You’ll like this movie if you liked The Road Warrior and
have tried to forget Beyond Thunderdome.
Australian director George Miller launched the un-likeliest
of movie franchises when he starred an unknown actor named Mel Gibson in a
low-budget gem called Mad Max in 1979. It
was worthy of a sequel. Now, the sequel
to a surprise hit always has a bigger budget and a longer running time. But it isn’t always a classic like Mad Max
2: The Road Warrior released in 1981. How classic?
A recent Rolling Stone Reader’s poll ranked it the number 1 all-time
action movie. More on that poll later.
It’s pretty common that the third movie disappoints, and Mad
Max: Beyond Thunderdome in 1985 lived
down to that expectation. The series
seemed to have died and Miller turned his attention to the Babe movies.
Which brings us to 2015 and the amazing Fury Road.
If there is any justice in the world, in about 8 months Mad
Max will win the Oscar for Best Cinematography.
I try not to make these
statements too quickly, but Fury may be the best chase movie ever made. There are a number of reasons for that.
First, that’s all it is.
It’s really one long extended chase movie. It’s full bore and relentless in its action
from the first seconds. By the time it
stops to take a breath and kind of explain things, the audience is too amped up
to care.
Second, the stunts are so audacious and realistic that it
makes the CGI loaded action movies of today look pretty ridiculous. I'm sure there's some CGI in the crowd scenes, and one dust bowl scene, but I think everything else is real, or as movie-making real as it gets.
Third, there’s no blurry action. Movies, especially in flight sequences tend
to make you want to believe something happened, instead of showing you. Here, you see it all and if anything the
motion is sped up, yet it's clear as a bell.
Finally, there’s a big surprise. Tom Hardy ably assumes the Mad Max role. But it is Charlize
Theron as Furiosa (a character worthy of a movie all her own) that carries the
narrative of the movie. I couldn’t have
been more surprised. Not that she can
act – I already knew that. It’s that
Miller would essentially gamble the franchise by turning this into a feminist
statement of empowerment. Actors don't win Oscars for roles in action movies, and Charlize shows what an injustice that can be.
Furiosa is trying to free the sex slaves of the emperor of a
water-starved civilization. She sets off
on a breakneck escape and we are soon blessed with actual character development
right in the middle of the chaos. It’s
all an amazing achievement in narrative, action, and movie-making. Don’t ask me how they did it. While it’s not for everyone, if you like
action for action’s sake, this is a movie to savor. Hold on tight.
Pitch Perfect 2 – 9
You’ll like this movie if you liked Pitch Perfect, and if
you like Anna Kendrick, and if you don’t like Anna Kendrick, we need to have a
long talk.
Pitch Perfect was a surprise hit in 2012, carried by
Kendrick and her musical chops which were honed on Broadway since she was a
youngster. With good musicals not
exactly the norm on the big screen it became a cultural phenomenon of sorts,
aided by the viral nature of its music.
A sequel was inevitable and you can queue up the rules. Bigger Budget, longer running time, etc.
etc. It’s kind of the opposite of
deflategate. It’s Inflategate. First time director Elizabeth Banks goes for
it in a big way. The movie isn’t
perfect. There’s a lot of fluff and
filler, extending the running time unnecessarily, probably to justify the
budget, and fill out the soundtrack. It goes on too long, and the ending is inevitable, including a blatant Glee-copy.
Those are the negatives.
The positives dwarf those things and there’s a ton of fun along the way. The acting and performances are delightful,
as that little sprite of talent Anna Kendrick carries the day, while all the
supporting characters are terrific as well, including the newest Barden Bella,
Haley Steinfeld.
The movie is hilarious, especially in the first 30 minutes
when the Bellas are disgraced in a performance for the President and a full
house at Lincoln Center. The setup is
thus in place. They are suspended from
competition unless they can win the World Title of A Capella. Their often uproarious journey is set. Don’t think too much, just go with it.
At 4 PM on Mother’s day I officially concluded my entertainment obligation for the day when I eagerly left the theater of my yearly chick flick.
This is the story of Adaline, played stoically by Blake Lively. Her aging is halted in an accident when her
car goes underwater and is struck by lightning.
We know this because there is a narrator to explain it like he’s Rod
Serling. This sets the tone for
everything that is wrong with the movie.
When you are not confident in the visual story-telling you are
attempting, have someone ominously explain it. But, of course all narration reminds me of the insipid and insufferable Carrie Bradshaw, so kill me now, which is what I think I said exiting the theater. Narration is a red flag, and it's just the beginning in this flick.
This is obviously a fantasy, so while there is no
expectation of believability in the story, it would be nice if there was
something else to grab unto in this movie.
Alas, nothing. The relationships,
the chemistry (or lack thereof), the acting, the narrator, the story, the
people – it’s all so lame as to be a snooze fest of the glossiest order. Even my beloved Ellen Burstyn is so irritating
as Adaline’s daughter that it is no wonder everyone is so unhappy. If “24” returns I expect watching this
movie to replace waterboarding in the torture scenes. If I had to watch this movie looped over and over I'd confess to anything.
The Avengers: Age of
Ultron – 4
It is only because I have the highest regard for director
Joss Whedon that I went to see this sequel to the first Avengers movie, which I
despised. I wanted to see if Joss could
improve on the first one. Good news – he
has. Bad News – not by much.
Apparently there is a timeline that extends from the first
movie, through a TV series (Marvel’s Agents of Shield) into this movie that
will explain what the hell is going on.
The movie starts in full bore action with the Avengers attacking some
outpost, and I can only assume a viewer of the TV series would know what was
going on. As for me, I’ve never been
lost faster.
There are some good action scenes, and that’s clearly the
strong suit here, but this is the 5th movie that Robert Downey’s
Iron Man has appeared in, challenging the Hugh Jackman “Wolverine” perpetual
portrayal. Gosh they must make a lot of
dough to keep doing the same thing over and over. Despite the Whedon banter, none of the superheroes
are particularly interesting, and the feeling one gets is that the biggest
Issue they had was cramming this story down to 2 ½ hours or so.
I’m not going to even try to tell you what this movie is
about above the razzle dazzle, something about a monster robot named Ultron
getting artificial intelligence, and becoming a menace to society, more than
even a Kardashian.
Halfway through the movie Samuel L Jackson appears because
Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman were apparently unavailable to play the token
old actor role which the 3 of them must fight over IN EVERY SINGLE MOVIE.
The Avengers will apparently make a boatload of money for
Whedon, and I’m happy for him. Now,
please, a sequel to Serenity. A real
story about human beings would be nice.
And in conclusion let’s look at the Rolling Stone’s Reader
Poll for Best Action movies:
10 Die Hard
9 Terminator 2:
Judgement Day8 Raiders of the Lost Ark
7 Rambo
6 Lethal Weapon
5 The Matrix
4 Predator
3 The Bourne Identity
2 Alien
1 The Road Warrior
Here’s mine but I had to turn mine up to 20:
1 Jaws
2 Star Wars3 Die Hard
4 Terminator 2: Judgement Day
5 Raiders of the Lost Ark
6 The Abyss
7 Lethal Weapon
8 Serenity
9 The Road Warrior
10 Terminator
11 Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
12 The Warriors
13 Minority Report
14 Kill Bill 2
15 Vanishing Point
16 Saving Private Ryan
17 Alien
18 The Dark Knight Rises
19 The Long Kiss Goodnight
20 Billy Jack
What’s yours?
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