Get Out

Most of you know the comic genius of the Key and Peele duo: Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele.  Although the men are talented comedians—both in the business for some time before hitting stardom on the comedy sketch show, “MadTV,” then hitting the television waves with their own show: “Key and Peele”—Jordan Peele has made a name for himself lately as a film director.  In fact, his only directorial job so far has been the praised film we’re going to talk about today…Get Out.

It’s time for a young African-American, Chris (Daniel Kaluuya), to meet the parents of his white girlfriend, Rose (Allison Williams), for a weekend visit at their secluded estate in the woods.  But before long, the friendly and polite ambience will give way to a nightmare.

For a first time director—let alone, horror movie director—Jordan Peele definitely knows how to set the mood and arranges it eerily so in Get Out.  Although some of the tropes featured in the beginning structure of the story are typical thriller clichés, Peele tracks it well and fits it into the film without making it stick out like a sore thumb.  For example, at the beginning of the film, the young couple, Chris and Rose, is on their way to the parents’ home and something shocking happens to act as an omen.  There’s no rhyme or reason to it, nor does it spell out anything in particular, but before you have time to think about it, Peele’s setting up the next scene to make you invest your feelings into what’s coming next.  He doesn’t allow the audience to dwell upon certain scenes that may or may not be stereotypical or overly dramatic, he just keeps the story moving along to keep our brains busy.

Racism is definitely in the forefront of this story, going from Chris’s concern that Rose should tell her parents about him, to the parents'—especially the dad—over-acceptance of their daughter’s boyfriend, to the obvious majority of Caucasian people throughout the story…it’s constantly there and brought to attention at times in the most uncomfortable way.  The typical dialogue that white people seem to fall back on, to try—and fail—and fit in with an African-American is amusingly used here (Rose’s dad says he’d vote for Obama for a third term if he could is one of the many uncomfortable conversations you’ll hear), yet it gives the movie an even more unnerving undertone and making us worry for the central character of Chris.

I’ve got to say that the performances of Catherine Keener and Bradley Whitford as Rose’s parents, the Armitages, were probably the two that I’d accepted right away.  With the setting at their home, which is in the middle of some woods and far from any neighbors (as mentioned by Mr. Armitage himself), it’s believable to think that they’d truly be out of touch with society and to be as odd as they are when Chris first meets them.  Keener and Whitford play the open-armed parents beautifully, making it the only time we—the audience—truly feel at ease...or vulnerable.

It’s when we meet the rest of the main cast that we start to feel something’s amiss, especially with the hired help: Walter (Marcus Henderson) and Georgina (Betty Gabriel).  Walter is introduced as the groundskeeper and Georgina as the help around the house.  Of course, ones thought will go to how it seems a bit racist to have African-Americans as servants, but Mr. Armitage actually gives an acceptable explanation that the two were around and helped with the grandparents when they were on hospice care, explaining that they were like family and didn’t want them to go after the grandparents passed on.  Fair enough…but the strange actions of Walter and Georgina are what really show something’s not right at the estate.  And how could I forget Rose’s brother, Jeremy (Caleb Landry Jones)?  The over-aggressive, yet accepting way, he treats Chris during their first dinner together is a little off-putting and sets the tone for his relationship with him. 

Yes, Jordan Peele plays this out perfectly, making the audience wonder just what they hell is going on with everybody surrounding the Armitages throughout the story.  When remembering certain parts of the film, or rewatching it, Peele actually puts subtle hints of foreshadowing that really get under your skin once you get to the third act of this film.

Of course, what every horror movie needs is some comedy interspersed throughout and that’s where Chris’s friend, Rod (LilRel Howery), comes in.  Rod is Chris’s friend who works for TSA at the airport and is housesitting for him while he’s away.  I can’t help but think this part should’ve gone to Peele himself, but Howery is hilarious in the short scenes that he’s featured in.

Is there anything I can nitpick about Get Out?  Well…yeah.  But…it’ll give away the twist of the story, so I really don’t want to divulge that. 

I’m actually glad that I stayed away from spoilers before going into it and stayed away from web sites and YouTube channels that discussed the movie.  Going into this cold is the best thing one can do and you’ll thank yourself for it.  I really had no idea what was going to happen and it made the experience that much more exciting.

Lastly, I’ll say that I had really enjoyed Daniel Kaluuya’s performance as Chris, how levelheaded he played the part and the emotion he displayed during some of the tough scenes, were great.  Although he has quite a résumé in film and television, this is the first time I’ve witnessed his acting.  He’s set to be in Marvel Studio’s The Black Panther next year, so I look forward to following his career.

So…what’s my final “bit” on Get Out?

I’m so blown away by Jordan Peele’s directorial debut, I can’t say it enough.  After watching this, I thought for sure Peele’s been a seasoned veteran of helming productions.  But, for being a first time director, and to take charge of such a great movie, I have to applaud him fervently.  So many great touches here and there, the lighting used so well, the perfect settings, and such a slight connotation of awkwardness brought out by the actors…all blends together and turns into an amazing film.  I’m looking forward to seeing what Jordan Peele does next.  You need to see this film.

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War for the Planet of the Apes

“Apes…together…strong!”

Here we are, just six years after the remarkable first film in these new reboots that has featured the most incredible special effects in movie history.  Yes, War for the Planet of the Apes has arrived and what a feast for the eyes and ears!  Say what you will about the Avatar films and how they’d set the path for motion capture CGI, but these films have grown and secured such a foothold within the special effects spectacles we see just about every summer. 

I’ve always been a fan—not a huge fan, but a fan—of the Planet of the Apes series of films.  The first one, released in 1968, is still an amazing film despite the laughable costumes and masks that the actors wear to depict the apes within that production.  But the story is so captivating and engrossing that you quickly forget about the cheesy makeup effects of that time.  I can accept it because I would just imagine that the apes had evolved over the centuries to stand more upright and to become taller, so it’s not too far gone of a conclusion.  Where it’s ridiculous—and I can’t remember which sequel it was—but there’s a film in the series where the apes end up back in time and are captured and believed to be normal apes.   

Back in 2011, ten years after the flop that Burton’s film had been, I really had thought the Apes films had run their course and couldn’t possibly be able to provide any more to the whole story.  But I was wrong.  It had been the right time, especially with the special effects technology, to start from the beginning and render realistic-looking chimpanzees, gorillas, and orangutans to show exactly how this all started.  Rise played that out brilliantly and Dawn continued the story faultlessly.

So here we are with War for the Planet of the Apes and I was chomping at the bit to go out to see this flick.  I say this with a bit of chagrin, but I think I’d been looking forward to seeing this movie more so than Spider-Man: Homecoming.  Suffice it to say, I think War may be the…

…well, let’s break down the plot summary and go at this step-by-step…

After the apes suffer unimaginable losses at the hands of a new enemy, The Colonel (Woody Harrelson), Caesar (Andy Serkis) wrestles with his darker instincts and begins his own mythic quest to avenge his kind.

If you’ve seen the previous entry to this franchise, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, then you know this story was coming.  At the end of the previous film, it was said through exposition that the military was on its way to fight the supposed threat of the apes.  In a way, the transition to this film is seamless and we can go right into this plot without much thought of what had happened beforehand.  It’ll help to refresh yourself with a viewing of the preceding two entries, however, just so you don’t have to think much about some of the aspects of this film.  Overall, we knew this was coming, we knew this was going to be a culmination of Caesar’s story—in one way or another—and we knew this would be an afflicting plight for both the humans and the apes.

Although most of the audiences’ presumptions of what will happen are correct, there are still a few surprises to be seen as well as a few connections to the original 1968 film.  Along the way, the audience will see great acting through the wonder of motion capture technology (and it is quite incredible this time around—more on that later), a few heartbreaking moments, and some delightfully humorous moments (mainly with the new character of “Bad Ape,” a quickly-established crowd favorite, played by Steve Zahn).

When thinking of the special effects used in this particular film, one can’t help but think back on the previous two and know that War surpassed them both.  Don’t get me wrong, Rise had some groundbreaking effects, especially with Andy Serkis’s Mo-Cap performances as Caesar, and it improved quite a bit in the sequel, but there were some scenes where the CGI was a bit spotty and obvious.  In Rise, the young Caesar wasn’t as realistic as the adult version and can take you out of the movie when seeing it today.  Dawn was better, but one scene in particular wasn’t done well and that was when the special effects team rendered the bear and elk during the hunting scene at the beginning of the film.  Here, in War for the Planet of the Apes, I didn’t notice any unrealistic execution of characters.

As for he humans in this story, Woody Harrelson played the villain as well as he could.  Though it was your typical cookie-cutter bad guy, the point was made that he had a personal vendetta against the apes and had no empathy for them whatsoever.  You learn early on that he’s the Colonel Kurtz (Apocalypse Now reference) of the story who is going rogue with his platoon.  Not only is he an enemy of the apes, but of the remaining humans as well.  Harrelson’s Colonel is heartless and unlikable in this story, making his character a perfect adversary to Caesar.

To add to the conversation of the motion capture creature-rendering technology used this time around, I really think the Academy Awards need to add a category for Mo-Cap performances, because Andy Serkis is the best out there.  Either have that new grouping or include him in the competition for best actor—his performances of Gollum in Lord of the Rings, the title character in King Kong, and Supreme Leader Snoke in Star Wars: The Force Awakens are some of the most incredible accomplishments one will ever see.  Along those lines, and seeing how well the effects crew was able to realistically render the apes, I’d seen an interesting tweet from PETA the other day, where they’d mention how this new Apes movie was proof positive that filmmakers won’t ever have to use live animals again.  I really wouldn’t go that far—it’s a bit cheaper to hire a dog trainer to have a dog obey some simple commands than to have a CGI-rendered dog that’ll cost quite a bit of money to showcase—but I see what they’re getting at with that statement and that’s high praise to the individuals who were able to bring Caesar and his apes to life.

My final “bit” on War for the Planet of the Apes?

A stellar completion to the Caesar arc of these new Apes films, but I still hope we see more.  Perhaps the filmmakers can spin off or just keep going with this world to see how the apes came to be in the original ’68 film.  How did they evolve to upright-walking apes?  When did they decide to wear clothing?  How did the Statue of Liberty get buried on the coastline?  Even more, will 20^th Century Fox allow the original film to be remade/rebooted/reimagined?  I wouldn’t mind and I would even welcome it just so it fits in this string of films.  But War is a great conclusion to a fabulous trilogy of films documenting Caesar’s rise to power, his leadership, and his legacy.  Andy Serkis is awesome, as are all the motion capture actors in this, and the box office success speaks volumes on that fact.  If you haven’t already, go see War for the Planet of the Apes now.

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Spider-Man: Homecoming

Okay, so it’s been awhile, huh?  Where I was once an unyielding scribe of film criticism, I soon turned to the world of sports—namely, baseball—and set aside the writing of reviews.  Now, I’m still a constant movie-goer—always putting in a disc in the player or seeing the occasional blockbuster in the theaters—but I had to turn my attention elsewhere and put Cinema Bits in hiatus for a time (it’s a long story and I won’t get into it).  I’ve done it before, taking a yearlong break until Star Wars: The Force Awakens pulled me back to my film scrutiny and making me see the error of my ways. 

 

So, here I am, once again being brought back, compelled to write about a film I’d watched with the exuberance and giddiness as my 9-year-old self had experienced way back when I witnessed Star Wars back in 1978 (I didn’t get to see the movie until it was brought back to theaters the year after its release).  Yes…even though I’m going to be hitting 49 years old this coming November, I still felt like a little boy as I patiently waited for Spider-Man: Homecoming to begin.

 

You’d think I would have already felt this way back in 2002 when Tobey Maguire donned the webbed red-and-blues in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man—and I had felt that way as the movie’s final money-shot elicited a huge smile on my face that took quite a while to fade away even as I saw the movie again and again during repeat viewings—but it wasn’t until the sequel to that film was released when I had the state of euphoria that had equaled my Star Wars movie wonderment. 

 

I’ll state it here and now that the bar was set before going into the theater to see this film—Spider-Man 2 was the film to which I’d compare all the rest.  As it stands—and I know I’ll get some arguments against this (goodness knows I’ve already debated about this with many comic book film enthusiasts)—I don’t think anything has stood up to Sam Raimi’s second Spider-Man outing.  The main dispute that comes up is The Dark Knight, and yes, I do believe Christopher Nolan’s second Batman film is great, but doesn’t have the heroic comic book feel that Spider-Man 2 exhibits.  Every time I watch the sequel, especially the scenes where Spidey is fighting Doctor Octopus on the train, I feel like the scenes are jumping out of a comic book, keeping me glued to the screen as I’d been glued to the comic books as a kid.  That was how I’d wanted to feel again when venturing out to see Spider-Man: Homecoming.

 

For obvious reasons, I’m not going to even address the Andrew Garfield films because that’ll raise a level of negativity that I really don’t think I can escape.

 

For the casual viewer of these recent Marvel Studios films, such as the Iron Man or Captain America films, you may not realize how important this film is to all of them.  In short, Sony Pictures owned the filming rights to the Spider-Man character for nearly two decades.  Marvel Comics decided to create their own studios—later, having Disney purchase the whole company—and decided to make this whole cinematic universe to cross-over all their characters in multiple movies.  Basically, Marvel Studios have most of their characters’ rights back, save for Spider-Man belonging to Sony, with The X-Men and Fantastic Four belonging to 20^th Century Fox.  However, Sony decided to cooperate and share Spidey (it helped that those aforementioned Andrew Garfield films bombed—I know, I said I wouldn’t get into that), so now there’s a deal in place to share the character and split the wealth that comes with it.

 

Now, if only 20^th Century Fox would smarten up and follow suit…I’m sure they will soon.

 

Well, for now, let’s get into Spider-Man: Homecoming…

 

Thrilled by his experience with the Avengers, young Peter Parker (Tom Holland) returns home to live with his Aunt May (Marisa Tomei) and resumes life as a high schooler.  Under the watchfull eye of mentor Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.), Parker starts to embrace his newfound identity as Spider-Man.  As Peter tries to go back to his normal daily routine, he’s distracted by thoughts of proving himself to be more than just a friendly neighborhood superhero.  However, he must soon put his powers to the test when the evil Vulture (Michael Keaton) emerges to threaten everything that he holds dear.

 

If you’ve been up-to-date with the Marvel series of movies, then you’ve seen last year’s Captain America: Civil War which showcased the first time Spider-Man has been brought into this cinematic world…and, boy, was it an entrance!  However, coming into this, I’ve got to admit, my expectations were a little low.  I mean, come on, let’s face it…this is the second reboot of the character on film, with the last crappy reboot still fresh in our minds (I know…I’m still refraining…but it’s difficult), so it’s hard to think that any Spider-Man film can have any more tricks up its sleeve to give us something fresh and exciting.

 

Before getting into the movie, let’s talk about the cast…

 

First up…Tom Holland as Peter Parker/Spider-Man is the youngest Spider-Man brought to life on screen at the suitable young age of 21.  In comparison, Nicholas Hammond was 27 when he played the Wall Crawler in the 1977 television series, Tobey Maguire was nearly 27 as well when he took the role in the 2002 film, and Andrew (ugh!) Garfield was close to 29.  It definitely helps here as Holland looks and sounds like he belongs in high school, not having a five o’clock shadow certainly supports the illusion that we’re seeing a young kid deal with the heavy burden of being a person endowed with super powers.  But his acting in this flick comes across as how any of us would feel if we suddenly could flip and jump around, crawling up walls and having the power to kick anybody’s ass…I think we’d feel the same excitement.  Well…at least I would.

 

The baddie here, Michael Keaton as Adrian Toomes, aka The Vulture, gives us a memorable performance as well.  At times, we see the comedian come out of him, but most of the time Keaton plays this villain as a commanding head of a criminal organization.  At the same time, we can side with him as he starts this story off as the boss of a legitimate clean-up crew who gets gipped from making a pretty good payday for cleaning up the mess left behind after the Battle of New York that took place during The Avengers.  So, Keaton—as Adrian Toomes—plays his role as anybody seeking fairness.  Seeing him as the bad guy here in Spider-Man: Homecoming, I can’t help but to conjure up memories of Tim Burton’s Batman; it’s very interesting to see Keaton going from the heroic role to the villain.  Though, I think we all know he has the capability to do so, as he’s played the bad guy here and there over the years—Pacific Heights, Desperate Measures, and Robocop are just a few that I can recall—so the choice to make him The Vulture was good.

 

As you may have seen in the trailers, Robert Downey, Jr. is here as Tony Stark/Iron Man, playing the mentor to young Peter Parker.  We get just enough of Downey as to not make this an Iron Man movie that features Spider-Man, which calms the thoughts of many people who’d thought that this was going to feature more than a cameo of the billionaire-playboy-philanthropist.  Pretty much what you see in the trailers are all the scenes Robert Downey, Jr. is on the screen and that’s a good thing.  But he’s the same witty and amusing tech genius that really doesn’t want Peter to get too involved in the superhero business, obviously protecting him and not wanting him to get hurt.

 

Marisa Tomei as Aunt May is definitely a new take on the character, but it makes sense when you compare the ages of her character and Peter Parker.  In reality, it’d be completely normal for a fifty-something year-old woman to have a 15-year-old nephew.  I know all us Spider-Man comic book fans would love to have the frail, old, grey-haired woman as Aunt May, complete with hair tied up in a bun, but that would not be relatable…especially between the two characters.  I like what they did here, casting Tomei in the role (which was already established in Captain America: Civil War), and I look forward to seeing how her character evolves from this film.

 

The rest of the cast does well, with great chemistry between them all.  There are some Easter Eggs and surprises to take in—I may need to take in another viewing to see them all myself.  I won’t go over them because it’ll just bog down this review, not to mention spoil some surprises along the way.

 

So…as I’d mentioned earlier, the bar was set with Spider-Man 2 as what I consider the best superhero movie—let alone, Spider-Man movie—ever.  Does Spider-Man: Homecoming beat it? 

 

The quick answer is…no.

 

But that’s not to say that this is a bad movie, no, on the contrary.  Spider-Man: Homecoming is the perfect introduction for the character to enter the Marvel Cinematic Universe.  Holland’s Peter Parker definitely goes through an arc in the film, going from an anxious kid who’d gotten a taste of superheroing with an awesome technological outfit, to an adult-minded young man who understands what he has to do with his newfound powers. 

 

If anything, this is what endears the character to all who’ve already seen him on the screen to everybody who’s coming into the character brand new.  To see Spider-Man as a newbie, starting off as a bike-thief and car-jacker deterrent, but making mistakes here and there, and going up against a real threat to prove himself even after Stark takes away the tech suit…this all adds up to how valiant and courageous this character has been throughout the years.  At one point during the film, I was kind of thinking about how we weren’t seeing any real web-swinging, but during a pivotal scene in Washington DC where Spider-Man has to scale the Washington Monument, it’s made clear that Peter hasn’t really climbed that high as we see him get a bit of acrophobia at the top of the monolith.

 

No, Spider-Man 2 still has stood the test of time with The Avengers coming close as toppling that film as the best superhero flick, but Spider-Man: Homecoming is just a different type of movie that is great in and of itself.  I look forward to where this is going and how the character will grow within the Avengers films, in its sequel, and how he’ll crossover into other Marvel productions.  Seeing the numbers over this past weekend, I’m willing to bet that’s how everyone else felt as well.  I hope Sony realizes they have a good thing here and doesn’t blow it.

 

So…my final “bit” on Spider-Man: Homecoming?

 

If anything, this movie has a lot of heart, almost going to the point where they try to make the character as great as he’d been in past films, only to dial it back to show you how grounded he should be.  It’s truly an origin story without having us go through the rigmarole of seeing the spider bite and the uncle’s death, but to see how Peter Parker deals with having these great powers as he lives a normal high school life.  Tom Holland does a wonderful job as both Peter Parker and Spider-Man, giving us some humorous moments as well as heroic ones.  It’s the perfect—official—introduction of the wallcrawler into the Marvel lineup of films.  I’m definitely looking forward to the ones that are coming up.

 

Just a heads-up and you probably would know this already, but there is a mid-credits scene that’s fairly important to the film and where it’ll go from here.  Also, there’s an after-credits scene where the joke is on us…not going to go any further than that, but it’s funny…at the movie-goer’s expense.

 

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