The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)

Director:  Peter Jackson

First, I’ll admit I’m among the legion of fans that loved Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy.  I was thrilled to hear he would be taking another tour back to Middle Earth with The Hobbit.  I’ll admit I was concerned when I read that he would be making The Hobbit into three installments.  I thought he might be stretching out a story that wouldn’t support the great length.  Similar to the Star Wars prequels, I was afraid the movies would feel longer than they should.  However, I knew Peter Jackson was at the helm and would always give him the benefit of the doubt when it comes to movies set in Tolkien’s world. 

He didn’t disappoint.  Understandably, the movie goes to great effort to tie the look, feel, and action to an extension of Lord of the Rings.  More so that the Star Wars prequels, which were made over twenty years after the originals, The Hobbit feels like it could have been made immediately after, with the special effects and visuals fitting right in with the original trilogy.  These don’t feel miles apart. 

As for the story, Jackson does stop and linger when he gets a chance.  This was most apparent near the start of the film as the dwarfs arrive for the first time at Bilbo’s place before setting out on their mission.  It dwells, but it is still entertaining.  Jackson’s commitment to the whole world of Tolkien, down to the smallest details, is a large part of what made the original trilogy so great and it does the same for this new movie. 

I won’t get into the story line because you probably either know it by now or wouldn’t want any spoilers, except to say that Bilbo, Gandalf (the great Ian McKellen) and the company of dwarves set off on a journey into the harsh lands of Middle Earth to reclaim the home of the dwarves. 

Jackson brings back many familiar faces in addition to Gandalf, including Galadriel (Cate Blanchett), Lord Elrond (Hugo Weaving), and Elijah Wood (Frodo…yes Frodo, you’ll see how it works).  The show is stolen though by the return of Gollum (Andy Serkis again), who in about twenty minutes of screen time makes a huge impression and sets up key story elements. 

 I do agree with those who might say that The Hobbit felt like more of the same, which I think is an incredibly good thing.  I hope he can keep it interesting for the next two films, but I don’t doubt it at all.  What makes me nervous is when he makes a movie outside of Middle Earth. For Peter Jackson, when Tolkien is involved, he’s right at home.  That is a very good thing for the movie lovers out there.

As a final note, I saw this movie with my son who is seven.  He loved it.  It was a moment that I can’t get enough of, seeing him actually being drawn into a movie and engaged at his fullest.  I cherish memories like this and The Hobbit was the first time (in a live action movie at least) where I saw him fully amazed.  I think that counts for something very big. 

Top Ten (movies released during and that I actually was able to watch) of 2012:

 

1.        The Avengers – Just plain awesome. 

2.       The Dark Knight Rises – Christopher Nolan capped his Batman trilogy off with a remarkably bleak movie that echoes our unfortunate times.  And he did it with great skill.  Anyone who dares to make a Batman movie in the future has major shoes to fill.

3.       Seeking a Friend for the End of the World – I love Steve Carell and I loved this dramedy.  This movie has one of the more hearfelt, well-acted romantic moments I’ve seen in a film in a long time.

4.       Prometheus – Because I love the camera work, the pedigree of the production values, and the way they tie the Alien story to more profound beginnings.

5.       The Hunger Games – I didn’t read the book, but I was drawn into the story.  I also thought Jennifer Lawrence did a fantastic job.  It was a star-making role. 

6.       Men In Black 3 – Because this one was actually funny again.  Josh Brolin does a hilarious interpretation of Tommy Lee Jones.  And Will Smith says “let’s go get some dumb-ass pie”.

7.       Total Recall – Great all-out escapist, action movie.  It’s not trying to be anything more than it is, which is a good bit of fun.

8.       The Campaign – My buddy at work and I keep trading lines from the movie.  It’s that funny.

9.       Skyfall – A bad Bond movie is usually more entertaining than other films.  A great Bond movie (like Skyfall) is Top 10 material.

10.   Wreck It Ralph – Two reasons:  My son loved it so much that we went to see it twice and it was a lot of fun for me too.

Total Recall (2012)

Director:  Len Wiseman

 

Why remake a movie like Total Recall?  Back in the early nineties, the first version starred  ”Ahnuld the Governator” and was a kitschy thriller with very few memorable moments.  You can catch this movie some times in repeat on TBS or TNT, but it’s not like there are that many die-hard fans of the original that strap a third boob on to their chest and head out to Comic Con each year to celebrate their fandom (if you’ve seen the movie you know what I’m talking about).  So, again, why do a remake?

I can see two main reasons.  For one, brand recognition, while thin there are plenty of people around my age that still remember the original.  Also, the basic story is solid and really is one of the staples of the action genre at this point.  In recent thrillers such as the Bourne films, we’ve seen the “due to memory loss I forgot I was an action hero stud” thing done a couple times over.  But that doesn’t mean people are tired of seeing it and that you can’t bring something net new to the mix.

Well, this one didn’t really light up the box office with huge returns, but I’m here to tell you that’s a shame.  This version of Total Recall was exactly the distraction I wanted it to be.  An all-out action movie from beginning to end with inventive set pieces, a cool star in Colin Farrell who could deliver a convincing performance, and futuristic sci-fi ideas that were nifty enough to make me notice.  The story is set in the future following great chemical warfare on Earth.  Life on the planet can now only be maintained in two safe spots, which are England and Australia.  In order to travel between the two, a unique passage called “The Fall” exists which shoots people down through the Earth’s core to end up on the other side of the planet.  It is far-fetched no doubt, but one of the smarter inventions that this movie brings to the table.  The story again follows Douglas Quaid (Colin Farrell) who starts out living a below average boring life with his wife (the suspiciously terrific Kate Beckinsale) feeling like something is missing due to these weird dreams he keeps having.  Before long, he ends up at Rekall, a “vacation of the mind” download tourist agency and all heck breaks loose.  It appears, in a scene right out of The Bourne Identity, that Quaid can really handle himself with a gun, even against several trained agents.  Once Quaid returns home and finds, no spoiler here, that his wife is in on things and attempts to kill him, the movie remains in a quick-paced, action chase mode from here on out.  There are flying cars that feel like Minority Report, a colony of robot government agents that harken back to Star Wars clone troopers, and explosions galore. 

This movie is really a mesh of some really good sci-fi moments of the past, all wrapped up into one nifty display.  I understand that people would be disinterested in something that seems to be such a do-over, and I can’t argue that it’s not one.  However, I found that it is a smart film with a good action director in Len Wiseman.  I recommend you give it a try.

Men in Black 3 (2012)

Director:  Barry Sonnenfeld

It’s been 10 years since Men in Black 2 underwhelmed at the box office.  Although successful financially, it seems agreeable among most critics and audiences that the sequel was a disappointment.  The first Men in Black was released in 1997 and helped solidify Will Smith as the king of 4^th of July summer box office.  This was essentially his follow up to Independence Day and the movie was a huge, lasting entertainment.  I re-watched both movies prior to seeing Men in Black 3 and I can say that not much has changed over time.  I still think the original was a genius piece of oddball comedy, which completely benefits from the chemistry between Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones, while the follow up just feels uninspired.  So, it’s understandable that prospects for Men in Black 3 didn’t seem too exciting.

So is part 3 any good?  I think so.  Instead of a total retread of plot devices, this chapter actually furthers the story line and characters of Agents J (Smith) and K (Jones, also played in younger form by Josh Brolin).  The movie also gives you something new in Josh Brolin, who does a very entertaining Tommy Lee Jones impersonation.  The cadence of his voice and mannerisms are uncannily similar to Jones and their physical appearances are more of a match than I would have thought.  The movie is worth seeing for Brolin’s performance alone.  A nice plus is that Smith and Brolin also share a great comedic chemistry together to match that of Smith and Jones.  The crux of the story is that Agent J, through a series of events, finds out that to save the world he must journey back in time to save Agent K from being hunted down by the movie’s baddie (Jemaine Clement, doing a wonderfully creepy job as Boris the Animal).  By eliminating K, Boris hopes to set off a chain of events that will allow him to take over the world and pretty much wipe out humanity.  Thus, Smith meets the younger Agent K and they share an adventure that leads to certain secrets about our agents that we didn’t know, while trying to prevent Boris from enacting his master plan.

So, without giving anything major away, I’ll focus on what I enjoyed about this movie.  It moves with a quick, solid pace.  Smith, Jones and Brolin are all enjoyable actors that fit these roles.  Smith delivers one-liners better than most comedians working today.  He’s still one of the most likable personalities on screen.  I liked that they brought newness to the story while also giving us an assortment of aliens (good and bad) which are a custom of the films.  They still bring a sense of funhouse, gross-out tactics and slimy goo wherever they can fit it in and some of the action scenes in the film are highly entertaining. 

High points all around for this additional chapter of Men in Black.  If they never make another, this one allows the franchise to close on a high mark.  Of course, this is a Hollywood produced movie, so if the profit margin was high enough, we can bet more black-suited agents will visit our multiplex at some point soon.