“Jupiter Ascending” Review

Premise: Jupiter Ascending follows the story of Jupiter Jones (Mila Kunis), who is working as a maid when she is visited by an alien warrior named Caine Wise (Channing Tatum). Jupiter learns that she is the heir to the throne of a planet that is in the grip of civil war, and must stop a tyrant (Eddie Redmayne) who wants her dead.

Right from the time it was announced, I was skeptical about Jupiter Ascending. Its directors, Lana and Andy Wachowski, have been in a slump for over a decade, with their writing credits on V for Vendetta being the lone bright spot since the end of the Matrix franchise. I was even more worried when the movie was pushed back seven months from its intended release day. However, I believe every movie has potential to be good, so I went to see it. Sure enough, I was completely right to be worried. This movie was nothing short of disastrous.

Pros: First, I’ll give credit where it’s due. Like most Wachowski movies, the visual effects are fantastic. Sure, there are a few times where the CGI falls flat, but the Wachowskis and their crew show that visuals are their greatest strengths. When we get to Jupiter, we get to marvel at all the glorious looking characters, landscapes, and sets that only masters of CGI-art can create.

There’s also some decent humor. I didn’t expect it to have any, but there were a few bits of clever dialogue that put a smile on my face, at least when the movie wasn’t unintentionally funny. Sean in particular manages to salvage some of his lines and make them sound clever.

Cons: Unfortunately, that’s all the good things I have to say about Jupiter Ascending. If you take away the stunning visuals, it’s a pretty terrible movie. The worst part was probably the acting; everyone from top to bottom was bad. It was pretty disappointing seeing Channing Tatum, who’s come so far from his Step Up-days, fumble after a hot streak. But the worst was the Oscar-nominated Eddie Redmayne as the evil Balem. He was so bad in this movie that I now think his chances at winning Best Actor for The Theory of Everything might be all but torpedoed. I don’t blame the actors. Most of them are talented and have give good performances before. The blame lies with the Wachowskis, who have shown multiple times that they’re better at directing visuals than people.

What’s more, the story is a complete mess. The first problem is that it’s too long. Some movies are perfect at 90 minutes, others at 190 minutes. But at a little over two hours, Jupiter Ascending felt bloated. There’s also way too much going, with the civil war, political intrigue, and messianic archetype elements cannibalizing each other. This leads to a story that’s needlessly complicated when it should have been a lot tighter. Finally, it’s filled with cliches that show up in pretty much every other space opera. When Mila Kunis said the movie was going to explore themes of “hubris” and “consumption” I thought she was overselling it. Now I know that if she put money on that claim, she’d be broke by last Friday night.

Even a lot of the action was lame. There were a few good fights, but most of them were boring and poorly directed. Come on, Wachowskis! I expect you guys to at least do that right!

Verdict: I desperately want to like the Wachowskis. Bound and The Matrix were great movies, and I’m still not convinced that they were just flukes. But it seems that they lost their touch a long time ago. They had already failed with Speed Racer and Cloud Atlas, and now Jupiter Ascending is getting negative reviews and doing weak business. It’s going to take a lot to revive their careers, but that revival is looking increasingly unlikely.

Score: 3/10

“The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part I” Review

Sorry this one’s so late. I’ve been a little busy and have been working on other projects. I’m free for the time being and will try to post regularly.

Starring Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Julianne Moore, Donald Sutherland, Natalie Dormer, Sam Claflin, Jena Malone, Stanley Tucci, and Willow Shields. Written by Danny Strong and Peter Craig. Directed by Francis Lawrence. Rated PG-13 for for intense sequences of violence and action, some disturbing images and thematic material. 123 minutes.

I tend to get raked over the coals whenever I say this, but I wasn’t a big fan of the first Hunger Games. I thought it was okay, but it was nothing special or memorable. So imagine my surprise when I thought Catching Fire was great. It was everything that the first one should’ve been, with great action, great characters, and great storytelling, all in the surprisingly deft hands of director Francis Lawrence. Now we have the penultimate film, Mockingjay Part I. It’s had a lot of buzz and a great marketing campaign surrounding it, and has already made more money than the vast majority of people can even dream of. However, it’s has also been the most divisive film of the series, with reviews being more mixed than the previous two. How does it measure up? Read on to find out.

Premise: After accidentally sabotaging the most recent Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) is spirited away to the mysterious District 13, home to a growing rebel group. Now she must become the face of the revolution in a propaganda war against the Capitol.

Pros: Ever since Catching Fire, I’ve been on the Jennifer Lawrence hype train full stop. Gone are the days when she was just an up-and-comer. She is the real deal, and Mockingjay continues the trend. Katniss has always been reluctant, not really wanting to be a hero at all. But here she’s growing into her role as the symbol around which the rebels can rally, while still being vulnerable. A lot of this is down to Lawrence, who is so good that she can make even an uninteresting character enthrall you just by her sheer screen presence.

A good villain can bring a lot to any movie, and President Snow is the perfect choice for this series. I thought Donald Sutherland did a superb job in the first two, and even though he’s not in Mockingjay all that much it just might show him at his best. Snow is a political force to be reckoned with, and you can tell why people would want to follow him, whether it’s out of fear, admiration, of both. But then you also see the destruction he and his government have caused, showing what an irredeemable prick he is. Also, bonus points for being extremely creepy.

The supporting cast (who aren’t in it nearly enough, but I’ll get to that later) is also solid. The two standouts are Julianne Moore and Philip Seymour Hoffman, two esteemed acting veterans (and Paul Thomas Anderson alumni). Hoffman reprises his role as Plutarch Heavensbee, now revealed to be utterly committed to the downfall of the Capitol. It’s very sad that he’s no longer with us, but we can at least marvel at what a great performer he was. Julianne Moore is also fantastic as President Coin, someone who has dedicated her life to ending the hardships of the common man but has lost her family and is willing to get her hands dirty. These two also play off each other very well, and are an absolute joy to watch together.

Mockingjay sets itself apart from the rest of the series in a very interesting way. There is very little action, and instead we got a sci-fi drama that is probably the most engaging thing the series has offered so far. Katniss has already been through so much, having to become a hardened killer and being celebrated for it by an upper-class that you’d be a saint not to resent. Now she sees the rebellion firsthand, and we get a good look at the brutality of the Capitol and just why President Snow should be overthrown. Powerful stuff, and a great setup for what I’m hoping is a terrific finale.

Cons: This might sound weird given that the film is about her, but there’s too much Katniss and not enough of everybody else. Peeta’s barely in it, and even though Gale has perhaps more screentime than either of the previous two movies, he’s not given a lot of focus either (not that Liam Hemsworth’s acting is a great loss). Great characters such as Hamitch, Finnick, and Joanna are also given hardly any focus. In fact, I don’t even think Joanna had a single line of dialogue. Even though she’s the protagonist, this series is ultimately too Katniss-centric. Even though I loved the movie, I wish I could’ve seen more development of the world around her, potentially cool characters like Cressida (played by the stunningly talented and stunningly…stunning Natalie Dormer) given more of a chance, and the hardships of the ordinary District citizens more fleshed out.

For the third time, I don’t buy the love story between Katniss and Peeta. They always seem more like really good friends, not soulmates. On the other hand, I’m glad the romance was downplayed.

Verdict: Mockingjay Part I is a magnificent drama that easily matches Catching Fire and blows the original Hunger Games out of the water. Were there weaknesses? Sure, and I get why some people are underwhelmed by it. Still, I had a blast, and now I can wait for the second part.

Score: B+

“Interstellar” Review

Starring Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain, David Gyasi, Wes Bentley, Bill Irwin, Josh Stewart, Mackenzie Foy, Ellen Burstyn, Michael Caine, Casey Affleck, John Lithgow, and Topher Grace. Written by Christopher Nolan and Jonathan Nolan. Directed by Christopher Nolan. Rated PG-13 for some intense perilous action and brief strong language. 169 minutes.

Christopher Nolan is in at least the top three directors working today. Although I wasn’t in love with The Dark Knight Rises, I’ve at least liked all of his films and loved most of them. Memento and Insomnia are some of my favorite movies of the 21st century, and The Dark Knight broke new ground in the superhero genre. Point is Christopher Nolan is the man. That’s why Interstellar has been on my radar ever since production was announced. It’s looked to be Nolan’s most ambitious film to date, with hard science fiction ideas about space travel, wormholes and environmentalism. Some people have claimed that it’s been getting mixed reviews, but a 73% on Rotten Tomatoes is still a good score. Nothing to worry about there. So I went to see it, and even though it’s not one of Nolan’s best it’s a very good movie.

Premise: Former astronaut Cooper must come out of retirement in order to find humanity a new home. But due to the physics of interstellar travel, those on Earth age much faster than those on the ship. Can Cooper make it home in time?

Pros: In an interesting turn of events for Christopher Nolan, in Interstellar he tells his most human story yet. One of the great things about Interstellar is how it anchors the struggle to save mankind in one man’s struggle to save his family. The themes of love and devotion to loved ones are explored here more than any other Nolan film, and even though they’re laid on a little too thick sometimes, they usually give the film a touching feel that many of these hard science fiction films lack. It’s nice to see Nolan going out of his comfort zone and telling a story that’s warm, friendly and ultimately optimistic.

Of course, what everyone’s expecting from Interstellar is stunning visuals. All of the promotional materials make it look like it’s going to be the next 2001. Sure enough, the movie is a visual marvel. The cinematography by Dutch DP Hoyte van Hoytema is gorgeous, making every environment a thing of beauty. And you want to know one of the coolest things about Interstellar? You know that planet with all the snow and ice? Shot on location in Iceland. Seriously.

The performances were great across the board. Matthew McConaughey proves once again that he is the real deal, playing a man desperate to save his family with passion and depth. But there’s also Jessica Chastain, who plays the grown version of his daughter. For the scenes on Earth, she’s the protagonist, and she plays Murph as someone who wants to follow in her father’s footsteps and reach for the stars. The rest of McConaughey’s crew, played by Anne Hathaway, David Gyasi and Wes Bentley, all gives strong performances without upstaging our leads, and even the robot TARS (Bill Irwin) is a good addition, providing much of the comic relief.

Cons: With ambition comes the risk of failure, and sadly Interstellar has some failures along the way. Most of the problems are in the story. There are times when the story is great, but other times when it feels a bit disjointed. Two things in particular bugged me quite a bit. Without giving anything away, at one point a character who you thought was just a broken man turns evil, and it felt forced and didn’t make much sense. Toward the end, Jessica Chastain’s Murph learns about the force that has been helping humanity find a new home. How she jumped to her conclusion felt like…well, jumping to conclusions. Things like that made Interstellar a very good movie instead of the great one it could’ve been.

My other complaints are common ones I have with latter day Nolan films. Not enough to ruin the movie, but definitely noticeable:

-Too long. Not every movie needs to be two hours and forty minutes, Chris. Try something more compressed for a change.

-Also, the Nolan brothers need to cut down on the exposition. I think exposition is necessary, but when there’s too much it starts to feel redundant and possibly even confusing.

Verdict: For all its flaws, Interstellar‘s amazing visuals, strong performances, and sheer ambition make it a must-see. Whether you love it or hate it, this is a film that will stick with you for a long time.

Score: 7.5/10

“Big Hero 6” Review

Starring Ryan Potter, Scott Asdit, Daniel Henney, T.J. Miller, Jamie Chung, Damon Wayans Jr., Génesis Rodriguez, James Cromwell, Alan Tudyk, and Maya Rudolph. Rated PG for action and peril, some rude humor, and thematic elements. 105 minutes.

It seems that ever since about 2009, Disney has been on top of the world. They’ve acquired Marvel and Lucasfilm, they’re making huge amounts of money, and after a bit of dry spell in the mid-2000s, they’ve gone back to making quality animated films. After Tangled, Wreck-It Ralph and Frozen, Disney has gained my complete trust. So does their new film Big Hero 6 live up to the Disney name? Yes, yes it does.

Premise: Robotics enthusiast Hiro Hamada (Ryan Potter) teams up with lovable medical robot Baymax (Scott Asdit) in order to track down his brother’s killer.

Pros: Visual excellence is to be expected from Disney, but Big Hero 6 is nothing short of breathtaking to look at. The animation, character and location designs, and cinematography (or the closest animation equivalent) were all crisp, clear, and utterly dazzling. The film also delivers on the action front, taking sequences that would be difficult to create even in live-action and making them really exciting.

The film strikes a great tonal balance. On one hand, all of the humor works very well. There’s several really big laughs and a bunch of good giggles, probably making Big Hero 6 one of the best comedies of the year. But there’s also a lot of heartfelt scenes, with Hiro trying to grapple with the loss of his brother and learning the value of friendship. Even the death of Tadashi, which I saw coming, was handled in such a way that its predictability didn’t matter and the tragedy completely took over.

I really liked the main cast. Hiro and Baymax get the most screen time and are clearly the focus of the story, and their interactions are funny and touching. But they’re not alone in their quest for justice. Backing them up are are a diverse group of heroes with fun personalities. GoGo (Jamie Chung) is the cool, edgy tomboy, while Honey Lemon (Génesis Rodriguez) is geeky, intelligent, and downright adorable. Wasabi (Damon Wayans Jr.) is probably the most realistic character in the whole movie, being as terrified as any of us would be if we had to be superheroes. Even Fred (T.J. Miller) is a great addition, and Miller bounces back after an abysmal performance in the latest Transformers movie. All in all, a wonderful group of characters that are all very fun and lovable.

Big Hero 6 does what a lot of superhero movies fail to do; make the origin story fresh and new. The characters and world are built to perfection, and there’s not a moment wasted on unimportant things. The focus here is on the story and characters, and exploring their origins works toward the benefit of the movie.

Cons: Disney has created some of my favorite villains in cinematic history. When you’ve made characters as cool as Scar, Maleficent, Jafar, Gaston, Ursula, Shere Khan and Judge Claude Frollo, you’ve got the benefit of the doubt when it comes to villains. Sadly, the villain in Big Hero 6 isn’t very interesting. Before his identity is revealed Yokai is menacing and a competent threat. But as soon as his true identity is revealed he falls apart. His motivation made no sense, and the way his character arc is resolved leaves a lot to be desired.

Verdict: It may not reach the heights of Wreck-It Ralph and has a fairly lame villain, but Big Hero 6 is an exciting, funny, dramatic movie that offers further proof that Disney is the boss when it comes to movies. Kids are sure to enjoy it, but more mature audiences will be enthralled by the endearing characters and good storytelling.

Score: 8/10

Edge of Tomorrow Review

Starring Tom Cruise, Emily Blunt, Bill Paxton, and Brendan Gleeson. Directed by Doug Liman. Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi action and violence, language and brief suggestive material. 113 minutes.

Edge of Tomorrow was one of those movies that had an interesting premise and strong cast, but was hampered by poor marketing. When I first saw the trailer, I was excited, but after seeing it all over tv and the internet, I started to pick out all the flaws. It looked like some cheap pseudo-philosophical sci-fi movie that felt more at home being directed by Lars von Trier than Doug Liman (The Bourne Identity, Mr. & Mrs. Smith). So, I went into Edge of Tomorrow with a lot of apprehension, but was hoping the great Tom Cruise could salvage it. Well, there was no need to worry, because this is a very good movie.

Premise: A hapless soldier fighting a hopeless war against invading aliens gets caught in a time loop, meaning that whenever he dies he goes back to before the battle even started. With this in mind, he uses every attempt to fight the aliens to get stronger.

Pros: I’ve always been a big fan of Tom Cruise. Even with some of the strange things that have happened in his personal life, I think he’s very talented and always enjoy seeing him, especially when he plays against type. He does that and more in Edge of Tomorrow. Instead of playing the calm and collected badass, Cruise goes the opposite direction and plays William Cage as a cowardly man who really shouldn’t be in combat. His character arc is quite impressive, going from a pathetic loser who isn’t fit to lead a parade to a warrior with the power to save humanity.

Even though this is Cruise’s movie, the rest of the cast more than holds their own. Emily Blunt is near-perfect as a paragon of badassery that happens to be a broken woman deep down. I wasn’t sure what Bill Paxton could bring to this film, as he hasn’t been seen much in a while. However, he does a good job as a nasty soldier. And it’s always fun to see Brendan Gleeson, even when he’s being a grade-A jerk.

The action and visual effects are great. There may be a few moments where it falls into that awful shaky-camera technique, but for the most part the action is really crisp, really clear, and really well-composed. The gritty realism of the battles is only helped by the terrific visual effects. I know this is cliched, but I really felt like I was right there on the battlefield.

Going into Edge of Tomorrow, I was worried that after a few deaths, Tom Cruise’s power would get stale. He’s basically immortal, and I’ve found that something like that can become boring very quickly. I was happy to see that they found a lot of ways to make his immortality an interesting plot device and even use it for some black comedy.

Cons: There’s some plot devices that didn’t really work for me. For example, Cage is stuck in the time loop because he absorbs the blood of one of the aliens. But if he gets a blood transfusion, he’ll get out of it. I thought this was kind of lame. It’s also not really explained how anyone really understands how the aliens’ blood creates a time loop, at least not adequately.

I wasn’t a fan of the ending. It was confusing and only served to raise more questions. It’s also kind of a copout. I can’t really explain why without spoilers, but just know that the ending is pretty poor.

Verdict: Edge of Tomorrow is a really entertaining, action-packed, funny blockbuster that deserves every penny it gets. Don’t trust the trailers, go check it out for yourself.

Score: 8/10

Ender’s Game Review

Premise: In the wake on an alien attack, a child super-soldier is called in to command the human fighting against the invasion. Directed by Gavin Hood. Starring Asa Butterfield, Harrison Ford, Abigail Breslin, Hailee Steinfeld, Ben Kingsley, and Viola Davis.

Pros: I’m a fan of the novel, and I’ve wondered what a film would be like. But since Orson Scott Card is a hugely controversial figure and the material has the potential to become a political minefield. Ender and his brigade are essentially child soldiers, and most moral guardians don’t take kindly to that sort of thing, to say the least. But I must say Gavin Hood and company have preserved the spirit of the book while omitting parts that are unnecessary or unsavory. This is quite a good adaptation. (But is it a good film? We’ll get to that later.

Butterfield’s performance as this young military commander is quite good. I’ve been convinced since the BBC’s “Merlin” that Butterfield is one of the top young actors working today, and this film re-validates that sentiment. It’s hardly Oscar-worthy, but coming from an actor this young, I’d say his performance is pretty good. 

Cons: The film’s downfall lies in it’s storytelling. There’s the old rule that you “show, don’t tell”. This film, unfortunately, does neither. Many elements are just…there. For example, why are the child soldiers used? Why did the aliens attack? Why is Ben Kingsley even there? There’s a lot of questions that I feel were answered poorly. 

The dialogue is pretty bad as well. Harrison Ford phones his lines in, but even someone who cared wouldn’t really be an improvement. Viola Davis and the extras also get some frankly laughable excuses for dialogue that harkens back to the former two “Star Wars” prequels. If you want Shakespearian-quality dialogue, you’ll probably die of shock before you get to the credits.

Verdict: Although props go to Gavin Hood for getting the film made at all, “Enders Game” is a clunky would-be sci-fi epic that always feels worse than it should. Not bad per se, but not really worth seeing either. Overall, I give it a 5/10.