"Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice" Review: Little Brother Fights Back
Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice had a lot riding on it. Forget the hardcore fanboys’ opinions, huge budget, and bringing major DC characters together on the big screen for the first time in this generation. If DC didn’t get this film right, it could have sunk the franchise. Period. With this installment, director Zack Snyder and the crew give us a very entertaining gateway into the next chapter of DC super hero cinema.
As to stay away from spoilers, let’s establish the rules of this review. I’ll keep it inside the lines of a few things: 1) nothing you haven’t seen outside of the trailers, 2) nothing you can’t deduce from the title, and 3) I will only paint pictures that color the cinema techniques in the film. Fair enough?
From the start you know that the film is in the hands of a visual director. Snyder has a distinct way of telling the story with the frame and dark palette cinematography. After a brief Bruce Wayne origin sequence, the film picks up with the title “Mankind is Introduced to The Superman”. We see what was going on from Bruce Wayne’s (Ben Affleck) perspective during the massive fight between Superman (Henry Cavill) and General Zod (Michael Shannon) from Man of Steel. It’s an incredible sequence that answers the question of “what was happening on the ground during the fight between these two super beings?” It immediately sets the stakes for the film. Is Superman someone that humans can trust, and with so much power, how can we keep him in check?
After the showdown in Metropolis, Bruce develops a grudge against the seemingly unstoppable alien. He spends time preparing to fight Superman, which obviously entails him having a level playing field because head to head there is no match. Jesse Eisenberg is introduced as Lex Luthor, and Eisenberg’s signature tics and fast talking antics from characters past really works for this Lex Luthor. He’s crafted an entitled, insecure, brilliant, low key maniac with just enough swag that for me worked well. Luthor’s money and intelligence allows him to have a pulse on what’s really going on in the world and gives him the power to influence it as he sees fit.
A large part of seeing Batman V Superman is not wondering what the outcome will be, but what will things look like? Is Affleck a good Batman. Yes. There is no point in which I didn’t think he was Batman or an older Bruce Wayne for that matter. When he’s in a scene with Cavill, you know who the seasoned actor is. Is Gal Gadot a good Wonder Woman? She fits in the film as it needs her, and when it does, she does a good job. Her introduction to this world felt a little clunky and forced, but seeing her fight...I look forward to future films (perhaps more so to see Wonder Woman’s powers more than Gadot’s acting). Overall, the acting in this film as a collective is solid.
The movie works really hard to engage your senses and thrust you into a cinematic experience. The weight of objects are seen visually, and heard aurally on an extremely detailed level. The sound and effects departments deserve a round of applause. One of the best sequences in which you can appreciate this is watching the batmobile tear through the streets, buildings, other cars, and then get tossed like a toy car when it runs into Superman. It’s a set up you know is coming (from the trailer) but works to show Superman’s power and strength. Let’s not leave out the amazing score from Hans Zimmer (my favorite film composer of all time) and Junkie XL! The score is its own character and pushes the story forward in all the right ways.
Batman V Superman has its issues. In fact, the film builds up to the ultimate showdown so well that once it gets there things get a bit awkward. In some ways it's like writers Chris Terrio and David S. Goyer had the beats they wanted to get to in the story outline but couldn't make smooth transitions between major plot points. However, it delivers on the spectacle that you want to see! For a team up film, everything comes together as it should, and sets us up for an entry of more characters in this world. It’s hard to bake the best cake ever, but the film is very tasty and satisfying! Will DC take the reigns from Marvel in the box office now? No. But little brother just got a good lick in that the rest of the world has to give him props for! I’d pay to see it a couple more times!
Rating: C+
Super Hero Films Won't Be The Same: "Deadpool" Review
Burnt butt naked fighting, a nude sex scene, and enough f-bombs to flatten New York. The latest installment in Fox Studio's X-men Universe has certainly taken things to a whole new realm in its world and ours. Super hero movies now have an option of fun for the whole family or 17 and up only thanks to Deadpool. So since they’ve taken it there, did they get it right?
I’ll be the first to admit that I’m no comic book fanboy. I’m a film head, but I love talking with my fanboy friends about the accuracy of the movie versus the comic book. When it comes to the tone of the film directed by Tim Miller, Deadpool certainly has its own. From the opening credits, rather than seeing actors’ names we see “A Hot Chick”, “British Villain”, or “A Gratuitous Cameo”. So, yes, the film is on point tonally as it plays with credits, the fourth wall, our sense of what a super hero movie should be, and knowing itself.
The film starts out in the middle of an action sequence on a high rise bridge with Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) in the midst of taking out bad guys. He quickly makes us aware of his awareness of our presence by talking into the camera and takes us back to when he was just Wade Wilson, a former Special Forces operative turned mercenary, who spent his time intimidating people for money. He’s the anti-hero we can get behind because we see him putting pressure on a teenage pizza boy who’s stalking a female classmate. The first half of the film intercuts between the present day fight and Deadpool’s backstory.
Surprisingly in a world full of sarcastic humor and quick whit, the film does have an emotional heart. As Deadpool constantly reminds us, his film is a love story. After meeting Vanessa (Morena Baccarin), a woman who is every bit his equal verbally and mentally, he learns that he has terminal cancer. Rather than letting her watch him die, Wade leaves under the cloak of night to become a part of a government program that will cure him and give him super powers...after they torture him for months to awaken his mutant gene.
Once he is able to escape, Wade vows to get revenge on the people who left him with deformed skin and the ability to rapidly heal from anything (which is kind of ironic in itself). His enemies have names, Francis (Ed Skrein) who has no physical feeling due to lost nerves and Angel Dust (Gina Carano) who is a super strong woman. Deadpool desires to tell Vanessa he’s still alive but believes his disfigurement is so bad a mother wouldn’t even love him so he vows to stay away. Yet, your worst enemy and the love of your life have to meet at some point in a super hero film right?
Deadpool almost feels like a sitcom at times, throwing out jokes every thirty seconds. The likelihood of each joke sticking is slim, unless you like sophomoric humor, but many of them work. We’re constantly reminded that we’re in a world comprised from other films with Deadpool making jokes about Green Lantern, the Blade franchise, and Wolverine (all films in which Reynolds was in). As Deadpool is visited by Colossus (Stefan Kapicic) and Negasonic Teenage Warhead (Brianna Hildebrand), two X-men in the film, Deadpool manages to get off an excellent comment about how large their mansion is but we only see the two of them as though the studio couldn’t pay for more characters to be in the movie. The combination of developing Deadpool’s tender heart beneath all of the jokes, the love between Wade and Vanessa that is certainly all their own, and being pummeled with well thought out humor (outside of potty jokes) makes Deadpool work as a stand alone film/character.
As Marvel movies continues to grow (no matter the studio it comes from), an occasional off-beat character serves well for two reasons: it gives audiences a break from the major tent pole characters, and allows the studios to bring in new characters down the road. Deadpool is definitely an original and fresh character that I probably would have rather spent an hour and a half with rather than its almost two hour running time. However, for a fresh face every few years, I don’t see him going anywhere anytime soon! Just remember parents with kids under 17, this film is rated R for a reason!
Rating: B-
"Fantastic Four" Review
“Fantastic Four” is simply the Tin Man. It’s got the same old cinematic structure we’ve come to expect in a super hero film, but it has no heart. In fact, the actors look pretty soulless as they get their lines out to fulfill their contracts. Even the film’s villain is cheated out of being seen for at least half of the movie. (He gets 30 minutes, if that.) It’s sad, because this movie could have finally gotten the Fantastic Four franchise on track. While it dug into new territory with a new approach, it still dug itself into a hole that we should all hope it won’t return from.
Reed Richards (Miles Teller) has been a genius since he was a child. He was able to teleport a toy car between dimensions with his friend Ben Grimm (Jamie Bell) in middle school. After being brought into some kind of an off the grid super science college (??? it’s never really clear as to what the place is) ran by Dr. Franklin Storm (Reg E. Cathey), Richards teams up with Sue Storm (Kate Mara), Johnny Storm (Michael B. Jordan), and Victor Von Doom (Toby Kebbell) to create a stable inter-dimensional teleportation device.
After teleporting a monkey safely, the boys are looking for glory with their discovery. They decide to teleport themselves, only to return infected by the other world’s energy. Of course, the U.S. government steps in to try and weaponize the group, and for some reason a guy who can turn into flames and fly, a woman who can make herself invisible and create force fields, a guy super strong and made of rocks, and a genius who can stretch his body, all decide that they can’t fight the government and will do whatever they say.
It makes no sense. Much of the movie makes no sense. What are all the design schematics that they pull up on computers, monitors and displays throughout the movie? We’ll assume it’s something real for the movie. As Sue Storm quickly presses keys almost violently in a particular scene, we’ll assume she’s really getting somewhere for the movie. When the Earth has yet another portal beam sucking its contents through it, we’ll assume...wait, no we won’t. This doesn’t make sense, and we’ve seen this stuff before! Any super hero film asks you to believe what you’re seeing is real, but this one goes to far.
I had high hopes for “Fantastic Four”. The Fantastic Four cast (Teller, Mara, Jordan, & Bell) are all stellar young actors and have individually done much better work, but together the chemistry in this film didn’t work. The rote story and dialogue will make you regret that you paid for admission and think to yourself “could I walk out and sneak into Mission Impossible?” Save your money folks! Don’t even get it on Red Box. Just wait until it’s on cable.
Rating: F
"Ant-Man" Review
Ant-man isn’t a well known name to most moviegoers and lovers of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). In fact, the average reader probably would be interested in knowing that the creation of Ultron was due to Dr. Hank Pym according to the comic books. That being said, “Ant-man” is a solid, scaled back entry into the MCU.
The film begins in 1989 as Dr. Henry “Hank” Pym (Michael Douglas) retires to try and live in seclusion. We then jump to president day where Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) finds himself fresh out of prison. Trying to keep on the straight and narrow and make his child support payments, he looks for work. After Baskin Robbins finds out that he’s an ex-con, he’s let go and turns to his former crime partner and friend, Luis (Michael Pena) for a big score.
Let’s say the score leads Scott to Dr. Pym, who enlists his help to go against Pym’s protege Darren Cross (Corey Stoll). Cross is on the crux of finding the secret to Pym’s particles (which allows a person to shrink to ant size), and is working in league with HYDRA. Which means trouble for the world! It doesn’t take long before the film turns into a caper.
“Ant-Man” takes a light hearted approach to Marvel’s character and likely in part to writers Edgar Wright and Joe Cornish. From the opening credits, you can see, hear and feel a different vibe for this limb of the MCU. Rudd and Douglas bring heart to the film, and Rudd sells the every man role of Lang. Michael Pena also adds comic relief to the film with plenty of memorable moment.
The bottom line is that “Ant-Man” is a solid first time out for the character’s origin story in the MCU. The film’s casting is stellar, and the reason why it won’t tank in the box office. It’s an entertaining time at the movies, but you could wait until it comes out on DVD or streams.
Rating: B-
"Avengers: Age of Ultron" Review
After seeing “Avengers: Age Of Ultron”, I totally understand why beloved writer/director Joss Whedon is stepping down from the helm. While the latest installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is entertaining and has it’s high points, it also proves that Marvel may need to slow things down or at least not overwork their brilliant writer/directors.
The opening sequence shows our heroes are used to working as a team as they storm a Hydra base. They fight individually, using their incredible powers, and together with cool moves like Thor (Chris Hemsworth) striking Cap’s (Chris Evans) shield with his hammer to create a wave of energy. It’s the type of beginning that gets fanboys to start clapping and hollering. (It happened in the screening I saw.) Yet, Marvel movies aren’t number one in the super hero film world solely because of CGI awesomeness. They’re number one because of storytelling. That’s what separates them from the rest.
From the opening we’re introduced to a visually and script level busy movie. It’s hard to follow the action on screen, and once the movie gets started, it’s hard to follow the story. After storming the Hydra base to retrieve Loki’s scepter, Tony Stark aka Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) finds a secret lab housing Hydra experiments. Along the way, he and the team face opposition in the Maximoff Twins, Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen) and Pietro (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), two of Hydra’s human experiments bent on destroying Tony.
Always the rebel, Tony sleuths in his own lab and concludes that Hydra has been working on artificial intelligence. With the help of Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo), aka Hulk, the two are able to unknowingly finish Hydra’s research. In doing so, they create Ultron (voiced by James Spader), an omnipresent digital robot who was supposed to be Stark’s security guard for Earth. Instead, they get a powerful, schizophrenic bot with twisted dreams of a better world.
Ultron eventually breaks captivity and begins to build his own army. We get to see the Hulkbuster suit put into good use in a city demolishing scene after the Avengers try to capture Ultron! With an enemy that’s everywhere, the team retreats to the middle of nowhere and lays low with Hawkeye’s (Jeremy Renner) family. This is also when the team starts to go off separately on mini missions that aren’t quite fully fleshed out. We get our first look at the seeds for “Civil War” as Cap and Iron Man have a discussion while chopping firewood. Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) makes all kinds of advances toward Bruce. It’s a lot of bread crumb excitement for future films with minimal direction.
Let’s wrap this up. There is a big fight between the Avengers and Ultron. Heroes do what heroes do, but not without taking an L along the way. We get a glimpse at a new Avenger team, and if you stick around at the end you can see the cliffhanger for what’s coming next in the MCU pipeline! The formula is an amazing business model, but in an effort to churn out films and stay on schedule and budget, I fear we may see more films like “Age of Ultron”. Sure, it’s an entertaining time at the movies, but so is a Michael Bay film. It has too much going on, understanding that it's a movie with plenty stand-alone-movie heroes in it. I'll let it go this time, but let’s not lose what makes Marvel films great Kevin Feige, superb storytelling. We didn’t set the bar, you did.
Rating: C+