THE BATMAN

 Robert Pattinson     Zoe Kravitz     Paul Dano     Colin Farrell

Peter Sarsgaard     Andy Serkis     Jeffrey Wright

            An eerie story with continually changing perspectives within a complex plot.  It’s especially remarkable that the musical theme throughout this action film is “Ave Maria” (part of the humor, I think).  Thankfully, in a three-hour film there is plenty of action to make the time go by quickly, especially since there are many, many characters to sort out and puzzles delivered by the Riddler to decipher.  Another entertaining aspect of the plot are numerous plays on words, such as “thumb drive” and one of the riddles being, “What does a liar do when he’s dead?...He lies still.”

            Robert Pattinson as this Batman in his second year of fighting crime convincingly portrays the mysterious, stoic figure he is known to be, even when sorely tried by The Riddler (who is targeting Gotham City residents) and fetchingly tempted by the exotic Selina Kyle (Kravitz), who is almost as fierce a fighter as Batman.  Colin Farrell is unrecognizable as a thug called The Penguin, and these fine actors are joined by Jeffrey Wright (a detective on the police force), Paul Dano (a crazed orphan grown up), Peter Sarsgaard (as a corrupt city official), Andy Serkis (in the purely dramatic role as Alfred Pennyworth), and John Turturro (in his rare portrayal of a bad guy).  

            Likewise, the crafts are well represented by Greig Fraser’s cinematography, Michael Giancchino’s music, and their colleagues in production design, sound (ah!, the effect of Batman’s ominous footsteps), costume and makeup, and special and visual effects.  Fraser has many scenes so dark it takes some work to figure out what is going on, and with some, being seen only through windows.  But stand-outs are the impressively composed shots that could stand alone as artistic productions. 

            I can say that the usual car chase that seems to be a must in this genre is present here as well, in just as much ridiculous, impossible feats as in all the others.  Two cars racing down a crowded turnpike while going against traffic and everyone in those two cars surviving goes way beyond the pale for me.

            All of these attributes (except for the car chase) are testament to Matt Reeves’ direction and co-authorship with Peter Craig.  (Bob Kane and Bill Finger are the original creators.)  Clearly these filmmakers and their associates collaborated well as a team in creating a work of art that allows us a sense of peeking in on an unfolding drama among real people that is relatable to most of our lives today.  I especially appreciated something not usually seen in this type of film—the realistic portrayal of deep emotions and conflicts (including Batman’s self doubts—which I think make the characters seem like real people to us.  Batman’s history with his family of origin and his having to sort out truth from fiction is an example of this asset.

 

The Batman is a combination of mystery, logical deduction, family drama, and spectacle that is likely to be entertaining to most people.

 

Grade:  A                              By Donna R. Copeland

GLORIA BELL

Julianne Moore     John Turturro     Michael Cera     Alanna Ubach     Rita Wilson     Brad Garrett

     Chilean Sebastian Lelio’s films have been popular in the U.S., particularly Disobedience (2017) about a Lesbian Jewish couple and A Fantastic Woman (2018) about a transgender woman.  Gloria Bell is a remake of his earlier film, Gloria (2013) about a woman past her 40’s trying to develop a satisfying life. Played by Julianne Moore, Gloria looks for someone to share her life with.  Her two grown children, Peter (Cera) and Veronica (Ubach) are caught up in their own lives and clearly enjoy their independence.  Gloria is successful at her job in insurance, and for pleasure goes to dance clubs hoping to connect with a man.

She does connect with Arnold (Turturro) one evening, and they start an intimate relationship that is, unfortunately, punctuated with calls from his two grown daughters needing his assistance.  But to her credit, Gloria is patient and understanding and allows Arnold the space to attend to his family demands.  This is clearly a warning signal, but one she doesn’t attend to.

     When Gloria wants to introduce Arnold to her family, particularly to her son and daughter, her ex-husband and his wife are present as well.  When the Bell family gets to reminiscing and showing old pictures, it’s too much for Arnold, and he disappears.  The rest of the story is about whether Gloria and Arnold will make it as a couple.  

    It’s a “Will they or won’t they?” situation.  This has the potential to be interesting, but several factors keep it in a mundane, rather boring place.  First of all, the main character (much as I love Julianne Moore) captures little interest.  She comes across as lonely and dependent, but, worst of all, lacking any problem-solving skills.  For example, she can’t seem to keep someone else’s cat out of her apartment. I presume this was supposed to be comical, but I didn’t find the humor in it.  And there are numerous other times when her decisions make the viewer shake his/her head.  

     Secondly, the dialog and action of the story makes you hold your hand over your mouth and yawn.  When the couple of the story meet, their interchange is so stilted and uninteresting you want to leave the dance floor.  Throughout, secrets are kept unnecessarily, and it’s hard to see these people in our present-day culture.  

     I did see Lelio’s original film Gloria, and was unimpressed then; I had hopes that in this rendition Julianne Moore would change my mind about it, but it’s still a story about a repressed woman who can’t figure out how to get her needs met.  It is so unlike women of today, I couldn’t relate to it.

     Julianne Moore does accomplish her usual high level of performance, and John Turturro matches her well.  Michael Cera is striking in his ability to show discomfort in the company of an unintrusive but still annoying mother, and Alanna Ubach is wonderful as the daughter who is the antithesis of both her parents in being excited about exploring new horizons and acting upon it.

     This film is only mildly interesting, and is not likely to capture much enthusiasm among today’s audiences.

A woman’s core personality keeps her from living a life she thinks she desires.

Grade:  CBy Donna R. Copeland

TRANSFORMERS: THE LAST KNIGHT

Mark Wahlberg   Anthony Hopkins   Josh Duhamel   Laura Haddock   Isabela Moner   Stanley Tucci   John Turturro   Peter Cullen

Reno Wilson   Gemma Chan   Jim Carter

     We start out with a bit of history of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table—with the addition of “knightly” autobots who stand behind each knight and who will help the English save their country from the Dark Age invaders.  They’re at a standoff with the invaders and are calling for Merlin the Magician, for aid.  He is on his way to engage a dragon—ancestor of the autobots—to align with the English to renew their partnership and save England.

     Fast forward to modern times.  The hero-bot Optimus Prime is missing, and autobots—which have been outlawed on earth—keep falling mysteriously from the sky.  Some land in a Bot junkyard overseen by Cade Yeager (Wahlberg), who regards the autobots as friends.  He is trying to repair their injuries by restoring lost parts.  Unbeknownst to him, a young girl Izabella (Moner) has lost her family and is now living in the junkyard, having made friends with the bots, especially Squeeks, trying to restore them just like Cade is.  But when he discovers she’s there, he tries to get rid of her, saying she is just a kid.  Little does he know, she is his persistent heir apparent, and will turn up intermittently throughout the film.  Needless to say, in this testosterone-filled fantasy, it takes him a long time to realize her value.

     Earth is in a state of panic now as it has realized that the autobots are attacking earth, and doesn’t really know why.  We the audience do; it has something to do with intrigue among the Bots.  Optimus Prime is devastated to find his beloved planet Cerberon—his home—has been destroyed.  Quintessa (Chan) the sorceress tells him that to save his planet he must go to earth, where a valuable artifact is buried.  If he brings it back to her, Cerberon will be restored.  He is bewitched, so although his reclaiming the artifact will destroy the earth, his ally, he proceeds to recapture it.

     Back on earth, Cade gets a message that he is to meet with Sir Edmund Burton (Hopkins) in London, and is transported to his estate by his trusted Bot Cogman (Carter).  The earl Burton explains his historical connection to a family descended from Merlin, one of whose ancestors has passed down the power of the artifact sought by the Autobots.  She is Vivian Wembley (Haddock).  She and Cade, who has a significant medal picked up from the junkyard wrapped around his arm signifying that he is the last knight, must recover the artifact, thereby saving earth.

     Just as in all action movies these days, multiple intrigues and battles ensue between the autobots and earth, the central struggle being the recovery of the artifact to the rightful heir. 

Michael Bay has directed all five of the Transformers renditions, and his experience is evident in this production, in that the film perpetuates the theme of humans vs. robots, has impressive special effects, and recruits fine actors to play the roles.  Where it lapses is its repetition of well-worn themes and too many battles in which the protagonists are not well defined.  This rendition could have been reduced from its 148 minutes by eliminating extraneous elements, such as the Izabella character trailing after Cade and the spoof of a bad scientist.  Why discount science in this day and age??!!  Humor bits could also have been eliminated:  Vivian’s mother and aunts trying to marry her off and wise cracks made by many characters are tired jokes that fall flat.

     Parents, please don’t bring your children to this movie unless they’ve shown a particular interest in robots and have loved previous Transformer movies.  A measure of interest for children is the 20+ exits/entrances during the movie by people from my row, mostly by children. 

This is a continuation of the theme of humans vs. robots in the Transformers series.

Grade:  C                   By Donna R. Copeland

HANDS OF STONE

Robert De Niro     Edgar Ramirez     Ana de Armas     Ellen Baskin     John Turturro     

Ruben Blades     Usher     Oscar Jaenada     Reg E. Cathey

          Roberto Duran (Ramirez) grew up in Panama, a street kid, who learned early on how to hustle, coached by a neighborhood “Pied Piper” who gathered up the kids and taught them how to survive by hook or by crook.  Duran’s father had long left his mother, and this man, Chaflan (Jaenada), served as his first father figure.  The second was Carlos (Blades), whom Duran at an early age kept bugging to train him to be a fighter, and when Carlos actually saw his drive and determinism in an underground fight, he agreed.  The third—who served as devoted mentor as well—was Ray Arcel (De Niro), who was approached by Carlos to pick up Duran’s training because he recognized that the famed trainer would make Duran a champion prizefighter.  Both Carlos and Ray sustained their involvement in Duran’s career for years despite major setbacks.  This could be the underlying substance of this biopic—the search for a missing father and how that served to fuel a man’s aggression and then channel it into something useful.

     Another influence was Panamanian politics, that country’s efforts to regain their sovereignty after the U.S. “bought them” with a canal.  Duran was a perceptive child when the protests first began, and when he witnessed the killing of a Panamanian trying to raise Panama’s flag at the Panama Canal and the Panamanians’ perception that the U.S. had reneged on a deal, the U.S. was identified as the father who abandoned him in infancy.

Ray Arcel was reluctant to take on Duran—he had been punished by the boxing powers that be at the time—but partly because he saw the potential and partly because he just wasn’t ready to retire, he began a relationship with Duran that affected both of them emotionally and changed their lives.  Duran soon became the boxer with manos de piedras (hands of stone).

         After Duran does become a sensation, he makes some mistakes that almost cost him his titles and reputation.  The film chronicles these with good pace and timing (the director is Jonathan Jakubowicz), allowing us to see the evolving relationships not only between the fighter and his trainers, but also his wife (de Armas) and Sugar Ray Leonard (Usher).  The film touches on the corruption in boxing that uses fighters as commodities (Turturro’s cameo appearances are appropriately subtle and commanding) and how international events can encroach upon people’s lives.

      Cinematography by Miguel Ioann Littin Menz is remarkable, particularly during the boxing matches.  Like a ballet dancer, the camera soars, pauses, and has explosions of color and action, capturing the viewer’s attention with its sheer beauty.

         De Niro remains a force in the movie business, and Hands of Stone is his film in a way, although Ramirez more than holds his own in portraying a deeply conflicted man who had to evolve from a scrappy street kid to head of a prosperous household, all while managing the temptations and seduction of fame.  Ramirez capably shows the multi-facets of this personality.  Ana de Armas captures our interest as well in her excellent portrayal of a wife needing to adapt to as well as influence her tempestuous husband.  A delightful addition to this cast is Usher, who plays the patient, charming, and ultimately very insightful Sugar Ray Leonard, a gentleman in the best sense of the word.

Under the guidance of father figures, a tempestuous boxer acquires hands of stone.

Grade:  B+                        By Donna R. Copeland