Quixotic Fincher

Rating: 10/10 (5 June 2004)

Ridley Scott really hit on something for cinematic fantasy with 'Legend.' Just think, how many millions of dollars has Warner dumped into the 'Potter' and 'Rings' franchises only for them to blindly rip from Scott's masterpiece?
Peter Jackson shamelessly plagiarized the Unicorns with his own ugly mule and here the Dementors are Darkness (I should add that it's an appalling design). Besides, the plot influence of 'Legend' spread to Japan and helped forge the RPG video games. That's billions of dollars made from one source, so why duplicate Nintendo concepts? They've already been taken by anime (now under Disney control in the US).
This is your only spoiler warning...
The first two 'Potter' films stunk. The director, Columbus, was a hack from the Spielberg camp of amazing us superficially versus filmic stimulation. They weren't even competent in those regards. Rowlings' formula has come to the point where she doesn't need to write anymore and should hand the rights over to Disney. But, rather than risk what Disney would do with it, she leaves it to exhibitionistic Warner--currently financing the most expensive projects of late, including this.
It's Rowlings' ineptness that will probably strike many as juvenile. The writing is dumb like before, but no one has been brought in to change that philosophy. Consider, Oliver Stone made Johnny Depp the translator in 'Platoon.' Besides being a communication tool between cultures, the translator is supposed to be a master of words and dialect. Obviously, Depp has taken that to heart in his method.
So to tackle the words we get a Shakespearean cast including Thompson, Christie, and especially Oldman (I'll get to that later). We even get Davis back in fantasyland after Howard abandoned him. My only complaint is that Dumbledore is exceedingly dull this time, why couldn't Branagh have taken over? That would be interesting.
But that's all pointless in this film. It's all about technicals. Our photographer comes from Alan Parker this time, not Gilliam, and we have the designer of 'Elephant Man'. This is probably Craig's best work since then. The editor is pedestrian and Williams shows he is running out of tempo ideas. What really got me this time was costume design. The first two were bland, but this shows real talent in understanding colors and shape.
It's amazing to see such ability overriding 'Troy.' 'Troy' had enormous amounts of technical talent, but Petersen royally screwed up the vision. Here we have a newer, fresher vision. This is Cuaron's third adaptation and shows that he finally knows what he's doing. In many cases he borrows from images we've seen before--'Wizard of Oz', 'Matrix', 'Rescuers Down Under'--but that's not his focus. Notice how, unlike the first two, this is muted in color. For the first half, despite the stupid story, I was held in awe by this Fincher-grade work straight from 'Alien3'. Too bad it didn't last into the next half.
Other impressive elements:
--Many scenes are constructed visually straight out of 'Catch-22' and the more dramatic lightshows are less Columbus and more directly Spielberg. Yes, I'm thinking of 'Close Encounters' and 'Empire of the Sun.'
--The werewolf subplot was fumbled, but compare it to 'American Werewolf.' Rather than emphasize the Batman concept of duality and regret, we get an appreciation of the British countryside. Very nice landscapes.
--Speaking of which, the cast is finally learning how to use our eye Cuaron is more appreciative in his gaze than Columbus (that could be it). Notice how Watson and Radcliffe shine more exuberantly now than before. Even Thompson does.
--Now comes, quite possibly, the biggest change. The notion of play-within-play has been used before (Cervantes made it common), but this is expertly handled. This is what Zemeckis tried in 'Future' with 'Run Lola' added in--and probably why they got a Hispanic director. Watch as the characters interfere with themselves and are concerned with the passage of time. I bet it's because of this quasi-parallel universe that Oldman got the title role. Now I just wish we'd seen more of him, he's the British Depp.
So, given the hamhanded attempt at maturity, this is what 'AvP' should be...the fifth 'Alien'. Not as dark as 'Empire Strikes Back', but I give kudos for trying real hard. I'll probably regret my rating later, but this is probably the most interesting sequel we'll in the near future.
Final Analysis = = Learn from this...