Steel and self-delusion
It's fully summer movie season now, which means lots of options on weekends. I should probably save more for the Fourth of July weekend when that's pretty much all I'm going to do...
#62: Man of Steel - A young itinerant worker is forced to confront his secret extraterrestrial heritage when Earth is invaded by members of his race. [imdb]
First, let's all just enjoy again that plot summary. I'll wait.
I mean, really. It's Superman.
Hilarity of that description aside, I quite enjoyed this movie for what it was, which was a well-crafted origin story with compelling characters, fine acting, and enough relation to the source to feel right without just apeing what had come before. I do love an origin story, and I especially love one featuring Henry Cavill vying for this year's type-transcending Thor Award. (*fans self*)
Ahem. Anyway, without being much of a comics world fan as a kid, I always vaguely preferred Superman to Batman* because he was the first and he had none of that dark business I didn't care much for when I was wee. Also, my image of Batman was very much colored by the BAM POW television show, which doesn't do anything to make Batman interesting as a character.
*If we really want to talk preferences, though: Wonder Woman. Always.
I didn't have much more experience with Supes until we all got hooked on Lois & Clark, and I didn't even watch Smallville or see Superman Returns, so I am really ill-qualified to judge the authenticity of the character treatment. It was good enough for this very casual fan, striking a good balance between the natural absurdities of aliens from the planet Krypton with very fake science and the truth of an orphan "itinerant worker" reconciling his past and new discoveries. I loved all the kid!Clark scenes and everything with Diane Lane. There was way more Russell Crowe than I wanted or expected, but he was actually quite tolerable in the role (I just really don't like Russell Crowe, okay?).
Amy Adams as Lois Lane was her usual bright self. They let Lois have lots of agency and a solid role to play in the story, so yay for that. Very similar to the Spider-Man reboot and Emma Stone's character. I also appreciated her state at the very end, compared to previous incarnations, because she is a smart lady.
The downside to a Superman movie is that every fight scene becomes reduced to KAL-EL SMASH. Except when it's Hulk and Loki, I'm not a big fan of smashtastic fighting style. It gets dull, and what's worse, the collateral damage is intense. It always bothers me in movies when a small number of combatants result in the wanton destruction of most of a city. How is anyone supposed to feel good about that victory? Sure, you took down the one main dude, but a lot of other people and institutions died in the process. A film has to at least acknowledge that seriously for me to be on board. The Nolan Batman trilogy had this problem, too, so I shouldn't be surprised.
They certainly could have done more to find a new angle on the story or present the unconsidered aspects (specifically, his alienness, and what that can mean now) but simple as it was, I found it a successful re-introduction of a guy we all know pretty well.
#63: Frances Ha - A story that follows a New York woman (who doesn't really have an apartment), apprentices for a dance company (though she's not really a dancer), and throws herself headlong into her dreams, even as their possible reality dwindles. [imdb]
This movie was 180 degrees from Man of Steel. It was colorless, female centric, hardly touched on origins, and there were no aliens at all. In this case, the description gives you an accurate impression of the kind of movie you're going to see.
It's a good movie and Greta Gerwig carries the hell out of it -- none of it would have worked without her face and eyes -- but it was difficult for me to watch. I found myself relating to entirely too much of Frances and her failures to launch, and that was rough. At the same time, there are specific areas where she and I completely differ, most notably in motor-mouth syndrome and sense of financial responsibility, and when she fumbled there I became very frustrated. NO, you CANNOT afford that trip, what are you doing? TAKE the damn job, you need MONEY TO EAT.
The movie is about Frances above all, but a significant part revolves around her relationship with Sophie, her best friend and anchor. I loved how it was done. They showed a very special friendship that was dense, dynamic, and complicated by circumstances from within and without. It doesn't wind up in the place you might want it to, but it doesn't necessarily ask you to be happy about that, just as you're not entirely happy with the life choices along the way.
I'm not sure I would recommend this movie to anyone who feels like they haven't figured themselves out yet, because it's not strictly inspiring in that sense. I would recommend it in general.
#62: Man of Steel - A young itinerant worker is forced to confront his secret extraterrestrial heritage when Earth is invaded by members of his race. [imdb]
First, let's all just enjoy again that plot summary. I'll wait.
I mean, really. It's Superman.
Hilarity of that description aside, I quite enjoyed this movie for what it was, which was a well-crafted origin story with compelling characters, fine acting, and enough relation to the source to feel right without just apeing what had come before. I do love an origin story, and I especially love one featuring Henry Cavill vying for this year's type-transcending Thor Award. (*fans self*)
Ahem. Anyway, without being much of a comics world fan as a kid, I always vaguely preferred Superman to Batman* because he was the first and he had none of that dark business I didn't care much for when I was wee. Also, my image of Batman was very much colored by the BAM POW television show, which doesn't do anything to make Batman interesting as a character.
*If we really want to talk preferences, though: Wonder Woman. Always.
I didn't have much more experience with Supes until we all got hooked on Lois & Clark, and I didn't even watch Smallville or see Superman Returns, so I am really ill-qualified to judge the authenticity of the character treatment. It was good enough for this very casual fan, striking a good balance between the natural absurdities of aliens from the planet Krypton with very fake science and the truth of an orphan "itinerant worker" reconciling his past and new discoveries. I loved all the kid!Clark scenes and everything with Diane Lane. There was way more Russell Crowe than I wanted or expected, but he was actually quite tolerable in the role (I just really don't like Russell Crowe, okay?).
Amy Adams as Lois Lane was her usual bright self. They let Lois have lots of agency and a solid role to play in the story, so yay for that. Very similar to the Spider-Man reboot and Emma Stone's character. I also appreciated her state at the very end, compared to previous incarnations, because she is a smart lady.
The downside to a Superman movie is that every fight scene becomes reduced to KAL-EL SMASH. Except when it's Hulk and Loki, I'm not a big fan of smashtastic fighting style. It gets dull, and what's worse, the collateral damage is intense. It always bothers me in movies when a small number of combatants result in the wanton destruction of most of a city. How is anyone supposed to feel good about that victory? Sure, you took down the one main dude, but a lot of other people and institutions died in the process. A film has to at least acknowledge that seriously for me to be on board. The Nolan Batman trilogy had this problem, too, so I shouldn't be surprised.
They certainly could have done more to find a new angle on the story or present the unconsidered aspects (specifically, his alienness, and what that can mean now) but simple as it was, I found it a successful re-introduction of a guy we all know pretty well.
#63: Frances Ha - A story that follows a New York woman (who doesn't really have an apartment), apprentices for a dance company (though she's not really a dancer), and throws herself headlong into her dreams, even as their possible reality dwindles. [imdb]
This movie was 180 degrees from Man of Steel. It was colorless, female centric, hardly touched on origins, and there were no aliens at all. In this case, the description gives you an accurate impression of the kind of movie you're going to see.
It's a good movie and Greta Gerwig carries the hell out of it -- none of it would have worked without her face and eyes -- but it was difficult for me to watch. I found myself relating to entirely too much of Frances and her failures to launch, and that was rough. At the same time, there are specific areas where she and I completely differ, most notably in motor-mouth syndrome and sense of financial responsibility, and when she fumbled there I became very frustrated. NO, you CANNOT afford that trip, what are you doing? TAKE the damn job, you need MONEY TO EAT.
The movie is about Frances above all, but a significant part revolves around her relationship with Sophie, her best friend and anchor. I loved how it was done. They showed a very special friendship that was dense, dynamic, and complicated by circumstances from within and without. It doesn't wind up in the place you might want it to, but it doesn't necessarily ask you to be happy about that, just as you're not entirely happy with the life choices along the way.
I'm not sure I would recommend this movie to anyone who feels like they haven't figured themselves out yet, because it's not strictly inspiring in that sense. I would recommend it in general.