Category: Movie Reviews

Knight and Day

Starring Tom Cruise, Cameron Diaz and Peter Sarsgaard
Directed by James Mangold (3:10 to Yuma)
Rated PG-13 for sequences of action violence throughout, and brief strong language
Appropriate for ages 13+

    June Havens (Diaz) finds her normal life turned upside down when she gets mixed up with super spy Roy Miller (Cruise) on a seemingly innocent flight.  As soon as she crosses the line with him, there is no turning back, as she finds herself the target of not only the U.S. government, but terrorist arms dealers as well.  Roy, on the other hand, has a mission that he must complete, but feels the need to keep Havens alive, even though it could get in the way of his ultimate goal. 

    There have been a plethora of these types of spy movies of late, and while none can match up to True Lies in style or substance, this one manages to be a really good summer popcorn flick.  The action here is intense, but done with a great sense of humor.  Love him or hate him, you have to admit that Cruise is fun to watch in a movie like this.  Because he does most of his own stunt work, he manages to bring the action to life in a way that few actors can manage.  And the creativity with which the action sequences were dreamed up is most definitely worthy of praise.  There are only so many ways to do a car or motorcycle chase, but this felt original without going too over-the-top.

    The story, revolving around a small battery that could power a city, was not great and the twists felt a little forced, but because of the chemistry between Cruise and Diaz (and I’m going to put the blame mostly on Cruise’s great performance), you care more about their relationship than the story.  I kind of think that no matter what they did, I would have had fun watching them doing it. 

    I was surprised at either the poor makeup or continuity (or both) in regards to Diaz.  At many stages of the film Diaz looks normal.  Shocking, I know.  Of course it would have been fine if she just felt like going natural.  The problem is that there would be a close-up shot where she looks like a super model and then a three quarter shot where she suddenly ages ten years.  This was most noticeable during the beach sequence.  I would have typically not pointed this out, as it seems petty, but I have had three other critics tell me they saw the same thing, but were afraid to mention it as well.

    Bad makeup aside, you can’t discount a film for such a minor infraction and it hardly gets in the way of what is ultimately good escapist entertainment that most audiences will enjoy.  B+  

Toy Story 3

Starring the voices of Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Michael Keaton, and Ned Beatty
Directed by Lee Unkrich (Toy Story 2)
Rated G
Appropriate for all ages

    As Andy prepares to head off to college, he decides to store his toys in the attic, but when they are accidentally donated to a local daycare instead, Woody wants to get back to Andy while the rest of the toys can’t wait to be played with by the new children.  When they discover that the daycare isn’t at all what they expected, they ban together to mount a daring escape. 

    It goes without saying that you can always count on Pixar to deliver a quality movie and they are most certainly still on roll.  With the first two Toy Stories, Pixar delivered not only two of the most wonderful animated films to date, but two of the most creative as well.  In fact, Toy Story 2 was a major factor in bringing about the Academy Award for Animated Feature.  That being said, Toy Story 3 brings it all up to another level of excellence. 

    First there is the story, which is creative, funny, heart-warming, sad, gut-wrenching, and awe-inspiring, all within in a hundred minute time frame.  And while I am far from the expert on the escape genre, I would have to put this one up against any film as possibly the best escape film ever made.

    Also, the emotional roller coaster this film takes its audience on is better than anything at Disneyland.  The first two films moved me, but this film grabbed me, pulled me in, and towards the end of the film I felt like I was actually on their journey with them and essentially having an experience like no other I’ve ever had at a movie before.  It was ethereal.  And all of this was done with brilliant writing. 

    Then there is the animation which has come so far since the first two films.  It is a big, bright beautiful film, filled with vivid colors and flawless execution of the computer animation.  I will admit that I saw the film twice, on both 3D and 2D, and due to the fact that the 3D strips away some of the color and doesn’t really add much more than a gimmick to the experience, I have to say that the 2D is the better version of the film to see.  I’ve had discussions with folks at Pixar who will admit the same, and would recommend you see their films in good old fashion two dimension.

    Where Toy Story could have used a change up is in the music department, as I think “You’ve Got A Friend In Me” is a little overplayed at this point (although I did like the Spanish version by the Gypsy Kings).  Also, Randy Newman’s new song “We Belong Together” doesn’t exactly say Oscar winner to me.

    Still, I’ll predict now that Toy Story 3 will be one of the films nominated for best picture this year (along with How to Train Your Dragon), and if the year were to end in June, it would have a pretty darn good chance of winning.  A+ 

The A-Team

Starring Bradley Cooper, Liam Neeson, Sharlto Copley, and Quinton Jackson
Directed by Joe Carnahan (Narc)
Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of action and violence throughout, language and smoking
Appropriate for ages 15+

    An elite group of U.S. soldiers look to clear their name after they’ve been framed for a major crime and sentenced to prison.  Once out of prison, they must figure out a way to not only reclaim their innocence, but stop the bad guys as well.

    This is the epitome of big, dumb action films.  That’s not necessarily a bad thing either.  Sometimes you need some really huge action without having to think.  From start to finish, this film is loaded down with gigantic explosives, huge stunts, and what must have been a very expensive special effects budget.  And it’s always to fun to see some new ideas that have never even been conceived before, such as a helicopter turning off to avoid heat seeker missiles, or a tank falling through the sky by parachute and shooting down drones on the way down. 

    Here’s the problem – you can’t stop for one minute and think about it.  For instance, the opening scene has Hannibal (Neeson) captured by a couple of Mexican lawmen.  One of the thugs is told to kill him.  He is about to shoot him in the head when he is told to stop and use Hannibal’s gun instead.  He tries to use it and it doesn’t work, so they leave him to be eaten by the dogs.  Now here is the problem: the scene requires the timing of the plan to be perfect.  But what would have happened if the Mexican lawman would have just shot him in the head with the working gun?  I know, Hannibal would be dead and we wouldn’t have a movie, but that’s not the point.  Everything in this film runs on perfect timing built on insane assumptions such as this.  So my suggestion again – don’t think about it.

    The acting here is a mixed bag also.  Bradley Cooper is certainly getting much better and he could very well be a superstar someday.  Neeson makes for a good Hannibal and I didn’t have a problem with Jackson as Baracus.  What did bug me was the miscasting of Sharlton Copley (District 9) as Murdock.  It’s not that he’s a bad actor, it’s just that he hasn’t gotten the accent down yet.  And it seemed like the filmmakers sort of gave up on him.  Occasionally he gives a nice red-neck, but his very thick South African pops up way too much, and only once intentionally.

    Aside from those annoying timing issues, the script works for the most part.  The dialogue is fairly witty and were it not for all of the lame CIA Lynch jokes I would claim pretty consistently funny (according to the story everyone from the CIA is named agent Lynch – haha). 

    Overall, I walked out of the theater thinking that for the most part, some of the ideas ideas were at least original and entertaining.  Ridiculous, but entertaining.  C+

Get Him to the Greek

Starring Jonah Hill, Russell Brand, Sean Combs, and Elisabeth Moss
Directed by Nicholas Stoller (Forgetting Sarah Marshall)
Rated R for strong sexual content and drug use throughout, and pervasive language
Appropriate for ages 17+

    A record company intern (Hill) comes up with the bright idea of putting on a rock concert featuring the once famous, but now down and drugged-out, rocker Aldous Snow at the venue that made him famous to begin with: the Greek theater in L.A.  The problem is that Aldous is in London and the concert is only 72 hours away, and getting him there is all up to this young, inexperienced and shy intern.

    After Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Judd Apatow, Nicholas Stoller and gang decided that Aldous Snow was just too great of character to leave alone, so they decided on a spinoff movie.  Forgetting about Jonah’s turn as the waiter in Sarah Marshall, they gave him a new persona and made him the co-lead in this very original road-trip buddy film that almost works. 

    Brand and Hill have great chemistry here that shows throughout.  While at first it appears that they almost work too well together, Brand’s character fixes that dilemma and the conflict really helps not only the comedy, but also the story.  Also adding to the huge laughs is Sean Combs who steals every scene he appears in. 

    What doesn’t work here is the overly-dramatic romantic subplot between Hill and Moss.  Not only does it take away from the buddy film, but the scene where Brand, Hill and Moss finally confront each other almost ruins the picture and while it doesn’t quite kill the movie, it definitely puts the brakes on and kills the mood to the point where it’s hard to get it back. 

    Still, I went to this film to laugh, and that I did.  My wife laughed so hard it drove her into labor and we gave birth to our first son the next day.  It doesn’t possess the comedy consistency of the other Apatow projects, but nevertheless, it’s still a more enjoyable movie than most of the pictures showing right now.  B

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Gemma Arterton, Alfred Molina and Ben Kingsley
Directed by Mike Newell (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire)
Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action
Appropriate for ages 10+

    Based on the best-selling video game, Prince follows the story of a young boy from the streets of Persia who is adopted by the king.  Years later, and upon sacking the Holy City of Alamut, the young prince discovers a dagger with the power to reverse time.  During the course of the movie he must keep the dagger away from those that would attempt to do evil with it.

    Ever since the mad success of Pirates of the Caribbean, Disney and Jerry Bruckheimer have been looking for a way to recapture that money-making magic with a new franchise and Prince of Persia seemed like the perfect vehicle.  After all, the game was hugely successful and as long as they got a big star in the title role and spent a ton on special effects, the results should be pure gold. 

    As far as the basic elements for success, they are all there.  Jake Gyllenhaal makes for a great lead due to his obvious good looks and charisma.  Ben Kingsley can always play the perfect villain and this film is no different.  Gemma Arterton is beautiful and not too annoying, although she comes close.  I will admit that the leads are a bit too pretty throughout the film though, but I guess it is the movies.  As far as Alfred Molina is concerned, he is funny at times, but his Sheik Amar is not really a great character.  What this film needed to propel itself into Pirates of the Caribbean territory is a Johnny Depp-like co-lead thrown in and Molina is certainly not it.  In fact, none of the characters are really big or over-the-top enough for a film such as this which really hurts it’s chances of being more than just a simple summer popcorn flick.

    What Bruckheimer brings to the table is a world-class production and while the characters aren’t that big, the film certainly is.  The filmmaking is done on a grand scale with huge battle sequences, great stunt work and nifty special effects.  I will admit, though, that the climactic sequence, which I’m assuming took up a major part of the effects budget, was so confusing to watch that I’m still not sure what I was seeing.  Maybe they thought if they just popped a lot of great images on screen, the audience won’t ask questions, but to create an Escher painting out of sand is confounding and should have been better thought out and much better directed.

    Still, the film is for the most part entertaining and you can tell they tried really, really hard to give you your money’s worth.  B-

Shrek Forever After

Starring the voices of Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, and Antonio Banderas
Directed by Mike Mitchell (Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo)
Rated PG for mild action, some rude humor and brief language
Appropriate for all ages

    In this fourth and final installment of the Shrek series, Shrek finds himself a husband, a father, and stuck right in the middle of a mid-life crisis.  After all, he used to be a fierce ogre, and now no one is the least bit scared of him anymore.  But when a mischievous wizard named Rumplestiltskin offers him the chance to be feared for a day in exchange for something inconsequential to Shrek at the time, he gladly accepts the bargain.  Unfortunately, the contract he signs throws him into an alternate universe where his very existence may be in question at the end of the 24 hour period. 

    It’s hard to believe that the first Shrek came out in 2001, but that being said, Shrek the franchise has matured with the years.  Very fitting for a movie about an ogre that feels that his best years are behind him, for in a way they are.  The first two films were wildly creative, full of invention and irreverent humor that was unlike what we had ever seen in an animated film before.  The third film was, well, let’s try to forget about the third film.  And now this movie shows an ogre that wants to go back to the beginning again. 

    As a movie, it’s actually a great tale about growing up and accepting responsibility for not just your life but for your family as well.  I’ve never thought these films were meant for children, although they can certainly be enjoyed by them, but rather they are adult in nature, and this new addition proves it grandly.  There are some nice moments throughout and much more drama than comedy.

    Here’s the problem.  Shrek is right in not being satisfied with his life in a way.  His coolness and creativity have kind of been stripped out of him by now.  This new film, while telling a clever story, is not funny nor hip in any way (aside from a few chuckles at an overweight Puss in Boots).  In fact it feels tired.  Maybe it’s because there is a brand new writing and directing team and they were wrong for the project.  But any way you look at it, the story is the very definition of irony.  And while they could have left the theme the same, they should have reinvented Shrek in a way that wouldn’t have made him so stinkin’ lame.  C+

Robin Hood

Starring Russell Crowe, Cate Blanchett, and Max von Sydow
Directed by Ridley Scott (Gladiator)
Rated PG-13 for violence including intense sequences of warfare, and some sexual content
Appropriate for ages 13+

    Loosely based on the what we wish would be the current situation in California, a soldier comes home from fighting in the war only to find his countrymen being overtaxed by the tyrants who run the land, so using his skills as a leader and his abilities as a fighter he leads a revolution.  Oh, wait, that was the Robin Hood we used to know.  This Robin Hood tells the tale of the man that would later become that famous man that steals from the rich and gives to the poor.  It tells the origin of how Robin Longstride went from being a soldier in the King’s army to being a champion of the people.  And if the film makes enough money, perhaps we can watch him become a champion of the people some day too. 

    This is a difficult film to review because while watching it I knew I wasn’t enjoying it, but I couldn’t figure out why.  The directing by Ridley Scott was tremendous.  He really knows what he is doing with films like this.  It is his calling to produce magnificent period pieces. 

    And the acting is really great as well, Especially by Crowe and Blanchett.  Crowe gives everything he has to a role and this intensity is truly admirable.  He is  still one of my favorite actors even though he just made another movie I didn’t care for too much.

    After much careful thought, it really does come down to the script.  The original concept of the film, where the Sheriff of Nottingham was the hero and Robin Hood the villain was scrapped for this more traditional idea and the spec script sale which was handsomely paid out to Ethan Reiff and Cyrus Voris was switched out to writer Brian Helgeland (Mystic River) where I’m assuming the story took on a completely new life.  It makes me wonder why Universal bought the original script to begin with, but we’ll never know that one. 
   
    What we do know is that the point of the film is to put the story of Robin Hood in complete historical context.  The filmmakers wanted to ask the question of “why does Robin Hood need to steal from the rich to give to the poor?”  They needed a script that gave a really strong political answer and the only way to do that was to bog the whole film down with detail after detail which made the movie so very boring.  Another thing that leads the film to slow down is that Robin gets his way too easily.  Everything is too convenient.  He escapes from his shackles to find the right uniforms to get on a ship to get back to England where he is openly accepted as a member of Maid Marion’s family.  It’s almost silly, and unfortunately not Men in Tights silly. 

    Also, one thing that every successful Robin Hood film to date has had in common is that they have all been fun.  This one strips the fun right out and converts it into a historical war drama.  But then the big historical war drama gets stripped of most of its violence.  While I don’t think a film like this needed blood and guts everywhere, I do think that if you are to create this kind of movie, it needs to be R-rated.  PG-13 doesn’t cut it.  This looked like the airplane version of the movie and not the epic it could have been. 

    But I still don’t think the added violence could have helped the much needed script problems which I think will ultimately lead to a distracted and uninterested audience.  C-

The Secret in their Eyes

Starring Soledad Villamil, Ricardo Darin, and Pablo Rago
Directed by Juan Jose Campanella
Rated R for a rape scene, violent images, some graphic nudity, and language
Spanish with English subtitles

    This winner of the 2009 Academy Award for Best Foreign Film tells the story of an Argentinean Federal Agent that returns to the city he used to work in so that he can write a book about a rape/murder case he worked on that was never truly solved and brought to justice many years earlier.  As he begins to unravel the clues of what he had previously uncovered mixed with new findings, he discovers secrets and revelations that could be even more enlightening and disturbing.

    As with any year of Oscar-nominated foreign films, many of them you don’t get to see until the middle of the next year so you can’t gauge how something could have beat out a film that you thought was far superior.  In this case, I was in awe that this film beat The White Ribbon, which I thought to an amazing contender from Germany.  But sure enough, this film proves itself as a worthy enough contestant with quality at all levels.

    First and foremost is terrific script that twists and turns and really keeps you guessing throughout.  It’s just over two hours long, but keeps your brain busy the entire length wondering what is going to happen next and what each subtle clue really means. 

    And most of those subtle clues come from very fine acting by an extremely talented cast.  While you may not know any of the faces or names, that won’t matter because the performances will blow you away.

    And here is something you won’t hear me say often, but the slow, methodical pacing makes the film that much better.  Campanella has made a fine career of directing American television shows such as House, SVU and 30 Rock, but given the reigns of a suspense thriller such as this, he proves himself to be a master.  That slowness of pacing he employees allows your brain to run through scenarios, figure things out, get things wrong, and fully appreciate the art being put on screen.

    Also, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the haunting piano-heavy score by Federico Jusid and Emilio Kauderer.  Had it been available widely to voters towards the end of 2009, we might have seen some tougher competition for Michael Giacchino’s Up during the awards season.   

    Finally, I have to admit that I’m a sucker for a great ending and this ending will shake you to the core and leave you questioning your own morality and sense of justice in the process.  A   

Iron Man 2

Starring Robert Downey Jr., Don Cheadle, Mickey Rourke, Sam Rockwell, and Scarlett Johansson
Directed by John Favreau (Iron Man)
Rated PG-13 for sequence of intense sci-fi action violence, and some language
Appropriate for ages 13+

    Now that the world is safe from terrorists due to the invincible Iron Man/Tony Stark (Downey Jr.), the U.S. government wants the suit, and they want it bad.  With other countries and even U.S. defense contractors hard at work to duplicate it, Stark won’t give it up, but is happy to keep defending the U.S.  Little does he know that there is a crazy Russian named Ivan Vanko, A.K.A. Whiplash (Rourke), that wants to kill him and a competing weapons manufacturer lead by Justin Hammer (Rockwell) that wants to hire the Russian to do just that very task. 

    With the first film, the origin story is very important, and they did a tremendous job of bringing it to the screen.  There was great action, humor, and a couple of decent battles.  But what the first film lacked was a great villain.  Iron Man 2 has such a villain in Whiplash.  Mickey Rourke brings just enough creepiness into the role to provide a villain that is not only terrifying but brilliant at the same time which is worse.  He just might be the only person on the planet as smart as Stark and his only motive is senseless revenge.  When he makes his move you just know things are going to get bad and fun at the same time.

    Writer Justin Theroux (Tropic Thunder) did an excellent job of providing loads of excellent characters.  It helps when you have a terrific cast like this, but you can only attract a cast like Robert Downey Jr., Don Cheadle, Scarlett Johansson, Gwyneth Paltrow, Sam Rockwell, Mickey Rourke, Samuel L. Jackson, John Slattery, and Gary Shandling when you have such juicy parts for them to play.  Even director Jon Favreau was able to steal his own stage several times as Stark’s driver/assistant Happy Hogan. 

    So without a knock on the first film, I will say that this one is better, but that doesn’t really matter because it’s just a second great addition to a terrific franchise.

    Spoiler Alert:  While I really liked the film, I was deeply disappointed with one aspect of the final battle scene where Iron Man is being chased by a group of drones through a crowded fairgrounds.  He is dodging bullets left and right, but I question why Favreau or Theroux wouldn’t have taken this scene off sight to avoid collateral damage.  It almost appears like Iron Man is trying to get civilians everywhere killed.  If it was just a quick shot (no pun intended), it would be forgivable, but this was a lingering scene and stuck out severely.  A-

Babies

Rated PG for cultural and maternal nudity throughout
Appropriate for all ages

Babies is a documentary that takes a look at the first year of the lives of four children from around the world including one each from Mongolia, Tokyo, Namibia, and San Francisco.  

Perhaps the cutest movie ever made, Babies is stuffed full of some of the greatest images you will ever see of the most adorable kids a camera could capture.  If you thought the film was going to show you that although our worlds are far apart, our love for children is something we all have in common, then you have it partly right.  The film also does a terrific job at showing how culturally different our worlds truly are.  Through pieces of their lives, we see what it is like to grow up in each of their respective countries and speaking as someone who is about to have his own baby any day now, there are pieces of each of their worlds I would like for my first baby.  OK, maybe not Namibia.  It was pretty primitive.  But I really did love seeing these children age a year over ninety minutes and was as entertained as could be.  

The one thing you won’t really get here that might have been interesting was a story.  The filmmakers chose to use images and sounds rather than story, which will probably work out fine for them financially, but a narrative here with these amazing pieces of imagery could made for a more compelling movie.  B