I've always loved a good action movie. I grew up watching movies like "Die Hard", "True Lies", and "Speed" with my Dad. I could quote "Die Hard" long before I could actually say most of the vulgar dialogue out loud. My relationship with action movies seems very similar to those of my friends. They saw action movies as a bonding experience with their fathers. This bonding seemed to not be gender specific. Many of my female friends have vivid memories of watching Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger blowing away terrorists and how the viewing experience bonded them better with their fathers. Maybe this is simply me pushing away from the somewhat stereotypical "I like seeing stuff/people get blown up real good". It is with that preface that I recommend a movie like "Olympus Has Fallen", an admittedly silly action movie that is not without its cliches and eye-rolls but still taps into that almost lizard-brained affinity for guns and explosions.
Gerard Butler plays Mike Banning, a former Secret Service agent who through a series of somewhat believable coincidences ends up near the White House after it has been attacked by terrorist. President Asher (Aaron Eckhart) is being held hostage by Korean bad guys who have stormed the most protected house in the world and are now demanding the U.S. drop military support between the borders of North and South Korea. Banning must use his not-very-well-established combat experience to dodge terrorists, explosions, and charred flags falling in slow-motion to save Asher, his son (Finley Jacobsen), and the members of the cabinet who are stuck in the White House.
The action genre has not been off to a great start in 2013. Between the somewhat mediocre "The Last Stand" and the tear-inducing disappointment of "A Good Day to Die Hard", it is easy to like "Olympus Has Fallen" for all the wrong reasons. It fills a void that hasn't been filled since last year's "The Raid: Redemption" and "Dredd" allowing an audience to fist-pump and go "Oh man!" to bad guys getting wrecked in bloody fashion. Audiences will cheer Butler as he again proves that he is an action star who should resist the urge to make a career of smirking in romantic comedies. Banning is a mostly believable character doing most believable actions in a somewhat believable scenario. For that, "Olympus Has Fallen" is a mini-triumph. It takes a potentially disastrous action movie plot and constantly surprises. It is far from high cinema or even a great action movie but we don't expect that.
While "Olympus" does do some action film staples well (villain wreckage and explosions), part of my recommendation is in the ways it does not follow action stereotypes. Jacobsen's son character is never annoying and is not used as a large plot point in any manipulative way. The members of Asher's cabinet both inside and outside the White House act mostly valiantly. The film has only one predictable plot twist that won't be spoiled here but most action fans will be able to predict up to the moment it hits their rolling eyes.
Saying "Olympus Has Fallen" is the best action movie since "Dredd" is not a huge recommendation but it fulfills the hope of action fans. While it is far from the movie it could have been had it been tightened (cut 5 minutes of slow-motion patriotism) and polished (cheap CGI has no place in action movies), it is worth a viewing.
Saturday, March 23, 2013
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
"The Last Exorcism 2" - 3 stars out of 4 (B-)
"The Last Exorcism 2" would like you to know that the following things are totally evil:
New Orleans, blues music, heavy metal, parades, street performers, red boots, radios, old blues singers, boys, sex (both heterosexual and homosexual), thin hotel walls, flies, morphine, drugs, TVs, and chickens.
I could make a joke about how they also would like you to know the word "Last" is evil as well because it apparently doesn't really mean anything when the first movie makes a decent amount of money.
The amazing bendable Nell (Ashley Bell) is back from her first failed exorcism which (we believe) involved a demon baby being thrown into the fire. Or something. Who knows? While the first "Last Exorcism" was entertaining, creepy, and memorable it did not end in a way that made all that much sense. Luckily (said without a hint of sarcasm), the second "Last Exorcism" also is just shrugs at you when you try to make sense of it. The plot involves Nell being found in an unnamed couple's house and being taken into a mental institution. Eventually she is moved to a women's shelter. While there, Nell begins to think her demonic possession didn't really happen. She starts a new life in the city where she has a job, multi-ethnic friends (two unnamed African Americans who talk about sex! a blonde possible-lesbian with curly hair who loves generic rock music!), and even takes a shining to a boy who works with her. All is not well in what is arguably the most evil city in the United States/world. Nell starts seeing visions and having sexy dreams. Could she truly be haunted by a demon? Might she simply be going through puberty at age 17? Either way it is going to be creepy sexy/sexy creepy.
Don't take my silly plot synopsis as a knock against the film. "The Last Exorcism 2" is cheesy, B-movie fun. It is akin to the horror films of the 80s with their small budgets, no-name actors, odd locals, and poorly-filmed deaths. You can almost see the VHS box art that you walk past and laugh thinking "Wait... how can it be the SECOND LAST Exorcism". You would rent it on a whim along with movies like "Troll 2" and "Chopping Mall". It is almost as if director Ed Gass-Donnely knew he was making a goofy horror film. There are several laugh-out-loud moments that seem to be intentional. Things happen for no real reason and they lead up to a climax that will have you wondering what in the world is happening off-screen. It might be the first movie to make me ask "Did... did that character become a tiger... who can set things on fire?"
Ashley Bell again does a good job with the character of Nell. We genuinely care about her and can totally see her as a confused small-town girl. She isn't given quite as much room to play around with her character as she had in the first one. While the film film showed the extreme normality and extreme creepiness of her character, Bell spends almost the entire movie repressing any true feelings. It is not just another showcase of how she can contort her body.
"The Last Exorcism 2" is not without faults. It does drag for the first 30 minutes as it tries weakly to create tension and spookiness out of the New Orleans location. There are a handful of CGI additions to the film that seem tacky and cheap. It would also have been better for this movie to have visible wires holding objects and people up. The film would have had a charm much like that of 2009's low-budget cult film "The House of the Devil". That movie went so far as to show the roots of 80s horror films that it even had a limited edition VHS pressing. It makes you wonder if "Last Exorcism 2" would have benefited more from more of a wink and a nudge to the horror audience.
While "Last Exorcism 2" doesn't rise to the heights of a movie like "House of the Devil" or "Drag Me to Hell" or even attempt to match the genuine creepiness of the first film, it is an entertaining silly 80-minute movie that would be right at home in a cheesy horror movie double feature.
New Orleans, blues music, heavy metal, parades, street performers, red boots, radios, old blues singers, boys, sex (both heterosexual and homosexual), thin hotel walls, flies, morphine, drugs, TVs, and chickens.
I could make a joke about how they also would like you to know the word "Last" is evil as well because it apparently doesn't really mean anything when the first movie makes a decent amount of money.
The amazing bendable Nell (Ashley Bell) is back from her first failed exorcism which (we believe) involved a demon baby being thrown into the fire. Or something. Who knows? While the first "Last Exorcism" was entertaining, creepy, and memorable it did not end in a way that made all that much sense. Luckily (said without a hint of sarcasm), the second "Last Exorcism" also is just shrugs at you when you try to make sense of it. The plot involves Nell being found in an unnamed couple's house and being taken into a mental institution. Eventually she is moved to a women's shelter. While there, Nell begins to think her demonic possession didn't really happen. She starts a new life in the city where she has a job, multi-ethnic friends (two unnamed African Americans who talk about sex! a blonde possible-lesbian with curly hair who loves generic rock music!), and even takes a shining to a boy who works with her. All is not well in what is arguably the most evil city in the United States/world. Nell starts seeing visions and having sexy dreams. Could she truly be haunted by a demon? Might she simply be going through puberty at age 17? Either way it is going to be creepy sexy/sexy creepy.
Don't take my silly plot synopsis as a knock against the film. "The Last Exorcism 2" is cheesy, B-movie fun. It is akin to the horror films of the 80s with their small budgets, no-name actors, odd locals, and poorly-filmed deaths. You can almost see the VHS box art that you walk past and laugh thinking "Wait... how can it be the SECOND LAST Exorcism". You would rent it on a whim along with movies like "Troll 2" and "Chopping Mall". It is almost as if director Ed Gass-Donnely knew he was making a goofy horror film. There are several laugh-out-loud moments that seem to be intentional. Things happen for no real reason and they lead up to a climax that will have you wondering what in the world is happening off-screen. It might be the first movie to make me ask "Did... did that character become a tiger... who can set things on fire?"
Ashley Bell again does a good job with the character of Nell. We genuinely care about her and can totally see her as a confused small-town girl. She isn't given quite as much room to play around with her character as she had in the first one. While the film film showed the extreme normality and extreme creepiness of her character, Bell spends almost the entire movie repressing any true feelings. It is not just another showcase of how she can contort her body.
"The Last Exorcism 2" is not without faults. It does drag for the first 30 minutes as it tries weakly to create tension and spookiness out of the New Orleans location. There are a handful of CGI additions to the film that seem tacky and cheap. It would also have been better for this movie to have visible wires holding objects and people up. The film would have had a charm much like that of 2009's low-budget cult film "The House of the Devil". That movie went so far as to show the roots of 80s horror films that it even had a limited edition VHS pressing. It makes you wonder if "Last Exorcism 2" would have benefited more from more of a wink and a nudge to the horror audience.
While "Last Exorcism 2" doesn't rise to the heights of a movie like "House of the Devil" or "Drag Me to Hell" or even attempt to match the genuine creepiness of the first film, it is an entertaining silly 80-minute movie that would be right at home in a cheesy horror movie double feature.
"Career prep"
When I was a little kid, all I wanted was to be a film critic. I imagined a world where all I had to do was see movies and tell people about them as a dream. I would sit with my Dad on Saturday afternoons and watch episodes of "Siskel and Ebert" that were followed by episodes of "American Gladiators". I never wanted to be a gladiator though. No. I wanted to join the balcony.
Somewhere down the line, my attention was pulled elsewhere. I was pulled away from Journalism and into teaching. These days, I wish I had a foot still in the film world. I still see movies from time to time but the passion just isn't there. Still, I'm at my most animated when I'm discussing film. I can go on and on about classic movie theaters I love. I can tell you about the crazy little movies I've seen in Chicago or at the old Burton Theater in Detroit (R.I.P.) I can tell you story after story about my Dad and I going to movies... or double features... or even triple features. I can tell you about the VHS tapes that recorded films like "Dawn of the Dead" (the 70s version) and "A Clockwork Orange" so that a 10-year old me could consume them over headphones while my brother and sister ran around and played. I can talk about spending $25 for a widescreen VHS copy of "Pulp Fiction" at Media Play.
I can also tell you about my Dad taking me out of school early the day that "Star Wars: The Phantom Menace" came out. The reason that he wrote down for why he was pulling me out of school: "Career prep"
While film journalism might not be my career, I can sure act like it is. I have a MoviePass. I have decent movies near me. I have a lot of caffeine and not much use for sleep. I have a lot of words and opinions I'd like to share with you.
Somewhere down the line, my attention was pulled elsewhere. I was pulled away from Journalism and into teaching. These days, I wish I had a foot still in the film world. I still see movies from time to time but the passion just isn't there. Still, I'm at my most animated when I'm discussing film. I can go on and on about classic movie theaters I love. I can tell you about the crazy little movies I've seen in Chicago or at the old Burton Theater in Detroit (R.I.P.) I can tell you story after story about my Dad and I going to movies... or double features... or even triple features. I can tell you about the VHS tapes that recorded films like "Dawn of the Dead" (the 70s version) and "A Clockwork Orange" so that a 10-year old me could consume them over headphones while my brother and sister ran around and played. I can talk about spending $25 for a widescreen VHS copy of "Pulp Fiction" at Media Play.
I can also tell you about my Dad taking me out of school early the day that "Star Wars: The Phantom Menace" came out. The reason that he wrote down for why he was pulling me out of school: "Career prep"
While film journalism might not be my career, I can sure act like it is. I have a MoviePass. I have decent movies near me. I have a lot of caffeine and not much use for sleep. I have a lot of words and opinions I'd like to share with you.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)