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All Reviews by Jason
Aaron
Constantine
When plans were first announced for a film based on the mature readers
comic series Hellblazer, comic fans were incensed that their favorite
blond, British magician John Constantine was to be played by brunette,
American Keanu Reeves. However, after seeing the finished film, those
fans realized that the star’s accent and hair color should have
been the least of their worries.
The Constantine of the comics is a dark, complex conman and arrogant,
chain-smoking, street-wise troublemaker whose feats of magic are usually
pretty down to earth, even when he’s tangling with demons, angels
and talking swamp creatures. The film version of Constantine
is a cross between The Exorcist and James Bond, fighting
demons with a wealth of occult gadgets, like holy brass knuckles and
a gun that shoots dragon’s breath and sanctified bullets. The
plot involves the discovery of the powerful Spear of Destiny, the
spear that pierced the side of Christ, which turns up in Mexico, wrapped
in a Nazi flag (?), launching plans for demons to start invading the
earth.
This is the first film for director Francis Lawrence, who previously
directed videos for Britney Spears and Will Smith, and he imbues Constantine
with all the slick visuals and vacuous content of the standard music
video. This is a comic book movie that’s actually more “comic
bookie” than the comic book it’s based on. (R) Rating:
2
Alexander
Unless you count 1981’s The Hand, about a comic book
artist’s severed hand that goes on a murder streak, then Alexander
is Oliver Stone’s worst film as a director. Has the once venerable
director, the genius who previously brought us JFK, Platoon
and Nixon, finally jumped the shark? His upcoming 9-11 project
will tell us for sure, but for now we’re left to ponder the
sloppy, bloated mess that is his biopic of Alexander the Great.
Angelina Jolie still looks sexy, even with snakes crawling all over
her. That’s about the only positive thing I can think to say
about this train wreck, which Stone labored on for years. The narrative
is disjointed and severely lacking in tension, the battle scenes are
bland and uninspired, despite being massive in scale, and in the title
role, Colin Farrell displays less charisma and emotion than a Muppet.
The once maverick Stone is obviously floundering as a storyteller.
How else do you explain a Director’s Cut of the film that’s
actually eight minutes SHORTER than the theatrical version? (R) Rating:
1
Sin City
Films based on comic books are an awfully hot property these days,
and while Sin City can’t lay claim to being the best
of the bunch, it’s without a doubt the most faithful adaptation.
Co-directors Robert Rodriquez and Frank Miller (writer/artist of
the Sin City comics) used the actual comic books as the film’s
shooting script and even went so far as to set up their shots to mirror
the comic panels. The stark, film noir look of Miller’s art
is brought to screen using computer generated backgrounds and digitally
manipulated color tones. Sin City teems with vibrant blacks
and only occasional splashes of color: blue eyes, a red dress and
the sickly yellow skin of a deformed psychopath. The violent stories
and hard-boiled characters of Sin City will seem over-the-top
and clichéd to some, but if you’re the type that’s
at peace with the twisted side of your sense of humor, then you’ll
love it.
Mickey Rourke, Clive Owen and Bruce Willis all play tough-as-nails
brawlers with soft spots for bad girls in trouble. The rest of Sin
City’s residents include deranged killers, crooked cops,
strippers in distress and prostitutes armed to the teeth, among other
lovable lowlifes. (R) Rating: 4
A Face
in the Crowd
Director Elia Kazan is known as much for his capitulation with the
House Un-American Activities Committee in the 1950s as he is for his
classic films such as On the Waterfront and A Streetcar
Named Desire. Even if you hate the man, you can’t deny
the power of his work, in particular his lesser-known masterpiece,
A Face in the Crowd.
A remarkably prescient drama about the foreboding power of television,
A Face in the Crowd seems just as fresh today as it did in
1957. The film stars Andy Griffith, in his first acting role, as a
simple-minded Arkansas jailbird who’s propelled to TV super
stardom almost overnight and quickly becomes drunk with power. Griffith’s
performance is raw and shocking, especially since most viewers today
know him only as good-natured Sheriff Andy from the town of Mayberry.
His performance, like the film itself, is unforgettable. A Face
in the Crowd is a landmark work of art whose relevancy and power
have only grown over the years. (NR) Rating: 5
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