Movies That I Haven't Seen But Should Have - Part 7: Super Powers

There are a lot of movies I'm ashamed to admit I've never seen. But rather than pretend I've seen them or change the subject when they’re mentioned, I've decided to share them with you. These films that are cult classics or masterpieces that I have missed or avoided, I am sitting down to review. Today's film is the most recent in this series of unwatched must-sees. Released this very year, it takes a few different genre's and turns them on my head. High school flick, superheroes, teenage drama, psycho thriller, found footage, there's a whole range of film aspects that get played with. This is Chronicle.

The story of three teenagers, hopeful politician Steve (Michael B. Jordan), abused and unloved Andrew (Dane DeHaan), and Andrew's cousin, Matt (Alex Russell), who stumble across a hole in the ground which is home to, what seems to be, an alien relic. Andrew, fortunately for all, has recently decided to film everything - mostly due to his alcoholic father (Michael Kelly) and bullies at school. After documenting the finding of the relic, Andrew continues to film as the three boys discover they have powers that give them the ability to move things with their mind and even fly. But this is a realistic view on three rowdy kids developing power. They do not consider the concept of saving the world or doing good - who would? They do what any normal person would do: compete against each other to see who is the strongest and have some fun screwing with society. Like always, things get pushed, boundaries get overstepped, people change. How will they manage to stay strong as a trio before their powers overtake them?

Their powers allow them to build with Lego.
Let's see Superman do that.

Irritatingly, it is hard to describe the acting without getting into the realms of spoilers. However, as always, this blog promises to be as spoiler free as possible. Found footage films have a difficulty in terms of acting. the camera does not capture everyone and everything and so the actors have to perform a lot without being on screen, particularly Andrew. (The film does have interesting takes on this though. More on that later.) The three leading lads do exactly what's needed of them. DeHann deserves a special mention for being the abused outcast. He stays clear of the one dimensional loser that so many high school films offer these days and instead takes us on a journey. The highs of being accepted, the sadness behind suffering, and, most importantly, the corruption of power in the wrong hands. Jordan, as Steve, plays an interesting role. The most popular kid at school but, again, unlike conventional teen films, he has a genuine interest in helping Andrew. It is a fine line. Be cool but also be sensitive. Jordan manages it like few others do. Finally, Russell, playing Matt, becomes the hero of the story. There's a possibility that, as the movie progresses, you can see suffering within Russell's performance - not as much as is within Alex, but it is still there and evident. It is subtler. It shows Matt's hardened personality and his innate need to do the right thing. Good performances all around.

Quidditch without broomsticks is the next big thing.

Found footage films are nothing new. They are, admittedly, most related to horror films, and therefore have a negative name for themselves but this is different. First of all, due to Alex's power of telekinises, he has the ability to make the camera float nearby without paying it much attention. This allows a lot of scenes to take place as if there was another person filming. On top of this, it is not just one camera that does the filming, it is any. There's a scene in which Matt talks to a girl who is video blogging and the exchange is shown from both camera's perspectives. Also, as the film progresses, cell phone footage becomes crucial to showing all the different angles. Like any other good film, Chronicle has all the angles needed. Being filmed in this manner not only engages the audience like a good POV film, but balances the engaging perfectly with  distancing  in order to best tell the story. Despite some far too plastic looking CGI and other special effects, the visual nature of the film is superb.

A fresh, unique, and thoughtfully enjoyable take on superheroes. Gritty and realistic and has the rare 'watch over and over' feel towards it. It may not go down in history but it is likely to become plenty of people's new favourite film. A great watch.

Best Bit? SPOILER ALERT: Andrew's complete breakdown. It's really quite touching as well as being completely entertaining.

Arachnid Dude

The current zeitgeist of the film industry seems to be able to be split into two things: Superheroes and reboots. So our film for today has the fortunate privilege of fitting into both these categories by being possibly the fastest rebooted franchise of a superhero related basis. As in most of these cases, it is, of course, an origin story and, like many other superhero reboots, takes a completely different tone to its predecessor. It is The Amazing Spider-Man

Several years after being left in the care of his Uncle Ben (Michael Sheen) and Aunt May (Sally Field) by his parents, Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) lives a very plain and uninteresting life. He is an awkward high school dwelling student who is ignored by the ladies but not by the bullies. He has trouble talking to the girls, particularly the beautiful blonde Gwen (Emma Stone), and he is constantly trying to come to terms with his parents’ abandonment. Then he finds some of his father’s old and secret work. This sparks an investigation into the works at Oscorp and their experiments which lead to him getting bitten by a radioactive spider. (But you knew that bit, right?) After this incident he develops some superhuman qualities and, after his Uncle Ben is murdered, he sets about stopping crime in the hope he can avenge his uncle. Elsewhere, his father’s algorithm on cross species work is put into development by Dr Curt Connors (Rhys Ifans) which causes some disastrous results. Feeling the burden, the newly named Spider-Man jumps into action.

Who said books couldn't be sexy?

It is suffice to say that the casting director for the film should be given an award. Andrew Garfield is almost the perfect Spider-Man. At first he seems a little too attractive to be the typical nerd type character, but the second he opens his mouth to speak, all becomes obvious. His speech represents the idea of a geek fantastically. Stuttering, shy looking away, misunderstandings, ramblings, it’s perfect. And he is great with the more confident, sassy side of Spider-Man as well. Full respect for doing a lot of the stunt work too. Emma Stone is brilliant as Gwen Stacey and, like Garfield, is great with the awkward conversation and they are an excellent pair. The supporting roles are all superb too. Michael Sheen as Uncle Ben and Rhys Ifans as Dr Connors are the two that particularly stand out. Sheen for his subtle performance that shows his love and complete frustration with Peter and Ifans for his psychotic nature and his internal struggle with what is best for himself and science.

To appeal to a wider audience, Spider-man
 raises money as a pole dancer

The biggest flaw with The Amazing Spider-Man is its length. Admittedly, it has few flaws, but they are big ones, the length being the most prominent. A film should never seem to drag and, if it does, cut out a few of those slow motion shots of Spider-Man doing something we have seen him do a hundred times before. Not to say these shots weren’t visually stunning, but they were superfluous; they served no benefit to the movie.        The other biggest flaw was the lack of development spent on certain moments and decisions. While the audience’s imagination should be led by a director in a particular direction, they should not be left to guess which direction that is. Apart from these two issues, Spider-Man is technically fantastic. The score is spot on and the camera work is incredible (though the first person is a bit disorienting.)

Overall, it is a good movie. It is a solid reboot and is one of the rare occasions where it outdoes the previous attempt. The film also includes Stan Lee’s funniest cameo to date and some fantastic fight scenes. While it could do with a bit more flesh and a bit less fat, metaphorically speaking, it is an enjoyable ride through Spider-Man’s origins with some touching and uplifting moments along with the action.

Best Bit? The most outstanding part of the film is when we see Parker go from vigilante after revenge to actual hero after saving several cars and a child from plummeting to their doom. 

Patriotic Superheroes Are a Thing Of The Past

With the record breaking release of The Avengers (which I will be reviewing, don't you worry) I thought it's about time we jumped back and had a look at some of the other movies that have led up to this. I've already looked at Iron Man 2 but I've neglected a couple of others. Let's make it up to them. Now we look at the first (and also last) Avenger: Captain America.

Steve Rogers (Chris Evans), a scrawny little fella, has dreams of joining his fellow men in laying down his life for his country. not because war excites him, but because he thinks, 'why should he do any less.' Unfortunately, he's completely unsuitable, physically, for the army and keeps getting rejected. That is, until Dr Erksine (Stanley Tucci) presents him with the opportunity. He immediately signs up and heads off to boot camp. It's obvious, when he stands next to the other soldiers, that he truly was not suitable for the army, as Colonel Chester Phillips (Tommy Lee Jones) isn't hesitant to point out. Once again, Dr Erksine comes up with a solution. An experiment known as Project Rebirth put together by Dr Erksine and Howard Stark (Dominic Cooper) (Tony Stark's father). Rogers is chosen because of his humanity, because he's a good person, because he, above all others, will value the rewards of the experiment. Project Rebirth gives Rogers super human strength and abilities. The allies begin using him as a form of propaganda under the name Captain America. But when it turns out the Captain's old friend Bucky (Sebastian Stan) might be in trouble, he turns to Stark and Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell) to help him take matters into his own hands and find the evil Schmidt (Hugo Weaving), otherwise known as Red Skull.

Schmidt rehearsing for the annual Nazi show...
They're doing Hamlet. 

A wonderfully well cast movie. Hugo Weaving was a nigh perfect Red Skull. He was delightfully evil and equally chaotic and plain insane. It's always hard to play a super hero antagonist just right as everyone has different interpretations on how they should come across on film (For example, the realism in Christopher Nolan's Batman movies compared to the cheesiness of some other superheroes.) Hugo Weaving managed to strike a nice balance that should please everyone. Chris Evans was fantastic as Captain America, the soldier with a heart the size of America. Admittedly, it was hard to focus on him as every time he appeared on screen my friend had a little fan-girl session. But he did a swell job even though his face and voice did not match his small body at the beginning. Stanley Tucci... well, what can't he do? Another fantastic role from him. I never felt any care, however, for Hayley Atwell's Peggy. She seemed far too plain for Captain America. I honestly felt more attached to the random blonde who randomly kisses Captain America in a cheeky moment of weakness.

On second thoughts... Fan-girling over Chris Evans is allowed.

There were some brilliant decisions with the movie. Dominic Cooper as Howard Stark was a bit of casting genius. The CGI was all solidly handled - people really looked like they were exploding in a plume of blue. Considering how cheesy Captain America has the potential to be, Joe Johnston handled it extremely well. He kept the cheese but presented it with a slight disdain and focused more on the darker elements of the Cap. The war, Red Skull's insanity, the deaths. Things like the sequence of cheesy propaganda stops to Star Spangled Man (A fantastic song. Why was it nominated for an Oscar? Academy? You have some explaining to do...) were fantastically cheesy but Johnston made sure you could see the way it ate away at Rogers. My only major issue with the film was the pacing. There were moments that dragged and dragged on and then they were followed by some incredible action. My advice to the film makers would be cut half an hour. Dragging is one of the worst things in a movie. If someone has to check how long is left, you;ve made a mistake with the pacing.

Overall, a good superhero movie. Not quite as good as the first Iron Man or Thor, but enough to keep us excited for more in the form of The Avengers. A good back story to a good character and one that I could
happily see in more movies, providing that they're shorter.

Best Bit? I'm always a sucker for a good army training montage. Therefore, I shall say boot camp. I loved seeing Rogers at the top of his intelligence and heart.