"INDEPENDENCE DAY: RESURGENCE" (2016) Review
Back in the 1990s, Twentieth Century Fox Studios, producer Dean Devlin and producer-director Roland Emmerich delivered a science-fiction epic about an alien invasion during the Fourth of July holiday. Hence, the title -"INDEPENDENCE DAY".
Years later, the studio and the two producers delivered a sequel to the 1996 blockbuster. This movie, "INDEPENDENCE DAY: RESURGENCE", featured some of the same characters and the same aliens. And . . . this movie was set during the twentieth anniversary of humanity's previous victory against the aliens - on the Fourth of July.
In anticipation of the invading aliens' return, the United Nations have collaborated to form the Earth Space Defense (ESD), an international military defense and research organization that has developed hybrid technology, reverse-engineered from the invaders' fallen ships in anticipation that they would return. When the returning aliens again attack Earth with an advanced and unprecedented force, a new generation of defenders from the ESD joins forces with the surviving protagonists from the 1996 film to participate in a battle to save the world from annihilation. Humanity also discovers that their adversary might also have other enemies of their own. Among the survivors from the first film are:
* David Levinson - the MIT-educated computer expert, environmental activist and one of the heroes from the 1996 film, who has become the ESD Director in charge of the civilian sector
*Thomas J. Whitmore - the former U.S. president during the first invasion and former Gulf War pilot, who has been suffering from occasional bouts of PTS from the previous invasion
*Julius Levinson - David's widowed father, who has written a book about his previous experiences from the previous invasion
* Dr. Brakish Okun - the comatose Area 51 scientist, who has awaken after 20 years
*Jasmine Dubrow-Hiller - widow of the late war hero Steven Hiller and a former exotic dancer, who had returned to school to study nursing and become a hospital administrator
*Dylan Dubrow-Hiller - Jasmine's son and Steven Hiller's stepson, who became a pilot and captain in ESD; and a fleet leader of the Legacy Squadron
*Patricia Whitmore - Whitmore's daughter, who is not only an ESD pilot, but also aide to the current president, Elizabeth Lanford
*William Grey - retired U.S.M.C. general, Whitmore's former head of the United States Space Command, who had succeeded the latter as U.S. President
The movie also featured new characters, but I will get to them later.
The movie begins with the world preparing to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of its victory over the aliens. David Levinson and ESD colleague Dr. Catherine Marceaux travel to the Republique Nationale d'Umbutu to meet with warlord Dikembe Umbutu, who leads him to an intact alien destroyer. Aboard the ship, they discover that the alien occupants had sent a distress call to their home planet before being defeated. Furthermore, Levinson and Marceaux discover that Umbutu has been telepathically linked with the aliens ever since his personal encounter with one, years ago. They also discover that both former President Whitmore and Dr. Okun, who awakens at Area 51 after a twenty-year coma, are also among those who are telepathically linked with the aliens, due to their previous encounters.
The following day, an unknown alien ship or sphere emerges from a wormhole near Earth. Although Dr. Levinson believes it might belong to a race that might be benevolent, Earth's Security Council orders it to be shot down. When ESD pilots Jake Morrison (Patricia Whitmore's fiance) and Charlie Miller take Levinson, Marceaux, Umbutu, and Levinson's accountant Floyd Rosenberg to the alien wreckage on a space tug; an alien mothership appears and destroys Earth's planetary defenses before approaching the planet. The mothership then lands over the Atlantic Ocean and begins destroying cities on the Eastern Seaboard. The alien invaders also begin drilling a hole through the bottom of Earth to harvest the heat of the planet's core for fuel, which will destroy its magnetic field in the process.
I once came across an article in which producer-director Roland Emmerich admitted that he did not like making sequels. While watching "INDEPENDENCE DAY: RESURGENCE", I found it easy to believe his words. The movie, pardon for saying this, seemed to lacked heart. It also seemed to lacked the magic of its 1996 predecessor and a handful of other movies directed by Emmerich. I am aware that "INDEPENDENCE DAY" had its problems. But it still had a magic and energy that was particularly lacking in this new sequel. It seemed as if Emmerich was going through the motions, while directing this film. But you know what? He was not solely to blame. I also had a problem with the film's screenplay, written by Emmerich, Devlin and three other screenwriters.
First of all, this movie seemed to lack any kind of originality whatsoever. It was bad enough that it tried to copy some of the aspects of the 1996 - especially with the movie's finale set at Area 51. I also noticed that the movie tried to copy the old "refugees caught up in the alien invasion" with a sequence that featured David Levinson's father, Julius, traveling from Florida to Nevada with a car full of recently orphaned kids. The problem with this particular sequence is that it did not last very long, due to Mr. Levinson and his companions reaching Nevada rather quickly. Too quickly, if I must be honest. "INDEPENDENCE DAY: RESURGENCE" also utilized the old "drilling to the Earth's core" spiel from movies like 1976'S "AT EARTH'S CORE" and 2003's "THE CORE", a storyline that failed to generate any interest within me.
I certainly had a problem with the movie's portrayal of the central (and fictional) African nation, the Republique Nationale d'Umbutu. I found it so stupid. According to a Wiki page, the country came into existence by a local warlord in the wake of the invasion from the previous movie. But the warlord wanted nothing to do with the outside world, despite spending several years fighting some alien survivors. This was just ridiculous. One, I cannot see the international community standing by and allowing any of the alien survivors posing as a threat, even in a newly formed and isolationist country. Two, the d'Umbutu must have been some kind of idiot to prevent other countries from helping out the alien threat against his. By the time of the second film, the warlord's son, Dikembe Umbutu, had become the new head of state. Not long after he met with David Leivnson and Catherine Marceaux, all three left the country and the Republique National d'Umbutu was never heard from again. The whole point of featuring this setting in the first place was to serve as a background for the Dikembe Umbutu character and to indicate that the alien survivors in that country had sent a distress signal before they were killed. What was the point of this distress signal in the first place? Surely, the aliens' defeat at the hands of the humans was enough to encourage them for a second attempt at planetary invasion? Good grief!
Another major problem I had with "INDEPENDENCE DAY: RESURGENCE" were the characterizations featured in this film. The latter seemed to be reeking with clichés. One good example was the Jake Morrison character portrayed Liam Hemsworth. After portraying the complex Gale Hawthorne character in "THE HUNGER GAMES" movie franchise, poor Hemsworth found himself saddled with a very unoriginal character that seemed unworthy of his skills as an actor. Jake Morrison fit the typical "hotshot" pilot trope, straight out of movies like "TOP GUN" - a brash and talented pilot, whose aggressive and cocky manner seemed to irritate his commander. Boring. And the Dylan Dubrow-Hiller character portrayed by Jessie T. Usher, who came off as a humorless straight-arrow type who always seemed to reek with disapproval of Hemsworth's Jake. Usher was Val Kilmer to Hemsworth's Tom Cruise. I am not that familiar with Angelababy as an actress, but it seemed clear to me that her character, ESD pilot Lieutenant Rain Lao, is a female version of Dylan Dubrow-Hiller, whose uncle is the ESD Moon Base's commander, portrayed by Emmerich veteran Chin Han ("2012"). And what would a "hotshot" type like Jake Morrison be without his goofy sidekick "aka Anthony Edwards"? Travis Tope filled this spot in his portrayal of Jake's "devoted" friend, Lieutenant Charlie Miller. And just to make sure that poor Charlie was more than a sidekick, the screenwriters allowed him to become infatuated with Lieutenant Lao, who seemed to have no interest in him, whatsoever . . . until he proved his . . . manliness in the final battle against the aliens and their queen. Maika Monroe as Patricia Whitmore did not really do much in this film other than express concern for her ailing father, Thomas Whitmore and be Hemsworth's romantic interest. Well . . . at least her character played a minor role
But the younger characters were not the only ones I found troublesome. It was nice to see Jeff Goldblum and Judd Hirsch portray David and Julian Levinson, again. Unfortunately, the writers dumped Hirsch's character with a bunch of kids led by an adolescent Joey King in some convoluted attempt to involve them in an "epic" journey. As the for the David Levinson character, he seemed to be romancing his ESD colleague, Dr. Catherine Marceaux, portrayed by Charlotte Gainsbourg. Which led me to wonder what happened to Connie Spano, the ex-wife with whom David had reunited at the end of the 1996 film. Did her character die sometime between the two movies? Or did she and David break up again? Worse, I noticed that David did not have a major role in the aliens' defeat. Neither did Dr. Marceaux for that manner. Why was she in this movie in the first place, other than provide Jeff Goldblum with a romantic lead? That honor seemed to go to the military characters. At least Brent Spinner's Dr. Brakish Okun had a lot more to do in this film. He was the one who made first contact with the alien sphere. But how in the hell did he survive from being attacked in the last movie? I thought he had been declared dead. Confusing. Bill Pullman, who portrayed former President Thomas Whitmore spent most of the film reacting to the Post-Traumatic Stress (PTS) from his past close encounter with an alien, twenty years ago. He did have a part in the final action scene against the aliens. Actor Deobia Oparei's Dikembe Umbutu struck me as a one-note characterization of masculinity. He could have been more interesting and worthy of Oparei's talent, but the screenwriters sold him short. His only real purpose, it seemed, was to be around to give final approval of the Floyd Rosenberg character, after the latter managed to "prove his masculinity" by saving Umbutu's life. Sigh. Robert Loggia made a brief cameo as Whitmore's former Chief of Staff General Grey some time before his death in December 2015. Thank goodness this movie was not the last one for a first-rate actor like Loggia.
The worst characterizations proved to be those for Vivica A. Fox's Jasmine Dubrow-Hiller and Sela Ward's President Elizabeth Lanford. The screenwriters' handling of their characters struck me as sheer travesty. In a nutshell, the screenwriters killed off both of them. I was so disgusted that I left the theater feeling that Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich had something against middle-aged women. Fox Jasmine barely had five minutes of screen time before the writers bumped her off, while son Dylan raced to the hospital to save her. Apparently, Emmerich and Devlin had decided she was not worth keeping around, due to Will Smith's refusal to do the movie. Worse, Fox's character was fridged for the sake of the Dylan Dubrow-Hiller character. The President Elizabeth Lanford character proved to be a major problem as well. When I first saw Sela Ward (who also appeared in Emmerich's "THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW") on the screen, I was interested to see how the screenwriters would explore how she would handle an alien invasion. Well, audiences did not get to see much, because the writers . . . KILLED HER OFF before the movie had reached the midway point!! Worse, she was replaced by General Joshua T. Adams of the ESD, as portrayed by William Fitchner. Apparently, Devlin and Emmerich do not believe that a woman civilian is capable of leading a nation through an alien invasion.
I will give "INDEPENDENCE DAY: RESURGENCE" points for its attempts at originality. One, the humans' defeat of the alien invaders played out differently than it did in the 1996 movie. It involved the invaders' Queen (or leader) arriving at the Area 51 base (for reasons that had eluded me), David and Julius Levinson on a bus with the latter's young traveling companions, both Thomas and Patricia Whitmore, and a group of ESD pilots that involved Dylan Dubrow-Hiller and Jake Morrison. I wish I could go into details on what happened, but I do not think I have the energy to do so. But it was original, if not someone cheesy. The introduction of another alien race that might be enemies of the invaders was another interesting attempt at originality. I suspect this new race was introduced to hint at the possibility of a franchise developing from this movie. Hmmmm. We will see. Although I have my doubts.
I will also give points to "INDEPENDENCE DAY: RESURGENCE" for its special effects. Yes, I admit that there times when I found Markus Förderer's photography rather unusually dark . . . more than I care to admit. But when the visuals were clear, I must admit that I found Förderer's photography rather breathtaking. This was especially the case for the movie's final action sequence at the Area 51 base. More importantly, his photography greatly enhanced Barry Chusid's production designs, which did a top-notch job in reflecting how the aliens' technology had enhanced Earth's 21st century society; along with the work of the visual effects team led by Shaun Friedberg.
After reading this review, one would come away with the belief that I disliked "INDEPENDENCE DAY: RESURGENCE". Yes, I am pissed at how Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich handled the two major middle-aged women characters in this film. And I was far from impressed by the movie's plot and other characterization. The movie also lacked the magic of the 1996 film. But I liked it. I did not love it. I barely tolerated it. But I liked it. Do not ask me why, because I cannot explain my reaction. Enough said.
"ELYSIUM" (2013) Review
Four years ago, writer-director Neil Blomkamp made a name for himself with the release of his science-fiction thriller,"DISTRICT 9". The movie made a celebrity out of the movie's leading man, Sharlto Copely, as well. A few years passed before the two men paired up with Matt Damon and Jodie Foster to make a second science-fiction movie called"ELYSIUM".
Set in the year 2154, "ELYSIUM" told the story of Max Da Costa, a parolee and former car thief who lives in ravaged Los Angeles. In the 22nd century, two classes of Humans exist - the very wealthy, who live on a luxurious space station called Elysium; and the poor, who live on an overpopulated, devastated Earth. Ruthless androids police the impoverished residents on Earth, while the Elysian citizens are serviced by robotic servants in a comfortable and luxurious setting. And while Earth's citizens receive questionable and ineffective health care from health care workers at rundown hospitals, Elysian citizens regularly use man-sized medical devices called Med-Pods in their homes that keep them free from disease and wounds. Max, who had grown up as an orphan and spent a good deal of his life in prison, now works on an assembly-line at a robotic factory that provides the technology for Elysium called Armadyne Corporation.
An accident at the plant exposes Max to radiation and he discovers that he has five days left to live. Armadyne CEO John Carlyle has Max fired. His friend Julio introduces him to a notorious smuggler and hacker named Spider, who organizes illegal caravans to Elysium. Spider agrees to get Max to Elysium, if Max can help him steal valuable financial information from Carlyle. Spider arranges for Max to receive a fake Elysium ID needed to use the Med-Pods, a primitive powered exoskeleton that increases his strength to rival the android sentinels, and a cerebral data uplink, which will allow Max to transfer information from Carlyle's mind to his own. With help from a team that includes Julio, Max intercepts Carlyle's space shuttle and steals the latter's data (including the program), uploading it to his own brain. The team, however, finds the data scrambled by Carlyle's security measures and cannot transmit it to Spider. Even worse, Max and the others are forced to deal with a brutal mercenary named Kruger, who works for Elysian Secretary of Defense Jessica Delacourt. And Delacourt wants the information that Max had downloaded from Carlyle's mind in the hopes of using it to stage a coup d'etat against Elysium's President Patel. The information from Carlyle's mind could also help Max's childhood friend, Frey, who is not only a nurse, but also the mother of a young girl dying from leukemia.
Although I had been impressed by "DISTRICT 9" four years ago, I have to be honest and say that I found a few aspects of the movie a little off-putting. I cannot say the same about "ELYSIUM". There is nothing about it that I found off-putting . . . only questionable. However, "ELYSIUM" failed to impressed me. I am sorry, but it simply did not. The movie did benefit from some virtues. I have to give credit to Blomkamp's screenplay for exploring issues that affect our lives today . . . and may even have a bigger impact upon our future - immigration, transhumanism, class issues and especially health care issues. And I must say that I found Blomkamp's vision of 22nd century Los Angeles, reinforced by Philip Ivey's production designs and Trent Opaloch's photography, to be very interesting and original. And I cannot help but wonder if his vision will prove to be prophetic. The movie's action sequences struck me as impressive. And I found Blomkamp's handling of the sequence featuring Max's theft of Carlyle's data from the latter's mind to be first-rate. Personally, I feel that it is the best sequence in the movie.
Too bad "ELYSIUM" featured even more aspects that I found either questionable or simply . . . off-putting. Yes, I know that I had earlier claimed that the movie did not have any off-putting aspects about it. I now realize I had been wrong. My biggest complaint about "ELYSIUM" happens to be its second half. Whatever intelligence Blomkamp injected into the script's first half, he seemed to have ripped it away in its second. And this happened when Max made a bargain with Kruger for a trip to Elysium in exchange for Carlyle's program (threatening suicide by a live grenade next to his head). It did not help that Frey and her daughter were along for the ride with Max as hostages of Kruger. So many stupid incidents occurred during the movie's second half; including the reconstruction of Kruger's damaged face from an exploded grenade held by Max with the Med-Pods. Kruger should have been dead after what happened to his face. But following his recovery . . . oh God! It was just one big mess! I would tell what happened, but I fear I have given away too much of the plot, already.
There were other aspects of "ELYSIUM" I found disturbing. According to its premise, 22nd century humanity will be divided into two classes - working class and the elite. So, what happened to the middle-class? Did economic upheavals caused its elimination? And if the middle-class had ceased to exist, to which class did Max's immediate supervisor at the plant belonged? Or the doctor that Frey worked with? And why did Max seemed to be the only white person among the working-class in Los Angeles? Surely, there were other whites among the working-class. And if Blomkamp intended for Los Angeles' working-class to consist mainly of a large majority of Latinos and less blacks and Asian-Americans, why cast the obviously white Matt Damon as Max Da Costa?
Speaking of Damon, he gave a decent performance as the movie's protagonist, Max Da Costa. But he did not exactly rock my boat. He tried. But Max never struck me as a particularly interesting character. I would have been more impressed by Jodie Foster's portrayal of the cold-blooded Jessica Delacourt, if I were not so confused by her accent. If anyone has an idea of what her accent was supposed to be, please let me know. One could always count on Sharlto Copely to give a top-notch performance in any movie. His portrayal of Delacourt's thug, Kruger, was certainly an all-out effort on his part. Unfortunately, Kruger struck me as one of the most-one-dimensional villains I have ever seen on the movie screen in the past few years. One would think that an old friend like Blomkamp could have written Kruger with a little more dimension for Copely. I have never seen any of Alice Braga's previous performances. And she struck me as a very competent actress. But like Copely, she was saddled with a one-dimensional character that no skillful acting could overcome. At least for me.
There were some performances that impressed me. William Fitchner gave a first-rate performance as the businesslike and brainy CEO John Carlyle, whose bigotry toward the working-class led to a dislike of being touched. Wagner Moura infused a great deal of energy into his performance of the smuggler and hacker, Spider. And this energy carried into every scene he was in. Diego Luna, whom I last saw in 2012's "CONTRABAND" gave a very compassionate performance as Max's loyal and caring friend, Julio. It was nice to see Faran Tahir, who portrayed Elysium's President Patel, after a few years. And like Moura, he infused a good deal of energy into his performance and the movie, thanks to some skillful acting.
"ELYSIUM" could boast some virtues, including an interesting premise, excellent production designs and photography, and skillful acting from some of the cast. But a few one-dimensional characterizations and a plot that lost a great deal of intelligence in its second half resulted in "ELYSIUM" becoming something of a disappointment for me.
"THE LONE RANGER" (2013) Review
My memories of the 1950s television series, "THE LONE RANGER", is a bit sketchy. Actually, it is downright vague. I can recall Clayton Moore and Jay Silverheels in their costumes - the latter wearing a mask. I can recall Moore bellowing "Hi ho Silver!" every once in a while. And I do recall that the series was shot in black-and-white. I have no memories of a particular episode or storyline. I never invested any genuine interest in the series during my childhood.
When I learned that the Disney Studios and Jerry Bruckheimer planned to produce a movie about the Lone Ranger, I regarded the announcement with very little interest. Not even the news that Johnny Depp would portray Tonto could generate any excitement within me. Usually, I would have been excited by the news of another collaboration between Bruckheimer and Depp - especially since this collaboration marked the return of Gore Verbinski as director. But my lukewarm regard toward the old "THE LONE RANGER" made it impossible for me get excited. Instead, I merely adopted an attitude of "wait and see" and dismissed the news from my mind . . . until the release date for the movie finally approached.
Directed by Gore Verbinski, "THE LONE RANGER" was not only based upon the 1950s television show, but also the 1933 radio program. The movie is basically an origin tale of how a Commanche named Tonto met the man who became the Lone Ranger. It begins in San Francisco 1933, in which Will, a young boy and fan of the Lone Ranger myth, meets the elderly Tonto at a Wild West exhibition at a local fair. The story jumps back 64 years to 1869 in Colby, Texas; where a young attorney named John Reid is returning home by train to become an assistant district attorney. Also traveling on the train as prisoners is the notorious outlaw Butch Cavendish and Tonto. Cavendish is heading back to Colby to be hanged, following his capture by John's older brother Dan and the other Texas Rangers in the area. However, Cavendish's gang manages to rescue their leader and escape, leaving John, Tonto and other passengers aboard a runaway train. The latter eventually derails at a rail construction site for the unfinished Transcontinental Railroad and Tonto is arrested by the Reid brothers. Dan, who is married to John's childhood love Rebecca Reid, deputizes his younger brother as a Texas Ranger before the whole group sets out to recapture Cavendish and his gang. Unfortunately for the Reid brothers and their fellow Rangers, there is a traitor amongst them who sets them up to be ambushed and killed by the Cavendish gang. Only John survives, due to the assistance of Tonto, who managed to escape jail. Seeking revenge, John sets out to find and capture Cavendish with Tonto's help; unaware that the Commanche has his own vengeful agenda regarding Cavendish.
The question remains . . . did I enjoy "THE LONE RANGER"? I can honestly say that I did not like it as much as I had liked the three "PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN" movies that Gore Verbinski had directed - "THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL", "DEAD MAN'S CHEST" and "AT WORLD'S END". I take some of that back. Perhaps I liked it as much as I did "AT WORLD'S END". I certainly liked it more than the fourth "PIRATES" movie, "ON STRANGER TIDES". However, "THE LONE RANGER" had its flaws. One, I found the 149 minutes running time a bit too long about the movie adaptation of an old radio/television character. This movie could have undergone a bit more trimming, leaving the movie slightly longer than 120 minutes. What could Verbinski, Bruckheimer and the three screenwriters have cut? I have no idea. Well . . . I would have cut the 1933 sequences. I really did not see the need of an aging Tonto recalling his first meeting with the Lone Ranger with some kid. Two, there were some minor aspects of the plot that could have been a bit more clear. For instance, who saved Rebecca and her son Danny Reid from Collins, the Texas Ranger who had betrayed her husband? The movie never explained. The movie also failed to explain how Tonto had escaped from the Colby jail in time to find a wounded John Reid and nurse him back to health. Three, I was not impressed by Hans Zimmer's score. To be honest, I have no memories of it. And if there is one thing that can contribute to the quality of a movie, is a first-rate score."THE LONE RANGER" simply did not have one. And finally, I could have done without the train wreck that Tonto and John survived near the movie's beginning. I wish screenwriters Ted Elliot, Terry Rossio and Justin Haythe could have found a less over-the-top way for Cavendish to escape the hangman's noose.
Despite these flaws, I still managed to enjoy "THE LONG RANGER" very much. The screenwriters still managed to construct an interesting and entertaining tale about frontier politics, justice and revenge. In fact, the movie not only featured its usual staple of humor and action found in an Depp/Verbinski/Bruckheimer film, it also featured some pretty dark moments in its plot. Aware of moviegoers' current dislike of summer films with a dark undertone - unless its a movie about some comic book hero or simply a drama - I was rather glad that the screenwriters and Verbinski managed to inject some darkness into the plot. The tragic circumstances surrounding the deaths of Dan Reid and his fellow Texas Rangers, along with the reasons behind Tonto's desire for revenge against Cavendish, the deadly attack upon the Reids' ranch, and the threat of railroad construction and the U.S. Army against Commanche lands made this story very interesting. Another fascinating aspect of the movie's plot proved to be the relationship between Tonto and John aka the Lone Ranger. First of all, I liked how the screenwriters made Tonto responsible for the creation of the Lone Ranger myth. Two, the development of Tonto and John's relationship proved to be an uphill and hard-won battle. The screenwriters did not make it easy for the pair. A fellow co-worker had complained of John's reluctance to trust Tonto by following the latter's advice. A part of me agreed with him. Another part of me understood John's reluctance, considering that Tonto had failed to be completely honest with him. Although I was not impressed by Zimmer's score, I must admit that I truly enjoyed how the composer used the old Lone Ranger theme - Gioachino Rossini's "William Tell Overture" - to accompany the movie's final action sequence. I found it so inspiring.
"THE LONE RANGER" also featured little moments that I found very interesting . . . and entertaining. One of those moments was a hilarious flash-forward that depicted the Lone Ranger and Tonto's robbery of a local bank that contained an item used by the pair to defeat the villains. Another scene that I enjoyed centered on the pair's efforts to escape from being trampled upon after being buried in the ground by Commanches. I also enjoyed Tonto's rescue of John, who was nearly hanged by Cavendish and the U.S. Army. And I especially enjoyed the last action sequence in which the pair tried to prevent the transportation of silver stolen from the Commanche lands by Cavendish and his partner. But my favorite moment - and it is a small one - centered around the love triangle between the Reid brothers, the woman they both loved, Rebecca; and a blue silk handkerchief used in the most subtle and erotic manner.
As for the movie's technical aspects, I must admit that I left the movie theater feeling very impressed by it. I found Bojan Bazelli's photography of the locations in California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Utah and Colorado very beautiful. There was another aspect of Bazelli's photography that I found interesting. The movie's color scheme started out as chrome gray as soon as the plot shifted to 1869 Texas. Yet, even the 19th century "flashbacks" eventually grew in color as the story unfolded and the relationship between Tonto and John strengthen. I also have to commend the film's editing done by James Haygood and Craig Wood, especially in many of the film's action sequences. And Jess Gonchor did a beautiful job in re-creating mid-19th century Texas through his production designs - especially in the Colby and railroad construction sequences. Three time BAFTA nominee Penny Rose, who had designed the costumes for the "PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN" movies, collaborated with Bruckheimer and Verbinski again as costume designer for "THE LONE RANGER". I could rave about Rose's work and how she perfectly captured the style of frontier fashions at the end of the 1860s. By why bother, when all I have to do is point out her work in the image below:
I found the performances featured in "THE LONE RANGER" outstanding . . . aside from two. One of those exceptions proved to be Helena Bonham-Carter's portrayal of Red Harrington, an ivory-legged brothel madam who assists Tonto and John. Actually, Bonham-Carter gave a colorful and earthy performance as the one-legged madam who also sought revenge against Cavendish. Unfortunately, the movie's screenplay failed to do anything with her character, other than allow her to provide some information to the pair in the movie's first half and assist them for a brief moment in the final action sequence. Elliot, Rossio and Haythe pretty much wasted her character and Bonham-Carter's time. Barry Pepper gave a colorful performance as the xenophobic U.S. Army Captain Jay Fuller, who allowed himself to be corrupted by Cavendish and his partner. But as much as I enjoyed Pepper's performance, I found myself a bit unsatisfied with how the screenwriters handled his character. Captain Fuller's transformation from a determined Army officer to a corrupt one struck me as a bit rushed and clumsy. James Badge Dale fared a lot better as John Reid's older brother, Texas Ranger Dan Reid. He gave an excellent performance as the professional lawman torn between his love for his younger brother and jealousy toward his wife's continuing feelings for the latter. Remember my recall of the scene featuring the blue silk handkerchief? Badge Dale's performance in that scene really made it particularly memorable for me. It has been a while since I last saw William Fitchner in a movie - over three years, as a matter of fact. The man has portrayed a vast array of interesting characters over the years. And I would definitely count the outlaw Butch Cavendish as one of those characters. Fitchner skillfully portrayed the outlaw as a walking horror story with an impish sense of humor.
Tom Wilkinson, whom one could always count on portraying interesting and complex characters, skillfully portrayed another one in the form of railroad tycoon, Latham Cole. Wilkinson did an excellent job in portraying Cole as a subtle and wily man whose desire for Rebecca Reid, power and wealth; along with the construction of the railroad makes him a potential enemy of both Tonto and the Lone Ranger. I was surprised to discover that British actress Ruth Wilson had been cast as Rebecca Reid, John's sister-in-law and the love of his life. I have always felt that she was a top-notch actress and her portrayal of the spirited Rebecca did not prove me wrong. But I was very surprised by how she easily handled a Texas accent during her performance. If someone ever decides to do a remake of the 1965 movie, "THE GREAT RACE", I would cast Arnie Hammer in the role of Leslie Gallant aka the Great Leslie. Hammer did a beautiful job in conveying a similar uptight and annoyingly noble personality in his portrayal of John Reid aka the Lone Ranger. In a way, I could see why a good number of fans found John's stubborn refusal to improvise in dealing with Cavendish rather annoying. And if they did, Hammer succeeded in his performance on many levels . . . and still managed to be likeable. At least to me. Some critics had complained that Depp's portrayal of Tonto failed to become another Jack Sparrow. Others complained that his Tonto seemed too much like Tonto. I will admit that Depp, the screenwriters and Verbinski utilized a similar sense of humor in the portrayal of Tonto. But thanks to Depp's performance, the latter proved to be a different kettle of fish. Not only did I find Depp's portrayal of the wily and vengeful Commanche rather funny, but also sad, considering the character's back story. This allowed the actor to inject a tragicomedic layer in his portrayal of Tonto that reminded me why he is considered one of the best actors in the film industry.
As I had stated earlier, "THE LONE RANGER" did not strike me as perfect. I certainly do not regard it as one of the best movies from the summer of 2013; due to a running time I found too long, a few problems with the script and the presence of two characters I believe were mishandled. On the other hand, it turned out to be a first-rate action Western with a plot that featured some surprising plot twists and a dark streak that I believe made the story even more interesting. It did help that I not only enjoyed the post-Civil War setting, but also the performances of an excellent cast led by Johnny Depp and Arnie Hammer and a very entertaining direction by Gore Verbinski.
