6/25/2016 1 Comment 'Finding Dory' Movie ReviewOver a decade ago, Pixar released an animated gem called Finding Nemo, and nearly everyone fell in love with it. Since then, word has been buzzing around Hollywood for years that a sequel was in development, but to no confirmation. And now, after thirteen years of heavy anticipation, Finding Dory is upon us. But is it worth the long wait?
The story takes place one year following the events of the original film, wherein the forgetful blue tang fish, Dory (voiced by comedian Ellen Degenres), is living in the same fish community as her friend, Marlin, and his son, Nemo. However, when Dory suddenly has an epiphany and experiences scattered memories of her family, she goes on a journey to an aquarium to try and find them, with the help of Marlin and Nemo. While this easily could have been an attempt to cash in on the success of the first film, there's a lot of genuine heart to Finding Dory. It's very clear that the film was made because there is a story to be told, and it's a good one. That story wisely chooses to zero in on Dory, which is a smart choice for a couple of reasons: for one, she's the favorite character of a lot of Finding Nemo viewers, and there's a lot of genuine comedy you can get out of her (partly due to Degenres' comedic chops). But I think the biggest advantage of Dory being the protagonist this time around is that it allows for a lot more depth to be added to her character. Before, she was the source of all the comedy, and while she is certainly still funny, there's a lot more to her than just that one dimension. When the film takes us on a journey of following the scattered "bread crumbs" inside of her mind, you get to witness first-hand the pain of her loss, but also the triumph of her optimism. The results can range from entertaining to emotionally enduring. (A friend that I saw the film with made the comparison to the noir thriller, Memento, in which a man with short-term memory loss tries to solve a mystery, only a more family-friendly version.) And as with most Pixar movies, you can count on a slew of colorful supporting characters to round out the cast. Marlin and Nemo continue to offer their intriguing father-son relationship from the first movie, and while it's always fun to see familiar faces, the new characters are just as memorable. In particular, there's an octopus named Hank (voiced by Ed O'Neill) and a whale shark named Destiny (Kaitlin Olson) whose contrasting personalities of optimist and pessimist bounce off of Dory very well, during their respective scenes. You already know Dory as the fish who "just keeps swimming" regardless of the situation, so it's interesting to see how she works with two very different kinds of characters. And while this movie sounds nearly perfect, there is one gaping flaw that I have that holds it back from exceeding its predecessor: the setting. Now, to be fair, the inhabitants of the aquarium are varied and fun to be around, but the aquarium itself is a little standard. The original film took me on an epic (I rarely use the term "epic") and exapnsive adventure across an entire ocean, with a massive variety of creatures and warm colors. By comparison, an aquarium feels much more closed off, and, with the exception of the tanks, isn't as well-lit as as the interior scenes in the last film. Overall, however, Finding Dory is less about the setting, and more about the character who experiences it, which I can definitely respect. This is very much a character study that justifies Dory as not only the faithful sidekick who can make you laugh, but also a genuine and layered character all her own. It achieves this end by taking us on a journey not of the ocean, but of the mind and heart, which is ambitious and noteworthy, and I think it pays off. Finding Nemo was the first movie I remember seeing in the cinema, and while Finding Dory may not live up to its standard (which, to be fair, is very hard to do), it was a worthy followup for me. I'm giving Finding Dory three and a half out of four stars.
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6/5/2016 0 Comments Ranking: 'X-Men' SeriesAs far as superhero movies go, the subgenre of action is certainly at its peak right now, and as a result, we've seen it in many different forms. In fact, many of those different forms and facets came out of the wildly varying X-Men series. Over the past sixteen years, the chronological order has gone in every possible direction, and the themes and stories have taken on multiple different meanings. But which films are truly...eXceptional? For those uninitiated, here's an order of the best and worst, as far as I'm concerned.
1. X-Men: First Class Normally, a problem that I have with prequels (a story taking place prior to one you've already seen) is that there's not as much suspense, because you already know that the heroes are going to live. But what makes First Class work is that you're never questioning the safety of the heroes, but rather how they're going to tragically split apart. And it's that theme that effortlessly drives the film: a deeply-rooted, ideological conflict between peace-minded humanist, Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) and vengeful Holocause survivor, Erik Lensherr (the brilliant Michael Fassbender). Faced with the strong possibility of harsh prejudices, the two clash over the notion of whether or not people can change. It's a timely and relevant topic, and one that it's very easy to fall on either side of. And there's Kevin Bacon as a villain, so the movie also has that going for it, which is nice. 2. X-Men: Days of Future Past Let's be honest: even if you love this series, you can't deny that the continuity goes in every possible direction, and can be a little confusing to follow at times. So, instead of allowing itself to be limited by the circumstances, Days of Future Past whips out the "time travel" card and completely erases the entries that weren't very well-recieved in order to pave the way for new adventures. While the resulting effect can come off as lazy (see Terminator: Genisys - or don't, and just take my word for it), Days of Future Past is simply too fun for you to worry about it. The characters' contrasting personalities and powers bounce off of each other wonderfully, and for nostalgic fans who grew up on the original films, this is the perfect way to bridge them with the newer films that take place back in time. If Apocalypse is a greatest hits compilation of the X-Men comics, consider this the same thing for the movies. It's streamlined, focused, and an absolute blast that leaves you contemplating its morals for days. 3. X2: X-Men United While the original X-Men made some big strides for superhero cinema, it was admittedly held back by being released during an era where most poeple considered comic book movies to be "just for kids." As a result, it had to cut back on certain aspects that wouldn't really work in a film (replacing the comic book's yellow spandex with black leather, for example). But X2's writing team heard the gripes from fans, and went all out in embracing their comic book roots. Everything that was done well in the original - from the performances, to the themes, to the action and editing, and especially the pacing - is done better the second time around, making for that rare sequel that outdoes its predecessor in just about every regard. X2 expands upon the story and world of the original, and stays in familiar ground without retreading it, like any sequel should. 4. X-Men When people talk about the early 21st century superhero movies that contributed to the superhero renaissance that's happening now, titles that rightfully get mentioned include Spider-Man and the first two Blade movies. But everyone seems to forget the first X-Men movie, and now, I'm going to defend its influence. Now, to be clear, when I say "influence," I don't mean a game-changer like The Dark Knight. However, what I do mean is a movie that balances an admittedly bizarre story by taking it refreshingly seriously with the powerful social themes that would come to define the series. It also made a very rare and smart decision concerning its heroes by focusing on their emotional weaknesses and vulnerabilities. The heroes here are the regular people that would be protected by the heroes in any other movie, and it's beautiful. Also, Hugh Jackman is literally the perfect comic-book-to-screen Wolverine, giving the performance that holds everything together (much like Robert Downey, Jr. is to the Marvel films). 5. X-Men: Apocalypse While this isn't necessarily my kind of X-Men movie - I'm way more interested in the ideological conflict concerning social prejudices and whether or not people can change, as opposed to stopping the end of the world - Apocalypse is still very entertaining, and offers a lot of satisfying material to long-time fans. Just about everything you would want to see is here, from the stellar performances by the fresh-faced cast, to the exciting new characters that they portray. While some fans have griped about the familiar plot elements being employed in a new story and setting, for me, Apocalypse feels like a "greatest hits" album of the X-Men series: most of the "songs" are pretty awesome, while others are there to round things out, but all work together in unison to remind you why you liked it to begin with. 6. X-Men: The Last Stand A lot of X-Men fans truly hate this film, and to be honest, I think it's pretty good. Okay, so it's trying to balance and combine two totally different plots (one about a central character struggling to control her powers, the other about a "cure" for mutations being invented that garners groundbreaking controversy), but to be fair, both of them are done pretty well. I do think they should have committed to one over the other (the "mutant cure" plot, personally), but for what we got, it could have turned out a lot worse; when certain characters would rather sacrifice their powers for the sake of being accepted by society, the message really hits home, and makes for a more well-rounded action picture. 7. The Wolverine Can you tell I'm not a big fan of solo Wolverine movies? While this sequel to the original three films is better than Origins, that still doesn't add up to much. On the one hand, the action is fast-paced and tightly-edited, Hugh Jackman is perfect as ever as the gruff comic-book hero come to life, and it's pretty neat to see the titular mutant interacting with interesting characters who don't have any superpowers. But on the other hand, the special effects are nothing special, and there's a particular problem with the plot: while it tries to examine an interesting moral on mortality, the story is so linear that you can see the theme coming from the first frame, which deflates its effect. While it's entertaining enough to kill some time, or play in the background while working on a project, the series would be no better, or worse without it. 8. X-Men Origins: Wolverine You know something I don't like? When an admirable movie hero that we already know and like gets stripped of his/her morals and is thrust into a bland revenge story. License to Kill and Quantum of Solace did it to James Bond, and now the X-Men's Wolverine gets the treatment in a tale that's predictable to the point of being dreadfully boring. The CGI is the worst that the series has seen yet (which is considerably bad when there are three movies prior to this one), and it commits probably the worst offense that a movie can: it's just awfully forgettable. A really good or really bad movie can give you a lot to talk about, but here, there's just nothing. |
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