Netflix – Page 12 – Blue Ink Alchemy

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IT CAME FROM NETFLIX! Moon

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Remember that stuff I said last week about science fiction? In that context, an animated space western was being discussed. On the Moh’s Scale of Science Fiction Hardness, I’d probably put Titan A.E. at between 0 and 1 out of 8. Duncan Jones’ Moon, on the other hand, comfortably sits between 6 and 7. It also makes itself at home in your brain, and if yours is anything like mine, it’s not going to leave any time soon.

Earth’s energy crisis has been solved thanks to the utilization of helium-3 deposits on the Moon. The mining operation is the sole propriety of the Lunar Corporation, and its base on the moon’s far side is run by Sam Bell. Sam’s 3-year contract is almost up. Other than the occasional video message from his wife keeping him up to speed on their infant daughter, his only company has been the base’s computer, GERTY. The tenure at the station is beginning to take its toll, however, since Sam is starting to see things. He’s very much looking forward to going home when one of the harvesters breaks down. Sam goes to check it out, and… well, things gets really interesting really fast. I’ll say that much, and no more.

In terms of aesthetics, hard science and mood, Moon feels very much like a spiritual successor to 2001. In fact, Duncan Jones does seem to have taken at least a few notes from Stanley Kubrick. Without relying on showy computer graphics or big name talent, Jones has shoot a film that is at times breathtakingly beautiful and shockingly intimate. But remember how in 2001, we had to wait over an hour and watch stuff float around in space before we got a memorable character? Moon gives us a character right the hell away. And it’s a damn good one.

Sam Rockwell has always struck me as something of an underrated performer. He’s been in science fiction since his big break in Galaxy Quest, where among heavyweights like Tim Allen, Sigorney Weaver and Alan Rickman, he provided a memorable and very funny performance in what could have been a throw-away role. Especially since he was the ‘red shirt’ in the party. It’s really a shame that Iron Man 2 didn’t have more for Justin Hammer to do, focused as it was on Tony Stark wrestling with his demons and learning to get along better with the people around him. If you don’t think Rockwell’s got charisma, watch The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Yes, I know, it’s not as good as the book, but Sam as the vacuous party-president Zaphod has got charisma oozing out of his pores.

Here, Sam gives a very poignant and subdued performance, but no less charismatic, as… well, Sam. In fact, Jones wrote the part of Sam with Sam in mind, after Sam expressed a further interest in science fiction. He handed the script to Nathan Parker, who’s also familiar with Sam’s work and tailored the script to take advantage on a vast well of untapped talent. There’s a lot of it here, too, from the still and slow-moving camera work by cinematographer Gary Shaw that underscores many themes of the film to Clint Mansell’s simple yet haunting score.

However, this is very nearly a one-man show. The bulk of the heavy lifting in Moon is the responsibility of Sam Rockwell. The film’s story, emotional drive and thematic meaning all live and die based on Sam’s ability to convey those story points, those emotions, those themes. And in every aspect, he displays an adroit mastery. We see so many sides of the same character that… well, again, saying more will spoil things. So let’s move on.

Not Pictured: The note reading “HUGE SUCCESS.”

I say it’s “nearly” a one-man show because Sam (the character) isn’t 100% alone. The station’s computer system, GERTY, interfaces with Sam by way of a mobile device bound to a single rail that traverses the station’s interior. GERTY claims to be there to help Sam, as it watches the human through an inscrutable single lens and manipulates the environment with its robotic arms. The computer is voiced by Kevin Spacey, in a smooth and soothing tone that… ahh, there I go again, very nearly spoiling the movie for you.

Seriously, this is one of those films you must see to fully appreciate. I can only ramble on about characters for so long without approaching the border of spoiler territory, and talking about all the technical aspects can get kind of dull even when it’s nothing but absolute praise. There is, however, something I feel I should touch on that has nothing to do with either the particulars of Moon‘s story or of its production.

“What do you mean, ‘I can’t open the pod bay doors’? We don’t even have pods!”

Remember me mentioning Moh’s? It’s unfortunate that, on that scale, a lot of the science fiction we see these days barely rates above a 4. Now, there’s nothing wrong with this and a lot of good stories are told on the softer side of science — Firefly, Battlestar Galactica, Gattaca and District 9 just to name a few — but some of the best fiction is born out of constraints. Some shorter works have more punch and poignancy than novels, due to the author needing to get to his point and drive it home within a restricted word count. Existing as it does on the hard side of Moh’s scale and clocking in at a deceptive-sounding 97 minutes, Moon shows us the kind of story that can be told with the discarding of things like faster than light travel, ray guns and long loving shots of docking sequences set to classical music — a damn good one.

Hard or soft, the best science fiction out there isn’t just about the trappings of the genre. I mean laser cannons, jump drives, killer robots and space whores are cool and fun, sure. But good science fiction, the kind that sticks with you after the space battles are over and the ship pulls in to dock, uses its awesome trappings to draw you in and then teaches you something about the human condition, about who we are and where we’re going. Instead of a grand scale of intergalactic conflict or system-spanning action, Moon has its focus squarely on us here on Earth. By maintaining this tight focus, we experience through the character of Sam Bell some of the things we ourselves deal with despite the fact we’re surrounded by other people every day. In spite of that, some of us can empathize with Sam’s loneliness. We ask ourselves some of the same questions: How much longer do I have? What’s waiting for me after this? Who am I?

Sam can see his house from here. Kinda.

On top of everything else, the film captures a sense of mystery and suspense that feels fresh and edgy despite the jaded lens through which many watch movies. If Hitchcock were alive today and interested in science fiction, Moon might be a production of his. Its story moves at its own patient pace, much like GERTY’s unflappable patience with Sam. While it’s only an hour and a half long, it feels much longer and much deeper. It follows the traditions of Smith, Heinlein and Niven in using elements both familiar and fantastical to tell an intricate and pointed story about humanity. In other words, this is what high-quality science fiction looks like stripped of hyperbolic special effects and presented with the purest intent and passion of the genre. Moon is, in a word, exemplary. It’s on your Netflix Instant queue. Or rather, it should be. Right now.

Josh Loomis can’t always make it to the local megaplex, and thus must turn to alternative forms of cinematic entertainment. There might not be overpriced soda pop & over-buttered popcorn, and it’s unclear if this week’s film came in the mail or was delivered via the dark & mysterious tubes of the Internet. Only one thing is certain… IT CAME FROM NETFLIX.

IT CAME FROM NETFLIX! Titan A.E.

September 17, 2010 / BlueInkAlchemist / 1 Comment

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“Science fiction” is a broader term than you might think. It covers a wide variety of stories, from the space exploration and future cultures of Star Trek to the time-travelling shenanigans of Doctor Who. In the best cases when it comes to science fiction films, these stories use their outlandish or otherworldly settings to tell us something about ourselves here on the mundane, present-day Earth. In the worst, they dump the latest special effects technology on the screen to make a bit of money and distract the audience from the lack of plot or multi-dimensional characters. Of course, special effects tech can be expensive, but Titan A.E. proves that sometimes the oldest tricks work the best. A bottle of ink and a little paint, after all, has got to be less expensive than a room full of top-flight computers and all of the Red Bull necessary to keep their operators going.

The A.E. in the title stands for After Earth. This animated film begins with a malevolent alien species, the Drej, scouring our long-suffering mother world of all life. One of the survivors is Cale, whose father leaves him on the eve of Earth’s annihilation to undertake a mysterious project. The only memento Cale has of his father is a ring. Adrift and alone as one of the few remaining humans, Cale takes odd jobs as a mechanic and salvager until a rugged ship captain named Korso tracks him down. No sooner does Korso tell Cale that his father is out there waiting for him, and that his ring is the key to the project “Titan” that can rekindle the human race, the Drej show up and start blasting things. Not one to stand around and get disintegrated, Cale joins Korso and his crew in a quest to find his father, the Titan and possibly hope for his entire species.

Don Bluth is no stranger to the otherworldly and fantastical. He is, after all, the animator who gave us The Secret of NIMH, the Dragon’s Lair and Space Ace video games, An American Tail and The Land Before Time (but not its bazillion sequels). While much of his style is clear in Titan, the sheer oddness of some of the aliens and the behaviors they engage in feel much more in line with Ralph Bakshi. There’s a bit of an edginess to it, which isn’t uncommon for works from the turn of the millenium but may surprise those of you who know Bluth only due to talking cuddly dinosaurs.

Akima: All this and brains, too.

Further pushing Titan away from the realm of children’s movies is the sheer amount of violence present. Sure, it’s mostly bloodless and taking place in the same sort of universe where you might find Luke Skywalker or his even whinier dad, but there were a couple times where I found myself gobsmacked in an “I can’t believe that just happened!” sort of way. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not as savagely violent as anime entires like Ninja Scroll, but it’s a far cry from the wide-eyed optimism of Fivel the immagrant mouse.

While we’re on the subject though, Titan A.E. immediately reminded me of one of the first anime features I ever saw, Lensman. Given that the anime is an adaptation of the sci-fi novels of one E.E. “Doc” Smith, I consider this a good comparison. Titan aims to be an old-school two-fisted space western, harkening back to the days when Star Wars was unsullied by major merchandising. It’s mostly plays like Flash Gordon without the camp, but at the same time has the good sense not to take itself too seriously. A more cynical way of putting it is that they keep the story and action sequences moving so you don’t think too hard about the science.

Somebody turned off the gravity? Korso’s shirt is unimpressed.

Since we’re in the sort of story where space is the open range and asteroids might as well be tumbleweeds, you shouldn’t expect to get a whole lot of hard science out of Titan A.E. – it’s no 2001, in more ways than one. I mean, this has plot beginning to end, instead of bookending a 20-minute character-driven tragedy with two hours of model spacecraft dancing to classical music. Anyway, while some of the things that happen do have basis in science – weightlessness, exposure to vaccuum, etc – one might be forgiven for wondering how Cale is able to safely eat extra-terrestrial food, for example. Or how the “wake angels” emit dolphin-like song in that one superfluous scene they have. It’s really not the sort of thing that detracts from this kind of story. Titan A.E. is definitely on the softer side of science fiction, as most of the technology exists primarily as a backdrop and mechanism to drive the plot. And on that level, it works. Even if we have no idea how they broke the faster-than-light barrier.

If Titan A.E. has a potentially crippling flaw, it’s the Drej. Given that this is a 2000 film, the decision to mix hand-drawn animation with CGI was innovative for its time and half the time it’s not too much of a disadvantage. The Drej, however, are so decidedly different from every other character involved in the story that they might as well not be from this story. Then again, maybe that’s the point? Anyway, the big problem with the Drej isn’t really their animation, but their motivation. They fear the potential power of humanity. Why? I mean, antagonists lose some of their mystique when their motivations are laid out for us in plain English, but at the same time little hints would be nice. Especially given the way the movie ends, it seems that the Drej were just as responsible for their inevitable defeat as Cale and the surviving humans. If they had a prophecy that drove them to scorch the Earth, shouldn’t it have included something along the lines of “Let the human race die out in peace” or “Keep destroying planets when they settle but don’t go after them when they’re transient, desperate and heroic”? There’s certainly nothing wrong with the actions of a malevolent alien race driving the plot of a story like this, but the Drej run after humanity so fast with the intent to end the race that they run themselves smack into a brick wall and brain themselves. They certainly can’t hold a candle to the Cylons. Hell, I think the Romulans could probably give them a bruising. At least Nero had a bit of charisma.

“So, Akima… you, me, some simulated candlelight…”
“Cale? You remember I have access to large weaponry, right?”
“…We’ll talk later.”

The hero cast, on the other hand, is pretty well done. None of the characters really fall into the realm of stereotype. Co-screenwriter Joss Whedon’s trademark snarky banter shines through in some of the scenes, and there’s never a moment of over-the-top emotional dramatics from the ensemble. In fact, the heroes strike that precious balance of being both well-developed enough for us to care about their well-being and wish them success in a general sense while not trying to turn a rock-em sock-em space romp into a Greek drama. It’s a lot like the hero cast in Independence Day. And hey, that’s Bill Pullman as Korso! Coincidence? I think not!

When all is said and done, Titan A.E. can be best summed up in the word “solid.” Solid concept, solid story, solid screen-writing, solid animation and solid execution. It lurches a bit here and there, and the Drej could have used a bit more work to become truly effective, but those are mostly nitpicks. If you like the sort of action-packed space adventure where a young hero has to learn something about himself while dodging blaster fire and trading quips with an attractive and capable young lady who’s clearly no slouch when it comes to shooting back at the bad guys, you could definitely do worse than Titan A.E. and it’s worth adding to your Netflix queue for an evening’s light entertainment. It’s old-fashioned space-based fun. And I for one have to respect a movie that doesn’t screw around and blows our planet out from under us in the opening scenes. Apparently they lost track of their books in the future, though, because I didn’t see a single human being fleeing the Earth who had the good sense to take a towel with them.

The IT CAME FROM NETFLIX! Poll

September 11, 2010 / BlueInkAlchemist / 0 Comments

I quietly introduced this feature yesterday. In case you missed it, take a look to the right of my main content area, just below the grinning face in the Classholes advert.

This is an opportunity for you to participate in my weekly IT CAME FROM NETFLIX! feature without having to make a donation or call me out in a public podcast. Every week, after I do my thing, I’ll choose a few movies on my queue that seem interesting, bring back memories or look like they need a good paddling. Once the new poll is up, you can vote on which movie you’d like to see & hear me review.

I think this works better than my old, static list. I set the polls to expire so I’ll be prompted to keep new ones coming. More than that, though, folks who actually have an interest in seeing how this series is evolving and improving can become a part of that process. Or just push me towards reviewing more bad movies.

What do you guys think of the poll? Do you love it? Hate it? Want me to get different movies in there?

IT CAME FROM NETFLIX! G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra

September 10, 2010 / BlueInkAlchemist / 2 Comments

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Ours was a Transformers house. G.I. Joe wasn’t on anywhere near as much when I was growing up. In retrospect, this might be why my initial impression of Michael Bay’s Transformers movies was a little bit rosier than my overall take has become. So I went into G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra expecting a dumb, flashy action picture more in line with those movies than the colorful inventiveness of Iron Man or the “introspection coupled with action” brilliance of Equilibrium. I didn’t quite get what I expected, and I mean that in both the best and worst possible ways.

Following a very brief scene in 17th century France to give us the family history of the man who would be Destro, we open to find that man, James McCullen, showcasing a new weapon for his NATO investors. His arms company, MARS, supplies most of the world’s militaries with weaponry, pursuing his family’s policy of never getting caught selling arms to both sides. His new weapons’ warheads, which dissolve metal upon impact and self-replicate to encompass city-wide destruction provided a kill switch isn’t triggered, are left in the hands of a special ops unit ambushed and assaulted by a highly advanced force. Before the weapons can be stolen, however, a different highly advanced force comes to the rescue. The latter is G.I. Joe, an international black ops outfit formed of the best & brightest from around the world provided they can deal with silly nicknames. The mysterious bad guys still want the warheads, though, touching off a conflict that will define both teams forever. Oh, and don’t be fooled by the word “international” in there: G.I. Joe is still as American as baseball, apple pie and questionably motivated military interventionism.

“A Real International Hero” doesn’t quite roll off the tongue the same way.

When you go into a movie like G.I. Joe, there are certain expectations. There will be explosions, one-liners will be dispensed and you’d better bring your own batteries, as they are not included. However, this movie seems aware of this. It has some fun at its own expense. I’m reminded of the scenes in You Only Live Twice or Thunderball where James Bond dispenses a cadre of henchmen or breaks out a neat gadget and you can’t help but smile because you know it’s the result of invoking the Rule of Cool. This movie has a level of camp that never becomes overly silly, but it seems aware of this for the most part. I mean, it opens with the words “In the not too distant future.” And in another move that distinguishes this from Revenge of the Fallen, the fights are relatively clearly shot and paced so you never lose track of combatants or where the action is headed. As I mentioned, I didn’t expect a level of inventiveness I’d attribute to Marvel. But how often have you seen people doing parkour on moving cars? Or a dogfight under water?

Now, in a movie like this, you can’t expect top-flight actors to give their all. That said, most of the performances fall on the “passable” side of “phoning it in.” The Joes we’re introduced to during the first real action sequence are actually a well-balanced team, and Rachel Nichols in particular tries to give Scarlett a little bit of depth and nuance. I really liked her, Snake Eyes, Breaker and Heavy Duty. Dennis Quaid seems to be here just to be the gruff leader and Brendan Frasier has a cute little cameo. They’re not ground-breaking characters and lean towards cliché, but what do you expect? It’s G.I. Joe! There’s kickass energy weapons, cool vehicles and freakin’ ninjas! We’re here to have fun, right?

He knows war is good for business, and knowing is half the battle.

On the Cobra/MARS side of things, I have to say there were times I didn’t quite buy Christopher Eccleston’s Scottish accent. Still, he gave McCullen a sort of cultured gravitas I wasn’t expecting, while Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s role had a touch of mad menace I really appreciated. This is Cobra we’re talking about, so of course things lean towards the sort of malevolent camp that makes Blofeld look like a Machivellian genius, but it’s more fun than laughable where these two are concerned. Oh, and Arnold Vosloo just owns the Zartan role. He’s a very bright spot in this film. Again – having fun’s the order of the day.

There was a lot of potential in G.I. Joe. I was on board for some of the action-aimed fun and I found myself really wanting to like it. When the movie’s firing on all cylinders, it’s a fast, fun and inventive little action flick. But like a date who chats you up pleasantly for an hour at the local pub only to duck out for a “phone call” and never come back, sticking you with the check and refusing to respond to your texts afterwards, this movie let me down. I could point to the overuse of action clichés, the occasional bit of dodgy CGI or the fact that there’s a reason why ice floats (I’m looking at you, climactic action sequence). So what makes me feel like G.I. Joe is so full of potential but ultimately a let-down? The answer lies in some spoilertastic territory, so fairly be ye warned.

A scene from G.I. Joe, or Halo? Hard to tell, isn’t it?

Let’s start with Channing Tatum. You don’t really need to do a lot to carry an action flick as the hero or main protagonist. Kick ass, take names, crack wise and show a bit of emotion here and there to inform the motivations of the character. Tatum as Duke does kick ass. But he doesn’t seem interested in taking names, his one-liners are utterly flat and he has the emotional range of a brick. Considering the ways we see Rachel Nichols, Saïd Taghmaoui and even Ray Park show emotion here and there, I don’t think I can legitimately fault director Stephen Sommers or the writers – for this. Tatum feels like a beefier, even less emotive Hayden Christensen. He’s not having fun, and since he’s our main protagonist, it waters down our fun as well. On the other hand, I think I’ve found the perfect guy to play Master Chief in the inevitable Halo movie! Michael Bay, give Channing a call! I’m sure he’ll be excited to be a part of it. Not that you’ll be able to tell.

Then, there’s Marlon Wayans. I haven’t liked anything a Wayans brother has done in terms of acting since In Living Color, save for maybe Blankman or Don’t Be A Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice In The Hood. Half the time Marlon as Ripcord just looks sort of lost. The other half, I just struggled to take him seriously. To me, it feels like he’s trying and failing to channel Will Smith. His jokes never really made me laugh, I didn’t buy him as either an action hero or the sort of guy to figure out the connection between the attack on the Joe’s base and McCullen – his line felt like it should have belonged to Breaker. He just feels superfluous, along for the ride, sort of tacked on. He’s not having fun because he’s trying too hard. I’m really not sure how to articulate why his presence made me so uncomfortable past my personal lack of affinity for the Wayans brothers in general and Marlon in particular. So let’s move on to the real deal-breaker.

I’m going to get this out in the open: I dig Sienna Miller. She smoldered in Layer Cake and completely nailed the selfish Victoria in Stardust. I think she did the most with what she was handed in this, and for the most part she pulls off a classic femme fatale in a black catsuit with kickass guns and the coolest pair of Transitions lenses ever. The problem I have here is the exact opposite of the one I have with Channing Tatum. I feel Duke would have been fine in the hands of another actor. The Baroness, on the other hand, bothered me because she was assaulted in the writer’s room and never really recovered.

You see, for most of the film the Baroness is a cunning, smirking, damn fine looking kicker of ass who loves every minute of being the bad girl. She especially delighted in playing her rich scientist husband for a sap, and watching Storm Shadow and McCullen vie for her affections. For some reason, though, this sort of strong female antagonist seemed to intimidate the writers, who worked in a relationship with Duke right from the beginning. As much as I loved seeing a black-haired Sienna blowing things up and complimenting other girls on their shoes while she points a gun at them, in the back of my mind there was a sinking feeling as I felt I knew where this was going. Sure enough, towards the end the Baroness pulls a High Heel Face Turn. But wait! It gets worse! It turns out she was brainwashed into working for MARS the whole time, so all of her awesome villainy wasn’t even her fault! She’s really a sweet girl who missed Duke and was ready to forgive him for the pain he caused her! Seeing an interesting character and a strong female one at that completely undermined in this way just made me sick. At that point I very nearly turned my back on the whole affair, but I was already on around the 110th minute so I figured I might as well see it through to the end. It never got better. I’m sorry, but this sort of character derailment just isn’t fun for me, and while some of the characters are bad or flat, this sort of thing is just completely inexcusable.

Like I said, I wanted to have fun watching G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, but going back to my baseball analogy: One, two, three strikes – you’re OUT!

IT CAME FROM NETFLIX! Daredevil

September 3, 2010 / BlueInkAlchemist / 6 Comments

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There was a time when it seemed implausible that superheroes that didn’t already exist in the general public’s somewhat limited imagination could succeed as motion pictures. People remembered Christopher Reeve as Superman and Batman had a TV show in the 60s that Tim Burton and Michael Keaton could use as a springboard for their darker, edgier take. But Iron Man? Thor? Captain America? A decade ago these costumed crusaders wouldn’t have had much of a chance. A lot of people at the time would have pointed to 2003’s Daredevil as an example of why the lesser-known names can’t make it at the box office. This is perplexing to me, because despite some of its shortcomings, Daredevil most decidedly does not suck.

By day, Matthew Murdock is an attorney working a variety of pro-bono and low-rate cases in Hell’s Kitchen. He and his partner Foggy Nelson fight for the underdogs who wouldn’t have a chance otherwise. By night, Murdock prowls the streets as Daredevil, an acrobatic vigilante who is said to be absolutely fearless. The catch is, Murdock is blind. The accident that robbed him of his sight as a child hyper-sensitized his other senses, giving him a type of echolocation and the sort of reflexes that lead him to train as a martial artist. His goal is to topple the enigmatic Kingpin slowly consuming the criminal underworld in New York, but his encounter with a young woman named Elektra who matches his martial skills changes his life and may cause him to hang up his cowl forever.

Daredevil features characterization as its most prominent success. There is some definite chemistry between Matt & Elektra. Winston Fisk, the aforementioned Kingpin, has the sort of intimidating physical presence that, to quote Roger Ebert, “makes the camera want to take a step back and protect its groin.” I’m a fan of Michael Clarke Duncan and this is very good work on his part. Kingpin’s specialized hitman, Bullseye, seems possessed with a manic magnetism that has the audience watching his every move just to see what crazy thing he does next. Even minor characters’ little nuances come through in the writing and acting, from Foggy’s quirky sense of humor to reporter Ben Urich’s dedication to unmasking Daredevil.

“Your Honor, I submit this work for the pleasure of the court and ask that Armageddon be stricken from the record. And my memory.”

The biggest question hanging over this production is if Ben Affleck was right in the leading role. The best answer I can offer is Marvel could have done much, much worse. Despite criticism that’s been leveled at Affleck in the past, he portrays Murdock with honest charm, real humanity, and a haunted vulnerability. One of the best ways to show your audience that your hero is not invincible and a relatable character is to hurt him, and Ben’s pretty good at conveying pain. It’d be nice if he didn’t narrate so much in the beginning, though. He’s not terribly good at delivering one-liners, either.

Daredevil does suffer from its share of flaws. The pace of the movie is somewhat schizophrenic, never seeming to strike just the right balance between having fun and being dramatic. Superhero stories do tend to be melodramatic, what with their hyper-realized heroes going through emotional changes before our eyes on big screens with bombastic surround sound, but this one goes a bit too far in places. Finally the action is undercut rather than underscored by the hit-and-miss soundtrack, which includes that one song Nickelback does.

“Bullseye. Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”
“I dunno, boss… Guinness, football and hookers?”

Still, director and co-writer Mark Steven Johnson shoots clean, crisp scenes and makes the most of the characters he introduces. This is especially true in the Director’s Cut. A lot of the problems of pace I mentioned are solved when the romance is cut back, the duality of Matt’s life is increased and the reality of the situation is driven home in the expansion of the fights. This version of the film is rated R, while the theatrical release skated by with a PG-13 rating. I suspect that in order to appeal to kids, especially everybody who was really into Evanescence at the time, the romance was amped up and the “boring” courtroom stuff cut back. Which is a shame, because seeing the way Matt and Foggy work a courtroom and the things their client says on the stand are a real joy.

This movie, like its namesake, dwells in darkness. It’s a brooding, driven piece of work. Even in its’ director’s incarnation, it’s flawed. However, the shortcomings I’ve mentioned never quite overshadow the good things in it, the hallmarks of a genre shaking off the dark and gritty late 90s that gave us hard-edged anti-heroes like Spawn. Daredevil is edgy, but that edge is tempered with bits of humor and humanity that elevate it just above the surface of the dark and swampy waters of your typical Hollywood fare. I’d recommend it.

One thing of note to conclude: the superior Director’s Cut is not available on Netflix. I watched it through Amazon’s On Demand service. But the standard edition isn’t bad, and you can add that to your Netflix queue if you’re it sounds like this is the sort of superhero movie you’re looking for. I do try to be honest in what I do, but I established the title of this series quite some time ago. I can’t exactly change it every week to say “It came from Amazon”, or “It came from my basement”, or “It came from the side of the road”, or “It came from my friend Ben’s house.”

Tag: Netflix (page 12 of 24)

IT CAME FROM NETFLIX! Moon

IT CAME FROM NETFLIX! Titan A.E.

The IT CAME FROM NETFLIX! Poll

IT CAME FROM NETFLIX! G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra

IT CAME FROM NETFLIX! Daredevil

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