It: Chapter Two

It: Chapter Two (2019) 

Starring Jessica Chastain, James McAvoy, Bill Hader, Isaiah Mustafa, Jay Ryan, James Ransone, Andy Bean, Sophia Lillis, Jaeden Martell, Finn Wolfhard, Chosen Jacobs, Jack Dylan Grazer, Wyatt Oleff, and Bill Skarsgård

Directed by Andy Muschietti

Written by Gary Dauberman

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating:

Glass

Glass (2019)

Starring James McAvoy, Bruce Willis, Anya Taylor-Joy, Sarah Paulson, Spencer Treat Clark, Charlayne Woodard, and Samuel L. Jackson

Directed by M. Night Shyamalan

Written by M. Night Shyamalan

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating: C

Split

Split (2017)

Starring James McAvoy, Anya Taylor-Joy, Betty Buckley, Haley Lu Richardson, Jessica Sula, Sebastian Arcelus, Brad William Henke, Izzie Coffey, and Neal Huff

Directed by M. Night Shyamalan

Written by M. Night Shyamalan

***This film is currently streaming via Netflix***

Summary (in 500 words or less):  Three teenage girls are kidnapped as they leave a shopping mall outside of Philadelphia.  Their captor is Kevin Wendell Crumb (James McAvoy), a man with dissociative identity disorder -- he has split personalities.  Some of these entities are kind, but some are much more malicious...and the most evil of all is a man known only as "The Beast" whose strength is unmatched by normal man.

• Unfortunately, it's that last sentence of the summary that makes Split falter because up until "the Beast" is introduced in the film's final twenty minutes or so, this film was utterly exciting, thrilling, and had me on the edge of my seat.  Writer-director M. Night Shymalan had returned to much of his former glory crafting a tense flick.  Unfortunately, things fall apart a bit at its conclusion.
• That said, Split works for the most part.  This flick is all about the acting and Shymalan directs a great performance from James McAvoy anchoring the film.  He's buoyed by three nice turns from the teens whom he captures -- Anya Taylor-Joy, Haley Lu Richardson, and Jessica Sula.  
• The claustrophobic sense created by Shymalan is felt by the audience and I will admit that I didn't necessarily see things ending the way they did.  SPOILER ALERT -- That said, Shymalan's insistence to tie this in to one of his prior films hurts it more than it helps it.  Perhaps in his upcoming film Glass things will come together a bit more, but as for now the ending of this film disappoints.

The RyMickey Rating:  B

Movie Review - X-Men: Days of Future Past

X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)

Starring Hugh Jackman, James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Halle Berry, Nicholas Hoult, Ellen Page, Peter Dinklage, Shawn Ashmore, Omar Sy, Evan Peters, Ian McKellan, and Patrick Stewart

Directed by Bryan Singer

While perhaps an unpopular opinion, I think that X-Men: First Class is one of the best superhero movies of all time.  Upon a second watch right before viewing its sequel, I once again was captivated by the flick's stories, direction, 1960s setting, and acting.  So, X-Men: Days of Future Past admittedly had a tough act to follow and while it doesn't quite live up to the high water mark of its predecessor, the film's attempt to bridge both the current generation of 2010's X-Men franchise with the 2000s X-Men franchise is solid.

Sometime in the future, robots known as Sentinels are killing all of the mutants and Professor X and Magneto (Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellan) have devised a plan using Kitty Pryde's (Ellen Page) powers to send Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) back in time in order to try and change their present.  It's determined that post-Vietnam War, Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) was captured by the US government and her DNA was studied by military scientist Bolivar Trask (Peter Dinklage) in order to create the shape-shifting beings known as the Sentinals.  By sending Wolverine back to right before Mystique is caught, Professor X and Magneto are hoping that they can change the course of history and prevent the Sentinels from even existing.

Fortunately, the dank, dark, overly computerized world of the future takes a backseat to Wolverine's trip down the 1970s memory lane and the large majority of Days of Future Past takes place in the past with James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender reprising their roles as the younger versions of Charles Xavier and Eric Lehnsherr (Professor X and Magneto, respectively).  Once again, director Bryan Singer does a really great job creating a believable 1970s world for the X-Men to inhabit and it creates a landscape we don't often see in superhero movies that are so often told in the present day.  This retro feel continues to work to this X-Men iteration's advantage.

For the most part, the acting ensemble works well together, although I found the focus on Jennifer Lawrence's Mystique to leave a little to be desired.  Behind all that make-up and computer-generated blueness for her character, Lawrence's emoting stays a bit hidden which is a bit of a shame.  Additionally, the actors that make up the "future" segment of the film aren't given a whole lot to do and what they are tasked with gets repetitive pretty darn quickly.

While X-Men: Days of Future Past isn't as interesting or compelling as First Class, I give the film credit for refusing to back down from its conceit of pitting the X-Men against one another as they struggle to figure out whether the US government wants to help or hurt them.  This creates a constant feeling of uncertainty amongst the characters that gives them all much more depth than we have come to expect in superhero movies and it's one of the biggest reasons I think this X-Men series has been so successful.

The RyMickey Rating:  B

Movie Review - The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Them

The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Them (2014)

Starring Jessica Chastain, James McAvoy, Nina Arianda, Viola Davis, Bill Hader, Ciarán Hinds, Isabelle Huppert, and William Hurt

Directed by Ned Benson

I can't deny that The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Them teeters on slow-paced boredom at many times throughout its run time.  However, at its heart is an interesting glimpse at how one married couple deals with a horrible tragedy.  After being ripped apart as they find the need to deal with the aftermath in different ways, can they ever be reunited in love?  However, rather than place a large amount of emphasis on the tragedy (which is admittedly mentioned only in passing a few times and only takes center stage in one quiet, yet power-packed scene), first-time director and screenwriter Ned Benson instead pushes his lens into the depth of what pulls apart and pushes together a couple that cares deeply for one another.

Interestingly enough, the entire summary of The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Them is pretty much encapsulated in that opening paragraph.  As we get to know Eleanor and Conor (Jessica Chastain and James McAvoy), we realize that the couple who seemed so lovingly enraptured with one another in the film's opening scene have suddenly been torn apart by the time scene #2 rolls around.  There's a lot of quiet contemplation and friends and family try to help both deal with the estrangement, but the film is really about time for reflection -- for determining what is really wanted from life.  Chastain and McAvoy are both quite good in a film that's all about their relationship but features less than five scenes with them actually together.  It's an interesting concept that doesn't quite come together, but it certainly isn't for lack of trying on the actors' part.

It's the slow burn of The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Them that brings the thing down a bit.  I'm all for a slower pace in romantic films as it allows us to further get to know the characters, but here the heaviness of the proceedings start to wear on the process about halfway through.  Ned Benson's concept behind The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby is actually quite an interesting one.  He actually made two films -- The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Him and The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Her.  Both were released in theaters in sort of a double feature, with Him obviously focusing on Conor's reactions to their relationship and Her concerning itself with Eleanor.  To be somewhat commercially viable, Benson created Them which clocks in at two hours -- about an hour and ten minutes less than Him and Her combined.  With the pacing of Them being what it is, I'll admit that I'm not quite sure I'd have been able to handle a viewing of Him and Her.  Once again, this isn't a bad film by any means, but it's just a bit too heavy to be enjoyable.  

The RyMickey Rating:  C+

Movie Review - Filth

Filth (2014)

Starring James McAvoy, Jamie Bell, Eddie Marsan, Imogen Poots, and Jim Broadbent

Directed by Jon S. Baird

***This film is currently streaming on Netflix***

I don't really know what to make of Filth.  There's a part of me that is intrigued by director and screenwriter Jon S. Baird's unique dirty comic book/Monty Python/Tarantino-Luhrmann-esque comedic mashup. (Note:  Filth is weirdly none of those things I just mentioned and all of those things I just mentioned and more at the same time -- an odd mix.)  And then there's another part of me that found myself completely distanced from the proceedings that I didn't care at all what I was watching.

James McAvoy is Bruce, a British cop in line for a major promotion.  Outwardly pleasant to all his coworkers, Bruce's goal is to ruin their chances of upward mobility, therein securing himself the position.  More than just an underhanded manipulator, Bruce is an amoral deviant and a horribly unethical cop, taking drugs from his arrestees, attempting to sleep with underage prostitutes in a blackmail attempts to keep them from jail time, and many other less than kosher schemes.  To build a movie around a guy like this and try to get the audience to relate is a difficult task...and not entirely successful here.

While McAvoy does well with the seedier aspects of his character, the actor is also burdened with less-than-fruitful attempts to connect the audience with an emotional past that partly shaped Bruce into the nasty guy he has become.  This aspect of the plot seems tacked on -- why can't the character just be a giant a-hole?  Why does he need to be saddled with some heartbreaking back story?  Once again, this isn't McAvoy's fault, but he certainly isn't helped by this subplot.  Jamie Bell, Eddie Marsan, and Imogen Poots are quite good in their smaller roles as well, but this is McAvoy's character's story for sure.

In the end, I appreciated the attempt behind Filth with its larger than life comedic stylists, but it doesn't quite work and should've dropped the attempts at emotional heartstring-tugging.

The RyMickey Rating:  C

Movie Review - Trance

Trance (2013)

Starring James McAvoy, Vincent Cassel, and Rosario Dawson

Directed by Danny Boyle

I've always been a fan of Danny Boyle and even if I find some of his films a bit overrated (I'm looking at you, Slumdog Millionaire), I still find them visually intriguing.  Trance is certainly eye-catching in the same vein as Boyle's other films -- and that's a good thing as the script seems surprisingly hollow considering the multitude of double crossings going on in this art heist-gone-bad flick.

Opening with an impressive sequence in which our main protagonist Simon (James McAvoy), an employee at a fancy British art auction house, tells the audience in voiceover how to prevent the theft of exquisite paintings only to have an exquisite painting stolen mere minutes later, I was intrigued with Trance right from the start.  In the midst of the theft, Simon is knocked unconscious by one of the thieves and wakes up in a hospital, unable to remember what occurred.  As it turns out, Simon himself was involved in the theft and integral in stealing the coveted art piece.  The only problem is that Simon was attempting to double cross his fellow criminals and kept the painting for himself...except that with his loss of memory, he has no clue where the painting actually is now.  When his "boss" Franck (Vincent Cassel) discovers that Simon was trying to manipulate him, he's none too happy, but is desperate to get the highly coveted and incredibly expensive painting back in his possession.  In order to do this, he sends Simon to a hypnotist (Rosario Dawson) whom he hopes will be able to get Simon's latent memories to rise to the surface.

There's nothing in that summary that I don't like.  Sure, it may not be the most original concept, but it sounds solid.  Unfortunately, things sputter a bit after the plot is laid out in the opening thirty minutes.  Hypnotic dream sequences come to the forefront and while they are nicely shot, they grow a bit monotonous and tiresome.  There's only so many times the screenwriter can "get me" before I grow wary of the circuitous "what is reality" conceit.

The acting is fine, but the best aspect of the film -- and what saves it from being a rather complete bore -- is Boyle's direction.  Unlike Baz Luhrmann whose films are essentially interchangeable in the way that he lenses and edits things, Boyle's films -- which some would say carry that same manic tone as Luhrmann's -- are aesthetically similar to each other in the way he shoots, frames, and cuts images, yet they each feel unique.  I'd never confuse a scene from Trance with a scene from Slumdog Millionaire or 127 Hours as an example, whereas I could easily mistake a scene from The Great Gatsby for one from Moulin Rouge.  For that, I give Boyle credit.  He's a director whom I look forward to seeing what he brings to the screen.  It's just a bit unfortunate that the screenplay here didn't carry its own weight.

The RyMickey Rating:  C

Movie Review - X-Men: First Class

X-Men: First Class (2011)

Starring James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Rose Byrne, Oliver Platt, January Jones, Nicholas Hoult, and Kevin Bacon

Directed by Matthew Vaughn

Admittedly, after watching this prequel to the previous X-Men movie incarnations, I'm shocked X-Men: First Class didn't do as well as the others in the franchise.  Maybe people felt like they'd seen it all before, but this well-made actioner is simply the best X-Men movie to date filled with some solid performances, a great 1960s vibe, and some clever, witty references to the movies that came before it.

The year is 1962 and after discovering the full potential of their genetic mutations in the 1940s, mind reader/controller Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) and metal-wielding Erik Lehnsherr AKA Magneto (Michael Fassbender) find themselves friends and at the center of a government "study" of sorts headed by CIA agent Moira MacTaggert (Rose Byrne) in order to find more humans with these special genetic abilities.  As if the "normal" human race having issues with these abnormalities wasn't enough to deal with, Charles and Erik also find themselves faced with trying to stop another group of "mutants" headed by Sebastian Shaw (Kevin Bacon) who are out to prove that the mutant population should rule over the regular folk.  To add to the intrigue, back in 1944, Shaw was partnering with the Nazis and ended up killing Erik's mother at a concentration camp.  Needless to say, Erik finds himself on a mission to do whatever is necessary to avenge his mother's death.

While it's certainly true that the X-Men series mirrors the Civil Rights movement, here we get an even stronger (and perhaps more blatant) connection to the X-Men equalling the Jews during the Holocaust.  It's a powerful connection, but one that doesn't quite work perfectly.  Still, the connection to WWII does perfectly provide a wonderful villain in Kevin Bacon's Sebastian Shaw.  While some may view Bacon's performance as perhaps over-the-top, I don't see that as a detriment at all.  I mean, we're dealing with shape-shifting, metal-bending, mind-readers here...over-the-top is de rigueur here.  Bacon is certainly larger than life, but it's obvious he's having a heckuva good time playing a deliciously evil baddie with a slick 60s suaveness.

Michael Fassbender is also quite good as Erik/Magneto -- a tortured guy who has comes to terms with his powers, but not quite with the fact that he lost his mother because of them.  James McAvoy was fine as Charles Xavier, but perhaps a tad bland...then again, the character of Professor Xavier never exactly lights the screen up with his personality.

With some really solid action sequences (including a very exciting final showdown) and a lovely 1960s feel that felt near perfect in its retro-ness, director Michael Vaughn has crafted one of the better superhero movies made in the past decade.

The RyMickey Rating (11/13/11):  B+
Updated Ranking (8/29/15):  A-

Movie Review - The Conspirator

The Conspirator (2011)

Starring James McAvoy, Robin Wright, Kevin Kline, Tom Wilkinson, Evan Rachel Wood, Justin Long, Johnny Simmons, and Alexis Bledel 

Directed by Robert Redford

A supposed metaphor for justice in this post-9/11 society, Robert Redford's The Conspirator never once manages to be anything but dull.  While Redford culls some confident performances from James McAvoy and Robin Wright, neither of the two actors is able to lift this interesting (and little told) story into anything other than a stodgy and stuffy period piece.

When Abraham Lincoln is assassinated, it is discovered that John Wilkes Booth was only one of several people who had conspired to commit the crime.  Boarding house owner Mary Surratt (Wright) is one of those accused conspirators and she is put on trial at a military tribunal.  Her lawyer is fresh-faced Frederick Aiken (McAvoy), a young 27-year old former Union soldier, assigned the case despite his misgivings and distrust of Surratt.  As the trial goes on, Aiken rightfully begins to believe that the government is doing whatever it takes (true justice be damned) to convict Surratt and quell the fears of the American public who are supposedly in turmoil after the assassination.

As I stated above, the story is an interesting piece of American history that isn't often told.  (Although, that being said, considering Redford's admitted attempt to mirror what he feels are misdeeds going on with post-9/11 trials, I'm unsure how accurate of a portrayal this really is.)  However, everything about this film just feels staged.  The sets and lighting seem unnatural.  With the exception of McAvoy and Wright, the acting seems over-the-top and scene-chewing.  It certainly doesn't help matters that the pacing is slow as molasses either.  There's a reason people often aren't fans of period pieces and this dreary, labored movie is an example of why that's the case.

The RyMickey Rating:  D+

Movie Review - Gnomeo and Juliet

Gnomeo and Juliet (2011)

Featuring the voice talent of James McAvoy, Emily Blunt, Michael Caine, Maggie Smith, Jason Statham, and Patrick Stewart 

Directed by Kelly Asbury

Romeo and Juliet is a story that has been told many times, and while it may never have been told through the eyes of stone garden gnomes, it certainly wasn't begging to be depicted in that capacity.  Gnomeo and Juliet is a film that simply doesn't work from a story perspective and it's pretty obvious why this flick which was formerly under the "Disney" banner went out under the company's "Touchstone" banner.  The animation folks at Disney knew it just didn't succeed.  [Of course, Disney released Mars Needs Moms under the Disney banner and that was an utter failure at the box office, so maybe they need to re-evaluate things in general.]

Saying that Gnomeo and Juliet doesn't work as a story isn't a knock against the source material.  At its core, the tale of star-crossed lovers pulled apart by their feuding families is successful.  However, taking this very adult story and trying to shoehorn it into a cutesy plot about garden gnomes for kids just doesn't fit.  When you take the family infighting of the Montagues and Capulets and simply turn things into Red Gnomes thinking they have a better garden than the Blue Gnomes, this becomes an animated film that may work fine for kids, but doesn't translate well in the least to adults.

The voice acting is lukewarm at best.  Although everyone was serviceable, James McAvoy and Emily Blunt didn't bring anything exciting or invigorating to the two title characters.  They were simply "Generic British Voices" thrust into the film.

The animation is fairly poor.  While a movie like Toy Story amazingly gave plasticized items a heart and soul, Gnomeo and Juliet doesn't even come close to creating life behind the stony eyes of its characters.  Sure, there were some cute moments, but nothing was really great to look at from a visual level.

When the best part of your film is trying to pick out what Elton John song variation is playing on the film's score ("Oooh, is that a bit of 'The Bitch Is Back?'"  "Hey, isn't that "Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word?'"), you know your film's in trouble.  For some reason, Gnomeo and Juliet was a fairly successful venture in theaters, but it's quite a disappointment for anyone over the age of twelve.

The RyMickey Rating:  D