Friends With Benefits (2011)

4/5

Friends With Benefits has a fairly uninspired plot. Two twenty-somethings, Dylan (Timberlake) and Jamie (Kunis), decide to start a purely physical relationship after being dumped for being either emotionally absent or emotionally guarded. This being a romantic comedy made in Hollywood, you know how the entire story unfolds from the premise alone: one develops feelings for the other, they break up because of a mistake one of them makes, and eventually get back together and live happily ever after. Like it or not, that's the formula you're buying with your movie tickets.

Fortunately, this movie is probably the smartest it could have been given that preordained scenario thanks to pristine execution and delivery. The dialogue is sharp and witty, the acting believable and emotionally fulfilling (unlike the characters themselves), and the mood is appropriately adult (plenty of nude butts and four-letter words). I was surprised at how much I bought the film, which I think is a testament to the directing and the acting. I actually felt the emotions that the characters were going through, and to me that means the movie has succeeded. So despite the predictable plot, despite occasionally feeling like the simple message was beat into my head, I don't think there's much higher you can aim for in a film.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1632708/

Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)

4/5

Rise of the Planet of the Apes is a prequel to the original Planet of the Apes. It tells the affecting story of young scientist Will Rodman (Franco), who is researching a novel medication to cure his father (Lithgow) from Alzheimer's. They start testing the brain booster on lab monkeys, but the operation is shut down after one monkey escapes and shows signs of aggression. Rodman is forced to take care of that monkey's baby, Caesar, which he manages to accomplish with the help of veterinarian Aranha (Pinto). As Caesar ages, the newly-formed family grows quite close, in heartwarming, Disney-esque montages. But Caesar quickly learns that not all humans are fond of apes or Disney montages.

The story has considerable range for what I'm sure everybody was expecting to be a simple action flick. The action itself comes in spurts, giving the overall movie a realistically tense and unpredictable atmosphere. The CGI was pretty close to perfect--it was so good that I actually had no idea it was CGI and kept wondering how they filmed the movie. But the picture is not all rosy. The acting was mediocre at best, forgettable at worst. The dialogue was equally bland and unremarkable. The characters were flat archetypes, and Pinto's veterinarian character was the worst offender. She was worthless, serving as nothing more than a pretty face in an otherwise drab, hairy film. But these niggles are minor complaints in the grand scheme of things, especially in the vanishingly rare genre of action movies that are actually good.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1318514/

The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest (2009)

3/5

The final part of the Millennium Trilogy, The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest, is one of those movies that probably didn't have to exist at all. It reveals nothing new or interesting about the characters and instead just drags them into pointless scenarios for the illusion of franchise closure. The movie brings back characters that were pretty much dead at the end of the second movie, only to kill them off again. It puts the protagonist on trial for murder, only to find her not guilty (sorry, spoiler alert!). It does all this useless stuff to make the movie seem interesting or important, only to have nothing actually matter in the end.

Directing-wise, the movie is less impressive than the second one, which is less impressive than the first one. Mr. Alfredson tries to deliver fictional tension, but we rarely feel it because the scenes have no meaning behind them. It progresses at a stop-and-go pace, varying between exciting but nonsensical and brooding but pointless. I'm not sure if there is more to the book that the movie skimped out on or if it's just the book itself, but this is a movie that has no reason to be made. And to be fair, the movie itself isn't bad, I just don't know why it exists. The sad part is that everybody who saw the first two will see this one too, no matter what I say in my review, because people can't stand knowing there's a sequel to a series they've started just sitting there unwatched. Well, watch away.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1343097/

Glee: The 3D Concert Movie (2011)

2/5

Glee: The 3D Concert Movie is, as the title so blandly suggests, a concert movie of Glee in 3D. It also briefly documents how the lives of three teens were changed by Glee, which is surprisingly fascinating and affecting but also chintzy and overly melodramatic. It gives a little staying power and substance to an otherwise forgettable and disappointing film. The problem with releasing a concert movie for a TV show is that there are newer, more popular songs with every new episode that everyone will want to hear when they watch this movie. Not knowing when this concert took place, especially in the context of the show, will make it very unsatisfying to people who are expecting to hear specific songs that were released after this movie was made. Unfortunately, there's no way to really find out which songs they will sing and which ones they will not unless you go see the movie. And that's really my problem: I wanted to hear them sing a lot of songs they never sang. The ones that they did sing were great and I really enjoyed them, but it was an entirely frustrating experience overall.

Of note, in the screening I saw, the audio and video were out of sync by about half a second throughout the entire movie. That, combined with the bad 3D filmmaking, made it all the more headache-inducing and annoying.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1922612/

17 Again (2009)

3/5

17 Again is a movie that surprised me for many reasons. It's funnier than I expected and more heartwarming than I imagined. The story is fairly simple and juvenile: faced with impending divorce, Mike O'Donnell (Perry) is transported back to his high school form (Efron), where he helps his daughter (Trachtenberg) break up with a sleazebag (Parrish) and gives his son (Knight) confidence to stand up against bullies while simultaneously winning back his wife's affection (Mann). I don't want to ruin the movie for anyone who has been living under a rock since the invention of cinema and is unfamiliar with how Hollywood works, but let's just say this movie ends in the expected manner.

The acting and the dialogue are where this movie shines. It is probably Zac Efron's best acting to date. I know that's not really saying much, but he was actually pretty good. The script was far more poignant than I thought it would be given its premise, and far more clever and witty than I gave it credit for. The basic plot of a major life change prompting someone to re-evaluate their priorities feels quite tired and trite, and this movie attempts to freshen it up with an unnecessarily silly scenario instead of a realistic, believable one. I think it could have been an awesome movie if they chose the latter route, but this decision, as well as most of the directorial traits and technical aspects, ended up making the movie mediocre, unremarkable, and forgettable. All in all, not a bad movie and above average as a form of entertainment, but I'm a little disappointed that it wasn't more than that.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0974661/

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011)

3/5

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 is a fitting end to a rather bland film series. I'm sure the books are much more interesting (even the Wikipedia articles are far more interesting), but the movie versions just don't do it for me. They feel like simplified, truncated versions of something that might actually be good. They're made for people who have read the book; everyone else is cheated of truly experiencing the magic of the series. Nothing about these movies is thought out in a cinematic fashion, nothing is added or changed to make it fit better in movie form. It's a simple translation to a different format and that's exactly what it feels like.

That being said, the movie is fairly entertaining and enjoyable to watch. It's not a bad movie by any means. It's predictable with an appropriate amount of action to spice up the boring dialogue and plot, but being so predictable makes the whole thing advance at a laborious pace. You know what's going to happen next and you're just waiting for it to happen. Special effects were pretty crappy, acting was acceptable, and cinematography was stale. It's nice to see a finale to the series, but I think they probably should've just stuck with the written word. Obviously the fans will watch this movie no matter what I say, but nothing has changed with this movie to turn a newcomer into a fan.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1201607/

Crazy Stupid Love (2011)

4/5

Crazy Stupid Love has commas in the official title that I am intentionally omitting because they annoy me. The movie itself does not annoy me. In fact, it surprised me with its humor and heart. The plot follows Cal (Carell) and Emily (Moore) Weaver. Emily wants a divorce, and in fact she has already cheated on him with her co-worker David Lindhagen (Bacon). Cal's son (Bobo) is in love with his babysitter (Tipton), who is in fact in love with Cal. Cal starts frequenting bars, whining to no one in particular nonstop for two weeks about the impending divorce, until Jacob (Gosling) becomes so annoyed that he takes him under his wing and shows him how to assert his manhood and pick up women for one-night stands. Cal's first "success" is with a crazy teacher (Tomei) who seems excited by his honesty, but he never calls her back. Jacob, on the other hand, meets Hannah (Stone), who shakes him of his womanizing ways and turns him into a boyfriend.

There is one fantastic scene in the middle of the film that involves Cal and Emily talking on the phone, and it becomes evident that she still loves him and cares for him and misses him even if she can't live with him. It is a tender moment that is filled with genuine emotion and more complexity than you might at first assume. It almost forced a tear out of my eye. In fact, almost the entire plot seems very simple superficially but becomes much more multi-faceted just below the surface.

The acting by the entire ensemble is wonderful; everyone is able to juggle empathy with wit in fluid harmony. The directing as a whole was very effective, although it felt somewhat choppy as people were ignored for chunks at a time. On the whole, Crazy Stupid Love impressed me unexpectedly, much like Bandslam. If you had any interest in the actors or the plot, I would not hesitate to recommend this movie.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1570728/

Rango (2011)

3/5

Rango tells the story of a lizard (Depp) who stumbles into a Western. The town of Dirt is inhabited by other similarly-sized creatures, although sometimes it's really difficult to tell what kind of animal each character is supposed to be, and they are in the midst of a water shortage crisis. Rango manages to earn himself a sheriff's star by unwittingly taking out the town's predator and is soon tasked by the mayor (Beatty) with giving the townspeople hope in the face of rapidly dwindling resources. They must find out who is stealing their water and why before it's too late.

The acting is solid, the animation is fun, and the pacing is fluid. The plot is essentially a rehashing of Chinatown with the occasional twist and turn to make it a little bit more exciting and kid-friendly in the hopes that it doesn't feel predictable. Unfortunately, it is predictable. Adding failed plan after failed plan in the last 10 minutes doesn't make it surprising. It just makes it painful for everyone waiting for the film to end.

The best part about this movie is probably the character of Rango, who seems to be able to confabulate on the fly in a very entertaining manner. It makes for a clever script with sharp dialogue, including some excellent jokes, but on the whole I didn't get much out of it. Ultimately, the film tried too hard to satisfy too many different genres that it never really impressed me on any one of them. All in all, this is a strange but fairly mediocre film that entertains but doesn't stick with you. Watch it if it sounds interesting, but don't go out of your way to see it.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1192628/