Critical Film Condition

While I have seen this movie, it is now being pushed to the Apple Trailer site, and the trailer really lives up to it.

José Padilha’s controversial masterpiece gets a fine trailer treatment, that is only incapable of explaining the plot, due to its rudimentary, multi-plottet style. It isn’t the movie’s or the trailer’s fault, it’s only that the movie has many parallel plots that make it come close to documentary-style filmmaking, while at the same time displaying some of the best action scenes in recent memory. It does serve its purpose, which is to pop the DVD (already available in Brazil) into the player and watch the movie again. In a history of terrible Brazilian movie trailers, this one really stands out as one of the most awe-inspiring movie previews I’ve seen. Don’t miss it.

http://www.apple.com/trailers/independent/elitesquad/

Popularity: 1%

One of the funny things about Ben Stiller is the fact that he wasn’t always so fixated in the types of movies he wanted to make. In “Permanent Midnight” he played a drug addicted screenwriter, showing that he had potential for dramatic roles, while in “Keep the Faith” he used his comic prowess, but in the lighter side of the comic spectrum. Lately, though, he has dedicated himself to darker comedies, which can be exemplified by his reunion with the Farrely brothers in “Heartbreak Kid”, with whom he had done “There’s Something About Mary” before. In comes “Tropic Thunder”, which takes all elements of dark, gritty comedies, and mixes them um with some sort of adrenaline tuned slapstick (or BOOMstick) satire. The fact that Robert Downey Jr.  plays an Australian actor playing a black character says it all, and is probably the reason why the movie generated such a buzz months before release, aside from the fact that, while not for all audiences, the movie is really really good.

“Tropic Thunder” has a rather simple story. A war movie is being made somewhere in Asia (I think Vietnam) and it’s over budget and late in schedule mainly because the cast, full of important stars, can’t keep their egos together. The fact that the director is inexperienced doesn’t help… So he and the author of the book in which the movie is based on decide to shoot the movie “guerrilla style”: namely getting the actors in a real warzone and filming it with hidden cameras. That’s about it and that’s all it actually needs.

The biggest grudge that I have with “Tropic Thunder” is that it was designed specifically for people, if only lightly, involved with the film industry, or hardcore movie fans. While some may see it as a senseless display of grotesque jokes and unnecessary violence (that even gave it a higher rating), some who know better because of extensive involvement with the industry know that everything that “Tropic Thunder” shows is an attempt (almost always successful) to either poke fun or just openly criticize what Hollywood has become in our time. Robert Downey Jr.’s character is an open attack to situations like in “Bridget Jones’ Diary”, where an American actress, who was recently awarded an Oscar, got the role of an iconic British book character, and had to stereotypically fake an accent to get credit where it isn’t due. Jack Black plays the drug-addicted comedian who limits his acting to fart and poop jokes. Ben Stiller plays the falling action star. Honoring the fact that Critical Film Condition is aimed at audiences who aren’t involved and are just looking for a good time in movies, who the hell cares, right? Sure, for some it may be interesting, but for some it will just be funny to see how Downey Jr. handles the role, which is nothing short of amazing. At one point he has to speak Chinese and he does THAT while being the black stereotype. It’s just funny as hell.

Ben Stiller deserves most of the credit for what “Tropic Thunder” turned out to be, even if the supporting cast is responsible for it being so good. Aside from the fact that some jokes the casual audience won’t get, “Tropic Thunder” has many moments where you’ll just laugh your ass off. And the amazing thing is, that the one who takes most of the credit is, believe me, Tom Cruise. Yes, the same guy who did “Top Gun” and jumped on a couch declaring his love for someone who’s old enough be his daughter on Oprah (For those still guessing, the guy from “Mission: Impossible”). Cruise is almost unrecognizable as the movie producer who doesn’t take shit from anyone. He is absolutely hilarious, getting most attention in a supporting role to the likes of Robert Downey Jr… Sure, Downey Jr.’s role is more diversified than Cruise’s, but nonetheless his character is hilarious mainly because he acts it out so well.

On a side note, every shot, special effect and satirically dramatic scene in the movie is convincing. Stiller really did a good job, and if the audience didn’t know that they were watching a dark-half-brainless comedy, some of the scenes could belong in a good, serious, war movie. It’s a big shut up from the director to all the skeptics who said that he was limited to acting in brainless comedies (he can also direct one)… The musical score by Theodore Shapiro is amazing, taking care of the “serious” aspects of the movie, while the soundtrack, featuring Steppenwolf and Credence Clearwater Revival, is nothing short of cool.

All around, “Tropic Thunder” is a very well put movie that may just not be cut out for all audiences, but has a lot of very very funny moments (Tom Cruise alone is worth the admission ticket) and some fancy directing by Ben Stiller. It IS the Summer’s biggest comedy, and it very well deserves to be.

Popularity: 2%

Who hasn’t heard of Timur Bekmambetov? Everyone, I reckon… This review wouldn’t be fair without a short introduction about the movie’s director: Bekmambetov is the most successful Russian director of our present day, directing both “Nightwatch” and its sequel “Daywatch”, two of the most expensive and lucrative movies that Russia did, well, since ever. His unique sense of style and unorthodox story development managed to grab the English speaking audience, even if they didn’t fully understand his stories, since the presence of Russian culture in the thematic was a little overwhelming.

Enter “Wanted”, his first movie made in English, with famous celebrities, a ton of cash and a script loosely based on a Graphic Novel written by a Scott. The different problems that come up when a man that derives his creativity mostly from his misunderstood culture are only the tip of the iceberg for why “Wanted” was far from what Bekmambetov has to offer with the Hollywood infrastructure.

James McAvoy is Wesley Gibson, a bozo who is so miserable that it is comical rather than pitiful. He hates his job, his girlfriend cheats on him with his best friend and he’s troubled with the fact that he is anonymous amongst the populace (hey, even I have more Google hits than the guy). His life gets a big switchover when he is rescued from murder by a smoking-hot Angelina Jolie and discovers that he is, in fact, the son of the greatest assassin in the world, who was recently killed by the very man who just tried to kill him. His motivation then deviates into stepping in for his father in the Fraternity of Assassins and avenging his death.

My main grudge in this movie is with the script. While the creator of the novel had a great concept in hand, the screenwriter screwed the pooch by allowing himself the wrong creative liberties, while maintaining some ideas that just don’t fit in a movie, even exaggerated as this one. Sure, it’s cool to see people curving bullets, but this movie still tries to place itself into at least some scope of reality, and in that department the script is wholly inconsistent (Wesley gets fully trained in a month, from bozo to Neo… I don’t bite, even when people curve bullets, which is AWESOME!!!).

The cast is OK, and James McAvoy might be the next big thing in Hollywood, but MAN it hurts to see him try to speak American English. He is one of the best actors of his generation, and they didn’t even bother to give him a friggin’ speech coach to work with. I’m not just picking on it… The problem is that he seems so focused on letting his Scottish accent aside that he forgot to act all together, which is a shame, since Angelina Jolie (Fox), Thomas Kretschmann (Cross – Bad Guy) and, specially, Morgan Freeman, who plays the badass Fraternity leader Sloan, deliver satisfying, at times even good, performances… Even for an action film directed by a director who speaks (in interviews) like he just had a bottle of bad vodka.

Speaking of Bekmambetov, his presence is noticeable throughout the whole experience, since his completely unorthodox methods are what make “Wanted” a unique action experience, and consequently a movie worth watching, despite its many flaws. Every bullet shot, punch, jump, etc. has something special about it, be it a marking on the bullet or something like a big “FUCK YOU” that pops out of a keyboard when it is used to his someone in the face. Cross that with one of the best musical scores by Danny Elfman in recent memory (possibly Hollywood’s most unique composer) and you’ve got something that might seem a little off at first, but grows on you to the point of being very cool afterwards. Even with its crazy sense of style, “Wanted” is a far more accessible movie than “Nightwatch” or “Daywatch”, and is the perfect entry path to Bekmambetov’s vision of cinema for the non-Russian audience.

It is hard to review such an unbalanced movie, due to it’s inconsistencies, without bashing it too much… The script has more downs than ups and the excessive, often misplaced cursing is a telltale sign of an insecure screenwriter who wanted his dialogue to sound like Tarantino’s, except without the “cool”. That and McAvoy’s unexpectedly bad acting put a little bad weight on “Wanted”… But it still is a unique movie that should be seen, if only to see that there are still non-American directors willing to slap Hollywood in the face with innovative movie-making.

By the way, this is rated R, and by Bekmambetov’s history, this means blood. Not for the faint of heart.

[starreviewmulti id=1]

Popularity: 3%

“Hellboy” was a movie that caught everyone by surprise, mainly because its setting, theme and character design promised a disastrous display of Guillermo del Toro’s fantastically creative mind. While not generally acknowledged as his best movie, “Hellboy” was proof of his talent as he shut everyone’s mouth by showing that his unorthodox ideas were ultimately responsible for it being an awesome movie. Ron Perlman was covered in make-up, only the absolutely necessary amount of Computer Effects were used, giving it a unique sense of style that, in concept, looked bad.

After “Pan’s Labyrinth” and a load of Oscar nominations, del Toro answers the fan’s call for a sequel and while it delivers on its main promise, it also lacks the innovation that made the first one so cool. It’s tough to overcome the hype, but that is why talented directors exist.

The story is as follows: a power-hungry elf king, wanting to conquer the earth, gets an invincible mechanical army built, that answers to the commands of a magical crown worn by the king. After seeing the destruction that his army is capable of, he makes a truce with humankind and splits his crown in three pieces, disabling it and securing peace in the world. Present day, his son, prince Nuada, is angry with what the humans have done to the world given to them and aims to reactivate the golden army to rule the earth once again. Naturally, Hellboy is the man (demon) to stop him.

Now, “Hellboy II” is far from being a bad movie. I would go as far to say that it is a very good movie, but del Toro alone raises such hype since he is such an awesome director. You can see that his talent is present in the whole movie, but something tells me that the passion that made part I so cool isn’t there. While the irreplaceable cast is back, they too don’t show such care they had for their characters. Ron Perlman is still the loveable titular character, but Hellboy is not as kickass as he was in the first part, possibly because the story tries to develop some sort of maturity needed by unnecessary plot points and choices that I, for one, am not entirely satisfied about. Suffice to say that naming these choices here would ruin the experience, the biggest plot twist is at the end of the first act, rendering the rest of the movie helpless with lesser twists and character interactions. Not that the story is bad… Nuada may be an even cooler villain than Rasputin, the bad guy in the first film, but the relation between him and Hellboy is poorly developed, while Rasputin went as far as questioning Hellboy’s reason to be through the whole first movie.

Of course, like any other beginning of a franchise, “Hellboy” was an origin story. The plot revolved around the main character and it was ultimately about closure and him finding his place in the world. In part II, Hellboy is merely a hero that never had any involvement with what goes on. Sure, he is one of the many “things that go bump in the night”, but Nuada and company were never aware of the existence of the demon that could destroy the whole world with his right hand. And that, in my opinion, is a great flaw because it diminishes Hellboy’s importance in the plot. He’s just a guy trying to save the day.

One thing that bothered me at first and the main reason that it took me so long to write this review is that I thought that del Toro expanded the supernatural world a little too much. I thought he went too far. After thinking about it, I came to a conclusion that it was a necessary evil, because Hellboy should not be the only supernatural being in the story. Rasputin was a “wannabe”, a regular man turned powerful due to an allegiance with the underworld. But said underworld was there nonetheless. Nuada is the real deal. He’s an elf prince, not nearly as powerful as Rasputin was, but more driven, motivated, like the other monsters in the second movie. The forest god that appears in the second act is awesome, destructive and not ultimately evil, and it is in these parts that del Toro shines, displaying the underworld as a place where amazing creatures, good, bad, greedy, exist. This world is alive with motive, feelings… It’s an amazing feat.

I honestly had my doubts with “Hellboy II” from the trailers, since even Guillermo del Toro is susceptible to get egocentric with a big budget in a franchise that he created. The result is a good movie that unfortunately came from a mish-mash of too many ideas by a director who might’ve been a little too creative. It lacks focus on the main character, but creates such an amazing villain that makes you remember him more than Hellboy himself. See it, but don’t expect del Toro to amaze you like before, since this is his worst movie, which by his previous achievements, is almost a compliment.

Popularity: 1%