Review: Alice In Wonderland

Movie: Alice In Wonderland
Genre: Fantasy
Review Category: Movie Showing in Theaters

I was so utterly disappointed with this film, I don't know where to begin. I'll spare you the witty intro this time around and dive right into it and continue to dish dirt until I've aired all my grievances. Spoiler alert: I will ruin this film for you, if you haven't seen it, and wish to, please do so before reading further.
The plot to this film is weak and unimaginative (I know, odd for a movie that takes place in a land of fiction). The film takes place thirteen years after Alice's first tumble down the rabbit hole, which, is a departure from both of the Lewis Carroll books "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" and "Through the Looking Glass, and What Alice Found There", which both take place when Alice is seven. Meaning the brain team behind this 2010 version of the film had free liberty to reinterpret our idea of wonderland and it's inhabitants, and give us something truly amazing and out of this world. They also had free reign to come up with a completely differing plot from the books. Instead, they chose to give us the same old characters we know from the books and animated films, and place them in a setting that was, well, dull and lack luster (and that's being nice). The movie's lighting was un-expectedly dark, and the colors didn't pop, the scenery overall was very drab. And on top of that they hacked into both books and pieced together elements from each to create the film instead of taking the time to give us something new (which I'd assume would be the point of doing an Alice In Wonderland film with a grown Alice).
Secondly both big names attached to this project failed to hit the mark. The "Big Star" of the film, The Mad Hatter (played by Johnny Depp) was so unimpressive it literally hurt to watch him on screen. I have no idea on this earth why Tim Burton would take the Hatter character in this direction. To illustrate that the Hatter was actually "Mad," Depp would ramble inaudibly in what sounded like a Scottish accent fifty percent of the time, and speaks in a soft voice with a lisp the other fifty percent. The problem is between the thick accent and the lisp you can't make out what he's saying throughout most of the film. What's worse, the character isn't funny or even eerie, as I'd expect from a Burton directed film. His "Mad" rants weren't nearly dark enough and his lighthearted and playful actions weren't outlandish enough. He was more awkward than anything, not fully committing to one emotion or another.
I couldn't help but get the sense the film didn't know who its' audience was suppose to be. The dialogue was mild enough to give it a PG rating, but the themes of death, marriage, and violence centering this film are hardly appropriate for a child. And since the film was written and performed to meet child guidelines (to attain a PG rating), it makes the emotion achieved and tone of the film come off false. This film would have really benefited from being rated PG-13. At the end of the day this is a film based on a child's book, with adult themes, that was shot for the tween market (thanks Harry Potter). So in no way is it really a child's movie, and it shouldn't have been written to meet children's standards. That's what's made the Harry Potter franchise so successful, they take these "children's" stories and make films for a more mature audience.
Next, the film isn't that believable. And yes I am fully aware this is a fictional story based on a fictional novel, but in every good fictional tale there is some reason or explanation for a person being able to do amazing feats. My case in point is the climax of the movie where Alice faces off against a "Jabberwocky", basically a dragon that spews purple rays instead of fire, and is victorious. On screen when a child faces a fictional "bad ass" like a dragon, with no special abilities or training, and emerges the victor without a scratch; we can just chalk that up to a child's wild imagination and them being able to do whatever they want to in their minds. But when a woman of nineteen or twenty does this, something just doesn't ring "true".
Lastly I implore Hollywood to stop making 3-D films, leave that to the theme parks, aquariums, and museums please. In order to write from an unbiased view point, I did not watched Alice in Wonderland in 3-D (and if you don't believe that then I just didn't want to spend the extra cash). However, there were a few scenes you could tell were added just because they'd look good in 3-D. Now, adding frosting to the cake is always appreciated, but the cake has to taste good first. In other words I'd have appreciated it if Burton didn't add scenes simply because they'd look good in 3-D, and focused more on producing a great film. This movie had too many flaws for extra attention to be paid to how scenes would appear in 3-D. In fact that extra attention detracted from the 2-D viewing experience. Scenes that look good in 3-D, simply appear over-embellished for what translates on screen to be no reason at all in a 2-D format. So given that I really can't say a good word about this film, I rate it Catch if your in the Mood. And even though it's not on DVD yet for future reference, I rate it A Waste of Plastic.

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Review: Couples Retreat

Movie: Couples Retreat
Genre: Comedy
Review Category: Available at Rental Retailers


Vaughn?.....Comedy?.....Movie you say?.....Go on. Well I wish I could, unfortunately that seems to be the only thought put into this film. And to be fair it's often a pretty good combination, nothing out of the park or anything but a good film with some funny moments usually arises from nothing more than Vince Vaughn and a camera. Overall the movie was watchable, but seemed to lack in the plot.
Vince Vaughn was Vince Vaughn, witty stumbling sentences that make you chuckle a little. But there was no real WOW factor. Perhaps there was just too much of Vince Vaughn being himself. Jon Favreau and Vince Vaughn both had a hand in writting this film, to the film's detriment. There are a few scenes where the back and forth argumentative dialogue especially between Vaughn and Favreau gets...well, confusing and turns what was a mildly funny scene into boredom. At the end of the day, Vince Vaughn is Vince Vaughn and that's what makes him great, he's one of the few actors allowed to ad-lib some lines and go for the "extra funny". But I often think he's edited and reeled back in by good direction, which honestly the moderation makes his out burst something to look forward to and adds to his hilarity. I just didn't get the feeling he was told to tone it down at any time during the filming of this movie. Think of it like chocolate is good. We pretty much can all agree to that, and if you can't you obviously have no pulse and your opinion doesn't matter anyway. Even people deathly allergic to chocolate can't seem to stay away from it. However, if all you ate was chocolate it would lose it's appeal and not be as great tasting as it is. The same can be said of Vince Vaughn's rambling dialogue, it's generally funny, but too much of it just makes the story seem poorly written plus there's only so much the guy can come up with "off the cuff".
I'd really like to know who cast this film? (now I only pose the question to add emphasis, think of it as a rhetorical question) Seriously, with the exception of Faizon Love's character, whose suppose to be dating a twenty year old ( that looks thirty, twenty eight at best), the age difference between most of the couples appears to be at least fifteen years. There just is no good reason these old guys should be married to these young ladies. I mean they aren't rich or overly charming or anything. Simply put it just didn't look right and made it very hard for me to believe the relationships. Which is important to this film since it's titled COUPLES RETREAT. Overall the film is what you'd expect from a romantic comedy, with nothing too impressive to speak of, but since Vince Vaughn can't ever really be all bad, catch it if you enjoy his comedic performances. I rate this film Rent for $1 or less.

Review: The Crazies (2010)

Movie: The Crazies (2010)
Genre: Horror
Review Category: Movie Showing in Theaters

I'm not usually excited for horror films, not that I hate the genre or anything, but lately I've felt it's either lacked originality or focus. And The Crazies, not to disappoint, managed to do both. The first of the two is obvious, this is a remake of the 1973 film by the same name. Not having seen the original but noting that the master of anything "Zombie" cinema George A Ramero directed and wrote the first one, I'm sure this version doesn't quite hold up to it's predecessor.
I don't know where to begin my gripe so I'll just dive in. I'm glad the movie got off to a quick start; it makes no sense in horror films for the audience not to be puzzled or given some action right off the bat. So check one in the plus column (note this may be the only positive).
My first real issue has to deal with one of the main characters, David Dutton (Timothy Olyphant) who is the small town sheriff. He just makes too many connections about what is going on with no facts or proof to back up his 100 percent correct assumptions. Now this isn't to doubt the abilities of small town law enforcement, but when you're used to ticketing teenagers for taking farmer Smith's tractor for a joy ride, or tipping over the cow's in Mrs. Johnson's pasture, you probably haven't cracked too many complex cases in your career.
Gripe number two is that there just didn't seem to be enough blood and gore in the film. In today's horror industry with the SAW XXVII's (or whatever number of that franchise they're on) you have to do more than just show a little blood splatter. There have been Comedic movies that were more blood laden than this film. If this were 1980 then maybe the gory action scenes would be enough, but in 2010 I just wasn't impressed.
My other Gripe and what might be the worst one of all, is that the inconsistency of the "infected" people's behavior destroyed any hope this film had of being good and landed it at mediocre at best. It's very strange, the first few "infected" we meet seem unable to speak or show signs of deductive reasoning. After the initial two, we meet some who seem to think clearly and speak easily, and others, who like the first ones, are nothing more than lifeless zombies we don't call zombies. I'm completely fine with the "infected" of the film having basic or superior human intellect, really I am. However, they either need to evolve this ability or have it shown from the beginning of the film. We cannot have instances where poor directing or a poorly written script make a scene draw out for no real reason just because all of a sudden one of the "infected", who have never spoken before and don't after, has something to say. It just cheapens the movie and insults the viewing audience. Seriously in this day and age if you can't have someone in a horror film die or almost die in a new and inventive way you don't deserve to direct in Hollywood. So for these reasons I'd rate this film Catch if you're in the mood.

Review: Law Abiding Citizen

Movie: Law Abiding Citizen
Genre: Thriller
Review Category: Available at Rental Retailers

I was excited at the prospect of this film, I felt the concept of a man seeking revenge and executing his plans while imprisoned could go places. Unfortunately the only place this film went was...nowhere. It started off fast, the initial scene having what eventually becomes the antagonist of the film being tortured and watching his family murdered before him. From there the time frame skips a few years and we return with Butler's character beginning his plot for revenge against "everyone", which is the main focus of the film.
This alone wouldn't make for a completely horrible viewing experience, but somehow the film seemed to miss the mark for me. I've got a couple of gripes beginning with Jamie Foxx's acting. Harold-ed for his performance in Ray, I just didn't see that same focus and emotional power in his role in this film. I never got the sense of regret, fear, or anger that his character was suppose to show given that his life, the life of his family, and the lives of his co-workers and friends are in danger throughout the majority of the film. I really get the sense that Mr. Foxx couldn't care less what film he was acting in as long as the check cleared the bank. His lack of range in this film was a real let down, especially since he's shown that's he's capable of more.
The other thing that really bugged me is how Butler's character is this feared black ops genius but is found out by a lawyer. This mad genius who inspires an ex-colleague to state, "..if he wants you dead, you're dead..." had his plans foiled by a lawyer. They didn't call in the local detectives, they didn't ask for military help, they didn't bother to speak to the FBI or CIA, when dealing with this black ops specialist; no, instead when questions arose they were easily solved by the Assistant DA (Jamie Foxx). I don't know it just takes away from the credibility of the "Evil Genius", to know that the man to whom our covert government agencies turn to in secret to fix issues they themselves can't resolve could be brought down single handily by a guy with a law degree. Not to knock lawyers or anything but they study law, and interpretations of law, which doesn't really correlate to being able to track criminals and their actions. For instance your dentist has a Doctorate, but you wouldn't expect him to moonlight on the weekends performing flawless triple bypass surgeries right? The film would have been more believable if the detectives involved had made more of the main connections in the case.
The bright spot here is Butler's acting, I felt he conveyed the frustration, anger, and sadness of his character well. I believed him as a distraught father and husband who's family was murdered with no justice found. You get the sense in his tone and facial expression that he is a broken man who is driven insane by his loss. Surprisingly Gerard Butler is the only person I could say was truly acting in this film, it just seemed like everyone else was simply reading lines from a page.
So while this film had a decent plot, the ending seemed lackluster and no one save Butler gave any attempt at acting; but for sheer concept I rate this film Rent for a $1 or less.

Movies to Watch for : Happy Tears

This film recently caught my eye. I'm not too sure how strong the plot is; and the film appears to be driven by Parker Posey's character, as to which I'm not sure she can carry the film. If nothing else this seems to be a crude comedy and should be a breath of fresh air amongst the films currently out.


http://www.happytears.net/

Movies to Watch for : The Last Airbender

This is a film I'll be waiting on. As a fan of the Nickelodeon cartoon series this movie is based on, I can't wait to see the finished product. I think this film should appeal to an audience wider than that of the cartoon's base. This should be a really good family film, one that both parents and children will like. It also helps that this will be film one in what is suppose to be a three part Trilogy, the cartoon series was so long, to fit all of the information in only one film would have been absurd. Honestly, it still might be a stretch to do it in three. My only question is if M. Night Shyamalan's triple threat approach (he Directed, Produced, and Wrote this film, like many of his others), will be an asset or hindrance to this film? I'm not too sure he can produce a highly involved martial arts action scene, though the trailers seem to suggest I may be wrong. One thing is for sure M. Night fans will have never seen anything like this from him before.

http://www.thelastairbendermovie.com/?gclid=CJbW4sPVhqACFZdM5QodRzu5kg#home

Movies to Watch for : Greenzone

Now I've heard nay sayers brush this film off as the 4th installment in the Borne Series, and sharing the same director and lead actor it's no wonder. But to those people I ask, is that so bad? The action packed Borne Trilogy was a pretty good series with plenty of good hand to hand combat fight scenes, unbelievable yet realistic car chases,and a fast paced racy screen presence fraught with explosions and violence around almost every corner. Action fans do you really need more? I'm actually a little excited to see this film.


http://www.greenzonemovie.com/