"Signs"

*The main purpose of Why Do I Own This? is to take a movie from my (too) large collection and answer that question. I then decide whether or not to keep the movie.

Signs

For this week, I went to my sci-fi shelf and came away with M. Night Shyamalan’s Signs. Re-watching this movie, a favorite of mine upon its release in 2002, is a perfect reason for doing these reviews. I watched this movie plenty of times soon after I purchased it fourteen years ago, but I had not watched it for years since then. I wondered if it held up, especially since Shyamalan fell from grace soon after this film (he’s made a comeback of sorts lately) and people were retroactively judging his early films more critically. It turns out, at least for me, that Signs holds up.

The main reason for my love of Signs is the basic premise: an alien invasion movie set in a secluded area. Alien invasion movies usually show a scene or two at a farm or other small town setting, but rarely do they completely take place there. “Signs” went for intimacy in a genre that typically goes big and broad, and the emotional payoff is much more satisfying than any explosion.

Nostalgia also plays a factor in my love for this film (and most films in my collection). My friends and I loved this movie when it came out. We thought it was creepy and funny, and we even admitted that it got to us on an emotional level (late 90s/early 2000s Mel Gibson has that effect on me). So watching this movie takes me back. The moments that gave me chills (the cut to a shadowy alien standing on top of the barn) still work. And the scenes that made me laugh (“Excluding the possibility that a female Scandinavian Olympian was running around outside our house last night…”) still work. And, I’ll admit, I still teared up at the end. Any movie that can do that the first time and the tenth time I see it is special.

When dealing with a movie from a few years ago, it’s impossible not to think about what has happened to the actors and filmmakers since the film came out. While watching this, I mainly thought about what changed for Joaquin Phoenix, Mel Gibson, and M. Night Shyamalan.

Joaquin Phoenix has been a favorite of mine since I noticed him in 8MM. His work a few years after Signs took an interesting turn. He devoted a year or so of his life pretending to leave acting to pursue a rap career as part of a hoax for a fake documentary. The documentary was definitely unique, but it turned out to be more of a waste than anything. Thankfully, he’s back now, and has recently turned in great performances in Paul Thomas Anderson’s last two films, The Master and Inherent Vice.

As for Mel Gibson, everyone knows what happened with him. His multiple, offensive outbursts, both public and private, nearly ended his career. For many, he’s still an unwelcome presence. Despite the public opinion about him, he has returned as well, though to a lesser degree of success than Phoenix. He has acted in a handful of features, but he does have a new directorial effort, Hacksaw Ridge, that appears to be an Oscar hopeful. Still, watching this movie made me pine for the pre-controversy days of Gibson.

Writer/director M. Night Shyamalan went through a rough phase, too, but his was based entirely on his work. After Signs, which does not have a twist (unless you count an alien movie actually having aliens a twist), he went back to the well with The Village. It turns out people were done with the twist endings of Shyamalan. Looking back, The Village was judged a bit too harshly, but it is definitely beneath Unbreakable, Signs, and The Sixth Sense. But he went way too self-indulgent with his next movie, Lady in the Water, which failed to find an audience. Then the wheels fell off with The Happening, which is laughably bad (I still regularly make fun of Mark Wahlberg playing a science teacher in that film [“Don’t you guys want to know what’s goin’ on with the bees?”]). The Happening was followed by The Last Airbender and After Earth. That unholy trinity made many write Shyamalan off. But The Visit received generally positive reviews, and his newest film, Split, is earning high praise at film festivals. Still, much like Gibson, I view this movie with sadness, knowing that it was an end of an era for an interesting filmmaker. But hopefully he keeps his current streak going.

Why do I own this? I loved it in 2002, and I love it in 2016. I even like the opening credits, and I remember kind of hating them the first time I saw this. So this is that rare movie that has improved with age. I’ll definitely be keeping this one.

New(ish) Movie Thoughts

Captain America: Civil War – I finally got a chance to see the biggest movie of the year. I liked it, of course, but it didn’t blow me away. I think I’m getting Marvel fatigue. Still, it’s enjoyable, and everything about it works. I really enjoyed the new Spider-Man. I can’t believe I’m looking forward to a third incarnation of Spider-Man already, but somehow I am.

Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping – This is The Lonely Island movie that bombed a few months ago. I love The Lonely Island, therefore I love this movie. I’m not much on reviewing comedies, even briefly. Basically, if you like The Lonely Island, you should love this. Simple as that.

"Captain America: The First Avenger"

Captain America: The First Avenger - Directed by Joe Johnston, written by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, starring Chris Evans, Hugo Weaving, Hayley Atwell, and Tommy Lee Jones - Rated PG-13

Okay, we've seen 'em all now, so bring on The Avengers.

The summer of superheroes is nearly over, but Captain America: The First Avenger has been one of the most anticipated films of the season. If you’re not suffering from comic book burnout at this point, Captain America makes for a fun, entertaining summer film that is a bit different than other movies of the genre because of the time period it takes place in. The film may not feature any largely memorable moments and doesn’t really have much in the way of style, but it is definitely worth a watch.

Captain America is an origin story that takes place during World War II. Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) is a scrawny, sickly man who just wants to fight for his country but can’t get a doctor to let him in. Enter Stanley Tucci as a German doctor with a special serum that can create a super soldier and Steve Rogers becomes Captain America.

That’s enough for synopsis because as an origin story the whole movie is about Rogers’ transformation so to explain it further would ruin a bit of the movie. As for acting, Evans makes a likable and believable hero and Tucci has a few good scenes as a mentor-type. There are many more characters in the film that deserve a mention, especially because the cast of this film is so strong. Hugo Weaving stands out as Red Skull, the Nazi villain of the film. Weaving tweaks his voice to the point that it sounds eerily similar to Willem Dafoe and it fits the character quite well. Toby Jones was a nice addition as Red Skull’s scientist. Hayley Atwell works fine as Rogers’ handler/love interest. But it’s Tommy Lee Jones who steals the show as the cranky colonel. Every scene he was in was entertaining because of his presence.

There are a few other actors and characters that could be mentioned but that would just be exhausting to read and that is part of the problem with Captain America. Some characters take a backseat because of the bloated cast. Take, for instance, Captain America’s team of soldiers. Some of them are portrayed by very good actors like Derek Luke and Neal McDonough but they get almost nothing to do. If this were a sequel rather than an origin story there could have been much more time devoted to that crew, who instead only get small moments usually played for laughs.

Captain America provides quite a few laughs, actually. The best gags involve the reference to Captain America as a character in the movie itself. This gives the filmmakers the opportunity to play with the original uniform and the iconic image from the first comic book of Captain America punching out Adolf Hitler. The film actually works best in these moments because they serve to build the character of Captain America, though they take up a bit too much of the runtime.

Another problem with Captain America is that it takes so long for him to actually become a superhero, and even then he’s kind of a vague hero. This is just the problem of an origin story since you have to spend so much time building up to the character that you, the audience member, already know he will become. It can get a little boring. As for the vagueness, it’s never really explained what makes Captain America all that special. He’s a bit stronger and a bit faster than a normal human, but when compared to other superheroes he comes off as a bit plain and even weak. But we’ll see how he really compares to them when he shows up in next year’s The Avengers.

Captain America can be kind of a plain, straightforward hero so it’s fitting that the action of this film is straightforward as well. There isn’t much in the way of style in Captain America but it does feature plenty of action and it’s the kind of action that is easy to follow. The film is also in 3-D and while it makes a few scenes look decent because of explosions and debris it is largely useless, just as 3-D has been in nearly all of its live-action incarnations.

The film actually looked great overall, largely due to the time period it takes place in. The World War II setting sets this film apart, in a good way. The visual effects were impressive as well, mainly the scrawny version of star Chris Evans. He looks realistic as a 90-pound weakling, but they kept his voice the same, which made it unintentionally funny every time he spoke. But that’s not a deal breaker or anything for this movie.

Overall Captain America is fine summer film that should appeal to many people. It may be a bit anti-climactic and it might be a little plain, but it’s still entertaining and funny enough to watch. You can skip the 3-D, though.

Random Thoughts (SPOILERS)

I suppose some might argue my comment about the ending being anti-climactic since there are chases and explosions and plenty of death and whatnot. But I still argue that it was kind of weak. Red Skull is defeated simply by picking up the cube? And it wasn't like Captain America realized that is what he had to do. He only exposed the cube by accident, really. Plus, was there any wonder where this one was going? First off, you get that needless intro showing the shield in the crashed plane. Then, there's the news out there about The Avengers and I had even read a story about how the sequel was going to take place in the present day. With all of that knowledge, more than usual, we know that it is all going to work out.

Back to Red Skull grabbing the cube, though. Is he still kicking, then? It looked like he was just transported to Asgard or something. Definitely interested in seeing where that goes in the future movies.

Next year can't get here soon enough, by the way. I really need The Avengers to tie it all together.

On a more superfluous note, how awesome was Neal McDonough's 'stache?