Sin City: A Dame to Kill For – Review

The 2005 film Sin City was an impressive display of comics to film. Nine years later, the stylized sequel is here with four new tales of Sin City. The writing sets a gritty and noir scene where the booze is cheap and so are the broads. The cast delivers   fun performances for the most part. The element of the film that continues to shine is that of the style; visually, it looks like the movie was story boarded directly from the art style of the comics.

Sin City: A Dame to Kill For has four separate stories that take place in various areas of the Sin City time line.  In the first, Marv tries to figure out why someone called him “Bernie.” In the second, a cocky young gambler joins a poker game and it becomes more than he bargained for. The third tale is about Dwight, played by Josh Brolin, and a femme fatale, played by Eva Green, that he used to be married to, crossing his path.  The forth story is about Nancy, played by Jessica Alba, getting revenge for the death of Hartigan.

The cinematography in this film is great. For the most part, it is black and white with the occasional splash of color. While pretty, it still carries the same noir mood of the last film but does not bring anything original to the table. The action is standard but not at all unique. The acting is also pretty standard, with the exception of Eva Green who is dynamite as always.  As for the writing, the script was written in the misogynistic way you would expect from Frank Miller.

The stories have a Deus ex Marv element to them. Without Marv, the characters wouldn’t be able to solve anything. The stories are entertaining with the exception of the last, due the fact that Jessica Alba is not believable as a physical badass.  When she fired a gun I honestly thought the recoil was going to break her wrist. The movie also ends so abruptly it will give you whiplash.

If you were a fan of the last Sin City then you will probably enjoy this movie, especially if you save some cash and see the matinee or wait for the rental.  If you get the opportunity, I recommend seeing the 3-D version- it’s worth it. I’m still confused as to why it took nine years to make this follow up. It would have been more effective if the creators struck while the iron was hot and made this when it was more relevant.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – review

Let me take you back to 1990 when the first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie came out. I was super excited to see a live action version of the characters I loved as a kid finally on screen.  Looking back on that movie now it seems very silly, but I appreciate the effects and the stunt work that went into it. The writing and plot is lacking which is completely excusable from the mind of a child.  This is the case a with the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film.

April O’Neil, played by Megan Fox, is a reporter trying to find out more about the Foot Clan crime wave taking over New York.  After being attacked, she is saved by four CGI mutant turtles.  As it turns out she had a pivotal role in their mutation and thus they become fast friends.  Now they must band together to stop the Foot Clan and it’s evil master the Shedder.

The biggest problem with this movie is that it is called Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.  It should probably be called April O’Neil.  Everything centers on her and the turtles have become secondary characters to their own movie.  April O’Neil is not that interesting nor is Megan Fox that entertaining of an actress to carry that weight.  At times she seemed to struggle with the words from the script. 

The action scenes are fun to watch and are well shot.  You can honestly say that there was care to make it look fun and interesting. The Shedder is pretty much a joke. He looks like a metal bird at times.  Master Splinter is nightmarish; his eyes display a soulless abyss of blackness while he dons a bizarre fu-manchu and is voiced by none other than Tony Shalhoub.

There are so many plot holes in this movie it could have come from a Swiss cheese factory.  The bottom-line is that it is a bad movie. That being said, if I was the kid I was in 1990 and I saw this I would have enjoyed it. I think that makes the difference. I am not the audience for this movie at all. It’s more of a movie for kids with a couple of cheap jokes for the parents that had to take them to the theater. If you are curious rent it. If you have kids that are into the Ninja Turtles then they will probably have fun and you’ll be the hero.

Guardians of the Galaxy – review

Guardians of the Galaxy is the tenth of the Marvel cinematic universe franchise films. It is both entertaining and funny, for the most part. While being a very watchable film, there are still a few things that it could have improved upon. For example, the villain was fairly one-dimensional and some of the air battle scenes made it difficult to see what was happening.

Peter Quill/Star-Lord, played by Christ Pratt, steals an orb that draws the attention of all manner of bounty hunter and mercenary in the galaxy.  Starlord is eventually arrested while fighting off a few of these attackers. While in prison, he teams up with a rag-tag group of misfits including a living tree-man, an anthropomorphic raccoon man, a green skinned assassin woman, and psychotic thug who understands the English language in a purely literal way.  Together they must stop an alien creature from obtaining an object that could spell doom for many planets.

The protagonists in Guardians of the Galaxy are a lot of fun. They are basically space pirates and each have interesting quirks and traits that make them memorable and dynamic characters.  The only problem I found was that the main villain was not given a lot of screen time. His costume and make-up look great but that was not enough to make me feel that he was an unstoppable threat. I thought Ronan’s lackey, Nebula, played by Karen Gillian, was much more intimidating.

The action itself is fun to watch. Some of the space battles did leave me wondering exactly what it was I was looking at. This is the sort of movie that will give you hope for when Disney finally gets Star Wars ready for a theatrical release.  I expected to see much more of Benicio Del Toro’s character, The Collector, but his screen time was really bare bones. The special effects are good and the soundtrack is even better.

As a whole I’d say Guardians of the Galaxy is worth checking out.  The mood is fun and the movie doesn’t take itself as seriously as other superhero movies tend to do.  See it if you can.  Make sure you stay until after the credits in order to see the silliest reveal of a character in a long time.

Lucy – review

If you tossed Limitless with a dash of 2001: a Space Odyssey, and Akira with the character of Dr. Manhattan from The Watchmen in a blender you would end up with something like Lucy. The movie is incredibly silly and you need to suspend a lot of disbelief to sit through it. The acting is by far the best part of the film. Scarlett Johansson at least attempts to bring in a decent show. I am just not sure if it is enough to save this movie.

Lucy, played by Scarlett Johansson, is living in Taiwan when the boy she is dating forces her to be a drug mule for some Korean gangsters.  The drugs are placed in her stomach to smuggle to another country. The contents leak into her stomach and rather than kill her they make her intelligence increase exponentially.  She must now come to terms with the fact that her brain is developing in new ways and is growing beyond humanity.

The biggest problem with this movie is that they expect you to swallow the premise that humans can only access 10% of their brains. This is so scientifically inaccurate that it is akin to having people go into space and being able to take off their masks to breathe normally.  I get that they need this idea for the premise of the movie but it asks a lot of the audience’s intelligence. 

Scarlett does a fine job performing for this part. Between Her and Under the Skin it has been really great to see what she brings to the table as of late. The problem is that she is given laughable dialogue. For example, there is a scene where she calls her mother and describes memories she has of being breastfed. It seemed like the intent was to draw emotions of sympathy for Lucy but all it got was loud chuckles from the audience. 

There are so many plot holes in this movie that you can just about park a car in them. Strange scenes are added just for the sake of being strange.  The beginning of the movie starts out with a hairy Neanderthal drinking water out of a lake. The same Neanderthal is shoehorned in later as Lucy, the first woman.  On the other hand, it is a Luc Besson movie and it does mean there is an element of cheese to be expected.

The bottom line is that Lucy is probably not worth seeing in the theaters. It is certainly worth a rental at the very least.  It is cheesy and should be enjoyed for that. It is science fiction and there are some fun aspects to it. It is a mediocre movie that was at least entertaining. Sometimes that is all we ask from a movie.

Deliver Us From Evil – review

In a world full of horror movies, Deliver Us From Evil is just another one. Instead of being a simple story of exorcism revolving around a cop, it takes elements from other stories and plays them all like an overzealous poker player.  The acting is not particularly notable save for Eric Bana.  The other casting is bizarre and makes this movie okay but otherwise forgettable.

Police Sargent Ralph Sarchie, played by Eric Bana, and his partner Butler, played by Joel McHale, are New York Police officers that come across a series of cases that seem to be demonically related. A Castilian priest joins him and together they take on the forces of evil. Soon the forces of evil attack him at this home. Can Officer Sarchie stop this invasive presence before it kills others?

Eric Bana does a fine job giving the movie a certain level of gravitas. The other cast members are not really into their parts.  Olivia Munn as Ralph’s wife has two emotions, teary and monotone. The Priest character is sadly really numb in his delivery. There is also the odd choice of casting Joel McHale in a thriller as a somewhat action role. His smartass quips change the tone of the scenes he is in. I do commend him on getting in shape for his role though.

The effects are not bad and the visuals themselves are chilling. As a whole, the movie is just not that scary. There are tons of predictable jump scares and the movie goes through several by-the-book exorcism clichés.  The story has a few distracting plot holes- interesting elements that are addressed but never concluded. There is also an odd side story of Sargent Sarchie’s daughter being tormented by the demon that unfortunately goes nowhere.

The movie has all the elements of a possible good movie but the tones are all over the place.  If there were major rewrites it could have been great or at the very least entertaining. Instead the movie plays it safe and does not attempt to bring anything interesting to the table. It is not a terrible film but it is certainly a forgettable one.   

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes – review

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is the sequel to the 2011 film Rise of the Planet of the Apes. The writing is top notch, showing compelling protagonists and complex antagonists.  The acting is great too. The story provided significant growth of the characters that returned from the first film.  It is a smart movie that can really stand-alone on it’s own merits.

Taking place ten years after the events of the first film, Caesar and the rest of the intelligent Apes have started a community in the woods. While they are living there they encounter a human group that is attempting to start up an old electrical dam in order to get electricity to their city.  There is distrust on both sides but both cultures must work together in order to avoid war. 

The writing is very solid. The characters we remember somewhat from the last film have grown considerably.  The human survivor characters are also really well developed. While some are not empathetic to the Apes, the movie does a really good job showing you that they have realistic motivations for their actions. How Andy Serkis has not yet gotten an Oscar nod is mind blowing.

Jason Clarke, Keri Russell, and Gary Oldman really make this a new and fascinating film. Turning a story of apes revolting in the last film into a very relevant story about understanding one another despite very complicated circumstances involving resources and possible war.  The CGI is well done and the action scenes are very fun to watch.  The apes look awesome and terrifying and at times it is easy to forget there is an actor doing motion capture.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes is the superior film in my opinion, however Dawn of the Planet of the Apes movie can easily stand-alone and can still be considered a good movie. The characters are likable and the story is very entertaining.  It is very worth seeing and anyone who enjoyed the first movie will enjoy this movie. You’ll have more fun than a barrel of monkeys.

Top Ten Unique Wedding Movies

Summer brings warm weather, barbeques, and weddings.  For the most part wedding movies are romantic, funny, and often clichéd, yet there are many that are classics and a few that are truly unique. Here are a few not-so-obvious wedding films worth looking into:

10. Corpse Bride- A stop-motion movie that is colorful and dark. While practicing his vows, a Victorian era man accidentally becomes betrothed to a Corpse Bride voiced by Helena Bonham Carter. The movie is colorful and the characters are very unique. There are interesting thematic elements like love loss and murder which are fairly dark and make for a very adult friendly movie.

9. Coming to America- An Eddie Murphy comedy where he plays a young prince who is promised to marry a woman he is not interested in. He decides to move to America and live poorly in Queens, New York in an attempt to find a bride who will love him for himself. Not only is this an incredibly heartwarming movie it is also very funny. Eddie Murphy does a wonderful job in his performance. The supporting cast is also a lot of fun to watch, making this comedy a classic.

8. So I Married an Axe Murderer- Mike Myers plays a man who marries a woman whom he is afraid may be an axe murder. This often forgotten comedy gem is fairly quotable and has enjoyable characters. Considering the dark subject matter the humor is still fairly light.  The casting is really well done and the soundtrack is even pretty catchy.  It showcases Mike Myer’s talent pre-Austin Powers fame when he was still pretty humble.

7. The Wedding Singer- If you enjoy 80s nostalgia, this movie is the one for you. Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore find love while working at various weddings and planning hers. It is a fun movie that has a very sincere feeling to it.  While the movie has some cheesy elements, the tongue-in-cheek aspects only add to the enjoyment.  They have a chemistry that works well that it is seldom seen in many other romantic comedies.

6. Meet the Parents- Anyone who has entered a serious relationship has been able to identify with this movie on some level. The relate-ability aspect is a big part of the charm of this movie. Ben Stiller plays a man who goes with his girlfriend to her sister’s wedding.  He intends to propose but first he has to deal with a very intimidating father, played by Robert DeNiro.  The movie does a great job portraying the awkwardness of trying to get a loved one’s family to like you. The situations are extreme but they play it off seriously which adds to the humor.

5. Very Bad Things- Imagine the movie “the Hangover” with murder. That is not the most accurate description but would just about encompass the spirit of this film. A group of friends who are at a bachelor party accidentally kill a hooker. This event sets off a chain of events that ends with many deaths and lives ruined. It still keeps its sense of humor with its very dark subject matter.  It is the sort of movie that will leave you feeling a lot of things, mostly uncomfortable.

4. I Love You Man- Some men don’t have a lot of male friends. What do they do when it’s time to choose a best man? Answer- they go search for someone they can hang out with. Luckily for Paul Rudd he finds Jason Segal.  The friendship they develop seems very genuine and the movie is extremely humorous. The movie is clever and really does a good job connecting to the thought processes that an adult male would go through in a similar situation.

3. The Five-Year Engagement- Another Jason Segal movie. Where “I Love You Man,” can be considered a feel-good comedy, “The Five-Year Engagement” gives the audience a wider variety of emotional content. Jason Segal and Emily Blunt play a couple that experience a series of events that make them postpone their wedding, leading to constant relationship problems. It is a sweet movie that reminds us that love is worth fighting for.

2. [REC]³: Genesis- What would this genre be without a good horror film? Leticia Dolera and Diego Martin play newlyweds. Their wedding is going well until suddenly guests start turning into the possessed demonic/zombies of the other [REC] films.   The acting is good and the movie is full of gore and energy. If you are into fun foreign movies or might be interested in something completely different, this movie will likely entertain you.

1. Muriel’s Wedding- An Australian movie staring Toni Collette, this movie will have you laughing despite some of the drama it brings. Muriel is a daydreamer who has a verbally abusive, politician father who constantly brings her down. She goes on a vacation and meets a friend who teaches her to cut loose. Doing so allows her find a husband of her own. It is a sweet movie that is delightful and humorous.

Not all of us are in the mood for wedding season. If that is the case for you, then you might find these wedding movies to be a nice break from the norm and wildly entertaining. They run the gamut of genres so you have many options. Take a break this summer and try out a unique wedding movie.