Peter Jackson Fails To Make The Hobbit Legendary With The Complete Motion Picture Trilogy Collection!

The Good: Acting is fine, Plot develops fine, Special effects
The Bad: Unremarkable plot, Reversals, Ridiculously low character development
The Basics: The Hobbit Trilogy is not Peter Jackson’s crowning achievement as it dilutes the magnificence of his The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy.


When New Line and MGM decided to make The Hobbit, I was one of the people who was exceptionally happy when Guillermo Del Toro was replaced with Peter Jackson. Peter Jackson did an incredible job at adapting J.R.R. Tolkein’s novels to make his cinematic The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy (reviewed here!). Unfortunately, Jackson was unable to get lightning to strike twice by making The Hobbit Trilogy equally memorable and impressive.

The Hobbit Trilogy is a surprisingly uncomplicated film series that is a prequel to The Lord Of The Rings. The film collection for The Hobbit consists of:
An Unexpected Journey
The Desolation Of Smaug
The Battle Of The Five Armies

The Hobbit Trilogy is set in Middle Earth and is set well before The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy and includes important elements that lead into the Trilogy Jackson produced a decade prior. As Middle Earth darkens from the emerging presence of Sauron, the wizard Gandalf The Grey visits Hobbiton. There, he enlists the restless hobbit, Bilbo, to join a company of dwarves that is headed to the ruined dwarven city of Erebor. Bilbo is hired to be the company’s burglar, which Gandalf and Thorin Oakenshield – the leader of the company and the presumptive king of the dwarves – believe they will need as Erebor is under the oppressive control of the dragon Smaug. Setting out from Hobbiton, the company of dwarves runs afoul of trolls, orcs and immense spiders which all threaten their chances of getting to Erebor. In the kingdom of the goblins, underground, Bilbo is separated from the dwarves and he encounters Gollum, a creature whom he exchanges riddles with. He escapes thanks to finding a ring of invisibility by chance.

The company escapes into the realm of the Elves, who distrust the dwarves. Once the Dwarves arrive at the Lonely Mountain, they find the Dwarven Nation impossible to enter, until Bilbo figures out how to find the secret door. Entering the mountain realm, Bilbo squares off against Smaug. In doing so, Bilbo inadvertently enrages the dragon and it goes out and destroys the nearby human city of Laketown. With Smaug no longer looking over the mountains of treasures in the Dwarven Nation, the humans, orcs, and elves descend upon the Lonely Mountain to take the gold. But the company is beset from within by Thorin, who has become obsessed with the treasure and the mythical Arkenstone which will solidify his claim to the dwarven throne.

The Hobbit is a very straightforward quest story and after witnessing the quest to destroy the source of all evil in Middle Earth, there is something incredibly underwhelming about a story that eventually gets around to being about one man’s obsession. Thorin Oakenshield is determined until late in the story when he becomes absolutely obsessed with hoarding the same riches that Smaug accumulated. Unlike the One Ring, which is fueled by Sauron’s evil, the mountain of gold has no supernatural reason for the obsession it brings to Thorin, Smaug, and all the others who covet it.

The company of dwarves is surprisingly large – a dozen strong – but only three of them are actually distinct. Thorin, the aged Balin and the young, elf-loving Kili are the dwarves with substantive characters. The rest are just filler and that makes it hard to invest in the bulk of the company.

The Hobbit features Martin Freeman as Bilbo and the role is unlike any of his other parts. He is not at all goofy, not regulated to simply supporting another, more forceful actor. Instead, he perfectly embodies Bilbo Baggins. Bilbo is clever and ethical. He has the heart of an explorer from a people who usually want to simply be left alone and Freeman finds the balance incredibly well.

Director Peter Jackson makes Middle Earth look as amazing as he did in The Lord Of The Rings. The story of The Hobbit might not be exceptional, but the look and feel of it is consistent with the rest of Jackson’s Middle Earth Saga. As a result, The Hobbit stands as a testament that style cannot sell an inferior story that lacks impressive characters.

For other works with Martin Freeman, please check out my reviews of:
The World’s End
The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy
Love Actually

6/10

For other movie reviews, please check out my Film Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2015 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Peter Jackson Convinces Fans To Return To Middle Earth One More Time With The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies!

The Good: Decent performances, Generally good effects, Much of the plot development and theme resolutions, Special effects
The Bad: Light on character development, Predictable plot repetition, Begins at an awkward place/resolves oddly
The Basics: Likely to work much better in context, The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies holds up poorly on its own, though it is entertaining-enough!


As we reach the end of the year, the final big film of the year has hit theaters. It is, of course, The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies, the final of three films in Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit Trilogy. The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies is a final act in the three-film journey that had Bilbo Baggins joining a company of Dwarves on their quest to retake the Dwarven land of Erebor. The thing about The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies is that it becomes the perfect argument against what Peter Jackson did with turning the single novel The Hobbit into three films. The final film of The Hobbit stands very poorly on its own.

Filled with subplots and the end of character arcs, The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies hits the ground running without any explanation, prologue or attempts at explicitly connecting to the prior film. The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies is an immediate follow-up to The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug (reviewed here!) and opens with the world of Middle Earth turned up on its end and it ends with an anticlimax that returns Peter Jackson to his horror roots. At least he does not force the audience to endure multiple endings, a la The Return Of The King (reviewed here!).

With Smaug furious and released from his mountain prison in Erebor, the dragon turns his attention on nearby Laketown. Burning Laketown down with his flame breath, Smaug runs afoul of Bard, who was imprisoned by the master of Laketown. Using the ancient weapon designed for such purpose, Bark kills Smaug and news soon spreads through Middle Earth that Smaug is dead and Erebor is ill-defended and filled with treasure beyond measure. Inside the mountain stronghold of Erebor, Thorin Oakenshield becomes obsessed with finding the Arkenstone and he is driven mad with desire for the treasure. Confirming that Thorin’s condition is not likely to get better should he get the Arkenstone, Bilbo keeps the stone hidden from him. Seeing that Thorin’s party has survived, Fili, Kili and those who were stuck in Laketown head to Erebor, with Kili telling the elf maiden Tauriel he is in love with her.

When the Elves and refugees from Laketown arrive at Dale, the human ruins adjacent to the Dwarven kingdom, Thorin feels threatened. Gandalf is rescued from his prison by Galadrial, Radagast, and Saruman, in the process pushing the non-corporeal version of Sauron back in the process. As Gandalf makes his way to the ruins of Dale, Bilbo sneaks out from under Thorin’s nose to do the same. There, Bilbo tries to broker a deal between Thranduil, King Of The Elves, and Bard before war breaks out. Thorin is withholding promised gold to Bard and the refugees and the return of gems stolen from the Elves; Bilbo presents Thranduil with the Arkenstone to use in trade for the treasures Thorin is holding. Thorin’s determination to let the Elves and humans attack is bolstered when the main force of the Dwarven Army arrives to repel them. Almost immediately, though, Orcs attack and the humans, Dwarves and Elves find themselves united against two armies of Orcs led by Azog The Defiler. As the struggle for Middle Earth is fought before them, Thorin shakes off his dragon sickness to begin a very personal fight against Azog!

The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies is surprisingly fast-paced for a film with a running time over two and a half hours. Despite having plotlines that seem incongruent with the main plot surrounding Thorin Oakenshield and his madness fueled by greed for the Arkenstone, like the Kili and Tauriel love story, the recurring weasel Alfrid, the rescue of Gandalf, and the conflict between Legolas and his own father (Thranduil), the pacing of The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies is remarkably tight.

In fact, almost all of the actual issues surrounding The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies involve how the film fails to stand on its own or how it fits into Peter Jackson’s larger Middle Earth Saga. On its own, The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies is a film that is mired by its failure to explain itself. It begins with Thorin mad and having achieved most of his goals. In The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies, Thorin has a somewhat unexplained obsession (the importance of the Arkenstone is vastly understated in the film), goes mad and overcomes it on the strength of his own will (not reason or the threat of being wiped out). Similarly, Gandalf’s imprisonment is not explained within the film; the whole Necromancer concept seems dropped in The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies!

In the context of Peter Jackson’s Middle Earth Saga, the big issue in The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies is Legolas. Legolas has one truly huge character moment in Peter Jackson’s The Lord Of The Rings Saga (reviewed here!). Legolas witnesses Elven death at the Battle Of Helm’s Deep and it leaves him shocked and shaken (in the commentary tracks, Jackson talks about how he has never seen Elves die because they are otherwise immortal). With that in mind, Legolas’s place in The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies seems utterly ridiculous. We are meant to believe that Legolas arrives at the field of battle, albeit late, and sees none of the elven bodies around that his father does?! Come on!

That said, The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies has pretty wonderful acting, getting viewers to invest in the characters, no matter how minor they are. The film has issues in the larger context, like how the eagles play the same trick as in The Lord Of The Rings (Tolkien’s fault, not Jackson’s) and a bloated cast that leaves the majority of the dwarves in the company unexplored as far as fleshing out actual characters, but the performers all play credibly in the environment. Luke Evans shines as Bard and Richard Armitage manages to make Thorin’s tormented persona pop on the screen.

Ultimately, The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies finishes Peter Jackson’s tenure as a master of Tolkein’s works for screen with a film that ties everything together, even if it does not stand very magnificently on its own.

For other films currently in theaters, please check out my reviews of:
To Write Love On Her Arms
The Voices
Love, Rosie
The Seventh Son
Song One
Match
Vice
American Sniper
Paddington
Inherent Vice
Selma
Still Alice
Predestination
Expelled
Annie
Comet
The Imitation Game

6.5/10

For other movie reviews, please check out my Movie Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2014 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Parody? Philosophy? The Fifth Element Still Entertains!

The Good: Concept, Entertaining, Most of the special effects, Basic plot
The Bad: Unremarkable acting, Light on character development, Some of the make-up effects.
The Basics: Packed with archetypes as opposed to viable characters, The Fifth Element is nevertheless an entertaining science fiction film.


Every now and then, I like to go back and watch movies for which there was a lot of hype, but which bombed at the box office. Back in my last year of college, The Fifth Element got quite a bit of hype and it was built-up to be the next Star Wars. However, upon its release, it was panned by the critics and it never truly found its audience (even among science fiction lovers). All I remembered about The Fifth Element was the “twist” about what the Fifth Element actually was. I had a friend in college who thought that the nature of the element was one of the coolest concepts she had seen and I remember being appreciative of that idea as well. But there was nothing else I truly recalled about the film, which inspired me to rewatch it tonight.

The Fifth Element is, more than the logical successor to Star Wars, the logical precursor to The Chronicles Of Riddick (reviewed here!). Like that later film, The Fifth Element devotes a great deal of time to establishing a viable universe and in that way it succeeds. Unlike The Chronicles Of Riddick, The Fifth Element does not devote much time to serious character establishment or development. Instead, The Fifth Element is preoccupied with creating a philosophy and theology of the universe it portrays and then packing the movie with fast-moving action sequences . . . and an opera. Personally, I like how the film stops for a few minutes of music appreciation while the heroine kicks some ass, but the film is more erratic than clever and that undermines it some.

Opening in Egypt in 1914, a small team of archeologists translates runes in the Great Pyramids to indicate that every five thousand years, a great evil visits Earth and kills many people. The runes also indicate that there are five elements that, when combined, can help to stop the great oncoming evil. When a devotee of an obscure order tries to kill the chief archaeologist on the Pyramids project, the team there is shocked when alien visitors arrive and recover four stones and a sarcophagus containing the fabled fifth element. They charge the devotee with passing on the knowledge of how to stop the great evil before they leave Earth.

Three hundred years later, a giant, malevolent energy field approaches Earth. When the military fails to successfully destroy it, the President Of The Federated Planets takes counsel from Father Vito Cornelius. Cornelius declares that the oncoming darkness can be stopped by the light of the universe, which would be created through bringing the five elements together in a specific place and time. When the Mondoshawan craft bringing the elements back to work is attacked and destroyed, all hope seems lost. But from the wreckage, a hand is recovered and scientists reconstitute a woman who is apparently genetically perfect and possesses hundreds of thousands of DNA base pairs more than are needed. She escapes into New York City. She falls into the floating cab of Korben Dallas, who helps her escape the police. Dallas takes the woman, Leeloo, to Father Vito Cornelius, who recognizes her as the one who his order has awaited.

At the same time, the industrialist and corrupt weapon’s manufacturer Jean-Baptiste Emanuel Zorg – who hired the aliens that destroyed the Mondoshawan vessel – is angered when he discovers his mercenary aliens were unable to recover the four stones he sent them to get. Zorg tries to get information from Cornelius, but the monk refuses to help the businessman. Conscripted by the military and thanks to a rigged radio contest, Korbin and Leeloo (and an annoying celebrity interviewer, Ruby Rhod) journey to Fhloston, Paradise to recover the stones (which the Mondoshawan’s cunningly sent via another route) from the opera singer Diva Plavalaguna. Under the influence of the shadow creature native to the zone of evil that is hanging outside the Sol system, Mr. Zorg hunts the stones on Fhloston himself. In the ensuing conflict, Leeloo and Dallas reveal their true potentials in their attempt to recover the stones and save the Earth.

The Fifth Element bends a serious threat to the Earth in a somewhat preposterous nebulous evil which may or may not be a planet come to impact with Earth with a number of fastly-delivered jokes and visual gags. The result is a movie that tries to be both tense and a parody of tense. And while the film has some moments of smart philosophy – the fifth element is a woman it seems – the concept is kept ridiculously simple – love and emotion are all that can combat the hatred of the nebulous evil.

On the character front, The Fifth Element is packed with monolithic characters. For every line that Bruce Willis delivers to create backstory for Korben Dallas, there are about five minutes of him running and shooting overlarge weapons or driving his floating cab at high speeds. But what little characterization there is for Dallas, the details seem remarkably generic. He is a former soldier with an ex-wife and a nagging mother. He is a loner who does not want to get involved . . . but does anyway and he is forced into a situation where he becomes the one man who can save the world. This becomes especially ridiculous at the film’s climax when Cornelius’s monk assistant asks Dallas for information on the mechanics of using the four stolen stones as opposed to the guy who has studied that very topic his entire life. So, Korben Dallas is written as a generic action hero whose skill set is not evident until the very moment it becomes plot-relevant and whose ability to love and connect only comes into play as a climactic event.

That is not to say that The Fifth Element is unpleasant. From the film’s outset when giant steampunk alien robots appear in the Egyptian pyramids, there is something that feels original and clever about the universe of The Fifth Element. The Diva is pretty awesome and her hiding place for the stones is neat as well. Sadly, the villain is equally generic as the hero.

On the acting front, there is nothing superlative in The Fifth Element. Chris Tucker plays his usual manic style character as Ruby Rhod, Bruce Willis is a generic action hero in the role of Dallas. In fact, Willis unfortunately breaks a number of times in scenes with Tucker and that director Luc Besson did not demand a second (or third or beyond) take to get the scenes right is unfortunate. The usual amazing Gary Oldman drives the budget for The Fifth Element as the villain Zorg, a role where he essentially plays Paul Rubens playing Zorg. Milla Jovovich is fine as Leeloo, though she does not bring much to the role outside her body and the ability to speak gibberish for much of the film.

Despite its flaws, it is easy to see how The Fifth Element. The story is ambitious enough to be worthy of a film and the setting is clever enough to feel unlike anything else on the big screen, even if the characters and performances are painfully unremarkable.

For other philosophical science fiction films, check out my reviews of:
Prometheus
The Matrix
The Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus

5.5/10

For other movie reviews, please check out my Film Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2014 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Returns Fans To Middle Earth, But Asks More Of The Audience.

The Good: Effects, Performances
The Bad: Pacing, Light on character development
The Basics: An adequate prequel, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey sufficiently starts the set-up for The Lord Of The Rings!


Prequels are a tough sell for me. In going back to make the prequel to The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy (reviewed here!), objectively it is a tougher sell than some might expect. After all, the prequel films, which now begin with The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey feature few real surprises. After all, the novel has been around for decades and, more importantly, it is instantly established that the protagonist cannot possibly die. This, usually, diminishes some of the enthusiasm for investing in a prequel. And, while it is hard for fans of Peter Jackson’s cinematic interpretation of The Lord Of The Rings not to let their heart skip a beat the moment the first words in the familiar typeface Jackson uses appear on the screen.

But the longer The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey continues, the harder it is to maintain that enthusiasm. While there is an immediate surge of joy to return to the familiar and magical setting of Middle Earth – though with the time spent now in Hobbiton, one wonders how the lesson on Hobbits in the extended edition of Fellowship Of The Ring will hold up when one sits down to watch all six films back to back – the pacing of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is not as well-executed as in The Lord Of The Rings. Moreover, the stakes are no longer the world, so there is no sense of urgency to the mission the protagonist, Bilbo Baggins, finds himself on.

Bilbo Baggins is a Hobbit, living in Hobbiton, generally happy with his existence. But then, his home is overrun by dwarves and the wizard Gandalf the Grey. After being frustrated by the slovenly nature of the Dwarves and the indifference of their leader, Thorin Oakenshield, Bilbo rejects the entreaties of Gandalf to join their quest. Uninterested in helping the Dwarves invade Erebor, the Lonely Mountain, to retake it from the dark forces that have conquered it, Bilbo has a change of heart once his annoying guests depart.

Catching up with the Dwarves, Bilbo comes to appreciate more what their fight is for as he comes to understand the importance of his own home. And through a series of conflicts with Trolls, Goblins and other monsters that inhabit the land outside Hobbiton, Bilbo grows closer to the Dwarves. After helping thwart a trio of Trolls, side trip to Rivendell and falling into a goblin trap, Bilbo feels he is truly a member of the company. His bond with the Dwarves is shaken when Bilbo ends up frightened and alone when he is lost in caverns, which puts him into peril he cannot even understand at the time and leads to a conflict with Thorin's oldest enemy.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is good, but for those looking for more than to be dazzled by the visual effects, it takes a lot of faith and the trust that this is an essential step in the character development of Bilbo Baggins. The visual majesty of Peter Jackson’s Middle Earth – which still, is vastly better than what Guillermo Del Toro might have done given his creative repetition in his works – is tempered by a pace that is, at times, agonizingly slow. Say what you will about the multiple endings to Return Of The King, but they do something to resolve the massive scale of the films and make it more intimate. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey aches to build the world of Middle Earth and it does so without the sense of incredible importance that The Lord Of The Rings possessed.

That said, for a film that builds to the prequel moments of The Lord Of The Rings, with Bilbo encountering Gollum and discovering the One Ring, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey does what it can as well it can. The discovery of the One Ring is an incidental thing and, as annoying as that might seem, it makes it entirely plausible that a character as smart as Gandalf – as portrayed in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - would remain ignorant of it as long as he did. On its own, away from knowing where the Saga is going, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is just a slow build-up, a quest based on nationalism for a nation viewers are unlikely to feel compelling empathy for that abruptly ends well before it actually reaches its conclusion.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is somewhat low on character development; this is a film more concerned with establishing Bilbo Baggins, Gandalf The Grey, and Thorin Oakenshield, than it is with changing them. The film begins to challenge them, especially Bilbo, whose sensibilities about home and its relationship to the larger world slowly change.

On the acting front, Sir Ian McKellen, Andy Serkis, Hugo Weaving, Cate Blanchette, and Christopher Lee, all flawlessly retake the roles they had in The Lord Of The Rings. Richard Armitage explodes into the franchise as Thorin Oakenshield and he is magnetic, albeit with almost the same level of screen gravitas as Viggo Mortensen had as Aragorn in The Lord Of The Rings. The real acting triumph for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey comes from Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins. Freeman had a role he had to both mimic and make his own, taking over for Sir Ian Holm’s Bilbo (a task made more potentially difficult by the aged Bilbo, performed by Holm, appearing in the film!). Freeman takes the challenge, managing to deepen the goofy aspects Ian Holm’s Bilbo and also bringing out the more serious side of the character. Bilbo is essentially a bit character in The Lord Of The Rings, so Freeman has to flesh out the character while still making it seem like he would reasonably evolve into the aged Bilbo. He nails it. Freeman has an amazingly expressive body language that makes him viable as a reluctant quest participant and he plays Bilbo as the common man, as opposed to even attempting to bring heroic stature to the character.

For those who can stomach the slower nature of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and the way it takes its time to truly establish Middle Earth – showing instead of relying excessively on voiceover exposition this time – will find themselves eager for the next chapter. For those who are not as into fantasy films, it is hard to see how this would be the one to sell them on the genre.

For other fantasy films, please check out my reviews of:
Beautiful Creatures
The Twilight Saga
Alice In Wonderland

7.5/10

For other film reviews, be sure to check out my Movie Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2012 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Cult Classic?! I've No Hope For Humanity . . . Garden State

The Good: One or two moments of character, Ian Holm
The Bad: Most of the characters and acting are terrible, Plot is nonexistent or hackneyed.
The Basics: Dull, predictable and uninspired in acting and writing, Garden State disappoints the viewer who was enthusiastically anticipating the viewing.


A very good friend of mine warned me against being too critical of Garden State after I panned The Last Kiss (reviewed here!). She informed me that there's something of a cult that has grown up around the movie Garden State and that Zach Braff is considered the second coming for writing, directing and acting in the movie. I know it's chic to take shots at celebrities when they become ridiculously well-paid, but the timing of this review is coincidence. And before I tear into someone's new Bible, let me start with the caveat that I was looking forward to Garden State. It's been on my list for years.

Andrew Largeman, a bit actor in Hollywood, returns to New Jersey when his mother drowns in the bathtub. He has been living a life as a twenty-something in Hollywood half asleep and half bored. He returns to New Jersey, avoiding his issues with his father, to hook up with friends, fall in love with a local girl, and come to understand that life is for the living and it's time he started living in the present and for a future.

I'll start my rant off with my real problem with Garden State; almost everyone is a stupid stereotype of youth. I cannot recall the last time I watched a movie about people in their twenties when there was not excessive drinking, drug use, smoking or open, emotionless, sexuality. I can live with sex, but I'm sick of seeing young people universally portrayed as idiotic drug-using, smoking, boozers that lack genuine personality and real rebellious spirit. If this truly is the future of America, the United States is doomed. If this is considered entertaining, the next generation is as lost as every prior generation has always secretly feared.

I call the characters idiotic because the prevalence of drug culture as mainstream youth (as presented in Garden State and innumerable other teen-oriented coming-of-age films) culture is characterized by the most selective stupidity I've yet witnessed. So, while Andrew acknowledges he is a Hollywood actor, but refuses to do coke, he - moments later - pops whatever pill is handed to him. Moron. This is on top of the pharmacy of antidepressants Andrew is on.

And on that front, Garden State writer Zach Braff ought to have done some homework. In a scene in the movie where Andrew visits a neurologist, the doctor tells him that antidepressants clear the system relatively fast, which is the opposite of truth (a number of the SRIs take time to build up in the blood stream, should not be ended abruptly and can cause withdrawal symptoms up to a month after usage is terminated if the system is not properly weaned from them). As problematic is just the basic sense of the pharmacy of Andrew is on and the lack of interactions with the various drugs he uses in the course of Garden State.

I'm sorry, there are a lot of cliche ideas in film and literature; coming of age, mid-life crisis, deathbed conversions. We've seen these things. I suppose every generation needs a coming of age film/novel. Then again, it's hard to top The Catcher In The Rye. Garden State is a particularly witless coming of age; the protagonist is barely believable as someone who either has coasted as long as he has without dealing with his problems or someone who hasn't already gotten over them. That is, the elements of his backstory that come up in the movie seem like they ought to have been dealt with already in order for him to have remained functional as long as he has or there didn't seem enough in the movie to wake him up.

Either way, the plot has been done. It's been done to death and this is not a particularly compelling coming of age. Andrew is not an interesting protagonist. He's dull, dull to watch and it's hard to feel empathy for one who willingly surrounds himself with such losers as Andrew does. Like Napoleon Dynamite (reviewed here!), Garden State is a much-hyped movie with characters that are supposedly original and compelling, but fall short.

The only marginally interesting characters are the two supporting characters in Andrew's life. Andrew's father, Gideon, is aloof, but intelligent and every scene he's in is riveting. Similarly, Sam, Andrew's love interest is far more interesting than Andrew, though from her first moments she seems ridiculously young.

On that note, let's explore the acting. Natalie Portman plays Sam and from the first moments she is on screen, she seems to be playing Sam as young. Sam is very open with opinions, but the level of enthusiasm and lack of discretion was so childlike as to be troubling. Honestly, she was playing the role in a way that was more appropriate for a character five years old than eighteen. Later in the film, as Sam and Andrew move through their days and the obstacles they find there, Portman's acting becomes more age-appropriate and the performance is better.

Ian Holm is great as the taciturn Gideon, ruling each scene he is in with a sense of sensibility that makes the film watchable at least for the few minutes he is in it. Similarly, Ann Dowd is recognizable and wonderful in her bit role as Olivia, Sam's mother. It is refreshing to see her bring maturity and dignity to this movie.

But the film rests mostly on the back of Zack Braff and there it dies. Braff is quite good at creating a low-key affect. But it doesn't bring us into his character. In fact, Braff's performance is so understated as to make his character repulsive; the viewer does not want to get to know Andrew because from the opening frames (where he imagines going down in a plane crash and he sits unphased by the experience) he seems too unbelievably boring. He's not enjoyable or interesting to watch and Braff's performance only serves to distance the viewer from whatever internal struggle the character might be going through.

Were I truly jaded, I might suggest that Zach Braff's first directoral effort was simply an insecure attempt to kiss Natalie Portman. But that would be real jaded. As it stands, I'm at a loss as to why Garden State resonates with so many young people. Were I them, I would see it as a cautionary tale and strive for better.

For other works with Peter Sarsgaard, please be sure to check out my reviews of:
Green Lantern
Knight And Day
The Cell

3/10

For other film reviews, please be sure to check out my Movie Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2012, 2007 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.

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Reworked, But Still Pretty Much The Same, Strangers With Candy (The Movie) Disappoints!

The Good: Moments of humor, Guest stars
The Bad: Recast roles, Blase plot, No real character development, Repeats many jokes from the television show.
The Basics: At long last, I take in Strangers With Candy and find it to be an unenthusiastic retread of the television series.


It has been a weekend filled with me considering Strangers With Candy. The television show Strangers With Candy (reviewed here!) was a favorite of my ex-wife and when I was on the road with my wife last year, we caught a few minutes of the movie Strangers With Candy. Trying to cheer her up, I decided to get her out the film Strangers With Candy and we sat down to both watch it. She had forgotten about the film and I tried very hard to get enthusiastic about the movie when I was not wild about the show.

Ironically, she laughed less than I did and I actually enjoyed parts of it. Objectively, though, Strangers With Candy is in no way great. In fact, while I laughed quite a bit more at the movie than I expected to, I did not laugh all that much and if the movie was truly doing much different and/or better than the television series did, I would have laughed quite a bit more. While supposedly a prequel to the television series, Strangers With Candy is actually a reworking of the show that combines many of the best elements of the television series in order to make a movie that is barely above the ninety minute minimum threshold for feature films.

Jerri Blank spent thirty-two years on the streets and in prison before abruptly getting out. She returns to her father's house to discover a new stepmother she did not know about and her father in a coma. Jerri's half-brother, Derrick, like her stepmother, treats her terribly and when her father's doctor recommends she become something good to reinvigorate her dad, Jerri goes back to high school. Unfortunately for Jerri, Principal Blackman is under investigation by members of the school board. If he cannot illustrate anything extraordinary in his students, he will go to prison for misappropriating school funds.

The opportunity for Jerri and Blackman to become successful and exhibit a single extraordinary student comes with the regional science fair. Jerri, not scientifically inclined, is teamed up with both the smart Asian and outcast students, while Blackman hires a ringer teacher to get the good-looking students a project that will simply dazzle the judges. As the science fair approaches, Jerri struggles to fit in as an ex-con going to high school.

Strangers With Candy is an exceptionally simple premise and while the movie utilizes many of the most successful jokes from the television series, it frequently lacks the wit or successful ridiculous quality of the television series. In fact, it is rather early on in the movie - when Dr. Putney slides down the banister at the Blank home - that the truly original zany humor is exhausted. After that, most of the humor is simply characters - most notably Jerri's peers, her half-brother, stepmother and stepmother's meat man - insulting Jerri. This is a movie where "fag" and "fatty" and variations thereof are thrown around with alarming frequency.

Unfortunately, the result is not often humor. Instead, it's a series of cruel interpersonal interactions with no genuine character development and thus a rising action leading up to the science fair with no emotional investment for the viewer. As the science fair approaches, much of the best humor comes from Stephen Colbert's character, who loathes Jerri, is competing with the much more successful Roger Beekman and is breaking off his illicit homosexual affair with the art teacher, Geoffrey Jellineck. But even Colbert, in the role tailored to him, is unfortunately forced to reuse his jokes multiple times in the same movie, making them lose their punch and making it difficult to believe the film replays with any reasonable success.

What is astonishing about Strangers With Candy is the volume of truly amazing talent that comes out to participate in this troublingly weak parody of itself. The acting talents of Ian Holm, Allison Janney, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Matthew Broderick grace the screen for moments that are either incongruently funny given their celebrity or a waste of their exceptional abilities. Sarah Jessica Parker also appears in the film.

Oddly, in a film that claims to be a prequel, many of the roles are recast - most notably Jerri's father, Guy, and half-brother, Derrick. Moreover, given that Stew was introduced later in the series, his presence in the film robs this of being a true prequel.

As for the acting in Strangers With Candy, the big four - Amy Sedaris (Jerri), Gregory Holliman (Blackman), Paul Dinello (Jellineck) and Colbert (Noblet) - effortlessly fall into the roles they played for the thirty episodes of the series. None of them bring anything new to the characters or performances, so this is more of an homage to their own, earlier work than a truly new or different comedic experience. Their portrayals are simply a continuation of their troubling, melodramatic, effeminate and erratic (respectively) characters they became known for.

The result is a film that is actually less satisfying for those who liked the television series Strangers With Candy as it mashes some of the best jokes from the series into a movie that lacks the satire of the parody of after-school specials the series possessed. As for those approaching the movie before the series . . . the best I can say is that my wife, who loves outrageous comedies, has expressed no desire to see the series since we watched this.

For other works featuring Dan Hedaya, be sure to visit my reviews of:
Mulholland Drive
Alien Resurrection

2/10

For other movie reviews, please visit my index page by clicking here!

© 2011 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.


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Chariots Of Fire Reinforces That It's Better To Be In The Race Than Watching It!

The Good: A decent overall story, Moments of character, DVD bonus features
The Bad: No great acting, Moments of soundtrack, Pacing
The Basics: A strikingly average film, Chariots Of Fire is light on plot, character and acting, so much so it's astonishing such a detailed special edition DVD could be created for it!


There are very few films I have watched that have to do with sports, much less racing. In fact, the only one that comes instantly to mind is Seabiscuit. But as I make my way through the various winners of the Best Picture Oscar, I have been compelled to watch more sports films, a genre I am inherently biased against. Tonight's outing into sports films was Chariots Of Fire. And while I might not be into sports films, I went into the film with as much of an open mind as I could and I was not impressed by this one.

Before the uprising against this humble reviewer begins, it is worth noting that I used to be a runner. I know the anguish of defeat and how nerve-racking it can be to feel chased for minutes on end. I've often said of such sports as track and field that it is far more satisfying and enjoyable to participate in the events than it is to watch them. Watching this film only reinforced that. Chariots Of Fire is based upon both a book and historical events and it is worthwhile to note that this review is solely of the film, not on any of the related works (or the truth).

Opening in London 1978, a man speaking at a funeral begins to recall a bygone era. A Scottish Evangelical named Eric Liddell raises awareness about god while running sprints. Working with his girlfriend, he tries to arrange missionary work in China (where he was born) and he divides his time between god and running. At the same time, Harold Abrahams makes his debut running sat Cambridge and in 1919, the Jewish runner competes to be considered the fastest man in Britain. When Abrahams and Liddell have their first race, Liddell wins and Harold sinks into a funk. He is rescued from his depression by the professional trainer, Sam Mussabini.

After training with Sam, Harold proves himself and both young men end up on Britain's Olympic team in 1924. Concerned about the American runners, Liddell and Abrahams prepare to square off once again. While Harold's running brings him closer to his girlfriend, Eric finds himself in an emotional and moral quandary about what his running is doing to him. As the games progress, both men figure out why they are running.

Chariots Of Fire is a short concept film fleshed out with subplots that never truly develop or never become as compelling as they could be. Harold deals with anti-Semitism at Cambridge, but it is often veiled in the old guard establishment at the college. The entire subplot of Harold wrestling with the dislike of Jews illustrated by the elders is dealt with in one scene after an aside at the beginning of the film. Far more of the film deals with Eric wrestling with his faith. That plot includes seeds, like Liddell lecturing a child who is playing rugby on the sabbath, which ultimately bear plot fruits, Liddell taking on the olympic committee over having to run a heat on the sabbath.

But more of the plots are fractured vignettes that do not develop nearly as well as the overall story. So, while the mirroring romantic plots - the dissolution of Liddell's relationship contrasting with Harold's love getting stronger through the running - are there, they are absent for most of the film. As well, a hurdler for Britain's team is shown training and his arc is mostly missing from the rest of the film. This makes one wonder what the point of his early scene was.

Largely, Chariots Of Fire is a plot-based film and this is why the movie holds up poorly. Without an emotional resonance to either of the film's protagonists, it becomes quite difficult to care what happens in the plot. Because the plots like the anti-Semitism against Abrahams is less-developed, one does not get the feeling he is truly running to prove anything, nor is he running to win the love of his life's affections. Similarly, once Liddell abandons his principle race, his character becomes vastly less important. When Eric is a runner, he fits the story being told well, when he becomes more of a preacher, this is not his film.

In addition to being light on character, none of the actors truly stand out. Outside Sir Ian Holm, who plays Sam, the actors are very white bread in their performances. While their characters might be droll, it is the death knell of the film for the performers to seem similarly bored or boring with playing their parts. By the time Chariots Of Fire was finished, I felt no care, no catharsis and for a film that is supposed to be a timeless story, this was a huge disappointment.

Those who love the conceits of films from the 1980s will appreciate the soundtrack by Vangelis Papathanassiou. The synth-based soundtrack is a wonderful one and it is easy to see how this influenced Ridley Scott with the Tangerine Dream soundtrack for Legend. But on this movie, the soundtrack is far too obtrusive. While the main theme is recognizable and grand, much of the rest of the movie's music - when it does come up - is distractingly out of setting. In other words, for a film about stiff British characters, the music ought to have been more orchestral than modern.

On DVD, Chariots Of Fire is presented with a lavish two-disc version. The second disc includes featurettes on the making of the movie as well as adapting the book to a film. While most of the featurettes are typical for a drama - deleted scenes, casting, conversations with the director - the bonus disc for Chariots Of Fire includes some cool programs from the early 1980s when the film was originally released. This makes it the ultimate edition for fans of this movie. On the principle disc, there is also a commentary track, which offers an additional value to fans.

A slow, fairly dull sports film bogged down with subplots and flashbacks that do not truly develop, Chariots Of Fire is an unremarkable movie. While this is an exceptional DVD presentation of the movie, the movie itself is dominated by characters it is hard to empathize with or care about the fate of. Those who like great drama will find this to be anything but; it is a sports film with limited melodrama centering around nationalism and religion.

[As a winner of the Best Picture Oscar, this is part of my Best Picture Project which is available here! Please check it out!]

For other films with competitions, please check out my takes on:
The Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus
Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire 
The Blind Side

5/10

For other movie reviews, please be sure to check out my index page by clicking here!

© 2011, 2009 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.

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Alien: The Science Fiction/Horror Classic On DVD Still Satisfies!

The Good: Excellent acting, Good sense of mood, Plot, Interesting characters, Great DVD extras!
The Bad: A little light on character
The Basics: Alien tells the story of a group of workers trapped on a mining ship, hunted by an extraterrestrial animal in one of the classics that pioneered the science-fiction/horror genre.


Being the first one out of the gate does not necessarily guarantee perfection or create a classic. In the realm of science fiction/horror, though, being the first out of the gate gave the masters of the genre a chance to pioneer the conceits that would be imitated and recreated in virtually all of the films in the science fiction/horror subgenre that followed. In the case of Alien, now available on DVD separate from the Alien Quadrilogy (reviewed here), the film is both legitimately great and a true pioneer. Unlike shows like Star Trek and films like Star Wars, Alien presented a dark, quiet universe, without an extensive population where the greatest enemies are much more subtle.

The commercial starship Nostromo is hauling ore back from the outer rim of the galaxy when its crew, which had been in suspended animation, is woken up. Finding themselves nowhere near home, the crew led by Captain Dallas discovers that the ship has been diverted because it picked up an alien radio signal. Dallas is given new orders, to find the source of the signal and the ragtag crew of workers is forced to set down on a dismal, inhospitable planet.

Once there, the two mechanics work to get the ship prepared for liftoff while Dallas, the ship's navigator Lambert, and executive officer Kane go for a walk outside while Science Officer Ash waits aboard the ship. The trio discovers a crashed alien vessel filled with eggs that are awakened by their arrival. They arrive back at the Nostromo with Kane carrying a parasite. The parasite soon dies and Kane is killed through the violent birth of a new lifeform from his body. Dallas, warrant officer Ripley and the other four members of the crew liftoff from the planet and in space, they find themselves hunting the lifeform through the ship, only to become the hunted themselves.

Alien, which was released in the late 1970s, has never looked as good as it does on this DVD. Remastered and cleaned up with a branching function that allows the viewer to see the film as it was originally presented or in the more recent Director's cut, Alien looks and sounds good, regardless of whatever else one might think about it. The truth is, there is a lot to like about Alien.

First, this is a film that has a wonderful sense of mood and rather effectively sets a creepy tone throughout. The Nostromo is a dirty ship and it is populated by people who are working stiffs, not heroes. Indeed, these are not military people, they are workers and their main concerns are staying alive and making money. As a result, the feel of the crew is one of ordinary people who are suddenly put in the unenviable position of finding their lives on the line based on the corporate greed of the Company which demands they investigate the radio signal.

The genius of Alien that makes it so scary is that the menace comes from without - in the form of the alien life form - and within, from the Company. This keeps the film from being monolithic and a straightforward chase film. Dallas is barely able to keep control of his crew and, in fact, the only way the two mechanics get back to working on the ship is when Ripley threatens them with loss of their paychecks. Ash and Ripley lay out the interests of the Company and compel those motivated by basic greed to risk their lives for the money. In this way, Alien is much like Jaws, in that it tells the story that on one level appears to be a simple horror film, while on a deeper level explores the evils of rampant capitalism.

Of course, in Alien, there is a very real monster which begins hunting the crew. It is a nightmarish creature that is easily one of the coolest looking, most iconic creatures in science fiction or horror films. The brilliance of Ridley Scott's Alien is that the actual creature is barely in the film, making its brief appearances all the more shocking. The hunt through the ship becomes scary because of the shadows, filthy surfaces and the unpredictability of the creature.

And this is what makes Alien truly great to this day; the characters, like the audience, have no idea what the creature is, where it is or how it will behave. As a result, the audience is terrorized with the crew of the Nostromo. Arguably, this was scarier when it was originally released because the plot conventions pioneered by the film had not been repeated and reworked in hundreds of other movies. But Alien was the one that set the essential number of plot reversals, the conventions of killing off the person who goes solo and the reversals near the end.

What makes it still work to this day is the realism of it. Sure, it's set in space on a space ship and it involves landing on planets and encountering nasty space monsters. But outside that, it's incredibly real. The characters bicker among themselves. They have their own priorities and limitations. These are people who do not have limitless supplies, they do not all get along and they are pretty much only looking out for themselves. But the best, most realistic, aspect of Alien is that not everything works. Things do not go as planned for the crew when they try to stop the alien. Simple things like flashlights not working and scanners giving out incorrect information play the audience - and the Nostromo crew - into entertaining disaster.

The actors sell the film perfectly. Tom Skerritt is Dallas and he portrays the captain of the commercial vessel perfectly as a man beleaguered by problems and underwhelmed by principles. In almost every scene he carries himself like a man bearing a heavy weight with the sense that there is no relief in sight. At the same time, he is able to speak with a calm authority that makes it perfectly believable that the Company would have contracted him to run the ship.

Similarly, Sigourney Weaver memorably explodes onto the screen as Ripley, a rules-abiding officer whose purpose seems to be to execute the will of the Company as their mouthpiece. Weaver's performance is one of the most human as the things her character clings to are stripped away in the face of the alien attack. Weaver perfectly embodies the normal person called upon to do the extraordinary when circumstances radically alter and she has a quality to her that makes the transition believable. Indeed, it is the impatience Weaver infuses into Ripley's early scenes that hint to the viewer that she has the strength to fight to survive.

With an impressive supporting cast including John Hurt, Veronica Cartwright, Yaphet Koto, and Ian Holm, Alien's performers add to the horror in a way that sells the picture perfectly.

This is not to say that Alien is a perfect film. It is slow in the beginning. It's tone is magnificent, but it belabors the build-up like a roller coaster with an especially high beginning ascent. It works, but it requires a trust in Ridley Scott. The only point that trust is truly violated is near the end of the film when Sigourney Weaver's butt crack is exposed for honestly no good reason (and we write that as fans of Weaver's work and butt!).

With hours of features, commentary tracks and an alternate cut that restores a scene that adds nothing special back into the film (indeed, in some ways it lessens the impact of the alien), this DVD set is a tremendous value and whatever is lacking from the film that keeps it from being perfect, the DVD bonuses more than make up for with informative and entertaining content.

This is a treasure trove for fans of science fiction, horror, or anyone who just wants something truly different. And it's quite easy to see how this little movie, set in a dank and miserable corner of a filthy universe spawned a franchise.

For other works featuring Sir Ian Holm, please check out my reviews of:
Brazil
The Fellowship Of The Ring
The Return Of The King

Alien - 9.5/10
with Aliens and Alien 3 as one long movie - 10/10

For other film reviews, please visit my index page for a complete listing of all I have available!

© 2011, 2007 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Epic Redux Vol. 3 - The Return Of The King Reworks Perfection In Its Extended Edition!

The Good: Great acting, directing, characters, plot, special effects, Wonderful DVD bonus features, Truly a Best Picture!
The Bad: One additional scene is shaky.
The Basics: Fleshed out to be an even more complete and truly epic film, the extended edition of The Return Of The King is the only one worth owning!


Coming in to the home stretch of the Lord Of The Rings Trilogy, director Peter Jackson had to be feeling pretty wonderful. The extended editions of both The Fellowship Of The Ring (click here for that review!) and The Two Towers (click here for that review!) had revolutionized the way that films could be made and marketed and sold the American public on the idea of knowingly releasing a superior DVD version of a film than the theatrical release. In the case of the final installment, The Return Of The King, this seemed like it might be the greatest challenge of Peter Jackson's career. And yet, with the release of the four-disc collection The Return Of The King - The Special Extended Edition on DVD, Jackson proves he is up to the challenge wonderfully!

Because of the way he had arranged the previous installment in the cinematic trilogy, co-writer and director Peter Jackson had a lot of ground to make up to finish off the volumes written by J.R.R. Tolkien (the novel of The Return Of The King is reviewed here!). As a result, Jackson takes certain liberties, like only have four or five endings as opposed to the ten or more endings the book has. With the Special Extended Edition DVD of this Best Picture winner, Jackson takes his 201 minute masterpiece and restructures it into a 251 minute juggernaut that fleshes out the conclusion to the trilogy in a way that leaves the viewer with a very definite sense of Middle Earth and its history.

Following a brief extension of the story of how the riverfolk came to find the lost, fabled One Ring of Sauron and how it twisted the kindly Smeagol into the wretched Gollum, Frodo and Sam awaken on the ruined fields leading into the blasted realm of Mordor on their quest to destroy the One Ring. Guided by Gollum, the pair is plagued by the weight of the Ring and the hopelessness it evokes. Gollum, sensing his opportunity, drives a wedge between the two hobbits and leads Frodo toward a trap that may well kill him and destroy Middle Earth.

As Frodo and Sam journey closer to the heart of evil, Aragorn and Gandalf work to muster the forces of men to keep the forces of Sauron occupied and diverted from finding the hobbits. With Sauron's armies besieging the last true outpost of men - Gondor and its citadel of Minas Tirith - Gandalf and Merry ride to aid the city while Theodin calls upon all of Rohan (except the women) to fight Sauron's forces. And Aragorn, accompanied by Legolas and Gimli, rides to fulfill his destiny and calls upon the last hidden allies on Middle Earth that might change the tide of the war.

Like its predecessors in the extended cuts, The Return Of The King - The Special Extended Edition DVD has numerous scenes that were created special for the DVD release or were reintegrated into the film. These scenes tend to add a much richer sense of setting for the film and include a scene that finally ties up the Saruman story arc with the wizard actually featured! Notably absent from the theatrical release, the resolution to the story of Saruman and the Ent's taking control of Isengard is much more satisfying than the originally shown resolution to that story thread, even if it does mean yet another character in the film plummets to their death (this movie has quite a lot of people falling!). Similarly, near the battle climax of the film, there is a wonderful added scene involving the disgusting Mouth Of Sauron, who seeks to dishearten the heroes of Middle Earth. This adds some menace - despite the speed with which it is dispatched - by implying that Sauron is much closer to achieving a corporeal form to embody evil than ever before. This raises the stakes of the film well.

As well, the film plays on scenes that were extended in the previous films by revisiting the gifts from Galadriel, fleshing out the relationship between Boromir, Faramir and Denethor, and playing more on the strengths and weaknesses of Theodin. So, for example, while in the theatrical release of The Return Of The King there is a somewhat senseless resistance on the part of Theodin to commit troops to protecting Gondor, here Saruman's goading and insights into his weaknesses make that somewhat more believable.

All told, there are fourteen additional scenes reintegrated into The Return Of The King and twenty-three other scenes have additional footage returned to them. Fans of the original version who might have objected to the length of the release will be heartened to know that after a certain point, there is no additional footage and the end parts are not lengthened. This actually makes the end sequences seem less cumbersome than in the original cut. Unlike some form of prototype or test screening, the extended cut features fully mastered shots integrated seamlessly into the film. The addition of new material is so precise that it could easily go unnoticed because of the scope of the film and is so professionally done that it includes an entirely redone soundtrack to adapt the score to the longer scenes. The integration is brilliant and makes for a far more complete film!

In fact, there is only one - very minor - bit of extended footage that I did not enjoy and that is a whole mess of skulls collapsing the chambers of the dead when Aragorn and his team are on their mission. The sequence seemed silly and somewhat overdone, but in the scope of the entire film, those thirty seconds are not enough to make me think it is less than a perfect cinematic endeavor.

The Extended Edition cut of The Return Of The King becomes THE version to recommend because it is a rich, complex film that is not afraid to take its time in developing a nuanced setting and additional character depth.

Of course, the characters ought to be the centerpiece for the film and this episode succeeds with both developing the established characters and establishing new characters who are worthy of attention. The noteworthy characters of The Return Of The King are:

Frodo Baggins - A hobbit charged with saving the world by destroying the powerful One Ring of Sauron. He is even more exhausted by the power of the Ring, which has begun to drain him and even limit his movement and ability to reason. Manipulated by Gollum, his mind becomes troubled and somewhat addled, threatening his ability to complete his mission,

Gollum - Formerly a riverfolk, now a twisted minion of evil who suffers from a split personality disorder, his generous nature is once again dominated by the power of the One Ring and his nastier nature. Conniving and deft, Gollum manipulates Frodo and encourages the hobbit to push Sam away so he may lead Frodo to his death, all for his own desire for the Ring,

Denethor - Steward of Gondor, griefstricken by the loss of his son Boromir to the point of impotent madness. With the arrival of Gandalf and Pippin, shortly before the armies of Sauron, he is content to allow Men to fall as a result of his overwhelming sense of loss. It is with little sense that he guides his people, forcing Gandalf to consider deposing him,

Aragorn - A man whose destiny is to overcome the limitations of his lineage and restore nobility to the race of Men. When Elrond gives him the means to achieve victory, Aragorn makes the decision to call in all oaths made to him and his people to attempt to turn the tides of battle to give Frodo and Sam the only real chance of completing their mission. It is in preparing to confront Sauron and his forces directly that Aragorn finally becomes the king he was meant to be,

Sam - Frodo's hobbit companion, it is his strength that may well keep Frodo alive and here he becomes more than he thought he could be,

The Witch-King - The leader of the Ringwraiths, it is one of the main forces of Sauron leading the assault on Minas Tirith. It is the power of this warlord that threatens all, including Gandalf,

Eowyn - Theodin's niece, she objects to being treated as less than a man. Sneaking into the Rohan army with Merry, she vows to protect her people by fighting as she sees fit, with sword and shield. She becomes an unlikely hero, battling both for her people and her uncle's love,

and Sauron - Appearing as the ethereal Eye and Voice and the more corporeal Mouth, his essence is tied to the One Ring and as it moves deeper toward its source, the form of evil seems to gain in strength.

The Return Of The King is populated by wonderful characters and the performances of the actors - even those of the lesser-featured characters - was enough to launch the careers of many. The actors are pretty exceptional and while most of them deserve mentioning, the bulk of the film falls upon the shoulders of two actors to carry: Viggo Mortensen and Elijah Wood. While John Noble's portrayal of Denethor is impressive with his ability to evoke the broken man, this seems far more the functioning of great casting. He's legitimately wonderful - and having met him at conventions, his acting truly is great acting - but his performance does not make the movie.

Viggo Mortensen, on the other hand, truly excels in The Return Of The King! Here the actor dominates every scene he is in and achieves a level of bearing he has not shown the viewer before now. He is kingly. Mortensen is confident and plays Aragorn with a resolve that is steely and precise. But it's easy to see his greatness and ability here as his character is given far more to do this time around than in the previous films and the Extended Edition truly expands his journey into becoming a real king.. As well, Mortensen balances his performance with a deep humanity and compassion.

Also giving a great performance is Elijah Wood as Frodo Baggins. Frodo is a reluctant hero, like a kid who would rather sit home and goof off with his friends when he suddenly discovers he has a destiny, and here Wood brings a sense of physical exhaustion to the role that instantly gives the viewer the sense that his character is transforming as we watch. As well, he is playing off actor Andy Serkis (Gollum) through most of the film, yet we never have the sense that Wood is seeing anything but the digital recreation the viewer sees. That takes talent! In The Return Of The King, Wood gives an overwhelmingly physical performance and there is not a single scene he is in that he does not appear absolutely exhausted and drained by the power of the ring he carries around his neck. It's a labor to watch Frodo, so wonderful is Wood's performance!

Truly, this is a pretty classic tale of good versus evil, even if evil is mostly disembodied. And thus it comes down to how the story is told and in what setting. Middle Earth, as created by Peter Jackson and the team at Weta Workshops is a beautiful and well-defined world that has some obvious appeal to it.

On DVD, this extended edition sets standards for both the source material and the bonus features. The feature film spans two discs and there is no option to play the theatrical version on this DVD. The reason is simple; that would require a SIXTH soundtrack! There is the primary soundtrack for the Extended Edition and FOUR different commentary tracks on both of the first two discs! There is a commentary track featuring cast members, one featuring Peter Jackson and his co-writers Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens, one featuring production staff and another featuring effects artists and the like! It's a pretty extensive series of commentaries (well, the cast one is just plain fun but not nearly as informative, save listening to some of the cast joke with one another about the project) and it is rich and fleshes out a great deal of the thought processes behind acting choices, writing decisions, and production elements.

Discs three and four are a treasure trove of additional information on the production, the world of Middle Earth, the genesis of the film project, the labors of love that went into making the extended cut, virtually everything one might ever want to know about the film, how it was made and all the elements that went into making it. There is some (at least a tenth) overlap between the information presented in the commentary and the extensive information presented in the bonus featurettes. The especially decent aspect of the two bonus discs is that the featurettes can be played as one or three very long featurettes on the making of The Return Of The King and The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy without stopping every few minutes to reload based on the chapter subject ending. It's worth it to simply hit the "Play All" button whenever given the option!

In all seriousness, the bonus features are extensive and basically catalogue every thought that went from translating the book to a script and from the script into a film. There is also one easter egg: a prank that was pulled on Elijah Wood during an overseas interview. It's amusing, but not as indispensable as the previous Easter Eggs.

The extended cut of The Return Of The King is the essential edition for anyone looking to get into the film series and add the movie to their permanent collection. The theatrical release DVD is available for archivists and anyone who doesn't truly love fantasy films. But for those who want a movie that will stand the tests of time and will continue to entertain and inform an audience that wants to gain an appreciation of how films are made, this is the only version worth recommending!

[As the winner of the Best Picture Oscar, this is part of W.L.'s Best Picture Project, which is a comprehensive listing of my evaluations of all Best Picture winners. Please check that out by clicking here!]

For other science fiction and fantasy movies with an epic quality, please check out my reviews of:
The Dark Knight
Watchmen
Blade: Trinity

10/10

For other movie reviews, please check out my index page by clicking here!

© 2010, 2007 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.



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Epic Redux Vol. 2 - The Two Towers Made Better In Its Extended Edition!

The Good: Great acting, directing, characters, plot, special effects, Wonderful DVD bonus features
The Bad: Some of the bonus features are repetitive.
The Basics: Fleshed out to be an even more complete and truly epic film, the extended edition of The Two Towers is the only one worth owning!


Following upon the success of the cinematic rendition of The Fellowship Of The Rings and then the immediate success of the four-disc "Extended Edition" of the first film in the Lord Of The Rings Trilogy (click here for that review!), there was little doubt that Peter Jackson's follow-ups would do extraordinarily well at both the box office and the retail outlets for DVDs. When The Two Towers hit the theaters, Peter Jackson promised viewers an even more impressive Extended Edition and, true to his word, when it hit stores a year later, it was worth it.

Jackson had no small task in The Two Towers, the middle act of the Lord Of The Rings, arguably the most challenging episode in the franchise to keep focused and interesting. As a result, Jackson decides to stray some from the narrative left to him by J.R.R. Tolkien and he inflates a rather minor battle from the novel The Two Towers (click here for the book review!) into the centerpiece of the cinematic version. In this way, he takes a cinematic episode that could have been tragically dull with honestly no significant movement and transforms it into arguably the best sequel film since The Empire Strikes Back (click here for that film's review!). And with the Special Extended Edition DVD, he fleshes out the three hour film into a 223 minute epic that is truly amazing.

Recounting the loss of Gandalf in Moria, Frodo awakens to the nightmarish rocks of the Emyn Muil, which is the most direct path to Mordor where he seeks to destroy the evil One Ring. Lost and accompanied by Sam, whose spirits are dwindling some, Frodo soon realizes the pair is being followed. They capture the creature Gollum, who is hunting the Ring and who becomes bound to helping Frodo and Sam when Frodo's compassion gets the better of him and he prevents Sam from killing the creature. Together, the trio journeys closer to Mordor, en route being abducted by an unlikely soldier, Faramir, Boromir's brother.

While Frodo and Sam progress toward Mordor, Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas follow the trail of Saruman's Uruk-Hai into Rohan, the realm of the horse lords. There they discover a beaten people and when they find a new incarnation of Gandalf roaming the nearby woods, the quartet sets out to liberate Rohan from Saruman's forces by thwarting his sorceries that keep King Theodin trapped and weak. Freeing Theodin turns Saruman's attentions to Rohan and Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas must convince Theodin to stand and fight against the evil that is coming, whether he wants it to or not.

And Merry and Pippin find themselves among the Ents, which are basically walking, talking trees.

I add the last plot point as an afterthought because in some ways, their entire arc is an afterthought. They have a role to play, but it's a distant c-plot and it is only worth mentioning because it contains some of the most impressive special effects of the franchise. Merry and Pippin spend their time surrounded by beings that have almost no basis in reality, yet are seamless with real environments. The artists at Weta did an amazing job with the look and feel of the Ents to make them truly dynamic and believable characters.

Like its predecessor in the extended cuts, The Two Towers - The Special Extended Edition DVD has numerous scenes that were created special for the DVD release or were reintegrated into the film. These scenes tend to add a much richer sense of setting for the film and include a scene that introduces the horselord Eomer independent of Aragorn and the heroes from the first film. With the Massacre at the Fords of Isen, Eomer is introduced quite a bit stronger and when he finds Theodin's critically wounded son, it has an emotional resonance for the audience which its passing mention in the original cut never did.

As well, the film plays on scenes that were extended in The Fellowship Of The Ring, like making note of Sam's elvish rope and its powers. Arguably the most significant new scene is a conversation between Theodin's niece Eowyn and Aragorn, wherein Aragorn's true age is revealed. It is a very distinct scene and it stands out for how much information is conveyed in it. The other additional scene of significance recounts the story of Boromir and Faramir and the recapture of Osgiliath. This sets up the relationship between Boromir and Faramir and their father Denethor explicitly, while it was only implied in the original cut. This certainly fleshes out the importance of Faramir and fans of Boromir will be refreshed to see he was not always a ring-addled jerk. The extra scene adds more time, to be sure, but also more depth of character and setting.

There are, all told, fifteen additional scenes reintegrated into The Two Towers and eighteen other scenes have additional footage returned to them. Unlike some form of prototype or test screening, the extended cut features fully mastered shots integrated seamlessly into the film. The addition of new material is so precise that it could easily go unnoticed because of the scope of the film and is so professionally done that it includes an entirely redone soundtrack to adapt the score to the longer scenes. The integration is brilliant and makes for a far more complete film!

The Extended Edition cut of The Two Towers becomes THE version to recommend because it is a rich, complex film that is not afraid to take its time in developing a nuanced setting and additional character depth.

Of course, the characters ought to be the centerpiece for the film and this episode succeeds with both developing the established characters and establishing new characters who are worthy of attention. The noteworthy characters of The Two Towers are:

Frodo Baggins - A hobbit charged with saving the world by destroying the powerful One Ring of Sauron. He is exhausted and the power of the Ring has begun to drain him so when Gollum surfaces, he welcomes the company of the only other person on Middle Earth to truly understand what he is going through. Watched after by Sam, he continues his treacherous journey, despite the weight he bears,

Gollum and Smeagol - Formerly a riverfolk, now a twisted minion of evil who suffers from a split personality disorder. Frodo summons forth the good in him, reminding the ring-bound Gollum of his peaceful life before as Smeagol. He guides the hobbits, against the judgment and approval of Sam and he seems prepared to do right by them, at least until fate intervenes again,

Theodin - King of Rohan, kept ensorceled by Saruman and his corrupt servant Grima Wormtongue. Awakened from his long slumber by the newly reincarnated (and more powerful) Gandalf The White, Theodin mourns the loss of his son. It is that loss that paralyzes the king and makes him retreat from the threat of battle. Determined to protect his people, he sends them to Helm's Deep, the last refuge of Rohan in the hopes that they might survive without having to resort to fighting,

Aragorn - A man whose destiny seems to be to rise up and lead other men, he finds himself desperate to convince Theodin to stand his ground and not surrender territory to the encroaching armies of Saruman. When it becomes clear Theodin will not do that, he retreats with the citizens while Gandalf searches for the roving horselords and he becomes determined to make a stand at Helm's Deep that will lead to survival as opposed to surrender. Eowyn is smitten with him, though his heart still belongs to the Elfmaiden, Arwen,

Faramir - A man from Gondor, the strongest nation of men, son of the regent, brother of Boromir, who he knows is dead. Upon stumbling upon Frodo, Sam and Gollum, he sees it as his duty to bring the One Ring back to his father, though he fears its power could overcome the weakened Steward. When the lands nearest his territory fall under siege again, he is forced to make a decision between duty and what he suspects is the right thing to do,

Saruman - A powerful wizard who has leveled all living things around his tower Isengard and now sets an army in motion using war machines unlike anything Middle Earth has ever seen. His forced turn their attentions to Rohan and he becomes committed with his might to wiping out the one of the two nations of men,

Eowyn - Theodin's niece, she objects to being treated as less than a man. She fights for equality and a place in battle, pining to be alongside Aragorn. Instead, she is sent to the refuge of the caves to watch over those citizens of Rohan who are unable to fight for it,

and Sauron - He appears solely as an Eye in the film. He is not yet corporeal, but it seems his essence is calling the ring and if it can be reunited with its master, Sauron will take form and be invincible.

The Two Towers is populated by wonderful characters and the performances of the actors - even those of the lesser-featured characters - was enough to launch the careers of many. The actors are pretty exceptional and while most of them deserve mentioning, the bulk of the film falls upon the shoulders of two actors to carry: Viggo Mortensen and Elijah Wood. While Bernard Hill's portrayal of Theodin is impressive with his dignity and bearing, this seems far more the functioning of great casting. In all of the bonus features, Hill appears kingly, making his playing Theodin seem like child's play and dress up. He's legitimately great, but his performance does not make the movie.

Viggo Mortensen, on the other hand, truly comes into his own in The Two Towers. Here he grows into the leader of men that he only began to discover in the last portions of the prior film and Mortensen brings a new energy, enthusiasm and strength to the part that he lacked the first time around. He is confident and plays Aragorn with a resolve that is steely and precise. If anything, his performance in this film makes his turn in A History Of Violence somewhat less impressive because he has already illustrated his ability to play cold and hardened in this film. But it's easy to see his greatness and ability here as his character is given far more to do this time around. As well, Mortensen balances his performance with a deep humanity and compassion and while Aragorn has resolve, Mortensen infuses him with a reluctance similar to Theodin's about the need for war.

Also giving a great performance is Elijah Wood as Frodo Baggins. Frodo is a reluctant hero, like a kid who would rather sit home and goof off with his friends when he suddenly discovers he has a destiny, and here Wood brings a sense of physical exhaustion to the role that instantly gives the viewer the sense that his character is transforming as we watch. As well, he is playing off actor Andy Serkis (Gollum) through most of the film, yet we never have the sense that Wood is seeing anything but the digital recreation the viewer sees. That takes talent!

Truly, this is a pretty classic tale of good versus evil, even if evil is mostly disembodied. And thus it comes down to how the story is told and in what setting. Middle Earth, as created by Peter Jackson and the team at Weta Workshops is a beautiful and well-defined world that has some obvious appeal to it.

On DVD, this extended edition sets standards for both the source material and the bonus features. The feature film spans two discs and there is no option to play the theatrical version on this DVD. The reason is simple; that would require a SIXTH soundtrack! There is the primary soundtrack for the Extended Edition and FOUR different commentary tracks on both of the first two discs! There is a commentary track featuring cast members, one featuring Peter Jackson and his co-writers Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens, one featuring production staff and another featuring effects artists and the like! It's a pretty extensive series of commentaries (well, the cast one is just plain fun but not nearly as informative, save hearing about Mortensen breaking his toe when kicking a helm and other injury reports) and it is rich and fleshes out a great deal of the thought processes behind acting choices, writing decisions, and production elements.

Discs three and four are a treasure trove of additional information on the production, the world of Middle Earth, the genesis of the film project, the labors of love that went into making the extended cut, virtually everything one might ever want to know about the film, how it was made and all the elements that went into making it. There is some (at least a tenth) overlap between the information presented in the commentary and the extensive information presented in the bonus featurettes. The especially decent aspect of the two bonus discs is that the featurettes can be played as one or three very long featurettes on the making of The Two Towers and The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy without stopping every few minutes to reload based on the chapter subject ending. It's worth it to simply hit the "Play All" button whenever given the option!

In all seriousness, the bonus features are extensive and basically catalogue every thought that went from translating the book to a script and from the script into a film. There are also two easter eggs: the preview for The Return Of The King that was eventually attached to prints of the theatrical version after the film had been in theaters for a while and the MTV movie awards featuring Gollum accepting the award for Best Digital Character, which is as funny as it is foul-mouthed!

The extended cut of The Two Towers is the essential edition for anyone looking to get into the film series and add the movie to their permanent collection. The theatrical release DVD is available for archivists and anyone who doesn't truly love fantasy films. But for those who want a movie that will stand the tests of time and will continue to entertain and inform an audience that wants to gain an appreciation of how films are made, this is the only version worth recommending!

For other fantasy works, please check out my reviews of:
Wizards
New Moon
Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix

9.5/10

For other movie reviews, please visit my index page by clicking here!

© 2010, 2007 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.




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