Man of Steel

ACTION/ADVENTURE, DRAMA, SCI-FI/FANTASY

Return to Greatness

8.5 out of 10 | Movie and DVD

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Rated: PG-13  Intense sequences of sci-fi violence, action and destruction, and for some language
Release Date: July 14, 2013
Runtime: 2 hours 23 minutes

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Director: Zack Snyder
Writers: Davis S. Goyer, Christopher Nolan, based on a character created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster
Cast: Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Michael Shannon, Diane Lane, Russell Crowe, Christopher Meloni, Antje Traue, Kevin Costner, Laurence Fishburne

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SYNOPSIS:  A young itinerant worker is forced to confront his secret extraterrestrial heritage when Earth is invaded by members of his race.

REVIEW: Zack Synder, the visionary director of 300, the Dawn of the Dead remake, and Sucker Punch, takes on a 75 year old alien super being that has had its own share of triumphs and failures. Based on a story from David S. Goyer (The Dark Knight trilogy) and Christopher Nolan (Inception) from the character created by Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel, we are granted access to a familiar hero with a brand new look and feel.

On a planet name Krypton, scientific advisor Jor-El pleas with the council to save the planet's citizens by expanding out to the stars. When his words go unheeded and the planet continues to deteriorate, Jor-El and Lara fight to save their infant male child from the imminent destruction of the planet. General Zod (Michael Shannon, Premium Rush), in an attempt to take over rule, fails and is sentenced to exile in to the Phantom Zone with several of his officers. Infant Kal-El is jettisoned off-planet in an escape ship, making its way to Earth to be found by Jonathan (Kevin Costner, Hatfields and McCoys) and Martha Kent (Diane Lane, Secretariat) to be raised under the name Clark (Henry Cavill). As Clark grows up, the Kents realized that he is a special child and teach him that he must keep his powers and abilities a secret until such time that the world would come to accept and embrace him. 33 years later, Clark is searching for his heritage and clues to what to do next. Eventually Daily Planet journalist Lois Lane (Amy Adams, Trouble with the Curve) finds out about his alien nature and abilities. As Clark learns more of hi past from a hologram of his father, General Zod and his soldiers arrive on Earth and demand that the son of Jor-El be turned over to him or the planet will suffer. Clark must decide whether to give himself up for the sake of the planet citizens or fights against superior forces to save his adopted planet.

David S Goyer, Christopher Nolan and Zack Snyder take the story of Superman in a new direction from the earlier more charming films by the Donner or Singer. What we have is a more grounded and realistic portrayal of the man in the red cape. Just as Nolan deconstructed and rebuilt Christian Bale as a more urban and tangible Batman, Snyder and Goyer creates a superman who is accessible and just this side of fantastic. As you watch Superman hover in midair with his red cape flowing behind him, you get a sense that his abilities are almost possible.

Coming in at 143 minutes, Man of Steel is a lengthy portrait of of Kal-El / Clark's genesis and journey of self-discovery. With clever use of flashbacks, the audience get glimpses of moments in Clark's childhood – including the manifestation of his powers, saving a school bus full of classmates with the repercussions that follow, and an adult Clark out on the road doing good deeds while staying in the background shadows.

Michael Shannon's Zod is as ruthless and driven as the Terence Stamp version in the classic Superman II. Shannon's Zod is not crazy by any stretch, simply driven to fulfill his genetic destiny. Several unknown cinematic myths about Kal-El and Kryptonian history is explained, including that all Kryptonians are genetically created for a specific role in the class system a la 'A Brave New World'. From the purpose and initial donning of the blue and red suit, to the planet's landscapes and animals, to the advanced sciences and technology that Kryptonians use to expand their colonization of the galaxy and the destruction of their own world, Man of Steel takes the superman in a different direction from the previous films.

With a stellar expanded origin that leads into a completely different adulthood of the man we know as Superman, the movie introduces other character in the middle of the film that tend to lag just a bit. But once General Zod and his soldiers come to the planet to claim their exiled citizen, the story and action rises to the next level. The batte scenes between Superman and Zod's henchmen - then Zod himself - seem to go on forever. Some of the action sequences look like they came straight out of the DC universe mass online role play game prologue. The level of mass destruction is epic as these two titans - Kal-El and Zod - fight in and above the Metropolis cityscape

Zack Snyder does a great job keeping the film seamless, adding an alien perspective to the films plot lines and making Man of Steel much more then a battle of brawn versus brains. Finally, we have a villain that does not include Lex Luthor at its core. Luthor's name only comes into play on the side of some gas tanker trucks.

The film could be a little tighter, meandering a while in the middle with some of the storyline development. And some of the dialogue and action sequences seem repetitive. But the actors are perfectly cast throughout. The storytelling, although trying to tell too much at times, is a breath of fresh air for the renewed franchise. In a word, Man of Steel is super!

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Broken City

SUSPENSE / THRILLER

Fractured to the Point of Breaking

★ ★ ★ out of 5 | Movie - DVD - Rental

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Rated: R Violence, some sexual content and pervasive language.
Release Date: January 18, 2013
Runtime: 1 hour 49 minutes

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Director: Allen Hughes
Writers: Brian Tucker
Cast: Mark Walhberg, Russell Crowe, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Jeffrey Wright, Barry Pepper, Alona Tal, Natalie Martinez, Michael Beach, Kyle Chandler

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SYNOPSIS: In a city rife with injustice, ex-cop Billy Taggart seeks redemption and revenge after being double-crossed and then framed by Mayor Nicholas Hostetler.

REVIEW: One half of The Hughes Brother, known for Menace II Society, Dead Presidents, and From Hell, Allen Hughes continues his solo track with a script from newcomer Brian Tucker for the new Mark Walhberg and Russell Crowe political suspense/thriller Broken City. 

Detective Lt. Billy Taggert (Mark Wahlberg, Ted) is found over the body of a young man in a rent-controlled projects. Soon therafter, Taggert is facing a preliminary hearing with murder charges hanging over his head. When the judge rules that there is not enough evidence for a trial, the public outrage forces police chief Carl Fairbanks (Jeffrey Wright, The Ides of March) and NYC Mayor Hostetler (Russell Crowe, Les Miserables) to take Taggert off the force for good. Seven years later, Taggert is a financially struggling private investigator, complete with a snarky assistant Katy Bradshaw (Alona Tal, Kalamity). Just as his luck is running out, Mayor Hostetler - on the eve of the mayoral election against wealthy congressman Jack Valliant (Barry Pepper, True Grit) - calls on Taggert with a job to follow his wife Cathleen (Catherine Zeta-Jones, Rock of Ages) who he suspects is having an affair. But when Taggert delivers the evidence of Cathleen's betrayal, the political fallout goes far beyond the scope of the job, leading to murder, double-cross, and intrigue.

Mark Walhberg does what he does best. He faces his character Billy Taggert with a scowl, a growl, and a constant furrow in his brow. Taggert has a successful quick wit and quicker jabbing hands, even if he struggles as a private dick. With every hero - or with Taggert, an anti-hero - there needs to be a superior antagonist. With Mayor Hostetler, Russell Crowe takes to the character a thinly veiled and practiced charisma that masks a coiled snake. But is he the villain? Sure, he has his concerns about the fidelity and loyalty of his wife, but does he have ulterior motives? Police Chief turned Commissioner Fairbanks detests how Taggert escaped prosecution years earlier and seems to throw it in Taggert's face at every turn. Catheen Hostetler has her own motives but seems harmless enough. It's not until the end of the film when the dust settles that everything becomes crystal clear.

As far as political civil servant suspense thrillers go, Broken City will never break the top tiers in the genre. Going against Serpico, The French Connection, or Walhberg's The Departed, Mark and Russell's new effort falls a little short. Don't get me wrong, Mark Walhberg is a capable hero, stringing together a slew of hits from The Italian Job to The Shooter to The Departed to Ted to The Fighter to Contraband. Mark knows action, and he is an underrated action hero. He has proven that his passion for a project helps the film's success. I think maybe this film was just a paycheck.

With a lot of moving parts, Broken City tries out lay out plenty of political intrigue in this 109 minute movie. Every character is on the take, "owned" by someone due to something held over their heads, filled with too much information that is given away a little too freely, or simply under utilized. Taggert's long time girlfriend Natalie (Natalie Martinez, End of Watch) serves as the pivot point for Taggert's entire world, but seems to disappear as soon as her work is done. Zeta-Jones' Cathleen keeps everything close to her vest until its important for Taggert to have additional information to help move the plot along.Even Jeffrey Wright's Police Commissioner knows more than he's telling. Formulaic, Broken City just doesn't have enough to intrigue the fickle masses. Walhberg takes a beating and strikes out with his fast hands, but he is somewhat fighting with one hand tied behind his back. Only Wright's Fairbanks, Pepper's Valliant, James Ransone's (Sinister) Todd Lancaster, and Kyle Chandler's (Zero Dark Thirty) Paul Andrews bring their A-Game.

Sometimes shot with too soft a lens, sometimes shot with too grainy a lens, Hughes tries to set a tone and visual quality for the film that just doesn't seem to fit or be consistent. Even the musical score, filled with techy noises, is more of a distraction than an enhancement. Couple that with Russell Crowe's amateur New York accent, and one can see where the suspense starts to unravel a bit.

Broken City is a decent effort in the suspense genre. If you like everything Mark Wahlberg does, even this film may not live up to your expectations. Walhberg gets the job done as always, but at what cost?

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Les Miserables

SILVER SCREEN MUSICAL ADAPTATION

Dream A Dream

★ ★ ★ ★ out of 5 | Movie - DVD - Rental

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Rated: PG-13 Suggestive and sexual material, violence and thematic elements.
Release Date: December 25, 2012
Runtime: 2 hours 38 minutes

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Director: Tom Hooper
Writers: Claude-Michel Schonberg, Alain Boublil, from the Victor Hugo novel, Jean-Marc Natel (French text), James Fenton (additional text), William Nicholson
Cast: Hugh Jackson, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway, Amanda Seyfried, Sacha Baron Cohen, Helena Bonham Cohen, Eddie Redmayne

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SYNOPSIS:  In 19th-century France, Jean Valjean, who for decades has been hunted by the ruthless policeman Javert after he breaks parole, agrees to care for factory worker Fantine's daughter, Cosette. The fateful decision changes their lives forever.

REVIEW: The acclaimed director of The King's Speech, Tom Hooper, sets his sights and talents on a Broadway institution in the long-running musical Les Misérables. Hooper hopes to succeed with a clever but difficult notion - have each actor and actress their song as the scene was being shot instead of creating the music on an album months before film production actually started. Will his idea result in a superior film?

In 1815, at the end of the French Revolution, Jean Valjean  (Hugh Jackman, Rise of the Guardians) finishes out twenty years as a slave prisoner under the French king. He toils in the shipyards under the yoke of the head of the prisons, Javert (Russell Crowe, The Man with the Iron Fists). Upon his release Jean Valjean travels the countryside looking for food, shelter, work, and his next parole meeting. Taken in by a kindly priest, Valjean promptly takes advantage of the clergy's sacrifice by stealing the parish's silver. When Valjean is caught and brought before the priest, the man of the cloth takes pity on Valjean and let's him have the silver with the promise of a more blessed life. Years later, Valjean has lifted himself up to the status of a business man and giver to the downtrodden. His fear of Javert finding out his real identity causes him to dismiss a factory worker Fantine (Anne Hathaway, The Dark Knight Rises) without just cause. Realizing his mistake comes with dire consequences, Valjean takes Fantine's daughter Cosette (played as a young adult by Amanda Seyfried, In Time) under his protection. Years later, still unknowingly living a fugitive's life, Cosette falls in love with a young revolutionary named Marius (Eddie Redmayne, My Week with Marilyn). The love-stricken Cosette must contend with a flight-ready Valjean, a young woman Éponine (Samantha Barks, Les Misérables) who is also in love with Marius, and a now highly regarded commander Javert who looks to crush this budding rebellion under his boot heel before it truly takes root.

Les Misérables, the musical, has run on Broadway for 27 years to over 60 million theater goers. It has been adapted to the small screen and the silver screen numerous times over the years. Jean Valjean has been played by Liam Neeson, Gerard Depardieu, Jean-Paul Belmondo, and Richard Jordan. Big screen and Broadway draw Hugh Jackman now takes his turn as the Frenchman turned prisoner because of a stolen loaf of bread.

Director Tom Hooper regards this version of Les Misérables an achievement of silver screen musical adaptation because of the use of live singing during the production instead of having each actor and actress spend time in a studio months ahead of production to create an soundtrack album to be used for playback and lip-syncing during production. Hugh Jackman is no stranger to live performance singing on Broadway with turns in musicals such as The Boy From Oz. Samantha Barks is the most adept since coming from the musical itself. Ann Hathaway's siren voice seems meek, but is powerful enough musically and visually to serve as the cornerstone song in the commercials and in the film. Amanda Seyfried's songbird tweets come through surprisingly well and melodic. The aforementioned are the vocal highlights. Crowe, Redmayne, and Aaron Tveit's Enjolras (Premium Rush) are serviceable crooners. The innkeepers Thénardier (Sacha Baron Cohen, Hugo) and Madame Thénardier (Helena Bonham Carter, Dark Shadows) match their singing with enjoyable campy physical performances, hearkening back to spins in Tim Burton's Sweeney Todd. The music is strong enough to carry the film, although some may argue that the stage production had better pipes.

Les Misérables is half big screen spectacle and half theatrical musing. The opening scene with Valjean working with hundreds of other slaves working to dock a wayward French warship blurs the lines with sensational CGI effects. When Fantine sinks to the Red Light district to sell a locket in order to pay a debt, the painted whores and scenery feels more intimate and more at home on a moody Broadway stage. Hooper works both ends of the visual media with equal ease, giving the uninitiated theatrical musical moviegoer enough big screen impact to make it worthwhile, while catering to the patrons of the Big White Way a musical stage experience to make them feel at home.

Things have changed. For lovers of the musical, some of the plotlines are different. Jean Valjean, for example, no longer escapes for his freedom after 20 years. He is instead given parole for his time served. Is this change to make Jackman's character more likable from the beginning? It seems a trivial adjustment in the scheme of things. For moviegoers, do not expect much in the way of actual dialogue. This is a musical at its purest. Every line of verse supplies the dialogues and monologues required to push the story along. The visuals are stunning at times, the music powerful enough to illicit emotion.

Les Misérables is a musical spectacle that will delight some, if not most, stage production fans. For the movie musical newbies, as long as you like and appreciate musicals you will enjoy Les Miserables. To quote another musical, if you give yourself over to "...the power of the music of the night...", you should be transported.

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The Next Three Days

What Times Does To A Person

[Russell Crowe, Elizabeth Banks, Jason Beghe, Lennie James]

image from sheknows.com

RANT: Returned to the more familiar surroundings of the first matinee of the weekend. Oh such a more peaceful setting as I walk into the empty theater as the first person with the choice of any seat in the house. Of course, more people did arrive, but I could imagine being a millionaire in my own private home movie theater.

SYNOPSIS: A man's life is turned upside down when his wife is alerted and convicted of killing her boss. After three years, he is at his wits end and starts planning a daring breakout.

Paul Haggis takes some writing credits and directs "The Next Three Days" based on the screenplay, "Pour elle" by Fred Cavaye and Guillaume Lemans. The Oscar winning writer and director of "Crash" returns to a higher profile effort after a TV movie, the movie "In the Valley of Elah" in 2007 and the short-lived TV series, "The Black Donnellys".

Russell Crowe stars as John Brennan, a dedicated community college literary teacher, whose life is turned upside down after his wife Lara, played by Elizabeth Banks, is arrested for the homicide of her boss the previously day. The physical evidence is strong enough to convict Lara and put her away in a Pittsburgh lockdown while John tries to overturn her conviction on appeal. As the last appeal runs out, both John and Lara realize that their hopes of her freedom have run out as well. Sure of Lara's innocence and worried of their son Luke's continuing withdrawal and trouble at school, John decides to plan Lara's escape.

Liam Neeson makes a brief cameo as career prison escape artist Damon Pennington to start John on his way, outlining the basics John needs to get Lara out of the urban Pittsburgh lockdown. The rest falls on Brennan to figure out, from finding a criminal to create fake identification papers to creating the distraction to actually spring Lara.

Once Brennan's plan is put into motion, enter Jason Beghe as Detective Quinn, Aisha Hinds as Detective Collero, Lennie James as Lieutenant Nabulsi and Allan Steele as Sergeant Harris. They swing between wondering about Lara's guilt or innocence, and the deciphering of Brennan's plan itself. John leads them on a merry chase, zigging when the police expect a zag. The best part of the film is the cat and mouse between John and the cops.

What will a man do to right a wrong? What lines will he cross or moral codes will he break? Damon Pennington warns Brennan that if he cannot become the man that would leave his son behind or become the man that would kill a guard to keep the plan moving along, don't start. With blinders on for only his wife and son, he may want the plan to work too much. And if that is the case, what of himself will he leave behind?

Worth: Matinee or Netflix

I am also trying out a new rating system shown below based on reader reaction to my somewhat complex monetary rating scale. I will give both ratings and see what kind of reaction I muster. A movie can receive up to 5 popcorn buckets. Why popcorn buckets? Because I am a slave to the thousand + calorie delight! Enjoy!

Robin Hood

Bows and Errors
[Russell Crowe, Mark Strong, William Hurt, Cate Blanchett, Oscar Isaac]

I apologize movie review fans. I have had a hell of a week with traveling, illness, more traveling, more illness, and haven’t been able to see all of the movies I wanted to see, nor write the reviews you deserve and rightfully demand! But even with all of the issues I did have, I was able to sneak away to see Ridley Scott’s and Russel Crowe’s latest collaboration.

SYNOPSIS: After returning from the Crusades with King Richard the Lionheart, the man known as Robin Longstride witnesses the ambush of the return of the crown to England, and intervenes. As he takes the identify of a knight to return to England with the crown, he is forced to take up the mantle of Robin Hood to unite the baronies to the north and England to fight out an secret invasion by France’s King Phillip and betrayers to England.

I was truly excited to see that Ridley Scott and Russell Crowe had teamed up again for another period piece. I am a big fan of “The Gladiator”, and hoped that “Robin Hood” would be the next epic for the pair. I guess I can only hope.

Ridley Scott crafted and shot a beautiful film, picturesque and sweeping. Russell Crowe continues his fine acting as honorable archer, Robin Longstride, just trying to get back to his home, and away from the service of England. Oscar Isaac as King John is perfect as the period playboy looking to go from prince to king. Ever beautiful Cate Blanchett as Marion Loxley portrays the now widowed wife with an inner strength for the lands she tills, the people she supports, and the mantle she shoulders in the stead of her formerly crusading husband. She and Crowe have fine chemistry as they become more involved throughout the film. Mark Strong is soon becoming the go-to villain actor, excelling in his role as the betrayer Godfrey as as he did in Sherlock Holmes, and the soon to be seen Sinestro in the upcoming ”Green Lantern” movie.

This film had all sorts of acting power, with William Hurt, Danny Huston and Max von Sydow on board as well. I also enjoyed Kevin Durand as Little John, Mark Addy as Friar Tuck and Scott Grimes as Will Scarlet. They were the needed semi-comic relief that the movie needed. Durand is making good as of late on his size and surprisingly good acting chops as he has with "3:10 to Yuma", "Legion" and "Wolverine". Keep an eye on him in the future.

All of that being said, I was just not as enamored as I should have been. The story was well-crafted, but the climatic plot points seemed diluted. When the French come off the boats onto the English shore with the English archers targeting down on them from the tall cliffs, it did not have a fraction of the impact that Spielberg produced for the landing at Normandy in “Saving Private Ryan”. When Robin Hood speaks up for the northern Baronies to take up arms with King John instead of against him, it seemed to be a hollow dialogue. When all of the English and northern barony horse riders gallop down on the French infantryman on the shore, it harkens back to the Charging riders in “LOTR: Return of the King” without the emotion.

You can see the movie, disagree with my assessment, and blame my poor review on fever of the brain, but while all of the elements were there for a fine film, it just seems like I have seen better.


Worth: Netflix