A Reel 20: THE POLAR EXPRESS

“Well, ya comin?”

This month marks the 20^th anniversary of THE POLAR EXPRESS. 

 

Directed by Robert Zemeckis and based on the 1985 children’s book of the same name by Chris Van Allsburg, THE POLAR EXPRESS was a CG-animated film that followed a young boy who joins a group of children aboard a mysterious locomotive and train bound for the North Pole on Christmas Eve. 

 

The rail to the North Pole goes back to 1999, when veteran actor Tom Hanks optioned the book after reading it to his children, with the intent of making a live-action version. The project went to Castle Rock Entertainment, with director Rob Reiner (A FEW GOOD MEN, THE PRINCESS BRIDE), set to direct. After a few postponements, Robert Zemeckis was brought on to direct. 

 

Zemeckis, who had pushed the boundaries of filming technology with his films BACK TO THE FUTURE, WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT, and FORREST GUMP, decided to make the film using CG-motion capture. At the time, the process was lengthy and expensive, costing around $1 million per minute of footage. 

 

Tom Hanks, who had worked with Zemeckis on GUMP, would be cast and would play several different parts, including the train conductor and Santa Claus. Alan Silvestri would provide the music, including the theme song Believe. 

 

On release (which included 3D and IMAX), THE POLAR EXPRESS would open in second place behind THE INCREDIBLES, and it would earn through the holidays to finish as the 15^th highest grossing film of 2004. It would also set a record for the highest grossing IMAX film before AVATAR arrived in 2009. It would be nominated for three Oscars (Sound Editing, Sound Mixing, Original Song), and Believe would win a Grammy. The film would inspire real-world holiday train-excursion experiences around the world. 

 

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THE POLAR EXPRESS was met with divisive reviews on release. While some considered it to be a holiday classic, others criticized the lifeless, CG human characters. The praise and the criticism are well-justified; the film has gone on to permanent viewing around the holidays, often being seen on many broadcast channels. The film has a gorgeous look; everything is aglow and while the CG human characters do seem plastic-like, there is a heart to the film that gets around it. As a story about a boy looking to recapture the magic that he lost, it really works and brings back many memories of trying to get to sleep on Christmas Eve. 

 

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“Seeing is believing, but sometimes the most real things in the world are the things we can’t see.”

A Reel Review: GLADIATOR II

In the year 2000 A.D., famed director Ridley Scott (ALIEN, BLADE RUNNER), delivered one of, if not his greatest film, GLADIATOR; an action-packed, emotional ride of a film that would win Oscars, make a mega-star out of Russell Crowe, and provide some of the most iconic scenes and lines in all of cinema. For the last two decades Scott has been toying with the idea of a sequel, and here in 2024 he finally enters the arena again. 

 

Nearly 20 years after the events of the first film, the corrupt twin Emperors Geta (Joseph Quinn), and Caracella (Fred Hechinger), rule Rome and set out to conquest the rest of the world. Battle-weary General Acacius (Pedro Pascal), is sent to invade a country in North Africa, and comes back with Hanno (Paul Mescal), who fell during the defense of his city and lost his wife. Hanno is purchased by Macrinus (Denzel Washington), and sent into the Colosseum to fight in deadly gladiator games. 

 

Directed by Ridley Scott, GLADIATOR II starts with familiar plot beats that nearly replicate the first film. Hanno is out for revenge against Acacius, who also happens to be fed-up with the twin Emperors and is secretly planning a revolt. This moves into the wider picture with Rome in turmoil, and the film eventually gets into many twists and turns that gives GLADIATOR II its own identity. The film becomes a political thriller with plenty of surprises including shifting alliances, betrayal, murder, and royal lineage long kept secret. 

 

When GLADIATOR II isn’t weaving a web of political intrigue, it delivers big-time on the action. With visual effects more accessible now, Scott brings to the screen action sequences that he couldn’t do in 2000. The fighting scenarios in the Colosseum are breathtaking; perfectly staged and acted, and the large battles outside of Rome are a thrill. The scale of the film is impressive, and seeing thousands of extras on horseback is old-school cinematic glory. Even with the spectacle, characters are never lost in it all, and Scott never forgets the intimate moments. 

 

As a legacy sequel, GLADIATOR II has the requirement to remind of us of its roots. The ties to the original film are done well and come in unexpected ways. Some flashbacks from GLADIATOR are neat to see but often feel a step too far. The film has a brisk pace and breezes through its 148 minutes, and it looks gorgeous with some stunning shots. The score by Harry Gregson-Williams is a generic snooze other than the few times the original music is re-used. 

 

Acting is excellent. Paul Mescal and Pedro Pascal have never been better. Denzel Washington shows more energy and charisma than we’ve seen from him in years and steals the show. Joseph Quinn and Fred Hechinger are also scene-stealers. Legacy characters played by Connie Nielsen and Derek Jacobi are done very well. 

 

The third act of GLADIATOR II throws even more surprises at us, with the real villain of the film revealed late in a whopper of a twist, and by the time the smoke clears after the final battle our minds need a few minutes to catch up. When it’s all over GLADIATOR II doesn’t hit the emotional or iconic moments that its predecessor had, but that’s okay when we are so very entertained. 

 

BOTTOM LINE: See it 

A Reel Review: WICKED

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, the first novel in the Oz series of books by L. Frank Baum, has been the basis for several pillars in our culture. The first and most definitive came in 1939 with the classic THE WIZARD OF OZ. The second came in 2003 with the Broadway smash Wicked, which was a loose adaptation of a novel by Gregory Maguire…which told the story of the early friendship between the famed Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good. Here in 2024, we get another trip down the yellow brick road, with Jon M. Chu’s big screen adaptation of the Broadway show. 

 

After the apparent death of the Wicked Witch/Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo), at the hands of Dorothy, Glinda (Ariana Grande), recounts her first encounter with her, which includes their days as students at Shiz University. 

 

Directed by Jon M. Chu and based on the long-running Broadway play, WICKED is a dazzling musical using a monkey-load of modern visual effects to return to that magical, colorful, and wonderful world of Oz. Despite the large setting, WICKED early on finds a great balance between the spectacle and its characters. The bulk of the film is centered around the initial rivalry and eventual friendship between Elphaba and Glinda. Elphaba, who is treated as an outcast due to her green screen color, is forced upon the prim-and-proper Glinda as a roommate, and is then accepted by the Dean of Sorcery (Michelle Yeoh), as a sorcery student…a position coved by Glinda. 

 

The tension between the two makes for an emotional, and workable character-driven story. There is a heart to WICKED with Elphaba’s skin color working against her, and she is constantly mistreated by nearly everyone at the university. Great lengths are taken to make this real-world issue of those who are different being treated badly work in Oz, and it all works beautifully. 

 

WICKED also has the task of operating as a prequel to eventual story of Dorothy that we all know so well, ticking off items such as the creation of the yellow brick road, the Wicked Witch’s outfit and broomstick, and the flying monkeys. It is executed well and never feels forced. WICKED also has to work as a movie musical, and the performances are nothing short of dazzling. The film is also saturated in Oz lore, with subtle and sneaky references to the 1939 film. Pacing is brisk, and the 160-minute run-time flies by. Visual effects are standard for a film of this scale (not tremendous, not terrible), but the overall production design is breathtaking. 

 

Acting is superb. Cynthia Erivo and Araina Grande are perfectly matched, and both give their characters a lot of heart. Michelle Yeoh is excellent as always. Jeff Goldblum comes in as the Wizard and is a blast. 

 

WICKED is only part one of the entire adaptation, and it has a solid ending that stands very well on its own. But the many story threads here are so good it is going to be a very long wait before part two arrives next year; there is a lot to look forward to in our next trip to Oz, and should finish as another wonderful pillar in our culture. 

 

BOTTOM LINE: See it 

 

A Reel 20: NATIONAL TREASURE

“Who wants to go down the creepy tunnel inside the tomb first?”

This month marks the 20^th anniversary of NATIONAL TREASURE. 

 

Directed by Jon Turteltaub and released by Walt Disney Pictures, NATIONAL TREASURE was a treasure hunt and heist film where a historian races against competing treasure hunters and the FBI to find a Freemason fortune lost for hundreds of years…which includes a map hidden on the Declaration of Independence. 

 

The search for this treasure began in 1999, when filmmaker Jon Turteltaub, who had success in directing 3 NINJAS (1992), COOL RUNNINGS (1993), and PHENOMENON (1996), developed the idea along with film executive Charles Segars, with a script by Jim Kouf. In 2001, the project was picked up by Touchstone Pictures and would be produced by legendary producer Jerry Bruckheimer. Drafts of the script would be written by nine different writers. 

 

The impressive cast would include Nicolas Cage as Benjamin Franklin Gates, along with Sean Bean as his rival. Diane Kruger would play an archivist, and Justin Bartha would play Gates’ sidekick. Jon Voight would play Bates’ father, and Christopher Plummer would play his grandfather. Harvey Keitel would play the FBI agent in charge of the chase. Filming would take place mostly on location in Los Angeles, Washington D.C., New York, Philadelphia, and Utah. Trevor Rabin would provide the score. 

 

Despite mixed reviews, NATIONAL TREASURE would be a box office hit, and would have the best opening weekend for a Disney film until it was surpassed by CHICKEN LITTLE in 2005. It held on to the No. 1 spot for three weekends, and would finish as the 12^th highest grossing film of the year worldwide. Trevor Rabin would win a BMI Film & TV Award for the score. A sequel would follow in 2007, along with a TV series in 2022. 

 

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NATIONAL TREASURE, showing no shame, borrows heavily from the famed INDIANA JONES franchise; racing from location to location following clues while being pursued by bad guys, searching tombs and tunnels, and providing a thrill a minute. NATIONAL TREASURE did not quite reach the heights of INDY, but it certainly did try its hardest and does recapture the spirit. Saturated in American history, it takes its liberties with what really happened and has a blast with it, and is a good example of how much fun the movies can be when they don’t follow the rules of reality. Over time it has become a bit of a cult classic, and perhaps its best legacy happens on the streets of Philadelphia. Much like tourists pointing at the Empire State Building looking for King Kong, tourists in Philly point at Independence Hall where Nic Cage went sprinting after another clue. That’s the type of thing that goes for a couple hundred years.

 

 

“I’m going to steal the Declaration of Independence…”

A Reel 20: THE INCREDIBLES

“No matter how many times you save the world, it always manages to get back in jeopardy again…”

 

This week marks the 20th anniversary of THE INCREDIBLES. 

 

Written and directed by Brad Bird, and produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by 
Walt Disney Pictures, THE INCREDIBLES followed a family of superheroes who live in hiding after a government mandate, who eventually come into battle with a vengeful foe. 

 

THE INCREDIBLES was conceived by Brad Bird in 1993, who came up with the idea as a metaphor for his own struggles with his career and family balance. After Bird’s animated film THE IRON GIANT struggled at the box office in 1999, Bird brought the idea to his old classmate John Lasseter at Pixar. Bird wrote the script alone, which was a departure from Pixar’s standard of having several writers on their projects. 

 

Bird brought in animators from his IRON GIANT team, who had to make the leap from 2D to 3D animation. With this being the first feature length film from Pixar with all human characters, new technology was developed to animate detailed human anatomy, including clothing, skin, and hair. 

 

The cast would include Craig T. Nelson (Mr. Incredible), Holly Hunter (Mrs. Incredible), Jason Lee (Syndrome), Samuel L. Jackson (Frozone), along with Sarah Vowell, Spencer Fox, and John Ratzenberger. Brad Bird would provide the voice of Edna. Michael Giacchino did the score. 

 

THE INCREDIBLES was released wide on November 4th in 2004, and was met with excellent reviews. At the box office, it would finish as the 4th highest grossing film of the year, behind SHREK 2, HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN, and SPIDER-MAN 2. At the 77th Academy Awards, it would win Best Animated Feature and Sound Editing, and be nominated for Original Screenplay and Sound Mixing. A sequel would follow in 2018, and the characters would have a strong presence in Disney parks. 

 

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2004 was a different time for superheroes on the big screen. Although there were hits such as SPIDER-MAN that year and X-MEN a couple years before, things were quiet for our caped wonders. After all, this was four years before IRON MAN and the MCU began. THE INCREDIBLES cannot be credited with launching the genre that would dominate screens for the next two decades, nor can it be lumped into the lot…simply because it is the most of unique of its kind. As an original work, it was not tied down to endless comic origins, and as a Disney release, had strong family themes that resonated. True to Pixar form, it spoke to older audiences; exploring themes of men dealing with middle-age and feeling their best days are behind them. And for fans of cinema, THE INCREDIBLES was saturated in film lore…borrowing elements from James Bond and classic good vs. evil tropes, while offering thoughtful deconstructions of the classic superhero character. One of Pixar’s most super. 

 

“…we’re superheroes. What could happen?”