I Saw A Film Today… Now You See Me

Magic is a fascinating art, even if it is one of those things that I can go years without thinking about. And I do mean art, much in the same vein of lock-picking and thievery. It takes a particular set of skills to be able to deceive an entire room of  people into believing something is complex when in fact it is simple. That is why when someone reveals the big secret, it’s rather disappointing. Let the mice in our cerebellum quickly churn complexities when a slow pace is all that’s required. I believe that was the purpose behind Leterrier’s Now You See Me. But like many ideas presented in this film, they are left muddled and ambiguous.

Four magicians, one a mentalist (Woody Harrelson), one a con man (Dave Franco), one a traditionalist (Jess Eisenberg), and his former assistant/former love interest (Isla Fisher), are all struggling to make ends meet when out of nowhere the four are given tarot cards with invitations to a mysterious apartment. Fast forward a little bit and the four are performing under the title of The Four Horsemen in Las Vegas, where their first act is robbing a bank in Paris.

Obviously this sort of act doesn’t go unnoticed by the public, which transform The Four Horsemen into overnight celebrities. It also attracts the attention of others, like the FBI (Mark Ruffalo), Interpol (Mélanie Laurent), and someone named Thaddeus (Morgan Freeman) who 1) likes to debunk magic acts, and 2) is probably a downer at a party. And with each show the Four Horsemen perform, the more the stakes are raised.

The biggest pitfall out of the numerous that are in Now You See Me is that it tries to be too clever. It tries so desperately to be a magical version of one of Soderbergh’s Oceans films but with a thinner script. And for a film that is about magic, it relies heavily on CGI. So heavily that at many times it’s distracting. And if you’re going to make a movie about magic, it almost feels lazy to use CGI.

There is nothing to glue your interest to the story, or the characters for that matter. There is actually a moment about 3/4th of the way through the film in which one of the Four Horsemen die (for those who don’t want spoilers, I’ll keep the identity of the character secret). And as you sit watching his corpse burn (Whoops, narrowed it down to three), you just don’t really care. You just think, “Oh, bloody hell, that must be a really horrible way to die”. You don’t care. The people in the movie don’t care. It just adds cheap drama zest to a bland film.

The cast is about just as effective as the script. The only one who is in top form is Woody Harrelson, who bring the few genuine laughs in the film. Well, Sir Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman are in top form too, but that’s not unexpected. But the rest, sadly, are below par. Ruffalo and Laurent are unconvincing as agents falling in love. Eisenberg is still in Zuckerberg mode here. Franco is still annoying, like the guy who plays guitar at a party. And Fisher was just an unnecessary addition to the film.

But this film will draw crowds and sadly they’ll like it. The brainless row of people in front of me figuratively had their minds “blown” by how “clever” the film is. And I assume if you go into this film in a zombie state, this would be a pretty damn clever film. But any form of consciousness above this, and you only have pretentious predictability.

Verdict: Skip it!

* Rated PG-13 language, some action, and sexual content. 115 minutes. Directed by Louis Leterrier (The Incredible Hulk, The Transporter).

** Thanks to my friend Cody for seeing this with me.

I Saw A Film Today… The Dark Knight Rises

The one complaint I’ve heard from some people about Christopher Nolan’s interpretation of the Batman story in his Dark Knight trilogy is “they’re just too dark”. Which makes absolutely no sense to me. Bruce Wayne is a dark character. He has a primal and basic lust to avenge the death of his parents, and possible try preventing it from happening to another. So to think of a jolly Batman is something of an abomination in my eyes. Honestly I think Nolan has done to the films what Frank Miller did to the comics; stripped away the unnecessary bits and went to the basics of the man behind the mask.

Eight years after the events of The Dark Knight, Gotham City has been surviving without Batman. Since the Dent Act went into effect, nearly a thousand criminals have been put away in Blackgate Prison. For the most part, Gotham is in a period of peace while Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) has been a recluse in Wayne Manor with his butler Alfred (Sir Michael Caine).

But a mysterious man wearing a mask named Bane (Tom Hardy) has plans of ruling then destroying Gotham. It’s time for Bruce to become Batman once again but when betrayed by a cat burglar Selina Kyle (Anne Hathaway), Bane takes control of the city and Bruce is exiled to a middle eastern prison.

In order to defeat Bane, Bruce must go back to his beginnings and remember why he donned the bat cowl in the first place. After returning to Gotham, Batman has little time to stop Bane. But he’s not alone. Commissioner Gordon (Gary Oldman), a hotshot officer named John Blake (Joesph Gordon-Levitt), Wayne Enterprises own Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman), and a few thousand of Gotham’s finest are all a prepared to take back their city. Let the battle for Gotham begin!

Maybe the greatest accomplishment of Nolan’s Dark Knight films are how close the films themselves reflect today’s actual headlines without focusing on them. Batman Begins capitalized on post September 11th fear and paranoia. The Dark Knight asked where does crime begin and justice end, which was reflective on a Bush-era of politics. This time around it is how fragile the economic structure is. Or more precisely what could possibly, however unlikely, take place when the disenfranchised and lower class are backed into a corner.  Is this film political? No, even if Rush Limbaugh would like you to think differently.

The film itself is a cinematic wonder. Christopher Nolan’s vision for Batman finally gives the masked protector a fitting story and more importantly a near-perfect ending. Nolan found a comfortable stride and pace with The Dark Knight and he further perfects it here. Unfortunately the last hour of the film was having difficulty retaining the fluidity that had started at the beginning. The pace began to have a frantic feel to it. It tiptoed on the edge of falling apart but never fully goes over thankfully. But for the average movie goer this will go unnoticed because of the sheer large size of the film.

When dealing with a film sequel of any caliber, it becomes inevitable to make comparisons to the previous works. I never really enjoy this portion of a review just for the simple reason that it usually diminishes the work of one or more of the films. If I were to have to rank Rises amongst the others in the series I would probably put it slightly in front of Begins and slightly behind Dark Knight, even if my personal favorite is Begins. But all three films are magnificent, easily in the top five comic book adaptations and a benchmark for the genre.

Bane is in my opinion the best villain the Dark Knight has had to face. This may shock or anger some but Ledger’s brilliant Joker isn’t as menacing as Tom Hardy’s performance as the revolutionist Bane. You never once question the motives or direction of the mysterious masked man. His opposite, Batman, is also at his best here. Bruce Wayne’s journey this time is one of rediscovery, questioning why he became his alter ego. This was the first time though that Bale’s “bat voice” was really distracting to me.

There were a lot of people who questioned if Anne Hathaway could portray Selina Kyle/Catwoman effectively. I had full faith in her and I’m happy to report I was right. She is smart and sly, two of the most important qualities of Kyle in my opinion. Joseph Gordon-Levitt was also great. I didn’t really understand what role he would play in this film but I now realize why he is important. He is a reminder to Wayne and Gordon of the ideals they both used to have. Will there be a spin-off for either of the character? That remains to be seen. The rest of cast is great as well. Sir Michael Caine and Gary Oldman both put forth brilliant performances.

I would like to take a momentary diversion from the review to let go of some of my emotions and feelings about the shooting in Aurora because it’s been on my mind since I’ve learned about it. I’ve called every film theater I’ve gone to a sanctuary and a home away from home. It is a safe place from the troubles of the world. And someone came in to the sacred place and shattered that shield and that sense of protection. It is so sad that a troubled man would take advantage of these fans and film-goers in tarnishing an event that was meant to be a celebration of nerdism and cinema. My heart and my thoughts go out to those involved and to those who lost someone.

The Dark Knight Rises is a near-perfect, yet bittersweet send-off.

Verdict: SEE IT!

*Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of action and violence, some sensuality, and language.

**Poster by Midnight Marauder

*** Bat Tribute by unknown.

I Saw A Film Today…Inception

The word masterpiece get thrown around a lot lately, especially in the world of film. There are movies that are almost undoubtably masterpieces, such as The Godfather (Parts l and ll), 2001: A Space Odyssey, and Blade Runner. But lately people have been calling other more recent films masterpieces, such as Avatar and oddly enough The Dark Knight. But are they truely classic films? No. But lately there is another film that is being called a modern masterpiece, and it is none other than Christopher Nolan’s latest film Inception. So is it?

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Inception is the story of Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio), whose profession is that of an “extractor”. An Extractor is a person who enters other people’s dreams in order to gain access to information that is locked away in the person’s mind. While on an extraction case Cobb and his partner Arthur (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) meet Saito (Ken Watanabe), who promises Cobb something that he has been wanting for a long time: the ability to go home to the States and live with his children. What Saito wants in return is for Cobb to perform an inception, the act planting an idea in someone’s dream in order to change one’s thinking. Reluctantly Cobb agrees to this considering that an inception has never been successfully performed.

The target of the inception in Robert Fischer (Cillian Murphy), son of a terminally ill corporate rival of Saito’s. In order to successfully perform the inception Cobb must gather up a team of people which includes a new dream architect Ariadne (Ellen Page), a forger named Eames (Tom Hardy, who you may recognize as Handsome Bob from RockNRolla), and a chemist named Yusuf (Dileep Rao) who can heavily sedate them. After much planning, the team is ready to perform the task.

But when the team arrives at the first level of Fischer’s dreams they learn something that was not expected: Fischer has been trained to combat dream extractors, and they are attacked by military trained men. Since they are so heavily sedated, the team learns that if they are killed in the dream world, they will go to a dream limbo instead of waking up as they usually do. The only way of escaping is by going deeper, which is basically a dream on top of a dream on top of another dream. But the farther they go, the more dangerous their mission becomes, and the tortured past of Cobb being projected onto the dream does not help matters any better. The race is on now to plant the inception and receive a “kick” (a way of awakening from the dream) in the time that they are given, otherwise they will all end up in a dream world limbo.

Inception was a great action film and I daresay one of the best of the summer. Christopher Nolan is a director who understands that audiences want a film that requires participation and thought, not mindless action and explosions. The visuals were stunning as well. How could you not stare at Paris literally being folded in half or the amazing stunts Gordon-Levitt performs in the constantly churning hotel without being amazed?

The performances were outstanding as well. DiCaprio dropped the horrible Boston accent from Shutter Island but thankfully retained the broken and painful past from said film. The supporting cast was great as well, including young but strong Ellen Page. Also notable are Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Cillian Murphy, Marion Cotillard, and hopefully we will see more from Tom Hardy in the future.

So is Inception a modern masterpiece? No. Let us chalk it up to an extraordinary action film that from the beginning starts off fast and never lets you leave the edge of your seat until the smash cut at the end of the film. If Inception is still playing at your local cinema (which it most probably is), I strongly suggest you go and see it if you have not already.

*Special thanks to my cousin Scott for sharing this cinematic adventure with me.

*Poster by Matt Needle

Verdict: SEE IT!

So what was your opinion of Inception? Was it great or did you wish you were dreaming instead of seeing it? Leave your comments and opinions below.