Hello Readers,
Summer time is that wonderful time when Hollywood tries to
make us forget everything we ever learned at school during the fall, winter,
and spring, by bombarding our brains with mindless action and implausible plot
lines for three hour increments.
The summer blockbuster has become as much a part of American tradition
as apple pie or baseball, and just like apple pie and baseball games, some end
up better than others. Over the
last couple of weeks I saw two more of these “biggest movies of 2013”; Now
You See Me and Man of Steel.
Today’s blog will contain reviews of both of those movies. So sit back with a nice cold glass of
water, or whatever your summer beverage of choice happens to be, and enjoy.
Now You See Me
I realized something about my method of review last night,
and I want this insight to be my caution to you, my readers, today. The realization is this: I like most
movies the first time I see them.
Call me a poor critic, but most of the time, my best critical work comes
when I know the story or on my second or third viewing of a movie. Unfortunately, as an unemployed
student, I do not have the money to see movies a second or third time, so I
will have to make due with my first impressions. The reason I bring this up in relation to Now You See Me is that the film falls into a certain category of
movie. It is one of those films
where the first time you watch it, you are trying the whole time to figure out
what is going on and what the twist is going to be. This means that the movie is thoroughly enjoyable the first
time you watch it, because you don’t know what is coming. The measure of a great movie for me,
however, is how well it responds to a second or third viewing. If the movie is still enjoyable once
you know the secret because there is subtle symbolism and foreshadowing of that
secret (The Prestige), or because
the movie uses the secret twist to create an interesting moral or philosophical
dilemma (The Illusionist), then
you know it is a good story. If,
however, the movie becomes dull or predictable once you have seen it once or
twice, then it must be consigned with the majority of summer movies to the
general class of “entertaining, but nothing special.” Now You See Me
was certainly an interesting and entertaining movie the first time through, so
I am recommending you go see it at least once. My hesitation would come if you were to ask me whether you
should buy the DVD when it comes out.
Now You See Me
follows in the tradition of The Prestige and The Illusionist as a
movie about magic in which the story itself is one large magic trick being
presented, with smaller tricks used throughout as a metaphor for the plot. The movie was well acted, from big name
stars like Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman to fresh faces like Jesse Eisenberg
and David Franco. Each member of
the cast performed their role well, helping to build the larger puzzle of
intrigue and revenge.
I did have a couple of problems with the story. First, the twist (which I shall do my
best not to reveal) was a little predictable if you have seen this sort of film
before. There was never a single
moment in the story where I was particularly shocked or taken completely by
surprise, however, there were a few minor details that kept me guessing for
awhile, which made the movie fun.
My second issue with the story was the relevance of Michael Caine’s
character. The whole role seemed
more like a cameo or a tacked on character designed to get Michael Caine’s name
on the poster to draw in movie-goers.
The movie describes the part best when they describe his character as “a
One-hundred-and-twenty-million-dollar abracadabra” that keeps the audience’s
attention away from the main trick until it is too late to see how it was done.
As far as the excellent elements of the movie, the story
grabs the attention of the audience and holds you the entire was through the
movie. Solid performances from the
characters combined with good use of sets and props, particularly the magic
tricks shown in the shows, to keep the audience guessing the motives of the
characters and the next step in the trick.
Perhaps the best way to approach Now You See Me is in it’s own words and contexts. As a viewer, you are drawn in by all
the “Are you looking closely” moments, and the movie is able to pull off the
trick because you are not focusing on the bigger picture. It is only when you are able to know
how the trick is done; to know what that bigger picture is, that the true craftsmanship
of the film will be revealed. Is
the trick still interesting when you know how it is done? Only time will tell. As it stands, Now You See Me is a delightfully entertaining film for summer
viewing, and may end up being one of those go to films in which craftsmanship
is combined with showmanship to create a true work of movie magic.
Man of Steel
I hardly know where to begin with the latest superhero movie
to grace our summer screens; frankly, I must begin by saying that anyone who
looks for a cunningly woven narrative with complex and compelling characters
and intriguing symbolism in a superhero movie is going to be disappointed. Not every movie can be The Dark
Knight, even with Christopher Nolan as the
producer. That being said, Man
of Steel was a good re-introduction to
Superman, contained some decent acting, and was able to play with more complex
themes a little in between the monotony of Superman getting slammed into the
ground repeatedly.
As an introduction to Superman, Man of Steel was an excellent movie. The background setting scenes on Krypton were engaging and
provided an adequate (if not entirely compelling) explanation as to the source
of Superman’s capabilities, his enemies, and his family. Indeed, many of the flaws that might be
brought up in relation to Man of Steel can be explained by the fact that this movie is set-up; with the
extraordinary popularity of superhero films in the last few years, and the
success of Marvel with The Avengers,
it is no surprise that DC wants to get in on the box office potential and
release their own rash of superhero films leading up to an inevitable Justice
League film. Viewed as an
introduction to such a series of movies, with the potential for later sequels
and spin-offs, it is hardly surprising that Man of Steel sometimes drags as a story because of its attempts to
create the secondary world necessary for such a series.
Where Man of Steel
did fall short was in the character development department. The relationship between Superman and
Lois Lane was not given sufficient rooting for its development, and the
chemistry between the two characters was awkward as a result. The film also struggled by introducing
more characters that could justifiably be followed and developed, even in the
course of a three hour film. It
left the viewer wanting more back-story for the other characters, in a film
could already be criticized for getting bogged down in back-story.
Call me a nerd, but I am a huge fan of the creation of a
secondary world. I love those moments
in a story that give the reader or viewer a glimpse into a universe as wide and
complicated as our own, and thus, I found the extensive portrayal of the planet
Krypton, and of Superman’s parents both heart warming and fascinating. Russell Crowe’s portrayal of Jor El was
one of the most fascinating performances in the film, as he brought to life the
complex dichotomy of predestination and free will that embodies the
“philosophical” aspect of the film.
As each member of society on Krypton has been created to serve a
particular purpose within that society, each can be seen as a product of a
predestinational worldview, and can effectively shift the blame for their
actions onto biology and society.
Superman, on the other hand, embodies all the gene potential for
Krypton, and thus is given the liberty to choose who he will be. Jor El is subject to the predestination
of his people, having been created to be a scientist, but as such, he
recognizes the importance of choice and bases his action upon this belief. I don’t know if anyone was trying to
make a point, or if Russell Crowe is simply a phenomenal actor, but I found it
very interesting that the best performance of the movie, and the most
interesting character, was the one who somehow managed to synthesize
predestination and choice in his actions.
Idle speculation.
One of the other difficulties the film encountered was the
action sequences. I know that the
average film viewer expects a certain amount of fighting, explosions,
destruction, and general mayhem in a superhero movie. That is no excuse, however, to have a good percentage of the
movie simply be Superman being thrown into buildings by the bad guys. The wanton destruction the film wreaks
on the world it creates is excessive, careless, and lacking in taste. Alright, so the guys fighting have
incredible abilities. You would
think at least Superman would be trying not to knock down every building within
sight every time he gets into a fight.
Sure, some of the fighting effects were cool, and some of the imagery of
the destroyed Metropolis was heart-wrenching (the images of reporters covered
in ash picking their way through the rubble was deliberately reminiscent of
9-11), it was not necessary to the continuation of the story, and became dull
and repetitive after awhile.
Purposeless violence is a tacky way to keep an audience interested in
the story, and is more than likely to bore the more intelligent members of the
viewing audience.
One of the aspects of the film that I thought was handled
very well was the presence of the American military within the film. It has become popular in movies to
either paint the military as the bad guy or merely as dangerously incompetent. Man of Steel does neither, and instead highlights the heroic
nature of the service of our enlisted men and women, which in turn highlights
the second theme of the film; that of the hero in everyone. Except for the predestined nasties from
Krypton, everyone in the film is given the chance to act heroically, and each
character that is given the opportunity chooses to do the right thing. The movie stands as a resounding image
of the inherent goodness of humanity, and also of America, without becoming
nauseatingly sweet or overwhelmingly patriotic.
All in all, I enjoyed Man of Steel immensely.
There could have been a little better timing between the action, back-story,
and character development bits, and of course, the story could have had a
little less slamming Superman into stuff, but over all the movie was enjoyable and
interesting. I look forward to a
second viewing and to spending more time in the secondary world that the film
spent so much time and energy creating.
Well, spend a hot summer day in a movie theater or curled up in an air conditioned house with a good book. I may have a couple of recommendations coming up for a new of those within the next month or so, so stay tuned.
Back to reality.
