Unknown

I can never understand why people are so surprised when Liam Neeson movies do well. Schindler’s List came out 18 years ago. That should have been the end of any speculation. Unknown is not even close to the same level as Schindler, but Neeson is still strong. The film follows a man abroad who, after suffering amnesia in a car accident, tries to piece back his memories. Though things are complicated when his wife won’t acknowledge him and another man claims to be the same person. As the process continues, the character realizes there is a bigger conspiracy happening. And as would be expected, he is forced to become violent and cause a lot of property damage.

In order to build the tension, the movie begins at a crawling pace, providing no answers and very little character development. That’s to be expected, but this particular mystery changes its story a few too many times. Instead of twists and turns there are new characters and a whole new story arch every half hour or so. But these second half developments are welcome after the slow start. While Unknown has been compared heavily to Neesons’s recent hit, Taken, there are profound differences. This one is much more psychological and relies more on acting than punches to the throat and one-liners. The presence of dreary poverty-ridden Europe is a common denominator though.

In regard to the unnecessary supporting actors, they all are respectable. January Jones is as one dimensional as can be. Luckily her role doesn’t require anything more than that. Diane Kruger helps her résumé with another quality supporting role. But this is Liam Neeson’s show through and through. And he never has a weak moment, even when the script calls from him to repeat himself for the first 40 minutes. He has the best angry voice in all of Hollywood. (7.5 out of 10)

I Am Number Four

In one of the most uniquely titled films of the year, I Am Number Four stars Alex Pettyfer as the titular character, one of the last of an alien race hiding on Earth. But making matters worse, another alien race is attempting to wipe them out before they conquer Earth. Out of the nine good-looking aliens living among the average schmoes on Earth, the first three are dead leaving Number Four next on the list.

After the alien plot is established, the movie gets a bit too “Twilight-y” for my taste. Number Four tries to get acclimated in a new school where a nice loner girl (Dianna Agron) catches his eye. It’s all very overdone. Though luckily this romance bit is split up with developments involving the villains and his guardian Henri, played by Timothy Olyphant. But unfortunately a lot of the developments are teasers for stories that would appear in later films. This is of course contingent on the overall box office numbers. I think the movie is good enough to build a franchise. It focuses on the characters more than the sci-fi storyline, so it can appeal to varying audiences. Though it’s not always the best idea to invest your whole story in the first movie of a series without guaranteed sequels.

When Teresa Palmer’s character, Number Six, gets involved for the final battle, the film begins to live up to the epic nature of the trailers. Pettyfer has the makings of a franchise action star. But this his second attempt after Alex Rider: Stormbreaker, which failed to yield a sequel. So this may be one of his last chances. But he’ll definitely be in a lot more movies either way. And since I liked the movie I’m not going to make any jokes about changing its name to “I am Number Two.” Do you get it? Number two as in poop… (7.9 out of 10)

The Eagle

Remember when Channing Tatum was only known for being a dancer and bad actor from Step Up. Well since then he’s improved on screen and taken projects all over the board. In his latest, The Eagle, Tatum stars as a Roman soldier attempting to regain his family’s honor by finding a treasured statue lost in northern England. He enlists the help of his slave, Jamie Bell, who is a native of the foreign territory.

The movie is basically split into three sections, Tatum as a soldier, Tatum in the hospital and Tatum in the wilderness. This division slows any momentum the film has in its explosive beginning. I would even go as far as saying the middle is flat out boring. The final third delivers and ultimately makes the movie with quality action and an interesting fish out of water scenario. The dreary Scottish backdrop definitely doesn’t hurt the ambiance either.

Tatum steps up as a likable and strong player in The Eagle. While I can’t say it bothers me greatly, Tatum and the other actors playing the Romans don’t feign accents at all. I suppose they were trying to avoid a disaster like Nicholas Cage’s accent in Season of the Witch. But the American accents do take a way from the authenticity. In regard to Jamie Bell, he has become quite a consistent actor, even though he doesn’t work as much as other big names. His performance here as a moody slave is believable and a great complement to Tatum.

Now as an unnecessary aside I have to mention that the amount of unheard of names in the credits of The Eagle is baffling. I don’t begin to claim I am learned in every culture but the 50 plus Zoltan’s listed is just a bit surprising to a New Yorker. (8.1 out of 10)

Just Go With It

Adam Sandler movies always seem to look stupid in the trailers and come up strong on the big screen. There are of course exceptions, but I think it’s finally time for the world to admit that he knows what he’s doing. Just Go With It has Sandler caught in a lie after his knew flame, Brooklyn Decker, finds the fake wedding ring he carries to pick up women. So he enlists his co-worker, Jennifer Aniston, to pretend to be his almost ex-wife. The lie continues to blossom and involve Aniston’s character’s kids, and Nick Swardson pretending to be German. But each layer of the evolution is funnier than the last.

The formula in this film isn’t as cut and dry as Sandler’s other projects. His friends, who appear in every film, only play small cameo roles this time. This allows the main handful of characters to take center stage and lead. The dialogue between Sandler and Aniston is realistic and witty, providing more chemistry than one would expect between the mismatched pair. Swardson takes awhile to get rolling in the supporting position, but by the mid-point of the film his laugh-out-loud moments are on par with Sandler’s. Even the model turned actress, Brooklyn Decker, who was advertised as mainly eye candy provided a pretty decent performance.

Every time Just Go With It is in risk of slowing, a quotable line is delivered. Sandler’s brand of physical comedy is brought down a bit in order to let the script shine. This can likely be attributed to the fact that he doesn’t need to carry this movie from start to finish. He can rely on the script to do the heavy lifting. Maybe next time I’ll keep my negative comments to myself when I see a trailer of his. Because there’s a pretty good chance the movie will deliver. A less generic title would have been nice though (8.2 out of 10)

Gnomeo and Juliet

I’m not sure if Gnomeo and Juliet was intended to get young moviegoers interested in Shakespeare, but in actuality, the movie is more a satire of Shakespeare, showing how ridiculous the story is. Though the garden gnome angle is definitely a fresh one. From the opening scene on, the allegory is often hard to follow. Being that I am older than the target audience, I understand that children would have an easier time taking the film at face value. But the play on words title set the standard.

Gnomeo’s voice cast is a cornucopia of British talent. The genre-crossing cast has classically trained actors like Michael Caine, young stars like Emily Blunt and some who are a bit surprising in the G-rated film, like Jason Statham. But even in a cartoon, Statham plays the most badass part, which is the villain Tybalt. Filling in the gaps are some very accomplished voice actors, known better for their voices than their faces. There really can’t be any complaints about the actors and the characterization they provide their animated counterparts.

Much has been said about Elton John’s role in this project as executive producer and main musical contributor. He even did most of the press, appearing on the talk shows and such. But the repeated use of his songs throughout the feature is repetitive to the point of rolling your eyes. If children like a song they’ll learn to sing along quick. We don’t need to hear “Bennie and the Jets” 15 times.

Even with the monster process Gnomeo and Juliet went through before hitting theaters, including tons of re-writes, the concept is interesting enough to spawn similar projects. The brutal parts from the original were cleaned up, so I see no reason why other Shakespeare plays or classic stories couldn’t be done in the some vein. It’s nice to see a kids film out there that doesn’t find the need to give kindergarteners nightmares for the next month. I’m looking at you Toy Story 3. (7.7 out of 10)

The Mechanic

The action genre seems to be one of the last where one star can make a movie successful. In the instance of The Mechanic, Jason Statham leads the charge as a hit man conflicted with the personal connection he feels to his latest victim (Donald Sutherland). Ben Foster also stars as that victim’s son. Throughout the film, Statham provides his usual solid performance as the loner tough guy without any history or personal relationships. We’ve seen this character before, but that brings about consistency where fans know they can count on Statham when he’s in the top billed position.

The script moves right along, as it is written to contain a series of unrelated hits and has a feeling of real life passage of time. Foster’s character goes through the traditional character arch as he learns the ins and outs of being an assassin. But the audience never grows a connection with him like they do with the static Statham, a mystery of the generic action film. Though as simple as it is in concept, it excels in execution (pun intended). Lots of people are killed and there is a ton of property damage, but in reality, if there were no drama it would be much less dramatic.

Though whatever drama is generated looses a step when the video game-esque music plays. Dramatic moments can be defined without the eerie soundtrack of a Scooby Doo episode. As bad as it is, it doesn’t ruin the movie. In fact, the only reason I’m making such a big deal of it is because the rest of The Mechanic plays out as advertised. This is not Statham’s best film, but it is good enough to add another title to the consistent actor’s catalog. I hope he continues with this reliability. (8.2 out of 10)

127 Hours

Just in case you were ever wondering how painful it would be to cut off your arm with a dull knife, it seems that it would hurt. 127 Hours is the true story of Aron Ralston, who found himself trapped in a canyon beneath a large rock for the titular amount of time. He then fights dehydration, starvation and insanity while enduring failed attempts to escape. There are a number of dreams and hallucinations to break the monotony, but they tend to be static, however, and act as dead story lines with no explanation or resolution. They prove to be the outlet for director Danny Boyle to create contemporary images and add a bit of new age flair to the film, which complements the nature-driven setting well.

With only brief glimpses at other actors, the pressure is on for James Franco to deliver. A weak performance sinks the film, but luckily he steps up. The pre-trapped performance is fairly unimpressive with Franco more or less playing a much healthier and active version of his character in Pineapple Express. Or a more likely comparison being that he plays himself. Then once he is trapped in the rock, he evolves with the stresses and pains he experiences. Ultimately, after running out of water and facing the fact that no one will find him, Franco delivers his best moments. They combine the comedic imbalance he’s used to with an edge of terror and defeatism. His best performance since Spider-Man! I’m kidding, it’s actually much better in 127 Hours, but I do love Spider-Man.

The second half of the movie is very draining to watch. While Franco is to be admired for how he sells the part, there is no calm for the audience. Then the amputation scene is absolutely cringe worthy. Since seeing the film a few das ago, I have repeatedly thought back to it and I can’t believe how real and uncomfortable it is to watch. So, essentially it is a very successful scene. But then the lack of resolution after his rescue is disappointing. The audience learns what ultimately happens to Ralston but not the events after escaping. After putting up with misery for an hour, I want some comforting proceedings. But the relief is very rare. I wish it wasn’t a true story. (8.2 out of 10)