For "MISSION TO HAITI" click April 2010 in the Blog Archive

Movie Review: Robin Hood

My obsession with film is not a mystery. When I was very young my dad bought a 16mm movie projector and I spent endless hours in the basement of our house watching old movies. One of my dad’s favorites (and so one of my favorites) was The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) with Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Basil Rathbone and Claude Raines. I’ve seen it countless times (more than I’ve seen that other movie) and the image of Robin (Flynn) smashing through the door of the palace with a buck wrapped around his neck and throwing it on the table in front of Prince John (Raines) is indelibly burned in my mind. What Robin Hood remake could top that? The director, Kevin Reynolds’s 1991, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves? It’s almost a comedy although entertaining and it did satisfy all of my rescue fantasies. Alan Rickman; how fabulous was he as the Sheriff of Nottingham. And Geraldine McEwan as Mortianna, his sorceress mother, was a nice touch. Let’s not mention Costner. Accents are not his strong suit. Ugh. It was okay but doesn’t hold a candle to the Flynn version. And director Ridley Scotts’ 2 ½ hour, 230 million dollar production is simply not what it should be and the question I’m asking myself is “why was this movie made”? Is there anyone out there dying to know why Robin Hood became Robin Hood? Maybe there is but I for one am more interested in his archery skills and watching him do his swashbuckling thing in Sherwood Forest.

Russell Crowe is, of course, in the title role. Scott wouldn’t have it any other way. They have made many movies together (Gladiator, Body of Lies, American Gangster, A Good Year) and are friends in real life. Crowe can do accents so we can’t fault him on that front. BUT come on, Robin Hood is a fun guy and Crowe’s Robin is not having any fun and that is part of the problem. The movie is long, plodding and humorless. Robin’s adversary is a character named Godfrey played by Mark Strong (the bad guy in Sherlock Holmes). He always makes a good villain but the two are never on screen together (except for the end) and that was probably a mistake. Cate Blanchett, who is plenty beautiful and plenty talented, is not showing signs of either in this film.

The good news: The opening scene is intriguing and got my hopes up. Ridley Scott does good fight scenes (think Gladiator). The last fight scene is great as well (although much too reminiscent of storming the beaches of Normandy in Saving Private Ryan). Danny Houston (son of John and half sister to Angelika) is excellent as King Richard The Lionheart but he gets knocked off very early in the movie. The costumes are fantastic.

You can safely miss this movie or at the very least, wait for it to come out On Demand.

Movie Review: IRON MAN 2

OK, I’m back (for now) reviewing movies. I’m not gonna lie, I was anxiously awaiting the release of Iron Man 2. I loved the first one and it’s not a secret, I’m madly in with love Robert Downey Junior. And in this movie, he does not disappoint. It doesn’t hurt that he is either suited up in gorgeous David August custom clothing or in his new and improved, Iron Man getup. He is fabulous in this sequel as is the entire cast (except Johansson and I’ll talk about her later). Don Cheadle (Hotel Rwanda, Crash) replaces Terrance Howard (Crash, Iron Man) as Rhodey and although he is a lot shorter, he fills his military shoes quite nicely. Mickey Rourke, as Ivan Vanko, the crazed Russian convict scientist out for revenge, is just too bad as the bad guy. Awesome. Even without his heavily tattooed body, long, dirty hair and gold rimmed teeth, Mickey simply looks scary – and he is. You will not forget the image of him cracking his lightening whips at the Monaco Grand Prix. By the way, the cockatoo in the movie; it’s his. But the big applause goes to Sam Rockwell as Hammer, the sleazy, two-faced glory monger who finances Vanko. He must have gone to the Gary Oldman School of ‘Villainry’ (I made that word up). He is very reminiscent of some of Oldman’s bad-guy roles (Zorg in The Fifth Element and Carnegie in The Book of Eli). He is great in this and steals just about every scene he's in.

The problem with Scarlet Johansson is she can’t act. She is very beautiful and very sexy in her cat suit but her lack of acting skills comes through even when she’s playing a comic book character. In her defense, her role is ridiculous – eye candy only. To make up for it they gave her the best fight scene in the movie. Most guys could care less if Johansson can act or not. They will all be talking about her when they go home and thinking about her while in bed at night. Who would have been a better choice? Rachel McAdams (Red Eye, Mean Girls). She's smart, almost as sexy and when delivering the line, "Is it dirty enough?" after handing a martini to Stark, it would sound as clever and funny as it was meant to be. Paltrow, as Pepper Potts, is actually better this time around. It’s a meatier role.

Justin Theroux, who does more acting in his life than writing, is responsible for the screenplay (he wrote Tropic Thunder). Jon Favreau directs and also stars in the movie as Happy Hogan, Starks chauffeur, personal assistant and sparring partner. His character was only in a few of the old Iron Man comic books. I can see Favreau rummaging through them trying to find a character he wanted to play. Hogan is actually a perfect choice. As a director, he goes over the top but at the same time does a good job holding this movie, with all its subplots, together. He never takes his eye off the ball: The smart-ass, womanizing millionaire, Tony Stark.

Iron Man 2 is not Iron Man which is probably one of the best superhero movies ever made. But it is entertaining and worth the trip to the movie theater if for no other reason than to see Mickey Rourke walk on to the raceway in Monaco and pull out his whips.

p.s. The first Iron Man has one of the great philosophical and spiritual messages: Sometimes we have to lose our heart in order to find our heart. That plays out literally and figuratively in Iron Man. Iron Man 2 has none of that. BUT, we are always reminded of 2 men who completely lost their way in life and found their way back, better than ever.