Film Review - "Star Wars: The Last Jedi"

Star Wars: The Last Jedi
Directed by Rian Johnson
Starring Mark Hamill, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver and Carrie Fisher.

Hype can be both a good and a bad thing for a film. On one hand, it gets the people going to theater and in the seats as quickly as they can get their tickets, and really the interest of the audience is what keeps franchises like Star Wars going. On the other, hype can build our expectations up so high, to a place where after we've seen the actual film, we become almost disappointed with what we've got. That appears to be what's going on with the public's reaction to The Last Jedi.

As this sentence is being typed, Rotten Tomatoes has the film with a 93% Critics' Score, and a 57% Audience Score. That is quite the margin. Having just seen the film Thursday night, I find myself at the middle ground. The Last Jedi didn't quite meet my expectations, but overall I enjoyed the latest chapter
in the Star Wars saga.

The film picks up not long after the events of The Force Awakens. Rey (Ridley) has found Luke Skywalker (Hamill), with the hope of having him train her in the ways of the Force and join the Resistance. Bitter and haunted by his past, Skywalker wants no part of it. Meanwhile the dwindling forces of the Resistance, led by General Leia Organa (Fisher), face a desperately uphill battle against The First Order…hope that's not too spoilery for you.

The Force Awakens fell under scrutiny because it felt too similar to A New Hope.  Comparisons can be drawn between The Last Jedi and The Empire Strikes Back, but in the grand scheme of things the former is very different than any Star Wars film that's come before. The best way I can describe it to you without going into spoilers is by quoting Luke, "This is not going to go the way you think."
Conventions of the franchise are broken down, and new paths are forged. So you can see where the public divide is coming from. Some people are going to like the change, and some aren't.

Like Empire, Last Jedi does separate our heroes' journeys. Rey is training with Luke, Leia and Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaacs) are holding down the fort, Finn (John Boyega) and new character Rose Tico (Kelly Marie Tran) go off on an unsanctioned mission to locate Benicio Del Toro's character, and Kylo Ren (Driver) continues his work in The First Order under the supervision of Supreme Leader Snoke (Andy Serkis). Unfortunately, not all of those plot lines are equally interesting, with Finn and Rose's mission being the least interesting. Their quest takes them to a casino-themed planet and they spend way too much time on it. Of course the best parts of the film involve Luke, Rey, and Kylo Ren/Ben Solo/whatever you want to call him.

So there are clearly a lot of cast members to discuss. Well everyone gets back into their roles easily, taking them to bold new places in the story. Mark Hamill is superb as Luke Skywalker, and Daisy Ridley is so wonderful as Rey. Her performance is both inspiring and captivating. John Boyega does more good work as Finn, but his performance in The Force Awakens might have been better. Oscar Isaacs gets a lot more to do with Poe Dameron this time, and it's great to see more depth with an already fan-favorite character. Adam Driver is amazing as Kylo Ren. Again another character given a ton more development, and an emotionally charged performance to bring it to life.

Carrie Fisher gives a loving, sharp, and sadly final performance as Leia. Andy Serkis is at his very best as Snoke. This time around, Domhall Gleeson's performance as General Hux seems much more hammy and over-the-top. How about the new additions though? Kelly Marie Tran is fine and likable enough as Rose Tico. Same can be said for Laura Dern as Vice Admiral Holdo. It's a strong performance but not a particularly memorable one. Benicio Del Toro's DJ is just…well he's mainly a part of Finn and Rose's arc and I've already stated my thoughts on that part of the film.

Composer John Williams adds even more wonderful music to the Star Wars catalog. It doesn't dominate the film but it's there and you know it. The cinematography of the film is beautiful, from every planet and set piece there's some serious eye candy. The action in the film is at edge-of-your-seat level. The fight scenes in The Last Jedi are probably some of the best of the franchise. One last positive I can give is that no matter your concerns, there are plenty of satisfying moments for all ages.

With The Force Awakens, people seemed to be upset it was too familiar. Now they seem to be upset with The Last Jedi for being too different. So I'm guessing the third bowl of porridge (Episode IX) will be just right for these Goldilocks fans? A good friend of mine described The Last Jedi like this, and I think it sums it up damn well:

"It's sort of like having your eye on the most delicious piece of cake in the display, and you wait to get it and you start to eating it and you realize the filling isn't at all what you imagined. It's super tasty but there's some weird fruit mixed in, and while it's delicious and well made it's just not what you thought you ordered. But you walk away full."

Rian Johnson takes the franchise in a new, different direction, and obviously that's going to be met with some mixed reviews. This is still a damn fine Star Wars film. One could argue that eight episodes in, Johnson needed to stir the pot to keep this 40-year-old franchise fresh and moving forward. As of right now, I still like The Force Awakens more, but there is nothing outright bad about The Last Jedi. It's a wonderful film filled with the same brand of beloved characters, epic visuals, and great storytelling fans have come to expect. I'm very intrigued to see where we go in Episode IX and beyond. The Force will be with us, always.

And…I like Porgs.

Film Review - "Coco"

Coco
Directed by Lee Unkrich
Starring Anthony Gonzalez, Gael Garcia Benral, and Benjamin Bratt

We've come to a time where a Pixar film being universally acclaimed is much more rare than it used to be. Not that we haven't a had a good Pixar film in awhile, but they've been scattered in-between the likes of The Good Dinosaur, Monsters University, and Cars 3. The consistent quality of the studio's output has decreased, which means when a wonderful film like Coco comes out, we can truly appreciate it and the master storytellers behind it. I love this film.

Coco tells the story of Miguel (Gonzalez), a young boy in a Mexican village with aspirations of being a great musician like his idol, Ernesto De La Cruz (Bratt). The one problem is that music is forbidden in his family, a policy enforced by his Abuelita (Renee Victor). Long ago, Miguel's great-great grandfather left his family to pursue a career of music, and the resentment towards that has trickled down the family tree.

So Miguel practices his music in secret, and one night deduces that the late Ernesto De La Cruz was in fact his great-great grandfather. After a falling out with his family on Dias De Los Muertos ("Day of The Dead"), Miguel runs away and finds himself stranded in the Land of The Dead. To return the Land of The Living, Miguel must receive a blessing from one of his ancestors…who also refuse to let Miguel follow his musical aspirations. Miguel runs off to find De La Cruz, hopefully receive his blessing and return home. Helping him along the way is Miguel (Garcia Benral), a down-on-his-luck resident who is in danger of "fading" away from the Land of The Dead, because no one living honors his memory.

This is a beautiful film inside and out. It tells a wonderful story of family, sacrifice, and memory. It gives a wonderful, positive representation on Dias De Los Muertos and all Mexican culture, from the music to the art designs. The animation is gorgeous. Some shots are almost jaw-dropping. Pixar definitely upped their game here. Oh and hey Pixar fans. You're going to cry. Again. Fair warning.
Coco is amazingly well written. You might think you see it all laid out here but trust me you don't. It is quite possibly one of Pixar's best scripts since Wall-E or Up. 

Other than Benjamin Bratt, there are almost no big celebrity names among the voice cast. Young Anthony Gonalez is the heart and soul of the film as young Miguel, and his performance is charming, quirky, and moving. It's always a gamble to have a child lead, with issues of kid actors and such, but Gonzalez nails it. Hector is possibly one of my favorite new Pixar characters, and Gael Garcia Bernal plays him with a fine balance of passion and levity. Benjamin Bratt plays the famous singer Ernesto De La Cruz perfectly. Other stand-outs among this colorful cast are Renee Victor as Miguel's Abuelita, and Alanna Ubach as Mama Imelda, his late great-great grandmother.

I touched on the music already a little bit, but I wanted to say you're going to have these wonderful songs stuck in your head for awhile. The film's main song "Remember Me" is lovely, every rendition of it (You'll see) and stands to be a strong contender for the Best Original Song Oscar. The music perfectly captures the essence of the culture, and gives Coco that extra boost of seamlessly transporting its audience into the story.

Coco is another Pixar triumph, and easily the best animated film of the year (Not saying much considering we had a pretty rough year…The Emoji Movie…). But it's a strong, moving film regardless, that proves Pixar is still capable of captivating audiences and making them fall in love with their stories over and over again. I suspect we'll be singing Coco's praises for a long, long time.

Oh and I didn't mind Olaf's Frozen Adventure so I really don't get all the hate.

Film Review - "Thor: Ragnarok"

Thor: Ragnarok
Directed by Taika Waititi
Starring Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddelston, Mark Ruffalo, and Cate Blanchett

Of all the franchises that build up the Marvel Cinematic Universe, I think the Thor films have been the ones that have been the most scrutinized. The original Thor seems to be underrated by the general public, and I am in that minor paternity of fans that actually enjoys Thor: The Dark World despite its shortcomings. That being said, I think everyone can agree that Thor: Ragnarok is the best Thor film yet, and one of the best chapters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. As much as I personally loved the film I do have some minor issues with it but more on that later.

The film opens some time after Thor (Hemsworth) left on his quest for Infinity Stone-related truth at the end of Avengers: Age of Ultron. Multiple premonitions of Ragnarok, the end of Asgard, bring the God of Thunder back home where Loki (Hiddelston) has been ruling in disguise as Odin (Sir Anthony Hopkins) since the last film. Once Thor reveals his brother's charade, they both learn Loki's actions have paved the way for Hela the Goddess of Death (Blanchett) to make her return.

Set on taking Asgard for her own, she tosses Thor and Loki off to the dumpster planet of Sakarr, where Thor is taken prisoner to fight in the Grandmaster's (Jeff Goldblum) arena battles. In order to get free of Sakarr, return to Asgard, and stop Hela, Thor must defeat The Grandmaster's Champion. And oh boy, that champion turns out to be The Incredible Hulk (Ruffalo)!

So if Ragnarok sounds like a Thor film infused with the Planet Hulk comic storyline, you wouldn't be wrong. But it works. It definitely works. When originally announced for a film with the word "Ragnarok" in the title, Taikia Waititi seemed like an odd choice, but he definitely proved the skeptics wrong. The film definitely still has the director's unique brand of comical filmmaking, but there room is left for serious and dramatic moments. It shares some DNA with previous Thor films but still has its very unique identity. Many have compared it to the Guardians of The Galaxy films but I don't think that's really fair, as Thor goes to grander, arguably grimmer places, and the humor of Chris Pratt is not that of Chris Hemsworth.

The film is hilarious, and the action and set pieces are awe-inspiring. The score for the film is unreal, and more importantly it serves the overall arc of the Thor character perfectly, and brings him to the logical, third-act conclusion of his trilogy…until he has to fight Thanos next summer. So what are my issues? Well first the film is surprisingly packed with story. So much so that some breathing room would have been appreciated for some of these moments to sink in, and let the characters respond and react. After a second viewing I don't think this is a big a problem as I originally thought it was but still. It's hard no to really talk about these parts of the film without getting into spoilers.

As I said this is a hilarious film, and probably Marvel's first full-blown comedy. While I was laughing at pretty much every joke in the film, a small voice in the back of my head at times would whisper "Did we really need a joke there? Couldn't we have just let that play out as a serious moment?" I feel like a hypocrite saying this because I still laughed at these jokes, but I do still wonder could we have gone a smudge more serious? Not that the film doesn't have moments of darkness, mind you.

So the cast. Chris Hemsworth is again the best as Thor, and gets to flex his comedy chops a lot more to delight of everyone. Mark Ruffalo takes the Hulk to great new places. Only his third film as the character, and the first outside of The Avengers line, it was nice to see his performance develop in such a way that this might be the best Hulk we've had on screen yet. Tom Hiddelston is again great as Loki. Fans who have loved Thor & Loki's relationship in the past two films might be disappointed it's not a major part of the script, but it's still there and really how much more development is needed?

Tessa Thompson plays a fun and dynamic Valkyrie and is a welcome new-additon to the cast. Cate Blanchett continues the streak of great MCU villains with Hela. She's deliciously evil and clearly having a ton of fun in the role. Every time we cut back to Sakarr I was like "Let's get back to Asgard I wanna see what she's up to!!" Karl Urban plays a very fun Skurge The Executioner. Jeff Goldblum…is Jeff Goldblum as The Grandmaster. Enough said. It's nice to see Benedict Cumberbatch again as Doctor Strange. Finally, Director Taika Waititi steals his own film in the role of Korg. What a wonderful character.

Thor: Ragnarok is definitely the best of the three Thor films, and arguably the best MCU film out of three we received this year (The other two being Homecoming and Guardians Vol. 2). It's such a departure from the previous two Thor films, so much so it almost completely destroys some conventions of what comes before, and that's not necessarily a bad thing. Ragnarok is an epic, hilarious, and exhilarating film that's worthy of wielding the mightiest of hammers….

I suppose I should also let you know my thoughts on Justice League…oh look Coco and The Last Jedi!!

CHRIS FLAHERTY WILL RETURN...