Kick Ass

             Why hasn’t anybody tried to be a superhero? This is the question that teenager Dave Lizewsky (Aaron Johnston) asks himself and leads him to take on a double life as a crime fighter. Kick Ass is a rush of a film that earns its R rating with pride and doesn’t hold back on its content adding to the film’s charm.

            Dave is in high school and spends his time online and reading comic books with his friends. He dons a green scuba suit and decides to venture out to fight crime. His first attempt almost kills him but after ending up in the hospital he becomes more pain resistant as metal plates are placed on his upper body. He goes out again to prove to himself he can do it and after an amateur video of his fight with a group goes viral his alter ego Kick Ass shoots into fame. He joins forces with Hit Girl (Chloe Moretz) and Big Daddy (Nicholas Cage), a father and daughter superhero team, to fight the manipulative drug lord Frank D’Amico (Mark Strong) and his son, Chris (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) who takes on the persona of Red Mist to infiltrate Kick Ass.

            The film shoots an adrenaline rush into the superhero genre creating relatable superheroes dealing with day-to-day problems. The relationship of Mindy and Damon, Hit Girl and Big Daddy’s alter egos, is unlike any father-daughter relationship yet it still comes across as one of the strongest. He has taught her to be able to defend herself by teaching her fight skills and weapon knowledge. Hit Girl’s personality makes her an instant favorite with her foul mouth, self-defense skills.

             Kick Ass may surprise some people with its violence and cursing but it just gives the film a more authentic vibe. Unlike other superhero adaptations, this film is able to convey what would happen if real everyday people took crime fighting up. Although the concept is not new, the originality of its characters makes for an enjoyable distraction.

Shutter Island

            Martin Scorsese brings new elements to the thriller in Shutter Island. The moment the characters arrive at the island the film takes unexpected turns and revelations are set forth that demand to be analyzed far after the film ends.

            Leonardo DiCaprio plays U.S. Marshall Teddy Daniels who goes to investigate the disappearance of an inmate at Ashecliff Hospital at Shutter Island. He goes to the island with his partner Chuck Aule (Mark Ruffalo) and starts to have suspicions about the hospital. Dr. John Cawley (Ben Kingsley) only furthers his suspicions by being protective about the hospitals records. With the hint of an inmate, Teddy starts to follow clues that lead him to the revelation and his demise.

            Teddy Daniels’ health begins to deteriorate when he arrived at the island. He started to get sharp headaches and experienced nightmares that reminded him of his past. He lost his wife to a fire and has a double agenda of finding the man who started the fire. His constant nightmares served as the first hints to the film’s mystery.

            Shutter Island’s twist ending doesn’t disappoint yet the film doesn’t let on that its coming. Throughout the film Teddy’s journey has him going to talk to different patients and investigating areas that provide new information for his case. Chuck appears to be genuinely concerned with Teddy and the ongoing investigation. But once the twist is unveiled the path Teddy took in the film connects the dots together to piece the ending.

            

Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland

                        The story of Alice in Wonderland has been adapted various times both in film and television. Almost everybody can recount the narrative and its characters by memory. Tim Burton has taken the classic story and created a spin that gives the story a completely new life.  Burton’s vision has the characters interacting more with each other than the previous Disney animated adaptation giving the film more depth.

                        Alice (Mia Wasikowska) is now nineteen years old and about to be part of society through her marriage to the son of Lord Ascot. She spots the white rabbit at her reception and she runs after it to escape the sudden overwhelming situation. She falls down the rabbit hole and finds herself in a strange land that she doesn’t recall visiting yet everybody she meets reminds her that she has. This time Wonderland is seeking her help to aid in the demise of the Red Queen (Helena Bonham Carter).

                        The expansion of the story allows for each character to develop more and have a personality. The character of Hatter (Johnny Depp) is able to have a deeper connection with Alice. He becomes her main confidant in Underland and she makes it her mission to save him. They have a relationship that mirrors that which Dorothy shared with the Scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz. The Hatter isn’t simply a crazy person with a top hat who enjoys tea but a person who is even capable of loving someone.

                        Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland is an example of how a classic story can feel fresh and new with the proper adaption. The film may seem more like a sequel to the original but it works as a stand-alone film as well. When Alice recalls her first visit to Underland a montage follows and it feels as anybody familiar with the story remembers as well, making the second visit feel more rewarding. 

 

Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief

                        Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief is one of the latest offerings to try to capture some of the magical success the Harry Potter series has had. Yet it doesn’t offer much uniqueness in its story to keep references to its predecessor series out of people’s minds.  It’s its subject of Gods and Greek mythology that offers the slightest difference.

                        Percy Jackson (Logan Lerman) is a teenager who excels at swimming for his ability to hold his breath underwater. He doesn’t see anything peculiar about it and starts to just see it as a skill. At home he is bullied by his mother’s lazy boyfriend and as far as he knows his father is dead. On a school fieldtrip the life that has been hidden from him is revealed when he is almost killed by a fury. His teacher and his friend reveal themselves as a satyr and a centaur who take him to safety to Camp Half-Blood, which is just a bit too similar in name to its competing series. There he gains control of his full abilities and meets Alexandra (Annabeth Chase), daughter of Athena. Later Percy ventures out to rescue his mother and take find the lightning bolt that will clear his name with the help of Alexandra and Grover (Brandon T. Jackson). 

                        The film is a clever distraction yet it doesn’t quite reach an individualism that makes it unique. The way the films villains are presented such a Lotus Eaters at the Lotus Casino in Las Vegas show that there was some potential in the film.  But it falls flat without having much to sustain itself on without the support of the Harry Potter series.

 

The Wolfman

            The full moon shines across the dark night and a booming howl cries out to it but it’s the only thing that shines in the new remake of The Wolfman.  The new adaption lacks the wonder and adventure it strives for and leaves the actors to tread over old territory.

            Benicio Del Toro plays Lawrence Talbot who goes back to his childhood home to investigate the strange disappearance of his brother. He meets his father, Sir John Talbot played by Anthony Hopkins, and a dark family history is revealed. The body of his brother is found dead and ripped apart as if an animal had eaten him alive. Emily Blunt plays Gwen Conliffe, his brother’s fiancé, who begins to seek emotional support from Lawrence. A new werewolf emerges when Lawrence becomes one and soon starts to search for answers to his condition. Hugo Weaving plays Aberline, the law enforcer who is out to capture the menace threatening the village.

            The Wolfman suffers from a case of repetition lacking anything new in the genre. It tries to turn the film’s narrative into a dysfunctional family back-story with Sir John Talbot at the root of it all. When Lawrence is sent to a mental hospital for what they consider his lycanthropy delusions, he realizes that his father sent him there as a child. He finds out that his father is a werewolf and killed his mother and brother and turned him into a werewolf.  By the time Lawrence comes to this conclusion and the film reaches its climactic battle, the pay off doesn’t seem worth the two hours running time of the film.

 

Avatar

            James Cameron had audiences entranced with Titanic and held the title for the highest grossing film. Any other film could never reach the success of it until now. Avatar is his follow up to his acclaimed film and has surpassed his former as the highest grossing film yet. The film’s high expectations are met and taken beyond into the fantasy world of Pandora.

            Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) becomes part of the Avatar program after his twin brother’s death. The Avatar program creates humanoid hybrids of the planet’s inhabitants, the Na’Vi, to increase interactions and negotiations. Jake gets a new life in the Na’Vi avatar and leaves his paraplegic body behind. He meets Neytiri (Zoe Saldana) and she teaches him the culture of Pandora after a series of events. They go closer and a romance begins to bloom but Jake starts to face threats from Colonel Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lann) who is bent on taking the Pandora’s minerals. The film is overwhelmingly deep in its visuals and a whole new universe is created on screen.

            Avatar is different than other science fiction movies not only in narrative but also in the mythology of Pandora. Rarely do films expand on a planet’s culture so vastly adding depth to the world. The planet of Pandora is alive and makes one believe it exists with all its creatures and wildlife. The narrative takes bits and pieces from other films yet it stands on its own.

            Films are meant to be an escape from reality offering audiences something that they have never seen before. In the 1970’s Star Wars introduced a new story in space with memorable characters and effects. In the 1990’s Jurassic Park showed audiences what a dinosaur looked like through the advancements in film. Now Avatar has created a new universe of filmmaking that combines both of those achievements and challenges directors to top it.