Review: Rise of the Guardians (2012) is a stunning disappointment, with little substance, no character.

Rise of the Guardians

2012
97 minutes
rated PG

by Scott Mendelson

Rise of the Guardians is an astonishing exercise in generic storytelling, with so little new to bring to the narrative plate that even a morsel of good ideas can't save it from tedium.  I can't speak to the source material, but the film amounts to a high concept idea ("What if the various holiday mascots formed a superhero group?") where no more imagination was offered after the initial pitch.  The story is basically a Mad Libs team-superhero origin story, where we follow a new recruit into a new world and learn the mythology through his eyes.  That the story shamefully rips off the first X-Men is less of a problem than the heroic cohorts having almost no discernible characteristics beyond their costumes and holiday-related duties.  With paper-thin characterization and no real surprises in the offering, Rise of the Guardians amounts to a mostly dull effort that diminishes both big-budget animation and superhero stories at the same time.

Review: Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011) entertains, intrigues, and amuses, but becomes too frantic for its own good.

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows
2011
128 minutes
rated PG-13

by Scott Mendelson

There are times when this second Guy Ritchie-helmed Sherlock Holmes adventure threatens to become what the first film was advertised as.  The first picture, if you recall, was marketed as an all-action, all-comedy, huge tent-pole adventure that just happened to feature the world's most famous detective (teaser and trailer).  In fact, the 2009 Sherlock Holmes (review) was an often quiet and contemplative character piece, a genuine mystery drama that had moments of big budget spectacle.  This new film tries its hand with the 'bigger is better' philosophy, to varying degrees of success.  The action is more frequent and of a larger scale, and the characters are less mournful and introspective this time around.  But what's lost in the fury and bombast is gained with an upping of the stakes, both personal and external.  Oddly enough, the highlight of the last picture, the relationship between Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law, becomes almost a distraction this time around, taking time away from what should be the primary attraction - the battle of wits between Sherlock Holmes and Professor James Moriarty.

Now THAT'S more like it! Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows gets a darker, more engrossing trailer that highlights Moriarty accordingly.

It is perhaps worth noting that this sequel was intended to be in 3D when it was announced early last year, but now the plan seems to be going for pure 2D.  Make of that what you will... I'm still miffed that Jared Harris is not getting billing as arch-fiend Professor James Moriarty, but that's a small quibble.  What matters is that this trailer sets up a darker, more violent, and more expansive adventure rather than just selling overly broad humor.  Yes, there is some bawdiness, but there is a clear establishing of the grand stakes, along with the implication that Moriarty is racking up a tidy body count in the process.  I wish they hadn't revealed the respective gag at 1:55, but I am glad that they've stopped hiding the fact that Rachel McAdams is indeed returning for this go-around.  While the trailer does seem action-packed, with explosions and gunfire galore, it is heartening to notice that most of the action beats seem to be from two major sequences (a chase/gun-battle in the woods and the train sequence).  I'm also glad to see Eddie Marsan returning as Inspector Lestrade, both because I like the actor and I'm a big proponent of maintaining character continuity for sequels of this nature.  Anyway, this is a far superior trailer to the one that debuted in July, so hopes remain high that the sequel will at least be as good as the rock-solid original picture.  No, Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes wasn't as good as the BBC Sherlock series.  Yes, I'm still allowed to enjoy them both.  Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows opens on December 16th, so as always, we'll see...

Scott Mendelson   

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows gets two new character posters.

Collider first posted these, but they are pretty self-explanatory.  It will be interesting to see if Warner Bros. releases any more in the coming days, highlight Professor Moriarty (Jared Harris) Mycroft Holmes (Stephen Fry), or Sim (Noomi Rapace).  The cost that comes with casting a character as your prime villain is that you don't get much mileage out of him/her from a marketing standpoint.  Kudos to Guy Ritchie for not just going for the first big star to say yes, but as a result Warner Bros is stuck basically advertising a sequel that offers little in the way of anything different from the first picture.  Ironically, this is the same (relative) problem that Paramount had with Iron Man 2, as it too was stuck with a villain that wasn't quite iconic (Whiplash?) played by that box office-dynamo Mickey Rourke.  Obviously Iron Man 2 opened with $128 million two summers ago compared to the first film's $100 million 3.5-day opening, so something went right. I'm sure Warner Bros. would be thrilled with a similar 28% jump in opening weekend grosses, which would net Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows $79 million over its first three days.  It will be interesting to see if Warner Bros. cuts a second trailer between now and December, and if so if they find a way to sell Moriarty to a mass audience.

Scott Mendelson  

Begun, these IMAX wars have? Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol in IMAX will go head-to-head with Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows after all.

In the category of 'here's an interesting idea', Paramount and director Brad Bird announced today that Mission: Impossible: Ghost Protocol (see trailer) will be opening five days early in select IMAX theaters.  So while the film's wide release will stay occur on Wednesday, December 21st, the film will have its IMAX debut on Friday December 16th, 2011.  This is more-or-less a first of its kind.  Paramount did hold sneak previews the day before the wide release of Super 8 which occurred in most of its IMAX locations, but this selective sneak opening basically gives the fourth Mission: Impossible film a pre-release opening weekend of sorts.  Point being, it looks like M:I4 will be going head-to-head against Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (see trailer) after all, as December 16th is the wide-release opening day for the Robert Downey Jr/Jude Law sequel.

Review: Contagion (2011) stumbles by giving us Cliff Notes to much grander story.

Contagion
2011
105 minutes
rated PG-13

by Scott Mendelson

The 106-minute cut of Steven Soderbergh's Contagion is a generally engaging and always intelligent film.  It is clearly Soderbergh's attempt to play around in the Irwin Allen disaster genre in a style that befits the director's more buttoned-down and vérité style.  But like Traffic before it, this would-be epic feels like the abridged version of a much longer film.  Traffic was supposed to be an all-encompassing look at the futility of America's Drug War and the damage that it causes at home and abroad, but it played out like as a choppy, unfocused, 'highlights-only' variation of the British mini-series from which it was based.  Contagion, which is not based on any prior source but rather an original Scott Z. Burns screenplay, has the same problem, even more so because it is nearly an hour shorter than Traffic.  Contagion is more successful in imposing its viewpoint on the audience, and it's arguably a better film, but I still can't help but wonder how much more effective the 150-minute version of Contagion would have been.

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows gets a needlessly busy trailer.

It is no secret that I was not a fan of the marketing campaign for the first Sherlock Holmes.  But that action-packed "EXTREME" campaign was a clever disguise for what actually turned out to be a relatively traditional and character driven Holmes adventure.  So on one hand, I should give this trailer the benefit of the doubt, as the previous film was one of those rare pictures where the movie was far better than the trailer.  On the other hand, this is a pointlessly hectic and frantic piece, full of context-less action and would-be incident.  This is a sequel to a pretty popular original, a film that grossed $525 million worldwide despite going head-to-head with Avatar over Christmas 2009 (on a $90 million budget no less).  Point being, the marketing department should have a little confidence in their franchise.  The ingredients worked well the first time around, and the addition of Noomi Rapace and Jared Harris (as Professor James Moriarty) in lieu of bigger names shows a degree of trust in the storytelling.  Thus the nonstop gunplay and unfortunate emphasis on a cross-dressing Robert Downey Jr. feel desperate where no desperation should be felt.  Frankly, the biggest obstacle that this film will likely have to deal with (especially if Paramount moves Mission: Impossible: Ghost Protocol away from the December 16th release date) will be the snobby comparisons to the terrific BBC miniseries Sherlock that premiered in the US late last year.  I happen to think both this Guy Ritchie series and the BBC modernization are fine adaptations of a classic fictional character.  May they both be artistic and commercial successes.  The game will be afoot on December 16th and, as always, we'll see.  Your thoughts below...

Scott Mendelson  

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows gets character posters... Enter Moriarty!

I'm guessing we'll see two more of these, with the character placement respectively reversed.  The highlight of course is what appears to be a token glance of Jared Harris as Professor Moriarty.  The teaser trailer will be attached to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part II this Friday.  Enjoy...

Scott Mendelson