Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Hanna (Brodie)

Young girl raised in the forest by a CIA agent meets the world for the first time.

This one left me a little flat. It was entertaining enough but could've been more.

Intriguingly, it was a movie about a girl seeking an identity, while the movie itself seemed to have the same problem. Some of this seemed intentional, and I give credit for that parallelism but am disappointed by the execution.

Honestly, the revealing moments, themes, undertones, and camera shots felt like they belonged in a different movie. Considering the significant build-up to Hanna's extraordinary abilities as a super spy, the character perspective resulted in a sporadic and sluggish pace. I applaud the attempt to add depth to an action film, but why establish Hanna as so unique that she becomes difficult to relate to only to attempt a coming of age story?

We start out expecting high-speed excitement, and instead the director and screenwriter tried to give us depth and humanity. And while there were some lovely images of vulnerability and self-discovery, I left the theater feeling like I didn't really understand the motivations of any character. It ended up being the same superficial spy movie as all the rest while desperately trying to be something different.

Hanna was caught between two worlds, two genres, and left me stranded there.

Sunday, August 22, 2010

Scott Pilgrim vs The World (Charlie)

I am a huge fan of the comic book that this movie is based from. So i was going to be holding it to high standards. I kept saying to myself "this will not be as good as the comic." Like i said i am a huge fan of the comic.
Are you ready? It was better then the comic! I loved it. The things they changed i was very happy with. The ending to the movie is better then the end of the comic. I was worried that Michael Cera would totally screw it up but i think he made a great Scott Pilgrim. The music is really good and i ran out the next day after seeing it to buy the soundtrack. It is Directed by the same guy who did Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz. So if you are a fan of those movies i bet you will like this one.

I am going to go see it again tomorrow night. That is how much i liked it.

The Expendables (Charlie)

If you are looking for a very smart film with Oscar worthy performances that will change your life then go see something else. If you are looking for a kick ass action movie with all the great action stars then this is the movie for you. It was like a throw back to the 80's. The cast is made up of Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren (no, we don't get a rematch between Rocky Balboa and Ivan Drago), Eric Roberts, Randy Couture, Steve Austin, Terry Crews, Mickey Rourke, Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzeneggers. How can you go wrong with a line up like that? Stallone wrote and directed this movie and he gets it. Sometimes we just want to see a lot of flashy action scenes.