Sicario (2015)
DIRECTOR: Denis Villeneuve
CAST: Emily Blunt, Benicio Del Toro, Josh Brolin, Daniel Kaluuya, Victor Garber, Jeffrey Donovan, Jon Bernthal
REVIEW:
Sicario, the latest from Denis Villeneuve (Prisoners), is not for those seeking a couple hours of escapism from grim realities at the movie theater, nor is it an action movie. It’s also further evidence that Villeneuve has a bleak worldview. But for fans of gritty, down-to-earth crime dramas that deal in shades of gray and don’t shy away from unsympathetic characters or downbeat endings, Sicario may have things to offer. Continue reading
The Martian (2015)
DIRECTOR: Ridley Scott
CAST: Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Jeff Daniels, Sean Bean, Kate Mara, Kristen Wiig, Michael Pena, Sebastian Stan, Aksel Hennie, Benedict Wong, Donald Glover
REVIEW:
Following in the footsteps of Alfonso Cuaron’s Gravity and Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar, Ridley Scott’s The Martian, an adaptation of Andy Weir’s novel of the same name, is the latest in a trend of “hard sci-fi” movies that make serious attempts to give a reasonably realistic portrayal of space and the challenges that come with it (like the earlier films, the filmmakers consulted experts, with NASA involved as technical advisers during The Martian‘s script writing and production). For Scott, whose prestigious name has taken a hit in recent years with unimpressive entries on an uneven filmography, this is a welcome return to form, and raises the argument that perhaps Scott is most comfortable with sci-fi Continue reading
Black Mass (2015)
DIRECTOR: Scott Cooper
CAST: Johnny Depp, Joel Edgerton, Benedict Cumberbatch, Dakota Johnson, Kevin Bacon, Jesse Plemons, Rory Cochrane, David Harbour, Peter Sarsgaard, Corey Stoll
REVIEW:
Black Mass, a docudrama of the unholy alliance between FBI agents and 1970s-1990s crime lord Whitey Bulger, has a feel of “Scorsese-lite” (Jack Nicholson’s mob boss in Scorsese’s The Departed was loosely modeled after Bulger). Solid acting and some memorable individual scenes enliven a straightforward gangster crime drama that’s otherwise serviceable but generic. Black Mass is reasonably engaging, but nothing groundbreaking, and there’s a sense of a rushed and underdeveloped storyline. Among the many gangland flicks to come out over the years, it’s not a bad installment, but also not a classic. A chilling lead performance by Johnny Depp is likely to linger longer in the memory than the pedestrian narrative. Continue reading
Ant-Man (2015)
DIRECTOR: Peyton Reed
CAST: Paul Rudd, Michael Douglas, Evangeline Lilly, Corey Stoll, Michael Pena, Bobby Cannavale
REVIEW:
Like most of the solo outings of Marvel’s sprawling ensemble of superheroes, especially those coming after the “event” Avengers episodes, Ant-Man feels like filler, a lightweight diversion to pass the time while bored at the multiplexes waiting for the Avengers to assemble again. The introduction of a superhero who is decidedly not considered among Marvel’s top tier (was anyone really clamoring for an Ant-Man movie?) also suggests Marvel Studios might be starting to scrape the bottom of the barrel in its continual quest to expand its cinematic “universe” and add more characters to its already crowded roster. To that end, Ant-Man is an adequate diversion, but generic and forgettable. The Marvel cinematic universe has moved on from this sort of thing. Continue reading
Child 44 (2015)
DIRECTOR: Daniel Espinosa
CAST: Tom Hardy, Noomi Rapace, Gary Oldman, Joel Kinnaman, Paddy Considine, Fares Fares, Jason Clarke, Vincent Cassel, Charles Dance
REVIEW:
Adapting a book can be a tricky task; change too much and outrage its adherents, but follow the text too slavishly and risk a sluggish motion picture. Book and film are different mediums and should be treated as such. With its myriad subplots and in-depth exploration of life in the 1950s Soviet Union, Tom Rob Smith’s best-selling historical crime novel (loosely inspired by the case of 1980s Soviet serial killer Andrei Chikatilo) doesn’t lend itself to being inherently cinematic, and director Daniel Espinosa and screenwriter Richard Price’s attempt to bring it to the screen is sometimes murky, scattershot, and difficult to follow. However, while a flawed film, Child 44 is not the outright disaster that its status as a dismal box office flop would indicate (the film barely played in only 500 theaters before quickly disappearing from them, delaying this review from its limited and short-lived theatrical release in April until it became available on DVD and online streaming in late July). There’s still plenty of intrigue here, and for those interested in a murder mystery against the historical backdrop of the Stalin-era Soviet Union, Child 44 is worth giving a chance. Continue reading
Terminator: Genisys (2015)
DIRECTOR: Alan Taylor
CAST: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jai Courtney, Emilia Clarke, Jason Clarke, J.K. Simmons, Matt Smith, Byung-hun Lee
REVIEW:
WARNING: THIS REVIEW WILL REVEAL “SPOILERS” OF THE FILM’S PLOT
Much like several other once-mighty film franchises from the 1980s and 1990s, including the Alien and Predator series, the Terminator just doesn’t know when to quit. 1984’s The Terminator was a solid launching pad, and 1991’s Terminator 2: Judgment Day, like its predecessor helmed by James Cameron, stands to this day as one of the best sci-fi action thrillers ever made, and represented the franchise at its peak. Unfortunately, like Alien, everything was downhill after #2. Cameron’s two installments told a self-contained story with a beginning and end. Cameron moved on and Hollywood should have too, but as is so often the case, a property is never left well enough alone when studios smell profits to be made from an iconic brand name. 2003’s Rise of the Machines was serviceable diverting action entertainment but a marked step down, and 2009’s Terminator: Salvation was a superfluous side tangent to nowhere, and now in 2015, just when most people probably thought they’d heard the last of Terminators, the intrepid Connor clan, Judgment Day, and Skynet, Genisys has come along and attempted to bring things full circle by hearkening back to the glory days of the first two episodes. Unfortunately, despite all its playing on nostalgia and callbacks, Genisys does not represent a return to form. In fact, it’s a muddled and convoluted episode, marred by bad casting and questionable narrative choices, and comes across like mediocre fanfiction. “Ah-nuld” may once again utter the words “I’ll be back”, but neither he nor the film makes that an exciting prospect.
Jurassic World (2015)
DIRECTOR: Colin Trevorrow
CAST: Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Ty Simpkins, Nick Robinson, Vincent D’Onofrio, Irrfan Khan, Omar Sy, B.D. Wong
REVIEW:
22 years ago, Steven Spielberg ushered in a special effects landmark with Jurassic Park, featuring dinosaurs that did (and in many scenes, still do) look astoundingly real. Spielberg’s 1997 sequel The Lost World was a step down, and 2001’s Jurassic Park III (directed by Joe Johnston) felt like superfluous filler. Now, 14 years later, with Spielberg producing and relative newcomer Colin Trevorrow behind the camera, a film series many thought to have gone extinct over a decade ago (and sputtering out of gas well before that) has roared back onto the big screen. While Jurassic World doesn’t scale the heights of the original film (and in some ways might even be inferior to The Lost World), it surpasses Jurassic Park III and provides two hours of serviceable monster movie entertainment. Continue reading
Woman In Gold (2015)
DIRECTOR: Simon Curtis
CAST: Helen Mirren, Ryan Reynolds, Daniel Brühl, Tatiana Maslany, Katie Holmes, Max Irons
REVIEW:
Hollywood likes stories about lawyers crusading for a righteous cause. On the surface, Woman In Gold is another generic entry, but its sometimes powerful true story, a split narrative chronicling two time periods, an unsurprisingly strong performance from Helen Mirren and, perhaps somewhat more surprisingly, capable support by Ryan Reynolds helps lend it more weight and impact than just a courtroom drama. Continue reading
Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
DIRECTOR: George Miller
CAST: Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron, Nicholas Hoult, Hugh Keays-Byrne, Riley Keough, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Zoe Kravitz, Abbey Lee, Courtney Eaton
REVIEW:
In 1979, an Australian doctor-turned-director named George Miller made a low-budget movie called Mad Max that went on to make a star out of a then-unknown Mel Gibson and serve as inspiration for any number of post-apocalyptic and road chase movies in the decades since. Miller followed up with 1981’s The Road Warrior and 1985’s Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome. In the interim, he directed such far more family-friendly fare as Babe and Happy Feet, but Mad Max was always his baby. During the hiatus, Miller tried various times starting in 1998 to make the film which would eventually become Fury Road, but after several mis-starts, star Mel Gibson dropped out in 2003, feeling he was too old for the part but giving Miller his blessing to forge ahead without him. In 2009, after several Australian actors (including the late Heath Ledger) unsuccessfully pursued or were considered for the title role, British actor Tom Hardy, at the time still a virtual unknown on this side of the Atlantic, officially stepped into Max’s boots. Filming commenced in November 2011 but was forced to move from the Australian Outback (the filming location of every previous installment) when unexpected heavy rains transformed the desert into lush fields of wildflowers inappropriate for the look of the movie, relocating instead to Africa’s Namib Desert. And now, after an arduous shoot and lengthy post-production, Fury Road has finally brought the long-dormant action franchise roaring back onto the big screen. For many, the thirty-year gap between Beyond Thunderdome and Fury Road will be worth the wait. By Miller’s own admission, this is the movie he would have made all along if he’d been able, and it is clear that this long-gestating project has been a labor of love. Armed with a budget he could once only have dreamed of (reportedly approximately $150 million), Miller has given us a new adventure that is recognizably a Mad Max movie but also does its own thing. Mad Max has returned with a bang. Continue reading
The Avengers 2: Age of Ultron (2015)
DIRECTOR: Joss Whedon
CAST: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Samuel L. Jackson, Elizabeth Olsen, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Paul Bettany, Don Cheadle, Anthony Mackie, Cobie Smulders, Stellan Skarsgard, Idris Elba, Andy Serkis, Thomas Kretschmann, James Spader (voice)
REVIEW:
As a second “all hands on deck” assembling of the historic all-star team-up of 2012’s The Avengers, Age of Ultron underwhelms. While Captain America: The Winter Soldier managed to be a worthy adventure in its own right, other chapters like Iron Man 3 and Thor: The Dark World felt like obligatory filler, something to pass the time in between Avengers films that you could skip without missing much, but unfortunately Age of Ultron lacks the freshness and giddy sense of glee that made the first Avengers such an infectiously enjoyable spectacle. Seeing Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, The Hulk, and company all united onscreen isn’t as novel an experience as it was three years ago, and their adventure here feels more obligatory than epic. Continue reading