Tuesday, July 28, 2015

Paper Towns May Be Paper-Thin, But It's Still Sweet


Ah, young love - the perfect fodder for a Young Adult novel, and no author in this day and age may have cracked the genre’s formula better than John Green. Unlike a large number of his peers, the guy is actually pretty talented and comes across as a genuine, caring individual (at least through his various social media avenues). While he experienced modest success with his first few novels, he was catapulted to the level of ‘Superstar Author’ with the release of 2012’s ‘The Fault in Our Stars, which received critical acclaim and debuted at #1 on The New York Times Best Seller list for Children’s Chapter Books. The film adaptation raked in crazy big bucks so it’s only natural that other adaptations of his works would follow, hence 2015’s Paper Towns.

I have to admit something right off the bat: I haven’t actually read a single one of Mr. Green’s novels. My introduction to his work was through the 2014 film adaptation of ‘The Fault in Our Stars,’ which, despite some saccharine elements, surprised me with its pleasant earnestness and humor, not to mention the knockout performances of its two leads. I approached Paper Towns with the same amount of ignorance and zero expectations and once again came away moderately impressed, though not nearly to the extent I had been with The Fault in Our Stars. Paper Towns features a similar brand of the charm that made The Fault in Our Stars such a memorable and moving experience. What makes it inferior to its predecessor is that it never manages to connect on a deeper level beyond the surface due to a lack of well-drawn characters and a primary romance that just doesn’t work.

Right from the get-go we’re in familiar territory with an opening narration courtesy of our main protagonist Quentin Jacobsen (Nat Wolff). The narration is standard fare from screenwriting pair Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber, who can, at this point in their careers, adapt Young Adult novels in their sleep. Quentin takes us through a brief recounting of his relationship with Margo Spiegelman (Cara Delevingne), the girl who moved into the house across the street from him when they were kids and whom he’s been in love with ever since. Even at a young age, Margo exhibited a devil-may-care attitude, seeking out adventure at every opportunity. Quentin was more cautious, opting to play it safe. He’s totally enraptured by the allure of Margo and it carries into their high school years, even as they drifted apart to the point of not even speaking to one another.

But all of that changes one night when Margo shows up at Quentin’s bedroom window to recruit him as her getaway driver for a revenge vendetta. She’s just discovered her boyfriend has been cheating on her and a number of their mutual friends knew about it. She plans to get a little payback by pranking them all in the course of an evening, everything from catching her now ex-boyfriend in the act of cheating to saran wrapping another ‘friend’s’ car.  Quentin, although reluctant to join her quest at first, can’t resist her charms and agrees to tag along. The night ends up going down in history as one of the greatest of his life as it provides him ample opportunity to stare longingly at Margo while they drive around Orlando, Florida, blaring your obligatory repertoire of indie-rock tunes, standard for any film of this genre. When the experience comes to an end, Quentin feels like things will finally be different between the two of them, but when he heads to school the next day Margo is nowhere to be found. Turns out she’s skipped town and after discovering a couple of clues she’s left for him, Quentin is determined to solve the mystery of her whereabouts and prove his undying love and affection for her.

The film version of Paper Towns has a decent amount of things working in its favor. The performances are mostly on-point, particularly from Nat Wolff and the two lads cast as his best friends, Austin Abrams and Justice Smith. When these three boys are on screen together, everything works. They expertly capture the dynamics of a high school friendship in its twilight years. Their scenes work so well, in fact, that the film ends up functioning better when it focuses on them as opposed to the shallow romance, which is supposed to be the main point of the entire story. The script never seems to know which plotline it should give focus to and this is at the primary reason of why Paper Towns doesn’t fully work.

That and its subpar romance.

I’ll just be blunt: the core relationship that drives the mystery of the film’s entire plot simply isn’t that interesting. This is largely due to the fact that Quentin and Margo never come across as fully formed characters and neither the screenwriters nor the director give us much of a reason to buy into the idea that Quentin would abandon all logic and reason for this girl. That goes double for Margo herself, who isn’t nearly as alluring as the film seems to think she is or even all that likable. Delevingne does what she can with the material, but she just comes across as bored. It’s a shame the filmmakers never see fit to develop her character beyond her physical appearance or literary and musical tastes. (From what I can gather from those who have read the book, the source material contained the same issues.)

Despite its paper-thin premise and characters, Paper Towns managed to hold my attention and keep me entertained, if not necessarily involved, thanks to its performances and Jake Schreier’s upbeat direction. It’s not a waste of time by any stretch and fans of John Green’s work will probably go ga-ga for it. It’s just a shame that its main plot and lackluster romance aren’t given the same amount of development as the subplot that examines the bittersweet pangs of leaving high school friends behind.

FINAL RATING: 3/5

Tuesday, July 21, 2015

Ant-Man Wins Big By Keeping Things Small


Sometimes the best things really do come in small packages, as evidenced by the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s 12th feature Ant-Man. After the chaotic, overstuffed mayhem of Avengers: Age of Ultron, Ant-Man feels like a breath of fresh air. It has its negatives – familiar story beats; an underwhelming villain; not to mention its proceedings carry an inescapable sense of triviality. But these are easily outweighed by an overall sense of fun and a stellar lead performance from Paul Rudd.

Ant-Man scales things down significantly for a Marvel movie, both literally and figuratively. Its story follows Scott Lang, a kindhearted thief who’s just been released from prison following a legendary single-man heist. He’s determined to leave the life of thievery behind him and to make good by his 5-year-old daughter, who lives with her mother (Judy Greer) and step-father (Bobby Cannavale). Despite Scott’s good intentions, his criminal record makes it difficult to maintain a steady job and despite his reluctance he ends up getting pulled back into the thieving world by the promise of a major score. Turns out, the ‘score’ is an elaborate ruse to assess his skills orchestrated by none other than Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), a mastermind scientist and (as comic fans are well aware) the original Ant-Man. Hank was forced out of his company by its new CEO and his own ex-apprentice Darren Cross (Corey Stoll), who is hard at work developing his own shrinking formula to sell to the highest bidder. This could spell disaster for the future of mankind, so, Hank recruits Scott to help him steal Cross’ formula and ensure it doesn’t fall into the wrong hands.

Ant-Man works in so many ways it’s easy to forgive its structural shortcomings, which have become almost commonplace for Marvel Studios’ origin tales. It carries the zippy, tossed-off punchline energy of the first Iron Man, which keeps it feeling fresh and fun even as the plotting and exposition threatens to hold it back from true excellence. Director Peyton Reed does an admirable, if relatively uninspired, job keeping things breezy and exciting. The smaller-scaled action sequences are often stunning and frequently hilarious. As unfair as it might be, it’s difficult not to ponder the potential of an Edgar Wright-helmed Ant-Man film, but Reed proves to be a decent successor.

Where this film truly shines is in its casting. As I’ve already mention, Rudd’s performance is what truly elevates the material. He is a natural leading man, charming and self-effacing without being overly cloying. He’s the perfect everyman and makes it very easy to root for him. Michael Douglas is immediately likable as the original Ant-Man Hank Pym and Evangeline Lilly gives a solid turn as his daughter Hope. Lilly gets the short stick of development as the token female character/romantic interest, but she manages to hold her own and the promise that she’ll have a bigger role to play in future films helps lighten the blow. Corey Stoll as the film’s primary antagonist has to deal with the same underwritten villain territory that plagues practically all of these films, but he’s totally game for it and actually manages to elevate the material with a sheer sense of villainous glee. My personal favorite supporting characters are Scott’s personal thieving team, played by Michael Pena, David Dastmalchian, and Tip “T.I.” Harris. All three provide the best possible comic relief, with Pena being the show-stealer for practically every scene he’s in.

Ant-Man wraps up Phase 2 of the Marvel world with a nice little bow and sets the stage nicely for things to come without getting bogged down by Marvel’s incessant need to foreshadow future events and provide cameos for its other beloved characters. Though the lack of significant stakes makes it difficult to get too concerned about any of our primary players, the sheer volume of fun, laugh-out-loud moments is enough to keep Ant-Man’s head above water. Truth be told, I think I may prefer Age of Ultron, but I appreciated Ant-Man more due to the simple fact that it takes the time to tell a story and allows its characters to breath without the incessant need for constant, chaotic action.

FINAL RATING: 3.5/5