Lincoln (2012)

Starring: Daniel Day-Lewis, Sally Field, David Strathairn, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, James Spader, Hal Halbrook, Tommy Lee Jones

Director: Steven Spielberg

Genre: Biography, Drama, Historical

Rating: A

"Do you think we choose the times into which we are born? Or do we fit the times we are born into?"

This movie is going to win Oscars.  That's my prediction.  It's really kind of obvious that it was going to get nominations - this is the type of film that is made for the purpose of winning awards.  Usually I'm a bit iffy about that type of film and find them to be a bit hit or miss, assuming I even go to see them.  But the trailers for Lincoln caught my attention, as did the cast, so I decided to give it a chance and went in expecting good things.  I'm so glad I did, because Lincoln met and exceeded every expectation I had.  This movie was great.  Absolutely amazing.

Lincoln is based on the biography Team of Rivals: The Politicial Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin and follows the life of Abraham Lincoln (Day-Lewis) during the final months of his life as he pushes the Thirteenth Amendment forward.  This is a heavy issue and Lincoln faces opposition from within his own party, the Republicans, and his opposition, the Democrats.  Lincoln shows just how much Lincoln had to push in order to make this work and how he struggled to make the amendment happen.  Hanging over it all is the ongoing American Civil War and the fact that Lincoln is being pushed in many ways regarding that; the founder of the Republican Party, Francis Preston Blair (Halbrook), is pushing Lincoln to meet with representatives from the Confederate States and negotiate a peace, the Radical Republicans, lead by Thaddeus Stevens (Jones) want more and fear Lincoln will turn his back on emancipation, his eldest son Robert (Gordon-Levitt) is anxious to be allowed to enlist, while his wife Mary (Field), who isn't exactly mentally stable, is strongly opposed to Robert being allowed to enlist.  Aiding him is his somewhat reluctant Secretary of State, William H. Seward (Straitharn) and the morally questionably operative William N. Bilbo (Spader) - whose name made me think of The Hobbit everytime it was said.

The one thing I disliked about this movie was the way that it inconsistently made note of people, dates, and places.  Despite being really interested in history, the American Civil War is a period that I've never really studied - I'm not an American, and thus never really studied American history in school.  Consequently, I was really unaware on a lot of the specifics about dates, locations, and names - I knew the gist of it going in, but not a lot.  I really appreciated the little titles pointing out who different people were, or were they were, or what date it was - I thought each thing was really important to the story and added some clarification for viewers who don't know the history.  What I disliked, however, was that it was very inconsistent.  The film repeatedly tells you who the three Confederate negotiators are, but doesn't really provide as much information, if any, regarding the Republicans and Democrats who play a far greater role in the story.  I actually had to look online to find the names of the some of the characters, notably Fernando Wood (Lee Pace), who really serves as the primary antagonist in the film.

Asides from that inconsistency, however, I really thought this film was damn near perfect.  The pacing was great, the dialogue as great, the monologues were even better.  Even though I knew how the whole thing ended I was still anxious and worried about whether or not Lincoln would manage to pull through.  Possibly because it's telling a story that the audience is assumed to already know Lincoln is as much a character movie as it is about the history at play here.  Lincoln, obviously, is the main focus here and the insight that Lincoln provides into this man is just awesome.  I absolutely loved his monologues and the ways in which his stories revealed a lot about him.  Other characters that really shined here are that of Thaddeus Stevens - who got in a few good monologues as well - Mary Todd Lincoln, and Robert Todd Lincoln.  You really got to see the problems within the Lincoln family, and the struggles that they each face as the result of the position that Abraham Lincoln achieved.  In a way the title Lincoln can be seen as referring not just to Abraham, but also his wife and two surviving sons - Lincoln's youngest son, Tad (Gulliver McGrath), is also portrayed and while you get to see a lot less of who he is you really get to see the relationship between father-and-son here, and the stark contrast between that father-son relationship and the relationship that Lincoln had with Robert.

The other thing that I really liked about this film was the way it started and ended.  The start has has Lincoln listening to two soldiers recite him the Gettysburg Address in a way that is both awesome and funny at the same time.  The ending is a flashback to Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address.  I really liked the way that these two speeches really bookended each other and the contrast in how they were done - one is one of the most famous speeches Lincoln ever gave and is told to him, and the viewer, by two nameless soldiers.  The other is one that at least in my understanding is less famous but is told by him and really nicely wraps up the film.  This one is definitely worth seeing.

The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)

Starring: Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Rhys Ifans, Denis Leary, Campbell Scott, Irrfan Khan, Martin Sheen, Sally Field, Chris Zylka

Director: Marc Webb

Genre: Action, Adventure, Fantasy

Rating: A-

When I first heard that they were rebooting the Spider-Man franchise I rolled my eyes.  While the Sam Raimi trilogy had its fair share of problems I couldn’t help but feel like it was just a bit early to be rebooting the franchise – it wasn’t all that long ago that they were still discussing doing a Spider-Man 4 – and I didn’t really feel that it was necessary to tell another Spider-Man origin story.  At this point, everyone should know how Peter Parker became Spider-Man, it’s not that complicated of a story.  Despite my reluctance, however, I thoroughly enjoyed The Amazing Spider-Man.  There was a lot about it that sent up red flags, but it overcomes its challenges and really stands on its own as a film, suggesting that this new series might even be far better than its predecessor.

The Amazing Spider-Man follows a young Peter Parker (Garfield) during his high school years.  Following a break in at his childhood home his parents go on the run, leaving Peter to live with his Uncle Ben (Sheen) and Aunt May (Field).  Some years later as a teenager Peter finds his father’s old briefcase, which contains papers describing his work in engineering a regeneration serum that enabled humans to take on animal characteristics – a science pursued by the elder Parker’s colleague, Doctor Curt Connors (Ifans), in order to regenerate his amputated left arm.  Peter seeks out Connors in an attempt to learn more about his father by sneaking into Connors’ lab at Oscorp, where he is bitten by a genetically altered spider.  This gives Peter the spider-like abilities that we’ve come to know and love in Spider-Man, increased agility and strength, an ability to crawl up walls and on ceilings, and precognition, although not the ability to create web – rather this Spider-Man’s web is a synthetically created biocable that Peter makes.  Peter’s change causes problems between him and his aunt and uncle, culminating in Peter storming off following a fight with Uncle Ben.  While looking for Peter, Uncle Ben is shot and dies – an event that leads Peter to seek out his murderer for retribution.  As he is embarking on his new found vigilante identity, Peter also embarks upon a relationship with Gwen Stacey (Stone), the daughter of police captain George Stacey (Leary).  Disaster then strikes when Connors tests his serum on himself, turning him into a giant, mutant lizard, who wants to wreck the city to shit.

Let's start by saying that this is an amazingly acted movie.  The Amazing Spider-Man brings to the table a huge celebrity presence, one that isn't really seen in the earlier movies.  While Andrew Garfield isn't a huge name yet, pretty much everyone else in major roles in this movie is, from Gwen Stacey and her father to Uncle Ben and Aunt May.  I really liked the way that Peter Parker is portrayed in general; rather than being a borderline cheesy, heroic figure, he's as screwed up as the rest of us and doesn't necessarily make the right choices.  Rather than being all about making the better decisions, he's all about pursuing revenge for his uncle, and only becomes a hero when circumstances force him to do so.  I also really liked the portrayal of Gwen Stacey and the way that she is attracted to Peter before he becomes Spider-Man; it's nice to see that despite the fact that he's awkward he's still desirable without superpowers.  My favourite character, however, probably has to be Denis Leary's George Stacey.  There is something about Captain Stacey that is just so a Denis Leary character, and something else about him that is so completely the opposite of a Denis Leary character.  It was really fun to see him step out of his usual niche and even better to see him be the voice of reason.

Moving beyond that, there was also the great special effects.  Despite it being a superhero movie, the CGI is used somewhat subtly and therefore doesn't look fake; this is best seen in both the portrayal of Spider-Man himself and the Lizard.  In the case of the Lizard it's awesome that even in Lizard form you can still see Ifans' characteristics.  The story was also great and did a lot to set up a grander Spider-Man story, much like Batman Begins did.  The Amazing Spider-Man is based on the premise that there is going to be at least one sequel, and that you are most definitely going to see it.  While some of the story is concluded at the end of the film, the whole thing isn't and some aspects that are portrayed as having been major elements of the film in the trailer are really only hinted at.  By the end of the film you're sitting on the edge of your seat, already eager for the next one.