Summer-Fall 2013 Movie Preview - Part 1

I'm maybe in the worst mood for writing since the beginning of the year. So the end of May is well synced, since it's the usual time when I go through the movies of the following 6 months. So, less words, more video ...

In June we have, the way too promoted "Man of Steel". Getting over the semi-alergic condition that I lately developed for super-hero movies (although I have to admit that "Iron Man 3" was decent), the only part that attracts me to this one is the direction by Zach Snyder. But not even this probably can save a story told already in something like 3-4 trailers (+ the known background), the last of them covering pretty much all the blank spots left.

I'll stop for a moment on "White House Down". Because I've recently seen "Olympus has Fallen". Which is a bit like a Die Hard at the White House. And now, at least than 3 months distance comes the "remake". Why I insist on it ? Just because the first version, contrary to some ratings that mislead me when I payed my ticket, makes the last "Die Hard", bashed by everybody, to look like a Oscar movie. To bad for the idea, which has potential for an action movie. So, from the weirdness of having two movies with the same topic one after another, maybe something good manages to finally come out. Even though Roland Emmerich directing (remember "Godzilla" ?) doesn't sound encouraging.

By far, the most interesting title for June comes from UK. "Hummingbird" is a thriller written and directed by Steven Knight ("Dirty Pretty Things", "Eastern Promises"). As an alternative title it also comes as "Redemption". No pun intended, but even so I'm curious to see if Jason Statham in his first role with a more solid drama content deserves getting credit for the acting, demonstration avoided by now with the skill of the "Transporter" driver.

"The Lone Ranger" opens July as the last collaboration between Gore Verbinsky/Johnny Depp/Jerry Bruckheimer & Disney. Contrary to the majority of the public, who besides "Pirates of the Caribbean", pretty much ditched every Disney super-production in the last years, to be read "Prince of Persia" & "John Carter", I actually liked them. Quite a lot. There's something there from the feeling of the movies before '90 ("Indiana Jones", "Back to the Future", "Star Wars" the old series). So, I have hope also here. And since the mentioned triplet is the same from "PotC", if the movie confirms, I hope it will get enough public this time to avoid getting canceled for eventual sequels.

Not to forget animations completely, this summer we have "Turbo". After the first teaser, close to 0 details, the title did sound promising. Without more comments, following the 2nd trailer I start to think if DreamWorks is somehow "virused" by Pixar lately as feeling/age target/rest of script+story related stuff (and it's not supposed to be something good).

I know I mentioned above that I become allergic to super-hero movies, but I don't know if I have any better option for the end of July. And the last version of "Wolverine", although again giving quite a lot from the subject in the trailer, looks anyway relatively promising. If we take as plus only the Orient location and we already have something more original than the other title with "steel" in it.

I have to admit that this year seems very good for SciFis, compared to others. And more, SciFis that seem promising and already confirmed ("Oblivion", "Star Trek"). Because there's also the "classic" category targeted on getting profit proportional with the explosions amount (maybe I'm wrong but it looks that "Pacific Rim" sort of fits). From the others though, in August we have "Elysium". But let's see if what we have here it's not just competition to (and on par with) "Hunger Games" ...

I'll allow myself to put also "Grandmaster" on this summer list, although the movie was already released. I don't really preview Hong Kong movies because even if I have a pretty good opinion on many titles that are getting out of there, there are a lot which are totally lame. This one was sent though to a bunch of festivals (where to be true the opinions were divided). So I said that I can do an exception. Especially since is directed by Wong Kar Wai, somehow strange for a biopic that (after I don't know how many other installments) it's about Ip Man's life, known as essential figure in the Chinese martial arts. Why the directing seems strange .. because WKW is known for a series of movies that don't have almost anything in common with this type of action, and get much more close to a surreal drama area (yes, surreal drama from that part of the world - check out "2046" or "Chunking Express" - it might be surprising after you see them but they're made in China). Anyway, after the trailer, the movie looks fine at least visually, so I would give it a chance ...

If I already got into a niche that's far from mainstream, and with movies that are released already in some places, I'll end August and today's entry with a made in UK production, about which I don't know if it's low budget or not, but looks quite indie. And for an indie to get catchy, especially a fantasy in which there were pumped some money, "Hammer of the Gods" should hopefully have at least a decent story .. or lots of blood. We'll see which one ...

Trance (2013)

After quite a long time, during which we had a life drama - "Slumdog Millionaire" and a real life drama - "127 Hours", in "Trance" Danny Boyle returns to something with a consistent part of psychological thriller. Let's see if it went good or not ...

The beginning of the movie offers one of the most original intrigues that I've had the chance to catch on screen in a while. Light spoiler: Simon works for an action house, which is attacked during a sell for a Goya painting. As the movie will show after something like 15 minutes Simon also works for the thieves. Which thieves have the surprise that the stolen painting is just an empty frame. Because at some point during the robbery Simon did hide the actual canvas. After which, somehow he managed to get a heavy hit on his head. After which, awaken with amnesia in the hospital he doesn't recall anything about the painting. Obviously, the rest of the criminal group is not very pleased, and after a short torture session they reach the conclusion that Simon really has a memory problem. Solution: let's look for a hypnotherapist that will bring it back. And we should say what ? that we stole a painting and we don't know anymore where we hid it ? Complicated. Ok, I'll stop here because you can already start watching the movie a quarter past the opening credits after all I've said.

What's above might sound more like action with a comic touch. Far from the truth. The movie switches to a psychological thriller by the book and as dramatic as can be in the end. As you can imagine, the action revolves a lot around the hypnosis and its effects. So much that at some point it gets hard to track and a bit to overdone in its attempts of "mind-boggling" for a subject that is resolved relatively simple in the end. Simpler than you would imagine at least = I've had the sensation of a predictable ending but not completely confirmed = in my head I got in the end to have a more entangled script than the one in the movie. Maybe it was the collateral effect of the hypnosis on the screen, who knows ...

The cast was excellent. James McAvoy in the most confirming part since "The Last King of Scotland", Rosario Dawson in a role that made me change the opinion about her ( and it's not related to the nude scenes :) ), Vincent Cassel as negative character completing the exceptional "series" that I had the luck to see lately (after Hook in "Neverland" and Khan in "Star Trek"). Editing and cinematography as in Boyle movie = flawless. For soundtrack he seems he gave up for the moment on the collaboration with A.J. and got back to Rick Smith co-author on some tracks from previous movies ("Trainspotting", "The Beach", "Sunshine"). The result, surprisingly good, has many influences on the same direction with the movie title = trance. To make a comparison, it reminded me of the score from "Drive".

So' what's wrong: if the ending would have been a bit different, if the script would have been a bit more coherent, and as a personal note if some action threads wouldn't have been handled in such a ... cold manner, I would put it on the same level with "Sunshine", "Slumdog Millionaire", "28 Hours" and what Boyle has in his CV on its top positions. Since it's not there, I only can place it a bit above "The Beach". So, the movie is clearly good and deserves watching it, but ..

Rating: 4 out of 5 ( hardly )

Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)

How should I write this entry without spoiler ? I'd better not write anything :) Ok, let's try something brief. Because what's essential for "Star Trek Into Darkness" is that somehow it managed up to the release date to keep the subject pretty hidden. It's essential because it turned to be a pretty pleasant surprise not knowing much in advance. Even the negative character, although listed in the IMDb published cast since a while ago still had a question mark upon him. It even got to fake "leaked screenings" of the final credits that gave identity (either fake or real) to ...

Khan. Khan Noonien Singh. That's as much as I'll leave as "spoiler" - nothing more. Sorry, but to "enjoy the movie" is better like this, with the risk of an entry that's too short. I still can make some recommendation though. To get a complete enough view of what the last Star Trek offers, it would be good to see the previous one that starts an alternative temporal line for Kirk & Co. Alternative to the generation and the facts from the first series (the old old one, before Picard), having the connection point in "the old Spock" (Leonard Nimoy). Even more recommended before watching the last installment is to see "The Wrath of Khan" aka Star Trek II = the 2nd big screen movie from 1982. In case it wasn't obvious already, Khan is not a new character. More important is that the script of the new movie "recycles" in very nice manner what it gets from there. I'll refrain from saying more but it deserves attention. If you've already seen the movie from 30 years ago, the current one will certainly bring up memories. I hope in a positive way :) although there are opinions saying that J.J. Abrams has lost the Star Trek spirit and that the commercial aspect (= action, explosions, violence) dominates instead a sufficiently complex and intelligent subject that would me more in line with the series. Partially I agree, partially though the subject is not (yet) so superficial to throw the movie in .. how to say it nicely .. well .. "Transformers league".

Besides that, as in the previous big screen "episode", the cast is really up to the level of the original one (I'll keep my opinion that at least the doctor: "Bones" McCoy played by DeForest Kelley before '90 is perfectly reprised by Karl Urban now). To avoid any spoilers, I'll keep the discretion on the negative character ( but this is also with a plus :) ). On the positive side I would also add the sound + the score by Michael Giacchino for who I don't have much respect, but I have to admit that he catched "the feeling". On the minus side, besides the ultra commercial factor + the typical U.S. "flavor" (even if it would stand written on the credits that the production is 100% European you'd still be convinced that it comes from Hollywood), something else, well ... the 3D. I've never been too attracted to 3D, but there are movies (e.g., "Life of Pi") on which I had to admit that it works, and that it makes a difference. Not in this case. For me it could have been 2D without doubt, especially given some action scenes in which the frame is not fixed for at least a second. In any case, the general conclusion is positive. So, enjoy the movie, and .. live long and prosper ;)

Rating: 4 out of 5

Jack the Giant Slayer (2013)

I write on a hurry = this is a short entry. Since I don't have anything better, I'll stay in the story area with one of the adaptations appeared in the lately trend: "Snow White" - 2 versions, "Oz", and this title: "Jack the Giant Slayer". Let me try to be short and to the point.

You know the story. Or not :) Well, is somewhere around the classic version. Jack gives a horse for some beans, from the beans a stalk rises, at the end of the stalk there are some giants .. ok, stop; we already have differences - a horse instead of a cow; giants - the plural - instead of giant .. we can add also a princess, an evil plot, and I should stop since the trailer tells you already enough.

What surprised me when I heard about the movie was the directing: Bryan Singer and the script: Cristopher McQuarrie. A couple known for .. "The Usual Suspects", "Valkyrie", "X-Men", etc. So ... not that close to classic fantasy. Still, I was optimistic because most of the titles where the two were involved didn't have extremely negative points (even though X-Men is quite far from my preferences). After seeing the movie I can say that I was right. It's not a masterpiece, but the story that I avoided detailing above is interestingly enough transposed into a script and directed. Gives you the impression that you have a sort of season 1 and season 2 condensed = at some moment when you're about to say ok .. the end credits will follow and the next year the sequel will follow, surprise .. we have the sequel on the spot. I hope I won't start to ramble incoherently, but the effect created is for the viewer as an upgrade from a vacation short film: bad things happen, hero saves the day .. to .. :) a vacation longer film: bad things happen, hero saves the day, really bad things happen, hero really saves the day :). It's not much, but somehow it propells the movie from superficial to an actual decent level. Even more, I was expecting something relatively "light" as deepness, since the story doesn't have much substance being a sort of campy child's tale. This is confirmed, but still there is some try for dramatic nuances on several characters. Only some try, doesn't get very far :) but it's still enough to feel it a little bit.

Overall, an enjoyable movie.

Rating: 3 out of 5

Neverland (2011)

After two other SyFy mini-series seen in the last years, "Tin Man" and "Alice", variations of "The Wizard of Oz", respectively (and obviously) "Alice in Wonderland", I had serious doubts about giving a chance to "Peter Pan". Especially since the director and the screenwriter was the same, a certain Nick Willing who seems to build a career in this genre. As I said when I've seen the previous, these were barely saved by the story that had sufficiently solid variations so it didn't end up in a total failure. "Neverland" is not far, but as "Alice" compared to "Tin Man" is a step in front so you won't say that you lost almost three hours for nothing.

If in the previous cases we had a sequel to the classic story, here we have a prequel. I think it's the most interesting of the three, and I could start from the fact that it gives a sufficiently enough credibility (to be read: non-hilarious) in the area of the stories that connect a fantastic realm to the nearby street. I've always rolled my eyes when I've seen transitions like the train from "Harry Potter", the wardrobe from "Narnia", or others that make the rabbit hole from "Alice", or even the hurricane going to Oz (since we have both of them close) to look like rocket science compared to making paper planes (in the original versions, "Alice" actually explains itself coherent enough through a dream, and some magic shoes with teleporting power to the "Land of Oz" are at least more stylish than a train or a wardrobe + I guess they have some background in the oriental fairy tales). But to come back to "Neverland", which in the current movie is nothing else then a planet in a different galaxy, habitable and to which you can travel a la Stargate, only that this time through an orb. Well .. there would be some more details, and more exactly what's already known from the classic story = the residents that get there do not age + the indigen alien race = a sort of small winged creatures (Tinkerbell species in brief - not to get ridiculous with trying to describe it at late night hours). As the ending, or better said the sequel written long ago by J.M. Barrie is already known it doesn't make sense to give much more details about how it's getting there, but still I cannot jump completely over a key character, even if it will give some spoilers ...

Hook. James Hook. Although this variation changes some of the base story, Hook's origins in this version make some justice (sort of speaking) to the character. I'll limit myself to the beginning which presents Hook as lord fallen into disgrace from London's high society and who manages the activity of a pickpocket gange formed by kids he picked up after being abandoned or from orphanages = Peter Pan & the company. Despite the image created for one second, it's nothing like a Dickensian nightmare which the poor kids have to endure. Hook seems to be a guy who actually cares about them. How the situation evolves and how we get to the well known rivalry, this will be told by the movie. To notice though the part made by Rhys Ifans who, despite some overacting, makes the best Hook I've ever seen on screen, and without any exageration (of course helped by the story) one of the most complex negative characters that I've seen in a while.

Unfortunately, as the others, the movie suffers terribly from the direction. It's clear that we hav something of TV budget here, because it's a made-for-TV production, but there are plenty of series which you could say that are shot for the big screen. Here you have the impression that we have soap-opera direction, not one for a fantasy. To complete a schedule change verdict for outside the prime time for any station that would buy the movie, the effects are sometimes very lame. But well .. we can't have a Peter Pan without seeing him flying, so some hilarious result might be better than missing it completely. Something else, to get the critiques to extreme :), even if we have a much more complex Hook than other versions have, he still seems "unexplored" at the maximum. Even so, it's a definite good reason to watch the movie.

Rating: 3 out of 5

The Place Beyond the Pines (2012)

I've heard for the first time about "The Place Beyond the Pines" quite a long time ago. Somewhere soon after "Drive" when somebody was saying on a forum that Ryan Gosling will redo his role, but on a motorbike. Time went over, the movie got an anemic initial release being an indie, but apparently managed to get enough interest to be distributed (in something like half an year) also where I'm located.

I didn't have high expectances, hearing that's either too long and boring, or that it doesn't have a beginning and an end, or that is overdramatized, and many others. To be read = somewhere in subconscious I was expecting to be pleasantly surprised. Well .. not really, but I can't say that it "invited" me to leave the cinema. I would prefer to say only this instead getting into more details about the subject, because I might have liked it better if I wouldn't have read a short review that gave away pretty much everything. I have to say though, not to leave it completely hidden, that the action idea starts with an attempt of a guy, the motorcycle rider above, to rebuild a life lived doing stunts, circus style, across the country. This comes after he finds he has a son in one of the cities he had been. The trailer is quite suggestive about how he tries to "straighten-up". About the role played in this by the other main character (Bradley Cooper), member of the police force in the respective town, I'll refrain from spoilers.

Probably the main plus is the cast. And I'll get over the names on the poster, and move to a secondary one - Ben Mendelsohn, who after "Animal Kingdom" and "Killing Them Softly", makes another exceptional complex role of a "law non-abiding citizen", apparently a pretty cool guy, but who in the end you don't know exactly where he's placed between malefic ( as in the deepest dark corners ) and just oportunist. For the rest, the movie is not bad. But for me it doesn't surpass the level of an ordinary life-drama. You could say fter you see it that's ok, that the story has also original parts which you don't see in every movie. Debatable .. There's nothing coming now to my mind, but I wasn't really surprised (and is not just to the fact that I've read the synopsis before seeing the movie). More, the idea that it doesn't have a head and tail is sort of true, especially regarding the tail. I don't know .. I still want to avoid telling too much, but it sort of fits even better on a real-life story that has nothing to show in the end except that life just goes on. My point is not that I would have wanted a spectacular ending or something like that (although to be honest although commercially, it would have probably raised the level of the movie ...), but .. I've seen/heard (and unfortunately also sort of lived ..) real life stories that are more .. "movie prone" than what we have here. At least the last part, which seems to a be an episode of a regular drama series, only that we don't have the following one to conclude the plot.

Rating: 3 out of 5