The Holiday season is usually a busy time for me, but this year was a little more difficult than most to keep up with everything that was coming out. Thankfully, I got a chance to see two of the more interesting movies that made it to theaters, so we’ll take a look at those now before we inevitably get to Nosferatu and Sonic 3 to close the year out. Are these December releases worth taking time out of your busy holiday schedule to take a break and enjoy? Let’s find out!!
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The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim
The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim is owned by Warner Bros Pictures
Directed by Kenji Kamiyama
Long before Bilbo Baggins had his fateful run-in with the Ring of Power, the world of Middle Earth was rife with conflict among its nobility. King Hammerhand of Rohan (Brian Cox) may be a strong leader, but his temper gets the best of him and he makes a powerful enemy of one of his lords; the young Wulf (Luke Pasqualino) whose father was struck down in a fight with the king. With a war seemingly inevitable as Wulf gains the favor of the Wild Men, the children of Hammerhand which includes his sons Hama and Haleth (Yazdan Qafouri and Benjamin Wainwright), as well as his daughter Héra (Gaia Wise), will have to summon their courage, their wits, and their leadership in order to prevent Wulf from taking Rohan for himself. As the army of the Wild Men grows stronger and the Rohan citizens must retreat to a nearby stronghold, is there any hope of victory for Héra and her family?
The Lord of the Rings trilogy was a monumental achievement in filmmaking, and while they may not be my favorite films, I have a deep respect for what Peter Jackson was able to accomplish in bringing these books to the big screen. Since then, however, no one has been able to capture that lightning again; least of all Peter Jackson himself, whose Hobbit movies are pale imitators of his earlier work. Sadly, that trend continues as this movie is an admirable, but ultimately banal effort to bring the world of Middle Earth to life once again. We can go into the dull narrative, the stagnant pacing, and the cast of forgettable characters, but what it truly lacks is an identity of its own; a sense of personality that defines it as a unique adaptation of the source material. Say what you will about the previous animated efforts from Ralph Bakshi and Rankin Bass, they were incredibly distinct and had some impressive highs as well as some genuinely entertaining lows. This never escapes being a middle of the road effort; too stiff and clean to have fun with it or be spontaneously bizarre. As much as we now think of Jackson’s vision of the books as the definitive interpretation of Tolkien’s work, the man brought his own eclectic and grungy style to the movies, and while they may not be as unhinged as Bad Taste or Meet the Feebles, the work he did on those movies were an undeniable influence. Here, I just don’t feel that sense of spirit emanating from the stock characters and trite plot. The story of revenge lacks any teeth given the simplicity of our antagonist and the surprisingly small scale of the action which tries to convince you it’s an all-out war when, at best, it feels like a minor skirmish. I suppose if the action is small scale then the intent was for this to be a more intimate and personal account, but there’s just not enough depth to any of the cast for that to be the case; least of all our protagonist Héra who has little agency of her own. There are no flaws from within for her to overcome, as she simply needs to fulfill a destiny once she’s had enough tragedy thrust upon her. It has its moments to be sure, especially when the action kicks in, and it feels free to let loose, but those are the punctuations to the narrative while the meat of it is far too lifeless to hold up its somber tone. With so much of it polished to a mirror shine, it never sinks so low as to be obnoxious or off-putting, and definitely makes for a better time than Jackson’s Hobbit movies. I appreciate the immense amount of effort that went into this, and I’m impressed that there was enough faith behind it to put it in theaters, as the big screen is where animation will shine brightest. Even so, I can only recommend it to the most dedicated of Tolkien fans who don’t mind a tedious story if it means spending a little more time in this world. For me, I’ll stick to watching the Leonard Nimoy sing The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins over and over again.
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Conclave
Conclave is owned by Focus Features
Directed by Edward Berger
Cardinal Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes) is in a position he never wanted to be in but was inevitable as the current Pope has died, and he is tasked with running the Conclave to elect a new Pope. There are several candidates with significant pull in the church such as liberal Cardinal Bellini (Stanley Tucci) and conservative Cardinal Tedesco (Sergio Castellitto), but questions surrounding the day of the Pope’s death as well as the arrival of a mysterious, yet officially sanctioned, Cardinal named Benitez (Carlos Diehz), leave Crdinal Lawrence without much of a rudder as he tries to navigate this sacred process. Secrets are revealed, motives are questioned, and these men of great power turn petty and cowardly when faced with such revelations on the eve of a new Pope’s ascension. Will Lawrence guide this Conclave to a bright future for the church, or will the corruption in these halls steer him off the righteous path?
I’ve reviewed a lot of movies over the years, and a select few of them will manage to find a spot deep in my brain where I end up thinking about it or watching it many times over. Spotlight is one such example and has been my go-to movies when I want to remind myself what really excellent filmmaking looks like when stripped of all the bells and whistles. This movie didn’t quite hit that high mark for me, but it’s still an impressive little movie that hits all the right notes without doing anything particularly new or out of the ordinary. Its strength is in its simplicity, as it tells its story with great care and without distraction. There is as much reverence paid to a humble scene of casting ballots as you’d see in an extravagant action set piece, yet the depth of characters and the exacting nature of its cinematography give it a sense of weight that isn’t easily recreated through special effects and collateral damage. It makes for an interesting parallel to War of the Rohirrim which tried to impart its grandeur to the audience, yet is far less intense than watching two people in this movie standing on opposite sides of a door. Part of it is the solid writing and intelligent filmmaking, but those are all in service of the performances which are carried by a phenomenal cast who captures the dense layers of interpersonal, political and even biblical strife that are squeezing them throughout this process. Ralph Fiennes is our lead as the film rarely leaves his point of view which only adds to the uneasiness as we are only privy to what he can actually see take place, and he conveys that brilliantly as his attempts to carry himself in a dignified and morally justified manner only makes the cracks shine brighter when events start to put his faith to the test. The rest of the familiar names in the cast like Stanley Tucci and John Lithgow are as great as you’d expect, but everyone is on point and treats the material with the reverence that it needs in order for this to not feel stuffy and boring. It could have easily been a movie without much heart to it as we’re talking about very powerful men in a cloistered institution making a decision that carries weight, but I doubt would mean much to those of us watching it all play out on our screen. It just goes to show that making the story about the people involved in a situation is far more important that making the situation itself feel important. Their egos, their fears, the ambition that creeps up even among the best of them; that’s what makes this movie work so fantastically and gives us a reason to care about the process of this election rather than simply its outcome. If anything holds it back, the story is a bit too low-key for its production, as the movie ratchets up the tension and intrigue effectively with payoffs that are satisfying enough but feel a little dry. I suppose something more lascivious would have distracted from the film’s more humble messaging, but it all feel a little mundane. Thankfully, it makes up for this with an ending that I won’t spoil here, but certainly put a lot of color into the movie’s cheeks and left things on a much higher note than I would have expected. Perhaps a few more layers to the intrigue at the heart of the movie would have given me enough to chew on that I’d want to go back and immediately rewatch it in the way that Spotlight holds a permanent spot in my brain, but it’s still an incredible experience even if you only see it once. I suppose having it be a double feature with Spotlight would make things a little bit awkward, but that’s what happens when you make a movie about the Vatican.
The Reviewers Unite 