Tag: Brie Larson

Twofer Review – ‘Apollo 11’ and ‘Captain Marvel’ – Up and Down

Directed and Edited by Todd Douglas Miller
Soundtrack: Matt Morton

In an era in which we have seemingly unlimited options for content, and the only event “everybody” stops and looks at anymore is the Super Bowl, it can be difficult to:
A. have an appreciation for a truly shared cultural experience
and
B. think of a “documentary” as a must-see cinematic event.

Apollo 11, however, will make you a true believer.

This is a big, beautiful movie; as big as anything you’ll see on the big screen this year.

Rather than a traditional documentary with face-to-face interviews and a lot of experts explaining things, Apollo 11 is more of an art house experience, but make no mistake, it’s for everyone, not just a niche audience. Whether you’re a NASA nerd or a complete space novice, the power of the film is undeniable.

There’s not much else I can say in terms of the moon landing itself or the movie, but the score by Matt Morton is as nearly perfect as the rest of the film (and, as confirmed to me by a source, was performed on strictly Sixties period instruments, which is impressive).

You will laugh; you will cry; you will cheer.

If you see nothing else theatrically in 2019, go see Apollo 11.

Rating: ★★★★½ (out of five)



Directed by Anna Boden & Ryan Fleck
Written by Anna Boden & Ryan Fleck (story and screenplay), Geneva Robertson-Dworet (story and screenplay), and Nicole Perlman & Meg LaFauve (story)
Cast: Brie Larson, Samuel L. Jackson, Ben Mendelsohn, Djimon Hounsou, Lee Pace, Lashana Lynch, Gemma Chan, Annette Bening, Clark Gregg, Jude Law, Akira Akbar, Azari Akbar, Mckenna Grace, London Fuller, Marilyn Brett, Stan Lee
Soundtrack: Pinar Toprak

It stands to reason that after twenty-one feature films since 2008 (and three per year since 2017) the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) would start to unravel at some point.

I haven’t seen every MCU film theatrically, but I have seen every single one in full. They’re not all great, but to this point they’ve all maintained a certain level of quality, be it through ambition, emotion, charm, or just being quirky.

Unfortunately, Captain Marvel is lacking in all of these areas.

Frankly, it’s a boring, predictable tonal mess that feels like a Frankenstein’s monster of a script, and it tries to skate by on some mild Nineties nostalgia that largely falls flat (REMEMBER BLOCKBUSTER VIDEO!?).

The one true highlight of the movie is some quality de-aging effects for Sam Jackson (who finally gets to have some fun in these movies).

Other than that, there’s just not a lot to grab onto. I like Brie Larson as an actress, I’ve seen her do quality work, but her attempt to be laid-back and cool here just comes off as lethargic; and she’s not the only quality performer who goes wasted (Jude Law and Ben Mendelsohn among them).

Overall, there’s nothing Captain Marvel does better than any MCU film beforehand, and for the first time ever in seeing this giant franchise I felt like the movie was just total a waste of time.

The worst sin, though, is that the biggest question the film asks goes unanswered. I could forgive a lot but to get to the end of a movie like this and not have that “Why?” answered is just too much.

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Movie Review – ‘Free Fire’ – Shooting Blanks

Directed by Ben Wheatley
Written by Amy Jump & Ben Wheatley
Cast: Enzo Cilenti, Sam Riley, Michael Smiley, Brie Larson, Cillian Murphy, Armie Hammer, Sharlto Copley, Babou Ceesay, Noah Taylor, Jack Reynor, Mark Monero, Patrick Bergin, Sara Dee (voice), Tom Davis
Soundtrack: Geoff Barrow & Ben Salisbury

This isn’t my first go ’round with this crew.

I saw Ben and Amy’s High-Rise last year, and wasn’t particularly impressed, but far be it from me to not give people second chances if it feels warranted.  After all, Free Fire obviously features a whole lot of guns, and a good handful of actors I actually like, so how bad could it be?

Well, frankly, I wish I hadn’t even asked the question.

This movie sent up red flags almost immediately, thanks to some bad Boston accents, and it never got much better from there.  The plot is razor thin (and boring), the characters are thin (and boring), and the action is poorly executed (look, I get that the joke is that they’re all bad shots, but you’ve got to give me some geography, man).  Seriously, I haven’t been this bored watching people shoot at each other since Jason Bourne (at least Free Fire has the decency to not be two hours long, although, honestly, the shorter runtime doesn’t help much).

Much like with High-Rise, there’s just something missing with Free Fire (maybe a lot of things, actually).  It’s not funny enough, violent enough (with the exception of a couple of quick moments), stylish enough, frightening enough, or clever enough to make you feel like you saw something worthwhile.  I can’t even tell you how much of the runtime I spent asking myself, “What emotion am I supposed to be feeling right now?”  I did chuckle a few times (which is why it’s not getting zero stars), but that was it; there was nothing else to grab onto.

Not every movie has to be the same, not every MacGuffin has to pay off, and not everything has to have “a point,” but every movie has to have something, and at the end of the day, Free Fire‘s pretty much got nothing.  I didn’t think I liked High-Rise all that much, but it feels like a quantum leap ahead of this movie, I tell you what.

Maybe I’m just not on board with Ben Wheatley (who knows?), but this movie is not one to be seen.

Rating: ★☆☆☆☆

Movie Review – ‘Kong: Skull Island’ – Schlock & Awe

Directed by Jordan Vogt-Roberts
Written by Dan Gilroy, Max Borenstein, Derek Connolly (screenplay), and John Gatins (story)
Cast: Tom Hiddleston, Samuel L. Jackson, Brie Larson, John C. Reilly, John Goodman, Corey Hawkins, John Ortiz, Tian Jing, Toby Kebbell, Jason Mitchell, Shea Whigham, Thomas Mann, Miyavi, Richard Jenkins, Robert Taylor, Terry Notary (Kong motion capture)
Soundtrack: Henry Jackman

With respect to the Japanese kaiju genre (which had a fantastic entry last year in Shin Godzilla), it was American cinema that cemented the rise of giant monsters with 1933’s King Kong.

With apologies to the Japanese kaiju genre, 2014’s American Godzilla was an absolute turd on stilts.

As everything has to be a cinematic universe these days (whether we want it or not), the inevitable match-up of these two giants (echoing Toho’s 1962 effort) has been obvious for some time now.  However, you can’t have a fight until both combatants have been introduced, and Kong: Skull Island is an explosive entrance that would make any pro wrestler proud.

It’s not a great film in the way that Logan or Mad Max: Fury Road are great films, but Kong: Skull Island is unquestionably a get-your-money’s-worth kind of movie.  It may go too far in a few places (sometimes a little too schlocky; sometimes a little too serious), and, without spoiling anything, I’ll say it ends on a decidedly odd note, but, overall, it’s trying to entertain you, which is very much in keeping with the spirit of the original King Kong (something neither the 1976 or 2005 remakes could get quite right).

Frankly, Kong: Skull Island is everything Godzilla (2014) isn’t.  It doesn’t tease you (you see Kong’s face within the first five minutes as opposed to nearly an hour for old ‘Zilla), it doesn’t bore you, it doesn’t saddle you with dull characters and bland creatures, it’s not afraid to occasionally make you laugh. and it’s got a lot of really interesting visual concepts (I enjoyed the period elements quite a bit).

It’s also big, as it should be.  No doubt a good chunk of work was done on sound stages, but it appears by and large that the movie was shot outdoors in real locations (including Hawaii, much like the Jurassic Park series and Kong ’76), and I give the cast and crew a ton of credit for subjecting themselves to some rather unpleasant conditions in order to make the movie look noticeably better than many other commensurate projects these days.

If there’s one major flaw I can point to, it’s that some of the dialogue feels out of place for the early 1970s, and some of it is just downright bad (John Goodman in particular gets stuck with a lot of exposition and I’m not sure he even tried to make the best of it), not to mention some of the jokes are too on the nose, but it’s not enough to soil the entire movie.  On the whole, the cast is at least adequate in its performance, with John C. Reilly charting as the most florescent in a largely comic relief role.

It has to be said that the movie deserves credit for not being just another King Kong remake, and actually doing something different with the story.  Sure, it wears its influences on its sleeve (Tom Hiddleston and John C. Reilly play characters named Conrad and Marlow, respectively; got it), but if the movie’s entertaining enough (which it is), then that’s perfectly fine.  It’s fresh where it needs to be and classic when called for.

Again, it’s not the best movie in the world, but if you’re looking for a big, fun, action-adventure creature feature, this one’s for you.

I don’t know that it gets me excited for the rest of the “MonsterVerse”, but Kong: Skull Island is plenty worth seeing on its own merit.

Get your popcorn ready.

Rating: ★★★★☆

P.S.
Yes, there is a post-credits scene (this is a cinematic universe after all).