Movie Review: Sucker Punch

Zach Snyder’s action/fantasy “Sucker Punch” tells the dark tale of a young woman whom is wrongfully committed into a mental asylum by her evil stepfather. Once inside, she has to deal with a lot of other scumbag men before she finally retreats into her own imagination. Here she imagines elaborate battles with dragons, giant samurai warriors, robots, and zombie soldiers (not in that order, of course) in an effort to escape the sexual torment of her male captors. It is through these fantasies that she is given the inspiration for how she, and her fellow inmates, can escape the prison. And I thought Buzz and the "Toy Story" gang had it bad at that daycare center!

Snyder (director of “300”) has described this visually audacious film as “Alice In Wonderland with machine guns." There is absolutely no tongue in that comments cheek. He cranks his energetic visual style up to 11 (and beyond) as his heroines battle all kinds of other-worldly enemies while the laws of physics are left sliced & diced by samurai swords. Snyder is an imaginative visual filmmaker who conceives elaborate action sequences and then dares to let us actually SEE them! He doesn’t clutter his work through quick-cuts and bad shaky cam (which far too many modern action pictures rely on.) Instead, he uses a lot of fast and slow motion, as if to say, “hey, look at how badass the power of imagination can be!” Of course, at times, this over-the-top visual style does border on self-parody.  However, there is so much visual flair and imagination filling the frame that I can forgive it.

What I cannot quite forgive is the story. It is far too dreary and, at times, slow to really work as a whole. The “women-in-prison” plot never seemed to fully connect properly with the big fantasy sequences.  Also, the fantasy sequences lack suspense because we know they are just fantasies. Since the main characters are never in any real danger, these sequences tend to feel disconnected and pointless in the grand scheme of the story. Also, in these fantasies, there are no rules; our heroes are capable of doing whatever they want which then asks the question: if they can do whatever they want, does it really matter that they can do it all? It is also odd how the movie seems to fetishize these scantily clad machine gun-toting young women. It’s as if Snyder wants us to be aroused by these images, yet the constant torment and mistreatment of these women throughout the film makes this idea impossible, and just plain creepy.

The bottom line is “Sucker Punch” is a mixed bag. It is not a bad film; it is far too ambitious to be written-off as just another piece of mindless multiplex fodder. However, as much as I admired the visuals, Snyder’s ambition may have exceeded his reach in trying to make this story work. As the movie went on, I continued to enjoy Snyder’s boundless imagination, but found myself enjoying this dreary slog of a story less and less. It also didn’t help to be hit over the head with one of those final narrations that sums up the entire message of the movie. Sucker punched, indeed.

Movie Theater Experience
I saw "Sucker Punch" on March 25th at Marcus Theaters in Oakdale. Of all of the theaters I have visited in Minnesota, this is my absolute favorite! They have a screen called the "Ultra-screen" which is twice the size of the average movie screen. There is nothing quite like seeing a big special effects movie in this theater; the surround sound is, at times, even good enough to drown out those chatty Cathy dolls that like to sit right next to everyone else and regale them with their oh-so-witty running commentary of the movie. Hey, here's an idea: SHUT UP! Those Hollywood screenwriters just might be more clever than you, so maybe you should listen. And If not for them, then how about for your fellow paying brothers & sisters who really don't want to listen to you bomb jokes one after the other about the movie. Give us all a break and stay home. DVR some re-runs of some crappy TV show and direct your humor there! Hey, it looks like "Jersey Shore" is on. Fire away!

Movie Review: Paul

“Paul” is a sci-fi comedy and, for an unapologetic film geek like myself, the premise of this movie for me is like a moth to the flame: Simon Peg & Nick Frost play two buddies on a road trip to see Comic-Con (that convention for all things comic book & movie related, held annually in San Diego.) On their way home, they venture out to the infamous Area 15 and, in the process, meet an extraterrestrial, named Paul (voiced by Seth Rogen), on the run from government agents (which includes Jason Bateman & Bill Hader.) And, of course, R-rated raunchy shenanigans ensue, as our heroes befriend a woman, played by the always awesome Kristin Wiig, and make their way across the country leaving a trail of wrecked cars, explosions, and a lot of sci-fi movie references in their wake.

I am a big fan of Simon Peg & Nick Frost (“Shaun of the Dead” and “Hot Fuzz” are both equally fun!) One of the things that I loved most about those hilarious movies (which they co-wrote with director Edgar Wright) is that they seemed like love letters to the kinds of movies they grew up loving (zombie movies, cop movies, ect.) Obviously, much of that love also came from Edgar Wright, who sits this one out (no doubt to direct his own "geeksploitation" epic, "Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World.") This time, Greg Motolla (director of “Superbad”) is at the helm and he does an excellent job of keeping the laughs coming, while also bringing in touches of those great sci-fi movies from the late 70’s/early 80’s that Pegg & Frost also grew up loving.

But what keeps all of the humor and movie references grounded is the wonderful chemistry between Frost & Pegg. They play two geeky, yet very sweet, men who have always dreamed of what might happen if they ever had a “close encounter.” The answer is a lot more than they bargained for with Paul, who Rogen manages to bring, not only hilarity, but also a genuine sweetness to. He is an alien who was once a guest of our government (even consulting on many Hollywood alien themed films, including one very famous film, in particular), who has become a prisoner destined for medical experimentation. Now, he just wants to go home.

The rest of the cast is also a lot of fun. Jason Bateman plays against type as a stern Men In Black-like agent who will stop at nothing to get Paul back to the base he broke out of. Also, Bill Hader and Joe Lo Truglio play a couple of humorous bumbling agents, and there are funny cameos from Jeffery Tambor, Jane Lynch, and Sigourney Weaver (not to mention a very famous filmmaker who also happens to be my absolute favorite director of ALL TIME!) Kristin Wiig, as usual, steals most of her scenes and seems on her way to more leading roles.  She has an unforced charm that makes her comedic antics (even frequent profane outbursts) seem completely natural.

Overall, I really liked “Paul”! It may not be as good of a comedy as “Shaun of the Dead” (or even “Hot Fuzz”), but it doesn’t matter because it successfully continues the Pegg/Frost tradition of being a hilarious, yet good-natured, love letter to the movies themselves. Many of these films are also ones that I grew up loving (and still hold a special place in my heart for): “Jaws”, “Star Wars”, “Close Encounters of the Third Kind”, “Indiana Jones”, “E.T.”, “Back to the Future”, ect. But for all of these sweet tempered references, this movie is also a love letter to the idea of geekdom itself. Deep down, we are all probably geeks about something; it seems only human to have hearts that yearn for something to be passionate about. This movie tugged those passion strings in my own heart and subsequently conjured up warm feelings of nostalgia. Watching “Paul” reminded me of the kind of movie I would’ve enjoyed seeing at a drive-in movie theater, on a breezy summer night, with real buttered popcorn in my lap, a cold soda in my hand, and a starlit sky above my head. 

Movie Theater Experience:
I saw "Paul" on Friday, March 18th at a 9:55pm show. The theater was the AMC at the Mall of America. Overall, it was a great experience! The digital projection was crisp & clear, the surround sound was fantastic, and the audience seemed to really enjoy themselves (no talking during the movie; just the wonderful sound of laughter.) Although, does anyone else notice how popcorn containers seem to be increasing in size? AMC seems to have abolished their small popcorn leaving only medium and large (with a large being only 50 cents more.) Is this part of a scheme to charge more money? Or, is it just part of some paranoid conspiracy to ensure that humanity fulfills the "Wall-E" prophecy of a future society so overweight that we cannot even walk ourselves around? Hey, some days I feel like that, too!

Movie Review: Battle: Los Angeles

“Battle: Los Angeles” is a sci-fi action movie that tells the story of a global alien invasion that also sees the city of Los Angeles under attack. As alien spaceships decimate the city, the U.S. Marines are called in to the rescue. We then follow one group of marines, led by Aaron Eckhart, as they take to the streets as our first, and last, line of defense against the nasty E.T.’s.

The premise, while uninspired, still sounds cool, right? Marines throwing down with space aliens, explosions, machine guns, tanks, helicopters, ect; “Independence Day” meets “Black Hawk Down” as some Hollywood director probably pitched it as to the Columbia Pictures studio executives. Still, it’s not what a movie is about; it’s how it goes about it, therefore it still sounds pretty badass, right? I can at least expect to see some awesome visuals…right?

Well, “Battle: LA” is the cinematic equivalent of one of those pictures that you stare at for seconds at a time waiting to see the real image hidden inside. Except, this movie is 2 hours, and I never got to see the damn image! I merely just stared at the screen, dumbfounded, trying to figure out who was who, where they were, and what was happening. Watching this movie is like staring at French Impressionism; I see swashes of paint, but I am left to come to my own interpretation of what exactly I am looking at.

The reason for this disorientation is because the camera operation in this movie is downright awful. It shakes, it zooms, it whip pans, and it constantly seems like the operators are rolling film while standing on hot plates. This style of filmmaking has been called “shaky cam” by some, “queasy cam” by others. We’ve all seen plenty of action films & TV shows use this style; at it’s best, it does create a gritty, visceral documentary realism that can be quite involving (‘24”, “Saving Private Ryan”, “Black Hawk Down”, ect.) At it’s worst, it is impossible to get any sense of what is happening; instead I just stare at the screen, absorbing pieces of incoherent images while the rest feel as though I am watching a movie while sitting in the back of a semi truck going down the side of a very bumpy mountain, while also spinning around in a circle.

Thankfully there are lines like “hey look! Our planes! It looks like we’re still in the fight” to give me some indication of what’s going on.  To be fair to the movie, despite the flimsy character development and the simplistic (and, at times, laughably bad) dialogue, there might’ve been at least a pretty cool action movie here. There is nothing wrong with a mindless action film, especially if the action sequences are involving. However, the incredibly bad camera work here acted like a barrier, constantly pushing me out of the movie when I just wanted to see the cool explosions I was hearing (at least, I think those were supposed to be explosions.)

Movie Theater Experience

I saw “Battle: Los Angeles” on Friday, March 11^th, at the Regal Theater in Eagan. I had a voucher to see this movie, but it was only good at select theaters (this being one of the 2 near my apartment, for some reason.) Anyway, the experience was pleasant, despite the very chatty girl sitting behind me who was constantly asking her friend what was going on. Thankfully, the movie was loud enough to drown her out most of the time. However, it was fun sitting behind a guy that was super into the movie (and quite vocal about it.) Whenever something would blow up he would clap and cheer. This is the kind of audience participation that I DO like; as much I sat there frustratingly trying to enjoy the movie, it was cool to hear that someone else was, indeed, enjoying it. 

Movie Review: Red State

Kevin Smith’s “Red State” is like no other movie he has ever written/directed; he has repeatedly called it a horror movie, but it is much more than that. The movie does briefly take the appearance of a horror movie in the beginning when 3 high school boys take a trip to a small southern town to have “group sex” with a girl one of them met online. When they arrive at the woman’s (well-played by Melissa Leo) trailer, they are drugged and held captive by Leo’s family of crazed religious fanatics who are so extreme (at one point they protest the funeral of a gay teenager) that they are even shunned by other “right wing religious extremists.”

This is only the setup of a movie with a lot of twists, none of which I will reveal here because part of my enjoyment of the film was feeling my jaw hit the theater floor repeatedly. I was absolutely blown away how well written and directed this movie is. Not because I am not a fan of Smith’s, which I am, but because he so completely leaves his comfort zone and brings to life an unsettling vision that leaves the personification of religious extremism, particularly in the name of bigotry, ultimately riddled with a lot of bullet holes. This film is not an assault on the idea of religion (Smith is identified Christian) but an assault on the truly sick horrors man is capable of when they justify their crimes of hate through gross misinterpretations of passages in the bible.

That’s not to say that this film is just an allegory against religious extremism; it is also an entertaining, yet extremely unsettling, and unconventional genre mashup of horror, action, and very dark humor. The sudden changes in tone are expertly handled, as are the action beats, which Smith and his excellent cinematographer Dave Klein direct with all the energy and flare of the best of the modern action directors. The film was also gloriously photographed with the Red One camera, which gives the movie a visceral gritty 70’s look and feel. Also, the sound design is incredible in this movie; bullets bounce and ricochet around the theater creating the feeling that your head might get split open by a bullet at any second.

The movie is well acted all around with a cast that includes Leo, Michael Parks, John Goodman, & Stephen Root. Parks & Goodman especially shine as two very different men, but both governed by fear. Parks is the soft-spoken yet truly evil preacher whose fear of God drives his thirst for extreme punishment on any sinners, while Goodman fears, as an ATF agent tracking Parks’ family, of ultimately losing his own sense of moral judgment in an effort to stop this completely amoral family.

I really liked “Red State.” However, please be forewarned: this is not a movie for everyone. It is extremely violent and truly unsettling, particularly in the scenes involving the young children in the family who are, at one point, allowed to partially witness just what old Grandpa (Parks) really thinks of homosexuals and other “sinners.” Also, the  “punishment” for one such victim is pretty harrowing (in addition to the massive body count that stacks up as the film progresses.) But it’s all a testament to Smith’s incredible no-holds-barred filmmaking that subverts everything from genre expectations, religious extremism, family dynamics, terrorism, justice, and ultimately the idea of salvation. And by the end of it, the movie, brilliantly edited by Smith who brings it all in at a tight 84 minute running time, left me absolutely exhilarated.

Movie Theater Experience

I saw "Red State" on the Kevin Smith "Red State of the Union Tour" on Wednesday March 8th at the Pantages Theater in Minneapolis. This was a great experience! Not only was the crowd packing serious energy, but the digital projection and surround sound setup was awesome! This theater has a better setup than most of the movie theaters I've been to. After the screening, Kevin Smith took to the stage for a hilarious and informative 90 minute Q&A where he talked about everything from self-distribution, commercials for "Jay & Silent Bob" on the Lifetime channel, his eventual retirement from directing movies, how John Goodman saved his life, the crazy Fred Phelps family (which inspired the film), and more. 

Movie Review: Rango

“Pirates of the Caribbean” director Gore Verbinski reteams with actor Johnny Depp for their first fully animated film, “Rango”. It tells the story of a chameleon (Depp) that finds himself lost in the middle of a desert, while on a quest to find out whom he really is. That quest takes him to a small western town run by desert creatures that mistake him for the hero who has come to protect them from all evil. The chameleon decides to “blend in” and takes on the name “Rango”, protector of all that is good. But It is not long before he uncovers a bizarre plot to steal the town’s water supply by way of some very nasty varmints.

“Rango” is one of the oddest family movies I have ever seen (right up there with Spike Jones’ “Where the Wild Things Are”, which I also liked.) There is really nothing conventional about it! There are images in this movie that are far too surreal to escape from my memory: a rabbit with one ear, a creature with an arrow through his eye, a wind-up goldfish floating through the sky, an owl playing an electric guitar (among other instruments), & a very famous cowboy driving a golf cart through the middle of the desert (instead of on a horse), among other things. There is also a strange assortment of supporting creatures, all with their own idiosyncratic personalities (and mostly with appearances that we likely will not see sold in happy meals.) One of these creatures is named Rattlesnake Jake (voiced by Bill Nighy), who is also a dangerous gun fighter; this snake, who at one point says to a character “I’ll see you in Hell” before unloading machine bullets at them, is so frightening, yet so cool, that I would not hesitate putting him on that list of classic animated villains. Just look at those blood shot eyes, and those sharp teeth, which are, at one point, literally dripping with venom!

Gore Verbinski joins a short list of live-action filmmakers who have recently turned to feature length animated films. That includes Richard Linklater ("Waking Life"), Robert Zemeckis ("The Polar Express"), Tim Burton ("Corpse Bride"), George Miller ("Happy Feet"), Wes Anderson ("Fantastic Mr. Fox"), Zack Snyder ("Legends of the Guardian"), and Steven Spielberg (the upcoming "Adventures of Tintin.") It is easy to see why animation appeals to these filmmakers; it allows them complete freedom from the laws of live action gravity, particularly freedom with the camera. For instance, in “Rango”, it is truly exciting to see the places that Verbinski is able to put his camera; in one chase scene, his camera literally starts in the sky, beneath the talons of a dangerous hawk, then comes right down next to a bottle that Rango is rolling in, then inside the bottle and around to the other side of his face where we can see another desert creature trying to hitch a ride.

“Rango” is the first fully computer animated feature film from George Lucas’ Industrial, Light, & Magic (ILM) visual effects company. The computer animation looks incredible! The lighting and the texture on the characters look photo-realistic, yet every character still remains stylized. What also struck me is how much spontaneity and energy the visuals have. You’d think in animation every detail must be precisely planned out, but this film has enough inventive visuals to feel as if they are making it up as they go.

As someone who really loves movies, I also appreciated the many cinematic references of this film. For starters, “Rango” is really a western; it’s like “True Grit” but crossed with the plot of “Chinatown”, with a dash of Apocalypse Now" in one scene, a hint of "Star Wars", and chased with a little “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” (as Rango finds himself being chased through the desert by all sorts of flying creatures, while also wearing a Hawaiian shirt.) It is a truly imaginative film, which kept me entertained by its sheer uniqueness, quirky humor, and its amazing visuals. I love when the movies show me something I’ve never seen before, and “Rango” did plenty of that!

Movie Theater Experience:

I saw “Rango” on March 4^th at the 7:10pm show at the Marcus Oakdale Theater. This theater is my favorite theater of all! It’s always clean, the staff & management is courteous, and, on a busy Friday night, the popcorn is always good (as are the hot dogs.) Speaking of hot dogs, here’s a little movie theater inside tip: don’t ever buy hot dogs from a theater that keeps their condiments in containers. I could tell you horror stories about how those containers of condiments are likely breaking all kinds of health codes, as well as acting as incubators for insect creatures the likes of which you have only seen in your nightmares (or in “Rango.”) Always go with the safer condiment packets.