Munich

Munich - Dir. Steven Spielberg (2005)

It goes without saying that Steven Spielberg is a filmmaker in a league of his own. His films have become essential components of our pop culture lexicon. For better or worse, the Hollywood blockbuster exists because of Spielberg and his comrade, George Lucas. Munich lightly mixes Spielberg's slam, bang, blockbuster techniques with the schmaltzy pap that he is, oftentimes, criticized for to create a powerfully, dramatic affair.

During the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, operatives of the Palestinian terrorist group, Black September held 11 members of the Israeli team hostage. Two were killed in their quarters, the rest (plus, most of the terrorists) were shot during a botched rescue attempt. In response, Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir (Lynn Cohen) called for swift retribution against those responsible and hands the task to her former bodyguard, Avner (Eric Bana). Avner heads a covert task force that includes: the gung-ho South African Steve (Daniel Craig); Robert (Mathieu Kassovitz), a Belgian toymaker turned bomb maker; the German Hans (Hanns Zischler), who handles false documents; and Carl (Ciaran Hinds), the man in charge of cleaning up any traces of evidence.

Avner believes in his mission (one that may take years) so much that he leaves behind his pregnant wife, who is close to giving birth. Ironically, Avner's own father (a fellow Mossad agent with a heroic reputation) was absent from his life due to duties of the state. Avner's father is mentioned, but never seen during the film.

This year's summer movie season began with Mission: Impossible III and Munich gives us a peek at real life subterfuge. Like Mission: Impossible, the Israeli government disavows any knowledge of Avner and his operation. That's where the similarities end as nothing is at all like the sensationalized worlds of James Bond and Ethan Hunt. Avner's targets aren't at all like the bad guys you'd see in True Lies. The first two on the hit squad's list are elderly, living posh lives in Europe. One is even a poet; it doesn't save him from being gunned down in his apartment building.

Confronting the man face to face, Avner and Robert find themselves freezing at the last moment. It's not quite the quick and clean kill they had planned. The same goes for some of their other assassinations. One bomb isn't powerful enough, another is too powerful, and another doesn't work at all. In a harrowing moment, the team nearly kills a young girl with a remote-controlled bomb hidden in a telephone.

More and more, Avner finds that his mission may not be as righteous as he originally believed. At one point, the Mossad team shares a safe house with members of the PLO due to an angered information broker. Avner discusses the struggle between Israel and Palestine and, for the first time, attaches a human face to the people that are supposed to be his mortal enemy. Avner questions the orders he is given, are they even killing the right men? He questions the futility of his actions. Each man they kill will be replaced by someone else. Each kill brings about a brutal response from the other side. Numerous bombings and hijackings leave hundreds dead. What's the point of it all?

Bana put in fine performances in Troy and Hulk. Here, he's given far better material and truly carries the film. His gaunt face and sunken eyes reveal how much his ideology has been shattered. Bana completes Avner's breakdown by channeling Gene Hackman in The Conversation, when he tears apart his room looking for the very explosive devices he had readily used earlier. The actors filling out Avner's team do well, but aren't given anything as meaty since their roles lean towards standard archetypes, rather than fleshed out characters.

Spielberg has quite the habit by tacking on a happy ending whether it's appropriate for the story or not. One can look at the ridiculous finale of A.I. to see this in full effect. Munich ends on a much more somber note with just a hint of pessimism. In contrast to Schindler's List, there is no clear cut line between the good guys and the bad guys. Munich is a world with shades of gray. Avner tensely confronts his handler, Ephraim (Geoffrey Rush), about the work he has done. The scene is made more powerful against the backdrop of New York City, the Twin Towers still standing tall. In the city that is supposed to be the ultimate melting pot, two fellow Jews cannot see eye to eye.

Video/Audio: (****)
The video is presented in 1080p with an aspect ratio of 2.35:1. Spielberg and cinematographer Janusz Kaminski deftly capture the look of the era with a slightly muted color palette. Nothing comes off to soft or too dark.

The audio is presented in DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. The sound is excellent and highlighted by the somber score by John Williams. Set pieces involving gunfire and explosions work to accentuate the crisp dialogue.

Extras: (***)

The Blu-ray bonus features have been ported over from the 2-Disc Collector's Edition DVD and are presented in standard definition.

Introduction by Steven Spielberg (4:34) sees the director give us some quick thoughts about how he came on board the project and why it was important to him.

The Mission, The Team (13:10) is all about assembling the major players including the leads and screenwriter Tony Kushner.

Members of the cast and crew give their thoughts and remembrances of the terrorist attack in Memories of the Event (8:36).

Portrait of an Era (13:17) is a featurette about how the filmmakers recreated the look and locations of the 70's.

The On-Set Experience (14:24) features interviews with the cast and crew as they look back at filming some of the movie's most pivotal sequences.

The International Cast (12:41) looks at the worldwide casting net that was used to create the large supporting cast.

Editing, Sound, and Music (12:23) looks at the lengthy post-production process with Spielberg and Editor Michael Kahn discussing how they still cut the picture on film as well as a few words from legendary sound designer Ben Burtt.

Film Value: (****)
Normally, I'd complain about almost 3-hour runtime of the film. I think being able to view it at home and being able to pause, stretch, etc. made it easier to swallow. Munich does have some extra fat that could be trimmed away. Yes, I'd describe Munich as long. I'd also describe it as engrossing, thought-provoking, and one of the best films of 2005. Spielberg proves himself as a master of the medium and I shall forgive him for The Terminal and War of the Worlds.

Green Lantern

Green Lantern – Dir. Martin Campbell (2011)

"In brightest day, in blackest night
No evil shall escape my sight
Let those who worship evil's might
Beware my power
Green Lantern's light!"

There was a time when Marvel Comics was incapable of getting a decent movie made. Fanboys still have nightmares about the Dolph Lundgren Punisher or the previous Captain America with the rubber ears. Nowadays, Marvel rules the roost as they build to next year's ultimate team-up, The Avengers, while other characters make the leap to the silver screen on an annual basis. DC, their "distinguished competitor," hasn't had much luck recently outside of Christopher Nolan's Bat-films. The Man of Steel is getting another reboot after the failure of Superman Returns while popular superheroes like Wonder Woman and The Flash have been trapped in development hell. DC is hoping to change their fortunes with Green Lantern, based on a character that isn't a household name like Superman or Batman.

The original Green Lantern was created back in 1940 by Martin Nodell and Bill Finger, a writer who was instrumental to the early days of Batman. Alan Scott was a railroad engineer who carved a lantern and ring out of a mysterious, green meteor. In the 1950’s, DC was experiencing a renaissance and many of their Golden Age superheroes were being revamped with a more sci-fi bent during a time where nuclear power and the space race were making the headlines. This Green Lantern was Hal Jordan, who has become one of DC's most popular and enduring creations.

Ryan Reynolds plays Hal as a cocksure test pilot, still haunted by the fatal crash that killed his father (Jon Tenney), also a pilot. One night, he inherits a power ring from a dying alien named Abin Sur (Temuera Morrison). Abin Sur is a member of the Green Lantern Corps, an intergalactic police force created by a race of ancients known as the Guardians of the Universe. Abin Sur has been mortally wounded by an enemy known as Parallax (voiced by Clancy Brown), a primal being that feeds off fear.

Hal discovers he is the first human being to ever be inducted into the Corps. The ring taps into the emerald energy of willpower and allows him to create anything he can imagine. Meanwhile, Hector Hammond (Peter Sarsgaard), a nebbish biology professor is infected by a shard of Parallax. He mutates into an Elephant Man-looking supervillain with telepathic powers.

As the newest Green Lantern, Hal must learn to wield the ring and save the Earth from the threat of Parallax.

Green Lantern has largely been savaged by critics upon release. It currently rests at a dismal 26% on Rotten Tomatoes, a low score though nowhere near as embarrassing as the 13% Jonah Hex. While I don't believe the film deserves the shellacking it has received, it doesn't deserve a whole lot of praise. Green Lantern is just disappointing and mediocre.

There is a lot to take in as the film acts as a formulaic origin story and an introduction to the heavy mythology of the comics. As such, the story gets bogged down with endless exposition told in the most uninteresting manner. At approximately 100 minutes, the movie doesn't have a lot of time to introduce the main characters, the concept of the Green Lantern Corps and their powers as well as their enemies and their powers. Yet, Green Lantern still finds time to grind the forward momentum to a halt with an inordinate amount of superfluous scenes.

The Green Lanterns take their name from a green lantern, which serves as the power source for their rings. When Hal Jordan first taps his ring to the lantern, he learns the oath before being interrupted by friend and fellow pilot, Carol Ferris (Blake Lively). He goes to the bar with her in such a blatantly Top Gun moment that when he starts to sing, you think he'll bust out with "You've Lost That Loving Feeling." Then, Hal gets into a fight out in the parking lot. Then, he gets whisked away to the Green Lanterns' homeworld of Oa. Were those previous scenes even necessary? Why not simply have Hal speak the oath then travel to the headquarters to keep the story moving? Alas, this brand of sloppiness is indicative of the disjointed screenplay credited to four different writers.

Green Lantern is another one of those comic book pictures where the hero mopes a lot and contemplates hanging up his tights. Heaven forbid we ever get a superhero movie with a superhero that actually enjoys being a superhero. Hal Jordan has a cool job, is obscenely handsome, and then gains the ability to create almost anything he wants. How can he possibly spend so much time forlornly staring at his belly button? Hal trains with Green Lanterns Sinestro (Mark Strong), Kilowog (Michael Clarke Duncan), and Tomar-Re (Geoffrey Rush) for all of ten minutes before he arbitrarily takes his ball and goes home.

All the angst is a disservice to Ryan Reynolds, who excels at playing snarky characters. In the comics, Hal Jordan is more of a straight-arrow, but Reynolds makes him more of an irresponsible wiseass who must grow into the role of hero. He's not my first choice for the character (Nathan Fillion?), but he's charismatic and does a fine job carrying the picture on his shoulders. That's more than can be said for the woefully miscast Blake Lively, who is far too young to pass for an experienced jet pilot. The filmmakers are obviously going for a Clark-Lois feel to the romance between Carol and Hal, but their scenes have none of the spark that Christopher Reeve and Margot Kidder possessed. On the other hand, Mark Strong gives a better performance than this movie deserves, lending a legitimacy to all the silliness. Of all the broadly drawn characters in Green Lantern, Sinestro is the only one you want to see more of. Not to spoil anything, but, yes, a guy named Sinestro will eventually turn evil (make sure to stay midway through the credits).

A hero is only as good as his villains and Green Lantern features some of the weakest villains in a comic movie since Ghost Rider. Hector Hammond serves as a secondary villain, but one that adds absolutely nothing to the film. This is not a knock on Peter Sarsgaard, who gives the kind of mannered performance you expect from a lighthearted comic book movie. There are times when it seems he's doing the world's best John Malkovich impression. However, Sarsgaard can do little while hidden behind a ridiculous make-up job that makes him look like Rocky Dennis from Mask. There's also a poorly drawn backstory about Hal, Carol, and Hector being childhood friends. Aside from the fact that their ages are completely different, their shared history is only introduced halfway through the picture in one scene with a handful of dialogue. Then, you have Parallax, who is essentially a giant cloud of smog with a face. There is nothing exciting about watching the good guy fight a cloud. Did nobody learn their lesson from Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer? Give the hero somebody he can punch.

As a summer blockbuster, Green Lantern will live and die based on the special effects, which are a mixed bag. Watching Hal create various constructs in battle was neat, even if some of them were goofy (a Hot Wheels race track, really?). The FX artists went into a great level of detail in creating the alien Green Lanterns. Despite being mere background filler, they all look unique and hardcore fans will have fun spotting comic characters like Boodikka, Stel, Bzzd, and Gallius Zed. G'nort, I'm afraid is nowhere to be found. Yet, one of the film's few strengths is also one of its most glaring weaknesses. There are over 3600 Green Lanterns, but not a single one could be bothered to help this inexperienced rookie against a universal threat of epic proportions?

Warner Brothers went with the decision to give Green Lantern a wholly CGI uniform rather than a physical one. There are shots where the costume looks cool, highlighted by pulsating energy. In other shots, it looks like a bad Photoshop job. Much like Thor, Green Lantern has a heavy sci-fi/fantasy element. Thor divided the story between Earth and the otherworldly realm of Asgard while Green Lantern struggles to find a balance between its bland Earth scenes and the planet of Oa. Both suffer from video game-style graphics, but Asgard had a sense of grandeur lacking in Oa, which looks incredibly dank and primitive, not at all fitting for a race of wise ancients. Martin Campbell, who is a competent action director, seems out of his element on a film so reliant on CGI.

Rounding out the main cast is Angela Bassett, who is thoroughly wasted as Amanda Waller, a shadowy government operative. If you're a comics fan, you'll know Waller is an important character in the DC Universe and should have been the movie version should have been the equivalent of Samuel L. Jackson's Nick Fury. Tim Robbins is also thrown in as Sen. Robert Hammond, Hector's overbearing father because everyone in this movie has daddy issues in lieu of actual personalities.

Audiences are definitely feeling superhero fatigue. As more and more of these characters are brought to life, it becomes harder for studios to differentiate themselves from previous entries in the genre. Elements in Green Lantern have already been conveyed more effectively in films like Iron Man and Thor. If it had been released earlier, Green Lantern may have fared better. As it stands, the movie is the by-product of bad committee filmmaking. It's a scattered mess lacking in depth and originality. Warner Brothers reportedly sunk $300 million into the production and marketing campaign, but pulled in a meager $53 opening weekend. The poor domestic take spells doom for a potential sequel as well as plans for other characters and the fanboy dream of a Justice League flick.

Green is a lucky color for some, but it hasn't been so for superheroes this year with The Green Hornet and Green Lantern failing to connect with audiences. Poor Green Arrow will have to wait awhile.

Rating: * ½ (*****)

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides - Dir. Rob Marshall (2011)

"Does this face look like it's been to the Fountain of Youth?"
"Depends on the light."

A two and a half movie based on a ride at Disneyland seemed like an iffy proposition back in 2003. The world wasn't exactly lit on fire by The Country Bears or The Haunted Mansion. Yet, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl went on to become an insanely lucrative blockbuster and instantly embedded into the lexicon of modern pop culture. It was the kind of rousing, light-hearted adventure that hasn't been made since the heyday of Indiana Jones. Just as Harrison Ford's iconic fedora and bullwhip became a signature look so did Johnny Depp was his thick eyeliner, red bandana, and dreadlocks. Depp's performance as Captain Jack Sparrow surprised everyone by defying expectations of what a swashbuckling hero should be. Studio execs were aghast when they viewed dailies of Depp playing Sparrow as an addled and effeminate rummy. But, the performance scored Depp his first Oscar nomination and Sparrow is one of the most popular characters in modern cinema.

Naturally, Disney punched out two sequels in Dead Man's Chest and At Worlds End, which were filmed back-to-back. Both pictures scored major box office, but were lambasted by critics for nonsensical storytelling. The conclusion of At Worlds End established Capt. Jack's desire to find the mythical Fountain of Youth and set the course for the fourth film, On Stranger Tides. Never has a MacGuffin Device been more apropos. If anything needed rejuvenating, it was the Pirates franchise, which grew more excessive with each installment thanks to the presence of squid men, surreal netherworlds, and ancient sea goddesses. Disney seemingly took the criticism to heart and promised the next sequel would be streamlined. Then, the announcement came that the film would be shot in 3D and budgeted at $250 million. Yes, On Stranger Tides proves to be just as convoluted and ridiculous as the last two movies.

Jack Sparrow has made his way to London in order to rescue his first mate, Mr. Gibbs (Kevin McNally), from being executed for piracy. The good captain winds up meeting a corpulent King George II (Richard Griffiths) and put back onto the path of the Fountain. Next thing you know, he's leading the king's men on a rip-roaring chase through the cobbled streets on top of a series of carriages before bumping into Judi Dench and Keith Richards, who returns for a brief cameo as Jack's father, Capt. Teague. Our hero is soon press ganged onto the crew of the Queen Anne's Revenge, a ship run by the infamous Blackbeard (Ian McShane) and his daughter, Angelica (Penelope Cruz), a feisty former flame of Sparrow's. They too seek the Fountain of Youth. They aren't the only ones. The Spanish are looking to follow in the footsteps of Ponce de Leon and are led by Oscar Jaenada, who looks like Prince after wandering off the set of Purple Rain. Capt. Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) is back once more as a privateer for the royal navy looking for revenge against Blackbeard for costing him the Black Pearl and his right leg.

Of course, no one can just bathe in the waters of the Fountain. It's never that simple in a Pirates movie. This is one of those treasure hunts where you have to find fifty other things to get the one thing you're actually after. First, everyone needs to locate a pair of silver chalices then harvest the tears of a mermaid. Don't expect these mermaids to be cute redheads singing duets with Rastafarian crabs. These mermaids are vicious temptresses who drag men to their watery deaths.

The preceding plot summary barely scratches the surface of On Stranger Tides. Even with a run time of 2 hours and 17 minutes, it's actually the shortest in the series. Gore Verbinski steps away from the franchise and handed the directorial duties to Rob Marshall, who helmed Chicago and Nine. Marshall's experience with staging musicals allows him to choreograph elaborate set pieces with a showy finish. The opening carriage chase is the highlight of the film and it's followed up with a fun sword fight between Jack Sparrow and an imposter. It's a clash of cutlasses surely inspired by the Marx Brothers' mirror routine from Duck Soup. The later action sequences don't have the same spark. They become too repetitive with the climactic battle feeling like a re-hash of the Black Pearl climax.

The story moves forward in fits and spurts. Just when the movie hits a brisk pace, it grinds to a halt. The nonsensical narrative is anchored down by a never ending multitude of subplots and weak characters. With Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley gone, the filmmakers have replaced their insipid love story with one even more insipid between a young missionary (Sam Clafin) and a mermaid (Astrid Berges-Frisbey). The dreaded Blackbeard becomes a thoroughly generic villain with Ian McShane given little to do, except growl and snarl. More ship worthy is Penelope Cruz, who is at her most beautiful as an arch-rival and love interest to Jack Sparrow. The two spend the entire movie alternately trying to kiss and kill one another. Cruz has far more chemistry with her leading man than Angelina Jolie did in The Tourist.

Speaking of Depp, remember when Jack Sparrow was the comic relief supporting character in the first film? He has become the focal point of Pirates, but the novelty has worn off with Depp relying on mere shtick. Jack Sparrow is a unique character and a gimmicky one by his very nature that cannot evolve. While Jack hasn't changed, Capt. Barbossa has and winds up being the most intriguing character in Tides due to the amazing Geoffrey Rush. Painted in shades of gray, he cannot be pigeonholed into the role of hero or villain. Equipped with a peg leg, Barbossa is more pirate-y than ever, part-Long John Silver and part-Ahab. Like Ahab, he embarks on an unwavering path of vengeance against Blackbeard.

Zombie pirates and vampire mermaids, On Stranger Tides is as bloated and overblown as the sequels. The story doesn't feel like it was written using a dartboard or mad libs. However, if you were one of the few who actually enjoyed Dead Man's Chest or At Worlds End, the fourth picture will assuage your desire for swashbuckling on the high seas. Not that it matters. Pirates of the Caribbean is utterly critic-proof. People will flock to the theaters no matter how good or bad the movies are. On Stranger Tides opened in the U.S. to a box office take of over $90 million with international receipts at a staggering $256 million.

Rating: * ½ (*****)

The King's Speech

The King's Speech - Dir. Tom Hooper (2010)

Now that it is awards season, all the major studios are rolling out their prestige pictures in order to keep them fresh in the minds of the voters. The King's Speech is exactly the type of movie that the Academy and other committees eat up with a spoon. It's based on an inspirational true story and features an all-star ensemble of British thespians.

Colin Firth is once again called upon to play the stiff Englishman as he steps into the role of Prince Albert, who suffered from a life-long stammering problem. This probably wouldn't have been such a big deal in the olden days when royalty was only called upon to wave and smile at the adoring masses, but a newfangled invention called radio now requires them to be eloquent and articulate. Poor Albert can barely get the words to sputter out of his mouth when addressing a crowd at Wembley Stadium. It isn't just public speaking that gives him problems, Albert even struggles with telling bedtime stories to his daughters Margaret and Elizabeth II (the current queen).

Albert's wife, Elizabeth (Helena Bonham Carter) supports him through thick and thin, bringing a parade of therapists through Buckingham Palace. After a disastrous session where Albert is forced to literally speak with marbles in his mouth, he begs Elizabeth to stop. However, she gives it one more go by turning to Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush), a failed actor from Australia with no real credentials as a therapist. Logue's eccentric methods exasperate the prim and proper Prince, who Logue insists on calling 'Bertie.' Logue doesn't bother with honorifics, wants to be treated as an equal, and probes Bertie about his personal life. At one point, Logue refers to some of Bertie's ancestors as a bunch of "royal assholes." Stuffed shirt that he is, Bertie takes offense and storms off more than once, but circumstances necessitate their uneasy relationship. When the King (Michael Gambon) dies, the throne is passed on to older brother David (Guy Pearce), who is crowned King Edward VIII. His scandalous affair with an American divorcee leads Edward to abdicate and Bertie is now King George VI. Meanwhile, Hitler prepares to plunge England into World War II and the new King is called upon to deliver an inspiring speech.

Screenwriter David Seidler (who suffered from stuttering) originally envisioned The King's Speech as a play with the potential for a feature film version. It's easy to see why the movie took precedence and attracted the attentions of such a high caliber cast. The script is basic, old-fashioned storytelling at its best, hitting all the right notes without a single superfluous scene. Seidler manages to inject an understated level of humor to the proceedings, which prevents the film from becoming too much of a starchy BBC-style production. The relationship between Bertie and Logue provides the backbone as a reverse Pygmalion with the middle class instructor teaching the posh student. In real life, the two became close friends for years.

Tom Hooper (The Damned United, HBO's John Adams) directs with a straightforward manner though some of his compositions aren't the most aesthetically pleasing. Still, he does a splendid job in contrasting the ornate trappings of the Palace with Logue's modest flat and basement office. The acting is uniformly excellent, particularly Helena Bonham Carter as the future Queen Mother and Guy Pearce as the irresponsible playboy brother. The only weak link in the cast is Timothy Spall's Winston Churchill, who comes off more as a comic relief caricature than an actual person.

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

The Warrior's Way

The Warrior's Way - Dir. Sngmoo Lee (2010)

Sometimes fanboy cinema can be a bad thing. The Warrior's Way is a curious blend of Kurosawa and Leone, a cross between 300, Lone Wolf & Cub, and A Fistful of Dollars. The Warrior's Way comes to us from first-time director, Lee Sngmoo, who studied cinema at NYU and currently teaches at the national film school in South Korea. Lee isn't the first to come up with the idea of fusing the Western with the martial arts film. We've already seen Jackie Chan's Shanghai Noon, Takashi Miike's Sukiyaki Western Django, and another South Korean export, The Good, the Bad, and the Weird. So how does Lee's movie stack up?

Jang Dong-gun, from the incredible Tae Guk Gi: The Brotherhood of War, makes his English language debut as Yang, the greatest swordsman in the world. How do we know he's the greatest swordsman in the world? He kills the guy who used to be the greatest right at the beginning of the movie. As a member of the ninja clan known as the Sad Flutes, Yang has been charged with wiping out a rival. The former number one was penultimate member, leaving behind only a baby girl. Yang balks at killing a child and together they seek refuge in America.

Yang and the baby make their way to a tiny town in the middle of the desert known as Lode. The eccentric inhabitants of the town include your usual gallery of slack-jawed yokels and a traveling circus that decided to move on in. Yang settles in, running the laundry and befriending Lynne (Kate Bosworth), a comely knife throwing lass. As a young girl, Lynne's entire family was murdered The Colonel (Danny Huston), a sadistic and disfigured Confederate officer. Under Yang's tutelage furthers her abilities with the blade. Lynne finally gets her chance for revenge when the Colonel and his henchmen ride back into Lode. Yang must rally a ragtag force of cowboys, clowns, firebreathers, and the town drunk (Geoffrey Rush), who turns out to be a helluva sharpshooter. And then the ninjas arrive.

The climax is where The Warrior's Way truly shines as it descends into a bloody free-for-all of samurai swords versus six-shooters. While Lee tends to copy Zack Snyder's slow-motion accentuated style, the fight scenes are the type of brainless fun that action junkies eat up. If only the rest of the picture was on the same level. The lead up into the action-packed third act is full of stilted dialogue and empty attempts at character development. The extensive green screen work adds a cartoonish feel that Lee heightens by using a comic book font. It's too artificial looking to truly be an old-fashioned Spaghetti Western. Shooting the film on an actual set would have lent a strong sense of personality and authenticity.

Jang Dong-gun learned English for the movie and his delivery is passable, if wooden. Lee wisely has him play the taciturn hero who rarely speaks. The rest of the international cast include Kate Bosworth whose spunky Southern belle act feels like an audition for Hee-Haw and Bad Santa's Tony Cox as the circus's ringmaster. Danny Huston hams it up as the villain as does Geoffrey Rush. His signature line, "Ninjas…damn," was a highlight of the trailer, but is conspicuously absent from the final cut. The leader of the Sad Flutes is played by Ti Lung, the star of classic Hong Kong action films like A Better Tomorrow and Drunken Master II.

The Warrior's Way is the type of genre fare usually reserved for the direct-to-video market. Somehow it managed a theatrical release and disappeared from multiplexes almost as soon as it arrived. It's silly and dumb and if that's all you're looking for, give it a rent.

Rating: * ½ (*****)

Legend of the Guardians

Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole - Dir. Zack Snyder (2010)

Legend of the Guardians could be considered Watership Down with owls instead of rabbits. Though it may be an animated film with talking animals, it's hardly a shiny happy movie for kids. Guardians is a little darker and a little more violent than your normal children's fare.

Soren (Jim Sturgess) and Kludd (Ryan Kwanten) are brothers still learning how to fly. Kludd is jealous of the attention his family heaps on Soren, an idealistic dreamer fascinated with bedtime stories about the heroic Guardians of Ga'Hoole. After falling out of their tree one night, the brothers are snatched away and press-ganged into the army of Metalbeak (Joel Edgerton) and his queen Nyra (Helen Mirren). Calling themselves the Pure Ones, Metalbeak and Nyra ready their forces to attack other owl kingdoms to weed out the weak. In addition to their soldiers, the Pure Ones have slaves called pickers whose task is to gather large amounts of metal flecks. When accumulated, they generate a magnetic field that interferes with an owl's ability to fly.

Soren and an Elf Owl named Gylfie (Emily Barclay) manage to escape and traverse long, arduous distances to seek out the legendary Guardians who live in an ancient, Avatar-looking tree. After finding the Guardians, Soren is taken under the wing (pun slightly intended) of a grizzled old war veteran voiced by Geoffrey Rush. Meanwhile, Kludd willingly chooses to stay with Nyra, becoming a loyal warrior to their supremacist cause.

Guardians is based off the first three volumes of the fifteen book series, Guardians of Ga'Hoole, written by Kathryn Lasky. The film was directed by Zack Snyder and it is both his first animated movie and his first non-R-rated picture. Guardians is packed with the Snyder's trademark flourishes, mainly slow motion shots. Similar looking owls swoop at one another like WWII fighter planes. The slow motion actually helps since the action tend to look like undulating blobs of feathers. Despite that, the animation by Animal Logic (Happy Feet) is well done and the images are breathtaking.

Snyder's production is strong in visuals, but weak in story. The plot is a Cliff Notes version of the familiar hero's journey seen in countless other adventures. Snyder's desire for a darker film doesn't mesh with the studio's desire for a more family friendly tone. Serious themes of enslavement and genetic cleansing clash with scenes featuring comic relief sidekicks. Guardians simply lacks the deeper emotional resonance that Pixar has been able to capture time and time again.

Rating: * ½

Elizabeth: The Golden Age

Elizabeth: The Golden Age - Dir. Shekhar Kapur (2007)

Obnoxiously, overproduced costume drama.

Cate Blanchett is loud and bombastic which is perfect for this loud and bombastic picture.