REVIEW: Snow White & The Huntsman

MOVIE
Snow White & The Huntsman

CAST
Kristen Stewart, Charlize Theron

RATING
PG-13

RELEASE
June 1, 2012

DIRECTOR
Rupert Sanders

STUDIO
Universal Pictures

RUNNING TIME
2 hours 7 minutes






STARS
**








REVIEW:

It's only June of 2012 and we've already gotten two films based on the classic tale of 'Snow White.'  The first one, which came out in late March, was called 'Mirror Mirror.'  That film was made generally for families and those who wanted to laugh at something.  That film surprised many critics and audiences alike and faired moderately well at the box office.  I didn't get the chance to see that on the big screen, so a DVD watch is likely in my future.  However I did manage to find some time to check out the other 'Snow White' movie.  The other 'Snow White' movie is a more action and adult oriented version with bigger cast members and a first time director.  In fact, this film, entitled 'Snow White & The Huntsman,' looked far more superior to 'Mirror Mirror.'  While not having seen 'Mirror Mirror,' I'm guessing that it's a tad better than this film.  What could've been a fast, action-packed, and fun film end up being slow, over the top, and bizarre at times.  'Snow White & The Huntsman' is a disappointing summer film that odds are will make a ton of money opening weekend.

If you know the story of 'Snow White,' then you should probably know that this adaptation is only loosely based off of the original material.  Instead of Snow White being an innocent young girl, she is a more mature and smart woman with some combat skills of her own.  The Huntsman does more than attempt to kill Snow White and save her instead.  He actually tags along with her and tries to defeat the evil Queen.  The Evil Queen in this version rather than just act menacing is a sorceress who in order to stay young has to suck the youth out of young girls, and suck the life out of people to stay alive.  Instead of the seven dwarfs being the pivotal comedic element of the story, they have a few more tricks up their sleeves, and one of them is a wise blind man.  It's all obviously going to go down hard with Snow White and The Evil Queen, but we are just in it for the action-packed elements and maybe get a good story and decent acting on the side.

Kristen Stewart was quite possibly the best part of the entire movie for me.  This role for her was quite an improvement over biting her lip and screaming "Edward!" or "Jacob!" for no reason whatsoever.  Despite this being her best performance that I've seen, she does go a bit over the top by shouting a few of her lines for no apparent reason at all.  Plus we see something we have rarely seen from Stewart before: her smile.  As joking as that was, Stewart actually shines in this movie the most, which really isn't saying a lot compared to her co-stars.

Charlize Theron is a wonderful actress.  Not only did she win an Academy Award for her insane role in 'Monster,' but she also entertained audiences in 2008's 'Hancock.'  It's understandable that she wants to be in more mainstream movies, but this film wasn't the right choice for her.  In the majority of the movie, Theron is screaming out her lines as if she's being tortured by the screenwriter to spill them out.  In some scenes it was just painful to see her yelp these awful lines like "Bring her to me!" and "I'm sorry brother!"  I can't see how people are calling her great, unless they were referring to her more subtle scenes as a villain, then I would only say she's good in those.  Theron was decent in this film overall, but she left a lot for me to desire.

Chris Hemsworth plays the other name in the film's title, The Huntsman.  In the original story, The Huntsman is only there to hunt Snow White down, and then let her escape due to her beauty.  In this film, the filmmakers had to, not only add a back story to his character, but also have him tag along with Snow White and become of the two love interests.  Hemsworth from the trailers looked like he was going to steal some of the thunder from the leading ladies; however instead he felt more like a really unnecessary character who was just there because either A.) his name is in the title; and B.) the screenwriters wanted to put in a really bland love story for fun.  This character could have been a hard core bad ass with some clever jokes and an interesting story of his own.  Instead he is a bland, misplaced character with not much of a purpose in the movie other than to replace Prince Charming.  There are more characters to talk about, like the "Prince" William, The Queen's brother, and the Seven Dwarfs.  Unfortunately they are not even worthy of being talked about much, which is why this huge section about the cast comes to a close here.

The visual effects are what really drove the movie on the "summer blockbuster" route.  If the movie was only intending to look really cool, then it did its job right.  This movie is quite stunning to look at throughout.  From the Enchanted Forest to the destruction of dark armies, the cinematography and visual effects of the film look absolutely stunning.  In fact, this goes without saying that the cinematography and the visuals could possibly be nomination worthy if this year lacks in the special effects department, which by the looks of it won't at all.  As for the cinematography, there will be far more wide scoped films to come out and snag nominations come awards season, but the film makes you feel like you are in this insane and magical world because of its large epic scope throughout.  The film overall looks really amazing, but that doesn't stop it from being a mediocre mess.

If this film had a better script, director, and even cast, then 'Snow White & The Huntsman' wouldn't have been such a disappointing summer film.  The trailers made this movie seem like one fun and bad ass fantasy trip with great performances by all.  Instead what was given was a poorly acted, often slow, yet visually stunning movie that seems to be a part of the generic Hollywood formula these days.  It seems the movie industry lacks a lot of creativity, therefore can only copy ideas and see if anyone notices.  Can't movies just be original ideas that stimulate the mind rather than rehashing old stories and make them look really nice and glossy?  Let's hope that filmmakers have something up their sleeves very soon, because the creativity of films is slowly depleting and will soon be gone.  Everything in 'Huntsman' could have been so much better, but sadly what is given is 127 minutes of over the top acting and a bad story/script.  People seem to really dig this movie, yet I don't see why.  If one does have interest in seeing this movie, just watch it on a big HD TV when it comes to Blu-Ray.  Unless Hollywood can find some better way of making the 'Snow White' story fresh and new again, the "fairest one of all" has taken her last bite from an apple for a while.  

PREVIEWS YOU MAY SEE:


Ted


The Amazing Spider Man


Brave


Total Recall


Les Misérables


Ice Age: Continental Drift


The Bourne Legacy

REVIEW: Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted 3D

MOVIE
Madagascar 3:
Europe's Most Wanted

CAST
Ben Stiller, Chris Rock

RATING
PG

RELEASE
June 8, 2012

DIRECTOR(S)
Eric Darnell,
Tom McGrath, Conrad Vernon

STUDIO(S)
DreamWorks Animation,
Paramount Pictures

RUNNING TIME
1 hour 33 minutes






STARS
***3/4









REVIEW:

Was it really necessary to make a third 'Madagascar' movie?  Who was asking for one final adventure with Alex, Marty, Gloria, and Melman?  Probably little kids and the bank, so DreamWorks decided to make 'Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted.'  This film has the four beloved animals still trying to get back home to their beloved Central Park Zoo in New York.  Circumstances lead them into a circus from Europe traveling to America, so of course the animals tag along for the ride disguised as circus animals.  DreamWorks has surprisingly been on a roll when it comes to their movies, almost coming up to the same level as Pixar films.  'Kung Fu Panda 2' and 'How to Train Your Dragon' are probably good examples for Pixar comparisons.  While this may look like pure slapstick and nothing else, slapstick usually doesn't get selected to screen in the most prestigious film festival circuit of the year, the Cannes Film Festival.  That's right: 'Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted' was selected to screen at Cannes.  After seeing the film, I can say that there is much more to this movie than just slapstick and silly jokes about "circus afros."  'Madagascar 3' portrays Europe in such a beautiful and often comedic way that the audience can't help but have a smile on their face.  This is one of those rare instances where the third film in a franchise turns out to be the best film in the entire series.

The four main cast members of the series (Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer, Jada Pickett-Smith) are surprisingly better than ever in this movie.  Ben Stiller, instead of sounding like his usual self most of the time, adds that special something to his role of Alex.  In this film, he deals with personal issues about whether he actually wants to go back to New York or not, which was something nice to see in a film where its main trademark is the song "I Like To Move It."  It may seem from the trailers that Marty, Chris Rock's character, is only there to see the cultural phenomenon that is the "Afro Circus" song, which coincidentally was written by Rock himself.  While Rock is here to be one of the key factors to the slapstick comedy, he actually is quite tolerable and not as annoying as you'd expect. Rock is a very funny comedian, but hearing his voice out of a zebra in a circus is all the funnier.  Then comes the other two characters, Gloria and Melman, played by David Schwimmer and Jada Pickett-Smith.  These characters deserve more screen time than they are given, because these two lovebirds are great animals to watch.  Their chemistry in the films has provided some of the series' best jokes.  There could have been more scenes showing how they are now married and are trying to become a family.  But alas, that's a story that could be great for a spin-off film.  The four leads are great as always, however the supporting animals outshine them in almost every way imaginable.

Sacha Baron Cohen, Andy Richter, and Cedric the Entertainer are back as King Julien, Mort, and Maurice respectively.  The lemurs have always been my favorite characters of the series, so it was great to see them with some personal stories of their own.  Actually it was more of King Julien's story than Mort and Maurice, who are just there to successively back up the mishaps of their glorious leader.  Julien ends up in a love story with a bear on a tricycle in the circus.  Not only is this just funny to think about, but it is also the single funniest thing in the entire movie.  There is a scene involving a "revamping" of the bear's tricycle that is absolutely priceless.  It's not just the lemurs who should be getting all of the credit, because the notorious penguins and the crazy but small rolled monkeys also are quite great.  The penguins and the monkeys team up at the very beginning of the film; and the scenario they're in is quite entertaining to watch.  Plus what they do with the circus is also proof that penguins and monkeys are smarter than the average human being.  The original animals are all great, but with every animated movie there has to be new characters.  This film has quite a few enjoyable ones, and one really crazy one.

Frances McDormand plays Captain Chantel DuBois, who is the chief animal inspector and the film's main antagonist.  This character has some funny moments and all, but overall this character is incredibly insane and a bit too over the top.  The fact that she's actually following these animals across Europe just so she can get Alex's head for her wall is a bit too much, and it gets really twisted and weird with her during the third act.  I understand that this is a kid's movie and shouldn't be taken too seriously, but there's a fine line that a character shouldn't go over, whereas McDormand's character in fact did.  She's still entertaining to say the least, but overall a bit of an over-exaggerated character.

Bryan Cranston, Martin Short, and Jessica Chastain play some of the animals in the circus who are a little worried of Alex and the crew.  Cranston dons a Russian accent if I remember correctly, and he gives some great moments in the film.  His back story was even really interesting, despite playing on the fact that this is an animated kids movie and characters can do insanely cool things.  Martin Short probably provided the most laughs out of the four new characters playing a seal named Stefano.  Short is great in animated roles, and I hope that he is in a lot more of them because it seems that his fame has gone to waste recently.  Finally, Jessica Chastain plays a tigress, but that doesn't really matter much due to her being the love interest of Alex.  There wasn't much to expect from Chastain as a love interest, so it was good to see the "love story" not get as irritating as you'd think.  Overall the newcomers to the series have some great lines and some funny moments, but they cannot compare to the original characters of the series.

The 3D in this film is surprisingly really effective for the vast majority of it.  There are a lot of jump-out-of-the-screen moments that are really fun and cool to see.  It reminded me of the first time I saw a 3D movie and everything immersed me into this awesome world.  There is an entire sequence where the circus is performing that looks absolutely jaw dropping in 3D.  I swear my eyes were given free candy and was enjoying the heck out of it!  Sure this movie will be just as good in 2D, but the added 3D element creates an entire new perspective on the film.  Even though I haven't seen the 2D version of this film, I can't imagine seeing this in any other way.  To those outside of the U.S. who are getting this in IMAX 3D, you guys are in for an absolute treat if you pay to see this on the big BIG screens.

It's a darn good thing that DreamWorks hired Noah Baumbach, who directed 2010's 'Greenberg' also starring Ben Stiller, to write this movie because without him this probably would have been just another DreamWorks movie.  'Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted' is fresh, upbeat, and very very funny.  This is the one film this summer that families should not miss going to see.  Sure some of the jokes are incredibly silly, and the film falls to the typical drama cliché at the end of the second act, but if you can forget about all of that, you will have a very fun time at the movies.  The cast work is great, the script is fantastic, and the 3D animation is some of the best 3D that will probably be seen in all of 2012.  'Prometheus' also comes out this weekend for the 17+ crowd, so you may want to check this out if you have the chance.  Adults and kids alike will really enjoy this movie a lot, which really says something because before 2008 only Disney and Pixar were able to do this.  Pixar has some pure competition on their heels when it comes to sequels, because these two studios seem neck and neck right now.  Do yourselves a favor, and pick up a passport, put on 3D glasses, and take a fun, wild trip into the beautiful and eye popping Europe with the 'Madagascar' crew.  Don't forget to don a circus afro when seeing the movie.

MINI-REVIEW: Men in Black 3 in 3D

MOVIE
Men in Black 3 (MIB3)

CAST
Will Smith, Josh Brolin,
Tommy Lee Jones

RATING
PG-13

RELEASE
May 25, 2012

DIRECTOR
Barry Sonnefeld

STUDIO
Columbia Pictures

RUNNING TIME
1 hour 46 minutes




STARS
***1/4








REVIEW:

As it turns out, going backwards in time is much better than going forward in the case of 'Men in Black 3.'  It's been nearly a decade since audiences were given the mediocre sequel that is 'Men in Black II.'  Due to that fatal mistake, it seemed that there was no hope of Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones donning the black suits and the sweet sunglasses once again.  But alas, Sony figured that 3D could help out the alien fighting men on their journey back to the big screen.  And 3D is what 'Men in Black 3' got treated with.  Series director Barry Sonnenfeld along with Smith and Jones have come back to make one final MIB movie that is out on a mission to restore the popularity of 'Men in Black.'  Luckily for them, that's exactly what has happened.  'Men in Black 3' is a fast paced, humorous, and fun summer movie that is one of the better films to come out this year. 

Will Smith is great as always playing Agent J.  Smith knows how to bring a modern flare properly into a 60s setting, which is always good fun to watch.  Tommy Lee Jones, while listed as a main star, is really only in the movie for the first 15 minutes of the film and the last 5 minutes of the film, so I would call it really an extended cameo or something like that.  For the 86 minutes Jones isn't in the film, Josh Brolin is playing the younger rendition of his character, Agent K.  It's incredible how similar Jones and Brolin are in terms of looks and personality traits, because Brolin was the absolute perfect choice to play young K.  If they made prequel 'Men in Black' films starring Josh Brolin as young K, I bet it would do some good business despite the absence of Will Smith.  Jemaine Clement is very enjoyable as the villain of the movie, named "Boris the Animal."  Of all of the villains from this series, I think Boris is probably the best one, because the character does much more than walking around New York City scaring people and killing us one by one.  Overall the cast was able to put on good performances and give the audience some good laughs and keep them on the edge of their seats for the whole way through.

'Men in Black 3' is what you want in a summer movie, and actually gives its audience a whole lot more than they'd expect to see.  In some ways, this is the 'Toy Story 3' of the 'Men in Black' series, because it's final 10 minutes just gets you in the hearts and makes you remember something more about why you liked the first one and wish that the second film never happened.  Etan Cohen, the screenwriter of the film, knew how to revive this once thought dead franchise and bring it to a whole new generation, which is always great to see.  I'm actually worried that this movie might be crushed by its upcoming rivals like Snow White & The Huntsman' and 'Prometheus,' because this is a movie that is actually worth going out to a theater and paying the 3D surcharge to check out.  Sure it is flawed a bit examples being the lack of Pug the Dog, the lack of much humor, and the constant plot-holes regarding the first two films, but if you put those aside then this will be a fun time at the movies for you.  Get ready to go back in time, because the Black Suited Men are back and better than ever.

PREVIEWS YOU MAY SEE:

Madea's Witness Protection


Snow White & The Huntsman


Total Recall


Skyfall


The Amazing Spider Man


Madagascar 3: 
Europe's Most Wanted


Finding Nemo 3D

Prometheus

REVIEW: The Intouchables

MOVIE
The Intouchables

CAST
François Cluzet, Omar Sy

RATING
R

RELEASE
May 25, 2012 (NY/LA)
Expanding Throughout June/July

DIRECTOR(S)
Olivier Nakache, Éric Toledano

STUDIO
The Weinstein Company

RUNNING TIME
1 hour 52 minutes






STARS
****









REVIEW:

Taking French as a freshman in high school has some advantages when you go to see a French movie. Usually with foreign movies, there are cultural jokes that only the people of the nation or people taking the language would get. That is not the case for 'The Intouchables.' 'The Intouchables' is one of those rare films that can connect with any audience, whether they're of different race, religion, gender, ethnicity, age, etc. because the story is so touching, heartwarming, and downright funny. The film is about Philippe, a man who's paralyzed from the neck down who decides to hire an assistant for his daily routines, plus to be his "partner" in life. All of the sudden Driss, an African American man from the French Ghetto comes into Philippe's life, and sparks fly. These two opposites form a friendship that should not work, but somehow it does. This is that type of film where you can go into it expecting nothing and just love the hell out of it after. 'The Intouchables' is hilarious, heartwarming, and just a sweet and great movie that might go down as one of the most under looked films of 2012.

The film stars two gentlemen that we Americans probably have never heard of. François Cluzet and Omar Sy are our two leads in this film, and my goodness are they incredible. Cluzet is charming and great as Philippe, the handicapped man. For a man who doesn't move a single muscle in his body (other than his head) for nearly two hours is something quite tricky to do. It might sound easy just to sit in a chair for an entire film and do nothing but speak, but even the slightest movement of a finger can ruin the illusion of being paralyzed. Cluzet deserves some recognition for his role in this film, because he is simply great. However as great as Cluzet is, the real standout of the film is Driss, the arms and legs of Philippe, played by the absolutely fantastic Omar Sy. Driss is the type of character who is energetic, funny, and the type of guy who you would want to be best friends with. From the first time the audience sees Driss and Philippe driving in a car, things get very crazy which all leads to them singing to Earth Wind & Fire's "September" on the radio. If you are laughing there, then it is guaranteed you will be laughing whenever Driss comes on screen. I can now see why Omar Sy won the Caesar Award last year over Academy Award winning actor Jean Dujardin for 'The Artist.'

The reason why the film works, aside from Cluzet and Sy's fantastic performances, is the chemistry between their characters. With Philippe and Driss being complete opposites of one another, they form a brother like bond that will capture the heart of any kind and loving soul out there. Writers/Directors Olivier Nakache and Éric Toledano have crafted a funny, touching, and marvelous film that should be seen by any audience out there. This is the first foreign film I've seen where any audience, whether you take French or love to ditch school, can enjoy the chemistry between the two leads, have a lot of laughs, and get emotionally involved with what's going on. Even people who don't like to read subtitles will really enjoy this film as well. If this movie opens up anywhere near you, I highly recommend you checking it out. There's a reason why this is the second highest French film of all time, so all you have to do is believe what I'm saying and check out 'The Intouchables.' It's more than just a film: it's a spiritual journey worth taking. Bring that one to the bank if you're willing to.

REVIEW: Battleship

MOVIE
Battleship

CAST
Taylor Kitsch, Alexander Skarsgård

RATING
PG-13

RELEASE
May 18, 2012

DIRECTOR
Peter Berg

STUDIO(S)
Universal Pictures, Hasbro

RUNNING TIME
2 hours 11 minutes






STARS
**











REVIEW:

It should be noted that Peter Berg's 'Battleship' off the bat is not a good movie, at all.  The idea of taking a board game involving "sinking battleships" and making it into a big film with aliens involved is completely irrelevant and serves no purpose to the movie making world.  However as bad as this movie may be, there were a few parts where I was having a lot of fun.  It might've been from the fact that my friends and I were joking around during the screening, or it could've been that I was laughing at how dumb the movie was.  This isn't something that you have to see, and it's possible that the majority of the people who see this won't like it at all.  I probably won't even see this film again, let alone talk about it once this review is at its close because 'Battleship' is highly forgettable.  However this is the type of movie where you will enjoy it if you are with a bunch of friends and are making fun of it throughout.  If you are seeing this alone, then that won't help at all, because 'Battleship' is an over-the-top, cheesy, badly written and somewhat poorly acted film that is sure to be one of the summer's most forgettable movies.

Taylor Kitsch has the potential to be a very talented actor.  I could see his potential in 'John Carter' and 'X-Men Origins: Wolverine' among his film work.  In 'Battleship,' he isn't as bad as you'd think, but then again he isn't great either.  At the very beginning of the movie, Kitsch's character tries to woo Brooklyn Deckler's character by getting her a chicken burrito.  This scene made him look like he’s being the Kirk type guy from 'Star Trek' that we've been getting in many recent action/sci-fi films.  While he is good as the cocky type of protagonist, they tend to get very annoying after they've been portrayed in movies a million times before.  The other big "actor" in this movie is famed pop star Rihanna in her acting debut.  Rihanna not only is mediocre in this film, but she also plays the typical African American role in an action/sci-fi film: the comedic relief who utters god-awful lines poorly but somehow gets the audience to laugh and root for them.  I have no idea why Rihanna decided to be a part of this film since her music career is actually pretty solid.  My suggestion to her is to either find smaller films to be in where she can actually try to act, or find movies with better scripts instead of over-the-top action sci-fi extravaganzas like this film.

Getting away from the two main cast members who are terrible, the two best/underused actors in the film were Alexander Skarsgård and Liam Nesson.  Skarsgård plays Taylor Kitsch's brother who is trying to be the protective and wise soldier that knows right from wrong.  Not only was this guy the best character in the movie, but Skarsgård gave the best performance of the movie.  That's right, he was better than Liam Nesson in this movie.  Nesson was good as well; however he seemed like the cranky grandpa who is just a pain in the ass throughout the film.  Unfortunately for these two actors, their screen time was incredibly dismal and was cut down to a certain extent where one of these actors was practically cast in a cameo role.  The other character sadly is killed off 40 minutes in, which by then the movie was already losing its fun and cheesy self and started to take itself seriously.  If the movie kept itself on the track of being self-aware at how stupid it was, then it's possible that it could have been a better film.  Unfortunately you can't go very far when you have your two best actors on the sidelines for 85% of the movie.

Jon and Erich Hoeber are responsible for what I think is one of the best films of 2010, 'RED.'  That film brought so much energy and fun to the audience so they couldn't help but love what they were seeing.  I ponder how they even thought of the idea of putting aliens and explosions into a movie called 'Battleship' and make it so it's trying to be serious and kind of fun.  This movie never takes itself as a fun and over the top popcorn flick at all.  Instead that's all replaced with laughable acting, a cringe worthy script, and just a generic summer movie that anyone could make.  Peter Berg can do so much better than this movie, which has been shown in other notable works like 'Friday Night Lights' and 'Hancock.'  This film is just an easy paycheck for anyone who's involved with it.  It's ironic how I dislike this film yet I have a soft spot for the Michael Bay 'Transformers' films even though they're basically one and the same.  Actually, 'Battleship' is quite the interesting combination: if 'Transformers,' 'Titanic,' (that's right, James Cameron's masterpiece) and anything else that's in a crappy movie, then you get this film.  Too bad this 'Battleship' got sunk so early on, because it had the potential to be a fun summer popcorn flick.