Nowadays it seems that the classic western film is more hard to come by. An upside to this is that whenever a western comes around it is usually pretty good (for example, "3:10 to Yuma"). The same goes for the Coen brother's newest adaption of Charles Portis' novel, "True Grit." The film of the same name brings together an award-winning team of Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, Josh Brolin, and the Coen brothers to bring us a western that won't soon be forgotten.
Mattie Ross (Hailee Steinfeld) narrates the film as she tells of her quest to avenge her father, who was murdered by a man named Tom Chaney (Brolin) when she was 14. When Mattie goes to collect her father's body, she also looks for a US Marshal who she can hire to hunt down Chaney. She chooses a man named Rooster Cogburn who was described to her as the most merciless of the Marshals. However when she approaches Cogburn he rejects the offer.
Mattie isn't the only one searching for Chaney. Later that day she meets La Boeuf (Damon), a Texas Ranger who is hunting Chaney after he killed a senator in Texas. La Boeuf proposes that they both team up with Cogburn to get Chaney but Mattie quickly refuses and continues to plead for Cogburn's help. Eventually Cogburn agrees to help her and tells her to meet him at his house the next morning (a lie so that he can leave without her knowing, keeping her out of harms way). The fact the Cogburns already left doesn't stop Mattie from catching up to him where she finds that he has teamed up with La Boeuf. From there the three ride into Choctaw country in search of retribution.
The first thing I noticed while watching "True Grit" is that it is nowhere near as dark as I expected it to be. The trailers for the film make it out to be dark and grisly. Looking at what the Coen brother's have directed in the past (specifically "No Country For Old Men") I expected the movie to be just the same. However when I saw it I realized that "True Grit" has more laughs than most comedies that were released this year. At the same time, the majority of the film consists of people being shot, killed, having fingers and teeth chopped off and pulled out, you get the point...it's intense. But the Coen brothers manage to mix the intense moments with the humorous ones, which many times does not work out well. Luckily for "True Grit," it does.
Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, Josh Brolin...of course this movie will have great acting that's what I thought...and I was right. To me, Jeff Bridges already has the right look and persona to play a merciless US Marshall/cowboy and the role of Rooster Cogburn was perfect for him. But the standout actor wasn't these three men mentioned, it is Hailee Steinfeld. This is the young actresses first film to my knowledge and she is outstanding playing her cunning and very intelligent character. She has already been nominated and has won awards for "True Grit" and I believe that this is the beginning of a very successful career.
Now I bet everyone reading this is waiting for me to answer the question, "Is Jeff Bridges better than John Wayne?" Well...I don't know. I never saw the original (you can gasp in horror) and after seeing the film I'm actually glad I didn't (gasp louder). Why? Because I didn't have to waste my time in the theater comparing the two versions of "True Grit" and tell myself that, "Jeff Bridges is no John Wayne!" What I can tell you is that the new "True Grit" is a spectacular film, one of the best of the year, with a great story, great acting, great everything. Maybe one day I'll see the original but when that happens I will probably end up comparing John Wayne to Jeff Bridges (mega-gasp) but hey, he was before my time after all. I give "True Grit" 4 stars out of 4.
"True Grit" has a running time of 110 minutes and is rated PG-13 for intense sequences of western violence including disturbing images.
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Monday, December 13, 2010
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
It would be fair to say that in 2005, "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" was one of the most memorable films (it's currently the 35th highest grossing film of all time). However, after the first installment in what is now a trilogy, the "Narnia" films seemed to lose their power. Though "Prince Caspian" (the 2nd in the franchise released in 2008) was somewhat well received, it did not gain the popularity that its predecessor had and to add to that it was a terrible adaption from the book. Things didn't look good for Aslan and his magical creatures when Disney decided to drop the series due to economic problems but Walden Media pressed on and has produced a third film. Has the franchise redeemed itself or is Narnia continuing to digress into a lost cause? To be honest, after I left the theater I wasn't quite sure.
The two youngest children of the Pevensie family, Edmund (Skandar Keynes) and Lucy (Georgie Henley) are staying with their selfish and quite annoying cousin, Eustace (Will Poulter). Very quickly, the three children look to a painting of a ship in the ocean on the wall. Lucy remarks that the ship reminds her of a ship from Narnia which Eustace calls a stupid fantasy world that only exists in their heads. When Edmund and Eustace get in an argument, the painting starts to release water into the room until the room overflows. When the three emerge to the surface, they are back in Narnia and are rescued by King Caspian (Ben Barnes) and his crew on his ship, The Dawn Treader. Three years have passed in Narnia since Caspian overthrew his evil uncle in the second film and since then Caspian has brought peace to Narnia. Now the King is sailing to find the seven lords that served his father before his uncle took over.
However, the quest soon takes a more perilous turn when Caspian and the children discover a green mist that captures Narnians and take them to a place called Dark Island. To destroy this island, the seven swords of the lords Caspian is looking for must be laid at Aslan's table. During their journey the four must learn to overcome their inner struggles and resist the temptation that the mist presents to them or else they too will become corrupted with the evil.
As I briefly mentioned earlier, I wasn't sure what to think of "Dawn Treader" at first. My first impression was one of disappointment from the expectations that I had. The first two "Narnia" films (especially the 2nd one) contain good amounts of entertaining action and climactic battle sequences. This above all else is what I was looking forward to in this movie. Unfortunately for me, there was nothing like this in "Dawn Treader." While there are several entertaining, visually stunning fight scenes, there is nothing compared to the epic climax found in the first film so I was a little bummed out.
Now my second impression of the film, after I disregarded my expectations, was a good one as I realized that "Dawn Treader" accomplishes what its predecessor "Prince Caspian" could not--it contains a good, well though out story and that seems to be the film's main focus. Personally, not much could make me happier when watching a sequel. One of my biggest requirements for a good sequel is for it to maintain a strong focus on the plot and not to just skip to tons of action which many sequels fail to do. And considering that this is actually the third film in the series, I am especially impressed that the film focuses on the story more than the action.
Now even though the film had a good story that doesn't mean it was successful in completely drawing me in. Something that I have began to notice with third, fourth, etc. installments in a movie franchise is that the film needs to do something to draw me back into the series. I already know the characters, I already know the setting, and if the film can't bring anything new to the table, I will be bored. Thus, the problem with "Dawn Treader."
When I first heard that Walden Media would try to make a third Narnia, I was both surprised and skeptical thinking that there was little chance that the series could make a comeback. Sadly, without the epic battles that the first two included, I'm not sure the series can survive. I doubt that a strong story, not to mention a sub-par script and mediocre acting can keep movie goers coming to the theater. Was "Dawn Treader" a bad movie? No, but it doesn't make me desire more sequels. I give it two stars out of four.
"The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" has a running time of 115 minutes and is rated PG for some frightening images and sequences of fantasy action.
The two youngest children of the Pevensie family, Edmund (Skandar Keynes) and Lucy (Georgie Henley) are staying with their selfish and quite annoying cousin, Eustace (Will Poulter). Very quickly, the three children look to a painting of a ship in the ocean on the wall. Lucy remarks that the ship reminds her of a ship from Narnia which Eustace calls a stupid fantasy world that only exists in their heads. When Edmund and Eustace get in an argument, the painting starts to release water into the room until the room overflows. When the three emerge to the surface, they are back in Narnia and are rescued by King Caspian (Ben Barnes) and his crew on his ship, The Dawn Treader. Three years have passed in Narnia since Caspian overthrew his evil uncle in the second film and since then Caspian has brought peace to Narnia. Now the King is sailing to find the seven lords that served his father before his uncle took over.
However, the quest soon takes a more perilous turn when Caspian and the children discover a green mist that captures Narnians and take them to a place called Dark Island. To destroy this island, the seven swords of the lords Caspian is looking for must be laid at Aslan's table. During their journey the four must learn to overcome their inner struggles and resist the temptation that the mist presents to them or else they too will become corrupted with the evil.
As I briefly mentioned earlier, I wasn't sure what to think of "Dawn Treader" at first. My first impression was one of disappointment from the expectations that I had. The first two "Narnia" films (especially the 2nd one) contain good amounts of entertaining action and climactic battle sequences. This above all else is what I was looking forward to in this movie. Unfortunately for me, there was nothing like this in "Dawn Treader." While there are several entertaining, visually stunning fight scenes, there is nothing compared to the epic climax found in the first film so I was a little bummed out.
Now my second impression of the film, after I disregarded my expectations, was a good one as I realized that "Dawn Treader" accomplishes what its predecessor "Prince Caspian" could not--it contains a good, well though out story and that seems to be the film's main focus. Personally, not much could make me happier when watching a sequel. One of my biggest requirements for a good sequel is for it to maintain a strong focus on the plot and not to just skip to tons of action which many sequels fail to do. And considering that this is actually the third film in the series, I am especially impressed that the film focuses on the story more than the action.
Now even though the film had a good story that doesn't mean it was successful in completely drawing me in. Something that I have began to notice with third, fourth, etc. installments in a movie franchise is that the film needs to do something to draw me back into the series. I already know the characters, I already know the setting, and if the film can't bring anything new to the table, I will be bored. Thus, the problem with "Dawn Treader."
When I first heard that Walden Media would try to make a third Narnia, I was both surprised and skeptical thinking that there was little chance that the series could make a comeback. Sadly, without the epic battles that the first two included, I'm not sure the series can survive. I doubt that a strong story, not to mention a sub-par script and mediocre acting can keep movie goers coming to the theater. Was "Dawn Treader" a bad movie? No, but it doesn't make me desire more sequels. I give it two stars out of four.
"The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" has a running time of 115 minutes and is rated PG for some frightening images and sequences of fantasy action.
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