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Once upon a time it was possible to at least excuse the cinematic overkill of the Wachowski siblings as a willingness to take chances in pursuit of high-concept storytelling and the desire to push the special effects envelope. There technique was groundbreaking when it worked, and pretentious but still engaging when it didn’t. However, with the risible Jupiter Ascending they seem … Continue reading
When you think about it, the ocean depths are an even more terrifying environment than the void of space. In the far reaches of the cosmos one can at least see the stars; underwater, there’s only pitch-black darkness waiting to crush you to pulp. It’s a great setting for putting a group of people under intense mental … Continue reading
While it borrows liberally from Saving Private Ryan (aka the All Quiet On the Western Front of modern war movies) and doesn’t exactly rise above its obvious formula, David Ayer’s Fury is nevertheless an effective WWII drama that reminds that war is hell — specifically, one soaked in blood, mud, fire, and death. It’s a tad … Continue reading
It’s tempting to dismiss director Wes Ball’s adaptation of James Dashner’s young adult novel as a Hunger Games knock-off, but to do so would be unfair. A breath of fresh air into what is rapidly becoming a crowded sub-genre, The Maze Runner is a slickly plot-driven flick that delivers the basic sense of adventure that is sometimes missing from its relentlessly brooding cinematic progenitor. The premise is … Continue reading
It’s been nearly a decade since Robert Rodriguez’s stylish adaptation of Frank Miller’s Sin City comic book series shook up the megaplexes with a darkly humorous brand of pseudo-noir. Unfortunately, the long-awaited sequel Sin City: A Dame to Kill doesn’t prove to be worth the wait. Whereas the first film was kitschy, ambitious schlock, its sequel is a … Continue reading
As with a number of third installments, the law of diminishing returns kicks in with The Expendables III — big time. The franchise has always centered on the novelty value of having the aging action stars of the ’80s and ’90s appear onscreen together — often for the first time — in order to shoot, … Continue reading
One of the most pleasant surprises of a mixed-bag movie summer, Guardians of the Galaxy is something akin to Star Wars on Quaaludes. It’s a tongue firmly in cheek throwback to cheesy ’80s-era B-grade sci-fi movies that is equal parts goofball comedy, cartoony action, and general weirdness. The movie opens with a brief prelude: A young … Continue reading
It’s almost impossible to sit through Lucy without pondering what could have been. A ham-fisted fusion of high-concept science fiction and lowbrow action from writer-director Luc Besson, it fails in both categories. It does succeed at being a very, very dumb movie about being very, very smart — for whatever that’s worth. Scarlett Johansson, slumming between … Continue reading
Adapted from Jacques Lob and Jean-Marc Rochette’s obscure 1982 graphic novel Le Transperceneige by South Korean writer-director Joon-ho Bong, the politically charged Snowpiercer is a heady mix of art house and megaplex mainstream, beauty and brutality, that rates as one of the best dystopian allegories since George Orwell’s 1984. Or, to put it in less pretentious terms, it’s like Metropolis on a train, … Continue reading
Doug Liman had dropped the radar as a filmmaker for most of the past decade, but with the surprisingly smart and suitably bombastic science fiction thriller Edge of Tomorrow, he pops back up with more of the high-concept action beats and character development that made The Bourne Identity and Mr. and Mrs. Smith so much fun. More importantly, Liman takes … Continue reading
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