Wreck-It Ralph

Wreck-It Ralph - Dir. Rich Moore (2012)

If Brave was Pixar's most Disney-like movie, then Wreck-It Ralph might be Disney's most Pixar-esque film to date. The comparison is easy to see since the concept could succinctly be described as Toy Story for video games.

Wreck-It Ralph (John C. Reilly) is the villain of an old school arcade game modeled after Donkey Kong. He's a burly brute who is forced to live in the city dump while his nemesis, Fix-It Felix Jr. (Jack McBrayer), lives in luxury in a high-rise apartment with his fellow Nicelanders. Ralph trashes the building, but Felix always manages to fix the damage before Ralph is tossed acrimoniously into the mud. Poor Ralph is tired of playing the antagonist, especially when he constantly sees the other Nicelanders lavish accolades for Felix. To paraphrase Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Ralph's not a bad guy, he's just programmed that way.

Ralph game jumps into a violent, high-tech first person shooter called Hero's Duty to win a medal and prove he can be a hero. From there, he winds up in Sugar Rush, a candy-themed racing game where he meets little Vanellope von Schweetz (Sarah Silverman), who is shunned by the other racers and their monarch King Candy (Alan Tudyk) for being a glitch. Meanwhile, Felix and Sgt. Calhoun (Jane Lynch), the lead in Hero's Duty, set off to find Ralph before the arcade permanently unplugs their game.

Wreck-It Ralph features a wealth of video game references, many of which will go over the heads of younger viewers and casual gamers. At one point, Ralph attends a support group named Bad Guys Anonymous with M. Bison, Zangief, Kano, Dr. Eggman, King Bowser, and one of the Pac-Man ghosts. Other cameos include other Street Fighter characters (Chun-Li, Ken, Ryu), Sonic the Hedgehog, Frogger, and the paddles from Pong. King Candy has a vault with a giant Nintendo controller as the door with the combination set as the Konami Code. Novelty duo Bruckner & Garcia, best known for their 1982 single "Pac-Man Fever," were plucked out of obscurity to write a Wreck-It Ralph theme song. There's even graffiti with internet memes like "Leroy Jenkins was here" and ”All your fortress are belong to us." The most heartbreaking moment in Wreck-It Ralph is the appearance of Q*bert and his supporting cast, who have been rendered homeless after their game was unplugged.

In lesser hands, Wreck-It Ralph could have rested on simply stringing together one pop culture reference after another. However, there is genuine heart and humor to the story thanks to director Rich Moore, who has helmed some of the best Simpsons episodes. He can count "Cape Feare," "Marge vs. the Monorail," and "Lisa's Substitute" on his resume. Moore worked on the script with another Simpsons alum Jim Reardon, Phil Johnston (Cedar Rapids), and newcomer Jennifer Lee. The results of their work impart tried and true themes of friendship and self-affirmation. The majority of the film is set within Sugar Rush, which may seem like the least interesting world that they could have explored. Yet, the animation is gorgeous and the writers find clever ways to work in renowned food products, such as a volcano of diet cola with Mentos stalactites.

It is here that the movie also explores the budding camaraderie between Ralph and Vanellope, both of whom are considered pariahs within their respective societies. Thanks to the voice actors there's a real tenderness to the characters. John C. Reilly is perfectly cast as the lovable lug while Sarah Silverman brings her trademark caustic (though sanitized) humor. Jack McBrayer is another spot-on casting choice as the "Aww, shucks" Fix-It Felix. Alan Tudyk steals the show as the loopy King Candy with a gusto impression of Ed Wynn.

It may be hyperbole on my part when I say Wreck-It Ralph comes exceedingly close to reaching the heights of Disney's renaissance era when they were pumping out The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, The Lion King, and Beauty and the Beast. Wreck-It Ralph is not just the best animated film of the year, but one of the best Disney productions in years.

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

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter - Dir. Timur Bekmambetov (2012)

Four score and seven ass kickings ago...

It says a lot about our education system when young children aren't taught pivotal moments in history such as when Abraham Lincoln killed all those vampires to end the Civil War or the time Adolf Hitler was gunned down by the guy who directed Hostel.

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter was conceived by Seth Grahame-Smith, who started a new literary mash-up trend with the hit novel Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. There, Grahame-Smith re-conceived the Bennett Sisters as a skilled fighting force against the undead. The book was quickly optioned by Lionsgate though it has been mired in development hell. Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter made it to the screen first thanks to the involvement of Tim Burton and Timur Bekmambetov with the relatively unknown Benjamin Walker cast in the title role.

The film begins with Abe as a child witnessing his father protect he and his friend William Johnson from the whip of a vicious plantation owner named Jack Barts (Marton Csokas). It turns out Barts is a vampire and kills Nancy Lincoln (Robin McLeavy) in revenge. As an adult, Lincoln hunts Barts down, but is ill-prepared for his supernatural strength. He is saved from death by Henry Sturgess (Dominic Cooper), a benevolent vampire who makes Lincoln his axe-wielding apprentice. During his training, our 16^th President learns that the vampires have flourished in the South with slaves serving as a veritable smorgasbord. He ultimately decides to use a weapon even more powerful than silver or holy water…politics.

The appeal of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter isn't just seeing Lincoln dismember bloodsucking fiends, but the way in which it weaves fantastical elements with actual historical facts. Some of the most important figures in Lincoln's life are presented in fictionalized fashion. In Springfield, Illinois, Lincoln works in the general store of Joshua Speed (Jimmi Simpson) and is reunited with his childhood buddy William Johnson (Anthony Mackie). Both become his staunchest allies while campaigning and fighting vampires. He also falls in love with future wife, Mary Todd (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), despite Sturgess's warnings against personal relationships. Even Jefferson Davis (John Rothman) and Harriet Tubman (Jacqueline Fleming) figure into the narrative. Sadly, Lincoln's famous debates with Stephen Douglas (Alan Tudyk) are given only a fleeting amount of screen time. And it is at this point that the movie starts to die a slow and painfully boring death.

Grahame-Smith may be a talented novelist, but he has yet to display any consistency in his screenwriting endeavors. He impressed Burton enough to get writing duties on Dark Shadows and a possible Beetlejuice sequel. However, Dark Shadows was a box office flop that struggled to adapt a soap opera structure to a feature film. Grahame-Smith has the same problems translating his book. The middle section sags with a distinct lack of action and the overall tone is far too morbid for what should have been a campy cult classic. A few changes to the vampire mythology work well. The vampires' weakness to silver is tied into the 30 pieces of silver paid to Judas. One element that doesn't make a lot of sense is the fact that vampires cannot kill their own kind. It's a flimsy explanation for why Sturgess would take on Lincoln as a pupil when it didn't really need any explanation at all. Perhaps, the biggest problem with the movie is its tacky retconning of the Emancipation Proclamation. You see, President Lincoln didn't free the slaves out of an altruistic belief that all human beings deserve the basic right of freedom. It was to cut off the vampires' food supply.

Bekmambetov is no stranger to directing gothic, over-the-top action films having previously helmed Night Watch and Wanted. The set pieces here are underwhelming with such liberal use of slow motion that Zack Snyder would even scoff. Only two sequences make any impression. One features a Lion King-esque stampede in which Barts throws an entire horse at Lincoln. The final act sees Lincoln and friends battling an army of vampires on board a train racing towards a burning bridge. The visual look of the film leaves much to be desired and likely falls on the shoulders of post-production rather than cinematographer Caleb Deschanel. The colors are de-saturated and there's a murkiness to the night scenes that makes the 3D version an absolutely avoidable.

This isn't the first time Benjamin Walker has portrayed a radical interpretation of a former president. He starred in the Broadway musical Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, which turned Old Hickory into an eyeliner wearing, angst-ridden rock star. Walker is decent enough, but the leaden material saps him of any energy or charisma. Walker bears a strong resemblance to Liam Neeson and, in fact, played a younger version of him in Kinsey. Ironic since Neeson was once attached to star Lincoln in Spielberg's upcoming biopic. In line with Vampire Hunter's ultra-serious tone, the actors play it dour with the exception of Marton Csokas who hams it up as the murderous Jack Barts. The best performance goes to Rufus Sewell as the vampiric progenitor Adam.

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter sounded like a wild concept. Then again, so did Snakes on a Plane and Hot Tub Time Machine, projects with a catchy title and that never panned out past their jokey premises.

Rating: ** (*****)

Tucker & Dale vs. Evil

Tucker & Dale vs. Evil - Dir. Eli Craig (2011)

College kids go off on a camping trip in the woods only to find their spring break ruined by a murderous clan of inbred rednecks. That particular plotline and variations on it have become a tried and true staple of the horror genre. Inspired by films like Deliverance, The Hills Have Eyes, and Texas Chainsaw Massacre, writer/director Eli Craig (who co-wrote the script with Morgen Jurgenson) cleverly twists the genre conventions with Tucker & Dale vs. Evil which casts the rednecks in a sympathetic light while the vacationing teens play the villains.

Tucker (Alan Tudyk) and Dale (Tyler Labine) are a pair of genial country bumpkins living in rural West Virginia. They've recently purchased a dilapidated cabin in the woods that they hope to renovate into a summer cottage. At the same time, a group of college students set up camp nearby and are immediately creeped out by these odd looking fellas in overalls and mesh trucker caps. One night, perky blonde Allison (Katrina Bowden) is knocked unconscious while skinny dipping and rescued by Tucker and Dale, the latter of whom develops a crush on her. The other teenagers falsely believe Allison has been kidnapped and urged to take action by her boyfriend, Chad (Jesse Moss), who possesses an unnerving hatred for hillbillies.

The kids make a series of bumbling attempts to rescue Allison that lead to their own violent demises. In a scene rivaling Fargo, one boy tries to jump Tucker and accidentally falls into a wood chipper. This leads Tucker and Dale into believing the kids are enacting a suicide pact.

Eli Craig has come up with several inventive and gruesome kills. He also manages to subvert many of the iconic imagery of horror films. When Tucker runs howling through the woods with a chainsaw, it's because he got stung by a swarm of bees. In another scene, Dale awkwardly tries to talk to Allison at a gas station. Told by Tucker to laugh a lot, he cackles maniacally while holding a Grim Reaper scythe and unintentionally frightens the teens.

Genre fans will likely gravitate towards Tucker & Dale due to Alan Tudyk's work on Firefly and Tyler Labine's on Reaper. Tudyk and Labine are hilarious in their roles without turning the characters into southern fried caricatures. They are slightly dim-witted, but not annoyingly stupid. There is also a surprising sweetness to the budding romance between Dale and Allison, played by the gorgeous Katrina Bowden, best known as Cerie, the flighty receptionist on 30 Rock.

Tucker & Dale vs. Evil has all the makings of a midnight cult classic. As a fusion of horror and comedy, it stands alongside recent titles like Shaun of the Dead and Zombieland.

Rating; *** (*****)

Beautiful Boy

Beautiful Boy - Dir. Shawn Ku (2011)

From Michael Moore's documentary Bowling for Columbine to Gus Van Sant's unsettling Elephant, many films have attempted to tackle the sensitive subject of school shootings. This year, two pictures are examining the consequences and impact these shootings have on the parents of the perpetrator. Lynne Ramsay's adaptation of Lionel Shriver's 2003 novel, We Need to Talk About Kevin, has won rave reviews at Cannes and other film festivals. Though it was released earlier in the year, Beautiful Boy, which was partly inspired by the massacre at Virginia Tech in 2007, has yet to receive similar acclaim.

Michael Sheen and Maria Bello star as Bill and Kate Carroll, a middle class, suburban family with a son, Sam (Kyle Gallner), away at college. Bill and Kate's marriage is on the rocks with the husband growing distant while the wife plans a vacation in a desperate attempt to hold things together. Sam calls his parents one night and obviously seems depressed, but they don't pick up on it and simply tell their son to "study hard." The next morning, Bill and Kate awaken to horrible news that a shooting has occurred at their son's campus. Police detectives arrive on their doorstep and Kate immediately realizes Sam is dead, but the officers have more information to reveal. Sam was the shooter. He murdered 21 of his classmates before turning the gun on himself.

Bill and Kate are shocked and offer no answers to the authorities over what possessed their son to commit this unthinkable act. Unable to even comprehend these turn of events, the grieving parents are ostracized by their community and besieged by reporters with camera crews camping out on their front lawn. They seek refuge with at the home of Bill's brother, Eric (Alan Tudyk), and his wife, Trish (Moon Bloodgood). Kate unhealthily deals with her pain by occupying herself with meaningless house chores and mothering her nephew (Cody Wai-ho Lee), which inevitably irritates Trish. The Carrolls eventually hide out in a motel run by Meat Loaf where they attempt to pick up the shattered pieces of their lives.

Beautiful Boy marks the feature debut of director Shawn Ku, who co-wrote the screenplay with Michael Armbruster. Ku employs a documentary style with numerous close-ups and minimal editing. Rather than cutting from one actor to another during a conversation, Ku commands the camera to swish pan back and forth. At times, the movements are hardly noticeable. At other times, it feels like an unnecessary usage of shaky cam.

The script itself is wrought with melodramatic moments and heavy handed elements. Kate works as a book editor. In one scene, she returns a manuscript to a prospective writer filled with marks by her red pen, which is obviously meant to enforce her image as a controlling perfectionist.

Since Beautiful Boy is a weighty drama, the acting is very showy with plenty of moments for the cast to rage at the top of their lungs or collapse into tears. If you're into that sort of thing, this might be right up your alley. Yet, the film is most effective during its quieter scenes with Michael Sheen delivering an understated performance when called upon. Alan Tudyk, known for his more comedic roles in Firefly and Death at a Funeral, gets the rare chance to flex his dramatic muscles and does a fine job. Kyle Gallner is typecast as the troubled teen, who only appears briefly in the opening and occasionally after that when the news broadcast his maniacal manifesto. One of the saddest scenes finds Sam reading a heartfelt poem that falls on the deaf ears of his apathetic classmates.

Beautiful Boy is the exact opposite of a feel-good movie. This is a tragic story that ultimately comes off as a made-for-TV movie of the week that was made to cash in on recent headlines. It's a well intentioned film that never hits the raw nerve it aims for.

Rating: * ½ (*****)

Transformers: Dark of the Moon

Transformers: Dark of the Moon - Dir. Michael Bay (2011)

"Years from now they're gonna ask…where were you when they took over the planet?"

The summer blockbuster season reaches its nadir with the third installment of Transformers, based on the popular toy line from Hasbro, and directed by Michael Bay, purveyor of overblown schlock. Bay’s first Transformers film was lifted above its leaden coming-of-age narrative by a Spielbergian sense of wonder as an unassuming suburban boy meets a race of giant robots from outer space. The sequel, Revenge of the Fallen, was an atrocity of epic proportions that was hastily slapped together before the Writer’s Strike of late 2007 to early 2008. Even Bay and star Shia LaBeouf apologized for the rancid turd they unleashed from their bowels. Not that it matters, audiences ate it up as if the manure pile were a tasty bowl of ice cream. Thanks to them Revenge made over $800 million worldwide. Dark of the Moon has already grossed half that in its opening week. In financial terms, it's a rousing success, but what about the actual movie?

I can honestly say that Dark of the Moon is better than Revenge of the Fallen. However, that's the equivalent of saying being smashed in the face with a pipe wrench is better than having your genitals hooked to Bumblebee's car battery.

Much like X-Men: First Class, Transformers plays with revisionist history by planting the idea that the entire space race was predicated on the discovery of an ancient Autobot ship that crashed on the moon. The prologue is peppered with archival footage and actors who look nothing like their real-life counterparts. Astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin (who makes a cameo appearance) explore the massive spacecraft and sworn to secrecy about what they've seen. And just when you think the story is building momentum, it all comes crashing back to modern-day Earth as we follow the plight of Sam Witwicky (LaBeouf) in the current economic crisis.

Poor Sam has helped the Autobots save the world twice, but he can't find a job and mopes a lot. You'd think he would be way happier considering he has yet another insanely gorgeous girlfriend. Following the acrimonious departure of Megan Fox, Victoria's Secret model Rosie Huntington-Whiteley replaces her as the pouty lipped, hot chick that runs away from the robots. She plays Carly Spencer, a former British attaché now working for millionaire playboy Dylan Gould (Patrick Dempsey). The film spends an interminable amount of time introducing us to a cavalcade of new characters like John Malkovich as Sam's orange-skinned boss, Frances McDormand as a director of intelligence, and Ken Jeong doing his usual Ken Jeong schtick. We are also reunited with several returning characters such as soldiers Lt. Col. Lennix (Josh Duhamel) and Robert Epps (Tyrese Gibson), Sam's parents (Kevin Dunn & Julie White), and the eccentric Agent Simmons (John Turturro). It goes on and on until finally scenes of actual importance occur in rapid succession as Decepticons murder human beings and Optimus (voiced once again by Peter Cullen) revives his long-lost predecessor Sentinel Prime (Leonard Nimoy). It all builds to 45 minutes of pure, unadulterated Bay-hem as a full-scale Decepticon invasion force lays waste to downtown Chicago.

Dark is just as loud, obnoxious, and over long as the previous pictures and filled with plot holes big enough for Optimus Prime to drive through. On the positive side, Bay has toned down the puerile humor as well as the blatant misogyny and racism. The ridiculous, buck-toothed Twins from Revenge are thankfully gone though the Joe Pesci-esque Wheelie (Tom Kenny) is still around to provide a poor excuse for comic relief. Still, Michael Bay cannot help being Michael Bay and there is underlying sexism throughout the narrative. Dark of the Moon has no strong female character whatsoever. Women in Bay movies are generally nattering twits (Sam's mother), shrewish harpies (McDormand's Charlotte Mearing) or blatant sex objects (everyone else). This is never more apparent than the replacing of Megan Fox with a lingerie model, who can serve as each one of those archetypes. At least, Bay had no pretensions at all to the role. Why hire an actual actress when all you need is someone to walk around in their underwear. Bay's sensibilities for fast cars and beautiful women are comparable to a hormonal adolescent boy getting aroused by covers of Lowrider displayed at the local supermarket magazine rack.

The first shot of the film following the prologue is a gratuitous butt shot of Huntington-Whiteley as she pads up a staircase barefoot and clad in skimpy panties and a man's dress shirt. Fox may not be an incredibly nuanced actress, but at least she displayed some semblance of personality and got involved in the action scenes. Huntington-Whitely is a complete cipher whose only talents are squeezing into form-fitting dresses and staring blankly into the distance as objects explode behind her in slow motion. Her romance with LaBeouf's Sam arbitrarily runs hot and cold according to narrative conventions.

The main problem with Bay's Transformers films has always been the inordinate amount of screen time wasted on human characters that nobody cares about. You would think a Transformers movie would be about the Transformers. Not that the machines are depicted as multi-dimensional beings. Giving them funny accents are about as deep into characterization as the writers go. There is just something about giant death metal robots clashing and causing massive amounts of property damage which appeals to simple-minded pleasures. Bay provides that in spades with an extended battle in the Windy City as skyscrapers topple and Transformers perform Mortal Kombat-style fatalities on each other. It's certainly the most ambitious action Bay has ever directed. It feels like he watched Independence Day, Cloverfield, Inception, and Spielberg's War of the Worlds and said, "I can do better." However, the climax is lacking in any kind of coherent flow. There's never a sense of where everyone is located in relation to each other and how each section connects with the other. It's more like a jumble of incomplete sequences strung together. Bay appears to be afflicted with the worse case of ADD as scenes and subplots abruptly end as if he walked away halfway through and moved on to the next thing.

Bay also has a habit of recycling the same action sequences over and over. How many times have we seen a highway chase where cars attempt to dodge heavy objects hurtling at them? There's one in every Transformers movie. It's gotten to the point where Bay has lifted entire shots from The Island and reused them for Dark of the Moon. Granted, he was unable to complete the sequence due to the horrific accident to an extra. Nevertheless, the fact that Bay so easily integrated old footage from an entirely different picture speaks volumes to his unoriginality.

The one shining light in Dark of the Moon is Leonard Nimoy, who is related to Bay by marriage, proving you can pick your friends, but not your family. Nimoy previously voiced Galvatron in the animated Transformers: The Movie and imbues a gravelly gravitas to the inane dialogue he's forced to spout. There are also a couple Star Trek references thrown in, a call back to Wrath of Khan and another that cleverly foreshadows a crucial plot twist.

Michael Bay has lashed out at his critics by claiming his movies are meant to be fun summer films, which means his films aren't supposed to have highbrow nonsense like logic, great acting, and a coherent storyline. There's no reason for these things to be mutually exclusive. Iron Man and The Dark Knight are proven examples that big-budget blockbusters don't have to be mind-numbing special effects extravaganzas. Unfortunately, Bay seems more than content to wallow in soulless spectacle and audiences are happy to line up around the block. The two highest grossing movies in 2011 are The Hangover Part II and Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. Transformers: Dark of the Moon has taken the fourth spot less than a week after release. I admit Dark of the Moon provides a visceral gratification to our base desires of seeing things get blown up, but I crave something with more substance.

Final Thoughts: I caught Dark of the Moon in IMAX 3D and if you are going to see the most excessive movie of the year, see it in the most excessive way possible. The 3D effects are surprisingly effective. The opening sequence, in particular, has a very noticeable depth of field. It's one of the most pleasant 3D experiences I've had and I'm no advocate for the process. There's no feeling of flatness and very little dimming since Bay implored theater owners to burn out their projection bulbs to display the film at the proper brightness levels. The 3D also forces Bay to rethink how he directs action sequences since rapid editing, tight close-ups, and jarring camera movement do not work with 3D cameras.

Rating: ** (*****)

Serenity

Serenity - Dir. Joss Whedon (2005)


”Come a day there won't be room for naughty men like us to slip about at all.”

With Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Joss Whedon turned a failed movie into a successful television series and a multimedia franchise. Buffy spawned a hit spin-off in Angel, along with countless action figures, games, and comic books. Whedon could go the opposite route by turning his space western series Firefly (which lasted less than a season on the air) into a feature film. Dubbing themselves "Browncoats," the fans of Firefly spoke out loud and clear that they wanted more and DVD sales of the show led to Universal greenlighting Serenity. The results were not quite as successful as Buffy. Not from a lack of trying and it’s certainly not, by any means, a comment on the film’s quality. Firefly and Serenity received a lot of positive reviews from critics, even if they didn’t draw in the ratings or box office. For me, Serenity was one of the most fun cinematic experiences I had in 2005, but the movie narrowly missed making back its $39 million production budget in worldwide grosses.

It is 500 years in the future and humanity has migrated into deep space after exhausting the resources of their native Earth. The majority of the planets are under the rule of the Alliance while many of the worlds in the outer rims formed the Independents to fight against their authority. Short and sweet, they didn’t win. While this may be the future and people fly around in spaceships, this isn’t Star Trek There iss still poverty and crime, especially in the colonies out in the boondocks. Aboard the spaceship Serenity, Captain Malcolm Reynolds (Nathan Fillion), a veteran in the war for independence, ekes out a living through smuggling and robbery. His crew includes; Zoe (Gina Torres), Mal’s right-hand woman who has served with him since the war; Jayne (Adam Baldwin), a not-too-bright mercenary who loves grenades and big guns; Wash (Alan Tudyk), the ship’s pilot and Zoe’s husband; Kaylee (Jewel Staite), the ship’s engineer with a cute and bubbly personality; Simon Tam (Sean Maher), ship’s doctor and a fugitive from the Alliance along with his sister, River (Summer Glau), who was experimented on by the Alliance and left with a fractured mind. The full range of her abilities hasn’t been explored yet, but she is known to have telepathic powers and extraordinary fighting skills. In between the film and the TV show, two members of the ship left to pursue their own paths. Inara (Morena Baccarin), a beautiful Companion (courtesan) for the privileged, left to train and teach other Companions. Shepherd Book (Ron Glass), a preacher with a mysterious past, now tends to a different flock on the planet of Haven.

Attempting to make their way through the fringes of the galaxy, Mal and crew rob an Alliance payroll. Before they can finish loading the jackpot, the city is swarmed by Reavers, primal, cannibalistic savages that were once men. Against Simon’s wishes, Mal took River along to utilize her powers to sense danger beforehand. Incensed, Simon decides to take his sister and leave Serenity for good. His departure doesn’t last very long as the Alliance is dead set on retrieving River. They’ve dispatched one of their top agents, The Operative (Chiwetel Ejiofor), to go after Mal and anybody who’s ever had contact with him. Apparently, River has a deep, dark secret hidden somewhere in her mind that could undermine the Alliance’s control. The only clue that Mal has to go on to save everyone he cares about is the name, Miranda.

Being a continuation of a TV series, the main question for Serenity is, will people who’ve never watched the show be able to dive right in? I can’t say for sure. There’s a rich history to the universe that Whedon has created, but it’s not really necessary information. This is about the little guy standing up to the big guy. Whedon does a splendid job kicking off the movie with a bang while getting in important exposition. The film starts with a young River attending class. This is actually a memory as we cut to scientists experimenting on River. Simon breaks her out of the facility, but this is revealed to be a holographic recording being watched by the Operative. Whedon keeps the audience on their toes as he feeds them information without relying on pedestrian methods like flashbacks or intertitles. In one of the film’s best scenes, Whedon uses a single continuous shot that takes us through the ship and introduces us to each of the main protagonists. Right away, we get the gist of who they are and what they’re like. It all might be a bit disorienting for non-fans and they might not grasp some of the nuances of their relationships.

Unlike Star Trek, the universe of Serenity isn’t a pristine and sterile place where Replicators can magically give you whatever you want. It’s dirty and grimy and nothing works when you want it to. There is a definite inspiration taken from Star Wars and, specifically, Han Solo and the Millennium Falcon. Like the Falcon, stuff on Serenity breaks all the time and pieces fall off frequently. Malcolm is certainly the kind of swashbuckling scoundrel that Solo was in the original, non-special edition film. I’m talking about the Solo that shot Greedo first before he could shoot him. In fact, Mal has no qualms about shooting an unprepared and unarmed Operative.

As Malcolm Reynolds, Nathan Fillion displays an easy-going charm and a quick wit that makes him a fantastic leading man. But, the hero is only as good as his villain and in the case of Malcolm Reynolds, he has an amazing villain. The Operative isn’t your standard baddie who twirls his mustache and makes overly dramatic gestures. He hardly ever raises his voice either. He’s cold, calculating, and foremost, a complete fanatic. He feels justified in murdering women and children. That this will actually bring about a better world. Yet, he has no delusions about the horror he inflicts and takes no pleasure in it. The Operative is one of the most multi-faceted antagonists I’ve ever seen in a movie and Chiwetel Ejiofor gives a wonderful performance. With films like Serenity, Four Brothers, and Children of Men under his belt, he’s definitely an actor to watch out for. I’d also like to make special mention of Jewel Staite who is absolutely adorable in this film and lights up the screen with her smile, even when she’s covered in engine grease. Staite perfectly embodies the sweet-natured Kaylee.

Thanks to Fox’s erratic scheduling, I only caught two episodes of Firefly during its brief run. It wasn’t until I bought the DVDs that I was able to enjoy the show and I anxiously anticipated their jump to feature film. Serenity is an exceptionally fun film that’s jam-packed with a little bit of everything. Action, adventure, comedy, drama, eye-popping battles in space, it’s all there. George Lucas could learn a thing or two (or three or four) from watching this film. Serenity is the kind of Star Wars movie the prequels should have been. Whedon places the focus where it rightly should be, on the characters, not the special effects. Whedon specializes in creating an ensemble of memorable characters and their relationships with one another. He backs that up with sharp, original dialogue.

Rating: ****

Astro Boy

Astro Boy - Dir. David Bowers (2009)


Osamu Tezuka has widely been considered to be the god of manga. His dynamic art style and penchant for drawing characters with large, expressive eyes are the images immediately associated with Japanese comics and animation. One of Tezuka’s most beloved creations was the rocket-propelled robot, Astro Boy, who starred in a long-running manga series and several animated shows. Unfortunately, whatever charms Astro Boy possessed were lost in translation for Summit Entertainment’s CG remake.

Set in the year 2108, a privileged few live in the shining metropolis of Metro City, a high-tech city floating above Earth where robots serve the human population. In other words, they live just like the Jetsons. One of the most brilliant minds in Metro City is Dr. Tenma (Nicolas Cage), the head of the Ministry of Science. Along with Dr. Elefun (Bill Nighy), Tenma works under the auspices of the militaristic President Stone (Donald Sutherland) who is constantly ready to go to war.

Tenma has recently discovered a blue energy source and its opposite and far more unstable red energy. While experimenting with the latter, a tragic accident occurs when Tenma’s son, Toby (Freddie Highmore), is completely vaporized. A mournful father tries to replace his dead child by creating a robot duplicate who, at first, believes he is the real Toby. Soon, Tenma realizes Astro Boy will never be able to replace Toby and casts him out just as Pres. Stone demands he be turned over to create new weapons. Astro Boy is cast out and falls to the world below where he’s taken in by a group of orphans scavenging the scraps tossed away by Metro City.

Animation-wise, Astro Boy has been crafted well with some cool visuals and action sequences. However, it lacks any discernable style or charm to set it apart from the rest of the computer animated films being pumped out every year. It doesn’t have the uniqueness or depth that Pixar has achieved on countless occasions. The quirky and squat look of Tezuka’s characters has been washed away in order to placate mainstream Western audiences. The big eyes are gone, but the machine guns in his buttocks are still there.

The formulaic plot is further hampered by heavy-handed political overtones pounded in with the hammer of obviousness. President Stone is pure Neo-Con odiousness who dismisses the namby pamby blue energy for the ruthless and erratic red.

Astro Boy is bland, inoffensive entertainment, but you could do better watching the works of Miyazaki or Brad Bird’s The Iron Giant.

Rating: **