Movie Reviews: 2012

Movie Review: Ted

Jon The Blogcentric2 Comments

DISCLAIMER: I know that summer ended and I know that Ted was released more than two months ago but I’ve been preoccupied with a lot of things in my life like my work, the excitement of summer sports events, and even my Olympic writing. This is the first of four long-overdue summer movie reviews. I hope you understand my delay and I hope you appreciate what I have to write.

I’m sure when many first see a movie poster of Ted, they’d think it’s a family movie. Mark Wahlberg watching television with an animate teddy bear, must be family fun, right? You couldn’t be wronger. It will surprise you.

John Bennett was the odd boy out in his Boston neighborhood. When he was eight, his parents gave him a talking teddy bear for Christmas. One night he wished over a shooting star that his bear would come to life. He did and promised John he’d be friends with him forever. He soon became a huge celebrity but still remained friends with John and would continue to do so in the years to come, though high school, college, and even in his present life. Even Lori, his girlfriend of four years, is fine with it.

Or is she? Fast-forwarding to the present, John is an adult but hasn’t grown up an awful lot. He has a job and a strong relationship but the job’s not the best and he’s afraid of thunderstorms. Ted has also changed. He still has a good friendship with John but he’s quite the partier who knows how to down a few brewskis and toke on a bong frequently. Lori is starting to feel the discomfort as her sleazy boss Rex keeps hitting on her and her friends even ask about her and John. Lately Ted has become more of an interference between the two. The problem is not just because John isn’t all that mature but because of Ted’s over-the-top partying. How over the top? Ted’s the type that can do a totally raunchy ‘Dirty Fozzie’ dance, get down with a checkout girl and even play truth-or-dare with hookers that involved dares that are way too kinky.

Lori finally declares ‘it’s Ted or me.’ John agrees to clean up his act and even gets Ted to move out into an apartment of his own. Ted is fortunate enough to get a job at a grocery store where he moves up places and even dates Tammi-Lynn the checkout girl. So problem solved for John, right? Guess again! John and Lori find Tammi-Lynn obnoxious. John still occasionally meets with Ted and talks with him. Then it happens. Ted calls John over to one of his parties which feature none other than their childhood hero: Flash Gordon star Sam Jones. Even though he’s with Lori at an occasion, he can’t miss this for the words. He attends but Lori finds out on the spot. It’s over.

John tries to get his life together. He tries to move on without Lori. He even tries to win her love back by singing to her at a Norah Jones concert while she’s on a date with Rex to no avail. He tells Ted off in what becomes a fistfight. Ted tries to patch things up between him and Lori. However the real turning point comes when a guy named Donny and his ‘son’ Robert take him as his own. Ted learns Donny has been obsessed with him since day 1 and that something’s wrong. It’s just as John’s returning to Lori as he alerts John of the trouble. It’s just as Ted is abducted by Donny and taken into his car that the problem happens and it’s up for John and Lori to save him. Ted tries to escape even as much as trying to climb to the top of Fenway Park but Donny tears him to shreds in an attempt to get him. After Donny’s arrested John and Lori now have to deal with the fact Ted might die. John even tries to stitch him all up and Lori does something of her own. The movie ends happy and predictable in some ways but unpredictable and equally as delightful in others.

The best quality of the movie is that it succeeds in entertaining with a premise and story that could have been the catharsis for something dreadfully awful but ends up being watchable, enjoyable, excellent and even make sense. That has to be the biggest triumph of Ted. I’m sure the premise of a talking teddy bear whose best friends with a 35 year-old man boy would be the setting up for a movie in danger of being incredibly cheesy or an insult to the crowds intelligence. Not Ted. It took the skilled writing of Family Guy cartoonist Seth MacFarlane to make a movie win in terms of writing and its ability to entertain. The first giveaway to those who don’t already know Seth is all behind this is Ted’s voice being exactly like Peter Griffin. Those familiar with Seth’s cartoon series shows, especially The Family Guy, knows that Seth is never one to shy away from subject matter that raises eyebrows and rattles cages. Many have compared his envelope-pushing humor to that of South Park cartoonists Trey Parker and Matt Stone. One thing Seth does in Ted that Trey and Matt don’t do in any of their works is come to an honest, smart, even heartfelt ending that’s able to work with Ted for all its over-the-topness.

It’s not just Seth’s efforts that make Ted succeed. Mark Wahlberg fit very well into his role as man-boy John Bennett. He made it look believable and entertaining. Mila Kunis also succeeded with her character and with making an otherwise ridiculous situation on screen come across smart. Giovanni Ribisi was also good and funny as the weirdly creepy villain. Norah Jones and Sam Jones (no relation of course) also fit in perfectly with their cameo appearances. Jessica Barth was good with her character acting as Tammi-Lyn. She did the cartoonishness of her role well. Joel McHale was the minor glitch of the movie as his role as the slimy Rex came across as too cartoonish or too stockish to fit in with the story. I think he overdid it in the sliminess.

One thing about Ted is that the humor is not for everyone. Fans of Seth MacFarlane’s humor would definitely go for all the jokes in Ted but those that aren’t comfortable with the likes of the Family Guy better be warned. There’s a lot of ethnic and racial humor, poking fun at religion, a lot of humor that may come across as poking fun at certain individuals, and even some sex humor that may make some people squirm in their chair. I myself found Ted mostly entertaining but even still there were some element s of humor in there that I wasn’t ready for. And to think years ago I had no problem sitting through the humor of Team America: World Police. Yeah, age can do that to you.

Ted is a comedy that will surprise you. Surprise you with the over-the-top humor, surprise you with the bizarre situation and surprise you with how well-done this movie is. It’s no wonder it’s this summer’s surprise hit.

Movie Review: Prometheus

Jon The Blogcentric1 Comment

Prometheus is a movie many would compare to 1979 Alien, and tightly so. It’s intended to be a prequel to the Alien series despite being released 33 years after and directed by Alien director Ridley Scott. But does it succeed both on its own and as a prequel?

The movie begins with an alien disintegrating after drinking a liquid. A biogenetic reaction occurs as his remains fall into a waterfall. In the meantime a trip to a distant moon is planned after an archeological discovery in Scotland of a star map connecting several unconnected ancient cultures. The archeologists, Elizabeth Shaw and Charlie Holloway, interpret it as humanity’s ‘forerunners’ or ‘engineers’. The trip to that moon is a four-year trip via a spacecraft called ‘The Prometheus’ though Weyland Corporations monitored by a human-like android named David and instructed to find and study ‘the Engineers’.

Upon arriving on the moon they find many key artifacts as well as alien bodies and assume the alien Engineers are extinct. One of the artifacts, cylinders, leaks a dark liquid which David and Holloway later drink. Meanwhile a storm causes many to return to the stranded ship and Millburn and Fifield stranded in the structure the ship is resting by. Meanwhile in the structure, snake-like creatures start acting up, killing Millburn and melting Fifield’s helmet. After the others discover Fifield and Millburn’s body, David finds a control room with evidence of a surviving Engineer and a star map highlighting Earth. The black liquid Holloway drank now starts to attack his body badly enough for mission director Vickers to refuse him back on the ship and has his body burned. Shaw discovers she’s pregnant with an alien baby and attempts to abort it herself.

As the elder Weyland prepares to depart the planet on his craft, a mutated Fifield attacks and kills several crew members before he himself is killed. We learn the structure was part of a base that lost control because of the dark liquid. After learning the structure is part of a spacecraft, the crew run to an Engineer for help only for the Engineer to kill crew members, decapitate David and take control of the spaceship only to crash it. The crash prevents the Engineer from releasing any of the liquid on Earth. Even as Shaw gets away in a lifeboat, she learns that the Engineer survived the crash and her aborted alien baby is alive and grew to full-size. The departure of Shaw and David, whose head is still active after decapitation, won’t come without a fight and it leaves an ending that either sets up for a prequel or sets up for the actual Alien.

What should be noted is that Scott had planned as far back as 2002 in creating a prequel to Alien. However it was sidelined as Alien vs. Predator came up and would be released in 2004. Interest in this wouldn’t resume until 2009. One of the risks of prequels is that those who are familiar with the movie series will have expectations of it. Also there are those moviegoers who are unfamiliar with the series and just see the movie for what it is. Prometheus won’t answer all the big questions Alien fans will give but it will give some satisfaction to fans of Alien as well as thrill the unfamiliar moviegoers. Ridley Scott had a big task on his hand when he was to make a prequel to his famous Alien movie. He may not have succeeded completely but he did a respectable job of his own in this project.

Although the acting was mostly unspectacular as is to be expected in a SciFi movie, it was Michael Fassbender’s performance of android David that stood out as the best effort. Noomi Rapace may have given a good acting performance, if not great, but gave a good job at delivering a strong and determined, albeit vulnerable, heroine. The script was good but it still had a lot of predictable and unresolved plot elements and as I said before, it still leaves a lot of questions unanswered to fans of Alien. As expected in a SciFi movie, its best qualities were the visual effects and the set designs. It did an excellent job of recreating a fictional planet with excellent special effects, especially the alien effects. The score by Marc Streitenfeld also added to the drama of the movie.

Prometheus did have a lot of expectations put on it. Although it didn’t succeed at achieving them all, it still made for a good thriller of a movie. Whether there will be another prequel or not still remains in question.

Movie Review: Brave

Jon The Blogcentric2 Comments

Brave is the latest movie from the creation of the Disney/Pixar team. Disney/Pixar already has quite a stellar reputation of churning out first-rate animated movies since 1995 and they promise Brave to be another story with a top quality cast, top-notch animation and a story that’s thrillingly entertaining. The question is do they deliver well enough to keep the Disney/Pixar legacy happening?

The story revolves around Merida: a young Scottish princess who’s first-born of King Fergus of Clan DunBroch and Queen Elinor. Merida is an energetic princess from the start as she gets a bow and arrow for her birthday and her passion for archery grows. Her pursuits include encounters with a will-o’-the-wisp to the demon bear Mor’Du. The bear is successfully fought off at the expense of the king’s leg. Years would pass. Elinor would have triplet boys who are totally mischievous. Merida would grow up to be a free-spirited teenager who has a passion for archery and sword fighting. This charms her father but doesn’t go well with the mother as she wants Merida to grow up to be a traditional princess. Merida doesn’t look forward to the traditional life of the princess. She wants more to be the hero and the fighter instead.

Then the day comes. Merida learns that she is to be betrothed to a first-born son from one of her father’s allied clans. Even though Merida is disappointed, Elinor tells Merida the story of a boy who did his own thing and it led the kingdom to ruin. Even though Merida is still unhappy, she decides for archery at the Highland Games to be the decider for her future husband. Disappointed with the contest Merida openly declares open to compete for her own hand and devastates the efforts of the other boys. This disappoints Elinor greatly and the two have a falling out as Merida goes into the woods.

In the woods she’s led by will-o’-the-wisps to a witch disguised as a wood carver. The witch agrees to give Merida a spell to change her mother but in the form of a cake. To both of their surprise, Elinor turns into a bear after eating the cake. Merida heads back to the witch’s cottage only to find the witch gone. The potion in the cottage contains an automated message from the witch that the spell will be permanent unless undone by the second sunrise. She also leaves a riddle to undo the spell: “mend the bond torn by pride.” As Merida attempts to patch things up with the mother, she sees how her mother has become more bear-like. She also flees an attack form Mor’Du and learns that Mor’Du received the same spell from the witch many years ago. She learns she has to mend a family bond to prevent her mother from being like Mor’Du. To make things crazier, her brothers discovered the cake, ate it, and turned into cubs.

Meanwhile tensions grow at the castle as the clans fight over Merida’s behavior. Merida quells the fighting by declaring that children should get married in their own time. The suitors and the lords all agree. Meanwhile the time for Merida to restore Elinor into a human is running out. Merida and Elinor try to head out of the castle only to be stopped by Fergus who mistakes her for Mor’Du. Fergus pursues Elinor while Merida has to free herself to stop them both. It isn’t until all are confronted by Mor’Du that something has to happen. Elinor lures Mor’Du to a falling menhir which kills him. It isn’t until one final professing from Merida that the spell can be cast free and peace can be restored amongst the clans.

Overall Brave does not rank as one of the best Disney/Pixar movies ever nor does it have one of its best-ever storylines. In fact it was Pixar’s goal to make a more mature movie as compared to their mostly kid-friendly movies like Cars, Up, Ratatouille and Toy Story. That could be why many may feel the typical Disney/Pixar magic is lacking here. What it does do is live up to the promise of a story entertaining for any movie audient of any age even with its darkness at times. It also delivers in bringing charming characters to the table and a heroine that succeeds in making the audience want her to win in the end. That is reason enough to consider Brave an excellent movie in its own rite. The unique thing about Merida is that she’s Pixar’s first ever female protagonist in a feature-length film.

The story itself was even written by a woman: Brenda Chapman. She wrote the story to have it in the same tradition as Hans Christian Andersen and the Brothers Grimm. She was also to be Pixar’s first female director but was replaced by Mark Andrews following creative disagreements. The presentation of Merida as a strong young woman who defies traditional convention but has a heart of her own also gives a positive female role model for young girls. Good to have since reality show bimbos seem to be the popularity contest winners right now.

The voice acting had excellent choices in terms of picking some of the biggest names to come from Scotland: Kelly MacDonald, Billy Connolly, Craig Ferguson and Kevin McKidd. The addition of English actors Emma Thompson, Robbie Coltrane and Julie Walters also added to the charm of the story. John Ratzenberger, a favorite of Disney/Pixar, again makes a return appearance. The animation was top notch as one would expect from the Pixar team. Once again detail and accuracy pay off. The music, composed by Patrick Doyle, was meant to have the Celtic feel of being in Scotland and included many authentic Scottish instruments and Scottish rhythms in the score’s mix.

Brave is not amongst the best Disney/Pixar movies ever made. Nevertheless it does take the Pixar team in new directions in terms of storytelling and it succeeds in being entertaining to the audience. That should keep the Disney/Pixar continuing on their positive streak.

A Tale of Two Snow Whites: Seven Dwarfs vs. Huntsman

Jon The Blogcentric1 Comment

Most of the time I do reviews of movies. This article is different as I do a side-by-side comparison of two versions of the same story. There’s Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs that generations of moviegoers are familiar with. There’s now Snow White And The Huntsmen that aims to be a modern version of the famous fairy tale character. The question is how do they compare side to side?

First off, let’s run down the first nitty gritty factors of the movies. Snow White And The Seven Dwarfsis more than just a delightful animated

Some present moviegoers would view Disney’s Snow White as too naive.

movie. It’s a part of filmmaking history. It’s the first ever feature-length animated movie. And it was made against incredible odds. Walt Disney took five years to make this movie as it involved a lot of drawings and a lot of effort. It was expensive for its time at $1.5 million and Walt had to take out a lot of loans for this movie. And during the Great Depression to boot. In the end, it became a huge hit in 1937 grossing $8 million worldwide and world propel further animated movies in the future. To this day the American Film Institute still ranks it as the Best Animated Movie ever.

Now Snow White And The Huntsmen isn’t really much of a filmmaking breakthrough. It’s a life-action version of the Snow White story, which has been done before. It features familiar actors Kristen Stewart, Charlize Theron, Chris Hemsworth and Sam Claflin. While this film is not much of a cinematic breakthrough, it is a personal breakthrough for director Rupert Sanders. He has directed commercials and TV episodes in the past. This is his first direction of a feature-length film and it cost $170 million to make. It has so far grossed $152 million at the North American box office: $370 million worldwide.

To compare the actual Snow White character, let’s give a bit of a rundown in terms of the times. First off Snow White And The Huntsmen is done in the present by modern-day director. Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs was released in 1937 and done by Walt Disney. You can be sure both films would be reflective of the ideal female roles for the two main female characters and both would reflect the directors’ visions at the time. The Disney Snow White has a very happy and cheerful attitude but is very naive to the threats that surround her. She lost her parents and is exiled in the woods but still holds her spirits high even after the queen’s assassin tells her to flee. The modern Snow White, played by Kristen Stewart, is a girl scorned. She has had enough of the imprisonment and wants out. However she feels there’s no way out. It isn’t until after she sees an opportunity escape and seizes it that it’s revealed she has a determination in her to fight to be free, even if it means walking through castle sewage to get it.

The reflections of the different types of Snow White characters is also reflective in their biggest desires. Disney’s Snow White wants to be free but she feels she found it in living with the seven dwarfs. Her biggest desire is to find her ‘prince’ as evident in the song ‘Someday My Prince Will Come’. Modern Snow White wants love too but she wants her freedom more. She knows she has to continue fighting even after she is free from the prison. She knows the queen and her men and she knows the threats will continue as long as the queen is alive.

The Snow White of Kristen Stewart could be seen by some as too much of a ‘warrior princess.’

Both Snow Whites are subject to negative opinions from some about the way they’re depicted. First off modern audience goers would find the Disney Snow White, voiced by Adriana Caselotti, as too naive for the present and very lacking in ‘street smarts’. Kristen Stewart’s Snow White could also be subject to negative opinions as Disney fans may feel she lacks the cheerfulness and many other moviegoers could think she makes Snow White into Xena: Warrior Princess.

The character of the queen has a common similarity: beauty. Walt Disney wanted a beautiful queen in his film as part of the reflection of the queen’s desire to be the ‘fairest of all’ and her evil envy of Snow White. We shouldn’t forget that sometimes evil can be disguised as something beautiful. The modern evil queen is given a name, Ravenna, and is played by Charlize Theron who is renowned for her beauty. The dissimilarity between the two evil queens is that the Disney queen is seen as very stockish in her desire to see Snow White dead because of her envy, and only because of that. Ravenna is shown as the killer of Snow White’s father, whom she killed on her wedding day and had Snow White imprisoned. It’s the familiar evil stepmother role in fairy tales. Ravenna is shown not only as a queen of envy over Snow White but as a victim herself. She learns from the mirror that has to destroy Snow White for the sake of her immortality or she will be the mortal one. Even giving Snow White the poisonous apple would show two differing means of disguises. The Disney queen would take a potion to tune her into an old lady. Ravenna would metamorphose into William, son of Duke Hammond, to give Snow White the fatal apple.

The other notable difference of the two Snow Whites is the differing their main supporting character, or characters. In Disney’s Snow White, it was the seven dwarfs. All seven were cute with cute names and charming personalities. They worked hard but they sang, danced and lived cheerfully. They were first surprised to see Snow White and thought of her as an intruder but would come to welcome her, love her, and even avenge her against the queen after she gave Snow White the poisonous apple. In the modern Snow White, the dwarves are seen as a minor supporting character in the movie who assist with the Huntsman in her well-being and warriors with Snow White and the Huntsman against the queen. It’s the Huntsman in the modern Snow White who’s the main supporting character now.

The Huntsman in the modern Snow White is under command from the queen to kill and receive the hand of her brother’s deceased wife in marriage. He learns from Finn, the brother, that it was a false promise and then becomes Snow White’s ally helping her escape with the help of women disfigured by Ravenna and the help of the seven dwarves. The Huntsman is the man who kisses Snow White back to life but it’s not happily ever after yet as they must battle Ravenna before Snow White can be married to the Hunstman. In Disney’s Snow White it is the prince whose kiss revives Snow White and marries her. The Huntsman is only seen at the beginning as the one who tries to kill Snow White but can’t and gives the queen a pig’s heart to trick her into thinking Snow White is dead.

It’s not just the characters themselves that make the two Snow White movies different but also the stories themselves. The beginning especially. In the Disney movie we’re given a storybook narration of what has happened in the past and leads to the beginning with the queen at the mirror saying “Mirror, mirror on the wall…” Snow White and the Huntsman goes back to when Snow White is a young girl and her favorite playmate is the Duke’s son William. Ravenna is prisoner of the Dark Army rescued by the recently widowed King Magnus, father of Snow White. King Magnus is actually killed by Ravenna after he marries her, imprisons Snow White and seized control of the kingdom leaving it lifeless and full of sadness. Even the setting of the forest is different as Disney shows a charming forest full of happy creatures while the modern Snow White shows a nice forest that’s not immune by threats like insects and other dangers.

Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs and Snow White And The Huntsman are two differing movies of the same story. As for which is the best depiction, I can’t say because I have not read the original Snow White story by the Brothers Grimm. Nevertheless both have their entertainment values and one would appeal over another depending on their movie preferences.

Movie Review: The Hunger Games

Jon The Blogcentric3 Comments

The Hunger Games is a novel that has taken today’s young by storm. You can bet that the release of the big-screen adaptation has attracted the young and old alike to attend. There has already been a lot of attention directed to it. The big question is does the movie deliver to the hype?

The movie opens in a post-apocalyptic world. North America is now one nation consisting of a Capitol and twelve poorer surrounding districts. The Capitol has punished the poorer district for a past rebellion by holding a contest called the Hunger Games. In this contest, each district has one boy and one girl from 13 to 18 drawn by lot to fight to be the one to survive and live a life of fame and wealth.

The core of the movie focuses on Katniss Everdeen of the mining District 12. She is already a well-skilled outdoorswoman who knows how to survive outdoors and even hunt for her own food via bow and arrow. When the draw happens, her younger sister’s name is pulled but she volunteers for her, knowing she doesn’t have what it takes to win. The male winner is Peeta Mellark: a shy baker boy who met Katniss only once when he gave her bread. The two are taken by train to the Capitol where they are given instructions from former winner Haymitch Abernathy.

At the Capitol they are given styling from stylist Cinna who wants to make them look like something not from a mining town. The two learn this contest is as much about style and winning the audience as it is about gladiating skill. ‘Sponsors’ can also send gifts to contestants they like. They’re dolled up in stunning costumes for the opening ceremonies and also impress during training where Katniss has the highest score of all. As all the contestants are interviewed by Caesar Flickerman, Peeta confesses that he always had a crush on Katniss, much to Katniss’ discomfort. Nevertheless they remain aware of the Games and what they have to face. They also know they will face a formidable challenge from the two from District Two known as the ‘Careers’ as they are trained since birth to win the Games. A Career has won the Hunger Games the past eight years and this year’s top ‘Career’ is Cato who is well-trained, merciless and confident he will win.

The contest begins in an open gladiation of all twenty-four. At the end, half are killed. Katniss is left on her own to fend for herself. In the meantime the ‘Careers’ Cato and Clove form an alliance with some of the contestants to get Katniss. One of the members is Peeta. The alliance is successful in getting her to climb up a tree for her life. As they wait at the bottom for her to get down, she notices Rue: a small frail girl from District 11. Katniss is able to come down after she’s able to free off a branch containing a nest of bee-like tracker jackers and causes the surviving allies to flee as the jackers sting. Katniss develops a caring friendship with Rue as she gives her ointment for her sting. The friendship ends tragically as Rue is fatally wounded by a contestant. After Katniss kills Rue’s killer, she lays flowers over her body as a sign of respect.

The Games continue. There’s the medicine round where each of the surviving district has to have one contestant take the medicine. Katniss has a duel with Career Clove but Clove is killed by District 11’s Thresh in respect of what she did to Rue. Katniss discovers Peeta, wounded by Cato’s sword in a fit of rage. As she puts ointment on him he learns all the group’s supplies are captured by Cato and held in an area protected by landmines and an ally. Katniss succeeds in igniting an explosion destroying all the supplies. Now all that remains is the Cornucopia for the last survivor, or two surviors from a single district, to battle for the win of the Games. The ending consists of a battle involving two ‘created’ man-eating beasts. The ending leads to a thrilling battle with moments of intensity and a surprise twist at the end with a rule change. The ending also leads to set the stage for the follow-up movie, due for release November next year.

I’ll admit that I have not read the book The Hunger Games but I will say that the movie is very good in expressing a popular theme of drama in front of a world audience. We have the popular theme of fighting to the death just like it was done during the times of ancient Rome. We have the theme of drama created to stir popularity, intrigue and support. We especially have the theme of brawn vs. brains as best shown by Cato and Katniss. The two are an interesting study in opposites. Cato represents brawn. He comes from a district where children are trained to win from birth. Cato has all the traits of a trained competitor: confidence, skill, lack of mercy and even a lust for killing his rivals, and especially the charisma two win some of his rivals over to form an alliance to defeat his top rival Katniss, even making them forget they would have to be his victims if he wants to win. Katniss is the smart one. She knows how to fend her herself. She knows how to survive on her own. She knows the Games are stupid. She also knows how to show compassion to those she feels shouldn’t be in the Games. She knows how to play to the crowd in her natural way. She also knows how to rebel as she also is willing to give her life if it means losing Peeta. It’s no wonder Katniss’ edge is noticeable and could prove victorious in the end.

Even if you haven’t read the novel, you would notice how the world present in the Hunger Games represent a lot of barbarianisms of civilizations past. You have the Hunger Games itself where children are elected to fight to the death like the Gladiators of Ancient Rome. We have Distirct 2 which trains children to win the Hunger Games: reminiscent of both Ancient Sparta where children are raised from birth to be soldiers and of Communist countries that took children and trained them to be Olympic champions. We have The Capitol dictating these games on the twelve districts, reminiscent of Ancient Rome.

Also included in the Hunger Games are the many elements that remind us of our current voyeuristic culture. We have a reality show of these teenagers in these blood games that are broadcast to live audiences in each district. We have an image analyst and stylist who encourage and assists Katniss and Peeta in winning the crowd. We have a past winner giving the two hints on how to win. We have Gamemakers creating elements of drama and death like the forest fire, the man-eating beasts and the change of rules for two of the same district to win. We also have Katniss receiving instructions and drama directions with whatever ointment and food she receives. We have all contestants being shown off in an pre-games interview and given scores before the contest: reminiscent of weigh-ins before boxing matches. Bloody gladiator matches of the past combine with the voyeurism and media-savvy of the present.

Despite all that’s created, concocted or built up, we also have Katniss and Peeta representing the realness in all that’s staged. We have Katniss who wants to win but feels it’s an unnecessary threat for someone like Rue to be a forced warrior. We see Katniss representing the feelings and sensitivities of most trying to do battle with the charismatic but diabolical and controlling Cato. Even before the Hunger Games lottery, there was a connection between Katniss and Peeta, albeit from a long distance. It was only through the luck of the draw that the two could meet and Peeta could get the girl he always wanted to notice her. Even without the staging and set-up of events, the love and feelings between the two are real.

We also have Katniss’ sense of rebellion. Her moves during the Games, both of defiance and compassion, have sparked a lot of discomfort to those who call the shots in the Games. First act was before the Games as she volunteered to replace her younger sister for the Games. During training, she shot an arrow at an apple awfully close to a Gamemaker to get some notice.  During the Games, she developed a caring bond with Rue and laid flowers over her body. Her act of respect sparked a riot in Rue’s District 11 and caused producers to change the rule of allowing two from a single district to win. When the rule was rechanged to one winner only, she and Peeta were ready to eat fatal berries together in defiance. Even the deaths of both Cato and Clove could spark outrage from the Career’s district as they’ve been trained since birth to win and this is their first loss in years. Katniss’ rebellion definitely left the Gamemakers with a nervousness even after the Hunger Games were over. This sets the stage for what could happen in Catching Fire.

The acting in the movie was very good. Jennifer Lawrence gave a performance in a role that was beyond your typical teenage heroine role. She has already proven her acting excellence in the past and she continues to impress here. Josh Hutcherson also did a good job playing the boy-next-door type Peeta. His role wasn’t as complex as Katniss but he still managed to impress and come across well as the shy sensitive type. Alexander Ludwig succeeded in making Cato hateable on screen but his role as the charismatic killing machine was underdeveloped in the movie and given less screen time than it should’ve had. The adult actors in the movie did well with their supporting roles and the characters that came with it, but most were limited to being only minor supporting roles often consisting of stock characters. Of the adult actors, it was Woody Harrelson who did the most with his role. Gary Ross did a very good job of directing even though he has not been known to direct and epic movie before. His first effort pays off well. He also did a good job in scriptwriting with Billy Ray and the book’s author Suzanne Collins although there were some key elements missing. Costuming was also well-done even though there were some outfits that could leave one thinking they were at a Lady Gaga concert. The visual effects were also excellent.

 The movie had a lot of great qualities but the best thing about it is that the filmmakers kept from making a Twilight of itself. I haven’t seen any of the Twilight movies but I know enough about them to know it’s mostly about ‘hot guys’ and teen romance. The box office successes of that formula as well as the huge teen fanfare made me nervous that the Hunger Games might take those steps to gain a huge box office draw. Instead The Hunger Games doesn’t stoop to that low. It’s able to keep an intriguing story with the drama without having to resort to sex appeal for the sake of money.

The effort has payed off both on screen and at the box office too. Its opening weekend of $152.5 million made it the third-highest opening weekend ever. It spent four weekends at #1 at the box office and currently ranks #3 with a total gross of $380 million. None of the Twilight movies have been able to achieve either box office result. It’s no wonder there were even older adults in the audience the time I went. Unlike Twilight, The Hunger Games goes beyond the expected targeted teen and its pays off.

The Hunger Games does have its flaws and imperfections but it does an excellent job in creating an intriguing story that does its best to avoid distractions and most typical box-office gimmicks. The result is a quality epic that’s as smart as it is thrilling.

One last note: Okay I know it’s been weeks since The Hunger Games opening. The thing is I only saw it three weeks ago as I normally wait for big hit movies to have the crowds die down. Also I have been mentally exhausted for weeks and have had a lack of ambition to write. Finally I got it back.

Movie Review: Titanic 3D

Jon The Blogcentric5 Comments

Who here hasn’t seen Titanic? When it opened near the end of 1997, it broke practically every movie record in the book, became a huge pop culture phenomenon and remained that highest grossing movie ever until James Cameron’s follow-up Avatar was released. Now it’s out in 3D. The big question is how does Titanic fare as a 3D movie?

NOTE: Just to let you know, this is not a basic movie review. This is a review of the movie’s addition of 3D. I’ll give you a brief summary of the movie itself by saying it was an excellent movie but it was more about being an epic than about having excellent acting and scriptwriting. Sure, Gloria Stuart had the best performance of the movie and Kate Winslet was excellent, but most of the acting was the best the actors could do with cardboard characters. The script had a few cheesy lines too–“This is bad.” and “I’ll be down here waiting for you.”–but we should forget that the script isn’t the whole point of an epic movie. As for the Oscars, I feel Best Picture should’ve gone to L.A. Confidential that year. Titanic had some good moments too. The best qualities were the cinematography, the score from James Horner and especially the visual effects. James Cameron created an epic masterpiece. It’s no wonder this movie smashed every box office record in the book and remained unbroken until Avatar broke them all.

So there you have my brief review of Titanic. Now for my review of Titanic 3D. Often I consider 3D releases of movies more of a case of a cash grab than in terms of quality. Most of the time when I go to a 3D release of a movie, I expect the 3D to justify itself. Some of them like Coraline, Avatar, Toy Story 3 and Hugo worked. Some of them like Up, Iron Man 2 and John Carter didn’t. I will have to say that there were many parts in Titanic where the 3D did not work, like the drama and the dialogue. Even the parts of the ship’s sinking didn’t have anything added with the 3D effect. One thing I will note is that Titanic was not designed to be a 3D movie. 3D movies weren’t taken into as serious consideration as they have been in the last four years. I’m sure if Titanic was meant to be seen in 3D, James Cameron would do a lot of direction changes and ordered different cinematography angles.

The 3D worked best during scenes which put the audience in the character’s place. Some of the best scenes included where Jack is welcomed to the first-class dinner, or when the two are dancing in the third-class section. The best I felt was the scene where Rose and Jack are at the stern of the boat getting the feel of flying. That scene of riding the waves was one of the best 3D parts of the movie. The other area where 3D worked best was the disaster scenes from within the ship. Scenes of sudden bursts of water in the engine chamber and throughout the third class deck were other areas where the 3D worked best.

One thing about the re-release of Titanic in 3D is that it reminds you just how right it is to do a re-release of Titanic anytime. 3D or no 3D, Titanic is a movie meant to be seen on the big screen. Seeing it on your television via DVD or Netflix and especially seeing it on your cellphone doesn’t do it justice. If you’ve seen Titanic in the past, you would know for yourself that Titanic is a movie meant for the big screen. Not just visual but the addition of the surround sound adds to it too. The big screen is the best way, if not really the only way, to experience it. I’m glad they re-released it. If you loved Titanic when you first saw it and saw it again, the re-release will remind you why you fell in love with it. There were even times when I left the theatre thinking that if Titanic were to be made today, who would play Jack and Rose? Ah, Leo and Kate can’t be replaced but if it was done today, my best bets would be Jamie Bell and Keira Knightley. Gloria Stuart couldn’t be replaced either but I’d assume elder Rose would be played by Lauren Bacall. Okay, I’ll save it!

It’s a wonder why they picked April 4th for the 3D re-release since April has so many 100th anniversary commemorations that month. They could have released it on April 10th–the 100th anniversary of the Titanic’s ill-fated departure– or April 15th: the 100th Anniversary of the RMS Titanic’s doomsday. The only 100 Anniversary April 4th commemorates is the completion of the Titanic’s trial run. Not much to commemorate, eh? As for me, I find it ironic I saw it on Sunday April 15th: the exact 100th anniversary of the sinking.

There’s no question that Titanic’s re-release in 3D is another cash grab as is any other big movie in the past that’s been re-released in 3D. Nevertheless it is worth seeing as it reminds you why it’s so right to see it on the big screen, 3D or no 3D. The addition of 3D doesn’t add much but it’s still worth seeing again even to re-live the experience.

Movie Review: John Carter

Jon The Blogcentric2 Comments

John Carter is not a superhero character invented for a movie. John Carter is actually a protagonist for an 11-volume series of novels by Edgar Rice Burroughs known as the Barsoom series. The first John Carter movie comes courtesy of Disney. Does it deliver?

The movie starts detailing that Mars is a dying planet with warring civilians. The live-action begins with a nephew of John Carter’s learning he’s dead, or maybe he’s not. He’s buried in a mausoleum that can be unlocked by a secret code.

Impressive beginning that leads to the origin of John Carter which actually comes across as too predictable. We learn that John, a citizen of the Confederate state of Virginia, is seen as an outlaw in New York. The opening shtick which leads John being a rebel in New York to being sent to Mars is all too common and formulaic for superheroes to be first learning of their superpowers.

The developing story of how John Carter learns of the race of four armed Martians and of the warring cities of Helium and Zodanga give promise to more climax. Additional climax is possible by possible cease fire if the princess of Helium being offered to marry the Jeddak of Zodanga. Often the quests that lead to battles and even gladiator matches become too predictable to a point. Even the gladiator-like scene looks like it was added in more for the sake of thrills than for the story.

If there’s one place that is out of the ordinary, it’s the ending. At first the triumph of John Carter at the end appears to be the ending but there is a surprise which leads us back to the framing story of John’s nephew that leads to an unexpected ending. That was one part that did impress me.

The problem with the movie is that it shifts too much. We don’t know if John Carter is supposed to be a superhero character or a gladiator-type character. Even seeing how it appears to have borrowed from too many movies also adds to the problem. John Carter landing on Mars appears like many superhero movies when they first learn of their superhuman trait. The gladiator scene comes across too much like Gladiator. There were even times I thought they borrowed a scene or two from Thor. The movie is good in terms of special effects and especially the costuming but its storyline’s confusing in terms of plot and character development. Even the acting appeared one-dimensional because the characters were mostly the stock type that one would come to expect from a superhero movie. They’re there to put on a show but lack depth. The script was what you’d expect for a superhero movie: stagy events thick on emphasizing the drama in the plot and full of high-climax moments but little depth. There was a bit of comic relief with the Martians calling John Carter “Virginia’ but not much else.

In terms of box office, John Carter is not looking all that good. The movie cost $250 million to make. Its opening weekend only amassed $30.2 million. Currently it sits at $62.4 million. It’s questionable how well it will finish. One thing to take into account is the record for the biggest money-losing movie of all time. It belongs to 2002’s Pluto Nash with a loss of $93 million. I hope John Carter doesn’t break that record. Already there’s talk that the movie will lose an additional $100 million it spent on advertising. Overseas things are looking better as it has so far grossed almost $172 million outside the US, according to Box Office Mojo. So all is not lost. Lots but not all. Nevertheless there’s probably no chance for a sequel. A bit of a shame because the ending looked like it was made to be the set up for the beginning of a sequel. Guess not. It’s even questionable whether this will be the star boost for Taylor Kitsch. Maybe his next big movie.

John Carter is an ambitious attempt from Disney at getting a new movie series off the ground but looks like it fell flat. If you’re going to start a movie series, a lot is expected, and it just didn’t deliver.