'BlacKkKlansman' Review

Nominated For: Best Picture, Best Director; Spike Lee, Best Supporting Actor; Adam Driver, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Film Editing, and Best Original Score. 

Won: Best Adapted Screenplay.

The year is 1979 and Ron Stallworth has recently become the first black police officer in the Colorado Springs Police Department. Determined to make a name a name for himself, Stallworth bravely sets out on a dangerous mission: infiltrate and expose the Ku Klux Klan. The detective soon recruited a more seasoned colleague named Flip Zimmerman into the undercover investigation of a lifetime. Together, they team up to take down the extremist hate group as the organization aims to sanitize its violent rhetoric to appeal to the mainstream. 

BlacKkKlansman is the latest "joint" from writer-director Spike Lee (his films are often referred to as such), and lending Lee a helping hand in regards to scripting, Charlie Wachtel, David Rabinowitz, and Kevin Willmott are all credited co-writers on this crazy enterprise. Oh, and by the way, it's all actually based on a true story with the real Ron Stallworth's memoir serving as the film's primary source of inspiration, as the title card reading "dis joint is based on some fo' real, fo' real s---" hilariously informs the audience. While the film's subject matter is certainly serious, BlacKkKlansman is equally comedic as it is dramatic. Humor is often employed as a means of disempowering racism, and it's remarkably effective. You laugh at the Klan members not for their disgusting comments and hateful attitudes, but because the film rightfully portrayed them as clueless dolts with a distasteful and ridiculous ideology. It's quite brilliant actually. 

In all honesty, I've never seen any of Lee's films before, but I quickly got the gist that he's not a man for subtlety. I could really care less what your political leanings are, but I can see some on-the-nose dialogue about Trump and the film's epilogue upsetting a certain sect, and I imagine there will be plenty of boycotts and things of that nature once white supremacists get wind of it. Otherwise, I find it hard to believe anything presented will be construed as offensive to anyone else. Regardless, it's going to get people talking and already has in a lot of ways. Whether it be the Oscar buzz and critical acclaim it's garnering or a serious conversation about racial relations in America, people are talking about it.

Best of all, is the fair, balanced take on many of the socio-political issues Lee chose to tackle. When it comes to those relevant topics, BlacKkKlansman never feels lopsided in the slightest. Though the film rightfully doesn't excuse abhorrent racist behavior either... In that regard, Lee expresses his anger at our situation today not only within the context of his narrative, but also in the film's epilogue which stitches together footage from the rallies and riots that occurred a year ago in Charlottesville. Sure to leave an impression on audiences, the video is infuriating and repulsive to watch. A harsh reminder that the problems plaguing these characters are real ones people have to face everyday.

As for production value, BlacKkKlansman is made in the style of a '70s blaxploitation flick and the film's atmosphere reflects that. The cinematography, costuming, production design, and score are all especially authentic to the era and exceptionally executed. Admittedly, a love-interest sub-plot could have been better integrated and on-the-nose political commentary seems out place in the context of the ongoing story, but these grievances are ultimately insubstantial. 

Performance-wise, BlacKkKlansman has it's fair share of all-stars. It should really come as no surprise that Denzel's son, John David Washington, would display a knack for dramatic acting as well as sharp comedic sensibilities, but Washington steps out of his father's shadow to prove himself just as capable of excelling in a leading role. Opposite Washington, Laura Harrier shines as an outspoken activist while Adam Driver is exceptional as per usual playing an undercover cop. In recent years, Driver has quickly become a favorite supporting actor of mine and is easily one of the most consistent actors working today. In the role of Zimmerman, he once again proves to be at home playing characters with a conflicted nature. Though his screen-time is fleeting, Harry Belafonte's recollection to an obscene act of violence is no less impactful, proving to be one of the film's most powerful scenes when all is said-and-done.

Meanwhile, to fill out the Klan, Lee needed actors who could qualify as both buffoons and ferocious psychopaths. By falling for Stallworth's ruse, a degree of incompetence was necessary, but the Klansmen needed to be a credible threat for the purposes of a realistic portrayal as well. Walking that fine line, Topher Grace depicts David Duke as a mild-mannered racist, Jasper Pääkkönen's Felix is about as despicable as they get, and Paul Walter Hauser, the breakout star of I, Tonya, continues to inspire bouts of laughter with excellent comedic timing as an inept Klansman.

To sum things up, BlacKkKlansman is not only one of the year's best films, but also one of 2018's most important. The Birth of a Nation is brought up as a 1915 blockbuster that inspired violence against black communities, but here's hoping Lee's latest joint is able to do the opposite and put racists back where they belong: out of sight and out of mind. 

Film Assessment: A-

Throwback Thursday Review: 'Spider-Man 3'

This review's a few days late because I wanted to be sure I got my Triple-R over Guardians of the Galaxy and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 review uploaded and I had other prior conflicting commitments. To make up for the delayed review I'm going to be reviewing the entire Alien Anthology prior to Alien: Covenant's release next week. Anyways, this week I'm reviewing Spider-Man 3 to tie into Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 as a Marvel release this past weekend and simultaneously advance my series of Spider-Man reviews swinging into July's Spider-Man: Homecoming. I'll go ahead and give you a head's up that this review will include spoilers but the film is ten years old at this point so if you haven't seen it yet then it's not really a big deal. For the remainder of May I'll be publishing Throwback Thursday Reviews over Despicable Me, Prometheus, and Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Retrospective Reviews for the Alien Anthology, and new reviews including King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, Alien: Covenant, Baywatch, and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales.

'Spider-Man 3' Review

Spider-Man 3 serves as the concluding chapter for this iteration of the web-head. Resuming immediately after the events of Spider-Man 2, Peter Parker is just getting into the swing of balancing his dual identities only to have danger looming overhead once more. Spider-Man 3 is a widely maligned feature, failing to materialize into a thrilling threequel and cap off an incredible superhero trilogy. Sam Raimi returned to direct and lent his hand to penning Spidey's third screenplay. Raimi's creative lens helps to steer Spider-Man 3 away from being a total disaster but his touch wasn't enough to completely save the venture.  

Raimi and cinematographer Bill Pope were able to construct at least one great scene to juxtapose nearly every atrocity captured but none of it really makes up for the fact that Spider-Man 3 shouldn't have turned out this badly. Spider-Man 3's main issue is its insistence on being three different films featuring three (a case could be made for four) different antagonists that were forcibly interwoven into one overcooked mess. The script comes from the brain trust of previous script spinner Alvin Sargent, Sam and Ivan Raimi. 

There are plenty of story components to pick apart but I'd say the most pressing problem was an overcrowded story that didn't particularly service any of the characters. For starters, Peter's facing at least three sources of conflict and that's an overwhelming amount to resolve in two and a half hours, give or take. There's the pre-established quarrel between Peter and Harry and the introduction of Sandman and Venom, the latter of which never quite jive into Spider-Man 3's natural narrative. You'd think that the sensible direction to follow would be for Harry to take the mantle of being Spidey's big baddie considering the groundwork has been lain in two prior franchise entries. 

However, Sony seemed to really want to force Venom into it (this is still evident today with plans to release a standalone Venom movie next year) and Raimi must have been dying to play around with Sandman. It's not that these villains are all terrible, rather the fact that they weren't all pertinent to the story at hand and don't fit well together. 

This is especially evident in the design and layout of the film. First, Harry's the threat until he suddenly gets amnesia. Then Sandman comes out of nowhere to bring everything full circle regarding the death of Uncle Ben till he's temporarily disposed. Eddie Brock fills the void of Peter's workplace rival at the Daily Bugle and the symbiote arises as a symbol of Peter's inner conflict. Eventually the two join forces to become Venom but till that point remain separate sources of conflict. 

One common thing you'll notice is that no more than three of these antagonists are adversarial towards Peter at once. The threats work but only two or three at a time due to the constraints of the narrative, almost like a game of Whack-A-Mole. Fifteen minutes into the film Harry gets amnesia so he's friendly till he regains his memories. During that time Sandman resurges, Eddie Brock threatens his livelihood, and the symbiote latches onto Peter in his most troubling time. Sandman is almost immediately disposed of (for the time being) and the symbiote gets put away for a bit. Harry regains his memories and Brock continues to be a jerk at work. Peter pulls out the symbiote again and fights Harry once he realizes his memories have resurfaced. When Harry's defeated, he remains on the sidelines. Sandman re-emerges and Brock and the symbiote coalesce into Venom. 

That's not even mentioning the string of plot-holes in between or the cringeworthy mess that is emo Peter Parker dancing at a jazz club... 

Believe it or not though, there are actually redeeming aspects to Spider-Man 3 if you know where to look such as the fights between Sandman and Peter, Peter's second confrontation with Harry, Harry's sacrifice, J. Jonah Jameson, or simply the fact that the black symbiote suit looks wickedly awesome. However, all these stand-out sequences or memorable moments are paired with an equally atrocious scene so it all kinda evens out when it's all said and done. The visual effects are inconsistent to say the least with gorgeous renderings opposed to disgusting digitized avatars and inadequate green screen work. It almost makes you wish they had gone the Spider-Man route, utilizing more practical effects or at least cut out a few baddies to conserve the budget. Elsewhere, Christopher Young stepped up to the plate after Danny Elfman bolted and I've gotta say he did a commendable job at composing some beautiful pieces to coincide with Elfman's pre-existing heroic anthems. 

For anyone that's followed my reviews of the two predecessors, you should be well aware I'm not a fan of Tobey Maguire in the role of Spider-Man. Maguire purely lacks charisma when he puts on the suit so I never buy the dual identity dynamic of Peter Parker/Spider-Man and his stint with the symbiote this time around is painful to watch. I'll admit he's got the awkwardness of Parker down to a tee, just no other aspect of his personality. 

Kirsten Dunst's Mary Jane is once again relegated to her familiar damsel duties and she's fine at that I guess. However, I personally would have rather seen Mary Jane do anything else than be exploited by the villain for a nefarious scheme to ensnare Spider-Man for the third consecutive time. 

James Franco is probably the only returning cast member who I feel truly grew as an actor over the course of making these movies. Franco provides one of the better performances in the crowded ensemble, finally letting Harry's malevolent side loose, and Franco found a nice balance between being friend and fiend. Other retuning mainstays include J.K. Simmons and Rosemary Harris as Daily Bugle's irksome editor and the tender, supportive aunt. Newcomers include Thomas Hayden Church, Bryce Dallas Howard, and Topher Grace. Church brings terrific concealed tragedy to Flint Marko, making Sandman stand out as one of the more compelling characters among the group. Howard offers a fine portrayal of Gwen Stacy but has little more to do than serve as a love triangle/relationship drama plot device. 

Lastly, Topher Grace feels the most out of place among the ensemble as both Eddie Brock and Venom. Grace is suffficient in bringing a displeasing demeanor to Brock but Grace's portrayal of Venom verges on being featured in a scary Saturday morning cartoon. Raimi does his best to make Grace's over-the-top performance menacing, but it flounders with mixed results. 

I could go on and on about how flawed Spider-Man 3 is but I'm pretty sure you either already know from personal experience or get the gist from my extrapolation and analysis. When it comes down to it, Spider-Man 3's placement in the Raimi Spider-Man trilogy is equivalent to Spider-Man scaling the Empire State Building only to dive off the with no web fluid, no parachute, and only a rusty trampoline underneath to break his fall. 

Film Assessment: D+