Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1

You know why these books were so popular? They were fun. At least, for the most part they were fun. This movie? Not fun. Not saying “bad,” but emphatically not fun. This is more like watching The Revenant, or maybe even A Boy and His Dog, than watching a big-budget, tentpole fantasy production. That makes evaluating this entry in the series a bit of a puzzle. Again, it’s not bad, but it is so far away from where the saga started that you can’t help but feel that the rug has been, if not pulled out from under you, then at least shifted while you were standing on it. The dark turn of the story was inevitable, one supposes, given the tale's very linear plot; there really was no other way to go. The rapidly-aging kids do a good job with the difficult material, and the presentation is well done all around, yet this film ultimately leaves this viewer, at least, feeling like the ride he's getting is not the one he wanted. We know where it’s all going, of course, and perhaps the last act will ultimately be redeeming—will pull off the ultimate trick, as it were. 

I Capture the Castle

Sweet and charming, if not all conquering. The greatest strength here is the performances, particularly from lead Romola Garai, who is thoroughly appealing in her role as narrator and lead character in a coming of age story that runs the full gamut of firsts. Rose Byrne and Henry Thomas are also good in supporting roles, the former as the pretty and vivacious older sister who is the object of everyone’s passion—well, almost everyone—while the latter provides a strong, understated performance that demonstrates that the talent he displayed in early roles was no fluke. Just as important to the appeal of the film is the English (or rather, Welsh) country setting, including an actual castle, which lends everything an air that is rustic, archaic and mildly magical all at the same time. The only quibble here is that the tale sinks into a bit too much heaviness towards the end; that weight dulls the sense of delight that permeates the rest of the story, though I suppose heartbreak is life’s invariable, inevitable result. Overall, the fun and charm are enough to achieve victory. To the winsome go the spoils. 

The Wild Robot

The hype that surrounded this film upon release does it a disservice. While it does look good from a visual standpoint, it’s nothing so great that audiences can be truly wowed by it. Seemingly, we have reached the limit of animation's state-of-the-art, at least as far as realism or naturalism in motion or appearance goes. You can’t get more real than reality. So the visual side of this flick only takes the viewer so far. Then the story has to do the rest of the work, and here that story is surprisingly mundane and reliant upon familiar tropes, if not outright cliches. It’s cute and occasionally funny, but, again, it is hardly groundbreaking, and in some instances—particularly the ending—it is mildly disappointing and even somewhat baffling. Indeed, much of the story’s setup had me asking questions—Is this supposed to be the far future? A different planet?—that only served to distract me during the early scenes. I wouldn’t call this movie bad by any stretch, but as noted, it isn’t exactly paradigm-shattering either. Like most animation that comes out of the major studios today—at least in this country—this will satisfy children, but leave the rest of us wishing for more. That seems to be the plan most of the time. Task partly, but by no means totally, completed. 

Wrath of the Titans

There may be a class-action case in the title here: technically, there's only one titan present in this tale, Kronos. That's one of the minor quibbles with this flick. That in and of itself is a surprise, as this work exceeds the standards of its predecessor. There's the usual dose of professional CGI work in the monsters and battle scenes, but there's also some real plot at work in this story, including good symmetry in the interactions of multiple father-son storylines. There is, dare I say it, some pathos included with the blow-shit-up sensibility typical of these swords-and-sorcery flicks. The eye-candy factor is lessened here, though Rosamund Pike gamely tries to hold up her end of the bargain. Still, this was one sequel that turned out surprisingly good, from what seemed like unpromising potential, so it definitely deserves some props for that. Like the Greeks, I have a word for it: goodenough.

Notes on a Scandal

I can imagine many viewers seeing this film and thinking its story is almost unbelievable. Hardly. The strength of this movie is its keen perception of the nature of the human animal--we do what we can do, and not in a good, first-responder "we're doing all we can" way. The animal does what it can get away with, mostly, and this story is largely about that, presenting that fact in a way that's searingly honest throughout. The screenplay is smart if not exceptional, and Dench and Blanchett present the kinds of performances you expect as routine from two such fine actresses, while most of the rest of the cast is good but fairly standard. I wouldn't say this is an all-time great, but it's certainly worth a look as a good film, and as a portrait of human nature.

I, Frankenstein

You know why we love movies? Because it's in movies where a smokin'-hot, blonde, twentysomething chick can be a world renowned scientist. Yeah, this is that kind of movie. Not necessarily a bad movie; it's certainly watchable enough. But it aims for low-hanging fruit, so it isn't really a win when it gets a handle on anything. The pluses are some good actors who don't particularly shame themselves, and the fact that the writers get a lot of the backstory right. (Attention to detail matters, folks.) And the silliness isn't so silly that you can't just hand-wave it away and get on with watching the flick. Also, brevity helps. The downsides are the aforementioned silliness, plus the musical choices. (Movies like this are like a jobs program for heavy metal bands.) Overall, the balance sheet barely reaches up toward the positive. Not worthy of a PURR, but hey, it could have been much, much worse.

Rango

Yeah, OK, I can see it. I mean, there’s nothing super profound here, but you do get an entertaining animated movie that has some good laughs, fine visuals (including some nicely clever visual references), and a relatively standard though still compelling Western style story line. I’ve seen worse stuff tossed out there under the cynical, “you’ll watch anything animated” philosophy; this film rises above that. Worth a look.

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

The strength here lies in the actors and the characters they bring alive for the viewer. Dench, Nighy, and Wilkinson shine as the most compelling members of the very far from home retiree group; the audience’s bond with those three characters serves to pull the movie through to a status almost as lofty as its exalted title. Otherwise, the local cast contributes little to the proceedings, and the vaguely formulaic climax would hardly serve a less accomplished troupe of actors. But the charm and talent win out in the end, both for the characters and the viewers, making the trip ultimately worth the inconveniences.

Pirate Radio

This film starts off with an unfair advantage: the soundtrack, evident from the opening credits, is so good, so infectious, that the movie opens holding a reservoir of audience goodwill before it does anything to earn it. But a great story, told simply yet very well, and rollicking work from a delightful cast (all of whom seem to be having a fabulous time with every scene) ultimately pay off that debt and balance the books well into the positive by the end.

Valkyrie

A good story, a great cast giving fine, professional performances, and some artful storytelling make this worth the ride. Oh, yeah, and it also offers everybody's favorite movie stars: Nazis! Enjoy.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Weird. All the jokes are there, almost word for word, yet everything is strangely flat and not nearly as funny as it was on the page. The story starts out faithful, but veers off in some weird directions before coming to an ending which is profoundly false vis-a-vis the books. At least they got the visuals right, and some of the spirit remains. Not worth paying to see, but a forgivable effort. Let your taste for comedic sci-fi be your guide.