The World's End (2013) review

Out of all of the film trilogies that we have seen over the years, one easily stands as the most unique trilogy ever made. That honor belongs to the Three Flavours Cornetto Trilogy (AKA the Blood and Ice Cream Trilogy or, just simply, the Cornetto Trilogy), consisting of 2004’s ‘Shaun of the Dead’, 2007’s ‘Hot Fuzz’, and finally, 2013’s ‘The World’s End’. Now, at first glance it may seem that these three films have nothing in common because aside from the fact that all three are directed by Edgar Wright and star Simon Pegg and Nick Frost in the lead roles (along with some recurring cast members), each film is part of a different genre. What links them together, you ask? Cornetto Ice Cream, that’s what. It makes an appearance in every one of the movies. Ok, in reality this is mainly just a joke that Wright and Pegg came up with after ‘Hot Fuzz’, but whether or not you consider these films a trilogy, one thing has been certain; these are fantastic films. The previous two films in this ‘trilogy’, ‘Shaun of the Dead’ and ‘Hot Fuzz’, are two of the greatest comedies in recent years, and ‘The World’s End’ is no different. Is it the funniest of the three? Not really, but it’s probably the smartest and a fitting conclusion to this ‘trilogy’.

When they were teenagers, five friends; Gary King (Simon Pegg), Andy Knightley (Nick Frost), Oliver Chamberlain (Martin Freeman), Steven Prince (Paddy Considine), and Peter Page (Eddie Marsan), attempted ‘The Golden Mile’, an infamous pub crawl in their hometown of Newton Haven consisting of 12 pubs starting with ‘The First Post’ and ending at the fabled ‘The World’s End’. However, they never made it to ‘The World’s End’. 20 years later, Gary reassembles ‘the old team’ to attempt ‘the Mile’ once again and together the five friends head back to their hometown. When they return, though, they realize that something is different about their town and they soon learn the reason why. The residents of the town have been replaced by invading robots. As the five friends try to survive the night, completing ‘The Golden Mile’ soon becomes the least of their worries.

You have to hand it to writers Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg for these three movies because they are more than just comedies. With ‘Shaun of the Dead’, it was a zombie film, romance film, and comedy film all rolled into one; a loving homage to George A. Romero’s ‘Dead’ series. ‘Hot Fuzz’ was inspired by numerous action films from the 80’s and 90’s. As for ‘The World’s End’, it is, obviously, a sci-fi comedy, and here it seems like they’re mainly taking inspiration from ‘Invasion of the Body Snatchers’. But how does the film fare as a comedy? Well, like with the last two ‘Cornetto’ films, it is very hilarious. Is it the funniest of the trilogy? Not really, but I’d say this film holds the honor of being the smartest written, with a good cast of fleshed-out characters and a few touching moments here and there. The film is very entertaining from beginning to end and there’s never a dull moment.

A lot of this is thanks to the great cast. As the two leads, Pegg and Frost are once again terrific. The dynamic between the two is a little different here than it was in the last two films. Here, Frost’s character Andy is actually rather pissed off at Pegg’s character Gary for an incident that happened years before. In fact, Frost is playing the ‘straight man’ compared to Pegg this time around (sort of a first in this trilogy) and, without spoiling anything, he has some badass moments in this film. But while Pegg and Frost headline the movie as they did in the last two films, the rest of the cast is terrific as well. You can definitely see the great camaraderie that the five friends have and it never feels like Pegg and Frost are overshadowing the other three. Freeman, Considine, and Marsan all have their own great moments in this film.

‘The World’s End’ is one of the most entertaining films of the year. In a year where a lot of comedies have not been that good, this is easily the best comedy of the year so far. I can’t really say that it’s the best, or even the funniest, film in the ‘Cornetto Trilogy’; even that’s up for debate as all three of these films are excellent for their own reasons. But ‘The World’s End’ is probably the smartest of the three thanks in part to its fleshed out characters and Wright and Pegg’s clever writing that has been consistent throughout the trilogy. Whether or not the ‘Cornetto Trilogy’ stands as a true ‘trilogy’ is up for debate, but in the end (no pun intended), they are three of the best comedies of the last decade. It’s just sad that, despite the fact that these are much-loved films, they never do well at the box office (the fact that this might get out grossed by ‘Grown Ups 2’ is just sad).

Rating: 5/5! (The same rating I also give to ‘Shaun of the Dead’ and ‘Hot Fuzz’)

Ben Affleck as Batman?

DC Comics and Warner Bros made headlines at this year’s San Diego Comic Con when they announced that the sequel to ‘Man of Steel’, which is set to come out in 2015, will also feature Batman as well, taking inspiration from (but not directly adapting) Frank Miller’s acclaimed graphic novel ‘The Dark Knight Returns’. However, DC needed to find a new actor to play Batman after Christian Bale stepped down from the role following the completion of Christopher Nolan’s ‘Dark Knight Trilogy’. So the search was on to find the next Batman. Names like Josh Brolin, Ryan Gosling, and Jon Hamm were thrown in the mix as potential candidates to play Batman and it was reported that Warner Bros was looking for an older actor to take on the role. Last Thursday, Warner Bros announced that they had found the next actor to play Batman. Their choice… Ben Affleck?

It’s kind of interesting that, in the end, Affleck was cast because in recent years, he’s been more known as a director. In fact, he was once approached to direct both ‘Man of Steel’ and ‘Justice League’ but now, instead of being behind the camera for a DC superhero film, he’ll be in front of the camera instead as the Caped Crusader. As you might have guessed, this news has received a rather mixed reception from audiences; some are okay with it and arguably most are against it. This is most likely because of Affleck’s previous work in a superhero film, 2003’s ‘Daredevil’, a film that didn’t fare well with either critics or audiences, with Affleck usually being one of the reasons why most hated it. As for me, I didn’t think that the film (not a great superhero film, but not the worst either) was entirely Affleck’s fault and that is why I am supportive of Warner Bros’ decision to have him play Batman.

I am a fan of Ben Affleck, mainly his recent work as a director on films like ‘Gone Baby Gone’, ‘The Town’, and ‘Argo’. But even though he’s been more known for his directing in recent years, he has improved as an actor as well. He’s done very good jobs in both ‘The Town’ and ‘Argo’ and that is because he doesn’t try to steal the show in those movies. He lets his supporting actors do that for him, like Jeremy Renner in ‘The Town’ and John Goodman and Alan Arkin in ‘Argo’. Was he the best choice for Batman? No, there are far better choices like Jon Hamm, Karl Urban, and Josh Brolin. But for the record, Affleck isn’t the worst choice either. Apparently, they were considering Tyler Posey from the new ‘Teen Wolf’ series and while I’ve never watched the show, something tells me that this would have turned out much worse had he been cast in the part.

I’m hopeful that Affleck will do well in the part because after all, there have been a few instances where a questionable casting choice in a superhero film turns out to do very well in the role. Back when Heath Ledger was cast as the Joker, not everyone was in support of this casting choice. But in the end, Ledger ended up stealing the show in ‘The Dark Knight’. There were some who were against the casting of Chris Evans as Captain America and look how that turned out. Heck, even a former Batman was in the same situation. When Michael Keaton was cast as Batman in Tim Burton’s first Batman film, there was a negative reaction to it because of Keaton’s previous work in comedies, namely 1983’s ‘Mr. Mom’. But in the end, Keaton is arguably still the best Batman since 1989. The bottom line is that pretty much any major casting in a superhero film is going to attract a mixed response and when you get down to it, it all just depends on the actor/actress’ performance in the film and the ‘Batman/Superman’ film won’t be coming out until 2015. Just reserve your judgment until you see the film.  

Elysium (2013) review

Sometimes in Hollywood, your first film can help you make quite an impression on the industry and that will help you down the road for certain projects you want to do. That is exactly what happened to director Neill Blomkamp when in 2009, with the help of producer Peter Jackson, he made ‘District 9’ and while the film was only made on a budget of $35 million and featured a relatively unknown cast, the film defied expectations and became a sleeper hit. It made over $210 million worldwide and it received critical acclaim as it ended up with four Academy Award nominations, including one for Best Picture. So now Blomkamp is considered as one of the biggest directors ‘on the rise’ in Hollywood and for his next project, Blomkamp goes for another original sci-fi story, ‘Elysium’. Like with his previous film, ‘Elysium’ features social commentary but here it’s not really the main focus. Those coming off of ‘District 9’ might find this feeling more like an action movie. But while the social commentary is not really the main focus, the film is still entertaining enough to be a satisfying summer movie.

In the year 2154, Earth has become polluted and overpopulated as the poor people of the planet struggle to survive. But while the poor are left to fend for themselves on Earth, the rich and privileged have moved onto a high-tech space station known as ‘Elysium’, now living in a community that is free of poverty, war, and disease. One day, a factory worker on Earth named Max Da Costa (Matt Damon) is exposed to dangerous radiation after an industrial accident. When told that he will die in five days, Max looks for a way onto Elysium, where its residents have advanced medical pods that can instantly cure them of any disease. A local smuggler (Wagner Moura) helps him out by giving him a rudimentary exoskeleton to increase his strength in exchange for helping him steal valuable information and Max soon learns that this info could change everything and bring equality to the polarized social classes.

While I have not seen ‘District 9’, I am aware that it was full of social commentary, with themes of inhumanity, racism, and so on. The same can be said for ‘Elysium’, as it explores the whole idea of social classes and how the rich get the privilege of living in a world with no war or disease while the poor don’t. The thing is, however, that this movie is probably not that big on the commentary. It’s there, sure, but as a whole, this movie feels more like an action movie. The first third of the movie does a great job at setting up the universes of both the crisp and clean world of Elysium and the dirty and run-down future Earth with little to no action. But after that, the movie then sort of slips into the action genre where the social commentary isn’t as important as it was before. To his credit, Blomkamp does a great job at filming these action sequences but for a movie with this kind of potential in terms of social commentary, this is a bit of a disappointment in that regard. Still, it’s a very entertaining movie despite this flaw.

As for the acting, Matt Damon is rock-solid in the lead role. There’s a good amount of depth to the character (the trailers have thankfully not shown anything regarding his backstory) and he’s compelling enough to follow. As for Jodie Foster, who plays Elysium’s Secretary of Defense, she’s fine in the role but she’s also probably the weakest link in the film. This is the case of a role where you probably could have cast anyone else in the role and it wouldn’t have made much of a difference. But the one who easily steals the show here is Sharlto Copley, who plays Kruger, a vicious mercenary who is hired by Foster’s character to eliminate any illegal immigrants that try to get to Elysium. Just think the psychotic mind of a serial killer mixed with the Terminator and you’ll get a pretty good idea of what this character is like.

All in all, after a film like ‘District 9’, some might say that ‘Elysium’ might be a bit disappointing. It’s clear that Blomkamp has a knack for social commentary but while it may be present in this movie, it becomes a bit overshadowed by the action during the final two-thirds of the movie. But, despite that problem, the film is still very entertaining as a sci-fi/action summer blockbuster, especially during this time of the year as the summer season starts to come to a close. This had the potential to be on the same level that ‘District 9’ was (again, at the time I’m writing this I haven’t seen it) but in the end, it falls a little flat in regard to its themes and social commentary. Still, it is clear that Neill Blomkamp is on his way to becoming one of the top directors in the industry. Some might say this is a bit of a stumbling block for him, but Blomkamp still succeeds for the most part here.

Rating: 3.5/5

Thoughts on Proper 'Movie Etiquette'

When you go to a movie theater, you’ll most likely see a video or something along that nature reminding you to follow ‘movie etiquette’ when watching a movie. Some of the theater rules are pretty simple; no talking during the movie, don’t use your cell phones or any recording devices, etc. Most of the time, moviegoers do great jobs at following these rules because they know they don’t want to disturb people who are there to enjoy the movie. But… sometimes there are people who aren’t like that. They just go to movies because they don’t have anything better to do and they don’t really take their fellow audience members into consideration. They’ll just do whatever they want and that has been quite a problem for the last few months, especially for someone like me who’s looking to go into a career as a ‘movie critic’. So, in the wake of fellow film critic Chris Stuckmann’s video about annoying moviegoers (which I’ll provide the link to; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qDJxdrWD5c), I’ll be giving my own ‘two cents’ on the matter. In order to explain this, I’m going to start by talking about two pretty bad experiences I’ve had at the theater this year.

 

The first time was when I saw ‘G.I. Joe Retaliation’. As you probably know, this film is one of those movies that mainly appeals to kids. So, at the screening I went to, there were a lot of kids there. A few kids were seated right behind me… and they did not stop talking throughout the entire movie. Sure, at one point, one of the kids (the one who I believe was the most talkative of the group) got up and left for a few minutes, but he soon came back and these kids continued to talk about everything that was going on in the movie until it ended. Because of this, I don’t believe that I was able to pay full attention to the movie. I don’t want to make this look like I’m attacking these kids or anything but as far as I can remember, whoever these kids’ parents were made absolutely no effort (along with anyone else, for that matter) to tell the kids to be quiet. That makes the whole situation worse when no one even tries to do something about it. That same month, I was watching ‘Oz the Great and Powerful’ for the second time in theaters and a couple of people seated behind me to my left started to talk during the beginning of the movie. Thankfully, the couple seated right behind me turned to them and asked them to stop talking, and they did not say anything else for the rest of the movie.

 

But the worst theater experience I ever had was when I saw the film ‘Oblivion’ in April. There were a lot of things that went wrong during the screening as far as ‘audience etiquette’ was concerned. First off, a group of teenagers that were seated directly behind me did not shut up throughout the entire movie. But while the kids at ‘G.I. Joe’ were at least talking about the movie, I’m pretty sure these teenagers were just talking to each other about… you know, ‘teenager stuff’. Also, out of the corner of my eye, I could see that the guy seated right next to me was using his cell phone and I noticed that some other people had their cell phones out too. I don’t really know what they thought about the movie but if it was because they were bored, that doesn’t mean that you should take out your damn cell phone. Do you people not know that the bright light of your IPhone is distracting to those who are seated directly next to you? But the worst (and also, in a way, funniest) thing that happened during this was that someone had brought a baby into the theater. They brought a baby to a film that was rated ‘PG-13’ for, according to the official MPAA rating, sci-fi action violence, brief strong language, and some sensuality/nudity. Yeah, that’s a good movie to take your one-year old to. I remember seeing a couple of kids at a screening of ‘Ted’. Sure, the movie may be about a talking teddy bear, but it sure isn’t no ‘Winnie the Pooh’.

Now, I’m not the kind of guy who tries to lean towards those who are being disruptive and tell them (politely, mind you) to stop whatever it is they’re doing that’s distracting everyone else, but after incidents like these, I might just do so in the future because I really can’t take it anymore. I just don’t understand why there are some people who just go to the movie theater and think that they own the place and they can do whatever they want. Movie theaters have made the effort of putting up videos reminding people to not text or talk during the movie but as we can clearly see, they’re not that effective. If you ask me, they should run this video that the Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas (theaters where, for the record, texting and talking during the movie is banned and if you do so, you’ll probably end up getting kicked out) run where Michael Madsen warns you not to text or talk during the film because otherwise you might end up ‘stuck in the middle’ with him. If you don’t know what I mean, just watch Quentin Tarantino’s ‘Reservoir Dogs’ and you’ll get the idea.

(Here’s the link for the Madsen video for your viewing pleasure: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rpew-IfW6JQ)

I believe this image says it all...

Thankfully, I have gone to a couple of screenings where the audience was very respectful. Last year, when I went to go see ‘Les Miserables’ with my friend Matt, the audience was very respectful. They did not text or talk throughout the entire film. That’s also great when taking some of the following points into consideration; the movie was a two and a half hour long musical and we went to see it in the afternoon, a time where you’re probably most likely to find some ‘rowdy’ moviegoers. This year, when I went to go see ‘Fast and the Furious 6’, there was a great example of an audience that was clearly getting into the movie. There were audible gasps during some of the more ‘logic-defying’ moments in the film, as well as during a key ‘twist’ that happens near the end of the movie. If you ask me, going to a screening where the audience is like that is far more enjoyable than going to a screening where no one cares about their fellow moviegoers.

The bottom line is that if you ever go to the movies, just please be respectful towards those around you. Don’t text during the movie; if you absolutely need to, just quietly walk out and deal with the situation. As for talking, I’m not saying that you should be completely silent, but just please make an effort to not be so loud that you’ll distract everyone near you. If you’re bringing a kid to a film, make sure to remind them to be quiet. I know that kids tend to have a rather short attention span at times (I can certainly vouch for that, being a kid myself just a few years ago), but if your kid is at least younger than five, I’d recommend waiting a little bit before bringing them to a movie. I know that they are some other things you shouldn’t even be doing in a theater (kicking the seat in front of you, smoking, etc.) but I believe that ‘texting and talking’ is the worst thing that you can do when in a movie theater. Feel free to do that when you’re watching a movie at home, but don’t be like that at the theater.

X-Men Film Series Retrospective



(I apologize in advance for this post being rather late. I was intending this to be released around the time that ‘The Wolverine’ was released but I was unable to do so because I have been traveling the last week.)

In 1963, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby created the ‘X-Men’, a team of mutant superheroes created by telepath Professor Charles Xavier to fight Magneto and his army of mutants known as ‘the Brotherhood of Mutants’. While this was going on, they were also dealing with an anti-mutant sentiment from the rest of the world. Like with many of their fellow Marvel heroes, the X-Men have been adapted to other forms of media, including TV series, video games, and of course, films. The first ‘X-Men’ film, released in 2000, is regarded as one of three films (along with 1998’s ‘Blade’ and 2002’s ‘Spider-Man’) that resulted in the reemergence of superhero films and were responsible for the current age of the genre. While the series has hit some occasional rough points over the last few years, it is still going strong. The latest film in the series, ‘The Wolverine’, just hit theaters. Next year, the biggest X-Men film to date, ‘Days of Future Past’, will be released in May and will combine the casts of both the original trilogy and the recent ‘First Class’ film. In anticipation for that film (and in honor of the release of ‘The Wolverine’), it’s time to look back at this series’ highs… and lows.

X-MEN (2000)

 

As mentioned earlier, this was one of the three films that started the current trend of superhero films that we have seen today. Looking back at it now, the film still holds up despite some flaws. This film is similar to 2011’s ‘Thor’ in that it mainly feels like it’s setting up the films to follow and like 2002’s ‘Spider-Man’, some of the dialogue is a little campy (case in point, the ‘toad struck by lightning’ line. The saddest part about that line, though, is that it was written by Joss Whedon). But, while the film may just be the ‘establishing’ film, it does a great job at doing just that; setting up the universe and the characters (although it’s clear from the start that this film’s main focus is on a select few; Rogue, Wolverine, and Magneto). The film is perfectly cast, including Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, Patrick Stewart as Professor X, and Ian McKellen as Magneto. In the end, the first ‘X-Men’ film may not be the best entry in the series, but it’s still a solid superhero film even after more than a decade.

Rating: 4/5

X2: X-MEN UNITED (2003)

 

The original X-Men trilogy shares a common path with the original Spider-Man trilogy. The first films in both series did solid jobs at setting up their respective universes. As for the second film, both are easily the best in not just their respective trilogies, but in terms of the entire film franchise as well (the third film; well we’ll get to that later). That is exactly the case with X2, which I’d say is the best-written X-Men film in the entire series. While the screenplay does continue to focus on only a few select mutants, this film does a better job at developing other characters as well. There are some great additions to the cast, including Alan Cumming as Nightcrawler and Brian Cox as Colonel William Stryker (easily the best villain (aside from Magneto, of course) in the series). This film is well-paced from beginning to end and overall, it may not be my personal favorite in the series, but it’s easily the best ‘X-Men’ film to date.

Rating: 5/5!

X-MEN: THE LAST STAND (2006)

 

After directing the first two films, Bryan Singer stepped down as director for the third film to do ‘Superman Returns’ and in his place was… Brett Ratner? Yes, that’s a very questionable decision and as a result, we have ‘X-Men: The Last Stand’ which is a very disappointing conclusion to the X-Men trilogy. Why? Where do I even begin; the killing of major characters but with little emotional value (Cyclops, Professor X, etc…), some underdeveloped characters (Rogue, Angel, Mystique, etc…), some glaring continuity errors (namely how it quickly goes from day to night before the final battle); I can go on and on. This film was doomed once Bryan Singer left the franchise (heck, ‘Superman Returns’ wasn’t that great either so because of this, 2006 had two disappointing superhero films). But even with all of these problems, I don’t think it’s the worst entry in the series (that’s another film) because there are some good things about this movie, like the casting of Kelsey Grammer as Beast or some of the action scenes. If anything else, this film does manage to be somewhat of a fitting conclusion to this trilogy.

Because of this, I’m giving the film two different ratings. As an X-Men film, I give it a (2/5) because of the many mistakes this film makes. But as a movie, I’ll give it at least a (3/5) mainly based on entertainment value.

X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE (2009)

 

The idea of an X-Men ‘prequel’ focusing on Wolverine sounds doable, but it wasn’t until 2013’s ‘The Wolverine’ when a solo film about this character actually turned out good. As for the first attempt… it’s really not that good. In fact, dare I say it’s actually quite terrible; it’s so bad it makes ‘The Last Stand’ look like a masterpiece by comparison. The main problem with this film is that it lacks direction and focus. There really isn’t anything in this film that’s as memorable as anything we’ve seen in the last three films (even ‘Last Stand’ had some memorable moments). It’s a standard superhero film at best. Instead of focusing on Wolverine, the film shoehorns in other mutants but the screenplay doesn’t really do much with them. Fan favorite Gambit is only on screen for a short time, and as for the character of Deadpool… I have no idea why they decided to do what they did with this character. The ‘Merc with a Mouth’ is turned into this whole new mutant that possesses the powers of other mutants (with no mouth). The only good thing about this movie is the cast; they do a really good job despite the fact that they don’t have much to work with. Jackman, of course, is still great as Wolverine, and Liev Schreiber is also pretty good as Sabretooth. But, as a whole, this is a film I do not recommend. ‘The Wolverine’ deserved much better…

Rating: 1/5

X-MEN: FIRST CLASS (2011)

 

After a disappointing third film and a horrible solo/prequel film, what was next for the ‘X-Men’ franchise? A pseudo-reboot prequel, that’s what. So we have ‘X-Men: First Class’, a prequel that takes place in the 1960’s; telling the story of how Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr met and the events that would lead them to become rivals years later. In the director’s chair this time around is Matthew Vaughn, who was previously in the running for the job for ‘X3’. Also, while he didn’t direct, Bryan Singer returned to the franchise for the first time since X2 as producer/writer. The end result is not only a huge improvement over the last two films, but arguably one of the best superhero films in recent years. While the original ‘X-Men’ films had a futuristic sci-fi feel to them, this film, being set in the 60’s, feels more like a James Bond film. In fact, the scene where Magneto travels to Argentina looking for Sebastian Shaw makes me wonder why Michael Fassbender wasn’t considered for the role of Bond, because he would be perfect for the role. Speaking of Fassbender, the cast is terrific (with the exception of January Jones, who is just flat as Emma Frost). Fassbender, of course, steals the show as young Magneto, although James McAvoy is equally terrific as young Professor X along with Jennifer Lawrence as Mystique, Nicholas Hoult as Beast (though the makeup for him isn’t as good as Kelsey Grammer’s look in X3), and Kevin Bacon as Sebastian Shaw. Admittedly, the screenplay isn’t perfect and X-Men fans are certainly going to notice a few inconsistences with the original trilogy. Still, this is one of the best superhero films in recent years and overall, it’s my personal favorite in the series.

Rating: 5/5!

THE WOLVERINE (2013)

 

Basically, I’m just going to do a quick summary of my original review (http://rimoviecorner.blogspot.com/2013/07/the-wolverine-2013-review.html).

‘The Wolverine’ is a stronger solo film than ‘Origins’ thanks in part to better direction, action scenes (despite some instances of ‘shaky-cam’), and special effects. This is also Hugh Jackman’s best performance in the role, and this film does a great job at keeping its focus on Wolverine, his struggle to deal with the demons of his past, and the burden of his immortality that makes him the loner he’s known to be. As far as superhero films go, this film is much more dramatic in tone than what we’re used to seeing in this genre. However, the last 20 minutes is when the film slips into the ‘traditional superhero film’ fare and as for the big twist at the end… I won’t say it’s bad but I will say it’s just… obvious. But aside from that, this is a rock-solid superhero film and it does do the character of Wolverine justice. Not only that, but the post-credits scene does a great job at setting up the next film in the series.

Rating: 4/5

As far as rankings go;

6. X-Men Origins: Wolverine

5. X-Men: The Last Stand

4. X-Men (2000)

3. The Wolverine

2. X-Men: First Class

1. X2: X-Men United

2 Guns (2013) SHORT REVIEW

As Summer begins to come to a close, most of the year’s biggest blockbusters (Iron Man 3, Star Trek Into Darkness, Man of Steel, etc…) have already come out. So what’s left in terms of summer movies? Well, one of these films is ‘2 Guns’ which, on the surface, looks like your basic ‘buddy cop’ action comedy and in a way, that’s pretty much the case with this movie. The premise is that these two men team up in order to rob a bank where the local mob has all of their money stored. However, what neither man knows is that the other is an undercover agent. One is a DEA agent (Denzel Washington) who is ordered to steal the money for the DEA so that they can take down the mob. The other man is an NCIS agent (Mark Wahlberg) who is ordered to steal the money for the Navy so that they can fund covert operations. When the two men discover each other’s true identity, they are forced to team up when they are put on the run from those who want the money for themselves.

 

On the surface, this is definitely a straight-forward ‘buddy cop’ action comedy but even with that in mind, the movie is very entertaining and that’s mainly thanks to the two leads. Washington and Wahlberg work off each other very well and the two have good camaraderie. The rest of the cast is good too, including Bill Paxton in a fun villainous turn as a black ops operative. The only thing holding this movie back is its screenplay. There are a lot of twists and turns in this movie, and because of that, the film gets a little convoluted at times. Still, despite this problem, the film is an entertaining popcorn flick thanks to Washington and Wahlberg’s chemistry.

Rating: 4/5

2013 Preview: August

Welcome back to Rhode Island Movie Corner’s Year-long preview of the films set to come out during 2013. This is Part 8 and today we’ll be looking into the final month of summer with the films coming out during the month of August.

AUGUST 2- While one holdover from July, ‘Smurfs 2’, opens early on the Wednesday of that week, one new release is set to come out on the first Friday of the month.

*The first major release of the month is ‘2 Guns’, an action/crime comedy from director Baltasar Kormakur, whose last project was 2012’s ‘Contraband’. Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlberg star as a DEA and NCIS agent, respectively, who investigate one another, believing that they are stealing money from the mob. They are then forced to work together when they learn that they were both set up by the mob. The film is an adaptation of the graphic novel of the same name by Steven Grant.

AUGUST 7- The weekend of August 9-11 is going to be busy. Four films are set to come out, 2 of which are opening early on the 7^th.

*‘Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters’ is the second installment in the ‘Percy Jackson and the Olympian’ film series (based off of Rick Riordan’s bestselling novels) and the sequel to 2010’s ‘Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief’. Thor Freudenthal (‘Diary of a Wimpy Kid’) takes over directing duties from Chris Columbus for this film, which sees Percy Jackson (Logan Lerman), the demigod son of Poseidon, embark on a journey to find the Golden Fleece in order to save his training ground, Camp Half-Blood. Brandon T. Jackson and Alexandra Daddario reprise their roles as the satyr Grover and Annabeth, demigod daughter of Athena, respectively, alongside newcomers Stanley Tucci as Dionysus and Nathan Fillion as Hermes.

*‘We’re the Millers’ is a comedy directed by Rawson Thurber, who directed 2004’s ‘Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story’. Jason Sudeikis stars as a drug-dealer tasked with transporting some marijuana over the border. To do so inconspicuously, he hires a fake family, including his stripper ‘wife’ (Jennifer Aniston) and their two ‘kids’ (Emma Roberts and Will Poulter).

AUGUST 9- As for the two releases that are set to come out officially on the Friday of that weekend…

*After the success of 2009’s ‘District 9’, Neill Blomkamp returns with another original story, ‘Elysium’. In this film, which takes place in the year 2154, the rich live on a luxurious crime-free habitat called Elysium while everyone else remains on the war-torn Earth and are struggling to escape the planet. Matt Damon stars as a factory worker who attempts to get to Elysium after he ends up with a cancer virus. The film also stars Jodie Foster as the secretary of Elysium and Sharlto Copley as the leader of her secret police force.

*The final release of the August 9-11 weekend is ‘Planes’, a spinoff of Disney/Pixar’s ‘Cars’ franchise. Produced by DisneyToon Studios (the company behind Disney’s direct-to-video projects), the film was originally supposed to be a direct-to-video release. But, because Disney was impressed by some of the completed sequences, they decided to have it released in theaters. The film follows a small-town plane named Dusty (Dane Cook, who replaced Jon Cryer in the role) who dreams of becoming a racing plane, despite the fact that he’s not built for racing and he’s also afraid of heights. The film’s supporting cast also includes John Cleese, Val Kilmer, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus.

AUGUST 16- Another big week with four major releases.

*While the original ‘Kick-Ass’ was not a huge hit at the box office when it was released in 2010, its solid critical and audience reception has led to a sequel, ‘Kick-Ass 2’, which will hit theaters this weekend. Jeff Wadlow (‘Never Back Down’) takes over for Matthew Vaughn as director for this new film. Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Chloe Grace Moretz reprise their roles as Kick-Ass and Hit Girl, respectively, who join forces with a team of up-and-coming superheroes, led by Colonel Stars and Stripes (Jim Carrey) to take on Red Mist (Christopher Mintz-Plasse), who is reborn as the super villain known as ‘The MotherF***er’.

*Two historical dramas are set to hit theaters this weekend. The first is ‘Jobs’, a biopic based on the life of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, who passed away on October 5, 2011. Ashton Kutcher stars as the entrepreneur/inventor while Josh Gad stars as Apple I/II inventor and company co-founder Steve Wozniak. It’s the story of how Jobs and Wozniak started the personal computer revolution with the help of Wozniak’s invention, the Apple I.

*The other ‘biopic’ is ‘The Butler’, which is based off of the real-life story of Eugene Allen, who served as the official butler at the White House for eight presidencies from 1952-1986. The film is directed by Lee Daniels (‘Precious’) and stars Forest Whitaker as the fictional version of Allen, Cecil Gaines. The film also stars Oprah Winfrey, Cuba Gooding Jr., Terrence Howard, and for the Presidents of the United States; Robin Williams as Dwight D. Eisenhower, James Marsden as John F. Kennedy, Liev Schreiber as Lyndon B. Johnson, John Cusack as Richard Nixon, and Alan Rickman as Ronald Reagan.

*The final release that weekend is ‘Paranoia’, a thriller that stars Liam Hemsworth as a worker at a technology corporation who is tasked with an espionage assignment at a rival company when he is faced with losing his job after a prank. Gary Oldman stars as the CEO of the company Hemsworth’s character works for while Harrison Ford stars as the CEO of the rival company.

AUGUST 21- Three films come out this weekend, although one opens early on Wednesday

*‘The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones’ is the latest adaptation of a popular book franchise; in this case, ‘The Mortal Instruments’ series from author Cassandra Clare. Directed by Harald Zwart (the 2010 ‘Karate Kid’ remake), the film stars Lily Collins as Clarissa ‘Clary’ Fray, a young girl who learns that she is the daughter of a Shadowhunter, a half-angel/half-human warrior and that she also has the abilities of these warriors despite the fact that she is not one of them. She uses these powers in order to rescue her mother (Lena Headey).

AUGUST 23- As for the two films set to come out on that Friday…

*While it was released in the U.K. on July 19^th, ‘The World’s End’ will hit U.S. theaters on August 23^rd. It is the third and final film in the ‘Cornetto Trilogy’, a series of comedy films from director Edgar Wright which also includes 2004’s ‘Shaun of the Dead’ and 2007’s ‘Hot Fuzz’. This film follows five friends (played by Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Martin Freeman, Paddy Considine, and Eddie Marsan) as they attempt an epic pub crawl in their hometown, which they had attempted years ago but failed to complete. However, they soon learn that things have changed in their town and completing this pub crawl becomes the least of their problems.

*‘You’re Next’ is a horror-thriller directed by Adam Wingard (who worked on the anthology films ‘V/H/S’ and ‘V/H/S 2’). The film, which made its debut at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival, is about a group of serial killers who descend upon a family reunion.

AUGUST 30- Two films close out the month

*In ‘Closed Circuit’, Eric Bana and Rebecca Hall play a pair of lawyers (and ex-lovers) who take on the case of an alleged terrorist.

*Finally, there is, for the fans of the group, ‘One Direction: This is Us’, the latest 3-D concert film (directed by Morgan Spurlock (‘Super-Size Me’) following the boy band ‘One Direction’.