The Avengers

Rating: ****

The Avengers, by virtue of being the first movie of summer, gets to set the tone for the season, and that tone is a fun, thrilling spectacle that balances big action and heart. It develops strong characters with complex relationships, while still being able to level New York under the thumb of an alien invasion. Under the stewardship of Joss Whedon, The Avengers, a movie that really was too big to fail, does the highly improbable for modern Hollywood blockbuster filmmaking: it makes your ticket price seem like money well spent.

Following up on Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2, Thor, and Captain America: The First Avenger, The Avengers brings together characters from all those films into a single adventure. When Thor’s vengeful brother Loki suddenly appears in an installation run by the world peacekeeping agency S.H.I.E.L.D., stealing the Cosmic Cube (from Captain America) and kidnapping Dr Selvig and Hawkeye (from Thor) as his worker bees, S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Nick Fury puts the Avengers Initiative into effect. Assembling Captain America, Bruce Banner, Iron Man, Black Widow and eventually Thor, The Avengers set out to stop Loki before he can unleash an alien army to take over the Earth.

So, where to begin? How about the writer/director Joss Whedon, and may I say how astounded I am about how much of his typical Whedon-ness manages to make it into the finished film. How does one define ‘Whedon-ness?” Well, there’s the scene during the alien invasion when Black Widow reminisces about Budapest to which Hawkeye retorts that the two of them remember Budapest very differently. There’s the scene on the helicarrier where Stark refers to Loki’s slaves as “flying monkeys” to which Captain America excitedly realizes that he gets that reference. And then there a couple of prime Hulk scenes that are honestly too good to spoil.

Speaking of whom, this is another area that Whedon excels: his characterization of the Hulk and his alterego Bruce Banner. The recasting of Mark Ruffalo for the part was an added treat because Ruffalo, as a person, is so unassuming and seems so harmless that when he Hulks out, there really is something to fear. Ruffalo getting to be the first actor to play both Banner and Hulk through the miracle of motion capture adds to that effect because you can see both characters reflected in each other. But Whedon gets credit for this Hulk too because I think the script gets that psychology better than any writer on a Hulk movie previous.

The rest of the cast does well, although I think Chris Hemsworth as Thor and Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye get the short end of the stick, because, sadly, in a cast this big, there just isn’t the same amount of room for everyone. The one character, besides the Hulk, that gets the benefit of the Whedon treatment is Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow. In Whedon’s hands, Widow rightly joins the filmmaker’s pantheon of butt-kicking females, and Johansson gets to show some vulnerability as well as some cleverness considering Widow is one of two Avengers without powers. Chris Evans continues to be commanding as Captain America, and subtly plays well Cap’s man out of time struggles while still being a authoritative presence. Whedon also does well restraining the unbridled enthusiasm of Robert Downey Jr as Tony Stark, and focusing it. Downey also plays well off Ruffalo as the team’s two resident brainiacs.

But the true miracle of The Avengers is pacing. There were so many masters that Whedon had to answer to, so many highlights he had to hit, it’s a wonder that the movie didn’t look more like a highlight reel rather something with a coherent narrative. There’s a lot of action, but there’s also a lot of character moments, a lot of time spent on seeing how these heroes interact outside the immediacy of the next crisis. And in another typical Whedon touch, one supporting character is killed before the end of the second act, providing both a dramatic impetus for the team, and a justifiable reason why they go with their given nom de plume.

On the downside, The Avengers is geek chic of the highest order, so when you come, you have to come in a playful mood because there’s no room for curmudgeons in the theatre. Alan Silvestri’s score is perfectly unmemorable, which is a real shame because I think if there’s one element holding this back from being perfect popcorn fare it’s the forgettable music. Sure Raiders of the Lost Ark was great, but what connected you to all those great memories of the film as you left the theatre? It was the John Williams theme. Perhaps J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek, featuring a score by Michael Giacchino, may be a more recent example of a musical score that makes just that little bit of extra difference.

But ultimately I feel that any criticism of The Avengers might fall under the category of nit-picking, and certainly the box office returns thus far prove that if ever there was a movie that fit the definition of critic proof, this would be it. But the thing of it is that The Avengers deserves the accolades and the adulation, and appropriately, just as the superhero genre seemed to be a game of diminishing returns, The Avengers comes in and saves the day. Ultimately, when it came to building hype for this movie, there was no assembly required.

And do stay to the very end of the credits for the second bonus scene. You will not be disappointed.

The Cabin in the Woods

Rating: ****

The set-up is simple: five friends go out to a remote cabin to enjoy some drinking, debauchery and other wholesome activities. It’s the conceit that’s launched a million horror movies, and director Drew Goddard and co-writer Joss Whedon know it. Five friends go out into the woods, but not all of them are coming home, the question is who dies first and how?

But wait, obviously it’s more complicated than that. The key to The Cabin in the Woods is to go in as pure as possible. After seeing the press screening, I watched the ads on TV and have been kind of surprised by how much is hinted at, or outright given away. Needless to say, there’s something more afoot to the story then friends in the woods being pestered by some demonic undead redneck family. So what’s going on? Let’s just say that there’s some people highly invested in watching these young folks die.

In the opening scenes, we meet our motley crew. There’s alpha jock Curt (Chris Hemsworth), his girlfriend Jules (Anna Hutchison), the slightly nerdish but still kind of hunky Holden (Jesse Williams), the shy but pretty Dana (Kristen Connolly), and resident stoner Marty (Fran Kranz). They load into a Winnebago and head for a road so far off the map it’s not worthy of global positioning. When they get to the “rustic” cabin, they notice a few oddities, like paintings of human sacrifice and how two of the bedrooms are connected with one-way glass, but the latter discovery of a basement filled with potential horrors and sideshow oddities seals their doom, whatever doom they might choose.

Like Scream or New Nightmare before it, The Cabin in the Woods seeks to turn the genre on its head. Although that comparison leans more to the later than the former, as Scream had fun turning the conventions on their head, while Cabin, like Nightmare, dares to ponder where are horrors come from, and how we can beat them. It’s not so much about young people dying in horrible ways, but the implications there-in. The grander meaning. What is the communal experience of seeing a horror movie all about? Is it about engaging our more primal instincts, and to what degree?

Make no mistake, this is a horror movie for horror movie fans, by horror movie fans, and because of that I’m not sure how “commercial” Cabin will be. But having said that, this is a highly impressive debut for Goddard, who’s cut his teeth as a writer studying under two of the best mass-appeal nerdy filmmakers in the business: Whedon and J.J. Abrams. As a script, this is right in Whedon’s ball park with lots of scares and humour and Whedon-speak. Regular Whedon players like Kranz (Dollhouse), Amy Acker (Angel) and Tom Lenk (Buffy) also have roles.

Most importantly though, the characters feel very fleshed out. They’re living, breathing people, and that’s despite the fact that they are built in archetypes filling a specific purpose in the script. Some of that is owned by the actors. Pre-Thor Hemsworth shows off a more laidback vibe complete with letterman’s jacket, and it suits him, Kranz does stoner right and becomes the unlikely hero when another medical benefit of pot is demonstrated, and the rest of the young cast, who are unknowns for the most part, are likeable and engaging. But the real stars of this film are Bradley Whitford and Richard Jenkins. Unlikely as it may be that two guys over the age of 50 are the central figures in a youth-oriented horror movie, they just may be the heart and soul of the story; a kind of Statler and Waldorf offering commentary and context through the main story.

But if for no other reason, The Cabin in the Woods is worth seeing because it provides a nice break from current trends in horror cinema: it’s not a remake, it’s not a splatter-filled torture porn, and there’s not a single instance of “found footage.” It’s solid filmmaking. The cinematography is great, dark and moody when it needs to be, but it can also be warm and fun. (Thankfully, someone smart along the way decided that 3-D was not an option.) The creature effects are fantastic, the script is great, and the cast is phenomenal. It’s a rewarding film, but again, I think only a few will reap it to maximum effect.

Browncoats: Redemption

Rating: ***

The fan film is a delicate thing; you don’t have the budget to give the story its due, and the fan enthusiasm for original work can sometimes overwhelm the creation of quality drama. Then there’s the other thing: promotion. Anybody with enough money and technical skill can make a fan film, but it takes a special skill to beat the odds and make a name for yourself. Or an angle.

In the case of BROWNCOATS: REDEMPTION, the angle is charity. Any profits from the film are going to charity, and in return the film has been given unprecedented support, including an acting reprise from a couple of well-known faces from the FIREFLY universe. But to the credit of the filmmakers, they don’t rely on cache alone. There is some atypical skill in the making of REDEMPTION, but still, you may be entering fan only territory when you put it into the DVD player.

The timeline of the film follows SERENITY. The Alliance, bruised from the revelations of the film, is out to quash any and all resistance to the galactic parliament. The first target is the Scarab-class freighter Redemption, which, like a certain other bug-themed vessel, is staffed by a crew of antiestablishment types trying to irk out a living on the frontier. Lieutenant Colonel Thadeus Stevens is a duty bound operative of the Alliance, and he is the one assigned to rein in all Browncoats ready to rebel again.

The production standards on the film are surprisingly solid. The spaceship sets were pretty convincing, and were built pretty close to the original production design of the Serenity spaceship in FIREFLY. The planet side settings were another story though. I’m not sure where those scenes were shot, but there are a lot of small towns around Southwestern Ontario that could have easily been subbed in. The Maryland countryside is also very different from the Old West backlots of Hollywood, but the filmmakers make do.

The script is where the film shows true inventiveness and allows it to stand apart from your typical fan film. Sometimes director/screenwriter Michael C. Dougherty tries too hard to emulate Joss Whedon’s syntax and phrasing, but when the script relaxes and lets the story play out it becomes less self-conscious and more able to stand on its own. There are some twists and some interesting characters, but I think at times the film is a little overstuffed.

On the other hand, the film has fun with some genuine FIREFLY/SERENITY cameos from Michael Fairman (Niska) and Yan and Rafael Feldman (Fanty and Mingo). Additionally, series’ star Adam Baldwin is seen briefly as Lt. Col. Stevens secretary, where he makes the famous John Casey grunt from CHUCK, and thus prompting two different sets of sci-fi fans to punch the air. It’s nice that these actors feel such kinship for the material that they appeared in a fan production. It adds that little extra feeling of authenticity.

For a first time effort by a filmmaker, BROWNCOATS: REDEMPTION offers superior return on investment, but it’s one of those films that makes you feel like you’re grading on a curve. True, this is better than it has a right to be, but are we judging it based on those criteria? I hope not. But for fans of the franchise, this movie is a pretty solid way to satiate your jones for fresh FIREFLY material. And it’s Whedon approved to boot.