The Round-Eye and the Princess, Pt. 2

47 Ronin (2013) 118 mins.

"So why do you want my help?"

47 Ronin is a beautiful movie. It's lush, lovely, crisp, stylish, well-paced; simply beautiful to look at. It's also well-acted (for the most part), and well-directed (with a caveat or two). It's a good story, well told. The story sticks to the monomythic script for a tale about an outcast and his beloved childhood friend and sweetheart, the unobtainable princess, daughter of his master. From the found-in-the-woods opening to the storming-the-castle ending, and at every point in between, it doesn't veer far from a road well-traveled.

It doesn't need to. The story has weight of its own, and if we've been here before, we can surely enjoy the ride again. This tale isn't weighed down by excess dialogue or unnecessary scenes. It moves along to its conclusion, two simultaneous fights, the dishonored warrior versus the dark lord while the now-so-important outcast battles the dark lord's evil familiar, in a way that doesn't leave the viewer bored, or exhausted, or disinterested.

I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. The only thing that kept me from giving it five stars is the lead actor's delivery, which reminds me that at times I'm still seeing Ted, and this is just another Excellent Adventure.

Four Stars. Good.

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World Lines

X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014) 131 mins.

"You and I are gonna be good friends..."

Strangely, for a guy who's read as many X-Men comics as I have, the movies never really blew me away. I liked First Class, but I have to say the movies had less effect on me than even the cartoons. Days of Future Past is a good X-Men movie. Better than Not Bad, I suppose I'd rate it Just Plain Good.

The Kitty Pryde appearance was cool. I liked the Young Hank character. I appreciate Hugh Jackman as Wolverine. I liked focus of the movie being on Wolverine, and on the Xavier/Magneto/Mystique triangle. The plot was pretty predictable. The action was pretty cool.

A good movie. Some might say great. Others might say not bad. Just Plain Good is OK by me.

I rate it as Good. Four Stars.

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Sophomore Success

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014) 131 mins.

"You... are weaker."

If you read my review of Rise of the Planet of the Apes, and you've seen Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, then you'll already have guessed that I really liked this movie. Maybe even more than the first movie (I guess it's possible). What I liked most about it was that it didn't drop the ball. It kept the series going. I want to see more.

Another thing that I really liked about it was the continued re-invention of the tropes. From the apes on horses with guns, to the ape compound, to the "big bomb" (and it's vertical orientation), to the "anti-human" apes who Caesar must battle, to the "nobody is really a bad guy/everybody is the hero of their own story" character motivations, all were in/sub/diverted nicely. Of course the primates who take it too far, and cross the line, define themselves as villains and the film deals with them as such.

And of course, "our heroes" must take the mantle of the judge upon themselves (however reluctantly) and attempt to even the scales, meting out such meager justice as they may in the face of such inescapable destiny.

Again, a good disaster movie, a good survival movie, a good action movie, but a good movie as well, advancing the meta-story of Caesar, and providing more moments of character than in many films starring all humans.

Another film from Category 1: 70s Monster Flashback.

I give it Four Stars: Good.

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Tarzan of the Apes Sideways, Sort Of

Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011) 105 mins.

"Are you getting in?"

The second movie of Watch-a-thon 2015 is another choice from Category 1: 70s Monster Flashback. If you're going to reboot a franchise, how about a multi-film franchise with licensed properties? That screams Seventies, and this is the franchise to do it. Just the idea of another PotA franchise brings back the smell of bubblegum cards and popcorn, memories of Saturday matinees and midnight reruns on the TV.

The thing about this Planet of the Apes movie is that it's a good movie. It's like Up, Harry and the Hendersons, Jungle Book and Tarzan of the Apes all stood on their head, and mixed with an old-fashioned (yes I'll say it, Seventies-style) contagion disaster a la Andromeda Strain or even something newer like Contagion.

It has some very... primal moments. I would've said "human" but that would be insulting, in these circumstances. It really follows Caesar's journey, and I'd say it's a very affecting movie, poignant, even moving, at times.

As it should be, it's also a disaster movie. As expected, it nicely touches on all the tropes. It even shines up a few of them. As a reboot, it's exceptionally promising. One might even hope for good follow-ups, which was not always the case with the original series of films.

I really enjoyed it. Much like Ben was in the 70s, Caesar is my new favorite "good" monster in the Twenty-Teens. I give it Four Stars: Good.

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A Word About Ratings

Damned by faint praise.

I have a simple system for rating media, from one to five stars, with five being the best.

They go like this:

* (1 star) Bad [Feh!]
** (2 stars) Not Good [Beh]
*** (3 stars) Not Bad [Meh...]
**** (4 stars) Good [Heh]
***** (5 stars) Really Good [Yeh!]

OK, I know, the stars are asterisks. It works for me.