The Book of Eli

The Book of Eli is being promoted as the first must see of 2010. I would have to agree. Denzel Washington stars as a badass traveler in a post-apocalyptic America. His prized possession is a leather bound bible from which he reads everyday. Channeling some of the best soft-spoken tough guys of the past, Denzel shows that he can be mentioned in the same sentence as Eastwood, or DeNiro… and I don’t mean Meet the Parents DeNiro. Denzel dishes out a bunch of outnumbered beat-downs each more spectacular (and gorier) than the last. Forget carrying a gun he has a machete.

The violence however is just the way to get an audience in the seats. The real purpose of the film is to combat materialism and show the importance of realizing how much we all have in our lives. Combined with the religious themes The Book of Eli boasts positive themes of morality in the face of constant sin. Denzel kills A LOT of people. Yet the Hughes brothers, who directed the film, were able to present the Vigilante in a reasonable and necessary light.

Visually, the movie was very impressive. The drastic contrast made many of the scenes appear almost black and white. Which played well into the unfamiliar landscape of the film. Although the setting is the United States it sure doesn’t look like it. If the story were to lose a few of the gross-out moments (beheadings, cannibals) then the positive aspects would shine through a little better and convey the message to some of the more hard headed movie goers. However, like I said before the gore fills seats. With the help of Mila Kunis giving her best performance and Gary Oldman’s third best (Sirius Black from Harry Potter and Commissioner Gordon from The Dark Knight win out) The Book of Eli is definitely a solid movie and my favorite Denzel performance… so far. (8.8 out of 10)

Youth in Revolt

Many would say that actor Michael Cera has made it in Hollywood. He has now starred in many major motion pictures and a popular T.V series. Unfortunately, a bunch of theses movies are just weird and/or bad. Youth in Revolt was one such example. Cera plays Nick Twisp who takes on a separate persona in his mind in order to win the heart of a girl. For the most part his acting was pretty good. When playing Nick’s alter ego, Francois Dillenger, Cera had to portray something different than an awkward teen geek for really the first time since he came onto the scene. It was definitely refreshing to watch. The cocky figment of his imagination provided the funniest parts of the movie and the actor did well to switch back and forth convincingly.

The plot just wasn’t a great one. There were a bunch of unlikeable characters, many of which disappeared with no explanation as the story unfolded. The events were so contrived it was like reading a high school creative writing assignment where the author just throws in stuff to offend the teacher. One such example is the unnecessary drugging of multiple characters against their will by Justin Long’s character with mushrooms. As the minutes go by I found myself thinking most of these derelicts deserve to be arrested and movies like this one are why teenagers and young adults have such a bad reputation.

The ‘laugh out loud’ jokes were few and far between. The talent of Zach Galifianakis, Justin Long, Ray Liotta and others was completely under utilized and I almost would have preferred them to not be in this movie at all. That way I wouldn’t have to wonder what they saw in the script when they signed on. But I’ll end on a positive; the good jokes were really funny. They made me laugh… That’s all I got. (6 out of 10)

The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus

Remember in early 2008 when Heath Ledger died and the buzz was all about the movie he had just completed, The Dark Knight, and the one he was filming at the time, The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus? Well here we are two years later finally getting the finished project in the states. There were studio conflicts and of course the issue of substituting other actors to complete Ledger’s role. But, the trailers and all the hype leading up to the release made the film look so weird. I was even a bit tentative to go see it, but I did. I found that it was actually a very reasonable movie with just the right amount of weird.

Going into the movie expecting stellar performances from Ledger, Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell. I was pleasantly surprised by unknowns Andrew Garfield (Anton), and Lily Cole (Valentina) though who really made the movie tick. Surrounded by a cast of heavyweights it would have been really easy to be overshadowed but the script and the performances showcased the pair very well.

As for the fore mentioned heavyweights they performed as expected. Heath Ledger played one of his more interesting roles and at times his Tony character seemed to channel The Joker of The Dark Knight but it was a quality role to be his last. The other three did well making the movie complete and it flowed seamlessly.

If anything I don’t think my mind is open enough to the “trippy” scenes that Dr. Parnassus boasts, which was the same problem I had with movies like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. But even so the American audience should definitely go see this film not only because it’s Heath Ledger’s last project but because it is a quality production with a pretty unique storyline playing on the concept of good v. evil and humanity’s role in the battle. Plus Verne Troyer is awesome in it…yes, actually. (9 out of 10)

Daybreakers

I am definitely not the biggest vampire buff around these parts so I feel like my review of Daybreakers is not going to be up to scratch for the diehards. But I’ll give it a go anyway. I was pretty excited for this movie because the trailers made it look fresh and different from other vampire stories. Usually this genre shows how the creatures destroy a town or transform some people into their own kind but this is the first one I can think of that takes that concept to its end. The vampires have wiped out the human population and therefore lack the blood they need for sustenance. So the vampires are starving… I kept thinking of it as Dracula’s version of the potato famine. But, it is a pretty interesting plot with some twists, turns, and surprises so I have no qualms there.

I found the casting to be the most interesting aspect of the movie. Ethan Hawke showed, with his performance as Edward Dalton, that he could still be a leading actor in Hollywood and even though his acting was a bit stiff at parts he came off as a very likeable character. Willem Dafoe is a bigger actor than the caliber of this movie but his wit is definitely welcome. In general the “B list” cast is pretty effective and while Hawke and Dafoe pulled their weight the movie would have definitely benefited from some better-known talent.

I am told the vampire twists in plot have been done before but I enjoyed them and didn’t see them coming so mission accomplished. The special effects were pretty well done as well. However, I still haven’t been convinced to jump on the vampire bandwagon. At least these vampires didn’t sparkle in the sunlight… they actually engulfed in flames. That’s way more badass. Take that Edward Cullen. (6.5 out of 10)

Sherlock Holmes

It was very difficult for me to go into Sherlock Holmes with an unbiased approach. Guy Ritchie is one of my favorite directors and although this strayed from his usual stabs at modern British culture the trailers gave off the vibe of an interesting re-imagining of a classic character that has been missing for a while in mainstream pop culture. The finished product does not disappoint.

The setting of the film played a large role in engaging the characters and the plot. In addition to the necessary cobblestone streets and murky alleyways, London is shown as a madhouse full of gypsies, street fairs, and tons of criminals. Each of these aspects is put on display at some point to further the plot. This is just the newest example of Guy Ritchie’s focus on the city and its influence on the citizens. This instance is just a bit less contemporary than his other films.

Of course like expected Robert Downey Jr. (Sherlock Holmes) and Jude Law (Dr. John Watson) steal the show. In this reimagining both characters are hands on with all aspects of their cases and even duke it out when the situation calls for it…which it does quite a bit. It never seems like too much though. The fights are paced well and situated at appropriate places in the film.

I may be nitpicking but my biggest complaint is with the dialect. Most of the time it was perfect and even added some humor but at other points I had no idea what people were saying. Maybe that’s a sign of authenticity, but it got so quiet sometimes. That hard to hear accent is probably the reason Downey Jr. is being considered for all the acting awards this season. So what do I know?

This movie is a great balance of action and comedy and it was just a perfect Sherlock Holmes mystery through and through. I can’t wait for the sequel. Maybe Ritchie can work Jason Statham and some of his other commonly used actors into Sherlock 2. (9 out of 10)