Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Surprisingly enough, Tim Burton’s decade old Planet of the Apes reboot was a large box-office success. I say “surprisingly” because everyone seems to have forgotten its achievements. But that didn’t stop another restart from happening. This time, the film, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, is a prequel dealing with how the apes that inherit the Earth become so smart. James Franco stars as a human scientist attempting to develop a cure for Alzheimer’s disease. His drug ends up improving the intelligence of the ape he tests it on and even more so, the offspring of one of them.

One of the many successful aspects of Rise is the willingness to get away from the expected and iconic imagery of the past films. There is no Statue of Liberty scene and no instances of a human man kissing an ape woman. Only the inclusion of the famed “you damn dirty ape” line made the cut. From there the movie is much less an action blockbuster than intellectual thriller. After a few minutes of getting used to the concept, Franco is a believable enough scientist and his relationship with Caesar the ape, played by Andy Serkis, is quite tear-jerking at times.

Even though the audience knows from the other films that the long-term result of the events on screen is human extinction, the apes are the heroes and most sympathetic of the characters. They fight for freedom against oppressive and torturous conditions. Now put humans in this scenario and it would be considered an Oscar contender. But there are a few weaknesses in here too. Some awkward and stuffy dialogue pops up occasionally and the plot could develop a bit quicker. Though Rise is a complete success. If you were to put a real ape and Andy Serkis’ Caesar side by side, the untrained person probably couldn’t tell the difference. Now, if you put James Franco next to a real scientist, it would be a lot easier to tell who was the real one… (9.2 out of 10)

Fright Night

My long-standing policy of avoiding horror films is somewhat in question with my viewing of Fright Night. I thought it looked to be more of a dark comedy than horror. It turns out there isn’t really a lot of comedy in there, but the film isn’t terribly scary either. A remake, it is the story of a suburban teenager, played by Anton Yelchin, who struggles to convince his loved ones that his new neighbor is a vampire, played by Colin Farrell. From there he must come up with a way to kill the neighbor, which proves to be a bit difficult.

The cast is made up of interesting actors who I wouldn’t expect to be in a film of this nature. But since the genre involved is ultimately ambiguous, the castings are as well. David Tennant’s performance ends up being the most memorable as he provides comic relief and emotion in the handful of scenes he is limited to. Many of the others are only asked to play dumb then be really scared. It gets a bit repetitive after a while. Vampire fans would likely enjoy the film as it embraces the accepted characteristics and methods of killing the bloodsuckers. Basically what I’m saying is that this isn’t Twilight.

The pacing of the script proves to be a bit slow and tipped overwhelmingly toward the second half in the action department. Moving one of the three successive large-scale fights into the early humdrum of building tension would go a long way. The resolution proves to be quite satisfying though, even if the true forms of the vampires are revealed to be comically large mouthed and with normal human bodies. Farrell looks very strange in his trendy clothes when his head grows all big and weird. Eliminating some of the sporadic gore could have made Fright Night a quality PG-13 effort, but the R excluded some of that appropriate audience. (7.4 out of 10)

One Day

First and foremost, One Day has been gifted with such a forgettable and generic title that I am hard-pressed to find anyone who knows which movie it is without following up with, “the Anne Hathaway movie.” The studio probably should have just named it that. So, the plot of “TAHM” follows two British friends (Hathaway and Jim Sturgess) who seem to always be on the verge of falling in love with each other, but can never make it work. The audience then witnesses their relationship by experiencing their encounters on the same day every year, July 15. It’s an interesting concept; especially because it seems big events only occur with these characters on that day. Is it realistic? No, but that’s not the main issue here.

The nature of the script has the characters maturing differently. Sturgess’ character is an immature partier at the beginning and only when he loses his small glimpse of fame does he realize he is a jerk. Hathaway’s character is always reasonable but lacks confidence. Sturgess does so well playing the jerk that when it’s time for the audience to be sympathetic to his problems, his ignorance leads to pity instead. The story is obviously meant to be a journey, but it takes a long time to connect with the characters and the pace is quite slow.

This isn’t to say that the actors don’t do well. Especially impressing is Sturgess’ ability to bring about such strong judgment of his character. Hathaway’s performance is high quality as well, though her character isn’t as complex. One Day is actually more of a non-romance movie than the trailers would have one expect. The realism battles the charm for most of the film and provides only a handful of moments that fit the wistful imagery one would want in a story of this nature. With no name actors, the movie wouldn’t have likely made it to wide release. (6.9 out of 10)

Spy Kids: All The Time In The World

I have a hard time understanding how Robert Rodriguez can transition from Machete to Spy Kids 4. I guess that means he’s well rounded? Titled Spy Kids: All The Time In The World, the director has brought in some very famous names to tell the story of an ex-spy and her stepchildren, who must come together to stop a villain with the power to speed up time to the point that it would end the world.

Jessica Alba joins the Rodriguez 180 degree turn starring in the film after leading the Machete bloodbath. She plays the ex-spy, but in a number of scenes she gives off the air of someone performing in a sketch comedy scene rather than a big budget movie. She’s joined by two of the most sought after television actors, Joel McHale and Jeremy Piven. While McHale’s character isn’t very complex, Piven plays multiple characters with cheesy accents that fit the over-the-top movie surprisingly well. The script is awkward and repetitive; full of time and clock puns, but Piven makes it work by not taking the characters too seriously.

Children should find the young actors entertaining enough, who when combined with Ricky Gervais’ talking dog character, are funny in an immature way, which isn’t a bad thing. Though I can’t imagine the young ones have any clue what happens in the quantum physics lesson of a climax. It’s a good thing the ten year old kid in the movie knows the truths of time travel. Maybe he can help the world’s most renowned scientists figure it out. Yes, I know it’s fiction but at least make it so the audience can understand. It must be said that the “Aroma-Scope” 4D aspect of the movie is a complete joke. On my card everything smelled exactly the same and the combination of 3D glasses and the lights being off makes it quite difficult to find a number on the card without losing track of the events on screen. In this case, the villain makes the movie. (6.3 out of 10)

The Change-Up

Of course body-switching comedies are incredibly overdone. We receive one nearly every year, but they keep on coming. The Change-Up is an R-rated version having a slacker switching place with his family man best friend. Ryan Reynolds plays the out of work actor whose biggest concern is which of his lady friends he should call each night. His friend, played by Jason Bateman, is a lawyer and family man tired of the daily grind. So what is the script’s new fresh way to get them to switch places? Pee in a fountain. Well, the scene itself proves to be funny, but it just isn’t clever enough to base the movie around.

Landing two in demand actors like Reynolds and Bateman is an accomplishment in itself for the film, but it’s hard to tell if they ever fit in their roles. Reynolds has spent the better part of this decade establishing himself as a likeable leading actor, so it takes a few minutes getting used to him as the womanizing jerk. Bateman plays the every man a lot, but in the beginning of the film it seems forced. This is of course until the two switch places and the viewer doesn’t know what to think. Both are veterans with simple comedies like The Change-Up, so a lot should be expected of them. At best their performances can only be described as adequate.

An R rating usually allows for over the top antics that provide the biggest laughs. Not so much here. The restriction gives way to topless women and forced swearing. The PG-13 moments are smarter and bring about more laughs. There are some nice moments during the predictable ending in which each realizes how nice their life was, but since the audience can see it coming from a mile away, it doesn’t have as big an impact as it should. With two lesser actors The Change-Up would have absolutely crumbled. (6.8 out of 10)

Crazy, Stupid, Love

I will be weighing the emotional distress I have endured since Steve Carell’s decision to leave the Office against the entertainment value of every movie he makes for a long time. First off, we have Crazy, Stupid, Love. I’m kind of kidding, but luckily Carell’s likeability translates just as well on the big screen as it does on the TV. In the movie, his character is an average guy facing divorce from his wife, Julianne Moore, after years of ho-hum marriage. During his frequent sad trips to a swanky bar, a playboy, Ryan Gosling, takes the poor schmuck under his wing and teaches him to be a ladies man. Though the tables are turned when Gosling actually falls in love and needs Carell’s experience with lasting relationships.

Carell and Gosling make a fun combination of subtle comedy and pleasant camaraderie. Repetitive scenes stand out because the two are just so likeable it doesn’t really matter what the scene is about. Multiple other love stories occur coinciding with the divorce, but none are quite as fun as with the leads. Moore gives a decent enough performance as the soon to be ex-wife and Emma Stone continues her rise to stardom playing Gosling’s love interest. But for the most part, her scenes are whiny and not very fascinating. She does finally get a chance to shine in the film’s climax though.

In order to give Crazy, Stupid, Love justice I would have to spoil some cringe-worthy and surprising plot elements. I won’t do that, but let’s just say that the audience doesn’t see the best scenes in the movie coming at all. Unpredictability and romantic comedies don’t usually go together, so it’s quite a testament to the script and directors for not giving away their secrets too early. At the beginning of the summer I predicted this film could be one of the summer’s best and I am not disappointed with the final product. Steve Carell still has the ability to be annoying, funny and sympathetic all at the same time. Someone should give this guy a highly successful prime time comedy. Sigh… (9.1 out of 10)

The Smurfs

As a connoisseur of Hanna Barbera cartoons, I had high hopes for The Smurfs. Extensive advertising meant the studio does also. Since the biggest fans of the cartoon have now reached their twenties, it’s a fairly unknown commodity. The movie however acts as if everyone knows the ins and outs of “Smurf-dom.” The Smurfs are small blue creatures that live in an enchanted forest with essentially only one enemy, the evil wizard Gargamel, played by Hank Azaria. Then during one encounter with the dimwit, a small group of Smurfs get sucked through a portal leading them to New York City.

The plot is has a disjointed feel since a number of the scenes serve no purpose other than absent minded entertainment. Neil Patrick Harris and Jayma Mays play the humans who look after the Smurfs, but their personal storylines are not thought out very well. Harris works in marketing for a cosmetics company, which is pretty random considering half the audience still wants to be a firefighter or an astronaut. And as tough as it is for real actors to interact with CGI characters, it’s strange the script repeatedly has the people hugging them and revealing how fake an exchange it is? It doesn’t make sense. In terms of some kind of theme or lesson, a few nice thoughts are mentioned, but I think what we’re supposed to take away from the film is that abusing cats is funny and using “smurf” as a verb can make any sentence seem like a sexual innuendo. What concepts!

In the middle of the film there are a few jokes that are actually funny. I couldn’t tell you what they are, they’re not very memorable, but I did laugh. Now humor is obviously a matter of opinion, but most of the movie doesn’t even have jokes. Azaria’s ridiculous Gargamel performance is a lot of fun though. Kids won’t realize how much he looks like the cartoon character, but his general demeanor throughout is worth a few chuckles. There are even moments where I want the villain to win and shut up the annoying Smurfs. What happened to the good live action Hanna Barbera movies like The Flintstones with John Goodman and Rosie O’Donnell? …That wasn’t very good either, was it? Scooby Doo? Okay, I give up. (6.2 out of 10)