The Spectacular Now Movie Review

I lost count.
I love this movie.
 Do i have to say it again? I. Love. It.
The thing about The Spectacular Now is that it tells a story. It tells the life story of a boy that can't seem to understand why people bother so much preparing for the future when they can choose to be happy right now. After he's blown off by his ex-girlfriend, he meets a typical girl-next-door Aimee Finicky, who seems so normal that he finally takes a step back from his hard-partying life to spend some time with her. He befriends her with the intention of 'helping her out' which mainly means introducing her to sexual education, because she's never had a boyfriend. Instead he finds himself falling for her with her unselfish ways and simple speech and it doesn't take long before the two are a couple.
And the damn screen cuts to black.
This is one of my favorite scenes because both characters are being so unselfish and show it in their own way. After seeing his father act so recklessly, Sutter doesn't want to hurt Aimee the same way and so he tries to prevent it by pushing her away. Of course, he's only hurting her. He does it because he believes he is a replica of his father. Everything he does, the drinking, partying, pick-up lines, charming conversations, reminds him of his father. Because he initially 'picked' Aimee up with the intention of 'educating' her, he believes he doesn't deserve her now that he's sincere.
Right after that, its graduation. I just love the way this movie positions its scenes, you know, they can spend a whole week showing you the growth of Sutter's and Aimee's relationship and jump into prom right after that. And after prom its graduation, but it doesn't feel hurried because you've already spent enough time with the characters earlier on. We've gotten used to their presence, and the filmmakers realize that, so they fast forward time to a few months forward without the need to place a caption on screen. It's understood. And it doesn't feel out of place.
Amazing movie.

How many times has this movie made me cry?
How many times has it made me question about my life, my future, my self?
How many times has it made me realize I had those answers all along?


 I can't believe I put off watching it this long. It's not everyday that a movie touches me the same way Les Mis did, make me recall my high school days the way Perks did, and think about my first love the way Flipped did.
It leads you on a path taken before, nights after prom, breakups, recent hookups, the thrill of romance, family hardships, and basically everything life is when you're in high school. Certain scenes you relate so much it hurts; you can't help but feel this movie is a passionate retelling of your life and what you did or wish you did before. It encourages you to live in the 'moment', as Sutter often puts it, 'I choose to live in the Now, because its happening.'

I know this part sounds hopelessly common to you, but the film manages to pace it so well that the story unfolds in its own way, has time to develop, and by the end of the movie you feel like you know Sutter as an old friend. Even the sex scene doesn't feel rushed, it isn't slapped in your face with the thrill of bedroom drapes and seductive women pouting their heavily made-up faces at you. And suddenly he plugs her and its over, back to ordinary school life, and you just have to accept the fact that it happened normally just as it wouldn't in real life.
Anyway, back to the story. The two get close, and while Sutter's friend Ricky questions his sudden change of taste in women, Sutter insists that there's more to Aimee. Besides, the worst-case scenario is that he gives her boyfriend experience and walks away unscathed. How bad can that be?
After several tutoring sessions together, Sutter asks Aimee out on a date where he spontaneously tells her she's beautiful and despite her weak protests, kisses her. This leads to him asking her out for prom, taking her to home-dinner dates, and ultimately, bringing her to visit his estranged father. The visit slaps Sutter in the face that his father isn't the man he thought him to be, and understands why his mother kept him a forbidden topic. He takes it out on Aimee the way home, claiming she doesn't really love him and that she's only declaring so because she's drunk. A car swerves dangerously close and Sutter barely manages to avoid it. Aimee unbuckles her seat belt and quickly checks him for injuries, asking if he's okay. Sutter's furious because he almost killed her and instead of being mad, she's doing the exact opposite. He screams that she needs to get away from him, that he's a bad influence, whilst she tearfully apologizes and tries to calm him down. He yells at her to get out from his car which she does, sobbing and crying and looking so painfully helpless, before a car drives past and tears her down.


Aimee on the other hand is so blinded and full of love for Sutter that she doesn't understand what he's doing. But even worse is that she's not mad at him for it, no matter the reason. The fact that he exists and is beside her is enough, because he's all that matters to her. She's so selfless that when he shows up at her house to say sorry, she doesn't even want to hear it. She shushes him and says, 'Lets pretend like it never happened.'
Then, looking into his remorseful brown eyes, she says, 'I know. Don't say it. It's okay.'

It's a relief to be given some normal daily happenings of an American teenager instead of the usual tragic background story and overdramatized script. I especially loved the conversation scene between Sutter and Aimee where he asks her, 'So whats your thing?' and she replies, 'I don't know. I like to think there's more than just one thing to a person.'
The degree of awkwardness in this movie is just about right, the intimacy brought to a personal level and the makeup completely washed away. You can see Sutter's scars, Aimee's freckles, and they aren't glossed up in hip clothing and celebrating within the trendy crowd. The emotional depth is wider on a personal connection when all artificial trickery is stripped away and left with imperfections that remind us of our own life. All of which has been lost in the glam of Hollywood moviemaking. But the best part of this movie is that it has a happy ending. When Aimee leaves for Philadelphia, she waits for Sutter to come see her off, even holding back the bus to do so. But he doesn't come, doesn't answer her calls. When we see him drinking in the bar and asking a stranger if he did the right thing, we assume he's done a silent breakup. But wait!
We're shown Sutter staring at his college application once again, going over about his hardships, dealing with them, and realizing that while its fine to live in the spectacular now, there's always going to be another one tomorrow. He ends with a note to start making them count, and just as you think that's the end of it, a new scene opens with him walking up the stairs of a building just as Aimee walks out. She sees him, and a smile plays over her face just as the screen goes black again, but I think we can all guess what happens next.

Kick-Ass 2 Movie Review

SYNOPSIS

The sequel to Kick-Ass, Kick Ass 2, is finally out and in it, our few protagonist heroes continue their quest to eliminate all evil and make a name for themselves upholding justice. The story opens with Dave narrating about how pointless and boring he finds life, now that his kicking ass days are over. One day in a burst of impulse, he asks Mindy to take him under his wing for some bad-ass kicking. Mindy agrees, delightedly, as she's already skipping school everyday to jump in her Hit Girl outfit and wants some companionship. So the training begins. Dave getting shot, beat up to a bleeding pulp by some gangsters and sporting black and blue bruises everyday are just some of Hit Girl's training regime. Dave doesn't mind, as he describes as 'it makes him feel alive and that his life has a purpose.'

However, it all ends one day when Marcus, Mindy's caretaker, finally puts his foot down when he discovers what Mindy has really been doing skipping school all along. He forces her to promise never to wear the suit again, wanting her to lead life as a normal teenage girl. Mindy protests, but ultimately the guilt eats at her and she tells Dave that she never wants to see him again. Dave dons the outfit again one night and meets a bunch of other 'superheroes' in mask and suit led by Colonel. They perform random acts of kindness on the streets at night and bust a few crimes now and then.

Meanwhile, Chris (the rather childish, immature-aspiring-to-be-villian) has just killed his mother (unintentionally) and is trying to fill his father's shoes. He harbours a angry grudge towards Kick-Ass for blasting his father with a bazooka and wants nothing more than plain old revenge. With this, he dons a new mask and calls himself the 'Motherfucker.' With both parents gone, he tasks his driver, Javier with the task of finding him other supervillians that will follow him and his cause. He manages to find four willing as the majority of the hitters are told by his Uncle Ralph to lay low for the moment. The four are named Genghis Carnage, Black Death, Mother Russia and The Tumor. 

His Uncle Ralph demands to see him and Chris pays him a visit in jail. He tells Chris to lay low for a while because he is not his dad. He's working on bringing the family back up, but needs Chris' cooperation. When he sees Chris reluctance to cooperate, he has one of his henchman kill Javier. Chris if horrified but he hides it and smiles instead, telling his uncle that he needed that and knows exactly what to do next.

He and his team of supervillians break into Colonel's hideout and kill him. There is no last minute saving, no miracle of some sort that the Colonel survives. It is fast and brutal, as real life usually is. Then they head over to another superhero's house- Nightbitch. This time, they don't kill her, just beat her up pretty badly. 

Things go further downhill when the police announces their arresting anyone on spot who's seen wearing a costume. Dave's dad takes the blame and gets arrested o save his son. He's later killed by some thugs in jail, hired by the Motherfucker. Dave receives a picture of his dad beaten and bloody on his cellphone.

During his father's funeral, Dave is beaten and kidnapped by the Genghis Carnage but ultimately saved by Hit Girl, who decides she wants to be back in action. The duo head to the Motherfucker's lair while bringing other superheroes to fight against Chris' army. Hit Girl dispatches Black Death with a knife and tackles Mother Russia whilst Kick-Ass and Motherfucker engage in combat. Hit Girl seems to have some problems with Mother Russia until she's shot with adrenaline, which Mother Russia thought was poison. She finally manages to kill Mother Russia by slashing her body with shards of glass. Dave punches Chris and he falls through the roof, screaming that he'd rather die than accept Dave's help. Chris lands in a tub of water and he expresses relief to be alive, even apologizing to Dave before he's dragged underwater by a shark and blood blooms on the surface. Dave describes the feeling as 'indescribable.'

The super heroes unite and share one last moment of glory as they know its their last night. Mindy gives Dave a ride home and she tells him that she's leaving New York as she can't continue to put Marcus in a position where he'll have to arrest her one day as she's already killed six guys. Hit Girl then takes off on her motorbike, with Dave narrating in the background how he finally understands where his life is leading to.

REVIEW

Kick-Ass is divided into two worlds, good and evil. The movie manages to incorporate the 'superhero' concept into real life perfectly, not forgetting the elements of social media and how even superheroes and supervillians use it to gather views and popularity alike. What makes it even more attractive is the 'realness' of real life depicted. Heroes die, people give up, there are consequences to everything you do. Those words you said this morning may be your last. Kick-Ass 2 captures all of these elements perfectly, so perfect that i can almost see it happening in real life, in this world, itself. Kids dress themselves up in costumes. They do night patrols, know a few pretty moves, fight their way through with numbers and strength. But in the end, everything you do has consequences. And it may not be as pretty or as noble as the comic book represents.

After all, this is real life- when you die, people might remember you for a few weeks, months if you're lucky, years if you were a legend, and decades if you're godly. But what will you have done to be remembered for?

What i really like about this movie is that it shows you can't have anything by daydreaming. Dave went through beatings and blood and sweat and he nearly died to become a superhero. But his actions inspired a movement, a positive energy for people to turn to. People began to realize that you didn't need to have superpowers to be a superhero. A willing heart, strong spirit and determination is what you need to stand up for the weak. In the movie, both sides have losses- Dave lost his dad, and Chris witnessed his dad getting blown to pieces by a bazooka. The good side doesn't always win. And the bad, they have humanity, too. The audience needs to see that not everything is to be blamed on the evil side, although the majority of Chris' actions were mostly his own fault. 

Chris' character is so detestable, yet completely understandable. He's desperate to fill in his father shoes as a mafia boss and become one of those supervillian comics he admires so much. His desire of revenge on Kick-Ass is simply an excuse for him to execute something big that will prove his worth. He's acting out of childish anger, having had his parents taken away from him, and after that, Javier. He puts all fault on Kick-Ass because its much more convenient than blaming himself and believes by killing him, he'll have accomplished his revenge and earned his Uncle Ralph's approval.And thank god the director finally showed Dave getting some martial arts lessons from Mindy so at least now he knows how to fight. Pull a punch. Look less lame. 

In the end, even our superheroes have to retire- because all actions have consequences, and who knows if they can continue to tackle evil? Destroying is easier than cleaning up. But they are still superheroes. Heroes that make a difference by walking that teenager home, talking to that lost boy, and buying that homeless man a meal- one doesn't need to have powers to be a superhero.

If people need a push in the right direction to do a positive thing- or an overwhelming need to make the world a better place- this movie might just be the thing for them.