Iron Man 3

Iron Man 3 - Dir. Shane Black (2013)

People always say, "Third time's the charm." However, that rule doesn't always apply to comic book movies. If a franchise is lucky enough to make it to a third outing, the filmmakers have forgotten what made the series successful in the first place. Superman 3, Spider-Man 3, and X-Men: The Last Stand are glaring examples while Batman Forever was the start of Batman's descent into campy nipple-dom. Christopher Nolan broke from the trend with The Dark Knight Rises and Marvel does the same with Iron Man 3.

Iron Man 3 opens in 1999 where the old, arrogant playboy Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) attends a conference in Switzerland. He parties with a pretty geneticist named Maya Hansen (Rebecca Hall) and ignores Aldrich Killian (Guy Pearce), a nerdy and lame-legged scientist. In present time, Stark should be standing on cloud nine. He helped fight off an alien invasion and he's now living together with Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) in his cliff side Malibu mansion. Instead, Stark is suffering from insomnia and a newfound sense of inadequacy following the events of The Avengers. Next to the enormous green rage monster and the god of thunder, he's just a "man in a can." He suffers from anxiety attacks and takes refuge inside his Iron Man armor, which has become his high-tech security blanket. He spends sleepless nights tinkering in his workshop and building dozens of suits designed to deal with every danger he could possibly imagine.

Danger comes with a savagery Stark hasn't dealt with before as The Mandarin (Ben Kingsley), leader of the terrorist group, The Ten Rings, steps up his attacks on America. Meanwhile, Killian has remade himself as a suave, Richard Branson-looking entrepreneur. His think tank, A.I.M. (Advanced Idea Mechanics), has developed a super-soldier serum dubbed Extremis, which turns human beings into living bombs. When one of them goes off in front of Grauman's Chinese Theater, Stark brazenly issues a challenge to the Mandarin on live television. The bad guys respond by reducing his house to rubble and forces Stark to rely on more than just his suits.

Jon Favreau, who directed the previous Iron Man movies, returns as a producer and in the supporting role of bodyguard Happy Hogan. Favreau has passed the torch onto Shane Black whose career trajectory mirrors the troubles of Robert Downey Jr. and his onscreen alter ego. Black became one of the highest paid screenwriters in Hollywood off the back of his debut script Lethal Weapon. However, he became persona non grata after costly failures like The Last Boy Scout and The Long Kiss Goodnight. Black reappeared with his directorial debut, the neo-noir comedy Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, starring Downey. Their relationship would lead to Black serving as an unofficial consultant on Iron Man and Iron Man 2. Both Favreau and Downey credit Black with paralleling Tony Stark's moral quandaries with those of Robert Oppenheimer. Though Iron Man 3 is far and away Black's most daunting production yet, Marvel Studios has become enough of an efficient factory that it almost doesn't matter who is at the helm as long as they are halfway competent.

The look and feel of Iron Man 3 fits right into the merry Marvel method of movie making. It's slick without being overly stylish in a Michael Bay or Guy Ritchie sort of way. Iron Man 3 is more action packed than either of its predecessors. There's a thrilling sequence where Iron Man forms a human chain to rescue passengers sucked out of Air Force One. The climax features dozens of armored suits (including one of my favorites, the Silver Centurion) battling an army of Extremis powered soldiers on an offshore oil rig, a classic supervillain hideout. Stark's latest iteration, the Mark 42, can be remote controlled and donned in creative fashion.

The screenplay by Black and Drew Pearce consists of several Black trademarks such as the Christmas setting and a voiceover narration by Downey that stops and rewinds ala Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. Black's flair for witty banter is paired perfectly with Downey's penchant for off-the-cuff one-liners. Iron Man 2 was criticized for its preoccupation with building towards Avengers rather than telling a standalone story. That's been corrected here with a more focused sequel with only passing references to Thor and SHIELD. Everyone involved made a concerted effort to metaphorically return Tony Stark to the cave from the first film. Stark crash lands in rural Tennessee where he uses the tools at hand inside a ramshackle garage and befriends a doe-eyed, precocious boy named Harley (Ty Simpkins). This section of the film could have easily veered into mawkish Spielbergian territory, but the sentimentality is constantly undercut by Downey's irreverence. The script brings up the notion that we as individuals and as a nation have created our own enemies, but never digs deeper than surface level.

Don Cheadle's Rhodey (remade as the Iron Patriot) is sidelined for most of the movie and Rebecca Hall is wasted a bit in the underwritten role of Maya Hansen. On the other hand, Gwyneth Paltrow gets the chance to become more than just Stark's sounding board. Pepper Potts is thrown into the action frequently and even puts on the armor for a brief moment. Yes, she plays the damsel in distress, but she also gets to do some saving of her own. Perhaps, the most intriguing character in the threequel is Iron Man's arch-nemesis, the Mandarin. A yellow peril villain in the vein of Fu Manchu, Mandarin has been updated and re-imagined as an uber-terrorist appropriating an iconography of infamy. He's Castro, bin Laden, Qaddafi, Genghis Khan, and Colonel Kurtz all rolled into one. Sir Ben Kingsley portrays the Mandarin in unique fashion with a booming and authoritarian staccato; all accentuated by ominously constructed video threats. However, a twist to the character will have comic book fans launching into conniption fits.

Iron Man 3 not only kicks off the summer blockbuster season, it's the beginning of Marvel Studios' Phase 2 and the course will be exciting judging by the early results. Other comic book threequels suffer from being over long and burdened with too many characters, but Iron Man 3 never feels bloated and moves at a quick clip. This is a fun and vibrant tentpole release bolstered by an exceptionally heroic score from Brian Tyler, one of the best done for Marvel Studios. A return to form for the Iron Man series and a worthy successor to The Avengers.

Rating: **** (*****)

The Avengers

The Avengers - Dir. Joss Whedon (2012)

"You think you're the only superhero in the world? Mr. Stark, you've become a part of a bigger universe…I'm here to talk to you about the Avenger Initiative.

Back in 2008, moviegoers patient enough to sit through the end credits of Iron Man heard those fateful words. Marvel Comics laid out the foundation for a shared cinematic universe that would bring to life some of their most iconic creations. Marvel was doing the unprecedented by launching their characters into their own franchises while building to one uber-franchise in The Avengers. Though it's been five years in the making, it seems like a comic book fans have been waiting a lifetime for Marvel's premiere super-team (sorry, X-Men) to finally arrive. Iron Man director Jon Favreau was given first dibs, but couldn't reconcile how to unite such disparate personalities. Luckily, Marvel found their man in Joss Whedon, the creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Firefly. He's also had previous experience working for Marvel as the writer of Astonishing X-Men and The Runaways. Indeed, his geek credibility made him a popular choice with the notoriously picky fanbase.

Be warned, The Avengers may be difficult to follow if you haven't seen the previous films. It wastes no time in kicking off the plot.

When last we left him, the Norse god of mischief, Loki (Tom Hiddleston), plummeted into the never-ending abyss of space. Rescued by a mysterious cosmic puppet master, Loki arrives on Earth seeking the Tesseract. With it, he hopes to open a portal to transport an alien race known as the Chitauri to conquer the world. SHIELD Director Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) gathers together the only force capable of stopping him, the Avengers, comprised of Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Captain America (Chris Evans), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), the Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner). Loki's job may be easier than he imagined since none of the heroes can get along.

The Avengers is exactly the type of widescreen action expected from a big-budget summer blockbuster.  Fanboys will drool at the chance to watch Iron Man clash with Thor, the SHIELD Helicarrier lifting into the air, and the Hulk attempting (and failing) to lift Mjolnir. The third act of the film features a spectacular battle as alien invaders lay waste to midtown Manhattan. While the idea of extraterrestrials flooding through a portal into a crowded city is reminiscent of Transformers: Dark of the Moon, Whedon is able to craft an exciting action sequences in a way Michael Bay never will. It's not just visual noise and empty spectacle, but a thrilling series of mini-battles. Thor and Cap fighting back-to-back as hammer and shield fly back and forth. Iron Man and Cap tag teaming against the Chitauri with the Armored Avenger bouncing his repulsor rays off the Sentinel of Liberty's shield. Whedon even breaks out a tracking shot done in one uninterrupted take that rivals the intro from Serenity. The camera glides through the air and up the side of a skyscraper as it follows each of the Avengers in their struggles. Most importantly, Whedon makes sure you are emotionally invested in every character.

The majority of superhero films make the mistake of bogging down the narrative with too many characters and The Avengers could have fallen into that habit. But, Whedon is no stranger to working with a large ensemble and nearly everyone brings something unique to the table. No doubt, Robert Downey Jr. is one of the highlights of The Avengers, his quick-witted demeanor is the perfect match for Whedon's jokey, pop culture infused sensibilities. As Tony Stark, Downey gets off some of the funniest lines from calling Thor "Point Break" to pointing out a SHIELD agent is secretly playing Galaga. Iron Man is the most well-known and most successful of the heroes and there was a danger that The Avengers would devolve into the Iron Man Show. Instead, Whedon finds the right balance and plays everyone else (especially the straight-laced Cap) against Stark's snarky demeanor. It's also nice to see Gwyneth Paltrow for a little while as Pepper Potts, especially when she's padding around Tony's penthouse barefoot and in jean shorts.

Chris Evans gives his best performance yet as Captain America. Much like Ryan Reynolds, Evans was known more as a good-looking guy able to pull off comedic roles, but lacking dramatic chops. Unlike Reynolds' flat turn as Green Lantern, Evans gives Cap the pathos of a man, who has lost his family and friends after spending seventy years on ice. He possesses a commanding presence that makes you believe he can bark orders at his teammates and they will follow without question. Cap really is the heart of the film. 

Mark Ruffalo takes over the role of Bruce Banner from Edward Norton. Ruffalo is credited by many critics and fans as giving the best interpretation of Hulk/Banner yet and it's hard to disagree. Here, Banner isn't on a quixotic quest to find a cure, but has embraced a fatalistic acceptance of his curse as the Hulk. Ruffalo is warmer and fuzzier than Norton and brings a dry wit. He shares some fantastic scenes with Downey. As Banner and Stark, they are the two smartest guys on the planet and you can tell they enjoy finally being in the company of an intellectual equal. The Hulk, meanwhile, is the unstoppable engine of destruction and the source of two great punchlines.

Whedon manages to make the Black Widow even more interesting here than her appearance in Iron Man 2. This shouldn't be surprising as Whedon is the master at writing strong female characters. He hints at an intriguing backstory to the former KGB assassin with only a handful of scenes. Unfortunately, her counterpart, Hawkeye, doesn't get anything meaty to do until the final act. Still, Whedon makes you believe a girl with a gun and a guy who shoots arrows belong on the team. Then, there's Clark Gregg as Agent Coulson, who has been the glue uniting the film series. He's mostly been a run-of-the-mill man in black. In Avengers, Coulson is humanized as a giddy admirer of Captain America, gladly bragging about his complete set of vintage Cap trading cards. They are in near mint condition, except for some "slight foxing around the edges."

As Thor, Chris Hemsworth doesn't get as much screen time as his co-stars, but he does give another solid performance as the god of thunder. His "brother," Tom Hiddleston, has a lot more scenes and he chews them up every chance he gets. Loki isn't as nuanced here and he's given a lot of corny supervillain dialogue ("I am burdened with glorious purpose") Yet, Hiddleston is a good enough actor to make it work.

The Avengers isn't a perfect film. There are weaknesses if you search hard enough for them. Though he's revealed to be more of a shady manipulator, Samuel L. Jackson's Nick Fury hasn't grown much since his initial cameo and Jackson is somewhat stiff. Marvel also introduces How I Met Your Mother's Cobie Smulders as Fury's second-in-command, Maria Hill. Unfortunately, she's not given much to do other than spout exposition or have exposition spouted to her. The opening prologue doesn't exemplify the greatness that would come later. It's a clunky beginning with some stiff dialogue. The alien menaces aren't the most compelling villains and are only there as cannon fodder for the Avengers. It's obvious they needed something for the good guys to fight without taking away too much screen time or too much demand from the audience. The score by Alan Silvestri is generic and slightly disappointing after his excellent work on Captain America: The First Avenger. The Avengers was going out for a memorable score in the vein of John Williams' theme for Superman or Danny Elfman's Batman theme.

In Joss, we trust. The Avengers isn't just the best Marvel movie made thus far. It's the best comic book ever and one of the best blockbusters in recent memory. Whedon brings the action and his trademark knack for lively dialogue and unexpected twists. Marvel has accomplished an incredible feat and I cannot wait for the next series of movies. Maybe then, we can finally hear the war cry of "Avengers assemble."

Rating: **** ½ (*****)

The Kids Are All Right

The Kids Are All Right - Dir. Lisa Chodolenko (2010)


”They fight just like real people.” - Seth Rogen, Zack & Miri Make a Porno

The Kids Are All Right isn’t a rallying point or an attempt to shift the social paradigm of the LGBT community. Co-written with Stuart Blumberg, Lisa Cholodenko’s film isn’t about lesbian marriage as much as it is about a marriage that just happens to be between two lesbians.

Annette Bening and Julianne Moore star as Nic and Jules, married with two kids they sired through an anonymous sperm donor. Nic is a successful doctor, something of a perfectionist, and a little controlling. Jules is a little more laid back, slightly flaky. She’s mainly stayed home to take care of the kids while bouncing from one failed business venture to another. She’s just now getting into the landscaping trade. The daughter, Joni, (Mia Wasikowska) has just turned 18 and is ready to move off to college. Her younger brother, Laser (Josh Hutcherson), is at that turbulent teenaged time where he needs a strong male role model, especially in a house full of women.

At his gentle nudging, Joni gets into contact with their sperm donor, Paul (Mark Ruffalo). Paul is a restaurateur with an organic, co-op farm and a motorcycle. He’s free-spirited and free of responsibility. His introduction into their family dynamic is initially awkward, but Jules and the children warm up to him while Nic is reticent. But, a second act plot twist veers the film into soap opera territory, taking the focus off of Paul’s budding relationship with Joni and Laser.

Unlike many indie films these days, the characters feel like fully realized human beings. So often you get movies about characters that are quirky or misanthropic for no real reason. With Kids Are All Right, we get genuine emotion and a tale about the difficulties of any relationship. Laser is noticeably embarrassed when his clingy moms ask for a hug. Nic and Jules engage in an incredibly clumsy attempt at sex while the kids are still at home. Little things like these that anyone, gay or straight, can relate to. Never does Chodolenko draw attention to the sexual orientation of her leads. You never feel the need to describe the film as, ”…but with lesbians.”

Not surprisingly, the performances are strong all around. Paul could have easily been vilified, but Ruffalo imbues him with an immature charm. You sympathize with him even if the other characters don’t. It’s a similar performance to his turn in Kenneth Lonergan’s You Can Count on Me. Julianne Moore gets to flex her comedic muscles which she rarely shows off. Bening absolutely nails it when a harsh revelation turns her world upside-down.

Rating: ***

Date Night

Date Night - Dir. Shawn Levy (2010)


Putting Steve Carell and Tina Fey together seems like an easy way to find comedic gold. With his work on The Daily Show and The Office, Carrell cemented his status as a bankable movie star following the success of The 40-Year Old Virgin. Fey has done the same on Saturday Night Live and 30 Rock. Though she wrote Mean Girls and took a supporting role, she has yet to find a star vehicle worthy of her talents. Date Night is definitely not it.

Carrell and Fey star as Phil and Claire Foster, married with two kids and living in suburban New Jersey. He’s an accountant and she’s a real estate agent. Hoping to shake up their stagnant relationship, the Fosters hope to get a table at a trendy new restaurant in Manhattan. They wind up stealing another couple’s reservations, which becomes a running gag throughout the movie. A case of mistaken identity sends them on the run from a pair of gun-toting thugs (Common and Jimmi Simpson) who are after a flash drive. That’s just the beginning of one crazy night that involves car chases, crooked cops, and mobsters.

Taraji P. Henson co-stars as a sympathetic police detective and Mark Wahlberg appears as a perennially shirtless securities expert. Mark Ruffalo and Kristen Wiig have maybe one scene each as another married couple on the outs. James Franco and Mila Kunis round out the cast as a two low-rent crooks named Taste and Whippit who originally made the reservation. They almost manage to derail the picture into something livelier.

Those of you expecting Date Night to be a Hitchcockian edge of your seat thriller ala The Man Who Knew Too Much must have severe brain damage. The jokes come straight out of a bad 80’s sitcom with some labored slapstick gags thrown in for good measure. Fey and Carrell are never allowed to rise above the bland, cardboard characters they play, despite their best efforts. Date Night’s funniest moments don’t occur during the movie at all, but in the outtakes shown over the end credits. Given the freedom to adlib, they’re able to show off the natural wit that made them stars, coming up with funnier material than what was provided for them.

Rating: *

Shutter Island

Shutter Island - Dir. Martin Scorsese (2010)


Martin Scorsese.

That’s all you need to know. Emblazon that name on the marquee and you’ve got my ticket money. He’s tackled gritty crime films, Merchant-Ivory style drama, and documentaries. Scorsese delves into new territory with the gothic thriller, Shutter Island, based on the novel by Dennis Lehane whose novels Mystic River and Gone Baby Gone have also been adapted to film. Shutter Island can best be described as Samuel Fuller’s Shock Corridor by way of M. Night Shyamalan.

Scorsese collaborates with Leonardo DiCaprio for the fourth time. Still hanging on to his Departed Boston accent, Leo takes the lead as U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels. Along with partner Chuck Aule (Mark Ruffalo), Daniels is sent to Shutter Island to investigate the disappearance of a patient at Ashecliff, a former Civil War fort turned into an asylum for the criminally insane.

Daniels is still haunted by his service during World War II in which his unit liberated a concentration camp. Not to mention his wife (Michelle Williams) was killed in a fire caused by an arsonist who was once a patient at Ashecliff. Investigating further, he discovers clues leading to a deeper conspiracy involving the doctors experimenting on left-wing radicals.

There is no denying Scorsese’s abilities as a master filmmaker. He sets an uneasy mood almost immediately with a style that is a cross between noir and Hitchcock. Scorses heightens the creepy atmosphere by filling the supporting cast with several equally creepy actors. Really, nobody does creepy better than Jackie Earle Haley, Elias Koteas, and Max von Sydow.

Shutter Island essentially lives and dies by the twist ending. You either buy it or don’t. There’s no in between. Personally, I couldn’t. It was like the rug was pulled out from under me. Whatever I had invested in the film feels as if it had been a waste. Every other element of the picture is strong and Scorsese has created an uneasy, claustrophobic mood to the story, but the sharp left turn in the resolution undoes all the hard work.

Rating: **

Where the Wild Things Are

Where the Wild Things Are - Dir. Spike Jonze (2009)


”Let the wild rumpus start!”

Sorry, but Where the Wild Things Are was never a huge part of my childhood. In fact, I only just read it the other day. Honestly, I waited until after I saw the film to check it out from the library. Still, I approached the film adaptation with some trepidation. It’s always difficult to translate these classic children’s books, particularly when they’re only a dozen or so pages long. Filmmakers tend to pad out the film’s length with lowbrow humor and mugging lead actors. Look at what they did to poor Dr. Seuss. Thankfully, Spike Jonze has stayed true to the spirit of Maurice Sendak’s much-beloved book. Jonze’s Where the Wild Things Are is a soulful, intelligent meditation on the difficulties of childhood. It is a refreshing change from the sugar-coated junk food that passes as family entertainment these days.

Max (Max Records) gets crushed within his snow fort by his sister’s friends while she stands by and does nothing. His mother (Catherine Keener) ignores him in order to spend time with her boyfriend (Mark Ruffalo). Max dons his iconic wolf costume and stomps on the kitchen counter, demanding to be fed. His tantrum culminates in Max biting his mother. The boy runs away from home and finds a tiny sailboat which allows him to travel to an island inhabited by the Wild Things each representing a different aspect of Max’s psyche.

The de facto leader of the monsters is Carol (James Gandolfini), the most temperamental of the creatures and quickest to anger. Max and Carol bond quickly over their shared passion of feral destruction. Carol is constantly at odds with K.W. (Lauren Ambrose) who had briefly left to be on her own. There’s the easy-going Ira (Forest Whitaker) and his girlfriend, the somewhat domineering Judith (Catherine O’Hara). The other Wild Things are: Carol’s right hand man, the avian-esque Douglas (Chris Cooper); low self-esteem sufferer Alexander (Paul Dano); and the taciturn and intimidating Bull (Michael Berry Jr.).

Max’s time with the Wild Things is marked with mischief, adventure, and sorrow. The monsters are sensitive, but it’s never forgotten that they could eat Max with no hesitation. The work gone into creating the Wild Things is simply wonderful, suits from the Jim Henson Company enhanced with CGI. This is where the film truly begins and happens. The opening act is a nice touch, but it isn’t as if it were necessarily to inform the audience of the difficulties of growing up. The indie hipster soundtrack by Jonze’s then-girlfriend Karen O tends to become an ill-fitting distraction at times. In the end, Jonze’s offbeat sensibilities have crafted a film that can speak to the heart of anyone, regardless of age. Where the Wild Things Are never speaks down to the audience and portrays children as the complex creatures they are.

Rating: ***

The Brothers Bloom

The Brothers Bloom - Dir. Rian Johnson (2009)


Rian Johnson made his debut as a feature filmmaker with Brick, a modern-day film noir set in a high school and starring that kid from 3rd Rock from the Sun. It could have been a complete joke, a retread of the Scott Baio vehicle, Bugsy Malone. Instead, it was a sharply written first-time effort, that was part Raymond Chandler, part John Hughes. For his second film, Johnson decided to tackle the heist film genre, inspired by films like The Sting and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. And thus was born, The Brothers Bloom.

The titular siblings are Stephen (Mark Ruffalo) and Bloom (Adrien Brody). We’re not really sure if that’s his first or last name. I mean, are they like the Mario Brothers? Would that make them Stephen Bloom and Bloom Bloom? In any event, the pair are orphans and start off in the con game as kids where Stephen writes out the con as if he were a florid Russian novelist. His motto is the perfect con is the one where "everyone gets what they want." Bloom, however, grows weary of having his entire life written out for him and retired to Montenegro. Stephen eventually tracks him down with the help of their silent partner, an explosives expert named Bang Bang (Rinko Kikuchi). The brothers’ new mark is an eccentric heiress, Penelope Stamp (Rachel Weisz), who lives alone in her Xanadu-esque mansion collecting hobbies. She plays numerous musical instruments, dabbles in photography, juggling chainsaws, and crashing expensive Lamborghinis. Stephen’s Machiavellian plot this time around involves posting as art smugglers and coaxing Penelope for a globe-trotting adventure in order to bilk her of a couple million dollars. Of course, Bloom falls for her, putting a crimp in Stephen’s plans.

Rounding out the supporting cast are Robbie Coltrane as another cohort known only as the Belgian (though he may not actually be Belgian) and Maximillian Schell as the brothers’ former mentor, the Diamond Dog.

Many new filmmakers suffer a case of the sophomore slump after a strong debut. They get studio offers, bigger budgets, access to name actors, and a move towards the mainstream. Most fall short of the high expectations held by fans and critics. Shari Springer Bergman & Robert Pulcini followed up their excellent translation of Harvey Pekar’s semi-autobiographical comic book, American Splendor, with the anemic chick-lit adaptation The Nanny Diaries. Another example would be Justin Lin and pretty much everything he’s done since Better Luck Tomorrow. Though both of Johnson’s films exist in a nebulous time and place just outside of reality, Brothers Bloom is a drastic departure from the dour ambience of Brick, it remains a strong, if uneven, effort from Johnson.

Brothers Bloom is the type of film that relies on pulling a fast one on the audience which is part and parcel for a heist movie. There are plenty of twists and turns as the narrative unfolds. Much like Tony Gilroy’s Duplicity, Brothers Bloom tries to be too clever for its own good. It’s self-consciously quirky and feels awfully proud of itself for being able to reference James Joyce.

The film shines when it allows the characters to simply be. There’s great chemistry between Brody and Ruffalo who got along swimmingly off-screen. Both actors have a lot of fun with their roles. Rinko Kikuchi was one of the only bright spots of the insipid and preachy Babel and she shines in another silent role. She displays some excellent comic timing. The true star of the production is Rachel Weisz in one of her best roles. She’s funny, warm, and it’s easy to see how Brody’s character could so easily fall in love with her. I should also point out Ms. Weisz really did learn the ukulele, juggling, martial arts, skateboarding, and card tricks amongst other skills for the part.

The Brothers Bloom is The Sting if it had been directed by a less meticulous Wes Anderson. Johnson helms the picture with clever style and there are plenty of gorgeous locations. It’s a fun and breezy film, but it won’t leave much of an impression on you once the credits roll.

Rating: ** 1/2

Blindness

Blindness - Dir. Fernando Meirellas (2008)

A mysterious epidemic has left humanity blind, except for Julianne Moore.

Blindness is tired allegory. Its symbolism is drummed home with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer. Unnamed citizens in an unnamed city (at an unnamed time) are rendered sightless and quarantined to a prison camp by the government. There, they fall prey to a former bartender who declares himself dictator. Just as the Joker predicted, "When the chips are down, these civilized people will eat each other."

The themes of Blindness are far too obvious to be effective. Society crumbles and eventually a few hopeful survivors must pick up the shattered pieces. An unsettling mass rape scene comes off as excessively exploitive. The characters are cardboard stock. There’s the wise, old man who dispenses sage advice and the precocious child the adults have to look after.

What Blindness does have going for it are an A-list cast who give it their all and strong direction from Meirellas. He brings the same visceral, bleached out look that he brought to City of God and The Constant Gardener.

Rating: **