A Walk Among the Tombstones

A Walk Among the Tombstones - Dir. Scott Frank (2014)

The first few months of the year are generally a cinematic wasteland, a time when the studios dump their more forgettable fare into theaters. One of the few bright spots over the last couple years during these doldrums has been Liam Neeson's renaissance as an action hero. Okay, so they aren't exactly high art, but they have been enjoyable popcorn movies. If theatrical releases like Taken 3 and Run All Night weren't enough to whet your Neeson appetite, then you're in luck because A Walk Among the Tombstones is now available on DVD and Blu-ray.

While most of Neeson's action flicks are variations on the same theme, Tombstones is slightly different. Although, you do get the requisite scene in which Neeson warns the villains over the phone about his particular set of skills. This isn't the standard shoot 'em up where Neeson dispatches an army of anonymous henchmen with lethal precision. In fact, the opening sequence refutes that sort of myopic mayhem by showing its ugly consequences.

The film begins in 1991 with NYPD Detective Matt Scudder stopping off at his favorite dive bar for his usual coffee and two shots of hard alcohol. When a trio of thugs robs the place and murders the bartender, Scudder chases them into the streets and guns them down one by one. Tragically, one of his stray bullets strikes a 7-year old girl, killing her instantly.

Flash forward to 1999 and Scudder is now a recovering alcoholic who earns a living as an unlicensed private investigator. He reluctantly accepts a case from drug dealer, Kenny Kristo (Dan Stevens), whose wife was abducted, murdered, and brutally dismembered even after the ransom was paid. As Scudder digs deeper, he discovers the kidnappers have killed before and are targeting criminals knowing they won't contact the police.

Director Scott Frank has a notable resume with writing credits on Get Shorty, Out of Sight, and Minority Report along with an impressive directorial debut with The Lookout. Frank does an admirable job setting the mood for Tombstones with a dour look at the Big Apple. This is a time when New Yorkers were worried about Y2K, unaware that 9/11 would forever change their lives in less than two years. Death and violence are omnipresent. Tombstones may not be gratuitously gory; it can be gruesome, especially for those of female persuasion. This is a movie where women exist as little more than meat to be butchered. Another misstep on Frank's part is a muddled climax that is clumsily cut together and made more awkward by the inclusion of Neeson reading each step of Alcoholics Anonymous.

At least Neeson's presence is more than enough to keep you enthralled. He can do stoic and tortured in his sleep. Plus, it's nice to see Neeson do actual detective work rather than hooking them up to a car battery. And Tombstones isn't relentlessly macabre due to Scudder's budding friendship with a street-wise kid named T.J. (Brian "Astro" Bradley).

A Walk Among the Tombstones is about as involving and richly woven as a typical episode of Law & Order: SVU. Still, it's serviceable enough as a modern noir and a vehicle for Liam Neeson's brand of vengeance.

Rating: ** ½ (*****)

A Million Ways to Die in the West

A Million Ways to Die in the West - Dir. Seth MacFarlane (2014)

The ubiquitous Seth MacFarlane has branched out far beyond his animated empire of Family Guy, American Dad, and the recently cancelled Cleveland Show. He's the closest thing we have these days to an old-fashioned song and dance man. He's hosted the Oscars, performed a concert tour, released a jazz album, and even executive produced the educational science series Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey. In 2012, MacFarlane wrote and directed his first feature film, Ted, the story about a man and a talking teddy bear who has long worn out his welcome. MacFarlane also performed the voice work and motion capture for the titular Ted. For his second feature, A Million Ways to Die in the West, we get MacFarlane in all his live-action glory as meek sheep farmer Albert Stark.

It's the year 1882 and Stark lives in the little town of Old Stump. He spends most of his time bemoaning how just about everything can kill you in the Wild West, from wild animals to unsanitary medical care. The most dangerous of all just might be murderous gunfighters. Albert is a sheep farmer and a pretty lousy one at that. His flock is scattered all over the place and when one of them grazes on another man's property, Albert is challenged to a showdown. Albert chickens out, much to the chagrin of his girlfriend Louise (Amanda Seyfried), who promptly for Foy (Neil Patrick Harris), the proprietor of the local Moustachery.

Albert thinks about packing it up and moving to San Francisco when he meets the gorgeous Anna (Charlize Theron). Both of them share a common disdain for everything dirty and backwards about the West. Anna also teaches Albert how to shoot a gun in order to challenge Foy and win back the fickle heart of Louise. Unfortunately, it turns out Anna is married to Clinch Leatherwood (Liam Neeson), a notorious outlaw who doesn't like anyone making moves with his wife.

A Million Ways to Die in the West wears its influences on its sleeve. Naturally, MacFarlane shoots quite a bit in Monument Valley, the gorgeous setting for so many classic John Ford Westerns. There's a nod to Terror in Tiny Town, an infamous 1938 movie starring an entire cast of little people and a lively dance number honoring facial hair that recalls Oklahoma. Of course, as a Western comedy, A Million Ways to Die in the West is cut from the same cloth as Blazing Saddles. Whereas Mel Brooks chose to do one long fart joke during the campfire sequence, MacFarlane spreads his flatulent humor throughout the film. And while Brooks was focused on race relations, MacFarlane takes a decidedly de-romanticized look at the Old West. He borrows the fish out of water aspect from Paleface and Son of Paleface starring Bob Hope. If you've watched Family Guy, then you'll know MacFarlane's reverence for hook nosed comedian thanks to the "Road to…" episodes with Stewie and Brian as Hope and Bing Crosby.

Albert makes numerous anachronistic observations about the time period. He looks at the violence and disease through modern eyes. He's reminiscent of Frank Grimes, the tightly wound character driven mad by the absurdity of The Simpsons. Sure, MacFarlane is a bit one-note in the lead, but he makes it work with his wry observations and off-the-cuff non sequiturs. Luckily, Million Ways has itself a terrific supporting cast with Neil Patrick Harris really asserting himself in the role of an annoying fop. Sarah Silverman is perfectly cast as Ruth, the proverbial hooker with the heart of gold, but with a twist. Silverman made a name for herself on the stand-up circuit with bawdy material that belied that sweet, pixie voice. Here, she's a prostitute openly engaged in outlandish sexual acts, yet she's in a chaste relationship with Albert's best friend, the virginal Edward (Giovanni Ribisi).

There are cameos galore in Million Ways. Blink and you might miss Ewan McGregor, Ryan Reynolds or Kaley Cuoco. Being set in the 1800's means MacFarlane can't rely on his usual arsenal of pop culture references. His one indulgence is the appearance of a certain time-traveling doctor and not the one who rides around in a police box.

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

Non-Stop

Non-Stop - Dir. Jaume Collet-Serra (2014)

"If you let my daughter go now, that'll be the end of it…But if you don't, I will look for you, I will find you, and I will kill you."

"I'm Martin Harris…I didn't forget everything."

"I'm not hijacking this plane. I'm trying to save it!"

Despite entering into his 60's, Liam Neeson has remade himself into one of Hollywood's premier action heroes. Standing at 6'4, Neeson certainly possesses the physicality needed to be a believable ass kicking machine. Years of dramatic experience has given him the credibility and gravitas that many of his compatriots lack. He'll need every bit of those talents for Non-Stop, a movie every bit as ridiculous as Neeson's last couple efforts Unknown and Taken 2.

Neeson is Bill Marks, a Federal Air Marshal who has descended into alcoholism following the death of his daughter and the dissolution of his marriage. Marks is in the last place he wants to be, a non-stop international flight from New York to London. Things only get worse when he receives a threatening text message that someone on the plane will die every twenty minutes unless $150 million is transferred to their account. The mysterious mastermind has it all figured out to the point that for every step Marks takes to protect the passengers, the more it looks like he is the one hijacking the flight.

The screenplay, credited to John W. Richardson, Chris Roach, and Ryan Engle, is filled with plot twists, each one more unbelievable than the rest. In spite of all the plot holes and logic gaps, Non-Stop never experiences explosive decompression as director Jaume Collet-Serra (who previously teamed with Neeson on Unknown) knows how to ratchet up the tension. Collet-Serra frames his close-ups and medium shots to accentuate the claustrophobic feel of being trapped in a flying metal tube. Text messages appear as pop-up graphics to ensure the audience isn't just watching people stare at their phones. The action is perfectly adequate with Neeson bulldozing through opponents with the same martial arts blows he's previously employed. He doesn't leap into the air while firing two guns at once, but he does fly through the air and catches a gun as the plane rapidly descends.

This is a finely tuned whodunit and there is no shortage of suspects. The filmmakers wisely filled the supporting cast with tremendous ensemble and no single person stands out as the obvious villain. There's Julianne Moore as a friendly frequent flyer, Corey Stoll from House of Cards as an NYPD officer, Nate Parker as a tech expert, Scoot McNairy as a school teacher on his way to Amsterdam, Anson Mount as a fellow air marshal, supermodel Bar Paly, and Linus Roache as the captain. Plus, you have Downton Abbey's Michelle Dockery fame and recent Academy Award winner Lupita Nyong'o as flight attendants though the latter only gets a handful of lines. Top it all off with a freckle faced little girl to really lay it on thick.

Non-Stop isn't exactly thought provoking cinema. It is an entertaining action flick and if you've enjoyed Liam Neeson's other offerings, this is an easy recommend.

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

The Nut Job

The Nut Job - Dir. Peter Lepeniotis (2014)

The first few months of the year are considered a dumping ground for studios who generally release subpar titles with very little fanfare. The winter can also be slim pickings when it comes to family friendly entertainment. In 2013, Dreamworks capitalized on the slow market with The Croods, a gorgeously animated picture that went on to do over $587 million at the box office. There's no such luck this year as parents would have to settle for taking their kids to see The Nut Job.

Set during the 1950's, The Nut Job follows one Surly (Will Arnett), a misanthropic squirrel who only looks out for himself. Surly's only friend is Buddy (Robert Tinkler), a rat who looks like a grungy and emaciated version of Remy from Ratatouille. None of the other animals in picturesque Liberty Park like him though Andie (Katherine Heigl) seems to be slightly sympathetic. Autumn is nearly over, but the food supply is short for the coming winter. Andie and the exceedingly heroic Grayson (Brendan Fraser) clash with Surly over the nuts from a vendor cart. Their argument accidentally ignites the propane tank and burns down the tree that everyone calls home. Under the stern leadership of Raccoon (Liam Neeson), the animals vote to banish Surly from the park.

Surly and Buddy are left to fend for themselves in the big city against pigeons and sewer rats. As luck would have it, they stumble upon a nut store with a bountiful supply to feed them for ages to come. The store happens to be the staging ground for a quartet of gangsters led by King (Stephen Lang). Their plan is to tunnel into the nearby bank and replace all the bags of money with sacks full of nuts so no one will notice the cash is missing. Surly and the other park animals forge an uneasy alliance to gather the nuts and avoid detection by the humans.

The Nut Job has a clever premise with a bank heist concurrent to the cute critters pulling off one of their own in the background. The filmmakers certainly aimed high by attempting to imbue the manic energy of the classic Looney Tunes shorts with an allegory straight out of Animal Farm. However, the movie never lives up to those lofty goals. The script suffers from the same lazy pitfalls of other second-rate animated flicks, riddled with fart jokes and contrived pop culture references. Angry Birds? Seriously? Despite being a period piece, The Nut Job prominently features the novelty hit "Gangnam Style." Its familiar techno beats play over a celebratory sequence during the film and an animated version of PSY pops up during the end credits for the requisite dance party. Perhaps, it was included because Nut Job was co-produced by a South Korean studio. In any event, the song's popularity died out long before "Nut Job" saw the light of day and was buried alongside other one-hit wonders like the Macarena and "Whoomp! (There It Is)."

It also seems like the writers couldn't be bothered with creating names for every character. Well, this squirrel is surly, so let's call him Surly. What about his buddy? Buddy. And the raccoon and mole? Raccoon and Mole. Job well done.

The Nut Job was budgeted at $42.8 million, which is a fraction of what Pixar works with, but other studios have done much better animation with not much more. Disney's knockoff Planes looks worlds better than Nut Job on a budget of $50, despite a screenplay that was just as uninspired. The movie is certainly colorful, but the designs and the movements appear to have been animated a decade ago.

If anyone was expecting the celebrity cast to bring some sparkle to the proceedings, you will be disappointed. Aside from the baritone voices of Will Arnett and Liam Neeson, none of them are recognizable and only Maya Rudolph as an affectionate pug has any charm.

The concept of The Nut Job is a bit similar to 2006's Over the Hedge, which shared a co-writer in Lorne Cameron. None of the furry fauna in either movie were all that memorable. Even the zany interludes of Scrat from the Ice Age series were more fun. As Pixar has done again and again, you can create an animated film with enough intelligence and heart to appeal to adults and children alike. The Nut Job might win over the youngest of age, but it will make others fall into an early hibernation.

Rating: * (*****)

Taken 2

Taken 2 - Dir. Olivier Megaton (2012)

The original Taken was the surprise hit of 2008, pulling in over $226 million off a meager budget of $25 million. The film reeled in mainstream audiences through their primal anxieties of xenophobia and white girl peril, then unleashed righteous fury in the form of Liam Neeson. As former CIA agent, Bryan Mills, the Irish-born thespian cut a path of brutal vengeance on the ring of human traffickers that took his daughter Kim (Maggie Grace).

It's understandable that Bryan would have a hard time letting go, especially when Kim blows off driving lessons to be with her boyfriend (Luke Grimes). These aren't evasive driving maneuvers, just plain old driving lessons because Kim doesn't have a license yet. Never mind that Maggie Grace is almost 30 and too old to be playing naïve high schooler. In any event, Bryan gets a security gig in Istanbul for a wealthy potentate when ex-wife, Lenore (Famke Janssen), and Kim pay him a surprise visit. Unbeknownst to them, Albanian gangsters, led by Murad (Rade Serbedzija) are en route to seek revenge for the deaths of their brothers and sons from the first film.

The screenplay by Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen is either brilliantly stripped down or lazily slapped together. There's a slight twist on the basic concept with the parents being taken and Bryan making the ominous call to Kim, who must locate the bad guys' hideout. In the silliest sequence of Taken 2, Kim runs around the rooftops of Istanbul lobbing live grenades so her dad can use the sound of explosions to triangulate his position. You'd think an American blowing shit up would raise a few red flags. At one point, Bryan casually guns down a crooked police officer. Sure, he may have been dirty, but murdering a cop still has dire consequences. However, Taken 2 isn't concerned with logic. There's no time for that nonsense when there are unwashed scumbags with funny accents to kill.

From there, the sequel descends into a non-stop stream of indiscernible action. Besson protégé Olivier Megaton turns every fight scene and shootout into a series of abstract images thanks to an overuse of shaky cam and choppy editing. Megaton also directed Transporter 3, the worst of the series, and Colombiana, which is just as ridiculous, yet far more entertaining. Car chases (those driving lessons from the opening are going to come up again, right?) are unremarkably rendered with Bryan shouting such encouragements as, "Move it, Kim" and "You can do it." Speaking of driving, someone in the Besson camp must have just seen Drive because Taken 2 lifts almost directly from the Nicolas Winding Refn film. Kim listens to College's "Real Hero" on her iPhone while Chromatics' "Tick of the Clock" is used for a tense scene in which Kim waits for her father in a getaway car.

Taken 2 fits the bill of easily digestible popcorn entertainment. Perfect for anyone who wants to watch Qui-Gon Jinn fight Boris the Blade.

Rating: ** (*****)

Unknown

Unknown - Dir. Dir. Jaume Collet-Serra (2011)

Most actors tend to take less physical roles by the time they hit 60. Not Liam Neeson, who has reinvented himself as a badass action hero following the success of Taken. He's certainly believable as an unstoppable killing machine with his deep voice and imposing 6'4 frame. Unknown certainly feels like it came from the same Luc Besson machine that churned out Taken with Neeson cutting a swath through menacing Euro-trash villains. On the contrary, Unknown comes from the Joel Silver action factory. It was directed by Jaume Collet-Serra, who also helmed the horror film Orphan, and based on the novel Out of My Head by French novelist Didier Van Cauwelaert.

Neeson stars as Dr. Martin Harris, a biologist who has just arrived in Berlin for a biotechnology conference with his wife Liz (January Jones). A terrible accident in a taxicab leaves Martin in a coma for several days. When he awakens, he is shocked to discover another man (Aidan Quinn) is now claiming to be Dr. Martin Harris and Liz has no idea who he is. Or Martin's memories a delusion or has he fallen into an elaborate conspiracy? The only clue to uncovering Martin's true identity is the cab driver, Gina (Diane Kruger), who is reluctant to come forward because she is an illegal immigrant from Bosnia.

Unknown is the type of standard fare we've come to expect from a post-Bourne world. The film boils down the Hitchcockian wrong man formula to its barest essentials while trying to plug in various plot holes with fist fights and car chases. Luckily, the one taxi Martin gets into happens to belong to the hottest cab driver in all of Germany. And, of course, Neeson will regain his memories just in the nick of time to dish out some serious beatings.

Neeson is a capable enough actor to make all this silliness credible. He's backed up by some good European talent like Sebastian Koch from The Lives of Others and Rainer Bock from Michael Haneke's The White Ribbon. Frank Langella also turns in a creepy performance as one of Martin's colleagues. The most intriguing character belongs to Bruno Ganz as a former Stasi officer turned private investigator. Ganz is best known as playing Hitler in Downfall, also known as the Hitler from all those YouTube videos where he laments about Burning Man, X-Box Live, and becoming a meme. Too bad you cannot say the same for January Jones. The Mad Men actress turns in another blank-eyed robotic performance as Martin's cold fish wife.

Unknown is best described as Taken meets The Bourne Identity. It's a ridiculous and pedestrian action thriller that may provide some diverting pleasure for about two hours.

Rating: ** (*****)

Wrath of the Titans

Wrath of the Titans - Dir. Jonathan Liebesman (2012)

The original Clash of the Titans wasn't that great of a film. It's mostly remembered for the stop-motion effects by Ray Harryhausen. At least, it is remembered. The 2010 remake is remembered more as a cautionary example against hasty 3D conversion and a catchphrase ("Release the Kraken!") that tired quickly. Still, Clash made a ton of money, which is enough justification to greenlight a sequel, Wrath of the Titans.

Ten years after the events of the previous movie, Perseus (Sam Worthington) lives the quiet life of a fisherman with his son, Helius (John Bell). He is once again dragged into the world of myths and legends when his father, Zeus (Liam Neeson), asks for his aid against HIS father, Kronos the Titan. Yes, there are actual Titans this time around.

Mankind's faith in the gods have further eroded their powers leaving Zeus vulnerable against the combined forces of Hades (Ralph Fiennes) and Ares (Edgar Ramirez), the god of war. The treacherous twosome mean to steal Zeus's remaining strength to free Kronos. To stop them, Perseus must gather the weapons of the gods; Zeus's lightning bolt, Poseidon's trident, and Hades' pitchfork. Perseus is joined by Agenor (Toby Kebbell), the son of Poseidon (Danny Huston), Hephaestus (Bill Nighy), the forger of the gods, and the warrior princess Andromeda (Rosamund Pike, replacing Alexa Davalos).

While Clash followed the formula of the traditional hero's journey, Wrath is more of a standard hero's quest. The screenplay is mapped out just like a video game with Perseus searching for various items and defeating mid-level boss characters before facing the primary villain. Jonathan Liebesman, who previously directed Battle: Los Angeles, handles the CGI intensive action sequences well with Perseus pitted against mythological beasts such as the Chimera, Cyclopes, and the Minotaur deep within a shifting labyrinth. In contrast to Immortals, the Titans here are formidable foes with Kronos portrayed as a colossus of smoldering rock and molten lava.

There isn't much of a difference between Sam Worthington in Clash and Sam Worthington in Wrath, aside from a fuller head of curly hair. Kebbell and Nighy provide levity while Pike is striking in her Xena garb though their characters are never fully formed. As for the gods, it's hard not to enjoy any scenes featuring Neeson and Fiennes, no matter how corny the dialogue. Poor Danny Huston gets the short end of the stick. The god of the seas only had one line in the last movie and he gets maybe a handful of scenes in the sequel.

Just as Athena sprung from the brow of Zeus upon birth, Wrath of the Titans seems to have sprung from the mind of an avid God of War gamer. Wrath is a streamlined action pic that runs at a brisk pace. Released at the end of March, it was a nice appetizer for the summer blockbuster season that was to come.

Rating: ** (*****)

The Dark Knight Rises

The Dark Knight Rises - Dir. Christopher Nolan (2012)

"You don't owe these people anymore, you've given them everything."

"Not everything…not yet."

Warning: This is a spoiler heavy review. If you have not seen The Dark Knight Rises, read the relatively spoiler light reviews by Ranjan Pruthee and I at Movie Metropolis.

Christopher Nolan revolutionized the way we think of superhero movies. Just as Richard Donner's Superman made you believe a man could fly, Nolan's Batman films made you believe a man fighting crime dressed as a giant bat could exist in the real world. Nolan's Batman was to the Tim Burton version what Burton's version was to the campy Adam West TV series. Nolan stripped the Bat of his most outlandish elements and grounded it in a gritty, realistic setting. Batman Begins detailed the origin of the Caped Crusader in a manner never seen before on the big screen. Nolan traced every step of Bruce Wayne's arduous journey to becoming the Batman. Its sequel, The Dark Knight, became a massive pop culture event and one of the highest grossing movies of all time. You can thank an unforgettable performance by the late-Heath Ledger as the Joker, Batman's greatest arch-enemy. Dark Knight also succeeded because it didn't look or feel like a typical comic book movie. It was Shakespearean tragedy done in the vein of a neo-noir crime film ala Michael Mann. The bar was set incredibly high for The Dark Knight Rises, the epic conclusion to Nolan's Bat-trilogy.

Eight years after the events of Dark Knight, Gotham City has eradicated the plague of organized crime. A thousand criminals have been locked away without parole thanks to the Harvey Dent Act. The victory has come at a high cost as the Batman accepted the blame for the murderous acts of Gotham's fallen district attorney. The cover-up has eaten away at Commissioner Gordon (Gary Oldman), who is left alone. His wife and children have left him and his staunchest ally has disappeared. Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) has hung up the cape and cowl and retreated back to Wayne Manor amidst rumors of becoming a Howard Hughes-esque shut-in. His time as Batman has taken its toll on his spirit and his body, walking with aid of a cane and mourning the loss of Rachel Dawes.

Before the Batman can fade into the mists of myth and legend, a new evil arrives in Gotham, a masked mercenary known as Bane (Tom Hardy), born and raised in a hellish Middle Eastern prison. Fashioning himself a latter day revolutionary, Bane is the rare foe who is both physically and mentally a match for Batman. Bane isn't cut from the same cloth as the cowardly and superstitious lot our hero generally faces. He draws first blood after hitting the Gotham stock exchange and ruining Bruce Wayne's finances. Bruce is forced to wrest control of Wayne Enterprises with the help of Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman) and Miranda Tate (Marion Cotillard), a new board member who provides him with much needed comfort. As Batman, he must combat Bane's loyal army with the assistance of an earnest beat cop named Blake (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and Selina Kyle (Anne Hathaway), a slinky thief working her own agenda.

The screenplay by Christopher & Jonathan Nolan (with story credit to David S. Goyer), borrows from several comic book sources such as Knightfall (in which Bane and Batman first do battle), No Man's Land (where Gotham is cut off from the rest of the nation by government order), and Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns (where an aged Batman is forced out of retirement). The latter is fitting since Nolan utilized many elements from Miller's Batman:Year One in his own re-telling of the Caped Crusader's origin. Indeed, Dark Knight Rises brings the series full circle by drawing many parallels to Batman Begins. Much like Bruce Wayne, Bane was trained by Ra's al Ghul (w/ Liam Neeson returning in a brief dream sequence) forcing Batman to battle an old and familiar threat in the League of Shadows. Those familiar with Knightfall will know Bane breaks the Batman's back and then tosses him into the prison, which resembles the family well he fell down as a child. Once again, Bruce must re-train his mind and body for the inevitable rematch.

"And why do we fall, Bruce? So we can learn to pick ourselves up."

I've always considered Christopher Nolan to be the cerebral Michael Bay. Nolan is a master at visual spectacle. We've seen what the director is capable of in Inception with massive cityscapes folding in on themselves and a jaw-dropping scene from Dark Knight involving a somersaulting 18-wheeler. Dark Knight Rises is no different as Nolan uses the IMAX format to its fullest. The film opens with a stunning prologue, done mostly with practical effects, where Bane hijacks a plane in mid-air. There's also a thrilling chase sequence as Gotham Police pursue Batman through the streets and the much ballyhooed implosion of a football field. In addition to the Tumbler and the Bat-Pod, Batman's latest weapon is the Bat, an aerial assault vehicle that glides through the labyrinthine urban landscape.

Nolan's skills as an action director have improved since Batman Begins and the set pieces in Rises are less choppy and more coherent. Nolan imbues his sense of style with a substance ripped out of the headlines. The Dark Knight was all about the Joker shattering the illusion of post-9/11 unity with Batman enacting totalitarian measures by tapping into the city's cell phone signals. In Rises, Bane presents himself as a champion for the oppressed and an enemy of economic inequality. The Nolans draw inspiration from A Tale of Two Cities with Gotham descending into a Dickensian winter under the occupation of Bane's forces. His followers toss the wealthy out of their homes and drag them in front of a kangaroo court headed by Dr. Jonathan Crane (Cillian Murphy) aka The Scarecrow.

These ideas are hammered in by the evolution of Gotham City from the stylized Chicago of the previous picture to an analogue of New York City. Wall Street and the Queensboro Bridge have been transplanted to Gotham with Trump Tower standing in for the headquarters of Wayne Enterprises. Yet, Nolan merely dresses the film up with these heady themes without fully drawing upon them. Sometimes they feel like parlor tricks meant to distract the viewer from obvious plot holes and inconsistencies that creep up once you have allowed the film time to absorb. The Dark Knight ended with the intriguing promise of a Batman shunned by the public he protected, hunted by the police, and once again feared by the criminal underworld as a wanted murderer. Instead, the threequel leaps forward where Bruce Wayne has improbably put Batman out to pasture. Yet, this plot element has its upside. Comic book movies depict the hero at the beginning or the prime of his career and never when his body has broken down. Bruce is forced to wear a high-tech leg brace to compensate for his knee injuries. However, his injuries are quickly forgotten after a clichéd training montage. Also, it doesn't make a lot of sense to transfer Dr. Pavel's blood to the anonymous corpse since the CIA would still be able to check DNA or dental records.

Some might be disappointed that Dark Knight Rises is the closest of the trilogy to a traditional superhero film with a city held hostage and a madman with an Armageddon device. But, is there really anything wrong with that? And when Batman is flying away with the nuke, did anyone else hope he'd say, "Some days you just can't get rid of a bomb."

Christian Bale gives his best performance of the series in Dark Knight Rises, even if he does overdo the growly Bat-voice. Bale has a rich supporting cast to draw from though many of them are criminally underutilized. Michael Caine returns as the steadfast Alfred, who serves as the heart of the film as well as an instrument of clunky exposition. Nolan still has a rough time dealing with exposition without having characters simply standing around and talking at convenient times. To me, it's just as hard to believe Alfred would abandon Bruce as it was when Michael Gough's Alfred let Vicki Vale into the Bat-Cave.

Joseph-Gordon Levitt instills more to the character of Blake than what was written on the page. As we learn in the end, his first name is Robin, Nolan's unique take on the Boy Wonder. Blake is an amalgam of the first three Robins. He's an orphan like Dick Grayson, a hothead like Jason Todd, and possesses a deductive mind like Tim Drake. Blake ultimately feels shoehorned in and his arc would have had more emotional resonance had he been introduced in the preceding installments. Although, these quibbles are remedied by JGL's performance and the money shot of Robin in Bat-Cave as the platform rises before the end credits roll.

Aussie actor Ben Mendelsohn gets to chew scenery as the unscrupulous John Daggett, an executive trying to take control of Wayne Enterprises. The brimming ensemble also includes Brett Cullen as a congressman, Game of Thrones' Aiden Gillen as a CIA Agent, Matthew Modine as one of Gordon's lieutenants, Juno Temple as Selina Kyle's sidekick Holly Robinson, and Thomas Lennon in a funny uncredited cameo as Bruce Wayne's doctor.

The Batman has often been overshadowed by his rogues gallery. Without a doubt, The Dark Knight was anchored by Heath Ledger, who won a posthumous Oscar for his turn as the Joker. Rather than go with a more renowned foe such as the Riddler or the Penguin, Nolan chose Bane, who was once portrayed as a monosyllabic henchman in Joel Schumacher's Batman & Robin. Here, Nolan's interpretation of Bane is akin to a horror movie monster like Michael Myers or Jason Vorhees. He is brought to life in chilling fashion by Tom Hardy, who has played volatile and physically imposing before in Bronson and Warrior. No easy feat as the British thespian's face is hidden throughout the movie by a cumbersome gas mask. Hardy relies entirely on his eyes, body language, and a posh accent that belies his hulking frame. Think Hardy's Patrick Stewart impression from Star Trek: Nemesis meets Darth Vader. He is Bane, the gentleman's terrorist.

"If someone stands in the way of true justice, you simply walk up behind them and stab them in the heart."

The Clown Prince of Crime has stood has as Batman's most infamous archenemy because he is the yin to his yang. Where Batman represents order, Joker represents pure anarchy. He is a self-professed "agent of chaos." Bane is Batman taken to the extreme. Both come from tragic backgrounds. Both have the discipline (and myopic obsession) to train their bodies to peak physical condition. Bane's moral compass, however, points in the opposite direction of the Caped Crusader. He also lacks the support group that Bruce had in his trio of father figures: Alfred, Gordon, and Lucius. Bane is sold as a zealot believing in his own twisted brand of social justice and that's undercut by a third act twist. In the worst kept secret ever, Miranda Tate is revealed to be Talia, the daughter of Ra's al Ghul, with her own obsession to complete her father's work and cleanse Gotham City. Again, we have a child of pain driven by a mission that they are deluded to be in the right. All of Bane's talk of liberation is for naught as he becomes a mooning lapdog to Talia. Talia, a fascinating character from the comics, is played wonderfully by Marion Cotillard. She is alternately a love interest and a formidable antagonist, but her story unfolds in a rushed manner, as if they decided to compress decades of books into a matter of minutes before killing her off.

The most surprising highlight of Dark Knight Rises is Anne Hathaway as Selina Kyle, never once referred to as Catwoman. Many fanboys bemoaned the casting of Hathaway and the look of her costume. Most of them were the same who criticized the casting of Heath Ledger and re-design of the Joker. Naysayers be damned, Hathaway gives this cat some serious claws. She is a strong and sultry femme fatale and brings a necessary injection of fun and wit to Nolan's usually grim and ponderous tone. If I have to make another Star Wars reference, her Catwoman is the Han Solo of Rises, a scoundrel with an ambiguous code of ethics. As for the costume, it works within context of the world Nolan has created. The goggles serve as a high-tech burglary tool while doubling as cat ears. Even her stiletto heels serve as functional offensive weapons. Hathaway is so good that I want to see her in a spin-off. Perhaps, a prequel, Catwoman Begins?

No review of Dark Knight Rises would be complete without mention of the score by Hans Zimmer. If the soundtrack comes off as bombastic and overbearing it is more the fault of Nolan than Zimmer. Nolan does drown out some scenes with the music cranked all the way to eleven. One of the film's best sequences is the initial fight between Bane and Batman with bone breaking body blows serving as the only score. Yet, Zimmer does some of his best work on Rises. He kicks off the prologue on a pitch perfect note with the spooky introductory notes to "Gotham's Reckoning." The composition builds to a crescendo with thunderous drum beats and the ominous chanting of "basara basara deshi deshi."

Yes, you can scrutinize The Dark Knight Rises to death. Or you can sit back and enjoy the visual spectacle that Christopher Nolan has crafted. Epic in scope and grandeur, Dark Knight Rises is a film meant to be seen in theaters on the largest screens possible. This is the grand finale befitting of Nolan's Bat-franchise.

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

Battleship

Battleship - Dir. Peter Berg (2012)

The idea of adapting a board game into a movie isn't unprecedented. In 1985, Paramount turned Clue into a comedic mystery that cleverly used multiple endings. While it did poorly at the box office, Clue has built up a cult audience due to home video and cable TV airings. Still, it seems like the studios are running short of ideas if they're turning to old board games for concepts. Monopoly is in development, Adam Sandler is attached to produce and star in Candyland, and Universal wants to turn Ouija into a low-budget horror film ala Paranormal Activity. I suppose it's only a matter of time before they make Hungry Hungry Hippos as a white knuckle jungle adventure or Operation as a gripping hospital drama. Until Connect Four: The Movie hits theaters nationwide, Universal and Hasbro have teamed up bring us Battleship.

Taylor Kitsch, in his second blockbuster of the year, stars as Alex Hopper, a professional screw-up, who gets in trouble with the law after breaking into a convenience store for a frozen chicken burrito. Why in the world would he do that? To impress the lovely Brooklyn Decker, who plays a physical therapist named Samantha Shane, the daughter of a stern Admiral (Liam Neeson) in the U.S. Navy. Admiral Shane also happens to be the commanding officer of Alex's older brother, Stone (Alexander Skarsgard). Stone forces his younger sibling to enlist in the Navy in the hopes they will straighten him out.

Years pass and the Hopper Brothers are stationed off the coast of Hawaii where they are to participate in a war games exercise with a Japanese fleet. The simulation turns deathly real with the arrival of alien scout ships that have followed NASA transmissions back to Earth. The extraterrestrial invaders sink two ships and erect an impenetrable force field around a section of the sea. Only the USS John Paul Jones is left with Alex assuming command as all other senior officers have been killed. Meanwhile, another squad of aliens is building a communications array on the mainland to contact their home planet. The only humans able to stop them are a nerdy NASA scientist (Hamish Linklater), Samantha, and one of her patients, Lt. Col. Canales, played by war vet and real-life amputee Gregory D. Gadson.

"From the studio that brought you Transformers," has been utilized prominently in the film's marketing campaign. The phrase is fitting because Battleship seems to have sprung from the mind of Michael Bay. Every aspect of Battleship has a Bay-esque feel to it, from the production design to the sound effects. The filmmakers even brought on Steve Jablonsky, who scored the Transformers series, to score Battleship. The aliens' spacecraft and weaponry look like they were bought from a Decepticon garage sale. Director Peter Berg shoots his action sequences with the same frenzied, kinetic pace as Bay. Scenes of massive urban destruction appear to have been pulled directly from Armageddon. At least, Battleship isn't replete with the misogyny and racial stereotypes generally found in Bay productions. The script by Erich & Jon Hoeber (who also wrote Whiteout and Red) is riddled with plot holes, a leaky vessel to use nautical parlance. The aliens knock out the Navy's communications and radar with an electromagnetic pulse, yet the crew still has access to digital monitors and other electronic devices. The screenplay isn't subtle either as it constantly hammers home how Alex is full of wasted potential.

The main reason to knock out the radar is to allow the filmmakers to incorporate the hit-and-miss strategy of the original game. The crew of the John Paul Jones utilizes buoys to create a grid in order to detect where the enemy ships are. The aliens also use missiles made to look like the game pegs. Sadly, no one utters the catchphrase, "You sunk my battleship." Though one character does say, "No one's gonna sink this battleship." The aliens themselves are pulled off in an interesting manner. They are humanoid with a convenient weakness, but have clear rules of engagement

Kitsch isn't as leaden here as he was in John Carter, maybe because he's able to play it a little looser. Still, you can't help but wonder how the film would have unfolded had Alexander Skarsgard been cast in the lead. Fans of Friday Night Lights will be pleased to see Kitsch reunited with former castmate Jesse Plemons as the requisite comic relief sidekick, a role also taken by Hamish Linklater. Pop sensation Rihanna makes her acting debut as a scrappy weapons specialist, a role usually reserved for Michelle Rodriguez. She does fine in the limited role and gets one of the movie's best lines ("Mahalo, motherfucker.") Meanwhile, Liam Neeson is wasted in a throwaway part though I'm sure he got a nice, fat paycheck.

Battleship is everything audiences have come to expect from a summer blockbuster: loud, dumb, and full of expensive special effects. Taken on that level, it may be enjoyable to those looking for simple, escapist fun.

Rating: ** (*****)

The Grey

The Grey - Dir. Joe Carnahan (2012)

Once more into the fray.
Into the last good fight I'll ever know.
Live and die on this day.
Live and die on this day.

The early part of the year is generally the season for movie goers to catch up on all the best picture nominees as well as a dumping ground for forgettable action flicks and rom-coms. There's a new tradition now with Liam Neeson led action movies being released almost on a yearly basis. There was Taken in 2009 and Unknown in 2011. 2012 follows suit with The Grey with Neeson reunited with Joe Carnahan, the director of The A-Team. The script is based on the short story, Ghost Walker, by Ian MacKenzie Jeffers, who also penned the awful revenge thriller Death Sentence. Given the participants, I would have been satisfied with an hour and a half of Liam Neeson punching the fuck out of wolves. Indeed, the money shot of the trailer is Neeson duct taping a knife and broken miniature bottles to his hands as he prepares to dive into battle. Imagine my surprise to find The Grey is far more philosophical and contemplative than one would expect from Joe Carnahan.

Neeson stars as John Ottway, a sharpshooter stationed at an oil pumping station in the remote Arctic. He protects the workers from the wolves living in the surrounding wilds. It's not exactly a noble profession as the station employees are mostly reprobates and desperate men. As Ottway describes them, they are "unfit for mankind." Memories of his late-wife (Anne Openshaw) are the only things keeping him going.

A plane ride to Anchorage turns to disaster when the aircraft is caught in a blizzard and crashes into a snowy wasteland. Ottway assumes leadership of a handful of survivors that include the hotheaded ex-con Diaz (Frank Grillo), the devout family man Talget (an unrecognizable Dermot Mulroney), and the reserved Hendrick (Dallas Roberts). Their journey back to civilization is endangered not only by the harsh elements, but by a pack of vicious wolves. These wolves are stalking the survivors not for food, but for vengeance as they are trespassing on their territory.

What differentiates The Grey from the winter season's cinematic detritus is the existential tone as it deals with faith in the face of a cruel world. There's an overriding sense of the impermanence of mankind, who will always be at the mercy of Mother Nature. These are certainly heady subjects for what Open Road Films has marketed as a standard action movie.

The Grey does offer a visceral experience as the deaths can occur suddenly and without warning. The wolves themselves are like unrelenting creatures from a horror film. One shot features the protagonists face to face with the pack as their eyes glow a stark white against the jet black night sky. Another sequence sees the survivors, forced to trudge through deep snow, helplessly watch as wolves tear apart their friend. Amidst all the brutally, some of the deaths are handled with emotional gravitas. The first one occurs when one man is found in the wreckage bleeding to death. Ottway doesn't bother to comfort him or mince words, he tells the man in a matter-of-fact manner that he's dying and nothing can be done. Despite the survivors being a collection of stock characters, it hits hard when one of them goes.

Liam Neeson has had a long career as a respectable actor, but it's only recently that he's become a top shelf action hero. With his booming voice and imposing 6'4 stature, he definitely has the credibility. As Ottway, Neeson gives a rich performance that's tinged with an unshakeable sadness. It's obvious this was something of a therapeutic role allowing Neeson to work through issues following the death of his wife Natasha Richardson in 2009. There's talk The Grey may be re-released for a run during awards season. Frank Grillo, previously seen as the trainer in Warrior, gives an excellent performance here and is the centerpiece for one of the film's most powerful scenes.

The Grey represents Joe Carnahan's best work, even better than his breakout film, Narc. His direction is still stylish, but almost understated, refraining from his usually overly kinetic tricks. The plane crash is one of the most realistic and harrowing crashes committed to film. After that, we see Neeson lying peacefully next to his wife and underneath a white sheet only for her to be ripped away as he awakens in a snow drift.

The Grey is one of the first great films of 2012, a gut wrenching tale of survival in the vein of Jack London. The ways in which it deals with manhood, spirituality, and the inevitability of death would make Hemingway proud.

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

If you want to read my spoilerific thoughts on the ending, click on the comments section.

The Next Three Days

In Conviction, Hilary Swank plays a mother of two who puts herself through college and law school in order to free her brother after he is wrongly convicted of first degree murder. Russell Crowe, however, is no Hilary Swank. He's Russell Crowe after all and he doesn't have time for any of that fancy book learning. When his wife is sentenced to life in prison, he decides to bust her ass out in The Next Three Days.

Crowe is John Brennan, an English teacher who spends his days lecturing to community college students about Don Quixote. Brennan finds himself in his own Quixotic quest when his wife, Lara (Elizabeth Banks, is arrested during family breakfast time for the murder of her boss. The circumstantial evidence is pretty damning. Lara had an argument with her boss earlier in the day. Her fingerprints are on the murder weapon and blood from the victim was found on her coat. John is thoroughly convinced of Lara's innocence, but their options dwindle as years pass and the appeals process goes nowhere.

John consults with an ex-con (Liam Neeson in a one scene cameo) who literally wrote the book on prison breaks. This formerly unassuming teacher sets in motion an intricate plan to free his wife and escape the country before authorities lock down the city. The ticking clock that gives the film its title kicks when John learns that Lara will be transferred from county jail to a maximum security penitentiary upstate.

The Next Three Days has good moments and weak moments. If you saw Crash, you know that Paul Haggis is not a subtle filmmaker. He's downright blunt and wants to spell everything out for the audience. That trait is evident with the running time of his latest picture. Next Three Days was based on a 2007 French film entitled Pour Elle, which was 96 minutes long. Haggis's version clocks in at over two hours. The movie chugs along at a lethargic pace as we watch the emotional toll that Lara's imprisonment has taken on her husband and young son.

While the dour emotional scenes drag on, the portions that focus on the actual jailbreak are riveting. Yes, they are a bit preposterous and Haggis tends to rely too much on convenient coincidences, but they are riveting. As a law-abiding Joe Average, John must find ways to gather enough cash to live on the run as well as acquire fake IDs. His nocturnal trips to the wrong part of town are tense as is a sequence where John tries out a homemade skeleton key during a visit to his wife. How he learned to make one seems simple enough. He saw it on YouTube. John also learns how to break into a car using only a tennis ball. There's more to the internet than just porn.

Crowe doesn't quite pull off the role of the unassuming school teacher, but he does excel at being gruff and brooding. There's not a lot of chemistry between he and Elizabeth Banks who still looks beautiful while trying to be haggard.

The Next Three Days could have used some judicious editing to tighten the pace and cut the fat. After the mediocrity of the first two acts, the film concludes with a thrilling climax as the prison escape finally happens. That itself might make the movie worthy of a rental.

Rating: ** (*****)

After.Life

After.Life - Dir. Agnieszka Wojtowicz-Vosloo (2010)


Helmed by a first-time director, After.Life managed to attract a talented cast despite its shortcomings. The picture was directed and co-written by Agnieszka Wojtowicz-Vosloo whose only previous experience was an award-winning short made during her time at NYU. It’s an ultimately forgettable film, yet it managed to snag some big-name talent.

Christina Ricci stars as Anna Taylor, a pretty, young schoolteacher in a rocky relationship with successful attorney, Paul Coleman (Justin Long). One dark and stormy night, Anna and Paul get into an argument with Anna stomping away in a huff. She loses control of her car and wakes up on a slab in the basement of a funeral home run by Eliot Deacon (Liam Neeson). Even though Anna can still walk and talk, Eliot says she is dead. You see, Eliot has the power to speak to the recently deceased. Anna’s soul is in a transitional state before crossing over to the other side. Eliot is there to help in said transition. Or is he?

Anna has her doubts while Paul is convinced Eliot is hiding something. Of course, the inept police force doesn’t believe him. There’s also a creepy, little boy named Jack (Chandler Canterbury) who may also possess similar abilities to Eliot.

Wojtowicz-Vosloo wisely chooses atmosphere over cheap scares and gore. She has a good command of production design with effective uses of warm and cold colors, such as red and violet. She has a good eye, but the screenplay, which was co-written with Paul Vosloo and Jakub Korolczuk, leaves much to be desired. The dialogue tends to be heavy-handed with corny lines like, ”You’re a corpse. Your opinion doesn’t count anymore.”

After.Life strives for ambiguity, but the results are steeped with obviousness. There’s no real mystery behind the movie even without all the easy to spot clues. In fact, the longer the film plays with the audience, the more frustrating it becomes. Vosloo tries to throw us for a loop with a few creepy dream sequences. However, once the character wakes up, it feels like the rug is pulled out from under us. The filmmakers seem to be showing off rather than advancing the plot.

As he always does, Liam Neeson lends some credibility to the role even if his performance won’t stick in your memory. Ricci has incredibly expressive eyes and excels well as the troubled girl in distress. Justin Long is the only weak link in the main cast. He gives an overwrought performance in a role very similar to his turn in Sam Raimi’s Drag Me to Hell. Long’s strong suit is comedy and he lays it on too thick when attempting more dramatic roles.

The central concept of a mortician communicating with the corpse he’s preparing would be an interesting premise for a short film. Here, the concept feels padded out with flat characters and little in the way of suspense to hold your attention.

Rating: *

The A-Team

The A-Team - Dir. Joe Carnahan (2010)


”…if you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them…maybe you can hire…THE A-TEAM!”

The record for adapting old TV shows into successful feature films has been less than stellar. The Fugitive is the only true standout. Several rungs down the ladder are middling efforts like Starsky and Hutch and Miami Vice. Dwelling in the basement are truly terrible movies such as Land of the Lost, The Beverly Hillbillies, and Dukes of Hazzard. Joining the ranks of big-budget Hollywood remakes is The A-Team which finds itself somewhere in the middle. It’s certainly not high-brow cinema, but it is pure popcorn entertainment. The A-Team manages to capture the campy overtones and ludicrous elements of the original series. In return, the movie version asks nothing more from its audience than to turn off their brains and not over think a non-stop barrage of nonsensical action sequences.

A movie version of The A-Team has been in development for well over a decade. It’s taken so long that the team was originally changed from Vietnam vets to veterans of the Gulf War. Later, they were stationed in the Middle East just before the Iraq invasion. Now, they’re station in Iraq at the time of the troop withdrawal. All the players remain relatively the same.

Liam Neeson fills the very big shoes of the late-George Peppard as the cigar chomping team leader, Col. Hannibal Smith. Bradley Cooper is Lt. Templeton “Faceman” Peck and District 9’s Sharlto Copley is their crazy pilot, Capt. H.M. “Howling Mad” Murdock. Finally, we have MMA fighter Quinton “Rampage” Jackson as the Mohawk-wearing bruiser, B.A. Baracus.

The film opens with a messy prologue showing how the A-Team was assembled. While working to take down a corrupt Mexican general, Face is captured in the enemy camp. Running through the desert to his rescue, Hannibal just happens to come across B.A. driving his trademark black van. B.A. is stuck south of the border, forced to steal cars as a ransom for his van being held hostage. It doesn’t really make sense since B.A. just beats all the guys up and takes his van anyway. But, logic is a foreign concept in this film. Face is saved and the trio rendezvous at a military hospital where they pick up the nutty Murdock.

Fast-forward eight years and we pick up at the troop withdrawal. The A-Team is approached by a CIA agent named Lynch (Patrick Wilson) requests their help in stealing back printing plates that could be used to counterfeit U.S. currency. Predictably, our heroes are double-crossed by a private security force led by Pike (Brian Bloom, also one of the credited screenwriters). The plates are blown up along with their commanding officer, Gen. Morrison (Gerald McRaney). Now, the team must break out of separate federal prisons and clear their names with Face’s former flame, Capt. Sosa (Jessica Biel), hot on their heels.

Neeson brings more than a sly smile to the picture; he lends a sense of credibility which is sorely needed. Only Neeson can make you buy into a discussion he has about Gandhi with a fellow that has “PITY” and “FOOL” tattooed on his knuckles. The same goes for Cooper and Copley, the latter of whom is hilarious and far more manic than the original Murdock. Jackson feels dispensable as Baracus, No one can replace Mr. T, but Jackson brings nothing unique to the table.

Hannibal’s famous catchphrase has always been, “I love it when a plan comes together.” He coins a new one in the film, ”Overkill is underrated,” and overkill is a specialty of Joe Carnahan, who previously directed Narc and Smokin’ Aces. He’s like Tarantino with A.D.D., but without the encyclopedic knowledge of cinema. Strike that. Carnahan is a knockoff of a Tarantino knockoff (ahem…Guy Ritchie). He furiously whips us about from one over-the-top action scene to another. We watch as the A-Team play the world’s biggest shell game with cargo containers and attempt to steer a tank as it plummets through the air.

The A-Team is the dictionary definition of the Hollywood summer blockbuster. It’s loud, dumb, and goofy fun for the undemanding moviegoer.

P.S. – Make sure to stick around until the credits end for a pair of quick cameos.

Rating: ***

Clash of the Titans

Clash of the Titans - Dir. Louis Leterrier (2010)


”Release the Kraken!”

The original 1981 Clash of the Titans played fast and loose with Greek mythology and is more renowned for being the swan song for effects guru Ray Harryhausen. The master of stop motion effects, Harryhausen went on to inspire a generation of top filmmakers including Tim Burton, James Cameron, and Sam Raimi. But, his brand of special effects was put out to pasture by the rise of the modern day summer blockbuster heralded by Steven Spielberg and George Lucas.

With CGI and digital 3D in full effect, it was only a matter of time before Clash was remade and updated with today’s technology. Sam Worthington is Perseus, the son of a human mother and Zeus (Liam Neeson), the king of the gods. At the beginning of his journey, Perseus knows nothing of his parental lineage. He is abandoned at sea and found by a kindly fisherman (Pete Postlethwaite). Perseus’s life is forever changed when Hades (Ralph Fiennes), god of the underworld, kills his adopted family.

Perseus is taken to the city of Argos where its rules have incurred the wrath of the gods with their insults. Hades issues an ultimatum for Argos to sacrifice its princess, Andromeda (Alexa Davalos), or he will release the monstrous Kraken (”Release the Kraken!”) and destroy the city and all its inhabitants. Perseus is sent on a mission to find a way to stop the Kraken and is accompanied by Draco (Mads Mikkelsen), leader of the royal guard, and the beautiful demi-goddess Io (Gemma Arterton). From them, Perseus learns how to fight and be a hero. Being half god, he learns in no time and without the assistance of a montage set to 80’s power rock.

This version of Clash is definitely not your father’s Clash of the Titans. Fans of the original are made well aware of that fact when one of its stars, Bubo the mechanical owl, makes a quick cameo only to be tossed aside like a bit of refuse. Pegasus, the gleaming white and winged steed, is now a badass black stallion who scares away the other horses.

As the film’s hero, Worthington is slightly generic, but nowhere near as bland as the well-tanned Harry Hamlin. While the original featured Sir Laurence Olivier, Maggie Smith, and Bond girl Ursula Andress among its pantheon. In the remake, the denizens of Mount Olympus are headed up by Liam Neeson who equates himself well to the overly bombastic dialogue that always seems to pop up in these period pieces. As Zeus’s brother, Fiennes is all dark and raspy voiced, not too far off from Lord Voldemort. Danny Huston’s Poseidon only gets a couple of lines while the rest of the gods are mostly reduced to just standing around in glowing armor.

Despite some shortcomings, Clash is a rousing popcorn movie. The majority of the action is fun even if director Louis Leterrier has trouble with letting the camera stand still. The film’s best sequence is a battle against a group of giant scorpions keeping in spirit with Harryhausen’s work. An exceedingly phony looking CG Medusa knocks things down a notch. There are also some odd characters new to the remake in the Djinn, desert dwellers who look like leprous versions of the Tusken Raiders from Star Wars.

If you get the chance to see Clash of the Titans in theaters, save your money and skip the 3D version. The picture was shot in 2D and quickly converted afterwards to cash in on the 3D craze. Much of the film is flat with scenes barely registering as 3D. Secondly, this is a very dark movie and the 3D glasses darken the movie even further. Finally, Leterrier’s frenetic shooting style does not lend itself to the 3D process. The constant camera movements during the action scenes negate it.

Rating: ***

Taken

Taken - Dir. Pierre Morel (2008)


” I don't know who you are. I don't know what you want. If you are looking for ransom, I can tell you I don't have money. But what I do have are a very particular set of skills; skills I have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you. If you let my daughter go now, that'll be the end of it. I will not look for you, I will not pursue you. But if you don't, I will look for you, I will find you, and I will kill you.”

If Liam Neeson says he’ll find you and kill you, you’d best believe it. Here, he plays Bryan Mills an ex-government operative though it’s never revealed exactly what he did. Mills is now divorced, his ex-wife, Lenore (Famke Janssen), has since remarried a much wealthier man. Lenore and daughter, Kim (Maggie Grace), convince overprotective dad to allow her to take a summer trip to Paris with a friend. Mills reluctantly agrees with the caveat that she calls him everyday and keeps him constantly updated. Mom blasts her former hubby about smothering their precious little girl. Of course, dad’s worries are proven correct when Kim is abducted by human traffickers. As you can tell from the above quote, dad doesn’t take this lying down.

Taken comes from Luc Besson, director of La Femme Nikita, The Professional, and The Fifth Element. Besson has spent the last several years as a writer/producer on action flicks like the Transporter series. With Taken, he re-teams with Transporter co-writer, Robert Mark Kamen and director Pierre Morel who helmed another Besson project, District B-13. If you’ve seen any of those pictures, then you’ve got a good idea of what to expect from Taken with a light influence from the Bourne franchise. In fact, you could easily see Neeson’s Bryan Mills as what might have happened to an older Jason Bourne. Mills gets into plenty of shootouts, fist fights, and car chases throughout Europe while using a little ingenuity to get out of tough scrapes. He’s a stone cold, hardass too. When interrogating one bad guy, Mills doesn’t shoot him to get answers; he shoots the guy’s wife.

Taken is a rather predictable and clichéd affair, but it’s a fun action film. If the idea of Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn dispatching criminals right and left appeals to you, then you’ll probably be taken by Taken.

Rating: ***