Cast:

Jackie Earle Haley as Freddy Krueger

Kyle Gallner as Quentin Smith

Rooney Mara as Nancy Holbrook

Katie Cassidy as Kris Fowles

Thomas Dekker as Jesse Braun

Kellan Lutz as Dean Russell

Clancy Brown as Alan Smith

Connie Britton as Dr. Gwen Holbrook


Directed by Samuel Bayer


Review:

Despite what common wisdom holds, sequels and remakes are NOT horribly cynical attempts at shameless moneymaking that hold their audiences in, at best, disregard and at worst utter contempt. Rather they’re opportunities for writers and filmmakers to find new and inventive approaches to their material, bringing style and quality to a genre or franchise that the mainstream has written off.


It can happen. When Wes Craven returned to his signature creation in 1994 he used it as an opportunity to examine the psychic affects of horror art on its creators. The fact that we don’t get that very often is no reason to give up hope. This is why I refuse to be disappointed that Platinum Dunes’ remake of “A Nightmare on Elm Street” is the same as all their other remakes: a carbon copy with lots of flash but no soul.


The plot is near identical to the original. Springwood’s teenagers have begun acting strangely, afraid of sleeping because their dreams have begun to be infested with a strange man named Freddy (Jackie Earle Haley) who wears a glove made of knives. The dreams are also terrifying the teens with lost memories of their childhood and a horrible secret in the basement of the local preschool, a secret they discover as they start to die off one by one.


Freddy — as the personification of the id coming to life to kill you — remains a great idea. There’s lots that can be done with that, which is what made the original “Nightmare” so entrancing. Of course, the other thing was the gore, as it combined with the first “Friday the 13th” to bring the slasher film into the mainstream. Inevitably, it seems, when insight and creativity mix with surface flash and visceral thrills, it’s the surface stuff that tends to get carried over into each iteration with what creativity is visible applied to making the death scenes more intense and over-the-top.


This has always been what delineated the horror film from the slasher, as one requires a prolonged amount of actual uneasiness while the other is concerned almost solely with visceral thrills, with the tension coming not from uncertainty about what will happen, but only when. Scare versus startle. The visceral is going to play a lot better in theaters (at least once), and it’s certainly a lot easier to do it that way rather than focus on the characters or narrative or themes, but it also suffers terribly from diminishing returns as seen by the near death of the genre by the early ’90s.


If you’ve never seen the original “Nightmare” or it’s been a very long time, most of what was fundamentally entertaining about it still holds true for the new one, as the filmmakers stick closely to the “if it ain’t broke” doctrine. Freddy tracks his victims down through their dreams in a game of cat and mouse with the film veering dynamically between startling and quiet fear like some sort of psychotic Pixies album.


But that’s all it does and if you’ve seen every “Nightmare on Elm Street” sequel many times over, there’s nothing to be had from the new version but more of the same. This is fine if you like that sort of thing in and of itself, but tiresome if you don’t.


Jackie Earle Haley (”Watchmen”) does make a fine replacement for Robert Englund in the signature role. He doesn’t have Englund’s insane clown physicality, but that actually works in this Freddy’s favor, pushing him more out of sight, forcing first-time director Samuel Bayer to focus more on mood and Haley to garner chills with his voice. It’s often quite affecting in the first half, though eventually they all fall prey to the desire to overdo it, applying menacing dialogue and dark humor that actually detracts from what they want. The less aware you are of Freddy, the more effective he is.


Producers Andrew Form and Brad Fuller have maintained a policy since the beginning of the current remake trend of using these films as a way to offer first films for new directors, which is undoubtedly a good thing. On the other hand, you also always end up getting a new director’s first film which tends to be uneven at best, with lots of attention paid to individual moments but not always to how they fit together.


New “Nightmare” suffers from that in droves, particularly in regards to how to stop Freddy, an idea that was more than a little preposterous in the first version and is doubly so in the latest as it comes somewhat out of nowhere in the last act after heroine Nancy (Rooney Mara) pulls a piece of his sweater into the real world. Perhaps if they’d introduced the element early in the film and let the kids grapple with the significance of that rather than focus on whether they were all as a group suffering from repressed memories it would have been more believable.


Instead, the urge to squeeze in as many dream sequences as possible–leading healthy teenagers who were fine for 30 minutes until it was their turn to be scared to spontaneously develop narcolepsy–trumps everything, leaving just enough space to squeeze in the exposition needed to move the plot forward.


For fans of the “Nightmare” franchise, and slasher films in general, the new version does exactly what you want and not much more. Haley makes for a good Freddy and as with all sequels, there is still opportunity available for real exploration of the concept even if this “Nightmare” is content to just go through the motions. Better luck next time.

Cast:

Brendan Fraser as Dan Sanders

Ricky Garcia as Frank

Eugene Cordero as Cheese

Patrice O’Neal as Gus

Jim Norton as Hank

Brooke Shields as Tammy Sanders

Matt Prokop as Tyler Sanders

Billy Bush as Drill Sergeant

Ken Jeong as Neal Lyman

Angela Kinsey as Felder

Samantha Bee as Principal Baker

Alice Drummond as Mrs. Martin

Toby Huss as Wilson

Skyler Samuels as Amber

Gerry Bednob as Mr. Gupta


Directed by Roger Kumble


Summary:

“Furry Vengeance” is a film tailored for children and they will most enjoy it, but the over-the-top villain played by Ken Jeong adds just enough laughs to keep adults a little entertained.


Story:

When Dan Sanders moves his family to the country, he’s put in charge of developing a suburban neighborhood in a wooded area. Dan soon finds himself under pressure from his boss to push the project through while his wife and son pressure him to move back to Chicago. But Dan’s situation soon gets worse when the local wildlife, led by a wily raccoon, stand their ground to protect their homes. It’s not long before Dan finds himself in all out war with the animals.


“Furry Vengeance” is rated PG for some rude humor, mild language and brief smoking.


What Worked:

I didn’t go into “Furry Vengeance” expecting much, and sure enough I didn’t get very much. But there are a few things this movie does right.


First off, Ken Jeong is definitely this film’s MVP as Neal Lyman. He’s delightfully evil and you can tell his improvisations take the otherwise dull scenes to the next level. Whether he’s harassing his assistant or his mother on the other end of the phone, Jeong steals every scene he’s in.


It’s also a lot of fun to see who has cameo roles in the movie. Along with Jeong is Angela Kinsey from “The Office” as Felder. While Jeong eclipses her in every scene, it’s still fun to see her in the role as the evil assistant. Wallace Shawn also has an amusing cameo as a psychiatrist showing Dan some odd inkblot tests. Gerry Bednob from “The 40-Year-Old Virgin” also has an appearance as Mr. Gupta. He’s not nearly used to his full potential, but it’s fun seeing him on the screen with Ken Jeong and the others.


But let’s face it, the real stars of the movie are the animals. You can tell the creators were trying to create a live action Looney Tunes of sorts and to some degree they achieve that. The raccoon is like Bugs Bunny and Dan Sanders is a kinder and gentler Elmer Fudd. In fact, you half expect him to say, “Be vewy quiet! I’m hunting wacoons.” There are a few funny animal gags, most notably a scene where Dan faces a car-full of skunks. And while the animals don’t talk, we do occasionally see thought balloons from them on the screen. A thought balloon featuring “Braveheart” scenes generates some good laughs.


A good family film is entertaining for both kids and adults. While adults may find “Furry Vengeance” tolerable, it’s the kids that will get the most enjoyment out of it. I took an 8 year old and a 5 year old and both enjoyed it immensely. I was more entertained by seeing my kids laugh than by anything in the movie.


What Didn’t Work:

“Furry Vengeance,” as you might expect, has a lot of problems. First of all, it’s utterly predictable. Before walking into the movie, I expected the plot to go a certain way and that’s exactly what happened. There’s almost no creativity in this script.


I also have to say I started rooting for Dan halfway through this movie. The animals’ form of “Furry Vengeance” seems to be to kill Dan. They roll a boulder towards his car, knock him off a cliff, attack him in an outhouse, etc. The penalty for cutting down a tree is death (Did PETA write this script?). It doesn’t help matters that Dan’s family seems unnecessarily harsh towards him as he suffers from the attacks. His wife seems completely unbelieving and unsympathetic towards him that he’s being tortured. His teenage son is surly and whiny. If it seems that the world is out to get Dan, it’s because it is. So in the end while we’re supposed to be rooting for the cute furry animals, suddenly paving their homes over with suburbs doesn’t seem like that bad of an idea. It’s us or them!


The sympathy for Brendan Fraser goes beyond just his on screen character. As you see him covered in feces, getting hit in the crotch repeatedly, and generally acting as a punching bag, you start thinking, “Wow, this is a long way from ‘The Mummy’ movies.” It’s kind of sad to see.


The movie also ends with the actors at the end singing and dancing during the credits. It gets more and more elaborate as they dress up like the characters from “Grease” and even “The Blue Lagoon.” It’s alternately cheesy and amusing, but you start thinking they actually put more effort into the credits than the movie itself. It’s kind of a shame.


Finally, what’s up with the title? Did the creators ever Google “furry” online?


The Bottom Line:

“Furry Vengeance” is for the kiddies only. Parents might find it tolerable thanks to Ken Jeong and the other cameos.

Cast:

Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark

Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts

Don Cheadle as Lt. Col. James ‘Rhodey’ Rhodes

Scarlett Johansson as Natalie Rushman / Natasha Romanoff

Sam Rockwell as Justin Hammer

Mickey Rourke as Ivan Vanko

Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury

Clark Gregg as Agent Coulson

John Slattery as Howard Stark

Garry Shandling as Senator Stern

Paul Bettany as Jarvis

Kate Mara as U.S. Marshal

Leslie Bibb as Christine Everhart

Jon Favreau as Happy Hogan

Christiane Amanpour as Herself


Directed by Jon Favreau


Story:

Six months after he’s revealed his identity to the world, Tony Stark a.k.a. Iron Man (a.k.a Robert Downey Jr.) is more of a rock star than ever before, but he also finds himself the target of a number of different factions: the government wants to take away his armor, deeming it to be a dangerous weapon; Stark’s main competitor Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell) is trying to get his hands on Stark’s Iron Man designs as well; a Russian physicist known as Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke) seeks to get revenge on Stark for sins committed by his father; his best friend Lt. Col. James Rhodes (Don Cheadle) is unhappy with Tony’s partying ways; and Stark’s shapely new paralegal Natalie Rushman (Scarlett Johansson) is causing friction between Tony and his beleaguered assistant Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow).


Analysis:

Unquestionably one of the most anticipated sequels and movies of the year, “Iron Man 2″ has a lot to live up to. With the first movie, director Jon Favreau, Robert Downey Jr. and the rest of the cast really hit one out of the park, leaving many wondering what one could possibly do to match or exceed the expectations created by that movie. While “Iron Man 2″ successfully conveys the tone and the momentum from the first movie, the sequel factor is unfortunately going to make it far too easy for the critical to turn cynical on that basis alone.


The film’s opening title sequence introduces Mickey Rourke’s character Ivan Vanko, a Russian physicist who has spent years in prison plotting his revenge on the Stark family for crimes they committed against his own family. A few minutes (and six months) later, we’re reintroduced to Downey’s Stark as he addresses the adoring masses in a keynote speech at his extravagant Stark Expo in Flushing Meadows, Queens. Mirroring the famous World’s Fair held there in 1964, this location will play a key recurring role in the movie, further tying Tony to his father, industrialist Howard Stark. As with everything else in life, the government feels the need to regulate Stark’s creation, seeing the Iron Man armor as a dangerous weapon that could fall into the wrong hands, something which becomes apparent when Vanko makes his presence known at the Monaco Grand Prix, wielding energy whips of his own design as he creates a swath of destruction to get to Stark. Stark’s main competition, weapons contractor Justin Hammer wants to get his hands on Tony’s armor for his own reasons and he sees Vanko as a possible ally.


The character development in the movie is top-notch, similar to “Spider-Man 2″ in the way it doesn’t merely fall back on what worked in the first movie, instead instilling real personal conflicts into the mix. In this case, it’s the fact that Stark has essentially been poisoning himself with the technology he needs to survive, which has him acting more erratically than normal, his relationships with his closest confidantes, Pepper Potts and James Rhodes, also changing dramatically because of it.


Robert Downey Jr. is still on his game with the character that has successfully taken his career to another level, still playing Stark with the same arrogance and swagger as before but also showing a more sensitive side, a new-found depth of humanity as he tries to let Pepper know about his condition. A few developments early in the movie brings a new dynamic to their relationship though the awkward chemistry between them that worked so well in the first movie is still intact.


This makes it even harder to adjust to Don Cheadle stepping into the shoes of James Rhodes, previously filled by Terrence Howard. His first few appearances in the story are fairly inconsequential but he seems out of place in the equation. It’s only once Rhodey gets a chance to don his own suit of armor, which doesn’t feel as forced or shoehorned into the movie as it could have been, where he starts to develop his own personality.


Covered in the tattoos one might find on Russian gangsters, Mickey Rourke makes for quite an imposing presence with his brain constantly stuck in revenge mode for what Tony’s father has done to his own. There are a few questionable aspects to his origin story that don’t ring true, like how a brilliant physicist could go through such an unlikely transition in prison to become such a menacing villain, but Rourke still makes for a far cooler Whiplash than any that’s ever appeared in the comics, so much so that you’ll wish to see him in that guise more than we actually do.


Regardless, the movie’s true show-stealer is Sam Rockwell as Justin Hammer, playing quite the perfect counterpoint to Downey’s Stark - just as funny and eccentric, but with far less scruples. Like with Whiplash, it’s a shame there aren’t more scenes between the two well-matched actors. Hammer really is the glue holding this story together, not only bringing Vanko into the fold, but also providing weapons for War Machine, while at the same time seeking to build his own personal army of Iron Men. The key is that everything happens in this story for a reason, and it never feels like it’s just a matter of trying to sell toys. In fact, some may be surprised by the general lack of overt product placement considering all the products that have been tied into the movie via commercials.


Scarlett Johansson has rarely been sexier - when she hands Stark a martini and asks if it’s dirty enough for him, you’ll want to ask the kids to leave the room. Granted, most people will already be aware of her character’s “secret identity” going in, but she’s certainly at her best when we finally get to see that character in action. Again, it’s another aspect of the movie which leaves you wanting more. Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury plays a slightly bigger role though still more of a continuation of his cameo in the first movie trying to persuade Tony to get involved with the Avengers Initiative; the results of this subplot will certainly surprise and confound those who think they know what to expect. Thankfully, Favreau has given himself a much bigger part as “Happy” Hogan, still on the sidelines for much of the movie but giving himself some of the best moments with Johansson. (Clearly, the man is no dummy!) By comparison, the characters played by Kate Mara and Olivia Munn are so inconsequential you’ll be astounded how much press they’ve received merely due to their involvement with the movie.


The first movie was at its weakest during the climactic battle between Iron Man and Jeff Bridges’ Iron Monger, and Favreau has certainly improved on the quality of the action scenes with a number of fantastic fight sequences between Iron Man and others. Unfortunately, there also seems to be a lot more talking in the movie, too, and despite the clever patter, the middle portion of the story gets somewhat bogged down and convoluted by the number of characters and subplots. Favreau manages to pull all of it together as these characters converge into an extremely satisfying final action sequence, the last thirty minutes of the movie literally exploding into a full-out war.


Overall, the film just looks terrific, the blending of CG and live action being seamless throughout–something also on par with the “Spider-Man” movies–and every shot having a sharp and vivid clarity of color that makes everything look hyper-real without feeling overly stylish. Favreau also uses the media well to tell this story, whether it’s the ever-present C-SPAN cameras at the Senate hearings, the journalists always around the key players, and even some political commentary from Bill O’Reilly. This is one other way that Favreau keeps the movie grounded in our reality in ways that haven’t been achieved quite so well in previous superhero movies.


The Bottom Line:

It may be hard for anyone to claim that “Iron Man 2″ is nearly as mindblowingly amazing as the first movie was for its time, though it’s still better than 95% of the movies based on Marvel Comics characters. Favreau clearly knows how to make a fun and entertaining summer movie, and the clever introduction of new characters and the masterfully-realized action scenes should make up for the film’s dialogue-heavy lulls. High expectations from the first movie may leave some wanting, but there’s enough brilliance on display to leave you wanting more as well.

Cast:

Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Clay

Zoe Saldana as Aisha

Chris Evans as Jensen

Idris Elba as Roque

Columbus Short as Pooch

Óscar Jaenada as Cougar

Jason Patric as Max

Holt McCallany as Wade

Peter Macdissi as Vikram

Peter Francis James as Fadhil

Tanee McCall as Jolene


Directed by Sylvain White


Summary:

A fairly literal translation of the comics to the screen that isn’t perfect but has enough funny moments to keep you involved with the characters.


Story:

After a mission in Bolivia goes horribly wrong, a group of military experts believed to be dead put together a plan to find and kill the mysterious “Max” (Jason Patric) who gave the orders to kill them. Helping them is the equally mysterious Aisha (Zoë Saldaña) who has her own ulterior motives for getting Max.


Analysis:


Just a week after the release of Matthew Vaughn’s “Kick-Ass,” we’re once again assessing another movie based on a comic book series. “The Losers” by Andy Diggle and Jock was different from other comics, influenced heavily by populist American action films of the ‘80s, but with a distinct almost pop art look mixed with a sense of cheeky irony only Brits can do well. One would imagine that combination may be hard to translate into a Hollywood movie geared towards American action fans and they could be right. Sylvain White’s adaptation certainly stays true to what made the original material so enjoyable, but the resulting movie also makes it clear why some things work well on the page but don’t necessarily translate to the screen.


We meet the military unit self-dubbed “The Losers” as they’re preparing for a mission to take down a Bolivian druglord, and we’re immediately given a sense from their camaraderie that this is a tightly-woven unit who’ve been on many missions together. Led by Colonel Clay (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), the group is comprised of talented experts with catchy nicknames like Roque (Idris Elba), Pooch (Columbus Short), Cougar (Óscar Jaenada) and Jensen (Chris Evans), each of them bringing something to the table. This time, the assignment hasn’t gone as planned due to the involvement of a man on their walkie called “Max,” and the group are left stranded in Bolivia, believed to be dead, until they meet the mysterious and beautiful Aisha (Saldaña) who agrees to help get them back into the United States with information on Max that help them find and kill him.


Those who’ve read and enjoyed the comics should be pleased with the way director Sylvain White has remained incredibly faithful to the storyline from the first year of the series–more than a few scenes are taken straight from the books–pulling things together into a concise form while altering the structure to create a far more effective linear story. He also adds a number of cool original ideas that enhance the nature of the story like the concept of environmentally-friendly bombs called “Snukes.”


As much as the movie maintains the humorous nature of the comics, it’s a strange tone for a movie especially when taken too far, because you end up with a group of military personnel constantly cracking jokes while in the most dangerous and deadly situations. It continues the trend of breaking away from bringing realism to comic-based movies and establishing something far more heightened without going nearly as far as something like “The Spirit.” All the quipping, as much as it’s the best part of the movie, does detract from the story at times to the point where those unfamiliar with the comics might get lost.


Either way, the casting is absolutely inspired with the movie’s champion and savior being Chris Evans as Jensen, the group’s tech expert. This guy is always on, keeping things light with his hilarious riffing and raising the movie’s tone whenever he’s on screen, whether he’s singing Journey in a high falsetto or trading quips with the rest of the cast. As Johnny Storm, Evans was the best part of the “Fantastic Four” movies and that’s the case here as well. Appealing on another level entirely is Saldaña’s ability to ooze tough sensuality in her role as Aisha. Obviously, there must have been a reason to change her character from Arabic to Latina–possibly to avoid stirring up controversy among Muslims?–but it means her character has a very different personality. White does a fine job capturing her finer attributes to keep the guys’ attention focused on her without ever marginalizing her character’s importance to the story.


Essentialy, the movie is as much of a throwback to action movies of the ’80s and ’90s as the comics, but White takes a far more tongue-in-cheek approach rather than one meant to be taken seriously. Even a moment where the heroes walk in slow motion towards the camera seems to be done in fun, a clear nod to Michael Bay, rather than because White is trying to be some sort of “artiste.” Nostalgic references couldn’t be any more obvious than the bad guy Max, played with nonchalance and flair by Jason Patric, relishing his role as the type of over-the-top sociopath who’ll kill anyone who accidentally missteps. His interaction with his henchman Wade is particularly amusing.


Without a question, White’s a strong filmmaker when it comes to the storytelling and knowing when to let his cast do their thing, but he falters is in his attempts to create a distinctively stylized film, using different looks for different scenes, whether it’s a moody, shadowy tone in one scene or quickly moving cameras and edits in another. Granted, much of that is also inspired by the look of the comic book, but similar to the tone, it doesn’t necessarily translate as well to the screen because it’s hard to adjust to. White’s proclivity for close-ups and fast editing in particular distracts from the fight sequences which are meant to be visceral but really come across as choreographed. The visual FX aren’t great either, especially the CG fire added to the explosions, which looks cheesy and fake. At least it’s used to enhance some of the more impressive stuntwork including a climactic action set piece that’s almost worth the price of admission on its own.


The results wind up somewhere north of Dominic Sena’s “Swordfish” but slightly south of Joe Carnahan’s “Smokin’ Aces,” which gives you some idea where your head should be at in order to enjoy the movie. Regardless, White has insured “The Losers” joins “Kick-Ass” and “Watchmen” among the current wave of comic-inspired films that lose a bit by remaining faithful to their source material, but still offer enough entertainment value so they work just as well on their own merits.

Cast:

Chris Rock as Aaron

Martin Lawrence as Ryan

Regina Hall as Michell

James Marsden as Oscar

Zoe Saldana as Elaine

Peter Dinklage as Frank

Tracy Morgan as Norman

Luke Wilson as Derek

Columbus Short as Jeff

Danny Glover as Uncle Russell

Ron Glass as Duncan

Loretta Devine as Cynthia

Keith David as Reverand Davis


Directed by Neil LaBute


Review:

I’ll say right up front that I have seen and am something of a fan of Frank Oz’s original “Death at a Funeral.” That’s not to set this up as a comparison between the original and Neil (”In the Company of Men”) LaBute’s new version, but a lot of the real pleasure from both versions is ruined if you know too much about the gags ahead of time.


The original had a very small theatrical run, however, so more than likely you haven’t seen it. Returning writer Dean Craig’s script and LaBute’s talented cast are pretty true to the original, which means what worked the first time pretty much works this time around as well, though it’s not the smoothest fit.


Aaron (Chris Rock) is about to have the worst day of his life, and it’s not because he has to give his father’s eulogy. Following his father’s last request to hold his funeral at home, he is about to play guest to a pressure cooker of unresolved family tension, accidental drug overdose and at least one funeral crasher.


The central idea of a funeral that goes horribly awry still works, mixing black comedy and broad farce liberally but at such a steady pace that by the point where naked men are threatening to jump off the roof nothing seems out of place. Or at least not artificially so. It’s also got a firm sense of family pain and pleasure (mostly pain) and knows how to dial up the tension without ever falling into melodrama, though family matriarch Cynthia (Loretta Devine) pushes that envelope quite a bit.


It’s also got quite a bit of chemistry between its cast members, with more than a couple of stand-outs. Sad-sack Oscar (James Marsden) is designed to be a scene stealer and for the most part he is. Part of that is the natural zaniness built into his situation but a great deal of it is in the performance and Marsden pulls it off. Columbus Short also makes great use of what screen time he gets as the pharmacology student responsible for Oscar’s problems.


Unfortunately, “Death’s” cast is one of its few weaknesses, as well. As good as many of the film’s actors are in their roles, the central characters of Aaron and famous author brother Ryan (Martin Lawrence) don’t quite mesh. The reality is, “Death’s” British roots show through and through all of its moments. It’s a story built for a certain amount stiff-upper-lipness in the face of extreme absurdity, and neither Rock or Lawrence’s delivery really meshes with that particular type of writing.


It’s not just the new guys either; Peter Dinklage, the only returning original cast member, seems to be sleepwalking through his scenes.


Still, LaBute knows how to do macabre comedy and most of the real highlights still hit in a mixture of high and low humor that is well-designed and delivered, and that is much harder to do than it should be. The less familiar you are with the original the better the new one will come off, and in and of itself, it entertains. A little more tweaking for the actual actor’s voices to come through, instead of trying to put them into pre-concieved places, may have worked better, but on the whole, it’s still an excellent example of how the ensemble comedy should work.


(You can also read Joshua Starnes’ review for the original 2007 movie here.)

Cast:

Aaron Johnson as Dave Lizewski / Kick-Ass

Chloe Moretz as Mindy Macready / Hit Girl

Nicolas Cage as Damon Macready / Big Daddy

Mark Strong as Frank D’Amico

Christopher Mintz-Plasse as Chris D’Amico / Red Mist

Lyndsy Fonseca as Katie Deauxma

Clark Duke as Marty

Evan Peters as Todd

Deborah Twiss as Mrs. Zane

Sophie Wu as Erika Cho

Garrett M. Brown as Mr. Lizewski

Elizabeth McGovern as Mrs. Lizewski

Kofi Natei as Rasul

Omar A. Soriano as Leroy

Xander Berkeley as Detective Gigante

Omari Hardwick as Sergeant Marcus Williams

Johnny Hopkins as 1st Gang Kid

Ohene Cornelius as 2nd Gang Kid

Michael Rispoli as Big Joe

Corey Johnson as Sporty Goon

Kenneth Simmons as Scary Goon

Anthony Desio as Baby Goon

Carlos Besse Peres as Buttons

Randall Batinkoff as Tre Fernandez

Dexter Fletcher as Cody

Russell Bentley as Medic

Jason Flemyng as Lobby Goon

Tamer Hassan as Matthew

Yancy Butler as Angie D’Amico

Adrian Martinez as Ginger Goon

Val Jobara as Nervous Goon

Tim Plester as Danil

Joe Bacino as Posh Goon

Hubert Boorder as Oscar Juarez

Craig Ferguson as Himself

Quinn Smith as Big Mean Boy


Directed by Matthew Vaughn


Summary:

Fun and entertaining in all the ways a violent R-rated action flick should be, but its unfocused structure creates a lull that almost kills the movie.


Story:

Dave Lizewski (Aaron Johnson) is a young comic book nerd who decides that he should try to become a real-life superhero so he puts on a costume and goes out to fight crime, encountering other heroes like the father and daughter team of Big Daddy (Nicolas Cage) and Hit Girl (Chloe Moretz), and Red Mist (Christopher Mintz-Plasse), while at the same time making himself the target of angry mob boss Frank D’Amico (Mark Strong).


Analysis:

The problems adapting comic books and graphic novels to the screen are many, and it usually comes down to how faithful/reverential or not a filmmaker is to the source material. Matthew Vaughn and his screenwriter/producer Jane Goldman haven’t veered too far from Mark Millar and John Romita Jr.’s irreverent take on superheroes, maintaining the dark humor and violent action that made it such a hit. The eight issues of the first volume were a tight package that worked both serialized over two years and as a quickly read collection. Vaughn’s movie is generally best when it brings scenes directly from the page to life, and it’s far too obvious when the movie deviates from the comics, because it’s often where the pace drags to a halt. If you haven’t read the comic than maybe this won’t be so obvious, but this may be one of those cases where not reading the graphic novel beforehand will help not to set expectations too high.


The first half hour is almost identical to the comic where we learn how high school loser Dave Lizewski–well-played by Johnson–decides that he can do what he sees heroes doing in comic books only to have his first outing turn disastrous and nearly fatal. Months later, Dave has undergone extensive surgery and been retrofitted with so much metal inside him that he can no longer feel pain, and having not learned his lesson, he’s back on the streets to fight crime. Despite his enhancements, the self-named Kick-Ass is a complete disaster with a few skills, which becomes even more painfully obvious when he encounters the father-daughter team of Big Daddy and Hit Girl (Nicolas Cage and Chloe Moretz) who have been cleaning up the streets of crime, working far more covertly than Kick-Ass. Eventually, he meets and teams-up with Red Mist, a similarly minded and less than competent hero on the scene and the two are all over the news.


If you’ve read the graphic novel, you’ll pretty much know the story above as well as some of the key “surprises,” but the movie’s problems are most obvious as it enters the second act and starts deviating from the comic book. We won’t get too deep into those differences for those who haven’t read the original, but most of the decisions that falter involve changing the structure. For instance, the secondary characters are introduced much earlier in the story, cutting between them and Dave/Kick-Ass, which takes away from the big shocker when he learns about them for the first time. He still reacts the same way but by that point we already know who they are, more or less. “Kick-Ass” works when it’s told through Dave’s eyes, so to continually break away to try and develop other characters causes the movie to lose its focused point-of-view. Obviously, it’s a simple story that needs fleshing out to work as a movie, but so much needless characterization is added that the movie hits a serious lull after the first 45 minutes.


Part of that problem is the inevitable fact that Chloe Moretz’s Hit Girl completely steals the movie from the very second she shows up on screen, just like in the comic book. Like Uma Thurman’s “Kill Bill” character “The Bride” if she were 25 years younger, cutting a violent and bloody swath through the bad guys while swearing up a storm, her scenes have to be seen to be believed, because it’s akin to the first time you saw Bruce Lee or Jet Li or Jackie Chan in action.


It’s another great example of Vaughn’s skills at casting, which are second to none, as seen by his previous two films and earlier productions. British actor Aaron Johnson does a fine job playing a typical American high school outcast, creating such a relatable main character, both in costume and out, especially during his skewed origin story, the parallels to Spider-Man being emphasized by Vaughn. Nic Cage’s performance as Big Daddy is just odd even by Cage’s standards. It’s certainly entertaining to see him in the überhero role, but he tends to ham it up, at times being so clearly influenced by Adam West’s Batman that it seems out of place in the overall tone of the movie. Mark Strong has proven his skills as a villain countless times now, but his Vic D’Amico is very different from ones he’s played before, yet equally memorable, because he plays it just over-the-top enough to work. (There’s little question that Strong is well on his way to becoming one of those venerable actors like Stanley Tucci who is good in anything and everything they do.) Christopher Mintz-Plasse probably wasn’t the best casting choice for Red Mist, since he plays up the “McLovinesque” super-nerd aspect of his character too much; that’s actually the entire joke about his character but he inadvertently makes Dave seem much cooler by comparison.


Otherwise, it never feels like Vaughn is trying very hard to create his own visual style or directorial identity. So much of the best parts of the movie are taken verbatim from the comic while others pay tribute to other filmmakers, especially Quentin Tarantino. The violent action scenes are nothing short of amazing, but it doesn’t help that while a katana-wielding Hit Girl takes out bad guys, Vaughn uses similar ’60s surf music to “Kill Bill.” In another scene, Vaughn swipes music used in “28 Days Later” to build tension during one of Big Daddy’s key fight sequences. One presumes anyone interested in an ultra-violent R-rated action flick like “Kick-Ass” will already be familiar with Vaughn’s lack of originality. (Those two musical cues are the worst culprits, and the other musical choices range from the inspired to the insipid.)


At a certain point, the movie needs to get serious, but Vaughn spends so much time with the snarky humor, it’s hard to take the tenser third act moments seriously. Fortunately, it all ends with a bang, like a shaky gymnastics routine that delivers such a perfect landing, you immediately forgive those moments that didn’t work. It’s the best way to win back the crowd with an action-packed blow-out that allows Hit Girl to take out more of D’Amico’s goons in her inimitable way. It’s just a shame we don’t arrive at that point earlier; cutting out twenty minutes of needless characterization for the secondary cast would have made this a much better action flick.


The Bottom Line:

As a stand-alone movie, “Kick-Ass” works similarly to the comics, offering snarky fun and violent entertainment that retains Millar’s sick sense of humor throughout. The first half hour is amazing in that respect, as is the ending, but there’s a lot of needless storytelling fat in the middle that comes close to ruining the movie. With that in mind, we recommend you see and enjoy the movie but then go to your local comic shop and shell out $25 for the hardcover to see how this story can be told more efficiently.

Cast:

Clifton Collins, Jr. as Cesar L. Faz

Cheech Marin as Padre Esteban

Moises Arias as Mario Ontiveros

Jake T. Austin as Angel Macias

Ryan Ochoa as Norberto Villareal

Carlos Padilla as Baltazar Charles

Jansen Panettiere as Enrique Suarez

Carlos Gomez as Umberto Macias

Emilie de Ravin as Frankie

Patricia Manterola as Maria

Louis. Gosset Jr. as Cool Papa Bell

William May as Juan

Bruce McGill as Tanner

David Koechner as Charlie

Frances Fisher as Betty


Directed by William Dear


Review:

George Orwell’s first rule of writing was “never use a metaphor, simile or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.” The easiest and least satisfying sort of writing is that which is just a hodge podge of well-worn cliches thrown together to imitate the form of a story without understanding what should go under the hood. That sort of thing happens all too often in filmmaking as well, leading well-meaning filmmakers astray from genuinely affecting story-telling to just easy to market lard. William Dear’s “The Perfect Game” isn’t quite one of those, but it flirts with it quite a bit.


That’s not entirely a surprise. Dear (”Harry and the Hendersons”) has spent his career as a journeyman director turning out decently crafted but uninspired pieces of escapism which are more concerned with tugging easy heartstrings regardless of how clumsily they do so. Which pretty much sums up “The Perfect Game.”


In 1957, despite being 10 years after Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in professional baseball, segregation was still a common fact of life in the game just as it was in America as a whole. A barrier that Cesar Faz (Clifton Collins, Jr.) was never quite able to get beyond in his bid to coach for the St. Louis Cardinals. After years of banging his head against that wall Faz eventually decides to return to Monterrey, Mexico, where he finds a group of pre-teen boys filled with the same dream he once had to play baseball.


Sports films are practically made to play on the emotions and tug on heartstrings. It’s so easy they tend to lure well-meaning filmmakers into doing so through the continuous repetition of trite moments and cliched expressions. And Dear isn’t that well-meaning.


The team is made up of a collection of little boys types: the strong kid (we’re told because of his ability to hit a pinata); the fast kid (we’re told because of his ability to steal and make a clean getaway); the romeo, etc. There are a lot of kids on the team and some sort of shorthand is needed to give them personality and make them stand out, but the filmmakers don’t seem to even be trying that. The only one given any sort of personality is star pitcher Angel (Jake T. Austin) whose father refuses to see him as a person of worth, worn down as he is by poverty and the loss of his first son.


There’s so much cliché involved they often get confused and seem to do little but expend screen time. Emilie de Ravin’s newspaperwoman seems to be in the wrong movie as she often seems to think she’s actually in “His Girl Friday” as she fights with her editor over being forced to cover Faz’s underdogs in their quest to reach the Little League World Series.


All of that in one big gulp, however, surely makes “The Perfect Game” sound a lot worse than it really is. It’s hard not to root for an underdog, especially a relentlessly optimistic one, and the reality is “Game” has a lot of heart. But not much in the way of legs. It stumbles badly over its own good intentions through either a lack of desire or complete inability to use any but the flattest and most familiar terms to bring its story to us.

Cast:

Steve Carell as Phil Foster

Tina Fey as Claire Foster

Mark Wahlberg as Holbrooke

Taraji P. Henson as Detective Arroyo

Jimmi Simpson as Armstrong

Common as Collins

William Fichtner as DA Frank Crenshaw

Leighton Meester as Katy

Kristen Wiig as Haley Sullivan

Mark Ruffalo as Brad Sullivan

James Franco as Taste

Mila Kunis as Whippet

Bill Burr as Detective Walsh

Jonathan Morgan Heit as Oliver Foster

Savannah Paige Rae as Charlotte Foster


Summary:

A fairly high-powered cast gives a bit of an edge to this action-oriented romcom that takes the old “Three’s Company” misunderstanding trick to a whole new level. Throw in a shirtless Mark Wahlberg and Tina Fey at her cutest and there is a little something for everyone in this harmless relationship movie that ultimately ends just as you’d expect.


“Date Night” is Rated PG-13 for sexual and crude content throughout, language, some violence and a drug reference.


Story:

The Fosters are your typical suburban family… hard-working, honest, but completely exhausted and stuck in a bit of a rut. In an attempt to shake things up, the New Jersey couple spends their ritualistic ‘date night’ in under the lights of the Big Apple at a posh, trendy restaurant. When Phil opts to take another couple’s reservation (because the Fosters didn’t actually have one), it sets off a chain of events revolving around their mistaken identity, a missing flash drive, a pair of crooked cops, a pasta-eating mobster, a broom-wielding and fetish-prone district attorney and a half-clothed security specialist.


The Good:

I had zero expectations going into “Date Night.” It looked from the trailer that it was going to trend in the vein of recent, more edgy couples movies and that turned out to be true. For what at its core is a romcom, “Date Night” has quite a bit of action in it… and in the end, it’s the action that gives it more traction than many of its peer films. The action culminates in a unique car chase through the busy streets of NYC that plays well, even if it does some serious damage to a very sweet Audi R8 (and a hapless yellow cab).


The performances in “Date Night” are good overall. I think Tina Fey can and likely will be a bigger player in Hollywood when it comes to comedy roles for women going forward. She’s got great comedic timing and the kind of personality and charm people gravitate towards. Steve Carell is good as well, though I’m not fully sold on the brand of ‘comedic confusion’ that he leans on heavily in this and previous roles - like his schtick of saying awkward things in an attempt to be funny, then backtracking only to say it again.


The rest of the cast reads like a who’s who. Seriously… there are A LOT of familiar faces in this movie. I was pretty shocked by the sheer number of ‘name’ stars present. Mark Wahlberg is classic as a hunked-up security specialist that comes to the aid of the Fosters. Franco and Kunis are pretty damn funny as the couple (a slacker and a stripper) whose reservation was swiped. They are not on screen long, but their scene ranks as one of the funniest in the movie. Then there’s Kristen Wiig and Mark Ruffalo as the Sullivans. These roles are minor and wasted on the talent, but the actors do good jobs in these very limited efforts.


The Bad:

As crazed as some of the parts of the movie are, it is not difficult to strip them away and see the formula… and that is the film’s downfall. Once you look past the outlandishness of the Fosters’ night on the town (think “Adventures in Babysitting” for grown ups, or even Scorsese’s “After Hours”), you know exactly how the story will end. I kept waiting to be thrown a curve ball in the third act, but it never came. So the timeline goes per the formula… you have a couple stuck in a rut, couple sees other couples they identify with calling it quits, couple questions their relationship, couple goes through extraordinary experience together, couple is all better, the end. It’s the same, or similar, hackneyed premise that has plagued romcoms for years.


Kudos for inserting the action sequences, but director Shawn Levy (”Night at the Museum,” “Night at the Museum 2″) and writer Josh Klausner (”Shrek Forever After”) would have been better served treading off of the beaten path even further, but alas, we get what we expect all along.


While this is Carell and Fay’s movie, for me, all the fun in “Date Night” resides in the role players - which also include G4’s Olivia Munn, pop star Will.I.Am, Leighton Meester and Ray Liotta (See what I mean, EVERYBODY is in this movie!). However, about half way into “Date Night,” my attention got pulled from the actual events on the screen to wondering who else was going to pop up… and that’s not a good thing. Ensemble is one thing… cameo hell is another.


In the end, fans of Carell’s humor and Fay’s big screen potential will likely enjoy “Date Night” more than I did. For others, that just may be curious about the movie, I’d recommend waiting for the DVD release and renting it as there are some laughs here. It’s not terrible, but it is formula… no matter how the filmmakers tried to hide it.

Cast:

Chris Rock as Aaron

Martin Lawrence as Ryan

Regina Hall as Michell

James Marsden as Oscar

Zoe Saldana as Elaine

Peter Dinklage as Frank

Tracy Morgan as Norman

Luke Wilson as Derek

Columbus Short as Jeff

Danny Glover as Uncle Russell

Ron Glass as Duncan

Loretta Devine as Cynthia

Keith David as Reverand Davis


Directed by Neil LaBute


Review:

I’ll say right up front that I have seen and am something of a fan of Frank Oz’s original “Death at a Funeral.” That’s not to set this up as a comparison between the original and Neil (”In the Company of Men”) LaBute’s new version, but a lot of the real pleasure from both versions is ruined if you know too much about the gags ahead of time.


The original had a very small theatrical run, however, so more than likely you haven’t seen it. Returning writer Dean Craig’s script and LaBute’s talented cast are pretty true to the original, which means what worked the first time pretty much works this time around as well, though it’s not the smoothest fit.


Aaron (Chris Rock) is about to have the worst day of his life, and it’s not because he has to give his father’s eulogy. Following his father’s last request to hold his funeral at home, he is about to play guest to a pressure cooker of unresolved family tension, accidental drug overdose and at least one funeral crasher.


The central idea of a funeral that goes horribly awry still works, mixing black comedy and broad farce liberally but at such a steady pace that by the point where naked men are threatening to jump off the roof nothing seems out of place. Or at least not artificially so. It’s also got a firm sense of family pain and pleasure (mostly pain) and knows how to dial up the tension without ever falling into melodrama, though family matriarch Cynthia (Loretta Devine) pushes that envelope quite a bit.


It’s also got quite a bit of chemistry between its cast members, with more than a couple of stand-outs. Sad-sack Oscar (James Marsden) is designed to be a scene stealer and for the most part he is. Part of that is the natural zaniness built into his situation but a great deal of it is in the performance and Marsden pulls it off. Columbus Short also makes great use of what screen time he gets as the pharmacology student responsible for Oscar’s problems.


Unfortunately, “Death’s” cast is one of its few weaknesses, as well. As good as many of the film’s actors are in their roles, the central characters of Aaron and famous author brother Ryan (Martin Lawrence) don’t quite mesh. The reality is, “Death’s” British roots show through and through all of its moments. It’s a story built for a certain amount stiff-upper-lipness in the face of extreme absurdity, and neither Rock or Lawrence’s delivery really meshes with that particular type of writing.


It’s not just the new guys either; Peter Dinklage, the only returning original cast member, seems to be sleepwalking through his scenes.


Still, LaBute knows how to do macabre comedy and most of the real highlights still hit in a mixture of high and low humor that is well-designed and delivered, and that is much harder to do than it should be. The less familiar you are with the original the better the new one will come off, and in and of itself, it entertains. A little more tweaking for the actual actor’s voices to come through, instead of trying to put them into pre-concieved places, may have worked better, but on the whole, it’s still an excellent example of how the ensemble comedy should work.


(You can also read Joshua Starnes’ review for the original 2007 movie here.)

Cast:

Steve Carell as Phil Foster

Tina Fey as Claire Foster

Mark Wahlberg as Holbrooke

Taraji P. Henson as Detective Arroyo

Jimmi Simpson as Armstrong

Common as Collins

William Fichtner as DA Frank Crenshaw

Leighton Meester as Katy

Kristen Wiig as Haley Sullivan

Mark Ruffalo as Brad Sullivan

James Franco as Taste

Mila Kunis as Whippet

Bill Burr as Detective Walsh

Jonathan Morgan Heit as Oliver Foster

Savannah Paige Rae as Charlotte Foster


Summary:

A fairly high-powered cast gives a bit of an edge to this action-oriented romcom that takes the old “Three’s Company” misunderstanding trick to a whole new level. Throw in a shirtless Mark Wahlberg and Tina Fey at her cutest and there is a little something for everyone in this harmless relationship movie that ultimately ends just as you’d expect.


“Date Night” is Rated PG-13 for sexual and crude content throughout, language, some violence and a drug reference.


Story:

The Fosters are your typical suburban family… hard-working, honest, but completely exhausted and stuck in a bit of a rut. In an attempt to shake things up, the New Jersey couple spends their ritualistic ‘date night’ in under the lights of the Big Apple at a posh, trendy restaurant. When Phil opts to take another couple’s reservation (because the Fosters didn’t actually have one), it sets off a chain of events revolving around their mistaken identity, a missing flash drive, a pair of crooked cops, a pasta-eating mobster, a broom-wielding and fetish-prone district attorney and a half-clothed security specialist.


The Good:

I had zero expectations going into “Date Night.” It looked from the trailer that it was going to trend in the vein of recent, more edgy couples movies and that turned out to be true. For what at its core is a romcom, “Date Night” has quite a bit of action in it… and in the end, it’s the action that gives it more traction than many of its peer films. The action culminates in a unique car chase through the busy streets of NYC that plays well, even if it does some serious damage to a very sweet Audi R8 (and a hapless yellow cab).


The performances in “Date Night” are good overall. I think Tina Fey can and likely will be a bigger player in Hollywood when it comes to comedy roles for women going forward. She’s got great comedic timing and the kind of personality and charm people gravitate towards. Steve Carell is good as well, though I’m not fully sold on the brand of ‘comedic confusion’ that he leans on heavily in this and previous roles - like his schtick of saying awkward things in an attempt to be funny, then backtracking only to say it again.


The rest of the cast reads like a who’s who. Seriously… there are A LOT of familiar faces in this movie. I was pretty shocked by the sheer number of ‘name’ stars present. Mark Wahlberg is classic as a hunked-up security specialist that comes to the aid of the Fosters. Franco and Kunis are pretty damn funny as the couple (a slacker and a stripper) whose reservation was swiped. They are not on screen long, but their scene ranks as one of the funniest in the movie. Then there’s Kristen Wiig and Mark Ruffalo as the Sullivans. These roles are minor and wasted on the talent, but the actors do good jobs in these very limited efforts.


The Bad:

As crazed as some of the parts of the movie are, it is not difficult to strip them away and see the formula… and that is the film’s downfall. Once you look past the outlandishness of the Fosters’ night on the town (think “Adventures in Babysitting” for grown ups, or even Scorsese’s “After Hours”), you know exactly how the story will end. I kept waiting to be thrown a curve ball in the third act, but it never came. So the timeline goes per the formula… you have a couple stuck in a rut, couple sees other couples they identify with calling it quits, couple questions their relationship, couple goes through extraordinary experience together, couple is all better, the end. It’s the same, or similar, hackneyed premise that has plagued romcoms for years.


Kudos for inserting the action sequences, but director Shawn Levy (”Night at the Museum,” “Night at the Museum 2″) and writer Josh Klausner (”Shrek Forever After”) would have been better served treading off of the beaten path even further, but alas, we get what we expect all along.


While this is Carell and Fay’s movie, for me, all the fun in “Date Night” resides in the role players - which also include G4’s Olivia Munn, pop star Will.I.Am, Leighton Meester and Ray Liotta (See what I mean, EVERYBODY is in this movie!). However, about half way into “Date Night,” my attention got pulled from the actual events on the screen to wondering who else was going to pop up… and that’s not a good thing. Ensemble is one thing… cameo hell is another.


In the end, fans of Carell’s humor and Fay’s big screen potential will likely enjoy “Date Night” more than I did. For others, that just may be curious about the movie, I’d recommend waiting for the DVD release and renting it as there are some laughs here. It’s not terrible, but it is formula… no matter how the filmmakers tried to hide it.