Puzzleology

Movie Review: The Karate Kid (2010)

When I first saw trailers for The Karate Kid, I wasn’t too excited by it. It seemed like a knock off movie loosely based on the 1984 original, meant to kick-start the career of Jaden Smith and bring Jackie Chan back on the forefront of martial arts movies. Still, I had heard some good things about it, and was surprised by its box office take over the first few weeks, so, spurred by my friend who called it, “Jackie Chan beats up middle schoolers,” I watched it.

The movie is very loosely based on its predecessor. Dre Parker is a twelve year old boy who is uprooted from his childhood home of Detroit when his mother is transferred to a car factory in Beijing. Whether it be because of his attitude or because he is truly a fish out of water, Dre finds it difficult to adjust to his new home. As in the original, Dre meets a girl, Mei Ying, but his interaction with her causes Cheng, a kung fu student whose family is close to Mei’s, and Cheng’s friends to bully him. Dre’s time at school is thus shrouded in fear. At the climax of a terrifying five-on-one encounter, Dre is rescued by Mr. Han, the maintenance man and modern version of Mr. Miyagi. Mr. Han and Dre confront the master of the kung fu school where Cheng studies, only to find that Master Li is a ruthless man who teaches his students to show no mercy. If you’ve seen the original, then you know what happens next, as many of the plot points are the same. Dre trains under Mr. Han in preparation for a kung fu tournament against Cheng, which is the culmination of the movie.

Jaden Smith awed me in The Pursuit of Happyness, but impressed me in this movie. While his character wasn’t particularly multifaceted, if anything, Jaden showed that he can act exactly the type of person he is: a twelve year old boy, with a little bit of spunk. He showed that he can be seen as a budding actor and not just Will Smith’s son.

Jackie Chan was somewhat less impressive. It’s already odd seeing him in a serious role, it’s even more odd seeing him as an old man with a mustache and goatee. Perhaps it was just his character more that Jackie Chan’s performance, but Mr. Han, while likable, was dull. The scene revealing his “dark” past felt emotionally muted; it was extraordinarily out of character and the film gave no hint to Mr. Han’s backstory up to that point, so it was unbelievably sudden. As audience members we aren’t given enough time to empathize with Mr. Han’s sorrow.

The movie was entertaining, for sure, if only because the basic plot line is quite inspirational and the martial arts scenes, to this untrained eye, were fairly well choreographed. There were some humorous moments, for example, in an homage to the original, when Mr. Han follows a fly with his chopsticks and proceeds to swat it, and some creative reinventions of the chores. I especially enjoyed the jacket motions, because it served a dual purpose of being the new “wax on, wax off,” and positively influencing Dre’s relationship with his mother.

However, overall things just felt…unimportant.

Allow me to elaborate. Many times, there were people or events or items that seemed significant, but ended up never showing up again. Dre received a skateboard from his friend at the beginning and it seems to be important to him, but we never find out who his friend was, or why the skateboard had to pass hands. On his first day in China, Dre meets his first new friend, a young boy named Harry…who appears only in that one scene. Mei Ying has a violin audition that is clearly an important focal point of Dre and Mei’s relationship, and yet we never find out the aftermath of that audition. During the tournament, the camera zooms in on Mr. Han showing an expression that looks like he knows something about the upcoming match. But ten more minutes and we realize that’s just how Jackie Chan looks intently at something.

Great movies often have interweaving storylines. The original Karate Kid had a subplot with Mr. Miyagi’s backstory, which in the process revealed the lesser known injustices of Japanese internment during World War II. In this Karate Kid, so many things would show up and then not show up again, that there ended up only being just one significant storyline: the one from the original.

I think this movie is a great launchpad for Jaden Smith and a refreshing look at the original story, but its still just an average movie.

6/10

Movie Review: Inglourious Basterds

Despite being a fan of the Kill Bill series and Pulp Fiction, I find Quentin Tarantino movies to skitter dangerously close to my edge of dislike. Such was the case with Reservoir Dogs, which was overly confusing and so full of unnecessary, unfunny dialogue that it lost my attention. The Tarantino style found in all of his films appears again in Inglourious Basterds (in fact, if you didn’t know from the start you could clearly identify it as a Tarantino movie with its opening credits), and in this case, it works.

Inglourious Basterds is really two stories entangled in one, divided into five chapters. (Tarantino seems to like that number, five.) One story is of Shosanna Dreyfus (Mélanie Laurent), a French Jew who at age 18 witnesses the murder of her family under the orders of Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz), known by his enemies as “The Jew Hunter.” She escapes, and four years later, Shosanna is Emmanuelle Mimieux, a small cinema operator in Paris. She meets Frederick Zoller, a German war hero. Zoller’s heroic story has made such an impression on Joseph Goebbels that Goebbels decides to create a film based on it, starring Zoller himself. Zoller, smitten by Shosanna, convinces Goebbels to hold the movie premiere at Shosanna’s theater, which gives her the perfect opportunity to exact her revenge on the German heads of state.

The other story is of the Inglourious Basterds, a special ops force that uses guerrilla tactics to kill German soldiers. Led by Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt), their mission is to strike fear and panic in the heart of the Third Reich. The Basterds join in on Operation Kino, formed by British intelligence after learning about the movie premiere. Thus proceed two separate plots to kill the German heads of state by two independent groups.

The script is stellar. Tarantino loves having long and tense dialogues with a bit of dark comedic relief. It makes us laugh, then question why we’re laughing. Such is the case in Inglourious Basterds, and the two most talkative characters, Aldo Raine and Hans Landa, are entertaining to listen to. Brad Pitt has such a ridiculous accent that it’s hard to take his character seriously, and yet, you know that he’s serious. Christoph Waltz has just the right cadence to his speech to make you wonder what his character knows and what he is thinking.

I’ve said before that the strength of a story is in the strength of the villain. Here Hans Landa is cunning, observant, and oddly amicable – in fact, the only thing we can hate about him is that he is on the German side, leading the hunt for Jews. It’s a bit disconcerting, that his logic makes sense, yet we don’t want to accept his conclusions:

Col. Hans Landa: Now if one were to determine what attribute the German people share with a beast, it would be the cunning and the predatory instinct of a hawk. But if one were to determine what attributes the Jews share with a beast, it would be that of the rat. If a rat were to walk in here right now as I’m talking, would you treat it to a saucer of your delicious milk?
Perrier LaPadite: Probably not.
Col. Hans Landa: I didn’t think so. You don’t like them. You don’t really know why you don’t like them. All you know is you find them repulsive. Consequently, a German soldier conducts a search of a house suspected of hiding Jews. Where does the hawk look? He looks in the barn, he looks in the attic, he looks in the cellar, he looks everywhere *he* would hide, but there’s so many places it would never occur to a hawk to hide. However, the reason the Führer’s brought me off my Alps in Austria and placed me in French cow country today is because it does occur to me. Because I’m aware what tremendous feats human beings are capable of once they abandon dignity.

This makes Landa a unique villain. Had he been on the opposite side he might have been a hero. Instead, he is a formidable opponent, one that, despite being seemingly removed from the situation, is the greatest foil to the protagonists’ plots. Because the film establishes his wit and observation skills, we are never sure until the very, very end of the film, if Shosanna or the Basterds’ plans succeed. That keeps us watching.

There’s a particularly tense scene between Landa and Shosanna (posing as Emmanuelle), where Landa has a few questions to ask Shosanna. The audience doesn’t know whether Landa knows that Emmanuelle is actually Shosanna, but Landa’s demeanor and actions (asking for a glass of milk, as he did the day Shosanna’s family was murdered) make the audience suspect. It’s a chilling scene, one where you hold your breath until the end, and one of my favorites in the movie.

Where Aldo and Landa shine, Shosanna does not. Shosanna is a quiet heroine, and because of this, her subplot is overshadowed by the loudmouths Aldo and Landa. By the end you wonder what impact she actually had on the story. To put it another way, I’d like to know if Landa ever knew about Shosanna’s plan, but I know it really doesn’t make a difference. I think if Shosanna had more interaction with Landa in the last chapter, it would have tied her subplot more closely to the Basterds.

There are moments when I had to look away because of the gore — the image of scalping heads is not pleasant. I don’t know why Tarantino feels the need depict violence so graphically, but if it’s meant to drop your stomach by two feet, it serves its purpose.

Nonetheless, the movie is entertaining. Those that like the Tarantino style will enjoy it immensely. Those that like dark humor will also love it. Those that can’t stand blood, stay away.

9/10

Movie Review: The Princess and the Frog

Beginning with The Little Mermaid in 1989 and ending with Tarzan in 1999, Disney experienced a string of box office successes in the form of traditional, 2-D animated Broadway-like films. Among these included the now classics, Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, and The Lion King. These films were predominantly reinventions of fairy tales that captured the hearts of children and families, bringing to the forefront a parade of “Disney princesses” and memorable musical numbers.

Jump ten years to 2009. Despite intending to discontinue its traditional animation films, Disney has set the stage to return to its renaissance years with The Princess and the Frog. It has all the workings of a movie from that time: a twist on a fairy tale, a beautiful princess and a handsome prince, set in a Broadway-style film. Thus, Disney has really raised my expectations for this one.

The movie opens in early twentieth century New Orleans, when jazz is on the rise. Tiana and her childhood friend Charlotte La Bouff listen to Tiana’s mother tell the story of The Frog Prince, and while Charlotte dreams of one day kissing a prince, Tiana swears to never kiss a frog, and instead sets her dreams on one day owning a restaurant. Some years pass and we find Tiana working hard at multiple jobs, taking no time to relax, for the sake of her dream and in memory of her late father. We are introduced to a shady character, “The Shadowman,” who’s intentions aren’t fully understood.

Enter Prince Naveen, the other protagonist of the story, a prince who has been cut off by his parents and is seeking to marry into the La Bouff fortune. He loves jazz and is immediately enraptured by the New Orleans spirit. But his free spirit leads him to be deceived by the Shadowman, who turns Prince Naveen into a frog and has the prince’s butler take his place. By chance, Prince Naveen runs into Tiana, and convinces her (thinking she is a princess), to kiss him. The plan backfires and Tiana suffers the same fate as the prince. The rest of the film chronicles their adventures through the swamps of New Orleans to find a cure for their condition. Along the way, they meet Louis, a trumpet playing alligator who dreams of playing along side other jazz players, and Ray, a firefly in love with the Evening Star, whom he has named Evangeline. The Evening Star connects all the different story lines with the classic concept of “when you wish upon a star, your dreams come true”. (Interesting fact: Evening Star is a nickname for Venus, which in Roman mythology is the goddess of love.)

For the most part Disney succeeds in creating a story that is memorable for its characters and creativity. The supporting cast of Ray, Louis, Madam Odie, and friends is one of the more lovable ensembles that Disney has produced. The scenes with fireflies guiding the way were simply gorgeous and even reminiscent of the clever use of the insects in A Bug’s Life. Glass bottles for colored lights, anyone?

The music was good, but not great. All of it had a flavor of jazz, which fit the setting very well, but coming out of the theater, I didn’t really remember any particular songs. Perhaps a second viewing would make them stick. Similarly, the humor was a little sub par by Disney animated feature standards. I remember chuckling a little here and there, but never really laughing out loud.

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SEMI-SPOILER ALERT!

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I really enjoyed the ending. It was a subtle touch to add a second star next to Evangeline, but it was absolutely heartwarming. And I applaud the Disney lawyers for finding a loophole to the whole kiss a princess to reverse the spell curse — that was clever.

One could say the message it sent was a little dubious (“hard work pales in comparison to true love”, as my friend put it), but that’s what Disney movies are — idealistic, fairy tales with a happy ending. I’d argue Tiana’s happy ending came from in part due to her hard work and determination, in part due to the friends she had (what better way to keep real estate agents honest than having your alligator friend have a chat with them?), and in part due to luck (in meeting the prince). After all, she still paid for her restaurant with her hard earned money.

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END SPOILER

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The Princess and the Frog was a pleasant return to traditional Disney Animation, and even though it fell a little short of the 90s films, I’d like to see more like it (and better!) in the future.

8/10

Movie Review: Star Trek

Star Trek to me was one of those series that was so niche — a whole universe that required hours of dedication to get into and appreciate. Yet everyone I have talked to who has seen Star Trek, trekkies and non-trekkies alike, have recommended that I watch it. I’m glad that I listened to them.

The new movie brings Star Trek the franchise into the mainstream. It turned a geeky, sci-fi series into an entertaining, epic story, complete with good actors and gorgeous visual effects.

To someone who knew only the trademark opening line, I found the story easy to understand. Every good story needs a powerful conflict. Usually when preexisting universes first make their way onto the big screen, this conflict is drawn from the well-known arch enemy of the protagonists. X-men had Magneto. Transformers had Megatron. Batman had the Joker (the 1989 version). But Star Trek doesn’t seem to have a overarching enemy, and even if it did, how many have heard of it? The Klingons, maybe? As it turns out, it doesn’t matter. This movie builds up its own conflict, worthy of the two hour length, and resolves it in a very clever turn of events. It’s a clean resolution, one that doesn’t leave the audience anticipating a sequel, which is good. But it doesn’t eliminate the possibility either, which is better. I prefer those kinds of endings.

Notice I didn’t say that the movie built up it’s own villain. One thing that I did find lacking in the movie, was character development. Don’t get me wrong, I agree with a lot of people that you didn’t really need to know anything about the old Star Trek to get to know the characters and the plot. However, I felt that the only characters developed in the film were Captain Kirk and Spock. Everyone else, including the villain, felt like cameo appearances. Maybe that was the point. After all, a lot of the story emphasized the budding relationship between Kirk and Spock in a parallel universe where they start off annoyed with each other. But still, I would have liked to learn more about Chekov, Sulu, Scotty, and McCoy. The latter we learned a bit about as he went through Starfleet Academy with Kirk, but he had faded into the background by the middle.

Another element I found odd was the relationship between Spock and Uhura. I believe it was there to illustrate the human side of Spock and his ability to love, but the relationship seemed unnatural and simply a plot device. I think it would have been better to leave Spock single.

Still, there isn’t much to complain about with this film. The story had just the right amount of everything: some action, some suspense, some drama, some humor, some thought provoking questions, and even some blasts to the past.

One final note. I never thought I could see Zachary Quinto as someone other than Sylar. Now I can.

Movie Review: Gran Torino

I actually learned about the existence of this movie an hour before I watched it, and knew very little about the plot. Thus, I went into it with few expectations, except that it was a Clint Eastwood movie. I was pleasantly surprised.

Four years after Million Dollar Baby, Clint Eastwood delivers another outstanding, emotionally touching production in Gran Torino. Eastwood plays Walt Kowalski, a Korean War veteran living in a Michigan neighborhood, who is widowed at the start of the movie and is left without any close family or friends. Walt’s sons view him as a bitter old man and the support they give him in the aftermath of his wife’s death is superficial at best.

Walt’s neighbors are Thao, his sister Sue, and their mother and grandmother. Thao, under pressure by the neighborhood’s Hmong gang, attempts to steal Walt’s prized 1972 Gran Torino but is caught in the process. Because of his failed attempt and his resistance to join the gang, the gang starts to beat Thao, but are chased away by Walt when they move the conflict onto his lawn. Indebted to Walt, his neighbors shower him with gifts and thanks, and insists that Thao work for Walt. Walt starts to open up to his neighbors, teaching Thao about his work and being a man, while also learning about the Hmong ways and the threat that the gangs pose to the neighborhood. He and Thao devise a plan to rid the neighborhood of the gangs for good.

Let’s start with the bad. The acting was subpar. The actor and actress that played Thao and Sue seemed to be trying too hard — Thao was either very quiet or very aggressive, with not very much display in between. Neither had convincing interactions with Walt.

Despite this, the movie shines in its story and its script. It starts out a little slow, but by the end I found myself emotionally tied to all of the main characters, understanding the motivations behind their actions. Watching Walt’s relation to his neighbors grow stronger than that with his family, to the point where he feels obligated to rid the neighborhood of the gangs, is very touching. We get to know Walt very, very well and want to see him change from his cantankerous and prejudicial image. That’s why the ending, while predictable, is powerful, and works.

This is a movie I would watch again.

Movie Review: The Hangover

From the trailer and the synopsis, The Hangover seems like a typical raunchy movie that dervies its humor from crude jokes and awkward situations…something that would usually be entertaining but from a critical standpoint would only receive a 6/10. Currently, it has a 78% on Rotten Tomatoes (85% user ratings), and an 8.4 on IMDB (#126 in the Top 250). Those ratings, however surprising, are well deserved.

The Hangover chronicles the adventures of a soon to be wed groom, Doug, who goes on a bachelor trip to Las Vegas two days before his wedding with his two best friends and his soon to be brother-in-law. The next day the latter three wake up in a destroyed hotel room with no memory of what happened the night before, and so they proceed to figure out what happened, find Doug, and make it back in time for the wedding.

I believe the number of times that I look at my watch during the movie is a good indicator of how good it is. During this movie, I checked my watch zero times. The plot rarely had a lull. Perhaps because it is structured in one of my favorite manners: show the end result first, then go back and explain what happened. In fact, it is a bit of a twist on this narrative structure in that the explanations come in the form of triggered realizations by the main characters about what actually happened the night before. I like this structure because from the start you see things that seem out of place and you can’t help but wonder why it’s there or why it happened. As a result you’re looking for that explanation for the rest of the movie, and if the explanation is good and creative and makes some sort of sense, then you think to yourself, “Wow, how clever! Everything makes sense!” In this movie, while everything seems outlandish at first, in a twisted, hungover sort of way it all seems possible.

The humor is both tasteful and untasteful at the same time. The actual situations the protagonists find themselves in are just hilarious. Here’s the aftermath of the night as the audience first saw it: a tiger in the bathroom, a rooster, on guy with a missing tooth, a baby in the closet, and a bed mattress atop a statue at Ceasar’s Palace. Imagine what sequence of events could have led to that, and you’ll find the kind of craziness that the audience finds out about over the course of the movie. The one liners are witty and memorable, (“it’s at the corner of get a map and f*** off!”), but there was a little more display of groin that I could bear.

Simply put, The Hangover is a great movie that friends can just have a laugh over, well deserving of its high praise.