The Avengers (2012)

Tags

Chris Evans, Drama, Fantasy, Joss Whedon, Mark Ruffalo, Movies, Robert Downey Jr., Samuel L. Jackson, Scarlett Johansson, Science Fiction, The Avengers

puny review…

It’s good.  Real good.  Way to go Joss Whedon.

I haven’t even seen Incredible Hulk, Captain America, or Thor, and I didn’t feel like I was too far behind.

My only complaint would be that Loki wasn’t the most exciting villain.  Or maybe it was the performance by Tom Hiddleston that I wasn’t impressed with.  It’s hard to say.  It wasn’t terrible, but I think a more menacing villain usually works better.  He struck me as more bratty than menacing.

Most surprising element = how much I enjoyed Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow.  Whedon knows how to write interesting female characters that can also kick some tail, and Scarlett did a good job with all of it.

I probably don’t need to really sell anybody on this particular movie, but it’s definitely entertaining and worth a watch on the big screen.  Even the crying baby and talking kids in the theater didn’t ruin it!

Loki and a few hazy plot developments drop it to saaaayyy… 8.4/10

Iron Man 2 (2010)

Tags

Action, Don Cheadle, Drama, Garry Shandling, Gwyneth Paltrow, Iron Man 2, Mickey Rourke, Movie, Robert Downey Jr., Sam Rockwell, Samuel L. Jackson, Scarlett Johansson, Science Fiction

nobody wants him...they just turn their heads...

PG-13

Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Mickey Rourke, Sam Rockwell, Scarlett Johansson, Samuel L. Jackson, Garry Shandling

Nick Fury: Sir!  I’m going to have to ask you to exit the doughnut!

Tony Stark (Downey Jr.) has used Iron Man to create peace in the world, but has also gotten caught up in the celebrity surrounding Iron Man.  When a scary Russian, Ivan Vanko (Rourke), attacks Stark with some of his own technology, one of Stark’s competitors, Justin Hammer (Rockwell), sees this as a chance to get Ivan on his side to help him take down Stark.

I decided to do something a little different with this review.  I actually wrote down comments while watching the movie.  It’ll seem a little scattered and maybe hard to understand without the movie playing in front of you, but…well, it makes things easier for me.  I tried to avoid spoilers:

Looks like we’re picking up right where we left off with the first one.  Well, with the audio at least.  Now we’re in Moscow.

Ahh, Mickey Rourke.  Always a pleasant sight these days…

Does every superhero movie have the same soundtrack now?

Sam Rockwell’s name!  I forgot he was in this.

Laying on the celebrity stuff a little thick…I get it…he’s obsessed with himself.

Stan Lee cameo!

Garry Shandling, eh?  Alright…interesting choice…

Not digging Rockwell’s character…a little too cliche…

“I’ve successfully privatized world peace!”

So Tony and Pepper are a bickering couple now?

Scarlett enters the movie…

The first movie started with a bang and some good dramatic moments.  This movie is crawling to a start.

Looks like we’re at our first big action set.  A day at the races!

Wow…that was easy.

“I want MY bird!!”

I’m glad I’m not an Iron Man.  I wouldn’t want a big metal thing in my chest.

I never wanted to see Iron Man dance.

Tired plot is tiiiirrred.  Tony Stark is now Hancock.

“Sir!  I’m going to have to ask you to exit the doughnut!”  That’s a line that only Samuel L. can deliver and make it sound believable.

Did the movie really need Bill O’Reilly?

Time for the A-Team building sequence.

Off to the Expo.  I assume there will actually be some action sequences soon.

Is Scarlett living in the Matrix??

Well that was a pretty quick ending…

Lame villain, with a vague, ambiguous agenda.

Definitely a step down from the first one.  Every situation that posed some dramatic potential seemed to get pushed aside or solved very simply.

Creating a new element is easy, if you have the right editing team!

10 – 2 because it was booooorrrrring in long stretches – 1 because the Pepper/Tony relationship just didn’t work (didn’t they get together in the first movie?) – .5 because every major plot point seemed to get solved with little dramatic tension = 6.5

Lakeview Terrace (2008)

Tags

Drama, Lakeview Terrace, Movie, Patrick Wilson, Samuel L. Jackson, Suspense

the script says I hate you, so...too bad for you...

PG-13

Samuel L. Jackson, Patrick Wilson, Kerry Washington

Chris Mattson: Y’know what Abel?  F*** you.
Abel Turner: Is that a “We Are the World” f*** you?
Chris Mattson: No.  It’s a special one.  Just for you.

Abel Turner (Jackson) is a policeman and a single father of two, still dealing with the death of his wife – and some deeper issues related to it.  His new neighbors are Chris (Wilson) and Lisa(Washington), a mixed race couple who immediately offend Abel with their somewhat public displays of affection and Chris’ habit of flicking cigarette butts onto Abel’s property.  Abel begins harassing the couple, and they can’t really do much about it due to his affiliation with the police.  Of course, the disputes grow more and more violent, as meanwhile, an out of control wild fire edges closer and closer to their neighborhood.  Think maybe that will play a part in the finale?

First of all, let me say that this movie is a big big big big big BIG step up from director Neil LaBute’s last movie, The Wicker Man.  Of course, a two hour movie of a dog eating its own vomit would probably be a step up from that travesty of a film.  (Sorry for that mental image, by the way.)

As for this movie, I still couldn’t help thinking that in the hands of a better suspense film director (saaaaay, Hitchcock maybe?), this movie could have been very good.  As is, it’s just passable.  I think Jackson’s character is a bit too angry straight from the get-go.  I wish he’d at least tried to have been nice at first, then slowly spiral into the seeming insanity that he displays from basically the beginning of the movie.  It’s a quiet insanity, but it’s still there.

Also, there are chances for tense moments that LaBute just lets slip by too quickly.  Not to give too much away, but at one point a character needs to find a certain object that is critical to covering up something.  Hitchcock would have milked that object for all it’s worth.  Having it sit somewhere essentially in plain sight, yet unnoticed by another person.  Can character A get it before it’s noticed by character B??  That would be the more suspenseful path to take, but this movie just wants to skip that and get back to the yelling, fighting, and cliche ending.

Speaking of cliches, we get plenty in this movie.  Aside from the usual racial stuff, we have the guy who isn’t sure about having a baby (which leads to several arguments), kids who hate their dad, cops and others who don’t believe the protagonists, mildly corrupt cops who look out for each other no matter what, etc etc.

This is a movie with good performances and an interesting set up that just can’t help but become really predictable and formulaic, despite several opportunities to go in more interesting directions.

Do not flick cigarette butts onto Samuel L. Jackson’s property.  Under no circumstances.

10 – 3 for being formulaic and predictable – 1 for Abel Turner being too mean straight from the beginning – .4 for some moments where the characters acted irrationally just to move the plot along + .3 for some good performances = 5.9