22 Jump Street Review: Can Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum catch lightening in a bottle...twice?
Two years ago when "21 Jump Street" came out I wasn't exactly rushing to the theater to see it. It was a pretty funny movie, but nothing revolutionary. Two years and a number of hit movies later and Tatum and Hill are two of Hollywood's rising stars. So does "22 Jump Street" help them continue their rise or does it diminish their glow by getting caught up in the lame sequel blues?
"22 Jump Street" starts off not long after the last film in the series. Tatum's character Jenko and Hill's character Schmidt are still partners, but now working outside of the Jump Street program. Right off the bat the film does something that many people wish more films in Hollywood could do today...it doesn't take itself too seriously. After a few jokes about how their new case was "Exactly like the case from the 21 Jump Street days", they continued to up the silliness factor when Tatum suggests perhaps they go undercover as Secret Service Agents to protect the White House, a great stab at "White House Down", his own film from 2013. From that point on the movie literally parallels the first film with the guys rejoining the Jump Street program and going back to college rather than high school. As before, they go undercover to find a drug dealer among the student body. This time around Tatum ends up the popular guy and Hill ends up the unpopular one. Even though the plot is very similar to the last film, "22 Jump Street" embraces that fact and continues to deliver some of the funniest one liners and situation comedy of the year. Hill and Tatum have quickly become two of the most versatile actors in Hollywood, Hill as the funnyman turned serious actor and Tatum as action hero turned funny man. Together on screen they deliver plenty of laughs and hilarious situations. This movie had me laughing from beginning to end and even as the credits rolled.
So was it possible for Hill and Tatum to turn this blah sequel into a legitimate hit? I believe it is. The star power and comedy that this dynamic duo brings to the big screen is great. The story line may be old and familiar, but the actors are able to pull out one laugh after another, which is what I look for in a comedy. If you have seen "21 Jump Street" or even if you haven't and just love goofy films, this movie is worth seeing. As far as comedies go, this was a nonstop laughter. I give this film a 4 out of 5 "comedy" stars.
Tuesday, June 17, 2014
Thursday, June 12, 2014
Edge of Tomorrow Review
Edge of Tomorrow Review: Live, Die, Repeat...
The tag line for the movie Edge of Tomorrow seems a bit like Star Tom Cruise's career as of late. Live, Die, Repeat. Can Cruise bounce back from last summer's box office flop Oblivion with another Sci-Fi thriller?
The film starts out showing us a number of news reports and talk shows discussing a number of asteroids that have hit Earth. It just so happens to turn out that those asteroids contained aliens who have quickly attacked and taken over most of Europe. In response to the Alien attack, the World has somehow united in a grand military alliance headquartered in London (Not Washington DC?). Cut to Tom Cruise's character Major Cage who we quickly find out is definitely not the action hero we were expecting. After being paged to the HQ, Cage attempts to blackmail a superior officer in an attempt to stay off the front line invasion task force. He is promptly arrested for desertion and finds himself waking up in a military base as they prepare to invade France. From this point on Cruise gets stuck in the tag line cycle; live, die, repeat. At times this film falls into feeling much like that terribly difficult video game you played as a child. You die and then have to repeat what you did hundreds of times before you get back to that spot again so you can dodge left, or duck, or jump. The film does take a nice turn finally when Cruise and his mentor, war hero Rita Vrataski played by Emily Blunt, finally escape the beach portion of the invasion and treat us to a few new scenes and some good on screen chemistry. The film really comes together in the last few scenes leading up to a fun shoot'em up kamikaze-like battle.
Overall this film is a nice summer thriller and definitely a nice bounce-back movie for Tom Cruise. It may not have the action and pure adrenaline as a Mission Impossible film, but it does have great futuristic battle scenes, sweet super-soldier suits, some nice comedic training sequences, and a surprising performance from Emily Blunt as an action hero. I give this film 3.5 out of 5 stars and believe this film is worth your cash at the box office.
The tag line for the movie Edge of Tomorrow seems a bit like Star Tom Cruise's career as of late. Live, Die, Repeat. Can Cruise bounce back from last summer's box office flop Oblivion with another Sci-Fi thriller?
The film starts out showing us a number of news reports and talk shows discussing a number of asteroids that have hit Earth. It just so happens to turn out that those asteroids contained aliens who have quickly attacked and taken over most of Europe. In response to the Alien attack, the World has somehow united in a grand military alliance headquartered in London (Not Washington DC?). Cut to Tom Cruise's character Major Cage who we quickly find out is definitely not the action hero we were expecting. After being paged to the HQ, Cage attempts to blackmail a superior officer in an attempt to stay off the front line invasion task force. He is promptly arrested for desertion and finds himself waking up in a military base as they prepare to invade France. From this point on Cruise gets stuck in the tag line cycle; live, die, repeat. At times this film falls into feeling much like that terribly difficult video game you played as a child. You die and then have to repeat what you did hundreds of times before you get back to that spot again so you can dodge left, or duck, or jump. The film does take a nice turn finally when Cruise and his mentor, war hero Rita Vrataski played by Emily Blunt, finally escape the beach portion of the invasion and treat us to a few new scenes and some good on screen chemistry. The film really comes together in the last few scenes leading up to a fun shoot'em up kamikaze-like battle.
Overall this film is a nice summer thriller and definitely a nice bounce-back movie for Tom Cruise. It may not have the action and pure adrenaline as a Mission Impossible film, but it does have great futuristic battle scenes, sweet super-soldier suits, some nice comedic training sequences, and a surprising performance from Emily Blunt as an action hero. I give this film 3.5 out of 5 stars and believe this film is worth your cash at the box office.
Tuesday, June 10, 2014
Godzilla (2014) Review
Godzilla (2014) Review: Can the King of Monsters Win Over Fans?
Giant creatures destroying the city...an obvious summer thriller, but does the latest Godzilla film really live up to its monstrous hype?
When the film starts off it takes us on an interesting journey of the lore of Godzilla and ancient monstrous beasts that once called the Earth home. After a "natural" disaster in 1999 Japan, Bryan Cranston's "Joe Brody" lives through the harrowing disaster that sets off a major series of events. Fast forward to 2014 when that not-so-natural disaster is discovered once again by a somewhat crazy Joe Brody and his now adult son Ford Brody played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson. Their discovery puts them at odds with an organization attempting to research the cause of this event with Ken Watanabe's "Dr. Serizawa" as the scientific head of this group. Chaos ensues which will lead to our title character playing a prominent role.
After a rather slow start and set-up to this film there is a big payoff when we finally see Godzilla appear in his full glory, which sets the stage for a great final battle sequence. The director, Gareth Edwards, does a nice job of using the "Jaws" strategy with this monster-thriller, never giving us a great view of the beast until the end of the film. Overall this Godzilla movie does a great job of helping to refresh and revive my love for Godzilla from my childhood and definitely helps to cleanse our palates from the terrible taste left behind by the 1998 Roland Emmerich directed film staring Matthew Broderick. (BLAH!) Ken Watanabe gives us a nice performance as the scientist Dr. Serizawa and essentially plays informant for the audience, letting us know what is going on throughout the film. Bryan Cranston as always turns in an emotional performance as Joe Brody, however the acting of the movie seems to fall a bit short. The second half of the film seemed to take on the essence of a Transformers film where we could care less about the "people" costars and are enthralled by the massive characters fighting on screen.
Looking at this film as a summer thriller is the best lens to use here. I give this film a 3 out of 5 stars. If you are looking for mindless summer destruction at the box office, or perhaps to revive your love of Godzilla, then its definitely worth a visit to the theatre.
Giant creatures destroying the city...an obvious summer thriller, but does the latest Godzilla film really live up to its monstrous hype?
When the film starts off it takes us on an interesting journey of the lore of Godzilla and ancient monstrous beasts that once called the Earth home. After a "natural" disaster in 1999 Japan, Bryan Cranston's "Joe Brody" lives through the harrowing disaster that sets off a major series of events. Fast forward to 2014 when that not-so-natural disaster is discovered once again by a somewhat crazy Joe Brody and his now adult son Ford Brody played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson. Their discovery puts them at odds with an organization attempting to research the cause of this event with Ken Watanabe's "Dr. Serizawa" as the scientific head of this group. Chaos ensues which will lead to our title character playing a prominent role.
After a rather slow start and set-up to this film there is a big payoff when we finally see Godzilla appear in his full glory, which sets the stage for a great final battle sequence. The director, Gareth Edwards, does a nice job of using the "Jaws" strategy with this monster-thriller, never giving us a great view of the beast until the end of the film. Overall this Godzilla movie does a great job of helping to refresh and revive my love for Godzilla from my childhood and definitely helps to cleanse our palates from the terrible taste left behind by the 1998 Roland Emmerich directed film staring Matthew Broderick. (BLAH!) Ken Watanabe gives us a nice performance as the scientist Dr. Serizawa and essentially plays informant for the audience, letting us know what is going on throughout the film. Bryan Cranston as always turns in an emotional performance as Joe Brody, however the acting of the movie seems to fall a bit short. The second half of the film seemed to take on the essence of a Transformers film where we could care less about the "people" costars and are enthralled by the massive characters fighting on screen.
Looking at this film as a summer thriller is the best lens to use here. I give this film a 3 out of 5 stars. If you are looking for mindless summer destruction at the box office, or perhaps to revive your love of Godzilla, then its definitely worth a visit to the theatre.
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