Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story

Christopher Reeve wasn't the first actor to play Superman in live action, but by the time he was permanently paralyzed in a horse-riding accident in 1995, he was surely the most famous. We've had documentaries about the Man of Steel before, but we now have a documentary about Reeve himself. This is Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story.

The directors, Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui, chronicle Reeve's life before and after that fateful accident. We learn how his parents', the academic Franklin Reeve and journalist Barbara Lamb, utterly bitter divorce soured his outlook on commitment. His relationship with his father wasn't much better when he was an adult. Franklin was utterly aghast when he learned Christopher landed the part of Superman. William Hurt, his co-star in the play My Life, wasn't thrilled either, but his objections are more amusing. On that note, we see how he met his Julliard roommate and future best friend, the irreplicable Robin Williams, who might as well be the story's deuteragonist.

But actually, that title goes to Christopher's eventual wife, Dana Morosini. Early on, we see how Reeve met Gae Exton during the simultaneous productions of the first two Superman movies. They spent a decade together, even having two kids, interviewees Matthew and Alexandria, before they amicably split in 1987, the year he met Dana. Their courtship is nice to see unfold on-screen; their son, third interviewee Will, was born shortly after they married. It endears us to Dana by showing how she warmed up to her step kids, and how she supported Christopher after the accident. You know, it's pretty unfair that both of them died relatively young just as things were slightly looking up for them.

Of course, post-accident, Christopher became a disability rights activist. Some people suspected his motives were a little selfish - he did sign off on a rather creepily convincing stem cell ad with him walking - but the recently deceased Brooke Ellison, whose TV biopic Reeve directed, tells us how valuable his advocacy was. That advocacy even paid off well after his and Dana's deaths, up to, and including, the Christopher and Dana Reeve Paralysis Act being signed in 2009. It even gets great mileage out of Superman IV by intercutting Superman's big speech before the UN with Christopher's big speech at the 1996 DNC. By the end, I wasn't doubting his motives, but further convinced how super he was in real life. You might be convinced of it too.

We see him branch out of Superman with numerous dramatic roles, including Merchant-Ivory's The Bostonians and The Remains of the Day. It was his equestrian training in his TV role in Anna Karenina that got him on the saddle off-screen. A reporter doubts his post-Superman luck, but we see some pretty good clips of his other roles. Of course, the film pretty much affirms part of the reason why he became so iconic as Superman: his complete differentiation between Superman and alter-ego Clark Kent. 

Superman movie producer Pierre Spengler tells us funny anecdotes of how they cast Christopher over numerous big names, including Arnold Schwarzenegger. It's also amusing seeing him take pot shots at Marlon Brando's lackadaisical work ethic as Jor-El. I was reminded that he didn't get along with Sarah Douglas and Jack O'Halloran, who played Kryptonian villains Ursa and Non, on Superman II, but that bit was ignored. On a more serious note, the montage of well-wishers' letters is quite nice, as are his home movies of his family life before and after the accident. It also further affirms how sorely missed Robin Williams is, both as a comedian and an all-around good guy.

 Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story had a two-night Fathom Events showing last month, so I thought I missed my chance. But fortunately, it officially premiered in theatres this past weekend. Any reason to listen to John Williams's theme, which is featured in the opening, is worth it. Ilan Eshkeri's similarly grand score fits right in with the classic films' legendary soundtrack. It's just that good a documentary, and I hope the Academy won't ignore it like they did Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie. See it soon, whether in theatres or on streaming, and you'll see what I mean.

Next up: One of the most unusual biopics of the year.

My Hero Academia: You're Next

 Deku and His Hero Academicians ended their decade of manga school days just a few months ago. They're expected to wrap up their anime school life with next year's eighth season. But before that, they'll headline a new anime movie, My Hero Academia: You're Next. It debuted just in time for that last manga chapter in Japanese theatres and is now going Plus Ultra in US theatres now.

Let's introduce our villain first. His name is Valdo Gollini, a mafioso who happens to be a huge fan of the world's best superhero, All-Might. When All-Might retired, the hero finished off his farewell speech with "It's your turn." Valdo, like much of the world, has a Quirk, and his lets him turn gold into anything. So, he makes himself look like All-Might and sets out for his turn to be a superhero. In actuality, "Dark Might" and his family want to lord over the world with their strength. He's basically a Superman fanboy who thinks his greatest attribute is that he's stronger than everyone, and not that he uses that incredible strength for good.

A little foreshadowing for the next film I'm covering.

Meanwhile, Deku and his classmates are rounding up escaped supervillains when the Gollinis show up with their hostage, a rich girl named Anna Scervino. Anna's Quirk magnifies other Quirks at her physical expense. Dark Might uses Anna to turn his flying yacht and several city blocks into a flying fortress, which draws in everyone in range. Fortunately, that includes the class, and they set out to fight the Gollinis on their turf. Giulio Gandini, Anna's cyborg butler, reluctantly joins Deku to find his charge. 

The screenplay gives plenty of showtime for Deku and his classmates, even more so than last time. Sure, the final battle boils down to Deku teaming up with two of his main classmates, Bakugo and Shoto, but several of the "extras" get several scenes to show off their Quirkiness. That's more than, say, watching news coverage in a hotel room (like plenty of them were in the first movie, Two Heroes). A few of the actual extras seem invested in Giulio when he exposits his backstory with Anna, which is a neat bit of animated acting. While this is an interquel between the sixth and seventh seasons, you won't be completely lost if you go in blind. You may be confused when Deku talks to "ghosts" (the previous users of his Quirk, long story), but that's just in one scene. 

The main crux of the film is Anna and Guilio's relationship. Their shared history is kept a mystery, which begins with Giulio trying to mercy kill Anna. Except, we don't know the mercy part for much of the film. It's still intriguing as the film unravels Giulio's motives before the audience and Deku. That suspense is rewarded when Giulio comes clean and the film flashbacks to them meeting and enjoying life at her estate. I'm sure you've seen their dynamic before, but you'll still care about these two. It makes the Gollinis quite detestable that they don't even care about Anna's physical condition. It makes it rewarding when Anna and Giulio earn a happy ending.

Studio Bones continues their Quirky excellence with its animation. It gets going good when Deku leads a team of his classmates against a trio of villains, one of whom can turn a truck into a sentient Mad Max machine. The flying yacht, both in its normal form and its super fortress form, is quite impressive. The different environments in the super fortress, which include a maze, an amusement park, a castle, and snowy mountains, are all splendid to look at. The new characters designed by creator Kohei Horikoshi are as memorable as the rest of the series' favorites. Those include a teleporter/psychic duo, a legion of brutish monsters, and a wizard cosplayer whose DnD LARP is cut short. The most memorable fight, of course, is the very long final battle, which is a good showcase for Yuki Hayashi's score.

Yes, the final battle is so long that it practically has two climaxes. That's the only time it felt longer than its actual runtime of 110-minutes. That aside, My Hero Academia: You're Next's anime superheroics make this a great afternoon matinee. The relationship between its two new characters is a great throughline. There's quite a bit I've left off here, and I think you'll be impressed with a few of them. It'll be a long while before it comes to home media, so see it soon if you want to see it in theatres at all. As for me, it's time to go from anime heroics to real heroics.

Joker: Folie à Deux

I never thought I wanted an animated DC comics movie from Sylvain Chomet.

But I do now.

Joker: Folie à Deux, the year's most controversial sequel, actually begins with a cartoon, Me and My Shadow, from the aforementioned creator of The Triplets of Belleville. In it, Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix in the rest of the movie) and his shadow/Joker persona, fight it out, live on TV. The animation is as lively as Belleville's opening sequence; the number he "performs," Nick Cave's cover of What the World Needs Now, is decent. Now for the rest of the movie.

Arthur is about to stand trial for his crimes during the last movie. His lawyer, Maryanne Stewart (Catherine Keener), wants to get him off by reason of dissociative identity disorder. The head guard of Arkham, Jackie Sullivan (Brendan Gleeson), hates him as much as his victims' families. One day, Arthur catches a glimpse of Harleen "Lee" Quinzel (Lady Gaga), a fellow patient with her own crazy streak. They hit it off once he joins her music class. And then, the trial happens, and Arthur is left wondering if the world cares about him or Joker. That's pretty much it, is it?

Oh yeah, and the film's also a musical, which is probably the first reason why it's so controversial. But I thought it made sense once they announced that angle. Chicago famously refactored its stage counterpart's vaudevillian numbers as protagonist Roxie Hart's daydreams. So, it would make sense to depict its musical numbers as Arthur's own daydreams. The song choices are fine, while the musical numbers themselves jolt the film with needed life, particularly when they're mixed with returning composer Hildur Guðnadóttir's contributions.

The execution is a bit weird. Sometimes, we have Arthur and Lee performing on soundstages; other times, they sing in "reality" to an imaginary orchestra. Arthur's first number is clearly a daydream, and I thought Harley's first number was too, but no, she's actually singing while fleeing with Arthur. In a bit of levity, we have Arthur singing Bewitched (Bothered and Bewildered) in an interview, much to the interviewer's (Steve Coogan) confusion. The musical angle also takes about a half-hour before it officially kicks in. The plot is so slow it feels taxing waiting for each new number to begin. Thankfully, each number is often worth it.

Todd Philips and his co-writer, Scott Silver, wrote their sequel to demystify Joker as a likable character. Unfortunately, they made Arthur too sympathetic, both in the last movie, and in this one. In both movies, Arthur is kicked down by the world, but in this movie, he nary gets a chance to "go werewolf" on his oppressors. He imagines himself doing so in one number, and he gets some good clowning when he defends himself at one point. But that's about it. The film emphasizes the tragedy of Arthur's plight, and believe me, Phoenix gets some good acting there, while the especially controversial ending turns his story into a bitter Shaggy Dog Story.

Gaga affirms herself as a great singer and actress as Lee. She's a manipulative troublemaker with a surprising amount of free-range. She sets a piano, and with it, the music room, on fire early on; yet she still gets to see Arthur in solitary. She has some great romantic chemistry with Arthur, particularly when she asks to see "the real" him. As manipulative as she is, she turns out to be just a fan looking for validation. She's actually quite sympathetic when her given backstory crumbles into dust and the real her appears.

Equally sympathetic are several returning characters who are called during the trial. These include Arthur's ex co-worker Gary Puddles (Leigh Gill), whom Joker cross-examines, his former neighbor Sophie Drummond (Zazie Beetz) and former social worker Debra Kane (Sharon Washington). Sullivan and his goons may act chummy with Arthur, but they're monstrous villains, and their karma houdinis are especially annoying. Assistant D.A. Harvey Dent (Harry Lawtey), the future villain Two-Face, along with the father of one of Joker's subway kills (Ray Lykins), are more sympathetic than the guards.

The musical numbers, whether they take place in the real or daydream worlds, are all rendered spectacularly by returning production designer Mark Friedberg and cinematographer Lawrence Sher. I almost wish all the musical numbers were in daydream world, especially with splendorous sets such as these, but I digress. The makeup team, along with costume designer Arianne Phillips give its main clowns plenty of wild looks. The sound mixing was fine, though it was a bit hard to hear Joker's swan song, but a few choice sound effects packed a punch.

I found it pretty overwhelming watching the first Joker, but I warmed it up to it the more I studied its psychological and acting aspects. Folie à Deux, on the other hand, was a bit more tedious than overwhelming, but maybe I'll also warm up to it too. It being a musical is hardly the worse of its problems. I definitely liked its musical numbers, but not its shaggy dog punchline. At least it's more coherent than, say, Megalopolis. Overall, it's fine, but its Chomet opening was great. I meant it, more Chomet please, that'll be cool.

That's it for now.

Megalopolis

Despite any criticisms I may have about Megalopolis, the sci-fi epic that Francis Ford Coppola spent forty-five years and $120 million developing, I can at least say that it's his movie. There's no way you can mistake it for anyone else's. Do I have anything else positive about it?

Yes, I do. The film looks good. In Coppola's "fable," the city of New York is instead the city of New Rome, which is visualized with some impressive set design. Its version of Madison Square Garden is practically the Coliseum, while protagonist Cesar Catalina's (Adam Driver) office is as elaborate as Edward Carrere's work on The Fountainhead. Cesar's favorite hangout is atop the Chrysler Building, and the digital view above the city is worth the price of admission. Milena Canonero's costume designs, particularly the Classically inspired wardrobes of Society's elites, are as weirdly interesting as those in Bram Stoker's Dracula. What about the story they inhabit?

Well, much like The Fountainhead's Howard Roark, Cesar is an innovative architect hamstrung by regressive elites. He's the inventor of Megalon, a substance that can do anything, and he wants to use it to reshape New Rome into his utopia of Megalopolis. Mayor Franklin Cicero (Giancarlo Esposito) and his inner circle refuse to consider Megalon, believing it to be unsafe. Unfortunately for Cicero, his daughter Julia (Nathalie Emmanuel) falls for the rogue architect. Oh, did I mention that Cesar can stop time? He can, because of course he can, and the accompanying visual effects are pretty neat.

There are plots aplenty throughout its 138-minutes. Cesar's jealous cousin Clodio Pulcher (Shia LeBeouf) rallies the common folks against Cesar. Their uncle Crassus (Jon Voight) is a bit more supportive, but his new wife, and Cesar's ex-mistress, Wow Platinum (Aubrey Plaza), plots with Clodio against Crassus and Cesar. Cesar's Megalon has a terrible secret, but that's invalidated by Cicero's own secret. A Soviet Satellite crashes into New Rome, but it's barely an afterthought once it happens. All the while, Cesar's personal assistant Fundi Romaine (Laurence Fishburne), narrates about the fall of society, or something.

Subtlety, what is that? The characters bluntly exposit about the film's themes and their motivations. Romaine opens the film by comparing modern America with Rome just before its fall. To drive the point home, Cesar imagines a bunch of statues collapsing from exhaustion. It doesn't take much effort to recognize Wow Platinum (yes, that's a name!) as a social-climbing femme fatale. It does take effort, however, to keep up with the plot when it essentially rambles along. It's particularly noticeable in the final stretch, but a few scenes beforehand are either way long or oddly edited. We see Nush Berman (Dustin Hoffman), Cicero's fixer, get killed, likely during the satellite crash, but that moment comes way late and out of context. The film was conceived as an update of the real-life Catalinarian Conspiracy, but even that context is lost in the shuffle.

What can I say about the characters? Cesar spends a good portion of his first big speech reciting Hamlet, and later argues with Julia over his use of the word "entitle." He's a bit of a stiff, but she's decently compelling as she rebels against her father. Speaking of which, it's pretty hard to care about the start of Cicero's Heel-Face Turn later on. Clodio hams it up so much as if LaBeouf was auditioning for The Joker (I'd think he'd be a good choice). It's quite noticeable when Clodio chastises his stooge, Huey (Bailey Ives), for a brazen assassination attempt on Cesar. It's unintentionally funny when Crassus turns the tables on Clodio and Wow's treachery. This is a massive cast, and some names get lost in the shuffle; among those who aren't include Talia Shire as Cesar's mom, and Kathryn Hunter as Cicero's wife. 

Megalopolis's narrative and tone goes all over the place. However, it's still a fascinating mess thanks to its production design and weirdest flights of fancy. It may be worth a watch if you're in the right mindset, but beware, its bouts of rambling may feel longer than its entire production cycle. Several books, including Simon Braund's The Greatest Movies You'll Never See, documented Megalopolis before it finally came to be. Those accounts are well worth the read, even if you come out of the movie unimpressed. That's it for now.