Chameleons of the Mojave

As I've mentioned before, it often takes a lot for me to want to see an animated film in the theaters. Despite the universal appeal associated with films like The Incredibles, Up, WALL-E and the Toy Story franchise, I tend to wait until they're available on DVD rather than pay the ticket price when they first come out. Of course, "eye-popping" 3D technology has become a game-changer, as most animated films released in the past year did so with that gimmick in hand. Though 3D has yet to garner a mainstream appeal in home entertainment systems, mostly due to price and uneven reviews (thus rendering the medium moot on DVD for the time being), it still isn't enough to drive me to the theaters to see such a film. Mainly I think I have problems paying good money to see a title geared towards small children, but the best animated features appeal to viewers of all ages. Still, I tucked that thought away to see my first animated film of 2011 (and the first in the theater since who knows when) in the Gore Verbinski-directed Rango. The trailer caught my eye some months ago, and so as it was one of my more awaited March films, I chose it over The Adjustment Bureau and Take Me Home Tonight when picking which film I wanted to see this past weekend.

"Psst! Are you holding?"

Johnny Depp voices the film's main character, a mysterious stranger who goes by the name of Rango. Actually, Rango is an unnamed and domesticated chameleon who ends up separated from his human owners in the middle of the Mojave Desert, consequently a fish out of water trying to find salvation from certain death and  - possibly more important - from loneliness. Rango feels so alone in the world, and when he comes across the animal-run town of Dirt, the actor in him creates the Rango persona to be notorious, heroic, mysterious; all the things he wasn't in his previous life. It works well until the facade begins to crumble under the pressure of keeping up appearances and the town's need for a real hero, something Rango isn't sure he truly is.

Despite popular conception, cowboys and baked beans don't mix

Rango is a true homage to films set the wild west; it plays out like a light-hearted Sergio Leone spaghetti western, right down to its authentic character archetypes and camera angles. While Rango himself is more of an outsider, the townsfolk are legitimate western folk, from the orphaned daughter of an alcoholic father fighting to control her land (voiced by Isla Fisher) to an overly-nervous bank manager (Stephen Root), a bandit outlaw (Bill Nighy) and a charismatic double-talking mayor (Ned Beatty), just represented by animals. While being perhaps cliches of preexisting characters, the director and actors do amazing work by treating the material straight and making what could have been a ridiculous farce into quality craftsmanship. The film even has it's own narrative mariachi band ("manned" by owls, no less) to help keep the film going on at a brisk pace.

Most awkward wedding photo EVER

The acting here is simply outstanding, and Verbinski made the right choice issuing Depp to lead this cast, though perhaps not for the reasons you might think. Despite his fame for playing such eccentric characters as The Mad Hatter, Edward Scissorhands and of course Captain Jack Sparrow, Depp actually plays the role of "the normal guy" so well that he disappears into this role. Having a voice-over part in this vein actually helps hide the fact that Depp is in fact he character in question, adding to his smooth delivery. He is also perfect in the cockier "Rango" persona, a mix between classic Robert Redford and a giddy schoolchild living out his wildest dream. Depp's more subdued performance also plays perfectly to his less-heralded co-stars, letting them shine around him. Fisher is perfect as the tough-girl romantic interest Beans, a desert iguana with self-defense mechanism (freezing in place) so out of kink that she suddenly stops at inopportune times. She also is the most vocal advocate against the problems the town has, and is most suspicious of this new stranger in town. Nighy is completely unrecognizable as the evil bandit Rattlesnake Jake, who terrorizes the small town of Dirt. Nighy is delightfully evil and revels in the role, though it's not a very big one by most standards. Beatty is similarly smarmy as the resident mayor/businessman, eyes constantly looking towards "the future." Abigail Breslin is underused but not misused as a young smart-mouthed child who eventually looks up to Rango, and Root is his usual outstanding self as several characters, most notably the nervous bank manager. Harry Dean Stanton, Alfred Molina, Timothy Olyphant, and Ray Winstone all do great work playing characters who help and hinder Rango along the line of the film's plot. The acting, with Depp at its core, is talent extraordinaire, a testament to Verbinski's skills at finding the best people for the roles.

"Fitting in" is usually not so impossible for a chameleon

The film surprised me in a many ways, but a few of them weren't as good. For one, a film supposedly geared towards children was surprisingly violent. I'm not suggesting all kids are going to be scared by this film, but the doesn't gloss over the violence inherent in the Western genre (guns, dehydration, explosions), painting a film that probably should have been marketed to teens instead. Though not overly or even aggressively violent (more focusing on the spirit of adventure), the film does have its scary moments, mostly thanks to Rattlesnake Jake and a giant hawk. Secondly, for a supposed comedy, it wasn't particularly funny. The first half of the film elicited nary a chuckle from the dialogue, mainly dependent on the slapstick elements of the film to get over on the kids. There are some good bits after the midway point (SPOILER: When Rango and his posse go undercover as traveling actors, their target responds "Thespians? That's illegal in seven states!"), the film is much more serious than the trailers would lead you to believe, including topics of death, mild and implied profanity and the consumption of alcohol. I'm not against these things; in fact, when the subject at hand is an homage to Western film, I should pretty much EXPECT it. I didn't, however, expect to find it here.

"But why is the RUM gone!?"

One of the more amazing things about this film is that it's a 3D animated film by a company that is usually only known for it's effects work. George Lucas's special effects company Industrial Light and Magic is usually associated with other films' special effects departments, but here they created the 3D modeling for their first feature film. The biggest surprise from all of this may be how amazingly well their first time went. Visuals, especially the sun-baked desert, are perfectly rendered, and the characters are expertly built, especially the multi-faceted Rango. Still, if the film had half of the technological wonder it did, it would still have all it needs to be a worthy film. Authentic environments, interesting characters, and respect for the source material; Rango takes all these things and turn it into one of the more unassumingly fun films this year. Charming itself to #1 on 2011's Top Film's list, Rango was a very different film than I had imagined going in. But when you focus on what the film IS, instead of what it was supposed to be, you can appreciate it for the amazing feeling it gives.

Lucky Number Four

These days, I think every author of teen books is trying to replicate the monumental success of Twilight. Why shouldn't they? Besides the fact that author Stephenie Meyer's name has become nearly on par with that of Harry Potter scribe J.K. Rowling when discussing books for teens, she could literally fill a swimming pool with small bills and take a dip, so well do her books sell. Even the final book in the series - Breaking Dawn, which many FANS admit was a ridiculous mess - sold over a million copies just in the first twenty-four hours of sales. On top of that, the money generated from producing the movies based on the vampire/werewolf romance novels have been hugely successful, and made stars out of leads Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart. Sure, teen novels have been turned into films before, but not until Harry Potter and Twilight have they been so amazingly profitable. And if you're a production studio adapting popular series of books like these to the big screen, you have a franchise that can potentially make you guaranteed money for years to come. That brings us to I Am Number Four, based on the book by Pittacus Lore, the pen name of authors James Frey (he of A Million Little Pieces fame) and Jobie Hughes. Though the first book in this series was only released last August, the rights to the film had been purchased nearly a year prior by Michael Bay and Dreamworks pictures, hoping that the planned six-part book series would make for a popular film franchise. I don't know how that will work out for them, but I was interested enough in the premise to check out this film, even if I know I'm well past the age of the target audience.

So this is small-town America, huh? Looks dirty

I Am Number Four introduces us to the Loriens, aliens who live among us and are the last survivors of an extinct race. There are nine special teens, who were created to protect their home planet from other aliens, the warmongering Mogadorians, but never got the chance. Now separated and hiding on Earth, one teen (Alex Pettyfer) begins to develop the powers needed to fight these evil creatures and protect his new home from possible invasion. The Mogadorians have followed these escapees to our planet and hunted down three of their prey, with Number Four now in their sights.

This is going to make some things... difficult

When I saw Michael Bay's name pop up in the opening credits, I knew I was going to see a lot of special effects and explosions. He does demand things to be awesome, after all. I also expected to be put to sleep by uninteresting characters and stretches of boring exposition. I was right about the first part. Boy, was I wrong about the second. While the film has enough action and demolitions to excite at least three of your five senses (especially if you manage to see it in an IMAX theater), I was quite surprised to be greeted with a story that didn't insult my intelligence and characters I could actually sympathize with and enjoy. That isn't to say that the story was PERFECT. In the beginning there's a bit of voice-over to explain the highly descriptive background, and I was afraid there would be much more to come. Thankfully, after setting up the tale the voice overs take permanent hiatus until the film's conclusion, which made sense. Even if they could have avoided using them at all, the story probably needed these monologues to fully integrate the viewer into the film's narrative. Besides that, the film actually does a good job weaving a plot that uses a lot of tiny clues and things left unsaid to actually help move the story forward. Director D.J. Caruso is still learning to be a big-time Hollywood director, but it's a step in the right direction. The alien romance story, however, being between an inhuman outsider a young mortal woman just reeks of Twilight stink, not really a huge surprise but disappointing in its lack of originality.

Officer Jimmy had two days left until retirement

The acting here is much better than I would have imagined. England-born Pettyfer has plenty of experience playing teen novel heroes at this point. He's been Alex Rider in Stormbreaker, based on the book series by Anthony Horowitz, as well as the lead in this year's Beastly, based on Alex Flynn's reimagining of Beauty and the Beast. Just as 2010 unveiled Garrett Hedlund as a young talent to watch out for, Pettyfer might be one of a few names (including Olivia Wilde and Saoirse Ronan) to keep an eye on once the dust that is 2011 has settled. As the young outsider who has been constantly on the move since arriving on our planet, Four is tired of running and wishes he could just settle down like a normal human being. Pettyfer does a great job in this coming-of-age role, managing to act enough like a normal teen to fool many of the characters around him but different enough to make sure we realize he doesn't actually belong there. Timothy Olyphant adds a lot of character as Four's mentor Henri, a warrior from their home planet dedicated to protecting him at all costs. Some of the best scenes are the verbal interplay between Olyphant and the younger Pettyfer, with Olyphant's mentor role often getting the better of these exchanges. Other solid performances belong to Callan McAuliffe as Four's nerdy friend Sam, Teresa Palmer as a young woman hunting down Four for reasons unknown, and Lost's Kevin Durand as the leader of the evil Mogadorians. The only one who doesn't quite live up to the rest of the talent is Glee's Dianaa Agron as Sarah, Four's love interest. While the character, a former popular girl turned outsider and shunned by those who she once called friends, is interesting enough, she just doesn't quite get all the nuances of the part to fully carry it off. Credit for not making her a useless maiden in distress, though; Sarah is a committed young woman determined to live life her way, and the relationship between her and Four is realistic and honest.

Yes, you came at a bad time

The film doesn't skimp on the fireworks, and many of the inherent effects, including mutations, energy blasts and transformations look simply amazing on the big screen. Since I Am Number Four probably could have been transformed into a 3D film, like so many short-sighted action films before it, it was thankfully decided to bypass the concept in this release. 3D has been such an overused technology since James Cameron reintroduced it in 2009, and for every Piranha 3D or Resident Evil Afterlight that makes it work, there are titles like Green Hornet and Clash of the Titans for which there was no need or even competent implementation. It's an expensive format that costs millions more to make and costs movie watchers twice as much to see in the theaters, so time will tell just how much a game-changer 3D has truly become. Until then it's almost more brave to make this kind of film WITHOUT the 3D label and declare that you don't need all that extra glitz to create an experience worth watching.

Is The Hunger Games next for Pettyfer?

While the story is really no different from teen entertainment like Twilight or the old WB/UPN show Roswell, the fact remains that I Am Number Four is a by-the-numbers teen action film done well enough to be a great experience. It lacks some subtlety, but that's on par for a film financed by Bay. It's currently my #1 for 2011, though I doubt it will have the staying power to remain the whole year on the list. I still question whether a viable franchise can be built out of an unknown quanitity like this. Twilight was in book form for three years before a film was put out. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone took four years between book and film releases. The point I'm trying to make is that you can't force a franchise into existence; sometimes it's those happy mistakes and unforseen events that create the built-in audience you want in a motion picture. When you try to force it, you end up with disappointing returns because there's not enough teenagers giving a damn about your film to spend the money or time, as evidenced by this past weekend's box office. I may not be a Twilight fan, but even I can see how the vampire series made such an impact while Four has struggled out the gate.

Crazy Town

I'm not a big horror movie fan.

Just putting that out there, letting you all know where I stand. For me, most horror is low-budget, poorly directed, and in it more for the gore factor rather than being a smart film that actually makes the audience think. If you're George Romero, you could make a non-mainstream, thought provoking horror film with your eyes closed, but most horror directors seem to not care so much about putting out quality product. Of course, there are exceptions, but for every Evil Dead or Dawn of the Dead are seemingly hundreds of titles similar to Open Graves. Now, this doesn't mean I write off horror as an inferior genre, but it usually means I don't often have a good first impression of horror films due out.

Maybe something's changed in me, but when I first saw the trailer for The Crazies, a remake of the original Romero film by director Breck Eisner, I was very excited. Here was a film that, from it's trailer, seemed to be smart, scary and most importantly sincere, which is a difficult trick to pull off when you're putting your characters in situations in which most of us may never find ourselves. My biggest concern was whether or not this film could live up to the amazing trailer, but I was confident enough to grab a rental and give the movie my time.

"And that's why you shouldn't play with matches."

The Crazies drops us in the small town of Ogden Marsh, Iowa. Ogden Marsh is one of those idyllic small towns where (sing it with me here) everybody knows you're naaaaame...

Ahem.

Let's move on.

Anyway, this town is also the kind of place where high school baseball is the talk of the town, and that's where all of Ogden Marsh, including the young local sheriff David Dutton (Timothy Olyphant), is when everything starts to go down the toilet. One of the locals gets it in his head that it's a good idea to carry a shotgun onto the field of play, and after a tense standoff, David is forced to shoot the man dead. But while your local newspaper might report that story like it's the end, this only proves to be the beginning of a small town's descent into madness, sickness, and murder.

It's a zombie! No, wait, it's not?? Awwwwww.....

One of the first things you notice about this film is how well the story is paced. There's no rush to force haphazard plot points onto you, as the movie calmly introduces you to characters, slowly feeding the story in a reasonable manner as to facilitate the audience's understanding. And these characters are all well thought-out people, not just soundbites or cliches. You learn to care about them, and when they get sick and change, that feeling sticks with you. This is immensely helped by the strong acting of not only the key performers, but many of the supporting cast. The only thing I've seen Olyphant was his small role in Scream 2, so that pretty much meant he was an unknown quantity for me. So how was I to know he'd be absolutely wonderful as the mild-mannered sheriff who is determined to lead he and his wife out of the madness that has consumed their town? Also strong is Radha Mitchell in what might be one of her better performances as David's wife and the town doctor who witnesses some of the early symptoms of the illness before it gets completely out of control. But the best performance of the cast might be British actor Joe Anderson as the Sheriff's deputy, who may or may not be infected over the course of the film. He's the kind of everyman you want to root for, even when it begins to become obvious that he's turning. And these are the main roles, not the great small roles by Brett Rickaby, Larry Cedar and Mike Hickman as characters who completely get into their performances in this sick community.

I don't think that new sitter is going to work out.

The movie is truly scary, blending just the right type of atmosphere with proper pacing and believable characters and making you believe that any small town could be THIS CLOSE to this actually happening. However, it's not really anything new. While it's not truly a zombie film, it's close enough, with the sick barely keeping enough coherence to make any of them unique. Sure, they don't eat people (at least that we see), but they still have some insatable urge to kill, and act accordingly. What's worse is that there isn't anything here that hasn't been covered in any previous similar movie. It's a classic "weapons-grade chemical gets into small-town water supply and chaos ensues" plotline, with only superior performances and higher production values making it better than most titles. though the film thankfully keeps the perspective on the town's few survivors and keeps out of the affairs of the military who try to contain the sickness and fail miserably. The insular storytelling works, but only barely makes up for the fact that there are no new ideas to make this title truly unique. This is hardly surprising with Eisner at the helm. Michael's son is hardly one to work with original material, with most of his existing work and future projects either being remakes or adaptations. This isn't to say he's not a good director, simply one in need of an original thought in his head, rather than one who can follow directions.

"So, do you want full service today, or just the death?"

The Crazies is a scary, smart, exciting and jaw-dropping film that has raised the bar for contemporary horror films. However, it's also derivitive, unoriginal and a little too formulaic in it's attempt to be a true modern classic like the aforementioned Evil Dead of Dawn of the Dead. With strong performances, superb effects and breathtaking story, it's good enough to be good, and that's good enough to worm itself into the year's top ten, at least for the time being. It's the new #9. Now you should be heading down to wherever you rent your films to check it out.