Green Lantern: An underwhelming adventure

Hal Jordan is a hotshot test pilot who always lives life on the edge. His life is forever changed however after he is chosen to join an intergalactic group of warriors known as the Green Lantern Corps. While he struggles with the demands of being a superhero an evil force gains strength and threatens to destroy not only Earth, but the universe.

There was a chance here for the Green Lantern to be another one of those successful comic book adaptations much in the same vein as Captain America, Iron Man, etc. Hal Jordan was a complex character who, although bestowed the awesome powers of the Lantern Ring, struggled with his own personal demons of fear and tenacity. His story had the opportunity to show the audience that terrific powers can only help one so much, that it takes the will of a person to see things through in brightest day or in blackest night.

Unfortunately the script failed to give the film a consistent flow, juggling too many subplots and characters and simply not keeping the audience mentally engaged with anything on the screen other than the elaborate action sequences which were not all that great. The perfect example of this was the final showdown between Hal and the main villain of the film (Parallax), which was anti-climatic and unsatisfying given the build up of Parallax's powers and abilities as well as the power of Hal's Ring. Ryan Reynolds tried his best to make Hal not only cocky but accessible and vulnerable but he was (again) hamstrung by the script, which gave all of the characters in the film the individual emotional depth found in the characters of a SyFy made for tv movie. Director Martin Campbell only seemed interested in making sure the CGI looked good and also ignored the chance to present the audience with a story that would accentuate the action.

Green Lantern was an underwhelming excursion into the DC comic book universe.

Grade: C-

Buried: Too bad it didn't stay there.

Civilian contractor Paul Conroy, a truck driver working in Iraq, wakes up after his convoy was attacked to discover he has been buried alive in a wooden coffin. With only a limited amount of oxygen, a cell phone and a candle, he must keep his wits about him in order to escape and survive.

The film certainly featured an original (and timely) premise which could have led to a thoroughly engaging and thrilling cinematic experience. However for all of the inventive shots inside the cramped wooden coffin and an intense turn by a guy who is better known for his comedic or action hero roles, Buried was flawed in its presentation and the logic of its story. Suspending disbelief for a film is something of a necessity (especially for all those big budget, cgi-laden blockbusters in the theaters nowadays) but when a director ask the audience to buy into a number of plot devices that are realistically implausible (while having that story grounded in the “real world”), they run the risk of straining credibility and ultimately (as was the case in this film) the devices are so unrealistic that they distract from the film as a whole. Director Rodrigo Cortes had the best intentions with the film but the aforementioned lack of realism and vague nature of the script and story made it close to agonizing to watch.

There will be others who champion this film and point to its minimalist approach or sociopolitical underpinnings regarding the United States war in Iraq as welcome signs of a film that breaks from current Hollywood film trends of more guns and more cgi in order to focus on the story or the idea that Cortes was making a deeper statement with the movie but don’t believe them. Buried felt more like an over-hyped student film than a classic claustrophobic thriller.

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

Waiting: Do not mess with your waiter or waitress!

Ah the gross-out comedy, some say it peaked with the first American Pie in 1999 and every imitator that was released since then (including all the American Pie sequels) pales in comparison to that ground breaking film. But there are a few gross-out comedies out there which offer more than another inter-pastery erotic moment or one more perky foreign exchange student who likes nerds, one of which is Waiting.

Dean works with a group of colorful characters at a restaurant called Shenanigan’s. But when he gets offered an assistant manager position there he questions whether he should take the position, or pursue something else with his life.

The guy who provided the most laughs in this clever comedy was Ryan Reynolds as the cool, smarmy waiter Monty. With a witty retort for every situation, he was the standout in a talented ensemble cast. An while the movie could have done without some of the characters, specifically T-Dog and Nick, for they never contributed anything to the film as a whole and frankly they were irritating (hasn’t the faux white boy gangsta stereotype been done enough already?) what saved it from being just another in the growing line of gross-out comedies was Dean’s (played by Justin Long) story. It was one that most young people deal with (the desire to do something more with their lives) on a regular basis. This kept the film grounded in some reality, instead of being concerned strictly with making the audience squirm everytime “the game” was played by the male employees. Waiting was a treat for those people who work in the food service industry as well as those of us who rely on them every time we head out to eat. It was also a gentle reminder to consumers to have respect for the people who handled their food, lest it ends up being “taken care of” like it was for one annoying customer in the film.

Grade: B

Just Friends: Just funny.

Sometimes actors can carry an average film and make it into something more. Just Friends is a good example of this as both Ryan Reynolds and Anna Faris turned a standard romantic comedy into a knee - slapping good time.

Chris has had a crush on his friend Jamie since he was an overweight high schooler. Time has passed and now he’s a fit and successful music executive who, upon returning to his hometown, attempts to woo her. But there are a number of obstacles in his way, including his psychotic pop-diva client Samantha and a rival suitor named Dusty.

When a movie succeeds in just makes an audience laugh, its flaws can be overlooked, such was the case in Just Friends whose jokes were non-stop from start to finish. Sure some of the antics could be construed as adolescent and pandering and there were a number of breakdowns in the story, with some plot points became lost altogether (such as Chris’ job and whether or not he was able to keep it or not by the end of the film) but the positives far outweighed the negatives. Besides, it was hard not to laugh when both Ryan Reynolds and Anna Faris were on their games acting wise. Faris especially deserves credit for she stole every scene she was in as Samantha (think Britney Spears’ lack of talent and Paris Hiltons’ lack of intelligence). The film contained a surprisingly wistful romance between Chris and Jamie, one that those people stuck in the "friends zone" could relate to. Just Friends was just freakin’ hilarious.

Grade: B