© 2013 Ray Wong
Movies about magicians are difficult to do well (ask Steve Carell). Now You See Me takes a different approach as a suspense/thriller. While it is no The Prestige or even the Illusionist, its entertainment value should keep it in the game for at least a few weeks before the next big thing comes along.
Atlas (Jesse Eisenberg), McKinney (Woody Harrelson), Henley (Isla Fisher) and Jack (Dave Franco) are four small-time magicians who seem to try to say something with their acts. Atlas is by far the most accomplished but he is no superstar, and McKinney is a washed up "mentalist." They are all recruited by a mysterious benefactor who promises them, as a team, a spectacular career.
One year later, that's exactly what happens. Emerging to the Vegas scene as the Four Horsemen and backed by rich businessman Tressler, they magically rob a French bank in front of a grand audience. More interestingly, they give the money to the audience and keep nothing themselves. Their stunt attracts international fame as well as the FBI. Without any proof that they actually robbed the bank, though, FBI agent Dylan Rhodes (Mark Ruffalo) can't do anything except to track them down to their next act, hoping to catch them in the act.
Next, the Four Horsemen stage a phenomenal show in New Orleans that not only redistributes Tressler's wealth to a carefully selected audience, but also manage to disappear without being caught. Who is behind them? What exactly are they trying to do? What is the final act (which will be in Manhattan)? And how can Rhodes stay a few steps ahead of them so he can bring them to justice?
For all its slick production and an impressive ensemble cast, it's ironic that the main cast doesn't really have much to do. Jesse Eisenberg (To Rome with Love) plays a slicker, more cynical version of himself as the controlling Atlas. Woody Harrelson (The Hunger Game) smug McKinney who has a moral conscience. Isla Fisher (The Great Gatsby) is sexy as Henley and James Franco's brother Dave (Warm Bodies) is ernest as the most inexperienced magician of them all, Jack.
While the Four Horsemen are the focus of the story, they seem peripheral when compared to the other key players. Mark Ruffalo (The Avengers) is effectively befuddled and frantic as Rhodes. Melanie Laurent (Beginners) is effervescent and likable as Rhodes' unlikely Interpol partner Alma. Morgan Freeman (Oblivion) gets to shed his regal persona to play Bradley, a smug, arrogant ex-magician who makes a killing by revealing other magicians' tricks. And Michael Caine (The Dark Knight Rises) is in fine form playing a smug, arrogant businessman. Michael Kelly (Man of Steel) and Common (Pawn) join the cast as agents Fuller and Evans respectively.
The screenplay by Ed Solomon (Charlie's Angels), Boaz Yakin (Safe) and Edward Ricourt is definitely slick by design. From the first scene to the last, the plot is fast-paced, clipping along with twists and turns only slowing down occasionally to let us get to know the characters a bit. But not too much. In fact, while the plot is slick and engaging, I can't really say the same about the characters. They all seem stereotypical and cookie-cutter. We don't know much about them, and we end up not caring if we know much about them.
While the plot is plausible given the grand illusion that is in store for us, the motivation is really murky. We understand, at the end, what the real motivation is, but what drive four magicians to commit crimes that could get them imprisoned for a very long time? All for ego? That doesn't make sense and is never completely explained except for some mumble-jumble about The Eye. I guess it's all about the honor and "code" between magicians but I didn't completely buy it.
The production under Louis Leterier's (Crash of the Titans) direction is glossy and slick, if somewhat frantic (please stop the swooping crane shots already -- give me a headache) and out of control at times. Still, for a movie about magic tricks and a recurring theme of "how they did it?" Leterier relies too much on CGI effects, thus the magic tricks appear unauthentic and fake. Of course you can perform any kind of magic tricks if you use CGI, and it's hard for the audience to connect to reality -- how would they actually do it if it was real and not special effects?
Don't get me wrong, Now You See Me is highly engaging and entertaining, and the plot does twist and turn having me wonder where it is going and how it is going to end, and what is the story really about. And the final twist is rather clever -- I didn't see it coming. Still, with all its gloss and fun, it is not something I will remember. Now I've seen it, I doubt I will see it again.
Stars: Jesse Eisenberg, Mark Ruffalo, Woody Harrelson, Isla Fisher, Dave Franco, Melanie Laurent, Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, Michael Kelly, Common
Director: Louis Leterier
Writers: Ed Solomon, Boaz Yakin, Edward Ricourt
Distributor: Summit
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for language, some action and sexual content
Running Time: 115 minutes
Ratings:
Script - 7
Performance - 7
Direction - 7
Cinematography - 8
Music/Sound - 7
Editing - 7
Production - 8
Total - 7.4 out of 10.0
© 2013 Ray Wong
The good thing about Epic is that the animation is quite outstanding -- there are scenes that look so photorealistic that it's definitely a feast to the eyes. The bad thing is everything else. The movie would have scored much lower if not for the technical excellence.
Mary Katherine (Amanda Seyfried), a teenager from the city, plans to stay with her absentee scientist father (Jason Sudeikis) after her mother died. But they have nothing in common, and he is so obsessed with his research of finding the "little people in the forest" that he neglects everything including his own daughter. When MK decides to leave her hopelessly delusional father, she stumbles into the middle of a battle between the little people and the "Boggers" led by Bufo (Pitbull), which results in the death of Queen Tara (Beyonce Knowes). Magically MK is shrunk to the size of the little people.
Upon her death, Queen Tara bestows a flower pod to MK and tells her to protect it and bring it to Nim Galuu (StevenTyler). Aided by the Queen's loyal soldiers, the Leaf Men headed by heroic Ronin (Colin Farrell), MK sets off on her journey. She is also accompanied by a drifter Leaf Man named Nod (Josh Hutcherson), a snail Mub (Aziz Arsari) and a snail Grub (Chris O'Dowd). Meanwhile, Bufo has a plan to abduct MK and take the pod for his own evil plan to once and for all rule the forest.
The voice talents all do serviceable if uninspiring work. Aziz Arsari(Parks and Recreation) and Chris O'Dowd (Sapphires) are rather funny (kind of the studio's answer to Timon and Pumba). Jason Sudeikis (Bridesmaids) is effectively zany as MK's bumbling father. Amanda Seyfried (Les Miserables) is spirited, if a bit bland, as MK, and Josh Hutcherson (The Hiunger Game) is rather miscast as Nod -- the supposedly dashing teenager Leaf Man that captures MK's attention.
Christoph Waltz (Django Unchaimed) is in his element sounding all evil and mean as Bufo. Colin Farrell (Total Recall) is surprisingly strong and sturdy as Ronin, the hero in this story, and Steven Tyler is suitably goofy as the "wacky uncle" Nim Galuu. And Beyonce Knowes (Dreamgirls) is fine as the regal Queen.
The screenplay by William Joyce and a slew of other writers, based on Joyce's own book, is a hodgepodge of familiar material. The good vs. evil story leaves no room for mistakes or surprise. Everything in the story is so black and white, good vs. evil that it feels very predictable and simplistic. Good vs. Evil stories are fine, if done well (see Harry Potter). Here, everything seems so generic and boring. Oh the good people are all cuddly and cute and fun, and the bad guys are ugly and mean and evil. There are no depth in any of these characters. And what kind of message does this send to children? That only the good bugs and good animals deserve to be in the forest? And good is only determined by how they look?
By far the funniest moment is when MK is met with a mouse. For a short few minutes, the story breaks its stereotypical mode and portray a cute, cuddly creature as its true predator self. However, such inspired moments are only short-lived. The rest is more pageantry of the familiar and a parade of the necessary evil (sure, we all know spiders, snakes, bats, etc. must all be evil, right?) Even for a family film, the super simplistic morals and stereotypes are more damaging than helpful in teaching kids about the environment.
Even as a fantasy, there are too many plot holes to ignore. The pacing is often wrong, inducing yawns from adults and friskiness of younger children. There are too many moments that simply do not move. For a beautifully rendered animation, the movie feels unusually stale. Even the battle scenes feel recycled and lame. There is nothing epic about this.
Stars: Colin Farrell, Amanda Seyfried, Christoph Waltz, Steven Tyler, Josh Hutcherson, Beyonce Knowes, Aziz Arsari, Pitbull, Jason Sudeikis, Chris O'Dowd
Director: Chris Wedge
Writers: James V. Hart, William Joyce, Daniel Shere, Tom J. Astle, Mat Ember (based on book by William Joyce)
Distributor: 20th Century Fox
MPAA Rating: PG for mild action, some scary images and brief crude language
Running Time: 102 minutes
Ratings:
Script - 6
Performance - 7
Direction - 8
Animation - 8
Music/Sound - 7
Editing - 7
Production - 8
Total - 6.8 out of 10.0
© 2013 Ray Wong
Since J. J. Abrams rebooted the waning Star Trek franchise and literally altered its universe, our universe has been waiting for his follow-up. Into Darkness is much darker episode that taps into much of today's fears: terrorism, military abuse, genocide, etc.
After a successful but "unauthorized" mission, James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) is demoted by Star Fleet. Worse, it creates a rift between the hot-headed, go-by-the-gut Kirk and the logical-to-a-fault Mr. Spock (Zachary Quinto). After a deadly domestic terrorist attack in London and another attack at the Star Fleet headquarters in San Francisco, Kirk is reinstated as Captain to lead the Enterprise on a secret mission to hunt down the mastermind behind the attacks: John Harrison (Benedict Cumberbatch).
The mission takes them to an abandoned Klingon outposts where Harrison is hiding. Their mission is to destroy Harrison with the torpedoes outfitted on the Enterprise. But Kirk changes his mind and decides to do the right and logical thing -- as Spock would have it -- by trying to capture Harrison and bring him back to Earth for justice without starting a full-on war with the Klingons.
This change of plans angers Admiral Marcus (Peter Weller), who follows the Enterprise into the Klingon territory. Marcus's motivation becomes highly suspect when Kirk and the crew discover the true identity of Harrison. As Marucs vows to destroy Harrison and everyone onboard of the Enterprise, Kirk, Spock and their team must outsmart the Admiral in order to survive.
Chris Pine (People Like Us) continues to mature as a rising star, and he has definitely made the iconic role his own, displaying his own brand of earnestness and charisma while channeling Shatner's swagger and cockiness. He and Zachary Quinto (Margin Call) make a great team together, successfully recreating the dynamics and bond between Shatner and Nimoy in the original. Quinto's Spock also has a sensitive side that sets him apart -- he can be at once infuriatingly logic and unemotional, and then becomes a full-functional human being (well, half-human anyway).
Zoe Saldana (The Words) has some key scenes as Uhura, and her romantic dynamics with Quinto (one of the true "What the heck?" moments in the first Star Trek reboot). Karl Urban (Dredd) reprises his role as the cantankerous but loyal "Bones" McCoy. Simon Pegg (Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol) is again hilarious as Scotty, and John Cho (Identity Theft) is resourceful and stoic as Sulu. Anton Yelchin (Fright Night) daftly plays the young Chekov, and Bruce Greenwood (Flight) is solid as Admiral Pike.
Three new actors join the impressive cast. Benedict Cumberbatch, best-known as Sherlock Holmes, plays the mysterious villain Harrison with gusto, cool, and a deadly stare. Cumberbatch successfully makes us fear, loath and also admire and even root for the character, despite all the bad things he's doing. Peter Weller (Dragon Eyes) is superbly smarmy as Admiral Marcus -- it's really good to see him in another sci-fi blockbuster again. And Alice Eve (Men in Black 3) is beautiful and sexy as usual, good enough to be Kirk's would-be love interest (those who are familiar with the original Star Trek would know what I am talking about), but also convincing as a brainy science officer.
The story and screenplay by Robert Orci (Star Trek) and Alex Kurtzman (Star Trek) weave a nice yarn of intrigue, excitement and superb conflicts while still maintain the tongue-in-cheek humor and character dynamics that made the original Star Trek such a classic. They also pay tribute to the original -- even the casual fan would notice the references. The story itself pays homage to one of the best movies in the original Star Trek series. I wouldn't tell you which one for it would spoil one of the big reveals in this one, but you don't really need to try too hard to guess it. There are certainly enough parallels to the original to walk a fine line between homage and borrowing, and I think the writers did a great job. There are enough deviation in this version that makes you truly understand this is a true alternate reality. That realization is made even more apparent with the brief cameo of Nimoy as Spock Prime.
J. J. Abrams could do no wrong with this series -- and yes, he has toned down his infamous lens flares (there are still plenty to go around, but not as annoyingly distracting). The pacing is superb, the plot twists are well placed, and the character interactions, especially between Kirk and Spock, are wonderfully rendered. The set pieces are fantastic, the special effects excellent and, despite some logistic flaws, the story is strong. If there is one problem, I would be that the superb cast is rather underutilized. The cast had so much more to do and to show off their different personalities in the first movie. Here, they are truly a team and thus, they all kind of blend into one, leaving room for Spock and Kirk to play out their major bromance. That is fine for the story, as the focus is on Kirk and Spock, but I can't help but feel a bit cheated because I like this cast so much.
Still, Into Darkness is a wonderful addition to the series and a worthy second installment. It is pretty awesome. I can't wait to see what J. J. Abrams and his team will bring us next.
Stars: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban, Simon Pegg, John Cho, Benedict Cumberbatch, Anton Yelchin, Bruce Greenwood, Peter Weller, Alice Eve
Director: J. J. Abrams
Writers: Robert Orci, Alex Kurtzman
Distributor: Paramount
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi action and violence, brief strong language
Running Time: 132 minutes
Ratings:
Script - 7
Performance - 8
Direction - 8
Cinematography - 9
Music/Sound - 8
Editing - 8
Production - 9
Total - 8.0 out of 10.0
© 2013 Ray Wong
F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic novel The Great Gatsby has been made into TV and movies many times. So why does director Baz Lurman wants to make another one? Well, Lurman had a vision of modernizing it like he once did with Romeo & Juliet (or Moulin Rouge, which was based on the opera La Boheme). The result is a visually stunning, if only emotionally handicapped and stylistic jumbled, piece of art.
Nick Carraway (Tobey Maguire) is a struggling writer who goes into the bond business just to makes ends meet. He rents a small cottage on Long Island that is wedged between some grand mansions of "new money." Across the bay is a posh neighborhood of "old money," including Nick's cousin Daisy (Carey Mulligan) who married drug store tycoon Tom Buchanan (Joel Edgerton).
Nick's neighbor is a mysterious rich man maned Jay Gatsby (Leonardo DiCaprio), who throws a lavish party every week. While there are many stories about Gatsby, no one really knows him; not many have actually met him. That changes when Nick gets an invitation personally from Gatsby to attend one of his parties. The two soon become good friend.
As Nick gets to know his rich neighbor, he realizes that Gatsby seems to be hiding something -- his outer shell and lavish lifestyle are just a facade. Soon Nick understands why Gatsby is so eager to make friends of him. It turns out that Gatsby knows Daisy from five years before. And through Nick, Gatsby wants to reconnect with Daisy, who is deeply unhappy with her philandering husband.
Leonardo DiCaprio (Django Unchained) is in great form here, all dashing and charming and youthful as the Jay Gatsby. Don't get me wrong, DiCaprio's Gatsby is very different from Robert Redford's, and sometimes I do feel that DiCaprio is too youthful and slight to play the iconic role. As the iconic narrator Nick Carraway, Tobey Maguire (Brothers) fits the bill rather nicely as the cockeyed, naive, quiet observer who is swept into Gatsby's world of mystery, deceit and amazement.
Carey Mulligan (Shame) surprisingly is the weakest link here, despite her good track record. Her Daisy is lovely and beautiful, of course, but I can't help but feel somewhat disappointed by her passive portrayal that feels rather flat. Her chemistry with DiCaprio also seems off -- one only yearns for the same chemistry between Jack and Rose in Titanic. But alas, no such luck here.
The supporting cast is dutiful, however. Joel Edgerton (Zero Dark Thirty) makes a good Tom Buchanan, what with his handsomeness that is part smarmy and part pitiable. Isla Fisher (Confession of a Shopaholic) is suitably seductive and vulnerable as Buchanan's mistress, and Elizabeth Debicki (A Few Best Men) is memorable as Daisy's best friend Jordan.
The screenplay by Lurman (Australia) and Craig Pearce (Charlie St. Cloud) does follow Fitzgerald's novel, while the writers attempt to upgrade and modernize the story to make it less about the time period and more about the universal themes. The result is a hodgepodge of ideas and patchwork of execution that takes until the second act to jell. Lurman also depends heavily on narration; this may have worked for the book, but in cinematic form it feels clunky and surprisingly impersonal. It takes the audience out of the story and remind us that we're "reading" what Nick Carraway has to say. Besides, Nick himself is an unreliable narrator, given his own affinity toward Gatsby. Again, that works well in literary form, but in a movie, it is much less effective.
Not to mention the character of Daisy is underwritten here. Granted, this is really Jay Gatsby's story, but Daisy is such an important figure that I just don't feel any emotional attachment to her. Right off the start she seems like a shallow, materialistic woman whose affection for Gatsby seems misguided or disingenuous. Perhaps it's also a flaw in the book, but Daisy simply isn't a very likable character -- again, that may have worked better in the novel as Gatsby is the hero, but in the movie where Daisy is one part of a trio, she falls short as a character.
Visually, the movie is stunning to watch. Lurman pulls out all the stops to make this modernized version a visual feast. While not quite as arresting as, say, Moulin Rouge (the CGI effects are rather distracting), one can't argue that this a Lurman in his top form as a visual stylist. And I think that's my problem. The movie feels off at the beginning, trying to be too many things to too many people. It's not until way in the middle does it find its footing. By then I feel like I've been watching two different movies -- one that is chaotic and ADHD (much like Moulin Rouge to be honest) with pop music that stands out like a sore thumb against the 1920s backdrop; and one that is grand and fluid and epic (much like Australia) that is at times superbly lyrical and tragic.
That's a shame. Lurman is a great talent and has a great cinematic eye. He needs to stop directing his own writing or write to direct. Lurman has never be a strong writer, and he should just focus on the direction and leave the writing job to a great screenwriter who can put all those unique ideas together. As is, The Great Gatsby is sorely disappointing despite a lot of potential, a great cast and a great production. It just isn't great.
Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire, Carey Mulligan, Joel Edgerton, Isla Fisher, Elizabeth Debicki
Director: Baz Lurman
Writers: Baz Lurman, Craig Pearce (based on novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald)
Distributor: Warner Bros.
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for violence, sexual content, smoking, partying and language
Running Time: 142 minutes
Ratings:
Script - 7
Performance - 8
Direction - 7
Cinematography - 9
Music/Sound - 7
Editing - 8
Production - 9
Total - 7.4 out of 10.0
© 2013 Ray Wong
Usually when a franchise gets to the third installment, it either shows signs of fatigue (think The Terminator) or sparks of reinvention (think Star Trek). The first film of the Iron Man series was so good and the second so unexceptional that Iron Man 3 could go either way.
After saving the world from alien invasion (in The Avengers), Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) is suffering from a serious case of insomnia. While he can't sleep, he tinkers with his inventions, which have also become part of the military lineup called the "Iron Patriots" -- much of his chagrin but Col. Rhodes' (Don Cheadle) amusement. What keeps Stark awake at night is his imminent sense of dread, that something bad is going to happen to the love of his life Ms. Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow).
That imminent dread appears in the form of a terrorist leader named The Mandarin (Ben Kingsley), who wracks havoc in the world with his random bombings and assassination of powerful men, including an attempt to kidnap the President of the Unite States. At one of the bombings, Stark's trusted friend Happy (Jon Favreau) is seriously hurt. Seething with anger and frustration, Stark wages a personal war with The Mandarin.
Big mistake. The Mandarin attacks Stark and Potts at their Malibu home. Believed to have died, Stark goes on a detour to try to figure out how to defeat the Mandarin. His investigation leads him to Tennessee, and the trail of information leads him to an old flame Maya (Rebecca Hall) and her boss Aldrich Killian (Guy Pearce), who may be working with the Mandarin in developing some kind of secret biochemical weapons.
Robert Downey Jr. (The Avengers) reprises his role of Tony Stark with more maturity and thoughtfulness this time. The whole idea is that Stark is not the same person as he was when the series began. RDJ embodies that change rather nicely while still displaying his trademarked cockiness and arrogance. Still, RDJ has been playing similar characters since he resurrected his career with Iron Man (in some ways, Sherlock Holmes is just another version Tony Stark); I'd like to see him tackle something completely different because he is a very good actor.
Gwyneth Paltrow (The Avengers) has always been the lovely flower in this franchise, but here she has a bit more to do, to show off some of her fighting skills. Still, this is Tony Stark's show, and Paltrow would just have to be happy in the role of the love interest and damsel in distress much of the time. Don Cheadle (Flight) also reprises his role as Col. Rhodes. He and RDJ play off each other beautifully. One only wishes that Cheadle has more screen time instead of being a big sidekick.
Guy Pearce (Prometheus) plays an interesting villain who has a sympathetic past. Pearce does it with a lot of charm and flair, but his character is sorely underwritten that I just can't relate to him. "Obsession" and "ambition" are great, but simply not enough to be character motivation. Rebecca Hall (The Town) enjoys her role in one of her biggest movies yet, but her character is also significantly underwritten to make any true impact. The true surprise here is Ben Kingsley (Hugo) -- his performance during one of the movie's funniest twists is well worth the price of admission.
Supporting cast also includes Jon Favreau (Identity Theft) as Happy -- it must have been a relief for Favreau not to direct IM3, as he seems to have a lot more fun, here -- and James Badge Dale, best known as a cancer patient in Flight, who follows up as The Mandarin's menacing minion, Savin.
Written by director Shane Black (Kiss Kiss Bang Bang) with Drew Pearce (Pacific Rim), the script is a huge mess of too many plot threads and characters, and non-sensible motivations and consequences. I'm not a stupid person, and I have watched a lot of movies (including the first two Iron Man films), but I can't for the life of me figure out what is going on. The plot threads move in different directions but they never really come together in cohesion. It is fragmented. The plot and character misdirection also feels pompous and self-indulgent: "Hey look how clever we are." The threats are never urgent or real, and Stark's internal struggle is only touched on without a lot of depth.
This is by far the most cartoonish, comic book-like production of the series. Given that this is, in fact, a Marvel comic, I can understand the direction the writers and producers want to go, and I appreciate that. But the execution is something else. It is a big hot mess. I'm surprised because I thoroughly enjoyed Black's Kiss Kiss Bang Bang which had a great mix of humor, action, plot and character development. So far, the only thing I really like about Iron Man 3 is the humor. That, they did it right. Unfortunately, under Black's direction, the action is chaotic and murky, with too many close-ups and messy choreography. For a while I thought I was watching Transformers 4, and that is not a compliment by any stretch.
Stars: Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Guy Pearce, Rebecca Hall, Jon Favreau, Ben Kingsley, James Badge Dale, Stephanie Szostak
Director: Shane Black
Writers: Drew Pearce, Shane Black
Distributor: Walt Disney
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for intense sci-fi action and violence, brief suggestive content
Running Time: 130 minutes
Ratings:
Script - 6
Performance - 7
Direction - 7
Cinematography - 9
Music/Sound - 7
Editing - 7
Production - 9
Total - 7.1 out of 10.0
