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Clash of the Titans…

Popcorn season is upon us. How do we know this? Because the first ridiculous over the top no plot movie of the summer has been released…aka Clash of the Titans. Unfortunately, and hopefully this is not an omen for the upcoming season, but I was disappointed by it.

How could they go wrong? It’s a revenge flick with Greek gods and a fucking Kraken (which I should add was never ever mentioned in Greek mythology). But they somehow manage to make it completely unexciting. For the 100+ million dollars they spent on this thing it’s remarkable how much of a yawnfest it is.

Throughout the entire file I had no idea who the fuck anyone was. Yes Zeus, Hades, and Perseus are easy to figure out. But everyone else, I couldn’t tell you who they were if my life depended on it, which just added to my sense of detachment because I never saw the characters and just saw Sam Worthington in a tunic.

Ok, so no big deal, character development goes out the window. I can work with this. I’ve seen plenty of movies without character development, I can deal. Granted this is flying into Ballistic: Ecks vs Sever range, but there is still time for a course correction. Maybe? Hopefully? It’s fucking Greek mythology, how can someone fuck that up?

Unfortunately that course correction was a nose dive into boredom. Nothing makes you smile, nothing makes you say wow. You are just going through the motions, like a couple that’s been together for 30 years. You can anticipate the moves, you know what’s coming, you’re just waiting for the end so that you can get on with your life. No spice or surprise. Both parties just roll over semi fulfilled and go to sleep.

I don’t even know if I want to recommend this as a renter. I guess the Kraken, but its short lived and unfulfilling, much like the boring sex from the couple analogy above. The Kraken appears and is then defeated. It doesn’t even get to wreak any havoc. So boo on that. Save your time and money and watch something else.

*

Avatar…

Avatar is the latest thrill ride from director James Cameron, who has pretty much just cemented himself as king of the box office. Thrill ride is certainly the best phrase to use when describing Avatar. It certainly has no equal in terms of computer effects. However as great as all that is, with the exception of 3D, Avatar isn’t breaking new ground. CG heavy movies have been around for a while, it is certainly taken to a different level here but the wow factor is definitely diminished. Films like Final Fantasy, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars (the latter three…or is that earlier three…), and many more have broken the seal on enveloping the viewing in a cg world. Yes it is done better, but 300 million dollars and several years of technological advances another film could have done something as impressive. But the cg is not the reason to see this film.

3D is the driving force behind seeing this film; it’s the meat and potatoes to the cg’s sauce. Shot specifically for 3D, it is the best application of 3D to date. Most of the previous films that sported 3D treated it as a gimmick, with shit flying at the screen. Avatar takes a much more subtle approach. Cameron utilizes 3D to add depth to each screen, with multiple layers showing different characters and objects in the fore & background separately. The end result is a strange hybrid between a stage performance and film. Something very cool the first time you see it.

With all that said, the effect started to wear off for me about halfway through the film. If I thought about it I could see the 3D, but when I would lose myself in the film I would start to barely notice the added dimension. I’m not exactly sure why. I’ve talked to several other people who saw the film, and none of them experienced the same thing. Maybe it was just me. You would normally think not noticing something and being completely engrossed by it would be a good thing, but then why was I at the 3D showing? Couldn’t I have saved myself seven dollars and saw the 2D showing?

Was it really just me? To me the most impressive 3D was in the beginning of the film when the majority of the scenery revolved around the Human army base with familarish sights and sounds. And when the effect sort of wore off the majority of the scenery revolved around the Smurf jungle. Was it the length of time? Was it the fact that the Smurf jungle was filled with more complex objects than simple military armaments? I don’t know; part of me would like to see the film in 2D to see if I feel less engaged. But that probably won’t happen until the Blu-ray.

This film is 3D, but it is still a film, and as a film it must succeed by the standards that we hold all films to: Story, Characters, Dialogue, etc… Cameron keeps the plot light and simple, maybe too light; humans greedy and evil, the natives good and pure. It really felt like he thought up the visuals first and then tailored a story to fit around it. The main character, Jake Sully, is certainly the most sympathetic of the entire cast, the guy is fricking paralyze, how can he not be sympathetic?  It’s not like there are any other characters that one can side. Almost all of them are stereotypes, filling their role with cookie cutter magic. You like the characters you are supposed to like, and hate the ones that you are supposed to hate. Everything is laid out at the start and eventually everyone has their moments to fill their roles.

Avatar’s strengths are its visuals; weakness is its story. Like a gorgeous model, they look great from the outside, but start talking to them and you find that there is very little running on the inside. Much as been said about the fact that it’s a mega reimaging of Pocahontas and you can certainly draw some major similarities between the two. But whatever, original ideas are so rare in today’s world. The plot provides enough subtext to support the visuals, which is a shame because it puts Avatar into the “Popcorn” class of film, something that feels a little dirty considering the jump forward it takes in filmmaking. How big of a jump? We will see with time because I’m not completely sold on 3D.

As a film: **
As an experience: ***

An Education…

The coming of age tale of a young girl in 1961 England, Jenny is 16 with tastes of a women twice her age. She yearns for a more cultured life. Top of her class, she does everything she can to fulfill her parents dreams of attending Oxford. But will Oxford give her everything that she wants in life? A life filled with great food, art, travel, and substance. That is the path that Jenny is set on until she meets, David, a mysterious older man. He offers her everything that she could possibly want and a life that she had only dreamed about. But where does the money come from? And what are this guy’s true motives for a girl still in her teens?

An Education is one of the better coming of age stories that I have seen in recent years, but it’s not without its problems. Particularly it’s ending. I will attempt to discuss my issues without disclosing too many spoilers. While Jenny is the focus of the story, the much more interesting character is David. And yet the questions that David’s character raises never get answered.

Why did he go after a 16 year old girl? Did he just like them young? Or did he like being the teacher and mentor, showing them the world and grooming them for their place in it. Or was the age irrelevant and it was because Jenny, while 16, was much more cultured and sophisticated than most other woman; her personality was the flame that drew David, not her virginity.

Ultimately everything comes to a head with David and things seem to get wrapped up way to conveniently for me. Granted it’s not like this is the most complicated situation in the world, just a love affair between a girl and a man, so once everything pans out in the end perhaps I’m being overly critical of the fact that all the issues are resolved in a nice little montage that I think takes place over the course of a year. Perhaps because I invested so much of my time in the film that I feel would like I’m warranted for more of an epilogue with more consequence for the actions taken. But I didn’t get that, so I left unfulfilled.

Perhaps others won’t have that big of an issue with the ending and how things played out, but it gnaws at me. Which is a shame because the first 75% of the film of truly excellent. The performances are great and you’re full engaged for the entire time. But it all comes to a blinding screeching halt at the end. And that knocks the film down several notches for me. Wait for it on Blu-ray and give it a whirl then.

**