‘Thor’ hits nail with above average comic book action, dialogue

May 7, 2011

By Steve Crum

Comic Book 101 states: “In the DC Comics universe, an alien force/superhero is transported to earth (Superman) as a safe haven. In the Marvel Comics cosmos, an alien/superhero (Thor) is banished to earth as punishment.” So the creators of Thor envision our planet, particularly the New Mexico desert where Thor lands, as a galaxial Abu Dhabi.

That pseudo-definition sets the premise for Thor, the latest in an ongoing long line of Marvel hero flicks. Prepare for the onslaught since creator Stan Lee claims there are 5,000 different characters owned by Marvel. For my loose change, Thor was always the clunkiest of all the Marvel characters. This is because Thor is basically a mythological muscle guy who totes a large, planet-shattering hammer.

Thor evidently impressed Kenneth Branagh, who fondly remembers reading the comic books as a boy, and then leaped at the opportunity to direct the film version. The result is an above average comic book-based film with–no surprise–Shakespearean shadings. Branagh’s background has notably been as director-star of several movie versions of Shakespeare’s plays. Thor’s costumes, grandiose sets, and mannered delivery mirror the Bard’s work. This is not saying Thor is another Henry V (also directed by Branagh). After all, Thor’s screenplay (by Ashley Edward Miller, Zack Stenz and Don Payne) is pretty simplistic, basically good versus evil. The good is symbolized in Thor, the evil are the ice warriors, the scary freeze terrors of deep space.

There is a whole lot of transporting in Thor, from the celestial kingdom located at the top of the universe to the frozen land of Jotunheim (ice warrior central) to planet earth, and back and forth. Thor and his friends are shown as blurry images, hurtling through space at warp speed.

The story opens in the New Mexico desert where fellow astrophysicists Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), Dr. Erik Selvig (Stellan Skarsgard), and an assistant are driving while investigating strange goings on in the sky. They nearly collide with something that has just exploded just in front of them, and a human-like figure hits the side of their vehicle. It turns out that the explosion, causing a crater, is Thor’s power hammer, Mjolnir. (Yes, the hammer has a moniker. Think King Arthur’s Excalibur.) And that is Thor (Chris Hemsworth) himself, now stripped of his armor and cape after being banished from his outer space home, who runs into the side of the van.

It seems that King Odin (Anthony Hopkins), Thor’s father, was on the verge of bestowing his crown on Thor when Thor broke a treaty and sneaked off to seek vengeance on Odin’s enemy Laufey, who is ruler of the frozen land of Jotunheim. So Odin punishes his son by hurtling him to earth. This leaves Thor’s brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston) as heir apparent, which is where the plot proverbially thickens like a bomb pop. Jealousy and the yearning for power factor in.

Back on Mama Earth, the embedded hammer, Mjolnir, resting in the center of the crater it created, has been sealed off by SHIELD, earth’s super secret intelligence agency. At the same time, Odin has evidently suffered a stroke, and is near death as his wife Frigga (Rene Russo) grieves. This all gives brother Loki, who has ice guy genes, opportunity to act out his dark side with Laufey who wants to rule the galaxy.

It does not take long for Thor to adapt to humans, and his fondness for Jane is reciprocated. Thor re-teams with his homeland pals, and gets to fight a gigantic, laser-zapping robot sent via Laufey. Incidentally, the sequence in which Thor’s friends stroll down the center of the street of the small, New Mexico town just after arriving is a ringer for the memorable scene in Superman II wherein General Zod and his two buds stroll down a small town’s street. However, Thor’s pals are town-friendly.

All said, Thor is above average movie eye candy. It is preferably viewed in 3-D, even though there is no spectacular, out-of-screen imagery. Nonetheless, Bo Welch’s opulent sets and Alexandra Byrne’s costumes dazzle. Branagh’s direction, as well as the writing, which includes an abundance of intelligent dialogue sequences (for a comic book), are a plus–as is the acting overall.

Thor is not as clunky as I recall, not at all.
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GRADE On an A to F Scale: B
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PART II: The Sequel, Prequel, Remake, Superhero Summer of 2011

April 22, 2011




By Steve Crum

 

Two Marvels and a DC describe the comic book superheroes represented on screen over the next three months. There are also enticing to retched titles running the gamut from aliens to penguins to zombies.

THE SUPERHERO BUNCH
•Thor (May 6)—Based on the clunkiest Marvel Comics superhero of them all (here played by Chris Hemsworth), since his shtick is having mythical roots, and wielding a large hammer. Sort of like Hercules carrying a clobberin’ club. That simple premise will pull me into the theater. Kenneth Branagh directing Natalie Portman and Anthony Hopkins is added attraction.
•Green Lantern (June 17)—One of my childhood’s favorite DC Comics heroes, GL is green-ray driven through his power ring. Ryan Reynolds stars.
•Captain America: The First Avenger (July 22)—Chris Evans dons red, white and blue to battle super Nazi Red Skull (Hugo Weaving) during WWII. Yet another Marvel hunk to unite the peace loving world.

INTRIGUING MOVIES…
•Hobo with a Shotgun (May 6)–Rutger Hauer is the hobo, the shotgun plays itself. Sounds like the homeless have a superhero. This title has Snakes on a Plane appeal.
•The First Grader (May 13)—An 80 year-old African enrolls in Grade 1.
•Hesher (May 13)—Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays a pot-headed, garage-dwelling rocker, man.
•Midnight in Paris (May 20)—Woody Allen’s 42nd film has star-laced cast including Kathy Bates and Owen Wilson.
•Beautiful Boy (June 3)—A family stresses when the son decides to shoot up his school.
•Beginners (June 3)—Ewan McGregor plays Christopher Plummer’s son, both dealing with dad’s gay revelation.
•Super 8 (June 10)—J. J. Abrams directs harrowing story of teens filming their own zombie movie, and stumbling upon a real, living, dead person en route.
•Buck (June 17)—Documentary of the last of the true cowboys. B. Brannaman.
•Mr. Popper’s Penguins (June 17)—Channeling Ace Ventura, Jim Carrey is surrounded by six Gentoo Penguins. Also starring Angela Lansbury as an irate landlady.
•Page One (June 17)—Documentary about The New York Times, behind the scenes.
•Conan O’Brien Can’t Stop (June 24)—Tribulations and motivations of TV’s red headed, late night host are explored via documentary.
•Larry Crowne (July 1)—Tom Hanks directs, stars with Julia Roberts, who plays his jr. college teacher. Hanks is highly motivated, his teacher is insensitive. The perfect love story.
•Project Nim (July 8)—Disturbing, true story documenting Nim Chimpsy’s training to teach him human language.
•Cowboys & Aliens (July 29)—Daniel (James Bond) Craig and Harrison Ford, director Jon Favreau, and producers Steven Spielberg and Ron Howard team in this big budget sci-fi western. The top of my must-sees.
•Crazy, Stupid, Love (July 29)—Steve Carell, Julianne Moore, Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone star in a romantic comedy of morals and manners. Will Carell have post-Office, box office chops? Looks likely.
•The Help (Aug. 12)—All about African-American maids of wealthy whites, Down South, in the 1960’s. Emma Stone, Viola Davis, Sissy Spacek, and Octavia Spencer star.

ODD, BUT WORTH THE TIME & MONEY?
•The Beaver (May 6)—Blend Jodie Foster as star and director with co-star Mel Gibson as a suicidal guy who speaks through his beaver hand puppet.
•Priest (May 13)—Horror flick set in aftermath of human vs vampire war.
•Bad Teacher (June 24)—Just what American education needs these cutback days, a role model like the teacher Cameron Diaz portrays: a jr. high teacher who keeps pot and booze in her classroom. Justin Timberlake co-stars as a substitute teacher.

•Horrible Bosses (July 8)—Three buddies team up to literally murder their respective bosses, a twist on Nine to Five. Kevin Spacey, Colin Ferrell, Jennifer Aniston star. A far from light comedy.
•The Change-Up (Aug. 5)—Freaky Friday flip of swinging bachelor and a married guy exchanging identities. The fantasy of it all.

DON’T WANNA SEE, BUT PROBABLY WILL SINCE I’M A CRITIC
•Passion Play (May 6)—Mickey Rourke’s jazz musician falls for Megan Fox, who has wings. Michael?
•Bridesmaids (May 13)–The flip side of The Hangover, featuring rowdy babe pals carousing the town for a good time. Homage to the recent royal wedding, no doubt.
•Submarine (June 3)—Teen strives to lose virginity to save his parents’ marriage.
•Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer (June 10)—Any movie featuring Jaleel White (Steve Urkel of Family Matters) as a weird third grade teacher can’t be totally worthless, can it?
•Just Like Me (June 10)–Arab-American stand-up comedians on tour. “Take my country, please!”
•Trollhunter (June 10)—Trolls have infested Norway’s forests. Who do ya call?
•Zookeeper (July 8)—Kevin James is a keeper of talking zoo animals voiced by Cher, Sly Stallone, Judd Apatow, and other human beings.
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CRUM’S TOP 6 SUMMER MUST-SEE MOVIES: Cowboys & Aliens; Captain America: The First Avenger; The Help; Rise of the Planet of the Apes; Super 8; and Thor.

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Keep this list until Sept. 1, and see if my predictions were correct. If they were not, please do not seek me out.
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PART I: The Sequel, Prequel, Remake, Superhero Summer of 2011

April 22, 2011



By Steve Crum

What can be said about summer movies? Summer good, summer not so. By September, we’ll know the successes and failures, but from an April, 2011 perspective, making predictions about the May-August movies is game-on. And what is gamier than an upcoming movie named Hobo with a Shotgun?

Of the 100+ movie openings beginning May 1, I have perused studio hype, production overviews, photos, interviews, and cast lists to help shape at least a semblance of credibility. The bottom line, however, is that it all whittles down to my own intestinal intuition (critic-speak for “gut feeling”). Factor in 60 years of viewing motion pictures, with a latter 35 years of critical scrutiny via review writing.

Superheroes have been scarce over the past couple of summers, but villains beware. This summer the DC and Marvel guys report for active duty in the guises of Thor, Captain America, Green Lantern, and X-Men. Even that sword wielding muscle guy, Conan the Barbarian, returns –minus Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Realize that producing a sequel or remake of a popular movie nearly always translates to box office bucks, and you will understand why studios seem to be out of original movie ideas. 

Why risk it? That is why the likes of Harry Potter, Transformers, Spy Kids, Cars, Kung Fu Panda, and even Winnie the Pooh will undoubtedly fill theaters this summer. Popular actors and directors are linked to a variety of titles over the next four months. Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts team in Larry Crowne; Woody Allen’s 42nd movie, Midnight in Paris, opens; Jim Carrey is surrounded in Mr. Popper’s Penguins; Jodie Foster directs Mel Gibson in The Beaver; and Harrison Ford straps on a holster to outshoot nasty ET’s in Cowboys & Aliens.

Filmgoers whose credo is to go the movies for pure escape, forgetting the cares and stresses of daily life, should love this summer. The aliens, talking cars, and giant hammer wielders are coming.

SEQUELS/PREQUELS, REMAKES/REBOOTS aka BOX OFFICE GOLD
•Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (May 20)—Johnny Depp’s Captain Jack returns to keep the franchise afloat.
•The Hangover Part II (May 26)—It’s not my cup of booze to laugh at guy friends getting drunk and behaving like jackasses, but apparently the movie going mass loves it. A second round, barkeep.
•Kung Fu Panda 2 (May 26)—Has it been three years since Jack Black voiced the Po bear? The Dragon Warrior returns.
•X-Men: First Class (June 3)—Dr. Xavier’s back story of his pre-wheelchair, pre-skinhead days is told. James McAvoy takes over Patrick Stewart’s persona.
•Cars 2 (June 24)—Disney/Pixar has added more colorful, talking cars five years after the original family hit.
•Transformers: Dark of the Moon (July 1)—Producers of this third take promise a better story than the last, the second, movie. Then again, the second movie made more than the first, so who’s counting quality?
•Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows—Part 2 (July 15)—Finally? Finally! Fans are promised non-stop action and a figuratively emotional broomstick ride. THE event of summer’s flicks.
•Winnie the Pooh (July 15)—Was it necessary for Disney to remake its own classic? Does computerizing it make it any better?
•Rise of the Planet of the Apes (Aug. 5)—Finally, after a bunch of sequels, a prequel. James Franco stars in the story of how a chimp first went ape over the gorilla his dreams. OK, went bananas. But seriously, this one sounds interesting since it follows the rise of simian dominance over humans. No Heston, but maybe a Statue of Liberty.
•Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark (Aug. 12)—ANY film by director Guillermo del Toro, even a redo like this one, is worthy of note.
•Conan the Barbarian (Aug. 19)—If this gives new star Jason Momoa the same career leverage it did Arnold, it could be Gov. Momoa down the line.
•Fright Night (Aug. 19)—Roddy McDowall is gone, but Colin Ferrell could carry this 3-D take on the original’s creepy vampire tale.
•Spy Kids 4: All the Time in the World (Aug. 19)—Is it worth dragging grade schoolers to see this installment?
•Final Destination 5 (Aug. 26)—What a misnomer title, unless this is truly the finality. Let it be.
[Continued in Part II…]
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Here’s the new, but improved (?) Conan the Barbarian: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1iJZIMddpM

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Think piece ‘Source Code’ is terrifically paced, sci-fi thriller

April 2, 2011

By Steve Crum

Source Code is best described as a terroristic Groundhog Day, a reference to Harold Ramis’ already classic 1993 comedy-fantasy of a man (Bill Murray) repeatedly reliving the same day. While Source Code is anything but funny, it does involve a guy reliving a seven minute span, again, again, and again. Each time, he hones in closer on a mad bomber, with the goal of preventing detonation.

This is an unconventional think piece, impressively helmed by Duncan Jones, and penned by Ben Ripley (Species III). Reminiscent of Steven Spielberg’s Minority Report and Dalton Trumbo’s Johnny Got His Gun, Source Code is pretty much an original, self-described in ads as a “techno-thriller/action” picture. It is one of those movies that might require a second viewing to pick up missed nuances, due to plotting and characterizations.

Intellectual sci-fi fans will love it. The Transformers and Battle: Los Angeles visualists will get headaches from thinking too much.

A dictionary explanation of the term, “source code,” means text written in computer programming language, “specifying actions to be performed by a computer that will be directly read and executed.” Jake Gyllenhaal sensitively portrays Army Captain Colter Stevens. It is he who performs as the “source code,” having to carry out actions ordered by a seemingly nefarious government project, headed by the scientist Dr. Rutledge (Jeffrey Wright), and assisted by Captain Carol Goodwin (Vera Farmiga). Goodwin is the one with whom Stevens communicates most often, remotely, via microphone and computer. In fact, Stevens is entirely by himself in some capsule-like trappings, in uniform, and unable to free himself. From the beginning, it appears he is being experimented upon, and thus confined. His only link is with Goodwin and Rutledge at headquarters.

Of course, that does not count Stevens’ repetitious leaps, much like TV’s Quantum Leap, into a stranger’s (named Shawn) body. Slowly, Stevens discovers the reasons why he is being transported. Looking into a mirror on the train early on, he sees what others see: Shawn’s face. Yet we see Stevens’/Gyllenhaal’s mug. Clever device, this, again lifted from QL. On each return visit to the commuter train, Stevens becomes more familiar with his car’s inhabitants, particularly Christina (Michelle Monahan), the babe who is always sitting across from him. As clues lead Stevens to his objective, Christina becomes, more and more, a vital part of the mission.

Duncan Jones gives Source Code an almost unnerving sense of urgency, while maintaining the mystery surrounding Stevens’ existence. The hows and whys are answered by the triple-twist of a finale, which left at least one viewer at the screening asking me, “Do you understand what we just saw?” I explained it to her, but I won’t reveal it here. Let me amend that by saying, I tried to explain it to her.

There are times, particularly within Stevens’ confined quarters between leaps, that are unbearably claustrophobic–if being unable to get out of a dim, closely walled area bothers you like it does me. There are also times of tender, bittersweet caring, between Stevens and Christina, and Stevens and his father (voiced by Scott Bakula–star of Quantum Leap!).

Clearly, this first major film by rock star David Bowie’s son, Duncan, is a terrific indication of career success.

GRADE: On an A to F Scale: A-
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In and out of court, enjoyable ‘Lincoln Lawyer’ appeals

March 18, 2011

By Steve Crum

The expected news about The Lincoln Lawyer is that star Matthew McConaughey once again bares his rippling chest. The really good news is this is McConaughey’s best film since A Time To Kill, back in 1996, when he played an easygoing lawyer in the Deep South. He is mostly easygoing in Lincoln Lawyer, except this time he is criminal attorney Michael “Mick” Haller, based in Los Angeles, and operating out of the back seat of his chauffeur driven Lincoln Continental.

Sure the car thing is a plot gimmick, as is his NTGUILTY license plate. As is his cool and reliable driver, Earl (Laurence Mason), who doubles as an investigator when things are tight. As is Mick’s close relationship with some tough bikers. (One of their gang is Mick’s client.) Mick is so assuredly collected that he maintains unbelievably positive vibes with his ex, Maggie (Marisa Tomei), who has custody of their little girl, Hayley (Mackenzie Aladjem).

Yet, appearances like the expensive car glitter are deceiving, Mick mostly handles inner city, small time court cases, which translate into paltry cash flow. His confidence, mixed with pricey suits and good looks, help carry the visual ruse. Mick seems to be biding his time, running cross town from one hearing to another. Then real money enters in the form of Beverly Hills playboy Louis Roulet (Ryan Phillippe), who is accused of attempted murder.

As directed by Brad Furman (The Take) and written by John Romano, The Lincoln Lawyer develops into a deftly structured murder mystery with a few action scenes included. Although trial scenes occupy about a third of its nearly two hour run time, Furman balances both Mick’s private and professional life with fast pacing and adept camera work. As the story progresses, Mick Haller’s character changes from a pretty shallow, flim-flam lawyer to shrewd, responsible, and likable human being.

Mick’s attempted murder case segues into a mind game give and take with his client, and it is soon apparent our Lincoln attorney has gotten himself into a precarious, dangerous predicament. It certainly makes Mick question whether the huge retainer is worth it. In the process, he elicits help from his aide Frank Levin (William H. Macy in a small but pivotal role) and Val Valenzuela (John Leguizamo). More so for comedy relief, look for country music star Trace Adkins as Eddie Vogel, leader of the bikers.

As the credits rolled at the end, I was not only surprised about how impressive McConaughey was (and I do enjoy his romantic comedies and action filmography), but I also thought The Lincoln Lawyer would make a good series. Maybe this flick could actually spawn a movie franchise. At the very least, it could work on TV. The gimmickry is in place, reminiscent of Burke’s Law and the chauffeur driven Rolls. Mick’s character is smooth enough for a murder mystery of the week series. Everyone knows how popular attorney shows are these days.

In the meantime, we can enjoy The Lincoln Lawyer’s above average storytelling.
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GRADE: On an A to F Scale: B-
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