The 2012 King of the Hill Finale

It has been a long road reaching this point.  I've reviewed and compared every movie of the year until knocking the best films of the year down to two movies.  In the end, two movies very similar movies were able to face each other to be crowned the 2012 King of the Hill Champion.  And I never would have predicted how similar the two movies would be, right down to the movie poster.


Comparing the two movies Brave and Hanna is like trying to rate the toppings of pizza from the same pizza joint.  I cannot begin to identify how great both the two movies are.  What sets them apart are the finer details and these get down entirely to personal taste.  Like the pizza analogy, both movie fits a different mood.  I'm not always in the mood for pepperoni; sometimes I want to have mushrooms.

Brave is a Pixar film aimed for a younger audience, but still with elements appropriate for adults.  Hanna is live-action film aimed for adults.  Both movies are great on my movie watching pallet.  The differences make them next to impossible to compare.  I've made several attempts to write this comparison and each time, I've scrapped my writing to start over.  When determining what I like in a movie, I look at the plot, the characters, and the visuals.  So, for this final showdown, this is how the two movies will be compared.

The plots between the two movies are not really comparable.  However, I can compare them based on the level of enjoyment into the plot.  Hanna is an action film that also tells an allegorical tale of the loss of innocence.  The plot was very well written and had me drawn into it from start to finish.  Brave is a children's action story about a girl's rejection of her parent's wishes and the bond between mother and daughter.  Between these two films, I feel that the better plot has to go towards Hanna, but only ever so slightly.  Brave story, while a good one is something you can find more commonly in other movies.  This was never more true then when I compared Brave and Whip It last week.  The mother/daughter story is one that is in lots of movies.  While it is refreshing to see this story told to a younger audience, it doesn't make the plot better than other movies of a similar nature.  In Hanna, the loss of innocence plot is allegorically present and leaves a common action film on the surface.  This plot makes it far more complex and worthy for the plot category.

Visually speaking, what makes Hanna strong is it's blending of the visual techniques with the plot itself.  And while this is all well and good, the visual on their own are nothing of super significance.  It has been over a year since I saw this film now and I can remember some of the visual tricks, but nothing outside of the tie in to the allegorical story.  And for that reason, these visual tricks are more related to the plot of which Hanna was already awarded the winner.  Pixar is famous for their visuals.  They have always gone out of their way to make the look of their films visually stunning.  This movie was no exception.  Everything in the film from the Will O' the Wisps to the stunning visuals within the castle are top notch.  There is absolutely nothing missing from Brave in this category.  For this reason, Brave wins.

I've saved characters for last.  If there is a winner to be found in this film, it is to be found in the main protagonists.  And this is, again, a tough call.  Merida is a strong, powerful female character of the same strength and age as Hanna.  So which one of them is the stronger character?  The answer lies in character growth.  Merida's growth comes from her making a giant mistake and having to go out of her way to resolve her error.  In doing so, she learns more about herself and her parents.  She grows significantly from this event.  Hanna, however, has her growth more subtly.  She is thrust into a world outside of her comfort zone.  She is forced into a situation in which she must depend on herself and learn to trust others.  That trust causes those people problems, which she must grip with the guilt.  And, ultimately, she must find her own strength to overcome the final step in her character.  While both movies contain a powerful character in them, the character of Hanna is more realistic with her subtle development and growth while Merida's growth is painted clearly on the screen.  While I will forever give Pixar credit for creating a character that parents can discuss with their child, I want my characters as real as possible.  Hanna has that defining trait.


Plot Winner:  Hanna
Visual Winner:  Brave
Character Winner: Hanna

2012 King of the Hill Champion:  Hanna

2012 King of the Hill Semifinals

We are down to the last four films of the year for the best film.  Brave swept the entire month.  The Avengers was the only movie in May and has so far stood well coming in as the last seed.  Hanna was the January champion.  The Dark Knight Rises has, well, risen well to be one of the better films of the year.  Today, two of these films will find their downfall.

This project has been an interesting project that has blended a range of classics featuring Maryland Monroe to the horrifically modern film of Snow White and the Huntsman.  Each film, be it good or bad, has gone head-to-head with the other films of the year until only these four remain.

Brave v The Avengers
It is time for a small confession time.  I initially didn't hold The Avengers very high when I saw it the first two times, I have seen a bunch of Tumblr photos that have shown parallels between characters and subtle things might have missed.  For example, Thor tells Tony Stark not to touch him again.  Later in the film, there is a point where Tony Stark pokes (or maybe pats him on the shoulder).  Seeing this pointed out and given the circumstances for the touch, it is clear that Tony Stark is trying to push Thor's buttons.  This isn't obvious and makes for a subtle detail that adds to the film.  There are other areas such as the strong parallel between Tony Stark's story in this film and Captain America's film.  Given that Captain America very pointedly calls Tony Stark out on his lack of heroism, this is very interesting to see in the film.  These discoveries have helped raise the appreciation I have for the film.

Brave has not changed from my initial assessment.  The film is a great one.  I have encountered some parents that didn't take their child to the movie because of how dark it was.  I felt that this was a shame and have tried to explain why it is a great film for children.  The movie still remains highly accessible, despite the dark overtone.  The film has a great story, one that I would encourage everyone to see.  It has a great moral lesson.  The film is also very entertaining, something that is important to remember is a necessity in movies.  There are several movies I've seen over the year that had moral lessons, but lacked entertainment.

Comparing the two films is extremely difficult.  However, there is definitely one thing in The Avengers that sets the movie apart from Brave.  The Avengers team consists of six members.  One of the members of that team is Black Widow.  As the only female in the film, I don't expect to see a lot of moments depicting strong female characters.  What I do expect is to see the depiction of the heroes to be the same no matter what the circumstances.  And there is a scene in the film when the Incredible Hulk is on a rage and is going after Black Widow.  During this scene, she shows true fear.  She could have been fearless.  Someone else could have also shown fear in the film.  Or someone else could have been the subject of the Incredible Hulk's pursuit.  Instead, the one member of the Avenger's team that shows fear is the one female member.  And while I don't think it was intentionally planned, it still mars the film.

Winner:  Brave

Hanna v The Dark Knight Rises
What is going to determine the winner between Hanna and The Dark Knight Rises is going to be based around what makes the movies different.  Both movies are as close to flawless in my mind as a movie can get.  Yes, you could go through the two films and find issues.  But as far as entertainment value is concerned, the movies are as good as they can get.

The first major difference between the two films is the length.  Hanna is a full feature length film.  It stands alone and runs from start to finish in one movie.  The Dark Knight Rises is the third movie of a trilogy.  This allows the movie to take well established characters with previous character development, and go forward with them.  There are new characters introduced, such as Selena, but the movie is mostly old faces brought back.  This requires that I give Hanna credit for doing in one film, what The Dark Knight Rises does in three.

Hanna is a story about the loss of innocence.  The Dark Knight Rises is, well, its a lot of things rolled into one.  There are many stories and messages in the film.  And I think that to a degree, this adds into The Dark Knight's favor.  It isn't quite as powerful of a win as having everything done in a single film, but if you look at just what takes place in The Dark Knight Rises, you can see that there is a lot there.  That is definitely worth something.

The final major difference between the two films is imagery and filming techniques.  The Dark Knight Rises is an action film.  Hanna is as well, but in a different way.  Hanna takes the story of a character and uses the settings and the color of those settings to naturally tell a story.  You could watch the movie without the audio and still notice these changes.  With The Dark Knight Rises, the story requires that you hear the conversations.  I'm not saying that Hanna is a movie you could watch in complete silence, but you can see the major theme of the movie without having to listen to a word.  That trick was wonderfully done, something that I could point out is also found in Pan's Labyrinth.  Hanna wins on this front as well.

Winner:  Hanna

2012 King of the Hill Finale: Round 2

Four movies have been eliminated and eight remain.  This time the winners of Round 1 are up against the movies that were fortunate enough to get a Bye the previous time around.  Can Whip It, The Avengers, Back to the Future, and War of the Worlds survive one more round of elimination, or will Brave, Hanna, The Dark Knight Rises, and Paranormal Activity 2 stop them in their tracks.

This is the second round of the 2012 King of the Hill Movie Challenge.  For the last year, I reviewed every movie that I watched and I have pitted those films against each other to determine the best movie of 2012.  This is the finals bracket where the best of each month is squaring off to be crowned champion.  All movies were seeded based on the number of direct movies they compared with and defeated as well as when I saw them during the year.

Brave v Whip It

Brave was Pixar's release of the year and it was a powerful film bringing one very unique princess to the movies.  Brave and Whip It share a lot in common.  They are both movies about young girls on the verge of adulthood who are struggling with their mother.  The first major difference between the two films is the supernatural element.  In Whip It, Bliss runs away from home when it is discovered that she is defying her mother and going out to Rollerblade behind her mother's back.  In Brave, Merida curses her mother in her attempt to gain independence.

There are other differences between the film.  The question, however, is which of these films is the better of the two.  Whip It, despite it's story of parent/child struggles, is focused more on the aspect of the world of roller derby.  it is a broader picture and less focused on the narrative of family.  Brave is also set to target a younger audience.  This gives Brave a stronger place in my mind.  It gives a great moral lesson to children, particularly young girls, and is more accessible to the audience where as Whip It deals with a darker story and is not appropriate for all ages.

Winner:  Brave

Paranormal Activity 2 v The Avengers

So, let's be honest for a second.  Do you really expect the sequel of a supernatural horror flick to stand a chance against one of the biggest blockbusters of all time?  Marvel planned this out perfectly.  It would be a waste of your and my time to compare these two films.  Let the real comparisons begin in the quarter finals.

Winner:  The Avengers


Hanna v Back to the Future

Hanna is an amazing movie with some incredible stopping power.  Unlike most of the movies I've seen this year, Hanna uses a ton of visual tricks to help carry the story in addition to the story itself.  It is a movie that is both well written and excellently filmed.  Back to the Future is a cult classic and has aged well over the years.  The story is highly entertaining and has put a lot of effort into getting all of the details right.  Comparing the two movies is difficult because I want them both to win.  In the end, Hanna is the better movie.  While Back to the Future is flawless, Hanna carries a better story because below the surface of the film, there is an imagery of the loss of innocence.  And that depth gives it the edge it needs to advance.

Winner:  Hanna


The Dark Knight Rises v War of the Worlds

See my discussion on The Avengers above.  This was the long-planned conclusion to the Batman trilogy.  And while it is great to see a War of the Worlds movie done right, it was even better seeing a Batman series come to an end.  Otherwise, it would have been just another freaking story line reboot.  Yes, I'm looking at you DC Comics!

Winner:  The Dark Night Rises

2012 King of the Hill Movie Challenge

Hanna v One For the Money

Clutch battle! Can Stephanie Plum topple the undefeated Hanna in the 2012 King of the Hill Movie Challenge? I can assure you, this will be the LAST movie of January. The only thing that I'll be watching from now until February is tonight's episode of New Girl. There will be no movies for me until February.  The winner of this battle will be going to the brackets.  Let's get this battle started!

For those who do not know, the 2012 King of the Hill Movie Challenge is my system for determining the best movie of year that I saw. One movie from each month will be selected and, at the end of the year, I will do a tournament style showdown where they will take each other on until the final movie has been selected.  Bracket placement will be determined by the number of movies the monthly movie faced and won.  

Challenger: One for the Money

Director: Julie Anne Robinson

Writer: Stacy Sherman, Karen Ray, Liz Brixius. Based on the novel by Janet Evanovich

Starring: Katherine Heigl

One for the Money is the story of Stephanie Plum (Katherine Heigl), a former lingerie store manager who is need of money. She picks up a job, working for her cousin as a bails bondsman. Her first target happens to be a cop on the run, Joe Morelli (Jason O'Mara). Stephanie and Joe have a bit of history, and Stephanie is very eager to bring him in for her reward of fifty grand.

The movie certainly wasn't bad. It definitely deserves better recognition than the ratings I've been hearing about online. The story was impressive and fast paced. Stephanie's character is clearly over her head at the start of the film. As the story progresses, you see her develop. This sort of character growth was a great addition to the film. The movie also deserves props for the humor. There were some absolutely hysterical scenes. The movie also did a good job of blending the humor, action, and suspense together.

Before I get into the problem areas of the film, allow me to take a moment to rip apart the opening credits. Those opening credits were horrible. I'm sorry, I was rolling on my sides laughing about how horrible those credits were. I could not believe that they were associated with the film. It struck me as more of a “lipstick James Bond” opening. Maybe that was the point and I missed it. It really set a bad precedent for the movie. You do not want me snarking at a movie before the opening credits have finished.

While I liked the movie, it wasn't a perfect film. Although the plot was impressive, Stephanie had a lot of information fall into her lap. I wanted to see her find more of these leads in the movie. That just wasn't the case. For example, Stephanie goes to have dinner with her family only to find out they have invited over a blind date. This blind date happens to drop a piece of critical piece of information into Stephanie's lap. I'd have liked to see less of the plot bus coming to her and more of her hunting down that very bus. This was, really, the most negative I could get. The problem with this film is that while it had a good story and good character development, it wasn't anything special. No part of this movie jumped out and made it exciting. And, that isn't going to be enough to topple Hanna.

Winner: Hanna

January King of the Hill Movie Summary:

Hanna's Appearance!

Hanna v. Planes Trains and Automobiles Winner: Hanna

Hanna v. Red Tails v. Haywire  Winner:  Hanna

Hanna v. One for the Money Winner: Hanna

January King of the Hill Winner: Hanna

2012 King of the Hill Movie Challenge

Hanna v Red Tails v Haywire

My wife and I went out to catch two movies on Saturday night. We had a great time, even if it means I have to do a three-way movie battle for Top Movie of January. It's getting dangerously close to the end of the month. Future challengers are growing less likely to appear.

For those who do not know, the 2012 King of the Hill Movie Challenge is my system for determining the best movie of year that I saw.  One movie from each month will be selected and, at the end of the year, I will do a tournament style showdown where they will take each other on until the final movie has been selected.

First Challenger: Red Tails

Director:  Anthony Hemmingway

Writer:  John Ridley

Starring:  Cuba Gooding Jr, Gerald McRaney, David Oyelowo

George Lucas brings to the screen the story of the Tuskegee airmen from World War 2.  The story of the Tuskegee airmen is about an all black flying squadron and the racial tensions they faced. Historically speaking, the Tuskegee airmen were originally denied flight into dangerous missions because of the perception that blacks weren't smart enough or talented enough to handle air combat. Because of this, the Tuskegee airmen sat at an airbase with shoddy planes and did training exercises and simple patrols to pass the time. When they were finally called out into the war, they were one of the best fighters to be found.

Overall, the movie was very entertaining. It did a good job of carrying over the story of the Tuskegee airmen to the silver screen. The action sequences were a great balance of excitement and bloody realism. The plot of the movie was strong and carried it well. As a movie, however, it fell far short of what was needed to top the reigning champion, Hanna. Red Tails is predictable. I don't know if the characters were based on real people, but they felt like typical war story archetypes. You have your “reckless one” character, a “drink to make it through the war” character, and even the “young and trying to prove himself” character. The dialogue also drove me crazy during some of the scenes. There were actual times during the movie that I thought I was looking at a rough draft of the script.  It is also important to note that the movie did a poor job putting it across that it was as much the experience of the pilots as it was their style of defending bombers that made them heroes of the war.  The way this movie was written, it seems like the white pilots needed only to stick with the bombers to make sure they made it through on the flight.  In reality, the Tuskegee pilots put their skills to shame.

On a side-note, I do plan on addressing the Red Tails more closely to address it from the standpoint of a writer. It just won't be this post.

Winner: Hanna

Second Challenger: Haywire

Director: Steven Sodenbergh

Writer:  Lem Dobbs

Starring:  Gina Carano, Ewan McGreggor, Michael Fassbender

Can a female protagonist action flick take down another female protagonist action flick? That's the question I was asking myself going into Haywire. Haywire is the story of Mallory Kane, a private contractor secret agent style, ex-Marine. The movie opens mid-story before it jumps back to the past and fills in some of the questions of the opening script.

For a spy flick, I was extremely impressed. All spy movies need fancy technology. This movie was no exception. Instead of getting the super strange and uniquely applicable technology of James Bond, you get straight up fancy devices that seem plausible in the real world. Speaking of plausible, the fight sequences were most definitely closer to what you'd expect in the real life. Unfortunately, the fights tended to look similar to each other. There is only so many places you can hit, throw, or choke someone before it becomes repetitive.

And then there is the chase scene. I'm not going to spoil it, you have to see this sequence. It involves off road driving and a great deal of it is done with a car in reverse. Even if you don't see the movie, you have to look this scene up. As a writer and a member of the audience I was very impressed. Another element of the movie that impressed me was the character of Mallory Cane. She is a strong, female protagonist who succeeds at what she does because of who she is. And dammit, if she doesn't have some endurance. WOW.

In the end, Haywire falls short of Hanna. It only missed the mark by a short bit. The plot of Haywire was both simple and convoluted. It utilizes “In medias res”, a technique that I can't stand. The movie opens at a scene, jumps back to the beginning of the story and eventually gets to the opening scene and moves past it. I found it difficult to keep up with the plot and the characters. When, at the ending, you learn what was going on, it was hard for me to follow what the ultimate plan was. Also, while the story is about Mallory, it doesn't have the same journey that Hanna undertakes. Overall, I liked the journey of Hanna more than the journey of Mallory.

Haywire is a “must see”, but it isn't Hanna.

Winner: Hanna

2012 King of the Hill Movie Challenge

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

Director: John Hughes

Writer: John Hughes

Staring: John Candy, Steve Martin

On a whim, I was flipping through the channels of the television and noticed that Planes, Trains, and Automobiles was coming on. I put the movie on and watched it again for the first time in over a decade. The movie has, surprisingly, aged well. Neal (Steve Martin) is trying to get home to Chicago and fate keeps him stuck with Del (John Candy) on the worst cross country adventure ever. The journey has them taking just above every form of transportation known to man.

The only movie I expect to be worse with cliches than a comedy flick, is a romantic comedy. Much to my surprise, this movie did a very good job of hiding them. Neal can't stand Del and slowly warms up to him. This cliche plays out across the entire movie. This is a useful trick to blending a cliche into the background. If you stretch it out and make it subtle enough, it isn't as offensive on the eyes. Another cliche that is a little less obvious is fate throwing every possible obstacle in their path. This was over played and became a heavy annoyance. The car really didn't have to catch on fire, did it?

I miss these style of comedies. Most comedies these days seem to involve the absurd circumstances or bathroom humor. Even Bridesmaids, a movie I adore, had a rather eye raising scene involving food poisoning. Unfortunately, John Candy, John Hughes (Director), and so many other wonderful minds and talents from the 1980's are dead. I can only hope for a resurgence of the humor style.

Summary:

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles is a well-written movie and great comedy. However, it has nothing on the imagery, action, and character development, and visuals of Hanna.

Winner: Hanna

2012 King of the Hill Movie Challenge

During 2012, I'll be pitting the movies I watch against each other to determine the top movies of the year. Each month, I will compare every movie I watch to the defending champion. The top movie at the end of the month will be that month's pick of that month. At the end of the year, I'll be comparing the twelve movies together to determine my movie of the year.

So far, I've seen exactly one movie for the year. Hanna was a movie I wanted desperately to see in theaters but never got a chance to until now.

Hanna

Director: Joe Wright

Writers: Seth Lochhead and David Farr

Starring: Saoirse Ronan, Cate Blanchett, and Eric Bana

This movie sets a very, very high bar for January. I loved just about everything that this movie had to offer. The story follows a young girl, Hanna (Saoirse Ronan) who has been raised by her father, Erik (Eric Bana) in the arctic tundra of Finland. Convinced that she is ready, Hanna is intentionally captured by CIA special forces so that she can get close to Marissa (Cate Blanchett) and assassinate her.

The movie is a hard movie to categorize. I can't truly call it an action flick, but it isn't drama either. It's refreshing to have a movie that defies categories. Notably, the movie has strong character development in Hanna, something I rarely see in the action genre. Another aspect of the movie that makes it impossible to call it an action flick is its use of imagery. The imagery is subtle, enough to hint upon your subconscious. The movie opens with Finland and a world of pure white and it is a significant amount of time before more than one or two colors become common place on the screen. This color shift is, clearly the imagery of Hanna's state of innocence. Additionally, the movie makes multiple references to fairy tales. At one particularly important scene, Hanna is confronted by Marissa who has just stepped out from the jaws of a wolf at an amusement park.

None of the above is to say that the movie is perfect. There are issues with this film. In Morocco, Hanna is on her own for the first time. She finds herself quickly overwhelmed by the many sounds in her room. The television, which had been on a piece of music seconds before is suddenly making war noises. The phone happens to ring at that moment. There are gunshots in the street. It was forced far too much and pulled me out of the story. Another issue with the movie, and this is a minor complain, is the languages presented in the film. The movie has five languages used in the film I could identify. The characters all speak English. German comes up in a few scenes. Arabic is used for one of the Morocco scenes. Italian and Spanish are both used once. Five languages, and they couldn't bother to use the native language for the country of the opening scene, Finland.

For those of you reading this who do not know me yet, I happen to love Finland. I was looking forward to watching a movie that might have a few scenes of characters speaking in a foreign language I know. This was disappointing.

Summary:

With no movies to compare this to yet, Hanna is the top dog. Woe be to the next few movies that try and knock this movie off of the hill.