Review of The Wolverine

In a saturated market of superhero fastballs, The Wolverine proves how valuable a good change-up can be. I'll be honest; while most movies in this sub-genre are fun, so many of them feel far too similar. How many movies involving an origin story, a save-the-world plot, and spectacles of destruction can we take before they all start to blend together? Thankfully, The Wolverine strips away a lot of these superhero staples and gives us a story of an entirely different flavor. With its emphasis on organized crime and an internal character struggle, this is more Dark Knight or the first Iron Man than Man of Steel or The Avengers. It certainly contains enough action to satisfy hungry fans, but the core story is driven by characters, not spectacle.

The Wolverine begins with a scene set during the WWII bombing of Nagasaki, Japan as the title character saves a solider's life from the nuclear blast. Fast-forwarding to the present day (and after the events of X-Men: The Last Stand), we catch up with Logan (Hugh Jackman), and he's not living the happiest of times. After picking a fight with a group of bar thugs in the Yukon, a young Japanese warrior woman named Yukio (Rile Fukushima) intervenes and explains why she tracked him down. The man whose life Logan saved, billionaire industrialist Yashida (Hal Yamanouchi), is now dying and wishes to bid farewell to his savior. Logan reluctantly agrees to accompany Yukio to Tokyo, and when the old man passes away, Logan finds himself an unwitting protector of Yashida's granddaughter Mariko (Tao Okamoto), who is being hunted by a rival gang. Also involved in the plot are one of Mariko's protectors, deadly-accurate archer Harada (Will Yun Lee), and a mutant with reptilian abilities who is appropriately named Viper (Svetlana Khodchenkova).

After X-Men: The Last Stand disappointed so many viewers, myself included, it's amazing how much better it appears in hindsight given the direction taken with Logan's character here. He is haunted by visions of Jean Grey (Famke Janssen) and the decision he made to kill her, and this plays a large role in his assertion that being immortal isn't all its cracked up to be. On the contrary; he has to wrestle with the inevitability that everyone he grows close to will pass him by, and it's a weighty burden. The Wolverine doesn't do the kind of heavy lifting and philosophizing that The Dark Knight series or even Iron Man does, but it's still nice to see that amid all the action sequences and villains to thwart, the movie never loses sight of its hero as a character.

Director James Mangold is primarily known for drama films, but he deftly handles any scene with a pulse. The Wolverine contains numerous chases and fights, many inspired by martial arts and all of which are well-executed. The most unique of these involves a fight atop a speeding bullet train where, for once, the filmmakers pay a little attention to the laws of physics. And while the introduction of a large silver samurai robot (as seen in some of the ads) at first seems pretty silly, there's actually an interesting reason for its presence.

Hugh Jackman, much like Robert Downey Jr., dominates a Marvel character in a way few could. Not only is his physique more impressive than in any of his previous turns as Wolverine (and so soon after playing Jean Valjean in Les Miserables), but he has the perfect grip on what makes the character tick. Rile Fukushima proves to be an excellent ass-kicking sidekick, and model-turned-actress Tao Okamoto shows enough ability to make her role as the love interest work. Mention also must be made of Svetlana Khodchenkova, who oozes the perfect blend of sex appeal and malice, but her villainous role is a bit underused.

As is Marvel tradition, The Wolverine contains a mid-credits Easter Egg, and this short scene may be one of the most satisfying in recent memory. It's quite the spectacular reveal, and I can safely say it will have fans giddy for this franchise's future prospects. As for the two-hour movie that precedes it, The Wolverine proves that not every superhero tale has to engage in a battle of one-upsmanship to be satisfying. Sometimes, it's better to get back to basics and deliver a character-based story with action elements than keep finding new ways to blow stuff up.

Rating: *** (out of ****)

Review of Fruitvale Station

Note: Yes, this review contains spoilers. But they have their roots in historical fact. Don't worry; knowing them ahead of time will only enhance the experience. Trust me on this. 

When a film uses the hook "Based on a True Story," it is more often than not a marketing ploy, where the resulting fictional film is true-to-life in broad strokes only. With Ryan Coogler's Fruitvale Station, however, that little blurb is the film's greatest asset. This would not be the powerful, brutally affecting piece of filmmaking that it is without that useful knowledge. The basic tragedy inherent in this kind of story; that of a young man gunned down far, far before his time, is enough to involve anyone, but the fact that this actually happened and happens far too often adds a layer of poignancy that no one viewing this movie will be able to shake. Fruitvale Station goes beyond a narrative and becomes a teaching tool. It calls on viewers to reflect upon the darker side of human nature, the fragility of life itself, and whether such tragedies can be avoided at all.

To call the timing of this movie's release eerie is to drastically understate the matter. At a time when the verdict of the recent Trayvon Martin/George Zimmerman trial has left everyone with a strong opinion of some sort, this movie's depiction of the final day in the life of 22-year-old Oakland, CA native Oscar Grant III will be almost unbearable for some. But I call it required viewing. Coogler has accomplished the truly remarkable not only in creating a three-dimensional character with so little scope and running time, but in spreading the criticism around and therefore becoming apolitical. In just 90 minutes (with credits), Fruitvale Station enriches in ways that some movies double the length can't accomplish. In addition to its many layers and strengths, it's also a masterpiece of economy.

Fruitvale Station opens with a real-life video from a cell phone camera in the wee hours of January 1, 2009 depicting the detainment of Oscar Grant III and his friends by BART police, who responded to a fight on a train which Oscar did not initiate. In the ensuing struggle, a gun goes off and the screen cuts to black. Rewinding one day, we're introduced to Oscar (Michael B. Jordan), and we learn that while he has struggled to remain faithful to his girlfriend Sophina (Melonie Diaz), he's always a supportive father to his four-year-old daughter, Tatiana (Ariana Neal). As the film progresses, we learn bits and pieces about this young man's life, including his one-time prison stint for drug dealing. His relationship with his mother Wanda (Octavia Spencer) is also strong. But on New Year's Eve, when he wants to go out and party with some friends to ring in 2009, he takes his mother's advice to take the train instead of drive. A man confronts Oscar, a fight erupts, and police respond, bringing events full circle.

Before the events of the fateful night at the titular train station, Fruitvale Station puts Oscar under the microscope, examining his strengths and weaknesses for all the world to see. One criticism some people level against left-leaning pundits after a tragedy like this is that they too often paint the victim as angelic. Not so here. Coogler peels back the curtain and lets us see Oscar's many character flaws for what they are. In addition to serving time in jail (albeit not for a violent crime), he's cheated on his girlfriend, lost his job for continued lateness, and displays a charitably limited vocabulary. Nevertheless, there are enough likable qualities about the man to root for him, chief of which are rooted in the supportive, gentle way he treats Tatiana. It's been said that many new fathers who grow up without a father figure in their lives want nothing more than to create a better future for their own offspring, and that unquestionably motivates Oscar. Sadly, his journey toward fulfilling that promise was cut short.

For lead actor Michael B. Jordan, this is a triumph of the highest order. This is not an easy role; he is required to be thoughtful and courteous one moment and explosive and boorish in the next, sometimes in the same scene. Take, for example, the scene in the supermarket where he helps a stranger pick out the best fish for a cookout and then confronts his former boss in a way that will have anyone rolling his/her eyes. Fruitvale Station is filled with moments like that, where positive and negative character traits war with one another in mere minutes. Had Jordan struck a single wrong note, the film's carefully constructed attempts at realism would've come crashing down. Instead, he nails it. An Oscar nomination at minimum awaits.

None of the supporting players are given the layer of depth accorded to Oscar, although Melonie Diaz and Octavia Spencer manufacture some with their high level of acting. Spencer is much less fiery than in her Oscar-winning role for The Help, but she's no less impressive. And young Ariana Neal, in her debut performance, is entirely natural, recalling Quvenzhane Wallis's eye-opening work in Beasts of the Southern Wild. And as for Coogler, he's a star in his own right with his direction. Handheld camera shots, if overused, can quickly make a viewer nauseous, but Coogler sidesteps that trap. His style, which includes long, unbroken takes, enhances the movie's "documentary" feel. And much like in another standout 2013 movie (Henry Alex Rubin's Disconnect), on-screen text-message captions are cleverly utilized.

But ultimately, any discussion of Fruitvale Station boils down to the movie's climax. In his handling of the sudden fight, the tussle with police, the reaction of bystanders, and the inevitable outpouring of grief, Coogler elevates Fruitvale Station into unforgettable territory. It's easy to demonize the police, who are certainly guilty of racial profiling, but mention must be made of how many bystanders witnessed the fight and did nothing but stand by, filming the incident with their camera phones. Even the young woman who Oscar unconditionally assisted in the supermarket earlier is filming and not acting. Are we as everyday citizens every bit as guilty for playing amateur reporters instead of helping our fellow human beings in need? It's a point I didn't expect Coogler to raise, but I'm grateful he did.

Fruitvale Station is a devastating film. It's the kind of movie that will leave audiences taken aback, unwilling to leave their seats until the credits have finished rolling, hence the Audience Award it received at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. The entire movie has a profound effect; even during scenes of comic relief and warmth, the knowledge of the main character's untimely death overshadows everything. One watches this movie feeling like a reluctant voyeur, unable to turn away yet unable to act. We know what will happen, so we spend the movie wondering how and why this could happen. By the time the film delivers the expected emotional gut-punch, all we're left with is a nagging question: why do we assume the worst of human beings, as three-dimensional as they are, and how can we avoid contributing to the unnecessary loss of life? The final scene, where Tatiana asks Sophina a simple question and neither she nor the viewer receive an answer, encapsulates this feeling.

I enjoy many fun movies crafted strictly for entertainment purposes, but when an honest, truthful film like Fruitvale Station, which acts not only as an American tragedy of Shakespearean proportions but as a wake-up-call, reaches the screen, cheerleading it becomes a must. At a mere 27 years old, Ryan Coogler has crafted a stunning debut, ensured himself a wonderful future in the business, and delivered one of the best movies of 2013.


Rating: **** (out of ****)

Review of The Conjuring

James Wan's The Conjuring is one of the creepiest and most adult horror films to hit the screen in quite some time. In spite of the R rating, this movie relies more on dread and suspense than gore and a high body count. It's the antithesis of the Saw series, whose excellent first installment Wan directed before the series veered off into much-talked-about "torture porn" territory. Only on very rare occasions can a horror film be labeled "scary" in today's climate; audiences are too accustomed to all the tricks of the trade; they're more likely to laugh than shriek (look no further than the re-release of The Exorcist a decade ago to understand this phenomenon). But when one like The Conjuring comes along and earns its stripes, it's worth singling out.

The "based on a true story" label needs to be taken with a grain of salt. While the character names are a matter of historical record and there was indeed a paranormal investigation as well as an exorcism, there ends any common ground with reality. As soon as we're introduced to the husband-and-wife team of investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren (Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga) circa 1971 New England, it's clear the movie is accepting ghosts and demons as real and running with it. These two commonly find rational explanations for seemingly "haunted" houses, but every now and then, a priest is needed to perform an exorcism.

The Conjuring asks patience of viewers during its setup material as we're also introduced to the Perron family, including father Roger (Ron Livingston), mother Carolyn (Lili Taylor), and their five daughters. Something is amiss right away when the family moves into their supposed dream home: their dog refuses to go inside. Not long after, every clock in the house stops at 3:07 a.m. Add to that a myriad of occurrences including bumps in the night, Carolyn waking up with bruises, and the children seeing ghostly figures, and it's pretty clear help is needed. By the time the Warrens are called in to investigate, the supernatural forces have already gained the upper hand.

For any movie, let alone one in the horror genre, to work, it is absolutely necessary that we care about the characters and their fate. That's the case here. The Perrons act believably in each situation, and in case you're wondering why they don't just move out of the house ASAP, rest assured that the movie delivers a solid explanation as to why. Also largely absent are situations where characters do something stupid simply because the movie's screenplay requires them to. Often times in a movie like this, it's debatable whether a victimized character is a victim because of horror movie creatures or because of typical horror movie behavior. With the latter element thankfully MIA, the Perrons, especially Carolyn, are easy to root for.

Wan is a virtuoso at playing his audience. "Boo!" moments are present, but the timing isn't always what you expect. He delights in baiting viewers into thinking they know how a "jump" scene will play out, but he varies the payoff points throughout. He's also very fond of long, unbroken takes and the occasional unconventional angle. Both the unnerving score and CGI (carefully following the Jaws and Alien principle of slowly, gradually unveiling the villains) are used but not overused. And the movie is perfectly paced; scares and surprises mesh with narrative rather than existing just as standalone moments to jolt an audience.

By depicting the Warrens as cool, rational, and well-prepared, both through writing and through flawless acting by Wilson and Farmiga, The Conjuring easily gets them in our corner. These are smart, easily identifiable protagonists that just about anyone would gravitate toward in a crisis of supernatural proportions, and they're certainly not in their line of work just to make a quick buck. When watching and listening them explain the ins and outs of demonic hauntings and possessions, we believe them. Mention also must be made of Lili Taylor, who has effectively played a role like this before (in 1999's otherwise laughable The Haunting) and has no problem earning our sympathy here.

A funny thing happened during my advance screening of The Conjuring. Through the first half of the movie, plenty of viewers giggled and chattered during several scenes; behavior one would expect from any multiplex horror audience. But when the terror escalated and circumstances grew more dire for the characters, everyone shut up. That's a testament to how well Wan has structured and developed this movie and how it will resonate with fans. The finale burns with intensity without for even a moment turning toward self-parody, and the ending is emotionally satisfying. For horror fans, this is a must-see. But because it works so well in all the traditional ways a good movie should, I'll happily and strongly recommend it even to non-fans.

Rating: ***1/2 (out of ****)
 

Review of Pacific Rim

Sometimes, the right man in the chair that says "Director" on the back makes all the difference. No disrespect to the actors and screenwriters involved, but without director Guillermo Del Toro's sure hand, Pacific Rim could have easily been just another loud, noisy, and dumb example of summer escapism. Instead, with Del Toro at the helm, this movie retains those first two adjectives but jettisons the third. Those attracted to this movie, a rare original property in a sea of sequels, remakes, and adaptations, for robot-on-monster smack-downs will certainly have their quota fulfilled, but Pacific Rim succeeds because it injects more than its fair share of ingenuity into a "humans vs aliens" template. This is the movie the Transformers films could have been, but weren't.

I like the way Pacific Rim introduces its backstory quickly and economically. As we're told in a voiceover, giant, scaly monsters known as the Kaiju have surfaced from beneath the Earth's oceans and gone on a rampage. When conventional weaponry fails, the Jaeger program, 250-foot-tall robots piloted by two humans linked by a "mind meld" to control the machine's movement, is born. Presided over by Stacker Pentacost (Idris Elba), the Jaegers win more than their fair share of battles, and the pilots achieve rock-star status around the world. But after one of the program's best pilots, hotshot Raleigh Beckett (Charlie Hunnam) makes an ill-fated decision in battle that results in him losing his brother (and co-pilot), the Kaiju adapt to the humans' strategy and turn the tide of war in their favor. This results in the Jaeger program's funding cut off and Beckett exiled to a career in construction. But five years later, Pentacost wants to give the Jager program one last go to stop an impending apocalypse and bring Beckett back into action, this time aided by one of the brightest young minds in the business, designer and aspiring pilot Mako Mori (Rinko Kikuchi).

For the most part, very little in Pacific Rim will surprise the veteran movie-goer. If you're expecting Beckett to encounter plenty of resentment among the rebels and prove he's really the right man for the job, you're absolutely right. And if you're expecting Mori to undergo the typical rookie struggles, you're right on the money. And as for whether certain characters live or die? Not hard to guess. There's also the token human antagonist (an egomaniac rival pilot who gets into a fight with Beckett), but he thankfully doesn't take up too much screen time. The Kaiju alone are imposing enough bad guys, after all. But a key conceit, that of a "neural bridge" linking two pilots' minds and memories together, is fascinating, unique, and effectively used throughout the film. This isn't just some throwaway plot device; it's an important part of how the story unfolds and how the best pilots are chosen for this physically and mentally exhausting task.

Pacific Rim is not an actors' movie (few summer blockbusters are), but this one nonetheless contains fine performances. Charlie Hunnam, best known as the star of the biker drama "Sons of Anarchy," has an effective "everyman" quality. Rinko Kikuchi, who I will never forget from Babel, not only gets numerous chances to kick ass big-time, but does a solid job of portraying her character's warring emotions in spite of her limited grasp on the English language. These two share more of a partner dynamic than that of lovers, which represents a refreshing change for a movie like this. In spite of this being an apocalyptic tale, there's plenty of room for comic relief in the persons of two engineers played hilariously by Charlie Day and Burn Gorman. And let's not forget frequent Del Toro collaborator Ron Perlman, who is once again delightful as a black-market Kaiju-body-parts dealer. He even takes part in one of the best post-credit sequences of any movie so far this year.

But the real standout is British actor Idris Elba. He dominates every scene and every line of dialogue with perfect intonation and intensity, and he even gets a speech that I'll argue is even better than that of Bill Pullman's similar one from Independence Day. His role as the stern, authoritative type is right off the shelf of Hollywood archetypes, but he brings a humanity that might not have been on the printed page. Elba may not be the lead, but he has most of the film's showiest character-based moments, and if there's a human star audiences will remember from Pacific Rim, it's him.

Del Toro brings a fabulous visual aesthetic to Pacific Rim. Lighting all around is superb, whether the action is taking place indoors, in or beneath the ocean, or in the spectacularly-lit streets of Hong Kong (nice to see a movie involving destruction not use New York City for once). Every Jaeger-on-Kaiju battle is cleanly edited and designed for "oohs" and "ahs"; at no time do we struggle to follow who's who. Every spectacle tops the one before it, and one of the scenes from the trailer, of a Jaeger wielding a long ship as a sword against an oncoming Kaiju, is even better in its full glory. Even some of the training scenes, especially one where Mori and Beckett go one-on-one, are a lot of fun. And mericfully, the 3D effects are well-utilized with very little motion blur, appropriate brightness levels, and solid depth-of-field. I was surprised as to how easy it was to watch fight scenes at night without itching to remove the glasses. Put this in the rare group of movies where the 3D surcharge is worth it.

Pacific Rim has plenty of company in its battle for the summer box office, but unlike Star Trek Into Darkness or the numerous superhero outings, I don't see this one polarizing viewers at all. For one, it's not based on another property (although there is a "prequel comic" to explain some of the backstory details, for anyone who cares), so it's not competing with uber-picky fan expectations. But it also gets the tone and scope just right for a blockbuster of its ilk. And the running time of 131 minutes feels organic rather than protracted. I certainly wouldn't want every movie to be like Pacific Rim, I enjoy complex characters and stories too much (two things that are a little undercooked here), but as slam-bang, escapist entertainment, it's tough to beat. As one character says early in the movie,  "Let's go fishing."


Rating: *** (out of ****)