Review: Fantastic 4 (2015)

by Trent Crump
★★

 Okay, I think we've all seen the completely miserable other reviews for this movie by now.  It's currently got an 8% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, the critic aggregate.  (A 6% if you just include top critics.)  So it's completely terrible, right?  Pretty much everyone agrees.  Well, yes, it's a ridiculously made film.  It breaks the three act structure, it's actionless until the last 20 minutes, it's drab and arguably dull.  However, I do have a problem with people going by the Rotten Tomatoes aggregate on this.  Basically the site gives the movie an up or down vote based on each individual review.  However, not all bad reviews mean the movie is completely without merit.  And that seems to be the case here.  Sure, the film is a mess, but does it really deserve a score lower than the 2004 Catwoman film (9%)?  1997's incredibly maligned Batman & Robin (11%)?   1986's Howard the Duck (14%)?  In my opinion, no.

    This movie has been marked for at least half a year.  Reports had come in of massive reshoots, the director showing up drunk on set (or not at all some days), the studio getting cold feet and backing out of the agreed story after the director had been hired...  It was a mess.  The comic book purists didn't make things any easier by going after Michael B. Jordon, who plays Johnny Storm (The Human Torch) in the film because he and Sue Storm (Invisible Girl) played by Kate Mara, are supposed to be close brother and sister.  Kate Mara, is of course, white.  Now, the father is black, so I don't know why they didn't have a problem with Kate Mara instead (whose character was adopted as a child).   They insist it isn't a racial thing, so maybe it's just because the family was white in the comics and it's a (non-racial) purity thing.  I don't know.  I do think that over the past five years or so, it's become fashionable for people to pile on a movie based on studio/set turmoil and declare it a bad movie.  They did it for John Carter back in 2012 as well.  Was it horrible?  No.  Was it great?  No.  It was pretty mediocre.  They did it to The Lone Ranger, Green Lantern, and X-Men Origins as well.  Ok, those may have been pretty bad, but I still don't see the point of the practice.  It's a mob mentality that makes a self-fulfilling prophesy.  The people in love with the source material get restless and form a mob.  The studio gets scared.  They take it out on the director.  The director is over-ruled by the studio.  The studio basically takes over the picture, and we get something even worse.  

   That's exactly what happened here.  Now, obviously the director Josh Trank had issues.  He wasn't dependable.  His behavior here is why he has been pulled off the Star Wars movie he was set to direct.  The studio changed the script they had agreed to shoot, apparently, and this had made Trank despondent.  No excuse, but there it is.  They took out most of the action and we have this mess now.

    The story is pretty straightforward.  Reed Richards starts working on a transporter as a kid.  Ben Grimm, whose family owns the town junk yard eventually helps him with it after he doesn't turn Reed in for trying to steal a power converter.  Fast forward seven years and at the school science fair, the two are disqualified after their teacher sees no science in their experiment (which had worked).  However, Dr. Franklin Storm (Reg E. Cathey) and his daughter Sue are there at the time and hire on Reed at the Baxter Foundation to complete his work.  See, what Reed had been working on had already been started on by the foundation under the guidance of Victor Von Doom (Toby Kebbell).  (Yeah, that name'll get you hired...)  Doom had left the project, thinking the world didn't deserve it, being the misanthrope he is.  However, Dr. Storm gets him to come back and help Reed.  Also joining the science team is Dr. Storm's biological son, Johnny, who has daddy issues and just wants to be a daredevil, but his daddy took his car away.  Long story short, they build the transporter and things go downhill for our characters from there.

    The big issue with the movie is that it's all build up.  They spend literally 3/4 of the film without a villain.  Without a fight.  Basically cooped up in a big laboratory.  It's not a fun movie.  There is one big fight in the film.  It lasts maybe 10 minutes, and it (and the movie) is over.  The first act?  Pretty interesting.  You have some character development.  You get to actually like Reed (which is better than the comics do, in my opinion).  You can see how fragile his friend Ben (who becomes the rock-monster The Thing) really is.  He's got a lot of anger boiling up inside.  I don't think I ever saw the character smile in this film. Even before he became The Thing.  Sue is shown to be sort of stand-offish.  She takes a while to warm up to Reed.  She and her brother clearly care for each other a lot but have a strained relationship due to Johnny's issues with his father.  The first half of the film is dedicated to the transporter being built and is all used for character development.  It's pretty great, if a bit boring at times.  The second half is where it all falls apart.  It's when they decided to make it a superhero movie, surprisingly enough.  When the characters get their powers, it's pretty depressing.  They are in pain, locked in cells, not told what's happened to them, and experimented on by the military.  Josh Trank, the director, wanted the powers not to be seen as a blessing at first, but as "disabilities".  And I liked that idea.  However, X-Men explored that better.  Here it just took up another fourth of a film that was running out of time to actually do something.  Well, something happens at the end of act 3.  The birth of Dr. Doom.  (This isn't a spoiler.  Dr. Doom was shown in the trailer.)  Now, Dr. Doom here is without mercy.  He kills people by making their heads explode as he walks by.  It's pretty cool, actually.  The problem is that he starts doing this 20 minutes before the end of the film.  It's like the third act is from a different movie.  How did this dark superhero movie get into my dark character study?  And it's not a good one.  Dr. Doom's plot is cliched to anyone who has seen Moonraker or Watchmen.  And it's not explained well either.  It just sort of happens and our heroes have to fight together.  At least with the Avengers it takes 1 1/2 hours for them to actually tolerate each other to agree to team up.  Here they dislike each other and all of a sudden are using teamwork pretty flawlessly.  

    In the end, it's not the worst movie in the world.  It's not even the worst of the year or the summer.  It is a fascinating train wreck that I hope we get a documentary of one day.  The behind-the-scenes drama sounds fascinating.  I doubt we get the sequel that had been greenlit for 2017.  They'll probably just reboot again.  I personally thought this was more interesting than the 2005 Fantastic Four film, which I hated.  Or maybe this is just one comic that doesn't translate well to screen.  I didn't hate this movie.  Heck, I even sort of liked the chances it took.  The special effects are, indeed, fantastic.  I have no love for the source material, so I wasn't wedded to it as many are.  However, just because one personally likes a film doesn't mean it's good.  This movie is not good.  It's not trash either.  There are way worse movies than this.  If anything it's mediocre.  Don't believe the teeth-gnashers.

Review: Whiplash

by Trevor Kirkendall

★★★★

As a former high school band member – or “band dork” as we were so affectionately known as amongst the popular cliques – and as a one-semester music major in college, there are many elements about “Whiplash” to which I can relate. Musicians practice and practice and practice to be the best they can be on their instruments. And when they’ve finished practicing, they practice some more. It’s a ritual that will drive just about anyone insane. What’s worse is when you have an instructor or teacher who demands perfection at all times. You may think you’re giving it your all, but they’re telling you you’re not. Whether or not we can consider this to be bullying is a completely different question. Instead, “Whiplash” focuses on the emotional challenges of striving for perfection.

Andrew Neiman (Miles Teller) wants to be one of the great jazz drummers of all time, like Buddy Rich. He’s enrolled at the Shaffer Music Conservatory in New York because it’s the best music school in the country. There, he catches the eye of Terence Fletcher (J.K. Simmons), the director of the school’s top jazz ensemble. He invites Andrew to try out for a new alternate drummer spot in the band. Andrew knows that studying with Fletcher and performing in his band is exactly where he needs to be.

But it’s not all that easy for Andrew. Fletcher is a cruel and unyielding teacher. He demands absolute perfection for all members of his ensemble, including Andrew on his first day. Not only is Fletcher demeaning to his students, he’s also physically abusive. He’s not afraid to slap Andrew right across the face when Andrew can’t tell him if he’s just slightly ahead or behind the tempo. He’s also not afraid to hurl chairs across the room at Andrew either. But Andrew knows he must play in this band. So he dumps his girlfriend (Melissa Benoist) and moves out of his dorm room and into a practice room. There, he practices every chance he gets – through blood, sweat and tears, literally – to become one of the greats, and to try and win over Fletcher.

“Whiplash” is one hell of a relentless movie going experience. It’s a ride unlike anything else you’ll see this year. I’m sure there’s some naysayer out there who will try and tell me that some big budget CGI infested sequel or franchise installment is a better experience, but that’s just not the case. This film comes from 29-year old writer/director Damien Chazelle. After one picture, I can already tell you he’s going to be someone you’ll want to pay attention to.

What Chazelle has delivered with “Whiplash” is something that’s so mature and so polished that it never comes across as a first feature. It’s so well refined that you could tell me Soderbergh directed it and I probably would have believed you. His script is razor sharp. Screenwriters are told to get in their stories late and get out early. They’re told to trim as much fat off the story as possible, and to tell the tale with the bare minimum. Most writers ignore these rules – see, or rather don’t see “Transformers” 2, 3 or 4 for this example – but Chazelle has followed these tips and it works extraordinarily well. The film begins and ends at just the right times. And everything in between is utterly necessary in order for Chazelle to get his story told correctly.

Teller only continues to impress with each performance. This will go down as the performance for which all future roles will be compared. It’s mind blowing how good he is in this film. Every time he steps behind the drum kit, he delivers such a powerful performance that leaves you breathless. He may not actually be playing these drum parts in real life – I’d be equally shocked and impressed to find out he did – but he sells it to you nonetheless.

While Teller’s character is the star of the story, Simmons is the star of “Whiplash” without question. Simmons has spent years on screen in minor roles in all kinds of films. The superhero fans will no doubt remember him from the Sam Raimi “Spider-Man” films J. Jonah Jameson. He also seems to appear in just about every recent film from the Coen Brothers and Jason Reitman too. He’s always memorable in all of his roles, but you’re never ever going to forget him after watching this triumphant performance in “Whiplash.” From the first frame he appears in till his last, Simmons commands every square inch of the silver screen in a way I haven’t seen any actor do in many, many years. He’s a textbook antagonist. In his mind only, nothing he does or says is wrong. And you hate him for all his actions. There are no likable qualities about this villain. He is mean and downright vile. Simmons doesn’t want you to like him either. In fact, he wants you to hate him with every ounce of energy you have. He makes it very easy to do this. This is a historic cinematic performance; one for the ages.

“Whiplash” is a transfixing cinematic experience. It’s a blistering film full of intense and emotionally bruising moments that will stay with you long after you’ve left the theater. The most impressive attribute of this film is its ability to take your breath away at multiple times. This is most true during the film’s final 10-minute climax. Not only does it leave you breathless, but also leaves you sweating alongside our hero and begging for more once it’s over. It's not often that I’m rendered speechless after a film, but I don’t think I said more than four or five words after leaving the screening. “Whiplash” is absolutely entrancing and unlike anything else you’ll see this year.

Review: The Spectacular Now

by Trevor Kirkendall
★★★★

“The Spectacular Now” revolves around popular high school senior Sutter Keely (Miles Teller). He’s the self-described life-of-the-party wherever he goes. As the film opens, he’s in a relationship with one of the popular girls at school, Cassidy (Brie Larson). But just like many relationships in high school, it soon ends. This sends Sutter on an all night drinking binge.

He’s discovered the following morning sleeping on the front lawn of someone’s house by Aimee Finecky (Shailene Woodley). While Sutter may be one of the most popular guys in school, Aimee is one of the most quiet and shy girls. She keeps to herself, reading science fiction books, and doesn’t think too many people notice her. Sutter’s attraction to her couldn’t be more odd. But its not surprising to see why Aimee is attracted to Sutter since he’s so popular. Its not everyday when one goes from thinking they’re not noticed by anyone to catching the attention of Mr. Popular.

The film’s focus isn’t set just on Sutter and Aimee. Their relationship is a large part of the plot, but the film is all about Sutter. He is on camera for the entire duration of the film. We get to know him very well. He’s a slacker who doesn’t really care about school at all. Remember that guy in high school? He’s a party animal, constantly drinking alcohol, which makes him a boarder line alcoholic at the young age of 18. Remember that guy in high school? There’s a lot of familiarity with Sutter’s character.

Sutter likes to talk about living in the “now” and not looking back to the past or looking into the future. This is the mindset of many teenagers. Unfortunately, as many seniors are getting ready to graduate and move on, the “now” mindset is replaced by a hopefulness about the future. Not for Sutter. Even his deadbeat father (Kyle Chandler) shares the “now” mindset. 

“The Spectacular Now” is coming-of-age storytelling at its absolute finest. This film is full of heart and of emotional depth, and its built on such a simplistic premise. Here’s a movie chalk full of all the poignant connections we see in other humans and its only 95 minutes long. It relies only on its characters and its story to draw you in and make that connection.

The screenplay, written by Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber who wrote the brilliant romantic comedy “(500) Days of Summer”, is full of subtle passages of dialogue the drive each scene. It never becomes long or monotonous. Instead, we merely have the honor of following Sutter throughout his final year in high school and seeing how the people in his life shape the outlook of his future. I could view this film a dozen more times and learn something new about these characters with every new viewing. I’ve often said that Bob and Charlotte of Sofia Coppola’s “Lost in Translation” were two of the most realistic characters ever captured in cinema. You can now add Sutter Keely and Aimee Finecky to that list.

But only part of the credit for Sutter and Aimee’s realism can be given to the screenwriters. Director James Ponsoldt (who directed last year’s “Smashed” with Aaron Paul and Mary Elizabeth Winestead) also deserves much credit for being able to bring all the happy and sorrowful moments from the script into the performances of his young cast. Ponsoldt has a keen eye for the depths of human emotion found in the screenplays he directs, and possesses the innate ability to draw the performances he wants from his actors. Keep an eye on him.

The most sensational aspect of this film is without a doubt the performances of Miles Teller and Shailene Woodley. While the screenwriters and the director help create the characters, Teller and Woodley bring them to life and they are so realistic with their portrayals. These are two young performers who have as good of a grasp on their craft as any veteran. Both are mesmerizing to watch.

“The Spectacular Now” is one of the finest films made this year. Its a poignant coming-of-age story and a subtle masterpiece; I loved every single frame of this film. The film is full of all the emotions we experience everyday and is really a solid display of what films can and should be.