Summer Movies-Brief reviews

I saw many movies this summer, but only posted a few full reviews. While I will not be writing full reviews for all of those films, I will use this space to write short reviews detailing my general feelings on each and every film I saw this summer, in order of release. (I will not review Star Trek Into Darkness or The Great Gatsby here as I already reviewed both films in full.)

Iron Man 3

Iron Man 3 very nearly accomplishes the feat of topping the original. It only falls short of that film in a lack of "newness," as Robert Downey Jr.'s performance, the one trait on which these films' success is primarily based, does not have the same degree of surprise brilliance. It is no worse than in the other films, just not as evolved as one would hope. However, in all other regards, this is the best film of the series, the storyline is more original and surprising, the action more exciting, and the directing style more interesting. Iron Man 3 has successfully reinvigorated a franchise that was in danger of going stale. A-

Fast and Furious 6

First things first, Fast and Furious 6 is the first film of the franchise that I have seen. That said, I quite enjoyed the thrill ride. It's not a good film by any means, as the story is quite thin and the acting, Luke Evans and Dwane Johnson aside, is very bland. However, you don't see Fast and Furious for the acting, you see it for car crashes and exciting chases, and on that front Fast and Furious 6 delivers. Sure, the logic of the final action sequence will make your brain hurt if you think about it, but that doesn't change the fact that it's very imaginative and fun, if you're willing to make the sacrifice of intelligence. B

This is the End

This is the End is a very funny apocalypse comedy that achieves its humor largely through the mix of realism and fantasy. The actors all play exaggerated versions of themselves, creating a sense of self-parody that truly makes the film. Their roles seem to fit pretty well and the screenplay allows all of the leads some depth that adds a lot to this formula. The other great decision was to play the apocalypse straight, rather than making it silly. This serves to heighten the craziness of what is happening to the protagonists inside of James Franco's house while the world blows up outside. The sole downfall of the film is its reliance on sight gags that are more gross than funny, but that cannot take away from the creativity and intelligence involved in the writing and acting of this film. B+

Man of Steel

Man of Steel follows an interesting story, however it is one that is undone by the smaller details in the script. The dialogue and individual story beats unfortunately fail to find a satisfactory mix between the smaller moments of character development and the large scale action the film is going for. The flashbacks to Clark's upbringing are strong and tell a great story, but the action, while visually appealing, winds up feeling over the top, with an uncomfortable amount of destruction being caused, much of it by Superman himself. Although the film couldn't really decide what kind of movie it wanted to be, at least it is entertaining, which is more than Superman Returns, the character's last film, can claim. B-

Monsters University

When I first heard of this film, I was tempted to write it off as a lame, forced cash in sequel, with only the Pixar name keeping me from going that way. I am very glad that Pixar delivered, as Monsters University proves to be just as funny and heartfelt as Monsters Inc. was. The new cast of strong characters makes up for the disappearance of some beloved characters from the first film, and the storyline is quite strong, if containing a message that could be somewhat questionable. Overall a great animated film, even if it feels a little smaller than its predecessor. A-

World War Z

World War Z entirely ditches the story and concepts of the novel on which it is based. This proves to be a blessing and a curse. It is a blessing as it allows us to have a single main character to which the audience may become attached. The downside is that the zombie threat feels very over the top and generic, its creature design uninteresting and, at times, silly. It doesn't help that the film has a few edits made clearly to avoid getting an R-rating. The third act of the film is strong, but the first two are bland and generic, saved only by the strong performances. B

The Way, Way Back

Coming of age stories are a dime a dozen these days. The Way Way Back manages to successfully stand out from the crowd, though, thanks to its performances and screenplay. The film feels more real than others of the genre, thanks to its flawed, fleshed out characters that don't feel like archetypes. The performances across the board are excellent, with Steve Carell and Sam Rockwell proving to be standouts. Carell especially plays against type quite brilliantly. The mix of comedy and drama feels very genuine, helping this film to achieve a sense of greatness. A-

Pacific Rim

This is possibly my favorite film of the summer. Not the best film, a title its thinly characterized leads and weak dialogue hold it back from, but it easily wins in the fun department. The film puts you right back in fifth grade, giddy about seeing giant robots fighting giant monsters. The real strength of the film is its scale, it truly makes you believe that a 300 foot tall robot is fighting a 5,000 ton monster. This adds something to the action, especially a sequence taking place in an urban setting. A film that knows the meaning of the word "fun" more than any other, Pacific Rim is a film I can wholeheartedly recommend to the kid in everyone. A-

The Conjuring

The Conjuring puts itself ahead of other horror films largely through its acting. The performers all commit fully to their roles and deliver strongly. Vera Farmiga especially gets inside the head of her character, creating a fascinating dynamic and great chemistry with Patrick Wilson, who plays her husband. The story is fairly standard supernatural horror stuff, made better through strong direction. The film takes a while to really get going, but James Wan has a lot of experience with the genre and manages to build suspense and tension throughout, creating a frightening and exciting second half. The film is especially strong in its subtlety. Giving the viewer only brief glimpses at the horror and letting imagination take the rest, avoiding the mistakes that the end of the first Insidious film made. B+

Elysium

Elysium unfortunately fails to live up to Neill Blomkamp's previous film District 9, which wouldn't be as big of a deal if it weren't so similar. Both are grounded Science-fiction films that mix action with social commentary. Elysium, however, falls short in the commentary department, as it is more heavy handed in its message, and thus more jarring in the moments when it suddenly ignores that for action. It's as though Neill Blomkamp the writer is most interested social commentary, while Neill Blomkamp the director is far more interested in blowing people up. The action is very exciting and entertaining, though, making it very successful on that front. B+

Lee Daniels' The Butler

Lee Daniels' The Butler tells a fascinating story, it's a shame that the filmmaking is not up to the standard to tell it. From the getgo there are many questionable decisions, not the least bit with the casting. Casting Mariah Carey as Cecil Gaines' mother is the first sign of this, and it continues right through to some of the strangest Presidential casting of all time. Many actors like Oprah Winfrey and James Marsden try their hardest, and turn in serviceable performances, while others like John Cusack and Robin Williams just reek of stunt casting. Forest Whitaker is the only performer who truly succeeds, due to his commitment to the character and natural subtle charisma. The weak dialogue doesn't help matters, making The Butler a very serviceable film if you're a history buff, but it's a story that deserved much better. C+

The World's End

Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz are both multifaceted films whose excellence lies in their ability to function as a spoof of their genre AND as a good film in the genre being spoofed. The World's End's only disappointment is that it only covers one of those duties, functioning as a great sci-fi comedy without truly spoofing the genre. If you are aware of this going in, though, then you should enjoy it greatly. The World's End isn't as laugh-out-loud funny as Director Edgar Wright's previous efforts, but it's a much more mature film. The story deals with character arcs in a more unique way, brought to life brilliantly by Nick Frost and Simon Pegg, both delivering career best performances. The action is splendidly staged as well, even if the violence has a bit less oomph than in Edgar Wright's previous films. His high-energy directing style is back in full force though, creating an exciting and funny experience. A-

Insidious: Chapter 2 Review

2011's Insidious, Directed by James Wan, was a creepy film that found a way to be effectively scary through it's subtlety. It didn't telegraph its scares, so the audience was unprepared for them and were effectively frightened. It had mystery and strong performances and writing, with characters who behaved realistically.

Well, at least the first half was like that. The second half of the film changed things, bringing in a complicated mythology that, while not uninteresting, required large amounts of explanation and forced the film to lose the subtlety that had defined the first half, effectively limiting the amount of scares it could have. After The Conjuring came out this summer, and proved that Wan could make a simple horror film that was effectively scary and tense throughout, I had higher hopes for Insidious: Chapter 2. Boy was that a mistake.

After only a few scenes it became apparent that this film was not following the second half of Insidious, so much as digging itself deeper and deeper into that hole without daring to look back. This film attempts to expand the mythology of the first one, and fill in any holes, but all it ends up doing is creating more plot holes and confusion. It is nearly impossible to follow the plot of this film, as it lacks almost any logic, rather just throwing an assortment of gothic images and half baked supernatural ideas at the audience. It doesn't help that the performances are either entirely bland or laughably over-the-top. Patrick Wilson is especially bad, given a lot to work with and ruining almost every scene he's in, or he would if they weren't already ruined by lazy and uninteresting camera work and amateurish direction.

The biggest issue: it's not scary. The film tries for genuine scares and tension, but it seems like everybody involved forgot how to do that, since almost every one of these scenes winds up more effective at eliciting laughs rather than screams. The screening I was at was recorded for sound to use in marketing, but I can't imagine how effective that will be, as the theater was filled with laughter and snores, but nary a scream in earshot.

The reason for this is that there is no buildup to the scares. They just show up and, without the proper setup, feel like hearing the punchline before the joke, they make no sense and lose all intended effect. This is just as important to scares as it is to jokes. Think of the opening of Jaws. The buildup makes the scene as we are introduced slowly to the idea that something is in the water with the girl. We are with her as she struggles against this force, building our tension as we wait to see if she gets away. Now just imagine she's swimming and all of the sudden starts getting pulled around out of the blue. Not quite as scary is it? This is the effect that most of the scares in Insidious: Chapter 2 have. They are more funny than scary because we haven't been given a chance to feel involved in the world and the events, and played so over the top that we simply cannot buy it at all.

Is everything in the film bad? No. The attempts at intentional humor are actually very successful. This would be fine in a horror comedy, but Insidious: Chapter 2 takes itself to seriously to be considered that. Instead, these moments wind up too few and far between to even come close to saving the film, and just wind up highlighting how ineffective the rest of the film is.

I know by Insidious and The Conjuring that James Wan can make a good scary film, so I cannot believe that he truly put his all into this. It feels lazy, like nobody involved cared enough to make a good film, but rather just tried to get the film made for a paycheck. As sad as that is in and of itself, at least it means that I can still expect good things from Wan in the future... hopefully.
Grade: D