Expendable Unfriended Hero of Life

More from the backlog…

Expendables 3 suffered from the tedium and extinct 80s macho-action aesthetic of the previous installments. Cramming a flick with action stars doesn’t mean a lot when there’s no drama, tension, or art to the action.

Unfriended was interesting as a movie-making exercise, but took the easy way out where nothing needed to be explained, and frankly that episode of Modern Family did it better in terms of variety and creativity.

Big Hero 6 was pretty good, with drama, an interesting villain, visual inventiveness, and a unique setting that mashed up San Francisco with Tokyo – not sure if it was for the aesthetic or to combine cities known for technology and robotics. Some of the side characters were a bit thin, but there’s only so much you can fit into a movie.

Book of Life was a solid movie, definitely very interesting due to its cultural influences, though I’m divided on the aesthetic and I generally dislike movies about the afterlife.

Asian Flicks

The Divine Move is a Korean action film with numerous references and allusion to the ancient (and excellent) boardgame Go, or in Korean “Baduk”. Like most Korean action films I’ve seen, it’s pretty violent, but worth watching.

Miss Granny is another Korean film, a comedy about an old woman made young again; I didn’t find it that funny, but there were a couple of interesting cultural/gerontological points.

Kiasu is a film from Singapore about an adult son shaking of his mother complex. Lol. Enough said.

Kikaider was some kind of movie version of a tokusatsu franchise; unfortunately it didn’t make a lot of sense, and wasn’t particularly interesting.

Snow White Murder Incident is another Japanese movie, about a murder that turns out to be more complicated than it looks (don’t they all though). I enjoyed how the point of view turned around, but the ending seemed arbitrarily forced.

Appleseed Alpha is a 2014 CGI film that seems to reboot Masamune Shirow’s (author of Ghost in the Shell and others) franchise. While there were some weak points (I didn’t like Two-Horns), I enjoyed the setting and the animation. Apparently it’s written by the writer of the God of War series, Marianne Krawczyk.

I really enjoyed the Ruroni Kenshin live action movie, and had waited to be able to see the second and third films, which cover the Kyoto arc. In the old anime, this arc was the best of the series, which afterward dissolved into unending filler. The storyline is modified a bit, cleaning it up, and situating the final showdown more appropriately on the battleship. While the final fight is a bit silly, I enjoyed how the movies portray the different styles of martial arts used by the different characters.

Lego Movie

To be honest, I wasn’t that hot on a movie desecrating my childhood, and while I won’t say it deserved all the hype, the Lego Movie wasn’t too bad. Overall I thought it was too hyperactive and crammed with gags; the part I did enjoy (vague-spoiler) was the near the end depicting the relationship between the father and the son, and the different ways they saw Lego.

Muppets Most Wanted, Mr Peabody and Sherman, Vampire Academy

You know what to expect with Muppets Most Wanted – cameos, singing and dancing puppets, and the muppet characters doing what they do. It was okay; I liked it better than the previous installment.

Mr Peabody and Sherman is based on an old 60s cartoon about a genius dog and the boy he adopts. My favourite part was Ty Burrell (as Mr Peabody the dog) not being a doofus, but unfortunately Sherman was doofus enough for the both of them, and the girl Penny was just plain evil. I take that back, Ms Grunion the social worker was totally evil. The movie was fun enough but didn’t stick for me.

Vampire Academy is probably based on some YA novel riding the Twilight popularity wave. It’s a competent enough story, though definitely aimed at tweenage girls, with a too-witty-by-far non-pretty-girl main character. From the budget and box office numbers, there will be no sequel.

Kotonoha no Niwa, Frozen, The Hobbit 2

I adore Shinkai Makoto’s stuff and watch it without hesitation; he’s been extending his range from sci-fi/romance (Hoshi no Koe, Kumo no Mukou, Byousoku 5cm), to fantasy (Hoshi wo Ou Kodomo), and now pure romance with Kotonoha no Niwa (Garden of Words). The storyline is pretty light, but gradually reveals various details, and is bittersweet as most of Shinkai’s works are. I found the male lead’s aspirations quite interesting (he wants to make shoes) in this era of technology, mass-production, and professional careers. As usual the visuals are glorious, with the characters in real places in Shinjuku Gyoen.

Frozen has been Disney’s latest CGI mega-hit, moving quite a distance away from the original story of the Ice Queen. I enjoyed it a lot – in particular its more realistic view about romance and true love – though many of the characters are wildly irresponsible. Unlike many of my friends I’m not in love with the film, and while I don’t want to get into the tedious ideological debates about it, this article seemed to hit the mark. Perhaps it’s my age and movie-jadedness, but the movie seemed short and many of the supporting characters underdeveloped – perhaps that’s more about how aggressively those characters have been promoted in advertising and merchandise.

I’m not rational about The Hobbit, so don’t expect too much from my comments on part two. I enjoy the ride, roll with Jackson’s adaptation of Tolkien’s work, like that he’s putting in previously off-screen scenes that tie it to Lord of the Rings (eg Radagast and the Necromancer), and am smiling by the end of the movie. I like Martin Freeman’s acting style, and Ian McKellen and Benedict Cumberbatch are excellent as always. I’ve got to say though, I rolled my eyes at the particularly implausible (and lengthy) action scenes, and wasn’t completely happy that the movie ended with a cliffhanger. Additionally, I thought Azog (the Orc villain) should have been an actor in makeup instead of the CGI-heavy entity that’s not quite convincing enough.

Edward Scissorhands and Frankenweenie

I’ve been reluctant to see these Tim Burton flicks because they’ve always looked so sad, but it turns out that’s not so much the case.

It’s hard not to see autobiographical elements in Edward Scissorhands, the story of an incomplete artificial human (with a goth look) taken in by a family in an exaggerated suburbia. Despite looking threatening he’s timid and naive, but the community initially accepts him due to his particular skills. Of course, things don’t work out so well. Annoyingly the ending suffers from “Titanic syndrome”, where the heroine condemns the hero for selfish, superficial reasons and we’re supposed to call it love. While the production values seem a bit thin to the modern eye, and the special effects don’t look so special anymore, Edward Scissorhands is an enjoyable, very different movie that feels like a fairytale. Extra points for Vincent Price as the Inventor – this was one of this final works.

Despite its macabre topic, the black-and-white stop-motion Frankenweenie is actually a heartwarming tale of a boy and his resurrected dog – like Edward Scissorhands there’s a minor theme of social ostracism, but the movie is mostly light-hearted hijinks and a homage to old horror movies (with a Vincent Price-like character). I enjoyed the film, and appreciated Burton’s unique style and enthusiasm for the genre.

Despicable Me 2

I quite enjoyed the first movie, but I found this one rather uninspiring – it lacked focus and didn’t pursue any of its potential themes, or delve into character relationships. Despite her role as a potential mother figure, Kristen Wiig’s character was shallow and lacked interaction with the daughters.

Tintin

Tintin was my favourite comic growing up – the school library only stocked it and Asterix, but it was clear that the semi-serious travel-and-adventure stories had the opposition beat. The cartoon series ably brought the comics to life – they were like little movies that kept me enthralled.

This cinematic CGI release had me anxious – my childhood was at stake! It turns out that Tintin is a qualified success, despite the writing of Stephen Moffat (of Doctor Who fame). The story begins with Tintin somewhat well known but unknown to Captain Haddock, Thomson and Thompson and all the rest, presenting the opportunity to introduce everyone afresh.

The titular character is rather annoying – unlike the other more stylised characters, he’s firmly wedged in the Uncanny Valley, and his personality is the self-righteous adamancy of a poorly written protagonist whose stubbornness drags him through the plot. Andy Serkis steals the show (again) as Haddock; Snowy is once again the smartest character.

I had trouble swallowing the tonal inconsistency in this movie: Tintin is permanently serious, a minor character is gunned down in front of him, and Haddock is an unreliable, delusional alcoholic; however there is immense amounts of slapstick and silliness, and villains don’t die.

Nevertheless, Tintin tells the kind of rollicking adventure story that’s uncommon nowadays, and I really enjoyed that aspect of it. I’m hoping for sequels – especially since I won’t have already read them!

Kung Fu Panda 2

Like its predecessor, Kung Fu Panda 2 is chock-full of big-name actors. Unlike its predecessor, Kung Fu Panda 2 attempts a storyline and some characterisations between the slapstick and action sequences.

Gary Oldman adds to his villain filmography as Shen, an evil gunpowder-wielding peacock; we find out about the Po’s past, and there are some touching moments between him and his adoptive father.

While I’m still skeptical of anthropomorphic animals in a pastiche of Asian martial arts movies, I enjoyed Kung Fu Panda 2 as an entertaining diversion.

Cars 2

There’s little thematic continuity between the original Cars; and the sequel Cars 2; the former was a racing movie with appeals to small-town values overtaken by time, and the latter is a slapstick spy movie about hanging out with embarrassing friends.

I’m a sucker for slick spy movies, and Cars 2 delivers exactly that . Michael Caine is tonnes of fun as the improbably-named Finn McMissile, a James Bond car in more than one sense. Lightning McQueen is sidelined in favour of the Mater, who bumbles his way between extremely pretty locales in the Cars version of the world.

Throughout there is a mysterious evil mastermind, a nefarious scheme on a global scale, villainous henchmen, car karate, and appearances by car version of the Pope and the Queen of England. It’s all quite fun.

Mater’s complete lack of self-awareness for most of the film grated on me, but it’s a minor complaint in a fun movie.