2015 Midyear Recap

Well we’re halfway through the year of 2015 and overall I must say that this is shaping up to be one of the absolute best years ever in terms of the films that have come out so far this year. Sure there have obviously been quite a few stinkers, as there are every year, but overall I’d say that so far the good has definitely outweighed the bad. In just half a year, we’ve seen three films deservedly join the billion dollar club; ‘Furious 7’, ‘The Avengers: Age of Ultron’, and ‘Jurassic World’. Compare that to last year when only one film, ‘Transformers: Age of Extinction’, reached that milestone. And while I’ve seen some people say that the Summer Movie Season has been rather disappointing so far, I’d argue that it’s the other way around. This has been one of the better summers of recent memory with a wide variety of great films for audiences to enjoy. Again, that’s better than what we got last year when there was actually a rather lacking amount of family-friendly films. So now it’s time for my annual Midyear Recap where I look back upon every film that I’ve seen so far this year. And for the record, that doesn’t count films that were technically from 2014 but weren’t released until 2015 like ‘Selma’ or ‘American Sniper’. Finally, I just want to note that, aside from my Top 5, I’m not ranking any of these films. Instead I’m just dividing them up into five main categories based on their overall quality. So now, here’s what the 2015 year in film has been like for me so far, from the absolute worst to my current Top 5 favorite films of the year.

WORST OF THE YEAR SO FAR:

50 SHADES OF GREY

Well are you really surprised at this one being my current #1 worst? I mean, who was seriously expecting anything good from this ‘Twilight’ fan-fiction? And really, ‘50 Shades of Grey’ ends up being even worse because as bad as ‘Twilight’ was, there was at least some kind of cool monster-related action from time to time to hold over the non-fans. All this film has is… a whole lot of talking and a bunch of sex scenes. And on that note, for a film based off of a book that became highly controversial for its sex-related content, it is such a toned-down affair and the sex scenes are so flat and dull that the film doesn’t really have any sexual edge. And of course, being a ‘Twilight’ fan-fic, the writing is laughably bad with hilariously awful dialogue and we constantly have put up with the frustrating indecisiveness of the main characters. To her credit, lead actress Dakota Johnson at least tries here and at the end of the day is one of the few bright spots of the film. But as for Jamie Dorman, he isn’t so lucky in the role of, to put it simply, a sociopath. Seriously, what is it about characters like Christian Grey and Edward Cullen that a whole lot of women are attracted to? I don’t know and quite frankly I don’t want to know. ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ is just as bad as you think. At the end of the day, though, it didn’t really piss me off like some of my most hated films of all time like ‘Sucker Punch’ and ‘A Haunted House 2’. Though to be clear, that’s really not saying much.  

  

OTHER STINKERS:

JUPITER ASCENDING

It’s really sad how poorly the Wachowski siblings, the duo behind the groundbreaking ‘Matrix’ trilogy, have fared in recent years in terms of their filmography. Every film that they’ve done since ‘Matrix Revolutions’ has flopped at the box office and that trend continued with ‘Jupiter Ascending’, their first original film since ‘The Matrix’. But while ‘Jupiter Ascending’ has some truly beautiful visuals, the story is a really, really huge mess. As many have already pointed out, the film is mostly just discussions and there’s not as much action compared to other sci-fi films. In my original review, I referred to it as the 2015 equivalent of ‘Attack of the Clones’ and that’s a pretty darn good analogy because that’s pretty much exactly what it is. The main character of Jupiter is a completely useless protagonist who ends up being nothing more than a damsel in distress, despite Mila Kunis’ best efforts with the limited material that she has to work with. Channing Tatum and Sean Bean, the latter of whom doesn’t die for once in a film, fare a little better as the two soldiers who protect her. And then you have Eddie Redmayne as the main villain, who thankfully won an Academy Award this year for his turn in ‘The Theory of Everything’, which will hopefully for the most part offset his potentially Razzie-award winning performance here, where he whispers most of his lines sounding like Voldemort and then randomly yells at certain points. Simply put, ‘Jupiter Ascending’ is a mess; a beautiful-looking mess but a mess nonetheless (and yes, that just rhymed).

UNFRIENDED

Looking back upon ‘Unfriended’, I realize that I admire it more for its execution than as a horror film. The whole film is shot to look like it all takes place on the main character’s computer screen with the main characters interacting through Skype. Execution-wise the film definitely captures the overall feel of being online pretty well, even down to the Skype lag. But as a horror film, it really doesn’t do much that would be considered ‘scary’. All of the main characters are cardboard stereotypes, which in the case of this story is more evident by the fact that they are all basically horrible people who had a hand in the bullying that led to the suicide of one of their classmates. So that would mean that we would root for the killer, right? Well sure, but even then we never really learn who this ‘killer’ is, even though we presume it’s the ‘spirit’ of their dead classmate. There’s some rather enjoyable moments where the ‘killer’ messes with the victims but we never once get a concrete answer as to what’s causing all of this. So overall, as someone who’s not a fan of the horror genre, ‘Unfriended’ is sort of the 2015 equivalent of last year’s ‘Oculus’. Though at the end of the day, if I haven’t already stated this before, I’m willing to give ‘Oculus’ another shot in the future. ‘Unfriended’, on the other hand… not so much.

MEH-FLIX

Basically these are the films that I didn’t necessarily hate but at the same time I wasn’t ‘too big’ on them either. In other words, these are basically the films that I thought were ‘okay’.

PROJECT ALMANAC

Not being a huge fan of ‘found-footage films’ save for 2012’s ‘Chronicle’, mainly because most of them are horror films, I actually was looking forward to ‘Project Almanac’, which instead opted for a time-travel story. It was the first ‘2015’ film that I saw this year and for the most part, I enjoyed it. With that said though, this film is by no means a ‘ground-breaking’ entry in the time-travel genre. And if you start to analyze the film’s story, I have the feeling that you’re bound to find numerous plot-holes. But at the end of the day, I did still enjoy the film quite a bit because it wasn’t trying to be something it’s not. It was just a fun little teen-centered time-travel film with a cast of leads that had excellent camaraderie with one another. Overall, ‘Project Almanac’ is, at the very least, a decently entertaining ‘popcorn’ flick. Just keep that in mind when you’re watching it because, as noted earlier, this has nothing on films like ‘Back to the Future’.

THE SPONGEBOB MOVIE: SPONGE OUT OF WATER

As someone who grew up with the ‘SpongeBob’ franchise, I was hoping that the new film would at least improve upon some of the show’s recent shortcomings (e.g. the post-‘first film’ era). And for the most part, this film does succeed in doing just that. With that said, though, occasionally there are instances where it does do some of the things that have made the show mediocre in recent years, mostly by way of shockingly heartless actions of some of the main characters. And overall the film’s story is fairly scatter-brained. The whole concept of SpongeBob and the gang going up to the surface and becoming superheroes, which was the primary selling point of the advertising, doesn’t occur until the finale. While that does mean that the film maintains the show’s classic 2-D style for most of the run-time, which is a nice little alternative to the computer-animated films of today, if you watched the trailers for the film, you’ve pretty much already watched all of the ‘superhero’-related sequences. And while it’s clear that Antonio Banderas is at least having fun in the role of the main villain Burger-Beard, at the end of the day he’s not really that much of a threat. So in short, I don’t ‘hate’ the new ‘SpongeBob’ film and I think that at the very least it’s definitely better than anything we’ve seen from the show since 2004. But at the end of the day, I’d recommend you stick with the first ‘SpongeBob’ film, which is by far the better film… so good that it surprisingly led to what is currently my most popular review of all time with over 500 views in about just four months.

WORTHWHILES

Now we’re finally starting to get into the good stuff…

CHAPPIE

Contrary to the critical reception of the film, I surprisingly actually enjoyed director Neill Blomkamp’s third feature film, ‘Chappie’. I actually liked it more the first time around than I did with his last film ‘Elysium’. Sharlto Copley shines in the role of Chappie, a robot who’s basically like Johnny 5 from ‘Short Circuit’ if Johnny 5 was raised by the wrong people and became a gangsta. Action sequences are solid and the motion-capture visual work for the character of Chappie is pretty darn solid as well. With that said, though, Chappie is basically the only major character in the film who gets any major character development. Everyone else, especially the ‘villains’ played by Hugh Jackman and Sigourney Weaver, both of whom are generally wasted here, isn’t as lucky. And to be honest, there’s not really any major ‘likable’ characters in this film. Then you have the South African rap-rave group Die Antwoord, who play the roles of Chappie’s surrogate parents. I don’t think they’re ‘terrible’ here, as Yolandi Visser at the very least makes up for it with her character’s motherly attitude towards Chappie. Ninja, on the other hand, is a bit of an asshole. Admittedly my positive thoughts on this film are definitely subject to change upon re-watch, but I actually kind of liked ‘Chappie’ and I do hope that this and the generally polarizing reaction towards ‘Elysium’ doesn’t turn Blomkamp into a ‘one-hit wonder’ in the eyes of the film industry.

MAD MAX: FURY ROAD

Oh boy… I realize that I’m going to get some major flack for this from quite a lot of film films but please hear me out on this first. ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’ has pretty much been the most critically acclaimed film of the year so far, not just in regards to this year’s summer movie season. But as for me… I never bought into the hype and I hate to say it… but I feel that the film itself is a tad bit overrated. It may just be because I never saw any of the other ‘Mad Max’ films before but I just didn’t get why this film was being treated by most film fans as the equivalent of the second coming of Christ. Now let me be clear, I don’t hate the film. The action sequences, which were pre-dominantly done practically and not just done with CGI, were impressive. That and the film is pure eye candy which is mainly due to its production design. Charlize Theron and Nicholas Hoult both shine in the roles of Furiosa and Nux… and that’s about as positive as I can be towards this film because at the end of the day, it’s really just one big chase scene and nothing else, with little to no character development for any character that is not Furiosa or Nux. Also, for a film called ‘Mad Max’, Tom Hardy is severely underused in the title role. He’s just dragged into the whole situation, one which he had nothing to do with in the first place. At the end of the day, Furiosa is the main character whereas Max is kind of irrelevant to the overall story.

Again, let me be clear: I don’t hate this film. I recognize its biggest strengths, namely the action sequences and Charlize Theron’s stand-out performance in what is clearly the lead role of the entire film. This is by no means a ‘bad’ film; far from it, in fact. It’s just that I’m not a part of the ‘bandwagon’ that is constantly showering this film with praise 24/7. Maybe it’s just that I went into this film rather unprepared, having not seen any ‘Mad Max’ films prior to this. But according to a lot of people online, you don’t have to have seen any of the previous films. At the end of the day, though, this film just didn’t blow me away as it did for, let’s be honest, the majority of film fans on the internet. I’m sorry if I pissed off anyone who is a big fan of the film as that wasn’t my intention. It’s just that I just don’t see why this is the absolute ‘best film of the year’ or ‘best film of the summer’ for that matter. If it is your favorite film of the year so far, then the more power to you. Just remember that film is subjective and not everyone is going to love the same thing… okay, in this case, almost everyone loves ‘Mad Max’. But as for me, this is not a film that I’ll be going ‘to Valhalla’ over.   

TED 2

Everyone’s favorite ‘Thunder Buddies’ return for what is surprisingly a pretty solid comedy sequel. I say ‘surprisingly’ because as we all know, most comedy sequels do not live up to the original film and the first ‘Ted’ was definitely a fairly tough act to follow. But ‘Ted 2’ actually does manage to be almost as funny as the first ‘Ted’ and ultimately that is due to the great comedy duo of John and Ted. Mark Wahlberg and Seth MacFarlane’s camaraderie shines just as much as it did in the first film and it’s just fun to see these two, one of whom is a talking teddy bear, go on all sorts of misadventures. Like its predecessor and MacFarlane’s famous show ‘Family Guy’, obviously ‘Ted 2’ is not for everyone. If you’re not a fan of MacFarlane’s style of humor (e.g. hard-hitting, crude, potentially offensive for certain people), then you’d be much better off with a different film. But as someone who did like the first ‘Ted’ and was a fan of the first few seasons of ‘Family Guy’, I had a really fun time watching ‘Ted 2’ and following along with these two knuckleheads on their quest to prove that Ted is as much of a person as everyone else. Does it have some of the problems of last year’s misfire ‘A Million Ways to Die in the West’? Yes, namely some ‘dead air’ moments and for being a bit too overlong. But thanks to the duo of John and Ted, ‘Ted 2’ actually manages to be much more consistent with its humor hence why it’s ultimately one of the better comedy sequels to have come out over the years.

SPY

Director Paul Feig and star Melissa McCarthy went into this with a bit of a chip on both of their shoulders as both have been receiving a lot of negative attention for some of their recent career moves, namely an upcoming female-led ‘Ghostbusters’ film that the two of them are working on. But if this film proves anything, it’s that this new ‘Ghostbusters’ couldn’t be in better hands. Definitely the funniest comedy so far this summer, ‘Spy’ surprisingly also works fairly well as a spy film, namely through its actually pretty well shot action sequences. I’d seriously would love to see Paul Feig do a Bond film in the future based on his work on this film alone. Anyway, McCarthy definitely shines in the lead role with her charm and likability, and the character is also a really solid female lead that defies all expectations to become a pretty badass spy. The film also benefits from some other standouts in the cast, including Jason Statham as a fellow FBI agent who constantly talks about how awesome he is, Rose Byrne as one of the main villains who once again shows that she’s at her best in comedic roles, and Miranda Hart in a breakout turn as the best friend of McCarthy’s character. The film takes a little bit to get going in terms of its humor but once it does, it’s definitely one of the best comedies so far this year and shows that Feig and McCarthy are at their best when working together.

FURIOUS 7

I’ll admit it… I cried at the end of ‘Furious 7’, the final film for one of the series’ mainstays, the late Paul Walker. The tribute to Walker at the end is well-done and preserves the legacy of the actor’s involvement with the ‘Fast and Furious’ franchise. As for the film itself, ‘Furious 7’ continues the franchise’s surprising resurgence even now at seven films in, a point where most film franchises would face an incredibly severe drop in quality. Justin Lin did not direct this entry and while he did a better job as far as the action is concerned, newcomer James Wan does a solid-enough job in his place. Sure the plot is jumbled as hell and the main villain (played by Jason Statham) is a bit underused (his frequent appearances actually make the MacGuffin of the film irrelevant), but at this point who goes into a ‘Fast and Furious’ film expecting Oscar-worthy writing? This film delivers exactly what you’d expect from the series; insane stunts that defy all physics and logic and the strong camaraderie of the series’ ensemble cast. It’ll be interesting to see how this series will continue in the wake of Paul Walker’s death but at the moment, ‘Furious 7’ continues the series’ solid post-2011 run, something that I’m for certain that no one expected from a franchise that was originally just about street racing.

ENTOURAGE

I think it’s safe to say that ‘Entourage’ was one of HBO’s biggest shows during its run in the 2000s. But when the film was coming out, I found that there was a lot of surprisingly heavy vitriol against it by a lot of people on the internet. Maybe it’s because it, like the series, can be a little misogynistic at times through the fact that it mainly revolves around a group of guys and most of the women in the film are mostly ‘sex objects’. But despite that, I’m just going to say it… I had a blast watching this film, hell more so than ‘Mad Max’ (yeah, I said it). This was a film that I was actually really looking forward to when the first trailer came out, so much so that when I got a free 1-month subscription for the new HBO streaming service HBO Now, I binge-watched about 2 and a quarter seasons of the show in preparation for the film. And while that does mean that I haven’t watched the entire show, that doesn’t mean that the film is completely inaccessible to general newcomers of the series. Still, I would recommend at least watching a few episodes first before seeing the film just so that you can be familiar with the world and the characters. All in all, ‘Entourage’ was a really fun, and pretty funny, film that is meant to be seen with a crowd and, more importantly, your own ‘Entourage’.

JURASSIC WORLD

‘Jurassic World’ is by no means the smartest sci-fi film ever written. But really, what do you expect from a series that is all about scientists recreating dinosaurs through animal DNA? ‘Jurassic World’ is just a super fun and entertaining summer blockbuster and those are exactly the kind of films that I love to watch. It may not be the absolute best film of the year but it does its job in delivering exactly what we want; awesome dinosaur-related action with quite frankly some of the most epic deaths in franchise history. ‘Jurassic World’ also succeeds through its subtle homages to the original ‘Jurassic Park’, and while it may not be ‘as good’ as the original film, it at least manages to recapture a good enough amount of the awe and wonder of that film and repackage it for a new generation. Like with every entry in the series, yes even the first in some cases, there are quite a few underdeveloped characters, including a so-called ‘human’ villain played by Vincent D’Onofrio that doesn’t actually do anything ‘villainous’, which is a bit disappointing given D’Onofrio’s recent turn as Wilson Fisk in ‘Daredevil’. But despite that, the four main leads are pretty darn solid. That includes Chris Pratt, who once again proves himself to be one of the best new leading men in Hollywood, Bryce Dallas Howard, whose character ends up being a pretty badass female lead despite her initial seemingly stiff demeanor and the strange backlash towards the decision to have her wear heels the whole time (one of the most trivial film complaints of all time, which given the internet is saying something), and Ty Simpkins and Nick Robinson as a pair of brothers who end up in the midst of all of the chaos. I’m happy to see that this film is doing so well at the box office, more so than anyone expected. This truly is an ‘event’ movie in the veins of films like ‘The Avengers’ and ‘Harry Potter’.

TOP 5

5. KINGSMAN: THE SECRET SERVICE

Starting with ‘Casino Royale’, the James Bond franchise has moved away from its more campy and over-the-top past installments. Director Matthew Vaughn’s ‘Kingsman: The Secret Service’ is basically the modern-day old-school Bond film with its incredibly over-the-top and insane action sequences and its self-aware tone. And the end result is one of the slickest action films of the year, with stand-out sequences including the all-out brawl in a church and one of the most epic explosion sequences of all-time. Sure the violence get a bit brutal at times and the final shot of the film, though I do understand the homage Vaughn went for, goes just a bit too far but overall the film still succeeds in capturing the feel of the old-school Bond films of the pre-‘Casino Royale’ era pretty damn well. And to top it all off, the film has a dynamite ensemble cast with the biggest standouts being Colin Firth, in his first major leading role in an action film, and Taron Egerton, one of 2015’s biggest newcomers who manages to hold his own against not just Firth but other acting heavyweights like Michael Caine and Samuel L. Jackson. ‘Kingsman’ is just straight-up fun, once again showcasing Vaughn’s talents as a director, hence why he’s easily one of the best directors working today.

4. THE AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON

Marvel Studios’ fantastic run with the Marvel Cinematic Universe continues with the second ‘Avengers’ film, ‘Age of Ultron’. Now is it as good as the first film? Well, to be honest, not really but I don’t hold that against the film. Instead, ‘Age of Ultron’ succeeds at being another truly epic superhero flick from Marvel Studios featuring Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. The stakes may be higher than they were in the first ‘Avengers’ but director Joss Whedon still gives the film the same style of humor and fun that the entire MCU has been known for, which is why I heavily prefer Marvel films over the ‘way too f***ing dark’ DC films. Ultron, played by the badass James Spader, is another excellent MCU villain, primarily due to the fact that he’s actually a much funnier villain than I think we all were expecting. The new additions to the cast (Scarlet Witch, the second major on-screen iteration of Quicksilver in two years, and of course Vision) are great and, yes, I liked the whole ‘Black Widow-Hulk’ romance that has been a major source of controversy amongst feminists to the point where many people online even sent Whedon death threats (sigh). Now I’ve seen many people say that the film is a bit overcrowded given all of the characters that are in it. And while it’s true that there are quite a lot of characters in this film to keep track of, I don’t think it’s as big of an issue as people say because A.) like the first ‘Avengers’, Whedon manages to balance out these roles pretty well and B.) as we all know, the MCU has already established many of these characters, which is a much smarter move than just cramming them all into one film without previously introducing them first in other films (I’m looking at you, ‘Batman v. Superman’). So in short, while I can’t say that ‘Age of Ultron’ is the absolutely ‘best’ installment of the MCU, it’s still a top-tier entry in this great franchise.

3. INSIDE OUT

As I stated in my original review for this film, I’m not one of those people who feel that Pixar went downhill after ‘Toy Story 3’. Sure, their next three films were nowhere near their best work but they had their own unique good qualities to them that at least made them enjoyable for kids (though I’d argue ‘Monsters University’ is actually quite underrated). But of course, when it comes to Pixar, many expect their films to appeal to both kids and adults, in the case of the latter due to their strong writing and great characters. And that is why ‘Inside Out’ is the best Pixar film since ‘Toy Story 3’. Of course like with any Pixar film, the animation is superb and it produces lots of colorful and imaginative imagery. The film’s voice cast is perfect and there’s definitely a lot of funny moments/dialogue throughout. But the film also succeeds with its execution of its creative premise, effectively capturing life experiences that all of us can relate to in some way, like moving to a new city and being the new kid at school. And let me tell you, if you don’t get teary-eyed at least once during this film, then there may be something wrong with you. ‘Inside Out’ is easily not only the best animated film of the year so far, but also one of the best films so far this year period. After some arguable missteps, Pixar finally delivers another home run to go alongside their many other animated classics.

2. TOMORROWLAND

Nothing saddens me more this year than the fact that this film has been a serious under-performer at the box office, having just recently only making its budget back. It probably has something to do with the fact that critics weren’t as kind towards it either. But this is one case where I seriously disagree with the critical reception for a film. Under the excellent direction of Brad Bird, ‘Tomorrowland’ is a bold, imaginative, and most of all inspiring original story that above all else promotes the one thing that I feel that has been severely lacking in today’s society; hope. This film is for those who ‘dare to dream’, who ‘never give up’. And it does this all without being preachy. Sure, some critics have accused the film of being just that, preachy, but if you ask me that just makes the message even stronger by showcasing how cynical our society has gotten in the last few years. Now the big point of controversy about this film is in regards to this ending and, without giving anything major away, while I’m not saying that it is a ‘great’ ending, at the same time I really don’t see why it’s ‘as bad’ as some people are putting it out to be. With amazing visuals (made even more impressive on IMAX screens), a terrific cast highlighted by Britt Robertson and Raffey Cassidy as two of the absolute best on-screen heroines of the year (even better than everyone's favorite's, Furiosa), and above all else a good old-fashioned sense of fun and adventure, ‘Tomorrowland’ seriously deserves much greater attention than what it’s currently getting. Hopefully it ends up the same way as Bird’s first film, ‘The Iron Giant’, in that it ends up getting the acclaim it deserves down the road despite its less-than-stellar debut.  

1. CINDERELLA

Yes folks, my Top 4 films of the year so far were all released by Disney (that includes ‘Age of Ultron’ due to Disney owning Marvel). And I don’t care if that makes me look like a big Disney fan boy. Disney’s just been having a phenomenal year… well, considering the box-office performance of ‘Tomorrowland’, I say that more in regards to the quality of their films to be precise. And right now, my favorite film of 2015 so far is Kenneth Branagh’s new take on the classic story of ‘Cinderella’, previously brought to the big screen by Disney in 1950. This is one of the most beautiful films that I’ve seen in my entire life, both inside and out. The film’s visual look and production/costume design are superb and will hopefully attract some awards attention later this year. But the film, like ‘Tomorrowland’, also succeeds because of its heart and strong messages, which in this case are to ‘have courage and be kind’ and that true beauty is on the inside. Just like how ‘Tomorrowland’s message rings true about today’s society, the messages in ‘Cinderella’ are damn good life lessons to live by in the cynical world that we live in today.

And despite what some feminists on the internet may claim (which, if you haven’t already noticed from some of the things I pointed out earlier in this post, is becoming quite a running trend this year given the backlash towards other films like ‘Age of Ultron’ and ‘Jurassic World’), this version of Cinderella (portrayed perfectly by Lily James) is a phenomenal female lead. Her courage, her control over her own destiny, and her sweet persona shine through against the arguments that she’s just a ‘passive’ protagonist who just gets rescued at the end by the Prince. And on that note, the other great thing about this film is that while it may primarily be a re-telling of the original Disney animated film, it does just enough to feel different while also improving on many of the now dated elements of that film. Whereas I was incredibly saddened by the box-office failure and middling critical reception of ‘Tomorrowland’, I was so happy to see this film do well with both critics and audiences. This new ‘Cinderella’ truly is one of the best films that I’ve seen in quite a long time and while I’ve seen quite a few cynics complain about Disney’s upcoming lineup of live-action adaptations of their classic animated films, this film, if anything, proves that they can be good.

So that’s what 2015 has been like for me so far. We still got plenty more films on the way so stay tuned to see if any of these current Top 5 films will end up in my end-of-the-year Top 12 list.

Spy (2015) review

2015 is shaping up to be quite a big year for the spy film genre. Earlier this year, we had the insanely over-the-top and incredibly entertaining ‘Kingsmen: The Secret Service’. Later this year, we’re also going to get ‘Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation’, ‘The Man from UNCLE’, and the next James Bond film ‘Spectre’. But before all of that, we also have ‘Spy’, the latest film from director Paul Feig, who’s coming off of two big comedy hits in 2011’s ‘Bridesmaids’ and 2013’s ‘The Heat’. But Feig is also coming into this film with a bit of a chip on his shoulder having attracted a lot of backlash online recently for being involved in the upcoming reboot of the ‘Ghostbusters’ series that will star an all-female cast of leads. One of the leads will be Feig’s regular collaborator Melissa McCarthy, who previously starred in both ‘Bridesmaids’ and ‘The Heat’ and of course stars in this film as well. Like Feig, she too is sort of coming in with a chip on her shoulder as she seemingly is currently running the risk of falling victim to ‘over-exposure’, namely after last year’s ‘Tammy’, which she co-wrote with her husband Ben Falcone (who directed the film), received a lot of negative reviews from critics. But, if anything, ‘Spy’ proves that McCarthy and Feig are at their best when they work together. Not only is ‘Spy’ a pretty darn hilarious spy comedy, thanks in no small part to its excellent cast, but it actually also manages to be a pretty well-crafted spy film as well. If anything, it shows that this upcoming ‘Ghostbusters’ film may not be a ‘disaster’ like many on the internet fear it will be.

McCarthy plays Susan Cooper, a desk analyst at the CIA who, despite finding success as the partner of field agent Bradley Fine (Jude Law), is frustrated by the fact that she hasn’t been given a chance to go out into the field herself and, as a result, is still the ‘same old boring’ person that she’s always been. But that changes when, on a mission to infiltrate the home of Rayna Boyanov (Rose Byrne), the daughter of an arms dealer that Fine had accidentally killed while searching for a mini-nuke, Fine is taken down by Rayna herself, who reveals that she knows the identities of all of the C.I.A.’s top agents. With no other agents, including Rick Ford (Jason Statham), being able to probably take part in the case due to the leak, Susan volunteers to be the field agent on the grounds that none of the targets would know who she is. So, with the approval of her boss Elaine (Alison Janney), Susan heads out, under various unassuming identities (including, among others, a ‘cat lady’), to track and report any developments of an impending sale of the mini-nuke between Boyanov and playboy Sergio De Luca (Bobby Cannavale). While she is told not to get close to any of the contacts for risk of blowing her cover, Susan ends up doing just that, pretending to be Rayna’s body-guard when the two end up crossing paths.

Something that impressed me about this film was that, as far as spy films are concerned, this one was pretty well-constructed in terms of action and the overall look and feel of the film. It even has an intro credits sequence just like the Bond films. The action sequences are shot really well and, like ‘Kingsmen’, are more violent in execution, definitely warranting an R-rating along with the usual raunchy humor you can expect from an R-rated comedy. Having now seen this film, I must say that I would love to see Paul Feig do a Bond film in the future because, based on this film alone, he handles action pretty well. I’m finding that this has kind of been a trend recently as there have been cases of directors who have been primarily known for their work in comedy proving to do a pretty solid job when it comes to directing action, with some other recent examples being the Russo brothers and James Gunn with their work on their respective Marvel Cinematic Universe films. But of course, this is also a comedy and the film does a great job of blending these two genres together, with neither overshadowing the other too much. Admittedly I think that the humor was a little bit stale early on but it definitely improved as the film went on. The film also gives us a really solid female lead in Susan Cooper, who may seem unassuming as far as spies are concerned but ends up being quite a badass when it comes to some of the stuff that she does in this film.

This was the first major film that I saw in which Melissa McCarthy starred in the lead role so ultimately I guess you can say that I’m not amongst those people who have gotten tired of her ‘schtick’ yet. And as far as this film goes, she does a solid job, excelling in both her comedic ability and her overall likability and empathetic nature, which definitely fits the character. Though it could be argued that the biggest standouts of the film are actually some of McCarthy’s co-stars, two in particular. First there’s Jason Statham, in a rare comedic turn. Statham gets plenty of the film’s best lines, which are mostly him gloating about how awesome of an agent he is, being immune to over 170 different kinds of toxic substances and for doing crazy stunts like jumping off a high-rise with only a raincoat as a parachute and driving a car off a train while on fire (“Not the car, I was on fire.”). The other big standout is Rose Byrne, who once again shows that she’s clearly found her calling in comedic roles after being one of the big standouts of last year’s ‘Neighbors’. Her comedic timing is strong and her back-and-forth camaraderie with McCarthy is excellent. But then there’s some other noteworthy members of the cast as well, like Miranda Hart in a breakout role as Susan’s friend Nancy, who also ends up getting involved with the mission as well when she too heads out in the field, and Peter Serafinowicz as Aldo, an informant who constantly tries to flirt with Susan.  

‘Spy’ was the first major film that I have seen from director Paul Feig since he broke out big time in 2011 with ‘Bridesmaids’. And although I haven’t seen either that or ‘The Heat’, I think he’s going to be a great choice to helm the new ‘Ghostbusters’ film. Because ‘Spy’ is sort of two films in one. Not only is it a pretty darn funny comedy, but it’s also a pretty darn well-made spy film as well, once again showing that comedy directors can do action sequences just as well as action directors. While most spy films nowadays tend to be more serious compared to the more crazy and over-the-top films of the past (unlike ‘Kingsmen’, which of course was a tribute to that chaotic style), ‘Spy’ is a nice little comedic alternative and, as a result, definitely one of the better comedies of the summer movie season. Of course that is thanks to the solid writing and direction from Feig and the solid ensemble cast led by Melissa McCarthy and featuring standout turns by the likes of Jason Statham, Rose Byrne, and Miranda Hart. While both McCarthy and Feig have come under fire recently by the internet for recent developments in both of their careers, including the upcoming ‘Ghostbusters’ reboot of course, ‘Spy’ shows that these two are at their best when they work together. The way I see it, this new ‘Ghostbusters’ couldn’t be in greater hands.       

      

Rating: 4/5

2015 Preview: June

The Summer 2015 Movie Season continues with plenty of new and exciting films on the horizon. Welcome back to Rhode Island Movie Corner’s year-long preview of the films that are set to come out in 2015. This is Part 6 of 12 and today we’ll be looking at the films that will be hitting theaters this June. From Hollywood stars to dinosaurs to emotions to talking teddy bears there are quite a lot of noteworthy films coming out this month so let’s not waste any time and dive right into the films of June.

JUNE 3/JUNE 5- The month starts out with an early Wednesday release of one film, the continuation of a popular HBO series, and two other films, one horror and one comedy, on Friday the 5^th. Plus I’ll throw in one noteworthy limited release.

*Four years after the series came to an end in 2011, the hit HBO comedy ‘Entourage’ returns with a feature film directed by series creator Doug Ellin and produced by series producer/inspiration Mark Wahlberg. The series revolved around movie star Vincent Chase (Adrian Grenier) and his entourage of friends; Eric ‘E’ Murphy (Kevin Connolly), ‘Turtle’ (Jerry Ferrara), and Vincent’s brother Johnny AKA ‘Drama’ (Kevin Dillon) and their adventures in Hollywood. In the film, Vincent is given the opportunity to direct his next film by his former agent turned studio head Ari Gold (Jeremy Piven) but ends up getting into trouble with the financiers when he goes over-budget. Like the show, the film features an abundance of celebrity cameos including, but not limited to, Liam Neeson, Bob Saget, Ronda Rousey, Pharrell, Jessica Alba, and Mark Wahlberg. (Opens Wednesday)

*Series writer Leigh Whannell takes over for James Wan as director of ‘Insidious: Chapter 3’, the third installment of the popular horror franchise. A prequel to the previous two films, this film centers around psychic Elise Rainier (Lin Shaye) as she uses her ability to contact the dead when a teenage girl becomes targeted by a supernatural entity.

*Director Paul Feig reunites with his ‘Bridesmaids’/‘The Heat’ star Melissa McCarthy for ‘Spy’, in which she stars as a CIA analyst who gets the opportunity to go into the field and stop the sale of nuclear weapons when the rest of the CIA’s operatives’ identities are compromised. The film also stars Jason Statham, Rose Byrne, Jude Law, and Allison Janney.

*Opening in limited release is ‘Testament of Youth’, based off of the first installment of the memoir of English writer Vera Brittain, portrayed in the film by Alicia Vikander (‘Ex Machina’). When World War I breaks out and her younger brother (Taron Egerton), her fiancé (Kit Harrington), and their friends (Colin Morgan and Jonathan Bailey) are sent to serve in the army, Vera joins the war effort as well as a nurse. The film also stars Dominic West, Emily Watson, and Hayley Atwell.  

JUNE 12- One of the summer’s biggest blockbusters debuts alongside another noteworthy limited release.

*The first installment of the franchise since 2001’s ‘Jurassic Park III’, ‘Jurassic World’ is the fourth installment in the highly successful ‘Jurassic Park’ franchise. Colin Trevorrow (‘Safety Not Guaranteed’) helms this entry, which takes place on the island of Isla Nublar, where the original ‘Jurassic Park’ took place, 22 years after the events of the first film. A now fully-functioning dinosaur park, Jurassic World, attempts to boost attendance by developing a new genetically-engineered hybrid dinosaur. However, the new dinosaur ends up escaping and starts to cause chaos around the park. The film stars Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Vincent D’Onofrio, and Ty Simpkins, among others.

*Opening in limited release is ‘Me and Earl and the Dying Girl’, which won both the U.S. Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award for U.S. Drama at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. Thomas Mann stars as Greg Gaines, a high-school student who makes low-budget films with his best friend Earl (Ronald Cyler II). When they meet and befriend a girl named Rachel (Olivia Cooke) who suffers from leukemia, the two decide to make a film just for her.

JUNE 19- A dramedy, the newest Pixar film, and yet another notable limited release.

*After not releasing any films in 2014, a first for the company since 2005, Pixar returns with their latest flick, ‘Inside Out’. Directed by Pete Docter (‘Monsters’ Inc.’, ‘Up’), the film centers around the ‘emotions’ of a young girl named Riley who is forced to move to San Francisco when her father gets a new job. Amy Poehler, Phyllis Smith, Bill Hader, Lewis Black, and Mindy Kaling voice Riley’s five main emotions; Joy, Sadness, Fear, Anger, and Disgust, respectively.

*Produced by Forest Whitaker and Pharrell, ‘Dope’ centers around a young man named Malcolm who tries to traverse through life in a tough neighborhood in Inglewood, California.

*Co-produced by J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot Productions, ‘Infinitely Polar Bear’, filmed in Rhode Island, stars Mark Ruffalo as a manic-depressive father who tries to win back his wife (Zoe Saldana) by looking after their two kids while she is away.

JUNE 26- Finally to close out the month, the sequel to a 2012 comedy smash hit and a family film.

*2012’s ‘Ted’, the directorial debut of ‘Family Guy’ creator Seth MacFarlane was a smash hit both critically and commercially, grossing over $500 million worldwide. And now everyone’s favorite foul-mouthed teddy bear is back in ‘Ted 2’ along with Mark Wahlberg as Ted’s best friend John. In this film, Ted (voiced and portrayed via motion capture by MacFarlane) and John work together to help prove that the former is human in a court of law when he faces the risk of losing custody of his new child that he is having with his new wife Tami-Lynn (Jessica Barth). Giovanni Ribisi and Sam Jones (but not Mila Kunis) also reprise their roles from the previous film and are joined by Amanda Seyfried, Morgan Freeman, and Liam Neeson.

*Finally we have ‘Max’, directed by Boaz Yakin, which centers around a dog named Max who works for the military but must then deal with the loss of his handler when he’s taken in by the marine’s family. The film’s cast includes Thomas Haden Church, Robbie Amell, and Lauren Graham.

And those are the films that are hitting theaters this June. Thanks for reading and check back next month for Part 7 as we’ll be looking at the films that will be coming out this July.

The Bourne Legacy (2012) review





From 2002 to 2007, audiences were treated to a realistic and compelling spy series known as the 'Bourne' trilogy which starred Matt Damon as Jason Bourne, an ex-CIA assassin who loses his memory after a failed mission and soon goes on the run from the CIA while trying to find out who he really is. While 2007's 'The Bourne Ultimatum' was planned as the finale to the series, being the last of the novels the films were based on written by Robert Ludlum, a fourth film soon came into play. This time, Damon does not return and neither does the director of the last two Bourne films, Paul Greengrass. Instead, 'The Bourne Legacy' (which doesn't even follow the plot of the book of the same name written by Eric Van Lustbader) is a whole different story that takes place around the time of the events of Ultimatum. In the lead role is Jeremy Renner, fresh off the success of Marvel's The Avengers. Behind the camera is a man who has been a big part of the series, Tony Gilroy, who wrote the screenplay for all of the Damon films as well as this new film.

Sadly though, this new Bourne film doesn't quite match up to Damon's trilogy. Sure, Renner is brilliant in the lead role and he is very much capable of taking over for Damon in case he decides not to return to this franchise, which is probably very likely. However, this new Bourne film isn't as compelling as the previous trilogy and, compared to those films, is rather light on action and more focused on dialogue. Granted, the dialogue is still very well written, but that really isn't what people think of when it comes to this franchise. All in all, 'Bourne Legacy' is still a very entertaining movie mainly in part due to Renner's performance. However, this could very much be a case of a sequel that probably shouldn't have been made in the first place.

The film opens up right in the midst of the events in 'Bourne Ultimatum' as Jason Bourne exposes the CIA's 'Operation Blackbriar' which puts key members of the CIA in hot water with the FBI. As this is going on, retired USAF colonel Eric Byer (Edward Norton) decides to eliminate all of the members of another CIA program, Operation Outcome. While the other members of Outcome are immediately killed off, one agent named Aaron Cross (Jeremy Renner) survives this assassination attempt. Like the other agents of Outcome, he is provided with a set of pills that enhance his physical and mental abilities, but when the CIA tries to kill him, he begins to run out of this medicine. Enlisting the help of Dr. Marta Shearing (Rachel Weisz), who was his doctor while he was still a part of the CIA, Cross travels the world looking for the pills that will help him maintain his strength while also evading the CIA's forces.

From what the trailers suggest, 'The Bourne Legacy' is very much connected to the events of 'The Bourne Ultimatum' as Aaron Cross looks to 'finish what he [Jason Bourne] started'. That actually isn't the case with this movie, as it is more about Cross looking for the medication that helps him stay physically and mentally stable. When you get down to it, he's not even fighting the CIA but like Bourne, he is on the run from them. Sure, some of the events from Ultimatum are shown and the characters frequently mention Bourne's name throughout, but this is mainly during the beginning of the movie. Also, many of the actors from the previous trilogy, including Joan Allen, Albert Finney, Scott Glenn, and David Strathairn are only in it for a few minutes. This is the very definition of a spin-off film and considering the way this film was promoted, the writers could've done much more to integrate this story into the tale of Jason Bourne, even if Damon's not in the actual film himself.

The other big problem with the film is that it is rather light on action. You can sort of attest this to the fact that Gilroy isn't really known for directing action films, but most of this movie just consists of people talking and for a movie that is over two hours, it goes on for a bit too much. That being said, when the action does occur, the movie is very entertaining and Gilroy does eliminate the 'shaky-cam' problem that plagued the two Greengrass films. However, the writing for this film isn't really as solid as it was for the trilogy, primarily because Renner's character is a little flat. What made Jason Bourne such a great character was that like him, we too had no idea who he was and that's what made the other movies so compelling as we learned his backstory alongside him. Here, not so much...

That's not Renner's fault, as he does do a fantastic job in the role. He proves that he has enough charisma to lead a film by himself (this being his first mainstream leading role in a movie) and also that he could take over for Damon. Rachel Weisz is also great as the female lead and she and Renner work very well together. As for the other big star in this film, Edward Norton is sadly underused. All he is given to do is to look at computer monitors and bark orders at his workers. Obviously, Norton does a good job with what he's given, but there's not much for him to do here. Really, what the film needed was a confrontation between Renner and Norton's characters. There is one scene in this movie where Renner and Norton are shown talking, which implies that the two have a history but the film doesn't delve into this.

All in all, The Bourne Legacy is a little disappointing because it doesn't quite match the standard set by Damon's trilogy of films. True, Renner does a fine job but the film doesn't really connect much to the previous trilogy and is very light on action compared to what came before it. I have high hopes that this series can continue and possibly one day see Damon returning to reprise his role as Jason Bourne alongside Jeremy Renner but now I clearly see why Damon didn't return for this movie in the first place. It sort of feels like this was another one of those unnecessary sequels that are just made so that studios could profit from a popular series. It's a shame if that truly is why this movie was made, because it could've been so much better. Still, for what it is, it's still quality entertainment.

Rating: 3.5/5