The Girl on the Train Review

The Girl on the Train
Director: Tate Taylor
Cast Headliners: Emily Blunt, Rebecca Ferguson, Justin Theroux
Original Release Date: October 7th, 2016

                Much like its heroine, The Girl on The Train is very clear and good in some aspects but gets hazy in quality on others.  It offers a nuanced dark mystery thriller that excels at times but like a train loop it’s about, it can be repetitive and drawn out. But it offers some pretty unique and intriguing aspects in its experience.

                It’s a bit hazy to get of sense of things before truths are revealed, but the film follows the depressive life of Rachel (Emily Blunt), an alcoholic divorcee who eavesdrops on lives she sees from the train. As with many films, this interesting premise is slightly dipped into before its main plot arc takes over.  Throughout it though Blunt shows herself, as often is the case in her roles, to be one of the film’s strongest aspects.  Blunt’s Rachel, a bit unique amongst many protagonists of films like this, is not the best person. She can, often due to her alchoholism, edgy and mean and even a bad person. But the film makes one root and even feel bad for her at times. This is doubly so because of Blunt’s intense, emotional portrayal from sadness to curiosity to rage. She becomes a mysterious vigilante every bit as curious as the events around her.

                Events transpire which bring her into a love… geometric shape (without giving too much away, as twists always make thrillers all the more interesting) of Megan(Haley Bennett), Anna(Rebecca Ferguson), Tom (Justin Theroux), and Scott(Luke Evans) who are all neighbors in a perfectly typical but underlyinglly dark suburbia.  The supporting cast , like Blunt, is for the most part full of great performers if less so than the main star. Everyone in the film is flawed too. Whether it’s Bennett’s lost Megan, Evan’s charismatic yet grumpy Scott, or Theroux’s friendly yet stern Tom.  Ferguson’s Anna is less notable though competent.  Additional minor character’s decently fill things out like the no nonsense Detective (Allison Janney) or Dr.Kamal(Edgar Ramirez).
                The tone and atmosphere of the film is fantastic as well. This is a very different piece for director Tate Taylor compared to his past work such as The Help. He steps into helming a dark film like this just fine. The visual direction is great, with close views and angles ramping up the always present mystery and occasional intensity.  The score of the film is at times not present but when it is its moody and very good. It presumingly adds to the adaptation of the novel this is originally based upon.
                For all the film’s strengths it certainly isn’t perfect. The plot offers surprises that are at times shocking but also telegraphed a mile awhile. And when it does reveal things, it repeats these revelations again and again. The pacing is also a bit of a ricekty roller coaster, at times somber and emotional but other times pulse pounding. This inconsistency is sparse however for a otherwise good ride.
                The Girl On The Train may appear to be very typical for the genre, but has enough good and even unique aspects to make it stand out.  It’s a slow burner, but offers rewards for waiting it out and characters to like.  7.65 out of 10

                

Sausage Party Review

Sausage Party
Directors: Conrad Vernon and Greg Tiernan
Cast Headliners: Seth Rogen, Kirsten Wiig, Michael Cera, many others
Original Release Date: August 12th, 2016

(NOTE: Once again, 3 weeks later oh my... life has been complicated lately. I promise the releases I see ahead will have a faster schedule... )


On the surface, Sausage Party may appear to be a crude bad idea. Seth Rogen and his comedy crew making an inappropriate CGI comedy about talking food. But actually, its an idea that works to some good laughs and some good ideas within if held back by some of its initial limitations. In a good way, it's exactly what it says on the package, pun intended.

Things kick off in an animated world where one can see both humans and more importantly the perspectives of “living” food they eat (though they are for the most part unaware...unless one has seen trailers revealing a fun twist). Through a mostly saccharine but subtle dark musical song we learn that the food await the day they will be “chosen by the gods” and leave the store. It's an almost Pixar take on things, but of course they don't remain happy forever. The initial crew is of hot dogs Frank (Seth Rogen), Barry (Michael Cera), and Carl(Jonah Hill) and Frank's logically bun romantic crush Brenda (Kristen Wiig). Events transpire to them being separated that starts a quest across both the grocery world and the horrible truths of the outside.

The most surprising thing of Sausage Party is that it has a pretty solid storyline with several side-arcs, character development, and occasional deeper allegories (all within the Rogen-level of dumb of course though so things don't get too heady). But there is some exciting twists and action and actions. The movie does some really humorous and neat takes on the food concept with different themed areas, such as liquour aisles being party zones and Mexican food being in an old fashioned style desert. The stereotypes are sometimes crude but also clever interesting characters, such as humorously and truly at war Kareem Abdul Lavash (David Krumholtz) and Sammy Bagel JR ( a humorous and surprisingly unrecognizable voice of Edward Norton) or Teresa del Taco (Salma Hayek). It's often exciting to see the fresh ideas and takes it constantly introduces.

Truly the voice cast is a highlight as well. Rogen and Wiig's lead both have many great lines and range, and the mentioned supporting cast brings great effort alongside bits by the jerk Douche(Nick Kroll) , Firewater (Bill Hader), Mr.Grits(Craig Robinson) and many more. Often its hard to tell but they all bring a pretty good level of talent.

Besides the food world building and adventure the other strong aspect is often its humor. It definitely, definitely uses its R-rating for jokes trending sexual, substance related, and racial making the film adult in both its subject mater as well as humor. This can also mean at times the film becomes dumb, but for the most part there's many silly laughs whether edgy or slapstick.

For all the good elements it is a shame that the animation is very inconsistent. Some of the food animations are very good and settings, but sometimes thing look “Bargain quality” This is especially noticeable with the human characters who look jarringly worse than their food counterparts. But this movie isn't about looking nice so its slightly understandable compromise.

Overall , it fits right into the comedic staples of Seth Rogen and once again writing partner Evan Goldberg delivered this time through an effective edgy CGI food lens. There's many dumb good jokes and dumb bad jokes and some smart ideas alongside some “Really now” stupid ones. It might not always look pretty, but it offers plentiful dark laughs and even some adventure. 7.8 out of 10

Suicide Squad Review

Suicide Squad
Director: David Ayer
Cast Headliners: Will Smith, Margot Robbie, Viola Davis, Jared Leto, many others
Original Release Date : August 5th, 2016

   ( NOTE: Over 3 weeks after release … oh my goodness so late. I apologize, life's been wacky of late...but definitely wanted to get my thoughts in on this important step in the DC verse).

The new DC film universe has been, to say the least, a less than perfect attempt to emulate what so many other franchises are doing and mix its heroes. While the general public and the big comic fans may be well used to and excited for the idea of the foundations of the Justice League to be set, the execution is not tonally right on the mark. The previous two DC films, directed by Zack Snyder, have been received in varying ways, with his take that is simultaneously philosophical and larger than life not creating a fan out of everyone. Suicide Squad is the first movie both without Snyder in the director's seat (instead with Fury's David Ayer at the helm) and for the most part moving the focus from Batman and Superman to something theoretically fresh: antihero supervillians. Here's how it turned out.
The film takes place in the aftermath of Batman V Superman, an aspect which is smartly used as an initial root cause for its events but otherwise is not mentioned very much. Government official Amanda Waller(Viola Davis) seeks to create Task Force X, also known as the “Suicide Squad” of supervillians to do black ops missions or tackle potential Superman-level threats. The team consists of assassin for hire Deadshot(Will Smith), clown maniac punk Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) girlfriend of the not-in-the-team the Joker (Jared Leto), beastly Killer Croc (Adewale Akinnouye-Agbaje), wisecraking Aussie thief Captain Boomerang (Jai Courtney), fire powered gangster El Diablo (Jay Hernandez), and rope expert Slipknot (Adam Beach). They are supported by the government affiliated expert soldier Rick Flagg( Joel Kinnaman), Japanese swordswoman Katana( Karen Fukuhara), and dark witch Enchantress(Caradelevingine).

It's a film that features DC's largest “ensemble” of characters to date, and perhaps even moreso than many other films. It feels in a way like something such as The Dirty Dozen or The Expendables or the newest Fast and Furious films, though its much more the latter two than the first one in quality. There's a lot of characters and some shine but others fade in the grand tapestry of things . Will Smith and Margot Robbie have had increasingly profilic careers as of late and been alongside each other before, and so it makes sense that they are the mostly shining stars of the picture. Smith's Deadshot is as solidly funny, slickly cool, and even has a slight bit of the charm and emotional heart of Smith's past work. His smartass attitude often delights and makes it the best “Will Smith movie” in years. Robbie's Harley Quinn is as great or possibly even the film's best. She very effectively captures the classic comic charm and manages to certainly make her manic character feel right from the pages. Her design might not be 100% accurate but besides the main heroes of Batman/Superman little is but in terms of personality and dark laughs she carries the show. Perhaps even moreso than her “Mista J” connected to her origin.

Whenever the Joker is in anything its a big deal, and each actor brings something a little new. Jared Leto's performance as the Clown Prince of Crime is very much a mashup of Jack Nicholson's and Heath Ledger's evoking their style but far from their heights with some Jim Carrey's The Mask thrown as well. Take those and add in a “realistic” menacing gang lord angle, and it's...an interesting take. There are moments which deliver on the Joker mania box. But for someone so connected to Harley Quinn, he and Robbie have some decent moments that fall victim to editing. His appearances are far less than trailers imply, and are mostly restricted to flashbacks which apparently are mostly victim to the cutting room floor. It's an unfortunate trend in Hollywood lately, but while the edits are obvious it does give an reason not to entirely dismiss this Joker. We need to see more, and one will kind of want to since while he doesn't make an impression, one think he maybe can more if he gets to do some more with Batman (There may be at least one appearance by Ben Affleck in this film, short but sweet..)

The other characters are at most decent. Davis' Waller is greatly fierce and at home from the classic media if expected. Kinnaman's Flagg much the same, offering his own source of humor in his seriousness. Characters like Slipknot, Croc, Boomerang, and Katana exist merely for a cool moment or joke but fade to the background. Its surprising that Hernandez's El Diablo has qualities that rival Deadshot's for humor and emotion, making him one of the film's unexpected standouts as well. The villain's identity is an obvious hint, but they are nothing more than a generic evil. The film bills itself as “ the worst heroes ever”, but they are not all the way the best worst heroes with those afromented exceptions althouth the movie makes good use of the dark, edgy villian angle for some lines and themes.

The ingredients are there for what should be some dark cheesy fun but it is prevented from being something greatly unique by its own unique issues. Characters aside, the plot is very simple and very silly. The reason things happen make Snyder's film look like Nolan's when it come's to the way events narratively unfold. The movie also attempts to make use of pop and rock songs to ironically lighten the mood, but it worked so well in Guardians of the Galaxy (an obvious inspiration) because of its placement and balance. Here it feels like someone left an iTunes playlist covering the remnants of what could have been a great movie. Because Ayer's direction can be felt from the visual shots and really fun great action when there isn't some often sub-quality dialogue and pacing at play.

This movie has taken many elements and thrown them into a blender, but it is prevented from execution on what is objectively a good idea of anti-heroes form the comics from some questionable editing and studio involvement. It's great to see these characters for the most part make their debut into this new DC universe, but it's not too surprising of an adventure they have to undergo. But the good is good, and the potential is felt that maybe they could be better used someday... hopefully. A DC or superhero blockbuster fan will certainly have their fun though for better or worse. 7.95 out of 10

Star Trek Beyond Review

Star Trek Beyond
Director: Justin Lin
Cast Headliners: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Karl Urban, Zoe Saldana, John Cho, Idris Elba
Original Release Date : July 22nd, 2016

 Much like the crew in the plot of Star Trek Beyond, what does the film do when it does not have JJ Abrams in the director's helm, as he is only producer here? Well it can be assumed even without watching this that the crew finds a way to heroically perverse to great success, and the same can be said for this film. Justin Lin does a solid replacement job, and for good or less so the entire cast brings that trademark Star Trek feel for a fun if mostly typical adventure.

The film picks up three years into the five year mission of the reboot Enterprise crew. Captain Kirk(Chris Pine) grows slightly tired of life in the stars, and certainly enjoys the chance to reach a rest point at Yorktown space station with his usual crew of Spock (Zachary Quinto), McCoy(Karl Urban), Uhura(Zoe Saldana), Sulu(John Cho), Scotty(Simon Pegg), and Chekov(the late Anton Yelchin). It's always nice to see the world of ST fleshed out a bit more, though a mysterious visitor brings the crew and ship to another wild jungle planet and the space around it as they go against the fearsome Krall (Idris Elba).

It's a pretty standard formula of good and evil and doomsday devices by this point. It does not bring much new or timeline crossing elements to the picture, and does not get much darker than the tense thriller angle of Into Darkness. But it's a action packed, fun, laugh filled adventure that delivers a a expected but still tasty slice of the goodness of this franchise. The humor and writing are one of the highlights, with many unexpected pairings on their own missions when never knew they wanted but turn out swell, such as Spock/McCoy and (thankfully here a deserving final role) in Chekov/Kirk or the slightly less featured than usual Uhura/Sulu. Whether it's from the charismatic core crew giving humor or just the way scenes often cleverfully unfold there's plenty of chuckles, cheers, and charming heart to be found.

The returning hits their usual notes on par but there is the moderately big new characters as well. Jaylah(Sofia Boutella) is a local of the enemy world and events bring her to ally with the Enterprise crew. She is a great addition in many ways. Boutella never once comes off as anything but genuine with her alien makeup visage, and brings an exotic warrior attitude that leads to humorous moments and cool action. She has a solid core role in the plot and one eagerly anticipates her being in more potential sequels. Meanwhile however Elba's alien warlord Krall is just about decent or so. Purposefully at times hard to understand vocally, his attitudes and motivations never rise above much more than the simpler of the original television series' foes. His backstory is almost an attempt at the tragedy of Nero or the empathy of Khan, but coming from his heavily makeupped/masked visage it's harder to take seriously other than offer a hand to some action and dramatic dialogues.

The action and visual spectacle delivers very well as usual for the series. Justin Lin's trademark explosive style from the Fast and Furious series rarely jumps into the too-crazy of that world (But sometimes does) though otherwise it feels just as it should. Some sequences are a bit hard to follow, but both in space and on ground there are multiple exciting sequences that make the sometimes too long downtime solidly worth it.

Overall Star Trek Beyond is “another Star Trek” in its good and bad. But when it's this legendary franchise, with these actors that is a fine enough thing. It makes some missteps, has some good and ok new additions and ideas. To a fan though, it will bring a solid experience no matter what it has or who's in the director's chair. 8 out of 10

The Infiltrator Review

The Infiltrator
Director: Brad Furman
Cast Headliners: Bryan Cranston, Diane Kruger, John Leguizamo, Benjamin Bratt
Original Release Date : July 13th, 2016

                The Infiltrator has two strong aspects going into it. It features a starring role in Bryan Cranston as undercover Customs agent Robert Mazur, and it follows the story of the major 1980s sting operation against Pablo Escobar’s operation in Florida/ the USA. While there’s some good performances and directing to be found, they are at times buried in a sea of other things.

                Cranston’s Mazur is great. In every performance he brings a range, craft, and intensity that always makes him a highlight. When it comes to this film he delivers, and while the material at times is repetitive he is convincing. Especially solid when looking at Mazur’s undercover identity “Bob Musella”. Much like a Heisenberg once upon a time, Cranston is a chameleon able to shift through different situations. Although it’s in his usual style, and almost an inverse of that character’s role, he is a entertaining lead for the film.

                The rest of the cast is for the most part good. The shaky interactions between Mazur and his partner Emir Abreu(John Leguizamo) are pretty decent, although when the latter goes off on his own Leguizamo does not quite carry scenes the same way.  Bit players such as Jason Isaacs as Mark Jackowski, Said Taghmaoui as Amjad Awan, Olympia Dukakis as Aunt Vicky, Juliet Aubrey as Evelyn Mazur are other moderately decent standouts in a sea of even more bit players.

                The film meanders at times, likely limited to its adherence to reality, but a strong aspect comes from the fake romance of Mazur with his “fiancé” Kathy Ertz (Diane Kruger) and the drug powerhouse Roberto Alcaino (Benjamin Bratt) and his wife Gloria (Elena Anaya).  Kruger is solid in a way matching her chemistry with Cranston’s Mazur, both being undercover agents. And Bratt is really good in a sympathetic way, as is his love/hate relationship with Mazur.

                The directing by Brad Furman is competent, with the 1980s singing through in musical  choices. Things get intense when they need to be. At times things can be a bit shaky, but it provides a decent backdrop in some exotic locales for a very dialogue heavy slow burner.

                Ultitmately its slow burn , fact heavy nature will be what one either likes or doesn’t. There’s action at times, but its in a long process with a lot of buildup and little sting. But the Cranston is good when the Cranston is good. 7.65 out of 10 

Finding Dory Review

Finding Dory
Director: Andrew Stanton
Cast Headliners: Ellen Degeneres, Albert Brooks, Ed O'Neill
Original Release Date : June 17th, 2016

 One might ponder to think, what is about the original Finding Nemo film by Pixar that warranted a sequel? It was no Toy Story level of potential or excellence; it was just a simple story about some fish. But no, Finding Dory proves to be a sequel that is definitely worthy of following on from the first. Sure it offers more of the same, but it reminds that the more of the same is the great visuals, emotion, characters, and laughs Pixar does at their best.

                The nice thing CGI animation is that a sequel can pick up very shortly after the events of the previous film. But it stands alone for the most part on its own, main heroes and a couple cameos aside. The premise is good for this film since Dory the blue tang fish (Ellen DeGeneres) had an amnesiac personality that led to then, and still does in several here, humorous moments. This film takes this implication for her to find her parents Charlie(Eugene Levy) and Jenny(Diane Keaton) who she lost long ago. She gives chase across the ocean to retrace her life, and in turn Marlin(Albert Brooks, nicely reprising his role from the first in a bit of a reduced but still central part) and son Nemo( logically, a replaced young newcomer Hayden Rolence) chase after her.

                It’s a story that’s very much the same idea as the first film. There’s a beautiful, colorful ocean with a variety of fish old and new. There are moments of feelings, jokes especially with the great chemistry between Dory and Marlin once again, there’s some slight adventure.  The film too ultimately has a place to break into in the Marine Life Institute , which offers its own challenges and great new characters.

                The specifics must been seen firsthand in this solid plotline, but Dory has a lead to a large aquarium and medical center for fish in California and must break in. This leads to the dentist office from the first film on a much larger and more exciting scale. She is assisted by a great character, Hank the octopus(Ed O’Neill).  Hank and Dory’s scenes are some of the best of the movie, with them becoming good friends as the infiltration mission goes on. Likewise Marlin and Nemo meet animals such as Fluke(Idris Elba) and Rudder(Dominic West), a pair of seals and their bird Becky, and others in more humorous bit roles such as Bailey(Ty Burrell) the beluga who can’t echolocate and Destiny(Kaitlin Olson) the near-sighted whale shark.  Old or new, large or small the characters are brimming with personality and there’s a nice sweethearted message about accepting one’s shortcomings and respecting other’s for theirs.

                The one attempt to be perhaps different from the first is through very frequent flashbacks to Dory’s past. These make sense in parts but are perhaps overused here and there when more exciting stuff is happening in the present.  But the core plot line, if familiar, is fun to watch and the emotional moments are just as impactful as ever. It picks up on a good premise, and offers a animated adventure worthy of existing within the same. 8.67 out of 10

Warcraft Review

Warcraft
Director: Duncan Jones
Cast Headliners: Travis Fimmel, Toby Kebbel, Paula Patton, Daniel Wu, Ben Foster
Original Release Date : June 10th, 2016

                The Warcraft franchise could be argued to be one of the most iconic video game series of all time, helping to define and popularize both the RTS and MMO genres. Its extremely dense and rich colorful world of orcs, elves, dragons, magic, and more could be said to be ripe for a film take. Finally after almost a decade of development and iterations, the movie version is here. And while it is on the upper end of the scale of video game adaptations, it falls victim to those common traits as well. However to a game fan, it’s surreally awesome to see key locations brought to life while also offering some cheesy fantasy fun to newcomers as well. It’s an ambitious undertaking to tackle this franchise, and it gets many things right and wrong.

                Perhaps what sets it apart from most game films is that the story here is largely directly cribbed from the 1994 video game Warcraft: Orcs & Humans with some fleshed out perspectives, retcons, and changes giving a modern look at the “First War” event in the game’s lore from two decades ago. While it is not the most exciting and unique heights of the saga (no cosmic space spirits or pandas here), it is a straightforward base that offers a solid starting point for a film franchise and to newcomers.  The movie, unlike some in the fantasy genre, gives the perspective of two very different factions.

                The orcs (imagine Lord of the Rings’s equivalent mixed with the Hulk from Marvel) are shown in semi-sympathetic light as they invade from their dying world to the human dimension of Azeroth.  There’s noble orcs like Chieftan Durotan(Toby Kebbel) and his wife Draka(Anna Galvin), the conflicted  and awesomely named Ogrim Doomhammer(Robert Kazinsky), and the pure vile evil of war leader Blackhand(Clancy Brown) and the primary antagonist in the warlock Gul’dan(Daniel Wu). All of the orcs are portrayed through motion capture needed for their frames, and their effects and characterization are some of the film’s best aspect. Drawn right out of the game and compelling in their own right, their scenes are intense and barbarically fun. Kebbel as Durotan is a cool sort of progratonist with a motivation that creates empathy for his rebellious reasoning. Most great from the orc side of all is Daniel Wu, who gives Gul’dan a fearsome vile demeanor right from the cd-rom and brings an orc to life to seem real. On their own, they feel like and rival the best of Blizzard Entertainment’s original video game cinematics.

                The film uses an extreme amount of CGI effects, which perhaps makes sense with the source material. But while it makes sense for orcs and other creatures, and the at times beautiful vistas/locales(created 100% right from the World of Warcraft MMO in some cases, which to a fan is the one of the film’s best aspects recreating its vibe) it can be  cheesily jarring when mixed with the film’s weaker aspect, the humans. It ranges from neat to weird to see live actors with CGI medieval armor or riding fake horses alongside real ones.

                That’s not to mention the human characters and actors are mostly lame. The “hero” of the overall film is the knight Anduin Lothar(Travis Fimmel). He gives an ok look into the film and an very slight emotional connection with his son Callen(Burkely Duffield). But he has a weird performance that ranges from extra unlikeable jerk, awkward forced romance nearly Anakin Skywalker tier with half orc Garona(Paula Patton), or lackluster “humorous” moments with mage Khadgar(Ben Schnetzer).  He is not a hero one cheers too much for, nor many of the other humans in the kingdom of Stormwind. Patton’s Garona has some unconvincing makeup clashing with her orc peers and an even worse mediocre performance. Schnetzer’s Khadgar throws a cool spell or two but does not incite laughter. King Llane(Dominic Cooper) and queen Lady Taria(Ruth Negga)  semi-lacklusterly are there to speak exposition text and move scenes along. It’s ironic that these live actors have less impact than CGI creations.  One standout human, interestingly a bit of the magical counterpart to the Orc’s Gul’dan, is the Guardian wizard Medivh, played with game perfect larger than lifeness by Ben Foster who could have used more screentime.

                The director Duncan Jones has never really quite something as visually ambitious and epic scale as this film. He trades in his previous twisting storylines from other works for a mostly straightforward tale setting up decent action. The live and CGI mix becomes more digestable in the battle sequences which is a credit to him but becomes apparent when things slow down. But the thing about game movies is they may always have cheese, coming from a arguably different source of enjoyment than movies. He did what he could and while some pacing and effects mixing are hazy , when it’s good its decent, especially for a fan. But also to his credit, the elements are used as to not be( but almost just barely) overwhelming to an outsider.

                It’s far from a perfect fantasy, game, or overall movie. But that was always going to be the case adapting this huge and varied world. For life fans it will deliver that “feeling” that’s been wanted if making some lore changes and not bringing that same goodness of orcs to all aspects. To an outsider, it’s hyper fantasy to a level even beyond Tolkein may take some effort to swallow but the action and most visuals will excite. Hopefully a potential sequel can learn some things and go to cooler places, and while its doubtful this is the one to kick off the wanted games to movies trend, for what it is Warcraft delivers on the most important aspects it should if not without some moderate missteps. 7.75 out of 10