Elysium worth hanging around for two hours

Movie Review: Elysium

 

Elysium is writer and director Neill Blomkamp’s second feature after District 9. Like District 9, Elysium is a thinly disguised communiqué on the state of the human race in the early twenty-first century. Where District 9 focuses on race relations, Elysium delves into class division. But neither put up any flashing neon signs announcing their intentions. Our focus and attention remain on the characters and story, a testament to Mr. Blokamp’s movie-making skills.

                Elysium is the name of the space station that’s become an Eden for the human race’s wealthy. It is an Eden where not only are the lawns well groomed but so too are the people. All of humanity’s physical deficiencies, including disease, have been eradicated through modern technology. The one thing that hasn’t developed is inclusiveness. On Earth everyone struggles with the burdens of mortality. There are routine attempts by Earth dwellers to breach Elysium in order to save their terminally ill but they are met with lethal resistance from Elysium’s security forces, led by Secretary of Defense Jessica Delacourt (Jodie Foster).

Elysium shares the same traits as old westerns. The stories involve characters who set out on a journey to redeem themselves or to set past wrongs right. Max (Matt Damon) is a reformed thief doing his best to stay out of trouble. Mr. Damon with shaved head and tattooed body gives Max a menacing persona needed in the slums of Earth. Mr. Damon’s boyish demeanor makes Max’s loyalty and tender side believable. He is injured by a patrol of police robots and is taken to a hospital where he is reunited with a nurse, Fray (Alice Braga). He and Fray shared an innocent childhood romance from which they made promises to each other that still occupy Max’s dreams. Max returns to work with his injured arm since job security is nonexistent to be a victim of radiation poison due to a mechanical malfunction. He is given five days to live which prompts an intense determination to reach Elysium and a cure.

The action revolves around Matt’s efforts to get to the “Promised Land.” He recruits the assistance of Spider (Wagner Moura), a technical wizard and gang lord. Spider accepts his offer but only if Max does a favor in turn. Spider suits Max up with a steel computerized skeleton that increases Max’s strength and allows his brain to capture computerized data. They launch a plot to capture Elysium’s data which is stored in the brain of one of its corporate denizens so they can infiltrate and override Elysium’s computer systems.

But in between the steel, electronics, space stations and weapons is empathy. The empathy is what makes “Elysium” a good movie. It is about humans helping and sacrificing for each other. There is a sincerity with which Mr. Damon plays Max and the way Mr. Blomkamp tells his story that it becomes easy to latch on to Max and hope he gets to his Promised Land.

 

Mr. Damon is surrounded by some solid acting. Ms. Braga doesn't ring a false note. Ms. Foster maybe considered one of the best actors alive but she doesn’t have much room to maneuver as Secretary of Defense Delacourt. Ms. Foster can add layers to even mundane scenes but Delacourt’s deception and maneuvering to obtain more power doesn’t allow Ms. Foster to change gears.  Mr. Moura, on the other hand, makes his scenes pop. His bargaining with Max is an engaging affair.

 

The most important movie devise used in science fiction movies is sound effect. The machines and vehicles of the future may look cheap but if they sound authentic then the world we are spending time in is believable. Mr. Blomkamp has paid attention to the sounds of his movie which adds a jolt. Ryan Amon has created a score that intensifies the menace and the drama. Part fog horn crossed with an electronic scratch, it enhances the feeling of dwelling in an uninhabitable land while giving off a warning that danger is approaching. It adds goose bumps to an already intriguing movie.

 

 Written and directed by Neill Blomkamp; director of photography, Trent Opaloch; edited by Julian Clarke and Lee Smith; music by Ryan Amon; production design by Philip Ivey; visual effects supervisor, Peter Muyzers; costumes by April Ferry; produced by Bill Block, Mr. Blomkamp and Simon Kinberg; released by TriStar Pictures. Running time: 1 hour 42 minutes.

WITH: Matt Damon (Max), Jodie Foster (Delacourt), Sharlto Copley (Kruger), Alice Braga (Frey), Diego Luna (Julio), Wagner Moura (Spider) and William Fichtner (John Carlyle).

Better to go get a Bud then to watch The Millers

Movie Review: We’re the Millers

 

Comedy is laughing at the tragedy that befalls others. But when that tragedy has been set up for the purpose of making us laugh it loses its appeal. Director Rawson Marshall Thurber’s (The Mysteries of Pittsburg, Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story) We’re the Millers is a movie that when pitched must have seemed like a solid idea for a comedy. But it was filmed as though it was going to be seen during a primetime line-up with other television sitcoms. As a movie it doesn’t have any narrative flow. Whatever edge a story about a marijuana dealer, a stripper, a runaway and an awkward teenager who collaborate to move drugs into this country might have had has been lost.

                David Clark (Jason Sudeikis) is a thirty-something marijuana dealer who has made a good living doing something he’s done on the side since college. Unfortunately, David involves himself in an altercation involving a runaway girl, Casey (Emma Roberts), and some hooligans and his profits and savings are robbed. He owes his supplier, Brad Gurdlinger (Ed Helms), putting him at Brad’s mercy. David has no options but to accept Brad’s assignment to transfer a small shipment of marijuana from Mexico back to Denver. How he does it is up to David but there is a time limit.

                Lacking ingenuity, David is inspired by a couple driving through Denver in a motorhome. His plan is to go to Mexico disguised as a tourist vacationing with his family. He shaves, gets a haircut and shops for touristy clothes influenced by primetime sitcoms and the “Simpsons.” Using cash he recruits Casey, Kenny (Will Poulter) –  a latch-key teenager who hasn’t seen his mother in a week – and his next door neighbor Rose (Jennifer Aniston), who happens to be a stripper, to be his family. They set off on their expedition. The rest is easily figured out. They make it into Mexico without a hitch. All is smooth when they arrive at the drug lord’s compound and the “small” shipment fills up their RV. They start their journey back and have to overcome a break down, the border patrol, the drug lord wanting his shipment back and the company of another traveling motorhome family.

                The frustration that builds from watching We’re the Millers comes from the tip-offs before the jokes. The spider that crawls into a fruit basket and stays put for half the movie until it’s convenient for it to crawl up the leg and into the shorts of Kenny. Kenny gets a lesson on the proper way to kiss a girl from both his imitation sister and mother while his phony dad takes pictures so it doesn’t come as a surprise when the object of his affection walks in on them. There are four credited screenwriters – Bob Fisher, Steve Faber (both screenwriters for The Wedding Crashers), Sean Anders (Mr. Popper’s Penguins) and John Morris (Hot Tub Time Machine)- and yet no one seemed to feel that a low level drug dealer with a runaway, a stripper and a naïve teenage boy could produce some cutting edge humor. The Wedding Crashers had more of an edge than We’re the Millers. But to be fair, the screenwriters are not the ones in charge of the movie’s production. I’m sure the studio wanted their main stars to be in as funny a movie as possible, so they sent the word down to make sure there were as many comedy skits as possible to get their money’s worth from their stars.

                Ms. Aniston, Mr. Sudeikis, Ms. Roberts and Mr. Poulter do a commendable job with the script they were given. They seem to be having a good time, which makes sitting through the skits less painful. It is also a sign that Mr. Thurber let his stars have free reign. It would have been nice if Mr. Thurber took this movie by the reins and asked his screenwriters to make the narrative flow. The four characters don’t want to be with each other – maybe with the exception of Kenny who is looking for any kind of attention – but get talked into this crusade by David only because of the money he offers them. Being locked up in an RV with these odd characters should be enough fodder for comedic situations without having to set up poor gags.

                The most intriguing character is Rose. She elicits many questions. For one, how is she not able to pay rent being a stripper? The motivating factor which makes David’s proposition desirable is that she is evicted from her apartment. Rose is fortyish, okay, let’s say in her late thirties, whose been stripping for a while. She is attractive, smart and has survival instincts so you would think she would be working at the most popular gentlemen’s club in Denver. Why doesn’t she have the money to pay her rent? It’s an obvious question that’s a major glare in the story. There could have been all sorts of other factors to have set Rose off on the trip. She is an intriguing character for the fact that the screenwriters write her as someone who has smarts but uses her body to make a living. Mr. Thurber didn’t do much directing with Ms. Aniston because she played the role as though Rachel Green became that stripper. The movie would have benefited if Mr. Thurber and Ms. Aniston had explored the darker and edgier side of Rose. Ms. Aniston has done it before and was more exciting to watch when she played complicated characters in Friends with Money and Horrible Bosses.

                Instead We’re the Millers would be better seen on TBS or TNT right after an episode of Friends where it would answer the question of what ever happened to Rachel?

Directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber; written by Bob Fisher, Steve Faber, Sean Anders and John Morris, based on a story by Mr. Fisher and Mr. Faber; director of photography, Barry Peterson; edited by Mike Sale; music by Theodore Shapiro and Ludwig Goransson; production design by Clayton Hartley; costumes by Shay Cunliffe; produced by Vincent Newman, Tucker Tooley, Happy Walters and Chris Bender; released by Warner Brothers Pictures. Running time: 1 hour 50 minutes.

WITH: Jennifer Aniston (Rose O’Reilly), Jason Sudeikis (David Clark), Emma Roberts (Casey Mathis), Nick Offerman (Don Fitzgerald), Kathryn Hahn (Edie Fitzgerald), Ed Helms (Brad Gurdlinger), Will Poulter (Kenny Rossmore), Molly Quinn (Melissa Fitzgerald), Tomer Sisley (Pablo Chacon) and Matthew Willig (One-Eye).

"2 Guns" is packing action!

Movie Review: "2 Guns"

 Director Baltasar Kormakur’s "2 Guns" is a rare throw back to the days of film noir. The basic ingredients of film noir are a major score (in this case the robbing of a bank), a double cross and an engaging hero, who, along with the audience, doesn’t know who to trust or who not to. Mr. Kormakur has made a riveting movie where the action is exciting and makes sense (a lot of the action in movies today is just for show) as well as a mystery about whose money was robbed, who’s after the money and who’s going to end up with the money. The two stars, Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlberg, are stuck in the middle but their appeal and chemistry make it easy for us to latch on to their fates.


Mr. Washington’s Robert Trench is the one who’s grounded. He wants to be in control of any situation he’s involved with. He thinks things out, plans and then strategizes. Mr. Wahlberg’s Michael "Stigs" Stigman regards caution as a speed bump. He believes he can adapt to any situation and runs head long into the chaos confident that his skills- both wit and athleticism- will bail him out. His recklessness is agreeable only because his motives are honorable. He believes in loyalty to his friends and to the organizations of which he joined. Bobby has been scarred by both associates and by organizations and analyzes all with suspicion. It’s a wonderful pairing both in characters and in the actors who play them. Their sparing and attempts to clean up their mess by using opposing strategies is entertaining. But even this caliber of talent would be wasted if it wasn’t for a great story and good script.

The screenwriter Blake Masters has written a movie, based on the graphic novel by Steven Grant, where the story not only has baffled the main characters but keeps the audience off balance. Stigs and Bobby have teamed up to rob a bank where they think a Mexican drug lord (Edward James Olmos) has stashed his laundered money. When the deed is done they are happy to learn there’s a lot more money then what was expected but are baffled by the lack of resistance. They each went into the robbery with different motives, none of which would have benefited their partner. The larger and more powerful parties who are interested in the money put Stig’s and Bobby’s fates on a rollercoaster. Mr. Master has done a wonderful job of weaving a web of deception that keeps the audience from ever guessing what the next scene will bring. Adversaries in one scene must partner up in the next; a reliable collaborator may turn into a betrayer.

The script is sharp and we get a sense of who Bobby and Stig are by just listening to them converse. With the exception of a few throw away lines helping to establish Stig’s flirtatious nature toward the opposite sex the dialogue between two clever opposites adds flavor to an intriguing story.

The supporting characters are well shaped and Mr. Kormakur has filled the supporting roles with some wily veterans. There are not many varying degrees from which to choose on how to play a Mexican drug lord. Salma Hayek in "Savages" had her daughter’s love to worry about as well as the productivity of her cartel. There is nothing differentiating Mr. Olmos’ drug lord from any other but he is engaging in a brutal way. He is threatening but allows enough humanity to drip out for us to care about his bafflement over the mysteries hanging over the money. Bill Paxton is the C.I.A representative whose mind has run off the tracks. Mr. Paxton turns up the voltage making his performance menacingly juicy. Paula Patton seems a little light as a DEA agent but the perception puts us on unsteady ground when the story begins to shift. We buy into her role after we’ve been through the first twist and turns of the story.

Mr. Kormakur does a nice job of keeping the suspense throughout the movie. There are pockets within the action where these two characters grow on each other and our affection for them grows as well. Mr. Kormakur films the fight scenes and chase sequences clearly which is a rarity this summer. But its best feature is two main characters an audience can put their faith into and take a ride with in an exciting and suspenseful movie.
Directed by Baltasar Kormakur; written by Blake Masters, based on the BOOM! Studios graphic novels by Steven Grant; director of photography, Oliver Wood; edited by Michael Tronick; music by Clinton Shorter; production design by Beth Mickle; costumes by Laura Jean Shannon; produced by Marc Platt, Randall Emmett, Norton Herrick, Adam Siegel, George Furla, Ross Richie and Andrew Cosby; released by Universal Pictures. Running time: 1 hour 41 minutes.

WITH: Denzel Washington (Bobby Trench), Mark Wahlberg (Stig Stigman), Paula Patton (Deb Rees), Bill Paxton (Earl), James Marsden (Quince), Fred Ward (Admiral Tuwey) and Edward James Olmos (Papi Greco).

"Blue Jasmine," Diamond Blanchett.

Movie Review: "Blue Jasmine"

Writer/director Woody Allen’s "Blue Jasmine" is a movie who’s comedic and dramatic impulses derive from the head long crash between the classes. Jasmine (Cate Blanchett), a socialite, loses everything after her husband, Hal (Alec Baldwin), is arrested for financial fraud. Jasmine is forced to drop luxurious habits cold turkey and has to move into her sister’s apartment where she goes into major withdrawal. There are a lot of undercurrents in "Blue Jasmine:" behavior between the classes, money and codes of conduct. But at its heart is a tortured heroine who generates a morbid fascination as she spirals into madness. It is a classic tragedy refreshed by Mr. Allen for the twenty-first century.

Jasmine has latched on to the golden ticket which is Hal’s life. She left college early to marry- giving up a chance at a career of her own- and master that complex game of being a socialite. It is a world were the names on the labels tell if one’s fashionable, location of residences settles rank of importance and yardage measures value of wealth. When she falls out of that world she retreats into the care of her sister, Ginger (Sally Hawkins). Coming from a place where words like "modest" and "simple" are demeaning her sister’s apartment becomes an assault on the senses. Ginger takes her under her wing and forces her to focus on a career. Having advised friends about the look of their homes Jasmine feels her talents lay in interior design. With the assistance of Xanax and vodka she shores up her nerve and begins her journey toward independence.

Jasmine is not a likable character. But her transformation is spellbinding. Ms. Blanchett is worth the price to admission in anything she does and in "Blue Jasmine" she gives us an exercise in the stages of decline. To start with she is the faithful wife who maintains a polished surface even though storms are raging around her. She clings to her position sacrificing her dignity. Then comes the shock of actually mingling with a lower class. She treats her visit to Ginger’s as a sentence and looks as though she were confined to the refuge room of a fish market whenever she encounters a member of her sister’s class. The more she realizes that the life she once lived is not coming back her mind dabbles in the past to keep out the tragedy of the present. She begins to lose focus on reality. Ms. Blanchett’s performance plays all the right notes and makes it hard to keep one’s attention on the story.

The supporting characters, as in all of Mr. Allen’s movies, are rich and shape the story as it unfolds. Ms. Hawkins’ Ginger is a prototype of a long line of Mr. Allen’s supporting female roles. Ms. Hawkins provides the right mixture of sweet and simple. She has accepted her lot in life and is content with only attention, sensitivity and love. She doesn’t stand a chance under Jasmine’s scrutiny. She doesn’t think that there is anything wrong with her friends or tranquil life until Jasmine analyzes it for her. Personalities shape relationships in the lower classes. When Jasmine rings in on Ginger’s life she makes money an issue. The longer Jasmine stays the tighter she grips the reins on Ginger’s life. Ginger decides to make waves in her life by having a taste of what its like to be up on the next rung. Al (a steady Louis C. K) is step up from the relationships she’s used to. The casting of Andrew Dice Clay and Bobby Cannavale as Ginger’s ex-husband and current love interest are authentic stamps of middle class malaise. They are harden and cynical about life but possess a tenderness they want to share with Ginger. Ginger and her band, whether awed or just plain courteous, are, at first, sympathetic to Jasmine. That is until she begins to put a crack their relationships.

Mr. Allen has written a Balzacian tale of which the movies and fiction rarely focus on. "Blue Jasmine" could easily fit within the scenes of Paris of which Balzac wrote about the social mores that were in play for the aristocracy in Paris. To obtain titles and high standing one must be adept at shrewdness, conniving and ruthlessness. Not much has changed in a century and a half. Mr. Allen’s study of this fallen eagle who must now adapt to living with the animals that crawl is a mix of satire, mystery and tragedy. Mr. Allen and his editor Alisa Lepselter ("To Rome With Love," "Midnight in Paris")have done a fine job at intercutting between the past and the present; telling us how Jasmine has ended up where she did but never giving away how this movie will end. Mr. Allen’s script has hit the mark on the mannerisms of two social classes and is insightful about what happens when they mix. He doesn’t linger or make judgments about Jasmine or Hal’s decisions. They have a life style to maintain and they do it. The script is so good but what is missing is a cinematic touch. It would have helped the impact of scenes if Mr. Allen were still in his Ingmar Bergman stage. The approach he took when filming "Manhattan" or "Another Woman," playing with light and darkness and setting up unforgettable imagery, would have put "Blue Jasmine" into an elite group of films. But as it stands "Blue Jasmine" is the benchmark of great movies for 2013.

 

Written and directed by Woody Allen; director of photography, Javier Aguirresarobe; edited by Alisa Lepselter; production design by Santo Loquasto; costumes by Suzy Benzinger; produced by Letty Aronson, Stephen Tenenbaum and Edward Walson; released by Sony Pictures Classics. Running time: 1 hour 36 minutes.

WITH: Alec Baldwin (Hal), Cate Blanchett (Jasmine), Louis C. K. (Al), Bobby Cannavale (Chili), Andrew Dice Clay (Augie), Sally Hawkins (Ginger), Peter Sarsgaard (Dwight) and Michael Stuhlbarg (Dr. Flicker).

"The Conjuring" is worth hanging around for.

Movie Review: "The Conjuring"

Any time you see "Based on true events" starting off a horror film there is a queasy feeling that it could have been you who jumped at a good real estate deal and purchased an abandoned eighteenth century house complete with lake in back, an old dead tree with large branches to hang swings on (or anything else for that matter) and a rowboat tied to a dilapidated pier that no one seems interested in knowing how or why it is there when you arrive on your first day. That’s our star of "The Conjuring," a traditional house that seems like any other.

The movie opens with a prologue about the Warrens, Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine (Vera Farmiga), who are paranormal investigators and what it is they do. We are then introduced to the Perron’s, Roger (Ron Livingston) and Carolyn (Lili Taylor) and their five daughters who move into the aforementioned house. The first sign that things are amiss is when the dog refuses to enter.

"The Conjuring" is a cross between the movies "Poltergeist" and "The Exorcist." It takes a lot of liberties from both movies including, as in "Poltergeist," surveillance of paranormal activity with equipment available a decade before that movie took place and demon possession from "The Exorcist." But who’s paying attention? Once the dog refuses to enter director James Wan ("Saw," "Insidious") has a tight grip on our dispositions. Mr. Wan uses the sense of the unknown to rattle his audience’s nerves rather then relying on blood and gore. Location helps. He proves that noises in an old house can still stimulate the goose bumps. He builds tension slowly by introducing strange occurrences that, at first, baffle the family. He knows the right time to play an orchestra of basses on low strings while his camera approaches a closet door. The ball starts rolling when the Perrons play a traditional family game where the girls hide while their blindfolded mother seeks them out with only the sound of their clapping to guide her. Of course the clap she picks to follow doesn’t come from a relation. Just when the tension tightens Mr. Wan turns up the heat by throwing in visual hints of the evil that has infested the house.

The screenwriters Chad and Carey Hayes have written a horror movie that bucks the trend of the traditional slasher film. In those pictures the victims’ lack of sense inevitably led them to the butcher’s blade. Whenever there was a noise in the middle of the woods during the dead of night they would cry out for the perpetrator to identify themselves and then investigate when there was no reply. It is a cheap ploy that warns the audience something is about to happen after they take that first step into the woods. The Perron’s, on the other hand, are written with basic intelligence at their disposal. They try to figure out why certain incidences are happening. This handicaps the viewer because we’re not sure what’s waiting for the Perrons around every corner and our nerves aren’t given time to rest. The Hayes have locked the Perrons into the house since they have put all their financial resources into it. Fleeing to a safer haven is not an option. Mr. Livingston and Ms. Taylor’s supporting role status give them the feel of a regular couple that’s easy to relate to. There is that feeling that what’s happening to them could happen to anyone. When they come to their wits end they reach out to the Warrens.

The Warrens act as the "sheriffs" of the film. They are a couple the audience grabs on to for comfort. Ed is a straight-laced investigator. He approaches his job like a scientist checking off the list of probabilities from which this paranormal activity can be attributed. When they’ve concluded that the cause is from some paranormal being they identify what kind and then go about in a scientific matter to rid the affected object of that spirit. Lorraine is a clairvoyant who bridges the spirit world to this one. But the Hayes’ sly screenplay adds a twist to the Warrens relationship which begins to unravel the safety net the audience has latched onto since their arrival.

When leaving the theater and walking in the care of the summer sun- if past experiences have taught you that afternoon is the best time to watch horror movies- you will begin to think about certain scenes and wonder about logic. The conclusion is a chaotic mess. Some explanations don’t add up. But during the heat of those questionable scenes logic is not what’s on the mind. The only thoughts going through your head is whether or not to close your eyes, hide under your seat or run like hell. That’s the sign of a good horror movie. And rule number one: always listen to the dog.

 

Directed by James Wan; written by Chad Hayes and Carey W. Hayes; director of photography, John R. Leonetti; edited by Kirk Morri; music by Joseph Bishara; production design by Julie Berghoff; costumes by Kristin M. Burke; produced by Tony DeRosa-Grund, Peter Safran and Rob Cowan; released by Warner Brothers Pictures. Running time: 1 hour 51 minutes.

WITH: Vera Farmiga (Lorraine Warren), Patrick Wilson (Ed Warren), Ron Livingston (Roger Perron) and Lili Taylor (Carolyn Perron).

"The Wolverine" is a fun ride.

Movie Review: "The Wolverine"

Director James Mangold’s ("Walk the Line," "3:10 to Yuma") "The Wolverine" has taken its introduction from the Marvel Comics 1982 limited series "Wolverine," written by Chris Claremont and drawn by Frank Miller. That is not a bad thing. Mr. Miller at the time was injecting many stories and titles, including Daredevil, with a Japanese influence. The limited series was very cinematic. It combined the animalistic ferocity of Wolverine with the elegance and simplicity of Japanese traditions. The movie would have benefited tremendously if it had followed the artistic lead of the series. "The Wolverine" starts off the same way the limited series did. Wolverine, aka Logan (Hugh Jackman), is out in the wilderness doing some meditation and soul searching. He comes across a bear that was shot with a poison arrow by a group of hunters. These hunters do not bother to track and kill it so the bear goes on a rampage killing some campers. Wolverine puts the bear out of its misery then tracks the hunters. He is about to introduce them to his form of justice when a Japanese girl, Yukio (Rila Fukushima), interferes and allures Wolverine to Japan. This is where the movie veers away from the limited series. The story, like the series, involves Japanese Mafioso, ninjas and a Japanese love affair. The movie adds samurai, robots and twenty first century technology.

The screenwriters Mark Bomback ("Total Recall [2012]," "Live Free or Die Hard") and Scott Frank ("Marley and Me," "Minority Report") add an interesting twist to Wolverine’s trip. Yashida (Haruhiko Yamanouchi) was a soldier in a POW camp near Nagasaki when the bombs were dropped. Wolverine saved his life. On the trip to Japan Yukio informs Logan that Yashida is dying and wants to say his farewell. When he makes his audience Logan is surprised to learn that Yashida is not so eager to leave this world. He has found a way to transfer Logan’s mutant ability- self-healing- from the mutant into himself. Yashida makes an attempt to persuade Logan that he has outlived his gift. He has seen much death including the love of his life, Jean Grey (Famke Janssen), and living so long without purpose is hell. He offers Logan a chance to become mortal. It’s an interesting story line. Nothing creates more intrigue then watching the protagonist lose the source of his power while he tries to get it back; more so when he loses it involuntarily.

The problem for "The Wolverine" is what most action pictures suffer from and that is a director who is unable to create tension or excitement within action sequences. In all the action sequences there is a feeling that Mr. Mangold is performing a balancing act between showing Wolverine- who is a killer without remorse- doing what he does best, while at the same time not turning off families. There is precedent here. The old directors of samurai films from the fifties and sixties such as Akira Kurosawa ("Seven Samurai," "Yojimbo") and Kihachi Okamoto ("Samurai Assassin," "Sword of Doom") show merciless violence in their films but with an artistic flare. There is no gore. They also use a stationary camera. The action is shown without jittery movements or multiple cuts so you can see an assailant sneak up behind the protagonist and get a charge when he’s terminated. During "The Wolverine" a dizzying sensation accompanies the action sequences which are filmed with a moving camera. During a chase scene all the participants of a melee run through the streets and the camera jumps up and down as though we’re running along side of them. We can’t tell who’s chasing who or identify anyone except for Wolverine (thank goodness the scene doesn’t take place on the streets of Oregon or we would lose sight of him as well).

The backdrop of "The Wolverine" is spectacular. The art director Ian Gracie ("Star Wars: Episode III- Revenge of the Sith," "Moulin Rouge!") has created a picturesque canvas within traditional Japanese houses and villages where the action takes place. The violence among such beauty is a nice contrast. Mr. Miller’s series created some memorable visuals using the same backdrop to accompany the violence. He had the ninjas and Wolverine confront each other at night where they both feel they had the advantage. It was a series of pictures of only their silhouettes, within the darkness, with only the moonlight gleaming off the ninjas’ swords and Wolverines claws showing us the action. Watching "The Wolverine" one wishes Mr. Mangold could conjure up the same visual artistry. Fortunately the story carries us to the conclusion which, unfortunately, drops like a bag of bricks. Too much of the twenty-first century comes into play and an arch-villain, Viper (Svetlana Khodchenkova), who is pretty much irrelevant throughout the movie finally wears out her welcome. But running along side Wolverine is still fun even when it makes you dizzy.

 

Directed by James Mangold; written by Mark Bomback and Scott Frank; director of photography, Ross Emery; edited by Michael McCusker; music by Marco Beltrami; production design by François Audouy; costumes by Isis Mussenden; produced by Lauren Shuler Donner and Hutch Parker; released by 20th Century Fox. Running time: 2 hours 6 minutes.

WITH: Hugh Jackman (Logan/Wolverine), Hiroyuki Sanada (Shingen), Famke Janssen (Jean Grey), Will Yun Lee (Harada), Rila Fukushima (Yukio), Tao Okamoto (Mariko), Svetlana Khodchenkova (Viper) and Haruhiko Yamanouchi (Yashida).