SOUTHPAW MOVIE REVIEW

With the title of the movie being “Southpaw”, you would expect the main character to be a left handed fighter.  Surprisingly, he is not.  In fact, I didn’t notice a left handed fighter in the movie at all.  The title making no sense is a problem, and a bigger one than you might think.  The movie does something toward the very end that felt like it was only there to try to make some sense out of the title but that doesn’t work at all and is barely even noticeable. 

 

                In some ways, this movie is a totally clichéd boxing film.  In more important ways though, it is not clichéd at all.  For instance, rather than the typical trick of the movie trying to fool us into thinking that everything is fine and nothing bad could ever happen to these people, this movie sets the dark, foreboding tone early.  The first act of the movie feels like the proverbial powder keg waiting to explode all over the successful lives of our main characters.  When the bad thing does happen, it is even more impactful for having being built up the way that it was.   There is, of course, the typical “chance for redemption” aspect of the story, but it makes perfect sense in the way this film unfolds. 

                Jake Gyllenhaal has the ability to immerse himself into a character like nobody else working today.  I sometimes find it hard to remember the characters that Jake played simply because I always see the characters themselves instead of the actor.  That is the ultimate compliment.  This movie is no different.  When Gyllenhaal is on the screen, I see Billy Hope.  His slightly punchy performance in this film is phenomenal and Oscar worthy in my opinion. 

 

                If you’re looking for a fun movie experience, this film is not it.  To say that it is depressing is an understatement.  A really bad thing happens to the main character, followed by more bad things and more bad things.  Just when you think it will get a little better, it doesn’t.  The movie never lets up.  The depressing tone mixed with the slow-burn nature of the story caused me to get a little bogged down about halfway through the film.  It’s not boring exactly, just hard to stay into. 

 

                The characters are very important to this film.  The Billy Hope character is very good.  He is a good person and you want to see him succeed but he is so full of rage that it makes him totally self-destructive.   The second most important character in the film, Tick Wills (Forest Whitaker), an aging boxing trainer who tries to help Billy straighten up his life, falls far short of what I needed the character to be.  Whitaker’s performance is very good.  In fact, the performance is far better than the character itself.  This was one of the problems that really hurt the film.

                Antoine Fuqua (Training Day, Shooter) did a very good job directing this film.  The boxing scenes in particular are very well shot.  Nice wide shots show the action well and the sound editing is terrific.  This is some of the best movie boxing I have ever seen.  The ending is built up very well and is legitimately exciting. 

                There is a lot to like about this film, but I mostly saw it as a missed opportunity.  All the components were here for what could have been a great film.  The screenplay, the first written by Kurt Sutter, is what really let it down.  It seemed confused, not sure where the real story of the film was.  The real story is Billy Hope’s rage and his struggle to control it.  The problem is, the screenplay gets too distracted with other, less important things, like beating us over the head with how depressing the story is.  This is not a bad film at all.  The acting is great and it could be Antione Fuqua’s best effort since Training Day.  I just couldn’t help thinking about how much better it could have been.  The Movie Man gives it 3.5 out of 5 stars. 

 

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MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: ROGUE NATION MOVIE REVIEW

I truly believe that Tom Cruise was born to pay Ethan Hunt.  I don’t know if I’ve ever seen an actor who is as perfect for a role as Cruise is for his Mission Impossible character.  His physical acting and intensity lends itself so well to the tone of this franchise.  None of these movies would be what they are without Cruise in the lead role.  Through this series of films, he is fast becoming one of my favorite actors. 

 

                In this, the fifth film in the Mission Impossible series, the IMF once again faces extinction.  Hunt and his crew are the only ones capable of stopping the Syndicate, a rogue criminal organization that operates secretly, much like the IMF.  Being the only ones who know of the Syndicates existence, the remnants of the IMF must find a way to take them down without any outside help. 

                Amazing stunts have become a trademark of this franchise.  This film does not disappoint in that regard at all.  At 53 years old, Cruise is still every bit the stuntman he has always been.  In what is quite possibly the greatest opening scene I have ever witnessed, we see him literally hanging off the side of a jet as it takes off.   There is a particularly incredible motorcycle chase scene which perfectly illustrates the advantage of practical stunts over CGI.  But probably the most amazing of all the films stunts is an anxiety inducing underwater scene in which Cruise had to hold his breath for an incredible six minutes during filming!  I appreciated the great stunt work in this film.  This is sadly becoming a lost art in this day and age and all the CGI they use now just doesn’t cut it for me. 

 

                The screenplay, written by Christopher McQuarrie, is good but not perfect.  It does a very good job with explanation and exposition.  It is well structured and well organized, which keeps the sophisticated plot from being convoluted.  There are a few clichés at work, which is not entirely in opposition to the overall tone of the film.  The dialogue is good.  There are a couple lines that are really incredible. 

                I’ve already mentioned about how awesome Tom Cruise is in the film.  That is to be expected.  What really stood out to me were the performances of Simon Pegg and Ving Rhames.  Pegg is believably funny and is the perfect complement to the intense performance of Cruise.  He manages to weave his comedy into the film without having it feel unnatural.  Rhames brings an on-screen presence to the film that is just incredible.  His performance here is his best since Pulp Fiction.

 

                I have thrown a lot of praise at this film, and rightfully so, but as good as it is, it is not perfect.  The problems come in around the third act when the logic falls apart.  One twist too many causes a big pot hole to emerge in the narrative that I just couldn’t get past.  No spoilers, but there was something that happened here that made everything else the characters did from that point on not make any sense.  It was my only big problem with the film, but it was a significant problem.  Less significantly, the main female character in the film does something toward the end that I saw as a direct contradiction to what her character was supposed to be. 

                Even with a significant logic issue in the home stretch of the film, there is still enough good here to make this a very fun movie experience.  It’s not as good as the last MI movie in my opinion, but the acting is great and the stunts alone are worth the price of admission.  The Movie Man gives it 3.5 out of 5 stars. 

 

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THIS IS THE END MOVIE REVIEW

Where do you want to be when the end comes? Maybe some place where you could defend yourself like a gun shop or a bunker of some sort? Maybe in a church or some other spiritual place like that? In your home or the place where you grew up? How about locked up in James Franco's house with five of the funniest human beings alive, arguing about who gets the last Milky Way? Now ...we're talking!

 This is the End is a concept piece in which the concept is that all the actors play themselves. Or rather they play their stereotypes; what we think they're like. Seth Rogan loves to laugh and party and ponders weather or not he has become a sellout. Jay Baruchel and James Franco compete for Seth's attention. Jonah Hill is an earing wearing sissy boy, and Michael Cera does a whole lot of cocaine. I don't know if this is what any of these guys are really like, but it don't really matter. This is the way we want to see them. Rogen, along with writing and directing partner Evan Goldberg, went for something outside the box here and the results are brilliant!

As this story goes, a bunch of celebrities meet at James Franco's new house for a party. There is no shortage of big names here. Emma Watson is there along with Paul Rudd, Kevin Hart, Aziz Ansari, McLovin, even Rhianna makes an appearance. James Franco's house warming party is certainly not lacking in star power.

Everything is going really well until this little apocalypse thing happens. The party breaks up pretty quickly after that. Most everybody leaves, or dies a horrible yet hillarious death, except for Rogen, Franco, Baruchel, Hill, and Craig Robinson. They decide to barricade themselves up in the house. Using Franco's artwork and duct tape, they are able to construct an impenetrable fortress. This sets the perfect stage for last days laughs and post apocolyptic fun!

 I was very happy with this movie. I always enjoy seeing actors play themselves but I was worried that this would come off as being self indulgent. Instead it looked like the actors were poking fun at themselves, which is the complete opposite of self indulgent. That's good to see. It's fun to watch a bunch of rich, successful movie stars NOT taking themselves too seriously.

Being a fan of movies in general, I enjoyed the many movie references in this film. There were Green Goblin references, 127 Hours references, Freaks and Geeks references. There was one scene in which Jonah Hill, Michael Cera, and Christopher Mintz-Plasse were talking that looked just like a Superbad reunion. They referenced Your Highness at one point. There was even a hint at a possible Pineapple Express sequel.

 This movie was a little like a comedy all-star team and everybody was in top form. If your familiar with these guys movies, then you know to leave your kids at home for this one. The comedy is pretty rough. But if you liked any of the movies this group has made in the past you will probably love this one. If you typically don't like their movies, you probably won't like this one either.

This Is the End is not a cinema classic by any means but it is very good at what it does. It's very funny, features good performances, and is surprisingly well written. I didn't want this one to end, yet I was interested to see how it ended. When it did end, it wasn't what I expected. Overall, it was the most fun I've had at the movies so far this year. How cliche was that?  The Movie Man gives it 4 out of 5 stars. 

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ANT-MAN MOVIE REVIEW

My level of skepticism increases with each one of these comic book movies that come out.  The films have been so successful recently that this has become it’s own genre.  As good as the Marvel movies in particular have been, I feel like this is something that can’t last.  I know one of these films will fall flat eventually and, as I watched the previews for Ant-Man, I couldn’t help believing that this would probably be the one. 

 

                Dr. Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) was a scientist who spent his life developing an armored suit that was capable of shrinking the wearer down to the size of an ant.  Pym intended the technology for military use, but it was stolen by a group that had other, more sinister plans.  Pym decides to recruit convicted cat burglar Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) to become the new Ant-Man and get the original suit back before it is too late. 

                What I really liked about this movie was it’s tone.  Contrary to what most comic book movies try to do these days, this film is pretty light.  It is refreshing to see a movie like this that stays in it’s lane and just tries to be fun.  The movie has a great deal of humor that works very well.  Most of the jokes are provided by Michael Pena, who is just terrific.  This movie was a joy to watch, mainly because it didn’t try to be more than it should have been. 

 

                Obviously with the whole Ant-Man shrinking thing, visuals are a very big part of this film.  These effects are handled very well by director Peyton Reed and his crew.  When Ant-Man shrinks, it looks terrifically realistic.  A lot is done with these segments that add to the enjoyment of the film.  Regular things like a bathtub drain and toy trains are made to look menacing and provide some of my favorite and most enjoyable sequences of the film. 

                The original screenplay for this film was written by Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz) and it shows because the foundation of the movie is very well written.  It was also clear to me that other people have worked on this script since Wright left the project.  Overall this screenplay is not bad at all.  The story is as good as it could possibly be with this type of premise.  The side characters in the film are amazing, which is a typical characteristic of a great screenplay.  I wouldn’t actually consider this to be a great screenplay, but rather a very good one.  There are a few bothersome clichés used.  My biggest problem with the movie is the character of Hope Van Dyne.  This character could have been great and very instrumental to the film but was unfortunately pretty much just used as PC bait. 

                All the acting in the movie is good but the one that really stands out is Paul Rudd.  I’m glad that he got this role and did such a good job with it.  The light tone I mentioned earlier lent itself very well to Rudd’s talents.  He has been one of my favorite comedic actors for years and I’m glad that he has been introduced to the Marvel universe. 

 

                This movie turned out to be a lot better than I was expecting.  I had a great deal of fun with it and would certainly recommend it.  The Hope character got on my nerves but I enjoyed pretty much everything else about the film.  Ant-Man is a success because it is not afraid to be what it is and doesn’t try to be something it’s not.  The Movie Man gives it 3.5 out of 5 stars.  

 

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AFTER EARTH MOVIE REVIEW

The first of the summer movies that I was really looking forward to this year was After Earth. Being a huge fan of M. Night Shyamalan I may be expected to be a little biased. However, I really wasn't expecting too much by the time I actually saw this movie. So, was it good, bad, exciting, boring? Did Will Smith's kid really get top billing? For a full guided tour of After Earth, follow me.

 The mo...vie is set one thousand years in the future. Humans have left Earth because of a certain race of aliens who can literally smell fear, and now inhabit a planet called Nova Prime (Wasn't that a Transformer or something).

Will Smith plays a character named Chypher Raige. I personally hate the name, but the character itself is well drawn by Shyamalan and brilliantly acted by Smith. Chypher is a great and legendary soldier who has mastered the art of "ghosting", which means to be completely without fear and thus becoming invisible to the aliens. I know, it's a tad cheesy, but I still think it was an interesting concept.

While Chypher Raige is apparently the best soldier....ever, I guess, he is arguably a terrible father to his son Kitai, played by Smith's real life son Jaden. You get the feeling that Kitai has some security issues caused by his father being too hard on him and possibly a little something that happened in his past.

 So Chypher and his son go off into space and, as luck would have it, run into a meteor shower and crash land on a strange planet. A planet called EARTH! (key dramatic music). Chypher and Kitai are the only survivors of the crash. However, daddy's leg is injured, leaving it up to young Kitai to travel the hostel planet to find flares in the tail of the ship.

Although the movie had it's problems, I thought it was very good. It looked great. Shyamalan created a broad, realistic, and sometimes terrifying future Earth, and reminds us that he knows how to let his characters tell a story.

Will Smith turns in, what I would call, the greatest performance of his career. At least his best since I Am Legend. He left his comfort zone to play a low key, reserved character and really did a great job. He had such an outward presence as a leader and really related well the inner turmoil of Chypher Raige.

On the negative side of things, the movie starts off bad, which is a problem. The opening narration is just painful, and then there are the accents. I understand what Shyamalan was trying to do with the accents. If Earth was evacuated and everybody was mixed up on another planet somewhere for a thousand years, they would certainly have a different accent. Still, this is very hard to deal with for, about the first thirty minutes or so. After a certain point in the movie I stopped noticing it.

 Jaden Smith shows promise to me, although I thought this role was WAY too big for him at this stage in his career. I'm not ready to anoint or condemn him just yet, but there were some glaring weaknesses that definitely showed up here.

The very end of the film is a bit corny, but that's ok to me because the point comes across well, and it is a strong one. I felt good leaving the theater and that's a big compliment to a movie like this.

All in all, I thought After Earth was a solid effort. It had a simple plot, yet well told and strongly acted. If this is an indication of how the summer movie season is going to go then I am ready! The Movie Man gives it 3.5 out of 5 stars.

 

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MINIONS MOVIE REVIEW

While I was watching Minions a massive storm blew through my town.  It knocked down trees and power lines, overturned vehicles, and killed the power in the theater, which was a first for me.  The screen went blank about twenty minutes from the end of the movie.  It was off ten or fifteen minutes, then they got everything going again and they started the movie back where it was when it went off.  Thanks to a conscientious Malco staff, I didn’t miss anything so it shouldn’t affect my ability to review it.  It was an interesting experience though. 

 

                Minions, if you don’t already know, is basically an origin story about the little yellow guys from the Despicable Me franchise.  It turns out minions have actually been on earth longer than humans and have always been looking for the most evil (or despicable) master to serve.  At some point in the 1960’s the minions, frustrated after years of not being able to find a master, chose three (Kevin, Stuart, and Bob) to go out and find an evil leader. 

                The biggest problem with this film is the same thing that makes it good; the minions themselves.  Sure, they are funny. Sure, they are cute.  But an hour and a half of them is a little much.   There is not a human character introduced in the whole first act.  The minion language was really starting to wear on me by that time.  When we finally get human characters, they all turn out to be flat and don’t really add anything to the film.  The story is generic and lacks focus.  It’s hard to get invested in anything that is going on. 

 

                I really enjoyed the 60’s pop culture references in the movie. The soundtrack was really good and fun.  These things were the best parts of the movie to me.  There was one scene in particular involving The Beatles that I really enjoyed. 

                The major saving grace for this movie is that it is indeed funny.  Most of the jokes work and the minions themselves are still loveable, it’s just that their particular brand of humor gets a little repetitive after a while.  There was nothing in the movie that was just laugh-out-loud hysterical but I don’t remember any jokes that fell absolutely flat either.  There were a couple of jokes that were arguably inappropriate for a movie clearly aimed at young kids. 

 

                This is not a very long review because there is not a lot I can say about this film.  It is what it is.  It succeeds at what it sets out to do.  Kids are going to absolutely love it.  It will make tons of money for that reason alone.  Adults may enjoy it for a while but ultimately it will get repetitive and silly.  I didn’t hate the movie by any stretch of the imagination but it wasn’t anywhere near as good as I had hoped it would be.  Watch Inside Out instead.  The Movie Man gives it 3 out of 5 stars. 

 

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THE GALLOWS MOVIE REVIEW

One movie trope that always gets on my nerves is the way that phones in movies ring as long as they need to, which is usually a totally unrealistic amount of time.  I always find myself thinking about the person on the other end of the line.  Why would they possibly be letting the phone ring so long?  Especially in a situation where a character is in some kind of trouble and they are trying to get to an incredibly long ringing phone and the person that is calling has no idea they are in trouble, that makes no sense.  The reason I brought that up is because I honestly believe this movie has the longest ringing phone in movie history. 

 

                The Gallows opens up by showing a school play from 1993 that went horribly wrong.  In a hanging scene, a prop malfunction caused a kid to actually be hanged on stage.  Now, all these years later, the school has decided to do the play again.  A couple of jocks who do not want the play to be carried out decide to sneak into the school one night and destroy the set.  That is when the terror begins.  Oh, and a ghost shows up too. 

                In a way, I think found footage films get a bad rap.  I complain about them as much as anyone, but the truth is I have seen more good ones than bad ones.  I understand that studios use them as a cheap and lazy way to make a lot of money, but some have used the found footage gimmick very well.  The Gallows is not one of those.  At one point, the main character actually says the line, “Why would you even want to film this?”  That is ironic because that’s exactly how I felt throughout a good portion of the film.  Anytime the guy is not consciously filming for whatever reason the camera just coincidentally happens to be in just the right place to get everything exactly in frame.  Also, at one point they introduce cell phone cameras into the mix, which by the very concept of found footage makes no sense.  This, along with the strange way they screwed the timeline up led to quite a bit of confusion in the second act. 

 

                The first act of the movie relies heavily on humor to make it work.  Unfortunately, it is one of the worst attempts at humor I have ever seen in a movie.  The guy holding the camera, and thus making most of the jokes, is the most annoying character I can possibly imagine.  Also in the first act, we are introduced to just about every clichéd high school character there is, from geeky drama kids to meat head jocks.  The movie did not get off to a good start. 

                The second act is all about the jump scares.  I always felt like I was either watching a jump scare or anticipating the next one.  If you hate cheap jump scares like I do, this movie is NOT for you.   One of the jump scares in particular is so badly executed that you can’t even tell what happened.  There is just a really loud noise and a bunch of frantic screaming.  That’s not scary.  That is annoying.  There is one good scene in the movie.  Just one, and it is in the trailer…..and on the poster. 

                The characters in this movie are non-existent.  They are just random people running around screaming with a camera and nothing that even closely resembles a personality.  The acting is bad, especially Reese Mishler, who plays the main character.  Everybody in the movie over-acts all the time.    

 

                The ending of the movie is stupid.  REALLY stupid.  There is a twist at the end that is even more stupid.  The ending makes the whole movie make even less sense than it made in the first place, which is not much. 

                The Gallows insulted my intelligence.  I was not in a good mood after sitting through this ridiculous mess of a found footage film.  Please don’t go see this.  Please do not give these people any more money for making garbage like this.  The Movie Man gives it 1 out of 5 stars. 

 

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