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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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Die Hard in the White House (with a kid)

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: White House Down
  • IMDB: link

White House DownAfter the initial success of Die Hard there was a time when every movie studio was trying to cash in on the concept of a great action star (usually a cop or specially trained soldier) in the wrong place at the wrong time and forced to save the day (which almost always also included endangered hostages and some kind of robbery or cash grab). We got Die Hard on a plane, Die Hard on a boat, Die Hard on a bus, Die Hard on a train, and so on. More than 25 years later Hollywood still hasn’t given up on the formula.

Much like Olympus Has Fallen, released earlier this year, White House Down offers us a story of a terrorist attack on Washington D.C. and the capture of the White House, the President of the United States, and several high ranking members of the United States Government. Where Antoine Fuqua‘s film struggled to be Michael Bay-style action porn, director Roland Emmerich‘s movie has a far better sense of humor and an understanding of the complete ridiculousness of its entire premise. Don’t get me wrong, the movie is dumb as dirt at times, but at least it knows this.

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The Shadow

/ / Home Video
  • Title: The Shadow
  • IMDb: link

The Shadow

Available on Blu-ray for the first time, 1994’s The Shadow starred Alec Baldwin as Lamont Cranston and his shadowy alter-ego with the ability to cloud men’s minds to make himself invisible. Based on the pulp hero who made his appearance more than 80 years-ago, the screenplay by Walter Koepp may be a little too cheesy for some, but Baldwin and some nice period set design help sell a film that’s far more entertaining than it has any right to be.

After the brief origin for Cranston’s brutal time in the Far East as the muderous opium warlord Ying-Ko, and his training to fight the evil in his past and learn the mystic arts which will serve him well in the coming years, the movie picks up years later with The Shadow dispensing justice in New York City. Helping The Shadow is an organization of those he’s saved over the years and a little mind control that Cranston uses to make sure his uncle (Jonathan Winters) doesn’t allow the police to look to closely into the vigilante’s heroics.

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Not Exactly Super

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Man of Steel
  • IMDb: link

Man of SteelWith the box office disappointment of last year’s Green Lantern, the end of Christopher Nolan‘s Batman series, and most of the specifics of 2015’s Justice League still to be determined, DC Comics and Warner Bros. have put all their support behind a new Superman franchise helmed by 300 and Watchmen director Zack Snyder. The result is an often puzzling piece of filmmaking that breaks away from both decades of comic history and the ghost of Richard Donner‘s Superman to create a New 52-ish take on the character (i.e. grittier and largely absent of joy or wonder) that, despite its preponderance of extended action scenes, is one of the most boring super-hero films ever made.

Much like Green Lantern (which is in every measurable way a superior film), Man of Steel decides to redesign its leading man for the silver screen. The muted palette and organic earthy feel of Snyder’s version of Superman’s homeworld of Krypton (where the film’s first 25 minutes takes place) may remind you of Green Lantern‘s version of Oa, but it’s just one of many steps in distancing the character from his rich comic history.

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Fast & Furious 6

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Fast & Furious 6
  • IMDB: link

Fast & Furious 6When the sixth installment of the Fast & Furious franchise plays to its strengths (fast cars, good cinematography, beautiful women kicking butt, and some terrific action sequences) it works well. Sadly, we are also forced to sit through the franchise’s usual hamfisted attempts at dramatic tension and clichéd (not to mention extremely corny) dialogue which give us a mopey Vin Diesel for the first half-hour of the film and an inexplicable subplot involving Paul Walker in prison that doesn’t so much shit in the face of logic as refuse to exist the concept exists at all.

Director Justin Lin reassembles the team from the last film as Hobbs (Dwayane “It’s Okay To Call Me The Rock Again” Johnson) recruits Toretto (Diesel) and his drivers to take down a mercenary group of high-speed thieves attacking military targets. For Hobbs its about using the lesser of two evils to stop a greater one. For Toretto its about bringing a lost member of his family back home when Hobbs informs him that Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) is alive and working for the murderous leader (Luke Evans) of the group.

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