AvBaur Reviews

Ghost in the Shell (2017)

All shell, no ghost.

[5/10 · 11 April 2017]

Visually, this Ghost in the Shell remake is as excellent as the trailers promised. The futuristic city design is marvelous, and the movie succeeds in bringing to life - and (arguably) in some cases even improving upon - the stunning visuals of the original anime and manga.

I don't usually have a problem enjoying a mediocre movie for its visuals alone, but this one left me completely cold. Rarely have I seen a movie this lifeless, bloodless, sexless, and soulless. There isn't a single human moment in it. No character for whom I felt anything. Despite the presence of Juliette Binoche, who is one of my favorite actors, and Scarlett Johansson, who has been great in similar roles, there is no good acting in it. It's barely even worth it to get into the race-bending controversy or the clumsy attempt to address it in the story.

The whole movie feels like a cold corporate product directed by robots. It's all shell, no ghost.

Gone Girl (2014)

Gorgeous images, great acting, deeply trashy story

[7/10 · 7 October 2014]

"Gone Girl" is a very well-made film with a deeply trashy story. It has some near-flawless acting, cinematography, editing, and staging, all in service of a story that isn't just pulpy, racy, and kind of silly, but may well be borderline misogynistic. That doesn't necessarily mean the story is bad, as it's certainly exciting, engaging, at times funny, and full of surprises, but it left a strange aftertaste for me.

Don't take that to mean it's not worth seeing, though - it's a stunningly gorgeous, exciting, funny movie with some great acting, even from such unlikely sources as Tyler Perry and that girl from the "Blurred Lines" video.

I do hope David Fincher gets over his strange obsession with trashy airport novels at some point, though.

Her (2013)

A sublime work of art

[10/10 · 28 March 2014]

Who would have thought a movie about a guy falling in love with his computer could have such emotional depth, such human warmth, such poetry? In spite of (or because of?) its heavy stylization, "Her" handles its themes of love and loneliness in a way that feels as nuanced and true as any movie I've seen.

I love that the film takes what could have been a simplistic story of male wish fulfillment and turns it into something unexpected and beautiful. It speaks to universal human experiences as well as to how technology shapes our present and, possibly, our future. A sublime work of art.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)

Marvel does it again

[9/10 · 27 March 2014]

While I'm really enjoying these Marvel movies and I'm looking forward to every one of them, I was a bit sceptical when I heard that they wanted to make this a "70s paranoid thriller." Could they really pull it off to make a 1970s-style spy movie that also works as a big modern superhero blockbuster? The answer, of course, is yes. Whenever we're not in the middle of one of the many massively spectacular action setpieces, "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" feels very much like a film in the vein of "Three Days of the Condor," helped of course by the presence of Robert Redford.

One of Marvel's best decisions was, rather than making this purely another Cap solo picture, to team him up with Black Widow and, to a lesser degree, Anthony Mackie's Falcon. While Chris Evans is strong in the role and certainly capable of carrying a movie on his own, the addition of Scarlett Johannson is very welcome. She puts in her best performance in the role here and their interplay and teamwork are one of the coolest aspects of the movie.

With some of the "Phase 1" Marvel movies, there were often complaints that they felt like stepping stones to "The Avengers" rather than stand-alone movies. But whereas "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" is even more closely connected to the Avengers movies, it felt to me almost like a full-fledged sequel to The Avengers that can absolutely stand on its own (while also being very much a sequel to the first CA movie). Or maybe it's just that I'm much more invested in the Marvel Cinematic Universe at this point and the connective tissue thus feels like a bonus rather than a distraction.

All in all, "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" is immensely entertaining, both as a big superhero action movie and as a 70s-style spy thriller. Definitely up there with the very best of the Marvel movies. Oh, and don't leave the theater too early: like Thor 2, this one has mid-credits AND post-credits scenes.

Les Misérables (2012)

Admirable rather than likable

[8/10 · 13 May 2013]

Although I think the movie is very good, I must say I admired it more than I liked it. There are many things about it that are great, but it didn't grab me quite as much as I hoped it would, and certainly not as much as it did some of the sobbing and sniffing people sitting all around me in the theater.

Some of said great things: the fantastic actors, the live singing (which I found very effective - sans Russell Crowe), the impressive sets and costumes, and the extremely catchy songs.

As for why it didn't work even better for me? I think maybe it's that it seems a bit overstuffed. The original novel is one hell of a sprawling tale, and it's all a bit much for just one movie if you don't set a clear focus. There's a bit of a redemption story here, a bit of a love story there, and a bit of revolution for good measure. Focusing on just one of these might have made the movie more effective for me. I mean, it's clear that this is mostly Jean Valjean's story, but the movie seems to lose sight of him quite often to get a few more love songs and fight scenes in there.

But still, I think it's well worth seeing and I'll probably have about five different songs from it stuck in my head for the next week or two.

Love Meetings (1964)

Fascinating

[7/10 · 13 May 2013]

In this documentary, Pasolini travels around Italy and interviews random people in public places about their attitudes towards sexuality, marriage, and gender issues. It's fascinating to hear how Italians in the early 1960s felt about these topics, and there are plenty of opinions that seem shocking from a modern perspective. There are people who think that divorce should be illegal (they'd rather have spouses kill each other), parents who find it perfectly normal for 14 year-old boys to lose their virginity with a prostitute, and women who think it's only right that they have less rights and freedoms than men. It's especially interesting to hear the interviewees confess their unabashed disgust towards homosexuals to the secretly gay director.

However, I can't help but wonder if it wouldn't have been more interesting to include some interviews that weren't conducted in public places with groups of people standing around. As it stands, the movie gets a bit repetitive after a while and probably would have been more effective with a shorter running time.

Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)

Star Trek Into Daftness

[5/10 · 13 May 2013]

Well, that was kind of underwhelming...

First, I should probably say that I've been a huge Star Trek fan since I was a child and that some of my frustrations with the film probably stem from its inconsistency with the lore and spirit of the Trek universe. I mean, those are hardly the movie's only problems, but I imagine someone unfamiliar with Star Trek beyond the 2009 movie might be much more forgiving of some of those flaws and be able to just lean back and enjoy the ride. Because the "ride" part is certainly the one thing this movie mostly excels at. The pacing is breathless, the visuals impressive, the actors charismatic, and the action often exciting, even as some of the action scenes, and indeed the entire structure of the film's plot, often feel like a mere rehash of its predecessor.

Despite greatly enjoying J.J. Abrams' first installment, I'll admit I went into the sequel with some reservations, due to some persistent rumors about the villain and to the marketing materials seemingly working very hard to downplay the "space adventure" element and the fact that this is, indeed, a Star Trek movie. It turns out at least some of those concerns were unfounded, as the parts with people in leather jackets running around planet surfaces shooting guns are much less prominent than I feared and the majority of the action does take place on starships in space, involving a lot of familiar characters and places. I was, however, right about the villain (or villains, as it turns out) being quite problematic. Without delving into spoilers, I think I can safely say that the movie has two major villains, one of them a personified jumble of convoluted conspiracy theories (not too surprising, given screenwriter Bob Orci's political views), the other a blurred cypher without any background information or clear motivations, whose menace only becomes apparent in the context of the story when it's spelled out by a wholly gratuitous cameo appearance. This lack of clear character motivations makes for a pretty convoluted story, that paradoxically still manages to remain utterly predictable at every turn.

You may wonder at this point why I still gave the movie an "above average" rating, when I clearly disliked so much about it. Well, as I hinted at in the beginning, I do think there is a lot to like about it (on a technical level, at the very least), and I do think that many non-Trekkies will probably enjoy it a lot more than I did. (Which is ironic, seeing that they worked so hard to shoehorn in quite a few contrived Trek references "for the fans.") In fact, I think most everyone who worked on this movie did a pretty great job except for the screenwriters, which makes this the second year in a row where my biggest movie-related disappointment of the year was co-written by Damon Lindelof (although to be fair, the other two writers have been responsible for a fair number of clunkers over the years, as well). I'll probably rewatch the movie at least once to see if I can ignore its problems and just enjoy the more fun elements, but for now, I'm going to have to say it was mostly a letdown for me.

Russian Dolls (2005)

Looks nice an the outside, but is pretty rotten on the inside

[4/10 · 17 February 2013]

"Les Poupées Russes" is well made, features some playful editing and inventive sequences, and is overall fairly fast-paced and entertaining. Why didn't I like it, then? Well, mostly because the main character is a complete douche-bag. This was a bit of a problem in the previous film as well, but I found it easier to forgive then, since it was less prominent and the character was young and inexperienced. This time, though...

While he's supposed to have aged and gathered some experience, Xavier seems to have gotten even more indecisive and continues to treat the innumerable stunningly beautiful women in his life like crap. So you can't decide whether you want to sleep with Audrey Tautou, Kelly Reilly, or a supermodel? Boo f*cking hoo. Cry me a river, *sshole.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)

Not quite as good as LOTR, but still pretty amazing

[7/10 · 18 December 2012]

Yes, it's not quite as good as the Lord of the Rings trilogy and probably a bit too long, but I still thought it was awesome! Technically and visually, the movie is a marvel, and the many quieter character moments worked really well, too. The returning actors do great work and I enjoyed Martin Freeman's Bilbo a lot. And Gollum, who looks even better than he did in the previous movies, is a particular highlight, of course. If I have one major criticism, it's that during all of the spectacular, roller-coaster-like action sequences, there is never any sense of peril or stakes. Despite the fact that the big set-pieces look like there's no way anyone could survive them, none of the countless dwarfs are ever harmed or killed, which makes the whole thing feel awfully "safe" after a while.

And by the way: count me as a big fan of 48 fps (or HFR). The clarity and the amount of detail is amazing and the lack of motion blur really helps with the 3D and allows for very fast-paced editing and hyperactive camera-work without ever looking messy or jumbled. I think it's totally worth seeing it that way, despite some minor problems (a very "digital" look during the more brightly-lit scenes in the beginning, some movements that seem weirdly sped-up).

Prometheus (I) (2012)

Visually stunning, but utterly frustrating

[5/10 · 23 August 2012]

Well... let's start with what works: Visually, this movie is amazing. The production design, the visual effects, and the cinematography are completely stunning and unlike anything I've seen before, and the sets and landscapes are often literally breathtaking. Technically, 'Prometheus' is a marvel. And the cast isn't too bad, either - Michael Fassbender in particular is very convincing as a morally ambiguous android.

It's just a crying shame that all this technical excellence and these good actors work in service of such a terrible screenplay. It's not even that it lacks fascinating ideas or doesn't ask interesting questions, but that it just doesn't put any of its (too) many ideas to good use or provide compelling answers to its questions. But that wasn't even my biggest problem. I probably could have done without the answers if the characters had worked for me at all. However, almost nothing they did seemed even remotely like something real scientists (or real human beings, for that matter) would do, none of their reactions seemed genuine and believable. It's telling when the emotionless robot is the only compelling character in the movie...

All in all, I'd say this was one of the most frustrating experiences I've ever had with a movie. On the one hand, I was constantly marveling at the technical achievements and the dense, creepy atmosphere, and on the other hand, I was extremely annoyed and utterly frustrated by the characters and the half-baked ideas and story developments. Still, while I think the movie is ultimately a failure, it's certainly a very interesting failure and I don't regret having seen it.

Conan the Barbarian (2011)

Sloppy, half-assed and bland.

[4/10 · 4 August 2012]

I could tell from the very first scene (Ron Perlman performing a c-section on a battlefield without even looking) that this movie wasn't going to be very good. But the longer it went on, the more I appreciated once again how great the Milius/Schwarzenegger Conan was back in the day.

With this cast, which is actually quite good, and script, which, while far from good, is at least passable, a good director could have made a fairly solid Conan movie. Unfortunately, Marcus Nispel is pretty much the opposite of a good director and so we get a series of flat, uninvolving scenes with characters we don't care about and a lot of senseless carnage. Some of it looks kind of nice, but the bad editing and shaky camera-work ruin that, too. The bland music doesn't help, either.

I'll admit that there are one or two action scenes that are at least watchable, but they don't make up for the sloppy, half-assed feel of the movie as a whole.

The Adventures of Tintin (2011)

A good adaptation of the Tintin comics--but it could have been better

[7/10 · 30 October 2011]

As a big fan of the comics I could think of quite a few ways in which this could have been better, but for the most part, I quite enjoyed the movie. It's very true to the comics, and packed with exciting action set-pieces. There is a flashback sequence of a crazy sea battle that is positively jaw-dropping. I didn't love the last set-piece involving cranes, though, and I don't understand why they left out the underwater treasure hunt from the comic--I thought the film could have used another interesting location. Visually, it's a bit of a mixed bag, although it certainly looks much better than any of Robert Zemeckis' mo-cap films to date. Some of it looks really stunning and some of the characters (well, Haddock) are fairly cartoony and work really well, while others are too realistic, and look a bit stiff and artificial (Tintin himself, Snowy, and the villain). All in all, I think a less realistic, more consistent approach would have probably worked better. A few more exotic, visually interesting locales wouldn't have hurt, either.

Still, I hope the movie makes some money and Spielberg and Jackson get to make a second one. Despite my reservations, they did get a lot of things right and I would like to see them adapt some of the other great Tintin books. Maybe they'll even find something interesting to do for some of the characters from the comics that made brief appearances in this one without contributing much at all.

Avatar (2009)

A breathtaking experience

[9/10 · 19 December 2009]

This movie just blew me away. I expected great things and got even more than I anticipated. The story and characters are engaging (if not particularly deep or original) and the visuals are truly mind-blowing and literally jaw-dropping. (My mouth was probably open for at least half of the movie.) The detailed world James Cameron has created is really immersive and unprecedented in its scope, beauty and creativity. And boy, does he know how to stage and frame an exciting action sequence! The 3D is the best I've seen by far and the performance capture is miles above anything we've seen before. Only a few cheesy moments that are a bit hard to swallow keep the film from being completely great. Still, it's a must-see!

Meet the Robinsons (2007)

Disney is getting back on the right track

[7/10 · 22 March 2007]

I'm writing reviews for a German movie website and thus got into a press screening of the new CG animated Disney movie "Meet the Robinsons" in Munich a little while ago. I'm a big animation fan myself and love many of the old Disney movies, although lately I've been more impressed with Pixar's films than anything Disney had to offer in the last few years. However, the story of this one is actually quite interesting and not as uninspired and generic as Disney's last traditionally animated feature Home on the Range or as messy as their first CG outing Chicken Little. It offers a number of nice surprises and even a good plot twist or two without causing too much of the old time-traveling headache. The humor also works quite well, although many of the jokes seem to be aimed at adults and little kids might not get all of them. (Didn't bother me, though…) Most importantly, this film does not contain a single fart joke nor any talking animals or even animal sidekicks (except for those singing frogs you might have seen in the trailers, but they're really not the same thing). I don't know how close this adaptation is to William Joyce's novel "A Day With Wilbur Robinson", as I've never read anything Joyce has written, but it all works pretty well and manages to be an exiting and entertaining family adventure movie.

One aspect of the movie that works particularly well is the design. The buildings, machines and landscapes of the future really look totally cool and have a very own look that is inspired by Joyce's illustrations and various visions of the future from the 50ies and 60ies. They're beautifully rendered, too. Furthermore, the animation is pretty awesome. The movements of the quirky characters are very fast but funny and cleverly stylized. The best example for this is the Bowler Hat Guy who moves in a unique style that makes him look like a giant Spider. This really is a welcome change from the hyper-realistic motion capturing stuff we've been seeing in a lot of movies lately. The character design isn't so bad either. However, the humans don't look quite as good as the ones in The Incredibles, the stylization of some characters makes them look a little too artificial for my taste. The voice-acting, which relies on solid voice actors and luckily doesn't involve any fancy stunt casting, leaves nothing to be desired. Danny Elfman's score is pretty fine, too. I could have done without the cheesy pop songs that were played at some parts of the film, though.

Altogether, I highly recommend seeing this warmhearted family film to any animation fan. It might not be as good as my Pixar favorites The Incredibles and Finding Nemo, but it sure is a lot better than most of the other studios' wisecracking-and-farting-animal flicks. With Pixar's John Lasseter pulling the strings at Disney's animation unit now, they finally seem to be getting back on the right track and I'm looking forward to their next projects, especially the traditionally animated The Frog Princess.

One last thing: as some of you might have heard, Disney wants to start putting original animated shorts in front of their feature films again. Meet the Robinsons kind of makes a start by showing the old Mickey, Donald & Goofy short Boat Builders in the beginning. It's a great experience to see one of those on the big screen again and the kids in the audience apparently loved it.