John Wick (2014)

2/5

John Wick is a pretty silly movie. The conceit of the film is that a well-known assassin named John Wick (Reeves) retires from the killing business for a woman (Moynahan) who ends up dying of an unknown chronic disease. When a seemingly random crime takes away the final gift from his late wife, Wick returns to his violent past on a quest for vengeance.

The movie has a few unique aspects, but is otherwise drab and uninspired. What's cool? The video game-like action and the snippets of comedy. It didn't feel like other shoot-em-up action flicks; it felt like a shoot-em-up action game. And it never takes itself too seriously, throwing in hilarious jokes at its own expense. Sometimes it feels overly silly, but it works more often than I would have expected. What's poor? Everything else. The movie starts in media res for no other reason than that it's commonplace now. It adds nothing to the excitement or the plot; if anything it flattens and compresses the story's progression. The script is full of cliched one-liners delivered with surprising blandness coming from the somewhat well-respected actors. There is no build-up to an explosive finale. It just continues from one random action scene to the next, with perhaps the coolest one being the first one. All in all, I cannot recommend this film to even the most diehard of Keanu Reeves fans.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2911666/

Ramona and Beezus (2010)

4/5

Ramona and Beezus is an absolutely delightful film. The movie follows the Quimby family during a particularly troublesome time in their life. The father (Corbett) loses his job after taking out a loan for a home expansion project, the mother (Moynahan) must now return to part-time employment, the older sister Beezus (Gomez) faces difficulties with her love life, and Ramona (King) is just trying to stay afloat with school and family. Everything wraps up more than perfectly in this super saccharine family movie.

The filmmaking is fairly standard, but there are some magical scenes that reveal Ramona's creative imagination. The sequences look like a mix between stop-motion and construction paper cutouts, and it's precisely the manner in which I believe Ramona daydreams. They were without a doubt the most memorable cinematic qualities of the movie. The acting is the other strong aspect of the film. Joey King is the most adorable child actress in recent memory; her entire face lights up with joy and scrunches down when pouting. You find yourself really caring for her and her overexaggerated worries, even though she's going through simple elementary school stuff. She makes the movie as enjoyable as it is and she is the reason that I highly recommend this movie.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0493949/

Serendipity (2001)

4/5

Serendipity is a surprisingly tender and gripping romantic comedy. The plot follows two people in two separate, seemingly happy relationships. They find each other serendipitously when shopping at Bloomingdale's and enjoy a wonderful night together over coffee and ice skating in downtown New York City. Sara (Beckinsale) believes that if they are meant to be together then fate will bring them back together. So she asks John (Cusack) to write his name and phone number on a $5 bill; then uses it to pay for a pack of gum. She writes her name and number on the inside cover of her favorite book, Love in the Time of Cholera, and sells it to a used bookstore. Will they find each others' names and numbers or were they never destined to be together?

The premise of the story is very compelling. There is something utterly romantic about fate pulling two people together, something entirely desirable about having a soul mate that was meant just for you. And this movie uses that to its full advantage to suck you in and keep you under its spell. Every time they are pulled apart, you just want to yell out, "NOOO!" and push them together. The acting by the leads (and by Shannon and Piven as their best friends) are convincing, heartfelt, and memorable. The writing, the cinematography, and the editing are all fairly predictable and bland, but they don't detract from the overall experience. All in all, this is one of the better romantic comedies I've seen and it definitely gets a recommendation from me.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0240890/