Monday, 30 November 2015

Spy

***DISCLAIMER*** The following review is entirely my opinion. If you comment (which I encourage you to do) be respectful. If you don't agree with my opinion (or other commenters), that's fine. To each their own. These reviews are not meant to be statements of facts or endorsements, I am just sharing my opinions and my perspective when watching the film and is not meant to reflect how these films should be viewed. Finally, the reviews are given on a scale of 0-5. 0, of course, being unwatchable. 1, being terrible. 2, being not great. 3, being okay. 4, being great and 5, being epic! And if you enjoy these reviews feel free to share them and follow the blog or follow me on Twitter (@RevRonster) for links to my reviews and the occasional live-Tweet session of the movie I'm watching!  Next movie needs a crossover with Jason Bourne and James Bond.



Spy ? 5 out of 5

Spy comedies are nothing new.  There?s been a few of them and they often vary in the quality department.  However, when I heard that a writer/director I really enjoy; Paul Feig (the man who is, according to people of the internet, super evil because he?s being the Ghostbusters reboot?the remake that, also according to people on the internet, will erase all memories and copies of the original film due to the lack of dicks in the story), was creating a spy comedy with a comedic actress I really enjoy; Melissa McCarthy, I was very excited but never got the opportunity to see it until it came out on Home Media (but that?s because of my own spy stuff I had to do?but don?t look too much into that because I might have to kill you if you learn too much?or give you a stern talking to and have you pinky swear you know nothing about my job).  

But if you tell anyone, I will threaten you by vigorously shaking my fists.

Jude is here to lay down some law...I'm truly sorry for
that one.
Spy tells the story of CIA analyst Susan Cooper (Melissa McCarthy) hitting the field after the agent she works with; Bradley Fine (Jude Law), is murdered while on operative must try to find a suitcase nuke that?s in a location known only by the daughter of an international terrorist (Rose Byrne)?who, just so happens to be, the same person who killed Fine.  However, along the way, Cooper must compete with an irritate and rambunctious agent who keeps mucking things up (played by Jason Statham).  Now Cooper must find the location of the nuke before it?s sold to the highest bidder and is unleashed on the world and avenge her friend?s death.

It's hard to make killing a man funny but Feig and McCarthy did so and made
it look so easy.

Bobby Cannavale is in the film...and seems to be
rocking some guyliner.
I figured that Spy would be funny because I?m a fan of Paul Feig and Melissa McCarthy but I don?t think I was prepared for exactly how funny it was going to be.  The story is incredible solid and build on a foundation that creates a decent spy thriller with surprisingly good action but, at the same time, does a great job of poking fun at the genre.  The cast is incredible and a fantastic mix of proven funny-makers like McCarthy and other actors not necessarily known for comedies but all doing an amazing job of bringing the laughs?for example, Jason Statham was absolutely hysterical as he played a slapstick-y and goofy character that I?ve never ever seen him play before.  Finally, the comedy is unrelenting and gags and jokes are coming at you fast and nonstop.  Everything from simple jokes that rib spy and action film clich?s to slapstick humor to gross out jokes to more vulgar insult based lines litter almost every second of the film and it had me laughing so hard and so often that I was brought to tears every few minutes and found myself actually exhausted from how much I laughed.  I slept like a baby that night.

Every time I see Rose Byrne is in a comedy, I always try to convince myself she won't
be funny but I'm always wrong.  I really need to end this ridiculous preconceived notion.

I have a lot of friends who aren?t fans of McCarthy because they see her as a one trick pony who only does films that involve her falling down and making cracks about her being fat (yet, when Chris Farley made this his career, it was considered brilliant?but I won?t get into the systemic sexism of comedy and the entertainment business here) but while those gags can be seen in the film on an occasion (and they are funny), this film also makes fun of those tropes with jokes about McCarthy not wanting to be seen that way and gags about her actually being a true badass.  Some characters want to light her up as the funny fat person but her character is actually a dedicated agent who wants to do a good job and is actually really handy with a gun and in a fight.  In fact, this film even does one better by making her be the tough one and having the man who usually is doing the fighting (Jason Statham) be the one who messes up and falls down.  It?s honestly some immensely brilliant comedy writing and just another reason that I am such a fan of Paul Feig and his work?and, just to incite the rage of the internet, I?m excited as hell for his Ghostbusters reboot.  Yes, hate me for not hating a film that hasn?t even been released in trailer form yet.  I know it?s weird that I?m excited for something rather than hating it based entirely on casting decisions alone.  I?m a rarity on the ?net.

Yes, that man is Jason Statham...and the look actually works for him.

Any complaints I have about the film are minor and involve a couple of missteps in the story.  Occasionally, a plot point felt superfluous and unneeded but it never took away from the immensely entertaining experience.  And sure, there was a joke or two where I laughed very slightly less hard than other times but, seriously, from beginning to end I was laughing my ass off to this film and was intensely entertained.

The longer you stare at the look on McCarthy's face the funnier this screenshot
gets.

Paul Feig wrote and crafted a spy comedy that takes itself seriously enough to look like a legit spy film (seriously, the action in this film is really, really good) but, at the same time, balanced itself out with some of the best humor I?ve seen in a film this year.  Spy is definitely one of those comedies that I will turn to repeatedly in the future because it is just that well put-together and just that hysterical.  And, if it?s not asking too much, I would very much love to see this turn into a regular franchise and see more wild and funny adventures of Susan Cooper.  I'll consider it a personal favor, Mr. Feig.

Vacation

***DISCLAIMER*** The following review is entirely my opinion. If you comment (which I encourage you to do) be respectful. If you don't agree with my opinion (or other commenters), that's fine. To each their own. These reviews are not meant to be statements of facts or endorsements, I am just sharing my opinions and my perspective when watching the film and is not meant to reflect how these films should be viewed. Finally, the reviews are given on a scale of 0-5. 0, of course, being unwatchable. 1, being terrible. 2, being not great. 3, being okay. 4, being great and 5, being epic! And if you enjoy these reviews feel free to share them and follow the blog or follow me on Twitter (@RevRonster) for links to my reviews and the occasional live-Tweet session of the movie I'm watching!  Well, at the very least, this film isn't Christmas Vacation 2.



Vacation ? 3 out of 5

It?s been over 30 years since the Griswolds first took their original vacation to Wally World in John Hughes? National Lampoon?s Vacation.   It was a classic trip that still holds up today and even gave us more laughs when the Griswalds went to Europe and, in my opinion, hit their highest note when the holidays came and we got Christmas Vacation.  Since that time of egg nog and good cheer, we had some a more forgettable trip to Vegas but how does this new trip hold up?  How does this non-reboot that?s sort of a reboot but also is a remake but not really remake sequel that is simple titled Vacation rank?  Well, long story short, it?s better than Vegas Vacation, I can tell ya that.

Chase, taking on the Mad Scientist look now.
 

Rusty Griswold is now an adult and is being portrayed, once again, by a different actor (this time it?s Ed Helms).  Well, it seems his wife Debbie (Christina Applegate) isn?t the happiest in their marriage and isn?t looking forward to their yearly vacation to a boring old cabin by the lake.  So, Rusty decides to pack the car, grab his boys; James (Skylar Gisondo) and Kevin (Stelle Stebbins), and recreate the vacation his father took him on years ago and head to Wally World.  Well, things don't go quite as planned and life makes sure to throw a wrench in the gears as often as it can.  Can the Griswalds survive the trip, and each other, and make it to the greatest theme park in the country?  Or will everything go down in flames?

And the "Holiday Road" song should be cemented in your brain right about now.

Whenever I review a comedy that I don?t feel strongly about, I always feel the need to remind myself that comedy is very subjective?in fact, the two most subjective genres in the world of film, in my opinion, are comedy and horror because the experiences are way more personal than other types of films.  When it comes to what makes us laugh and what makes us scared, so much of what we see and hear can result in a wide variety of reactions.  What scares or makes one person laugh can be annoying or lame to others.  With that being said, I won?t say that Vacation is an instant classic like the first trip so many years ago.  The film isn?t terrible but it is very hit or miss.

One of the misses is that Christina Applegate doesn't really feel like she's
contributing at all.

It'll be a cold day in hell when Charlie Day is
not funny.
Some of the film?s strongest points involved the wide variety of characters that come into play on the trip and the actors who portrayed them.  Proven funny-makers like Leslie Mann, Charlie Day, Keegan-Michael Key, Nick Kroll, Tim Heidecker, Kaitlin Olson, Michael Pe?a and Colin Hanks show up and provide some very amusing and outright hilarious sequences that really help move the film along and make up for the less-than-funny moments that bog the story down.  Additionally, there are times when actors who aren?t traditionally known for doing silly comedies come in and really had me rolling.  Actors like Chris Hemsworth and Norman Reedus had some incredible solid scenes that proved to steal the moment and became excellently written and incredibly performed bits of comedy gold.

See the gag is he has a big dick--which, honestly, could have been a terrible
joke if Hemsworth didn't nail it just right.  Yep, that line sounded weird to me, too.

Another element that worked fantastically well with the film was Steele Stebbins as Kevin, the younger sibling in the Griswold family.  Without a hint of doubt in my book, this kid was the funniest member of the family and had so many extremely hilarious moments.  His character would constantly antagonize and berate his older brother and the vulgar things that would come out of his mouth proved to be the right amount of shock value to be hysterical but without crossing the line and feeling like it was being vulgar to get the cheap laugh.

Also, the kid tries to murder people by suffocating them.  That's just Comedy 101.

The parts that slowed the film down and weakened it to the point it was nearly as bad as Vegas is that a lot of the jokes were really poorly written.  There are some gags that try to poke fun at our digital and social media age but come off less like a rousing send up of this reality and more like an aging stand-up comedian in a dark, smoking and sparsely filled nightclub saying things like, ?What?s the deal with Facebook?  It?s not a face that you can see in a book, is it??  Then, when you don?t have these weak bits, you have the even weaker bits of being gross for the sake of a cheap laugh?only the laughs didn?t arrive for me.  I stated that Stebbins? character of Kevin was written incredible well and was able to be that balanced of a character that could say and do shocking things without feeling like a cheap shocking bit but this balance isn?t seen in such parts as the family bathing in sewage run-off.  Instead, these parts just felt like diving down to the lowest common denominator in order to get a quick laugh but they came off more desperate or like throw-away gags so they ended up more groan-inducing than chuckle worthy.

This was definitely the lowest of the low points with the humor.

Finally, the last element that really hurt this feature is the fact that some members of the cast didn?t feel right or just didn?t need to be there.  For example, the bloated corpse that appears to be Chevy Chase (seriously, he now looks like he could play a drowned mad scientist on an episode of C.S.I.).  I?d hate to kick a man when he?s down but the reality is Chase?s glory days are long behind him and matters are only made worse during his short scene when you see that he is trying way, way, WAY too hard to make jokes out of nothing.  It?s sorta sad and depressing to watch.  Almost as sad as seeing Ed Helms not really channeling even anything remotely close to what other actors brought when they played Rusty.  As much as I like the guy in the right role, Helms just didn?t work as Rusty because he simply wasn?t Rusty.  He was playing the same role he always plays and that is basically just being Ed Helms.

#NotMyRusty
At times, Vacation is super hysterical and a laugh-out-loud riot that is a lot of fun and filled with hte nostalgia of the 1983 cult classic and, at other times, it is a weak, unfunny mess of bottom-of-the-barrel gags that flounder around in a desperate grab for attention and pity laughs.  I won?t call the film a waste of time because when it works, it works insanely well but, in the end, the film doesn?t stand much of a chance at holding its own against some of the better films in this franchise.  But it?s still way better than Vegas.  I can?t emphasize that enough.

Thursday, 26 November 2015

Furious 7

***DISCLAIMER*** The following review is entirely my opinion. If you comment (which I encourage you to do) be respectful. If you don't agree with my opinion (or other commenters), that's fine. To each their own. These reviews are not meant to be statements of facts or endorsements, I am just sharing my opinions and my perspective when watching the film and is not meant to reflect how these films should be viewed. Finally, the reviews are given on a scale of 0-5. 0, of course, being unwatchable. 1, being terrible. 2, being not great. 3, being okay. 4, being great and 5, being epic! And if you enjoy these reviews feel free to share them and follow the blog or follow me on Twitter (@RevRonster) for links to my reviews and the occasional live-Tweet session of the movie I'm watching!  I'm not a car guy but I sure do love the roar of the engines and the fast action these films provide.



Furious 7 ? 4 out of 5

I guess you can say that the Fast and the Furious franchise is a guilty pleasure of mine but I?ve recently decided to stop using that term.  There?s no reason why something you enjoy should make you feel guilty.  If something entertains you?in any way, shape or form?then enjoy the hell out of it and don?t call it a guilty pleasure.  For example, I think the Final Destination films are stupid but stupidly fun and I get entertainment from that.  In a similar fashion, I openly admit that the Fast films are popcorn action spectacles filled with fast cars, insane action and gratuitous amounts of scantily clad ladies always making their way into shots but I find them fun for that.  In all honesty, the only film in the series I didn?t really care for was the second one but this one?Furious 7?was the most insane of all the films they?ve done so far and, you know what?  It was a goddamn blast!!!  (That?s right, a ?blast? with three freakin? exclamation points.)

Young lady, that skirt is way too short.  You are not going out dressed like that.

He's on the phone trying to get Liam Neeson to be
in the next film.
After leaving Owen Shaw (Luke Evans) in a broken state in the last film, Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) and Brian O?Conner (Paul Walker) seem like they are going to settle into a relatively normal life.  However, Shaw?s brother Deckard (Jason Statham) is out for revenge.  After killing Han (Sung Kang)?the events seen in Tokyo Drift?and severely injuring Agent Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson), he sets his sights on taking out Dom and his crew.  However, a mysterious man calling himself Mr. Nobody (Kurt Russell) gets Dom and Brian?s team; Letty (Michelle Rodriguez), Roman (Tyrese Gibson) and Tej (Ludacris), and offers them a unique opportunity.  A terrorist by the name of Jakande (Djimon Housou) is after a super computer program called The God?s Eye and he kidnaps a hacker named Ramsey (Nathalie Emmanuel) to help him use it.  If Dom, Brian and the gang can get The God?s Eye, Mr. Nobody?s strike team will help them take out Deckard.

Hmm, Diesel is picking up a car.  You know what?  Fuck it.  At this point, these
characters are basically superheroes.

You can hate these films all you want but you gotta hand
it to the series for the stunts they do.
Furious 7 is basically a balls-to-the-walls, non-stop, adrenaline-laced, nitrous oxide-boosted thrill ride of popcorn action and spectacle that is hurled at your face with absolutely no fucks given?and I loved every goddamn second of it.  Haters of this franchise like to thumb their noses at the films and act like their intelligence is automatically higher because they don?t like it.  Over and over again I?ve been called stupid because I want to veg out and enjoy a wild action film like this once and awhile but one thing they never take into consideration is the powers behind these films are anything but lacking in intelligence.  The films wouldn?t be making the money and be one of the biggest franchises out there if they weren?t completely immersed in the psyches of their target demographic.  The series is also smart in the fact that it keeps trying to remain fresh.  When you compare this outing to the first film, there?s almost like they are from two different genres.  The films are now heist/crime thrillers and no longer racing films with a hint of crime action thrown in.  This feature continues with the new direction the franchise went and having Dom and the gang as basically vigilante superheroes in supped up cars continues to prove to be a working formula.  The action may be mindless but the production behind sure know what the fuck they are doing.

Sometimes I just want mindless explosions instead of deep characters and
rich dialogue.

Every Furious film has offered up sweet fast-pace action and this one is definitely no exception.  In fact, the action that comes into play might be some of the best and most excitingly constructed action I?ve seen.  Whether it?s the intense rescue of Ramsey from the hands of Jakande?s right hand man played by Tony Jaa or the all-out war that explodes across the scene and culminates in The Rock blasting every living thing to hell with a BFG, the action is blood-pumping, energetic and flippin? exciting.  It was an odd choice to have horror director James Wan take on a Fast film but he not only proved that he was up to the challenge but the way he constructed every shot and the sweeping, dynamic camera movements during the fun that he proved to be an extremely versatile director and that the depths of his talent clearly have no bottom.

For example, this scene in a rolling bus between Paul Walker and Tony Jaa
was extra amazing, awesome and exciting.

It would have been even cooler if he was playing
Jack Burton.
One thing that kinda surprised me a bit was with the cast.  It?s already freaking cool as shit that Kurt Russell was brought on because that man is cooler than cool and has a resume made up of some of my all-time favorite films.  Additionally, I really enjoyed Jason Statham as Deckard Shaw.  I?m honestly not the biggest fan of Statham?I don?t care for the Transporter films or the Expendable movies?but in the right role in the right film, I really enjoy the man and he was a perfect antagonist for the story.  Additionally, I was a little surprised by how much I enjoyed Tyrese Gibson and Ludacris in this sequel.  In previous films, I didn?t really care for their performances or their characters because I found them very uninteresting and the performances to be a little hacky?I always found them to be trying too hard to either be funny or be cool.  However, in this one, I found I really enjoyed them.  In fact, I actually found myself laughing at Gibson?s antics?something I never did in the other films.

Statham, seen here in what I can only describe as the cover to his
acoustic emo rock album.

Speaking of the cast, this film was the last feature to have Paul Walker in it due to his untimely death.  Overall, the production did a great job of using face-replacement, body doubles and digital scene swaps from previous films to fill in what they weren?t able to get before Walker passed.  More importantly, though, the story does a tremendous job of closing off Brian?s part of the family?s journey and it created something that offered closure and offered it up with a heaping dose of emotion.  It was honestly very hard to not cry watching it.  I?m not saying I did because I totes didn?t.  Someone broke into my home and started cutting onions and the speed at which they entered my domicile caused dust to stir and get in my eyes but I certainly didn?t cry.

This was very sweet--SHUT UP!  You're the one crying.

Hey, Lucas Black is back.  I wonder if we'll ever see him
in another one...
My complaints about the film are very few.  For example, the story is in a little bit of need for some further development.  This especially comes into play with Djimon Hounsou?s character.  While his placement makes sense it doesn?t stop him from feeling like he was a last minute addition to the story.  Additionally, the film expands on Letty?s amnesia and decides to resolve it but both its resolution and its treatment is very lackluster and very sloppily thrown into the mix.  Finally, I was a little disappointed that The Rock was written out of most of the story but when he comes back into play when the film?s mini-war starts up, this complaint becomes null and void because he makes a show that would rival his best wrestling match he?s ever done.

Looking at this picture will instantly cause you to go through puberty.
If you've already gone through puberty, prepare to go through it again.

Like I said, I won?t call Furious 7 a guilty pleasure because this movie is just hardcore popcorn action movie greatness.  James Wan makes the movie look fantastic, the cast is great, the stunts are eye-poppingly incredible, the action is exciting as hell and it continues to prove why this franchise makes butt loads of cash and that it isn?t slowing down and getting complacent.  From beginning to end, the film is a slick spectacle of insanity and it?s a freakin? blast to sit through.