Reviews

Most people chafed at the thought of a retelling of Superman's origin story. But, like a composer weaving the same notes into a new song, the team of Snyder, Nolan, and Goyer have taken the same elements and given us an all-new emotionally-resonant and intellectually-stimulating composition.

We start this new tale on the dying planet of Superman's birth. That single element right there is the first change from the traditional Superman mythos: the fact of Superman's birth. Like certain great science fiction tales of old (more on that in a bit), Krypton is portrayed as a hyper-advanced society that has become virtually (and in some cases literally) mechanized in all the aspects that matter. Children, for example, are not born, but rather grown. For centuries, this has been Krypton's way of controlling the population and assigning roles for everyone in society. It is considered heresy for a couple to bear a child on their own as Jor-El and Lara Lor-Van have done.

There's not much time for punishment, of course, as mining forays into Krypton's core have triggered massive geologic events that will lead to the planet's inevitable destruction. Jor-El and Lara have foreseen this, and they have prepared a ship to carry their son Kal-El to another world; along with the Codex, a genetic database for the entire Kryptonian race, that may one day be used to rebuild their civilization. Kal-El's parents don't join him in the life pod, partly because they consider themselves a product of their own failed society, but also because they need to protect the pod's launch from the forces of General Zod.

Michael Shannon has some large, hammy shoes to fill. Terence Stamp's performance as the megalomaniacal Zod in Superman II is the pinnacle of supervillainy goodness in film. Could "I will find him!" be the new "Kneel before Zod!"? Maybe not. But Shannon does give us a thrilling reinterpretation of the Kryptonian criminal. As I said earlier, on Krypton, children are genetically engineered and raised from "birth" to fill certain roles in society. Zod's role is as Krypton's protector; and he is good at his job. Anything he sees as a threat to Krypton, he seeks to eliminate. That includes the Council that dug too deep into Krypton's core, Jor-El and Lara's illegally-conceived son, and the people of planet Earth when it becomes clear that terraforming our planet is the only way to build an environment where the genetic lines in the Codex can be properly reconstituted. He's campy at times, but Shannon's Zod is no less threatening for that fact, and he provides a grown Kal-El with a frightening picture of what the planet of his origin had produced.

Armed all the morals both his adoptive parents could instill in him, grown up Clark wanders the Earth hoping to learn more about himself, and looking for any sign that the time to reveal himself is at hand. His travels eventually lead him to the Arctic, where military forces (and one enterprising reporter) are on the verge of discovering an alien aircraft that's been buried in the ice for thousands of years. Clark beats them to it, of course, and activates his real father's artificial intelligence interface, allowing him to learn at last about his other heritage.

Some have criticized MoS for being "dark and gloomy", but I see it as hopeful and inspirational. And nowhere is that hope and inspiration more evident than in the scene where Jor-El tells his son he will only know how strong he is if he keeps testing his limits. His speech about how humanity will race behind him, stumble, and fall, but eventually join him in the Sun is taken directly from "All-Star Superman", one of the best Superman graphic novels in history. Another graphic novel, "Superman: Birthright", gives us the gem about how the "S" is actually the Kryptonian symbol for hope. The scene culminates in Superman's first flight.

The final battle, of course, is where the great debate about whether this is really a "Superman movie" resides. As you know, superhero battles often cause a great deal of destruction, but it's often shrugged off as "cartoon violence". In any case, we rarely see anyone actually die (though we all have to admit there must be plenty of offscreen death in every superhero movie). MoS actually shows a lot of that death on screen as the Kryptonians' ships start terraforming the Earth into a new Krypton. We see that Superman, tasked with destroying two massive ships on opposite sides of the Earth, cannot save everyone. This has led a distressingly large number of people to claim that he actually causes the death and destruction in Metropolis, though a careful reviewing will show that Superman didn't actually cause all that much damage, either directly or indirectly.

You may say he was responsible for all the damage Zod caused during their titanic clash; but Zod, bereft of his one last chance to create a new Krypton to protect as he'd been born and bred to do, swore to make every human suffer to punish Kal-El. The fully deranged general would not let himself be led away, and in the end, he forced Superman to pass final, terrible, and swift judgment upon him with the lives of others in danger. On Earth, we call it "suicide by cop". Superman, no doubt, will call it the moment he realized there were some things even he couldn't do.

I love this movie. MoS has given us the chance to see a new Superman in a new way, and whether it makes a billion dollars in theaters or paves the way for a Justice League movie or even gets a sequel, it shows us what a man, even a man of steel, can do. It's enough to make me strain my neck watching the skies.

(read full review at http://fourthdayuniverse.com/reports/2013/07/its-supermans-time)

X-Men: First Class takes us on a strange journey. It takes us back to the land of "might have been".

The source material has been doing this for years, of course. Alternate timelines, possible Earths, parallel universes are old hat for the X-Men. Heck, some of their members come from such times and places. But the cinematic X-Men have more or less avoided such toys.

Until now. Ignoring X-3 and Origins: Wolverine (no. stop. don't. police.), the film postulates and explores missed opportunities. The tragedy of roads not taken. And it does this all without Wolverine hogging the screen! (Not to say that there just might be a cameo of some sort, bub.) By taking this unconventional approach, the franchise has not just been rejuvenated, I believe that it raises the bar for live action super-hero films in general.

Magneto and Professor X. They were friends, once. But who was responsible for the creation of whom? Why are they each other's arch-foes? Let's travel back to 1962 and find out, shall we? The young, spoiled Charles Xavier we meet has lived a life of privilege and wealth. His powers are easily hidden. If anything, he's more interested in using them to chase women and score educational opportunities than change the world for the better.

Meanwhile, a mysterious man named Erik is systematically traversing the globe, hunting down the men who made his childhood a living hell.

Both end up on a collision course when they run afoul of the enigmatic Sebastian Shaw, the self-appointed "Black King" of mutantkind, who's rapidly manipulating world events to the point that the Children of the Atom just may be the only living things left.

Charles' and Erik's respective arcs consume most of the film, but much focus is also had on Hank McCoy and Raven Darkholme, perhaps better known as Beast and Mystique. Neither can go out in the world without hiding what they truly are. Both long to be normal.

But is their freakish appearance truly a curse? Do they need to be "cured"? Or do they need to be proud? The tragic results of their haphazard experiments with being normal drive the points the film wishes to make home just as powerfully as Erik magnetically drives his points home in certain intense scenes.

Don't be mistaken. This movie, despite the teen goofing, 60s spy film cool, and general bright production design gets very dark before the end.

And it's unafraid to take this darkness to its logical conclusion.

We may mourn for Beast and Mystique's relationship being starcrossed. We may sigh and shake our heads at Charles' foolishness in not understanding just the wrong things to say to a man on the brink.

But the irony is, these same failures create hope, and heroism, where before was only hedonism and hidden villainy.

The final truth: By having his youthful blinders ripped away, his legs crippled, and his friendship betrayed, Xavier finally understands what a terrible place the world actually is. And this gives him the fire he needs to be a shining light of goodness in it.

By damning himself, Erik creates the method by which the world may ultimately be saved.

This is deep, mythic story-telling here. It's the sort of fresh start Marvel's mutants needed. Here's looking to much more to follow.

(Originally appeared at http://fourthdayuniverse.com/reports)

Someone asked me once what I thought ADD medication does. I thought about it for a second, and replied, "In the simplest terms, it changes your mind." Sometimes, people's minds need changing. More than just a push or a boost, sometimes people need help remembering things, learning new things, making connections between things they already know, motivating themselves to use that information, etc. In the movie "Limitless", there's a pill that does all of that; and much, much, much more. The tagline for this movie is "What if a pill could make you rich and powerful?" I prefer a line from the trailer: "How many of us ever know what it is to become the perfect version of ourselves?" Bradley Cooper plays Eddie Morra, a writer who can't motivate himself to write his book even when he locks himself in a room with his laptop. He doesn't do drugs (anymore), but anyone who looked at him would swear he was always strung out. He doesn't have anything. One day, Vernon (played by Johnny Whitworth), his ex-brother-in-law who is also his ex-dealer, offers him some help: a clear, little round pill that will clear his mind. Within a minute of taking it, Eddie finds he can remember tiny things from years earlier, make connections between little bits of information that he'd never given so much as a second thought, reason with startling eloquence, and most importantly (to him), slam out ninety pages of his book in one sitting that make his publisher beg for more. Does he want more pills after all this? Absolutely. He's not the only one who wants them, though. Despite Vernon's initial claim that the pill is "FDA-approved", it's clear soon enough that this is nothing you'll ever find in a drugstore. Whoever Vernon got it from (and however he got it), Eddie'll likely never know, because Vernon is murdered shortly after he and Eddie reconnect. Eddie finds Vernon's stash of clear little pills and proceeds to make over his life. He'll need every ounce of intelligence the pills can give him, too, to fend off a ruthless loan shark, the police officer who wants to know Eddie's connection to the dead dealer, and whatever shadowy figure is following him from the moment he starts taking the pills. In the meantime, Eddie realizes he can do far more than write books with his newfound intellect. In a few short days, he makes millions on the stock market, bringing him to the attention of Carl Van Loon, one of the wealthiest, most powerful men in the world, played by Robert De Niro. Carl is more than happy to benefit from Eddie's "freak" status, and even cautions Eddie not to push himself too far. Eddie has the brains, but Carl clearly has the experience (and the resources). He warns Eddie to not try and become his competitor (read: enemy). Finally, Eddie has to deal with the drug's side effects. He has waking blackouts, often finding himself across town, in strange locations, with complete strangers and no memory of how he got there. Withdrawal symptoms are worse than your standard medication, obviously, and stopping could mean hospitalization or worse. Since he doesn't know who makes the pills or where to get more, this is his biggest problem. Or would it be worse to stay on the pills? Eddie claims they're just making him into a better version of himself, but are they, in fact, changing who he is? Do they not just change what you can do, but also what you will do? His girlfriend, played by Abbie Cornish, once had to deal with a man who wouldn't do anything; now, she has to deal with a man for whom there's nothing he wouldn't do. The end of the movie leaves the question of just how much the pills change you unanswered. Based on a novel written by Alan Glynn, this movie has plenty of action sequences to complement the moral dilemma it poses: how far will you go to become a "better" version of yourself? Like all the great science fiction movies, this thriller doesn't focus on the sci-fi aspects, choosing instead to highlight the exploration of humanity on which we embark with the very first scene. And anyone who contemplates medication to improve their lives will certainly find a resonance with the character of Eddie Morra. Watching this movie may not change your mind, but it will certainly open it.

I'm sorry. I really do want to like Catherine Hardwicke's ("Twilight") version of "Red Riding Hood". It has some beautiful shots of the mountains and forests, right from the beginning of the movie. The "big names", Gary Oldman as the wolf-slaying Father Solomon and Julie Christie as Grandmother, did fine jobs in their roles. Even Amanda Seyfried was somewhat impressive as Valerie, the young lady who wears the red hood.

But that's about all the movie has going for it.

The movie is set in a medieval mountain village that, for the past few decades, has had an uneasy truce with a werewolf (don't bother looking for an explanation of how they reached that truce; it's not forthcoming). The villagers leave their best goat or pig or whatever tied to a post each full moon, and the wolf eats that rather than any of the people. But one day, Lucie, Valerie's sister, is mauled to death by the wolf, and the villagers vow vengeance.

Valerie, meanwhile, has been in love with Peter all her life and plans to run away with him before she is forced to marry Henry. The death of her sister, obviously, puts this plan on hold, giving Valerie's mother enough time to tell Valerie that she herself once had to give up the man she loved to marry the "sensible" choice. I have a feeling screenwriter David Johnson ("Orphan") would have preferred to leave at least that little bit of backstory out, as it's terribly cliché and feels nothing but rushed when discussed; but unfortunately, all of this is very necessary plot exposition, and not just so there will be a liberal sprinkling of red herrings during the second half of the movie.

When Father Solomon arrives in the village, he does his best to sow dissension amongst the villagers so as to make discovering who the werewolf is that much easier. The villagers are faced with the reality that the werewolf could be anyone, even someone they love. The mystery of the wolf's identity deepens when it shows itself to Valerie and speaks to her with its mind. This is where the movie started getting interesting again, for me. Werewolves aren't normally a spotlighted movie monster, despite the fact that the Big Bad Wolf is older than Dracula himself. It's great to see a mysterious and somewhat menacing wolf take center stage.

When Valerie is accused of being a witch and set out as bait for the wolf, certain villagers must decide how much to risk to save her. And that's where the movie loses me again. Peter and Henry, played by relative newcomers Shiloh Fernandez and Max Irons, have a somewhat … aborted rivalry as the two young men who both want to marry Valerie. Their particular subplot fizzles, especially when they both promise to cut the other's head off if one of them turns out to be the wolf. As a love triangle, it's not even a contest. We're shown, from the beginning, that Valerie has eyes only for Peter. Henry even sees them making out (to put it mildly) and stoically promises Valerie that he won't force her to marry him. Thus ends a plot thread that really didn't have anywhere to go, but that, again, couldn't be cut because of how it tied into the wider plot of the movie.

Valerie has a separate moment with both characters (and with several others) trying to decide if they're the wolf that spoke to her. There's enough red herring in this film to make even the hungriest wolf swear off fish forever. Is it the village priest, played by "Inception"s Lukas Haas? Is it one of the jealous village girls who secretly resent the fact that she's better than them at everything? Is it *gasp* a member of her own family? I assure you, by the time you find out, you'll no longer be engaged enough with the movie to be surprised (if the wolf's identity surprises you at all). It's not that the movie drags on; at just over an hour and a half, it could hardly do that. It's just not interesting enough. The potential was there; the potential for mystery, adventure, action, romance, and even horror. The movie just never reaches far enough into any of those categories. With the few exceptions that I mentioned at the beginning of the article, the acting is nothing to be proud of; the dialogue is misplaced, at best (as are the haircuts); and the ending can hardly be said to "pay out". It's a fair take on one of the world's oldest fairy tales; but as seriously as the movie takes itself, it should have been a little more serious.

(Originally appeared at http://fourthdayuniverse.com/reports)

"Battle: Los Angeles" is the latest addition to one of the oldest stories in science fiction: the alien invasion story. While most movies tend to treat alien invasion movies as disaster films, like "Independence Day", or survivalist films, like "War of the Worlds", "Battle: Los Angeles" treats alien invasions like actual invasions; that is to say, it's a war movie. This is both a good and a bad thing.

It's good because, hey, if you're going for "realism", which all movies seem to want to do these days, there's no other way to handle an alien invasion. You break out the military in full force, and you focus on the fighting. Maybe, if you want to appease the sci-fi fans as well as the average moviegoer, you include some discoveries and theories about the aliens, which "Battle" does. It has a good premise: a worldwide war that focuses on one battle so that it doesn't knock itself, or the viewers, out trying to cover the entire invasion of Earth. It focuses on the marines and their efforts to evacuate civilians from the combat zone while only occasionally touching on the aliens and their technology/motives so as not to … um … alienate the general audience.

It's also bad, because, while working in the obvious tropes about alien invasion, such as the superior technology, extraterrestrial biology, and overwhelming military force, it also works in quite a few war movie tropes at the same time. There's Aaron Eckhart's ("The Dark Knight", "Paycheck") character, Staff Sergeant Nantz, who's retiring from the Marines the very morning of the invasion. Ramon Rodriguez ("Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen") plays the young lieutenant fresh out of officer training who, despite outranking the older sergeant, still needs Nantz's guidance in leading the men (oh, and his wife's pregnant). There's even Noel Fisher, who's starring in the upcoming "Twilight: Breaking Dawn", playing a very young private who is constantly freaked out by everything that happens.

It's not that they play these roles poorly; it's just that this movie doesn't really have anything new to offer. It's refreshing to see an alien movie that doesn't exploit an incredibly lame weakness (minor spoiler: they do need to exploit a weakness); but every trope, from both types of movie, teeters on the edge of being a cliché. And there are only so many clichés you can take in one movie, especially a "serious" one.

I liked the movie; didn't love it, but I liked it. Aaron Eckhart almost never disappoints, and he did a good job in this movie. The interspersed moments of exposition, such as "experts" on TV discussing the aliens' actions, weren't the best, but they did make it a bit more believable. And there were some genuinely touching moments with the civilians they were sent to rescue. In the end, it goes for the trope, not the cliché, and it generally hits the mark.

(Originally appeared at http://fourthdayuniverse.com/reports)

"Season of the Witch" is a genuinely suspenseful and thrilling start to the 2011 movie year. With a cast comprised of screen veterans and relative newcomers, this period piece about witchcraft and true nobility will keep you on the edge of your seat from beginning to end. After a gripping prologue which establishes that witches do, in fact, exist and can be quite deadly, the movie dives straight into the heart of the Crusades in the mid-14th Century, the stage for some of the bloodiest and most brutal battles in history; and also some of the greatest abuses of authority by the Christian church. Two knights, Behmen and Felson, played by Nicolas Cage and Ron Perlman, enter the wars eager to fight at each other's side. However, as the horrors of war set in, the two become convinced that it would be better to desert and risk execution than continue the savage pursuit. It's a bit of a cliché, but director Dominic Sena handles it very well. The pair are eventually captured and brought to justice. However, the town in which they are arrested lies in the middle of a plague-stricken region. Even the local Cardinal, played by Christopher Lee, has fallen ill. He promises the knights they will be pardoned if they agree to help lift the curse he believes is the cause of the plague: a young woman accused of witchcraft must be taken to a monastery where certain rites must be performed that would end the curse. The girl, of course, would be executed. The errant knights have no desire to aid the church that has been the cause of so much suffering, but Behmen believes the girl's chances of a fair trial are much higher if they travel with her. It is not long before the small band of travelers encounters trouble, though, and even Behmen cannot ignore the likelihood that the girl is behind it all. As the young priest who accompanies them warns him, the girl will try to sow doubt and dissension in the minds of whomever comes close enough to hear her speak. Soon, it becomes clear that even traveling with her places each of their lives in danger. "Season" hovers on the edge of clicheness fairly often. There are a few moments that could have gone either way, including the "buddy" dynamic between Behmen and Felson and the inclusion of Kay, the young altar boy who accompanies them hoping to become a knight like his father was. These moments, however, lend a much-needed lightheartedness to a movie that keeps your heart pounding almost nonstop, and the caliber of the acting and directing keep it from going over the edge. The balance of seasoned and up-and-coming actors also works well in "Season". Claire Foy, in particular, is a delight to watch as she runs the gamut of roles from simple peasant and hapless victim to shrewd manipulator and evil menace. Cage and Perlman seem a touch out of place at times in medieval Europe, but as friends willing to fight together even in the face of Hell, they fit perfectly. It's not the standard winter movie fare, perhaps, but it's definitely spellbinding. )

Jang Dong Gun, the South Korean movie star who's known for far more than martial arts, has made his American blockbuster debut in "The Warrior's Way", a film about the greatest swordsman in the world who is forced to flee his home. While not precisely a science fiction movie, there are just enough fantastical elements in this Old Western-style action flick to make it into the genre without crossing over into the highly volatile "Sci-fi Western" category. And that definitely works for this movie. Here are some other things that work, and that don't work.

First, the plot. Yang, trained since childhood to be the greatest warrior ever, is sent by his tribe to destroy their rivals; every last one of them. However, when he meets the last one, a baby girl whom eventually is named April, he makes the decision not to kill her. This may seem like a cliché, but Yang's goal was never to become a murderer. As a boy, he saw his own father murdered. He was adopted, essentially, and trained by the leader of his tribe to become an assassin; but his only ambition is to become the greatest swordsman in the world, and that ambition is not served by killing an innocent child. Knowing that his tribe will target him next for his failure, Yang takes the little girl with him and sets course for America.

The circus town (very nearly a ghost town) which is his destination works for this movie. He goes there because an old friend of his lives there; well, lived there. Finding that his friend has passed away, he is persuaded by the townsfolk to stay and take over the laundry shop that has been idle ever since. He even takes over the flower garden that no one had yet been able to properly cultivate. The colorful characters, including the ringleader Eight-ball (Tony Cox), the drunken Ron (Geoffrey Rush), and the knife-throwing Lynne (Kate Bosworth), quickly befriend the wanderer from the Orient and his delightful little charge. Soon, Yang sees the advantages of, in the words of the narrator, "making things grow instead of cutting them down". Again, it's a cliché that could easily have been mishandled, but that director Sngmoo Lee deftly utilizes.

The fight scenes in this movie are spectacular. Yang's former compatriots eventually find him, as you'd expect; and, as you'd expect, an incredible battle ensues. Jang Dong Gun is neither over-the-top nor completely wooden as he plays the ruthless assassin cutting down his foes. The transition between the simple laundry man raising a little girl and the cool, calculating warrior is more seamless than you'd expect.

The ninjas aren't the only villains in this movie, either. Danny Huston plays the Colonel, a man who drops in and out of the town periodically, taking whatever he wants each time. Commanding a force of what seems like no fewer than a hundred Hell Riders, the various clowns and tricksters have little in the way of defense. However, Yang isn't the only resident of this thriving circus town who hides a warrior side. When the final battle ensues, expect to see plenty of blood shed on all sides.

Lynne's storyline doesn't quite work, though not for the reasons you might think. There must always be balance between the main plot and the subplots; specifically, the main plot must outweigh the others. Yang's story certainly outweighs that of the circus town itself. The performers want to make a complete transition from "traveling" to "stationary"; part of that effort is in the creation of the gigantic Ferris Wheel. However, both Yang's battle with his tribe and Lynne's with the Colonel eventually come first, and no alternative is left to the other residents but to fight when the time comes.

Between Yang and Lynne, there is an undeniable attraction, and an unmistakable chemistry as well. By the time the final fight has begun, it's clear they've become equals, in their own way. That's fine, for a romance movie; but for a romantic subplot to this particular movie, it's not the best formula. Even Lynne's confrontation with her adversary ends up seeming more central to the movie than Yang's own.

The "end" of the movie definitely works. I won't give too much away, except to say this: when you train your entire life as a killer, how can you expect to simply walk away, even if all your enemies are dead? The movie is more bloody than I normally enjoy, and I don't think every storyline worked as well as they could have. However, it was highly thrilling, and literally kept me on the edge of my seat during some scenes. Jang Dong Gun is my favorite part of the movie, quietly charming and deadly, some times at the same time. Even if "The Warrior's Way" itself doesn't take off, you can expect his future in cinema to, on both sides of the Pacific. He certainly works for me.

(Originally appeared at http://fourthdayuniverse.com/reports/ )