Tag Archives: Film Review

Review: The Wolverine

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How fair is it to review one film while comparing it to another?  It would be easy to simply say that The Wolverine is better than its predecessor (2009’s terrible X-Men Origins: Wolverine) and leave it at that.  But that would be grading on the steepest of curves, and would unfortunately give The Wolverine too much credit.  It’s true that it is a better film than Origins, which wasted an otherwise interesting character in boring backstory surrounded with a mess of jumbled X-Men mythology.  The Wolverine is undoubtedly more interesting and enjoyable, but for me it’s perhaps the final nail in the coffin for X-Men spinoffs.

The Wolverine opens in 1945 with the dropping of the atomic bomb on Nagasaki, Japan.   Continue reading →

Review: RED 2

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So far this year, Bruce Willis has starred in two action sequels which take place in Russia.  The first, A Good Day to Die Hard, was a joyless mess of a film to which I gave an overly generous review.  It wasn’t bad, per se, but it was bland and uninteresting, and seemed to have no concept of the films that had come before it.  The second, RED 2, fares considerably better, staying true to the spirit of the original while adding new characters and despite having a new director.

After the events of the first film, Frank (Bruce Willis) is trying to settle back into the quiet routine of retired life, along with his girlfriend Sarah (Mary-Louise Parker).  He hasn’t killed anyone in months, and the two spend their days shopping for deals at Costco.   Continue reading →

Review: Pacific Rim

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I was 12 when Independence Day came out in 1996, and it had so many things that appealed to 12 year old me.  It featured alien monsters, massive cinematic destruction, stunning effects, explosions and lots of action.  I imagine that if I were 12 years old today, Pacific Rim would seem to be right up my alley.  It’s got alien monsters (technically transdimensional monsters), destruction and explosions and stunning effects.  But, I like to think 12 year old me would have left Pacific Rim with the same sense of dissatisfaction that 29 year old me has.

Pacific Rim tells the story of humanity’s fight against Kaiju, giant Godzilla-like creatures that appear from a dimensional portal at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean and wreak havoc on the cities that border that body of water.   Continue reading →

Review: Despicable Me 2

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In the time since we last saw Gru, Margo, Edith, Agnes and the minions, they have grown into a family.  Gru plays loving father to his three, adopted daughters, going out of his way to cater to them as individuals.  His life of crime is behind him, and he and Dr. Nefario have turned his secret lair into a jams and jellies factory.  At Agnes’s birthday party, Gru dresses up as a fairy princess to fill in for the one he’d hired for the party, while the moms of the other kids at the party keep trying to set him up with their single friends.

However, when an arctic research station is stolen, along with a chemical that can turn the most gentle bunny into a vicious, purple killer (between Despicable Me 2 and The Lone Ranger, vicious bunnies are having a moment), the Anti-Villain League decides to turn to Gru for help.  After initially turning them down, he reconsiders and joins forces with them, in part to partly fulfill the longing for his old way of life.  He’s assigned an AVL agent, Lucy Wilde, and the two of them set up shop (literally) in a mall where they suspect the chemical has been taken.  And all the while, Gru’s minions seem to be disappearing. Continue reading →

Review/Analysis: The Lone Ranger

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The Lone Ranger is most likely not what you expect, though it probably has at least one or two moments (or silver bullets) aimed at you.  It’s not a devoted adaptation of the beloved TV show from the 50’s or the radio show from the 30’s.  It’s not a “Disneyfied” (hate that word, it’s so condescending) version of a Western, aimed at kids.  It’s not Pirates of the Caribbean on horseback, though your ability to enjoy The Lone Ranger might be related to your ability to enjoy that saga of movies.  It’s not even a live-action adaptation of Rango.  So what is it?

The Lone Ranger is a rip-roaring, funny, violent, subversive, political, Western action extravaganza.   Continue reading →

Review: The Blue Umbrella

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By this point it’s well known that all new Pixar films are accompanied in the theater by a Pixar short.  Over the years, these shorts, ten of which have been nominated for Oscars, have become as much a part of the Pixar experience as the feature films.  This year, Pixar attached a short entitled The Blue Umbrella to its release of Monsters University.

In some ways it’s difficult to review a film that only lasts six minutes.   Continue reading →

Review: Much Ado About Nothing

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(This was movie #4 of my 4 movie marathon day.)

How do I become friends with Joss Whedon?  If this is how he spends his vacations, filming Shakespeare adaptations at his absolutely stunning house with a troupe of enormously talented actors and friends, then sign me up.  Much Ado About Nothing is damn near perfect, the melding of two brilliant minds across 400 years.  It’s clear that both Joss and his cast have a deep understanding both of the subject matter and the Shakespearean dialogue, and I hope we get to see a lot more of this sort of thing from him, once The Avengers 2 is done filming.

Much Ado About Nothing tells the story of two romances that take place as a prince comes to stay with a local governor.   Continue reading →

Review: Monsters University

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(This was movie #3 of my 4 movie marathon day.)

It seems like it would be easy to criticize Pixar for making so many sequels these days.  Between Toy Story 3, the new Monsters University and the upcoming Finding Dory, it seems almost like they’ve forgotten how to make new, original films.  Yet, where other companies would use a sequel as a way to cash in on previous success, Pixar instead gives us creative new stories that use a well known base to tell new, original stories, and never gives us just more of the same.  (Even the generally poor Cars 2 dared to do something different.)  The result with Toy Story 3 was a sorrowful and heartfelt look at aging and the passage of time which was nominated for Best Picture.  And now, with Monsters University they’ve done it again, taking the characters we love and going back to tell a prequel, and giving us a funny new story that fits in with what we know yet stands completely on its own.

Monsters University, as the title suggests, is a college movie, equally Pixar’s version of Revenge of the Nerds as it is a Monsters, Inc. spinoff.   Continue reading →

Review: World War Z

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(This was movie #2 of my 4 movie marathon day.)

World War Z is something of an anomaly.  For starters, it’s a zombie movie rated PG-13, which means no blood, gore or foul language.  Secondly, it stars Brad Pitt, from the top of the A-list.  Then, it’s directed by Mark Forster, known for dramas like Monster’s Ball, the heartbreaking Finding Neverland, the offbeat comedy Stranger Than Fiction, and the worst James Bond movie of recent memory (Quantum of Solace).  It’s extremely loosely based on the otherwise unfilmable book by Max Brooks (son of film-comedy genius Mel Brooks), and had more behind-the-scenes troubles than I could even relate here, involving reshoots, rewrites, and an ever-inflating budget.

All of that is superficial, however, because where World War Z really stands out is its scope.   Continue reading →

Review: Man of Steel

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(This was movie #1 of my 4 movie marathon day.)

The superhero movie as we know it was born in 1978 with Superman, starring Christopher Reeve.  The posters claimed “You’ll believe a man can fly” and we were given a movie that seems very dated by today’s standards.  Reeve, clad in spandex, soared on wires in front of a blue screen in many ways seems silly to modern audiences.  Clark Kent was the squeaky-clean all-American, still standing up for “truth, justice and the American way” 40 years after his introduction in the comics.  It was undeniably goofy, but timeless in a way.  It gave us a modern yet dated world, where reporters dressed like they were in the 1930s yet boarded helicopters from the roof of the Daily Planet.

Of course, superhero films have gone through many incarnations since then. Continue reading →