REVIEW: BLADE RUNNER 2049 (2017)

BLADE RUNNER 2049 (2017)

Sequel picks up thirty years after the disappearance of Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford) with replicants now being perfected to the point of obedience. One such new model “K” (Ryan Gosling) hunts down older models as a Blade Runner. When he “retires” replicant Sapper Morton (Dave Bautista), he finds a box of bones on his property that belong to Deckard’s replicant lover Rachel. They also indicate Rachel had died giving birth, a startling revelation that finds K sent on a reluctant mission to find and eliminate the child before the world finds out about it. This puts him in great danger as he must track down Rick Deckard and is pursued by the Wallace Corporation, who want to find out how a replicant gave birth and use that knowledge for their own purposes.

Worthy sequel is directed by Denis Villeneuve (Arrival) from a script by Hampton Fancher (who co-wrote the original) and Michael Green. It’s a science fiction mystery with an amazing visual style that both brings us back to Ridley Scott’s 1982 cult classic and yet goes beyond it to create its own futuristic world, of neon overindulgence and rotting decay. It is a moderately paced and moody thriller that manages never to be boring at a lengthy 163 minutes and populates its world with some very eccentric…and dangerous…characters. The script links the film very cleverly to the 1982 original and takes the story to new places and gives us a lot to think about as we follow K on his journey, and we discover the clues and startling revelations as he does. Like Scott’s film, there is some violent action, but this is a film noir, mystery/thriller not an action movie, much like the first film and it works very well if you have the patience to let it tell its story at its own pace. The cinematography by Roger Deakins is quite sumptuous and the score by Hans Zimmer and Benjamin Wallfisch sets the mood perfectly and mixes in some elements of the original Vangelis score, so the film feels like a Blade Runner movie.

Villeneuve has a great cast. Gosling is a perfect fit for the brooding Blade Runner “K”. He gives the outcast replicant some nice emotional depth as he ponders his part in this ongoing mystery. Ford steps back into Deckard’s shoes with ease giving him a weariness and a hardened edge of living a lonely life in exile. Robin Wright makes for a tough, hard-nosed cop as K’s superior officer, Lt. Joshi. Ana de Armas is charming, sweet and sexy as K’s hologram girlfriend Joi. Rounding out is a creepy Jared Leto as Niander Wallace, who has taken over the replicant business from The Tyrell Corp and Sylvia Hoeks as his very lethal hench-woman, Luv. They serve as our villains, as they want to find Rachel’s child for their own nefarious purposes. The supporting players, including Guardians of the Galaxy’s Dave Bautista, are all top notch, too. A very solid cast.

It’s too early to tell if this flick will become a cult classic like its predecessor. It is a solid sequel and yet very much its own movie. It has a great cast, some incredible visuals and an intriguing mystery that keeps our attention even at almost three hours long. It may be a bit too brooding and lengthy for some, but if you are a patient person, and a fan of the original, it is a highly recommended sequel to a cult classic.

-MonsterZero NJ

Rated 3 and 1/2 (out of 4) holographic girlfriends.

**************************************************

REVIEW: ALIEN: COVENANT (2017)

ALIEN: COVENANT (2017)

WARNING: There might be some details here that could be considered as spoilers to those who want to go in knowing as little as possible. Some plot elements had to be divulged somewhat in order to give an accurate opinion. -MZNJ

Prometheus was a pretentious mess that tried to expand on the Alien franchise by delving into our creation and thus that of the Xenomorphs. It didn’t make good on it’s initial ideas and had a crew of supposed genius scientists doing incredibly stupid things. Ridley Scott tries to repair a bit of the damage with Alien: Covenant, which brings us closer to the world he introduced us to in 1979. The flick takes place ten years later with the spaceship Covenant heading to populate a new world with a small crew and over two thousand colonists in hyper-sleep. A massive neutrino burst blasts the ship causing damage and forcing the ship synthetic, Walter (Michael Fassbender) to awaken the crew. While engaging in repairs, they receive a signal from what appears to be a human source on a nearby planet. Upon investigation, the crew finds out not only the fate of Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Repace) and the synthetic David (also Michael Fassbender), but discover an awaiting nightmare that they may not escape from.

New chapter in the Alien saga is definitely better than Prometheus, but that’s not saying much, nor is it by the amount needed to restore complete faith in this prequel series. This one is written by John Logan and Dante Harper, from a story by Jack Paglen and Michael Green and the first hour is actually quite dull till we reach the unknown planet and find the synthetic human David living in what appears to once have been a city of otherworldly beings. There the film picks up a bit as it takes on a sort of Frankenstein twist as David has been quite busy playing God on his new world. It then takes till the last act where we start to get some of the action we came for and some familiar faces make their appearance…and that’s also the other problem. At this point the Xenomorph’s are far too familiar to be really frightening and it is the messianic David that really chills one as there are definitely a few screws loose in his reattached, megalomaniacal head. In these scenes the film livens up and delivers some chills as our unsuspecting, stranded crew have no idea what little ole David has been doing to relieve the boredom…but they’re going to find out. There is some surprisingly abundant gore and the film is sumptuous looking, as are all of Scott’s films, but it all comes to a terribly predictable end that we can all see coming almost an hour away. There are a few scenes along the way with some impact…alien interrupted shower sex anyone?…but otherwise it’s the same ole, same ole right up to how the remaining crew decide to deal with the critter…really, after almost 40 years you’re still sticking with that???

The cast are good, though the characters here are very thinly written and it’s hard to connect on an emotional level with anybody but the chill-inducing David. Katherine Waterston is our heroine Daniels Branson and while she is fine in the last act when she goes all Ripley, she really doesn’t make much of an impact until then. One wonders where all the piss and vinegar comes from as she is played very low-key up till that point. Comic actor Danny McBride stands out a bit as pilot Tennessee. McBride is very restrained here and plays the role very seriously…as the film is basically humorless, anyway. He makes a solid hero even if, like Waterston, he doesn’t get to cowboy-up till the last act. Really standing out doing exceptional work is Michael Fassbender as both David and Walter. As Covenant synthetic Walter we get the boyish innocence and Spock-like logic we expect from these android characters. It is when he gets to chew the scenery as the messiah/Dr. Frankenstein mash-up that is David, he really chills with his performance and out-does the creepy critters in the goosebumps department. His relationship with the newer model Walter is quite interesting as he tries to convince the synthetic to see things his way. The scenes revealing what David has been up to the last ten years are among the best in the movie. Once we go back to the alien loose on the ship format, it gets very ‘been there, done that’. As for the rest of the cast that populate this prequel sequel, they are basically two dimensional alien fodder and we never really care about them or remember their names for that matter.

In conclusion, yes it was better than it’s predecessor, but not by much and it takes over an hour to really get going. The characters are bland, the aliens at this point are too familiar to be truly frightening and their antics are getting stale. What makes this movie worth watching is Michael Fassbender’s truly chilling portrayal of David and the messianic Dr. Frankenstein he’s become. His relationship with the xenomorph’s is a highlight, though it does unintentionally clue us in as to how this is all going to end…and it ends exactly how you think it’s going to. Not the pretentious mess that was Prometheus, but still a long way from the original classic or James Cameron’s awesome sequel.

-MonsterZero NJ

2 and 1/2 alien eggs.

 

 

 

 

Be Warned: this is the Red Band trailer…

REVIEW: LOGAN (2017)

LOGAN (2017)

(Remember, clicking the highlighted links brings you to other reviews and articles here at The Movie Madhouse!)

This dark comic book thriller takes place in the future where the mutants are all but gone and “The Wolverine” Logan (Hugh Jackman) keeps a low profile as a limo driver and takes care of an Alzheimer’s afflicted Professor X (Patrick Stewart), who is in hiding in Mexico. Logan, who is now aging and losing his ability to heal due to his own ailments, is contacted by a woman (Elizabeth Rodriguez) begging him to take a little girl named Laura (Dafne Keen) to a safe haven in South Dakota…a safe haven for mutants. Soon Logan finds Laura is very much like him and now he, the girl and The Professor are in a race across country for their lives as the sinister forces that created Laura want her back.

Flick is intensely directed by James Mangold from a script by he, Michael Green and Scott Frank and finally gives fans the R-rated Wolverine adventure they have been craving. The violence reaches horror film levels as does the intensity, though Mangold gives the proceedings some nice emotional depth amidst the carnage. The film is smaller and more intimate in scale, giving this tale room for some strong character development, especially as our beloved heroes are both aging and ailing and no longer who they used to be. This also allows for some nice moments between Logan and Xavier, as well as, time for Wolverine to reluctantly bond with Laura, as the two have a lot in common. There is still plenty of bone breaking and skull splitting action as Logan gets into numerous battles with the villainous Donald Pierce (Boyd Holbrook) and his army of well armed henchmen, including genetically created mutant X-24 (also Hugh Jackman). The battles are quite vicious and gory, especially when Laura enters the fray and she may be more a true Wolverine than Logan at this point. The fact than the film has a strong emotional core makes these scenes even more effective and gives weight to all the violence and keeps us engaged during the character driven moments in-between. A very intense and well done final chapter in Wolverine’s legacy and finally the solo film we have been hoping for.

The film is said to be Jackman’s farewell to a character he has played on screen for almost two decades and he really gives it his all. Jackman was always good at giving Logan that cynical but noble edge and here he adds in a weariness from age and pain as Logan’s abilities are fading due to the long-term effects of the adamantium in his body. He gives The Wolverine a strong emotional center as we see the character succumbing to age and illness, yet still not completely accepting he’s not the hero he used to be. If this is truly his last appearance with his claws, he gives the character a strong send-off with one of his best performances. Same could be said of Stewart as the ailing Charles Xavier. Stewart presents him as sadly feeble, yet still strong of heart and quick of wit. Professor X is endearing as always and it effects us as we watch him dealing with an illness that ravages the part of himself he cherishes most. It is also a fitting farewell to a character he has played as long as Jackman has played Logan, if this is his last time in the role. Dafne Keen makes quite an impression as Wolverine “mini-me” Laura (also referred to by the Transigen bad guys as X-23). She is genetically linked to our hero and is quite the chip off the old block. Keen gives quite the performance as a little girl with amazing abilities and who is quite as much a powder keg as her genetic father. As for our villains, first up is Boyd Holbrook as lead bad guy Donald Pierce. He is threatening and condescending and Holbrook makes the metal-armed thug very unlikable as he should be. There is also Richard E. Grant as Dr. Zander Rice, the man who not only created the new mutants, but had a hand in eliminating the others. He’s more of a generic evil scientist, but works within the context of the story. Rounding out is Stephen Merchant as Caliban, one of the remaining mutants who cares for Charles Xavier and has the ability to track other mutants. Merchant makes a likable character caught in the middle, unfortunately, of Transigens plans for Laura. A good cast helping the director deliver a strong story.

Finally a Wolverine solo film we can sink our claws into. Logan was intense, vicious and yet had emotional depth and solid performances from the cast. It is a fitting farewell to Jackman’s portrayal of Wolverine and Stewart’s Charles Xavier, as well as, an entertaining and very adult superhero flick that pushes the boundary of it’s R-rating. Highly recommended.

-MonsterZero NJ

  3 and 1/2 adamantium bullets.