Monday, June 20, 2005

Batman Begins

Batman Begins is a superhero movie that takes itself seriously - and rightly so. Finally, a Batman movie has come along that captures how dark and brooding Batman is supposed to be. This is a great film. So far, it is THE movie to see this summer.

Batman Begins is a giant do-over of the previous, ever-worsening Batman movies. Pretend that the first Batman films (starring Michael Keaton, Val Kilmer, and George Clooney) never existed. And smile. Because that was the only way that a good Batman film could have been made. Never in my life had I seen a franchise plummet from such an auspicious start to drivel.

Christian Bale is the best Batman and Bruce Wayne to date (Sorry, Michael Keaton!). Michael Caine is a standout as Alfred. Hell, even Katie Holmes serves her purpose.

The script is fantastic. The Batman origin is explained in detail. Why a bat? Where'd he get the suit? Where'd he get the Batmobile? What's the story with the Batcave? And "where did he get all those marvelous toys?" All these questions are answered.

I could go on and on about this movie, but the bottom line is: This isn't a great action film - it's a great FILM.

See it. You will not be disappointed.

Tuesday, June 07, 2005

Alone In The Dark

FOR GOD'S SAKE, DO NOT, DO NOT, DO NOT, DO NOT, DO NOT SEE THIS MOVIE. This horror movie, starring Christian Slater, Stephen Dorff, and Tara Reid (playing an archeologist, which should have been warning enough), is, quite possibly, the worst move I have ever seen. Ever.

Don't say you haven't been warned.

Monday, June 06, 2005

Assault On Precinct 13

I first saw the original Assault On Precinct 13, by John Carpenter, many years ago, and loved it. I loved it for many reasons, including the fact that the little girl from Disney's Escape From Witch Mountain gets shot in the chest in point blank range right through her vanilla ice cream cone. The original Assault took its time (as so many of those 70s "action" movies do), and when the action finally got going, it was great.

I rented the remake, intrigued with the good reviews and the changes made to the story. While the original took place in LA, with a brutal, 1970s multi-cultural gang laying siege to the closing Precinct, this new one takes place on New Year's Eve in Detroit, during a raging blizzard. The gang is gone, replaced by rogue cops.

The premise is this: Ethan Hawke stars as the sergeant in charge of Precinct 13. 13 is closing its doors for good at midnight. There is a skeleton crew, including a retiring cop (Brian Dennehy) and a slutty receptionist (Drea de Matteo). Lawrence Fishburne is a bad ass cop killer that has been arrested, and can name up to 35 cops on his payroll, including a bigshot cop, played by Gabriel Byrne. While transporting Fishburne and some other convicts to jail, the bus is diverted to Precinct 13 due to an accident that closed the road. (By the way, a lot of critics complained that, because of this unexpected diversion, the bad cops would never have been able carry out their plans. I say, "Rubbish." It seems clear to me that the bad cops were the ones who diverted the bus to 13 by falsely reporting the accident. Pay attention, people!)

This movie was great. I loved it. I now OWN it. The acting is impeccable. The backstory to Ethan's character is great. Maria Bello is solid as Ethan's therapist, unfortunately stuck in 13, and the subsequent assault, due to the blizzard. John Leguizamo is fantastic as the junkie convict.

Most surprisingly, there are unexpected moments during the film which are not your typical standard fare in action movies. It's better than the original. It takes the original's idea, and creates characters for whom you care. Well, "care" may not be the right word. "Find interesting" is perhaps more like it. The changes to the story are appropriate. It's a really good film. Plus, as an added bonus, there are a lot of people that get shot in the head.

Wednesday, June 01, 2005

Star Wars III - Revenge of the Sith

When I first saw the trailers for Star Wars III, my first thought was, "Damn you, George Lucas. Damn you for giving me hope."

You see, I, like many of you, was literally offended by Phantom Menace. It was that bad. Attack of the Clones wasn't much better. Both of these films defiled Star Wars as I knew it. Star Wars, Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi (to a lesser extent) all created such wonderful, film-going experiences for me. The Star Wars world was amazing.

Then Episodes I and II came out, and I was reminded why Empire Strikes Back was my favorite - George Lucas had virtually nothing to do with the film! He has a "Story by" credit, but didn't write the script, and didn't direct the movie. Empire was good BECAUSE Lucas kept his hands off. And Phantom and Clones sucked because Lucas was involved too much. He lost touch with his audience. He created Jar-Jar Binks. He created a young Anakin Skywalker that actually said the line, "Yippee!" He cast that poor little kid to play Anakin in Phantom, and it became painfully clear that that kid was in way over his head (hence the name Mannequin Skywalker by the critics). He created bad guys that were only robots. He turned the Star Wars franchise into kids' movies. And badly written kids' movies, at that.

So when I saw that trailer for Revenge of the Sith, I was concerned because it looked good. It looked dark. It looked like a grown-up movie. And George couldn't possibly make a movie that was this good. And when it was announced that it was going to be rated PG-13, my expectations, against my better judgment, began to rise.

So I go see the movie on opening weekend. And, God help me, I liked it. Quite a bit. Yes, the writing was bad. Yes, it became clear that George doesn't know how to direct a romantic couple. But it didn't matter. The story was there. It was good. It was dark. Anakin's turn to the Dark Side is complete.

Don't get me wrong - the film has its faults. The aforementioned dialogue is bad. And I felt that that actual moment Anakin turned to the Dark Side was given short-shrift. He literally goes from "My God, what have I done?" to kneeling before a Sith Lord pledging his allegiance within 10 seconds. But, in the grand scheme of things, it didn't matter.

The special effects are, of course, awesome. I'm not even going to spend much space in this review for that. I EXPECT good special effects in any movie that needs them. But the payoff, the resolution to all six movies, was worthwhile.

So, I am VERY happy to report, that the movie was good. Good enough, in fact, so that I've decided that when the inevitable 6-pack Star Wars Anthology comes out on DVD, I'll buy it. True, I'll never watch Phantom or Attack, unless my nephew wants to see them. But Revenge of the Sith was a good conclusion. And, for all you true Star Wars geeks, it resolves all your questions.

As a side note, I'd have to rank Revenge of the Sith as the third best film in the series - better than Return of the Jedi. For me, from best to worst, the ranking goes: Empire, Star Wars, Revenge, Return, Attack, Phantom.

One final thought. For those of you with children, some day they will need to see these films. Do them a favor. Show them in the order they came out. These final three films work best as a tragedy from the beginning. Don't start the viewing process with The Phantom Menace. Start it the way it needs to be started - with Star Wars Episode IV - A New Hope.