The Suicide Squad

I was one of the few that didn’t mind the original Suicide Squad, but I concede it has a multitude of problems.  Namely, the fact that the studio got gun shy and decided to re-edit the movie with a trailer company to make it more like Guardians of the Galaxy.  As a result, you got a movie that was not the sum of its parts; it felt more like an assortment of music videos than an actual movie.  Its only saving grace to me was the charismatic performances of Will Smith and Margot Robbie. Fortunately, this soft reboot of The Suicide Squad is leaps and bounds better than its predecessor. For starters, it’s not afraid to make these characters criminals.  

Sure, they have flashes of humanity here and there, but these guys are a bunch of criminals and mercenaries. The most human character is Rat-catcher 2, who throughout the movie has a bond of sorts with Bloodsport.  It’s not a romantic relationship per se, it’s more of a surrogate father-daughter relationship which I thought was nice.  It gave the movie much-needed humanity in my book. Rat-catcher also gets a nice moment during the culmination of the big battle with Starro.  I also like how unpredictable this movie is. You never know who’s going to die from one moment to the next. 

For example, Harley Quinn has a certain dalliance with a Corto Maltese President that plays not the way you think it would.  It’s not a perfect movie by any means. It suffers from maybe too many characters and subplots, and there’s some spotty CGI here and there, but it has a certain irreverent charm that I like in a blockbuster.  This is Troma James Gunn, not Disney James Gunn, so be prepared for a lot of gore and sci-fi weirdness that you wouldn’t expect from a mainstream movie.  I got the sense that Warner Media left James Gunn alone and allowed him to make a 185 million big-budget Grindhouse movie.  If it were not for the success of the Guardians of the Galaxy movies, I don’t think that would have happened.  So count your lucky stars that a movie as audacious as this got made.  

For example, Harley Quinn has a certain dalliance with a Corto Maltese President that plays not the way you think it would.  It’s not a perfect movie by any means.  It suffers from too many characters and subplots, and there’s some spotty CGI here and there, but it has a certain irreverent charm that I like in a blockbuster.  This Troma James Gunn not Disney James Gunn, so be prepared for a lot of gore and sci-fi weirdness that you wouldn’t expect from a mainstream movie.  I got the sense that Warner Media left James Gunn alone and allowed him to make a 185 million big-budget Grindhouse movie.  If it were not for the success of the Guardians of the Galaxy movies, I don’t think that would have happened.  So count your lucky stars that a movie as audacious as this got made.

Judas and the Black Messiah

 

You know between Get Out, Black Panther, and now Judas and The Black Messiah Daniel Kaluuya is shaping up to be a great actor.  This is a powerful movie about betrayal, political corruption, and black liberation.  Daniel Kaluuya plays Fred Hampton, a black revolutionary who mobilizes people not by violence but by persuasive rhetoric.  You get the sense that if it were not for the insidious machinations of the FBI and the police department, Hampton would have created a rainbow coalition of all races to combat social injustice.  Alas, that rainbow coalition was not meant to be.  Anyway, I digress, as performances go, Kaluuya knocks it out of the park. He has a tremendous screen presence and he delivers the rousing speeches with gusto. 

As great as Kaluuya is, I would argue Lakeith Stanfield has the trickier role, playing William O’ Neal.  He has to play the betrayer sure, but he also has to play a character that is in awe of Fred Hampton, but not at the expense of his own self-preservation.  When you boil him down to his bare essentials, O’ Neal is just a cudgel for the FBI to dismantle the Black Panther movement.   But I will say this: Stanfield brings a lot of humanity to a character that is ultimately not very likable which I think is the point.  I don’t have many grievances against the film, aside from some minor technical issues.  I had an issue with Martin Sheen’s make-up, not his performance. 

Sheen plays a racist prick to a tilt, but that prosthetic make-up was so distracting to me.  He looked more like a Dick Tracy villain, not J Edgar Hoover.  Honestly, the filmmakers should have just let Martin Sheen play the role without makeup.  But hey that’s just my opinion.  This movie features a great ensemble of acting talent and there’s not a weak performance in the bunch.  This film is really about Fred Hampton and William O’ Neal, and how they compare and contrast with each other.  This movie is obviously not an easy watch given the subject matter.   But, it’s worth watching for the performances alone, and it gives you a look at the darker parts of American History. 

Fight Club

Fight Club was one of those movies from the 90’s that was going to polarize people because of its subject matter.  Some critics thought of Fight Club as an exercise in sadomasochism while others thought it was a biting social satire.  I would argue with the latter, but the truth is Fight Club is a cautionary tale against the dangers of nihilism.  The film starts with Jack a white collar worker, who suffers from extreme bouts of insomnia.  However, insomnia is the least of Jack’s problems Jack has become dissatisfied with his life.  He has become numb to the banality of his everyday life.  His life has become a series of routines that is one step away from turning him into a drone.  So in order to alleviate his existential crisis, Jack goes to support groups so he can feel better about himself.

 Most of these support groups are dedicated to people who have terminal cancer, so in essence, Jack latches onto these people to remind himself that he's more fortunate than them.  But he doesn't do this out of pity he does this to give his life meaning.  Alas, Jack's sanctuary is shattered when a sardonic Goth named Marla enters the picture.  Jack has seen Marla in various support groups and he knows that she’s a faker just like him.  However, unlike Jack Marla goes to these support groups as a voyeur.  Jack threatens to expose her but she retaliates by threatening to expose him.  So they come to an agreement of sorts, they agree to share certain days for the support groups. 

Weeks later, Jack meets Tyler Durden on an airline Durden is everything Jack is not.  Durden is charismatic, confident, crass and strangely funny.  Durden informs Jack that he’s a soap salesman.  The two engage in idle chat, but it’s clear from the get go that these two have a lot in common.  Later that night, Jack has what could only be described as the worse night of his life, his condo explodes and to make matters worse the police suspect him.  Inevitably, Jack calls Tyler and the two agree to meet at a local bar.  Durden gives Jack a monologue about his philosophy on life and the two hit it off becoming fast friends.
 
Durden persuades Jack to stay with him at his dilapidated house and Jack agrees.  As a favor, Jack agrees to hit Tyler and the two engage in a street fight.  This is the moment where the film really takes it stride, as Tyler and Jack engage in various street brawls other people take their lead and soon word spreads around about these street brawls.  Tyler and Jack create a club called Fight Club, an underground fighting club where people can fight with complete strangers.  As the film progresses, it becomes apparent that these people that join Fight Club are lost souls and misfits of society.  Most of these men have become broken and emasculated, from working at jobs they don’t like to buy stuff they don’t need as Tyler surmises.  In essence, Fight Club becomes their sacrament, their key to enlightenment. 

The film grows murkier as Marla starts to engage in a liaison with Tyler and Jack begins to have doubts about Fight Club.  To divulge any more would simply spoil the surprises that happen later in the film.  But I will say this, what transpires in the third act of Fight Club is both perplexing and prophetic in this post 9/11 world we live in today.  Many people have complained that Fight Club tonally is inconsistent, but this is not the case Fight Club is a dark comedy from start to finish.  There are scenes of utter hilarity in Fight Club, like the scene where Tyler and Jack steal fat from a liposuction clinic to make soap or the scene where Jack beats himself up to blackmail his boss.  These scenes may offend some, but for those select few that appreciate this type of dark humor, they will really get a real kick out of these scenes.  Over the past decade, Fight Club has developed a cult following of sorts and it’s not hard to see why.  Fight Club is a biting social satire about the superficiality of American culture and the absurdity of the materialism that is embedded in our culture.  It also serves as a cautionary tale about the dangers of going beyond social constraints and dedicating your life to philosophies that are primal, bestial and potentially dangerous.

X-men First Class

X-Men: First Class is arguably the best of the X-Men series which comes as a relief.  Part of the reason why First Class is so successful is that it places emphasis over the characters rather than plot.  At the heart of the movie is the relationship between Professor Xavier and Erik Lensherr.  And since the characters are played by good actors you come to care about these characters.  The film starts in a concentration camp circa Poland 1944 Sebastian Shaw is trying to coerce young Erik Lensherr into moving a small coin on his desk. 

Shaw gives Erik an ultimatum if he doesn’t move the coin his mother will be executed in front of him.  Alas, poor Erik is unable to move the coin and as punishment Shaw executes his mother in front of him.  Enraged over the death of his mother, Erik unleashes his latent mutant powers, the power of magnetism.  This is a pivotal scene in the film since it shows that Erik's powers are triggered by pain and anger.  The film then cuts to a young Charles Xavier living in an  affluent mansion in upstate New York. 

Xavier is strolling in the kitchen looking for a late night snack and he runs into his mother.  However, Xavier is a telepath and he knows that this creature is not his mother but an imposter.  Charles invades the imposter’s mind and the imposter shapeshifts into a young blue mutant named Raven.  From this moment on Xavier takes Raven in as his sister.   The film then cuts to 1962 Erik Lensherr has become a rogue Nazi Hunter, whereas Charles Xavier has become a Professor of Genetics.  Later in the film, Xavier is recruited by a female CIA agent, named Moira MacTaggert who studies genetic mutation. 

Unbeknownst to Moira, Xavier is a mutant which he reveals to her in front of her superiors.  Needless to say, Moira’s superiors are apprehensive about letting mutants help them in their quest to combat Shaw and the Soviet Army.  However, a CIA officer by the name of Man in Black persuades the CIA directors to let him take Charles and Raven in.  Along with Agent MacTaggert, the Man in Black creates a special mutant division funded by the CIA.   This is where the film really takes its stride.

 Charles Xavier meets Erik Lensherr for the first time in Miami, and the rest of the film showcases them recruiting other mutants. Unfortunately, the film has X-Men in the title, so there are other supporting mutant characters integral to the film as well.  Alas, most of these characters are underdeveloped, and because of this, you come to know them by their powers instead of their personalities.  However, the performances by James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender are  good enough to anchor the film.  Fassbender, in particular, is a standout he plays Erik Lensherr as a charismatic James Bond type  with a real chip on his shoulder. 

His performance as Erik Lensherr is absolutely magnetic if you forgive the pun.  Xavier, however, is a little bland, but this is due to no fault on McAvoy's part.  The writers obviously couldn’t figure out how to make Xavier a more compelling character.  Fortunately, McAvoy’s performance is good enough to make up for this oversight.  Jennifer Lawrence is good as Mystique/Raven she gives Mystique a certain naive sweetness. 

Kevin Bacon is also excellent as the sociopathic mutant Sebastian Shaw.  Unfortunately, his character is never really given any real depth, he's simply a one-dimensional  villain.  The film also would have benefited from exploring the creator/monster dichotomy between Sebastian Shaw and Erik Lensherr a bit further.  It was one of the more intriguing ideas in the film that was left unexplored.  Overall, X-Men: First Class is an entertaining action film with good performances from its two leads, and it has some pretty kinetic action sequences scattered throughout the film.  The film is definitely a must see for those that were disappointed with the last two X-Men films.

Superman Returns

The much maligned Superman Returns is not as bad as its reputation would suggest. In some ways the eponymous character felt more like Superman in this film than he did in Man of Steel, with a few notable exceptions of course. I don't think Superman would leave Lois Lane on Earth with a love child it comes off as rather skeevy and out of character. And he definitely wouldn't stalk Lois Lane behind her back. Outside of that, Brandon Routh's portrayal of Superman does show shades of Christopher Reeves' Superman.

Superman is very charismatic and approachable in this film and he actually cares about civilians. I understand the criticism that the movie gets, the action scenes are rather sparse and Lex Luthor's real estate scheme is beyond inane. Seriously Lex, nobody's going to want to buy land on a barren wasteland your investors wouldn't be that stupid. However, there are a few positives that outweigh the negatives. The airplane sequence in the beginning is amazing and the music makes it very exciting as an action scene.

Also, the scene where Superman takes a slug to the eye by the bank robber is amazing. I also love the art deco style of the Daily Planet, and all the scenes on Lex Luther's opulent yacht are gorgeous to look at from a whole set design perspective. Back to the negatives, Superman having a kid has some emotional resonance but they didn't do much with the kid to me and he felt like a plot contrivance. If Superman Returns would have gotten a sequel the movie would have explored the rift between Brainiac and Superman's child. Both characters would have vied for the child's affection and that would have made for an interesting sequel.

Alas, we never got that sequel unfortunately. Anyway I digress, I understand that Bryan Singer was trying to do a love letter to the Richard Donner films, but he should have done something far more original and bold. However, the film does get the sunny optimism of Superman right, so I still find it rather enjoyable as a superhero movie. Honestly, if you took the emotional resonance of Superman Returns and took the action spectacle of Man of Steel, you would have a great Superman movie in my humble opinion.