The Jungle Book (3-D)

First Hit:  An amazing, truly delightful and  well crafted film – Kudos.

This film is a real treat. The personalities of the animals worked from every angle and aspect.

Loosely based and inspired by Richard Kipling’s book of the same name, this movie truly comes to life on the big screen. Mowgli (Neel Sethi) is the boy, who is raised in the jungle by a wolf mother Raksha (voice by Lupita Nyong’o), the wolf pack and black panther Bagheera (voice by Ben Kingsley).

The wolf pack leader Akela (voice by Giancarlo Esposito) has accepted Mowgli and has the pack protect Mowgli from harm. Because he's being raised by wolves, the boy is trying to be a wolf and is discovering it is difficult. However, he does have magic (human) ways to creating things which Bagheera frowns upon.

The danger is that Shere Khan (voice by Idris Elba), a tiger, is out to kill Mowgli because the boy’s father burnt Shere Khan with the red flower (fire) when Mowgli was a baby and wants revenge. When Shere Khan kills Akela, the boy has to escape. Bagheera thinks the boy needs to return to mankind but on the way the boy gets lost and runs into Kaa (voice by Scarlett Johansson) a Python who wants to eat him. Just as this happens, he gets saved by Baloo (voice by Bill Murray) a honey eating brown bear.

Although the ending is predictable, the magic is in how this film gets there and in the way it is presented to the audience. This story is exquisitely shot and the attention to detail is extraordinary. The movement of the animals was so clearly researched that is seemed as though their animated bodies and Mowgli's real body were all in one world. It was perfect.

Sethi was wonderful as the young boy. My guess is that he did a lot of work to prepare for this role, especially because of the physical nature of it. His warmth and intelligence showed through in his character. Nyong’o's voice added a deep soulful feel to the mother wolf. Kingsley’s voice gave us a rich commanding panther that was filled with compassion. Elba’s voice for the tiger was perfectly intense, intimidating, and filled with fire. Johansson’s voice for the seductive Python was mesmerizing. Murray was both captivating and funny as the day saving bear. Christopher Walken’s voice (and singing) was scene stealing as King Louie (homage to Louie Armstrong whose voice was used on the 1967 version of this film) the Gigantopithecus Bornean orangutan and king of the monkey world. Walken was amazing. Justin Marks wrote a fantastic screen play from Kipling’s book. Jon Favreau did all his homework and made sure this film sets a new standard in animation. Additionally, his use of 3-D was spot on. It was an addition not a distraction. Bravo!

Overall:  Disney shows it still has the chops to deliver the highest quality animation film having an engaging story while setting a new benchmark for all those who follow.

The Walk

First Hit:  This film kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time.

Yes there are parts of the film I wanted a fast forward button so that I could see Philippe Petit (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) walk the wire between the twin towers, however all the parts are necessary and they provide a great lead up to "The Walk".

In fact, I almost felt as though there wasn’t enough information in the film to make me feel sure that he’d practiced walking the wire enough to meet the challenge and goal he wanted to complete:  To string a high wire between the World Trade Center (WTC) towers and walk between them.

There’s enough biographical information to set the stage that Philippe marches to his own drum – regardless of the circumstance. He meets Annie (Charlotte Le Bon) whom he connects with, romances, and she becomes his muse. There are wonderful scenes with her and Philippe, but my favorite is when they come out of the subway and she sees the twin towers for the first time and says:  “woha" - it was perfect.

The team Petit put together to assist him were perfect, and each had their beliefs, strengths, and foibles. As they prepare for “The Walk”, it is easy to get engaged with the challenge. To provide expertise, Philippe seeks out wizened senior wire-walker Papa Rudy (Ben Kingsley) who teaches him the most important aspects of rigging and safety. Their interaction and mutual respect is obvious.

The use of 3-D is absolutely perfect. This film must be seen in 3-D. The magnificence of the feat, the view of NYC, and the view down from the wire is almost too hard to watch. This film is about courage, single mindedness, and commitment. This film is so filled with tension that there were times I had to close my eyes.

Gordon-Levitt, despite the slightly odd French accent was fantastic. He held single mindedness and the air of invincibility, perfectly. Le Bon was sublime. She was perfect as a muse, friend, lover and believer, all wrapped into one person. Kingsley was very good as the mentor and guide. Everyone in the support team was fantastic. The NYC policemen were amazing as were the WTC construction workers. I also loved that the writer and director included the mysterious visitor that came to the top of the tower viewed what Petit was doing and left. The use of voice over was also very effective. Robert Zemeckis and Christopher Browne wrote a wonderful screenplay and Zemeckis’ direction was perfect.

Overall:  This was a jaw dropping, interesting, and powerful film.

Ender's Game

First Hit:  I liked where the film ended because it gave me hope for compassionate thinking.

The film reflected the attitude of a fear based society, let’s be aggressors and attack to extinguish another race without knowing their current intention.

True, this planetary race attacked our planet and in the battle we beat them along with destroying an outpost planet they had. However, does this past action note their current intent? How does this mirror our current conservative government officials? These are the questions I reflected on throughout the film.

With this theme there is also the theme that children are more adaptable, think faster and can process large complex problems and data better than adults. The theory of the films leaders is to attack and fully eradicate this other race so that there is no chance they can attack earth again. Although they have no proof that this is what these aliens are planning, it is the belief and therefore they are combing all youths to find the one who can willfully attack and annihilate the aliens.

The storyline follows Ender Wiggin’s (Asa Butterfield) attempt to be that person. He is being guided by Colonel Graff (Harrison Ford) and Mazer Rackham (Ben Kingsley). His sister Valentine (Abigail Breslin) is his conscious and closest family counsel. When he learns he’s tricked into actually extinguishing the perceived enemy, he’s angry and looks to make amends.

Butterflied is very good. He carries the strong willfulness this character needed to succeed and make believable. Ford is perfect as the gruff military man with one goal. Kingsley is also strong as the hero of the first battle with the aliens. Gavin Hood wrote a good script and he got good performances from his cast, while his direction and use of computer generated graphics and visuals were with clear intent.

Overall:  This was a very entertaining film and characters were very well defined.

Iron Man 3 (3D)

First Hit:  Loved and enjoyed moments and was bored silly at what seemed to be a dumb premise – very uneven film.

The opening credits and set-up were interesting and I was hopeful of a witty well done film in the genre of Iron Man 1.

Robert Downey Jr. was perfect in 1 and in that film he set a high mark for the character. He’s always done his best to fulfill the scripts given to him in all these films.

In 3 we see Tony Stark (Iron Man) spend all his time tinkering, having odd flashes of anxiety, and in a deeper relationship with Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow). The unbecoming part of this story is, someone came up with a drug to increase a person’s strength and would also fix their physical issues (like a cut, missing limb, etc.) – yeah it sounds both interesting and stupid and that is exactly how this film is.

The product has problems, so if you have anger management issues, it is likely you will explode like a small thermonuclear device. The guy who is controlling all this Aldrich Killian (Guy Pearce), who doesn’t want the limelight of being the head terrorist so he hires someone to be the primary public figure and names him “The Mandarin” (Ben Kingsley).

Killian gets people hooked on the drugs properties and uses them as weapons against society in a terrorist fashion. What is he aiming at? Whoa, that is the issue; because control of the USA is unlikely in the way the plot unfolds. There is nothing in the story development that gives you the sense that this end goal would result in anything.

Yes a film with a “not well thought out plot”. All of this “stuff” (and that is what it is – just stuff) is a way for the director to create a pretense for Killian and Stark to have clashes all over the USA – some in California, Tennessee, Washington and NYC. In another piss poor equipment twist (made to be funny); was when a bus runs into one of the many Iron Man suits, it completely breaks apart, while in other scenes the another suit withstands 10 times the punishment of a bus hit and is unscratched. Which is it? Is the suit strong, or is it a plastic mock up?

The kid Stark works with Harley Keener (Ty Simpkins) is perfect to bring out other sides of Stark.

Downey Jr. is as always witty. It is unfortunate that the storyline is so poor that his witticisms and incredible acting abilities are wasted. Paltrow, although a key character, has a minor role but does what she can within the confines of the mediocre script. Pearce is ineffective at portraying a character wanting to control the USA. Simpkins is enjoyable and one of the better parts of the film. Kingsley is amusing as The Mandarin. Don Cheadle, reprising his familiar role as Colonel James Rhodes, enjoys his “War Machine” (“Iron Patriot”) suit and it comes across that way. Rebecca Hall as Maya Hansen (maker of the juice that screws people up) is OK but lacked believability that she would have created this juice, let alone sold out to Killian. Drew Pearce and Shane Black wrote a very mediocre script with more thoughtless holes than Swiss cheese. Shane Black got caught up with his own story and therefore directed a mediocre film. However, I will say that the 3D effects were very good because it only enhanced the film and didn’t make it the object of the film.

Overall:  This film ranks far below the original Iron Man.

The Dictator

First Hit:  This film was disappointing in all aspects.

There are funny moments in this film. In fact there are a few out loud laughing moments. But this shallow scripted film displays its weakness from the get go.

The feeling from the beginning is that I was watching a set of pointedly offensive gags strung together to make a film. True that the conceptual idea was pretty good and if Sacha Baron Cohen had done this film like he did Borat, which was more scriptless and being a character in the real world, it might have worked much better.

However, this wasn’t the approach with this film and I would guess this is because of the lawsuits that were brought against him after Borat when into the theaters. I was surprised that Ben Kingsley, as Dictator Aladeen’s right hand General Tamir, would even do this film. However, I did think Anna Faris as Zoey was fun and held and acted their character really well.

Cohen was occasionally funny and visually full of himself as Dictator Aladeen. I was shocked to see Kingsley in this film and felt embarrassed for him. Faris was one of the better aspects of this film. Cohen, Alec Berg, David Mandel, and Jeff Schaffer wrote a mostly forgetful script with gags that were more than easily forgetful (think throwing a girl baby in the trash because she's a girl). Larry Charles directed this and probably did as well as he could do with such a weak script and Sacha Baron Cohen riding herd.

Overall: Most gigs and scenes were easily forgotten shortly after watching the film which means this film is forgettable.