Super 8

Super 8

2010

Action (Sci-Fi, Thriller)

Rated: PG-13

Running Time: 112 minutes

Starring: Elle Fanning, Joel Courtney, Ryan Lee, Zach Mills, Riley Griffiths, Ron Eldard, Gabriel Basso, Kyle Chandler.

Directed By: J.J. Abrams

Rating: 6 out of 10

Outline

A group of kids witness a train derailment. The cargo on it might have been something more than just crates as their town is hit by strange occurrences shortly after.

Review

If J.J. Abrams is involved with a movie, the odds are that some sort of over sized monster will cause havoc at some point. He likes to cause terror and mayhem by introducing Godzilla sized monsters into the general populace and that is a pretty cool thing to be known for. Super 8 is the story of a group of kids who witness a train crash. What follows is a series of bizarre events across their little town as there seems to be a huge creature on the loose.

I remember movies like E.T., Stand by Me, The Princess Bride, The Goonies, and The Never Ending Story, quite fondly from my youth. They are films that hold a special place in my heart even after all these years later. Movies have obviously evolved since then with much better cameras, amazing special effects, and lastly way bigger budgets. I don’t know the motivation behind Abrams making this movie but it seems directed at kids instead of trying to please the adult viewer. Perhaps in twenty years time, kids will have this on their favorite lists I don’t know. The story takes place in the late seventies and a group of friends are getting together to film their own zombie movie. While shooting said film a train derails and the film gets under way. There are two sides to this film. The first side follows the kids as they live their lives in the quiet suburban small town. The other side is the giant monster silently traversing the city, destroying anything or anyone that stands in its way. The two stories are good on their own but fit together like misshaped puzzle pieces when they try to blend them. The kid’s storyline is a cute coming of age tale synonymous with films of this nature. It is about finding young love, it is about dealing with the loss of loved ones, it is about defying adult authority, and lastly it is about dealing with situations that the parents, cops, and even the army can’t handle. Is it ridiculous? Of course, but that is why these films are so special for kids. When guns and bombs don’t work against this unknown terror there is something really pleasing about a young kid lighting off fireworks as the solution.

The kid’s friendship angle worked in this film because the acting was surprisingly strong. Child actor’s Joel Courtney and Riley Griffiths play the kids Joe and Charles respectively. They are great as the leading guys, and while their dialogue and mannerisms are a little too adult it still somehow works. Elle Fanning plays Alice the lone girl character in this movie and shows that she is one to look out for in the coming years. Her performance was great and especially coming from someone so young. The group of kids has that Goonie misfit vibe to it and it allows the viewer to easily follow their believable friendship.

The monster side to this film was cool but largely disappointing in length. This gigantic, unknown creature stalks the town and no one is the wiser. It attacks people and places seemingly at random. Some people die horribly while others are spared like a strange sort of monster roulette. We spend too much time in this film waiting for the monster to go out of control and start tearing the town a new one. By the time it actually hits the screen it will be a disappointment to most, and it is not nearly as viscous as one would hope. It is well designed though and frighteningly detailed but doesn’t have enough screen time for my liking. When the end does come it is in line with a film trying to appease the target audience being kids instead of making it fit with the rest of the story. Bottom line is the kids were fun to watch and the monster was well designed but the film was all over the place.

Director and writer J.J. Abrams has put together a kid friendly version of the movie Cloverfield. It is very well cast but the storylines seem to be going for way too much. He should have made the film just about the kids or just about the monster but not both. The limited special effects are cool in a childish sort of way. The monster also was well designed and who knows maybe he will arm wrestle the monster from Cloverfield at some point down the road. He does an okay job overall.

I give this movie a recommendation but it is hardly a super 8. It is more of a decent six.

T Factor – If you like films about kids then this could score higher on the rating scale.

T Factor – If you don’t like monster films then this could score lower on the rating scale.

If you liked this film reel recommendations: The Goonies, E.T. 

Little Fockers

Little Fockers

2010

Comedy

Rated: PG-13

Running Time: 98 minutes

Starring: Ben Stiller, Robert De Niro, Owen Wilson, Dustin Hoffman, Barbara Streisand, Jessica Alba, Blythe Danner, Teri Polo, Laura Dern, Kevin Hart, Harvey Keitel

Directed By: Paul Weitz

Rating: 2.5 out of 10

Outline

The Focker family is back and they are throwing their twins a huge birthday party.

Review

I was never a huge fan of this franchise so this was not high on my list of films to watch. It turns out my concerns about this film were well founded as this was treading on new grounds of awfulness for a comedy. Little Fockers is the story of Greg Focker and his wife Pam. They have gotten a little older and now have twins (boy and girl) to look after. It is the twin’s birthday and all of the In-laws, friends, and family are in town to celebrate the occasion.

Not only does this movie recycle all of the jokes from the first two movies, it tries to cover that fact up by adding more characters to a film that has too many already. Most viewers will see right through the Harvey Keitel and Jessica Alba smokescreen. It seems when a film isn’t working, adding a bunch of well known actors will cure all the problems, and that is a poor mindset to have. The Focker family is back and is inducing long droughts of silence and eye rolling at an alarming rate. They may be a little older, a little wiser, a little grayer, but they are a whole lot less funny. The film starts off messy and never really recovers. The opening scene sees all the old characters reintroduced to the viewer by telephone and through video conferencing with each other. The quick long distance preamble is too choppy for my taste and leads to little comedy. Fast forward to when most of the people have arrived in Chicago for the twin’s party and the film gets under its very predictable way. The film clearly is looking to cash in one last time from fans of the first two films. The movie really centers on Greg and his father–in-law Jack. Jack doesn’t think Greg is right for his daughter Pam and Greg thinks Jack is a lunatic. The film just beats you to death with the fact that Greg is a male nurse, his real name is Gaylord, and he isn’t right or good enough for Pam. Then when you think something new finally might happen the film grabs you by the collar and bashes you some more with Jack is a former CIA operative, He has a stern demeanor, he thinks Greg is little effeminate, and so on and so forth. If this is seriously the best the Focker’s has to offer than I should start writing movie scripts.

I disliked everyone in this film from top to bottom. Greg played by he thinks he is funnier than he actually is Ben Stiller was a terrible lead and to even call him a comedian in this is being overly nice. His father-in-law Jack played by Robert Di Nero has lost his comedic way also in these movies. What started out as a funny character has degenerated into a bitter shell of what he used to be. Jessica Alba is a mess as a super over the top drug representative. Greg’s ultra liberal parents played by Dustin Hoffman and Barbara Streisand offer the same tired sex material from the second film. Lastly, quasi friend and Pam’s ex boyfriend Kevin is back and played by Owen Wilson. His performance begs the question when the last time this guy was actually funny in a film?

The story is tired attempt at humor as Jack thinks Greg is having an affair with a woman from work. So Jack goes into detective mode while Greg once again has to prove he is a nice guy (for the third time). The kids offer little in the way of new material. The boy twin throws up and the girl twin doesn’t unless she likes you which is just sad writing. They even had to resort to having Jack ingest erectile medicine in an attempt at comedy but it comes off as forced and stiff (yeah I did). This series is like a fish lying on the bottom of the boat after falling off the hook. It is gasping and struggling but mostly hoping to be either put out of its misery or thrown back and given new life. When this disaster of a film comes to the end you will look back and realize you hated almost every aspect of this film. We get it Fockers, old people can’t use computers, and married couples fight, now please make us laugh.

Director Paul Weitz knows comedy (American Pie, About a Boy) so the quality of this film is shocking to me. He basically copied the first two films and called it by a new name. The addition of new characters could not compensate for a boring story and awful characters. This film is actually insulting to anyone who had to pay to watch this in theatre. Just an awful film with odd character encounters and poorly shot sequences.

I cannot recommend this film as it embodies all that is wrong with sequels nowadays.

T Factor + If you are a fan of family friendly comedy then this could score higher on the rating scale.

T Factor – If you like original material then this could score lower on the rating scale.

If you liked this film reel recommendations: Night at the Museum, Cheaper by the Dozen.

Don't Be Afraid of the Dark

Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark

Action (Horror)

2010

Rated: R

Running Time: 99 minutes

Starring: Guy Pearce, Katie Holmes, Bailee Madison

Directed By: Troy Nixey

Rating: 2.5 out of 10

Outline

A girl moves into her father’s house only to be assaulted by mysterious creatures living there.

Review

Guillermo del Toro is a brilliant man and yet he missed the mark with this film. He co wrote this fmovie and his penchant for kids in fantastical situations coupled with small creatures that crave bones shines through. (see Pan’s Labyrinth, Hellboy 2.) However the film never hits the heights of success that those other two movies do. Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark is the story of a young girl named Sally. She is sent to live with her father and his girlfriend at an old stately mansion. What seems like a nice older home actually harbors creatures that want to do her harm.

This movie is asking you not to be afraid of the dark. You don’t need to worry though as what lurks in the dark corners of this old house is more comical then frightening. The film starts off with a great scene involving the houses original occupant and his fascination with teeth. Any horror film that involves teeth usually freaks me out so this was a good start. It was all a tease though as the film never hits that high note again. After a brief introduction to the key players you will be following the film gets under way. The film made no sense to me on any level after the opening scene. Sally moves into the house and almost instantly starts to hear the creepiest voices on the planet. Picture the voice of Gollum from Lord of the Rings blended with Harry Potter speaking Parsaltongue and that is what she is hearing from the dark corners of the house. Instead of the natural reaction of this young child being frightened to death she inexplicably is interested by it. Objects move on their own accord and feet scamper about her room all to her entertainment. Then suddenly about halfway through the film she is like maybe I should be afraid now? it was quite odd. So that is how most of this movie plays out. The creatures in house play evil practical jokes that ultimately get blamed on Sally. For some odd reason no one ever captures a glimpse of these creatures except for Sally as they talk and scamper from place to place. Bottom line is other than the opening sequence and a scene involving some rumpled bed sheets this film never scares the viewer. If you want to frighten the viewer perhaps the Director should have come up with monsters that couldn’t have fit on a hamster wheel?

Even with the terribly conceived creatures and lack of scares, the casting is hands down the worst thing about the film. Sally played by newcomer Bailee Madison is a curious choice for the lead. Her puffy face and permanent emo expression will have you cheering for the house monsters to tear her apart. She ruins the movie with an odd sulky performance reminiscent of a brunette version of Carol Anne from the Poltergeist film. Her father and his girlfriend are played by Guy Pearce and Katie Holmes and they also turn in performances of a less then pleasing nature. When you don’t care what happens to the characters, the movie is never going to work.

This film is curiously rated R when it has a very PG-13 vibe to it. Virtually no blood is seen and when violence does occur it tends to be hidden in the dark or off camera. The film just goes from scene to scene not really doing anything. Of course the level of the creature’s shenanigans increases as the film goes on culminating into a Benny Hill like ending. This begs the question as to why they don’t just open with this tactic in the first place?  There are so many holes in plot and design that this film will not connect with many viewers. The house isn’t that scary although for some reason Sally has the weirdest night light ever. The creatures are hard to buy into when you could kick a 40 yard field goal with them no problem. The girlfriend finds out what is happening in the house using a bizarre Dewey Decimal clue. The creatures hate the light and make tons of noise when exposed to it, and yet no one ever sees them or hears them. I could go on and on but to top it all off the ending is truly bizarre, and not in a satisfying way.

Director Troy Nixey’s first feature film is more a disappointment than anything else. Odd casting choices coupled by odder characters really hurt this film. The bloody scenes are whatever and having the creatures obviously computer animated is the wrong way to go. The film never reaches the level of frights that one would hope for in a horror and the story is just god awful.

I cannot recommend this film; even people who really like horror will be off put by this showing.

T Factor + If you like creature horror this could score higher on the rating scale.

T Factor – If you like lots of blood in your horror then this could score lower on the rating scale.

If you liked this film reel recommendations: I am Legend, Piranha.