Corpse Bride (2005)

25 years after Tim Burton had Henry Selick direct his childhood fantasies in the delectable "The Nightmare before Christmas", he returns to stop-animation. In true goth-style, with the protagonist being a female corpse. Oh my!

Or is she the protagonist? It is a bit refreshing with a film, where there is some uncertainty as to who really is the lead character. It seems so cut and dry early on, but Burton isn't one for the standards. But though original, it adds to the films main problem, as I shall get back to.

There's no surprise that Burton cast Helena Bonham-Carter. He always did. She is perfectly apt though. And can anyone remember a time he didn't cast Johnny Depp? The standouts are, however, Enn Reitel, Albert Finney, Joanna Lumley, Richard Gough, and, as always, Christopher Lee.

The animation is brilliant at most times, and the characters really come alive through them. Extra cudos for Elder Gutknecht, the Corpse Bride and Finis Everglot in that respect. Burtons eye for details is as always impeccable, and this flick is no exception. Watch out for a couple of great puns as well.

Elfman still has the perfect sound for a morbid musical, and particularly the piano-version of the main theme is gorgeous. Generally his musical antics are a brilliant match for the direction and theme, making the musical-numbers very entertaining. You can find a lot of his background from Oingo Boingo in this flick, particularly "The Remains of the Day", where Elfman also provides the vocals. The music doesn't work as well as "The nightmare before Christmas" when parted from the film, though there are a couple of real beauties.

The story and developing of characters (particularly Victor) lacks a bit here and there, and it seems a bit chaotic, both in single scenes, but also with the general storyline. That the spectre of animated figures is exceptionally wide ranged, doesn't help in that respect. But it's a little romance, a little tension and suspense, a dab of good humour and a whole lot of goth, and it is definitely something different. And that's never a bad thing

7/10

X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)

Swapping directors 2/3 into a trilogy seems strange. And when you replace one of Hollywood's greatest talents with a guy most known for very bad action-comedies and music videos for even worse artists... well, that seems reckless.

The start is ominous simply because it stars McKellen and Stewart, but brings nothing. Well, nothing is a bit strong, as it brings an exceptionally poor use of editing to try and pass the pair off as young. They look more like old ugly women who overspent on botox and plastic surgery. Particularly Stewart.

It gets worse though. Some of the fight scenes are filled with stupid and unnecessary uses of powers where a simple "duck" will do. There are some creative uses, though, but it's painstakingly clear that Singer is smarter than Ratner in most action sequences.

The casting is still good, though. no changes to key characters, and Kelsey Grammar as a blue monster/Secretary is brilliant. Kudos also Ben Foster who makes the most out of a part that doesn't get enough screentime to be particularly exciting. Vinnie Jones as Juggernaut is exceptionally misplaced though. By taking on new faces, many of the remaining suffer. Particularly Rogue, who is little more than a prop until the last 30 minutes, but also Wolverine. Though the manner in which his tragedy lives on is quite fantastic. But when you forget who the trilogy was about, this film feels bereft of anything close to a conclusion to the trilogy as a whole. Which is doubly ironic, considering its title.

Ratner does try to keep a bigger picture here and some social awareness alive, but it's not done particularly effective or with the necessary subtlety, making the immense McKellen come off as cartoon-version of a North-Korean leader.

There are still some good scenes where Ratner hits a very fine note, such as the early scene with Stewart and Berry. Actually, he uses Storm much better than Singer managed. Where Jean realizes Phoenix is also quite magnificent suspense-building. The huge highlight is the final stand-off between Xavier and Jean, though. A perfect blend of action, suspense, fine CGI and drama, all coupled with a fantastic theme from John Powell, in an otherwise unremarkable score. That's a good 45 minutes from the end, though.

As Ratner is a significantly poorer director than Singer, he never manages a real flow to the story developing. Most of the time it just feels like he's flinging characters and elements of a whole we're not permitted to understand towards us. So a few good scenes doesn't make up for the fact that Ratner is a third-rate storyteller. Not by a long shot. And it's such a pity. The pieces were there, but the director failed to assemble them.

5/10

X2 (2003)

The second instalment in a trilogy should always be darker and better than the first. Better because you don't have to give the characters as much time to develop as in the first instalment, thus evolving them and giving you more time to focus on the story. And darker because, well, we all know the third movie will have a happy ending, so if you have some bleak scenes and dialogue (and you do), now is the time.

Whereas the first instalment took a while to do anything specific to the genre, this one shoots straight to a new character and some most CGI-friendly action. Terrific, but also vaguely unsatisfying as you'd rather see how the others are doing. Thankfully, it's just an intro.

There are quite a few newcomers, though, and perhaps fewer would have helped with the flow of the film. They are all given a decent amount of screentime and only most of them feel relevant. Particularly Nightcrawler is good distraction, and even adds some relevance to Storm, who suffered in the first instalment. Double kudos, though, to Brian Cox. In a flick where everyone but him have superinteresting superpowers, he represents a most genuine threat, and an intense and loathed adversary for the X-Men in general, and Wolverine particularly.

McKellen could downplay his role in the first, but here he shows off a lot more of the grandiose villain Magneto, and he revels in it. As earlier, his best scenes are slow, dialogue-based interactions with Patrick Stewart, though. The pair really glow together, as their common background and different goals pull them in opposite directions at almost every intersection despite all they have in common.

Singer still has a keen eye for details, letting us see how the characters use their powers in everyday situations, reminding us ever so gently that they are still mostly humans with a human take on life. A very nice piece of manipulation. He also tackles a rather touchy political subject without ever being too preachy or over-simplifying it. A most necessary feat if you want your audience to actually pay attention.

So is it darker? Undoubtedly. Both in mood, the death of key characters, in lighting and dialogue. You can simply read the screenplay of the scenes with McKellen and Stewart if you want to pick up that this is much more serious business. And you need to pay attention to all the scenes these two are alone, as they are the highpoint of these films.

Is it better? Not really, no. Even more characters and new interactions make a few holes. Particularly between Wolverine and Rogue who had brilliant chemistry in the first. You miss this, as they have precious few scenes together here. And a few of the characters feel like they're about to reach their expiration date. But it's still a very, very good superhero-flick


8/10