The Revenant Review

Leonardo DiCaprio is a phenomenal actor who puts forth extraordinary effort in his acting and ends up delivering a particularly high-quality performance. It's no secret he's striving for an Oscar award, and remarkable as many of his performances have been, he has yet to earn that particular award. In his latest film, The Revenant (2015), the whole movie is anchored in DiCaprio's 200% commitment to his performance. It's a good movie with a stellar cast, but not something that's going to stick with you very long afterwards.

While exploring the uncharted wilderness in 1823, legendary frontiersman Hugh Glass (Leonardo DiCaprio) sustains injuries from a brutal bear attack. When his hunting team leaves him for dead, Glass must utilize his survival skills to find a way back home, guided by sheer will and the love of his family. Grief-stricken and fueled by vengeance, Glass treks through the wintry terrain to track down John Fitzgerald (Tom Hardy), the former confidant who betrayed and abandoned him.

For a movie set in the uncharted American frontier, there were a number of British and Irish actors portraying American characters. Tom Hardy, Will Poulter, and Domhnall Gleeson all played prominent roles in The Revenant with remarkably spot on accents. Of these three actors, I thought Tom Hardy was most impressive. I didn't even realize it was Tom Hardy until the end credits started rolling. He has this thick accent that I can only describe as being "southern," nebulous as that term might be to describe an accent. He also had a thick mop of hair and a scraggly beard hiding most of his face. His acting and makeup was so well done that I did not realize it was Tom Hardy at all. Domhnall Gleeson is becoming a favorite of mine. He's known for playing Bill Weasley in the Harry Potter movies, Phil in Unbroken, and recently General Hux in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. He's a solid a actor who delivers great performances. Will Poulter has appeared in The Maze Runner and The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. He's still fairly new to the big screen, but does a fine job here juxtaposed with some big name talents.

Leonardo DiCaprio's skill and passion for acting is very much evident here. He depicts intense emotions as he portrays Hugh Glass enduring trial after trial and struggling to keep alive in a harsh, unforgiving frozen wilderness. He's grief-stricken and fueled by vengeance, and it shows in every little thing Glass does, from begging a Native American he encounters for some food to stave off starvation, to rescuing a girl from being raped by frontiersmen. DiCaprio imbues his character with an intensity that is simply remarkable to watch.

Director Alejandro G. Iñárritu takes DiCaprio's performance and makes it even better with some truly magnificent camera work. This is the first Iñárritu film I've  ever seen, and his mastery of capturing beautiful imagery is beyond compare. Even with some of the grotesque scenes, it still looks beautifully done. The Revenant captures some truly gorgeous shots of the wilderness, forests, and frozen tundra. The way shots were set up was very artistic without a sense of self-importance. There weren't many shots that didn't look like a work of art. The Revenant was a beautiful movie to watch.

Having said all that, it took me a while to determine if I actually liked it. The story within the movie was pretty simple. There's a set up which was interesting, a remarkably long middle full of Hugh Glass trying to not die, and a conclusion that wasn't very straightforward. I daresay The Revenant could have been much shorter and still achieved the story it set out to tell. There were many moments where Glass was simply walking or staring off wistfully into the distance. Yes, these moments looked good, but made the movie drag significantly in terms of story. I don't want to say it was slow moving, because there was so much to visually take in. But the story progressed at a snail's pace at times, even if it was beautiful to watch. It wasn't until well after the movie ended that it occurred to me that The Revenant was more about the experience than the narrative. It was about the experience Hugh Glass had trying to survive after being mauled by a bear and left for dead, not the story of how he survived. It's also about our experience of witnessing this beautifully constructed film, not the film telling us a deep or meaningful story. It's likely the movie won't appeal to some audiences because of how drawn out the story ends up being, but that by no means is to suggest that it is a poor movie.

The Revenant is a starkly beautiful as it is uncompromisingly harsh. There is a phenomenal cast delivering well made characters, and a highly skilled director showing us some remarkably beautiful scenery and capturing it in the most visually stunning way. The story here is not the point, and is in fact a very simple story. The Revenant is about the experience, not the story. I do think that The Revenant is worth seeing if you are not too put off by the violent and occasionally gory images and the aforementioned sexual assault that give it its R rating. There is a chance you may find it too "artistic" if you value story over visual delivery. I'm glad I saw it, but it's not something I'd go out of my way to see a second time.

Is there a role that you think Leonardo DiCaprio deserved an Oscar for? Comment below and tell me about it!

Ender's Game Movie Review

For years people have told me to read Ender's Game. The book was released when I was two years old and the book has been on my "to read" list for ages, though was a pretty low priority. Well, along came the movie version of Ender's Game (2013). I had no idea what I was getting into, but it was pretty cool.

In the near future, a hostile alien race called the Formics have attacked Earth. If not for the legendary heroics of International Fleet Commander Mazer Rackham (Ben Kingsley), all would have been lost. In preparation for the next attack, the highly esteemed Colonel Hyrum Graff (Harrison Ford), Major Gwen Anderson (Viola Davis) and the International Miliary are training only the best young children to find the future Mazer. Ender Wiggins (Asa Butterfield), a shy, but strategically brilliant boy is pulled out of his school to join the elite. Arriving at Battle School, Ender quickly and easily masters increasingly difficult war games, distinguishing himself and winning respect amongst his peers. Ender is soon ordained by Graff as the military's next great hope, resulting in his promotion to Command School. Once there, he is trained to lead his fellow soldiers into an epic battle that will determine the future of Earth and save the human race.

For being a product of the 1980's, Ender's Game has a whole lot of components that are popular trends among contemporary young adult literature. This movie is what would result if the Harry Potter series and the  Star Wars series had a baby. There's that "I'm a what?" moment where the seemingly unassuming and bullied kid ends up being special and superior to his peers. The character is whisked off to a school where they learn a super special power. There is the intelligent token female friend character, the goofy male friend character, and the bully at the new school. The character learns they are the chosen one, etc. They did this in Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, and X-Men just to name a few off the top of my head. Except Ender's Game has the protagonist go to a sci-fi school to learn about commanding battleships by playing video games and zero-gravity laser tag, which makes it very different from the other stories.

We've got some pretty good actors in this movie. Harrison Ford is amazing and plays the tough mentor and military leader  very well. I love Asa Butterfield; he was amazing in Hugo and The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. He's pretty good here, too. There are moments that he, like the other young child actors, are hard to take seriously. The kid actors are usually in their mid-teens, but many look younger than twelve. When these kids try to look hardcore and serious, they just end up looking funny. I actually laughed out loud at how ridiculous these prepubescent kids looked when they tried to act like hardened tough military soldiers. But when Butterfield has a meltdown, he plays it well. When he is horrorstruck, he means it. All the actors who played major characters were exceptional. The few minor character kids were less skilled and were harder to take seriously.

The special effects are phenomenal. That space battle toward the end is really a sight to behold. You get a broad scope of the fight scenes and a feel for how everything flows. It was neat seeing how Ender was a strategist; he was thinking several steps ahead of everyone and while not physically superior, he managed to get the upper hand by thinking the situation through. The only part of the story that confused me is how playing zero-gravity laser tag is supposed to prepare the kids for commanding fleets of spaceships. It would have made more sense if they were being trained as zero-gravity foot soldiers, not for the command seat in a battleship.

I have no idea how the movie compares to the book, I still haven't read it. Offhand, I didn't feel inspired to run off and pick up a book after seeing the movie. I've heard lots of bad things about Orson Scott Card (the book's author), none of which I have bothered to verify. I've read other books by Card, and if Ender's Game is like his other works, it could probably be half as long and still get the whole story across. I understand that Card's stance against gay marriage has caused a lot of people to boycott the movie. To me this sounds exactly like the religious groups boycotting The Golden Compass movie back in 2007; a group of people doesn't like the opinion of the author, therefore the movie based on the book written by the person they don't like should be refused by all. Ender's Game is pretty good on its own. While The Golden Compass did have some anti-organized religion themes in it, Ender's Game makes no commentary about homosexuality, antisemitism, or any of the other views I've heard the author has. Think what you want about Orson Scott Card, but the movie isn't bad.

Ender's Game is a decent movie. The acting is good, the story isn't bad, the special effects are great, and the complex theme of children's natural compassion clashing with the adult-mandated need for decisive power-plays is interesting. Story gaps aside, the action sequences tend to take center stage. If I was eleven, I'd probably think this is the best movie I'd ever seen. It's a much better space opera than the Star Wars Prequel Trilogy was. Regardless of your views of Orson Scott Card, I think this is worth seeing. The movie didn't endear me enough to buy a copy, or read the book for that matter. It's a decent science fiction fantasy that will be a crowd pleaser.

What is your favorite movie adaptation of a book? Comment below and tell me why!

The Perks of Being a Wallflower Movie Review

There are countless scores of movies that have been made based on books, but I can't think of many examples of a movie that was written and directed by the same person who wrote the book. Stephen Chbosky wrote a young adult dramatic novel called The Perks of Being a Wallflower in 1999, and in 2012 released the movie based on his book. I had never heard of the book before, but was captivated by the movie trailer.

Charlie (Logan Lerman) is a shy teenager without friends that has just started high school. He misses his best friend, who committed suicide, and he writes letters to an unnamed friend describing his feelings. Shortly after school starts, Charlie befriends high school seniors Patrick (Ezra Miller) and his half-sister Sam (Emma Watson). Charlie develops a strong interest in Sam, but lacks the confidence to ask her on a date. Even as he struggles with depression and a haunting past, Charlie is buoyed by Sam and Patrick and several other self-identified  nonconformists, including a sexual steamroller, Mary Elizabeth (Mae Whitman), in whom Charlie finds his tribe and finds himself.

A lot of teen movies I've seen focus on how great it is to be a teenager, how fun it is to have friends, how great high school parties are, and about experimenting with newfound freedoms and exploring themselves. The Perks of Being a Wallflower technically has those sorts of elements in it, but it's much more mature than the usual dizzyingly fun teen movie. Here we are shown how being a social outcast is emotionally taxing on a person. Here we are shown very real and unflattering issues that teenagers are frequently faced with and the often ugly aftermath of those issues. Charlie is pressured into trying drugs, for example, and rather than depicting it as being a fun experiment without consequences Charlie ends up in the hospital, trying to remember what happened without telling the police too much incriminating information. While the movie touches on a lot of difficult issues, it's refreshing in how grounded and realistic it is.

The three main cast members, Lerman, Watson, and Miller, were fantastic casting decisions. I heard that Emma Watson is a fan of the book and was very interested in the role of Sam. She's a very talented actress and it's great to see her moving beyond her iconic role as Hermione in the Harry Potter films. As Sam, Watson plays a  flirtatious but insecure free spirit. She also pulls off an American accent quite well. I've not been all that impressed with Lerman in other films I've seen him in. He was okay in Hoot and in Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief. He did an exceptional job in The Perks of Being a Wallflower. He is immediately likable, while holding onto some deep darkness that can't be fully revealed until the end.

Miller plays a likable gay teenager who is giddy, comical, and steals most scenes as Patrick. Miller brings texture to the witty and sensitive gay quipster; he's not just a token gay character. Patrick is observant, supportive of his friends, has well defined morals and standards. He is wise to how people behave, and offers advice to Charlie when Charlie is socially lost and confused. While there is no interest in each other beyond friendship, Charlie and Patrick become loyal friends who support one another during painful low points in each other's lives. While Patrick doesn't hide his sexual preferences, it's good to see a gay character who isn't a stereotype and is more complex than the token "gay character."

The Perks of Being a Wallflower novel, which I have since read, is an epistolary book that is made up of letters from Charlie to an unnamed friend. Instead of trying to mimic the book's epistolary voice, we are told this story through the usual cinematic points of view; by way of Charlie's eyes, using voiceover narrations, flashbacks, and a hovering camera that often captures some interesting angles. The book details the battles that Charlie and his friends all fight at school, home, and in their heads. That sort of thing rarely transitions well into a visually based media like movies, but The Perks of Being a Wallflower manages to capture the essence of its source material while tactfully omitting small bits that were less crucial to the plot and character development. I can't imagine anyone who is a fan of the book being disappointed by the movie.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower has a solid PG-13 rating. There are a fair number of scenes that include drug and alcohol use and some sexual references. The movie isn't visually explicit, and manages to address topics of sex and abuse while still remaining safely within its PG-13 rating. I don't think the grittiness and brutal honesty of its themes should deter you from seeing this film, but it's still not something I'd want to show younger audiences.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower was a good movie. It shows us a very down to earth story about high school life; not a dizzyingly happy or romanticized tale of the teenage years seen through rose-tinted camera lenses glasses . It's pretty dark at times, but retains an optimistic feel thanks to Charlie's wise perception of people. It's an above average independent film, and I think I can say I enjoyed it a bit more than the book upon which it is based, even if it lacked some of the narrative qualities that only a book can express. I recommend seeing The Perks of Being a Wallflower. It's well worth the price to rent, and if you enjoy heartfelt coming-of-age dramas, it's worth getting a copy for your movie collection.

What's your favorite coming-of-age movie? Why do you like it more than others? Comment below and tell me all about it!

Here's the trailer for The Perks of Being a Wallflower:

 What's your favorite coming-of-age movie? Why do you like it more than others? Comment below and tell me all about it!

My Week with Marilyn Movie Review

To this day there is still a lot of mystique and gossip about Marilyn Monroe, especially for a person who has been departed for over fifty years. Her image was sexy without being promiscuous, vulnerable and sweet, yet confident and hopeful. Marilyn embodied the womanly ideal of her day and was hailed as a sort of American royalty that everyone loved and adored. Such an interesting and dramatic contrast practically begs for a film to be made. Thus, My Week with Marilyn (2011) was created.

Sir Laurence Olivier (Kenneth Branagh), the nearest thing to royalty among British actors, is making a movie in London.  Young Colin Clark (Eddie Redmayne), an eager film student, wants to be involved and through some bold negotiating he finds himself a job on the set. When film star Marilyn Monroe (Michelle Williams) arrives for the start of shooting, all of London is excited to see the blonde bombshell. When Olivier is struggling to meet her many demands and acting ineptness, Colin is intrigued by her. Colin’s intrigue is met when Marilyn invites him into her inner world where she struggles with her fame, her beauty, her loneliness, and her desire to be a great actress.

My Week with Marilyn is all based on real events. Colin and Marilyn did spend a week together during the shooting of The Prince and the Showgirl while her husband, Arthur Miller (Dougray Scott), took a short trip back to the US. Olivier was at his wits end accommodating Marilyn’s apparent ineptitude, and Marilyn actually wasn’t able to accomplish much of anything without her acting coach Paula Strasberg (Zoe Wanamaker) and her business partner Milton H. Greene (Dominic Cooper). It was a tough and trying time for all involved. Frankly, it doesn’t make for a very interesting story, but it does makes for a fascinating character study and a unique look into the real Marilyn Monroe.

The real Marilyn Monroe vs. Michelle Williams

The best aspect of My Week with Marilyn has got to be Michelle Williams’ portrayal of the starlet. Marilyn had abandonment issues, sought a father figure, lacked confidence, acted glamorous and sexy, and exuded a lovable, feminine aura. There were so many facets to Marilyn that it would be a considerable challenge to portray this cultural icon, and Michelle Williams nailed it. She acts and looks the part so much it is truly uncanny and amazing to watch. There are times when she is very well composed and portraying Marilyn’s “public image” self, and other times when she is overwhelmed with depression and catatonic. Yet it’s still Marilyn. There’s scene when she and Colin are looking at a doll house, and she points to the doll family saying that the father is Colin, the mother is herself, and the kids are their children. Similar to how a little girl might project fantasies onto her toys. But coming from a thirty-year-old woman, it’s rather bizarre. The scene is important since it shows Marilyn’s desire for the normal family she’s never really had, while also showing us she’s a bit off kilter.

I’ve seen a couple of BBC movies, and I’ve noticed they seem to reuse a lot of actors. This isn’t bad, they are excellent actors. But I couldn’t help but notice actors that have played in Doctor Who, others from the Harry Potter films, and some have even been in both. Emma Watson appears as a wardrobe assistant that develops a relationship with Colin. It makes me wonder if Great Britain only has a handful of actors.

My Week with Marilyn teeters between interesting and tedious. Seeing Marilyn in such a diverse set of situations to show us what she’s really like is interesting, but at the same time it gets tedious and repetitious since everyone is exasperated and impatient with her by the end of most every scene she’s in. While the performances are excellent, the story (such as it is) tends to become sappy and doe-eyed from time to time. It’s got an R rating for some language, but apart from that it’s quite tame. I enjoyed watching it, and I recommend seeing it, but I don’t think it’s worth more than one viewing. Therefore, it’s a renter, albeit an intriguing one.

Admittedly, I'm not a big Marilyn Monroe fan. I like her photographs more than her movies. What is your favorite Marilyn Monroe moment? Comment below and tell me why!