MOVIE REVIEW: THE WOLVERINE

Hugh Jackman returns as Wolverine in this sequel to the member of the X-Men's first solo outing. Mark Bomback and The Usual Suspects' Christopher McQuarrie penned the script, which takes its inspiration from the Chris Claremont/Frank Miller Marvel miniseries from the 1980s dealing with the character's adventures in Japan as he fights ninjas in the ceremonial garb of the samurai. Knight and Day's James Mangold directs. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, Rovi

Director: James Mangold

Cast: Hugh Jackman, Will Yun Lee, Hiroyuki Sanada, Brian Tee, Famke Janssen

Release Date: Jul 26, 2013 RealD 3D

Rated PG-13 For language, Intense Sci-Fi Action, Some Sexuality and Violence

Runtime: 2 hr. 6 min.

Genres: Action/Adventure

Review:

X-Men Origins: Wolverine was such a massive misfire that I excised the majority of the film from my memory as soon as the film ended. Needless to the say, I wasn’t terribly excited about The Wolverine especially after Darren Aronofsky dropped out. James Mangold is a solid if unimpressive director so I was still fairly leery of another solo entry for Wolverine. Thankfully The Wolverine is a solid piece of comic book filmmaking with a focused storyline with a pensive seriousness that pervades the better part of the film. Mangold delivers a well balanced film that provides enough action to keep your blood pumping, an impressive bullet train sequence stands out, and heart to keep it interesting. By this point in time the audience should be well versed in the general particulars of Logan’s story so the film doesn’t waste much time explaining rudimentary facts, instead it focuses on Logan after the envents of X-Men: The Last Stand. As a result Hugh Jackman is allowed to flesh out some of the turmoil at play in Logan’s mind. The result is a mixed bag with some of the attempts hitting home while most of the Jean Grey hallucinations come off a tad too heavy handed. Even with its flaws, its effect character building. It helps that the cast of supporting characters and villains has been trimmed to an economically small group. Rila Fukushima leaves a solid impression as Logan’s de facto sidekick. Tao Okamoto, the love interest, feels like she should leave a bigger impression but she’s decidedly bland. Fairing worse is Svetlana Khodchenkova’s vamping villainess, Viper, who is a ham fisted misfire especially in the final act. The final act itself forgoes all the seriousness for a goofy and ultimately anticlimactic end to the film. The Wolverine would have fared better if it’d had some tighter editing, especially in the flabby midsection, and delivered a thrilling finale but it still delivers a solid entry into the X-men cannon. An excellent post credit sequence will leave you waiting patiently or impatiently for the upcoming X-Men: Days of Future Past.

B-

MOVIE REVIEW: HANSEL & GRETEL WITCH HUNTERS

Fifteen years after a horrific experience in a deceptively inviting ginger bread house, an orphan Hansel (Jeremy Renner) and Gretel (Gemma Arterton) have become famous for ridding the countryside of witches. Despite their stellar success record, the brother and sister face a unique challenge when an extremely powerful witch. The film was directed by Tommy Wirkola. Actresses Famke Janssen and Pihla Vitala co-star. ~ Tracie Cooper, Rovi

Director: Tommy Wirkola

Cast: Jeremy Renner, Gemma Arterton, Famke Janssen, Peter Stormare, Ingrid Bolsø Berdal.

Release Date: Jan 25, 2013

Rated R for fantasy Horror Violence/Gore, Brief Sexuality/Nudity and Language

Runtime: 1 hr. 28 min.

Genres: Fantasy

Review:

If you are watching a movie called Hansel & Gretel Witch Hunters then you have a good idea about what kind of film you are going to see, more so, if you are familiar with Tommy Wirkola’s previous film, the schlock fest Dead Snow. Hansel & Gretel Witch Hunters has a good sense of humor about itself and never takes itself overly seriously. A generic plot, which only has a few flourishes, is pedestrian enough that you could watch this while doing other things while never missing much in terms of plot. That’s not to say it isn’t watchable, which it is, but that’s mostly because the cast seems to be having a great time. Jeremy Renner and Gemma Arterton make a fun duo, each fully embracing the general silliness of plot and their characters. They have great chemistry together. Famke Janssen is equally fun as the main baddie. She vamps it up from the first moment she hits the screen. The interplay and overly gory and vulgar script partnered with some solid direction keep the film moving. It’s fun and rather silly but never great. The entire film looks like it was done on a cheap sound stage which becomes more and more noticeable as the film progresses. Likewise, cheap 3D showcase shots litter the film’s 2nd half. This might have been fun on the big screen in 3D but at home it’s just wasted space and time. The biggest issue is the script which is so bland that it rarely takes advantage of the performances. It all plays out the way you think it will and rarely provides enough to fully engage the audience. For what it is, it’s disposable fun which has the good grace to keep things light and short.

C+

TV SHOW REVIEW: HEMLOCK GROVE

A teenage girl is brutally murdered, sparking a hunt for her killer. But in a town where everyone hides a secret, will they find the monster among them?

Cast: Famke Janssen, Penelope Mitchell, Freya Tingley, Bill Skarsgård, Freya Tingley, Kandyse McClure, Aaron Douglas

Executive producer(s) Eli Roth, Charles H. Eglee, Eric Newman, Michael Connolly, Lee Shipman, Brian McGreevy, Dan Paige

Written by Brian McGreevy Lee Shipman Dan Paige

Review:

Hemlock Grove feels familiar, incredibly familiar. A multitude of supernatural themed shows litter the airwaves and movie screens. Shows like True Blood and The Vampire Diaries cover somewhat similar territory with the latter proving to be a more consistently written product. Hemlock Grove has an uphill battle from the start. It has to bring us engaging characters and a new slant on certain genre tropes. Does it succeed? Not really. The central mystery at the heart of season 1 is rather uninteresting and the final reveal is telegraphed early on. The characters vary from semi interesting to bland. The fact that a mute comes off as the most intriguing character speaks volumes. The cast has a few stand outs such as Landon Liboiron as Peter Rumancek. Liboiron performance feels comfortable and natural throughout and he never comes across like he’s trying too hard unlike Bill Skarsgård. Skarsgård’s performance undersells what’s supposed to be a sexy conflicted lead; instead he comes off as whiny and disinterring. Nicole Boivin with Amazon Eve working as her massive body double as Shelly, the mute mutant Godfrey sister, emotes more through simple looks, while under extensive make up, than most of her cast mates. A usually reliable Dougray Scott comes off as stiff and fairly bland even though he’s a regular cast member. Battlestar Galactica alums, Aaron Douglas and Kandyse McClure are surprisingly bad. Some of their line delivers, especially some of the more emotional moments, miss the mark badly. Bad acting is hardly limited to them because it does pester the first season like an annoying fly. The best example of this is Famke Janssen. Janssen, with a truly embarrassing and distracting “British” accent, chews up scenery like she hasn’t eaten for weeks. Her character is supposed to be a rich, sexy man eater with a biting tongue. Janssen’s performance rarely hits her mark, occasionally falling into camp territory. Her character doesn’t become truly interesting until the latter episodes. The same can be said for the season as a whole. Its plot hints at a supernatural sci-fi, religious mix but stays in a holding pattern for most of the season. As a result, most of the plot feels like a trudge mainly because the ”twists” revealed in the latter episodes are fairly obvious and you wished it’d just get on with it already. After the reveals, the series seems to find some much stronger forward moment, something it could have sorely used earlier on. Let’s hope season 2, just confirmed, can take advantage of it.

C

MOVIE REVIEW: TAKEN 2

IN THEATERS

TAKEN 2




His family targeted by a vengeful crime boss in Istanbul, retired CIA agent Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson) must fight an army of killers to ensure their safe return in this action sequel from director Olivier Megaton (ransporter 3) and producer/co-writer Luc Besson (who penned the screenplay alongside Taken scribe Robert Mark Kamen). ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Director: Olivier Megaton

Cast: Liam Neeson, Maggie Grace, Famke Janssen, Rade Sherbedgia, Luke Grimes

Release Date: Oct 05, 2012

Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, and some sensuality

Runtime: 1 hr. 32 min.

Genres: Drama, Suspense/Thriller

Review:

A sequel to Taken seems like it’d write itself. The plot is everything you’d expect it to be. Liam Neeson is gravelly voiced and dead serious when talking on cell phones, even tiny ones. Director Oliver Megaton should just keep this in cruise control and let whoever is watching this get what they wanted which is watching the world’s most awesome overprotective dad use his special set of skills to kill anyone and everyone that attempts to interrupt him on vacation. Megaton does this for a decent chuck of the film but for some reason the screen writers decided it was a good idea to get Maggie Grace’s character more involved. This is about as terrible an idea as having a nearly 30 year old actress play a 16 year old. The character is shrill and annoying. All the while she can go from taking a driving test to driving like a stunt driver in about 20 minutes. It’s a serious misstep in a movie that should just be about 60 year Liam Neeson taking out track suit wearing tugs with a coffee cup. Neeson is focused and dedicated as usual. He does well in the action sequences making even the most ridiculous situations seem plausible. Famke Janseen has more screen time but she’s comatose for the better part of the film not as an actress per say but as written. Rade Serbedzija is still cashing paychecks as that guy who not from here again. Taken 2 should be mindless fun and there is some obvious effort to get into Mills fastidious mindset but a detour into his daughter taking the lead is a bad misstep.

C

[Trailer] Taken 2

Silly Bryan Mills thinking he could take a family vacation without all hell breaking loose….

Trailer for the sequel looks like it’ll continue the ass kicking that started in the first film. Liam looks like he’s ready to go again, can’t wait to see it….

Movie Reviews: TAKEN

Saturday, May 16, 2009
Movie Reviews: TAKEN
ON DVD

TAKEN

Bryan Mills has only recently given up his government career as what he calls, a "preventer" to be near his daughter Kim, who lives with Bryan's ex-wife Lenore and her new husband. To make ends meet, Bryan joins some former colleagues for special security details (like guarding a pop diva), but most of his time and energy are spent re-connecting with Kim. But, when Kim requests his permission to spend time in Paris with a friend, he reluctantly consents. Bryan's worst fears are realized when Kim and her friend Amanda are suddenly abducted - in broad daylight - from the Paris apartment at which they've just arrived. Moments before Kim is dragged away by the as yet unseen and unknown assailants, she manages to phone Bryan, who begins to expertly piece together clues that will take him to the darkness of Paris's underworld, and to the
City of Light's plushest mansions.

Cast: Liam Neeson, Maggie Grace, Famke Janssen, Leland Orser, Jon Gries

Director: Pierre Morel

Opened January 30, 2009

Runtime: 1 hr. 33 min.

Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence, disturbing thematic material, sexual content, some drug reference

Genres: Action Thriller, Thriller

Review:

Totally preposterous and ludicrous, Taken doesn’t concern itself with logic or reality but it does give the audience a nice dosage of adrenaline rush. Director Pierre Morel keeps a brisk pace once the film moves past its clunky opening. Morel has a keen eye for action and his direction of the various action sequences are top notch. Liam Neeson seems like an unlikely choice for an action vehicle but he does fantastic believe work once his character begin using his plethora of “skills” to punish the bad guys. Neeson is totally committed to the role and he maintains a palatable intensity throughout much of the film. He’s also remarkably believable in his Bourne like action sequences. The supporting cast is mostly background noise with Maggie Grace having the most screen time mostly acting like a goofy teenager. Famke Janssen is given an underwritten role and doesn’t have much to do other than be a stereotypical ex wife to Neeson’s character. Once the action starts going this film is Neeson’s and he does wonderful work. In a lesser actor’s hand this would have utter trash, Neeson elevates it with a serious sense of gravitas even in though he’s working with a totally unoriginal script and a plot so silly that it’s laughable at times.

C+