REVIEW: Dark Skies

MOVIE
Dark Skies

CAST
Keri Russell, Josh Hamilton

RATING
PG-13

RELEASE
February 22, 2013

DIRECTOR
Scott Stewart

STUDIO
Dimension Films (TWC)

RUNNING TIME
1 hour 37 minutes







STARS
**1/2









REVIEW:

It seemed like the worst had come when the first trailer for the latest Sci-Fi Horror film 'Dark Skies' came onto the scene and made people all over the country laugh their butts off. I was one of those people, so honestly I expected nothing out of this film other than to laugh at the sheer stupidity that this trailer brought. This is a prime example on how marketing for a movie can actually hide the true quality of a movie. Sure, this movie is heavily flawed in regards to the script and acting, but I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't interested and entertained throughout the 95-minute duration. 'Dark Skies,' as unintentionally hilarious and stupid it can be, is a satisfying sic-fi horror that delivers on mild scares and even some interesting ideas.

The Barrett family lives a seemingly normal life on the outside, but on the inside of their house is a lot of personal issues. Daniel and Lacey are struggling parents who are trying to maintain good jobs while supporting their two sons at the same time. Mysterious things start brewing in their house, starting with their youngest son Sammy saying that "the sandman" came into his room and started talking to him, while doing strange things around the house. As things get stranger and more disturbing, the Barrett’s soon find out that whatever is causing these weird things aren't from this planet. Plus, these extraterrestrial beings have been planning to commence with these paranormal occurrences for quite some time, watching the family's every move waiting for the right moment to strike.

The acting in the film is good with some actors, while others, well, weren't very good. Keri Russell did a fine job as Lacey. Her performance wasn't anything groundbreaking or anything like that, but it was without a doubt far from a terrible performance. The Same goes for Josh Hamilton, who was also decent in the film. Dakota Goyo from 'Real Steel' gave a solid performance as well. Even J.K. Simmons did well in the 20 minutes he was in the movie. As for the rest of the cast, especially the youngest kid of the Barrett family and a friend of Goyo's character, the performances were mediocre. The young actor's name who played the youngest of the Barrett family, named Sam, is Kadan Rockett. While some child actors shine in their performances, Rockett just gives a bland and boring performance that makes the audience cringe for all of the wrong reasons. Frankly he is a kid, so he shouldn't be blamed so much since the directing was subpar. The worst person of the cast by far is this one teen who play's a friend of Dakota Goyo's character, mainly because he acts like he's from the ghetto and says the most absurd lines out there. Again, this is probably because of the directing and not of the actor, unless he is in a lot of bad movies.

Director and writer Scott Stewart previous helmed the films 'Legion' and 'Priest,' which are both critically panned. I personally have never seen those films, so I wouldn't know myself if they're good. From what was here though, I can honestly say that he did an ok job as the director. As for his script, it was all over the place in terms of quality. Some parts it actually had some interesting concepts thrown in there. In other parts, the focus was primarily on really stupid things like romance, first kisses, and porn. In fact, porn plays a somewhat key factor into the end of the film, which was executed cleverly, but was overall used poorly. The directing was too all over the place, in which some acting was planned poorly and the jump scares weren't even that creepy. I saw some potential in Stewart, but not a lot in all honesty.

Overall, 'Dark Skies' is a forgettable but intriguing sic-fi/horror film that doesn't have a lot of scares, but it does possess some fascinating ideas that really haven't been explored in the alien genre yet, plus it has some solid acting from Keri Russell, Josh Hamilton, J.K. Simmons, and Dakota Goyo. This isn't as horrendous as the trailers made it out to be, despite having some of the funniest unintentional moments of 2013 so far. However it isn't as great as its ideas about aliens and possessing are. If one goes in expecting to loathe this movie with a fiery passion, then chances are they will. However if one goes in with an open mind, not expecting a lot out of it, then they might have a decent time. In fact, this is a great movie to see with a bunch of friends for the sake of making fun of the movie when it gets stupid and unintentionally hilarious. However when it does present it's extraterrestrial invasion ideas in the second half, eyes might be glued to the screen and one might be invested in what's going on. 'Dark Skies' is by far a great horror movie, but it is somewhat entertaining to say the least, and it's a fun enough movie to see with a bunch of friends.




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MINI-REVIEW: Safe Haven

MOVIE
Safe Haven

CAST
Josh Duhamel, Julianne Hough

RATING
PG-13

RELEASE
February 14, 2013

DIRECTOR
Lasse Hallström

STUDIO
Relativity Media

RUNNING TIME
1 hour 55 minutes







STARS
**1/2









REVIEW:

Nicholas Sparks is a genre in itself when it comes to books and movies.  Every story is the same: someone is running to or from a secret, falls in love with someone, and the past catches up with them.  With the new Nicholas Sparks adaptation 'Safe Haven,' the someone running from the past is Katie, played by Julianne Hough of 'Footloose' and 'Rock of Ages' fame.  Katie escapes to a town in North Carolina known as Southport, where she takes a job at a restaurant, gets a home on the outskirts of town, and befriends two people: a new neighbor named Jo, and a widowed father of two children/owner of a gas station named Alex.  As this is a Nicholas Sparks story, Katie and Alex end up developing chemistry and falling in love just as Katie's past is slowly lurking back into her life.  If it wasn't for Julianne Hough's performance, a sweet little girl in the film who's the daughter of Josh Duhamel's character, and a surprisingly clever twist at the very end of the film, I would have personally hated it.  Thanks to the three bits that made the movie better than awful, I can honestly say that this isn't a terrible movie.  Frankly it's not a great movie, but it is decent and tolerable enough to give a very mild home-video recommendation to.  'Safe Haven,' while not groundbreaking or fantastic in quality, is a passable piece of fluff that has elements that are tolerable and enjoyable.

Not really much is there to say about this movie.  The story is predictable, the script is bland, the direction from 'Dear John' director Lasse Hallström is weak, villain is way too over the top, and the attempt at comedy falls flat.  However the chemistry between the two leads was good, most of the actors gave decent performances, the twist at the end was surprisingly good, and for the most part, the film as a whole was pretty tolerable.  This isn't a movie with any spiritual takeaway, or even something that memorable overall.  Even if 'Warm Bodies' and 'Beautiful Creatures' are better romantic date night flicks out there, this movie will at least make one's girlfriend happy, and for that alone guys should be taking their loving other to see this film.  'Safe Haven,' while cluttered with many flaws that can be expected in a Nicholas Sparks film, is an enjoyable enough movie that will at least make your girlfriend happy/crying in your arms.




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REVIEW: Beautiful Creatures

MOVIE
Beautiful Creatures

CAST
Alden Ehrenreich, Alice Englert

RATING
PG-13

RELEASE
February 14, 2013

DIRECTOR
Richard LaGravenese

STUDIO
Warner Bros. Pictures

RUNNING TIME
2 hours 4 minutes







STARS
***1/4












REVIEW:

With Valentine's Day literally just around the corner, many couples, both young and older than young, try to find a way to spend the day with their loved one and make a romantic day out of the occasion.  Chances are that the girl end of the couple won't want to see 'A Good Day to Die Hard,' and the guy end of the couple won't want to go see 'Safe Haven.'  Eliminating those two new releases, the only one that's left is 'Beautiful Creatures.' This movie is based on the first of four books in a series written by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl, and from the trailers would look like just another 'Twilight' cash grab for teens to hoard money towards.  It's somewhat exciting to say that a movie that looks like a 'Twilight' ripoff is far from that, and even surpasses that series in terms of quality.  As surprising as it is to say this, 'Beautiful Creatures' is basically any teen fantasy story but with better characters, a better script, and a story that the audience can get somewhat involved in.  It's nice to find that Valentine's Day surprise when one least expects it.

Ethan is a relatively popular teenager who wants to escape his small town in South Carolina and explore the world the way his mother wanted him to.  Lena just moved to this small town in South Carolina and is considered to be a freak due to being related to a man who's considered to be evil.  The two, unexplainably, are connected to each other and fall in love.  Lena though has a little secret that prevents the two from being together: Lena is a witch, or in the proper term, "a Castor."  When Lena turns 16, her witchy powers will be claimed to either the light side of magic or the dark side of magic, which could turn her vile and evil.  The love between the two teens sparks up an old curse that was put on her family centuries ago, and could jeopardize where her powers will eventually be claimed.

When people look at the poster for this film, chances are that they'll only recognize the supporting actors rather than the two leads.  Alden Ehrenreich and Alice Englert are practically unknowns and aren't that recognizable to people just yet.  Having said that, their performances were much better than one would expect.  Not only do the actors have some decent chemistry together, but they also know how to add the teen angst element to their characters and make their love towards one another somewhat believable.  Sure Englert, the girl who plays Lena, doesn't look like a 15 going on 16 year old at all, but that's onyl a nitpick compared to her performance overall.  As for the supporting actors, nobody really disappointed on giving a decent performance.

Out of all of the supporting actors in the film, the best of them by far is Viola Davis.  She's the only one of all of the actors who doesn't sport a Southern accent at all.  Plus for what it's worth, it seems that she was giving the most effort out of all of the supporting actors.  Thomas Mann from 'Project X' and 'Fun Size' was decent in this movie, but wasn't in it much in order to solidify a satisfactory performance.  Jeremy Irons is good in anything he's in, but here it seems that he wasn't giving as great of an effort as Davis, or even Mann, was.  Emmy Rossum is only in here to be a sex symbol and look incredibly attractive, which she succeeds at doing.  Overall though, she doesn't really deliver on a good performance much and just really likes to flaunt around and look hot.  Emma Thompson is the most mediocre of all of the actors since her performance is silly and way too over the top for what could have been a decent villain.  The supporting performance average out to decent, with some that were good, and some that were mediocre.  It's kind of ironic how the two unknown leads deliver better performances than the majority of the well known supporting actors.

The direction from Richard LaGravenese wasn't anything special, since it just felt standard and nothing really remarkable.  His script though I did admire mainly because of its quirky dialogue.  Watching the film, I thought to myself "this is like 'Twilight' with a better script and much more likable characters."  Some of the dialogue in the movie was very entertaining to listen too and had a sort of flare to it, unlike 'Broken City' in which it tried to mock off the style of Quentin Tarantino.  The story might be a little predictable, but the chemistry between the characters and their constant banter between each other made the film worthwhile.

Overall, 'Beautiful Creatures' is a better movie than one would expect from the trailers and the story.  If one can ignore the over the top performance from Emma Thompson, the predictable and formulaic story, and annoying Christian characters present throughout, then this is a decent time at the movies.  The two leads have good chemistry together and are likable presences on the screen.  The script is enjoyable since it has a nice charm and spunk to it that makes it stand out among other fantasy scripts.  Sure the supporting cast doesn't stand out, but they are enjoyable for what it's worth.  This isn't the best date movie out: 'Warm Bodies' is by far.  However if your girlfriend doesn't want to see 'A Good Day to Die Hard' on Valentine's Day, then this isn't a terrible option.  While not a perfect movie, 'Beautiful Creatures' is a fluffy and enjoyable teen fantasy with enough charm to satisfy the teen girl in all of us.

REVIEW: Warm Bodies

MOVIE
Warm Bodies

CAST
Nicholas Hoult, Teresa Palmer

RATING
PG-13

RELEASE
February 1, 2013

DIRECTOR
Jonathan Levine

STUDIO
Summit Entertainment
(Lionsgate)

RUNNING TIME
1 hour 38 minutes







STARS
***3/4









REVIEW:

At first glance, 'Warm Bodies' seems like a straight up 'Twilight' ripoff, but this time it's about zombies in the post apocalyptic future rather than vampires in a rural part of Washington State. Instead of the film just being a simple love story between an immortal being and a regular human girl, it actually takes the ideas of the apocalypse, zombies, and love, and puts a fresh spin on it. The story of 'Warm Bodies' follows a zombie who goes by the name "R" who is conflicted with eating humans. He doesn't want to, but he has to in order to survive and feels bad about it after. R soon comes across a human named Julie whom he for really fascinating reasons becomes attracted to her and feels obligated to protect her from his fellow zombies, as well as the "bonies," who are a more vicious and carnivorous type of zombie. Since the director of the film was Jonathan Levine, who directed the 2011 dramady '50/50,' I had faith that this film would be good. Sure enough, it is exactly what I wanted it to be and more. 'Warm Bodies' is an intelligent, hilarious, and touching romantic comedy that can be enjoyed by anyone who has a pulse.

The real standout of the film is Nicholas Hoult as R. The only other film I can recall seeing him in recently was 2011's 'X-Men: First Class,' and he was great in it. Hoult's performance as R is played more for comedy, yet it also features a deeper performance than I was expecting. What I mean by that is that there is a kind of complexity to Hoult's character since he's mostly using his inner monologue as dialogue, showing that he is a human trapped in a zombie's body. Teresa Palmer adds a substance to her "damsel" character and acts more as an intelligent badass rather than a clumsy damsel captured by the "beast." Rod Corrdry delivers on some hilarious comedic moments as well, along with 'Crazy Stupid Love's' Analeigh Tipton. Dave Franco and John Malkovich deliver in strong supporting roles as well. Overall 'Warm Bodies' features a great cast that features a really strong performance from a potentially big star, Nicholas Hoult. If anyone should be given credit to the film, however, it should go to writer/director Jonathan Levine.

To be honest, I've never read the book 'Warm Bodies,' which the movie is based off of. However from what I've read of the book, it seems that Jonathan Levine stayed true to it and even enhanced it in some ways. Not only is the dialogue sharp and often hilarious, but the story itself is presented with so many unique and clever ideas that I'm shocked haven't been thought of before. One of those ideas is that zombies try to eat human brains in order to gain the memories of the now deceased. Levine even manages to make William Shakespeare's 'Romeo and Juliet' relevant once again and have an interesting twist on the story. This story doesn't exactly copy off of the classic forbidden love tale, but it does allude to it in some interesting ways. After seeing the film, I am tempted to read the original book of 'Warm Bodies' and compare the book and movie to see what's different about them. Just know that this zombie love tale is much funnier and more unique than one might expect.

Valentine's Day is literally around the corner, and so many sappy romantic dramas will be coming out for girlfriends to drag their boyfriends to. Luckily if the boyfriend is dragged to see 'Warm Bodies,' chances are that they will probably have a really good time. The film itself isn't sappy at all. Rather, it's hilarious and awesome overall. The performances are great, especially from Nicholas Hoult. The script by Jonathan Levine is clever and sharp as a pitchfork in terms of dialogue. For a 98 minute movie, the film never feels too short or too long. Just go along for the ride and you may have a good time. 'Warm Bodies' is that mixture of 'Twilight,' 'Romeo and Juliet,' and 'Zombieland' that shouldn't work, but thanks to the writing and direction of Jonathan Levine, work really well together. Who would have guessed that a movie about dead zombie who falls in love would actually have the brain and the pulse to actually work?



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