FILM REVIEW OF ''SPLIT" (2017)

If tour-de-force performances alone made great movies, then “Sixth Sense” writer & director M. Night Shyamalan’s “Split” (* OUT OF ****) would be one of the best.  Instead, Shyamalan’s twelfth movie qualifies as an unintentionally hilarious, multiple identity disorder, abduction chiller about a colorful fruit loop bristling with more identities than you can count on fingers and toes together.  As the traumatized casualty of an abusive mom, woebegone protagonist Kevin Wendel Crumb (James McAvoy) has forged a ‘Horde’ of personalities to serve as a bulwark against grim reality.  Predictable, derivative, and ultimately preposterous, “Split” contains McAvoy’s nuanced performance as well as Shyamalan’s usual standard-issue surprises.  Indeed, McAvoy has a field day chewing the scenery as a wacko with 23 personalities who is gestating number twenty-four.  Basically, this charming but deranged psycho abducts three pretty young things from a Philadelphia shopping mall and confines them for his own culinary delight in an underground facility from which escape is virtually impossible.  Compared with other movies about split-personality psychos, “Split” does feature a looney tune with a greater number of identities than any other movie.  McAvoy’s chameleon-like capacity to shift from one identity to another in the flick of an eyelash is as fluid as if he were genuinely conflicted himself.  Suffice to say, McAvoy is brilliant, but perhaps not Oscar brilliant.  “Split” boils down to a clever, self-conscious one-man show despite the quartet of additional characters involved.  Unfortunately, we see only eight of the twenty-three weirdos that McAvoy portrays, but none is either demonic or memorable.  Meanwhile, two of those four other characters lack sympathy because they brought this tragedy on themselves by ridiculing the psycho.  Shyamalan’s surprises occur just where you would expect them, and you won’t feel the overwhelming urge to shout “WOW!” because you are so flabbergasted.  Meantime, Shyamalan struggles desperately to spawn suspense, but what he achieves remains at best trifling.  Sometimes, this half-baked suspense proves aggravating because you realize how futile it is for these doomed characters.  On the other hand, unlike most psychos on killing spree saga, “Split” doesn’t wallow in gratuitous blood and gore.  

Casey Cook (Anya Taylor-Joy of “The Witch”) has been forged in a crucible of child abuse, too.  A heart attack killed her father (Sebastian Arcelus of “Ted 2”) while she was attending elementary school.  Sadly, her father’s brother, Uncle John (Brad William Henke of “Fury”), has assumed the duties as a guardian for Casey.  Without divulging too much, Casey and her stepfather have had an adversial relationship. Now, in high school, Casey prefers to keep to herself whenever possible.  Two of her snobbish classmates, Claire (Haley Lu Richardson of “The Edge of Seventeen”) and Claire’s African-American friend Marcia (Jessica of “Honeytrap”), have invited her to their birthday party more out of mercy rather than friendship.  Indeed, they display cynical attitudes about Casey, but they fear the repercussions on social media about what they might have faced had they not invited Casey.  When her ride doesn’t materialize, Casey agrees to accompany Claire and Marcia and listen to Claire’s father (Brian Gildea) who loves to tell terrible jokes.  As the saying goes, Hell is a road asphalted with good intentions, and Claire and Marcia have provided the paving that puts Casey in harm’s way. Before they can pull out of the parking lot, a stranger, Kevin Wendel Crumb intervenes, dispenses with Claire’s dad, and then carjacks them.  Slipping on a face mask, he sprays something into their eyes that plunges them into oblivion.  Of course, had they not been paralyzed with fear, these girls could have bailed out before Kevin incapacitated them.  When they awaken, the girls find themselves locked up in a room with the same tight-lipped stranger staring at them.  Eventually, they discover that something is seriously amiss with their captor.  Every time Crumb appears, he masquerades as an entirely different fellow, sometimes even as a woman.  What the three girls don’t know is that Kevin is a patient of a world-renowned psychotherapist, Dr. Karen Fletcher (Betty Buckley of “Frantic”), who has terribly misjudged the threat that he poses to society.  Repeatedly, Kevin tells her about ‘the beast’ and how this messianic personality will shield all twenty-three personalities from scorn and ridicule.  When ‘the beast’ shows up, “Split” turns into a warped Marvel Comics movie because the beast possesses supernatural characteristics.  At this point, you want to laugh out loud at this transition from a dreary abduction potboiler to a fantasy epic that happens to be a belated sequel to the Bruce Willis & Samuel L. Jackson thriller “Unbreakable.” 

Nothing in this review has been designed to spoil “Split” if you decide to see it.  You may walk into this superficial saga with greater awareness than you might have, but far be it for me to sabotage the quirky ending that hinges on purity.  Before anybody can complain that I hate all Shyamalan’s movies, let me say that I admired “The Sixth Sense,” “Unbreakable,” “Signs,” and “Lady in the Water,” but I abhorred “The Village,” “The Visit,” “After Earth,” “The Last Airbender,” and “The Happening.”  “Split” belongs to the latter category of travesties.  Comparably, as deplorable as it was, “The Visit” surpasses “Split.” Nothing about “Split” is more than timidly suspenseful, and the action degenerates into a series of episodic encounters between McAvoy’s various personalities and his victims.  Casey is the only other truly interesting character aside from the loquacious Dr. Karen Fletcher.  The other two girls might as well have been mannequins.  They are essentially expendable, and they behave like whiny victims in a movie where whiny victims must perish.  The surprise ending came as neither a relief nor a revelation.  More often than not, I felt like Shyamalan cheated with some of the narrative twists that contained neither enough credibility nor sufficient spontaneity.  Finally, Shyamalan has exploited Dissociative Identity Disorder as a cheap gimmick to conjure up an uninspired Grimm’s style fairy tale that stigmatizes the disorder rather than entertains us as a legitimate horror movie.

FILM REVIEW OF ''ROGUE ONE, A STAR WAR STORY" (2016)

Nothing worthwhile comes without sacrifice, and the superlative science fiction saga “Rogue One, A Star Wars Story” (**** OUT OF ****) exemplifies this notion.   Basically, “Godzilla” director Gareth Edwards, “Golden Compass” scenarist Chris Weitz, and “Bourne” trilogy scribe Tony Gilroy have eliminated all those buffoonish, kid-friendly aliens and given adults a chance to experience an unusually Spartan “Star Wars” saga.  No, the PG-13 rated “Rogue One” is neither “Saving Private Ryan” nor “Hacksaw Ridge,” but the straightforward action will give you a reason to shed a tear since a palatable sense of doom looms over this skullduggery.  Everything I’ve read about this entry in the “Star Wars” universe emphasizes the word ‘stand-alone’ so you won’t be seeing the gifted cast, featuring Felicity Jones, Forest Whitaker, Donnie Yen, Ben Mendelsohn, and Diego Luna, reprising their roles unless Disney conjures up prequels.  Of course, this doesn’t apply to Darth Vader who behaves like the ruthless ruffian that he has always been.  Mind you, in some respects, “Rogue One” may seem hopelessly predictable for some aficionados.  If you’ve seen George Lucas’ “Star Wars: Episode VI: A New Hope,” then you know that the Death Star didn’t survive that adventurous classic.  “Rogue One” qualifies as a prequel.  Chronologically, this outing takes place between “Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith” (2005) and “Star Wars: Episode VI: A New Hope.” Although we know the Death Star is ill-fated, what we didn’t know the identity of the individual who sowed the seeds for its destruction.  Some of the finest moments in “Rogue One” occur when the Grand Moff Tarkin appears.  This is the infamous character that the late British actor Peter Cushing of “Frankenstein” fame portrayed with such ascetic villainy.  Cushing’s estate approved the physical recreation of the late actor’s personage, and actor Guy Henry’s impersonation is flawless. Quibbles aside, if Peter Cushing could see what they’ve accomplished, he’d be impressed.  Similarly, what Edwards and his scenarists have achieved with Disney’s audacious attempt to expand the “Star Wars” time-line is sensational.  Indeed, the House of Mouse has succeeded where few film studios have ever gone with a legitimate spin-off from a multi-million-dollar franchise.

Since “Star Wars: Episode VI: A New Hope” came out back in the summer of 1977, fans have complained about the sweet spot in the Death Star that enabled the Alliance to blow it up.  “Rogue One” relates the story about that sweet spot, and “Star Wars” aficionados can argue about other things—primarily the time-line between the two films—because Luke and Leia were born at the end of “Episode III.”  Nevertheless, who really cares about such things, when a movie like “Rogue One” fills the gap?  Aside from Darth Vader, C3PO, R2D2, and Princess Leia, the primary characters in “Rogue One” are entirely new to the franchise.  A brilliant scientist, Galen Erso (Mads Mikkelsen of “Dr. Strange”), has been forced against his will to collaborate with the Empire to forge the ultimate weapon of devastation.  The wicked Orson Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn of “Killing Them Softly”) has commandeered Galen for the project, and he intends to use Galen’s wife Kyra (Valene Kane of “Victor Frankenstein”) and his adolescent daughter Jyn (Beau Gadsdon) as bargaining chips. Galen sends his daughter into hiding, and Kyra perishes trying to thwart Orson.  Jyn grows up under the tutelage of an extreme radical, Saw Gerrera (Forest Whitaker of “Platoon”), and she becomes a notorious criminal who has been imprisoned when the Rebel Alliance rescues her.  It seems that an Empire pilot, Bodhi Rook (Riz Ahmed of “Nightcrawler”) has defected and given himself up to Saw.  Bodhi claims he has an urgent message from Galen Erso about the Death Star.  Naturally, nobody believes the Empire could have forged such an awesome armament.  The Rebel Alliance isn’t prepared to be so casual about this booger bear.  Cassian Andor (Diego Luna of “Blood Father”) and his reprogrammed Empire Droid K-2s0 (voice of Alan Tudyk of “Serenity”) break Jyn (Felicity Jones of “Brideshead Revisited”) out captivity when she is being transferred to a labor camp.  Later, as Jyn explains to Saw, the Rebel Alliance is using her for safe passage into Saw’s camp on the planetary moon Jedha where Bodhi is being held captive.  Saw surprises Jyn with a holographic message from Galen intended for her. Galen explains that the Death Star has the equivalent of an Achilles’ Heel that will render it vulnerable to the Rebels.  No sooner has Jyn seen this message than the Grand Moff Tarkin brings the Death Star into orbit around Jedha and unleashes its formidable power on the city. During their rushed exit from Jedha, Cassian and Jyn pick up a pair of hitchhikers, Chirrut Îmwe (Donnie Yen of “Iron Monkey 2”) and his sidekick Base Malbus (Wen Jiang of “Let the Bullets Fly”), who become recruits for the cause.  Chirrut is a blind martial arts warrior who wields a lethal staff and believes in the Force with all his heart.

“Rogue One, A Star Wars Story” depicts the efforts of the underdog Rebel Alliance to triumph over the Empire.  Basically, this exciting escapade works on the level of a Republic Serial from the 1940s with one cliffhanger scene after another ensuing in a grand finale on a scenic Caribbean-like island named Scarif where the star fleets of the both the Rebel Alliance and the Empire wage the battle to end all battles. Although it doesn’t rely on the usual trio of Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, and Princess Leia, “Rogue One” imitates “Star Wars” in virtually every respect except its ending with a Pyrrhic Victory.  Felicity Jones makes a sympathetic heroine that you won’t forget.  Donnie Yen and Alan Tudyk as K-2S0 compete as the ultimate scene stealers. The special effects are fantastic. Altogether, “Rogue One” qualifies as the best “Star Wars” epic since “The Empire Strikes Back.”

FILM REVIEW OF ''PASSENGERS" (2016)

The adventurous science fiction romance “Passengers” (** OUT OF ****), starring Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt, contains an initially appetizing premise.  An enormous spaceship carrying 5000 passengers and a crew of 250, all of whom are asleep in hibernation pods for the 120-year journey through space to colonize another Earth-like planet, encounters complications with an asteroid field and a malfunction opens one of the pods.   Our unfortunate hero awakens to find himself alone aboard the spacecraft with luxurious accommodations and recreational facilities, but he cannot resume his sleep no matter what he tries.  Imagine being trapped all alone aboard a vessel reminiscent either of Douglas Adams’ novel “Starship Titanic” or Grant Naylor’s novel “Red Dwarf” cruising on auto-pilot through the icy desolation of the galaxy with nobody to turn to for relief and assistance.  No matter what he does, our hero cannot get a response from anybody about his ordeal.  Moreover, he won’t interact with another human until the ship enters orbit around its destination in 90 years!  Indeed, the only thing that he can do is share his anguish with an oblivious android that mixes alcoholic beverages behind the bar and indulge in the recreational outlets aboard the ship.  “Imitation Game” director Morten Tyldum and “Prometheus” scenarist Jon Spaihts synthesize the classic films “Sleeping Beauty” and “Titanic” in this promising ‘what-if’ scenario, but the characters aren’t as compelling as the life and death crisis with which they must contend.  Chiefly, Jennifer Lawrence’s highly-strung, leading lady spends more time screaming than scheming, while the Chris Pratt hero tangles with a fate so tragic that he conducts himself in an ethically compromising manner that haunts him.  Some of the obstacles that they confront are genuinely exciting, but “Passengers” amounts to a thoroughly predictable yarn riddled with plot holes that neither Tyldum and Spaihts nor Lawrence and Pratt can triumph over in this 116-minute, PG-13 rated opus.  Ultimately, when you consider everything that everybody could have done to improve this flawed film, it is really a shame that “Passengers” doesn’t live up to its potential.

Basically, “Passengers” reminded me of those adventures that intrepid pilgrims embarked upon to enter a promised land for a better life.  Jim Preston (Chris Pratt of “Guardians of the Galaxy”) is a middle-class, mechanical engineer who cannot find his fortune on a vastly overpopulated planet Earth, so he books passage aboard the lavishly appointed corporate ferry Avalon for a faraway place designated Homestead II.  There are two things that you should know from the outset about “Passengers.”  First, this sci-fi saga occurs so far into the future that all the guess work in space travel appears to have been accounted for by scientists so that nothing can possibly go wrong.  Second, our hero and heroine don’t contend with menacing alien creatures out to make a meal of them.  Humanity is the only race that inhabits this half-baked escapade that wears out its welcome long before the Avalon reaches its destination.  During the first 30 or so minutes, Jim Preston struggles to amuse himself aboard this spectacular spaceship.  Some things about the craft are really cool.  As it plies its way through the universe, this sophisticated, state-of-the-art spaceship has been designed to travel on auto-pilot with a huge, invisible shield deployed like a huge nose-cone to deflect anything perilous in its path. The asteroid field that it smashes its way through during the first few minutes evokes memories of “Titanic,” but the toll that the asteroid field takes on the Avalon doesn’t create problems right away.  After he awakens, Preston takes advantage of all the opportunities that the ship offers.  As it turns out, the hibernation pods are scheduled to open during the last leg of the voyage, with the crew awakening months prior to the passengers so they can prepare them for disembarkation.  When Jim isn’t floating in alcohol, he tries to break into the bridge where the crew sleeps.  Meantime, Jim browses through the passenger database and finds Aurora and admires her in her translucent hibernation pod.  Eventually, about a year later, Aurora Lane (Jennifer Lawrence of “The Hunger Games”) joins Jim, and the fate that they are facing horrifies her.  Jim has done everything that she suggests later to extricate them from their predicament. 

Initially, like all romantic movies, time takes a toll on Jim and Aurora’s relationship, especially the conditions that prompted their rendezvous in space.  We learn Aurora is a writer who wants to experience life first-hand on Homestead II and then return to Earth so she can write the first book about the experience.  Unlike Jim, Aurora purchased a higher priced ticket and enjoys all the features of a first-class passenger. You can see the resemblance between “Passengers” and the Leonardo DiCaprio & Kate Winslet “Titanic.” 

Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt generate enough charisma to make a sympathetic couple. Nevertheless, they can only do so many things before “Passengers” exhausts its spontaneity. The closest thing to another human is friendly android bartender Arthur (Michael Sheen of “TRON: Legacy”) that polishes glasses, mixes drinks, and listens to them.  You can figure out where “Passengers” is bound with its cliché-riddled ‘boy gets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl back’ plot.  Once Jim and Aurora have broken up, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that something bigger must happen for them to repair the damage to their relationship.  They must reconcile themselves and then figure out how to repair the catastrophic damage to the Avalon as it steadily deteriorates because of the asteroid field encounter.  Lawrence and Pratt are more interesting than the one-dimensional characters that they portray. The arrival of another character to straighten things out doesn’t really help matters in Spaihts’ by-the-numbers screenplay.  For the record, Hollywood has been struggling to develop this project for about a decade.  Initially, Keanu Reeves and Reese Witherspoon were cast to play the two lovers, but scheduling difficulties derailed that enterprise. You won’t get carried away with “Passengers.”