Pacific Rim

I saw the trailer for 2013's Pacific Rim and didn't have any screaming interest to see it this past summer. While it looked cool, I thought it looked like a hybrid Godzilla-Cloverfield-Transformers movie. I liked all those movies in one way or another, but something just hit me funny. It earned decent reviews and made some solid cash, but it took a couple positive reviews from folks I usually agree with to sell me on it. The main reason they liked it? Just a good, old-fashioned movie intended to be eaten with a big tub of popcorn. The verdict? Read on.

In 2013, Earth is under attack, immense, truly enormous creatures called Kaijus from another dimension that travel to our planet from an interdimensional portal on the floor of the Pacific Ocean. The creatures wreak havoc, mankind responding with Jaegers, equally huge humanoid war machines piloted by two human pilots. The Jaegers hold back the other dimensional creatures, but years pass and the Kaijus become bigger, faster and stronger to the point they're almost impossible to defeat. When the creatures start coming through the portal quicker and quicker, mankind becomes desperate, turning to an impenetrable sea wall to stop the creatures. While the wall is constructed, the Jaegers must mount one last stand, the unit's commander, Stacker Pentecost (Idris Elba), limited to his last four war machines. He turns to a former pilot, Raleigh Becket (Charlie Hunnam), to pilot one of the machines, but is it too late to save Earth?

Director Guillermo del Toro has said in interviews that his intention here was to make a tribute-like movie to horror and sci-fi creature flicks from the past. It's supposed to be big, fun, action-packed and entertaining, the perfect summer movie. Unfortunately, I think del Toro and screenwriter Travis Beacham just try to do too much in a 132-minute long movie. 'Pacific' is fun and dumb and goofy and exciting, but there's pilots, commanders, rival pilots, pilots who have daddy issues, science issues, tech issues, a pilot who wants a woman as his co-pilot but she's got some traumatic issues from her past affecting her, a black market dealer with golden shoes, and scientists who are more obnoxious than as funny as I'm assuming they were intended. It tries to please everyone and got taken down a notch or two in the process.

What is no doubt the best thing going here is the CGI, the visual look of the movie. It's good and bad, but more on that reasoning later. The Kaijus are something to behold, each of them with a distinct visual look, like a crossbreed between Godzilla and the gnarliest reptilian monsters you've ever seen. Their background isn't explained much unfortunately, but we know with each passing attack, the interdimensional creatures seem to have evolved into one indestructible being after another. How to do battle with them? Machinery, technology and in some cases, pure guts. The Jaeger fighters look like Transformers meet the Iron Giant, but with human pilots directing them. Each of these immense humanoid creatures has a personality of their own, typically reflecting the personality of the pilots inside, but also their own unique visual appeal. The CGI is incredible to watch. It's seamless, pretty much flawless. It looks real, not like something created on a computer.

But here I sit, the same problem I had with the Transformers movies. The CGI and the technology are ridiculous to watch, truly ridiculous. The advances in technology are remarkable, especially considering where computer-generated special effects were just 10, 15 years ago. Is it actually too good? It gets to the point that the battles between the Kaijus and the Jaegers become too muddled, too busy, too detail-oriented. Most of the fights take place at night, either in water or in congested, poorly lit cities so the battles become incredibly difficult to watch. On a simpler level, they get repetitive. Yeah, I know the pilots are human. Yeah, I realize the Kaijus are trying to annihilate Earth, but seeing one fight after another between the warring sides gets old. Sure, a Jaeger picking up an immense freighter and trying to beat the crap out of a Kaiju with it is cool, but these epically staged battles lose some of their effectiveness when we see the battles over and over.

Where I was encouraged was del Toro's decision not to cast any huge stars in this movie...at all. No A-listers in sight here, not by a long shot. The always criminally cool Idris Elba is the best performance here (and the coolest character name) as Stacker Pentecost, the driven, nearly obsessed Jaeger commander attempting anything he can that would turn the tide, his "We're cancelling the Apocalypse" speech a highlight. Hunnam is more hit or miss with a cool idea for a character, but something's missing. I can't decide if it's bad acting or just a bad part, the subplot with hopeful co-pilot Mako (Rinko Kikuchi) lacking any energy or originality at all. Always Sunny star Charlie Day and Burn Gorman are cast for some laughs as a scientist duo searching for clues to take down the Kaijus, but the attempts at laughs are pretty painful. Max Martini and Robert Kazinsky are a father-son duo piloting the most powerful Jaeger while Clifton Collins Jr. plays a control room tech. Ron Perlman hams it up as Hannibal Chau, the world's leading black market dealer in Kaiju parts.

I keep coming back to something, a thought I usually don't associate with fun summer blockbusters. I'll give this one a slightly positive review, but it could have been a movie of a really good to great to near classic movie. Directing the film, del Toro set out to make a fun movie. Is it weird then to say there was potential on display here for a possibly really smart, even intelligent film? Space portals open up all sorts of doors about the immensity of space. What could be out there? What could be trying to destroy us? Why are they doing so? How does mankind respond? Hunnam's Raleigh explains it all in an interesting, well-told monologue over the movie's first 15 minutes. There just could have been more, SO MUCH MORE. The same from the human perspective. We see the heroic Jaeger pilots become genuine celebrities. How about the Drift technique, linking 2 pilots together through their thoughts and past? It's a brilliant concept that isn't fully explored. I don't know if I've written a review for a movie wanting it to be smarter, to embrace its intelligence, but here it is. Pacific Rim is good but it could have been great, and that's the most disappointing thing.

Instead, the explanations and scene-to-scene transitions are rushed and muddled. The two comic relief scientists manage to mind-drift with the Kaijuis and somehow learn EVERYTHING about them in seconds. I'm not buying it. Things happen because the story requires it far more than I'd like. The Jaegers seem to have one weapon that handles the Kaijus effectively, but Raleigh completely forgets to use it in battle...until he needs to remember. If he remembered earlier, then there'd be no battle! The same goes for the finale, certain characters surviving because....well, because they survive. I liked this movie, but I wanted to love it. Too bad.

Pacific Rim (2013): ** 1/2 /****

The Bucket List

What do you want to do before you die? Things you want to see and do, people you want to meet, places you want to visit, that sort of thing. It's a simple thought, all the things the world has to offer before you....kick the bucket! Words are fun! That's the basic premise behind 2007's The Bucket List.

Sharing a hospital room, Carter Chambers (Morgan Freeman) and Edward Cole (Jack Nicholson) seemingly have very little in common. Carter is family fan with a wife, kids and grandchildren, working for years as a mechanic to support them all. Edward is rich beyond any needs -- he actually owns the hospital, a lot of hospitals -- without any family other than a quartet of ex-wives. The only thing they really have in common is their diagnosis, both men have been diagnosed with terminal lung cancer and have been given anywhere from six months to a year to live. Bonding almost in spite of their differences, they decide to make the most of their last few months, doing all those things they wanted to do but never got around to. Leaving their hospital rooms behind, Carter and Edward intend to enjoy what little time they have.

From director Rob Reiner, this 2007 drama-comedy was mismarketed if you ask me. It was billed as a lighthearted comedy of sorts, goofy and dumb as two old guys make their way around the world doing all sorts of crazy stuff. 'List' does have those moments where the physical comedy is embraced, but thankfully not used too much and overdone. What is it then? It is a pretty good human drama with some touches of humor. 'List' embraces the inherent darkness of its premise, two senior citizens finding out their death is coming sooner than they expected, while still having those moments of humor. Just a fair warning, don't go in expecting 90-plus minutes of laugh out loud goofiness. There are some laughs, but it's far more of a drama than it was made out to be.

Now all that said, laughs in a comedy or some actual emotions in a drama, it's Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson. This is quite the legendary one-two punch in terms of acting power, and we're the beneficiaries of the casting. Neither performance is of the award-winning variety, the script from Justin Zackham a solid job, but both actors play up their parts. Freeman is his typical reliable self as Carter, a family man who's started to struggle with his older years, especially now that he's more of a grandparent than a parent. He's not upset he had to care his family, but he does wish maybe he could have accomplished more. Nicholson seems to be playing a variation on...well, himself, but there's depth to his Edward Cole part. He's been married four times but he also loves being single which causes some problems. Very different individuals but very interesting characters.

So what are they up to? They intend to accomplish a lot, ranging from visiting the Great Pyramids in Cairo and the base of Mount Everest in the Himalayas in Nepal, from skydiving to driving classic Shelby Mustangs, doing a safari to visiting the Taj Mahal. The episodic storytelling is cool, covering a lot of ground, even if the CGI is especially bad in the skydiving sequence. The checking off of items on the bucket list becomes secondary though, the focus more on the odd couple-like friendship that develops between the two men. During their travels and adventures, they do get to know each other, know what drove them to this point, what their lives have been like. Their scenes in the hospital are just as good as they first get to know each other, both knowing the other is struggling but able to move on and just talk or play cards. There's an effortless charm to the friendship/relationship, a chemistry that pros like Freeman and Nicholson make look criminally easy.

The rest of the cast is limited to a couple key supporting parts. Sean Hayes is very good as Cole's much-maligned assistant, always ready to bust his boss if he's asking for it. Also look for Rob Morrow as Cole's doctor who must give him the tough news while Beverly Todd plays Carter's wife of 40-plus years. Freeman and Nicholson are in almost every single scene -- together or separately -- so much more of a supporting cast wouldn't have been needed.

I wasn't sure what to expect of the ending here. My doomsday scenario had some miracle cure being invented so that the characters we've come to like are somehow, some way saved from certain death. I won't give any spoilers away, but it is a very effective ending. There is a relative twist revealed in the last 20-25 minutes that caught me by surprise mostly because I thought I had it figured out long before the reveal. The finale itself works well, a fitting end about two different men with very different backgrounds who become friends through their similar, life-altering medical conditions. An enjoyable, low-key movie.

The Bucket List (2007): ***/****

Ender's Game

Originally published in 1985 from author Orson Scott Card, the novel Ender's Game has become a fan and cult favorite for readers over the last 25-plus years. For years, it never got that big screen adaptation, that big-budget science fiction flick that would appease diehard fans and newbies alike. Well, we got it, and maybe with the advances in technology, it was worth the wait. Hitting theaters a few weeks ago and struggling a bit at the box office as I write this review, 2013's Ender's Game.

Fifty years into the future, Earth has moved on from an alien invasion by a race known as the Formics. The war and invasion was costly, millions of people killed in the blink of an eye and the subsequent attacks. Five decades later, the International Fleet continues to prepare for a counterattack, turning to children and teenagers to lead the defense. Among the trainers are Colonel Graff (Harrison Ford) and his right hand officer, Major Anderson (Viola Davis), always trying to find the child best suited to lead the defense of mankind. Among the thousands of trainees, Graff thinks he's found the right subject, the perfect individual to lead the defense, a young boy named Ender Wiggins (Asa Butterfield), the youngest of three children who is brilliant in his analysis and clear-thinking in almost all his actions. He displays all the characteristics they're looking for, but is he really the best choice? Is he almost too smart? Can young Ender keep his own demons under wraps to live up to his potential?

I never read Card's novel the movie is based on. Deal with it. Okay, that's a little harsh. Just want to get that out there. I'm not a fan, haven't read it, and went into this movie without any expectations of what this movie had to live up to it. From director/screenwriter Gavin Hood (X-Men Origins: Wolverine), 'Game' is a pretty entertaining, polished, well-told science fiction story that I loved for half of its 114-minute running time. It has a ton of potential, plenty to the point I'm still looking forward to checking out Card's original novel. 'Game' asks a lot of questions, some pretty dark considering this is a movie at least somewhat aimed at a teenage audience. On a familiar level, there's growing up and discovering who you are as a person, but there's much more. It's living and dealing with your flaws, embracing on them or working at them, becoming part of a group or becoming a leader and on a far bigger level, the loss of a few for the savior of many. It's pretty heady stuff.

Visually, 'Game' is what a science fiction film can be when computer-generated images are used to aid a story rather than overwhelm it. The CGI blends seamlessly at all times here, a future down the road some but not so far removed from the 2013 world we know now. When Ender is sent to Battle School, we're introduced to a West Point-like culture in Space Station form floating through space far above Earth. The school and its tech-heavy hallways and corridors looks familiar, like something we've seen in countless other sci-fi movies, but with a new spin. The coolest thing is the Battle Room, an expansive, enclosed zero gravity circle where the Armies of the Battle School learn strategy and battle theory, all while floating through space while still doing battle. As we see more, I thought it's cool to see that Ender and his fellow trainees use touch screen-like technology to lead armies of spaceships, drones, fighters and thousands of people. It ain't too far removed from iPads, iPhones and any number of other modern tech items. Yeah, it could have a cool charm if it had been made in the 1980s, but how about 2013? It's a pretty ideal time for a story like this with that sort of technology.

A very talented young actor, Butterfield is excellent as young, talented, even troubled Ender Wiggins. The movie depends on him so that he steps up to the plate is a huge positive. The fact that the character has touches of the Christ figure -- the One to save us all, the Savior -- is subtle without beating us over the head with the message too. The young actors are solid across the board, especially Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit) as Petra, a fellow Battle School student who befriends Ender, and Abigail Breslin making the most of a stereotypical part as Ender's worrying sister, Valentine. As for the rest of the students, look for Aramis Knight, Suraj Partha, Moises Arias as a violent rival for Ender, and a handful of other parts that all handle themselves really well. It's encouraging to see this many young actors perform so well, and all in one movie.

The focus is on the child parts, but the adult actors don't disappoint either. Harrison Ford has a good part, playing against type a bit, as Colonel Graff, the commanding officer who's intentions are not perfectly clear. How far is he willing to go to accomplish his goals? What is he willing to sacrifice? Viola Davis provides the perfect counter, a voice of reason and clear-thinking, to Ford's Graff. Ben Kingsley is poorly used as Mazer Rackham, a legendary pilot who provides quite the example for the young students. Nonso Anozie has a fun part as Sergeant Dap, the drill sergeant hovering over the students with an iron fist.

So what's the problem? It's hard to peg. I think there's just too much going on for its own good with a movie that runs just under two hours. The training sequences become repetitive quickly, and then all the sudden we're at the finale! There's the ending and then a quasi-twist that continues the movie for another 10 minutes that limp to the finish. It's not a bad movie by any means. There's a lot of positives, A LOT of them, but I came away mildly disappointed because the start was so strong. I still feel very comfortable recommending it, but I could have recommended it more if that makes any sense.

Ender's Game (2013): ** 1/2 /****

The Battle of El Alamein

Talk about major conflicts in World War II and any number of battles come to mind from D-Day to the Battle of the Bulge, Guadalcanal to Iwo Jima. Some of WWII's earliest fighting is usually left almost completely by the wayside, the fighting in North Africa as Axis and Allied powers battled for control of the Suez Canal, Egypt and the Nile. The battle of Tobruk has gotten its fair share of attention, but how about the battle of El Alamein? It gets some attention via the appropriately titled 1969 film, The Battle of El Alamein.

It's late in 1942, and German forces under General Erwin Rommel (Robert Hossein) has pushed the Allies almost to a breaking point, the lines stretched thin in hopes of holding back the advance. Leading the Allies is a new commander, General Bernard Montgomery (Michael Rennie), hellbent on turning the tide of battle and stubborn to boot. Among the Italian soldiers fighting with the Germans are an inexperienced officer, Lt. Giorgio Borri (Frederick Stafford), who would like nothing more than a little personal glory in the form of a medal or two. The battle and fighting are up in the air and very much up for grabs, supplies, gasoline and fuel all pushing both sides to make decisions they wouldn't normally have to, much less should have to make that decision. It's early in the war, but this battle could be a huge turning point in the fighting.

As I discovered the depths of the spaghetti western genre, I stumbled across a site called Sgt. Slaughter Goes to War (check it out HERE), a really good, really well-written review site that covers a lot of ground with Euro-war movies, but a fair share of American war movies too. That's how I originally found out about this movie, reading his review, a pretty glowing review that built it up nicely. How many years later, I caught up with it via MGM-HD on TV, watching a ridiculously nice print relative to the crappy ones I've seen. Did I like it as much as Sgt. Slaughter? No, but I did enjoy it. There's some low-budget charm to it with a good cast of recognizable European actors, but it's far from a classic flick. It tries to accomplish a lot in a relatively short running time (I saw a 96-minute version, there's supposedly one that's 105 minutes), covering a lot of ground in portraying the Allied and Axis point of view.

Sgt. Slaughter's review makes a good point in that most Italian war movies were pure fun, pure entertainment, not really meant to be taken seriously. This war movie from director Giorgio Ferroni? It takes a far more serious tone, trying to show the horrors and hell of war rather than the fun of it all. It should be taken seriously. We see the German High Command, Hossein doing a good job as the sympathetic and very capable Rommel, Gerard Herter, Giuseppe Addobbati, and Tom Felleghy playing some of his generals. Rennie seems an odd, very American choice to play the very British General Montgomery, and is also badly dubbed in painfully obvious fashion. It's not that Rennie delivers a bad performance, he gets the Monty personality down, it's that we don't get to see enough of him. In small doses, it's almost stereotypical. Where so many American war movies had a 2-plus hour running time to get a message across (and a budget to boot), 'Alamein' simply tries to do too much in less than two hours.

As is often the case with war movies, the best aspect of 'Alamein' is the focus on the foot soldiers, the infantry, the men fighting on the front lines. Stafford does a very good job as Giorgio, the glory-hunting officer who quickly learns that war isn't as simple and straightforward and heroic as he thought coming in. He goes from inexperienced, cocky officer to tired, capable and looking out for his men. He helps learn some of the horrors through his brother, Sgt. Major Claudio Borri (Enrico Maria Salerno), a far-more experienced soldier who finds himself in command of a platoon when their commanding officer is killed early in the battle. The personal dynamic following the Italian infantry, as well as the Allied perspective from a British major, Graham (George Hilton), resonated more with me than the commanding generals. As for Stafford's Giorgio, his men include Salvatore Borghese, Riccardo Pizzuti, Massimo Righi and Nello Pazzafini as a quick-learning sergeant.

The same way the personal aspect works, so do the battle scenes. This is not a war movie with an immense budget that can be spent on an army of extras. Still, the action scenes are done with the backing of the Italian army so there are tanks, trucks and jeeps on display to add to the sense of realism. The smaller scale works, putting more of a personal spin on the battle as the Borri brothers and their men try to hold back wave after wave of Allied attacks. The finale is the best, the desperate Italians using anything at their disposal to hold back an Allied tank attack. Moving end for a decent Euro-war movie that takes a little while to get going.

The Battle of El Alamein (1969): ** 1/2 /****

The Good Die Young

Four actors that I like a lot but were never huge stars. A British crime drama with touches of American film noir. Oh, and I've never heard of this movie...at all. Released in 1954, The Good Die Young popped up recently on Turner Classic Movie's schedule, and I couldn't pass up the chance.

On a quiet night on the streets of London, four men sit in a car, one of them, 'Rave' Ravenscourt (Laurence Harvey) passing pistols out to the other three. The quartet is readying themselves to pull off a robbery that will net them each some serious money. What drove them to this point? How did they get here? How did they become so desperate that these four non-criminal types would turn to armed robbery? Rave, Joe Halsey (Richard Basehart), Eddie Blaine (John Ireland) and Mike Morgan (Stanley Baker) are just that though, incredibly desperate with nowhere else to turn. Can they somehow pull the job off?

Tweaked from a novel by Richard MacAulay, 'Die' certainly sounded pretty good to me. Director Lewis Gilbert's film was transplanted from America to London, a nice touch, and certainly pays tribute to its American film noir influences. Filmed in a shadowy, moody black and white, the look of the film reflects the pretty dark, doomed tone of the story. I liked composer Georges Auric's score, appropriately dark and foreboding, building up to the finale we all could see coming. As well, the acting is solid across the board, but I still managed to come away disappointed here. I'm disappointed I was disappointed too, mostly because I really wanted to like this one.

What mostly caught my eye was the casting of the four leads. Laurence Harvey, Richard Basehart, John Ireland and Stanley Baker?!? And in a quasi-film noir?!? The excitment unfortunately ends there. Following the quick, hard-hitting, mysterious opening, the rest of 'Die' is all flashback leading up to what we've already seen. The story bounces among the four different storylines/main characters, the quartet eventually meeting in a London bar and bonding over their generally pathetic situations. They meet everyday, drinking early and often even though none of them really have any money. Obviously, this part was necessary to show the depths they've all sunk to, but they get tedious...very quickly. The movie only runs 94 minutes, but it feels significantly longer. I guess I was expecting more of the crime drama angle so my expectations may have been slightly off, but I still struggled in those later portions before the actual crime.

The acting is still pretty decent even if it just gets to be one thing on top of another late. Harvey becomes the villain, his Rave a suave, smooth, debonaire gentleman who married Eve (Margaret Leighton), a very rich, well to do woman who's got a few years on him. Basehart's Joe is trying to get his British wife, Mary (Joan Collins), to come back to the states with him, ripping her from his evil mother-in-law's grip, (played by Freda Jackson). An infantryman in Germany, Ireland's Eddie is married to Denise (Gloria Grahame), a small-time actress aspiring to be more and with her co-stars too. Lastly, there's Baker's Mike, a boxer trying to leave the ring with the little money he's saved with his loving wife, Angela (Rene Ray), but her family keeps causing them issues. Of the four, Harvey and Baker represent themselves the best, or at least in the most interesting fashion. Also look for Robert Morley in a one-scene part as Rave's father who hates everything that his son has become.

If there is a saving grace in 'Die,' it's the last 20 minutes or so, the flashbacks left behind as the actual robbery develops. Harvey's Rave manages to convince them all to go in on the job, the amateur crooks deciding whether the reward is worth risk. If noirs and crime dramas have taught us anything, it's that crime just will not pay in the long run, and that foreboding sense comes true here. It's the ending you would expect here. I wanted to like the movie a whole lot more, but it loses its momentum in the first hour. Worth seeking out for the cast, but disappointing on most other levels.

The Good Die Young (1954): **/****

After Earth

What exactly happened to M. Night Shyamalan somewhere around 2003? The director had just made Signs, an oddly good sci-fi flick, but followed it up with The Village, Lady in the Water, The Happening and The Last Airbender. One bad movie on top of each other. Well, it's gotta turn around at some point, right? How about 2013's After Earth?!? Is this the one?!? Nope.

Sometime in the future, Earth has been destroyed, making the planet virtually inhabitable and forcing its human survivors to leave it behind, settling on a new planet, Nova Prime. The planet has come under attack, forcing the United Ranger Corps, headed by General Cypher Raige (Will Smith), to defend Nova Prime against the aliens' main weapon, the Ursas, immense, blind creatures that literally smell "fear." His son, Kitai (Jaden Smith), wants nothing more than to follow in his legendary father's footsteps, trying to become a Ranger himself as a cadet at Ranger School. His relationship with his father is far from close though, Kitai's mother convincing Cypher to take his son along on his last mission. They're in for a ride though, the ship flying into an asteroid shower and crashing on a remote planet. There are no survivors other than Cypher and Kitai (of course, who would have figured?!?), leaving the father-son duo to work together to survive. The catch? They're on a horrifically transformed planet Earth that has evolved in the thousand years since humans left.

In spite of getting almost universally panned by critics, 'Earth' still managed to make almost $60 million in the U.S., doing pretty well internationally too. Not a bad total until you consider it cost $130 million to make. Just because critics and reviewers don't like a movie doesn't automatically make a movie bad....but in this case, they were right. This movie is really, truly bad, one of the worst movies I've seen this year. Originally an idea from Will Smith, 'Earth' struggles to find any footing and never manages to find any. The script is bad, the acting worse, and the developing story turns into a 1970s after school special. With a premise somewhat similar to this year's Oblivion (scorched Earth, what's left?), I thought it could be mildly entertaining, but it wasn't. It was bad, right from the start too.

I feel bad criticizing a young actor, but here we sit just the same. This is my first introduction to Jaden Smith, and it isn't a particularly good one. Some of my issues can obviously be chalked up to the script that does no one any favors, but it's more than that. This is one whiny teenager who's dripping with teen angst. He wants to be like his father, to show him he belongs, but he's also tortured by guilt having seen his sister (Zoe Kravitz) die in an Ursas attack. Good Lord, just pick one cliched stereotype and stick with it. You don't have to throw everything against the wall and see what sticks. I couldn't shake the feeling that this movie was an excuse by Will Smith to get his son a starring role, and that's never a good thing. The gimmick of the real-life father son working together is quickly washed away thanks to the script.

So how about Will Smith? This has to be one of his worst performances. Playing Cypher, he's supposed to be this ultra-cool, no-nonsense, all business legend who discovered how to beat the Ursas. The plan? Literally show no fear and the creatures can't sense you. Translated....that means show no real emotion. Smith took that message to heart, not showing anything other than a comatose face that looks like he may or may not be sleepwalking. It's unreal how wooden this performance is. We're talking one step below a cardboard box. The kinda cool feature that Cypher can see everything Kitai sees through some advanced technology is wasted because Will Smith literally shows no emotion the entire movie. There are moments he seems concerned whether his son makes it or not (I suppose, it's hard to read), but even a legendary hero who has NO FEAR would seemingly be slightly, remotely concerned.

The script in general is bad, from a rushed, wasted introduction that lays everything out to the familiar plot holes late. With such a cool background to tap for potential, the prologue doesn't specify enough, throwing a whole lot of tidbits out there and hoping some of them stick. Once Cypher and Kitai's ship goes down on Earth, I figured things might pick up, but it doesn't. Kitai battles baboons, immense birds, tiger-lions, just one calamity on top of another. At one point, his lifesuit turns colors -- adjusting to the situation and its needs -- and Kitai communicates with Cypher "My suit is changing colors....I think I like it!" while....being....pursued...by....baboons. If I'm sprinting from baboons in a forest, that's the least of my concerns. Mostly, it came across as painful to watch as Kitai finally voices all his problems he has with his father.

I've wasted too much time and written too many words on this one. It ain't good, and there's little to nothing to recommend here. Pass in a big way.

After Earth (2013): */****

The Detective

Movie star, actor, singer and entertainer, Frank Sinatra was able to pick and choose his roles as he saw fit by 1968. He picked movies he wanted to do, not just for the sake of doing a movie. With 1968's The Detective, Sinatra was at the helm of a police drama that was ahead of its time and helped kick the door open for where the genre would go at the end of the 1960s and into the 1970s.

A veteran detective with years of experience in New York City, Joe Leland (Sinatra) has seen it all, and it's starting to wear on him more than a little bit. He's been called in to investigate a particularly gruesome murder, the son of a rich businessman killed and disfigured. Rumor has it the dead man was gay, Leland and his fellow detectives forced to explore the gay sub-culture (its the 1960s, just go with it) to see if they can track down the murderer. The case has gained notoriety in the headlines, putting Leland and the precinct in the spotlight to solve it and solve it quickly. It's the kind of case that can make or break a police officer. Solve it and quickly rise through the ranks? Don't? Well, a scapegoat will be needed. It's not the only case on the docket though, crimes -- murders and more -- rolling in on a daily basis. Hopefully, Leland can keep it together long enough to find his man.

The appeal in this police drama from director Gordon Douglas is obvious. Made during one of the most turbulent times in Hollywood history (and American history at that point), 'Detective' embraces the sharp-edged, rougher mindset perpetuating the minds of the audiences. It isn't interested in being politically correct...at all. A gay man being murdered (with his penis cut off) provides quite the jumping off point, constant mention of "fags" and "homos," as well as an almost laughable portrayal of a homosexual meeting point. Beyond that though, it's a brutally realistic story in terms of the storytelling. Sex, violence, one-night stands, drugs, city corruption, 'Detective' is ready, willing and able to dive in head first and get dirty.

For all the positives though, there's the obvious counter of the negatives. In a movie that runs 114 minutes, I thought too much time was spent getting to know Sinatra's Leland via a series of flashbacks. It serves to give some cool background, but there's a limit. We see Leland meet Karen (Lee Remick) who he eventually marries. If cop movies have taught us anything though, it's that a cop's marriage has never gone smoothly in the history of law enforcement. The subject matter may have seemed ahead of its time in 1968, but it makes the story lag. We hear Joe talk about all the women he's been with, we hear Karen discuss her troubled past, her series of one-night stands, her inability to hold a relationship. A little bawdy if you ask me (that's sarcasm by the way). Seeing Remick's Karen say 'Let me make love to you this time' is a little scandalous for the time, but when the murder cases are far more interesting, those wavy-screened flashbacks kill the momentum.

I've always thought Sinatra was an underrated actor. Was he a great actor? No, but he was far better than people remember him. He does a no-nonsense tough guy like nobody's business. As we see with his dating/marrying Karen, Joe is exceptionally smooth, looking like he's almost bored with the process. He's that cool. More than that though, I appreciated the human side of Sinatra's part as longtime detective Joe Leland. The job is beating him down as he sees the lowest of lows, what people can do to each other in day-to-day life. He comes from a family of police officers and does it because it's in his blood, not because he loves it. Joe is good at what he does, but as he sees the violence and corruption, he begins to question how much more he can take. Uninterested in being a PR police man, he wants to do his job. An underrated part, Sinatra is the best part of this one.

Give Sinatra credit when it's due. Other actors wanted to work with the guy. Including Remick, the cast is pretty impressive. The list of Leland's fellow detectives include Robert Duvall, Jack Klugman, Ralph Meeker and Al Freeman Jr, Horace McMahon playing the precinct commander. Jacqueline Bisset plays a widow who approaches Leland with a case involving her dead husband, supposedly by suicide but she believes otherwise. Also look for Tony Musante, Lloyd Bochner and William Windom as possible suspects in the cases Leland is pursuing.

I wanted to like this one more, mostly because there was so much potential for a really good to maybe even near-classic status. The flaws are pretty big though, especially the intense focus on Leland's personal life. I thought the twists in the movie's last act were pretty solid too, catching me by surprise, but even in that aspect, the execution is pretty weak as the film limps to the finish. Really good performance from Sinatra and a solid cast overall, but it never lives up to what it could have been.

The Detective (1968): **/****

61*

Growing up a sports fan, one of the first huge sports stories I really got into was the 1998 home run race in Major League Baseball, sluggers Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa going toe-to-toe to see who could beat Roger Maris' home run record (61) that had stood since the 1961 season. Even as a White Sox fan, it was captivating to watch. The home run race had happened before, Maris and Mickey Mantle doing the same in 1961, both Yankees sluggers gunning for Babe Ruth's long-standing record, a story told in an HBO TV movie from 2001, 61*. 

It's the start of the 1961 season, and the New York Yankees are primed for another run at the World Series, especially having lost to the Pirates the previous year. Leading the Yankees are a pair of power-hitting outfielders, the 1960 MVP, Roger Maris (Barry Pepper) and longtime Yankee and fan favorite, Mickey Mantle (Thomas Jane). The 1961 season has been lengthened though, eight games added to the 154-game schedule. As Maris and Mantle start to pile up home runs, the possibility of one of them breaking Babe Ruth's home run record becomes more and more possible. MLB commissioner Ford Frick (Donald Moffat) makes a controversial decision, any record broken with the added game will feature an asterisk next to it in the record books. That is all a what-if though. Can either Maris or Mantle take down the record? It's maybe baseball's most respected record, and the pressure in New York City and around baseball will be immense.

From director-comedian-and diehard/lifelong New York Yankees fan Billy Crystal, this movie originally premiered on HBO in April 2001. Crystal's love of everything Yankee could have been tough to handle -- it's the dreaded, hated Yankees -- but more than a love of the franchise he grew up with, this is a movie that loves and respects it source, baseball. Any baseball fan will appreciate the respect Crystal has for the sport, the personalities and the history. The look of the film is incredible, Tigers Stadium in Detroit (with some work done) made up to look like 1961 Yankees Stadium. The CGI isn't overdone, and everything from the stadiums to the locker room to the cars and clothes reeks of 1960 authenticity.

Without a doubt though, the best thing going for Crystal's film is the fly on the wall look we get into the 1961 home run chase from just about every perspective possible. It's not just Maris and Mantle either, but from the P.O.V. of their teammates, the Yankees staff, including manager Ralph Houk (Bruce McGill), the commissioner and MLB in general, and maybe most frighteningly....the New York media. I watched the 1998 chase, and that was when there was a budding 24-7 news cycle on top of the Internet. In 1961, things were different...but at the same time, it wasn't that different. The pressure on these two men was immense, but for different reasons. At no point does it feel whitewashed either (thankfully), but instead an honest, direct, sometimes uncomfortable picture of the 1961 season for Maris, Mantle and the Yankees.

Still relative unknowns without huge name recognition, Barry Pepper and Thomas Jane are perfectly cast as the Yankee duo, Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle. It's the definition of an Odd Couple, two almost polar opposites in terms of everything except for one thing; baseball. Pepper's Maris is uncomfortable in the spotlight, content to play ball and do his thing. Being a star, a celebrity? He's not interested. He's a country boy who loves baseball. Jane's Mantle is the prototypical Yankees star; charismatic, likable, an incredible talent, basically the definition of a star. As the season develops and the threat of taking Ruth's record looms larger, the city does two things. One, it backs Mantle, their hero, and two, completely turns on Maris. For the excitement of the story, the media (TV, newspapers, radio) pushed a rivalry, even an out and out hatred, between the duo, but it wasn't true...at all.

That's maybe the most surprising thing to take away from the film and the performances. This isn't just a baseball movie. It's about the people. Later in his career, Mantle is seeing his hard-living lifestyle catch up to him; drinking, boozing, women, one and all. A rising star, Maris in just his fifth season is already coming off an MVP award. He has to work at it more, Mantle is more of a natural. Trying to help the Yankee legend, Maris offers that if Mantle wants to move in with him and teammate Bob Cerv (Chris Bauer), he's more than welcome. It's these scenes that especially shine, the trio watching The Andy Griffith Show (Roger and Bob whistling the theme with a horrified Mickey is a highlight), making breakfast (especially Roger's awful scrambled eggs), and killing time between games during the dog days of the season. We're rooting for both of them -- even if its for different reasons -- and that goes a long way. It also doesn't hurt how freakishly much Pepper and Jane physically resemble the men they're playing, both in appearance and how they play. Again, it's the little things.

Like its two lead roles, '61' doesn't have the star power in the supporting cast, and it doesn't matter. Anthony Michael Hall is very good as future Hall of Fame pitcher Whitey Ford, a close friend of Mantle's, and Yogi Berra and Elston Howard also making appearances. As for the reporters, Richard Masur, Seymour Cassel and Peter Jacobson give varying perspectives of hatred/support/ulterior motives of those covering the home run race. Jennifer Crystal Foley does a good job as Roger's wife back in Missouri while Christopher McDonald is equally good as Yankees broadcaster Mel Allen.

With a movie that runs about 128 minutes, '61' covers a whole lot of ground in following the 1961 season. Because so much ground is covered, the story is a little slow in the early-going, but once the HR race picks up, so does the story. Crystal's style is underplayed without any H-U-G-E emotional moments. He doesn't overdo any of the scenes, just presenting them as they were. The natural drama and tension is enough to carry things through. It's a great story, and we learn a lot about the ins and outs of the season. Easily recommended for baseball, sports fans and non-sports fans alike.

61* (2001): *** 1/2 /****

Border Cop

So illegal immigration across the U.S./Mexico border, that's a good jumping off point for a movie, right? It's a divisive topic with little middle ground. How about a low-budget flick with a pretty unknown cast that takes no real stance on the topic and when it does....makes little sense?!? I know. How could you not be excited? Let's get going with 1980's Border Cop.

A longtime veteran of the Border Patrol, Frank Cooper (Telly Savalas) is only a few months away from retiring. Just the same, he's pretty good at what he does, ultra-experienced at preventing illegal immigrants from sneaking across the border into the United States. He's also good friends with a teenage Mexican boy, Benito (Danny De La Paz), who he once prevented sneaking into the U.S. illegally. Looking to provide for his newlywed bride, Benito has taken a job as a coyote working for a kingpin smuggler, Suarez (Michael V. Gazzo), who has had his fair share of previous run-ins with Cooper. The veteran Border Patrol agent has long suspected Suarez of an illegal smuggling operation but has never been able to get any proof, until now that is. The problem is, Benito may be too far involved to rescue him in the process.

By my estimation, this movie cost maybe $28.43 to make. From director Christopher Leitch, 'Cop' was filmed on location in Mexico, giving it that realistically gritty look. Know what looks like backroads Mexico? The back roads of Mexico. So it's got that going for it....which is nice. It starts off on a positive enough note, Savalas' Cooper and his partner stopping a souped-up car with two Mexicans strapped underneath trying to sneak across the border. This isn't an action movie though, not by a long shot. The good start gets bogged down in a sea of muddled message, industrial shock value (I know, I didn't think that existed either), and an underuse of the always cool Savalas. For the B-movie that it is, 'Cop' isn't bad. It just isn't very good either. I caught it on MGM-HD so if you can find it on their schedule, do it. The print is downright respectable.

Let's be honest. The only reason this movie is even remotely worthwhile is Telly Savalas in the lead role. A couple years removed from his TV run as detective Kojak, Savalas is as cool as ever. The visual certainly helps from the bald head to the choice to always have his shirt unbuttoned a few buttons too many to the abundance of gold chains he wears. It's almost ridiculous to watch, but Savalas just works...so there. The experienced Border Patrol officer character is certainly cool too. Cooper does the job almost in spite of the job, not necessarily caring for the tactics/policy. That's where things get a little muddled, but more on that later. He sends the illegals back across the border that he catches, but he's not an obsessive, Mexico-hating, America-loving uber-patriot (lots of dashes, huh?). Is it a great performance? No, but if you're a Telly Savalas fan, you'll get a kick out of it.

Basically every other character is drawn with some big old broad strokes, very generic whether it be good or bad. Far too much time was spent on De La Paz's Benito and his new bride, Leina (Cecilia Camacho). Maybe it's just mismarketing, but I thought I was getting a movie that focused more on Cooper and his efforts to stop a person smuggling ring. Seeing a young married couple starting a new life? Meh, not as interesting. Hamming it up in ridiculously evil fashion is Gazzo (Frankie Pentangelli in Godfather 2) as Suarez, leader of the smuggling ring. He's also rocking some epically combed back sideburns. I don't know if that's worth mentioning, but it looks amazing. Just amazing. Herman Blood (Chivo) and Noe Murayama (Mosca) play Suarez's vicious henchmen. And playing Cooper's Border Patrol boss is Eddie Albert, around because.....well, it's Eddie Albert. You already know what the twist is going to be there.   

There's just too much going on and not enough of Telly Savalas by the hour-mark. That's not a good sign in an 86-minute long movie. About 10-15 minutes follow a detour with Benito to a slaughterhouse just over the border, the illegals forced to work there. I'm guessing it's meant to show what they're forced to do, but it's brutal in what they show from shooting animals to gutting their carcasses. In general, I don't know what the story is trying to say. Is the immigration bad? Is it good? Is it just the smuggling of human beings they're condemning or just the smugglers? It's beyond muddled, the ending pretty dumb too as it gets more and more heavy-handed with each passing scene. For diehard Telly Savalas fans only.

Border Cop (1980): **/****