End of Watch (2012)

4/5

End of Watch is a gritty police drama that combines elements of realism and truth with humor and warmth. It follows two young officers (Gyllenhaal, Peña) patrolling the streets of LA together. Instead of focusing on the minutiae of cop life, it centers on the relationship between the two leads and simply explores where their job takes them. The writing is filled with harrowing experiences that make your heart stop beating for a few seconds. The movie is exciting, thrilling, terrifying, and heartfelt.

The editing is just about perfect. It collapses time to focus on the most startling arrests and the biggest personal life events: weddings, birthdays, etc. It uses the found footage concept to perfection, unlike Chronicle. Chronicle took the concept too far, to the point where it impeded the storytelling and lessened your enjoyment of the film. Here, it provides a framework, a context, a setting. It gives shape and meaning to the story instead of forcing the story in one direction or becoming the story itself.

But, honestly, the actors are the reason to see this movie. Gyllenhaal and Peña give truly outstanding and memorable performances. They each bring their own individual charisma to the screen, and together they have a natural chemistry that takes your breath away. The movie is far from perfect, with numerous unbelievable scenarios and occasional unclear motivations. Be that as it may, the movie was a joy to watch and I highly recommend it.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1855199/

How To Train Your Dragon (2010)

4/5

How To Train Your Dragon by DreamWorks is a phenomenal animated film on the same level as most Pixar movies. The plot follows the young Viking Hiccup (Baruchel) and his great warrior father Stoick (Butler) on an island plagued by dragon attacks. Hiccup isn't like the other Vikings--he's scrawny and uses his brain to invent weapons instead of wielding giant hammers and axes--and his father lets him know how disappointed he is in him because of it. Wanting to kill a dragon and prove to his father that he's a manly Viking, he tests out a new weapon on an elusive dragon species called the Night Fury. He strikes the dragon down, injuring the tail so that he can no longer escape. He has the opportunity to kill the dragon but discovers that he can't. He sees the dragons with the same fear that he felt and realizes that they're just like him, instead of the evil creatures he's been taught must be killed on sight. But that is just the beginning of this epic tale.

This movie is an exhilarating and memorable ride. Despite a few bad puns, the writing is exceptional. I was a huge fan of the repetition of certain phrases that, when placed in different contexts, showed new meaning. I liked the play on words with the concept of "dragon training," and how it did a complete reversal from what it was in the beginning of the movie. To me, the writers clearly treated this film with care, intellect, and a faith and respect in their audience that is a rarity in "kids" movies these days. That kind of attention to detail was present in their incredible graphics as well, even though I didn't see it in 3D (I think they give me more headaches than they're worth). Without going for the cuteness of Pixar or the realism of Beowulf, they managed a charismatic and charming style that feels appropriate for the subject matter and wholly original.

There were a few things I didn't like about the movie, however. First, Baruchel's voicing of Hiccup was irritating. By about 10 minutes in, I just got annoyed at his whiny, monotonous tenor and wished he was played by anybody else, even Michael Cera. Second, the fight and reunion with his father felt written and didn't quite ring true, although it nonetheless contained some tearjerking ability. Third, there were some aspects of the plot I didn't (and still don't) get, but they're relatively minor and don't really hinder your enjoyment of the film. This movie goes wholly recommended by me, because it has just about everything you could ask for in a film, including the all-important entertainment value.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0892769/

Our Family Wedding (2010)

3/5

Our Family Wedding is a thoroughly unsurprising romantic comedy about an interracial couple and dysfunctional family dynamics. It is predictable from beginning to end, but that never stopped it from being funny and tender. In fact, I actually laughed a lot more than I thought I would. And I was surprised to find that I liked Forest Whitaker a lot more than I thought I would. The plot follows the young couple Lucia (Ferrera) and Marcus (Gross) as they announce to their families that they will be getting married in two weeks before going to Laos for volunteer work. Both fathers (Whitaker, Mencia) are appalled and disgusted by the other family, but they decide to put up with each other and help plan the wedding for the sake of their kids.

The technical aspects of the film are nothing to write home about. They varied between acceptable and subpar most of the time. The written characters were archetypes instead of individuals, but the acting made them stand out and round out. The story copied a lot of elements from Guess Who (and had the expected sight gags and cheap jokes that audiences have come to expect in movies where "traditional" parents find out their children are in "nontraditional" interracial relationships), but it also brought some new points of view to the table. All in all, the movie is about what you'd expect given the trailer. So if you're looking for that kind of movie, I'm sure you'll get what you were looking for.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1305583/