The Amazing Spider-Man (2012, U.S.)

Oh, how sad I was to find this movie so run-of-the-mill. I had heard such great things about it and I'm a huge fan of Andrew Garfield, but alas, it just felt like every other super hero movie, really.

I'm not sure what it was. The cast was great: Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, and Rhys Ifans usually stand out to me. Sally Field and Martin Sheen were really great as Peter's aunt and uncle. I enjoyed the focus on the science aspect. The action scenes were good. So why did it seem to fall flat?

The only thing I can think of is that I was not convinced by "The Lizard." His initial transition was good, but then he just seemed to fall on the corny side as far a supervillains go. So that's really all I can come up with. It was good, but it didn't blow me away. Another victim of hype.

Rating: 3.5

Cowboys & Aliens (2011, U.S.)

This is not my kind of movie at all. Yes, I like science fiction, and yes, I've recently discovered that I like some westerns, but I would never see this movie in a million years. But. Daniel Craig! Harrison Ford! I would have been missing out if I'd missed it, so thank goodness for that.

I had no idea what it was even about (aside from the obvious cowboys and aliens) before I went to see it, so I will fill in a bare bones plot here. Basically a man (who turns out to be Jake Lonegan, played by Craig) wakes up with no memory of who he is and with a weird mechanical cuff attached to his wrist. It is revealed quickly that he is, for want of a better word, quite a badass. He can fight. He's witty. And let's face it, nobody looks sexier in chaps and a cowboy hat. Nobody. (That alone makes the entire movie worth watching. Seriously. He's that sexy.) When he finds his way to town, alien aircraft start snatching the townsfolk out of the sky, including the son of the rich cattle baron Dolarhyde (played by Ford). The remaining townsfolk (woman played by Wilde, a young boy, a dog, a preacher, the doctor/store owner, Dolarhyde, and Lonegan) head out to find the aliens and get their kin back. In the process, they have some very scary encounters and discover what exactly the aliens are after.

Visually, the movie was pretty awesome. The western scenery was sometimes stark, sometimes beautiful. (On that note, the score felt the same way. It had a western feel and not a sci-fi feel. Even when the music said "the aliens are coming!" it could have just as easily been "the Indians are coming!" or "a stampede is coming!") The costumes seemed very accurate (except perhaps the tightness of Craig's chaps, and I am definitely not complaining about that). The spaceships were cool. The alien's home base was dank and creepy. The one thing I didn't like (which is probably why I don't like alien movies in general) is how disgusting the aliens were. Don't get me wrong, they were really well done, and I know they're the bad guys, but do they really have to be so slimy and nasty? I mean, their chest cavities open and they have extra three-fingered hands in there next to their pulsing heart/lungs/whatever it is. Disgusting. Effective I guess, but yech! Also they like to use their teeth on people, which is vile. That excessive violence and gore and yuckiness just isn't my thing, so that took away from the experience.

Still, the more I thought about this movie after the fact, the more I liked it. Yes, the ending felt a little too easy, but the journey was more important. It had the feel of an old western, but without the racist portrayal of Indian enemies. Instead, the enemies were really nasty, greedy extraterrestrials. And when that concept feels so plausible, you have to admit that the movie was well done. Some aspects, like Lonegan's mind-activated weapon cuff thing, seem a bit ridiculous when you think about them, but somehow it still doesn't require the suspension of disbelief that you'd expect. It's hard to explain.

The acting was, of course, phenomenal. The supporting cast was made up of actors with a lot of talent and familiar faces. Ford was on the ball, and it was nice to see him in a role that accepted his age, didn't treat him as a romantic hero, and let his talent shine in another form. And Daniel Craig. Wow. I already mentioned the sex appeal, of course, but his acting talent is practically unparalleled. He has the most expressive face I have ever seen. Just his eyes convey so much. (I always say he has the best crazed man expression, with darting eyes and heavy breathing.) Even when he's perfectly still, all the way down to his face muscles, you can see countless emotions flickering through his eyes. It's fascinating to watch. In this role, like his role as Bond, he is manly, in charge, and yet emotionally weak (though he tries to hide it). He also plays his humorous lines and physical comedy (mostly involving Dolarhyde's idiot son) with this understated feel and a straight face. Brilliant. (Another positive aspect of the film was the writing, which was sometimes funny in very straight-shooting, serious, dry, manly sort of way, if you get my meaning.) Basically, my reasons for seeing this movie, Ford and Craig, were what made it stand out so much. It would have been okay, and even good, without them, but they made it as great as it is.

I'd recommend this to the right sort of viewer, and even to those who think this might be a bit out of their comfort zone. You just have to see it to appreciate it!

Rating: 3.5

RED (2010, U.S.)

Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Look, I am not a huge Bruce Willis fan, but I thought the concept of this one looked pretty good, and the "supporting" cast (Mirren, Malkovich, Freeman, Urban) was a dream. And when I first started this, watching Frank Moses (Willis) go about his boring, retired day, I thought, "Hey, this might be good." It was all downhill from there. The characters were great, and they could have populated a great movie. Instead, they have this meandering plot that makes very little sense. The characters just aren't used as well as they could have been, and many of them have too little screen time. (One even bites the dust before the end, which was quite a shock.)

Verdict? A forgettable, disappointing waste of time. Especially because it had the potential to be great.

Rating: 2.0

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010, U.S.)

I can't believe how much I loved this movie. It was completely unique, fresh, nerdy, and fun. From the opening credits (which have little cues to the rest of the movie, if you pay attention), it was just so fun. I can't think of a better word to describe it.

A lot of movies based on graphic novels either don't have the graphic novel feel or else they try too hard. This one was perfect. It made good use of a panel-like technique, but not too often. It was just enough to maintain the feel and emphasize certain shots without being overkill. The same went for "sound effects" written in during fights, for ringing phones, etc., as well as other video game-esque additions, such as lives up, power bars, and the like. One of my particular favorites was an angry girl who cursed a lot and always had a censor bar and beep appear over her mouth to cover F-bombs. Scott asks her how she does it; the character's awareness and acceptance of such abnormal elements in their lives added that much more to the movie.

Basically, the story is quite simple. Scott Pilgrim is a 22-year-old in Toronto who was dumped a year ago by a girl who became famous with her band (while his continues to struggle). He dates a 17-year-old Chinese Catholic schoolgirl. Then he falls for an American Amazon.ca carrier named Ramona, and he has to battle her seven evil exes to be able to date her. The story worked really well. For one thing, the characters were remarkably realistic considering the fantastical situation they're in. (Also, great supporting cast—Anna Kendrick, Chris Evans, Jason Schwartzman, and especially Kieran Culkin.) Secondly, the fight scenes with all the exes were excellent and, yes, fun. They were intensely choreographed so that they didn't seem violent at all, but rather the bloodless fighting you see in video games. Lots of flashing lights, special effects, and then the bad guy dissolves into a pile of coins.

The music was also something special, channeling video game music from the very beginning, with the beeping Universal theme. It also had a strong overlapping presence in the characters' world, like when Scott beats his head against a pole, echoing the rhythm of the music.

This movie is great fun for the generation of early 20-somethings who live in an irresponsible world filled with music, video games, and romantic angst, but also for those of us on the fringes (for instance, those of us who have close friends or family in this world). Really, this movie is great fun for anyone, and I am shocked and pleased to recommend it highly.

Rating: 4.5

Watchmen (2009, U.S.)

I finally saw Watchmen. Seemed like one of those things that you have to see. I'm not a graphic novel reader, because I always find myself having read to the end of the page and not looking at the pictures—therefore I have no idea what's going on. (Though usually I enjoy the film adaptations.) And that's kind of how I felt watching this movie. It was all tangled up, and I'm still not sure I know what happened and why. Also, I thought it was incredibly slow-paced for an action movie; it almost bordered on boring.

But even though it was not my favorite movie of all time, it did have some great points. For instance the music was... wow. They used the most unusual songs in the most unusual places. It was bizarre, and sometimes jarring, but somehow it worked. The ones that stick out in my mind are The "Sound of Silence," "99 Luftballoons," and something that sounded incredibly like Mozart's "Requiem in D Minor" (and I think that's what it was). Very interesting. The score that was composed for the film was obviously designed to blend rather than stand out, as the rest of the music did, but it was well done also.

Of course, thanks to the graphic novel origins, the visuals were fascinating. The use of extreme geographies, from Mars to Antarctica to a dark and filthy city provided interesting contrast. Also, Dr. Manhattan's glowing blueness was just as mesmerising as Rorschach's gritty and ever-changing mask. Those two characters were definitely the most interesting. I don't know if that's just because of who they were or because they were the two who got a lot of deep, rambling narration.

And in that vein, the casting was quite wonderful. Jackie Earle Haley, who I'd never heard of, was especially fantastic as Rorschach. With or without his mask, he was creepy and disturbing and yet oddly easy to relate to. Simply amazing.

That's about all I've got. I do want to make one comment about how annoyed I get with superhero girls and their long hair flying all over the place. Really, it would get in the way, and they would not be able to fight crime that way. I'm just saying.

So, rating. As I said, it had some fabulous elements, from music to acting to cinematography. But the plot was just too hard for me to follow and the film felt way too long. Balancing out, that earns it an "okay."

Rating: 3.0