The Hangover Part 2 Review

Rating: 1.5/5


Sequels are tough to do in almost every situation. Not in the Lord of the Rings sense where the sequel is just part of the story. I mean in the sense of Toy Story, where you have to take established characters and put them in an interesting new adventure. For this type of sequel, the characters must experience a significant character ark for the audience to stay interested. The Hangover 2 fails at this.

The Wolfpack is back for another wedding, and this time it's Stu's (Ed Helms) wedding, and it's in Thailand. Yes, Allan (Zach Galifianakis), Phil (Bradley Cooper), and Chow (Ken Jeong) are all along for the ride, and I don't need to describe any more. Why? Because Hangover 2 is a remake of the first one, just in Bankok and with Paul Giamatti. The only real difference is that it isn't funny.

The original Hangover was incredibly low-brow humor, but very funny. The jokes, while very vulgar, were very well done because they allowed us to use our imagination to picture what happened in the night of partying. This time they just either flat out tell us or show us. The rest of the jokes are either EXACT COPIES of the ones from the first one (all of the explanations for why the boys got so messed up are at least) or references to the first one.

Also, there's this weird undercurrent of homophobia in the movie, specifically when the group meets a pre-op transexual. It doesn't say anything outright hateful, but it presents transexuals and homosexual relationships as some thing disgusting and unnatural. Maybe I was imagining the homophobia, but I felt it needed addressing. At that scene, two thirds of the audience all went "EEEEWWW AAUUUUGHHH!!!!!" in the theatre I was in. Sorry guys, I know it's surprising in context, but yes, that kind of thing exists. It's 2011, just use your iPhone and go on wikipedia.

At the end of the day, all Hangover 2 needed to do was be funny, which it isn't. The script is just a rehash of the first one with an Asian setting, and tries to make humor out of stuff like pedophilia, which is just a bad choice. The performances are fine, but the only funny person is Ken Jeong, who's barely in the movie. It's arguable in the first place if The Hangover needed a sequel, but it definitely didn't need THIS sequel.

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides Review

Rating: 3.5/5

Damn do I love these movies. I love the characters (well, not all of them), I love the writing, I love the stories, I just have such a good time watching these things. And yes, At World's End is the worst out of all of these, because yes, it is insanely convoluted and too long. However, I still like watching it. I also love the director, Gore Verbinski (Rango, The Ring), I think he's one of the essential elements. Wait, the Chicago guy directed this one? Oh boy.

Johnny Depp is back as Captain Jack Sparrow, and he's still making trouble wherever he goes. This time, he's looking for the fountain of youth, and on his way he encounters an old flame (Penelope Cruz), Blackbeard (Ian McShane), and old rival Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush). All of these encounters end up being more of a race to the fountain through treacherous waters, mermaids, and good old fashioned sword fights.

The Pirates series has always been one of those "and hijinks ensue" type things, but in a good way. By that I mean that theere are a lot of zany moments, but most of them are funny because of the acting. That doesn't change here because Captain Jack is funnier than he's been since the first movie. The other performances are good too, especially Blackbeard and Barbossa, but Penelope Cruz is kinda flat. The characters of Phillip and Selene are also just unnecessary, undeveloped, obnoxious, and are just there to have a forced romance.

Action scenes have always at been the heart of this series, and while there isn't anything to outdo the amazing ship battle sequence from the last one, there are some pretty good ones. It's always fun to see the main characters slicing, punching, kicking, and smacking their way through bad guys. However, there are some scenes that are a little more than a little absurd, but not many. Some dialog sequences also don't make sense, but again, they are outweighed by the good stuff.

Pirates 4 is the real start of the summer. It will make more money than Thor, is better than Thor, and comes out closer to the end of the school year. I'm not done with school yet, but I'm very happy that I saw Pirates 4. Even though it's nowhere near the quality of the first two, it's still a lot of fun. Not fun enough to rush out and see, but pretty fun.

Bridesmaids Review

Rating: 4/5

It's not fair to assume that women can't be as crude and as raunchy as men. It's borderline sexist, but it's also not true. I think this stereotype really originates from the culture of terrible romantic comedies that are the norm in America. Those movies portray either strong women who give in to the hunk du jour, or women who need the hunk du jour to survive. Thank god for Kristen Wiig and Bridesmaids.

Annie (Kristen Wiig) is complicated. She's in a casual sex relationship with Ted (Jon Hamm) but wants more romance. She wants to just live but she gave up on her dream bakery business. She meets the nicest guy ever (Chris O'Dowd), but can't let herself be happy. One day, Annie's best friend (Maya Rudolph) is getting married, and Annie is the maid of honor. However, Annie enters into a rivalry with the beautiful, rich, caring Helen (Rose Byrne), and the spiral of hijinks begins.

Let me address my earlier statement, "thank god for Kristen Wiig and Bridesmaids." I say this because I think Bridesmaids might be the smartest female comedy I've ever seen. The cast of women, aside from the brilliant character of Megan, aren't especially quirky until they are developed, which they are wonderfully. Every character is unique, smart, and, with the exception of no-one, very, very funny.

Instead of the standard romantic comedy character arc of: 1) What a cute guy!! 2) Wow, it turns out this guy is deeper than I thought!! 3) I hate him! We got into an argument based on a trick/misunderstanding!! 4) 20 minutes of pouting!! 5) Happy ending!!!, we get human characters, especially with Kristen Wiig. While Annie is a complete mess, we can't help but love her and want her to succeed. By the end of Bridesmaids, I wanted something good to happen to Annie so badly, because I thought she deserved it.

Even though there are a bunch of gags girls wil get more than guys, Bridesmaids is one of the funniest movies I've seen in 2011. Its humor can be gross, but overall is very smart and in many parts, downright hysterical. Some people may be turned off by the apparent girliness, but Bridesmaids is really, really worth your time and money.

Hobo With a Shotgun Review

Rating: 4/5

Exploitation is a genre mostly associated with the 70's, but it's not dead, not by far. For those of you who don't know. An "exploitation film" is a bad movie that is made for almost nothing and relies on people who like naked girls and ultra-violence to make money. The most well-known examples of exploitation are 1969's Blood Feast and '75's Caligula. Modern exploitation movies include Friday the 13th, Kick-Ass, and Sucker Punch. And now, Hobo With a Shotgun.

A hobo (Rutger Hauer), rides into a new city called Hopeville, and it's name is certainly not true. Criminals and corrupt cops run amok, drugs are pumped through kids, and honest folk live in fear of the dastardly Drake (Brian Downey). Now the hobo must fight back with the help of a hooker with a heart of gold (Molly Dunsworth), and well, a shotgun.

Hobo With a Shotgun does something right that most movies fail to do: successful parody. By that, I mean that the movie parodies crass exploitation without becoming crass exploitation. In the case of Natural Born Killers or Kick-Ass, both movies attempt to be tongue in cheek parodies of mean spirited ultra-violence in media, but become mean spirited ultra-violence. As a result, Hobo With a Shotgun turns out great.

This is one of those movies that does everything badly on purpose. In one scene, there are naked women hitting a dead guy covered in blood. Why? Because it's naked women!! That is the essence of exploitation. All the violence is hilariously over the top, and the story is delightfully simple. The acting is campy fun, the script o insane, and it melds well.

Hobo With a Shotgun is the good type of exploitation. It knows exactly what it is and has fun with it. Bad exploitation is a movie that doesn't care, or tries to be deep but ends up having no story and sticks in violence and nudity for the hell of it (i.e. NBK or Kick-Ass). Overall, the movie isn't subtle or smart, but it doesn't care and just goes with it. Try it out.

Thor Review

Rating: 2.5/5

Superhero movies have changed for me. I don't get exited about them like I used to, I'm not sure why. Maybe it was Kick-Ass, maybe Green Hornet, maybe the Green Lanter trailer, I just don't care that much anymore. In my opinion, every superhero movie these days is just out to make money, and aren't in it to please everyone, nerds and movie fans alike. When a movie like the Dark Knight comes along and pleases everyone AND makes a billion dollars worldwide, AND becomes one of my favorite movies, am I being unreasonable by holding it as the standard?

Thor (Chris Hemsworth) is the Norse god of thunder. His dad, Odin (Anthony Hopkins) is getting older, and it looks like the title of king is going to Thor very soon. However, Thor is a pompous, arrogant, self-centered jerk who cares only for himself. After Thor starts a war between Asgard and the Frost Giants, Odin banishes him to earth to learn some humility.

Thor is a movie that only had to do one thing: not suck. And it did manage to accomplish that, but not much else. The 3D is pointless and makes the otherwise cool-looking CGI look like a PS2 game, which isn't good. In other words, don't see Thor in 3D. Anyway, how's the acting? Fine I guess, Chris Hemsworth is good, Loki might as well have a "I WILL TURN EVIL" sticker on his shirt the whole time, and Natalie Portman is bland, but endearing.

Ken Branagh does a decent job with with a mediocre script that doesn't resolve anything really, and the story just sort of plods along. Thor is a very funny movie, but it feels like the sense of humor is just covering up the bland plot and low-scale action scenes. The action scenes were definitely disappointing, even though every time someone farts in this movie something explodes. The only really "bad" parts of Thor are some gaping plot holes and the forced romance.

Thor kept me entertained, but I won't see it again, and despite an awesome cameo by a character I won't name, it doesn't really add to the Marvel Movieverse, besides introducing another Avenger. And yes, there is a scene after the credits, but it really isn't worth it. Overall Thor isn't horrible, but it isn't really good either. It's just ok, and for some people, that's a deal-breaker. It's up to you if it is.

13 Assassins Review

Rating: 5/5

What is it about the Samurai that fascinates America? People buy samurai swords, have film festivals, and hell, the Oscar for best Foreign Film was created FOR a samurai movie (Musashi Miyamoto, 1956). Personally, I love samurai movies. The Japanese historical film, or Jigadeki, is my favorite genre. I am so glad Takashi Miike added 13 Assassins to this genre, it is really worth it.

The Shogun has adopted Naritsugu (Goro Inagaki) as his little brother, and plans to put him on his high council. As it turns out, Naritsugu is a depraved sadist who tortures and rapes on a whim. Rather than wait to see what would happen if Naritsugu was put on the high council, Lord Doi (Mikijo Hira) asks Shinzaemon (Koji Yakusho), an aging samurai, to gather 13 men and assassinate Naritsugu.

Everything about this movie is great. The acting is great, the cinematography is great, the writing and directing are great, and you bet the action is great. Takashi Miike proves that he can show restraint and make things violent, but tasteful, and every character is fleshed out wonderfully. The action choreography is some of the best and most realistic I've ever seen, and it all culminates in a completely mind-blowing 45 minute battle at the end.

13 Assassins really has the feeling of a classic samurai film. Everything about the way it's shot and composed is reminiscent of a Kurosawa or Ichikawa movie. I was really dragged into it, and I didn't want to leave, even after the movie was over. 13 Assassins is probably the best movie I've seen this year so far, and will definitely end up on my top 10. It's beautiful, engaging, disturbing, inspiring, and just wonderful in every way. I highly, HIGHLY recommend renting it on iTunes, or trying to find it in the theateres.