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Mr. Mikey's Video Views: Volume One

by J. Michael Dlugos

230 pages; quality trade paperback (softcover); catalogue #99-0066; ISBN 1-55212-316-2; US$23.00, C$26.50, EUR19.00, £13.50

A collection of comprehensive video reviews from great old classic movies to the latest blockbusters.

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about the book      about the author      excerpt      catalogue info

About the Book Mr. Mikey's Video Views started as a response to the three-line reviews found in most review guides, and the "self-serving" and exceedingly picky reviews written by most "popular critics." Mr. Mikey is a movie lover, and has fun and enjoys virtually every movie he sees. His reviews reflect this love of movies.

About the Author Michael Dlugos was born in Stettler, Alberta and soon moved to Calgary. When he was old enough, he moved to the "Left Coast" and attended university in both Vancouver and Victoria. He helped form one of Canada's first desktop publishing companies in 1984 (SofTA CodeWorks) with his brother David. He has worked in the graphic arts industry ever since. Michael started to review movies in 1991 when his business partner, Bill Code asked him to try his hand at the game. And the rest is history. Michael's reviews have been published in numerous periodicals over the last nine years, and have been available on the world wide web at the Mr. Mikey Video Views website since 1997.

Excerpt

Big promo. Big hype. Big star. Big Movie. Big flop. Yes, it was Arnold Schwarzenegger in his biggest film ever, and his first box office disaster. The critics almost universally panned Last Action Hero, and for my part, I did not get a chance to catch it on the big screen. Now that I've seen the video, I'm very sorry that I didn't catch it there.

Forget everything you've ever heard about Last Action Hero and see it. End of statement. Now you're going to ask me why.

The best thing about Last Action Hero is that it has a literate, subtle and complex screenplay and story (credit story writers Zak Penn and Adam Leff as well as screenplay artists Shane Black and David Arnott) that tells the tale of Danny, a teenager who spends more time at the movies than anywhere else, much to the consternation of his mom, teachers, etc. His only friend is the projectionist at the run-down Pandora theatre (well played by Robert Prosky). Danny loves action films, and his biggest hero is the Arnold Schwarzenegger movie character Jack Slater. Danny gets invited to a special private screening of the new Jack Slater flick, his friend gives him a magic movie ticket, Danny finds himself suddenly living inside the film, and away we go!

Last Action Hero takes shots at the entire action genre, and at Schwarzenegger himself. In point of fact, some of the best stuff in the movie is the self-parody. I always figured that only Arnold could successfully parodize Arnold, but I seriously doubted that he had the acting talent or even the guts to try it. I was wrong on both counts. Arnold turns in a surprisingly subtle and elegant performance (intermixed with some phenomenal stunt and action work) as Slater, the prototypical Arnold action character. Austin O'Brien takes on his first role as Danny, and is engaging. He has a freshness and spirit that the film really needed. Charles Dance playing Benedict, the killer with the glass eye, is superb. His character is also a send up of all totally evil action characters. In fact, once we enter the film's reality (the same place that I call Hollywoodland), every character (apart from Danny, and eventually, Slater) is a send-up of an action genre staple. Anthony Quinn plays the Mob boss who mixes up idioms, F. Murray Abraham is the good friend of Slater's who turns out to be the bad cop, Art Carney is Slater's favourite second cousin who gets killed ("Big mistake") and ignites Slater's anger, etc., etc. In this film's world, every woman is a teenager's wet dream, cartoon characters walk the streets, and there's always a parking spot when you need one. It's fantastic!

And just when that whole bit is starting to wear thin - boom! - the film comes out into the real world of New York city, where cars don't explode on contact, where it hurts when you punch out a window and stuff like that. One of the most unforgettable scenes is the gala premiere of Jack Slater IV in New York, that Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver attend, as does the fictional Jack Slater, etc. Watch this movie carefully, because you don't want to miss anything.

In fact, there is so much to like in this movie, I am astounded at the reviews it got when it hit the big screens.

John (Hunt for Red October) McTiernan's direction is as adept and focused as I have ever seen it; he does know how to stage a good action film. The special effects department under Richard Greenberg should get a nod or two here as well - overall, I'd give this production team top kudos for an outstanding job.

Whew. This is not your typical action movie, much in the same way that Unforgiven was not your typical revisionist western. Heartily recommended for a spashy action send-up.

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