The Lego Movie

TAKE 1: One Man’s OpinioN

…because film is largely subjective

by Frederick William Springer III

The Lego Movie in 3D

Release Date: 7 February 2014                                                               Runtime:  100 Minutes  

Review Date:  22 April 2014                                                                   Rating:  2 (of 6)

 

     "Everything is awesome."  Visually, maybe.  Otherwise, not so much.

     The trailer, when it was first released, had me excited about The Lego Movie.  I had had my doubts about a film based on the building blocks but the trailer really did have me thinking it could be awesome.  And confined to that 2 minute timeframe, it was.  Expanded upon, it was pretty anti-awesome.

 

 

     Morgan Freeman's character Vitruvius made a comment during their journey that they should bring a dream catcher with them in case they wanted to take a nap.  I found that apropos as I DID TAKE A NAP!  Forget President Business's power-hungry scheme of domination, somewhere up to the 45-minute mark I was having a serious battle of my own trying to keep from nodding off.  In the end, a nap would have been more welcome.

     It didn't surprise me when I later realized that the writer/directors, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, were the same directing team of the horrid 21 Jump Street and the equally terrible Hotel Transylvania.  The old adage goes "3 strikes and you're out."  I will now actively be avoiding all their future pictures.

 

     The only amusing thing to me was that 2 actors from another franchise made the briefest cameo reprising those roles here.  I won't spoil it by revealing who, but you'll know when you hear their voices.  However, a couple seconds in an hour and forty minute movie doesn't a satisfied patron make.  I lambasted Frozen a couple weeks ago here but I think I would have much rather sat through that a second time than have seen this once.

RoboCop

TAKE 1: One Man’s Opinion

…because film is largely subjective

 by Frederick William Springer III

RoboCop

Release Date:  12 February 2014                                                               Runtime:  117 Minutes  

Review Date:  15 April 2014                                                                      Rating:  3 (of 6)

 

     No nostalgia attached, not having seen the original since it first made its way to cable TV nearly 30 years ago and no significant memory of it persisting, the thing that made me interested in the new version of RoboCop was the return of Michael Keaton to the screen.  Luckily, his time there wasn't some brief cheesy cameo--he played a significant part--but, even so, it wasn't that exciting.

     That could be said for the movie as a whole.  In fact, the movie would be more aptly named "OmniCorp" rather than RoboCop, as the film's focus was more on the former than the later.  In that regard, Michael Keaton may have even had more face time than Joel Kinnaman's title character, or at least it felt close to it, which is absurd.

     The movie puts corrupt profiteers on display, but little emotional depth is created to feel against them and their actions or to feel for what Michael Murphy and his family are going through.  Gary Oldman's Dr. Norton is supposed to be our loose moral compass but we never really connect with him either.  And Samuel Jackson's Pat Novak, a satire of cable personalities purporting to represent the news, falls flat just as his Nick Fury does in all the Marvel movies, particularly in The Avengers.

     The film as a whole left us feeling nothing, which may follow along with their robotic theme but does little to make it a worthwhile experience, the fault probably falling on the directing and writing.  To that end, the Director has no significant prior films, 4 of his last 6 being documentaries, which makes him an odd selection to helm a movie that could have potentially launched a lucrative new franchise for the studio.  Likewise, the Writer has no other credits whatsoever that I can find, other than some uncredited rewrites and unproduced scripts.  Though, to be fair, the Director supposedly said that this was the worst experience of his life and that the studio was meddling every step of the way so, perhaps, the blame falls there.  Either way, Robocop is still worth skipping.

Frozen

TAKE 1: One Man’s Opinion

…because film is largely subjective

 by Frederick William Springer III

Frozen in 3D

Release Date:  27 November 2013                                                       Runtime:  102 Minutes              

Review Date:  1 April 2014                                                                  Rating:  3 (of 6)

I saw Frozen the day after it was announced that it had become the highest grossing animated film ever, crossing the billion dollar mark, and beating the likes of Toy Story 3, leaving me with the burning question of "WHY?!".

For starters, the film is very heavy-handed with music from the get-go, the songs feeling very forced and unnatural (not to mention not very good), unlike any of the Disney classics that felt smooth and organic.  For example, Olaf was introduced late in the film, was rather minor, yet needed to have his very own song and dance number?  It wasn't needed and didn't advance the story any.

(Having recently rewatched Mary Poppins, I hadn't remembered how much of a musical that movie really was but the songs pleasantly work there, never once feeling superfluous but supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!)

While the themes explored here are definitely applause worthy--the bonds of kinship and self-sacrifice--the story itself is rather lacking.  It may have been more poignant if it was explored equally through the older sister's eyes (Elsa).  Or, even if they kept it slanted towards the younger Anna, but perhaps had a few short minutes focused on Elsa's plight from her own perspective, similar to the photo album moments in the beginning of Up that outlaid the old man Carl's whole backstory and had everyone melting.

As is, the title is appropriate, leaving the audience kind of stiff and Frozen.

Non-Stop

TAKE 1: One Man’s Opinion

…because film is largely subjective

 by Frederick William Springer III

Non-Stop

Release Date:   28 February 2014                                                     Runtime:  106 Minutes              
Review Date:  1 April 2014                                                               Rating:  4.5 (of 6)

The title Non-Stop could be applied to sexagenarian Laim Neeson's burgeoning career as an action star.

This one is a little mash-up of different sub-genres, putting in place the distant antagonist directing the hero over the phone (Phone Booth, Getaway, Die Hard with a Vengeance) within the confinement of an airplane to add suspense (Air Force One, Executive Decision, Snakes on a Plane).

The story is entertaining enough to check it out.  I personally like the stylistic way of showing the incoming and outgoing texts going through Neeson's Air Marshal Bill Marks' phone.  The reason the terrorist had fabricated this whole scenario was one I don't recall seeing before but, while interesting, was a little weak.  Fortunately, the reveal didn't diminish the rest of the time spent investing in the viewing.