Netflix Marvel Series Mini-Reviews, Part I

As part of my Marvel re-watch, I'm watching all the Marvel Netflix series in order for the first time.  Here are some thoughts on the seasons as they progressed.

Daredevil - Season One - April 2015

Expected things to be gritty, but didn't expect it to be totally as violent as it was.  Not complaining about that aspect, but I was admittedly a little surprised.  The series has some high points -- Vincent D'Onofrio's Wilson Fisk and his burgeoning relationship with art dealer Vanessa (Ayelet Zurer), Deborah Ann Woll's Karen and her connection with Vondie Curtis-Hall's newspaper reporter Ben (complete with a shocking conclusion to that relationship that I was NOT expecting in the slightest.  But there are also some low points as well -- Charlie Cox is one-note as the titular character, the need for every episode to have a big fight grows weary and tiresome.  As I'd soon discover is typical in all of these series, thirteen episodes feels too long and too drawn out.  Disney gets is right with their Disney+ series going shorter in their episode counts.  Nonetheless, a decent start.

Jessica Jones - Season One - November 2015

I'd heard very good things about Jessica Jones and it never lived up to my expectations.  I think the crux of the problem was Krysten Ritter as the titular character -- I don't say this often in my reviews, but something about her acting just felt awkward and forced, making it quite difficult to initially make my way through this.  As her character got fleshed out a bit more, the series got a little more interesting.  Rachael Taylor as Jessica's adopted sister and David Tennant as the evil Kilgrave were standouts, but even the latter fell victim to the thirteen episode length and the repetitive nature of things.  The finale was also hugely anti-climactic to me for some reason.  This is considered by some to be the top season of all of the Netflix Marvel series, but this just didn't work for me.

Daredevil - Season Two - March 2016

This one just delved too much into the supernatural for me to really get into it as much as I wanted.  The subplot with an Asian group attempting to create some all-powerful being was too over-the-top for my tastes.  That said, the addition of Jon Bernthal's Punisher and Élodie Yung's Elektra both added oomph to a second season that could've felt like a retread of the first.  Again, too many episodes draw this out and cause it to be a struggle.  In the end, I think it's maybe not as good as Season One, but it would be a close race in large part because of Bernthal and Yung who add some flavor to this that season one didn't feel like it had.  On the other hand, the lack of a central villain hurts this.

Luke Cage - Season One - September 2016

This one was a huge surprise.  I started off not thinking I could get into this one because, once again, we have a central character who is a bit of a bore on the acting front.  However, everything else about this season was fantastic.  A mid-season surprise in relation to Mahershala Ali was a game-changing shocker.  Rosario Dawson gets a chance to finally shine, Simone Missick is strong as cop Misty Knight, and Alfre Woodard is a gas as she slowly becomes Lady Macbeth.  Add in some strong cultural notes regarding Harlem (and the most realistic villain) and this was excitingly fun to watch -- the first one of these that didn't feel like a struggle to get through thirteen episodes.

The Lion King

The Lion King (2019)

Featuring the vocal talents of Donald Glover, Seth Rogen, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Alfre Woodard, Billy Eichner, John Kani, John Oliver, Florence Kasumba, Keegan-Michael Key, Eric Andre, Beyoncé Knowles-Carter, and James Earl Jones

Directed by Jon Favreau

Written by Jeff Nathanson

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating: C

Movie Review - Annabelle

Annabelle (2014)

Starring Annabelle Wallis, Ward Horton, and Alfre Woodard

Directed by John R. Leonetti

The Conjuring made my list of Best Films of 2013 at last year's RyMickey Awards so I admittedly had some hopes that this "prequel" of sorts would measure up to the chills of its predecessor.  Annabelle will also likely show up on a RyMickey Award list -- for the Worst Films of 2014.  With nary a tense moment, this poorly directed and poorly acted flick proves to be a huge letdown and has officially diminished any excitement this series of films had for me.

In The Conjuring, we were brought into the lives of Ed and Lorraine Wilson who had a large array of "paranormally inhabited" objects in their home -- one of which was a large porcelain doll whose creepy appearance alluded to some nefarious shenanigans.  Annabelle is the story of this doll who is brought into the lives of doll collector Mia (Annabelle Wallis) and her husband John (Ward Horton) after John finds the toy after much searching.  One evening, a pregnant Mia is attacked in her home by two members of a cult who are shot and killed with the blood of one member dripping onto the doll and creating some supernatural possession...and, in turn, causing much chaos for Mia, John, and their infant daughter.

It should be noted that it took me about twenty minutes to write the above horribly formulated summary paragraph and I'm sure that's because of the idiocy of the whole film.  Director John R. Leonetti does a horrible job at extracting any chills from the admittedly silly story, crafting a mind-numbingly paint-by-numbers experience that could've been helmed by anyone who's ever seen a horror film before.  We're also treated to a master class in Horribly Bad Horror School Acting from Annabelle Wallis who was obviously told to do a whole lot of nervous shaking, gasping for breath, and the go-to motion of placing your hand over your mouth and screaming loudly.  Ugh...poor Ms. Wallis.  I actually thought she was decent throughout the film's first half, but once the horror aspects kicked into gear, she just became laughably awful -- a fault of her own and her director's to be sure.

What a disappointment especially considering how fantastic The Conjuring is.

The RyMickey Rating:  D-

Movie Review - 12 Years a Slave

12 Years a Slave (2013)

Starring Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, Lupita Nyong'o, Sarah Paulson, Benedict Cumberbatch, Paul Dano, Scoot McNairy, Taran Kiliam, Garret Dillahunt, Paul Giamatti, Alfre Woodard, and Brad Pitt

Directed by Steve McQueen

Director Steve McQueen is fairly new to the feature film scene, but his fantastic 2011 flick Shame put him onto my radar so I came to 12 Years a Slave with high expectations.  McQueen absolutely has an eye behind the camera that I find interesting, but this film lacks a tiny bit of drive to push the story along which knocks the otherwise well-done film down a notch or two.

Based on a true story, 12 Years a Slave tells the tale of Solomon Northup (Chiwetel Ejiofor), a freed black man living quite well in New York in the 1840s with his wife and two children by his side.  A musician by trade, Solomon is approached by two men (Scoot McNairy and Taran Kiliam) who desire to hire him to play music on tour with their traveling circus.  Solomon agrees and travels to Washington, D.C., where the two men wine and dine him one night to the point of Solomon getting drunk and passing out.  The next thing Solomon knows, he's chained in a dark room and his two new "employers" are nowhere to be found.  Solomon quickly comes to the realization that he was drugged and, despite his pleas, he is sold into slavery and shipped down to New Orleans where he's given the new name of "Platt" to try and conceal the fact that he was ever a free man.

The film then follows Solomon through a series of owners.  The first, William Ford (Benedict Cumberbatch), is a good man who recognizes the intelligence and education of Solomon.  Despite Ford's kindness, Solomon still finds himself working the field under the watchful eye of the nasty John Tibeats (Paul Dano) who resents the fact that Solomon is so respected by Ford.  Eventually, things get to such a boiling point between Solomon and Tibeats that Ford decides he must sell Solomon in order to keep unity amongst the slaves and the ownership.  Unfortunately for Solomon, his new owner Edwin Epps (Michael Fassbender) isn't nearly as benevolent as Ford.  Epps, who owns a cotton plantation, could care less about Solomon's education -- he only wants to know how much cotton he can pick in a day.  Adding to the tension, the married Epps is having an affair (however one-sided it is) with female slave Patsey (Lupita Nyong'o) which doesn't sit too well with Epps' wife (Sarah Paulson) and causes moments of chaos on the plantation.

I fully understand that this is a true story of a horrific journey of one man's life -- so who am I to knock it.  I will say, however, that the episodic nature of the tale -- as evidenced by the summary above -- does make the film feel a little disjointed and doesn't quite allow it to ever gain a driving momentum.  Once we finally get to the climax of one tale (the Ford chapter, as an example), we're sent to the next segment where we essentially have to start things all over again.  It's not as if either story isn't worth telling -- they certainly show the varied lives slaves may have endured in the 19th century -- but the screenplay by John Ridley, while good, doesn't quite succeed at keeping the story moving at a typical movie's pace.  Then again, maybe it's this screenplay's slow pace that attracted Steve McQueen to the project.  Many would say his previous film Shame had that same methodical tone to it and I wouldn't necessarily argue with them.  Shame was telling one story, however, whereas 12 Years a Slave almost feels as if it's telling two or three.

Still, despite my qualms, I don't want my criticism in any way to make it seem as if I didn't like the film.  This certainly is not a chore to sit through and I found the story rather fascinating in that Solomon Northup's tale of a free man being resold into slavery is something I'm not quite sure we've ever seen captured on film before.  McQueen doesn't shy away from the hardships slaves faced on a daily basis and the director seals his status as a filmmaker to watch with an incredibly long and unceasingly uncomfortable single-take scene towards the film's end of a brutal beating.  Although this long take filled me with an uneasy dread, I was fascinated by McQueen's technique, forcing the viewer to "stay with" the scene never allowing us to turn away to get a respite from the horrors endured by some African Americans in the 19th century.

There's an understated demeanor to Chiwetel Ejiofor's performance that endears him to the audience.  Behind his eyes, you can always see the longing to return home to his wife and children, but the fear that it may never happen.  Ejiofor gives a strength to Solomon that is admirable and is a commanding presence despite the character's oftentimes repressed nature.  Benedict Cumberbatch and Michael Fassbender are two of today's most talked about actors and here they're playing complete opposite sides of the spectrum in slave owners Ford and Epps.  The audience immediately admires Ford's humanity which stands in stark contrast to the bitter anger that permeates seemingly through the pores of Epps.  Fassbender is at his best in scenes involving Sarah Paulson as his wife and newcomer Lupita Nyong'o as his lover.  Fassbender excels at radiating jealousy and he's near perfect at playing such a nasty guy.  However, Paulson and Nyong'o are equally as good at playing the two women he loves.  Paulson's bitterness is spot-on (albeit incredibly nasty) and Nyong'o's pain at being forced to accept being raped on a regular basis is absolutely painful.  I will say (and this harkens back to the screenplay's problems a tad), I wish Nyong'o had a little more to do.  This actress is certainly forced to run the spectrum of emotions (brutally so, at times) and I realize this is Solomon's story, but I wanted a little more depth for Nyong'o to sink her teeth into.

12 Years a Slave isn't an easy watch, but it certainly illustrates a point in our history that needs to be remembered and explored.  I'm happy that Solomon Northup's bittersweet tale has been told and it's a film that's so close to being great, but misses the mark a tiny bit in just a few key areas.

The RyMickey Rating:  B+

Movie Review - Scrooged (1988)

Starring Bill Murray, Karen Allen, Alfre Woodard, and Bobcat Goldthwait
Directed by Richard Donner

Maybe it's because this is the third version of A Christmas Carol that I've watched in four weeks or so, but Scrooged just didn't hit the mark with me. I had certainly seen this before, but I'm honestly not sure whether I sat and watched it all the way through in one sitting -- perhaps I just caught bits and pieces from tv airings. Anyway, despite a winning turn from Bill Murray, this version really falls flat.

Murray plays tv executive Francis Cross and he's quite the curmudgeon. Just like the other versions of this tale, he's visited by four ghosts who, in the end, convince him to change his ways and become a caring guy.

Murray is great here. He's off-the-wall and very funny. Unfortunately, everything else around him falls flat. The "Tiny Tim" storyline here featuring Cross's secretary (played by Alfre Woodard) and her child who won't talk just doesn't hold nearly as much resonance as the typical "dying Tiny Tim" version. With no emotional connection in that part of the story, Scrooged relies on the viewers to be involved in the plotline involving Cross's ex-lover (Karen Allen), but Allen's character is so bland that it's tough to give a darn there either.

So, overall, despite some cool effects and a great role from Murray, this Christmas tale really didn't register for me at all.

The RyMickey Rating: D+