Observe and Report: Enough with the security mall cop films already!

It's hard to figure out just why two films featuring mall security cops as their lead characters (this film and Paul Blart: Mall Cop) were released in the past year. Of the two, Observe and Report would have been the obvious choice as more likely to tickle one's funny bone due to its popular leading man Seth Rogen. Unfortunately, it's the Kevin James lead Paul Blart that wins the crown as "the least terrible" of the two.

Audiences have grown accustomed to seeing Seth Rogen in the funny, nice guy role due to his work in previous movies like Knocked Up, Zack and Miri Make a Porno, etc. But his role as Ronnie Barnhardt in Observe and Report cast him in a different light. Ronnie was bigoted, overbearing and hard, if not impossible, to like. There was no backstory to explain his rash behavior (he takes meds but his condition was never discussed), no room for his character to grow, he was just a disturbed weirdo with a penchant for weapons and spouting curse words. At least Paul Blart had some semblance of a recognizable story/plot, Observe and Report lacked a cohesive story structure and the editing was amateurish to boot. To top it all off, there was nothing funny in the film (save for Ronnie tasing a guy and beating up on some skateboarders). The jokes that were there fell flat, and Rogen was never given the chance to show any smarts, wit or even the slightest bit of the charm which he uesd to make the characters he played in those other films so memorable.

One kept waiting for something funny or even interesting to happen, but the joke was on them beacuse Observe and Report simply stunk.

Grade: D

X-Men Origins: Wolverine: More blah than anything.

All of the elements were there to make X-Men Origins: Wolverine a solid entry into the spectacular series of X-Men films (well, X-Men: The Last Stand wasn't all that great thanks to the craptacular direction of Brett Ratner). Hugh Jackman was returning to the lead role, the cast was rounded out with other credible actors including Liev Schreiber and Ryan Reynolds and it was being helmed by a respected director in Gavin Hood. But that's the thing about expectations, (especially for big summer blockbuster films), sometimes what you are expecting does not even come close to what you get.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine failed to echo the first two X-Men films in story, character development, action and even fun. The director of those first two X-Men films, Bryan Singer, took the time to cultivate the stories and the characters within them. He developed both the heroes and villains and, through their development and that of the plot/story, was able to draw the audience into the film emotionally so that when the action and tension arose one could not help but watch intently at each individual characters' internal struggles as well as their physical ones on the battlefield. Singer was able to create a full and rich X-Men universe that not only entertained the masses through effective action sequences but also created memorable characters that audience members could relate to on a personal level. Unfortunately those kinds of things were missing in Wolverine. Hugh Jackman was unable to do much emoting, if any at all, as his range of emotions went from silent to snarling and that was about it. Hood tried to get across his internal conflict of not wanting to become what it was he seemed to be bred for but it failed to connect and came across as maudlin at best. The same could be said for the rest of that "credible" cast I mentioned earlier, who seemed like window dressing at best (here's a note to all casting directors, not all rappers can act. Will. I. Am looked as out of place in the film as Kenny Rogers in a rap video).

In the end, X-Men Origins: Wolverine mirrored X-Men: The Last Stand in its silliness and lack of subtlety, choosing to treat the audience like a gaggle of five year olds and throw a ton of action sequences and special effects at them (some of which looked so amateurish that one could not help but laugh) in the hopes that they would not notice how truly bad it was.

Grade: D+

Smokin Aces: All style, no substance

When a one million dollar hit is put out on Las Vegas illusionist and wannabe Mafioso Buddy “Aces” Israel, a number of unsavory figures track him down to his penthouse suite in Lake Tahoe and raise hell trying to collect the bounty.

Smokin Aces certainly had its share of memorable characters which livened up the screen, including the sadistic Tremor Brothers, a pair of female assassins (one of which was R&B singer Alicia Keys) and Ryan Reynolds who earned some action chops as a somewhat straight laced FBI agent. Once the attack on Buddy’s penthouse started, its hyperkinetic pace and stylized nature kept action fans contented until the credits rolled.

But it failed to capitalize upon the obvious visual storytelling talents of its director Joe Carnahan. Unfortunately, he has no one to blame but himself because he wrote the script, and the story spent so much time ineffectively setting up most of the players in the hunt for Buddy that by the time the violence did start, the audience was indifferent as to who got killed or even if anyone got Buddy. Also, there were two specific story points that seemed to be totally unnecessary and succeeded only in slowing it to a halt. One was the Matthew Fox (Dr. Jack in Lost) cameo which only went on for as long as it did because he was in the menial part and the other was the run-in Hollis had with an ADD suffering kid that rivaled Jar Jar Binks in annoyance. Carnahan tried to go Tarantino and make Smokin Aces the kind of film people would easily and readily quote lines from (a permanent part of pop culture) but it was nothing more than a good looking wannabe.

Grade: C

2046: A different kind of romantic film

Drawing inspiration from the Oriental Hotel he once lived in, Chow writes a story about a mysterious woman who lives in room 2046. The story also tells of a place where people travel to recapture lost memories, and he is the first one to return from it.

2046 was a staggering cinematic spectacle presenting a mind-blowing tale of loss, jealousy, love and desperation, but doing so in unparalleled fashion. At its heart is Chow, a man haunted by a woman he loved but who left him. He spends a good deal of the film trying to find someone to replace her (including exotic beauty Zhang Ziyi) but finds that he cannot, nor will he be able to. To him, 2046 (the apartment as well as the year in which his story is set), was a beautiful state of mind filled with joyous memories that were next to impossible to leave. But that was not revealed by having Chow ramble aimlessly on with cheesy melodramatic dialogue. Through the glimpses of the universe he created in his story, the audience was shown Chow’s torment. Unable to truly express how he felt about those women he faced in the real world (as well as those in the story), he comes to realize he had love once, but will never find it again. 2046 is light years ahead of other romantic dramas in not only story and characters, but cinematic expressiveness as well.

While the plot of the film, with its non-linear storytelling, was definitely a challenge to the audience if they were able to stick with it, 2046 was something of a distinctive film going experience.

Grade: A

Duplicity: Espionage and romance, a good combo!

In the high stakes world of corporate espionage two former spies, and lovers, hatch a plan to make the score of a lifetime. But will they be able to trust one another long enough to pull it off?

This complex caper certainly kept the audience on its toes by not only keeping them guessing as to who exactly was playing whom, but also if the main characters (Ray and Claire) could trust each other. Writer/Director Tony Gilroy did a good job of structuring the movie in a non-linear fashion, to further aide in keeping the audience engaged in the plot, but he also created clever dialogue for the cast to eat up. Speaking of said cast, Clive Owen and Julia Roberts were dynamite as Ray and Claire, trading verbal jabs as well as kisses all the while looking cool. Their crackling exchanges might even remind some of those that are prevalent in those old 1930's and 1940's screwball comedies like Bringing Up Baby. But what made Ray and Claire's story so endearing, and relatable, was that the issues they were having with their relationship mirrored those we mortals face (although rarely are ours set against the background of corporate espionage). The fear of trusting someone implicitly and loving them for who they are is something most people have to deal with in their search for their better half and Owen and Roberts (thanks to Gilroy) were able to tackle those issues and more in an intelligent manner which did not insult the audience with over-sentimentality. Neither was the love story seemingly tacked on as an afterthought to justify certain aspects of the caper plot of the film.

While Duplicity successfully waves the banner as a breezy, fun caper film, it's the heart of its main characters which sets it apart from the rest.

Grade: B

Mission Impossible 3: Tom Cruise is not a loon (he just plays one in real life).

Agent Ethan Hunt is lured back into active duty as he is sent to retrieve a captured IMF agent in Berlin. Soon after he must face off against a sadistic weapons dealer named Owen Davian who not only has his sights set on stealing a deadly new biological weapon, but eliminating his new wife Julia as well.

I will be the first to admit that I did not want to give this film a fair shake because I think Tom Cruise is an egocentric loony. Thank goodness for him (and the rest of us) J.J. Abrams was responsible for writing and directing Mission Impossible 3 because he actually made Ethan Hunt a very human and even likeable character. Not only that, but Abrams reinvigorated the Mission Impossible franchise by filling the third incarnation with unrelenting action, smart dialogue, unforeseen plot twist, and actual spy-related facets including wondrous gadgets that would make Q from the 007 series jealous. To top it off, the supporting cast was top notch, (although Michelle Monaghan who portrayed Julia looked a little too much like Katie Holmes), especially Philip Seymour Hoffman as Davian. But Hoffman's lack of screen time was a drawback as the plot twist concerning his Davian, the evil biological weapon and the reason why a certain individual was in cahoots with the bad guy seemed as if it were an afterthought tacked on by the writers at the eleventh hour when they realized they never dealt with it in the context of the entire story. The film also would have benefited from more scenes featuring Davian and motivations concerning his evil plans.

Regardless of the real life antics of it's leading man, Mission Impossible 3 was a rousing action film that delivered the goods.

Grade: B

The Black Dahlia: I wish it were better but...

Based upon the true life crime that occurred in 1947, L.A. cops Bucky Bleichert and Lee Blanchard are assigned to uncover the person or persons behind the murder of Elizabeth Short, a wannabe actress whom the media dubs The Black Dahlia after her death. It is a case that will alter their lives forever.

Usually if a crime thriller tries to take an audience on a twisted ride in the hero’s attempt to uncover the truth behind a crime, it is a welcome change from the predictable junk Hollywood puts out. However The Black Dahlia’s story was so confusing, muddled and unsatisfying that it was more of a chore to watch than anything. Famed American aueteur Brian De Palma did his best to make The Black Dahlia look stunning, invoking a number of filming techniques and paying homage to the movie whose influence was evident throughout. For her part Mia Kirshner nailed her role of Elizabeth, making her an innocent and fragile girl whose desire to “make it” in the picture business was twisted so that only her horrifying death gave her the celebrity she ached for. The audience was given way too much information about Bucky and Lee (two characters that were not very likeable) and not nearly enough on Kirshner's Dahlia. Heck, it was a half an hour into the film before she was even mentioned. Instead of watching a film which dug deeper into the how’s and why’s of one of the most famous murders in American history, the audience just got some crappy acting, (Aaron Eckhart needed to switch to decaf and Hilary Swank was never going to be believable as a femme fatale), a convoluted story and little to no action. Where are those predictable Hollywood thrillers when you need them?

Grade: D+

Final Destination 3: Good, mindless fun

Wendy has a premonition that she will die on a rollercoaster ride she is about ready to take. But after it actually crashes, she and the others who got off the doomed ride must face a terrible truth. Death has a plan, and no one escapes from it when it’s their time.

Before you pass this off as another in the long line of made-to-order teen horror flicks take into consideration the fact that that was exactly what the filmmakers wanted Final Destination 3 to be. A group of stereotypical (i.e. a smart, virginal “final” girl, the dumb jock, the goth girl, etc) teens are lined up and offed in ways that must have taken the screenwriter and stunt people months to dream up. The most thrilling sequence in the film had to be the opening part where the characters take an unforgettable ride on the damned rollercoaster which will make you sweat the next time you’re in a line at a Six Flags. The improbability in the ways some of the characters were killed could leave non-horror film aficionados rolling their eyes or perhaps they could start griping about how they have seen this film before because it’s basically the same story as the first two Final Destinations and a million other horror films. The only originality this film was concerned with was finding newer, more shocking ways to dispose of people.

Another feature which made this film fun to watch was that the dvd was interactive. Audiences are able to “choose the fate” of the characters and watch what would have happened if they were in charge of who lives and who dies by selecting a special option on the disc. It’s kinda like those old Choose Your Own Adventure books you read as a kid, except this time if you choose wrong, blood will be spilt.

Grade: C