kellym40 film review

‘R. I. P. D.’ shows promise, but fails to deliver

Rating 2/5

The story surrounding the film may have looked good on paper, but did not seem to translate well to the finished product. The film had a somewhat interesting concept, but never seemed to build enough traction to really execute a great picture. The premise is we have Roy (Jeff Bridges), an old West law enforcement officer, and Nick (Ryan Reynolds), a member of the Boston Police Department, come back in different bodies and now are members of the Rest In Peace Department (R. I. P. D.). Their job is to capture people who have cheated their judgments and return them for their final judgment.

Robert Schwentke directed the screenplay by writers Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi. And it doesn’t appear there is clear evidence as to why this film did not succeed more. It seemed to fail with a majority of critics and the general movie-going public. Some may have felt the film was unfunny and uninteresting. I tend to agree – to an extent. Perhaps the real problem with it was the direction. Through most of the film, I felt the pace of the film was slow. It was like watching a live theatre performance when the actors have low energy and the play just seems to drag.

I only enjoyed (if you can call it that) this film for the fairly decent concept. But there appeared to be several similarities with Men in Black. It almost succeeded in being a bad rip-off of Men in Black. Or, it did succeed in being a bad rip-off of the aforementioned film. It depends on how you look at it I guess. The climax of the R.I.P.D. just appeared uneventful as the heroes try to stop the “bad guys” from operating a device that is to open a gateway to unleash actual “hell on Earth.”

Although, the film did have some varying characters, they mostly appeared as weak, dull, two-dimensional characters. One might expect more from the likes of Jeff Bridges, Ryan Reynolds and Kevin Bacon. That’s not to say the performances were necessarily bad, but they just didn’t seem to have much to work with in the script and direction. The seemingly sole character with any sort of redeeming qualities was Mary-Louise Parker’s Proctor, the “manager” of the Rest in Peace Department. She seemed to be a simple and straight forward, while still being a tough leader who runs a tight ship in the department. You might believe the actors had fun with the material (which appears to be what the film was meant to be – a fun, summer flick), but that just didn’t work for me completely.

R.I.P.D was released in the summer of 2013. It is evident the filmmakers were trying to make this a summer blockbuster with action, comedy, and a strong use of CGI. However, they lacked in story and character development, efficient use of comedy, and an apparent waste of time and talent with its lead actors. In R.I.P.D., we find a film that struggles with itself and leaves behind a skeleton of a potentially good film.

 

 

kellym40 film review

Another horror classic remade with ‘The Wolfman’

Rating 3/5

In 2010, Joe Johnston directed a remake of the 1941 horror classic The Wolf Man, written by Curt Siodmak. New writers Andrew Kevin Walker and David Self penned this remake and instead of updating to a more contemporary time, they set it in late nineteenth century England.

It can be said that The Wolf Man is to werewolves what Dracula is to vampires. So this remake is not just another horror film, it’s the Wolf Man. In that, there appears to be some big acting shoes to fill from Lon Chaney Jr’s performance in the 1941 classic. The role went to Benicio Del Toro, a fine actor in his own right, in this remake and did a fair job with the portrayal of Lawrence Talbot.

The story begins as Sir John Talbot’s (Anthony Hopkins) son has disappeared. Ben’s fiancé, Gwen Conliffe (Emily Blunt) writes to Ben’s brother, Lawrence, and pleas for him to return home to help find her fiancé. Upon arrival home, a body has been found. Lawrence sees his remains and then embarks on a hunt to find the beast responsible for his brother’s death. He is led to a gypsy camp and is soon attacked by a creature, which is half-man/half-wolf. A gypsy woman tends to his wounds, but pronounces Lawrence to be cursed. And, at the time of the next full moon, Lawrence transforms into the creature and goes on a bloody rampage.

Del Toro played the part of a tortured soul, caught between a normal life and a sort of living hell. He brought those characteristics to the character with a quiet desperation of needing to escape the hell in which he was living. The great Anthony Hopkins brought the right amount of caring and sentiment to the role as a man who has lost a son and wife. But he also had the mystery about him that were revealed in the climactic moments of the film. Blunt’s Gwen Conliffe had the spirit of the “damsel in distress,” but also a strong, courageous woman trying to uncover her fiancé’s disappearance.

What worked here in this film were the performances set against the time period and Danny Elfman’s music coupled with Shelly Jonson’s cinematography. It is settings like these that really bring more life into these horror stories with the vast countryside, foggy moors and a rocky waterfall. And although the performances were nothing extraordinary, they did have a sense of purpose and believability.

The CGI however, is what missed for me in the film. There’s something to be said for the old makeup special effects instead of the use of modern CGI. It does seem that CGI is used a lot in today’s filmmaking process, but sometime it can be overdone, and when not done right, it can appear sort of ridiculous. As with the case in this film, the effects made the werewolves appear more grotesque in nature and didn’t appear to fit in with the style of the film. This made the CGI a bit clumsy and out of place. But even with its flaws and average performances, the film did keep me entertained and hold my interest.

kellym40 film review

A powerful force is set in motion in ‘Unstoppable’

Rating 3.5/5

This film, based on actual events, suggests what happens when determination and experience are brought forward to solve a pending disaster. All of the elements – story, character, action, and cinematography – come together as director Tony Scott takes Mark Bomback’s script and spins a great story into an action flick that delivers some fine entertainment.

The story begins when an engineer (Ethan Suplee) mistakenly sets a train in motion. It happens when Frank Barnes (Denzel Washington) takes on a new guy, Will Colson (Chris Pine), on another train. We soon discover the two trains are on the same track. To add to the thrills, the unmanned train is carrying toxic chemicals and is headed towards a not so rural area. The person in charge of operations for the railroad, Connie Hooper (Rosario Dawson), is alerted of the situation and discusses with other personnel how to handle the situation. Meanwhile, an executive in the main office, Galvin, played by Kevin Dunn, is more concerned about the cost of losing the train than arriving at a solution that would be beneficial for everyone. After failed attempts at stopping the train (which was warned by Barnes from his 20 plus years of railroading experience that everyone fails to listen to), Hooper begins to take Barnes’ experience into play, despite the continued hesitations from Galvin. A new plan is made on how to slow the train down and it begins to work for a little bit. However, a new plan is made and Barnes and Colson spring to action as a final attempt to stop the train.

Scott uses masterful shots of the train speeding down the track as news choppers hover around providing coverage of the impending disaster. The high-speed velocity of the train adds to the action and builds up, as the train gets closer to the populated town. Character development is somewhat lacking in this film, but that doesn’t seem to really matter as the attention is focused on the actions Barnes and Colson and their actions on stopping the train. There are some character moments from the pair that dives into their lives and explains where they are at that particular time and place, and that only adds to caring what happens to them and whether or not they will succeed. Galvin is your typical greedy executive. Hooper is the character that seems to lean towards her own judgment or executive judgment rather than the experienced employee and soon changes her views. These characters, and the supporting cast, play their characters well enough to care about a few and add to the tension to dislike a few (like Galvin).

Unstoppable is a full throttle train ride of action, tension, a little suspense, and some humor thrown in to make this film an enjoyable film and delivers enough to keep you on the track.

 

 

 

kellym40 film review

‘Rabbit-Proof Fence’ offers story of the human spirit

Rating 3.5/5

The fact that Rabbit-Proof Fence is based on a true story makes the story’s central themes that much bigger. The story has elements of racism and essentially slavery and what makes those issues so prominent is the fact that it takes place in Australia. The film is a reminder of the fear and animosity the “white” man had towards the “black” man. In a screenplay written by Christine Olsen, from a book written by Doris Pilkington (the actual daughter of one of the main characters), spins a tale of hope and survival in the Australian Outback.

Set in the early 1930’s, the Australian government set forth a policy that children who were fathered by white men to the local aboriginal women (also known as half-castes) were detrimental and must be saved from a black society for fear their “white genes” would overcome them and allow them to rally the aborigines to stand up for their rights. Three children, Molly Craig (Everlyn Sampi), Daisy Craig Kadibill (Tianna Sansbury), and their cousin Gracie Fields (Laura Monaghan), are ripped from their family by a government official and taken to a type of school to prepare them for menial labor, such as domestic servants. The girls are there only for a short time before they make a daring escape to travel over 1,200 miles to return home. Kenneth Branagh plays A. O. Neville, an administrator of the relocation policies of the government, who wants to track these children to return them to the “school.” David Gulpilil plays the tracker Moodoo, who pursues the girls across the country, and also in pursuit are government authorities, most notably Constable Riggs (Jason Clarke). It is somewhat sad to see, as we are told, these relocation policies remained in effect until 1970. That is one of the things that make the movie, particularly the ending, so emotional.

On their journey, we see the vast scenery that stretches across the Australian landscape. They make it to a fence that stretches for miles and leads them home. The fence is made to keep rabbits from getting on the aborigines’ farmland, thus the title of the film. The girls travel along this fence for most of the trip. It is not until the girls begin their trek across the country that we realize the determination and hope in these girls. The trip is a long one. They do face some obstacles, but they do overcome them. For me, the film began a little slow but picked up in the second act. And once the girls began their long journey home, I was fixed on them, going through the emotional and physical journey with them.

The girls showed raw emotion that brought life into the characters. As the tracker, Gulpilil did not have much dialogue, but his use of facial expression and gestures showed his character traits of being strong-willed and determined. Branagh had a quiet, menacing charm about him with a strong determination to find the children, and Clarke displayed a sense of urgency with a higher level of energy.

This film keeps up a steady pace through most of its 94 minute run time. Directed by Philip Noyce, Rabbit-Proof Fence is filled with emotion and is a testament of the human spirit.

 

 

kellym40 film review

Action takes a flight in ‘Non-Stop’

Rating 3/5

What makes a good action film is of course action. Then of course there are also those other pesky elements such as story, character, dialogue, and so on. If you put all those elements together and fine-tune them, you can have a good film. Non-Stop may not be your typical thrill a minute, action story, but somehow, on some level it delivers.

Once we get through the ordinary introduction of characters, we board the flight in which the action will take place for most of the film. Liam Neeson plays air marshall Bill Marks who is aboard a transatlantic flight and soon discovers a terrorist plot unfold. He receives a text message asking Bill to persuade the airline to wire $150 million to a bank account. And if he is unable to do so in the next 20 minutes, someone on the plane will die. He believes it is one of the passengers, but as he tries to unravel the plot of this mysterious terrorist, he more and more becomes a suspect by the other passengers due to his erratic behavior.

Bill is probably the most complex character on the plane. He still suffers from a personal tragedy, he’s tired and suffers from alcoholism. But on the surface, he seems tough, determined and headstrong. The other supporting actors were decent, but they didn’t seem to have much depth to their character. And that’s not necessarily their fault. The material provided by writers John W. Richardson and Christopher Roach didn’t provide the characters a rich background. However, this did work to some advantage for the story. Since Bill is unsure who the terrorist is, he suspects one of the passengers. So the other characters have a mystery surrounding them, which keeps Bill (and the audience) guessing. Julianne Moore plays Jen Summers, one of the passengers who befriends Bill while boarding the plane. Corey Stoll is New York cop Austin Reilly, Scoot McNairy is a tech geek named Tom Bowen, Michelle Dockery is flight attendant Nancy, Lupita Nyong’o is another flight attendant Gwen, Anson Mount is Bill’s fellow marshall Jack Hammond.

Jaume Collet-Serra (House of Wax, Orphan, Unknown, and this summer’s The Shallows) directed the film and made it his own. It may not have the making of an elaborate masterpiece of action, thrills and suspense, but it does provide a well-paced film with enough moments of character and story to keep me in. The film runs one hour and 46 minutes and was released February 28, 2014.

kellym40 film review

Spend one last Christmas Eve on ‘The Night Before’

Rating 3/5 Stars

This may not be an ideal time for a review of a holiday film such as this one, but everyone enjoys a good Christmas story right? This one proves to become a classic in its own right. Written and directed by Jonathan Levine, who also brought Seth Rogan and Joseph Gordon-Levitt together for “50/50,” the film shows themes of family and friendship.

This film seems to begin slow but does a decent job in getting into the story. And although it seemed to me the pacing was slow at times, the overall story and characters involved my attention. I found it to be filled with warmth and just the right amount of humor.

In this film, Gordon-Levitt and Rogan are joined by Anthony Mackie and form the trio of best friends who have one final Christmas Eve bash together before they become more involved with their own lives. Isaac (Rogen), Chris (Mackie), and Ethan (Gordon-Levitt) have been best friends for years. Each year they celebrate the holidays together, but now their lives are starting to get in the way. Chris is a famous football star, Isaac is about to become a parent for the first time, and Ethan feels his life isn’t really going anywhere, his girlfriend (Lizzie Caplan) dumped him, and he’s working as an elf during the Christmas season.

Ethan manages to get his hands on tickets to a Christmas bash to end all Christmas bashes, thereby promising their final time together will be a blowout to remember. The trio rides around in a Red Bull limousine for the evening thanks to Chris. At the start of the evening, Isaac’s wife (Jillian Bell) gives him a gift – a variety pack of nearly every drug on the planet – and becomes stoned out of his mind. The film seems to hypothesize whether it’s possible for adults to maintain friendships when family and career seem to take priority.

Throughout the film, the three friends great together and perform their roles with humor and heart. All of the characters appear real and give much to the story, or at least as much as you can in a sort of screwball comedy such as this. Overall, the film is just plain fun and easily entertaining. The sentiments presented in the film are small and honest without doing too much or being too big.

kellym40 film review

Reflections present a world of suspense in ‘Mirrors’

 

Rating 3.5/5

 In 2008, Alexandre Aja directed ‘Mirrors’ in which he co-wrote with Gregory Levasseur, and based on the film ‘Into the Mirror’ by Sung-ho Kim. ‘Mirrors’ did improve upon the seemingly droning original from 2003. And it wasn’t due to the fact it was Korean and subtitled.

The original played more like a slow moving suspenseful thriller than a horror film to me. ‘Mirrors’ took elements from the original and made a more intriguing story. I feel it still played more like a suspense film, but it contained more elements of horror and a little action thrown in for some good measure. From the opening of this film to its final moments, ‘Mirrors’ captured my interest.

The film stars Kiefer Sutherland (“The Lost Boys,” the “Young Guns” films, and most notably from acclaimed television series “24”) as Ben Carson, a former detective who is on leave for killing his partner in an accidental shooting. This follows the original film as well. Estranged from his wife, Amy (Paula Patton) and children Daisy (Erica Gluck) and Michael (Cameron Boyce) since the dismissal from the force while the matter is investigated, Ben crashes at his sister’s place, Angela (Amy Smart).

Ben attempts to build his life after taking to drugs and alcohol since his dismissal. He lands a job as a night watchman at a once regal department store, the Mayflower, which caught fire. As he begins his new job, he notices strange things happening and seeing other reflections in the mirrors that aren’t there.

Without going into great detail and avoiding many spoilers, an evil spirit inhabits the world inside the mirrors in which Ben systematically uncovers facts about the world behind the mirrors. The evil begins to target Ben’s family. This storyline differs from the original where it was focused on the main character who did not have a family as Ben Carson does in this remake. However, I’ll be remiss to not mention this film spawned a sequel in which the plot and story remained a little closer to the original.

As I mentioned, this remake by Aja (who previously teamed with Levasseur and wrote and directed 2006’s “The Hills Have Eyes”), brought in a different storyline that brought more into the film. I don’t think the film was perfect, but still brought an element of suspense and horror that the original failed to do. I think it nearly created the kind of suspense as Alfred Hitchcock in that it seemed to build the mystery and suspense throughout the film, which kept me in it. Although, I don’t think there is anyone who built suspense as well as Hitchcock did. Where the film somewhat failed was in the characters. While I do believe the film had good characters and they all played a part in the developing story, some of the characters seemed a little underdeveloped for my taste. Since the story revolved around Ben and his family, those where the primary characters, but Ben’s wife and sister did not appear as three-dimensional as I thought could have been.

I also feel the film’s ending was, to some extent, ambiguous. That part of the film remained close to the original’s ending, but I’m not sure if it was warranted with the overall theme and story of the remake. The special features from this film showed an alternate ending, which I think I liked even less. I do think the ending they chose was a little more gratifying than the alternative though. Overall, I enjoyed the film. I found it to be interesting and entertaining with a good concept, story, characters, and dialogue.

kellym40 film review, Uncategorized

‘Olympus’ sequel, ‘London Has Fallen,’ falls under its predecessor

Rating 2.5/5

Last July I reviewed ‘Olympus Has Fallen,’ which was released in 2013, in anticipation of the sequel that has just been released. Creighton Rothenberger and Katrin Benedikt who penned ‘Olympus,’ wrote this sequel with a new director, Babak Najafi. His previous directing credits are mostly short films. Together, they seemed to fail to deliver a tense action-drama from three years ago. Don’t get me wrong. The film did have some tense moments and it did deliver explosions, gunfire, and car chases, but did not seem to be any different than previously seen in most any other film in the genre.

The film sets up the players and introduces the antagonist Aamir Barkawi (Alon Aboutboul), an arms dealer who is a very bad man. Well, what arms dealer is a good man? Tragedy strikes Barkawi and his family and he then blames the United States, primarily President Benjamin Asher, portrayed once again by Aaron Eckhart. After the tragedy, it flashes forward two years later where we see Asher jogging with Secret Service Agent Mike Banning. Gerard Butler reprises his role as ex-special forces turned Secret Service Agent. There’s the usual banter between the two and they have picked up nicely from the events of ‘Olympus.’ Banning and his wife Leah (Radha Mitchell) are expecting a child. We also learn that Banning is considering his resignation.

An international incident (the death of London’s Prime Minister) then propels the story forward, which prompts the gathering of world leaders and the U. S. President to London for the funeral. The President and his staff have days to plan the trip to London, unknown to them the Prime Minister’s death was just a ploy to gather the world leaders. The day arrives and the leaders gather in London making. Moments later, the attacks begin. As the story unfolds, plot points are revealed and the audience learns of the plot as information is revealed to the U. S. and London officials. Morgan Freeman returns and now is Vice President, Secret Service Director Lynn Jacobs (Angela Bassett) returns, Robert Forster reprises his role as Gen. Edward Clegg, and returning Defense Secretary Ruth McMillan (Melissa Leo) rounds out the key players for the United States. However, they all seem to take a back seat to the action as Banning and Asher are at the forefront this time around. Charlotte Riley is introduced as MI-6 Operative Jacqueline Marshall, who helps Banning and works with the rest of MI-6 and others to uncover the threats from Barkawi.

Butler portrays his character with the same intensity as before. But it didn’t work as well this time around because, as stated, the driving action was similar to other films in the genre. Eckhart’s President Asher did get a little more action in this film as he was running and firing guns as opposed to just being tied up and pushed around, and was believable but just not anything special. The rest of the supporting cast, from the United States personnel or the London operatives were decent in their respective roles. Aboutboul was not real convincing as the antagonist Barkawi. The fault there, I think, was that it didn’t feel like the character was written with enough dimension. Even his son, Kamran Barkawi (Waleed Zuaiter) appeared as a carbon copy of most other terrorists in action films such as this one.

From the onset, one can see the opening attack was a well-coordinated attack. As with ‘Olympus,’ there might have been a couple of things that might make you scratch your head. For example, knowing where the world leaders would be at the exact moment of the planned attack might have been questionable. But again, like its predecessor, it follows the idea that this was a well-planned attack. But if it took Barkawi two years to plan this attack, he must not be as good as an antagonist. This film, while it had its moments, seemed to have missed the mark on creating a worthy sequel.

kellym40 film review

Action, Humor Deliver for Marvel’s ‘Anti-Hero’

Rating 4/5

Even though ‘Deadpool’ was released a few weeks ago, there is no time like the present to put into words my thoughts on the film. It’s been a while since my last post, so needless to say I have been busy and got sidetracked for a while. Anyhoo, on with the review.

This is the second superhero film I reviewed. The last one was Marvel’s ‘Ant-Man’ last summer. So, again, it’s been a while. See the review of that film below.

Ant-Man

As I mentioned before, I am not an avid comic book reader. I know some essentials, but not every little quirk or plot point of many superheroes. And honestly, I really knew nothing about the character Deadpool until the film and other overheard conversations of comic book readers.

The premise is Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds), a former Special Forces operative, is diagnosed with cancer and decides to undergo an experimental procedure from a supposed government agent known as Ajax (Ed Ekrein) in order to stay with the love of his life, Vanessa (Morena Baccarin). The procedure gives Wilson regenerative healing powers, disfigured and nearly left for dead. Wilson decides he can’t go back to her and lets her think he is dead. Thus, he goes on a killing spree, with the help from his friend Weasel (T. J. Miller), as he tracks down Ajax to hopefully restore himself to what he was before the procedure.

With a budget of $58 million, it has grossed more than $285 million in just three weeks, so obviously it getting a following. The character is one of Marvel’s comical characters who seems to make fun of himself and the fact that he’s in a comic book (or in this case a film). He’s been labeled as the “merc with a mouth.” The character likes to talk and make sarcastic quips and jokes at his opponents all the while shooting up bad guys and getting his own type of vigilante justice.

Deadpool seems to be far from a superhero, he’s an anit-hero. And I believe that’s what makes the character work in this film. He’s not a superhero and he knows it. He periodically breaking the fourth wall and talks to the camera (the audience), and continuously cracking jokes and being a smartass. Breaking the fourth wall, I feel, is similar to the “play within a play” convention in some theatrical stage productions. That convention I’ve always found humorous and it worked well in this film.

What also worked for me in the film was the story structure and how it creatively and efficiently went back and forth between present and past and wove it into an entertaining non-linear story. Wilson gave much voice over narration throughout the film, which added humor and insight to the entertaining story and characters. Fast paced action, elaborate highway chases, finely choreographed fight scenes, and impeccable dialogue make ‘Deadpool’ a treat to watch as it mixes these elements into an enjoyable film.

Tim Miller made his directorial debut, and an outstanding debut it was, with this film. Previously he has worked as an animator and visual effects artist. Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick wrote the script and it was produced by Simon Kinberg and Ryan Reynolds and executive produced by John J. Kelly and Stan Lee. It is rated R with a run time of 1 hour and 48 minutes.

 

 

 

kellym40 film review

Weighing in on ’21 Grams’

Rating 4/5

The film is an older film released in 2004 from Focus Features. It runs about two hours and five minutes. Mexican film director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, most notably directing last year’s Oscar-winning film “Birdman” with Michael Keaton, takes Guillermo Arriaga’s script and tells a beautiful story with heart and style. Inarritu does so with flashbacks weaving the characters’ lives together in a climactic end. You can view the trailer below.

21 Grams

The story involves Paul Rivers (Sean Penn), who is in need of a new heart, his wife Mary Rivers (Charlotte Gainsbourg), Cristina Peck (Naomi Watts), a former drug addict and housewife, Jack Jordan (Benicio Del Toro), an ex-con who has found Jesus, and Marianne Jordan (Melissa Leo), Jack’s wife.

After a tragic accident, these lives become intertwined, building up to the climax and tells each character’s story through unique non-linear storytelling. Much like “Memento” before, flashbacks and flash forwards tell the story, which honestly, I thought was a little distracting at first but I quickly bought into the convention and let the characters and story unfold before me.

The title of the film comes from a line from Paul as he says, “They say we lose 21 grams at the exact moment of death … How much do we gain?”

I believe that line sums up the context of the film as the characters struggle with their own lives and come to terms with the life changing moment that affects all of them in the film. The story develops to hint upon what we, as people, do in our own life that can impact others. Inarritu stated that he believes all people are connected in some way. He goes on to say how one person’s actions affect another and how that person’s actions affect another and so on and so on. It is a little mind boggling to think that we are connected in some way. That our actions seem to and can have a ripple effect upon the world. I guess it can happen. And it certainly happens in this film.

Penn gives a remarkable performance as in “I Am Sam” and “Mystic River.” Through the story, he became a lost soul who was desperately trying to hang on but thought there was only one way out. Watts was believable as a former drug addict dealing with her past demons and coming to terms with her family’s death. Del Toro gives a gripping performance as a born-again Christian who is trying to find his way before the tragic event that alters the characters’ lives. Gainsbourg and Leo give heartfelt performances, as Paul and Jack’s wives respectively, and show how their lives are together changed over the course of events in the story.

21 Grams

It is a classic piece of storytelling that brings together the emotional events in the story in a way that a traditional linear structure would not. It allows the viewer to follow the characters on the emotional ride throughout the developing story and by the end the audience can be in the moment with the characters.

The film was nominated through several American and International organizations and took home 34 awards.