The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
DIRECTOR: Christopher Nolan
CAST:
Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Anne Hathaway, Tom Hardy, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Marion Cotillard, Morgan Freeman
REVIEW:
WARNING: WHILE I HAVE ASPIRED TO AVOID OUTRIGHT “SPOILERS”, THIS REVIEW WILL MENTION SPECIFIC ASPECTS OF THE FILM’S PLOT
Along with Joss Whedon’s The Avengers earlier this summer, Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy has redefined the possibilities of what to expect from a “comic book superhero movie” and raised the bar to a level that future entries in the genre will be hard-pressed to equal, let alone surpass. While The Avengers served up grand spectacle on an unprecedented scale, Nolan’s Batman films went the more thoughtful, introspective, and in many ways, more groundbreaking approach, defying the expectations and supposed constraints of the genre, approaching the material as deep, dark, serious drama, and making the likes of Spider-Man look fluffy and insubstantial in comparison. Batman Begins was a respectable launching pad. The Dark Knight soared above and beyond, seizing the title of, for my money and the money of many others, the most dark, ambitious, and adult-oriented comic book superhero movie ever made, and now Nolan has chosen to cap off his series with a climactic chapter, perhaps the first time a director in a superhero series has chosen of his own accord to conclude his story (as opposed to Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man and Bryan Singer and Brett Ratner’s X-Men, who were robbed of intended fourth installments by the disappointing receptions of their third entries). While in my opinion The Dark Knight remains unseated as the most impressive of Nolan’s Batman films, The Dark Knight Rises brings this solid trilogy to a respectable conclusion. Continue reading
The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)
DIRECTOR: Marc Webb
CAST:
Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Rhys Ifans, Denis Leary, Martin Sheen, Sally Field
REVIEW:
The road to this reboot was a twisty-turny one. Originally, despite the general opinion of Spider-Man 3 as a disappointment, Sony intended to forge onward with a fourth installment with director Sam Raimi and star Tobey Maguire still attached. But due to reasons including Raimi’s clashes with the studio during the making of Spider-Man 3 (he did not want to include the villain Venom in the film, who was essentially forced on him by producer Avi Arad), Maguire’s hefty salary requests, and possibly other behind-the-scenes issues we’ll never know about, Sony eventually completely dropped Raimi, Maguire, and company and decided to start fresh with another Spider-Man movie that, like Batman Begins, had nothing to do with those that came before. Many, including myself, were highly skeptical of the news of a reboot again showing us Spidey’s origin story, considering we’d seen it in theaters a mere decade ago, and I still haven’t 100% made up my mind whether the reboot has justified its existence, but viewed on its own, it’s an entertaining (if not quite “amazing”) addition to the masked webslinger’s onscreen adventues. Continue reading
Prometheus (2012)
DIRECTOR: Ridley Scott
CAST:
Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender, Charlize Theron, Idris Elba, Guy Pearce, Logan Marshall-Green, Rafe Spall, Sean Harris, Benedict Wong, Patrick Wilson
REVIEW:
WARNING: THIS REVIEW WILL MENTION SPECIFIC ASPECTS OF THE FILM’S PLOT
One’s appreciation of Prometheus might be heavily-influenced by what one goes in expecting. Despite Ridley Scott’s attempts to downplay Prometheus‘ description as a prequel to his 1979 sci-fi horror classic Alien and have it viewed as a stand-alone story, many were disappointed by its loose connections and markedly different aims to its predecessor. While it does contain elements of horror, Prometheus is less single-minded in its intentions than Alien and has far broader themes it’s trying to tackle. Chief among Prometheus‘ flaws is that it bites off more than it can chew, but it’s still an intriguing sci-fi entry for those not expecting too much xenomorph action. Continue reading
Snow White and the Huntsman (2012)
DIRECTOR: Rupert Sanders
CAST:
Kristen Stewart, Charlize Theron, Chris Hemsworth, Sam Claflin, Sam Spruell, Bob Hoskins, Ian McShane, Ray Winstone, Toby Jones, Eddie Marsan
REVIEW:
What one makes of Snow White and the Huntsman might hinge a lot on expectations. Don’t be fooled by it sharing a title character with the Disney cartoon; this is not a movie for small children. In fact, it might have more to offer for fans of The Lord of the Rings or Game of Thrones than those longing for dwarves singing “HI HO, HI HO”. The dark fantasy tone and some visual aspects (and even occasional scenes) bring to mind The Neverending Story and especially Willow as probably its closest cinematic cousins. Continue reading
The Avengers (2012)
DIRECTOR: Joss Whedon
CAST:
Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Samuel L. Jackson, Mark Ruffalo, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Tom Hiddleston, Clark Gregg, Gwyneth Paltrow, Stellan Skarsgard
REVIEW:
I don’t think there’s ever been a movie with as much set-up as The Avengers, for which Iron Man, Iron Man 2, Thor, and Captain America all, to greater or lesser extents, served as prologue. It was a risky gamble (any of the four movies leading up to The Avengers flopping badly enough could have derailed the whole endeavor), but it has not only paid off, it has done so with flying colors. The Avengers is a virtual comic book movie fan’s wet dream from start to finish, and crafts an epic spectacle on a level that might surpass that of any existing comic book film. As entertaining as Iron Man and Thor are, The Avengers easily climbs to another level. The Dark Knight may deal with darker, deeper themes, but the two movies’ tones are different enough that it seems unfair to compare them, and both represent the genre at its crowning pinnacle. The Avengers is delirious levels of fun from beginning to end, and provides any Marvel comic fan with two hours in cinematic candyland. Continue reading
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2012)
DIRECTOR: John Madden
CAST: Judi Dench, Tom Wilkinson, Bill Nighy, Maggie Smith, Dev Patel, Penelope Wilton, Celia Imrie, Ronald Pickup, Tina Desai, Diana Hardcastle, Lillete Dubey
REVIEW:
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is one of those low-key, quiet and inoffensive little comedy-dramas (steeped in oh-so-British reserve) that serve as counter-programming to the big summer action movies. To that end, it’s not anything unpredictable or edgy, and doesn’t really venture out of its safe zone, but it serves up enough sweetness with dashes of romance and just a drop of poignancy to make it an enjoyable experience that goes down easily, even if it doesn’t necessarily leave the biggest lasting impression. Those who have a soft spot for lighthearted predictable drama (boosted by a distinguished ensemble cast of respected elder British thespians) might enjoy (one wonders if the movie might play better with those who have more in common, in age and perhaps nationality, with the main characters, than with younger viewers who might want a little more “pep”). Continue reading
The Hunger Games (2012)
DIRECTOR: Gary Ross
CAST:
Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, Stanley Tucci, Wes Bentley, Lenny Kravitz, Donald Sutherland, Toby Jones
REVIEW:
The first onscreen installment of the popular book trilogy, The Hunger Games deserves to be viewed and judged on its own merits, not by misleading media comparisons to the Twilight series, which has more to do with trying to drum up the same mania for the new franchise than real similarities between the films. While both are adaptations of popular book series considered young adult fiction, The Hunger Games is more grown-up and respectable, and has more serious things to say. Continue reading
Episode 2×15: “Sexy”
DIREC
TOR: Ryan Murphy
WRITER: Brad Falchuk
ORIGINAL AIR DATE: March 8, 2011
GUEST STARS: Gwyneth Paltrow, John Stamos, Chord Overstreet, Darren Criss, Ashley Fink, Dot-Marie Jones
REVIEW:
While it’s neither as much wild fun as its predecessor, Blame It On The Alcohol, nor as epic as its successor, Original Song, “Sexy” is a pretty good episode that, like BIOTA, addresses a social issue (albeit in a somewhat muddled fashion) while throwing in enough levity not to feel overbearingly like A Very Special Episode Continue reading
This Means War (2012)
DIRECTOR: McG
CAST:
Reese Witherspoon, Chris Pine, Tom Hardy, Chelsea Handler, Til Schweiger, Angela Bassett, Rosemary Harris
REVIEW:
This Means War is an adequate hour and a half of diversion for the bored and undemanding, but is as slickly studio-polished a slice of fluffy and forgettable mindless entertainment as can be found. Continue reading
Episode 2×16: “Original Song”
DIRECTOR: Bradley Buecker
WRITER: Ryan Murphy
ORIGINAL AIR DATE: March 15, 2011
GUEST STARS: Chord Overstreet, Darren Criss, Ashley Fink, Kathy Griffin, Loretta Devine, Bill A. Jones
REVIEW:
While it doesn’t quite scale the epic heights and swirling emotions of Season 1’s Journey to Regionals (but it doesn’t have to, since that was the season finale and this is Episode 16 out of 22), Original Song is definitely one of the standout episodes of Season 2. Continue reading