THE LEGO BATMAN MOVIE: 3 STARS
âThe LEGO Batman Movieâ movie begins with a pretty good joke. Over a darkened screen Batman's raspy voice (Will Arnett) intones, âAll important movies begin with black.â Unfortunately as the film goes on it becomes clear that it wasnât just a gag, that director Chris McKay is trying to make an important, capital I, movie.
The movie kicks off with a wild opening sequence as The Joker (Zach Galifianakis) tries to destroy Gotham City. He brings along some super villains you have heard of, like Two Face and Harley Quinn, and some you haven't like Gentleman Ghost and Condiment King. Mayhem ensues until Batman shows up. The resulting showdown sets up a familiar theme: without the bad, the good doesnât exist.
"I'm fine with you fighting other people,â says The Joker, âbut when people ask who your favourite villain is⊠You say Joker."
The Caped Crusader refuses to acknowledge any bond with his nemesis. âBatman doesn't do ships⊠as in the relationships.â
Later, police commissioner James Gordon retires, putting his daughter Barbara Gordon (Rosario Dawson) in charge. As the new commissioner she brings in a new crime clan called It Takes a Village⊠Not Batman. "Despite all the work he's done for us Gotham is still the most crime-ridden city on earth,â she says.
As Batmanâs importance to Gotham lessens, The Joker changes the dynamics of their relationship by surrendering, thereby rendering Batman completely useless. "I'm off the menu, you won't get to fight any of this anymore!â
But what does Batman do with the city no longer needs a vigilante crime fighter? Alfred Pennyworth, the superhero's loyal butler and legal guardian suggests, âItâs time to face your greatest fear⊠Being part of a family again,â but will the man who says, âI don't feel anything emotionally except rage,â be able to embrace a home life?
âThe LEGO Batman Movieâ is not content to simply be what it is, a silly movie about superheroes made of toy bricks. Instead it stretches to be a feel-good movie about the importance of relationships and friendships, even between friend and foe. What should have been a straight-up parody becomes something else. It does poke gentle fun at Marvel and DC's habit of squishing far too many characters in their movies and The Jokerâs "unnecessarily complicated bombs," but the main "you mean nothing to me, no one does" storyline could have been lifted from any of Christopher Nolanâs dissections of Batmanâs psyche. It's more tortured Batman this time but with 100 per cent more jokes then anything Zack Snyder could ever imagine.
There are jokes and even a song or twoâalthough nothing as catchy as âEverything Is AWESOME!!!â by Tegan and Saraâbut this is more about relationship feels than it is about belly laughs. Sure, itâs funny when Batman sings, âIâll turn Two Face into black and blue face,â but the rest doesnât feel irreverent enough. This is a new world, a LEGO universe where anything is possible so why is Batman still clinging to the anger generated by his parentâs death? Arnett has fun with the voice, giving the character an almost Trumpian level of self-regard, which raises a giggle or two but overall this doesnât feel like a parody of Batman as much as it does a fuzzy carbon copy.
âThe LEGO Batman Movieâ zips along at a tremendous pace with in-your-face animation and some jokes but the overwhelming amount of CGI muffles some of the charm of the original, creating a less organic, homemade feel. The first contained loads of CGI as well but disguised it better. The result is a hybrid, an animated action movie that both parodies and pays tribute to the comics and comic movies that inspired it.
JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 2: 3 ½ STARS
In John Wick, the character not the incredibly violent movies that bear his name, Keanu Reeves has found the pure essence of, for lack of a better word, Keanuness. Reeves has never been the most expressive actor, his appeal is physical and metaphysical. He can run, jump, shoot and punch with the best of themâthatâs the physical partâbut at the crux of his performances is a certain otherworldliness that makes him seem slightly detached from it all. He found the right balance in âthe Matrixâ and again in âJohn Wick: Chapter 2.â
The Wick movies are set an alternative world of assassins where hit men and women are paid in special coins, stay in exclusive hotelsâwith killer views no doubtâand speak in a strangely formal way. They see themselves as professionals with a civilized code of conduct⊠except that there is nothing civilized about the work they do. In the first film Wick was an assassin so tough he didnât bother to take off his gore-soaked shirt when beginning his bloody quest for vengeance.
The new film picks up shortly after the events of the first. Wick wants a simpler life, away from the violence that has been his business. His retirement plan is disrupted when a former colleague, Santino (Riccardo Scamarcio), asks a favour. Actually, itâs more than a favour, itâs a marker, a promise to repay a debt, and Santino takes it very seriously. Santinoâs request is an insidious one; kill my sister so I can take her place on the crime High Table.
âI'm not that guy anymore,â says John. âYou are always that guy,â sneers Santino.
Rebuffed, Santino blows up Johnâs house. To put an end to the impending war Wick agrees to the job. His home a smoldering pile of ash, Wick re-enters his old world. A visit to the gun sommelierââCan you suggest something big and bold for the end of the night?â he asks.âto a tailor who makes suits lined with tactical fabric and he is ready to square his debt.
(MILD SPOILER) Wickâs plan to return to a quiet life after the job is thwarted by a single phone call. âWhat kind of man would I be if I didn't avenge my sisterâs murder?â asks Santino. Cue a showdown with bad people with a seemingly endless amount of henchmen for John Wick to kill.
âJohn Wicksâ created a wild world for its characters to inhabit that is unlike anything that came before. The second visit is almost as engaging. Much humour is found between the gunfights as these ruthless killers behave in a courtly way when not trying to bash one anotherâs brains out. Itâs funny, but know this: it is also very violent. Wick is a sentimental guyâthis whole journey began when someone did something terrible to his beloved dogâbut that doesnât stop him from offing upwards of 140 people in the two hour running time. Much of the violence is goofy but tinged with hardcore Old Testament wrath.
As the man so mysterious he doesn't even give his new dog a name, Reeves is in his element. Itâs pure Keanu, a physical performance with very little dialogue. Think of him as a silent movie action star, an actor who transcends dialogue with sheer charisma. Like him or not, the guy understands how to be on camera, especially when heâs in motion, causing carnage.
Populating Wickâs world are a host of colourful characters brought to vivid life by Laurence Fishburne as the underworld boss of lower Manhattan, Ian McShane as Winston, the man who enforces the rules in the assassinâs twisted world, Common as a gin-sipping security boss and Ruby Rose as a deadly and deaf killer.
As a sequel âJohn Wick: Chapter 2â hits all the right notes. Itâs a tad too long but fans of the original will be reminded of why they fell in love with John Wick in the first place.
FIFTY SHADES DARKER: 1 STAR
The last time we saw Anastasia "Ana" Steele (Dakota Johnson) she was done with the whips, chains and all the other trappings of her relationship with slap and tickle devotee Christian Grey (Jamie Dornan). Her romantic expectations spoiled, it looked like that was the end of the story. But this weekend, just in advance of Valentine's Day, the two are back together, this time playing (mostly) by her rules.
Depending on your point of view âFifty Shades of Greyâ either made you want to gag or want to wear a gag. Itâs a softcore look at hardcore BDSM (bondage, discipline, sadism and masochism) that spanked the competition on its opening weekend in 2015. Question is, will audiences still care about Greyâs proclivities and Anaâs misgivings or is it time to use our collective safeword?
The nighttime soap opera-esque âFifty Shades Darkerâ begins shortly after Ana walks out on Christian but this isnât âTitanicâ where class issues and an iceberg keep the lovers apart or âBrokeback Mountainâ where out-dated social mores conspired against the characters. This is âFifty Shades Darkerâ and there is no story unless Ana and Christian are in the same frame. So boom, theyâre back together. They âmeet creepyâ at a photo exhibit where Anaâs friend has displayed bigger-than-life portraits of her. Christian buys them all and convinces her to have dinner. "I'll have dinner with you,â she says, âbut only because I'm hungry."
Over expensive entrees and wine they discuss moving forward. âI want you back,â he says. âI'd like to renegotiate the terms. What happened last time won't happen again.â That means no collars or flogging. Ana says she wants a âvanilla relationship,â and he agrees but before you can say âballgagâ she's asking for various kinky acts to be performed upon her naughty bits.
Soon he asks her to move into his ultra-modern bachelor pad. She breathily says yes but unfortunately other womenâhis sexual mentor Elena Lincoln (Kim Basinger) and Leila Williams (Bella Heathcote), a former submissiveâcast a shadow over their relationship. âDo you think youâre the first woman who has tried to save him?â asks Elena.
Thereâs more, but who really cares about these two? Johnson and Dornan share so little chemistry they couldn't smoulder if you lit their underwear on fire. To be fair they are cut adrift in a sea of kinky sex, mommy porn, dime store psychology and bad dialogue most of which only serves to move the film along from one spanking montage to the next. Stymied by plotting that makes most Harlequins seem like Dostoyevsky, the actors frequently shed their clothes, most likely in an attempt to distract from the truly awful things that happen when they are clothed.
Johnson is still a charming presence and Dornan slightly less wooden than last time out, but Lauren Bacall and Humphrey Bogart couldnât bring exchanges like this to life: âWhy didn't you tell me that?â she asks after a big revelation. âI did but you were asleep at the time.â âA big part of a relationship is that both parties have to be conscious.â
âFifty Shades Darkerâ is a cold shower of a movie. âIt's all wrong,â Ana says at one point. âAll of this is wrong.â Truer words have never been spoken.
PATERSON: 4 STARS
The new Jim Jarmusch movie is a week in the life of Paterson, the man and the place.
Adam Driver is Paterson, a poetry writing New Jersey bus driver from Paterson, New Jersey. He lives with Laura (Golshifteh Farahani), a dreamer who wants to open a cupcake shop and make them rich or, maybe, become a country singer and their dog Marvin.
For Paterson, every day is pretty much the same as the lone before it. He wakes up early and eats Cheerios before packing a lunch into a metal lunch box and heading to work. A William Carlos Williamsâthe famous New Jersey poetâfan, he pens carefully worded free verse poems in an ever present notebook. The only things that change in Patersonâs life are the ever-shifting faces of his passengers and Lauraâs career choices. When she isnât painting black-and-white geometric designs on every surface of their small home she is dreaming about whatever it is that may come next for her. When his notebook is damaged Paterson musty rediscover the possibilities of the blank page.
âPatersonâ is a wonderfully leisurely movie. Itâs not in a hurry to get where it is going, instead luxuriating in the mundane aspects of Patersonâs life punctuated by on-screen depictions of his poetry. What could have been insufferable turns into a beautifully rendered portrait of people who find beauty and art in everyday life.
There are small conflicts sprinkled throughout, a bus breaks down and lovers quarrel, but âPatersonâ isnât about that. Itâs about gentle, loving performances from Driver and Farahani and the beauty of overheard conversations and the day today of regular life.