A group of adopted siblings return home for their mother’s funeral and revenge against her killer in John Singleton’s latest, FOUR BROTHERS. The Mercer brothers were always known as a tough bunch, but their return to the Motor City will leave an even more distinct mark. Their mother, Evelyn Mercer, was shot dead during an apparent robbery at a local carry-out. They come home to Detroit for their mother’s funeral, but are just as focused on avenging her death.
FOUR BROTHERS is best viewed as a modern-day, urban western. All the pieces are there: a vengeful clan of anti-heroes, a corrupt group of law enforcement officers, a rundown town and a classic man to man showdown. Singleton’s latest doesn’t match the social commentary of previous works BOYZ IN THE HOOD or ROSEWOOD, but it still carries the director’s same intensity and immediacy. He also knows how to capture the essence of his characters surroundings. Utilizing Motown classics by Marvin Gaye, The Temptations and The Four Tops, Singleton not only builds nostalgia for old Detroit, but also brings out camaraderie between the adopted siblings. The performances are lock and step with the picture. Wahlberg, Tyrese and Andre Benjamin turn in rough, but real performances as the Mercer brothers; while Chiwetel Elijofar turns in a menacingly memorable turn as gangster Victor Sweet. For those that don’t mind viewing a violent, vengeful film, FOUR BROTHERS delivers.
Grade: B-
Wednesday, August 17, 2005
THE DUKES OF HAZZARD
America’s favorite lawbreakers from down south have returned in the action-comedy THE DUKES OF HAZZARD. The popular 80’s television series has been revamped for the big-screen with funnymen Johnny Knoxville and Seann William Scott as Luke and Bo Duke, Jessica Simpson as Daisy and country singer Willie Nelson as Uncle Jessie. The good ole’ boys are up to their same tricks again: high speed chases, charming women and protecting Hazzard County from the conniving mayor, Boss Hogg and his trusty sidekick Roscoe P. Coltrane.
The difference between my childhood and today’s kids seems to have been captured by the difference between the big-screen THE DUKES OF HAZZARD and the one I grew up on. The innocence and naiveté of the original has been replaced with a profanity-laced, sex-charged and racially-infused version of the Dukes that not only seems inappropriate for family viewing, but condescending in nature. Writers Jonathan Davis and John O’Brien have pulled a “Freaky Friday” on the main characters. Instead of focusing the humor on the bumbling bad guys, Davis and O’Brien decide to make the Dukes the blunt of all the jokes. Not only is this in stark contrast to the original, but makes what little humor there is, seem out of place. The casting for the film is a grand miscalculation, with jokesters Knoxville and Scott creating their own versions of the Duke boys; Simpson providing only eye candy and Nelson phoning-in his performance. This THE DUKES OF HAZZARD doesn’t have the same sense of joy and fun as the old one.
Grade: D
The difference between my childhood and today’s kids seems to have been captured by the difference between the big-screen THE DUKES OF HAZZARD and the one I grew up on. The innocence and naiveté of the original has been replaced with a profanity-laced, sex-charged and racially-infused version of the Dukes that not only seems inappropriate for family viewing, but condescending in nature. Writers Jonathan Davis and John O’Brien have pulled a “Freaky Friday” on the main characters. Instead of focusing the humor on the bumbling bad guys, Davis and O’Brien decide to make the Dukes the blunt of all the jokes. Not only is this in stark contrast to the original, but makes what little humor there is, seem out of place. The casting for the film is a grand miscalculation, with jokesters Knoxville and Scott creating their own versions of the Duke boys; Simpson providing only eye candy and Nelson phoning-in his performance. This THE DUKES OF HAZZARD doesn’t have the same sense of joy and fun as the old one.
Grade: D
Friday, August 12, 2005
THE DEVIL'S REJECTS
Writer-director Rob Zombie’s follow-up to HOUSE OF 1000 CORPSES reunites viewers with Otis, Baby and Captain Spaulding in the horror, sequel THE DEVIL’S REJECTS. THE DEVIL’S REJECTS picks up where CORPSES left off. Following the Firefly family’s massacre, the local authorities are called in to bring justice to the wicked family at their rundown estate. After a brutal shootout, Otis and Baby escape, meet up with Spaulding and begin their trek across the town attempting to avoid the cops and bring further suffering to the town’s residents.
I’ve never understood the appeal of films like THE DEVIL'S REJECTS. At its worst, THE DEVIL'S REJECTS is a sick, disturbing endorsement of violence, cruelty and satanic bliss. At its best, it’s mindless entertainment which seeks to exploit these aspects for momentary fun. Either way, the film is an excessively self-indulgent exercise which believes that violence, profanity and sex are forms of entertainment, rather than a means of generating drama, fear or comedy. The film contains the same gruesome content as the most recent TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE, but here we’re encourage to enjoy the slaughter. The film isn’t funny, although it desperately tries to sound wickedly hip; it isn’t scary, despite the characters twisted nature; and it isn’t suspenseful, as the Firefly family steamrolls whatever is in its path. THE DEVIL'S REJECTS is a film which wallows in the mud, and feels like it should be rewarded for doing so.
Grade: D-
I’ve never understood the appeal of films like THE DEVIL'S REJECTS. At its worst, THE DEVIL'S REJECTS is a sick, disturbing endorsement of violence, cruelty and satanic bliss. At its best, it’s mindless entertainment which seeks to exploit these aspects for momentary fun. Either way, the film is an excessively self-indulgent exercise which believes that violence, profanity and sex are forms of entertainment, rather than a means of generating drama, fear or comedy. The film contains the same gruesome content as the most recent TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE, but here we’re encourage to enjoy the slaughter. The film isn’t funny, although it desperately tries to sound wickedly hip; it isn’t scary, despite the characters twisted nature; and it isn’t suspenseful, as the Firefly family steamrolls whatever is in its path. THE DEVIL'S REJECTS is a film which wallows in the mud, and feels like it should be rewarded for doing so.
Grade: D-
THE ISLAND
Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johannsson discover that they’re not quite themselves in the futuristic action-adventure THE ISLAND. McGregor is Lincoln Six Echo, and Johannsson is Jordan Two Delta, each a clone developed by a black-market corporation// The corporation exists thanks to anonymous investors, who pay millions of dollars to ensure their quality of life through the clones. Eventually Lincoln and Jordan discover their destiny, but aren’t waiting around for it. They break out of the corporation’s secluded institute, and find themselves on the run from their creators.
Filled with an ingenious set-up, two talented and attractive stars and a handful of skilled character actors, THE ISLAND had all the makings of an exciting, and well thought out science-fiction, action picture. It must have been Michael Bay who got in the way. The ARMAGEDDEON and BAD BOYS director brings his same maniac editing and machismo to THE ISLAND, but it seems out-of-place in a film whose ambition seems left in the film’s first two reels. The set-up is intriguing promising more than it delivers, as we’re allured into the utopian society that Lincoln and Jordan inhabit. Everything in their daily routine has a purpose, and it’s interesting to see how they benefit from their itinerary. But when the storyline takes the clones out of their confines, the film turns from a science fiction critique to an average action picture. It’s suddenly a series of chases, with Lincoln and Jordan attempting to avert extinction by way of the institute’s hired henchman. These scenes don’t elicit much excitement, with Bay replaying action scenes from his previous works. THE ISLAND is a great concept that concedes and becomes an ordinary summer blockbuster.
Grade: C+
Filled with an ingenious set-up, two talented and attractive stars and a handful of skilled character actors, THE ISLAND had all the makings of an exciting, and well thought out science-fiction, action picture. It must have been Michael Bay who got in the way. The ARMAGEDDEON and BAD BOYS director brings his same maniac editing and machismo to THE ISLAND, but it seems out-of-place in a film whose ambition seems left in the film’s first two reels. The set-up is intriguing promising more than it delivers, as we’re allured into the utopian society that Lincoln and Jordan inhabit. Everything in their daily routine has a purpose, and it’s interesting to see how they benefit from their itinerary. But when the storyline takes the clones out of their confines, the film turns from a science fiction critique to an average action picture. It’s suddenly a series of chases, with Lincoln and Jordan attempting to avert extinction by way of the institute’s hired henchman. These scenes don’t elicit much excitement, with Bay replaying action scenes from his previous works. THE ISLAND is a great concept that concedes and becomes an ordinary summer blockbuster.
Grade: C+
SKY HIGH
Superheroes-to-be receive their schooling in Disney’s latest family film SKY HIGH. Will Stronghold has some mighty big expectations to live up to. The 14-year old boy’s parents are Steve and Josie Stronghold, or as most people know them, “The Commander” and “Jetstream”, the two most powerful superheroes in the world. All of the superheroes children attend Sky High School, a secretive training school in which the children can groom their skills as either a superhero or a superhero sidekick. The pressure on Will is already intense, but his biggest problem is that he hasn’t gained a superpower yet.
SKY HIGH blends two of the most successful genres of the last five years, the superhero movie and the teen movie, provides an imaginative touch and in the process creates a real sleeper hit of the summer. There is a lot of fun to be had in SKY HIGH, as it twists itself as a superhero movie turned teen romantic comedy, or a teen romantic comedy with a superhero slant. Regardless of the angle, a collaboration of writers succeed in creating a multitude of super kids with several unique powers, a screenplay which plays wonderfully as tongue-n-cheek material and dialogue which seems appropriately tame, yet funny for the family sector. The performances are on-the-mark, with Kurt Russell and Kelly Preston doing their best ma and pa Cleaver routines, while protecting mankind against ultra-lethal Robots; and Michael Arigarano finally finds a role to his liking as the underdog Will. SKY HIGH is a pleasant surprise mixing two standard genres into one original, small film.
Grade: B
SKY HIGH blends two of the most successful genres of the last five years, the superhero movie and the teen movie, provides an imaginative touch and in the process creates a real sleeper hit of the summer. There is a lot of fun to be had in SKY HIGH, as it twists itself as a superhero movie turned teen romantic comedy, or a teen romantic comedy with a superhero slant. Regardless of the angle, a collaboration of writers succeed in creating a multitude of super kids with several unique powers, a screenplay which plays wonderfully as tongue-n-cheek material and dialogue which seems appropriately tame, yet funny for the family sector. The performances are on-the-mark, with Kurt Russell and Kelly Preston doing their best ma and pa Cleaver routines, while protecting mankind against ultra-lethal Robots; and Michael Arigarano finally finds a role to his liking as the underdog Will. SKY HIGH is a pleasant surprise mixing two standard genres into one original, small film.
Grade: B
APRES VOUS
Two Frenchman find themselves in a bizarre love triangle in the romantic comedy APRES VOUS. Antoine, played by Daniel Auteuil, stumbles across the attempted suicide of fellow Frenchman Louis, Jose Garcia. After saving Louis’s life, Antoine also tries to help the desperate man in his recovering. He puts Louis up in his home, provides him with employment at the restaurant he manages and secretly tries to reunite Louis with Blanche, his lost love. While Antoine attempts to reunite Louis with Blanche, he begins to fall for her.
Similar to MUST LOVE DOGS, APRES VOUS is another two-man/one-woman love triangle where the writing drains the charm created by the leads. Where MUST LOVE DOGS scripting was overly cutesy, APRES VOUS feels too calculated and controlling. There are several nice moments between Auteuil and Garcia, Auteuil and Sandrine Kiberlan, and Kimberlan and Garcia. Yet despite these moments, there’s far too much plotting and plodding involved. The romantic tension between all parties is played out several times over, leaving the well-thought out ending as an after-thought. Regardless of the screenplay, the three actors make APRES VOUS fairly enjoyable. It’s refreshing to see Auteuil succeed at something lighter, in contrast to his work in Patrice Leconte’s pictures; while Garcia and Kimberlan bring unique qualities to their original characters. APRES VOUS isn’t a bad film, just one which seems to be trying too hard.
Grade: C+
Similar to MUST LOVE DOGS, APRES VOUS is another two-man/one-woman love triangle where the writing drains the charm created by the leads. Where MUST LOVE DOGS scripting was overly cutesy, APRES VOUS feels too calculated and controlling. There are several nice moments between Auteuil and Garcia, Auteuil and Sandrine Kiberlan, and Kimberlan and Garcia. Yet despite these moments, there’s far too much plotting and plodding involved. The romantic tension between all parties is played out several times over, leaving the well-thought out ending as an after-thought. Regardless of the screenplay, the three actors make APRES VOUS fairly enjoyable. It’s refreshing to see Auteuil succeed at something lighter, in contrast to his work in Patrice Leconte’s pictures; while Garcia and Kimberlan bring unique qualities to their original characters. APRES VOUS isn’t a bad film, just one which seems to be trying too hard.
Grade: C+
STEALTH
America’s three finest pilots are adding a new member to their unit in the action film STEALTH. The newest member to the crew is not human, but an actual stealth fighter that is operated by a form of artificial intelligence called EDI. The threesome, Ben, Kara and George, are not sold on their new wingman and become even more skeptical when EDI begins acting up after a lightning storm
Artificial intelligence is what is used to control EDI, and it seems like the screenplay for STEALTH was also under A.I. control. The writers were on auto-pilot when scripting this action-picture borrowing bits from TOP GUN, BEHIND ENEMY LINES and KNIGHT RIDER. The one thing that wasn’t incorporated was any semblance of reality, plausibility or, at the very least, fun. Neither of director Rob Cohen’s previous films, THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS and XXX, had any form of realism, but they at least attempted to play themselves off as fun B-movie material. STEALTH seems intent on being taken seriously, but there’s no substance to the loud and crash adventure. Jamie Foxx, Josh Lucas and Jessica Biel’s characters are flat and clichéd, and Sam Shepherd’s tough-guy mantra wears thin after a few scenes. In a summer of several blockbuster successes, I guess Hollywood was due for a letdown.
Grade: D+
Artificial intelligence is what is used to control EDI, and it seems like the screenplay for STEALTH was also under A.I. control. The writers were on auto-pilot when scripting this action-picture borrowing bits from TOP GUN, BEHIND ENEMY LINES and KNIGHT RIDER. The one thing that wasn’t incorporated was any semblance of reality, plausibility or, at the very least, fun. Neither of director Rob Cohen’s previous films, THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS and XXX, had any form of realism, but they at least attempted to play themselves off as fun B-movie material. STEALTH seems intent on being taken seriously, but there’s no substance to the loud and crash adventure. Jamie Foxx, Josh Lucas and Jessica Biel’s characters are flat and clichéd, and Sam Shepherd’s tough-guy mantra wears thin after a few scenes. In a summer of several blockbuster successes, I guess Hollywood was due for a letdown.
Grade: D+
Thursday, August 11, 2005
MARCH OF THE PENGUINS
Antarctica’s main inhabitants take a treacherous trip across the artic continent in the documentary MARCH OF THE PENGUINS. The film, produced by National Geographic and narrated by Morgan Freeman, follows a group of penguins who take an annual journey across the polar terrain to continue their circle of life.
Although we share the same planet as our feathered friends, for all intent and purposes, MARCH OF THE PENGUINS takes us to a completely different world. The journey the penguins embark on is a brutal one challenging their body, mind and will. If this story were told to us, it would be hard to fathom, but by watching it unfold it’s undeniably true. From a survival standpoint, it’s a well documented film, explaining the penguin’s annual birth ritual so anyone can follow. Director Luc Jacquet’s formal presentation is effective, but he also recognizes the importance of his subject’s sentimental appeal. He captures the birds in some of their most expressive moments, be it light-hearted or heart-breaking, and hooks us by establishing an emotional attachment. At times the film seems challenged to reach feature-length status, but the majestic photography of the icebergs and snowy terrain keep our eyes always engaged. MARCH OF THE PENGUINS is an engaging look into one species quest for survival.
Grade: B-
Although we share the same planet as our feathered friends, for all intent and purposes, MARCH OF THE PENGUINS takes us to a completely different world. The journey the penguins embark on is a brutal one challenging their body, mind and will. If this story were told to us, it would be hard to fathom, but by watching it unfold it’s undeniably true. From a survival standpoint, it’s a well documented film, explaining the penguin’s annual birth ritual so anyone can follow. Director Luc Jacquet’s formal presentation is effective, but he also recognizes the importance of his subject’s sentimental appeal. He captures the birds in some of their most expressive moments, be it light-hearted or heart-breaking, and hooks us by establishing an emotional attachment. At times the film seems challenged to reach feature-length status, but the majestic photography of the icebergs and snowy terrain keep our eyes always engaged. MARCH OF THE PENGUINS is an engaging look into one species quest for survival.
Grade: B-
FANTASTIC FOUR
Marvel’s fab four make their big-screen debut in Tim Story’s FANTASTIC FOUR. A group of four scientists and one big business mogul take a trek to outer space with the hopes of a revolutionary discovery. Their trip goes awry when the troop hits a patch of cosmic rays, and turns their voyage into a life-changing event. The rays give the five-some unique powers: Reed Richards, the crew’s leader, can stretch his body to any shape and form; Sue Storm possesses the power of invisibility; her brother Johnny can create fire throughout his body; Ben Grimm becomes extremely strong and stone-like and Victor Von Doom becomes physically resilient with a metallic center. Reed, Sue, Johnny and Ben utilize their powers to benefit others, becoming known as the Fantastic Four, while Victor selfishly seeks to exploit his newfound dominance.
On the heels of the wonderfully scripted BATMAN BEGINS, the FANTASTIC FOUR feels like a super-hero adventure for toddlers. Unlike other comic book heroes, the Fantastic Four’s identities are known to all, but here, little is actually known about them. Director Tim Story, and a collection of screenwriters, turns the focus from characterization to combat. The emphasis is on action, which works at times, but without any interest for those involved, it’s all instant gratification. A few attempts are made at a romantic sub-plot between exes Reed and Sue, but it’s extremely underdeveloped, and Ben’s pathetic storyline feels awkward and flat. The performances are a comic-book, toss-back to one-dimensional caricatures. Each actor seems pigeon-holed by their poorly developed hero, and turns in a b-rated performance. FANTASTIC FOUR seems engineered to entertain with a couple of adeptly orchestrated action sequences, but with little invested in the four-some, it feels hollow to the core.
Grade: C-
On the heels of the wonderfully scripted BATMAN BEGINS, the FANTASTIC FOUR feels like a super-hero adventure for toddlers. Unlike other comic book heroes, the Fantastic Four’s identities are known to all, but here, little is actually known about them. Director Tim Story, and a collection of screenwriters, turns the focus from characterization to combat. The emphasis is on action, which works at times, but without any interest for those involved, it’s all instant gratification. A few attempts are made at a romantic sub-plot between exes Reed and Sue, but it’s extremely underdeveloped, and Ben’s pathetic storyline feels awkward and flat. The performances are a comic-book, toss-back to one-dimensional caricatures. Each actor seems pigeon-holed by their poorly developed hero, and turns in a b-rated performance. FANTASTIC FOUR seems engineered to entertain with a couple of adeptly orchestrated action sequences, but with little invested in the four-some, it feels hollow to the core.
Grade: C-
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