Fantastic Four (4/10): There is nothing fantastic about this.

"With every new discovery, there is risk, there is sacrifice... and there are consequences."

I was surprised that critics and audiences were ripping this film apart because in my mind there was no way the producers could go wrong with this young and talented cast, so I was prepared to enjoy and defend this movie. I had heard about the production problems, but something similar had happened with Ant-Man and that movie turned out to be surprisingly fun. At least the director, Josh Trank, had decided to stay on board for this film despite reports of disputes with his producers. His first feature film, Chronicle, was a very entertaining and unique low budget found-footage sci-fi movie, so I thought that with a bigger budget he could deliver an even better film. Evidently I was wrong because Fantastic Four is a gigantic mess. There were several concerns over the film being rushed so that Fox wouldn't lose the rights to the franchise and the movie definitely felt that way. I don’t know how much blame could be put on Trank, because it seems that the producers took control over the film, so before you discard him as a terrible director I’d recommend you to check out Chronicle. See that film instead of this comic adaptation reboot. I’d even go as far as saying that the 2005 version was better.  

Fantastic Four is basically an origin story that ends up being so long that by the time the villain shows up it feels more like a cameo than anything else. The final climax of the film is one of the worst I've seen in a superhero movie. I wouldn't mind this as much if the origin story would've been interesting, but none of these characters were engaging and the dialogue was quite terrible. Every one of them seemed to have daddy issues or some sort of cliche that characters in this genre usually have. Even Toby Kebbell who played Victor Domashev in this movie shared all the basic stereotypical traits foreshadowing who he would later become, Dr. Doom. Superhero films always tend to follow the same basic formula, but the successful ones manage to stand out for some unique quality, either benefitting from a great central performance, its funny upbeat light tone, or its spectacular action scenes. Fantastic Four uses the same formula, but doesn't do anything unique with it. There is no chemistry between the cast and the delivery of some of their lines are overly dramatic at times. There isn’t a single strong performance here, there is no comedy whatsoever, and the action scenes (or should I say scene?) are underwhelming (especially if you compare it to other action Summer films like Mission Impossible and Mad Max). Unfortunately the film is a huge mess because it fails at setting up interesting characters and later rushes the final climatic action scene, completely changing gears on the slow and drawn out pacing that the movie had during its long introduction.

The main character in this film is Reed Richards of course, so we follow him from childhood. He dreams of creating a device that can teleport people into an alternate place. In school he befriends a tough boy named Ben who becomes his assistant. Reed is a genius and working from his garage he comes up with an impressive mechanism in which he manages to teleport some objects, but in the process he leaves the entire town without electricity. Several years pass and now Reed (Miles Teller) and Ben (Jamie Bell) are in a High School science fair showing off their invention. Dr. Franklin Storm (Reg E. Cathey) and his daughter Sue (Kate Mara) are impressed with Reed so they offer him an opportunity to work with them in their advanced state of the art laboratory. Victor (Toby Kebbell) had been working on a very similar project, but had unsuccessfully been able to teleport the objects back so the two begin working together to make their dream a reality. Dr. Storm’s other son, Johnny (Michael B. Jordan) also joins the project and when they succeed at teleporting a group of chimps to an alternate universe they decide its time for them to take the trip as well. Of course something goes terribly wrong and they each go through a unique physical transformation. They will have to learn to deal with their new acquired abilities, which the military takes a keen interest in, but Reed is focused on fixing them instead.

Miles Teller had been on a roll with strong performances in films like Whiplash and The Spectacular Now. He was even great in his supporting role in Insurgent, a film I didn’t like. But here he simply didn’t have the charm to tackle this super hero. Perhaps the blame can be put on the screenwriters, but he couldn’t do anything to make Reed an interesting character (not prior to his transformation nor after). Michael B. Jordan’s career seemed to be taking off after his impressive performances in Chronicle and Fruitvale Station, but he wasn’t able to do much with the small role that was given to him here. Reg. E. Cathey was perhaps the weakest link thanks to his overly dramatic delivery of each line with his deeply serious voice. Toby Kebbell came in a close second, but I really do have to blame the screenwriters here for making his character such a cliche. Villains have always been a problem in super hero films and it couldn’t be more true than it is here. I’ve heard a couple defenses claiming that this is more of a sci-fi centering on human transformation (with comparisons to Cronenberg’s The Fly), but that couldn’t be further from the truth because when these heroes acquire their new abilities the film inexplicably leaps forward in time showing these characters already adapted to their transformation and coming to terms with it. All the psychological trauma is ignored in order to prepare for the final climactic action scene which was to put in nicely, underwhelming.       

My Review: Dawn of The Planet of The Apes (8/10)

"Apes together strong!"

A decade has passed since the events of Rise of the Planet of the Apes (Rupert Wyatt's 2011 film that successfully rebooted this once beloved franchise from the late 60's) and now we find ourselves in a completely different world. The genetically evolved apes have built a new home in the San Francisco woods and continue to be led by Caesar (Andy Serkis). They communicate through sign language and several can speak. The simian virus that broke out at the end of the first film has practically wiped out the human race and it's been two years since Caesar or any of the apes have seen any human activity. But there are survivors living in the ruins led by a man named Dreyfus (Gary Oldman) and in order to restore power they need to gain access to a nearby hydroelectric dam in ape territory. Caesar's lieutenant, Koba (Toby Kebbell) hates humans and recommends killing them, but Caesar is wise and wants to avoid war. He gives a few men, led by Malcolm (Jason Clarke), permission to work on the dam only for a few days, but this short lived time of peace hangs on a very thin thread.

Matt Reeves was given the director's chair for this sequel and he doesn't disappoint. It's just as entertaining and smart as Wyatt's Rise. There have been several strong blockbusters that have come out this year and Dawn deserves to be considered among the best. What this film does right is focus on the apes allowing us to sympathize with their cause. Andy Serkis delivers a powerful performance once again and he owns this movie, although I would have to say that Kebbell's Koba is so memorable that he may just be the best villain in a film this year. The humans don't get much attention in this film so of course there is very little character development going on with them. Jason Clarke plays the most sympathetic character and perhaps the only human worth carrying about in this film. I was a bit disappointed that Gary Oldman wasn't given more screen time or a heavier role. Reeves also cast Keri Russell and Kodi Smit-McPhee with whom he worked with in Felicity and Let Me In respectively, but they don't have much to work with here either. The true stars of the film are the apes and there is a significant upgrade in the CGI compared to Rise. The apes look and move in an authentic manner. Dawn has everything going for it, great visuals, a fantastic score, a smart script, and some fantastic action scenes. We spend so much time with these advanced apes that by the time we see them riding on horses and carrying machine guns the entire premise seems plausible. 

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is one of those rare smart blockbusters where the action and visual aren't the only aspect of a film that has been given some thought. The apes are given personalities and the tension between the two sides is palpable. It isn't just a lame excuse to give us great visuals and cool looking action scenes; it is much more complex than that, and by doing so it creates much more tension. We are entertained just as much as we are forced to think. They have managed to turn a franchise I really didn't care for at first into an engaging and gripping one without ceasing to entertain the audience. When you spend some time creating believable and complex characters and combine them with cool looking action scenes you have the recipe for a successful movie that will leave audiences entertained and engaged at the same time. Their eyes won't be the only thing that are blown away, but their minds as well. And that is what Reeves and his team have managed to do with this franchise. It is sort of a Shakespearean drama combined with fantastic action scenes that are shot really well (there is a rotating shot from the point of view of a tank that was spectacular). I had a great time and I'm sure most audiences will as well.

My Review: The East (7/10)

"Spy on us, we'll spy on you."

The East teams up director Zal Batmanglij with actress Brit Marling once again after their collaboration in Sound of My Voice. Once again they co-wrote the screenplay after having spent some time with several anarchist groups in order to write a believable script. The East is an interesting thriller that had me guessing what was going to happen next. It has its weak moments (the beginning is a little slow and the final act leaves several questions unanswered) but the middle act is very strong and it raises several ethical and moral questions. I loved Marling, Skarsgard, and Page in this film. There were some elements that reminded me a lot of Martha Marcy May Marlene despite this being an anarchist group and not a sect. That film had a much stronger ending, but here the middle act kind of creates a similar atmosphere with the leader of the group (Skarsgard) showing his influence and charisma over the rest. Perhaps this film doesn't work as a psychological character study like that one, but there are some weird things going on inside the group, but in a way you sympathize with them despite their "eye for an eye" philosophy. At the end you are left with a sense of having wanted to see more, but the movie is still entertaining and goes into unknown and unexplored territory. Marling is such a great actress, if she can't find the role she is looking for she doesn't lay down, she simply writes a character she would like to play and does it. Ellen Page is also great in her supporting performance and delivers once again on every scene. The East won't be on my list of top films of the year, but it is still highly recommendable watching!

Jane (Brit Marling) works for an important private intelligence agency run by Sharon (Patricia Clarkson) and is assigned to infiltrate an anarchist group known as The East. Jane has spent the last nine months getting prepared for her assignment by studying the reserved group. They are an eco-terrorist group that publicly attack the CEO's of big corporations such as oil companies or pharmaceutical drug distributors that are aware of the harm they cause and try to cover it up. The East pays these people with the same coin, for instance if a drug has dangerous side effects and these CEO's are paying people off to distribute them, they simply force the same drug on them. Once Jane infiltrates the group, under the covert name of Sarah, she befriends these eco-friendly anarchists who are led by Benji (Alexander Skarsgard). He is a charismatic leader and has the members of the group do strange things like eat food they gather from dumpsters or bathe each other. The other members of the group are Izzy (Ellen Page), Doc (Toby Kebbell), Luca (Shiloh Fernandez), Tess (Danielle MacDonald), and Thumbs (Aldis Hodge). As Jane begins recollecting information she becomes more and more sympathetic towards their cause as opposed to the private firm she works for that is only concerned in defending these rich CEO's. 

The East raises a lot of moral questions and lets the audience decide what side to take. It doesn't try to manipulate us into deciding one way or another. We see things through the lead character's eyes as she begins to be influenced by this group. They seem to be fighting for the right cause, but the way they do things through terrorist acts is immoral. Everyone seems to have their heart in the right place. The screenwriters did a decent job with the script creating a tense atmosphere that had me glued to the screen despite the flaws. I wasn't disappointed despite having high expectations for The East. My favorite thing about this movie beside the heavy political eco-friendly message were the performances from the strong cast.

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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