Movie Review - Man of Steel

 Man of Steel  $$$     

 

PG-13

143 Minutes

Starring: Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Michael Shannon, and Russell Crowe.

Director: Zack Snyder.

 

What is it about Superman that makes him so popular? I leave it to you to debate the reason amongst yourselves. I’m just here to report on the success of this oft-told tale.

The movie begins on Krypton. With only a few weeks until the planet self-destructs, Jor-El (Russell Crowe) steals the Codex and sends it along with his son Kal-El to Earth. Frankly, I would have liked to stay on Krypton longer and seen more of the place. The glimpses that we do see in the opening minutes of the story were fascinating.

On Earth Kal-El becomes Clark Kent (Henry Cavill) and struggles with the grand super-hero dilemma of whether he should announce himself to the world or keep his super powers a secret. This struggle with self-identity plods along and following on the heels of the action-packed events on Krypton feels a bit slow.

Eventually, General Zod (Michael Shannon) and his band of misguided misfits show up on Earth and demand that Kal-El turn himself over to them. and you guessed it, a great deal of destruction is to be had from the ensuing Kryptonian reunion.  

Let me start off the analytical comments by stating that I feel this is the best version of the Superman story that I remember seeing. Henry Cavill fits the role Kal-El quite well. Michael Shannon nails the role of General Zod and sets the benchmark for which anyone else in that role will be gauged. As much as I love Amy Adams I felt her role as Lois Lane fell a little flat.

The special effects were—let’s just say it—SUPER. I did not see the movie in 3D and about half way through it I wished that I had. My only complaint about the visual elements of the film is that the fight scenes were a bit choppy for me and I sometimes found it difficult to follow the action.

I give high marks to this movie for special effects, acting, and story. The place that I felt it suffered was emotional impact. I didn’t come out of the theater feeling jazzed and excited about the movie. Sure I enjoyed it, but a great film grabs you and doesn’t let go. There were several moments that should have been emotional treasures that were just—meh. But I realize that not everyone will agree with me on this and may find it one of the best movies of the year.

My rating for Man of Steel is a solid 3 Movie Bucks. You definitely want to see it first run, in a state-of-the-art theater, and possibly in 3D. But you can do that at any of the discount showings. 

 

                        Randy’s Rating System 

$$$$   = Full Price    See this movie right away and pay full price, it’s worth it.

$$$     = Matinee      Catch this as a matinee or other discounted showing.

$$        = Discount     Wait until this movie reaches a discount theater near you.

$          = Rental         Wait until this movie reaches your local video rental outlet.

0          = No Sale       Don’t see this movie at any price.

 

Movie Review - Ephraim's Rescue

 Ephraim’s Rescue  $$$

 

 

PG

Starring: Darin Southam, Charley Boon, and Travis Eberhard.

Director: T. C. Christensen. 

 

            Most of my reviews are strictly about the movie; the seamless story given to us by the writer, the smoothly flowing scenes assembled by the director, and the charismatic performances of the actors. And in most cases these are the elements that make a film worth seeing. But not always.

            Saturday night, I took my wife to see Ephraim’s Rescue. I happened to be in a sour mood that evening. We drove to theater, took our seats, and waited for the film to start all without much conversation on my part. Then the movie started and five minutes into it I considered leaving. However, I knew my wife would prefer to stay for the entire film so I hunkered down and prepared to endure the experience.

            How fortunate for me that I did. By the time we left the theater my mind and even more importantly my mood had been changed. The pioneer stories that played out on the screen had buoyed my withered spirit. My day ended on a bright, smiley note because I took the time to catch this LDS themed film.

            Ephraim’s Rescue deals with the ill-faten Martin handcart company that lost many of its members on the trek to Salt Lake City. The story is based on true accounts that were recorded by the survivors. Ephraim Hanks (Darin Southam) brought supplies to the surviving members of the company as they attempted to battle through a snow storm. Once there, he assisted the Saints as much as possible and escorted them on the rest of their journey to Salt Lake.  

            When I first heard that they were doing a movie about this event, I worried that it might be too gruesome for my tastes, but it wasn’t. Instead, the director managed to put together a touching story of the sacrifices made by these brave pioneers. I especially loved the scene with Albert (Travis Eberhard) of the Saints crossing an icy river. These emotional scenes were handled in artful style that allows you to appreciate the spirit and nature of events without being dragged down by the tragedy.

            Several of the early scenes dragged a bit, but I am glad that I stayed for the entire film. Otherwise I would have missed the tender moments that make this film a winner. I’m not sure how to rate the movie. If I give it a rating based on the wonderful feeling I had when I exited the theater then it easily deserves a full four Movie Bucks. But if I mainly focused on the scenes at the beginning of the film it would only rate two Movie Bucks. In my section of the country, I doubt this will make it to the discount theaters so if you want to support the LDS filmmakers as they strive to put out movies with greater soul to them, then you will want to catch this as a matinee while it is still in the first-run theaters. 

 

                        Randy’s Rating System 

$$$$   = Full Price    See this movie right away and pay full price, it’s worth it.

$$$     = Matinee      Catch this as a matinee or other discounted showing.

$$        = Discount     Wait until this movie reaches a discount theater near you.

$          = Rental         Wait until this movie reaches your local video rental outlet.

0          = No Sale       Don’t see this movie at any price.

 

 

Movie Review - After Earth

 After Earth  $$

 

PG-13

100 Minutes

Starring: Will Smith, Jaden Smith, and Sophie Okonedo.

Director: M. Night Shyamalan.

 

            Science Fiction. Fiction that is based on, or built around, scientific principles. Of all the genres this one suffers the most from stories that have too much fiction and not enough science. The suspension of disbelief in science-fiction does not tolerate logic flaws very well.

Let me give you an example based on the old saying that you don’t bring a knife to a gun fight.  In a story set more than a thousand years in the future, why would humans elect to fight monsters with swords? Why wouldn’t they continue to develop ranged weapons with even greater destructive capabilities? Well, the science of it says that mankind would do exactly that.

            The list of scientific offenses was pretty long for this film. However, I think I have said enough about that already. While annoying, I don’t feel that this is what doomed the movie; more about that later in the review.   

            Humans polluted the Earth and left to find another place to live. In the process they ran into an alien species who have resorted to dropping monsters on the planet in order to hunt the relocated Earthmen. These monsters sense fear and the humans have developed Ranger training that dampens fear and makes the “Rangers” invisible to the monsters.

            Kitai (Jaden Smith) is the son of legendary Ranger Cypher Raige (Will Smith). After Kitai fails to qualify for Ranger training, Cypher decides to take his son along with him on an inter-planetary trip. The ship runs into trouble amid an asteroid field and crashes on a nearby planet.

            As it turns out, the planet is Earth. The pollution is gone, but all life forms now have an instinctive drive to kill humans and the entire planet freezes over each night. In order to be rescued Kitai has to travel to where the second half of the ship crashed and launch a beacon that will bring help.

            And . . . they had one of the monsters on the ship which is now loose on Earth and ready to tear apart any humans that it runs across. 

            Since Mr. Shyamalan is responsible for both the directing and part of the writing, the failure of this movie rests squarely on his shoulders. The story is not believable and there are a lot of poor choices made in the direction of the film. Will Smith, in his attempt to give us a man without fear has instead given us a man without emotion and consequently a man without any interesting features. Jaden Smith may turn out to be a fine actor, but he lacks the experience that is needed for a lead role. The combination of an inexperienced lead and an emotionally restrained veteran actor leaves us without any chemistry that makes us care what happens to either of the characters.

            On the positive side, the landscape was beautiful. I really enjoyed the panoramic views that were part of this film. And the special Ranger sword was pretty cool. Too bad there weren’t more scenes of Rangers whipping one around in a weaving wall of death.

            I struggled with the rating I should give this film. The friend who saw the movie with me threatened to leave me to watch future movies by myself if I gave it a rating higher than one Movie Buck. I’m going to give it two MBs simply because I think it is worth seeing on the big screen. Although, there is a strong argument for not seeing the movie at all. 

 

                        Randy’s Rating System 

$$$$   = Full Price    See this movie right away and pay full price, it’s worth it.

$$$     = Matinee      Catch this as a matinee or other discounted showing.

$$        = Discount     Wait until this movie reaches a discount theater near you.

$          = Rental         Wait until this movie reaches your local video rental outlet.

0          = No Sale       Don’t see this movie at any price.