News Archive - July 2008
7-25-2008
Threequel
Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay did so well at the box office, a third film is now in the works. Nice.
Not only that, but on Tuesday you'll be able to pick up the DVD for Escape and enjoy the bottomless party over and over again!
Knight-mare
So far, since opening, The Dark Knight has made $222 million dollars. It's now holds records for opening night, opening weekend, non-holiday Monday and fastest to $200 million. Think it'll kick $300 million in the nuts over the weekend? I'm thinking, yes.
7-18-2008
I am the terror that flaps in the Knight...
Last night at midnight, theaters across the country (4,366 to be exact) opened at 12:01AM to premier the new Batman movie, The Dark Knight. While the film itself looked to expand on the hit Batman Begins, the added attraction was for one of the final screen appearances of Heath Ledger who passed away in January.
The local theater sold out three showings at midnight, which has to be a record for this town, and it was quite a sight seeing the crowds streaming out after the film was over.
The Dark Knight returns stars Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne and Batman, Michael Caine as Alfred, Gary Oldman as James Gordon and Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox. New to the franchise are Ledger as the Joker, Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent and Maggie Gyllenhaal taking over for Katie Holmes as Rachel Dawes.
Cillian Murphy has a cameo as the Scarecrow and several other actors, such as Eric Roberts, Anthony Michael Hall and Nestor Carbonell, pop up throughout the film.
Here there be spoilers...
It's been a year since the events of the previous film and a new D.A. is on the case, Harvey Dent. Gordon has been working to bring the mob down and Batman has been helping him do it. He's become the boogeyman to the criminals in Gotham and hero to the residents. The film kicks off on the eve of the mob finally falling as Gordon and Dent are holding a trial for the new mob boss, Roberts as Salvatore Maroni.
Enter the Joker. Unlike the mob, the Joker has no goal other than chaos. He has no master plan except to watch Gotham burn. He turns up on the mob's doorstep and offers his assistance in killing Batman for them, for a price. The mob turns him loose and the game is on.
His killing spree and terrorist actions put fear into the city, even turning it's citizens against one another with the Joker pulling the strings from behind the scenes. His boldest move, after being captured during a plan hatched by Dent, Gordon and Batman, is to take on the police from the inside and kidnap Dent and Rachel. He makes Gordon and Batman choose between them; which will they save, the golden boy Dent who's the face of good in the city or his girlfriend, the assistant helping him? Which will they let die?
The aftermath of the choices Batman and Gordon make creates a new villain and a new pawn that the Joker can use to further his psychotic destruction. Harvey Dent is left scared and broken and he becomes Two-Face.
Of course the events all lead up to a showdown between Batman and the Joker and his new proxy, Two-Face. When it's done, Batman's image in Gotham has changed, he's now the Dark Knight.
Here there be some awesome filmmaking....
Soon after Ledger died in January, insiders began talking Oscar for Heath's role as the Joker. Leading up to the release of the film, based on the trailers, I thought they might have something but I also was thinking that they were trying to push that agenda just because of his death. After seeing the film I can honestly say that Ledger not only should be nominated, I believe he should win.
Ledger was known for his rugged good looks as much as for some of the quirky characters he's played in films. He's barely recognizable under the makeup of the Joker. Quirky is replaced by insanity, and genius. Ledger transformed himself into the Joker, he became something that was only hinted at around the edges when Nicholson took the role in 1989's Batman. Ledger created a character that will forever be remembered in film history, one of the greatest villains we've seen.
But what about the rest of the cast? I thought that Bale really owned the role of Batman in the previous movie, he brought a level of believability to the character that was missing from some of the previous incarnations of the Caped Crusader. As Bruce Wayne I though he left a little room to improve over Michael Keaton whose first spin as Wayne may still be my favorite. With Knight, however, Bale really got into the character as both Wayne and Batman. Because this wasn't an origin story, the film built on the dual role and his relationships with friends and "co-workers." It made for a more filling movie.
Freeman, Caine and Oldman are real pros and you always know what to expect when you see them listed for a film. They don't disappoint in The Dark Knight, all three bring their best supporting game with Oldman, as Lt. Gordon, really stepping up. His role is greatly expanded over Begins as he's forced to deal with his larger role in the police department.
Eckhart turns in a pretty impressive performance as well. As Dent he's the "white knight" to Batman's darker version, but that role is spun into something darker as he accepts his transformation into Two-Face.
When Begins came out I was somewhat disappointed with Katie Holmes in the role of Rachel Dawes, and it had everything to do with her off-screen shenanigans with her now-husband, Tom Cruise. Gyllenhaal had no such baggage and because of that I liked her spin as Dawes better.
Christopher Nolan, who also directed Batman Begins, returns to the film and turns in his A game. It's always nice when a director returns to a franchise such as this as it gives a continuity to multiple films rather than have a new director try to put their own spin on things. X-Men 3 is an example of how a franchise can take a dive when you replace the director. Nolan also gets screenwriting credit with his brother Jonathan.
Visually the film is stunning. From dark rooftops in Gotham to dark rooftops in Hong Kong, the entire film feels murky and there's a sense that things aren't quite right just under the surface.
It's pretty standard for the Batsuit to change from film to film and this time is no different. It has a similar feel to the previous outfit but looks a little more hi-tech. One improvement over, I believe, all previous suits is the cowl. For the first time Batman is able to turn his head. His wonderful toys are similar to the the previous movie with Batarangs, flight-capable cape and rappelling gun. He also adds some new devices such as sonar and some cool wrist projectiles.
One thing that didn't change which has in the previous films is the Batmobile. The Tumbler is back for this film and while there may be some small changes and upgrades, it's the same basic car and has the same look. Will it be around for a third installment, though? That remains to be seen.
There are a lot of action sequences through the film but they're well paced and broken up with scenes that advance the plot. The film never really drags or lets you down, even though it clocks in at two and a half hours. Fight sequences, chase scenes, explosions, Batman flying through the city...all there, all beautiful and all just waiting for you to got and see.
The film is opening on a record number of screens this weekend with some theaters running it around the clock. I'm predicting that this film might make over $200 million domestically for opening weekend. Let's check back on Monday to see if I'm right.
The only flaw that I care to acknowledge about this film was some of the fight sequences. Can you guess? At night, wearing black, fast cuts and up close perspectives...it's always a downfall for a film. However, there were enough good parts to the film that I'm forgiving its faults. Roll out the platter cause all five wheels of cheddar are on it. Do yourself a favor and go see this film.
7-11-2008
Two new reviews posted today. One I should have done a couple of days ago but I was hiding out from the heat in my apartment as much as possible. First up, the most recent film I've seen, Hellboy II: The Golden Army. Saw this last night and wanted to get this out. The second review is for Hancock which I finally saw on Tuesday night.
I'll give you a partial break, however, if you don't feel the need to read either review; both films are worth seeing with Hellboy being the the more important of the two to see on the big screen, just because of the scope of some parts of it.
So let's get to it...
Hellboy II: The Golden Army
Hellboy II is the sequel to 2004's Hellboy and sees the return of Ron Perlman, Selma Blair and Jeffrey Tambor as Hellboy, Liz Sherman and Tom Manning respectively. Also back is Doug Jones as Abe Sapien (and a couple other characters) and John Hurt, as Professor Bruttenholm, in a cameo.
New for this outing is Johann Krauss who is played by two actors but voiced by Seth MacFarlane (Yes, THAT Seth MacFarlane). New baddies for the film include Luke Goss as Prince Nuada a CGI army and a lot of people in costume.
Here there be spoilers
The film starts off by giving us some back story on Prince Nuada, his sister Princess Nuala (Anna Walton), and a war between humans and the other creatures of the Earth including Elves, Trolls and others. The Golden Army was created by Nuada's father to destroy the humans but after seeing how ruthless they were, he agreed to a truce and deactivated the army.
Nuada swore that he would one day return, bring back the Golden Army, and resume the war and defeat humankind.
Sounds good and, for parts of it, it is. Nuada and his enforcer, Wink, kick some major ass at the start as they look to piece Nuada's father's crown back together. The crown is what gives the wearer power over the Golden Army. Their method for retrieving the crown draws the attention of the B.P.R.D. and kicks off the adventure.
Honestly, the next hour of the film is kind of a mess with a lot of fluff thrown in, a bunch of sentimental crap and a bunch of jokes, some of which fall flat. There is some good humor, as there was in the first, and most come from Hellboy's quips as he fights his way through various parts of this and the underworld.
The inevitable showdown between Nuada and Hellboy takes place in the underground storage facility for the Golden Army. It's basically a winner takes all match and I'll let you discover who wins. Eh, who am I kidding, Hellboy wins, setting up the potential third film.
Action...there was some good action in this film, mostly involving Nuada who, in the end, we didn't see enough of. Some of it was too fast and frantic to follow and took away from the stunts that were actually involved in a lot of the sequences. It's a trend...see my Hancock review.
Guillermo del Toro, who wrote and directed, is one of the few directors that's still willing to put a guy in a costume rather than call one of the geek brain trusts to work their magic...it works for him and makes his films feel more real. Goody. Unfortunately he must have called the same guys that did Pan's Labyrinth because some of the creature designs looked really familiar.
The film is definitely bright and shiny and Hellboy has some big guns to shoot stuff with. Abe has kind of an expanded role but someone, please, explain to me the disappearing breathing apparatus? I'm not a Hellboy comic reader so I don't know how Krauss fits into the universe but he was an interesting addition. However, his genius came at the expense of Tambor's Tom Manning, leaving Manning as a suck-up with nothing much to do in the last third of the film. The movie was also lacking Rupert Evans as Agent John Myers which was unfortunate. He made a good foil for Hellboy in the first installment.
I was really pleased with John Hurt's cameo as Father which came at the start of the film as he read the story of the Golden Army to a pre-teen Hellboy. That sequence is my favorite of the film, with the showdown between Nuada and his father running a close second.
Hellboy II: The Golden Army clocks in at about two hours which, in my opinion, was about a half hour too long. It needed more Nuada and less drunken sing along with Barry Manilow. The visuals for a lot of parts were quite interesting. The animation of the opening tale of the Golden Army was both simple and stunning at the same time. I wanted to know more about Nuada and Nuala and wish more time was spent on them and the world they come from. Instead we got a lot of the B.P.R.D. library.
There's just enough in the film to make you want to see it on the big screen rather than wait for the DVD release. But, try to pay matinee prices for it. Maybe the film will get better on a second viewing. We'll see in a couple of months. Out of the two films I saw this week, Hancock was the better of the two. And, unfortunately, I don't think either is going to match up to Batman next week. I'll give Hellboy II: The Golden Army 2.5 wheels of cheddar out of 5.
Hancock
Although this film opened last week, before the 4th of July holiday, I didn't catch it till this week due to the crowded theater last week and then the long weekend. Tuesday night, though, I really wanted an excuse not to sit home in my oven of an apartment so I got out to the theater.
Hancock stars Will Smith as a super powered human living in Los Angeles. He's a drunk, kind of a fuckup and generally hated by both law abiding citizens and the criminals he sometimes finds himself arresting. Jason Bateman costars as Ray Embrey and Charlize Theron as his wife, Mary.
Here there be spoilers
Hancock and Ray meet when Hancock saves Ray's life by flipping his car out of the way of an oncoming train. Unfortunately, as usually happens to Hancock, his good intentions get fouled up when he stops the train, derailing it and costing millions of dollars in damage. That, it turns out, is the standard when Hancock intervenes.
The press, the public and the local government are all calling for Hancock to pay up for this damage he's caused the city and Ray, who has not been having a good time selling his new PR idea, decides he can help. He gets Hancock to turn himself in, serve time in jail and work on improving his reputation believing that if crime goes up, the city will eventually call for Hancock to help.
Turns out, Ray's a pretty smart guy and things go as planed, to a certain point.
Now, I've read some reviews of the film and there's a consensus among reviewers that this is where the film falls apart. I'm not part of the consensus.
The first hour or so has funny moments, decent action and goes quite a ways to show the motivation, or lack, of Hancock. The last half hour is where the plot twists and we find that Hancock is not the only super human on the planet, turns out Ray's wife is pretty super herself. She's actually the second half of the last pair of super humans on the planet and Hancock is, in fact, her husband for the last few thousand years.
We also find out that when they are together, they actually lose their powers. The finale of the film pits Hancock against some villains from earlier in the film and resolves the issues with Mary.
Although it's not based on a comic book, it is a comic book type movie and due to that, I didn't really have a problem with those twists at the end. This film isn't supposed to be Shakespeare, it's supposed to be a summer super hero movie and it is.
My issues with the film are the same ones that I've had with others. It's no secret that I'm not a fan of the action films that like to use the quick cuts and close perspectives during action sequences. This film falls prey to that as did The Incredible Huk earlier this summer. It's an ongoing pet peeve of mine and I always deduct some points for it.
The CGI in the film, for the most part, was well done. There were some unique takes on flight and the take off and landings of Hancock. Let's just say, nothing is really neat or clean about the way Hancock operates. The CGI was overused, though, during the opening chase scene and one of the battles later in the film between Hancock and Mary.
The acting in the film is good...I'd expect nothing less from Smith and Theron but the surprise was Bateman. He's had some good roles lately in Juno and the cameos in Smokin' Aces so it wasn't a shock, just a really nice surprise. I'm looking forward to more Bateman in future films.
The story was decent, even with the twists, and the direction was good. Smith, though, is the reason you go to these films on the July 4th weekend and he definitely has another hit on his hands. It's not going to measure up to Iron Man and there's a good chance that after Hellboy II and Batman next week, not many people will remember this summer film but I will and I'll be there on DVD release day.
If you can't get into Hellboy or Batman, this is a good alternative. If you miss it, don't worry, the DVD should be good enough. If you're just looking for a good summer action film and a place to beat the heat for the afternoon, this is a good film to spend time with. I'll give this a solid three wheels of cheddar out of five.
7-4-2008
Happy Fourth of July!
