Pan (4/10): All visuals, but no heart

“If you don't believe, Peter, then neither will they.”

It seems that every decade there is a new attempt at bringing Peter Pan back to life wether it be a reimagining of the classic tale or a prequel. This time it was Joe Wright’s turn to give us an origin story of Peter Pan and how he arrived at Neverland. The concept seemed pretty interesting considering Pan is such a fascinating character, and Joe Wright who delivered solid films like Pride and Prejudice and Atonement seemed to be the perfect man for the job. That is why Pan was among my most anticipated films of the year, although that anticipation began to wear down once the first reviews starting coming in. The visuals are quite mesmerizing, but the problem with Pan has more to do with the narrative structure of the film. Pan is such a lovable character, but here he seems to lack that charm that made kids fall in love with his childish and wacky behavior. This Pan seems more mature and not very mischievous. He is in search of his mother and is trying to find meaning to his existence. But that approach sort of takes the fun out of his character. However, the choice of including Hook as an ally was pretty engaging. I liked that element of the story, but that was about it. Hook and Pan have a solid relationship in the film, but it never takes center stage and the action scenes kind of eclipse any attempt of establishing these characters. Hugh Jackman rarely works for me as a villain since he seems to go over the top with these characters at times. Blackbeard was not the exception for Jackman. Rooney Mara seemed like the perfect choice for Tiger Lily, but her character is never given much opportunity in the film and I thought it was a waste of talent. Pan seemed to have all the right ingredients to become a success but from the moment Peter arrives at Neverland to the sound of miners chanting Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit, all the magic disappeared. 

I wouldn’t blame the film’s lack of heart on its cast because I thought there were some strong performances. Levi Miller did a good job playing the title character, but the problem is that this Peter simply wasn’t childish and lively as the ones we are used to seeing him in. Adeel Akhtar was given the task of playing Sam Smiegel and in my opinion his character was the closest to the cartoon. Of course here Hook is playing Peter’s friend so he is nothing like we are used to seeing. Garret Hedlund gives the best performance of the film and I think that his character would’ve been a more fascinating character study. We could have used more of his origin story and then explore reasons as to why he ultimately became the Hook we all know. The cast and the visuals were all very satisfactory, but the narrative elements are what ultimately hurt this film and didn’t allow it to take off the way I would’ve wanted it to. Pan was definitely a disappointment for me, and it just goes to prove how difficult it is to bring Neverland to life. I’m in the minority here, but I think that Spielberg’s Hook is the best adaptation of the story. Watch that instead. 

My Review: Inside Llewyn Davis (8/10)

"If it was never new, and it never gets old, then it's a folk song."

The Coen brothers have worked together over the past couple of decades delivering some inspiring work. Their films are extremely varied (ranging from dark comedies to westerns or thrillers) and that is why people rank their films so differently according to their own genre preferences. What these films tend to have in common is that they focus on an unfortunate main character (the Coen brothers don't seem to be too interested in successful characters) and they also include a lot of quirky characters. The Coens are also great at writing interesting characters that despite being unpleasant at times still capture our attention,  and they also include a lot of dark and sharp humor. Inside Llewyn Davis is one of those films where we are forced to follow an unpleasant guy in the course of a week and somehow hope he recovers and achieves his goal. This is a film that you probably enjoy more when you think about it once it's over or on a rewatch because it's philosophical and sad, but rewarding none the less if you stick through it. It is also open to many readings and interpretations. You can think of this as being an honest film about someone who doesn't achieve his dreams. We've been saturated with so many films that focus on following our dreams and never giving up on them, but it is rare to see a film focusing on someone who doesn't achieve them. Like Llewyn, we sometimes throw away other possibilities for success because we are too blinded on pursuing our own thing. That is exactly what happens here (and in this way it differs from A Serious Man where the main character suffers misfortune from things that he can't control). Llewyn could've listened and taken good advice, but he's so narcissistic and blinded by his own ambition that he misses several good opportunities. Another way you can read this film, and this is the one that worked best for me, is that Llewyn is learning to cope with the loss of his partner. He was a better singer when he wasn't on his own and now that he has lost his partner he doesn't seem to know what to do next. He is a tortured artist struggling to cope with grief. It's as if the Coens were admitting that they wouldn't know how to make films without each other. They inspire one another and that is where their success relies. Perhaps if something would happen to one of them they would feel like Llewyn, lost and unable to move on. This is just brilliant filmmaking and the Coens prove once again that they are on top of their game.

The film takes place in the course of one week as we follow a struggling folk singer named Llewyn Davis (Oscar Isaacs) across Greenwich Village in the winter of 1961. He has recently released a solo album that isn't selling. With no money and no apartment, Llewyn spends his days jumping from couch to couch at friends houses while performing small gigs at local Cafes. One of the places he crashes in is at fellow musicians, Jim (Justin Timberlake) and Jean's (Carey Mulligan) apartment. Llewyn isn't really a guy anyone wants to be around much, but he continues to pursue his dream of becoming a solo artist. In a way he's his own worst enemy as many of the obstacles he faces are his own doing. 

I'm not a fan of depressing films, but somehow the Coens captured my attention through their smart script and beautifully constructed film. The gray cinematography is gorgeous and really sets the melancholic tone of the film. Somehow despite not liking Llewyn, Isaacs manages to portray his character so well that we do root for him and want him to succeed. It's an impressive film that succeeds thanks to Isaacs heartfelt performance. We also get to meet some of the quirky characters that the Coens always include in their films. John Goodman and Garrett Hedlund were the chosen ones this time around and they both added the dark humor in this otherwise sad and melancholic film. The soundtrack is also a lot of fun to listen too and Isaacs has a great voice.

My Review: Tron Legacy (5/10)

¨I was paged last night; came from your dad's office at the arcade. That number's been disconnected for twenty years! ¨

The hype for Tron: Legacy has finally come to an end after several months of being bombarded with the cool trailers and all I can say is that I was a bit disappointed with this film. The first 40 minutes were great, the visuals, the light cycle races, and the disc gladiator games were breathtaking, but after the novelty of being introduced into the digital world the movie began to drag due to a weak script and plot. The movie runs a little over two hours and after the first 40 minutes it begins to go downhill until it reaches a pretty anticlimactic ending because we never really got to care too much for the characters or the story because the focus seemed to always be on the visuals which got old after a while. Tron made for a very exciting trailer and perhaps could have been one of the greatest music video videos thanks to some cool soundtracks from Daft Punk, but as a movie the pieces didn`t seem to fit together. The first forty minutes are really worth your time however and many might enjoy this film, but I was just a little disappointed because I had some high expectations for Tron: Legacy which marked the directorial debut for Joseph Kosinski. The weakest link for Tron has to be the screenplay written by Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz (both happened to collaborate together as producers and writers for Lost).

Jeff Bridges and Bruce Boxleitner are back playing their duo roles from 1982`s original Tron. Bridges is Kevin Flynn, the CEO of Encom and a virtual world designer who is trying to create a better world. He has found a way into a digital universe and in his intention of creating a perfect world which he calls The Grid he also creates an alter self known as Cleo (played by Bridges as well) that will help him program The Grid while he is back with his son Sam (Garrett Hedlund) in the real world. Boxleitner is back as Alan Bradley, Flynn`s main security chief in both worlds (in The Grid he is Tron). One night Kevin is telling Sam about how he is going to change the world, but after leaving for his office he is never seen again, until about 27 years later when Sam manages to find a way to get in The Grid and discovers that Cleo has betrayed his father and left him trapped inside the digital world. In The Grid Sam will have to search for his father and find a way to get him back to the real world. Here we meet some interesting characters such as Quorra (Olivia Wilde), Gem (Beau Garrett), Jarvis (James Frain), and Castor (Michael Sheen).

Tron: Legacy could have been much better considering that the producers had 28 years to come up with a decent script for the sequel of the original cult movie. The visuals were great, but they got tiresome after the novelty of the digital world wore off. The performances were ok, Jeff Bridges will probably not be remembered for his role in this movie as much as he is being considered for his work in True Grit (he also comes fresh from an Oscar win for his performance in Crazy Heart). Garrett Hedlund gave a good performance as the lead role and proved he can be a star player as well. Olivia Wilde was also good as a supporting character, but who really stole his scenes was Michael Sheen as Castor. His performance was a little out there, but he made it work because he is just such a talented actor. Overall I wouldn’t recommend this movie unless you are a fan of the first film or are really into the visual and special effects. The story falls short for me and the visuals alone weren`t enough to save this movie.

http://estebueno10.blogspot.com/