Movie Review: Get Smart

Get Smart is fun, engaging, and best of all, a good tribute to the classic TV series.

When I had originally heard about this project many years ago, I had trouble believing that they would actually produce something significant. Steve Carrell had been rumoured to be in the role, and that he had really wanted to play Maxwell Smart, as a fan of the original TV series.

Then, they were going ahead with it after so many years in limbo. I was filled with anxiety. Could they really do it justice? Then, the trailer came out, and the familiar theme was played, complete with the phone booth. It was like a trip back in time. Still, I had my doubts. I didn't think they could really make a good movie out of it like so many TV to Movie franchises that have failed.

But then, this is Mel Brooks we're talking about. He brought us classics such as Blazing Saddles, Spaceballs, Robin Hood: Men in Tights, and Young Frankenstein. How could this go wrong? So, I turned off my brain for an evening and went to catch it at the theatre a few weeks ago.

My anxiety about it had disappeared by the time the first scenes came along. I was won over. This was Maxwell Smart. Maybe not the Maxwell Smart that we quite remembered from the TV show, but he didn't have to be. He wasn't trying to be. He just was. What I mean by this is that they weren't trying to be exact copies of the characters we came to know and love, but that they allowed the characters to be slightly updated, fitting the actor's skill, allowing for some growth to the characters. So, for Steve Carrell's Smart, he was played perfectly in the way that Steve Carrell played him.

We get to see 99 played by Anne Hathaway, and the kind of delivery is very similar to the original 99, in her own way. Alan Arkin's portrayal of the Chief is also very good, and right on the money. I don't think I would have chosen anyone else to play him.

There's a lot going on in the movie, yet it never feels like it's dragged down for any second. It's an intelligent comedy that actually pays tribute to the series that it had been born from , instead of insulting it, and the fans.

In fact, there are a ton of little nods to the series, including things that Max originally used in the series. It's not overdone, to the point of slapping you over the head with it.

So, with that said, I came away feeling satisfied, and even impressed. One of the better TV adaptations in recent memory.

Movie Review: The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

I loved the first one. I really found the scenery and cinematography to be gorgeous, and while I never read the books, I thought it was one of the best looking movies the year it came out.

So, why was it then that I felt reluctant about Prince Caspian? Maybe it was the trailers. I just never really felt like I had to see it. It just somehow wasn't working for me, and then I sort of shrugged it off.

But then I was asked if I wanted to see it a couple of weeks ago, and I was actually excited and looking forward to it. And so, I found myself in the theatre watching a sequel I didn't think I'd be watching on the big screen.

A good movie is often like a good book. Once you finish it, you're sad to see your favourite characters say their final words or do their final actions. Which is why sequels sell a lot, I suppose. And when you see them again in a sequel, there's both a sense of relief and trepidation over the events of the movie, feverishly hoping they don't screw around with what made the first one a hit.

In this case, it's not just the characters, but the Land of Narnia. Narnia is like a character in itself. It's not just a backdrop to which the characters are wandering around in. It has a sense of history. We find ourselves just as much in awe of it as the children do, and we can't wait to have them return to it to see what that old friend looks like. It's also what pulled me in, after having realized just what I would have missed had I not chosen to go see it. I fell in love with the scenery and cinematography again, the picture so sharp and clear as to see every detail. I realized I had missed it and couldn't wait for the journey up ahead.

Again, it's as beautiful as I remembered it. Maybe moreso. Although things have changed. It's now 1000 years since the last movie, with only 1 year having passed in the real world. The children now have a new adversary from a neighbouring land, planning to conquer Narnia for himself with runaway Prince Caspian fighting for Narnia with the Children against his uncle.

It's more of an action movie this time around, with most of the movie centering around a large battle. People wanted more fighting after seeing the fighting in the original, and I can't say I blame them since it was very well done, and I don't usually like fighting. It was very well orchestrated and the special effects were gorgeous.

I have to say, I'm glad I went. It was, so far, one of my favourite movies of the summer.

Movie Review: Indiana Jones & The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Last night I had the pleasure of seeing the new Indiana Jones. I was both excited and anxious, wondering if it would live up to 20 years of wait.
And I guess on the whole, I was kind of disappointed. Don't get me wrong, I loved it. It felt great seeing Indy on the screen again, but the revelation at the end felt somewhat like an easy way out. I loved it until that point that kind of just made me wonder what they were thinking. The stunts were spectacular, and I think some of the best stunts in the series are from this movie. The humour was classic Indy humour and I laughed loudly in a lot of places. Some lines and actions were downright hilarious. I thought some parts were definite classics. And then there are the others that kind of feel like a whole new low in the series: CGI Monkeys and vine swinging. All in all though, it was a great fun romp.

When seeing it, you have to realize that it's been 20 years since The Last Crusade came out, and things have changed, not only for Harrison Ford, but in the world of Indy, so the tone is sort of different from the last three, and I think that's what a lot of people seeing it have failed to realize. Things have changed too much. It's not going to be the same Indy you saw him in The Last Crusade. The world of Indy has just gone through WWII, when last, it was on the brink of war. Nothing is the same after a war.

Some minor quibbles, however, and I'll try to explain without spoiling anything. These are mostly technical.
The movie starts off with Rock & Roll music, not the Indy Theme. I knew they were trying to set the tone of the movie that way, but I felt it kind of took away from the majesty of it all; it felt kind of dry. Cracking Whips. What cracking whips? There was none, other than one scene at the beginning. And the score felt almost like it wasn't even there. The Indy theme only appeared from time to time, as if to remind us that what we were watching was an Indy movie since the tone was quite different. There was nothing like an epic score, with variations on the Indy theme throughout like the other movies. So yeah, some of it felt lacking in certain areas.

So if you want a fun romp, turn off your brain for a few hours, stop nitpicking, and just enjoy the movie for what it is. Just realize that what you're seeing is different because there are obvious changes that have happened in the world of Indy. It's now a world of Intrigue, a world of discovery, obsession with Sci-Fi, and just a decade down the road, men will be setting foot on the Moon.

Movie Review: Ironman

Last weekend, the summer blockbuster season literally started with a bang with the release of Ironman.

I hadn't read the comic books or knew much at all about what Ironman was about, except that it was about a flying tin-man. I went in the theatre last Saturday, with literally no expectations. And was I blown away?

In fact, I was. It was the perfect movie to open the summer blockbuster season with, and I can confidently say that those who aren't fans coming in, will like it as much as fans of Ironman.

Ironman brings a dose of realism to the big screen as far as superhero movies go, much in the way Batman Begins did for Batman. In fact, it's probably even more-so socially relevant of a movie than Batman Begins was, or any Superhero movie of the modern century for that matter.

As for the cast, I've always been very fond of Robert Downey Jr., and he IS Ironman as far as I'm concerned. Fans have told me that he portrayed the character of Tony Stark very well, and owned the role. An underrated actor that has gotten propelled into the limelight again, and I'm glad. One of my favourite roles of his was Chaplin, in which he so immersed himself in his role, transforming himself into Charlie Chaplin.

And then we have Gwyneth Paltrow who was charming as ever playing Pepper Potts, Tony Stark's secretary/assistant.

What can I say about Jeff Bridges? Well, this role has him almost unrecognizable except in closeup shots. His bald head and full beard has him looking unlike how I've ever seen him. Quite an accomplishment.

In short, it's a movie that is really worth seeing. It's probably one of the best movies to ever start the blockbuster season with. Speaking of Blockbusters, this summer will be a very busy one in terms of major releases!

Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, Indiana Jones & The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, The Dark Knight. All sequels that people are anxiously awaiting, especially Indy being back.

Tomorrow I go see Prince Caspian and I'll write up a review for that.

Movie Review: The Golden Compass

Over the holidays, I went to see something I had been very much looking forward to ever since I read the novel. For the most part, it didn't disappoint.

I'm talking about the movie adaptation of Philip Pullman's The Golden Compass, which is part of His Dark Materials trilogy. I was very impressed with the book, and I was eagerly awaiting to se how well the movie would translate to the big screen.

The first thing I really noticed as a reader of the book, was that the visual look was very much as described in the book. There wasn't a moment where I felt something wasn't what it was. Seeing something visually that was only up until then described in the book was visually breathtaking, and in a sense was another layer into the world of Lyra. I was finally there.

Of course, no movie can be without its faults, and the movie does have quite a few faults. Namely, it's in the way the events unfold. I don't want to spoil anything here, instead I'll explain it away using situations. So, let's say you have scenario A happening in the book, followed by scenario B. What the movie did was switch the order around so that Scenario B was actually Scenario A, and vice-versa.

A => B
B => A

Naturally when I first realized the scenarios happened in a different order, I was confused. Scenario B in the book was supposed to be its big climax, token chase/battle scene, instead it was moved up to be Scenario A, while Scenario A became the big climax. I know it was done for a reason, but the result in my opinion, is that it seemed to cheapen the impact of the message as it simplified the explanations overall. That's my main gripe with the movie.

Overall though, I would definitely recommend it. The story translates well to the big screen, and I can't wait to see the further adventures of Lyra on the big screen.

Currently Reading - Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Hey everyone,

So, what has this bookworm been reading these past few weeks? I'm reading Mary Shelley's Frankeinstein, which has long been overdue on my part. It had been sitting on my shelf, neglected ever since I got it as part of a free book promotion. So, me being a Sci-Fi fan, and with Mary Shelley oft-considered to be the mother of Sci-Fi, naturally I was curious.

Now, before I get into the book itself, I'll paint a picture. Apparently the black and white classic that's been so far ingrained into our culture and is a staple of every halloween, is actually quite far removed from the book. From what I've read, the movie doesn't follow the book very closely and only resembles it in name. Hard to believe since it's been considered such a classic. I think anything like that today would end up being called a hack job.

Now, there's a more recent version of Frankenstein which came out in 1994 starring Robert DeNiro, and apparently this one follows the book more closely. Mind you, I haven't seen either, but I'll be watching both, the original to see the history behind it, and the recent one to experience the story the way it was meant to be.

Frankenstein is more than just a story about a monster on a rampage. It's about a man and his ambition towards a goal and the realization of his mistake; a story about the human condition. And this is quite clearly shown throughout the book, and so far I've been impressed and how well it's held up. The classic movie tends to only show the horror and focuses more on the creature rather than Frankenstein himself, leaving out the human condition. I can see why it's become a classic, but I would have been more interested if it followed the story more closely.

So, after I'm done reading, I'll make it a point to watch both and compare, but I think I'll end up liking the one released in 1994 more, which should have been the way to do it in the first place.

Rental: Bon Cop, Bad Cop

Last summer saw one of the most profitable Canadian movies of all time. Bon Cop, Bad Cop was set to become Canada's buddy cop movie.

It's tough finding something original these days, especially if it's a crime drama, as many cliches fall into place and it's hard to avoid them. So, how do you make a movie that sets it apart from all the rest of these buddy cop movies? You make the crime happen right on the border between two provinces that have trouble getting used to all of their faults. And I mean that literally.

A body is found right on the border between Quebec and Ontario. At first, the two officers assigned to the case on each side of the border refuse to work with each other. And what follows is a wonderful chemistry between Martin Ward (Colm Feore) and David Bouchard (Patrick Huard).

The movie really plays hard on the stereotypes, and the subtitles are an integral part of the movie, as they often switch between English and French midway between their sentences. This makes for a good number of jokes, for both English and French speakers. It's the first bi-lingual movie in Canada, having filmed two scripts; one entirely in english and one entirely in French. Which was used during key moments was only finalized during the editing process. For me, a bi-lingual, the movie was even better because I understood everything. The subtitles aren't always exact, as sometimes they're often part of the joke, so you don't just have the vocal part, but the visual part as well. And believe it or not, it works very well, and the movie is extremely funny.

If you want a good cop movie with some good suspense and comedy thrown in, then rent it. I doubt you will be disappointed.

David Bouchard: [surprised] You speak French?
Martin Ward: No, not really. I had a small gadget installed in my brain and I see subtitles under people when they speak.

Movie Review: Shrek The Third

Shrek was great. I really loved it, and when the second came out, I didn't think it could top it, but I ended up loving it better than the first. There were just so many jokes in references in it to make one's side split in laughter, plus the character had gotten even better.

I was really looking forward to Shrek 3, and I went to see it a few weeks ago. There were a lot of laughs, but there weren't as many as the previous movies. It was as if the characters had been tamed. And they were. They even got along better and didn't get into disagreements or annoy each other like in the previous. Then I read about the fact that it was a different team that had made this one than the first two, which pretty much explains why this one hadn't been as great.

Still, if you're a Shrek fan, you can't go wrong with it. Just don't expect the same level of clever jokes and references.

Movie Review: Pan's Labyrinth

Allow me to first say that, this movie is billed as an adult fantasy (no, not that kind of fantasy!) and has garnered many awards as an independent film as a fantastical achievement in both special effects and imagination.

I saw it a few nights ago with a friend after debating what to see. We ended up settling on Pan's Labyrinth because he really wanted to see it. I might be one of the few, but I have to say, I didn't really like it. It's too violent, too gory and too depressing and I found very little in the story that redeemed it. It felt more like a horror movie thinly disguised as a fantasy due to all the stuff that was happening, ie the shootings, the torture. Also found it didn't spend enough time in the actual fantasy stuff that would have been used to lighten things up. I thought the faun, while he was supposed to be one of the friendly characters in her fantasy, ended up even being threatening at times. Felt like one suckerpunch after another.

Sadly, I cannot recommend it. Let this serve as a warning to those who want to go see it. The trailer is very misleading in leading people to think that this has a lot of fantasy in it, which is really the opposite. It's almost as though the fantasy aspect of it was an afterthought. And after walking out of the theatre, my friend told me he knew it would be violent and gory due to the director's previous works. Had I known this, I wouldn't have went to see it.

Movie Review: Casino Royale

Finally, the James Bond franchise is cool again. I never liked Pierce Brosnan very much. His Bond seemed to more or less just be action movies with the Bond name attached to it, with very weak stories. They focused too much on the action, and cartoony action at that.

Me and My Dad went to see Casino Royale last night on the recommendation of my Sister, and it was probably one of the first movies in awhile that made me feel like it was money well spent. The last one that did that came close to that was The Prestige, but even that didn't really do it.

Casino Royale brings the franchise back down to earth. Remember when the movies actually had good stories and didn't suck? Has been awhile in this franchise hasn't it? Well, imagine if a movie actually made an effort to be a James Bond movie again. This movie is it.

You know, I originally had doubts about Daniel Craig as Bond. When they first announced him he got the role, many people gasped at the fact that they had cast a blond bond. But you know what? You could never actually tell he actually is blond, cause there is something called dying. I think Roger Moore was the closest to blond that we ever got before, and we won't get a blond bond, because Craig's hair was dyed. Ok, maybe it was a dark blond. Anyway, at first I didn't think he was suited for the part, but gradually I accepted him.

Last night I was damned glad that they had went with a particularly unknown actor. It means there's less to distract us about, unlike Pierce Brosnan who was in Remington Steele, and Roger Moore who played The Saint. It was in effect, a perfect start for a franchise looking to look back at its roots. In a way, it was sort of like getting our first look at Sean Connery in Dr No. And Daniel Craig reminded me a lot about Sean Connery's Bond, yet he didn't try to be Sean Connery. Rather he became his own unique Bond. There was no doubt at the end of the movie that, he was Bond. I was sorry I ever had casted doubts on Craig for the role.

The movie gets back to basics. There are no gadgets, except for the few believable things that I won't mention. There's no Q. No Money Penny. You might ask, what's a Bond movie without those things? I'll tell you. It's a Bond movie that's actually really good for once, because instead of having gadgets to rescue Bond out of stupid plot holes, he has to think his way out of sticky situations.

There's a lot for girls to like about this Bond, and there's also lots of cleavage for guys to stare at. Wow, I almost thought Eva was going to have a wardrobe malfunction at more than a few points in the movie. Her dress was very loose.

Anyway, it was money well spent and I'm glad we went. Bond is Back!