Things of note for the week ending April 25th, 2014.
1. The Dalai Lama’s Ski Trip
This, via Slate, is quite wonderful and easily the best thing I’ve read on the internet this month.
Just then, an expert skier entered from a higher slope, whipping along. The Dalai Lama saw him and said, “Look—too fast! He going to hit post!†He cupped his hands, shouting down to the oblivious skier, “Look out for post!†He waved frantically. “Look out for post!†–
The skier, who had no idea that the 14th incarnation of the Bodhisattva of Compassion was crying out to save his life, made a crisp little check as he approached the pylon, altering his line of descent, and continued expertly down the hill. –
With an expostulation of wonder, the Dalai Lama sat back and clasped his hands together. “You see? Ah! Ah! This skiing is wonderful sport!â€
The image above, from a piece over at The Monkey Cage, is just one chart from a very interesting piece of research. Turns out, the further respondents were from getting it right, the more likely they were to want the US to intervene.
4. Minimalist Film Posters
James Whatley in ‘blogging about pretty cool film posters’ shocker, I know. This bunch are alright but not spectacular. The only one worth sharing is this rather cool take on Reservoir Dogs.
5. The Bradley Timepiece
This watch, designed for blind people and named after a Paralympian gold medallist who lost his sight in Afghanistan, is up for design of the year at London’s Design Museum.
It’s rather awesome, but it’s mostly being bought by sighted people.
–
“Here’s hoping future installments deliver on the early promise [that at least some of] the cast have shown.” –
Well, did it?
No. It didn’t.
And I’ll get to why shortly. But first, the good stuff.
The Cast
TASM2’s main players are perfect (it’s the secondary characters that make you cringe*). Andrew Garfieldis Peter Parker just as much as he is Spider-Man. The latter of the two, especially in the earlier action scenes, never better in fact. Funny, fast-talking, and clearly very much at ease with who he is, Spider-Man of 2014 is pretty darn spot on.
On a related note, much has been said about the outstanding chemistry between Garfield and his leading lady, Emma Stone. This, again, is a definite highlight and the screen sparkles and shines whenever the two of them are together throughout. In fact, some of the film’s best laugh out loud moments come from their quick-fire back-and-forths; their relationship has never been more believable.
Jamie Foxx, as new villain Max Dillon – aka Electro – is actually really good too. His journey from ignored nobody through to genuinely messed-up-in-the-head super-villain is superb and in all honesty, probably deserved more screen time than he actually got (but we’ll come back to that).
Dane Dehaan is a great Harry Osborn but again, not for very long. I haven’t seen Dehaan in anything since the seminal super-powers flick, Chronicle, so it’s good to see him bringing the gravitas and pain to the always conflicted character that is the heir to Oscorp.
Finally, on the casting front, it must be said that Sally Field is without doubt one ofthe best things in the entire film. Her screentime can only add up to something around 15mins in total, but the emotional punch her Aunt May delivers in one particular scene (as well as others) makes her stand head and shoulders above all else and the film is much better for it.
All those great actors, all those great performances – what could possible go wrong?
The Script
It’s terrible. I mean, really really terrible. There were rumours of multiple rewrites and myriad changes constantly throughout the making of this film (an entire character, in the shape of Shailene Woodley’s Mary-Jane Watson was written, shot, and then later edited out of the final cut) and the script has clearly suffered for it. Admittedly Jamie Foxx is a great actor, but he’s worthy of an Oscar nod for pulling off this line with a straight face –
“Soon, everyone in the city will know how it feels to live in a world without power, without mercy, without Spider-Manâ€
‘The Amazing Spider-Man 2: Great actors do their best with terrible lines.’
—
The Plot
To say the plot [and pacing for that matter] of TASM2 is ‘convoluted and messy’ would be an understatement. In the original Spider-Man trilogy, it is universally accepted that Spider-Man 3 is the worst of the three. With the blame, amongst other things, being placed firmly on there being too many villains and not enough time. Sadly, you can say the exact same thing about TASM2.
The Goblin’s arrival seems unnecessary and rushed, especially as Dehaan was doing such a great job as Osborn (and moreso when you remember it took James Franco’s Harry Osborn a full two-and-a-half-films before he finally turned), and the appearance of the mechanised Rhino later on in the film is almost laughable in its whole only-reason-to-exist-is-so-that-we-can-sell-more-toys cheek.
It’s a joke.
Thing is, it’s not only that TASM2 tries to cram in as many references as humanly possible, but its also Sony’s whole ‘we’re building a world/platform for sequels’ thing.
The problem here is twofold. First, the story loses focus and feels bloated. Second, and this is the major deal-breaker, as a result of this ‘sequel-itis’ Spider-Man never really goes through any real sense of surprise or peril.
Don’t get me wrong, while more bad things happen in this film than the first one, there isn’t any real point throughout that you think ‘Oh no! How will Spider-Man get out of it this time?’
I get it. He’s a super-hero. But still. Even his lowest ever low point doesn’t actually feel that low, and that’s a really bad thing.
In Closing
As I’ve already said, TASM2’s casting is [almost] perfect and the film gets away with a lot because of it. However, more time should’ve been spent on the story at hand, not on the wider sequel-set-ups and, as a result, the end result lacks any real emotional impact.
#SpiderMan2 is a good Spider-Man film, featuring a collection of decent actors let down by a rushed script and no real sense of peril.
Yes, my main points of contention have been about story, pace and scripting, however, perhaps a new/decent director wouldn’t let those things through the net. Marc Webb has already been signed up for TASM3, and I really don’t hold out much hope for it to be much better than this.
Which is a real shame, because he makes a darn good trailer.
Two supporting characters in particular really SUCKED for me.
First: Paul Giamatti. It’s clear PG is meant for bigger things to come in [the already planned/announced] TASM3 however, as Russian gangster Aleksei Sytsevich – aka The Rhino, I can’t work out if he’s woefully miscast or utterly wasted. Whichever one it is, he brings the film down.
Second, Marton Csokas turns up in a random cameo as Ravenscroft Institute’s Dr Ashley Kafka and, when that happens; the whole film takes a swerve into Batman Forever territory. Every time I saw him, it was as though the director had just stepped out for lunch or something. I wanted to throw popcorn at the screen it was that bad.
For the uber-geeks out there, wondering if there’s any kind of post-credits sting similar to the first one (with Dr Connors getting a visit from a mysterious inquisitor) you’ll be sadly disappointed. That being said, many publications are reporting that there’s an X-Men: Days of Future Past scene midway through TASM2’s credits.
But this is not the case at the IMAX.
About 70% of last night’s IMAX #SpiderMan2 audience stuck around for a post-credits sequence that didn’t arrive. There was actual booing. — James Whatley (@Whatleydude) April 19, 2014
Things of note for the week ending March 7th, 2014.
1. Flash. Gordon.
This original poster made me smile a lot when I saw it. Related fact: about ten years ago I received Flash Gordon on DVD on the exact same day that I happened to meet Brian Blessed. Yes, he signed it. Yes, it is a treasured possession. And yes, he was awesome.
2. Creating Your Habit Environment
Old habits are hard to break. Zen Habits talks about how your environment contributes to that difficulty and suggests ways to help make that change. There are a bunch of quotes I could nab from it, but it really is just worth reading the whole thing.
3. Batman: Arkham Knight
The trailer for the third official* Arkham game dropped earlier this week and it looks awesome. Gamer or not, the work and animation in this video is outstanding. So good in fact that I’d be quite happy to watch a short film in this format.
Watch this one in full screen –
4. A tall tale about The Players Club, NY
This post, entitled ‘The Players Club, David Carradine, And The Guy From Revenge of the Nerds: The Mystery of the Broken Window’, not only seeks out the truth behind a legendary story about the people and things listed, but also gives a fairly decent guided tour of the Players Club on the way.
A fairly decent piece of random reading for your Friday and definitely worth a look.
They’re here, and they look awesome. The newest and weirdest addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (yes, this is what ties into that post-credits sequence in Thor: The Dark World) and it looks AMAZING.
BRING. IT. ON.
Sidenote: I still can’t get over how awesome Karen Gillan looks. The former Amy Pond is almost completely unrecognisable –
UPDATED: The poster has been dropped too, YOU’RE WELCOME.
Some of you may remember that I didn’t get on that well with the first take at this reboot (I would argue that my 14 second re-make is much better) BUT this sequel looks promising. That’s Electro, being a bad-ass, Green Goblin (maybe) working with him, and the Rhino (mechanical form) getting a nod too.
If you count Vulture’s wings and Doc Ock’s arms, along with The Lizard from the first TASM, then you’ve got a six sinister bunch of villains right there, if you get my meaning.
I know it’s literally just one image, but still: I’m so up for this.
The final film in Marvel’s ‘Phase 2’ (after IRON MAN 3, THOR: THE DARK WORLD, AND CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER), GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY is the last piece of the puzzle before we see AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON.
It’s a risky move, but I reckon Marvel can pull it off.
Left to right: Gamora (Zoe Saldana), Peter Quill / Star Lord (Chris Pratt), Rocket Raccoon (Bradley Cooper), Drax the Destroyer (Dave Bautista), and Groot (Vin Diesel).
The official synopsis:
From Marvel, the studio that brought you the global blockbuster franchises of Iron Man, Thor, Captain America and The Avengers, comes a new team – the Guardians of the Galaxy. An action-packed, epic space adventure, Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy expands the Marvel Cinematic Universe into the cosmos, where brash adventurer Peter Quill finds himself the object of an unrelenting bounty hunt after stealing a mysterious orb coveted by Ronan, a powerful villain with ambitions that threaten the entire universe. To evade the ever-persistent Ronan, Quill is forced into an uneasy truce with a quartet of disparate misfits–Rocket, a gun-toting raccoon, Groot, a tree-like humanoid, the deadly and enigmatic Gamora and the revenge-driven Drax the Destroyer. But when Peter discovers the true power of the orb and the menace it poses to the cosmos, he must do his best to rally his ragtag rivals for a last, desperate stand – with the galaxy’s fate in the balance. Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy is presented by Marvel Studios. The film releases August 1, 2014, and is distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.
I saw Thor: The Dark World (TTDW) recently, in 3D, at London’s BFI IMAX and, aside from a few inconsistencies, its looking like the house of M has yet another hit on its hands. As part of the more mythical part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), Thor has a bit more freedom when it comes to realising the world(s) that Asgardians both live in and visit and, in this reviewer’s opinion, is a better franchise for it.
But there’s more to it than that.
In a post-Avengers world, it’s obviously prudent to have a good idea of where this story picks up from. With Loki, chief villain from both the first Thor film and last summer’s monster smash, Avengers Assemble, again front and centre in this norse god outing, I would strongly recommend seeing the aforementioned films first.
Oh yeah, that and the fact Loki pretty much snatches the film from right under Thor’s nose and completely makes it his own any and every time he’s on screen. Tom Hiddleston is having so much fun here and, somewhat surprisingly, brings an emotional depth to Loki that we’ve only seen glimpses of before. Damn, he’s good.
He’s not the only character who shines in TTDW either. Almost everyone we met the first time around gets to grow in their own way. From Sif’s subtle intentions (and subsequent jealously, equally subtle – nicely done, Jaimie Alexander) around being Thor’s one and only, to Idris Elba getting his badass on as the all-seeing guardian of the Rainbow Road Bridge, Heimdall. Both of Thor’s parents get their own respective arcs too, with Rene Russo flexing both her emotional (and literal) muscles as Queen Frigga, and Sir Anthony Hopkins by her side, as Odin, bringing the gravitas that only the All Father of the nine realms should have.
And the new faces, what of them?
Well, both Christopher Eccleston and Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, are barely recognisable as the leaders (first and second in command respectively) of TTDW’s main antagonists, The Dark Elves.
The latter even more so when he’s transformed into the nigh-indestructible beast known as Kurse. Easily beaten, these Elves are not – and Kurse is one formidable opponent for the eponymous man/god/alien. Moving back to Eccleston, I had read a fair bit about his character, Malekith, not being fully developed or not being explored enough but I have to disagree. Not all bad guys need to be made human, not all bad guys need to be given the bit of colour that almost gives them justification for their belief system, and ultimately their actions. Some bad guys just want stuff to be DARK AND NASTY. That’s what Malekith wants and that, combined with the way he chases that goal endlessly, makes him a pretty awesome evil doer, in my book anyway.
Where there’s evil, there must be good, and good is in good shape indeed with Chris Hemsworth stepping up to play Thor for the third time. The petulance has gone and we see a wiser, more thoughtful Thor who no longer falls for Loki’s tricks so easily and oft-leads with the upper hand, as opposed to rushing in and fighting from a disadvantage. It’s a healthy change, and Good Character Development is always nice to see. Seeing him finally lock eyes with Jane Foster (a hardly-stretched Natalie Portman) is great, and you can tell that they’re meant to be. Aww.
If I had to draw negatives it would be only in two ways. First, with Portman finally making it to Asgard, being dressed like the locals, and getting to spend time with Thor – it all feels a little bit a Padme/Star Wars Episode II. And I’m not kidding when I say that is a very bad thing. It only happened a couple of times, but it grated.
The other thing would be tonality.
Let’s get one thing absolutely clear: TTDW is funny. Laugh out loud hilarious even, at some points. But the juxtaposition of that against the backdrop of some truly darker moments sometimes can be quite jarring. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a tough gig trying to maintain lightness amongst the dark – and the original Thor had its fair share of good laughs – but sometimes it felt like TTDW couldn’t make its mind up. Like I said, if I had to draw negatives. Those would be the two that I would choose.
Is it worth seeing in 3D? I don’t think so. But do try and see it an IMAX because honestly, there’s no better cinematic experience than seeing a film like Thor ON THE BIGGEST SCREEN POSSIBLE.
Overall, Thor: The Dark World is an enjoyable ride, and definitely worth seeing at the cinema. So go and do that at your earliest opportunity.Â
PS. There are TWO post-credits sequences. One midway through, and one right at the end. One of them is a now-typical Marvel teaser sign post, the other is just for laughs… You’ll love them both. Â
PPS. TTDW has the best post-avengers cameo, ever. I’ve not seen it leaked anywhere so when you see the film, be a good geek and don’t ruin it for anyone by yabbing about it afterwards. Skills.
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