The Last Airbender

Never in my recollection of film has a director survived a fall as precipitous and consistent in its declination of quality as M. Night Shyamalan’s. In the 11 long years since critics and audiences were caught off guard by the brilliantly conceived and executed Sixth Sense, Shyamalan has churned out a succession of films where each is exponentially worse than the preceding film. With the exception of the polarizing Unbreakable (2000), only Signs has flirted with being passable, a distinction made possible by the acting ability of Mel Gibson and Joaquin Phoenix. Unfortunately, as with most of his work as a writer/director, that movie fell flat due the simple inability to suspend disbelief through the contrite, unrealistic dialogue and the goofy “swing away” pretentiousness of the third act.

I doubt much argument will come my way in heralding the merits of The Village, Lady in the Water, and The Happening, three films which would and should have ended either the writing or directing career of Shyamalan. However, as we know, this is not the case as Shyamalan has been tapped to write and direct a trilogy of films based on the Nickelodeon property – Avatar: The Last Airbender. The first of which premiered nationwide last night (7/1) is in my opinion, unequivocally, the single worst movie I have seen in the past decade.

The concept of the movie is simple, four nations of people exist representing fire, water, earth, and air. The fire nation has become the aggressive force in the world, seeking to wipe out the air-benders (can control air) in order to prevent the arrival of The Avatar, a person who can control all four elements. Sounds easy, get the characters together, hire ILM to produce some billion-dollar mega-battle sequences involving all sorts of explosions, tidal waves, earthquakes, and tornadoes – and watch audiences munch popcorn into a summer blockbuster oblivion.

As you would probably guess- this is not what happens. Let us first discuss in brief the 3D-boner that Hollywood seems to have en masse right now. There is a massive difference between films that are actually SHOT in 3D, and those which have 3D applied in post-production. One only needs to take a look at Avatar (James Cameron) in comparison to Clash of The Titans to obtain a complete understanding of how 3D both works and fails miserably. Please research before shelling out the additional 5-6 bucks to learn if a film was actually shot in 3D or not – it will save you from wasting money on what is nothing more than a hackneyed marketing ploy.

Back to this movie, the fatal and unrecoverable flaw of this film is in the script – namely in Shyamalan’s apparent amnesia that film is a visual medium. There is not a single line of dialogue in this movie that is not coated with a viscous magma of exposition. Every conversation is a description of past events, characters, and places or of those events, characters, and places that are to come. The entire script is more of an exercise for Shyamalan to show off his knowledge of the source material – than to ever even brush against such trivial elements in film like plot or character development. Without any exaggeration, an entire main character, a relationship, and the manner in which the Avatar learns to bend water is explained via VOICEOVER. The entire sequence of events transpires literally as; “Character A met Character B and they fell in love, Character C trained with the masters and learned, etc.” Then the audience is simply left to accept that months of action has transpired without a single visual representation and now we are to care deeply about the new character and story “development”. This is a singular example of the film’s constant reliance on exposition instead of telling the story through action and actual progressive, relevant dialogue.

Casting wise, as Shyamalan’s pedigree as a writer/director erodes, so does his ability to attract actors with the chops necessary to elevate an otherwise ludicrous script. Slumdog Millionaire’s Dev Patel, replete with “evil burn makeup” is tasked with carrying one of two antagonist roles. The Daily Show’s Aasif Mandvi, who is essentially playing himself the entire film, plays the second villain. There are tons of wide-eyed, exclamatory moments from each actor to hopefully convey their evil-ness – but considering the script contains all the subtlety of an axe to the face, the result is unintentionally comedic instead of dramatic.

Action? Nope. The scenes you see in the preview are all from the final battle, and do not pan out at all how the trailer would lead you to believe. Think that big tidal wave is going to smash all the boats? It doesn’t, its merely to showcase the “beauty of the water” as Prince Exposition lets us know in advance. Almost all of the action is handled via montage, and showcases typically the Avatar and a cookie-cutter fire-villain in a one-on-one two-move scene meant to depict the freeing of an entire village. It is cheap, poor storytelling, and considering the movie’s 150 million-dollar budget – it is puzzling to imagine what exactly that money was spent upon.

This film is meant to be the initial salvo in a trilogy of movies to represent a three-year tentpole lineup for Paramount. I can assure you this will not happen. Enjoy part one, because if parts two and three are even pushed into development – I would consider it to be a sign of the impending apocalypse. Watch at your own risk.

Terminator Salvation

My Expectations Were Terminated

Considering the last movie review I actually took the time to sit down and write was for the phenomenal Dark Knight, I hope it is understood that I only choose to share my thoughts when I have a certain degree of conviction behind them.   This is certainly the case when discussing one of my favorite franchises – Terminator. I had high hopes going into this, besides – the first two are classic films, the television show was outstanding – and this had a script that was doctored not only by Dark Knight writer Jonathan Nolan, but Crash scribe Paul Haggis.  Add in the acting talents of Christian Bale, and the underrated but capable action sequencing of douchey-namesake McG – and I expected an excellent crossover into the oft-hinted about “future” of the Terminator mythology.

Unfortunately, my vision of the future would not come to pass – much like that of John Connor.   Im not going to break down the movie scene by scene as you can easily google a review that is laden with spoilers.   My concern here is pointing out the key elements of the film that outright WHIFFED in missing the mark.  But before I touch on the negative, I would like to point out a few positive elements of the film.   Anton Yelchin, much like his performance in the outstanding Star Trek reboot – is excellent here as Kyle Reese.  He somehow manages to extrapolate a great deal of Biehn’s mannerisms from the original, while still infusing his own personality so he is not merely pantomiming.   Sam Worthington does a good job as Marcus – however given the bizarre “two-protagonist/not enough story” approach between his character and Bale’s Connor, there is no real opportunity for him to shine in the movie.

Now onto the bad….

Common:  Yet another laughably bad performance.   Common’s attempt at emoting the loss of his brother and pseudo-tough guy posturing are groan-worthy, and while I don’t think he is a terrible actor (i.e. Street Kings as a serviceable performance) – Common needs to gain a greater grip on his limitations as a performer.

Skynet:  Apparently the most sophisticated artifical intelligence ever conceived in the history of the universe has the tactical prowess of a Scooby-Doo villain.  As Connor realizes in the beginning of the film, his very existense is irrefutably tied to the survival of Kyle Reese.   If Kyle Reese is never sent back in time to impregnate his mother in the original Terminator, then Connor is never born, and the machines have a much easier time.   This movie obviously takes place pre-time travel, and thus Kyle Reese is public enemy number-one with Skynet.

Now, the obvious progression is for Skynet to exhibit the logic of a third grader and kill Kyle Reese, thus wiping John Connor off the face of the planet.  Does this happen?  Fuck no!  Why would it?  Though Skynet has Reese dead to rights on multiple occasions, it instead opts to capture him.   Now why would the greatest intelligence in the history of mankind do this…. well to lure John Connor in of course!

Let me recap.   The machines can..

a)  kill the inexperienced and youthful  Reese,  who is John Connor’s father, ONLY if he is sent back in time after the events of this film – thus resulting in the non-existence of John Connor on any timeline.

or..

b)  use Reese as bait to lure the now highly-capable Connor into their base, so that they can attempt to kill him and Reese using a newly minted T-800.

The machines choose b.  In all the script doctoring, noone realized that this is a completely illogical and asinine manuever by Skynet?  They could have easily shot Reese in the face about thirty times in this movie with virtually no chance of failure, and instead they decide to concoct a completely ludicrous plan using an “infiltrator” model and a fake “off-switch radio signal”.   YEAHOK.

I would like to revisit one final point before I finish my dissection of this movie, and that was the aforementioned T-800.  If you are unaware, this is a Terminator complete with CG- Schwarzeneggar skin. (Arnold refused to be in the movie, as he has aged considerably since the 1984 debut of the original – which is what model this Terminator just so happens to be).  Some reviews will say this CG is well done.  I agree… it is well done if this is Beowulf, or Shrek.  It is not well-done in the sense that we are supposed to believe that he is in a movie with HUMAN FUCKING BEINGS.

So Claymatianeggar is the icing on the cake of one of the worst-written action movies in years.    As expected, McG nails the action scenes – they are all excited, well shot, well edited, well scored, and for the most part well acted.  Unfortunately, the plot of the movie is a weak link that ultimately melts the entire chain – ala Arnie’s fate in T2.

I give it 4 out of 10.

The Dark Knight

As a child, most of us would agree that the movie watching experience was just that… an experience. As we age into adults who are ever-growing cynics, I believe we begin to appreciate film and storytelling less. This is not necessarily intentional, as the amount of entertainment we subject ourselves to increases, we obviously begin to realize how derivative of each other the majority of movies are.

However, every once in a while – a film comes along that challenges the conventions of a genre, as well as your own expectations. It is this challenge that renews that childhood excitement we all once had in movies, and forces us to appreciate the exorbitant level of creative depth necessary to produce a truly masterful work.

The Dark Knight is that film.

An hour into the movie, as the second act begins to pick up – I was in awe. I was no longer watching the movie as a fan, but utilizing it’s craftsmanship as a learning tool. I could visualize the words on the page for each scene as they were spoken – and it resonated thoughts of inspiration, as well of defeat.

I could never write something this good.

This was the thought echoing in my mind for the majority of the film, as well during the 4am drive home while trying to recollect and piece together the story I had just experienced. Now, Im not trying to tell you this is a brand new story that you haven’t seen before – it is. From Point A, to Point Z – this movie does not break any conventions in terms of plot devices and overall flow, it is the hero’s journey through and through.

What makes this movie incredible is the way the characters are developed and defined within that framework. The way their actions and words are scripted out and intertwined to ultimately produce a novel and unique approach. The level of depth achieved by the actors and The Nolans with directing/writing is unparalleled in the “summer movie” genre, and should serve as a blueprint for movies that attempt to fall in a similar vein.

I can admit, at first I did not buy into the Heath Ledger hype for this role. Honestly, I didn’t see the direction they were attempting to take the character in until actually watching the film. After watching this movie, I can say that all the fanfare surrounding his performance (Oscar talks, etc), is truly, truly deserved – and honestly probably still does not do it justice. Ledger is definitive in his performance, he eclipses the Nicholson performance of Burton’s Joker, if not in style – certainly in the impact his character creates in the overall story.

He is haunting, both entertaining and unsettling at the same time. The laughs generated from his character’s lines are nervous in nature, there are no overtly comedic moments. I have read comments in reviews labeling his performance as being the greatest villain of all time, and I can certainly appreciate that opinion. Ledger’s Joker is not a character you cheer for, it is a character that captivates you with its mystique and pure unpredictability. With Bale, you can hear notes of Patrick Bateman in his inflection, a reminder that you are watching a movie – this same familiarity cannot be found with Ledger. He is the Joker. His voice, mannerisms, etc are altered to an unrecognizable point, and never once does he venture into familiar territory to remind you that this is in fact, the guy from 10 Things I Hate About You.

Overall, this is one of few movies I have seen as an adult that I could categorize as an “Experience”. Though Marvel struck first with an excellent visualization of the Iron Man character, and a much improved rebirth for the Incredible Hulk, DC has trumped their rival with a film that transcends them both, as well as the superhero/comic book genre. The Nolan’s, and the cast of this film took a fantastical subject, and created a gritty, realistic world for the characters to exist in – one that will certainly have movie fans nervously looking over their shoulders when leaving the theater.

DLS