2 Razors

I, Frankenstein

/ / Home Video
  • Title: I, Frankenstein
  • IMDB: link

I, FrankensteinWritten and directed by Stuart Beattie, I, Frankenstein is a ridiculous action-thriller setting Frankenstein’s monster, known here as Adam (Aaron Eckhart), in present day in the middle of a war between heavenly gargoyles and demons led by Prince Naberius (Bill Nighy).

With dialogue as laughable as the plot itself involving Naberius’ plans to use Frankenstein’s research to create and army of unstoppable warriors, I, Frankenstein is really only worth viewing for the special effects and Yvonne Strahovski as a modern-day scientist working on reviving Frankenstein’s work without realizing who exactly she’s working for.

Available on both DVD and 3D Blu-ray, extras include digital Ultraviolet copies of the movie, audio commentary from Beattie, and a second commentary from Gary Lucchesi, Richard Wright, James McQuaide, and Kevin Grevioux, trailer, and a pair of featurettes on Adam, the make-up, special effects, and monsters of the film.

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The Counselor

/ / Home Video
  • Title: The Counselor
  • IMDB: link

The CounselorDespite the talent of director Ridley Scott, screenwriter Cormac McCarthy and an all-star cast, The Counselor is a mess. To be sure it’s a well-acted and well-produced mess with stand-out scenes, but it’s a mess none the less. The movie’s major flaw, other than McCarthy attempting to over-think a drug deal gone bad, is the less-than-believable dialogue from several of the film’s stars who come off as reading lines they haven’t quite fully bought into rather than delivering it naturally from the the mouths of fully-embodied characters.

Michael Fassbender stars as a character only ever referred to as “the Counselor,” a lawyer who makes the bad decision to get into the drug smuggling trade only to put the lives of himself, a friend (Javier Bardem), associate (Brad Pitt), and his beautiful fiance (Penélope Cruz) in danger.

Unfortunately for the Counselor, his friend’s crazy girlfriend (Cameron Diaz) has her own plan for the drugs, leaving everyone else to take the fall after executing her plans from the shadows.

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Justice League: War

/ / Home Video
  • Title: Justice League: War
  • IMDB: link

Justice League: WarBased on DC Comics’ New 52 reboot and the first arc of the current Justice League series by Geoff Johns and Jim Lee, Justice League: War isn’t as awful as I suspected. It’s not actually a good movie, but most of the issues here have to do with the source material itself rather than any mistakes in the adaptation into the film.

Replacing the missing Aquaman with Captain Marvel (Sean Astin), who I still refuse to call him Shazam, the storyline is basically intact as the various heroes of the Justice League come together to defeat Darkseid (Steve Blum) and the invading armies of Apokolips. As with Lee’s original designs, everything looks and feels too muted including the super-hero costumes, particularly those of Superman (Alan Tudyk) and Wonder Woman (Michelle Monaghan), that lack any pop. And although (thankfully) the film chooses to stay away from that awful yellow piping on the Flash‘s (Christopher Gorham) costume we saw at the end of The Flashpoint Paradox, Green Lantern (Justin Kirk) is still stuck with the unnecessary light-up pieces of his costume.

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Noah

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

NoahObsessed with the story of Noah since he was 13 years-old, writer/director Darren Aronofsky finally sees his vision of a quasi-fantasy/religious take on the biblical tale of the Genesis flood crash into the big screen today like a tidal wave. Sadly, as the characters of Aronofsky’s films usually learn, obsession leads to trouble.

Noah is certainly a labor of love and quite a bit of talent went into the creation of Noah, the ark, and the flood which washed away the sin of man from the face of the Earth. Equally certain, despite the skill on display both in front and behind the camera, is the fact that Noah is a mess on the level of Waterworld. Its grand expectations and epic scale simply can’t find a way to balance its stark character study of a man fighting to do the will of his God against the film’s more fantastical and sci-fi elements which include fallen angels in the form of giant rock creatures, the existence and use of magic, and never-ending storyline that keeps going long after it’s jumped the rails and taken a nosedive into the watery abyss which consumes so many (nameless) characters.

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300: Rise of an Empire

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: 300: Rise of an Empire
  • IMDB: link

300: Rise of an EmpireI’m not a Zack Snyder fan. I hated what Snyder and screenwriter David S. Goyer did to Superman, was disappointed with his interpretation of Watchmen, and was disturbed by watching the man make his own wet dreams into a feature film. Of the Snyder films I’ve been forced to endure over the years 300 is the only one I remotely enjoyed.

Despite obvious flaws, Snyder delivered a slick-looking adaption of Frank Miller’s graphic novel that focused on the legendary accomplishments of the 300 Spartans during the Battle of Thermopylae (while completing ignoring the other Greek forces which aided them – as did Miller’s original work). Turning the sequel over to the hands of director Noam Murro, 300: Rise of an Empire is a joyless blood-spattered spectacle lacking in both story and presentation. Sadly, it seems Murro proves unable to recapture what little magic Zack Snyder was able to bring to the screen while balancing the bloodier elements of the first film with 300‘s visual-style and the silly muscle-bound unclothed warriors constantly preening for the camera in various dramatic poses.

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