Movie of the Week: Man of Steel

    Movie of the Week (4/27/14-5/3/14): Many of you might remember this highly anticipated film from last year, several of my friends liked it a lot... but I didn't. And let me try and tell you all why Man of Steel was the most disappointing film of 2013. Like everybody else, I went into this movie expecting to be swept off of my feet with the best Superman movie ever made. I had such high hopes for this movie that I can't even explain it. I had probably the highest expectations for a movie in years. And  I expected to give this movie very high praise and a 4 Star review, but in the end I was a little let down by Zack Snyder, again. Now, I don't mean that this was a total bust because it wasn't, I still some aspects of the movie, but not near as much as I thought I would, and there were several things that let me down.
    We all pretty much know the story of Superman and his origin, and that is what this film was about, just a re-imagining of it, so I'm not going to go into details on the plot. First, I'm going to tell you what hurt the movie. So, first was the pacing, the movie is told in flashbacks several times, but you're never confused because you can tell which scenes were flashbacks. What hurt the film with the flashbacks was that many of them didn't seem to fit in place during the film when we go back in time, they hurt the pacing. A couple times in the first 45 minutes to an hour I found myself a little bored, hoping it would start to pick up. The flashbacks hurt the film the most and a I think it would have been better if it was told chronologically with maybe a couple flashbacks.
    The next things are how we find out something and how they used Lois Lane, played by Amy Adams. Again, this is an origin story and those can be hard to tell, but some thing's we find out in the first half of the movie didn't seem to make much sense. I found myself asking "how did he get there to find that particular object?" The film was jumpy at times when it came to those aspects. Next, is Lois Lane, I didn't think she was used very well because she just shows up in a helicopter at a location, that I'm not going to tell you, and meets Clark there and then something bad happens. After that she goes on a search to find out more about this man she met, which is just a couple minutes of short cut scenes, not much explanation. Oh, and apparently Lois Lane can walk on the ledge of an icy cliff with no climbing gear or ropes. And Amy Adams overall didn't seem like a very good Lois Lane, and I like Amy Adams, but I never felt she embraced the role as good as she could have.
    However, that being said there were still things that I did enjoy about the film. The first was the acting of Kevin Costner, Diane Lane, Russell Crowe, and Michael Shannon. All of these actors really did a fantastic job, they probably saved the film from being terrible. Kevin Costner and Diane Lane both give us heartwarming performances as Jonathan Kent and Martha Kent respectively, one scene in particular that I did like involved Jonathan saving people from an oncoming tornado, which was very good. Russell Crowe gives us another very good performance as Superman's father, Jor-El, we see him several times throughout the film alive and after the fact. Now he's no Marlon Brando, but I really did enjoy his take as Jor-El. Finally we have Michael Shannon as General Zod, who really stole the screen, I thought he was the best in the film and the best actor the play Zod. A great and frightening performance from Michael Shannon.
    The other thing that helped this film out were the Visual Effects and the fight scenes, which all take place in the last 45 minutes or so, except the opening scene. This is a beautiful film when it comes to the Visual Effects, of course that is what Zack Snyder is known for in his other movies, 300 and Watchmen, although the latter was not a good movie. The first scene takes place on Krypton, which is a new take on it and it is Visually brilliant. Once Zod attacks Earth the effects really come into play and take over the movie, but I believe for the good. Obviously the effects help with the fight scenes, which are also fun and exciting at times, maybe a little much in some parts because one keeps going and going, just tearing up building after building with a lot of camera movement. But overall, good effects and fight scenes.
    In the end this was not quite the Superman movie we wanted to see and I believe with better editing it might have been better, the pacing was the big thing that hurt the film and the character development with Amy Adam's Lois Lane, and Superman. I really wanted this film to join the 4 Star ranks of superhero movies such as the 1978 movie Superman: The Movie, Spiderman 2, The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises, if you consider Batman a "Superhero", The Avengers, and the latest superhero movie Captain America: The Winter Soldier, but it failed to do that. I know it was a new origin story and those are hard to tell sometimes, but this really could have been a lot better with a better script, and director. With Snyder coming back for Batman vs. Superman and the newly announced Justice League movie, I'm afraid we will have the same problem with those.
    When I first posted a review of this film last year I gave it three stars, but once I watched it again I realized how much I disliked it. With it's bad writing and storytelling over shadowing everything else, like the great acting from much of the cast, good visuals, and fight scenes this film is a complete letdown. Plus, Zack Snyder's style of directing is just not good for this kind of movie, his one good movie, 300, made him a star and unless he blows me away with his next film, he will continue to disappoint. I almost hate to to say this, but Superman Returns is a much better film than this one. And let's face it, I missed the original Superman theme by John Williams, although Hans Zimmer's was good, just not as good and we needed that uplifting score several times in this movie.                 
2/4 Stars.  

Movie of the Week: The Passion of the Christ

    Movie of the Week (4/20/14-4/26/14): I usually don't make a movie a Movie of the Week twice, but I think I might start a tradition with this movie on Easter. So, today is Easter and we all know the meaning of this holiday because it has been told to us throughout our lives, have seen it on film, an of course have read it in The Bible. There are many films that have been about or have been centered around this moment in history. But, the one that describes and shows it in the most graphic of detail is The Passion of the Christ from writer and director Mel Gibson. However, this film is not a biography like many other films about Jesus are, it is about the last twelve hours of his life, but it is not told in chronological order.
    From the opening scene we are really hooked into this powerful drama as Jesus is tempted by Satan in a scene titled "Agony in the Garden." In this opening sequence, which spans the first fifteen minutes, Jesus prays, is tempted, betrayed, and then arrested. With this much drama going on in the opening minutes it is really hard not to turn away. From the opening scene on we are taken on a graphic journey of the last hours of Jesus' life including the disturbing, and infamous, Crucifixion scenes.
    The telling of this well known story is done by virtually unknown actors. The only known actors are Jim Caviezel as Jesus and Monica Bellucci who plays Magdalen. The rest of the cast is unknown to most people, but that does not mean that the acting is not good. Caviezel gives a wonderful performance as he was forced to show so much emotion in his role, during the torture scenes, and does it very well. Monica Bellucci also gives us a fine performance as she also expresses an unbelievable amount of sadness. Just because I only mention these two actors does not mean that the rest of the cast did not do a great job because they did. This is a movie full of great performances from many small roles that makes the movie that much more powerful to watch.
    Although this story is well known it did have to be written into a screenplay. Mel Gibson and Benedict Fitzgerald wrote a great screenplay that converses well with all the Gospels. They mix up a few things from each of the Gospels and put it into one movie and it really mixes well together, although some historians criticized it for being inaccurate. Gibson himself also directed this picture and another great job he did.  
    Gibson depicts the crucifixion of Jesus in a very graphic manner, so graphic in fact that many viewers cannot watch the film, although it does have a re-cut version out, but it is still rated R. But he chose to depict it this way to show as much detail as he possibly could, to show the real amount of pain that Jesus went through. Back in that time there were a few different ways of crucifixion and Jesus got the worse kind and it was very common then too. However it does show the nails going through his hands, when they actually went through his wrists. Along with making the film very bloody and graphic, Gibson also chose to shoot the film in Latin and Aramaic dialects with English subtitles, which gives the film more realism I believe. So, you have to read a lot during the movie.
    The score of the film, by John Debney, is also very powerful in many ways and is used very well throughout the film whether it be times when it does need music or times when it does not. It is used wonderfully at the end I might add. Simply put, this film is a great film, although it is number one on the list of the most controversial movies of all time. We see the crucifixion of Jesus in graphic detail with flashbacks of scenes like when Jesus was a young boy, the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus teaching the Twelve Apostles, and the Last Supper. All of which are mixed in well and fit the timing when we see them. This is a very well done, beautifully shot, scored, written, directed, and emotional film with a very powerful ending that well not be forgotten anytime soon.
3.5/4 Stars

Movie of the Week: Phone Booth

   

    Movie of the Week (4/13/14-4/19/14): I missed last week in doing a movie of the week, but I had a few things going on at the beginning of the week and then I just forgot. But, we are back this week with a movie that, I'm willing to bet, most of you have not heard of. I say that because this film is not talked about a lot when Colin Farrell's career is brought up. I don't know why that is because to me it is one of his best acting credentials. Although there is not a ton of plot to the film and it all takes place in pretty much one spot, it will keep you entertained for the short one hour and twenty minute run-time. This is, Phone Booth.
    As I said there is not a lot of plot to this movie but it is fun. We focus on a New York publicist, who likes to talk and lie, a lot, when one day he goes on his regular routine to a phone booth to call his mistress. Once he hangs up the phone rings, he answers it, then his life changes. He is told that if he hangs up he will be shot, he doesn't believe him, then he hears the sound of a bolt-action rifle. He is then put to the test of telling the truth, but he has some obstacles to face, like desperate people needing to use the phone. Attention of the situation soon escalates when the police arrive, as does his wife and mistress.Will he tell the truth about his life or will he avoid it and die saving his own skin?
    What I liked about this movie was the acting from Colin Farrell, who plays Stu Shepard, as I said this is one of his best acting performances considering all he is doing is talking on a phone. But, I was truly convinced that he was scared for his life many times and I really enjoyed his performance. Also, even though you only see him once, Kiefer Sutherland's voice acting was very good, he's the guy on the phone, the relaxation in his voice tells us that he enjoyed the role as a villain that you don't ever see. But, his voice is the villain in this movie and it sometimes gives you chills by how he says things. Forest Whitaker was also very good as a Captain who really has no idea what is going on, like everybody else, and is trying to figure out why this is happening.
    Another thing I enjoyed about this movie is that the villain always has the upper hand, throughout the whole movie he is holding the strings and can decide which ones he wants to cut. Larry Cohen wrote a very good script with some great dialogue that always has a twist on it that gives the villain the upper hand and keeps you guessing on how they will get out of this situation. There is also some fancy editing several times and good cinematography that gives it a very realistic feel to it. Joel Schumacher impressed me too with his good direction that also gives the film an upper hand that it might not have had, but then again I guess anything is a step up from Batman and Robin. Again, there is not much plot here, but we have great dialogue going on from a good script, Colin Farrell at his finest, a haunting voice performance from Kiefer Sutherland, and surprisingly good direction from Joel Schumacher. This is a thriller that will keep you glued to the TV.
3/4 Stars.