Cop Out - Review

This past weekend i caught the new Kevin Smith directed buddy cop movie, Cop Out. As you all probably know by now, Kevin Smith did not write the film, but was hired on to direct it only. I have seen every Kevin Smith film, and every one since Chasing Amy in a theater.

I consider myself a fan of Smith, but i am not as enthusiastic about his films as much as when i was in high school. It seems as i have been maturing, Kevin Smith hasn't. His films have looked better over the years, but not by much. When i go into a Kevin Smith film i usually go into it with lower expectation. For a guy who i have been following for as many years as i have, you would think that my expectations would rise. There is something about Kevin Smith's films, that will always feel like an indie film from the 90's.

As soon as Cop Out started i could tell it was a Kevin Smith movie. A generic establishing shot, silent, with a shitty font is interrupted by some outdated song that is way too obviously trying to convey a message. In this case, it is a shot of what i assume was Brooklyn because after the the awkward pause and shitty font "No Sleep til Brooklyn" began to play. It is almost Smith's calling card, to let you know to take the movie lightly, because he is just that one guy who started as a clerk in a New Jersey convenience store. It was only ten seconds into the movie and i was already preparing for the worse.

Once i got through the first scene, in which Tracy Morgan and Bruce Willis interrogated a perp, i was reminded that i actually can relax and enjoy Kevin Smith's newest movie. Of course that shitty font from before was blown up real big to reveal the title of the movie. Jesus dude, what is up with the shitty font? This is Kevin's Smith's most slick looking film, yet that font looks so fucking cheap! Why don't some movies just use the font from the posters? It's always baffled me.

After a couple minutes being frustrated with that font, i started to get back into the movie. As i said, the movie looked really slick. For a budget of $30 million, i thought he put together a really good looking film. I think that DP Dave Klein did a great job. He is to be commended for giving the movie some life.

Another key factor into making this movie really enjoyable was Harold Faltermeyer. Some of you might know Faltermeyer's work from such films as Fletch, Beverly Hills Cop and The Running Man. All of those movies, from the 80's, used nothing but synths in their scores and Cop Out does the same. The score, mixed with Smith's directing style, really make this movie have the feel and pace of an 80's buddy cop film, which is something i really enjoyed.

The story of Cop Out is really tough to convey in a short amount of time, but the real reason someone goes to see this movie is to watch the antics of Tracy Morgan and Bruce Willis. I have to tell you, every time these two were on screen together it was an incredible pleasure to watch. There are a few scenes where they are not together and it's just not that great. My only gripe with the characters Jimmy Monroe and Paul Hodges is that they were not up to "those wacky antics" throughout the entire movie. They are not the crazy cops that i was hoping for. Their methods are not as insane as you would think. It's not that the characters are straying from the comedy aspect of the story, it's just that the commercials lead me astray of who these two guys were. Tracy Morgan is funny as is Bruce Willis, i just hoped that the movie was "straight-laced cop and insane cop".

One of the highlights of the film was definitely Sean William Scott! Sean William Scott's Dave character is an annoying drugged out psychopath, who could have been way too annoying. I admire Kevin Smith for showing restraint on this character in particular. If there was too much of Dave, it would have killed everything. Another highlight was "the other cops" Hunsaker and Mangold. The two cops that are in direct competition to Hodges and Monroe was brilliantly played by Adam Brody and Kevin Pollack.

One misstep as far as characters goes, was Kevin Smith's use of bad guy "Po Boy". The character was all over the map and off-putting at times. The character should have either been all the way goofy, or all the way intimidating. I definitely blame this misstep on Smith. I wish he could have figured out this character more fully before committing it to screen.

My last gripe with this film is Kevin Smith's editing. I understand why Kevin Smith would want to edit all his movies, but this has always been my problem with Smith's films. You can tell by watching it, what scenes Smith loves. A lot of times, his scenes play out like a dvd director's cut, which always translates into poor pacing issues. I really wish that Smith would hire a professional editor to work with so that Smith could please the audience and not just himself. I just chalked up the weird pacing to "It's just like an 80's movie".

Other than the weird pacing issues and shitty font, me and Stevi found ourselves really enjoying the film, a lot! I had a blast watching these two guys interact. I would even go as far as saying i would love to see a sequel. Even though i am still a Kevin Smith fan, i would love to see someone different direct the sequel. If Kevin Smith showed some restraint in the editing room and less restraint on making Tracy Morgan stick to the script, this film could have been really amazing! As it stands it's just a good, entertaining movie.

All in all, i was really surprised about how much i liked Cop Out and would love to see a sequel that pushes the boundaries of the vulgar buddy cop action comedy.

★ ★ ★ ½

Avatar - Review

After a five month of not going to the movies, i finally broke down and went to see Avatar. Last saturday me and Stevi decided to go to Edwards at the Irvine Spectrum to check it out in 3D. I was hoping that there was an IMAX showing, but unfortunately there wasn't. Even though it was not IMAX the showing for both of us was $31. I now see why this movie is number one at the box office. Luckily we had Edward's giftcards, so we didn't feel the sting of paying that much for a movie.

There is not really much to say about the movie. The story was pretty basic. A man goes undercover to learn about a civilization only to befriend them and fight on their side against the corporation that sent him. It's kind of like Logan's Run, Minority Report and Equilibrium in that respect.

The 3d was pretty cool, but didn't seem to work that well when i was expecting it. I was really hoping to see these grand vistas in beautiful 3d, but those shots seemed the most flat. I wanted to feel like i could fall into the valleys and fly through trees, but all establishing shots were just plain flat. One of the problems with 3d, is that it makes the image look small, if that makes sense. With 3d glasses on, it made everything look weirdly small. I think that IMAX would have been way better. Watching it in a normal theater made it look like a small diorama in front of me.

The special fx were pretty good, but my main problem was the character animation. There were too many times where the NA'VI looked rubbery. I know they are aliens, but they did not move very realistically. The textures on the close ups of the creatures looked great! The faces looked really well, with the exception of the Sigourney Weaver avatar. Hers looked the most fake. I wouldn't be surprised if they added her character's avatar in at the last minute. It just didn't look real at all. Of course it didn't help that Sigourney Weaver's acting was absolutely atrocious.

Speaking of acting, i thought that it was pretty standard. There were no real standout performances, with the exception of Zoe Saldana. I thought she did a bang up job. She was the only real character that had any kind of interesting character arc. I don't think i have seen Sam Worthington in anything before, but i thought he did a good job, considering that his character was uninspiring. All of the characters were one dimensional. The bad guys were assholes, the good guys were nice. The corporate guy is greedy and doesn't learn his lesson. The movie is so cookie cutter and safe that it won't upset anyone, which is why i guess the whole thing works. If this challenged the audience whatsoever, it would not make the money it did. It is pure fluff.

Even though the movie does not challenge the mind in anyway, it is beautiful to look at. Because it is so safe, there isn't that much, story wise, to argue with. When you go to see Avatar, you will be treated to exactly what you though you would. It is definitely better than Titanic, but is not as good as any other James Cameron films.

I am glad i got to see it in the theater. Both me and Stevi had a good time and as far as escapism goes, Avatar definitely takes you to the world of Pandora and allows you to leave the real world for three hours.

★ ★ ★ ½

Clone Wars: Season 1 - Blu-ray Review

It's pretty well known that I like Star Wars. I really like the universe and mythology. Even though the prequels were not the greatest of motion pictures, I definitely like that the Star Wars universe has been opened up with more technology, life forms, droids and locations.

The thing that i noticed from the prequels is that George Lucas has an active imagination and his team of artists and technicians treat the series with great affection. If you put the Star Wars universe in someone else's hands, they take care of it better than George Lucas would ever do. He is full of imagination, but does not have that filter that us fans would have.

When i first heard that they were making a Clone Wars series, i had pretty much dismissed it as a children's show and decided that it was going to be a cartoon made for those kids from the prequel era of Star Wars. Last Christmas i received the "theatrical Clone Wars" on blu ray. I watched it and thought it was really boring. It sort of doused any flicker of hope that i had for Star Wars.

But for some reason i decided to set the Tivo to record an episode of the series and i have to tell you, this is actually a really good show. There are moments that are definitely geared towards the younger set, but the great thing is that the people behind the show try to filter out some of the more questionable aspects of the prequels and make them more "classic" friendly. There is a lot of dialogue in the series which are lifted directly from the original trilogy. There is also a lot of technology and creatures that bridge the gap between the classic and prequel trilogies. And thankfully you don't have to watch too many episodes before it starts catering to those who have given up on Star Wars.

Thanks to this show bridging the gap between episode II and III, it really makes those two films a little bit better. It adds weight and dimension to some of those characters you only get to see briefly in the films.

Last week i received the entire first season on Blu ray for only $34.99 on Amazon, which is an absolute STEAL for what you get. The Blu Rays are packed with extras, including director's cuts, featurettes for each episode as well as artwork for the series. The packaging is amazing. The discs come in a booklet filled with amazing artwork from the series. The footage looks incredible in 1080 and really shows off the great "painted" style of the series.

Anyone who was into Star Wars at one time in their life, only to be let down by the prequels, this is a great way to feel like a kid again. These are Star Wars in the literal sense and it is great seeing World War 2 type of warfare set in the Star Wars universe and Blu Ray is the only way to watch these! Finally, it's Star Wars in Saturday Morning Serial Form!!

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Crank: High Voltage - Blu-ray Review

I know that i did not give a favorable review for Crank: High Voltage, but i decided that i really wanted the blu-ray when it came out. I really love the characters and no matter how much the last 5 minutes was off-putting, i still liked the majority of the stuff before it. Come hell or high water i was going to force myself to be okay with Crank 2. At least this time i knew what i was in for and i have to admit that i like the movie a lot more than my original review.

The fact that the ending is so far out there sort of made me laugh this time as opposed to cocking my head like a confused dog. I started watching the extra features as soon as i put in the disc and sure enough the writers/directors Nevaldine and Taylor mentioned that ending. They said that putting it in there was a "dare". They were sure that Lionsgate would not let them do that ending. When nobody at the studio mentioned it, they just assumed that they greenlit the script without reading it. That makes perfect sense to me. It is so fucking out there.

The movie still bugs me that Chev does not recover his own heart, but i guess it allows us to spend more time with Doc Miles. Even though the story didn't have the heart that the first one did, i sort of justify it by considering that it was the directors' intent to begin with.

All in all i still love the characters and feel that i was way too harsh on the film the first time. I guess i was overhyping myself on this and to be honest the "Crankness" of this movie is definitely ramped up ten-fold this time around.

The HD looks absolutely incredible in 1080 and the features are great! It is fun watching Nevaldine/Taylor "not care" about the franchise, even though you can tell that they love it.

★ ★ ★ ¼

What's Up: Balloon to the Rescue - Review

When i first saw the cover for What's Up: Balloon to the Rescue i imidiately jumped to the conclusion that this film was a rip off of the Pixar film Up. Boy, was i way off! This movie is absolutely nothing like Up, with the exception of the fact that there is a boy, an old man and a flying house.

Where as Up is a beautifully, emotional adventure story filled with peril and self discovery, What's Up is a pile of shit that has nothing to do with anything other than heinous dialogue, child endangerment and racial stereotypes. As you find out in the first excruciating minute of exposition, you meet a group of Monster trappers headed by two old scientists and a dumb teenage girl and her stupid annoying brother. Apparently these idiots are called into action to send dumb looking monsters into an equally dumb looking dimension.

These Monster Trappers get some sort of magic stone that is able to fuel their house/laboratory and make it fly. Apparently one of the scientists is not too keen on flying which really comes in handy when you make a flying house. Why would you make something fly that isn't supposed to fly. Don't you think that would make your phobia of flight worse, by making a flying rickety house?!

So, for some reason these people decide to take the house for a spin. While IN THE AIR they get a knock on the KITCHEN DOOR. Somehow this french dude, made it up into the house with great ease, wandered into the house and decided to knock on the kitchen door. After a few French smell jokes, the crew decides to allow this "French Explorer" with them.

The idiots land in the middle of the Amazon, which is less detailed than my Tiger Woods' iPhone Golf game, and decide to go into a cave. Why do they go into the cave? I forget but who cares. While they are in the cave, the French dude, grabs the magic stone and tells us that he is going to use it to control the minds of every person on the planet. He starts off by causing a Hot Air balloon to crash into a tree. After this he takes some TNT and blows up the entrance to the cave, trapping the idiot monster hunters inside.

Somehow, these morons get loose from the cave and have a conversation with the french dude, who they still trust. The Frenchy drops the magic rock and it is rendered useless. So they decide to steal the Hot Air balloon to make the house fly. I am pretty sure that they leave the ballon pilot in the tree.

So, these fucking geniuses decide that they still trust old Frenchy and not only that, but the retarded girl that is with them has become smitten with him. While they are flying around in the house, that they can somehow control, the Frenchy starts to hit on the girl but her stupid annoying brother is watching tv. So what else could this trusted friend do, but Drug the little boy so he can hit on his sister. Yep, the little annoying kid gets drugged!

So apparently there are some monsters around the world that need to be trapped, so these fools go to a couple of places and trap them. But the best part is when they show up at the Great Wall of China, where they meet a Chinese man, who is probably named "Ching-Chong" for all i know. I know what you are thinking, "Damn ralph, that is really racist of you". But you have no idea how many stereotypes they fit into this one character!!! They gave this dude a camera and put a takeout container of Chow Mein on his t-shirt! They say stereotypical things to him and make him travel outside the house in the containment orb with the monsters. You think that's bad, you should see when the little annoying shit brother taunts the monsters and that Chinese Man with cookies!!

All in all this movie is a total pile of shit. I mean, it is really bad!!! I hate it with all my might. The dialogue is obviously put in after the animation was complete and the people who translated it, from wherever this movie came from, had no idea what the story was before they wrote the lines. Also, they only had one take to get the dialogue recorded. Also the dialogue sounds like the way i am typing this. Also i want to punch this movie in the face!

Up your butt, What's Up?!


ZERO FUCKING STARS!!

District 9 - Review

District 9 just may be my favorite film of 2009. A few weeks ago i posted a blog about how 1982 was chocked full of awesome sci fi and other geek films and that it was a shame that this whole year has been nothing short of lackluster. With all of the remakes and sequels and licensed pictures that come out, it starts to gets really frustrating when original films get overshadowed by cookie cutter crap. My three favorite films that have come out this year all were released within a week from each other between May 29th-June 5th. Up, The Hangover and Drag me to Hell are three of my favorite films this year and are the only films that weren't adapted from a book, toy, video game or comic.

The last film i saw was Transformers 2. Even though i liked the original a lot, the second one left such a bad taste in my mouth that it made me rethink seeing a lot of movies this summer up until two days ago. District 9 was a film that i had been looking forward to for a long time. A few years back i heard that Neill Blomkamp was going to direct the Peter Jackson produced Halo film. Back then, all of us Halo fans said "Who the hell is Neill Blomkamp?". So we all started looking him up and had all come across Alive in Joburg a short film about an alien race that was forced to live in a walled off shanty town patrolled by the military. We all ate it up. We thought that the movie was badass enough for us to "allow" this guy to make Halo. Even though Neill Blomkamp's Halo short films were amazing and Peter Jackson has proven that he could produce a blockbuster film, Halo fell through and so they started working on the feature length version of Alive in Joburg aka District 9.

With any great science fiction film, there is some social commentary, but not to worry, D9 is not as heavy handed as the commercials will lead you to believe. There is some hints of race riots, concentration camps and the civil rights movement, but a lot of that is abandoned by about the fifteen minute mark. The thing that surprised me was the fact that the documentary aspect of the film was also abandoned really early on, which would be my only gripe. The movie is set up like a documentary with pieces of news footage, interviews and field camera work, which made a scene between two aliens discussing the construction of an alien technology a bit jarring. For a few minutes i was taken out of the film. I kept thinking, who is the camera man that is shooting this conversation?

Once i got used to the fact that D9 was no longer a documentary, but a scripted story shot in a documentary style, i got into this film big time. The story is pretty interesting and something that none of the advertisements tell you about. This film is about a man named Wikus Van De Merwe who is the head of a government program that oversees the alien inhabitants of District 9. During an operation in which he is relocating the alien "Prawns" he gets sprayed with a chemical that slowly begins to alter his DNA and turns him into a half man half alien being. The government wants Wikus due to the fact that he is the only "human" that can operate the Prawn's biochemical weapons. Long story short, Wikus escapes and seeks refuge in District 9 where he becomes partners with an unlikely Alien creature. They both need each other to get what they require and the film turns into an all out buddy action film. I know what you may be thinking, here is just another movie that takes the low road by filling the last half with action, but this actually works. The action is driven by the drama and never feels forced.

With the brutal nature of the beginning of the film, you know that there is real danger around every corner. You root for the two heroes knowing that either of them can die at any moment. The fact that both Wikus and "Christopher" the Prawn have such different missions, you have no idea if the film will allow for two happy endings, which heightens the drama. Will one of them die? The chances are highly likely and that fact alone kept me on the edge of my seat.

District 9 is such a breath of fresh air! It is an original idea with many familiar element from science fiction films of the past. D9 takes from such classics as The Fly, Evil Dead 2, Logan's, Run and Alien Nation. It also takes from some of the greatest buddy action films of the past thirty years and was unapologetically self aware of that fact. The film is full of imagery that will be considered classic moments in sci-fi cinema. The final shot of District 9 is one of those iconic shots that are reminiscent of films like The Planet of the Apes and Evil Dead 2.

As soon as District 9 was over, i decided that i was going to buy the Blu-Ray as soon as it hit the shelves. I cannot wait to see this film again and i highly recommend that you check it out if given the chance. District 9 is probably the greatest science fiction film of this century!

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Green Lantern: First Flight - Blu-ray Review

It's no surprise that i was looking forward to the first animated feature film Green Lantern: First Flight. The fact that there is the subtitle "First Flight" makes me hope for a sequel to this film.

With all of these DC Universe animated films, for some reason, there is a very limited run time. Clocking in at a mere 75 minutes, GL First Flight covers a lot of ground. Finishing up the origins story within the first four minutes, First Flight foregoes any kind of training and jumps right into the story, with some exposition sprinkled throughout. Even though there is no training on Hal's ring-slinging, at least the creators let us fans know that Kilowog is the trainer and is unhappy with the lack of official training that Hal did not receive, before Hal is thrust into his first case.

Hal is taken under Sinestro's wing and is sent on the trail to track down Abin Sur's killer. The more time that Hal spends with Sinestro, the more Hal becomes suspicious of Sinestro's motives and rightfully so. Sinestro is in league with Kanjar Ro in order to find the Yellow Element, which is the one power in the universe that can overcome the Green Element and take down the Guardians and restore balance to the universe.

The movie covers a lot of ground in the short time allowed, but it is handled pretty well. After watching Justice League: New Frontier, i think that it is okay that they did not spend more time on Hal's origins, but i think it would have been cool to see some training with Kilowog.

All in all i really enjoyed the movie and it looks fantastic on Blu-ray. I think all of the voice acting was great, but John Larroquette seemed like an odd choice for Tomar Re. It just seemed a bit off. I just never pictured Tomar with such a low voice. I wish that they did more with Sallak, who is one of my favorite lanterns.

There are a lot of cool extras on the Blu-ray including 5 Justice League episodes that center around GL as well as the Duck Dodgers episode where Daffy Duck becomes a GL when Daffy's and Hal Jordan's clothes get mixed up at the dry cleaners. There are a lot of special features that are all about the Comic series starring Geoff Johns. My main problem with the special features, which there are plenty of, is the fact that they do not have a history of Green Lantern documentary like they did with The Justice League, Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman dvds. I was really looking forward to one of those. I also think that it is strange that nowhere in the special features is any sort of behind the scenes of the making of Green Lantern First Flight. All of the features pertain to the comics. Don't get me wrong, i LOVE the comics, but it felt like a big commercial for people to rush out to your local comic book store and buy DC Books.

I love Green Lantern and i have a feeling that the team of First Flight left a lot out, so that they dont step on the toes of Martin Campbell and the gang who are making the GL feature film. It is a great time for Green Lantern fans and i cannot wait to see what DC and WB has in store for the Emerald Crusader!

★ ★ ★ ★ ½

BLACKEST NIGHT #1 - Review

Well, the summer just officially kicked off for me. All of the disappointing hollywood blockbusters have pretty much all passed and now it is time for the real fireworks, BLACKEST NIGHT!

As you can all tell from this blog, i am a big Green Lantern fan. The first line in the Green Lantern's Oath is, "In brightest day, in blackest night". Blackest Night, though it takes it's name from the Green Lantern mythos, Blackest Night is not a straight forward Green Lantern title. The events in Blackest Night affect the entire DC Universe. You see, Green Lantern and Green Lantern Corps will continue to be published as Blackest Night goes on. Geoff Johns, the writer of both Green Lantern and Blackest Night, has some sort of weird knowledge of the entire history of the DC Universe, almost to the point where it gets a little tiring and cumbersome. Because this is a big event that stretches across the whole DC Universe, it has left Green Lantern out of the title, which i am sure is to appeal to a wider audience.

Because i am merely a green lantern fan, a lot of the first half of issue one is lost on me. There is a HEAVY amount of exposition that centers around all the people who have died in the past, from a bunch of books i have never read. Because i am a Green Lantern fan, i could care less about Hawkman or the hundreds of other DC characters that Geoff Johns insisted on putting in the book. It is almost to the point where it feels like Geoff Johns is saying, hey remember these guys? You don't? Well maybe i am a little better than you. After reading the first half of Blackest Night, i felt like i was sitting here reading off a checklist of characters.

Luckily Blackest Night issue one is a double sized comic and the second half moves away from the graves of the dead and moves on to OA, where Scar (a rogue guardian and leader of the Black Lanterns) unleashes all kinds of hell and sends millions of Black Lantern rings and begins to raise the dead! After a lengthy setup Blackest Night begins to unleash all kinds of hell!!

Imagine a universe full of Flesh craving undead super human zombies with power rings with a thirst for destroying and converting super heroes everywhere. The last half of Blackest Night is the greatest Sci-Fi, Horror, Superhero, Space Opera EVER! I hope that all of the people who died on Xanshi come back to haunt John Stewart.

After a slow setup, i am glad it is out of the way, so that Geoff Johns and artist Ivan Reis can unleash hell on the DC Universe!

★ ★ ★ ★ ½

Outlander - Review

A few months ago i saw THIS TRAILER for a movie called Outlander. The movie follows a soldier from a colony from another planet who tracks down and captures a large alien monster. While transporting it through space his ship crash lands on Earth circa 709 AD only to be captured by Vikings. The Outlander, as he is called, informs them of the "dragon" that he has brought and that he is the only one who can stop it.

For a while i was obsessed. I really wanted to see this movie. I don't know why i wanted to see it so bad. I am not a big fan of vikings, but the space stuff looked cool and i like monster movies so i figured it would be most likely awesome. I began to do some research and it looked like it was going to be released in a limited theaters. Being from southern california it usually does not matter how limited of a release a film is, chances are that it will be showing fairly close to me. This seemed like an original enough premise with cool effects to make it worth my while to make the trek to wherever it was showing. The only problem, the closest place that was showing it was way up in San Jose for only one midnight showing. Weak.

Although i knew i wouldn't get to check it out in the theater, i figured that it would be something that i could pick up on home video. I found out that they were going to release a dvd of Outlander in the united states. This got me pretty excited. I figured that i would just go ahead an purchase the movie, on the principal that i feel like supporting a film that has the guts to try something off the beaten path. With all of the remakes out there, i would rather support something that has some sort of originality. When is hollywood going to realize that movies like Land of the Lost are going to continue to tank, while original ideas like Up and The Hangover thrive?

After i was unable to purchase a copy of Outlander on DVD with a gift card i had through FYE, i ended up finding out that outside of the united states there were Blu-ray versions of the film, that would play in my player. So i dropped about $25 and had a copy of Outlander shipped to me from Canada.

Today i was able to sit down and watch this movie. Although it does have some issues, i feel that with a little fine tuning, that this movie would have been able to make some money theatrically. If they can release films like Pathfinder and In the Name of the King, why couldn't this movie make it? Apparently the Weinsteins did not feel it was good enough for a wide audience. Thanks, jerks.

The movie is pretty good. The effects are pretty solid for the most part. There are a few moments were the monster looks like something out of Xena or Hercules, but i think the design is cool and it is shot in such a way that you do not take too much notice of the effects that aren't as successful. I think that the acting of Jim Caviezel and John Hurt was really good. I thought that Ron Pearlman was awesome and could have used a lot more screen time. The sets were beautiful and the cinematography was well done. It reminded me of a fantasy film from the 80's but with a lot less cheese. I would love to see more space stuff, but the majority of the film is Viking centric. It is a fun adventure with some cool effects and plenty of viking fighting!

All in all, it was a pretty solid film and will watch it again with whoever is up for a viewing.

★ ★ ★ ½

CRANK 2: Electric Boogaloo - Review

In 2006, my favorite film was Casino Royale! It took me from being a 007 fan, into becoming a HUGE 007 fan. That movie took everything i loved about James Bond and threw all the bad parts out the window. Five months ago, Eon Productions released the followup to Casino Royale and i really enjoyed it! I thought that it took what was established in Royale and took the next logical step. It was a great follow up.

Back in 2006, just a few months before Casino Royale was released, Lionsgate unleashed my second favorite film of that year. CRANK! After being totally disappointed with the recently released Snakes on a Plane, Crank came along and showed me, that with a lame enough premise, any movie could be made. Crank was a HUGE surprise to me. I knew being a transporter fan, that i would go into this movie and have a good time. I did not know that it would turn into one of my favorite films ever. It was fast, brutal, hilarious and unapologetic. They set up the rules and did not let up once. Crank was what it was and didn't care what anyone thought.

After seeing the sequel to my favorite film of 2006 just 5 months ago i got to see the sequel to my second favorite film of 2006 today. CRANK: HIGH VOLTAGE. I have to be honest, i was a little disappointed in it. But just a little bit. All of the ingredients of the film seemed to be set in place. All of our main characters were there, Chev, Eve, Orlando, Dr. Miles, Don Kim and even Ricky Varona (more on that later). The premise of the film was set up in the first few minutes, just like the previous film. In the last one, the Bejing Cocktail was injected into Chev and he was off and running. In this film, they tie up any loose ends, literally tell you to deal with anything illogical and go along for another ride. After all, it is a video game. So after we get a news update on the events that happened in Crank, we see a very alive Chev Chelios laying in a hospital getting his new Electronic Heart! BAM, the "story" is set up, now we are ready to do this!

My main problem with Crank: High Voltage is that we do not follow Chev throughout the entire movie as we did in Crank. The fun of Crank was that we got to follow a man who would stop at nothing in order to survive the day. He was on a bender and needed to fulfill his bucket list within' the hour timeframe he was given. Crank: High Voltage does not have that same sense of urgency, Especially when the "story" strays away from Chev and goes and shows you what other characters are doing. That sense of danger is not there. It does not keep your heart racing as much as the first one did. I never really felt like the Electric Charge to the heart was that important. I never felt like he really needed to get to that next electric source. I think a lot of what made the first film so good was that, even though we can tell Chev is a superhuman, he still had to protect Eve. There was a sense of danger. This film did not have any stakes. Chev was out for revenge and there was nothing stopping him from going on his rampage. He had nothing to protect, so he was not vulnerable. I guess he just left Eve to fend for himself because he didn't have a heart, which is an interesting take, but i feel that it made him too cold. I know that this is a Crank movie, but every movie needs that sense of drama.

I understand that these event seem far fetched (Kalo's twin brother Venus) but for the most part, these movies play out in a real world. When Eve says that she saw a man on youtube fall from 40,000 feet without a parachute and survive, that shows you that this story may just work in real life, but when you see the return of Ricky Verona, it just throws all of the rules out the window and i don't think that i like it. I know that these movies are supposed to be over the top, and i like that they took it way too far, but i didn't feel that the absurdity of Ricky Verona's return was eased into at all. I felt that the rules established in the first film were still pretty much followed until we saw him. It turned very Sci-Fi, very very quickly. Maybe that sort of thing does exist, but god damned if it was not set up in a way that let me to believe it could actually happen. As funny as it was, it did take me out of the movie for a while and the unfortunate thing about it is, it happened way to close to the end. Before i could wrap my head around what the fuck just happened, the movie was over.

All in all, i was satisfied with the movie. I wish it just stayed with Chev the whole time instead of showing scenes without him and i definitely could have liked more time getting used to Ricky Verona's return. I think what made the first one successful for me was that Chev always had time to reflect on his life and what he was doing. In this one, he just does things because he is Chev Chelios, the superhuman. I hope that they make a Crank: Part Three, just so they can do a balls out action epic, but i am not sure that will happen. If they do a part three i hope that they give Chev that ability of Flight as Ben once suggested of Statham's Frank Martin character in the Transporter films.

I am all for giving Chev Chelios another quarter for a third life!

★ ★ ½

Watchmen - Review

I don't want to go on and on about Watchmen, but I have to tell you that I was really impressed. I have not read the book, but I think that helped my viewing. My only gripe with the film was that there was little character development for Ozymandias. I would have loved to see his back story a bit more as well as showing him interact with the Watchmen during their heyday. Rorschach was cool. He was like a super over the top version of Batman. I think of all of the characters, Nite Owl was my favorite. He is the one guy in this movie that is good and willing to right the injustices in the world for the sake of humanity. He is a good guy who just wants to help those who can't help themselves. He is the Bob Parr of the Watchmen world and is reliving the glory days, not for revenge or personal gain. He does it because he is a symbol of the past. I like that he even gets the girl. This movie was really entertaining and i am looking forward to seeing it again. I am not rushing out to go read the book, but i am really excited to see the extended cut.

★ ★ ★ ½

PUSH - Review

On Saturday I received a text message from Dylan. "Push is rad". That's all it said. I was somewhat interested in seeing this film. Ever since I saw Pitch Black in theaters I have had this sort of fascination for non-summer blockbuster sci-fi films. Usually they totally blow, films like Jumper and Ultraviolet come to mind. I wanted to like Ultraviolet because it was made by the director of another small sci-fi flick called Equilibrium. So I am really weary of checking out one of these films. Since Dylan gave a ringing endorsement and Stevi didn't have an interest in seeing Push, i decided to check it out today. Armed with a Christmas giftcard I would have very little regret if the movie blew.

I have to tell you, this movie is not as rad as I had hoped, but i definitely was not disappointed. The movie sets up the world that the characters inhabit within the opening credits. Long story short, offspring of individuals that were experimented on by Hitler's scientists run around the world and try to kill each other.

There are Pushers, Sniffers, Watchers, Stitchers and so on. The film centers around Chris Evans (johnny storm) who has the ability move shit with his brains! You have probably seen the commercial where he is making guns float around a room. He is joined by a girl played by Dakota Fanning, who has the ability to see different possible future scenarios. Together they are the Brains and Muscle who are thrust into a super over the top conflict that is full of twists and turns.

I thought that the movie was pretty good and the payoffs with the twists and turns were pretty well worth it, but, i think in the hands of a more seasoned director, could have made this a really great little film. There should have been so many more "Holy Shit" than there actually was. I also feel that this movie may have suffered from editing. I have a feeling that the deliberate pace of the film may have not pleased some test audiences, so the movie was cut down to get out only the "necessary" information, while losing some of the character arcs and intricate mythology that i feel was sorely lacking.

All in all i thought it was a pretty good movie. It was what it was, but i would love to see a directors cut, especially since i have this sneaking suspicion that the film was also cut to give it it's PG-13 rating.

★ ★ ½