The Voices (7/10): Ryan Reynolds like you've never seen him before

“Do you ever hear voices?”

The Voices is a bizarre dark comedy starring Ryan Reynolds in one of his best performances to date. It is directed by Marjane Satrapi who’s better known for her Iranian Oscar nominated animated film Persepolis. The Voices takes a common element from animated films and applies it in a dark way here in this live action movie. We can all recall the classic angel and devil scenes in the Tom and Jerry cartoons where the voices tell the character what to do. Satrapi takes that familiar premise and applies it extremely well here as Reynolds’s character speaks to his pets. His dog, Bosco representing the angel, while his cat, Mr. Whiskers represents the devil. They are both voiced distinctly by Reynolds in a humorous way. Despite having some serious psychological issues, Reynolds’ character is likable and we get to see things through his perspective. Satrapi does a great job of making sure we identify with his isolated character before presenting the world as it actually is instead of through his eyes. The Voices has some tonal shifts and does become a bit less interesting towards the final act, but the buildup is rather engaging and funny. Having Gemma Arterton, Anna Kendrick, and Jacki Weaver in the supporting cast is always a huge addition and they all deliver solid performances. The Voices is one of those films that has its flaws, but despite it all feels unique and inventive as you never quite know what direction the film is going to go to next. It’s a quirky film that benefits from a strong and memorable performance from Reynolds who manages to make his character likable despite the horrible things he does. 

Ryan Reynolds is Jerry, a quirky but charming guy who falls for one of the employees at the bathtub factory he works at. He seems likable, but it is easy to see that there is something off about him. His crush is played by Gemma Arterton who doesn’t seem too interested in him. She works in the accounting department along with Lisa (Anna Kendrick) and Alison (Ella Smith), whom she likes to spend time with after work. One night they invite Jerry along and Lisa seems to have a liking for him, but he insists on courting Fiona (Gemma Arterton). One night she stands him up for a date and things take an interesting turn. Jerry isn’t a very social person, but we get to see him interact with his pets at home. Jacki Weaver plays his psychiatrist, Dr. Warren, who tries to help him in his attempts of courting Fiona but reminds him he mustn’t stop taking his pills. 

The Voices is offbeat and some tonal shifts may take you out of the movie, but it works thanks to Reynolds performance. His schizophrenic behavior is a good explanation as to why the film seems to change gears from dark comedic moments to horror. His voice work is impressive and it lightens up the mood in an otherwise dark film. Satrapi has managed to direct a unique film which is hard to categorize because it switches gears on us. The greatest thing about The Voices is how well Satrapi manages to portray the world through Reynolds’ eyes during one moment and then present things how they really are in the next. Despite losing some of its appeal during the final act, I still enjoyed this and found Reynolds performance to be worth recommending. It’s messy, but at the same time remains stylish and inventive.

My Review: Runner Runner (3/10)

"I'll be happy to tell my boss that you are not happy."

If what you are looking for is an action thriller that doesn't thrill or have any action scenes then Runner Runner is the film for you. If you are looking for a one dimensional attractive cast with no character depth whatsoever, then Runner Runner is the film for you: Justin Timberlake, Ben Affleck, and Gemma Arterton all look extremely good in this film as long as you don't listen to what they are saying. Ten minutes into this movie you realize that Runner Runner has nothing new to say and the characters are so unremarkable that you forget who they are before the end of the film. I can't say that the movie was predictable, because I really didn't care what it had to say, and half of the plot elements made little sense. The women in this film were only put there for eye candy, and they had no other purpose. At only 90 minutes the film still feels overlong and it drags because somehow it seems as if you are watching an incomplete film, like if some important scenes were edited out. There is no doubt in my mind that if Ben Affleck directed this movie instead of starring in it this could have been a great film, but he was just in this to cash his check so there was no need to put any effort in this. I was surprised how terrible this film ended up being considering it was directed by Brad Furman who directed the solid The Lincoln Lawyer a couple years ago. The script was written by Brian Koppelman and David Levien, but this was nowhere near as good as their first film, The Rounders. Runner Runner is one of the worst films of the year, run away from this mess of a movie.

The plot is pretty simple: Richie Furst (Justin Timberlake) is a Princeton grad student who has been paying his tuition by getting other students to sign up to online betting sites. After the dean confronts Richie for his actions, he is forced to bet all his money on an online poker game. Convinced he has been cheated on, he decides to travel to Costa Rica in order to confront the mysterious entrepreneur in charge of the gambling site he lost his money on. In Costa Rica, Richie begins making acquaintances and he's invited to a party hosted by the gambling tycoon: Ivan Block (Ben Affleck) by his right hand partner, Rebecca (Gemma Arterton). Here Richie confronts Ivan and instead of sending him off, Ivan invites Richie to work for him in Costa Rica. Seduced by the easy money, Richie accepts the offer and begins living the life he has dreamed of, until he is kidnaped by FBI agent Shavers (Anthony Mackie) and asked to help bring down Ivan, who seems to be running things illegally. This is where the double crossings begin and the film gets all messy.

There is nothing positive I can say about Runner Runner because it is a complete mess with very lackluster performances. There is no denying there is a lot of talent involved here, but somewhere along the way something was lost. Furman proved he could direct a strong and intelligent film in The Lincoln Lawyer, but Runner Runner is nowhere close to what he had achieved in the past. We all know what Ben Affleck is capable of; he just came off with an Oscar for his work in Argo, but in this film his performances was completely uninspired. Gemma Arterton had nothing to work with here, but she accomplished what she was signed up for: looking good on camera. Justin Timberlake couldn't save this film either despite trying to put some effort into his role and trying to look believable. He has done some great work in the past, but this just might be the role that makes him stick to music from now on (or taking secondary roles). Runner Runner is a waste of talent and a waste of time for the audience. You will completely forget about this film the moment you walk out of the theater because there is nothing engaging about it. It doesn't move you or touch you in any way. If fails to draw you in to their world and there is no suspense whatsoever.

My Review: Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters (3/10)

"Me and my sister... we have a past. We almost died at the hands of a witch. But that past made us stronger. We'd gotten a taste of blood. Witch blood. And we haven't stopped since."

Hansel & Gretel is yet another classic fairytale that has been brought to the big screen in an atrocious manner. This new wave of dark fairytales have been a complete disappointment for me considering I really didn't like Snow White or the Jack the Giant Slayer films either. Despite consisting of a talented cast and a well known story, these movies seem to lack any character development whatsoever and these well known Hollywood actors can't do anything to save them from being a complete failure. The problem may lie on the screenplay considering they take such classic and familiar stories and present ridiculous twists while trying to be much darker. Even when these films try to be funny, the comedy doesn't work either; and despite having some extremely nice visuals the set pieces aren't enough to draw us in and make us care for the characters. Hansel & Gretel is basically one action sequence after another with lots of blood and without any buildup for us to identify with any of the characters. Despite being such well known actors, these characters failed to attract me, and even the villain in this film (played by Famke Janssen) is poorly developed. The movie is less than 90 minutes long, and the action sequences take up almost the entirety of the film making this just a boring and tedious experiment where we see one character who we never really know get his head blown off. The film is directed by Norwegian filmmaker Tommy Wirkola following the success of his 2009 local horror film, Dead Snow, involving Nazi zombie soldiers. He was also responsible for the screenplay as well. There is not much positive things I could say about this film, except that I really like the two lead actors and am a little disappointed they chose to play these characters.

The story introduces us to Hansel and Gretel as kids escaping from the candy house after the witch had imprisoned them. Everything from that point on is a reinvention of the fairytale by Wirkola. The two siblings grow up to become witch hunters after their horrific experience. Hansel (Jeremy Renner) and Gretel (Gemma Arterton) travel from town to town collecting bounty fees for killing off the evil witches nearby. At the moment, the Mayor (Rainer Bock) of a small village recruits the siblings' service after 11 children have gone missing. The Sheriff (Peter Stormare) isn't too pleased with the arrival of these two siblings considering they made him look bad in front of the entire town after saving a local village woman named Mina (Pihla Vitala) who he believed to be a witch and wanted to burn her at the stake. The two witch hunters begin to investigate the disappearances of the children and realize that a dangerous witch named Muriel (Famke Janssen) is behind the kidnappings. With the help of a local boy named Ben (Thomas Mann) and Edward the troll (Robin Atkins Downes) they face off against Muriel and her covenant of witches. 

There is really no need for me to continue on blabbing about how much I disliked this film. There is nothing going on here plot wise. These fairytales haven't crossed over too well to the big screen and I'm afraid they might be ruining all these childhood stories I enjoyed reading about. Having seen all these classic fairytales turned into movies I have to admit that Shyamalan's The Lady in the Water is becoming more and more valuable to me. This genre has resulted rather difficult for me to enjoy, but somehow Lady in the Water which plays out like a fairytale worked a lot better than these films. Shyamalan might be criticized by many people, but he knows how to make movies better than your average director. He has failed recently in his last two big film adaptations (After Earth and The Last Airbender), but he has made so many great films in the past and Lady in the Water is turning into a masterpiece if you compare it to these recent fairytale adaptations that have come out. Hansel & Gretel may just be the worst one in this genre and it is a shame because I really like Jeremy Renner and believe he has made some incredible films. I also like Gemma Arterton, who I loved as a James Bond girl, and despite looking very good here, her talent is wasted in this senseless action film. This is one of the worst films of 2013.

My Review: Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (7/10)

¨I've seen its power with my own eyes. Releasing the Sand turns back time. Only the holder of the Dagger is aware what's happened.¨

(7/10) Prince of Persia may perhaps be the best film adapted from a videogame that I`ve seen along with the Resident Evil franchise. However, this statement is not saying much because I can`t remember any other game turned into a movie that I have enjoyed. Most of these films turn out to be a complete failure, but Prince of Persia is not the case because it delivers good action scenes along with a decent cast. The movie works as pure entertainment, it is not a film you want to go see for the dialogue or the story, but as a summer popcorn movie Prince of Persia totally works. It has a lot of action, fun characters, and Jake Gyllenhaal proves he can be an action star as well. There are plenty of chases and running across rooftops to keep you entertained and not thinking too much on the plot. The movie was brought to us by the same people that produced the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, but the result was not exactly the same mainly because there was no Jack Sparrow this time around. Mike Newell (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire) directed this film, which was based on Jordan Mechner`s video game of the same name, while Boaz Yakin, Carlo Bernard, and Doug Miro worked on the screenplay.

Jake Gyllenhaal is Dastan, a kid who grew up in the slums of the Persian Empire and was fortunate enough to be adopted by the King, taken to the palace and becoming a prince due to his great courage. King Sharaman (Ronald Pickup) is a good King who has expanded the Persian Empire and rules it along with his brother Nizam (Ben Kingsley). Besides adopting Dastan, the King has two children: Tus (Richard Coyle) and Garsiv (Toby Kebbell). One day a spy returns to the palace with news that the Holy City of Alamut is secretly supplying foreign enemies with Persian weapons. The three brothers decide to invade the city and take Princess Tamina (Gemma Arterton from Clash of the Titans and Quantum of Solace) hostage. In Alamut Dastan also finds a secret dagger which seems to be able to turn back time. After the attack, King Sharaman is murdered and Dastan becomes the prime suspect so he has to flee along with Tamina in order to try to clear his name and discover the true powers of the dagger. The plot is probably the weakest part of the movie so I don`t want to spend too much time on it, but the action does save the film and therefore no thinking is required. Alfred Molina also has an interesting role in this film as Sheik Amar and is the funniest character in the film.

If we were to compare this movie to Pirates of the Caribbean, then Will Turner would be Dastan, Elizabeth Swan would be Princess Tamina, and Jack Sparrow would be Sheik Amar. The problem is that Jack Sparrow can`t be equaled so the film falls short character wise, but there is enough action to entertain audiences, although I would have to argue that this is not a movie you will want to see twice.

It is a onetime only viewing experience and works only as a summer blockbuster movie. I don`t think it has what it takes to become a successful franchise like Pirates of the Caribbean was. Besides the action and the decent cast, I also enjoyed the setting, which reminded me a lot of Aladdin and brought some nice childhood memories back. The scenery was just beautiful. I think fans of the video game will be pleased with this movie and action fans will also have a good time at the movies. If you don`t take this movie too seriously you will be entertained.

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