Unstoppable: Make it stop

I remember seeing the trailers to this movie and thinking how bad it could be. I skipped it on my own intuition, but when reviews came out praising it, I was shocked. I finally had the chance to revisit it, and now I know why I skipped it.

Unstoppable is “inspired by true events.” I guess that’s the looser way of saying based on a true story, especially since the plot is pretty nonsensical. Anyways, the story starts when a dumb railroad worker accidentally lets a train go unmanned. This train continues to pick up speed with nobody in it, leaving a possibility for it to derail in a heavily populated area. Before this occurs, Frank (Denzel Washington) gets a new rookie partner named Will (Chris Pine). They each have their own background story, but it’s mostly unimportant. The runaway train passes Frank and Will, and Frank decides that they can save the train by themselves.

One of the biggest problems I had with this movie was its opening. First impressions are everything, and Unstoppable does not make a good one. Products, TV shows, and company names are spread throughout the beginning and left me thinking if Coca-Cola part of the title of this film. Luckily, that slows down, but one thing that never ends is a simple camera trick that annoyed me to no end. During a wide shot, the camera would zoom in on a person’s face, and when the camera is zoomed in, it pulls out to show the scene. This happens all the time and sometimes even in conjunction. I stopped noticing it a little, but it never ceased to bother me.

The acting in this movie is not the best I’ve seen from any of the actors in it. Denzel Washington has a little fun running around a train, and making cracks at himself, but his genuinely good acting only shines through for a couple minutes. Chris Pine did his own stunts in Unstoppable, but that doesn’t mean his acting is as good as it could be. If you want to see him in a good movie, go see Star Trek. Rosario Dawson is not known for being the best actress out there, but she does a good job considering her other work, but, unfortunately, that’s not saying much.

Director Tony Scott is not known for amazing movies, but he has worked with Denzel Washington a few times, which may be a reason why Washington has some sub-par acting. Scott may have made him feel too comfortable, but I can’t tell for sure. The shaky camera style comes into play too much in this movie, and I once again can’t help but mention the zooms. The biggest problem with Scott’s direction is that he always repeats. There are a few scenes when people are talking on the phone, and every time the camera pans across the room of each person. Once is fine, but when it happens again and again, it just gets irritating.

The writing in this movie is its saving grace. Mike Bomback doesn’t phenomenal writing, but it still connects. Comic relief is common in this movie, and it works really well. It doesn’t interrupt the action, but is instead inserted into time spent in the train with Will and Frank. Being the writer for Live Free or Die Hard, Bomback knows how to construct an action sequence, and the tensest moments actually work. It was slightly boring at times, and some things could have been more fleshed out, but it seems Bomback did his research on trains.

Unstoppable is not a great movie. The acting is mediocre and the direction is annoying, but well-composed action sequences and some good dialogue keep it from being a total train wreck. 6/10

Planet Terror: Scary good

I noticed that this weekend the horrible-looking Spy Kids 4 is coming out. I looked back fondly on Spy Kids and remembered the great first and the good second films. I decided to take a look at director Robert Rodriguez and find something of his worthwhile to watch. I found Planet Terror. I remember seeing the preview for some reason and, being twelve, decided it would be the most amazing thing ever. Seeing as it was a hard “R,” I never saw it. That is until now. My twelve-year-old self wasn’t completely correct, but Planet Terror is a campy, hilarious, and downright gross piece of cinema.

The plot in Planet Terror is mostly left aside, but it goes a little something like this: An experimental toxin is leaked into the air at a military base in rural Texas. This toxin has an interesting effect. It turns people into flesh eating “sickos,” which can be described as a covered-in-boils zombie. The story has no true center, but rather follows several people including recently retired go-go dancer Cherry (Rose McGowan), her shady ex Wray (Freddy Rodriguez, no relation to Robert), a doctor (Josh Brolin) out for revenge on his cheating wife (Marley Shelton), the local sheriff (Michael Biehn), and several others. All of these characters try to survive as blood and guts fly everywhere with the recent outbreak.

Before I go my usual way of talking about actors, I must talk about this movie for just a while longer. The interesting thing about Planet Terror is that it is shown as though one were watching it in an old 70’s movie theatre. Grain is everywhere and the flecks of dust pop in and out of the screen all the time. Some might take this as a bad thing, but I think that it was a risk worth taking. The campy vibe of the movie along with the rampant blood and guts work extremely well to keep a 70’s exploitation movie vibe. I was amazed at how much I loved it even without ever experiencing it in real life.

It’s difficult to talk about just one actor, so I’ll try to wrap up all of them. Every actor knows very well that this movie is meant to have somewhat subpar acting due to its homage feel. Although this is taken into account, I can’t help feeling that some of the actors took this a bit too far, or just can’t act. Brolin was great as the vengeful doctor and so was Shelton as the runaway. Freddy Rodriguez and Biehn seemed to have the best feel for what to do along with a special guest appearance about an hour into the movie. I don’t want to spoil it, but that actor knows what he’s doing. My biggest problem was with Rose McGowan. It seems that she is only known for her sex appeal and that is made completely apparent in the movie. Near the end she does get to have some fun, and does a great job with those scenes, but before then her performance is nothing but bland.

Robert Rodriguez does almost every other thing imaginable with this movie. He wrote, directed, composed, produced, edited, supervised the visual effects, and even was the cinematographer. All praise and blame can be directed squarely at him, but he luckily deserves more praise. The direction is some of the cheesiest I’ve ever seen, and the visual effects probably have the most blood put in a movie ever. Images of infected genitalia are shown, and he almost always leaves nothing to the imagination. The writing is probably his best achievement. Although campy lines are spoken, Rodriguez puts some considerably funny moments into the script and then handles them with ease as the director, not to mention how back-and-forths between characters seem strangely natural.

Planet Terror may not appeal to all audiences, but if you like the idea of a campy film with rampant violence, gore, and hilarity, go check out Planet Terror. 7/10

Rise of the Planet of the Apes: Long name, great movie

When this movie was announced, I was extremely skeptical. A prequel to one of the best classic movies ever? I finally saw a few previews and I just got a little more doubtful. It looked more like an attack movie rather than a true story. The reviews began to pour out for this movie and I was shocked. I had to see for myself how good this movie is. Let’s just say that I came out stunned and wanting more.

Rise of the Apes, as I will now refer to it, starts when scientist Will Rodman, James Franco, makes a breakthrough in his research to cure Alzheimer’s, but when something goes wrong, Will’s project is shut down, forcing him to put down all of his ape test subjects. Will finds out that one of his subjects had a baby, and so he decides to take it home with him and name it Caesar. Will finds that this chimp is especially smart due to the fact that he was born from an ape that was given his Alzheimer’s medication. As Caesar grows up, he becomes bigger and more powerful, not to mention much smarter. When something happens, Caesar is put into an ape “sanctuary” with tons of less smart apes. From then on, you probably know what happens.

Now the thing about Rise of the Apes, is that James Franco is not the main character. Instead, the story focuses on the CGI ape, Caesar. A CGI primate as a main character is not something seen often, but for this movie it works. Caesar acts more like a human than any other ape in the movie, and this lets him convey emotion, particularly through his body movements. But the movements aren’t done by animators, it is done by the immensely talented Andy Serkis, known for the voice and movements of Gollum in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. I cannot give this man enough credit for his contribution to this movie, and it makes me wonder if he could get a nomination for best actor.

The only other prominent characters in this film are James Franco and Tom Felton. Franco does a laudable job, but I know that he’s done better. After seeing 127 Hours I expected a little more engrossment in his part, but it never seemed to shine through. Felton, best known for being Draco Malfoy in the Harry Potter series, does a nice job as the bully in the ape “sanctuary.” Felton does what he does best, and he does it well.

The strong direction in Rise of the Apes is done by Rupert Wyatt, a relative newcomer to film direction. The pans and camera movements that accentuate the movements and feelings of Caesar are flawless, not to mention the action sequence at the end of the movie. It seems that Mr. Wyatt will be getting a few new gigs, pending he hasn’t signed up for this movie’s eventual sequel.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes is an extremely interesting look on society, and quite a powerful movie as well. There was this one point when something slightly funny happened and then boom. Something intriguing occurs and the whole audience looked straight at the screen and realized this movie’s seriousness. If only the acting was better and the movie didn’t scream for a sequel, Rise of the Apes could have been one of the best movies of the year. 8.5/10

Minority Report: The future looks awesome!

Going into this movie, I knew very few things about it. I knew that it starred Tom Cruise and that the technology in it is slightly mirrored in the world today. What I didn’t know, was that the movie was as deep and as complicated as a Christopher Nolan film, the direction was done by Spielberg, and that the special effects are amazing even if the movie had come out today.

Minority Report takes place in 2054 when the world looks radically different and murder has been almost completely eradicated. The lack of murder is thanks to a new breed of crime fighting called precrime. This allows officers to see a murder before it happens. The logistics of this are best explained through the film, but that’s the basics. Tom Cruise plays Chief John Anderson, the head of the precrime division. John believes firmly that precrime works flawlessly, but when it is predicted that he will kill somebody, John must go on the run and prove his innocence. The story takes many twists and turns, and it becomes very difficult to say any more without giving away too much.

As I said in my review of Knight and Day, Tom Cruise is one of my favorite people to see on the silver screen. In Minority Report, Cruise has to be less snarky and a little more badass. Cruise’s great reactions to the special effects make the situation feel so believable, thus pulling the viewer in more. His reactions to more emotional situations are heart-wrenching and his overall performance is remarkable.

Director Steven Spielberg has never failed to amaze me. Every movie he directs is phenomenal and Minority Report makes no exception. Camera-work is done pitch-perfect and every action sequence is filled with excitement. All of the chase scenes look very much like his work with the Indiana Jones movies. This coupled with the Blade Runner-esque art style of the dregs of society are a great vision.

Watching these special effects, I had to see who the cinematographer was. Janusz Kaminski has worked with Spielberg’s action films before and even worked with Tom Cruise on Jerry Maguire. The special effects are beyond phenomenal for a movie made in 2002, much less one that was made in 2011. I have seen recent movies with special effects worse than that of Minority Report’s and that is saying something.

The two writers don’t have many credits, in fact, one has none other than Minority Report, but the dialogue is fantastic. There are a few scenes where the characters can seem a little out of place, and others when moments are funny in this very seriously-toned film. But the movie itself is based off of a short story written by Phillip K. Dick, the mastermind behind other books such as the aforementioned Blade Runner and the just as greatly adapted Total Recall.

All in all, Minority Report is a fantastic movie that is a thrill to watch. From every sci-fi futuristic toy, to every chase and every surprise, I never took my eyes off the screen. If only the jokes were left behind, this movie could be even closer to perfect. 9/10

Insomnia: Hard to stay awake

                I looked at this movie’s description and thought to myself, “How could this go wrong?”  An all-star cast of three Oscar-winners join up with Christopher Nolan to make a movie.  Luckily, Insomnia doesn’t go very wrong.  If you want a usual Chris Nolan mindfreak, you won’t find it here, but Insomnia is still a gripping mystery.

                Insomnia is the story of two Los Angeles cops who are sent to Alaska to find the killer of a teenage girl.  But when Will Dormer (Al Pacino) has something go wrong with his partner, Will begins to lose sleep.  Hilary Swank helps Dormer on their case as rookie cop Ellie Burr, as Robin Williams tags along as, well, a spoiler.  This is a mystery and I’d rather not give away too much of the plot.

                Al Pacino is an undeniably great actor and it is shown quite well through this movie.  As every new piece of evidence is unfolded and every new lead is figured out, the viewer can tell that Pacino stays in character nicely.  He seems to have that very normal feel to him.  Pacino acts how just about anyone in that situation would act, but he does so in an unnatural situation, and that’s what makes him great.

                Hilary Swank does a good job as the eager newbie.  The genuine kindness in her eyes fades as the plot gets thicker and it’s a nice change from similar faces in every scene.  It’s very difficult to talk about Robin Williams’ character, but he does a great job in it.  I’m not used to seeing Williams do a drama, but it seems to work very nicely for him.

                The writing in this movie is just about the only thing I have a problem with.  The screenplay is largely based off of an extremely similar Sweedish movie of the same name.  When I say extremely, I mean they’re almost exact copies.  The rest was up to screenwriter Hillary Seitz, whose only other credit is admittedly terrible Eagle Eye.  The writing isn’t bad per se, but the story seemed to be one big lag with a pickup in the last five minutes.  I know mysteries are meant to be slow, but this was bordering on unbearable.  I was kept in by wanting to know the ending and how it plays out.  I have to admit, the movie definitely kept me hooked.

                Director Christopher Nolan has great direction as usual.  I recently saw Memento and the style doesn’t seem to change that much.  That’s not necessarily a bad thing, Memento was very well directed, but I do wish that there was a slight change in style from Nolan’s other movies.

                Insomnia is a gripping mystery that will keep you wanting it to end, but without skipping the details.  Two hours is a long time these days and slow mysteries aren’t usually my favorite, but Insomnia kept my attention with smart direction, an intriguing story, and great acting, especially by Pacino.  7.5/10