Movie Review The Greatest Showman

The Greatest Showman (2017) 

Directed by Michael Gracey

Written by Bill Condon, Jenny Bicks

Starring Hugh Jackman, Zendaya, Zac Efron, Michelle Williams, Rebecca Ferguson

Release Date December 20th, 2017

The Greatest Showman is a musical with some inventive visuals and mostly brainless story. Were it not purporting to conflate P.T Barnum of all people to sainthood, I could probably watch it and dispose of it in due course. However, because this is P.T Barnum, one of the world’s foremost charlatans and con men, well, let’s just say that the idea of venerating him, sticks in my craw. Already this year, Hollywood has pretended that Winston Churchill was an inspiring, cuddly granddad and frankly, P.T Barnum is, for me, a bridge too far when it comes to revisionism.

Fans of the comedy/history podcast The Dollop know the real P.T Barnum. In a live recorded episode in Barnum’s adopted home of New York City, hosts Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds laid bare the legend of P.T Barnum in all of his phony, humbuggery, glory. As Dave wove the tale of P.T Barnum, from his time taking advantage of an aged, black woman whom he purchased from a fellow con man, to the time he fooled people into believing he’d procured a mermaid which turned out to be a horrifying combination of a monkey sewn to the body of a large fish, P.T Barnum is revealed in The Dollop to be a villain over and over again, no matter how willing and even entertained his victims may have been.

So, yes, I went to The Greatest Showman with a chip on my shoulder and one that remained there throughout the faltering run of witless pop anthems passing off mediocre messages of empowerment centered on a man who would have sooner been caught dead than be seen as anything other than above the people who bought tickets for his own show and especially above those who were performing for the price of that ticket.

Find my full length review in the Geeks Community on Vocal. 

Movie Review Logan

Logan (2017) 

Directed by James Mangold

Written by Scott Frank, James Mangold, Michael Green 

Starring Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Richard E. Grant, Hal Holbrook, Stephen Merchant 

Release Date March 3rd, 2017 

When I first saw Logan, the latest spin-off of the X-Men franchise, I was not impressed. There was so much hype, so much discussion about how the R-Rating would finally allow Wolverine to be Wolverine. Then I saw the film and found it to be as conventional as any of the other X-Men movies with a little bit of gore tacked on for fan service. So, what’s changed for me since March of this year? Why was watching Logan at home on a DVD screener from the studio so different from watching the film in theaters earlier this year?

Logan once again stars Hugh Jackman in the role of Logan aka Wolverine. When we see him, he’s sleeping in the back of a fancy stretch limousine and gang members are trying to steal the tires. Logan tries to convince the men to leave peacefully but they prefer to attack him. In defense of his expensive vehicle, and with little care for his own well-being, Logan launches into a grisly battle and leaves several of the thieves’ dead.

From there we travel across the border to Mexico where Logan is hiding the debilitated Professor X (Patrick Stewart). With the help of another mutant named Kaliban (Stephen Merchant), Logan cares for Professor X by doping him up with medication to keep his powers neutralized and to keep him from remembering that he was responsible for killing a lot of people when he suffered a seizure several years ago that led the government to consider his mind a weapon of mass destruction.

The tiny, insular world that Logan has built for himself is upended when he meets Gabriella (Elizabeth Rodriguez). Gabriella wants to hire Logan to drive her and a girl she claims is her daughter, Laura, (Daphne Keen) to North Dakota where a group of fellow mutants is expected to help them cross the border to a place they call Eden. Unfortunately, Gabriella is being hunted by Donald Pierce (Boyd Holbrook), the low-life leader of a group called The Reavers. It’s Pierce’s job to eradicate mutants that won’t fight for the evil Transigen corporation.

The plotting of Logan is simple and straight forward and I failed to give the film credit for that simplicity in my original review. Keeping things clear and easy to follow in the complex and desperately crowded super-hero genre is surely something to be praised. Logan has a clear and simple goal, get out of the country alive at all costs and if unable, make sure you die, and take as many Reavers with you as possible. The motivation is clear, and all the action is linked strongly to that motivation.

Find my full length revie in the Geeks Community on Vocal 

Movie Review The Son

The Son (2022) 

Directed by Florian Zeller 

Written by Florian Zeller, Christopher Hampton 

Starring Hugh Jackman, Laura Dern, Vanessa Kirby 

Release Date November 25th, 2022 

Published November 29th, 2022

The Son stars Hugh Jackman as business dad, Peter Miller. Peter is a business dad who does business things like staring pensively out of a window, wearing nice suits, and ignoring his family. Peter's business dad persona is shaken when his ex-wife, played by Laura Dern, turns up at his door one evening. The ex-wife, Kate, informs Business Dad Peter that their teenage son, Nicholas (Zen McGrath), whom Peter has dutifully ignored per the rules of being a Business Dad, has been skipping school and she can no longer keep track of him. 

Kate tells Business Dad that Nicholas wants to live with him and after consulting with his new wife, the brilliant, and completely wasted here, Vanessa Kirby, he agrees. Now he can truly be a Business Dad and ignore his son directly. No surprise then that Nicholas immediately begins skipping school again. New wife catches him hanging out in a park instead of going to school. Business Dad tries talking to his son and crying but it doesn't work, and Nicholas becomes ever more despondent until he attempts to kill himself because Business Dad is always business-ing.

Where director Florian Zeller made a genuinely thoughtful and insightful film about mental health and aging in The Father, he has crafted a dramatically inert and lacking in insight film in The Son. Hugh Jackman does his best cry acting since The Fountain and the result is a movie that even Laura Dern and Vanessa Kirby cannot lift to a level of being watchable. The problems are evident in a story that has nowhere to go. Business Dad is bad and wrong and should not be a Business Dad is the level of insight we get in The Son. 

It's all dad's fault that his son has severe mental health problems. It's his fault for working too much, for breaking the norms of society by, shock of shock, leaving his wife for a younger woman. He's wrong for being too rich and successful and for traveling too much. That's the surface level critiques that The Son appears to be lobbing at this Hugh Jackman character and his response is to cry or to sulk in his big corner office, staring wistfully out of high rise windows. 

Truly, I am trying to understand the purpose of The Son other than pure misery porn. The film crafts a character in Nicholas who has no way forward, he's a boulder rolling down hill toward tragedy. That's not a bad place to start with a character but the movie gives him no nuance, there is no insight into who Nicholas is or what drives him. The journey from introducing this unpleasant teenage child to the inevitable tragedy seemingly coming at the end is a series of miserable scenes that do explain why the kid is a trainwreck in progress but there is simply nothing else happening here. 

Attempts to give the movie something beyond Business Dad bad, sad teenager wants to die, involves introducing a character played by Anthony Hopkins. Hopkins plays Business Dad's own Business Dad, a true prick, a hateful, bitter man, who also happens to see right through Jackman's Business Dad. When Hopkins' character mocks Jackman's character for seeming to blame him for his failure as a father, it's cruel and lacking in empathy and self regard, and it is the single most honest moment in an otherwise  phony movie. 

Hopkins is unquestionably supposed to be a villain here and yet, he makes the character seem cruel but with a purpose. He's the first character who does something other than sulk, cry, or run to another room to avoid the drama. I don't want to say that Hopkins' openly cruel, arrogant, and bitter character is refreshing, but I am struggling to describe it as anything other than that when compared to everything else in this mind-numbing melodrama. 

How does a movie have the brilliant Vanessa Kirby and relegate her to leaving the room when the drama kicks in. Her character exists to be called away to check on a baby. That is until she gets shuffled offscreen permanently with the excuse that she needs to protect her baby from all the drama. This is not how you use your Vanessa Kirby. Kirby is a brilliant actress, having her constantly leaving the room to check on an unseen baby is a weird choice for how to use her. 

Click here for my full length review at Geeks.Media. 

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009) 

Directed by Gavin Hood 

Written by David Benioff, Skip Woods

Starring Hugh Jackman, Liev Schreiber, Danny Huston, Ryan Reynolds, Dominic Monaghan

Release Date May 1st, 2009 

Published May 4th, 2009 

Arguably the most revered of all superheroes, among the hardcore comic book fans, Wolverine has long deserved his own place in the comic book movie world. Nothing against the X-Men movies which were of varying but often superior quality but Hugh Jackman's Wolverine always seemed to strain against the convention of the superhero team. Granted, some of that was by design, the character has always been a lone wolf, so to speak.

But more than the design of the character, Wolverine and Hugh Jackman were simply bigger than the X-Men, as the character really has always been. Thus, there is a great deal of pressure on this Wolvie movie X-Men Origins Wolverine. The pressure to live up to an outsized reputation and the pressure to live up to beyond outsized fan expectatons.

Origins traces the life of young James Logan from the day he found out he was a mutant who could grow claws of bone through years of work as a mercenary alongside his mutant brother Sabretooth (Liev Schreiber) in the US Army, to the day he tried to leave mercenary work behind and live a life of peace and normalcy.

For a time Logan worked with a team of mercenaries assembled by General Stryker (Danny Huston). Along with his brother, Logas fought alongside shooting expert Agent Zero (Daniel Henney), Swordsman Wade 'Deadpool' Wilson (Ryan Reynolds), Chris 'Bolt' Bradley (Dominic Monaghan), John Wraith (Will I Am) and Frederick The Blob Dukes. Together this team committed what Wolverine comes to believe are atrocities, hence why he walked away.

Of course, if they had just let Logan retire we wouldn't have much of a movie. Living in Canada, Logan has met a woman, Kyla Silverfox (Lynn Collins) and is living an idyllic life when General Stryker arrives with a warning, someone has begun killing the team. It's Sabretooth and he wants to make his brother pay for walking away.

With Stryker's help, Logan undergoes a procedure intended to give him the ability to not merely fight his brother but do something no conventional weapon could do, kill him. With the use of out of this world technology that bond unbreakable metal with all of Logan's bones, he becomes the indestructible Weapon X, Wolverine.

Directed by Gavin Hood, X-Men Origins: Wolverine has some terrific action and some seriously goofball stuff. The good stuff is watching Hugh Jackman and Liev Schreiber go claw to claw. The good stuff is Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool taking out room full of armed men with just two swinging swords.

The goofball stuff is the stuff from the trailers and commercials for Wolverine. The flying from an exploding car to a helicopter to walking away in slow motion as the copter explodes. We've seen goofball stuff like this before and have become immune to the point of kitschy laughter at how cheesy they seem and how self satisfied filmmakers seem with these scenes.

The mythology stuff, all of the back story, the Origins of the title, will appeal only to the hardcore fans who will search for their other X-Men favorites among a group of child mutants rescued by Wolverine late in the film. Hardcore fans who can name the real name of Agent Zero without having to look it up. Those fans will no doubt be stoked by the high level of efficacy or terribly disappointed by whatever inaccuracy they can seize upon. Even in the nitpicking they will find pleasure. Those not in the cult however may be a little put off by the thickness of the plotting, especially since so much of the action doesn't deliver enough distraction from the plot.

Still, what works for Wolverine is Hugh Jackman whose cut physique and cigar chomping charisma perfectly capture the elemental badass nature of Wolverine. He was the perfect choice for this role in the X-Men movies and he has only grown more comfortable and capable as the character has progressed. Wolverine gets us past alot of the troubled, overly dense plotting of X-Men Origins.

Mostly for the hardcore fan, X-Men Origins: Wolverine is sub-par by the standard set by The Dark Knight, Spiderman and Iron Man. On it's own, away from the lofty comparison, it succeeds with Hugh Jackman's performance, as a summertime filler that should please the faithful.

Movie Review: Australia

Australia (2008) 

Directed by Baz Luhrmann

Written by Baz Luhrmann 

Starring Hugh Jackman, Nicole Kidman, David Wenham, Bryan Brown 

Release Date November 26th, 2008

Published November 25th, 2008 

The modern audience is often accused of having a short attention span. It's undeniable of course that with half hour television and now bite size internet videos, the modern audience has shown a taste for constant stimulation. But that fact does not mean that a movie of a good length cannot succeed. I point you to Paul Thomas Anderson's Magnolia which floats through 3 hours without ever loosing its grip on the audience.

If you have seen a double feature of Tarentino's Kill Bill, which clocks in at nearly 4 hours you know the power a great movie has to glue you to your seat. The modern attention span isn't the issue, it's the modern epic. The fact is, too often, these 'epics' are not lengthy with a purpose but lengthy due to directorial indulgence. That is most certainly the case with Baz Luhrmann's 'epic' Australia. An at times exceptional display of visual craftsmanship. Australia overstays its welcome with 3 different endings and dangling subplots.

Australia stars Nicole Kidman as Lady Sarah Ashley, a British aristocrat who comes to Australia to retrieve her husband who moved down under months earlier to make money in the cattle business. Convinced he has taken up with another woman, Lady Ashley plans on selling the cattle interest and taking her husband back to England.

Sadly, upon arriving at the ranch, called Faraway Downs, she finds her husband murdered, allegedly by an aboriginal mystic named King George. On the other hand she finds that the cattle biz is for real and with an evil land Barron named King Karney looking to steal her land for a quarter of what its worth, Lady Ashley decides to stay on and garner the profit herself.

To do so she will have to drive the cattle to the coastal town of Darwin. Thus she hires the rough and tumble Drover (Hugh Jackman) to lead the way. He needs help and doesn't have it. Aside from two aboriginal friends, there is a drunk accountant, two maids and Lady Ashley herself whose experience riding show horses is her only qualification.

Then there is Nullah. Half white, half black, 11 year old Nullah (Brandon Walters) lives in constant danger. The state has a policy of rounding up mixed race children so that they can 'breed the black out of them' and train them to be servants. Nullah has lived at Faraway Downs in secret for years after being born to a maid and a ranch hand named Fletcher (David Wenham).

Fletcher works for King Carney and cannot afford to have anyone know he fathered a mixed race child. All of this melodrama unfolds in the foreground as World War 2 emerges in the background. In newsreels and conversations we overhear Germany's march, Hitler's call for Japan to join the war and the attack on Pearl Harbor that will soon lead to attacks on the Australian mainland where Americans begin arriving for an assault on Japan.

It's a sprawling, ambitious story that director Baz Luhrmann no doubt loves. It's also a flabby, unkempt mess of competing plots that amount to three different movies forced together. The first movie, playing out as act 1, is a tribute to old Hollywood, just after the introduction of color. Luhrmann uses CGI to give Australia the coloring of a movie made in the 1930's. The effort may dazzle lovers of classic film. But, modern audiences are likely to mistake the look for bad CGI.

At the death of Lady Ashley's husband Australia becomes a gripping western. The cattle drive scenes are the movies best moments with Jackman looking quite the hero, Brandon Walters delivering the compelling drama and Kidman holding her own in the saddle. Had Australia stuck with the western aspect, with a tighter narrative focus, we could be talking about a pretty good movie.

Unfortunately, the western is merely the second act. The third act brings World War 2 and Australia's disturbing racial politics into to the forefront and begins to drift. Trained moviegoers know that the 3rd act requires the lovers to separate and for good to turn to bad so that it can be righted in the end and Australia delivers it all in rote, mind numbing fashion.

Oh, did I mention that the film ends THREE TIMES! There are two false endings. Two spots where director Luhrmann could have ended the movie with a minimum of consternation. But no. Two endings stall and start and stall again only to drive one to the point of walking out by starting up one more time. I get what the director was going for but by the second ending I was almost to the door of the theater.

Australia is likely a case of too many cooks in the kitchen. Four screenwriters contribute to a movie that feels like three movies in both length and structure. It is rumored that Luhrmann only completed the final edit of Australia 2 weeks prior to worldwide release. That might explain the rushed necessity of a 2 hour 45 minute cut of a story that can only sustain maybe 2 hours, at most.

Tedious, overlong, flabby, Australia has the look of an epic and the feeling of a butt numbing disaster.

Movie Review The Front Runner

The Front Runner (2018)

Directed by Jason Reitman 

Written by Matt Bai, Jason Reitman, Jay Carson

Starring Hugh Jackman, Vera Farmiga, J.K Simmons, Alfred Molina 

Release Date November 6th, 2018

Published November 4th, 2018

My mother, Sue, loved Gary Hart. As a lifelong Democrat she saw in Hart not just another handsome politician, but the first real heir to the President she’d grown up idealizing, the late John F. Kennedy. I was only 11 years old in 1987 but my mom made sure I knew who Gary Hart was and why he was so important to her. In her opinion, he was going to be the next President of the United States. 

Obviously, we know that did not happen but what did happen? To Gary Hart, I mean, not the race for the Presidency in 1988, we know that then Vice President George H.W Bush trounced the overmatched Mike Dukakis. But, what happened to Gary Hart? Why did his promise flicker out so quickly? Why did the man who appeared destined to be the next President of the United State at one moment become a massive punchline and cautionary tale in the span of weeks? 

The new movie, The Front Runner starring Hugh Jackman, and directed by Juno director Jason Reitman, aims, if not to answer the question of what happened, to at least place a context and a frame on what we believe happened. It’s a story about a sea change in the world of journalism and politics, the end of the buddy-buddy bedfellows of Washington D.C and the beginning of a rampant decline in our political discourse that remains to this very day. 

The story begins in 1984 when Gary Hart first attempted to run for President. Hart, a relative newcomer and young lion at just 44 years old gave the establishment Democratic candidate, Walter Mondale, a pretty good scare, all the way to the Democratic convention where he was finally forced to concede to the former Vice President. Mondale would go on to the worst electoral beating in American history while Hart remained the biggest young star in his party. 

Cut to 1988, Gary Hart is back in the Presidential race. He’s announcing his candidacy and while his staff is struggling to keep up with his Western values, including a candidate announcement at Red Rocks in Colorado, well outside the political and media mainstream, Hart was dynamically bursting into the Presidential race as a front runner. Immediately after the announcement of his candidacy, polls placed the Colorado Senator as a frontrunner not merely for the Democratic nomination, he was up double digit numbers over VP Bush for the general election. 

It was, in 1987, beginning to feel like an inevitability that Gary Hart was going to be President of the United States. Inside the campaign however, cracks were showing relatively early, earlier than anyone outside Hart’s inner circle were aware. The cracks were showing in how candidate Hart and Senator Hart felt about questions related to his family and rumors of infidelity. Hart bristled at any talk of family or personal profiles, even sitting for photos with his wife appeared to be sticking points for Gary Hart. 

Eventually, with a remarkably entertaining and engaging setup, we arrive at the meat of The Front Runner. In May of 1987 with things going swimmingly on the policy side of things, Gary Hart accepted an invitation for a boat ride in Florida with an old friend and lobbyist named Billy Broadhurst (Toby Huss) and a few invited guests, including a beautiful model that Hart had met before by the name of Donna Rice (Sara Paxton). 

Rice and Hart spent time together socializing and perhaps flirting on the boat, photos were taken but nothing initially came from the boat trip to Bimini. Things actually kicked into gear when one of Rice’s friends tipped off a Miami Herald reporter named Tom Fiedler (Steve Zissis) that a woman was headed to D.C to meet Hart. Fiedler, along with another reporter played by comedian Bill Burr, ends up staking out Hart’s Washington D.C townhouse on a weekend when Donna Rice comes for a visit. 

It’s here where the most important moment in The Front Runner unfolds in a fashion that is riveting and memorable. Hart figures out that someone is stalking him out and assumes it is Republican operatives. He is genuinely confused to find Tom Fiedler, a reporter who had been on his campaign bus, now hiding in his bushes. Hart confronts the reporters who stand their ground, asks where Donna Rice is, asks if she’s staying at his townhouse and thus ends the era of the press and politician glad-handing. 

In one fell swoop the personal lives of Presidential candidates, the rumors, the gossip and the private peccadillos suddenly became front page headlines. Here, director Jason Reitman rather brilliantly lays out the moment. In a scene set inside the offices of the Washington Post, Ben Bradlee (Alfred Molina) relays a story about Lyndon Johnson warning the press to give his private life the same wide-birth they’d given to Kennedy or they would witness a parade of women who were not Lady Bird Johnson, leaving the White House. 

The press in D.C and the politicians used to have an understanding. They would drink and commiserate and members of the Congress would happily trade stories off the record with friendly reporters who would use the background for news stories. Politicians would look the other way when reporters took pieces of conversations and stretched them into stories as long as it was political and not personal. 

This ended for good with the Gary Hart scandal. No longer would the press abide by the gentleman’s agreement regarding sex and infidelity. With the rise of the religious right and the growing political power of the church in America, suddenly the issue of character and morality became buzzwords and political litmus tests. Candidates suddenly had to be open about religion, their marriage and their families. 

Was this a genuine change? It’s hard to say. Had Gary Hart not been the front runner in question would these questions have come up? It’s clear the Republican Party saw a weak spot in Hart’s campaign when it came to women and with him being so presumptive a leader, it made sense that making character and morality into political issues was a smart and effective tactic against a Senator with a strong political resume. 

However, the film makes a strong point that this sea change was coming with or without Gary Hart. Ari Graynor plays a reporter for the Washington Post and while her part is quite small she does make one of the most important #MeToo points in the movie when she says that Gary Hart is a man with power and opportunity and that takes a certain responsibility. “If he were just some day trader, screwing around with cocktail girls, I could handle just not liking him. But, as our potential next President, that makes me nervous.” 

She’s talking about Hart but she could be talking about Bill Clinton or even President Trump given their very public proclivities. It’s a strong moment and it leads to another remarkable scene where Hart is confronted with his behavior by a reporter and backed into a corner of his own making. The movie is quite fair and doesn’t let Hart off the hook just because journalists have begun crossing lines between gossip and journalism. 

The Front Runner is a superb film filled with tremendous drama and excitement and a lead performance by Hugh Jackman that captures Gary Hart in a way that feels authentic. Jackman perfectly captures the duality of Hart and the times he lived in. A man of the 60’s and 70’s where the loose morality was a given among the boys club of politics and the highly intelligent and thoughtful communicator who, despite his dalliances, may have perhaps made a great leader or have been just one scandal from a downfall at all times. 

The Front Runner offers a tantalizing what if story that is fair to all sides. Did journalists cross boundaries? Yes, they did. Were politicians including Gary Hart making character arguments while sleeping around on their wives? Yes they were. Does a candidate's infidelity demonstrate a lack of character? Yes, as does lying about it but does cheating make someone bad at being a leader or even a President? That last question is one that The Front Runner beautifully lays on us with no clear answer. 

Movie Review: Van Helsing

Van Helsing (2004) 

Directed by Stephen Sommers 

Written by Stephen Sommers 

Starring Hugh Jackman, Kate Beckinsale, Will Kemp 

Release Date May 7th, 2004

Published May 7th, 2004 

When Universal Pictures decided to remake one of it's stable of classic monster movies, The Mummy, Stephen Sommers was a rather unlikely choice as director. Prior to that film, Sommers' only experience had come on a pair of low budget Disney family pics and the disastrous horror comedy (unintentional comedy) Deep Rising.

To the surprise of many in May of 1999, Sommers delivered one rollicking adventure flick that combined the classic mummy with Indiana Jones-style heroics. His sequel, The Mummy Returns however, was a completely different story. The sequel delivered what many had expected of the original, a big, dumb, loud, action movie with more special effects than real adventure.

Whatever your opinion of The Mummy Returns, there is no doubt the film was a hit. So it was no surprise that when Universal decided to revive a few more of their classic characters they would turn to their in-house blockbuster director to deliver a spectacle that would give the classic characters their fist blockbuster big screen treatment. The resulting film is Van Helsing, a 200 million dollar adventure that brings Dracula, Frankenstein and The Wolfman to the screen in ways fans of the classic characters could have never imagined. Whether that is a good thing is up to the individual viewer.

Hugh Jackman stars as Gabriel Van Helsing, legendary hunter of evil. Working on behalf of shadowy figures inside the Vatican, Van Helsing tracks down demons, warlocks and other evil forces that no one but he and the Vatican know exist. His most recent assignment was retrieve the legendary scientist Dr. Jekyll who sadly has been completely overtaken by his alter ego Mr. Hyde (Robbie Coltrane in voice only). The assignment ends badly, once again cementing Van Helsing's outlaw persona amongst everyone but his Vatican handlers.

After regrouping at the Vatican, Van Helsing is teamed with a Friar named Carl (David Wenham) to go to Transylvania where Count Dracula (Richard Roxburgh) is out to kill the last remnants of an ancient family of vampire killers. The Valerious family has hunted Count Dracula for centuries and now only Anna (Kate Beckinsale) and her brother Velcan (Will Kemp) remain. If Dracula finishes them off the family will remain in purgatory for eternity.

Count Dracula meanwhile is searching for Frankenstein's monster (Shuler Hensley) whose creation is linked to Dracula's ability to give birth to millions of Vampire babies (don't ask why, it doesn't matter). The monster is thought destroyed but hides out beneath the ruins of the windmill which villagers torched in an effort to kill him. Once Dracula finds him, it's up to Van Helsing and Anna to save him before Dracula can use him for evil. Deterring the rescue is Dracula's pet, The Wolfman, whose real identity makes killing him very difficult.

Stephen Sommers not only directed Van Helsing he also wrote the film’s screenplay and this is where the film gets into trouble. While Sommers certainly knows how to incorporate actors and CGI effects into a terrific action scene, his writing is more than suspect. His dialogue is full of plot-point-delivered monologues in which characters deliver backstory in entirely unnecessary speeches that stop the movie dead, if only for a moment, before the next bit of eye candy special effects kick in. Don't even try to make sense of Sommers' plot. He didn't bother so why should we?

Worse than that however are the liberties Sommers takes with the stories of these legendary characters. It's one thing to re-imagine Bram Stoker's aged Dracula hunter Van Helsing as a young stud played by Hugh Jackman, that is to be expected when your trying to turn him into an action hero. With the name change to Gabriel Van Helsing, it's usually Abraham, you could argue it's not even the same character.

It is however, the liberties taken with Count Dracula that are most disturbing. There is a reason why New Coke was a miserable failure. Why KFC does not screw around with it's 11 herbs and spices. Because certain formulas just work as they are and that is the case with Count Dracula. There is a reason the Count has been portrayed in the same way ever since Bram Stoker created him, it's because that is the most compelling and interesting way to portray the character. 

In Sommers' take on the character in the person of actor Richard Roxburgh, the character is a laughable mess that lacks any of the menacing or seductive qualities that made Count Dracula an icon. Roxburgh can draw nothing but derisive laughter with his over the top performance, unarguably the worst Count Dracula ever brought to the screen.

Frankenstein is just as bad, although his look is not bad. Sommers' take on the look of the legendary monster is interesting with just enough of a nod to the original combined with modern effects. However, when the monster speaks he loses all credibility. Yes that's right. The monster speaks! Has there ever been a Frankenstein's monster that chewed scenery like Jeremy Irons on a bender? Well there is one now.

Is the Wolfman even worth talking about? Not really. There isn't much depth to the character or much of any take on the backstory. Though there are new twists on the Wolfman's ability, he is according to this film the only being able to kill Dracula, so that's new. Other than that however, the character of the Wolfman is nothing more than a CGI cartoon much like the Mr. Hyde character which receives an inauspicious death at the beginning of the film. These classic characters deserve better.

Amazingly Sommers, as I mentioned earlier, does know how to shoot a compelling action scene. There are a couple of really good action scenes that combine the best of CGI effects and pure adventure fantasy. However, there are far more effects that just pummel the audience with non-stop visual razzle-dazzle. It all grows rather tiresome, especially at the film’s climax. I can't forget to mention Steven Silvestri's film score that, much like the CGI effects, pounds on the audience begging to be noticed, not a good thing.

I really liked the first Mummy film from Stephen Sommers and Van Helsing has some of that film’s spirit, especially in Hugh Jackman's heroic appearance. Sadly though, too much of Van Helsing reminded me of The Mummy Returns which was also way too wrapped up in it's effects at the expense of it's compelling characters and the adventurous spirit of the first film. A little more adventure and a little less effects and Van Helsing might not make for a bad franchise blockbuster. As it is, Van Helsing is yet another disappointing big, dumb, loud blockbuster lumbering it's way toward a huge opening weekend at the box office.

Movie Review The Fountain

The Fountain (2006) 

Directed by Darren Aronofsky

Written by Darren Aronofsky 

Starring Hugh Jackman, Rachel Weisz

Release Date November 22nd, 2006 

Published November 22nd 2006 

With its gorgeous sci-fi visuals and promise of a grand love story, I expected The Fountain to be an epic of film technology and a grand love story. Maybe I was expecting too much. The visuals are there, lushly beautiful sci-fi vistas, mind blowing uses of color and light and technology. However, the love story is simply tedious.

A mopey, dopey Hugh Jackman wanders through this eye popping sci-fi set piece weeping and falling over and just generally ruining what might otherwise be the closest anyone has come to evoking the genius of Kubrick's 2001, or at the very least the minor pleasure of Roger Corman's The Trip.

Izzie Creo (Rachel Weisz) is dying. She has an inoperable brain tumor but that has not stopped her research scientist husband Tommy (Hugh Jackman) from spending every waking moment trying to find a cure. So driven by his quest that he has begun neglecting what little time he and Izzy have left, a point well made by his boss  Dr. Guzzetti (Ellen Burstyn), who visits Izzy while Tommy continues working.

Tommy and Izzy have a connection that seems to have lasted through time. In a story written by Izzie, the two are cast as Spanish conquistador and Queen in the search for the fountain of youth. And in a future that we see but Tommy and Izzie are seemingly unaware of, another version of Tommy has for thousands of years traveled the universe with what we can only assume is Izzy's body buried within the bark of an ancient tree. His quest is for a dying star that may be able to restore Izzy's life and allow them both to live for eternity together.

It's a grand idea but in execution The Fountain is a somewhat sappy take on eternal love with a performance by Hugh Jackman that leaves one to wonder whether this really was the guy who played the tough guy Wolverine in the X-Men movies. Clearly this teary eyed , mumblemouth can't be the same man who brought life to one of the comics' manliest superheroes.

Jackman's performance notwithstanding, there are a number of stunningly beautiful images in The Fountain that make me wish I liked this movie more than I did. Darren Aronofsky and cinematographer Matthew Libatique craft some awesomely psychedelic visions that will dazzle your eyes even as your brain rebels against the lame love story.

I could watch Rachel Weisz make a sandwich, she is that interesting as an actress. Her Oscar winning role in The Constant Gardener was tiny compared to star Ralph Fiennes and yet she steals the entire picture with her wounded toughness and vulnerability. Even her roles in mainstream fluff like The Mummy, Constantine or Runaway Jury are given weight by her appearance.

In The Fountain, Rachel Weisz plays second to Hugh Jackman and is too often left on the sidelines. Though I find it easy to imagine a man wanting to follow Rachel Weisz through lifetimes, and attempt to conquer death on her behalf, her character here is too thin to provide the dramatic motivation needed to justify all of Hugh Jackman's weepy determination.

Much has been made of The Fountain and its appeal to the stoner crowd and though I have never used psychedelic drugs I would like to imagine the experience to be something akin to watching The Fountain. Not an entirely satisfying experience but one of mind melting visual excesses that might inspire great art and great thought. The film is so wonderfully visual that it may have been a masterpiece had there been as much care given to the story as to the trippy visuals.

I was reminded throughout The Fountain of the Robin Williams movie What Dreams May Come another visually stunning film that dies on the vine of melodrama. Both films are about men who attempt to conquer death by crying uncontrollably and both films are gorgeous boundary pushing exercises in visual virtuosity. If you were a fan of What Dreams May Come you may find similar pleasure in The Fountain.

Darren Aronofsky is a visionary with an uncompromising will to tell this story. Unfortunately he seems to have become dazed by his own visuals and lost in the morass of the lovely sci-fi landscapes of The Fountain. He gets little help from star Hugh Jackman who delivers a weak kneed, weepy performance, more suited to a daytime soap opera actor than to the man who was Wolverine.

The Fountain is a lovely example of the visual aspects of filmmaking. As a story however, it's a teary and bleary chick flick dressed in sci-fi clothes.

Movie Review Happy Feet

Happy Feet (2006) 

Directed by George Miller 

Written by George Miller

Starring Elijah Wood, Nicole Kidman, Hugh Jackman, Robin Williams, Brittany Murphy, Hugo Weaving 

Release Date November 17th, 2006 

Published November 18th, 2006

The trailers for Happy Feet have been in theaters for more than a year ahead of the release of the film. The trailers promise a big, brassy, pop musical with a cast of celebrity singers with impressive range. Now that the film has arrived the promise has not been delivered. Happy Feet has music but is no musical. Rather, Happy Feet is a sweet, well intention-ed, environmental parable about over-fishing in the world's oceans that will have little kids fidgeting in their seats and mom and dad struggling to stay awake.

Mumble (Elijah Wood) is the only penguin among thousands who doesn't have a heart song. He simply cannot sing, a terrible embarrassment to his mother (Nicole Kidman) and father (Hugh Jackman) who met through a beautifully sung medley. Mumble however, does have a unique talent, he can dance. Unfortunately his Happy Feet are not something the older penguins appreciate.

The penguins are in trouble. As we join the story; there are less and less fish in the ocean and the situation is getting desperate. Mumble has heard from a bird that aliens have been stealing most of the fish, leading some birds to even attack penguins, a fate that Mumble just barely escapes. On his first fishing trip, Mumble separates himself from the group to search for the aliens. He wants to reason with them and get them to share the fish.

Joining Mumble on his quest are a group of latin infused penguins lead by the hot blooded Ramon (Robin Williams). Also coming along is a penguin shaman named Lovelace (also voiced by Robin Williams). Together this ragtag band braves the coldest portions of Antarctica and the dangerous sea lions out to make them into lunch, to get to the alien encampment where Mumble's dancing skills might just make all the difference.

Directed by George Miller, who made the Oscar nominated kids flick Babe, Happy Feet is gorgeously animated but extraordinarily dull. The trailers promised music but aside from an opening mash-up of Prince's Kiss and Elvis's Heartbreak Hotel sung by Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman and Brittany Murphy crooning a lovely rendition of Queen's Somebody To Love, the music is scant throughout Happy Feet.

The real thrust of the film is an environmental parable about how humans are overfishing the oceans and how it's affecting wildlife. That is a relevant environmental issue well suited to documentary filmmaking. Happy Feet is obviously not a documentary but an animated movie aimed at small children. Now, environmental responsibility is a lesson I wish more kids were taught but if Happy Feet is the vehicle; most kids won't remember the message.

The message is delivered in such a slow moving, serious minded fashion that the message is likely to go over the heads of the target audience of Happy Feet who are more likely to spend their time climbing on the theater seats or trying to keep mom and dad from dozing off. As forgettable as they are, the Ice Age pictures deliver an environmental lesson far more effectively and entertainingly than does Happy Feet.

The animation of Happy Feet is exceptional. It really is a work of art in some moments. If the story weren't so trudgingly dull, Happy Feet might have been a masterpiece. I loved George Miller's lovely watercolor landscapes and the animated dancing penguins is a real dazzler. If you love great animation, from a technical perspective, you might find something to love about Happy Feet.

The soundtrack to Happy Feet is also tremendous, if only there had been more of it. Prince contributes a brand new song, "Song Of The Heart", that plays over the closing credits. The soundtrack CD features Pink, covering Rufus and Chaka Khan's "Tell Me Something Good", The Beach Boys and the long forgotten but much loved Brand New Heavies. Songs sung, all too briefly, by the cast are also included on the CD.

If this were a music review it would be a rave.

Great animation, great music, and yet a sleeping pill of a film, Happy Feet is one of the more disappointing films of the year. The trailer promised a pop musical, the movie is a lesson in overfishing around Antarctica, even an environmentalist like myself found it difficult to keep my eyes from rolling. If you want to send an environmental message to little kids at least dress it up with some great pop tunes, Happy Feet tried that and abandoned it far too quickly in favor of dull preaching.

Movie Review: Flushed Away

Flushed Away (2006) 

Directed by David Bowers, Sam Fell

Written by Dick Clement, Ian Le Frenais, Chris Lloyd, Joe Keenan

Starring Hugh Jackman, Kate Winslet, Bill Nighy, Andy Serkis, Jean Reno 

Release Date November 3rd, 2006

Published November 6th, 2006 

Aardman animation, the home of Wallace & Gromit and Chicken Run, makes its first foray into computer animation with Flushed Away. This comedy about a rat borne London in the sewers beneath the city combines the charmingly flawed look of Aardman's traditional claymation characters with computer animation from the home of the Shrek movies, Dreamworks animation.

It's quite a successful transition for Aardman who move seamlessly into computer animation that remains true to the artistry of the company's past.

Flushed Away stars the voice of Hugh Jackman as Roddy a pet rat indulging in a high class lifestyle while his human owners are out of town. With the humans gone Roddy is up and out of his cage, watching the big TV and even satisfying his sweet tooth. Roddy's high class vacation from the humans is interrupted by the arrival of a disgusting sewer rat named Sid (Shane Richie) who soon ends up sending Roddy on a shocking trip

In trying to get Sid to leave, Roddy tries to convince him the bathroom toilet is a Jacuzzi. Sid, however, knows a toilet when he see's one and sends Roddy careening down the pipes himself. Finding himself in the shocking midst of a bustling rat metropolis that replicates real London using found materials, Roddy seeks help to get himself back to his high class home.

The person who can help Roddy get home is Rita (Kate Winslet) a fearless independent ships captain who knows every inch of the London sewer. Before she can help Roddy, however, Rita must escape rat mobsters and their boss; the toad (Ian McKellen) who want Rita to give them a jewel she recovered that may or may not have falled from the crown of Queen Elizabeth herself.

After some friction, Roddy and Rita form a good partnership; fending off the mob as they navigate Roddy's way home and Roddy discovers that the toad has more sinister plans than merely retrieving the Queen's jewel from Rita.

Flushed Away was directed by first time directors David Bowers and Sam Fell who tell a lively and fun adventure story. The real success of Fllushed Away however, is the animation which seamlessly combines computer animation with Aardman's signature claymation look that despite having been digitized manages to retain that flaws in the clay charm ala Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit.

Much of the enjoyment of Flushed Away comes from the voice cast lead by Hugh Jackman and Kate Winslet. Jackman gives a playful and fun vocal performance that is reminiscent of his self deprocating work as the host of the Tony Awards. Winslet is pitch perfect in giving Rita's voice strength and vulnerability. The supporting cast, which features Bill Nighy, Andy Serkis and Jean Reno really liven things up with Nighy and Serkis delivering terrific comic relief as mob rats.

There is a hint of romance in Flushed Away between Roddy and Rita. However, because directors Bowers and Fell are making a movie for kids they seem unwilling to commit to a romance between the lead characters. Despite great vocal chemistry between Jackman and Winslet, there is a great awkwardness in the writing and directing of this romance plot. The filmmakers seem to want to make it romantic but because this is a kids movie they just couldn't commit to it.

I can't escape the idea that Flushed Away should be funnier than it is. The film is pleasant and safe for the kids but it lacks the kind of big laughs that a movie like Cars or Shrek provide. That doesn't mean it's not humorous, rather that the humor is rather timid and riskless. See again the romance plot to which the filmmakers can't seem to commit. The romance has a lot of potential, comic or otherwise, but becuase the filmmakers can't decide if they want it or not the whole thing just sorta sits there.

As a product for kids you could do far worse than Flushed Away. The film is a technical marvel in its combination of CG technology and Aardman claymation. The story is pleasant and inoffensive which is a double edged sword. It's safe for the kids but far too safe to be really interesting and funny. I recommend Flushed Away for family audiences but for movie fans looking for the next Cars, Incredibles or Shrek, Flushed Away is not for you.

Movie Review: Deception

Deception (2008) 

Directed by Marcel Langenegger 

Written by Mark Bombeck 

Starring Ewan McGregor, Hugh Jackman, Michelle Williams

Release Date April 25th, 2008 

Published April 26th, 2008

Jonathan (Ewan McGregor) is kind of a loser. Despite a high paying job as an accountant in New York City, Jonathan has no friends and no real life outside of his work. That changes when he is befriended by Wiley (Hugh Jackman) a charming, self effacing lawyer for one of Jonathan's client company's. Though they would seem to have nothing in common, Jonathan finds Wiley's friendly entreaties irresistible, probably because he has no friends to begin with. 

Wiley invites Jonathan out for a night on the town, loans him a 4000 dollar suit, and works on getting him laid. When Wiley heads out of town for a few weeks he 'accidentally' switches cellphones with Jonathan. From there Jonathan begins fielding Wiley's calls and finds himself initiated to 'the list' a group of high powered men and women who get together to engage in anonymous one night stands.

Through 'the list' Jonathan meets and falls in love with a woman (Michele Williams) whose name he does not know. Breaking the rules of 'the list' he tells her his name and asks to see her a second time on a real date. She agrees but when the date moves to a tiny hotel room Jonathan finds himself knocked unconscious and the girl gone missing. Now he must find the girl and discover just how much trouble his pal Wiley and this mysterious list have in store for him.

Sleazy and slow witted, Deception is an erotic thriller that is not all that erotic and far from thrilling. This is a movie that believes watching a bank transaction against a ticking clock is somehow exciting. As McGregor sits in front of a computer screen hyper music underscores quick cuts from his sweaty brow to a clock on the wall to the computer screen with a helpful icon that counts down how long the download is taking.

If that doesn't get your heart racing there is chemistry free romance between McGregor and Williams so uninspiring, it pales in comparison to the oddly homoerotic bonding between Jackman and McGregor. In a ballsier movie the romance would have been between Jackman and McGregor but this is not a really ballsy movie, just a really bad one.

Deception was released by Fox as a favor to star Hugh Jackman who produced the film under his Seed Productions banner. The film likely would have been direct to video after an international release if Fox were not counting on Jackman to push the fall epic Austrailia and next summer's blockbuster tent pole Wolverine. That may sound cynical but that's Hollywood horse trading for you. Also, how else could you explain how such a terrible film as Deception found its way to more than 2000 screens? 

Movie Review Kate and Leopold

Kate & Leopold 

Directed by James Mangold 

Written by James Mangold, Steven Rogers

Starring Hugh Jackman, Meg Ryan, Liev Schreiber, Breckin Meyer, Natasha Lyonne, Bradley Whitford

Release Date December 25th, 2001 

Published January 24th, 2002 

There has been talk that romantic comedy is a dying genre. The plots and conventions of the genre have become too familiar and many filmgoers are growing more pessimistic about on-screen romance. Kate & Leopold may not be the film to breathe new life into this struggling genre but for what it is, a light little cookie of a film, it's not bad.

You know your watching a romantic comedy when Meg Ryan comes on screen wrinkling her cute button nose that screams, “Love me.” In this film she is the titular Kate, who is more concerned about getting ahead at her job in advertising than finding a meaningful relationship. Her last relationship was with a quirky scientist played by Liev Schreiber. Schreiber is trying to solve the puzzle of time travel so that he can travel through time to meet his great-great uncle Leopold (Hugh Jackman), an inventor who may hold the key to Liev's scientific writer’s block.

After accomplishing time travel he accidentally brings Leopold back to the future with him. From there Kate meets Leopold who she assumes is some method actor. Leopold is immediately drawn to Kate but she at first just thinks he's weird. There is something odd about him, he's chivalrous and well mannered and well spoken. Very unusual for the modern male, but then as we already know he's not modern at all.

The love story develops well and director James Mangold doesn't let the film’s gimmicky premise get in the way of Ryan and Jackman's wonderful chemistry. All great romantic comedies are based on the chemistry of the lead actors, as Ryan has shown with Tom Hanks and Billy Crystal previously.

In Kate & Leopold, Jackman shows himself a worthy replacement for Hanks. Jackman's best work is in his willingness to humiliate himself while holding on to his Victorian era dignity. Jackman becomes a star right in front of our eyes, breaking out of the action genre and proving he can do just about anything as an actor, as he would later demonstrate in a brilliant hosting gig on SNL.

Ryan is her natural cute self in Kate & Leopold, which isn't a bad thing. But there are moments where you can see she is beginning to tire of this kind of role. More than a couple times she looks outright bored by material that she has done more than a few times. Jackman and the very surprising comic turn by Schreiber save the film. He steals every scene he's in with a goofy energy we haven't seen from him before.

Kate & Leopold isn't anything you haven't seen before but as a Friday night rental to relax and watch with your girlfriend, it’s an enjoyable rent that will leave you smiling.

Movie Review: X2 X-Men United

X2: X-Men United (2003) 

Directed by Brian Singer

Written by Michael Dougherty, Dan Harris, David Hayter 

Starring Patrick Stewart, Hugh Jackman, Ian McKellan, Halle Berry, Famke Janssen, James Marsden

Release Date May 2nd, 2003 

Published May 1st, 2003 

The first of 2003's many blockbusters is here. The sequel to the 2000 cash machine, X Men, X Men United once again has Professor Xavier's clan of mutants attempting to prevent a human-mutant war. The twist however in X2 finds our hero's on the same side as archenemy Magneto against an evil army general with a double secret agenda. The familiar story combines with spectacular effects for an enjoyable popcorn entertainment.

The film opens with a sensational effects scene involving a new mutant called Nightcrawler (Alan Cumming) and an attack on the White House. Using his mutant ability to turn to smoke and float through walls, Nightcrawler evades the secret service and attacks the President. Through luck, the President's life is saved, but now the tentative peace between humans and mutants that started at the end of the first film is over.

Despite the efforts of Mystique (Rebecca Romijn Stamos who is not bad when she's not saddled with too much dialogue) disguised as the late Senator Kelly (Bruce Davison), an army General named Stryker (Brian Cox) convinces the President that a strike against mutants is necessary. His target, Xavier's School for the Gifted, AKA the X-Men compound.

In the meantime, Professor Xavier has begun searching for Nightcrawler to uncover why he attacked the President. Xavier dispatches Storm (Halle Berry) and Jean Grey (Famke Janssen) to find Nightcrawler, while he and Cyclops visit archenemy Magneto (Ian Mckellen) to determine his involvement. Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) returns to the school just in time to take charge of the student while everyone is gone. Of course this is when Stryker and his army attack, forcing Wolverine to empty the school and go on the run.

With Rogue (Anna Paquin), Iceman (Shawn Ashmore) and Pyro (Aaron Stanford), Wolverine heads for safety in the home of Iceman's parents. In one of the films most talked about scenes, Iceman "comes out" to his parents about being a mutant. It's not long though before the cops show and they are on the run again.

Once reunited with Storm and Jean, they find that the Professor and Cyclops are missing and they are being hunted by military jets as they escape in the X jet. After taking a hit the jet nearly crashes, they are saved at the last minute by the unlikely savior, the now free Magneto. With the mutual enemy of General Stryker, they must team with Magneto and Mystique to free Xavier and stop Stryker from launching the war against mutants.

Summer blockbusters aren't about great storytelling, they are about special effects and sly humor and X2 delivers both. Not only is there the awesome White House attack sequence, but also the jet fight with Storm attempting to lose the military jets in a series of tornado's that she creates.

Most of the film’s humor comes, surprisingly from Wolverine in subtle commentary in his surroundings. Thrown in to babysitter mode while the rest of the crew is hunting for Nightcrawler, Wolverine has some fun interaction with the students before the military attacks. Then as witness to Iceman's coming out, Wolverine's annoyance of his conventional surroundings are very funny. Jackman's gruffness is perfectly in tune with his humor.

The effects are strong, but suffer in comparison to the Matrix trailer that precedes it. The Matrix trailer was so good I missed the first couple minutes of X2, still reveling in Reloaded. That is not to say I wasn't impressed by X2 but it is made to look conventional by comparison.

The performances aren't much to be remembered Halle Berry's Storm gets more screen time this second time around but not much insight is made into the character. Jackman as Wolverine gets the most screen time and is undoubtedly the star but the more Wolverine is on the screen the less impressive he becomes. In comparison with Jean and Storm, Wolverine's powers, his adamantium claws and superhuman healing ability seem small. You know when it comes to the major save the world stuff it will be Storm or Jean doing the saving with Wolverine as a spectator.

Director Brian Singer does an efficient job of balancing his large cast and huge effects scenes, and while the story isn't all that impressive it's all very well choreographed and follows a certain logic. To balance all of this big budget stuff and make a film that is semi-coherent is a feat all on it's own. It's an entertaining popcorn film that effectively sets the stage for the next sequel. It's no Spider-Man, Batman or Superman, but it's still pretty good.

Movie Review: X-Men The Last Stand

X-Men The Last Stand (2006) 

Directed by Brett Ratner 

Written by Simon Kinberg, Zak Penn 

Starring Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, Patrick Stewart, Kelsey Grammer, Elliot Page, Shawn Ashmore

Release Date May 26th, 2006

Published May 25th, 2006 

Director Brett Ratner is a hack. That is the reputation he has earned over a career of nine features including two Rush Hour films (and soon a third), Red Dragon, The Family Man and After The Sunset. Each of these are examples of the basic mainstream formula pictures that few would call innovative or relevant. Ratner is a mainstream showman who works only from studio approved genre templates and thus, the label of hack, is appropriate. 

Ratner's style is safe, conventional and boring. So it was quite understandable that when Ratner was hired to direct the third film in the X-Men series, X-Men The Last Stand, longtime fans gnashed their teeth and prayed to whatever mutant god that controls such matters that Ratner not be allowed to screw up their beloved franchise too much. The fans prayers have been answered, for the most part. Though X-Men: The Last Stand has plot holes you could drive a truck through and cringe inducing moments unsuitable to the franchise, Ratner has not screwed the thing up too bad. Actually it's not that bad at all.

X3 turns on the idea that a wealthy industrialist has discovered a cure for the mutant X gene. It's a revelation that rocks the burgeoning mutant community at a time when a tentative peace had come between mutants and humans. The President of the United States (Josef Summer) even has created a dept. of mutant affairs headed up by a mutant, Dr. Hank McCoy aka Beast (Kelsey Grammer). The cure while good for some mutants is a divisive and even deadly issue for others.

Standing against the cure is Magneto (Ian McKellen) who, with his brotherhood of mutants, including Mystique (Rebecca Romijn) and Pyro (Aaron Stanford), plans to use the cure as a rallying cry for mutants to renew the war against humanity. Then there are our heroes the X-Men. Conflicted and confused, most are opposed to the idea that mutants are in need of a cure but against any kind of war with humanity, the X-Men are caught dead set in the middle.

In the midst of the controversy the X-Men face an even bigger crisis. Jean Grey (Famke Janssen), thought dead after the last major X-Men conflict, is alive but she is no longer the Jean Grey the team once knew. Her near death experience has released her secondary personality known as the Phoenix, a being of unimaginable and uncontrollable power and rage. With war on the horizon and Jean Grey an even greater danger than that war, X-Men The Last Stand is bursting at the seams with plot. 

Throw in the introductions of several long awaited X-Men characters and you can understand the herculean task that Director Brett Ratner endured in making X-Men The Last Stand. That X3 is as coherent as it is with all of that plot and so many characters is a credit to Ratner. Not that I can let him off the hook completely for the films many flaws but even the biggest Ratner hater out there must cut the guy some slack for the sheer massiveness of X-Men The Last Stand.

Where Ratner succeeds in X3 is in crafting some serious blockbuster action scenes. A fight with Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) and Storm (Halle Berry) facing down Magneto's brotherhood, including Pyro and new members including the super strong Juggernaut (a massively muscled up Vinny Jones) and the empathic speed demon Callisto (Dania Ramirez), is terrific, fast paced action and a terrific lead up to the films most shocking moment.

The ending is the films strongest moment as Wolverine is forced to face off with Jean Grey/Phoenix as she prepares to destroy the entire planet. The scene is exciting and emotional incorporating massive special effects and the entwined histories of these two characters into one powerhouse scene. Predominant amongst the films flaws however, are the younger X-Men, especially Shawn Ashmore as Iceman. The dewey eyed teenage Iceman is an emotional cypher who lacks power and presence. Iceman's main plot function is as the opposing element to Aaron Stanford's Pyro but since Stanford is also an underwhelming presence their time together onscreen is forgettable at best.

The less said about Iceman's romantic triangle subplot with Anna Paquin's Rogue and Elliot Page's Kitty Pride (the girl who can run through walls) the better. I could go on for several more paragraphs picking apart the flaws of X-Men The Last Stand even though I honestly believe that the good outweighs the bad. Brett Ratner's work is not exactly a masters class in direction but it is competent and professional and even thrilling when it really needs to be. The performances of the leads Hugh Jackman and Halle Berry are as good as they have been in the first two films with Jackman's wit becoming more prominent each time out. His work here makes talk of a Wolverine stand alone franchise something to look forward to.

Kelsey Grammer even cuts a surprisingly strong action hero figure as Beast. Fans of the comics have long looked forward to seeing the blue haired monster Dr. Hank McCoy with his unique combination of super strength, agility and erudite intelligence. Embodied by Kelsey Grammer, Beast has the gravitas of Dr. Frasier Crane combined with agility and strength of a classic comic book character. If you can put aside the flaws and concentrate on the terrific performances and often exceptional action scenes and shocking surprises of X-Men The Last Stand you will have a great time. X-Men The Last Stand is big time summer blockbuster entertainment.

Movie Review: The Prestige

The Prestige (2006) 

Directed by Christopher Nolan 

Written by Jonathan and Christopher Nolan 

Starring Hugh Jackman, Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Scarlett Johannson, Rebecca Hall, Andy Serkis 

Release Date October 20th, 2006 

Published October 19th, 2006 

Director Christopher Nolan's short career has been quite exceptional. His debut feature Following showed off a clever, if not accomplished young director. His follow-up Memento however, went beyond clever and into the realm of sheer directorial genius. Nolan came back to earth a little adapting the Icelandic thriller Insomnia for American audiences, showing that he is better off developing his own material.

Any questions about Nolan as a great director however, were answered when he took his first shot at the blockbuster brass ring, directing the franchise kickoff Batman Begins. One of the best films of 2005; Batman Begins raised the profile of Christopher Nolan and raised the stakes on his future success. His latest picture, The Prestige, became an instant buzzmaker with his involvement.

The Prestige, starring Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman as rival magicians, is a worthy effort for a director who is still feeling his oats as a major auteur. Clever and accessible, The Prestige is just smart enough to be a Christopher Nolan movie and just thrilling enough to be considered mainstream popcorn entertainment.

In turn of the century England magic is big business on the isle. Prestidigitation, legerdemain, and simple flim flammery are so popular that stages are eager to snap up the latest trickster. Into this world of con-men and showbiz folk, come two young men eager to learn the trade. Rupert (Hugh Jackman) and Alfred (Christian Bale) broke into the business together as audience plants for a hack magician (Mickey Jay in a minor cameo).

Their job is to wait patiently in the audience until volunteers are needed. They then eagerly head for the stage to take part in a very important trick. They are to tie the magicians assistant, Julia (Piper Perabo) who happens to be Rupert's wife, tightly and watch as she is lowered into a water tank and locked inside. The trick is that the magician will make her disappear.

The trick is pretty basic, the knots aren't very tight, the lock is tricked, Julia's escape is assured, though were something to go wrong the stage manager, Cutter (Michael Caine), is side stage with an axe. One night something goes horribly wrong. Unable to untie an overly elaborate knot, tied by Albert, Julia drowns. This begins a rivalry that is far more than professional jealousy.

Blaming Albert for his wife's death, Rupert saves his revenge for his ex-friend's first solo show as a magician. When Albert goes for his signature trick, catching a bullet from a tricked gun, he unfortunately picks out a disguised Rupert who fires a real bullet that takes two fingers from Albert's hand. The rivalry devolves from there to stealing tricks, trading women, one woman, Rupert's assistant Olivia (Scarlett Johannsen), and trying to one up each other with more and more complicated and dangerous illusions.

The magic of The Prestige however, is in the storytelling. Christopher Nolan, working from a script written by his brother Jonathan, toys with the time and space of his story in unique and often surprising ways. The movie begins with Albert in jail for having committed a murder. Then we are flashed back to Albert and Rupert's beginnings, as described above, and back and forth between the journals of both magicians, each written at the height of their rivalry.

The non-linear storytelling keeps us off balance for much of the picture, as in a good magicians trick; your looking one way as the trick happens the other way before being revealed and fooling you. The magic of The Prestige is not the staged theatrics which Nolan willingly explains and demonstrates, the magic is in the quiet misdirection and sleight of hand in the storytelling and direction.

Not all of The Prestige works. There are moments when you will easily be able to see what is coming next, the little sci fi twist late in the film is telegraphed, but the payoffs even on the most predictable twist are stunning and well crafted. The ending of The Prestige will confound some audiences but for those who have paid attention its a terrific jaw dropper.

Magic is big on the big screen this fall. The Illusionist starring Edward Norton has been one of the hottest indie features of the fall. Now The Prestige with an all star cast and a rising star director arrives with a whole lot of buzz and delivers a thrilling piece of magical storytelling. While the films shifting timeline can be confusing from time to time, it is essential to Nolan's way of telling this story. In demonstrating the magic of film-making, the ability to craft your own time and space, he honors real magic.

Adding to the prestige of this story is one sensational cast. Hugh Jackman, Christian Bale, Scarlett Johannsen and Michael Caine are exceptional, that you know. What you may not know though is just how brilliant David Bowie can be. Showing up almost unrecognizable as the legendary inventor Nikola Tesla, Bowie dazzles us with a deft turn that steals a few very good scenes.

Christopher Nolan is unlikely to win awards with movies like Batman Begins and The Prestige but that is certainly not his fault. Both films are sensational works that deserve award consideration. But, Nolan is fighting an academy mindset that is against anything that appeals too young or too mainstream. You can forget the academy ever giving a fair shake to something like Batman Begins, simply out of bias toward it's source material.

But most shockingly, even a period piece like The Prestige, no matter how ingenious and well crafted, will never earn awards attention. It's a thriller, with youth appeal, and a young, unproven cast. The academy may not love The Prestige, but you just might. This is simply a terrific film, who can't enjoy that.