The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

4.5 Stars

You know, Peter Jackson, god bless him, but he set the bar so impossibly high for epic fantasy film making. Damn your rings and the lords of them. However… directer Andrew Adamson continues to come within striking distance of said bar with his thus-far very impressive and equally epic Chronicles of Narnia series, continuing this past week with part 2, Prince Caspian.

So, the Pevensie children, Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy (William Moseley, Anna Popplewell, Skandar Keynes and Georgie Henley, respectively), when we left them at the end of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, they had vanquished the White Witch, brought peace to Narnia, and grown up to be legendary Kings and Queens. Then they get transported back to the real world, where literally no time has passed, and they are back to being kids. In the second installment, it’s a year later for them, yet 1300 years have passed in Narnia. And they return after Prince Caspian (Ben Barnes) calls for them on Susan’s mystical horn. Caspian is the rightful heir to the throne, but in a move reminiscent of the Bard, his uncle, King Miraz (Sergio Castellitto) made a deadly move for the throne by killing Caspian’s father. Miraz is a tyrant, all the Narnians are now thought to be extinct, yet they’re just living in hiding. So Caspian, along with the Pevensies, must bring peace, order and balance back to Narnia.

As previously stated, the bar for epic fantasy is so, well, epically high, that it seems almost unattainable. And it’s hard to compare The Chronicles of Narnia to Lord of the Rings, because they are so different thematically, in tone, in presentation, in style and in it’s target demographic. The target audience for LotR is people who perpetually live in a fantasy land, while living in their parents’ house, having never had sex, while the target audience for Narnia is children.

But there is still that similar genre, so comparisons must be made. The reason the Narnia films have done, and will continue to do, so well where others like Eragorn and Golden Compass and even Bridge to Terabithia have failed is that it seems to refuse to placate to the childhood nostalgia aspect. The others have played it safe by staying safely within the realm of “kids movie,” never having to invest a lot in grabbing older audiences. But Narnia is going all out in it’s movie making. While it is significantly toned down, when compared to LotR, it doesn’t feel like a “kids movie.” And it is the one series, I feel, that can truly be enjoyed on every level by kids, parents, and even grandparents.

Adamson presents the film, and the story, for that matter, as is. He doesn’t “dumb it down” for the kids, and he doesn’t get too convoluted with the storytelling. He respects the source material, C.S. Lewis, and the audience, and that’s the strongest thing this film has going for it. And despite the PG rating, the battle scenes are really intense. Very well done.

I always take time to discuss the actors, because they need to respect the material just as much as the director or writer does. Adamson gets some absolutely fantastic performances from the young actors, who descend in age at 21, 19, 16 and 12 (Moseley, Popplewell, Keynes and Henley). Their grasp of the characters they play, the importance of the script, their handling of the script, and the subsequent gravitas they bring to the characters shows talent that some actors more than twice their age struggle to exhibit. With the third installment, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader already in pre-production (set for a 2010 release), I’m gonna miss Moseley and Popplewell. Peter and Susan are not in that book (not for long anyway), so they won’t really be in the flick. And they’ll be missed. By me anyway.

Definitely hit the theatres for this one.

Speed Racer

3 Stars

I’ve often pondered if a movie can scrape by on sheer entertainment factor alone. Speed Racer answers yes, but barely.

Based on the 60’s anime series (check out the first season on Hulu), Speed Racer (Emile Hirsch) is the kid brother of racing legend Rex Racer, who walked out on the family business and met an untimely death in a cross country rally race. Ten years later, Speed is the next big thing in racing, and he must now compete to save his family’s independent auto company, and to bring honour back to the sport of racing. In order to do so he must compete in the same race that killed his brother, there-by qualifying for the Grand-Prix. He’s able to do so with the help of his father Pops (John Goodman), girlfriend Trixie (Christina Ricci), mechanics Sparky and Spritle (Kick Gurry and Paulie Litt) and the mysterious Racer X (Matthew Fox).

I defended this flick for a long time because I figured it would come up against the same kind of nay-sayers that 300 hit last year. They just wouldn’t understand the filmmaker’s vision and direction. What Andy and Larry Wachowski were going for is a bizarre amalgamation of live action and anime. And fortunately for the film, they accomplish it. It’s a high energy, very kinetic, very fantastical film. I was dazzled by the sheer ballsiness of it. And it did entertain me for the entirely too long 135 minute run time.

But it came apart in the writing. That’s where it got it’s length. Too often the story plodded along toward the action. That could be the problem with translating anime to a feature film. Anime is known for taking forever to go somewhere (and why it got so popular with the ADD afflicted youth of America, I’ll never understand). And it’s sort of an irony of hypocrisies that the film called Speed Racer moves at a snails pace. But the Wachowski’s never seemed to figure out that this wasn’t a high concept action flick like The Matrix. It was a film based on an anime about a guy who races a really cool car to fight corporate corruption and avenge his brother’s death. Stick to the racing guys.

But the remarkably talented cast did their damnedest to work with the little they were given. Hirsch (Alpha Dog, Into the Wild) has set himself up as one of the most promising young actors in the game, and even with the kitchy dialog and drawn out non-racing scenes, you get this sense that he really is trying to do both his talent and the material justice. If only the Wachowski’s had done the same.

Ricci (Black Snake Moan) is pitch perfect as Trixie. As is Goodman (The Big Lebowski) as Pops. The two seemed to have a deeper understanding of the characters, that went beyond what was handed to them at rehearsals. Granted, Pops and Trixie aren’t the most complex characters in the world, but they certainly are fun, and iconic in their own way. They knew it was important to get the characters right, and they did. Kudos to them.

I would have to say that kids and those with only a passing interest in the original Speed Racer would enjoy this (especially kids), as the more hard core fans will only leave the theatre disappointed and feeling nothing but resentment and disdain for the brothers Wachowski.

– Brodie Mann

Iron Man

5 Stars

The trailer for this film spoke volumes. The film… speaks an entire library. It falls in line with the great superhero films, like Spider-Man 2 and Batman Begins. And in some ways, tops them. Such is Iron Man.

Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.) is a multi-billion dollar industrialist who made his money from weapons development for the military. After experiencing the destructive nature of his arms first hand while a hostage in Afghanistan, Stark feels it necessary to change his life’s goal, much to the chagrin of his business partner, Obadiah Stane (Jeff Bridges). Keeping Stark on track and in line are his assistant/love interest Pepper Pots (Gwyneth Paltrow) and his military liaison/best friend Jim Rhoades (Terrance Howard). In order to combat his former war profiteering ways, Stark develops an advanced suit of armor with the latest in robotics, computers, weaponry and metals, leading him to be affectionately known as the Iron Man.

In recent years, mostly since 2005’s Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Downey has become one of my favourite actors. and the character of Stark/Iron Man is the best for him. Or maybe he’s the best for the character. The thing fascinating thing about Stark is his motives behind being a hero. With Batman it’s revenge, Superman the desire to do good and Spider-man it’s guilt. But with Iron Man, it’s atonement. Stark experiences first hand the wrath of his weapons. And then he realizes that he has to do more than just denounce weapons production. He has to right his wrongs. Only way to do that, is to be Iron Man.

And that’s where Downey takes over. Downey has a knack for playing uniquely troubled characters. Tony Stark is one that he deeply understands, as he himself is a fan of the comic book. Downey figured out the character, and enveloped it. Too many times we had Brandon Routh as Superman or Tom Jane as The Punisher. But with this, it was Robert Downey, Jr. is Iron Man.

But Downey, as talented as he is, did not make this flick on his own. There was the bizarre, inexplicable romantic chemistry between him and Paltrow, as his long suffering assistant Pepper Potts. The two actors have had very different careers, and never in a million years would I have picked those two to portray romantic leads in a film. But for some reason, it worked. The fact that they are so different, and so are the characters, made it work.

Jeff Bridges (The Big Lebowski, Arlington Road) is an actor, who if you were to ask me to define his career, I couldn’t. He’s played a multitude of characters in a myriad of different genres. But his turn as the villainous Obadiah Stane/War Monger is a fantastic look at a villain. He wasn’t the traditional villain. He wasn’t driven by hatred for the hero, or megalomaniacal desires. He’s driven by protecting his own interests in war profiteering. He’s the embodiment of true villainy. He’s looking out for number one, and he’s protecting his greedy interest. He’s got no real regard for anyone else, just himself. He’s the perfect counterpoint to Downey’s Stark.

Director Jon Favreau deserves a lot of the credit for this film. He kept the reigns on the story to keep it from getting too out there, and actually explored the practical science of Iron Man. Sure you have to suspend some disbelief as several pieces of technology don’t exist or completely defy laws of physics. But a lot of it is very interesting. And Favreau, like Downey, knows and understand the material. He was able to respectfully bring Iron Man to the big screen.

I highly recommend this for anyone. It combines what made the dreadful Fantastic Four popular and what made Batman Begins so damn good. It finds the balance with light fun, hard core action and in-depth character study.

Forgetting Sarah Marshall

4.5 Stars

You’d think that in the 3 years since Judd Apatow hit it big with his heartwarmingly raunchy The 40 Year Old Virgin, he’d start to lose some steam. But with the Apatow produced Forgetting Sarah Marshall, he’s proved that he’s got more than enough material to keep going.

Composer Peter Bretter (Jason Segel) gets dumped by his TV star girlfriend of five years, the titular Sarah Marshall (Kristen Bell). In an effort to clear his head and escape the anguish of the break up, and at the suggestion of his well-meaning step-brother Brian (Bill Hader), he takes a week long vacation to a Hawaiian resort. Unfortunately for him, Sarah is vacationing at the same resort with her new fling, pop sensation Aldous Snow (Russell Brand). Luckily for Peter, he’s got sexy hotel clerk Rachel Jensen (Mila Kunis) to take his mind of everything.

Segel’s (Freaks and Geeks, Knocked Up) script is one of damn near perfection. It approaches the level of comedic balance and precision that one rarely sees these days. You are busting a gut, laughing your ass off, but then he comes in with a really poignant scene to center it, then explodes it all over again. All within minutes.

The best scene to exemplify this, is the now infamous Jason Segel nude scene, where you get to see Jason’s Segel. And some credit must go to director Nicholas Stoller (making his feature debut) for this. But normal scene, nothing particular hilarious. Peter gets dumped by Sarah, she’s going through the “I love you, but…” speech. Peter just happens to have just stepped out of the shower, and he’s standing there, naked. It’s not a typically funny scene, but the fact that he’s naked honestly adds a bizarre level to it. It is as I’ve always described Apatow’s films and shows- earnest.

And with the literal balls to stand there, Jason Segel immediately launches himself to comedic lead status. Of course he was in tune with the material he wrote, but that gave him an intuitive look into the character. And he played the jilted lover trying to move on with sheer perfection.

One thing I’ve always admired about Apatow and crew is that they’ve always been able to write fascinating and hilarious roles for women, outside of the tired ditzy, damsel cliche. Both Kunis (That 70’s Show, Get Over It) and Bell (Veronica Mars, Heroes) turn in two of the finest female comedic performances of this era. They fall in line with the working relationship Segal, Jonah Hill and Paul Rudd have developed over the course of their past several films, and steal scenes away from them.

The film would be nothing without that supporting cast, including Hill (Superbad, Strange Wilderness), Rudd (Anchorman, Knocked Up), British comic Aldous Snow, and SNL star Hader. Their parts always move the story along, but never drag it down.

It’s one of the funniest movies in a long time, one that holds up against some of the great classic comedies, and Richard Roeper was right to rank this in his top 50 comedies of all time.

Here’s a trailer for you.

-Brodie Mann

Leatherheads

2.5 stars

George Clooney seems to have this fascination with the Golden Age of Hollywood. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. He’s done some great work that hearkens back to older styles of filmmaking. But, like anyone, he can misstep. And holy crap does he with Leatherheads.

Leatherheads, essentially, is about the start of pro-football. Clooney pulls double duty, both directing and starring as Dodge Connelly, a cocky, yet aging football star of the Duluth Bulldogs in the laughable pro-football league of 1925. In an attempt to continue playing and subsequently legitimize the sport he loves, Connelly scouts the talents of hot shot college star and WWI hero Carter Rutherford (John Krasinski) to bring in fans and, more importantly, money. Lexie Littleton (Renèe Zellweger) is a reporter charged with debunking the myth of Carter Rutherford, but plays romantic interest to both male leads instead. Hijinks ensue!

Yes. Hijinks. Anyway… It’s not a wholly unlikable movie, and with both Zellweger (Chicago, Empire Records) and Clooney’s (Good Night and Good Luck, O Brother Where Art Thou) classic charm, matched with Krasinski’s (The Office– US version) boyish charisma, it’s really hard not to like it.

But, and it’s tough for me, as a huge Clooney fan, to admit this, Clooney got a bit to esoteric. Which I suppose is a fancy way of saying “full of himself.” Not in a bad way, mind you. But he tried to throw too much into the stew and it came out muddy, with a funny after taste.

When it was good, it was really good. Really funny. But there were just as many, if not more, bad scenes that dragged down the entire proceedings. There could have been some big cuts made to the film, and the storyline would have remained intact, and more enjoyable as a whole. Instead you walk away saying “I liked this scene, but not this one. And then this one, but not so much that one.”

Again, no actor was bad. There just wasn’t anything exquisitely good about their performances. Though Krasinski holding his own against the formidable co-star that is George Clooney was impressive. His career seems to be following a similar trajectory as Clooney’s. Breakout star of hit NBC during the Must See TV Thursday night line-up, make a couple of movies, eventually move on from said show. I just hope he doesn’t have a fiasco of Batman and Robin like proportions on the horizon.

So… final verdict, not terrible, just not very good either. You’ll walk away unfulfilled. Definitely worth a rental though!

Peace out!

– Brodie Mann