Star Trek ****1/2 has been wondrously updated for modern audiences. Director J. J. Abrams has taken the drollness of past trek and injected energy into the proceedings all the while staying true to the heart of Roddenberry’s creation . This is indeed Star Trek, but new and improved with a fantastic cast and seamless effects. I was never a hardcore trekkie or trekker depending on your time frame, but consider me on board for this next wave of space adventure.
Wolverine ** brings the comic book movie (which has been soaring to new heights with Iron Man and Dark Knight) back down to it’s most cliched roots with lightning punctuations and shallow characters doing pointless things in an attempt to thwart villains who – if you saw X-men and X2 – aren’t going away anytime soon.
I didn’t think it was possible, but Gavin Hood succeeded in making a boring movie about the most interesting of X-men. Hugh Jackman is given absolutely nothing to do in this movie but look sad, growl, and yell. Better luck next time bub.
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button ***1/2 fantastic special effects in what amounts to a beautifully filmed coming-of-age story where age is everything. I found myself strangely disconnected with the first hour or so of this film despite the incredible special F/X. The only thing interesting about this man’s life is the fact that he’s aging in reverse. Without this conceit, it would be a rather dull affair. I watched short slices of his rather average life (the war sequence being the one exception) for nearly three hours and got to the end feeling a bit short-changed.
The film does find it’s footing in the middle, when both leads get to perform without the hindrance of digital manipulation. Ironically this is also when the characters feel the most alive, but then the last half happens and I once again became a bit detached. Don’t misunderstand, the film is definitely worth watching, and the age effects some of the best ever put on film, but don’t go into it expecting a life-changing experience. The characters didn’t grab me as they should have in order for the movie to have lasting resonance. It’s a good film, but nowhere near great and director Fincher has made better.
The Wrestler ****1/2 succeeds because I am not nor have I ever been even remotely interested in the “spectacle” of professional wrestling, but I wanted to know the fate of Randy the Ram. This film succeeds because of the characters and their lives. Mickey Rourke does give a fantastic performance as the Ram, a once glorified wrestling star now a has-been relegated to the local scene where jumping off of ladders into plates of glass wrapped in barbed wire is the norm. I disagree with some critics who say this one is for everyone, because I can name several people I know who won’t like it at all, but Darren Aronofsky (one of my favorite directors) has shifted gears with this film and proven he can do more than trippy and sci-fi and trippy sci-fi.
Splinter ***1/2 a B-movie with A tendencies. There isn’t anything new about Splinter, the horror/creature film from director Toby Wilkins, but it does harken back to the old school (ie: actually make a creature suit and put a man or woman inside and have it scare the actors), and for that I give it props. The actors you’ll recognize from television; they do a decent of job of transfering their fears to the audience, and the creature design is clever. Worth a rent if you’re a fan of this type of film.
