rating: ****
the story: A hitman ends up fighting a younger version of himself.
review: Here's one of those movies whose reception has just baffled me, for any number of reasons. I get that Will Smith hasn't been popular in about a decade, but for me, he's still an undeniable talent, and I love that he's getting back into the spotlight. I also get that Ang Lee somehow lost his critical credibility (I still have no idea how), but to continue treating him as if he's just another filmmaker is beyond idiotic. And for Smith and Lee to make a movie together and everyone still just sees no worth in their efforts...
Listen, I get it. You see a movie like this and assume it's just a gimmick: Will Smith battles himself. It's just another of those movies capitalizing on special effects. But there's beyond simplifying it. There's a lot to love, even if you're not as enamored of Smith (and Lee) as I am.
Take Mary Elizabeth Winstead, for instance. When I watched the movie in theaters, I was initially baffled. Is that Cobie Smulders? Wait, it isn't? Oh, it's Winstead! The last time I caught her was in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, which I took as the geek version of (500) Days of Summer (which was a welcome interpretation). I expected that she'd go on to have a notable, visible career. So there I was, a decade later, not recognizing her, thinking she was someone else, and suddenly remembering how much I liked her. Her character in Gemini Man is pretty much exactly Smulders' MCU character, but given actual space to breathe (which in a half dozen appearances Smulders never got, which was why she had to take the act on the road in Jack Reacher: Never Go Back, and then just got to be awesome in Stumptown).
Then there's Clive Owen. Actually, this whole movie features people inexplicably unappreciated by today's audiences. Owen achieved immortality at least once, with Children of Men, but then he drifted into obscurity, and has begun resurfacing in recent years, although you'd hardly know it, because no one cares anymore. This older Clive Owen is no longer the good guy leading man, suave and self-confident, but the bad guy, and yet he's still magnetic. Of course.
Smith is great, as he always is, and watching his current self opposite a version of his younger self (basically just before his career exploded) is a distinct treat. The motorcycle stunts are a selling point all their own.
But the best thing about Gemini Man is the unexpected point of the story: Lee is actually arguing that suffering is a good thing. He believes that soldiers should feel pain. This is different from not giving them treatment. Smith ends up far better when he allows himself to embrace a personal life. (In the mix is Benedict Wong in another standout supporting role, after his MCU appearances.) The younger Smith is supposed to be one of those perfect killing machines who don't question anything. In other forms this means robots. But as we've repeatedly been told (even in Will Smith movies), robots are going to be people, too. Eventually they'll want exactly what we want.
Even when we don't realize we need it. We need our pain. Sucks to have it, but it's an essential part of living. Pain, regret, loss, all of it. It helps remind us that there's so much more to life, things that will make us feel those things.
Movies, especially blockbuster action movies, aren't supposed to help us worry about such things, yet Smith's movies have consistently, as his career has progressed, linger on them. Lee's movies have sought the transcendent, universal messages that went far beyond his origins, the kinds of movies critics find easy to enjoy, and continually reward, but so often fall far of the mark that more ambitious movies attempt. Such as, yes, Gemini Man.
Showing posts with label Benedict Wong. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Benedict Wong. Show all posts
Sunday, February 16, 2020
Sunday, July 21, 2019
Doctor Strange (2016)
rating: ***
the story: An arrogant doctor loses the use of his hands, but his mind becomes greatly expanded.
review: The MCU Avengers cycle is a full-blown phenomenon that has come to define the modern cinematic era, and the twenty-three movies to date that comprise it have seemingly explored just about every kind of superhero movie imaginable. Doctor Strange did it with magic (although it's also one of the few outright examples of superpowers in the franchise, too). That's the main calling card here.
A lot of fans saw too many parallels between Stephen Strange and Tony Stark. One of the few criticisms fans have leveled against these films is that the plots tend to be the same: brilliant individual has a fall, builds themselves back up, defeats villain in spectacular fight. And the villain tends to be fairly uninspired (with a few exceptions). But you can level the plot critique against just about any story. I tend to think the specifics are worth considering. Strange and Stark are only tangentially worth comparing at that level. Stark may be a tech genius, but he's also building on a family legacy. Strange is a brilliant physician. They both may possess out-of-control egos, but Strange is far more likely to use his skills to actual benefit than Stark, who initially just wants to make easy money, without caring about the consequences. For Strange, he may alienate colleagues, but he's undeniably saving lives. He believes he can save more lives if he can just perform his research undisturbed. Essentially, Stephen Strange is House on a grander scale. (It's really hard not to envision the producers using the Hugh Laurie breakout role as a pattern for Strange, and how they determined Benedict Cumberbatch to be the best pick for the role.)
Then Strange goes on the journey to becoming Doctor Strange, and the visuals take over. Clearly the movie itself was inspired as much by Inception as the Harry Potter films, and letting the blend of them run wild. Too wild, really, however awesome the results. The characters never really treat them as anything but meaningless backdrop. They're audience eye candy, nothing more. But still hugely notable.
Doctor Strange is the "Sorcerer Supreme," but he is also, essentially, a superhero wizard. And that's the role he fills in the MCU. The ending features a nifty time-repetition that the character's later crucial appearance in Avengers: Infinity War suggests is how he discovers the only way to beat Thanos (in all fairness, that's probably the best sequence of this film, watching Strange repeatedly confront what is otherwise a pointless CGI effect just as doggedly each time, so it would probably have been just as pointless to repeat the sequence, especially when we know Strange can't win this time).
Cumberbatch has a meaty role to play in this appearance (he doesn't have nearly as much to work with in later appearances to date), and is once again thoroughly Cumberbatch. Rachel McAdams is probably the most credible female supporting player, having often played this type where others in the MCU felt hamstrung in similar roles. Tilda Swinton is perhaps about as perfectly cast as she's ever been as the Ancient One, Mads Mikkelsen letting his eyes do all the work in the way he so creepily often does. Benedict Wong is the kind of actor who doesn't need much to make an impact. Benjamin Bratt has a tiny role that makes you kind of wonder why they even bothered. Chiwetel Ejiofor is the most baffling case. He went from starring in the highly acclaimed 12 Years a Slave to this rather than, say, Black Panther (who instead is played by Chadwick Boseman, who is an utter charisma void). I don't get it.
This is not a movie that expects much from its audience, and so it doesn't really try much, aside from visually. It slides by on mumbo jumbo. Why Strange is as good at magic as he is at surgery, not particularly explained. It just sort of happens. But if you don't care, you get a movie that does just about what it needs to. And at that, it's about as good or better than the average MCU film. It knows what it really needs to accomplish, and at least nails that. Knowing what Strange does in other movies is just kind of icing on the cake.
the story: An arrogant doctor loses the use of his hands, but his mind becomes greatly expanded.
review: The MCU Avengers cycle is a full-blown phenomenon that has come to define the modern cinematic era, and the twenty-three movies to date that comprise it have seemingly explored just about every kind of superhero movie imaginable. Doctor Strange did it with magic (although it's also one of the few outright examples of superpowers in the franchise, too). That's the main calling card here.
A lot of fans saw too many parallels between Stephen Strange and Tony Stark. One of the few criticisms fans have leveled against these films is that the plots tend to be the same: brilliant individual has a fall, builds themselves back up, defeats villain in spectacular fight. And the villain tends to be fairly uninspired (with a few exceptions). But you can level the plot critique against just about any story. I tend to think the specifics are worth considering. Strange and Stark are only tangentially worth comparing at that level. Stark may be a tech genius, but he's also building on a family legacy. Strange is a brilliant physician. They both may possess out-of-control egos, but Strange is far more likely to use his skills to actual benefit than Stark, who initially just wants to make easy money, without caring about the consequences. For Strange, he may alienate colleagues, but he's undeniably saving lives. He believes he can save more lives if he can just perform his research undisturbed. Essentially, Stephen Strange is House on a grander scale. (It's really hard not to envision the producers using the Hugh Laurie breakout role as a pattern for Strange, and how they determined Benedict Cumberbatch to be the best pick for the role.)
Then Strange goes on the journey to becoming Doctor Strange, and the visuals take over. Clearly the movie itself was inspired as much by Inception as the Harry Potter films, and letting the blend of them run wild. Too wild, really, however awesome the results. The characters never really treat them as anything but meaningless backdrop. They're audience eye candy, nothing more. But still hugely notable.
Doctor Strange is the "Sorcerer Supreme," but he is also, essentially, a superhero wizard. And that's the role he fills in the MCU. The ending features a nifty time-repetition that the character's later crucial appearance in Avengers: Infinity War suggests is how he discovers the only way to beat Thanos (in all fairness, that's probably the best sequence of this film, watching Strange repeatedly confront what is otherwise a pointless CGI effect just as doggedly each time, so it would probably have been just as pointless to repeat the sequence, especially when we know Strange can't win this time).
Cumberbatch has a meaty role to play in this appearance (he doesn't have nearly as much to work with in later appearances to date), and is once again thoroughly Cumberbatch. Rachel McAdams is probably the most credible female supporting player, having often played this type where others in the MCU felt hamstrung in similar roles. Tilda Swinton is perhaps about as perfectly cast as she's ever been as the Ancient One, Mads Mikkelsen letting his eyes do all the work in the way he so creepily often does. Benedict Wong is the kind of actor who doesn't need much to make an impact. Benjamin Bratt has a tiny role that makes you kind of wonder why they even bothered. Chiwetel Ejiofor is the most baffling case. He went from starring in the highly acclaimed 12 Years a Slave to this rather than, say, Black Panther (who instead is played by Chadwick Boseman, who is an utter charisma void). I don't get it.
This is not a movie that expects much from its audience, and so it doesn't really try much, aside from visually. It slides by on mumbo jumbo. Why Strange is as good at magic as he is at surgery, not particularly explained. It just sort of happens. But if you don't care, you get a movie that does just about what it needs to. And at that, it's about as good or better than the average MCU film. It knows what it really needs to accomplish, and at least nails that. Knowing what Strange does in other movies is just kind of icing on the cake.
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