Sin City: A Dame to Kill For

First Hit:  Visually interesting and fun, however the storyline was very week.

This film started out lost and ended up lost. Between these points, it seemed to find a path, get some traction, then get lost with extra crap.

Was this a story about Ava (Eva Green) or Senator Roark (Powers Boothe)? Or was this film about Marv (Mickey Rourke) or Nancy (Jessica Alba)? Or was this film about Dwight (Josh Brolin) or Johnny (Joseph Gordon-Levitt)? Although these stories were all inter-relational, it didn’t have a strong enough focus to keep me fully engaged.

Visually though, at times this film was outstanding. The use of black and white graphics, black and white film, and then adding splashes of color; a dress, hair, lipstick, bottle of booze, whatever – it added the kind of interest to keep me watching the film.

Green was pretty good as the femme-fatal however I think the storyline let her down. Rourke was virtually unrecognizable (probably on purpose) but he was good as Marv the brutish indestructible hard charging protector. Boothe was great to see again and his role was perfect Boothe. Alba had a somewhat minor role and I didn’t like it. She was good, but the role was pretty weak and I lacked the ability to care about her character. Gordon-Levitt was the role I enjoyed the most. I would have rather have the film be about his story more than the side story it ended up being. Brolin was in a hero role and he always does this well even in a weakly scripted film like this. Bruce Willis had an OK role as a ghost that assists Alba with her mission. Dennis Haysbert was fantastic as Manute Ava’s bodyguard. His voice and presence in the film was really strong. Frank Miller wrote a disjointed script and I cannot figure out what the point of the film was. That he promoted this film with his name is egocentric driven and disappointing.  Miller and Robert Rodriguez both directed this film and if the script had been better the film might have been better.

Overall:  Although the visualizations were fun, this film is forgettable.

Iron Man 2

First Hit:  As a follow-up this is a good one, but there is a lack of surprise and a good simple story that makes it hard to enjoy fully.

With most blockbuster action films (Superman, Star Wars, Lethal Weapon), there is a letdown between the original and its follow-ups. For me, this let down specifically relates to the lack of wonder which is present when I see an idea and concept for the first time.

Good follow-up films either get into the characters at a deeper level to tell more involved stories, or they bring in new foes which enliven the film. Some will do a little of both. No follow-up film can ever recreate the wonder of the first except if it is really just a better overall film like the 2009 Star Trek film; which had a sense of wonder and depth to it.

When the first Star Wars film opened, I’ll never forget that initial scene when a very large space ship passed overhead creating a sense of wonder and foreboding excitement. The Star Wars series held its own because we wanted to know about the characters and what would happen to them as they moved from world to world.

A series that lasts, like Batman, generally has downs and ups with each new installment. The downs might be because either the actor playing the main part changes and the character lacks consistency. The ups might be that they have the right main character and they delve deeper into them or they add a powerful new counterpart (foil) character to test the will and fortitude.

In the initial Iron Man, Tony Stark (played by Robert Downey Jr.) was irreverent, funny exciting, action oriented and whimsical. Iron Man 2 didn’t deepen Stark’s character although they tried by giving him the problem that he is dying because of the Iron Man energy source. This didn’t deepen the character. They did, however, bring in Mickey Rourke playing Ivan Vanko as Stark’s main foil.

Rourke chews up the scenes he is in and I couldn’t take my eyes off of him whenever he was on the screen. Building on Ivan’s character and his father’s link to Stark’s father might have been a better story; however it wasn’t for the producer.

Therefore they brought in Scarlett Johansson playing both Natalie Rushman and Natasha Romanoff and Samuel Jackson as Nick Fury from some special government ops unit to create more complication which wasn’t required. Although the presence of both did add to the whimsical dialogue, it didn’t really add to the depth of the film. I just made it overly complicated.

Downey was OK here but the writing to make Stark narcissistic failed to get traction and sort of turned me off to the character. Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts held her ground and was solid enough in a role she carried over from the first film. Rourke was great and scene stealing. Sam Rockwell as Justin Hammer, Stark’s main business rival, just doesn’t have the inner darkness to make his character believable. Don Cheadle is steady and solid as Lt. Col. James Rhodes. The director, Jon Favreau, could have uncluttered the film and made it more fun by simplifying it and maybe adding some depth to Stark but he didn’t.

Overall: Although Iron Man 2 is not like the original in its sense of wonder and fun, but this film is definitely watchable even though it does lack the punch of the original.

The Wrestler

First Hit: Mickey Rourke is phenomenal as Randy “The Ram” Robinson an over the hill aging wrestler doing the only thing he knows how to do.

I was mesmerized by this film from the very opening scenes.

The film is shot with a roughness and edge that complements and accentuates the characters in the film.

This is a story about people we may have watched in person or seen on TV. We always knew the wrestling matches were choreographed but this never meant that these men didn’t suffer in pain from their efforts in the ring.

This film shows this suffering, the underside of their body abuse, and the deep comradely among the men who actually fight and promote the event. Randy was once the top wrestler and with age he has slipped little by little into the forgotten world of has-beens who fight in front of small, but adoring, crowds.

There is one scene where he and some other once famous wrestlers are at a autograph signing and mostly they just sit there in silence in an empty room while a hand full of fans come through and get a “polaroid” picture and autograph. It is such a telling scene of how time has passed them by.

The Ram visits an aging lap dancer named Cassidy (played by Marisa Tomei) for dances and conversation. Like him she is caught up on her own world and struggles and trying to find her own way out of her life. Both of them have children and Ram has a couple of very powerful and revealing scenes with his daughter Stephanie (played convincingly by Evan Rachel Wood).

Other scenes that round out the character are when the neighborhood kids wake him up, from sleeping overnight in his van, so that they can wrestle with him.

And a scene where he reluctantly works behind a deli counter but slowly gets into the people he is serving and this beautiful fun kind spirit jumps out of him and you, as you watch this scene.

Rourke is so good in this film that he easily gives the best performance by an actor in 2008 – no question. He will probably get a nomination for an Oscar but his reputation may keep him from receiving it. Tomei is incredibly strong and also deserves a Oscar nomination. Her performance shows a depth and strength that is very compelling and out shines her mostly partially nude scenes. Darren Aronofsky directed this film with a clear vision and gives us a slice of life we rarely see.

Overall: Easily one of the 3 best films of the year. This is a must see film whether you like wrestling or not because it is a deeply inspired, well acted and moving slice of life.