Yep, this is what happens when one is unemployed and has no discernible social life, you end up watching every Rom Com out there.
So, despite seeing the bad reviews for this film I thought, you know what Ashton Kutcher can pull it off sometimes and Natalie Portman is a rather fabulous actress, lets give it a go. I wish I hadn't.
Natalie is charming, but completely underused in her comedic capacity, she has done kooky and funny and vulnerable previously in Garden State which had a far superior plot and execution. Understandably actors like to take a breather sometimes, do the easy film that pays the rent, so this is Natalies pay-check movie. It is the usual fodder though for Ashton Kutcher's CV.
Ashton, oh Ashton, he has done films such as these so many times but done them so much better. I really like What Happens In Vegas, Ashton is buff and Cameron is gorgeous and funny, it does what it says on the tin. Just Married is a showcase for both Ashton and Brittany Murphy's comedic talents, its also quite sweet. No Strings Attached is just pure rubbish. I felt myself cringe 10 minutes in, Ashton is needy, and the writing is appalling. The generic rom-com can survive and be enjoyable if the writing is at least passable along with good actors. The script writer and director should not be proud of their achievement, it deserves the wooden spoon, or a rosette with 'For Taking Part' on.
The plot is generic, boy met girl at camp, then 10 years later at a frat party, then five years on in a misguided attempt to get over his ex hooking up with his father. Girl doesn't want a relationship other than sex, boy falls in love, girl realises too late so did she. It ends happy. YAWN. The father in this case is played by Kevin Kline, cast no doubt just in case the film turned out too banal for even the leads to rescue, Kline also fails in this task. He is marginally more funny than his on screen son, but the relationship between them, and the ex girlfriend who moves from father to son is played out really quite badly.
So this film I do not recommend, I have seen far better Rom Coms with generic plotlines whose script and direction compliments the actors trying to make the film less like a well trodden path and more like one with new and interesting twists, such as Definitely Maybe or The Proposal.
Do not discredit Portman for this movie though, her weighting in the acting world can afford a hit or two, so long as they don't come often.
Tuesday, 21 June 2011
Thursday, 16 June 2011
X Men First Class? maybe a 2.1
The last X-Men movie was the first in an apparent line of Origins movies, not sure what is happening there but the most charismatic and elusive character has at least been covered, that being Wolverine. I wasn't so impressed with the last movie, it was too heavy and needed to either be darker and a higher rating or lighter with the same 12a.
Happily I found this latest installment of the X-Men franchise to suit its rating, with the exception of one swear word, and this is down to the direction. Its unsurprising to learn the director of Origins also directed Rendition and Tsotsi, hardly light hearted films. Matthew Vaughn has a history of films that make the most of humour; Stardust, Layer Cake, Kick Ass. He and Jane Goldman have a great working relationship and are very much in tune with each other when it comes to the script and the screen.
I have been anticipating this movie for perhaps even longer than Thor, and after being so very pleased with how that film turned out I was a little apprehensive whether or not Vaughn could compete with Branagh. Empire had given XMFC three stars, I would add a half star on for casting. Any film based on books of any kind will always get the bonus half star from me for the characters living up to expectation, even the Golden Compass with all its flaws remains one of the best cast movies I have ever seen.
The story was originally concieved by Bryan Singer and Sheldon Turner (who wrote Up in the Air). It is set mostly in the early Sixties, but begins with footage any X-Men fan should recognise from the first film of Erik Lehnsherr (aka Magneto) as a boy in a Nazi Death camp, it then cuts to seeing Charles Xavier as a boy in decidedly nicer surroundings (the Mansion) meeting a very young Mystique raiding his fridge.
So we have been set up to know these later heroes and anti-heroes have been this way since childhood, and their experiences will mold who they will become. It suits the film to be set in the sixties as opposed to try and bring it into the present day as Marvel created the X-Men in 1963, a year after the Cuban Missile Crisis around which the film is based. These heroes were born out of the fear of what radioactivity could do to us, we know it causes cancer by mutating the cells so they try and destroy us, but writers like Stan Lee thought what if our cells mutated into something spectacular?
The main villain of the film, Sebastian Shaw, is played with aplomb by Kevin Bacon as a man who will do anything to push his point of view across to the world, and also the object of Erik's mission of revenge against his Nazi captors. He is also very much like the later Magneto, same charisma, similar lackeys, and the same idea that he and his other Mutants are better than the mere mortals and should be running this place not hiding. Shaw also makes the interesting point by saying "we are the children of the atom", the first time in X-Men it has really been said that it is the fault of radioactivity that cells have begun to mutate.
Charles Xavier is played by James McAvoy with arrogance, swagger, intelligence, and heart. You could always tell from Patrick Stewart that there was a rascal hidden inside, and Professor X's youth before being thrown into the world of the CIA and war shows a man with a high IQ and he knew it. His relationship with Erik is one of true friendship, I saw an interview with Matthew Vaughn who had said on casting that he made McAvoy go through a lot of readings until they found Michael Fassbender, when it was apparently clear within minutes they had their X and Magneto. Fassbender plays Erik with intensity, he is after all on a revenge mission, but he is also captivating as a leader and inspires Raven (aka Mystique) to accept who she is.
Jennifer Lawrence shows her worth in a blockbuster, having previously been Oscar nominated for Winters Bone, and shows the crushing hurt that such a mutation could cause, being blue is not easy even if you can change your appearance. Nicholas Hoult is another young actor proving his worth on the big screen time and again, and here he plays Dr Hank McCoy aka Beast with nervous energy, only able to truly be himself once he attempts and fails at a cure.
There are two characters that do not hold very highly in my estimation, one due to script, the other because of prior work. The first is Moira McTaggert who is supposed to be a Scottish geneticist who helps Professor X and was seen briefly in X-Men 3, yet here is an American CIA agent....humph. Okay so it does work within the story, and I don't know how they would have used her otherwise, but it rankles that such an important, albeit background, character has been so fundamentally changed. All power to Rose Byrne though she plays a CIA agent well and the character change means fluidity where there may have been some stilted dialogue or action to introduce her.
The second character is January Jones' Emma Frost, and she does live up to her name. I am almost positive she lives up to expectations from truer fans than I of X-Men but I cannot help but see Betty Draper of Mad Men, the characterisation is too similar, nevertheless I did enjoy her performance and character involvement.
These two are my only gripes, which is impressive in a film that is very important to all fans of this gang of superheroes, it could have disappointed like Wolverine but it impressed like the very first X-Men film. The action scenes are visually spectacular, but do not come at you constantly so you lose the plot which can happen, Transformers is a film that to me fails completely on story because the action is so good and happens so much. The actors fulfil their character requirements and bring an extra dimension too, I never thought I could identify with a blue Mutant but both Hoult and Lawrence brought me into their emotional world and its not disimilar to anybody with body image issues.
The X-Men movies follow a basic pattern, good guys vs bad - a good guy will become disenchanted with being such and swaps to the other side - battle ensues then comes the parting of the ways. Matthew Vaughn has followed this well, and I am glad to see has not bowed to what a studio normally wants of a blockbuster, non stop action with a love story thrown in. He references the later films with cameos for Hugh Jackman and Rebecca Romijn, and respects the vision of Bryan Singer's original story and movies.
Vaughn has impressed me with his Summer Blockbuster first try, I hope if they make any further X-Men films and Bryan Singer does not return to the helm that Vaughn will be the go to guy for the job.
Happily I found this latest installment of the X-Men franchise to suit its rating, with the exception of one swear word, and this is down to the direction. Its unsurprising to learn the director of Origins also directed Rendition and Tsotsi, hardly light hearted films. Matthew Vaughn has a history of films that make the most of humour; Stardust, Layer Cake, Kick Ass. He and Jane Goldman have a great working relationship and are very much in tune with each other when it comes to the script and the screen.
I have been anticipating this movie for perhaps even longer than Thor, and after being so very pleased with how that film turned out I was a little apprehensive whether or not Vaughn could compete with Branagh. Empire had given XMFC three stars, I would add a half star on for casting. Any film based on books of any kind will always get the bonus half star from me for the characters living up to expectation, even the Golden Compass with all its flaws remains one of the best cast movies I have ever seen.
The story was originally concieved by Bryan Singer and Sheldon Turner (who wrote Up in the Air). It is set mostly in the early Sixties, but begins with footage any X-Men fan should recognise from the first film of Erik Lehnsherr (aka Magneto) as a boy in a Nazi Death camp, it then cuts to seeing Charles Xavier as a boy in decidedly nicer surroundings (the Mansion) meeting a very young Mystique raiding his fridge.
So we have been set up to know these later heroes and anti-heroes have been this way since childhood, and their experiences will mold who they will become. It suits the film to be set in the sixties as opposed to try and bring it into the present day as Marvel created the X-Men in 1963, a year after the Cuban Missile Crisis around which the film is based. These heroes were born out of the fear of what radioactivity could do to us, we know it causes cancer by mutating the cells so they try and destroy us, but writers like Stan Lee thought what if our cells mutated into something spectacular?
The main villain of the film, Sebastian Shaw, is played with aplomb by Kevin Bacon as a man who will do anything to push his point of view across to the world, and also the object of Erik's mission of revenge against his Nazi captors. He is also very much like the later Magneto, same charisma, similar lackeys, and the same idea that he and his other Mutants are better than the mere mortals and should be running this place not hiding. Shaw also makes the interesting point by saying "we are the children of the atom", the first time in X-Men it has really been said that it is the fault of radioactivity that cells have begun to mutate.
Charles Xavier is played by James McAvoy with arrogance, swagger, intelligence, and heart. You could always tell from Patrick Stewart that there was a rascal hidden inside, and Professor X's youth before being thrown into the world of the CIA and war shows a man with a high IQ and he knew it. His relationship with Erik is one of true friendship, I saw an interview with Matthew Vaughn who had said on casting that he made McAvoy go through a lot of readings until they found Michael Fassbender, when it was apparently clear within minutes they had their X and Magneto. Fassbender plays Erik with intensity, he is after all on a revenge mission, but he is also captivating as a leader and inspires Raven (aka Mystique) to accept who she is.
Jennifer Lawrence shows her worth in a blockbuster, having previously been Oscar nominated for Winters Bone, and shows the crushing hurt that such a mutation could cause, being blue is not easy even if you can change your appearance. Nicholas Hoult is another young actor proving his worth on the big screen time and again, and here he plays Dr Hank McCoy aka Beast with nervous energy, only able to truly be himself once he attempts and fails at a cure.
There are two characters that do not hold very highly in my estimation, one due to script, the other because of prior work. The first is Moira McTaggert who is supposed to be a Scottish geneticist who helps Professor X and was seen briefly in X-Men 3, yet here is an American CIA agent....humph. Okay so it does work within the story, and I don't know how they would have used her otherwise, but it rankles that such an important, albeit background, character has been so fundamentally changed. All power to Rose Byrne though she plays a CIA agent well and the character change means fluidity where there may have been some stilted dialogue or action to introduce her.
The second character is January Jones' Emma Frost, and she does live up to her name. I am almost positive she lives up to expectations from truer fans than I of X-Men but I cannot help but see Betty Draper of Mad Men, the characterisation is too similar, nevertheless I did enjoy her performance and character involvement.
These two are my only gripes, which is impressive in a film that is very important to all fans of this gang of superheroes, it could have disappointed like Wolverine but it impressed like the very first X-Men film. The action scenes are visually spectacular, but do not come at you constantly so you lose the plot which can happen, Transformers is a film that to me fails completely on story because the action is so good and happens so much. The actors fulfil their character requirements and bring an extra dimension too, I never thought I could identify with a blue Mutant but both Hoult and Lawrence brought me into their emotional world and its not disimilar to anybody with body image issues.
The X-Men movies follow a basic pattern, good guys vs bad - a good guy will become disenchanted with being such and swaps to the other side - battle ensues then comes the parting of the ways. Matthew Vaughn has followed this well, and I am glad to see has not bowed to what a studio normally wants of a blockbuster, non stop action with a love story thrown in. He references the later films with cameos for Hugh Jackman and Rebecca Romijn, and respects the vision of Bryan Singer's original story and movies.
Vaughn has impressed me with his Summer Blockbuster first try, I hope if they make any further X-Men films and Bryan Singer does not return to the helm that Vaughn will be the go to guy for the job.
Wednesday, 8 June 2011
Thor and the continuing reign of Marvel
Okay I'm just putting this out there, I am a Marvel Girl at heart, yes I enjoyed Smallville but really, who would choose Batman over Wolverine? Superman over The Hulk? Or indeed Green Lantern over Thor?
I have no interest in the latest DC output this year, Green Lantern, despite the pull of Ryan Reynolds who I have loved since he served Pizza in Boston (2 Guys and a Girl). However I was waiting with bated breath for the release of Thor. Now I have to admit that I am not a comic reader as such, I cannot claim to be such a Marvel fan as this, but always watched the cartoons as a kid and seen all the movies released, yep even Daredevil *shudder*. So the pull of Thor was not because I had read all his adventures, but because Marvel and the awesome Stan Lee created him.
Thor, if you know your Norse legends, is the God of Thunder, son of Odin the King of the gods, and perhaps the best warrior of them all. He is not reknown for his brains. Being a god of the vikings he needs to be tough, live in adverse conditions, not be soppy frankly.
Chris Hemsworth's Thor lives up to his Nordic reputation, with a touch of sentiment as well because where would a superhero be without his damsel in distress?
Said damsel is played by Natalie Portman, whose name is Jane, a very appropriate title as their relationship is very much a 'me thor you jane' type akin to Tarzan. Of course Thor can speak properly but just in a very loud, commanding, and medieval king way. This causes a lot of amusement, especially when asking for more coffee.
Hemsworth you may recognise as being James T Kirks Dad in the latest Star Trek movie, or perhaps even from Home and Away. He is a perfect Thor. Loud, muscular, slightly confused, but always with a sense of power to his actions and words. This comes down to direction as well, and Kenneth Branagh, though not a screamingly obvious choice for a superhero movie, brings with him a sense of gravitas and depth to the direction. Branagh is most famous of course for being either the director or star of a Shakespeare play, which when you look at Thor's story is so much more suitable than Ang Lee's prior history of Sense and Sensibility before making the appalling first Hulk movie.
Thor is banished by his father to Earth from Asgard for attacking a former, and supposedly neutral, enemy the Frost Giants. He is seperated from his main weapon, Mjolnir, the great Hammer, which is sent into a Sword in the Stone type scenario with the humble humans trying to prise it from the rock. Look out for Stan Lee's cameo in these scenes.
So Thor has to contend with living as a human, helped by Natalie Portmans' Jane and her fellow scientists played by Stellan Skarsgaard and Kat Dennings. I cannot fault the acting in this movie, and I realise the post-Oscar release probably meant more regular cinema goers wanted to see Natalie Portman again but this time would see a strong and focused individual, who ultimately falls for our hulk of a hero (and who could blame her?). Meanwhile back in Asgard Loki, Thor's brother, is making deals with the Frost Giants and planning to take over Asgard upon his father Odin's death. Although not in traditional Norse Legend the twist of having the trickster god as Thor's brother works well, I assume this comes from the original comics but cannot say for sure, and there is an extra twist that is rather brilliant I won't spoil for those who still have not seen the movie.
The visual effects are brilliant, Asgard and the Frost Giants realm are truly spectacular,and the idea that you are transported from each realm by lightning burst is cohesive with what we know of Thor and more spectacular than just appearing out of thin air, there is drama to it.
The stories of Earth and Asgard are blended together without a hitch, and you find yourself as much interested in the fates of the humans as the gods, who are all under attack.
The film is long in run time, but I never once felt my attention wandering as it moved from serious moment to action scene, interspersed with moments of comic relief coming not from one or two characters but everybody gets a chance with the comedy. This is the genius of Branagh to give every actor their opportunity, as Shakespeare did with his characters. I looked up the history of this film and Sam Raimi was the first to show interest in the making of Thor, I thank the gods he left the project and it took 10 years to be made or we could have had another Spiderman 3 on our hands.
Another point to make is that Marvel have had control over their comics to films since Iron Man, there is a marked difference between earlier Studio controlled creations and the recent movies, which is why we are seeing Hulk remakes and markedly a Spiderman remake.
Thor has benefited from Marvels guiding hand, a wonderful director in Branagh, and superb casting. It is possibly my favourite Marvel movie so far, and I look forward to the Avengers next year where we see the return of Thor along with Hulk, Captain America, and Iron Man - Squeal!
I have no interest in the latest DC output this year, Green Lantern, despite the pull of Ryan Reynolds who I have loved since he served Pizza in Boston (2 Guys and a Girl). However I was waiting with bated breath for the release of Thor. Now I have to admit that I am not a comic reader as such, I cannot claim to be such a Marvel fan as this, but always watched the cartoons as a kid and seen all the movies released, yep even Daredevil *shudder*. So the pull of Thor was not because I had read all his adventures, but because Marvel and the awesome Stan Lee created him.
Thor, if you know your Norse legends, is the God of Thunder, son of Odin the King of the gods, and perhaps the best warrior of them all. He is not reknown for his brains. Being a god of the vikings he needs to be tough, live in adverse conditions, not be soppy frankly.
Chris Hemsworth's Thor lives up to his Nordic reputation, with a touch of sentiment as well because where would a superhero be without his damsel in distress?
Said damsel is played by Natalie Portman, whose name is Jane, a very appropriate title as their relationship is very much a 'me thor you jane' type akin to Tarzan. Of course Thor can speak properly but just in a very loud, commanding, and medieval king way. This causes a lot of amusement, especially when asking for more coffee.
Hemsworth you may recognise as being James T Kirks Dad in the latest Star Trek movie, or perhaps even from Home and Away. He is a perfect Thor. Loud, muscular, slightly confused, but always with a sense of power to his actions and words. This comes down to direction as well, and Kenneth Branagh, though not a screamingly obvious choice for a superhero movie, brings with him a sense of gravitas and depth to the direction. Branagh is most famous of course for being either the director or star of a Shakespeare play, which when you look at Thor's story is so much more suitable than Ang Lee's prior history of Sense and Sensibility before making the appalling first Hulk movie.
Thor is banished by his father to Earth from Asgard for attacking a former, and supposedly neutral, enemy the Frost Giants. He is seperated from his main weapon, Mjolnir, the great Hammer, which is sent into a Sword in the Stone type scenario with the humble humans trying to prise it from the rock. Look out for Stan Lee's cameo in these scenes.
So Thor has to contend with living as a human, helped by Natalie Portmans' Jane and her fellow scientists played by Stellan Skarsgaard and Kat Dennings. I cannot fault the acting in this movie, and I realise the post-Oscar release probably meant more regular cinema goers wanted to see Natalie Portman again but this time would see a strong and focused individual, who ultimately falls for our hulk of a hero (and who could blame her?). Meanwhile back in Asgard Loki, Thor's brother, is making deals with the Frost Giants and planning to take over Asgard upon his father Odin's death. Although not in traditional Norse Legend the twist of having the trickster god as Thor's brother works well, I assume this comes from the original comics but cannot say for sure, and there is an extra twist that is rather brilliant I won't spoil for those who still have not seen the movie.
The visual effects are brilliant, Asgard and the Frost Giants realm are truly spectacular,and the idea that you are transported from each realm by lightning burst is cohesive with what we know of Thor and more spectacular than just appearing out of thin air, there is drama to it.
The stories of Earth and Asgard are blended together without a hitch, and you find yourself as much interested in the fates of the humans as the gods, who are all under attack.
The film is long in run time, but I never once felt my attention wandering as it moved from serious moment to action scene, interspersed with moments of comic relief coming not from one or two characters but everybody gets a chance with the comedy. This is the genius of Branagh to give every actor their opportunity, as Shakespeare did with his characters. I looked up the history of this film and Sam Raimi was the first to show interest in the making of Thor, I thank the gods he left the project and it took 10 years to be made or we could have had another Spiderman 3 on our hands.
Another point to make is that Marvel have had control over their comics to films since Iron Man, there is a marked difference between earlier Studio controlled creations and the recent movies, which is why we are seeing Hulk remakes and markedly a Spiderman remake.
Thor has benefited from Marvels guiding hand, a wonderful director in Branagh, and superb casting. It is possibly my favourite Marvel movie so far, and I look forward to the Avengers next year where we see the return of Thor along with Hulk, Captain America, and Iron Man - Squeal!
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