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Quik Flix Hit

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Summer Movie Series

Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)

Rated PG-13

guardians_of_the_galaxy

Marvel Studios

This summer superhero action flick is going to be a hit because its emphasis is on humor and music—two elements that enhance any film when done well. We get to see things blown up real good, but mostly we like the songs and the banter and brawling between the Guardians. Marvel smartly gambled that audiences needing a respite from the onslaught of first-string superheroes might give this a try.

In the BloghouseThe Guardians is a ragtag team of, you guessed it, outlaws forced to combine its talents and snarky comments to take on a force bent on the destruction of, you guessed it, the galaxy. The enemies, the instruments of destruction, the far-flung interstellar locales, the double-crosses all fall within the scope of this kind of movie. But when Star-Lord pops a worn cassette tape into his Walkman and starts jamming out to earthbound hits circa 1970s, you smile at the absurdity and go along with it. Why not? Sure, we’re light years from earth and decades ahead of modern times, but why should that hinder our love for The Jackson 5’s “I Want You Back”?

Each of the five Guardians left an impression on me, but for my money I liked Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper), a genetically altered raccoon who’s sadly aware of his manufactured nature and really into heavy weapons. That he doesn’t look ridiculous piloting starships or blasting away with guns at least as large as himself is a testament to the f/x team. I also like human Peter Quill (Chris Pratt), aka Star-Lord, who’s handsome, skillful, arrogant—the qualities always evident in superheroes—but more importantly good-hearted and repeatedly willing to make bold sacrifices for others. The kids will like Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel), a treelike being whose mode of communicating consists entirely of the phrase “I am Groot!”

There’s a sad-sweet prologue of young Peter confronting his dying mother that’s well executed but gains depth when we return to the moment late in the film and truly recognize its value. I also like how the movie established pretty quickly that each of the Guardians for the most part like and accept each other. It’s a time saver. We know they’re going to make good teammates, they know they make good teammates so why waste time pretending like they’re not?

Guardians of the Galaxy goes down easy and certainly leaves space for a sequel—that’s the Marvel way. I suspect it’ll do even more business on video when those who didn’t think they had a taste for it finally see it at home and realize how much fun it is. And the music? Come on! “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough.” “Ooh Child.” “Cherry Bomb.” “Come and Get Your Love.” And its use of “Hooked on a Feeling” steals away that song’s long association with Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs.

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Quik Flix Hit

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Summer Movie Series

Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)

Rated PG-13

captain-winter-soldier

Marvel Studio

For me Captain America stands in contrast to the other superfolks in the Marvel film universe. For sure, Marvel’s cash cow franchise has enough to brag about. I enjoyed much of the Iron Man series and the impressive culminating effort, The Avengers (2012). The franchise has its clunkers too: Hulk (2003) and the Thor films, for my money. The Captain America movies have neither the brilliant, hedonistic, wink-wink hubris of the Iron Man series, nor the over-the-top demigod, Viking-esque, parallel universe hodge-podge structure of the Thor films. This is probably why Captain America stands out from the pack.

In the BloghouseStarting with 2011’s first film, I liked the throwback setting (World War II), the simple plot (defeat the Nazis), the quick origin-story setup and the delicate love story. Before things got intertwined with all the other superhero motives and movies, there’s earnest Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) trying to set the world right, one patriotic punch, one patriotic speech at a time.

It’s a testament to Evans’ performance and the writers that we continue to admire Steve Rogers/Captain America’s earnestness instead of mocking it.

In Winter Soldier, I liked the instant chemistry between Cap and fellow veteran Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) aka The Falcon. I also like the chaste chemistry between Cap and Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson). Even when Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and all the Hydra-S.H.E.I.L.D.-Avenger’s stuff starts weighing down the plot, the film finds nice touches of do-or-die matter-of-factness that lightens things up again.

The Winter Soldier himself is intriguing and coolly brutal, sprung from the Bucky Barnes character from the first film (is that a spoiler?), but I think more investment of that character in Part One would have really paid off in the pathos they attempt to wring out of this film. I didn’t remember enough of Bucky to make his sad, brain-scrambled existence very impactful this go-round.

Here’s hoping that as Marvel gears up its next round of superhero films—independent and team efforts—it keeps Cap simple and refreshing.

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Quik Flix Hit — Summer Round-up

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Monsters University (2013)

Rated G

monstersu

Disney/Pixar Animation

I’m growing disappointed in Pixar’s (Disney’s?) recent case of sequelitis. With an impressive run of original work—admirable not only for storytelling prowess, but for dedication to characters and CGI craft–it’s sad to see a recent spate of do-agains.

Bloghouse Still, I enjoyed Monsters University, a prequel to one of my favorite Pixar features. The latest film takes us back to the land of the monsters, at a time when Sully and Mike W. were rival college students.

I like the breeziness of the plot—a fraternity competition to determine the most fearsome frat on campus. The stakes are higher for young Sully and Mike, since their continued enrollment at the university depends upon a victory. Some old favorites are back—Randall!—albeit in younger form, and a new crop of scary-funny characters make the rounds.

It’s not as good as the original, lacking the freshness of the concept of a monster society and infinite doors that connect it to the human world, but it doesn’t embarrass itself and, like the original, finds space for warm touches of humanity (monsterity?).

While I’m not going to beef on the Toy Story movies (together they work as one great film), with Cars 2, it’s offshoot Planes, and a Finding Nemo sequel on the way, I’m longing for Pixar to get back to original work.

 

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Pacific Rim (2013)

Rated PG-13

pacificrim

Warner Bros.

Through an interdimensional fissure deep within the Pacific Ocean emerge the Kaiju, massive monsters that lay waste to cities around the globe. And by massive, I mean these suckers can cradle the Statue of Liberty. By way of response, the world’s governments create Jaegers, equally massive robots to combat the Kaiju. And by massive, I mean these suckers can use a naval battleship as a baseball bat.

OK, right there: if that premise triggers eye-rolling, this isn’t the movie for you. If you’re in, though, this is a rockem-sockem giant monster feature that evokes the best of classic Japanese Kaiju movies (Godzilla, Mothra), while not taking itself too seriously.

Jaegers are operated by two human pilots who link minds to share the daunting burden of being mentally and physically jacked in to the machines. The linked minds allow shared personal experiences between the pilots, thus some level of character development. Our heroes are Raleigh and Mako, respective American and Japanese partners who quickly overcome differences and fears to effectively operate their Jaeger. Props to the screenwriters for allowing the Raleigh character (Charlie Hunnam) to sidestep the cliché of him being a bad boy with a bad attitude who needs to learn to be a team player. Too bad it doesn’t sidestep the cliché of the emotionally wounded heartthrob who must overcome his trauma to be the hero he is meant to be.

Edris Elba has a couple of strong scenes of dialogue as the leader of the Jaeger resistance (“Today, we are canceling the apocalypse!”), and great character actor Ron Pearlman (Hellboy), as usual, makes the most of his limited screen time as a black market dealer. Everything about this movie is big, and it’s big fun.

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The Wolverine (2013)

Rated PG-13

the-wolverine

Twentieth Century Fox

I like Hugh Jackman. I like the X-Men movie series, despite the fact that I’m having trouble these days seeing daylight between them. But the mutant-trying-to-cope-in-society trope is starting to show its gray hairs. Aside from the locale change (mostly in modern Japan), nothing seems particularly fresh here, but it’s dumb fun. I struggled to place this film within the proper timeframe of the ongoing series, but it doesn’t really matter. This was made to be a standalone picture featuring of one of the most popular X-Men characters.

Jackman’s great, whether he’s brooding over lost love, struggling with something close to immortality, or springing into action with those adamantium claws. A hand-to-claw fight atop a bullet train is the best sequence in the film.

If you’re a series fan, or will watch anything starring Jackman: See it.

Other summer movie reviews:

After Earth

Man of Steel

Upstream Color

Star Trek into Darkness

Iron Man 3

 

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Quik Flix Hit

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Man of Steel (2013)

Rated PG-13

manofsteel

Warner Bros.

My parents took me to see Superman The Movie (1978) when I was about 10 years old. I’d seen movies in the theater before, but this was the first one to crystalize the movie-going experience for me. I remember the setup being a little slow, I remember young Clark Kent racing a train, I remember him being conflicted about his misunderstood powers, but I will never forget the first time Superman accepted The Bloghousehis destiny and took flight across my movie screen. Kids were standing on their seats cheering. I remember that. The “You’ll believe a man can fly” tagline was one of the best ever written. Even before I’d really learned to appreciate cinema, the special effects, the love story, the soaring John Williams score really made this a touchstone of my youth.

All of this to say that I obviously didn’t relive that experience with Man of Steel. How could I? I’m a grown man with children of my own who has seen every manner of impossible image brought to life by computers and Hollywood wizardry, to say nothing of all the superhero movies—including the Christopher Reeve sequels—that have come since that first film.

This is a good superhero film in an era of good superhero films. It tells its story with passion (some will say it takes itself too seriously), invested drama and big-summer action. The actors are tops: Amy Adams (Her)  as Lois Lane is aggressive, intelligent, professional but also tender. Kevin Costner’s fantastic in his brief but impactful scenes as Clark’s earth dad, reminding me of what I used to like about him. Russell Crowe brings his usual gravitas to Jor-El, Superman’s biological father, and gets more screen time than I expected. Michael Shannon, who specializes in intense characters, is excellent as General Zod, Superman’s main nemesis here. Zod is relentless, brutal, assured in his purpose (almost convincing me of his plight), with just enough complexity to steal most of his scenes. This new guy, Henry Cavill, is convincing as a dour Clark, a pride-gaining Kal-El and a blossoming Man of Steel. I like how he’s still learning to be Superman by the end of the film.

We’ve come a long way since the wire-work and green-screen wonderment of the original Superman. In this new movie there wasn’t a scene of action or flight or crumbling skyscraper that didn’t look totally believable. I really liked this film. And yet the experience was bittersweet, me wanting to feel as if I was having my mind blown away, but knowing the perfect storm of my youth, groundbreaking f/x, and the power of seeing the first comic book hero explode into life on the big screen would never be duplicated.

Side note: I would never minimized Williams’ iconic theme, but Hans Zimmer‘s new theme equally befits its era’s Superman.

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Quik Flix Hit

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Iron Man 3 (2013)

Rated PG-13

Iron Man 3 Tony Stark/Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) Film Frame ©Marvel Studios 2013

Marvel Studios

We already knew Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark is a mad, snarky genius when he’s surrounded by his dazzling technology, ridiculous wealth and groupies, but darn-it-all if he’s not just as brilliant and snarky when everything’s been taken from him—money, power suit, tech toys, reputation, loved ones.

brown-blogartIn this fourth iteration of the Iron Man saga (including his appearance in last year’s Avengers), Downey and the creators of the franchise have tacked backward to move forward.

By taking away his technology and limiting the use of his supersuit, IM3 recalls the desperate, resilient Tony Stark of the first film (2008) who fashioned his prototype Iron Man suit from spare weapons parts while being held captive in a cave.

I didn’t like this go-round as much as the first film (which surprised me with Downey’s impromptu wit, breezy action and clean through-line plot), but it beats Iron Man 2 (2010) and finds different riffs on what should be getting stale by now.

Stretches of this film rely not on action and special effects, but on the emotional and physical plight of Stark. Downey’s just great at this stuff: Serious and commanding enough to sell Stark as someone not to be trifled with, but never letting things get too heavy with his lethal, endless quips and his wink-wink genius-playboy persona.

I think the small stuff works better than the big moments: When he puts together battle gear from parts he buys from a small-town hardware store; wearing a Dora the Explorer digital watch he bums off the kid sister of a boy he befriends; the panic attacks that come out of nowhere and leave Stark a quivering mess.

I’ll leave The Mandarin stuff for the fanboys to hash out, but I’ll just say I loved Ben Kingsley as both The Mandarin and the man behind The Mandarin.

Sure, this is a summer special effects action flick. That stuff’s here too: a robot army zigzagging across the sky; deadly super soldiers who burn not just with malevolence, but seemly of lava from within; the show-stopping set piece in which Iron Man must rescue 13 people as they plummet from a destroyed Air Force One; a very cool scene where he redirects his iron suit to assemble around his girlfriend to protect her as she hurls through the air after a missile attack on Stark’s Malibu mansion.

It took some level of guts to have Stark grow up and reflect that he and his suits (and the lifesaving reactor in the middle of his chest) have become codependents and it’s time to end the relationship and fully embrace the real one he has with his love Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow).

I don’t know where they go from here (Avengers 2, maybe), but if they’re done with this Downey/Stark version, this was a nice sendoff.

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