Movie--The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

I think I committed a fatal error in reading the original F. Scott Fitzgerald short story before I watched this movie. The movie, while sweeping and beautifully filmed and filled with excellent performances, bears almost no resemblance to the story, which caused me to make faces at it through most of the two-and-a-half hours of its running time.

In fact, the only element remaining of the original story is Benjamin Button's reverse aging. And even that conceit is modified. In the story, Benjamin acts like an old man when he appears to be an old man, and acts like a child when he appears to be a child. In the movie, he behaves more like a child during his older years, and like an old man suffering from dementia when he looks like a young child. More importantly, the reverse aging adds little to the story other than a gimmick and the chance for the movie makers to spend a great deal of money on make-up effects (and win Oscars for them, but that's another issue).

Overall, while I could see the movie had its merits, my enjoyment was greatly diminished by the complete departure from the source.

Movie Review--Up

A much deeper and more mature movie than it appears from the previews, Up, Pixar's latest release, transcends the conception of "family movie." Much like Wall-E before, it, Up tackles complex and intense adult issues, packaging them in an emotionally authentic story that will have most viewers going for the tissues in the first ten minutes.

The movie has plenty of laughs, as well--enough to send you looking for the tissues for an entirely different reason. There's also adventure, and some scary sequences, so be sure to take the PG rating into consideration.

The 3D presentation adds much to this movie, but subtly. Overall, even though the visual presentation is immaculate, it's driven by a story that's more touching and genuine than any number of supposedly serious, "adult" films.

Terminator Salvation

Apparently, in the future, the robots are taking over. And whether it ends up being the Cylons or Skynet, humans are pretty much screwed.

The culprit in the Terminator series is, of course, Skynet. According to the Terminator timeline, we have until 2016 before the robots become sentient and start blowing us up and enslaving us. The one hope for humanity is John Connor, who organizes the resistance against the machines and saves the human race.

In the original Terminator, the machines sent back the original Terminator robot to destroy John’s mother, Sarah Connor, before he was born. In this, the fourth installment of the movie series, John Connor (Christian Bale) must prevent the death of Kyle Reese (Anton Yelchin), now a young adult, who is destined to father him when he’s sent back to the past to protect Sarah. Confused yet?

It’s not really that confusing in the movie. The backstory is spelled out well enough to keep from losing a casual fan of the series, and probably enough to orient someone who hasn’t seen any of the other movies. There are several nods to the original movie, including stills of the original Sarah Connor, Linda Hamilton, and an appearance I wasn’t expecting at all.

The plot itself is fairly simple, woven around plenty of action, explosions, and loving shots of John Connor being thoughtful, angsty and/or heroic, as well as dirty, sweaty, and banged up. The entire movie has a burned-out, apocalyptic feel—appropriately enough—with a partially desaturated color palette and barren, desert landscapes. The performances are reasonably good, most notably Sam Worthington’s turn as Marcus Wright, the cyborg who thinks he’s still human (although Worthington, an Australian, suffers a bit of accent slippage here and there). Bale is as pretty as ever, though he has a disconcerting tendency to slide into his Batman voice, which is a little over the top even for Batman.

Speaking of Batman, Salvation marks Bale’s entry into a second major franchise. It also offers the same opportunity to Yelchin, who plays not only Kyle Reese in this film, but can also be seen as Pavel Chekov in the new Star Trek.

Overall, Salvation is one of the better installments in the Terminator series, though I’m still partial to the recently and unfortunately canceled Sarah Connor Chronicles. Salvation is intended to be the first in a new trilogy, and offers a promising start if this plan plays out.

Movie Review--Star Trek

Wow. That's all I really have to say. But for the sake of actually writing, you know, a review, I'll say a little more.

I'm a Star Trek fan from way back. If I say how far back it'll totally date me, but let's just say my memories go all the way back to original series. I was excited about the first movie, even more excited when Wrath of Khan came out, followed Next Generation religiously for several years, loved Deep Space Nine, and then lost interest in Voyager. I wanted Enterprise to re-spark my interest in this long-time fannish love, but it failed in spite of the presence of Scott Bakula. When I stopped paying enough attention to even notice when Captain Archer had his shirt off, I knew it was time to let it go.

And then came this weekend's reboot.

Having gotten mired in the increasingly convoluted world of Lost, I had understandable trepidations when JJ Abrams stepped up to take over the Star Trek franchise. When the previews starting coming out, I started nourishing a cautious optimism.

My optimism was rewarded when I saw the movie this weekend.

This re-visioning of Star Trek balances respect for the original series and its characters with a need to move forward into a tone that fits better with today's cinematic expectations. The movie tears along at a crisp clip, introducing characters in such a way that an old-time Trekker like me is quickly snared by nostalgia, while those new to the series, like my son, aren't lost. The characterizations of the original crew are just new enough to work in the new milieux, and just enough like their previous incarnations that you recognize them as soon as they arrive on-screen. The plot is a bit convoluted and would probably collapse under close scrutiny, but the combination of time travel and alien involvement is classic Trek (actually, more accurately, it's classic Next Generation). One sequence struck me as a bit over the top, falling a bit too far into slapstick, but overall this was a fine, fine ride. So fine, in fact, I'll probably be going to see it again.

Watchmen--The Movie

After a great deal of hype and a legal battle that threatened to derail it entirely, the movie adaptation of Alan Moore's Watchmen finally hit theaters this weekend. Although if you weren't aware of the original comic, you wouldn't know it was Alan Moore's Watchmen, because Moore refused to take any money for the adaptation, nor did he allow his name to be attached to the film.

Considering the quality of the movie, it seems a bit odd that Moore would distance himself so intently from it, but I suppose that's his prerogative. The script proves very faithful--sometimes even too faithful--to the original material, even including frame-by-frame reproductions of parts of the comic.

The weaknesses regarding the story's women are still there, though the ending, which came off as a bit ridiculous in the graphic novel, has been tweaked to fit much more smoothly into the feel of the rest of the story.

The weakest part of the movie is, conversely, the strongest part of the comic. While Dr. Manhattan's ruminations on his "all times are the same" mental processes in the comic are masterfully rendered, in the movie they're somewhat confusing and slow down an otherwise fast-paced film.

Performance-wise, Watchmen is a bit weak. The strongest showing comes from Jeffrey Dean Morgan, as the amoral Comedian, who carries those parts of the film in which he appears. A close second is Billy Crudup as Dr. Manhattan.

Mini Review--Coraline

I'm often leery of movies based on books, especially books I like. But when it comes down to it, if it has Neil Gaiman's name on it, I'm there.

When Coraline got underway, I realized I didn't remember the book that well, so I just went along for the ride. From what I could remember, though, the basic plot honors the original pretty well. The tone of the movie definitely dovetails nicely with that of the book. Though rated PG, Coraline's a bit intense for the younger crowd, although probably not much more so than classic Disney "kiddie" flicks like Sleeping Beauty and Snow White. For the most part, Coraline is more creepy than scary, though the last act does add a scare factor.

The 3-D technology used for Coraline is impressive. There's not much of things jumping out at the audience, as in My Bloody Valentine, which in my opinion was a more appropriate approach for a younger audience. The 3-D really brings you into the story, most notably in the tunnel transition between Coraline's real world and the Other world.

Overall, I found Coraline immensely entertaining and wonderfully produced. My kids enjoyed it, as well, though at 11 and 15 they're a bit older than the target audience.

Mini Review--My Bloody Valentine 3-D

I don't normally venture out of the house for horror movies, much less 3-D horror movies, but the lure of seeing Jensen Ackles on the big screen proved too much for me in this case.

My Bloody Valentine turned out not to be a great movie, but it wasn't bad, either. The 3-D wasn't as gimmicky as it often is, and also proved surprisingly realistic. (Also, much to my happy surprise, it didn't give me a migraine like the last 3-D movie I went to.)

While gory and definitely not for the squeamish, My Bloody Valentine features a solid performance from Jensen Ackles and a plot that, unlike many horror movies, actually makes some sense. Surprisingly, though, the only really sympathetic character in the film is the killer.

Another Quickie Review--The Incredible Hulk

I haven't watched the Ang Lee Incredible Hulk, so I can't say how the more recent version compares, but I can say that I enjoyed it quite a bit. The plot was pretty straightforward comic book movie, and therefore predictable. But what really made the movie for me was the shoutouts to the TV series. I used to be completely addicted to The Incredible Hulk, and seeing the nod to Bill Bixby, Lou Ferrigno in a small part, and even a snippet of the TV theme song in the soundtrack made me smile.

Quickie Movie Reviews

I've spent the holiday break catching up on some movies, and plan to watch several more before I have to get back to the day job on Monday. A couple I particularly enjoyed so far were:

Hancock. My daughter is a big Will Smith fan, and this movie is fast-paced, funny, and an enjoyable twist on the usual superhero film. I wasn't quite on board with the last third, but overall it's a fun ride.

Quantum of Solace. I very much enjoyed Daniel Craig's first foray as James Bond, and while this wasn't quite as strong a movie as Casino Royale, it was still an entertaining afternoon in the theater. Daniel Craig continues to play Bond with cool, rugged sexiness, and in Quantum, recovering from the events of Casino, Bond is even more square-jawed and taciturn. And very, very easy on the eyes.

Top Five Movies of 2008

My movie viewing this year was largely comprised of sequels and nostalgia. My top five movies of the year (counting only movies I managed to catch in the theater):

1. Wall-E. One of the most impressively produced, written, directed, you-name-it movies I’ve ever seen.

2. The Dark Knight. A fantastic movie, fantastic sequel, and a mind-bogglingly good performance from Heath Ledger. He will be missed.

3. Iron Man. One of the best non-Batman superhero movies ever.

4. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Honestly? Not that great a movie in a lot of ways. But I loved it. I’m a huge Indiana Jones fan, and while I had issues with some portions of the story, I loved the way they wrapped up Indy and Marian’s storylines.

5. The X-Files: I Want to Believe. Again, not the best movie in a lot of ways, but boy, have I missed Mulder and Scully. And the Mulder-and-Scullyness of this movie gave me a warm fuzzy.

Casino Royale

When it was first announced that Daniel Craig was taking over the role of James Bond, I was among the many who weren't thrilled. He didn't "look" the part, I thought. He just didn't seem like a Bond actor.

But looks can be deceiving, so I went to see Casino Royale with what I hoped was an open mind. And was pleasantly surprised, if not shocked, at how good this movie was. Craig proved to be a strong, charismatic actor, portraying Bond with a mix of suave arrogance and vulnerability that in many ways transcended the usual treatment of the character.

I've heard it said Craig's Casino Royale was the best Bond movie ever. I can't say that, as I haven't seen all the entries in the Bond franchise, but it was certainly the best Bond movie I've ever seen.

Casino Royale was released on DVD this past Tuesday. Looks like it has quite a few extras--enough to justify a second disc. I haven't watched them yet, but I'm glad they put out a two-disc edition that was the same price as the usual single disc of other movies.

Movies—Flushed Away

I took my kids to see this when it came out in the theaters and we all thoroughly enjoyed it. Unfortunately, it didn't do well up against such competition as Santa Clause 3, and the critics panned it as a painful mismatch between DreamWorks's CGI-based approach and Aardman's trademark claymation. It also proved to be the movie that broke up the pairing between these two studios.

While I could see the point, to some extent, of critics who felt the movie was too American for Aardman and too English for DreamWorks, and never the twain should meet, I found the fusion of off-kilter British humor with frenetic American action to be quite entertaining. I laughed out loud more than once in the theater, and my kids enjoyed it as much as I did. It's rare these days to find a movie the whole family can enjoy without the parents being occasionally uncomfortable with off-color humor aimed more at adults. Flushed Away was definitely a family movie, and we all liked it, critics be damned. And the singing slugs? Hysterical.