Clash of the Titans

When I saw the trailer for Clash of the Titans way back before the Christmas season I kind of scratched my head. To me it felt like this film belonged smack dab in the middle of the July. As I looked at Warner Brother’s line up for the summer I saw no tent pole pictures lined up. One might argue that Sex in the City 2 or even the reboot of Nightmare on Elm Street could be considered flagships for WBs this summer. They’ll both do well at the box office but they won’t see Harry Potter type numbers. I thought it possible for Titans to have a box office that could comparable though. So I ask, why did it come out now? 

Titans just wasn’t that good a film. It had great set pieces; a good concept of story and some very talented actors but the film never came together for me. It was entertaining but I saw it at 2pm today and I’m already starting to forget it. Usually when this happens I can carry some things away from the experience like the effects of the film but Titans really disappointed me in this area. If you’re going to have a big tent pole film than you’re going to need world-class special effects. But wait! Wasn’t this film in 3-D? Doesn’t that mean it was going to be another all-immersing experience like Avatar? Not in the least. 

About four months ago Warner Brother announced that Titans was going to be retrofitted with 3-D. This picture was originally supposed to play in theaters as a 2-D film. After Avatar exploded though several studios decided to go back and convert some of their bigger films to 3-D in hopes that they could grab some of the potential box office that Cameron’s film tapped into. The only difference was that Avatar was filmed in native 3-D. Before I saw Titans I didn’t really have an opinion about the 3-D conversion process. After I saw Titans I pretty much decided that the studios should try and stay away from this whole 3-D retrofitting idea. In Titans it just felt like a gimmick and actually took away from my experience overall. 

I mentioned earlier that this film had some great talent in it. Liam Nesson, Ralph Fiennes and the very talented Gemma Arterton all turned in decent performances with a so so script. Notice though that I left out the Sam Worthington. Does anyone else feel like Hollywood has been trying to turn this actor into the next Arnold Schwarzenegger? He’s been in several major films in the last two years but this was the first picture where he was the main attraction. Unlike Arnold I don’t think Sam has the charisma needed to be a leading man for much longer. He isn’t a bad actor he just doesn’t have what it takes to be the heart of a film. I kept waiting for him to give me something other than dark and brooding through out this film. Normally I wouldn’t blame an actor for his performance because I believe the director is ultimately responsible for that. When I think about it though the only time I’ve seen Worthington give the audience something other than dark and brooding was when he was a Na’vi in Avatar. The animators get all the credit for that. So I'm starting to think that Worthington is just a one trick pony. I know that sounds harsh. I just don't want another Keanu Reeves loosed upon the world. 

I asked a question earlier about why Titans came out now instead of later this summer. After I saw this film and experienced it’s flaws I got my answer. I’m pretty sure that Warner Brothers knew this film just didn’t have what it would take to stand out this summer. So because of this they decided to make it 3-D and gave it a release date where it wouldn’t have very much competition. It turns out that it wasn’t bad a move. It made 68 million last weekend and broke all the records for the Easter holiday. 

Until next time I’ll be getting ready to experience the awesomeness of Date Night with Tina and Steve. 

The Pretentious Filmmaker.

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Kick Ass

There’s no more original thought in Hollywood these days. Think about it? I have no idea how many movies have been made since the early 20^th century but I’m sure the number is a lot bigger then we all think. Eventually Tinsel Town had to run out of steam because really nothing is new under the sun. I’m pretty sure that’s the reason why we are seeing so many remakes or reboots and so many special editions these days. Unfortunately this trend is beginning to take over and if you ask me I think this is setting a very strange bar creatively for today’s cinema. Don’t worry. If your film stinks you can always reboot it! 

So how about Kick Ass? Is it a reboot? No. Is it anything more than another hero's origins film? No. Is it all that original? No, not really. Is it most likely the smartest and most entertaining comic book movie I’ve ever seen? YES and here’s why. 

I’m sure you guys all remember the movie Scream right? It came out in 1996 when the slasher genre was already in full decline. So many films came before it that had the same plot, same scares and even the same lines. Scream wasn’t all that original but my my wasn’t it special? It was, because near the end of the film we’re treated to a scene where one of the film’s characters actually decides to go over the rules that need to be followed in a horror movie. Remember? If you want to live through a slasher you can’t take a roll in the hay. You can’t drink or do drugs and most importantly you can’t ever say, “I’ll be right back.” At that point Scream showed it’s true colors. This wasn’t a horror movie. It was a movie about horror movies. It was a very clever and highly entertaining satire about a film genre that had run out of anything new to say. 

That is exactly what Kick Ass is as film. The comic book genre has gotten to the point where it’s impossible to really come up with anything original. The super hero movie too has its established rules. So instead of trying to make something original writer/director Matthew Vaughn decided to give us a comic film that’s all about comic books and the conventions that exist in them. There’s one difference between Kick Ass and Scream though. I don’t think Scream ever broke away from its satire. By the end of the film Jamie Kennedy’s character actually becomes a kind of play-by-play commentator that tells the other characters and the audience alike what’s going to happen next. What we as filmmakers like to refer to as the 4^th wall comes crashing down and Scream almost moves into a full-fledged parody. Think about it this way. Imagine any number of films that are narrated by Morgan Freeman. Now imagine him walking into frame as the actors are moving throughout the story look you strait in the eye and begin to describe what is happening. There's no wall separating you any longer from the movie and suddenly you're just watching a play on Broadway but I digress.

Kick Ass never makes fun of itself and after a painstaking effort of creating realism in its first two acts it decides to become a true comic book film by shedding all reality and satire in the 3rd. It manages to deliver a story as entertaining as Iron Man and as smart at Tropic Thunder and I was very very pleased. There are a lot of other things I could mention about this film from superb acting, smart humor, great choreographed action sequences and unforced entertaining pop culture but I won’t. Go see this film and I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.

Until next time I’ll be content in the fact that I am a massive fanboy! 

The Pretentious Filmmaker

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