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.

Movie Review - The Captive

The Captive (2014)

Starring Ryan Reynolds, Rosario Dawson, Scott Speedman, Mireille Enos, Kevin Durand, Alexia Fast, and Bruce Greenwood

Directed by Atom Egoyan

***This film is currently streaming on Amazon Prime***

The Captive is an odd movie.  From the opening scene, we know who the bad guy is since we see him keeping a teenage girl locked away in a room.  So the suspense of that aspect of Atom Egoyan's film is moot right from the get-go.  The question we find ourselves asking then is "Why has he kept this girl alive for eight years since kidnapping her?"

As Egoyan's film jumps around through time (to presumably keep things [unsuccessfully] suspenseful), we drift back to the day when young Cass was kidnapped out of her father's truck while he went in to buy a pie at a local Canadian diner.  Upon his return, Matthew (Ryan Reynolds) finds his daughter missing and his life turned upside down as his wife Tina (Mireille Enos) blames him for their daughter's disappearance and two cops (Rosario Dawson and Scott Speedman) think Matthew is hiding something from them.

Of course, we know that Matthew isn't the culprit.  Instead it's Mika (Kevin Durand), a put-together soft-spoken weirdo of a guy who keeps the now teenage Cass (Alexia Fast) locked up in a room, providing for her whatever she needs in terms of food, clothing, and other leisure items.  As part of this weirdly sick game Mika is playing (which doesn't seem to involve any sexual favors with the teen), he places cameras at her mother's place of work so Cass can still connect with her and promises Cass that he will allow her to see her father again for a few brief minutes.  Even when Mika's motive for keeping Cass alive is revealed, it seems odd -- just as odd as the twisted and completely far-fetched and unbelievable game he's playing with Cass and her family.

I can't say I hated The Captive.  I did find that it kept my interest mostly throughout, but that was partly because it was so strange.  It helps that Egoyan's eye behind the camera keeps the drab Canadian landscape seem like an ominous character in and of itself.  Also, Ryan Reynolds is quite good here as the beleaguered dad, proving he really can stretch his dramatic muscles successfully if he so desires.  Rosario Dawson also gives one of her better performances, but her character is unfortunately drafted into one of the more ludicrous aspects of the plot -- and the one that the film tries to "hide" from us as long as possible thanks to the time twisting.  Atom Egoyan unfortunately makes films that I find myself always thinking have potential, but never deliver and The Captive really isn't an exception.

The RyMickey Rating:  C-

Movie Review - Top Five

Top Five (2014)

Starring Chris Rock, Rosario Dawson, Gabrielle Union, and  J.B. Smoove

Directed by Chris Rock

I laughed out loud quite a bit in the first five minutes of Top Five which seemed rather promising and appeared to confirm the overwhelmingly positive critical notices Chris Rock's personally penned and helmed film received at last year's Toronto Film Festival.  Unfortunately, after the initial hilarious rants as Rock's movie star persona Andre Allen goes toe-to-toe with reporter Chelsea Brown (Rosario Dawson), the laughs dissipated and this tale of a fading comedian lost its allure.

Top Five's story is relatively simple which certainly isn't a detriment to the piece.  After successfully transitioning from the stand-up comedy circuit to hugely profitable (though mind-numbingly stupid) Hollywood action comedies, Andre Allen succumbed to some hefty alcohol abuse.  After meeting reality show hottie Erica Long (Gabrielle Union), Andre decides to turn over a new leaf, eschewing his drinking habits and leaving the comedy circuit behind by starring in an historical epic about a slave uprising in the 19th century.  Set to marry Erica on her Bravo tv series and with the new film about to be released, Andre's manager (J.B. Smoove) sets the star up for an interview with New York Times reporter Chelsea Brown.  Taking place over the course of one day (with flashbacks to Andre's past thrown in), Top Five details how a single interview could shape Andre's entire future.

The premise of Top Five is perfectly fine.  The problem stems from the fact that it's simply not very funny.  Flashbacks and scenes with Cedric the Entertainer, Tracy Morgan, Sherry Shepherd, and a slew of other African-American comedians feel contrived as opposed to realistic.  Andre's relationship with Erica also never feels rooted in reality (which, admittedly, may be a purposeful jab against Bravo's Real Housewives franchises), and while there are snippets of truth and chemistry between Andre and Chelsea, Chris Rock and Rosario Dawson can't maintain the refreshingly realistic tone of the film's opening scene.  Rather than feel fresh, much of the comedy feels tired and rehashed.

The RyMickey Rating:  D+

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 - Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief

Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief (2010)

Starring Logan Lerman, Brandon T. Jackson, Sean Bean, Pierce Brosnan, Rosario Dawson, Uma Thurman, and Catherine Keener

Directed by Chris Columbus

Low-rent Harry Potter is what this one is.  Director Chris Columbus (who also directed the first two Potter pics) manages to actually craft a decent looking film filled with moderately nifty special effects sequences, but the story itself here is pretty dismal.

High schooler Percy Jackson (a one-note Logan Lerman) discovers on a school field trip one day that he is the son of the Greek god Poseidon.  It turns out that Zeus believes that Percy (for some ridiculous reason or another) stole his lightning bolt and unless he returns it in two weeks, humans will have hell to pay.  Why?  I don't know.  Maybe because Percy's a half human-half god or maybe because Zeus is just one angry dude with a superiority complex.  It doesn't really matter because the story itself is ridiculous and it makes this film fail miserably.

The books that this flick is based on are apparently quite popular, but the fantasy realm presented here can't compare to the whimsy of Hogwarts, for example (and I'm not even a huge fan of the Potter films).  Like I said, Columbus actually does a fairly admirable job in the direction, but this was painful to sit through.

The RyMickey Rating:  D