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The Last Airbender (2010)
An incomplete work of Art
For a film that looks incredible, this felt more like an incomplete movie. I can only explain the experience of watching this movie like me trying to cook something my grandma used to make. I mean, I use the same ingredients, I follow the instructions, I make sure to use the correct measurements but at the end it ends up tasting awful. I guess that is the ART in culinary art. This is how exactly how this movie feels, it has all the great ingredients, but it ends up feeling like an unfinished film and a very confusing movie experience.
I have to confess I did not follow the series, graphic novels, or any other source from which the movie is based, so this review is solely based on my experience with this movie.
Let me start by saying that it is always hard for a young actor to carry the whole movie over their shoulders and Noah Ringer (Aang) does an incredible job. The camera likes this child and it shows. There is a sense of importance in the way he reacts, and we can't get our eyes off of him. But every hero needs an important antagonist, and Prince Zuko (played by Dev Patel) is nowhere near that standard. His reactions (direction?) is off and a bit dramatic. It just doesn't fit the movie as a whole and the editing makes him seem like a crazy incomplete character.
I may repeat over and over again how incomplete is this movie in many areas, from the script, the theme, and the direction. Perhaps there is a climatic scene that illustrates the frustration an audience may feel when experiencing this movie.
After many weeks of training, Aang seems to be able to control water. During an attack from the fire kingdom, he is able to create immense waves that raise up to protect the ice castle, but when it is time to defeat the coming army, he does nothing. I may not be recalling the specific details correctly, but the fact is that there is no resolution to our hero's voyage. He gets there and then there is nothing for him to do, or complete, or achieve by gaining those powers. Even the bad guy, Prince Zuko, moves from wanting to kill Aang, making him friend, and then trying to kill him again. The script by M. Night Shyamalan does not offer a clear plot, theme, or character growth. It is just one static scene after another with no clear end in sight. The movie even ends with the introduction of another antagonist that has had no screen time until the after credits.
To summarize, this movie has a weird pacing, no character development, and at the end it does not provide the audience with a good ending for their emotional investment presented throughout.
I must not forget to mention the great musical score by James Newton Howard, one must listen to it completely, the breathtaking cinematography of Andrew Lesnie, and the prodigious especial effects supervised by Pablo Helman.
I guess young kids will enjoy the movie, but it will leave most of the audience on an empty stomach full of air.
All Day and a Night (2020)
A depiction of intergenerational cycle of violence
Directed and written by Robert Cole this film is a detailed observation on the cycle of violence and drugs as it depicts how even the best intentions are not enough to break these miserable situations. This movie works better if it is seen as a vignette or as episodic/memory about the main character Jahnkor Abraham Lincoln played by the great Ashton Sanders who has a great scene prescense.
Following a sporadic jump in time, we get to see Lincoln in several scenes where violence is the major force in his upbringing. Whereas, Moonlight is quiet and subtle and maybe poetic, All Day and Night is visceral, realistic, and loud. Mako Kamitsuna's editing is bold in the sense that it forces the audience to make the connections between scenes. She doesn't waste time in transitions or explanations about the jumps in time, and it is up to the audience to find a story/plot on their own. Perhaps Cole's intention is to confuse us and create a kind of frustration into trying to figure out what is going on, just like most of the characters in this movie feel about their unescapable situations.
One of the most interesting characters is played by Shakira Ja'nai Paye. She plays Shataye, Lincoln's girlfriend and mother of their son. She is a strong driving force in this movie, and you can't keep your eyes away from her. Her portrayal of a black woman in circumstances beyond her control make her a center for the humanity when you can't do anything but suffer the consequences of somebody else's actions and of your surroundings.
Such grim setting, atmospheric cinematography (by the talented Jessica Le Gagné), and the unescapable situations of the characters probably alienates most of its indented audience. It is not a film that glorifies violence, or gangs, or drugs, but a film that portraits a picture we know is real, but maybe not everybody is ready to accept.
This may be the real power of the movie and its own demise: it illustrates without judgement a situation so close to our present that we are unable to process all of its facets.
After all, to see complete families, friends, and past and present generations in jail for violent crimes is unsettling enough, but to realize we are incapable of making any change, may be unbearable to watch.
A-X-L (2018)
If you like motorcycles and robot dogs, this is the film for you!
A dog, a motorcycle, fire, races, robots, guns, drones, soldiers, which little girl or boy doesn't like that in a movie?
Written and Directed by Oliver Daly, this is a film that does not contain any blood and nobody gets killed. It reminds me of my young sons playing in the sandbox imagining what would happen if they found a robot dog. The plot is simple enough for a young kid: find a dog, repair it, make it friends, get capture by the bad guys, help him scape and then the dog sacrifices its life for you. There is nothing wrong with this dream-like picture and small kids will enjoy it.
I have to admit that I saw the scene (where A.X.L. plays with Miles ( Alex Neustaedter) several times because it is as close as a perfect scene as possible. It is very well edited (Jeff McEvoy), it is clean, well defined and the special effects are incredibly directed. This scene is the best of the movie and it deserved to be studied by anyone interested in how to make action scenes with special effects believable and interesting. Sadly enough, it happens almost 30 minutes into the movie.
A special recognition has to go to the music score by Ian Hultquist, who captures the 80s sci fi atmosphere (reminded me of Tron) and its repetitive electronics sounds frames the scenes very well.
The other parts of the movie, however, are too predictable. The Antagonist, Sam Fontaine (Alex MacNicoll) is only interested in bullying and trying to kill A.X.L. The female protagonists (Sara Reyes played by Becky G), is also only superficial and we don't get to explore their personal backgrounds. The adults in the movie, like in many teen movies, are not present as much and they only serve as obstacles to the teens in peril.
Again, this is a movie very young children will enjoy, but for adults and teens, it is just too simple and flat.
The idea of a robot dog you can play with is very interesting and full of fantasy. If your small kid likes motorcycles races and robot dogs, this is the film for them.
The Angry Birds Movie 2 (2019)
Angry Birds 2 rides fast to entertain us
Directed by first timer Thurop Van Orman (co-director John Rice), Angry Birds 2 is a good choice for very young boys and girls. Knowing the director was a writer for one of my favorite cartoons, The Powerpuff Girls, it is no surprise this is a fast scene to scene film full of slapstick, fast-paced action, and full of popular songs. Ice Ice Baby, Baby Shark, Space Oddity, On top of the World are just some of the many music references used at unexpected times to give the movie some resonance.
I must admit that I haven't seen the first installment, but I found the movie to work on its own. The basic premise is presented in the first ten minutes, and basically two islands are attacked by a new third Island. The screenplay is credited to Peter Ackerman, Eyal Podell, and Jonathon E. Stewart, and it is full of side jokes which most land safe, but some are can be considered questionable in their taste.
However, the balance between jokes for children and for adults works together to a certain point. I must clarify that do not like when a kid's movie plays "dumb" by not expecting children to understand or lose interest in the main plot, and although the script doesn't lower its expectations, it does force a subplot involving young birds which I didn't appreciate that much.
Nevertheless, I see no reason not to recommend this movie for small children, but teenagers and adults may find it a little boring. Overall, it is a clean, funny, and great movie to pass the time.
The casting by Linda Lamontagne is precise: Jason Sudeikis leads a team of actors than include Josh Gad, Leslie Jones, Bill Hader, Rachel Bloom, Awkafina, Sterling K. Brown, among many others and it all of them, as the theme of the movie suggests, work as a great team.
There are too many references to other movies to even mention a few, but the story is definitely targeting young kids and, like the birds landing, it hits its target.
This is a happy-go-lucky surface movie that delivers entertainment in a clean, bright, and magical setting which follow a plot kids will find easily to digest.
So, make popcorn, sit the young ones in front of the tv, and relax...
Angel Has Fallen (2019)
An Action-packed Fun Movie
In this third installment of Olympus has fallen trilogy, director Ric Roman Waugh pay tribute to other thrillers. There are scenes reminiscence of "Silence of the Lambs," "Die Hard," and even "Indiana Jones Trilogy," among others. Do they work? To me they actually do.
This is a fun movie that entertains and has a good ending. The team of writers Robert Mark, Matt Cook, Ric Roman Waugh, Creighton Rothenberger, and Katrin Benedikt make Mike Banning (Played straight by Gerard Butler) survive every possible situation with wit and, yes, action-packed events.
The premise is the same as the other two installments, trying to save the president, a great performance by Morgan Freeman, but this time the problems are from within which keeps the audience guessing throughout the whole movie: how are they going to get out of this?
I must mention the excellent sound effects editor, Lily Blazewicz, who makes drones, bombs, gunshots, explosions, stabbings make a great impression. However, they did not translate that well into my Sony surround home theatre. Wish you better luck.
Composer David Buckley does a good job also in keeping the tension with a great balance between silence and music. And along with Gabriel Fleming, the Editor, keeps this movie together.
If you are looking for a fun time and to escape reality, this is a good choice.
This is my first movie review from Netflix, since I'm watching every movie in alphabetical order and this one came up first.
Take out the popcorn and enjoy this fun ride!