Mini-Review: "Mad Max: Fury Road"

So, before I start the actual review, I have to rant a bit. I am an AMC Theater regular. I cross state lines to see a movie at the closest AMC. The actual nearest cinema used to be a United Artists theatre, renovated about 10 years ago to include stadium seating in its relatively small auditoriums. The last movie I saw there (which was the first in a long time) was Lemony Snicket... More recently, it was acquired by Regal and re-renovated to include assigned seating in exceptionally plush recliners! Because J was at my house, and neither of two closest AMCs were showing Mad Max: Fury Road in 2D, we ended up in the Regal and J couldn't help but give in to the plush, falling asleep twice. But... I blame the seat, not the movie.

Anyway...

Original creator/writer/director George Miller (Gremlins; Babe) is back with the latest in the continuing adventures of a character he created nearly 40 years ago. Tom Hardy (The Dark Knight Rises) takes over for Mel Gibson in the title role, joined by Academy Award winner Charlize Theron and X-Men's Nicholas Hoult (Warm Bodies) in what is basically a 2 hour car chase through the Australian (South African) desert. Captured by the sadistic Immortan Joe, AKA 'Daddy' (Hugh Keays-Byrne - of the original film), Max is branded and tattooed an 'O+  Universal Donor' and soon finds himself caged as a living "blood bag" for a cancer-ridden 'War Boy' named Nux (Hoult). When Daddy's best war-machine driver Imperator Furiosa (Theron) goes rogue, Nux sets out in pursuit to win Daddy's favor, strapping Max to the front of his car. Furiosa is also soon in pursuit by The People Eater and The Bullet Farmer, impeding the deal she'd made to ensure safe passage for her cargo, Daddy's concubines (one of whom is very pregnant). As with Miller's previous films in the series, Max's will to survive is paramount, though his compassion and his need to do the right thing overrides his personal well being and he ends up helping Furiosa to defeat to tyrant (Not-Such-A-Spolier-Alert).

Of course, the story (as in all the Mad Max films) is really secondary to the action and stunts, and Fury Road delivers plenty of that! J and I particularly liked the guys on the poles who were able to reach in and snatch people out their vehicles. The performances are fine all around, though Hardy's Max sounds an awful lot like his Bane, particularly near the end. Theron continues to build her repertoire of tough bitches and Hoult is obviously having fun as the lost soul redeemed by love. The effects are superlative (I believed Theron was an amputee) and the visuals quite often amazing. Sadly, while Fury Road is most certainly a Mad Max movie worthy of the franchise, it can't compare to the franchise's decidedly best entry, The Road Warrior. Still, it was great, loud, mindless fun and the chance to hold hands in the dark with a certain special someone (even if those evil seats made him fall asleep twice)!  

Fans of the franchise won't be disappointed, though after all these years, I had hoped Miller might have something new to say about the character. *** (Three Out of Four Stars). Mad Max: Fury Road is rated "R" by the MPAA for "intense sequences of violence throughout, and for disturbing images."

More, anon.
Prospero

Review: "A Million Ways to Die in the West"

Seth MacFarlane, Charlize Theron & Liam Neeson

Director Seth MacFarlane's sophomore feature (following the hilarious and heartfelt Ted) is the deliberately anachronistic Comedy Western, A Million Ways to Die in the West. To be perfectly honest, while it's not as good as Ted (it's missing much of that movie's good-naturedness) it does have much more than a few very, VERY funny moments and visuals. Peppered with the kind of trademark non-sequiturs and throwaway jokes MacFarlane uses on his animated series "Family Guy," A Million Ways... never wastes any opportunity to gross us out, make us squeal in discomfort or belly-laugh at something outrageous. 

MacFarlane is Albert, a dirt poor, bad sheep farmer (his sheep have a tendency to wander any and everywhere) whose girlfriend Louise (Amanda Seyfried) dumps him after he talks his way out of a gun fight with a neighbor by offering a cash settlement. His best friend Edward (Giovanni Ribisi) is in love with foul-mouthed prostitute Ruth (Sarah Silverman) but they can offer no consolation when Louise takes up with wealthy owner of the Moustachery,  Foy (Neil Patrick Harris). Meanwhile, outlaw Clinch (Liam Neeson) sends his wife Anna (Charlize Theron) with one of his boys to pose as brother and sister in the Arizona town where Albert lives, while he hides out after murdering a prospector. A ridiculous barfight (started by Anna's 'brother') eventually leads to friendship and romance between Albert and Anna. 

There isn't much new, plot-wise in A Million Ways... We all know how it's going to end as soon as Anna and Albert meet. And while the modern dialogue (complete with 21st Century teen slang) is a bit jarring at first and the cartoon violence always ends in horrific deaths and/or mutilations, they somehow manage to work together, despite every indication that they shouldn't. There are plenty of racist jokes (the shooting gallery at the county fair is called "Shoot the Runaway Slave" and a scene involving Cochise is loaded with 'Indian' gibberish)  and nonsense (ingredients in a 'health tonic' include mercury and red flannel, while the sight of a dollar bill has the townsfolk 'oohing' in reverence) and a ton of very funny, quick and mostly uncredited cameos (think Jane Weidlin in Clue), the funniest of which involves a beloved character actor recreating his most iconic movie role for yet another anachronistic gag. My three companions (M, Dear D and Stephanie) all laughed a lot (often missing bits of dialog because of it), though D was a bit put off by Silverman's very explicit descriptions of her work day. The performances are all fine and MacFarlane uses his adorableness to it's fullest extent. D also thought Theron wasn't interested or interesting for the first half of her performance, but I think that was a deliberate choice. Oh - and there's a big musical number about... mustaches! And an obviously Salvador Dali-inspired hallucination scene that is pure genius!

Interestingly, while I was undoubtedly the oldest among my companions, we were collectively among the youngest members of the matinee audience. And surprisingly, the older folks seemed to enjoy it almost as much as we did. I expected at least two or three couples to walk out, but none of them did so, though I heard an older man behind us make two funny remarks. The first was "This is the craziest movie I ever saw!" and the second was "Whose idea was it to see this, again?" I'm guessing he's never seen The Forbidden Zone. And I would be remiss if I didn't mention that all of the nonsense is made so much funnier by Joel McNeely's dead-on, sweeping Western score.

If you are a fan of MacFarlane's other works (I definitely am), you will most certainly enjoy A Million Ways to Die in the West. If outrageous, gross-out, nonsense comedy isn't your thing, you probably won't. *** (Three Out of Four Stars). Rated 'R for "strong crude and sexual content, language throughout, some violence and drug material." The Red-Band trailer below is definitely NSFW and features several clips that do not actually appear in the movie (I HATE that!).

More, anon. 

Prospero

Retro Review: "Snow White and the Huntsman"

While I missed it when it was released to theaters in May, I very much wanted to see Snow White and the Huntsman and while in Miami, I got the chance to rent it as an in-room movie Saturday night. 

I really loved almost everything about this movie, especially its dark and violent tone. And while many find the 1937 Disney classic to be rather dark, Snow White and the Huntsman is no Disney fantasy. 

The movie opens with the deaths of both Snow White's mother (from an unspecified illness) and the murder of her father (hottie Noah Huntley of 28 Days Later and Your Highness) at the hands of his beautiful but ice cold new wife, Ravenna (the stunning beauty Charlize Theron). Snow White is hurried off to a tower cell where she grows up to be Kristen Stewart (Twilight). When the seemingly ageless Ravenna learns that she can attain immortality from her magic mirror (voiced by Christopher Obi of "Doctor Who" and Burke and Hare) if she can possess the beating heart of Snow White, Ravenna orders her creepy brother Finn (The Hurt Locker's Sam Spruell) to fetch her from the tower. Aided by a bird she'd rescued as a child, Snow escapes and makes her way to the Dark Forest, where Ravenna's horses cannot enter thanks to a convenient swamp. Ravenna then enlists Chris "Thor" Hemsworth's drunken Huntsman to retrieve her with the promise of resurrecting his dead wife. 

There are four reasons to see the movie: Theron, Hemsworth, the special effects and the eight amazing actors who portray the CGI enhanced dwarfs. Ian McShane; Bob Hoskins; Ray Winstone; Nick Frost; Eddie Marsan; Toby Jones; Johhny Harris and Brian Gleeson make up the rattiest, dirtiest and most delightful band of gold-hearted miscreants in recent memory, even if it is a bit disconcerting to see them shrunken down to a third of their actual sizes. Theron is nothing less than mesmerizing as Ravenna and her beauty shines through even when made up as an old crone. No one plays a beautiful, evil bitch like she can. Hemsworth is fine, though his affected Australian/Irish accent is occasionally weird to the ear and as in The Cabin in the Woods, he doesn't spend nearly enough time unclothed for my taste. Spruell is also fine, his creepiness aided by his pale makeup and a choppy, bad Page Boy haircut. 

Sadly, the dour-faced Stewart is hardly believable as someone who is supposed to be more beautiful than Theron (a task few young actresses would be able to fulfill), though it is the purity of her heart that makes Snow White the "fairer" of the two. Pretty Sam Claflin (recently cast as Finnick in The Hunger Games: Catching Fire) is the adult version of Snow White's childhood friend, William and he does his best with a role that could have been left out without affecting the movie in any way. 

The fantasy elements, which include a giant troll; some very weird fairies; mushrooms with eyes and a rather magnificent version of the fabled White Stag, are often breathtaking and add just enough whimsy to keep the movie from being relentlessly grim. First time director Rupert Sanders (who was instrumental in the break-up of Stewart and her Twilight co-star Robert Pattinson - he of the creepy, pasty flat face) does a fine job balancing the more realistic elements of the film with the fantastical, though the movie does get bogged down a bit in the middle, though the infamous Poison Apple scene is handled quite cleverly. Fans of the original Brothers Grimm tale won't be disappointed by the dark tone and general dirtiness of the movie (almost everyone is covered in grime, mud and soot), though I wouldn't recommend it for children who know and love the Disney version or for adults who prefer "pretty" fairy tales with easily achieved happy endings. I didn't (and have no desire to) see Tarsem Singh's comedic Mirror, Mirror but I imagine it can't begin to compare to this movie.

*** (Three Out of Four Stars). Snow White and the Huntsman is rated PG-13 for "intense sequences of violence and action, and brief sensuality."



More, anon.
Prospero

Review: "Jennifer's Body"

I have to admit, I went in to Jennifer's Body with rather low expectations. First off, there's director Karyn Kusama, whose 2000 feature debut Girlfight was pretty good. But her 2005 follow-up, a live-action version of the old MTV animated short Aeon Flux starring the beautiful Charlize Theron, was quite frankly, awful. Then there is the screenwriter Diablo Cody, whose feature film debut was a critical darling, but which I despised (more on that, another time). Finally, the title role was being played by Megan Fox, an actress best known for her physical attributes rather than her ability to act. So in my mind, the movie had three strikes, right off the bat (you should excuse the baseball analogies... cause here's the only reason I'd ever actually go to a baseball game). Anyway, I was pretty sure it was going to suck, which is why my companion (I love you, Matty!) and I went to the 11 AM show - it was only $6.

Jennifer Check (Fox) is a popular and hot cheerleader at her high school in a small town named for its weird waterfall which ends in a reported bottomless pit. Whatever is thrown into the swirling vortex at the bottom of the falls (red rubber balls, sacrificial knives) never returns or comes out anywhere else. She is best friends since the sandbox with Anita "Needy" Lesnicky (Amanda Seyfried), a mousy little gal with limp hair and nerdy glasses, who has an adorably nerdy boyfriend, Chip (Johnny Simmons) who is always being abandoned as Needy obeys Jennifer's every whim. At the outset, we already know that Jennifer is a man eater because she refers to hot guys as being "salty" and advises Needy to use her breasts to get whatever she wants from a boy. When a band with the unlikely name of Low Shoulder comes o play the only bar in town, Jennifer declares the lead singer (The O.C.'s Adam Brody) salty, Needy tags along to the show. A fire breaks out, many are killed and Jennifer is whisked away in the band's van, much to Needy's consternation. Needless to say, things go downhill from there. Jennifer soon returns to Needy's, covered in blood and puking green-black bile all over the linoleum floor of Needy's kitchen.

As you know from the trailers, Jennifer is possessed by a hungry demon (the result of botched human sacrifice on the part of the so-desperate-they'll-sell-their-souls band); a Succubus who seduces and then eats her prey which, in this case, is boys. It is up to Needy to figure out what's going on and how to stop the fiend that her best friend has become. Pretty standard stuff for a horror plot, no? But surprisingly, Cody and Kusama pull it off quite well, owing it entirely the film's cast, all of whom "get" the genre's humor and play it up for all it's worth. They is plenty of Cody's quirky dialog (I am now particularly enamored of the word "freak-tarded") and plenty of teenage sexual angst (Women's, Gender and Sexual Studies professors will have a field day with this one). Cody taps into teen sexuality in a completely different way than she did in Juno, without the oh-so annoying characters and godawful soundtrack.

Surprisingly, Fox proves that she actually can act, though it will take another movie that isn't Transformers or another Horror movie to convince me she has any real range. Here she is alternately sexy, funny, bitchy and downright terrifying. Simmons is goofy and cute in the Justin Long role of Needy's disbelieving boyfriend. Terribly underused are the always amazing Amy Sedaris ("Strangers with Candy") as Needy's Mom and Cynthia Stevenson ("Dead Like Me") as Chip's Mom. And in the film's funniest role. the always brilliant J.K. Simmons (Spider-Man; "The Closer") is Mr. Wroblesky, a teacher who is more upset by the tragic incidents than any of the students. Wearing what well may be the funniest wig in the history of cinema, speaking in an outrageous hilarious deadpan Midwestern accent and sporting a... well, I won't ruin that joke for you. Needless to say, out of about a dozen or so in attendance, my friend and I were the only ones who laughed (and we laughed long and hard).

But more than any other performer, Jennifer's Body belongs to Ms. Seyfried. The Mama Mia and "Big Love" star not only has the best character arc, going from timid follower to mad avenger; she plays the role honestly, without relying on the tricks some other actress might have used. You can't help but root for from the very beginning, before the real story even starts to unfold.

I must admit that I was quite pleased to find my misgivings were unwarranted. Cody, Kusama and company have delivered almost everything a horror fan wants from a movie: gore, humor, originality and a genuine fright or two. Is it as good as this summer's best horror movie, Drag Me to Hell? Not by a long shot. Is it better than every other horror movie not directed by Sam Raimi this summer? Most assuredly. *** (Three Stars). Rated "R" by the MPAA for Language, Horrific Violence, Gore and Sexual Situations.