Movie Reviews
The Dark Knight
By David Vicari
For its entire two hours and 32 minutes of running time, The Dark Knight plays like an intense fever dream. This is a pitch-black action film with tightly wound suspense that rarely lets up, and as a comic book-inspired film, it’s one of the best ever made.
In this sequel to Batman Begins, the crime-fighting avenger (Christian Bale) has to contend with the psychotic mad bomber, The Joker (Heath Ledger), as well as the Mob and even Batman imitators. The criminals are piling up against Batman, but he and good cop Lt. James Gordon (Gary Oldman) appear to have an ally in the new District Attorney, Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart).
The serpentine story is complex yet never confusing. Christopher Nolan’s confident, crystal clean direction shows us how all the villains are connected and how the good guys are planning to stop them.
Yes, Ledger’s untimely death is a tragic loss. He does give a fine, chilling, yet hilarious performance as The Joker. It truly is a performance and blows away Jack Nicholson’s “Crazy Jack” scenery chewing as this same character, in Tim Burton’s vacuous 1989 Batman. However, The Dark Knight is an ensemble piece, and the rest of the cast is uniformly good. Eckhart as the idealistic D.A. turned crazed Two-Face, Maggie Gyllenhaal (replacing Katie Holmes) as the Caped Crusader’s sweetheart, Eric Roberts as a mobster, and mainstays Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Oldman, and of course Bale, are all rock solid.
While the film does contain some nifty digital effects (check out Two-Face), director Nolan eschews CGI work for practical effects – and, boy, does it make a difference. It’s utter showmanship when that 18-wheeler flips straight over from the front. I’ve never seen that in a movie before, and it’s amazing to behold on a big screen.
The Dark Knight is morally and psychologically complex. Is Batman’s vigilantism effective or just causing more chaos? If he does clean up the streets of Gotham, can Bruce Wayne ever let go of his Batman alter ego? Or does he feed off of it and will always need a Joker to contend with? The movie broods on all these questions and that is what makes it tower far above many of the other recent movies spawned from comic books.
Hancock
By Fritz Esker
In Hancock, Will Smith plays an alcoholic superhero in Los Angeles who has become so reckless that the citizens are almost as sick of him as they are of the criminals he fights. But after Hancock saves the life of a struggling PR man (Jason Bateman), the PR man vows to remake Hancock’s image.
Hancock gets a lot of laughs out of the premise of a slumming superhero and the attempts to transform him into a polite, politically correct public servant. Smith and Bateman are both good in the lead roles, as is Charlize Theron as Bateman’s wife.
The film (which runs just over 90 minutes) is a little rushed in its final third when it starts explaining Hancock’s origins and the film’s villain (Eddie Marsan) is not as intimidating as a good villain should be. That being said, Hancock is fast-paced and funny. It’s silly entertainment, the kind of film many people think of when they think of a good “summer movie.”
Mamma Mia!
By David Vicari
Based on the hit stage musical featuring the songs of ‘70s group ABBA, Mamma Mia! has a place reserved in the annals of atrocious cinematic musicals along side such ear-splitting horrors as The Apple, The Pirate Movie, and Grease 2. Nothing against ABBA. They have created some pleasant pop hits, but, for starters, most of the time the songs only vaguely – if that – mirror what’s actually going on in the story. Because her mother (Meryl Streep) was a slut, a young bride-to-be (Amanda Seyfried) doesn’t know the identity of her real father. She invites the three most likely candidates (Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth, and Stellan Skarsgard) to her Greek island wedding. ABBA songs ensue. The biggest problem for the film is that, with the exception of Seyfried, no one can sing very well, Brosnan and Streep in particular. Plus, the choreography is both clumsy and unimaginative. Ditto Phyllida Lloyd’s direction. Generally with a musical, there is a build up to a song. Not here. Characters will be talking nonchalantly, then suddenly turn to the camera and begin belting out a number. It’s very jarring, not to mention inadvertently hilarious
Step Brothers
By Fritz Esker
Will Ferrell re-teams with Anchorman and Talladega Nights co-writer/director Adam McKay for Step Brothers, a film that’s not as funny as its predecessors. Ferrell’s character still lives with his mom (Mary Steenburgen) and John C. Reilly’s character still lives with his dad (Richard Jenkins). When the two parents fall in love, the two overgrown kids end up under the same roof. It’s a good premise and there are definitely some laughs. However, the film desperately needs a straight man. Ideally, Ferrell and Reilly would have been playing their characters’ total immaturity off better-adjusted characters. But in Step Brothers, pretty much every character is completely deranged. Even at just over 90 minutes, that becomes aggravating and the film wears out its welcome.
Hellboy II: The Golden Army
By David Vicari
Wildly imaginative and doggedly offbeat is the best way I can describe Hellboy II: The Golden Army. Director Guillermo del Toro (Pan’s Labyrinth) follows up his original with a sequel that’s even better. Mike Mignola’s comic book creation - a cat-loving, monster-fighting red devil (Ron Perlman) - is back, and so are his friends, his literally fiery girlfriend Liz Sherman (Selma Blair) and psychic fish man Abe Sapien (Doug Jones). “Red” has a new boss, however – German Johann Krauss (voice of Seth MacFarlane), who is vapor in a suit. They all have to come together to battle Prince Nuada (Luke Goss), who is from another realm and plans on waging war on the human race with his army of robotic soldiers.
The film has an interesting villain because, while he is extreme in his thinking, we can understand his cause. He’s trying to save his race. Amazingly, this comic book action movie is able to throw in thoughts on racial prejudice and environmental issues. Now, I’m not the biggest fan of CGI effects because most of the time they look flat and fake, but there are some digital effects shots here that look like beautiful oil paintings. As an added bonus, you get Hellboy and Abe nursing their broken hearts by getting drunk and singing Barry Manilow. Great final shot, too!