tzmalone

This was one of those films that I saw over and over in 1995. I just enjoyed it to the nth degree. Largely for the kick-ass performance of the great thespian, Angela Bassett (showing that Sigourney has no monopony on being an Oscar-caliber star with action/adventure chops -- Hallie can learn boat-loads from her!) and for the nuance of Ralph Fiennes' "loser." I also fell for Kathryn B's directorial chops as well. She picked up stuff from Cameron and finally seemed to add her own eye and style (perhaps, again--I haven't seen all of her work).

It was the Frank Miller Daredevil which kicked off my appreciation of this character and his additions to the legend (turning Spiderman foe, The Kingpin, into DD's central nemesis, Electra, Ben Urich - who also probably came out of Spidey, Stick - who doesn't appear but may figure in the Electra spin-off, and, most likely, it was Miller who layered in the Hell's Kitchen/Catholic Church angles). Director/Writer Mark Steven Johnson did a great job of translating that DD onto the screen. Turning Daredevil's radar sense into a sonar sense was wonderfully inventive. I think I liked Spiderman the movie better than this one but I think it's the difference between the visual energy of the two movies, like comparing Superman the Movie to Batman the Movie (the first in each franchise). I give Superman/Superman the edge because, well, it's more cinematic to watch a character actively do super-human things rather than do things via a more passive gimmick (Bat-equipment or sonar sense). And part of DD's problem is that it suffers a bit from "Batman III/IV-itis" from the beginning. At least, the first Batman contented itself with a thumbnail origin story. DD does a more full-blown origin backstory plus introduces three pivotal characters (4 or 5 if you count Urich and the priest). All these characters get underwritten which wouldn't be bad if key characters got more screen time to establish them. The Kingpin, for instance, is, arguably, the most nuanced villian in the Marvel Universe (after Doctor Doom). What we get in DD is an big, brutal black man not a Godfather-esque figure tortured by the illness of his beloved wife who built a criminal empire as powerful and dominant as his brawn. What we get is Electra, who we are told has been studying martial arts since she was five, but not Electra Assassin, perhaps the most dangerous killer for hire in the world - discounting, of course, Bullseye.

I like his work, anyway. But I thought this "Spy Kids" was more a movie and less an attempt to "do something different." Family and, ultimately, family values (with a decided Latin spin) is the underlining engine motoring this smooth entertainment along. There is a bit of dead space where things drag somewhat, but after years of watching Bond films, the drag goes virtually unnoticed. Alexa Vega (as Carmen Cortez) and, especially, Daryl Sabara (as younger brother, Juni) seem to have their characters down. So much so, that they have matured and become more complex since we last saw them. Juni is a wonderful creation, actually. He is the most "kid"-like movie kid I can think of. Just the right mix of real angst swapping hormonally with confidence. Alexa's Carmen is good as well.