Chappie
Inferior mash-up of RoboCop and A.I. set in a dystopian Johannesburg where robots act as the police force. When a programmer illegally reprograms one of them to be sentient, the robot is "raised" by a couple of wannabe-gangsters (Ninja and Yolandi Visser from the South African band Die Antwoord, essentially playing themselves). Sigourney Weaver and Hugh Jackman play one-dimensional corporate non-characters who have no nuance or interior lives. Dev Patel has the ostensibly lead role, but it's still pretty one-note. Worst of all, the gangster "parents" are the world's lamest, most awful human beings — and then they're given the complete hero treatment. Writer-director Neill Blomkamp (District 9) has some potentially intriguing themes to work with, but every choice he makes here is misguided.
Grade: D
Cinderella
Above-average live-action adaptation of Disney’s fairy tale classic. Exquisite costumes by the always-masterful Sandy Powell. Cate Blanchett is a delicious cruel stepmother. Enjoyable mix of heart and humour and silliness. There’s nothing else to say, though — it’s hard to get any more excited than this for such a too-familiar story, and this film (directed by Kenneth Branagh, of all people) is reverently faithful to its source. Cool, but I like it when movies surprise me, and there’s just no possible way with this material.
Grade: B
The Divergent Series: Insurgent
What started off as a mediocre YA film franchise has become a dreadful one. This installment has no plot whatsoever — "Tris runs from Jeanine, then surrenders herself to try to save innocent lives" is literally all that happens in this one. Oscary actresses Kate Winslet, Naomi Watts, Octavia Spencer: all wasted. My beloved Kate's Jeanine, sadly, is perhaps cinema's most boring, personality-free villain of all time — and if you know of my 20-year love for Kate, you know how much that hurts me to say. Male lead Theo James given no character to play. Supporting characters played by Miles Teller and Ansel Elgort make such baffling choices that their characterizations just become gibberish. Climactic twist promises exciting narrative developments in next film, but I'm not getting my hopes up at this point.
Grade: D
Do You Believe?
Admirable for its narrative ambition, following 12 individuals whose lives intersect in ways that are awfully coincidental but don't usually feel contrived. I'm clearly not the intended audience for a faith-based Christian drama, but I was surprised by how genuinely moving I thought this was. That's largely thanks to a terrific cast — including Mira Sorvino, Sean Astin, and Cybill Shepherd, among many others — who fully commit to the film's melodrama and provide so much more emotional depth to their characters than is ever on the page. But no, there is no nuance at all here; all of the film's lessons are extremely heavy-handed, as if director Jonathan M. Gunn doesn't trust that the audience is intelligent enough to understand the lessons he's teaching on their own. What the film does offer, however, is often unbearable cheesiness — this is a film where a character is mortally wounded, looks his brother in the eyes, and whispers "Believe..." before dying in his arms. With its themes of forgiveness and compassion and contrition, though, this film's heart is unquestionably in the right place. There's definitely a place in the cinematic landscape for Christian films like this, but they need to be better. If the filmmakers are choosing this medium to communicate their well-intended message, that's great — but the quality and complexity of the storytelling need to be as much of a priority as the catechism.
Grade: C+
Get Hard
Will Ferrell-Kevin Hart comedy has gotten a lot of press for being offensive — the most offensive thing about this, though, is how unfunny it is. But yes, it's basically 100 minutes of racial stereotypes and anal-rape prison jokes. So much of film's humour is based in gay panic; this is a film where giving a blowjob is the worst thing imaginable for a man to do. Best joke comes from John Mayer, of all people, cameoing as himself. Hart, though, is astonishingly energetic — film's best scene features the comedian demonstrating to Ferrell what the prison yard will be like and jumping back and forth to portray a scenario involving a black prisoner, Latino prisoner, and prison "wife". I also enjoyed seeing a shocking new side of Alison Brie. Offensive jokes can work, but only if they're actually funny. Unfortunately, the rest of the film flounders. First-time director Etan Cohen totally misses the mark here.
Grade: C-
The Gunman
The rare film that manages to get bad performances from TWO Oscar winners (Penn and Bardem). Ostensibly a cautionary tale about corporate interests in third-world natural resources, but ends up nothing more than a dull slog in which the lead actor runs from anonymous bad guys with guns. Tries to be a deep, prestige drama when it should have embraced its genre — shoot-'em-up action films are supposed to be fun, not dour. Female lead (Jasmine Trinca) has no character to play other than damsel in distress. Antagonists have murky motivations. Has one great set-piece involving Penn and Trinca escaping a bathroom that's been set on fire. Everything else merely inspires a shrug.
Grade: C-
Home
Oof. What to say about the latest feature from DreamWorks Animation? Kids will likely eat it right up, but this is one that will be close to unbearable for adults. Jim Parsons gives the most irritating voice performance that I can remember. (And such an annoying choice that Boov speak in Pidgin English, since we're stuck listening to that now for 90 minutes.) Rihanna is never convincing as a human female. Story is perfectly acceptable, but so simple and superficial. Just compare this to any Pixar film — what a difference. Visually interesting and wonderfully colourful. And I do love that Jennifer Lopez track, "Feel the Light" — early contender for Best Original Song?
Grade: C-
Run All Night
The latest Liam Neeson action thriller is entertaining but instantly forgettable. Storyline about Neeson seeking redemption for abandoning his family years ago for the gangster he took out hits for is almost affecting, but ultimately too lazily written to be effective. Nice to see Joel Kinnaman in another lead role, but his performance is disappointing here — he either has no personality at all or is just recreating Det. Holder from The Killing. Supporting cast is done no favours with the non-characters they're given to play; Ed Harris especially phones it in for his stock mob boss role. Has a cool, sleek aesthetic that's appealing — I liked the visual effect of having the camera zoom in and out and across the city, though it's hardly innovative. Not terrible, but inessential viewing.
Grade: C
The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
The type of sequel where the filmmakers want to capitalize on the success of the first film, but have absolutely no ideas about how to use their characters in the second. Each character here is trapped in a dull, unengaging love story where nearly nothing is at stake — though I suppose it's fun that this film examines the amorous, sexually active lives of septuagenarians, a demographic normally portrayed in Hollywood as sexless and dusty. Wholly unnecessary; after two hours, virtually nothing is different for anyone on screen. Amiable enough, though. Let's put this franchise to rest now, shall we?
Grade: C+
Unfinished Business
Comedy about a business trip in Berlin not quite as funny as it ought to be, but still often amusing. Vince Vaughn does his usual thing, but his family stuff is surprisingly affecting. Tom Wilkinson oddly cast, kind of wasted. Really sweet, innocent performance by Dave Franco. Only slightly better than mediocre, but I was somewhat pleasantly surprised by how okay it was. High praise indeed.
Grade: C
