Tuesday, May 26, 2015

Daredevil - Noun "A Reckless Person Who Enjoys Doing Dangerous Things"

Hello People of the Interwebs!

This week, I'm reviewing the new Marvel/Netflix series, Daredevil!

Image Credit to IMDb

WARNING: Spoilers ahead!

Daredevil follows the exploits of a man named Matt Murdock, a blind lawyer in Hell's Kitchen. (For those of you that don't know, Hell's Kitchen is an area of Manhattan, around Midtown.) This blind lawyer is also a masked crime fighting machine. "What?" You may be asking. "But he's blind!" You may say. Well as it turns out, when chemicals blinded him as a young boy, they also enhanced all of his other senses. Power origins, kind of stupid, I know.

Other than the powers, Matt Murdock is a lawyer with his best friend Foggy Nelson. They decide to work together for the betterment of Hell's Kitchen, which, to the woe of Foggy, doesn't have much money in it. And, that's all I can really say specifically about the story without spoiling too much.

The characters are one thing that makes this series so phenomenal. Not only are the protagonists multi-dimensional, but so are the antagonists. This series makes you fall in love with all of the characters, so much so that, even when you know what the truly "bad" guy has done, you still feel super sympathetic and you understand why they're doing this. When a series can humanize a villain as cruel as this one, you know that they've succeeded.

The story arc is also very dimensional. We not only follow Matt, but we also follow around Foggy, their assistant, and the villains. You get to see multiple angles of the story, each with the respective character's own perception.

Oh, then the acting. The actors just bring the already amazing story to life even more. I'm not going to give each their own critique, since I'll say the same thing for each actor... except for one. You'll see. The actors are as follows: Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock/Daredevil, Deborah Ann Woll as Karen Page, Elden Henson as Foggy Nelson, Vondie Curtis-Hall as Ben Urich, Rosario Dawson as Claire Temple, Ayelet Zurer as Vanessa Marianna, and Toby Leonard Moore as James Wesley. Each and every one of these actors is phenomenal in their role. They bring an amazing depth to the characters. Also, Vincent D'Onofrio as Wilson Fisk. Fisk is probably my favorite character in the entire show, in part due to D'Onofrio. His portrayal of the classic Daredevil villain makes him a teddy bear. A horrifying, cruel, deadly teddy bear. It's hard to explain well. He's just amazing.

Then, as there is with all Superhero things, there's the action. The action is simple, with no fancy gadgets or weapons, besides the bad guys' guns. The fights are also incredibly well paced, and the suspense is just enough.

The effects are also fantastic. It's mainly the blood and wounds in the show, but there are a few CGI effects. First, the wounds. They look very realistic, especially when you see a bone jutting out from a broken arm and such things. Then the few CGI moments. The opening credits are done in a really cool way, but at first it seems kind of dull and boring. But it really grows on you. The other moment I won't mention, since it's a beautiful and poetic moment of the show.

Marvel/Netflix's Daredevil is purely amazing. I highly recommend it. Do keep in mind, it is quite graphic at times, but it doesn't change the fact that this is a phenomenal show.

This is the Teenage Critic, signing off!

Like The Teenage Critic on Facebook here. You can email the Teenage Critic at criticteen1@gmail.com. Feel free to send me your suggestions for movies to review, or just to send me your opinions and fan mail. Follow me on Twitter, @Thomas_Pflanz

Tuesday, May 19, 2015

Avengers: Ultron's, Like, Less Than a Week Old

Hello People of the Interwebs!

Today I'll be reviewing the most recent film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Avengers: Age of Ultron! Let's get into the roller coaster of a film!

Image Credit to IMDb

WARNING: Spoilers ahead!

The story follows the Avengers as they take out the last of a series of Hydra bases, looking for Loki's scepter. They find it, along with many notes on Baron von Strucker's experiments, including the super-powered twins: Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch. Quicksilver has super speed, and Scarlet Witch has limited mind control and telekinesis. According to Tony Stark/Iron Man, Loki's scepter contains a living computer; an Artificial Intelligence of sorts. Tony and Bruce Banner (Hulk) decide to use this AI to create Ultron, an international peace keeping robotic army. Great idea, right? Well, Ultron attacks, and everything goes down from there.

I really enjoy the story of this film. While it may not have the classic Superhero movie feel of the 2012 Avengers film, this film takes many more interesting risks with its storytelling. They use typical cliches of this genre to trick you into incorrect predictions of what's to come. For example: Leading you towards expecting a character's death, then completely flipping that expectation upside down.

One criticism that I do have is about Ultron. In the previous versions of Ultron that I've seen, he's intimidating with a negative world view. But he was always serious and stern. In this film, I felt like they wrote him too sassy and sarcastic, like they were trying to make a "new Loki". I didn't necessarily not enjoy it. I just felt like Ultron's tone could have been different.

The acting is till amazing. I feel like I don't have to re-say everything that I said in my first Avengers review, almost a whole year ago! (Wow, how time flies!) The actors listed there are all amazing and have great on-screen chemistry. Then, there are the new actors. Aaron Taylor-Johnson plays Pietro Maximoff/Quicksilver. Elizabeth Olsen plays his twin, Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch. These actors are great together and separately. Then, there's James Spader as Ultron. His voice was extremely intimidating, and his overall acting was great! Also among the new actors is Paul Bettany. Not only does he play JARVIS, Stark's personal computer, but he also plays the Vision, an enormously powerful superhero created by Ultron to be his perfect being, made of human cells and vibranium, the strongest metal on Earth. He's quite amazing.

This film is fantastic! While it may not satisfy all of the check boxes of a classic superhero film, it is most certainly a great movie. In fact, I prefer it to the first Avengers film! I highly recommend going to see it!

This is the Teenage Critic, signing off!

Also, as a quick side note, I'm at 97 page views away from hitting 2000 page views!

Like The Teenage Critic on Facebook here. You can email the Teenage Critic at criticteen1@gmail.com. Feel free to send me your suggestions for movies to review, or just to send me your opinions and fan mail. Follow me on Twitter, @Thomas_Pflanz

Tuesday, May 12, 2015

The Rake's Progress - A Bearded Lady and Satan, So, You Know, Your Typical Opera

Hello People of the Interwebs!

Today I will be reviewing an opera by Igor Stravinsky. The opera in question is "The Rake's Progress", based on a series of 8 paintings by William Hogearth. (The final is pictured below.) The specific one that I'll be reviewing is the production the recently played at the Metropolitan Opera House in 2015 on May 9th. I was given the ticket by a friend of mine.

Image Credit to Wikipedia

WARNING: Spoilers ahead!

The story follows a young man by the name of Tom Rakewell, who is told that he has inherited a great fortune from an unknown uncle by a man named Nick Shadow (subtle, right?). He moves to London with the promise to send for his love, named Anne Trulove, after his estate is in order. He soon tries to forget about her, and instead takes a bearded lady, named Baba the Turk, for a wife. Anne is heartbroken. In the end Tom confronts Shadow, who is actually Satan! He finally claims Tom's soul. What for? For giving him money and wealth, for Tom's uncle... never existed! Tom then defeats Satan in a game, and claims his soul, but alas! He places a curse of insanity upon Tom. Anne then visits Tom in an insane asylum. Tom believes that he is Adonis, Venus's lover, and that Anne is Venus. The very last scene is the actors who played Father Trulove, Anne, Tom, Shadow, and Baba telling the audience what the moral of the opera was.

The music is astounding.. Truly amazing. The grand sweeping tones are just gorgeous. It's fun to draw a parallel between the music and the story. The music is light spirited at times, and then sad at times, but there's always a feeling of hope in the music throughout. That is, until Tom goes insane. Then the music turns drudging, sad, hopeless. I was swept away by the score (I happen to be listening to it as I write).

The opera is quite satirical in nature. There are multiple cliches that seem to be mocked in it. The villain's last name is Shadow, and he has a baritone/bass range, which is enormously typical of opera. When the lovers say goodbye, Tom moves to go, and the music dwindles. Suddenly, it swells, and Tom goes back to Anne to say another goodbye. Those things and many more are what made me adore this opera.

It makes me very sad that "The Rake's Progress" had such a limited run at the Met. It is a beautiful, clever, and magnificent opera. If you ever find yourself coming upon a set of tickets for this opera at the Met ever again, go see it. It's truly extraordinary.

This is the Teenage Critic, signing off!

Like The Teenage Critic on Facebook here. You can email the Teenage Critic at criticteen1@gmail.com. Feel free to send me your suggestions for movies to review, or just to send me your opinions and fan mail. Follow me on Twitter, @Thomas_Pflanz