Oh Captain, My Captain

Robert Redford is in a Marvel film. Think about that for a second. I mentioned as a side note the other day how comic book movies were getting wide respect in the film community, thanks especially to recent movies like The Dark Knight, Man of Steel, and The Avengers, the last of which sits pretty with the third highest worldwide box office gross of all time. Unlike video game adaptations, the comic book genre is now attracting talented directors, top shelf actors and producers invested in putting forward their best efforts. And there's no better example of that trend - which has only come in the last few years - than Robert Redford signing on for a major role in Captain America: The Winter Solider, which came out this past weekend. This is a man with two Oscars on his mantle, and perhaps SHOULD have been nominated for another with his starring role in 2013's All is Lost. The idea that someone as renowned as Redford, who could certainly hand-pick his next role, would decide to be in a movie like this speaks volumes as to just how influential, special, and overall GOOD the genre has become.

As you can imagine, he leaps at the opportunity.

And when we see the final product, we can understand why. Winter Soldier continues the story of WWII superhero Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) as he adapts to a modern world vastly different from the relatively simple era in which he was raised. And that's the biggest difference between this and predecessor The First Avenger: theme. Whereas Joe Johnson's 2011 blockbuster danced to the tune of an upbeat, patriotic flair, the sequel from Anthony and Joe Russo (best known for their TV work on Arrested Development and Community) delves into dark shadows and moral ambiguity, and what that means to a man who adorns himself in stars and stripes, but is employed by the covert security agency S.H.I.E.L.D. and its leader Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), a man whose "secrets have secrets." And so this story ends up feeling more like Three Days of the Condor (completing the Robert Redford connection) or The Good Shepherd than it does your standard superhero fare, while still maintaining the same universe and rules we've become accustomed to with Marvel Studios' releases in the past decade.

Not since the days of piracy have eye patches been so bad-ass.

But espionage storyline aside, The Winter Soldier is STILL a superhero flick, and so you need a colorful, over-the-top bad guy for the hero to fight, right? Well, yes and no. On the yes side is the Winter Soldier himself (Sebastian Stan), a mysterious and silent assassin who is lethally brutal and a true challenge for our hero. But on the other end of the spectrum is a shadowy organization trying to bring down S.H.I.E.L.D. from the inside, causing Cap to distrust all of his established allies, including Fury and fellow Avenger Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson). Again, this is great not just because it provides such a sharp contrast from the largely open and straightforward story of The First Avenger, but also because it provides an excellent STORY, one in which the heroes (and the audience) are kept guessing as to what could possibly happen next.

Takes the "Iron Man" workout to another level.

That's thanks to the efforts of both screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely (who also wrote the first movie) and the directors Russo. The Russos especially have a lot to prove, as they've never really done the kind of action thrill-ride that Marvel fans expect. And while their last directorial effort came at a time when Kate Hudson was still an A-list actor (the 2006 comedy You, Me and Dupree), there's no rust as they do a very good job here. Like most first-time action directors, they make the stupid mistake of shooting too close to the fight scenes (thus obscuring any and all detail), but otherwise their solid camerawork keeps everything fresh and exciting. They also get excellent performances out of their actors, from veterans Redford and Jackson to young rising stars Evans, Johansson and Anthony Mackie (as a high-flying sidekick). Even with castings of the likes of MMA star Georges St-Pierre as a minor villain, there are no substantial acting weaknesses, and that can't be overstated when you once again remember that you're watching a superhero flick and not a full-on spy thriller. And for that matter the special effects are really something else, explosive and insane as are the demands of the genre, and yet on a smaller, more believable scale than those of the Iron Man and Thor franchises. They're even more impressive when you consider that relatively little CGI was used. Sure, computers were used to render the gigantic Helecarriers and a few other items of note, but the directors were quite adamant about practical effects whenever possible, and their success is readily apparent.

Okay, Michael Jordan could probably have done this, too...

There's really only one downside to this movie, and that unfortunately comes to the story itself. I said before that audiences would be kept guessing as to the plot details, and that's true. But unfortunately, the screenplay is itself not without predictability, many of the major twists getting telegraphed well in advance. Characters do pretty much what you expect, limited not by the well-known comic book origin stories, but by the constraints of the spy genre and the overall talent of the screenwriters, which is good but not GREAT. Markus and McFeely are simply never going to get any Oscars for their work, which to be fair isn't a world-ending event. But what makes the movie stand out from its brethren is how bravely it seeks to actually change the parameters set out by the previous Marvel films, and leave the next franchise movie with something completely different to work with than we the audience had imagined. It's that risk-taking that makes me excited for all future entries.

No, this isn't a new G.I. Joe picture. Why do you ask?

It might not be on the same level quality-wise with recent marvel hit The Avengers, but Captain America: The Winter Soldier is still easily among the best comic book movies of all time. Marvel's "Phase Two" sees the company putting out some of their best efforts, and things look to only get better as the years go on. It's so amazing to see this genre getting the kind of respect needed to thrive, both from the critics and the studios themselves. No, it's not perfect, but considering the upward quality trend we've seen from comic book adaptations in recent years, it's more than a welcome addition to movie screens. It'll appeal to the older spy fans AND the young superhero crowd, a seamless blend that needs to be seen on the big screen to be believed.

Mashup in Manhattan

I try not to make snap judgments when I call a film my favorite so far of the year. I generally attempt to step back from the initial rush I felt in the immediate aftermath of the movie in question and ask myself as to what made that particular title so great. That was certainly easy when the films in question were the relatively unremarkable Haywire, The Secret World of Arrietty and Friends with Kids. Much as I enjoyed each of those titles, they were absolutely the best of what was a swath of mediocre releases beginning in January that has continued largely unchecked in 2012. Having a clear frame of mind became more difficult in March, when the first great film of the year was released in the Hollywood remake 21 Jump Street, and again in April with the horror spoof The Cabin in the Woods. As opposed to simply enjoying myself at the theater, I was actually having  rip-roaring times, firsts for the year. When I stood back and declared them #1's, I had to force myself to look past what I loved about them and see them for what they really were. Fortunately, that still made them excellent films, though I now find myself in an even more difficult position today that I did in those past two instances: a great movie that I thoroughly enjoyed to the tune of it easily catapulting to the top of my 2012 rankings. But does Marvel's The Avengers truly deserve to be known as the #1film of the year? Following is a list of the big and little things director Joss Whedon did right in adapting the popular comic book superhero team to the big screen.

Joss Whedon Success #1: A Classic Tale

I'm sorry, it's still difficult to believe that Chris Evans is that big...

When the Marvel Comics super-group The Avengers was first formed back in 1963 by creative minds Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, it was to unite several of the characters the two men created to battle villains no one hero could defeat, in this case Loki, the Asgardian god of mischief and brother and arch-nemesis of superhero Thor. Knowing this, Whedon gleefully pits Loki (Tom Hiddleston) against Earth's mightiest heroes, or at least those who have had successful film runs to this point. When Loki steals an alien power source with limitless potential, the Tesseract (Sorry, purists, but I'm glad they didn't call it the Cosmic Cube), from the hands of international law enforcement agency S.H.I.E.L.D., director Nick Fury (Samuel L Jackson) calls together the strongest and smartest known heroes in an attempt to prevent Loki from subjugating the world's population. It may not be all that easy, as it will take the combined strengths of super-soldier Captain America (Chris Evans), genius in a metal suit Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr), thunder demigod Thor (Chris Hemsworth), gamma-irradiated scientist/monster Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo), and master assassins Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) to prevent the bad guy from using the Tesseract to summon an alien army to pacify the Earth for his rule.

Funny, he doesn't LOOK particularly angry...

Whedon knew what he was doing when he wrote this script; each character has their own stake in what happens, and the balance between characters is such that never does anyone gets too much attention in comparison to the others. Placating the egos of big-name actors is never an easy task, though that was perhaps made easier by presenting them a tale that starts off with huge consequences and that keeps raising the stakes, never allowing itself to falter even in the face of necessary plot exposition or character development. Keeping a steady pace throughout means the audience never feels lost, even if they've never read a comic book in their life or seen any of the preceding Avengers films. Still, I have no doubt that the die-hard fans will have the best experience, as this is a story that hearkens back to the golden age of comic book heroes and villains.

Joss Whedon Success #2: Hero Cooperation... and Conflict

It's a good thing the god of thunder doesn't sucker-punch...

One of the great thing about the Avengers comics over the years was that you had a constantly-rotating group of heroes who fought gallantly to protect the world from evil. Of course, the unsaid portion of that statement is that this group rotated their members because the erstwhile allies didn't always get along. Whedon did good by not making this a seamless transition from a number of solo heroes into bad-ass super group; these guys have little in common, and early on they make it vocal what they despise about one another. What Lee and Kirby knew, and Whedon wisely picked up, is that when the strongest people on the planet have a beef with one another, rarely will words win a fight where fists do quite nicely. In often clashing with one another, the characters' eventual uniting under a shared threat is made far more amazing, especially when those fights prove to be far from over in the heat of battle. Great acting is simply a great topping, as Downey Jr, Evans, Hemsworth et al make the whole thing work, good or bad, in their characters' interactions with one another.

Joss Whedon Success #3: The Hulk Done Right

Okay, NOW we run!

As a film franchise, The Hulk has not really been much of a success by the standard set by Thor, Captain America and Iron Man for Marvel. Failing to gather much traction either in 2003 or 2008, the reason for Hulk apathy is as simple as the hero's premise: Bruce Banner gets mad, he turns into Hulk, repeat as necessary. But what makes Hulk bland as a solo act grows new life when he's thrown against other heroes, whether he's hunting Black Widow through the bowels of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s  Helecarrier or duking it out with Thor. And when he takes his "Hulk Smash" bit out on an invading army... well, let's just say that seeing is believing. Thanks equal parts smart storytelling from Whedon and the casting of Ruffalo (which has proven to be a masterstroke of genius), not to mention unprecedented CGI/motion capture work which finally allow the not-so-jolly green giant to live up to his namesake, The Hulk finally feels like a force to be reckoned with. Combine that with Whedon's liberal use of comedy to disarm your senses, and he appears to finally be coming into his own as a movie character.

Joss Whedon Success #4: Suitable for Your Children

The new Michael Ball fashion show begins with a twist.

Remember last summer, when Transformers 3 hit the big screen? Besides being a jumbled mess thanks to director Michael Bay, the destruction of Chicago (the film's only worthwhile bit) was tempered a bit when scenes were shown of the evil Decepticons gleefully firing on fleeing civilians and turning them into bones and ash. Or Green Lantern, in which Parallax's invasion of Earth began with the disintegration of several people? The fact that these films easily got themselves PG-13 ratings while recent documentary Bully was repeatedly saddled with an R is kind of bullshit, but what makes those films' actions so reprehensible was that the filmmakers KNEW a lot of young kids and teens were going to beg their moms and dads to see these titles, and the actions of the directors left a poor taste in responsible parents' mouths. That isn't a real risk in The Avengers; while there is certainly plenty of exciting action to go around, parents can be reassured that there will be no violent depictions of mass murder to clog their children's minds, only the kind of fights that will inspire them to mock-fight with friends in their yards afterward.

Manhattan has never looked better!

Marvel's The Avengers is frankly a film with few flaws. It's strongly written, loyal to its fanbase without being disingenuous to those who perhaps aren't on the bandwagon, and amps up the action at all the correct moments. The actors are great, the humor is hilarious, the heroes are larger than life and there really isn't any better film to open the summer movie season. The only thing I can honestly say I didn't like was a factor most Whedon fans are intimately familiar with, and even THAT was done for the right reasons, whether or not we agree. Whedon's classic superhero world might not have the brilliant bleakness of Christopher Nolan's Gotham City, and might not stand up in quality to Nolan's upcoming Dark Knight Rises. It's a different animal, but never will there be a moment when The Avengers doesn't get SOME kind of reaction from you, whether good or bad. For now at least, it's not only the best movie of 2012, but the Marvel Comics movie to rule them all. Marvel's reign of dominance shows no sign of letting up, and I can't wait for the next entry to this franchise, as The Avengers left me wanting even more once the credits had stopped running.

Stupid Is as Stupid Does

My loyal movie-going sidekick Anne introduced a new term to me this past week. "Stupid Factor" refers to how amusing a film can be based on the pure inanity of the execution. When you create a great film in the vein of any year's Best Picture Academy Award winner, often a great amount of attention is given to refining the screenplay, getting the smallest details correct, and casting the best and brightest talents available. Much like a cooking steak, it is that attention that makes the difference between  a five-star dinner and a burnt vaguely meat-like carcass. Of course, you don't always want steak for dinner, and by extension you don't always have a strong desire to see The King's Speech or The Hurt Locker, no matter how high the quality in their design. As my father often says, sometimes you just want cotton candy. Sure, it might be completely without nutritional value, but for a light, filling snack that's euphoric in flavor, it will do the job. Many films don't possess anywhere near the attention deserved of a sure award nominee, but still manage to be entertaining nonetheless. That's where Stupid Factor comes in. Many movies entertain not by telling original stories or even by showing off superior acting skills. No, these films attract people to the theaters despite rote characters, cliched plots and mediocre performances by cranking up the stupidity and raunchiness. They've been around forever; how else could Dumb and Dumber and Ace Ventura be so well remembered by people my age if not because of how stupid they were? But since Jim Carrey hasn't had a solid movie career in years, these days Stupid Factor generally applies to one particular genre of film: romantic comedies. What's Your Number? at face value looks like a typical romance tale of a mismatched pair destined to be with one another. Would the Stupid Factor manage to bring it to a higher level than this by-the-numbers storytelling could take it?

"Crazy Eyes" since 1976

Based on the novel 20 Times a Lady by Karyn Bosnak, What's Your Number? takes inspiration from those silly Cosmopolitan articles and tries to see what will happen when one of its readers takes the story a little too seriously. After reading that a woman with twenty or more sexual partners is much less likely to find their true love and marry, Ally Darling (Anna Faris) finds herself suffering a crisis as she realizes that she has hit that milestone without finding "The One". Not wanting to sleep with anyone until she meets that special someone, she soon realizes that the answer might be in her exes, many of whom have improved with age. Despite other critical issues going on in her life, Ally enlists the help of Colin Shea (Chris Evans), the perennial ladies man from across the hall, and begins to hunt down all twenty men she's slept with, hoping to find the one of them has gone from loser to winner.

I would not want to have to climb those stairs

Okay, yes, I admit it: that premise was PAINFUL to commit to the page. As I already stated, the whole story surrounding a fictional Prince Charming is a bit tough to swallow. Thankfully the Stupid Factor kicks in to assist in making the whole experience far more palatable. First of all, Ally is given a broad array of former beaus on whom to focus, from the formerly obese Disgusting Donald (Chris Pratt) to puppeteer Gerry Perry (SNL's Andy Samberg) to gynecologist Dr. Barrett Ingold (Thomas Lennon), each with their own background and individual characteristics. Some of the more interesting moments in the film are the reuniting of Ally with these men, and realizing why the pair never worked out in the first place. There are definitely some raunchy moments (and some body parts that should perhaps never be shown on film) but for an R-rated romantic comedy it's nowhere near as revealing as Love and Other Drugs or as crass as Bad Teacher, which is nice since the film wouldn't have worked if it had tried to portray Ally as a sex-starved harlot. Here she's mostly innocent, just a hapless young woman trying to find her way, and that makes for great interaction between her and just about any other character in the cast.

Aaand this review just got more interesting!

The only problem is that Ally as a focal point is just not the most engrossing person. That part belongs to Colin, played by the superb Chris Evans. While Faris is certainly competent and well-cast to her role, the slight addition of Clueless-era Alicia Silverstone to Faris' existing cinema persona does little make Ally any different from any of her previous roles. If you saw her breakthrough in the early Scary Movie titles, congratulations; you've seen everything she has to offer as an actress and as a comedian. Evans however is something special. I've remarked in recent months that there are some actors and actresses for whom I'll see any motion picture, from Helen Mirren to Ryan Gosling. Evans has silently crept his way onto that list, most notably because of the variety of roles he takes on. Evans has no issue with starring in sci-fi thrillers (Sunshine, Push) or comic book adaptations (The Losers, Captain America) or really WEIRD comic book adaptations (Scott Pilgrim vs. the World), and that's both excellent and refreshing to find in a young actor. It doesn't hurt that each character he plays is fundamentally different from the last, meaning that as a performer Evans has nowhere to go but up in the industry. Here is no different as he tackles the role of an unapologetic man-whore expertly, never making Colin unlikable and in fact transforming him over the course of the story. Some other standouts are Ari Graynor as Ally's soon-to-be-married sister and Blythe Danner as her overly-critical mother, but nobody comes close to topping Evans.

This is how bad decisions are born

Unfortunately, that is also true for the film as a whole. While the Stupid Factor can indeed raise a film above its limitations, it is usually invoked when there's no choice but to do so. Despite some genuinely interesting moments (as well as taking place in my hometown of Boston, Massachusetts) there's very little that elevates this above similar RomCom fare, and it's not much better than the fun but generic Larry Crowne or the pointless One Day. While I liked that the first shot of the film was an article declaring that romantic comedies were not just for women anymore, there are few opportunities like this that really make you feel that any of this is new. The worst part is that in What's Your Number?'s final moments it reneges on the entirety of progress our lead character made over the length of the film. Part of this is surely from the typicality chick lit book on which the film is based. Part of it likely falls on director Mark Mylod, who doesn't inspire a lot of confidence in a future film career. Whoever is at fault, the film suffers from a serious lack of conviction in the closing of the story. Though there's only so much Stupid Factor can do, it can make even bad movies into a joyful trip complete with picnic baskets, as it does so here. Just don't go in to this one thinking it's smarter than your average film.

Rocket's Red Glare

The summer blockbuster train continues en route to 2012's Joss Whedon-directed Avengers movie, this time introducing to feature film audiences Marvel Comics' stalwart defender of freedom in Captain America: The First Avenger. Created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, Captain America was introduced to comic book fans in 1941 as a World War II hero who was made to be poster child for patriotism of the American soldier. Strong of mind but weak of body, Steve Rogers' bravery in volunteering for a risky procedure to fight the evils of Nazi Germany was the stuff of legends, and during the war Captain America was among the most well-received comic book heroes. That popularity faded with the War's end, but in 1964 he was brought back from the dead, revived from suspended animation to lead one of the most iconic superhero teams of all time... can you guess it? Yup, The Avengers team was partially as big and important as it was thanks to a thawed-out WASP from the forties. Since then "Cap" has been truly one of the most important characters in comics, though seemingly always overshadowed by flashier, grittier heroes such as Iron Man, The Hulk, Wolverine and Spider-Man. That lack of sparkle has always been a problem for him, and that was the main reason I wasn't sure whether I'd like this new film. Cap has always been relatively somber and focused, more of a sounding board for wittier men and women to bounce their best material off of, all the while unflappable and dedicated to his mission. This doesn't always make for a great main hero however, so director Joe Johnston was going to have to be near-perfect if he wanted this title to be close to Thor or the under-loved X-Men First Class in terms of sheer film quality.

Woah... Big Guns...

After failing at attempts to enlist in five different cities due to his physical malnutrition and stunted growth, Brooklyn-born Steve Rogers (Boston native Chris Evans) doesn't know what to do. Men less brave than he are headed overseas to battle the oppressive forces of Nazi-occupied Europe, and Steve so desperately wants to join their ranks. His desire is not to kill men, but to combat evil, and even seeing his best friend Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) off to war without him is almost too much for him to take. He finally gets his chance when Dr. Abraham Erskine (Stanley Tucci) approaches him and offers a chance to get into the fight. Recruiting Rogers into his "Super Soldier" test program, Erskine injects Rogers with a secret drug that manages to transform the weak New Yorker into a bonafide power house, and eventually into a true-blue American hero.

Results are not typical. Do not take the Super Soldier Serum without first consulting your doctor.

Of course, the story of Captain America is pretty much academic, and not at all the reason you're going to see it in the theater. You're going for the special effects, explosions and gunfire, as well as 3D imagery and IMAX surround sound, and for those attributes this film is not at all lacking. Though more circumstance than pomp reigns the film's first half, once the action kicks in there is very little not to glue your eyeballs to. Even many non-combat sequences are well shot, with choreography and cinematography working extremely well together. Say what you want about Johnston's body of work (Jurassic Park III and The Wolfman, take your pick), but he does occasionally make good use of the camera in front of him. Sound effects are also nice and loud, for those of you who have yet to completely blow out your eardrums. The only real complaint I had was with the 3D, as has often been the case this year. With most visual technology, the best thing you can say about it is when you can't tell it has been implemented. The Incredibles is my foremost example, when you see the near-real island forests in that film's final act. 3D doesn't work that way. When a film is 3D, the audience needs to feel immersed while also being aware at the enhancement, which to be fair is a difficult line to toe. It certainly isn't IMPOSSIBLE, but very few films have adequately used 3D to properly stand out from their typical 2D variants.

Steve Jobs' early attempt to harness iPod technology goes a bit awry

It seems odd that I name my blog after a line from Hugo Weaving when Weaving has barely been made mention of at all in my work. My Transformers review notwithstanding, Weaving has simply not been in too much that I've seen of late, and his 2010 effort The Wolfman was ignored by me on the recommendation of several others. Still, I've loved the effort he has brought to modern-day iconic titles like The Matrix and the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and nobody can doubt the talent he carries with him on the set. In this way, he is perfect as an unfortunately one-note villain, Captain America's arch-nemesis The Red Skull. Though Skull doesn't have too much depth to him, Weaving does his best to create a genuine menace around this simple character, one which dramatically poses while spewing generic. cliched bad guy lines, all the while berating his lackey (an underused Toby Jones) and rarely doing his own dirty work. That he still carries one of the film's better performances is as much a testament to his talent as one to the lack of strong character throughout Captain America. Chris Evans would not have been my first choice to play the eponymous superhero, but once again he surprises me with his ability to ease into whatever his director asks him to do, and that pure ability makes him worth more than a dozen Taylors (Lautner or Kitsch, or any other for that matter). If he's not one of the biggest stars in Hollywood a decade from now, something will have gone terribly wrong. And Stanley Tucci reminds us that he is in fact one of the businesses' best workers, giving a real heart to a character that probably would have been overlooked by other filmmakers. More than Evans, Tucci steals every scene in which he appears, the film being all the better for his abilities.

Putting her best chest... I mean FOOT forward

It's a shame the rest of the cast doesn't step up to the plate as much as those three. True, the simplistic dialogue and sparse character development is the biggest culprit, but the performers' inability to overcome these obstacles simply cannot be ignored. Best of "the rest" is Hayley Atwell as British Agent Peggy Carter, Cap's love interest and bad-ass soldier in her own right. A recent trend in the female hero community has brought us Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow and Natalie Portman as Jane Foster, strong characters that could go toe to toe with heroes and villains alike, whether by Jane's intelligence or Widow's more... PHYSICAL methods. The film tries to make Peggy Carter too much of both, and then fails to meet either standard. She does play well off of Evans, but in fairness so does everybody else. Relative unknown Dominic Cooper is fine and makes some waves as Howard Stark, father of the modern-day Iron Man, but is too patterned after Howard Hughes to be original in the slightest. Sebastian Stan tries his best as Cap's sidekick Bucky Barnes but doesn't quite fit the bill, while his character is marginalized to the point that true fans would (and do) cry foul. Tommy Lee Jones is by far the worst, playing the same damned tough-guy old man character you've seen him play a hundred times before. Sure, he chews up scenery like nobodies business, but there are no surprises with him anymore. Throw in a bunch of under-developed cannon fodder and you have a nice war film, but not one that capitalizes on the rich history of the comic book characters inherent.

Here's a nice action scene to soothe your palette

At about the film's halfway mark, the story breaks down to random battle scenes and violence that could only be referred to as gratuitious. While not BAD, it definitively strays from the strong narrative we that had been standard issue for Marvel Comics films this year. From this sequence, it takes far too long to get back on track, and it would have probably been easy to make a trilogy of films surrounding the shambles of bits and pieces strewn throughout. When you compare this tale to the cohesive stories of most of the other superhero films released in 2011 (and yes, by that I mean even Green Lantern), it's the one thing that prevents Captain America: The First Avenger from being among the best action films this year. A strong showing among that lot help damper excitement surrounding this title, especially with it being portrayed as an elaborate lead-in to The Avengers in the first place. As nice as it was to see the familiar red, white and blue hero make a successful transition to the big screen, Captain America works better in a group, and that's most of what I'm looking forward to in the 2012 blockbuster. Still, I had a lot of fun and would at least recommend checking this one out, at least as long as you avoid the useless 3D showings.

Push Back

I'm pretty lucky to have friends who like the same sort of movies I do. When Push came out last year, I never had the chance to see it in theaters, and it's time in the theater was short, anyway. I never really had a chance to see it, so when the opportunity to borrow someone's copy came up, I leaped at the chance to temporarily acquire this for my viewing pleasure. After all, an alternative to the over-the-top superhero stories that Marvel and DC have been cranking out with their favorite children in the lead, let alone marketing such an independent superhuman film to the big screen, is no small feat. Even if it had been a financial failure (which it wasn't), it would have been a victory for the independent filmmakers who don't want to make the next Superman or Spiderman films.

Funny meeting you here...

Push, obviously not the movie based on the Sapphire book of the same name, takes place almost entirely in Hong Kong. Nick Grant (Chris Evans) is a second-generation superhuman. Nick's father was a powerful type of superhuman known as a Mover, someone who could move objects with his mind. Nick can Move, too, but his talents are relatively weak, mostly honed by trying to rig back-alley dice games. Nick's father was killed by a secret organization of the US government known as Division, when he refused to join the organization. Nick, running away, has ended up here to avoid them. There are numerous types of superpowered beings in the world, we are told. Watchers can predict the future. Sniffers are like human bloodhounds. Bleeders send out sonic pulses that tear you apart from the inside. Shifters can manipulate an item's appearance. Shadows can block the tracking ability of Sniffers and sometimes Watchers. And Pushers can implant ideas and memories into your head that are so real you're convinced they really happened. Division wants all these superhumans in one place, for use by the government as weapons against their enemies. To that effect, they've been developing a drug to boost the powers of superhumans, only the drug has the nasty side effect of killing everyone who's injected with the serum. At least, until one unlucky soul survives, and escapes to Hong Kong...

Perhaps not surprisingly, this new Chinese pop duo haven't quite worked out

The film has on tap a surprisingly talented cast of people, whether on-the-way-up stars or underrated performers. I've seen a lot of Chris Evans lately, and his talents are obvious to anyone bothering to pay attention. He plays his role as the perfect blend of in over his head bravado and sincere honesty. I wonder how good he'll be for the starring role in next year's Captain America, but only because that character is so relatively simpler than many of the roles he's done in recent years. But even he's overshadowed by Dakota Fanning, whose superpower seems to be acting circles around everybody else in the room with her. She plays a punk-ish second generation Watcher who wants to break her mother out of a Division holding area back home. Fanning is another one of those actors who I've witnessed be lauded without having actually seen any of her work. Now I know, and it's damned mystifying how someone so young could be so imbued with talent that it's actually SCARY. At least it doesn't seem to be going to waste, even if Oscar roles haven't reared their heads her way yet.Camilla Belle is surprisingly good as the Pusher who manages to escape from Division. I say surprisingly good because I really hadn't seen her in anything and had all but tossed her aside as another side effect of the Twilight phenomena. So she has actual talent? Nice. She has great charisma for the screen, especially with Evans, which is good since their on-screen romance is half the point of the film.

Hounsou (l) and Belle are equally good here

Great small roles don't go to waste when you cast Cliff Curtis, Ming Na, Maggie Siff and Xiao Lu Li as acquaintances and enemies to the heroes. Xiao, a Golden Calf-winning Chinese actress, is a treat as one of the more charismatic villains of the film, and it's a pleasure to see Siff in anything since I have enjoyed her performance in what I've seen of Mad Men. The only really disappointing role in the film is that of the main bad guy. Don't get me wrong: Djimon Hounsou is a damned talented actor, and I believe he did everything he could with this role, that of the human face of Division, a Pusher who is attempting to find Belle's escaped inmate. His character is also the one who killed Nick's dad so long ago. The problem is the filmmakers never seem to know whether this guy is straight up badass or confusingly sympathetic. Maybe he's more like a Lex Luthor type, so arrogant that he simply fails to bother to cover his tracks or make sure everything is working right as to leave himself open for Nick's Superman. Okay, that makes some sense, but it wasn't obvious while I was watching that this was the case, nor did he make too convincing a bad man. Thankfully, he's not the only villain on the scene, as a Hong Kong Triad of superpowered Bleeders balance out the battlefield somewhat, lending more threat to the evil permeating the film.

No, this isn't a scene from the new Home Alone flick...

As I mentioned, the film was shot in Hong Kong, and it makes for a viable and unique location for this type of film. It's gritty, messy, choked with people, simultaneously the best and worst place to hide from the world. The narrow streets and passages combined with the occasional wide-open basketball courts and sky-rise rooftops make for an interesting environment in which to make this movie. Simply put, Push doesn't FEEL  like other films of it's type because it's like if the X-Men were living in a dirty slummy apartment complex instead of a quiet suburban mansion (yes, I know the X-Men now live on an island off the coast of California, but the X-Mansion is more well known). It's a different world for superhumans than we're used to from comics, and it's a refreshing change of pace.

She'll simply watch your every move... THEN she'll kill ya

The special effects are something to see. While decidedly low-tech, the effects are nonetheless engaging and realistic, perhaps due to their low-tech origins. The film's aforementioned grittiness lends itself well to this end, making things like energy balls, shattering glass, collapsing structures and dilating pupils are so real they seamlessly blend into the rest of the setting. Director Paul McGuigan can be properly given credit here for his great work using all the tools at his disposal to make each scene work. Is it as thrilling as the best parts of Watchmen or Resident Evil or even Scott Pilgrim? No, but nor does it have the lulls in between that harm action films so much. It simply is a well-balanced movie that doesn't take itself too seriously to detract from the action while also not letting the fights draw you out of the story. Unlike so many similar films, everything happens for a reason, and it all makes sense.

"So... how much do you think it's worth?"

To sum up, Push is an interesting, exciting, but also thought-provoking film that definitely stands out as one of last year's underrated titles. It's not perfect, as a little more attention to Hounsou's character would have made the film much better, but what little is wrong with it doesn't detract from what's enjoyable. If you're looking for a superhero-type film with enough action to get by but not the cliched caricatures from fifty years ago, give this a shot.

Good Morning Sunshine, The Earth Says Hello...

It's quite often that I miss films in the theater. I may be looking forward to a movie and it may simply pass without my knowledge or ability to get a chance to see it, or it may simply be too far down my list of titles to see that by the time I get around to it, it's out of theaters. This happens often, and usually the only way to rectify that situation is to nab a rental copy and hope your home setup is good enough to watch movies on. This happened three years ago for me with Sunshine, the 2007 sci-fi film directed by Danny Boyle and written by Alex Garland about a group of astronauts and scientists sent on a mission to save the planet.

The problem is the sun, which by the year 2057 has diminished in it's brightness, leading to the Earth undergoing a new Ice Age. Icarus II is the second ship to attempt this dangerous mission, to deliver a "stellar bomb" to attempt to reignite the sun and return it to full brightness. The first Icarus failed it's mission seven years ago after losing contact with Earth, and if Icarus II fails there will be no further Icarus missions, as Icarus II has used up the Earth's supply of fusion materials. The team of eight includes physicist Robert Capa (Cillian Murphy), who is the only crew member who can properly operate the bomb; Kaneda (Hiroyuki Saneda), the ship's captain; hotheaded engineer Mace (Chris Evans); Harvey (Troy Garity), the ship's communications officer and second in command; biologist Corazon (Michelle Yeoh), who maintains the ship's oxygen garden; Cassie (Rose Byrne), the pilot; Searle (Cliff Curtis), the doctor and psychological officer; and Trey (Benedict Wong), the navigator. They've been living together en route to their destination for about fifteen months, and are on the last leg of their journey. Nerves are starting to fray due to the insularity of the mission and solar radiation cutting off communication from home. However, the estimates of oxygen supply and food look good, and the people aboard are fairly confident that they have enough resources to return home once their mission is complete.

Then things begin to go horribly wrong.

And to think, in three years he's on Lost

One of the reasons I wanted to see this film was all the good names attached to it. Danny Boyle made one of my favorite zombie films 28 Days Later, and it would be just one more year until his triumphant Slumdog Millionaire made him a superstar. Alex Garland may have also penned the screenplay for The Beach, which is almost unforgivable, but he is a talented writer with interesting ideas, and I loved his books The Beach (for which the movie was based) and The Tesseract, and he also wrote the screenplay for 28 Days Later. Chris Evans, though I'd seen nothing by him at the time, was an up-and-coming star. Michelle Yeoh was a superstar both here and at home in Hong Kong. All you needed at this point was a believable (or at least theoretically possible) premise and scenarios to make the whole thing salable, and thankfully, that's what Boyle does in telling this story.

No, in this film she doesn't rounhouse kick anyone

The ensemble acting cast does a fantastic job of portraying the everyday lives of deep space astronauts, each with varied quirks and breaking points. Murphy, as the brainy scientist, plays up his relative social inexperience well, as he speaks on a more blunt and scientific level than most on the ship. Evans plays the more typical military type, and though that type of character has little imagination in fiction, Evans does good work with it. Yeoh and Saneda make good mentors, Saneda's captain willing to risk anything for the mission to succeed, and Yeoh cultivates a believable relationship with her work, the oxygen garden she builds almost like her own baby. Byrne and Wong are both good, though neither is given too terribly much to do. Wong's character does go through a believable mental breakdown (as do most of the characters, to some degree) but neither really steals the spotlight from the others. Garity makes a great transformation from strong second in command to mewling child when adversity hits, and Curtis is possibly the best performer of them, a psychologist who seems to have an unhealthy fascination with the brightness of the sun. With this well balanced cast, we really get attached to most of them and are upset when the bad things that eventually happen come to be.

Wow, just... wow.

The special effects here are also larger than life, as they would have to be in most outer space filmography. The design of Icarus II is intricately designed, and looks amazing against the setting of deep space. Sunlight and solar flares twinkle realistically, and explosions, decompression and scorching do a great job of showing the dangers inherent in space travel. That said, some of the best effects of the film are appreciably better on a small scale, as most of the scenes are set in the almost claustrophobic halls of the ship. Boyle was inspired by Wolfgang Petersen's Das Boot in this way, and also has noted inspiration from other famous works, including 2001: A Space Odyssey, Alien, and the original Solaris.

Unfortunately, that's where the good in Sunshine ends. The final act is an unbelievable and oddly mediocre change of pace for the film, like something out of Event Horizon instead of the film I thought Sunshine was. To say anything more would spoil it for anyone who hasn't seen the film, but it seems lie the change might have been made to reach out to a wider audience. Also, so much derivative material means there's precious little that Doyle or Garland thought up on their own, making this film somewhat less special than it could have been. There are parts you will see coming a mile away, people you will know to be killed long before it happens, and only sterling acting and amazing effects prevent these parts from being such trite rubbish as they threaten to be.

Murphy literally plans to touch the sky here

Ultimately, I liked Sunshine. I do wish I'd seen the film in theaters, especially since it was a bomb and didn't make back it's $40 million price tag due mostly to nearly nonexistent marketing here in the States. Seeing it finally three years later however let me appreciate it for what it is, however, not what it was supposed to be then. In the end it's an interesting take on the "saving the world" tale, with a great ensemble cast and enough gritty storytelling to make the shoddy ending bearable. If you haven't seen it yet, I definitely recommend it.

Losers Weepers

Okay, here's the story.

Your special forces team is on a top-secret covert mission working with the C.I.A. to take down some bad guys. When the mission is complete, your C.I.A. handlers betray you for knowing too much, committing an atrocity and blaming it on your team, forcing you all to go underground and on the run to try and find out who framed you and clear your name.

Okay, now raise your hand if you thought I was talking about The A-Team.

It's easy to draw comparisons between the famous 1980's show that was recently adapted into a big-screen blockbuster and The Losers, the unfortunately-named adaptation of the Vertigo Comics (DC's mature label) series of the same name. Both feature special forces teams betrayed by forces in their government. Both teams go on the run to try and clear their names. Both movies blow up a lot of ordinance. Both have a smoking-hot lead actress that's not afraid to fire of a missile launcher if she so desir... oh, wait. No, The Losers gets a point for that. One has to wonder, though, whether original comic creator Andy Diggle knew he was creating something of an A-Team clone when he set the book in motion back in 2003.

Saldana's a lethal weapon

There's no doubting the movie's strengths, however. The Losers, the best of the best of special forces teams, are sent down to Bolivia in tandem with the C.I.A. in order to take down a suspected terrorist. Led by Lt. Colonel Clay (Henry Dean Morgan), the team consists of hand-to-hand expert Roque (Idris Elba), hacker Jensen (Chris Evans), vehicle specialist Pooch (Columbus Short) and sniper Cougar (Oscar Jaenada). All the team has to do is call in a target for an aerial strike, but after they do so, they notice a large number of children on site. Rebuffed in their attempts to call off the strike, the team carries off a very risky rescue mission that successfully gets the children off base and into the extraction helicopter that was meant for the team. When that helicopter gets destroyed in an apparent retaliatory strike by the C.I.A. for disobeying orders, the team is blamed for the deaths and forced to go underground and try to find who set them up to try and get their lives back. While hiding out, they're discovered by the mysterious Aisha (Zoe Saldana), who offers them a chance, a slim one, to get back at the operative who betrayed them and let them get back to their lives.

"Another van? Can't we ride in a helicopter like The A-Team?"

The film doesn't have as much mayhem as The A-Team, but while nothing can take the place of watching someone attempt to fly a tank, it surely doesn't lack for action. Explosions abound, but by taking a more realistic route, the movie still has dozens of gunfights, espionage missions and deception to keep the average action fan happy, and strong character development with interesting character interaction go a long way to the creation of a quality film.

One of the more explosive scenes in the film

Morgan, probably still known more for his tragic role on Grey's Anatomy as the heart patient Denny Duquette than for Watchmen's anti-hero the Comedian, smolders and shines, especially in scenes involving Saldana and Elba. It's a huge step forward for him to be the main man, and he handles the situation admirably and professionally. Saldana has simply exploded onto the scene, with Star Trek and Avatar officially announcing her career ascendancy, and here she commands your attention every time she's on the screen. Elba may have trouble living up to his work as Stringer Bell on The Wire, but here he does a good job of putting that behind him as Clay's friend and also a pretty good source of the team's tension. Unlike Clay, who wants revenge, Roque simply wants his life back, and Elba pulls it off. Jaenada doesn't get much to do but shoot things from a distance; He has few lines and no background is ever supplied for him. In the comic he supposedly quiet because of trauma experienced in combat, but that's never explored in the film. Short is pretty good as Pooch, the only married member of the squad who's wife is at home, pregnant and close to her due date. Pooch desperately wants to be there for when his child is born. Short gets some good scenes and plays them well, especially in the humor department. But the true standout of the crew might be the geeky Jensen, played by Evans. The best example might be this scene, where Jensen infiltrates an office building to extract a tool they need to fight back against the C.I.A. The scene, interspersed with action and laughs, is a great use of the character, and he's got the most charisma with the audience of any of the characters. Also I must say this is the movie that has allayed my fears about Evans being cast as the new Captain America, as he manages to bulk up considerably from the seemingly skinny Fantastic Four days.

"That's right bitches; I got a crossbow!"

It's too bad that The Losers continues this season's tradition of bone-headed villains who are really no danger to the heroes of the tale. One can only wonder what would have happened if Jason Patric hadn't turned down the lead role in The FirmThe A-Team, which arrived in theaters a week later. Saldana, for instance. While still being a serious sex symbol for the guys watching, Saldana is also something for the ladies: a strong, female character who plays by her own rules and does things her way, which is a huge leap over Jennifer Beals' role in The A-Team. Also, though A-Team may have more name recognition, The Losers does a great job of letting the audience connect with and sympathize with these soldiers, Clay and Roque too but especially Pooch and Jensen, whose family connections are minor plot threads in the story.

Pooch battles depth perception

So yeah, I loved The Losers and director Sylvan White's efforts on his biggest production to date. So why if I think it's superior in ways to The A-Team do I have it situated as the new #7 when A-Team comfortably sits at #4? Frankly, despite the attempt at more realistic ideas, the story itself  reeks of cheap knock-off, when The A-Team has boasted this storyline for a much longer lifespan. Though A-Team's plot devices have holes you could sail a ship through, it never lets you dwell on the problems with the story like The Losers does. The A-Team may boast sequences that make no sense (cutting out the engine of your helicopter right before the heat-seeking missiles hit probably won't work and shouldn't be recommended for real-life pilots), but they invariably make the movie more exciting and fantastical, easier for the viewer to become lost in the fabric of the film. And while The Losers boasts a strong ensemble cast that can do drama and comedy, nobody was better at leading than Liam Neeson, nobody better at doing the undercover than Bradley Cooper, and nobody with quite the natural comedic timing of Sharlto Copley. Honestly, while The Losers deserved more attention than it got and barely squeaked by, The A-Team was the film I had the more fun watching.

Just don't forget about this film. Losers need love too.