Movie Review - Mortdecai

Mortdecai

Starring: Johnny Depp, Gwyneth Paltrow, Paul Bettany, Ewan McGregor, Olivia Munn, Jonny Pasvolsky, Michael Culkin, Ulrich Thomsen, Alec Utgoff, Rob de Groot, Guy Burnet, Jeff Goldblum, and more.

Directed by: David Koepp Screenplay by: Eric Aronson Based on the Novel by: Kyril Bonfiglioli Cinematography by: Florian Hoffmeister Music by: Mark Ronson and Geoff Zanelli

Premise: Charlie Mortdecai is an art aficionado, a semi-rogue, and owes eight million pounds in back taxes. Desperately trying to find a way to pay, he decides to help an old rival when he's asked for his assistance after the murder of an art restorer in Oxford. But his marriage becomes strained when his wife finds out he's grown a mustache. A situation that leaves his old rival, an MI-5 agent, thinking he might finally get his chance to steal away the woman he's been in love with since college. (Rated R)

Review:

1)  Acting - Total Thumbs Up: The story is told from Mortdecai's perspective, which gave Johnny Depp even more room to play than normal. And play he does...to good effect. Gwyneth Paltrow was a lot of fun as Mortdecai's mustache disapproving wife. Paul Bettany almost steals the show with his portrayal of Jock, Mortdecai's suffering but stalwart manservant. Ewan McGregor was definitely adorable as Mortdecai's rival and MI-5 operative.

2)  Special Effects - Total Thumbs Up: Lots of nice little special effect touches are woven throughout the film. The most noticeable ones are the giant block letters merged with the spanning views of the cities the action takes place in. They even find ways to have a little fun with it as things move along.

3) Plot/Story - Thumbs Up: The film is based on a book called "Don't Point That Thing at Me". I've not read it, so can't say if it is also a tongue-in-cheek story, but from the title, it might very well be. (Also found out Jock's full name is Jock Strapp. So, I'm thinking definitely yes.)

Much like the film "Austin Powers", there are a lot of jokes which British audiences will appreciate more than American audiences. (This excludes Americans in the US who love British TV, however!) There is definitely humor and fun poked at both the British aristocracy and the concept of the perfect manservant. It even brings up modern day British nobility problems of debt and the need to find new means of income to maintain their households, despite their noble lineages.

One unexpected story thread is that of "a man and his mustache." The odd thread gets play throughout the film. The bit with the elevator at the American hotel was priceless. Amusingly, the mustache itself was lovely, but the expressions created by Johnny and the attention it drew to his bad teeth, totally ruined how it looked on his face. Gwyneth Paltrow's reaction to the thing were definitely entertaining. The odd dynamics of their marriage were rather amusing as well.

Lots of innuendos, some vulgarity, and definitely some slapstick. The plot is also reminiscent of Peter Sellers' Pink Panther films, full of misunderstandings, backstabbings, bumbling, and bandying about. Add in the rumors of a lost painting not seen since WWII and the possibility it could lead to a lost Nazi fortune, and hijinks ensue.

Though the story is set in modern times, there's a very James Bond 60's feel to the film, the music even conforms to this and support the illusion.

4) Stunts - Total Thumbs Up: The stunt department deserves some well earns kudos on this one. There are several fights, with guns and without, an unusual sword fight, and one of the most bizarre car fights with musical chairs ever.

5) Locations/Cinematography - Total Thumbs Up: The story bounces around to several countries and cities, sometimes in quick succession. Some lovely and inventive camera work is used as the audience travels from place to place. This served to break up all the travel nicely, so it wasn't the same old thing every time. The two groups were freshly inventive on these sequences. They looked great!

6) Costuming/Makeup - Total Thumbs Up: Great work with the costuming and makeup. They somehow managed to make Mortdecai look respectable and worthy of his title one moment, and not so desirable or good the next. Some of the color schemes definitely looked to have come from the Austin Power's collection, which worked very well. Though of course these came with matching ascots and a lovely cane - Mortdecai is of the nobility after all.

Some truly nice makeup work on the ever suffering Jock. The scar over his eye and the twisted eye ball looked great. Made some of Jock's expressions even more poignant.

7) Music - Total Thumbs Up: The soundtrack by Mark Ronson and Geoff Zanelli does a lot to set the international intrigue vibe to the film. Has a very 60's spy/James Bond feel to it. Great for setting the mood.

Conclusion: Mortdecai's humor will not be to everyone's tastes. Some knowledge of England is needed to get some of the subtle pokes at British nobility and the serving class. Very tongue-in-cheek.

Rating: 3.75 out of 5 (Hubby's Rating: Worth Full Price of Admission)

Movie Review - Transcendence

Transcendence

Starring: Johnny Depp, Rebecca Hall, Paul Bettany, Cillian Murphy, Kate Mara, Morgan Freeman, Cole Hauser, Clifton Collins Jr., Cory Hardrict, and more.

Directed by: Wally Pfister Written by: Jack Paglen Cinematography by: Jess Hall Music by: Mychael Danna

Premise: A terrorist group executes simultaneous terrorist acts on scientific labs and scientists working on artificial intelligence. Recent breakthroughs by one of the killed men, however, gives hope to Evelyn Caster as her own husband lays dying from a bullet laced with radioactive material. But the terrorists are still out there and want to stop them, no matter the cost. (Rated PG-13)

Review:

1) Acting - Total Thumbs Up: It was a lot of fun watching Johnny Depp as the brainy scientist later turned computer. Rebecca Hall did well as his passionate wife and scientist in her own right, despite the bad writing which pretty much left her with nothing in the second half. Paul Bettany's emotions on both sides of the issues presented were definite bright spots - well done. Kate Mara was very convincing, and even creepy, as the young terrorist leader.

2) Special Effects - Thumbs Up: Special effects were very good, though sadly most of them were nothing we've not seen before. Really nice job with the explosions and the nano repair sequences. The lab scene where we see what Will has been working on came out nicely. Best work though was with the repair work done on Martin. The little machine tubes on the med table moving about on their own was cool and creepy all at once.

3) Plot/Story - Thumbs Down: Sadly, as my husband put it, the plot of the film was "Beautifully Bad". The movie's premise was interesting, but the bad science and the shortcuts, as well as the turning of Evelyn's character into a passive lump, blackened what good was in there.

Some science fallacy is usually expected in movies, but the glaring holes in this one were too large to ignore. A virus made to destroy specific code infecting most systems might bring the internet and other systems down when it first hits, but reloading the original untainted software and rebooting/repairing other systems would allow us to have technology again - not send us into a new dark age. But sadly, this is the status of the world at the point where they begin the film and eventually circle back to.

With the computing power they claim Will has, and which he continues to exponentially increase, there's no way the terrorists would have figured out where they'd gone, as he could clean up/erase transaction trails even as he made them. And since Will put the FBI onto where many of the terrorists were located so they could be apprehended, he would have known, and taken steps, to help out his friend Max. Yet he never even knew his friend had been taken.

If a bullet is so radioactive it can poison someone to death from just a graze (I'd thought from the commercials he'd taken it in the gut) half the people there with him, and especially the cops handling evidence, would have died too.

The biggest error in my opinion, however, was the character assassination of Evelyn. She was the dreamer, the one who wanted to change the world - but after Will is transferred and comes back, she soon becomes an emotionless lump. When she first discovers what else was done to Martin, all she does is say she can't deal with it. Never once mentions to Will the fact (as the woman with the determination and intelligence we were introduced to would have) that he's bypassing people's freewill. There should have been raging arguments over this alone. But sadly, much like was done to Amidala from the "Star Wars" films - a strong willed woman is presented and then turned into a turnip because her strength and intelligence was no longer convenient to the plot.

And let's not forget the fact the terrorists pretty much brought their own fears to life due to their actions - a fact no one mentions or seem to notice. As Will said, the irony that they would take life to achieve their goals of stopping the creation of artificial life was quite ironic. The fact the main instigator never paid for her crimes? Even more so.


4) Stunts - Total Thumbs Up: Some quick fights as well as explosions dot the film, so some adrenaline gets pumped into the audience here and there. Car flipping and even machine throwing thanks to the nanites livened up a few other scenes as well.

5) Locations/Cinematography - Thumbs Up: There are several gorgeous shots of nature, rivers, mountains, and some lovely CGI representations as well. The town Will picks to 'lay low' at definitely looked to need saving. But though Evelyn spoke of Will buying most of the property of the town, and the amount of work they brought to the place, I was surprised at the lack of improvement of the impoverished town. Worse, the town itself became a sore point in the bad plot when those opposed to the machine decide that's a good place to set up operations. As if Will wouldn't have put surveillance equipment on his properties? (It's even worse due to other reasons I'll leave you to discover on your own.)

Conclusion: Cool premise, horrible execution. Between the bad science and miraculous intelligence gathering efforts of the terrorists after they've ditched their electronic equipment, there sadly wasn't much to love.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5 (Hubby's Rating: Catch it on Cable)