Hacksaw Ridge

This is an extraordinary story. Hence the PURR. If it were not an extraordinary story--by which I mean, literally, the story; not the script nor the movie made therefrom--then by any standard this film would be run-of-the-mill and not worthy of such high marks. What's the problem? Probably director Mel Gibson, whose moviemaking acumen seems to have failed him here. So much of this presentation is so self-consciously standard for a war movie. For instance, the saccharine, almost silly narrative of Desmond Doss' courtship of his eventual wife; the stock and trade, almost cut-out characterizations of the Army officers who are so not accepting of Doss' unusual "terms of service," and their eventual reversal; and the hyper-dramatic moment when the young man's father--who up till then has been portrayed as simply a drunk, damaged, and violet veteran--saves his son from a court-martial through an intervention scene complete with portentous yet wooden lines of dialogue. All of these are story elements that have had their parallels in dozens of WWII dramas. Even the battle scenes--which everyone supposedly does brilliantly these days--feature just a few too overly cinematic shots of soldiers getting blown backwards in almost balletic arcs through the air. So there's a lot going against this film. Why, then, the positive review? Because Doss' story is amazing, astounding, and apparently 100% true. And it retains a power that no amount of cinematic cliches can lessen. It's a story that deserves to be told, and thanks to Andrew Garfield's tenacious commitment to the role, the core of that story is well represented here. It's worth it for that alone.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Boy is this thing bloated. As if there were any doubt, this shows that this is a story that could easily have been told in one movie; perhaps a long movie, to get every rich detail, but one movie nevertheless. Instead, out of obvious and pure greed, the producers decided to stretch the thing out into three movies, mostly by stuffing into the proceedings every drop of backstory and subtext that could be mined from Tolkien’s original tale. The burdens of that approach are apparent: a great deal of expansion on the tangential concern about the Necromancer (Sauron, for those who only saw the previous movies), none of which matches the tone of the actual, by-the-book story at all. The resulting film is discordant and needlessly uneven. But, then again, there are moments of brilliance here: the Riddles in the Dark episode is flawlessly presented, and the (first) rescue by the eagles is an amazing sequence. There’s no point in denying yourself, if you’re a fan; go ahead and watch this flick (and the upcoming two). Just don’t reward the greed by spending a dime on it; get the disc from the damn library.

Cloud Atlas

What the hell was that? If you can coherently answer that question, I guess you’re more intelligent than me. I’m a long way away from figuring out the point of this exercise, and that ‘MEOW’ rating is perilously close to the damning HISS! And yet...I must say, though I didn’t understand it, I didn’t ever really want to stop watching it, either. There was enough weird interest woven within this mess to keep it, in at least some respects, compelling. Perhaps the generosity comes from a number of good actors making the best of what they had, or maybe it comes from a desire to recognize the risk-taking that this film represents; at least someone tried to do something different. But for most folks, the "story salad" will be too difficult to follow, as the interconnections (apart from the actors) are too opaque to strike any real sparks of recognition and synthesis. All in all, a noble failure.

V For Vendetta

Better than I thought it would be. For once, here's a movie in the comic book genre--excuse me, graphic novel genre--that doesn't suffer from the comic book curse. It wears the genre's conventions without dissolving into absurdity. The script is smart, the cast contains lots of classy actors, the action is impressive without going over the top--this one delivers what it promises.

Happy Feet

Somewhat impressive, somewhat stupid. That doesn't help, I know, but I'm not quite sure what to make of this movie. The stuff about the plight of the natural world at the hands of man is effective and moving, to be sure, but the story and songbook used here are a dumb way to go about presenting that viewpoint. Maybe this is what it takes to drive the point home to the mall crowd. Who knows? For the rest of us, this one can only be a mixed bag.

The Matrix Revolutions

Almost a PURR, but it's not quite that good. The story, particularly in the early part, is too muddled; it clears itself up in the end, but not much new is added to the tableau. On more positive notes, the visuals are phenomenal (naturally), the conclusion comes with some unexpected twists, and some of the philosophy is more clearly expressed (and actually fits in the movie, giving the story's thought-provoking dimensions). And the final confrontation even evokes something of Ragnarök--a nice touch for us mythology fans. Final analysis: not great, but nothing to be ashamed of.

The Matrix Reloaded

Hard to believe the hippest movie on the planet features a hero who spends most of his time wearing a dress. Sartorial disasters aside, this installment has its moments--some entertaining, some audacious--but not enough of them. As I said years ago, there was really not much more to say after the first movie; they probably should have quit while they were ahead. And don't bother spending brain cells on the philosophical ramblings, unless you get your jollies from tautologies.