SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN

SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN (2012)
US
Directed by Rupert Sanders

CAST:
Kristen Stewart - Snow White
Chris Hemsworth - The Huntsman
Charlize Theron - Ravenna

PLOT:
     In a twist to the fairy tale, the Huntsman ordered to take Snow White into the woods to be killed winds up becoming her protector and mentor in a quest to vanquish the Evil Queen.

REVIEW:
     I've always had a fondness for fairly tales when I was growing up. Yet I also knew that some how there was something missing from them. A sense of too happy of an ending that always nagged at me. It wasn't until I got to read a book called Grimm's Grimmest that I understood why something seemed missing from those tales and Disney animated movies. It was the violence and the mean spiritedness that was scrubbed from the stories to make them more kid friendly and have a wider audience once they were collected. The original Grimm versions, which were collected from various villages around Germany, are much more adult oriented and when told were meant to frighten children into behaving or else such and such monster would come for them as the story told. This version of Snow White while it isn't a version for younger children, it isn't a a direct translation onto the screen of the Grimm story either.

     There are three main performances in the film and two of them both fail at different times. I'm going to go ahead and say that I have never been the biggest Kristen Stewart fan. I think it might be because it seems as if she never shows full emotion. This might be bad to say, but I always seen her as Mandy from  The Grim Adventures Of Billy And Mandy, and I always wondered if she actually smiled if the world would end like it did in that show. Well, as you can tell we are all still here even after Stewart was smiling in the movie. And I will cut her slack now based on this movie as she is decent in it. The drawback to her performance is after she awakens from her poisoned sleep Stewart has to give a speech to rally the troops. I know that she was supposed to inspire, but to me the whole scene made me want to cringe. Charlize Theron, whom this is the first of two reviews I'll be doing this month with her in it, could have made her role something truly evil instead she went overboard. Yes, it is okay to yell and scream, but when every other three words becomes her screaming it gets old very quick. Theron could have made her something truly menacing but we get what seems like a evil queen that can't hear herself talking. If Theron could have just talked normally to a soft whisper and saved the yelling to one or two times in the whole movie, her Queen would have seemed  to me a lot more evil.  The best performance in Snow White was from Chris Hemsworth as the Huntsman. Hemsworth you could tell has fun in his role for most of it, probably due to the fact that he gets to play drunk for half of it. The other aspect of his character is that he's a roguish type character that has flaws but doesn't try to hide them which adds to his charm.

     The movie is well shot in most scenes that don't have action , I cannot lie about that. Yet the film becomes beautiful once the characters enter Sanctuary. If there is one reason to see this movie it would be for these 15 minutes as the world we are viewing becomes bigger and the true fairy tale aspect comes front and center in a way I wasn't expecting. These scenes are just a thing of beauty as while we see animals we all know they are changed in a way that makes perfect sense. From the original look of the fairies, even though they almost all look alike except for different hair styles and slight facial differences, to the white stag which is an amalgam of different animals. This stag though has a majestic presence that radiates from the screen and is completely believable as a part of the world we're visiting. Another stand out area in the world is the Black Forest. Even though there isn't any real creatures in this area, thanks to a hallucinogenic spore, the poor souls that inhale it are treated to a very vivid waking nightmare filled with beasts. While the effect is going on we are giving to the world that person is viewing and it is a world of fear and desperation. The trees seem to come alive and their branches and twigs are seen to reach out. The more a person fears here the stronger the reaction the Black Forest has. Other than these two places the rest of the world is one we as viewers have seen multiple times. Run down villages and dark castles.

     For a first time director Rupert Sanders knows the shots he wants and most of the time pulls it off wonderfully as he has a eye for what can work. But once it comes to heavy action scenes he falls into the Michael Bay routine of cutting shots to quick which in return makes viewing these scenes a chore instead of a pleasure. The story in places can also be a chore to sit through as well. Two scenes in the movie illustrate this all too well. The first is the Huntsman's speech about his part life. Hemsworth does his best with this but it just seems as if it was tacked on as to give him back story, yet it turns that this almost ruins the character instead. The other scene I mentioned a little bit earlier in the review. It's when Stewart has to give a speech to a group of down and out soldiers to get them ready to fight. This scene made me cringe. Mostly due to that it seems like in these movies there has to be some big scene that has to reach the viewers heart and I get tired of listening to half-hearted speeches that are supposed to inspire. The other reason why this scene fails is Stewart's delivery  of said speech. One of the biggest misses in the film though is with the dwarves. At first when we see them they all have bad attitudes and terrible dispositions, but after one minute with Snow it seems as if the whole group is nutured by some invisible magic scissors and turns them into the comic relief. With the talent they had within that group of eight, it is a shame to see it all go to waste. While the film is amazing to watch it leaves you feeling empty as it doesn't pull off what it sets out to do.And with a film with this much potential that is the real fault with this movie.

BEST DEATH:
     Sorry, nothing really stuck out to me so here's a possible deleted scene instead.

BEST LINE:
     That looks like one of mine!

FUN FACTS:
     Charlize Theron dropped out of the film J. Edgar to star in the film.

     Lilly Collins auditioned for the role of Snow White and lost out to Stewart. She then went and got the roll of Snow White in Mirror, Mirror.

     Both Viggo Mortensen and Hugh Jackman passed on the chance to play The Huntsman.

 

THE AVENGERS

THE AVENGERS (2012)
US
Directed by Joss Whedon

CAST:
Robert Downey Jr. - Tony Stark/ Iron Man
Chris Evans - Steve Rogers/ Captain America
Chris Hemsworth - Thor

PLOT:
     Nick Fury of S.H.I.E.L.D. brings together a team of super humans to form The Avengers to help save the Earth from Loki and his army.

REVIEW:
     So it's Summer, so that means that it's time for the studios to roll out their biggest films and movies. Even though there were other movies before this one already, Hunger Games if you were wondering, this is the beast that is going to make or break Marvel as a whole and set-up a whole slew of film if it did well. And from what it did over-seas last weekend, it's going to be a Juggernaut (sorry had to throw a character reference in there, me being a comic book reader). So going into this I actually tried to be even so where I won't be completely biased. But hell, who am I kidding..... here's why you should see this film!

 
1. The Hulk: Yes, the Hulk is the Hyde to Bruce Banner's Jeckyll and they are for all intents and purposes two separate entities in the movie. But when the Hulk shows up you know it.  At the end of the movie when every time the Hulk is on screen something cool happens and you find out why everyone is afraid of him and his power. Skip the seeing the recent Hulk movies and just watch this instead as they finally get the character right.

2. Joss Whedon: While yes, he wrote Cabin In The Woods that came out last month (review here) he finally can get the true exposure he truly deserves, not just as a writer but a director. While anyone that has seen Buffy, Angel, or Firefly know he's an amazing writer and director, now the studios and the world in general know it. And that is a good thing.

3. The script: While the film is a geek dream come true, it wouldn't have worked if it wasn't for the writing. From the small quips that everyone makes toward the other person to the more personal, smaller introspections that happen, the movie wouldn't have worked if it wasn't for this. Each character has their own voice that sticks out. Which in a film this big, is something amazing in and of itself.

4. The Characters: Actually that's a bad way to put it, as I should say icons. Everyone knows who they are or at least seen pictures of them before, yet in this they actually see why they are icons from the past and present. And now, the future. Captain America leads finally like he should. Thor is shown as a protector. Iron Man as the billionaire genius. The Hulk as the time bomb with the faulty timer that he truly is. Nick Fury as the man that does what needs to be done no matter what. Hawkeye as the ultimate marksman. And Black Widow as the spy that was only previously hinted at.

5. The last 45 minutes of the film: Holy hell that was pure awesome.

6. The movie itself: It shows that a film packed with so many stars and characters can work if the story is treated correctly and not dumbed down or become to preachy as some other superhero movies. Even with a small nag about the camera work during one scene causing the action to get lost, it didn't take anything away from the film at all. While most people who see this will only concentrate on the action aspect of the film, it's the characters themselves that drive the film through and through. This is about as close to a perfect film and what blockbusters are meant to be.

BEST DEATH:
     Hulk smash!

BEST LINE:
     Puny god.

FUN FACTS:
     Mark Ruffalo, who play Bruce Banner/ The Hulk describes Bruce Banner as "a guy struggling with two sides of himself, the dark and the light; everything he does in his life is filtered through issues of control." He furthermore describes Banner's alter ego the Hulk as "a loose cannon - he's the teammate none of them are sure they want, it's like throwing a grenade into the middle of the group and hoping it turns out well!"

     Has an unusually high number of Academy Award nominees in the cast and crew for a comic book movie - or most movies for that matter.

      According to Joss Whedon, The original cut of the movie was over 3 hours long. There will be about 30 minutes of the excised footage included in the DVD Release, most of which revolves around Steve Rogers (Captain America). Whedon revealed that one of these scenes involved Rogers struggling to adjust to the modern world in his Brooklyn apartment and another revealed Steve Rogers' reunion with Peggy Carter.

     The Chitauri appear in the first story arc of The Ultimates. Their leader claims that they go by many names, including Skrulls.So the early rumors were true. In a way......

     The mid-credit scene hints at what is to come, and his name is Thanos.

THE CABIN IN THE WOODS

CABIN IN THE WOODS (2011)
US
Directed by Drew Goddard

CAST:
Kristen Connolly - Dana
Chris Hemsworth - Curt
Anna Hutchison - Jules

PLOT:
     Five friends go for a break at a remote cabin in the woods, where they get more than they bargained for. Together, they must discover the truth behind the cabin in the woods.

REVIEW:
     It's was a packed weekend for movie watching for me. I got to see three films, two of which were festival standouts of which this is one of them. I should also note that there is three films I'm staying away from all spoilers from that are coming out this year with this being one of them. The only thing I've heard or read about this film ranges from it's a genre changer to don't let anyone spoil it for you. So I'm going to try to keep all the real surprises out of this review as much as possible while not making what you're reading completely boring. So if I have to say something I'll put a spoiler warning before said line or sentences when ever possible.

     Well how am I going to really review a film where I don't want to spoil anything on. I could just review the first two thirds of it as what we seen in the trailer all happens in that amount of time. Actually that sounds just the thing to do, as to go to much more past that part is to ruin the real surprise that is in store for those that watch it.

     We all know the set up for most horror films, classic creep fests, and torture porn types by now, well at least those that like horror do. You have the jock, the slut, the goody goody girl, the best friend, and usually a book worm type. In this one those types are in a way here as well, kinda in a way. The jock character is played by Chris Hemsworth who in the film is more than what he seems as he knows how to think and actually isn't dumb. The goody goody girl, played by Kristen Connolly, is really the good girl even though she says differently toward the end of the film. We also know this as when the movie starts she mentions that she knew sleeping with her college professor would end up like it did. Yet the one character that stuck out the most was the best friend character Marty, played by Fran Kranz. His character was also the most interesting of all due to even though he was stoned through most of the first half of the movie, his insight was spot on about almost everything that happened as well as trying to make his friends see reason in what they were doing. Kranz also adds a lot of perfectly timed humor to his role that adds a lot to it as well as lightens the tension as there are plenty of times that this comes in handy.

     I said that I wasn't going to try and spoil anything in the film, yet I should have probably put it that I wasn't going to spoil the last third of it. The film starts just like any other usual friends go to  alone cabin or get away in the woods. The characters are all introduced one by one and the stereotypes are seen right from the start which we find out are somewhat skewed as each one has an extra something that makes them more than the stereotype. Along with that we are introduced to three workers that are commenting on not screwing things up this weekend in a bunker complex played by Amy Acker, Richard Jenkins, and the ever very watchable Bradley Whitford. It's not long before the friends run into the the usual creepy redneck slash doom sayer that freak half of them out and piss off the other half. And as usual before the doomed ones leave the doomer warns them of what is to come. Now if all this sounds somewhat familiar, that's because it is. Most horror films start out this same way. And yes, the friends start dieing one by one. Yet it's what's happening behind everything that makes this so interesting and different from the rest of what is out there that makes this completely different. It also makes complete sense as well once everything is said and done.

     While all this might sound awfully run of the mill, it is. In a way. What Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard has managed to do is take the basic plot and add on something to it that is so simple yet at the same time so smart that it makes complete sense. I will say that this next sentence will give a hint to what is going on so those that don't want to know what happens skip ahead a little bit.  The film, story wise, gives us as viewers a look at why what happens in the movies we love happens in a very intelligent way. While the film is a horror film, those that are used to these movies won't really be scared, but I was thrilled by what was going on on the screen in front of me. What these two filmmakers have done is create a love letter to the genre while at the same time making a complaint of the state of the genre and what is wrong with it. This sound confusing now but once you have seen the film you will completely understand why I put it this way. We as viewers are so used to seeing the kill and wanting to see the kill that we forgot that story does matter in our favorite genre, and more and more that is being forgotten. Whendon and Goddard didn't forget this and makes sure we remember that. There's going to be reviews lambasting the film for not having this or that, for not being bloody enough (if you see a review that says that, stop reading it cause they haven't seen the film), or it's just a rip of every other horror film. This happens when a film comes along that has brains and is a commentary on the genre while trying to be entertaining.  I'm going to end there as I really want to talk more about it but to do so would have me going into the stuff I shouldn't talk about as half the fun is the surprise in this one. Just know that this film is worth seeing and is a complete joy ride.

BEST DEATH:
     Sorry, I'm not going to put anything down for this (though I really, REALLY want to, but I'm not as it will spoil the film.

BEST LINE:
     Puppeteers?

FUN FACTS:
     On the white board in the control room when the staff are taking bets on the victims potential killers, "Deadites" are listed which is a direct reference to the Evil Dead films.

     The film was shot in 2009 yet was shelved for over two years due to the financial trouble at MGM. It wasn't until Lionsgate bought the film that it saw the light of day.

     The film's release date was postponed because the studio wanted to convert it to 3D, despite objections from Producer Joss Whedon and director Drew Goddard.

     Whedon while giving a interview with Total Film magazine has said of the movie:
"On another level it's a serious critique of what we love and what we don't about horror movies. I love being scared. I love that mixture of thrill, of horror, that objectification/identification thing of wanting definitely for the people to be alright but at the same time hoping they’ll go somewhere dark and face something awful. The things that I don't like are kids acting like idiots, the devolution of the horror movie into torture porn and into a long series of sadistic comeuppances. Drew and I both felt that the pendulum had swung a little too far in that direction."

THOR

THOR (2011)
US
Directed by Kenneth Branagh

CAST:
Chris Hemsworth - Thor
Natalie Portman - Jane Foster
Tom Hiddleston - Loki

PLOT:
     The powerful but arrogant warrior Thor is cast out of the fantastic realm of Asgard and sent to live amongst humans on Earth, where he soon becomes one of their finest defenders.

REVIEW:
      Well it's almost summer this is marked by the release of the first of the four big superhero movie and this time it's Thor. I'll admit that I'm not really a fan of the comics even though I do like some of the artists Marvel has had for it's long and lengthy run since the character first appeared in Journey Into Mystery # 83 in 1962, even though the comic has been cancelled multiple times only to come back later. After being in development hell since 1990, the character is finally on the big screen and ready to take his place with the Avengers which releases next year, yet can the character and movie stand on it's own is the true question.

     Let me just say that Chris Hemsworth has so much charisma that it actually shines throughout the whole film. Even the quieter scenes you still feel his presence even though he doesn't talk, the camera just loves this man. Hemsworth portrayal of Thor is just perfect as you can tell this man is something more and can do amazing things just by his demeanor. Hemsworth is the star of this film and you know why after watching it. Tom Hiddleston is intriguing to watch as Loki, not so much for his charisma but for the calculated cunning that you know lies behind the the caring exterior. This is a man that has so much disdain for his brother that every action he takes is to somehow get a upper hand over Thor no matter the cost. While Hemsworth's Thor has a boyish charm to him, Hiddleston's Loki is a stewing pot of anger that is disguised by niceness for his own purposes. I should mention that Natalie Portman to me runs either hot or cold, depending on the movie she is in, and in Thor you can tell she cares about her role, as her acting is sincere again and you know she's having fun playing the character of star struck Jane Foster.

     As this movie is a connecting movie to Iron Man and The Avengers, I was surprised to see that this film easily stood on its own and told a very enjoyable origin story that didn't feel like a one. Kenneth Branagh who is know for directing more Shakespearean fare at first seemed an odd choice to direct a movie about a superhero god, yet he pulled it off. I think the main reason for this is due to that much of the movie is the story is about one brother at odds with the other and trying to make himself look better in their father's eye. While the movie is called Thor and his journey to becoming more than a prideful, arrogant boy into someone that is worthy to lead a kingdom,  it can easily also be about Loki and his realization that he's more what has been let on by his father. I can easily say that Loki is the tragic Shakespearean figure due to that he thinks what he's doing is the right thing yet at the end it all turns against him. The story itself is finely tuned so where nothing seems like a waste, though the movie does slow down in parts it doesn't interrupt the pacing. Even the humor that is thrown in doesn't ruin or take away from what the story has built up.

     My only complaint  with the film is that some of the action does get lost due to the 3D post conversion as this process still isn't perfect and will probably never be able to compete with filming in 3D. Other than that, the views the audience are giving of Asgard are just beautiful and majestic, even though you aren't giving much in the way of how the society functions. What is giving though is the camaraderie and friendship between the Brothers Three, Sif, Thor, and Loki which can be story in and of itself what they have gone through together as the act more like family than friends. I should mention as well for any fanboy of comics, they will geek out (I did) when Jeremy Renner shows up as Clint Barton/ Hawkeye in a uncredited role, that was filmed after the main filming was finished it seemed, which helps tie Hemsworth and Renner's characters more into the whole movie universe that Marvel is building. While there is no telling where the next Thor movie will take place or what it will be about, this one stands on it's own just amazing and is a fun film that has more going for it than seems.

BEST DEATH:
     Thor's quick playtime with a giant frost doggy that ends with a reverse tracheotomy to the nape of it's neck.

BEST LINE:
     Hey, we got Xena, Jackie Chan, Robin Hood, and that Lord Of The Rings guy coming!

FUN FACTS:
    Natalie Portman took the role of Jane Foster because she couldn't resist the opportunity of a comic-book film directed by acclaimed director Kenneth Branagh saying, "I was just like Kenneth Branagh doing 'Thor' is super-weird, I've gotta do it." This is also Portman's second movie based upon a comic, the first being V For Vendetta.

     J. Michael Straczynski's recent run on the relaunched Thor comic is serving as the influence for the film, who also has a cameo in the film as one of the Townies.

     The Eye of Agamotto, a very powerful magical amulet, can be seen in Odin's treasure room. This was a weapon wielded by a Marvel hero, Doctor Strange the Sorcerer Supreme.

     Sir Anthony Hopkins signed on as Odin despite never reading a "Thor" comic or knowing anything about the Thor mythology. It was the concept of the father and son relationship that intrigued him about the role.

    Sam Raimi after directing Darkman, pitched the idea of a Thor movie to Stan Lee and 20th Century Fox in 1990.