Reviews from the Dark Side presents
Django Unchained
Released 12/25/12
Quentin Tarantino returns to the director's chair this week with his slavery-era revenge western, Django Unchained. Oscar winners Jamie Foxx and Christoph Waltz head an all-star cast including Leonardo DiCaprio, Kerry Washington, Don Johnson, Walton Goggins, and Samuel L. Jackson.
Django Unchained is set two years prior to the Civil War. Django (Foxx) is a slave and the current property of the Speck brothers as the film begins. He was recently purchased by the Specks at auction after his wife, Broomhilda (Washington), and he displease their previous master. As the brothers are transporting Django and a group of other purchased slaves across country, they encounter, Dr. King Schultz (Waltz), a German "dentist", one cold night. Schultz is trying to locate another group of siblings known as the Brittle brothers. When Django indicates he knows who the Brittles are and can ID them, Schultz cuts down the Specks and frees Django and the other slaves in their charge. It seems the good doctor, in addition to being a former dentist, is also a current bounty hunter. He offers Django a deal. Help him hunt down the Brittles and, in return, he will free Django completely and assist him in rescuing his wife. A wife now in the hands of Calvin Candie (DiCaprio), a plantation owner and proprietor of Candyland. Candyland is an amusement park of sorts for the privileged Southerners serving as a training ground for male slaves to fight to the death for sport and a brothel for the female slaves.
After finding the Brittles, Schultz takes Django under his wing as an associate and teaches him the profession (bounty hunting). Django proves to be a natural and as winter breaks, the two hunters travel to Mississippi and enter Candyland under the guise of purchasers interested in buying one of Candie's prized fighters. All their wits and skills will be needed to pull the ultimate con on Candie and his trusted house slave, Stephen (Jackson), who takes an instant dislike to the new "buyers."
It's been my experience speaking with moviegoers that Quentin Tarantino is a polarizing figure. You love his movies or despise them. Django will do little to change your opinion of Tarantino one way or the other. I fall on the love side of this fence and I did like Django. A lot at times. Other times I found some of the dialog a little tedious. There just seemed to be a bit of needless exposition that slowed the movie down. Clocking in at nearly three hours makes watching Django more of a marathon than a sprint, that much is certain. There is also a judicious use of the "N" word. Considering the era when this story takes place, it's to be expected, but it does border a little on the extreme. Those easily offended should stay away.
But that's not to say there wasn't a lot to like about Django either. I love Tarantino's humor. It always borders on the absurd which appeals to my somewhat bizarre sense of humor nicely. He is a master of taking what should be vile and offensive in nature and making the situation so ludicrous that even the most jaded are reduced to laughter. Take the "Klan" scene in Django as an example. It's a stroke of genius that Tarantino made a potential lynching gut-bustingly hilarious. There aren't many directors who can do this. He makes this scene one of the best and most memorable from any of his movies (in my opinion). I also found it comical that a movie depicting the slave era has a soundtrack combination of 70's R&B and gangster rap. It was strange hearing that against this particular backdrop, but I liked it.
If you like movies on the violent side, this film is right up your alley. When action happens it's swift and blinding. And a bit on the cartoonish side as well. Blood spurts several feet away from the victim. Bodies appear to be launched from cannons when shot. And we get to see Django brutally turn the whip against a slave overseer for good measure. Again, not your cup of tea? You should probably stay away.
The actors are at the top of their game in Django. Actually, while I think Jamie Foxx was good, I don't believe Django himself was the best character in the film. I believe that honor would go to either Samuel L. Jackson as the foul-mouthed (what else is new), turncoat house slave, Stephen or Leonardo DiCaprio as the charming, but ultimately brutal Calvin Candie. They're both so over the top evil, you can't stop watching the movie, if only to see the two of them suffer as horribly and miserably as they have condemned others. I particularly liked DiCaprio here as he plays a character very much against his normal type. In fact, I think this is the first film where I have seen him as a totally loathsome character. He's good as a villain. Here's hoping he plays one more often.
There is much to find disturbing about Django Unchained, particularly the graphic depiction of a brutal era in American history. But the movie is very Tarantino. Fans of his style will love it. Count me in that category even if I don't think this was his absolute best movie. It is still one of the better movies of 2012.
The Dark Lord of the Sith says:
**** stars
Ratings
Legend
Zero *= Don't waste your time. Pure dreck! Dreck is too good
for this! Blind me please!
1 *= Fuggedaboutit!
2 *= Average, Mediocre, Nothing Special
3 *= Good viewing.
Much better than a poke in the eye.
4 *= Great. Could possibly foot the price
of a non-Matinee.
5 *= Pure eye candy. Hall of
Fame material here.
Saturday, December 29, 2012
Sunday, December 16, 2012
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Reviews from the Dark Side presents
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Released 12/15/12, now in theaters
Director, Peter Jackson, returns to J. R. R. Tolkien’s Middle Earth with the first part of his second trilogy, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. Ian McKellen, Elijah Wood, Cate Blanchett, Christopher Lee, Andy Serkis, Ian Holm, and Hugo Weaving reprise their roles from the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Martin Freeman and Richard Armitage are introduced in the two major new roles.
An older Bilbo Baggins (Holm) decides to write down the fully story of the adventure that changed his life for his heir Frodo (Wood). He recalls living a quiet Hobbit life 60 years earlier in the Shire until the wizard, Gandalf the Grey (McKellen), tricks him into hosting a party for Dwarf leader, Thorin Oakenshield (Armitage) and his motley band of Dwarf allies. The party also doubles as the recruitment of a younger Bilbo (Freeman) to their quest. And a dangerous quest it is.
Many years prior to this gathering at Bilbo’s house, the Dwarf, Thror (Thorin’s grandfather), became king of the Lonely Mountain (Erebor) dwelling of the Dwarf Empire. Inside the mountain were riches galore from gold to diamonds to sapphires as far as the eye could see. These riches brought an era of prosperity to Thror’s kin and to the nearby human town of Dale that was near the mountain. Thror’s grand army was also thousands strong armed with the finest weapons the Dwarf smiths could fashion. But the gold and jewels attracted an unwanted “guest” in the form of the great dragon, Smaug, who destroys Dale and drives the Dwarves from Erebor to claim the gold as his own. Fleeing from their home, Thorin sees King Thranduil of the Wood-Elves and his army watching as the horrible events are taking place from a cliff and then retiring from the battlefield offering no aid to the besieged Dwarfs. Thus begins a long standing resentment of Dwarves toward Elves on Middle Earth.
Later, after the Dwarves regroup, they attack the Dwarven city of Moria that has fallen under Orc dominion, led by “The Pale Orc”, Azog. Azog beheads Thror. Devasted, Thorin attacks Azog using a tree trunk as a shield (Oakenshield, get it?). He succeeds in severing one of Azog’s forearms. The Orc leader is taken from the battlefield by his soldiers as the Dwarves rally presuming Azog to be dead and route the Orcs causing them to retreat from the city. It is a pyrrhic victory for the Dwarfs, however, as the vast majority of their army is killed in battle. They can’t even think about making a full assault on Smaug in this state.
The Omens and Portents, however, have shown Thorin many years later that the time is now right for a small commando force to take Smaug by surprise in the mountain. That is if they can find a way in. And this is where Bilbo fits into Gandalf’s scheme to aid the Dwarves despite Thorin’s doubts. Hobbits are peaceful, unassuming creatures that are light of foot and go mostly unnoticed amongst the other beings on Middle Earth. Bilbo will become the company’s “burglar” for lack of a better term. Smaug also does not know the smell of Hobbit and will not likely be roused by Bilbo’s presence near the mountain. That is, if Bilbo accepts. At first the Hobbit is reluctant and declines. Then, longing for adventure away from the quiet life of the Shire, he accepts. But he’s going to get more than he bargained for on this journey and have to dig deep into wits and strength he doesn’t know he has as he faces down near death from trolls, goblins, Orcs led by the still living Azog, and a strange creature named Gollum he meets in the goblins’ lair. Gollum possesses an object that will be of the utmost importance many years later. It’s an object that falls into Bilbo’s possession and gives Gandalf pause when he discovers the Hobbit now has it.
Before seeing The Hobbit, I had the uneasy feeling that what I would see would be all too familiar and essentially a retelling of LOTR. And while I did get a sense of that, I am happy to see that I have not lost interest in the events of Middle Earth at all. Jackson still provides the lush landscapes and epic battles that fans have come to know and love. Make-up and special effects are all top of the line. There is some truly ugly stuff living on the landscapes of Middle Earth, each seemingly uglier and more grotesque than the previous ungodly creation. What was particularly impressive was the animation of Gollum. There seemed to be a bit more articulation in him this time around than there was in LOTR.
The Hobbit is well acted and, as I said before, has no shortage of epic battles. You get the powerful wizardry of Gandalf, the brutish battle prowess of the Dwarves and the slick, deadly swiftness of the Elves (like a bunch of pointy eared Jedi to me). It deftly makes you long for more as it links you to LOTR through Bilbo’s discovery of the “One Ring” and the dark “Necromancer” who has raised the Witch King of Angmar. Peter Jackson also teases the audience with glimpses of Smaug showing only flashes of nostrils and spiked tail. He leaves it to your imagination for now as to the dragon’s full, horrifying visage. The only complaint I have (observation really) is that Gandalf sure could have made a harrowing journey easier on everyone if he had just called on the Great Eagles from the beginning. For those not versed in Hobbit lore, watch the movie and you’ll know what I mean.
For those fans of Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit will have everything you want from Gandalf to dwarves to elves to orcs. You will appreciate the foreshadowing to the previous trilogy. It is a pleasurable three hour jaunt back to a magical place not seen since 2003’s The Return of the King.
The Dark Lord of the Sith says:
****stars
Ratings Legend
Zero *= Don't waste your time. Pure dreck! Dreck is too good for this! Blind me please!
1 *= Fuggedaboutit!
2 *= Average, Mediocre, Nothing Special
3 *= Good viewing. Much better than a poke in the eye.
4 *= Great. Could possibly foot the price of a non-Matinee.
5 *= Pure eye candy. Hall of Fame material here.
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Released 12/15/12, now in theaters
Director, Peter Jackson, returns to J. R. R. Tolkien’s Middle Earth with the first part of his second trilogy, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. Ian McKellen, Elijah Wood, Cate Blanchett, Christopher Lee, Andy Serkis, Ian Holm, and Hugo Weaving reprise their roles from the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Martin Freeman and Richard Armitage are introduced in the two major new roles.
An older Bilbo Baggins (Holm) decides to write down the fully story of the adventure that changed his life for his heir Frodo (Wood). He recalls living a quiet Hobbit life 60 years earlier in the Shire until the wizard, Gandalf the Grey (McKellen), tricks him into hosting a party for Dwarf leader, Thorin Oakenshield (Armitage) and his motley band of Dwarf allies. The party also doubles as the recruitment of a younger Bilbo (Freeman) to their quest. And a dangerous quest it is.
Many years prior to this gathering at Bilbo’s house, the Dwarf, Thror (Thorin’s grandfather), became king of the Lonely Mountain (Erebor) dwelling of the Dwarf Empire. Inside the mountain were riches galore from gold to diamonds to sapphires as far as the eye could see. These riches brought an era of prosperity to Thror’s kin and to the nearby human town of Dale that was near the mountain. Thror’s grand army was also thousands strong armed with the finest weapons the Dwarf smiths could fashion. But the gold and jewels attracted an unwanted “guest” in the form of the great dragon, Smaug, who destroys Dale and drives the Dwarves from Erebor to claim the gold as his own. Fleeing from their home, Thorin sees King Thranduil of the Wood-Elves and his army watching as the horrible events are taking place from a cliff and then retiring from the battlefield offering no aid to the besieged Dwarfs. Thus begins a long standing resentment of Dwarves toward Elves on Middle Earth.
Later, after the Dwarves regroup, they attack the Dwarven city of Moria that has fallen under Orc dominion, led by “The Pale Orc”, Azog. Azog beheads Thror. Devasted, Thorin attacks Azog using a tree trunk as a shield (Oakenshield, get it?). He succeeds in severing one of Azog’s forearms. The Orc leader is taken from the battlefield by his soldiers as the Dwarves rally presuming Azog to be dead and route the Orcs causing them to retreat from the city. It is a pyrrhic victory for the Dwarfs, however, as the vast majority of their army is killed in battle. They can’t even think about making a full assault on Smaug in this state.
The Omens and Portents, however, have shown Thorin many years later that the time is now right for a small commando force to take Smaug by surprise in the mountain. That is if they can find a way in. And this is where Bilbo fits into Gandalf’s scheme to aid the Dwarves despite Thorin’s doubts. Hobbits are peaceful, unassuming creatures that are light of foot and go mostly unnoticed amongst the other beings on Middle Earth. Bilbo will become the company’s “burglar” for lack of a better term. Smaug also does not know the smell of Hobbit and will not likely be roused by Bilbo’s presence near the mountain. That is, if Bilbo accepts. At first the Hobbit is reluctant and declines. Then, longing for adventure away from the quiet life of the Shire, he accepts. But he’s going to get more than he bargained for on this journey and have to dig deep into wits and strength he doesn’t know he has as he faces down near death from trolls, goblins, Orcs led by the still living Azog, and a strange creature named Gollum he meets in the goblins’ lair. Gollum possesses an object that will be of the utmost importance many years later. It’s an object that falls into Bilbo’s possession and gives Gandalf pause when he discovers the Hobbit now has it.
Before seeing The Hobbit, I had the uneasy feeling that what I would see would be all too familiar and essentially a retelling of LOTR. And while I did get a sense of that, I am happy to see that I have not lost interest in the events of Middle Earth at all. Jackson still provides the lush landscapes and epic battles that fans have come to know and love. Make-up and special effects are all top of the line. There is some truly ugly stuff living on the landscapes of Middle Earth, each seemingly uglier and more grotesque than the previous ungodly creation. What was particularly impressive was the animation of Gollum. There seemed to be a bit more articulation in him this time around than there was in LOTR.
The Hobbit is well acted and, as I said before, has no shortage of epic battles. You get the powerful wizardry of Gandalf, the brutish battle prowess of the Dwarves and the slick, deadly swiftness of the Elves (like a bunch of pointy eared Jedi to me). It deftly makes you long for more as it links you to LOTR through Bilbo’s discovery of the “One Ring” and the dark “Necromancer” who has raised the Witch King of Angmar. Peter Jackson also teases the audience with glimpses of Smaug showing only flashes of nostrils and spiked tail. He leaves it to your imagination for now as to the dragon’s full, horrifying visage. The only complaint I have (observation really) is that Gandalf sure could have made a harrowing journey easier on everyone if he had just called on the Great Eagles from the beginning. For those not versed in Hobbit lore, watch the movie and you’ll know what I mean.
For those fans of Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit will have everything you want from Gandalf to dwarves to elves to orcs. You will appreciate the foreshadowing to the previous trilogy. It is a pleasurable three hour jaunt back to a magical place not seen since 2003’s The Return of the King.
The Dark Lord of the Sith says:
****stars
Ratings Legend
Zero *= Don't waste your time. Pure dreck! Dreck is too good for this! Blind me please!
1 *= Fuggedaboutit!
2 *= Average, Mediocre, Nothing Special
3 *= Good viewing. Much better than a poke in the eye.
4 *= Great. Could possibly foot the price of a non-Matinee.
5 *= Pure eye candy. Hall of Fame material here.
Sunday, November 25, 2012
Life of Pi
Reviews from the Dark Side presents
Life of Pi
Released 11/21/12, now in theaters
Ang Lee directs the adaptation of Yann Martel’s 2001 novel, Life of Pi. The film stars Irrfan Kahn, Gerard Depardieu, Tabu, Suraj Sharma, and Adil Hussain.
Pi was born “Piscine Molitor” Patel, named after a swimming pool in France as the adult Pi retells his story to a reporter. His parents owned a zoo in India as he grew up. Due to growing political concerns in the country, the family decides to journey to Canada on a Japanese freighter with some of their zoo animals to start over. Pi is a teenager at this time. A few days into the journey, a fierce storm arises and Pi hears an explosion on the freighter. Through luck and accident, Pi finds himself on a lifeboat with four of the zoo animals: a hyena, an orangutan, an injured zebra, and a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker. The freighter, it’s human occupants, and the remainder of the animals sink into the ocean and either drown or become meals for sharks near the sinking ship.
As the storm subsides, Pi believes only the zebra and orangutan are on the boat with him. To his surprise, the hungry hyena emerges from a tarp it had used as protection from the storm. Pi is barely able to keep it at bay with an oar. An undisclosed amount of time passes and the hyena succumbs to its hunger and attacks and kills the zebra. Not satisfied with only this meal, it attacks the orangutan as well. After a fierce fight, the hyena is again victorious. The victory is short-lived as Richard Parker leaps from the tarp he was also using for shelter and kills the hyena. Pi is only able to survive because the tiger is unable to get a foothold (clawhold?) on top of the tarp where the boy is located. Pi is able to build a makeshift raft out of supplies under the tarp to keep a safe distance from the boat’s striped occupant.
Through a survival book that was placed among the boat’s supplies, Pi is able to survive the rigors of the ocean and the sheer panic of being stranded for an undisclosed amount of time. He resorts to catching fish so the tiger has something to eat succumbing to eating some of the raw fish as well (he’s vegan). He even comes to somewhat train Richard Parker not to attack him every time he comes to the boat for supplies.
The boat/raft combo eventually touches land on an unknown island whose only inhabitants seem to be thousands of meerkats. Pi and the tiger leave the island after a couple days recuperation as Pi discovers a deadly secret. The boat washes up next on the coastline of Mexico where Pi is found facedown on the beach by sailors. Before he drifts out of consciousness he sees the tiger run into the nearby forest never looking back.
Investigators from the freighter’s company interview Pi in the hospital and don’t quite believe his fantastic story. So Pi tells another tale equally fantastic in its own right. But which one is the actual truth? As the adult Pi asks the reporter interviewing him, which story do you prefer?
I went into this movie with very few expectations that I would like it and I found it to be pretty decent. Granted the film is a bit slow until the shipwreck. Granted the whole thing does start to feel a bit like Cast Away. I half expected Pi to call Richard Parker “Wilson” a couple of times. It is a harrowing tale of survival against impossible odds and a test of one’s faith under terrible circumstances. In this sense, Life of Pi is an interesting character study of a boy who is forced to grow up very quickly. The film also provides a dark twist as Pi’s original story may not quite be the truth of what happened after the shipwreck which provided the type of shocker element I usually find pleasing. And for all the literary buffs out there, there’s a good deal of symbolism to whet your appetite.
Life of Pi is decently acted although much of the action takes place between a teenager and a tiger. The CG on the tiger is good as it depicts a robust animal slowly becoming emaciated through the lack of food on the lifeboat. The film also does a very good job of reminding the audience of the constant danger that Pi faces on the water. He’s really not safe anywhere he stays whether it’s on the boat or his makeshift raft. He’s got the snarling hyena and ravenous Richard Parker to contend with on the boat and hungry sharks constantly circling in the water. Nature is not kind to him.
Life of Pi is an entertaining enough film that deserves one viewing. More viewings will be up to the individual. I’m good with one.
The Dark Lord of the Sith says:
*** stars
Ratings Legend
Zero *= Don't waste your time. Pure dreck! Dreck is too good for this! Blind me please!
1 *= Fuggedaboutit!
2 *= Average, Mediocre, Nothing Special
3 *= Good viewing. Much better than a poke in the eye.
4 *= Great. Could possibly foot the price of a non-Matinee.
5 *= Pure eye candy. Hall of Fame material here.
Life of Pi
Released 11/21/12, now in theaters
Ang Lee directs the adaptation of Yann Martel’s 2001 novel, Life of Pi. The film stars Irrfan Kahn, Gerard Depardieu, Tabu, Suraj Sharma, and Adil Hussain.
Pi was born “Piscine Molitor” Patel, named after a swimming pool in France as the adult Pi retells his story to a reporter. His parents owned a zoo in India as he grew up. Due to growing political concerns in the country, the family decides to journey to Canada on a Japanese freighter with some of their zoo animals to start over. Pi is a teenager at this time. A few days into the journey, a fierce storm arises and Pi hears an explosion on the freighter. Through luck and accident, Pi finds himself on a lifeboat with four of the zoo animals: a hyena, an orangutan, an injured zebra, and a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker. The freighter, it’s human occupants, and the remainder of the animals sink into the ocean and either drown or become meals for sharks near the sinking ship.
As the storm subsides, Pi believes only the zebra and orangutan are on the boat with him. To his surprise, the hungry hyena emerges from a tarp it had used as protection from the storm. Pi is barely able to keep it at bay with an oar. An undisclosed amount of time passes and the hyena succumbs to its hunger and attacks and kills the zebra. Not satisfied with only this meal, it attacks the orangutan as well. After a fierce fight, the hyena is again victorious. The victory is short-lived as Richard Parker leaps from the tarp he was also using for shelter and kills the hyena. Pi is only able to survive because the tiger is unable to get a foothold (clawhold?) on top of the tarp where the boy is located. Pi is able to build a makeshift raft out of supplies under the tarp to keep a safe distance from the boat’s striped occupant.
Through a survival book that was placed among the boat’s supplies, Pi is able to survive the rigors of the ocean and the sheer panic of being stranded for an undisclosed amount of time. He resorts to catching fish so the tiger has something to eat succumbing to eating some of the raw fish as well (he’s vegan). He even comes to somewhat train Richard Parker not to attack him every time he comes to the boat for supplies.
The boat/raft combo eventually touches land on an unknown island whose only inhabitants seem to be thousands of meerkats. Pi and the tiger leave the island after a couple days recuperation as Pi discovers a deadly secret. The boat washes up next on the coastline of Mexico where Pi is found facedown on the beach by sailors. Before he drifts out of consciousness he sees the tiger run into the nearby forest never looking back.
Investigators from the freighter’s company interview Pi in the hospital and don’t quite believe his fantastic story. So Pi tells another tale equally fantastic in its own right. But which one is the actual truth? As the adult Pi asks the reporter interviewing him, which story do you prefer?
I went into this movie with very few expectations that I would like it and I found it to be pretty decent. Granted the film is a bit slow until the shipwreck. Granted the whole thing does start to feel a bit like Cast Away. I half expected Pi to call Richard Parker “Wilson” a couple of times. It is a harrowing tale of survival against impossible odds and a test of one’s faith under terrible circumstances. In this sense, Life of Pi is an interesting character study of a boy who is forced to grow up very quickly. The film also provides a dark twist as Pi’s original story may not quite be the truth of what happened after the shipwreck which provided the type of shocker element I usually find pleasing. And for all the literary buffs out there, there’s a good deal of symbolism to whet your appetite.
Life of Pi is decently acted although much of the action takes place between a teenager and a tiger. The CG on the tiger is good as it depicts a robust animal slowly becoming emaciated through the lack of food on the lifeboat. The film also does a very good job of reminding the audience of the constant danger that Pi faces on the water. He’s really not safe anywhere he stays whether it’s on the boat or his makeshift raft. He’s got the snarling hyena and ravenous Richard Parker to contend with on the boat and hungry sharks constantly circling in the water. Nature is not kind to him.
Life of Pi is an entertaining enough film that deserves one viewing. More viewings will be up to the individual. I’m good with one.
The Dark Lord of the Sith says:
*** stars
Ratings Legend
Zero *= Don't waste your time. Pure dreck! Dreck is too good for this! Blind me please!
1 *= Fuggedaboutit!
2 *= Average, Mediocre, Nothing Special
3 *= Good viewing. Much better than a poke in the eye.
4 *= Great. Could possibly foot the price of a non-Matinee.
5 *= Pure eye candy. Hall of Fame material here.
Monday, November 12, 2012
Skyfall
Reviews from the Dark Side presents
Skyfall
Released 11/9/12, now in theaters
Daniel Craig reprises the role of James Bond for the third time in this weekend’s “Skyfall.” It’s directed by Sam Mendes and is the 23rd film in the franchise overall.
Skyfall begins in Turkey with Bond and another MI6 agent, Eve (Naomie Harris), on a mad chase of a mercenary who has stolen a very valuable commodity from another agent. He’s in possession of a computer hard drive containing the names of all NATO agents currently working undercover in terrorist organizations. After wild car and motorcycle chases through the city streets, Bond and the mercenary grapple on top of a speeding train. Eve perches herself on a nearby hill waiting to take the killing sniper shot, but Bond and the mercenary are so entangled she doesn’t have a clear opening. Desperate to re-obtain the drive, M (Judi Dench), monitoring the action from MI6 headquarters in London, orders Eve to take the shot. Eve does as ordered and hits Bond instead of the intended target. He falls off the train to his seeming death while the mercenary escapes.
With 007 presumed dead and the loss of the computer drive, M comes under political pressure to retire during a meeting with Security Committee Chairman, Gareth Mallory (Ralph Fiennes). On her way back to headquarters, MI6 is hacked and an explosion occurs in the headquarters killing several personnel.
Meanwhile, Bond has been enjoying his “death” as he’s taken his MIA status to informally retire from the spy game. However, when he sees that MI6 has been attacked on a news telecast, 007 reluctantly ends his retirement to serve Queen and country again even if he still isn‘t too happy with M for ordering the shot that nearly took him out in the first place. But, Bond is not quite the same agent he was originally as he is put through a battery of tests to determine his worthiness to go back into the field and unknowingly fails them all. It is only by M’s order that Bond is reactivated as a field agent to hunt down, as we learn, a cyberterroist who is now in possession of the list. Raoul Silva (Javier Bardem) has a personal ax to grind with M , and he’ll go to any lengths to publicly embarrass her , and, eventually, kill her.
Let me say this right now. I love Daniel Craig as James Bond. I wish he would never age so he could play 007 forever. I was never a fan of the character before Casino Royale. The Craig movies add a human element to Bond that was never there before. Craig brings a sadness and loneliness to the character that makes him a bit more relatable to me. You get the sense that Bond does what he does solely out of duty to his country, not because he particularly loves what he’s doing. He’s not infallible. He screws up sometimes. He’s not the pretty boy that most of the other Bonds have been, although he still has the classic Bond swagger. You believe this Bond can actually bust heads if the situation calls for it, but still have a certain panache about it.
Skyfall is energetic . My one complaint might be that it lasted a tad longer than needed as I don‘t think the film keeps the same energy throughout. There’s likely good and bad news for the staunch Bond fan. Skyfall sees the reintroduction of Q and Moneypenny. But don’t expect any exploding pens (inside joke in the movie) or machine gunned remote controlled sports cars. The only tech here is a gun coded to Bond’s handprint and small radio that acts as a homing beacon. The film does something that I don’t remember seeing before. It hints at Bond’s past before he entered the military and MI6. I’m not sure how to read Bardem’s performance. It’s not that it’s not good, it’s just a little weird and creepy at times, particularly when he interrogates Bond while the spy is restrained in a chair (Bond’s comeback is classic). Silva’s motivations aren’t impossibly grandiose. He has a very simple mission of revenge against M.
Overall, Skyfall is a great entry in the Bond series that fans of Craig’s version of the character should enjoy. My greatest fear that I have gotten from blogs I’ve read is that the powers that be go back to classic Bond silliness which always turned me off. I don’t want my Bond as a lounge lizard lothario who happens to be a super spy. I want him tough as nails, complicated, conflicted, and, well…human.
The Dark Lord of the Sith says:
**** stars
Ratings Legend
Zero *= Don't waste your time. Pure dreck! Dreck is too good for this! Blind me please!
1 *= Fuggedaboutit!
2 *= Average, Mediocre, Nothing Special
3 *= Good viewing. Much better than a poke in the eye.
4 *= Great. Could possibly foot the price of a non-Matinee.
5 *= Pure eye candy. Hall of Fame material here.
Skyfall
Released 11/9/12, now in theaters
Daniel Craig reprises the role of James Bond for the third time in this weekend’s “Skyfall.” It’s directed by Sam Mendes and is the 23rd film in the franchise overall.
Skyfall begins in Turkey with Bond and another MI6 agent, Eve (Naomie Harris), on a mad chase of a mercenary who has stolen a very valuable commodity from another agent. He’s in possession of a computer hard drive containing the names of all NATO agents currently working undercover in terrorist organizations. After wild car and motorcycle chases through the city streets, Bond and the mercenary grapple on top of a speeding train. Eve perches herself on a nearby hill waiting to take the killing sniper shot, but Bond and the mercenary are so entangled she doesn’t have a clear opening. Desperate to re-obtain the drive, M (Judi Dench), monitoring the action from MI6 headquarters in London, orders Eve to take the shot. Eve does as ordered and hits Bond instead of the intended target. He falls off the train to his seeming death while the mercenary escapes.
With 007 presumed dead and the loss of the computer drive, M comes under political pressure to retire during a meeting with Security Committee Chairman, Gareth Mallory (Ralph Fiennes). On her way back to headquarters, MI6 is hacked and an explosion occurs in the headquarters killing several personnel.
Meanwhile, Bond has been enjoying his “death” as he’s taken his MIA status to informally retire from the spy game. However, when he sees that MI6 has been attacked on a news telecast, 007 reluctantly ends his retirement to serve Queen and country again even if he still isn‘t too happy with M for ordering the shot that nearly took him out in the first place. But, Bond is not quite the same agent he was originally as he is put through a battery of tests to determine his worthiness to go back into the field and unknowingly fails them all. It is only by M’s order that Bond is reactivated as a field agent to hunt down, as we learn, a cyberterroist who is now in possession of the list. Raoul Silva (Javier Bardem) has a personal ax to grind with M , and he’ll go to any lengths to publicly embarrass her , and, eventually, kill her.
Let me say this right now. I love Daniel Craig as James Bond. I wish he would never age so he could play 007 forever. I was never a fan of the character before Casino Royale. The Craig movies add a human element to Bond that was never there before. Craig brings a sadness and loneliness to the character that makes him a bit more relatable to me. You get the sense that Bond does what he does solely out of duty to his country, not because he particularly loves what he’s doing. He’s not infallible. He screws up sometimes. He’s not the pretty boy that most of the other Bonds have been, although he still has the classic Bond swagger. You believe this Bond can actually bust heads if the situation calls for it, but still have a certain panache about it.
Skyfall is energetic . My one complaint might be that it lasted a tad longer than needed as I don‘t think the film keeps the same energy throughout. There’s likely good and bad news for the staunch Bond fan. Skyfall sees the reintroduction of Q and Moneypenny. But don’t expect any exploding pens (inside joke in the movie) or machine gunned remote controlled sports cars. The only tech here is a gun coded to Bond’s handprint and small radio that acts as a homing beacon. The film does something that I don’t remember seeing before. It hints at Bond’s past before he entered the military and MI6. I’m not sure how to read Bardem’s performance. It’s not that it’s not good, it’s just a little weird and creepy at times, particularly when he interrogates Bond while the spy is restrained in a chair (Bond’s comeback is classic). Silva’s motivations aren’t impossibly grandiose. He has a very simple mission of revenge against M.
Overall, Skyfall is a great entry in the Bond series that fans of Craig’s version of the character should enjoy. My greatest fear that I have gotten from blogs I’ve read is that the powers that be go back to classic Bond silliness which always turned me off. I don’t want my Bond as a lounge lizard lothario who happens to be a super spy. I want him tough as nails, complicated, conflicted, and, well…human.
The Dark Lord of the Sith says:
**** stars
Ratings Legend
Zero *= Don't waste your time. Pure dreck! Dreck is too good for this! Blind me please!
1 *= Fuggedaboutit!
2 *= Average, Mediocre, Nothing Special
3 *= Good viewing. Much better than a poke in the eye.
4 *= Great. Could possibly foot the price of a non-Matinee.
5 *= Pure eye candy. Hall of Fame material here.
Saturday, November 10, 2012
Flight
Reviews from the Dark Side presents
Flight
Released 11/2/12, now in theaters
Denzel Washington returns to theaters in Flight, a film directed and co-produced by Robert Zemeckis. The ensemble cast features Don Cheadle, John Goodman, Melissa Leo, Kelly Reilly, and Bruce Greenwood.
Airline captain William “Whip” Whitaker (Washington) is a highly respected pilot. He’s divorced and estranged from his teen-aged son. He’s also an alcoholic and drug addict. After a decadent night of sex, alcohol, and very little sleep with one of his crew’s flight attendants, Katerina, in Orlando, Whip prepares for his flight from Orlando to Atlanta the next morning with a few lines of cocaine to wake up.
The flight and its 102 people on board seem doomed from the start as it takes off in a bad rain storm. Whip expertly maneuvers the plane out of the storm with nervous co-pilot, Ken. He then takes his moment to relax. And for Whip, relaxing means two small bottles of vodka in his morning OJ and a nap. He is jolted awake by a loud mechanical noise as the plane begins to nosedive only a few miles out from its destination. Whip is able to crash land the plane in a field by using a rolling maneuver.
There are 96 survivors of the 102 passengers and crew. Whip is taken to a hospital to be treated for superficial injuries where he learns from the National Transportation Security Board that Katerina was one of the casualties. The NTSB also has their hands on Whip’s toxicology report which proves he was intoxicated while flying. Enter attorney, Hugh Lang (Cheadle), a Chicago criminal lawyer brought in by the Pilot’s Union to defend Whip’s claim the jet went down due to mechanical failure, not his intoxication. But the NTSB is hot on Whip’s heels, and it doesn’t help that he just can’t seem to stop drinking or sever his association with his drug dealer buddy, Harling (Goodman). Whip needs to pull himself together quickly before he goes down for six counts of manslaughter.
Flight offers another notable performance from Denzel Washington, as well as, Don Cheadle. Zemeckis directs a gripping story of one man’s downward spiral into addiction and the demons that haunt him night and day. It’s a great story, but, therein lies the problem. It’s extremely depressing. Whip ruins/has ruined his share of relationships in this movie because he can’t crawl out of the bottle. And he tries. And tries. And tries. It’s indicative of addiction, but make no mistake, it’s not a lot of fun to watch this type of downfall. Although there is a somewhat positive ending , following this man on his journey is jolting and leaves you with a great sense of melancholy. That said, Washington still manages to pull off a dignity and grace in his character that few actors would be able to manage.
Flight is very good movie that you will only want to sit through once due to the content. It’s not what I would call entertaining, but it is very compelling and well-made.
The Dark Lord of the Sith says:
***1/2 stars
Ratings Legend
Zero *= Don't waste your time. Pure dreck! Dreck is too good for this! Blind me please!
1 *= Fuggedaboutit!
2 *= Average, Mediocre, Nothing Special
3 *= Good viewing. Much better than a poke in the eye.
4 *= Great. Could possibly foot the price of a non-Matinee.
5 *= Pure eye candy. Hall of Fame material here.
Flight
Released 11/2/12, now in theaters
Denzel Washington returns to theaters in Flight, a film directed and co-produced by Robert Zemeckis. The ensemble cast features Don Cheadle, John Goodman, Melissa Leo, Kelly Reilly, and Bruce Greenwood.
Airline captain William “Whip” Whitaker (Washington) is a highly respected pilot. He’s divorced and estranged from his teen-aged son. He’s also an alcoholic and drug addict. After a decadent night of sex, alcohol, and very little sleep with one of his crew’s flight attendants, Katerina, in Orlando, Whip prepares for his flight from Orlando to Atlanta the next morning with a few lines of cocaine to wake up.
The flight and its 102 people on board seem doomed from the start as it takes off in a bad rain storm. Whip expertly maneuvers the plane out of the storm with nervous co-pilot, Ken. He then takes his moment to relax. And for Whip, relaxing means two small bottles of vodka in his morning OJ and a nap. He is jolted awake by a loud mechanical noise as the plane begins to nosedive only a few miles out from its destination. Whip is able to crash land the plane in a field by using a rolling maneuver.
There are 96 survivors of the 102 passengers and crew. Whip is taken to a hospital to be treated for superficial injuries where he learns from the National Transportation Security Board that Katerina was one of the casualties. The NTSB also has their hands on Whip’s toxicology report which proves he was intoxicated while flying. Enter attorney, Hugh Lang (Cheadle), a Chicago criminal lawyer brought in by the Pilot’s Union to defend Whip’s claim the jet went down due to mechanical failure, not his intoxication. But the NTSB is hot on Whip’s heels, and it doesn’t help that he just can’t seem to stop drinking or sever his association with his drug dealer buddy, Harling (Goodman). Whip needs to pull himself together quickly before he goes down for six counts of manslaughter.
Flight offers another notable performance from Denzel Washington, as well as, Don Cheadle. Zemeckis directs a gripping story of one man’s downward spiral into addiction and the demons that haunt him night and day. It’s a great story, but, therein lies the problem. It’s extremely depressing. Whip ruins/has ruined his share of relationships in this movie because he can’t crawl out of the bottle. And he tries. And tries. And tries. It’s indicative of addiction, but make no mistake, it’s not a lot of fun to watch this type of downfall. Although there is a somewhat positive ending , following this man on his journey is jolting and leaves you with a great sense of melancholy. That said, Washington still manages to pull off a dignity and grace in his character that few actors would be able to manage.
Flight is very good movie that you will only want to sit through once due to the content. It’s not what I would call entertaining, but it is very compelling and well-made.
The Dark Lord of the Sith says:
***1/2 stars
Ratings Legend
Zero *= Don't waste your time. Pure dreck! Dreck is too good for this! Blind me please!
1 *= Fuggedaboutit!
2 *= Average, Mediocre, Nothing Special
3 *= Good viewing. Much better than a poke in the eye.
4 *= Great. Could possibly foot the price of a non-Matinee.
5 *= Pure eye candy. Hall of Fame material here.
Sunday, November 4, 2012
Hotel Transylvania
Reviews from the Dark Side presents
Hotel Transylvania
Released 9/28/12, now in theaters
Adam Sandler, Steve Buscemi, Selena Gomez, Andy Samberg, Kevin James, Fran Drescher, David Spade, Molly Shannon, Cee Lo Green, and Jon Lovitz lend their voices to the animated comedy, Hotel Transylvania. The film is produced Sony Animation.
Count Dracula (Sandler) has retreated from the human eye and opened a swanky, five-star hotel (for his monster buddies, anyway) complete with zombie bellhops, witch maids, shrunken head door ornaments and Quasimodo (Lovitz) as the lead chef. Drac calls all his pals including Frankenstein's Monster (James) and his wife (Drescher), Murray the Mummy (Green), Wayne and Wanda Werewolf (Buscemi and Shannon) and their litter of cubs, the Invisible Man (Spade), and other assorted ghouls to his daughter, Mavis' (Gomez), milestone 118th birthday party.
Dracula loves his daughter a great deal and would do anything to protect her which leads to his great distress when Mavis wants to venture outside the hotel walls for the first time and meet humans. Dracula distrusts humans. So much so, that he orders his zombie bellhops to build a fake human town near the hotel. He has the zombies themselves pose as angry villagers to discourage Mavis from ever wanting to leave the confines of the hotel again. It seems like it's mission accomplished until a young traveler named Jonathan stumbles upon Dracula's fake town and follows the zombies back to the hotel. Drac can't have a human roaming the halls because as the monsters' undisputed leader, he's made all the others as paranoid of man as he is. To usher him out of the hotel as quickly as possible, Drac disguises Jonathan as a monster to blend in. He makes up a cover story that "Johnny-stein" is a relative of one of the real monster's body parts. Things become complicated when Mavis takes a liking to the new monster in town and Drac has to compound the lie by saying Johnny is the birthday planner. What's a vampire who has sworn off drinking human blood to do? Does he protect the sanctity of his business or let his beloved daughter find happiness with a human "when there are so many eligible monsters to choose from?"
Hotel Transylvania is light, harmless kid's flick. It's funny, but I wouldn't say most of the gags are particularly clever, only absurd. It's kind of like an animated Adam Sandler movie of sorts. That's not bad if you're a Sandler fan which I am, but I don't know how many adults will like it if they aren't. The animation is decent if not spectacular. There are a couple of great belly laughs, particularly when Drac uses his flash hypnosis. For me, the characters who stole the show are the werewolves. Poor put upon Wayne, has a gaggle of wild male cubs that do nothing but cause mischief and mayhem. And he has another one on the way! The funniest cub is his youngest, a daughter, that seems to be the smartest and toughest among her siblings.
Hotel Transylvania is a good, but not great animated feature that children should like. I may have reviewed this one differently had I not seen Wreck-It Ralph a day earlier. They're two totally different movies with different premises, I know. But, I think children and adults will have more fun with Ralph if parents are choosing between the two. It's just more clever and eye-popping. But that's not to say that Transylvania doesn't have its fun moments as well.
The Dark Lord of the Sith says:
***1/4 stars
Ratings Legend
Zero *= Don't waste your time. Pure dreck! Dreck is too good for this! Blind me please!
1 *= Fuggedaboutit!
2 *= Average, Mediocre, Nothing Special
3 *= Good viewing. Much better than a poke in the eye.
4 *= Great. Could possibly foot the price of a non-Matinee.
5 *= Pure eye candy. Hall of Fame material here.
Hotel Transylvania
Released 9/28/12, now in theaters
Adam Sandler, Steve Buscemi, Selena Gomez, Andy Samberg, Kevin James, Fran Drescher, David Spade, Molly Shannon, Cee Lo Green, and Jon Lovitz lend their voices to the animated comedy, Hotel Transylvania. The film is produced Sony Animation.
Count Dracula (Sandler) has retreated from the human eye and opened a swanky, five-star hotel (for his monster buddies, anyway) complete with zombie bellhops, witch maids, shrunken head door ornaments and Quasimodo (Lovitz) as the lead chef. Drac calls all his pals including Frankenstein's Monster (James) and his wife (Drescher), Murray the Mummy (Green), Wayne and Wanda Werewolf (Buscemi and Shannon) and their litter of cubs, the Invisible Man (Spade), and other assorted ghouls to his daughter, Mavis' (Gomez), milestone 118th birthday party.
Dracula loves his daughter a great deal and would do anything to protect her which leads to his great distress when Mavis wants to venture outside the hotel walls for the first time and meet humans. Dracula distrusts humans. So much so, that he orders his zombie bellhops to build a fake human town near the hotel. He has the zombies themselves pose as angry villagers to discourage Mavis from ever wanting to leave the confines of the hotel again. It seems like it's mission accomplished until a young traveler named Jonathan stumbles upon Dracula's fake town and follows the zombies back to the hotel. Drac can't have a human roaming the halls because as the monsters' undisputed leader, he's made all the others as paranoid of man as he is. To usher him out of the hotel as quickly as possible, Drac disguises Jonathan as a monster to blend in. He makes up a cover story that "Johnny-stein" is a relative of one of the real monster's body parts. Things become complicated when Mavis takes a liking to the new monster in town and Drac has to compound the lie by saying Johnny is the birthday planner. What's a vampire who has sworn off drinking human blood to do? Does he protect the sanctity of his business or let his beloved daughter find happiness with a human "when there are so many eligible monsters to choose from?"
Hotel Transylvania is light, harmless kid's flick. It's funny, but I wouldn't say most of the gags are particularly clever, only absurd. It's kind of like an animated Adam Sandler movie of sorts. That's not bad if you're a Sandler fan which I am, but I don't know how many adults will like it if they aren't. The animation is decent if not spectacular. There are a couple of great belly laughs, particularly when Drac uses his flash hypnosis. For me, the characters who stole the show are the werewolves. Poor put upon Wayne, has a gaggle of wild male cubs that do nothing but cause mischief and mayhem. And he has another one on the way! The funniest cub is his youngest, a daughter, that seems to be the smartest and toughest among her siblings.
Hotel Transylvania is a good, but not great animated feature that children should like. I may have reviewed this one differently had I not seen Wreck-It Ralph a day earlier. They're two totally different movies with different premises, I know. But, I think children and adults will have more fun with Ralph if parents are choosing between the two. It's just more clever and eye-popping. But that's not to say that Transylvania doesn't have its fun moments as well.
The Dark Lord of the Sith says:
***1/4 stars
Ratings Legend
Zero *= Don't waste your time. Pure dreck! Dreck is too good for this! Blind me please!
1 *= Fuggedaboutit!
2 *= Average, Mediocre, Nothing Special
3 *= Good viewing. Much better than a poke in the eye.
4 *= Great. Could possibly foot the price of a non-Matinee.
5 *= Pure eye candy. Hall of Fame material here.
Saturday, November 3, 2012
Wreck-It Ralph
Reviews from the Dark Side presents
Wreck-It Ralph
Released 11/2/12, now in theaters
Disney releases the non-Pixar created animated comedy, Wreck-It Ralph, this weekend. Wreck-It features the voice talents of John C. Reilly, Sarah Silverman, Jack McBrayer, and Jane Lynch.
Wreck-It Ralph (Reilly) is the villain of the popular video game, Fix-It Felix, Jr. When Ralph’s arcade closes and the game is shut down for the evening Ralph goes back to his lonely dump to sleep while hero, Felix (McBrayer), lives comfortably in his video game penthouse with the other penthouse residents who Ralph terrorizes everyday when the game starts. Lately, Ralph has grown disillusioned with his lonely existence going so far as to seek counseling from a video game villains support group. Ralph longs to be a hero like his video game mate, Felix, and…well, liked. At the “suggestion” of one of the penthouse residents in his game, Ralph goes on a quest for a medal like the one the game always awards Felix in the hope this will prove that he’s not a bad guy and that he will finally receive a hero’s accolades.
But how does an oversized villain obtain a medal? Why, he goes to Game Central Station (where all arcade characters can travel between games) and invades another game. He gets the idea while visiting the favorite watering hole for all the arcade characters, the video game, Tappers. Ralph meets one of the soldiers from the game, Hero’s Duty, who reveals that the game’s winner receives a medal. Ralph goes on his quest for the medal by “borrowing” the soldier’s body armor and sneaking in to Hero’s Duty. Let’s just say that Ralph is a bit out of his element in this first person shooter game and accidentally hatches a Cy-Bug (one of the games villains). Ralph and bug stumble into an escape pod that launches both out of the game and into another game, Sugar Rush, (a kart-racing game), where Ralph meets the obnoxious and annoying (to Ralph anyway) glitch,Vanellope von Schweetz (Silverman), who makes off with Ralph’s medal for her own ends. Thus begins a sequence of events that will turn Ralph and Vanellope into allies to thwart a nefarious conspiracy in the Sugar Rush game. Meanwhile, that Cy-bug that took the trip with Ralph is multiplying underground and will overrun not only this game, but all the other games in the arcade essentially shutting all of them down. But Ralph and Vanellope have allies in Felix who has come to bring Ralph back to his own game and the no-nonsense Sergeant Calhoun (Lynch) from Hero’s Duty who is in hot pursuit of the Cy-bug.
The fun of Wreck-It Ralph is the nostalgia it brings back of those great arcade games many of us used to play. There are several guest stars from Pac Man, Sonic the Hedgehog, Street Fighter, and Q-Bert (yes, I said Q-Bert). Play a game with yourself. See how many characters you can name.
There’s fun for parent and child alike in Wreck-It Ralph. It’s a sweet tale of heroism and friendship while also being a fast paced adventure film. And, it is very funny at times. The main characters are kind of what you would expect from the actors who are voicing them. You have the lovably clodish Reilly as Ralph, the obnoxiously sarcastic Silverman as Vanellope, the caustic Lynch as Calhoun, and the overly upbeat McBrayer as Felix. This mix plays off each other very well. The visuals are outstanding, particularly in the Sugar Rush sequences. This land of candy and sweets is colorful and may give you a slight craving for a candy bar when you leave the theater. I don’t think the 3D in this movie is particularly worth the price. It’s not that it’s bad, but it’s not particularly eye-popping either. The animation itself should be attractive enough for most.
Wreck-It Ralph is one of the better animated features I’ve seen in awhile and I believe it’s every bit as good as anything Pixar has produced as of late. Give it a look. I don’t think parents, children, or old school gamers will be disappointed.
The Dark Lord of Sith says:
****stars
Ratings Legend
Zero *= Don't waste your time. Pure dreck! Dreck is too good for this! Blind me please!
1 *= Fuggedaboutit!
2 *= Average, Mediocre, Nothing Special
3 *= Good viewing. Much better than a poke in the eye.
4 *= Great. Could possibly foot the price of a non-Matinee.
5 *= Pure eye candy. Hall of Fame material here.
Wreck-It Ralph
Released 11/2/12, now in theaters
Disney releases the non-Pixar created animated comedy, Wreck-It Ralph, this weekend. Wreck-It features the voice talents of John C. Reilly, Sarah Silverman, Jack McBrayer, and Jane Lynch.
Wreck-It Ralph (Reilly) is the villain of the popular video game, Fix-It Felix, Jr. When Ralph’s arcade closes and the game is shut down for the evening Ralph goes back to his lonely dump to sleep while hero, Felix (McBrayer), lives comfortably in his video game penthouse with the other penthouse residents who Ralph terrorizes everyday when the game starts. Lately, Ralph has grown disillusioned with his lonely existence going so far as to seek counseling from a video game villains support group. Ralph longs to be a hero like his video game mate, Felix, and…well, liked. At the “suggestion” of one of the penthouse residents in his game, Ralph goes on a quest for a medal like the one the game always awards Felix in the hope this will prove that he’s not a bad guy and that he will finally receive a hero’s accolades.
But how does an oversized villain obtain a medal? Why, he goes to Game Central Station (where all arcade characters can travel between games) and invades another game. He gets the idea while visiting the favorite watering hole for all the arcade characters, the video game, Tappers. Ralph meets one of the soldiers from the game, Hero’s Duty, who reveals that the game’s winner receives a medal. Ralph goes on his quest for the medal by “borrowing” the soldier’s body armor and sneaking in to Hero’s Duty. Let’s just say that Ralph is a bit out of his element in this first person shooter game and accidentally hatches a Cy-Bug (one of the games villains). Ralph and bug stumble into an escape pod that launches both out of the game and into another game, Sugar Rush, (a kart-racing game), where Ralph meets the obnoxious and annoying (to Ralph anyway) glitch,Vanellope von Schweetz (Silverman), who makes off with Ralph’s medal for her own ends. Thus begins a sequence of events that will turn Ralph and Vanellope into allies to thwart a nefarious conspiracy in the Sugar Rush game. Meanwhile, that Cy-bug that took the trip with Ralph is multiplying underground and will overrun not only this game, but all the other games in the arcade essentially shutting all of them down. But Ralph and Vanellope have allies in Felix who has come to bring Ralph back to his own game and the no-nonsense Sergeant Calhoun (Lynch) from Hero’s Duty who is in hot pursuit of the Cy-bug.
The fun of Wreck-It Ralph is the nostalgia it brings back of those great arcade games many of us used to play. There are several guest stars from Pac Man, Sonic the Hedgehog, Street Fighter, and Q-Bert (yes, I said Q-Bert). Play a game with yourself. See how many characters you can name.
There’s fun for parent and child alike in Wreck-It Ralph. It’s a sweet tale of heroism and friendship while also being a fast paced adventure film. And, it is very funny at times. The main characters are kind of what you would expect from the actors who are voicing them. You have the lovably clodish Reilly as Ralph, the obnoxiously sarcastic Silverman as Vanellope, the caustic Lynch as Calhoun, and the overly upbeat McBrayer as Felix. This mix plays off each other very well. The visuals are outstanding, particularly in the Sugar Rush sequences. This land of candy and sweets is colorful and may give you a slight craving for a candy bar when you leave the theater. I don’t think the 3D in this movie is particularly worth the price. It’s not that it’s bad, but it’s not particularly eye-popping either. The animation itself should be attractive enough for most.
Wreck-It Ralph is one of the better animated features I’ve seen in awhile and I believe it’s every bit as good as anything Pixar has produced as of late. Give it a look. I don’t think parents, children, or old school gamers will be disappointed.
The Dark Lord of Sith says:
****stars
Ratings Legend
Zero *= Don't waste your time. Pure dreck! Dreck is too good for this! Blind me please!
1 *= Fuggedaboutit!
2 *= Average, Mediocre, Nothing Special
3 *= Good viewing. Much better than a poke in the eye.
4 *= Great. Could possibly foot the price of a non-Matinee.
5 *= Pure eye candy. Hall of Fame material here.
Sunday, October 28, 2012
Silent Hill: Revelation
Reviews from the Dark Side presents
Silent Hill: Revelation
Released 10/26/12, now in theaters
The 2012 Halloween season ends with Silent Hill: Revelation, the sequel to the 2006 horror gem (my opinion, I know), Silent Hill. Like the first movie, the sequel is based on a survival horror video game. Sean Bean and Deborah Kara Unger return in the sequel. New cast members include Malcolm McDowell, Carrie-Anne Moss, Martin Donovan, Kit Harington, and Adelaide Clemens.
Following the events of the first film, Rose Da Silva and her adopted daughter, Sharon, are trapped in the haunted town of Silent Hill unable to return to normal reality. We start this film with Sharon on the brink of her 18th birthday back in normal reality. Several years earlier, it seems Rose discovered a portal that can return one person back to the other side. She decides to send Sharon back using an amulet and communicates to her husband, Chris (Bean), that the inhabitants of Silent Hill still want Sharon to stay for nefarious reasons. Chris vows to protect his daughter at all costs and goes on the run with Sharon over the next decade, both using various aliases to avoid detection.
Teenage Sharon (Clemens) remembers nothing from her time in the haunted town except through nightmares where she always encounters a demonic figure named “Alessa” who she is drawn to for some strange reason. In the newest town she and her father have established residence, Sharon (going by the name Heather), meets new people who will have a profound impact on her life in the near future. First, there’s private detective, Douglas Cartland (Donovan) who is tracking Sharon, and later tries to warn her about his employers. Second, there’s Vincent (Harrington), a classmate at Sharon’s new school who takes an unusual interest in the stand-offish girl.
Trouble starts brewing as Sharon begins seeing horrific images in her waking hours that she can’t explain. After escaping capture from a demonic figure in an elevator (that also claims Cartland’s life), Sharon returns home to discover her father has been kidnapped and to find a chilling message written in blood on the wall that reads “Come to Silent Hill.” Together with Vincent, Sharon goes to the burning town with the intent on rescuing her father. But Silent Hill wants her and it won’t be willing to let her leave a second time.
There is good and bad to this sequel. First comes the good. The stop motion photography still provides the same nice creepiness as it did in the first movie. There was money and thought put in to the 3D technology. It is extremely well done. You feel like you can reach out and touch the falling ashes. Now, the bad. And there’s a lot of it story wise. You know what this felt like? “Hey, let’s use some of the creepy imagery and one or two story elements that made the first movie entertaining, string it together with a flimsy, nonsensical plot, and call it the Silent Hill sequel.” Bad horror irritates me to no end. Good horror is more than stringing a couple of creepy images together. There is a method to the madness in good horror movies. The images you see must be disturbing and must make sense as to why they are on the screen. Great horror sets the mood with a chilling premise and sharp execution of image and plot that makes you peek around dark corners in your own home. Whatever that was on the screen for this film wasn’t like anything I described. It felt like the creators had absolutely no clue what horror is really about.
Let’s look at the first Silent Hill which I think is a modern day horror classic. It was a simple, yet demented tale of revenge. A young girl who was tortured beyond belief by Puritanically religious townspeople exacts vengeance through the physical manifestation of her rage. So, in the sequel, we find there are yet more townspeople that Alessa forgot to take care of the first time and also seem to be just as demonic as she is. Where Alessa wanted to keep Sharon safe in the first movie, she now wants to consume her? All access to Silent Hill was closed down in the first movie, now cars just drive through it like any other town? There are people that are still born and raised in this demonic town (how did Vincent ever make it to his late teens)? The townspeople who hid from Alessa’s horrors in the first film, now walk the streets and enter buildings with no protection and are somehow shocked when they get sliced to pieces now? You get what I’m saying. There’s just no consistency or cohesion between the two films. The actors do their best to try to make this work. There's just nothing in the script for them. Malcolm McDowell and Carrie-Anne Moss were pretty much wasted here as the psychotic leaders of the townspeople (well, McDowell was pretty much ousted now that I think of it).
Silent Hill: Revelation is anything but that. I would suggest the creators of the sequel watch the first movie again. Maybe they were following the storyline of the video game. There are several versions and I haven’t played one to date. I couldn’t tell you if they stayed true to that story. What I can tell you is this movie invokes few memories of the first. Please indulge my childish tone for this next thought, but Silent Hill: Revelation is a big bad steaming pile of suck!
The Dark Lord of the Sith says:
* star
Ratings Legend
Zero *= Don't waste your time. Pure dreck! Dreck is too good for this! Blind me please!
1 *= Fuggedaboutit!
2 *= Average, Mediocre, Nothing Special
3 *= Good viewing. Much better than a poke in the eye.
4 *= Great. Could possibly foot the price of a non-Matinee.
5 *= Pure eye candy. Hall of Fame material here.
Silent Hill: Revelation
Released 10/26/12, now in theaters
The 2012 Halloween season ends with Silent Hill: Revelation, the sequel to the 2006 horror gem (my opinion, I know), Silent Hill. Like the first movie, the sequel is based on a survival horror video game. Sean Bean and Deborah Kara Unger return in the sequel. New cast members include Malcolm McDowell, Carrie-Anne Moss, Martin Donovan, Kit Harington, and Adelaide Clemens.
Following the events of the first film, Rose Da Silva and her adopted daughter, Sharon, are trapped in the haunted town of Silent Hill unable to return to normal reality. We start this film with Sharon on the brink of her 18th birthday back in normal reality. Several years earlier, it seems Rose discovered a portal that can return one person back to the other side. She decides to send Sharon back using an amulet and communicates to her husband, Chris (Bean), that the inhabitants of Silent Hill still want Sharon to stay for nefarious reasons. Chris vows to protect his daughter at all costs and goes on the run with Sharon over the next decade, both using various aliases to avoid detection.
Teenage Sharon (Clemens) remembers nothing from her time in the haunted town except through nightmares where she always encounters a demonic figure named “Alessa” who she is drawn to for some strange reason. In the newest town she and her father have established residence, Sharon (going by the name Heather), meets new people who will have a profound impact on her life in the near future. First, there’s private detective, Douglas Cartland (Donovan) who is tracking Sharon, and later tries to warn her about his employers. Second, there’s Vincent (Harrington), a classmate at Sharon’s new school who takes an unusual interest in the stand-offish girl.
Trouble starts brewing as Sharon begins seeing horrific images in her waking hours that she can’t explain. After escaping capture from a demonic figure in an elevator (that also claims Cartland’s life), Sharon returns home to discover her father has been kidnapped and to find a chilling message written in blood on the wall that reads “Come to Silent Hill.” Together with Vincent, Sharon goes to the burning town with the intent on rescuing her father. But Silent Hill wants her and it won’t be willing to let her leave a second time.
There is good and bad to this sequel. First comes the good. The stop motion photography still provides the same nice creepiness as it did in the first movie. There was money and thought put in to the 3D technology. It is extremely well done. You feel like you can reach out and touch the falling ashes. Now, the bad. And there’s a lot of it story wise. You know what this felt like? “Hey, let’s use some of the creepy imagery and one or two story elements that made the first movie entertaining, string it together with a flimsy, nonsensical plot, and call it the Silent Hill sequel.” Bad horror irritates me to no end. Good horror is more than stringing a couple of creepy images together. There is a method to the madness in good horror movies. The images you see must be disturbing and must make sense as to why they are on the screen. Great horror sets the mood with a chilling premise and sharp execution of image and plot that makes you peek around dark corners in your own home. Whatever that was on the screen for this film wasn’t like anything I described. It felt like the creators had absolutely no clue what horror is really about.
Let’s look at the first Silent Hill which I think is a modern day horror classic. It was a simple, yet demented tale of revenge. A young girl who was tortured beyond belief by Puritanically religious townspeople exacts vengeance through the physical manifestation of her rage. So, in the sequel, we find there are yet more townspeople that Alessa forgot to take care of the first time and also seem to be just as demonic as she is. Where Alessa wanted to keep Sharon safe in the first movie, she now wants to consume her? All access to Silent Hill was closed down in the first movie, now cars just drive through it like any other town? There are people that are still born and raised in this demonic town (how did Vincent ever make it to his late teens)? The townspeople who hid from Alessa’s horrors in the first film, now walk the streets and enter buildings with no protection and are somehow shocked when they get sliced to pieces now? You get what I’m saying. There’s just no consistency or cohesion between the two films. The actors do their best to try to make this work. There's just nothing in the script for them. Malcolm McDowell and Carrie-Anne Moss were pretty much wasted here as the psychotic leaders of the townspeople (well, McDowell was pretty much ousted now that I think of it).
Silent Hill: Revelation is anything but that. I would suggest the creators of the sequel watch the first movie again. Maybe they were following the storyline of the video game. There are several versions and I haven’t played one to date. I couldn’t tell you if they stayed true to that story. What I can tell you is this movie invokes few memories of the first. Please indulge my childish tone for this next thought, but Silent Hill: Revelation is a big bad steaming pile of suck!
The Dark Lord of the Sith says:
* star
Ratings Legend
Zero *= Don't waste your time. Pure dreck! Dreck is too good for this! Blind me please!
1 *= Fuggedaboutit!
2 *= Average, Mediocre, Nothing Special
3 *= Good viewing. Much better than a poke in the eye.
4 *= Great. Could possibly foot the price of a non-Matinee.
5 *= Pure eye candy. Hall of Fame material here.
Sunday, October 14, 2012
Sinister
Reviews from the Dark Side presents
Sinister
Released 10/11/12, now in theaters
The supernatural horror of Sinister rolls into theaters this weekend. Previews of the film had me very intrigued, although my enthusiasm was somewhat tempered as it is the advertised brainchild of those responsible for the abomination that was Paranormal Activity. Ethan Hawke, Juliet Rylance, James Ransone, and Vincent D’Onofrio star. Scott Derrickson, who is responsible for, what I believe, the underrated “The Exorcism of Emily Rose” directs.
The movie begins in true horror fashion depicting Super 8 footage of an unknown family’s gruesome hanging from their backyard tree branch. Flash forward months later as true-crime novelist, Ellison Oswalt (Hawke), moves into the same house with his wife, Tracy (Rylance), and children, Ashley and Trevor. He is in desperate need of another hit novel as his last true-crime bestseller, Kentucky Blood, was 10 years ago. The money and fame have all but dried up. Ellison had to move his family into a less lavish home. But he has an ulterior motive. The murdered family’s hanging will be the basis of his next novel. There were supposedly five members in the hanged family, but only four were killed. The youngest daughter, Stephanie, is still missing. Of course, Ellison hasn’t told his own family they are actually living in the house where the murders took place.
Soon after moving in, Ellison discovers a box in the attic labeled “Home Movies.” The box contains a projector and several Super 8 movie reels innocuously titled “Pool Party”, “BBQ “, “Sleepy Time”, “Lawn Work”, and “Hanging Out.” Each film shows a day in the life of different families enjoying time together. Each one ends in a family’s grisly murder, including Stephanie’s family (the stars of “Hanging Out”). Ellison is repulsed, but can’t get the better of his curiosity. He watches each film several times looking for clues as to who would perform such heinous acts and film them. He discovers a couple disturbing items. There is a strange symbol that appears in each movie along with a demonic figure barely seen in the shadows. There are also several strange things happening around the house. His son’s night terrors have worsened, his daughter is painting pictures of the missing Stephanie, the projector mysteriously turns on by itself, and Ellison can swear he’s seen the demonic presence around the house on a couple different occasions. With the aid of a local deputy (Ransone) and religion/cult college professor, Jonas (D’Onofrio), Ellison learns that the families all met their ends in different locations across the country, one child from each family has gone missing, and the demonic entity in the films is a Pagan deity named Buguul, the eater of children’s souls. But how are all of these random victims connected? And will Ellison learn the answer too late to save his own family?
Sinister is one of those movies that makes you proud to be a horror fan. This film is what the genre is about: creepiness, terror, foreboding, and atmosphere. And all horror movies need a great villain. Buguul is barely seen and not heard, but the idea of him still dominates the film. When he is seen, he’s sufficiently horrific looking, his end game is terrifying. There’s great pacing to the story and Ethan Hawke’s descent into paranoia and obsession is very believable.
Sinister also succeeded in making me do something I haven’t done in a while watching a horror movie. It actually made me jump a couple of times. It’s not the type of uncomfortable squirming the Saw franchise elicits. It was genuine “What the Hell was that?” type of jumping. You’ll likely figure out the final frames in Sinister before they occur, but it doesn’t matter. It’s a fun and creepy ride getting there and that’s what counts. That’s a true horror movie. This is why it’s the perfect Halloween movie.
The Dark Lord of the Sith says:
**** stars
Ratings Legend
Zero *= Don't waste your time. Pure dreck! Dreck is too good for this! Blind me please!
1 *= Fuggedaboutit!
2 *= Average, Mediocre, Nothing Special
3 *= Good viewing. Much better than a poke in the eye.
4 *= Great. Could possibly foot the price of a non-Matinee.
5 *= Pure eye candy. Hall of Fame material here.
Sinister
Released 10/11/12, now in theaters
The supernatural horror of Sinister rolls into theaters this weekend. Previews of the film had me very intrigued, although my enthusiasm was somewhat tempered as it is the advertised brainchild of those responsible for the abomination that was Paranormal Activity. Ethan Hawke, Juliet Rylance, James Ransone, and Vincent D’Onofrio star. Scott Derrickson, who is responsible for, what I believe, the underrated “The Exorcism of Emily Rose” directs.
The movie begins in true horror fashion depicting Super 8 footage of an unknown family’s gruesome hanging from their backyard tree branch. Flash forward months later as true-crime novelist, Ellison Oswalt (Hawke), moves into the same house with his wife, Tracy (Rylance), and children, Ashley and Trevor. He is in desperate need of another hit novel as his last true-crime bestseller, Kentucky Blood, was 10 years ago. The money and fame have all but dried up. Ellison had to move his family into a less lavish home. But he has an ulterior motive. The murdered family’s hanging will be the basis of his next novel. There were supposedly five members in the hanged family, but only four were killed. The youngest daughter, Stephanie, is still missing. Of course, Ellison hasn’t told his own family they are actually living in the house where the murders took place.
Soon after moving in, Ellison discovers a box in the attic labeled “Home Movies.” The box contains a projector and several Super 8 movie reels innocuously titled “Pool Party”, “BBQ “, “Sleepy Time”, “Lawn Work”, and “Hanging Out.” Each film shows a day in the life of different families enjoying time together. Each one ends in a family’s grisly murder, including Stephanie’s family (the stars of “Hanging Out”). Ellison is repulsed, but can’t get the better of his curiosity. He watches each film several times looking for clues as to who would perform such heinous acts and film them. He discovers a couple disturbing items. There is a strange symbol that appears in each movie along with a demonic figure barely seen in the shadows. There are also several strange things happening around the house. His son’s night terrors have worsened, his daughter is painting pictures of the missing Stephanie, the projector mysteriously turns on by itself, and Ellison can swear he’s seen the demonic presence around the house on a couple different occasions. With the aid of a local deputy (Ransone) and religion/cult college professor, Jonas (D’Onofrio), Ellison learns that the families all met their ends in different locations across the country, one child from each family has gone missing, and the demonic entity in the films is a Pagan deity named Buguul, the eater of children’s souls. But how are all of these random victims connected? And will Ellison learn the answer too late to save his own family?
Sinister is one of those movies that makes you proud to be a horror fan. This film is what the genre is about: creepiness, terror, foreboding, and atmosphere. And all horror movies need a great villain. Buguul is barely seen and not heard, but the idea of him still dominates the film. When he is seen, he’s sufficiently horrific looking, his end game is terrifying. There’s great pacing to the story and Ethan Hawke’s descent into paranoia and obsession is very believable.
Sinister also succeeded in making me do something I haven’t done in a while watching a horror movie. It actually made me jump a couple of times. It’s not the type of uncomfortable squirming the Saw franchise elicits. It was genuine “What the Hell was that?” type of jumping. You’ll likely figure out the final frames in Sinister before they occur, but it doesn’t matter. It’s a fun and creepy ride getting there and that’s what counts. That’s a true horror movie. This is why it’s the perfect Halloween movie.
The Dark Lord of the Sith says:
**** stars
Ratings Legend
Zero *= Don't waste your time. Pure dreck! Dreck is too good for this! Blind me please!
1 *= Fuggedaboutit!
2 *= Average, Mediocre, Nothing Special
3 *= Good viewing. Much better than a poke in the eye.
4 *= Great. Could possibly foot the price of a non-Matinee.
5 *= Pure eye candy. Hall of Fame material here.
Monday, October 8, 2012
The House at the End of the Street
Reviews from the Dark Side presents
The House at the End of the Street
Released 9/21/12, now in theaters
The Halloween slate of horror movies starts a little early with House at the End of the Street. The film stars Hunger Games alum, Jennifer Lawrence, Elisabeth Shue, Max Thieriot, and Gil Bellows. Mark Tonderai takes directing honors.
Newly divorced Sarah Cassidy (Shue) and her daughter, Elissa (Lawrence) make an attempt at a fresh start in a rural, upscale town. They live next door to a house with a dark history. Years earlier, the parents in this house were brutally murdered in their beds by their young daughter. The daughter, Carrie-Ann, ran into the woods after the murders and was never found. The house’s only inhabitant in the present day is Carrie-Ann’s college aged brother, Ryan (Thierot), who was away from the home when his parents met their brutal end. The community is wary and fearful of Ryan wondering why he would live in a house with such bad karma. The fact that the house drags down property values due to its history and because the young man will not sell it also doesn’t make him very popular. His only supporter is Officer Weaver (Bellows) who assures Sarah that he has never had any type of problem with Ryan. Much to Sarah’s dismay, however, Elissa begins a relationship with the neighboring recluse. Everything seems to progress fine for Ryan and Elissa. However, Ryan has a secret involving his sister that has been thought to be long dead. And it might be the death of Elissa and Sarah before all is said and done.
The House at the End of the Street is one of those movies that masquerades as a horror movie, but really is not quite that. Think more psychological horror in the vein of Psycho or, more recently, Orphan. However, while the two latter movies had moments of sheer terror, House isn’t particularly scary. It has a great reveal to the madness behind the weird, but isn’t executed in classic horror style. It leaves you with the feeling of…eh! That’s about all the emotion I can muster for it. It’s not really memorable. The film degenerates into a standard thriller in its final moments.
The House at the End of the Street is not an awful movie, but true horror connoisseurs will be a little disappointed by the lack of cringe-worthy moments.
The Dark Lord of the Sith says:
**3/4 stars
Ratings Legend
Zero *= Don't waste your time. Pure dreck! Dreck is too good for this! Blind me please!
1 *= Fuggedaboutit!
2 *= Average, Mediocre, Nothing Special
3 *= Good viewing. Much better than a poke in the eye.
4 *= Great. Could possibly foot the price of a non-Matinee.
5 *= Pure eye candy. Hall of Fame material here.
The House at the End of the Street
Released 9/21/12, now in theaters
The Halloween slate of horror movies starts a little early with House at the End of the Street. The film stars Hunger Games alum, Jennifer Lawrence, Elisabeth Shue, Max Thieriot, and Gil Bellows. Mark Tonderai takes directing honors.
Newly divorced Sarah Cassidy (Shue) and her daughter, Elissa (Lawrence) make an attempt at a fresh start in a rural, upscale town. They live next door to a house with a dark history. Years earlier, the parents in this house were brutally murdered in their beds by their young daughter. The daughter, Carrie-Ann, ran into the woods after the murders and was never found. The house’s only inhabitant in the present day is Carrie-Ann’s college aged brother, Ryan (Thierot), who was away from the home when his parents met their brutal end. The community is wary and fearful of Ryan wondering why he would live in a house with such bad karma. The fact that the house drags down property values due to its history and because the young man will not sell it also doesn’t make him very popular. His only supporter is Officer Weaver (Bellows) who assures Sarah that he has never had any type of problem with Ryan. Much to Sarah’s dismay, however, Elissa begins a relationship with the neighboring recluse. Everything seems to progress fine for Ryan and Elissa. However, Ryan has a secret involving his sister that has been thought to be long dead. And it might be the death of Elissa and Sarah before all is said and done.
The House at the End of the Street is one of those movies that masquerades as a horror movie, but really is not quite that. Think more psychological horror in the vein of Psycho or, more recently, Orphan. However, while the two latter movies had moments of sheer terror, House isn’t particularly scary. It has a great reveal to the madness behind the weird, but isn’t executed in classic horror style. It leaves you with the feeling of…eh! That’s about all the emotion I can muster for it. It’s not really memorable. The film degenerates into a standard thriller in its final moments.
The House at the End of the Street is not an awful movie, but true horror connoisseurs will be a little disappointed by the lack of cringe-worthy moments.
The Dark Lord of the Sith says:
**3/4 stars
Ratings Legend
Zero *= Don't waste your time. Pure dreck! Dreck is too good for this! Blind me please!
1 *= Fuggedaboutit!
2 *= Average, Mediocre, Nothing Special
3 *= Good viewing. Much better than a poke in the eye.
4 *= Great. Could possibly foot the price of a non-Matinee.
5 *= Pure eye candy. Hall of Fame material here.
Sunday, October 7, 2012
Taken 2
Reviews from the Dark Side
presents
Taken 2
Released 10/3/12, now in theaters
Liam Neeson returns as retired spy, Bryan Mills, in Taken 2. Directed this time around by Olivier Megaton, the film is, of course, the sequel to 2008’s Taken. Luc Besson also returns as producer. While the first film has generated a cult following, will the sequel live up to the hype?
A year after the events of the first film, Bryan Mills has become closer to his daughter, Kim (Maggie Grace) and ex-wife, Lenore (Famke Janssen). Lenore’s second marriage is on life support and Kim is eager to re-connect her parents. When Kim and Lenore surprise Bryan in Istanbul while he’s on a “business” trip, they seem on the verge of becoming a family again. But there’s trouble afoot. Crimelord, Murad Hoxha (Rade Serbedzija), wants Bryan to suffer for the death of his son. Hoxha’s son is part of the group that kidnapped Bryan’s daughter in the first film. The patriarch is on a mission of vengeance not only for himself, but for the families of all the men Bryan killed a year earlier (and that list is quite extensive). Despite Bryan’s best efforts, Hoxha’s minions capture Lenore and almost acquire Kim. Now, it’s up to Bryan to do what he does best to rescue Lenore and put an end Hoxha for good.
While watching Taken 2, I couldn’t help but think “This is entertaining enough, but didn’t we cover all this ground in the first movie, and wasn’t it done better the first time?” I felt the same thing watching The Hangover 2. Seeing so many rehashed situations wasn’t that thrilling on the second go around. Neeson is fine as his quietly tough self, but there is little more to get excited about. One thing I did think was unintentionally funny was Bryan providing complex instructions to his family that only another spy could follow and both Lenore and Kim understood them perfectly. Sitting in the audience I was confused. It’s turn left where? Where is East? Hop, skip, and jump to what? Maybe it was just me, but those scenes just struck me a little funny. The villains do not nearly give the aura of danger they did in the first Taken. Hoxha always appears old and tired. In fact, most of the time you see him, he’s slumped in a chair! Not a very striking figure of an Eastern European crime boss is it? Some of the fight scenes have some muddy camera work. You’re never quite sure how some of bad guys are killed. Suddenly, Bryan gets close to them and they’re dead. Maybe I blinked and missed something.
Aside from Neeson, there isn’t a great reason to watch Taken 2. He’s a different kind of action star. He’s a bear of a man who doesn’t do quips, but has “the Look.” You know the one. The quietly intense “I’m going to snap your head around 360 degrees, and, there isn’t a thing you can do about it!” That quiet toughness could have worked for Batman/Bruce Wayne if Neeson was maybe 10 years younger. But, alas, we’ll never know unless a Dark Knight Returns film is in the works. Neeson in that role? That’s something I’d pay to see. It would be a big step up from the Taken 2 plot. Here’s hoping there’s no Taken 3.
The Dark Lord of the Sith says:
*** stars (for Neeson alone)
Ratings Legend
Zero *= Don't waste your time. Pure dreck! Dreck is too good for this! Blind me please!
1 *= Fuggedaboutit!
2 *= Average, Mediocre, Nothing Special
3 *= Good viewing. Much better than a poke in the eye.
4 *= Great. Could possibly foot the price of a non-Matinee.
5 *= Pure eye candy. Hall of Fame material here.
Taken 2
Released 10/3/12, now in theaters
Liam Neeson returns as retired spy, Bryan Mills, in Taken 2. Directed this time around by Olivier Megaton, the film is, of course, the sequel to 2008’s Taken. Luc Besson also returns as producer. While the first film has generated a cult following, will the sequel live up to the hype?
A year after the events of the first film, Bryan Mills has become closer to his daughter, Kim (Maggie Grace) and ex-wife, Lenore (Famke Janssen). Lenore’s second marriage is on life support and Kim is eager to re-connect her parents. When Kim and Lenore surprise Bryan in Istanbul while he’s on a “business” trip, they seem on the verge of becoming a family again. But there’s trouble afoot. Crimelord, Murad Hoxha (Rade Serbedzija), wants Bryan to suffer for the death of his son. Hoxha’s son is part of the group that kidnapped Bryan’s daughter in the first film. The patriarch is on a mission of vengeance not only for himself, but for the families of all the men Bryan killed a year earlier (and that list is quite extensive). Despite Bryan’s best efforts, Hoxha’s minions capture Lenore and almost acquire Kim. Now, it’s up to Bryan to do what he does best to rescue Lenore and put an end Hoxha for good.
While watching Taken 2, I couldn’t help but think “This is entertaining enough, but didn’t we cover all this ground in the first movie, and wasn’t it done better the first time?” I felt the same thing watching The Hangover 2. Seeing so many rehashed situations wasn’t that thrilling on the second go around. Neeson is fine as his quietly tough self, but there is little more to get excited about. One thing I did think was unintentionally funny was Bryan providing complex instructions to his family that only another spy could follow and both Lenore and Kim understood them perfectly. Sitting in the audience I was confused. It’s turn left where? Where is East? Hop, skip, and jump to what? Maybe it was just me, but those scenes just struck me a little funny. The villains do not nearly give the aura of danger they did in the first Taken. Hoxha always appears old and tired. In fact, most of the time you see him, he’s slumped in a chair! Not a very striking figure of an Eastern European crime boss is it? Some of the fight scenes have some muddy camera work. You’re never quite sure how some of bad guys are killed. Suddenly, Bryan gets close to them and they’re dead. Maybe I blinked and missed something.
Aside from Neeson, there isn’t a great reason to watch Taken 2. He’s a different kind of action star. He’s a bear of a man who doesn’t do quips, but has “the Look.” You know the one. The quietly intense “I’m going to snap your head around 360 degrees, and, there isn’t a thing you can do about it!” That quiet toughness could have worked for Batman/Bruce Wayne if Neeson was maybe 10 years younger. But, alas, we’ll never know unless a Dark Knight Returns film is in the works. Neeson in that role? That’s something I’d pay to see. It would be a big step up from the Taken 2 plot. Here’s hoping there’s no Taken 3.
The Dark Lord of the Sith says:
*** stars (for Neeson alone)
Ratings Legend
Zero *= Don't waste your time. Pure dreck! Dreck is too good for this! Blind me please!
1 *= Fuggedaboutit!
2 *= Average, Mediocre, Nothing Special
3 *= Good viewing. Much better than a poke in the eye.
4 *= Great. Could possibly foot the price of a non-Matinee.
5 *= Pure eye candy. Hall of Fame material here.
Thursday, October 4, 2012
Dredd
Reviews from the Dark Side presents
Dredd
Released 9/21/12, now in theaters
Dredd ends the Summer movie season as it began by placing another comic book hero in the spotlight. Directed by Pete Travis, this version of the anti-hero is not connected in any way to the 1995 film adaptation starring Sylvester Stallone. Karl Urban takes the reigns as the titular character. Lena Headley and Olivia Thirlby co-star
Later in the third millennium, much of the world, including the United States, is an irradiated wasteland. Humanity’s survivors have flocked to the protection of immense city-states known as Mega-Cities. The judicial system within these structures has been replaced by a new peacekeeping force to keep order amidst the chaos. It’s the era of the Judges. Judges are the cities’ police forces, juries, and executioners all in one. Sometimes they act as all three in the span of seconds. Dredd is a no-nonsense Judge based in Mega-City One, a land of 800 million residents spanning from what used to be Boston to Washington D.C. at its southernmost tip by some accounts. The laws in Mega-City One are harsh for good reason. An estimated 17,000 crimes are reported daily. Recently, a new drug called “Slo-Mo” has hit the streets manufactured and distributed by crimelord, Madeline Madrigal, also known as, Ma-Ma (Headley).
Dredd is assigned as a training officer for rookie Judge Anderson (Thirlby). There is nothing particularly special about Anderson’s training record. In fact, it’s awful as she has failed every Judge’s test. However, the Hall of Justice in Mega-City One wants Anderson on the force due to her psychic abilities.
Dredd and Anderson respond to an incident at the 200-story slum tower known as Peach Trees. This also happens to be Ma-Ma’s base of operations. Dredd and Anderson are investigating the deaths of three men who fell from the tower skinned alive before hitting the pavement(courtesy of Ma-Ma’s henchmen). The Judges encounter the crimelord’s minion, Kay, who Anderson psychically deduces was involved in the killings. When the Judges attempt to take Kay in for questioning, Ma-Ma’s forces seize the tower’s security room and lock down the building and entire block effectively trapping the Judges. The thick blast shields enclosing the block make the call for back up impossible. And Ma-Ma makes her intentions abundantly clear complete with a Gatling gun barrage. There’s only one hope for the Judges under siege. Capture Ma-Ma before they both become very dead. But they will have to go through her men, guns, and corrupt Judges on Ma-Ma’s payroll to do it.
Dredd is not a perfect movie (although very good). But, it is a tremendous improvement over its predecessor. Faint praise, I know, but comparing the two movies is still comparing the smell of roses to the smell of raw sewage. I’m not hugely familiar with the character of Judge Dredd from the comics. I do know he is a hardcase who is not to be crossed. I liked Karl Urban’s gruff whisper while speaking as Dredd. It’s a little like what I wished Christian Bale would have done in the recent Batman movies. Urban gave Dredd a presence that represents what the character should be. A very dangerous man. Here’s another thing I liked. Urban kept his helmet on the entire time. You only saw the actor’s mouth and chin which is how I’ve usually seen the character. A small thing, I know. And I’m sure the comic book Dredd has a face. But one thing I had a problem with in Stallone’s Judge Dredd was that the Dredd character spent much of the movie out of uniform. This also meant Stallone got ample time to mug for the cameras as if we needed to know who it was under the Judge’s helmet. This is also the problem I had with what should have been a deformed Deadpool being the ridiculously handsome Ryan Reynolds in X-Men Origins: Wolverine. But I digress. Hopefully, you get my point.
Dredd is sometimes gruesomely violent which fits in perfectly to this dystopian future Earth setting. There are darkly comic moments that will give the audience some good chuckles. I didn’t see the film in 3D, but, I now kind of wished I had for the “Slo-Mo” scenes. Briefly, Slo-Mo is a drug that slows its user’s perception of time. I’m sure the scenes where characters fell through the air while on the drug looked incredible in a 3D format. However, I have to come back to Urban as he almost single-handedly made this movie as enjoyable for me as it was. His whispering, Eastwood-esque voice and humor stole the show.
Dredd is one of the better movies I have seen during this summer season and should not be missed.
The Dark Lord of the Sith says:
***3/4 stars
Ratings Legend
Zero *= Don't waste your time. Pure dreck! Dreck is too good for this! Blind me please!
1 *= Fuggedaboutit!
2 *= Average, Mediocre, Nothing Special
3 *= Good viewing. Much better than a poke in the eye.
4 *= Great. Could possibly foot the price of a non-Matinee.
5 *= Pure eye candy. Hall of Fame material here.
Dredd
Released 9/21/12, now in theaters
Dredd ends the Summer movie season as it began by placing another comic book hero in the spotlight. Directed by Pete Travis, this version of the anti-hero is not connected in any way to the 1995 film adaptation starring Sylvester Stallone. Karl Urban takes the reigns as the titular character. Lena Headley and Olivia Thirlby co-star
Later in the third millennium, much of the world, including the United States, is an irradiated wasteland. Humanity’s survivors have flocked to the protection of immense city-states known as Mega-Cities. The judicial system within these structures has been replaced by a new peacekeeping force to keep order amidst the chaos. It’s the era of the Judges. Judges are the cities’ police forces, juries, and executioners all in one. Sometimes they act as all three in the span of seconds. Dredd is a no-nonsense Judge based in Mega-City One, a land of 800 million residents spanning from what used to be Boston to Washington D.C. at its southernmost tip by some accounts. The laws in Mega-City One are harsh for good reason. An estimated 17,000 crimes are reported daily. Recently, a new drug called “Slo-Mo” has hit the streets manufactured and distributed by crimelord, Madeline Madrigal, also known as, Ma-Ma (Headley).
Dredd is assigned as a training officer for rookie Judge Anderson (Thirlby). There is nothing particularly special about Anderson’s training record. In fact, it’s awful as she has failed every Judge’s test. However, the Hall of Justice in Mega-City One wants Anderson on the force due to her psychic abilities.
Dredd and Anderson respond to an incident at the 200-story slum tower known as Peach Trees. This also happens to be Ma-Ma’s base of operations. Dredd and Anderson are investigating the deaths of three men who fell from the tower skinned alive before hitting the pavement(courtesy of Ma-Ma’s henchmen). The Judges encounter the crimelord’s minion, Kay, who Anderson psychically deduces was involved in the killings. When the Judges attempt to take Kay in for questioning, Ma-Ma’s forces seize the tower’s security room and lock down the building and entire block effectively trapping the Judges. The thick blast shields enclosing the block make the call for back up impossible. And Ma-Ma makes her intentions abundantly clear complete with a Gatling gun barrage. There’s only one hope for the Judges under siege. Capture Ma-Ma before they both become very dead. But they will have to go through her men, guns, and corrupt Judges on Ma-Ma’s payroll to do it.
Dredd is not a perfect movie (although very good). But, it is a tremendous improvement over its predecessor. Faint praise, I know, but comparing the two movies is still comparing the smell of roses to the smell of raw sewage. I’m not hugely familiar with the character of Judge Dredd from the comics. I do know he is a hardcase who is not to be crossed. I liked Karl Urban’s gruff whisper while speaking as Dredd. It’s a little like what I wished Christian Bale would have done in the recent Batman movies. Urban gave Dredd a presence that represents what the character should be. A very dangerous man. Here’s another thing I liked. Urban kept his helmet on the entire time. You only saw the actor’s mouth and chin which is how I’ve usually seen the character. A small thing, I know. And I’m sure the comic book Dredd has a face. But one thing I had a problem with in Stallone’s Judge Dredd was that the Dredd character spent much of the movie out of uniform. This also meant Stallone got ample time to mug for the cameras as if we needed to know who it was under the Judge’s helmet. This is also the problem I had with what should have been a deformed Deadpool being the ridiculously handsome Ryan Reynolds in X-Men Origins: Wolverine. But I digress. Hopefully, you get my point.
Dredd is sometimes gruesomely violent which fits in perfectly to this dystopian future Earth setting. There are darkly comic moments that will give the audience some good chuckles. I didn’t see the film in 3D, but, I now kind of wished I had for the “Slo-Mo” scenes. Briefly, Slo-Mo is a drug that slows its user’s perception of time. I’m sure the scenes where characters fell through the air while on the drug looked incredible in a 3D format. However, I have to come back to Urban as he almost single-handedly made this movie as enjoyable for me as it was. His whispering, Eastwood-esque voice and humor stole the show.
Dredd is one of the better movies I have seen during this summer season and should not be missed.
The Dark Lord of the Sith says:
***3/4 stars
Ratings Legend
Zero *= Don't waste your time. Pure dreck! Dreck is too good for this! Blind me please!
1 *= Fuggedaboutit!
2 *= Average, Mediocre, Nothing Special
3 *= Good viewing. Much better than a poke in the eye.
4 *= Great. Could possibly foot the price of a non-Matinee.
5 *= Pure eye candy. Hall of Fame material here.
Monday, October 1, 2012
End of Watch
Reviews from the Dark Side presents
End of Watch
Released 9/21/12, now in theaters
Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Pena star in the cop thriller, End of Watch. The film is directed by David Ayer and is one of the bigger releases ending the 2012 Summer season. It’s a tall order to hope the season ends with the same bang that started it (The Avengers), but ,with the good press the movie has received so far, I had hopes it was in the ball park.
LAPD officers Brian Taylor (Gyllenhaal) and Mike Zavala (Pena) are partners and the closest of friends. They’re jokesters and have a bit of maverick in them. It’s the latter that has earned them both respect and scorn within the department. It’s also the latter that could lead to their collective downfall.
One day, while investigating the South Central area, the partners pull over a man in a truck that has driven away from a residence they are watching. The driver draws his gun on them and is quickly subdued. After the arrest, they find an ornately decorated pistol, a gold plated AK-47 and a large amount of cash hidden and transported in a pot of soup. It’s later revealed the weapons and cash belong to a Mexican cartel operating in South Central. Strike one. Taylor convinces Zavala to return to the house they staked out some time later, and they arrest the man living inside the house after noticing suspicious behavior outside. Inside the house, they discover a stash of prisoners that are part of a human trafficking ring. This time, Federal agents, who were also watching the house and the man inside as a person of interest hoping he would lead them to the cartel, warn the two officers off indicating they could be painting targets on their backs. Strike two. The final straw for the cartel comes when Taylor and Zavala accidentally stumble upon decapitated bodies courtesy of the cartel in the home of an elderly woman. A bounty is placed on their heads which leads to the climactic shoot out the two friends may not survive.
There is good and bad to End of Watch. Actually, the bad isn’t so much bad as it is uneventful. Let’s start there. Much of the film feels like you’re watching an episode of “Cops.” Maybe that was intentional. Inherently, there’s nothing wrong with that except it doesn’t make for a particularly interesting 90 minutes. It feels like several random days in the life of these two officers that only begins to come together as a coherent story in the final couple of acts. Now the good. What does keep End of Watch going for much of the film are the two great performances by Gyllenhaal and Pena. Both give believable and heartfelt performances as two partners who are friends for life. They love each other as brothers and would die for each other. They have the banter and put downs that only the best of comrades could have (and get away with) and none of it feels forced or faked. The epilogue of Taylor and Zavala in the police car talking about an incident Zavala had with his future in-laws years ago is absolutely hilarious and one of the best parts of the movie.
End of Watch is decent viewing due to Gyllenhaal and Pena which is why I will give it a favorable review. They give two of the better performances I’ve seen this year even if most of the film wasn’t particularly memorable.
The Dark Lord of the Sith says:
*** 1/4 stars
Ratings Legend
Zero *= Don't waste your time. Pure dreck! Dreck is too good for this! Blind me please!
1 *= Fuggedaboutit!
2 *= Average, Mediocre, Nothing Special
3 *= Good viewing. Much better than a poke in the eye.
4 *= Great. Could possibly foot the price of a non-Matinee.
5 *= Pure eye candy. Hall of Fame material here.
Sunday, September 2, 2012
Lawless
Reviews from the Dark Side presents
Lawless
Released 8/29/12, now in theaters
Outlaws rule in the gangster-style film, Lawless. Directed by John Hillcoat (The Road), the film stars Shia LaBeouf, Tom Hardy, Gary Oldman, Jason Clarke, Jessica Chastain, Mia Wassikowska, and Guy Pearce. It is based on the true life events of the Bondurant brothers from Franklin County, Virginia. The movie is adapted from author and Bondurant descendent, Matt Bondurant's, novel The Wettest County in the World.
The Bondurants (Howard (Clarke), Forrest (Hardy), and Jack (LaBeouf)) run a successful moonshine and bootlegging business in the hills of Prohibition era Virginia. They are assisted by their strange, but, inventive friend Cricket. The brother trio runs a bar as a front for their illegal activities. The Bondurants are feared by most and respected by all, including mobster, Floyd Banner (Oldman), who becomes a regular client later in the movie. People have good reason to fear Howard and Forrest as both are tough as nails. Jack, however, is not, as evidenced when Special Agent Charlie Rakes (Pearce) shakes down the brothers’ operation and brutally beats Jack caught alone without his siblings. Two of his agents also gravely injure Forrest in an ambush and rape bar waitress, Maggie (Chastain). Jack, however, has more business savvy and style and, along with Cricket’s assistance, really begins to make the business pay off and begins courting preacher’s daughter, Bertha Minnix (Wassikowska). But Agent Rakes is determined to shut the brothers’ down completely. When he perpetrates one last indignity on Cricket, the Bondurants are out to get final retribution in the bloody finale.
As I was watching Lawless, I couldn’t help but think that Howard and Forrest would have been much better off without Jack. Oh sure, Jack always meant well but he really wasn’t that good at taking care of himself. That said, Lawless, is an entertaining film that does have gory violence at times. Pay particular attention to the scene where Forrest and Howard hunt down the men that ambushed Forrest. Pay more attention to what they send Rakes as a souvenir.
There are strong performances from Tom Hardy and Guy Pearce. Hardy speaks in a soft, simple manner that disguises that he is quite adept at brutish violence. He has caved more than one enemy’s face with brass knuckles in his life. And let’s not leave out that Forrest’s toughness is off the charts and reaches legendary, tall tale status amongst the locals. Pearce is sardonically evil. He’s one of those villains you want to see die horribly. And I’ll give this much away. He doesn’t disappoint.
Lawless is a moderately paced gangster movie that will never be confused with classics the likes of Godfather and Goodfellas, but it is very entertaining. It’s one of the better movies of the summer.
The Dark Lord of the Sith says:
***1/2 stars
Ratings Legend
Zero *= Don't waste your time. Pure dreck! Dreck is too good for this! Blind me please!
1 *= Fuggedaboutit!
2 *= Average, Mediocre, Nothing Special
3 *= Good viewing. Much better than a poke in the eye.
4 *= Great. Could possibly foot the price of a non-Matinee.
5 *= Pure eye candy. Hall of Fame material here.
Lawless
Released 8/29/12, now in theaters
Outlaws rule in the gangster-style film, Lawless. Directed by John Hillcoat (The Road), the film stars Shia LaBeouf, Tom Hardy, Gary Oldman, Jason Clarke, Jessica Chastain, Mia Wassikowska, and Guy Pearce. It is based on the true life events of the Bondurant brothers from Franklin County, Virginia. The movie is adapted from author and Bondurant descendent, Matt Bondurant's, novel The Wettest County in the World.
The Bondurants (Howard (Clarke), Forrest (Hardy), and Jack (LaBeouf)) run a successful moonshine and bootlegging business in the hills of Prohibition era Virginia. They are assisted by their strange, but, inventive friend Cricket. The brother trio runs a bar as a front for their illegal activities. The Bondurants are feared by most and respected by all, including mobster, Floyd Banner (Oldman), who becomes a regular client later in the movie. People have good reason to fear Howard and Forrest as both are tough as nails. Jack, however, is not, as evidenced when Special Agent Charlie Rakes (Pearce) shakes down the brothers’ operation and brutally beats Jack caught alone without his siblings. Two of his agents also gravely injure Forrest in an ambush and rape bar waitress, Maggie (Chastain). Jack, however, has more business savvy and style and, along with Cricket’s assistance, really begins to make the business pay off and begins courting preacher’s daughter, Bertha Minnix (Wassikowska). But Agent Rakes is determined to shut the brothers’ down completely. When he perpetrates one last indignity on Cricket, the Bondurants are out to get final retribution in the bloody finale.
As I was watching Lawless, I couldn’t help but think that Howard and Forrest would have been much better off without Jack. Oh sure, Jack always meant well but he really wasn’t that good at taking care of himself. That said, Lawless, is an entertaining film that does have gory violence at times. Pay particular attention to the scene where Forrest and Howard hunt down the men that ambushed Forrest. Pay more attention to what they send Rakes as a souvenir.
There are strong performances from Tom Hardy and Guy Pearce. Hardy speaks in a soft, simple manner that disguises that he is quite adept at brutish violence. He has caved more than one enemy’s face with brass knuckles in his life. And let’s not leave out that Forrest’s toughness is off the charts and reaches legendary, tall tale status amongst the locals. Pearce is sardonically evil. He’s one of those villains you want to see die horribly. And I’ll give this much away. He doesn’t disappoint.
Lawless is a moderately paced gangster movie that will never be confused with classics the likes of Godfather and Goodfellas, but it is very entertaining. It’s one of the better movies of the summer.
The Dark Lord of the Sith says:
***1/2 stars
Ratings Legend
Zero *= Don't waste your time. Pure dreck! Dreck is too good for this! Blind me please!
1 *= Fuggedaboutit!
2 *= Average, Mediocre, Nothing Special
3 *= Good viewing. Much better than a poke in the eye.
4 *= Great. Could possibly foot the price of a non-Matinee.
5 *= Pure eye candy. Hall of Fame material here.
The Possession
Reviews from the Dark Side presents
The Possession
Released 8/31/12, now in theaters
Sam Raimi makes an entry to the year’s summer madness with The Possession. The film stars Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Kyra Sedgwick. Ole Bornedal directs while Raimi gets the co-producer credit. As the film states after the opening credits, the story is based on true events that happened to a family over 29 days.
Clyde and Stephanie Brenek are recently divorced. They have joint custody of their daughters, Hannah and Emily. On a weekend with their father, he purchases a mysterious box that mysteriously draws Em to it at a yard sale. The audience has seen this box before. At the beginning of the film, an older woman has possession of the box and attempts to destroy it. This does not go well for her to say the least. In fact, the yard sale is conducted by her son. Bandaged and under a nurse’s care, the old woman screams warnings to Em through the window, but, like in all horror movies, the warnings go unheeded. The box is difficult to open, but Em finally does and finds strange items in it that make no sense at all. After opening the box, there’s something terribly wrong with Em. She is insanely drawn to the box and attacks anyone who attempts to take it from her. She stabs her father with a fork, speaks in a different voice, and has an almost insatiable hunger. What could have been in that box? And will the Brenek family live long enough to find out?
Since horror is one of my top three favorite movie genres, I’m always up for the next big scare. The bar has definitely been raised in recent years with films like The Mist and the Saw series. And this Spring’s The Cabin in the Woods set a whole new standard. It’s also very easy to screw up a horror movie, too. The Possession is at neither end of the spectrum. It’s definitely not groundbreaking, but it is far from horrible. There is some truly creepy imagery, particularly, what’s found in Em’s MRI. But I didn’t think anything was over-the-top cringe worthy. It’s not a horror movie that will make you think or talk about long after you’ve seen it. It’s decent but not memorable. That’s the best way I can describe it.
I count Jeffrey Dean Morgan as one of the more underrated actors working today. He’s good as the concerned, but, misunderstood father who seems to be the only one who notices Em’s strange behavior is more than being upset about her parents divorcing. The standout here is Natasha Calis as the young Em. For a young actress, she gives a nice range of emotion from innocent, to terrified to truly terrifying. Her angry stare is absolutely chilling.
I’ll give The Possession a positive review, however, if you’re jonesing for a Sam Raimi horror movie, watch Drag Me to Hell before this.
The Dark Lord of the Sith says:
*** stars
Ratings Legend
Zero *= Don't waste your time. Pure dreck! Dreck is too good for this! Blind me please!
1 *= Fuggedaboutit!
2 *= Average, Mediocre, Nothing Special
3 *= Good viewing. Much better than a poke in the eye.
4 *= Great. Could possibly foot the price of a non-Matinee.
5 *= Pure eye candy. Hall of Fame material here.
The Possession
Released 8/31/12, now in theaters
Sam Raimi makes an entry to the year’s summer madness with The Possession. The film stars Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Kyra Sedgwick. Ole Bornedal directs while Raimi gets the co-producer credit. As the film states after the opening credits, the story is based on true events that happened to a family over 29 days.
Clyde and Stephanie Brenek are recently divorced. They have joint custody of their daughters, Hannah and Emily. On a weekend with their father, he purchases a mysterious box that mysteriously draws Em to it at a yard sale. The audience has seen this box before. At the beginning of the film, an older woman has possession of the box and attempts to destroy it. This does not go well for her to say the least. In fact, the yard sale is conducted by her son. Bandaged and under a nurse’s care, the old woman screams warnings to Em through the window, but, like in all horror movies, the warnings go unheeded. The box is difficult to open, but Em finally does and finds strange items in it that make no sense at all. After opening the box, there’s something terribly wrong with Em. She is insanely drawn to the box and attacks anyone who attempts to take it from her. She stabs her father with a fork, speaks in a different voice, and has an almost insatiable hunger. What could have been in that box? And will the Brenek family live long enough to find out?
Since horror is one of my top three favorite movie genres, I’m always up for the next big scare. The bar has definitely been raised in recent years with films like The Mist and the Saw series. And this Spring’s The Cabin in the Woods set a whole new standard. It’s also very easy to screw up a horror movie, too. The Possession is at neither end of the spectrum. It’s definitely not groundbreaking, but it is far from horrible. There is some truly creepy imagery, particularly, what’s found in Em’s MRI. But I didn’t think anything was over-the-top cringe worthy. It’s not a horror movie that will make you think or talk about long after you’ve seen it. It’s decent but not memorable. That’s the best way I can describe it.
I count Jeffrey Dean Morgan as one of the more underrated actors working today. He’s good as the concerned, but, misunderstood father who seems to be the only one who notices Em’s strange behavior is more than being upset about her parents divorcing. The standout here is Natasha Calis as the young Em. For a young actress, she gives a nice range of emotion from innocent, to terrified to truly terrifying. Her angry stare is absolutely chilling.
I’ll give The Possession a positive review, however, if you’re jonesing for a Sam Raimi horror movie, watch Drag Me to Hell before this.
The Dark Lord of the Sith says:
*** stars
Ratings Legend
Zero *= Don't waste your time. Pure dreck! Dreck is too good for this! Blind me please!
1 *= Fuggedaboutit!
2 *= Average, Mediocre, Nothing Special
3 *= Good viewing. Much better than a poke in the eye.
4 *= Great. Could possibly foot the price of a non-Matinee.
5 *= Pure eye candy. Hall of Fame material here.
Sunday, August 26, 2012
The Expendables 2
Reviews from the Dark Side presents
The Expendables 2
Released 8/16/12, now in theaters
Barney Ross (Sylvester Stallone), Lee Christmas (Jason Statham), Yin Yang (Jet Li), Gunner Jensen (Dolph Lundgren), Toll Road (Randy Couture), and Hale Caesar (Terry Crews) return as the ragtag mercenary team, The Expendables in The Expendables 2. Also returning for the second ride are CIA agent, Church (Bruce Willis), and rival mercenary, Trench (Arnold Schwarzenegger). Eighties action stars Jean-Claude Van Damme and Chuck Norris join the fun for the first time with Liam Hemsworth, and Yu Nan. Stallone relinquishes the directing reins to Simon West.
We pick up with the team in Nepal on a rescue mission to obtain a Chinese businessman held by a guerilla army. Many loud and gruesome deaths follow and the team not only rescues their target, but they also rescue Trench who was there for the businessman, too. In their escape we are introduced to the newest member of the team, Billy the Kid (Hemsworth), who was formerly a U.S. Army sniper that served in Afghanistan.
After a quick drop off (and by that I mean parachuting) of the businessman and Yin in China, Agent Church catches up with Ross again. He is not happy with the team after they didn’t follow mission parameters in the first movie. But he needs Ross and his “psychotic gang of mutts” for yet another covert mission. This time he is going to have his own agent within the team with Maggie (Nan), a computer expert that knows how to take care of herself as we later discover. The mission. Church needs an item from the safe of an airplane shot down in Albania.
The team, with Maggie, retrieve the item only to have it taken from them by international criminal, Jean Vilain (Van Damme) and his mercenary army, The Sangs. Vilain leaves a parting gift for them by murdering Billy. Why do Church and Vilain need the item in the safe? It is the blueprint to finding a weapons grade plutonium store left by the Russians from the Cold War. Vilain means to sell it for $4 million/kilo. The Expendables mean to put Vilain in his grave for Billy.
Along the way, the team is assisted by Booker (Norris), an old friend of Barney’s. Church and Trench also return for an assist. Will this ragtag band stop Vilain and avenge Billy? One thing’s certain. There’s going to be plenty of gunfire and broken necks to come.
Remember what I said about Premium Rush in a previous review? That it was dumb fun? If that was dumb fun, The Expendables is bigger and louder dumber fun. It’s even more over the top than its predecessor and the one liners flow like wine. But you know what saves this from being just plain bad? It’s deliberately made this way. The macho testosterone that fills the screen is prevalent, but it’s all done in a very tongue-in-cheek way. A couple of times I could just see the actors fight not to laugh. Sometimes, I don’t think they could fight it. Seriously, Van Damme is the villain in the movie and his name is Vilain? His actions couldn’t tell us? The way everyone chewed up the screen reminded me of movies like Shoot ‘Em Up. And I don’t mind wild and over the top when it’s intentional. This definitely harkens back to ‘80s style action movies. Bullets fly everywhere and the good guys never get hit (well Stallone got hit in the vest twice), yet their aim is always true. Blood spurts, henchmen are decapitated. Great stuff.
As for performances, all Jet Li fans be prepared. After the first 20 minutes, you don’t see him again. For the time he is onscreen, he gives us his usual great martial arts display. And I think I’ve told everyone how much I like Jason Statham before. I don’t believe he has true martial arts skills, but he sure does fake it well. He oozes “cool” as he does it, too. Terry Crews is absolutely crazy, but in a funny way. Everyone else gives their usual action star performances. One nice touch is an acknowledgement of the famous “Chuck Norris Facts” that have entered popular culture. The one referenced in the film involves a cobra. For Buffy the Vampire Slayer fans, Charisma Carpenter makes another cameo as Lee’s girlfriend, Lacy.
I was not a believer in the first Expendables movie. I streamed it again on Netflix and it grew on me. It’s just a fun time to have this many stars in one movie. The Expendables 2 is by no means an award winning movie, but it doesn’t have to be. It’s not for everyone, but it is entertaining.
Is Steven Segal far behind for Expendables 3? He’s the biggest name out there Stallone hasn’t used yet.
The Dark Lord of the Sith says:
***1/4 stars
Ratings Legend
Zero *= Don't waste your time. Pure dreck! Dreck is too good for this! Blind me please!
1 *= Fuggedaboutit!
2 *= Average, Mediocre, Nothing Special
3 *= Good viewing. Much better than a poke in the eye.
4 *= Great. Could possibly foot the price of a non-Matinee.
5 *= Pure eye candy. Hall of Fame material here.
The Expendables 2
Released 8/16/12, now in theaters
Barney Ross (Sylvester Stallone), Lee Christmas (Jason Statham), Yin Yang (Jet Li), Gunner Jensen (Dolph Lundgren), Toll Road (Randy Couture), and Hale Caesar (Terry Crews) return as the ragtag mercenary team, The Expendables in The Expendables 2. Also returning for the second ride are CIA agent, Church (Bruce Willis), and rival mercenary, Trench (Arnold Schwarzenegger). Eighties action stars Jean-Claude Van Damme and Chuck Norris join the fun for the first time with Liam Hemsworth, and Yu Nan. Stallone relinquishes the directing reins to Simon West.
We pick up with the team in Nepal on a rescue mission to obtain a Chinese businessman held by a guerilla army. Many loud and gruesome deaths follow and the team not only rescues their target, but they also rescue Trench who was there for the businessman, too. In their escape we are introduced to the newest member of the team, Billy the Kid (Hemsworth), who was formerly a U.S. Army sniper that served in Afghanistan.
After a quick drop off (and by that I mean parachuting) of the businessman and Yin in China, Agent Church catches up with Ross again. He is not happy with the team after they didn’t follow mission parameters in the first movie. But he needs Ross and his “psychotic gang of mutts” for yet another covert mission. This time he is going to have his own agent within the team with Maggie (Nan), a computer expert that knows how to take care of herself as we later discover. The mission. Church needs an item from the safe of an airplane shot down in Albania.
The team, with Maggie, retrieve the item only to have it taken from them by international criminal, Jean Vilain (Van Damme) and his mercenary army, The Sangs. Vilain leaves a parting gift for them by murdering Billy. Why do Church and Vilain need the item in the safe? It is the blueprint to finding a weapons grade plutonium store left by the Russians from the Cold War. Vilain means to sell it for $4 million/kilo. The Expendables mean to put Vilain in his grave for Billy.
Along the way, the team is assisted by Booker (Norris), an old friend of Barney’s. Church and Trench also return for an assist. Will this ragtag band stop Vilain and avenge Billy? One thing’s certain. There’s going to be plenty of gunfire and broken necks to come.
Remember what I said about Premium Rush in a previous review? That it was dumb fun? If that was dumb fun, The Expendables is bigger and louder dumber fun. It’s even more over the top than its predecessor and the one liners flow like wine. But you know what saves this from being just plain bad? It’s deliberately made this way. The macho testosterone that fills the screen is prevalent, but it’s all done in a very tongue-in-cheek way. A couple of times I could just see the actors fight not to laugh. Sometimes, I don’t think they could fight it. Seriously, Van Damme is the villain in the movie and his name is Vilain? His actions couldn’t tell us? The way everyone chewed up the screen reminded me of movies like Shoot ‘Em Up. And I don’t mind wild and over the top when it’s intentional. This definitely harkens back to ‘80s style action movies. Bullets fly everywhere and the good guys never get hit (well Stallone got hit in the vest twice), yet their aim is always true. Blood spurts, henchmen are decapitated. Great stuff.
As for performances, all Jet Li fans be prepared. After the first 20 minutes, you don’t see him again. For the time he is onscreen, he gives us his usual great martial arts display. And I think I’ve told everyone how much I like Jason Statham before. I don’t believe he has true martial arts skills, but he sure does fake it well. He oozes “cool” as he does it, too. Terry Crews is absolutely crazy, but in a funny way. Everyone else gives their usual action star performances. One nice touch is an acknowledgement of the famous “Chuck Norris Facts” that have entered popular culture. The one referenced in the film involves a cobra. For Buffy the Vampire Slayer fans, Charisma Carpenter makes another cameo as Lee’s girlfriend, Lacy.
I was not a believer in the first Expendables movie. I streamed it again on Netflix and it grew on me. It’s just a fun time to have this many stars in one movie. The Expendables 2 is by no means an award winning movie, but it doesn’t have to be. It’s not for everyone, but it is entertaining.
Is Steven Segal far behind for Expendables 3? He’s the biggest name out there Stallone hasn’t used yet.
The Dark Lord of the Sith says:
***1/4 stars
Ratings Legend
Zero *= Don't waste your time. Pure dreck! Dreck is too good for this! Blind me please!
1 *= Fuggedaboutit!
2 *= Average, Mediocre, Nothing Special
3 *= Good viewing. Much better than a poke in the eye.
4 *= Great. Could possibly foot the price of a non-Matinee.
5 *= Pure eye candy. Hall of Fame material here.
Premium Rush
Reviews from the Dark Side presents
Premium Rush
Released 8/24/12, now in theaters
Joseph Gordon-Levitt is a busy man this summer. He returns in this week’s Premium Rush directed by David Koepp. The film co-stars Michael Shannon, Dania Ramirez, and Jamie Chung.
Wilee (Gordon-Levitt), as in “Wile E.” Coyote, is a New York City bicycle messenger. He studied to become a lawyer, but never took the Bar. Wilee prefers the wide open, if often congested , space of the NYC streets to wearing suits and sitting behind desks. He’s fearless and reckless on his bike dodging in and out of traffic, on to sidewalks, etc. to get his packages to their destination in time. He has removed the brakes on his bike for an even greater adrenaline rush. He works alongside his girlfriend, Vanessa (Ramirez). Vanessa’s roommate, Nima (Chung), delivers $50,000 saved over a couple years (for a very personal reason) to Leung, a money launderer. In exchange for the cash, Leung gives Nima an innocent looking movie ticket to be delivered to “Sister Chen” in Chinatown. Leung warns her that whoever has the ticket can claim her money. Nima needs this securely delivered to Chen and can’t risk taking it herself if anyone were to know about it. So she does the next best thing. She calls Wilee’s courier service and gets Wilee himself. Almost as soon as he takes the envelope with the ticket, he is pursued by NYPD detective, Bobby Monday (Shannon). It seems Bobby is a bad gambler who is in to local loan shark, Lin, for high gambling debts. Lin knows about the ticket and wants Monday to retrieve it for him. Wilee has a deadline of 7 p.m. to get the envelope to Sister Chen, and it’s a race against time, Monday, and rival couriers to meet the deadline.
Premium Rush is loaded with death defying feats on bicycles and near death close calls. Many of the conflicts could probably be solved if the characters were just a bit smarter. But you know what else Premium Rush is? Dumb fun. It’s a nice end of summer distraction. The main characters’ back stories are told in flashback. Sometimes that can be good, sometimes that can be confusing. Luckily, Premium Run, shifts seamlessly from the present to the past and vice versa. One great little nuance in the film is how Wilee runs through various outcomes in his head when confronted with a dangerous situation on his bike. The scenarios range from tragic to ridiculously hilarious. And let’s not forget the poor bicycle cop Wilee torments throughout the movie. Good for a few laughs.
There really are no standout performances. The closest is Shannon’s manic, borderline psychotic detective. He’s good, but he’s more of a cartoon character with his violent tantrums. Entertaining to be sure. But, award-winning? Not quite. The other character seem to be caricatures. There’s Wilee as the smarter than what he’s doing in life daredevil, his put upon girlfriend/ex-girlfriend (wasn’t sure) who wants out of the life and thinks he should do more, the sleazy co-worker who tries to get between them, the lecherous boss who cheats his employees, and so on.
Premium Rush is an entertaining thrill ride. It has enough near death experiences on speeding bikes to keep your eyes glued. Kudos to the great camera work. Don’t expect much as far as storytelling because, as I said earlier, the characters could probably solve most of their problems if they just sat down and thought for a minute. Shut your brain off and enjoy the roller coaster is my best advice.
The Dark Lord of the Sith says:
***stars
Ratings Legend
Zero *= Don't waste your time. Pure dreck! Dreck is too good for this! Blind me please!
1 *= Fuggedaboutit!
2 *= Average, Mediocre, Nothing Special
3 *= Good viewing. Much better than a poke in the eye.
4 *= Great. Could possibly foot the price of a non-Matinee.
5 *= Pure eye candy. Hall of Fame material here.
Premium Rush
Released 8/24/12, now in theaters
Joseph Gordon-Levitt is a busy man this summer. He returns in this week’s Premium Rush directed by David Koepp. The film co-stars Michael Shannon, Dania Ramirez, and Jamie Chung.
Wilee (Gordon-Levitt), as in “Wile E.” Coyote, is a New York City bicycle messenger. He studied to become a lawyer, but never took the Bar. Wilee prefers the wide open, if often congested , space of the NYC streets to wearing suits and sitting behind desks. He’s fearless and reckless on his bike dodging in and out of traffic, on to sidewalks, etc. to get his packages to their destination in time. He has removed the brakes on his bike for an even greater adrenaline rush. He works alongside his girlfriend, Vanessa (Ramirez). Vanessa’s roommate, Nima (Chung), delivers $50,000 saved over a couple years (for a very personal reason) to Leung, a money launderer. In exchange for the cash, Leung gives Nima an innocent looking movie ticket to be delivered to “Sister Chen” in Chinatown. Leung warns her that whoever has the ticket can claim her money. Nima needs this securely delivered to Chen and can’t risk taking it herself if anyone were to know about it. So she does the next best thing. She calls Wilee’s courier service and gets Wilee himself. Almost as soon as he takes the envelope with the ticket, he is pursued by NYPD detective, Bobby Monday (Shannon). It seems Bobby is a bad gambler who is in to local loan shark, Lin, for high gambling debts. Lin knows about the ticket and wants Monday to retrieve it for him. Wilee has a deadline of 7 p.m. to get the envelope to Sister Chen, and it’s a race against time, Monday, and rival couriers to meet the deadline.
Premium Rush is loaded with death defying feats on bicycles and near death close calls. Many of the conflicts could probably be solved if the characters were just a bit smarter. But you know what else Premium Rush is? Dumb fun. It’s a nice end of summer distraction. The main characters’ back stories are told in flashback. Sometimes that can be good, sometimes that can be confusing. Luckily, Premium Run, shifts seamlessly from the present to the past and vice versa. One great little nuance in the film is how Wilee runs through various outcomes in his head when confronted with a dangerous situation on his bike. The scenarios range from tragic to ridiculously hilarious. And let’s not forget the poor bicycle cop Wilee torments throughout the movie. Good for a few laughs.
There really are no standout performances. The closest is Shannon’s manic, borderline psychotic detective. He’s good, but he’s more of a cartoon character with his violent tantrums. Entertaining to be sure. But, award-winning? Not quite. The other character seem to be caricatures. There’s Wilee as the smarter than what he’s doing in life daredevil, his put upon girlfriend/ex-girlfriend (wasn’t sure) who wants out of the life and thinks he should do more, the sleazy co-worker who tries to get between them, the lecherous boss who cheats his employees, and so on.
Premium Rush is an entertaining thrill ride. It has enough near death experiences on speeding bikes to keep your eyes glued. Kudos to the great camera work. Don’t expect much as far as storytelling because, as I said earlier, the characters could probably solve most of their problems if they just sat down and thought for a minute. Shut your brain off and enjoy the roller coaster is my best advice.
The Dark Lord of the Sith says:
***stars
Ratings Legend
Zero *= Don't waste your time. Pure dreck! Dreck is too good for this! Blind me please!
1 *= Fuggedaboutit!
2 *= Average, Mediocre, Nothing Special
3 *= Good viewing. Much better than a poke in the eye.
4 *= Great. Could possibly foot the price of a non-Matinee.
5 *= Pure eye candy. Hall of Fame material here.
Sunday, August 19, 2012
Sparkle
Reviews from the Dark Side presents
Sparkle
Released 8/17/12, now in theaters
Sparkle marks the acting debut of American Idol winner, Jordin Sparks. It is a remake of the 1976 movie of the same name. The film also marks Whitney Houston’s final Hollywood feature. Co-stars Derek Luke, Mike Epps, Cee Lo Green, Omari Hardwick, Carmen Ejogo and Tika Sumpter round out the cast.
Sparkle is set in 1960s Detroit and follows the title character (Sparks) and her siblings, Sister (Ejogo) and Dee (Sumpter). Sister and Sparkle are first discovered in a club run by Black (Green). They catch the eye of talent seeker, Stix (Luke). While Sparkle is the more talented of the two sisters (she writes songs and sings), she is shy and unsure of herself. Sister has no such hang ups and knows how to “work it” onstage. After Sister sings one of Sparkle’s songs onstage at the club, Stix knows he has to be this duo’s manager. He is told by Black that the sisters have a third sibling that can also sing. He’s also told about their strict mother, Emma (Houston). Stix gets closer to Sparkle, partly because he likes the shy girl, and partly to convince the sisters to form a Supremes type group. But the group has several obstacles to overcome, including their controlling mother, a slimy comedian (Epps) that catches Sister’s eye, and an accidental death that changes everything.
Sparkle is an entertaining enough film, but you get the sense of “been there done that.” If you’ve seen Dreamgirls, tweak a few details and you have Sparkle. Jordin Sparks is good in her debut and it should lead to future roles. There is one thing I will say though. Whitney Houston sings one solo. And we have a shell of Whitney. Granted Whitney bad is probably better than many singers on the planet, but the woman in this movie is not the same as the one that hit that incredible note in “I Will Always Love You.” The standout of the film is Mike Epps. His wisecracking, moderately popular national comedian, Satin, has a smoldering evil streak underneath that jokester veneer. When he gets what’s due to him, you almost cheer.
Sparkle would be a fine movie to watch on cable and On Demand or rent from Netflix and Redbox, but I don’t think it’s worth beating down your local theater’s doors.
The Dark Lord of the Sith says:
*** stars
Ratings Legend
Zero *= Don't waste your time. Pure dreck! Dreck is too good for this! Blind me please!
1 *= Fuggedaboutit!
2 *= Average, Mediocre, Nothing Special
3 *= Good viewing. Much better than a poke in the eye.
4 *= Great. Could possibly foot the price of a non-Matinee.
5 *= Pure eye candy. Hall of Fame material here.
Sparkle
Released 8/17/12, now in theaters
Sparkle marks the acting debut of American Idol winner, Jordin Sparks. It is a remake of the 1976 movie of the same name. The film also marks Whitney Houston’s final Hollywood feature. Co-stars Derek Luke, Mike Epps, Cee Lo Green, Omari Hardwick, Carmen Ejogo and Tika Sumpter round out the cast.
Sparkle is set in 1960s Detroit and follows the title character (Sparks) and her siblings, Sister (Ejogo) and Dee (Sumpter). Sister and Sparkle are first discovered in a club run by Black (Green). They catch the eye of talent seeker, Stix (Luke). While Sparkle is the more talented of the two sisters (she writes songs and sings), she is shy and unsure of herself. Sister has no such hang ups and knows how to “work it” onstage. After Sister sings one of Sparkle’s songs onstage at the club, Stix knows he has to be this duo’s manager. He is told by Black that the sisters have a third sibling that can also sing. He’s also told about their strict mother, Emma (Houston). Stix gets closer to Sparkle, partly because he likes the shy girl, and partly to convince the sisters to form a Supremes type group. But the group has several obstacles to overcome, including their controlling mother, a slimy comedian (Epps) that catches Sister’s eye, and an accidental death that changes everything.
Sparkle is an entertaining enough film, but you get the sense of “been there done that.” If you’ve seen Dreamgirls, tweak a few details and you have Sparkle. Jordin Sparks is good in her debut and it should lead to future roles. There is one thing I will say though. Whitney Houston sings one solo. And we have a shell of Whitney. Granted Whitney bad is probably better than many singers on the planet, but the woman in this movie is not the same as the one that hit that incredible note in “I Will Always Love You.” The standout of the film is Mike Epps. His wisecracking, moderately popular national comedian, Satin, has a smoldering evil streak underneath that jokester veneer. When he gets what’s due to him, you almost cheer.
Sparkle would be a fine movie to watch on cable and On Demand or rent from Netflix and Redbox, but I don’t think it’s worth beating down your local theater’s doors.
The Dark Lord of the Sith says:
*** stars
Ratings Legend
Zero *= Don't waste your time. Pure dreck! Dreck is too good for this! Blind me please!
1 *= Fuggedaboutit!
2 *= Average, Mediocre, Nothing Special
3 *= Good viewing. Much better than a poke in the eye.
4 *= Great. Could possibly foot the price of a non-Matinee.
5 *= Pure eye candy. Hall of Fame material here.
Sunday, August 12, 2012
The Bourne Legacy
Reviews from the Dark Side presents
The Bourne Legacy
Released 8/10/12, now in theaters
The Bourne series returns this weekend without the title character, Jason Bourne. This time a new operative steps into the spotlight. The fourth Bourne film stars newcomers Jeremy Renner, Rachel Weisz, and Edward Norton. Returning from the previous films are Joan Allen, Albert Finney, and David Strathairn.
The fourth film follows new black ops operative, Aaron Cross (Renner). He is part of a new CIA backed black ops program (Outcome) that uses drugs to enhance its agents. There are two different pills they take, a green one that enhances physical prowess and a blue one that enhances mental capacity.
When Jason Bourne (mentioned, not seen) exposes the project (Operation Blackbriar) that recruited him leading to Senate testimony from CIA Deputy Director, Landy (Allen) and Blackbriar Supervisor, Vosen (Strathairn), the powers that be at Outcome become nervous. Under the guidance of Eric Byer (Norton), the entire project is shut down. And by shut down, I mean all operatives and scientists associated with the project are killed.
There are two survivors. One is Dr. Marta Shearing (Weisz), a chemist, who barely escapes one of her colleagues being activated by Byer to kill everyone in her lab. The other is Cross. When the movie starts he’s on a training assignment in Alaska. He encounters a second agent who is only known as #3. When Outcome is “shut down”, a fighter plane is sent to kill 3 and Cross (#5). A missile annihilates 3. Cross is able to shoot it down and escape a second fighter.
Cross makes his way back to the mainland just in time to save Dr. Shearing from agents sent to assassinate her in her home. Cross remembers the doctor when he was acting as a human guinea pig for Outcome’s experiments. He needs Shearing so she can obtain more pills. The effects of the blue pill don’t last, and Cross doesn’t want to be what he was before. It seems that before Cross became a super soldier, he wasn’t the smartest man. In fact, his military recruiter had to falsify his intelligence scores so he could be at the minimum IQ for enlistment. He was “killed “ in the Iraq War by a roadside bomb in order to become part of Outcome’s experimentation. Aaron Cross isn’t even his real name. The duo’s only advantage after the save is the leaders of Outcome believe them to be dead after Cross sets fire to the doctor’s house to cover their tracks. The hoax won’t last long once the bodies in the house are identified. He convinces Shearing to help him.
She reveals that Aaron was genetically altered to accept the effects of the green pills without constant consumption. However, there is a way to make the effects of the blue pills permanent as well. They go to Manila where the pills are manufactured to break into the lab. She injects him with a serum and they wait to see if the experiment is successful. They will need all of Aaron’s skills shortly as Outcome has discovered they are still alive and are in hot pursuit.
After Aaron comes back to the mainland, The Bourne Legacy takes off at the same frenetic pace as its predecessors. Jeremy Renner is a believable action star. Edward Norton is one of the most underrated actors of this generation. I still don’t know how he hasn’t won an Oscar yet. And I’ve always liked Rachel Weisz. So, good cast. Check. Thrilling fights and chases. Check. But there’s something missing. What could it be? If you watch this movie, tell me that you didn’t think it ended just a little abruptly and leaves you with a feeling of wha’? The payoff just wasn’t there for me. I’ve said it before. It matters how you end a movie. There really is no set up for the next film. Maybe that’s by design since the series has gone in a new direction. I thought there could have been a better prelude of what’s to come.
The Bourne Legacy is a capable, if not spectacular follow up to the series. I’ve never read any of the Bourne novels, but here’s hoping for a Bourne/Cross team up in the future breaking some heads.
The Dark Lord of the Sith says:
***1/4 stars
Ratings Legend
Zero *= Don't waste your time. Pure dreck! Dreck is too good for this! Blind me please!
1 *= Fuggedaboutit!
2 *= Average, Mediocre, Nothing Special
3 *= Good viewing. Much better than a poke in the eye.
4 *= Great. Could possibly foot the price of a non-Matinee.
5 *= Pure eye candy. Hall of Fame material here.
The Bourne Legacy
Released 8/10/12, now in theaters
The Bourne series returns this weekend without the title character, Jason Bourne. This time a new operative steps into the spotlight. The fourth Bourne film stars newcomers Jeremy Renner, Rachel Weisz, and Edward Norton. Returning from the previous films are Joan Allen, Albert Finney, and David Strathairn.
The fourth film follows new black ops operative, Aaron Cross (Renner). He is part of a new CIA backed black ops program (Outcome) that uses drugs to enhance its agents. There are two different pills they take, a green one that enhances physical prowess and a blue one that enhances mental capacity.
When Jason Bourne (mentioned, not seen) exposes the project (Operation Blackbriar) that recruited him leading to Senate testimony from CIA Deputy Director, Landy (Allen) and Blackbriar Supervisor, Vosen (Strathairn), the powers that be at Outcome become nervous. Under the guidance of Eric Byer (Norton), the entire project is shut down. And by shut down, I mean all operatives and scientists associated with the project are killed.
There are two survivors. One is Dr. Marta Shearing (Weisz), a chemist, who barely escapes one of her colleagues being activated by Byer to kill everyone in her lab. The other is Cross. When the movie starts he’s on a training assignment in Alaska. He encounters a second agent who is only known as #3. When Outcome is “shut down”, a fighter plane is sent to kill 3 and Cross (#5). A missile annihilates 3. Cross is able to shoot it down and escape a second fighter.
Cross makes his way back to the mainland just in time to save Dr. Shearing from agents sent to assassinate her in her home. Cross remembers the doctor when he was acting as a human guinea pig for Outcome’s experiments. He needs Shearing so she can obtain more pills. The effects of the blue pill don’t last, and Cross doesn’t want to be what he was before. It seems that before Cross became a super soldier, he wasn’t the smartest man. In fact, his military recruiter had to falsify his intelligence scores so he could be at the minimum IQ for enlistment. He was “killed “ in the Iraq War by a roadside bomb in order to become part of Outcome’s experimentation. Aaron Cross isn’t even his real name. The duo’s only advantage after the save is the leaders of Outcome believe them to be dead after Cross sets fire to the doctor’s house to cover their tracks. The hoax won’t last long once the bodies in the house are identified. He convinces Shearing to help him.
She reveals that Aaron was genetically altered to accept the effects of the green pills without constant consumption. However, there is a way to make the effects of the blue pills permanent as well. They go to Manila where the pills are manufactured to break into the lab. She injects him with a serum and they wait to see if the experiment is successful. They will need all of Aaron’s skills shortly as Outcome has discovered they are still alive and are in hot pursuit.
After Aaron comes back to the mainland, The Bourne Legacy takes off at the same frenetic pace as its predecessors. Jeremy Renner is a believable action star. Edward Norton is one of the most underrated actors of this generation. I still don’t know how he hasn’t won an Oscar yet. And I’ve always liked Rachel Weisz. So, good cast. Check. Thrilling fights and chases. Check. But there’s something missing. What could it be? If you watch this movie, tell me that you didn’t think it ended just a little abruptly and leaves you with a feeling of wha’? The payoff just wasn’t there for me. I’ve said it before. It matters how you end a movie. There really is no set up for the next film. Maybe that’s by design since the series has gone in a new direction. I thought there could have been a better prelude of what’s to come.
The Bourne Legacy is a capable, if not spectacular follow up to the series. I’ve never read any of the Bourne novels, but here’s hoping for a Bourne/Cross team up in the future breaking some heads.
The Dark Lord of the Sith says:
***1/4 stars
Ratings Legend
Zero *= Don't waste your time. Pure dreck! Dreck is too good for this! Blind me please!
1 *= Fuggedaboutit!
2 *= Average, Mediocre, Nothing Special
3 *= Good viewing. Much better than a poke in the eye.
4 *= Great. Could possibly foot the price of a non-Matinee.
5 *= Pure eye candy. Hall of Fame material here.
Sunday, August 5, 2012
Total Recall
Reviews from the Dark Side presents
Total Recall
Released 8/3/12, now in theaters
The classic sci-fi cult hit gets a new face this week with the release of a big budget remake. Taking Arnold Scwarzenegger's place is Colin Farrell as mind altered secret agent, Douglas Quaid/Carl Hauser. Kate Beckinsale, Jessica Biel, and Bryan Cranston co-star.
In the late 21st Century, chemical warfare has decimated most of Earth. The only livable locations have split into two factions, The United Federation of Britain and The Colony (formerly Australia). The UFB holds the wealth and political power. The citizens of The Colony are mostly laborers who commute to the UFB through "The Fall" , a massive type of elevator connecting the two locations. There is bad blood between the two regions as a group calling itself, The Resistance, has formed in The Colony.
Douglas Quaid is a troubled man. He's recently begun having dreams of what seems like a past life where he is trying to escape a facility with a beautiful, unnamed woman. He's captured, the woman escapes, and Quaid wakes up before events can progress every time. His "loving" wife, Lori (Beckinsale), tries to console and relax him. But Doug is restless and still thinks something is missing in his life. He lives in The Colony and commutes to the UFB daily to a dead end factory job with his best friend and co-worker, Harry (Bokeem Woodbine). After work the two always go to the same bar to unwind. Doug believes there has to be more to life than this.
He's become intrigued by a company based in The Colony called Rekall. Rekall promises to make your dreams come true by implanting artificial memories in your head that feel as real as any legitimate memory you have. He's warned off Rekall by Harry, but the pull is too strong. At Rekall, Doug meets with their representative, McClane (John Cho). For some reason, Doug finds the secret agent memory implant fascinating. He is tested to ensure compatibility with the implant. When the test fails, McClane accuses him of being a real spy. A squad of heavily armed police officers enters Rekall and guns down McClane and the rest of the staff. As Quaid is being arrested, a light clicks on in his head. Before he knows what's happening, he has killed all of the officers. Rather easily at that.
When he returns home, he gets the shock of his life when Lori tries to kill him after he tells her what transpired. Lori's not who he thinks she is. She is a secrent agent herself who has been given the cover story of being Quaid's wife by her boss, Chancellor Cohaagen (Cranston), with the express purpose of spying on her "husband." Quaid apparently has knowledge in his foggy memories that is valuable to both the UFB and The Resistance. In a mad chase through The Colony, he eventually escapes Lori and her agents only to be pursued by them again when he reaches the UFB. It is here he is reunited with the woman in his dreams, Melina (Biel). She is one of the chief lieutenants in The Resistance and is the one who convinced Quaid to switch sides when, as Carl Hauser, he was sent by Cohaagen to infiltrate The Resistance. Now, it's a race against time for Quaid and Melina to reach the leader of The Resistance, Mathias (Bill Nighy), with what's in his head before they are caught by Cohaagen's forces.
So, now the question is how does this remake compare with the original? I've got mixed emotions. While there is no doubt the special effects here dwarf the original, this story is a lot more bleak. And I don't mind bleak if the story is enthralling and makes you think. There was really nothing to think about except what other type of impossible escape Quaid could make this time. It was a big chase movie and little more. It didn't have the fun of the original complete with stupid Ah-nuld one liners and all. Gone are the mutants that made the first a litte off putting and delightfully silly at the same time. Actually, that's not entirely true. The remake still gives us the three breasted prostitute, although it did feel a little out of place since everyone else was normal. And, of course, the whole. film takes place on Earth. Mars isn't remotely involved in the remake.
However, that isn't to say the remake is bad. It isn't. In fact, it's highly entertaining at times. The problem is it just doesn't have a lot of flair. It's like some foods you eat. It fills you up as you're eating, but you're hungry an hour later. It's loud, many things explode, and plenty of police officers and soldiers serve as cannon fodder.
The beautiful people were hired for this movie. You know it's true. Farrell, Beckinsale, and Biel. Good looking cast. And they turn in good performances, although I do think Beckinsale is the standout here. She is absolutely, positively evil to the core. Didn't know she had it in her.
Overall, it's harmless Summer fare. You'll be entertained, but it won't stick with you to any great degree.
The Dark Lord of the Sith says:
*** 1/4 stars
Ratings Legend
Zero *= Don't waste your time. Pure dreck! Dreck is too good for this! Blind me please!
1 *= Fuggedaboutit!
2 *= Average, Mediocre, Nothing Special
3 *= Good viewing. Much better than a poke in the eye.
4 *= Great. Could possibly foot the price of a non-Matinee.
5 *= Pure eye candy. Hall of Fame material here.
Total Recall
Released 8/3/12, now in theaters
The classic sci-fi cult hit gets a new face this week with the release of a big budget remake. Taking Arnold Scwarzenegger's place is Colin Farrell as mind altered secret agent, Douglas Quaid/Carl Hauser. Kate Beckinsale, Jessica Biel, and Bryan Cranston co-star.
In the late 21st Century, chemical warfare has decimated most of Earth. The only livable locations have split into two factions, The United Federation of Britain and The Colony (formerly Australia). The UFB holds the wealth and political power. The citizens of The Colony are mostly laborers who commute to the UFB through "The Fall" , a massive type of elevator connecting the two locations. There is bad blood between the two regions as a group calling itself, The Resistance, has formed in The Colony.
Douglas Quaid is a troubled man. He's recently begun having dreams of what seems like a past life where he is trying to escape a facility with a beautiful, unnamed woman. He's captured, the woman escapes, and Quaid wakes up before events can progress every time. His "loving" wife, Lori (Beckinsale), tries to console and relax him. But Doug is restless and still thinks something is missing in his life. He lives in The Colony and commutes to the UFB daily to a dead end factory job with his best friend and co-worker, Harry (Bokeem Woodbine). After work the two always go to the same bar to unwind. Doug believes there has to be more to life than this.
He's become intrigued by a company based in The Colony called Rekall. Rekall promises to make your dreams come true by implanting artificial memories in your head that feel as real as any legitimate memory you have. He's warned off Rekall by Harry, but the pull is too strong. At Rekall, Doug meets with their representative, McClane (John Cho). For some reason, Doug finds the secret agent memory implant fascinating. He is tested to ensure compatibility with the implant. When the test fails, McClane accuses him of being a real spy. A squad of heavily armed police officers enters Rekall and guns down McClane and the rest of the staff. As Quaid is being arrested, a light clicks on in his head. Before he knows what's happening, he has killed all of the officers. Rather easily at that.
When he returns home, he gets the shock of his life when Lori tries to kill him after he tells her what transpired. Lori's not who he thinks she is. She is a secrent agent herself who has been given the cover story of being Quaid's wife by her boss, Chancellor Cohaagen (Cranston), with the express purpose of spying on her "husband." Quaid apparently has knowledge in his foggy memories that is valuable to both the UFB and The Resistance. In a mad chase through The Colony, he eventually escapes Lori and her agents only to be pursued by them again when he reaches the UFB. It is here he is reunited with the woman in his dreams, Melina (Biel). She is one of the chief lieutenants in The Resistance and is the one who convinced Quaid to switch sides when, as Carl Hauser, he was sent by Cohaagen to infiltrate The Resistance. Now, it's a race against time for Quaid and Melina to reach the leader of The Resistance, Mathias (Bill Nighy), with what's in his head before they are caught by Cohaagen's forces.
So, now the question is how does this remake compare with the original? I've got mixed emotions. While there is no doubt the special effects here dwarf the original, this story is a lot more bleak. And I don't mind bleak if the story is enthralling and makes you think. There was really nothing to think about except what other type of impossible escape Quaid could make this time. It was a big chase movie and little more. It didn't have the fun of the original complete with stupid Ah-nuld one liners and all. Gone are the mutants that made the first a litte off putting and delightfully silly at the same time. Actually, that's not entirely true. The remake still gives us the three breasted prostitute, although it did feel a little out of place since everyone else was normal. And, of course, the whole. film takes place on Earth. Mars isn't remotely involved in the remake.
However, that isn't to say the remake is bad. It isn't. In fact, it's highly entertaining at times. The problem is it just doesn't have a lot of flair. It's like some foods you eat. It fills you up as you're eating, but you're hungry an hour later. It's loud, many things explode, and plenty of police officers and soldiers serve as cannon fodder.
The beautiful people were hired for this movie. You know it's true. Farrell, Beckinsale, and Biel. Good looking cast. And they turn in good performances, although I do think Beckinsale is the standout here. She is absolutely, positively evil to the core. Didn't know she had it in her.
Overall, it's harmless Summer fare. You'll be entertained, but it won't stick with you to any great degree.
The Dark Lord of the Sith says:
*** 1/4 stars
Ratings Legend
Zero *= Don't waste your time. Pure dreck! Dreck is too good for this! Blind me please!
1 *= Fuggedaboutit!
2 *= Average, Mediocre, Nothing Special
3 *= Good viewing. Much better than a poke in the eye.
4 *= Great. Could possibly foot the price of a non-Matinee.
5 *= Pure eye candy. Hall of Fame material here.
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