Daredevil: Season 1

So I just finished watching the entire first season of Netflix and Marvel’s first team-up – Daredevil. It took me just over one week to marathon it in its entirety and I find that I have a lot to say about it…

You’ve seen 2004’s Daredevil, right? I’m pretty sure you have if you’re reading this blog since you’re my target audience. Love it or hate it, you honestly have to admit that it wasn’t the best interpretation of the beloved comic book character (but I will admit that the Director’s Cut was better). Not that I really care since I usually separate myself from my affinity for the source material when it comes to a film or television adaptation. Regardless, I had high hopes for that film when it was released back in the day and I wasn’t too impressed. So when I started hearing rumblings of a television series based off this character coming to Netflix I had very low expectations regardless of the streaming service’s high level of quality programming.

When I say that this series is better than most of the top tier superhero movies that have come out within the past few years, Marvel’s films included, you had better stand at attention and listen to what I have to say to justify that opinion. Here we go…

The series follows blind Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox), lawyer by day and masked vigilante at night. He uses his remaining honed senses to fight the crime syndicates in Hell’s Kitchen that are run by the dangerous businessman/gangster Wilson Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio).

10 minutes into the first episode I had completely forgotten about the 2004 misfire. Not only is this series written extremely well for what most people would consider an advertisement for the feature films, but virtually every aspect of it is exceptional in its execution.

Series creator Drew Goddard, who stepped away from the show to focus on the now abandoned Sinister Six film, handed the reigns over to Spartacus showrunner Steven S. DeKnight. Some might consider this passing of the torch a death knell since the two have a very different style of storytelling; one through dark comedy and the other through sheer brutality. Thankfully this is one of the few projects that have gone through this process that comes out aces in the end. The sensibilities of these two filmmakers combine extremely well with this material and I was happy to see that the comic book’s gothic and somber tones were not abandoned for out of place humor. Not that there isn’t comedy. There is, but it’s woven organically into the stories via the characters and it’s never overbearing or cheesy. It just comes off as natural as it should be. It combines the best of both, especially in the violence department. Damn if some of the events that take place aren’t fucked up in the extreme!

I was worried that the casting of Charlie Cox (Stardust) as Daredevil would be a huge misstep, but fortunately he rose to the task and completely won me over as this character. He’s fucked up beyond recognition both psychologically and physically, but has special abilities that circumvent the physical ones. In many ways he’s the Marvel universe’s Batman in that his insane quest to avenge his father’s death at the hands of mobsters has left him with no choice but to don a mask to dole out violent vigilante justice. Cox pulls this aspect of the character off flawlessly. And even throughout all the nasty business he participates in he remains likable and heroic. Not an easy task. He also has the blind act down pat which sells the character even more for me.

Deborah Ann Woll (True Blood) gets to show off her range here quite a bit as Karen Page, taking her character from a weepy victim into some real dark territory. It was nice not seeing her constantly being utilized as someone needing to be rescued (Mary Jane in the original Spider-Man films anyone?) and being as much of a hero as the title character in some respects. Elden Henson (The Mighty Ducks), while being the comic relief as Foggy Nelson, is much more than that. His role is basically the heart of the main trio of leads, and he really gets to show his acting chops in episode 10, “Nelson vs. Murdock”. You can throw as much action at me as you like, but seeing two well written characters going at it verbally is much more rewarding and I was absolutely riveted during those scenes he shared with Charlie Cox.

When it comes to the supporting characters things are just as rad. Vondie Curtis-Hall (director of one of my fave 90s time capsule films – Gridlock’d) comes out of nowhere and nails it as reporter Ben Urich, Toby Leonard Moore (John Wick) plays the creepily understated Wesley for all its worth, Ayelet Zurer (Man of Steel) is as beautiful as she is fascinating as Fisk’s love interest Vanessa and goddamn if Rosario Dawson (Trance) didn’t rock my shit as Claire, Matt’s confidante and romantic interest. Sass + moxie = a winning combination.

However, I can’t heap the same amount of praise upon the most well known of the actors cast in a major role – Vincent D’Onofrio as Wilson Fisk. While he certainly looks the part of Kingpin his dialogue deliveries and facial expressions are somewhat suspect. He has an annoying tendency to “Christian Bale-ify” his voice when he gets loud, and more than once I thought I heard his classic villain from Men in Black. His character is supposed to come off as scary and unstable, but most of the time his expressions make him look like a confused puppy or a lost child. He just didn’t work for me.

Even though I wasn’t a fan of D’Onofrio’s performance as Fisk, I admired the backstory given to make his character surprisingly sympathetic. Most of the episodes are written in the Lost style, where we get the main storyline in the present and a parallel one that follows one or more of the characters in the past. It works well and by episode 4 you have a fully developed roster that are likeable in the extreme. Most network shows aren’t to that point by episode 15, so kudos to the massive writing staff.

I also have to give a shout out to the fight choreographer and cinematographer. Most television shows that are action heavy tend to skimp on the fisticuffs or shoot them in such a way that you can’t see what’s going on to cover up the lack of budget/talent. Not here. Everything is filmed from a distance to allow the viewers to see every well timed kick, elbow and headbutt. Episode 2, “Cut Man”, is a prime example of what I’m talking about. The final scene is a 5 minute unbroken shot that follows Daredevil as he takes on a group of Russian kidnappers in a cramped hallway. Doors are ripped off the hinges, televisions are thrown, bones are broken and best of all – we get to see how exhausting a real fight can be.

As I’ve said countless times before I don’t bring fanboy baggage to the party when watching an adaptation such as this. I adore the comic books. Especially the Marvel Knights run that started with Kevin Smith’s take on the character that went full blown noir as it went on. But I can separate myself from that since I just want the series to be good based on its own merits. When it actually DOES pay homage to the comics and delivers on my inner geek’s hopes and dreams it’s a definite plus. From the Frank Miller inspired ninja outfit the title character wears for the majority of the series to small hints about the possible future appearance of Elektra, I was grinning ear to ear for all 13 episodes.

After I finished the series I immediately wanted more. I hope we do get it because there are so many places left to take these characters. But it does leave me hope that the other three (possibly four) Netflix exclusives will rock just as hard (AKA Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist and a possible team-up of all four for a The Defenders series). I hope they all don’t go as dark and brooding as Daredevil, but if this initial testing ground for Marvel’s televised shows is any indication of how cool these characters can be if done right I think I’ll be one supremely satisfied geek for years to come.

4.5 out of 5 

P.S. Where does Agents of SHIELD fit into the grand scheme of things?

#Daredevil #Marvel #Comics 

Run All Night

Liam Neeson is really beginning to show his age. Sure it was pretty cool to see the veteran actor being a total badass in the original Taken, but ever since that landmark only a small handful of his follow-up action films have been even remotely watchable (the only one I can think of off the top of my head is Non-Stop in my opinion). So what does a guy do when performing complex fight scenes and endless endurance tests begin to slip from his grasp? He transitions into the thriller genre where such tasks aren’t required.

Run All Night features Liam Neeson playing Jimmy Conlan, a fall down drunk hitman for the Irish mob who is left no choice but to kill his boss’s (Ed Harris) spoiled son (Boyd Holbrook) to save the life of his own (Joel Kinnaman). Now on the run from not only vengeance hungry gangsters, but also the police that assume he and his son are on a crime spree, he must take a stand against those he once called his closest friends.

Run All Night does nothing to re-invent the wheel. I just wanted to get that out there at the start. It is as cliché and predictable as these movies come. There’s the prerequisite car chase, shootouts, a quietly angry dinner scene where the villain lays out his nefarious plan for revenge, the hero getting his shit together and lots and lots of forgiveness. Whether or not these tropes come off as hokey or not depends on who’s directing the film. Fortunately Jaume Collet-Serra was the right man for the job. He’s a veteran of a few Neeson flicks (Non-Stop, Unknown) and apparently has a good bead on how to get the most out of his leading man. He also has a keen eye for action as well as when to milk the performances for all they’re worth. His visual style is pretty rad as well. I especially liked the slow motion pseudo-bullet time effect used during the opening moments of the film as well as his Google Maps style transitions. He’s come a long way since Orphan.

But the success of this movie rests on the performances, and thankfully this movie is filled with some fantastic work from the leads. Neeson excels at playing the menacing killer in the Taken films, but here he’s a broken man that is filled with regret and loneliness. He combats it with alcohol and it has cost him his family and the respect of his friends. Watching him get his life back together, accepting the fact that he was not a paragon of virtue in his younger days and trying his hardest to honestly re-connect with his son while bullets fly overhead pushes this beyond being just a generic thriller in my book. Rising star Joel Kinnaman (Robocop) is excellent as Neeson’s son. His performance is extremely naturalistic and believable; I actually felt the hate he had for his father based on his facial expressions alone. He’s no slouch when it comes to both the drama and action beats, which is why I feel he’s going to be a great leading man in the future. Veteran Ed Harris (Pollock, Appaloosa, Apollo 13) pulls out all the stops as Shawn Maguire, the head of the mobsters. Lately I’ve felt that he’s been going the way of Sir Ben Kingsley by taking on any old role that happens his way and muddling through to get a paycheck. This is the first time in a long while where the Ed Harris I remember from The Abyss came back in full force. He’s a slow burn hurricane of anger and resentment and his commitment to the part raised the film up another notch. I’m not a fan of (recent Oscar winner) Common as an actor, but here he is basically a mute assassin so I didn’t mind him so much.  Usually I find him as irritating as RZA when he tries to act.

Sure the film has some slower bits that drag events out a tad as well as a couple of overly melodramatic moments that irked me. It’s nothing major, just slight annoyances. I can’t complain too much because as far as I’m concerned this is the best Liam Neeson movie since the original Taken. The script by Brad Ingelsby (Out of the Furnace) is tight, the cinematography by Martin Ruhe is at times phenomenal and at others very minimalist and the score by Junkie XL is pretty decent.

Run All Night is a very entertaining and somewhat moving film that gives Liam Neeson his most substantial role in years (I really liked the redemption angle). The supporting cast is tops and its a very well made action thriller that exceeded any expectations I may have had when I walked in the theater.  I was expecting to be bored, but I was fully invested in it from frame one. That’s more than I can say for the last few Neeson flicks.

4 out of 5

Furious 7

I’m a huge fan of the Fast and Furious franchise which I think I mentioned in my review of Fast & Furious 6. Some are better than others, but the last two films have been fantastically ludicrous action flicks that are as much about fun as they are the tight knit family both on screen and off.

After the tragic death of Paul Walker I was wondering what would become of Furious 7. He died midway through production and I feared it would be cancelled completely. The writers, producers and studio eventually figured out a way to re-work the screenplay and a few months later filming was back underway with Walker’s two brothers, Caleb and Cody, acting as stand-ins for their late sibling. How did this new film hold up as an action film as well as being a send off for Paul Walker?

The psychopathic brother of Owen Shaw, Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham), vows to avenge his family name upon those who put his kin in a coma. He sets his sights on taking out Dom (Vin Diesel), Brian (Paul Walker) and the rest of their non-traditional family unit. Lots and lots and lots of property damage ensues.

I felt that Fast & Furious 6 was very ridiculous, even for a dumb early summer popcorn action flick. But since each film seems to escalate in craziness I was able to let (most of) it slide and go with the flow of explosions and nutty car shenanigans. Believe me when I say that Furious 7 not only ups the ante when it comes to batshit crazy action, it goes so far overboard that its going to be years before any film comes even remotely close to surpassing it. And I loved every single adrenaline soaked minute of it. Well, maybe not every single minute.

First, I would like to congratulate director James Wan (Saw, The Conjuring, Insidious: Chapter 2) from successfully transitioning from a low budget horror/thriller filmmaker to a full on helmer of summer blockbusters. He not only brings his signature visual panache to the party, but he also wrings some great performances (for a movie of this type) out of his massive cast. Every frame is filled with style and he really shows how far he’s come as a filmmaker since the original Saw. The real test came when Walker passed. Thankfully he kept the ship afloat and on course while managing to not only make a fun popcorn flick in light of the tragedy, but also a touching sendoff to honor his fallen cast member. Kudos to you dude. I look forward to what you choose to do next, be it Fast & Furious 8, The Conjuring 2 or something else entirely. I will be there with cash in hand, sir.

The cast is still in top form. One of the reasons I love these films as much as I do is the family angle and the fact that these actors were so close behind the camera really shows in their performances. It added a much needed emotional layer that the sometimes ham fisted scripts couldn’t provide. Diesel is the muscle and heart of the film with Walker, Jordana Brewster, Michelle Rodriguez, Dwayne Johnson, Tyrese Gibson and Chris “Ludacris” Bridges filling in all the gaps. You can tell how well these people get along just by how they riff on and poke fun at one another in many of the (what I hope were) adlibbed moments of levity (“Can I check my email?”). If it wasn’t for this aspect I don’t think these films would work as well as they do. It was also welcome to see Tokyo Drift’s Lucas Black return in a cameo to fully tie together the time-hopping storylines. I hope the makers of these films bring him back as a permanent cast member in the next film to fill the space left by Walker.

What really wowed me was Jason Statham as the villain, Deckard Shaw. The usual bad guy in these movies is surrounded by a crew of henchmen, is never fully developed or isn't really all that threatening to be honest. I can’t fault the actors playing these parts as the screenplay dictates how much screen time they are given to make their characters more than one-dimensional. But in the case of Deckard we have a villain who not only is a serious threat, but is scary to boot. He is also made out to be extremely intelligent and is always hot on the tails of the heroes. Every time they think they’ve got a leg up on the man hunting them he shows up armed to the teeth and ready to whoop some ass. His parallel story thread about taking care of his family was a nice contrast to the main one. For once this film has a memorable antagonist that is just as awesome as the main characters.

New cast member Nathalie Emmanuel isn’t in a whole lot of the film since her character of Ramsey doesn’t show up until well past the halfway point, but it feels like she might be a nice addition to the group dynamic if she continues on with the series. A serious WTF goes out to whoever decided to cast Kurt fucking Russell as the goofily named Mr. Nobody. I’m not knocking him. Far from it. Russell is awesome, especially when he put on his magic sunglasses and turns into Robocop for a few fleeting moments. He’s just not someone I would normally associate with these types of high octane (pun intended) action films anymore. If indeed he was cast to be a part of the films to follow… I’m totally on board. Snake Plissken conquers all he surveys. Ronda Rousey is just fucking sexy as hell. Seeing her in a fight scene with Michelle Rodriguez is one of the hottest things I’ve ever seen bar none.

And Tony Jaa!!! So. Fucking. Rad.

The action… Where to begin? I won’t ruin all of the surprises, but holy hell does this flick go above and beyond to destroy what you know (or think you know) about the laws of physics, human endurance or restricted airspace.  You want to see skydiving cars? Check. You want to see a dude run across a bus as it topples over a cliff and catch the bumper of a passing car before tumbling over the side? Check. You want to see someone get passed between two cars as they drift parallel to one another? Check. You want to see a car jump between not two, but three buildings in a row? Check. It’s mindboggling to think that someone actually came up with this kind of craziness and even moreso that it actually works and is a blast to watch go down. It’s all in the name of fun and the last 30 minutes is a non-stop series of insanity with cars of all makes and models tripping the light fantastic all across L.A. The fist fight scenes are also brutal and super awesome.

I wasn’t a fan of the film’s runtime which clocks in at around two and a half hours. There was a lot of filler that could have been excised with little to no impact on the story. The first 40 minutes is an overlong exposition/recap that fans of the series will find pretty boring and pointless. Some of these scenes are probably due to the re-working of the story to make sense of the new elements. Whatever the case may be, they weren’t needed. I also still despise the overly soap opera-ish amnesia plot device used to work Michelle Rodriguez back into the franchise which started in Fast & Furious 6. There’s a massive revelation in regard to this cliché B.S. that made me roll my eyes when it was revealed. I will also admit that even though I am an action junkie the finale got a little tiresome, especially all the drone stuff. I’m also getting sick of the current trend in action/superhero movies where entire cities are nearly leveled in their finales. All the Transformers flicks, The Avengers, Man of Steel… stop it. Please. Deserts need some Hollywood lovin’ too. And all the faux philosophical automobile crossover dialogue still sucks.

But how did the filmmakers ultimately deal with Paul Walker’s death? I’m pleased to say it was handled gracefully… and with some awkward CGI. It’s plainly obvious whenever one of his many body doubles are in play since Brian is covered in shadows, shown from behind or rapidly cut away from in major scenes. But whenever it was absolutely necessary to show his face you can tell that it’s a CGI map of Paul’s placed over someone else's mug. Sometimes it works (the scene where Dom’s house explodes) and other times it doesn’t (the final scenes). The longer the camera lingers the worse the effect begins to look. Fortunately it’s not nearly as fake looking as the Jeff Bridges de-aging in TRON: Legacy, but it still looks “off”. I give them props for trying since they didn’t have much choice in the matter.

Before the end credits roll we are treated to a nice montage of scenes from the previous films featuring Paul Walker set to a decent and somewhat bittersweet ballad, followed by the customary “For Paul”. This is the end of an era, and hopefully the beginning of a new one in the following films. If this is the last film the series I would be totally okay with it ending here since it does have a certain finality to it, but a couple of threads are left dangling and it has definitely whet my appetite for where the stories could go in the future. After seeing the opening weekend grosses I think its safe to assume that we’ll see Fast & Furious 8 in the summer of 2017. Bring it.

Furious 7 is just plain old dumb fun. No more, no less. For the seventh film in a series its better than it has any right to be, and that’s really saying something. Regardless if you’re a fan of the series of not you could do worse than to check out this rad as hell yarn of epicness at your local cineplex. As far as I'm concerned this is the best in the series to date.

4.5 out of 5

#Furious7 #FastAndFurious #RIPPaulWalker

Chappie

Back in 2013 Neill Blomkamp seemed to be falling prey to his ego due to the clout he received from District 9 (which I loved), or maybe he was just a one trick pony. The jury is still out on his actual talent to tell the smart science fiction stories he seems to think he’s making, but his stock is falling fast, especially after the box office and critical drubbing Elysium (which I did not love) received.

Now along comes Chappie, Blomkamp’s newest science fiction yarn. The trailers were confusing and made it look like a big budget remake of Short Circuit that takes place in Johannesburg and is filled with non-stop ultraviolence. Is this his redemption or yet another failed attempt to spin a topical story to finicky audiences?

Damaged beyond repair, a South African police drone (motion captured and voiced by Sharlto Copley) is given an experimental artificial intelligence program by his creator (Dev Patel). Unfortunately the robot is taken by a couple of local gangbangers (Ninja and Yo-Landi Visser) to assist in a multimillion dollar heist just as the program is installed. Renamed “Chappie”, the robot slowly becomes more and more human, but can a machine actually become human?

There are a lot of philosophical questions bouncing around this flick and I’m sorry to say that there are no concrete answers given. Just when things become interesting the ball is dropped in favor of some of the goriest action scenes I’ve seen so far this year. Blomkamp seems to revel in introducing interesting concepts into his films, but never knows where to take them and how to properly cap them off without using over the top gunplay and rocket launchers.

I enjoyed most of the film. The character of Chappie is not only intriguing, but fun, adorable and maddeningly inept at times. I couldn’t take my eyes off him mainly due to the fantastic performance by Sharlto Copley. His motion capture is filled with nuance and heart since Chappie has no eyes and all of his emotions had to be portrayed with body language. It really blew my mind and is super impressive.

The amped up Johannesburg where the film takes place is dark, violent and oddly beautiful. It’s almost a character in itself. I just wish Blomkamp didn’t feel the need to set all his films there. It made sense for District 9, but here it was basically so he could cast the main stars of the film – South African rap duo Ninja and Yo-Landi Visser of Die Antwoord. This was Blomkamp’s fatal mistake.

The acting in this film is pretty atrocious, especially in the case of Ninja and Yo-Landi who are essentially playing themselves. Seriously, they play characters named Ninja and Yolandi. The only difference is that the hyphen is removed from Yo-Landi’s stage name (her shrill, screeching voice is akin to hearing metal grinding on metal… I shudder just thinking about it). WTF?! They are so bad in this film that the usually annoying Dev Patel comes across as someone trained in the Royal Shakespearean Theatre Company. All they do is scream, curse and act like complete assholes (and from what I read were a nightmare to work with on set). I couldn’t tell if the dialogue was ad-libbed or not, but I refuse to believe that anything that spewed from the mouths of these two “musicians” was written by someone of above average intelligence. What’s worse is the fact that the script wants the audience to identify and sympathize with these fucktards, which is a crime in and of itself. I therefore retract my previous statement about the writers’ intelligence level. Even fucking Hugh Jackman, who is an AMAZING actor, is absolutely wasted here and plays, you guessed it, an asshole. The same goes for an absolutely wasted appearance by Sigourney Weaver. Why is this script filled with nothing but unlikable characters? Why?!

What does work? Chappie. If he wasn’t such a fully realized and wonderfully likable character this flick would have been a complete bust. But even that can’t save the film from its completely ridiculous and silly ending. Remember when I said that Blomkamp doesn’t know how to properly cap off his flicks? Well, he goes completely off the rails here. I’m not talking about the prerequisite action gorefest finale he’s known for. That was rad as hell. I’m talking about his lamesauce and insanely stupid epilogue. If there was any goodwill that I had for this flick before this garbage popped up it was completely gone after witnessing how dumb the story became. I won’t ruin it for those that haven’t seen it yet, but what the fuck was he thinking?! This is the final impression you leave with the audience before the lights come up and they file out of the theater. You want them to be saying stuff like “that was pretty good” or “I want to see that again”. Not “fuck that” or “I wish I got up to take that piss so I wouldn’t have had to endure the I.Q. raping I just received”.

Sure the score by Hans Zimmer is rad. Sure the action scenes are cool and frenetic. Sure the look of the film is gritty and enthralling. Sure the return of District 9’s faux-documentary wraparound storytelling device makes a triumphant comeback. Sure the FX used to bring Chappie to life is a revelation in technology and motion capture. Everything else is a misfire of epic proportions. Bad casting, acting, writing, directing and specific choices are what killed this flick. I just hope it doesn’t put the kibosh on Neill Blomkamp’s career before he has a chance to show us what he can really do in the realm of science fiction. I have high hopes for his already greenlit Alien 5. I just hope he doesn’t ruin that franchise by casting talentless douchebag rappers as Ripley’s sidekicks.

2 out of 5

Street Fighter: Assassin's Fist

Being that I’m a huge video gamer (check out my retro gaming vlog on YouTube, The Old Ass Retro Gamer) I never pass up watching a flick based on one of my favorite properties. A little over a year ago I came across a series of promo videos on YouTube advertising an independently produced Street Fighter mini-series that would be shown on Machinima’s channel and was fully endorsed by Capcom. I immediately became excited because not only are the Street Fighter games some of my favorite brawlers, but it looked like it was going to be taking a very serious approach to the material. This is a drastic contrast to the Jean-Cleaude Van Damme cheesefest from the early 90s.

Unfortunately I completely forgot about this series until it recently popped up on Hulu in movie form. A very, very long movie. We’re talking 2 ½ hours long. I thought to myself “this had better be good”.

Martial artists Ryu (Mike Moh) and Ken Masters (Christian Howard) live a traditional warrior’s life in secluded Japan learning the ancient fighting style of “Ansatsuken” (Assassin’s Fist) from their master, Gôken (Akira Koieyama). As their skills are honed over the years they also learn about the tragic past that this way of life has brought upon their teacher, and that history may repeat itself if they cannot find a way to change their destiny.

For starters I was immensely pleased that this miniseries decided to go simple and focus on just two of the characters from the long running video game’s huge roster of fighters. Ken and Ryu have always been the main stars of the series and I was happy that they were front and center, especially after how they were mistreated in the aforementioned Van Damme cinematic abortion. I was also happy that there was some nice drama, character moments and pleasant throwbacks to the source material. There was also a clever bit about Gôken buying Ken and Ryu a copy of Mega Man 2 to play on their Nintendo to relax while not training.

However, this miniseries is basically one overlong, drawn out and pretty damned boring take on the material. It took me two days to make it through the whole film because I kept falling asleep. There’s no real plot to the games so the writers had to come up with something that not only would be worth watching for the fans, but would also appeal to those not familiar with the material. This double-edged sword rarely works and in this case I’m pretty sad to say that it failed on both sides. As a fan I’m torn.

Here’s what I liked about the film:

-       The actors really commit to their parts. Not only do they look like their respective characters, but they do all their own fighting as well.

-       The remote locations featured within are breathtakingly beautiful and some remind me of the arenas from the games.

-       The game is accurately represented for the first time and the script stays true to what the spirit of the games felt like.

-       The fight scenes are short, but well choreographed and exciting.

-       Seeing Ken and Ryu’s special moves, like the Hadoken and Shoryuken attacks, performed with some outstanding special effects and stunt work put a smile on my face.

-       The origin of Akuma was kind of rad.

-       There are plenty of throwbacks to the source material, from musical cues to lines of dialogue.

-       Seeing Ken and Ryu developing their special attacks was cool as hell.

-       The cinematography, special effects and costumes are tops for a low budget internet miniseries.

Here’s what I didn’t like about the film:

-       The acting is a mixed bag. The two leads, Mike Moh and Christian Howard, turn in decent and likable performances as Ryu and Ken respectively. Akira Koieyama is fantastic as Gôken. But the rest of the cast, especially Joey Ansah as Akuma is a total blight on this flick. He’s downright horrible and reminded me of the acting seen in Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li.

-       The plot is so drawn out that it is tiresome in the extreme. There’s only so many times that you can see someone wandering the countryside in silence while contemplating their destiny before it loses its meaning and becomes frustratingly annoying.

-       The flashback structure works at the beginning, but it too loses its focus and in the end becomes a series of redundant scenes that serve no purpose but to pad the runtime.

-       The subplot about old man Gôtetsu (Togo Igawa) is lame and predictable.

-       The writing, while very fanboyish, meanders and doesn’t really have a point to make until the final 30 minutes or so. It is very one note.

-       While I like the idea of the film being a prequel to the games, it would have been nice to have a character or two from the series make an appearance instead of being about just Ken and Ryu. Plenty of other characters from the games trained with Gôken too, so why couldn’t they have popped up in the script to liven things up?

-       The film ends with a cliffhanger that could have easily been resolved within this film’s runtime if some of the pointless filler was excised and the narrative sped up to a tolerable level.

-       The make-up for Akuma is dreadful. Borderline racist. The character starts off as Gôki, played by Asian actor Gaku Space, and when he becomes Akuma the role is taken over by African actor Joey Ansah who is given faux-Asian features and a really bad wig. It’s insulting.

I liked aspects of this film and found the rest to be a waste of time. Sure there’s lots of fanboy love flowing freely throughout the entire production, but it felt more like a high budgeted fan film than an actual film. I understand that the direction of the script was most likely due to budget constraints, but why bother making a Street Fighter film if there’s hardly any “fighting”? It kind of defeats the purpose.

If you’re a fan of the video games I recommend you check it out just on general principal. Everyone else should just stay away and play Street Fighter IV on their iPhone or watch the superior Mortal Kombat: Legacy.

2 out of 5

Jupiter Ascending

The Wachowskis have been getting a lot of flack in the years after their trilogy of The Matrix films ended, some might say it began right after The Matrix Reloaded was released, due to their strange affinity for making ultra cheesy films that are a lot of style with very little substance. I’m not one of those people.

I am a big fan of their heavily panned Speed Racer not only due to the beautiful visuals that fill the film, but the simple and (as far as I’m concerned) well told story that was incredibly hokey but also likable and surprisingly heartfelt. Unfortunately it didn’t make the kind of cash at the box office that their previous films had so The Wachowskis stepped back from filmmaking for a short while (and to allow for Larry to transition to Lara out of the limelight).  I also thoroughly enjoyed their super serious and somewhat convoluted co-directing follow-up project with Tom Tykwer, Cloud Atlas. Audiences felt otherwise and it was a huge bomb.

However, words cannot describe how excited I was about their next film, Jupiter Ascending. The Wachowskis excel at world building and the trailers to their newest epic sci-fi yarn looked to be filled to the brim with creative tech, bizarre costumes and (unfortunately CGI) set designs that made my eyeballs melt a little bit with how colorful and rich they were. And then it was delayed from its summer 2014 opening to the dog days of February 2015 for some unknown reason. I feared the worst since 96% of the films pulled from their release in this fashion are done so for one reason and one reason alone – they are shit and the production company doesn’t know when a good time would be to unleash said cinematic skid mark upon the world and hopefully turn a profit. Still, I held out hope that these two fellow Chicagoans hadn’t finally lost their edge and churned out some unwatchable crap like another former favorite filmmaker of mine. You might remember him… Renny Harlin (Die Hard 2, Cliffhanger, Deep Blue Sea, A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master).

I saw Jupiter Ascending, which was shot here in Chicago (a couple filmmaker friends of mine actually worked on the film as well), opening weekend in IMAX 3D. While it isn’t the second coming of The Matrix like some people expect it to be, it is a super fun and campy trip into the absurd that reminded me of a beloved cult classic from 1980 – Flash Gordon.

Lowly housecleaner Jupiter Jones (Mila Kunis) learns that she is the heir to the planet Earth due to her alien DNA, and along with a hybrid bodyguard (Channing Tatum) attempts to trace a bounty placed on her head back to its off-world source.

Honestly this is not a good movie. Not a good movie at all. What it does have is an infectious sense of fun and adventure that I ate up. The plot is simple and pulpy, and the film wears its intentions plainly on its sleeve. It is filled to the brim with insane visuals, fast paced and somewhat bizarre action scenes (that bit that takes place above the Sears/Willis Tower is completely bugnuts), stupefyingly awful dialogue (“No, my mother never cleaned a toilet in her life.”), mediocre acting, overblown CGI, beautiful costumes and sets and some of the coolest technology I’ve seen invented for a movie in years (I want a pair of those gravity surfing rollerblades). Yes, this clearly is a case of style over substance but in the best possible way because this film is just fun on top of fun on top of fun.

Channing Tatum and Mila Kunis don’t set the world afire with their thespian chops, but they do share a nice chemistry and that works wonders for their likeability on screen. Sean Bean kills it in his small part and the rest of the cast chew the scenery like no one’s business, specifically Oscar winner Eddie Redmayne as the lead villain Balem Abrasax. Some of Redmayne’s dialogue deliveries are so over the top that it made me laugh out loud because most of the time he speaks in a whispery voice, but when he loses his cool it explodes all over the place. His performance is a total blast that reminded me of Gary Oldman’s Jean-Baptiste Emmanuel Zorg from The Fifth Element.

The main reason to see this flick is the ridiculously awesome technology invented for the story. Like I said, The Wachowskis are great world builders in their films and they have carefully crafted a ludicrous amount of awesomeness to fill out the weird and wonderful universe of Jupiter Ascending. Their creative touches fill every frame of every scene. If you thought some of the ideas behind The Matrix were cool you haven’t seen anything yet. And those starship designs… SPOOGE!

But this is not going to be a completely positive review. I mentioned earlier that this is not a good movie. Why? Because it is too long, features way too many characters and ideas that go nowhere, focuses on shady business deals and other pointless One-Percenter crap that reminded me of George Lucas’ simplified politics from the Star Wars prequel trilogy, the love story is a goofy joke in and of itself (“I love dogs, I've always loved dogs.”) and the MacGuffin of the story is a large scale rip-off of Soylent Green.

There also are some serious storytelling glitches that bugged the crap out of me. For example, at the top of the film we are rapidly and rather awkwardly introduced to the lead villains of the story as they walk through a demolished world. This is a completely unnecessary scene that should never have been shot. It ruins the surprise of the outer space elements that should have been shown off at the same time that Jupiter learns about them. As an audience member I would have appreciated discovering this new world outside our own alongside the main character.  What if the audience was shown the real world outside the Matrix before Neo was unplugged? The big reveal wouldn’t have had the same impact as far as I’m concerned. Ball dropped.

The Wachowskis may have come up with creative visuals and tech for this flick, but the story lacks it in the same amount. Some of it is downright stupid. But sometimes I just want to watch a big idiotic spectacle for the sake of sheer escapism which is why I love Flash Gordon to this very day. The siblings probably took some of the criticism aimed at Cloud Atlas to heart, namely the fact that it was overwhelmingly serious and intense, and decided to go for something light and frivolous for their next project. In my opinion it was a great decision since their epic space opera is a ton of dumb fun. I highly recommend it if you have a high tolerance to cheese flying at you from all angles. If that sounds appealing to you I’m pretty sure you’ll find a lot of love about Jupiter Ascending. If not stay clear as you might become lactose intolerant by osmosis.

3.5 out of 5