Star Wars: The Rise of the Skywalker Review

Star Wars: The Rise of the Skywalker

Dir: J.J. Abrams

Starring: Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Carrie Fisher, Domhnall Gleeson, Richard E. Grant, Kelly Marie Tran, Billy Dee Williams, and Mark Hamill

As that iconic text scrolls down the screen with the piercing musical theme from John Williams playing at high volume, it becomes clear that it’s near impossible to fully grasp the cultural effect “Star Wars” has had on cinema and popular culture. And with the 9^th installment, “The Rise of the Skywalker”, positioned as the finale to the saga started in 1977, it’s impossible that a film will be able to live up to the high expectations of so many years of establishing its mythos into the world. 

“The Force Awakens”, released in 2015 and helmed by director J.J. Abrams (“Super 8” and 2009’s “Star Trek), utilized a near-perfect blending of nostalgia in the development of a new story focused on a young girl named Rey (Daisy Ridley) who, in the process of searching for answers to her unknown past, becomes connected to the Skywalker lore. Bringing in familiar faces from the past and mixing new characters into a story that had strong ties and themes to “A New Hope”, “The Force Awakens” was a fitting reintroduction to all the feelings that made fans love “Star Wars” in the first place. 

“The Last Jedi”, released in 2017 and written/directed Rian Johnson (“Looper” and “Knives Out”), made bold and inspiring steps in separating the new story from the past and setting up a version of “Star Wars” for a new generation to claim as their own. In the process of taking the film in fresh, unexpected directions that refused to follow expectations and unnecessary fan service, “The Last Jedi” was met with divisive results amidst its noble attempts to take the myth of the Jedi in different directions. 

“The Rise of the Skywalker”, directed again by J.J. Abrams, has the unenviable task of wrapping up the “Star Wars” saga. But Abrams has a keen understanding of the love fans have for these films, and while the fascinating potential established by Rian Johnson’s “The Last Jedi” is somewhat suppressed for a return to more familiar movements and easy answers to lingering questions, “The Rise of the Skywalker” has some exceptional “Star Wars” moments amidst a struggling narrative that is hampered by unnecessary fan service. 

The story continues following Rey on her quest to find answers about her past but also leading the Resistance in the battle against a dominating First Order lead by a new supreme leader Kylo Ren (Adam Driver). Echoes from the past begin to haunt both Rey and Kylo Ren, pushing them towards an ultimate confrontation between good and evil, the past and the future. 

Abrams does a great job of keeping the focus on the characters established in the “The Force Awakens”; Rey (Daisy Ridley), Finn (John Boyega), and Poe (Oscar Isaac) rejoin to pursue one final journey in defense from the First Order, who are on the verge of striking one final blow to end the Resistance. These characters, played with such conviction and determination from the talented actors, encompass the emotional core of the film. Their strong friendship and undaunted comradery keep hope alive even as Kylo Ren continues to find the upper hand in battle and with his new ‘Force’ connection/bond to Rey. 

Kylo and Rey are provided with some odd, a few times interesting, story setups this time around. Unfortunately, their newfound connection doesn’t make full use of the opportunity to portray the complex relationship between the power of the Force and the Darkside, the proverbial ‘good versus evil’ that gives every single “Star Wars” film its conflict. Abrams instead uses these characters to compose fight scenes, one of which is a highlight of the entire film, and story bridges attempting to connect the messy plot in a cohesive way. 

The composition of the film, with its jumps from space to different planets, from land to water to air, is strikingly rendered. One scene involving glowing lightsabers and crashing waves is completely stunning. Abrams excels in finding ways to blend the past with the present, introducing new characters that have traits of old familiar characters and sometimes allowing the old characters, like Carrie Fisher’s Leia, moments to lovingly shine bright. 

J.J. Abrams understands what fans want and tries his best to accommodate expectations with a new exploration of familiar “Star Wars” themes. While there are moments when this doesn’t always work nicely, creating conflicting emotional tones, unnecessary and unearned callbacks, and story imbalances that make the 2 hour and 20-minute run time feel every bit as long, “The Rise of the Skywalker” will still render smiles from those who love the franchise. While it may not be the most fitting finale for this beloved space odyssey, it doesn’t feel like “Star Wars” is ending either. As the title suggests, “Star Wars” will continue to rise.

Monte’s Rating

3.25 out of 5.00

Triple Frontier Review

By Emery Snyder @leeroy711

Director: J.C. Chandor

Starring: Oscar Isaac, Ben Affleck, Charlie Hunnam, Pedro Pascal & Garret Hedlund

Netflix Original – March 13, 2019

A group five of disaffected and financially stressed special ops adrenaline junkies all suffering from varying levels of PTSD get together to pull the ever-fated “one last job.” The plan is to break into the fortress of a ruthless Colombian cartel kingpin and steal his $75 million, then smuggle it out of the country and retire. All goes exactly according to plan, the bad guys all perish, and the soldiers spend the rest of their days sipping rum drinks on some beach without an extradition treaty…. That would be a pretty lousy movie.

The film was co-produced by Kathryne Bigelow and Mark Boal and it was co-written by Boal and Chandor. As expected from a Boal screenplay, the military procedural aspect is the film’s highlight. The stakes are heightened by situation only while characters remain largely stoic and wooden. We are meant to extrapolate the men’s emotions strictly from their backstories, never from their faces. I’m not degrading the film because of this. This type of indifference has its place. And Boal spent time as an embedded reporter in the earlier years after the invasion of Iraq, so I trust that his writing draws from the soldiers he witnessed in combat. Suppression of emotion is seen as a necessary survival tactic here.

So much of how successful a movie like this is to me will always depend on how well the scenes are shot. This film boasts several very well composed shootouts. The spaces are beautifully scoped in 2:11:1 ratio, giving the audience a clear perspective of the action presented. This is something that I always tend to mention because it is something that is so often done poorly. But here, I was glad to be able to easily follow along with each set piece, always having a good sense of where the threat was coming from and where our protagonists were moving towards. Cinematographer Roman Vasyanov has already made a name for himself in action cinema with films like END OF WATCH (’12) and THE WALL (’17) and I see his work continuing to improve.

I was also pleased to find that this, unlike many similar films, seemed to have an acute awareness of the moral ambiguity of what these men were up to. Although the characters were easily able to overcome their individual crises of conscience, the film itself keeps its thumb down on them as they struggle to keep themselves and each other convinced that what they are doing is righteous or even justified. It doesn’t take much to draw the parallels between their actions and the duplicitous nature of our own government’s involvement in Latin America over the past century. This is a moral tale more than anything. The fruits of ill-gotten gains are heavy, and fraught with peril. The money they steal becomes the reason they have such a hard time escaping the region. It weighs on them, both physically and metaphorically.

Unfortunately, this film suffers from some strange pacing issues. I think this is what separates it from better works. The scene from the trailer, that you would expect to be the climax, happens about thirty minutes in. Nothing afterwards manages to live up to the promise of the first act. It actually feels like the stakes dwindle the longer you watch, as does your overall interest. And this is a problem when your running time is over two hours.

In summary, TRIPLE FRONTIER is a well-made and better than average action flick that refreshingly acknowledges the faults of its own heroes. But fall well short of greatness in its overall delivery.

Emery’s Rating

3.25 out of 5 Stars

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Mojave Review

Mojave

Dir: William Monahan

Starring: Garrett Hedlund, Oscar Isaac, Walton Goggins, Mark Wahlberg, and Dania Ramirez

A24

93 Minutes

Director William Monahan, well-known screenwriter for Martin Scorsese’s “The Departed”, takes us on a trip into the isolated and narcissistic world of a Hollywood star in his film “Mojave”. Set amidst the desolation of the Mojave Desert and the loneliness of Los Angeles, Mr. Monahan attempts to paint a noir-like portrait of Hollywood and the stars that slowly fade away into darkness.  Assisted by a recognizable cast the film somewhat gets this point across during brief, vague moments that offer a self-deprecating analysis of stardom. Unfortunately the narrative is consistently overbearing and wanders unnecessarily in many places, making “Mojave” feel increasingly like all the B-movie characteristics it tries to avoid.

Thomas (Garrett Hedlund) is a famous Hollywood artist who is unhappy with his life. Anger and desperation lead him into the Mojave Desert, recklessly placing himself in a dangerous situation. Thomas becomes stranded, though it seems like an occurrence he was hoping would happen. Unexpectedly a man named Jack (Oscar Isaac) approaches Thomas in the desert. The two men have a discussion that leads to an argument, leaving Thomas standing over the unconscious body of Jack. Thomas retreats to his mansion in Los Angeles but Jack isn’t far behind.

Jack’s arrival in the desert, a materialization of sorts, offers the first glimpse into the world Mr. Monahan is forming and what he is attempting to analyze through Thomas’ composition, it’s an interesting dynamic presented in the film that up to this point was simply a moody journey for a self-absorbed famous person. Thomas’ character presents the loneliness and separation from reality that his stardom has influenced but also the bleak nature of the world that encompasses his everyday life. In one scene Thomas returns to his mansion that is filled with representations of his vanity; it’s not luxurious or welcoming but instead feels more like a tomb. Mr. Monahan fills many of the quieter scenes, when the two embattled characters aren’t waxing philosophically in heavily indulgent dialog, with interesting details. Unfortunately these are never enough to change the meandering, many times confusing, tone.

Garrett Hedlund fits the role of Thomas quite well. Mr. Hedlund has a familiarity that makes him easy to watch but also composes the proper quirks and smirks that make him seem amused by his own ego. Oscar Isaac is a great actor; unfortunately here Mr. Isaac portrays an antagonist that doesn’t have the menace or intuition that the character should. Mark Wahlberg makes a brief appearance as the worst kind of Hollywood personality, yelling and cursing in silky clothing; Mr. Wahlberg is amusing even though the role seems more like a distraction to the story. Walton Googins, recently in “The Hateful Eight”, also makes an awkward appearance as some kind of representation for Thomas. Mr. Googins puts a strange, mysterious touch on the character.

What does it all mean, or represent, for Thomas? The answers are as unclear as the shadowy image that Thomas encounters in the desert. “Mojave” tries to be a suspenseful thriller, a stimulating noir, and a none-to-serious dark comedy; while these qualities are achieved in a few miniscule flashes of excellence the remaining parts are a confusion of rambling themes.

Monte’s Rating

2.50 out of 5.00

Ex Machina Review

Ex Machina

Dir: Alex Garland

Starring: Oscar Isaac, Domhnall Gleeson, and Alicia Vikander

108 Minutes

Rated R

Ava is a robot with exceptional artificial intelligence. She is beautiful, intelligent, emotional, affected, and curious. She is also the trapped subject of scientific analysis, the caged bird that when released will change everything about the world that we know. Good science fiction always asks difficult questions, most of the time without an easy to explain answer. While the structure of science fiction films can become overwhelmed by special effects and unnecessary spectacle, these films are still completely amusing in ways that similar films, like action films, are not. It’s the fascination with theory and how well a sci-fi film can support a hypothesis. Director Alex Garland builds a methodical structure with an intelligent narrative, one that focuses on relationships between men and women, the advancing world and how it connects with progressing technology, and the trappings and limitations of science. “Ex Machina” is a welcome addition to the list of exceptional science fiction films.

Nathan (Oscar Isaac) is a reclusive mogul who invented the world’s foremost search engine. Caleb (Domhnall Gleeson) is a programmer who wins an invitation to meet and work with Nathan on his private research compound. After being dropped off by a helicopter and venturing through a forest, Caleb arrives at a door and is greeted by a computer. Once inside Caleb meets with the egocentric Nathan who discusses all aspects of science, religion, and art with Caleb. These discussions are all in preparation for Caleb to meet Ava (Alicia Vikander), a robot whose fabricated skeleton is accommodated by a human face. Caleb is to conduct a test to determine whether he can identify Ava as a computer. Ava is intrigued by the new visitor and begins to conduct her own tests on Caleb.

Alex Garland wrote and directed the film; his measured pacing in the script shapes and molds some great scenes of tension but also surprisingly some touching emotional moments. The characters are constantly changing, affected by the people and situations around them. Whether Ava who continually learns and adapts, Caleb who is pulled into different allegiances, or Nathan who is constantly embattled by his own intelligence and isolation, Garland exhibits a keen eye for character development and utilizes all these elements to make the narrative mysterious, suspenseful, sad, and insightful. Garland also uses the characters to to ask important questions that add depth to the story but are also simply offered to spark the viewers own reasoning. It's what good writing should do.

While the film doesn’t lean on special effects, it does utilize it in nearly every scene with Ava. The composition of her robot and human attributes are outstandingly rendered and intricately constructed, this deign is also used to provide depth to the character. Ava’s body is fashioned with a metallic mesh but her face, hands, and feet are covered with skin. This allows the character to portray emotion through her face, express feelings of anger and tenderness with her hands, and show direction and motivation with her feet. It’s a well-conceived design that contributes to the ambiguous objectives that Ava presents as the film progresses.  Actress Alicia Vikander gives a confident and sensitive portrayal as Ava, a true breakout performance.

Oscar Isaac is terrific as the ego-driven inventor Nathan, who is always gleefully a step ahead of everyone. Isaac does the best work when Nathan’s weaknesses overcome him, moments that lead to dancing and intellectual sparing matches with Caleb and sometimes himself. Domhnall Gleeson is also good as Caleb. Whether his fanboy-like admiration of Nathan or his easily manipulated emotional attachment to Ava, Gleeson does a great job of transitioning from susceptibly trusting to questioningly suspicious. 

Alex Garland, who started his career as a novelist and screenwriter, makes an impressive directorial debut.  “Ex Machina” is an exceptional film on many levels, but perhaps the most admirable quality exists in the questions it proposes and the answers it allows the viewer to contemplate.

Monte’s Rating

4.50 out of 5.00