Sequels, Prequels, Reboots & Series (part 2)

I would like to add to my prior discussion (a sequel, if you will) that when reviewing a film I like to treat it as its own entity.  Just saying "it's not as good as the first one", is to me, a plain, old cliche.
If the sequel/prequel/reboot/series filler was an inferior movie in general, I will attempt to articulate why that specific movie either should be avoided, or what about that movie a viewer might not like.  While context of the prior movie(s) may be referred to, I will make every attempt to avoid a straight side by side comparison, and my prior using the phrase noted above.

Full Review: Hannibal (2001)

People in the Movie:  Anthony Hopkins, Julianne Moore, Gary Oldman

Director:  Ridley Scott

Pigeonhole:  Suspense / Thriller / Drama

The Basics:  Hopkins reprises his role as Dr. Hannibal Lecter, former psychiatrist, and serial killer, who escaped captivity in the preceding film.  Now ten years later, Lecter, while living in Florence, Italy is sought after by a local police detective who intends to collect a bounty placed by a wealthy American, Mason Verger (Oldman).  Verger, who was horribly disfigured after an ‘attack’ by Hannibal many years ago, is obsessed with capturing, torturing, and killing Lecter.  Clarice Starling’s (Moore) veteran FBI career seems to be teetering after a botched drug raid is now drawn back onto the Lecter case by Verger, using his money and political connections.  Lecter escapes Italy, ahead of Verger’s for-hire thugs, and returns to America to play his cat and mouse games with both Starling and Verger.   

Recommendation:  Worth seeing for Hopkin’s and Oldman’s performances.  If you can, watch a DVD/Blue Ray with the extra/deleted scenes, they are worth a look.  As a stand-alone (since this is a sequel) - you can watch and enjoy this movie, and not get lost even if you never watched any of the prior films, or read the books.

My Take: **spoiler alert** I read Hannibal within a week or two of it coming out, and I remember thinking to myself it would be un-filmable, without sizable cuts or alterations, to the story.  While I do not want to make this writing a purely book vs. movie comparison, several items are worth noting:

-Verger was ten times the monster than portrayed in the film – Martini made with child’s tears, anyone?  Oldman still did a great job, overall a very disturbing and physically gruesome character.  He was cast perfectly.

-Paul Krendler (Ray Liotta), the Justice Dept. Director, was a jerk, yes … but more of a backstabbing, politically hungry jerk, than the lecherous, moronic, piece of trash portrayed in the film.  This was a very poor casting choice, in my opinion, and an equally poor direction to take the character.

-Verger’s death seemed to be an afterthought to Scott.  While I realize the book version would have required having the back story with Verger’s sister, it still seemed to be glossed over.  (How would Lecter have known Verger’s assistant would just toss him over the rail to the boars without so much as a second thought?)

-The ending:  the book has Clarice giving up the FBI (after the FBI and Justice Dept. chain of command repeatedly railroaded her) and going away with Hannibal, and them becoming lovers.  The movie has Starling calling 9-1-1, attempting to save Krendler, attempting to capture Hannibal by handcuffing herself to him, and Hannibal subsequently hacking off his own hand to escape.  I did not like the movie ending.  There were 100 different routes the film could have gone, if the book ending was not to the director’s or producers liking.  I was mildly surprised the brain dissecting portion of this was filmed in as much detail, considering this was not a horror film.  Feeding the sautéed brain to the kid on the plane, though, was humorous.

Final Thought/Extras/For Fun:  Following up a great movie like Silence of Lambs was going to be tough, no matter what.  I think Scott, et. al., did the best they could to put together an entertaining film.  I thought Julianne Moore did a fine job as Clarice.  I, personally, was able to watch and enjoy the film without thinking “if only Jodie Foster had come back”.  Hopkins, rightfully, carries the movie.  You always seem to be anticipating what he is going to say or do next, whether it is a well-mannered compliment, a suave, yet biting insult, or an almost falcon-like attack.  In fact, I would say this is part of my problem with the ending; I believe Hannibal deserved a better fate than was given in this film.

This is the third (of 5) Hannibal Lecter movies: Manhunter (1986), Silence of Lambs (1991), Hannibal (2001), Red Dragon (2002), Hannibal Rising (2007)  … The is the second (of 3) film with Hopkins as Lecter (Lambs/Hannibal/Dragon) …

Quick Look: The Fog (1980)

A nice, underrated ghost story directed by John Carpenter who was coming off the success of his horror masterpiece Halloween. Not so coincidentally, several of the actors from Halloween are also in this film, including Jamie Lee Curtis who is one of the main characters, again.  Jamie's mother Janet Leigh also has a small role in the film.
It takes place in the fictional coastal town of Antonio Bay, CA, that we learn is having its 100 year founding celebration. A mysterious fog begins rolling in one night, accompanied by a series of mysterious happenings and then some gruesome killings follow at the hands of some dastardly looking ghosts. We learn that the town forefathers hid a twisted little secret that is the root of  all this mayhem.  Hal Holbrook really steals the middle and end of the film playing a scared priest who has discovered the town's "truth".
There are great shots of the coastline, and a lighthouse in which several scenes take place.  I am still impressed how well the effects looked- namely the fog - which is in essence a character itself.  Remember, CGI did not exist at this point, so everything was being done hands on, as it were.  While some might say the soundtrack is dated - early 80's synthesizer, and very similar in feel to the Halloween soundtrack - I think is works well, and does not take anything away from the movie at all.  It gives a good snapshot of the time period.  
This movie is best seen in the dark...

Weekend Movie Picks 7/30

For some shoot 'em up action this weekend, give 2 movies a look.
Die Hard (1988) - the original. It pits Bruce Willis as the lone-wolf, street-wise NY cop against the slick, European thieves lead by the ultra-suave Alan Rickman. A nice mix wisecracking and semi serious dialouge. Plus lots of gun fire and several big explosions are sure to feed any action craving.

Commando (1985) - a personal favorite of mine from the "old" Schwartzenegger collection. Pure brainless action fun. Arnold S. uses his fists as well as an entire arsenal of weapons to basically destroy an entire guerrilla army who has kidnapped his daughter (played by Alyssa Milano). Some of the shootouts are borderline laughable where enemy fighters basically fall over even though it did not appear Schwartzenegger was even shooting at them. A must watch for great 80's action.

Worst Movie Ending: Aliens (1986)

** spoiler alert** I like this movie, a great action film, and a very good sequel. I believe the extended version on DVD does add some nice touches of background to the colony prior to being overrun by the aliens, and to Ripley's former life.
My problem lies only with one item - Ripley opening the air lock to dispel the Queen, and then climbing up the ladder, injured, with the vacuum of space behind her. Right. I feel like 100 things could have happened here to allow this sequence to go off and be believable, but it did not. Instead we are left to ponder why such an otherwise great film (on many levels) had this ending.

Quick Look: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows, part 2

I was able to catch this movie on the big screen (which is a rarity, it seems) and was very happy I did.  This film installment could possibly be my favorite, or coming close to matching my accolades for the Prisoner of Azkaban.
The pace moved very well, and did not bog down, the action sequences were exciting, and the dialogue carried well.  Of course concluding this series was not an easy feat, and I thought the movie wrapped up perfectly.

Obviously a must see for a Harry Potter fan.  I do not think a non-fan could step into this movie by itself (meaning having not seen any of the previous films or read the books), and not be completely lost.

It's a little sad to think there will be no more Harry Potter stories, but great series (in general) have a finite story arc, and knows when to quit.

Worst Movie Endings: Pretty Woman (1990)

**spoiler alert** First, I must note I do enjoy this movie for some of the comedy, and the soundtrack was excellent.  The ending, however, was a load of crap, in my opinion.
A man in Richard Gere's position would not have gotten to where he was (wealth and status wise) by crumbling emotionally for the affections of a street walker having spent a whopping seven days with her.  Sorry.

So Julia Roberts basically leaves him realizing they are worlds apart, yet, Richard Gere goes trotting off after her to "rescue the princess" so they can live happily ever after, as the former hooker, and former corporate raider.  I say former because his credibility would be gone after botching his previous deal, and shacking up with a lady of the night.

Weekend Movie Pick: 7/16

Since the final Harry Potter installment is dominating the weekend, go back and check out my favorite one : Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004).  This, in my opinion, is where the series really turned much darker, under excellent direction from Alfonso Cuaron.  It is the first appearance of Gary Oldman as Sirius Black and it is also the first appearance of Michael Gambon as Professor Dumbledore, after the passing of Richard Harris.

Happy Birthday -

To Corey Feldman ... a mainstay of many movies I grew up a fan of, especially Gremlins, The Lost Boys, and License to Drive.

Weekend Pick for 7/9

Time for great suspense/crime drama/mystery  - The Usual Suspects (1995).  If you have seen it, take the extra second to pick up on the subtleties you may have overlooked in the past.  If this is your first time giving this movie a go, you are in for a treat.

This is one of those films where all the actors (the supporting roles too) and director seemed to be in concert, and the final product was brought to a whole other level as a result.

Quick Look: The Machinist (2004)

This is a dark psychological thriller/mystery where we view a man literally wasting away both physically and mentally.  He is a blue collar machinist named Trevor Reznik (Christian Bale) that we learn has not slept in the last year.  His co-workers avoid him due to his increasingly paranoid behaviors (which are understandable if he has not slept in that long, right?), but Trevor does find a little relief from his "state" talking with a waitress at an all night airport diner, and having a relationship with a prostitute (who does actually seem to care for him).  The movie does a excellent job of giving the audience a mix of Trevor's fractured thoughts, flashbacks and hallucinations to keep us off balance until the end. 
Bale lost 62 pounds over 4 months to prepare for this role.  Just to see him that emaciated was disturbing in and of itself.  I really like the way the movie was shot - it creates the continually foreboding mood, and can make the viewer question, "is this a nightmare"?  The short answer, of course, is yes.

Full Review: Road House (1989)

People in the Movie:  Patrick Swayze, Kelly Lynch, Sam Elliott

Director:  Rowdy Herrington

Pigeonhole:  Action / ‘Comedy’

The Basics:  Swayze plays a character named Dalton (yes, he only goes by the one name throughout), a “cooler”, or specialized bouncer, who is hired by a bar owner from Jasper, Missouri to help him clean up his establishment, the Double Deuce, from the current low-class patrons and staff who fight, sell drugs, prostitute, vandalize, or otherwise engage in illegal activities on a nightly basis.   Beyond the patrons of the bar, Dalton also clashes with a rich local resident, Brad Wesley (Ben Gazzara), who earns his money buy extorting local businesses and land owners.  Dalton’s love interest, Doc (Lynch), is a local doctor who treats him one night after he gets cut in a fight with several of Brad Wesley’s thugs. 

Recommendation:  If you are looking to watch a film with bar brawls, a decent soundtrack, a very simplistic dialogue and several scenes with topless women – then you could be highly entertained.  If these things do not interest you, you probably won’t like this movie.

My Take: **spoiler alert**  I like Road House because it does not appear to take itself too seriously.  Any movie that can use the line “you’re too stupid to have a good time!” is worth my viewing.   The fights are staged reasonably well, although outside of Dalton and Jimmy whose fighting show some martial arts training, it appears everyone else are straight fist fighters.  I also like that Wesley’s goons can apparently drive a monster truck on the city streets, legally.  Throw in Sam Elliott as Dalton’s mentor (an aging cooler named Wade Garrett), the Jeff Healy Band as the Double Deuce house entertainment, and the fact that Dalton’s landlord looks like Santa Claus, and you can hopefully see why I used the word ‘comedy’ as a descriptor.  The few “dramatic parts” of the movie revolve around Dalton questioning his ability to settle down or have a long term relationship, because he previously killed a man who pulled a gun on him during a fight, over a woman, no less.  The real question (tongue in cheek) of the movie is who will step into Brad Wesley’s place after the local business owners/extortion victims gun him down in his home?  My thought would be Dalton.    

Final Thought/Extras/For Fun:   Apparently there was Road House 2, which I have not seen as of this writing.  In #2, Dalton’s first name is revealed as James… so the “big fight” of #1 was James vs. Jimmy.  I find it interesting the Director’s name is Rowdy.

Worst Movie Endings: Rocky (1976)

**spoiler alert** I know this is going to raise a lot if eyebrows, because this is an award winning film about the little guy standing up to the big guy in the world of boxing.  Let's face the facts - Rocky lost the fight.  Maybe he proved he could hang with the big boys, but in the end, he still lost and seemed more concerned about telling Adrian he loved her.  Yippee.  Sorry, the only way this movie ends well is if the match was a draw, or Rocky wins.

4th of July Weekend Picks

If you are feeling like an action/war movie is your style, take a look at The Patriot (2000).  Loosely based on a few Continental Army personnel's lives.

To get you in the mood for going on vacation, see Vacation (1983) - back when Chevy Chase was still funny.

And of course the ultimate summer movie for you beach-goers around the 4th of July, Jaws (1975).  Suddenly being the water might seem a little more thrilling.