Today's Review: Baby Driver

Hoewel zijn vorige Amerikaanse avontuur niet afliep zoals de Brit Edgar Wright zich had voorgesteld, weerhield dat hem er niet van het nogmaals te proberen in Hollywood. De regie over Ant-Man mocht hij verloren hebben, die over zijn eigen carrière allerminst. Waar Marvel hem teveel in haar eigen hokje probeerde op te sluiten, gaf studio Sony hem de vrije hand. Voor Baby Driver sloot hij geen compromissen qua stijlvoering, waardoor de film voor liefhebbers van zijn werk vertrouwd, maar naar Amerikaanse maatstaven juist onorthodox aanvoelt. Deze tegendraadse 'heist movie' is een heerlijke mix van spetterende muziek, kleurrijke personages en wervelende actie, waarin we snel de handtekening van Wright herkennen, maar die niet als een herhalingsoefening voelt.

De chauffeur uit de titel luistert inderdaad naar de schuilnaam Baby en vormt de spil in een gewiekste bende overvallers. Dankzij diens briljante stuurmanskunsten komen de criminelen telkens weg met hun buit. Toch houdt Baby zich op de achtergrond, want hij moet niets hebben van het geweld waarvan zijn collegae zich bedienen. Hij probeert slechts zijn schuld aan bendeleider Doc af te betalen. Bovendien geldt hij als excentriekeling tussen de rovers, allen toch al niet echt normaal. Baby is een apart joch, met zijn koptelefoon steevast op, elke move die hij maakt zorgvuldig georkestreerd door de song die hij op dat moment afspeelt. Noem het auditief autisme, voortvloeiend uit een pijnlijk verleden. De bende tolereert zijn karaktertrekjes, maar staat minder verdraagzaam tegenover zijn zelfverklaarde vertrek uit de criminaliteit als zijn schuld afbetaald is. Vervolgens moet Baby racen als nooit tevoren om aan de misdaad te ontsnappen en met zijn kersverse vriendin, serveerster Debora, een nieuw leven te beginnen.

Een film als Baby Driver staat of valt met het optreden van haar hoofdpersoon en gelukkig is Wrights nieuwste verzekerd van het benodigde jonge talent. Ansel Elgort kruipt met verve in de huid van de titelpersoon, aanvankelijk een ogenschijnlijk arrogante knul die met zijn eigenaardige gevoel voor ritme een beetje op de zenuwen werkt. Al snel verdwijnen zulke twijfels als regen op heet asfalt als we hem beter leren kennen. Het is simpelweg een sympathieke jongen in een slechte situatie, met het nodige trauma achter de rug om te verklaren hoe hij in dit misdadige milieu is beland. Het helpt ook dat Elgort uitstekende chemie kent met Debora's wonderschone Lily James. Of eigenlijk met iedereen, want Wright strikte opnieuw een wereldcast. Met Kevin Spacey als de vileine maar charmante Doc, Jamie Foxx als de sociopathische Bats en Jon Hamm als de arrogante Buddy is het makkelijk om ook voor de schurken te pleiten, zelfs als de kogels om de oren fluiten. Geen Simon Pegg of Nick Frost dit keer, maar zo'n fijn ensemble maakt dat gemis zelfs voor de verstokte Wright fans helemaal goed.

Diezelfde liefhebbers kunnen zich verheugen over het feit dat Wrights belangrijkste vaste personage wel ruimschoots aanwezig is in Baby Driver: de montage. Wright heeft zich altijd een waar virtuoos getoond waar het 't knippen en plakken van shots betreft, maar voor deze film neemt hij dat stempel heel letterlijk. Dit keer laat hij zich leiden door een bonte tracklist aan songs, bekend en minder bekend, waarop hij hele scènes heeft gebaseerd. Neem bijvoorbeeld het haast eindeloze shot waarmee de film opent, weergaloos gevormd door het op Baby's headset spelende Bellbottoms. Dat is nog maar het begin van een film die grotendeels haar soundtrack volgt, maar onder Wrights montage-meesterschap tot een grandioos geheel van muziek en enerverende auto-actie gesmeed wordt. De muzikaal begaafde Elgort danst vol overgave mee als door gehoorbeschadiging geplaagde crimi-coureur die zich evenzeer laat leiden door zijn muziek als de film die zijn naam draagt. Wright schiep met Baby Driver een enorme uitdaging voor zichzelf en zijn cast, maar het is te merken dat iedereen het ritme volledig aanvoelde.

Wright had voor zichzelf blijkbaar iets goed te maken na door Marvel bijna ingekapseld te zijn in andermans manier van werken. Wat dat betreft is Baby een puike metafoor voor Wright zelf. Wright swingt achter de camera zoals Baby achter het stuur. Toch voelt Baby Driver op sommige fronten als een breuk met 's mans eerdere werk. Het is geen volbloed-komedie, zoals praktisch al zijn vorige films. Hoewel er genoeg te lachen valt, zorgen de trubbels rond de getroebleerde hoofdpersoon toch voor zwaardere thematiek. Ook is de film bruter dan we van Wright gewend zijn: was de regisseur nooit vies van een beetje bloed, de kogelregens die deze film afsluiten zijn van een minder zorgeloos kaliber en geven de film toch een zeker 'Amerikaans karakter'. Toch gaat het te ver om te zeggen dat de koppige Brit zich heeft geconformeerd naar Amerika, want Baby Driver is onmiskenbaar een product van zijn eigen creatieve geest, een hoogst originele film zoals die in Hollywood te weinig gemaakt worden.

Today's Review: The Amazing Spider-Man 2

The Amazing Spider-Man 2: ***/*****, or 6/10

Now that Marvel Studios' long term strategy has shown to pay off in the most lucrative manner imaginable, it's no surprise to see rival studios owning their own pieces of the Marvel pie try their luck with a similar concept. As such, Sony faces the most challenging job at universe building, as they own the rights to a franchise based around a single character: Spider-Man. Fortunately for the studio, Spidey has a wide array of friends and foes, allies and adversaries, to choose from in order to construct a larger shared realm which may at some point include movies that do not need the wallcrawler's presence to stand on their own feet. However, such characters, good guys and bad, will need to be introduced first to familiarize the audience with their personalities and groom them for their own solo debuts in later years. And so the crafting of a larger Spiderverse begins with The Amazing Spider-Man 2, which hosts a plethora of new characters and a threesome of rogues to enrich Peter Parker's life. Problem is, for a freshly rebooted franchise which, after a single movie that can be described as 'adequate' at best, still needs to prove to the audience the validity of the rebooting process, the time to start such universe building simply isn't ripe just yet. As a result, the second Amazing Spidermovie feels like a convoluted, incoherently structured piece that aims to be more than 'amazing', while the audience still waits for that moniker to make good on its promise.

In the sequel, Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) has come to terms with his powers and responsibilities acting as New York's superhuman guardian, haunted by the vision of Captain Stacy, as he struggles to uphold his promise to the deceased father of the love of his life, Gwen (Emma Stone), to stay out of her existence in order to keep her safe from the harm that comes with being Spider-Man. A strong-spirited and intelligent young woman, Gwen is determined to embrace the dangers involved with dating Peter, or otherwise to move one with her career and leave him in the cold. This results in many a scene of fairly engaging and recognizable lovers' quarrels that reveal director Marc Webb's strengths in directing the identifiable romantic affairs of the younger generation. The chemistry between Garfield and Stone is still solid, though the same cannot be said for the writing of the former, as Peter has moved on from being a socially awkward nerd to a rather self-absorbed punk. Though his red-and-blue clad alter ego is modelled after his comic book counterpart more closely and convincingly than ever – webslinging moves, wisecracking puns and all – Peter feels like he has changed in character a little too much too fast, his occasional dickish behavior courtesy of a new team of writers. While Stone's performance remains a joy to behold, Garfield's oftentimes evokes more irritation than affection.

Spidey's knack for getting those he cares about in trouble is quickly proven as he's confronted by no less than three new villains in this movie, each with his own personal baggage and history that needs some exploration (especially if they are to be found worthy of reprising their roles for later projects). The main antagonist, the volatile and hotheaded Electro (Jamie Foxx), is given the most balanced bit of background, in which he is revealed kind of as Peter Parker-gone-bad. A lonely and socially isolated geek, his involuntary plunge in a vat of genetically engineered electric eels (if you feel this sounds silly, ask yourself whether it would if it involved spiders instead) grants him powers beyond his wildest dreams, but as he hopes to finally stand out from the crowd, those masses that worship his idol Spider-Man reject him, forcing him to go on a electrostatic rampage aimed at New York's favorite webspinner to get back at the world. Though Foxx's performance, some times over-the-top while at others more contained, leaves something to be desired, as does his rather two-dimensional anger directed at Spider-man, Electro's colourful but lethal sparkle shows make for a fancy visual style not seen in a Spider-Man movie before.

What has been seen before however is Harry Osborn, Peter's long time friend and occasionally Spidey's nemesis. In Raimi's trilogy of movies, Harry was given an arc all his own over the course of three movies, building up to the conflict to be and Spider-Man's emotional disarray that came with it. Not so in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, where the same story is roughly being told in a single film, in a much abbreviated form that does not do justice to the many decades of comic book lore in which this close friendship annex hateful rivalry slowly but surely evolved. When his father Norman (Chris Cooper), the head of OsCorp Industries, dies as a result of a degenerative illness that runs in the family, Harry (Dane DeHaan) gets reacquainted with his childhood friend Peter as he offers his condolences. A more elaborate backstory is inferred, but as it is only the subject of the briefest conversation it is hard to truly care about the relationship between Peter and Harry. The latter swiftly becomes CEO of OsCorp where he finds himself thrown in an arena of board intrigue and backstabbing conspiracies to remove him from office, as he tries to find a cure for what killed his dad and all too soon will end his life prematurely too. The only thing standing between him and an untimely demise appears to be the blood of genetically engineered spiders, company property that was deemed lost, so Spider-Man's blood appears to be the only cure still available. As the disease starts to corrupt both his body and mind, Harry's friendship with Peter turns sour when his buddy will not help him get in touch with the wallcrawler to acquire that pivotal transfusion. Eventually more drastic measures must be taken for survival and Harry transforms into the maniacal Green Goblin, hellbent on wrecking Peter's life, especially when he discovers his secret identity. DeHaan proves quite up to the task of portraying the sympathetic Harry, who grows ever more frustrated as his quest to save his own life is thwarted by both those on his payroll and his oldest friend. He also visibly shows to have had a blast playing the crazed Goblin, making DeHaan's contributions to the acting front more sizable than Garfield's haphazard performances, though both characters are admittedly driven by less than stellar writing.

Last and least of the trio of baddies is Rhino, a Russian criminal played by Paul Giamatti (who also makes it abundantly clear he's enjoying himself tremendously), whose presence feels more of an afterthought added by the studio to get that universe building going, as he adds little of relevance to the plot otherwise. Appearing only in the beginning of the film as a violent smuggler who's ridiculed by Spidey, and at the end donning stupendously large battle armour, the character proves the finest example of how not to introduce characters meant to form part of a larger whole later on, if you want the audience to invest in them. It is made clear in the climax of the film Rhino is the first member of Harry's team of villains meant to destroy Spider-Man, a plot line which is already stated to carry over in the next entry into the series, as well as in the announced Sinister Six spin-off. However, this attempt to foreshadow such future fare backfires on The Amazing Spider-Man 2 as a film on its own. 

 

If you compare the first few trailers with the final product, you'll notice the film feels to be lacking not only many scenes but also entire story threads that would have driven the plot into a very different direction. Scenes between Harry, his father and Peter promised much more intricate relations between the characters than what was ultimately seen on screen. Likewise, characters' scenes were filmed but dropped, including the introduction of Mary Jane, while others were shortened dramatically, like Harry's secretary Felicia Hardy (who fans will know as Spidey's love affair/part time enemy Black Cat) suffered. The undeniable fact is, with multiple foes, a tumultuous love life and relationship with assorted family, plus a continuing search for his roots and the fate of his parents carried over from the predecessor, there was more than enough going on in the plot of the film already without the studio's obvious insistence of setting up future films as well. As a result, few of the many plot lines get their chance to stand out amidst the convoluted whole that now is The Amazing Spider-Man 2. Of course, there's some fine action scenes and shows of superhero spectacle, while the webslinging never looked better. But in most other respects, the film too often feels like coming up short considerably. Arguably, Sony will make more time to craft the upcoming films into a more coherent and consistent whole, as the element of universe building was rushed into this movie's plot while production was already underway. For now however, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 has ended up a Spider-Man film that quickly branches off into an advertisement for upcoming Spider-Man films, hurting its own ending, despite the otherwise tragic climax, which under less padded conditions might have made this the emotionally most powerful Spiderfilm as yet. Robbed of its right to exist as a separate entity, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 failed in that regard, nor does it bode well for Spidey's future.

And to make matters worse, some viewers will be treated to a version of the film with end credits containing a scene for the next X-Men film, which causes this movie to feel even more like a commercial for future superhero flicks, even wholly unrelated ones...

Today's News: a deluge of more Spidey pics and posters

Here's another bunch of Spider-Man images I posted on MS:

http://www.moviescene.nl/p/153149/meer_nieuwe_posters_en_shots_amazing_spider-man_2

Are you getting tired of Spider-Man yet? I gotta say, this is really an agressive, in-your-face marketing campaign that Amazing Spider-Man 2 is witnessing. It seems there's new material made available every other day. And we still have more than three months to go before the movie hits, so I don't expect it to get any less any time soon, which means the movie's release will be hard to miss. New images is one thing, but what's the point of so many different posters? One possible answer in this case is building up (unconscious) franchise awareness. The 'Enemies will unite' tagline on the Electro one-sheet is a rather overt reference to the recently anounced upcoming Sinister Six spin-off movie, the groundwork for which is being laid right in this film. TAS-M2 introduces three(!) baddies from that notorious team of super villains from Spidey's rogue gallery, and if you count Lizard from the previous installment as another (though that has not yet been confirmed), you only need to spawn two more in TAS-M3 before the Six can have at the webslinger in the fourth film (also alreayd announced) and their own adventure afterwards (an all-bad guy movie would be a new one even for Marvel). As the trailers revealed - subtlety is not one of this franchise's strong suits - the identities of the missing pair have also been established already. But of course, the danger with so many characters is risking a convoluted, overcrowded movie. Remember how well (or not actually) Raimi's Spider-Man 3 fared in that regard, when it also let loose three antagonists on our hero? At least director Marc Webb will have a decent blueprint on how not to do things storywise.

And if a Sinister Six movie wasn't enough, it seems Spidey's archenemy Venom is getting his own solofilm too, though no word yet on how this character is gonna get introduced prior to that happening. The proposed project certainly won't build on Raimi's third Spider-movie (thankfully!). Since Venom needs to be (re)introduced through a Spider-Man film first (otherwise you completely ignore the origin of the character and his motivations), everybody's guess is he will pop up in TAS-M3 too, which means he could possibly replace Lizard as a Sinister Six member. But why then the privilege of a solo film? After all, it seems unfair and overkill if we would see Venom both in his own film and the proposed Sinister Six flick, unless he would be replaced by another villain in the latter, rendering the Sinster Six Venomless but justifying a Venom movie more strongly. As you can see, Sony Pictures' intended development of the Spider-Universe is already rife with questions about the future of characters not yet introduced, and that universe at present still consists of only one film. But a constant stream of images, posters and the occasional new vague comment from the director and execs keeps the fans' discussions and controversies going and ensures it will survive for a few more years. Are you getting tired of Spider-Man yet? If not, you probably will eventually, if those Spider-fans can't shut up about it until solid information is finally released.

Today's News: Spidey slinging into more action on novel poster threesome

Here's some more MS news for ya:

http://www.moviescene.nl/p/152901/nieuwe_posters_voor_the_amazing_spider-man_2

The marketing campaign for The Amazing Spider-Man 2 continues to throw more goodies our way in rapid pace, even though the release of the film is still a good three point five months away. I must say, I both love and hate this particular set of posters. I like the dynamic pose of the protagonists on these, rather reminiscent of actual comic book cover art, especially the one showing Spidey in typical web slinging fashion (top). They're bound to get more enthusiastic attention than the rather dull posters of Sam Raimi's trilogy of movies, which in typical Hollywood fashion showed just a bunch of heads, or at best, a full shot of Spider-Man in a fairly energetic posture. The poster that shows an extreme close-up of Spider-Man's mask with a reflection of an angry Electro in his eye (bottom) certainly can be taken as a nod to some of the posters of the predecessors, where you would have the identity of the movie's main antagonist revealed in a similar fashion, except much smaller.

However, I'm bugged by the laziness of these posters, applying the same elements in slightly different order and size. Whereas there's a respectable diversity in the way the titular character is displayed, you'll notice Electro assumes an identical pose on all three one-sheets, as the exact same piece of imagery is used. A similar thing is happening with the video boards on all three posters, showing the same characters in precisely the same shots. It's like some member of the promotional team just had him/herself a ball photoshopping these posters by rearranging the way said elements are portrayed, the only piece showing any originality being our friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man himself. Given there's still three months of marketing to be done, you wonder whether releasing a single new poster of Spidey versus Electro would not have sufficed for now, so more money and attention could be spend on following posters showing Rhino and Green Goblin too (even though there's a hint at the Goblin present here, poor Rhino is totally neglected on these posters!). Assuming such posters won't be released later on, which remains to be seen as this film's promotional campaign seems to go all-out. Even though the blatant similarities on these posters are kinda disappointing for movie/comic nerds nitpicking at home on their computers for lack of existential purpose, it probably won't matter where theater marketing is concerned. I doubt many theaters, save for the really big ones, will get all three of these anyhow, considering there's been a few TAS-M2 (much shorter!) posters released already - though at my theater we didn't receive any yet - and I doubt these will be the last of them. Besides, it's only posters: it's the actual movie that counts. I'm certainly looking forward to it, though I'm kinda hesitant about the presence of three baddies (plus hints to various others) all in a single film. Didn't work out so well the last time...

Today's News: more Spidey pics, and a trailer soon slinging our way

Look what I found online to post on MS:

http://www.moviescene.nl/p/152139/nieuwe_fotos_amazing_spider-man_2_online

These pictures are getting increasingly oriented, as was to be expected. The shooting process is now over and done with (excluding eventual pick-ups), so the first finished (or nearly so) effects pop up in the promotional material as evidenced here. We now know who the new villains are and which actors will be playing them - in case you simply can't care less and/or missed this bit of news, it's Electro (Jamie Foxx), Rhino (Paul Giamatti) and the Green Goblin (either Chris Cooper or Dane DeHaan) - so now we are dying to see what they can do to the poor webhead. These few pictures are just the tip of the iceberg as the marketing machine slowly but surely starts to crank out more and more intriguing stuff with the intent to drag us along in the typical Hollywood hype surrounding this type of excessively expensive (but often equally lucrative) blockbuster flick. Pictures are one thing, but what the audience wants is trailers. And they're getting one pretty soon, as we've been teased with little snippets of it for a week now. These days, simply releasing teasers and trailers for a big budget film like this is apparently not enough, you have to release teasers for the trailers themselves too. It feels like commercial overkill, as it's likely the trailer will be seen by most people who would visit the film itself in theaters sometime along the next five months anyway, but the marketing execs take no chances, spending even more top dollar bombastically announcing the upcoming trailer event which like the film itself should not be missed by anyone since it's gonna be oh so special; a thing the studio system tries to convince us of in the case of pretty much all summer blockbusters, with most of them failing to live up to such hype. Of course, with such a thorough marketing campaign, the more money is lost if the movie flops (e.g., John Carter). Not that the movie will flop, considering the Marvel logo alone is enough to draw record breaking attendance levels in these days.

Oh well, the trailer is up tomorrow, folks! Be sure to plan your life accordingly so as not to miss this must-see online spectacle! Or simply wait till you see it in theaters somewhere before the end of April next year. Or ignore it altogether and go into the movie without knowing what's gonna happen, as people used to do in the old days. Now the ability to be surprised about a blockbuster's content, that was truly amazing!

Today's News: three new Amazing Spidey pics (sort of)

Here's some old news I posted on MovieScene. Blame circumstances for not allowing me to find the time to update this blog more regularly at present.

http://www.moviescene.nl/p/151546/nieuwe_fotos_the_amazing_spider-man_2

Pretty teasy pics. Trying to get us more interested and even pre-hyped up for this reboot sequel. Apparently there's emotional friction between Peter (Andrew Garfield) and Gwen (Emma Stone), as there would be after the events of the previous installment, which witnessed a personal loss for the pair of them and a solemn promise suggested to be broken soon because of their continuing mutual love. I personally hope whatever is going on between them isn't going to cause Gwen to do something that gets herself killed, as is her fate. If you think you got spoilered now, don't blame me. Chances are good Gwen Stacy died in Spider-Man lore well before you were born, dear reader. However, I like Stone's Gwen, way more than I ever liked Mary Jane or Kirsten Dunst. I hope we'll stick to her for at least one more film.

Then there's a new picture of the movie's main villain, Electro (Jamie Foxx). I'm still not entirely happy with his look, but this is about as close as you can get to his look from the Ultimate Spider-Man line of comics without getting too ridiculous: plus, it certainly beats the goofy lightning bolt costume he wore in the regular Spidey-verse. Either way, Foxx is a solid actor, which for me is the main thing in this case.

Then there's the funny picture of Spider-Man playing fireman. A good chance he's squaring off against said antagonist in this scene, keeping in mind the natural dynamics between water and electricity. Of course, the hat isn't necessary, but it serves as a reminder of A: the fun aspect of the Spider-Man comics and movies, and B: the fact that Spider-Man has always had a tumultuous relationship with public service institutions like this. Remember his arduous affair with the police in the last film? Wearing this hat could help him improve his public image with the good people of NYC, while using a fire hose to save their city from an electric guy. After all, the Spider-Man movies, new and old, are rife with the matter of a vigilante protagonist who seeks to use his powers for good despite being disliked for it by government agencies, but still winning the love of the everyday people he protects and serves for all his valiant efforts. This shot hearkens back to the likes of the train scene in Spider-Man 2, the cheesy 'if you mess with one of us, you mess with all of us' line from a random passersby in Raimi's first Spider-Man, and the myriad examples of big-ass American flags in all of the Spidey movies to date. Like it or not, it comes with this particular red, white and blue hero's mythos. And let's face it: it's not nearly as in-your-face as a superhero wearing the American flag all over his costume!