BARE BONES: CHRONICLE (2012)

CHRONICLE (2012)

Chronicle is an interesting twist on both the found footage/POV and superhero genres. Flick tells the story of abused and bullied Andrew (Dane DeHaan) who starts to “chronicle” his life on camera like so much of today’s Youtube generation feels the need to do. It’s at a rave one night that he and his cousin Matt (Alex Russell) and their friend Steve (Michael B. Jordan) stumble upon a mysterious glowing object they find in a hole in the ground while drunkenly wandering around. Contact with this object gives them what appear to be a form of telekinesis and soon the three are developing what can be simplified as super powers. What makes this aspect of Chronicle interesting is that these teens don’t become overgrown boy scouts like in the comics, they behave like typical teenagers probably would, if they acquired such powers. They have a good time with it and secretly hone their skills as Andrew documents. Andrew is an emotionally damaged young man who has to deal with an alcoholic father (Michael Kelly) and dying mother (Bo Petersen). Putting such power in his hands begins to give him a way to vent his rage and avenge his mistreatment at school and home. It’s no surprise that things will spiral out of control and people will get hurt.

Chronicle is well directed by Josh Trank from a script by Max Landis and is an overall effective film that only suffers from a little predictability and following certain formulas a little too closely in it’s last act. We know in the opening scenes that Andrew is unstable and it is obvious where this will all lead. We know as soon as the trio begin to flex their new psychokinetic muscle that the troubled Andrew would be the one to ignore the classic credo of “with great power comes great responsibility.” We know who he will eventually avenge himself upon and we also can easily see it will be the “conscience” of the trio, Matt, that will have to deal with it. The lead characters are likable enough, but the father and bully characters are pretty generic and, sadly, once Andrew turns to the dark side, he becomes so mean spirited that we are no longer sympathetic to him…though we do understand how he gets to this point. To a degree he becomes the super villain of the piece, but not one that is charismatic enough to intrigue us. He becomes exactly the kind of bully that used to make his life miserable, but on a bigger and more dangerous scale. It does echo real life, as sometimes the abused become abusers themselves…or serial killers. This does rob us, though, of continuing to care about him or sympathizing with his pain. This renders the last act into basically a ‘gee whiz’ POV FX showdown that we no longer have a strong emotional stake in. It becomes a routine, good vs evil final battle that has been done so many times before. We no longer want to see Andrew saved, just stopped. At least we do feel some sympathy for Matt who’s forced into a situation he doesn’t want to be in. It would have been far more interesting if we were led to believe that there was still some humanity left in Andrew, but there isn’t and it’s obvious what choices are left to Matt. That’s why the last act is the weakest part dramatically, despite some intense FX action during the climactic confrontation. It eventually becomes a more routine story of an abused character finding the power to avenge, like Carrie, albeit with a superhero twist, after beginning so interestingly. Still, Chronicle is an intriguing effort, if not a totally successful one. There was a lot to like about it and it can be disturbing, but It could have been even better had the filmmakers been a bit more daring in the final reel, as they were building up to it.

-MonsterZero NJ

REVIEW: BLACK PANTHER (2018)

BLACK PANTHER (2018)

Black Panther is the latest edition to the MCU and once again Marvel comes up with a way to keep this series fresh after ten years and eighteen films. The movie opens with a brief introduction to the history of the fictional African nation of Wakanda. It tells of the fateful meteorite landing which introduced the miracle metal vibranium to the land, which transformed Wakanda into a technically advanced civilization. They’ve long kept hidden their technology from the world, though, to prevent ill use of their weaponry. Enter the newly crowned King T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman), who is also The Black Panther, Wakanda’s protector as well as ruler. While still mourning the death of his father, T’Challa finds out a hard truth about the death of his uncle and of a cousin he didn’t know he had…a cousin known as the mercenary Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan), who wants to take the throne and use Wakanda’s arms technology to start a global revolution.

This sometimes stunning film is directed by Ryan Coogler from a script by he and Joe Robert Cole. Coogler has a wonderfully sumptuous visual eye and making full use of African cultural influence turns this into a film worth seeing for the sights alone. His script with Cole takes things deeper than that with a story rich in depth, not only in it’s cultural surroundings but in the political, racial and social issues effecting it’s African characters and the continent’s descendants around the world. It weaves this context into it’s action/adventure story-line very well, so it’s never preaching, but the issues are boldly there. It represents those who have a more aggressive way of dealing with these issues in it’s antagonist N’Jadaka / Killmonger and those who see a more peaceful solution in it’s hero T’Challa. It also doesn’t shy away from the fact that these differences can pit brother against brother, too. Black Panther is still also very much a superhero movie and we gets some spectacular action, some amazing gadgets and even a James Bond-ish trip to South Korea, where T’Challa meets old friend Everett Ross (Martin Freeman) and old foe Ulysses Klaue (Andy Serkis) who is aligned with Killmonger. Panther is given some wonderful support in his sister Suri (Letitia Wright) who is technology savvy and is the “Q” to T’Challa’s Bond. There is king’s bodyguard Okoye (Danai Gurira) who is Wakanda’s greatest warrior, elder Zuri (Forest Whitaker) and his proud and strong mother Ramonda (Angela Bassett). The SPFX are amazing, there is a wonderfully African infused soundtrack by Ludwig Göransson and some beautifully realized dream sequences that add even more depth to a film that has spirit and heart as well as action.

Simply put this movie also has a great cast. Boseman is a perfect fit for a character that has to be ruler, hero and diplomat, as well as, simply a man. He is charming, handsome and gives the heavily burdened T’Challa a sense of humor and warmth as well. Michael B. Jordan is solid as his vengeful cousin known as Killmonger. Jordan is usually in the role of hero or nice guy and here he shows he can be a bad-ass too. N’Jadaka is a street smart killer raised in America and he brings that urban edge to his warrior with a mission. His purpose may have a bit of a noble center, but it’s his methods and ruthless execution of them are what make him a villain. Serkis is fun as Klaue, following-up his amusing part in Age of Ultron and it’s too bad his part here is almost as small. He’s a fun and eccentric bad guy. Letitia Wright is cute and energetic as T’Challa’s genius sister Suri and Danai Gurira is a blast as warrior woman, Okoye. She’s a powerhouse and deserves her own movie. Rounding out are strong characterizations from Freeman as Ross, Angela Bassett as Ramonda and Forest Whitaker as the noble Zuri. There is also a cool post credits cameo I won’t spoil.

Once again Marvel has delivered a splendid entertainment that is at once a story with it’s own heart, soul and purpose and yet fits well into the MCU game plan. There are political and racial issues weaved into T’Challa’s first solo flick and it is as energetic and exciting as it is thought provoking. Ryan Coogler is a director who has not only a brilliant visual style, but can make popcorn entertainment that is also food for thought. A delightfully entertaining movie with some well appreciated heart and depth. As always, stay through the entire credits for two extra scenes.

-MonsterZero NJ

Rated 3 and 1/2 (out of 4) black panthers.

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BARE BONES: FANTASTIC FOUR (2015)

FANTASTIC FOUR (2015)

Finally caught up to this much maligned reboot and have to say that I don’t quite understand all the hate it gets. Maybe it’s because I didn’t follow the comic and am not familiar with the lore, or that I just went in with such low expectations that I was pleasantly surprised when it wasn’t altogether awful.

The story follows the creation of a teleportation device by nerds Sue Storm, Reed Richards and Victor Von Doom (Kate Mara, Miles Teller and Toby Kebbell) along with Reed’s friend Ben Grimm (Jamie Bell) and Sue’s hotshot brother Johnny (Michael B. Jordan). The device opens a portal to another world and when an unsanctioned trip to that world goes awry, all five are graced with drastic changes that give them unique powers. While the four returning try to cope with their new ‘gifts’ and the government tries to decide what to do with them, Victor is stranded on the alien world gaining frightening power and a heinous agenda.

Josh Trank’s interpretation is, by far, not a misunderstood classic, but it is a unique take on the superhero genre, much like his Chronicle, focusing more on how one might react to gaining unwanted abilities and how they would be viewed by paranoid and power-hungry government agencies. The fact that two of the four become outright government agents to use their powers for ‘good’ is amusing and we know that eventually some kind of threat, here Victor Von Doom, will unite them as heroes. It’s actually an interesting and non-traditional viewpoint of the superhero epic and there is little or no action till the end…which is where it really stumbles. The conflict with Doom is basically in the last 20 minutes and his reasons for wanting to literally destroy the Earth are quite convoluted. We also never get a real grasp as to what it is about the forces on this planet that imbue superpowers upon it’s visitors. The battle between the newly formed superhero group and “Dr. Doom” ends rather quickly and with little effort, leaving the film with a very anti-climactic feel by the time the credits roll. It all seems more like a 100 minute origin story than a complete movie, though had it not bombed, it might have been interesting to see these four on a complete adventure. Oh, well. Cast were all fine though some of the CGI FX range from excellent to mediocre. Underwhelming…yes…completely awful…not really.

-MonsterZero NJ