By: Matt Duncan
Coastal View News
Like a younger brother walking into high school for the first time—with teachers and coaches expecting a younger version of the older sibling—High King Peter continues to be overshadowed by Aragorn and Frodo in the latest installment of C.S. Lewis’ series: “The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian.” Despite the movie’s adequacy, it is hard to avoid seeing this series as “Lord of the Rings-Light” or “Lord of the Rings-Junior.”
Peter, Edmund, Susan and Lucy Pevensie are just getting used to life back in England after a rip-roaring adventure in “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,” with each child coping with the absence of magic in a difference way. Peter (William Moseley), who misses the mystical kingdom he once ruled, is restless to return. Susan (Anna Popplewell), on the other hand, has begun to accept the normal life she now leads. Edmund (Skandar Keynes) and Lucy (Georgie Henley) are somewhere in-between.
Just as Peter begins to express his complete frustration, the four siblings are returned to Narnia in a windstorm. However, after a moment of jubilation, the family learns that their beloved kingdom is in trouble. In their absence, and without the help of their beloved lion Aslan (Liam Neeson), the human race has become corrupt—killing off all that is magical and innocent.
The lone dissenter in this tragedy is Prince Caspian (Ben Barnes), rightful heir to the human throne. However, Caspian’s uncle, Miraz (Sergio Castellitto), desires the throne and is aiming to rid the kingdom of his nephew and only competitor. While on the run, Caspian blows on an ancient horn that summons the “kings and queens of old” (the Pevensie children)—thus resulting in the Pevensie’s wind-swept transportation to Narnia.
Now accompanied by two kings, two queens and a prince, the once-hidden centaurs, dwarfs, skunks and miscellaneous creatures rally together to stage a battle against Miraz and his terrible kingdom. High King Peter goes about battle preparations, but he lacks faith in the absent Aslan—preferring to do things his own way. What results is a bungled attack on the enemy’s castle, dozens of dead friends and a bickering cast of young heroes.
When at their lowest—with the enemy now closing in on their dilapidated sanctuary—the group finally decides to send Lucy to find Aslan. Meanwhile, a challenge and a battle ensue, pitting the wits, minds and hearts of the noble Prince Caspian and High King Peter against the twisted Miraz.
One can imagine C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien, good friends living in England in the mid-1900s, sitting down next to each other to write a story. It is tough to tell who was copying off whose paper, considering “The Chronicles of Narnia” and “The Lord of the Rings” were written at about the same time. Although both Lewis and Tolkien were well-versed in mythology, so many details and images in “The Chronicles of Narnia” are strikingly similar to “The Lord of the Rings,” that a viewer cannot help but think the two authors were sharing ideas. The religious imagery, the mythical creatures, the fighting trees—although these are different stories, the cast and setting seem to be the same.
Because it is impossible to avoid comparing Lewis’ and Tolkien’s stories, and because “The Lord of the Rings” was so wonderful, “The Chronicles of Narnia” is going to be worse off. However, the latest Narnia flick is good in its own right and tons of fun. “The Chronicles of Narnia” is directed at a younger audience, as evidenced by children in the lead, simpler concepts and religious symbolism that is more transparent. The acting is slightly sub-par on the whole (mostly due to the casting of Ben Barnes as Prince Caspian), but about average for a children’s movie. Yet the true shortcoming of “The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian” is that the movie does nothing new or original to set it apart. It is not enough to remind viewers that the story may have been original in the 1950s.
It really is the climate that is going to hurt this movie, because the story is rich in meaning and the movie is exciting. Children will the love the movie and adults will like it too, as long as they have not watched “The Lord of the Rings” recently.
“The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian” is rated PG for epic battle action and violence.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Thursday, May 15, 2008
"Iron Man"
By: Matt Duncan
Coastal View News
Robert Downey Jr. seems about as likely a superhero as Tobey Maguire, and Iron Man is about as well-known and popular as Plastic Man. Yet Downey’s performance in the latest superhero thriller, “Iron Man,” is smoother and more convincing than any number of Batmen or Supermen, and the man of iron ends up being more formidable than the man of steel.
Tony Stark (Robery Downey Jr.) is half suave-playboy, half engineering-genius. He is also very rich and successful, having inherited his father’s engineering company, Stark Industries, which specializes in weapons manufacturing (a lucrative industry indeed). Due to Tony’s unparalleled technical abilities, the company thrives under his control. However, while demonstrating some of his latest military technology in the Middle East, Stark’s convoy is attacked and Stark is captured by thuggish, cave-dwelling terrorists.
Having obtained shrapnel wounds during the skirmish, Stark is lucky enough to be treated by a doctor who implants a mechanical device powered by a car battery into his chest to keep the shrapnel from entering his heart, thus keeping him alive. But shrapnel is the least of his worries, as the terrorists command Stark to build them a copy of his latest weapon, the Jerusalem missile. It is compliance or death. The brash and noble Stark feigns obedience while instead building a method of escape—and so Iron Man is born!
After kicking tons of butt, Stark returns to his California home and announces his intention to quit making weapons. This announcement is to the chagrin of the Stark family’s long-time business partner, Obadiah Stone (Jeff Bridges), and to the surprise of Stark’s long-time beautiful assistant, Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow). While both seem initially supportive, only one is genuine. With the help of Potts, Stark puts his genius to work in developing a more sophisticated version of Iron Man, while Stone struggles to undo Stark’s position in the company.
The new Iron Man kicks even more butt, and as the design improves, greater evils arise and Stark’s nobility and sense of responsibility kick into overdrive. Stark is forced to discover just how impenetrable his armor really is.
Most people do not go into a superhero movie expecting to see the next Best Picture winner. They do not expect a unique plotline or a profound message. If the average moviegoer is astute, such a person will have noticed that every superhero movie is pretty much the same: an unlikely individual, flawed but genuinely noble, is thrust into a position of responsibility that is at once exciting and frightening. Along the way, this superhero will be confronted with an archenemy—a person that was once a close friend and personal ally. Love will be involved; most assuredly including another unlikely person; perhaps a person that has been in the superhero’s life for a while, and who the audience hopes (and secretly knows) will be “the one.” There will be moments of excitement followed by moments of deep despair and doubt. But ultimately, as if from the ashes, the superhero will triumph.
These facts are rarely short of given. Therefore, because nearly every superhero movie follows the same plotline, what makes such a film stand out is more-or-less unique to the genre. For a superhero movie to be successful the acting has to be good (nothing short of inspirational will do); the action scenes and explosions have to be fast-paced, exciting and somewhat unique, and the screenplay must be smooth, witty and often funny.
“Iron Man” certainly does not transcend the standard superhero storyline, but it is successful because the acting is good, the action is fun and the writing is slick. Robert Downey Jr. is sharp, quick and sassy—characteristics that are strengths for Downey and well-designed in the screenplay. Jeff Bridges’ voice alone makes him well cast as a villain, and Gwyneth Paltrow is nearly always golden.
There are many moments of implausibility in “Iron Man,” but so long as the implausibility is coherent and consistent, which is it is for the most part in this movie, it is the glue that holds all superhero movies together. If you have no patience for this type of movie, don’t waste your time, but if you loved Spiderman, Superman and Batman, “Iron Man” is a worthy superhero flick.
“Iron Man” is rated PG-13 for some intense sequences of sci-fi action and violence.
Coastal View News
Robert Downey Jr. seems about as likely a superhero as Tobey Maguire, and Iron Man is about as well-known and popular as Plastic Man. Yet Downey’s performance in the latest superhero thriller, “Iron Man,” is smoother and more convincing than any number of Batmen or Supermen, and the man of iron ends up being more formidable than the man of steel.
Tony Stark (Robery Downey Jr.) is half suave-playboy, half engineering-genius. He is also very rich and successful, having inherited his father’s engineering company, Stark Industries, which specializes in weapons manufacturing (a lucrative industry indeed). Due to Tony’s unparalleled technical abilities, the company thrives under his control. However, while demonstrating some of his latest military technology in the Middle East, Stark’s convoy is attacked and Stark is captured by thuggish, cave-dwelling terrorists.
Having obtained shrapnel wounds during the skirmish, Stark is lucky enough to be treated by a doctor who implants a mechanical device powered by a car battery into his chest to keep the shrapnel from entering his heart, thus keeping him alive. But shrapnel is the least of his worries, as the terrorists command Stark to build them a copy of his latest weapon, the Jerusalem missile. It is compliance or death. The brash and noble Stark feigns obedience while instead building a method of escape—and so Iron Man is born!
After kicking tons of butt, Stark returns to his California home and announces his intention to quit making weapons. This announcement is to the chagrin of the Stark family’s long-time business partner, Obadiah Stone (Jeff Bridges), and to the surprise of Stark’s long-time beautiful assistant, Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow). While both seem initially supportive, only one is genuine. With the help of Potts, Stark puts his genius to work in developing a more sophisticated version of Iron Man, while Stone struggles to undo Stark’s position in the company.
The new Iron Man kicks even more butt, and as the design improves, greater evils arise and Stark’s nobility and sense of responsibility kick into overdrive. Stark is forced to discover just how impenetrable his armor really is.
Most people do not go into a superhero movie expecting to see the next Best Picture winner. They do not expect a unique plotline or a profound message. If the average moviegoer is astute, such a person will have noticed that every superhero movie is pretty much the same: an unlikely individual, flawed but genuinely noble, is thrust into a position of responsibility that is at once exciting and frightening. Along the way, this superhero will be confronted with an archenemy—a person that was once a close friend and personal ally. Love will be involved; most assuredly including another unlikely person; perhaps a person that has been in the superhero’s life for a while, and who the audience hopes (and secretly knows) will be “the one.” There will be moments of excitement followed by moments of deep despair and doubt. But ultimately, as if from the ashes, the superhero will triumph.
These facts are rarely short of given. Therefore, because nearly every superhero movie follows the same plotline, what makes such a film stand out is more-or-less unique to the genre. For a superhero movie to be successful the acting has to be good (nothing short of inspirational will do); the action scenes and explosions have to be fast-paced, exciting and somewhat unique, and the screenplay must be smooth, witty and often funny.
“Iron Man” certainly does not transcend the standard superhero storyline, but it is successful because the acting is good, the action is fun and the writing is slick. Robert Downey Jr. is sharp, quick and sassy—characteristics that are strengths for Downey and well-designed in the screenplay. Jeff Bridges’ voice alone makes him well cast as a villain, and Gwyneth Paltrow is nearly always golden.
There are many moments of implausibility in “Iron Man,” but so long as the implausibility is coherent and consistent, which is it is for the most part in this movie, it is the glue that holds all superhero movies together. If you have no patience for this type of movie, don’t waste your time, but if you loved Spiderman, Superman and Batman, “Iron Man” is a worthy superhero flick.
“Iron Man” is rated PG-13 for some intense sequences of sci-fi action and violence.
Thursday, May 1, 2008
"The Forbidden Kingdom"
By: Matt Duncan
Coastal View News
At first glance, it might be hard to tell what is forbidden in the newly-released Jackie Chan/Jet Li action thriller, “The Forbidden Kingdom.” Is it an ancient Chinese realm? A mystical world of magic? As it turns out, ‘forbidden’ is referring to the prospects of a good script or good acting; to an original storyline or quality editing—all of which must have been forbidden long before Jackie Chan and Jet Li signed on to do this movie. Even if enamored with high-flying kung foo and acrobatic sword-fighting, “The Forbidden Kingdom” falls well short of what it was aspiring to accomplish: anything worthwhile.
Jason Tripitikas (Michael Angarano) is a kung foo-crazed teenager from Boston whose secret obsession with old combat movies is satisfied by buying bootlegged movies at a shop owned by an old Chinese man. On his way home from the shop one day, Jason is confronted by a gang of teenage ruffians who criticize his taste in film. After some pushing and shoving, the gang forces Jason to take them to the old man’s shop so that they can rob him. Jason obliges, and in the uproar of theft, the shop owner is shot. As he crumbles to the ground, the shop owner, who does not seem to be peeved with Jason for letting burglars into his shop, hands the teenager an old staff from the back of his shop and cryptically instructs Jason to take the staff to its rightful owner. Jason then runs away while being chased by the murderous hooligans. When cornered, the staff does its magic and transports him to ancient China.
Jason understandably feels overmatched in a world run by a repressive and cruel dictatorship and vigilante kung foo masters. Luckily he finds Lu Yan (Jackie Chan) who is a drunken immortal—he can live forever so long as he consumes copious amounts of alcohol. Lu Yan informs Jason that he is carrying a mythical staff once owned by the Monkey King, a loveable rascal who cannot be defeated in battle. According to a prophecy, the Monkey King lost his staff when an evil warlord tricked him and turned him to stone, and now the Monkey King is waiting for the foretold person to bring it to him.
Although Jason manages to augment his warrior clan by adding a vengeful dart-thrower named Golden Sparrow (Yifei Liu) and a testy monk (Jet Li), he continues to sense his own inadequacy, and thus despairs. But with the help of his friends, Jason begins to learn kung foo and takes to is mission of returning the staff to the Monkey King. As the clan makes their way to the home of the warlord, many dangers beset them, and when they actually arrive to challenge the warlord, the odds against their survival seems insurmountable.
Everyone has a few movies that they remember loving as a child, but when they return to the movie as an adult, they realize just how cheesy it is. It most likely seems cheesy now because movies have become more sophisticated and what were once original stories have been redone so many times that they seem nothing short of hackneyed. “The Forbidden Kingdom” is this movie without the aid of 20 years of reverie to bolster its sentimental value. Whereas “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” and “Hero” can boast beautiful choreography and cinematography, a genuine and coherent sense of eastern perspective, and quality acting, “The Last Kingdom” offers none of these. The fighting scenes would be entertaining if they were not encased in cheesy dialogue, hollowed-out eastern philosophy and one predictable plot twist after another. Indeed, a way to redeem this movie might be to see if you can find each and every line, each and every interaction, from another movie.
Although mixing east and west in this style is almost always a recipe for disaster and a sure-fire way to make both cultures seem less authentic, the particularly shoddy performance of Michael Angarano as Jason Tripitikas puts this movie beyond repair. A combination of his over-the-top facial contortions and his neat triangle of pubescent chest hair are enough to make you choke on your popcorn without him even saying a word. Yet, perhaps it would have still been better for the movie if he played a mute teenager from South Boston.
Coastal View News
At first glance, it might be hard to tell what is forbidden in the newly-released Jackie Chan/Jet Li action thriller, “The Forbidden Kingdom.” Is it an ancient Chinese realm? A mystical world of magic? As it turns out, ‘forbidden’ is referring to the prospects of a good script or good acting; to an original storyline or quality editing—all of which must have been forbidden long before Jackie Chan and Jet Li signed on to do this movie. Even if enamored with high-flying kung foo and acrobatic sword-fighting, “The Forbidden Kingdom” falls well short of what it was aspiring to accomplish: anything worthwhile.
Jason Tripitikas (Michael Angarano) is a kung foo-crazed teenager from Boston whose secret obsession with old combat movies is satisfied by buying bootlegged movies at a shop owned by an old Chinese man. On his way home from the shop one day, Jason is confronted by a gang of teenage ruffians who criticize his taste in film. After some pushing and shoving, the gang forces Jason to take them to the old man’s shop so that they can rob him. Jason obliges, and in the uproar of theft, the shop owner is shot. As he crumbles to the ground, the shop owner, who does not seem to be peeved with Jason for letting burglars into his shop, hands the teenager an old staff from the back of his shop and cryptically instructs Jason to take the staff to its rightful owner. Jason then runs away while being chased by the murderous hooligans. When cornered, the staff does its magic and transports him to ancient China.
Jason understandably feels overmatched in a world run by a repressive and cruel dictatorship and vigilante kung foo masters. Luckily he finds Lu Yan (Jackie Chan) who is a drunken immortal—he can live forever so long as he consumes copious amounts of alcohol. Lu Yan informs Jason that he is carrying a mythical staff once owned by the Monkey King, a loveable rascal who cannot be defeated in battle. According to a prophecy, the Monkey King lost his staff when an evil warlord tricked him and turned him to stone, and now the Monkey King is waiting for the foretold person to bring it to him.
Although Jason manages to augment his warrior clan by adding a vengeful dart-thrower named Golden Sparrow (Yifei Liu) and a testy monk (Jet Li), he continues to sense his own inadequacy, and thus despairs. But with the help of his friends, Jason begins to learn kung foo and takes to is mission of returning the staff to the Monkey King. As the clan makes their way to the home of the warlord, many dangers beset them, and when they actually arrive to challenge the warlord, the odds against their survival seems insurmountable.
Everyone has a few movies that they remember loving as a child, but when they return to the movie as an adult, they realize just how cheesy it is. It most likely seems cheesy now because movies have become more sophisticated and what were once original stories have been redone so many times that they seem nothing short of hackneyed. “The Forbidden Kingdom” is this movie without the aid of 20 years of reverie to bolster its sentimental value. Whereas “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” and “Hero” can boast beautiful choreography and cinematography, a genuine and coherent sense of eastern perspective, and quality acting, “The Last Kingdom” offers none of these. The fighting scenes would be entertaining if they were not encased in cheesy dialogue, hollowed-out eastern philosophy and one predictable plot twist after another. Indeed, a way to redeem this movie might be to see if you can find each and every line, each and every interaction, from another movie.
Although mixing east and west in this style is almost always a recipe for disaster and a sure-fire way to make both cultures seem less authentic, the particularly shoddy performance of Michael Angarano as Jason Tripitikas puts this movie beyond repair. A combination of his over-the-top facial contortions and his neat triangle of pubescent chest hair are enough to make you choke on your popcorn without him even saying a word. Yet, perhaps it would have still been better for the movie if he played a mute teenager from South Boston.
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