Review: RED 2

It's been pretty hit and miss for both Bruce Willis and Jon Malchovich in the last few years.  And by 'hit and miss,' I really mean almost entirely 'misses.'  Can anyone think of any decent movies from either star besides the first RED movie?  They are both capable actors who, like many modern teeny boppers, need New Direction(s), or at least good ones (I know, that's a bad pun).  And they seem to have found it and amazing character writing in their latest endeavor, RED 2.

I adored the first movie to the point that I own it on Blu-ray.  It was a refreshingly unconventional take on the spy genre in that it was well executed AND it didn't take itself too seriously.  Any film that tries to break convention gets points in my book.  Add some marvelous acting and character development, and I'm sold!  Now, I don't want to turn this review into a review of the first film, yet I would be remiss if I didn't note how much I loved it and how much I was anticipating the sequel.

THE GOOD
First and foremost, this movie is character-driven.  And the characters are likable to the point of them being Whedon-esque.  I will go through each of them individually because I enjoyed them so very much.

Mary Louise-Parker is, in my humble opinion, the most under-used actress in Hollywood right now.  She is even better in this movie than she is in the first.  Not to be a dead horse, but her character is so likable, quirky, and yet the most grounded of them all.  She is the character that the audience relates with most, and I would suggest that her performance is flawless here.

Jon M. and Helen Miren are both also better than the first film, which I would have thought impossible. Their chemistry, along with most of the rest of the cast, is electrifying. I enjoyed all their interactions so very much.  Even Byung-hun Lee's character had good chemistry with them, although I think that was more due to wonderful writing and directing than his actual acting ability.

This movie is the funniest film I've seen all year.  So, if you liked the first one, this one delivers the goods in spades.

The set piece transition mechanism is also a step up from the last movies' postcards.  They basically use the comic book images to transition between scenes.  I really enjoyed it.

THE BAD
Although the acting was good with most of the main characters, there were blaring exceptions.  Neal Mcdonough, Catherine Zeta Jones, and Anthony Hopkins were just so-so performances.  McDonough felt out-of-place, like he didn't belong in the same league as the other legends.  Whereas Zeta-Jones and Hopkins are in the same league, but just didn't deliver on the same level as the 4 protagonists.

The story was campy and outlandish, something that a lot of audiences don't have tolerance for post-Bourne.  I was willing to give an exception here, however I can see why some would find it too corny.

CONCLUSION
I really loved this movie.  I recommend it to anyone who liked the first one and I certainly can understand why this isn't for everyone.  Critics have been hard on it and part of me understands why.  It is quirky and not everyone loves that.  4.25/5 Disco Balls.

PARENTS GUIDE
The language isn't too bad, yet there is a remarkable amount of killing.  I think if someone were to do a body count I wouldn't be surprised if it was in the 100s. They don't show a lot of blood.  But, don't be mistaken: this is a horribly violent film.

Review: Pacific Rim

Let's get this out of the way: I hate Anime.  I've tried on multiple occasions to appreciate the art form, but just can't get into it.  And if you watch the trailer for Pacific Rim, it's likely that you will compare it to Anime, because that's essentially what it is.

Despite my lack of enthusiasm for this film, it was recommended by some REALLY respectable folks in the critical and even directorial community (Rian Johnson, one of the biggest up-and-comer directors, tweeted that he saw it twice on opening day).  As a result, I gave it a shot.  And as a result of me giving it a shot, you get to read this review of Pacific Rim and make an informed decision of whether to see it.

THE GOOD
First, let's start with the special effects and Computer Generated Imaging (CGI).  The special effects were out of this world.  The monsters were so well crafted and so scary that I didn't once question their veracity.  I think that this is where most of the $200 million budget went to.  The robots, or Jaegers if you prefer, were so beautiful and awesome to behold.  I couldn't get over how cool they looked and how realistic they were.

If you want some summer popcorn action, Pacific Rim delivers it in droves.  I cannot stress how enjoyable the fight scenes are to watch.  Imagine a 13 year old boy's dreams, and this is how it is.  They are executed flawlessly, with the correct amount of tension in the right spots, as well as exhilarating payoffs.

The actual story and premise of the movie is actually quite interesting and is setup very well in the opening exposition/montage.  The movie is also remarkably well paced, never lulling, yet also not non-stop to the point of exhaustion.  Guillermo Del Toro (the director) knows how to craft a good story and make an enjoyable film.

Although I didn't dig the color palette, it did make for some refreshingly unique visuals.  The camera work was good too.

THE BAD
I wasn't a big fan of the soundtrack.  It sounded like it came from (GASP) an Anime cartoon.

Where this movie really didn't work for me was the cartoonish characters.  Like everything in this film, it felt like they drew on Anime for their inspiration, and those types of characters just don't speak to me.  This made the middle third of the movie a bit hard to watch.  Even Idris Elba (possibly one of my favorite actors in the world right now, and if you haven't watched Luther on BBC do it now) didn't do it for me.  I blame the script and directing, not necessarily the actors. Also, there is a Chinese girl in the movie that I really couldn't like.  I tried, but her acting was just too terrible.

CONCLUSION
Overall, I enjoyed this film.  It's probably one that should be seen in the theater too, because those action scenes are just incredible.  3.5/5 Disco Balls.

PARENTS GUIDE
There is hardly any human blood or gore in this film, but the giant monsters take quite a brutal and graphic beating.  No sex, not a lot of swearing.  I really recommend that anyone under 13 not see this movie.

Review: The Lone Ranger

I promised myself that I wouldn't watch this movie, mostly because I felt that I had a pretty good idea of how awful it was going to be.  Gore Verbinski, the director, has a really bad track record with me.  His only coherent film is the first Pirates of the Carribean film, while the others are just awful and unwatchable.  He actually started off directing Budweiser 'frog' commercials, and then got his break with Dreamworks with a film called Mouse Hunt.  Suffice it to say, I think he gets one more strike with Disney, and then he's out (not including this film).

REVIEW
The movie starts out quite compelling, with Johnny Depp stealing the screen and a really good musical score.  However, it goes WAY downhill after that. 

Everyone did adequate acting, but the characters that they were given to portray were ridiculous.  Armie Hammer's Lone Ranger is not a hero in any sense, unless you believe that a hero should be a blabbering moron.  His ideals are high, but then he 'must' break them and therefore becomes a 'hero' because of his lack of trust in any institution.

Johnny Depp's Tonto was equally adequate, but not nearly as interesting as his other characters.  Many will tell you that this Tonto is nothing more than an American-Indian Captain Jack.  I highly disagree.  Jack Sparrow was way more interesting and likeable.

There were a lot of great actors in this, but they were all wasted!  Helena Bonam Carter barely had 4 minutes of screen time!  William Fitchner did the best job of all, but not enough to save the movie.

The film had an identity crisis: it didn't know if it wanted to be a comedy, a drama, an action flick, or a horror film.  It switched its tone between these more than any live action movie I've ever seen.  It was horribly uneven, and by the end I really wanted to leave the theater.  It was that awful of an experience for me!

The main message I got from the film is "Don't trust any institution."  It openly paints corporations and government alike as greedy to the point of being willing to kill for it.  I'm no pro-government enthusiast, but the heavy-handedness with which this was doled out was quite despicable and unbecoming of Disney.  There is a native american massacre at the hands of both institutions in this film.

The PG-13 rating is way too low.  There is a scene of canibalism that should have pushed this over the top to R.  A lot of folks feel that Disney must have pulled some strings to get it passed as PG-13, and I tend to agree with them.

CONCLUSION
The Lone Ranger is easily the worst film I have seen all year and one of the weirdest films I've ever seen.  It wasn't very funny or very pleasing to look at, though it tried very hard to do both.  1/5 Disco Balls.

PARENTS GUIDE
This is one of the hardest PG-13 films I've ever seen.  It should be R and the MPAA should be ashamed of themselves.  No children under 16 should see this movie.

Review: Under the Dome (Pilot)

It is a strange time to be a television viewer.  It used to be the norm to accept bad acting and silly lines in order to appreciate most television shows.  Shows like The West Wing and Law & Order stood out like diamonds among the rough, while shows like Smallville caused us to suspend our better tastes in order to stomach it.  Then, cable networks like AMC, FX, and USA started to offer up shows like Mad Men, The Walking Dead, Breaking Bad, Justified, and Suits, forever altering the way I personally view television. I no longer accept mediocrity when watching TV shows.  I realize that this is a high bar to hold something like Under the Dome to, but unfortunately that's the reality.

SYNOPSIS
Based on Stephen King's novel, an invisible force field descends upon a small town in the northeastern part of the United States.

REVIEW
First of all, the premise is quite interesting.  It's a mix of character drama, suspense, survival, and a pinch of apocalypse.  The underlying mysteries of why the dome is there and what's behind these folks' facades are actually quite compelling.  Unfortunately, with Stephen King behind it, it's going to end up in a very dark place, which is admittedly not my thing.  It reminds me of Lost in many ways, although nowhere near as well executed (Lost's Showrunners Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse openly admit that King's The Stand was the show's primary inspiration).

The opening shot sequence was really effective.  However, there wasn't much more of the effective camera work throughout the episode that we saw in the beginning.  I guess i shouldn't expect amazing camera work on a TV show, but I was teased with the opening and then it didn't pan out (figuratively or literally).

The acting was okay, but Brian K. Vaughn (the writer) is NOT a character-driven writer, at least as far as I can tell.  Some of the acting was good, but most of simply acceptable.  I feel almost nothing for these characters after the first episode, so I'm actually not inclined to continue watching.

The special effects were really good.  They are better than the ones on Once Upon a Time, which is the other effects-driven network show that it's comparable to.  There is a scene where a truck hits the dome head on and I have to say it was one of the coolest car crashes I've ever seen.  Kudos to them.

The sex and violence in here are not effective and seem to be for the risque value instead of actually adding to the story.  I openly chuckled at some of the silly gore that they felt compelled to include.

CONCLUSION
I guess it's a decent summer show.  I'm not sure if they're planning on it being a mini-series or continue on if the ratings are good.  But, I don't think I will continue to watch.

2.5/5 Disco Balls. 

PARENTS GUIDE
This is a pretty hard TV-14.  They put everything in there that they are allowed to.  There is a fairly graphic sex scene and some gross gore.  Not recommended for children.