Review: "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer" Does Not Rise Much

TRASH IN MY EYES No. 97 (of 2007) by Leroy Douresseaux

Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007)
Running time: 92 minutes (1 hour, 32 minutes)
MPAA – PG for sequences of action violence, some mild language, and innuendo
DIRECTOR: Tim Story
WRITERS: Don Payne and Mark Frost; from a story John Turman and Mark Frost (based upon the characters created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby)
PRODUCERS: Avi Arad, Bernd Eichinger, and Ralph Winter
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Larry Blanford (D.o.P.)
EDITORS: Peter S. Elliot, William Hoy, and Michael McCusker
COMPOSER: John Ottman

SCI-FI/SUPERHERO/ACTION/ADVENTURE/FAMILY

Starring: Ioan Gruffudd, Jessica Alba, Chris Evans, Michael Chiklis, Julian McMahon, Kerry Washington, Andre Braugher, Laurence Fishburne (voice), Beau Garrett, and Doug Jones

Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, like it predecessor, the 2005 surprise hit, Fantastic Four, is a superhero blockbuster aimed squarely at younger children. That sets this franchise apart from most superhero films, which while ostensibly family films, tend to skew older with darker stories.

As the film begins, the members of the dysfunctional family known as the Fantastic Four have their hands full. Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic (Ioan Gruffudd) and Susan Storm/Invisible Woman (Jessica Alba) are getting married, but Sue can’t keep Reed’s mind off his work and on wedding planning. Meanwhile, Ben Grimm/The Thing (Michael Chiklis) has found peace and love in his relationship with the blind artist, Alicia Masters (Kerry Washington). And Johnny Storm/The Human Torch (Chris Evans)? Well, Johnny just wants to market the FF as a brand that attracts sponsors, advertisers, and media willing to pay for exclusive access to the team.

The nuptials are interrupted by the arrival on Earth of an enigmatic being that Reed dubs The Silver Surfer. The Surfer is actually an intergalactic herald for a planet devouring being called Galactus. As the Surfer races on his board around the world wreaking havoc, the Fantastic Four must unravel the mystery of the Surfer and confront their mortal enemy Victor Von Doom a.k.a. Dr. Doom (Julian McMahon, who is terrible in this role), as he returns claiming to want to help defeat the Surfer. All of this puts stress on the delicate bonds of this fragile family called the Fantastic Four.

Director Tim Story’s second film attempt at the Fantastic Four is harmless fun, but it’s also vapid. It’s entertaining, but mostly empty. Lacking a good script (although the main plot is fun), Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer is the kind of dumb, silly, and simple-minded entertainment that many people think of when they do think of comics. This isn’t bad, but FF: TROTSS just lacks the kind of epic scope and widescreen sensibilities that the original comics by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby had.

There are few good thinks about this film. Chris Evans plays Johnny Storm as a skirt-chasing, smart ass, and his presence just makes the Fantastic Four films better. To create the Silver Surfer, Doug Jones provides the physical acting, and Laurence Fishburne gives voice to the Silver Surfer. CGI finishes the work, and we have a cool looking, scene-stealing character. Every moment the Surfer is on screen the movie suddenly doesn’t seem like a slightly awkward, self-consciously clumsy kids’ flick. So adults beware; this is a mild amusement, but it’s even better for the young viewers.

5 of 10
B-

Thursday, June 21, 2007

Review: Norton is the Star in "PRIMAL FEAR" (Happy B'day, Edward Norton)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 06 (of 2004) by Leroy Douresseaux

Primal Fear (1996)
Running time: 129 minutes (2 hours, 9 minutes)
MPAA – R for brief grisly violence, pervasive strong language and a sex scene
DIRECTOR: Gregory Hoblit
WRITERS: Steve Shagan and Ann Biderman (based upon the novel by William Diehl)
PRODUCER: Gary Lucchesi
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Michael Chapman (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: David Rosenbloom
COMPOSER: James Newton Howard
Academy Award nominee

DRAMA/CRIME/THRILLER

Starring: Richard Gere, Laura Linney, Edward Norton, John Mahoney, Frances McDormand, Alfre Woodard, Terry O’Quinn, Andre Braugher, Steven Bauer, Joe Spano, Stanley Anderson, Maura Tierney, and Jon Seda

The subject of this movie review is Primal Fear, a 1996 courtroom drama and legal thriller starring Richard Gere and Laura Linney. The film is based on William Diehl’s 1993 novel, Primal Fear. This movie was also actor Edward Norton’s feature film debut, for which he earned a best supporting actor Oscar nomination.

I’ll begin with a minor spoiler warning, so skip to the second paragraph if you don’t want to know how the movie ends. I was thoroughly and completely happy that the murderer beats the system in the end; he was my hero throughout the movie. I enjoyed that he trumped the skuzzy and dishonest State’s Attorney John Shaughnessy (John Mahoney of TV’s “Fraiser”), who uses murder, intimidation, and lies to get his way like so many dirty people in district attorney and state’s attorney’s offices. Hooray to chaos! Damn the corrupt system! Now, on to the movie.

Richard Gere has spent the better part of three decades shining his lovely face in numerous films, although his skills as a thespian are usually in question, there is no doubt that he is a good movie star. He has an obvious, almost forced, charm, but he is also a charming rogue. He doesn’t bury himself in method acting; he simply plays the character as himself. It can be argued that no actress of similar skill and of similar shaky box office pedigree would continue to get choice projects, but then there’s Madonna.

In Primal Fear, Gere is the arrogant defense attorney Martin “Marty” Vail, and he just taken on the case of Aaron Stampler (Edward Norton) who has been arrested for the savagely murdering a popular bishop (Stanley Anderson). State’s Attorney Shaughnessy wants the death penalty, and he sends one of Marty’s former girlfriends and co-workers, Janet Venable (Laura Linney) to prosecute the case. Yes, Marty also has a history with the Shaughnessy, who was his boss not so long ago.

Gere is himself, and I can’t see any indication that this performance would standout amongst any others unless they were really bad. Laura Linney can certainly play the tough “cookie,” who roles with punches, taking anything life or ex-lovers have to throw her way. It’s always good to see the under utilized Alfre Woodard (as Judge Miriam Shoat) and John Mahoney is fun in practically anything.

Good performances by most of the cast aside, the scene stealing, showstopper is Edward Norton in this, his first film role. The fact of the matter is that Primal Fear is average potboiler without him. He so embodies his roles (he has more than one part, sort of) that you can’t help but be drawn into him. No matter what happens, you’re rooting for the boyish and obviously innocent and naïve country kid who was taken in and abused by the mean old city. He uses his entire body to become his character: gestures, facial expressions, hair, the way her wears his clothes, etc.

Director Gregory Hoblit, a director of episodic television, was lucky to have him. Norton transforms Hoblit’s film from a minor studio legal thriller that would have wound up in home video hell into something worth recommending to friends over and over again.

6 of 10
B

NOTES:
1997 Academy Awards: 1 nomination: “Best Actor in a Supporting Role” (Edward Norton)

1997 BAFTA Awards: 1 nomination: “Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role” (Edward Norton)

1997 Golden Globes, USA: 1 win: “Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture” (Edward Norton)

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"Superman/Batman: Apocalypse" Rocks the House

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 65 (of 2012) by Leroy Douresseaux


Superman/Batman: Apocalypse (2010) – straight-to-video
Running time: 78 minutes (1 hour, 18 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for violence and brief sensuality
DIRECTOR: Lauren Montgomery
WRITERS: Tab Murphy (Based upon the graphic novel by Jeph Loeb and Michael Turner and characters created by Bob Kane (Batman), Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster (Superman), William Moulton Marston (Wonder Woman), and Jack Kirby (Darkseid and The New Gods)
PRODUCERS: Lauren Montgomery, Bobbie Page, and Bruce W. Timm
EDITOR: Margaret Hou

ANIMATION/SUPERHERO/ACTION

Starring: Andre Braugher, Kevin Conroy, Tim Daly, Susan Eisenberg, Summer Glau, Julianne Grossman, Edward Asner, and Rachel Quaintance

Superman/Batman: Apocalypse is the ninth in Warner Bros. Animation’s line of DC Universe Animated Original Movies. It is a sequel to the animated film, Superman/Batman: Public Enemies (2009), and is based on “The Supergirl from Krypton,” a storyline in the Superman/Batman comic book series from DC Comics. Superman/Batman: Apocalypse focuses on a mysterious teen-aged girl with super-human powers, her connection to Superman, and a villain’s diabolical plan to control her.

While investigating the wreckage of a spaceship that landed in Gotham City Harbor, Batman (Kevin Conroy) discovers that the ship had a passenger. It is a young woman who raises all sorts of havoc with her apparent super human powers, but Batman manages to subdue her. It is Superman (Tim Daly), however, who discovers that the young woman is Kara Zor-El (Summer Glau), his biological cousin, and like himself, a refuge from Krypton. Kara has little memory of her past, and her powers make her dangerous. Wonder Woman (Susan Eisenberg) steps in and takes Kara to her home, Themyscira, the island home of the Amazons.

They are not the only ones interested in Kara. On the planet, Apokolips, its lord, Darkseid (Andre Braugher), has learned of Kara and desires her to lead his honor guard, the Female Furies, so he kidnaps her. To rescue Kara, Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman must recruit the former leader of the Furies, Big Barda (Julianne Grossman), but even her help may not be enough to overcome Darkseid, a god.

What I like about Superman/Batman: Apocalypse is that it gets everything right. First, the writing is strong. Screenwriter Tab Murphy efficiently presents the characters: their personalities, quirks, motivations, conflicts, and relationships. It all comes across as genuine – from Kara’s confusion and struggle to adjust to a new world to Superman’s almost desperate yearning to both protect Kara and to connect with someone from the world of his birth. Also, the action of the story is gripping, from the first moments to the tear-the-roof-off-the-mutha, battle royale featuring Superman, Kara, and Darkseid.

The animation is also good, not as good as feature film animation, but the characters look good during the action and fight scenes, which is what counts in these direct-to-DVD movies based upon superhero comic books. The animation’s design style is based on the art of the artist who drew “The Supergirl from Krypton, the late Michael Turner. This movie’s designers and animators capture Turner’s quirky style and his graceful approach to drawing women. Kara’s hairdo certainly reflects Turner’s sensibilities.

All in all, Superman/Batman: Apocalypse is one of the better DC Universe Animated movies, and is one I’d watch again.

8 of 10
A

Sunday, July 29, 2012

Review: Angelina Jolie's "Salt" is Good For You

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 11 (of 2011) by Leroy Douresseaux

Salt (2010)
Running time: 100 minutes (1 hour, 40 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action
DIRECTOR: Phillip Noyce
WRITER: Kurt Wimmer
PRODUCERS: Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Sunil Perkash
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Robert Elswit
EDITOR: Stuart Baird, John Gilroy, and Steven Kemper
COMPOSER: James Newton Howard
Academy Award nominee

ACTION/THRILLER

Starring: Angelina Jolie, Liev Schreiber, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Daniel Olbrychski, August Diehl, Hunt Block, Andre Braugher, and Olek Krupa

Written by Kurt Wimmer, the writer/director of the film Equilibrium, Salt was originally about a male character named “Edwin A. Salt,” and Tom Cruise initially wanted to play the character. A little more than half a decade later, the character became a woman, now played by Angelina Jolie. The resultant film is, in the hands of the supremely skilled director, Philip Noyce, one of 2010’s best movies.

Salt focuses on Evelyn Salt (Angelina Jolie), a CIA agent recently released from a North Korean prison. Salt’s plans to celebrate her wedding anniversary with her husband, arachnologist Michael Krause (August Diehl), is interrupted by a sudden turn of events at the CIA. Vassily Orlov (Daniel Olbrychski), a Russian defector, arrives with shocking secrets. During Salt’s interrogation of him, Orlov reveals details about “Day X,” a Russian plot to destroy the United States by using highly-trained, English-speaking, Russian sleeper agents. And Orlov claims that Salt is one of those sleeper agents.

Suddenly, a rogue CIA agent, Salt is on the run, and she uses every tactic, accent, and disguise she knows to elude her pursuers, clear her name, and find her now-missing husband. Her CIA supervisor, Ted Winter (Liev Schreiber), believes that she may not be an enemy, but U.S. counter-intelligence agent, Peabody (Chiwetel Ejiofor), absolutely believes that Salt is an enemy. To save herself, however, Salt may end up doing the very things Orlov said she would.

Salt has two stellar supporting actors in the talented Liev Schreiber and Chiwetel Ejiofor, who both deliver their usual good work in this film. Outside of Asian cinema, no one is capable of delivering terrific work in both dramatic films and action movies the way Angelina Jolie does. Jolie makes Evelyn Salt the kind of secret agent/spy who is every bit the man James Bond or Jason Bourne is.

Salt is a magnificent CIA/spy film, however, because of the work of director Phillip Noyce (Dead Calm, Clear and Present Danger). The Australian director is a master of the thriller: action thriller, historical thriller, political thriller, social thriller, suspense thriller, and thriller thriller. From the beginning of Salt, it was as if Noyce threw a rope around me and dragged me along for a ride, and what a great ride Salt was. Its action is so visceral and its narrative so visually powerful that you might choose to ignore the set pieces that seem way, way farfetched. I can find very little about which to complain or criticize.

At times, Salt is like a comic book superhero story, and it occasionally seems as much a fantasy as it is a CIA thriller. Noyce took his more-than-capable dramatic action star, Angelina Jolie, and spun what will hopefully be the beginning of a beautiful new spy thriller franchise.

8 of 10
A

NOTE:
2011 Academy Awards: 1 nomination: “Best Achievement in Sound Mixing” (Jeffrey J. Haboush, William Sarokin, Scott Millan, and Greg P. Russell)

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Review: Frank Darabont's Take on "Stephen King's The Mist" Has a Sh*tty Ending

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 138 (of 2007) by Leroy Douresseaux

Stephen King’s The Mist (2007)
Running time: 127 minutes (2 hours, 7 minutes)
MPAA – R for violence, terror, gore, and language
DIRECTOR: Frank Darabont
WRITER: Frank Darabont (based upon the novella by Stephen King)
PRODUCER: Frank Darabont and Liz Glotzer
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Ronn Schmidt
EDITOR: Hunter M. Via

HORROR/DRAMA with elements of sci-fi

Starring: Thomas Jane, Marcia Gay Harden, Laurie Holden, Andre Braugher, Toby Jones, William Sadler, Jeffrey DeMunn, Frances Sternhagen, Alexa Davalos, Chris Owen, Sam Witwer, Robert C. Treveiler, David Jensen, and Nathan Gamble

Writer/director Frank Darabont has previously adapted two Stephen King works of fiction into movies: the multiple Oscar-nominated films, The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile. His latest King-to-film work is the horror flick, Stephen King’s The Mist, and it’s the kind of horror film that will still be on your mind quite a while after you leave the theatre, if not for a good long time afterwards.

The setting of The Mist is a pretty, Maine village populated by simple, rustic folks, but it is also the home of wealthy New Yorkers seeking a pastoral refuge from the hustle and bustle of the city life that has done well by them. Following a violent thunderstorm, a peculiar white mist creeps towards the small town community. Artist David Drayton (Thomas Jane) and his son, Billy (Nathan Gamble), are getting emergency supplies at a grocery store in the local shopping center when this unnatural mist moves in to cover the entire area.

Unusual as the mist is, the store’s occupants soon discover that there may be something monstrous prowling inside the thick, white mess. The customers barricade themselves inside the grocery story, and Drayton and a small band of customers plot survival and eventually escape after creatures in the mist start attacking the store. However, Drayton and company soon find themselves in a test of wills and a small war with Mrs. Carmody (Marcia Gay Harden), a local self-proclaimed psychic, who insists that only a blood sacrifice to the “God of Israel” will save them all. Her congregation of fear, formed out of the customers who have fallen under her sway, is all too willing to kill for her. Then, there’s the enemy outside that they can’t even see and that is attacking with increasing frequency.

The Mist, the film, is like “The Mist, the novella upon which is based (and which first appeared in the 1980 horror fiction anthology, Dark Forces), is about more about the conflicts among the occupants of the grocery store than it is about the supernatural boogeymen waiting in the mist outside. The monsters certainly are terrifying, even when their CGI creators make them look somewhat comical, perhaps, because Darabont maintained an element about which King was clear in the original story – these beasts hiding in that thick, mean mist are so very lethal. Their constant attacks on the grocery store’s structural integrity make this slightly two-hour-plus film actually seem lean, mean, and spry.

However, Darabont captures the most delicious aspect of King’s story and transforms his film from yet-another-King-adaptation into something memorable – a brutish and shockingly pessimistic human drama. Darabont suggests that the humans are just as capable of being killers as the creatures outside are. What can bring about the change? It’s fear, because as the movie’s tagline says – “Fear changes everything.”

All the mist does is quickly peel back the thin veneer of civility and civilization to reveal the ugly side of people just waiting to show itself the first time the comforts of modern life – utilities and machines – stop working. Whether it is the hellfire, hellfire, and more hellfire with a side of brimstone Mrs. Carmody and her demands for expiation (making amends to God via blood sacrifice) or Andre Braugher’s loud-mouthed NYC attorney, many of the characters take their fears and insecurities and use that to separate the customers into two groups, “them” and “us.”

The only thing really disappointing about the movie (well, besides the really downer of an ending) is not the execution of the movie. It is the fact that when a disaster, natural or supernatural, starts to break down institutions like the family, local authority, community bonds, etc., then, many of us will act pretty much the way the characters in this gem of a horror flick do  And that's not the movie's fault, is it?

7 of 10
B+

Sunday, November 25, 2007

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