Movie Review - Star Wars, Episode VII The Force Awakens

Update 12/28/16 -  For another take on this move, see here.

We saw The Force Awakens Tuesday night, guests of my step son Doug.  So thanks to him for the treat, and to my lovely wife for reminding me to take my ear plugs so I could survive the mayhem of the previews of coming destructions with my hearing still more or less intact. 

I’ve never been a fan of the Star Wars series, and went in fully prepared to hate this installment, but was relieved when that didn’t happen.  I assume everyone who cares has seen the movie, perhaps multiple times by now, so I shouldn’t be too concerned with spoilers.  But if I’m wrong, and that would bother you, then don't read beyond the fold.

To me, Star Wars has always been a series of mediocre check-your-brain-at-the door action-adventure stories filled with tropes that were banal centuries ago, wrapped up in mediocre plotting and truly dismal science fiction. This is the sort of stuff that writing school would tell you to avoid like the plague.  That it has become a multi-billion dollar franchise spanning decades and generations of die hard fans tells you exactly why you don’t ever want me in your focus group.

That said, I enjoyed the movie quite a bit - rather more than I actually liked it; and no, I’m not quite sure what that means.  The story has a lot of little treats packed in it for fans - cameo appearances by the ever annoying C3PO and a comatose R2D2, a trash compacter reference, and I’m sure lots of other echoes of earlier entries and tidbits that flew past me.

I walked out of it feeling that I had just rewatched Guardians of the Galaxy.  [I’ll leave the compare and contrast exercise to the interested reader.  Hint 1- there is no Groot analog that I am aware of.  Hint 2 - the Andy Serkis character.]  The plot was a herd of rabbits drawn from hats, and it seems that Abrams, et al, have a firm grasp of Dan Brown’s first law of success via bad story telling - keep the action moving at lightning speed and the audience won’t have a chance to fall through the plot holes.

Nits first, big complaints later -

• Storm troopers still cannot hit any target - moving or stationary, despite their intense training from early childhood
• Their armor still provides absolutely no protection beyond anonymity
• Sound and flames still carry and burn in the vacuum of outer space - still and always unforgivable
   

Regarding Tauriel

I suppose if you're going to invent a gratuitously plot-extending character out of whole cloth, you could do worse than a beautiful and totally kick-ass warrior elf-maid. Such characters are not unknown in the cannon.

And given the precedence of fluidly poetic elf names like Eärendil the Mariner, Elrond Halfelven and Luthien Tinuviel, couldn't Tauriel have been given a more elaborately Elvish appellation; maybe something along the lines of Elvangien Lilliel?

Granted, that might seem a bit over-blown for a common wood elf.

But since the whole thing was overblown, it at least has the virtue of thematic consistency.

Smaug Alert

"The Desolation of Smaug" runs 2 1/2 hours.

Three hours of that involved an intricate game of hide and seek deep under the mountain. [Smaug is THE most bad-ass dragon EVAH!]

Ten or so minutes consumed melting [or perhaps smelting] gold.

Another hour and a half involved hand to hand elv-orc and dwarve-orc combat in a variety of locations, and the mandatory beheading of orcs - which, I will grant you - is always a cool thing.

Exploring Dol Guldor - less than an hour, I think.

The really, really deep look into the depths of Sauron only took a few seconds.

The Athelas quest, only a few minutes, but the pig was annoyed.

You totally lose track of time in a spider cocoon, so I won't even guess.

Wholly made up adventures of 1) Bard, and 2) the absolutely totally platonic relationship between the unfortunate Kili and the lovely she-elf whose name I can't remember - Maybe a half hour.

Dwarve jail break was a barrel of fun that took less than 1/2 hour.

White water adventures - 10 minutes.

Hanging cliffs - 17 minutes, 27 seconds.
Gandolf - check.
Smaug - check.
Arkenstone - check
Kili - check
Bard - check
Legolas* - check

Did I miss any?


All of that said, though it was a bit overblown, I really did enjoy it.


_______________
* Yeah Legolas - deal with it.

The Hunt for Gollum

The first part of this is rather slow moving, but overall it's really well done. It's a little over a half hour of movie, followed by several minutes of credits.  Every once in a while, the guy playing Aragorn almost looks like Viggo. The music is original but is totally compatible with with Howard Shore's LoTR sound track.  

Going to see the Hobbit movie tomorrow with several grandchildren.  Should be a great time.




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What the Hell ?!? Friday - Yet Another Movie Review

CRAZY, STUPID LOVE

I suppose CRAZY, STUPID LOVE is a chick flick.  Isn't anything with LOVE in the title a chick flick?  But I'm a guy, and I really like this movie a lot.  When I tell you that it's the best romantic comedy I've ever seen, that's actually pretty low praise, since it's a genre I generally avoid.  Frex, though Jennifer Aniston is cute and adorable, If she's in a movie, I know to just flip the channel.

Not so with Rene Zellweger and Julianne Moore.  Rene made BRIGIT JONES'S DIARY memorable, though the real delight for me was in seeing Colin Firth kick Hugh Grant's scrawny British ass.  Grant's mere presence is enough to spoil an entire evening for me.  However, anything with Julianne Moore in it is worth a look; but even she couldn't save the terminally awful NINE MONTHS.  That time waster also starred Hugh Grant, who I generally refer to as "that annoying British guy," and IIRC, there was no ass-kicking to bring even a slight positive to this dismal experience.  But I digress.

CRAZY,STUPID LOVE - not a yuck-it-up comedy by any means - is a somewhat convoluted story, and, as such, relies rather transparently on coincidence.  But that's OK.  Coincidence is a terrible way to wrap things up, but it's a perfectly fine way to get things going. And - taken individually - none of the coincidences is much of a stretch.

Julianne Moore plays Emily Watson, who drops a bomb shell on her unsuspecting husband Cal (Steve Carell) when she tells him she wants a divorce.  Even worse, she had sex with David Lindhagen (Kevin Bacon.)  I'll put Julianne Moore up against anyone - even Diane Lane - in a realistic portrayal of the wife who strays.  She proved that long ago in SHORT CUTS.  And who better than the FOURTY YEAR OLD VIRGIN guy to play a wronged and utterly baffled husband.  In short, the casting is perfect.  And it doesn't stop there.  Ryan Gosling as Jacob and Emma Stone as Cal and Emily's 25-year-old daughter Hannah are also perfect.  As are Jonah Bobo as the 13-year-old middle child, Robbie, and Analeigh Tipton as Jessica Riley, the confused 17-year-old girl who is the object of Robbie's forlorn affection.

They all display terrific acting chops.  But what underlines the brilliance of the casting is that Stone and Bobo actually look like they could be Moore's kids.

The story is tangled, but completely (well - almost) believable.  According to IMDB reviews it avoids falling into genre cliches. Even the ending is hopeful, rather than happily-ever-after.  In fact, though this movie relies on situations to get the story moving and interject some poignant and/or amusing plot points, it's really about the characters.  A strong story always is.  You feel Cal's pain.  And Emily's.  And Hannah's. And Robbie's and Jessica's.  And even Jacob's - the cool guy who at first look seems to be feeling no pain whatsoever.

The acting is superlative from everyone in the cast.  This makes the characters real, and draws you in so that you actually care about and root for them - even Jacob, an utterly amoral womanizer.  The story telling also draws you in, and as you get to know the characters, they become real.  Each of them has a back story that you would like to know more about.

The mood shifts from pain and jealousy to light-hearted flirtation to poignace to anger and disappointment.  But it all is done with precise timing and a careful sensitivity to what the characters are experiencing - or, at some times - enduring.  A long, quasi-intimate scene with Jacob and Hannah illustrates this wonderfully, and might have the best single moment in the whole story.

Bacon's part is little more than a cameo, but he executes it to perfection.  Ditto Marisa Tomei, who plays a desperate, difficult, double-edged, not quite over-the-top roll that I won't give away.  These two have the presence to capture the scenes that they are in.  But the one who runs away with the show is Jonah Bobo as love-lorn Robbie.

These characters are all fully-formed, three dimensional people.  They make mistakes, get back up and keep going, and cause each other pain without ever meaning to.  It's a lot like life.  But the struggle is worth it if you know what you care about and never give up.  Most especially if it involves your soul mate.

So, I'd say this movie is worth a look; even if, like me, you're a grizzled old guy who doesn't usually enjoy romantic comedies.


Previous Reviews

Cowboys and Aliens
Hanna
Julie and Julia

What the Hell?!? Friday - Another Movie Review

COWBOYS AND ALIENS

If you think the title tells it all, you're pretty darn close.  Obviously, the intent is to blend the genres.  I'll give it an A for effort, cinematography and acting.   Story line?  Uhhhhhh  .  .  .

My view of this movie is undoubtedly informed [or perhaps deformed] by seeing it so close to HANNA, which I reviewed last week.  Indeed, there are some similarities: genre bending, wanton slaughter, a strong heroine, and cosmic-sized plot holes.

Director Jon Favreau crossed HIGH NOON with WAR OF THE WORLDS [you might identify better choices] and got a Chimera.  The tropes are there in multitudes: the strong, quite stranger [Jake Lonergan (Daniel Craig)] as protagonist, meek townsfolk, the arrogant quasi rich guy [Col. Woodrow Dolarhyde (Harrison Ford)] who thinks he runs the town, and the kinda, sorta love interest [Ella Swenson (Olivia Wilde)] who turns out to be something quite different, and, of course, murderous invaders from outer space.

What the Hell?!? Friday - Movie Review Edition

What the hell - why not?

HANNA

This movie is apparently intended to be a genre-bender, with elements of sci-fi, action-adventure, quest, coming of age, revenge, and whatever the Bourne series (which I have never seen) represents.  It also includes some fairy tail tropes - the wicked witch/step mother, orphanhood, being lost in the wilderness - all twisted into a new, and perhaps refreshing shape.

HANNA is a deeply flawed experiment with a lot of good to go with the bad.  You can read about the movie's defects - which are legion - in the many reviews at IMDB.   It's deeply polarizing: people seem to either love or hate it.  I did neither, and find myself largely agreeing with critics in both camps. 

Quote of the Day: "Brainwashing In The Most Obvious Form"

Thus sayeth the lovely Andrea Tantaros, with the typical conservatard tone deafness to (or hyperactive sense of - it's really quite hard to tell) irony.





OK, I guess that explains why flaming liberals like Eric Rauchway and - well - I are big Muppets fans

SoBe puts it in perspective and provides thoughtful analysis.

 Before watching this trailer for the obvious brain washing movie, you probably should ask impressionable children - and childish adults - to leave the room.

Movie Blogging - Julie and Julia

Yesterday, my lovely wife and I saw this movie. She read the book a couple of years ago, before it was quite so popular, and I am reading it now. This movie evidently falls into the category of "chick-flick*" so I'm a bit conflicted about admitting how much I liked it, which was rather a lot. I'm also enjoying the book, but that is, so to speak, another story.