Insomnia (2002) Review

INSOMNIA (2002)
Director: Christopher Nolan

Writer: Hillary Seitz (based off screenplay from original Swedish version)

Producers: George Clooney, Steven Soderbergh, Kim Roth, Charles Schlissel, and Tony Thomas

Editor: Dody Dorn

Cinematography: Wally Pfister

Music: David Julyan

Starring: Al Pacino, Hilary Swank, and Robin Williams

Runtime: 1 hour 58 minutes

Rating: R (violence, language, brief nudity)

Genre: Crime, Mystery/Suspense, Film Noir

Release Date: May 24, 2002

Intro: On the downside, I have been sick this last week. On the upside, I've had the chance to watch some movies I wouldn't normally have time to watch. Insomnia was one of these (the reviews of the others to come within the next month or so). It's one I've wanted to see for a while because I like Christopher Nolan and I am a film noir fan. According to stuff I'd read, this was both. Insomnia is a good, enjoyable movie and a complex psychological thriller, but it isn't up to the standards Christopher Nolan has set for himself through movies like Memento, The Dark Knight, and Inception.

Plot: Two L.A. homicide detectives, Will Dormer (Pacino) and his partner (Martin Donavon), are sent to a small Alaskan town during the time of year where the sun doesn't set to investigate the savage murder of a teenage girl. While tracing the suspect (Williams), Dormer's partner is shot and killed, presumably by the suspect of the murder. As a local detective who idolizes Dormer (Swank) is put on the case of the murder of his partner, Dormer begins to find out more information about his case and that of the one he's following. As the two cases become increasingly intertwined and the murder suspect seems all too nice and compliant with Dormer and the police, the more and more the morality of the situation becomes twisted.

Things people may find “objectionable”: The main thing here would be language, as f-bombs are dropped here and there throughout the movie. There is also a brief nudity shot or two when the detectives are looking at pictures of the victim. These couple shots are brief and not in a sexual scenario and are not an integral part of the movie and they're over in the first 10 minutes, so they are very easy to skip. And of course, there's some shooting and blood here and there, but there isn't a lot of either. Just in a couple scenes.

Ratings: I've decided I'm done with the numerical ratings system. I'm going to try this new system of just addressing things by category instead of ranking them. I think the numerical rating system was too  arbitrary and wasn't a good representation of how well I liked the movie. Anyway, let's try this.

     -Directing/Cinematography: Good, but Nolan has done better. There was some interesting lighting, but nothing striking and nothing that really stuck out. I'm not saying this is bad, but it wasn't as good as it could have been. I think Nolan really becomes great as a director more through his vision than through the shots and lighting he uses. However, for the movie he was given much less free reign than his other projects, as he was remaking a Swedish film, so I think this is why Insomnia isn't up to par with some of Nolan's other projects.

     -Acting: As always, a great performance from Al Pacino. I don't think it's possible for the man to give a bad performance. Robin Williams, though he'll forever be a comedy man in my mind, actually does a pretty good job as the murder suspect. It's kind of hard to accept this at first, since the character of Finch is completely opposite from his comedy work. Hilary Swank also does a good job. This is definitely a strong point of the movie

     -Story: An interesting story and a great base for a psychological thriller. I would definitely like to see the Swedish version at some point to see what the original story is like. It's one of those nice stories where there are no good guys, but at the same time there are no bad guys. It's a very interesting relationship that is explored a lot in the movie.

     -Script: Pretty good script. It wasn't earth-shattering, but it worked. 

For lack of a better picture, here's the cool
Swedish poster for the movie. I haven't
a clue with the birds, C's, wrenches,
watchtowers, and die mean, though.

     -Characters: One thing this movie does well is present good, complex characters. The character of Will Dormer is very complex and a good portion of the movie focuses on the psychology of the character. Finch, the murder suspect, is another interesting character, and his motivation and reasoning are very interesting parts of the movie.

     -Special Effects: None to speak of, but then again, not really needed.

     -Music/Score: Ok score. It works, but I didn't think it was anything special and/or powerful.

     -Power/Emotion: Makes you feel psychologically more than anything else. I found myself caring more about the characters' motivations than the characters themselves. However, you do feel bad for Dormer with his inability to sleep and his trying to wrestle with his increasingly complicated situation.

     -Adrenaline: More of a slow, tense adrenaline than anything else. There are a couple intense fight/chase scenes, but most of the engagement comes from the slow, atmospheric and psychological tension.

     -Intelligence: Makes you think a lot, especially psychologically. The movie is driven by the psychologies of the characters, and what really makes you think are the motivations and the thoughts of all the characters and the justifications behind all their actions. The psychological aspect is one thing I love about Christopher Nolan movies, and this one is no exception.

     -Humor: This is one thing that always bugs me a bit about Christopher Nolan. In all of his movies I've seen (which is all but his first film and The Prestige), there is hardly any humor at all, as he prefers a deadly serious tone. I mean, he usually gets along fine without humor, but I think his movies could benefit from the occasional comic relief or witty line.

     -Best Credit: Chris Guthior as "Uninformed Officer."

     -Final Score: Don't get me wrong, Insomnia is a good movie. It succeeds mostly due to its interesting psychological plot, gray-area morality, and good acting. Having said that, this still does not rank among Christopher Nolan's best. If you're a fan of film noir, cop films, Al Pacino, or psychological thrillers, I recommend seeing Insomnia. However, if you're looking for a classic Christopher Nolan movie, check out Memento, The Dark Knight, and Inception instead. So in other words, unless you're looking for why Christopher Nolan is famous, I recommend Insomnia.

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The Dark Knight Rises (2012) Review

THE DARK KNIGHT RISES (2012)

Easily 2012's coolest movie poster

Director: Christopher Nolan

Writers: Christopher Nolan, Jonathan Nolan, and David S. Goyer

Producers: Kevin De La Noy, Benjamin Melniker, Thomas Tull, Michael E. Ulsan, and Christopher Nolan

Editor: Lee Smith

Music: Hans Zimmer

Starring: Christian Bale, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Tom Hardy, Anne Hathaway, Gary Oldman, and Marion Cotillard

Runtime: 2 hours 44 minutes

Rating: PG-13 (intense violence & action, some sensuality & language)

Genre: Action, Superhero, Drama

ReleaseDate: July 20, 2012

Before Watching the Movie: 
    -Watch at least Batman Begins if not that and The Dark Knight beforehand because as the end of the trilogy, The Dark Knight Rises references the previous 2 movies quite a bit, especially Batman Begins.
    -If you don't get around to watching Batman Begins beforehand, familiarize yourself with the character of Ra's Al Ghul and the League of Shadows. If you can't watch The Dark Knight beforehand, familiarize yourself with the character of Harvey Dent and what happened between him and Commissioner Gordon.

Intro: First of all, I'd like to acknowledge the shooting victims at the premiere of the movie in Colorado. No matter what the impact of the The Dark Knight Rises is, I think it will always be remembered if nothing else for that tragic incident. Not to get all political here, but the shooting would be much less likely to have happened if the shooter didn't have such easy access to high-powered weapons (as in, we need much stricter gun control in this country). Second of all, I'd like to answer 2 simple questions about the movie everyone has on their minds:
   Q: Is it good?
   A: Yes.
   Q: Is it as good as The Dark Knight?
   A: No.
Honestly though, it's hard for any movie to top The Dark Knight. Still, The Dark Knight Rises is a very good movie that is a thrilling and satisfying end to one of the greatest movie trilogies of all time through it's great direction by Christopher Nolan, great acting, and impressive visuals.

Plot: 8 years after the events of The Dark Knight, Bruce Wayne (Bale) is a crippled shut-in and no one has seen him or Batman since the night Harvey Dent died. Batman has taken the blame for the death of Harvey Dent, (who turned into the evil two-face at the end of The Dark Knight) who is seen as a hero for cleaning up the streets of Gotham. Just as things are looking up, Commissioner Gordon (Oldman), tracking suspicious activity, is captured and wounded by mercenaries of a new terrorist leader named Bane (Hardy), who was excommunicated from the League of Shadows, who trained Bruce Wayne. Bane is even more committed to the cause, destroying civilization when necessary, than the teacher Ra's Al Ghul was in Batman Begins. The Gotham City Police Department does all it can with the help of a Batman-believing detective named Blake (Gordon-Levitt), but Bane overwhelms them and Wayne feels the need to help out as Batman. He must regain Gotham's trust while keeping the city safe from Bane while uneasily working with the freelancer Selina Kyle (AKA Catwoman).

Thingspeople may find “objectionable”: The main thing here is violence, especially when it involves Bane. Bane is a ruthless killer and is not afraid to kill off anyone in any way.

Ratings:

     -Directing/Cinematography: 10/10. Christopher Nolan is easily one of the top directors working today and at least for right now, anything he touches turns to gold. The direction is fantastic and it's really what's made the Batman trilogy so superior to any other comic book movies that have been made to date (though you could make a argument with The Avengers, X-Men: First Class, and Iron Man).

    -Acting: 10/10. The movie features many prominent actors, and they all show why they are famous in this movie, with fantastic performances throughout. Anne Hathaway was a perfect choice to play Catwoman and Tom Hardy, while he's no Heath Ledger, gives a great performance as Bane.

Tom Hardy as Bane, the main bad guy in the movie.
Though there were rumors of Leonardo DiCaprio
playing the Riddler, I think Nolan made a good choice
in selecting a villan. 

     -Writing: 8.5/10.

          -Story: 8/10. Very good and well-told story for the most part, despite a couple clichés. Everything is wrapped up pretty neatly at the end and though I thought the ending could have been better, it definitely feels satisfying.

          -Script: 9/10. As always from Nolan, a solid script with few to no cheesy lines and a script that works well with the movie.

     -SpecialEffects: 10/10. As with all superhero movies, the special effects are a strong point and really look good. A sure bet when you see any superhero movie is that if nothing else, there will be tons of amazing visuals.

     -Music/Score: 10/10. In my opinion, Hans Zimmer is one of the best out there at writing movie scores, and his score for The Dark Knight Rises is no exception. To be honest, the movie would probably be way less exciting without his powerful score playing in the background. Music is one of those things in movies that you sometimes don't notice until it isn't there. Great music really does make a movie way better than without it.

     -Power/Emotion: 7/10. Nolan does a good job making you care about the characters in his movies and what happens to them.

     -Adrenaline: 9/10. As an action movie, The Dark Knight Rises really gets your heart racing as it is exciting pretty much all the way through.

     -Mind-Bendingness: 5/10. Since it's not a sci-fi movie, there are not a whole lot of mind-bending moments (one hell of a lot less than Nolan's last movie, Inception), though some of Batman's technology is pretty cool and mind-blowing sometimes. If you remove Batman from the movie, The Dark Knight Rises is really just an action flick with a few cool toys.

     -Humor: n/a. For as good of a director as Christopher Nolan is, he can never seem to add any humor to his movies at all. Every one I've seen, though they've been brilliant, have been dead serious throughout. I guess humor just isn't Nolan's style. One thing I like about the Marvel movies, though most of them suffer in comparison to Nolan's Batman trilogy, have a good sense of humor to them and usually involve several funny moments.
     -Best Credit: A new section I decided to add. For every movie I see, there is always one person in the credits that has a weird job or stupid character name (i.e. the role of "hot girl" in The Amazing Spider-Man). The winner here is Jay Benedict in the role of "Rich Twit."

     -Final Score: While The Dark Knight Rises is not as good as The Dark Knight, it is still a great movie that ends a great franchise with a bang. I'd recommend this movie to pretty much anyone who likes dark superhero or action movies, or anyone who's into Batman, or at least Christian Bale and Christopher Nolan's Batman. Even if you don't like Batman that much, I think the movie can still be thoroughly enjoyed by anyone, given knowledge of what happens in Batman Begins.

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