MassDistraction

With their gritty take on a vagabond warrior confronting supernatural forces on the moonlit rooftops and filthy alleyways of the city, relative newcomer Nikhil Bhagat and "Sinister" scribe C. Robert Cargill have come together (along with John Henry "How-the-hell-isn't-this-guy-in-everything?" Whitaker) to bring to life a character and universe begging for a feature adaptation. With the film's combination of "The Book of Eli", "Dark City" and "Léon: The Professional", it's easy to see how such a project could have tremendous potential.

It's a compelling portrait of the glamourless life of God's assassin that uses religious imagery without an overt political agenda. The film tells the tale of a weary soldier nobly resigned to his fate, getting by on what he can find in the trash and carrying out his assignments with a rifle that, much like him, is held together by rags. Though things move quickly, Bhagat lets his scenes breathe. He allows the audience to absorb the film's dingy atmosphere and Whitaker's imposing yet sympathetic presence.

One particularly effective moment features an unbroken take that traps the viewer in the alley as Whitaker's Walker comes to collect his trophy. Though the camera stays firmly planted at a distance, it keeps the audience as a captive throughout the whole process. Bhagat's choice to use minimal audio enhancement instead of a score for the entire ordeal only adds to the impact of the moment. Whitaker's cold efficiency suggests that the brutality we've witnessed is common and familiar to our hero, though the act's questionable necessity makes you wonder how much of this is duty and how and much is revenge.

Though just six and a half minutes, the film raises a lot of questions about the complicated motivations of our gruff-but-engaging protagonist and many concerns about the consequences of his actions. With Cargill's recent successes providing potential opportunity, let's hope he has the desire to go back and give this story the time it deserves. With any luck, this is just an introduction.

For his fifth special (fourth feature-length), Chris Rock does things a little differently. Instead of featuring a single performance in its entirety, Rock has pieced together near-identical performances from Johannesburg, New York and London into one special. The shows are edited together seamlessly with only his wardrobe as the giveaway. While this adds some variety to the performance and speaks to how universal his material is, it does take away a little from the illusion of spontaneity, however negligible that effect may be. Being that this was recorded in 2008, it doesn't take long for Rock to launch into his political material, featuring his thoughts on the forthcoming election, a subject he would return to. John McCain and George W. Bush are easy targets, but still pretty satisfying, and he has some fun with Barack Obama too. After some audacious views about mixed-race relationships, he throws doubt about Isaiah Washington's dismissal from Grey's Anatomy for using a slur for gay people starting with an "F" by saying its use dependent on context, even going so far as to say that it would be fair game in an argument. Curiously, he goes right into a bit questioning white people's use of the "N" word and claiming there would only be one very specific situation in which that would be acceptable. He does this without the slightest hint of irony, sadly. Later, after some astute observations about class disparity, Rock returns to the subject of relationships, his usual closer, but focuses more on bedroom politics than the criticism of women that's become a staple for him. Apart from a couple ill-advised or ignorant remarks, Rock's writing is as strong as its been since his first feature special. He manages to work in some meaty and insightful bits in between some memorable zingers, only made better with his magnetic personality. One imagines the experience would be better if some of his views were as progressive as his approach.

For his fourth special for HBO (third full-length), Chris Rock returns to Washington, D.C. Rock's grown a little since the last we saw him. His delivery resembles that of a preacher's more than ever before, with more inflection in his speech and the increased use of repetition. While his previous specials contained some casual sexism and mild misogyny, Rock's now confronted with the birth of his daughter, which one thinks may challenge some of his old viewpoints. Sadly, there seems to be little change in his archaic views on relationships or his often combative approach to women. Fortunately, Rock handles politics and cultural commentary with a more progressive viewpoint, adding his own spin on the issues without fear of crossing any lines. On the issue of pharmaceuticals and illegal drugs, Rock's razor-sharp insights confront some hypocritical truths. Rock's support of gay marriage is a welcome development, even if he does make marriage about as appealing as getting waterboarded. Rock's charm and charisma does a fair bit to overcome some narrow mindedness, being able to land jokes that would be groan-inducing by other comics. A mixed bag of material with a million dollar delivery.