Unbroken (7/10): The Passion of the Christ of War movies

“A moment of pain is worth a lifetime of glory.”

Directed by Angelina Jolie, Unbroken focuses on the inspiring true story of Olympic winning medalist, Louis Zamperini, who later went on to serve during World War II going through all kinds of hardships. Unbroken opens with an incredibly strong action scene (which might be the best in the movie) and as the story unfolds we get some flashbacks of Louis’s childhood and upbringing. It is a bit formulaic in the sense that it follows pretty much the same conventions as most biopics have done in the past. One of my favorite quotes in the film is when Louis’s brother tells him that “A moment of pain is worth a lifetime of glory,” but ironically after getting through this film the quote feels like it works better the other way around, “A moment of glory is worth a lifetime of pain” because Jolie makes sure we witness all the trials that he went through during the War. She focuses more on Louis’s lifetime of pain and only a moment of glory. Unbroken is The Passion of the Christ of war dramas because we experience the hardships that Louis has to go through in a very detailed manner. There is no doubt in my mind that this was an inspirational story, but Jolie spends most of her time going from one scene to the next without ever trying to develop the character or tell us who Louis really was. In other words she tells an inspiring story but doesn’t transmit anything about the man who went through it all. There are several reasons why I did enjoy this film despite its flaws and the first one is because of Roger Deakins’s cinematography which is always outstanding. I could see pretty much any movie that this man shoots. The second reason is because the Coen brothers were involved in the adaptation of Laura Hillenbrand’s best-selling novel. The Coen brothers aren’t as successful when they don’t direct their own screenplays, but this time they had strong material to work with. Hillenbrand is a great writer (Seabiscuit  and now Unbroken) and the story is inspirational so there is a lot to like. 

The film hooked me from the opening scene where we experience a great action scene from within a bomber aircraft overflying the Pacific Ocean. Then the generic flashbacks began and the film lost some of its potential. Jack O’Connell plays the lead character Louis Zamperini. After his solid performance in Starred Up, O’Connell, is definitely someone worth keeping your eyes on because he’s extremely talented. In Unbroken we see him enduring a great amount of suffering (thus the comparison with The Passion of the Christ) so the film focuses on that aspect instead of giving us any insight on O’Connell’s character. I still think the story is so inspirational that it manages to hook us and captivate us throughout the entire run time. Jolie is interested in simply telling the story so we go from one scene to the next without learning much of who the character’s really are. The opening was fantastic, the scene where the plane crashes into the Ocean and the survivors struggle to survive was also another highlight of the film, and finally the torture he endures as a prisoner of war was inspiring. The technical aspects of the film are fantastic and Deakins cinematography is gorgeous. The supporting performances from Domhnall Gleeson and Miyavi are also very solid. But by the time the end credits start rolling you kind of wish the film had focused on the later aspects of Louis’s life which were perhaps even more inspiring than the torture he endured.

My Review: Maleficent (6/10)

"Listen well, you all! The princess will indeed grow in grace and beauty. But before the sunset on her sixteenth birthday, she will prick her finger on a spindle of a spinning wheel, and she will fall into a sleep like death!"

Maleficent isn't a masterpiece and it actually has several flaws, but it was much better than I had anticipated considering the latest failed attempts at bringing a beloved classic fairytale to the big screen through live action. Snow White, Jack the Giant Slayer, Cinderella, Hansel & Gretel, Beauty and the Beast, all failed in their adaptations so I didn't have high expectations for Maleficent. They all seem to share something in common which is that they always incorporate a spin on the classic tale, and Maleficent is no exception as there is a big twist to the familiar story. They played it safe with the twist in Maleficent, and it was rather cliche, but it worked nonetheless. Despite not being a huge fan of this genre I decided to give this film a shot because I was looking forward to Angelina Jolie's comeback (her previous starring role in a feature film was in 2010's The Tourist alongside Johnny Depp). Jolie doesn't disappoint and she carries the entire film giving a strong performance. Many complained that they wished the film would've centered more on her character as a villain than a hero, but I actually enjoyed the duality in her performance and the struggle she faces while dealing with her betrayal. She owns this movie, but it didn't hurt that the she had a strong cast to work with; I loved Elle Fanning in her role as Aurora, Sharlto Copley as the ambitious King (if there was ever a film in which he could go overboard with his character this was it, but strangely he played it safe here), and of course I can't leave out Sam Riley who was great as Diaval. Perhaps I enjoyed this film more than others because I went into it with fairly low expectations, but compared to other recent fairytale adaptations this film is superior and one I'm sure the new generation will appreciate.

Maleficent is a retelling of Disney's classic animated film, Sleeping Beauty, although this time the screenplay written by Linda Woolverton centers on the villain. The film begins by introducing us to the young fairy named Maleficent (Isobelle Molloy) living an ideal and peaceful life in the Moors, which is full of magical creatures. On the other side of the Moors lies the human kingdom which is ruled by an ambitious King. One day Maleficent is warned by the forest guards that they have caught a human trying to steal a jewel from the Moors. Maleficent discovers that the thief is actually a boy named Stefan (Michael Higgins), who she kindly asks to return the jewel. She then escorts him out of the Moors, but when he returns the two bond and become good friends. As time passes the two fall in love, but their relationship doesn't last long once he becomes ambitious. The film jumps forward many years and now we follow the adult Maleficent (Angelina Jolie) as she continues to protect the Moors from King Henry (Kenneth Cranham) and his army. The adult Stefan (Sharlto Copley) happens to be serving the King now, and he and his men are ordered to kill Maleficent. Whoever does so will become his successor to the throne. Stefan heads to the Moors to warn Maleficent of the king's intention, but blinded by his ambition to become king he betrays her. This turns Maleficent's once pure heart into one full of hate and a desire for revenge. When Stefan becomes King, Maleficent curses his newborn infant Aurora and claims she will fall into a sleep like death once she turns 16 and only a true love's kiss will be able to break the curse.

The best thing Maleficent has going for it apart from Angelina Jolie's lead performance and the strong ensemble cast, is the fact that it was directed by Robert Stromberg who has a strong record as a production designer. Despite the fact that this was Stromberg's first feature film he has a lot of experience in the art direction department (actually winning two Oscars for his work in Acatar and Alice in Wonderland). Maleficent looks great and the art direction may be it's best asset. The visual effects and the fantastical creatures of the Moors are stunning. The screenplay may have its flaws and the story may fall into a predictable and cliched final act, but it always looks great. This may be yet another case of style over substance, but the cast elevate the material and make this a much better film than it has any right to be. The weakest elements of the film for me involve the portrayal of the three fairies who are tasked with taking care of Aurora and raising her. Those comedic moments felt a bit forced and the characters didn't have much substance to them. However, the scenes that Maleficent and Aurora share together are solid as Jolie captures the inner struggle she faces when she's confronted by Aurora's innocence and beauty. Sam Riley also shares some great scenes alongside Jolie and those were the best moments of the film for me. The film does suffer from a slow introduction and a weak final act, but the middle act was really strong and that is why I actually enjoyed Maleficent.

My Review: Kung Fu Panda 2 (6/10)

¨ My fist hungers for justice! ¨

Po has returned to save China once again in Kung Fu Panda 2; with the same writers (Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger), but a different director (Jennifer Yuh). Many consider that the original Kung Fu Panda is DreamWorks’s best animated film to date; in my opinion their best one is How to Train Your Dragon, but Kung Fu Panda was still a great movie. I had my concerns with the sequel because I knew it was going to be hard to meet expectations. Cars 2 failed in this respect for Pixar, but Kung Fu Panda 2 worked a little better. This film isn’t nearly as good as the 2008 original, but for a sequel it works really well; it probably won`t win an Oscar (Rango seems to have it pretty much locked up this year, although I didn`t like it), but it is still very entertaining and the entire family will have a good time with this movie. The best thing about the film is the animation. Guillermo del Toro was brought in as the creative consultant for the Art Department and it really paid off because the look of the film is impressive and so are the visuals. The story is actually the weakest link, but it works mostly thanks to the characters we grew to love in the first film. There is also an interesting villain, voiced by Gary Oldman, so that was also a plus, but the story was really predictable. After the first 15 minutes you knew exactly what was going to happen at the end. Jean-Claude Van Damme also has a small role as the Master Croc, and it was fun to hear him.

Po (Jack Black) is living in the temple with the five kung fu warriors he has always idolized since he was little: Tigress (Angelina Jolie), Monkey (Jackie Chan), Mantis (Seth Rogen), Viper (Lucy Liu), and Crane (David Cross). They seem to be training very hard as we hear Po breathing very heavily, but they are actually all staring at how many breads Po can fit into his mouth. Master Shifu (Dustin Hoffman) calls for Po and tries to teach him about finding inner peace. Po is more of an action kind of Panda and is waiting to show off his kung fu skills as the Dragon Warrior (title which he achieved in the first film). His opportunity comes when the Village where his father Mr. Ping (James Hong) lives is attacked by a group of wolves who are stealing all the metal from the village. The wolves are gathering metal in order to create a secret weapon that will put an end to Kung Fu. They all work for the evil White Peacock named Shen (Gary Oldman) who is threatening to conquer China with this new powerful weapon. There is something about Shen that bothers Po and reminds him of his forgotten past. Po begins to have flashbacks about his childhood and discovers that Mr. Ping is not his actual father. Along with his friends, Po begins a quest to stop Shen before it`s too late, and at the same time discover the truth about his past.

Kung Fu Panda 2 is not as fresh and fun as the first film, but it still was a lot of fun. Po is really a fun character and one can`t help but be reminded of Jack Black when watching Po trying to do his kung-fu stunts. Po is not only voiced by Jack Black, but he seems to be inspired by that character. In the same way there is a scene where we see Master Croc (voiced by Van Damme) do one of his singular moves from his action films. Jack Black is an incredibly funny actor and we find some of that comedy in Po`s animation. Gary Oldman also brought a lot of things to his new character, and he is always great at playing the villain. Kung Fu Panda 2 might not be as good as the original, but that doesn’t mean you won`t have fun with this family friendly film. My only complaint relies in the story, but the animation and visuals make up for it. Kung Fu Panda is a fun film you can enjoy with the family, but not much more than that.

http://estebueno10.blogspot.com/

My Review: The Tourist (7/10)

¨Why is everyone trying to kill me? ¨

The Tourist hasn`t had a very good reception with the critics so somehow I went into this expecting it would be terrible. I had heard Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie had real bad chemistry together, but I was surprised that I actually enjoyed this film quite a bit and thought their performance was great. I can`t recall one bad movie Johnny Depp has made lately, he seems to always bring a new and different look every time and his charisma always comes through to make him likeable or at least give the viewers an entertaining time. Angelina Jolie was as beautiful as ever and not only turned the head of every person in the movie, but also left the viewers awe struck. I guess many people were disappointed because they expected more from such a talented cast, but I got more than what I was expecting and was very entertained throughout the film with the action and comedy. Depp and Jolie weren`t terrible together and I thought their chemistry was very believable. The main problem with The Tourist is the plot and screenplay (written by von Donnersmarck, McQuarrie, and Fellowes) which is very unbelievable at times, but the actors and the beautiful European scenery make this a very entertaining film. I wouldn`t have nominated it as Best Movie in the Golden Globes, but it isn`t terrible either. I`m pretty sure it won`t win anyway, the nomination was a bit too much, but the awful criticism it has received is way too unfair.

The plot is pretty simple and as I said before it isn`t the strong point of the film. Johnny Depp plays Frank Tupelo, a widowed math professor from the States who is visiting Venice on his own. During a train ride he runs into the lovely Elise Clifton-Ward (Angelina Jolie) who hits on him right away. The catch is that Elise has an agenda of her own. She has a romantic affair with Alexander, an accountant for a mobster who has stolen over two billion dollars from him and has disappeared for the last two years. The Interpol and the mobsters are searching for him and they know that Elise is the only person who can lead them to him. After two years of silence, Elise has received a note from Alexander asking her to meet him in Venice and on the way choose someone about his height to mislead police officials; hence Elise seduces Frank so officials think he is Alexander. Frank ends up getting into trouble running from the Interpol and the mobsters who are set to kill him, and Elise realizes things have gone too far so she decides to help him. The movie mixes comedy with action and it does it very well thanks to the cast and not the material they have to work with. There are several plot twists that may result a little unbelievable, but the movie still makes for an entertaining time. I have to admit the scenery also helped quite a bit.

The plot may sound a little familiar for some people, especially if you have seen the 2005 French Film Anthony Zimmer, staring Sophie Marceau (ex Bond girl) and directed by Jerome Salle. The Tourist is actually a remake of that movie and they`re usually not well conceived in Hollywood so maybe that is one reason why critics hated it so much. The other reason might be that a lot more was expected from director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck who was following up on his highly successful German Oscar award winning film, The Lives of Others (which ranks at number 57 in the IMDB top 250 films of all time). He had set the bar very high, because that film was truly a masterpiece and The Tourist can`t even be compared at that level. Do not expect too much from this movie, and if you do so you might just end up enjoying this film for its star power, but be warned the plot and screenplay are very week. I have to admit I had a very good time with The Tourist, the last film of the year I will see.

http://www.esmanga.com

My Review: Salt (6/10)

¨My name is Evelyn Salt.¨

Salt isn`t your smart, suspenseful typical thriller, it isn´t The Bourne Identity, it simply is a mindless blockbuster action film starring one of the best action stars of our decade: Angelina Jolie. Yes, I said best action star, and perhaps in a couple of decades she will be staring in a female version of The Expendables. Jolie is fun to watch on screen and we can`t seem to take our eyes off her and that is why we went to go see this movie in the first place because I doubt anyone went into this picture expecting a smart film when they heard Kurt Wimmer wrote the original screenplay, the man who brought us Ultraviolet. Director, Phillip Noyce worked with Angelina Jolie in the past with The Bone Collector, before she had become such a huge star, and he is also known for directing Tom Clancy movies such as Clear and Present Danger. The problem with Salt is that Wimmer is no Clancy and the plot is pretty ridiculous, but what saves him is that Jolie is a pretty dependable star and we want to believe pretty much anything she does. Angelina seems to be in pretty good shape as she runs for the entire 100 minutes and jumps from bridges, moving vehicles, elevator shafts, and helicopters. She is able to single handedly outrun the CIA, FBI, and whoever stands in her way, and can even get past White House security. When you have so many absurd situations and plot holes the best thing you can do is rely on Jolie to jump from one mind numbing scene to another.

Angelina Jolie is Salt, a CIA agent who won the respect of her colleagues after suffering as a prisoner in North Korea without giving away any information. Her boss, Ted Winter (Liev Schreiber), rescues her by exchanging her for another prisoner. Salt`s husband Mike (August Diehl) is the reason why she`s still alive because the CIA had made it clear they would sacrifice her for the greater good, but his insistence pays off and Salt is forever indebted to him.  Twelve years later, on her anniversary, a Russian man comes to the agency saying he has crucial information. His name is Orlov (Daniel Olbrychski) and Salt has to interrogate him. He tells her a story about an organization called ¨Day X¨ that`s destined to destroy the United States. He claims that a powerful man has trained a group of kids to infiltrate the country and pass as Americans, but they are actually Russian spy’s who will attack on Day X. One of these spies will kill the Russian President, and her name is Evelyn Salt. Winter doesn`t believe these claims, but Peabody (Chiwetel Ejiofor) says he has to arrest her. Salt argues she isn`t a spy, but she is worried about her husband and decides to escape knowing that her actions might remove all doubts about her being a spy. From this point on the film became a high speed chase which is a relief because the plot was going downhill and our mind needed to be diverted.

I thought the movie was going to completely lose me in the first 15 minutes when Orlov showed up and the plot was unfolded. The ¨Day X¨ organization seemed completely ridiculous and I was hating the movie, but after the action began at least my mind was distracted and I was entertained with the chase scenes. Jolie made the otherwise ridiculous movie entertaining. There was plenty of action and the movie could be enjoyed simply as a blockbuster movie, but don`t expect an intelligent thriller, and keep your mind off the plot and the ridiculous twists. Liev Schreiber and Ejiofor were decent in their supporting roles and did what they could with the terrible script. The only reason why I enjoyed this movie and had fun was because of Angelina Jolie who is a bankable action star, but if you happen not to be a fan of her work then I guarantee you will hate this film. This is one of those movies you enjoy seeing once, but probably wouldn`t want to watch again. It is a fun, but forgettable blockbuster action movie.

http://estebueno10.blogspot.com/