The Karate Kid (2010)

3/5

The 2010 version of The Karate Kid is an entertaining film with its fair share of faults. I have not seen the original Karate Kid, but I hear that this updated remake is not as good. As to the plot, here goes: young Dre (Smith) and his mother (Henson) move to China for her job. Dre doesn't know the language, but quickly makes friends. A young Chinese violinist takes an interest in him and he does likewise. But Cheng, a young bully who's interested in the violinist for himself, doesn't think that they should associate with each other. He beats up poor Dre, time and time again, until Dre promises to fight him one-on-one in a local kung fu tournament. Dre befriends his apartment's maintenance man Mr. Han (Chan), who begins to train him in the art of kung fu.

I found the movie to be overly dramatic and sensationalized. There was definitely way too much slow-motion. It seemed as if this was the most important and formative year of Dre's entire life (which may be the case, but it doesn't ring true for people going through real struggles who are above the age of 12). The action was well-choreographed and engaging for the most part, but it quickly turned into senselessly cruel brutality that was somewhat difficult to watch. Also, I thought some of the writing and/or delivery of dialogue just didn't feel right (way too childish within the dramatic atmosphere). However, despite being completely predictable, the movie had some funny, exciting, and uplifting parts. It's not the best movie in the world, but it does its job to entertain you for 2 hours. It will probably satisfy kids more than adults, but I don't regret watching this movie by any means.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1155076/

Date Night (2010)

4/5

Date Night is an incredibly fun movie that delivered non-stop laughs with an action twist. The plot follows Phil and Claire Foster (Carell, Fey) as two parents whose marriage is slowly becoming routine and whose children occupy the little free time they have after work. When their friends decide to get a divorce, Phil realizes that he has something special with Claire that he doesn't want to lose and decides to take her out to a special night in Manhattan at an upscale seafood restaurant. After arriving without a reservation, they take another couple's table and are believed to be the couple that stole a flash drive from gangster Joey Miletto (Liotta). They are chased around the city for about an hour and a half and finally end up happy together with their marriage secure. (Whoops, I just ruined the ending.)

The writing in this movie is perfect and the two NBC Thursday night stars pull it off with aplomb. Carell and Fey together are a dream come true; they are my ideal comedy duo and they do not disappoint. They should do everything together. The dialogue is 30 Rock gone mainstream and it flies. The humor was quick and the editing kept pace. There are too many funny scenes to even recount and there is absolutely no dead space in the 90 minute movie. It is literally laugh after laugh after laugh. The movie also has a little bit of heart thrown in there for good measure and, while it's not quite the tearjerker it intended to be, it's certainly got a little sap to separate it from the straight-up comedies we see all the time. I probably would've given this movie a higher rating had some unnecessary scenes been deleted and had the emotional aspect hit home harder. All in all, this is a terrific movie for anyone who loves Steve Carell or Tina Fey. Go watch it as soon as you can.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1279935/

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)

2/5

When I first heard about David Fincher's The Curious Case of Benjamin Button a year ago, I must admit I was very excited. But the more I saw trailers for it, the less and less thrilled I became. And when I finally saw the movie, my feelings had turned completely dead to what I originally thought was an innovative concept. I don't know why it happened, but I'm sad that it did, because I was unable to truly enjoy this movie. After thinking about what it meant to age backwards, to see everyone you "grew up" with die, to love someone and lose them, I let those thoughts all percolate in my mind. And by the time I saw the movie, there was nothing new for me to take away from it.

If you strip out the gimmick, you'll see that the story itself is fairly plain and uninteresting. It's as if they wanted to make a new Forrest Gump but ran out of interesting stories and just went with second-rate ones. And it's long. You can try convincing yourself that it's a sweeping epic, but you'd just be lying to yourself. It was like watching Ben Stein read War and Peace. The acting was all right, although I never really felt it to be a powerful or emotionally gripping piece. The romance was unconvincing and quite frightening actually. The pacing was lethargic, and many worthless scenes were kept when they should have been cut. The best thing that can be said about this movie is its visual style. Fincher knows good cinematography. And with that, seamlessly integrating CGI into it. Even in that regard, however, it resembled a Jeunet picture (Amelie, A Very Long Engagement) more than a Fincher picture (Seven, Zodiac) because the tones were much warmer than I'm used to seeing from Fincher. Fincher directing The Curious Case of Benjamin Button felt like Lynch directing The Elephant Man.

Overall, I have to say I'm very disappointed with this film. I don't know how "bad" it is, but I do know I got nothing out of it. I can see others enjoying it, but I don't know how deep their appreciation for it really goes. To me, it felt like the filmmakers took a great concept and wrote 3 hours of filler around it. And much like Memento, we're left with a movie that a lot of people like for its initial idea, but is ultimately a subpar, immature, unfinished picture. At its heart, there's really nothing this film has to offer me except negative three hours and negative eight bucks.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0421715/