Still in theaters… mini reviews!

I have gone on a film watching bender the last week and a half, so I thought that I’d post a list of short reviews rather than attempting to write one long review at a time and putting them out well after the movies have left theaters.  At least as of this writing, these can all be caught on the big screen, though some have drifted into the dollar theater.

Fast Five

Although it has its problems, I kind of like the series spawned by The Fast and the Furious, and go to see them all within a couple of weeks of opening night.  The first introduced us to Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) and his band of fast driving antiheroes.  I enjoyed it, and Diesel is always fun to watch, but didn’t like them doing a heist in broad daylight with their helmets off after remaining masked in the beginning (that whole we-have-to-show-the-main-character’s-faces flaw that happens again and again in films), and I thought Brian O’Conner (Paul Walker) was the worst cop in the world (really didn’t take much to bring him over to the dark side).  The second was forgettable, apparently, as I remember nothing about it, but I don’t remember hating it.  The third (The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift) was pretty darned good, with a cool Tokyo backdrop and Lucas Black in the lead (the kid from “American Gothic”, all grown up).  It had a tenuous link to the first two: the main character was into cars and got caught up in this underground racing (drifting) world, and there was a Vin Diesel cameo.  In the fourth, Dominic and the gang were back, and it was fine for what it was (high-octane entertainment).  And the fifth (the aforementioned Fast Five) is similar in quality.  It has the original likable bad-guy characters, the added bonus of Dwayne Johnson (The Rock) on a mission to kick their asses and haul them back to jail, and lots of fancy cars racing through Rio de Janeiro (seriously, there could be a drinking game in the number of stock footage aerial shots over the shoulder of the Cristo Redentor).  Except for a couple of moments when they slow down to tend to the serious side of the story, the action is non-stop and fun, and I was entertained from start to finish.  It’s no Citizen Kane, but if you are a fan of the its predecessors, you’ll probably enjoy this one.

[Rating:6/10]

Bridesmaids

Don’t be fooled by the pink dresses on the poster.  Bridesmaids was written by females and stars females, but it’s no fluffy romcom.  The movie is smart and funny, and even kind of gross in places.  Unlucky-in-love Annie (Kristen Wiig) is less than thrilled when her longtime best friend Lillian (Maya Rudolph) announces her engagement.  Hilarity ensues as Annie tries to fulfill her duties as maid of honor while her life further unravels.  One of the biggest signs this isn’t really a romcom is that while there is a romantic interest between Annie and a local cop (Chris O’Dowd of “IT Crowd” fame), it isn’t really central to the story, and the movie could have existed without it.  The chemistry between them is good, and their dialogue is funny, so it works and I’m glad the subplot is there.  But the real story is between best friends Annie and Lillian.  Wiig and Rudolph both play off of each other incredibly well, and all of their scenes together are fun to watch.  Helen (Rose Byrne) is also amusing as Annie’s well-coiffed rival for Lillian’s best-friendly affections.  And Melissa McCarthy is a standout as the most uncouth of the wedding party.  Her performance here is a far cry from her “Gilmore Girls” persona as lovable Sookie.  She manages to shock in almost every scene, but also delivers one of the best sweetly serious (but brief) monologues in the film.  All of the bridesmaids-to-be have some extremely funny interchanges.  And there are a good many laughs (along with large doses of discomfort) from watching Annie fall apart throughout the film.  Some of the lower points come from her taking things insanely far, but as with any good comedy, it all springs back to funny, and everything works out in the end.

[Rating:8/10]

The Hangover Part II

The plot of The Hangover Part II is nearly identical to that of The Hangover.  But that said, it is still very, very funny.  The whole gang is back: Stu (Ed Helms), Phil (Bradley Cooper), Alan (Zach Galifianakis), and Doug (Justin Bartha).  This time they have gathered in Thailand to celebrate Stu’s upcoming nuptials, and, predictably, things go awry.  The group is fun to be around even as their lives are on an ever downward spiral from which you cannot fathom how they will escape.  Alan is so insufferable that you almost can’t believe anyone would willingly hang with him (indeed, they do take him along only grudgingly), but he still provides much of the humor and the movie wouldn’t have the same feel without him.  That is quite a comedic feat in both films, when you stop to think about it.  Paul Giamatti, who seems to up the caliber of any film he’s in (or at least any scene), appears in a small but memorable role (fave line: “Bangkok has him now”).  Although the situations are similar to their Las Vegas counterparts, there are new spins on most of the old gags.  It tries to outdo the original at every turn, and for the most part succeeds.  The film is so raunchy in places that I’m surprised the MPAA gave it an R rating.
Maybe the censors were laughing too hard to notice.  The worst that can be said of The Hangover Part II is that it is not quite as good as the first.  But if you liked the original, you may well laugh your ass off at this one.

[Rating:7/10]

Kung Fu Panda II

Kung Fu Panda II is another sequel that matches its predecessor very closely in quality (sequels may actually equal or outnumber original films in the theater this week).  It has the same likable and fluffy protagonist, the same band of animal warriors (with all-star voice talent), and a similar good-kung-fu-masters versus bad-kung-fu-master plot.  Po (Jack Black), the titular panda, must face off against Shen (Gary Oldman), a peacock intent on taking over China.  There are fewer training scenes, since Po was all trained up in the first film, so we jump right into the action this time.  The humor is more heavily loaded toward the end of the film, with sad and serious stuff weighing down the middle a bit, but overall the film is funny, beautifully designed, and full of entertaining animated martial arts action.  Good choice for kids or adults.

[Rating:7/10]

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

The fourth installment of the Pirates of the Caribbean series is a swashbuckling good time for the most part.  It gets off to a rocky start with not one, not two, but three Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) escape scenes, the first two of which are unnecessarily silly.  But the movie quickly redeems itself with rollicking swordplay, an appropriately menacing Blackbeard (Ian McShane), mermaid madness (the mermaids here are more akin to the ones in the Showtime B-horror movie She Creature than the comedy variety from Splash), and even a small amount of character development.  Angelica (Penelope Cruz) is a good foil for Sparrow, and Geoffrey Rush is great as always as Barbossa (though he contributes to the silliness in the beginning).  There are probably a few too many characters and story lines for the audience to be fully invested, but we move through them quickly and none of them derail the movie.  And it gets better and better toward the end so as not to leave the audience feeling disappointed.  I absolutely love it when the Spanish show up (fave line: “Someone make a note of that man’s bravery”).  Like most sequels, this isn’t as good as the original, but it is on par with the others (and I’d argue much better than the second one, which was more of a stop-gap between the first and third films than a coherent movie).  It also ends practically screaming that there will be a sequel (in a quick scene that you’ll miss if you leave during the credits). Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides is worth seeing on the big screen.

[Rating:7/10]

Source Code

I missed Source Code when it first came out and just caught it at the dollar theater, but this is a film I really wish I had given the full price of admission.  It is a wonderful little hard sci-fi flick by director Duncan Jones (who previously helmed Moon).  Captain Colter Stevens (Jake Gyllenhaal) wakes up inhabiting the body of a man he’s never seen before and must race the clock to figure out what’s going on.  That’s vague, but to say more would ruin the fun.  Source Code is chock full of action and suspense, very well acted (particularly by Gyllenhaal and Vera Farmiga), and has a fairly inventive plot (we’ve seen similar things, but this is the best variation).  Definitely catch this one at your local discount theater if at all possible.

[Rating:9/10]

Limitless

Another of my recent dollar theater viewings was this Bradley Cooper vehicle.  It doesn’t quite reach Source Code’s level, but Limitless is a well constructed and enjoyable thriller.  Eddie Morra (Cooper) is a disorganized, depressed wannabe author with writer’s block.  He’s on the verge of missing an important deadline, unable to pay his rent, and losing his girlfriend.  But a chance meeting with his rather unsavory former brother-in-law leads this sad sack to try an experimental drug that increases his mental abilities.  It turns his life completely around, but gets him involved with some not-so-nice people.  And the pharmaceutical’s side effects prove disconcerting.  Violent and disturbing hi-jinx ensue.  The writing is good, there’s lots of action, and it ends more interestingly than expected.  And Robert De Niro is in it (can’t go wrong there).  I initially thought that the trailer gave too much away, but was pleasantly surprised to find that the movie doesn’t play out the way the trailer would lead you to believe.  This is worth catching if you can still find it playing in your area.

[Rating:7/10]

I’m only Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer shy of seeing everything playing in our local theaters (not counting the art house).  So stay tuned for my upcoming review of Super 8!