Man of Steel

PLOT (spoiler alert!!!):

The planet Krypton faces imminent destruction due to an unstable core, and its ruling council is under the threat of rebel General Zod and his followers. Scientist Jor-El and his wife Lara secretly imprint a genetic codex into their newborn son’s Kal-El’s cells and launch him on a spacecraft to Earth to preserve the Kryptonian race. After Zod murders Jor-El, he and his followers are banished to the Phantom Zone, but manage to escape when Krypton explodes. The infant Kal-El lands on Earth in Smallville, Kansas, where he is discovered by couple Jonathan and Martha Kent, who name him Clark and raise him as their adopted son.

Clark’s Kryptonian physiology affords him superhuman abilities on Earth. Young Clark gradually learns to hone the abilities that initially cause him confusion and discomfort. Jonathan reveals to a teenage Clark that he is an alien, and advises him to not utilize his powers publicly, fearing that society would reject him. After Jonathan’s death, an adult Clark spends the next several years living a nomadic lifestyle, working different jobs under false names to cover his tracks and hide his identity. He eventually discovers a Kryptonian scout ship with technology that allows him to communicate with the consciousness of Jor-El in the form of a hologram. Lois Lane, a young journalist from the Daily Planet, also discovers the ship while pursuing a story, and is rescued by Clark when she is injured. Lois’s editor Perry White rejects her story of a “superhuman” rescuer, so she traces Clark back to Smallville with the intention of writing an exposé. After hearing his story, she decides not to reveal his secret.

Detecting the scout ship, Zod travels to Earth where he demands that Kal-El surrender to him, or humanity will suffer the consequences. Clark agrees to surrender to the U.S. military, who hand Lois and Clark over to Zod’s second-in-command, Faora. Zod reveals that he intends to use a terraforming “world engine” to transform Earth into a Krypton-like planet, to eradicate the human population, and to use the codex to repopulate the planet with genetically-engineered Kryptonians. After Clark and Lois escape the ship, Clark defeats Faora and another of Zod’s henchmen in Smallville, convincing the military that he is on their side. Zod deploys the world engine and initiates the terraforming in Metropolis and over the Indian Ocean.

Clark, now dubbed “Superman”, stops the world engine in the Indian Ocean. The military uses the spacecraft that brought Superman to Earth in an aerial strike to create a portal that returns Zod’s ship and his crew to the Phantom Zone. Only Zod remains, and he and Superman engage each other. After a battle, Superman is forced to kill Zod to save a group of innocent civilians that Zod attempts to murder. Superman decides to blend into the normal world by wearing eyeglasses and resuming his identity as Clark Kent. He is hired by White to work as a reporter for the Daily Planet.

REVIEW:

Now that Batman has had his time in the spotlight, the powers that be have decided to turn their focus back on DC Comics’ golden boy, Superman, with Man of Steel. Admittedly, after seeing the early trailers, I was a bit skeptical because they made it seem like this was going to resemble Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy (he’s a producer on this, btw). Boy was I wrong!

What is this about?

In another revival of the Superman legend, reporter Clark Kent must keep his alien origins and fantastic powers hidden from the world at large. But when the Kryptonian General Zod plans to destroy Earth, the Man of Steel springs into heroic action.

What did I like?

Krypton. In all the various incarnations of Superman, I do not believe we have actually seen much of Krypton. The most I believe that we’ve seen is the capitol city of Kandor, which was stolen away before the planet exploded. In this film, the filmmakers not only show us more of Krypton than we’ve seen in the past, but we also get the chance to see some wildlife and whatnot. It was a nice little touch that started off giving this film its own identity, especially when you consider a good chunk of this is just retelling Superman’s very well-known origin story.

He’s got the look. I can imagine that there was a long and arduous search for the perfect Superman. The last guy to put on the red and blue tights, Brandon Routh in Superman Returns, was a carbon copy of Christopher Reeve, at least in look. Henry Cavill seems to fit that mold a little bit, as well, but he also has his own look that really sells the fact that he is Superman. The only thing missing was the ‘S’ curl.

Excitement. Let’s think for a minute. If all of a sudden you were given this fancy costume and learned you could fly, wouldn’t you be a little excited? In the original Superman, Christopher Reeve seems to fly like a seasoned pro, however, Henry Cavill’s flying scene is reminiscent of Toby Maguire’s Spider-Man…once he gets that hang of it. He’s not perfect at it, but he’s enjoying the novelty of the new experience. I really liked that they showed that this guy is having fun being Superman.

Action. The second half of this film is almost nothing but action, and I loved every minute of it. For those not familiar with previous Superman films, you may not know that there is actually very little action save for a few gunshots to show his invincibility and then the final fight, but not much else. Superman II does have an actual fight, ironically with General Zod and the other Kryptonians. Thanks goodness Zach Snyder had the good sense to put lots of action in here. I’m pretty sure no one wants to see another brooding superhero. That’s what Batman is for.

What didn’t I like?

Costume. Call me a purist, but I need the lighter shade of blue with the red underwear on the outside to be the costume on my Superman. To some, this may be a small thing, but for me, it was a pretty major middle finger to why Superman is. Then again, the whole “new 52″ which is where this costume drew its inspiration from can fall into that category, truth be told. I’m sure there could have been some sort o compromise. Also, I liked it better when Martha Kent made the costume from Kal-El’s blanket, but in the film, Jor-El’s computer spirit has it ready for him (conveniently the right size). Last thing about the costume, it has some weird scale texture to it that makes about as much sense nipples on the Batsuit.

Destruction. I was listening to a podcast about this film earlier this week, and the brought up the wanton destruction of both Smallville and Metropolis and how it related to 9/11. I won’t go that far. Personally, I think it is time we stop relating every destroyed city to 9/11. However, I do see the point about how the city was destroyed. A few months ago, I started watching Ultimate Spider-Man (please avoid that show if you know what’s best for you), and in one of the early episodes Nick Fury makes it a major point to tell Spider-Man to keep collateral damage down. Apparently, Superman didn’t get the memo, because he and Zod make such a huge mess that even the clean-up crew from The Incredibles wouldn’t be able to make something sprout from it.

Eat Crowe. I can’t help but wonder if Russell Crowe finagled for this bigger part. Jor-El is always only seen for the first few scenes, and then as a spirit-type a little later. Somehow, we see Crowe almost as much as we see Superman and Lois Lane and for what reason? He’s not doing anything that couldn’t have been just a voice -over from a computer Going even further on that topic, what makes Crowe think that s more deserving of screen time than the Kents, played by Kevin Costner and Diane Lane.

Two halves of the puzzle. This is really two films, if you think about it. The first is the slow-moving origin telling first that makes you want to slit your wrists it is so long and drawn out. The second is the action packed second half of the film. While it doesn’t necessarily tell a story, it does provide for some real entertainment, not to mention it is sure to have you on the edge of your seat.

As summer blockbusters go, Man of Steel is a great addition to the club and is sure to spawn more films featuring Henry Cavill as Superman. I do wish they’d lighten up, but I guess that won’ happen until Christopher Nolan steps away as producer. This is not a perfect film, nor is the best Superman picture to be made, though I am sure some will argue that point, but it is a nice summer blockbuster that you can go escape the heat for a couple of hours. You never know, you might just enjoy yourself. So, what are you waiting for? “It’s a bird…It’s a plane! It’s SUPERMAN!!!”

4 1/2 out of 5 stars

Superman: Unbound

PLOT (spoiler alert!!!):

The opening credits show a montage of Coluan scientist Vril Dox subjecting himself to extensive cybernetic and genetic enhancements, transforming himself into the towering cyborg Brainiac.

Offering herself as a hostage, Lois Lane is caught in an aerial confrontation between her terrorist captors and the unpredictable Supergirl arrives before Superman. Soon after, knowing Superman’s civilian identity, Lois attempts to get Kent to make their relationship public despite his fear of the consequences, but their argument is halted by a Daily Planet staff meeting before Kent leaves when they are being alerted to a meteor. Intercepting it, Superman learns the meteor to be a robot and that he promptly defeats before activating its beacon and taking it to the Fortress of Solitude. With help from a fear-filled Supergirl, Superman learns the robot is actually a drone controlled by a being named Brainiac, who seized and miniaturized Krypton’s capital city of Kandor prior to the planet’s destruction.

Fearing more drones would come, Superman goes flying all through the galaxy in an attempt to track down Brainiac before finding his drones attacking a planet. Though he attempted to stop them, Superman witnesses Brainiac capture the planet’s capital like he did with Kandor before firing a Solar Aggressor missile to have the planet be consumed by the exploding sun. The explosion knocks Superman unconscious and he is brought upon Brainiac’s ship, coming in the examination room and fighting his way through the vessel before he discovers a room full bottled cities prior to being attacked by Brainiac, before. At this point, confirming that he spared Krypton because of its eventual destruction, Brainiac reveals that he has been collecting information of all the planets visited before destroying them. On Earth, Lois learns from Supergirl of why Superman left, and alert the Pentagon for Brainiac’s arrival. Using Superman’s spacecraft, Brainiac decides to attack Earth while sending Superman into Kandor. Inside Kandor, his strength waning due to the artificial red sun, Superman meets his uncle Zor-El and aunt Alura. After spending time with them, Superman formulates a plan and escapes Kandor using the subjugator robots. From there, Superman disables Brainiac’s ship and spirits Kandor to Earth.

However, Brainiac repaired his ship and eventually arrives to Metropolis with everyone, including Supergirl, doing their best to fend them off. But in the end, Metropolis is encased in a bottle and both Superman and Supergirl are captured. Having hooked Superman up to his ship, revealing that Earth offers nothing to him, Brainiac tortures Superman to obtain Kandor before destroying the planet. However, telling his captor what Earth means to him, Superman breaks free and then frees Supergirl and convinces her to stop the Solar-Aggressor from hitting the sun. Remembering Zor-El’s words about Brainiac, Superman knocks him out of the ship and forces him to experience bacteria and micro-organisms among the various chaoses outside his artificial environments he created. Eventually, the strain reaches its toll on Brainiac as he combusts and is reduced to ash and molten machinery. After restoring Metropolis, taking Kandor to another planet to restore it to its normal size and establishing a Kryptonian colony, Superman makes his love life with Lois public as Kent and proposes to her in marriage. However, placed in the Fortress of Solitude, Brainiac’s remains are still active

REVIEW:

It seems that this is to be a Superman weekend as I will be going to see Man of Steel at some point and just finished watching the newest DC Animated Universe release, Superman: Unbound. I’m curious as to which will ultimately be the superior film, though I have my suspicions.

What is this about?

In this animated Man of Steel adventure, Superman has to muster all his physical and mental mettle to save Krypton’s capital city of Kandor, which has been seized and miniaturized by the ruthless android Brainiac.

What did I like?

New blood. Braniac is far from being a new villain. As a matter of fact, outside of Lex Luthor, I do believe he is Superman’s arch-nemesis, and yet in every Superman films, live-action or animated, Lex is always there, but no mention of Braniac (with the exception of a few episodes of the various cartoon series). It was nice to not have even an allusion to Luthor in this film, but to also get a villain that we should see more often, and a bit of his origin, as well.

Fight. I was watching clips of the live action Superman films this morning and one thing was painfully obvious. As good as they are…some say that they still are the gold standard for comic book movies…Superman doesn’t really do anything but fly around saving Lois or Jimmy and whoever else is in trouble, but he never really gets into any action-packed scenes. That isn’t the case here, as he Superman is involved in fist-to-cuffs nearly almost every chance he gets. I guess in animation it is easier to fight than in live-action.

Entrance. We open with Lois as a hostage (big surprise, right?). After some banter with her captors, Supergirl comes in and lays the smacketh down. Just as it seems she’s about to go a bit too far, the big guy shows up. It is one of those scenes that takes your breath away when you see him actually show up. It is a little thing, but the filmmakers did build the tension up a bit before bringing him in, which was a nice touch.

Human. For Kryptonians, it cannot be easy being human, and there are a few scenes where we get that, especially coming from Supergirl, as she feels like a bit of an outcast and that she needs to do something extreme now that she has powers. Typical teenage girl overreacting and all that jazz, you understand. However, Superman manages to be a calming influence on his young cousin (who is actually older than him) through some sage words of wisdom.

What didn’t I like?

Character design. I guess this is some sort of fad and I do not care for it. Yes, I do like anime, but not in non-anime form. The design of these characters didn’t sit well with me. Superman was as muscular as he should be, or at least close to it, but he was a bit more elongated than I would have liked for him to be. I miss the 90s version of him, I suppose. I also had a problem with Lois’ eye color. They sort o made her look evil or possessed.

Love. Early on, there is some strife in the relationship between Clark and Lois. That is, they have a slight argument about her needing to be saved, even from slimy guys in the office that are jus flirting, something that doesn’t seem to sit well with Clark. I know that this is such a tiny thing, but they way they just skimmed over it bothered me. Why even go through all the trouble to go there if you’re not going to delve into it a bit more?

Supergirl. I mentioned earlier how in almost every Superman incarnation we get Lex Luthor. Something that I have noticed about all of Superman’s animated films is that he is never alone. Usually, Batman makes an appearance, but this time they chose to use Supergirl. I don’t have a problem with Supergirl, especially since the way the film plays out, it makes sense for her to be there, but why is it the big guy can’t be in his own film alone?

Voices. John Noble did a great job as Braniac and, while she wouldn’t have my first choice, Stana Katic made for a decent Lois Lane, rivaling the immortal performances given by Dana Delaney in that role. However, Molly Quinn (you may know her as Castle’s daughter from Castle) did nothing for me as Supergirl, which is pretty bad because that is a role that all you have to do is not be annoying and it should work. Also, Matt Bomer does not work as Superman. He has a decent enough voice, but there is a lack of warmth and compassion that one would expect when it comes to the Man of Steel. Interesting side note, or bit of trivia…in the next DC Animated film, Sam Daly will be voicing Superman. His father is Tim Daly, who was the voice of Superman in the 90s cartoons.

All in all, I had a fun time with Superman: Unbound. However, I wasn’t blown away like I expected to be. Sure, this is a decent animated adventure, but it is also quite forgettable. In my heart of hearts, I really wanted to love this film, I really did, but it just didn’t happen. I guess it is worth a viewing or two, but not much else. Check it out, if you’d like.

3 1/2 out of 5 stars

 

The Wild Bunch

PLOT (spoiler alert!!!):

In 1913 Texas, Pike Bishop (William Holden), the leader of a gang of aging outlaws, is seeking retirement with one final score, namely the robbery of a railroad office containing a cache of silver. They are ambushed by Pike’s former partner, Deke Thornton (Robert Ryan), and a posse of bounty hunters hired and deputized by the railroad. Thornton has been released from a Yuma prison to help track down his former comrades in return for a full pardon. A bloody shootout kills several of the gang. The town’s citizens were not warned, and when Pike decides that they will use the Temperance Union parade to shield their getaway, many of the townspeople are killed in the crossfire.

Pike rides off with Dutch Engstrom (Ernest Borgnine), brothers Lyle (Warren Oates) and Tector Gorch (Ben Johnson), and Angel (Jaime Sánchez), the only survivors. They are disappointed when the loot from the robbery turns out to be a decoy instead of silver. The men reunite with old-timer Freddie Sykes (Edmond O’Brien) and head for Mexico.

Pike’s men cross the Rio Grande and take refuge that night in a village where Angel was born, and where the Mexican Revolution has taken its toll. The townsfolk are ruled by a self-styled bandito warlord named Mapache (Emilio Fernández), a general in the Mexican Federal Army, who has been stealing to feed his troops.

In the town of Agua Verde (Spanish for “green water”), a den of debauchery, Pike’s gang makes contact with the general. A jealous Angel spots a former lover in Mapache’s arms and shoots her dead, angering Mapache. Pike defuses the situation and offers to work for Mapache. Their task is to steal a weapons shipment from a U.S. Army train so that Mapache can resupply his troops – and appease Mohr (Fernando Wagner), his German military adviser, who wishes to obtain samples of America’s armament. Their reward will be a cache of gold coins.

Angel gives up his share of the gold to Pike in return for sending one crate of the stolen rifles and ammunition to a band of rebels opposed to Mapache. Other than Dutch Engstrom having to be saved by Angel when he nearly falls under the train’s wheels, the holdup goes as planned until Deke’s posse turns up on the very train the gang has robbed. The posse chases them to the Mexican border, only to be foiled again by an explosive booby trap which blows up a trestle and sends the entire posse into the Rio Grande. They temporarily regroup at a riverside camp and then quickly take off again after the Bunch.

Pike and his men, knowing they risk being double-crossed by Mapache, devise a way of bringing him the stolen weapons – including a Browning M1917 machine gun – without him double-crossing them. However, Mapache learns from the mother of the former lover Angel killed that Angel embezzled a crate of guns and ammo, and reveals this as Angel and Engstrom deliver the last of the weapons. Surrounded by Mapache’s army, Angel desperately tries to escape, only to be captured, betrayed by Engstrom (who ironically calls him a “thief”), and tortured after Engstrom rides back to rejoin Pike’s gang.

Sykes, while securing the gang’s spare horses, is wounded and forced into hiding after another encounter with Deke’s posse. The rest of Pike’s gang returns to Agua Verde for shelter, where a bacchanal celebrating the weapons purchase has commenced; to their disgust, they see Angel is being dragged on the ground by a rope tied behind the General’s car. After a brief assignation and a period of reflection, Pike and the gang try to persuade Mapache to release Angel, barely alive after the torture. The general appears to comply; however, as they watch, the general cuts his throat instead. Pike and the gang angrily gun Mapache down in front of hundreds of his men. For a moment, the Federales are so shocked that they fail to return fire, causing Engstrom to laugh in surprise. Pike calmly takes aim at the German officer and kills him, too. This results in a violent, bloody showdown in which Pike and his men, along with the majority of the Mexican troops present and their German advisors, are killed.

Deke finally catches up. He allows the remaining members of the posse to take the bullet-riddled bodies of the gang members back and collect the reward, while electing to stay behind, knowing what awaits the posse. After a period, Sykes arrives with a band of the previously seen Mexican rebels, who have killed off what’s left of the posse along the way. He asks Deke to come along and join the revolution. Deke smiles and rides off with them.

REVIEW:

It has been brought to my attention that I have been neglecting westerns. The last true, classic western I watched was The Train Robbers, and that was back in January! So, getting back to one of my favorite genres is a film that has been regarded as one of the greatest westerns of all time, The Wild Bunch.

What is this about?

Director Sam Peckinpah’s brilliant 1969 Western epic tells the story of a bunch of aging outlaws, led by Pike Bishop (William Holden), whose botched plans to pull off one last job forces them to collude with a crooked Mexican general (Emilio Fernández) — leading to ugly bloodshed.

What did I like?

Shots. Earlier tonight, I was talking to a friend about how westerns just aren’t the same without a shootout. Well, this one pretty much bookends with epic shootouts, and then throws one in around the halfway point for good measure. I’m a little disappointed that the shootouts weren’t bloodier, but I think I’m a little spoiled by all the Quentin Tarantino influenced pictures I’ve watched of late.

Characters. Most westerns I’ve watched, with the exception of the Eastwood “Man with No Name” trilogy, are pretty black and white when it comes to the characters. There are the good guys and the bad guys. The baddies even have redeemable qualities! With this film, that isn’t quite the case, as these guys are pretty much the scum of the earth, make no qualms about it. If anything, the audience cares less and less about what happens to them.

Hey Vern, it’s Ernest. Like most people. Ernest Borgnine is one of those actors that we know, but he’s been old for so long that we don’t even think that he was a younger actor. If I’ve learned anything from watching these older actors in their younger days, it is that there is a reason they are still around after all these years. Taking a peek into the past gives us some insight as to what aged actors were like in their heyday. Borgnine has always been the grumpy old grandfather and never the action film criminal, as he plays here. Which is better for him? I can’t tell you.

What didn’t I like?

Lost interest. It was hard for me to stay interested in this picture. I have no idea why since the plot is a good one and there is some real nice storytelling going on. Perhaps it was something to do with the mail being delivered late and it just threw off my mood, but I really should have been more into this than I ended up being.

Not so wild. I didn’t really get the sense that these outlaws were as wild as the title indicates. They just seemed like a bunch of guys trying to get a score. Maybe upon a second or third watching I will have a different view on them, but as it stands now, there are wilder bunches of bugs flying outside right now.

I must apologize for the abruptness of this review. As I stated earlier, the mail was late and that not only left me distracted, but a bit biased. That being said, The Wild Bunch is not known as one of the all time greatest westerns for no reason. With its great storytelling and a few awesome shootouts, this is the epitome of what one expects from a western. I highly recommend it!

4 1/4 out of 5 stars

Three Fugitives

PLOT (spoiler alert!!!):

Lucas (Nolte) has been in prison for armed robbery. On the day he is released, he gets taken hostage by Ned Perry (Short), an incompetent, novice criminal who robs a bank (to get money for treatment for his ill daughter, Meg) at the moment Lucas just happens to be there.

Detective Duggan (Jones) assumes they must be in it together and sets about tracking them down. Several chases, an accidental shooting, treatment from a crazy vet and other capers follow, all the while Lucas trying to ditch his idiotic companion and prove his own innocence.

Whilst avoiding the law, the two form an unlikely partnership to help cure the silent Meg and make good their escape. They rescue Meg from the care home she’s in (with Perry nearly ruining the whole affair with his clumsiness) and flee for Canada, pretending to be a married couple with a son.

All appears to end well. However, in the closing scene, Perry enters a Canadian bank to change some currency only to find himself taken hostage by a different bank robber in the same manner he originally kidnapped Lucas. Because of this unexpected development, Lucas does not need to say goodbye to Meg, with whom he has formed a bond.

REVIEW:

Sometimes, you just have to do what you have to do, even if it means pairing up a pair of guys that would not normally be the first in your head to work well together. Three Fugitives combines the talent of stoic Nick Nolte and always funny Martin Short in an effort to recreate the magic formula that worked for Nolte with Eddie Murphy and Nolte in the 48 hrs films.

What is this about?

Fresh out of prison, former stickup man Daniel Lucas (Nick Nolte) finds himself taken hostage at a bank by would-be robber Ned Perry (Martin Short), and the cops — aware of Lucas’s history — naturally assume the two are a team. Before you can say “getaway,” Lucas and Perry are on the run with Perry’s 6-year-old daughter (Sarah Rowland Doroff) along for the ride in director Francis Veber’s fast-paced remake of his French crime caper.

What did I like?

Simple. Par for the course with films in the 80s, there is nothing too terrible complicated about this film. If you’re looking for a deeper meaning in your movies, then this is not the one for you, because the simplistic plot about a guy who is robbing a bank so that he has money to pay rent and just happens to take a hostage who is fresh out of prison could not be more basic. Even the way things play out is pretty basic. Every now and then it is good to just sit back and enjoy a film without having to rack your brain figuring out what is going on.

Chemistry. I cannot get over how well Nolte and Short compliment each other. The chemistry between these two polar opposites is the selling point of this film, especially when you consider the random way they end up meeting. Throw in Short’s young daughter who also has a great rapport with Nolte and the three fugitives will keep your attention, even if the rest of the picture won’t.

Long enough. Perhaps it can be said that the last few acts of the picture were a bit tacked on, and I won’t disagree with that. However, in the grand scheme of things, I found the length to be just right. It wasn’t too short and definitely wasn’t too long.

What didn’t I like?

Vader. James Earl Jones plays some sort of cop who, it is assumed, arrested Nolte’s character and sent him to prison. For the entirety of the film, he is more or less a Wil E. Coyote type. That is to say, at every turn, just when it seems he’s about to catch his man, something goes wrong. Throw in the fact that he seems to think that everything Nolte does is a crime, and you really wonder if there is something wrong with this man. Why, oh why, did they cast a great actor like James Earl Jones in this role. There are plenty of second and third tier actors that could have easily been better suited for it.

Common sense. When Martin Short’s character goes into the bank and takes a hostage, he ends up taking the biggest, meanest looking man in the joint. I realize that was for the purpose of the film, but what sense did that make? It isn’t like Martin Short is a big guy, he’s actually quite tiny, and could have easily been overpowered by just about anyone in that bank, but he just happens to pick the guy fresh out of prison. It just so happens that nothing bad happened to him.

As far as late 80s films go, Three Fugitives is one that many have pushed aside. True, it isn’t the greatest comedy, but it is entertaining, at least. I won’t highly recommend it, but there are sure to be pockets that are more than happy to check this out. If you get the chance give it a shot, it won’t hurt.

3 1/3 out of 5 stars

Warm Bodies

PLOT (spoiler alert!!!):

After a zombie apocalypse, R, a zombie, spends his days wandering around an airport which is now filled with hordes of his fellow undead, including his best friend M. R and M achieve rudimentary communication with grunts and moans and “Eh’s” and occasional near-words. As a zombie, R constantly craves human flesh, especially brains, as he is able to “feel alive” through the memories of their former owners. The zombies travel in packs, moving very slowly, searching for victims to feed on. While out looking for food, R and a pack of zombies find Julie Grigio and a group of her friends, who were sent out by Julie’s father from a heavily-fortified, walled-off human enclave in a nearby city to recover medical supplies from abandoned buildings. R sees Julie and is drawn to her. After being shot in the chest by Julie’s boyfriend, Perry, R kills Perry while Julie is distracted and eats his brain, giving R his thoughts and memories, making his attraction to Julie become even stronger. He rescues Julie from the rest of the pack and takes her back to an airplane he lives in at the airport to keep her safe. The two bond, causing R to slowly begin to come to life. After a few days, Julie gets restless, and tries multiple times to return home, yet attracts swarms of zombies every time, requiring R to rescue her. After fighting off a group of corpses, including M, R decides it is time to start driving back to the humans.

On the way, R reveals to her that he killed Perry, causing her to abandon R and return alone to the human enclave. R begins to make his way back to the airport, heartbroken, but when he sees that M and other zombies are also beginning to show signs of life, but the Bonies are looking for R. So, he and M lead a group to the human enclave, where R sneaks inside the wall. There he meets Julie’s friend Nora, who is initially shocked. When R reveals the other corpses have also been coming back to life, the three of them attempt to tell Colonel Grigio, Julie’s father and leader of the survivors. Colonel Grigio, however, refuses to believe corpses can change and threatens to kill R. Julie and R escape to a baseball stadium where the rest of R’s group is waiting, but find themselves under attack by a horde of skeletal zombies (also known as Bonies) who have irretrievably lost all traces of humanity, and are set on killing and eating anything with a heartbeat, which now includes R and his friends.

Julie and R run from the Bonies, finding themselves trapped. Taking the only escape route, R jumps with Julie into a pool far below, shielding her from the impact. After Julie pulls R from the bottom of the pool, they kiss passionately – and this triggers R to become fully revived. On finding them, Colonel Grigio shoots R in the shoulder and causes him to bleed, which proves he is fully revived. The humans and zombies combine forces and kill the Bonies while the rest die off, and the zombies slowly assimilate into human society. Soon after, the human population destroys the walls surrounding the human society, creating a life for both humans and reanimated corpses much like the days before the apocalypse. The film ends with a now fully alive R and Julie watching a wall surrounding the city being blown down, signifying the end of the apocalypse.

REVIEW:

Now that the horror of the Twilight franchise has ended, it is time to find the next teen novel that will become a worldwide sensation. The first attempt at this is film version of a novel by Isaac Marion, Warm Bodies. Regardless of what I ultimately think of this film, I find the idea of zombies that are brought back to life by the power of love much more interesting than brooding, sparkly vampires and teddy bear wolves fighting over a girl who really isn’t that attractive.

What is this about?

After eating a young man’s brains and absorbing the memories within, a freshly dead zombie falls in love with his victim’s girlfriend. Saving her from the wrath of his cohorts, the zombie whisks the girl away to his lair and attempts to woo her.

What did I like?

Supernatural. A couple of years ago, it seems like all we saw were vampires and werewolves, with vampires in the majority. Then, The Walking Dead started and zombies became the monster du jour. Here the rub, though, with vampires and werewolves, there is only so much you can do with them, but zombies have a bit more leeway with their mythology, as we can see with the zombies here in this film. They aren’t totally brain-dead, and brain eating, automatons, but rather seem to have thoughts and eventually heart and personalities. These are traits that haven’t been the norm with the zombies we have become accustomed to in other media.

Don’t kiss the girl. I may be in the minority here, but the fact that there isn’t any kissing between zombies and humans worked a whole better for me and the story. Seriously, who would want to see super hot Teresa Palmer with a zombie’s tongue down her throat? That just doesn’t seem like it would be the greatest site in the world, if you ask me. Thankfully, they held off until certain parts of the plot play out before they get to the kissing.

Blood. Usually with zombies, blood and gore is par for the course, but not this time. I don’t believe a drop of blood was spilled in the entire film. There is a conflict between the zombies and humans, and a battle, but even during that we get no spilled blood. Did I think there should have been? Perhaps, but it didn’t take anything away from the film to not have the streets running red with rivers of blood.

What didn’t I like?

Sappy. The love story here is a tad bit on the sappy side, if you think about it. What else can you say about a girl who falls in love with a zombie and more or less brings about the re-animation of all the non-boney zombies. I  realize the whole point of this picture is to be one of those sappy teen romances and everything, but it just seemed as if they upped the ante on the schmaltz factor.

Boneys. I have two issues with the boneys. First, it seems to me that they are the equivalent of the jocks at school. That isn’t to say they were the athletic type, but rather than they sat back and watched until it was time to do something, and then they only did it because it helped their image. The other issue I have is with their design. Boneys are basically walking skeletons. Call me spoiled or a purist, but the CGI didn’t work as well as Ray Herryhausen’s stop motion magic. It would have been nice to see that technique used. Anything is better than crappy CGI.

La Resistance. The human resistance, or whatever they called themselves, led by John Malkovich didn’t work for me. They came off as just a convenient way to have the zombies fight humans and provide another complication to the love angle between our leads. Maybe it was the attempted Romeo & Juliet angle that the film seemed to be hinting at, but these humans just seemed to be thrown in at the last minute because they were able to put them in there.

With a title like Warm Bodies, I was expecting to come away with a warm, fuzzy feeling. That didn’t happen, but please don’t think that makes this a bad film. If nothing else, this flick shows us that not all teen dramas have to be brooding and depressing, but can be rather sweet and tell a good story. Hopefully, this will open the door for more similar films. I recommend this very highly, in case you were wondering.

3 3/4 out of 5 stars

The Purge

PLOT (spoiler alert!!!):

In 2022, the United States is a nation reborn ruled by the New Founding Fathers of America. To maintain low crime and unemployment rates throughout the year, the government has installed an annual twelve-hour period called “The Purge” during which all criminal activity, including murder, becomes legal. The only rules during The Purge are that “Level 10″ government officials must remain unharmed and usage of weaponry above “Class 4″ is forbidden. The Purge is designed to act as a catharsis for the American people, so that they may vent all negative emotions however they desire.

James Sandin (Ethan Hawke) is a wealthy home security developer. At home, Mary Sandin (Lena Headey) struggles with her two children: teenage Zoey (Adelaide Kane) is dating an older boy named Henry (Tony Oller), while Charlie (Max Burkholder) questions the need for the Purge. Mary speaks to her excitable neighbor, Grace Ferrin (Arija Bareikis), who explains that they aren’t having their annual “purge party”. When James arrives home, the family discusses why the Purge is an important part of society.

After dinner, Charlie fixes a remote controlled device he uses to film events around the house. The family gathers in the lounge where James initiates the lockdown, shielding all the windows and doors, and is able to witness the events of the Purge via television screens. An official automated Government announcement is broadcasted, and sirens are sounded outside, announcing the start of The Purge. The broadcast explains that all emergency services will be suspended in the 12 hour period. Zoey asks to be excused to her bedroom, where she finds Henry, who sneaked into the house before the lockdown. Henry tells Zoey he wishes to convince James to allow him and Zoey to continue seeing each other.

James and the family watch the events of the Purge unfold via video monitors in the lounge. However, Charlie notices a bloodied and beaten stranger (Edwin Hodge) pleading for help outside the house and lets him in by deactivating the security system. James holds the stranger at gunpoint, and at the same time Henry reveals himself and attempts to shoot James. James shoots Henry, but the stranger escapes into hiding within the house in the confusion while Zoey runs away with the dying Henry. Henry dies from wounds inflicted by James. James leaves the lounge in search of Zoey and the stranger.

Well-dressed, masked hunters (who appear to be rich college/prep school students) trace the stranger to the Sandin’s home and address an ultimatum to the family through the surveillance system: hand the stranger over, their target, within the hour or they will break into the house and murder everyone inside. Using his remote controlled device, Charlie finds the stranger and leads him to a secret hiding place, where he won’t be found by his parents. Zoey inadvertently stumbles onto the hiding place and is held at gunpoint by the stranger, but is freed after a brief struggle. James and Mary tie up the stranger, who is shown wearing dog tags and are prepared to give them to the vigilantes but have a change of heart when realizing that they are becoming essentially no different than the Purge murderers.

The hunters successfully break into the household. The Sandins are forced into a siege to defend the house, culminating in them killing many of the intruders. The leader of the group (Rhys Wakefield) fatally stabs James with a machete but, in turn, is shot and killed by Zoey as the neighbors finish off the remaining intruders. However, the neighbors reveal they are there to kill the Sandins; in the theme of the Purge, since the opportunity presented itself, they decided it was their patriotic duty to kill the Sandins in order to vent their hatred for the family’s new found wealth.

Just as the neighbors are about to kill the family, the bloodied stranger comes to the Sandins’ aid, killing one of them. Mary is given the choice to have the other four killed, however decides to not let the Purge continue and decides to spare her neighbors, as too many people have died during the night. Grace makes one final attempt to kill Mary, but Mary deflects the attack and smashes her face into a glass table. With Grace heavily bleeding out of a broken nose, the surviving neighbors and the homeless stranger leave the house and walk away as sirens signal the end of the 12-hour Purge period. The Sandin family watch the emergency services arrive outside of their home.

The credits include audio from television broadcasts, stating that this Purge was the most successful Purge ever due to the record high number of murders. It is also stated that the Purge will happen again as normal next year.

REVIEW:

With all the strife and negative feelings going on in the country right now, one has to wonder if having an annual purge to rid us all of the negative aspects of our society would be a good thing. The Purge dares to show us what would happen I such a thing were to happen, and yet I can imagine there are some out there that will still be pushing for this to become a reality.

What is this about?

In a crime-ridden future when overtaxed cops let murder and other crimes rule the streets one night a year, someone’s knocking at James Sandin’s door. Tormented by an unknown thrill-killer, Sandin makes a desperate stand to save his wife and family.

What did I like?

Consequences. With every action, there has to be consequences. As you can imagine, with a de facto “holiday” set aside to purge the country of whatever they think is wrong, there is sure to be some casualties that aren’t needed. Some films would take this gloss over it, but in this case, this movie shows us the consequences o having such actions. I can’t be for certain, but that sort of felt like a warning to any that might be considering this as some sort of way of life.

Violence. Given the premise that one day out of the year, people can legally go around murdering willy-nilly, one would have expected this to turn out as a more violent outing. However, the bloody murders don’t happen until all hell breaks loose in the last 30 minutes or so. I applaud how they were restrained and didn’t turn this into some sort of slasher flick, though I’m sure there are those out there who would have preferred it that way.

Heart. As someone with a huge heart, I have to say that the son who opened the security system to let in the stranger wasn’t necessarily in the wrong, especially considering how he appeared to be bloody and beaten. Sure, you can make the case that he is a stranger, could be a psycho, blah, blah, blah, but look at it through the boy’s eyes. He obviously is not a fan of what he knows about the purge and was looking for a way to help someone. Can you honestly sit there and fault him for being a good Samaritan?

What didn’t I like?

Hunt. I am not a fan of these people thinking that they are entitled to hunt a human being, even if their “prey” is given sanctuary. They were so intent on coming after this guy that they were going to kill a family and destroy their home to get him. Something about that just doesn’t sit right with me, I’m sorry. I guess in the near future society will have downgraded to near savagery.

Predictable. I was expecting there to be something that  we couldn’t see coming from a mile a way happen, but that never occurred. As a matter of fact, it was like the picture wanted to go somewhere new, but the writers got scared and fell into the trap of predictability. To a point, this is alright, but at some point, films are going to have to do something different and not what we expect. For instance, the daughter could have ended up being the ring leader of these “purgers” and just as she was about to murder her family, the son’s robot manages to stop her somehow, probably through electrocution…hell, I don’t know, but you get the idea of what I’m saying with doing something new.

Founding Fathers. We kept hearing about the new founding fathers, but never learned who they were or what happened between present day and the time this film is set. I cannot help but be curious as to what caused these guys to start the purge and, even more importantly, how are they called the “founding fathers”? Is what they did as important as say a George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin, etc.?

This morning I was reading how The Purge is actually winning the box-office battle, which is quite surprising when you consider this is a fairly low-budget thriller going up against big budget blockbusters. Now, with Man of Steel and Monsters University on the horizon the next couple of weeks, I highly doubt this will stay up there that long. That being said, this is one of those films that you should watch, even if this isn’t your genre. You will be on the edge of your seat waiting to see what happens next.

4 out of 5 stars

Foodfight!

PLOT:

Foodfight! takes place in the supermarket at night after everyone has left. The grocery store transforms into a city, and from every door of this city comes two types of characters: well-known marketing icons and new characters, including Dex Dogtective (Charlie Sheen), Sunshine Goodness (Hilary Duff) and Daredevil Dan (Wayne Brady). They all hang out at the Copa-Banana in the produce section. Soon, Brand X moves into town, and Lady X (Eva Longoria) and her minions try to take over The animated icons and fictional characters of products — like Mr. Clean and Charlie the Tuna — fight the evil “Brand X”.

REVIEW:

Apparently, there is a new fad that involves brand recognition, or some reasonable facsimile, as this is the second film that revolves around brands that I’ve watched recently. The first being Branded. Foodfight! is a far cry from that so-called movie, but there really isn’t much to brag about here.

What is this about?

Late at night, a regular supermarket turns into a thriving city in this charming animated tale. Dex Dogtective (voiced by Charlie Sheen), Daredevil Dan (voiced by Wayne Brady) and Sunshine Goodness (voiced by Hilary Duff) hang out at the Copa-Banana, the hottest nightclub in the produce section. But when Lady X (voiced by Eva Longoria) and her evil minions try to take over, it looks as if the residents of Marketopolis are headed for a food fight.

What did I like?

Icons. Although we haven’t seen them in what seems like forever, it was great to see some of iconic, um, icons. Mr. Clean, Charlie the Tuna, Twinkie the Kid, Mrs. Butterworth, etc., but the true highlight for me was seeing the California Raisins again. I loved them when I was growing up, and I truly believe they are one of the main reasons I like raisins so much. I do wish they would have played more of a major role in the proceedings.

What didn’t I like?

Animation. I bitch and moan about computer animation like it is no one’s business, but films from Pixar, DreamWorks, and the like all have at least a decent, streamlined look to them. The animation here just seemed a bit more pedestrian than any feature length-film (I believe this went straight-to-DVD, though). I know that this was postponed from 2003 to 2012, but take a look at two animated films that came out around the time, or before, this was released, Toy Story and Shrek, and it really makes no sense that this animation should look like some second-rate educational cartoon.

Adult. There is a problem with the theme/tone of this picture. On the one hand, it seems to be leaning toward being kid-friendly, but then we get an overly sexualized Lady X (who appeared to be channeling Jessica Rabbit). If they wanted this to be more adult-oriented, then they should have gone that route, rather than dumming this down the way they seem to have done.

Character design. I was not a fan of two characters in particular, Daredevil Dan and Sunshine Goodness. With Dan, he appeared to be some sort of squirrel/beaver hybrid with possibly some monkey genes spliced in there for good measure. Perhaps this was done to appeal to the kids, but I wasn’t a fan. As far as Sunshine goes, I didn’t get why she looked like a reject from Thundercats. If they wanted to make her human, then she should have been human. If they wanted to make her a cat, then she should have been a cat. It isn’t rocket science, people! There really was no purpose served by making her some sort of odd mutant creature.

One-liners. Puns and jokes are fine with me, no matter what. However, the constant stream of one-liners that plagues this picture was just too much. One or two would have been fine, but they kept coming and coming and coming!

I was telling someone earlier this evening that it appears Wednesday has become horrible movie night. Foodfight! actually has a story that could have been made into something worthwhile, but instead it was just this cheap amalgamation of factors that don’t work. How this got made is beyond me. I think it is best that you avoid this film at all costs. No, I take that back. Just forget that it even exists. I went through the torture of sitting through it for you…ugh!

2 out 5 of stars