Wednesday, March 30, 2016

The Grand Marvel Rewatch: Thor: The Dark World

Face front, true believers! Welcome to the next astonishing addition to “The Grand Marvel Rewatch,” designed to get us all sufficiently amped up for Captain America: Civil War, which comes out May 6, 2016. Each Wednesday, The Cinema King casts his eye back upon the twelve films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and offers five salient observations about the caliber of the films and the way they might play into Marvel’s latest installment in America’s favorite franchise.

Today’s fantastic feature film takes us to 2013 for Thor: The Dark World, pushing Phase Two to worlds beyond for a lot of stuff that probably won’t factor into Civil War much, if at all.
  1. Beaucoup Asgard. We get to see a lot more of Asgard than just the throne room this time around, and I think it’s a fantastic idea. Thor gave us the idea that there were only maybe seven Asgardians tops, with a few guards, but here we get to see that Asgard is a proper world – and if there’s one thing Marvel does well it’s world-building. The Dark World departs slightly from the rainbow bridge aesthetic and gives us something closer to the medieval ethos of Game of Thrones (no surprise, given director Alan Taylor’s TV background). It visually differentiates Asgard from Earth and leads me to want to see much, much more of it in Thor: Ragnarok.
  2. Keeping it Loki. After stealing the show in Thor and The Avengers, Tom Hiddleston becomes the unapologetic star of this film as the antiheroic Loki. Far more compelling than Thor and certainly more interesting than the rather one-note villain Malekith, Loki lies, tricks, and makes mischief all over this film, often with no clear agenda. By film’s end, though, Loki assumes the throne of Asgard, impersonating Odin in the process. Is he girding himself against the arrival of Thanos, who’s likely displeased Loki didn’t conquer earth? Or is this his petulant way of claiming a throne? Lady Sif nodded toward this change in Odin’s personality in her last guest-star appearance on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., so I’m sure this will be a major plot point in Thor: Ragnarok. (Speaking of, can we get Lady Sif to join The Avengers?) 
  3. The humans get short shrift. With Asgard being way more fascinating this time around, perhaps it’s no surprise that the earthbound cast are a little less than inspiring. As the spunky intern Darcy, Kat Dennings is still a delight, leading me to wonder why we haven’t seen more of her in the MCU at large. But Natalie Portman is a bit of a bore, her genius scientist reduced to a pouting schoolgirl whenever Thor and his abs are around. And I feel a little bit sorry for Stellan Skarsgard, who as Erik Selvig is given a role that is frankly beneath his dignity. The idea that he’d be changed by his experience with Loki in The Avengers is a compelling one, but the execution here has a bit more doddering and nudity than necessary. (We’ll see him again, fully dressed, in Age of Ultron.) 
  4. Surprise cameos are the best. One of the greatest moments in this movie, if not the entire MCU, comes when Loki impersonates Captain America, with Chris Evans appearing in an unforgettable cameo alongside the patriot swell of Cap’s theme tune. The best part of this beat, aside from how funny it is to see Evans pretending to be Hiddleston pretending to be Evans, was the complete surprise of this moment in the movie theater opening weekend. We had no idea it was coming, but it’s the best of the best of a shared universe, something that contract disputes or press junkets might complicate or spoil. But we get it all the time in comics – why shouldn’t the films mirror this? 
  5. One down, five to go... Aha! Ironclad confirmation on some matters of the Infinity Stones – which, again, I’m not sure are going to play much of a role in Civil War, but we’ll certainly see more of them as we approach Infinity War (and, I suspect, at least Doctor Strange). A midcredits scene introduces Benicio del Toro as The Collector (two weeks ahead of Guardians of the Galaxy) and the notion that the Aether is one Infinity Stone, the Tesseract another. And we have to keep them separate for some reason... are they dangerous merely by proximity, or might they attract unwanted attention – say, from someone like Thanos?
There’s so much more to be said about Thor: The Dark World, so be sure to check out my original review. Join me in the Grand Marvel Rewatch over the coming weeks, and hit the comments to share your thoughts about the MCU. And don’t forget to tune in next Wednesday for the next installment, in which we take a closer look at my personal favorite, 2014’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Excelsior!

Monday, March 28, 2016

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)

The big story of the weekend ended up being that Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Zack Snyder’s sequel to Man of Steel, is critic-proof. Despite a Rotten Tomatoes score hovering in the neighborhood of 30%, the film took in about $170 million, on pace for more than $420 million worldwide. I’m one of the people who didn’t quite see what all the hullabaloo was surrounding Man of Steel – I rather enjoyed it as a more sobered first step in Superman’s hero’s journey.

Count me among those, then, who continue not to get it – I think Batman v Superman is a suitably epic next installment in the growing DC Comics cinematic universe, big and grand and contemplative.

The film begins with yet another retelling of the murder of the Waynes, but it can be said more properly to begin with Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck) in Metropolis on the day of the city’s destruction in Man of Steel, witnessing firsthand the breathtaking new dangers facing earth. Eighteen months later, the world ponders the powers and intentions of Superman (Henry Cavill), who labors under the weight of his titanic responsibilities, while Batman considers taking the fight to the Man of Steel. Meanwhile, Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg) attempts to manipulate the world for his own ends, which involve defaming – or destroying – Superman for good.

Critical opinion seems to agree on two things – Batman v Superman is operatic, and it is not a Marvel movie. Somehow, both of those have been received as negatives against the film’s favor, and yet I think those are among the film’s greater strengths. First, the grandiose scale of the film. I had the opportunity to rewatch Man of Steel the night before seeing Batman v Superman, and there’s a few shots in that film of mankind looking up at the Superman/Zod battle, in a way that’s very reminiscent of the old Jack Kirby Fantastic Four comics. Slack-jawed gaping is humanity’s proper response to the arrival of gods. And make no mistake: in the mythic vernacular, the DC pantheon are gods who aspire to be human (Marvel, meanwhile, features humans who aspire to be heroes).

So I don’t understand the complaint that the film is too operatic. Does this mean that the film means more than it ought to, that it assumes a mythic significance unbecoming of itself? I vehemently disagree. I will note as a matter of personal taste that there are fewer jokes in the film than I might have liked, that the tone is a little darker than I might have gone, but there is a powerful difference between a film’s ambitions and one’s own personal expectations. Batman v Superman is very much of a piece with Man of Steel in terms of tone and scale, and to me this is a compelling distinction between the DC and Marvel cinematic universes. Believe me, as someone who’s rewatched nearly all of the MCU films in the past three months, I don’t want a “Marvel’s Superman.” I want something different.

The nature of characters like this is that they endure, no matter how a creator riffs on them. If you want a Superman who refuses to kill, you’ve got comics and films that do that. If your Superman can take a life – indeed, can see the necessity in taking Zod’s – you’ve got comics and films for that. You can find a Batman who frighteningly devastates criminals, as he does here, or you can go seek out a Batman who fights a mustachioed Joker. Point being, the complaint that Batman v Superman misses the point about these characters, frankly, misses the point about these characters. Batman v Superman takes the claim that superheroes are modern mythology to its logical extension – this is comics mythology writ large, in which men and women stand shoulder to shoulder with gods, do battle, and discover something about both god and man.

All of this is to say nothing by way of actual review – just a cursory rebuttal of some of the more prominent critiques of the film. It’s got less humor than some might like, and it is ponderous in a way that the action movie crowd might not expect, but I don’t think any of that is a disservice to the film. If anything, Batman v Superman’s operatic quality is augmented by the script’s approach to subtext – namely, that it inscribes subtext as literal text, as when the film quite literally puts Superman on trial for the events of the preceding film, asking, “Must there be a Superman?”, invoking the Elliot S! Maggin classic story of the same name. Additionally, Batman’s devotion to his unique brand of justice and vengeance is literalized when he’s given an opportunity to prevent history from repeating itself.

I was an early doubter of Affleck’s ability to do Batman justice, but I think he’s an excellent choice, particularly as Bruce Wayne, where he’s able to toggle between playboy billionaire and dark knight sans cowl. His Batman is very much what you’d expect, marked by an exceptionally bulky physique. I have only kind things to say about Jeremy Irons as Alfred, here more militarily inclined but with much more of the incisive snark that Michael Caine’s Alfred lacked (Caine’s was kinder, gentler, more inclined to good-natured ribbing).

The real surprises here are Gal Gadot’s smirking Wonder Woman, who almost entirely steals the film’s third act, and Jesse Eisenberg’s Lex Luthor. Of all the shoutouts to upcoming DC films – and there are quite a few, some delivered with more subtlety than others (but what does one expect, in this era of franchises?) – Wonder Woman is the most promising; the tastes we get of her in this film, nuanced with mystery and exceptional combat skills, portend a wonderful solo film next June. Eisenberg’s Luthor, meanwhile, telegraphs his Zuckerberg-esque eccentricity, but it conceals a darker psychology, a twisted mind which reveals itself in a pitch-perfect Luthor soliloquy.

Batman v Superman proves, as Man of Steel forewarned, that DC’s slate is not necessarily going to be quintessential popcorn fare – and I say that as an unabashed devotee of popcorn movies. These are movies that require a bit of digesting, that are unafraid to confront their viewers with heady thematic content, symbolic registers, and a careful bit of thought. If it’s straight fun you’re wanting, the line for Guardians of the Galaxy 2 starts over there. Batman v Superman is fun in a different way, with the feeling of fulfillment that comes from sighing as the credits roll, “Now that’s a show.” It’s spectacle in a self-assured way, bombast with an emphasis on “bomb,” a 21st century epic that isn’t afraid to go full Greek chorus and literalize its own subtext. It may not to be everyone’s liking, and that’s fine – but there are also those of us who like this sort of thing, and I’m one of them.

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is rated PG-13 for “intense sequences of violence and action throughout, and some sensuality.” There are shootings and lots of punching, but most of it is bloodless. A few characters are branded, one receives a long cut down his face, while a few characters are stabbed with some graphic content shown. Superman and Lois kiss passionately a few times during the film, and another woman wears dresses that predominantly show off her back. Overall, the grim tone may unsettle younger viewers.

Heads up, True Believers – we’ll continue to Make Yours Marvel this Wednesday with another installment in “The Grand Marvel Rewatch,” so check back then for 2013’s Thor: The Dark World. Or subscribe above, and receive those missives right in your inbox. Nuff said!

Wednesday, March 23, 2016

The Grand Marvel Rewatch: Iron Man 3

Face front, true believers! Welcome to the next astonishing addition to “The Grand Marvel Rewatch,” designed to get us all sufficiently amped up for Captain America: Civil War, which comes out May 6, 2016. Each Wednesday, The Cinema King casts his eye back upon the twelve films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and offers five salient observations about the caliber of the films and the way they might play into Marvel’s latest installment in America’s favorite franchise.

Today’s fantastic feature film takes us to 2013 for Iron Man 3, kicking off Phase Two of the MCU with an old favorite and some new PTSD.
  1. Where is everybody? In a comic book world, it’s so easy to have characters meet up for an issue or two – you just check with your editor to make sure the character isn’t dead and then draw them in. Cinematically, with budgets and contracts, that’s tougher, so you get a case like Iron Man 3 where the intervention of SHIELD might have been helpful. I understand that the point is that Tony is a loner, and he’s pretty detached from the world for most of the film, but the fact that this issue never pops up in the film feels a bit like a gaping hole.
  2. Speaking of wormholes... The sense of absent Avengers (Bruce Banner’s post-credits cameo aside) is compounded by the fact that the film very self-consciously lives in the shadow of The Avengers and the Battle of New York. This I very much appreciate – someone as grounded and self-centered as Tony Stark would necessarily be very shaken by a near-death experience battling aliens through a giant wormhole in the sky above New York City. And I can’t help but feel that all the questions Tony fields about New York are some meta-commentary from director Shane Black, who very self-consciously enters into a narrative six films in the making and feels the pressure of everyone asking how he’s going to tie it all together.
  3. Manda-wrong. It’s been long enough that we can talk about the big Mandarin reveal, right? Namely that Ben Kingsley’s Mandarin is actually a patsy, a persona put on by addict actor Trevor Slattery in service to Aldrich Killian’s master plan. To add insult to injury, the plot twist is accompanied by a few fart jokes. Look, I totally understand why Iron Man 3 goes this way, but I would have much rather seen Iron Man go head-to-head with a terrifying and surprisingly not-racist interpretation of the Mandarin. Instead, the main villain is another well-dressed white guy. (“All Hail the King,” a short on the Thor: The Dark World DVD, suggests that there’s a real Mandarin out there, as well, but the Kingsley interpretation promised so much more than we got.)
  4. He is Iron Man. I very much enjoyed the film, and it’s because Shane Black makes a film that is very consistent with the tone of the previous films and the MCU as a whole. That’s predicated largely on the performance of Robert Downey Jr., who treats Tony Stark like a comfortable suit. The film’s closing line, “I am Iron Man,” harkens back to the first film, tells us something about the character’s growth beyond reliance on the metal suits, and tells us that this whole franchise succeeds because of the attitude struck by RDJ back in 2008.
  5. Music to my ears. Longtime readers of the blog know I’m a big fan of musical scores; when done right, like in the Star Wars series, the score becomes a character unto itself (or, in the case of Tomorrowland, does more work than the film itself). For all the connective tissue between the films, musically they’ve been somewhat piecemeal. Iron Man 3 is the fourth film starring Tony Stark, with four different composers along the way. Finally, though, Brian Tyler’s Iron Man theme seems to have stuck (due in no small part to Tyler’s work scoring Age of Ultron). Will we hear it in Civil War as well? I’m keeping my fingers crossed.
There’s so much more to be said about Iron Man 3, so be sure to check out my original review. Join me in the Grand Marvel Rewatch over the coming weeks, and hit the comments to share your thoughts about the MCU. And don’t forget to tune in next Wednesday for the next installment, in which we take a closer look at 2013’s Thor: The Dark World. Excelsior!

Monday, March 21, 2016

Excuses, excuses

Sorry, loyal readers - between dissertation revisions, binge-reading 2500 pages of The Walking Dead, and a misspent evening with Season 2 of Netflix's Daredevil, there just wasn't time for a movie this week.

But fear not - your regularly scheduled ironclad installment of "The Grand Marvel Rewatch" is coming right up this Wednesday with Iron Man 3, and you can expect full reviews of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Daredevil: Season 2 in the very near future, plus other fun and fabulous features. If you haven't already, be sure to subscribe at right to receive those features in your inbox. Nuff said?

Wednesday, March 16, 2016

The Grand Marvel Rewatch: The Avengers

Face front, true believers! Welcome to the next astonishing addition to “The Grand Marvel Rewatch,” designed to get us all sufficiently amped up for Captain America: Civil War, which comes out May 6, 2016. Each Wednesday, The Cinema King casts his eye back upon the twelve films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and offers five salient observations about the caliber of the films and the way they might play into Marvel’s latest installment in America’s favorite franchise.

Today’s fantastic feature film takes us to 2012 for The Avengers, a film which The Cinema King can confirm is best enjoyed with a nice shawarma sandwich.
  1. Can we take a second to talk about how good this movie is? This flick is airtight. Joss Whedon had to pull together multiple disparate threads from other directorial/authorial voices, and he accomplished it in spades. The Avengers does an amazingly effective job (re)introducing all the main characters for experts and neophytes alike, and he does so in a way that never loses sight of either its main storyline or its infectious sense of fun. Simply put, this film is an accomplishment, well-crafted and perennially entertaining. I’ve seen it umpteen times by now, and there’s not a dull moment. This thing just clips. 
  2. Civil War prologue? “What are we, a team?” Bruce Banner asks in a particularly heated moment in The Avengers; “No, no, no, we’re a timebomb.” It looks like that timebomb is set to go off in Civil War, and we can see the seeds of that conflict already being sown. These are superheroes with personality clashes like you wouldn’t believe, who find it intensely difficult to work together. They’re heroes because they manage to set those differences aside, but every situation has a breaking point. We can already see the debates about the limits and abuses of power; with SHIELD out of the picture, The Avengers will have to field those questions. 
  3. The Avengers Initiative. Remember Nick Fury’s words at the end of Iron Man? In hindsight, a preexisting team of Avengers didn’t really pan out in the MCU plot, so those words are retconned into a failed experiment based on the aforementioned clash of personalities. Instead, The Avengers become literal instantiations of their name, avenging both the late (well...) Phil Coulson and promising to avenge the earth, if need be. It’s also much stronger characterization to give the Avengers a reason to assemble beyond Nick Fury and the government asking them to work together. Every character has a valid motivation, telegraphed with immense clarity.
  4. Hail Hydra! This movie sure looks different in hindsight, though. With the revelation in The Winter Soldier that SHIELD is pervaded with Hydra agents, you can’t help but cast an eye askance at nearly everyone in the film. Why does SHIELD want to recreate Hydra weapons? Hey, isn’t that Agent Sitwell on the Helicarrier? Why did Gideon Malick (Powers Boothe, now a major antagonist on Agents of SHIELD) really want to nuke Manhattan? And was the guy playing Galaga secretly sabotaging SHIELD in his own slacker way? Of course, it’s unclear whether that twist was planned out two years in advance, but it’s fantastic continuity either way. 
  5. To Infinity and beyond! Having praised the forwards and backwards interconnectivity of The Avengers, I’ve got to quibble with its treatment of the Infinity Stones. Thanos gives Loki a scepter powered, as we learn in Age of Ultron, by the Mind Stone. Did Thanos know the scepter had an Infinity Stone? If so, why relinquish it? Then again, Erik Selvig tells us that the scepter is powered by the Tesseract – “You can’t protect against yourself.” And yet the Tesseract is its own Infinity Stone, the Space Stone. So are the gems interrelated, or is Selvig just wrong? We have to get to six Infinity Stones in time for Infinity War, but I don’t think the films have done a very clear job of sussing out which are which.
  6. Bonus round: Can anyone explain to me how Chief Sousa got all the way from 1947 Hollywood to the Battle of New York? Please tell me that this cop is actually the grandson of Peggy and Sousa, and he's finally meeting the man he heard his grandmother talk so much about.
There’s so much more to be said about The Avengers, so be sure to check out my original review. Join me in the Grand Marvel Rewatch over the coming weeks, and hit the comments to share your thoughts about the MCU. And don’t forget to tune in next Wednesday for the next installment, in which we take a closer look at the beginning of Phase Two, 2013’s Iron Man 3. Excelsior!

Monday, March 14, 2016

The Top 10 Stan Lee Cameos

Face front, true believers! This week in The Grand Marvel Rewatch brings you the culmination of Phase One of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers, and in recognition of that fantastic feat of film, The Cinema King is proud to present a post we could only call... “The Top 10 Stan Lee Cameos!”
Stan Lee, “Stan The Man,” is known across the land as the King of Cameos (hey, do you think he’d do a guest post here? The Cinema King and The King of Cameos -- World Wide Web-Slingers! A man can dream...), and eagle-eyed moviegoers and novices alike revel in spotting his distinctive delivery and specific sunglasses. With more than thirty cameos to his name, what makes the cut? Which cameo can be said to capture the essence of Smilin’ Stan? Nuff said – here’s the list!

Wednesday, March 9, 2016

The Grand Marvel Rewatch: Captain America: The First Avenger

Face front, true believers! Welcome to the next astonishing addition to “The Grand Marvel Rewatch,” designed to get us all sufficiently amped up for Captain America: Civil War, which comes out May 6, 2016. Each Wednesday, The Cinema King casts his eye back upon the twelve films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and offers five salient observations about the caliber of the films and the way they might play into Marvel’s latest installment in America’s favorite franchise.

Today’s fantastic feature film takes us to 2011 for Captain America: The First Avenger, for some good old-fashioned Nazi-punching.
  1. One small step for a man... There’s a surprising sense of scope in this film that never lets us forget that Steve Rogers is just one man in a much larger war, a much bigger conflict that spans all the way back to Thor (note the shared appearance of Yggdrasil, the World-Tree) and much further forward (see #2). And can we just say – what a man! (No, I’m not referring to his pecs, at least not exclusively.) Chris Evans is spot-on as the old-fashioned Steve Rogers, and I love that the movie never laughs at him for his antiquated notions about the world. Instead, he embodies an ideal of heroism that of which our world and his could frankly do with a little bit more.
  2. One giant leap for Marvel-kind. As small as the film’s focus tries to be, it downright explodes the Marvel Universe and perhaps might hold the record for most spin-off material. It introduces Hydra and the Tesseract, who persist in the MCU to this day; it gave us Howard Stark and Peggy Carter, who’ve had their own show; and it brings us full-force into The Avengers. I’m almost prepared to say that Captain America: The First Avenger is the most important film thus far in the MCU, insofar as it’s introduced a lot of important elements that haven’t left the franchise.
  3. Raiders of the lost tesseract. The Marvel Cinematic Universe is at its best when it’s mashing up genres with the superhero genre like Guardians as a space opera or Winter Soldier as a 70s conspiracy thriller. But The First Avenger does that twice over: it’s a superhero film, which is also a WW2 film, which is also an elaborate Indiana Jones reference. In fact, it’s somewhere between Raiders of the Lost Ark and director Joe Johnston’s second film, The Rocketeer (which you know I love). High adventure mixed with war exploits, it adds up to popcorn cinema, as in the best it is.
  4. Such a waste, such a terrible waste! The First Avenger is really entertaining cinema, but it’s a real shame that it’s a world that we can never really revisit. With Cap (spoilers?) frozen at the film’s end and thawed out in the present day, we’ve pretty much resolved Cap’s arc with Peggy and the Howling Commandoes. While most of the supporting cast has surfaced over on Agent Carter, we’ve gotten a little bit of continuity on the WW2 era of the MCU, but Hayley Atwell is such a marvelous performer (no pun intended) that she deserves more big-screen heroics. Ditto for Stanley Tucci, who’s absolutely perfect as Dr. Erskine, but he’s shuffled off fairly quickly, meaning we don’t get to see more of this great screen presence. And don’t get me started on Tommy Lee Jones, who a) I always forget is in this movie, and b) gets the best line of the film with “I’m not kissing you!”
  5. Many happy returns. There’s a beat in Thor where Loki lies about Odin being dead, but The First Avenger amps that up by three when it kickstarts the MCU’s refusal to kill most characters permanently. You have Bucky Barnes, who’ll turn out not to be dead; Arnim Zola, who’ll turn out not to be dead; and of course Captain America, who turns out not to be dead. It’s an old comic book cliché, of course, so might we wonder whether we’ll see the Red Skull at some point in the future? Hugo Weaving is not shy about his reticence to return to the role, but if ever a character could be recast it’s this one. Call it “the War Machine precedent” (in being replaced, would we say Weaving got Terrenced? or Cheadled?). In fact, his apparent demise at the hands of the Tesseract, a known Infinity Stone, makes an Infinity War return all the more plausible.
There’s so much more to be said about Captain America: The First Avenger, so be sure to check out my original review. Join me in the Grand Marvel Rewatch over the coming weeks, and hit the comments to share your thoughts about the MCU. And don’t forget to tune in next Wednesday for the next installment, in which we take a closer look at the big one, 2012’s The Avengers. Excelsior!

Monday, March 7, 2016

Zootopia (2016)

For as much of a Disney shill as I constantly profess to be, I don’t know why I’m continually surprised by how good their recent output is. Case in point: Zootopia. What is there to say? I loved it. My greatest disappointment was that there wasn’t an animated short to play before the film.

Officer Judy Hopps (Ginnifer Goodwin) dreams of being the first bunny cop in Zootopia, a city populated by a mélange of animals. Her first assignment, parking meter duty, isn’t as glamorous as she had hoped, but it brings her into contact with streetwise fox Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman), who proves to be an unlikely lead in a string of missing animals, which – in the vein of all good cop stories – Judy only has 48 hours to solve.

Zootopia is directed by Byron Howard and Rich Moore, who previously directed Tangled and Wreck-It Ralph, respectively, and I think you can, in a way, situate Zootopia roughly between those two. That situation isn’t on a spectrum of good-to-bad, because I really enjoyed both films in rather different circumstances. Zootopia blends the narrative strengths and compelling female protagonist of Tangled with the sweeping world-building and dry wit of Wreck-It Ralph in order to give us this uproariously funny fish-out-of-water action comedy.

There’s been much made in the press around the film about the decision made late in production to place the focus on Judy instead of Nick. And honestly, even if we weren’t living in a world where we still don’t have a female-led solo Avengers film, even if 2016 weren’t the first time in seventy-five years that Wonder Woman was appearing in a live-action film, it still would have been the right decision. Watching the film, it’s difficult to imagine how the story might have worked with Nick at the helm; there’s something much more successful about meeting Zootopia through Judy’s naïve eyes, allowing Nick to take us and Judy by the floppy ears and show us around. Making him the lead protagonist might have stripped him of some of his charm; we don’t know him as well as Judy, which gives Bateman free rein to do the fast-talking snark he’s perfected.

The other real delight in Zootopia is the way it works on two levels. There’s the classic Disney level, with solid storytelling that the kids will love. But then there’s the valence of Zootopia that appeals to the adults in the audience who can appreciate the extended reference to The Godfather, the thick metaphors about difference at play in the film, or the fact that the entire film is basically Chinatown with funny animals. This is the way that “kids’ films” ought to behave, not talking down to the kids or shouting up at the adults. Once again, Disney knocks it out of the park.

Then again, I’d have given Zootopia an all-star rating if it had just been two hours of the sloths working at the DMV. That never gets old.

Zootopia is rated PG for “some thematic elements, rude humor and action.” A scene where we see unclothed animals described as “naturists” is played for laughs, given that all the other animals are fully dressed. Several moments in which animals go savage may frighten younger viewers.

Heads up, True Believers – we’ll continue to Make Yours Marvel this Wednesday with another installment in “The Grand Marvel Rewatch,” so check back then for 2011’s Captain America: The First Avenger. Or subscribe above, and receive those missives right in your inbox. Nuff said!

Wednesday, March 2, 2016

The Grand Marvel Rewatch: Thor

Face front, true believers! Welcome to the next astonishing addition to “The Grand Marvel Rewatch,” designed to get us all sufficiently amped up for Captain America: Civil War, which comes out May 6, 2016. Each Wednesday, The Cinema King casts his eye back upon the twelve films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and offers five salient observations about the caliber of the films and the way they might play into Marvel’s latest installment in America’s favorite franchise.

Today’s fantastic feature film takes us to 2011 for Thor, taking the MCU to the realm of gods, far away from our earth.

  1. Magic = Science? The MCU is three for three with protagonists who are also scientists, and while Thor does have a supporting cast of physicists the focus is very much elsewhere, giving the MCU a depth we didn’t realize it had lacked up until this point. Of course, the film says that magic is basically Asgardian science, but it’s difficult to imagine Thor understanding the physics behind it all. This is definitely the weirdest the MCU has gotten thus far, but it opens up a new corner of storytelling where our adventures don’t necessarily have to be entirely earthbound.
  2. Speaking of weird... I have to point out that director Kenneth Branagh loads this film with more Dutch angles than most episodes of Batman ’66. As a directorial quirk, it’s such a strange one because it’s applied to scenes on Earth and on Asgard, to heroes and villains, to the mundane and the fantastic. In short, I don’t know what Branagh is doing, especially because his other films like Hamlet and Cinderella aren’t shot this way. Is he trying to demonstrate cinematographically the weirding of the MCU? Or is he saying that our world is just as strange as Thor’s? More research is needed.
  3. Shakespeare’s Loki. It’s no wonder that Marvel’s most charismatic villain yet ends up taking the lead in The Avengers, and Tom Hiddleston really does steal this film from Chris Hemsworth and his mighty abs. Indeed, it’s Loki who has the more compelling character arc – discovering and asserting his birthright, striving for the love of his father, and reveling in his role as the god of mischief. The only misstep in the film’s portrayal of Loki is his haircut, this strange slicked-back look that doesn’t quite capture the internal mania of Loki. This, true believers, is why God invented sequels, and perhaps why Branagh is a strong fit for Thor – there’s something very Shakespearean about Loki.
  4. Where have all the humans gone? As we move apace toward The Avengers, I’m looking for points of intersection, and the human cast of Thor – Natalie Portman, Stellan Skarsgard, and Kat Dennings – are a wonderful complement of normalcy to the foreign Asgardian element, but I can’t help regret that we haven’t seen more of them outside the Thor franchise. As Dr. Selvig, of course, Skarsgard has popped up in both Avengers films, but how have we not seen more of Dennings’s Darcy as some of that continuity glue? And while Portman is understandably a busy star, her absence is acutely felt when the Avengers films try to explain away her nonattendance.
  5. We’ll always have Phil. Thor gives us a glimpse at the man, the myth, the legend that is Phil Coulson. After an obligatory cameo in Iron Man 2, we finally get to see Agent Coulson in his element, proving once and for all that this truly was a man who deserved his own spinoff. The Iron Man films did a good job establishing Phil as the audience’s connection point to the shadowy SHIELD, such that his arrival in Albuquerque in Thor lets us know that things are about to get real. After all, you don’t call in a heavyweight like the Son of Coul for nothing.
There’s so much more to be said about Thor, so be sure to check out my original review. Join me in the Grand Marvel Rewatch over the coming weeks, and hit the comments to share your thoughts about the MCU. And don’t forget to tune in next Wednesday for the next installment, in which we take a closer look at 2011’s Captain America: The First Avenger. Excelsior!