(non-spoiler review)

Batman Begins

Dark, gritty, nightmarish and heroic…Christopher Nolan ‘s interpretation of the origin of the Dark Knight was all that should be expected of a Batman film and more. While essentially retelling a story that any Batman fan has seen or read many times, Nolan manages to imbue this chapter of the Batman mythos with new life. I found myself immersed in the movie immediately even while anticipating the inevitable death of young Bruce Waynes’ parents. Nolan gives the Waynes a heroic element of their own which reveberates throughout both the film and the timeline of the fictional Gotham City. This element helps to build the foundation of Bruce Waynes’ character and makes his desire to be the protector of Gotham City much more relevant.

I enjoyed the choice of the classic Batman villains. The portrayals of Ra’s Al Ghul and the Scarecrow were superbly done. I will not write much more concerning these two characters so as not to spoil the movie. I will say, however, that the special effects and method of shooting the Scarecrow scenes were terrific and truly nightmare inducing. I was actually quite surprised at the level of fright in a movie that many people will be taking young children to see. It was excellent but the PG-13 rating should be heeded by parents of nightmare prone children.

The entire movie was filmed, colored, and costumed to perfection. The color palate really set the tone that this movie would take right from the opening frames. The costuming was very classic and subtle…it added to but did not distract from the movie. The handling of the Batman costume was fantastic. Very well done. The cinematography and special effects were terrific…even more so because they too did not distract from the story. You noticed the special effects, but they did not awe so much that they took you out of the movie. I also have to give kudos to the designers who created the look of Gotham City. Gotham looked very much like a modern city but with a slight hint of classic science fiction “city of the future” elements that made it an interesting place in and of itself.

The choice of actors was very good. Christian Bale portrayed Bruce Wayne and Batman terrifically. In my opinion he is the best of the Batman actors thus far. Bale was able to be make Bruce Wayne/Batman both moody and likeable. Bale’s Bruce Wayne was charming, but not overly so and his Batman was moody and dark but not one dimensional. Michael Caine is Alfred and would’ve been the best and most logical choice for all of the Batman films. Katie Holmes makes the most out of an admittedly small role and I enjoyed her in this. Liam Neeson and Morgan Freeman were excellent, as was Rutger Hauer. I haven’t seen Hauer in a movie in some time and I didn’t realize he was in this until he first appeared on screen. It was fun to see him again. Gary Oldman was a terrific choice for police officer and one-day commissioner Jim Gordon and he did a great job. A terrific cast…well done!

I attended this film with my brother and his family. Half way through the film my 10 year old nephew Elijah leaned over and said, “This is a great movie!”. At the end of the movie he looked at me and said, “If I had a microphone I bet I could say ‘raise your hand if you liked this movie’ and everyone would raise their hands!” Well Elijah, I would have to agree. My hand is up…..

(Non-spoiler review)

Our vacation has begun and it has started with a real knockout, Ron Howards’ biopic of James J. Braddock, Cinderella Man. It is rare when a movie trailer leaves me with a lump in my throat and the trailer for this movie had done so each and every time I saw it over the last several months. Needless to say I was looking forward to this one. My anticipation was not in vain as this movie delivered on all counts.

Cinderella Man is the story of New Jersey local James J. Braddock, his early boxing success, his professional and financial decline during The Great Depression, and his fairy tale resurrection in the boxing ring. It is a story of love and hope and triumph. Its the kind of story that lends itself to the type of movie that will wring tears from your eyes along with shouts of triumph…the kind of movie that Ron Howard has become so adept at bringing to the big screen.

Howard has earned another Oscar nomination for this one. It is masterfully told in every arena- acting, cinematography, score, lighting…everything. The cast could not be better. Whether you enjoy or despise Russell Crowe’s off-screen antics there is no denying his acting talent. He brings an everyman quality to the role of Braddock. From the very beginning you like this guy and are rooting for this guy. I never once thought, ‘hey there’s Russell Crowe up on screen’. I was sold from the opening shot that this was James J. Braddock. His on-screen chemisty with Renee Zellweger is amazing. She was perfectly cast for this movie as she really has that 1920’s flapper look and from the first moment they are together in the movie you feel that they are devoted to each other. The children were perfectly cast and did an outstanding job. The way their roles were written and filmed made you care about them as much as did Braddock himself. The person who stole the show, however, was Paul Giamatti. He played the role of Braddocks’ manager and he was simply perfect. I won’t share anything else about his role as it would spoil the movie for you but if he doesn’t get recognized with a Best Supporting Actor nomination by the Academy I will be really disappointed.

The movie was filmed to perfection. The muted color tones and lighting not only reflected the darkness that overshadows a world in which men pummel each other for sport but also reflected the era of our history known as the Great Depression. We have all had some introduction to this time period during our history classes growing up but I learned things that I hadn’t heard or at least didn’t remember about the way things were during this time. Mary and I talked about how well they portrayed the climate of the world at that time and the shots of people clamoring for jobs looked as accurate as any documentaries I’ve seen on the subject.

The fights were incredible. Howard did many different things with the cinematography and choreography of these bouts that made each moment in them simply amazing. I particularly enjoyed the times where the fight was shot from the perspective of one of the opponents in the ring. As I said, it was simply amazing. I was on the edge of my seat and in awe with each punch.

Thomas Newman’s score was excellent and it was made doubly so by the fact that, since this was a story about an Irishman, there were several great fiddle pieces in the movie. There were a couple of times during the movie when I found myself stepping outside the movie for just a moment to enjoy the music. This is a soundtrack I would consider getting.

The last thing I want to discuss in this review is the love story. The entire premise of this movie is hope and love, but most especially the love of a family. Ron Howard’s directing and the phenomenal performances of the actors had me in tears early on in the film and brought me to tears several times thereafter. If I wasn’t crying I was grabbing the arm rest in stress during the fight scenes. Howard takes the time early in the film to slowly establish the relationships of this family before the real fighting begins and it is time well invested. The pay off is that you care about these characters and what happens to them. Cinderella Man is well worth seeing and worth paying the money to see on the big screen.

FULL SPOILER DISCUSSION…you have been warned!

The narrative crawl faded into the distance, the theme music died, and the ride began…and what a ride it was. The sweeping opening battle sequence was indescribably incredible. As Obi Wan and Anakin’s ships dove towards the large battleship below I felt my stomach drop like I was on a roller coaster ride and my excitement level for this movie was close to overwhelming. The entire opening sequence was like a full on demonstration of just what can be done with today’s digital technology. I loved the way the large ships pulled alongside each other and fired broadside laser cannons, a nod to the pirate ship battles of old.

This is not going to be the type of structured review that I usually do of movies, it will be more of a discussion, as I said above. I hope you’ll add your thoughts in the comments section.

I thought the writing in this movie was closer to the level of writing in the original series, particularly Empire Strikes Back and was much better than in Episodes I and II. The seduction of Anakin towards the dark side by Chancellor Palpatine was paced very well. The way that they wrote the Jedi doing things that appeared to violate their principles and the way this added to Anakin’s confusion was terrific. I also felt that the relationship between Anakin and Padme was much more believable. The mental torture that he was undergoing and the anguish of his dreams made Anakin a less wooden character than in previous incarnations….and wouldn’t you have known that the creation of Darth Vader had something to do with a woman! 🙂 Just kidding, ladies! I also enjoyed the fact that, despite plenty of action, there were long stretches of dialogue that addressed the political manipulations of Chancellor Palpatine and advanced other parts of the story. Lucas actually seemed to take the time in this one to tell a story! I’m not big into politics but one of the things I was surprised about in episode I and have enjoyed in all 3 new episodes is the part that politics played in the downfall of the Republic and the rise of the Empire, the Emperor, and Darth Vader.

I touched on it in the opening, but the special effects in this movie were just incredible!!!! I mean, WOW!!! The planet designs, the creatures, and especially the ships were amazing. My first detailed memories of space ships are from Star Wars and I’ve always loved the ship designs of the Star Wars universe more than any other. It was fun to see ships that more closely resembled the ships of A New Hope…I especially enjoyed seeing Bail Organa’s ship, a precursor to the Rebel Blockade runner in the beginning of episode IV.

I understand why many parents will be frustrated with the dark tone of this movie, I really do. On the other hand, this movie really had to be dark. Up until his rescue of Luke in ROTJ, Darth Vader is a mean and heartless Sith. He strangles people on a whim, tortures Princess Leia for information, carbon freezes Han, has his Storm Troopers torch Uncle Ben and Aunt Beru….his creation could not have been anything but dark. But man, I didn’t expect it to be like that! From the time that Anakin killed Mace Windu until the time Obi Wan cut off his legs and he got torched I don’t think I took a deep breath! I was sooo tense during that whole moment. And maybe its just because I’m a parent but when Anakin killed the young padawans I was just sick! I’m so glad Lucas didn’t pull any punches with this one.

I realize this is super disjointed, but there were so many things I loved about this movie. I enjoyed the R2D2 and C-3PO moments…they seemed so much more like the original trilogy. On that note I’ve talked with people whose kids love Jar-Jar and I’m thinking that he is to today’s kids what R2 and C-3PO were to me when I was a kid…fun, loveable characters that I couldn’t imagine not having in the Star Wars movies. I was thrilled with the way that Anakin was already wanting to overthrow the Emperor, it tied in so well to what he tries to do with Luke in the later movies. I thought the way that Chancellor Palpatine aged during the fight with Mace Windu was terrific and when he stood up and pulled the cowl over his head I actually let out an audible “Oh, Wow!” as the transformation to the Emperor was so perfect!

I liked the way they handled the birth and distribution of Luke and Leia although it did feel a bit rushed. I enjoyed the way that they brought up early in the movie that there was a potential to cheat death, albiet on the dark side, and then the way they ended the movie with the knowledge that Qui Gon had found a way to come back…very nice answer to that question of why some Jedi don’t “die”. I thought the end battle sequence between Anakin and Obi Wan was spectacular. It was long enough to be a true “battle” but didn’t drag on forever…..have I said yet how great this movie was??? 🙂

And I thought the whole ‘balance to the force’ prophecy was interesting. Any interpretations? I told Mary last night that if all the Jedi were dead except Obi Wan and Yoda and there were only 2 Sith…Anakin and The Emperor….that’s pretty balanced, isn’t it?

Anyway, I’m sure I could go on forever but I’ll end this long, geek ramble and let you guys talk about the movie. I’m so excited that we all can share this phenomenon together.

This is a NO SPOILER overview!

A journey that began for me at age 8, in a drive-in theatre 28 years ago, came to an end at approximately 2:34 a.m. CST. And such an end it was… But first:

Arrived at the theatre at 4:30 p.m. with my daughter Tori and her friend Alyssa. There were only about 20 or 30 people in line in front of us. Settled in with blankets and camping chairs and read comics. Tom joined us around 7:15 and Jeff arrived around 8:30. Mary came about an hour later…the privilege of being the only woman in our small party of geeks. Several people had laptops and were watching various incarnations of Star Wars. There were fewer dressed-up geeks than I would’ve thought.

The AMC theatre was a real class act tonight. They shut most of their 20 theatres down after the matinees to get things ready. While we waited in line they had staff periodically come around and take orders. All evening they offered 20 oz drinks, hot dogs, and popcorn for $1.00. At 9:00 p.m. they opened up the theatres. There was only 1 person in the theatre we were in and we got perfect seats. The AMC staff showed the movie in all 20 of their theatres and reported that each theatre was 100% sold out. It was the most amazing thing that I’d ever witnessed. The crowds were enormous! We were in the largest theatre and every seat was filled, even the front ones. Never in my life will I see anything like that. There were upwards of 3,000 people in that one building alone. And despite this everything was orderly and handled with the utmost professionalism. It was fantastic!

“So get on with the movie, Carl!”…oh, was there a movie???

The movie was breathtaking, from the opening scene to the rolling of the credits. It was a spectacular way to end this series and left me contemplating what could have been if Lucas had poured this much skill and passion into episodes I and II. The script was very good and for once I felt that the actors were given great material to work with. I don’t want to say much as you need to experience this for yourselves with no spoilers. Suffice it to say that some questions were answered, a few were not, and I doubt that you’ll leave the theatre disappointed.

A word of caution to those with small children…this movie was very dark and earned its PG-13 rating. There aren’t any scenes with Jar-Jar in the swimming hole or young lovers cavorting with space cows! The darkness spreads and grows in intensity as the film progresses…I felt like I was holding my breath during the entire last hour despite knowing exactly what was going to happen. This film truly needed to be dark in order to have any resonance, but I do feel sorry for parents of younger children who will have to make a decision about whether or not to take their kids. The political and emotional machinations that led to the destruction of Anakin Skywalker and to the rise of Darth Vader are actually more than any young child would understand anyway.

Revenge of the Sith was a great film. It stands on its own in such a way that I honestly feel that I may never need to watch episodes I and II again but will start any future Star Wars marathons with episode III. The writing and acting were equal to the stunning special effects.

Thanks for the journey, George Lucas. Thank you ever so much for planting the seed of wonder in this 8 year old child. And thank you for this movie…bravo, George Lucas…Bravo!