Top Gun: Maverick

Spoiler-free!

The phenomenon of Top Gun: Maverick isn't that it's an exceptionally good high quality summer blockbuster—it's simply that high quality summer blockbusters haven't existed for about five years. (And even then they were a dying breed.) Likewise, the magic of Top Gun: Maverick isn't that it's the greatest gap-sequel ever made—it's more that no other sequel made so many years later has ever been able to boast of having a worthy reason to exist.

And yet here we are, our socks knocked off by another one of Tom Cruise's filmmaking efforts. He may be the last person making movies who actually cares whether his products are entertaining or not. Here, he returns as his original character, Pete Mitchell, callsign Maverick, assigned back to Top Gun to train an elite batch of aviators for a specific, daring, and possibly deadly mission. One candidate, callsign Rooster (Miles Teller) is the son of Maverick's old co-pilot who died in the first movie, and tension rises between them as Maverick struggles between his job of picking the best team to risk their lives on the mission, and his own personal mission of protecting his friend's son.

It's a pretty sweet set up, ripe for drama, but not so complex as to take away time from the entertainment of training exercises, which range from aerial dogfights to playing football on the beach. For a side plot, Maverick takes up a romance with a former flame, Jennifer Connelly, and before you know it, I was wishing Tom Cruise wasn't in the movie so much—because the one thing left unfulfilled is the dynamics between the candidates. The loose definition of their unique personalities made me wish for more. And then Hangman, the Iceman equivalent, and his antagonistic relationship with Rooster is rendered pointless by Rooster's more convincing antagonistic relationship to Maverick—but even that is put on hold for too long. When it comes due is when the movie starts to really shine.

I would have liked the movie to split time between Maverick's antics and what the candidates are up to when he's not around, but at the same time I get it. It's the Tom Cruise show because the film wouldn't exist without him. You can't begrudge him taking the spotlight, or deny that everything he does is entertaining. I just can't help but wonder if it would have been better had it been more balanced. Just a tad. In that light, it was the third act that sold the film for me. When everything comes to a head, and it starts to feel like an equal character match-up between Maverick and Rooster. This section also has most of the thrilling flying action (on which a Tom Cruise movie will never, ever skimp) and the most real stakes and tension as they take on the deadly mission.

The whole movie builds to this point, and it doesn't disappoint in any aspect. It has the realness that Cruise is known for to make you feel it—the thrill that can only come when there's also a notable lack of CGI. I got a big kick out of seeing the actors react while inside actual, actually flying fighter jets. And because everything was set up previously, the whole act is a neat series of payoff after payoff after payoff, each one more satisfying and rewarding than the last. Character drama and fun action mix together to splendid results, and an old-fashioned magic of storytelling comes to life. It's all so simple and won me over so easily that I wonder how the art was ever lost in the first place.

So, if Top Gun: Maverick is great and a phenomenon just because every other modern film is bad and worthless, that doesn't change the fact. It has the magic, and it is a phenomenon. It's dastardly entertaining in ways I thought films had forgotten to be. Not exceptional in the big picture, but certainly exceptional for its time. My hope is this: that this rare blockbuster isn't a throwback to good and entertaining movies at all—but the instigator of a resurgence.

Alita: Battle Angel

Spoiler-free!

Alita, the girl, is a cyborg -- a sophisticated robot with a human brain, made 300 years before she is found in a garbage heap by Dr. Ido (Christoph Waltz) and reconstructed. She is a relic of a time past when things were made with care. And so is her movie.

They just don't make 'em like they used to anymore.

Alita is directed by Robert Rodriguez and written by James Cameron and Laeta Kalogridis. It's based on a manga, so this cyberpunk scifi adventure (I can't even type those words without smiling) starts out with established and already well-loved characters ready for adaptation. I can't speak as to accuracy, but I get a strong impression that it was done with buckets full of TLC, based on the results. There are beautifully minute details, expert pacing, clever turns and subtle foreshadowing, and I didn't except almost anything it does. And it retains a distinct Japanese feel, from the world, to plot points, to tone, and right down to characterization; the heart and soul of the story.

The greatest of its characters is its protagonist, played through motion-capture by Rosa Salazar. I only knew her from The Maze Runner series where she was fine, though those movies are certainly not for showing off acting chops. And after watching the Alita trailer I had doubts over believability, characterization, and the design that made her eyes so big. Then the movie proved all those doubts unfounded one by one. At times I tried to imagine the mo-cap pajamas, but the standard was that my brain believed what it saw, and I had to try and twist it to see it as fake. Especially when live-action characters touch her casually and you can see the weight and existence of her. Motion-capture has always been fascinating to me, and it continues to make impressive advancements.

You can see Salazar in her effortlessly. And she is charm itself. 

But even then, characterization is where I was most wowed. I wish I was thirteen again, or that I could send this movie back in time to thirteen-year-old me, because she would have fallen hard for this movie, and the girl who powers it. Alita is naive, charming, tenacious, confident, totally unflappable, and as weird a moment as it was, my favorite part of her became clear when she declared that she gives all or nothing. She loves people with everything she has, or she fights them, and there's no in between. And she makes wise decisions over who falls in which category. She has faults and obstacles to overcome, and a spectacular origin story arc to do it in.

I was entranced by the balance of her; her sweet smiles and open heart (sometimes literally) countered by her ferocious and ruthless power, and her unwavering decisiveness. Thirteen-year-old me could've used a decisive fictional role-model. And after all that, the eyes that I raised an eyebrow at in the trailer... well they became as essential part of her. And with that realization I began to understand the care that must have gone into this film. She and her film weren't just haphazardly chopped together, but whoever made the decision to include her appearance so accurately must have known her well enough to understand how vital it was. It wasn't some lame excuse to use more mo-cap; it was the backbone of the whole story.

There's life behind those animated eyes. And that's the magic of motion-capture; it's made to capture motion, and somehow captures the soul too. 

The characters that surround Alita are there to support her, and it's within that role that they feel full and engaging. I've never liked a Christoph Waltz character more (though I do usually see him play bad guys) and I was eternally impressed by the love interest not being there only to be a love interest. Often the fate of female love interests but now feminism has only flip-flopped the problem; but this is a rare case. Hugo (Keean Johnson) doesn't cease to exist when he's not by Alita's side, is important to the plot beyond being a thing to fall in love with, has character, and to my gleeful surprise, even has good chemistry with her. Their side of the story is cheesy, sweet, compelling, and even has real stakes.

Alita's relationship with Dr. Ido is also compelling, has some neat twists to it, and some real-feeling moments of conflict. Rebellious teenager and everything. Those three make up the center of the movie. On the outside is people like Mahershala Ali and Jennifer Connelly, who you could say were underused, but they work within their confides and do a good job. There's also Jorge Lendeborg Jr. who was totally normal (why oh why couldn't he have been like that in Bumblebee??) and Lana Candor who I think should pop up in more random movies. Ed Skrein made an extremely fun and uber cool villain, and Jackie Earle Haley was the big physical villain for fighting. Oh, an Eliza González of Baby Driver was there for a hot second too.

I honestly expected the romance to be an eye-roller. And it kinda was. But I fell for it anyway. It was a good eye-roller.

Even the naysaying grumpy old bores who don't like this film readily admit that it's an impressive feat concerning visuals and action sequences. I honestly expected there to be full-blown battles in this somehow, but wound up loving how static and small-scale it was. The biggest action was this hardcore sport called Motorball, that's like a roller derby mixed with basketball on a NASCAR track from hell. It's exactly as awesome as it sounds, and reminded me a bit of Speed Racer. The combat fights were typically one-on-one which is exactly my speed. They were small, and get personal fast. And brutal even faster. The PG-13-level violence shocked me every time, and the movie makes serious choices that it can't take back. And it makes them boldly.

It did things that I didn't want it to do and made me deal with it, and with that earned my full respect. I have a few complaints that boil down to personal taste rather than anything actually flawed, but can be summed up in that I wanted more. It seemed like Alita herself soaked up a lot of the budget, and while I am glad of the more intimate plot, the scale could've gone bigger visually for my money. The look of it was neat and certainly cyberpunk, but a clearer style and cleaner, more striking cinematography could've turned this compelling story populated by lovable character into an absolute trifecta of science fiction. Still, if budget was what prevented that, they made the cuts in the right place.

I love high aesthetic in my scifi, but character and story should and do come first. Anyway, there's slow-mo shots like this so who's to complain? 

I also want more in that I hope a sequel gets made. I'm tired of movies that only exist to sequel-bait, but I'll readily defend this, as that's not at all the case here. This movie was an origin story, and couldn't have existed without this first chapter. Though it leaves us with the impression that bigger things are to come, it stands on its own with a whole, completed plot; builds itself up carefully through emotional journeys, and developing characters and relationships; and doesn't leave anything unexplored in order to tease.

A beautifully versatile movie, it perfectly mirrors Alita's personality, hitting beats of silly camp, then melodrama; one second it's sweet and cute, and the next unexpectedly, disturbingly dark. It takes itself seriously, but is fun and unafraid to play around. Like its amazing and unique heroine, it's made with care of craftsmanship; and like its heroine, it works hard to discover what exactly it is, and then it is that, exactly, with undeterrable passion, and a heart that will never fail.

Upcoming Movie Roundup - February

First month of 2019: done. I saw: Escape Room (review) and it was good! As I hoped, fun, involving, neat characters. Nothing groundbreaking but I had a fantastic time with it. And Io (review), which was a Netflix release, and that's the only reason I watched it, and it wasn't a total waste of time, but you know, I watch too much scifi anyway.

I didn't get to Glass because I never found a reasonable way to watch Split, so I guess I'm waiting on both of them. And I still do want to see the Kid Who Would Be King, but it seems only borderline worth a theater trip so I dunno.

Here's what looks good to me this month. Nothing I'm extremely excited for, but we'll see how it goes! Hope y'all's 2019 is off to a great start!


Velvet Buzzsaw
Feb 1st(netflix); R
I'm not sure I'm ready for another horror movie that has Toni Collette in it. Even if it is also a dark comedy and I definitely like those. I expect I'll get around to this one soon enough... but... not today. The cast is a big part of the appeal -- Toni, plus Jake Gyllanhaal, John Malkovich, Natalia Dyer of Stranger Things, Billy Magnussen... and the trailer at least has great style. Plus I'm always down for a movie that pokes fun at modern art.




The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part
Feb 8th; PG
No way I'm not seeing this, but I'd be shocked beyond belief if it has the same huge heart of the first one. It probably won't even be as original or as funny, but it can be comparatively lacking and still be an awesome movie, because the original left a ton of room below it! Whether they're great standalone films or just a fun Lego time, I'm glad to participate. The best part is probably going to be Chris Pratt also playing an amalgamation character of Star-Lord, Owen, and... Indiana Jones for some reason? That, or Lego Batman, cause he's the greatest.




The Man Who Killed Hitler and Then The Bigfoot
Feb 8th; NR
This is so strange yet it really looks like a genuinely good movie. Almost like it's ridiculous camp, but played ultra cool and seriously. Like a hardcore version of Big Fish. I dunno, I mostly want to see it just to see how it works! Sam Elliott and Aidan Turner play the man, and Ron Livingston is also there.




Cold Pursuit
Feb 8th(limited); R
Look I'm sure this movie will be fine -- in fact I'd bet it's going to be a ton better than most of what Liam Neeson has been putting out recently, but I would like to take this opportunity to do a PSA: That this movie is based on a Norwegian film called In Order of Disappearance, and it stars Stellan Skarsgård, and it's available for streaming on Netflix... and it was pretty darn good. But this'll probably be worth watching too. It's got good visual style and is keeping the dark comedy tone which is, ah, cool.




Happy Death Day 2U
Feb 13th; PG-13
Haha, well I haven't seen the first one yet, but now that they've made a sequel, and given it THAT title, I think I'm gonna have to watch both at some point. Looks like a fun time anyway. And it's got Josh from To All the Boys I've Loved Before in it! Was he in the first one too? I guess he had to be.




Isn't it Romantic
Feb 13th; PG-13
Rebel Wilson, who I pretty often find funny is a girl who hates rom-coms, hits her head (classic) and wakes up in a rom-com. This is the perfect movie for the rebirth of the rom-com we're witnessing right now. What I'd love to happen is for it to play out like a classic rom-com right through the end. She ends up with Adam Devine instead of Liam Hemsworth of course, but doesn't see it coming because she hates rom-coms so she doesn't understand the tropes well enough. So it's meta and can make fun of rom-com silliness, but ultimately embraces the light, sweet romance aspect that makes rom-coms great. If it does that, I'm there. I'm kinda there already anyway.




Alita: Battle Angel
Feb 14th; PG-13
I don't want to pass this one by just because the girl's face looks weird -- though it is very distracting in the trailer and inexpressive -- because I really, really, like scifi worlds like this one appears to have, and the whole movie kinda feels like a throwback to the best scifi actioners the early 2000's had, and I don't know, but it's all kind of appealing to me. Rosa Salazar leads, with Christoph Waltz, Jennifer Connelly, and Mahershala Ali. Kinda an old-school style cast too.




Mega Time Squad
Feb 15th(limited); NR
New Zealand sure does put out a special brand of comedy. It's like they relish how incredibly dorky they can be, and it makes everything cool for some unexplainable reason. In this one a guy is cursed with a time travel device, accidentally meets himself, and then keeps meeting himself until there's a whole bunch of them... and then they team up to fight the bad guys or whatever. I'm in. (Language warning for this trailer.)




How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World
Feb 22nd; PG
Love the first one, second one's okay; this one's getting just as good reviews than the second so maybe it'll end satisfyingly. I'm kinda tired of watching the trailer which isn't a good sign, but the animation is as beautiful as ever, and if they story is good I'll be happy. I don't think anything could match the first one -- and it seems like they agree with me, since they put that bit from the first one in the beginning of the trailer.

Dark City

This review is Spoiler-free.

In a world... that is dark... and a city... there are mysterious aliens who experiment on the human population every night at midnight. One night a man (Rufus Sewell) wakes up with no memory, appearing to have just committed a murder, and must go on the run from the detective (William Hurt) working the case, and the aliens, and the scientist (Kiefer Sutherland) who works for them. All while trying to regain fragmented memories of the life and wife (Jennifer Connelly) he doesn't remember.

Dark City is 1998 film, written and directed by Alex Proyas.

Dark City is sci-fi noir at its most conscious. Everything at first glance seems to be straight out of the 40's but with very obvious science-fiction tones. The only thing missing is a narration, which there is some of at the very beginning, but once it leaves off, it's gone for good. I am very partial to the sci-fi noir genre, so you'll forgive me if I'm a little biased, but honestly I love this movie for its premise alone.

Where it goes with its premise is not at all unworthy of love and appreciation though, by any means. It keeps things simple and the intriguing mystery slowly and elegantly comes together. You may or may not approve of the ending. I personally wished for a little bit more, but also see how more rewarding content at the end means even more complications, so I definitely see why they chose the simpler path to end on. Anything more complex or lengthy would have destroyed the film's pacing and balance. Plus, you have to leave some questions for the viewer to ponder on -- it's one of the charms of the genre.

Rufus Sewell, who is probably most commonly known for playing the bad guys in so many movies like The Illusionist, A Knight's Tale, or The Holiday is the hero here, and he really should play them more often, as good as he is at the villain. His John Murdoch is a compelling lead with a dark edge that works perfectly for the movie. Kiefer Sutherland is also the opposite of what you would know his as -- wimpy, with a deformed eye, a limp, and a limping way of speaking; he evokes images of stereotypical crazy Nazi scientists -- and not a little bit. William Hurt is the perfect brazen and stoic detective for a noir mystery, and Jennifer Connelly is endlessly elegant and demure.

The aliens, known as The Strangers, and their culture lend the sci-fi element, but are also refined in their appearance, looking human except for small details; they are always tall and extremely slender, with floor-length coats to accentuate that feature; they have no hair and pale skin. They are simultaneously classic and original villains; very refined, and subtly quite unsettling. They can use their minds to manipulate matter (telekinesis with a twist, called "tuning") and that it what gives the movie its defining trait.

Tone, as you may imagine, is always dark and understated, with high-contrast lighting and filming to match. There is also plenty of action to go around, but it's not the kind of action you'd watch the movie for; there are no huge stunts or fight scenes -- it only lends a hand to make the plot more compelling. It's a little dated in the special-effect territory, but holds up well by using mostly practical effects and not going overboard for no good reason. Violence is a classic 90's R, (gore-less blood and more disturbing in the impression of it than the actual look) and there's some fairly unnecessary (if rather brief) nudity, which is bothersome, because otherwise the film barely deserved the rating it received at all (in some ways it feels like a PG) -- language is interestingly non-existent.

Like all good under-the-radar sci-fi noir flicks, Dark City has things to say, but leaves you to decipher what exactly that is. It just tells you a creatively memorable story where it's one hero versus the rest of a mysterious and conspiracy-filled world, going to save the day with an old-fashioned determination. There is just the right amount of height in the stakes to get you involved, but leaves room for all the development and drama needed to surround it and round it out. It has all the science-fiction and action you could want, with all the complexities mystery and twists therein required. It has a richly dark and quietly thoughtful center, with reflective drama, and a lovely romance. A film like this will always have my stamp of approval. No tuning necessary.