THE THING

Let me just start by saying I loved THE THING.  It may just be the greatest prequel ever made.  At least the most well-done.  By itself, it was an awesome horror movie; intelligent, scary, with a great cast (I love me some Mary Elizabeth Winstead!) and some truly chilling visuals.  But when you add in the fact that this is a prequel to a movie made nearly 30 years ago, well, let's just say it made this long-time fan of the John Carpenter classic giddy as a schoolgirl!

(If you've never seen the original, don't read further; my recommendation is, go rent or buy the Blu-ray.   That movie is best watched with absolutely no foreknowledge.  Then you can come back and read this!)

I hadn't seen the original in several years, and I had only seen a trailer for this new installment one time, so I went in pretty fresh.  Throughout the movie, I just kept thinking how I hoped they would end it right, with the dog running from the Norwegian research station to the American outpost.  I wasn't disappointed.  The end of this flick drops us off instantly, and identically, before the beginning of The Thing.  The familiar Ennio Morricone score even kicks in during the credits.  SO COOL.

Now, undertaking a project of this magnitude is no easy task.  You're making a prequel to a beloved film that is nearly 30 years old.  You have tons of details to match, dots to connect, and you want to keep the look of the original, because now you're making a period piece.  I had no idea as I watched it just how painstakingly the production recreated the Norwegian facility until I watched the original film last night.   In that film, there is a long scene where Kurt Russell as MacReady investigates the remnants of the burned Norwegian outpost.  I could not believe how well the prequel had matched all the sets, and had explained the backstory of each detail MacReady comes across.  I was instantly dying to watch the prequel again!

I thought it interesting and pretty cool that this prequel was just called "The Thing," as opposed to adding some cliche subtitle like "The Thing: The Beginning" or other such nonsense.  Because what this does is tell you that this is one saga, with several untitled episodes.  Here's hoping someone has plans for an awesome third and final installment!  (And what would you do - stick to 1982 and finish it with a new cast, the "rescue team," or fast forward to the present and have Kurt Russell play MacReady again??  Oh the possibilities!)

So in conclusion, if you're a longtime fan of the original John Carpenter classic, I think you will be pleasantly surprised by this new prequel.  If not, why did you read this far, first of all, and second, definitely go watch the John Carpenter original asap!

Rating:  Worth seeing in the theater

http://www.thethingmovie.net/

Slacker

Ok so Agent X has totally slacked this summer and not reviewed any flicks since Green Lantern!  FAIL!  Let's see, since then I've seen Transfomers 3, Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 2, Captain America, Cowboys And Aliens, Horrible Bosses, Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes, Conan The Barbarian, Fright Night, Our Idiot Brother, and Contagion.  Sooo I guess I'd best get on reviewing those in a little "Summer Wrap-Up" post.  Which I'll do later.  :D

In the meantime, I'll be posting about obscure early 80's television programs!  Can't wait?  Neither can I!

Green Lantern

Just got back from watching Green Lantern.  I have to say I enjoyed it.  It's one of those movies where if you just kick back with some popcorn and don't think too hard, you'll have an entertaining time.  It's nice to look at;  the visuals are quite amazing, the ladies will enjoy Ryan Reynolds' hard body, and for the guys, Blake Lively's very easy on the eyes.  The story is fairly formulaic, but solid enough.  I don't know if hardcore comic book fans will be pleased; all I know of Green Lantern I learned from cartoons, comic book reviews or articles in Wizard magazine.  For the casual viewer, it's fine.  Ryan Reynolds has no problem carrying a movie on his charismatic shoulders.  Blake Lively is good as the love interest, though she's not given a whole lot to do here.  Mark Strong (Sherlock Holmes) is excellent as Sinestro, who seems to be the leader of the Green Lantern Corps, although casual fans know he's a future bad guy.  Peter Sarsgaard is disgusting as Hector Hammond, a creepy doctor who becomes possessed by the film's baddie Parallax.

Granted, there seems to be a lot of exposition to get through, which is why an origin movie can seem so formula-driven.  And maybe that's the reason we don't get to see much of Hal Jordan's Green Lantern training, which is one of the best sequences of the movie.  I did feel that I didn't get enough of any one aspect of the movie, i.e. the love story, the training, action scenes, Hal's personal story arc of defeating his own fears.  But you get a bit of everything, and it's all good fun.

So should you go see it?  If you're a movie nerd like I am, yes, definitely.  If you're not quite the kind of person who must see every epic flick on the big screen, I still say it's worth a watch, even if you wait for the Blu-ray to come out.  If I had to give a letter grade, I'd write a B on Hal's paper in red marker.  It's good solid entertainment, but no one's going to win an Oscar or make anyone cry.  Ranking the superhero flicks of this season so far in order from best to worst, I'd have to put Green Lantern behind both X-Men: First Class and Thor, though I have high hopes for Captain America.

A quick footnote: I didn't even consider seeing Green Lantern in 3D!  As a matter of fact, the only upcoming flick I think it will be worth paying for the 3D price is Harry Potter.  Even the trailer for that flick gets me all choked up!

My ratings system:

See it in theaters, worth full price!  
See it in theaters, worth a matinee price  <---- Agent X says see it!  (diehard moviegoer)
Watch it, but wait for the dvd  <---- Agent X says see it!  (casual moviegoer)
Watch it if it's free
Don't bother


Til next time, kiddies!

Super 8 review

I loved this movie.

Ok, sure, I am THE target audience for this flick.  It's set in 1979, it's about a bunch of kids who witness a horrifying train wreck while out making a movie on super 8, and it hearkens back to those old Spielberg movies like Close Encounters and E.T., with a little splash of Stand By Me and The Goonies.  I dig all those movies, and I was a kid just like these ones.  But still, I can safely recommend this to just about anyone.  The reason is keen directing, insightful writing and an amazing cast of mostly unknowns who make you care very much for their characters.  The mystery and action is purely incidental, but greatly entertaining.

I don't want to analyze this movie too much right now.  If you haven't seen it yet, I am just recommending that you do so.  I'd rather you go in not knowing too much of the story, it's much better that way.  We can discuss in the comments section after you've seen it.

My ratings system:

See it in theaters, worth full price!  <---------- Agent X says see it!
See it in theaters, worth a matinee price
Watch it, but wait for the dvd
Watch it if it's free
Don't bother

I Loved X-Men: First Class! (And you should too!)

Only slight spoilers ahead!

I loved every minute of X-Men: First Class!  This is a great prequel, and an excellent addition to the film series.  It made me want to go home and watch the other four in chronological order immediately!  (And I will tonight, beginning with Wolverine: Origins, of course!)

After X-Men 3: The Last Stand, it was rumored that there would next be two Origins films, one based first on Wolverine and then Magneto.  It seems this film may have morphed out of that initial origin concept for Magneto, because we do get his origin story here, but we also get Professor X's as well and the formation of the first X-Men team.  We see first Erik Lensherr's early life in war-torn Nazi Germany in 1944, touched on briefly in the first X-Men film, and here expanded to show what happened next.  He meets the nefarious Sebastian Shaw, who wants to force Erik to use his powers.  We also see born-into-wealth Charles Xavier the same year first meet Raven Darkholme, otherwise known as Mystique.  From there we jump to 1962, and pick up on both men's lives.  Xavier has been getting an Oxford education, while Lensherr has been tracking down and killing Nazi war criminals.  Xavier meets Moira MacTaggart, a CIA operative who has discovered the existence of mutants.  Soon they both meet Lensherr, and a spectacular action scene ensues.  One of many in this flick!

They all end up forming a kind of team working for the CIA, and Erik and Charles become friends and go off in search of other mutants to recruit to their cause.  (During this segment you will see one of the best cameos of all time!)  They end up forming a team consisting of young mutants, namely Mystique, Beast, Havok, Banshee, Darwin and Angel (Not the Warren Worthington Angel, though!).  These mutants begin to train because Xavier and Magneto know that Sebastian Shaw is planning WW3 and hoping to wipe out all the humans.

That's as much of the story as I'm going to tell you.  You'll find out all sorts of great things in this flick, such as how Beast ends up blue and furry, how Magneto gets his telepath-blocking helmet, and how Professor X ends up in that wheelchair.  It's great fun for any fan of the series, and a great jumping-on point for anyone who has never seen an X-men movie.  I loved the 60's era goodness, especially Emma Frost's wardrobe!  Let's talk about what else was great about this movie:

The cast.  I can't say enough great things about the casting of this flick.  Absolutely everyone was perfect for their role.  Inspired were the choices of James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender as Xavier and Magneto.  January Jones as Emma Frost was lovely, and icy cold.  Kevin Bacon was great as Sebastian Shaw.  Jennifer Lawrence radiated as Mystique.  All the other new mutants were perfectly cast as well.  I always love Rose Byrne, and she was great as Moira.  The supporting cast included so many great character actors, including Oliver Platt and Michael Ironside.  It seemed like everyone wanted to be in this flick, so they would even take bit parts!  And I love that.

Some fanboys and fangirls who don't understand how comics and movies are different may not love this movie, but I think most will enjoy it.  As a longtime reader of X-Men comics, I had a few nitpicks myself, but nothing that subtracted from enjoying the movie. What are they, you might ask?  Well, I saw no need to turn Moira MacTaggart into an American CIA agent.  Moira is a Scottish geneticist who runs an ancillary facility for research and care of mutants.  The agent role could have been given to a new character, and Moira could have been introduced as she is supposed to be, if not here, then in a future flick.  Also, Banshee is supposed to be Irish, but he has no accent here.  Charles and Erik looked all over the world for mutants, but it seems they only found American ones?  Posh!

But back to the serious business.  This is a great movie.  It has everything.  Adventure, action, humor, drama, excellent character development, real emotion and relationships between the characters, and a damn good script; I had a lot of fun watching it, and I'm not gonna lie, I got a little misty more than once.

I really do hope that Matthew Vaughn can direct two more of these "prequel" films.  I would love to see more of the early battles between Xavier's X-Men and Magneto's Brotherhood of Mutants.  I want to see more of Emma Frost, hopefully with an expanded role.  (I also hope they can explain that it was her daughter and not her that we see in Wolverine: Origins!)  I want to see more mutants, I want to see more origins of characters, I want to see more of those great black-and-yellow uniforms!

One more thing: don't wait til after the credits, there's nothing there!

My ratings system:

See it in theaters, worth full price!  <---------- Agent X says see it!
See it in theaters, worth a matinee price
Watch it, but wait for the dvd
Watch it if it's free
Don't bother



P.S.   One thing I did not see: A Stan Lee cameo.  Did I miss it?

Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (non-spoiler)

If you are a Pirates Of The Caribbean fan, I think you are going to enjoy this movie.  I watched it midnight Thursday at Downtown Disney in 2D, and I thoroughly enjoyed it!  So did the rest of the theater, from what I could tell.

I got exactly what I wanted, and what I expected, from this flick.  We pick up a short time after the events of At World's End, but we do get the sense that Jack's already had a bit of an adventure between films.  Nevertheless, events kick in quickly and in no time we see Captain Jack Sparrow swashbuckling his way from one predicament to the next.  The difference this time is that Jack has a love interest (Penelope Cruz looking lovely as Angelica), an old flame from the past that Jack no doubt wronged.  This causes some fun wordplay and swordplay as Jack spars with his one-time love.  I think we all knew that Jack has a soft spot in that pirate heart of his, but this time we get to find out how much he can actually care for someone, and go beyond being selfish, to something near selfless.  I'll let you decide what we find out about that.

There are some wonderful action scenes in this one.  Rob Marshall has taken over the directing reins from Gore Verbinski, but he doesn't try to reinvent the wheel here.  He stays with the style of the other films, while adding his own ability to craft some fine swashbuckling action sequences.  Jack Sparrow proves himself deserving of his reputation.

The only returning characters are Jack, his loyal first mate, Gibbs, and Jack's constant adversary, Captain Barbossa, played by the always fantastic Geoffrey Rush.  There's a nice cameo from Keith Richards as Jack's father, Captain Teague; also don't miss Richard Griffiths (Harry Potter's Uncle Vernon), perfectly cast as King George.  New to the franchise are Penelope Cruz and the amazing Ian McShane (Deadwood) as the dread pirate Blackbeard.  All turn in wonderful performances.

I'm glad that this time we have a story complete unto itself, and not something depending on another sequel to finish the story.  It's what the series should always have been; I do believe the writers and producers dropped the ball when they made parts 2 and 3.  I'll delve more into that another time!

All in all, we have here an entertaining adventure story involving pirates, evil mermaids, enchanted ships, a couple of zombies, and the supernatural Fountain Of Youth.  Pay attention and you'll see another of the Disneyland ride's famous scenes played out here!

My recommendation is, do not miss this one in the theater!  Get some popcorn, kick back and enjoy!  Just don't pay for 3D.  ;)

Links for May 9th, 2011

Thor has $66 million opening weekend!

Kenneth Branagh interviewed on Thor for iMDB

Nerdy tattoos!

Priest TV spot

Harry Potter comics

Kenneth Branagh answers fan questions about Thor

Captain America trailer