June 10, 2009

If Dreams Could Fly
By Lisa Miller

UP
(2009)
* * * (Grade B)
Directed by Pete Docter, Bob Peterson
Voices of Edward Asner, Christopher Plummer, Jordan Nagai, Bob Peterson, Delroy Lindo, Jerome Ranft, John Ratzenberger, David Kaye, Elie Docter, Jeremy Leary
Buena Vista—Rated PG—Animated, Family—90 min
The newest Disney-Pixar joint venture, places the emotional heft of its story on the hunched shoulders of senior citizen, Carl Fredricksen (Ed Asner). At 78, the widower ties 20,000 helium balloons to his house, and together, they take flight. His desire to fulfill a lifelong dream—visit far away places—is both fanciful and poignant. However, the impetus prompting the sudden journey is disturbing.
Carl, an embittered curmudgeon, reacts angrily to being surrounded by a construction crew that is turning his neighborhood, once consisting of sweet single-family homes, into a cityscape of high rises. After a careless construction worker mows down Carl's mailbox, the senior citizen bonks the culprit over the head. Although the man does not appear badly hurt, the court sees fit to order Mr. Fredricksen into assisted care, effectively evicting him from his home of 50 years.
While any adult attending a Pixar film is aware that he must suspend disbelief, I found the notion that the courts would order Carl from his home, based on a minor incident, extremely upsetting. Anyone under 70 years of age would be sentenced to anger management classes and payment of a fine, yet, not one character in "Up," seems outraged by the judgment. Legal Aid, the ACLU and the AARP are nowhere in sight.
Otherwise, for the most part "Up" is wonderfully escapist fare. The animation is deceptively simple, yet incredible attention is lavished on every detail. The joy of stepping into another world—seen frequently from above—and chiefly from the perspective of its elderly hero, gave me the warm fuzzies.
Once aloft, Carl finds a stowaway onboard. He is a 9-year-old Asian-American explorer scout named Russell, trying to earn his merit badge for helping the elderly. Russell (Jordan Nagai) is animated as a roly-poly character while Carl looks much like a square-ish Ed Asner. Shapes aside, Carl's attachment to the boy will come to define his journey.
The film's opening scenes establish that Carl's nearly lifelong relationship with Ellie (Elie Docter), was all he'd ever wanted in life. We meet them as children in 1930. They are fellow admirers of adventurer Charles Muntz (Christopher Plummer), united by the desire to follow Muntz to South America's remote Paradise Falls. Soon Ellie and Carl discover they really like one another. As they grow up, like becomes love, so they marry and buy a home.
During the ensuing years, Carl and Ellie could never gather enough funds for their trip. They grow old and Ellie dies. A man of few words, bereft Carl keeps their home exactly as it was during Ellie's life and often talks to her. Pixar's ability to convey the context of their relationship during a 4-minute, nearly wordless montage, is a wonder of economic storytelling.
In the present Russell is a lonely little boy who loves animals and chocolate, and believes in doing the right thing. Once the house has miraculously landed in Paradise Falls, Russell befriends a large bird he names Kevin. Our heroes soon learn that explorer Charles Muntz intends to take the bird as a specimen and has ordered a pack of dogs to find it. Their mission becomes one of preventing the pack, led by a squeaky voiced Doberman called Alpha (Bob Peterson), from capturing the bird.
The dogs speak thanks to a special collar translating dog-thoughts into English. Just how that collar came to be remains one of the film's mysteries. The hilarious result has dogs stopping mid sentence to say "squirrel," as they perk up their ears to listen for a squirrel sound.
While Alpha and his minions, including a bull dog and a Rottweiler, search for the elusive bird being protected by Russell and Carl, Dug, a pudgy Golden Retriever speaking in a goofy voice (Bob Peterson again), breaks from the pack to be with Carl. Initially immune to Dug's charms, Dug wins Carl over by imploring, "I love you. Would you be my master?"
Muntz, who would now be 100-plus-years-old, remains physically capable of great feats. I'm happy to believe in his prowess, but wish the writers had made some attempt to explain it. While glory-seeking Muntz is easy to despise, Russell, Carl and Dug are easy to love. The heroic trio meshes triumphantly, each exhibiting qualities that ameliorate the others' deficits.
Though "Up" is surely going to be another enormous money-maker for Disney and Pixar, I can't help but wonder whether owners of bull-dogs, Rottweilers and Dobermans will shower the studios with angry letters. Hopefully all dog owners will recognize the animals are only doing their master's bidding and are not inherently vicious. Nevertheless, I may start a write-in campaign to reverse the court's ruling that condemned Fredricksen to assisted living. He deserves the same consideration we all deserve, even in the strange and magical universe of "Up."

Star Trek
(2009)
* * * (Grade B)
Directed by J.J. Abrams
Starring Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Karl Urban, Simon Pegg, Eric Bana, Anton Yelchin, Zoe Saldana, John Cho, Leonard Nimoy, Bruce Greenwood, Ben Cross, Winona Ryder
Paramount—Rated PG-13—Sci-Fi—122 in
A new "Star Trek" boldly goes where the TV show, and its subsequent movies never dared—back to the beginning. James Kirk (Pine) is barely out of his rebellious teens when he's recruited as a Star Fleet officer trainee. Thrust into the role of acting captain, cocky Kirk's first meeting with Spock (Quinto), a Vulcan Starfleet officer, is a battle of wits and wills. Adversity unites the pair when their home planets are targeted by Captain Nero (Bana). Karl Urban is a near miss as Dr. McCoy, Pegg goes into overdrive as drama-king Scotty, Saldana makes a saucy Lt. Uhura, Yelchin steps into Chekov's shoes and Cho appears as Sulu. Nimoy returns as Spock from a future time CGI effects make the most of the various worlds and alien species explored by the story and the sweat-inducing starship battles are spectacular. Starship Log May 5th, 2009: It's good to be a Trekkie—again.

Drag Me To Hell
(2009)
* * *1/2 (Grade A-)
Directed by Sam Raimi
Starring Alison Lohman, Justin Long, Ruth Livier, Lorna Raver, Dileep Rao, David Paymer, Adriana Barraza, Chelcie Ross, Reggie Lee
Universal—Rated PG-13—Horror—99 min
Gunning for an assistant bank manager position, Christine (Lohman) attempts to show her boss she's tough enough to turn down Mrs. Ganush's (Raver) tearful request for an extension on her past due house payments. The old woman goes ballistic and puts a curse on Christine. Initially dismissive of the hex, strange visions prompt Christine to visit a psychic who reveals that following several days of torment Christine will be swallowed up by Hell. Evil spirits assail Christine who seeks help and comfort from her fiancé (Long). Raimi has a ball with the material, drawing ghoulish laughs from cheesy special effects, and some genuinely frightening scares. Could it be that the real Raimi is back?

Terminator Salvation
(2009)
* * (Grade C)
Directed by McG
Starring Christian Bale, Sam Worthington, Anton Yelchin, Moon Bloodgood, Bryce Dallas Howard, Helena Bonham-Carter, Jane Alexander, Jadagrace Berry
Warner—Rated PG-13—Sci-Fi—107 min
In this prequel to the 1984 blockbuster "Terminator," Christian Bale steps into a bleak near-future as resistance leader John Connor. The year is 2018, and Skynet Terminator robots scour earth to exterminate the last human survivors. Connor is on a mission to save his time-travelling father, Kyle Reese (Yelchin), currently a mere youth stuck in battle-torn L.A. Joining Connor's Resistance Army and further complicating the plot, is Marcus Wright (Worthington), a killer mysteriously paroled from death row. Linda Hamilton makes a vocal contribution and Bryce Dallas Howard shows up as Connor's pregnant wife. Filmed in dismal gray, it's difficult to see the $200 million dollar budget largely spent on special effects.

Night At The Museum: Battle Of The Smithsonian
(2009)
* * (Grade C)
Directed by Shawn Levy
Starring Amy Adams, Owen Wilson, Ben Stiller, Robin Williams, Bill Hader, Steve Coogan, Ricky Gervais, Hank Azaria, Dick Van Dyke, Christopher Guest, Eugene Levy
Fox—Rated PG—Fantasy—105 min
The latest comedy trend is to hide lackluster jokes within ginormous special effects. That's what we got from the "Night At The Museum," and there's more of the same from its sequel. Abe Lincoln's Memorial statue gesticulates and spouts modern slang, while the Thinker is saddled with a Bronx accent and punch-drunk mentality. We're supposed to find these anachronistic historical characters hilarious, all of whom magically speak English. Among the figures coming to life in a Washington D.C. museum are: General Custer, Al Capone, Napoleon Bonaparte, Ivan The Terrible, Octavius, an evil Egyptian Pharaoh, and the bones of T-Rex. Once again, Larry Daley (Stiller) is on hand to mediate the confrontations, but this time he's helped by Amelia Earhart (Adams). Will allowing more comedians to do more mediocre work justify the $150 million dollar budget? Yes, but "Terminator Salvation," "Star Trek" and "Wolverine" are carving out large shares of box office for themselves.

Dance Flick
(2009)
* * (Grade C)
Directed by Damien Wayans
Starring Shoshana Bush, Damon Wayans, Jr.
Paramount—Rated PG-13—Comedy—83 min
Another Wayans' gang spoof, this one takes on dance movies, particularly those constructed around dance competitions. Sight gags include a woman spontaneously giving birth while break dancing, Wayans clad in a girly leotard and tights and a young dancer accidentally clobbering any visitor entering her living-room as she rehearses. The social parody has young Damon attempting to hide his crush on white girl Megan (Bush), from the school's vengeful black girls. Written by all the Wayans Bros, and casting two of Damon Jr.'s sibs in small roles, the Wayans can only hope we'll weigh-in by supporting their ever-expanding brood.

Angels & Demons
(2009)
* *1/2 (Grade B-)
Directed by Ron Howard
Starring Tom Hanks, Ayelet Zurer, Ewan McGregor, Stellan Skarsgard, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Piefrancesco Favino, Nikolaj Lie Kaas
Sony—Rated PG-13—Drama—138 min
Boosting its action quotient, Ron Howard and his screenwriters appear determined to overcome the "Da Vinci Code's" leaden adaptation. In this prequel Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon (Hanks), is summoned to find four kidnapped cardinals considered front-runners for the papacy. Aided by the recently deceased pope's friend (McGregor), along with Inspector Olivetti (Favino) and beautiful Italian scientist Vittoria (Zurer), Langdon tracks the Illuminati, a religious cult terrorizing the Vatican. As dead cardinals pile up, Langdon races from church to church, charting a path of religious symbols to locate the perpetrators. Generous helpings of mysterious deaths, explosions and gorgeous recreations of Vatican locations, are hopeful signs that this chapter has escaped its book-to-screen demons.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine
(2009)
* *1/2 (Grade B-)
Directed by Gavin Hood
Starring Hugh Jackman, Live Schreiber, Ryan Reynolds, Dominic Monaghan
Fox—Rated PG-13—Fantasy—107 min
Because Hugh Jackman is a major box office draw and because his character Wolverine is such a crowd-pleaser, it was inevitable he would get an X-Men movie of his own. Born in the Mid-1800s, Logan, aka Wolverine, and his brother Victor, aka Sabretooth (Schreiber), put their immortality and superpowers to good use as soldiers fighting in many wars. Eventually, the brothers are recruited onto a black ops squad of mutants. Wolverine tires of the violence, but his brother Sabretooth can't get enough. After Wolverine quits the squad, Sabretooth goes gunning for his brother, forcing the siblings into spectacular battles. Sabretooth's fingernails grow super-long, a match for Wolverine's clawlike metal knuckles. Schreiber is Jackman's screen equal in a moody film that stages knockout confrontations from different eras and around the globe. The video game spin-off possibilities are mindboggling.

Ghosts Of Girlfriends Past
(2009)
*1/2 (Grade C-)
Directed by Mark Waters
Starring Matthew McConaughey, Jennifer Garner, Lacey Chabert, Michael Douglas, Emma Stone, Anne Archer, Robert Forster, Breckin Meyer
New Line Cinema—Rated PG-13—Comedy—102 min
Using the format from Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" as the foundation for a romantic comedy sounds promising, but doesn't pan out. Michael Douglas plays a deceased womanizer, returning as a spirit attempting to show his playboy nephew Connor (McConaughey) the error of following in his uncle's footsteps. It all happens one fateful weekend when Connor attends his brother's (Meyer) wedding. On hand for the event is Jenny (Garner), the one woman savvy enough to avoid Connor's bed, despite their longtime flirtation. After making a pass at the bride's mother (Archer), Connor falls under the spell of dead Uncle Wayne (Douglas), who compels him to tour his own past, present and future, guided by three girlfriends. Though McConaughey and Garner sport matching dimples, there's little chemistry there and we can't help hoping Jenny will leave the insufferable jerk for a better guy, preferably in a better movie.