The 'Not-So-Critical' Critic: KONG: SKULL ISLAND

The 'Not-So-Critical' Critic: 

on KONG: SKULL ISLAND (2017, 118 minutes, PG-13)

The Quick of It -

The future will be found in apex predator movies.  GODZILLA (2014) and SHIN GODZILLA (the recent Japanese film) was just the taste, PACIFIC RIM a side-dish, and SKULL ISLAND adds to the start of a future buffet.

As a whole, and a total spoiler trap for you, you get what you saw in the trailer.  This film was pure action, filled with the wonder of exploring a lost island.  This should be enough reason for you to see the movie in large format, nothing more.  Yes, there were plot holes and some stereotyped roles going on, but you will be fine.

The cast was great… from the outside… Tom Hiddleston (who everyone but me swoons over), Brie Larson, Samuel L. Jackson (because why not?), John C. Reilly (who doesn’t disappoint), John Goodman (my TV Dad), and Shea Williams.  But, there wasn’t much meat on the script for character development, so everyone was expendable in my eyes.  They carried their weight and kept you engaged, so I guess a win.

Kong, played by Toby Kebbell (who was also in the movie as a helicopter pilot and a protégé of Andy Serkis) was the true star.  He was the only thing that made this project work, which was to be expected since his name is in the title.  The digital design held true, the touching moments were reserved for him, and no weird love-interest with the leading lady.  I always found it odd that a giant ape would fall for some bite-size bimbo… too far… eh. 

The island was also the unspoken hero.  The cinematography captured enough uniqueness and natural awe to pull you into this new world.  Larry Fong, known for BATMAN V SUPERMAN, SUPER 8, 300, and the coming THE PREDATOR, may actually get some recognition from his peers.  Director Jordan Vogt-Roberts may also succeed in expanding his filmography after this.  We shall see.

When you sit in your seat, know that action is to come and you will not be disappointed.  There is enough variety and decent pacing that you will not grow bored or realize that this is a two hour movie.  I do have a beef with how they wrote and acted out the after-credits clip… but I’ll save that for another time.

Grade: B        

‘Blu-ray or Bust’ - THE EDGE OF SEVENTEEN

‘Blu-ray or Bust’

THE EDGE OF SEVENTEEN (2016, R, 105 minutes, GRACIE FILMS/UNIVERSAL)

Ever since FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH, Hollywood has tried over and again to recreate what it was like to be in high school.

As if Hollywood ever attended public school…

Sometimes, they actually get something right; CLUELESS and MEAN GIRLS had the sardonic wit to carry us through the caste systems of secondary school, while THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER captured the struggles and loves and losses which plagued us all. No, I am not including the AMERICAN PIE films or even SUPERBAD (as brilliantly funny as that latter film was), as those were just about stupid, horny dudes. High school was so much more than that.

SEVENTEEN offers up the tale of Nadine, a high school junior that hates everything in the world besides her best friend Krista. That is, until Krista sleeps with Nadine’s hunky brother—then, her carefully constructed hatred veneer begins to crumble. Hailee Steinfeld plays Nadine with an edge, which hugs a really narrow line between ‘misunderstood’ and ‘downright irritating’. In the hands of a lesser actress, this would have been a two-note character: angry and bitter for ninety-eight percent of the film, crying to show an emotional breakthrough in the rest. Yet, Steinfeld carries a certain intelligence behind those old-soul eyes of hers. Don’t forget, this is the same young lady who crushed her role in TRUE GRIT with a tenacity that threatened to outshine her fellow cast mates, the majority of them veterans of the craft.

Woody Harrelson, her history professor, plays the only person that knows how to talk to Nadine. His is a wit of such sarcasm and banality that you wonder why he isn’t cast more often in comedies. Yes, he’s had his share of funny lines in other films, but his delivery here makes him nearly as memorable as Steinfeld herself, and he has much less screen time than she.

As hard as the script tries to capture that high school feeling, much of it is lost in the translation. Don’t go looking for FAST TIMES or WALLFLOWER or even ME AND EARL AND THE DYING GIRL; this story is all about Nadine’s abrasive outlook on everything. How she seems to struggle with being a girl until she finally just gives in to her immaturity and accepts that she is not quite an adult yet. Which, when it happens, almost feels like a copout. This is writer/director Kelly Fremon Craig’s first foray behind the camera, and for a first time effort, it isn’t horrible. However, you get the feeling she had something else to say towards the end there, but Hollywood said ‘nah’, and so we get our usual crowd-pleasing ending.

The special features are disappointing at best—you get a gag reel and three unnecessary deleted scenes. That’s it. Nothing about the filmmaking or storytelling process, nothing telling us how Craig brought her tale to the screen. For a film made on what was basically a shoestring budget—a measly nine million—it’s enough to make you wonder if they didn’t have enough money to make a behind-the-scenes doc or two. Kinda crappy.

The soundtrack alone makes this Blu-ray worthy, but if you have a good enough sound system, it isn’t required viewing on the format. Although it isn’t an instant classic, it does deserve to be on your shelf. Somewhere between BRING IT ON and CHARLIE BARTLETT.

Film Grade: B

Special Features: D

Blu-ray Necessary: Not necessarily

- T.S. Kummelman

The 'Not-So-Critical' Critic: LOGAN

The 'Not-So-Critical' Critic: 

on LOGAN (2017, 127 minutes, R)

The Quick of It -

Truth be told, I am a DC fan.  I will choose DC over Marvel in most cases.  But I am also a Marvel fan, crazy as it sounds.  They have their good moments.  Most of the X-MEN movies for me would not be among those ‘good moments’.  You see, I am partial to the darker, grittier elements of storytelling, and DC delivers.  Marvel likes to keep things on the lighter side, which is fine and perfectly acceptable.

For LOGAN, the beginning should be where this starts, the first sightings of Jackman.  X-MEN (2000) was a ‘promising’ beginning.  Hugh Jackman cast as Wolverine was out of left field for most fans but proved to be an excellent choice.  And, no one would dispute Patrick Stewart as an older Professor X was a perfect casting.  They became the centerpieces to the X-Men Universe.  But I had one problem.  If you have read past reviews, you may have heard I was not a fan of Ian McKellen as Magneto.  Great Gandalf, just not Magneto.   

The following two films began the swirling spiral down the pooper drain.  X-MEN 2 was a bump in the road, one that almost derailed the franchise by itself.  If it were not for the introductions of Nightcrawler (Alan Cumming) and Pyro (Aaron Stanford), the movie was barely edible for me, a very bland delivery.  Then you have X-MEN: THE LAST STAND.  I was thankful for the title, as it indirectly showed they knew they screwed the pooch.  Only the special effects carried the film to any semblance of quality.  Finally of the X-Men group films, X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST, his insertion into the new guard was just not fulfilling to me, as he was there to help raise the level of interest to make money.  His role was minimal as an individual as character growth goes, just a driving force to move the story along.

Then, to make all my readers cringe, I liked X-MEN ORGINS: WOLVERINE.  I didn’t mind the Deadpool blunder, just went with the flow and enjoyed the action.  The cast and the script alone made the film worth watching at least once.  Yes, I will say things that will piss you off.  Then, THE WOLVERINE was the first opportunity for the studios to start branding that R Rating on Marvel projects.  This was director James Mangold’s first encounter with the Wolverine.  Another movie that divided fans, but I was still onboard and enjoyed the film.  An R Rating would have made it much better, though.

Now we have LOGAN.  This was a step in the right direction, letting the story dictate the rating.  I could not have been more thrilled with the results.  Based on box office, seems the consensus.  The writing is tighter, and they made the right decisions along the way.  A major example was the choice not to film the ‘Westchester Incident’ (for those that have seen the film).  Mangold decided to leave it as a background thread for character development.  Congrats on making the right decision. 

The casting could be summed up with just one individual, Dafne Keen (from ‘The Refugees’) as Laura.  This little girl may be forever branded as the little Wolverine but she crushes it.  Her intensity and subtle delivery makes this film climb to an epic level.  I am trying to avoid spoilers, so can only highlight so much here, but she imparted a particular maturity and intelligence you wouldn’t expect.

The rest of the film is nothing more than a full augmentation of the core material being delivered (a Wolverine inside joke).  The cinematography of John Mathieson (GLADIATOR, 47 RONIN, KINGDOM OF HEAVEN) and soundtrack put together by Marco Beltrami, a composer who has branched across genres, leaves nothing wanting.  Everything feels in sync, no one trying to overshadow another or the story.  The sets were limited by the story, thus they avoided the temptation to make everything appear on a grander scale, and the music had the opportunity to be more distracting than complimenting the characters and scenes.  Instead, you have the sense that everyone was on the same page, and in the end makes for better storytelling.

The one problem I had continues to be the Achilles’ heel of Marvel - bad guys.  Sorry, there was nothing here to impress me.  Boyd Holbrook as the main antagonist Pierce did little to amp up a sagging Universe when it comes to villains.  He does a fine job and his haughtiness was faultless.  But, this and the ‘other’ added baddies just were copouts and stereotype insertions.  There is a whole Universe to pull ideas from, and they failed me.

As blasphemous as it may sound, LOGAN could be considered the lovechild of Marvel and DC.  This formula now has a proven track record, grittier (DC) and with heart (Marvel).  You only have to reference the Marvel Netflix shows – ‘Daredevil’, ‘AKA Jessica Jones’, and ‘Luke Cage’.  The real tragedy here is they final get on board with the R Rating a little too late in Jackman’s run as Wolverine, which was the only way you should do it in the first place.

Grade: A

‘Blu-ray or Bust’ - DOCTOR STRANGE

‘Blu-ray or Bust’

DOCTOR STRANGE (2016, PG-13, 115 minutes, MARVEL STUDIOS/DISNEY)

Oh, Marvel Cinematic Universe—you sneaky, cheeky monkey, you.

You just had to go and hire Benedict Cumberbatch, didn’t you? Listen, kids, what I am really supposed to do is give you an honest review of this film. I have reviewed nearly every Marvel film released, and the majority of them get high marks. Except for THOR: THE DARK WORLD. That one was kinda stupid. I was needlessly worried when ANT-MAN was released; what took away all of my hesitation to buy into the path that producer Kevin Feige has been dreaming up since IRON MAN hit theatres in 2008 was, as usual, the casting.

Take away the special effects, take away the one-liners, the action—hell, even strip away the scripts, and you know what you are left with? Besides the entirety of THOR: THE DARK WORLD? The cast. As brilliant as the money behind the MCU has been when it comes to hiring top-notch talent, they have clearly outdone themselves with DOCTOR STRANGE. Cumberbatch brings to the role so much more than you would expect, just as Downey did for Tony Stark. While the two characters are altogether different, they both share that ego which comes with genius. As with most of the characters we have had the pleasure of meeting over the last decade, Strange is a broken man, one in search of redemption and purpose.

A brilliant neurosurgeon, injured in a car accident, seeks healing from the West… okay, let’s stop right there. I was talking about casting, so allow me to digress for a moment, and give you a plot summary that explains it best.

Ahem.

Sherlock Holmes gets in a car wreck, screws up his hands, so goes to ‘The Orient’ to heal. He meets The White Witch (Narnia reference) (that’s Tilda Swinton…) and that one real bad dude from SERENITY (Chiwetel Ejiofor). They teach him how to channel his inner sorcerer in order to beat up Hannibal Lector (THE Mads Mikkelsen), who is trying to bring about the end of the world. Because that’s what bad guys do.

If some of the reality bending techniques seem borrowed from INCEPTION, just you wait; there is more of a steampunk-type slant to the constantly changing landscape which grounds the colliding and ever-changing realities. In other words: you buy into the psychedelic happenings like a chubby kid on a sugar high. (That is not an insult to chubby kids, as I, myself, am a chubby kid, and suffer from constant sugar highs, so I KNOW.) Marvel could have easily just thrown in the idea of magic co-existing in the super-powered universe they have created and been done with it. They could have told you just to accept it, and you might or might not have fallen for it.

But if you think about it, Marvel introduced magic to you a few movies ago—AND YOU BOUGHT INTO IT WITHOUT EVEN BLINKING YOUR EYES. “The Scarlet Witch”. Yep. That was your introduction to magic as an active element of the Universe. What Marvel now does with magic is give you an even broader experience with it, and it opens up a whole new realm of possibilities. In short, there is not an aspect of this film which does not work wonderfully. This, kids, is one brilliant stroke of madness, one whose influence will be felt in nearly all of the forthcoming films, and not just because of the obvious mystical nature of Strange’s world. See, it is also about alternate realities and universes—which means that Marvel can now introduce whatever the hell they want into the mix.

The special features are, as always, all inclusive. You get character history, one of the funniest gag reels yet, behind the scenes docs, and enough build up to the Phase Three aspect of the MCU to get you all hot and bothered.

As Marvel slowly phases out Iron Man (oh, trust me, it’s gonna happen sooner rather than later, kids—mark my words), I for one am excited to see how many STRANGE films we’ll get. This is a character that—much like Tony Stark—you build a team around. Just you watch.

Film Grade: A

Special Features: A

Blu-ray Necessary: Most Definitely

- T.S. Kummelman