Franchised Fun
May 21, 2016
With JJ Abrams deep in Star Wars territory now, Justin Lin has directed the next Star Trek film. Lin helmed Fast & Furious 6 and with Star Trek Beyond will hopefully bring a new spin on very well known characters. Joining the younger crew is Idris Elba in full alien make-up and Sofia Boutella as the alien woman seen in the trailer. No red flags for me, pretty standard second trailer, but Leonard Nimoy will be missed. The film is out July 22.
Star Trek Beyond
Leave the Bare Necessities Alone
May 9, 2016
The Jungle Book (2016).
D: Jon Favreau. DP: Bill Pope. W: John Marks. Starring: Neel Sethi. Voice talents of: Idris Elba/Ben Kingsley/Bill Murray/Scarlett Johansson/Giancarlo Esposito/Lupita Nyong’o/Christopher Walken. (Based on Rudyard Kipling’s novel)
It is simply hard to forget the 1967 Disney animated version of The Jungle Book. ‘The Bare Necessities’ tune has become synonymous with our favorite lackadaisical bear Baloo who helps shepherd man cub Mowgli through the forest. Phil Harris who voiced Baloo would go on to work with Disney on The Aristocats (1970) and Robin Hood (1973). His jovial bellow was only matched by George Saunders’ velvety Shere Khan. When I saw his Oscar winning performance in All About Eve (1950) all I kept thinking was, he’s the tiger. Safe to say much of my generation grew up on Disney animation, even films as old as this one.
This live adaptation of The Jungle Book also follows a forgettable 1994 live action with Mowgli as an adult man, which was released by Buena Vista Pictures. Taking on the mantle is director Jon Favreau (Chef, Cowboys & Aliens, Iron Man 2) who tends to produce and direct on a large scale. Executive producing for Marvel, Favreau also continues to act and dip his fingers in many pools. In his version he blends Kipling’s novel and the animated feature with film influences that give the The Jungle Book a fantastic look if nothing else.
Mowgli (played by newcomer Neel Sethi) finds himself once again rescued by Bagheera (Ben Kingsley) and adopted by the jungle’s wolf pack. With the rains gone the jungle animals create a peace treaty that allows them to all co-habit a certain watering hole without threat. However, this cannot last for long with the return of Shere Khan (Idris Elba) whose hatred of man threatens the pack and forces Mowgli to be chaperoned by Bagheera to the man village. Thus begins Mowgli’s journey to find his new home and meet new friends along the way.
Regrettably Sethi is not much to watch. He lacks charm and wonder, instead his Mowgli is petulant without tenderness which does not allow you to invest in the emotions of such a familiar tale. Kingsley’s Bagheera is rightfully regal, but is not a voice to match Elba’s Shere Khan. The tiger’s mangled appearance gives him a ruthlessness that is new. Along the road movie timeline Mowgli also meets famous Baloo voiced by Bill Murray. The pair’s friendship gets the most laughs and eventually the shtick of Murray wears away to create a palpable connection between the two. The ‘Bare Necessities’ tune comes up organically, unlike King Louie’s (Christopher Walken) song ‘I Wanna Be Like You.’ Much too much like a musical number, the segment seems part of a different movie and merely acts as a gimmick to get Walken’s signature delivery set to music.
Like the animated feature Favreau uses Disney’s traditional image of an open and closing book to illustrate the story book quality of the film. The ending credits are gorgeous as the book opens to 3D pop-ups of certain scenes. Cinematographer Bill Pope creates a mystical and lush jungle and The Jungle Book at least moves at a good pace. Even with certain changes like making the snake Kaa into a female character, voiced by Scarlett Johansson, I do not that think the film brings anything staggeringly new or different to the tale. Disney and Favreau were perhaps too conflicted in wanting to include the musical songs while also lending a more realistic sheen to the sort material. Details like the fact that the monkeys seem to have no language when they are the closest animal to man get lost in the action sequences that create the beats of the film. Better than the literal Cinderella, the movie cannot compete with its original.
After seeing this version I am intrigued and excited for The Imaginarium’s (Andy Serkis’ motion capture company) take on the Kipling classic that will not release until October 2018. With another all star cast that includes Christian Bale, Benedict Cumberbatch, Cate Blanchett, Naomie Harris and Andy Serkis, the film is being released by Warner Bros. Serkis has already claimed in interviews it will be darker than this version. Even with the Disney owned songs safe to say this The Jungle Book is certainly not light so we shall see where how far this one takes us into the shadows.
The Unofficial James Bond Audition
April 28, 2016
Bastille Day (2016).
D: James Watkins. DP: Tim Maurice-Jones. W: Andrew Baldwin. Starring: Idris Elba/Richard Madden/Kelly Reilly/Charlotte Le Bon/José Garcia/Anatol Yusef/Thierry Godard.
Last weekend the Paris set Bastille Day from the European house of Studio Canal hit theaters. An action film that could easily fit the likes of Liam Neeson, Bastille Day is a rapid fire adrenaline rush that is as compact and direct as the bullets from a gun.
Literally hitting close to home with the recent Paris attack, Bastille Day (which was shot long before the attack) plops us down in the middle of the city of light right before its holiday. American CIA agent Sean Briar (Idris Elba) arrives to be briefed for his new duties. Meanwhile expert pickpocket Michael Mason (Richard Madden) nicks the wrong bag inadvertently sending a terrorist attack into motion with a bombing. Agent Briar is sent to find and interrogate Michael before the French get to him, a little international agency chess if you will. Of course there is more at play as the conspiracy behind the lines reveals itself, not too many surprises there.
Elba brings his Luther strut to Agent Briar and believably pounds the pavement. A brilliantly crafted and executed chase sequence atop buildings in the first act will have you squirming in your seat. Madden, the former Rob Stark of Game of Thrones and boring Prince Charming of Cinderella, holds his own with charm and anxiety as Elba’s main screen partner. Both sport believable American accents, Madden’s sounds a lot like another actor whom I still am working to place. It might have been fun for a Brit and Scot to have led this charge, but then the film would have been too obviously Elba’s audition for the next James Bond. Just the way he nearly towers over everyone is gorgeous humor in itself.
The film is deftly paced and at only ninety-two minutes you get everything you need swiftly. The chase is afoot as one would say as the unlikely pair must work together to weasel out the corruption they find. Thankfully the cheese is layered on thinly and the reality of death, with point black agent shootings, gives the story the powerful edge it needs for squirmy realism. Alex Heffes music is a bit much, leaning on the volume button and queuing things so obviously. Bastille Day is clearly better than most, but mostly acts to remind us why Elba is destined for even greater stardom.
The Little Guy is Still Everyone’s Favorite
April 18, 2016
Zootopia (2016).
D: Byron Howard & Rich Moore. W: Phil Johnston & Jared Bush. Starring the voice talents of: Ginnifer Goodwin/Jason Bateman/Idris Elba/Jenny Slate/Nate Torrance/J.K. Simmons/Octavia Spencer/Alan Tudyk/Shakira/Bonnie Hunt/Don Lake.
Disney’s latest feature quietly shines with a universal story about going after your dreams despite the obstacles. The film was released here in the UK under the title, Zootropolis, a title in fact more fitting than Zootopia. Zootropolis speaks to a multicultural creation that recognizes its melting pot complexities while Zootopia seems to speak to an unrealistic ideal. Regardless, within the film the city is referred to as Zootropolis and that’s all that will matter to its audience.
The film follows Judy Hopps (voiced by Ginnifer Goodwin of ABC’s Once Upon a Time) who becomes the first rabbit cop in the big city. A typical ‘fish out of water against all odds’ story is the main arc of the narrative. However, the Disney team is able to speak to the part of that generic narrative we love while injecting humor and charm through animation. Judy heads to the big city for her break plugging in music as she arrives to her tiny apartment and nosy neighbors. She is quickly judged by her size and non predator status and relegated to meter maid duty. Even her slog through sad radio songs taps into our favorite movie moments and gives the adults in the room a laugh, as do later direct film references that I won’t spoil here.
Embracing the contrasting size of animals and habitats the city of Zootropolis is an animators dream. With a rain forest canopy world to a city built entirely for small rodents, Judy explores the creation of a place where prey and predator co-habitat on two legs instead of four. Judy soon meets trixy sly fox Nick Wilde (voiced by Jason Bateman) and their begrudged teamwork allows Judy to help solve a case. Goodwin and Bateman are excellent here, their voices not too recognizable to overshadow their characters. The most recognizable voice is probably Idris Elba as Police Chief Bogo. Yet his husky English blends well with his routine dismissal of anything sentimental. Like Inside Out, Zootopia gives us complex leads who must navigate the grey areas of life that are not that easy. And unlike The Good Dinosaur, it does not rely on visual splendor to carry a story. Its cleverness is subtle and detail orientated.
Zootopia will surely prove to be a timely piece about acceptance of others as well as a thing we all learn back in kindergarten. Don’t judge a book by its cover. Fear will always be the easy route to change, but not the right kind of change. Its themes and script, written years ago as the production time in animation is very long, are extremely timely with the events of today. Once again Disney proves sometimes what is good for kids to learn is also right for adults to re-learn.
Over and Done With
November 16, 2015
Spectre (2015).
D: Sam Mendes. DP: Hoyte Van Hoytema. W: John Logan, Neal Purvis, Robert Wade & Jez Butterworth. Starring: Daniel Craig/Christoph Waltz/Léa Seydoux/Ralph Fiennes/Ben Wishaw/Naomie Harris/Andrew Scott/Monica Bellucci/Rory Kinnear/Jesper Christensen/Dave Bautista. (NOTE: Based on Ian Fleming’s characters from his James Bond series)
Oh how the mighty do fall. The newest entrance into the James Bond cannon, Spectre, is quite literally a mess. Its theme song, title sequence, premise, script, and execution are all vastly inferior to 2012’s Skyfall. If Daniel Craig felt done with his portion of this franchise you will feel done with it as well after two and a half hours of this film.
Let’s start with the opening. The first sequence is actually strong. Dropped into the middle of Mexican festivities for the Day of the Dead our Bond (Craig) is already hot on the pursuit, no introductions needed. Yet this opening gives way to a scatterbrained title sequence that lacks any coherent theme or look even. The best visuals are of women made out of wispy smoke, but this is reminiscent of the sand and smoke of the title sequence of Quantum of Solace so not entirely new. Sam Smith’s song ‘Writing on the Wall’ is sadly made worse by the visual confusion of the credit sequence. The octopus imagery, which anyone would already be aware of from the trailer, is just too simple and by the end of the film lacks any significance. For a franchise whose theme songs and title sequence are legendary this is a major misstep.
Next we are subjected to rogue Bond on the run who quickly and superfluously seduces Monica Bellucci to gain minimal intelligence. Bond quickly learns that there are bigger forces at work that perhaps have been puppeteering his life recently. This is the first of many times the writers blatantly remind you of Craig’s bond films as a set and the time line of his character. Christoph Waltz’s villain lacks any originality as he merely serves this purpose of stringing all the films together. In other words, ‘hehe, it was me the whole time!’ Sadly Waltz becomes a caricature in this world. Some great hand to hand combat happens, but none of the action really comes from the villain. The final action act is a video game conclusion, save the princess and get out of the building in time. What a bore.
Bond is still supported by an excellently serious Ralph Fiennes as M and Naomie Harris as Money Penny. Ben Whishaw’s Q finally gets his do and breaks to the surface of the spyage with his gadgets and gizmos galore. Andrew Scott’s C is quite literally a less complex Moriarty, his character from the BBC Sherlock series. Type-casting if it ever needed a definition. Even gorgeous and brainy Madeleine Swann (Seydoux) cannot save Spectre. A character that could have been a cryptic comment on the Bond brand of misogyny gives way to Bond romance that sprouts in a matter of days. It’s so unbelievable it appears stupid rather than old fashioned. But what is bond without women who lay down for him? Maybe this character cannot work anymore.
Spectre is uninspired and slogs on so long you feel you have watched a few different films. Mendes is not coherent on a look or a story. like he was in Skyfall . Craig phones it all in and considering his publicly vented boredom with this character you wonder if the film should have been made at all. Also there is the inevitable comparison with the recent Bond homage Kingsman which narratively addresses technology and surveillance as weapons. This is simply bad timing, but really what everyone is waiting for the announcement of who the next Bond will be as Idris Elba rumors continue to spiral. I for one would love Elba as Bond, if you don’t believe me watch the BBC’s Luther. We shall have to wait and see, but maybe we all need a break anyway?