorism, politics and war. Religion, family, humanity, friendships and love, all while following the remnants of humanity, a civilization in ruins, as they fled through space looking for a world where they could settle in peace, away from the robots they had created.
The cast for the show was impeccable; Hollywood actors such as Edward James Olmos and Mary McDonnell, UK based Jaime Bamber and James Callis, Canadian stalwarts such as Michael Hogan and Donnelly Rhodes and a host of other up and coming Vancouver based actors and actresses that you'd know on sight if not by name.
The writing and directing was solid through the entire series whether they were creating huge human vs Cylon space battles or stand alone episodes centered around crew boxing matches. This is one of the best series I've ever had the pleasure of watching and would recommend it to anyone, no matter if they are a science fiction fan or not. The show transcends the sci-fi label.
Season 4.5 will be released on DVD on July 28, 2009. The original mini series, "Razor," and the first three seasons and first half of season four are all available now. If you didn't watch "Battlestar Galactica" as it unfolded on the SciFi channel, you owe it to yourself to rent the DVDs and watch it now. It may be a long time before TV brings us another show as original and thought provoking as this one.
5-15-2009
The Path of Illumination Leads To...
Crap.
Maybe not complete crap but enough of it that I did not really enjoy Angels & Demons last night. If you have read the novel then I'm warning you now, you may find yourself disliking this film as much as I did. Right from the jump the film changed many key plot pieces from the novel and made no apologies about it.
Here there be spoilers (unless you read the book, then this becomes comedy)...
First off, they renamed half the main characters from the novel. The novel's camerlengo, Carlo Ventresca, is renamed Patrick McKenna (played by Ewan McGregor), Cardinal Saverio Mortati is now Cardinal Strauss (played by Armin Mueller-Stahl), and Swiss Guard Captain Rocher is now Commander Richter (Stellan Skarsgard).
Rocher, in the novel, was the second in command to Commander Olivetti. In the film, Olivetti (Pierfrancesco Favino) is not even Swiss Guard, he's an Inspector with the Rome police (I believe). Why? Why change these things, they don't gain you anything.
But don't worry, it gets worse. In the novel, Vittoria Vetra (Ayelete Zurer) is the adopted daughter of CERN scientist and priest, Leonardo Vetra, who discovers a very powerful substance called antimatter. Vetra is killed and the antimatter stolen. In the film, the character of Leonardo Vetra doesn't even exist and the scientist that is killed is Silvano Bentivoglio who is only an associate of Vittoria's. It steals nearly all of Vittoria's motivation for even going on the journey of the film.
And now I'm going to ruin the ending of the film for you, you've been warned: the film saves Cardinal Baggia who is then elected Pope once Ventresca/McKenna is found to be behind the terrorist events of the film. In the novel, Baggia dies and Mortati/Strauss is elected.
This film shits on the entire novel and wipes its ass with the back cover.
Even though the character names and plot changed for the film, I could find forgiveness for that if it weren't for the fact that the movie kind of sucked on it's own. I loved The Da Vinci Code, both the book and the film, but this outing doesn't hold up.
Maybe if I hadn't read the novel I would have liked this film better but I'll never know. Because right from the opening credits, when it became obvious that major plot points had changed, I sat in my seat asking myself what the fuck was going on. At no point during the two hours of the film was I able to sit back and enjoy the film for the ride it was trying to provide. I mostly just sat there in stunned silence, disbelieving what I was watching.
By the way, did I even mention that Tom Hanks is in this film? He is, as Robert Langdon again. Also, still directed by Ron Howard and based on the Dan Brown novel.
Oh, I almost forgot. Watch "Heroes" on NBC? See the end to season one when Peter goes nuclear in the sky above New York City after his brother carries him into the sky? The special effects for that scene looked incredibly similar to those showing the antimatter annihilate in this movie. Maybe someone has a lawsuit in there somewhere. I wonder if I need a lawsuit to get my $10 back or if the theater would just do it as an apology for wasting my time?
Whatever.
Fuck this movie. You get one wheel of cheese out of five and really, I'm only giving it that much because Ayelet Zurer is pretty damn hot.
5-8-2009
All Ahead Full!
At 7:00PM last night the new film, Star Trek opened to a packed house and I had a seat front and center. I skipped most, if not all, of the hype behind this film because, as the first Trek movie in seven years, I wanted to be surprised. As the opening got closer my excitement for this film was huge and I'll tell you now, I was not let down.
Having not read much of anything about the film, going in my only exposure was from the trailers and, believe me, they don't give anything away, there are a lot of surprises in this film.
While this is a reboot of he Trek franchise, it's faithful to a lot of history that has been set forth over the last forty years. For that, I thank the writers and director, J.J. Abrams.
For fans of the original series, the film is full of favorite characters, just new actors. James Kirk is back, played by Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto plays Spock. Karl Urban takes a spin as Leonard "Bones" McCoy, Zoe Saldan is Uhura, Simon Pegg plays Scotty, John Cho is Sulu and Anton Yelchin is Chekov.
Bruce Greenwood plays Captain Pike while Ben Cross is Sarek, Eric Bana is Nero, and last, but certainly not least, Leonard Nimoy appears as an older Spock in an excellent cameo.
And speaking of cameos, there are a ton of them. From Tyler Perry to Sandy Lopez to Paul McGillion, there were faces you will recognize around every corner. Even Jennifer Morrison, of "House" fame, shows up as Kirk's mother, Winona Kirk. Play spot the cameo with your friends.
Beware the spoilers...
Cameos are great, but let's get to the film itself. First, I'm going to point out a flaw with this film and since it's one of, if not the biggest, pet peeve of mine I'd be remiss for not mentioning it. Close-up, fast cut, in-the-dark action scenes. J. J., I love your stuff but did you really need to do this? It's a fatal flaw in many a film and one that I have severely berated directors for in previous reviews. It's unfortunate, but what's done is done.
Having said that, that is the only flaw in the film. Really. I loved this movie. It's awesome. Kick ass. Brilliant. Hilarious. Fast-paced. Did I mention kick ass?
The film grabs you by the balls from the jump and it doesn't let go until the final credits roll.
Chris Hemsworth plays George Kirk, father of James, in the opening sequence which sees the USS Kelvin faced with an anomaly in space. The anomaly spits out a huge ship full of Romulans who proceed to kick the shit out of the Kelvin. Kirk is left in charge as the ship's captain shuttles to the unidentified Romulan vessel. His last act is to see the evacuation of the Kelvin before sacrificing himself to see that the escape pods get away safely with the crew, which includes his pregnant wife. His legacy is summed up well by Pike, upon meeting James Kirk; "Your father was captain of a starship for twelve minutes. He saved 800 lives, including yours. I dare you to do better. Enlist in Starfleet."
Kirk enlists and we then find him near graduation, three years later, even getting treated to his infamous solution to the Kobayashi Maru training exercise. In true Kirk fashion, he cons his way aboard the newly minted USS Enterprise as Pike is about to embark on a rescue mission to Vulcan, where the unidentified Romulan ship is attacking. Our favorite crew is aboard for the trip and all the action that ensues.
As I sometimes do, I'm going to skip the rest of the plot because I want everyone to go see this film. Instead, let's talk about the acting, directing, cinematography and the stuff that goes into a film like this.
First up, the direction. Other than the action sequences, J.J. Abrams does an incredible job of bringing a great script to screen. The entire film is paced incredibly well, he doesn't fall into any traps covering a lot of back story in tedious ways. Instead he relies on the viewer to know a little about the characters while filling in the rest with short flashbacks and dialog between characters. Impressive job on a reboot like this.
The cinematography is incredible on this film. There's plenty to look at all through the movie whether it's Kirk and Sulu parachuting over Vulcan or flying into a moon around Saturn.
Industrial Light and Magic was up to their usual standards with the CGI work on the film. The space scenes were deep and beautiful and believable. Seeing the Enterprise being built in Iowa and then seeing her in orbit as Kirk arrives for the first time, excellent!
The sets made nice use of modern but just-futuristic-enough items to make things believable. Gone are perfectly clean, carpeted buildings and ships we know from shows like "Next Generation" and in their place are rooms full of pipes and steam and standing water, flickering lights and nooks and crannies that you would expect to find in a real working ship, even in the future. It has the lived in feel of Star Wars but the sensibility of Trek.
I've mentioned that the film is brilliant and that's due to the script which is incredible. All the action and plot and pacing that is in the film is well done but what takes it up a notch is the fact that the writers get it. They understand Trek and the mythos that surrounds it and they pay homage with the interaction between the characters. Thumbs up!
Finally, the actors. The job they did was fantastic. Pine puts in all the swagger and attitude that you would expect from a young James Kirk. Confident almost to the point of arrogance, he's a fighter and a ladies man and you forget for a minute that he's also practically a genius. Zachary Quinto, who is best known as Sylar on "Heroes," is incredible as Spock, right down to the raised eyebrow. I'll admit I was upset that he was going to be Spock in the film based on the fact that my blind hatred for the character Sylar has carried over and informed my opinion of Quinto the actor. Don't let that happen to you because he does a fantastic job as Spock. You can see the blend of pure, emotionless logic and deep feeling in his acting. It's subtle at times and in your face when it has to be.
John Cho as Sulu and Anton Yelchin as Chekov make a great duo sitting at the command consoles on the bridge. Bana plays the revenge driven Nero to the hilt, bringing to life all the emotion and turmoil expected from the Vulcan's less logical cousins, the Romulans.
But the standout is Karl Urban. He channels the late DeForest Kelley in his accent and delivery, even his hair style, and delivers lines such as "I'm a doctor, not a physicist," without a hint of smirk! Finally, Simon Pegg as Scotty. Best known for films like Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, Pegg was a wildcard as Scotty but his enthusiasm and quirky demeanor add a ton of humor to the film.
And there is a lot of humor in this film, none of it is forced. Whether it's a stress breaker (Scotty yelling "I'm givin' her all I've got!") in the middle of battle or a character introduction (McCoy meeting Kirk for the first time; "I may throw up on you."), you'll find yourself smiling for the full two hours.
As with the cameos I mentioned above, the Trek universe itself makes cameos throughout. Majel Barrett's voice echoes from a Starfleet computer, Chekov still can't pronounce his "V" and even Captain Archer's beagle gets a mention. It's all in there and the film doesn't miss a beat to include it.
Star Trek is back in a huge way with this film. When I mentioned up front about a flaw with some of the action sequences? I mentioned that first because it was really the only flaw as far as I'm concerned. Maybe as I think about the film or read other media I'll think of some other little things that could have been done better or there's something that mucks with future continuity, but right now, I don't care. I loved this film from front to back and can't recommend it highly enough. It's now the film to beat for the year, and while there are still some potentially awesome films to come, they're all going to have to be really special to knock off this film.
Normally I would dock a film for the action sequences, I've done it before, but there is so much awesome packed into this film that it would be a shame to not give this film top ratings. So I'm going to ignore those action sequence problems and give this film all five wheels of cheddar. Get to a theater and see this film!
5-1-2009
Berserker Rage!
Today is the opening day for X-Men Origins: Wolverine and, as is the new trend for summer blockbusters, there was a midnight showing which I attended last night.
I probably should have gotten some sleep instead. Say what you will about films based on comic books, they've become mainstream, and for good or bad I'm sure we're going to see a lot more in the future. When comics are turned into films such as Iron Man, The Dark Knight and Watchmen we should all rejoice! When they're made into X-Men: The Last Stand, Ang Lee's Hulk or, now, Wolverine, the cool kids have a right to snicker at us geeks.
Wolverine returns Hugh Jackman as the title character while introducing us to some other famous mutants including Liev Schreiber as Victor Creed, Ryan Reynolds as Wade Wilson, Taylor Kitsch as Gambit, Will.I.Am as John Wraith, and Tim Pocock as a young Scott Summers.
The cast, while not having all the nods of the X-Men films, still has a decent list of other mutants including Kevin Durand as The Blob, Dominic Monaghan as Bolt, David North as Agent Zero and (the super hot) Tahyna Tozzi as Emma Frost.
Beware the spoilers...
Back in 2001 Marvel comics, after years of putting it off, released a six issue comic called "Origins" that finally gave the world a full look at how Logan came to be the hero Wolverine. If you have ever read the "Origins" comic book and seen the X-Men films then you've already covered about half this film.
Wolverine starts with a young James Logan and Victor Creed in 1840s Canada and follows them up to the Vietnam war through a pretty cool time lapse series of the brothers in arms fighting together in the Civil War, WWI and WWII. It ends with them facing a firing squad before being rescued by a young William Stryker, played by Danny Huston.
Stryker puts together Team X which includes Logan and Creed along with Wilson, Wraith, Agent Zero, Blob and Bolt. Their missions eventually lead them to Africa where Stryker is after a metal that will eventually become adamantium. The tactics that Stryker uses, including indiscriminate killing, turns Logan off and he leaves, turning his back on the team and his life as a soldier.
The film jumps six years into the future where we find Logan living in Canada with his girlfriend, Kayla (Lynn Collins). He's working as a logger, keeping a low profile, when Stryker tracks him down to let him know that someone is killing his former team members. Logan wishes to ignore him but shortly finds no other choice but to return to his life as a soldier when he finds his girlfriend dead at the hands of Victor.
Logan, pissed that Victor killed his girl, tracks down Stryker and agrees to join his reconstituted Team X program with the understanding that he'll get to track down Victor and get his revenge. Of course Stryker double crosses Logan because, well, he's a dick. But also because he's been hunting other mutants and using their abilities to create a super mutant that will do his bidding and eradicate the mutant population. If you've seen X2 then you should know Stryker's motivation in all of this, which actually takes a lot of the drama and shock out of pretty much everything Stryker does.
Anyway, before Logan realizes that Stryker is still a dick, he gets his new adamantium skeleton. He then overhears Stryker talking about using Logan's mutant ability along with others to create Weapon XI. He takes off, escaping from Stryker's lab, and we get to the part of the film where a lot of shit blows up.
There are some plot twists...well, maybe more bendy than twisty, but you get the idea...Gambit gets introduced, Emma and Scott Summers show up, there's a big showdown on an infamous Pennsylvania island, there's a rockin' cameo that I hadn't heard about, and we find out why Wolverine doesn't have a memory of his past.
Meh. If you've seen the X-Men films, really, this movie is almost redundant. If you've seen the films and also read the "Origins" comic series, well, go for the explosions. Or, just skip it and wait for Star Trek next week, save yourself $10.
The best parts of the film were finally seeing Gambit, who I think was well cast, that opening series of clips showing Logan and Creed through time and watching Reynolds, as Wade Wilson, slice his way through a room of AK-47-toting thugs. Taylor Kitsch makes a good Remy LeBeau and I'd pay money to see a film based on him. I'd also pay to see Reynolds in full-blown Deadpool mode, but I think this film kind of ruined chances of that.
Worst parts of the film include the lack of drama and the feeling through most of the film that I'd already "been there, done that." The new parts of the story were filler to what we'd already seen in the earlier films and, as I said, if you've read the comics you're really just watching for the big explosions. There's not enough meat here to really bring it to the level of Iron Man, Spider-Man or the first X-Men film. And that's too bad, because I think the film could have been huge.
I was really psyched to see this film and I felt a little let down by it. Even though I compared it to Hulk, I didn't hate this movie, I just wasn't impressed by it, and there's really not a lot that helps to elevate the film. If you're a hard core Wolverine or X-Men fan then you ought to see the film, but don't expect a lot from it.
As the first summer movie of the season it plays its role well enough to earn 3 wheels of cheddar out of 5. Next week, Star Trek. I'm buying my ticket later today.