Dwayne Johnson has got to be one of the most amazing rising star stories of the past decade. One of the faces of the WWE, Johnson at first appeared on television shows to play to his wrestling career: playing his own father, Rocky Johnson, on "That '70s Show" and an alien wrestler called The Champion on "Star Trek: Voyager". Not to say there haven't been successful wrestlers-turned-actors like John Cena (The Marine, 12 Rounds), "Rowdy" Roddy Piper (John Carpenter's They Live), Jesse Ventura (Predator, The Running Man and Demolition Man), Andre the Giant (Conan the Destroyer and The Princess Bride) and of course, Hulk Hogan (Rocky III). But what makes Johnson a superstar today unlike these guys? Perhaps it's his ability to appeal to all ages: family films for the little kids, PG-13 comedies for teenagers or nonstop action movies for adults. Let's go back to where it all started: his first starring role - outside of The Mummy franchise - in Peter Berg's The Rundown.
Reluctantly, Beck flies down to South America where he happens upon the oppressed, gold-mining village run by a guy named Hatcher (Christopher Walken). It's here at a local bar in the village where he learns that Travis is a motormouth smartaleck who's desperate to find a fabled artifact that he can cash in with. Immediately antagonizing Beck, Travis is about to be almost literally dragged to the airport, when Hatcher steps in the bar and says Travis isn't going anywhere until he finds the artifact so he can take it from him.
Beck and Travis manage to escape Hatcher's clutches. On their drive back, Travis refuses to shut up. He eventually causes Beck to crash their Jeep in the middle of the jungle. Forced to go on foot, Beck and Travis bicker constantly until they stumble upon the rebel group led by the town's bartender, Mariana (Rosario Dawson). She knows what Travis is looking for, but wants it to buy her and her village out from under Hatcher's control. Forming an uneasy trio, the three head into the jungle to find Travis' precious artifact to take down Hatcher so Beck can take Travis home.
Let's get this out of the way: Seann William Scott is impossibly annoying in this. Not Tom Green-levels fortunately, but this character was written to be nothing but unlikable. His character serves no purpose to the story other than to be Dwayne Johnson's reason for going down to South America and to be his sidekick. It's not surprising that Scott has gotten less and less parts as the years go by - his last major theatrical live-action appearances being Kevin Smith's Cop Out and American Reunion. I know a lot of people will point to Goon being one of his finest performances, so I will concede I may be out of line.
On the other hand, Dwayne Johnson - for someone who didn't have that much acting expierence - actually does really well in his first starring role. He creates this character, Beck, with a character being a big strong guy who really really wants to be nice, but can be pushed to his limits. Beck's a no-nonsense guy with a single-minded determination but has a heart of gold and a strong sense of right and wrong. Let's be honest, Johnson will never be a leading man of the caliber of Tom Hanks or Robert De Niro, but nobody's asking him to be. He has his own charisma and charm. In addition to the punching. A lot of action movie fans point to this movie as to how Dwayne Johnson basically became the Schwarzenegger of the 21st century. Specifically this scene:
This film was Peter Berg's sophomore effort and it launched his career into the stratosphere. Since then, he's had hits - like Friday Night Lights (the film and subsequent television series) and Lone Survivor - and misses - like Hancock and Battleship. For years, he's talked about re-teaming with Dwayne Johnson to do a Rundown 2 teaming Johnson with another actor to keep things fresh (i.e. not Seann William Scott). After seeing the misses, it'd be really good for Berg to get back to basics with a new Rundown. And Dwayne Johnson's only getting hotter. As an actor.
"Do I have to explain everything? Can't you just be amazed and move on?"
- Frank Walker (George Clooney), Tomorrowland
After finishing the Academy Award-winning Ratatouille, writer/director Brad Bird wanted to move onto more dramatic fare and optioned the book “1906” about the famous San Francisco earthquake. It was quite a large production for Warner Bros., beginning preparations for soundstages in advance. But eventually, Warner Bros. got cold feet because Bird had not yet proven himself a capable live-action filmmaker. This would change when Bird got a text message from J.J. Abrams that was simply, “Mission?” When his work on Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol was finished, Bird returned to Warner Bros. to revive 1906. Warner Bros. would still not let the film move forward, saying that although Ghost Protocol was a success, Bird had simply directed the fourth installment of an already successful franchise starring the world’s biggest movie star, Tom Cruise.
This frustrated Bird as his Academy Award-winning Pixar films had already proven that he was a phenomenal director and Mission: Impossible was a perfect launching pad for his live-action career. Even fellow Pixar alumni, Andrew Stanton had begun working in live-action, made the infamous John Carter and was relegated back to Finding Dory. Bird was talking to Damon Lindelof, one of J.J. Abrams’ creative partners, about how the future looked bleak. They soon dawned on an idea tying back into Bird's Disney roots and Lindelof and Abrams' famed knack for mysterious stories.
Casey Newton (Britt Robertson) is an ambitious high school girl who dreams of space exploration. Her father (Tim McGraw) is about to be put out of work by NASA, but she tries her best to delay the inevitable by illegally damaging the de-construction site and is soon arrested. While retrieving her returned items, she comes across a seemingly magical pin that transports her into a world of the future, "Tomorrowland". Casey is blown away by what she sees and wants to know more about it, not realizing she has stumbled into the middle of fighting factions of evil robots sent by the authoritarian David Nix (Hugh Laurie) and the pessimistic inventor Frank Walker (George Clooney) who begins to believe Casey might have what it takes to save both Earth and Tomorrowland.
Via Rotten Tomatoes, The Iron Giant and The Incredibles are tied at 97%, with Ratatouille only a point behind. Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol, Bird's first step into live-action territory,has an impressive 93%. Tomorrowland is situated at 50%. Why such a perceived dramatic drop in quality from a director that has clearly proven himself in the past? Unfortunately, to be honest, you can’t really put your finger on what’s wrong with this movie other than leaving you with the feeling of “What just happened?” The movie Tomorrowland starts out as is not at all the movie it is by the end (especially since the framing device doesn't exactly match). Even the villain Nix's motivaitons are sketchy at best; at first, one might be lead to believe that he has stolen ideas from the geniuses of the world to create this utopia all for himself, but no, that's not it at all. From what I can gather after two screenings, the movie is trying to juggle two messages symbolized by a story Casey tells her dad (that she says he told her years ago): two wolves - darkness and despair and hope and light - are fighting and the wolf that wins is the one that you feed. HUH?! The movie so wants to celebrate optimism in the future but the movie postulates that Earth is doomed because Nix is unwilling to save the population that can't save itself. "You've got simultaneous epidemics of obesity and starvation, explain that one." Yeah, kids! Try and explain the world's situation in this movie you thought was all gonna be flying cars and jetpacks! And then the movie ends with Casey telling a new generation of robot recruits, "We're looking for dreamers." It's such a mess of messages that we can't just enjoy the eye candy in front of us without being judged for doing so.
I’m also disappointed that nearly all but one reference to Walt Disney was included. Without getting too maudlin, to me Walt Disney is the greatest American storyteller of the 20th century. One of my friends likes to think of Elvis Presley as the king of American pop culture. If that stands to reason, I like to think of Uncle Walt as the president. He was a man beyond his time; not just making classic animated movies, not just building amazing theme parks but embodying a spirit of adventure and inspiration that few if any have rivaled. Tom Hanks did an above decent job honoring Walt in Saving Mr. Banks, but that movie has its own set of problems. Damon Lindelof (a popular lightning rod for angry fans for raising questions and refusing to answer them in his work) has said that "...it felt like we were inside a Disney movie and every time we saw Disney get mentioned in it, it was a wink to the audience. Like a meta self-aware thing that took you out." How about when you're making a DISNEY movie that's inspired by WALT DISNEY, be proud of it? Or at least don't involve him inmisleading advertising? Oh, and maybe don't hire funny folks like Keegan Michael-Key and Kathryn Hahn and make them essentially useless characters.
Unlike past Disney upsets like Mars Needs Moms, John Carter and The Lone Ranger, Tomorrowland stings just a bit more because of its direct ties to Uncle Walt and its seemingly ashamedness of it. Even with all of that said, I can't say I hate this movie. Honest! It's just totally misguided and clearly lots of cuts were made to the movie. Even Pixar animators helped out in a sequence that got cut! It's just so sad. Bird has said that he is currently in the writing of The Incredibles 2, a sequel that Pixar fans have long awaited. I certainly wish him no ill will and hope that he can bounce back with something amazing. And maybe stay away from the Mystery Box? I'll still pick this movie up on Blu-Ray if just to see the presumably numerous deleted scenes and hopefully a commentary by Bird.
"If I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die historic on the fury road!"
- Nux (Nicholas Hoult), Mad Max: Fury Road
Very few filmmakers around today have as eclectic a career as George Miller. Originally an emergency room doctor by trade, Miller was daily confronted with the realities of the harshness of the Australian Outback; specifically car and motorcycle accidents. At the same time, he was taking courses at a local film school where he met producing partner Byron Kennedy. Together, the two men devised a film to tackle the dangerous issues of life down under via a futuristic outlook. In 1979, they began the Mad Max series of films. A then unknown Mel Gibson took the title role of a police officer gone rogue in a terrible Wasteland after the tragic deaths of his loving wife and young child. In the sequels to the original, Max is a loner and dragged into fighting for causes other than his own survival. Initially unsuccessful internationally, Gibson's stardom and Miller's storytelling made for a memorable '80s franchise that helped to influence The Terminator and other post-apocalyptic features.
In between the second and third Mad Max films, George Miller was offered the opportunity by Steven Spielberg to direct the final segment in the infamous 1983 film Twilight Zone: The Movie. Miller took the opportunity to remake the classic episode "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" with John Lithgow taking over for William Shatner in what many consider the best segment of the film (one that certainly didn't end in the deaths of three actors, but that's neither here nor there). After finishing Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (which many consider the weakest of the films, due to Miller being overcome by the death of his friend Kennedy), Miller directed the fantasy/horror/comedy The Witches of Eastwick, the medicinal drama Lorenzo's Oil, co-wrote the screenplay for Babe (yes, *that* Babe) and even directed Babe: Pig in the City (of which Universal chairman Ron Meyer said years later was among the worst films Universal ever released). From there, Miller took on another franchise that is far and away worlds apart from the Mad Max films: the Happy Feet movies. Miller was attracted to telling a story that dealt with a desert of another kind: instead of blistering hot, freezing cold. Like Babe, Miller did the Happy Feet movies mostly for his children. Happy Feet Two, in particular, is notable for being the final time that actor Robin Williams would be heard in an animated film.
Still, Miller couldn't shake the feeling that he wasn't done with the Mad Max series. In 2003, he and Mel Gibson had attempted to put together a new Mad Max film and were weeks away from shooting a fourth film when the U.S. invaded Iraq and the dollar shifted in Australia. Gibson decided to walk away from the character in favor of directing The Passion of the Christ. After having similar trouble attempting to start production on a Justice League film, Miller then considered making Mad Max 4 as a R-rated 3D animated film in anime style, but by 2009 (the franchise's 30th anniversary), he finally decided enough was enough and that it was time to reintroduce a live-action Mad Max to the world.
In the desolate world of the Wasteland, Max Rockatansky (Tom Hardy) is more savage than man. In more ways than one, the Road Warrior is not what he used to be. Max is quickly captured by the War Boys, loyal fanatics of a warrior king known as Immortan Joe (Hugh Keays-Byrne; returning to the series as yet another villain, after portraying the first film's Toecutter). The tyrannical Joe sends off a War Rig driven by Imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron) for supplies, but Furiosa quickly betrays Joe and takes a cargo full of unwed mothers away from his clutches. Immortan Joe sends out a war party led by the ambitious and eager-to-please Nux (Nicholas Hoult of X-Men fame) with a muzzled Max in tow. Max eventually escapes Nux and catches up to Furiosa and the mothers. At first, Furiosa and Max are at odds, but once Max is convinced of their "righteous cause", he pledges to help them, once again becoming a man on a mission.
I don't know if it'd be entirely accurate to say I'm new to the world of Mad Max (I bought the original on Blu-Ray and recommend it; and I also DVR'd The Road Warrior to rewatch it) but for those others of my generation who haven't seen nor heard of these other flicks, it has to be more than wildly confusing. Sure, some might say that this film doesn't necessarily have to be connected to the originals and can stand on its own - which it does for the most part - but unlike The Road Warrior which sums up the lead-up to the Wasteland and the events of Mad Max in less than two minutes. This movie tries to do the same thing with audio news sources, which is interesting. Max crops up to start narrating the movie, but this is eventually abandoned. From what I've read, there was more of his narration throughout the movie but it was eventually cut out after test screenings.
A lot recently has been made up of this Mad Max movie supposedly not being tailored towards men as the franchise had been in the past. The Mad Max movies have introduced strong-willed women in each film (Jessie Rockatansky from Mad Max, the Warrior Woman from Road Warrior and notably Tina Turner's Aunty Entity from Beyond Thunderdome) in the past and this one is no different. The story point of Furiosa and the Mothers is to give Max a "righteous cause" so he can eventually revert from mindless savage to the badass hero we all expect. Charlize Theron gives her all in this part (though I'm kind of confused as to why her and some of the other Mothers don't have Australian accents). It's not entirely her movie as they would like you to believe. And even if it was, by the end of this movie where she loses her robotic arm and one eye, she earned it.
The technical achievements of this film are phenomenal. The amount of physical effects in the car crashes and explosions - a staple of the franchise - is staggering. Take in this fact: George Miller is 70 years old. The cinematographer of this movie, John Seale, is 72. All of this crash, boom, bang would result in blockbuster king Michael Bay watching this movie and sitting there, dumbstruck. And possibly crying into his popcorn. All these vehicles had to be built from the ground up and this movie has one of the longest credits dedicated to stunt people I've ever seen. I'd also like to mention that the score by Junkie XL is very, very good. It amps up the action with hard-hitting drum beats but also compliments the softer scenes with sweeter melodies (almost like the original Mad Max).
Many were surprised to see how well Mad Max: Fury Road did with the critical reception resulting in only two rotten reviews from Rotten Tomatoes. It's the triumphant return of a great director as well as a classic franchise. I'd like to mention I first saw this film in 3D (I hadn't seen a 3D film since Gravity and went through all of 2014 in 2D) and thought it wasn't a bad post-conversion. Hooks, chains, and even guitars fly out towards the screen while expanding the world into the screen. Kick it into drive and see Fury Road.
