Directed by: Spike Lee
Starring: Denzel Washington, Clive Owen, Jodie Foster, Christopher Plummer, Willem Dafoe
Running Time: 2h 9min
Any Spike Lee/Denzel Washington collaboration is cause for celebration, as they always seem to bring out the best in each other. This time isn't any different, but what really surprises is how well the rest of the cast carries the film, making Washington almost seem like a bit player. Owen commands the screen as the master criminal matching wits with Washington's hostage negotiator. Foster is suave and smooth in a way Washington normally is, and Plummer has a quiet reserve and vulnerability that has made some of Washingtion's characters truly memorable.
It's great to see Spike removed from the political expectations that so many of his films convey, though this film does tackle a few race issues amongst the intrigue. In fact, Spike's casting prowess allows the film to be populated by a number of ethnic minorities, giving the film some added realism and tension, two elements this film has in spades.
The premise is simple, as Owen and friends enter a bank and proceed to take customers and staff hostage while the police waits outside. Owing a lot to Dog Day Afternoon (which is a good thing--that's one of my all time favourite films), this bank robbery gone bad is gripping and will leave you guessing right until the last frame. Spike crams each frame with intensity and the actors are more than game.
In typical Spike fashion, there are several layers to the film and the characters' motives are equally complex. He knows when to stylize the action and when to leave it raw. He pays just as much attention to dialogue heavy exchanges as he does to gunplay and smoke bombs. The result is a formulaic hostage film played out to perfection, with just enough twist and turns that everything feels fresh, exciting, and intense.
Inside Man is perhaps one of the best rentals of the year, and I eagerly await Spike and Denzel's next collaboration. This one is definitely for film fans and casual movie goers alike. I don't want to say too much in fear of giving anything away, but you won't be able to tear yourself away from this film.
Grade: A
9.03.2006
The Wicker Man
Directed by: Neil LaBute
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Ellen Burstyn, Kate Beahan, Frances Conroy, Molly Parker, Leelee Sobieski
Running Time: 1h 37min
The wonderful thing about Nicolas Cage is that he throws himself into the role, good or bad, 100%. Which is exactly what a movie like this needs of its leading man, who is on screen almost the entire film. Therefore, if you're willing to watch Cage ham it up with reckless abandon in this remake of the 70s cult thriller, then you're in for an enjoyable experience.
Eerie in a way that movies now a day just aren't, The Wicker Man uses the most of all the production devices at its disposal. Sets and surroundings are surreally bizarre; the musical score is creepy and uncomfortable, and the costumes are unsettling and sometimes disturbing. It figures that a stage director like LaBute would find inspiration in all these cinematic devices, as they are equally, if not more important to the stage work world he comes from.
However, without the smoke and mirrors of the production crew, the plot is rather thin and develops at a snail's pace. In true seventies fashion, the film is more character driven and unconcerned about delivering a definitive beginning, middle and end story arc that wraps up nicely. It's more about Cage's character's journey and how he deals with the situations he finds himself in.
As the film progresses, the situations seem more and more bizarre, yet answers fail to come, and as an audience member it can prove to be frustrating. However, Cage's performance and LaBute's direction, propped up by a great supportive cast, compels you to watch it. The island Cage finds himself on, investigating a missing child, is just slightly unlike the rest of the world. The sense is that we're watching an Amish community based on the principles of a beehive. Burstyn's queen bee performance is every bit as powerful as her turn in Requiem for a Dream (why isn't this woman working more often?) and the supporting females are the most unlikely bunch of femme fatales yet every bit as menacing.
The film plods along and requires the audience's trust, as we are often as much in the dark as Cage is. The twist ending is a slight shock, but probably not as much as it was 30 years ago. Yet it was interesting enough to give this film a slight recommendation, though i do realize it isn't for everyone's taste, especially those who like their films quick and tidy.
Grade: B
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Ellen Burstyn, Kate Beahan, Frances Conroy, Molly Parker, Leelee Sobieski
Running Time: 1h 37min
The wonderful thing about Nicolas Cage is that he throws himself into the role, good or bad, 100%. Which is exactly what a movie like this needs of its leading man, who is on screen almost the entire film. Therefore, if you're willing to watch Cage ham it up with reckless abandon in this remake of the 70s cult thriller, then you're in for an enjoyable experience.
Eerie in a way that movies now a day just aren't, The Wicker Man uses the most of all the production devices at its disposal. Sets and surroundings are surreally bizarre; the musical score is creepy and uncomfortable, and the costumes are unsettling and sometimes disturbing. It figures that a stage director like LaBute would find inspiration in all these cinematic devices, as they are equally, if not more important to the stage work world he comes from.
However, without the smoke and mirrors of the production crew, the plot is rather thin and develops at a snail's pace. In true seventies fashion, the film is more character driven and unconcerned about delivering a definitive beginning, middle and end story arc that wraps up nicely. It's more about Cage's character's journey and how he deals with the situations he finds himself in.
As the film progresses, the situations seem more and more bizarre, yet answers fail to come, and as an audience member it can prove to be frustrating. However, Cage's performance and LaBute's direction, propped up by a great supportive cast, compels you to watch it. The island Cage finds himself on, investigating a missing child, is just slightly unlike the rest of the world. The sense is that we're watching an Amish community based on the principles of a beehive. Burstyn's queen bee performance is every bit as powerful as her turn in Requiem for a Dream (why isn't this woman working more often?) and the supporting females are the most unlikely bunch of femme fatales yet every bit as menacing.
The film plods along and requires the audience's trust, as we are often as much in the dark as Cage is. The twist ending is a slight shock, but probably not as much as it was 30 years ago. Yet it was interesting enough to give this film a slight recommendation, though i do realize it isn't for everyone's taste, especially those who like their films quick and tidy.
Grade: B
9.02.2006
Superman Returns
Directed by: Bryan Singer
Starring: Brandon Routh, Kate Bosworth, Kevin Spacey, Parker Posey, Marlon Brando
Running Time: 2h 34min
Superman has always been the most iconic of superheroes; the superhero that all other superheroes must be measured against. So, a film version of the most widely known hero on Earth (or Krypton) should fittingly be the film that all superhero films look to for inspiration. Sadly, this fifth film in the Superman franchise is uninspired.
Granted, i've never been the greatest Superman fan. Comic book fan, yes. Superman fan, no. i just couldn't get my head around why someone as powerful and extraordinary as Superman would be interested in someone so plain and uninteresting as Lois Lane. She's certainly no Mary Jane Watson. i also couldn't stand the way his superpowers increased with every issue, to the point where the need to use one power seemed redundant considering he possessed another power that made the first one pointless. (Much like that last sentence.) Furthermore, given such extraordinary powers, Superman never really seemed in danger, despite the whole Kryptonite thing, which seemed easily overcome by sheer will power, when only moments earlier it was deathly crippling.
So, it was with much trepidation that i viewed Superman Returns, buoyed by the fact that Bryan Singer had jumped ship from X-Men 3 to oversee the Hero of all SuperHeroes. Singer had done such an amazing job with another comic book franchise i didn't really care too much for, so i was anxious to see what he would do with this storied material.
Frankly, i wish he'd stayed on X-Men, and let Brett Ratner (or even the original Warner Bros. choice, Tim Burton) have their shot at Superman, as Singer's heavy hand takes all the fun out of the red and blue underwear sporting Superhero, weighing the film down with too much drama.
Now, don't get me wrong, i'd be the first to tell you that a comic book movie benefits from drama. Spider-Man 2 being the most perfect example of that. However, Superman Returns tries too hard to rachet up the love story between Clark Kent and Lois Lane, but when you have two boring leads like Routh and Bosworth, the audience couldn't care less about will they or won't they. Singer should have taken a lesson from Burton's turns on the Batman franchise, and let the villain take center stage, as Kevin Spacey's Lex Luthor could have been every bit as good as Jack Nicholson's Joker, with more screen time. Only Parker Posey was as delightful to watch on screen.
The action set pieces are well done, but as i stated earlier, there's no real sense of impending failure or doom. They feel drawn out, because Superman's inevitable triumph is a no brainer. Which makes the overlong ending feel like Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King all over again, begging audience members to say, "Let's get this over with!" When the greatest highlights of the film include the 1978 original installment's musical score and Marlon Brando voiceover (cleverly re-used for the film's opening), the question must be asked, should they have even started to make this in the first place?
Grade: C
Starring: Brandon Routh, Kate Bosworth, Kevin Spacey, Parker Posey, Marlon Brando
Running Time: 2h 34min
Superman has always been the most iconic of superheroes; the superhero that all other superheroes must be measured against. So, a film version of the most widely known hero on Earth (or Krypton) should fittingly be the film that all superhero films look to for inspiration. Sadly, this fifth film in the Superman franchise is uninspired.
Granted, i've never been the greatest Superman fan. Comic book fan, yes. Superman fan, no. i just couldn't get my head around why someone as powerful and extraordinary as Superman would be interested in someone so plain and uninteresting as Lois Lane. She's certainly no Mary Jane Watson. i also couldn't stand the way his superpowers increased with every issue, to the point where the need to use one power seemed redundant considering he possessed another power that made the first one pointless. (Much like that last sentence.) Furthermore, given such extraordinary powers, Superman never really seemed in danger, despite the whole Kryptonite thing, which seemed easily overcome by sheer will power, when only moments earlier it was deathly crippling.
So, it was with much trepidation that i viewed Superman Returns, buoyed by the fact that Bryan Singer had jumped ship from X-Men 3 to oversee the Hero of all SuperHeroes. Singer had done such an amazing job with another comic book franchise i didn't really care too much for, so i was anxious to see what he would do with this storied material.
Frankly, i wish he'd stayed on X-Men, and let Brett Ratner (or even the original Warner Bros. choice, Tim Burton) have their shot at Superman, as Singer's heavy hand takes all the fun out of the red and blue underwear sporting Superhero, weighing the film down with too much drama.
Now, don't get me wrong, i'd be the first to tell you that a comic book movie benefits from drama. Spider-Man 2 being the most perfect example of that. However, Superman Returns tries too hard to rachet up the love story between Clark Kent and Lois Lane, but when you have two boring leads like Routh and Bosworth, the audience couldn't care less about will they or won't they. Singer should have taken a lesson from Burton's turns on the Batman franchise, and let the villain take center stage, as Kevin Spacey's Lex Luthor could have been every bit as good as Jack Nicholson's Joker, with more screen time. Only Parker Posey was as delightful to watch on screen.
The action set pieces are well done, but as i stated earlier, there's no real sense of impending failure or doom. They feel drawn out, because Superman's inevitable triumph is a no brainer. Which makes the overlong ending feel like Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King all over again, begging audience members to say, "Let's get this over with!" When the greatest highlights of the film include the 1978 original installment's musical score and Marlon Brando voiceover (cleverly re-used for the film's opening), the question must be asked, should they have even started to make this in the first place?
Grade: C
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)