I never thought I would say this but I am tired of comic book inspired movies. As an avid comic book reader I should love Hollywood’s desire to adapt everything under the sun to the big screen, but I just cannot sit through the junk anymore. The Walking Dead series has shown that graphic novels are better suited for television format than they are for feature films. A television series allows time to properly develop plot and characters; both of which are often lacking in film adaptations. This is most evident when watching films such as Red.
Frank Moses (Bruce Willis) is a retired C.I.A. operative who spends most of his days on the phone chatting up Sarah (Mary-Louise Parker), a customer service representative. Without warning Frank is targeted for extermination by the same agency he once served. In order to figure out who is behind all of this, Frank enlists the help of his former team (Helen Mirren, Morgan Freeman, and John Malkovich). Although removed from the front lines for several years, Frank and his pals are about to teach the new breed of C.I.A., including William Cooper (Karl Urban), that whole habits die hard.
Red is one of those action comedies that exist on the sole premise that it is funny to watch old people shooting big guns. Unfortunately, the one-note joke becomes old rather fast. Once you get pass this point there is not much that the film actually offers. It is merely a string of action set pieces held together by the odd one-liners here and there.
While it is fun at times to see the likes of Mirren and Malkovich channelling their inner action hero, there is nothing that really bonds you to the characters. Everyone is fairly one dimensional, more than you would have expected from this type of film. Malkovich is the weird paranoid one, Willis is the love struck action hero, Mirren is the cool and deadly killer, etc. Half the time you end up questioning why Willis even needed to pull the whole team together in the first place? Morgan Freeman’s Joe is the most useless character in the whole bunch. His only real purpose is to show that legends should not rot away in a retirement home.
Even when Red tries to provide some depth, via the loved story between Frank and Sarah, the film falls flat. It is very telling when the brief love arc between Helen Mirren’s Victoria and Brian Cox’s Ivan is far more interesting than one of Frank and Sarah relationships around which the film centres. The subplots do not fair any better. The information regarding William Cooper’s family life is not enough to explain his actions in the latter half of the film. Also the whole storyline between the characters portrayed by Richard Dreyfuss and Julian McMahon is never properly developed and feels tacked on in the end.
Red is a film that entertains in short spurts but ultimately does not offer anything that will not be forgotten once you leave theatres.
A simple, and effective, trailer for a movie that focuses on the rise of social networking sites like Facebook. David Fincher is directing this one so it will be much more than a mere "tv movie of the week" type of film.
The Green Hornet
Okay, I rolled my eyes a bit when I saw that this movie was going to be in 3D. Regardless, I really like the casting here. Tom Wilkinson and Christoph Waltz are strong actors; and Jay Chou seems like a good choice for Kato. Plus it looks like the film captures the fun spirit of the old show. The only thing that worries me is that The Green Hornet comes out in January (i.e. studio dumping month).
There was a moment in the middle of Iron Man 2 where I thought to myself “man, this feels like an origins film and not a sequel.” Instead of taking me on a new journey with the characters I loved in the first film. This particular film felt like it was trying to give me a Coles Notes version in preparation for a course I never signed up for. In short, Iron Man 2 tries hard to recapture the magic of the first film while also trying to promote the upcoming The Avengers movie. Unfortunately is falters on both fronts.
Tony Stark has just told the world that he is the superhero Iron Man and his life is about to get more complicated. A local senator, Stern (Garry Shandling), and a corporate rival, Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell), are pressuring Stark to share his technology with the government. S.H.I.E.L.D. agents Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson) are keeping tabs on Tony for their Avengers initiative. Stark is also struggling to keep his health issues hidden from his closest friends, Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) and James Rhodes (Don Cheadle). If all this was not stressful enough, a Russian by the name of Ivan Venko has made it his personal mission to destroy both Tony Stark and his legacy.
Now I understand that The Avengers film is a very ambitious project that has the potential to be a huge windfall for both Marvel and the film industry in general. Yet at some point the line needs to be drawn between marketing and product. Half of Iron Man 2 feels like one big advertisement for a movie that will not be out until 2012! If you take away the S.H.I.E.L.D. stuff (e.g. Nick Fury, Black Widow, Stark Sr., etc.), there is nothing really left in way of story. Either call the film an Avenger’s prequel or stick to including teasers for The Avengers at the end of the closing credits. The teasers shown at the end of the original Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, and even Iron Man 2, have all done a great job of building up anticipation for The Avengers film
Iron Man 2 would have been better served without The Avengers tie-in, and with more focus on developing interesting characters like Ivan Venko (aka. Whiplash). Yes, though the themes are similar, the character of Whiplash is different in the film than he is in the comics; but that did not bother me on bit. I thought casting Mickey Rouke as Venko was a brilliant move. It is shame that director Jon Favreau did not but more faith in Rouke’s abilities. Instead of fleshing out the character of Ivan Venko more, Favreau opts to give more screen time to the annoying one-note character, Justin Hammer. Venko is treated like a meathead henchman for the majority of the film. He barely gets any significant lines of dialogue. Yet it is obvious, to us and to Tony, that Venko and Stark are more intellectual equals than Stark and Hammer are.
While Whiplash may work as a secondhand character in the comics, it does not translate the same in a two hour movie. Hammer is not as interesting on the big screen as he is in the comics. Frankly I found that Rockwell went from amusing to downright annoying by the end of the film. The Whiplash/armored wars storyline is being sold as the main event yet it did not even feel like the mid-level card. Not only is Whiplash second to Justin Hammer’s arc, but he also falls behind Stark’s health issues, the avengers stuff, and the ridiculous War Machine arc.
As mindless summer movies go, Iron Man 2 is not the worst thing to hit theatres. If anything it is just really disappointing after the success of the original picture. Robert Downey Jr. is the main reason that the film is even watchable. Similar to the first film, Downey Jr. brings a nice balance of swagger and humanity to the role of Tony Stark. His interactions with Rouke, including the fight scene towards the end, are easily the best moments in the entire picture. I can only hope that the upcoming Thor and Captain America movies are more than just one long The Avenger trailer.
About a week ago there was a story of a robbery that briefly dominated the various media outlets. A 79 year-old man was mugged by two young thugs on the local subway while the majority of the other passengers watched. Although one individual did bring the mugging to the attention of transit officials, much of the talk in the media focused on why no one else tried to help the man, or even call the cops. Depending on which side you listen to, either you believe there was nothing the passengers could do as it all happened so fast; or you believe that that the passengers only cared about their own safety. So the question then becomes: what would you do in that situation?
This is the exact question that Dave Lizewski (Aaron Johnson) poses to the audience in the film Kick-Ass, though, cynically, he already knows what the answer will be. Dave, an avid comic book reader, questions why no one has ever attempted to be a real-life superhero. Dave knows that being a hero is not about having special abilities but rather the determination to want to help others. After being mugged on the way home Lizewski decides to create an alter-ego named Kick-Ass; and takes to the streets with his own brand of justice. Kick-Ass soon realizes that being a real-life superhero is far more dangerous than he ever imagined. Kick-Ass’ lack of experience shows when he comes across the efficient father and daughter superhero team of Big Daddy (Nicolas Cage) and Hit Girl (Chole Moretz). As Kick-Ass gains more publicity another hero, the mysterious Red Mist (Christopher Mintz-Plasse), emerges into Kick-Ass’ life. Is the Red Mist friend or foe? Also what ties does Red Mist have to a local gangster, Frank D’Amico (Mark Strong)?
Based on the comic by Mark Millar, Kick-Ass is one of those films that I have hard time recommending to anyone outside of comic book lovers, hardcore cinephiles, or those with a high tolerance for onscreen violence. Even then I am pretty sure there will be people in those groups who will hate this film. Besides being excessively violent, the overall execution is uneven on every level. Similar to Millar’s last film adaptation, Wanted, the characters in Kick-Ass never plays by the rules that the picture establishes. For example, we are told Kick-Ass cannot feel physical pain, yet this only seems to apply in certain situations. He can withstand a vicious beating from a D’Amico’s men but gets easily knocked out by the wimpy Red Mist.
A lot of the inconsistencies in the film are a result of the sloppy script. Characters are constantly flipping personalities based on the given situation. On minute Katie (Lyndsy Fonseca) would do anything to break off her friendship/relationship with a drug dealer, yet later she is crying because she never wanted that same drug dealer to get hurt. It is maddening moments like this that will make you question why you are even bothering to watch the film but stick with it. Despite its many flaws, Kick-Ass turns out to be a fun, albeit twisted, hodgepodge of a film.
The key to enjoying Kick-Ass is to look at it as outlandish pop culture fare. The film tries hard to break every taboo in the book but it never has the impact of say A Clockwork Orange. Partly because director Matthew Vaughn has so much fun running around with his middle fingers up in the air that he forgets what caused him to do so in the first place. Kick-Ass will not stand the test of time like other comic book flicks, but it does have enough moments to raise it far above the ranks of Tank Girl and Daredevil. The best moments come from the most controversial characters in the whole picture, Big Daddy and Hit Girl.
It becomes evident early on that the most interesting aspect of the plot is not Dave’s/Kick-Ass’ plight to be a hero; but rather the father/daughter duo looking for revenge. To be honest, the film probably would have been better without Kick-Ass or Red Mist at all. As they merely serve as buffers for the darker, and more disturbing, content in the film. Both Cage and Moretz are exceptionally good in this film. Nicolas Cage gives a hilarious Adam West’s 1960’s style performance as Big Daddy. In the scenes with Moretz he tows the fine line between loving father and raging sociopath. Chloe Moretz brings the perfect mix of sweet and vinegar needed for a character as complex as Hit Girl. Now it is hard to fully praise a story arc that has a forty year-old man mercilessly beating up an eleven year-old girl, yet without Big Daddy and Hit Girl the film falls on its face.
As I mentioned earlier, the film is very flawed but I still found myself enjoying the film more than I anticipated. Unlike Wanted, Kick-Ass actually made me interested in picking up the comics just to see the similarities and differences with the source material. Again, Kick-Ass is not a film that I would recommend to the masses but for those willing to take a fun, and very twisted ride, for a few hours then you may want to give the film a shot.
How have you been? I see you just signed Chris Evans to be the new Captain America. As an avid Cap reader I am still not quite sure how I feel about the choice. I know you are thinking about the long-term Avengers franchise but I always pictured Captain America being played by someone closer to Robert Downey Jr.'s age. I just can see the Human Torch...err...Chris Evans giving orders to a much older Iron Man. Oh well, I am getting off topic...the reason I am writing you is because I would like to pitch a movie idea to you. I think it is time you seriously think about making an Immortal Iron Fist movie. Now I understand that Iron Fist is a fringe character; but so was Blade and look how successful that franchise was for you. Plus Iron Fist would be a far more interesting character than the Ant-Man movie you are currently making.
The idea for an Iron Fist movie came to me when I was watching John McTeigue's film Ninja Assassin. I will not bore you with all the plot details as the title pretty much tells you all you need to know. Raizo (Rain) is trained to be a ninja assassin from a very young age. After the girl he loves is killed by the Ozunu clan, the same clan that trained him, Raizo teams up with agent Mika Coretti (Naomie Harris) in hopes of bringing down the ninja organization for good.
While Ninja Assassin has its moments, I could not help but think how much better the film would have been if it had the gripping story arcs and character depth that can be found in superior works like Iron Fist. If you really think about it, with the films over-the-top action sequences and relentless gore factor, Ninja Assassin feels like a comic book movie more than it does a martial arts film. Which is not surprising considering that J. Michael Straczynski , who wrote Clint Eastwood's Changeling as well as the recent Thor comic reboot, was one of the writers behind Assassin. Now I am not saying that you bring Straczynski into the fold if you do take me up on my suggestion. I believe that Ed Brubaker, who wrote the first Immortal Iron Fist story arc, should be in charge of adapting the material. Though I would suggest that you use several of the elements that worked well in Ninja Assassin.
The first thing I would keep is the way McTeigue had the ninjas spawning out of the shadows and communicating in whispers. Not only was this a cool touch, but it also created a creepy atmosphere at the same time. When you consider how large the Ozunu clan is, there are times when you genuinely wonder if the characters will make it out alive. I also like that the film actually had a villain that was more than just a figurehead for evil. Lord Ozunu (Sho Kosugi) dishes out the lethal blows with such ease that you secretly hope he will come out on top. Sure the overall ending is poor but at least the final fight scene provided some creative moments. The last positive thing I would use from this film is Naomie Harris, who would make a perfect Missy Knight by the way, as she seemed to be the only credible actor in the entire cast.
Feel free to scrap everything else. If Ninja Assassin is supposed to be Rain's big Hollywood coming out party, then he may not want to blow out the candles just yet. There is very little in the film that sells Rain as a plausible leading man. While he does show brief flashes of charisma, the lack of a proper script really exposes the limitations of his range as an actor. This is probably why the film relies so heavily on the excessive death sequences. Sure the opening scene was fun to watch but after awhile you realize that there are only so many decapitations a person can sit through before it gets stale.
As mindless entertainment Ninja Assassin is passable at best. Yet it lacks an engaging story, like the ones in the Immortal Iron Fist comics, to keep you interested after the twentieth limb goes flying across the screen. Anyways, the ball is now in your court Marvel. You can make an Iron Fist movie and rake in a Blade-style haul. Or you can sit by and watch lesser works like Ninja Assassin steal the comic-style martial arts market.
