Okay, so I had originally had no interest in seeing this movie when it came out. I love Sin City but I really disliked the copy-cat movies that came out after, i.e. The Spirit. Naturally, when I saw this trailer it looked even hokey-er than The Spirit and so I passed. Fortunately, I did finally see this movie in my hotel room where the selection is quite limited. This movie is back from 2009 and grossed over $185 million, surpassing it's $130 million budget.The movie has an impressive cast and features, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Billy Crudup, Malin Akerman, and Patrick Wilson. The story is about a band of super heroes and former super heroes spanning from the late 1940's to mid 1980's in an alternate historical period. The heroes must come together after an infamous retired super hero is brutally murdered.
The plot sounds simple but was actually intriguingly complex and intertwined. I thought that this was a fine piece of scriptwriting as the characters were dynamic and had many different relationships/motives pushing them towards their actions. It was all believable and the complexity was not confusing. I enjoyed the freedom with which the American history was adapted in the plot, which was quite amusing. I.e. Nixon being elected for a fourth term. I wasn't surprised when I learned this movie was based on a graphic novel from the same author as that of V For Vendetta. The history manipulation is quite brilliant in both films and the plots complex and believable. I could really go on and on about this plot, I thought it was just great.
Right up there with the plot, was the cinematography. Just kick ass in all the right parts. The score was quite great. The opening sequence with slomo HD CGI flashback events was just priceless - my favorite part of the movie by far. There was also a really visually awesomely and ironic love scene which was set to a cover of Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah. It was quite brilliant and very tongue in cheek. The soundtrack really kept the mood and pace up in this movie. The CGI was breathtakingly awesome in this movie. Really great - Sin City meets Kick Ass.
I think the movie was cast perfectly. Malin Akerman was especially great and I'm a huge fan of Billy Crudup, and enjoyed his performance, even if it was a computer generated image of himself. Jeffrey Dean Morgan somehow drew your empathy even though his character's actions didn't deserve them. Everyone else was just perfect in their roles.
Overall, I was very pleased that I caught this movie - Thank you Mariott Hotels! I'd definitely recommend this movie to anyone who's a fan of the contemporary graphic novel adaptations. I think even fans of great action movies with interesting plots would also enjoy. I'm not a comic book villain. Do you seriously think I would explain my master stroke to you if there were even the slightest possibility you could affect the outcome? I triggered it 35 minutes ago."
