breaking dawn part 2

 

It was a Monday night and the place wasn't crowded by any means but still... As I walked up to the ticket counter the girl behind it asked me which movie I wanted to see.  I quickly glanced both ways, leaned in just a little, raised my right hand to the left side of my mouth and whispered behind it "twilight".  She laughed and told me I didn't need to be ashamed so either she was endorsing the movie or the fact that I was seeing it without an accompanying female. I'm pretty sure it was the latter.

 

It seemed that there were an awful lot of chick-flick movies in the previews and I suddenly recalled my very recent conversation with the ticket counter girl and exactly which movie I was about to see and thought "oh, right, duh!"  A couple came in carrying a baby car seat which was completely covered in a blanket and I wondered if they were hauling their newly bought stuff (mall theater) or actually had one of those really miniature babies that doesn't actually require oxygen to continue living.  Right about the first time Jcub took his shirt off we ALL found out they hadn't been shopping so you know the kid didn't last long.  At least mom will be able to tell her friends she went to see the last twilight movie in the theater. Even though it will probably take her three or four more attempts with the DVD six months down the road to actually finish the whole thing.

 

The movie began as usual with some grand scenery shots of the now familiar Pacific Northwest and music which definitely seemed old school twilight to me. After trying various other kinds of musical scores in the flyover films it was a refreshing return to the original musical feel of the first film which I've always thought is the most twilighty.

 

Vampire Bella is distractingly pretty and I'm not just imagining this.  bd2 contains flashback scenes which show her progression through the five films and she is definitely not the same girl she was when Edward saved her from the blue van of death.  Edward looks pretty much the same I think but I'm pretty sure his hair has gotten progressively shorter every movie.

 

It's been four years since I read the book and I've forgotten most of it I'm sure.  breaking dawn 2 is all about vampires and werewolves.  Most of the ordinary human types are absent from this story or reduced to minimal cameo appearances. Charlie does get his cringe inducing need to know explanation but he at least gets to see and hug Bella which was nice I guess. 

 

It is obvious that each twilight film has had more money to spend than the one before and bd2 is no exception.  It is the richest movie of all of them in look and scale. While the money has enabled progressively grander productions the intimacy and cozy feeling of the first movie has had a corresponding decrease I think. It also seemed to me that they are no longer trying to appeal to any wider of an audience than they already hold.  No more explanations of the twilight world. It's assumed that you're there because you want to be or at least that it's not the first twilight movie that you've been dragged to.

 

Baby Renesmee is obviously a CGI baby but thankfully they used a real human for the young girl version. Several other new vampires debut in this movie and it was hard to keep track of them all but I was pleasantly surprised to see Ned the pie maker from Pushing Daisies (Lee Pace) show up.

 

Back to the beginning if I may.  Bella is on screen for several seconds or maybe even a couple of minutes before she says anything. The very first words she speaks are "I love you". (to Edward not Jcub. Isn't it just tragic that I need to actually clarify this?)  By the end of the movie I think I finally believe her.  I don't recall even one time where Bella jumps into Jcub's arms in this movie.  This is mostly due to Jcub imprinting on her baby of course.  In fact probably the funniest scene in the movie is where Edward and the others stand by while Bella lays a beating on Jcub when she finds out. Edwards comments are great during this.

 

breaking dawn 2 is a big production with a relatively small story, or maybe I should say concentrated story.  Like Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows 2 it is mostly the build up to and excecution of the final confrontation. While I found DH2 a bit anti-climactic and a let down breaking dawn 2 delivers a bigger ending than is even contained in the book.  It is well done and generously satisfying.  One thing I did remember from the book was Bella letting Edward into her mind at the very end. This scene was also the last scene in the movie and was very well done.  In the end it was just Bella and Edward, each knowing that the other loved them above all else, forever.  Really though, what else is there?

 

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The end credits are some of my favorites ever.  All of the significant characters from all the movies are included and the whole thing is surprisingly nostalgia inducing.  They bring the whole story together and are the perfect end to the five movies.



The Avengers

The Avengers had the biggest opening weekend of any movie EVER, by a huge margin.  Is it the best movie ever? Not even close, but it is a lot of fun and way above average as far as superhero movies go.

I wouldn't necessarily say it's fun for the whole family though.  I saw quite a few very small children being dragged into the theater because, well, even though movie tickets are expensive they are still much cheaper than a baby sitter these days right?  Anyway, not too far into the movie there was some particularly vigorous fighting going on.  I honestly can't quite remember just exactly who was trying to kill who but some kid whose mother no doubt still tells his/her age in months starts crying like, well, a baby.  He/She was apparently yet unable to realize that the great big mean people just over there were just nice rich actors here to entertain us all and that they weren't even going to be coming after him/her next.

The Earth is about to be attacked by aliens (your basic ugly, kinda funny lookin' but not too slimy which is always a plus and overall close to humanoid in shape, kind of the space version of the baddies from LOTR.)  The aliens need a glowing cube called a tesseract to open a portal/shortcut to access Earth. The main villain Loki (Thor's adopted brother) arrives ahead of the main party to facilitate all of that. As far as villains go I quite liked Loki and thought Tom Hiddelston who played him did a great job.  What made him great was the way that he delivered lines like this: (speaking to Black Widow) "I won't barter Barton! Not until I make him kill you. Slowly, intimately, in every way he knows you fear. And then he'll wake just long enough to see his good work, and when he screams I'll split his skull! This is my bargain, you mewling quim!" Yeah, he was awesome, no wait, I mean bad... bad bad bad.......awesome!

The boss of the good guys, the guy who gathers all the Avengers together wears an eye patch, so you know he is a bit of a maverick himself and will surely at one crucial point disobey a direct order via skype because he knows better than all the suits in the war room.

And finally, The Avengers themselves are gathered from near and far during the first half of the movie.  We learn enough about each of them and their stories that even those of us who haven't seen all of the superhero movies over the last few decades become well enough acquainted with them to gain a vested interest in their fates. (Oh yeah and the fate of the rest of the world too, sorry almost forgot about all us little people.)

They were all awesome, or I guess I should say super, but the easy standout for me and I would guess for many others was Iron Man.  I'm sure they could have considered naming this movie Iron Man and Friends but knew that wouldn't be quite right.  Just as Johnny Depp will always be remembered as Captain Jack Sparrow so will Robert Downey Junior always be remembered as Iron Man.  The role fits him so well I can't imagine anyone else playing it.  He provides most of the humor and maybe more surprisingly, much of the heart for the film. You may recall he gave out a few nicknames to his fellow Avengers.  When I heard him call Thor "Point Break" I first thought I had misheard him, then I realized who had said it and knew that's exactly what he said, how could they have possibly have thought that would work, but it did, and it was brilliant.  All this took about 1/10 of a second inside my head.  Then I laughed along with the others in the room who were old enough to get the reference.

In the end, the Avengers save the world except for everyone who died of course.  The climax is very similar to the one in a pre Pixar Brad Bird movie called The Iron Giant. I'm sure you've seen it. If not you should, right away.  In fact I think, like a good Pixar movie, The Avengers has a healthy balance of story, characters, humor, conflict to overcome and heart.  The obvious ingredients of any good movie that are surprisingly lacking in so many.

Am I a fan of the ensemble cast superhero movie?  Well, I am of this one.  I'm not sure I want them to make a habit out of them though.  Part of the whole superhero gig is the bitter sweetness of being super yet dealing with the loneliness of having to keep it all a secret.  Watching Bill Bixby walk away as the lonely music played, with his duffel bag slung over his shoulder yet again at the end of every episode of The Incredible Hulk on TV in the 70s was always sad.

Now that The Avengers have their super club, others to identify with and understand, well... I suppose it's a good thing.  Apparently at the very very end of the credits there was one more scene (which I missed yet again) of them all having dinner together or something.  I suppose that's fine, just as long as they don't start all going to the bathroom together.

8.5/10 for me.

The Hunger Games (movie)

Spoilers? Oh yeah!

We all know not to judge a book by its… movie, so I guess it would also seem proper not to set expectations of a movie based on its book.  You’d think that after Harry Potter and then twilight (yeah I’ve heard that there have been a couple of other movies over the course of history that have also been based on books) we’d be used to dialing down our hopes for entertainment value of movies to about 60 or 70 percent of what the books provide but it’s just so hard to give it up.  No matter how hard we try to go in with low expectations there is always that sneaky bit of hope that always seems to hide away in some deep dark corner until inevitably the time comes to jump out and wallow in disappointment.  Maybe just this time it will be different, The Hunger Games has been getting great reviews…

Well, The Hunger Games is a great book but the movie version is only a shallow reproduction which lacks most of the emotion and depth of the original story.  I’m not saying that it’s a bad movie, it’s actually pretty good, the actors are believable and the scenes are mostly well done.  There is just not enough of the whole story necessary to bring the emotional highs and lows.

 At 142 minutes it’s not a short movie and it seemed like a good portion of that time was allotted to pre games explanation and development but it just wasn’t enough.  We never really learn enough about the characters and their future dystopia (hey I looked it up so I have to use it now and then) to care like we should when those times come.

The two biggest moments for me in the book were when Katniss volunteered to take the place of Prim at The Reaping and then the death of Rue in the games.  The first scene was done about as well as I could have hoped with the small exception that I thought Katniss took a little too long to volunteer in the movie. In the book, or at least in my memory, she spoke up almost instantly as soon as Prim’s name was called.  Rue’s death in the book was actually the biggest moment for me.  We knew a little more about her and were able to care about her and her fate.  In the movie she peeks around a tree a couple of times, gets killed and suddenly Katniss is wailing and building flower arrangements on the body of this girl we were barely introduced to.

I thought the games themselves were somewhat glossed over and  toned way way down so all the young kids who had already read about all the death and mayhem in the book wouldn’t have to actually see it on screen (cue eye roll).  It almost seemed they were chasing each other around the mall rather than engaging in a fight to the death. 

Jennifer Lawrence was a fine Katniss and that boy from Bridge to Terabithia made a good Peeta, although I thought he could have been bigger.   Just like in the book I felt sorry for Gale, yet another Mr. Right being replaced by Mr. Right Now. He is played by Liam Hemsworth and apparently he is going out with Miley Cyrus so he deserves our pity in real life as well.  I liked Woody Harrelson’s Haymitch better than the real one in the book and Stanley Tucci played a great Regis… I mean Ceasar Flickerman.

I really wish Hollywood would stop with the shaky cam and quick cuts.  It never fools me into thinking the scene is extra realistic and in fact takes me out of the story by making me realize I am watching some trendy editing technique which just makes things more confusing.  The shaky cam footage at the beginning of this movie was particularly baffling.  Nothing was blowing up, no cars were being chased and neither Matt Damon nor Jason Statham is even in the movie. Come on!

 To those who haven’t read the book I’m sure The Hunger Games seems like a fine movie. It’s just that like so many books turned movie before, it could have been so much more.  I can’t really say what I would have had them do differently within the time they had and I’m not sure it’s even anyone’s fault.  It’s just that the end result falls short of the experience one gets from the book.

I will close with my gratitude to you for reading my little review, or if I may quote Katniss with one of my favorite lines from the movie, “thank you for your consideration”.



The Hunger Games 7/10