Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens

Non-Spoiler review. I'm gonna do a more spoilery review in a few days.

Okay, lets get this out of the way. I've already seen it more than once, and I loved it more the second time. Granted, it's probably still only the the third best Star Wars film, but that's not a bad thing. It kills all of the prequels (there were prequels?) by a long shot. The Force Awakens might as well been called "The Faith Restored". Thank you JJ Abrams for being the Star Wars fan I thought you were.

I've heard this is a Star Wars movie that can be seen by someone that's never seen a Star War before and still enjoy it, and that's definitely true. The Force Awakens has a short learning curve.

I'll get the bad out of the way first. The main issue I had with the film is that it recycles a lot of plot points from previous Star Wars films, but I look at that as if you're gonna try to restore faith and recapture a lost audience, might as well start from a safe place. Even with the basic Star Wars plot, it leaves a lot of questions open where you can see potential places where the sequels may go. It's not completely obvious where the next films will go. My only other real disappointment in the film is that the score wasn't all that remarkable. It has the old Star Wars musical cues we all know, but I didn't hear anything new that blew me away.

On to the light side. The new characters are fantastic! I wasn't sure how the new guys would play, but they totally carry the movie and you care about each of them. They succeed in bringing a new generation of fans to the franchise. Finn is a great, funny, original character. Rey is the new, upgraded Leia for the next generation. Poe wasn't in the movie all that much, but he just became the Star Wars character I'd most like to have a beer with. Kylo Ren plays the intimidating, conflicted villain that the series needs. I can't wait to see what they all do in the rest of the series.

The action is great and the film is shot beautifully. If you're worried about JJ Abrams lense-flare, then worry not. It's non-existent. There's a lot of creative and interesting shots that we've never seen in a Star Wars movie before. None of the long, walking exposition shots to be found here, nor any of the shot/reverse-shot style of dialog. The film is paced beautifully. I don't think I took a breath the first 30 minutes of the movie either time I saw it.

It's easily the funniest Star Wars film as well. JJ Abrams nails the humor and character interaction. The dialog is a vast improvement over anything the the prequels. The stunted dialog and robotic behavior is completely gone! It's an emotional film, too! I got choked up a few times the first time I saw it, but even more so the second time when seeing my nephews react to it. This is the nostalgia I needed.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens is the Star Wars movie you're looking for. While derivative, it delivers the fun, action and humor fans craved. It successfully restores faith in the franchise, and gives it the kick in the pants it needed. This is fun for the whole family!

5 (out of 5) Death Stars - Yes, I'm grading on a curve. It's a flawed movie. I don't care!

Mind Blown!

Ex Machina (2015)

If you know what the Turing Test is, that's the basic premise here. I was initially bugged by the fact that you can see, even from the commercials, that all parties are aware of what's going on. He knows he's talking to a machine, and she knows she's being tested. That would generally invalidate the whole point of the Turing Test, but they handwave that away right up front by saying they've moved past the blind stage, and they clearly have. This is next level AI here.

As the movie builds, you realize there is more going on than meets the eye. Attraction, manipulation, mind games and ulterior motives. It's creepy and fascinating at the same time. The film takes it's time, but never feels slow. I was glued to the screen to the point where I had to remind myself to blink.

The performances are great. Oscar Isaac is quickly becoming one of my favorite actors. Even though the focus is on the AI, he's just as interesting as she is. The AI, Ava, is played by Alicia Vikander and I can't recall her from other films she's been in, but she's able to sell that balance between innocence and sensuality.

The effects are fantastic. It's so seemless at times that you forget it's an effect. I can't imagine that this was a big budget film, so what they were able to accomplish is truly amazing.

Another thing I really enjoyed was the contrast of the cold, artificialness of the inside compared to when they'd venture outside for a talk. Wherever they filmed this was a gorgeous location that seemed like something from another planet at times.

I'm trying to keep it short as I don't want to spoil anything. Overall, I thought it was an intelligent thriller and one of the best sci-fi movies I've seen in a long time. Probably the best film I've seen this year.

5 (out of 5) Death Stars

Anna Karenina (2012) - Movie Review

When I try spelling Anna Karenina, I always want to add another 'na' to it.  I have the same problem when I spell bananana.

I have to admit that I've never read the novel by Tolstoy (some dead guy...kidding), or have much familiarity with the story. Sure, I've heard of it, but who hasn't?  Looking at the history, you could call Anna Karenina the Halley's Comet of movies, as it seems to get remade every 10 to 13 years.  Yes, I know Halley's Comet doesn't come that often, but I couldn't think of another occurrence in nature that happened with the same frequency.  Maybe a day will come where people will mark the ages by which version of Anna Karenina they identify with.

Even if you've never seen any of the previous adaptations of Anna Karenina the basic story is one that should feel familiar.  Anna (Keira Knightley) is married to a wealthy politician Alexei Karenin (Jude Law).  He's a little cold, but not abusive, and Anna seems to love their son more than she loves him.  While travelling to help a friend, Anna meets Count Vronsky (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), and it's love at first sight.  They have a passionate affair, but Alexei is no dummy and learns of it.  He wants a divorce, but Anna knows the disgrace this will cause her and that she won't be able to see her son any more.  Everyone becomes aware of her behavior and affair, which makes her an outcast.

After watching Joe Wright's adaptation of Anna Karenina, I have to wonder how faithful it is to the book.  I say this because I'm never given any reason to like the title character.  It didn't seem like her affair with Vronsky was triggered by anything more than making goo-goo eyes at each other at a dance party, which I have to admit the party was the highlight of the film.  Vronsky was even expected to propose to another woman, but one look at Anna and those plans are out the window.  He's this creepy looking guy with a bad mustache, and I just didn't get any chemistry that made me understand why they fell in love so fast.  Plus, Anna came off to me as selfish for wanting to continue her affair, but refusing to get a divorce because of what it would cost her.  I'm not sure if something got lost in the adaptation, or maybe it's that I don't think this kind of material holds up anymore.  Love as first sight seems to be something that you only see in old stories, and getting a divorce really isn't as big of a deal as it used to be.  I mean, when someone gets a divorce, you don't see everyone around her shunning her or ignoring her.  Adultery still isn't cool though.  How's that for taking a stand?

I just didn't connect with anything, and as the movie went on I found it boring.  There were many subplots and characters I cared nothing about, maybe with the exception of Levin (Domhnall Gleeson) and Kitty (Alicia Vikander).  The problem is that they are never the focus of the story, so when the the film comes back to them, it's too infrequent for me to have become that invested in it. Another thing that took me out of the movie was that they open it by telling you that this takes place in Russia, but everyone spoke with a English accent.

It's not all bad though.  It's a well-acted film.  I've always liked Keira Knightley, and I think it's funny how she's become the go-to girl for costume drama's.  She gives a good performance, and I actually think she's an underrated actress, but roles like this don't seem to be much of a stretch for her anymore.  I'd like to see her step out of her comfort zone a little more.  The performance I got the most out of was Jude Law's.  I get the feeling that his character's cold demeanor was meant to make him unlikable, but I could only sympathize with him.  I found him to be very reasonable considering the circumstances.  As much as I liked Aaron Taylor-Johnson in Kick-Ass, I think he might have been miscast here.  He seemed too young to be paired up with Knightley, and maybe a more mature presence might have helped me buy into their romance.  Plus, that mustache bugged the hell out of me, but I know that's not really his fault.

As you'd expect with most period pieces, it's visually striking and the costume design is very detailed.  Many scenes are set on an actual stage, and the sets are built around them as the scene progresses and even transitions to other locations.  You'll see walls and objects move in and out seamlessly.  It was a very interesting way to shoot the film, but at times I found it distracting, especially when you'd see pulleys and ropes as part of the scene.  The set design was great though, and I can't imagine the amount of work that went into setting up shots done in the film.  I can see why they didn't do the whole movie in this style, and I think it would have detracted from it if they had.  In fact, perhaps it was Wright's focus on the visuals that made it so hard for me to connect with any of the characters.

Anna Karenina is a beautiful costume drama, and features some strong performances by the cast, but I came away from this with a cold feeling.  I didn't care about any of the characters, and couldn't connect with it.  I think it's worth watching if you like this type of film, but it's something best left for rental.

2.5 (out of 5) Death Stars

Dredd 3D (2012) - Movie Review

Karl Urban is the law!

I guess today was a 'peace officer' themed day seeing Dredd and End of Watch back-to-back.  While vastly different movies, it's interesting that I managed to watch two movies where I rooted for the cops.

If you haven't seen Sylvester Stallone movie from 1995, don't bother.  That movie was such a disaster that I'm amazed anyone even bothered with making another.  Like many of you, I've grown tired of the constant reboots and remakes of older films, but one of the few exceptions where I think it can work is when the original film was flawed, and a reboot has a chance to do things right or taking a franchise in a different direction.  Dredd 3D is an example of a remake finally working.

Dredd transports us to a future where the world is largely a radioactive wasteland.  The remaining inhabitants of North America live in a mega-city simply called Mega-City One.  Many reside in huge skyscrapers that are essentially self-contained cites, having their own schools and commerce.  The peace is kept by the Hall of Justice and the Judges, who have the authority to act as judge, jury and executioner.

There's a new drug hitting the streets called 'Slo-Mo', which has the effect of the user perceiving time at 1% of it's normal rate.  This allows for some of the best use of extreme slow motion that I've seen in a while.  It's interesting that just last week I watched Resident Evil: Retribution where I was annoyed with it's overuse of slow motion, but Dredd actually uses it creatively.  Dredd also manages to be a movie that effectively used 3D to enhance this effect.  The combo of the 3D and super slow motion provides us with some of the most vivid violence I've ever seen in a movie.  It was like watching an art film about brutal murder.

Judge Dredd (Karl Urban) is tasked with evaluating rookie Judge Anderson (Olivia Thrilby), who's failed her previous tests, but is a powerful psychic.  They respond to a crime scene in a skycraper known as Peach Trees, but things quickly escalate when they arrest a henchman, played by none other than "Avon Barksdale" (Wood Harris), of the drug lord that controls the building.  The drug lord, known as Ma-Ma (Lena Headey),  knows that he won't hold up under interrogation, so she locks the building down in the hope of killing the Judges.  The Judges have no choice but to fight their way to the top floor.

I know what you're thinking, this is essentially the same plot as The Raid: Redemption, and yes, they are very similar.  However, it worth noting that Dredd was in production and filming long before The Raid: Redemption, so I believe this is an unfair criticism of the movie.

Once the building is locked down, the action ramps up, and Dredd earns every bit of its R-rating with its insanely bloody violence and action.  This is where the slow motion and 3D really shine. You literally get to see bullets tearing though bodies.  Despite the brutality, it's also darkly funny in parts.  Between the humor and the violence, I was often reminded of Robocop.

Judge Dredd may be the law, but Karl Urban is the man.  Urban was a big fan of the character, so he actively campaigned to make sure that he never removes his helmet, something Dredd never did in the comics.  In a time when we see so many characters needlessly remove their masks or helmets, it's refreshing to see a movie where that doesn't happen, and an actor that cares more about the character than he does about getting his face on the screen.  Even with only seeing his chin, I though Urban was captivating and played Dredd effectively as an uncompromising force of nature for justice.

I really like Olivia Thirlby, but I initially thought she was an unusual choice to play a Judge.  I'm used to seeing her in smaller, independent films.  However, I thought she did a good job with a role and played off Urban well.  Her character's psychic ability was used in an interesting way and allowed her to be a contrast to Dredd.  Dredd sees things as black and white, where Anderson sees the shades of grey.

Lena Headey gave a nice, understated performance as Ma-Ma, and I appreciated she wasn't over-the-top.  He cold demeanor actually made her seem all that much more deadly and menacing.  Wood Harris was also fun to see as Ma-Ma's henchman, Kay.  I haven't seen him in much since The Wire, so I was just happy to see him again.

Director Pete Travis (Vantage Point) and writer Alex Garland (Sunshine, 28 Days Later...) did a great job of staying true to the source material.  I'm also impressed with what they were able to do with a fairly modest budget.  The movie looks great and you get immersed in this world. The movie never takes itself too seriously, and you shouldn't either.

While not breaking any new ground with the plot, Dredd 3D is an insane action thrill ride that should please both action fans and Judge Dredd fans.  It makes up for the disappointment of the original film, and it's finally an example of a remake done right.  I watched this film with a goofy grin on my face from beginning to end and I enjoyed the hell out of it.  It's also one of the few films I actually recommend seeing in 3D in the theater.

4 (out of 5) Death Stars