Salt (2010)

Title: Salt (2010)

Director: Phillip Noyce

Cast: Angelina Jolie, Lieve Schreiber, Chiwetel Ejiofor

Review:

Recently, in my review for Sam Raimi’s The Quick and the Dead (1995) I mentioned that action films with female leads in them often times fail at the box office. And this is a very common thing that happens, there are many, many examples I could name. I attribute this box office phenomenon to the fact that Hollywood doesn’t put much of an effort in making good action films with female leads in them. It is only when a gifted director steps in and makes a good one that films with females in the lead succeed. Good examples of this are James Cameron’s Aliens (1986), Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill films (2003), and most recently Timur Bekmambetov’s Wanted (2008). It seems Angelina Jolie is the current poster girl for successful female action leads, and to be honest, I think she’s damn good at it. Case in point: her most recent film Salt.

Salt is the story of American CIA agent Evelyn Salt. When a Russian defector ends up under the custody of the CIA, his confession involves a story about these Russian sleeper agents that were trained to live life in the United States, infiltrate a high position in the government and then proceed to kill a Russian President, giving then Russia a valid excuse to throw a full on attack on the U.S. Other plans include the assassination of the American president as well. The CIA agents listen to the defectors confession only to be shocked by the last part of the story. You see according to the defector the sleeper agents name is Evelyn Salt! Suddenly, the CIA (once Salts employer) is now after her! And so she runs putting all her secret agent know how into trying to escape the clutches of the CIA. Will she ever get down to the truth of things?

So unexpectedly, I ended up really loving this movie. In this movie Angelina Jolie is the perfect female action lead! The actress playing the lead in an action film has got to portray equal parts sexiness, and equal parts toughness, and both are qualities that Angelina Jolie excels at. Salt was a film that was originally written to star Tom Cruise in the role of Salt. Back then the film was going to be called Edwin A. Salt. But, Cruise backed out because reportedly, he thought the character was too similar to what he’d done in his Mission Impossible films. This sounds like total bullcrap to me because he didn’t make Salt, but he went out and did Knight and Day (2010) which strangely enough plays out a lot like Salt. Knight and Day also ended up being about a guy who worked for the government but is now running from them. So it seems to me like Cruise simply had a case of “creative differences” with the creative team behind Salt and decided to go and do a similar film his own way; which apparently meant getting Cameron Diaz to star beside him instead of Angelina Jolie. But whatever! I’m glad Cruise ended up backing out of Salt; I don’t think I would have enjoyed the movie as much. To me Jolie makes the movie. Plus, Knight and Day is the lesser movie of the two. Salt has got gravitas, while Knight and Day feels completely hollow. Audiences also chose Salt over Knight and Day because while Knight and Day flopped, Salt was a huge box office success.

Thematically, the film is extremely subversive; it starts out with Jolie as the CIA agent, working for the U.S. government. She’s good at her job, faithful to her country ‘fighting the good fight’ as they say. Problem comes when said country suddenly doesn’t trust her anymore and she becomes public enemy number one. So her loyalties are no longer to her country, which turns on her at the flip of a switch, but to herself and her survival. This is a theme that’s been popping up a lot in modern films, the idea of cutting ties with old ways of doing things, and starting things anew, with a new perspective, one that doesn’t adhere to tradition. In this film, Evelyn Salt encapsulates that feeling of wanting to cut with everything. It even has a violent streak to it, where this letting go of ones past is a difficult and violent affair. She hates those that have used her and wants nothing to do with them anymore and she’s willing to kick some ass to prove it.

The chase and action sequences are really well achieved, credulity defying as they maybe, they entertain. The film plays out a bit like the action you would see in one of the Bourne films, the Bourne films being the new template by which all modern action films are being made. I tell ya, those Bourne films are really important action films. They redefined how action films are being made today. Even the Bond films look like a Bourne film now. Salt is influenced by that style of Bourne action. The action doesn’t feel too over the top, it feels more realistic then say, the kind of action you would see in an 80’s action film. And speaking of Bond, a while back, Jolie was offered the opportunity to be a Bond girl, an offer which she respectfully declined saying that she’d rather play Bond herself. I guess that’s what she was determined to do in Salt, play the indestructible secret agent. Salt was directed by Phillip Noyce and expert in political intrigue films like Clear and Present Danger (1994) and Patriot Games (1992) so in that sense he was perfect for directing Salt.  

My hats down to Mrs. Jolie, she’s gotten my respect back. I love the kind of action films she’s been making lately. You guys ever seen Wanted? Highly recommend that one as well. Actually I’m kind of late in the Wanted bandwagon since I’m pretty sure practically everyone out there has seen it. Me? I underestimated it and never got around to seeing it until a couple of weeks ago. I got my ass blow out of the seat by it! Looking forward to more high caliber action films from Angelina Jolie, my new favorite action heroine.

Rating: 4 out of 5

 

The Fighter (2010)

Title: The Fighter (2010)

Director: David O. Russell

Cast: Mark Wahlberg, Christian Bale, Amy Adams

Review:

Movies about boxing always work because they serve as a metaphor for life. You know how sometimes you feel like putting on some boxing gloves and punching life right in the face and knocking it the hell out? That’s what boxing movie do for ya. They make you feel like a winner. Its why films like the Rocky franchise have survived for as long as they have, the struggle of life translates well to these films and you feel like that boxer up there, giving it your best to beat life. Ever been in a theater during one of these films? There’s a reason why people holler at the screen during these boxing movies: they feel they are right up there with the main character, trying to beat life and come out victorious.

The thing about boxing movies is that in order to make a good one, you can’t really focus so much on the fights themselves, because if you do, you risk falling into repetition because so many movies that have come before have already explored that formula ad nauseum. Films like Gladiator (1992), all the six Rocky movies, The Boxer (1997) The Hurricane (1999), Cinderella Man (2005), Girlfight (2000), Million Dollar Baby (2004) and Raging Bull (1980), have all been there and done that. Boxing movies can sometimes go the same way most sports movies go: the boxer starts out not boxing very well, he looses a fight, then he gets better, and finally in the end he wins. If you do that with your boxing movie, you’re walking on tired ground. We’ve seen that already. And this is the very same reason why I hate sports movies in general, they are all the same. The team isn’t too good in the beginning, they confront whatever personal situation is not letting them move forward with the game, then they practice, then they get good and finally they win.

The trick to a good boxing movie is to focus more on the story behind the boxer. Who he is as a person, and go deep into his personal struggles. And I’m happy to say that this is exactly what The Fighter did. The film itself doesn’t really focus on the fights; it focuses more on the fighter, and his life. In this case, it’s the life of two real life boxers: Micky Ward (played by Mark Wahlberg) and Dicky Eklund (played by Christian Bale). Micky is trying to make it as a boxer, unfortunately he is considered a “stepping stone”; a fighter that is used to help other fighters rise to the top. But he is trying to get past that. He really wants to make it big. Unfortunately he is managed by his mother who only cares about taking small fights and making little bits of money with each one. What Micky wants is to make it big. Another thing that brings Micky down is that he is trained by his brother, who is a crack addict. Micky needs to cut ties with his family is he is ever going to make it. Will he ever muster the strength to leave them all behind?

The Fighter is predictable yes, you’ve seen one boxing movie, you’ve seen them all. And yeah, at first he sucks, then he gets better, then he wins. But what’s great about this movie is that it didn’t make a big deal about the fights themselves. The first few fights are quick moments in the film, they aren’t these long drawn out affairs filmed in slow motion or anything. They save the biggest fight for the end, but the rest of the film isn’t about the fights themselves, which a lot of boxing movies do a lot. Instead the film focuses on the two brothers and their struggles with trying to make it out of poverty. They are part of a huge family, they have something like 5 sisters, plus the two brothers. And the sisters always got something to say, though they don’t do much themselves. Micky’s family is the best example of trailer thrash there is. None of them have any education. It seems as if all they do is hang around the house all day gossiping, smoking cigarettes and watching television. But when it comes down to an opinion about something, they are all hive minded and think the same, especially when it comes to Micky’s new girlfriend whom they don’t like at all. They think she’s an “MTV girl” whatever that means. So Micky is trying to make it, but you get the feeling that his family is holding him back. They live under that hive mentality where the family thinks that no one can ever leave them to go and search for something better. Still, theres always that struggle. And yeah, its true, blood is thicker then water. And that’s really what the film focuses on, that struggle between pleasing yourself and following your dreams, and disconnecting, yet not forgetting about family.

The best thing the film has going for it is Christian Bale’s performance. If you’ve been keeping track with Christian Bale’s career, then you know the man is a freaking chameleon. He can transform from one role to the next like no other actor can, and personally, I think it’s about time the guy won an Oscar. Ever seen how thin he got for his role in Brad Anderson’s The Machinist (2004)? The guy was playing a sleep deprived individual, and to best portray this character he lost 63 pounds! Then he buffed up for Batman Beings (2005) and looked better then ever. He did the weight loss thing again when he played a U.S. fighter pilot who gets shot down and tries to survive in the jungles of Lao during the Vietnam war in Werner Herzog’s Rescue Dawn (2006). On The Fighter he went through the weight loss thing yet again to portray a crack addict. Gotta hand it to Bale, the weight loss thing really gets the trick done. But its not just about how thin he looks, his performance is really what sells the character to us. He really talks and acts like a crack addict! His character is responsible for some of the more funny moments in the film as well. As I write this, Oscar Night 2011 hasn’t happened yet, but Bale is nominated in the Best Supporting Actor category, and if you ask me, I believe he deserves that Oscar.

He isn’t the only one winning awards for his performance on this film. Melissa Leo who plays Micky and Dicky’s mother, won a Golden Globe, A Screen Actors Guild Award and a Broadcast Film Critics award. And Bale won all those awards right there with her. Both are nominated again for The Oscars. Mark Wahlberg hasn’t won any awards, and he wasn’t nominated for an Oscar, even though he is the central character of the film. I agree with that though. The real stars of the show are Bale and Leo, they offer up the strongest performances. Its not that Wahlberg did a terrible job, it’s just that Bale and Leo outshine him performance wise that’s all. So we got a film filled with great performances, backed up by the fact that it’s all based on real life events. Director David O. Russell (I Heart Hucakbees and Three Kings) choreographed all the fights according to the footage that was caught by the cameras of HBO sports when they really happened. He even filmed the fighting sequences with the same cameras the HBO crew used back in those days; it gives the fighting sequences that look that television used to have before the High Definition days. Makes it all the more genuine.

Rating: 4 out of 5

The Green Hornet (2011)

Title: The Green Hornet (2011)

Director: Michel Gondry

Cast: Seth Rogen, Jay Chou, Cameron Diaz, Christoph Waltz

So Gondry doing a commercial film, that’s what really called my attention towards this film. It wasn’t Seth Rogen or even The Green Hornet character because I was never that much into the character. I’d read a comic book or two, but basically all I knew about The Green Hornet was that Bruce Lee had been in the 1966 television show, that’s it. It was only later that I found out it had been a radio show in the 30’s. But Michel Gondry directing a commercial film? That was the real grabber for me because Gondry has never done what we would call a commercial film. Most of his films are always artsy films like Human Nature (2001), Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004), The Science of Sleep (2006), and Be Kind Rewind (2008) all awesome movies on their own right, but big summer blockbusters they were not. So how did Gondry’s trip down Hollywood lane turn out?

Thats Gondry to the left. The Green Hornet and Kato from the 1966 television show on the right

I’d say it went pretty damn good. I mean, I was really curious about this film because it had many strange things going for it. Gondry directing a big budget flick like this one was a first, but that was something I was definitely willing to give a try. What caught me off guard was Seth Rogen playing the hero. In previous attempts at bringing The Green Hornet to cinematic life, actors like Mark Wahlberg, Vince Vaugh, George Clooney and Jake Gyllenhaal were considered for the role. Hell, even Eddie Murphy tried to play Britt at one point. Eventually, years and years passed and Rogen took an interest in the film and decided to write it and produce it himself. He also put himself in the lead role as the films hero. To me, that also went against type because what Hollywood normally does in superhero films is place a buffed up dude in the role of the hero, and Rogen is everything but that. Reportedly, Rogen lost 30 pounds to be on this movie, but he still didn’t come off as a muscle bound superhero. I don’t care about that though, I think he did just fine the way he is. Who says all heroes have to be muscle bound? And finally, another strange thing about the film was its tone, apparently according to the trailers; this was going to be a comedy. So The Green Hornet was definitely shaping up to be a film that was playing with our expectations of a comic book film. But what the hell, it looked like a fun time at the movies so I gave it a shot.

I’m glad I did. I mean, it delivered exactly what I was expecting: a fun lighthearted superhero film. Rogen plays Britt Reid. A millionaire, son to the head honcho of the local newspaper, ‘The Daily Sentinel’. When his father dies, suddenly Britt is faced with the responsibility of running the local newspaper. Problem is that Britt isn’t a very responsible person. He likes to party like its 1999, all the time! He doesn’t give a damn about the newspaper or how it is run. But that all changes one night when he and his trusty driver Kato manage to stop a robbery. It is then that he realizes that he has the power and the means with which to fight crime, so suddenly he has a change of heart and decides to do something worthwhile with his life. He will fight crime with his side kick Kato as the masked avenger known as The Green Hornet!

There’s a lot of good things I can say about this movie, number one, having Gondry as the director is major asset. Gondry was supposed to direct this film as his first feature film way back in 1997, when this film was first attempted. So in a way, Gondry had always been involved with this picture. The cool thing about Gondry is that he has always been known for using lots of visual gags on his films, and on this one he goes all out with this. Whenever The Green Hornet and Kato go out to kick some ass, there’s some sort of visual effect to keep things interesting, especially in the fight sequences. His visual trickery makes the film that much cooler to watch. In the film, Kato serves as the gadget maker for Britt. I mean, essentially, Kato is this genius inventor who can make anything! He turns Britt’s car into a mean crime fighting machine, equipped with machine guns and everything. He makes all the gadgets and the cars, plus he is a Kung Fu expert! And he can make a mean cup of coffee! So all of Kato’s gadgets (brought to life by Gondry’s visual trickery) make the film fun to watch. It was interesting seeing Gondry taking full advantage of CGI and 3-D as well. Speaking of the 3-D, I gots no complaints about that either.

The film’s themes are against political corruption, it deals with a politician who wants to use the local newspaper to boost his image in the publics’ eye by printing bullshit stories that make him look good. In this way increasing his chances of becoming President of the United States. The film has a very subversive nature to it because it addresses the power that the media has to manipulate how the masses perceive the world. I liked that about it. They really go into how a newspaper headline can change peoples perceptions of things. Put this or that in the headline and poof! that’s how people will see things. The Green Hornet is perceived as a villain, a vigilante out to take justice into his own hands. So the film also addresses how the media will often times portray the bad guys as the good guys, and the heroes as the villains, all to fit the political scheme of things. A bold statement for what is essentially a very lighthearted film.

And trust me, the film is lighthearted. It never gets too violent or graphic or anything. It keeps a fun vibe all through out. The dialog had me cracking up all the time. There is something about the characters, they come off as extremely likable. Rogen plays his character the way many of Gondry’s characters are portrayed in his films, like grown men with 12 year old sensibilities. Think about it, Jim Carrey in Eternal Sunshine and Gael Garcia Bernal in The Science of Sleep where grown men acting like children. Same thing happens here. Rogen sounds like a little kid most of the time. I’ve always liked that about Gondry’s films, his characters never loose that sense of child like amazement and wonderment. Kato comes off as a father figure to Britt, the big kid with the expensive toys. And speaking of Kato, he totally dominates this movie and often times comes off as more of a hero then Britt does. So this is the kind of movie where the hero isn’t all that perfect and awesome, he is flawed. Most of the time he ends up getting his ass saved by Kato, his sidekick. Kind of like how you felt that Kick-Ass (2010) was more about Hit Girl then Kick-Ass himself, that’s how this movie plays out.

But considering how much money The Green Hornet is making, we might get to see the character grow into a full blown hero in future films. I’m thinking the purposely made him out to be a goof ball, because like Kick-Ass, he is just learning how to become a hero. The Green Hornet aint gonna change your life or nothing, but it will entertain ya pretty well for an hour and a half!

Rating: 3 1/2 out of 5