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Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice Film Review: A Plot You Didn’t Like Doesn’t Equal No Plot

Posted on May 4, 2016 Written by Pinar Tarhan

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Image via http://www.joblo.com.

I watched Batman vs. Superman, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Now, I get where the unsatisfied portion of comic fans comes from. It’s natural to expect loyalty to the source material. If I loved a book and they fundamentally changed things, I am bound to refuse to watch the result.

I saw the first scene from Runaway Jury, and I ran away. It wasn’t a bad scene. The movie has a great cast. It was based on one my favorite books: John Grisham’s Runaway Jury, and that was the problem. They changed what the main trial was about, and I lost my appetite. After loving Batman v Superman despite the negative reviews (mostly about how it defies who Batman and Superman are), I will shut my mouth and watch a well-rated movie with a cast I love. I will forget about the book, and then I will come back and talk about it.

But as I haven’t read the comics, I don’t have anything to compare the movie to other than the Batman and Superman movies I have seen, and I’ve seen them all apart from the one starring George. I have enjoyed Michael Keaton, Val Kilmer and Christian Bale as Batman. And I totally loved Affleck too.

I grew up with Christopher Reeve’s Superman movies, but Henry Cavill did a good job in Man of Steel. Now, I would have enjoyed that film more if the battle scene and sounds were edited better and cut shorter. But overall, it was a fun experience. And movies cast like that help if you are a total movie geek and don’t mind mainstream stuff. Russell Crowe as Superman’s father, Michael Shannon as the main villain, Kevin Costner as the stepfather, Diane Lane as the stepmother? Oh, and Amy Adams is Louis Lane? That was a decent experience.

Some people hate director Zac Snyder as a principle, whether or not they liked 300. I don’t like 300, but Watchmen was a dark, decent and engaging film.

Then there are the massive directorial style differences between Snyder and Nolan. So everyone knew the movies were inevitably going to be different.

Now, there’s a line I heard over and over. Sometimes it was uttered to harshly criticize the movie. Sometimes to state the obvious in a neutral way: “This wasn’t like a Batman movie. Or a Superman movie.” Exactly!

It was a Batman vs. Superman movie. It had them both. It had a more depressed Batman (although Bales’ Wayne/Batman was no ray of sunshine either), and a Superman who was having a bit of crisis. What sane being, alien or human, would feel comfortable with being adored and feared by the masses? When his fathers are dead, and his girlfriend is constantly in danger to her personality and job? And now he has a vigilante out for him, whose psychology isn’t that far off when you consider his childhood, history with villains and most recently, the death and distraction he witnesses in the beginning of the movie? (Sure, letting us know Robin was dead would make it even more rational, but I do love Batman overreacting and being irrational. It suits the character.)

As far movie having no plot/ characterization, that’s ignoring a lot of elements. You may not like it. You might find some clichés although I can’t really think of superhero movies without them.) but tell me how this is not having a plot:

(There might be spoilers. And so many things happened, I might confuse the order of stuff and leave some things out.

About two years after Superman’s fight with, and victory against, General Zod, United States is polarized about Superman’s existence. People are bothered by his powers, and how he doesn’t answer to anyone. On the other hand, people he saved or people who witness his saves are more fans/worshippers.

One person who’s extremely mad is Bruce Wayne. He’s seen the destruction the battle has caused. He lost many employees. He saw the panic, fear and pain with his eyes. Of course, a saner person would blame it on Zod, but our Batman is prone to extreme reactions. (Didn’t he hide away for years in a previous movie?) So he obsesses over how to beat (and kill) Superman while increasing the violence in his vigilante ways.

Rich and psychotic businessman Lex Luthor wants to destroy Superman for his own twisted reasons and uses the government’s doubts and his resources to get his hands on a batch of kryptonite.

Distracting Wayne a little is a gorgeous woman who seems to be rich socialite of sorts and “steals” the info Wayne wanted to steal from Lex Luthor.

And there’s the fun irony that Clark Kent, Superman’s journalist persona, wants to go after Batman as he sees him as an uncontrolled vigilante who doesn’t care about collateral damage or ethics when going after criminals.

In their distracted states and crises, neither hero sees what Luthor is up to until it’s too late. Will they see they are on the same side before it’s too late?

*

I still left a lot of details out, but basically you have a decent plot with a solid antagonist who is working on unleashing a more dangerous creature just in case, a superhero trying to fit in and shaking off Bruce Wayne, a US senator (Holly Hunter) who undermines and underestimates a disturbed genius, and of course two protagonists who have to deal with a lot of demons, action and each other.

Yes, it’s not a Batman movie or a Superman movie. But it’s a great hybrid with a lot to offer if you don’t go into the movie expecting it be loyal to comic books.

It does however have more realistic superheroes in the sense that they have problems like the rest of us. Maybe it’s not money or health, but they grapple with who they are, what they should be doing and their levels of humanity.

And Jeremy Irons’ Alfred is like a combination of Michael Cain’s Alfred and Morgan Freeman’s Fox: butler, scientist and life coach with a snappy sense of humor. Frankly, I would watch a lot more Batman movies with that Alfred.

*

All in all, I think Batman v Superman Dawn of Justice is the Keanu Reeves of movies. People are polarized. As with Keanu Reeves, I like what we get.

What do you think?

PS Bang2write’s awesome Lucy V Hay has a great e-book on the movie. She basically evaluated the script. After reading it, I do agree with some of the scenes being redundant like the nightmares.

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Filed Under: Movies and Actors Tagged With: batman v superman, Batman v superman dawn of justice, batman v superman movie review, ben affleck, Henry Cavill, Jeremy Irons, Jeremy irons Alfred, lucy v hay, man of steel, zac snyder

Gone Girl Movie Review: Gone Girl starring Ben Affleck & Rosamund Pike

Posted on January 2, 2015 Written by Pinar Tarhan

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Image via newdvdreleasedates.com.
Image via newdvdreleasedates.com.

(There are some spoilers.)

Nick Dunne (Ben Affleck)’s beautiful wife Amy (Rosamund Pike) is missing under suspicious circumstances. Police detective Boney (Kim Dickens) and officer Gilpin (Patrick Fugit) get right on the case, with Boney giving Nick the benefit of the doubt and Gilpin ready to blame Dunne.

As the audience we’re neither with Boney nor Gilpin: if he did it, it’s too obvious. If he’s innocent, also too obvious. But we know it’s a David Fincher movie, and it will probably not be black and white. And expectedly, things turn out to be all shades of grey:

While Nick tries to manage his in-laws and the media reaction with the help of his twin sister Go, we see he’s not exactly the doting husband he wants others to believe. He seems clueless about his wife’s daily activities, friends or diary, and to top of it all, he’s having an affair with a 20-year-old (and going to great lengths to hide it from others).

From the beginning of the movie, we have some flashbacks, with the voice-over from Amy, guiding us through their relationship, from the great start to troubling times, until we see Nick’s violent and dangerous side. And around the time cops are sure Nick’s behind her disappearance, and possibly murder, we hear this brilliant line from Amy:

“I’m so much happier now that I’m dead.”

So yes, she’s making a run for it to make Nick pay for being a lying, cheating bastard. And if you think she is taking things too far, just wait till you see how much further she’s willing to go, and how she handles her back-up plans…

*

Gone Girl is one crazy, psychotic mystery/thriller/drama that might make you question certain things in life, like how well you actually know the people you are with, how dangerous certain kinds of people can be and well, whether or not getting married is a sane idea in the first place.

Despite the original elements in its story, and some seriously fantastic acting from Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl is far from a smooth, fast ride. I’m aware that this was intentional, but the unevenness in pacing created moments, at least for me, where I struggled to stay engaged in the movie. It flows faster and better once we find out what Amy is up to, and how truly disturbed and calculating she is, but until then, I kept wishing some scenes were left in the editing room.

Because no matter how different and captivating a movie is, 149 minutes isn’t generally the amount I’m ready to give to a mystery/ drama/ thriller. Well-done epic movies? Sure. A decent piece in a trilogy where you don’t have the chance to get bored because every scene (and interaction) is necessary? Yeah.

But for me, Gone Girl would be even better at 139 minutes. Hell, at 129 or a little less, I could have jumped at the “masterpiece” wagon.

Because when a film is rated at 8.3 on IMDB (already grabbing a place on the site’s 250 best movies list) and has earned more than 350 million dollars at the box office against its 61 million budget, you want to be blown away by every second of the movie. There’s no place for boredom.

Call me sentimental, traditional or whatever, but I still prefer Se7en. At a little over 2 hours, it is tighter, creepier and has the more satisfactory ending. (Se7en is also on IMDB 250 and rated over 8 (8.7.,to be exact)-hence the comparison).

And the problem is with establishing your “villain” to be so brilliant is this haunting question: didn’t she have anything better to do with that Harvard degree and brain of hers than to take revenge? No attempts at world-domination? Trying to save the world or destroy it? And why let herself stoop to such a level if she is so awesome? Isn’t pretending to be someone else to find yourself a partner something losers, or at least very irrational people do?

Her motives and actions don’t match the IQ and OCD-thinking we’re given, and that’s another con if you think about the movie too much.

*

That said, I love Fincher, and this was a solid movie. But worth the rating and the box office-smashing? Not to me.

*

How did you feel about the movie? Please let me know in the comments.

Fun Gone Girl Trivia

  • The movie was written by Gillian Flynn, who adapted it from her own novel.
  • Scoot McNairy, our lovely protagonist from Monsters, plays one of Amy’s victims.
  • Director David Fincher (Fight Club), while mainly known for his dark mystery/thrillers (Se7en, Zodiac, Panic Room, The Game) has also found huge success with dramas (The Social Network, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.)
  • In the shooting script, Nick Dunne is mentioned to be in his 30s. Ben Affleck is in his early 40s.
  • Some of Rosamund Pike’s films include Pride and Prejudice, Jack Reacher, Surrogates and Fracture.

 

Also on Ben Affleck

State of Play starring Russell Crowe, Ben Affleck, Rachel Mcadams and Helen Mirren

The Company Men starring Ben Affleck, Tommy Lee Jones, Chris Cooper, Maria Bello & Kevin Costner

Also on Rosamund Pike

Surrogates starring Bruce Willis, Rosamund Pike & Radha Mitchell

Pride and Prejudice starring Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen

Fracture starring Ryan Gosling & Anthony Hopkins

*

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Filed Under: Movies and Actors Tagged With: ben affleck, David Fincher, drama, gillian flynn, gone girl, gone girl movie review, gone girl plot, kim dickens, mystery, Rosamund Pike, thriller

State of Play starring Russell Crowe, Ben Affleck, Rachel Mcadams and Helen Mirren

Posted on June 3, 2012 Written by ripitup

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Also feat. Robin Wright, Jason Bateman & Jeff Daniels

State of Play starring Russell Crowe, Ben Affleck, Rachel Mcadams and Helen Mirren feat. Robin Wright, Jason Bateman & Jeff Daniels.
State of Play starring Russell Crowe, Ben Affleck, Rachel Mcadams and Helen Mirren feat. Robin Wright, Jason Bateman & Jeff Daniels. Image via movie-list.com

 

Stephen Collins (Ben Affleck) is a smart and successful congressman investigating private “mercenary-providing” companies. His good reputation goes down the drain, however, when his assistant is killed, and it is revealed that they were having an affair.

A grieving Stephen has his career and marriage on the line and the only person who can help him is his old university friend, journalist for the Washington Globe, Cal (Russell Crowe). As he digs more into the story, initially to help Stephen get out of the mess, he stumbles into political agendas, conflicts of interest (including his own) and life-risking situations.

Throw in a full-brown government-related conspiracy, emotional baggage between Cal and Stephen’s wife (Robin Wright), a blogger-turning-into-a-reporter named Della (Rachel McAdams) helping Cal, an ambitious editor (Helen Mirren) getting impatient and caring less about loyalties and manners and more about the juice and you have a very entertaining and gripping political thriller, with the stellar cast as a bonus.

State of Play flows like a well-written novel: slower at times, but only to build up for the more significant upcoming scenes and/or to make things even more complicated.

Why I Loved State of Play

–          All characters are pretty much as grey as it gets, although Rachel McAdams’ character seems to evolve and learn the most.

–          Cal does try to protect his friend from a downfall- but his sense of loyalty hasn’t stopped him from sleeping with his wife in the past.

–          The enthusiastic blogger turns into a reporter who cares about the ethics and the safety of the others more than the seasoned reporters she is working with.

–           It’s great that there is no romance between Cal and Della – in fact, Cal’s personal life is pretty much doomed but he has no intention of doing anything about it. He has a story to write.

–          The more desperate Della and Cal get, the more creative they get in getting their information and evidence.

–          Nothing is ever what it seems- except when it comes to the Cal, Della and Cameron (Helen Mirren) who might make some bad decisions, border on breaking the law and disagree on a lot of things.

–          The journalist-aka the protagonist- is a not a fit, muscular guy who can take care of himself.

–          The cast.

 

 

Well, there are more, but these are the first that came to my mind. It is not perfect, but it is pretty damn good. Rated at 7.2 on IMDB – voted by over 62.000 people. 8/10 from me.

Directed by Kevin MacDonald (Last King of Scotland). Written by Matthew Michael Carnahan (The Kingdom, Lions for Lambs) , Tony Gilroy (Duplicity) and Billy Ray- based on the series by Paul Abbott.

Other Posts on The Cast

Russell Crowe:

A Good Year starring Russell Crowe and Marion Cotillard

A Beautiful Mind starring Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly, Ed Harris & Paul Bettany

Ben Affleck:

The Company Men starring Ben Affleck, Tommy Lee Jones, Chris Cooper, Maria Bello & Kevin Costner

Ben Affleck Trivia: 13 Facts About Ben Affleck Movies, His Wife Jennifer Garner and More

Rachel McAdams

Sherlock Holmes starring Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law & Rachel McAdams

The Time Traveler’s Wife starring Eric Bana & Rachel McAdams

Nicolas Sparks vs. Happy Endings: The Notebook starring Rachel McAdams & Ryan Gosling

Wedding Crashers starring Vince Vaughn, Owen Wilson & Rachel McAdams

 

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Filed Under: Movies and Actors Tagged With: ben affleck, helen mirren, Jason Bateman, Jeff Daniels, Rachel McAdams, Robin Wright, russell crowe, state of play, state of play 2009 movie, state of play cast, state of play movie, state of play movie review

The Company Men starring Ben Affleck, Tommy Lee Jones, Chris Cooper, Maria Bello & Kevin Costner

Posted on November 10, 2011 Written by ripitup

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The Company Men starring Ben Affleck, Tommy Lee Jones, Chris Cooper, Maria Bello & Kevin Costner
The Company Men starring Ben Affleck, Tommy Lee Jones, Chris Cooper, Maria Bello & Kevin Costner. Image via prlog.org

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Bobby Walker (Ben Affleck) has really made it: he is a white-collar that makes 120K a year+ bonuses, he drives a Porsche, goes golfing, has  a beautiful house he can barely afford as well as a wife and 2 kids.

Phil Woodward (Chris Cooper) is pushing 60, and has climbed up considerably well in the corporate ladder.

Gene McClary (Tommy Lee Jones) is in the board of directors of the company both Bobby and Phil are working for, and is leading a very comfortable lifestyle.

However when a economic crisis hits the US, James Salinger (Craig T. Nelson), the CEO of their company,  starts letting a lot of men go, starting with Bobby, who has been one of Gene’s favorite employees. Bobby finds that he hasn’t exactly saved money, and the expenses seem too much for an unemployed man to cover. He also realizes that his 12-year-experience doesn’t mean much in a competitive marketplace where much younger guys are willing to work for less. As he begrudgingly gets unemployment assistance, the CEO lets more people go and the company starts getting out of Gene’s control. Phil is also fired, and Gene’s reaction doesn’t reflect well on his affair with the head of human resources, Sally Wilcox (Maria Bello).

Bobby’s wife gets back to work, and he unwillingly accepts the job offer of Jack (Kevin Costner), his wife’s brother. He doesn’t enjoy having to work in construction under a man who believes all corporate white-collars are unworthy of their salaries, but he doesn’t have any other options left. Phil takes it much, much harder and Gene struggles with his values and keeps disapproving James’ actions…until Sally has to fire him as well.

3 former company men all get depressed and furious, and they all come up different solutions to their problems…

*

Thoughts, Other Criticisms and Endnote

The Company Men is a slow-paced, albeit effective drama about how much people give to their careers, what these careers demand and how they cope when the company they have built their careers at  suddenly lets them go. It is realistic, a little sad and does offer some quite obvious (yet valuable) life lessons.

While some viewers have criticized the movie for aiming to make us feel sorry about a bunch of rich white guys, they are actually missing the point. The movie is about how the lives of 3 white collar men turn upside down. What, because they earned much more money than the average movie-goer, their story is not worth telling? Would those viewers not be crushed if the careers they gave their life to/depended upon/defined themselves with were taken away from them?

With Ben Affleck’s character, he suddenly finds himself without any money- with a family to take care of, his frustration is understandable.  He wasn’t always upper middle class. And you know the last job Jim Carrey would want on earth? It is being a custodian. Not because he looks down on the profession. It is because he was actually broke, and worked as a custodian. It is understandable that Afflec’s Bobby doesn’t want to do construction work until he absolutely has to….

With Chris Cooper, it is how he defines himself. He is from a generation where people gave their lives to one company. He doesn’t know what to do. Sure, it is sad, and a little pathetic maybe. But his job is all he knows…

With Tommy Lee Jones, it is the betrayal of a friend, the lack of empathy in his friend and how values millions over the lives of other people…

So of course you can criticize the characters for caring too much about one company, the course of one career. You can judge them for not being prepared. But it is hard to prepare for a big downhill, if things went on very smoothly for a very long time.

So, no, this movie is not about 3 rich guys who suddenly find themselves penniless. The only guy who finds himself penniless is the one who wasn’t rich to begin with.  The Company Men is about how much value we place on our careers/jobs, how precaution matters, how we should have more than just our jobs/education to define us and how life really requires us to have a back-up plan. It may not be the most original story around, but guess what- my father experienced what Affleck went through. He went through what Cooper went through too, although thankfully he got over it just fine because my mom has always been great with managing money. I find it hard to believe that people who really watched this movie-from beginning to end- couldn’t find something they could relate to.

Some complained that the women in the film weren’t depicted in the best light. At best, they had been loyal wives who picked their husband’s career over theirs. At worst, they were either successful businesswomen who didn’t mind sleeping with married men or materialistic women who just lived through their husband’s wealth. But come on…Not all movies have to give us amazing female characters. There are a lot of women who prioritize their husband’s money, their career and just sit at home and look after the kids. It’s their choice. And just because I am not like that, I am not going to give up on a perfectly good movie because the female characters aren’t that great. And look at the title of the movie…Does it look like it’ll be an effective study of the modern woman?

*

Is this a movie you absolutely have to see? No. It is good, emotional and has good acting. Sure, you can ignore it. After all, it is not life-altering. It is not mind-blowing. It doesn’t reinvent anything. And it’s more about facing reality than being entertained. But it is solid, the actors are great and it doesn’t make you regret you saw it. Rated at 6.8 on IMDB, it all depends on how interested you are in the core story. Because it is delivered well.

Written and directed by John Wells.

 

 

Also on Ben Affleck:

He  is Just Not That Into You

Ben Affleck Trivia: 13 Facts About Ben Affleck Movies, His Wife Jennifer Garner and More

Also on Maria Bello:

The Jane Austen Book Club starring Maria Bello, Hugh Dancy, Emily Blunt, Kevin Zegers

Six Diverse Movies From The Beautiful Actress Maria Bello

Also on Kevin Costner:

Nicholas Sparks vs Happy Endings- Kevin Costner’s Message in a Bottle

Kevin Costner: An Amazing Lead Who Should Just Stay Away From Sci-Fi

When Adultery is OK- Revenge (Movie Review of Revenge, Starring Kevin Costner and Anthony Quinn)

Cheating Celebrity Trivia: 8 Celebs Thay Cheated – feat. Kevin Costner

The New Daughter starring Kevin Costner

 

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Filed Under: Movies and Actors Tagged With: ben affleck, ben affleck the company men, Chris Cooper, Craig T. Nelson, drama, john wells, Kevin Costner, Maria Bello, movies, the company men, the company men cast, the company men movie, the company men movie 2010, the company men review, Tommy Lee Jones, unemployment

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