Secret Agent Gal Movie Reviews

X-Men: First Class *****

 

Calling young mutants everywhere: We need you. Please save our world. Matthew Vaughn’s masterpiece of comic book action, drama and history X-Men: First Class champions being different, proud and loud. It's livelier than its predecessors The Last Stand and Wolverine.

On par with Batman and Superman, this smart, exciting prequel is an instant classic. It captures the spirit and scope of the original Marvel Comics with big talent, engaging story, sci-fi elements and James Bond-like espionage. Vaughn displays his Kick-Ass flair as the X-Men exercise mutant powers.

Freaks as valuable members of society is a major theme throughout the film. Outsiders are the ones who can see beyond the petty, dangerous wars of men. They are the true heroes of humanity. The new X-Men must learn to accept themselves fully to unlock that awesome power. 

Globe trotting, can’t-look-away action is expertly woven around larger-than-life characters. This stylish summer blockbuster has a timeless quality, with action that seems like it's happening today rather than during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

James McAvoy as humanitarian genius Professor X/Charles Xavier and Michael Fassbender as obsessed revenge seeker Magneto/ Erik Lehnsherr headline with an uneasy bromance. They’re the mutant granddaddies who lead and guide a hand-picked crew of young superpowers to battle mutant Nazi megalomaniac Sebastian Shaw/Dr. Schmidt (Kevin Bacon, better than ever).

Professor X's telepathy has given him empathy and a concern for humanity. X-Men have a responsibility to  be better than humans, using their powers to prevent catastrophe and also to lead men on the path of peace and justice. Magneto's rivalry with Professor X arises from his thirst for revenge. He'd rather be right than be happy.

Years after executing Erik's mother, Shaw is now a world threat who wants to exploit Cold War tensions to spark nuclear annihilation. Erik must stop him. “Let’s just say I’m Frankenstein’s monster and I’m looking for my creator,” he says. Bacon has played evildoers before, most notably a child molester in The Woodsman.

Charles teaches his friend to tap into authentic might. “True focus lies somewhere between rage and serenity,” he says. Erik eventually joins forces with Charles and the other X-Men to enhance his own powers.                

Sexpot Raven/Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) yearns to fit in with humans, hiding her lovely blue scales. Raven sneaks into Erik’s bed one evening. “You want society to accept you, but you can’t even accept yourself,” he chides. Nerdy scientist and Raven’s admirer Hank/Beast (Nicholas Hoult) enhances his freakishness in a botched lab experiment. Finally Raven gets it. “Society should aspire to be more like us.”

Rose Byrne plays adventurous CIA agent Moira MacTaggert who recruits Charles and Raven to join the agency’s new Division of Mutant Powers. Oliver Platt is perfect as a CIA special ops bigwig who must defer to Charles’ leadership if they stand any chance of stopping Shaw.

Rounding out the ensemble are January Jones as Shaw’s accomplice Emma Frost, a call girl and telepathic ice queen. Zoe Kravitz (Angel Salvadore/Wings) breaks a few hearts. Caleb Landry Jones (Cassidy/Banshee) rides ear-splitting sound waves. Jason Flemyng (Clash of the Titans) plays devilish Azazel. Lucas Till shows real leadership as Alex Summers/Havok. Alex Gonzalez plays soulful Janos Questad/Riptide. Edi Gathegi (Twilight) stands up to Shaw as Darwin/Armondo.

A funny cameo by one famous mutant bestows a back-handed blessing on the newest X-Men.

Top notch are John Mathieson’s cinematography, John Dykstra’s visual effects, Chris Seagers’ production design and Sammy Sheldon’s costumes.

If you like X-Men: First Class, you might enjoy:  Comic Book Movies.

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X-Men: First Class     2011  /  PG-13  /  2 hour, 10 min

Cast Overview:  James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Kevin Bacon, Rose Byrne, January Jones, Oliver Platt, Jennifer Lawrence, Nicholas Hoult, Zoe Kravitz, Jason Flemyng, Lucas Till, Caleb Landry Jones, Alex Gonzalez, Edi Gathegi

Director:  Matthew Vaughn

Genre:  Action, Adventure, SciFi, Fantasy, Comic Book

 

Trollhunter *****

 

Troll!  When tourists disappear and trees topple, a feisty band of film students seeks the facts. Legend has it that trolls rule the northern wilds of Norway. Those stories can’t be anything more than just fairy tales – right? André Øvredal’s send-up of the crusty creatures Trollhunter delivers giddy thrills.

Much like The Blair Witch Project with the scope of Jurassic Park, the folklore-inspired expose stars solitary trollhunter Hans (comedian Otto Jespersen) and the cheeky students who follow him. With an enigmatic slash across his face, intense Hans lives in a smelly trailer festooned with furry tails. Deep gashes pierce his SUV, which has been retrofitted with metal teeth and huge spotlights.

The trollhunter speeds off each night without warning. He must know something about the disappearances, the Volda College students believe. “Get lost!” he warns Thomas (Glenn Erland Tosterud).

The gang persists. “Do you think Michael Moore gave up after the first try?” Thomas asks. People have the right to know what’s behind the accidents, insists soundwoman Johanna (Johanna Morck). Cameraman Kalle (Tomas Alf Larsen) appears late during a critical moment. Blaming bears and tornadoes, the government and mainstream media seem clueless.

A government conspiracy is uncovered. The Wildlife Board has known about trolls all along, but denies their existence. The head of the ultra-secret Troll Security Service Finn Haugen (Hans Morten Hansen) hires a crew of Polish painters (led by Robert Stoltenberg) to plant false evidence at accident scenes.

Comedians Jespersen, Tosterud, Hansen and Stoltenberg elevate Trollhunter's dark comedy and interesting character development. Norway’s Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg appears in a cameo at the film’s conclusion.

With deadpan sincerity, Jespersen portrays a man attuned to freaky nature who strives to do right. Hans walks a fine line between protecting citizens and treating the mammals humanely. He confesses that he once led a murderous government mission against the trolls. Now he’s relieved that someone will document their existence.

Hans has one major weapon to combat rampaging trolls. Bright UV light makes them calcify, causing them to explode or turn to stone. “I’m not brave,” he tells Thomas. “This is dirty work.”

The lively, low budget adventure was featured at Sundance 2011. Writer-director Øvredal told Io9 that Hans’ character was partly inspired by Robert Shaw’s Quint in Jaws. 

Tall as trees, trolls can live for over a thousand years. Not too bright, they eat rocks and smell like troll stench. They’re a far cry from the homely-cute trinkets with orange or green hair. Tosserlad can sprout up to nine heads to lure lady trolls. A three-headed giant sends the hunter and initially skeptical trio scrambling.

Trolls turn furious when they smell the blood of a Christian. For this reason Hans insists that only non-believers can tag along. This detail has some historical basis. When Christianity took hold in Norway during the 13th century, people stopped believing in and worshipping trolls.

 

A rabid Ringlefinch takes the bait on a bridge, flinging Hans aloft like a plaything. Luckily the group comes to his rescue. A veterinarian later confirms that the troll was diseased. Hans fills out the government requisite Slayed Troll Form.

When power lines are ripped down around Mountain King territory, Hans and the gang travel far north to investigate. A massive, renegade Jotnar stalks them. Supersized like the Abominable Snow Monster from TV’s Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, this troll may be the most ferocious of all. Just then the Wildlife Board shows up.

Deliciously suspenseful, Trollhunter features production design by Martin Gant and sound design by Baard Haugan Ingebretsen. Impressive CGI and seamless visual effects are supervised by Øystein Larsen. Big set pieces and fearsome sound evoke the best of the Hollywood creature features.

Cinematographer Hallvard Braein achieves relatively steady handheld camerawork amidst beautiful valleys, forests, mountains and fjords. Film locations included Vaatedalen, Juten Heiman, and Sogn og Fjordane. 

Menace or national treasure? It seems trolls want to eat, reproduce and roam in peace. The pathos of the trolls will impress animal lovers even while mock bear carcasses and live goat bait may disturb some.

If you like Trollhunter, you might enjoy:  Insidious; Apollo 18; Splice.

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Trollhunter     2010  /  NR  /    1 hour, 33 min

Cast Overview:  Otto Jespersen, Glenn Erland Tosterud, Hans Morten Hansen, Johanna Morck, Tomas Alf Larsen, Knut Naerum, Robert Stoltenberg, Torunn Lodemel Stokkeland, Marte Brauteset

Director:  André Øvredal

Genre:  Mockumentary, Horror, Foreign Film

Language: Norwegian with English subtitles

 

Incendies *****

 

A daughter investigates her mother’s life and her own roots in the Oscar-nominated mystery Incendies. Denis Villeneuve writes and directs this suspenseful family drama that intertwines the daughter’s journey with scenes from her mother’s traumatic early years in the Middle East.

When their mother dies, grown twins Jeanne (Mélissa Désormeaux-Poulin) and Simon (Maxim Gaudette) arrive for the reading of her will. They are stunned when Jean Lebel (Remy Girard), a notary public and their mother’s former boss, hands them two envelopes. Jeanne is asked to deliver a letter to their father. Simon is asked to deliver a letter to their brother.

Jeanne and Simon had no idea that their father was alive. They never knew they had a brother. Nawal Marwan (played by talented Belgian actress Lubna Azabal) had been quiet, and worked as a secretary. Bewildered, Jeanne tries to make sense of her mother’s words. If the twins deliver these messages, “the silence will be broken, a promise kept.”

Simon balks and remains in Montreal. He does not want to delve into the past. He’d rather abandon his family history and any unseemly details. The strain of his mother’s nervous illnesses has been enough for him. Simon urges Jeanne not to go.

A graduate student in mathematics, Jeanne seeks the advice of a professor. He compares mathematics to her complex relationship with her mother: “Now, you enter an entirely different adventure. The subject will be intractable problems that always lead to other problems, just as intractable. People around you will repeatedly say that your struggles are in vain. You’ll have no argument to defend yourself, for the work will be exhausting and complex. Welcome to pure mathematics, the land of loneliness.”

Jeanne insists on going alone if she must, compelled to hunt down the truth so her heart can be at peace. She sets out for the unnamed Middle Eastern country.

We witness the daughter following each clue, talking to people who knew Nawal, or knew of her. A group of village women is cruel and judgmental. Desormeaux-Poulin (Taking the Plunge) gives an intense but nuanced performance, filled with insatiable curiosity and growing dread. Much later when she faces danger, Simon rushes to her side to help complete the search. Gaudette (Polytechnique) conveys the male heart with pitch perfect acting.

Renowned Canadian actor Girard crafts a memorable character in Lebel, who guides and protects the twins. He assures them that their mother was of sound mind, but indelibly marked by her early years.

 

Nawal was beset by tragedy from early girlhood through the horrors of her country’s civil war. Key scenes from Nawal’s life are shown as Jeanne walks the same streets her mother once did. Azabal (Body of Lies) evokes great dignity which explodes into anger as she struggles to overcome unimaginably painful personal ordeals.

Nawal is rebuked by her Christian family when she falls in love with a Muslim. Her brothers track the lovers down in an orchard and murder her beloved. Later her grandmother helps her deliver a baby boy, who is quickly given up for adoption to save the family from shame. The grandmother tattoos three dots on the baby’s heel, an identifying mark. “I’ll find you again one day,” Nawal promises him.

Nawal is sent away to live with relatives. She becomes a student and political activist. Deciding to search for her son, she sets off on a bus filled with Muslims. When Christian extremists detain the group, Nawal pretends she is still a Christian to save herself. Helplessly, she watches as all aboard are massacred, flames exploding in the middle of the desert.

Rage takes over as Nawal joins an extremist group, assassinating a Christian leader while posing as a tutor. She is sentenced to 15 years in prison, where she is tortured and raped. Nawal survives by singing in solitary confinement. This enrages her captors. Jeanne and Simon eventually meet a midwife who worked at the prison. She remembers Nawal fondly as “The Woman Who Sings.”

Villeneuve defines the title Incendies as an inferno, “something totally destroyed, totally transformed . . . destruction that you cannot change afterwards.” Filmed in Montreal and Jordan, it is based on the play of the same name by the Lebanese-born writer Wajdi Mouawad. The scars that violence leaves, and its senselessness, are stark in Incendies’ explosive conclusion.

Beautiful and devastating, the film features wrenching imagery and ominous sound. As it opens, young Muslim boys are having their heads shaved, apparently being prepared for terrorist training. The eyes of one boy stare back into the camera, bottomless, empty.

“Death is never the end of the story,” Lebel reminds us. “There are always details.”

If you like Incendies, you might enjoy:  Nora’s Will; A Prophet; Lemon Tree.

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Incendies     2010  /  R  /  2 hours, 10 min

Cast Overview:  Lubna Azabal, Melissa Desormeaux-Poulin, Maxim Gaudette, Remy Girard, Abdelghafour Elaaziz, Allen Altman, Mohamed Majd, Nabil Sawalha, Baya Belal 

Director:  Denis Villeneuve

Genre:  Drama, Mystery, War, Foreign, Drama Based on the Play

Languages: French and Arabic with English subtitles

 

 

Insidious ****1/2

 

Murky monsters. Out-of-body travel. A kid in a coma. Deliciously weird Insidious thrills us through the final violin note.

It’s carefully crafted horror and suspense without visceral violence from the team who brought us the original Saw slasher film, director James Wan and screenwriter Leigh Whannell. Menace hovers like a thunderhead. There’s plenty to curdle the blood, without bloodshed.  

Poltergeist meets Paranormal Activity as Insidious delves into paranormal science with it-could-happen-to-you realism. Like The Exorcist, it shows possession. Like The Shining, it conjures a spooky past that encroaches on the present. Like The Sixth Sense, it’s filled with I-see-dead-people moments to raise the hairs on your neck.

Non-stop tension and sympathetic characters add to foreboding. There’s a slo-o-o-w buildup as normal couple Josh and Renai Lambert move into an old Victorian home with sons Dalton and Foster, and a baby sister. 

Gruesome voices cackle over a baby monitor. Spirits stalk the rooms. Boxes of belongings vanish and reappear. Caution: these images may linger with you for days.

Wan takes advantage of darkness and light, silence and cacophony. Nicely imagined and realized ghouls are worthy of a Vincent Price movie. Creepy, under-lit visuals entertain.

Dalton (Ty Simpkins), like his sensitive mom Renai (Rose Byrne), sees and hears things in the old house. After an accident in the attic, Dalton falls into a medical coma.  No one can explain it.

Byrne is wonderful as a terrified, overwhelmed mom who yearns for a peaceful moment so she can compose music at the piano. Playing school teacher dad Josh, Patrick Wilson is perhaps too low key as the drama unfolds. Renai sleeps upstairs while Josh retreats to the couch to prevent a break-in. Later we learn why he is so tuned out.

Foster (Andrew Astor) sheds light on his brother’s nighttime activities. Renai despairs. “I feel like the universe is just seeing how far I’ll bend before I break,” she tells a visiting nurse.

The Lamberts have moved before to escape ghostly turmoil.  After Renai’s close encounter with a man pacing the bedroom, she begs Josh for another family move.

Josh’s mom Lorraine (Barbara Hershey) listens to the harrowing tale and believes. A doctor (Ruben Pla) and a priest (John Henry Binder) try to help. Finally the Lamberts turn to Lorraine’s friend Elise (wise, determined Lin Shaye), who just happens to be a paranormal expert.

 

Nerdy Specs and Tucker (Whannell and Angus Sampson) resemble vintage ghost-busters in their black and white outfits with odd gadgets in tow. The two spar playfully until their esteemed boss shows up for the serious work of saving Dalton.

Guided by Elise, Josh embarks on a mission into The Further to rescue his son. Tiny Tim’s Tiptoe Through the Tulips never sounded so ominous. 

The movie’s best scenes include Dalton’s foray into the attic, and the intervention (complete with black mask, gaseous vapors and raging demons). John R. Leonetti and David M. Brewer provide cinematography. Joe Dzuban is supervising sound editor.  

Like the best horror films, Insidious lets us indulge in our worst fears, and leave the theater feeling that we can face them.

If you like Insidious, you might enjoy: Shutter Island; The Ghost Writer; Splice.

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Insidious   2010  /  PG-13  /  1 hour, 42 mins

Cast Overview:  Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne, Lin Shaye, Ty Simpkins, Leigh Whannell, Angus Sampson, Barbara Hershey

Director:  James Wan

Genre:  Horror, Supernatural, Psychological Thriller, Fantasy

Source Code ***1/2

 

 

Will someone please find a good movie for Jake Gyllenhaal to star in? The talented actor plays Captain Colter Stevens in the anticlimactic sci-fi thriller Source Code.

Source Code is a should-have-been-better movie, but not for the usual reasons.  Direction, staging, dialogue, plot and acting are all quite good. In this case it’s the repetitive Groundhog Day-like action that, even when well executed, becomes groan-worthy after Capt. Stevens’ third or fourth trip into danger.

Dr. Rutledge (Jeffrey Wright) tells the time traveler that he's being sent into a window of eight minutes on a doomed Chicago commuter train to discover who set a deadly bomb. It’s a matter of urgent national security, he says. More terror attacks are expected. Although the life and death trip jars and disorients Stevens, he’s helping to save many lives.

The face of officer Colleen Goodwin (always excellent Vera Farmiga) appears onscreen every time Stevens is blown to bits and jettisoned back to the present in a space shuttle-like pod.  Their relationship is cryptic. Goodwin is hiding something from Stevens, but he can’t quite remember what that is.

The captain’s struggles with memory and identity are best left to the viewer to fathom and enjoy.  Meanwhile jittery action flings us along with Stevens from life to death, past to present.

Beautiful Christina (Michelle Monaghan) appears across from Stevens each time he returns. Their growing mutual attraction in the face of certain death adds interest. Monaghan’s impressive credits include Gone Baby Gone (2007) and Eagle Eye (2008).

Stevens tries new strategies and interacts differently with the passengers each time. The same events happen – coffee is spilled, a conductor collects tickets – but Stevens hunts differently for the terrorist each time. He discovers that his actions can change what happens. Soon he wants to prevent the accident, save Christina and find the bomber.

 

One by one the passengers come under suspicion.  Comedian Russell Peters plays a funny passenger who does stand-up comedy on a dare from Stevens.

Finally the bomber is someone we didn’t expect. Stevens confronts him, but can he stop him, disable the bomb and change anything? Goodwin and Rutledge warn him not to stray from his fact-finding mission.

Director Duncan Jones (David Bowie’s son and director of Moon) achieves dramatic tension during the train scenes. Occasionally he evokes a Hitchcock-like feeling. The actors reportedly suffered from motion sickness during the filming of high speed action.

Gyllenhaal is manic with purpose, a romantic at heart like Jamie Randall in Love & Other Drugs (2010) and Jack Twist in Brokeback Mountain (2005).

Source Code delves into free will and conscience like The Adjustment Bureau, the Bourne films and Green Zone.  Stevens wants to serve his country and be happy. Questions arise about his mission. Is his service voluntary? Is he being held against his will?

Farmiga is great as a dutiful career military woman who begins to doubt the mission and empathize with Stevens.

Wright is a tremendous, powerful actor who deserves more roles. Superb as artist Jean-Michel Basquiat (Basquiat, 1996), he recently played Colin Powell in W. (2008) and Muddy Waters in Cadillac Records (2008).

Source Code’s finale adds to our disorientation. Goodwin receives a mysterious phone message. Rutledge’s true colors are revealed.

If you like Source Code, you might enjoy: Limitless; Love & Other Drugs; The Adjustment Bureau.

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Source Code  2011  /  PG-13  /  1 Hour, 33 min

Cast Overview:  Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Monaghan, Vera Farmiga, Jeffrey Wright, Michael Arden, Cas Anvar, Russell Peters

Director:  Duncan Jones

Genre:  Sci-Fi Thriller, Suspense

2012 *****

 

Earth shifts big-time as humanity scrambles in the terrifying adventure drama 2012.

Geologist Adrian Helmsley (Chiwetel Ejiofor) is ordered to the President’s office when he discovers that impending global changes will happen in a matter of hours.

Ejiofor (Children of Men; SALT) and co-star John Cusack both model love and concern for others as cataclysms unfold. Beneath all the mayhem, the theme of the film is love. 

Cusack plays Jackson Curtis, a writer who moonlights as a limo driver.  A heartbroken everyman, he lost his family to his obsession with writing. Jackson’s world has been rocked by divorce in poignant parallel to the world around him.

When Jackson and his kids trespass in a restricted area at Yellowstone National Park, they meet enigmatic radio DJ Charlie Frost (very real and funny Woody Harrelson). Jackson also meets Adrian (who convinces the U.S. Army to release his favorite sci-fi author). 

Frost is attuned to what’s going on (a copy of Your Immortal Reality by Gary Renard sits on his desk). He monitors the radical changes happening under the Earth’s crust and dares to talk about them. Despite his wild-eyed ravings, he speaks from the heart. Jackson is intrigued. 

2012 is based on Mayan prophecies about widespread Earth changes occurring around the year 2012.  The changes and how to prepare for them are being described by the shaman Little Grandmother and others.

President Thomas Wilson (Danny Glover) decides to stay with the American people, but makes sure his daughter Dr. Laura Wilson (Thandie Newton) will have a spot on one of the huge arks built to ride out massive tsunamis. 

Three hi-tech Noah’s arks promise safety for a lucky few, but the flight to reach them is perilous as the Earth’s crust shifts.

Over 100 artists created the film’s 1300 visual effects (VFX) shots. Spectacular decimation swallows Los Angeles, Yellowstone National Park, Washington D.C., Saint Peter’s Basilica and The Himalayas. The film is riveting at over two and a half hours.   

Oliver Platt takes advantage of the crisis as ballsy White House chief of staff Carl Anheuser. Carl takes over in the absence of the President, but not without a challenge from Adrian.

Repopulating the planet is paramount, Carl insists, but saving his own skin seems the primary motive when he argues against extra passengers on the ark. Ironically, billionaires and governments have paid in advance for precious tickets.

 
 
Romance persists when Laura meets Adrian on board a plane heading for China. Amanda Peet plays Jackson’s reluctant ex-wife Kate with their two children in tow.

Beyond its Hollywood façade, 2012 asks us to honor the earth and to love ourselves and one another.

If you like 2012, you might enjoy: 127 Hours; The Cove; The Wind Journeys.

2012     2009  /  PG-13  /  2 hours, 38 min

Cast:  John Cusack, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Amanda Peet, Oliver Platt, Thandie Newton, Danny Glover, Woody Harrelson, George Segal

Director:  Roland Emmerich

Genre:  Action, Adventure, Drama

Unknown ***

 

Who is Dr. Martin Harris and why do shady characters pursue him? Liam Neeson explores identity, good and evil in the international mystery thriller Unknown.

Neeson and an excellent cast enlivensthis suspenseful B movie as the star continues to recover from the loss of his wife, actress Natasha Richardson, in a Canadian ski accident in 2009.  Neeson has thrown himself into action thriller performances such as Taken, Clash of the Titans and The Next Three Days. He completed his work on Chloe right after Richardson died.

Harris arrives in Berlin for a biotechnology conference with his ravishing young wife Liz (mysterious, elegant January Jones).  A briefcase containing his passport is left behind at the airport. This unleashes a string of mishaps beginning with an automobile accident that leaves him in a coma for four days.

 

When he awakens, Harris is warned about his fractured and rearranged memory. He is sure of one thing: he is Dr. Martin Harris.  Armed with his wits, a bankroll of euros and shattered images from the past, Harris tracks down his wife at their hotel.

To his surprise, Liz denies knowing him. Instead she accompanies an imposter (Aidan Quinn), who claims that he is Dr. Martin Harris. With no passport, Harris is ejected from the hotel.

Tantalizing events follow. A menacing stranger follows Harris in a U-Bahn tunnel, and later poses as a hospital employee during a follow-up MRI. Eva Lobau plays a helpful nurse. 

Bruno Ganz is fascinating as Ernst Jurgen, a former member of East Germany’s secret police and now a freelance troubleshooter who agrees to help Harris.  Jurgen and Harris unearth more puzzle pieces. A Saudi prince will speak at the conference. Harris’ lifelong friend Professor Bressler (Sebastian Koch) is bringing his daughters Lily and Iris to the gathering. The botanical names of two flowers hold great significance, but Harris can’t recall what that is.

Diane Kruger lends a lively performance as Bosnian illegal Gina, the taxi driver who saves Harris’ life after the crash. Harris tracks her down at her new waitressing job in a café. Paid to keep silent, Gina’s goal is to save up enough to become a naturalized citizen.

Who are we really? Does the sum of our actions define us? When Rodney Cole (Frank Langella) arrives in Germany, Harris begins to question who his real friends are.

Unknown is filled with good chase scenes (by car and on foot), hand-to-hand brawls, crashes and a drawn-out explosion. Buoyed by an excellent cast, Unknown is less visceral than Taken and features a more interesting theme.

Cinematographer Flavio Labiano renders stately, cold and modern German vistas. The film is hampered by a weak script. 

In an Esquire interview, Neeson spoke about how he deals with grief. “I think I survived by running away some. Running away to work.”  The persistence of pain two years later, according to the actor, is “just extraordinary.”

If you like Unknown, you may enjoy: The Secret in Their Eyes; The Town; The American.

Unknown   2011  /  PG-13  /  1 hour, 53 min

Cast Overview:   Liam Neeson, Diane Kruger, January Jones, Aidan Quinn, Bruno Ganz, Frank Langella, Eva Lobau

Director:  Jaume Collet-Serra

Genres:  Drama, Mystery, Thriller

 

 

Sanctum ****

 

In the underwater cave-diving adventure Sanctum, a father and son forgive and respect each other in the scariest, least explored cave on earth.

The film features image-acquisition 3-D technology that made executive producer James Cameron famous for Avatar. As 3-D movie technology continues to develop, Cameron’s digital clarity is the good stuff.

Director Alister Grierson and cinematographer Jules O’Loughlin achieve subtle and lifelike effects and occasional excellence.  Several deep sea scenes, including one of divers hovering in the light-filled water of St. Jude’s Cathedral, are worth the price of 3-D admission.

Despite poorly written dialogue, Sanctum manages to thrill with treacherous dives, rappels and crawls through underwater caves and ravines. The film was shot on location in Queensland, Australia and in studio.

Richard Roxburgh as world-renowned, cantankerous explorer Frank McGuire delivers the strongest performance. His is a mixture of ego and insatiable curiosity. Rhys Wakefield plays his teenage son Josh in a long fit of petulance. Luckily Wakefield calms down as the expedition continues and shows he has acting chops after all.

When a storm becomes a cyclone, flash floods cut the group off from a safe exit. They are forced to travel downward through a labyrinth and “follow the river” in the hope of swimming out to sea on the other side.

 

Death arrives for the divers one by one.  Supplies dwindle. Just as dangerous as the terrain is their acute stress. Victoria (Alice Parkinson) refuses to don the thermal suit of a deceased diver. Wealthy Carl (Ioan Gruffudd), who sponsors Frank’s expeditions and has brought Victoria along for the trip, approaches madness. Dan Wyllie gives a quirky, funny performance as expedition coordinator Crazy George.

Cameron, along with producer and writer Andrew Wight, are avid divers.  The story was inspired by Wight’s experience during a hazardous excursion.

David Hirschfelder wrote Sanctum’s stirring score.

Frank moves by intuition, and knows how to read the signs of nature.  Josh begins to learn from him, and to understand why he left home years ago.

“Why caves?” Josh asks his father.  “It’s like my church,” Frank replies. “I can hold a mirror up and say this is who I am.” 

If you like Sanctum, you might enjoy: 127 Hours; Cave of Forgotten Dreams; The Cove.

Sanctum  2011  /  R  /  1 hour, 49 min

Cast Overview:  Richard Roxburgh, Ioan Gruffudd, Rhys Wakefield, Alice Parkinson, Dan Wyllie, Christopher Baker, John Garvin

Director:  Alister Grierson

Genres:  Action, Adventure, Drama

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo ***

 
 

With fierce star power, Noomi Rapace plays a computer hacker who investigates murder while fighting her own demons in the crime thriller The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Niels Arden Oplev directs this Swedish mystery based on the novel by the late Stieg Larsson.

Lisbeth Salander (Rapace) is a genius who wears spikes, nose rings and a sprawling dragon tattoo over her back. Intrigued by a clue, she invites herself to join an investigation led by disgraced journalist Mikael Blomkvist (Swedish star Michael Nyqvist), who just lost a libel case to a shady business tycoon.

Salander fascinates and soon captures our hearts. She's thin, sinewy and angry, but with a gentleness beneath. Known as Sweden's best hacker, she's a bisexual Iron Woman.

Blomkvist, the quiet, unassuming detective alongside Salander, is soon smitten by her. Together they delve into the murder some 40 years ago of Harriet, 16-year-old niece of billionaire Henrik Vanger (Sven-Bertil Taube). Cruelly, the killer sends Vanger a pressed flower every year, just as Harriet did when she was alive.

There's even more intrigue as Vanger heads a wealthy family filled with neo-Nazis and other nefarious types. On the day Harriet disappeared, the only access road to the family's island compound was blocked. Vanger is certain that one of them is guilty.

Dragon Tattoo deserves an R rating with disturbing, violent scenes. There are two especially brutal, sadistic rapes. Salander strikes back against vicious Nils Bjurman (Peter Andersson), assigned to be her guardian after a psychiatric incident in her childhood.

Salander is fiery survivor and feminist heroine. The film's theme turns out to depict violence against women, and the different ways that women choose to overcome violence.

Oplev keeps the action and the story moving. He asked his screenwriters to pare down the novel's complex plot. Salander enlivens the female lead, whether she's racing along on her motorcycle or reuniting with her invalid mother.

 
 

Dragon Tattoo succeeds as fascinating psychological thriller and criminal hunt. Frenzied computer searches are interspersed with scenes of dark, gloomy mansions and simple, decent Swedish neighbors. It scarcely seems to be over two hours long.

This film captured the European box office before opening in America. Larsson's title is a major international bestseller. Rapace has won several international awards.

If you like The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, you might enjoy: Blue Valentine; Black Swan; Shutter Island.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo 2009 / NR (violence, sex, brutality, sadism) / 2 hrs, 32 min

Cast Overview: Michael Nyqvist, Noomi Rapace, Sven-Bertil Taube, Peter Haber, Lena Endre, Peter Andersson, Marika Lagercrantz

Director: Niels Arden Oplev

Genres: Action, Mystery, Suspense Thriller, Crime Thriller, Foreign, Foreign Thrillers

Language: Swedish with English subtitles

The Hurt Locker *****

 

Best Director Kathryn Bigelow redefines the war movie in the adrenaline-filled action thriller The Hurt Locker.

By zooming in on each mission of a bomb squad in the last 38 days of its tour of duty, Bigelow creates agonizing suspense and human interest.

Even those who are not fans of the war genre will find value here. This is not another mindless action movie with bodies flying helter skelter. In The Hurt Locker, Bigelow is in command of the story and each scene. No snazzy technical effects were needed. It's man versus bomb, moment by moment.

Although set in Iraq, The Hurt Locker could be about any modern war. These soldiers don't have time to think about the conflict's politics, public relations or morality. They're not concerned with which side wins or loses. They want to survive, to return home to their families.

Staff Sgt. William James (Best Actor nominee Jeremy Renner) is a specialist who defuses IEDs (improvised explosive devices). We see his predecessor, careful and reasoned, blown to bits when an onlooker uses a cell phone.

James swears and listens to heavy metal as he defuses each bomb. He barrels into situations and takes off his helmet. This raises tension with Sgt. J.T. Sanborn (Anthony Mackie) and other members of Delta unit.

Like any artist, James immerses himself in his work, losing track of time and space. He turns out to be a genius who "becomes one" with each bomb, sensing who planted it and how.

Some devices are amateur, homemade jobs. Others are sophisticated traps, planted horrifically in the least likely places.

The evolution of James and his fellow soldiers makes us care. James befriends an Iraqi boy who hustles DVDs. Sanborn is a responsible professional who carefully keeps watch over each operation. Specialist Owen Eldridge (Brian Geraghty) is so nervous, we wonder how he got here.

Renner is known for his supporting role in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. Mackie (Million Dollar Baby) and Geraghty (Jarhead) both appeared in We Are Marshall.

Two interesting cameos include David Morse as the bemused Colonel Reed and Ralph Fiennes as a hotshot contractor.

 


The first woman to be named Best Director, Bigelow (Point Break, Blue Steel, Strange Days) melds technical skill with crystal clarity.

The Hurt Locker won six Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director. Best Screenplay was awarded to Mark Boal (In the Valley of Elah), a journalist who was embedded with a bomb unit in Iraq. It also won Best Editing, Best Sound and Best Sound Editing awards, and a nomination for Best Cinematography.

Smart dialogue, excellent screenplay and strong direction make a violent story watchable. The Hurt Locker rattles and fascinates.

If you like The Hurt Locker, you might enjoy: Inception; Shutter Island; 127 Hours.

The Hurt Locker 2009 / R / 2 hrs, 10 min

Cast Overview: Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Ralph Fiennes, Guy Pearce, David Morse, Brian Geraghty, Christian Camargo, Malcolm Barrett

Director: Kathryn Bigelow

Genres: Action, Drama, Suspense, Thriller, War