Willow

The first time I saw Willow it scared me to death.  I was only 6 or 7 years old, and watching men being turned into pigs, with their skin morphing, and their hands changing into feet just freaked me out.  So I never had the desire to watch it again.  It took me almost twenty years to come back around to it.  I'm glad that I did.

It is prophesied that a child would be born that could overthrow the evil Queen Bavmorda (Jean Marsh), when the dwarvish children of Willow Ufgood (Warwick Davis) find a baby floating in a basket by the side of the river.  Willow is tasked with returning the baby to the large people, leaving it with the first one that he meets.  Who just happens to be Madmartigan (Val Kilmer), the "world's greatest swordsman" and current prisoner.  The two of them, along with the baby, are soon setting out on an epic journey to help the baby fulfill her destiny.

Rewatching the film after so many years I was surprised how many of the details I could clearly remember.  It must have made quite the impression on my younger self.  Which is something that I wish I could say about my adult self.  Instead I ultimately found myself somewhat disappointed.

This isn't to say that the film was bad, or that I didn't enjoy it.  It was a perfectly good film, one of the better entries in the epic fantasy genre, but it isn't particularly unique, or memorable.  If I hadn't seen it as a child I can't say that it would have made too much of an impression.

Warwick Davis gives a fine performance, carrying the film pretty much on his own, for most of the running time.  It's a shame that there aren't more opportunities for him to show off his acting ability.  Val Kilmer is likable, and charming in a role that's mostly comic relief.  Nobody else really stands out, in parts that are pretty over the top and one note.  There's not a lot of character development going on in the supporting roles (imagine that, the story was originally conceived by George Lucas).

Out of everything in the film, what's probably the most amazing is the effects.  The morphing shots between different characters and creatures were groundbreaking, and ahead of their time (in 1988).  It's these scenes that were the most memorable to me as a child, and are still the ones that stand out as an adult.  You really get the idea that Ron Howard really relished working with this technology, and takes full advantage of it to tell his story.

There's a lot to like about Willow, but I wouldn't ever call it a great film.  It ends ups being just an above average epic fantasy film that without nostalgic associations will be fairly unmemorable.

Grade: B

Year One

It isn't everyday that you see a film with this much talent involved (Jack Black, Michael Cera, Harold Raimis, David Cross and Paul Rudd amongst others) that is this terrible.  It just is not a good movie in every sense.  At best there are a few mild laughs.  Which just isn't good enough.

Zed (Black) and Oh (Cera) are a pair of entirely anachronistic hunter gathers living amongst a neolithic tribe.  Zed is a failure as a hunter, and an object of ridicule for the tribe.  Oh wants nothing more than to lie with Eema (Juno Temple) but she doesn't even know he exists.  It's a fairly humdrum, pointless existence until Zed samples the forbidden fruit and gets both of them banished from the tribe.  They journey over the hills, and into the world of the old testament.  It's a biblical roadtrip to Sodom.

Instead of one single cohesive storyline full of character development, and real emotion, Year Oneis hung on a long series of sketches and jokes, most of which fall very flat.  Black and Cera stay pretty much the same throughout the entire film.  They are who they were at the beginning.  If they learned, or grew as characters I'd be hard pressed to see it.

It isn't only the characters that show a complete lack of growth, it's the actors too.  Black and Cera are playing the same basic characters that they always play.  Which are just versions of themselves.  It's a very hit or miss proposition, especially with Black.  In some films his wild man manic energy is hilarious, but here it just gets tedious.  I'm still willing to go along with Cera's shtick, but I'd appreciate seeing a little bit of growth.

Along with a complete lack of character, the film is decidedly lacking in the visual department.  Ramis is certainly more than capable of directing an interesting film (see: Groundhog Day, or The Ice Harvestfor examples), but this is just "over, over, two shot" terrible tv show esque hackery.  It's just boring, and kind of lazy.

There were a few moments where I kind of chuckled, but they were few and far between.  Some great opportunities were wasted, like a scene with Cain (David Cross) and Abel (Paul Rudd) that was almost painfully unfunny, but could have been hilarious.  Even Hank Azaria's crazed lunatic Abraham, that is intially chuckle worthy just gets dragged out far past the point of being funny.

I definitely wouldn't recommend paying money to see Year One.  Maybe if it's on tv, or someone else pays to rent it, it might be worth watching.  But only maybe.

Grade: D+

The Hangover

Director Todd Phillips' career has been all over the place, ranging from hilariously great (Old School) to completely terrible (School for Scoundrels) with a whole lot of mediocre mixed in (Starsky and Hutch, Roadtrip).  So it's hard to know what to expect going into one of his films.  But I would have to say that The Hangover is definitely closer to the hilarious side.

Three groomsmen, too cool for school dick Phil (Bradley Cooper), whipped, uptight dentist Stu (Ed Helms) and odd, possibly mentally deranged, Alan (Zach Galifianakis) take their soon to married friend Doug (Justin Bartha) to Las Vegas for one last night of fun before the wedding.  Only when they wake up in the morning they can't remember anything that happened, and Doug just happens to be missing, along with one of Stu's teeth.  But they've managed to pick up a baby, and a tiger, along the way.  They have to piece together what happened, find Doug and get back in time for the wedding.  All while coping with a wicked hangover.

The plot of The Hangover is not especially complex, or really even that interesting, but it gives the characters, and the actors, a lot of room to work.  They're put in situations that inevitably lead to humor.  They don't learn, or grow, but they are pretty dang funny.

It's nice to see actors that normally only get to work in supporting roles get a chance to shine.  Usually these three guys (Cooper, Helms, and Galifianakis) are just comic relief, or a little side characters that isn't especially important.  I've been a fan of Bradley Cooper's since Alias and Kitchen Confidential.  He's perfectly cast in the role of a guy who really isn't all that likable.  If you met him in real life you'd probably think he was kind of a dick.  But really it's Helms and Galifianakis that steal the show.

Helms plays his character to his utmost, even going so far as to have a crown removed, leaving his gap-toothed grin.  He's the very picture of the uptight, straitlaced guy who when he's a little inebriated becomes a complete wild man.  His stress, energy and presence are the heart of the film.  But the biggest laughs belong to Zach Galifianakis.  He's completely unpredictable, taking chances that any sane person would never even go for.  It's a pretty bold performance that should hopefully get him work for years to come.  Make sure you stay through the credits to see the most shocking, and possibly hilarious part from Galifianakis.

It isn't just the main cast that bring the laughs though.  Jeffery Tambor, Heather Graham, Mike Epps and Rob Riggle are pretty hilarious in small parts.  Mike Tyson's cameo is just plain funny, and Ken Jeong may just be the funniest part of the entire movie, as he often is.

The Hangover isn't the smartest, most complex, or best movie in the world, but I sure had a good time with it.  So I'd recommend it for that, and for some great comedic performances, if you're not easily offended (it earns its R rating).

Grade: B

Up

With their tenth film, Up, Pixar has created a story, and a world, that is much more for adults than children.  There are elements of the film that children will enjoy, like the talking dog, or the house floating balloons, but the themes of death and loss are not something that will appeal to them.  It's just a touching and beautiful story with a heart and complexity that's rarely seen in any film.

Carl Fredricksen (Ed Asner) and his wife Ellie dreamed their entire lives of following in the footsteps of their hero Charles Muntz (Christopher Plummer) and visiting Paradise Falls in South America, but they never made it.  Life just kept getting in the way.  When Ellie dies, it seems that the dream would die with her.  Carl withdraws from the world, seeing a development spring up around him, encroaching on his space, and his memories.  After an altercation with one of the developers, he's going to be forced out of his house, and into a retirement home.  Not able to stand this he attaches thousands of balloons to his home and sets off, accompanied by stow-away scout Russell (Jordan Nagai), for Paradise Falls, and adventure.

There are few entire films that have as much heart, and emotional affectiveness as the opening minutes of Up.  We're shown Carl's life from the first time he met Ellie as a child, all the way through the beginnings of their romance, their life together, the realization that they couldn't have children and to Ellie's death.  Told almost without words, it pack an emotional punch that nearly brought me to tears.  Just within those few minutes I became so attached to, and identified with Carl that I would have been willing to follow the film anywhere else it wanted to go.  It's brilliant work.

It's in this very real, very emotional, world that Up has its greatest success.  There are moments of great comedy, and fun in the fanciful South American wilderness, but the heart of the story isn't those adventures, it's the relationships between Carl and Ellie, and Carl and Russell.  It's a story where Carl learns that even though he and Ellie never made it to Paradise Falls together that they had a wonderful life together that made him very happy.

Carl also develops a relationship with Russell that takes him forward into the rest of his life.  He moves past his initial annoyance, and frustration with the kid that's just tagging along, and into a real friendship and love for him.  He gets to be a surrogate father for Russell, the way he never got to with kids of his own.

I don't really want to write too much about Up.  I don't want to spoil anything at all.  Just know that I think it's a great film, sure to be one of the best of the year.  I recommend it very highly.

Grade: A