DEVERGENT

Nine Things about the Movie “Divergent”

1. This film is based on the first book of the popular young adult trilogy of novels.

2. If you haven’t noticed, contemporary young adult stories typically follow a set formula - an innocent kid joins a larger society and must be categorized. But then the kid discovers they are “special”, which causes problems for the society, and the kid must lose their innocence to survive in a dangerous world . Some recent examples are “The Hunger Games”, “Ender’s Game”, and the Harry Potter series. “Divergent” sticks to that exact same formula.

3. Just because you have seen this basic story multiple times does not mean the movie is bad. These kinds of stories are popular because it is the archetypal “hero’s journey” myth, and, if they are well-made, hit a nerve with us. Such movies can sometimes become classics - “The Wizard of Oz”, “The Lord of the Rings” and “Star Wars” are other, older examples of pretty much the exact same story.

4. Thankfully, “Divergent” is well done, and holds its own among its cinematic peers. It’s about a girl named Tris who takes a test (kind of like Harry Potter’s “sorting hat” or Ender’s training monitor) to discover which of five distinct factions she will become a member of (like Hogwart’s Houses or the Zones in “The Hunger Games”). But she is so special that the test breaks, and nobody knows what to do with her (like all the stories I just mentioned). So she must trust her gut and decide in secret.

4. Tris chooses her faction and begins her training, but she’s so gifted that she draws attention to herself, not only from her fellow classmates, but from her hunky instructor, too. And the leaders of another faction, who have controversial political aspirations.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2

2012’s The Amazing Spider-Man, released 10 years after the Sam Raimi original, left fans split – some felt the love story was too strong, others (such as myself) loved Andrew Garfield’s version of Peter Parker and Spider-Man, resulting in what I felt was the best Spider-Man movie yet – just behind 2004’s Spider-Man 2. Now, 10 years after that momentous sequel, director Marc Webb and leads Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone (Gwen Stacy) have returned to kick off the Summer 2014 movie season with The Amazing Spider-Man 2.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 kicks off where the first left off, with Peter struggling with his feelings for Gwen Stacy – given that he promised her dying father that he’d leave her out of his superhero lifestyle. He’s never been better as Spider-Man, though, nor has the film, giving our first glimpse of the web crawler in action in a fun, hysterical chase scene through the New York City streets. Spidey inserts himself into a conflict between a few dozen cop cars, a Russian gang (lead by Aleksei Sytsevich, played by a scenery chewing Paul Giamatti) and oh yeah, a bunch of stolen plutonium. This sequence bops and weaves, is incredibly exciting, and gets you into a good groove for the film.

The biggest problem? It’s not actually how the movie starts. Instead, viewers are thrust first into an extremely tedious sequence featuring Peter’s parents, Richard and Mary Parker, showcasing what happened when they left Peter with his Aunt May and Uncle Ben, as they attempt to leave the country and have things go terribly wrong on their airplane – thanks to OsCorp, naturally.

It’s the juxtaposition between these scenes that showcases the core issue of the film – when left to the devices of being a pure Spider-Man movie, it’s pure enjoyment and excitement – but the film tosses away all goodwill by tying in the big “Parker/Oscorp” conspiracy that is – for some reason – becoming the focus of this series.

One of the elements which I’ve always loved about the world of Spider-Man is how anyone can become anything, by chance. Peter was randomly bit by a spider, and goes from social outcast to hero (or menace, depending on your perspective). Scientists, reporters, movie effects operators, your friend’s dad – they can all go wrong and become your worst enemy.

Instead here, everything – and I mean everything - is about OsCorp.

Take our villains, for example. Jamie Foxx’s Max Dillion, brought to us by way of Jim Carrey’s version of Edward Nigma in Batman Forever, works for OsCorp, is screwed over by OsCorp (specifically by yet another classic Spider-Man villain, in name at least), falls into a vat of OsCorp electric eels, and becomes the electrifying Electro. And it’s pretty obvious that Harry Osborn – played by Dane DeHaan, who brings the same creepy greatness that made him perfect in Chronicle - has to come from the OsCorp cloth, so I’m not going rest any blame there.

Instead, I’m left with many questions – Why is Norman Osborn in literally one scene? Why is OsCorp run by so many evil white dudes? And most importantly – why does OsCorp need to be the cause of every single villain in Peter’s life?

X-MEN:DAYS OF FUTURE PAST

I thought X-MEN:DAYS OF FUTURE PAST was the best of the X-Men movies because:

It truly captures the essence of who the X-Men are: the down and dirty combat grunts of the comic book universe. While The Avengers and the JLA are made up of world beaters who come together to fight some universe threatening evil, the X-Men consist of scrappy misfits, many with working class origins and neurotic personalities. They band together because no one else will have them,then bicker, fight, and feud like a true family. Professor X and Magneto can be bitter enemies, but they are also brothers and patriarchs over a large brood, with Wolverine only the first of many difficult children.

DAYS OF FUTURE PAST has a perfectly convoluted plot that unites the X-Men universes of the first three movies and Matthew Vaughn's FIRST CLASS which was set back in the early 1960's. Thus we have Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellan back as the originals, along with their earlier counterparts, James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender, in the roles of Professor X and Magneto. The movie begins in a hellish future ruled by the Sentinels, killing machines capable of hunting down anyone with even slightest trace of the mutant gene, where there is a handful of surviving mutants led by a now reconciled Professor X and Magneto.

TE RAID 2: BERANDAL

THE RAID 2

WARNING: After watching this movie, you will find that every other action movie you watch will be extremely boring in comparison. If you liked The Raid 1, then this one is basically 5x more intense! It features one of the greatest fight scenes I've ever seen in my life (I was literally shaking and on the edge of my seat while watching it), the greatest car chase scene I've ever witnessed, and probably some of the most violent and cringe-worthy moments all nicely packaged within this one great movie.

If you are a fan of Tarantino films, this film has many aspects that are very Tarantino-esque, especially when all hell breaks loose midway through the movie. I just hope the Blu-Ray has many extras as this is one of my most favorite films of all time.

NOTE: You DO NOT "need" to watch The Raid 1, to follow the storyline. This movie holds up perfectly well by itself.

IRON MAN 3

Iron Man 3

Let me start by saying that I can understand why there are a lot of split opinions about IRON MAN 3. It's a film full of misdirection and deceptions, and I was a little distressed by a couple of them - which would give away too much to detail here. Suffice it to say that there were a couple of moments I felt somewhat cheated; and though I'll be vague about it I can say it involved Mandarin. Still, read on; while I gave the movie four stars, I believe down the road I might very well revise this to a five. I'll explain...

First of all, rest assured there is A LOT of action. And there are a lot of the Iron Suits, too...it's just that Tony Stark isn't often the one IN the suit. I found myself often frustrated by that fact: Iron Man interruptus, if you will. Either the suits were off on their own, or they were on other people, or they weren't working properly...something that seemed to occur almost constantly.

I saw it in Imax 3D, and it was well worth the extra $$ to do so (given the fact that $17 is a RIDICULOUS price for a movie ticket in the first place). The movie was lush, packed with detail, and continuously drew me "inside" it. The scenes of (don't panic about spoilers - these are in ALL the promos) Stark's house exploding and falling into the sea are meticulously crafted and extremely inclusive...I really felt the dimensional layers as the house was blown apart: I could feel the force of the detonation, and house collapsing, and the impact of the sea as the house AND Iron Man tumbled into it. Similarly, the moments where his suit fly through the air and "find" him, or the death-defying scenes aboard (and outside) Air Force One, and so many others throughout the film really do feel like you're there.

When it comes to the action you'd expect from a movie such as this, IRON MAN 3 is a rollicking, smash-mouth treat. Director Shane Black - whose only previous directorial role was on Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (which ironically served as Robert Downey, Jr.'s comeback film) - does a more-than-capable job, and the characters and events are big and loud. You'll feel like you are on a roller-coaster; while there are of course moments of crazy adrenaline rushes, there are also emotional ups and down. But Tony Stark is just as glib as always, causing almost as much damage with his mouth as he does as with his armor. I laughed a lot during the movie ... for those who care, Tony's mechanical manservant JARVIS (the voice of Paul Bettany) gets a good deal of air play here, and he's just as lovably bumbling as always.

Yet - and remember my dichotomy about this - the movie really focuses on Tony Stark OUTSIDE the suit. I wish the promos had clued me into this: our man Tony is experiencing Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder because of what happened in The Avengers. Had I been informed of that I wouldn't have felt slighted, and I think it would have better prepared me for this movie. I found myself constantly disappointed, even cheated, by the absence of Tony WITHIN the suit. I realize now that was the only way I felt Iron man was indeed Iron Man. Yet I will declare that now, looking back, I feel good about the movie, and I'm glad to have seen Tony as a more "real" person, as a more human man, a man undergoing a metamorphosis.

There are other things about this movie that surprised me - and I'm sure will surprise you - that I will NOT tell you. Just realize that while this is a very action-packed movie, it is also a personal one. It's this kind of writing that has typified the action movies of today, making them stand out above their "super-hero" predecessors. Like the The Dark Knight movies of Chris Nolan, these new, and better, powerhouse films are focusing on their heroes' moments of personal growth, warts and all. It's a trend I'm really happy to see.