MOVIE REVIEW: HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS, PART 2

[No spoilers]

This weekend’s debut beat all previous records of a 3-day opening with $168.6M, surpassing even that of my previously reviewed Batman: Dark Knight. Even the midnight showing Friday morning picked up almost $44M.

The Harry Potter books are quite popular and I’ve read them all. They fall into a popular genre of British youth literature — involving boarding schools, houses, sports, dining halls, escaping studies — and adds magic to the mix. But it was Ursula K. LeGuin’s 1968 “A Wizard of Earthsea” series that first introduced to America’s youth literature a school for wizards and in some ways did it better. Nevertheless, J.K. Rowlings is a capable writer and occasionally quite moving in her depictions. She won a Hugo award in 2001 for the book “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire”. While lacking the literary background and depth of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien — they were Oxford professors of literature after all — her books were satisfying. Rowlings has captured the imagination of a new generation, but a generation that grew up with the World Wide Web.

This last movie culminates a series of movies that started a decade ago and has proven to be the most successful movie series ever, beating franchises like Star Wars, Star Trek, and even a score of James Bond movies.

Here are some of my favorite highlights:

• Two of our heroes finally kiss

• Special effects. I saw it in 3D and it works. It’s not as dramatic as the recent Transformers 3, but it is still good. The opening with the Warner Brothers “WB logo” flying at you now takes on a special meaning. The charms and spells that surround Hogwart’s take on a shimmering deflector shield appearance. The wand battles reused some effects from previous movies, but adds impressive new ones.

• Molly faces down Bellatrix with “bitch.”

• A really cool dragon, that makes you believe in dragons.

• The rail car ride down to the lower vaults of Gringotts is worthy of becoming a ride at Universal Studios.

• Neville Longbottom, often previously derided, gets to shine with a significant role as the new leader of Dumbledore’s Army at Hogwarts.

• Perhaps the most moving part of the movie is the deliciously wicked Professor Severus Snape, who killed Dumbledore in the previous movie, finally reveals his hidden role.

As the summation of the series, this movie pulls  the lose ends together, and in that sense is satisfying. The book does it more satisfyingly still, with many more elements answered in a gratifying way. However, of the series, this is not my favorite movie. My favorite remains “The Goblet of Fire” which I reviewed previously.

Grade: B

• You’ll like it if: You fancy fabulous special effects, adventure, action, magic, snogging heroes
• You won’t if: You’re bothered by movies that don’t stick closely to the book, or are easily frightened

Bill Petro, your friendly neighborhood culturevulture
www.billpetro.com

MOVIE REVIEW: THE KING’S SPEECH

A thing of grace and triumph.

Here is a movie that’s already getting lots of Oscar buzz, and you know why? It deserves it. This is the best movie I’ve seen this year, or in a couple of years. It is not only deeply moving, but also beautiful to behold. From a killer cast to eye-catching cinematography to lush atmospherics, this it the movie that sets the high water mark.

This is not just another “Rocky” movie, rather this is a film where grace overcomes judgment, encouragement overcomes criticism, honesty overcomes fear. And in the end, courage overcomes doubt.

• Synopsis:

The story is based on 20th century history, though it is perhaps unfamiliar to Americans. Prince Albert, the Duke of York is second in line for the throne of England behind his elder brother Edward. In some ways, like Henry VIII who also was second in line behind his brother, the younger brother distinguishes himself in another area of endeavor. With Henry, he went off to seminary and studied theology. Albert became a naval officer. But a crippling stammer paralyzed Albert (Colin Firth) when he needed to speak in public. A series of doctors unsuccessfully attended him before he met the unconventional therapist, and unsuccessful actor Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush). The movie culminates, not surprisingly, in the King’s Speech where the recently crowned Albert, now as King George VI addresses the nation in support of the declaration of war against Nazi Germany.

• Casting:

This is a veritable dream team of British and Down Under actors:

Colin Firth is often cast as an attractive and sophisticated Brit. Many on this side of the Pond met him in the 6-part 1995 BBC miniseries “Pride and Prejudice” where he played Mr. Darcy. Or in the “Bridget Jones” movies where he played a parody of that character. Here he’s cast as a self-doubting royal who does not long for the throne, but finds that the untimely departure of his elder brother forces the crown upon him in the midst of great national crisis.

This performance is one of Firth’s best, following on the heels of last year’s strong performance in “A Single Man,” seems to hint at Oscar gold this year.

Geoffrey Rush is best known recently as the villainous Captain Barbossa in the “Pirates of the Caribbean” movies. He handles comedy as deftly as drama and when he appears on the screen, the magic begins. The way he interacts with the Colin Firth is amazing, and his unexpected familiarity with the Prince evokes such delicious humor, honesty, encouragement and sheer pathos, I would not be surprised if Oscar pixie dust gets sprinkled upon him. A tour de force performance — as the first man who brought the future King confidence, grace, affirmation, and a belief in courage in the midst of a heavy burden — made this film so palpably powerful. Playing the role of a sure-of-himself Australian — Rush actually is Australian — inspired and encouraged “Bertie” in the unfolding drama of his brother’s abdication and his own coronation.

Helena Bonham Carter, as the devoted and compassionate wife and Queen Mother of the current Queen Elizabeth II, shone in a role otherwise too small. She conveyed the look and practicality of the future Queen Mum and added a charm and humor that both brought notice to and excused commoners’ bedazzlement with royalty. The actress first splashed upon the American consciousness was in the Merchant Ivory “A Room With a View” but is most recently know for her role as Bellatrix Lestrange in the “Harry Potter” movies.

Jennifer Ehle plays Myrtle Logue, the wife of Lionel (Geoffrey Rush) who adds some simultaneously hilarious and surprisingly touching moments when she finally meets the King when he’s visiting her house. Most Americans know Ehle as Elizabeth Bennet in “Pride and Prejudice” where she played opposite Colin Firth. When she meets him here briefly as King it is a curious home coming. I caught her 5 years ago at London’s Old Vic Theatre where she played the lead role of Tracy Lord opposite Kevin Spacey in “The Philadelphia Story” when I got to meet her even more famous mother Rosemary Harris in the audience. It inspired me to begin my blog on theatre/movie/concert reviews, CultureVulture. with my first review of that performance.

Other appearances catch the viewer quite by surprise and delight, for you’ve seen them before:

Derek Jacobi plays the Archbishop Cosmo Lang, who in this film is almost condescendingly articulate. But ironically, the actor first became known to Americans via the British import “I Claudius” where he played a stammering member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty who survived the imperial infighting to become Caesar.

Timothy Spall plays Winston Churchill. Though a small part, he confides his own history of speech difficulties to the King before the final speech. The actor has been in a number of movies, most recently as Wormtail/Peter Petigrew in the “Harry Potter” movies. But he played a major role in another movie by the same director Tom Hooper, “The Damned United.”

Guy Pearce as King Edward, known to Americans in the film “L.A. Confidential” and recently in “The Hurt Locker,” previously streaked across the screen in the time-bending film “Memento.” Here he plays the role of an attractive, well loved, yet ultimately selfish royal who would abdicate for the love of a twice-divorced American commoner.

Michael Gambon lends gravitas and intimidation as the father and older King George V. He seems to be in all the popular British period pieces, but you know him best as Professor Dumbledore in the “Harry Potter” movies (do we see a trend here?)

Anthony Andrews plays Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin in an all too short appearance, but was introduced to Americans in the role of upper crust Sebastian in the 1981 mini-series “Brideshead Revisited.”

And Clare Bloom plays Queen Mary, mother of Albert in a bright but brief appearance. A star of stage and screen since the late ’40s, she burst onto the American screen in the 1952 Charlie Chaplin film “Limelight.” Almost as well known in the US as in England, I first saw her opposite her then husband Rod Steiger in the 1969 science fiction film “The Illustrated Man” based on the Ray Bradbury story. She too was in “Brideshead Revisited.”

• Atmospherics:

The cinematography was stunning, and without the use of obvious special effects. The camera angles, the framing of the characters, the use of fish-eye lenses to convey a sense of overwhelming pressure — all these contributed to the luxurious feel, the fit-and-finish of the film.

• Music:

The lush soundtrack was by Alexandre Desplat who recently did the music for the latest “Harry Potter” film as well as “The Social Network.” He also did the score to the 2006 film “The Queen” about Elizabeth the daughter of King George VI. “The King’s Speech’s score featured extensive piano solos, and music by Beethoven, Brahms, and Mozart. It too has Oscar pixie dust on it. It was recorded at Abbey Road Studios in London. The most remarkable part of the score was during the climactic King’s Speech itself, with the awesome and powerful Symphony No. 7: Second Movement by Beethoven. You may remember the brooding theme in “Zardoz.” Here it begins slowly, as does the King’s Speech and builds with urgency and confidence. I’ve not been moved by movie music as powerfully since “Chariots of Fire.” Nor has any movie since been so inspiring by the triumph over seemingly insurmountable odds through the grace of a friend who expresses such faith.

A thing of grace and triumph.

Grade: A-

You’ll like it if: you’re an Anglophile, dig period costume pieces, are fascinated by British Royalty, appreciate darn good acting.

You won’t like it if: you don’t care for swear words (part of the speech therapy) that earned this an R rating, prefer action over words, or if you’re still holding a grudge against the English since the Revolutionary War.

Bill Petro, your friendly neighborhood culturevulture
www.billpetro.com

MOVIE REVIEW: AVATAR

I’ve seen some interviews with movie producers recently, mostly Pixar, saying that all the key producers are moving to 3D. I’ve taken these words with a pillar of salt, as just new ways to capture the eyeballs of price-sensitive consumers who are nervous about spending $10 a head to attend the cinema, when they could stay at home and watch a movie rental on TV… one that is getting larger, HD, and Blu-ray.

That is until this movie. I can’t imagine what it would be like without 3D. I watched it in “Real D 3D” and I have just one word for it:

Gobsmacked!

It is like full immersion in a high-quality, beautifully rendered, high-definition video game. I’m not really a computer game player, my tastes lean more toward the Wii, but this might make a convert of me: there’s one for the iPhone. Indeed, Avatar has been called “the iPhone of movies.” The movie James Cameron has been working 15 years on, since Titanic, waiting for the appropriate technology to become available is now here.

There is a flying scene with dragon-like creatures in the second act that had my jaw dropped for a full five minutes.

But other than feeling like you’re inside a video game, a feeling I distinctly felt when watching the flying car sequences in Star Wars II, there was something else going on here. The line between live action and animation was seamless. The use new digital “stereoscopic” 3-D technology that adds depth significantly enhanced the experience. Rather than things protruding out of the screen over the audience, as we’ve seen in other 3D movies, this was a difference sense altogether.

Here are some of my first impressions…

• Music:

James Horner did the music for this movie. He’s one of my favorite movie music composers, first popping up on my sensors back in 1982 for Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan. It was powerful and effective, if unmemorable.

• Art Direction:

There were several unmistakable resemblances to the art work of Roger Dean, well known for his ’70s and ’80s album covers for such musicians as Yes (floating islands), Uriah Heap, and Asia. From colorful dragons to flying elephants, to curving stone landscape to statuesque trees the likeness was striking. Curiously, there is no credit given to Roger Dean.

• Joel Moore:

This actor plays the role of Norm Spellman, our hero’s human buddy and scientist. He also has a recurring role as Dr. Colin Fisher on the TV series Bones. In a recent episode, his buddies at the Institute sneak out early with him to catch a premier showing of the new movie Avatar.

• Zoe Saldana:

You loved her as Lt. Uhura in the new Star Trek movie. She’s a very capable female lead in this blockbuster as Neytiri, the chief’s daughter, and was both fierce and appealing as a lithe heroine. I expect to see her in many more movies.

• Sigorney Weaver:

The only actor in this movie with name-brand appeal, she reminds the viewer of Ripley from the Alien movies, and even talks about lemurs. Is this a sly reference to her role as Dian Fossey in Gorillas in the Mists? Weaver plays the adult supervision role of Dr. Grace Augustine.

• Setting the bar:

This movie raises the bar to a new level in technical accomplishment. Like 2001: a space odyssey in the ’60s, Star Wars in the ’70s, Terminator 2 in the ’90s (a Cameron movie) and Lord of the Rings in the ’00s, this movie defines the new standard. Avatar enjoys the technical expertise of the two leading special effects houses: Weta Digital, who gave us Lord of the Rings, and to help finish the film ILM, Industrial Light and Magic. Douglas Trumbull and his assistant John Dykstra did 2001, Dykstra went on to lead ILM and do Star Wars. In Avatar, ILM came in to do visual effects on the film’s aircraft, specifically its helicopters and the large-scale shuttle. They also worked on the film’s final battle scene, with scenes of all the vehicles taking off, as well as cockpit interior shots. Indeed, the heads-up displays, and the wrap around monitors in the command center turned up the geek lust factor higher than a new 27″ iMac.

• Derivative:

Throughout the movie, you get a feeling you’ve seen parts of this movie before. From the opening scene aboard a system sojourning ship like 2001‘s Discovery, to the first scenes of the dog soldiers that is reminiscent of the troops in Aliens (also by Cameron), to the enduring sense that this is Last of the Mohicans or Dances With Wolves in space. Our hero Jake Sully (played by Sam Worthington from Terminator Salvation and in this movie his Australian accent only slips in when he gets excited) in this movie even has a native rival, a kind of “Wind In His Hair” character who is a great warrior. There is the same sense of the soldier who goes native to protect the innocent and wronged indigenous Native American Indians.

• Fail:

Where the movie failed was in the story. It could have taken the idea of:

A stranger from the skies comes down to become on of us and lays down his life to save us.

It would have even worked well as a theme with the Christmas-time release. Instead, it used a retread of a heavily used and as equally heavy-handed story of:

A neopagan Earth goddess (OK, Pandora goddess) who is the mother deity at the center of the world.

You’ve seen it before, in Disney’s historically inaccurate Pocahontas, even down to involving a giant tree. The villains were two dimensional (a real problem in a 3D movie), stereotypical, and superficial. It reminded you of the corporate slime ball Carter Burke played by Paul Reiser in Aliens (another Cameron movie). Clocking in at almost 3 hours (163 minutes), and $300M — what was what was spent on all three of the Lord of the Rings movies — this movie was written, directed, and produced by James Cameron. I’m impressed by his directing and producing, but don’t feel he was up to the task of the depth and breadth of writing. Indeed, Cameron is no J.R.R. Tolkien.

Grade: A-

You’ll like it if: you enjoy sci-fi/fantasy, action or battle films, romance and special effects to knock your eyes out.

You won’t like it if: you don’t care for violence, overt in-your-face “green” messaging, anti-war rhetoric and neopagan overtones.

Bill Petro, your friendly neighborhood culturevulture
www.billpetro.com

MOVIE REVIEW: STAR TREK

Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Her ongoing mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life-forms and new civilizations; to boldly go where no one has gone before.

If you’ve already read my History of Star Trek article, this is the future of the franchise, by returning to its past.

Let me get to the bottom line first: this is the best Star Trek movie ever. Indeed, it’s the best movie I’ve seen this year. Why?

This is the movie I’ve been waiting for 40 years, the first original episode of Star Trek: The Original Series since the show went off the air in 1969. As I mentioned in my earlier article, usually even-numbered movies are better than odd-numbered ones: but not with this eleventh movie — unless you want to call it what it really is, Star Trek 0.

Without giving away any plot details, this movie has action, drama, romance, humor, adventure, fisticuffs, and terrific space battles. $30 million were spent on special effects alone, of course by Industrial Light and Magic. The movie starts with a bang, with a truly emotional event, and keeps up the excitement right up to the end. The writing is both smart and lovingly detailed at times, and there are genuinely touching scenes of realization and revelation. And the ending, well, it brought a tear to my eye.

Yes, this is the prequel, as it were, of the original show — how the original crew met up at Starfleet Academy. This is essentially an origins story. It is also a reboot of the franchise, in the same way as Batman and James Bond have gotten a fresh start, decades after the original movie series began. But this movie is accessible to non-fans as well.

Many Trekkies, Trekkers and Trek junkies may bemoan the fact that this movie does not stick strictly to “Star Trek canon” — for example, this Spock raises his left eyebrow, not the canonical right one — but there is a reasonable explanation given for this. You’ll just have to go see the movie to find out.

Director J.J. Abrams had a difficult task of appealing to the long time fans, while attracting a new younger audience. He walked this tightrope well, mixing loving respect for the original while adding fresh and fun improvisations on the iconic characters for a post-modern age. Nostalgia and newness.

The music of Alexander Courage is peppered throughout the movie. He did the original score of the TV show and I had the privilege of seeing him in the Bay Area at a space music concert. The familiar 4-note introduction appears four times and makes chills run up one’s spine. But that’s not all, even the familiar bridge sounds are there for the old fans to relish.

Pay attention to catch a couple of prominent product placements in the movie.

Among many tributes paid to the original series — even a “red shirt” if you know what I mean — there were also lots of inside jokes and references made to other movie lines and famous TV sayings. Also, we see the use of Vasquez Rocks near Los Angeles. It was used as a popular exterior in several of the original TV show, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Voyager, Enterprise, and the movie Star Trek IV. It was featured in this film for the planet Vulcan. It’s been a filming location in many other TV shows like Bonanza, F-Troop, Have Gun Will Travel, The Big Valley, Maverick, Gunsmoke, Kung Fu, and The Wild, Wild, West.

Chris Pine, who you’ve seen in Smokin’ Aces and the delightful Bottle Shock plays James T. Kirk, cocky, brash, arrogant, confident, even fool hardy, but usually right in his hunches. He gives a remarkable performance, having some critics saying “a star is born.” He does make it happen and is believable in the role. Like me, and George Takei (the original Sulu), and John Cho (the new Sulu), Pine went to school at the University of California, Berkeley — where we were all bitten by the acting bug.

Zachary Quinto, best known as the villain Syler in the popular TV series Heroes plays the part of the human-Vulcan Spock. His resemblance to the young Leonard Nimoy is uncanny. Quinto is a half-breed himself, half-Italian, half-Irish. And like Leonard Nimoy, his father used to cut hair. Having the opportunity to meet with and work with Leonard Nimoy, who approved his casting, he learned his mannerisms, like holding his hands behind his back, his erect and still posture, and his measured and stoic composure. Of all the cast, he most resembles the original character in appearance and carriage.

The New Zealand actor Karl Urban puts on a bit of a southern gentleman accent, like the original “just a country doctor” role DeForest Kelley did. I heard De Kelley at a Star Trek convention once challenge the audience with “You all think you know Star Trek so well, give me the name of any episode and I’ll quote a line from it.” As people shouted out episode names, he confidently replied, “He’s dead, Jim.” Urban gets to play this role with humor, something we don’t usually see from the man of action who played Eomer in The Lord of the Rings trilogy or Vaako in Chronicles of Riddick. While Urban does not quote that line in this movie, he does quote another of his iconic lines. And here, you learn (one possible) origin of the name “Bones.”

Simon Pegg, the irrepressible English actor plays engineering genius Montgomery Scott. He effected a Glasgow accent for the role, believing that Scotty was originally from Linlithgow — a short train ride from Edinburgh — and the old castle there is the birthplace of Mary Queen of Scots. This is curious, as we all know from the episode “Wolf in the Fold” that Scotty was “an old Aberdeen pub crawler.” In any event, since Pegg is an English actor — unlike the original James Doohan who is Canadian (and admitted to me that he loves to do accents) — at least he’s closer geographically. You’ve seen Pegg before in Shaun of the Dead, and many other movies he’s produced, directed, and starred in. He brings his unique sense of humor to the role, and what he says about the Enterprise’s nacelles, well, you just have to see it.

Anton Yelchin who plays Pavel Andreievich Checkov was born in St. Petersburg, Russia, though he’s since lived in the United States since the year he was born. He brings remarkable energy an enthusiasm to the role. As the 17-year old Ensign, he lays on the Russian accent a bit thicker than Walter Koenig did in ST:TOS. Several years ago I had the opportunity to meet the actor Walter Koenig and in the course of conversation asked him how he developed his Russian accent.

“I have a good ear for accents.”

When I looked at him quizzically, he added.

“Both of my parents are Russian.”

The new USS Enterprise is a thing of beauty to behold. It looks like the BMW engineering team got a hold of the original and “pimped the ride.” While not straying as far as the redesign in the first movie Star Trek: The Motion Picture this retains most of the original elements with a slightly more curved engineering section and more elegant warp nacelles. The use of weapon systems, including photon torpedoes and phasers is more developed in this design, as are greater uses of blue over the original red, but it works for me. I saw the original 11-foot filming model back in the mid-’70s before it was put on display at the Smithsonian Institution’s Air and Space Museum. Even before it was restored, it was a stunning piece of engineering.

The bridge looks like a white iPhone: shiny, new, clean, and not black. Rather than the old TV-sized monitors, we’ve got widescreen. Rather than the gooseneck lights on the helm and navigation consoles, we’ve got swing arm extensions. But, what’s with all the lens flare on the bridge?

The transporter room looks very much like the original show, with a two-person console and a display on the wall. And next to “Scotty” appears Christopher Doohan, the son of the original Engineer Scott, as an extra, as he had on Star Trek: The Motion Picture.

Bruce Greenwood assumes the role of Captain Christopher Pike created in the very first pilot “The Cage” — rejected originally by NBC — filmed in 1965. He handles the role with maturity and grace.

Eric Bana plays a very different Romulan, unlike any we’ve seen before, an Aussie Captain Nero with an American accent and poor hygiene habits. It is ironic that he received an acting award for his lead in the 2007 Australian movie Romulus, My Father. You’ve seen him before in Munich, Troy, Black Hawk Down and the earlier version of Hulk.

John Cho had a unique challenge as he reprises the role created by George Takei, who is still an active actor, appearing in the recent TV series Heroes. In the same way Sulu fenced in the original episode “The Naked Time” so here John Cho fences — but with a samurai sword rather than the original foil. In the same way that the Chinese-American actor Garrett Wang plays the Korean Harry Kim, here Korean-American actor John Cho plays the Japanese Lt. Sulu. You’ve seen Cho before in the Harold and Kumar movies.

Zoe Saldana plays the role of the lovely Uhura, whose name means “Freedom” in Swahili. Given a larger role in this movie than in previous Star Trek movies, there is a bit of irony here. In the movie “The Terminal” she plays a Trekkie. But you’ve also seen her as Anamaria in “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.”

Ben Cross, who played the character Harold Abrams in the 5-Academy Award winning movie “Chariots of Fire” appears here as Spock’s father Sarek of Vulcan. He’s excellent in the role, and gets a chance to deliver amazing lines, some unexpected.

Winona Ryder is Amanda Grayson, the human Earthling mother of Spock, and wife of Sarek of Vulcan. Ironically, her name means “worthy of being loved.”

Jennifer Morrison, from the TV show “House” has a brief role as James Kirk’s mother, and explains (another possible) reason for Kirk’s middle name.

Grade: A. Swing, hit, a home run.

You’ll like it if: action, humor, vitality and space are your final frontier

You won’t like it if: you’ve been on another planet for the last 40 years.

Trivia Question: There is one performer who has been in the original show, ST: The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Enterprise, the animated series, and many of the movies — including this film as well. And is in this film’s dedication at the end. Who is it?

Yes, this is a deeply gratifying movie. I’ve already got tickets to see it again tomorrow!

Bill Petro, your friendly neighborhood Trek junkie
www.billpetro.com

Movie Review: X-Men Origins: Wolverine

When I read comic books in my youth, I always loved the “origin of” issues, which told me about he beginnings of my favorite super heroes. I was a big reader and collector of X-Men comics, of course, and have enjoyed the previous three movies to greater and lesser degrees. This movie is a prequel, the story of how the most popular of the X-Men, the character Wolverine came to be, as well as the X-Men themselves.

Recently we’ve been seeing super hero origin stories: Batman Begins, Superman Returns, Iron Man, and Hulk. So too is this movie. In it we learn some of the motivations of our hero, and why he has always been a bit foggy about his earlier life. It this movie you return to his childhood and see just how far his history goes back. There are tributes here to The Dirty Dozen and even to Jonathan and Martha Kent from Superman origins.

Hugh Jackman, hot off hosting the Academy Awards shows that he’s not just a pretty face who can sing and dance. In this movie he’s as buff as he’s ever been, on a high-protein diet, with hour and a half daily workouts.

Liev Schreiber, seen recently in Defiance, stars as Sabretooth gets to sink is teeth into his largest role since The Manchurian Candidate. He’s great at being intimidating and menacing.

The character Gambit (Taylor Kitsch) shows up, as well as the Blob, Zero, and a host of future X-Men and villains. Lynn Collins plays the attractive love interest. Though she’s been acting since 2001, I’d not seen her before.

Ryan Reynolds, who we usually see in comedy roles plays the character Wade/Deadpool, with his usual wisecracking. Dominic Monaghan, who you remember as the hobbit Merry in the Lord of the Rings movies appears as Chris/Bolt.

Filmed in New South Wales, Australia, the scenery is gorgeous. The special effects are rather different than many action films you’ve seen and the fight sequences are quite acrobatic.

Sure this is a summer popcorn movie. There is little plot to get in the way of the action.

Grade: B

You’ll like it if: you like non-stop action, fight sequences, vehicle chases, exploding things, with little time to breathe.

You won’t like it if: you prefer character development or have an aversion to violence.

JAMES BOND – QUANTUM OF SOLACE

The latest James Bond movie opened this weekend in the US, beginning on Friday. It is already #1 in Europe, having opened there a week earlier, and a huge hit in the UK, where it opened two weeks ago. The first weekend in the UK was a record at a box office take of $25M, larger than the last Harry Potter opening. All told, as of last Tuesday worldwide it had done $180M. The James Bond movies, based on 12 novels and 2 sets of short stories by Ian Flemming, is the most successful movie franchise in history, with revenues of around $12B, adjusted for inflation. In the US, it did about $27M the first day, and over $70M for the 3-day weekend, more than any other Bond opening.

Location, location, location

Of all the Bond films, the crew admitted that they had spent more time on location than ever before. Not as much of the movie was shot on the legendary 007 sound stage at Pinewood Studios. Rather, most of the film was shot in either Europe or Latin America.

• Italy

The movie opens with a riveting car chase along Lake Garda which then moves to the ancient and renowned marble quarries of Carrera (where the single block of stone from which Michelangelo’s “David” came.) Are the two locations close? No, but this is Bond! The location them moves to the medieval Tuscan town of Siena. The action parallels the traditional horse race, the Palio, which takes place only twice a year, during the summer. Bond then races across the beautiful terra cotta tile roofs of the city.

• Panama

We’re told that we’re next taken to “Port Au Prince, Haiti” though it was filmed on both coasts of Panama. But upgrades his shabby hotel to the Old Union House.

• Chile

The action moves to “Bolivia” though is filmed in the desert of Chile. Due to the lack of moisture as well as the high elevation and thin air, the Atacama desert of Chile is an ideal location for an observatory, and the visitors residence of the Paranal Space Observatory serves as the eco-hotel for the movie.

• Austria

We jet to Europe to take in the Puccini opera Tosca at the modernistic lake-side Bregenz Festival House on the western border of Austria. Opera is not something we often see 007 doing — at least not since Vienna in “The Living Daylights”, and he doesn’t stay until the end.

• London

Though there is some shooting at the Pinewood Studios, one external in London is at the Barbican Center.

The Movie

The “reboot” of the James Bond franchise which began with “Casino Royale” continues with Daniel Craig in “Quantum of Solace.” But this movie has much more action and far less character interaction and development than the previous one. Was it exciting? Yes, there was more action, chase scenes, and explosions that we’ve seen in a long time. You are shaken and stirred. The whiplash action and breakneck speed of editing makes it difficult to follow the action, let alone the plot. Here we see incredibly fast “cut shots” where we’re struck by the movement, but don’t get to see all the action. This is reminiscent of the disappointing editing in the second Bourne outing, The Bourne Supremacy where even the fight scenes were hard to follow as the camera was in too close and moved too quickly.

Only once before has there been a direct chronological sequel with a Bond film. Following “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” when Bond’s wife Tracy — played deliciously by Diana Rigg — is killed by Ernst Stavro Blofeld, the next movie “Diamonds Are Forever” has Bond looking to find Blofeld for revenge. “Quantum of Solace” picks up where “Casino Royale” left off, with Bond seeking the killer of his lover Vesper from the previous movie.

This outing is relatively humorless and romanceless, other than the requisite sacrificial lamb. It has a heightened sense of realism, with more palpable and disturbing violence. You’ll be reminded of the grittier parts of “Goldfinger”.

The female lead, Ukranian model/actress Olga Kurylenko is muscular and opaque, paralleling Bond’s pain of losing loved ones. As we’ve seen so often during the Bond movie history, this is a “new kind” of Bond girl, one equal to Bond. But there have been earlier and better “new kinds” of Bond girls and Olga does not have the acting chops of someone like Royal Shakespearing Company actress Dame Diana Rigg, whom I met once in London after her incredible performance in (her Tony Award winning) Medea.

Other great performances were by returning (from Casino Royale) alums Judi Dench as M and the great Italian actor Giancarlo Giannini as Mathis. Tim Pigott-Smith as the Foreign Secretary was confident and threatening. While he was in “V for Vendetta” and “Alexander”, he’s perhaps best known from the mini-series “The Jewel in the Crown”.

The villain played by Mathieu Amalric has no distinguishing facial marks — like villains going back to Blofeld in “You Only Live Twice” and repeated by Mr. Evil in the Austin Powers movies — but is the sophisticated French Mr. Greene. We’ve seen a Mr. White, a Mr. Slate and now a Mr. Greene in the last two movies. This Mr. Greene is in the eco-business… get it “Green”.

Did I like the movie? It’s Bond!

Despite its certain popularity, it is neither the best… nor the worst Bond movie.

Trivia

This is the first Bond theme song sung by a duet. This is the first to have the signature “gun barrel” scene at the end of the movie, not before the title sequence.

Grade: B-

You’ll like it if: you’re a Bond fan, appreciate a high level of mindless senseless violence, globetrotting, and things that go “boom”.

You won’t like it if: you don’t appreciate explosions, contusions, or sexual situations — and prefer more romance, story, gadgets, fine food, Moneypenny and Q.

Bill Petro, your friendly neighborhood culturevulture
www.billpetro.com

MOVIE REVIEW: MAMMA MIA!

Official disclaimer: I have seen the stage musical version of Mamma Mia! six times. My wife and I first saw it in London, and as we walked out at the end of the exciting encore, we both turned to each other and said “I could see that again.” Two days later we did. This show has been seen in 140 cities by 30 million people worldwide and has grossed over $2 billion.

This could be the feel-good musical of the summer. The fact that it opens in the US on the same day as the Batman sequel The Dark Knight however, does cast a shadow over it’s debut.

Calling it a “chick flick” is not entirely inaccurate — the theater was full of older couples and women — but the movie is really for any fans of ABBA music or of the stage musical. This film was done in partnership with Playtone, Tom Hank’s production company. His wife Rita Wilson (producer of My Big Fat Greek Wedding) was executive producer on this.

Synopsis:

Sophie, a young 20-year-old girl on a Greek island wants to invite her father to her wedding and upon reading her single-parent mother Donna’s old diary learns she has three possible fathers. She invites them all to her wedding without her mother’s knowledge. The girl invites her two friends to her wedding, her mother invites her two former girl-group backup singer friends, and the three “fathers” make for interesting Greek intrigue.

Actors:

Possible father #1 is Swedish travel writer Bill played by Stellan Skarsgård who is best known recently as “Bootstrap Bill” Turner in the second and third Pirates of the Caribbean movies.

Colin Firth (our favorite Mister Darcy in Pride and Prejudice) is always great to see, especially in comedies (think Bridget Jones). He plays Harry, the proper British banker and possible father #2.

Pierce Brosnan plays American architect Sam, frequently successfully hiding his Irish accent. He’s part of the draw for this movie as possible father #3, and my wife couldn’t wait to see “James Bond singing in spandex.” The natural question, of course, is: can he sing? Let me put it this way — he wasn’t hired for his musical talents. Nevertheless, he does an acceptable job on a couple of difficult pieces, especially a duet with Meryl on S.O.S., indeed better than the male lead in London. And he brings such emotion to his singing — like an Irishman? — as well as his performance. He’s very credible in the role, and makes the interplay with Meryl winning.

Julie Walters as Donna’s friend Rosie is perhaps unfamiliar to American audiences, except as Mrs. Weasley from the Harry Potter movies. However, in the UK, she’s major league, especially as the elderly cleaning lady Mrs. Overall in the mid-’80s cult TV soap opera parody Acorn Antiques. I saw her do a stage musical version of this in London — the night after I saw Mamma Mia the first time — and she brought down the house. She’s perfectly cast in this role and has some fabulous lines and humorous scenes. And she steels the scene with Take a Chance.

Christine Baranski the Tony winning actress — who you probably best remember from the TV sitcom Cybill — is featured here as Donna’s sophisticated and serially monogamous friend Tanya. She’s gorgeous and hilarious especially in her vampy scenes.

Amanda Seyfried as the daughter and bride-to-be is luminously cute, a young Aphrodite. She previously played the part of a dim but beautiful teen in the popular movie Mean Girls. While she has a pleasant voice, it wasn’t as strong as I’d have liked. Nevertheless, she handled all her songs well even if she didn’t hit them out of the park.

Meryl Streep plays the starring role as Donna, the former girl group lead singer and free spirit. I was initially concerned about this casting, as she’s 59, and Donna is no older than her early 40s. Indeed, almost all of the adult cast is in their mid to late 50s. But this is not really a story about young love but love in the autumn years. And while Meryl’s early songs seemed a little rough, her later songs were solid hits. She’s sung in Postcards From the Edge and A Prairie Home Companion and her work here is some of the most demanding. At the end of the film you appreciate her acting and emotional impact, wondering how anyone else could have done the role.

The Film:

There were over 20 ABBA songs in the movie. Three songs from the stage musical didn’t make it to the film, another was cut from the film, but one ABBA song was included that didn’t appear in the stage show: When All is Said and Done done by Pierce Brosnan near the end of the movie.

The film was obviously filmed in the Greek islands, particularly Skopelos and Skiathos and they’re lovely. The sound stage filming was done on the 007 stage at Pinewood Studios. Pierce Brosnan must have felt at home.

ABBA male leads Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Anderson appear in uncredited cameos in the film. If you look quickly you’ll see the later in the vivacious first performance of Dancing Queen. This film was first released in Europe and Down Under, and the debut party in Sweden also featured the two female leads Anni-Frid Lyngstad and Agnetha Faltskog. The last time they were photographed was over 20 years ago.

Slipping Through My Fingers is the song that causes the U-turn in sentiment as the film gets downright misty.

The Winner Takes It All shows Meryl Streep’s chops as a singer and an artist. Her expressiveness and emotion is all on her face and movement. This song belies some of the earlier songs in the movie where she isn’t always exactly spot on. This is the pinnacle of the movie and you know it when you see it. She did it in one take.

Differences:

The movie is superior to the stage performance in telling the story. There is an opportunity with a larger canvas to do a larger exposition. The players are better as both actors and comedians with some fabulous casting of an all-star cast. And of course, the Greek island setting is magical.

The movie is inferior to the stage performance in its staging. The choreography is surprisingly poor, the dance scenes seem agoraphobic and much less impactful. And in general, the singing voices are not as good, but then the performers here weren’t selected for their singing prowess. The same producers of the stage musical made this movie — their first — and it shows.

For example, the musical-to-movie Hairspray was successful on so many levels that this movie was not, even though Mamma Mia was a more delightful and satisfying stage musical than Hairspray.

You go to the movie for the cast and the music. The infectious ABBA songs are woven through the story, which makes a surprisingly good vehicle for the music. You’re not supposed to notice that songs like Our Last Summer are situated in Paris or talk about “Flower Power” which would have been 20 years too early.

The movie is charming and sweet. You’ll sing along, if you’re old enough to remember the songs, in the same way you stood up to dance at the end if you saw the stage musical.

You WILL sit through the end credits at the end. Not only will you catch the encore featuring the spandex, but the last scene features some surprising mythological Olympian gods.

You’ll like it if: you’re a Boomer, keen on ABBA, love musicals, great performances, a bit of randy humor.

You won’t like it if: you don’t favor spandex or Swedish pop music that sticks in your mind like gum.

Grade: B-

Bill Petro, your friendly neighborhood culturevulture
www.billpetro.com

MOVIE REVIEW: BATMAN – THE DARK KNIGHT

The second installment of the new Batman franchise, begun with Batman Begins, picks up our story not long after where we left off. But I’m not going to talk about the plot of The Dark Knight, other than to say it starts with a bang involving a powerful scene augmented by pervasive music.

All our favorites are back

Alfred, played deliciously by Michael Caine is a delight to see in this role again. Dry, acerbic, witty and caring, Michael Caine is one of our generation’s most dependable actors and again in this movie is a grounding influence on the young Master Bruce Wayne.

Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox plays his sagacious and insightful role as both guardian of Wayne Enterprises and modern day “Q” as co-inventor of many Bat-machines. Morgan Freeman has been doing a lot of work recently including the comedy Bucket List with Jack Nicholson and the current Wanted with Angelina Jolie.

Gary Oldman returns as Jim Gordon, now head of the Major Crimes Unit in a rather expanded role compared to the first Batman movie. He gets more room to work, and show off his “Gotham City” accent. How different from the proper British accent of Serious Black in the Harry Potter movies.

Aaron Eckhart is given a significant role as Harvey Dent, white knight District Attorney and new love interest of Rachel. He’s probably best known recently for his starring role in Thank You For Smoking.

Christian Bale is back as the Dark Knight Detective, and though he plays the self-centered billionaire playboy well, he best shines as the Batman. Because there is not the exposition of the origin story as in the previous movie, he seems eclipsed in this film by the villain.

Three new players

Maggie Gyllenhaal takes over from Katie Holmes in the role of Rachel Hawes. Not only is she beautiful, but she can act and is credible in the role. Katie Holmes had only personal pulchritude going for her, but not the acting chops, and she is not missed here. Katie came off as the “girl next door” who never matured. Here, with this film, Rachel is a mature woman, and the object of desire and conflict. You wished he had more to do in this movie.

The criminal Salvatori Maroni is played by Eric Roberts, who we haven’t seen much since his role in the TV series Heroes. He’s mature, smooth, attractive, and the perfect gangland gentleman.

But the real standout is Heath Ledger as the villain The Joker. He is virtually unrecognizable in this role, if you didn’t already know who was playing the role. As the original villain in the first Batman comic in 1940, here he is the quintessential maniacal anarchist. Played more as an amoral terrorist than a loony, he brings a very different feel to this role than Jack Nicholson did in the debut run of the previous Batman series. No one does crazy like Jack, but Heath goes a very different direction. Jack could be funny, saying of Batman “Where does he get those marvelous toys?” Heath brings a menace to the screen that is palpable. From his first scene he’s chilling, creepy.

He achieves his art with three things, beyond the makeup:

• His gait: he walks all spindly, like a marionette
• His tongue: he licks his lips nervously, like Jabba the Hut
• His voice: like many screen villains (think Darth Vader) he drops his voice into an almost gravelly monotone that seems like pure evil itself.

There is already talk of an Oscar for this performance, and indeed, it is the magnum opus of his career. Some may see this movie just to see the last performance of this amazing talent. It is incredible what he’s done with the part, making it all his own.

The movie

The filming venues are interesting. While Gotham City is supposed to represent Manhattan Island, it is obvious that several locales in Chicago were used in this film, and indeed, Illinois saw $40 million pumped into its economy by this movie. But numerous shots of Hong Kong were also used, including the top of its tallest building, Two International Finance Centre.

This film is an incremental level above the first: it’s taut, immersive, moody, exciting and scary, all at once. At times it is mind blowing in its intensity, and stunning in its inventiveness. It opens to midnight debuts tonight across 1,700 theaters in the US. Some believe this could be this summer’s first $100M opening weekend blockbuster.*

While the previous film had a confusing third act, this one has a series of smaller crescendos that build into a satisfying conclusion.

Get there early enough to see the previews, including the coming Terminator Salvation. You’ll be excited to learn who plays the adult John Connor.

This is a relentlessly intense movie. The fight scenes are more realistic, with less close in filming that would otherwise hide the martial arts. This is likely too intense for young viewers under 12.

Grade: A-/B+

You’ll like it if: you like comics, sci-fi, action, detective stories

You won’t like it if: excessive violence and rampant insanity aren’t your cup of tea

*UPDATE: At the close of the first weekend, the movie did $158.355 million, making it the biggest movie opening of all time at the North American box office.

*UPDATE 2: After 18 days, the movie has done over $400 million at the boxoffice, the biggest blockbuster movie of the summer, 4 weeks at #1 and ranks as all-time No. 2 behind Titanic. By the way, it really is better in IMAX.

Bill Petro, your friendly neighborhood culturevulture
www.billpetro.com

MOVIE REVIEW: WALL-E

What a sweet movie, what a cute film. Who else but Pixar could make a movie that’s animation, science-fiction, comedy, spaceships, green — and romance…and make it all work?

And the tributes to other movies of this genre! In the same way that Pixar’s The Incredibles paid tribute to early James Bond movies with its music, cinematography and sets, so too this movie pays tribute to other movies and TV shows about space (Alien), science-fiction (2001: a space odyssey, Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica) and even sea voyages (Titanic). Keep an eye out for HAL’s eye from 2001 as well as some music you’ll instantly recognize, the sound effects of Star Trek‘s “red alert” and phaser blast, the voice of a Battlestar Cylon centurion — and Sigourney Weaver‘s voice as the ship computer! Look carefully, and you’ll see tributes to The Wizard of Oz and The Dream Team. And if you have a penchant for the history of space, if you look quickly you’ll see Sputnik.

In the same way as The Incredibles has its own cinematic feel, so does this film, more than a cartoon it has a lived-in feel as WALL-E seems to have been here for a long time. And when he discovers something new, it seems so clean.

And what movie could start with Michael Crawford singing… not from “Phantom of the Opera” but his younger work from 1969 in “Put on Your Sunday Clothes” and “It Only Takes a Moment” from “Hello Dolly”?” And the delightful singing of “La Vie En Rose” by Louis Armstrong. The end titles “single” was done by Peter Gabriel. The music score was by Thomas Newman.

Story

Our story starts some 800 years in the future, where Earth has been abandoned by mankind and left for robots to clean up all the trash, which had made Earth uninhabitable. WALL-E is a Waste Allocation Load Lifter-Earth Class garbage compacting droid. We feel like we’re seeing a day-in-the-life of R2-D2. We even hear a few R2 beeps, unsurprisingly as Ben Burtt who conceived the voice of R2 does WALL-E.

For over half an hour we hear almost no dialog, it’s almost all pantomime and visual impressions. Other than a cockroach buddy, WALL-E is the only one we see who is still operational. The dystopia theme of mankind’s possible future on Earth is not yet obvious, except in contrast to the very human nature of WALL-E who collects interesting human artifacts of the past, including Christmas lights, an iPod, Zippo lighters, Rubik’s Cube, Twinkies, and of course old videos like “Hello Dolly.” The ecology morality tale kicks off in earnest when WALL-E discovers a living green plant, the first in the 700 years since mankind left on space liners.

EVE

For our droid Adam WALL-E, there appears an EVE (Extra-terrestrial Vegetation Evaluator). A space probe lands on Earth and deposits a sleek, white reconnaissance probe-droid, looking for sustainable life on the planet. The influence of Apple on Pixar become immediately apparent. As WALL-E “reboots” with a Mac startup chime, EVE looks like a sleek iMac. This is not surprising considering the designer of the iMac and iPod, Apple Sr. VP Jonathan Ive consulted with Pixar on the film. When EVE separates out of her elongated egg shape to differentiate into head, arms and hands, she glistens like a second generation white iPhone. And below her monitor-like head, we see a spinning gear, just like on an Apple machine.

The film chronicles their romance through dance as well as care giving incubation. The emblem where EVE’s heart should be is a bio sign of plant life, a subtle shade of green.

There is such visual wonder, the majesty of space flight, the quality of loyal friends, and the touching heart-felt self-sacrifice of mutual love. Surely, fun for the whole family, for children of all ages, including you. And the only movie, that I’ve noticed, that gives credit in the final titles to “processors by Intel”.

Grade: A-

• You’ll like it if: You enjoy animation, heroes, robots, science-fiction, and comedy
• You won’t like it if: You don’t care for cockroaches and prefer live actors

Bill Petro, your friendly neighborhood culturevulture
www.billpetro.com

I have written a movie review of Iron Man at my other blog. Come by and visit the article here.

Bill Petro, your friendly neighborhood culture vulture
www.billpetro.com