Star Wars: Attack of the Clones - The IMAX Experience
After seeing the latest chapter in George Lucas' expansive sci-fi action series twice before, once in a conventional 35mm theater showing and once in a digital-projection cinema (the latter being the best way to see it), I elected to try it once more in the famed IMAX format. Viewed on opening night at Boston's recently opened Simons Theater at the New England Aquarium, there was a slight technical glitch in the presentation (a four-foot-thick black line split the screen image, resulting in a recalibration of the equipment), but the presenters, some dressed as Clone Troopers, Jango and Boba Fett and Darth Vader, kept the kids entertained (claiming that "a small rebel front had stormed the projector booth"). Movies actually filmed using the IMAX 70mm method often give an immersive experience through stunning wide angle cinematography. Although Attack Of the Clones was not filmed the same way and doesn't work very well physically in the IMAX format (the first-act "chase through Coruscant" sequence is the only one that really stands out), the overlong movie has been cut by nearly a half-hour to fit the IMAX technical requirements, and is a much stronger and more efficient film because of it. By cutting the extraneous dialogue and more laughable moments (see review dated 10/24), Lucas and his team have streamlined Episode II into a more manageable and entertaining movie; in fact, one wishes this version was released into theaters in the first place.
(***1/2 out of four stars for the re-cut version; **1/2 as an IMAX viewing experience)

The Happiness of the Katakuris
Takashi Miike, the anarchistic Japanese director of Audition and Ichi the Killer, breaks the mold once again, bringing us a horror-comedy-musical that is actually a bit of a misfire. Not particularly scary and often a little dull, the story involving a family opening up a hotel in the country where many of the guests meet dire consequences never really comes together. There are a few fun moments: the film sporadically switches to claymation for the more surreal passages, and some of the musical numbers are creatively visualized (one as an 80's tribute type of thing). But the laughs themselves aren't as frequent nor as shocking as the storyline would suggest, and the laughs that do come are less of the from-the-characters-and-story variety and more of the "what-the-hell-is-going-on?" kind of disbelief. There's a funny subplot about a con man posing as a war hero to woo the daughter of the hotel owner. But by the time it reaches it's climax we're far too removed from any semblance of identification. Miike has pushed the limits of film again, to be sure. This time though, the results were at the wrong end of the scale.
**

Femme Fatale
One of the filmgoer's true friends (Mission To Mars not withstanding), Brian De Palma succeeds in creating yet another cinematic puzzle that owes much to Hitchcock yet eventually blossoms into its own unique experience. The film examines the nature of identity, chance and taking charge of one's own destiny, all the while teasing us with a caper plotline involving stolen diamonds, the gyrations of Rebecca Romijn-Stamos and the gaze upon her by Antonio Banderas. The leads keep our interest, Ms. Romijn-Stamos especially, picking up the cinematic bad-girl where Sharon Stone left off a few years ago. Unlike so many recent films that try to stun us with surprise endings and shocking moments simply for the sake of doing so, Femme Fatale's dramatic turns are more natural and planned out. Like the best films of this type, the clues are all there for the viewer and the climax is nothing short of De Palma's usual epically orchestrated high-wire brilliance. Yet, even as the film entertains us it occasionally seems like little more than an exercise in visual mechanics and button-pushing thrills. It could have been more... but what's there works just fine, thank you.
***

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Potter's second go-'round is less fresh than the original, but more adventurous and almost as entertaining. There is great fun in seeing nearly all of the same actors return in their roles from Sorcerer's Stone, right down to those with no lines at all (making everything seem so much more real, if that can be said for this kind of thing). There are some new faces at Hogwart's, the best of which is Kenneth Branaugh as the swaggering new instructor of "defense against the Dark Arts." Less successful is Dobby the House Elf, a CGI character with a good storyline connection, but he's easily as grating as Jar Jar ever was. Director Chris Columbus loads the film with more special effects and and equal amount of whimsy. Be warned, though, a little blood is shed and the fright factor is raised slightly (a newly introduced character, the ghost of a student killed in the girl's bathroom, offers to share her haunting space with Harry if he's killed, too). The late Richard Harris, as Headmaster Dumbledoor, is the key to this film in several ways and his presence will be sorely missed in future chapters; his dramatic weight and playfulness lent much to his character's whispery wisdom and belief in the power of good.
***1/2

Die Another Day
This latest James Bond adventure is easily the most special effects filled and dramatically unhinged offering since A View To a Kill, yet I walked out of the theatre much more entertained with this one than I have with any since GoldenEye. Pierce Brosnan does his usual good work as Bond, and Halle Berry brings much to her role as Bond's counterpart, Jinx. But let's be frank. What makes a Bond movie are the big bangs and multi budget visual spectacles we've come to crave of the franchise. Lee Tamahouri, director of the great Once Were Warriors and the flawed-but-fun Mulholland Falls, brings some verve to the action scenes without seeming overly showy. Standout toys include a solar death-ray and an invisible car (yep... invisible), which help to leave plausibility behind. There are a lot of laughs to be had at technology's expense, particularly in John Cleese's work as the new "Q" of MI6, and by the time Bond's villain shows up in a cyborg exo-skeleton with optional electrocution ability, you can just feel the writers throwing their hands up and saying "screw it!" One has to hand it to the Bond team for making an adventure this ridiculous this much fun.
***

-Matt Goltz