Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)

Tags

Action, Comedy, Drama, Sci-fi, Superhero, Thriller

Two worlds diverged in a multiverse,
And neither could know a single choice
Had split their fates to so disperse,
One to grieve, the other rejoice,
But which was better, which was worse?

The first was practical and straight,
Made sense for me and claimed its spoils.
My life it did not complicate
But ruined others’ mortal coils,
Which one could easily blame on fate.

The second took a rougher course,
With heartache sighing “them’s the breaks.”
Others prospered, while remorse
Reminded me of those mistakes
That all accept but none endorse.

If I could see the consequence
From some perspective few attain,
The world that thrived at my expense
Is the only choice I’d entertain,
If I could make all the difference.
_________________________________

MPA rating: PG-13

I think it’s safe to say that Spider-Man: No Way Home is the biggest movie since Avengers: Endgame, in both box office totals and audience enthusiasm. After months of speculation and leaks (which I did my best to avoid), the third entry in Tom Holland’s MCU trilogy promised the franchise’s first real exploration of the multiverse and its infinite possibilities, and it thankfully delivered on the Christmas hopes and dreams of countless fans, me included.

Picking up right where Far from Home left off, with Mysterio posthumously revealing Spider-Man’s true identity, Peter Parker’s life is turned upside down with haters, fans, and consequences ruining his and his friends’ chances at a normal future. When he seeks the help of Dr. Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), their attempt to overwrite the collective memory of Spider-Man’s identity instead tears a hole in the multiverse, allowing in familiar characters from past Spider-Man films. It becomes apparent to Peter that the interloping baddies, including Doc Ock (Alfred Molina), Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe), and Electro (Jamie Foxx) among others, are equally in need of saving as the people they threaten, and he must make some hard decisions to help everyone he can.

With the walls of the multiverse being punched through, Spider-Man: No Way Home is also the biggest all-out geek-fest since Endgame while also being similarly engrossing but easier to absorb than the multiversal mashup of Into the Spider-Verse. I’ve read critical complaints over the rowdiness of audience members, but I thoroughly enjoyed my theater experience, with fanboys periodically whooping or cheering when awaited characters appeared or knowing references were dropped. Huge credit is due to the cast members returning from past movies, particularly Molina and Dafoe, who effortlessly channel their villainous personas as if it hasn’t been over fifteen years. And while I won’t outright spoil what is perhaps Hollywood’s best-kept open secret, I’ll just say that the film manages to grant closure to the two prior Spider-Man series in a satisfying way that only made me want even more.

One thing that No Way Home has in common with its Spider-predecessors is how its superhero must grapple with the weight of his own mistakes, and this film easily has the biggest stakes of Holland’s solo tenure in the MCU. Over the years, Spider-Man has had his fair share of tragedy, and I feel like the way he responds to it is a key part of what makes him such a universally appealing character. Here, Holland proves his selflessness in trying to assist villains who seemed beyond help in their prior appearances, his belief in second chances being tested to its limit. And through it all, Holland continues to be a wholly endearing Peter Parker with Zendaya’s MJ and Jacob Batalon’s Ned forming a tight group that I hope to see again in future movies. And anyone who wanted to see a Spider-Man/Dr. Strange fight will undoubtedly be satisfied.

If I had to come up with a negative or two, I suppose my expectations were so high that I perhaps wish there had been even more multiverse-enabled cameos, like a glimpse into the aftermath of the other universes. Plus, as much as the film is concerned with handing out happy endings, it was a shame that one character ended up with the short end of the stick, for now at least. Even so, Spider-Man: No Way Home is a comic book movie nerd’s fantasy-come-true. It clearly depends on knowledge of the previous five Spider-Man films for full appreciation (and the mid-credits scene feels a bit shoehorned in), but No Way Home ranks among the best installments of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, an enjoyable ride twenty years in the making.

Best line: (classic in every way) “With great power, there must also come great responsibility.”

Rank:  List-Worthy (joining the previous Holland Spidey films)

© 2021 S.G. Liput
748 Followers and Counting

Eternals (2021)

Tags

Action, Drama, Sci-fi, Superhero

Did you ever get the feeling
That your world was being watched,
Like immortal super-beings
Had been charged with overseeing
All the quandaries and travesties humanity had botched?

Not to worry, for we humans
Can be lovable at times.
Those alien surveyors
Should see man in all his layers,
And our aptitude for love and hope should balance out our crimes.
Right?
______________________________

MPA rating:  PG-13

It was obvious long before it hit theaters that Eternals was going to be a gamble for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, just like Guardians of the Galaxy was back in 2014. A movie about a whole team of superheroes that only hardcore comic book fans had even heard of? And then they announced that it would be helmed by critical darling Chloe Zhao, the most Oscar-caliber director since Kenneth Branagh introduced Thor a decade ago (and fresh off her Best Director win for Nomadland earlier this year). With ten diverse but unfamiliar heroes to introduce, I knew Eternals would be a tricky balancing act, so I’m not surprised that it has become one of the most divisive Marvel films. I, for one, enjoyed Eternals quite a bit and disagree with most of the mixed reviews, yet I have my own misgivings that few critics seem to share.

Eternals has the unique standalone feel of early Marvel, with relatively little crossover with the MCU and no cameos of established characters, just picking up the idea of enormously powerful Celestials mentioned in passing back in Guardians of the Galaxy. The Eternals were alien immortals created by the Celestial Arishem to defend Earth against the mysterious animal-like Deviants, which the ten supers battle across centuries with their unique powers. The cast is as diverse as they come, from Sersi (the lovely Gemma Chan, recast from her supporting role as a Kree in Captain Marvel), who can transform whatever matter she touches and takes a liking to our planet, to Sprite (Lia McHugh), who can create illusions and has the body of a child. Plus, there are the leader Ajak (Salma Hayek), the Superman stand-in Ikaris (Richard Madden), the comic relief Kingo (Kumail Nanjiani), the bad boy Druig (Barry Keoghan), the tech wizard Phastos (Brian Tyree Henry), the haunted warrior Thena (Angelina Jolie), the muscle Gilgamesh (Don Lee of Train to Busan), and the speedster Makkari (deaf actress Lauren Ridloff), all of whom like to periodically pose in a line. Setting aside subplots like the mysterious illness afflicting Thena, the plot is largely a get-the-band-back-together journey after the Deviants return to threaten the world, eventually veering off into larger implications as their true mission is revealed.

So yeah, there’s a lot going on, with plenty of exposition and flashbacks to help viewers absorb it all. And honestly, I’m surprised at how skillfully the film handles all of it. The characters are many yet manage to carve out memorable moments for them all, aided by their unique powers and the mythical origins of many of their names, which are indicated to have actually inspired those age-old myths. Some like Makkari don’t fare as well in standing out, but McHugh as Sprite earns some real pathos as she struggles with her inability to age. Other characters are distinguished by the moral debates of how best to use their powers; they may have been instructed not to interfere with human affairs, but it’s understandably hard watching human history play out in all its horrors when they know they have the power to change it. It’s a lot to take in across a long runtime, but I disagree with the criticisms over the pacing and character development simply because of how comparatively well it holds up under its own weight, which could easily have made it a mess. It probably would have been better as a Disney+ series, though.

There’s plenty to admire, from Chloe Zhao’s trademark “golden hour” lighting and artful cinematography to the ever-impressive visual effects when the fists start flying. So what then is the problem? It took a while for me to decide what exactly bothered me about the film’s twist and climax, and it boils down to the fact that it shoots for cosmic answers to questions far above its pay grade. Eternals basically addresses the question “What is the meaning of life?” And I did not like its answer.

Spoilers in this paragraph: According to the movie, Arishem actually created the galaxy and thus life on earth, and the way he is revered by the Eternals clearly paints him as a God-like figure. While he sends the Eternals to fight against the Deviants, the reason for defending humanity is not because he values human life for its own sake. Instead, one could point to the famous battery scene in The Matrix, but instead of that being humanity’s futuristic fate, the MCU has now explained that it was always humanity’s purpose, with the earth’s destruction as the end state. Ignoring the fact that the conflict sounds suspiciously like one of the storylines from Steven Universe, this revelation cheapens life more than I think the film intends. As a Christian, I believe that God created man in His image with a love for every individual, a sharp contrast to Arishem’s temporary benevolence. For viewers who don’t believe in a Creator, perhaps Eternals’ twist is simply a typical sci-fi revelation, one that admittedly does make for an interesting ethical debate as the various Eternals question whether to oppose not just a typical supervillain but the creative process itself. For me, though, it imbues the MCU itself with an uncomfortable nihilism, suggesting that all of mankind’s efforts are worthless in the eyes of “god” and making me question by what standard any right or wrong, love or hatred in this universe can be judged, even at Arishem’s level. Questions like this don’t seem to bother mainstream critics, only being broached by Christian film websites, but I do feel like this subversive trend is an unfortunate departure from the MCU up to this point.

The sheer amount of plot and characters is both a blessing and a curse for Eternals. One could argue there’s too much going on for the film to juggle, but that also means the things it does well can overshadow its thematic or pacing flaws, regardless of what one considers a flaw. The characters are as well-developed as they can be with so many on hand, the often serious tone is still livened by some well-timed humor, and the visuals have an epic scale that rivals the biggest Marvel movies. Despite my qualms over the film’s worldview, I can’t help but admire Zhao’s managing of a film that is clearly intended to set up much of the Marvel universe to come. I just hope those future installments can make up for this one’s missteps.

Best line:  (Thena) “We have loved these people since the day we arrived. When you love something, you protect it.”

Rank:  List Runner-Up

© 2021 S.G. Liput
747 Followers and Counting

Dune (2021)

Tags

Action, Drama, Sci-fi

I see the desert’s shifting sands,
Imbued with that most priceless Spice,
A trap that only changes hands
When offered blood as sacrifice.

I see it’s home to Fremen rovers
And to undulating worms,
The former subject to takeovers
While the latter heeds no terms.

I see the cruel Harkonnen despots
Ripping riches from the land,
While the Fremen reap no respites
As they flee across the sand.

I see the eager House Atreides
Coming here to take control.
Though they look like lords and ladies,
Who can guess their final goal?

I see an upstart heir-messiah,
Barely out of boyhood’s thrall,
Soon a scion made pariah,
Desert sands to break his fall.

The desert claims what it consumes
And chooses whom it will anoint.
I see so much (and large it looms)
But cannot see beyond this point.
_______________________

MPA rating:  PG-13

I’ve never read Dune, but my VC has and is an ardent fan of David Lynch’s strange 1984 adaptation, for some reason. While she has yet to see Denis Villeneuve’s new incarnation of George Herbert’s massive sci-fi opus, I was glad for the multiple times she convinced me to see Lynch’s version, since I knew generally what to expect. Herbert’s novel is notoriously dense, with dozens of characters and unfamiliar terms in alien languages, so it was a benefit not going into the movie cold.

Villeneuve has already proven his talent for serious science fiction, from the cerebral but deeply touching Arrival to the lengthy but engrossing Blade Runner 2049, so Dune seemed like a natural next step for the director. The first question: Is it better than the 1984 film? A resounding yes! You can take your pick of what was the main problem with Lynch’s film: the constant internal monologuing, the ultra-compressed plotline, or (what I think) the introduction of so many strange elements of Dune’s world without enough time for them to come off as anything but bizarre. That’s a time issue too, I suppose, but it’s a problem that Villeneuve has countered by splitting his adaptation of the first Dune book into a two-parter, making this year’s installment only Part One.

This protraction of the runtime over two films allows the plot to breathe. That plot is still largely the same – the Atreides house taking control of the desert planet of Arrakis to harvest the hallucinogenic Spice only for things to go very, very poorly – but Villeneuve has carefully chosen what to show and what to leave for later, such as providing glimpses of the home planets of the Atreides and Harkonnen clans while leaving the Emperor and the giant-headed mutant Guild Navigators off-screen and only mentioned. There is also more room for character development, mainly for the young messianic heir Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet), his noble father Duke Leto (Oscar Isaac), and skilled fighter Duncan Idaho (Jason Momoa), the latter a major figure in the books who gets way more screen time here than in Lynch’s film.

Villeneuve’s Dune is rightfully being lauded not just for its improved adaptation and talented all-star cast (including Rebecca Ferguson, Josh Brolin, Stellan Skarsgard, and Javier Bardem) but for just how immersive his on-screen world is. Like Gravity, this is a film that was made to be experienced in a theater, with that blaring Hans Zimmer score accentuating how massive the spaceships and architecture are as Shakespearean backstabbing plays out amidst quasi-religious drug reveries and space colonialism. While Chalamet didn’t impress me that much as Paul, he and the rest of the cast embrace their roles fully to sell how this strange future universe is their own. Likewise, the set design and special effects bring the explosive battles and gargantuan sand worms to startling life, making the film a shoo-in for technical Oscars next year.

But then there’s the second question:  Did I like this new version of Dune? Well, sort of. With Lynch’s film, I could still appreciate the underlying story that Herbert created, and here, there is even more to appreciate to bring that story to the big screen. I’m convinced that Villeneuve’s Dune is the best possible version of this story, but I’m still not sure if it’s a story I can say I enjoy. Even with the extra time to get to know the characters, I still didn’t really connect with any of them, which is perhaps unavoidable considering how far removed they are from the world we know. Plus, as with the Hobbit films and Infinity War, it’s hard to make a final appraisal of Part One when the full story is yet to come, though thankfully Part Two has been confirmed. Several characters just drop away without knowing their fates, while other clearly important characters, like Zendaya’s blue-eyed Chani of the native desert-dwelling Fremen, get little screen time except for slow-motion dreams.

So Dune: Part One is an immense achievement of filmmaking and a worthy adaptation of its famed source that may be more accessible than Lynch’s film but is still bound by the limitations of the same story. Perhaps that’s a matter of personal taste that might be solved by repeat viewings, but I’m still glad the long-awaited epic was worth the wait on a visual level alone.

Best line: (Jamis, in one of Paul’s visions) “The mystery of life isn’t a problem to solve, but a reality to experience. A process that cannot be understood by stopping it. We must move with the flow of the process. We must join it. We must flow with it.”

Rank:  List Runner-Up

© 2021 S.G. Liput
745 Followers and Counting

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021)

Tags

Action, Fantasy, Superhero, Thriller

“The first Asian hero!” the headlines declare,
A landmark of cinema, and you were there.
It’s representation I’m glad to endorse,
And long overdue as a matter of course.
Yet somewhere I feel Wong is crying a river
And can’t help but feel quite a bit like chopped liver.
And Hogun, Thor’s buddy so fleetingly brought in,
Somewhere in Valhalla is feeling forgotten.
And ol’ Jim Morita, a Howling Commando,
Had no superpowers but still made his stand, though.
So yes, it’s important, the first Asian lead,
But let’s not forget someone had to precede.
_______________________

MPA rating:  PG-13

In contrast to 2020, I’ve been lucky enough to see all of Marvel’s releases this year in the theater, but whereas I was alone for Black Widow in an empty theater, I got to see Shang-Chi with friends. It really felt like the movie theater experience was truly back. It also helped that it was a kick-butt blockbuster and one of the best origin movies of the recent MCU.

I consider myself at least somewhat hip to comic book lore, and I had never heard of Shang-Chi before his own solo film was announced. Although the character dates back to the ‘70s when he was introduced as the son of Fu Manchu and modeled off Bruce Lee, the public unfamiliarity with the character allowed Marvel Studios to craft their own synthesis of story elements, from the ten rings of the Mandarin (previously impersonated in Iron Man 3) to a cosmic monster that ranks as one of the more obscure villains in Marvel history. Here, Shang-Chi’s father is Wenwu (Chinese superstar Tony Leung), an ancient warlord granted immortality and great power by ten arm rings, or bracelets if you get right down to it. Trained from childhood to be a master of martial arts, Shang-Chi or “Sean” (Simu Liu) escapes to live a normal life as a valet in San Francisco, only to be dragged back into the world of lethal assassins and mystical secrets, along with his friend Katy (Awkwafina) and sister Xialing (Meng’er Zhang, in her mainstream film debut).

Just as Crazy Rich Asians revitalized the rom com with its all-Asian cast, Shang-Chi succeeds in satisfying Marvel’s efforts at diversity with a superhero film that is good in its own right (and reunites Awkwafina and Michelle Yeoh too; now I wonder if they’ll ever run into Gemma Chan of Eternals). I haven’t seen Simu Liu in the Canadian sitcom Kim’s Convenience, but Marvel once more excels at casting likable heroes, both on- and off-camera. His camaraderie with Katy and his tortured past with his father paint him as a would-be assassin just trying to live a normal life, and Liu’s charisma opposite Awkwafina and Leung really sells the character, even if the other two outshine him at times. Katy becomes one of the most endearing and actively involved Marvel love interests, and Wenwu is the best kind of villain, the type whose motivations are not only misguided but understandable and sympathetic even.

No Marvel movie is perfect, of course, and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is no different. The final battle is both an awesome spectacle and a CGI mish-mash, and one training sequence results in some unrealistically fast skill growth. Perhaps there is an overreliance on flashbacks too. Yet Shang-Chi is also Marvel’s first big-screen foray into stunt-heavy martial arts, which never disappoint, from a thrilling free-for-all on the side of a skyscraper to an artful wuxia-style fight/dance reminiscent of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (hello, Michelle Yeoh again). Shang-Chi may not break any molds and may not be the funniest or most powerful of Marvel properties, but it’s still an outstanding debut for Marvel’s first Asian lead, with just a few welcome cameos to introduce him to the larger MCU. It’s my favorite Marvel release of the year so far, and I look forward to seeing how they’ll use this new corner of Marvel mythos.

Best line: (Shang-Chi’s aunt, played by Yeoh) “You are a product of all who came before you, the legacy of your family. You are your mother. And whether you like it or not, you are also your father.”

Rank: List-Worthy

© 2021 S.G. Liput
745 Followers and Counting

2021 Blindspot Pick #4: Shin Godzilla (2016)

Tags

Action, Drama, Foreign, Sci-fi

I’ve heard the most dangerous creature is man,
And I suppose that must be true.
We love coming up with formidable monsters
That threaten our whole point of view,
And somehow we manage to conquer the foe
And add to the others we slew.
So if such a creature did rampage and roar
We’ll have all this fiction to clue
Our panicking, delicate, desperate species
On what we should probably do.
______________________

MPA rating:  PG-13

Giant monsters and mech suits have long fascinated Japan and many a young boy, but I honestly have never been a big fan of the genre. In the past, I could attribute this to the poor quality of the old Godzilla movies with their laughable acting and near-visible zippers. Yet I also am not much enamored of modern effects extravaganzas like Transformers or the 2014 American version of Godzilla. There’s a fine line between spectacle and noise, and a human element worth caring about is an oft-overlooked necessity. So why did I add 2016’s Shin Godzilla to my Blindspot list? Well, not only did it win Japan’s equivalent of Best Picture but I’ve heard plenty of people sing its praises, calling it a more realistic take on the classic Godzilla story. And while I agree with that to a point, Godzilla is still Godzilla.

Directed by Hideaki Anno of Neon Genesis Evangelion fame, the film doesn’t waste much time before an underwater disturbance strikes Tokyo Bay, sending the Japanese government into a tizzy. One young cabinet member named Rando Yaguchi (Hiroki Hasegawa) is the first to suggest that a giant creature is the cause, and the way he is scoffed at before being proven correct makes it clear who the main character is amid all the cabinet meetings. Indeed, cabinet meetings are a notable fixture of the film as their bureaucratic hesitance contrasts sharply with the rampant destruction of a radioactive lizard. In this way, it certainly is more realistic, suggesting that a disaster of this scale and suddenness will already have wreaked its havoc by the time the government figures out what to do about it. Hope seems lost but for Yaguchi’s bold efforts leading a brain trust to develop an innovative way of stopping the monster once and for all, aided by an attractive envoy from the U.S. (Satomi Ishihara).

Shin Godzilla is effective in its satire of government inefficiencies, though its cabinet meetings grow tedious with repetition, but what of the creature itself? Unlike many Godzilla films where the monster pops out of the ocean fully formed, this version actually goes through several stages of rapid evolution, all of which leave destruction in their wake. I realize it’s unfair to compare Japan’s special effects with Hollywood’s, and the scenes of toppled buildings and flying rubble are top notch, but the Japanese effects do fall short in depicting the creature. Its snake-like first form especially is almost laughable with its googly-eyed stare, and while the later versions are more menacing and massive, I feel like Godzilla’s unblinking eyes still make it feel somewhat fake. That being said, the final battle to take out the giant is appropriately awe-inspiring in its scale, giving the humans a chance at heroism rather than just panicking and reacting.

Shin Godzilla (or Shin Gojira to use the famed monster’s Japanese name) can be translated as “New Godzilla,” and it indeed tries to start from scratch, doing away with any past films or the reinvention of the creature as some kind of protector fighting other monsters, which is the direction Hollywood took with the recent American films. While the film has its merits, I must admit I fail to see why it would warrant major awards attention, outside the technical categories. I suppose Godzilla just looms larger in the Japanese consciousness, especially since the film incorporates scenes that echo real-life Japanese tragedies like the 2011 earthquake and tsunami just as the original Godzilla films derived from concerns over nuclear fallout. Shin Godzilla may not reinvent the giant monster movie, but its satirical take on the genre makes it a worthwhile member that is far better than the days of men in rubber suits.

Best line: (one of the bureau directors) “Man is more frightening than Gojira.”

Rank:  Honorable Mention

© 2021 S.G. Liput
738 Followers and Counting

Black Widow (2021)

Tags

Action, Drama, Sci-fi, Superhero, Thriller

They say the greats will only get
Their due when they are dead,
Like artists buried deep in debt
Whose work is coveted
Once they are underground,
Too late to be renowned.

It’s inadvertent irony
That those who warrant praise
So often do not get to see
Their celebrated phase.
Not everyone’s endeavor
Is better late than never.
__________________________

MPA rating:  PG-13

When I sat down to watch Black Widow in a theater, it felt surreal to realize that I hadn’t seen the Marvel montage and logo in about two years, before a certain virus turned the world upside down. I know we’ve had the privilege of MCU TV shows like WandaVision and Falcon and Winter Soldier, but it was a surprisingly heart-warming feeling to once more see a Marvel film on the big screen, especially one that had been so long-awaited. I still remember seeing the first trailer back in 2019 and having no idea it would take so long to finally be released.

Many have said that Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow (Natasha Romanoff) should have gotten her own movie years ago, and they’re right. We’ve gotten scattered implications about her checkered past, mainly in relation to her bond with Hawkeye, but it was far too long before Marvel seemed confident enough that a female-led origin story was worthwhile. Captain Marvel proved it could be done, but (spoiler alert) it certainly should have happened before Romanoff’s self-sacrificial death in Endgame.  Reflecting that scheduling awkwardness is the film’s timeline, set mainly after the events of Civil War when Black Widow was a fugitive for assisting Captain America’s band of super-rebels.

We first get a glimpse at Natasha’s childhood, when she was one of several Russian agents posing as a suburban American family in the ‘90s. Fast forward then to her post-Civil War hideout where her murderous past catches up to her faster than the American government. Targeted by a masked assassin known as Taskmaster, Romanoff must team up with her “sister” spy Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh), as well as her former fake parents (David Harbour, Rachel Weisz), to bring down the Red Room spy organization that trained them all to be killers.

It’s very easy for Black Widow as a film to be overshadowed by many things:  the pandemic that delayed its release, the expectations for Marvel’s first Phase 4 film, the messy lawsuit that has pitted Johansson against Disney for how they released the film simultaneously on Disney+. All that aside, I quite enjoyed this return to the MCU, putting a spotlight on a character that has largely been part of the supporting cast. Of course, since we know Natasha’s eventual fate, there is also the feeling that this is just as much an origin story for her adopted “family” as for her, and Pugh, Harbour, and Weisz do a great job in their introduction to the Marvel universe, all of them with a more ruthless edge than Natasha. Pugh especially succeeds in mixing self-aware “little sister” charm with hand-to-hand prowess, making her a perfect fit to step into the hole left by Natasha’s death.

Beyond all the expectations and controversies, it does seem like Black Widow is destined to be a middling entry in the MCU, boasting little in the way of gossip-worthy cameos or universe-building. Compared with other entries, it’s relatively down-to-earth with no actual superpowers involved, even though the characters repeatedly manage to survive things that would kill a normal person many times over. Yet I consider the more human-level conflict a good thing, since cosmos-ending cataclysms can easily lose their impact if done too often, and there are still plenty of outstanding fights and action set pieces to give Marvel fans their expected thrills. Black Widow perhaps stumbles a bit in glossing over the moral murkiness of its characters’ decisions, but it is also proof that Marvel has no shortage of entertaining stories to tell.

Best line: (Yelena) “The truth rarely makes sense when you omit key details.”

Rank:  List-Worthy

© 2021 S.G. Liput
737 Followers and Counting

Outbreak (1995)

Tags

Action, Disaster, Drama

(For Day 13 of NaPoWriMo, the prompt was for a poem that was “a news article you wish would come out tomorrow.” I think everyone would like this one to come true.)

This just in: the virus is gone!
The patients who were sick with it recovered right at dawn.
No one’s coughing; no one’s sore.
The doctors have confirmed what we have all been waiting for.

None seem certain how this came about.
Perhaps an undiscovered expiration date ran out.
Prayers are answered; hopes are met.
The boogeyman of 2020’s no longer a threat.

Stores are open; crowds are no concern.
Masks are being set ablaze to herald their return.
All bad things also have an end.
At last, the fire’s smothered; the wound’s begun to mend.
___________________________

MPA rating: R (mainly for language)

This film and 2011’s Contagion were suddenly extremely popular about a year ago, thanks to a certain virus and shutdowns sparking the need to escape into fiction. I don’t exactly understand why you would distract yourself from a pandemic with a movie about a pandemic, but oh well. Seeing Outbreak after over a year of witnessing how our world has responded to a sudden virus originating from an animal was still fascinating, though, and fairly entertaining too, through that ‘90s disaster movie lens.

Colonel Sam Daniels (Dustin Hoffman) is an army virologist who develops a growing unease after visiting a disease site in Zaire where a 100% death rate has wiped out a village. While his superior (Morgan Freeman) assumes that there is no immediate danger, no one realizes that a monkey carrying the virus has been captured and shipped to the U.S., where infections spread like wildfire (since, like in The Stand, people can’t seem to cover their mouths when they cough), and a California town is quarantined by the military. It’s actually quite a scary scenario with a far worse virus than COVID-19 ever was, and, though it doesn’t probe very deeply into the political side of things, it’s almost as scary to see how the government might crack down, perhaps justifiably, where an extreme national hazard is recognized.

Star-studded with the likes of Cuba Gooding, Jr., Donald Sutherland, Kevin Spacey, Rene Russo, and a young Patrick Dempsey, Outbreak starts out compelling in how it traces the spread of the disease while the scientists then do the same in reverse. However, the latter half devolves into action movie theatrics that extend the runtime, pad plot holes, and compress travel and actions that would likely take days into mere hours for the sake of deadline tension. Entertaining and hitting a bit close to home after a pandemic of our own, Outbreak showcases a disaster extreme that I pray never becomes more real.

Best line: (Sam, using panic to his advantage) “We need all the bills of landing from ships arriving from Africa in the last 3 months. George, shall I cough on you?  (George) “NO!”

Rank:  List Runner-Up

© 2021 S.G. Liput
728 Followers and Counting

Sonic the Hedgehog (2020)

Tags

Action, Comedy, Family, Sci-fi

(For Day 9 of NaPoWriMo, the prompt was to write a to-do list for an unusual character, so I wrote one for Sonic himself as he hides away in a small town at the start of this movie.)

Let me review
My daily to-do:
I’ll watch the sun rising at 7:02.
I’ll scarf down some breakfast by 7:03,
Then on to a new day of being 3D.
I’ll challenge myself to ping pong yet again;
I do always win, but I’m bored by point ten.
I’ll watch the town sheriff eat donuts and sit
And wait for a car driving past the limit.
I’ll watch as the Little League team has a game
And hide in the shadows to cheer every name.
I’ll watch the town crazy go still unbelieved
As he tells of the spiky blue beast he’s perceived.
I’ll watch the schoolchildren, the farmers and vets,
All living their lives with no sign of regrets.
I wish I could join them and just coexist.
Perhaps I’ll add that to tomorrow’s new list.
_________________________

MPA rating:  PG

I don’t know that anyone really expected Sonic the Hedgehog to be good. Not only are video game movies rarely successful, but backlash against Sonic’s initial appearance in the first released trailer prompted a swift redesign and a three-month delay, which is rarely a good sign. Those low expectations only make the finished product an even more pleasant surprise. Sonic the Hedgehog is better, funnier, and far more likable than it has any right to be.

I played and enjoyed one Sonic Game Boy game back in my golden tween years, but I’d never say that I was as invested in the Sega franchise as, say, the fans who expressed such strong opinions about that creepy version of the character from the first trailer. Yet this film does a marvelous job at fitting in plentiful fan service that never detracts from telling an entertaining story accessible to non-fans as well. Sonic himself is something of a refugee from another dimension/planet, possessing super speedy power for which he must keep himself secret. Thus, he hides out in a small town in Montana, forming a one-sided relationship with local sheriff Tom Wachowski (James Marsden) and his wife (Tika Sumpter), but the fun-loving hedgehog eventually draws the attention of the government and mad scientist Dr. Robotnik (Jim Carrey) and must rely on Tom for help.

I’ll freely agree that Sonic’s more cartoonish design is far better than the realistic one that fed people’s nightmares, but, as top-notch as the animation is, that still seems secondary to Ben Schwartz’s outstanding vocal performance of the character, which sometimes seems like he’s trying to emulate Robin Williams as the Genie. Likewise, James Marsden’s talent for acting opposite CGI animals has apparently become a calling card of his, and he serves as a straight man to Sonic’s antics as they embark on a road trip to get the alien to safety. And then there’s Jim Carrey, who hams it up as Sonic’s iconic robot-loving nemesis. Honestly, Robotnik is amusing, but anyone else would have been just too campy; Carrey fits the insane character into the over-the-top schtick that made him a star in the ‘90s, and he really is a hoot chewing the scenery, such as during a dance sequence to The Poppy Family’s 1971 song “Where Evil Grows.”

Sonic the Hedgehog doesn’t always seem very original, such as during super-speed sequences directly recalling Quicksilver’s best moments in the X-Men prequels, yet it has an overall likability and a great sense of self-aware humor. Moments that seem hackneyed don’t always play out as expected, and the product placement is so blatant that they actually work it into the film’s jokes. It subverts the expectations for a corporate cash-grab and works just as well as a family-friendly adventure extolling friendship as it does a potential starter for a cinematic universe. Plus, it had the advantage of coming out right before the COVID pandemic hit, making it the sixth highest-grossing film of 2020 and the most successful video game film yet. Based on the numbers alone, I’d say there’s a market for films like this that can please fans and non-fans alike.

Best line: (Sonic, hidden inside a duffel bag) “How much longer? I can’t breathe in here!”
(a bystander) “Do you have your child in that bag?”
(Tom, nonchalantly) “No…. I mean, yes, it’s a child, but it’s not mine.”

Rank:  List Runner-Up

© 2021 S.G. Liput
724 Followers and Counting

Fast and Furious 6 (2013)

Tags

Action, Drama, Thriller

We all need a code,
For our lives, for the road,
When the plans we prepare
Hit a wall and explode.

However we fare,
And whatever we bear,
Our constant is known,
And it always is there.

It may be your own
Or it may be borrowed,
But when we’re alone,
Every man needs a code.
______________________

MPA rating:  PG-13

Finally, a holiday break! And that means I finally have some extra time to allow for blogging outside of work and school. So we once again return to the Fast and Furious franchise, with the sixth entry that, for lack of a snappier alphanumeric title, is simply Fast and Furious 6. Despite everything I’ve heard about Fast Five being the turning point of the franchise from small-timer to blockbuster, this sixth film feels even more like a watershed entry, transitioning from a series I’ve largely tolerated thus far to a movie I thoroughly enjoyed.

Fast Five ended with the “shocking” reveal that Letty (Michelle Rodriguez), Dom’s girlfriend killed offscreen in the fourth film, was still alive, which wasn’t so shocking for me, since I had seen her in the trailers for the last three movies. (One of the perks of waiting to get into a series until late in its popularity.) Now the promise of his lost love, as well as clemency for past crimes, convinces Dom Toretto (Vin Diesel) and his crew to join Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) in stopping a criminal mastermind named Owen Shaw (Luke Evans), who has recruited the amnesiac Letty into his own team of mercenaries.

Beyond the destructive action, Fast Five’s greatest pleasure was how it brought together so many characters from past films, with Fast and Furious 6 doing the same. The whole team is back, from Paul Walker to Tyrese Gibson to Gal Gadot. Well, those two Spanish guys are absent, but who remembers their names anyway? The main difference, and the one that made me enjoy 6 more than 5, is that Dom and his roadworthy companions finally get to be the good guys. They’re not plotting to steal millions or drag racing illegally; they are pitted against a less moral version of themselves, trying to save the world with redemption and a chance at normalcy on the line. While Walker’s Brian O’Conner was a good cop undercover at the beginning, the truth is that Dom and his buddies were little more than small-time crooks with insane automotive skills, who eventually ended up turning Brian into a wanted man as well. They’ve been the protagonists of this series thus far but rarely unqualified heroes, and that’s what this sixth film finally makes them.

The amnesia subplot with Letty may seem like a soap opera cliché to retcon the fourth film, but it’s not unwelcome. In fact, Dom’s attempts at convincing Letty of their former life together add much-needed heart to a story where there’s little interest in developing any of the other already established characters. Luke Evans makes a decent baddie, if only because he and his cronies actually prove to be more than a match for Dom’s team, and the action manages to one-up even the safe scene from Fast Five, particularly an outrageous chase involving a tank. By the time of the final set piece, which includes what has to be the world’s longest runway, I could tell this was my favorite film yet in this crazy car-themed series. It’s also the only action franchise I can imagine featuring the main characters saying a genuine prayer together, which again rings truer now that they’re not closet criminals. It even ends with a cliffhanger that both builds hype for the next installment and clears up a bit of confusion surrounding the series timeline, messily but well enough. For the first time, I’m actually looking forward to the next Fast and Furious film.

Best line: (Owen Shaw) “You know, when I was young, my brother always used to say, “Every man has to have a code.” Mine: Precision. A team is nothing but pieces you switch out until you get the job done. It’s efficient. It works. But you? You’re loyal to a fault. Your code is about family. And that’s great in the holidays, but it makes you predictable. And in our line of work, predictable means vulnerable. And that means I can reach out and break you whenever I want.”   (Dom) “At least when I go, I’ll know what it’s for.”

Rank: List Runner-Up

© 2020 S.G. Liput
706 Followers and Counting

Tenet (2020)

Tags

Action, Drama, Sci-fi

If I were to live my life backwards in time,
Would it be hellish or sublime?
I’d walk and babble in reverse
And watch my history recurse.
To see the end before the start
To know both part and counterpart,
Is it a blessing or a curse,
Upstream against the universe?
Is it a blessing or a curse,
To know both part and counterpart,
To see the end before the start
And watch my history recurse.
I’d walk and babble in reverse.
Would it be hellish or sublime
If I were to live my life backwards in time?
_______________________

MPA rating:  PG-13

Tenet was an interesting theater-going experience, mainly because it looks like it will be the only 2020 film I actually get to see in a theater. (I did see Weathering with You and Ride Your Wave pre-pandemic, but those were both from 2019.) I didn’t realize it at the time, but I learned that the local theater where I watched Tenet planned to shut down the very next day. The theater was completely empty, so it was like a private screening. There were hopes that Tenet might kick off a resurgence of theater-going, which sadly didn’t happen, but it’s the kind of film that could have under different circumstances. Action films get labelled “dumb” more often than not, but Christopher Nolan once more proves that the genre can reward and require intelligence, sometimes more than the audience wants to spare.

Nolan specializes in bending time, expanding it across nested dreamscapes, jumping around between different perspectives of Dunkirk, and now reversing it entirely. John David Washington plays a man with no name, labeled the Protagonist but never actually referenced in the film, a CIA agent who sees a bullet seem to move in reverse during a thrilling extraction at an opera house. After proving his loyalty, he is initiated into the organization called Tenet, which seeks to prevent a coming catastrophe evidenced by the existence of objects moving backwards in time, such as the reversing bullet. From there, it’s a globe-hopping spy caper as the Protagonist makes allies to take down a Russian oligarch named Sator (Kenneth Branagh), who has knowledge of the future.

I loved Inception and still think that it is Nolan’s best film; with his latest film’s incoming hype as a mind-bender, I was hoping for lightning to strike again. While I still enjoyed Tenet, it’s more like thunder. Tenet is a puzzle for puzzle-lovers, thriving on unique backwards action and a purposefully constant pace that encourages viewers to accept what’s going on whether they understand it or not. And that’s where Tenet struggles. No matter how much Nolan or the film’s characters believe that the reversed time concept makes sense, I remain unconvinced. It makes for some utterly cool and compelling visuals, but there’s always a nagging feeling of doubt about how items/characters moving backwards in time actually interact with forward-moving items/characters. In that opening opera house scene, an “inverted” bullet goes from a bullet hole in the wall backwards into someone’s gun, but I’m left with the question of how it got into the wall in the first place. The idea is fascinating in short bursts, but over longer stretches of interaction, a disconnect grows between how inverted characters experience time forward (from their perspective) while the non-inverted characters observe them as “reactions.” If that doesn’t make sense, I don’t blame you. I’m sure someone could try to explain these apparent inconsistencies, and it would make some semblance of sense, but the effort to understand dwarfs what Inception required.

Washington’s Protagonist doesn’t have an abundance of personality, but he has just enough swagger and uber-competence to be an engaging audience surrogate thrust into an even stranger spy life than he led before. The rest of the cast always live up to their talent, from Robert Pattinson’s secretive ally to Branagh’s brutal Russian villain, who might as well be his character from Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit. However, Nolan’s best films also have an underlying heart to complement the mind-twisting, typically in the form of parental love for children, like in The Prestige and Inception. Tenet tries similarly with the excellent Elizabeth Debicki as Branagh’s long-suffering hostage/wife, but, with the plot being the real focus, the attempted emotional beats were overshadowed by the cold big-concept narrative.

Ultimately, Tenet revels in its high-minded theories and spy antics punctuated by sci-fi coolness, but casual viewers shouldn’t expect a straightforward James Bond-style story. I appreciate Inception the more I think about it; with Tenet, I get more confused, though I’m sure it will reward repeat viewings. I admire Tenet in many ways, from the audacity of its concept to the Easter eggs sprinkled throughout (look up the Sator square), but maybe turning your brain off for an action movie isn’t such a bad thing.

Best line: (Andrei Sator) “How would you like to die?”   (The Protagonist) “Old.”   (Sator) “You chose the wrong profession.”

Rank:  List Runner-Up

© 2020 S.G. Liput
705 Followers and Counting