Starring: Nicolas Cage, Christopher Mintz Plasse, Aaron Johnson, Chloe Moretz, and Clark Duke
Directed By Matthew Vaughn
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1250777/fullcredits#cast
In a memorable Fantastic Four comic (issue 285, to be precise) Johnny Storm nearly quits being the Human Torch after a young fan dies trying to emulate his fiery form. "Kick-Ass" is kind of the opposite of that story.
In place of guilt-ridden moralizing about the roles of heroes, "Kick-Ass," itself based on a more recent comic, instead offers up the taboo-busting shenanigans of Dave Lizewski (Aaron Johnson), a comics geek who decides to become a crime-fighting vigilante. After getting his keister viciously beaten a few times, he becomes a YouTube sensation and draws the attention of Hit Girl (Chloë Moritz), a spunky 12-year-old who has been trained by her father (Nicolas Cage), who goes by Big Daddy, into a pint-sized death-dealing whirlwind. These two steal the show, with Moritz an emerging star and Cage continuing the renaissance he began with "Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans."
The mixture of anarchic costumed fun and over-the-top bloody violence (exemplified when Hit Girl takes out a room of mobsters to the strains of the "Banana Splits" theme song) will be a real test for some audience members. If you're in on the joke, though, director Matthew Vaughn has provided an imperfect but still wickedly hilarious take on Mark Millar's deconstruction of superhero mythos.
Mr. What?
Friday, April 30, 2010
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Clash Of The Titans 3-D ( 2010 )
Starring: Sam Worthington, Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes, Jason Flemyng, & Gemma Arterton
Directed By Louis Leterrier
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0800320/
We begin today’s review with a public service announcement:
The new mythological adventure/fantasy film “Clash of the Titans” is advertised as a 3D production and tickets are priced accordingly -- which is to say, at about one-and-a-third times the cost of a ticket to a plain-old 2D movie.
Well, it ain’t worth it.
I’m not talking about the quality of the film itself, which is not very high -- although not as low as you probably (and understandably) fear/expect.
Rather, I’m talking about the sheer awful quality of the 3D transfer of the film. “Clash” was shot in standard format, then gussied up to add a small bit of depth on the screen and considerably more at the boxoffice. A mere handful of shots have a feel of multi-dimensional immersion. But that number is small in comparison to the 3D sensation afforded by, oh, “How to Train Your Dragon,” which was made expressly for the 3D format, or even “Alice in Wonderland,” which, like “Clash,” was retrofit for 3D but with a more studied hand.
And, of course, all of those pale next to “Avatar,” a film which “Clash” continually calls to mind for reasons not entirely its own fault. Because, you see, if the filmmaking and 3D effects aren’t anything like those in “Avatar,” other things, alas, are.
“Clash,” you see, stars “Avatar”’s Sam Worthington as -- get this -- a half-human/half-not-human hybrid whose quest to drive evil from his planet involves riding a winged beast that no man has ever mastered and settling an internal conflict about which portion of his nature should command his loyalty.
Obviously, “Clash” isn’t an “Avatar” knock-off -- it’s far too soon even for the most opportunistic filmmaker to pull that trick. Rather, it’s loosely based on the laughably stoic and dated 1981 “Clash of the Titans,” which was itself loosely inspired by the Greek myths involving Perseus, a demi-god (in this case, a son of Zeus and a human mother) who fought off such beasties as the Medusa and a gigantic sea monster (or Kraken) in his rise to become, later in life, a beloved king.
In this telling, Perseus (Worthington) watches as the fisherman who adopted him as a foundling is killed by the god Hades (Ralph Fiennes), who’s engaged in crushing a human insurrection against the rule of Zeus (Liam Neeson). Hades has threatened to destroy the city of Argos by unleashing the Kraken unless the city offers its princess as a sacrifice, and Perseus, though mistrusted by the humans because of his godly parentage, leads a small band intent on destroying the Kraken and sending Hades back to the underworld.
“Clash” is basically a quest story, broken up with fights against monsters (a couple of which are pretty cool, actually) and some truly limp and ill-played attempts at humor (a pair of hunters with Yakov Smirnoff accents join Perseus’ crew for no discernable reason). Fiennes and, as Argos’ senior solider, Mads Mikkelson, afford some juicy fun, but Worthington projects the charisma of the young Russell Crowe’s lighting double. And there’s a fair bit of gore for a PG-13 film, for what that’s worth.
But the going is pretty slim here. Director Louis Leterrier (“The Incredible Hulk”) cannot stoke any of the film’s elements -- semi-romance, personal salvation narrative, or, most importantly, dramatic adventure -- into anything engrossing. It all passes quickly, as far as that goes, but when it’s over it passes entirely. And something that sells for a premium price ought to linger.
( * * ) -Mr. What?-
Directed By Louis Leterrier
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0800320/
We begin today’s review with a public service announcement:
The new mythological adventure/fantasy film “Clash of the Titans” is advertised as a 3D production and tickets are priced accordingly -- which is to say, at about one-and-a-third times the cost of a ticket to a plain-old 2D movie.
Well, it ain’t worth it.
I’m not talking about the quality of the film itself, which is not very high -- although not as low as you probably (and understandably) fear/expect.
Rather, I’m talking about the sheer awful quality of the 3D transfer of the film. “Clash” was shot in standard format, then gussied up to add a small bit of depth on the screen and considerably more at the boxoffice. A mere handful of shots have a feel of multi-dimensional immersion. But that number is small in comparison to the 3D sensation afforded by, oh, “How to Train Your Dragon,” which was made expressly for the 3D format, or even “Alice in Wonderland,” which, like “Clash,” was retrofit for 3D but with a more studied hand.
And, of course, all of those pale next to “Avatar,” a film which “Clash” continually calls to mind for reasons not entirely its own fault. Because, you see, if the filmmaking and 3D effects aren’t anything like those in “Avatar,” other things, alas, are.
“Clash,” you see, stars “Avatar”’s Sam Worthington as -- get this -- a half-human/half-not-human hybrid whose quest to drive evil from his planet involves riding a winged beast that no man has ever mastered and settling an internal conflict about which portion of his nature should command his loyalty.
Obviously, “Clash” isn’t an “Avatar” knock-off -- it’s far too soon even for the most opportunistic filmmaker to pull that trick. Rather, it’s loosely based on the laughably stoic and dated 1981 “Clash of the Titans,” which was itself loosely inspired by the Greek myths involving Perseus, a demi-god (in this case, a son of Zeus and a human mother) who fought off such beasties as the Medusa and a gigantic sea monster (or Kraken) in his rise to become, later in life, a beloved king.
In this telling, Perseus (Worthington) watches as the fisherman who adopted him as a foundling is killed by the god Hades (Ralph Fiennes), who’s engaged in crushing a human insurrection against the rule of Zeus (Liam Neeson). Hades has threatened to destroy the city of Argos by unleashing the Kraken unless the city offers its princess as a sacrifice, and Perseus, though mistrusted by the humans because of his godly parentage, leads a small band intent on destroying the Kraken and sending Hades back to the underworld.
“Clash” is basically a quest story, broken up with fights against monsters (a couple of which are pretty cool, actually) and some truly limp and ill-played attempts at humor (a pair of hunters with Yakov Smirnoff accents join Perseus’ crew for no discernable reason). Fiennes and, as Argos’ senior solider, Mads Mikkelson, afford some juicy fun, but Worthington projects the charisma of the young Russell Crowe’s lighting double. And there’s a fair bit of gore for a PG-13 film, for what that’s worth.
But the going is pretty slim here. Director Louis Leterrier (“The Incredible Hulk”) cannot stoke any of the film’s elements -- semi-romance, personal salvation narrative, or, most importantly, dramatic adventure -- into anything engrossing. It all passes quickly, as far as that goes, but when it’s over it passes entirely. And something that sells for a premium price ought to linger.
( * * ) -Mr. What?-
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Hot Tube Time Machine ( 2010 )
Starring: John Cusack, Clark Duke, Craig Robinson, Rob Corddry & Crispin Glover
Directed By Steve Pink
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0892769/
Imagine a pack of drunken man-boys remaking "Back to the Future" -- only instead of the characters time-traveling to 1955, they end up on the set of an R-rated straight-to-video ski-slope comedy from the '80s.
That sort of sums up the filthy, ramshackle vibe of the coarse-funny "Hot Tub Time Machine." It's about three friends (John Cusack, Craig Robinson, Rob Corddry) getting a do-over on their life-changing teenage mistakes at a ski resort in 1986, thanks to the patently ridiculous titular time-hopping device. Along for the ride are Cusack's mortified 20-year-old nephew (Clark Duke), who can't imagine a world without a Wide Web, and a mysterious mechanic (Chevy Chase) who gives advice so cryptic it's absolutely useless.
It's pretty fantastic to see Cusack return to raunchy comedy -- he hasn't been this fun to watch since his "High Fidelity"/"Grosse Pointe Blank" days -- and Robinson, Duke and especially Corddry make the most of their chance to show off after years of solid supporting work. (Also nice: The snarky '80s references and cameos, including appearances by a surly one-armed Crispin Glover and a gun-toting William "Karate Kid" Zabka.)
The movie's as casual as its lead characters' approach to changing history; it's also lewdly and frequently laugh-out-loud hilarious -- especially if you wasted any of your youth watching a certain brand of '80s comedy schlock on HBO at 2 a.m.
-Mr. What?-
Directed By Steve Pink
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0892769/
Imagine a pack of drunken man-boys remaking "Back to the Future" -- only instead of the characters time-traveling to 1955, they end up on the set of an R-rated straight-to-video ski-slope comedy from the '80s.
That sort of sums up the filthy, ramshackle vibe of the coarse-funny "Hot Tub Time Machine." It's about three friends (John Cusack, Craig Robinson, Rob Corddry) getting a do-over on their life-changing teenage mistakes at a ski resort in 1986, thanks to the patently ridiculous titular time-hopping device. Along for the ride are Cusack's mortified 20-year-old nephew (Clark Duke), who can't imagine a world without a Wide Web, and a mysterious mechanic (Chevy Chase) who gives advice so cryptic it's absolutely useless.
It's pretty fantastic to see Cusack return to raunchy comedy -- he hasn't been this fun to watch since his "High Fidelity"/"Grosse Pointe Blank" days -- and Robinson, Duke and especially Corddry make the most of their chance to show off after years of solid supporting work. (Also nice: The snarky '80s references and cameos, including appearances by a surly one-armed Crispin Glover and a gun-toting William "Karate Kid" Zabka.)
The movie's as casual as its lead characters' approach to changing history; it's also lewdly and frequently laugh-out-loud hilarious -- especially if you wasted any of your youth watching a certain brand of '80s comedy schlock on HBO at 2 a.m.
-Mr. What?-
How To Train Your Dragon ( 2010 )
Starring the voices of: Jay Baruchel, Jonah Hill, Gerard Butler, Craig Ferguson & America Ferrera
Directed By Dean DeBlois and Chris Sanders
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0892769/
"How to Train Your Dragon" is yet another animated movie taking its cues from the "Star Wars"/"Harry Potter" story frame -- you know, "motherless boy finds his special destiny during a hero's quest full of fantastic creatures and sassy tomboys."
The big difference between "Dragon" and so many other mainstream family movies plotted along those lines is that "Dragon" also happens to be terrific. It's charming, funny, exceedingly well-made and features enough comically thrilling flying-lizard mayhem to cause your child's head to lightly explode.
Set in a Viking village infested with sporadic Scottish accents and livestock-stealing dragons, the movie follows the education of Hiccup (voiced by Jay Baruchel) -- a whelp who questions his desire to become a dragonslayer after he secretly befriends a fire-breathing lizard he wounded.
The filmmakers have clearly digested their "Potter" and their "E.T.," but they've digested it rather well. The animation is sharply staged. The voice talent (which includes America Ferrera, Gerard Butler and Craig Ferguson) does more than simply regurgitate pop-culture references (and given that this is a Dreamworks joint, that's a minor miracle). The sheer variety of dragon creature designs is a riot, and Hiccup's vaguely Pokémon-looking dragon pal ends up being subtly expressive to the degree that the boy-dragon relationship becomes a little moving. That's a nice surprise, given the preponderance of bug-eyed cartoon Norsemen of varying accents.
Take your kids and start saving up for the DVD, because I suspect they'll be asking you to buy it as soon as they leave the theater.
-Mr. What?-
Directed By Dean DeBlois and Chris Sanders
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0892769/
"How to Train Your Dragon" is yet another animated movie taking its cues from the "Star Wars"/"Harry Potter" story frame -- you know, "motherless boy finds his special destiny during a hero's quest full of fantastic creatures and sassy tomboys."
The big difference between "Dragon" and so many other mainstream family movies plotted along those lines is that "Dragon" also happens to be terrific. It's charming, funny, exceedingly well-made and features enough comically thrilling flying-lizard mayhem to cause your child's head to lightly explode.
Set in a Viking village infested with sporadic Scottish accents and livestock-stealing dragons, the movie follows the education of Hiccup (voiced by Jay Baruchel) -- a whelp who questions his desire to become a dragonslayer after he secretly befriends a fire-breathing lizard he wounded.
The filmmakers have clearly digested their "Potter" and their "E.T.," but they've digested it rather well. The animation is sharply staged. The voice talent (which includes America Ferrera, Gerard Butler and Craig Ferguson) does more than simply regurgitate pop-culture references (and given that this is a Dreamworks joint, that's a minor miracle). The sheer variety of dragon creature designs is a riot, and Hiccup's vaguely Pokémon-looking dragon pal ends up being subtly expressive to the degree that the boy-dragon relationship becomes a little moving. That's a nice surprise, given the preponderance of bug-eyed cartoon Norsemen of varying accents.
Take your kids and start saving up for the DVD, because I suspect they'll be asking you to buy it as soon as they leave the theater.
-Mr. What?-
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