Skyfall Review

I would say that I am a fan of James Bond. When asked what actor playing Bond is your favorite would you answer Sean Connery? or Pierce Brosnan? I was waiting to reserve judgement about Daniel Craig, until he had a few Bond films under his belt. Casino Royale was a very good Bond film, and it was directed by Martin Campbell that made my Favorite Bond film as a child, Goldeneye. But Quantum of Solace, was less that stellar and it looked like Daniel Craig might be going the way of the Brosnan. Where his films peaking at first and getting progressively worse. After watching Skyfall its safe to say that will not be the route Mr. Craig will be taking, as Skyfall might be the best Bond film I have ever seen.

    We join Bond in another adventure, to thwart the bad guys for some such scheme, yada, yada. It doesn’t really matter because this movie isn’t about taking over the world or being the guy with all the money, its about revenge, revenge against M. If you are not up on your Bond lore, M is the leader of M16, and Bond’s boss. Since Goldeneye, M has been played by Judi Dench, an actress that has much bigger chops than the Bond films ever really needing her to have. We actually get to see her stretch her skill in this film, and she makes us care about her. The villains got it out for her, and it’s so good.

    I am happy to say that Skyfall has the the return of the Character Q, who was always my favorite part of any Bond films. The guy who gives Bond his gadgets. Desmond Llewelyn, had played Q in 17 Bond films until his death in 1999. We have seen John Cleese play the character once, in the Brosnan days, in Die Another Day, but I feel like this was a mistake. Q should not be a funny character, he was never a funny character, we was just more clever than Bond, and loved to rub Bond’s face in it.  I am happy to say that feeling has return to the Q character in this iteration. Q is played by Ben Whishaw, who played it perfectly. This young actor is one to watch as he is in Cloud Atlas and Skyfall this year. Whishaw is slated to be in Robopocalypse Steven Spielberg's new film for 2014

    Sam Mendes directed Skyfall, who is known for American beauty, and Road to Perdition, neither are really action films, more character studies. I was curious to see his take on the Bond franchise. This is kind of like giving the Batman reins to Christopher Nolan. This is the best shot bond film I have ever seen, Every scene was just beautiful to look at, especially in IMax. The character development is the best I have ever seen in a Bond film, you actually get to know Bond and M. Bond and M actually have a character arc. It’s more than just stop-the-bad-guy, you are actually emotionally invested. This film might not have the never ending action, but it makes up for it with substance. Javier Bardem plays Silva, this film’s villain, and you can’t take your eyes off of him. His presence is just amazing, liking him and being afraid of him all at the same time.

    It hard to shift a favorite movie in your head. Goldeneye and Casino Royale, will always have a special place in my heart, but today my favorite Bond film is Skyfall. It’s not a pure fun as other Bond films. Skyfall is not over the top or silly, but just a good film. Not just a good Bond film, like a really good film. Since seeing this film I have recomended it to everyone I can, if you like Bond you need to see this movie. What is Skyfall you ask? Just wait and keep your eyes open at the end. 

The Rating System
Production (Directing, Editing, Music)5-5
Story (Plot)4-5
Characters (Likability, Acting)5-5
Writing (Dialogue, Cleverness)5-5
Emotions (Was it; Fun, Scary, Sad, Do I care)5-5
Over all score 24-25 Near perfect film making here.


   

Wreck-it Ralph Review

When are you too old to like cartoons? When are you supposed to put on the big boy pants, and no longer enjoy watching kids films? With Pixar and Dreamworks making films that appeal to both adults and kids, it’s ok for you to like them. The industry is making them for you also, right? I have noticed in the past few years, the declining quality of work put into the computer animated films produced by Disney. The last Pixar film I liked was Toy Story 3, it was compelling and masterfully done, but it also didn’t get silly by going to “kiddy.” And guess what? everyone enjoyed watching it. Sure, Toy Story 3 got a little dark in the end, but it had a heart-warming story, and you actually felt something for some plastic toys that talk. How amazing is that?

Wreck-it-Ralph is a trick; a gimmick to try and get the adults who love video games to come see their movie. In reality, Wreck-it-Ralph is a Disney princess movie. The film is set in an arcade, and we take a deep look into the lives of the video games characters after the arcade closes and the arcade characters come to life. The characters can use the “surge protector” that all of the games are attached to, and go into other games and interact with other game characters. Ralph is not very happy being the villain in his own arcade game, as he is tired of being thrown off the roof, over and over; no one seems to like him. He’s a villain, so people scorn him.

The film has many quick video game references that only old school gamers will get: “Aeris Lives” painted on the subway wall, or Q-bert being homeless in the surge protector area. This is a ploy to get older gamers to want to go see this film. Too bad you spend 80% of the film in a game called Sugar Rush, a fictional game of sugar-themed cart racing. Disney had so much potential to do so much with other, real-life games and ideas for this new world, yet we spend it in sicky sweet sugar land. I thought it was funny at first, but after about 40 minutes in there, you just want to go to another game, or another movie.

For the next paragraph I will do some SPOILERS, please just skip this one and move onto the next. Ralph no longer wants to be the villain, so he leaves the game, in search of a “medal” the thing that will make him be respected by the other game characters. The plot of the film progresses and in the end, the other characters realize that they need Ralph for the game to work, duh. Ralph comes back, and resumes his duties as a “bad guy” because he is needed for the game to work. Here is my problem with this idea: One, it sounds like Ralph didn’t really learn anything, and that the other characters in the game are the ones that need to wise up, they need him, and Fix-it Felix and the other toons in Ralph's game never say to him, “Ralph we need you and we are sorry for how we treated you.” Because really, he just wants to be liked and not hated for what he does, they are the dicks that don’t realize they need him until he’s gone. Two, his realization is that he needs to do his job, even if its being a bad guy? Maybe I am reading too much into it, but doesn’t that just mean, the world needs bad guys to work. He has a part to play and that is to destroy the building, it’s ok, because someone has to do it. END SPOILERS

I was talking with one of my friends after the movie, and we both love video games, and were excited to see this film. But as we started to talk about our gripes and problems with how it is too “kiddy” or “sweet,” I started to realize: are we just the wrong demographic? Are we the target audience? Because this film sure does take a Disney Princesses turn, and maybe we are not supposed to like it. This film is for kids, not 30-somethings that will get all the video game references. But then this thought made me mad, then why they hell did they put that part into the movie? They had such potential and they ruined it with cute overload. They got the gamers in the theaters, only to shift the movie into a simple minded, poop joke. One more gripe: this film is more or less a rehash of Toy Story, the idea that our “toys” are doing things while we are sleeping, almost the same premise, down to the characters getting back their place before the humans see them. Heres an idea: what do our video game consoles do when you are not playing them? Couldn’t Ralph have gotten out of the arcade and seen the massive online gaming community? What would that mean when they can talk to the world of video game characters, no just the small town ideal, of the arcade world.

Although Wreck-it-Ralph has some clever ideas, and some fun parts, the overall movie is kind of a let down. Being a film and video game fan, I am very disappointed with how this turned out.

The Rating System
Production (Directing, Editing, Music) 3-5
Story (Plot)2-5
Characters (Likability, Acting) 3-5
Writing (Dialogue, Cleverness) 3-5
Emotions (Was it; Fun, Scary, Sad, Do I care) 2-5
Over all score 13-25

Cloud Atlas Review

             
    How much impact does a film have on your life? Do you leave the theater thinking you are going to change your life, or that you are going to see the world in a new way? Probably not, but you may have that feeling as well as the knowledge of the story forever. You might forget exactly what they said or who was in it, but in some part you will remember the feeling that film gave you. Some films resonate a particular kind of thought or feeling, causing you to see deeper in your own life.

    I had to think about Cloud Atlas for a few days after seeing the it. This is the kind of movie that you need to let stew in your brain for a while. There is all measure of themes and feelings that this story portrays; its hard to get a firm grip on how you feel about the movie as a whole. Cloud Atlas, if anything, provokes thought. You are given so much information - I would image it would take a few viewings to get all out of this film. Luckily, it's a great film so you should be like me, and not 

mind watching again and again. I saw it the weekend of its release and I already want to see it again.
    The description of the plot is something I am having trouble putting into words, only because I am worried about giving away the mystery of the film and ruining the “holy crap moment” that this movie makes you feel. So I will be subtle and broad, but if you are really worried about things being “spoiled” just don't read the rest of this paragraph. The basic idea is that you have six story lines, all from different time frames, all with different characters, performed by the same actors, in every timeline. Its about as confusing as that sentence. Tom Hanks, Halley Barry, Hugh Grant, Hugo Weaving, Jim Broadbent, Jim Sturgess, Doona Bae, all play all the characters in all the timelines, each of them big and small. Each main character has their own devoted story and time. Each actor can be seen throughout each timeline, some looking very different, under pounds of makeup and prosthetics. It was always kind of interesting to find each character throughout, not knowing where they might show up. Who will they be in this timeline? End of small spoilers.
    
The editing is very interesting, and lends itself well to following the six simultaneous storylines. You could be very easy for you to get lost in this film, but I feel they did a fantastic job of making it work. With so much information, the movie washes over you so fast - it keeps going and going, not stopping to let things sink in. When you think you can see where a story is going, it cuts to another time line. The transitions seem like it would be a mess, jumping from 1849 to 2143 but they work, and they all seem to work together. Directed by three different directors, Tom Tvkwer, Andy and Lana Wachowski. Each having a different time lines and different feels. Its amazing how they all work together, and make one large movie experience.
    This movie will stay in my memory for a long time, as it is beautiful and pretty amazing. It is rated R but I would recommend this film to anyone. Only having a little bit of nudity and violence.  It is a pretty weird film, and not all the answers are figured out easily or even given to you, and that might irritate the people who don’t want to think when they go to the movies.  This is not a film you want to go in and not pay attention, you will be lost. I hope you will enjoy it as much as I did.
The Rating System
Production (Directing, Editing, Music) 5-5 (yep)
Story (Plot) 4-5
Characters (Likability, Acting) 4-5
Writing (Dialogue, Cleverness)4-5
Emotions (Was it; Fun, Scary, Sad, Do I care)5-5
Over all score 22-25