Review: 'Run All Night' (2015)

Warner Bros.

Looking back at the string of Liam Neeson action genre based films that have been prevalent over the past half-decade or so, I can’t say that I have been all that trilled with any of them (the ones I have seen anyway) since 2009’s Taken. In this time frame, two of these films came from director Jaume Collet –Serra, as he teamed up with Neeson for Unknown and Non-Stop. With Run All Night, we find the director and actor together once again with results pleasantly different than before. Collet-Serra and Neeson, along with the rest of the cast, easily turn Run All Night into something that has a little more depth and substance than we are used to seeing from Neeson as of late.

This time around, the audience is introduced to Neeson as Jimmy Conlon, a former hit man for crime boss and life-long friend Shaun Maguire (Ed Harris), but an alcoholic, estranged father to his son and having to dress up as Santa Claus for a party Shaun is throwing as a source of income. Not many hours after this, Jimmy’s son Mike (Joel Kinnaman), a limo driver, and Shaun’s son Danny (Boyd Holbrook), a drug dealer, cross paths when Danny attempts to kill Mike after he wittiness him kill the men that were drove by Mike to Danny’s place because he owed money to them.

So what stops Danny from doing so? Neeson. Somehow, without any surprise though, Jimmy is at the right place at the right time and just before Danny is able to shoot Mike, Jimmy successfully does the same to Danny. Like any veteran killer would be, a cool, calm and collected Jimmy goes as far as to immediately call Shaun and tell them that he has just killed his son. This causes Shaun, and all the forces he has at his disposal, to go on the hunt for both Jimmy and Mike, looking for nothing less than the same thing Jimmy did to Danny.

From an action stand point, Run All Night is not much different than any other entry in Neeson’s recent action hero portfolio. Although it is far from a ‘shoot ‘em up’ style of action, the gunshots go way beyond countless, heavily occupying nearly every scene at some point and as it becomes clear that there is more here than just testosterone and bullets, the way these sequences are shot can cause for moments of frustration as awkward, camera close-ups and editing that is far too often too quick to switch frames. To go along with this, transitions from one scene to another or one part of New York to another, along with being unneeded, are hindered from poor CGI.

Although it has more going for it than the some of the editing, Brad Ingelsby’s script leaves some to be desired as well. It is saved by it’s intentions ultimately shining through and it’s dialogue is delivered but several decisions only cause for questions rather than satisfaction. A lot of this questioning is directed toward the purpose of certain characters. Common’s Mr. Price, a hitman hired by Shaun to kill Jimmy and Mike, is an underdeveloped character, causing for his involvement to always feel out of place and outside of getting half his face melted off, not all that amusing. To go along with this, due to his lack of purpose, why Shaun has a right hand man and even more pressing, why Bruce McGill is in the role doesn’t make much sense.

Where the script fails it’s audience the most though is it’s finale. Run All Night’s plot revolves around Jimmy and Shaun’s past and present relationship. So the climatic point of this arc should be the finale. Instead it only acts as a pre finale to the final scene. The final moments of the film feel a little farfetched but it is the final showdown between Jimmy and Shaun that fails to cap off what has been established and built up to that point. The lead up to this moment is solid, as it features somewhat meaningful encounters, whether on the phone or face to face, between the two but is concluded with just chasing each other and hiding behind trains while dodging bullets, lacking any type of needed dialogue that wraps up Neeson’s character arc and how it relates to Shaun.

Fortunately, these flaws are not severe enough to over shadow the work of the cast and Collet-Sierra. It is almost as if Collet-Sierra, realizing that the novelty of Neeson’s latest trend of the same type of roles he takes on is wearing off, saw something in Ingelby’s script and the character of Jimmy that would change things up a bit. Opposite of the Neeson’s past characters, Jimmy starts on the bottom and gradually grows stronger but not to the point that he is physically superior to his opponent. Jimmy’s character arc is one of redemption and attempting to make up for the past. And while there is plenty of fast pace moments, Neeson allows this arc to shine though with a delivery that is never rushed, giving it some weight and making it clear that he is beaten down by his mistakes and the scenario at hand, while tragic for several reasons, is a chance to make things better.

The rest of the cast, Harris and Kinnaman in particular, play well off of Neeson, also allowing things to develop naturally by never rushing things while buying in with their non-verbal delivery. To go along with the films performances, Boyd Holbrook turns in an entertaining performance even if only featured in the films set-up. It can’t go without mention though that, while these performances move the film along nicely and play a much larger role than Vincent D’Onofrio’s, it is his subtle but attention grabbing approach as Detective Harding that will have you wanting more of the character and D’Onofrio.

To call Run All Night an action flick would never be accurate, so looking for the typical Neeson, high-flying, action first type of movie, one is sure to be disappointed. This is a crime drama type of event with plenty of bullets and all though there are a handful of intense moments that could be considered action sequences, they are far from the films finer aspects. But this doesn’t mean Run All Night has nothing to offer, as it justify a viewing, maybe even a second, with it’s successful, redemption themed recalibrating of the Neeson vehicle that was starting to lose it’s allure

Grade: B-      

Review: 'Unfinished Business' (2015)

Twentieth Century Fox 

It’s appropriate that Vince Vaughn runs a marathon towards the end of Unfinished Business due to the way the movie quickly starts to feel like: a marathon. With just over an hour and a half running time, it would initially appear that a sprint would be a more appropriate comparison but it’s a long and somewhat tiring experience. Why? To put it simply, it’s not funny. Unfinished Business becomes difficult to get through as it clearly attempts to be a comedy, failing miserably though as it couldn’t be much farther from entertaining, ultimately just becoming a thrown together mess of a movie.

Unfinished Business begins with Dan Trunkman (Vince Vaughn) quitting his job after a heated altercation with his boss Chuck Portnoy (Sienna Miller) over pay cuts. After quitting though, he immediately declares that he is starting his own business. Of course this situation would not be complete if he didn’t pose the “Who’s coming with me?” question. And like the results of most of these scenarios that we see on screen, there are no takers.

It’s not until he gets out to the parking lot that that Tim McWinters (Tom Wilkinson), fired because of his age, and Mike Pancake (Dave Franco), not an employee but happens to be there for an unsuccessful job interview, agree to join Dan’s new found company. In no time at all, without the audience knowing it, it becomes one year later and Dan’s company, with his two employees, are closing in on a deal with a major company but must go to Portland to “shake on it”. Once in Portland though, the deal doesn’t appear to be just a shake away like Dan had thought, causing the trio to travel to Berlin and face off against his former employer as they are also attempting to make a deal.   

There isn’t much going on as far as the obstacles in the way of making this financially big deal, or it doesn’t seem like it anyway. Its made clear that Dan’s former company, lead by Sienna Millers character, is also trying to make the same deal with the same company but you wouldn’t know this from Millers involvement. The audience is led to believe from a couple of scenes in the films set up that Miller as Chuck will be the plots antagonist but after these scenes she is nearly absent for the remainder of the film. Even when she is around she isn’t given anything important or funny to do which is a shame because it’s a character that really could have been ruthless with a comedic spin (Kevin Spacey’s Horrible Bosses type of character) and it would have been nice to see what Miller could have done with it. Going along with this, James Marsden as Jim Spinch, a high up in the major company Dan is attempting to make the deal with, isn’t given much to do, making him easy to overlook. The only way the audience knows that Dan is struggling to close is the going back and forth between looking like a done deal and not, which is never done with any rhyme or reason.

The reason Dan is so desperate to make this deal is meant to add a sentimental storyline as he needs the money to send his kids to an expensive private school due to his son getting bullied but it never feels like an urgent problem and, like the pursuit of making the deal, it never becomes all that climatic. Of course, being bullied is an awful thing and is compelling due to the destruction it can cause, so if a plot is going to touch on it, than it should invoke some kind of feeling whether it is featured in a comedy or not. In this case though, it’s rather flat, never really proving that Dan’s son is being destroyed from bullying actions. Juggling work and family goes hand and hand with this dilemma as Dan is gone a lot for his job and could have worked with a bigger storyline given that it is basically the only aspect of the film that connects. Unfortunately though, it is only briefly touched upon, not given a chance to make much of an impact.

Motivation to complete this deal for Dan’s two employees is rather weak, or is presented weak anyway. Dave Franco’s character, Mike Pancake really has no financial reason for the deal to go through and is primarily here for comedic purposes as his lack of education and his innocence are constantly being poked at. With this, comes out dated, unearned and at times insensitive jokes that cause Franco to appear more annoyingly out of place than funny.

The reason Tom Wilkinson’s character needs the financial benefits from this deal is to pay for the divorce him and his wife are getting. A running joke with this scenario is Tim’s desire to be with other women which never evokes any laughter and just resulting in awkward, unneeded moments. As I mentioned earlier, Tim was fired for being too old which would have made a great storyline that could have involved Tim seeking revenge on his former company. It would also allow Wilkinson to go off a little but instead he is pinned down and way to reserve.       

As you can probably already tell, the main take away from Unfinished Business is how unfunny it is. Sure, the message is weak and underdeveloped but it wouldn’t be the first time that an all-out comedy wasn’t compelling. The case here is that it’s neither. Unfinished Business lacks any type of energy or cleverness that an all-out comedy demands. With humor attempts that involve penis’s coming out of walls, Pancake as a last name and pretending the screen has frozen when face timing, the feeling towards it all becomes an “I’ve seen a better version of this before” type.

When trying to convey how unfunny Unfinished business truly is, an example that comes to mind, when thinking about my experience in theaters this year, I would have to say that Foxcatcher wasn’t as quite inside as it was here. It’s bad enough that just a few people were there but when the few that are aren’t laughing, it becomes clear that this is a comedy that will be quickly forgotten, if acknowledged at all.

Grade: D-

Review: 'Focus' (2015)

Warner Bros.

It’s ironic that a film titled Focus fails to do just that. Sure, Focus features a few entertaining scenes and can never be categorized as terrible in really any moment of its running time but to call it a complete movie would not be fair. These moments of entertainment, while enjoyable, keep the story from ever being all that clear or important. As the characters in the film are constantly conning someone or each, Focus ultimately wants the biggest con to be on the audience, the problem is that, with all the twist and turns it tries to pull, it never pin points what it wants us to take away from it all.

There is nothing quick about Focus’s set up, as it is essentially the first half of the film. Because of this, the film features two stories that have little to do with each other, as if the audience is watching two episodes of a television program. The first episode or the first story, the pilot episode so to speak, not just introduces the characters and the world they inhabit but features a story in itself all while setting the future up.        

Focus begins with Nicky (Will Smith) and Jess (Margot Robbie) meeting through a con Jess is attempting on Nicky. Little does she know that Nicky, coming from generations of conmen, is a veteran conmen himself so he has no trouble sniffing out what she is trying to pull. He does however offer to give her a few tips on how to take from people without them knowing. She wants to be a part of something bigger though, so after an audition of sorts, Nicky and his partner Horst (Brennan Brown) agree add her to their crew of thieves in New Orleans for a major football championship.

The week leading up to game is when this group cons the large crowd of people, whether it be at casinos or even ATM’s. On the streets is where the pick pocketing techniques are performed, feeling repetitive as it is featured in a couple of previous scenes where Nicky and Jess are doing similar things. In fact, the film in general is quite repetitive in terms of dialogue and scene construction.

Focus’s set-up filled first half is also where we meet Farhad (Adrian Martinez). Referred to as a “400 pound Persian” at one point, the character Farhad, only really featured in the first half, is solely here for comic relief as his crude and uncomfortably sexual humor is aided by Martinez’s delivery and timing. He does however play a crucial part in a gambling scenario during the football game when Nicky has 1.2 million in a bet with a wealthy man by the name of Liyuan played by a delightfully over the top BD Wong.

This scenario, still apart of the films set-up, is basically a separate story before the films actual plot takes place, as it has absolutely nothing to do with what is to come. Even so, it is easily the most entertaining sequence of the film. It’s really the films only earned moment as the audience is led to believe with previous situations and moments that Nicky has a gambling problem so when he can’t walk away from a bet, the audience is forced to feel something towards the character and the moment.

One problem with this lead up, although entertaining and well-constructed, is that after it is revealed that Nicky really doesn’t have a gambling problem, the previous scenes that make the audience believe that Nicky has a gambling problem are somewhat discredited. Does he or does he not have a gambling problem? The film makes it appear that he does and he doesn’t? Maybe this is just me looking into in to it too much but the way this is handled is slightly puzzling. None the less, it’s still difficult not to find joy in this scene, with Smith, Robbie, Martinez and Wong all having a lot to do with that.

After all the this, the set-up abruptly closes with Nicky making it clear to Jess that they can’t get involved even though up to that moment, it appeared that they had started a relationship. Fast forwarding 3 years is where the actual films plot begins. Here we find Nicky in Buenos Aires working a con for racing team owner Rafael Garriga (Rodrigo Santoro) that involves him posing as engineer for a rival team owner by the name of McEwen (Robert Taylor) in order to cause them to lose races.

With this basic premise as a foundation, the second half of the film is about Nicky and Jess’s relationship after it is revealed that Jess is with Rafael. This is where everything slowly goes downhill. This focus on the relationship, as both are playing each other, becomes very repetitive, slowing the film down. We get it, you want to be with each other but you can’t express this because of the cons you are a part of. There is no reason to remind the audience of this with similar scene after scene. On top of this, it’s all taken a little too serious. It is made out to be this complex, engaging romance but just turns out to be a bore most of the time, leading me to believe that the second half should of kept the comedic approach that the set-up had, likely making for a more appropriate and enjoyable atmosphere.   

When it comes time to wrap the weak plot and over played romantic storyline up, Focus franticly tries to twist and turn its way to a fitting finale. In its final 10 minutes, the twist and turns are piled thick that not even it knows what it wants to be, causing for a sloppy, anti-climatic finale.

With all this said though, because Focus is a tale of two stories, the plot that is the set-up has a sleek, comedic way to it with actors being allowed to go over the top a bit to have fun with a light-hearted script, making it hard not to enjoy. Unfortunately, Focus becomes blurred with a nearly non-existent, sloppy plot and a weak romantic aspect, which makes it hard to remember what the first half had to offer.

Grade: C-

Review: 'Kingsman: The Secret Service' (2015)

Twentieth Century Fox 

For those who do experience it, Kingsman: The Secret Service is sure to become one of those movies that will force some type of grin or cheerful smirk onto your face at its mentioning. It’s not one that will be remembered for its story, characters and really won’t be all that quotable but you will be hard pressed not say you had fun as it’s bizarre, off-the wall quality of action sequences and moments will keep you entertained throughout.  Sure you can pick at the story over and over but with Kingman: The Secret Service, Director Matthew Vaughn gives us a reason to have fun at the cinema. 

Opening in the year 1997, Kingman: The Secret Service begins with secret agents Harry Hart (Colin Firth) and Merlin (Mark Strong) being saved by a fellow secret agent as he gives his life to do so. Soon after this, Harry goes to the home of the fallen agent’s wife and young son Eggsy, informing them to contact the spy organization if they are ever in any trouble. Fast-forward 17 years and we find Eggsy (Taron Egerton) contacting Harry at a time when he is not only in trouble but at a time when the organization is in need of a new agent. This is all happening as billionaire Richmond Valentine (Samuel L. Jackson) is plotting to decrease the world’s population because of global warming.

You know it’s going to be one wild ride when Mark Hamel is a professor, tied to a chair and the secret agent there to rescue him fails to do so because he is sliced in half by a women who has swords for feet. This is one of the first scenes of the film and it really only gets wilder after that. Due to this, It quickly becomes clear that the story isn’t all that important, as the spectacle that is an action sequence, infused with comedy and just flat out bizarreness, is what is meant to catch your eye. To the benefit of the audience, it accomplishes this with ease.

Director Matthew Vaughn holds nothing back and at times, even amping up his already out of the ordinary visuals. Vaughn allows his style to take over by using a silly, one note premise that, while it doesn’t make much of a story, gives a base to his extremely fun action sequences. It becomes clear that he doesn’t want to take away from this entertaining experience with plot details and developments that could bog everything down. This doesn’t always work but in this case it works and then some due to Vaughn’s full commitment to not taking things all that serious.

Buying into Vaughn’s approach is his cast. Like the story, there isn’t much to the characters this cast portrays but they understand what they are working with and run with it. Firth and Strong are required to have a level of reserve to them but get to cut lose when moments of combat or chaos call for it. In a couple of big action sequences, Firth is amusing as a killing machine or just letting a few punks in a pub know who is boss. Strong’s character, Merlin, in charge of training potential secret agents, acts somewhat as a voice of reason and adds moments of compassion and whit to the cleverly done training scenes.

Fairly new to the scene, Taron Egerton as Eggsy fills the role well, getting to let loose a little more than most characters. What I like about the character and what Egerton brings to this is the clear evolution of confidence and comfort as the film goes on. In fact, becoming so confident that he negotiates doing a Princess from Sweden (Hanna Alstrom) from behind towards the films finale (yes this is worded awkwardly but not as awkward as what is said on screen).

The most outrageous character though belongs to Samuel L. Jackson as the villainous billionaire Richmond Valentine. Using a Mike Tyson-like lisp, Jackson may not make Valentine appear all that evil but it does go well with the nonsense antics that he is up to. The film’s final few scenes, features Valentine really only dropping the f-bomb and nothing more but with the lisp and Jackson’s distinctive delivery in general it’s hard not to be entertained.    

If there is anything to really fault Kingsman: The Secret Service for, it would have to be that it runs a little long, dragging at times. Along with this, a few of the action sequences turn very unsettling in very brief moments but these are small complaints that really won’t be much of a bother. With Kingsman: The Secret Service, Vaughn makes it very difficult not to have fun as he accomplishes something few directors that take on these type of premises forget to do: Entertain first.

Grade: B-      

Review: 'Seventh Son' (2015)

Legendary Pictures

For a couple of reasons, it would be wrong for me to say that I regret watching Seventh Son. The first reason being that, when I first heard about it or saw the marketing for it, this movie could not appeal to me less. The second reason is that I came late to the party (or lack thereof) when it comes to seeing Seventh Son as I saw it a week after its release, so I knew the overall consensus. And yes I know, as a critic, I should do my best not to go into a movie having a preconceived expectation but like I said, this is a reason why I should not regret watching it. I knew I had a preformed opinion about how this experience was going to be and I knew what I getting into, so there are no regrets. As you can probably already tell, the reason I say ‘no regrets’ is not because it turns out that I enjoyed the film but because I didn’t enjoy it, which really has little to do with my opinion going into Seventh Son.  

Based on the book ‘The Last Apprentice: Revenge of the Witch’ by Joseph Delaney, Seventh Son centers on Tom Ward (Ben Barnes), a young man who happens to have special abilities because he is the seventh born son of the seventh son. Because of this, Tom is chosen to be the apprentice of Master Gregory’s (Jeff Bridges), who is referred to as a spook or someone who protects the world against supernatural evil. The recent threat that they must defeat comes in the form of Mother Malkin (Julianne Moore), a witch that Master Gregory locked away several years ago but because of the upcoming blood moon, her powers are increased, allowing her to escape.

If Seventh Son is compared to the genre, an action and adventure flick, that it is sold as than it starts flat but then continues to be flat, though the finale is flat. It’s a film that clearly wants to rely on action sequences and the spectacles that come with medieval sorcery but all of it is so dull and pointless that it just slows the movie down.

Keep in mind though, when I say ‘slow the movie down’, I’m not referring to an experience that is so edge of your seat exciting that it becomes a travesty to interrupt it. Just like all the bells and whistles, the story is equally uneventful. It becomes clear early on that Tom and Master Gregory must stop Mother Malkin before the full blood mood. Of course we know they are going to stop her but this is really all that happens.

There is a romantic story line in which Tom falls for a witch by the name Alice (Alicia Vikander) who happens to be working under Malkin but just like every other aspect of the film it is under written and has very little to do with the story. This story line, along with the story in general fails to produce any type of intrigue or tension. For example, the only way the audience can tell that time is running out to stop Mother Malkin is when the moon is shown getting increasingly red every twenty minutes or so and not by the characters actions, dialogue or emotions.

So at this point, you say, “What about Bridges and Moore? They have to make up for everything else right?” No, their performances fit right in with the rest of the film. Both Bridges and Moore are bad because of the script but they are also bad because of themselves. In this stage of their careers, why they do movies that only ask them to go through the motions and afterwards pick up a check is beyond me. Bridges uses some pointless dialect that can’t be understood and Moore, when she is actually on screen, is just kind of there, really never embracing the villainous role (besides the times her character is a CGI dragon).

Maybe the most interesting aspect of the film is Master Gregory and Mother Malkin’s past. It is revealed that the two were once in a romance together but Gregory moved on to someone else as Malkin became increasingly evil. This caused her to become filled with jealousy and hatred that drove her to kill Gregory’s wife. This is only shared in dialogue between Gregory and Tom, nothing being done with it. This would be a storyline to get into which could be supported with flashbacks of their relationship or even in current moments when the two interact. When the two are on screen together towards the end of the film, for a small moment, it becomes hopeful that the two are going to explore their past together but then Gregory kills her, dashing all hope of this along with hope that the finale would be worthwhile

Like I said, I didn’t bring my A game into this one. I didn’t really care if I ended up not liking it. It was just a viewing that happened. I didn’t expect to be blown away and I wasn’t. The question is, were my expectations the reason I did not enjoy the film. Let’s just say they are the reason for the film’s sake. This means if I had no expectations going in, Seventh Son would only be slightly better, still falling well below average.        

Grade: D

Review: 'Fifty Shades of Grey' (2015)

Focus Features

There I was, setting a reasonable distance from a big screen. The movie occupying that screen: Fifty Shades of Grey. The experience: unfamiliarly bizarre. I won’t go as far as to say an out of body experience but there were several moments when I found myself realizing that I could not grasp what was happening in front of me. Not because it was confusing, not because it resembled characteristics of something you can view at midnight on Cinemax or not even because it was so bad. Because what was being said, what was being done and how it was done felt as if it was all just a joke, not just on me or the others in the audience but even the people on the screen. This feeling, as Fifty Shades of Grey went on and on, had me asking over and over in my head, is this really happening?    

Just think, the events in Fifty Shades of Grey never happen if a roommate does not get sick. When Kate (Eloise Mumford), a journalist student at Washington State University Vancouver, becomes ill just before she is to interview successful businessman Christian Grey (Jamie Dornan) in Seattle for the school newspaper, she ask her roommate Anastasia (Dakota Johnson) to do the interview for her. The interview starts off rough but as Anastasia goes off the script and begins to question Christian like never before, she makes a lasting impression, causing him to pursue a relationship after the interview.       

I haven’t read the book series so I’m not sure how much the film varies from the book but this big screen adaption is a point A to point B kind of thing with nothing in the way of A getting to B. I’m sure that their relationship gets a little deeper in the second book, ‘Fifty Shades Darker’ but in this first film installment, Anastasia meets Christian, then Christian pursues to make her his ‘submissive’.

That word ‘submissive’ is what the story uses as its foundation. Who is this the submissive? Anastasia. This makes Christian Grey the dominant and he won’t let anyone forget these roles. There is a contract and everything. As the wording in this contract is being read out loud or even the type of language and words Christian uses when talking about his style of sexual encounters, is when my head started spinning, wondering if this was all a joke. Phrases, using words such as submissive, pleasure and punish are said by Grey as if everything is completely normal. It was a strange feeling not because I couldn’t believe what was happing on screen but because I couldn’t figure out why it was happening. Poorly written is an understatement and as you find yourself giggling at it you will also be feeling sorry for everyone involved.   

Adding to this bizarre experience was how sexy and lucrative this relationship Christian wants with Anastasia is supposed to be. Though, this is no joke when it is realized. Using the terms used in the film, is a dominant’s relationship to a submissive abuse? Is it abuse if it is consensual? Consensual or not there is a level of physical harm being done. Is that ok? Is it worth pleasure? The film answers these questions in a way that makes the type of relationship presented as one to be desired. It’s not my place to say if this type of relationship is right or wrong, everyone’s psyche is different but I can say that it would not be a positive experience for everyone, the film though put’s a polished spin on it.

Gender roles also come into question with control being a huge theme in Fifty Shades of Grey. Christian wants full control over Anastasia for personal pleasure. Of course in this situation it is man wanting control over woman but in any relationship, control is up for grabs at some point. My question becomes, and maybe I am totally off, but given that the majority of the audience watching this film or reading the books are women, how many will let the man be in full control, not just sexually but in other aspects of a relationship after seeing how a seductive man in Fifty Shades of Grey takes full control in a seductive way. If so, is this a good thing? Like I said, I could be off with this thought but it’s no secret that sex sells and Fifty Shades of Grey is literally and figuratively sex.            

With all this said, I suppose if you were to question Fifty Shades of Grey’s effectiveness according to the goals it sets out to accomplish; it would be difficult to say that it didn’t reach that mark. It wants to be a different, sexy way to show a relationship and that’s exactly what it is. It’s nothing more nor is it anything less. But if we viewed things this way, based on what they wanted to accomplish then there would be a lot of bad getting a pass. With Fifty Shades of Grey, giving it a pass because it did what it set out to do, could not feel more wrong. 

Grade: F     

Review: 'Jupiter Ascending' (2015)

Warner Bros.

With Jupiter Ascending, the Wachowski’s beg us to come to another world with them. They put out a hand and attempt to entice us with extravagant set pieces and fast moving action sequences. When that doesn’t draw you they add big musical pieces as a back drop to everything. While the music doesn’t necessarily hurt, it doesn’t help either so a message that is supposed to make an action film much deeper is attempted. Even with all of this, it still isn’t convening enough to take the epic journey they offer you or even buy that it is an epic journey in the first place.

I don’t think it’s off the wall to say that Jupiter Ascending’s premise is half way interesting. The message with in that premise concerns time, how valuable it is and how much we rely on others and how we need them in order to survive. The problem is that after this premise is revealed, these themes really aren’t explored. In Jupiter Ascending, earth and several other planets are just locations for humans to develop until their genes are ready to be ‘harvested’ and used as some type of rejuvenating substance by the House of Abrasax, a powerful alien dynasty.

When the head of the House of Abrasax, the mother of Balem (Eddie Redmayne), Kalique (Tuppence Middleton) and Titus (Douglas Booth), dies these three children each become set on obtaining her inheritance, which includes earth, for them self’s. This dispute may start with three individuals but the character of Kalique seems rather pointless as she is really only used to show how the genes from the harvested humans are used and in doing so, add a bit of nudity. After that she is nowhere to be found for the long remainder of the films running time.

So with earth being the desired planet, Mila Kunis’s character comes into play. From Russian decent and named after late father’s favorite planet, Jupiter (Kunis) is seen cleaning houses in the city of Chicago with her mother Aleska (Maria Doyle Kennedy). Maybe one of the biggest mysteries of the entire film is how Jupiter speaks with an American accent when both her parents were and are Russian and everyone she lives with speaks with a thick Russian accent. It’s a detail that shouldn’t bother me but does.

In need of money, Jupiter accepts an offer from her cousin Vladie (Kick Gurry) that would require her to sell her eggs. As this process is about to happen, Balem orders golem-looking aliens disguised as doctors and nurses to kill her. Why does Balem want to kill her?  Jupiter apparently is a genetic reincarnation of his mother, meaning that she has the opportunity to attain the title to earth.

Who prevents Jupiter from being killed? C-Tates! Caine (Channing Tatum), a genetically engineered, half wolf, half human solider saves Jupiter. Upon learning of her background, Caine takes Jupiter to get the title to earth, a process that turn out to be the most entertaining sequence of the film thanks to a fun turn from Samuel Barnett as a robot called Advocate Bob and unfortunately the best performance of the film in the form of a cameo by Terry Gilliam.  

Nothing against Gilliam but he is on screen no more than a minute. Dominating screen time, Kunis and Tatum are given little to work with as far as dialogue and character depth goes but really, performance wise, do not do much to help manners. Kunis goes from one line to the next, just keeping things moving, doing no more than that. Tatum starts out using some kind of dialect that differs from his norm but for some reason this kind of goes away after a while. The role doesn’t call for it but he would be lot more enjoyable if he was let lose a little and allowed to embrace how silly his character and the story is.   

The same could be said for Eddie Redmayne as the films chief villain. A valid argument could be made that he is easily over the top but over the top for all the wrong reasons. I have no clue who thought it was a good idea to give him a whispering, sickly-like voice but it doesn’t work as it doesn’t allow Balem to be something to fear for the characters in the film or all that entertaining for the audience. You have an immensely talented actor in the form of Redmayne in a villainous role and you’re going to put a leash on him? Let him go off, results would include a better performance, character and film. Just doesn’t make much since to me.

May be they didn’t want him to take away from the action sequences. This would be understandable if they were actually good but instead they may be more of a yawn than several of the characters. Sequence after sequence of battles that are merely characters chasing each other in the air in hover blades or of the sort accompanied by sounds, as if they were pulled strait out Star Wars, that  refuse to let your ear drums go in the background. And when I say Stars Wars, I mean the prequels which also seem to have an influence on the visual effects and a few of the costume designs. The music is also very similar and one of the few bright spots of the film but because what is happening can’t match the epic feel of the music, its effect is hindered.

When watching it, it’s difficult to ever find yourself in the position of getting into Jupiter Ascending as it fails to do anything that well. The characters are weak, the action sequences are unoriginal and the themes that come from the premise are barely explored. With it being a product of the Wachowski’s, all of this is surprising given how films such as The Matrix and Cloud Atlas were able to execute in these above categories, but because Jupiter Ascending cannot, it becomes a sci-fi flick that can be easily and willingly forgotten.    

Grade: D+