Movie Review: Divergent

Despite an All-Star cast, Divergent took too many liberties with the book ultimately diverging (yup, I did it) from the many of the complicated storylines and situations. The movie was missing much of what made the book so interesting and the characters so compelling in the first place.

Divergent
Directed By: Neil Burger
Starring: Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Kate Winslet,  Ashley Judd, Ray Stevenson, Miles Teller, Jai Courtney, Mekhi Phiefer, Zoe Kravitz, Tony Goldwyn, Ansel Elgort

 

From the moment I heard Veronica Roth’s Divergent was to be turned into a movie, I knew the movie wasn’t going to work, at least not entirely. The plot of the book and the emotions of the characters are two complicated to be translated into a 2 hour movie and unfortunately my feelings were right. Divergent suffered the same way Suzanne Collin’s The Hunger Games did as a first movie. Too much set up, too much exposition, not enough character development. While sometimes it worked for the movie, enough of it didn’t work to make it successful.

 

WHAT WORKED

The Movie Made Sure The Audience Knew What Was Going On (for the most part)
Something that The Hunger Games could have used (yes there will be a lot of these comparisons) was voice over, and I was thankful for its use at the beginning of the movie. Divergent’s world is complicated, but instead of it being explained through lengthy and messy dialogue, it was told with voiceover. It was handy, it was simple, and I always appreciate showing rather than telling, especially when…

Visually, the World Was Just As I Imagined It
The filmmakers did a great job of portraying the post-apocalyptic, futuristic world, incorporating the factions in a realistic, cohesive way. While it may not have been how I pictured it, the production design sucked me in. And that Ferris wheel, yeah, they got that exactly right. Another they got right?

 

The Casting, [Which] Was Near Perfect (which also meant great acting)
Though Shailene Woodley wasn’t how I initially picture Tris, I think she brought a certain charisma and great acting ability to the character. Woodley just has this au natural vibe to her. She doesn’t wear much make up, and the way she delivers her lines is very natural. She just has this ease about her. As for Tobias, I can’t imagine anymore more perfect than Theo James. Frankly, this good looking man is the perfect Tobias. James brought a nice balance of soft vs. hard to Tobias. Despite his baby face, Miles Teller knows how to play the perfect douche bag (I think it’s his Vince Vaughn-y way of babbling), thus making him a great Peter. Kate Winslet was beautiful yet intimidating just as Joanna should be, Jai Courtney was menacing as Eric, and Maggie Q is really the perfect Tori. Maggie Q is just amazing and we need more Asians in film (who don’t just do kung fu or karate.) Now as for the casting of Christina, Al, Caleb…we’ll get to that later…

 

WHAT DIDN’T WORK

Wrong Depiction of the Characters
While some characters were cast correctly, other characters — Christina, Al, Caleb, Will – just felt wrong. Though I might be able to forgive the casting of Al and Will IF we were able to spend more time with them. The movie seemed to swiftly gloss over some characters, while interpreting other characters in correctly, or let’s just be honest, not to my liking. Take Tris for example: What makes Tris Tris is that she’s independent, she’s fearless, she’s wreckless, and she’s impulsive. She doesn’t need anyone’s help. She will learn how to survive and figure it out herself. She shows no weakness. In fact, she’s forced to show vulnerability in order to not become a target to her enemies. The movie version of Tris was not as powerful. She felt like the outcast girl who suddenly became the girl everyone liked. Things seemed to come easy for her. No one really hated her, not even Peter. Sure she was outspoken, but only really with authority. She had no spark, fire, or sass about her. Overall she was likeable, TOO likeable. And Christina, while she and Tris were friends, they didn’t always get along. They were highly competitive. But the with the movie’s version of Christina, nothing really stood out. *major spoiler alert* She let Tris get the flag? Come on MOVIE. This is an important character moment. Epic Fail. Other characters such as Will, Al, Tris’ parents (Hey, why is the President Tris’ father?) weren’t just developed making those emotional moments less impactful because, well, we never really new the characters in this first place. You can’t just gloss over these characters because the way they impact Tris is important. But the movie did gloss over them because…

Time was focused in the wrong areas.
It was almost as if they spent TOO much time developing the backstory, explaining the factions, setting up the real issue. And this is the problem with turning a book like this into a 2 hour movie. It’s impossible. Just as it was for the first installment of The Hunger Games. While the “romance” between Tris and Tobias developed nice and slowly, suddenly at the end it sped up into warp speed in a way that made NO sense whatsoever. And the climatic end scene was pretty much a mess. It was as if everything was happening TOO fast and yet not fast enough. Sometimes the movie slowed down to a crawling pace. When you think in the middle of a movie “we still have a long way to go” that’s never a good sign. I don’t know how the filmmakers would have saved it, but character development can go a long way.

Books are always harder to turn into movies, especially when there are so many beloved characters. However, I’m much more likely to forgive leaving out important moments if the characters are developed right. Take for example the Harry Potter series. There are so many instances where I felt certain moments in the book, BELOVED moments were left out, but the one thing the movies did well were introduce characters we know and love in a way that helps develop the main three. Nowadays it seems like secondary characters are dragged out just to please the fans but not to serve any purpose to the story.

Divergent wasn’t a bad movie. Visually it was stunning, the acting was great, and the movie has immense star power. It just didn’t live up to the essence of the book, and movies rarely ever do. I understand that movies based on YA books have to cater to a certain demographic, but I just wish movies like these could be grittier. Show battle wounds, show bruises, show blood. Make us feel scared, make us sit on the edge of our seats, don’t be afraid to let the dark side out.

 

Rating: B-

 

 

 

 

 

 

Movie Review: Thor: The Dark World

When I was younger, I was never really into comics, but now with each Marvel and DC movie, I find my inner nerd coming out. While there are many types of superheroes and superhero movies, the genius behind Marvel movies is that with each passing movie it leaves you a series of clues and “easter eggs” that send you on endless Google and Wikipedia searches. Nerd Alert, indeed.

 

Thor: The Dark World
Directed By: Alan Taylor
Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Natalie Portman, Anthony Hopkins, Renee Russo, Kat Dennings, Stellan Skarsgard, Christopher Eccleston, Idris Elba, Jaimie Alexander, Ray Stevenson, Zachary Levi, Tadanobu Asano

Premise: Centuries ago, Odin and other warriors of Asgard battled with Malekith the leader of the Dark Elves over control of the Aether, a weapon that could destroy the universe. Upon Malekith’s defeat Odin has his people hide the Aether so no one could find it. Cut to present day on the cusp of the alignment of the Nine Realms, Jane Foster stumbles upon the Aether and becomes infected by it. The release of the Aether alerts Asgard, enlisting Thor to bring her home and to find out how to get the dark energy out of her before it kills her. At the same time, it also awakens Malekith and his people who set course to obtain the Aether and exact vengeance on Asgard.

I’d admit, Thor: The Dark World definitely has its problems, but for me the pros outweigh the cons and Thor’s problems are easily fixable. Though waters may not run completely deep and Tom Hiddelston’s Loki does a lot of the heavy lifting, the movie is exciting, fun, and miles above its predecessor.

 

**Minor Spoilers below, if you haven’t seen the movie, tread carefully!**

 

Top Things I Loved About Thor 

It doesn’t take itself too seriously:
Many movies take themselves too seriously, the dark Batman franchise, the excruciating, bleak Man of Steel, even the new X-Men is on the verge of becoming way too aware of itself. That’s where – pardon my use of nerd term – the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) comes in. [Note: I know X-Men is technically Marvel, but we’ll cross that nerdy bridge in another rant.] The MCU movies built around the Avengers stay true to the comic book aspect of the franchise. The movies are campy, over the top, action packed, funny, with crazy characters that don’t take themselves too seriously. From putting its characters in comical situations, to giving you one of those romantic movies you can get swept up in even though it’s slightly cheesy, these movies deliver and Thor: The Dark World was all of the above and more.

Character Development
What also helped was the fact that we were able to learn more about the characters. The first movie set them up a bit, but aside from Thor good, Loki bad, we didn’t get to know too much about the human world, which let’s face it is the more interesting world seeing as how it’s easy to relate to. This movie we were allowed to spend more time on Earth with Jane Foster and her scientific crew. Jane actually became a character and we were able to see why Thor loves her so much. Natalie Portman and Chris Hemsworth actually had some chemistry this time around.

The Humor:
The one thing Marvel does well is seamlessly add humor into their movies. And with Kat Dennings, you just know every word out of her mouth is going to be gold. Say what you want about 2 Broke Girls, but Kat Dennings sure knows how to deliver a one liner. Stellan Skarsgaard was also in his comedic element this movie. His change in character from The Avengers, was a nice change of pace and a little…unsettling.

Loki:
Tom Hiddleston has been a great asset to the Marvel Franchise. Loki is a happy, charismatic villain, basking in everyone’s misery. He is malevolent but he’s not sadistic. He’s deliciously evil and as crazy as it seems that is what makes him so likeable. In fact, he became such a fan favorite they filmed additional sequences with him before the film’s release. I love being able to see two sides to a villain, it creates a back and forth with your emotions that is rare in a lot of “popcorn” movies. All of these things make Loki interesting. He is a great yang to Thor’s yin (Or is Loki the yin? I don’t know, I’m Asian, I should probably know these things.) The brothers play off of each other well, their eternal sibling rivalry at the heart of their love and detest for each other

 

Things That Can Be Improved

Where the heck was Thor?
While this movie delved deeper into Loki’s psyche, isn’t this movie called Thor: The Dark World? Not Loki: The Bad Seed. The problem is, without Loki and without Jane Foster, Thor had nothing to do. In this movie we learned, yes, Loki does have a conscious, but what did we learn about Thor we didn’t already know? He loves Jane. Great…also…boooorrrrriiinnnggggg. Thor is supposed to be the hero of the story but it’s as if no one knew what to do with him. They should have put Thor on Earth. I would have LOVED to see him interact more with Natalie Portman and Kat Dennings. What if when Portman absorbed the Aether, Loki kidnapped her and Thor was forced to work with Darcy? I totally would have watch that.

More Dramatic Character Moments
This problem also existed in the first Thor movie, where the moments to get to know the characters are few and far between. Thor and Loki have a wonderful moment in the middle of this movie where we get to see a rare moment of vulnerability. Unfortunately, it’s for Loki not Thor. Thor needs his own vulnerable moments (maybe a crisis of faith?). How about a sit down with Jane where they actually get to know each other and talk about something real instead of the Nine Realms or the Cosmos, or what not? How about Thor confiding with his Warriors Three? He  had a brief moment with Sif and in the Comics they eventually get together. How about a moment where Sif tries to kiss him or touches him arm? I know that they are “gods” but I wanted more human moments in the movie. (Kudos, though, on giving Frigga more to do, more things like this, please.)

 

I have always been a fan of Marvel movies and will continue to watch them and Thor: The Dark World has vastly improved from the first. I just hope with the next inevitable movie they will find a way to bring Thor back into it. Chris Hemsworth is so pretty. And he’s a great actor too. (See: RUSH, no seriously see it. ) Give him more to do, TPTB. Also, find a villain that’s as formidable as Loki. Thanks.

Rating: 3 ½ Stars

 

UPDATE: [11:27am, 11/20/2013] I don’t know how I forgot about talking about THAT ENDING. *SPOILER ALERT!* If you continue reading and read something you didn’t want to read, it’s your own fault! ** That scene that set up the Guardians of the Galaxy was a definitely WTF moment for me, in a good way. That is another thing about Marvel movies, they always leave me going WTF. And Benicio Del Toro dressed up like a goth clown mated with David Bowie definitely made me wonder what was going on. He is called The Collector by Volstagg and Sif and he plays him like a psycotic version of Johnny Depp’s Jack Sparrow mixed with one of those guys who probably eats his own finger nails. After watching this so crazy it’s so good scene, I immediately went home and spent more hours than I’d like to admit googling and wikipedia-ing everything I could about this dude and his island of colorful misfit toys. I also just love that all Marvel movies make you sit through the very end of the credits. There’s something cool about a movie theater filled with people who stay until the very end.

Read more about that ending here: http://popwatch.ew.com/2013/11/09/thor-dark-world-ending-post-credits/ A fantastic article written about it.

 

 

 

Movie Review: Olympus Has Fallen & G.I. Joe

Review’s In A Hurry:

 

Olympus Has Fallen
Starring: Gerard Butler, Aaron Eckhart, Morgan Freeman, Melissa Leo, Angela Bassett, Ashley Judd, Dylan McDermott

Premise: The White House is taken over by a Korean military-trained terrorist group and the President is kidnapped for his nuclear launch codes. Banning a former friend and secret service security to the President finds himself the only man to breach the heavily secured White House in order to save the president. Can Banning forget past demons, save the family he spent years protecting and save the day? And can the president hang on long enough to prevent nuclear war?

My Review: I like crazy intense, disaster-y, terrorist-y, hostage-y situation movies. They just appeal to me. Even though the trailers looked completely ridiculous, I was still…curious, I guess would be the right word…or intrigued.

Mike Banning is actually a really good character. He has an interesting tragic backstory and he is completely sympathetic. He gets exciting action scenes and has the weight of the country resting on his shoulders. Unfortunately he was severely miscast. I’m not a fan of Gerard Butler, especially when he mixes sleezy “humor” roles, with tough guy action roles. The Banning character deserved an actor that has that “star quality”. However, I will say even though he wasn’t perfect for a role like this, Butler pulled it off. Mostly it was the action stuff which was a great combination of grittiness and gore. It kept me on the edge of my seat (even if some of the situations were completely ridiculous). The movie was at its best when it was unpredictable and overall, it was a bloody good time.  Rating: 3 Stars

 

 

G.I. Joe
Starring: Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Channing Tatum, D.J. Cotrona, Adrianne Palicki, Byung-hun Lee, Jonathan Pryce, Ray Stevenson, Bruce Willis, Walton Goggins

My Review: Three lone G.I. Joes find themselves on the run when their group is eradicated by the very people they trusted and vowed to protect. These Joes are forced to trust a former enemy and a retired Joe in order to save the world from a villain who’s posing as the president and threatening nuclear war.

You know, putting these to movies side by side, they have very similar themes. I guess with the movement of the nuclear weapons on Korea, Hollywood is finding something new to write about. That being said, they could have put a little more thought into GI Joe. Though a great concept, it was also familiar. GI Joe Retaliation was a rehashing of Die Hard 4 and 5, and Fast and Furious 4-6 (Same cast and ALL!). This movie was helped by exciting action sequences and great tension building, but ultimately failed due to shoddy writing and editing. I mean what the hell was going on? I was so confused during this movie. It’s as if the director and editor needed to chop down this movie, but instead of removing pointless scenes (Flint’s attraction to Lady Jaye, if you don’t have follow thru, then it’s not important), they removed important ones that were essential to the plot line. This movie should have taken note from the age old lesson we learned in elementary school: If you’re going to copy off your neighbors work, at least do it better! Rating: 2 Stars

 

 

 

 

Movie Review: Thor

THOR: I thought the plot was strong, the acting was strong, the special effects were extremely strong, and Asgard was beautiful, however…I also felt like the storytelling was a bit lacking, the editing jumpy disrupting the flow, and seeing it in 3D is completely unnecessary, if not distracting at times.

THOR

Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddelston, Anthony Hopkins, Natalie Portman, Stellan Skarsgard, Kat Dennings

Premise: At Thor’s coronation to become king, Frost Giants from the planet Jotenheim (who currently had a truce with Odin, Thor’s father) invade Asgard in order to steal a casket Odin took from them during a battle long ago. In an act of retaliation, Thor, his brother Loki, The Warriors Three, and Sif, travel to Jotenheim – Thor looking for revenge, and his friends coming along to help. As a result of the devastation he caused, Odin banishes Thor to Earth without his powers. Thor must work together with scientists, Jane and Selvig to find a way to get back to Asgard. Meanwhile, back on his home planet, Odin falls into Odinsleep thus making Loki the new king. Loki discovers a betrayal/secret and makes it his mission to see that Thor never returns home.

My Review: So, okay, the premise is not entirely original. And in fact, it’s somewhat predictable. But that doesn’t mean that it was bad.  I just think there were certain aspects that needed to be developed more. In fact, the movie runs at 1 hour 55 minutes and I think it needed an extra 15-20 minutes to flesh some of the characters out. More on that in a bit.

The scenes in Asgard were extremely well thought out. While the Warriors Three (Tadanobu Asano, Josh Dallas, Ray Stevenson) and Sif (Jaimie Alexander) were more sidekicks than anything, the relationship between Thor, his brother, Loki, and their father Odin was extremely strong. The funny thing, is watching Sir Anthony Hopkins on talk shows or interviews he seems like a sweet, old man. Sure he’s an extraordinary distinguished actor with many fantastic acting credits behind him, as well as a golden man to boot, but in real life, he looks someone you want to take by the hand and lead to protective safety. However as Odin, Hopkins was huge, and powerful, and he felt like a strong, confident, and also terrifying King. Also a stand out – Tom Hiddleston. Loki had a chance to be over the top, but Hiddleston’s acting was subtle, giving Loki a wide range of emotions and finding humanity behind his character. Yes, Loki was a villain, but he had good, if not completely selfish intentions.

However, the Earth scenes could have used more fleshing out, mainly the relationship between Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and Jane Foster (Natalie Portman). They didn’t spend enough time with each other for us to get the sense that they belong together – that Thor is in love with her. Sure they flirted, and Portman has that cute giggle, and who couldn’t/wouldn’t take their eyes off Hemsworth when he takes his shirt off, but that’s all purely surface things. I feel like this oversight could have been fixed with the simple act of Thor brushing Jane’s hair behind her ear when they were talking on the roof, or him grabbing her hand when they had breakfast the next morning. Even if when he *spoiler alert* fell to the ground after his battle with the Destroyer and Jane ran to be by his side. Thor could have reached up, stroked her face and tried to comfort her. But, no, everything just stayed at a lukewarm distance between them with just longing looks. We need more than longing looks people!

I also felt the editing was a bit jumpy. It was as if the editor (and director for that matter) had ADD. They were unable to finish a complete thought before we were moving on to the next plot point, or a new scene. Sometimes ending on a lingering look or giving the audience an extra beat to let the comedy of it all sink in, helps. Also, the soundtrack was a bit mellow dramatic and did not fit with the action during certain places (like the final confrontation with Thor and the Destroyer). They should have gotten the composer of the Sunshine Soundtrack to develop the soundtrack to Thor.

The action was pretty outstanding, which I think was helped with the spectacular costumes and special effects. And that Destroyer is BAD ASS. I want a 3 foot figure of that Destroyer and to display it on my front lawn for all to see. Yes, nerd alert, I know.

Here are some other subtle things I liked about the movie:

• Sif (Jaimie Alexander’s) look of contempt at Loki – She gives good burning rage.
• The way Hogan (Tadanobu Asano) and Fandral (Josh Dallas) grabbed Sif’s arms to stop her from pummeling Loki.
• The look in Loki’s eyes at Thor’s anger over,*spoiler alert*,the Frost Giants invading the weapons room to steal the casket. His eyes were so blue!
• In the scene where Loki and Thor are fighting and Loki is wondering if Thor’s change is because of Jane, I love the way Tom’s eyes are red, and tears are rolling down his face.
• When Odin (Anthony Hopkins) growls at Loki. (You know when you’re father is yelling at your brother and you try and help to defend him, but instead your father yells at you. So human and the godly world.)
• Selvig’s (Stellan Skarsgard) drunken smile.
• Kat Denning’s curtsey.
• Natalie Portman’s embarrassed/flustered giggle.
• The way Chris Hemsworth said, “I need a horse!”

Random Thoughts:

• Darcy needs a last name. It was awkward when Thor was thanking them and Darcy had no last name.
• Thor looked like the Brawny Paper Towel Man in that red plaid jacket.
• Loki in real world clothes, is so dashing!

Overall, this movie was a great way to kick off the Summer. It was action packed, special effects packed and there were so many pretty things to look at! (Chris Hemsworth for the ladies, and Natalie Portman for the men.) Make sure you stay till the end of the credits for an extra scene. And DO NOT see it in 3D. It was completely unnecessary in 3D. Just see it on the big screen and save your money.

Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars