Another omnibus post regarding the past year. I'll be talking about animation after this one.
Star Wars: Episode VII- The Force Awakens
I waited until Christmas day to see this one with my whole family. Suffice it to say, the Force is strong with this one. Everything looks fantastic, from the opening crawl to Luke Skywalker's reveal. Harrison Ford seems far more into his performance here than he did in Indiana Jones & The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull, and it's almost a shame we won't see Han Solo in any of the following films. As for the new guard, it's a great batch of characters. Rey, is a strong character who has learned to survive on her own. Po Dameron is an ace pilot who seems likable, but will hopefully get more development in sequels. And then there's Finn, a Stormtrooper who realized that the First Order was wrong and just wanted to get out, but eventually found his courage when Rey needed his help. The special effects are a wonderful mix of practical and CGI, the latter not overstaying its welcome like it may have in the prequels. I loved seeing the familiar characters interact with the new ones. Han Solo acting as a reluctant sort-of mentor to Rey and Finn, BB-8's brief meetings with R2-D2 and C-3PO, and just seeing Leia and Chewbacca again. Kylo Ren is, admittedly, a fairly laughable villain, but I think that makes him a great character. He's young, immature, and inexperienced, despite being incredibly powerful. I like that he's undeniably flawed and still a real threat. The Force Awakens is undeniably a great start to the new Trilogy.
The DUFF
Mae Whitman plays a teenage girl who is suddenly faced with the realization that she is the least attractive member of her friend trio, and seeks to reinvent herself and talk to the guy she likes, with a little help from her old childhood friend (Robbie Amell). It's a fun romantic comedy that pokes a little bit of fun at the high school cliches without completely abandoning them.
Paddington
This is a character I used to watch as a kid, without knowing all that much about him. I just knew he was a Peruvian bear who lived in London and liked Marmalade sandwiches. The movie enlightened me as to why he was in England and how he knew to get there. His aunt and uncle were discovered in Darkest Peru and befriended by an explorer, and when the uncle dies, the aunt sends him to England to be cared for. He's taken in by the Brown family, and has to elude explorer's daughter (Nicole Kidman) who wants to turn him into taxidermy. Worth nothing is Peter Capaldi (the 12th Doctor) portraying Mr. Curry, the Brown's grumpy neighbor who does not like having a bear in the neighborhood. It's amusing that he first meets Kidman's character while standing outside a telephone box. Not sure if it was a reference.
Ted 2
Seth MacFarlane's sequel is still as funny as the first. The teddy bear that Johnny (Mark Wahlberg) wished to life when he was a kid has gotten married and hopes to adopt a baby. Unfortunately for him, he's not considered a person, due to being a stuffed bear, so he has to sue the state for personhood. It's really unfortunate Mila Kunis sat this one out, but Amanda Seyfried is still a welcome addition to the cast. She plays Ted's lawyer and Johnny's new love interest. She's smart, hot, and just as much of a stoner as our two leads. Her only real character flaw is that she's pop culture illiterate. Any sort of TV or movie references made in the film go completely over her head. At the same time, the creepy guy from the first movie wants to make sure Ted loses the case, so that he can safely abduct Ted and give him to Hasbro, in hopes of dissecting and replicating him. Patrick Stewart returns as the narrator, and Patrick Warburton is back as Johnny's gay co-worker who now has a boyfriend played by Michael Dorn. The best scene in the film is when the couple show up at Comic-Con dressed as The Tick and Lieutenant Worf (characters they respectively portrayed) and spend every scene beating up nerds. It's a good, funny movie and worth at least one watch.
SPECTRE
We finally get a couple things that I've been wanting to see in Daniel Craig's run: a gunbarrel at the beginning of the movie and the return of Ernst Stavro Blofeld. I really have to give props to the pre-title sequence: a single continuous shot through the Day of the Dead festival, until it settles on Bond in a skull mask. We follow him and a woman up to a hotel room, then he steps out the window, and walks along the buildings until he reaches his targets. The transitions are seamless, almost like playing a video game. It seems that Blofeld and SPECTRE has orchestrated the events behind all of the preceding films, a connection Bond has been investigating on the posthumous orders of Judi Dench's M, while Ralph Fiennes' M has to deal with a hostile takeover from CNS (Center of National Security?). This movie is for Bond and Britain what The Winter Soldier was for America and the Marvel Cinematic Universe: a fantastic action movie and a social commentary about the dangers of government surveillance. In this case, SPECTRE has been using CNS' surveillance systems to their own advantage and C (the head of that organization) is working for them. But the best thing about this film is that everybody gets a piece of the action: M, Moneypenny, and even Q gets a moment to shine. While I'm hoping Daniel Craig has another movie or two in him, this would be a nice cap to his run. I also appreciate that each movie had the Bond theme playing at the start of the credits.
Scout's Guide To The Zombie Apocalypse
This movie is all over the place. There is a lot of great humor throughout, but there's also a couple scenes of undead nudity, which I have a hard time getting past. Most zombie stories have some kind of rules that the undead follow, but this movie doesn't really seem to have them. They can be smart or stupid. They can be shambling or they can be fast. This is, however, a rare case where animals and humans can both be infected. The main characters are a trio: one scout who wants to leave now that they're almost upperclassmen, another who enjoys it but was going to leave anyway because of how he might look, and a third who has been all in since they were kids and his dad died. Being an Eagle Scout myself, it was nice to see that the skills they learned through scouting were vital in their survival. Even Dave Koechner's scoutmaster, who was portrayed as somewhat ineffectual and dies early on, still manages to get one good kill in. Probably not a movie for everyone, but should be enjoyable if you know what you're in for.
Krampus
There's something that appeals to me about Christmas horror films. It could be the contrasting atmospheres, terrible things happening during a time of year where everything is supposed to be jolly and fun. The character of the Krampus is also one that interests me, a counterpart to Santa Claus who punishes the bad children while Santa rewards the good ones. So by the time I heard about this movie, I was more than a little excited. Sharing a director with the Halloween anthology Trick 'r Treat, the movie does a good job of showing the dark side of Christmas, showing what it's become and reminding us of what it should be. When a boy's dysfunctional family causes him to lose his Christmas spirit, the yuletide demon comes to town and shows no mercy. Aside from the gingerbread minions, Krampus and all of his helpers are rendered with practical puppetry and special effects, and it looks great. There's also a beautifully animated sequence, in which the boy's grandma explains her first encounter with the Krampus. The best thing is, it's not a gory film. It relies purely on its monsters and its atmostphere to scare you. You're not going to like some of the characters at first, but as their survival becomes less and less likely, they band together to stay alive and you begin to sympathize with them. I don't think I'd ever cried watching a horror movie before. The ending of the movie is quite ambiguous that will leave you very uneasy, and I can definitely recommend it.
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay
I'm going to talk about both movies here, even though only part 2 came out this year. After the events of Catching Fire, District 12 has been destroyed and anyone who made it out alive is bunkered in the long lost District 13. It was thought to be destroyed in its first act of defiance, but they have endured underground. Katniss Everdeen has reluctantly become the face of defiance against the tyrannical Capitol of Panem, but Peeta Mellark is still being held captive so she goes along with it in exchange for his safe return and being able to kill President Snow herself. She spends a few scenes in other districts to spread the word that she's alive and the uprising isn't over. Eventually Peeta's rescued, but he's been hijacked (brainwashed via Tracker Jacker venom) and now only sees Katniss as a threat. The first part ends right after he attempts to kill her, and the second part picks up almost immediately after it. The bulk of the movie involves Katniss, Peeta, Gale, Finnick Odair and others attempting to infiltrate the Capitol, which has been covered with booby traps just like the Hunger Games arenas. The movies in many ways are better than the books because you get to step outside the first-person perspective. You see other people react to Katniss' actions. You get scenes fleshing out the other Districts and character that couldn't have worked in the book. The scene in which the team is being chased by the fiendish Mutts in the sewers is incredibly intense. I hadn't read the books in a while, so the tension wasn't spoiled. The last half hour or so is rife with subversion, bittersweet moments, but finishes off on a positive note. The filmmakers also did a respectful job compensating for the death of one of their cast members, keeping his role intact but not showing him directly. I did think that Katniss' interaction with Peeta should have had more passion, especially in their final scene before the epilogue. Instead it's much more subtle, although it does still get the point across.
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