Fact: I love the Wild West. I have a cowboy hat from a dude ranch in Colorado i seriously considered wearing while i wrote this. Alas, I am not wearing the hat, because it is 1am and i am lazy. But I am listening to the credits track from Red Dead Redemption, which counts for something. Anyways, where was I... oh right, True Grit. I'm happy to say i was not disappointed by this movie one bit. After all, it did have Jeff Bridges, Josh Brolin, and Matt Damon, and its hard to do wrong with a cast like that.
Now before i get going on any of them, i have to give credit where credit is due and congratulate Hailee Steinfeld on an excellent performance. Now, from what I've gathered from my minimal capacity for research, this is her first major motion picture, and I must say it looks to be the start of a great career. She is a very convincing actress and held her own with her major league co-stars. Alas, i now must dissect her character, Mattie Ross, as is my way. Now while the character of Mattie Ross, a young, well-educated girl who wants to avenge her father's death, is one i can completely get behind, it just didn't seem to fit the context. In that time period, in somewhere like Arkansas, there are not many who can acquire that sort of higher knowledge, and it would especially be difficult for a girl from what is not a wealthy family. I'm sorry but suspension of disbelief only goes so far, and the odds are stacked against this one.
Next up is Jeff Bridges, if only because i want him to be the second character examination, just like he was for Tron: Legacy (hooray for consistency!). Bridges plays the overweight, drunken federal marshal Reuben J. "Rooster" Cogburn. This is, without question, my favorite character in this film. Throughout the film, he is amusingly oblivious to how much of a drunk he is, and how out of shape hes gotten over the years. He is a worn down, fat, and downs whiskey like its water. In fact, the majority of his scenes he's either drinking whiskey, or smoking a hand-rolled cigarette. However, when it counts, he comes through, which in a way puts him into a traditional role. The man who was great, but is now a sort of disheveled drunk, but deep down is still a hero. Now I'm sure thats a standard character, I've definitely seen it before, but i can't think of what is called. Primarily because now it's 2am.
Next in line is Matt Damon. Well what can i say about Damon that hasn't already been said? Probably nothing. So let us move on to Texas Ranger La Boeuf, Damon's True Grit character. Once you wrap your head around the idea of Matt Damon as a Texas Ranger, the role actually goes pretty well. Damon does his usual impressive job, although i must say La Boeuf did lack a humor possessed by the rest of the cast. La Boeuf is a pretty basic, mildly egotistical character, confident in his superiority over Cogburn (Bridges) and pretty much every other character in the film. All in all, not a very substantial character in the least, who spends most of his time arguing with Cogburn over nothing in particular.
Now Josh Brolin's performance threw me off the most. It isn't that it wasn't good or anything like that, it's simply that i expected more of him. For as central a character as he played, he got a surprisingly small amount of screen time. Brolin did great work with what time he had though, portraying the mildly unstable Tom Chaney, who murdered Mattie Ross' father. He is also the antagonist around whom the story revolves. In a sense, given how important a character he is in comparison to the extent of his actual appearance, he is almost as much a plot device as he is a character, serving as a premise for the other 3 characters to get together and providing a purpose to their shared journey. Even so, Brolin gives his typical strong performace, and if i didn't know better, after this movie i would have no trouble believing Josh Brolin could go around killing people for stupid reasons. But he is thankfully a very talented actor instead of a murderer. and if by chance, he happens to be a murderer on the side and is reading this, your secret is safe with me Mr. Brolin please don't kill me.
tl;dr:
Plot: 7.5/10
Acting: 9/10
Soundtrack: 6/10
Effects: 9/10
Overall: 7.8/10
Friday, December 24, 2010
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Movie Review - Tron: Legacy
Right off the bat, I'm going to have to admit i was not a huge fan of the original Tron movie. Which is probably why I, despite all the hype, was caution when it came to getting enthusiastic about the new movie. I expected some good effects and pretty lights, but an otherwise shallow CGI-Dependant movie (i.e. Avatar). Thankfully, what i got instead was an orgy composed of a substantial plot, strong acting, a perfect soundtrack, and, of course, more shiny beautiful lights than i know what to do with.
Now the protagonist of Tron: Legacy is Sam Flynn (Garrett Hedlund), the son of Kevin Flynn, who was the main character of the original film. This was the first movie I'd ever seen with Garrett Hedlund, and i was impressed with his performance. His character seemed to have a rather small range of emotions, and Hedlund himself seemed, at times, to have gone to the same school of facial expressions as Keanu Reaves, but that may not be his fault as much as the writers/directors. who knows? Regardless, Hundlund has got a promising future ahead of him as an actor.
What i see as one of this movies greatest strengths is how well they make use of Jeff Bridges. He's an outstanding actor, and Disney knows that, which is probably why he plays two of the main characters. At the same time. Now, personally speaking, I've always liked the idea of taking an actor and having him play both the protagonist and the antagonist, because you get a good reflective foil (if you have good writers, that is). Also, it's cool to get to watch someone duke it out with themselves. What they did with (one of) Bridges' character, Kevin Flynn, however, i'm not sure i'm a fan of. They turned him from super-scientist into a pacifist monk in a Jedi robe. Now I'm not one of those people with a grudge against spirituality of any sort, but this movie did seem to get a wee bit preachy at times. The subplot with the Isomorphic Algorithms, coded beings that essentially come into existence on their own behalf, was a concept i liked until they had Flynn go on about how they were some kind of higher power and their existence would revolutionize religion and philosophy as well as science. Bridges' other character, Clu, had everything a good anti-hero needs. He had his army, his world domination plans, his own convoluted logic as to why what he was doing was right, and at least one parallel could be drawn between him and Hitler. Clu was possibly the best done part in the movie, for all the reasons just stated, and he required the least character development, being a computer program. At times, he did seem to be a little bit simple minded, considering the incredible program he was supposed to be, but no ones perfect i suppose.
Finally, there's Kevin Flynn's apprentice, Quorra (Olivia Wilde). I haven't been looking forward to this, mainly because i love Olivia Wilde as an actress, but Quorra left a lot to be desired. Other than one incredibly predictable plot twist, Quorra contributed very little to the movie as a whole and seemed to be included as eye-candy as much as anything else. With all the good use they got out of Jeff Bridges, Disney really did waste Olivia Wilde, and that was probably the most disappointing part of this movie.
Something that i feel needs commenting on is Daft Punk's contribution to the movie. As you may have heard, they were placed in charge of the movie's soundtrack. They also make a cameo appearance in the movie. In my opinion, their involvement in this movie is a major part of what made it great.
Overall, this movie greatly surpassed my low expectations. The acting was superb, the soundtrack was great, the visuals were mind-blowing, but the plot was somewhat lacking and the movie as a whole was rather predictable. One thing i should point out is that the tie-in to the original was well done, with just enough exposition to bring someone from the original to this movie, and enough to bring in someone who had never seen the original.
tl;dr :
Plot: 7/10
Acting: 8.5/10
Soundtrack: 9/10
Effects: 9.5/10
Overall: 8.5/10Publish Post
Now the protagonist of Tron: Legacy is Sam Flynn (Garrett Hedlund), the son of Kevin Flynn, who was the main character of the original film. This was the first movie I'd ever seen with Garrett Hedlund, and i was impressed with his performance. His character seemed to have a rather small range of emotions, and Hedlund himself seemed, at times, to have gone to the same school of facial expressions as Keanu Reaves, but that may not be his fault as much as the writers/directors. who knows? Regardless, Hundlund has got a promising future ahead of him as an actor.
What i see as one of this movies greatest strengths is how well they make use of Jeff Bridges. He's an outstanding actor, and Disney knows that, which is probably why he plays two of the main characters. At the same time. Now, personally speaking, I've always liked the idea of taking an actor and having him play both the protagonist and the antagonist, because you get a good reflective foil (if you have good writers, that is). Also, it's cool to get to watch someone duke it out with themselves. What they did with (one of) Bridges' character, Kevin Flynn, however, i'm not sure i'm a fan of. They turned him from super-scientist into a pacifist monk in a Jedi robe. Now I'm not one of those people with a grudge against spirituality of any sort, but this movie did seem to get a wee bit preachy at times. The subplot with the Isomorphic Algorithms, coded beings that essentially come into existence on their own behalf, was a concept i liked until they had Flynn go on about how they were some kind of higher power and their existence would revolutionize religion and philosophy as well as science. Bridges' other character, Clu, had everything a good anti-hero needs. He had his army, his world domination plans, his own convoluted logic as to why what he was doing was right, and at least one parallel could be drawn between him and Hitler. Clu was possibly the best done part in the movie, for all the reasons just stated, and he required the least character development, being a computer program. At times, he did seem to be a little bit simple minded, considering the incredible program he was supposed to be, but no ones perfect i suppose.
Finally, there's Kevin Flynn's apprentice, Quorra (Olivia Wilde). I haven't been looking forward to this, mainly because i love Olivia Wilde as an actress, but Quorra left a lot to be desired. Other than one incredibly predictable plot twist, Quorra contributed very little to the movie as a whole and seemed to be included as eye-candy as much as anything else. With all the good use they got out of Jeff Bridges, Disney really did waste Olivia Wilde, and that was probably the most disappointing part of this movie.
Something that i feel needs commenting on is Daft Punk's contribution to the movie. As you may have heard, they were placed in charge of the movie's soundtrack. They also make a cameo appearance in the movie. In my opinion, their involvement in this movie is a major part of what made it great.
Overall, this movie greatly surpassed my low expectations. The acting was superb, the soundtrack was great, the visuals were mind-blowing, but the plot was somewhat lacking and the movie as a whole was rather predictable. One thing i should point out is that the tie-in to the original was well done, with just enough exposition to bring someone from the original to this movie, and enough to bring in someone who had never seen the original.
tl;dr :
Plot: 7/10
Acting: 8.5/10
Soundtrack: 9/10
Effects: 9.5/10
Overall: 8.5/10Publish Post
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