Movie Review: Divergent

Divergent.  Saw it Friday night.  Short version, it’s not very good.
The main character is unbelievable (and not in a good way), and played poorly by Shailene Woodley.  The whole point of the character is that she has control over her fear, but she spends most of the movie acting like she’s terrified of her own shadow and pretty much everything else in her environment.  Except heights.  She’s apparently not afraid of heights.  She’s supposed to be bright, but she never shows this, and she’s supposed to be selfless and helpful and have empathy for others, but she also never shows this.  “Bright” seems to equate to “mildly curious when things are seriously weird” and “selfless” seems to boil down to “willing to not hurt someone in some circumstances”.
I haven’t read the books (I hear they’re good, which is why I even gave this a chance), but I sincerely hope they do a better job of describing the society this takes place in.  It doesn’t make sense on any level in the movie.  The people who designed it are supposedly geniuses, we’re told in the opening exposition, but they’ve gone and designed a social order that would actively cripple their own purposes.  And they’re willing to die to defend this idiotic order.  It’s not even a convincing dystopia.  It’s “they’re the bad guys because … well … we’re not sure, but they must be the bad guys because they’re nerds and the good guys are jocks!” I guess.
The male love-interest (Hollywood seems to think that “strong female lead” = “even stronger male object-of-lust for her”), played convincingly by Theo James, is seven years older than the female lead.  This is awkward because they have a (PG-13) semi-make-out, and it looks like it’s an adult man hitting on a 16-year-old girl.  The actress is older than that, but looks years younger than her age.  It’s a little creepy in the movie.
Theo’s role as Four (yes, that’s his name, and it’s not clear to me if this is some sort of tribute/parody/whatever of I am Number Four, or is oblivious to it) is well-played, as is Jai Courtney’s portrayal of “bad guy” Eric.  Both are poorly written, but well-played.  Or at least well-enough played to stand out as good in this movie.
Again, Eric’s the bad guy because, well, he must be because he’s a “meanie”.  Stupid and petty and profoundly ignorant of how to train soldiers (despite that being his job), and that makes him the villain, of course. 
I don’t know how much of the incoherence is from the conversion to a movie, and how much comes from the Veronica Roth books.  Either way, the style reminds me of the juvenile style that made Eragon such a miserable book and movie.
I’ve had very good experiences with “young adult fiction” movies recently.  More so than with a lot of more “adult” fare.  Hunger Games, the movie version of I Am Number Four (the books sucked, the movie rocked), and a few others, have been very, very good.  This one doesn’t live up to that at all.
3 on a 1-10 scale.

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Movie Review: Ender’s Game

Ender's Game came out very, very well!

I was amazed by how close to the book they kept the movie.  Some definite editing and abbreviating (unavoidable in the change from book to other media), but nothing that detracted from the story or the characters.

I went into the movie expecting it would either be amazingly good, or absolutely horrible, depending on what they did to the book.  It’s one of my favorite books, and has been for almost 30 years.  Didn’t much like the sequels when I was a teen, but I may need to give them another shot one day.  But the first book has always been a favorite.  Book-to-movie adaptations of favorite books, especially ones with strong political messages, seem to go to extremes in either direction.  Dune (horrible to whole new levels), Starship Troopers (pretty horrible, though I am a Dina Meyer fan and liked most of her scenes), vs. the Lord of the Rings trilogy (Fellowship, Towers, King), or Blade Runner (which is infinitely better than the book).

Fortunately, my expectations were met, and the movie was very, very well done.

10 out of 10

Movie Review: Red 2

Saw Red 2 last night.  Loved the first movie (Red), and loved the sequel!

There were a few jokes that struggled a bit, but most were hilarious.  There were a few action scenes that lasted a bit too long, but they were all very good nonetheless.

Marvin (John Malkovich) rocked the movie.  Frank (Bruce Willis), Sarah (Mary-Louise Parker), and Victoria (Helen Mirren) were all as great as they were in the first movie.

And because it could get pretty much straight into the action, without having to spend time introducing characters, it had a significant advantage over the first.  (Though that may leave it less than fully comprehensible to anyone in the audience who didn’t see the first one.)

9.5 out of 10

Movie Review: Man of Steel

Man of Steel came out today.  Just watched it.  Regular screen, not IMAX or 3D or anything like that.  Have to say, I definitely enjoyed it.

One important detail is that the actress who plays Lois Lane actually looked old enough for the part this time around.

The parts on Krypton were very, very cool.

And Superman actually gets into a fight in this one, with someone who can hit back!  How cool is that!  (I’m trying to ignore Superman II because, let’s face it, that movie should never have made it all the way to the theatre.)

Won’t go into more details, since I don’t want to engage in spoilers.

1-10 scale: 8.5

Movie Review: Skyfall

The new James Bond flick.  Saw it in the theatre last night.

Definitely one of the better ones.  They’re continuing the “show how tragic James’ life really is” theme, but doing it better here than in Quantum.

Won’t say much more, because just about anything would be a spoiler of one sort or another.

7 out of 10.  Good flick.