Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Welcome back Indy, thanks for the great times, now enjoy your retirement. The fourth installment of the Indiana Jones saga is great fun to watch, but doesn’t live up to the quality of its previous three chapters. There’s no need for a lengthy review here, other than to say that if you loved the first three films you will enjoy this one for all the same reasons. Harrison Ford is as good as ever and the action is amazing.

What’s not up to par in this installment is the story and the villain. In the first three films the story centered on a monumental journey in search of some mythical item that could destroy the world if captured by evil hands.  In the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, the journey seems way too easy and the protagonist too wimpy.

While the search for the famed “city of gold” is a great myth to center a story around I just never felt like the world was going to end if the Russians got there first. It certainly didn’t feel like the race to get the Ark or the Grail. I guess I didn’t understand the power that was at risk. I also didn’t feel like Cate Blanchett’s character was all that menacing. Her “evil” was so comical she actually made me laugh a few times. And what was that whole psychic thing with her?

In the end, this film was as much about reliving some great childhood cinema memories, and for a lot of young parents, introducing their children to a movie hero from their childhood. All good reasons to catch Indy on his farewell tour!

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Film’s website: http://www.indianajones.com/site/index.html

Cloverfield

Ok, so after all the hype I finally got a chance to see this film and two days later I still have a headache!! I was hoping that this film would be different than “Blair Witch,” but unfortunately it was not. From the contrived storyline, to the horrible camera work, to the poor acting this film misses on almost every level. 

When I found out that JJ Abrams was involved in this film I expected, at the very least, an interesting storyline that would keep me guessing throughout the film. It’s what he does so well on Lost and Alias. It never materializes. When I looked a little further into who did what it became clear as to why…. Abrams brings all of his TV buddies to the film (writer Drew Goddard and director Matt Reeves) resulting into a glorified TV movie that fails to make an impact on the big screen. Now, I’m not one to bash TV people crossing over to film (or vice versa) but if you are going to make the crossover you better understand how the medium changes how you write and direct the film. Goddard and Reeves fail miserably in this regard. Watching this film seems like you are watching a television pilot. The storyline is being told just to set up the series, not to stand on it’s own as a quality film. Since Cloverfield 2 is arleady in pre-production it’s obvious that this was their intent, but that still doesn’t make this film any better.

More specifically, I hated the camera work and all-too-convenient plot devices. First the camera work. It gave me a headache and it didn’t add a single thing to the story. That’s the worst thing. It was a gimmick. I’m fine with taking chances (remember the old M*A*S*H episode told from the POV of the patient - brilliant) but it has to enhance the story or it just stands out as “look ma, no hands.” Second, the writing. I hate it when characters are just plain stupid or doing things that are totally unreal. What am I talking about? A monster attacks the city from the water and the military decides the best way to evacuate the city is over a bridge?? How about a skyscraper falls against another and neither collapse AND are structurally sound enough for four people to walk to the top. Oh, and a helicopter crashes and only our heroes survive (did they steal this from that ER episode?).

Maybe I’m being unfair here. Maybe I expected too much from Abrams and crew, but if I were JJ and I was making the crossover into film I would go and get an established film crew to make my idea fly. Unfortunately he didn’t and the result is a truly bad made-for-tv horror film that belongs on “Creature Features” not the big screen.

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Film’s website: http://www.cloverfieldmovie.com

I am Legend

This film disappoints. It just doesn’t live up to the hype and to what it could have been. I expect Will Smith action films to be non-stop and bigger than life, but this film just wasn’t that. It has to live up to the standard set by the original (The Omega Man, starring Charlton Heston) and it can’t. Why? I blame the director.

Hollywood is too quick to give the helm of major films to music video directors and films like this are the result; all style and no substance. Francis Lawrence makes a mess of what could have been a good film by spending too much time showing us how great the sets are and how spectacular he can shoot a chase scene and forgets to tell a decent story. He ignores pacing and basic storytelling which results in a slow paced, rather thin film…. sounds a lot like a music video, doesn’t it?

Lawrence tries to use flashbacks to keep us interested in Will Smith’s character and to make-up for the lack of other characters in the first two-thirds of the film, but the flashbacks only provide shallow back story and reveal nothing that we don’t already know about our lead character. Then he commits a mortal sin — the main character begins to act against his own character and starts doing things that have you scratching your head. For a character that is supposed to be very smart, Smith misses huge signs indicating what is happening around him. I blame the director for this because the signs are there — which means the screenwriter put them into the story but Lawrence either ignored them or was too obsessed with his sets to care.

In the end it’s not a bad rental but in the hands of a more talented director (maybe one who understands story!!) this could have been a great film.

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Film’s website: http://iamlegend.warnerbros.com/

21

“21″ is a new drama based on the true story of how some MIT students conquered Vegas in a card counting scheme that reaped them millions of dollars. Unfortunately, the film doesn’t live up to the success of its real life characters by falling into all too familiar cliches and predictable storylines. The acting is relatively good but the film lacks a standout performance to carry the drama. I think that is what is most disappointing since two of my favorite actors, Kevin Spacey and Laurence Fishburne, are in this film but their characters are mostly in the background. Instead, screenwriters Peter Steinfeld and Alan Loeb focus on the antics of the students who we never really get to know or care about. Four of the students might as well not be there since we never learn a single thing about them. The main character (Ben Campbell played by Jim Sturgess) carries the storyline but we never care about him since we don’t spend much time learning what motivates him. Is he just a poor kid trying to make a buck? Sorry, but that doesn’t get me too interested. There has to be more back story and motivation to get me to care about this guy. The cliche love interest played by Kate Bosworth is equally frustrating. Why is she even in this film if we don’t get a chance to get to know her? Robert Luketic direction is capable, but a far more courageous vision would have delved deeper into the romantically dangerous allure of gambling and how it can destroy lives and relationships. More emphasis on Spacey and Fishburne’s backstory could have given this film a much deeper dramatic story and connected it to the student’s obsessions, but Luketic plays it safe and in the end makes a film that is ok to watch, but leaves the viewer wanting so much more. Wait for the DVD on this one.

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Film’s website: http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/21/

Gone Baby Gone

“Gone Baby Gone” is an enjoyable film, well worth the cost of a movie ticket that will entertain you and give you something to talk about on the way home. Written and Directed by Ben Afflect and starring Casey Afflect the film follows the story of a young detective trying to unravel the mystery behind a young girl’s abduction. The acting is quite good with command performances by Afflect and Amy Ryan as the troubled, grief-stricken mother. Ed Harris adds another strong supporting role as a detective with his own sense of justice. This film reminds me of Mystic River from a few years back, but it doesn’t quite have the gusto to match Clint Eastwood’s masterpiece. While the writing is generally strong, the plot takes some turns at the end of the film that just don’t seem to add up. In particular two of the characters (Afflect’s girlfriend and the missing girl’s uncle) make huge decisions that seem out of character and/or unrealistic. When the events unfold onscreen I found myself saying “why didn’t he just do….” Since both of these moments happen as the climax of the film is hitting, the story takes a hit. It’s almost as if Afflect the writer/director was trying too hard to make sure that every character had a tragic flaw or evil side. Despite the narrative hiccup Gone Baby Gone is well worth seeing, and if you missed it in the theaters it’s a great rental.
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Film’s website: http://video.movies.go.com/gonebabygone