3 Short Paragraphs (Or Not): Amsterdam

2022, David O Russell (American Hustle) -- download

OMG, they are in it ?!?!

I said that about every ten minutes in this movie that I knew was done by a Well Known Hollywood Director, but didn't recall exactly who at the time. Part of me wants to say we are in a lull for "acclaimed directors", as in directors with enough popularity and critical overtures that everyone just rushes to see whatever their next release is. In this era of transition from Cinema Release to Life on Streaming, understanding what will click (pun unintended, this time), what will capture attention, what will hold attention must be the greatest of challenges, so where does that leave room for loud vision? I cannot say I know what Russell's "vision" is from the top of my head, but if anything, its breadth of scope. From the stable of actors, and guest actors, to the far ranging plot, to the setting, this movie moves around a lot and keeps a lot of plates spinning!

I am going to try to write the rest of this post without relying on cliches and sayings, as I ... tend to do. Yeah, I just deleted one.

I knew I wanted to see this movie from two scenes in a very well done trailer: Chris Rock's non sequitur about his grandfather, and Christian Bale's "uhhhhhh, no no no no...". They were such WTF deliveries to me that I expected a movie full of head scratching, gut holding weirdness. Instead, I got a much fuller movie of companionship & moral fortitude amidst political upheaval, full of lush performances. Those moments don't stand out as much in the movie, as they do in the trailer, but that's because so they are surrounded by so much else going on, so much else worth paying attention to, that they don't rely on WTF moments. But kudos to the trailer editors for catching those little bits.

Burt (Christian Bale, Reign of Fire) is commissioned as an officer by his wife's wealthy family, and sent off to die in France, during WWI. Instead he steps forward to support a forward thinking General Meekins (Ed Begley Jr, Future Man) and their "coloured regiment". He makes quick friends with Harold (John David Washington, Tenet), each vowing to protect the other's back, which ends them up together in the care of nurse Valerie Voze (Margot Robbie, Love Actually), an oddball who honours their horrific wounds by making art from the shrapnel. They muster out together, moving to Amsterdam for a blissful bohemian lifestyle, until Burt is compelled to return to his wife, having failed to die in the war. 

Years later, Burt is a doctor, estranged from his wife, hooked on his own pain meds, and dedicated to vets with disfiguring wounds, and compelled to hide his own relatively mild scars whenever he is near his wife, which is rare. And then he is dragged into something by his old friend Harold, via General Meekins daughter Liz (Taylor Swift, Cats). The General has died, she does not believe it was natural causes, and to lend weight to her belief, she is almost immediately after contacting them, killed herself. And thus begins the rather convoluted ball of yarn that they have to unravel (but not really) plot.

There is no real point in recapping the entire movie, for its more the fun way Russell goes about revealing it all that makes the movie enjoyable. Unfortunately, while enjoyable, nothing is ever really a revelation. Sure, its a thin allegory to the right-wing politics currently shaping our world via events and behaviours no sane person ever thought was possible, but the plot itself would have been grand in a penny serial, but in this context its just ... news? But the performances, from the so so many familiar faces, are where its at, especially Bale and all his little quirks.

So, yeah not much more than one of my, "Movie OK... me like," and I would be OK with that usually, but I do feel a bit let down, based on all the names in this movie, and the money put into doing such a pristine period piece. I guess I would want even more memorable performances, or more importantly, a much much more memorable plot and execution of such. Weird that the trailer gave me most of that.

Of note, I feel the need to clean out all the Drafts in my list, so they will not clutter this December's Advent Calendar. I suppose I could just write them all up, and schedule them to post after the 25th. Yeah, I guess I will do that.

20/20 - #2 Wonder Woman

[Like the "10 for 10" series but a little longer.  It's my endeavor to clean the backlog slate (with some things watched well over a year ago now) this month with 20 reviews written in 20 minutes (each) over 20 days.  My backlog is vast and my memory is shit, we'll see how it goes.  This is is a bit easier, since I saw it twice. Also, think I'll probably be clearing out all the superhero things from my backlog first, since that's what I enjoy writing about the most.]

Thus far the DC Cinematic Universe has been woefully disappointing.  Man of Steel. Batman v Superman. Suicide Squad. The 2011 false start that was Green Lantern.  Not a real solid movie amongst them.  All troubled and thoroughly flawed with moments - sure - little glimmers of what might have been or what could be, but overall just grimdark brooding overproduced underwhelming disappointments.

Wonder Woman, which you know by now was a resounding smash hit, wasn't just a necessity for the DCEU, it was necessary for fans of the DC characters who wanted to see them treated right on screen.  It was a necessity for female superhero characters to show that they could hold a film of their own (as if even long-running series like Underworld or Resident Evil didn't already prove such a thing).  It was necessary for a female director to produce a top-tier superhero/action movie.  It was necessary because it was a good-if-not-great superhero film about what it means to be a hero and to sacrifice for the greater good.  It's not just fighting and not just cool set pieces, though it has those two.

Wonder Woman, above all, is an engaging, charming movie, with an immensely likeable cast, a thoroughly engaging plot, and set in a context that actually has meaning to the audience, and not just the characters.  I've often said superheroes are best done in period pieces.  It gives the audience a frame of reference within which to put themselves, to detach from the present day and give into the fantasy of the film.  I guess that's why it's disappointing that the film opens some time shortly after Batman v Superman as a wholly unnecessary framing sequence.  It's the edict of the studio for sure that it needs to somehow tie into the larger DCEU, but it seems utterly forced.

Getting past the framing sequence, we enter into Themyscira, aka Paradise Island... home to the immortal Amazonian warriors, where we encounter Diana as a child, the first and only child of the island.  She is precious to Queen Hyppolita, kept safe and sheltered, but Diana sees the fire, fury, nobility, bravery, and strength of her sisters and wants nothing more than to be just like them.  After a montage passing through the years of secret training, she is the best of them.  Then a plane finds its way through the Islands magical cloak, bringing the first outsider from man's world to their shores.  Steve Trevor, he is just a man, but not an ordinary man.  He brings with him war, as a ship full of Germans are on his tail and there's a spectacular beach-front battle sequence showcasing just how incredible the Amazon warriors are in battle.  The Germans, despite advanced weaponry, had no real hope of winning that battle.  But still, the losses are bitter wounds in their victory.

Steve tells them of war in the man's world.  Diana is convinced that it's Ares of legend, the God of War returned to wield his influence on man, and it's Diana's sole mission to fight him.  Hyppolita knows it to be true, but rejects it for her own selfishness and disdain for the world of man.  But she cannot deny her daughter her destiny.

What could have been a groan-inducing fish-out-of-water scenario, Diana's venture into man's world sees her charging head first.  Naive, sure, but confident, and assured.  She advances quickly, makes her presence known, and doesn't shy away from her opinion.  What she's not used to is man, especially the men of the 1910s who don't see women as equals (nevermind superiors) and are unwilling to listen to them.  Even Steve Trevor who very quickly learned to respect the capability of women after seeing the battlefront, still has a hard time stowing his chivalry and letting Diana take the lead.

The film does end in a bit of a messy special effects climax, but it's rather a quick one, thankfully.  It's that revels in the journey so the destination is more or less an inevitability and not the real highlight.  Diana turning the tide of battle, stepping out onto a vicious battlefield, drawing all the fire, is one of the most spectacularly rousing sequences ever put to film.  The sheer glory of bravery and confidence, of fearlessness and sacrifice, courage and honor... Gal Gadot powerfully struts and even more powerfully forces her way across the frontline in a hail of machine gun fire.  It gave me butterflies and brought a tear to my eye.  Finally, she's here, done right. Justice.

Loved it.