William Fichtner

Blu-Ray Review: ‘Prison Break: The Final Break’ a Lackluster Epilogue

BrianTT — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 20:24:03 -0600

CHICAGO – Very few shows have plummeted as far from their peak to their ignominious end as did Fox’s once-great “Prison Break”. For proof, look no further than the misguided “Prison Break: The Final Break,” what is essentially a straight-to-DVD epilogue at least here in the United States.

Blu-Ray Rating: 2.0/5.0

“The Final Break” is a film of roughly two-episode length that actually aired overseas but was basically encapsulated in a coda here on the final episode of the show in May. The broadcast finale skipped from the downfall of The Company to reveal that Michael Scofield had died. How did that happen? Find out in “The Final Break,” which, believe it or not, involves one more character going to jail and trying to escape. They sure knew how to beat a dead horse the last few years.

The first season and most of the second were clever thrill rides, a mini-action film every week with enough twists and turns to allow for the necessary quotient of suspension of disbelief. Sure, it was mostly nonsense, but Dominic Purcell and Wentworth Miller worked as square-jawed heroes and the supporting cast was interesting in their own right.

When they started killing off the supporting cast (and then bringing them back from the dead), “Prison Break” jumped the shark. Specifically, when the gang all went back to jail, this time south of the border, for the dirty, dark, uninvolving third season. By the fourth season, when the gang was acting like “Mission: Impossible” spies, the show was spinning out of control.

To that end, it’s somewhat refreshing to see “Prison Break” back to its first-season core - the American prison system.

Prison Break: The Final Break was released on Blu-Ray on July 21st, 2009.
Photo credit: Fox

At the beginning of “The Final Break,” Sara (Sarah Wayne Callies) is arrested for the murder of Christina Scofield during her own wedding reception to Michael (Wentworth Miller). Of course, Sara isn’t even tried before she’s thrown into gen. pop. and before people are trying to kill her. What people? Gretchen (Jodi Lyn O’Keefe), of course, a former villain who happens to be in the same cell block.

When General Krantz (Leon Russom) and T-Bag (Robert Knepper) find out that Sara is being held at - wait for it - the neighboring female prison, they launch their own offensive to try and take down the new wife of their enemy.

With all of these forces working against Sara from the inside and out, Michael and Lincoln (Dominic Purcell) come to the conclusion that there’s only one way to save her life and they’re going to need the help of the over-loyal Sucre (Amaury Nolasco) and a questionable Alexander Mahone (William Fichtner) to get her to safety.

It sounds like enough for a season of material, right? It might have even made a better season than three or four. Crammed into one movie that runs about the length of two episodes? It’s a narrative mess with each twist being pushed on to the next one and the coincidences and cliches coming too quickly to be ignored.

“The Final Break” misses the strength of seasons one and two - the build-up. Watching Michael and Lincoln work their way to safety and trying to escape the law in season two worked when twists came at the end of each episode, allowing viewers to forgive ridiculous plotlines because they just had to see what happened next. “The Final Break” is ALL “what happened next.” Even Purcell and Miller seem tired of playing these characters.

As for bright spots, it is nice to get more closure on characters that we spent four years chasing or running with. The final fates of Michael, T-Bag, and Gretchen should have been more explosive on Fox in the series finale, not on a Blu-Ray released two months later, but I suppose it’s better than nothing.

As for the Blu-Ray release, “The Final Break” feels like as much of an afterthought as the coda that ended the show in the States. These episodes aired overseas, so they might as well put them on Blu-Ray. The transfer is unremarkable at best, looking about as good as an upconverted DVD. It doesn’t even look as crisp as the show did in its Fox HD original broadcast. And special features about the end of the series? Keep looking. All you’ll find are some deleted scenes. After watching the movie itself, you’ll probably agree that there should have been a few more deleted scenes, maybe even a few deleted seasons.

‘Prison Break: The Final Break’ is released by Twentieth Century Fox Home Video and stars by Sarah Wayne Callies, Wentworth Miller, Jodi Lyn O’Keefe, Leon Russom, Robert Knepper, William Fichtner, Dominic Purcell, and Amaury Nolasco. It was written by Nick Santora and Seth Hoffman and directed by Brad Turner. The Blu-Ray and DVD were released on July 21st, 2009. It is not rated.

By BRIAN TALLERICO
Content Director
HollywoodChicago.com
brian@hollywoodchicago.com

‘The Dark Knight’ Bestows Role of a Lifetime For Heath Ledger, Epic Proportions For Itself

HollywoodChicago.com — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 23:01:00 -0600

CHICAGO – With only three short words comprising the film’s enigmatic title, “The Dark Knight” also boasts three epic claims to fame: the role of a lifetime for the late Heath Ledger as the hauntingly deranged Joker, one of the best films of 2008 and one of the greatest superhero films of all time.

In a year when Hollywood has the superhero woody comparable to when westerns where the greatest thing since sliced bread, “The Dark Knight” not only fares well against blockbuster competition with films like “Iron Man” and “The Incredible Hulk” but also manages to rise above chartbuster status into a whole new league of undisputed justice.

FULL REVIEW
Read Adam Fendelman’s full “The Dark Knight” review.

RELATED IMAGE GALLERIES
View our exclusive Chicago red-carpet slideshow.
View our full, high-resolution “The Dark Knight” image gallery.

RELATED READING
Read our comprehensive news on “The Dark Knight”.
More film reviews from critic Adam Fendelman.

Rating: 5.0/5.0
(rarely perfect)

Though a decidedly dark and outcast Batman is the heart behind the marketing machine for “The Dark Knight” from writer and director Christopher Nolan (who also directed the film’s first iteration in 2005 entitled “Batman Begins”), Christian Bale in the seminal role has his show stolen by Ledger’s villain.

While to some it may be surprising to classify Bale’s performance as “B” list and Ledger’s as “A+” list, you almost feel modesty in Bale’s screen time to honor the true man of this film’s 142 minutes.

While “The Dark Knight” completed principal photography prior to Ledger’s death, Bale delivers an intricately muted role as compared to Ledger. While entwined with the power inherent in his superhero marauding, Bale’s also humbled from working with another man who was delivering the culmination of his life’s work.

Health Ledger disappears so convincingly and completely into the Joker that you struggle to remember him in anything else.

This is a telling testament to an illustrious – albeit too short – career of an actor who memorably broke free in transformative roles in films including “Brokeback Mountain”. Nolan – who for this film was significantly influenced by the 1995 film “Heat” – says he selected Ledger for the focal Joker role based on his “fearlessness”.

Ledger’s Joker is developed to the finest of details even down to his unruly tongue action and the sounds of his excess saliva. Moreover, Nolan and co-writing brother Jonathan Nolan (David S. Goyer was also integral in the film’s story) deliver to Ledger the best profundities of any talent in the star-studded film.

“The Dark Knight,” which is directed by Christopher Nolan and features Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart, Michael Caine, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman, Cillian Murphy, Eric Roberts, Anthony Michael Hall, Colin McFarlane, Joshua Harto, Michael Jai White and William Fichtner, will open everywhere on July 18, 2008 in traditional theaters and in IMAX. The film will show in IMAX for a continuous 72 hours for its opening Chicago weekend.

Continuing reading for Adam Fendelman’s full “The Dark Knight” review. View our exclusive red-carpet coverage of “The Dark Knight” in Chicago.

Heath Ledger stars as the Joker in “The Dark Knight”.
Photo credit: Warner Bros., copyright DC Comics

Gary Oldman at Chicago’s Navy Pier for the red-carpet premiere of “The Dark Knight” on July 16, 2008. In the film, Oldman plays Lt. James Gordon.
Original photography for HollywoodChicago.com by Kris Kasperek of iKLiKphoto

Christian Bale as Batman on his Batpod in “The Dark Knight”.
Photo credit: Warner Bros., copyright DC Comics

Continuing reading for Adam Fendelman’s full “The Dark Knight” review. View our exclusive red-carpet coverage of “The Dark Knight” in Chicago.

‘The Dark Knight’ IMAX Prologue Leaks Online; Inspiration Drawn From ‘Heat’

HollywoodChicago.com — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 15:37:00 -0700

CHICAGO – A bootlegged recording of “The Dark Knight” IMAX prologue, which is showing in theaters before “I Am Legend,” is now on YouTube. My review of the prologue is here.

Jeffrey Wells at Hollywood Elsewhere makes these comparisons:

It was clearly shot with impressions of the legendary bank-heist sequence from Michael Mann’s “Heat” in mind.

I love how William Fichtner’s reading of the line “do you have any idea who you’re stealing from?” (which refers to the fact that the bank has lots of mafia money in its vaults) is very similar to Warren Beatty’s yelling during the “bark like a dog” sequence in “Bugsy”.

JoBlo has also picked this up and noticed the inspiration from “Heat”. This is also on /Film and AICN.

4:59 p.m. update: Another WhySoSerious.com poster has emerged. These are from RopeofSilicon.com. They have also been picked up on Film School Rejects and /Film.

The second WhySoSerious.com poster above I already posted on Dec. 14, 2007. I’m posting it again because this version is better quality. A high-resolution version of the first poster is here.

5:42 p.m. update: In the few minutes this post has been live with the posters, I have received several e-mails all saying the following:

The first poster with the Joker’s palm pressed against the window is a fan-made [manipulation].

It was created by Barney at the Superhero Hype! forums. He also created the Batman poster holding a Joker card that was widely believed to be real.

Several other people on various forums have confirmed this, too.

By ADAM FENDELMAN
Editor-in-Chief
HollywoodChicago.com
adam@hollywoodchicago.com

‘The Dark Knight’ Delivers Sensory Orgasm in IMAX Prologue Before ‘I Am Legend’

HollywoodChicago.com — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 22:23:29 -0700

I went to screen “I Am Legend” on Wednesday to experience “The Dark Knight”.

That statement doesn’t speak grimly about my feelings for Will Smith. I was looking forward to learning his legend and I’m glad I did. The night at Chicago’s Navy Pier IMAX, though, went to its first six minutes with the Joker as the star.

A production still from “The Dark Knight” prologue.
Photo credit: Warner Bros.
Before I skipped the capacity crowd awaiting entrance into the theater, I stopped to listen to people’s pre-conceived motivations for spending a chilly Wednesday evening at the movies.

People weren’t there because it was free. More important, many people weren’t talking about “I Am Legend”. The buzz king went to Nolan & Co. A few people even went so far as to say they’d consume “The Dark Knight” prologue and skip out immediately thereafter.

I spoke to the publicist running the screening moments before heading in. He was in a panic.

He just got off the phone from New York because “the prologue wasn’t going to show,” he said. At the mere quiet mention of the notion, the few critics who heard it threw their hands in the air in disgust.

I’m paraphrasing, but the publicist immediately retorted: “Don’t worry. It’ll be there now. I made sure of it.” Their nerves were calmed and I now felt vindicated after having to miss last week’s sneak peak of the prologue following yet another “The Dark Knight” viral game.

We were first treated to a trailer for “The Spiderwick Chronicles”.

The next trailer – for a film documenting a rock star – was relatively unimpressive and forgettable. Then a sweeping shot of downtown Gotham ushered in “The Dark Knight” prologue and the theater erupted in applause.

You immediately felt the difference between a typical trailer preceding the big event as this prologue is a short film in its own right. Its design is to introduce the Joker as the crazed fiend he is. He’s indeed feared, he’s indeed demented and he indeed delivers on the frenetic hype.

The story leading up to his unmasking deliberately makes his revelation deliciously climatic. You love to hate Heath and feel no remorse loving him all the while.

For this Chicagoan who has been covering the ins and outs of the film as it has taken over our Windy City, the prologue feels much like home. I’d be watching and instantly recall reporting on that courthouse and stepping foot on those very floors when I was beckoned there for jury duty.

A cameo by William Fichtner (“Go,” “Armageddon,” “Contact”) as a Gotham National Bank manager proves even in just a glimpse the power of this cast from roles as big as Heath Ledger as the Joker and Christian Bale as Batman all the way down to this small bank manager who dominates a memorable scene.

William Fichtner in “The Perfect Storm”.
Photo credit: Warner Bros.
Director Chris Nolan will be remembered as an innovator who made the premeditated choice to work with director of photography Wally Pfister and IMAX technicians to mark the first time in Hollywood history the larger and heavier IMAX cameras were used to film select sequences.

Rather than succumbing to the quality degradation inherent in converting traditional 35-millimeter film to the largesse of IMAX, Nolan filmed directly using the 60-millimeter, sensually orgasmic format. The wait was worth the remuneration and serves as yet another telltale sign that “The Dark Knight” will be the film of 2008.