NOAH Is The First and Only Art-Film Biblical Fantasy-Epic

 NOAH Review:

- Darren Aronofsky's biblical epic, NOAH, has all of the scope and grandeur you would expect out of this story. And yet, Noah is unlike any bible-based film we've yet seen. Aronofsky, ever the auteur, goes for broke here - crafting a film with complex morality, apocalyptic darkness, and, oh yeah ... giant rock-monsters engaged in Lord of the Rings-style battles with human armies. This is a movie that is most definitely NOT playing it safe, and to me, that's what makes this such a riveting and uniquely entrancing spectacle.

In interviews, Aronofsky - raised Jewish but a proclaimed atheist - expresses his desire to capture the awe-inspiring and very-much-relevant story of Noah and recast it as an epic morality play in the style of Greek myth. And that's exactly what he's done. Freeing himself from the need to take one of the bible's most outlandish stories and tell it as literal history, Aronofsky is instead able to make this story every bit as sweeping, mind-blowing, and thought-provoking as it can be. So to those who perhaps shied away from the film because of the supposed controversy, I say open your mind and recognize that this film actually presents the meat of the biblical story in a surprisingly un-whitewashed fashion - instead of dancing around the questions raised by the text, it addresses them head-on. Any biblical scholar should be able to appreciate that. For those on the other end of the spectrum - those who are wary of any biblically-derived story on the big screen - I think that when you look at these tales as morality plays, as myth with still-resonant themes and lessons - there is a lot to be gained from them, and there's a reason why they've endured in our collective imaginations for so long. What Aronofsky has done here is to imbue a visionary's imagination into one of the greatest story's ever told. This is one of today's best filmmakers going bigger and crazier than he's ever gone. And that means that Noah is a must-see not just for biblical scholars, but for any and all film fans.

I found so much about Noah fascinating, but what immediately grabbed me was the pre-Flood world that Arnofsky has crafted. It's a primitive world, in which the descendents of the murderous Cain have spread across the globe, eradicating environmental resources and building crude and lawless cities. On one hand, it's a world that's unspoiled compared to what we have today. On the other hand, it's a world that very quickly became depleted and barren, with large swaths of wasteland emptied of trees and vegetation. While the tribes of Cain live in violence and sin, the nomadic descendents of Seth live in relative peace - living off the land and keeping to themselves. One such person is Noah, who lives with his wife and children, adopting a simple and quiet lifestyle. Noah, in fact, is one of the few holy men left in the world. While the tribes of Cain believe that the Creator has abandoned the earth, Noah believes that he still guides them. One day, Noah begins having prophetic visions, and becomes convinced that a world-ending flood is on its way. Acting on his divine dreams, he begins building a massive ark (with help from the Watchers: fallen angels-turned-rock-creatures, more on them later) to help his family - as well as representatives of every animal species on earth - to ensure that he and earth's animal kingdom survives the flood and can start the world anew. Of course, when the tribes of Cain - led by the desperate Tubal-cain - begin to sense their oncoming doom, they rise up and revolt against Noah, leading to an all-consuming battle as the flood rains begin to fall.

And ... that's just the first half of the movie.

What is both jarring and sort of cool about the whole thing is that Aronofsky goes all out in crafting a world where divine miracles are part of the fabric of reality. Using the vocabulary we know from other pop-culture, this is a world of magic - the pre-Flood biblical earth as Aronofsky's version of Middle Earth. The aesthetics of the film - from the giant battles, to the monstrous, Ent-like Watchers, to the costuming - support that notion. But the magical nature of this world takes root in other ways as well. Anthony Hopkins' character, for example. Hopkins plays Noah's wizened grandfather, Methusala, a hermit who lives alone in a cave atop a mountain, whose ramblings are a mix of age-induced senility and a genuine knack for divine magic that proves crucial to the plot. The Watchers, meanwhile, are sort of insane, yet undeniably cool if you just go with it (and yes, their appearance in the film is inspired by allusions in the biblical text). They are angels who were long ago cast out of heaven, and who have since lay dormant on earth, pledged to not interfere in the affairs of man. They move like stop-motion animated creatures, channeling the spirit of Ray Harryhausen, lumbering around with divine light shining through their rocky exteriors. I loved the look and feel of the Watchers in the film - while it was initially odd to see fantasy creatures like this in this film, their presence ultimately adds to the film's sense of mythic scope.

At the same time, Aronofsky makes this a very human story. There is real weight to the movie's destructive events. Noah is a good man, but as the responsibility and survivor's guilt begins to weigh on him, he goes just a bit mad. And he becomes sort of a jerk, if not a full-blown antagonist. In the second half of the film, as Noah and his family stay cooped up within the ark, the issue of what happens after the flood begins to come to the forefront. Noah's eldest son Shem has taken up with Ila, a girl who Noah and his wife Naameh adopted and saved from certain death as a young child. But Noah's second-oldest, Ham, is growing restless. He has no woman of his own, and the thought of being forever alone in the new world begins to turn him against his father, to an extent. What's surprising is just how seriously the movie addresses the idea of post-apocalyptic repopulation. Noah, eventually, is convinced that all people are meant to die out after the flood. Which is a major issue, since Ila is pregnant. Noah's grim determination to do what needs to be done, to carry out what he believes to be the Creator's will, is what actually turns him into the movie's de facto villain. That's where the moral complexity I mentioned comes into play. On one hand, we see how wicked and horrible many of the descendents of Cain truly are. On the other hand, we see just how cruel and terrifying the decision to wipe them *all* off the face of the earth really is. In one key scene, Ham goes to a village to try to find a decent woman to bring with him on the ark. He seems to find one, but Noah refuses to help her when an angry horde of tribesmen chases him, Ham, and the girl. "She was innocent!" screams Ham, later, in condemnation of his father. And as far as we know, she was. Similar feelings of dread run through our heads when we see the great flood killing people. This isn't simply some cleansing water whose apocalyptic effect goes unseen. We see people scrambling for higher ground, clinging desperately to rocks, and being swept violently into the cascading waters. We ultimately feel less good about Noah and his family surviving the flood, and more mournful for those who did not.

Aronofsky has dabbled in the world of high-concept epics before (I'm a huge fan of the underrated The Fountain), but he's never done anything quite like this. But man, he shows that he's got the chops to go big - and not just in the same way that so many other blockbuster filmmakers go big. Aronofsky uses his artist's touch to make NOAH not just big, but awe-inspiring - as it should be. I talked about the ominous, fantastical, almost alien look of the movie's world. But the way he shoots Noah, his family, and the Watchers constructing the ark is a a thing of beauty. So too are the scenes in which the animals make their way onto the ark, compelled by a divine calling. You can't help but gasp a little as you watch the procession of beasts. And yet, Aronofsky makes the film seem even more epic by interspersing interesting, non-traditional vignettes amidst the big set-pieces. The most memorable of these is a cutaway that essentially re-tells the story of Genesis in a manner that's both mesmerizing and thought-provoking. In a Cosmos-worthy montage, we see the seven days of creation juxtaposed over what is, essentially, the process of evolution. I love that Aronofsky included this, because it's a concept that I've always personally embraced: that when taken as myth and parable, and not literally, the biblical text is actually a fascinatingly accurate overview of the scientific genesis of humankind, and a remarkably rich document worthy of discussion and debate as to how to interpret its meaning (something which us Jews have been doing for our entire history). In any case, Aronofsky adds texture to his film by giving it a hypnotic art-film feel. Even though I compared it to things like Lord of the Rings, that's not entirely accurate - because Aronofsky goes big, but he also never abandons his love for hallucinatory mind-trip aesthetics.

It's funny - in another review, I saw it mentioned that Aronofsky made this film for no one. And I laugh because it's true. A morally complex art-film biblical fantasy epic? It's incredible that a studio put money behind this, and even more so, in a way, that the movie proved a box office hit. At the same time, it seems a lot of moviegoers came away from the film sort of perplexed, which is understandable. NOAH is, easily, one of the weirdest blockbuster films ever made. If you don't dig weird, then you might be one of the naysayers. But those of us who have followed Aronofsky's career, and who go in knowing that we're getting a version of Noah from the guy who made Pi, Requiem For a Dream, and Black Swan ... well, this is, most certainly, and above all else, a Darren Aronofsky film.

Part of the great fun of this film (yes, it's fun, despite also being super-dark and intense), is seeing Russell Crowe once again play the epic hero. The dude was born for this type of role, and he brings all the gravitas you'd want to the table. The fact that Crowe makes Noah the undeniable hero, only to turn the tables and recast him as a morally-ambiguous character, is a credit to the actor's ability to bring nuance to even his most bombastic roles. Meanwhile, Emma Watson as his adopted daughter Ila is the other major standout here. Watson does fantastic work, acting as the movie's heart, soul, and conscience. Jennifer Connelly is excellent as Noah's wife, and Logan Lerman also really sells his character's angst and torment as Noah's problem-child son Ham. Speaking of which, I also got a huge kick out of Anthony Hopkins's hammy awesomeness as Methusala. One of the movie's most endearing scenes is when Methusala talks to one of his youngest great-grandsons about what they love most in life. I won't spoil it, but the over-the-topness of it all is quite entertaining. I'll also give a shout-out to the always-great Ray Winstone as Tubal-cain. While he is clearly the villain of the story, there is also much truth in what he says, and if the story were told in a slightly different light, he may well have been its hero. Winstone does a commendable job of showing both the character's repugnance and his more sympathetic side.

Noah does at time walk a fine line between treating the biblical story as grandiose mythology, and yet also putting a microscope up to some of the text's more puzzling and contradictory aspects. When the movie ends, we're still not sure what mankind's future could be. Are we really meant to speculate on who repopulates with who, and how exactly Noah's family is to "be fruitful and multiply" given the lack of of-age males and females? Probably not, but Aronofsky invites us to wonder about these things given the way he's told his story. At times, there does seem to be a slight disconnect between the movie's mythological ambitions and its desire to present these characters as real, grounded, and morally complex.

But what ultimately makes the movie work is that Aronofsky is able to turn this sprawling story into a resonant parable - about the goodness that we as humans are capable of, despite the flaws inherent in our makeup. Noah becomes convinced that all people are wicked, and therefore condemned. But the lesson of the story of Noah is, perhaps, that all people are both wicked and good, and all we can hope for is that as that eternal battle between our dualities is waged, the good will find a way to prevail. NOAH posits that even when things are at their worst, we've still got a fighting chance.

My Grade: A-

SABOTAGE Is Flawed But Sporadically Awesome

 SABOTAGE Review:

- I was really stoked for SABOTAGE. Even if Arnold Schwarzenegger's post-political career action films have mostly been met with lukewarm reactions at the box-office, I've highly enjoyed his late-period work. Most notably, The Last Stand was one hell of an action/comedy, and deserves to go down as a must-see in the Ahnold cannon. That said, part of me was itching for the Governator to get really dark and hardcore, and do the kind of gritty action flick that that was less about well-timed quips and more about the serious kicking of ass. Enter David Ayers, who wrote Training Day, and who really impressed me last year as a director, with his excellent film End of Watch. Ayers and Arnold seemed like a match made in heaven for action fans, and the mixture does indeed yield very interesting results. Here's the thing: SABOTAGE is an uneven film, but it's still a must-see for Schwarzenegger fans, because it has some absolutely classic Ahnold moments. So while the movie may have some plot issues, I still recommend giving it a look. The kickass factor ultimately outweighs the flaws.

The film deals with a tight-knit squad of DEA agents, that was disbanded after accusations that they'd stolen money from a crime scene. The leader and father-figure of the squad - Schwarzenegger's Breacher - is a DEA legend, but he's also a haunted man. Prior to his team's breakup, his wife and son were kidnapped, tortured, and ultimately killed by one of the cartels. This made Breacher more driven than ever, and kept him determined to reunite his team and get back in the field following an internal investigation. The film deals with the tricky family dynamics of the reunited team, which slowly begins to unravel, even as Breacher tries to keep the peace. Meanwhile, the ongoing mystery of the film revolves around what actually happened to the stolen money. Who - if anyone - from the team took it, and why? This mystery rises to the forefront as an unknown group of assailants begins targeting Breacher's team, taking out its members one by one. As the FBI is brought in to investigate, the mystery deepens and the true nature of what's going on is ultimately revealed.

There are some really compelling mysteries here, and some really fun characters at the center of the story. The problem is that while the movie has cool characters, a stellar cast, and some top-notch action, it never quite overcomes some root problems that likely stem from the script. Namely, the structure of the film just feels off. The movie kicks off with a thrilling flashback sequence that shows us the mission that initiated the stolen-money mystery, and then flashes to the present, when the band gets back together. But as the movie progresses, a couple of problems become evident. One is that we're never given any real clues as to who stole the money, or any real possible motivations to latch onto. In a movie like this, everyone should be a suspect. But really, no one feels like a suspect, and we really have no clue as to who might be waging a war against the squad, other than the cartels. And so, when we finally do get the truth about who stole the money, and who the true Big Bads of the movie are, the revelations are mostly duds, and very-much out of left field. Nothing we'd seen up to that point adds up to a true "aha!" moment. That's one problem. The other biggie is that what seems like the movie's most compelling plot point - the fact that Breacher's family was murdered by the same cartels he's spent his life hunting - is inexplicably pushed to the background for most of the movie. While we are getting some decent-if-not-breathtaking procedural-style drama, it feels like the true, potentially awesome movie that we *should* be watching lies buried underneath. That movie, of course, is a grizzled Arnold recruiting his old squad to hunt down the bastards that killed his family - Rolling Thunder-style. And for a bit, it seems like that's where all of this is going. But for some reason, that surefire badassery is shunted in favor of a more sedate crime story / mystery ... and it's not the wisest or most effective of choices.

CAVEAT: Everything I just said is almost, *almost* negated by the movie's absolutely friggin' awesome last ten minutes. Without spoiling anything, the film's final sequence is so badass that it pretty much elevates the entire film. Only problem is that its awesomeness makes you wonder what a whole movie operating at that level could have been like. Suffice it to say, it's Arnold's Clint Eastwood-in-Unforgiven moment, and holy lord, it rocks.

Now, SABOTAGE isn't just a Schwarzenegger movie - the cast, as I said, is stacked with an overwhelmingly talented cast. Arnold's team is comprised of a mixture of genuine A-list stars like Terrence Howard, action movie staples like Sam Worthington (almost unrecognizable in his Fred Durst-esque nu-metal getup), ready-for-their-big-break TV talent like Lost's Josh Holloway and True Blood's Joe Manganiello, and up-and-comers like Pacific Rim's Max Martini. The scene-stealer, however, might be an actress (who for a while I assumed to be Jessica Chastain) named Mireille Enos, who plays team wildcard Lizzy. Enos is a redheaded ball of fire, taking down cartel members with secret agent-esque spy moves, Alias-style, when not causing friction on the team. In addition, Olivia Williams is quite good as the FBI agent tasked with solving the mystery of who is out to get the team. Her partner is played by Lost's Harold Perrineau, who's always solid, and, hey ... mini Lost reunion!

What is a bit odd is that some of the movie's best talents get very much lost in the shuffle. When you've got a Terrence Howard in the cast, you don't make him a second-stringer with minimal screen time. And when you've got a guy like Josh Holloway doing some really great work, it seems a slight waste to have him barely make an impact in the film, beyond one or two notable scenes. The core team is made up of such strong, charismatic actors that it seems odd when the movie eventually sort of falls in love with Williams and Perrineau's FBI agents. Not that they aren't really good, but again, it's an issue of the movie getting diverted from its core dynamics, and spending too much time on tangents. It almost feels like the FBI duo could have their own movie, and the more grounded, primetime drama tone of their scenes almost feels like it belongs to a different movie than the hardcore, slightly comic-booky, larger-than-life scenes that focus on Breacher's squad. I mean just look at the names of the people on the DEA team: Breacher, Monster, Sugar, Grinder, Pyro, Neck ... do those sound like the names of characters in a procedural investigation movie, or like those in a larger-than-life grindhouse revenge flick? 

Still, what I like about Ayers is that he goes all-in when it comes to making his films feel gritty and hardcore. SABOTAGE doesn't pull punches. It's violent, dark, grisly, and vulgar. It's overflowing with testosterone and isn't compromising in the name of appealing to a mainstream audience. When you watch an Ayers movie, you feel in need of a shower afterwards - he puts you there among these battle-hardened badasses and makes it clear that the world of the film is not one for the weak of heart. He's also one hell of an action director - he uses you-are-there aesthetics to really create a sense of immersion and intensity. Here, he also seems to have a lot of fun playing up the iconography of Arnold. While the movie is dark, it also isn't afraid to semi-playfully utilize Schwarzenegger's iconic stature to create some of the film's more over-the-top moments. And Arnold gives a pretty fantastic performance here, any way you slice it. While he's still got plenty of one-liners, he also seems to relish the chance to go a bit darker and grittier than he has of late. Joke if you like, but the dude pretty much kills it in this one. And once again ... those final ten minutes ... epic.

SABOTAGE is one of those films that I've got to recommend, simply because it's got some fantastic moments that any action fan will regret having missed. At the same time, it's a slightly frustrating movie in that it feels like all the elements were there to make a true action classic, if only they had come together in a slightly more impactful manner. 

My Grade: B

THE RAID 2 Is a Total Knockout

THE RAID 2 Review:

- How to put this? THE RAID 2 is off-the-rails awesome. If you dig action movies, at all, go see it. Of course, first make sure that you check out The Raid, last year's out-of-nowhere game-changer. Only then will you be at least somewhat prepared for the insanity that awaits. Emphasis on somewhat. The Raid 2 is just that crazy.

For the uninitiated, The Raid - the first film - is an absolute must-see. Directed by Welsh-born Gareth Evans, the Indonesian-set flick, in my view, raised the bar for martial-arts action cinema. The movie had a simple but effective premise: a ruthless crime lord was holed up on the top floor of a multilevel building, and an elite squad of cops had to break in, clear the building of hostiles floor by floor, and take out the boss. The simple, videogame esque plot was the backdrop for some of the most spectacular action sequences ever put to film - some of the most jaw-dropping gun battles, fist fights, and battle royales I've ever witnessed.

THE RAID 2 ups the ante by combining the incredible fight scenes of the first film with an epic crime-saga storyline that makes this sequel feel like some sort of acid-trip mash-up of The Godfather and Enter the Dragon. In truth, the film's plot owes more to Infernal Affairs (which in turn inspired The Departed), as it sees The Raid's sullen hero, Rama, forced to go undercover in a dangerous criminal organization in order to root out police corruption. Picking up immediately after the events of the first film, The Raid 2 quickly ties up some loose ends from its predecessor (in predictably bloody fashion), only to then see Rama go straight to his next mission. It seems that the first film's Big Bad was just a smaller piece of a much larger puzzle - as Jakarta is currently being ruled by two rival crime families, one of which is being protected by corrupt cops. In order for Rama to embed himself in the crime family, he must assume a new identity, get himself arrested, and, while in jail, befriend the charismatic-yet-troubled son of the syndicate's leader. And so it goes - Rama saves the son's life, and upon release from jail, becomes a trusted enforcer for the crime family. All the while, war between Jakarta's two rival families - who have enjoyed a tenuous truce for years - is brewing. Rama hopes to fulfill his mission and go home to his family, but he also can't stand by and watch his city burn.

The rhythm of The Raid was just nonstop action that only escalated with each new sequence. But if The Raid was speed-metal, The Raid 2 is an epic power-ballad. The film is surprisingly, methodically paced - with dramatic, character-driven scenes spaced out between the action. It's certainly a much different beast than the original movie. And I'll admit - for the first stretch of the film, I sat in my theater seat feeling slightly baffled. Was I watching The Raid 2, or an Indonesian version of Donnie Brasco?

But then, once Rama is in prison, and once he's formed a tense relationship with his mark, Ucok (the prodigal son of crime boss Bangun) ... well, there's a prison riot. And what erupts from that prison riot is one of the most insanely glorious, most unbelievable action sequences I've ever seen. Evans bobs and weaves his cameras through the mud-packed prison yard with violent grace, giving a you-are-there feeling to a sequence that simply must be seen to be believed. And as this scene played on - just getting ever more intense and crazy as it went - the audience in my theater couldn't help but burst into applause. Hell yeah, this was THE RAID, and there could be no doubting its ownage.

The rest of the film proceeds in this manner - a grand, melodramatic story of crime, corruption, and broken families - punctuated by action scenes that seem to literally erupt from the framework of the plot and never fail to leave you in a state of catatonic shock. What's so impressive is that Evans just keeps one-upping himself. He once again delivers the sorts of visceral, hardcore melee fights of the previous film, but also goes to places that The Raid never dared. The Raid 2 not only contains martial-arts action like nothing you've seen ... but it's also got one of the most insane car chase firefights in cinematic history. Trust me, I've seen it all when it comes to action, but some of the sequences in this movie are just next-level.

What also helps elevate the action is that there are some truly memorable adversaries for Rama to face off with in this installment. By far the most kickass of the movie's combatants are a pair of assassins - known simply as Hammer Girl and Baseball Bat Man. Simple enough, right? Well, hot damn, these two do things with a hammer and a bat that are just wrong. So wrong it's right, baby. Not since deadly schoolgirl Go-Go Yubari wielded a mace against Beatrix Kiddo in Kill Bill have we seen such memorably, insanely badass sociopaths engaged in such gorgeously-choreographed mayhem. Who, I have to wonder, is Julie Estelle, who plays Hammer Girl as the ultimate femme fatale ass-kicker? Where did she come from? How did she get to be so awesome? Spin-off prequel, please. Meanwhile, the movie's climactic duel, in which Rama engages in an extended one-on-one battle with a deadly, hook-wielding chef, is a five-star fight - an absolute mind-melter that, again, yielded exuberant audience applause. And, oh, remember how badass "Mad Dog" was in The Raid? Well, the uber-talented actor/martial artist who played him - Yayan Ruhian - is back, as a new character: a criminal lifer named Prakoso who ends up hunted by his own organization. Prakoso - a grizzled, shaggy man who's seen better days - is a much different character than the quietly confident Mad Dog. But damn, Ruhian once again rules it. He should be a part of The Raid franchise for as long as they keep making 'em.

As for our hero, Rama ... well, this movie solidifies him as an all-timer. Star Iko Uwais may not be a particularly colorful leading man, but he's so quietly and intensely badass - and so skilled at kicking ass - that by the end of this movie, I officially counted myself as a member of the Rama fan club. When it comes to combat, Uwais is in a class all his own - the guy is simply a machine. But hey, in The Raid 2, Uwais does some pretty serious acting as well, and I came away convinced that he may well be the next Jet Li. He certainly deserves to be called the undisputed heir to that mantle.

Speaking of solid acting, the entire cast is actually quite good here. The thing is: the movie's sprawling crime-saga story could have been a real drag if not done well. But it's actually really good, and the plot slowly builds until it's evolved into quite the epic by the third act. I give a lot of credit to Uwais for anchoring things, but I've also got to mention Arifin Putra as Ucok, who is fantastic. Ucok as the privileged son prepped from birth to one day inherit his father's criminal empire, but who now grows angry and restless as his father refuses to hand over the reins. And Putra brings a ton of slick charisma to the role - a sort of James Dean vibe that makes him an antihero at first, but eventually a full-out villain as we begin to realize the extent to which his sadistic streak runs. Some of that is revealed in Ucok's scenes with Alex Abbad's Bejo - an up-and-coming gangster who partners with Ucok in a bid to take over Jakarta's criminal underground.

It's compelling stuff, and it all unfolds with operatic scope. Evans proves that he's not just a great action director, but a great director, period. After the one-two punch of The Raid and The Raid 2, I think he's got to be considered in the upper echelon. I can only imagine what this guy could do with a big budget blockbuster, or with a Marvel or DC event film. Suffice it to say, with indie budgets, Evans is working absolute wonders.

THE RAID 2 is long and sprawling, but it's phenomenal entertainment from start to finish. Gareth Evans brings an ingenuity and kinetic quality to his action scenes that's unmatched. Despite the movie's hardcore violence, there is something that's just plain joyful about the way that Evans continually seeks to impress us with crazy, jaw-dropping stuff that we've never, ever seen done before on-screen. I see a lot of movies, and even when I really dig a film, it's rare that a movie of this sort just leaves me awed and in disbelief at the awesomeness of what I've just seen. But man, THE RAID 2 is that damn good - an epic action flick that once again raises the bar, with all others now forced to step up their game and follow its lead. It's a cinematic knockout punch if ever there was one.

My Grade: A

THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL Is Wes Anderson 101

THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL Review:

- I absolutely loved Moonrise Kingdom, because it felt like Wes Anderson was using all of his whimsical powers to give us not just a great-looking film, but one that had a soul and spirit to match its eye-popping aesthetics. It might just be Anderson's best film to date. Anderson's latest, THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL, has some of the director's most gorgeous and intricately-crafted visuals yet - but it feels more like an Anderson flight of fancy than grand statement. Rather than straining to push himself story-wise, there is, perhaps, a bit of wheel-spinning going on here. Still, this is an incredibly entertaining, visually-stunning movie filled with great actors and all sorts of fun little moments. Even if this one doesn't raise the bar for Wes Anderson films, it's still a finely-made showcase for the director's uniquely quirky obsessions.

Anderson often seems to have a lot of nostalgia for a version of the past that never quite existed. And that recurring aesthetic theme here becomes the main driver of the plot as well. The movie looks back wistfully at a fantastical hotel that sits atop a towering mountainside, accessible only by cable car. The day-to-day operations of the hotel are run by M. Gustave (Ralph Fiennes), who himself is a throwback - a gentleman's gentleman who is perfectly groomed and outfitted at all times, goes about his daily routines with clockwork-like precision, and who insists on the same from all under his employ. This holds true for the hotel's new bell-boy, a young immigrant named Zero (Tony Revolori). Soft-spoken but loyal, Zero is quickly taken under the wing of Gustave, and the two sort of become the fancy-hotel-worker version of Batman and Robin. That comparison holds even more true as Zero, through Gustave, increasingly finds himself wrapped up in an escalating series of misadventures. As it turns out, Gustave has a tendency to "service" the hotel's older female patrons in more than just the usual manner. And that gets him into trouble, when one of his favorite hotel guests passes away. The elderly woman, who over the years enjoyed many visits with Gustave, leaves to him - and not to her scheming, gothed-out adult children - a priceless painting from her art collection (the amusingly titled "Boy With Apple"). This makes Gustave a number of powerful enemies, and puts Zero in their crosshairs as well.

Adding an extra layer to the tale of Gustave and Zero is that it's told to us in flashback by a now-elderly Zero. By this point, the Grand Budapest Hotel is a shadow of its former bustling self, attracting only the occasional curiosity seeker and wanderer. Jude Law, playing an unnamed writer, meets Zero while staying in the hotel, and sits with him to hear his story. The film's structure - told as a sort of tall tale - fits well with its theme of nostalgia for a bygone era. The Hotel was a relic of a time when things were bigger and grander and more romantic, just like Gustave - whom Zero clearly has much admiration for - was a man of another, more refined era.

Ralph Fiennes as Gustav is the MVP of the film. He does a fantastic job playing the quintessential proper gentleman, who is forced by circumstance into many an ungentlemanly situation. Fiennes has shown in the past that he's great at playing larger-than-life, and that's what he does here. His comic timing is impeccable, and he has a great on-screen chemistry with his young charge Zero. The rest of the cast though is just completely loaded with great talent, all of whom are the sorts of reliable pros who excel at pulling off Wes Anderson's quirky characters. Willem Dafoe - who says little but owns the screen as a sadistic hitman - is a huge standout. So too is Adrien Brody as the vengeful son of Gustave's deceased paramour. Of course, an appearance from Jeff Goldblum is welcome in any film, but Goldblum is excellent (per usual) as the lawyer trying to settle the affairs of the deceased, even as various interests try to force his hand. Edward Norton is also good, as a police inspector whose path crosses multiple times with Gustav's.

There are also a boatload of great little cameos from Anderson regulars. I won't spoil who shows up, but I will say: one of the movie's most fun sequences involves the revelation that Gustav is part of a secret society of hotel managers, who all have each other's back in a crisis and who have quite the network of power and influence. Suffice it to say, the faces who turn up as part of said secret society are crowd-pleasers.

I suppose that some of the "lightness" of the movie comes from its relationships feeling a bit surface-level. Whereas Moonrise Kingdom had such a great central romance between its two young leads, the romance between Grand Budapest's Zero and angelic baker Agatha (Saoirse Ronan) feels a bit malnourished. Indeed, a lot of the film's characters are sort of one-note. But I guess that's a side-effect of a.) this really being the story of the mentor/mentee relationship between Gustav and Zero, and b.) the film being intended as less of a character piece, and more of a farce.

And the movie is at its best when it's at its most farcical. When things get really crazy, I think that that is when the movie hits its stride. For example, there's a late-movie downhill snow chase (how often do you see that?), in which Gustav and Zero - on a sled - pursue Dafoe's wily hitman - on skis - down a hilariously expansive trail. It's hilarious and awesome. Great, funny stuff.

And aesthetically, well ... this might just be the most Anderson-y Anderson movie to date. With scenes that often look like they were extracted from an elaborately-illustrated pop-up book, the movie has an eye-popping look and feel that indulges Anderson's most out-there visual instincts. Given that this is a whimsical, tall-tale of a story, however, it all fits to a T.

I really enjoyed THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL, even if the details of the plot and the nuances of the characters are often muddled in the movie's pressing focus on the moment at hand. The film is more akin in some ways to a collection of quirky vignettes, each showing us the unflappability of Gustav and the stalwart admiration that Zero bestows upon him (even if Zero does get annoyed with Gustav's reflexive flirtations with Agatha). So no, the movie doesn't give you a ton to chew on, but it is a great exercise in stylized chaos from Anderson - a lightweight but entertaining study of Anderson's particular fascinations and favorite motifs.

My Grade: B+

MUPPETS MOST WANTED Is Very Funny, Very Muppet-y

MUPPETS MOST WANTED Review:

- I enjoyed the last Muppets movie a lot. After so many relatively Muppet-less years, it felt good to have these characters back on the big screen and back in a place of prominence in the world of pop-culture. When I think about the influence that Jim Henson and his creations had on me as a kid - the way they cultivated in me a love for comedy, satire, imagination, and creativity - I think about how all kids should be exposed to these great characters and the values that they stand for. I'm not usually one to make that kind of pronouncement, but what I love about the Muppets is how their message is ultimately wholesome and good, but they're also just edgy enough to make you think outside the box. As a kid, The Muppets influenced not just my values, but spurred my interest in everything from science-fiction to comedy to rock n' roll. And so, while the last Muppet movie was a nice and heartfelt love letter of sorts to the characters and what they meant to a generation, what I like about MUPPETS MOST WANTED is that, now that the re-introductions and meta-commentaries are over with, the Muppets can get back to doing what they do best. This is the Muppets in their purest form, and I like that. No, it may not be the grand thesis statement of Muppetdom that the last film was (no existential "man or Muppet?" questions here). But this sequel is funny, clever, and just a blast from start to finish. It reminded me of the kinds of Muppets stories that made me a Muppets fan in the first place.

The plot of the film is silly, but in the best sort of way. It involves a notorious criminal frog named Constantine, who - save for a telling mole - looks exactly like Kermit. The thickly-accented Constantine escapes from imprisonment in a Siberian gulag, and hatches a scheme to take Kermit's place in the Muppets. The newly-reunited Muppets, planning a world tour to celebrate their return, hire bigshot manager Dominic (Ricky Gervais) to to guide them. What the unsuspecting Muppets don't realize is that Dominic is in league with Constantine. The two arrange for Kermit to get frog-napped, and taken to the prison from which Constantine escaped. Their master plan: to use the Muppets' shows as a front for a series of elaborate heists, culminating with the theft of the Crown Jewels of England.

The plot offers many opportunities for inspired zaniness. For one, seeing Constantine try to pass himself off as Kermit is oftentimes hilarious (the way he pronounces Muppets in his poorly-veiled Russian accent cracked me up every time - "Maaahpits!"). Before Kermit was taken out of the picture, he'd been getting cold (webbed) feet about popping the question to Ms. Piggy. But Constantine - who wants to marry Ms. Piggy as part of his evil plan to steal the Crown Jewels - is amusingly, um, aggressive in his wooing of the world's most famous pig (encapsulated in the hilarious song "I'll Get You What You Want"). I really liked Gervais here as Dominic - his brand of awkward humor is a great match for the Muppets, and his character's David Brent-esque persona - a bit pathetic, but misguidedly ambitious - makes for a great comic foil to Constantine and a great villain.

While Constantine and Dominic try to con the Muppets, poor Kermit is locked up in prison with a motley crew of inmates, which include such recognizable faces as Danny Trejo (playing himself!), and Flight of the Conchords' Jermaine Clement. The gruff warden of the prison is played by Tina Fey, whose tough exterior softens a bit when she develops a bit of a crush on Kermit. The prison scenes are a highlight though, as Fey, Clement, and the rest of the prison crew are very funny, and in top form. Seeing Kermit lead the rough-looking prison gang in a musical revue is comedy gold.

The other inspired subplot involves stone-faced Muppet Sam Eagle - now a CIA agent - investigating the criminal activity around the Muppets with the help of bumbling French inspector Jean Pierre (Modern Family's Ty Burell). Burell and Sam Eagle are such a great pairing. What can I say, I laughed a lot at their back-and-forth. All the French jokes at Jean Pierre's expense are probably old hat to older viewers, but it made me smile a bit that so many surprisingly un-PC jokes were slipped into the movie involving Burell. It's all pretty harmless stuff, ultimately ... but again, I dig that there was just a bit of edge to some of the humor.

And the movie's jokes really hit hard, in my opinion. I laughed out loud a lot at this movie, in a way that I didn't during the first film. Again, without all the re-building that the first movie had to do, it seems like the script here by Nicholas Stohler and director James Bobin is free to just be silly and entertaining and funny. There are a lot of clever bits - movie parodies, pop-culture riffs, and just general wackiness that really hits. The songs, too, are very funny, very Flight of the Conchords-ish (and no wonder, since the movie's music supervisor is the Conchords' Bret McKenzie). My favorite is the slyly funny "Interrogation Song", in which Jean Pierre and Sam Eagle question the Muppets one-by-one about alleged crimes - which becomes an increasingly, hilariously futile effort (culminating with the unintelligible musings of the Swedish Chef).

From some of the trailers, I was worried that the movie would be celebrity cameo overkill, but that's not the case. There are a lot of cameos, but they're mostly brief and often funny. And hey, who could object to Salma Hayek teaming with Gonzo to take part in his genius "indoor running of the bulls" performance?

Of course, even though this Muppet movie is wackier and sillier than its predecessor, there's still a lot of heart. I don't know what it is about these characters, but somehow - and it really is incredible - the felt forms of Kermit and co. always manage to feel more human than many of the human actors in these films. When newest-Muppet Walter sets out with Fozzie Bear and Animal to find and free their missing frog friend, you can't help but smile at the lengths these intrepid creatures will go to to help out their friend in need. And when Ms. Piggy must take part in the classic "which Kermit is the real Kermit?" test, well ... you will believe in the love of a sheepish frog and a bullish pig. What I love about the Muppets is that while the humor can be a little edgy, a little boundary-pushing given the target audience - there's always a very tangible sense of goodness and decency that shines through with these characters and these stories.

I'm not sure why I've seen so much cynicism crop up in recent reviews of MUPPETS MOST WANTED. Maybe it's just a rebellion against the resurgence in Muppetude over the last few years. Perhaps without the meta-commentary of the first film, jaded critics couldn't find an "important" enough reason to get behind this sequel. Or perhaps there's simply an opposition to the Muppets continuing on without the involvement of some of the original creative driving forces. But I found that this film pays a lot of homage to what's come before while still feeling modern and fresh. At the same time, it just-about-perfectly captures the right Muppety mix of playful humor and positive vibes that make the Muppets what they are. The human cast here is excellent, and Constantine proves a fun adversary for Kermit and co. At the end of the day, the film had me smiling and laughing throughout: what more can I ask for in a Muppet movie?

My Grade: A-

VERONICA MARS Movie Review: A Long Time Ago We Used To Be Friends, But Feels Like Just Yesterday To Me

VERONICA MARS Review:

- Unbelievable. It's insane to think about how quickly the media landscape has changed in just a few short years. Veronica Mars premiered at a time when DVR's were still in their infancy, when options for catching up on missed TV were limited, and when the idea of binge-watching fan-favorite shows on Netflix was a concept not yet in existence. Veronica Mars was a great show ahead of its time. It premiered on the flailing UPN network, which during its lifespan never really produced a buzzworthy hit. It continued on CW, but by that point, the show was barely hanging on - and the CW wasn't all that motivated to give it the promotional push it needed. For me, Veronica Mars was a pet issue. In the early days of my blog-writing, I constantly and emphatically spread the gospel to any and all who would listen. Veronica Mars was the best show that no one was watching. It was a dark, smart, brilliantly-written neo-noir - anchored by Kristen Bell and elevated by a best-in-the-biz supporting cast. It had style, it had smarts. But like so many great shows of the 00's - from Pushing Daisies to Arrested Development - a cult following of diehard fans was not enough to save the show from the dreaded fate of cancellation. The sort of mass-marathoning that would later make cult faves like Breaking Bad into legitimate hits was still years away from being a thing.

But back in 2007, when I wrote my farewell to the unceremoniously-axed Veronica Mars, I mused that (unlike the bottom-of-the-barrel reality show that replaced it on CW's schedule), the show would live on. It would be remembered and rediscovered. It would be talked about and discussed and written about. But back then, I couldn't have predicted the way in which whole new audiences would find the show, how people too young to have watched in in the 00's would now embrace it, or how Kickstarter would allow for a partially fan-funded film to get greenlit.

The fact that a Veronica Mars movie exists - that it was released theatrically years after the show went off the air - is amazing. Sure, we can debate the exact mechanics of the Kickstarter fund. When Kickstarter money is going not to individuals, but to a huge studio like Warner Bros that, there's a very legitimate debate to be had about the extent to which the fundraising is honest or even necessary. But I won't get into a prolonged discussion of that here. Instead, I'll say that, regardless, this is a game-changer. Fan support is now quantifiable, and that means the possibility of content that is made less for a wide audience and more for the core fans. In the old network TV model, number of eyeballs were everything. But now, it's more about the passion and loyalty of those eyeballs.

And Veronica Mars fans are nothing if not passionate. And in turn, the VERONICA MARS movie is a love letter of sorts to the fans. I have to admit, I was surprised at some of the rather tepid reviews of the film I read in publications like Entertainment Weekly. Were these guys not fans? Did they not get it? Perhaps those not in-the-loop felt snubbed. They had hoped to read the cliffnotes of the series, see the movie, and feel like they were fully a part of the zeitgeist. But the reality is that, yes, to fully appreciate this movie, I think you're probably going to want to spend some time going through all three seasons of the series. A requirement? No. A strong recommendation? Yes. This movie is one chapter of an ongoing saga, and you're going to want to appreciate all the callbacks - big and small - to what went before.

With that in mind, it's sort of amazing to me to think about what writer/creator/director Rob Thomas pulled off here. On one hand, Veronica Mars was a show with a lot of characters and a lot of continuity - and Thomas had to pick up the pieces, reestablish the status quo, and fill us in on what everyone had been up to in the years since we last visited the fictional town of Neptune, CA. On the other hand, the movie had to work as a piece of self-contained entertainment - it couldn't just be about checking off the boxes that would please longtime fans. It had to tell a great Veronica Mars story, and also feel like "more" than just an episode of the show. It had to feel big, and epic, and special.

No need to worry though - Thomas accomplishes both goals with flying colors. Like I said, the movie is a love letter to both the fans and the show's characters - giving us lots to get excited over, and many reminders of why we loved the show and its characters to begin with. And yet, all the character cameos, reintroductions, etc. feel pretty organic to the plot. The show always operated on the conceit that Neptune was mired in an interconnected web of shadiness, in which the town's rich elite and desperate poor intersect and clash at every turn. The same is true in the film - the plotline here is, in some ways, bigger in scope than anything from the show. But unsurprisingly, things become more insular as the plot unravels. And why not? There are enough suspect characters - and enough intrigue - in Neptune, that there's no need to go elsewhere to drive the action.

Indeed, the arc of the movie is that this is, in many ways, a homecoming for Veronica. When we first rejoin V. Mars, she's living in New York and has become, well, pretty buttoned-up. She's interviewing for a big corporate law job and seems to have settled into a a nice but decidedly low-risk life. While she would undoubtedly make a crackerjack lawyer, there's clearly a sense that Veronica is not where she's supposed to be, nor doing what she's supposed to be doing. So when she's summoned by old on-again, off-again flame -and overall bad influence - Logan Echolls, to return to Neptune to help clear him of murder charges (he asks her to help him vet lawyers, but we know the deal), it's a bad situation that still feels oh-so-right.

The mystery of who really killed troubled rich kid Logan's pop-star girlfriend is what drives the plot, and personally, I think it makes for a damn fine mystery. There's never really a question that Logan is innocent of the charges, but that's okay - it opens the door for any number of Veronica's other old acquaintances to be the guilty party. And what acquaintances they are. It's an absolute blast to see the likes of hilariously crude party-boy Dick Casablancas again (Ryan Hansen kills it). And scummy P.I. Vinnie Van Lowe (the great Ken Marino in top form). And spoiled former teen-queen Gia Goodman (Krysten Ritter, whose career has blown up since the show went off the air, and who deservedly gets a bigger part to play in the film). And, oh, Martin Starr (Freaks & Geeks callback - another of the 00's tragically-cancelled-too-soon TV shows) turns up as a creepy former classmate of Veronica's. It's equally awesome to see those on the side of the angels make their big returns. Chief among them are Veronica's ever-loyal best bud Wallace (Percy Diggs III) and punk-geek hacker Mac (Tina Majorino). Seeing them again is like seeing old friends - I only wish they had more screentime. Same goes for reformed biker-gang leader Weevil, brought so memorably to life on the show by Francis Capra. Capra gets some big moments here, and a plotline that helps open the door for further mysteries to be addressed in (hopefully?) still-to-come movies. To Thomas' credit though, this isn't a case of feeling like these characters got the shaft - more so that they're just such great characters that we're left wanting more. As much as I could watch a whole movie about the sleuthing adventures of Wallace and Mac, or the school-of-hard-knocks moral quandaries of Weevil, there's a lot of story to be told here, and these characters can only be allotted so much time.

For all of the movie's fun bit players though (old favorites, like Max Greenfield's Leo, or new additions, like Jerry O'Connell as a sleazeball sheriff, and Gaby Hoffman as a stalker-ish superfan), the holy trinity here is Veronica, Logan, and Keith Mars. Keith Mars - played so brilliantly by Enrico Colantoni - is in many ways the movie's beating heart. While Veronica had the chance to get out of Neptune and start fresh, Keith is in too deep. He's too invested in his town, and too embittered to leave and let Neptune get washed over with corruption and crime. Veronica was his great white hope - the one who could start afresh. So it kills Keith that Veronica, through Logan, has been pulled back into the thick of things. At the same time - this is film noir after all, and that means that in this world, there is no escape. No escape from Neptune, no escape from fate.

That's another thing that's so brave and refreshing about this film. It goes full noir. What I mean is, the show always mixed the trappings of noir and detective fiction with those of high school drama. But now that Veronica is an adult, the movie has to sort of evolve past its original high school setting. Now, the movie calls back heavily towards its Neptune High roots, with the clever device of a ten-year reunion superimposed over the big-picture mystery. And like any ten-year reunion, this makes for a great chance to both briefly revisit the past, but also to move beyond it. We know who Veronica Mars was, but now, we know who she is as an adult. And the movie doesn't shy away from morphing the plucky young Veronica into a full-blown hard-boiled P.I. That's sort of awesome, because how many hard-boiled *female* P.I.'s have there been in the history of ... well, ever? When I say hard-boiled, I'm referring, I suppose, to some of the qualities that we associate with the classic noir protagonist. Hard-lived guys who are good at heart, but who do at times live in a moral grey area, and who do at times make bad decisions. As the movie evolves Veronica into this traditionally male role, I began to realize: Logan is Veronica's femme fatale.

This is sort of fascinating, because here's the thing: at the movie's start, Veronica and good old Stosh "Piz" Piznarsky are a couple. Piz, you may remember, was the good-natured, geeky college radio-host who dated Veronica in Season 3 of the show. Guys seemed to like him, because he was a fill-in for the sort of fanboys who crushed on Veronica from their couches. But girls seemed less impressed, because Veronica and Piz never had the danger-fueled sparks that she and Logan did during their star-crossed but ill-fated flings (and here, there is again chemistry with Dohring, though he does seem to have perhaps the hardest time of the cast getting back into VM form). But even the staunchest Logan/Veronica 'shippers, I think, will end up sort of rooting a bit for Piz in this movie. He and Veronica have a good thing going - witty banter, shared and awesomely-nerdy pop-culture references (Piz even declared Neptune High to be sitting on a Hellmouth). But since the movie goes full-noir, Veronica is of course increasingly drawn away from good-guy Piz and towards male-fatale Logan. And people, I think, will sort of cringe at this. And yet, do we cringe when Batman makes out with Catwoman, or when James Bond locks lips with a woman we know is bad news? I sort of dug how the movie flips things around, and gives us a new breed of gumshoe for 2014. Veronica Mars was always ahead of her time - now, even more so.

By the way, nothing about this world feels dated - in case you were worried. Neptune has always had old-school aesthetics, but the Veronica Mars movie transitions to a world of smartphones, Twitter, and tablets with the utmost ease. The smart use of today's tech makes Veronica's sleuthing that much cooler, if at all possible.

Let's talk about the leading lady herself. Kristen Bell was born to play this character, and she slips back into the role of Ms. Mars like she never left. Bell is an interesting actor. Her public persona is goofy and sort of loopy, and she's done variations on that in various comedies over the years. We've seen her play serious and adult, and we've heard her give voice to Disney princesses. But her transformation into Veronica Mars is full-body. She just inhabits the character fully, and makes Veronica iconic and larger-than-life - all while maintaining that spunky, girl-next-door quality that made her different than your average CW star back in the day. But man, how great it is to hear Veronica's at-once inviting, at once hard-boiled voice-overs again. Nobody does it better than Bell. It's all part of the Veronica Mars package that is so perfectly recaptured in the movie. The noirish moodiness, the atmospheric, tension-setting music, the whip-crack dialogue ...

Hold on, let me speak for a second about that dialogue. I could honestly watch a plotless Veronica Mars movie, just to hear the characters' back-and-forth banter. Rob Thomas does Joss Whedon one better, blending pulpy, rapid-fire quips with well-placed pop-culture riffs. It's music, baby. This is, truly, the good stuff, and we don't get enough of it in movies or TV. The writing is what made Veronica Mars so damn good back in its TV days, and it's what again separates it from the pack at the movies. For those who dismiss this as young adult fluff ... just listen to the characters talk and realize: this is less Hunger Games, more Maltese Falcon - with a dose of Buffy: The Vampire Slayer thrown in for good measure. This is where I'll also point out that the movie is funny. Really funny. And that's all driven by Veronica and the rest of the cast's multiple, dead-on zingers. The wittiness here goes a long way.

By the time the end-credits played (and we finally got to hear the full version of the show's fantastically-rocking theme song), I was in TV/movie-geek nirvana. I went into this movie with some trepidation. Would the characters seem awkward and old? Was I remembering the show through rose-colored glasses? Would the movie just be a nostalgia trip with no real substance? Or would Rob Thomas and co. shake thing up needlessly just to go against the grain? Really, there was no reason to worry. The VERONICA MARS movie is a rocking return to form and a rollicking success. Bell again nails it as Veronica, and the rest of the cast brings their A-game. But mostly, this movie just reaffirms that Neptune is indeed a living, breathing place. We needn't worry about it having abruptly disappeared from our TV screens all those years ago. The movie cements this as a world that persists, even when we're not watching. And it reestablishes Veronica as a character who will always be out there - always embroiled in a new mystery, always fighting the neverending fight to clean up Neptune and bring justice to those who need it brought. Back when the series was cancelled, Thomas re-pitched it to the CW as a revamped reboot - a move that would have drastically changed the show and sent Veronica to the FBI. But the whole arc of this movie is, in a way, about rectifying what would have been a damaging left turn for the show and for these characters. The movie has Veronica ditch her newly-acquired urban corporate lawyer persona for a back-to-basics approach - and so too does the movie, on a meta level, ditch the idea of a high-concept revamp - a way to please the masses - for a back-to-basics return to the core Veronica Mars concept at its best.  Veronica is too good of a character to change wholesale. Instead, the movie cleverly shows us why Veronica is who she is, and how the world of Neptune shaped and continues to shape her, and draw her back in to its seedy world of sun and shadow.

So come on now sugar: bring it on, bring it on - give us more. Long live Veronica Mars.

My Grade: A-

300: RISE OF AN EMPIRE Delivers Solid Sequel

300: RISE OF AN EMPIRE Review:

- 300 gets a lot of flack and ridicule these days, but when it came out - and you know this to be true - it was badass as hell. Zack Snyder's over-the-top vision of ancient warfare, coupled with the legendary Frank Miller's knack for gritty, alpha-male storytelling, made for a film that was, at the least, not quite like anything we'd seen before.

Now, RISE OF AN EMPIRE could have been a total cash-in. And the lack of Snyder at the helm, the fact that this comes a full nine years after the original, and the fact that it's been oft-delayed and restarted all hinted at potential disaster. But, good news! - the 300 sequel (well, sort of - it actually takes place in parallel with the original's story) is actually a pretty entertaining, well-made flick. Any fans of the original will enjoy this one. And while it may feel a bit like a retread, the presence of some excellent actors, and a primarily oceanic setting, gives this one a unique feel and personality.

The story takes place during and around that of 300. In that film, Gerard Butler's Leonidas led his over-matched band of 300 Spartans to battle against the conquering forces of the god-king Xerxes. In this film, we follow the larger war being waged between Xerxes and his Persian armies versus all of Greece. We follow the Athenian admiral Themistocles (Sullivan Stapleton) as he attempts to take the fight to Xerxes. He tries to recruit various nation-states to aid in his cause, but when he gets to Sparta, Queen Gorgo (Lena Heady, reprising her role from the original) informs him that Leonidas has already taken his men to attack the Persian armies. Themistocles rallies what troops he does have to fight Xerxes on the high seas, via naval attack. But to do so, he's got to go through the merciless Persian general Artemisia (Eva Green), who commands Xerxes' fleets.

While Stapleton's Themistocles is the movie's main character, make no mistake - this is Eva Green's movie. As Artemisia, Green is just plain awesome. She kicks ass, takes names, and looks great doing it. Her character has a pretty interesting backstory to boot - a slave girl who was taken in by the Persian king, who helped a young prince Xerxes to come out of his shell when his father was murdered, and aided in his transformation from geek to god ... only to realize that she may have created a monster. Suffice it to say, Green pretty much owns it in the movie - barking orders, lobbing off heads, and seducing hapless rivals (sometimes all three at the same time!) with relish. After seeing the film, I couldn't help but think that perhaps there was a missed opportunity in not casting Green as Wonder Woman.

Stapleton is pretty solid, but he comes off as a bit of a pushover as compared to Green's more formidable Artemisia. Still, he's got some gravitas, and he's a fine actor. The best scene of the film - which he and Green both nail (so to speak) - is an over-the-top negotiation/seduction between Themistocles and Artemisia that is a true clash of the titans. It's no surprise, of course, that Artemisia comes out on top (so to speak). But Stapleton, while not as charismatic or as amusingly insane as Butler's Leonidas, does lend an air of sophistication to the proceedings.

I also really enjoyed Lena Heady (as usual) reprising her role as Gorgo. Heady is just fantastic at these sorts of roles, and she hasn't missed a beat since 300. She plays a small but key role here, and she owns some of the movie's best and biggest moments. I also enjoyed seeing David Wenham return, even if only for a small role. If you recall, he's the dude who narrates 300 and, due to his gravitas-filled voice, was clearly born to narrate badass movies about ancient Greece.

Noam Murro directs, and at first glance, you wouldn't be able to tell that it wasn't Zack Snyder. The look and feel of the original 300 is essentially reproduced here. However, what this movie is missing are those absolutely jaw-dropping visual moments that Snyder had in the original. RISE OF AN EMPIRE has plenty of cool visuals, but the action feels a little generic, overall, as compared to the first film. Murro emulates Snyder's trademark speed-up/slow-down maneuvers, but they feel sort of arbitrarily thrown into the mix here, and lack the desired wow factor. Part of the problem is that some of the film's naval battles just feel repetitive after a while. While the sight of naval warfare makes for some epic moments, it loses its novelty after a while, and you yearn for some good ol' fashioned sword-against-shield combat. Luckily, the movie does have at least a couple of good hand-to-hand battles - accompanied by a few genuinely "oh $%&^!" moments - to satiate the bloodlust of the 300 faithful (don't worry - it's all cartoonish/comic-booky and in good fun).

300: RISE OF AN EMPIRE delivers some satisfying action, recaptures some of the fun of 300, and features a must-see performance from Eva Green. Ultimately, it drags a bit and loses momentum - there just aren't enough twists or interesting plot developments - and Themistocles is a little too bland - to sustain interest for the film's entire running time. But this remains a surprisingly pretty-good companion piece to an iconic action movie.

My Grade: B