The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013)

Just remember, if you're not tired of The Hobbit yet, there's still three more hours on the way.

I mentioned in my The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey review that I haven't read the book this is all based on (loosely, I suppose).  That hasn't changed in the past year, so once I again I can't comment on the faithfulness to the source material.  I don't necessarily have any issues with some of the newly added characters or plot points that seem to be more of a reference to The Lord of the Rings trilogy than having anything to do with The Hobbit.  In some cases, they were a good thing, like with the addition of Evangeline Lilly's character Tauriel.  She's a total badass and gives the audience a strong female character to identify with.  It doesn't hurt that she's super hot dressed up as an Elf.  I think she might have replaced Antje Traue's Faora from Man of Steel as my current nerd crush.  I liked her character so much that I would totally support and happily watch Tauriel: Badass Elf Chick.  I liked how they brought Legolas (Orlando Bloom) back into the fray, as he got some really cool action scenes that showed more of a ruthless side that wasn't necessarily seen in the original films.

I don't figure there's a lot of need to get into the plot.  The Desolation of Smaug isn't so much a sequel than the continuation (more like extension) of a story that really could have been told in a single film, but whatever.  Smaug and An Unexpected Journey could have easily been edited into a single, three hour film, but for some reason I was never bothered by the length or pacing of either.  If you've followed my blog at all, you know that I tend to pick on a movie's length or pacing a lot.  Simply put, I enjoy this world so much and hanging around in it that I don't want them to end.  Hell, I've already sat through the Extended Edition of An Unexpected Journey twice already, even though it didn't expand on the story the way the Extended Editions for The Lord of the Rings trilogy did.  You don't even have to twist my arm to say that I've enjoyed the The Hobbit movies far more than the Star Wars prequels.  The Hobbit is how you make a prequel trilogy and throw in references to the originals.

The real question I think most people will be asking is do we finally get to see the dragon in this one.  Well, we do and it's glorious!  Smaug (voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch) is easily the best looking dragon ever seen in a movie.  It's not just a quick shot either.  We get an extended look and he plays heavily during the last part of the film.  The wait was worth it.  Although, I will add this, why is it so hard for a giant, fire-breathing dragon to kill a bunch of halflings?  Shouldn't he have been able to kill them like fifteen times each?

Overall, the special effects had more polish to them when compared to the first film.  There were times in Journey where it looked too much like a computer game, but I didn't get as much of that here.  I think a lot of that look was due to the high frame rate used.  I saw Smaug in IMAX 3D with the high frame rate, and there were still times where it still had that artificial, sped-up look.  I thought it was much less noticeable though, but I can see how some viewers may still have an issue with it.  If you're on the fence about what format to see it in, you should probably err on the side of avoiding the HFR screenings.  I liked the 3D though and don't have a problem recommending it.

Another reason I enjoyed Smaug so much is that there's a lot more action.  Journey took close to an hour before anything happened, but there's less setup in Smaug and more getting to the very creative and fun action scenes throughout the film.  The "barrel scene" has a almost Rube Goldberg feel to it, as did another scene later in the film.  Again, there there are many scenes with Tauriel and Legolas where they get to kick ass.  There are arrows to the head and beheadings galore.  Oh, and there's no musical sequences this time around.  It's not that I dislike them, but they're not always my thing or don't necessarily fit well in the story.  I also appreciated that there was less corny humor.  The whole tone of the film is much darker.

It isn't just better effects and action though.  There were many character moments I appreciated.  In particular, I liked how they took time to show how Bilbo (Martin Freeman) is slowly getting corrupted by The Ring.  I enjoyed how Thorin (Richard Armitage) was developed, and I came away liking him bit a more than I did after Journey. Many of the company of dwarves get to show more personality, especially with Kili (Aiden Turner), who is one of the few characters that gets a love interest.  If there was any disappointment I had it's that Gandalf (Ian McKellen) took a bit of a back seat in this chapter.  I'm assuming he'll be back with a vengeance in the final chapter.

I had a lot of fun with The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.  Sure, it's too long, and purists will have issues with the story, but it's still an improvement over An Unexpected Journey.  If anything, it gives fans another opportunity to hang out in Middle-earth while providing more of the action and spectacle that made The Lord of the Rings trilogy so entertaining.  Plus, there's a dragon...

4 (out of 5) Death Stars

Fast & Furious 6 (2013)

They're still making Fast & Furious movies?

I complained in my The Hangover Part III review that The Hangover franchise was a good movie where they forced two sequels of descending quality, because they didn't know where to take the characters or the story.  The Fast & Furious franchise seemed to be following a similar path of each sequel being worse than the original, but at some point after the fourth, it's as if they all sat down and said, "You know what?  Let's just make these movies as over-the-top as we can!"  It seems to have worked as many consider Fast Five to be the most entertaining of the series, and now we have Fast & Furious 6, which continues the trend.

This is one of those testosterone-fueled action films that just gets your adrenaline going.  I left the theater well after 1 a.m. and all I wanted to do was go lift weights and drive my car home really fast, and I drive an old Honda.

You want car chases?  They got car cases!  You want gunfights?  They got gunfights!  You say you don't like gunfights, but want brutal fist fights?  Girl fights?  There's lots of that!  Oh, want a tank?  There's even a tank!  You want sophisticated?  Go look for that somewhere else, nerd!

The plot is pretty ridiculous, but this isn't a movie you're watching for it's nuanced and solid plot.  Even the film seems to be saying, "Whatever, just go with it."  An ex-British Special Forces soldier Owen Shaw (Luke Evans) has committed a series of heists and the DSS needs help catching him.  Agent Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) works a deal with Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) and his crew.  Help him bring Shaw in, and it's full pardons for the team.  To stir the pot even more, Hobbs reveals that Letty (Michelle Rodriguez), who's been presumed dead (since Fast 4), is working with Shaw.  Dom's in no matter what now, as he just wants to find out what happened to Letty.

From that point, it is just an orgy of car chases and fighting.  Almost all of it is ridiculous, and the rational side of your brain can't help but watch some of these sequences and wonder how they are always escaping serious bodily harm, or even death, with each crash or bone-crushing hit.  Then again, it just so fun to watch that you really don't care that much of it doesn't obey the laws of physics.  Some of the scenes are so crazy that it becomes cartoonish.  Cars get flattened, yet there's no blood or bodies even though you didn't see anyone get out of the car.  You can actually tell what's going on in these scenes though.  They actually trusted that their action sequences would entertain without having to distract the audience with weird camera movements, quick cuts or shaky cam.  My eyes were so glued to the screen during some of these scenes that they would keep drying out (I'm a contacts wearer) from lack of blinking, and I would always look for an opportunity to put eye drops in.

Another thing that impressed me was that the film managed to avoid looking fake despite the craziness of some of the action scenes.  I don't know how much CG was used, but it sure seemed like a lot of it was practical.  In some ways this felt very old-school.  Even most of the cars used were older, muscle cars.

There are a few lulls here and there, mainly when there's any kind of dialog or exposition in between action scenes.  However, much of this is made bearable by the surprisingly humorous dialog.  There's good chemistry within the group, and you get that feeling that these guys are really friends just ripping on each other.

Overall, I really enjoyed the cast.  This is a group not exactly known for their acting chops, but for the type of film Fast & Furious 6 is, there's nothing wrong with them, and they all looked like they were having fun.  I have to give special notice to Gina Carano, who plays Hobbs partner, and has many of the best fighting scenes in the film.  I think at this point any film that features women fighting must star Gina Carano.  This should be enacted into law.  Also, I could have used a little more Dwayne Johnson.  He only pops up from time to time, but maybe they had to limit his time on film when they'd run out of baby oil or arm butter.  Jeez he's a beast of a man!

Director Justin Lin and writer Chris Morgan, who've been collaborating on the series since Tokyo Drift, really seemed to have hit their stride with the series, and turned it into something that is simple, audience- pleasing, Summer fun.  They even managed to tie up the continuity with Tokyo Drift really well (note: for those that aren't aware, despite Tokyo Drift being the third film in the series, chronologically it takes place after Fast Six).

Oh, and there's a really great surprise as the credits roll.  You don't need to stay at the very end, but there's a scene during the credits that might be one of the best sequel teases I've ever seen.

If you want some crazy, balls-to-the-wall action and don't want to have to think too much, Fast & Furious 6 is for you.  It's not going to win any Oscars, and sure it's a little dumb, but it's the type of film that fits in just fine during the Summer blockbuster season.  It really does have a little bit of everything for action lovers and I think it's a fun way to spend a few hours.  I thought it was a blast to watch, and definitely worth a matinee.

3.5 (out of 5) Death Stars

The Raven (2012) - Movie Review

The Raven is the true story of how the Baltimore Ravens were founded.  Wait...I'm being tapped on the shoulder and reminded that this isn't what the movie is about.  Sorry, I'm distracted by the ongoing NFL draft.

John Cusack plays Edgar Allan Poe, some obscure writer that nobody has ever heard of.  Okay, enough kidding around.  There actually was some unusual circumstances surrounding Poe's death.  The story is that he was found wandering around Baltimore, delirious and wearing someone else's clothing and died shortly after being taken to the hospital.  Little is known or understood about how he got there or what happened.

The Raven attempts to add some story to the week leading up to his death.  A mysterious murder is committed that has confounded the police.  When a detective (Luke Evans) realizes that the murder has a similarities to one of Poe's previous works, he interrogates Poe and considers him a suspect.  However, when the murders continue and are also inspired by his work, Poe is asked to help find the serial killer.  Later, the killer directly challenges Poe to stop him, which his fiancée's (Alice Eve) life in the balance.

Contrived premises involving a real event always kind of bug me.  Let's take something that actually happened, but little is known about, and force a story around it.  It can work, if done well and adds some depth to what we already know.  In this case, you don't really learn anything compelling about Poe other than he was an alcoholic and broke.  I actually think a docu-thriller would have worked better, rather than just being a pure work of fiction.  I guess as far as making people interested in Poe it might have that effect, but I think a lot of the references in the movie would probably be lost on people not heavily familiar with his work.

While The Raven is bloodier than I expected, it still felt like it pulled some punches.  At one point a character jams a needle through a hole in an attempt to injure a person and you hear a 'squish', but then later, you see that the person is uninjured, so what was the noise for?  To fake us out?  I would have thought something based on Edgar Allan Poe would have been darker or more disturbing, but it's just not scary or all the suspenseful.  Plus, the other issue is that there's really nothing new here.  A copycat serial killer has been done many times before.

It is a nice looking movie though and has a good cast.  Luke Evans is a totally underrated actor and I wish he'd start getting some stronger roles.  One of my favorite actors, Brendan Gleeson, is wasted in a small roll again.  Alice Eve is striking but really isn't given much to do.  Initially, I thought John Cusack might have been miscast as Poe, but I didn't find anything wrong with his performance.  He brought some unexpected humor to a otherwise drab movie.

I was expecting a little more from The Raven, as it was directed by James McTeigue, who's best known for V for Vendetta, a movie I've always enjoyed.  I don't think he could ever settle on a tone for the film, so it's all over the place.  The script by Ben Livingston and Hannah Shakespeare is very thin.  There's very little depth to any of the characters.  Overall, there's just nothing to sink your teeth into.

The Raven is an example of a movie that was based on a decent enough idea, but the execution was poor.  It's just kind of lifeless and it felt like something was missing the whole time.  I didn't think it was a terrible movie, but it drags on a bit.  I was surprised after the movie to see that it was only 100 minutes long.  It certainly felt longer.  This is the type of movie that's much better suited for a rental on a rainy day.

2.5 (out of 5) Death Stars