Great Expectations: August 2013

As the summer begins to come to a close, I am longing for temperatures in the 40s, hot chocolate, and Christmas. Unfortunately, here in South Mississippi, my longings will not be fulfilled for quite sometime, leaving me with nothing but the sadness that comes with starting school and not having new movies to go watch. I feel like this girl:

Fortunately for us, there are still a few good summer flicks left, including the movie I have been waiting for all summer long...... Elysium--movie featuring one of my favorite (based on the whole one movie he has made), young directors, Neil Blomkamp. His first film, District 9, was one of the most underappreciated films of the past few years, as well as one of the most surprising Oscar nominees. District 9 is one of my favorite sci-fi films of all time, and I cannot wait to see Blomkamp's next attempt at sci-fi greatness. So, even with the disappointment that comes with the end of summer, we have Elysium and a few other films to look forward to...
 

 

The Spectacular Now

(August 2)

 

 

2 Guns

(August 2)

 

 

Elysium

(August 9)



The Wolverine

 

 

Expectations:
I'll be completely honest here (as I'm sure you would appreciate)... Wolverine is not my favorite. He is the most underwhelming of all big-time superheroes, and there have been five movies about him. That's right--count em up: 1) The Wolverine 2) X-Men Origins: Wolverine 3) X-men, which should have been titled "Wolverine Finds the X-Men" 4) X2, which should have been titled "Wolverine Figures Some Stuff Out" 5) X-Men: The Last Stand, which should have been titled "Wolverine Has a Relationship Crisis." Really, I don't think I dislike Wolverine, but rather I wish that the other X-Men could have a bigger spotlight. There is no way that Wolverine's troubled tale is more interesting than every single moment of the relationship between Xavier and Magneto. Unfortunately, when I have this argument with most people, they defend Wolverine, using his immortality as the basis for their argument. Regardless of my distaste for Wolverine, I love the X-Men series and couldn't miss anything concerning any of those cool mutants...

Plot:
Rarely am I impressed with the action portion of a film, but I will say that the fight scene on top of the train was the best "fight scene on top of a train" that I have ever, ever, ever seen. Additionally, the karate/sword fighting across all of Japan was done fairly well. I'm sure that the great action scenes and the fact that Wolverine has claws distracted many moviegoers into thinking that the plot was really, really good, which is far from true. I was impressed with the amount of depth and complexity that was involved in the plot, considering Wolverine and Jean Grey were the only two characters that we had previously met in the X-Men film world. But, everything was just so predictable, which is always a big negative for me. Unlike many, I don't really try to figure out what's going to happen in a movie, but, instead, I let the drama happen to me at its appropriate time. So, when I claim predictability as an issue, you can trust that I was trying my darnedest to ignore the fact that I had figured out the big twist.

Characters:
The best part about The Wolverine was the ease with which new characters were introduced to Wolverine's universe. Going into the film, I had no clue what was going to happen or who it was going to happen to. I knew that Hugh Jackman was playing Wolverine, and I knew that Famke Jannsen would return as Jean Grey. Other than that, I had nothing. So, it was a pleasant surprise when I actually liked many of the new characters...

Negatives:
One of the twenty villains, Viper, played by Svetlana Khodchenkova (that's really her name), was easily my least favorite character in the film. Most of this film was grounded with a realistic storyline, but her character and her power was dorky and comic in nature. Another character I did not care for was Will Yun Lee's Harada, who really confused me. There was never a clear answer to whether or not he was a good or bad guy, and that bothered me.

Positives:
Although she was a bit young for Hugh Jackman's Wolverine, Tao Okamoto's Mariko was actually a very great character. I thought she might not turn out to be worth Wolverine's time, but I liked her. Actually, I liked the other Asian-female character as well--Yukio (played by Rila Fukushima). These names are insane! Nevertheless, they were good. Kudos to whoever did the casting for The Wolverine... Job well done!

Conclusion:
With intense action and a good cast, The Wolverine was able to overcome my expectations and proved to be an exciting and fun addition to the X-Men film world. The ending wasn't great, the twist wasn't big, and the villains were sub-par. However, it's worth the watch, if you like X-Men at all. I will say that I would avoid taking the younger kids to watch. I was actually surprised at the extremity and intensity of the violence in this film, compared to most superhero movies. While I enjoy the intensity, some of it made me cringe a bit, and you may not want your kids to experience it... just saying. While I was impressed with The Wolverine, I hope that we can leave Wolverine to himself for a while and focus on the other X-Men. I CANNOT WAIT for X-Men: Days of Future Past to come out next year! You should join me in my excitement. I give The Wolverine 2.93 out of 5 stars.

Grown Ups 2

Expectations:
Sequels, sequels, sequels... Engulfing the world in which we live. Sure, it's ok when giant hits like Iron Man and Paranormal Activity get follow ups, but do we really need a sequel to films like Red and Grown Ups? If it really is all about the money (and it is), then films with mediocre box office success shouldn't be getting the sequel treatment. Nevertheless, here we are. Not only did Adam Sandler give us a sequel to Grown Ups, but he also convinced me to give him $15 and two hours of my weekend. Time I will never get back. My expectations for Grown Ups 2 were lower than my expectations for any film this year, to this point. However, I hadn't been to the theater in 10 days and was starting to have serious withdrawals. So, without much hope of enjoyment, I headed to the theater to watch Adam Sandler continue to destroy his career...

Plot:
There just wasn't one... not one little bit of one. The entire film was designed around a party at the home of a 40 year old man with three children, which was actually more exciting than it sounds, although completely ridiculous. Sure, each character had something going on in their life that made them significant individually, but there was absolutely nothing to tie together the various characters. The only aspect of the plot that was remotely funny was the over-zealous fraternity brother scenes, featuring Taylor Lautner. While they were way over the top, it was actually a good idea. I was hoping the car wash scene with Andy Samberg and crew would also shine, but it was basically exactly the same as what you saw in the trailer.

Character:
There is no doubt that Rob Schneider wins the award for smartest actor to star in Grown Ups 2... because he doesn't star in Grown Ups 2. Nobody really knows why Schneider didn't want to be a part of the sequel, but, if he read the script at some point, that probably didn't help them win him over. However, it was probably because of money, as Schneider has never shied away from stupid films in the past.

Negatives:
Pretty much EVERYONE! The underuse of Maya Rudolph and Andy Samberg mixed with the overuse of Alexander Ludwig and Tim Meadows just made for a disastrous cast, aside from the four main cast members.

Positives:
It's pretty hard for the four guys pictured above to do anything that isn't funny, and that remained true with their individual moments in Grown Ups 2. David Spade was still his perveted, ridiculous self. Chris Rock was still whiny and sarcastically black. Kevin James was still fat. And, finally, Adam Sandler, the leader of the infamous crew, was his usual hilarious self . The best part of the first film was watching these four interact, and, with Grown Ups 2, the attempt to create 10,000 cameos really took away from the story that could have just focused on these four friends.

Conclusion:
Many times, in the past, low expectations have been met with slightly impressive results, which is always a pleasant surprise. Unfortunately, with Grown Ups 2, I don't believe I could have set my expectations low enough. There are many movies that lack what it takes to make an entirely impressive film, and then there are some films (Grown Ups 2) that have absolutely nothing going for them. As stupid as Pacific Rim looked, I don't think there is any way that it could have been as bad as Grown Ups 2. If you have $15, please go to Raising Cane's, buy some $5 DVDs, or donate it to a nice charity. But, whatever you do, stay away from Grown Ups 2! I give Grown Ups 2 1.10 out of 5 stars.

Despicable Me 2

Expectations:
When Despicable Me came out, back in 2010, I was not as impressed as most moviegoers. Sure, the Minions were hilarious and Agnes was the cutest animated character to grace the big screen in a long time, but the story focused on the infamous villain, Gru, meaning that there was more time spent on a character that was so-so instead of the characters that everybody loved. To top it off, I have been wondering for at least three years why exactly the film was titled Despicable Me. If anyone can give me a clever or true solution to this predicament, you get a shout out in my next blog post... Deal?... So, needless to say, I wasn't quite as excited about Despicable Me 2 as most people were. However, I really do enjoy watching animated films in the theater, where one can experience the film with the multitudes of children yelling out their own crazy antics at the characters on screen. There are few things in life more entertaining. Also, knowing that almost everybody loved the minions and Agnes the most of any of the characters, I expected to see a lot of them in the sequel, which I assumed I would enjoy...

Plot:
With the focus remaining on Gru (voiced by Steve Carell), Despicable Me 2 was quite similar to its predecessor, as far as the plot was concerned. Of course, the film did not dwell on the same moral issues, due to Gru's newfound niceness, and, obviously, with the success at the box office, people don't really care about the originality of the storyline. But, I think the story was a little bit too safe. Not that animated films have to be daring and unique, especially in sequels. I just wanted the mediocrity of Despicable Me to be overcome in its sequel, and that did not happen for me. Don't get me wrong, the film was great, and I'm sure the kids will learn something important from it. It just never felt like groundbreaking storytelling, which is probably because I had higher expectations.

Characters:
As was the case with the plot, the spread of time spent on the various characters was also very similar to the first film. With Gru at the center of the story and Agnes (voiced by Elsie Kate Fisher) and the Minions providing the laughs, most of the other characters lacked significance. Amazingly, Edith, voiced by Dana Gaier, was the only character that really faded into the background. Otherwise, the filmmakers did a good job of incorporating each character, regardless of how insignificant they really should have been.

Negatives:
As I mentioned above, Edith had absolutely nothing to contribute to the storyline. The writers couldn't even come up with something stupid for her to do, much less something good. As for characters who actually had something to do, I really didn't care for Lucy, voiced by Kristen Wiig. While I'm glad that Gru had a love interest, I just wish she was actually funny in some sort of way.

Positives:
As I have already said (twice), I really do love Agnes and the Minions. Without the two, this movie would be absolutely horrible. Honestly, take the Minions out of Despicable Me and you have a meanish guy and a little girl that talks funny, otherwise known as Wreck It Ralph. I really hope that the Minions get there own film, before we have another Despicable Me. It may lack in plot, but I could watch those little yellow blobs ALL DAY LONG.

Conclusion:
No better... No worse... That's how I would describe Despicable Me 2, in comparison to the original. I also just noticed that I went from a Pixar film review to an R-rated comedy review to a Despicable Me 2 review. Gosh I'm versatile.... I know was critical of the first film, but I guess it's ok that the second was strikingly similar, because Despicable Me 2 could have been the next Hangover 3! I challenge you to find that sentence anywhere else on the internet! Once again, shout out to you, if you can find it. If you have children and NEED to go to the theater, I strongly suggest this as a family film. Not only does it bring more laughs than Monsters University, but it also manages to teach lessons in a more subtle manner and allows for a lot of emotional support, particularly if your family is sort of odd like Gru's. Honestly, though, if you have kids, you should just stay at home. That popcorn is expensive! I give Despicable Me 2 3.02 out of 5 stars.

The Heat

Expectations:
Melissa McCarthy is quickly becoming the queen of comedy, and, while I can't speak for everyone, I am super excited about it. Honestly, I don't understand how she is able to make all of these films whilst being bolstered to a mediocre sitcom on CBS. Nonetheless, she does it and does it well. I could literally watch an entire movie with no one but McCarthy in it. No Maya Rudolph... No Kristen Wiig... No Zach Galifianakis... Just Melissa McCarthy! But, if you offer to add one of the most stunning ladies of all time, in Sandra Bullock, I might just have to say please. From the first time I ever watched Miss Congeniality, I knew that Sandra Bullock would be a lifelong crush, and she has not disappointed. Not only has she won an Oscar for Best Actress (just for me), but she also still looks great at age older-than-both-of-my-parents. So, take the new queen of comedy and add my lifelong cougar-crush... You are certain to expect success, and that is what I expected with The Heat.

Plot:
As is the case with many a shallow comedy, the plot was almost completely irrelevant to the purpose of this film. Honestly, CSI Miami could have come up with a more interesting cop story, and Horatio could certainly make me laugh. Sorry, CBS, you are just getting clobbered today! Fortunately for The Heat, the fact that the plot was insignificant was quite clear. This film was focused on creating great one-liners and creating a female buddy-cop comedy that could possibly compete with the boys. When it comes down to it, I go watch comedic films for one reason and one reason only... TO LAUGH. How you get me to that point is insignificant, as long as I can tell that all you're trying to do is make me laugh! But, if you're trying to make me connect with the characters in an emotional/dramatic way, you better have a good story... or else. While The Heat completely lacked any sort of a plot, I wasn't upset by it, because I laughed at the hilarity that was wrap in the web of plotlessness.

Characters:
When you have a film with great stars like Melissa McCarthy and Sandra Bullock, you tend to ignore the other characters/actors that are a part of the film. "Necessary but unimportant" would be a good way to describe the bulk of the non-Bullock/McCarthy characters in The Heat...

Negatives:
Sandra Bullock is a great actress, and I'm pretty sure she played her role of Agent Ashburn exactly as it was intended. However, I did not like the character, mostly because she lacked a lot humor until the end of the film. We all know that Bullock has the ability to be funny, and her talent was a bit underutilized in this film. While Bullock's problem was her character, Taran Killam's Adam (a contrary police officer) was poorly played by the usually hilarious actor. I love Killam on SNL, so I was really disappointed to see him give such a poor performance, which didn't get a single laugh out of me.

Positives:
I hate to put even more of the focus on Melissa McCarthy, but her turn as the hilarious Agent Mullins was so, so good. If this character isn't as good as Megan from Bridesmaids, it's pretty darn close. She was hilarious throughout the entire film, and, when she wasn't in a scene, it was glaringly obvious, due to the lack of laughter. Without McCarthy, this film has nothing going for it, but, with her, it is actually pretty good.

Conclusion:
After seeing Bridesmaids, The Heat, This is 40, Identity Thief, and The Hangover Part III, I can easily say that Melissa McCarthy is one of the funniest women alive. I can also say, with great confidence, that her performance in The Heat is the funniest female, comedic performance that I have seen since her breakout performance in Bridesmaids. A lot of that can be attributed to the fact that I don't watch many girly comedies (FYI-The Heat is not a girly comedy). Nevertheless, I do watch a lot of movies, so I think that most of you would agree with me on how funny Agent Mullins turned out to be. If you are the deep, intellectual type, who wants a clever or exciting plot to mix in with your comedy, The Heat is not for you. If you are like me and desire to laugh at whatever comes your way, The Heat is definitely for you. Kudos to McCarthy for gracing us with her hilarity, and kudos to the director, Paul Fieg, for creating another great character for her to play. I give The Heat 3.12 out of 5 stars.

Great Expectations: July 2013

After the busy months of May and June, July will undoubtedly be the slowest movie-month of the summer. In keeping with the slow theme, Gary the snail will now show you how I feel about not having many movies to watch this month:

As I'm sure you know, Turbo, an animated film about a NOSed up snail,will be one of the biggest films to come out in July. Here is Turbo to show you how excited I am about his movie:

 

 

In fact, the only two films coming out in July that I am particularly excited about are both rather low key films. I expect that each of them will utilize that quirky comedic vibe that I absolutely love, so I can't wait to watch. Check the trailers out below, and please watch them (even if you have to wait until they come out on DVD)...

 

 

The Way, Way Back

(July 5)



The To Do List

(July 26)