MOVIE REVIEW: The Wolverine

Erron’s Grade: B-

Target Audience:
Fans of the Marvel comic/X-Men universe; those who appreciate action/adventure/fantasy films; motion pictures that highlight intense action sequences, swordplay and martial arts fighting; movies that significantly feature computer-generated special effects work; films set in foreign locales

Plot Synopsis:
From IMDb.com: “In modern day Japan, Wolverine is out of his depth in an unknown world as he faces his ultimate nemesis in a life-or-death battle that will leave him forever changed. Vulnerable for the first time and pushed to his physical and emotional limits, he confronts not only lethal samurai steel but also his inner struggle against his own immortality, emerging more powerful than we have ever seen him before.”

Erron’s Review:
James Mangold’s The Wolverine is probably one of the better films from the X-Men universe because it delivers both interesting action sequences while directly addressing the existential issues that would undoubtedly plague a character like Logan (a.k.a. Wolverine).  For those of you who are out of your genre here, Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) is a mutant who possesses incredible powers of regeneration which essentially render him immortal.  Oh, and he has bone claws that protrude from between his knuckles that are fused with adamantium, as is the rest of his skeletal system.  Adamantium is a fictitious metal alloy that is virtually indestructible—much like Logan himself.  Add to this that fact that Logan was forced to kill a woman he deeply loved (Jean Grey, another Marvel character and fellow X-Men mutant) and had been experimented on in the most brutal of fashions by Colonel William Stryker and one starts to see how Logan might have…issues.

The Wolverine’s screenwriters, Mark Bomback and Scott Frank, weave Logan’s emotional crises into a story that transports Wolverine to Japan. There, Logan is ostensibly meeting up with a Japanese business magnate named Yashida, who wishes to thank Logan for saving his life back on August 9, 1945, during the bombing of Nagasaki.  Upon Logan’s arrival, we see that there are a myriad of mysterious events and people surrounding the now aged and infirmed Yashida (played by Hal Yamanouchi).  These complications include a seemingly nefarious doctor, an emotional granddaughter, resentful son, ninjas and Yakuza.  The core of The Wolverine’s narrative involves Logan helping Yashida’s granddaughter Mariko (Tao Okamoto) survive as she is pursued by a mélange of dangerous characters all hell bent on killing Mariko after her grandfather passes away and leaves her his company and associated vast fortune.  This pursuit of Mariko gives us some great action sequences in and around various settings that are visual archetypes of contemporary Japan including: a high-speed bullet train, beautifully sculpted Japanese gardens, a vibrantly colorful slot machine parlor and a bubble-windowed “love hotel” that features tawdry themed rooms.  There is gun play, sword fights with samurai swords, rooftop archers, a slew of martial arts fighting, and chase scenes on motorcycles and in cars.  In other words, The Wolverine delivers action content when it needs to.  Complicating this cross-country chase of Mariko and Logan is the fact that Yashida’s doctor (played in full-on sultry Bond Girl villainess mode by Svetlana Khodchenkova) has implanted a device near Logan’s heart that severely impedes his mutant ability to heal.  That’s a problem when you’ve lived your whole life being able to take bullets and bounce right back into the fray.  For Logan, this newfound near-mortality is troubling as it opens up an emotional journey that is complicated by the unfortunate timing of a lack of healing ability.  This provides The Wolverine with much of its emotional backstory along with the fact that-- over the course of his time spent as her protector—Logan begins a romance with Mariko.

I’m not going to go deeper into chronicling the plot of The Wolverine, since it’s third act features some plot twists and turns that—while not necessarily unforeseeable or all that inspired—are still worthy of being kept secret for those who may want to one day see the film.  I will, however, commend Mangold’s cinematographer Ross Emery and production designer François Audouy for the look of the film.  The Japanese set pieces are clean and visually engaging and the film has a very sleek and stylized look.  Speaking of looks, Jackman is in fine physical form and appears as ripped and physically intimidating as ever; I don’t even want to contemplate Jackman’s pre-shooting workout routines.  One element of watching The Wolverine which I particularly enjoyed was watching Logan sort out his newfound physical vulnerabilities while also trying to keep Mariko alive and deal with the ghost of Jean Grey (Famke Janssen) that haunts his nightmares.  All of this dialed back the trademark surliness and anti-social behaviors which were fast becoming the trademark of the Wolverine character and we got to see Jackman do something he’s actually good at: emoting.  I thought this only somewhat softer and gentler Wolverine was an interesting dynamic to explore because the audience gets to glean some insights into the person behind the mutant ass kicker.  Don’t get me wrong: this is not a touchy feely film—there’s a lot of fighting and butt kicking and bad guys meeting their demises.  That’s all just part of the journey that we see Logan take in The Wolverine and I find it to be a rewarding and entertaining trip.  I attribute some of this to the sensibilities of the film’s director, James Mangold, who helmed two films that I really respect: Copland and Girl, Interrupted.  I hope that the new Wolverine project that is slated for 2017 reunites Jackman and Mangold (which is rumored to be happening).  They make a good duo for telling Logan’s story in a manner that is both adrenaline-fueled and emotionally rewarding.

ON TELEVISION: Completely Immersed in the World of SAMCRO

This post is for those of you who are wondering where I'm at with my Summer of 100 Movies self-challenge.  I am on a brief hiatus (although I have watched but not reviewed The Wolverine #6 and X-Men: Days of Future Past #7).

For the past eight or nine days, I have been neck deep in watching six seasons of FX network's Sons of Anarchy (SOA).  Watching these eighty episodes has proven to be a richly rewarding but all-consuming endeavor that has begun to wear on me like Clay Morrow attempting a cross-country Harley ride. SOA fans will hopefully appreciate the reference.

Watching SOA has basically been the equivalent of a second full time job that has made movie and other television viewing close to impossible.  A wise choice to make at this juncture in my summer--especially in light of the fact that I need to be watching at least one movie per day?  Of course not, but SOA is a compulsively watchable program, and I am nothing if not captive to my compulsive behaviors.  Summer of 100 Movies is my attempt to marry a passion area of my life to a developmental endeavor of  forcing myself to practice consistent self-discipline.  And right now, I am very aware that I am not demonstrating the necessary discipline to complete the Summer of 100 Movies self-challenge.  But stick with me--I might just surprise you with how far along I am by the end of June.

As for the experience of SERIOUSLY binge watching Sons of Anarchy, I wouldn't recommend doing it in the course of ten days like I am.  First of all, I am nearly psychotic from not sleeping much at night.  But more importantly, I think SOA is the kind of show that is ideally ingested in smaller portions over a longer period.  Do it in twenty or thirty days, three or four episodes at a time.  It will make resurfacing from your binge viewing into the "civilized" world where people are not obsessed with revenge killings and objectifying women a little bit easier.  I swear, this SOA experience is making me paranoid about people's loyalty; I am now evaluating each individual I interact with during my day job as  to: whether or not they would qualify to wear my MC's cut, would I would need to use them for some nefarious purpose and finally, what is the likelihood that I would need to kill them for being a rat.  That's just not a healthy head space to live in over the course of ten days.  Come up for some air.  For instance, I have convinced myself--over the course of spending sixty-some hours in the fictitious world of Charming, California--that all my problems would be solved if I could own and ride a Harley.  If you know me, it's okay to guffaw at the ludicrous mental image of me attempting to operate a motorcycle.

Humor aside, there's also the unintended consequence of watching the development of the lead characters of SOA within a tightly-condensed timeframe.  It makes one love these irascible outlaws a little less, once one witnesses the speed at which their personalities devolve. Dustin Rowles of  the website UPROXX wrote of the lead character, "...but Jax — who began the series as the charismatic prince of SAMCRO [Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club Redwood Original], dutifully waiting his turn to take a seat at the head of the table, has increasingly become drunk with power over the course of the series. He’s now in that grey area between anti-hero and full-blown villain."  I completely agree with Rowles, and feel that had I not seen this progression over the course of several days, it would feel much less pronounced and painfully disappointing.  But these are the newly identified side effects of binge consuming television that media scholars and show runners will need to study for years to come and they should constitute a separate blog entry.

This is all a very long-winded way of establishing that:

1. I have temporarily stepped away from the Summer of 100 Movies Challenge (but will soon be back);

2. Sons of Anarchy is an excellent show and you should watch it--just not all eighty episodes of the ongoing series (there's at least one more season yet to air) over the course of ten days.  Or you are going to start thinking and acting like an outlaw.  You might even stop being self-disciplined.  And we all know where that leads...

 

MOVIE REVIEW: Dog Pound

Erron’s Grade: B-

Target Audience:
Fans of intense dramas; those who appreciate prison-based stories; films that feature casts comprised primarily of young adults; stories that deal with coming-of-age; foreign-produced cinema (not subtitled); fans of independent films

Plot Synopsis:
From IMDb.com: “Three juvenile delinquents are sentenced to a correctional facility where they encounter gang violence, death, and harassment from staff and other inmates.” 

Erron’s Review:
I watched Dog Pound on Netflix.  I would caution readers that Netflix lists the film with a PG-13 rating.  Subsequent on-line research that I conducted could not confirm this rating.  In fact, the most consistent rating information that I could find for Dog Pound was that it was unrated.  I know it may seem strange to start a movie review with a discussion of its rating, but if you watch Dog Pound, you may find that it contains much more profane language, graphic violence, sexual images (including rape) and drug use than what is usually found in a PG-13 film.  My guess is Dog Pound was never submitted to the MPAA for a rating, but if it had been, I am confident that it would have received an R rating.

That bit of housekeeping out of the way let me say that Dog Pound is a film that I would recommend based on the strengths of its lead performances by Adam Butcher (Butch), Shane Kippel (Davis), and Mateo Morales (Angel).  As the film opens, we are introduced to our three protagonists prior to their arrival at the Enola Vale Youth Correctional Center in Montana.  Butch—who has some serious anger management issues—assaults a guard at another youth correctional facility and is transferred to Enola Vale as punishment.  Davis is a freewheeling, drug dealing teenage lothario who gets brought in on a narcotics charge.  Angel gets jammed up for being part of a carjacking (the mechanics of which were particularly inventive and amusing) and assault.  The boys quickly form a loose alliance as they are ruthlessly hazed and initiated into the Enola Vale culture.  These preliminary scenes contain a slew of familiar tropes from many prison films and televisions series: our new inmates are processed, introduced to their unit’s correctional officer (played with just the right amount of haggardness by Canadian actor Lawrence Bayne), they are moved into their living quarters, eat for the first time in the cafeteria where they are hazed and get to mop floors while the hazing continues.  It should be noted that all prison-based films and television series that I have ever seen, including the very best of the genre, HBO’s Oz and Netflix’s Orange is the New Black, require inmates to frequently mop floors.  Prisons have the cleanest floors of anywhere in the world.  I am convinced of this after seeing countless scenes where they action is mopping floors.  But I digress.

The unique, almost documentary-style of the film relies much less on plot to drive the story forward and much more on showing us the various facets of daily life inside the correctional facility.  We see how the drug trade functions via the visitors who come to the prison.  We learn how a dorm room full of bored (and horny) adolescent males pass the nighttime be listening to the Davis character share stories of his sexual exploits.  We also observe the power dynamics between adults who serve as correctional officers and administrators as they are played out.  It isn’t until the top of the third act that two violent—and ultimately fatal—events involving inmates take place and set the plot in motion.  These two horrific events demonstrate how the barbarism of the Enola Vale inmate culture coupled with the fallibility of its adult staff combined to create a toxic combination.  The final scenes of the film depict how the inmates choose to act out their frustrations with their captors and the staff responds to the expressions of violence.  I am attempting to be as vague as possible about the film’s resolution, so as not to create any spoilers.  Any individual with familiarity with correctional institutions or these types of films and television shows can see this ending coming from the onset of the story.  That’s not to say that the film is clichéd, it just depicts an inevitable outcome from a dysfunctional system.

What I most appreciated about watching Dog Pound was the performance of Adam Butcher as Butch.  As an actor, Butcher captured both the foibles of late adolescence coupled with a propensity for explosive violence that made him the worst kind of caged animal.  There was an intelligent simmering rage that was constantly present in Butcher’s performance and it made his character both immensely watchable and dreaded—not an easy feat for any performer to pull off.  Most importantly, I believed that the character of Butch was the product of institutions and that Butch had found his power through physicality and viciousness.  All too sadly, it made me contemplate just how many real life “Butches” are sitting in similar institutions while not being rehabilitated but rather turned into monsters.  It’s a sobering thought brought about by a genuinely thought provoking film.

ON TELEVISION: "The Strategy" was Every Bit as Special as "The Suitcase"

How wonderful was Sunday's episode of Mad Men?  This final season of the Emmy-winner will undoubtedly be dissected for years to come and its quality compared to earlier seasons of Mad Men.  For better or worse, these comparisons happen to a landmark show during its victory lap. For my money, "The Strategy," which aired Sunday night (05/18/14),  harkened back to the truly stellar quality of the 2010 season four episode "The Suitcase."  I know fans of the show remember that one well.  "The Suitcase" was so good that both Elizabeth Moss (Peggy) and Jon Hamm (Don) submitted material from the episode for their 63rd Primetime Emmy reels.  Well, Sunday night's scenes with those two were just as good as the ones from 2010.  I really have enjoyed going on-line to see what other reviewers and bloggers have written about the magical scene where Don and Peggy--who are working late at night over the course of a weekend to come up with a campaign for fast food chain Burger Chef-- slow dance to Sinatra's "My Way."  Show runner Matthew Weiner no doubt picked this song less for its relevance to pop tunes of 1969 and much more for its iconic lyrics which so perfectly summarize the journey of these two beloved characters.  Here are some of the "My Way" lyrics I find most apropos to this memorable moment:

I did what I had to do and saw it through without exemption
I planned each charted course, each careful step along the byway

Yes, there were times, I'm sure you knew
When I bit off more than I could chew
But through it all, when there was doubt
I ate it up and spit it out

I've loved, I've laughed and cried
I've had my fill, my share of losing

For what is a man, what has he got?
If not himself, then he has naught
To say the things he truly feels and not the words of one who kneels
The record shows I took the blows and did it my way!

I especially appreciated the take on Peggy's relationship to Don as written by Tim Goodman of The Hollywood Reporter in his website recap of "The Strategy:" "[Peggy needed]...validation not from a man but from her mentor, a person she jealously hated and tried to pin under her thumb to prove her worth and power when the whole charade only made her miserable. Having Don on her side, as a friend, is what Peggy was blind to needing."  I would further add that Don has needed an ally in Peggy as this season, he is no longer the power player he once was at the ad agency.  And, personally, I have always contended that Don's mentorship of Peggy is the longest and most functional relationship he has ever maintained with a woman.  It was an over-the-moon moment for me when he leaned down and kissed the top of Peggy's head.  So much tenderness and vulnerability and the acknowledgement of all their shared ups and downs conveyed in  a moment without dialogue.  Trademark Mad Men magic.

Peggy ultimately forges a new strategy for Burger Chef that focuses on the new American family that was emerging in 1969.  It is a strategy born of her own pain at being single and thirty while also frustrated with her failed attempts at in-person market research with a myriad of Burger Chef's female patrons, mothers at the wheels of station wagons.  Most importantly, it is a new strategy enabled by Peggy's renewed connection and support from Don--who has been more family to Peggy than anyone else at the firm.  I really enjoyed what  Marlow Stern wrote in his review on the The Daily Beast website: "Peggy and Don, two trusted confidantes who’ve been both been dealt rotten hands—Don’s whorehouse roots, Peggy’s struggle to succeed in a man’s world—but have endured. Ultimately, the trio of Peggy, Don, and Pete gather at Burger Chef, where Peggy says they’re rejiggering the plan. The presentation won’t be about moms, but about family—the one thing that’s eluded Don, Pete, and Peggy." I couldn't have expressed that better myself.  I'm just glad that Mad Men is an integral part of my viewing schedule.  I hope you are watching it as well; it's worth the time investment.

MOVIE REVIEW: Godzilla (2014)

Erron’s Grade: C-

Target Audience: 
Fans of action adventure movies; those who appreciate summer blockbuster movies; stories that feature fantastical monsters/creatures; strong military elements; movies that significantly feature computer-generated special effects work; films that feature significant chaos and mayhem in metropolitan city centers

Plot Synopsis:
From IMDb.com: “The world's most famous monster is pitted against malevolent creatures who, bolstered by humanity's scientific arrogance, threaten our very existence.” 

A model of a MUTO.  NOT Godzilla and NOT all that interesting.

Erron’s Review:
Before you read any further, please know that this review contains significant plot spoilers!  Godzilla is Warner Brother’s latest update to the storied Japanese franchise, after the 1998 attempt at a blockbuster film directed by Roland Emmerich.  Quite simply, if you’ve seen the trailer for this 2014 release, be prepared for a significant bait-and-switch.  First of all, I went into the movie believing that I would be seeing a Bryan Cranston vehicle.  Fans of Cranston’s television work (of which I am one) may have approached this film as a good opportunity to see Cranston carry a major summer release.  But alas, those fans will be disappointed by the fact that the Cranston character (Joe Brody) is killed off during the first third of the film, and we are left with Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Ford Brody) to carry the film as central protagonist/action hero.  Taylor-Johnson is a fine younger actor, but let’s just say he’s clearly no Bryan Cranston.  This was a big letdown for me, and I fear it will be for other viewers as well.  Oh, and don’t even get me started on the fact that Juliette Binoche was even given billing in this movie.  Binoche’s character is literally in two scenes in the first fifteen minutes of the movie and then she too, perishes.

Let’s jump right into reviewing the monsters.  That’s correct—there are actually two different species in the film, not just the titular creature.  This is another Godzilla movie element significantly under-promoted by the marketing machine at Warner Brothers.  In fact, the real creature stars of this film are known as MUTOs (Massive Unidentified Terrestrial Organisms).  These MUTOs are like a cross between a praying mantis and a spider, only four million times larger, more addicted to radioactive materials and hell-bent on destroying cities like Honolulu and Las Vegas.  You see, the unique convention of Godzilla is that the giant lizard monster (and alleged star of the film) is little more than a barnyard cat, sent in to keep a handle on the farmer’s mice (or, in this case, the MUTOs).  Godzilla’s audience is treated to repeated scenes of a male and female MUTO wreaking havoc across parts of Asia, Hawaii and the Western United States with our military forces in ineffectual pursuit.  It seems that Godzilla functions in this story as nature’s alpha predator, sent in to kill MUTOs.  This might not be bad plot convention if the film were billed as Godzilla vs. the MUTOs.  But it was not, and I was misled.  You see, I simply did not find the MUTOs to be that all that interesting.  The effects teams that animated and rendered the MUTOs did so in murky greys and blacks that were then further obfuscated (a technique used to mask weaker CG work) in thick clouds of smoke and/or nighttime darkness.   These MUTOs were never really developed into the kind of intriguing creatures that could headline a film entitled MUTO.  Instead, I would lump these MUTOs with the large CG sea creatures from Pacific Rim which I found to be equally uninteresting and whose details evaporated from my mind mere moments after the final credits rolled.


Matthew Rehlinger, IMDb member since May 2007, wrote in his review of Godzilla, “Ken Watanabe spends literally every second walking through the scenes with the pained expression of someone who just walked in on their parents…” and this reviewer couldn’t agree more.  Esteemed British actress Sally Hawkins portrays the Watanabe character’s scientific colleague and she and Watanabe spend most of their screen time staring in horror at various skeletal fossils, pods, spores and other creature horrors that portend destruction for mankind.  Often, these two characters are tasked (during thankless, uninspired expository scenes) with explaining the MUTOs behaviors and interest in consuming radioactive substances.  Like the schlock creature features one might see on the SyFy channel any given Saturday night, Godzilla plays fast and loose with its science; the Watanabe and Hawkins characters are tasked then with piecing together the “science” for the military personnel played with stereotypical steely resolve by David Strathairn and the criminally underused Richard T. Jones.  On the topic of military personnel, I should clarify that the film’s central protagonist (Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s Ford Brody) is an ordinance/explosives expert for the Navy.  All of the film’s second and third act action pieces somehow feature the Brody character not only being present for the action, but serving as an integral part of each segment of the plot.  For example, it is Brody who somehow manages to insert himself into a “jump team” from one of the military’s branches. This team descends via a high altitude jump into the female MUTO’s nest and Brody is able to single-handedly ignite the explosion which eradicates the MUTO eggs that have been laid beneath San Francisco.  I found the Brody character’s involvement in each and every plot segment and action piece to be of service to the storytellers, but as an audience member it completely stretched credibility.

I will end with a brief rumination on the ruin of cities.  This has become such an overused trope of the blockbuster action film (see Pacific Rim, Man of Steel, The Avengers and any of the Transformers films, for example) that it robs the  Godzilla viewer of any sense that they are seeing innovative filmmaking. In Godzilla we are treated to scene after scene of skyscraper demolition courtesy of Godzilla and the two MUTOs.  After seeing it in Japan, again in Honolulu, once more in Las Vegas, and finally in San Francisco, I was fatigued.  There is some part of me that still remembers the horror of watching the Twin Towers fall on September 11 whenever I am witnessing the destruction of a city.  For me, these images stop being mere entertainment and serve as unintentional reminders of one of the darkest days in our nation’s history.  I wish filmmakers as a community could show greater sensitivity when they are planning the demise of a major city center.  I’m not saying it shouldn’t be allowed, but after seeing it so often as a third act action climax, I am looking forward to the storyteller who can resolve his or her story without demolishing a bunch of buildings filled with people who are losing their lives.  Much like Godzilla the 2014 movie, this latest trend in action movies leaves me wanting not only more, but better entertainment.