JUSTICE LEAGUE: 3 ½ STARS
The old truism âless is moreâ has been thrown into the interdimensional void with the release of the new jam-packed superhero film âJustice League.â
At almost two hours, and featuring the talents of not one but two high-powered directorsâJoss Whedon took over for Zach Synder who stepped away in post-production due to personal issuesâit features the top-line DC heroes like Superman (Henry Cavill), Batman (Ben Affleck) and Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) plus a host of others like Flash (Ezra Miller), Aquaman (Jason Mamoa) and Cyborg (Ray Fisher). Then thereâs odds and ends like Connie Nielsen as Hippolyta, villains such as Lex Luther (Jesse Eisenberg) and the motion captured Ciarán Hinds as Steppenwolf and significant others like Martha Kent (Diane Lane), Lois Lane (Amy Adams) and James Gordon (J. K. Simmons).
Phew. Thatâs a whole lotta movie. I wonder, is there anyone left to make other superhero films?
âJustice Leagueâ takes place months after the events of the grim-faced âBatman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.â Superman, apparently, is out of the pictureâwe see a newspaper with the headline âDisappearing heroes. Did they return to their planets?â accompanied with photos of David Bowie, Prince and Superman. So billionaire playboy Bruce Wayne (Affleck) and Diana Prince (Gadot) a.k.a. Princess Diana of Themyscira assemble a team of super-dupers including the worldâs fastest boy, Barry Allen (Miller), merman Arthur Curry (Momoa) and man-machine Victor Stone (Fisher). âThere are enemies coming from far away,â says Wayne. âI need warriors right now.â
Their job? To combat alien military officer SteppenwolfââI am the end of worlds!ââand his army of winged shock troops called Terror Demons. How do we know Steppenwolf is the villain? He has big silver horns and says things like, âPraise to the mother of horrors!â These are bad dudes, and if they lay their hands on the three earthbound Mother Boxesâperpetual energy matrixes that, if joined together, destroy as they createânot even the combined forces of all the DC superheroes will be able to save the planet and stop Steppenwolf from taking his place among the new gods! âOne misses the days when the biggest concerns were wind up exploding penguins,â moans Alfred Pennyworth (Jeremy Irons).
The first hour of âJustice Leagueâ is essentially a long origin story, detailing the backstories of each of the new characters. Itâs still sombre and underscored with a very dramatic soundtrack by Danny Elfman. At the same time, it doesnât take itself as seriously as âBatman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.â Itâs hard not to find the humour in Bruce Wayne pseudo-seriously asking Aquaman if he can talk to fish. The funny stuff is a welcome addition. The downhearted tone of Synderâs previous film was oppressive, sending the audience on a one-way trip to Bleaktown, U.S.A.
âJustice League,â by comparison, has hills and valleys. Moments of weight play off the lighter scenes, combining to create an overall more enjoyable experience. It even ends on a hopeful note. âHeroes remind us that hope is everywhere,â Lane writes at the end of the film. âYou can see it. All you have to do is look up in the sky.â
âJustice Leagueâ features a typical destroy-the-whole-damn-planet-and-bathe-in-your-blood style villain, and thereâs still way too much CGI, but allowing the characters to acknowledge the ridiculousness of their situationsâIâm looking at you Aquaman!âdoesnât make it a silly movie. Rather, it makes it a self-aware film that winks at the audience while providing a simple, action-packed story of good vs. evil.
THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI: 4 ½ STARS
âThree Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouriâsâ story of a motherâs unconventional war with the world is simple enough; itâs the complexity of the characters that elevates it to the level of great art.
Academy Award winner Frances McDormand plays Mildred Hayes, a fifty-eight year old grieving mother. Seven months after her daughter was abducted, raped and killed, the Ebbing, Missouri police have no suspects, no leads. Frustrated, she takes matters into her own hands, renting three billboards on a local road to help âfocus their minds.â Against a bright red background and written in bold black letters she sends a message to the local constabulary. âStill No Arrests?â âHow Come, Chief Willoughby?â âRaped While Dying.â
âThe more you keep the case in the public,â she says, âthe better chance you have of solving it.â
The billboards arenât popular with the police or the town folk. Dixon (Sam Rockwell), a dim-witted, hot-tempered cop tries to intimidate her by arresting her best friend, her dentist tries to pull her tooth without novocaine and her priest tries to talk her out of using public shame as a tool. More nuanced is the reaction of the salt-of-the-earth Chief Willoughby (Woody Harrelson). He is sincere in his search for the killer but simply has no clues to work with.
Matters are complicated by Willoughbyâs terminal illness, an arrogant ex-husband (John Hawkes) and Mildredâs growing anger.
Itâs the performances that make âThree Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouriâ so remarkable. Itâs a whodunit of sorts, but the crime is a McGuffin, the thing that gives us a reason for the characters to interact, rather than the main focus. This is a character study of people whose lives are changed by forces beyond their control.
Troubled by her final, argumentative conversation with her daughter, Mildred is a flinty presence, strong willed but vulnerable. Sheâs mad as hell and isnât going to take it anymore, and yet there is an undercurrent of pain in everything she does that is heartbreaking. Sheâs mean and mighty, but itâs the haunted look behind her eyes that tells her story. McDormand is remarkable playing an ordinary woman pushed into an extraordinary circumstance.
Her characterâs duality is firmly on display in a scene where she is at odds with Willoughby. In the midst of their argument he coughs, spitting up blood. She leaps into action, calling him âbabyâ and running for help. Her empathy is clear, even if he represents everything she is rallying against.
Then there is Rockwell, who breathes life into a stereotype: the small-town racist cop. As Dixon, heâs a nitwitâa violent mamaâs boy who undergoes a life change. The thing that makes it so effective isnât just the characterâs redemptive arc but that Rockwell plays it realistically. After his transformation, Dixon may be a better man in some respects, but heâs still a dim bulb who makes rash, ill-advised decisions.
Supporting work from Sandy Martin as Dixonâs boozy mom and Samara Weaving as a young woman who gets life advice from bookmarks are also memorable.
âThree Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouriâ is a comedic tragedy whose idea of justice doesnât offer easy answers. Unexpected twists keep it compelling, but itâs the acting youâll remember.
STEGMAN IS DEAD: 3 STARS
The spirit of Quentin Tarantino hangs heavy over âStegman is Dead,â a down ân dirty action thriller from director David Hyde. Quirky characters, a badass female assassin and bent morality blend to create a queasy cocktail that feels like the stepchild of Tarantino and every 1990s crime thriller that followed in the wake of âPulp Fiction.â
The action begins when the title character, the late not-so-great Stegman, tries to finance his burgeoning porno empire by blackmailing Don (Michael Ironside) and his former gang of thugs with a VHS surveillance tape of a ten-year old crime. Rather than pay up, Don decides to take a more hands-on approach, sending his henchmen to retrieve the tape, only to find Stegman ventilated with bullets.
With Stegman out of the way, the blackmail is done. But what about the tapes? Desperate to get his hands on them, Don calls safecracker Gus (Michael Eklund), a married career criminal whose wife Diana (Andrea del Campo) is a MILFChat.com model and not pleased about the situation. Ambitious, she wants Gus to forget about Don and graduate to bigger and better crimes to afford them and their adorable six-year old daughter (Linnea Moffat) a more lavish life.
Add to that a mysterious assassin Evy (Bernice Liu) and you have a film that feels like a throwback to quirky crime thrillers like â2 Days in the Valleyâ and âThings to Do in Denver When You're Dead.â
The Winnipeg-shot âStegman is Deadâ makes the most of its limited palate. Itâs derivative for sure, but director David Hyde brings enough verve to the filmmaking to keep things interesting. Stars Eklund and Liu mostly play it straight and donât allow the storyâs eccentricity to weigh down their performances. Ironside is reliable as always, while others play into the movieâs wackiness when they arenât dodging bullets.
âStegman is Deadâ is a darkly funny B-movie that embraces its B-movieness. Thereâs a subtext about the importance of family, but this isnât really about thatâor the heist, or Stegmanâas much it is about entertaining the audience for ninety minutes.