Star Trek

I've been thinking about this review since I saw the movie last weekend, and quite frankly, I still don't REALLY know what to say. Simply put there is absolutely NO excuse for not seeing this film. Even if you have to wait to see it at a second-run theater for two dollars it must be seen with a big screen and big sound. I mean, it's space opera, multiple speakers are necessary.

Now, last year we had releases such as Iron Man and The Dark Knight. There's no way in hell that I'm going to say that Star Trek was as good as Dark Knight, because it wasn't. To be honest I still think that Dark Knight is the best movie I have ever seen. I saw it three times in theaters and I don't think I took it all in even then. Some may scoff at my statement, as I've seen a lot of movies in my day, but I mean it honestly; if the only thing someone can complain about is a too raspy Batman voice in a film like that, then there is virtually nothing wrong with it. I think I would plop Trek right in between Bruce and Tony. There's a vast distance between first and second of course, but still.

Let's get the easy crap out of the way. Yes, this is just another studio trying to jump start an epic franchise -- see Casino Royale (and it's vastly impotent by comparison sophomore outing, Quantum of Solace) or Batman Begins -- and, yes, Trek uses what some may see as the oldest and dumbest trick in the book, time travel, in order to bring us the infancy of characters we love, while also opening up a wholly alternative group of potential story lines. So what? Are we seriously going to bicker about Hollywood redoing shit that's already been done? It happens every year. Plus, if any franchise is capable of supporting time travel, Trek would easily fit the profile. Come on! They can teleport from far off planets onto ships flying faster than the speed of light. I think they can handle a little black hole action.

That said, for me, the film's biggest problem was Nero. Amongst all these other great performances, poor Eric Bana is completely left in the lurch. He got one good scene in before they tamed him out completely, and that was the first time we see him on screen. His anger, vengeance and frustration in that scene were what I expected the whole time from him, but instead they gave him empty lines and a crappy crew. Yes, his ship was wicked cool, but it's not enough. Part of this franchise's legacy is layered villains. People who you live to root against. But here I actually felt bad for him and his history, while misguided I understood him and I wanted him to have a slightly more important role. I know he was just a plot device, but still, they could have tried a bit harder.

Our heroes on the other hand, were nothing short of right on the money, and yes, I totally teared up when (a) different future Spock says to current outcast Kirk "I was and shall always be your friend." and (b) different future Spock told current Spock "Put aside logic, and do what feels right." In all truth I teared up here and there throughout the film. I think each actor was given just enough to remind us of our old friends, but not BE them completely.

Pine's Kirk was brash yet clever, hot-headed and somewhat uncouth, a trifle funnier than Shatner's version but just as sexy. Quinto's Spock is nothing short of remarkable, his flippant "Live long and prosper," at the Academy of Science almost completely sums up his conflict between logic and emotion, as does his expression just after his mother dies. He seems utterly confused by his reaction whether it be anger or grief or logic trying to block out the emotion. Yelchin is fabulous as young Chekov "I can do that, I can do that! Move, move move!" and Cho is great as newbie helmsman Sulu, plus his combat fencing is badass. Saldana got sold a bit short, but I imagine her role will be written up more in future installments and I liked that they gave her a witty confidence, rather than just putting her in as eye candy for the male audience. Bruce Greenwood totally classed up the place as kidnapped starship captain Pike, and I adore Simon Pegg and thought his Scotty was great, just enough funny to work the tension, and the classic line he got to shout just made me all tingly inside, "Cap'n I'm giving her all she's got!"

But, the icing on the cake for me was Karl Urban. He absolutely WAS Bones McCoy, the sarcasm, the disdain, the panic when Kirk gets puffy hands and numb tongue. His opening scene with Kirk when we learn why he's named Bones and why he hates space is golden, "Don't pander to me kid, one crack in the hull and our blood boils." And come on! He got to say "green blooded hobgoblin" and "Dammit man, I'm a doctor not a physicist!" How awesome was that?

Anyway, you've got great story-telling, great characterization, thrilling effects, and flat-out epic film-making. I may hate Lost, but I loved Alias and Cloverfield actually freaked me out. Abrams does a fantastic job with Trek, and I hope the success of this film just means we will get to see a lot more of our Enterprise pals in the future.

P.S. Leonard Nimoy was brilliant, but him saying the intro? Not cool. I know they passed on the Shat being in the movie, but come on, a few lines of voice-over couldn't have been out of the question, right?

Pick of the Week: 16 Blocks

In times like these the value of a good DVD collection comes out in full. I'm sure that if I hadn't spent money buying DVDs over the years I might have been able to afford cable. But, seeing as I am of a persuasion that allows me to watch movies that I love over and over again, I find owning, rather than chancing television, a better way for me to go. Plus, if there is a week here and there when I can't afford to go out to the movies (even at the fantastic Century 25 in Orange which has early bird showings for $6.00!) it's always nice to have an outlet to go to where I know I can find something I want to watch.

Now, we've all seen Bruce Willis be a cop. He's like the Rocky of cop thrillers. We KNOW he's gonna win in the end, but we're still worried about him and pulling for him the whole time.

However, in "16 Blocks" Bruce is a slightly different kind of beast. In this he is rightfully unsung, in fact, even three-quarters through the movie we still aren't really sure (a) if he's even a good guy and (b) if he's gonna get the job done. Both seem doubtful. He's tortured, bleak, and in a way, just going through the motions waiting for it all to be done already. Enter Mos Def, in what I consider to be a flat out brilliant performance as a petty thief who happens to be a witness to some right blue line nastiness. Over the tumultuous 16 block journey these men find strength in each other and a commonality of soul which inspires each to do what is right, not only for themselves, but for the other person as well.

David Morse (who is wonderful when he's good and even better when he's bad) co-stars as the baddie on their tail, forcing them into corners where escape seems nearly impossible. Even though the plot is somewhat predictable, it's remarkably believable. Scenes are taut and there's almost no excess in dialogue. Plus, for all it's darkness and undermining of police and what they do it's uplifting in it's own right. People make good on their promises; people finally do the right thing after years of looking the other way. It's a film that reminds us nothing is set in stone; we always have choices, and that, on rare occasions, people CAN change.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

Welcome, welcome one and all.

First up this week, X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

A couple things must be said before anything else in this review:

To the ladies who have not or do not want to see this film, I have two items of note to point out.

1) Uber-buff Hugh Jackman and his Wolverine chops.
2) Uber-buff Hugh Jackman running bare-ass naked across a field and into a barn.

Ahem. Yes. That said, if there are any women out there who still aren't going to let their boyfriends' get their action on with this film, well, you women are a disgrace to your gender. SEXIEST MAN ALIVE, LADIES, COME ON!

Now, on to the real thing.

After having a couple of days to marinate over this movie I must say, I was a bit disappointed. To some extent, the unofficial "summer begins" movie usually has both a lot going for it and a lot riding against it. On the one hand, audiences have had their fill of the award season dramas, which while usually rewarding and excellent films, we end up needing a little popcorn after "The Reader," "The Wrestler," and "Frost/Nixon." Then again, the first summer movie isn't usually the one ALL the hype is about. So, with that I will say that "Wolverine" was a good summer starter flick, but it left me wanting more. And I don't mean a sequel, I mean the plot was thinner than Calista Flockhart.

Let me clarify all of this by saying that I have never read a comic book in my life, yet I LOVE comic book movies. So, though I didn't actually know the story the cuddly Wolverine, I did actually expect to find SOME stuff out about him. Yet even after watching the movie, I have no idea who Logan (or James) is. I kind of get why his so moody, but his real origins still remain a mystery.

We find out that the father he's known all his life is not his real father, and has been killed by his real father's own hand, whom is in turn killed by James/Logan's own hand (or, bones) in a fit of rage BEFORE he learns that his father was not his father and that he just killed his father. Right. All this of course happens in roughly two minutes, and considering it seems a rather significant part of his past, way to gloss over it and rush into the war montage. Sweet. Speaking of the wars, did the army just not notice that they weren't getting older, and somehow never died, even when faced with a firing squad? And what were they going to do with them after they got shot and didn't die? And how did Stryker even FIND them? And so on, and so forth. You see the issue. Even before we get halfway through the movie it is obvious we are going to have more questions, not answers about Wolverine's past.

I did enjoy the new characters that were introduced in this film because in a way, what little of these other mutants/baddasses was touched on was in many ways more interesting than Wolverine himself. Gambit was of particular interest to me as well as Wade/Deadpool. (And yes, hearing that a spin-off is in the works for him is both awesome and sad because what plagues this film will most likely hurt Reynolds' solo outing.) Unfortunately we get precious little on these others play into the puzzle. We know what Stryker's purpose is for them, but we don't know how he came to be of such singular mindset, nor do we know how he found and recruited them, or how he managed to fool them all.

Truthfully though, the fact that the plot makes no sense and characters seem to come in and out of the film for no reason but to service the plot can actually be overlooked in some ways. This is because millions of people didn't watch this movie for a plot. We watched it for coolness and shit blowing up. And we got LOTS of both. Dukes' blowing up a tank with it's own cannon and Wade's computer enhanced samurai-sword bullet deflecting were particularly fun, especially when topped off by Reynolds' classic Van Wilder-like response "Ok...people are dead." The helicopter scene is much more satisfying than in the trailer, as we see all of what came before it. The fights between our two leading animals are also very satisfying, Schreiber's acidic wit and Jackman's unrefined ferocity play well off of each other. Danny Houston and Lynn Collins are utterly wasted due to the lack of material for them to work with. And one has to question what writer David Benioff was thinking after having penned such scripts as "The Kite Runner" and "25th Hour."

All in all, you get what you pay for with this film. A couple of good one liners, solid action, and lots of metal getting melty and twisted. Wolverine is nothing if not fun to watch, albeit mediocre fun.

The Quick Welcome

So, I have decided that if I want to keep my writing present in my mind, I ought to write on a regular basis. Therefore I needed necessary and reliable topics for which to write about. Movies popped into my mind almost immediately, and thus, here we are.

I love movies, all kinds of movies. I am most notably into action films, but I have seen and own many other genres and I know that most reviews are not aimed at your average movie-goer. That said, even if no one reads these posts, I am going to attempt to write reviews for the people I love seeing movies with. The kinds of people who need to bring tissues to a war movie or a sports movie, the people who will shell out $9.00 just to see one scene that made them giddy from a trailer, the people who go to martial arts movies just hoping that someone tries to start something in the parking lot after they've watched it, the girls who love fast cars and explosions and the boys who get excited being able to figure out a thriller. And of course, I have to included the moms who are in love with Johnny Depp and Hugh Jackman at the same time. You know who you are.

So, hopefully without raising the bar too high, whomever does read these blogs will enjoy the musings of a humble movie lover whose most valuable asset when she dies will most likely be her DVD collection.