Les Misérables (2012)

Starring: Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway, Amanda Seyfried, Eddie Redmayne, Helena Bonham Carter, Sacha Baron Cohen

Director: Tom Hooper

Genre: Musical, Drama, Romance

Rating: A-

Les Misérables follows the life of Jean Valjean (Jackman), a French convict who in 1815 has been released from prison on a parole - he has served a nineteen-year sentence for stealing a loaf of bread and is deemed a violent man.  Initially, Valjean does reoffend, but after an encounter with the Bishop of Digne (Colm Wilkinson) he takes it upon himself to start again and, breaking his parole he abandons his identity as Jean Valjean and starts new.  Prison guard, Javert (Crowe) finds out about Valjean's broken parole and vows to hunt the man down.  Eight years later, Valjean is a factory owner and the mayor of Montreuil-sur-Mer.  Working for him is the lovely Fantine (Hathaway), who is discovered to be sending money to her illegitimate daughter Cosette (initially Isabelle Allen, but later Seyfried), who lives with the Thénardiers (Baron Cohen and Bonham Carter).  Despite being hunted by Javert, Valjean takes it on himself to help Fatine and her daughter.

There are a few problems with Les Mis.  One is that it both moves too quickly and too slowly - it's a long movie and at times feels it, but things still move forward really fast.  There was nothing that I felt could have been taken out, everything had a point, while there were things that I could have seen being added, although still, long movie.  The second problem is that the singing isn't necessarily the best.  The film is essentially sung-through with almost no straight dialogue, but the actors are not exactly known for their singing.  Adding to this is the fact that the singing is done live, instead of in a studio, which leads to mixed results.  In the case of some of the actors - Helena Bonham Carter, Sacha Baron Cohen, etc - this has a neutral result, neither adding nor taking away from the actual play.  In the case of Russell Crowe, it kind of takes away from things as his voice isn't really suited for this kind of performance.  I know that Russell Crowe is a singer as well as an actor, but I don't think he's a stage performer and that's what's kind of required in this role.  It's sad because he totally fit the role of Javert, but his voice didn't.  I had similar issue with Hugh Jackman - no problem with his actual singing voice and thought that his physical acting was superb, but I don't think his singing really sold the emotion that he was trying to convey.

This critique, however, is in strong contrast to the absolutely amazing performances of Anne Hathaway and Samantha Barks.  Barks plays Éponine and she just absolutely amazed me in her performance - although she does have an advantage to some of the other actors in that while she is somewhat unknown in film, she's a stage actress and has played Éponine before.  Her performance of "On My Own" absolutely amazed me.  Anne Hathaway doesn't have such a background (although her mother did play the same role in the first U.S. Tour of Les Mis), and yet blew me away with her performance.  I wasn't too sure about it at first, but the more time she spent on screen the more I loved her, and the weakness and raw emotion that she displayed wowed me.  While I loved Barks' "On My Own" Hathaway's "I Dreamed a Dream" brought tears to my eyes.  It was superb.

The other thing that I really loved about this film was the sheer transformation of some of the actors.  In the opening shot, I didn't recognize Hugh Jackman at all.  While he does clean up, the man that he in those first scenes haunts the man that he is later on.  Helena Bonham Carter and Sacha Baron Cohen were constantly changing to adapt to their surroundings, but in a comedic way (that was really needed in this film) that ensured you always knew who they were.  They brought their own personalities to the roles in a way that just perfectly fit.  Once again, however, top props has to go to Anne Hathaway, who just seemed to completely transform here.  She starts the film as this beautiful, rather out-of-place woman, and descends into this mess of a woman with this horrible hair (it looks better on Hathaway in real life, but in the film it's bad), blotchy face, and bloody teeth.  It's probably Hathaway's biggest transformation to date and just.. yeah.  I honestly believe that she deserves to win every award she is nominated for because of this role.

Rise of the Guardians (2012)

Starring: Chris Pine, Alec Baldwin, Hugh Jackman, Isla Fisher, Jude Law

Director: Peter Ramsey

Genre: Animation, Adventure, Family

Rating: B

"It is our job to protect the children of the world. For as long as they believe in us, we will guard them with our lives.."

As far as Christmas movies go, this one's a bit awkward.  In a way, it kind of reminds me of The Nightmare Before Christmas simply because while appearing to be about Christmas, it's actually about something more than that and Christmas itself is rather secondary.

Rise of the Guardians follows the spirit of winter, Jack Frost (Pine), on a journey as he comes to realize his destiny.  Opening 300 years ago, we see Jack emerge as Jack Frost, with no memories of who he was before, having been lifted from the ice by the Man in the Moon (who also tells Jack his name).  While Jack has great power, however, he is invisible to everyone, since no one believes in him.  Fast forward 300 years, where Jack is still unbelieved by all, the Guardians of Childhood, lead by North (Baldwin), are informed that the Bogeyman, Pitch Black (Law), has returned and it is up to them and newly appointed Guardian, Jack Frost, to stop him.  Pitch has lived much like Jack, invisible and unbelieved, but has figured out how to attack the children of the world by transforming the dreams created by the Sandman (who does not speak) into nightmares.  Pitch's ultimate goal, however, is to make the Guardians feel what he has felt, and cause all the children in the world to stop believing in them - and thus make them invisible and powerless.

To start, I really loved the portrayal of the different Guardians, although I was a bit confused by their loss of power.  As we see that Jack Frost still has his powers without being believed in, I had to wonder why the other Guardians didn't also have their powers, or at least some of them.  Although, I guess perhaps we're only seeing the limited manifestation of Jack's powers as it is before he becomes believed by many, and it is not until he is believed in that his true power really begins to manifest - perhaps North, Tooth, and Bunny are all weakened so much because they have forgotten what it's like to not be believed in, since they've all been around for so long.  The worlds that each inhabit, with the exception of Jack Frost who is very much of this world, are absolutely amazing though, so I can't blame them for not knowing how to deal in the real world.  I'm a bit torn on who I loved most here - North, who lives in his snow palace filled with dimwitted elfs and intelligent yetis; Tooth (Fisher), whose airy castle is filled with the baby teeth, and thus memories, of everyone; or Bunny (Jackman), who's bright and festive world is very much reminiscent of Easter Island.  We don't get to see the Sandman's home, but we do get to see much of his sandy dream creations which is awesome, and we also saw Pitch's lair which is completely perfect for his character.  I look forward to a future installment in this series (if it becomes one), where we get to see Jack Frost's home.

I also liked the story, particularly how it wasn't simply about saving Christmas.  The competition between the different characters, even the ones who were technically working together, was great.  The new take on old classic characters was also great - especially as it kind of took things on a completely different path than we're used to.  I love the idea of Santa looking (and sounding) like a member of the Russian mafia.  The whole idea of the Easter Bunny was great too.  This movie was just all around good fun.