Junkie XL – People Talking

Movie Review – ‘Alita: Battle Angel’ – I Can See For Miles

Directed by Robert Rodriguez
Written by James Cameron, Laeta Kalogridis, and
Robert Rodriguez, based on the manga series “Gunnm” created by Yukito Kishiro
Cast: Rosa Salazar, Christoph Waltz, Jennifer Connelly, Mahershala Ali, Ed Skrein, Jackie Earle Haley, Keean Johnson, Michelle Rodriguez, Eiza González, Lana Condor, Jorge Lendeborg Jr., Idara Victor, Marko Zaror, Elle LaMont, Leonard Wu, Jeff Fahey, Rick Yune, Casper Van Dien
Soundtrack: Junkie XL

Like so many people over the age of thirty, I have something of a complicated relationship with James Cameron (“Jim” to his friends).

Terminator? Aliens? True Lies? All very good to great films (I’m afraid I can’t comment on The Abyss, as I’ve never seen it, but it has a good reputation).

Titanic? Avatar? Well, that’s precisely where things get complicated, but there’s no need for a dissertation on that, as it’s ground well-covered.

Point is, I had concerns going into Alita, and I know I’m not alone. A lot of what was portrayed in the trailers was off-putting and weird, and now that I’ve seen the movie I understand why, because it’s not the kind of film that’s easily put into a box and sold (I feel like we’ve been discussing that a lot lately), but I can also tell you that it doesn’t deserve to be another $200 million flop like John Carter (which I actually liked, but would not have greenlit at that cost).

It has discernible flaws, to be sure, but, on the whole, Alita is entertaining, heartfelt, and interesting; certainly more accessible to general audiences than John Carter (especially given the source material), but nowhere near the realm of dumb that your average Transformers sequel resides in (though I will take this opportunity to recommend BumbleBee).

In fact, one of the more compelling aspects of the film is that the main characters all have their own issues and ethical questions to deal with, which is not to say that the movie tries to espouse some morally gray philosophic nonsense (*COUGH*TheLastJedi*COUGH*), but it’s admirable that it attempts to maintain a level of complexity that could have easily been jettisoned for a more black and white (aka more bland) story.

Speaking of choices though (and black and white), I’d be remiss if I didn’t give credit to the film’s director, Robert Rodriguez. As much as Alita is James Cameron’s baby, to the point that Rodriguez is on record as wanting to make it as close to Cameron’s style as possible, I think there were certain choices made by Rodriguez that Cameron might not have gone with, and for the better. Most notably, as much CGI as there is in the film, there’s also a whole lot shot on real [big] sets with real props, which helps give the movie at least some grounding in reality. In fact, there were a few moments that gave me some Matrix-y vibes, which makes some sense given that cinematographer Bill Pope shot all of those movies in addition to Alita.

As I mentioned before though, it’s not entirely perfect. As much as I admire the film for sticking true to its manga roots, certain things just don’t quite translate to live-action performance, and certain elements just feel downright silly, and, well, I won’t say anything more as it would get into spoilers.

All-in-all though, I have to hand it to Cameron, Rodriguez, and lead actress Rosa Salazar for trying to break new ground (a la the Jaffa/Silver Planet of the Apes trilogy). Even if it’s not always 100% successful, for me, the flaws are small enough to look past and give the movie a strong recommendation. As I said before, it doesn’t deserve to be another $200 million bomb, and I hope (admittedly selfishly) enough people discover that for themselves.

And, you know what? It might actually be worth seeing in 3-D (which I rarely ever say).

Rating: ★★★★☆

P.S.

Since we’re here talking about James Cameron hand-off projects, allow me to also recommend 1995’s Strange Days, written by Cameron and directed by Kathryn Bigelow. Despite the fact that it takes place in the far distant future of December 1999, it somehow is extraordinarily prescient on the endorphin releases we all find ourselves chasing on social media, among other things.

Check it out.

Almost Summer Shandy – ‘Deadpool’ & ‘Deadpool 2’ – Up for Whatever

One of the beauties of the Deadpool films (although I can see how some might see it as an annoyance) is that anything can happen: gunfights, car chases, proper action, fourth wall breaking, super-meta humor, Neil Sedaka, whatever; anything is possible.

In a genre chock-full of cookie-cutter (and safe) movies (not that I don’t enjoy the MCU, but, let’s be real), I find this level of anarchy quite refreshing.

Not to say that these two films don’t have their own fair share of boiler plate material (one of my only real criticisms of the sequel is that the core plot is highly reminiscent of a certain 2012 sci-fi thriller), but, honestly, it’s just nice to have some villains with a goal other than ruling the world with a giant blue space laser.

You know what else is refreshing? Each movie is a only a solid two hours in length (even less in the case of the first installment). I can handle long run times perfectly fine, but not every movie has to have a story that (often needlessly) takes two-and-a-half hours to tell. Sometimes I like to enjoy a nice, tightly-scripted movie that’s incredibly well-paced (especially true of the first; less so in the second, but still more than acceptable).

I suppose the most credit for these films even existing goes to Ryan Reynolds, who worked for an entire decade just to get the first one green-lit, but, second to that, I have to hand it to writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick (who first came together on Zombieland, which makes sense). They seem to genuinely understand the character they’re working with and also how to balance some really effervescent comedic material with other much darker elements, all the while maintaining personal stakes along the way.

Speaking of the character though, Deadpool himself is crass, cynical, violent, sarcastic, and crass (did I say crass?), and the films (like Logan, but for different reasons) are appropriately R-rated. Not every comic book adaptation needs to be, and some absolutely shouldn’t be, but in this case the 17-and-up rating is downright necessary. Not that this is all entirely groundbreaking or anything (as Ryan Reynolds well knows, having starred in Blade: Trinity), but I’m nonetheless happy to be getting these at full strength as opposed to some watered-down versions.

Getting back to the movies themselves though, one aspect of the first film I particularly enjoy, and which helps to give it the top-notch pacing it has, is that it chops up the story-line in the first half so you don’t just get the standard origin story in the standard order. Again, not groundbreaking, but nice that they did something to keep it relatively fresh.

Let’s not overlook the performances though. Obviously Ryan Reynolds is playing the role he was born to play, but Morena Baccarin is special as well (and I love that their relationship is essentially an R-rated and upgraded version of Holly and Michael from The Office), T.J. Miller works as an ordinary human sideman, Ed Skrein is effectively villainous (even if he isn’t a supervillain), and who doesn’t love Gina Carano doing anything?

Part two brings more of the same in the way that most sequels do, but it does elevate in story and tone (even if the plot is derivative, as I mentioned before), but I think it’s just a half step off in terms of execution compared to its predecessor.

Still though, it’s highly entertaining and full of fun little surprises. The core cast from the first movie is still firing, Josh Brolin makes a great Cable, Julian Dennison isn’t quite as enjoyable as he was in Hunt for the Wilderpeople but I’m not sure he’s really meant to be anyway, and Zazie Beetz pretty much steals any scene she’s in.

I’ve said this before about Guardians of the Galaxy and Kingsman, and it applies here as well: If you liked the first one, you’ll probably like the second one, too; if you didn’t like the first one, you probably won’t like the sequel, so don’t waste your time.

If you’ve never seen either though, and you’re not easily offended by gratuitous sex and violence (definitely more of the latter than the former), I say give them both a whirl.

And, of course, make sure you stick around til the very end of the first one, and I guess halfway through the credits of the second one.

Enjoy (or don’t)!

Ratings:
Deadpool: ★★★★½
Deadpool 2: ★★★★☆

Movie Review – ‘The Dark Tower’ – Ignorance is Bliss

Directed by Nikolaj Arcel
Written by Akiva Goldsman & Jeff Pinkner and Anders Thomas Jensen & Nikolaj Arcel, based on the novels by Stephen King
Cast: Idris Elba, Matthew McConaughey, Tom Taylor, Claudia Kim, Fran Kranz, Abbey Lee, Jackie Earle Haley, Dennis Haysbert, Katheryn Winnick, Nicholas Hamilton, José Zúñiga
Soundtrack: Junkie XL

Good versus Evil.

Or something.

Look, I’m going to level with you. I don’t know anything about Stephen King’s Dark Tower books, or anything else about where the story of this film comes from. All I really know is that it’s a movie, so that’s all I can judge it as.

Actually, one thing I do know is that The Dark Tower is writer/director Nikolaj Arcel’s Hollywood debut, after a quartet of features in his home country of Denmark, culminating with his breakout movie, A Royal Affair (solid period drama; worth watching), which was nominated for a Best Foreign Language Film Oscar in 2013.

The Dark Tower, however, I have concerns about, if only because it’s a wide release film that’s not a comedy that clocks in around only ninety minutes. Maybe I’m overreacting, but the first thing that comes to my mind is 1998’s The Avengers, which was drastically edited down after poor test screenings, leading to an incomprehensible final cut that absolutely tanked at the box office.

I’m also concerned it could be like The Forbidden Kingdom, which was shamelessly marketed as a Jackie Chan vs. Jet Li marshal arts film, but in reality was essentially a children’s movie. Lies!

So, what is The Dark Tower?

Well, I can say with certainty that it’s not the worst movie ever made. It’s not even the worst movie of the summer (I also wouldn’t call it a children’s movie, despite a child protagonist).

In fact, I’d call it solid entertainment; roughly a mix of The Matrix, Thor, and Guardians of the Galaxy. Not that The Dark Tower is nearly as good as any of those, but it’s passable. If not for the recent run of quality summer pictures, I might give it a higher recommendation, but it’s low priority compared to Baby Driver, Spider-Man, War for the Planet of the Apes, and Dunkirk (not to mention Detroit, although that’s a different kind of movie).

It’s not perfect. It feels like a reverse Hobbit situation where they’re trying to pack too much into too little (ninety-five minutes for a story like this just isn’t enough time), but it’s far from a total train-wreck. I was never horribly confused as to what was happening or who each character was. Sometimes bits of dialogue here and there felt a little silly (in a John Carter sort of way), but I wouldn’t say there are any outright bad performances. I thought Matthew McConaughey was an interesting villain (in his cool, laid back fashion), and Idris Elba worked great as a disillusioned white knight out for revenge.

Also, based on the fact that there were a few Stephen King Easter eggs that I as a casual observer noticed, I’m going to guess this movie is chock-full of them; which, assuming you’re not horribly offended by this adaptation of his work, should be fun for fans of the author.

Other than that, the action (what little there is) is fairly well executed, there are some nice NYC bits (like, real, actual New York City), and a little bit of fish-out-of-water humor for levity’s sake.

So, yeah, I liked it. I can’t promise that you’ll like it, and if you’re a fan of the books you’ll probably have reason to hate it, but for me, going in totally blind, I thought it was fine.

It’s not worth full price, and it’s not worth seeing before a lot of other movies this summer, but it’s a fine matinee choice.

Rating: ★★★½ (out of five)

P.S.
No stingers.

Movie Review – ‘Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice’ – Who’s in charge here?

Directed by Zack Snyder
Written by Chris Terrio & David S. Goyer, based on characters created by Bob Kane & Bill Finger (Batman) and Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster (Superman)
Cast: Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Jesse Eisenberg, Diane Lane, Laurence Fishburne, Jeremy Irons, Holly Hunter, Gal Gadot, Scoot McNairy
Soundtrack: Junkie XL and Hans Zimmer

Look, I get it. Comic book movies are a tough business.

You have to adapt an infinite medium into a finite medium; you have to make a movie that will stand on its own even if people haven’t read the source material while also making something that fans of the source material will appreciate; and, on top of all that, you need to make a movie that will make enough money to triple the tremendous costs so that it’s not considered a failure, but you don’t want to make it too simple-minded so that it’s also considered a failure.

Whoa.

All that said, I’ve feared, especially when compared to its Marvel counterpart, that the DC Extended Universe has been doomed from the start, having been largely placed in the hands of Zack Snyder. That’s not to say ol’ Zack is incapable of making good movies; 300 and Watchmen stand as evidence in his favor. Man of Steel, however, is good for about 70 minutes of its runtime, while the other hour is just too much for my senses.

Dawn of Justice is, in many ways, more of the same, except it’s not a tale of two halves like Man of Steel (or Captain America: The First Avenger, for that matter). Here, the schizophrenia has a bit of a ping pong feel, bouncing back and forth between questionable decisions and sequences that actually work pretty well. From a plot standpoint, the movie takes a while to get where it’s really going, but once it gets there, it’s pretty good, so, overall, it balances out to some solid entertainment.

Per my guiding principles, I’ll do my best not to spoil anything (although the trailers have basically given everything away at this point) while getting into what worked and what didn’t.

Remember when everybody freaked out over Ben Affleck playing Batman, and how he was going to ruin the movie? I maintained from Day One that he’d be fine, and if the movie had problems, he wouldn’t be one.

And I was right.

I have to hand it to him, given what he was asked to do, I thought he handled the essentially dual roles of Bruce Wayne and Batman with aplomb. He might not go down as the best of either, but given the history of the character on screen, he acquitted himself well.

Regrettably, I was also right about the most grating aspect of the movie: Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor.

Now, do I have a certain bias against Jesse Eisenberg? Yes. He generally gets on my nerves, but that doesn’t mean I hate everything he’s ever done, Surely some of my agita has to do with the way the Luthor character was written, but, man, him in that role was a tough pill to swallow, and I do mean to the bitter end.

What else did I hate? For one thing, there’s this thread of Bruce Wayne having crazy dreams that is baffling to watch and doesn’t really add anything. There are references to the future that I felt were way too explicit; a little subtlety would have been nice in that regard. And, did we really need to see Thomas and Martha Wayne get gunned down again? (Mercifully, this happens during the opening credits, so at least they get it out of the way as quickly as possible.)

What else worked? I’m not entirely sure, but I think there was a creative decision to make Gotham and Metropolis very geographically close, almost like Manhattan and Jersey City; I think I’m on board with that. Also, Jeremy Irons as Alfred was great; the character had a certain sassiness that I really enjoyed.

Ultimately, the movie is an excuse for one particular centerpiece, and that centerpiece is satisfying, even if the reason for it is a bit hackneyed.

Unfortunately, I’m not so sure the movie works entirely as a movie, which every movie should, no matter the source material, or if it’s the third sequel; every movie should work as its own experience. I’m afraid that if people don’t know much about Batman or Superman, they’ll be a bit lost watching Dawn of Justice, and they’ll have the same experience I had when I saw X-Men: Days of Future Past (tl;dr, I didn’t give a crap). Perhaps it coalesces just enough to avoid this problem, but I don’t know; I’ve always been kind of a DC Comics guy, so it’s hard for me to tell.

As I said before though, Dawn of Justice averages out to some solid entertainment, and it did throw in some surprises I wasn’t expecting, which is more that I can say about some other movies.

Rating: ★★★☆☆

P.S.
Naturally, and as usual, Alamo outdid themselves with the specials. Between my friend and I, we sampled everything but the pizza.