*minor spoilers*

I was pleasently surprised to discover that Gerard Butler’s character in Law Abiding Citizen is more than just another vigilante out to get revenge on someone for murdering his family. Clyde reminds me a little of Roarschach fom Watchmen in his view of the world. He sees things completely in black and white and refuses to compromise his principles, so he sets out to make a point to the justice system that allowed the killer of his family to go free after five years, and that point is this: a civil servant has a higher duty than to simply fill what the rules say are his quota. The prosecutor in the case of Clyde’s family’s murder, Nick (Jaimie Foxx) wants to maintain his 96% prosecution rate, and even though he wins the case, that’s not enough for Clyde. They won, but Clyde doesn’t feel it was really about bringing the murderer to justice, especially because Clyde made a deal with him to get information.

The film may not get all of its legal facts right, but it’s far from a popcorn movie. It had me thinking all the way through. Clyde kills the man who murdered his family, but he doesn’t stop there– he’s been planning an elaborate plot to exact “justic” on everyone involved in his case. Each step of the way, I tried to guess what Clyde’s next move would be and how his decisions play into his plans, especially allowing himself to be put in jail and making various deals with Nick to get little things, like a bed and a catered lunch. These scenes provide some moments of comedy in an otherwise dark story, but they’re neccessary to the story and ultimately add dimension to it, once all the facts are there. Sometimes in movies, it’s impossible to imagine any character devising such brilliant, elaborate schemes, but by the end of this one, I believed it. The script is careful to give Clyde a back story that accounts for his brilliance and sufficient time to plan the scheme, which is rare and refreshing.

Jaimie Foxx gives a real and human performance as Nick. I believed he was a good lawyer, I believed he was a caring man who loved his family (which is played thematically as the thing he and Clyde have in common), but I also appreciated that he was a little corrupted by the system. Clyde makes him reconsider the way he views his job and the impact it has on people’s lives. On the other hand, the movie doesn’t treat Clyde as a hero. It never condones what he does, and Nick has opportunities to make Clyde question the way he views the world as well. This is a film that lays out some of our society’s issues, things few people would argue aren’t problems, but it seems to challenge us and ask what we might do if we wanted to change them. Clyde has an extreme, bloody solution, and as I said, he’s certainly not a hero.

I found myself wondering exactly who the protagonist of this movie is supposed to be. I suppose if I had to choose between the two it would be Nick, especially since Jaimie Foxx is given top billing, but it’s really both of their stories made into one movie. I’m not sure that’s even a criticism, given that choosing one as the “protagonist” would, in this case, instantly cast the other as the “antagonist,” and then the movie would have to side with one. Still, it’s a story-telling technique that puzzled me and I can’t think of many instances where it would work as well as it does here.

Both the opening and the closing of the film are too short. More scenes are needed in both places. The movie has a definite conclusion, but I wanted one more sequence to make a sort of final statement. And the beginning falls into one of the only usual traps this kind of film usually falls into: killing a main character’s family and making that the defining moment in his life without taking the time to really establish his relationship with him. The family lives of both main characters seem cookie-cutter to me; the writing seemed more typical and lazy in these scenes than anywere else in the film.

This is an excellent example of an action movie that plays like a serious drama. The explosions, the one torture scene, etc. are there because they have to be there, and none of it feels gratuitous. If you’re a Star Trek fan, you’ll want to check this out for a great performance by Colm Meany and a surprise minor role from Bruce McGill (Captain Braxton in Voyager’s “Relativity”).

LLAP

-Cap’n Logan

As I hoped, last week’s flashback episode helped to inform the show so that the new events in the present, even some of the weirder ones, are easier to swallow.

Like I said last week, I somewhat resisted the idea of making up new backstory for season 1 and trying to integrate it with the events of this season, but I loved the stuff this week between Sylar and L. I really believe in Sylar’s “empathy” from these scenes. I didn’t think I could be made to believe L wanting to kill Sylar and bonding with him in the same episode, but it really did work. They’re both victims of the company (really two companies now, since they’re both pawns of Pinehurst now) and so neither is entirely responsible for the terrible things they’ve done.

I’m not sure I buy that Sylar can take people’s powers without killing them. His ability is seeing how things work, but he took L’s ability much like Peter can do. I don’t really understand that, nor do I get how the elder Patrelli was so sure he’d be able to do this.

I’m with Cromely, one of my fellow bloggers who commented on my blog from last week– I don’t like Claire’s direction this season either. Still not liking it this week. She really is becoming a killer, just like Peter said, and she’s ignorning all the signs and all of his warnings. I always liked her because she wasn’t a typical teenager, but she isn’t growing up fast enough for me. She’s in way over her head and getting involved in things she can’t handle, so it’s no surprise to me that she becomes evil in the future. But if you knew that was going to happen, you’d back off. I used to think she was sensible enough to to do that, but she’s not, and so she’s acting way out of character, much like Suresh. She’s also gone from being one of the most identifiable characters on the show to the least– she not only can’t die, she can’t feel pain, and no one can reallly identify with that. Now we also know that she’s the key to genetic mutation– but she was the big key in the first season too!  I just have a hard time buying that this girl is this important.

I’m glad the relevance of the solar eclipses are finally being addressed. I hope when it’s completely revealed, it makes sense and isn’t too contrived. We know that people most often discover their powers during these eclipses, which I always wondered about, and it looks like we’re finally going to know why.

Hiro has always been my favorite character, and in the first season, the one with the most interesting journey. But this year, the writers can’t decide what to do with him and he’s all over the place, which is a shame. Like Parkman, Nathan, and Suresh, Hiro’s journey has now led him down the path of silly– Peterelli Sr. stole his memories, and now he’s a ten-year old, having to be led around by Ando. Please, please don’t let this last. It’s silly, it’s pointless, and it isn’t moving forward. Hiro has been on a quest to become a genuine hero, rather than a fanboy with superpowers pretending to be a hero– his story shouldn’t go backwards. Though I did enjoy the scene in the comic shop where he’s complaining about Marvel destroying all their characters and stories (“Spider-Man gave up his secret identity? The Hulk is red???”)

It’s better this week, but I still find myself too often trying to remember who has what power, who lost or gained what power, who is who’s enemy, etc. I want more character-driven stories, and we got that this time with Sylar and L– now that just needs to be extended to all the subplots. If the show could be condenced into fewer plots and there could be something more substantial to tie everything together, that’d be even better.

LLAP

-Cap’n Logan