My Review: The Captive (5/10)

“You claim you didn’t see anything suspicious when you looked back to the truck.”

The Captive is the latest film directed by Atom Egoyan (The Sweet Hereafter) which happened to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival this year where it was booed by the audience. I’d definitely not boo this film considering I didn’t think it was a complete disaster, but I didn’t really like it either. My reactions are mixed. On the one hand it tries to stand out from other kidnapping films by incorporating a non-linear structure, but unfortunately it doesn’t really help the narrative either. It doesn’t seem to have the character depth nor suspense that other successful movies dealing with kidnappings have. It is rather unfortunate as well that it was released one year after the highly praised Prisoners which was a much better film. There are some suspenseful moments in The Captive, but it is hard to care for these characters considering they weren’t developed at all. They all seem to be sort of emotionally disconnected and the captive girl never seemed to had suffered any side effects from her captivity at all.   

Despite all the misfires this film had there was a character that sort of managed to keep me interested, and I think it has to do in most part with Aaron Reynolds’s solid performance. He plays the father of the kidnapped girl and he is the only one who seems believable in this world. While the film focused on him, it kept me engaged and interested, but as soon as the focus shifted to the other characters the story suffered. On the one hand you have the procedural part of the film that is incredibly annoying due to the poor job the detectives are doing on the case. The film failed to give the audience any plausible reason as to why these detectives were so intent on blaming the father for the kidnapping of the girl when he didn’t actually do anything suspicious. Then on the other hand we get to see the kidnaper’s relationship with the kidnapped girl which is completely unrealistic. So when the film departs from the Reynolds character (and it does so way too often) it completely looses its appeal. Mireille Enos plays the mother, but she doesn’t add much to the film. When her initial reaction is to blame the father for the disappearance of the girl you kind of feel cheated because there is no rational explanation for these sort of behaviors. The entire reasoning behind this seemed to be to isolate the father and make us feel sympathetic towards him. There are some thrills in The Captive, but nothing really special to recommend.

My Review: If I Stay (6/10)

"Isn't it amazing how life is one thing and then, in an instant it becomes something else."

If I stay is the latest film adapted from a YA novel, and even though this movie is in no way aimed towards an adult audience, it does have some moments that aren't as superficial as one would expect coming from this genre. Despite of all the cliches and the melodramatic scenes the story works thanks to Chloe Grace Moretz who is able to hold the film together and get us through all the corny moments. Her chemistry with Jamie Blackley on screen works, although in my opinion their moments together weren't actually the best scenes. When the film focused on the relationship with her parents was when I actually was drawn more to the story, and the few scenes she had with her grandfather, played by Stacy Keach, where the highlight of the film. There is actually a very emotional scene near the end where Keach gives a powerful speech which if were in a better film, critics would be talking about award consideration for his small performance here. Of course that won't be the case because we are talking about a YA novel adaptation filled with flaws. Chloe Grace Moretz gives an inspired performance as well and she is actually what holds this film together. She has four more films coming out this year so hopefully we will get plenty of more opportunities to see her shine in better films. She is an actress who has been in my radar since her role in Kick-Ass and I absolutely love her. The romantic part of the film which is the main attraction for young teenage girls is probably the weakest thing about If I stay considering it's full of cliches. The fact that both these characters are in to music helps out the film because the soundtrack stands out, but at times the romance feels like it's part of a music video clip with beautiful scenery and good looking people. If I Stay fails to break out from the genre conventions and the premise might be a bit far stretched to make much logical sense. It is also very manipulative and at times the scenes are basically introduced to force the audience to let out a couple tears. Having been released only a few months after The Fault in Our Stars also hurts this film because it doesn't handle the emotional scenes as well as that film did. Moretz and Keach are basically the only reason why I'm giving this film 3 stars. 

If I Stay was adapted from Gayle Forman's novel of the same name by Shauna Cross (known for Whip It and What to Expect When You're Expecting). Moretz is Mia, a talented cello player who catches the attention of Adam (Jamie Blackley), the rock star of her High School who is actually getting an important break with his band. Adam falls in love with Mia, the shy and quiet girl from school and they quickly begin a relationship. The love story is told through flashbacks as Mia is going through an out of body experience after she suffered a fatal car accident with her family. Her parents and younger brother are all killed in the accident and she is left in a coma. She must decide wether she continues to fight and stay or if she should let go now that her family is gone. How she is given the power to decide is never really mentioned in the film and doesn't make much sense, but we just have to accept it. The parents are perfect which makes the audience feel Mia's pain and loss. There isn't one scene where her parents look like real people because they are constantly portrayed as these cool and perfect parents. It is perhaps a flaw in this film, but I actually enjoyed the scenes they shared with Moretz. It is all pretty much a fantasy aiming to make the audience cry and feel sorry for Mia, but Moretz's grounded and natural performance elevates this otherwise poor film.

My Review: Sabotage (5/10)

"Some of us are getting paid, the rest of us are just getting dead."

Two thirds through Sabotage I was actually enjoying this action film thanks to some authentic performances and a decent cast, but the final third act messed up really bad by following generic conventions and feeling a bit too choppy. I was actually enjoying the direction in which this mystery thriller was going, but somehow it lost its way in the end and simply became another familiar action film with conventional characters. The film centers on an elite DEA squad that seems believable at first considering these are undercover agents that have their own unique macho language. They are not sympathetic characters or people we would really like to meet, but somehow their behavior seemed authentic for an underground world in which they were part of. The film seems to be going into an interesting direction and I was engaged with the mystery behind the opening act, but the resolution of the film is incredibly generic and it kind of ruined the entire experience for me. David Ayer is a director whose films I have enjoyed for the most part so I really had some expectations for Sabotage despite the weak word of mouth it was receiving. I believe the failure of this film relies on the studio who decided to cut Ayer's film in order for it to follow basic generic conventions because several scenes do feel forced and chopped. Ayer's version of the film was meant to be almost 3 hours long, but this film is less than two hours long. I can't help but feel there was a much more interesting film underneath the surface despite the fact that these characters aren't people we would like to be around with for too long. End of Watch was one of my favorite films of 2012 so I was really disappointed with Sabotage despite enjoying the first half of the film. I am still looking forward to Fury and hoping the studio doesn't interfere too much with Ayer's work this time. The other thing that hurt this film was the screenplay co-written by Ayer and Skip Woods. Woods hasn't really written a satisfying screenplay, his work in A Good Day to Die Hard being an example of this claim. The film also seems to struggle with its identity whether they want to portray the characters as villains or anti-heroes. 

The film does seem to have its own unique style at first with some gruesome and bloody action sequences and an interesting mystery going on. Unfortunately the mystery doesn't have a good resolution and the twist fails to deliver any surprises. Some of the action scenes do suffer from shaky camera movements and quick edits as well. It is a gritty film, but somehow it loses its identity halfway through and erases that gritty edge Ayer was establishing at the beginning. Ayer has written some interesting films dealing with a similar subject matter in Training Day and End of Watch, but somehow this film never quite reaches that same quality. Arnold Schwarzenegger has made some decent films during his post-governor stage, and this seemed to be another one, but things got out of hand and his performance wasn't enough to save this film. Sam Worthington was almost unrecognizable in this film and the rest of the DEA team including Joe Manganiello, Josh Holloway, Terrence Howard, and Mireille Enos really go out of there way to make these characters unlikable. I actually thought their risk was paying off as I was interested in the mystery involving the stolen money and how they were being eliminated one by one. These weren't your typical characters from an ordinary action film. The film really had potential to go to new places, but it ended up navigating in familiar territory and never managing to come to a satisfying or believable conclusion. This loss of identity ultimately hurt this film which  wasted its potential and gave the violence no sense of purpose whatsoever. It doesn't reward the audience either for sticking with these unlikable characters.

My Review: World War Z (8/10)

"Life as we know it is coming to an end in 90 days. It's on us to change that."

Marc Foster is a very versatile director. I loved his work in Finding Neverland, an imaginative drama. He's also directed The Kite Runner, Monster's Ball, Quantum of Solace, and Machine Gun Preacher. He has worked with very different genres and for the most part I have really enjoyed his films. World War Z was no exception, and he proves now that he can make a great suspenseful thriller. I was at the edge of my seat for the most part of the film and there were several heart pumping moments. I hadn't had so much fun in the movies for a while. Of course the film has its flaws, but I was highly entertained with this Summer blockbuster starring Brad Pitt who once again single handedly carries the film. The film reminded me in some ways of Soderbergh's Contagion although this film is more linear and straightforward focusing on one character. It isn't your typical horror zombie film where you have a lot of blood and gore everywhere. In this film most of the frightening scenes take place without showing much. I thinks this is much more effective in a movie than focusing the attention on the gore. O was really pleased with the film. I have to admit I had never heard about the novel which was written by Max Brooks, but I have heard this film is only loosely based on it and has taken several screenplay liberties. The screenwriters did a decent job with the story, but the real fun was watching the fast paced zombies chasing after Brad Pitt.

The film centers on Brad Pitt's character, Gerry Lane, a former UN investigator who has decided to retire and spend the rest of his life serving pancakes for his wife, Karin (Mireille Enos), and two daughters back home. Everything changes when a strange viral epidemic begins to spread very quickly affecting every human being and turning them into zombies in question of seconds. These zombies aren't your typical slow paced zombies, they actually move pretty fast and aren't so dumb. Thierry Umutoni (Fana Mokoena), Gerry's former boss at the UN, calls him back for duty considering the urgency of the situation. Apparently Gerry was one of their best investigators and so they ask him to try to locate where the virus may have initiated in order to find some sort of vaccine to treat the disease and stop it from spreading before it is too late. This investigation takes Gerry across the globe, beginning at South Korea, then Israel, and finally ending up in Nova Scotia. Along the way he encounters several secondary characters that give him insight as to where the disease might have begun. A former Israel military officer named Segen (Daniella Kertesz) joins Gerry in his pursuit.

The film is packed with suspense and thrills and will have you at the edge of your seat from the very beginning. It probably begins stronger than how it ends, but it still is a great experience. I loved every second of this film and was completely entertained despite the lack of character development and the lack of any explanation whatsoever as to how the disease may have begun. Marc Foster succeeds in creating a suspenseful and gripping movie and despite all the production problems they seemed to be experiencing during filming, the film still ended up looking great and surpassed my expectations tremendously. Don't expect it to be a gory zombie film and you will be very pleased with this exhilarating film.

My Review: Gangster Squad (6/10)

¨I always knew I’d die in Burbank¨

Gangster Squad walks a really thin line between being a terrible film and an entertaining one. First of all it has a really great and talented cast; it also has a good production design and is very stylized reminding us of some epic gangster films. On the other hand the film only looks gangster-like on the surface; it is not really a serious neo-noir gangster film but more of a light comedic gangster movie. This is director Ruben Fleisher’s follow up to his hit comedy Zombieland, and in a way it does feel like a satire of sorts of gangster films, but in some strange way it fails to find its own personality. You never know if you’re supposed to take the movie seriously or not because something is missing in the mix between drama and comedy. One critic defined the film better than I could by claiming it is ¨LA Confidential without the script.¨ It has the look and the tone of a serious gangster film, but the script which was loosely adapted by Will Beall from Paul Lieberman’s book just fails and the dialogues seem cartoonish at times. The violence is pretty heavy as there are plenty of glamorized gunfight scenes and a large body count. Sean Penn plays the villain a little over the top, but it works if you view the film as this sort of spoof of the gangster genre. And really in my opinion this approach is what works best because it is entertaining if taken lightly as a spoof. I feel sorry for those who went into this film with high expectations because they will mostly be disappointed, unless they can live with a mindless popcorn action flick with some good performances.

The story takes place in 1949 Los Angeles where Mickey Cohen (Sean Penn), a mob king from Chicago, has taken over the city and is planning on controlling all criminal activities there with the help of corrupt officers and judges. He will eliminate whoever stands in his path. Sgt. John O’Mara (Josh Brolin) on the other hand is a WWII veteran who is determined to do what he can to clean up the city. When Chief Parker (Nick Nolte) hears about O’Mara’s heroics he decides to assign him with a special underground task: to form an elite squad of police officers that will take down the mob King. Thus O’Mara begins his quest to find the right officers for his special team with the help of his wife Connie (Mireille Enos) who is worried about his wellbeing and wants him to be protected as best as possible. O’Mara chooses Officer Coleman Harris (Anthony Mackie), Max Kennard (Robert Patrick) and his partner Navidad Ramirez (Michael Peña), Conway Keeler (Giovanni Ribisi) who’s the brains in the operation, and finally Sgt. Jerry Wooters (Ryan Gosling) who decides to accept O’Mara’s proposal after a member of the mob kills a kid he knew from the streets. Together these officers begin to try to intercept and disrupt Cohen’s operations working as an underground hit squad. Wooters also happens to be having an affair with Cohen’s love interest, Grace (Emma Stone), which could or could not be a good thing. And so the action begins as the squad tries to disrupt Cohen’s reign and clean up the city.

As I mentioned before this is an entertaining film which sometimes borderlines on the bad side considering it does have some pretty bad writing and underdeveloped characters. But it did work for me as a sort of spoof and light hearted film with a very stylized look to it. It has some fun action sequences with some strong performances, especially from the always reliable Ryan Gosling who continues to reinvent himself in every movie. I absolutely loved him here once again. Josh Brolin gives a pretty solid performance when he is not asked to do the voice over bit (it was a bit annoying at the beginning giving it a sort of fake Sin City vibe to it). The rest of the cast is pretty good although not getting enough screen time or storylines to develop their characters. Sean Penn plays the stereotypical bad guy a little over the top, but I enjoyed his performance as well (it wouldn’t have worked if you were expecting a serious gangster drama film). In the end Gangster Squad did work for me and I was entertained with this shoot-em up gangster film, but I know it isn’t for everyone.

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