Movie Reviews

Shockingly, R.I.P.D. isn’t D.O.A.

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: R.I.P.D.
  • IMDB: link

R.I.P.D.Based on the comic series by Peter M. Lenkov, R.I.P.D. stars Ryan Reynolds as a recently slain dirty cop who is drafted by the Rest In Peace Department for his unique skill set and sent back into the land of the living to catch escaped souls hiding out on Earth. To teach him the ropes, Nick (Reynolds) is paired with Roy Pulsipher (Jeff Bridges), an persnickety lawman straight out of the Old West who has hunted souls for centuries.

The comparisons to Men in Black are too obvious to ignore, but R.I.P.D. does have one thing going for it that the MIB franchise has been missing since the late 1990’s: a fresh take. As goofy and unoriginal as the concepts behind R.I.P.D. are, the movie puts its own spin on things while delivering an impressive production design as well as sense of fun missing from far too many of this summer’s movies. The weapons of the film are a mix between MIB and Hellboy while the design of R.I.P.D. headquarters, once again borrowing heavily on other films (most notably MIB), creates a nice mix of out-of-control underworld bureaucracy and an incredibly clean police station.

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Red 2

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Red 2
  • IMDB: link

Red 2Not every movie deserves a sequel. Based on the early 2000’s comic from Warren Ellis and Cully Hamner, Red was good dumb fun about retired spies forced to get back into the game when their past caught up with them. Not straining any brain muscles, the sequel is roughly the same premise as Frank Moses (Bruce Willis), Marvin (John Malkovich), and Frank’s girlfriend Sarah (Mary-Louise Parker) find themselves marked for death based on Frank and Marvin’s part in a secret operation more than three decades ago.

The movie begins in much the same way as another of Willis’ regrettable sequels as the former spy attempts to lay low in the suburbs with a girlfriend who wants more crazy adventures. Forced on the run, the threesome are pursued by the world’s best hitman (Byung-hun Lee) with a personal score to settle, as well as Victoria (Helen Mirren) who is ordered by MI6 to put Frank and Marvin in the ground. Brian Cox reprises his role as Ivan, and the movie also offers up Catherine Zeta-Jones as the Russian spy who has Frank wrapped around her little finger and Anthony Hopkins as a mad scientist locked away for 30 years.

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Turbo

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Turbo
  • IMDB: link

TurboTurbo is a good reminder that most animated movies fail to reach the heights or depths of live-action theatrical films. Most fall somewhere in-between. That’s not to say this tale about a snail competing in the Indianapolis 500 isn’t a good movie. Turbo is a cute, fun, and mostly entertaining 96-minute story about chasing impossible dreams and the complicated relationships between brothers that’s likely to please, but not wow, the whole family.

Our story centers around two pairs of brothers who share quite a bit in common even though one pair is human and the other are snails. We’re introduced first to Theo (Ryan Reynolds), the dreamer who yearns of nothing more than being fast enough to race his idol (a charismatic human driver voiced by Bill Hader), and his far more down-to-earth brother Chet (Paul Giamatti).

A pair of accidents involving Theo get the pair banished from their garden home and provide Theo with the unbelievable speed which allows the snail to chase his dreams.

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Giant Robots vs. Monsters

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures Pacific Rim
  • IMDB: link

Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures Pacific RimThe idea behind director Guillermo del Toro‘s latest movie is hardly original. The world, not just Hollywood, has made a living on giant monster movies for decades. We’ve also seen a number of giant robot movies, particularly big-budget CGI-extravaganzas in recent years. Even animated movies such as Monsters vs. Aliens have pitted two groups of giant creatures against each other.

More than Blade II (the only watchable film from that franchise) or either of the Hellboy movies, del Toro’s latest is easily his most mainstream attempt at a summer blockbuster. We certainly get the director’s spin on things, and designs of creatures who seem right at home in Hellboy or Pan’s Labyrinth, but the story from the director and co-writer Travis Beacham itself is by the book (and doesn’t even attempt to color outside the lines). The result is a film that feels a lot like a mashup of Robot Jox, Independence Day (complete with last-minute inspirational speech and wacky scientists), Top Gun, Transformers, and various monster movies all spruced up with sexy CGI and de Toro’s eye for creature design.

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Despicable Me 2

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Despicable Me 2
  • IMDB: link

Despicable Me 2It seems sequels are taking over the summer, even animated ones. 2010’s Despicable Me gave us super-villain Gru (Steve Carell) who, to further his latest evil plan of stealing the moon, adopted three young girls only to discover he was far better at being a father than a career criminal. Despicable Me 2 takes place with Margo (Miranda Cosgrove), Agnes (Elsie Kate Fisher), and Edith (Dana Gaier)  firmly entrenched in Gru’s home and heart and his countless minions working on his latest enterprise (a less than delicious brand of jams and jellies) when an agent from AVL (The Anti-Villain League) approaches the former super-villain about coming to work for them.

Despite his initial reluctance, Gru accepts the invitation to work alongside Agent Lucy Wild (Kristen Wiig) and search for the super-villain hiding out at the local mall while experimenting with a dangerous stolen chemical that can turn those effected in monstrous killing machines.

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