I saw Green Lantern (like anyone expected me not to) and I liked it. I thought it was fun, even if the movie had some problems. My problem was more with the family (or at least one adult supervisor and a mess of kids) that sat down in the row behind us right before the movie started. The movie is not (as IGN claims here) a kid's movie. Sure, there are tons of brightly colored alien creatures (for about 10 minutes), but even those scenes aren't really for kids. And judging by the reaction of the squirly bunch behind me, they seemed to agree with me.
Half the kids (there were four) were bored and complained about being bored to anyone who didn't want to listen, and the other half were shrieking at any loud noise or bright light. And there was language I wouldn't want a little kid to pick up. Hal calls several people a$$holes (which totally goes against his character, but we're not focusing on the quality of the film itself here) and Kilowog refers to Hal as a female dog. Now, the film is rated PG-13, and I'd still wince if there were kids that young in the audience. But these were children who looked to be between the ages of 6-10. And not to mention the violence. Sure, there are colorful aliens in the film, but a good number of them die in horrific ways (well, ok, one gets part of his chest blown off and the rest have their essence ripped out in the forms of really painful looking, screaming skeleton).
This isn't the next Star Wars. It's an adventure that takes place mainly in one locale, not the across galaxies space-farrin' adventures of the Star Wars films (or planet/sea of the Indiana Jones or Pirates movies).
This isn't the next Star Wars. It wants to be. It wants you to believe it is. But it isn't (though with the over use of CG, I'd be hard to press to blame you if you mistook it for one of the prequels). It isn't for kids.
It does, however, have Bzzd. And that makes me smile.
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
A New Class
The end of the school year is upon us, and as such, I haven't had as much time as I've wanted to sit down and write new musings, reviews, etc. Just been too busy is all.
So it's fitting that my first post of the summer is about a summer blockbuster film: X-Men: First Class (I'll try to work on my lead-ins, I swear). If you want to skip all of my little nitpickings on the film (it's a great temptation sometimes, I know), then let me say this: It's the best X-Men film to date (X2 is a very, very close second).
The story-telling and character-building is excellent. Most of the characters are well developed, though the villains still suffer from the same problems Magneto's minions did way back in the first X-Film. That is, to say, they are just random villains pulled from the X-Men universe and stuffed together to serve as henchman to the main baddie. The X-Men have plenty of actual teams of villains (like the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants (yes, I know they used that name in the first film, but they were a hodgepodge of characters operating under that name) and the actual Hellfire club, although they got two members. So there is that) I don't think they ever say the name of the guy who makes tornados during the movie. I had to wait for the credits to figure that out.
The film has its problems, too (aside from the underdeveloped badguys). The special effects suffer in the same way Wolverine's did. Some just seem...unfinished. Though, nothing in this movie is as bad as in XO:W. And that's not to say all the effects were laughably bad. Most were very effective, though I found myself drawn to the character moments more than the action pieces.
I think this might be the first movie where I wanted the fight scenes to end so they could go back to talking. And that is a huge credit to the writing. The story has been told before. We get a glossed-over version in the X-Men films of the fallout between Xavier and Magneto, but here we see the two develop their powers independently before they meet and that's when things got really interesting. The moment, teased in the trailer, of Xavier pulling a gun on Magneto, played out in an entirely different manner than I thought it would. Which is good, since I though Charles would've been smarter than to try to shoot Magneto with metal bullets.
Mystique was another character I really liked in First Class. She only ever wanted to be accepted as who she was and she looked to her "brother" for that assurance, but he was too blind/stupid/self-absorbed to see it. And then with Hank, for someone that smart, he really was dumb (in a natural way. I mean, pretty blond girl makes men do stupid things) with Mystique. It was clear she was hurting, but he couldn't see it. He just wanted to cure his thumb-toe (and turn blue in the process, which, in a roundabout way, hurt Mystique. Again). All Mystique wanted was some lovin' as her blue self, and only Magneto (and if the films follow the comics at all, Azazel) was willing to give it to her. That also solidified his character as a man who believes that he (or anyone) shouldn't have to hide what he (or they) is (are).
The other issue I took with the movie was it didn't know what it was or wanted to be. By that, I mean, was it a prequel or a reboot. The opening was an almost shot for shot remake of the opening to X-Men with Erik being separated from his parents and then using his powers to pull on the gate (though it expands on this), but there was a lot in this film that openly contradicts the others. Kelly summed it up with one name: Jean Grey.
***SPOILERS***
In Last Stand, Erik and Charles recruit a young Jean. Charles is still walking here, so the spinal injury he receives at the end of First Class doesn't really jive with that. Unless he gets healed and Erik becomes an instructor at the institute in the next film. The second is Emma Frost's age. Though different people say different things about Silverfox's sister being Emma in Wolverine, it seemed pretty clear to the makers of the film that it was (and Vaughn reportedly considered the actress to reprise the role in FC), which means Frost would've had to have stopped aging for about five years and then gotten fifteen years younger. The relationship between Xavier and Mystique was never hinted at in the first trilogy and as someone who were raised as siblings, that seems like something that should've come up.
I recommend this film for anyone who has ever liked the X-Men ever. Continuity from the other films be damned, First Class is good enough that I can put that aside and enjoy the ride. With its lower-than-expected box office returns, here's hoping this class will return for another go-round.
Note: I tend to talk about the social aspect of the viewing more, but I'm tired from a long day of driving (went to a video games in education symposium) and I need to get back in the habit of writing more.
So it's fitting that my first post of the summer is about a summer blockbuster film: X-Men: First Class (I'll try to work on my lead-ins, I swear). If you want to skip all of my little nitpickings on the film (it's a great temptation sometimes, I know), then let me say this: It's the best X-Men film to date (X2 is a very, very close second).
The story-telling and character-building is excellent. Most of the characters are well developed, though the villains still suffer from the same problems Magneto's minions did way back in the first X-Film. That is, to say, they are just random villains pulled from the X-Men universe and stuffed together to serve as henchman to the main baddie. The X-Men have plenty of actual teams of villains (like the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants (yes, I know they used that name in the first film, but they were a hodgepodge of characters operating under that name) and the actual Hellfire club, although they got two members. So there is that) I don't think they ever say the name of the guy who makes tornados during the movie. I had to wait for the credits to figure that out.
The film has its problems, too (aside from the underdeveloped badguys). The special effects suffer in the same way Wolverine's did. Some just seem...unfinished. Though, nothing in this movie is as bad as in XO:W. And that's not to say all the effects were laughably bad. Most were very effective, though I found myself drawn to the character moments more than the action pieces.
I think this might be the first movie where I wanted the fight scenes to end so they could go back to talking. And that is a huge credit to the writing. The story has been told before. We get a glossed-over version in the X-Men films of the fallout between Xavier and Magneto, but here we see the two develop their powers independently before they meet and that's when things got really interesting. The moment, teased in the trailer, of Xavier pulling a gun on Magneto, played out in an entirely different manner than I thought it would. Which is good, since I though Charles would've been smarter than to try to shoot Magneto with metal bullets.
Mystique was another character I really liked in First Class. She only ever wanted to be accepted as who she was and she looked to her "brother" for that assurance, but he was too blind/stupid/self-absorbed to see it. And then with Hank, for someone that smart, he really was dumb (in a natural way. I mean, pretty blond girl makes men do stupid things) with Mystique. It was clear she was hurting, but he couldn't see it. He just wanted to cure his thumb-toe (and turn blue in the process, which, in a roundabout way, hurt Mystique. Again). All Mystique wanted was some lovin' as her blue self, and only Magneto (and if the films follow the comics at all, Azazel) was willing to give it to her. That also solidified his character as a man who believes that he (or anyone) shouldn't have to hide what he (or they) is (are).
The other issue I took with the movie was it didn't know what it was or wanted to be. By that, I mean, was it a prequel or a reboot. The opening was an almost shot for shot remake of the opening to X-Men with Erik being separated from his parents and then using his powers to pull on the gate (though it expands on this), but there was a lot in this film that openly contradicts the others. Kelly summed it up with one name: Jean Grey.
***SPOILERS***
In Last Stand, Erik and Charles recruit a young Jean. Charles is still walking here, so the spinal injury he receives at the end of First Class doesn't really jive with that. Unless he gets healed and Erik becomes an instructor at the institute in the next film. The second is Emma Frost's age. Though different people say different things about Silverfox's sister being Emma in Wolverine, it seemed pretty clear to the makers of the film that it was (and Vaughn reportedly considered the actress to reprise the role in FC), which means Frost would've had to have stopped aging for about five years and then gotten fifteen years younger. The relationship between Xavier and Mystique was never hinted at in the first trilogy and as someone who were raised as siblings, that seems like something that should've come up.
I recommend this film for anyone who has ever liked the X-Men ever. Continuity from the other films be damned, First Class is good enough that I can put that aside and enjoy the ride. With its lower-than-expected box office returns, here's hoping this class will return for another go-round.
Note: I tend to talk about the social aspect of the viewing more, but I'm tired from a long day of driving (went to a video games in education symposium) and I need to get back in the habit of writing more.
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