Marvel again, this is starting to look more and more like summer 2008 all over again. When it comes to comic books, you can find few series that can get as convoluted and confusing as the X-men. Be it the long continuity, the numerous characters, or the massive and I do mean MASSIVE amount of books they can have out in any given time. I’m a casual comic reader that’s starting to step his toe in to the vast waters of comic geekdom, but I can honestly say I am terrified by the sheer thought of trying to read X-Men, even with the help of things like Wikipedia to explain things. All that said, I do at least admire the characters and have been a fan of the animated TV shows and the first couple of live action movies. “X-men” and “X2: X-men United” were both very well done summer popcorn movies, but I felt a little bit of what I have come to call “Kill Bill Syndrome”, referring to genre style movies that get sequels that either lacked it’s predecessor’s narrative finesse or well paced character development, but had some stand out set pieces were just epic and made you not care too much, or vice versa. A great example is the two most recent James Bond movies. “Casino Royale” was a well played character driven movie with a couple decent action scenes but can drag at times, while “Quantum of Solace” had lots of great action but little substance outside bringing Bond some closure left over from the last movie. The first two X-men movies were very similar, the first one was all about action scenes with maybe some underlying racism/homophobia/prejudice metaphor the series has always been praised for, but that’s about it. The second movie had a much more substantive plot with some character development, particularly with Wolverine and Iceman, and MUCH more of the prejudice metaphor comes out here, though not too much in the way of stand out action. But as fair as I can be with movies, as much as I tend to give movies the benefit of the doubt, “X-men: The Last Stand” pretty much killed my enthusiasm for any further movies in the franchise, it was pretty weak both plot wise and in it’s action. The characters were bland save for Kelsey Grammer as Beast and Vinnie Jones as The Juggernaut, giving us that wonderful internet meme. (google “I’m the Juggernaut Bitch!” if you don’t know what I’m talking about.) It was lame, and actually pretty stupid at times, which is also why I didn’t see the Wolverine spin off, though from what I’ve heard and what little I’ve seen, I was the smart one there. So how is the new prequel “X-men: First Class”?
AWESOME!
This is seriously the first really really good super hero movie since “The Dark Knight”. Which is ironic because what made “The Dark Knight” work so well as a sequel was that all the set up was done in “Batman Begins” so we got to go right into the action and the movie got to surprise us with how much more dark and foreboding it was. This is basically the story behind all the things they mentioned all the way back in the first movie, we know that Magneto becomes a bad guy, we know that by movie’s end Professor X is going to end up in a wheel chair and we know that mutants are going to end up with a bad rap that won’t get any better, so how could this actually be better than the first X-men movies? Yes, I said it, this is far better, though the answer is a little tough to put into words besides just saying “HOLY SHIT THAT IS THE MOST AWESOME THING EVER!”
A lot of the credit has to go to the two leads, Michael Fassbender and James McAvoy, most especially Fassbender, who basically gets to create his own sequel to “Inglorious Basterds” in the first act by killing Nazis that have gone into hiding, only since he’s Magneto he gets to use super powers. But while his villainous side is great, he adds a lot of humanity to the part as the film progresses. McAvoy’s Professor Xavier has a great humorous side as well as the acting chops to make it work with lines that sound like Star Trek techno babble version 1.0. The supporting cast is also very great with Jennifer Lawrence as the new Msytique, who actually talks a lot more and, you know has a character past being Rebecca Romijin in practically nothing but body make up. Nicholas Hoult does a great job as Beast who also has a well played romantic subplot with Lawrence. And rounding it is out is Kevin Bacon as villain Sebastian Shaw, giving a nicely over top the performance in addition to yet another way for me to dominate in the six degrees of separation game.
But what is the plot you ask? Why, simply that Sebastian Shaw is set upon destroying humanity. He chooses to accomplish this by instigating an international incident at the height of the Cold War via the Cuban Missile Crisis. But the US has contracted Xavier and Magneto to create their own mutant team to stop them. To put it as an associate of mine did, it’s summed up like this: “How do you make the Cuban Missile Crisis awesome? Throw in superpowers.”
The mutant fights scenes are well handled giving everyone a chance to shine, and also showing that Matthew Vaughn’s ability to make “Kick Ass” actually… Kick ass, was not merely a once in a lifetime fluke. He also seems to get that with something like X-men, you can’t screw up the quiet moments either. Even when nothing much is happening on the screen visually, which is rare, the atmosphere and tension is so thick you’d need a bayonet the size of Michael Bay’s ego to cut through it. It’s filled with intrigue, suspense, and well rounded characters keep you so interested in every frame of this movie. Even things you know are coming, like Magneto’s turn to evil, pack a huge dramatic punch because it’s so well handled and built up to.
All this said, it is not without its short comings. January Jones of “Mad Men” fame, is certainly easy on the eyes, but doesn’t really have a lot of range, not helped by her character being not particularly well written as the stock femme fatale cliché. Also while Jason Fleming does add a lot without saying much as teleporting mutant Azazel, his character does remain a bit of a mystery, which in theory is ok, but something about the execution bugged me. But these are all nit picks, and don’t really spoil the movie.
Do I need to say anymore? Go see this movie! If you’ve seen it already, SEE IT AGAIN! Show the studios that this is what we want from comic book movies!
X-Men: First Class gets from me:
5 STARS out of 5
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Friday, June 3, 2011
The Hangover Part II... and something extra.
“The Hangover” was one of those rare comedies that was both a really interesting and well executed idea that made for an astoundingly good movie, as well as being a good bet for big box office with raunchy jokes and the fan base of “Daily Show” and “The Office” regular Ed Helms, as well as cult stand up comedian Zach Galifianakis. Its premise of three guys that had a crazy night in Vegas that they couldn’t remember is just a great concept and I really enjoyed it. That said, it really didn’t lend itself to a sequel, and that really shows in the one we got.
I’m not really going to say much here. There really is nothing to say about this movie other than it’s a slightly less funny version of the first one set in Bangkok, Thailand instead of Las Vegas, and instead of looking for their friend Doug, they’re looking for Ed Helm’s future brother in law. All the returning cast is just as good as they were last time and the new additions are for the most part barely in the movie. The jokes are pretty much either clones of the first movie’s jokes or just the guys talking about the first movie’s events. I mean it was nice to see how these characters have all dealt with it after the fact, but it just really made me wish I was watching the first movie because this movie is just a big retread of all the major plot point of the first one. It is a competent comedy but the first one was much better and director Todd Phillip’s last movie “Due Date” was far far funnier than this. If you really really want to see these three twits stumble their way through another retrace our steps type mystery comedy, that’s fine, but do yourself a favor and save the $11 dollars for a theater ticket and just wait for DVD.
“The Hangover part 2” gets
2 next day surprises out of 5.
So since there really isn’t that much to say about “The Hangover part 2”, and I don’t want to leave you with just half of a review, let’s talk Direct to DVD! In the realm of superheroes, both Marvel and DC are starting to do more and more with major feature films involving their stables of heroes. Marvel I’ve already talked about, but DC has been another story entirely. In recent film history the only big movie success they’ve had has been the Christopher Nolan helmed “Batman Begins” and “The Dark Knight”, and the “Watchmen” adaptation that Zack Snyder did. However, aside from Snyder’s film they’ve had a little bit more trouble with their non-Batman main heroes. “Superman Returns” was a huge let down and was pretty much a weak rehash of the plot to the first movie, and all attempts to make a Wonder Woman movie have failed resulting in a compromise TV show premiering this fall. They seem to be headed in the right direction this summer with the first live action Green Lantern movie, but the proof will be in the pudding there, though I’m remaining optimistic.
Where DC is having much better success, is in the direct to video animated films, such as “The Death Of Superman” and “Green Lantern: First Flight”. These movies are made more for the fans of the comics and thus don’t really have to over explain origins or the like so they have a little more breathing room since they know the audience is going to be people that know the basics anyway. They’ve been all pretty entertaining for the most part with really good animation and voice acting, not to mention some of the most kick ass action I’ve seen in anything animated not originally from Japan. Thus we come to their latest release “All Star Superman” based on the comic series of the same name written by Grant Morrison and drawn by Frank Quitely.
Now, I’m going to say something here, my all time favorite super hero movie is Richard Donner’s “Superman The Movie”. I saw it at a very young age and it’s a movie that I always know can cheer me up. It has amazing visuals that I honestly say still hold up today, not to mention the performances were all really really good and it really made Superman an interesting and well rounded character. The irony is that if there is one comic book character I don’t really like reading, it’s Superman. That’s just a general preference, but to me, a lot of the times I find his books a little boring because he’s so powerful that it just gets absurd or boring because you know he’ll win some way, some how thanks to his powers, resulting in lack of tension. There are however, two exceptions so far that I have really enjoyed reading, “Superman for all seasons” in which his early life and career as the man of steel is told, where he feels like a real human character. The other being “All Star Superman” which I only finished reading recently.
The premise, more or less done here in the movie, is that Superman rescues the first manned mission to the Sun and in the process is over exposed to the solar radiation that give him his power. This results in him being stronger than he has ever been before, but he’s also slowly dying. What follows are some of the most amazing feats Superman has ever performed, as well as some very nice pay off to his romance with Lois Lane and getting to see this character, that’s been called a god among men and other things of the like, deal with his inevitable death. Without spoiling anything the comic is really really worth a look if you enjoy the medium and the movie is most definitely worth a watch.
The animation recreates Quitely’s art from the comics flawlessly, and the action scenes are really well done. All the voice actors sound really believable in the parts and the script is a very faithful adaptation of Morrison’s story.
All that said, there are some hiccups here and there. My favorite part of the story, involving superman saving the Earth from the Bizarro home world and then having to escape is not here, it’s a shame though not a total deal breaker. Also, since the story was released as what is essentially a mini series, the issues were all for the most part episodic with the running theme of Superman accomplishing his most amazing feats connecting them together. It works fine in a serialized comic, but not quite as a 90 minute movie. It isn’t a real bad thing but it doesn’t really feel like a solid narrative structure.
So if you’re a fan of Superman, or a fan of animation, I say check it out. Just keep an open mind and don’t let the somewhat choppy nature of the story line deter you.
I give “All Star Superman”
4 Moments of Awesome out of 5
I’m not really going to say much here. There really is nothing to say about this movie other than it’s a slightly less funny version of the first one set in Bangkok, Thailand instead of Las Vegas, and instead of looking for their friend Doug, they’re looking for Ed Helm’s future brother in law. All the returning cast is just as good as they were last time and the new additions are for the most part barely in the movie. The jokes are pretty much either clones of the first movie’s jokes or just the guys talking about the first movie’s events. I mean it was nice to see how these characters have all dealt with it after the fact, but it just really made me wish I was watching the first movie because this movie is just a big retread of all the major plot point of the first one. It is a competent comedy but the first one was much better and director Todd Phillip’s last movie “Due Date” was far far funnier than this. If you really really want to see these three twits stumble their way through another retrace our steps type mystery comedy, that’s fine, but do yourself a favor and save the $11 dollars for a theater ticket and just wait for DVD.
“The Hangover part 2” gets
2 next day surprises out of 5.
So since there really isn’t that much to say about “The Hangover part 2”, and I don’t want to leave you with just half of a review, let’s talk Direct to DVD! In the realm of superheroes, both Marvel and DC are starting to do more and more with major feature films involving their stables of heroes. Marvel I’ve already talked about, but DC has been another story entirely. In recent film history the only big movie success they’ve had has been the Christopher Nolan helmed “Batman Begins” and “The Dark Knight”, and the “Watchmen” adaptation that Zack Snyder did. However, aside from Snyder’s film they’ve had a little bit more trouble with their non-Batman main heroes. “Superman Returns” was a huge let down and was pretty much a weak rehash of the plot to the first movie, and all attempts to make a Wonder Woman movie have failed resulting in a compromise TV show premiering this fall. They seem to be headed in the right direction this summer with the first live action Green Lantern movie, but the proof will be in the pudding there, though I’m remaining optimistic.
Where DC is having much better success, is in the direct to video animated films, such as “The Death Of Superman” and “Green Lantern: First Flight”. These movies are made more for the fans of the comics and thus don’t really have to over explain origins or the like so they have a little more breathing room since they know the audience is going to be people that know the basics anyway. They’ve been all pretty entertaining for the most part with really good animation and voice acting, not to mention some of the most kick ass action I’ve seen in anything animated not originally from Japan. Thus we come to their latest release “All Star Superman” based on the comic series of the same name written by Grant Morrison and drawn by Frank Quitely.
Now, I’m going to say something here, my all time favorite super hero movie is Richard Donner’s “Superman The Movie”. I saw it at a very young age and it’s a movie that I always know can cheer me up. It has amazing visuals that I honestly say still hold up today, not to mention the performances were all really really good and it really made Superman an interesting and well rounded character. The irony is that if there is one comic book character I don’t really like reading, it’s Superman. That’s just a general preference, but to me, a lot of the times I find his books a little boring because he’s so powerful that it just gets absurd or boring because you know he’ll win some way, some how thanks to his powers, resulting in lack of tension. There are however, two exceptions so far that I have really enjoyed reading, “Superman for all seasons” in which his early life and career as the man of steel is told, where he feels like a real human character. The other being “All Star Superman” which I only finished reading recently.
The premise, more or less done here in the movie, is that Superman rescues the first manned mission to the Sun and in the process is over exposed to the solar radiation that give him his power. This results in him being stronger than he has ever been before, but he’s also slowly dying. What follows are some of the most amazing feats Superman has ever performed, as well as some very nice pay off to his romance with Lois Lane and getting to see this character, that’s been called a god among men and other things of the like, deal with his inevitable death. Without spoiling anything the comic is really really worth a look if you enjoy the medium and the movie is most definitely worth a watch.
The animation recreates Quitely’s art from the comics flawlessly, and the action scenes are really well done. All the voice actors sound really believable in the parts and the script is a very faithful adaptation of Morrison’s story.
All that said, there are some hiccups here and there. My favorite part of the story, involving superman saving the Earth from the Bizarro home world and then having to escape is not here, it’s a shame though not a total deal breaker. Also, since the story was released as what is essentially a mini series, the issues were all for the most part episodic with the running theme of Superman accomplishing his most amazing feats connecting them together. It works fine in a serialized comic, but not quite as a 90 minute movie. It isn’t a real bad thing but it doesn’t really feel like a solid narrative structure.
So if you’re a fan of Superman, or a fan of animation, I say check it out. Just keep an open mind and don’t let the somewhat choppy nature of the story line deter you.
I give “All Star Superman”
4 Moments of Awesome out of 5
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