Geek Hyperbole: Greatest Geek Movie Summer Ever?

An interesting question.

For the record, Here there be SPOILERS…

And my answer is this: No, not really, but there were some damn fine movies released this summer. Sure, it summer isn’t over and I’m still looking forward to the return of Mulder and Scully, but there’s too much that I’ve seen that I want to ramble about. The season started off with a tremendous performance and creation of a new Marvel Universe, but stumbled with the return of one of the heroes from my youth. Granted, I haven’t seen everything that’s been out this summer, but I’d seen a good selection.

Honorable mention goes to The Fall. I saw it before the summer season began and it’s not a typical geek movie, but it’s certainly a movie geek movie. Lush, vivid and extremely compelling. If you don’t have an art house cinema nearby, check it out when it lands online or on DVD.

The Incredible Hulk: It was going to be hard to live up to the expectations set by Iron Man, but easy to step away from Ang Lee’s convoluted Hulk movie of a few years ago. To my mind, this version of the Hulk split the difference. While the Hulk effects were better than average, the storyline was solid and the performances ranged from solid to excellent. Marvel Studios put themselves ahead of the game by putting Ed Norton, Tim Roth and Williams Hurt in the movie. Liv Tyler was good (better than Jennifer Connolly in the last one) and having her not show up (except in flashback) until a third of the way into the story helped keep the focus on Banner’s loneliness and isolation. For all his rage, the Hulk is always a melancholy figure. Just look at Hulk’s rage against the storm. The primal beast is very childlike… fear breeding anger after quite often. All in all, a solid B. Not without flaws, but entertaining and a good addition to Marvel’s Film Universe.

Especially since the Hulk’s journey in this film becomes tied to origins of one of Marvel’s other premier heroes (and one of the next movies to be developed): Captain America. I’m a HUGE sucker for Cap. Yeah, he can be considered a piece of American propaganda, but I still hear the words Super Soldier Serum and I think of a man who will do anything to defend American ideals without compromising himself or those ideals. I’m hoping the Marvel Studios keeps the focus on getting good filmmakers and actors who care about the material working on these projects. Especially with the not at all subtle hints they’re dropping about The Avengers.

Wanted: I didn’t have a lot of expectations for this movie going in to see it. I knew it was based on a graphic novel series where super villains ran the world, but no major studio is gonna produce that movie (especially when the villains are still in charge at the end). But with lots of good actors and good action, I was hoping to be entertained. And I certainly was. McAvoy is a great actor (and if you don’t believe me, see The Last King of Scotland) and Jolie does well and Morgan Freeman is, well Morgan Freeman. And you don’t often get to hear him say things like “Shoot this Motherfucker…” Since I’m grading, I’d have to give Wanted a B-.

I probably would be more kind to Wanted, but no more than 20 hours later, I had the distinct fortune of watching…

WALL E: Now, I love Pixar. For me, almost everything they’ve done has been great to outstanding. The Incredibles was my favorite movie of theirs until I saw WALL E.

It is a masterpiece. Almost flawless. An A+. It is the Lorax for a whole new generation. It is brilliantly layered for parents and children, for those looking for an escape and those looking for understanding and a cautionary tale of how we treat our planet. It manages to make your heart warm and ache for a pair of robots and roach in the first 30 minutes. WALL E is as guileless, loveable and loyal as the movie is complex, entertaining and rich. I could go on and on about this movie (and have to some of you directly… sorry about the gushing, but I loved this movie). It had been a long time since I’d seen a movie that made me as excited as this one had. Although there was another recent film that did that. And I’m sure you can guess which one (since just about everyone else feels that way). But in the mean time, I’ll say again, WALL E is fantastic. A movie you and everyone you know will enjoy now, next year, 10 years from now. If you have kids, take them to see it in the theater so you can see the wonder in their faces. Then check back in in a decade to see how a new level of understanding comes to them when they watch it again. I’ll step off my soapbox and move to…

Hancock: A unfortunate dog turd of a film. The only reason that I’d consider this a D instead of an F is that it stars Will Smith, who I’m sucker for, and is directed by Peter Berg, who is a tremendous filmmaker.

Of it’s many problems, Hancock suffers from the fact that it is two movies, two stories that have been tossed into one film and are struggling against one another. One is the film I think Berg really wanted to make – an examination of what it must be like to be isolated by power. To have no one to relate to, to connect with, yet to be supremely important to a city, a nation, a world. The other is the movie I’m guessing the studio really wanted. Smith crackin’ wise, looking good, saving the day and making oodles of cash on July 4th weekend. To be generous, the first two acts are muddled. The last third of the movie sees half a dozen new concepts introduced, a LAME twist added and one of the most unsatisfying conclusions to a movie that I’ve seen in a long time. Don’t even bother renting it, by next year it’ll be all over pay cable and then 6 months after that, it’ll be in perpetual rotation on TBS or Spike or some other channel happy to get their hands on a Will Smith Movie. Just keep watching for the Wild Wild West/Hancock double feature weekend. Pardon me while I try to keep my vomit level at a minimum.

Hellboy 2 – The Golden Army: I liked the first Hellboy movie, but was also disappointed by it. Hellboy is so great on the comic page that I had a lot of hope for his big screen translation. I mean, come on, Ron Pearlman is perfect for role. And you know he can pull off emoting through heavy makeup. But someone along the chain of executives obviously didn’t get the character or his world and you can see the constraints placed on Del Toro, who really wanted to let Hellboy’s freak flag fly in the first movie. Well, we get that chance in the sequel with director and character unabashedly stepping into the spotlight, with mixed results for both.

Hellboy 2 is a lush and vivid fairy tale. More original Brother’s Grimm than neutered Disney. We get to see more of the interpersonal relationships of the BRPD’s staff of misfits and heroes. And some of the scenes are wonderful, lyric and majestic. Others make you feel like Hellboy, Abe and Liz are just people trying to live their lives. And it works on both levels, making them personable and mythic at the same time. Sure, I would have picked a different song during HB and Abe’s drunken bonding, but that scene was supposed to be painful to watch, it was supposed to show you that even demons and fishmen need to knock a few back and spill their guts about the women they love and how little they truly understand them.

The set-ups for the next movie are obvious, but I hope that since Del Toro is making such beautiful and well received movies that he’ll be able to pay off all the set up he’s created in this film. As great as his movies are, Del Toro needs to find a better script writer (or editor) to tighten up some of the dialogue.

A solid B.

Lastly, and certainly not least, we have…

The Dark Knight: This movie owns me. Start to finish, top to bottom. Every actor in a major role does a fantastic job, the bit players are real and honest and fluid enough to fill in the gaps, helping to make this movie a full representation of the best Batman story told on film.

The action is exciting and fantastic without being fantastical. All of the villains – from the Joker to the Mob bosses and the corrupt cops to the wonderfully tragic Two Face – make sense, each moving through this harsh and real Gotham City. The sense of hope battling against the aura of corruption and dread is astounding, especially for a PG-13 movie. Filmmakers take note, this is how to make a movie taunt and gripping without making the violence graphic.

Don’t mistake me, while the violence isn’t graphic, what is shown and what is implied are just… visceral. I’ll try not to spoil much of this film, but let’s just say when the Joker does his pencil trick, it sent shivers up my spine. But what makes the violence we see in the movie work is that it is grounded. Yeah, Batman uses some super cool gadgets, but the fighting, the explosions, the deaths… they’re all real world deaths.

TANGENT: This is also why Bale should never be a part of any other Justice League, Superman, Flash, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern movie. Even the least of those characters exists in a world that makes us suspend our disbelief so much more that the Bale/Nolan Batman doesn’t belong. Their Batman could exist in our very flawed world. Don’t get me wrong, I want to see all of the aforementioned movies (done right of course) and see DC start creating their own movie universe like Marvel is doing now. (And I’d love to see Marvel reboot X-Men and Spider-Man after those last two clusterfucks). But PLEASE leave this Batman alone. Let Nolan and Co. keep crafting these stories for as long as they want. If they eventually want to up the ante and open the door for super powers in Batman’s world, I have faith they’ll make it work. Until then, let them be. /END TANGENT.

I wanted to get all that out before talking specifically about performances. All of the returning players (Bale, Freeman, Caine and Oldman) take their characters to wonderful new levels. Even Freeman, whose character is usually just seen as the guy who makes Batman’s toys and little more, is part of Bruce’s brain trust. He believes in the mission, but not blindly. And given the other choices in the film, I wondered if by the end Lucius would leave the crusade. But his faith in Batman is rewarded in the end. As is the faith placed in him by Alfred. As much as Alfred still tends to all the emotional and many of the strategical needs of this Batman, there is an undercurrent of pride this time around. Of watching a son, having found his purpose, struggle to stay true to it through adversity. For Oldman’s Jim Gordon, he is a real man with real dreams. He wants to do his job and make the city safe for everyone, especially his two children and wife. He doesn’t care about maneuvering for position or points or politics. He wants to do the job. Gordon chooses to trust because he has little choice to do so. He knows he’s surrounded by corruption, even after a year of Batman’s influence, but he’s doing the best he can with those around him.

And Batman is the best of what’s around him. Picking up where he left off in Batman Begins, Batle is more than rock solid. He brings depth and humanity… a yearning to make his crusade bear fruit that was missing in so many other portrayals of Batman. Where other’s played him as a crusader resigned to a never-ending struggle, this Batman hopes that he’s really changing the world. Bale’s struggle to be a better Batman, to be a better man… to get more done, is because he and Gordon both think they’re making real progress. Sure, there are copy cat Batmen on the street, but they’re not a wholly bad thing. They’re a sign that people are starting to believe they can take their city back. That Bruce will be able to put down the mantle and let someone without a mask pick it up.

I think it would have been interesting to see Rachel Dawes as that someone. Really put that relationship to the test. But that’s not what this movie was about. Certainly, the Rachel Dawes character gets an upgrade in both storyline and actress with the change from Katie Holmes to Maggie Gyllenhaal. Gyllenhaal is far more than pretty face/placeholder in this movie. She gets to flex some legal muscle here and there and, like Alfred, Lucius and Gordon, carry the emotional resonance of being a part of Batman’s crusade. But she can’t be the one who truly picks up the Dark Knight’s charge. She’s already one of the converted, she was there at the beginning. The city, and the story, needs someone fresh and new and untainted by either the darkness of the city or a link to Gotham’s hero.

Someone like Harvey Dent. Aaron Eckhart is fantastic. In another movie his line about seeing yourself becoming the villain would be cheesy and lame. Here it is the coda for Batman’s sacrifice in the face of Harvey’s fall. Like Bruce, Harvey is a believer. He understands that the world is struggling against its darker nature, but still holds to the ideal of making it better. He begins as the white knight to Batman’s dark, beautiful, honest and noble, yet with the same understanding that most people struggle to embrace their better angels. The choice to entwine the Joker with Harvey’s fall (“Just a little push…”) is stellar. While the Joker and Heath Ledger are drawing the lionshare of the accolades (and they are richly deserved), much of the greatness of these individual performances would be lost without Harvey’s rise and corruption to tie it all together. In any other movie, we’d be talking about and raving over Eckhart’s performance and how it stole the show.

That honor however, goes to the chaotic constant of the movie. The Joker. Heath Ledger is beyond words in this film. If you’ve read any review you’ll hear so much of the same praise. Normally, I’d try my best to come up with something fresh to say about this stunning performance. But you know what, I’m not gonna even try. See this for yourself. Witness the disturbing mastery of this vicious and twisted character that he puts forth. Given what I saw on screen, I’m not surprised that Ledger had a hard time sleeping. Touching that kind of insanity, even just pretending to, has to change you, must certainly haunt you.

I just wish that he hadn’t died because of a sleeping pill overdose. Not just because of us missing out on him reprising this role in future films, but because he was truly a gifted actor. Many people may have missed that thanks to the subject matter of Brokeback Mountain, but it was there. Just as it is here.

Whew. I want to go back and watch it again, study every moment. Hopefully this time in IMAX.

While completely different films, The Dark Knight is like WALL E. An A+. A masterpiece. Don’t try to compare this apple to that orange. Just watch both and judge for yourself their worth.

Now, if you think this entry was long, wait until I catch you up on the last two weeks..