My Review: Much Ado About Nothing (4/10)

"Shakespeare knows how to throw a party."

While Joss Whedon was working on his big budget film, The Avengers, he was working on this much smaller but personal passion project. He only needed 12 days to shoot this black and white movie which consisted mostly of actors he had worked with in the past from his TV productions. He filmed this entirely from his home so fans of Whedon might appreciate how passionate he was about the adaptation of William Shakespeare's play. I am a huge fan of Shakespeare's plays, but I usually have a hard time enjoying the films that try to modernize his 16th century plays. That is exactly what happened here, I just can't conceive these characters speaking this way living at the present. It kind of throws me off as I would rather watch a version of this play centered around the 16th century. Much Ado About Nothing isn't considered as one of Shakespeare's best plays either. I didn't care too much for most of the characters and the comedy didn't work too well either. The main themes of the play still come through in this film however. We can see how easy it is to build love out of nowhere or destroy it with words. This is a very different film coming from Joss Whedon, but I guess one of the advantages he has for having so much success is getting to do films he is passionate about. Fans of this play might enjoy this more than I did. 

The governor of Messina, Leonato (Clark Gregg), is getting prepared for a much awaited visit from his good friend Don Pedro (Reed Diamond). Pedro who has recently come out victorious from a Civil War is returning with two of his officers: Benedick (Alexis Denisof) and Claudio (Fran Kranz). Along with his brother Don John (Sean Maher) who was on the losing side of the War, they are all going to stay at Leonato's home. Love soon is in the air when Claudio falls for Leonato's only daughter, Hero (Jillian Morgese). Leonato and Don Pedro make plans for their wedding, while at the same time they decide to try to get Benedick and Hero's cousin, Beatrice (Amy Acker), to fall in love with each other despite how much they hate each other.  Meanwhile, Don John, who is still bitter about his defeat will try to do what it takes to make others miserable and therefor tries to break up the relationship between Hero and Claudio. Will love prevail or will Don John be able to destroy their love? If you've read the play than you know the answer.

Some of the same basic complaints about Shakespeare's play can be heard here as well, such as how underdeveloped the villain (Don John) is here. He is perhaps one of the weakest villains from his plays. The love story between these two pair of lovers isn't something out of the ordinary either, but the actors give strong performances nonetheless. Fans of Firefly and Serenity will be pleased to see Nathan Fillion in the comedic supporting role here and he stands out from the rest. This is one of Shakespeare's lighter comedies, considering it doesn't end in tragedy, and it has some funny moments, but I just didn't like the way the play was modernized. I never got engaged with the story and I never felt the wit coming from Whedon's other works.

My Review: Serenity (6/10)

"I'm going to grant your greatest wish. I'm gonna show you a world without sin."

Serenity was Joss Whedon's first feature film after experiencing a series of success as a writer and a TV director. Whedon's recent success with The Avengers made me want to go back and watch his earlier work which has a pretty solid fanbase. It has become somewhat of a cult film and it is an adaptation of Whedon's TV series Firefly which was only aired for one season despite having a decent amount of followers. The events in Serenity take place six months after the last episode of Firefly and shares the same cast as well. I never watched an episode of Firefly but had no trouble understanding the plot of this sci-fi film, but I would guess fans of the series will take greater pleasure in this movie. It is pretty easy to follow and despite a very slow beginning the film does pick up and has a very climatic ending. I thought the film was ok, the characters were pretty funny, but I didn't really find anything that stood out in order for me to consider this a classic. It was a decent sci-fi film, but I didn't find anything special about it beside the great sense of humor it has about itself. The characters are pretty strong and well developed, but the effects are pretty weak. I enjoyed this film, but it didn't blow my mind. Whedon also does a pretty decent job with the narrative of the film and wrote a solid and imaginative screenplay.

Serenity takes place in the future, in the 26th century, after humans had to abandon Earth due to overpopulation and they discovered new galaxies where they were able to establish themselves. After a civil war between the Alliance and the rebels known as Independents, the Alliance came out victorious and colonized the entire galaxy. The surviving rebels continue to drift across the galaxy, and among them is the crew of Serenity. Their captain is Mal (Nathan Fillon) who fought for the rebels during the civil war. His first mate who also fought with him in the war is Zoe (Gena Torres), who happens to be married to the pilot, Wash (Alan Tudyk). Among the rest of the crew there is the mechanic, Kaylee (Jewel Staite) and the gunman, Jayne (Adam Baldwin). The crew wonder the galaxy trying to survive by doing jobs (including some illegal and criminal activities) or taking along passengers. One of the recent passengers they pick up are Simon (Sean Maher) and his sister River (Summer Glau). They soon find out that River has special psychic abilities and that she is being hunted down by the Alliance and one of their trackers (Chiwetel Ejiofor) thus putting in jeopardy the entire crew, and so the action begins.

Nathan Fillion is a pretty strong lead and he gives a very charismatic performance. He is better known now as the lead in the TV series, Castle, but fans of Firefly and Serenity will forever remember him as the tough captain with a clever mouth. The rest of the cast is pretty strong thanks in most part to the inventive screenplay by Whedon. He is a great screenwriter and is known for creating some interesting narratives and memorable characters. The action in the second half of the film is pretty strong as well but it really took a long time to get going. Summer Glau has some pretty interesting action sequences, but the highlight of the film is the face off between the tracker and Mal. This sci-fi film mixes some western elements to it as well. Despite all this Serenity wasn't quite the classic I was expecting, but I still had a good time. Whedon's The Avengers is a much stronger film and you can tell how much he has matured as a director.

My Review: The Cabin in the Woods (7/10)

¨They have to choose what happens in the cellar. Yeah, we write the game as much as we have to but in the end, if they don't transgress they can't be punished. ¨

I`m not big on horror films since I generally consider them to be very predictable and cliché. I can’t remember what the last horror slasher movie I enjoyed was since the few I do enjoy have to do more with psychological scares. All these movies are the same, but to my surprise it wasn’t the case with Cabin in the Woods. I had no idea what direction this movie was moving towards and despite not being a fan of the genre I was able to appreciate Cabin in the Woods thanks to the unpredictability of it and some interesting performances. The less you know about this film before watching it the better. Like the tagline of the movie suggests, this film works as sort of a satire of all the slasher films we`ve grown up with. ¨If something is chasing you…split up, ¨ is one of the taglines that is so cliché about these movies and it`s addressed in this film as well. There are several elements that are sort of dissected in this movie and analyzed through satire and that`s what I enjoyed the most about Cabin in the Woods. I didn’t care for the scares (which aren't here) or the gore, what I really liked was that this film was making fun of the genre while at the same time paying homage to it so that fanboys would also enjoy it. It works almost in the same way that Scream did in the late 90`s by making fun of the stereotypes of the genre. This film has an ending every fanboy will enjoy. It was a little too much for me since I`m not a big fan of the genre, but I still have to admit I was really surprised by this film. It is definitely one of the best horror movies I`ve seen in a very long time.

Despite the fact that the trailers give away a lot of the movie I will only give away the basic part. You have the five typical teenagers you see in most horror films decide to go spend a weekend at an old and mysterious cabin in the woods: the jock, Curt (Chris Hemsworth), the slut, Jules (Anna Hutchison), the stoner, Marty (Fran Kranz), the nerd, Holden (Jesse Williams), and the virgin, Dana (Kristen Connolly). The five play characters we are all familiar with in this genre. On their way to the woods they even run into an old gas station with a weird owner named Mordecai (Tim de Zarn) who really only lacks a sign in front of his forehead saying ¨Do not go into the woods if you want to live.¨ Once the teens arrive at the beautiful place they begin to party as they usually do, but later strange things begin to happen and they realize that they might not be alone in that place. You probably have seen this scenario a million times before in these films, but it takes a totally different turn and if you`re a fan of the genre you will be in for a treat. Character actors Richard Jenkins and Bradley Whitford also give some strong secondary performances as they usually do.

Cabin in the Woods combines a lot of gore with laughs. I can`t say scares because there is hardly any. I like the way the film poked fun of its usual stereotypes and played with them while at the same time paying homage to several classic horror films. This was Drew Goddard`s first film as a director and he really delivers. He had the credentials necessary considering he wrote and produced several Buffy, Angel, and Lost episodes as well as Cloverfield. He also co-wrote this brilliant and bizarre script with Joss Whedon, one of the best screenwriters in Hollywood (The Avengers, Toy Story, and Serenity). The script is smart although I must say that it was bizarre as well, but in a good way. Fans will have a terrific time with this movie, and those of us who criticize most slasher films for their predictability will be surprised by the twists taken here. It is a very original film which isn’t afraid of taking risks or making fun of itself. The highlight of the film for me was Fran Kranz`s performance. Most of the characters in this movie were really likeable, as opposed to most horror films where they are hateful and forgettable. Cabin in the Woods is a very interesting and unique film.

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My Review: The Avengers (9/10)

¨Maybe your army will come, maybe it's too much for us, but it's all on you! Because if we can't protect the Earth, you can be damn sure we'll avenge it!¨

Along with many others, The Avengers was one of my most anticipated films of 2012, and I can honestly say that it didn’t disappoint me one bit. It was even better than what I had anticipated and every single person in the theater seemed to have had the time of their lives. There were plenty of laugh out loud moments where everyone just cheered and the movie never ceased to entertain. The Avengers is one of the best superhero movies ever made, and I would say only The Dark Knight surpasses it, although comparing these two movies isn’t fair because this film is much lighter and self aware of its premise. The Avengers, directed by Joss Whedon (who also wrote the screenplay) is masterfully put together, meshing the incredible special effects and action scenes with the beloved characters and perfect cast. Everyone is really great in this film and it entertains from the very beginning. This is what a popcorn summer movie should be. I was worried so much hype for this film could`ve ruined the film for me, but I was wrong. All the hype only built the momentum for this great action comedy superhero flick. Ever since the first Iron Man came out these films (Iron Man 2, Thor, Captain America, and The Incredible Hulk) have been a sort of teaser trailer for this big movie. Those films helped build the characters and build the momentum for what we truly wanted to see: The Avengers. I assume this is how kids actually felt during the early 50`s when they were expecting for the next Marvel comic book issue to come out. This film definitely captured that essence and magic thanks to such a magnificent team of cast and crew.

The movie opens with Loki (Tom Hiddleston) attacking the SHIELD agency directed by Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) in order to retrieve the cube which would enable him to open a portal to another universe and send an army to destroy earth. Loki is successful and manages to steal the cube and force Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) and Dr. Selvig (Stellan Skarsgard) to join him by taking away their free will. In order to stop Loki, Nick Fury decides it`s time to assemble the team of superheroes which he has kept a close eye on for several years. He sends Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) to get Dr. Banner (Mark Ruffalo) and Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg) to call on Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.). Fury decides it`s time to get Captain America (Chris Evans) back into the action, and Thor (Chris Hemsworth) comes all the way from Asgard to try to stop his villainous brother from destroying Earth. These superheroes are assembled together, but aren`t ready to work as a team. They have some issues at first and have to learn to work together if they want to stop the evil Loki.

 The premise is pretty simple, but what really makes the film work is the interaction between all these great characters. This film could have relied so heavily on the special effects that it would`ve lost the magic of the great characters created by Stan Lee, but fortunately it decides to focus more on them. The tension they face working together is what really makes the movie work. There are plenty of funny moments as we have these superheroes fighting and mouthing each other. Robert Downey Jr. has showed us he can play the part to perfection, but every actor in this film really had great scenes. One of my greatest fears was that so many actors would not have enough screen time, but somehow everyone manages to be in this film for quite a while. Even minor characters such as Black Widow and Hawkeye get great exposure. Another thing I feared before The Avengers was that I thought Loki was one of the weakest villains of all the Marvel movies, but he is really great and dark in this film. He proved to be a great rival. But without a doubt, the best thing and most surprising for me was Mark Ruffalo`s performance as The Hulk, he really owned the movie and he had the best and funniest scenes in the entire film. Pairing him with Downey Jr. was really the best thing the producers could have done. Hulk is perhaps the best character in this film and the one I was least expecting to enjoy. Everyone in the theater was truly satisfied with the film and especially with the Incredible Hulk. He was amazing and so was the movie for that matter.  

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