Fast Five - I should say that I've only seen the first film in this series (and I've forgotten most of it), so I'm not what you'd call a fan of the franchise. I saw this because I was swayed by critical and personal recommendations. Walking out, I didn't love this film, but I did like it. I also learned two things:
1) Dwayne Johnson needs to get more action vehicles, and it needs to happen yesterday. Between this and Faster, the guy is proving he has the charisma and pure physicality to not be the new Arnold (I would never go that far...ever), but he's damn close to capturing the man's pure screen presence. Doing Disney films is not doing this man's talents justice.
2) Justin Lin can direct the hell out of car scenes and heist scenes. Both of them are over-the-top, but I haven't been this entertained with action racing since Death Proof.
And those two notes alone make this film, at worst, watchable and enjoyable. Especially in a theatre, because this one is loud and in-your-face. However, there are just too many things wrong with this film to really warrant anything better than an above average rating from me. Paul Walker gets a lot of flak, and he is indeed a limited actor, but he isn't given anything to do here. Neither is 98% of the cast, and there sure are a hell of a lot of actors just sort of standing around. Johnson gets the best lines and the best moments here, and it's readily apparent from his very first scene.
Honestly, this could have been better as a film if it wasn't in the Fast series. Make it an independent heist film with a guy on the lam (Diesel would be fine), getting revenge after a screw-job, with Johnson pursuing. Boom, you have a legitimately stronger movie. It's still enjoyable though.
3/5
1) Dwayne Johnson needs to get more action vehicles, and it needs to happen yesterday. Between this and Faster, the guy is proving he has the charisma and pure physicality to not be the new Arnold (I would never go that far...ever), but he's damn close to capturing the man's pure screen presence. Doing Disney films is not doing this man's talents justice.
2) Justin Lin can direct the hell out of car scenes and heist scenes. Both of them are over-the-top, but I haven't been this entertained with action racing since Death Proof.
And those two notes alone make this film, at worst, watchable and enjoyable. Especially in a theatre, because this one is loud and in-your-face. However, there are just too many things wrong with this film to really warrant anything better than an above average rating from me. Paul Walker gets a lot of flak, and he is indeed a limited actor, but he isn't given anything to do here. Neither is 98% of the cast, and there sure are a hell of a lot of actors just sort of standing around. Johnson gets the best lines and the best moments here, and it's readily apparent from his very first scene.
Honestly, this could have been better as a film if it wasn't in the Fast series. Make it an independent heist film with a guy on the lam (Diesel would be fine), getting revenge after a screw-job, with Johnson pursuing. Boom, you have a legitimately stronger movie. It's still enjoyable though.
3/5
Kung-Fu Panda 2 - I was fairly interested in this movie. The original was pure kung-fu gangbusters - it just "got" old kung fu movies. There was more pathos in that film than 95% of the live-action films that are churned out these days, and the humor just worked really well.
So it disappoints me to say that the sequel is at best a mixed bag. Let's get this out of the way - this film is gorgeous. Animated films have been blowing me away this year, first Rango and now this. Huge upgrade over the last film, rivaling and perhaps exceeding Pixar-quality animation. It also has a ****-load of action. Maybe too much action to the point where it seems a bit watered down. There isn't a scene that comes close to the intensity and splender of the prison escape in the original, for instance. But it's still pretty entertaining.
The voice acting works where it counts. I haven't liked him in really anything since High Fidelity, but Black was meant to play this role. Gary Oldman is Gary Oldman, and is doing his damnedest to churn up the "pompously-evil-but-still-pretty-bad-***" knob to eleven. James Hong is superb, as usual. The rest of the cast here is used for throwaway lines and exposition, and don't really get to do much. Hoffman, a shining performance in the original, is designated to perhaps three scenes. A wasted opportunity for sure.
And that's sort of the problem with the film. This is a story with a lot on it's plate. You have Shen (Oldman) eliminating the kung-fu elders and trying to take over China, you have Po trying to figure out who he is and where he's come from (a funny joke in the original film that is stretched a bit thin here), a somewhat strained relationship with his adopted duck father, and then you have this hinted relationship between him and Tigress (Jolie). It's just a lot on paper, and while these elements could have all been lofty on their own, they feel a bit thin when put altogether here.
Along with the plot problems, this film is just missing a lot of what was fairly vital to the original - humor. Sure, there are some laughs, but it's missing most of the original's magic touch. Perhaps it's because the main character has reached basically the pinnacle perch - I mean hell, he's been named the savior of kung fu already! Half the fun of the original was just seeing this fat panda struggle to not totally embarrass himself. They try the same jokes, but it feels lazy in relation to what's already established. It doesn't help that the supporting cast are given fairly bland material as well.
Bottom-line, it's a good summer animation film. It lacks the simplicity of the original, and sometimes comes off as going in too many directions at once, leaving a somewhat hollow experience. However, if you're into the original, I recommend it just to follow along the plot, the solid performances of the leads, and the 3D (it's used well for once here).
3.5/5
So it disappoints me to say that the sequel is at best a mixed bag. Let's get this out of the way - this film is gorgeous. Animated films have been blowing me away this year, first Rango and now this. Huge upgrade over the last film, rivaling and perhaps exceeding Pixar-quality animation. It also has a ****-load of action. Maybe too much action to the point where it seems a bit watered down. There isn't a scene that comes close to the intensity and splender of the prison escape in the original, for instance. But it's still pretty entertaining.
The voice acting works where it counts. I haven't liked him in really anything since High Fidelity, but Black was meant to play this role. Gary Oldman is Gary Oldman, and is doing his damnedest to churn up the "pompously-evil-but-still-pretty-bad-***" knob to eleven. James Hong is superb, as usual. The rest of the cast here is used for throwaway lines and exposition, and don't really get to do much. Hoffman, a shining performance in the original, is designated to perhaps three scenes. A wasted opportunity for sure.
And that's sort of the problem with the film. This is a story with a lot on it's plate. You have Shen (Oldman) eliminating the kung-fu elders and trying to take over China, you have Po trying to figure out who he is and where he's come from (a funny joke in the original film that is stretched a bit thin here), a somewhat strained relationship with his adopted duck father, and then you have this hinted relationship between him and Tigress (Jolie). It's just a lot on paper, and while these elements could have all been lofty on their own, they feel a bit thin when put altogether here.
Along with the plot problems, this film is just missing a lot of what was fairly vital to the original - humor. Sure, there are some laughs, but it's missing most of the original's magic touch. Perhaps it's because the main character has reached basically the pinnacle perch - I mean hell, he's been named the savior of kung fu already! Half the fun of the original was just seeing this fat panda struggle to not totally embarrass himself. They try the same jokes, but it feels lazy in relation to what's already established. It doesn't help that the supporting cast are given fairly bland material as well.
Bottom-line, it's a good summer animation film. It lacks the simplicity of the original, and sometimes comes off as going in too many directions at once, leaving a somewhat hollow experience. However, if you're into the original, I recommend it just to follow along the plot, the solid performances of the leads, and the 3D (it's used well for once here).
3.5/5
X-Men First Class
The best in the series by far. I loved X-2 but this one was even better.
It is a prequel and I wish they would have gone with a complete reboot of the series. They went nuts with cameos and little things to make you remember that it is a prequel. The action was awesome and the story is good. The relationship between Xavier and Magneto makes the movie. It is a mutant bromance that ends in heartbreak.
The other mutants are cool but you would have to be a comic geek to know who most of them are. Banshee and Beast were the only ones that really rang a bell for me.
Banshee is the most interesting and adds a little comic relief.
I hope they turn this into a new franchise because it is so much better than the other ones. Everyone just needs to forget the other movies and lets start fresh.
I give it an 78%
I'd rate it better if it wasn't a prequel to those other movies.
The best in the series by far. I loved X-2 but this one was even better.
It is a prequel and I wish they would have gone with a complete reboot of the series. They went nuts with cameos and little things to make you remember that it is a prequel. The action was awesome and the story is good. The relationship between Xavier and Magneto makes the movie. It is a mutant bromance that ends in heartbreak.
The other mutants are cool but you would have to be a comic geek to know who most of them are. Banshee and Beast were the only ones that really rang a bell for me.
Banshee is the most interesting and adds a little comic relief.
I hope they turn this into a new franchise because it is so much better than the other ones. Everyone just needs to forget the other movies and lets start fresh.
I give it an 78%
I'd rate it better if it wasn't a prequel to those other movies.
13 Assassins - I consider Takashi Miike a genuinely genius filmmaker, maybe one of the most brilliant working internationally today. That doesn't mean I always get, or even like, his projects. A man with 84 (!) directing credits and counting, is going to have several bizarre missteps, some wasted efforts, and a few plain old butcherings. I will also say that I have not seen any brilliant Miike since 2006's Juvenile A. And yes, I had been a bit sick of his forced wackiness, especially with Sukiyaki Western Django.
So imagine my surprise that perhaps the best film Miike has done in roughly a decade is perhaps his most restrained effort ever. The Edo period of Japan, one still dictated by Bushido code, has an aura of restraint and dignity in film, something that you expect a classical director like Kurosawa to brilliantly capture, and not the flamboyant Miike. Make no mistake - the first two acts could easily be confused for vintage Okamoto or Misumi direction. Miike demonstrates a brilliant understanding of the samurai code, and makes no direct judgements of it, instead choosing to slowly and carefully create a foundation of why this assassination must occur.
But make no mistake, this is still a Miike film, and it shows in the third and final act. The ensuing battle between the assassins and the 200-some retainers of the evil (and oh boy is this f***ker evil - more later) Lord Naritsugu can only be described as a tempest-torn symphony of violent justice. It is an hour long fight sequence, brilliantly choreographed and directed. It is exhausting and exhilarating, with the events unfolding to higher and higher heights of jaw-dropping excellence. Yes there are intense sword fights, flaming water buffalo trampling people, and yes, there is a 40-foot wall of wooden spikes, and all sorts of things exploding. And yes, it is all very, very satisfying (also note, it isn't overly gory or cartoonish - most of this battle violence could be shown on television these days - most Miike restraint).
But action scenes are, even at their most hectic and impressive, eventually hollow if there isn't a purpose to them. And it usually falls on two categories to make an audience care - (A) We want to see protagonists we relate to and care about live and succeed or (B) we hunger for a vile, piece-of-s*** antagonist to get what's coming. And while 13 Assassins has a very respectable, noble ensemble of heros, it is the later that makes the film so satisfying. Lord Naritsugu (played by Gorô Inagaki, a '90s Japanese boy band member) is without a doubt, one of the most disturbing and hate-able villains I've seen in film. For fans of The Wire, imagine the character of Marlo, that cold, disarmingly soft-spoken sociopathic personality, and then imagine him in the seat of Governor of Baltimore.
Like Marlo, Naritsugu commits heinous acts (removing limbs of innocent women, murdering children for target practice - all of which are depicted with a shiver-inducing detachment), not because of a mental illness or "drive", but because he simply can. It's a game, a somewhat fun one, but it doesn't fill any emotional vacancy. Because there IS no emotional element that exists in this character. This man is evil, and he cannot, must not, be allowed to live anymore, let alone threaten to rule over the nation.
There was a part in my viewing experience that I believe summed up why this movie works so well. After a scene where one of our heros dispatches one of Naritsugu's men in a particularly fantastic fashion, an audience member bellowed out "And you're f****** next, Naritsugu!". This was not for comic effect, the voice was not one trying to be cute, nor did it elicit laughter from the theatre. It just needed to be said. But that's what this film invokes - the need for a man to be killed, and to be killed in a spectacular fashion. And Miike, bless the man, delivers.
5/5
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-IzbkXo7bo
So imagine my surprise that perhaps the best film Miike has done in roughly a decade is perhaps his most restrained effort ever. The Edo period of Japan, one still dictated by Bushido code, has an aura of restraint and dignity in film, something that you expect a classical director like Kurosawa to brilliantly capture, and not the flamboyant Miike. Make no mistake - the first two acts could easily be confused for vintage Okamoto or Misumi direction. Miike demonstrates a brilliant understanding of the samurai code, and makes no direct judgements of it, instead choosing to slowly and carefully create a foundation of why this assassination must occur.
But make no mistake, this is still a Miike film, and it shows in the third and final act. The ensuing battle between the assassins and the 200-some retainers of the evil (and oh boy is this f***ker evil - more later) Lord Naritsugu can only be described as a tempest-torn symphony of violent justice. It is an hour long fight sequence, brilliantly choreographed and directed. It is exhausting and exhilarating, with the events unfolding to higher and higher heights of jaw-dropping excellence. Yes there are intense sword fights, flaming water buffalo trampling people, and yes, there is a 40-foot wall of wooden spikes, and all sorts of things exploding. And yes, it is all very, very satisfying (also note, it isn't overly gory or cartoonish - most of this battle violence could be shown on television these days - most Miike restraint).
But action scenes are, even at their most hectic and impressive, eventually hollow if there isn't a purpose to them. And it usually falls on two categories to make an audience care - (A) We want to see protagonists we relate to and care about live and succeed or (B) we hunger for a vile, piece-of-s*** antagonist to get what's coming. And while 13 Assassins has a very respectable, noble ensemble of heros, it is the later that makes the film so satisfying. Lord Naritsugu (played by Gorô Inagaki, a '90s Japanese boy band member) is without a doubt, one of the most disturbing and hate-able villains I've seen in film. For fans of The Wire, imagine the character of Marlo, that cold, disarmingly soft-spoken sociopathic personality, and then imagine him in the seat of Governor of Baltimore.
Like Marlo, Naritsugu commits heinous acts (removing limbs of innocent women, murdering children for target practice - all of which are depicted with a shiver-inducing detachment), not because of a mental illness or "drive", but because he simply can. It's a game, a somewhat fun one, but it doesn't fill any emotional vacancy. Because there IS no emotional element that exists in this character. This man is evil, and he cannot, must not, be allowed to live anymore, let alone threaten to rule over the nation.
There was a part in my viewing experience that I believe summed up why this movie works so well. After a scene where one of our heros dispatches one of Naritsugu's men in a particularly fantastic fashion, an audience member bellowed out "And you're f****** next, Naritsugu!". This was not for comic effect, the voice was not one trying to be cute, nor did it elicit laughter from the theatre. It just needed to be said. But that's what this film invokes - the need for a man to be killed, and to be killed in a spectacular fashion. And Miike, bless the man, delivers.
5/5
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-IzbkXo7bo
i gotta see this.
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I really enjoyed it too.
Fichner stole the show for me.
It was cliched seen it all before stuff but done very well with nothing to complain about.
Great review.I absolutely loved the movie.
Have you seen the trailer for Jackie Chan's 1911?
i gotta see this also
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Thanks! I'll keep posting my long-winded reviews as long as they aren't annoying the masses.:brow:
X-Men: First Class:
Better than X-Men, X-Men: The Last Stand and Wolverine: Origins but that's not saying too much. I loved the casting of Mystique, Xavier, Erik, and Emma Frost but KEVIN BACON? This movie has a lot of problems but was still really fun and I can't wait for the next film to come out.
3/5
PS: Jennifer Lawrence and January Jones are SO F'ING HOT
Better than X-Men, X-Men: The Last Stand and Wolverine: Origins but that's not saying too much. I loved the casting of Mystique, Xavier, Erik, and Emma Frost but KEVIN BACON? This movie has a lot of problems but was still really fun and I can't wait for the next film to come out.
3/5
PS: Jennifer Lawrence and January Jones are SO F'ING HOT
Joe Dirt is the bomb.
Well, I was born without the top of my skull and I guess a little bit of my brains was showin' and it was grossin' everybody out so my mom put this wig on me to cover it up and then the bones grew together and it got all infused and entwined. I mean I don't mean to get all scientific with you...
Great review, very articulate. I quoted it to bump it. Seen the trailer before but had no interest at the time when I found out the director was the guy that did the western Asian movie with Quentin Tarantino, God that looked awful lol. But now it's near the top of my to watch list, will give you my feedback after I watch it.
Based on who you have in your signature, you'll dig it. Similar veins of quality, albeit different films.
siap but the french movie 'incendies' is allsum if you haven't seen it yet.
jeff won't let me post a link yet tho or id link the youtube trailer.
jeff won't let me post a link yet tho or id link the youtube trailer.
Really? Massively over-rated and looks like a bee-yatch and apparently is one.
The movie or January Jones?
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