Film Review: "Midnight in Paris" (***1/2)

Please take a look at the film ratings I've given out recently, and you'll see they've been scaled back, because exceptional work deserves to be seen as just that. I thought I might be kind enough to give Super 8 a complete three stars, but still chipped off 1/2. I thought 1/2 more might be deserving of Kung Fu Panda 2, but it was ultimately not too special. Midnight in Paris was just the right film to knock me back into reality, as it was the first film this year that truly defied my expectations going in. We set such specific standards going into films, and without seeing them it is entirely too easy to make calls on certain features.

It starts out with a series of images documenting modern day Paris from morning to nighttime, and the immediate impact is as something hollow. People walking idly by, shelling out cash in stores, rushing through rain under cover of umbrella, and ultimately not taking advantage of the beauty of the place around them. Wasted potential is a good way of putting it. Then the credits roll, and we hear Gil Pender, played earnestly by Owen Wilson, raving about the beauty of Paris, and how much he wishes he could live there. His fiance Inez, played by Rachel McAdams, is not as convinced.

Gil is a former Hollywood screenwriter trying to punch out his first novel, and he has a decidedly more idealist view of the world than Inez and her parents. Inez comes from the viewpoint of survival rather than passion, much like most of us. She's fascinated with Paul Bates, portrayed by Michael Sheen, a cynical and pedantic pseudo-intellectual who tries his utmost to best anyone else, even to the point of factual disconnect. After a day of sightseeing and wine tasting, Gil walks home drunk on his own and ends up being picked up by an old style car that takes him to the Paris of his dreams.

Teaser Trailer: Midnight in Paris

Still not a fan of Owen Wilson, and I'm not going to start anytime soon, but I actually didn't mind him too bad in this trailer for Midnight in Paris. I thought that he'd be just a small part of an ensemble cast in the film, but it turns out that he's the main character. After I let that initial sense of melancholy get past me, I was able to respect this trailer as a potential return to form for Woody Allen. I obviously don't expect him to pull off an achievement similar to Vicky Christina Barcelona, but this actually seems like a pretty likable crowd-pleaser. That's something that you can't exactly say about most of Woody Allen's films. Maybe it's the wonderful cast, aside from Wilson, or maybe it's Paris' natural charm. In any case, I liked this trailer moderately enough, and it's hard for me to discount a film with Michael Sheen and Marion Cotillard in it.

Film Review: TRON Legacy

Whenever a film starts receiving a negative critical response, I start adjusting my expectations to suit that viewing experience, and this was a case in which I truly failed at that. I went into TRON: Legacy eager to see the visual world that Joseph Kosinski and his team had created, and I left the experienced noticeably underwhelmed. TRON: Legacy is the story of Sam Flynn, who is accidentally beamed onto "The Grid", an artificial world inside of a computer which his father, the long lost Kevin Flynn, created. From there Sam discovers the truth of the disappearance of his father, and fights against the perfectionist program Clu. So it's a bit much to take in.

I've heard a lot of things about the screenplay like that it is poorly conceived and rather uneven, but I had no idea it would be at the exact same level of mediocrity that the original was at. There are more than a few groan-worthy lines in this film, but the dialogue isn't what cheeses me off the most. What irritated me throughout the experience of watching the film was how heavily it borrowed from better and more classic films. There are slight elements of Lord of the Rings, Kung Fu Panda, Inception, and many other films put into this one, but the most obvious and shoddy one is Star Wars. I'm not simply talking about the original, but elements from all the Star Wars films, including the prequel trilogy. Take one look and listen to Garrett Hedlund and you will remember the dark days of dull and wimpy Annie Skywalker.

This film nabbed a PG rating, but don't go into this with delusions that you're about to see a cute and quaint little film. This has a very hard and shocking dark edge to it. As soon as we get into the grid, it is confirmed that this is no family film when a tormented program instantly and sporadically commits suicide. There is a lot of death in this film, and it may tug on heart strings once or twice, but for the most part the characters are just put in there to be killed, and we don't feel anything when it happens. We are filled to the brim with stock characters that we don't really care about. With Castor, Gem, TRON (who has now become evil), and even Sam Flynn, we have a lot of characters that are just there to push the story forward.

This truly is not a great, or even a good film for that matter, but don't take this to mean that my experience with the film was completely and totally negative. I actually found myself having a good time for the greater duration of this film, despite the poor script. I attribute that to three truly magnificent factors of this film, starting with the look of the film. TRON: Legacy manages to be a true visual wonder, but only when thinking of the visual effects. The cinematography is just not up to par with the world the filmmakers have created. At any point in the film there are at least 25 better shots that could've been used. One of the shots just looked like it was setting up for a DVD menu. It occasionally works, but it was obvious that it needed some work. However, the look of the visuals managed to stay with me as I left the theater and went into the shiny-orange-light ridden night, so if you're going to see this film, see it then.

Next is, quite obviously, the musical score that has been composed by the famous French musical duo known as Daft Punk. The hype over this film has mostly surrounded this score, and it delivers where most of this film does not. At times I was complaining more that the film didn't match up enough to the soundtrack, instead of saying that the soundtrack didn't match up to the film. This film was almost built around this soundtrack, and I'm happy for it. It amplified every dull and tedious experience, and there were times when I just wanted to rock out to the film. Just forget everything and fist pump in the middle of the theater.

However, everything comes second to what is the best factor of TRON: Legacy, and that is undeniably Jeff Bridges as the real Kevin Flynn. I'm not talking about that CGI mannequin Clu, because even though I occasionally tricked myself into believing this was an animated film, the younger version of Jeff Bridges just didn't look natural. It helps to have dim lighting in those scenes with him. On the other hand, in this film Kevin Flynn is perhaps the most legendary character that I've seen this year. Bridges doesn't let clunky dialogue come in his way, because it just never seems that clumsy when it's coming from him. He has this easy-going and charming, yet all encompassing presence to him that grounds him as arthe center of the universe. It's hard to think of any other reason to wait this long to make a sequel besides waiting for Jeff Bridges to look the most like God. There is that religious undertone to it, but it never becomes a point of controversy.

None of the other performances truly reach the level that Bridges reached. Olivia Wilde was suitably well done as Quorra, but she's mostly just there as eye candy, albeit extremely appealing eye candy. Cillian Murphy does a fantastic little cameo at the beginning of the film, but so much goes on since then that you kind of forget him. He wasn't even recognized in the credits, which seems like a disservice. The highest performance that you get aside from Bridges was Michael Sheen as Castor, because he has such a flamboyance in his style that can be acquainted to the likes of David Bowie.

At first, this film struck me as the most difficult film for anyone to review, because more than any of the other guilty pleasure action blockbusters, this one cuts you down the middle. I can never describe this as a truly bad experience, because I was glad that I was in the theater. I could tell what the ending was going to be about 30 minutes before it happened, but I spent that remaining half hour waiting in hopeful dread that they might go a more sensitive route. I'm glad they didn't, and though it could be seen as another plot element taken from Star Wars, it was one of the bravest moments this film could've given us. TRON: Legacy is definitely not what I'd call a good film, but it was more than entertaining for the three core aspects that went beyond the quality of the rest, and what would've been an easy D- turned out to be somewhat enlightening. Many problems obviously, but I can't say it's a bother. Should you see it? It depends on if you can substitute story, meaning, and substantial characters for music, visuals, and Jeff Bridges at his best.

C+

For Your Anticipation: Entertainments and Diversions

I might not be flipping my lid over the impending release of TRON: Legacy, but I am kind of excited for it. I will say that the first film was narrative dreck, and I really didn't care after a certain point. I have a worried feeling that the same thing is going to happen this time. Still, reviews have painted it as a visual wonder, even if it does have it's shortcomings in the story department. I'm excited to see Jeff Bridges in a huge action blockbuster, but what has me most excited currently is Michael Sheen's fun and energetic performance as Castor. This clip is definitely the most entertaining of the ones released.