(2 People gave this 3.00 out of 5)

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“Boldly go!”

Click the image above for behind the scenes pics!

Swift shot:  The next chapter of the J.J. Abrams helmed Star Trek franchise doesn’t fail to deliver on the action, sexiness, or gut-wrenching drama you have come to expect from this incredible director.  All of your favorite characters are back to boldly go where no man has gone before.  (Screw you, PC police . . . it was meant to be man, and ‘man’ it will stay in my review!)  Some things should remain intact, even in an alternate reality.

Commander Spock (Zachary Quinto) and Captain Kirk (Chris Pine) are an odd couple in this universe, with both more or less tolerating one another yet grudgingly admitting they are a fantastic team.  And from the moment the action starts, we are given a glimpse of how each views their duties.  Spock is always logical and by the book, even at great personal risk, while Kirk is always a seat-of-your-pants type leader.  This film changes those roles to a certain degree, as Kirk is betrayed by Spock and loses his command of the Enterprise.  Now, if you thought that was a spoiler – DO NOT go beyond my Red Alert line below, because there are so many things in this film that are just far too easy to spoil.

After some major convincing, Kirk is allowed back on the Enterprise under Admiral Pike, but his tenure is short-lived as a nefarious terrorist, John Harrison (Benedict Cumberbatch) has destroyed the Starfleet Archives in London.  No doubt a subtle tip of the bowler to Cumberbatch’s roots.  Harrison is a formidable opponent of Starfleet.

Kirk is put in charge of a top-secret mission to bring the Enterprise to the edge of Klingon space (where Harrison is believed to be in hiding) and fire a set of experimental long-range stealth torpedoes at Harrison and then go home and drink some scotch.  That’s the plan, but this is Abrams folks – you don’t really think it’s going to be that simple do you?  Kirk, Spock, Uhura and some defrocked “red shirts” manage to capture Harrison at great personal cost.  Also, they kinda blow the whole “top-secret” aspect of the mission . . . and disobey their original orders.  Kirk disobeys a lot of orders, it’s kind of his thing, in ANY universe!

Admiral Marcus, the mission’s architect is none to pleased and decides to rendezvous with Kirk to voice his displeasure, but turns out the Enterprise has a stowaway on board, Marcus’ daughter, Carol, again, not a major spoiler!  Marcus is played by RoboCop himself, Peter Weller, and his blonde daughter by Alice Eve.  You may recognize Alice from her other Sci-Fi role as the young Agent O in Men in Black III.  Her character plays a crucial role in Kirk’s destiny, but not how you might be thinking.

Things rapidly go from black and white to gray as words like morality and honor take on a double-meaning.  As the Federation stands on the precipice of a great war with the Klingon Empire, there are those vying for a glory-bound campaign and others determined to avoid war at all costs.  There are arguably some stabs at previous administrations in the film, but I didn’t find them overly annoying.  Suffice it to say that if you want to find politics in this film, you won’t have to look hard.  But, there are so many great things and greater characters, with Chekov, Bones and of course Scotty and his weird . . . “companion.”  All the one-liners you are hoping for are again thrown into the mix as the tension is built up to a 10 on the butt-pucker factor!  Or, a 10 on my patent pending Thrillometer!

Again, ILM (if I have to tell you who that is, it doesn’t mean anything to you anyway) lend their talents to this Star Trek film, and the attention to detail is again breathtaking and spectacular.  Back when those words actually meant something, ILM was shattering their definitions!  With Star Trek Into Darkness, they really outdid themselves.  I got to screen it in 3D which was a bit of aaaallllllll riiiiight!

There are some crucial things that happen in Star Trek Into Darkness that “flip the switch” on the past franchise, but to get into that, you need to delve into the Red Alert section below – because there will be major spoilers ahead!  If you don’t want to be deprived the joy of experiencing everything as it unfolds, and/or you are Dr. Sheldon Cooper, this ends your read.  For many reasons that you have to see to appreciate, Star Trek Into Darkness is a must watch film!  And, as it is a major popcorn flick, you need to see it in theaters . . . there is no excuse not to!

***RED ALERT*** – Spoilers below

Ok, you have been advised, you proceed now at your own risk . . .

This film takes a literal exploration of its sister sequel, The Wrath of Khan.  In fact, Khan is the primary villain, as he manipulates just about everyone into reckless danger.  Where The Wrath of Khan is known for many famous, often quoted, lines – Into Darkness delivers the same lines with not-so-subtle changes.  Perhaps a character you were expecting to say a famous line is uttered by another, equally important, character.  But, even my spoiler section isn’t going to divulge that.  Just know that the entire film is a dedicated parallel to The Wrath of Khan.  And just like when Ricardo (Fantasy Island) Montalban played him, Cumberbatch is vicious and unrelenting in his desire for revenge.  Perhaps his vengeance is a bit weak though, as Abrams only dabbles in the back-story of why he is so determined to see Marcus die.

Maybe letting us actually see Marcus’ betrayal would have made Khan a more sympathetic creature.  Perhaps his vengeance would have been justified?  Also, Abrams attempted to make the argument that vengeance doesn’t solve anything.  Ok, but ending the film like he did, a year after the attack where they go off on a five year mission might have made sense in our known Star Trek universe, but in this new reality . . . not so much.  As the film ends, Kirk [The Federation in other words] has led an incursion into Klingon space and killed a patrol there.  Vulcan is gone, and the enemies are very much at the gates.  So to go on a noble five year fact-finding mission makes little, if any, sense.  Maybe it is the warrior in me, but the ending was weak, and Kirk’s final moment at the podium about not seeking adventure and vengeance are all well and good until you hear these words . . . “Klingon bird of prey ahead, Captain!”  Now what?

(1 People gave this 5.00 out of 5)

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This is not your Grandmother’s “The Wizard of Oz”

At last, we finally get to see how the great and powerful Wizard of Oz came to be.  I know there have been books written about the Land of Oz, but I can’t recall there being a movie about the origin of the characters.  With “Oz The Great and Powerful,” we learn how both the Wizard and the Wicked Witch of the West came to be.

Oscar Zoroaster Phadrig Issac Norman Henkel Emmannuel Ambroise Diggs, or Oz for short (James Franco) is a magician in a traveling circus, circa 1905.  Currently the circus is in Kansas and Oz is performing with the help of his assistant Frank (Zach Braff).  We learn pretty quickly that Oz is a bit of a con man and a lot of a lady’s man.  One of his scams is to give pretty ladies a music box that he claims was his grandmother’s (he actually has quite a bit of these music boxes).  Oz is good at smoke and mirrors and other assorted tricks, which sure comes in handy later!!  When he is chased down by a paramour’s lover, he goes on the run and ends up…in a hot air balloon.  Not really a great place to hide when a storm is coming.

Of course there is a tornado (apparently the transportation method to get to the Land of Oz) which sweeps up the magician Oz and that’s when everything changes.  Oz meets Theodora (Mila Kunis) and pretty much instantly, sparks fly.  See, there is a prophecy that there will be a great wizard who will come and save the Land of Oz.  Theodora truly believes the prophecy is about Oz.  She brings him to the Emerald City, where he meets Evanora (Rachel Weisz) and a giant room full of gold, all of which will be his when he takes the throne.  One catch though, he needs to defeat the evil witch by breaking her magic wand.

Off Oz goes with Finley the flying monkey (also Zach Braff).  Along the way, they pass by China Town (not what you are thinking) and pick up another mate to join along in their travels, China Girl (voiced by Joey King).  When they reach the Dark Forest, they discover that they were tricked, and the ‘evil’ witch was actually Glinda the Good Witch (Michelle Williams).  Glinda convinces Oz to help her, and the people of Oz, defeat the witches that currently reside in Emerald City, thereby freeing the Land of Oz!!

Together with the residents of the Land of Oz, the magician Oz plans an amazing spectacle to defeat the two evil witches.  What follows next is a real nail-biter, as the people of Oz battle the two evil witches to gain control of the Emerald City.  I won’t give any more away but it truly is amazing.

With a two hour and ten minute running time, you would think the movie might drag but the time flew by.  The story is immersing, I felt like I was there in Oz!!  Maybe that was due to the 3D effects.  Unlike The Wizard of Oz this was not a musical, although there was one partial musical number.

Solid acting performances all around, even with wild card James Franco.  You just never know what you’ll get, between the cheesy Spider-Man 3 (“You’re my best friend forever Peter”) and Rise of the Planet of the Apes, which he was really good in.  Mila Kunis and Rachel Weisz were great as the witch sisters (Weisz especially being deliciously evil) and Michelle Williams was a fabulous Glinda the Good Witch.  As most of the movie, he was the voice of the monkey Finley, Zach Braff had to rely on his distinctive voice to animate his character (did you know he was also the voice of Chicken Little?).  I won’t give away who, but the actress whose character became The Wicked Witch of the West gave a stand-out performance as well.

At first, I thought the production quality was kind of lacking.  It looked like they were on a giant set.  Then I realized…it looked like The Wizard of Oz looked!!  Amazing!!  Keep in mind, this is not a remake of The Wizard of Oz, rather it’s a prequel.  Although direct references to The Wizard of Oz weren’t allowed, they made many nods to the earlier film; if you keep your eyes and ears peeled you’ll spot them.  I’m not sure if there will be a sequel to this but I hope so as I would love the chance to visit Oz again.

The movie is rated PG for some scary scenes (the flying monkeys, for one, which definitely had facelifts!!) but overall this is a great family movie that can be enjoyed by fans of The Wizard of Oz and newcomers also.

(3 People gave this 4.67 out of 5)

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Welcome back, Mr. Bond.

The H-Bomb:  A list containing the names of all the deep cover operatives embedded in various terrorist groups has been stolen in Istanbul, and while in pursuit of the thief, James Bond (Daniel Craig) finds himself taking a nasty dive after catching a bullet fired by fellow agent, Eve (Naomie Harris).  Believed to be dead, 007 takes the opportunity to drop off the radar for a couple of months, living in a lovely little beach bungalow, shagging gorgeous women, playing drinking games with scorpions at the local bar, ya know, the normal things that dead secret agents do.

But when Bond finds out that the MI6 headquarters in London has been bombed, he decides it’s time to go back to work.  And his old boss, M (Judi Dench), couldn’t be happier to see him, as not only has the security at MI6 been compromised, but the list that was stolen months ago has been decrypted, and the names and photos of undercover agents are being posted online.  As if all this isn’t enough, M is facing political pressure to resign in the wake of this massive security breach, and is being closely scrutinized by government bureaucrat, Mallory (Ralph Fiennes).

So, with no time to lose, she sends her best agent on the trail of this cyber terrorist.  But, the question arises, is Bond up to the task?  He’s been out of practice for quite a while, and the less-than-stellar results of his physical and psychological exams have raised a few eyebrows.  Nevertheless, he will have to do.  So, armed with his own personalized Walther PPK from the new Quartermaster (Ben Whishaw), Bond follows a lead that takes him to Shanghai, and eventually, after a few nasty scrapes, as well as a close encounter with a hungry Komodo Dragon, to Silva (Javier Bardem).

Who is Silva?  Well, aside from being the mastermind behind all this madness, he’s a “ghost” from M’s past who has come back to haunt her.  A psychotic genius with a mean axe to grind with the old gal, he will stop at nothing to see her, and all of MI6, burn to the ground.  Now, 007 is going to have to shake off the ring rust, and get back on his A-game pronto, before this bleach-blond whack-nut makes good on his promise to make “Mommy” atone for what he feels are her past sins.

Well, I said it couldn’t be done.  After first seeing Casino Royale back in 2006, I said, “This is as good as a James Bond movie can get, and it will never get this good again.”  As much as I absolutely loved it, I feared it might have been too good, in that it set the bar so high that no subsequent film in the series had even a prayer of living up to it, and after Quantum of Solace- which isn’t a bad movie, but as a sequel to Casino Royale, is underwhelming- it seemed that my fears were very much founded.  Casino Royale was just too fucking good.

However, having now seen Skyfall, the 23rd official Bond film, and the third to star the rugged, steely-eyed Craig as the legendary super spy, I can say that being proven wrong has never felt so good.  This film is easily as good as Casino Royale.  Whether or not it’s better, I’m not prepared to say, as I should see it a second time.  But for right now, it’s tied as my favorite 007 flick.  What we have here, compliments of Craig, Dench, Bardem and director Sam Mendes, is a very special James Bond movie that I can say, with confidence, is perfect on every level.  Make no mistake, people, 007 is back, and he is firing on all cylinders (or more appropriately, barrels).

In a way, Skyfall acts as a bridge between the Bond of new and old.  The gritty intensity of the Craig films is very much present, but Mendes also incorporates a number of old school Bond elements, the most apparent being the look of the film, which, as photographed by the great Roger Deakins, flawlessly mirrors the early movies while giving it all an extra visual pop.  If nothing else, Skyfall is easily the most gorgeous 007 film ever made (if there’s a real IMAX screen near you, see it on that).

In addition to the classically inspired cinematography, Mendes also welcomes back the gadgets and the witty humor.  Now, the gadgets promise to be of a less fantastical and more practical nature (“What were you expecting, an exploding pen?”), and the humor is dry, but very present.  It’s as if the producers are appeasing those who bitched about the more recent outings being too serious and not “Bondian” enough, without making it obvious that they are, in fact, appeasing them.

But the way in which Skyfall annexes the old and new the most is in its treatment of Bond himself, in how he’s written and portrayed.  He is no longer the hotheaded, overly impulsive, trigger-happy novice of Casino and Quantum, he is now a battle-hardened veteran with many, many missions under his belt.  Missions that have taken a toll on him over time.  He’s still a lethal motherfucker, but he‘s also looking haggard and tired, as if all the years of running and gunning have caused him to “lose a step.”  This, above all else, is what defines Craig’s Bond, he is all too human.  That humanity, that mortality, is what makes his take on the character so wonderfully unique, and this time he truly outdoes himself.

As M, Dench is given her largest role ever in the franchise.  Now, that may make some of you, who thought she was in Quantum way too much, groan.  But, let me put your minds at ease, she isn’t just some henpecking old nag who pops in to berate Bond every five minutes.  No, this time M is actually an integral part of the story, and the way it plays out is one of Skyfall’s many surprises.  Her sort-of mother/son relationship with Bond gives the movie a genuine emotional payoff, and performance-wise, Dench rises to the occasion.

If there was one thing that was missing from the Craig Bonds, it was the presence of a truly great villain.  Skyfall rectifies that with the frighteningly psychotic Silva, embodied by none other than Anton Chigurh himself, Javier Bardem.  A larger-than-life villain who “comes from the shadows,” Silva will no doubt become iconic in series canon.  Bardem gives him a playful side, as he taunts Bond with genuine glee.  But, much like Heath Ledger’s Joker, underneath the playful facade, there is something very dark and sinister about Silva.  He is one sick, disturbed puppy, and perhaps, the greatest Bond villain of all time.  Bravo, Mr. Bardem, you and your hair have managed to scare me shitless yet again.

Fiennes, Harris, and Albert Finney all do solid work in their supporting roles, but since I can’t say a whole hell of a lot about them without dropping spoilers, I’ll just have to leave it at that.  French beauty Berenice Marlohe, as the requisite femme fatale, brings a sexy mystique to her character, it’s just too bad that she exits the film as quickly as she does.  Whishaw gets some laughs as the new Q, and I look forward to seeing him banter with Bond in future films.

Looking at the actors named above, it is very safe to say that Skyfall has the greatest cast this series has ever seen, and in Sam Mendes, it also has the greatest director to have ever worked on the franchise.  This guy is not only a world class, Oscar-winning filmmaker, but he’s also a lifelong Bond fan, who clearly understands that it’s the character of Bond, and not the over-the-top chases and gun battles, that makes this series special.  In fact, not only does Mendes not shoe-horn a ton of needless action set pieces into the film, he actually scales the action back, and uses it to serve the story, instead of merely supplementing it.  What we get is something unheard of, a Bond flick that favors character and story over stunts and explosions.

That’s not to say that it doesn‘t have its share of spectacle.  From the opening train top chase in Istanbul, to the western-style showdown at an old Scottish manor, there are pyrotechnics aplenty.  For me, since Craig is so physically adept, the action works best when he gets up close and personal with his adversaries.  And this time, my personal favorite slug-fest would have to be the life or death scuffle in a Shanghai skyscraper that’s entirely backlit, so only the silhouettes are visible, and that plays out in one uninterrupted shot.  A finer display of Craig’s mad ass-kicking skills I have not seen.

Add, as a cherry on top, a sensational title song by Adele, and what we have with Skyfall is a truly exceptional entry in the 007 canon.  One that upholds the traditions of the series, while also breaking away from the standard formula by serving up a number of surprising twists and turns throughout, including a real zinger of a climax.  The James Bond franchise turns 50 this year, and I can’t think of a greater gift that the producers could have given the fans who have stuck with it for half a century.  It‘s our editor Rick Swift‘s new favorite of the series, and as stated earlier, it‘s deadlocked with Casino Royale as being mine, as well.  I can’t put it any plainer than that, Skyfall is Double-O Awesome!

(1 People gave this 5.00 out of 5)

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Scotland is no country for old men!

Swift shot: It’s been fifty years since we were introduced to the screen version of Ian Fleming’s 007.  Skyfall marks the latest, arguably, greatest of the franchise. I grew up with the debonair Bond, Roger Moore.  There have been so many iterations of the character, and granted, it’s been 50 years, and I wouldn’t expect, nor want to see Moore as Bond now.  No offense Roger, we’ll always have Octopussy.  But the semi-centennial honors go to Daniel Craig. He brings a living pulse to Bond, you feel every scene with all your senses, you can’t escape his reality, his pain.

Director Sam Mendes (American Beauty, Jarhead) begins Skyfall as all the great Bonds of yesteryear, it opens with a dramatic, over the top, chase. On rooftops, on motorcycles, on trains, through crowded streets in Turkey, Bond and his not-so-skilled, behind the wheel, accomplice, Eve (Naomie Harris) are pursuing an enemy that somehow managed to steal the NATO covert agent list.  [Being a former NATO intel guy myself, that brought things home a bit, granted I was overt, with a capital O].  But you get the concept that letting the identities of these agents slip is dire, and M (Judi Dench) can’t afford to lose the list.  She has to make the hard call. She does, and this sets things into motion.

Things go from bad to worse as MI6 is directly assaulted, again under M’s watch leading her to a resounding “No” from the Prime Minister.  Essentially told to gracefully resign in two months by a straight-jawed civilian, Garreth Mallory (Ralph Fiennes), the clock begins ticking for her to find out which of her sins is finally catching up with her. Being M means that list is probably as long as the covert agent list itself.

She recruits a ghost agent to help her at least not leave her beloved command in a buggery of shambles before she turns it over. It’s a ghost she relies on, resurrected, that must help her drown a rat from her past, only this is a rat she betrayed for the greater good.  Thing is, all that “for England” shit is all well and good until it is your ass dealing with her betrayal. Sometimes mother doesn’t always know best.

With the demise of the old Quartermaster, or Q, MI6 introduces some youthful exuberance, or is that hubris, in the new Q (Ben Whishaw).  He’s not my favorite actor, but he turned in a believable, albeit, feeble Q.  As I’ve been sworn to ‘code-word’ secrecy not to spoil anything, I hope I can reveal the rat from M’s past is Mr. Silva (Javier Bardem).  A few of his scenes are over the top and teetering on the edge of Shatner-esque acting, but he tethers his performance in credibility so it works.  But, it’s a cut-throat razor’s edge to be sure.  Some people were laughing at his performance, and I couldn’t fault them. He’s one of those actors that deliver pure terror in your mind and you still find him oddly fascinating and quirky.  His blond hair though, has to go, it does grudgingly serve to show his vanity.

Speaking of vanity, you’ll be “in your bunk” over the sultry femme fatale Severine (Berenice Marlohe) who plays the crucial role in putting all the pieces together that lead to the final scene.

And just what the hell is Skyfall?  I feel like that may be the biggest spoiler of all, but let’s just say its an origin to everything.  In fact when I first heard Adele’s song on the radio I said out loud . . . these lyrics suck.  But if you watch them in the context of the film they make perfect sense and even reveal a lot about the story.

As this is the fifty year anniversary to the 007 debut, there are countless nods, allusions, and straight out word-for-word dialogs of past films. It was a really nice touch for the loyal fans in the audience.  And it gave me a chance to reflect on some of the excellent films of the past, as well as the bombs, and it had me wondering . . . my kid is four now, which Bond will he consider the “real” 007?  I’m excited to find out, and I’m excited for you as well, because you are going to love this film!  See it in theaters to get the adrenaline really kicking.  Incredible action sequences, sexy seduction (sadly sans nudity), and more explosions and mayhem than I could fathom demands this be on your Bond must-see list for all time!  That’s why I gave it my coveted six-stars!

[Swift aside - speaking of my son, I sacrificed an interview with the following to take him to the Magic Kingdom for trick-or-treating: Daniel Craig; Javier Bardem; Naomie Harris; Berenice Marlohe; Barbara Broccoli.  If he complains about ANYTHING, I will remind him of that fact, of that you can be sure.  But, again, our buddy Kai did manage to show up, so check out his interviews, here].

(2 People gave this 4.00 out of 5)

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“I’m not afraid…  I’m angry!”

The H-Bomb:  It’s been eight years since The Joker wreaked havoc on Gotham City, and since then, things have been relatively peaceful, with a crime rate that has dwindled to almost nothing.  But for Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale), time has done very little to heal old wounds, as he has since become a Howard Hughes-like recluse.  It’s not just the loss of his life-long love that has sent him, and his crime fighting alter ego underground, but also a pact he made with Commissioner Gordon (Gary Oldman), to take the fall for the murders committed by Gotham D.A. Harvey “Two-Face” Dent, a once heroic figure who was disfigured and driven insane by The Joker.

So, with Dent’s heroic image intact, the citizens galvanized to pass a tough anti-crime bill that finally stomped out the mob’s rule over the city.  At last, Gotham is at peace, but, it’s a peace based on a lie… and peace based on a lie cannot last.  One person who doesn’t seem to buy into the “official” story about Dent is a young, earnest cop named John Blake (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), who has more or less pieced together Batman’s true identity.

Bruce Wayne, meanwhile, finds his curiosity piqued by the sassy and agile cat burglar, Selina Kyle (Anne Hathaway), after he catches her stealing, of all things, his fingerprints.  What could she possibly want with those?  Wayne would really like to know.  All the while, a chase into the sewers leads Gordon to a horrifying discovery…  the rise of an underground army led by a gargantuan, muzzle-masked freak known simply as Bane (Tom Hardy), a man hell bent on ending the eight years of harmony that Gotham has enjoyed.

Now, Wayne must once again don the cape and cowl in order to battle this new evil.  But, he is nearly a decade older now, and in that time he has been worn down both spiritually and physically.  It doesn’t help that, for the first time in his crime fighting life, he is going up against a foe who is, physically, his equal.  A monstrously powerful man who he might not even have been able to defeat in his prime, let alone eight years and a bum leg later.

Since I am committed to keeping this review free of spoilers, I’ll just stop right there with the plot.  Yeah, there is a lot more going on than I described, but it is best to go into this movie as cold as possible.  I’ll just say, that with The Dark Knight Rises, director Christopher Nolan has done the impossible… or, at least, what I thought was impossible, he has made a film that not only rises to the same towering level of excellence as The Dark Knight, he has actually surpassed it.  Sam Raimi, do take note, this is how you wrap up a superhero trilogy!

The best way to see The Dark Knight Rises is to re-watch the two previous Nolan Batman films right beforehand, that way you can really see how the character of Bruce Wayne grows from film to film, and how he comes full circle at the end.  In Batman Begins, he was an angry young man who learned to channel his desire for revenge into fighting for what’s right and just.  With The Dark Knight, the chapter where, much like The Empire Strikes Back, everything goes wrong for the good guys, Batman is forced to question his own morality while facing off against a fearless villain whose end game, it seems, is to make Batman kill him.  Now, with The Dark Knight Rises, we see Wayne as a bitter, broken man, who is set on a path to redemption.

Watching the journey he takes over the course of this trilogy is what really makes it for me: Bruce Wayne, unlike in the Burton or Schumacher films, is a flesh and blood human being who is constantly changing and growing throughout.  Just looking at him, you can really see that he is carrying the weight of what happened to him in the previous films on his shoulders.  That’s why I say watch all three movies back-to-back-to-back, the character arc is really impressive, and that, to me, is why Bale is the definitive Batman.  His Batman is by far the most challenged and conflicted, and he is terrific through the whole trilogy, even if he was upstaged in the second film.

Which brings me to a few concerns I had going into the third Nolan Bat-film.  How are they going to top the last one?  How are they going to deal with the Joker?  As stoked as I was, I just had that general fear of disappointment leading up to this movie.  But, as stated, that fear was very much misplaced, as I was absolutely blown the fuck away by what has to be both the best conclusion of a trilogy I have ever seen, and perhaps, the best comic book movie of all time (I wouldn’t say that if I didn’t mean it).

Much like The Dark Knight, it took me a while to get into it, with a first act that goes in about a million different directions, introducing a whole slew of new characters and story threads, that seems kind of choppy and becomes dangerously close to being too busy.  But once Bale puts on the suit and comes roaring through the darkness on his Bat-Pod, this thing had my complete and undivided attention, with my ass planted firmly in my seat and my eyes glued to the fucking Imax screen for the duration.  (If you can see this bitch in Imax, then see this bitch in Imax!)

With all the characters and subplots running around, some may fear this is going to be another Spider-Man 3.  Let me put your minds at ease about that right now.  While, like Spidey 3, this is a pretty crowded playing field, this film managed to fit all those individual pieces together to create a whole that is satisfying and focused, where every character got their due screen time, and nothing felt half-baked or shoe-horned in (like Venom in Spidey 3).  At two hours and forty-five minutes, it is a long ride, but there’s nary a dull moment.

An aspect of The Dark Knight that put it heads and shoulders above all other comic book movies was how emotional it was.  During the last third of that film, I was on the edge of my seat, wondering what was going to happen next, with my stomach tied in knots, terrified for the characters.  No comic flick, especially a Batman movie, had ever done that to me before.

This time, Nolan has both duplicated and amplified that intensity.  During the latter half of Rises, when Wayne is recovering physically, and rediscovering the hero inside himself, I felt that same level of investment, and was rooting for him all the way.  When he makes his fiery return to Gotham for the final showdown, I had to restrain myself from cheering aloud.  Like in the second film, Nolan creates an atmosphere of utter despair, only this time he has his Dark Knight rise in a way that is truly triumphant, thus making the emotional payoff all the more satisfying.

There’s also a sense of playful humor in Rises that many people thought was missing from its predecessor, coming mainly from the cheery old Alfred (Michael Caine), and gadget man Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman).  It was great seeing both of these veteran’s back, though I didn’t like how Alfred abruptly exits the story about midway through.  It just seemed like a strange thing for the character, Wayne’s one true friend, to do.

Hathaway also brings a welcome dose of sly, sardonic wit as Selina Kyle, a rather desperate character with an agenda of her own.  A lot of people poo-pooed the casting of Hathaway in the role, but I say poo-poo on them!  She was perfect!  Whether trading barbs with Wayne, or kicking the crap out of people, or just looking dead fucking sexy in her catsuit, she was amazing.

Speaking of amazing, there’s Gordon-Levitt as the eager beaver cop John Blake.  Now this character may sound bland and boring, and if the wrong actor had been cast, he probably would have been.  But Gordon-Levitt plays him as such a complex, layered person with his own tragic past, that he becomes just as compelling to watch as the more colorful characters in here.  He proves to be an invaluable ally to Batman as the story progresses, and the way the film pays this character off at the end is brilliant.

But enough about the side characters, let’s get to the villain of this picture, Bane.  If the Joker was evil incarnate, then Bane is his bigger, meaner, less playful older brother (in actuality, while not related to The Joker, Bane does have ties to a past Bat-Villain that I won‘t reveal).  Taking one look at Hardy in this role, I thought to myself, “Batman would have to be fucking crazy not to be afraid of this guy!”  And right I was, especially after their bone crunching first encounter, one of the best cinematic fist fights you’ll ever see, that leaves Batman in a state of… discomfort, to phrase it mildly.  This isn’t the grunting, retard Bane from that Joel Schumacher abortion, this is a monster who is as smart as he is powerful, and who is just as scary when he speaks as he is when he’s cracking skulls and snapping necks.  And for the record, I understood him just fine whenever he spoke.

Long and short of it, Bane is a great villain.  But what about The Joker?  What happened to that guy?  Well, if you’re hoping the movie is going to tell you, you’re in for a disappointment, because it doesn’t.  That’s why I think it was a very smart move on Nolan’s part to set the film so long after the events in the last one, so he wouldn’t have to explain The Joker’s fate.  It’s at a point in time when The Joker is nothing more than a bad memory for Gotham.  He has long since been neutralized, and the city has moved on.  Still, I wonder what this film would’ve been had Heath Ledger not tragically passed away, as The Dark Knight was clearly just the beginning for that character.

But that’s enough pontificating on what might have been, let’s look at The Dark Knight Rises for what it is, a rousing conclusion to a truly epic trilogy that rivals The Lord of the Rings in its ambition and The Godfather in its complexity.  In fact, I prefer it to those trilogies (well, okay, not The Godfather Trilogy), and I prefer it to the original Star Wars trilogy.  I know I might eat crow for saying that, but fuck it, my review, my opinion.  If you only go to the theaters once this summer, go to see The Dark Knight Rises.  If you only go to the theaters twice this summer, go to see The Dark Knight Rises again!  I know I’m sounding like a groveling fan boy, but it is that kind of incredible.  I believed in Christopher Nolan, and he delivered.

(2 People gave this 4.50 out of 5)

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“Spider-Man belongs to everyone.”

Check out my interview with Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone and Dr. Denis Leary here!

Swift shot:  They finally addressed the fact that Peter Parker is more than just a teenager with a fortunate spider-bite, he is a real person, and more to the point, he is a genius! Fans of Spider-Man, the “real” Spider-Man, whatever that means anymore, should be incredibly happy to see a more compassionate person, rather than a caricature of what Hollywood thinks we want to see on the big screen, Andrew Garfield’s Parker was real in many ways.  In a few scenes, even the way he sat on the floor felt real, un-staged, and maybe the lanky guy that I am can appreciate how it works . . . tucking your knee under your chin and focusing intently on a book on the floor.  Little physical tricks like that helped flesh-out Peter Parker in The Amazing Spider-Man and while it is a giant Summer action blockbuster, there was a slight pulse throughout that couldn’t be ignored.  You feel for these characters in a big way.

When we first see Peter, he is only about seven years old, and his parents are still in his life.  But someone decides to destroy the happy home, and his parents flee in the night, leaving Peter scared, confused and a bit angry as he grows up without his real parents to guide him.  His Uncle Ben (Martin Sheen) and Aunt May (Sally Fields) are wonderful, but they just aren’t his parents.  A boy needs his father, and Peter’s quest to find answers to his father’s fate lead him to his destiny and molds the destinies of those around him in ways he will never be able to reconcile.

The teenaged Peter is a hero in his own right, whilst he may not have the physical mettle to stand up to injustice, his heart and courage are remarkable.  He is smitten by Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone), who is probably as smart, if not smarter than he is, but he isn’t really on her radar as far as he knows.  The direct-from-central-casting bully, Flash Thompson (Chris Zylka) thinks he can get any girl, but Gwen isn’t interested in him either.

One night, when Peter happens upon his father’s briefcase, he discovers a clue about his father’s work, and his dad’s old partner, Dr. Curt Connors (Rhys Ifans) conveniently is hosting a group of interns from his school . . . and Gwen happens to be in charge of the group.  It might have been a bit too convenient, but we’ll let that pass, as this is where Peter, again searching for clues, manages to find himself in a web of intrigue when he gets bit by . . . duh, a “special” spider.  Dr. Connors’ research is only missing one piece, a formula that Peter’s father was working on solving.  It never occurred to Peter that maybe his dad didn’t want Connors solving the riddle of genetic manipulation.  From here, I think you can figure out the rest, no spoiler alert needed, Parker becomes Spider-Man and Connors eventually becomes The Lizard.  [By the way, that was the number one answer when I asked my twitter followers their favorite Spider-Man villain . . . mentioned in my interviews above]

Dr. Denis Leary turns in a solid performance as Captain Stacy, Gwen’s dad.  He’s a good-guy, which Leary admits is against his grain as an actor, so it was a novel role for him.  Stacy sees Spider-Man as a masked nutjob, a vigilante going around doing police work the wrong way.  In one somewhat dramatic scene, Stacy and Parker are debating on the morality of Spider-Man and how he doesn’t let the little fish get away, he busts all skulls.  I like that scene, because it developed the characters in a way that most of us could relate . . . if you have ever been at one of those dinners you wish you could just jettison yourself away from the table because the conversation is getting way too serious.

You’ll note this review, like the film, is focusing on the story more than the cool Spider-Man stuff.  I was impressed by the special effects team and the stunt crew, and visually this film stands out as really delivering that immerseve quality that a lot of CGI-rich films lack.  I had the opportunity to peak at some of the behind the scenes stuff whilst waiting for our interviews, and I can tell you a lot of the physical stuff is done by people, that is why it doesn’t look like a giant cartoon.  And, yes, I saw it in 3D IMAX, and Director Marc Webb [that still makes me chuckle, Web / Spider] added some first-person wall-crawling effects in there . . . most likely for fans of the video games.  I thought it was a nice touch, it was almost over-used, but he managed to avoid that trap.  Oh, and speaking of traps, the sewer trap scene was ripped right out of the comics and was so well done, showing how Parker can be a genius and the biggest web-head on the planet by overlooking one key element when laying out his trap for The Lizard.

After I met Emma Stone, I feel I would be doing her injustice if I didn’t point out that she brought to life a character that is probably often over-looked in the Spider-Man nerd-verse in Gwen Stacy.  Gwen’s character is the glue that keeps Peter, Captain Stacy and Dr. Connors weaved together in a complex story about a boy struggling to find himself as he faces ghosts from his past, deals with tragedy and power and all whist still not being able to legally drink.

I had one person comment that this film should never have been made, granted, they didn’t see it yet.  They were reacting out of anger that the other trilogy was dead, but I am like Andrew Garfield, I just wanted to see my ‘buddy’ on the screen again.  Spider-Man is, by far, my favorite Marvel character, he is surrounded by so much tragedy and pain, yet he still maintains his morality and avoids evil choices.  If you search the Marvel wiki, there are countless versions of Spider-Man, and whilst this film may be yet another version, it was highly entertaining.  And, I caught the ORIGINAL 1967 series Spider-Man [the one with the best song on the PLANET] wherein Dr. Curt Connors is a doctor in the Florida Everglades who has both arms and is trying to cure swamp-fever!   So, yea, spare me any attacks that this film isn’t the REAL Spider-Man . . . he doesn’t exist.  Yet, he does exist, we are all Spider-Man . . . otherwise, what’s the point of loving the character?

(4 People gave this 3.00 out of 5)

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“The only thing stronger than fear is hope.” – President Coriolanus Snow

Swift shot: Suspenseful, thought-provoking, primal, saga that will have no end, and I am dying to know more about the beginning. Not since 1977′s Star Wars has a saga captivated me in this way, where I wanted to know everything that led up to the small chapter that I just watched.  The Hunger Games is exactly like that, and when the film reveals how many “happy hunger games” there have been – my imagination was overloaded by the possibilities.  I knew almost nothing about this series other than it was set in the future and that districts would send children to fight to the death for some reason.  Once I heard that much, I put a moratorium on my friends from mentioning anything that might spoil the slightest essence of why this series is so popular.  And while the target audience is teenagers, unlike Twilight – this film was nothing short of EPIC!  Pay attention, or be the first martyred for your district.

Suzanne Collins came up with the idea for The Hunger Games, because she was fascinated with the Greek myth of Theseus and also noted the rampant up-rise of our reality TV and war coverage, wondering where the end might come, having found none, she created Katniss Everdeen. Most good writers put themselves in their protagonist’s shoes, and I can imagine she envisioned herself, or her daughter, as Katniss, pitted in a brutal lethal game for survival and penance.  And much like the boys and girls, sent every nine years, to fight the hideous Minotaur, her Tributes faced mortality for the amusement of others.

Jennifer Lawrence is going to have a problem, she is going to forever be Katniss Everdeen – she will go on to do other things, she will excel, because she is beyond incredible, all of 22 now though, her future is marked.  Maybe she will turn to Carrie Fisher for some advice, because she managed to avoid type-casting, but still, she will always be Princess Leia.  The casting department deserves to be, forgive the obvious nod, placed on a pedestal for recognizing Lawrence as the perfect fit for Katniss.  She damned near simply reprises her role from Winter’s Bone, where she plays the poor, destitute, starving care-giver for her siblings.  Katniss is no different, she sacrifices her life to protect her sister, Primrose, whom she lovingly calls little duck.  She is also handy enough with a bow that her family doesn’t starve, despite their coal mining district’s low place.  Apparently, the higher your number, the lower your status in Panem.  With 12 districts, and Katniss being from the 12th, she is the ultimate under-dog.

But, thankfully, each district is allowed two tributes, and her partner, chosen in a surreal lottery, known as Reaping Day, is Peeta Mellark who is played by Josh Hutcherson, oddly enough, he was in a little movie called Zathura: A Space Adventure, where a game approaches lethal risks.  So, casting Josh as Peeta was another no-brainer for the film-makers.  Josh impressed me, because he always had this air of attitude about him on screen that I never quite appreciated before.  He seemed to wear it as Peeta, but it wasn’t as overt and in your face, and he managed to add a real empathy to his character that I wasn’t expecting.  I am not sure if he will forever be labelled as Peeta, like Lawrence as Katniss, but I know he has a huge teen-scene following that is sure to endure.

The real show stealer has to be Amandla Stenberg, who takes so little screen time and creates a wonderful character, on screen, in District 11′s Rue – and in one touching scene, we see the world through her little eyes, a very powerful moment that Director Gary Ross handled beautifully.  Finally, Stanley Tucci as Caesar Flickerman, Woody Harrelson as Haymitch Abernathy and Elizabeth Banks as Effie Trinket all come to life because of Oscar-nominated costume designer Judianna Makovsky who magnificently captured the various conflict of society with her brilliant costume work.  Each district had a personality, a conflict could be immediately surmised and a comparison, felt, in a manner that hits you right in the gut.

The cinematography was stylized and balanced well to create the future – I didn’t notice any cartoonish effects either, even when what I am calling the Man-Bear-Pigs make their appearance, they felt very real!  The violence was brutal, but mostly takes place off screen, but you don’t have to use much imagination to know how people are dispatched.

This film, and this series, no doubt, will be dissected politically for years.  It is part Running Man, Logan’s Run, and The Lottery all with one rather disgusting twist, it’s the kids who must be sacrificed, and what is their crime?  Nothing, many, many years before they were born, their ancestors fomented some kind of revolution.  As a cruel reminder, the victorious controlling government, led now by President Snow (Sutherland) selects two 12-18 year old citizens from each of 12 districts to compete in a viscous battle where only one will survive.  One of the better lines of the film comes when Snow reminds his game-master Seneca Crane (the always creepy, Wes Bentley) that a little hope is why they allow a winner, but a lot of hope is dangerous.  This series is a political scientist professor’s wet-dream.  Power, control, sacrifice, revolution, penance, all the makings of a great debate!

What I find incredible about the film, and the novels (apparently) is that much like a Rorschach test, people are seeing different messages – yet they are all raising the same banner of appreciation.  Oddly enough, the Tea Party sees the fear of big government, whilst the Occupy Movement finds the disparaging juxtaposition between The Capitol and the Districts as reminders of the class struggle they so desperately want to maintain.  To true Patriots, might the subtle mention of 13 districts be a calling to revolution to battle tyranny, like the original 13 colonies?  Hell, even teenagers will take from it the perils of blind-obedience . . . to parents that would serve them up to slaughter.  This is why I give the film my patented Swift Six Stars, if you leave the theater and aren’t thinking all day and night about The Hunger Games – newsflash, you would be the first to die when they raise the pedestals, because everyone else is thinking about it.  I have even seen people on Pinterest posting work-out motivational images saying, “I don’t want to be the first to die in The Hunger Games!”

Better yet, listen to what another popular “young-adult” author Stephanie Myer had to say, “The story kept me up for several nights in a row, because even after I was finished, I just lay in bed wide awake thinking about it.”   That’s pretty much how I felt when I left the theater too, and while this was purported to be sci-fi, much like Star Wars, that wasn’t what interested me at all, it is the entire universe, the characters, the plight of the heroines and heroes, the mythology and wanting to know EVERYTHING about this fascinating saga – which is exactly how I felt in 1977.  I have to go now, I need to add The Hunger Games to my eBooks – you know, so I can sleep!

(4 People gave this 4.75 out of 5)

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“Look at the stars. The great kings of the past are up there, watching over us.”

Swift shot:  When you think of a flawless film, I dare anyone say “The Lion King” isn’t first on your list – especially for fathers with sons.  Personally, this used to just be a great film, until two things happened to me: I lost my father and I became a father of a wonderful cub myself.  Now, when I watch it, I am reminded of the fragile nature of life, the inevitable end that we all face, and that we all hope that someday our sons will look to us like Mufasa, for we are all kings, and we will all become as one with the stars in the sky.  No king lives forever.

“The Lion King” is a fabulous story of courage and compassion, but primarily it is a story about fathers, for fathers.  We all know the story, and Disney didn’t make any bold, dumb changes from the original.  This 3D effort is just the original re-released in 3D, and you won’t find anything really spectacular about the 3D itself, but, if you are like me and didn’t get to see “The Lion King” in theaters before, this is one of those father-son films that you simply have to take your children to see in theaters . . . while you still can (yes, in every implication of that phrase).

Set in Africa, “The Lion King” wakes us to a new day where King Mufasa (James Earl Jones) and his queen, Sarabi (Madge Sinclair) introduce their prince, Simba (Johnathon Taylor Thomas/Matthew Broderick) to their kingdom.  In this way, it starts much like Bambi, but unlike Bambi, the focus is not on the mother/son relationship.  In fact, mother Sarabi is merely an after-thought in this film.  She is full of pride and has impeccable courage, but Mufasa is the tragic figure who assumes he and his son will watch many new days together.  He’s wrong.

Scar, his over-looked older brother, masterfully portrayed by Jeremy Irons, is just two heart-beats away from the throne, and he aims to eliminate Mufasa and Simba in one dreadful master-stroke.  Mufasa is strong but incredibly naive and trusts his brother to never betray him.  Scar is perhaps the most vile villain ever to appear in a Disney film.  Not only does he kill the king, he has convinced Mufasa’s son that it was he who was responsible for his own father’s death!  To make him even more vicious, Scar planned on killing Simba anyway, so to make him think he was responsible for his father’s death, only to have him killed seconds later was incredibly malicious.  I mean, in his mind, the prince was hyenia chow, so why make him think in his last mortal thoughts that he was responsible for killing his own father?  That is just evil.

[Swift aside: Some people claim Vader is the worst villain, but I disagree, I think the worst movie villain has to be Scar, he betrayed his brother, murdered him, took his wife (like in Hamlet) but also tried to kill the prince, all of these characters were of his blood.  It's vile.  Vader was an orphan, essentially, and while he betrayed his master, he wasn't blood, and, yes, killing the younglings was pretty sick, but they weren't his kin.  Also, Vader didn't blow up Alderaan; it was Tarkin who ordered that.  Shouldn't Tarkin be the worst villain ever?  I smell a twitter question/answer session from this.]

Alas, Simba does escape his trio of pursuers/assassins: Shenzi (Whoopi Goldberg); Banzai (Cheech); and Ed (Jim Cummings) as he runs through a thick barbed thorn bed.  His would-be-killers, mocking him with “If you come back here, we’ll kill you!”  Did I mention “The Lion King” was dark, yet?  It is probably the darkest, and yet lightest, film by Disney in decades.  As Simba has finally given up, on life (suicidal thoughts, again, like Hamlet) and waits for the buzzards to rend his flesh, two new “father-figures” enter his story, Timon (Nathan Lane) and Pumbaa (Ernie Sabella).  They represent a care-free, live for the moment life-style, in this way, they were much like the Balloo character in the Jungle Book, eating, sleeping and playing their days away, they even have a motto to go with their “bare necessities” attitude . . . Hakuna Matata.

On that note, I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out the wonderful scoring of this Disney masterpiece, with Academy Award winning music by Elton John, Hans Zimmer and Tim Rice.  The songs are legends in and of themselves and need no puffery on my part; you have all welled up to them . . . at least once.  Still, watching “The Lion King” without all the incredible sound work, not just the music, would detract from the emotional impact.  Often times, we overlook the balance in films that makes them go from good to great . . . to epic, as in “The Lion King”.  Just hearing the Circle of Life or Hakuna Matata can put me in a different place, even doing something as mundane as folding laundry – the first song can put me in the emergency room when I heard my son sing for the first time, as he entered this fragile, hostile, yet magical world.  And hearing Hakuna Matata reminds me, wherever I am or what I am doing, of the times in my own life where I was able to let my guard down completely and just revel in the now.  We all need those Hakuna Matata moments of pure innocent frivolity from time to time.

Unlike the stories that inspired “The Lion King” (there are several mentions under the trivia section on imdb) Simba doesn’t return to the Pridelands for revenge; he returns for something more noble, penance.  Remember, he thinks he is the one responsible for his father’s death, thanks to Scar.  So, upon his return, he is expecting to be reviled and hated once he reveals his dreadful secret.  This makes Simba an even more sympathetic character, and when he finally does realize that he and his father were betrayed by Scar, he still affords his wicked uncle mercy.  Thankfully, Scar is too filled with a warped ego to accept and is ultimately served up to the same assassins he put to kill Simba.  And, the film ends with a reprise of the opening, and now, Simba is the King and Simba is the father, the Circle of Life is set in motion once again.  And, again, we are shown the beauty and the tragedy that is life – so fragile a thing and therefore magnificent to behold.

“The Lion King” will forever be in the canon of my heart and being able to watch it in the theater, sitting next to my son, knowing that he will never meet my father and that he can only look to the stars to seek him, is something I will always remember.

“That was mint!”

Swift shot: If you see this one in theaters, count yourself enlightened, if you wait to rent or own Blu Ray, consider yourself miserable.  Because, trust me, if you wait til you are home to see this for the first time, unless you are exceptionally wealthy and have a veritable theater sized screen at home – - – you are going to be kicking yourself forever!

Occasionally, every few decades or so, a film comes along that just fires on all cylinders and resonates with something inside you that hasn’t been active since you were a kid.  Super 8 manages to do just that, stir up imaginations I once thought completely dormant – where the critical, cynical adult in me keeps the child bolted up in a dungeon called “the impossible”.  I want to thank EVERYONE who made this film a reality, and I wonder if Paramount knows just how fortunate they are to have some of the best film-makers to ever hold that title on their label?

See, I remember, in the before time, seeing an exceptional film and waiting what felt like forever to see it again.  We have become spoiled as movie goers, everything is instantly at our beck and call.  Super 8 is going to be an instant classic film that others of its genre will be scrutinized against for a long time to come.  In 2036, some smart aleck director will be throwing nods to it after popping his film-school cherry, thinking he is worthy to do such a thing.  Yes, Super 8 will hold up throughout the years as a great film, and while the overall concept has been done before, and even the opening credits hint to the “reveal” which every critic right now is trying to figure out how to write about without giving away the farm, it was still an exceptionally well put together story and although set in the past never felt stale or aged . . . more like a fine wine, this film tastes better because it takes us back to a not so long time ago.

Super 8 is essentially one long “Amazing Story” – if you remember the 80′s serials that Producer Spielberg released akin to The Twilight Zone franchise.  Those episodes all had one thing in common, the dialog carried the story along, each word uttered told you something specific about the character, each character – even the non-essential characters, had depth, and there was some kind of twist involved.  Super 8 brings all those elements together but has a longer running time and an exceptional special effects department in ILM.  Hell, I can remember all my friends discussing Amazing Stories the day after it aired, and, yea, there was no TiVo or DVR – if you missed it, you were S.O.L.  And, the cardinal rule was, if your friend missed it, you shut your mouth about the “twist”, because occasionally it was re-aired over a summer weekend, if you were lucky.  Woe be to the sonuvabitch that gave away the ending too – so, no worries, I won’t give away anything here.  Yes, mom, I know I used to do that all the time!

Set in 1979 in a steel town in Ohio, Super 8 essentially is a story about a group of friends, over the summer, dealing with a tragedy that one of them endures at the onset of the film.  It has the feel of a Stand By Me script, though devoid of any narration or device that tells the story in the present.  This film, again, is just an Amazing Story with a supernatural, monster-thriller, or sci-fi element tossed in to keep the characters constantly malleable and interesting.

With great tragedy comes the need for great distraction, and Writer/Director J. J. Abrams gets this, and displays this, quite efficiently.  Rather than let their friend, Joe (Joel Courtney) dwell on his personal loss, his gang of misfits, led by Charles (Riley Griffiths) – who thinks he is the next Hitchcock or Romero – comes up with a perfect distraction . . . a zombie film.  At first some of the others think it a bit tacky to involve a kid who just lost someone close to be shooting a zombie flick, but they figure it might help him take his mind off of the loss as well.  Not to mention, the girl who everyone is afraid to talk to, Alice Dainard (Elle Fanning) has agreed to be in the film as zombie hunting detective, Martin’s (Gabriel Basso) wife.

It all starts off innocently enough, Alice steals her dad’s car, without a license (rebels that they are) to drive them to the shoot, EXTERIOR: late at night, a train station, now closed.  They run through lines, Charles delights in directing his friends, and he tries to get the most out of what he’s working with.  His friends are a great team, considering they are in middle-school, and they manage a level of professionalism that exceeds their years.  Then, something happens, a crash, about an EIGHT on the butt-pucker scale [patent pending], which really sets the sci-fi or supernatural elements into locomotion.

What happens next is all too easy to spoil, suffice it to say, something is not quite right in the steel town of Lilian, Ohio circa 1979.  The Air Force, helmed by Colonel Nelec (Noah Emmerich) is somehow involved, Joe’s dad, Jackson, the deputy sheriff, played by the exceptionally talented TV-actor (Kyle Chandler) is suddenly put in charge and the misfits find themselves caught in the middle of everything but are still hell-bent on finishing their film to submit to the Cleveland Film Festival . . . ah great aspirations must start somewhere, but Cleveland?

Comedy and tragedy is spliced into the story masterfully in short little bursts with character dialog, incredible action sequences and excellent acting.  And, someone check me if I am wrong, but did they cryo freeze the blond-haired brat from the 70′s version of The Bad News Bears and place braces on him to hide his identity?  Because, that kid Cary (Ryan Lee) in Super 8 is his clone!

Super 8 is a high-tech drama with a childish heart that reminds you what it was like to build models, pine for the prettiest girl in school, and to never stop fighting for those you love.  It is a film about loss, grief, struggling to cope and acceptance, all with a “twist” just to make things more interesting . . . or rather, AMAZING!