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.

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.

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.

MOVIE REVIEW: Seeking a Friend for the End of the World

Erron’s Grade: B+

Target Audience: 

Fans of dark comedy; those who appreciate satire; stories that feature a romance between two people; doomsday scenarios; movies that significantly feature music/have a robust soundtrack; films directed by women

Plot Synopsis:

From IMDb.com: “As an asteroid nears Earth, a man finds himself alone after his wife leaves in a panic. He decides to take a road trip to reunite with his high school sweetheart. Accompanying him is a neighbor who inadvertently puts a wrench in his plan.” 

Erron’s Review:

Seeking a Friend for the End of the World posits a really worthy question: what would you do and how would you behave if you knew that the world was ending in three weeks? In this film, an asteroid named Matilda is hurtling towards earth and there is no hope of stopping her.  This causes our protagonist Dodge (played by Steve Carell, emoting with the same soft-spoken sad sack/everyman style that he brought to films like Dan in Real Life and Crazy, Stupid, Love) to go in search of his high school sweetheart Olivia.  Of course this journey commences after Dodge’s wife, Linda, literally runs away from him to pursue her pre-apocalypse bliss with the gentleman she truly loves and Dodge attends one hell of an end-of-humanity house party hosted by Diane (the stellar Connie Britton) and Warren (Rob Corddry) where children are taught to drink martinis and guests are thrilled to experiment by shooting up heroin.  It’s difficult to relay the manic quality of this initial party scene, but it should be noted that the brilliant comedians Amy Schumer and Patton Oswalt are both able to bring a little of their particular brand of humor to the proceedings.  I only wish Schumer and Oswalt were given more screen time, but alas, our story is more concerned with what happens to Dodge after he leaves this particular gathering.

Back in his apartment building, Dodge meets up with a neighbor, Penny (Keira Knightley) who seems to show her quirkiness by sleeping too often and at inopportune times while also traveling about while clutching treasured records to her chest. Penny provides Dodge with a pile of mail that was inadvertently delivered to her apartment that Penny has—for inexplicable reasons—kept in her possession for quite some time.  Within that pile of mail is a love letter from Dodge’s one true love, Olivia.  Dodge decides that—in the face of a rather intense riot—it would be a good idea to meet up with Olivia.  And so with Penny, her records, and an abandoned mutt named Sorry, Dodge sets off to reconnect with his high school paramour.  It would be easy to dismiss Seeking a Friend for the End of the World as a pre-apocalyptic road movie, and in many respects, it is just that. There are detours along the way as Penny and Dodge encounter a variety of unique characters, all dealing with impending doom in the manner those eccentric souls deem most appropriate. 

But the Seeking a Friend for the End of the World is more than just a road film. The core of this movie is how Dodge and Penny begin to open up and care deeply for each other, investing their time and attention into helping the other person reconcile with loved ones.  Penny—a native of Surrey, England—wants to be reunited with her family before Matilda does her worst but needs to find a private pilot to fly her there (all commercial air travel has been suspended).  Dodge needs to find Olivia so he can spend his final hours with the only woman that he has every truly cared for.  The film’s finer moments focus on the little ways in which Dodge and Penny share parts of themselves like Penny’s love for the song “This Guy's In Love with You” by Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass or Dodge’s estrangement from his father, who abandoned him at a young age.  It is incrementally, as their journey also progresses, that we see just how right the soft-spoken insurance salesman (Dodge) and peculiarly/neurotically extroverted bum magnet (Penny) are well-suited to meet the end of days together.

Two particularly strong elements that I must emphasize is the strength of the supporting cast.  Any film that can feature small roles inhabited by the likes of Martin Sheen, Derek Luke and William Petersen is something out of the ordinary; all of these actors really make the most of their parts.  The other worthy mention is the music.  Seeking a Friend for the End of the World was written and directed by Lorene Scafaria who was a writer of Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist, a film which anchored its storytelling in music.  Seeking a Friend for the End of the World also heavily features excellent music and there is one particular montage set to The Hollies’ “The Air that I Breathe” that is heart wrenching and emotionally elevated by the quality of its supporting soundtrack.  At one point in time, the INXS hit, “Devil Inside,” is playing underneath the action of a hedonistic bacchanal and I couldn’t help but chuckle at Scafaria’s choice of musical cue.  

This is smaller-scale film that--with a 101 minute running time--borders on being slight.  The relationship of its central characters and the worthy performances of Carell and Knightley elevate the quality of Seeking a Friend for the End of the World.  Most impressive is the film's ending, which doesn't pull any punches and doesn't disappoint.