Quick Review: How to Train Your Dragon 2 (dir. by Dean Dublois)

Posted on June 17, 2014 by Leonard Wilson

Ah, Berk. That fictional far away land where Dragons once plagued humans, until a young boy made friends with a Night Fury and changed everything.

How I’ve missed this place.

Fox & Dreamworks’ How to Train Your Dragon 2 brings us back to its dragon riding fun, taking place 5 years after the events of the first film. While the story doesn’t have the same level of depth as say, Kung Fu Panda 2, it still manages to be an enjoyable thrill ride when the dragons are taking flight.

Since this is an animated feature, let’s do visuals first. The animation is roughly the same as the original, with a bit of aging here and there for the main characters, but both the colors and the depth of field are a major standout. Cinematographer Roger Deakins (Skyfall) was brought back on board as a consultant for the lighting, focus and color tones and it definitely shows. If at all possible, this film should be seen in its 3D format. The flight sequences are a joy to behold and when they’re not flying, you shouldn’t find yourself squinting and pinching your nose too much. Chris Sanders wasn’t on hand this time for the writing and directing, although you can still see his designs all over the film.

Additionally, there were a number of technical changes that improved the process. Just as Pixar did with Renderman, Dreamworks ended up creating their own software, Apollo. Apollo uses two tools – Premo, which allowed the animators better control of characters through the use of Wacom tablets. Even more magical is Torch, a lighting system developed with Deakins’ assistance that allowed for more natural setups in animation. One of the best uses of this is when Hiccup is surrounded in a dark room and needs to use his sword to illuminate the area. It’ll be interesting to see how it’s used in other Dreamworks projects.

All of the familiar characters are back – Jay Baruchel’s Hiccup is a little older, and much wiser than in the original, with he and Toothless mapping the lands around Berk during their flights. Hiccup’s flair for gadgetry hasn’t left him, as in this film, the character is introduced almost as a medieval Batman. Between he, his father Stoic (Gerald Butler) and his girlfriend / Dragon Racing Champion Astrid (America Ferrera), they get the bulk of the screen time. His friends, played by Jonah Hill, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, and Kristen Wiig, felt more like cameos than anything else here. Then again, they really didn’t have that great a part in the first film. Toothless, the Unholy Offspring of fire and darkness itself, is still as cuddly and emotive as ever, despite not being able to actually speak. Through the film, both Toothless and Hiccup find themselves growing up in different ways and their relationship is at the heart of everything here. Hiccup and Stoic still have family issues, this time centering around Hiccup preparation for becoming Chief of the town after Stoic steps down.

When Astrid and Hiccup discover dragon hunters (Lead by Game of Thrones’ Kit Harrington, whose character here still knows nothing), they find a new evil on the horizon in the form of Drago (Guardians of the Galaxy and Blood Diamond’s Djimon Hounsou), who is building a dragon army to do some harm.

Where the movie may stumble is in its last act. It felt abbreviated to me, but as this is meant for children, I suppose it’s not meant to be that long of a film. Clocking in at 102 minutes, it moves fast. For a kid’s film, Dragon 2 rises to some interesting heights that even adults would appreciate. The film doesn’t assume you need to be retold everything you may have missed in the first film, though it does reference some elements of it. The themes of the story are coexistence (between humans & dragons), leadership, friendship and family, and they’re done well.

Quick Review: Chef (Dir. by Jon Favreau)

Posted on May 9, 2014 by Leonard Wilson

One of the cool things about WordPress is that you can write on the go. 80% of this review was written from a cell phone sitting in a packed subway train.

I recently caught Jon Favreau’s new film Chef at the Tribeca Film Festival, where it won the Heineken Best Narrative Category. The story of a Chef who falls big time and then turns a corner, the movie has some fun performances, a great soundtrack and loads of food. When the lights finally came up after the sold-out showing, the film received tons of applause. It’s a cute and compact film, so much so that most of the movie is wrapped up in the trailer. I went into the movie completely blind and loved it. As the hype machine grows, I don’t know if it’ll have the same impact, but I hope it does. Even though you know what to expect, it’s still worth the ride.

After Favreau’s fall with Cowboys & Aliens, Chef is a major scale down from the big budget flicks he’s done. This isn’t Iron Man with all of the J.A.R.V.I.S. hologram interfaces. It’s Ratatouille, minus the rats. You have food, friends, and twitter posts that take flight, spreading some word of mouth. Social Media plays a big part of Chef, and while it can date the film years from now (will Twitter and Vine even be around then?), it makes sense for the moment.

So, what’s the story? Chef Carl Caspar loves what he does, being the head Chef at a major restaurant and expressing his creativity through his different culinary dishes. With his cooking buddies at his side (John Leguizamo & Bobby Canivale) he’s the talk of the town, though it’s at the expense of his relationships, particularly the one with his young son. After a social media meltdown involving a Food Critic (played by Oliver Platt), Casper is forced to come up with a Plan B for his love of cooking. The free time gives Casper a chance to bond more with his son. As the commercials & trailers give away, the result includes a food truck.

That’s what you get, plain and simple.

The story feels a lot like Ratatouille in the way it touches on criticism at one point. The film suggests (or at least I felt I gave the suggestion) that a critic, sitting on the outside, can’t always grasp the effort that goes into creating something. Words can come across as harsh, dismissive and in some case abusive. I’m not sure I agree with that point, but that part of the storyline doesn’t hurt the film overall.

For Chef’s cast, Favreau reached out to quite a few people. From his work on the Iron Man movies, both Scarlett Johannson and Robert Downey, Jr. have small roles here. Also on tap are Dustin Hoffman and Sofia Vergara, who both put through some smile worthy performances. The film, however, belongs to Favreau, Leguizamo, and Emjay Anthony, who plays Casper son, Percy. Anthony in particular is the scene stealer of the movie, with his character introducing his father to the ins and outs of social media while learning a few things in the process.

As it’s a smaller film, there isn’t a lot in the way of visual effects, save for elements where Social Media is in play. Tweets are displayed in windows near characters and transform into blue birds that fly as it’s sent. It’s a cute representation of what many of us do at least once or twice a day. The same can be said for the camera work. It’s very simple, nothing too extravagant. I would almost say it’s an indie film, but considering the other films I saw at Tribeca, this felt like there was a bigger budget behind it.

If Chef suffers from any problems, it’s almost too cookie cutter clean. It’s not very damaging, but if your mindset is more cynical or critical, you may find the Casper route from his Plan A to Plan B a little out there, perhaps too easy. It does show how important networking is, that much I’ll say.

One of Chef’s major standouts is the soundtrack, a mixture of Latin Music, New Orleans big brass, and what I can only describe as “Jazzy Hip Hop”. A band called El Michaels Affair has a version of the Wu-Tang Clan’s C.R.E.A.M. that’s a smooth mix of a classic. The soundtrack is already available for purchase and the songs are all on Spotify. If you can, it’s definitely worth giving them a listen.

Chef is currently playing in select theatre’s in NYC and L.A.

Movie Review: The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (dir. by Marc Webb)

Posted on May 3, 2014 by Leonard Wilson

One would think The Amazing Spider-Man 2 would be a hit right out of the ballpark. You have a follow up to the highly successful film & one of Marvel’s flagship characters and tons of back story the movie can work with. It’s filmed right in New York – I saw part of the setup at Times Square myself. Perhaps I caught the film at a bad time, or my mindset wasn’t proper, but I had a tough time feeling anything for the film. Perhaps because this is a sequel to a film that rebooted another movie that was only a decade old. Maybe the time has come for Disney/Marvel to knock on Sony’s door and tell them they want their baby back. My only regret is that I didn’t get this review out soon enough to save people from spending money on this. I should have done more.

With Great Power really does come Great Responsibility.

The film picks up some time after the end of the first film and does manage to handle a few story related elements well. Writers Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci (Transformers, Star Trek), along with two other writers created a script that connected to the first film. The audience is given some closure when it comes to Peter Parker’s parents and the secrets they were guarding. For long time comic fans, they’ll get a Spider-Man that cracks tons of jokes while taking down the bad guys.

Okay, let’s focus on the good before the bad.

It’s Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone’s chemistry that keep the moments between Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy real. You can tell there’s a good connection between them in any scene they share. You might as well be watching a reality series based on their relationship, really. Additionally, Garfield continues to give Spider-Man all the razor sharp wit he deserves, feeling very much like the comics. Credit also goes out to Sally Field as Aunt May. For a character that is usually in the background, her scenes were the memorable ones – the ones that I’d start a conversation with “Hey, you remember that part when…” Even Dane DeHaan’s Harry Osborne was pretty good for the most part, I suppose.

I can’t complain about the way it was shot or the effects that were used. Spider-Man’s swinging is pretty on point, and the in air acrobatics are as cool as they’ve ever were. Some scenes tend to move a little slow – particularly the Gwen / Peter ones – but it helps to establish where they’re going. It’s more or less a necessary evil.

And that’s about it. I don’t really have much else to say on the good elements to this movie. It’s a shame really, because making movies aren’t easy with restrained budgets and producers breathing down your neck to get the product in the theatre.

Now the Bad:

Let’s start with Electro. While I thought the Electro powers were great and all, I had a problem with the reason behind his existence. It’s almost a page taken out of Batman Forever – literally, that was the first movie that came to mind on watching Oscorp technician Max Dillion’s (Jamie Foxx) Spider-Man fandom blossom into jealousy and then hatred. Foxx does what he can with it, and I’ll admit that once he has that Electro-suit on, it’s kind of cool. The argument could be made that because the character meets his hero and is then shunned by him, this causes him to become a villain – as evidenced by the schizophrenia-like voices that accompany Electro’s theme (“He lied to me, They hate me, they’re using me, He’s dead to me.”) during his fights. My reasoning here is that if the character was a fan of Spider-Man, having witnessed him stop all these crimes, wouldn’t it make sense for Spider-Man to try to stop you if you’re inadvertently disturbing the peace? It’s not even like Dillon had a beef with any of the Oscorp workers who may have mistreated him here. I had a serious disconnect with Electro as a character with justifiable motives for his actions. Granted, this is coming from someone who isn’t as familiar with Electro as many who’ve read the comics. It’s altogether possible that he is working within the comic’s defined role, and if that’s the case, many may find it refreshing. It just seemed a little off to me.

DeHaan has similar issues. As Harry Osborn, he’s great. As the Goblin (you’ve been looking at the posters, it’s not exactly a spoiler), I found myself feeling like the only reason he was there was to push a story arc. Imagine someone watching a fight and then suddenly running in and saying “Aha, now you face me!” It was just about the same setup here. The collective theme of the movie seems to be..”You know what? Let’s hate Spider-Man, because we can. We’ll figure out a detailed, legitimate reason later.”

On Paul Giamatti, I would dare to call his appearance a cameo, but it feels tacked on. I thought it would we better to never mention him at all marketing wise and then surprise audiences with where he goes. That’s all I really have to say about him in this.

One other thing was a standout – the music. The music, though a great change from Horner’s Rocketeer sounding score, almost overpowers the film. I was a little shocked to find out that Hans Zimmer worked on it (Along with friends Johnny Marr and Pharrell Williams), but some of the tracks felt phoned in. If you asked me who did the music before showing me the credits, I would have sworn it was maybe Henry Jackman, or maybe Tyler Bates. That isn’t to say that either of them are bad composers, by the way.

Let me put it this way: You could have switched this score out with the one from Despicable Me and I don’t think anyone would have known the difference. I almost put my hands in my face on hearing “The Itsy Bitsy Spider” in the middle of a track. Zimmer might as well have just went with his “Point of No Return” score here.

Overall, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 was so-so for me. I don’t see myself trying to ever see it again, but depending on what you’re looking for, you may get a different experience from it. I’m hoping that Sony just shelves the Webhead for a while.

Quick Review: The Raid 2 (dir. by Gareth Huw Evans)

Posted on April 1, 2014 by Leonard Wilson

I didn’t know much about The Raid 2 (or The Raid: Berandal) prior to it’s release. Yes, I loved The Raid Redemption so much that after my initial viewing, I bought another ticket for the next available showing. I also saw the initial trailer, but other than that, I walked in blind. Truth be told, if the season finale of The Walking Dead wasn’t on the same night I saw this and the trains weren’t so damn slow, I would’ve gone right back in for The Raid 2. I know I’ll go back to it later this week, that’s for sure.

Here’s the short of it: The Raid 2 gives you all of the great martial arts from its predecessor (thanks to Choreographers and stars Iko Uwais, Yayan Ruhian, along with writer/director Gareth Evans). The fight scenes are incredibly fluid and well choreographed, some ramped up way past what the first movie delivered. The film also manages to build a story so big that it almost reaches levels akin to Michael Mann’s Heat. That story length also threatens to hurt the film. Where Redemption was a tight package, the sequel has a 2 1/2 hour-long running time. It moves like an Opera, and as such, there maybe at least one chapter where you kind of wonder where it’s all going and why it’s moving in the chosen direction. The film does a great job of righting itself afterward and everything syncs up.

It’s an absolute fight to keep myself from going into every fight and saying “Did you catch that part when..?! Omigod, wasn’t that awesome!” No spoilers here, but this is one time where I wish I could. This review’s vague on purpose.

Taking place just hours after the events of Redemption, The Raid 2 finds supercop Rama (Iko Uwais) working undercover between 2 rival mob families and trying to weed out rogue cops. The premise sounds simple, but the movie is pretty layered. Just how deep can Rama go without exposing himself or losing his humanity? In this sense, a lot of the writing pays homage to movies like Donnie Brasco, The Godfather and The Departed (or Internal Affairs, which The Departed was based on). This is all you really need to know about the plot itself, it’s a crime drama. How it conveys the story on-screen is something else entirely.

The balance between the action and drama is pretty even. Each dramatic moment seems to fit well to the ones before and after it. While there maybe one or two areas that require a huge suspension of belief (a person can bleed profusely and still manage to cause a wave of destruction), but depending on one’s mindset, these can be forgiven…or not. Evans chooses his shots carefully, and in some places it’s downright beautiful – especially in an area that focuses on three assassins with a particular skillset.

The fight scenes are rapid fire moments of hard-hitting shots and bloodshed that may have you wincing or even cheering (like my audience). People are sliced, shot, beaten to a pulp and your jaw may drop at the inventive ways a bat or hammer can be used. In some cases, it takes Close Quarters Combat in as tight as you can possibly get, using camera work that moves above, around and even inside the action when working with multiple fights. The camera isn’t so fast that it suffers from the Bourne Identity/Batman Begins fight blur, but it’s not static either. Remember that free roaming camera technique used in the car ride from Spielberg’s War of the Worlds? There’s a similar usage here that’s beautiful, but in the midst of all that stunt work, one has to wonder if anyone was seriously hurt. The audience lost their minds when Yayan Ruhian appeared, playing a character separate from Mad Dog in Redemption, and our showing ended with a half standing ovation. Not bad for a film focused on fighting.

If you understand that The Raid 2 is hyper-violent, it’s perfectly okay. It’s almost expected, and it works out so very well.

Basically, if you either went to see the The Raid: Redemption and/or enjoyed that film, there’s no reason to avoid The Raid 2. I honestly didn’t think it could get better than the first film and am happily surprised that it has. The film is in a limited release in New York and Los Angeles for now, moving to a wider release on April 11th.

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. – “Yes Men”

Posted on March 26, 2014 by Leonard Wilson

The March 11th episode of Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. brought a familiar face from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Jamie Alexander reprised her role as the Asgardian Lady Sif, returning to Earth to help locate and return Lorelei to her realm.

I’ve missed a number of episodes of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., so the first thing I’ve noticed is that the team seems to be tighter. While the comedic levels are still there, the tone of everything seems to be more serious. I’m really liking the way it’s moving.

Here’s the set up.

Having arrived on Earth (or Midgard, as the Asgardians refer to it), Lorelei (Elena Satine) uses her power to place any man under her control in order to start building an army. She starts by picking up the leader of a group of bikers, having ditched the poor newlywed she picked up at the end of the previous episode. While the team welcomes back a recuperating Skye, they receive word of activity between Asgard & Earth and decide it’s worth checking out.

Early on, we find that the drug administered to Skye appears to have come from an alien race. Simmons is dead set on discovering more about it and sharing that with the rest of S.H.I.E.L.D., but Coulson, knowing the truth and that there were secrets kept even from him, orders Fitz to keep it under wraps. I’ll admit that I like the way the story seems to be expanding. It isn’t so much about the Girl in the Flower Dress anymore and they’ve already figured out what happened to Coulson on T.A.H.I.T.I. (which wasn’t as magical as it seemed. Even if the show wraps up that arc in this first season, they’re planting a number of seasons for Season 2 (if it’s ever greenlit).

In time to deal with Asgardians, Simmons shows off some of the new.weapons they have. Both May and Ward in particular are impressed – “You lost the ounce.”, he says with a smile, recalling an conversation from earlier in the season. I thought that was a cute touch.

After receiving word of an energy signature similar to the ones that happened prior to Thor and Lorelai’s arrival, the team makes their way out to somewhere near New Mexico. Almost running into Sif, they’re able to identify her from archive videos taken during Thor’s battle with the Destroyer. Sif joins the group and explains her need to retreive Lorelai on the plane, having brought with her a necklace that will keep the Siren from using her voice to command others. When asked why Lorelai’s gifts of persuasion don’t carry over to women, Sif notes that men are somewhat weak in that regard. I liked that angle, personally. It reminded me a little of Gina Torres’ Jasmine from Angel, though anyone would fall for charms either by sight or sound.

Now aware that the men on the team could become a threat if exposed to Lorelai, Coulson and May have a small talk. She admits that she and Ward have been “having sex” (she says it so calmly it sounds clinical). When asked if it’ll pose a problem, she informs him it won’t. She also pressures Coulson to open up about Skye, the drug and what he knows, but Coulson refrains from sharing his feelings or information.

On board the plane, Coulson shows Sif their computer dashboard, though she already has the hang of it – “I’m familiar.” She points out, performing a search of recent crimes in the area near Lorelai’s arrival. During the search, Coulson mentions to Sif that being Asgardian, she’s probably run into a number of different species. He asks off-handedly if any of them happened to be blue (like what he discovered in the previous episode). Sif gives him a roll call of various aliens including the Kree, many of which will be familar to Marvel aficionados. Sif also adds that Asgard fought many of them back from Earth ages ago. Again, just the suggestion of these creatures opens some doors in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, if not for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., then at least for films like the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy. That’s just my view on it.

Sif finds the crimes by the biker gang and the team decides to head out to their clubhouse, only to be attacked by cops and the MC under Lorelai’s control. In the fight, Sif’s necklace for Lorelai is damaged by a shotgun blast and Lorelai herself confronts Ward, who first resists her voice, but succumbs to a combination of her voice mixed with her touch. Together, they ride out to someplace for Lorelai to enjoy herself before getting their army together. Natually, they have their way with Vegas and each other. In the mix of all this, Ward confesses that he doesn’t really love May, that he has feelings for someone else. Though she isnt mentioned by name, my hopes for a SkyeWard ship were given a boost.

The team regroups on the plane and go over their options. With Ward kidnapped, they’re in a dangerous situation. The guy with the most tactical experience is under the control of a villain. While the arc has a familiar Hawkeye like ring to it, it all still manages to work by way of Sif and Lorelai’s fight on board the plane when they attack. It seems like a number of episodes have had the plane be the arena, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It just may bring out a reaction of “Again?!” to some.

In the attack, Ward and May face off, but not before Lorelai explains that Ward shared his lack of feelings about May. May is visibly unphased by this, of course, but you can see it in the blows she lands that she isn’t particularly happy about that news.

Meanwhile, Sif, who was thought to be blow out of the plane is let back in. She manages to best and subdue Lorelai with her bracelet, clearing the effects she had over her followers. This especially works out for poor Fitz, who was knocked out by Coulson.

After Lorelai is taken back to Asgard, the episode wraps with May calling her relationship quits with Ward. Coulson and Skye talk about the alien blood she was given and Coulson decides that S.H.I.E.L.D. may have gone too far in what they’ve kept from everyone and it’s time they start searching for anything else behind the curtain. The final shot is of May, listening in to Coulson’s conversation from the cockpit and informing someone else (HQ, more than likely) that “He knows.”

So, what we have is an episode that is almost a mini version of The Avengers, which is impressive thanks to Jamie Alexander’s guest appearance. For me, the show feels as if it’s starting to get some solid ground under it’s feet, though I need to back track through the earlier episodes to be sure. We also have the start of a tie in to Captain America: The Winter Soldier. I may be hoping for too much, but it would be interesting to see the whole (or part of the team) either cameo in the movie or something else down the line. From all the promos for the movie, it feels like Captain America is finding it difficult to trust S.H.I.E.L.D.’s intentions and with the Agents also losing that trust, we could be in for some serious drama ahead.

Quick Review: Need for Speed (dir. by Scott Waugh)

Posted on March 14, 2014 by Leonard Wilson

My Short Take on Need for Speed –

Reasons to see it:

+ Fast cars doing interesting stunts that don’t feel like a CGI stunt reel. Take the Mustang chase from Drive and stretch it out.

+ It’s a tightly shot film. The chances of saying “Come on, go somewhere.” Are small and the driving camera work does its best to invoke a sense of being in the scene.

+ Imogen Poots steals practically every scene she’s in, and the cast overall seemed to enjoy themselves. Michael Keaton may be the most animated he’s been since Beetlejuice. Aaron Paul sounds like a mix between Charlie Hunnam and Solid Snake.

Reasons to hold off for now:

– It’s not the tightest story in the world. You’ll probably be able to easily call out plot angles as the movie progresses. There is also one scene in the film that never connects to anything after it, leaving something of a hole there. Overall, the film gives you just enough to understand why everyone’s doing what they’re doing, but don’t search for a whole lot of character growth here.

– The Air support moments seem a little implausible, given air traffic rules and what not.

The Long Take:

Ever since The Fast and The Furious hit the big screen in 2001, you’ve had a number of race related movies. I think the worst I can recall was 2007’s Redline, which tried to throw some wild extortion theme into the mix. The movie adaptation for Need for Speed may actually be a better movie than some of Electronic Arts’ games. It may not be Hamlet, but it handles itself just fine.

The premise for Need for Speed is very simple. A young racer (Aaron Paul, whose voice sounds he’s channelling Sons of Anarchy’s Jax Teller) seeks vengeance against a former business partner (Dominic Cooper, Howard Stark from the Marvel Cinematic Universe) by way of a dangerous high speed race known as the Deleon. He assembles a team of friends, and goes about trying to reach his goal. There you go, all you need. It might sound as bad as this year’s Robocop, but at least the audience laughed along with this one.

Although many know Aaron Paul from his Emmy winning run on Breaking Bad, but he isn’t new to movies. He’s had a great turn in Smashed with Mary Elizabeth Winstead and worked previously with co-star Imogen Poots on The Long Way Down. Here in Need for Speed, I felt he did really well with what was given as racer Tobey Marshall, granted that it wasn’t a whole lot. Still, he sells it as best he can. Poots, on the other hand is as much the bright light in the film as Hayley Atwell was in Captain America: The First Avenger. Overall, the casting was okay here. Dominic Cooper plays the rival role well, though doesn’t come off as sinister in any way and Michael Keaton seems to enjoy himself in this as the host of the Deleon, a high stakes private race. He channels his inner Beetlejuice and is one of the high points of the film. Between he and Scott Mescudi (Kid Cudi to those who know him musically), they have the best scenes apart from the main cast.

The car scenes themselves are okay. You may find yourself leaning back in your seat in some instances, but they don’t quite have the tight feel of say Ronin. Still, you won’t see anything happen in these cars that go beyond the extreme. Truth be told, it’s almost similar to the first Fast and the Furious, save for all the wavy speed lines in the high speed chases. One of the remarkable things about Need for Speed is that it tries its best to avoid throwing too many CGI driving moments. It has a feel that’s similar to Tarantino’s Death Proof or, as the film highlights in the beginning of the movie, Bullitt. This being only his second major film (Act of Valor being the first), Director Scott Waugh gets away with making the racing moments as intense as they can be without getting too crazy…well, almost. It’s cut quick, and there are very few lag scenes as far as I could notice.

If the movie has any bad points, it’s that almost everything happens in a bubble. The plot has someone who is effectively on the run, and yet I would have imagined there’d be more of a police presence, especially given the exposure. Then again, this is Need for Speed, where you only need to avoid the cops or 2 minutes before being given the chance to hide in a cooldown zone (in NFS: Most Wanted, anyway). Fans of the games will see some of those elements in play during the film and they are functional here, if not realistic.

Additionally, there’s one other scene that involves the recruiting of a reluctant team member that goes almost no where. The reason for bringing the person along (having to do with a car issue) never appears to be addressed either visually or verbally. This left me asking, “Well, was it fixed?” and then shaking my head later on. It’s not a terrible mistake to have while munching on popcorn ( you won’t choke for not getting an answer), but someone really could have taken the time to dot that particular “i” on George Gatins’ script.

Overall, Need for Speed is a fun ride. It’s predictable in a lot of ways, and you’ll see some of it coming, but you may also find yourself smiling and swerving in your seats with the traffic.

Quick TV Review: Black Sails – Episode One.

Posted on January 25, 2014 by Leonard Wilson

As HBO is usually pretty successful when it comes to its wide array of shows, other channels have thrown their hats into the ring. Showtime was quick to follow them and HBO’s sister channel Cinemax now has two shows under their belt with Strike Back & Banshee.

Starz is still a baby at the series game, but they’ve had an arsenal of their own. With the Spartacus series wrapped up and DaVinci’s Demons’ 2nd season prepped to go later this year, Starz is looking to get more of its shows out the door.

Black Sails is Starz’ latest entry. It starts off running out of the gate, but it’s hard to tell if the show really has legs at this point. Although the premiere is January 25 (tonight, as of this writing), the full episode was released both online and on the Starz on Demand channel for the past week. Either they’re confident this will increase viewership or they perhaps figure the show may not get as far as it should. Either way, it’s available to see.

I like it, I do, but so far I have 3 problems with Black Sails:

1.) I feels too much like the video game Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag. This is a mixed bag. If you’ve played the videogame, you know the environment and all of the sea battles in Black Sails have a familiarity to them that will leave you smiling. You may not feel as lost in the show if you’ve played the game or picked up a history book. On the flip side, because there’s a game just like it, it’s quite possible that Black Flag could steal (or already has) Black Sails’ thunder if the show doesn’t come across as exciting. I’m hoping it’s the first case, myself.

2.) Michael Bay’s name is attached to it. It’s invoked like it’s Bruckheimer, and I suppose that when his name is mentioned, one probably thinks of explosions and girls. Black Sails has that all over the place, but that could have happened without Bay’s name. It could be a deterrent to some who still have the bad taste of films like Transformers: Dark of the Moon in their mouths. Let’s be honest, what kind of name is Dark of the Moon anyway?

3.) Rather than taking the mystical route of DaVinci’s Demons or the more swashbuckling style of something like Pirates of the Carribean or Cutthroat Island, Black Sails shoots for something more ruthless and businesslike. The ruthlessness – the blood and gore (when it happens) is welcome. The business part of it all had me hoping that the series doesn’t keep moving in that direction over time. While I understand that the entire show can’t be on the sea (like Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World – how I love that film), that so much of it is on land made me sigh a little. In fact, the opening sequence of this really is the only part that actually takes place on the open sea. It’s very similar to NBC’s Dracula. You expect a dark, brooding Vampire tale in Victorian London, and you get a political battle whose biggest highlight is Dracula showing up in the day for a business meeting. That’s not really fun.

To it’s credit, as the pilot, this episode has to establish all of the players involved. The grit of it all is interesting, at least. It’s dirty, maybe even a little dark, but it’s also a little boring to all have the minutiae of the dealings thrown out there like that. If I choose to think of the pirate battles in the same vein as Sons of Anarchy’s motorcycle chases, it’s possible we could have one sea battle every two or three episodes. Maybe that won’t be too bad overall, but they’re going to have to amp this up quick before they start losing the audience. Give us a swordfight or a musket fired or something.

Okay, here’s what we have:

Hoping to bring the same flair for violence to the pilot that he brought to one of Game of Thrones’ best episodes, Neil Marshall (Doomsday, Centurion, The Descent) does his best to give the West Indies in the 18th Century a bloody introduction to the audience. He does a great job with the content he’s given. You can’t complain about what you’re seeing in terms of the atmosphere. Black Sails starts in the open sea with a ship under attack. We come to find that the ship holds the key to a special cargo, one that Captain Flint (Toby Stephens, the Bond villian in Die Another Day) is dying to get his hands on. Flint, though considered a legend among the pirate world, is having a tough time holding on to his crew. Having led them on a wild goose case, some of the crew feels it’s time to replace Flint’s leadership with someone more able to bring everyone a profit.

As Flint’s crew take over the ship, they find John Silver (Luke Arnold), who has acquired a page ripped out of a book that the cook stole. He joins Flint’s crew, saving his own skin. When Flint finds the journals (and the book with the missing page), he decides to port into Nassau to meet with Richard Guthrie, a rich businessman who helps to fund some of his escapades. While getting themselves situated in Nassau, Silver realizes that the page he has must have come from one of the books and looks to see if he can locate where it came from. We come to find through the course of the episode that the page is the key to locating a ship carrying a near incalculable wealth, more than enough to Flint’s crew to live happy.

That appears to be the main story arc in Black Sails. The show introduces a number of characters. You have Eleanor Guthrie (Malecifent’s Hannah New), who helps to keep the pirates in business while trying to forge a name for herself outside of her father. Max (Jessica Parker Kennedy, who I may name as a Hottie of the Day), a courtesan who makes side deals out of the local brothel. I like both of the women in Black Sails, but I can’t exactly say they’re the best of roles for either individual. They’re both strong in the sense that they can take care of themselves, yet (and maybe this is just me) I hoped that maybe for Eleanor in particular was a character that was calling the shots in her position. The pilot gives the impression when you first meet her that she does, but it kind of collapses into a yield between her and Captain Vane (Zach McGowan), who’s out to make himself the number one pirate of the Carribean. Perhaps as the series goes on, this will improve. Vane is your bad guy, that’s easy to see, but there’s so little shown about him that McGowan might as have had a mustache to twirl between his fingers.

So far, of the characters, Flint is the only one I have any kind of care about, and Stephens is delivering the best performance of everyone there. No one person is bad, though. I’m hoping his character can keep the crew enthralled. I haven’t seen enough of everyone else that endures me to them just yet, which is almost the same problem as Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. You know who’s involved, but give me a reason to think about them after the show fades to black. Even the slowest Walking Dead episodes leave me wondering and salivating for the next episode.

I’m ready to see where Flint goes, but I’m just not sure I’m sold on everyone else.

Quick Review: “Her” (dir. by Spike Jonze)

Posted on December 28, 2013 by Leonard Wilson

Before you read this, leonth3duke has a great review for “Her” up as well. Please check it out. It’s a great take on a sweet film.

Technology changes the way we communicate with each other. In a city like New York – well, everywhere, I’d imagine – there are individuals walking around with phones and pads, caught up more in their devices than in the people around them. At dinner tables, you may catch whole groups of people seated that are “checking in”, rather than directly communicating. I myself have done that quite a bit. All of these gadgets give us the ability to connect to tons of people, but at the same time there’s this potential for isolation and/or distance. Are we really connecting deeply with anyone or are people just fitting the bill just to kill off the loneliness?

Spike Jonze’s “Her” doesn’t argue whether or not we should be so digitally social, but it does present the audience with examples of the ways we may reach for connections these days. It’s both beautiful, weird and somewhat eerily familiar.

“Her” focuses on Theodore Twombley (Joaquin Phoenix), who works as a letter writer. Though at his job, he creates heartfelt letters for others, in his interactions outside of that he’s somewhat withdrawn (or he’s simply reserved with his words). He’s in the middle of a divorce with his wife (Rooney Mara), and more or less keeps to himself. One day, he decides to pick up a new OS for his computer with an advanced AI. This is how Samantha (Scarlett Johannson) comes into the picture. She helps to organize his day to day tasks and as she’s curious about the world, Theodore explains what he can. As crazy as it sounds, it grows into something more.

The movie was originally done with Samantha Morton (Cosmopolis) as Samantha, but supposedly Jonze felt something was off during the editing and post production. They talked it over and Morton stepped down. There’s nothing at all wrong with Scarlett’s take – it’s sad that she can’t be acknowledged for her performance because of rules – but there’s a part of me that hopes that in the video version there’s a behind the scenes showing what Samantha Morton’s version of the role turned out. I think it would be pretty interesting to see.

Johannson does a wonderful job considering that it’s just her voice. From a bright “hello” to a whispered “Hey.”, as Samantha grows, you can catch subtle changes in her demeanor. Granted, one can say it’s easy to do a voice over, but one only has to look at Julia Roberts’ performance in Charlotte’s Web to know the difference between talking out your lines, and actually conveying them with feeling.

For someone who has to work with a character they can’t see or interact with directly, Phoenix is great here. Coming off of The Master, the role is a complete turn around. He’s the anchor of the film and through him we see all the joys and pains. He conveys this weird sense of curiosity about the world that masks a deeper pain. I rubbed my chin a number of times during this, amazed at how much of myself I saw in the character of Theodore. It was a little jarring, actually. Also coming off The Master is Amy Adams, whose role here reminded me of a guest starring role she had on the tv show “Charmed”. Playing Theodore’s friend Amy, she acts as a sounding board for Theodore. I have yet to see American Hustle, but I liked her here and personally thought she did far better in this film than she did in Man of Steel.

Overall the casting for “Her” is good. Matt Lescher (The Mask of Zorro) has a humorous part as Amy’s husband. Even Rooney Mara comes across well as Theodore’s wife. Other casting choices include Kristen Wiig (The Secret Life of Walter Mitty), Portia Doubleday (Carrie), and Olivia Wilde (Rush).

Cinematographer Hoyt Van Hoytema (The Fighter, Inside Llewyn Davis) and Jonze created a near future that isn’t terribly distant from where we are now. It’s bright, sunny, extremely clean in the daytime scenes. The nights are so well lit that it first reminded me of Roger Deakin’s Shanghai sequences in Skyfall. It’s almost a cozy future. Interfaces with computers are more direct and even funny at times. This is something you’ll notice right from the start. Everyone’s appearance, however, seems a bit frumpy. It’s like everyone just grabbed the first thing in their closet and said “You know what, I’ll go with it.” It caused a bit of a laughter from the audience mostly, which could pull from the story, but it’s hardly unlikely.

The theme of “Her” is loneliness, or at least that’s what I took from it. It was of people looking to connect. Some succeed on different levels, some don’t but there’s a longing there. It comes through as clearly in “Her” as it can, and it’s one of the elements I really enjoyed about the movie. Some of the conversations in the film are deep, those ones you have after you move past all of the small talk about the weather. Sometimes harsh, painful truths come out. At other times, it’s just subtle realizations being voiced.

After the film, I’ve found I’ve spent a little more time interacting with others face to face – something I don’t normally do. I normally don’t feel lonely because there things I can do. Ride my motorcycle, go to the movies, write something. With this, however, it was like someone filmed me, cleaned up the story and presented it better. Though I am somewhat introverted, I also suffer from abandonment issues, and tend not to form too many close friendships of a fear of losing them. I recognized that I do have more moments of loneliness than I ever really noticed before. For me, “Her” is one the best films I’ve seen this year simply because (like “12 Years a Slave”) it felt like it spoke to me directly. It’s humorous in many places, sad in others, but at the end of it all, I left the theatre thinking about the movie and experiencing emotions I hadn’t expected to.

And sometimes, that’s enough to consider a film great. I’m eager to see this again.

Teasers & Trailers: Dreamworks’ How to Train Your Dragon 2

Posted on December 19, 2013 by Leonard Wilson

It’s been 3 years since Dreamworks’ How to Train Your Dragon was released. Though Chris Sanders has moved on to The Croods and that sequel, his animation style is in good hands. It looks like How to Train Your Dragon 2 has Hiccup (Jay Baruchel), Toothless and all of Berk adjusting very well. All appears to be well, but you wouldn’t have a story without a new threat, and maybe some new revelations. Part of me thinks that the setup for this story may also be similar to what could happen for Kung Fu Panda 3 (if done), with regards to family reunions.

Below are both the teaser, which has Hiccup and Toothless showing off a few improvements, and the trailer, which showcases more of the story.

How to Train Your Dragon 2 comes out June of 2014.

Movie Teaser: Christopher Nolan’s “Interstellar”

Posted on December 14, 2013 by Leonard Wilson

Having rescued Batman from the Schumacher age and assisting in the full on destruction of Metropolis, Christopher Nolan has reached an interesting point in his life. He can now walk up on stage, grab a microphone, mutter the words “I’m filming a movie.” and have tons of fans (like myself) lose themselves like swooning chickens.

Christopher and Jonathan Nolan are dreaming about the stars. And with a dash of what I think (what I hope) is Zimmer playing in the background, he tells us absolutely nothing. The gaul! The tease! It’s the movie watcher’s equivalent of seeing a bare expanse of leg exposed on someone walking in a sleek black dress. Or perhaps the equivalent of Beyonce’s album drop, only with a movie? Either way, how dare they leave me drooling like a Pavlovian mutt.

So, what do we know about Interstellar? Well, that his brother is on board, and David Goyer is nowhere to be seen, Nolan could be giving us something just a little different – or rather more along the lines of Inception. I’m one of the fans who feels he actually does much better when working with Jonathan and maybe this is good overall. Now that he’s done with everything Batman, he can focus on telling other stories.

I’m just hoping those stories aren’t like Insomnia.

And I’m hoping they’re better edited than The Dark Knight.

Interstellar, on the surface looks like it has something to do with space travel (stating the more than obvious fact), but this feels more like October Sky to me. We have Matthew McConaughey talking about how we’ve lost our way in being explorers and pioneers and the film suggests some kind of return to that. Of course, this is just a teaser, and we really won’t know the full details until the full trailer appears (which for all we know, could have aliens in it).

The thing that stands out on all of this is what isn’t easily noticed. Interstellar will be the first film that Nolan has done since Following where Cinematographer Wally Pfister wasn’t on board. This is akin to the Coens not using Roger Deakins (which is exactly the case with Inside Llewyn Davis). Visually, this could be a different film as Instellar’s Cinematographer is Hoyte Van Hoytema, who was responsible for Her, Let the Right One In and Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. Very interesting, indeed.

Interstellar premieres in theatres next year.

Oh, and here are some swooning chickens, for added effect.