Author: The Paladin

Alone one night I had the hankering for a good, sweeping rescue movie so I started up The Finest Hours on Netflix.

The film stars Chris Pine, Casey Affleck, Ben Foster, Holliday Grainger, Eric Bana, and a host of other familiar faces. Chris Pine’s Bernie Webber is a Chief in the Coast Guard who failed to rescue the crew of a ship and that haunts him a little. At least Pine plays it that way and dialog tries to tell us that’s the case, but since this happens before the film I had no way to relate. He also starts a relationship with Holliday Grainger’s Miriam who is strong and independent, but fearful of the career Bernie has chosen. The film focus on this relationship at the beginning, before showing us the tragedy aboard the S.S. Pendleton that has shorn in half, trapping 32 members of the crew.

Eventually Bernie’s CO orders him to take small ship across the bar, which everyone knows is impossible, but I don’t because you haven’t shown me yet. Still it is an exciting scene and is fairly exciting. The rest of the rescue is fairly paint-by-the-numbers and then it ends, snatching a lot of the emotion from the part of the story.

The Finest Hours got me interested in the real story it is based on, but the film itself  failed to capture the excitement, uncertainty, and character of such a daring rescue. While flat, the film it isn’t terrible, so the Finest Hour is something I suggest you watch when you’ve got nothing else to watch.

Consider the stone dropped in the center of a still pond.

The air gently moves, rustling the leaves of the trees. Golden yellows, ripe greens, fiery red all dance in the breeze.

Ripples race across the smooth surface. The crane looks on.

The crane is staring at you. It’s black eyes fix your own. It is peering into your soul.

The ripples reach the edge of the pond. A snowflake lands on your cheek.

The first.

 

Conversely its sequel…

 

Consider the stone. Now look at me. Now back to the stone.

Oh, young love. Old love. Big drunken guy in love.

Now back to me. There’s a bald guy.

Foot balancing wushu.

Ninjas.

Dead. Undead. Credits.

Such is the unevenness of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon in comparison to its sequel Netflix’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny (CTHD:SD). The first is a contemplative film, shot amongst sweeping vistas, and eye popping wire-fu. The latter is a far more standard affair with a predictable plot and typical archetypes. CTHD:SD attempts at times to mimic the world and atmosphere of the first film, but more often than not comes off as a made for TV movie.

All the actors are fine, Michelle Yeoh can be in everything, but none are required to or give stellar performances. The fact that they all speak English is also disappointing, being the sequel to one of the most successful non-english films in the US.

Ultimately, Ang Lee infused Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon with such contemplation and wonder that the sequel seems heavy handed and hollow. Had the first one been a more classic martial arts film the lower budget sequel wouldn’t have been so jarring.

Taken on its own CTHD:SD isn’t terrible, but it’s not great either. The fights aren’t super exciting or technical and they also seem to have an urgency to get to the talking parts. Really, if you are craving a good martial arts movie this will do to take the edge off, but it’s not a full meal. If your wanting something that stops to smell the flowers and contemplate leaves falling it doesn’t do that either. However if you want to watch a foreign film without British accents or subtitles… here you go.

There is something about period spy movies that are just fun… or at least they can be. It a fine line of course. You can go too campy; trying to play on the sensibilities of the period and end up creating a very unreal world or you can also go too dramatic and suck all the life out of history. The Man from U.N.C.L.E. by Guy Ritchie walks the line perfectly – reveling in the colors, styles, and sensibilities of the 60’s. At the same time it is aware of the reality and tension of the time; thus keeping its feet on the ground. For reference The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (TMfU) hews closer to the newer James Bond films than the Connery or especially the Rodger Moore films – but it has fun while it does it.

TMfU follows the unlikely paring of the CIA’s Napoleon Solo, played by Henry Cavill, and the KGB’s Illya Kuryakin, played by Armie Hammer as they try to stop a group of Fascists from arming a shadow Nazi regime with a Nuclear Weapon. Dragged into the middle is Gaby Teller (Alicia Vikander), a German mechanic who’s father might be helping to build the bomb.

The cast is a lot of fun, Henry Cavill really sells the charming and competent Solo, Hammer exudes barely controlled strength and malice, and Vikander’s Gaby is strong, brave, and intelligent. The “bromance” between Solo and Kuryakin is a lot of fun to see develop, as is the actual romance of the story.

The thing I loved about TMfU was the witty banter and the way it was shot. Ritchie certainly has his own style that infuses a lot of life and energy into his films and for TMfU he adds little touches you’d recognize from films from the 60’s. Layered cuts, long zooms during chases, and just a touch of technicolor give the movie a nostalgic feel and energy that sets it apart from say a Bourne movie or James Bond.

The Man from U.N.C.L.E. is a fun, witty, and energetic and I highly recommend you give it a try.