Movie Review - A Million Ways To Die In The West

A Million Ways To Die In The West

Starring: Seth McFarlane, Charlize Theron, Amanda Seyfried, Liam Neeson, Giovanni Ribisi, Neil Patrick Harris, Sarah Silverman, Christopher Hagen, Wes Studi, Matt Clark, Evan Jones, and more.

Directed by: Seth McFarlane Written by: Seth McFarlane, Alec Sulkin, and Wellesley Wild Cinematography by: Michael Barrett Music by: Joel McNeely

Premise: Detesting violence, Albert is spurned by his sweetheart when he shows up for a midday showdown but instead of shooting and most likely dying, he talks the other guy into letting him pay for the damage caused by his sheep. Spiraling into depression now that he's lost the one bit of light in an otherwise sad existence, Albert thinks about leaving Old Stump for San Francisco until he saves a new lady in town. In exchange, Anna offers to help him win his sweetheart back. But as the two find each other more than they expected, there are secrets Anna is holding that could cost Albert his life. (Rated R)

Review:

1) Acting - Total Thumbs Up: Seth McFarlane makes a very convincing spirit trodden man. Charlize Theron was fun as Anna, saucy yet innocent in her own way. Liam Neeson was a wonderful villain as the cheating gunslinger Clinch. Neal Patrick Harris also made for a fun villian, the mustache giving him the look of the old black and white silent western villains.

2) Special Effects - Total Thumbs Up: You'd think a western comedy wouldn't have a lot of special effects, but in this case you'd be wrong. The bar fight alone had a ton of special effect 'gags' - breaking bones, cut and pumping jugulars, yanked off limbs. It definitely wasn't your typical western bar fight. And when you add in a bunch of the other ways there are to die in the west, the special effects people were kept quite busy.

There's also a rather amazing drug trip. Some definite artistry went into that particular segment. (And probably a ton of in-jokes as well.)

3) Plot/Story - Thumbs Up: While the film is full of sex, ethnic, and body jokes, there are also a lot of brainier jokes. Western life is often romanticized in film and books but this movie took it upon itself to dispel many of those illusions with humor veiled doses of the harsh reality. And some of them are quite funny.

The film is 116 minutes long, which is unusual for a comedy, but the extra time gave them space to do more, like add Anna's secondary story line, so a good choice on their part. The F-bombs though, not such a good choice. There were definitely a lot more present than necessary and after while dragged the film down a little.

Most of the usual western movie tropes are used (music, font styles, and more), and they are used well. A few even get turned sideways, giving the audience a few surprises. You'll also never think of mustaches quite in the same way again. (Or Daisies. Even sheep. You'll see.)

4) Stunts - Total Thumbs Up: A western without stunts wouldn't be a western. And since this one tries to show us a millions ways death can happen, there are definitely stunts involved. They're a lot of fun, too.

5) Locations/Cinematography - Total Thumbs Up: Nothing brings to mind the old westerns like seeing a shot of Monument Valley. Cinematographer Michael Barrett totally took this to heart and took total advantage of it. These are some of the most fantastic views of the valley I have ever seen. The movie is worth it just for the gorgeous scenery alone.

6) Music - Total Thumbs Up: Joel McNeely's score helped sell the western feel almost as much as the shots of Monument Valley. Themes and styles from all the big western scores were present. There's a wink for Silvestry in an in-joke scene, and during the big chase scene we get a nice dose of John Williams like score as well. Nicely done!

Conclusion: If you find more than just body jokes funny, and you've seen a lot of westerns, or know anything about the period, there's definitely enough in this film for you to like. The vistas and music alone are totally worth it. Definite adult humor, so not for younger viewers. And there are two small extra bits in the credits.

Rating: 3.75 out of 5 (Hubby's Rating: Worth Full Price of Admission)
 

Movie Review - The Lego Movie

Lego Movie

Starring: Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Will Arnett, Will Ferrell, Morgan Freeman, Liam Neeson, Alison Brie, Anthony Daniels, Billy Dee Williams, Nick Offerman, Keith Ferguson, Will Forte, Jonah Hill, Channing Tatum, and more.

Directed by: Phil Lord and Christopher Miller Story by: Dan Hageman, Kevin Hageman, Phil Lord, and Christopher Miller Screenplay by: Phil Lord and Christopher Miller Cinematography by: Barry Peterson and Pablo Plaisted Music by: Mark Mothersbaugh

Premise: Lord Business steals the world's greatest weapon from its guardian Vitruvius. Vitruvius warns Lord Business of a prophecy in which a very special person will discover an artifact, and with it bring him to ruin. Eight and a half years later, the one who was prophesied finally appears. Yet he's not exactly what anyone expected. (Rated PG)

Review:

1) Acting - Total Thumbs Up: The film had a totally fun cast. Chris Pratt as the empty headed Emmet was fun. Elizabeth Banks made Wildstyle both tough and secretly insecure. But it was Batman, voiced by Will Arnett, who stole the show. His dry delivery of Batman's lines was perfect. Liam Neeson wasn't far behind with his rendition of Bad Cop/Good Cop. Recording for this film must have been a blast.

2) Artwork/Animation - Total Thumbs Up: Using Legos as a film medium was a stroke of genius. Between the versatility of all the things you can make with them and all the great colors, they made the imagination flow. Especially as we move from the seemingly normal city, to the other worlds also present in the Lego realm, but which had been cut off from each other by Lord Business and his mechanical minions. We're even teased with glimpses of even more amazing and different worlds than the ones we're eventually shown. (That was a Mark 5 I saw flash by, right?)

The Wild West area with it's canyons and Death Valley feel was great. Cloud Cuckooland was even more amazing and full of chaos. (I saw Ducky Momo!) The turbulent sea scene was awe inspiring not just in execution but in the amount of work that must have gone into creating that scene alone.

The animation itself moved smoothly and there's so much going on you can't keep track of it all. I aodred that even the usual intro slides on who made the film were done in Lego. Visual in-jokes and pop culture references from the 80's to modern times abounded. The range on the facial expressions was excellent and utterly complimented the voice acting.

3) Story - Total Thumbs Up: While the plot appears simple at first glance, it has a lot more going on than is immediately apparent. Emmet is also not the only one with things to learn about himself during the journey. And while several plot point resolutions are totally expected, others will catch the audience totally by surprise. I would say more, but I don't want to spoil it.

There are plenty of comedic moments, as well as in-jokes and pop culture references in the script. Long time followers of DC super heroes will find much to be amused by. Batman pretty much steals the show. (As he should.) He even wrote a song. Yes, Batman sings.

The old battle of a thousand wars is here as well - Chaos vs. Order. And in a world made with Legos, what could be more awesome?

Conclusion: "The Lego Movie" is a lot of fun. There's plenty there to keep the kids occupied and the adults amused. Yes, like it or not, you'll probably be singing the Awesome song by the time you go home. (You can pick from the Awesome, the Remix, Saloon, or the Unplugged versions!) Just to see all the amazing things they do with the Legos made the film worth going to see.

Rating: 4 out of 5 (Hubby's Rating: Worth Full Price of Admission)

Movie Review - Battleship

Battleship

Starring: Taylor Kitsch, Alexander Skarsgård, Rihanna, Brooklyn Decker, Tadanobu Asano, Hamish Linklater, Liam Neeson, John Tui, Jesse Plemons, Gregory D Gadson, and many more.

Directed by: Peter Berg Written by: Erich Hoeber and Jon Hoeber Original Music by: Steve Jablonsky Cinematography by: Tobias A Schliessler

Premise: Six years after an advanced form of communication is used to send a message to a planet very much like Earth, aliens descend on the planet. Unfortunately for them, they can't see Earth's tech and their long distance communications ship hits a satellite and crashes in Hong Kong. Now the remaining four ships land in the Pacific and place an energy shield over a huge area so they can use the communication relay in Hawaii to call their planet. The only thing standing in their way is a Lieutenant on his way to getting booted out of the Navy, a scientist who fears just about everything, an admiral's daughter, and an army man trying to adjust to life with prosthesis. (Rated PG-13)

Review:

1) Acting - Thumbs Up: Great job by all, especially the supporting actors. Rihanna was a lot of fun as Petty Officer Raykes. A lot of the extra personnel were actual navy, so it was a nice touch to have them do what they've trained to do, lending a layer of authenticity to the film it might not otherwise have had.

2) Special Effects - Total Thumbs Up: As can be seen in the previews, there are a lot of special effects and they were excellent. From the different alien ships, the different technology, the aliens, and the destruction they caused, they were super detailed and entertaining. I was fascinated by the alien ships and their odd manner of movement on the ocean surface - very reminiscent of water bugs.

3) Plot/Story - Thumbs Up: This film is from Hasbro, who puts out the long played game called 'Battleship'. A game where two opposing fleets try to guess the location of their opponents and sink their ships through strategy and narrowing of their possible locations on the board. The film tries to integrate bits and pieces of the game, but not blatantly so. The shape of the alien's bombs resemble the white and red pegs of the game. For unexplained reasons, neither side's tech is capable of seeing the other through instruments, only through visual means. The ingenious way Captain Nagata comes up with to try to track their movements, gave us the grid of the game. Too cute.

There's some iffy science involved in a couple of places and some 'suspension of disbelief' is called for on several occasions. On the other hand, the story also had growth arcs on several of the characters. So there was some substance to the plot and that was a plus.

Also surprisingly, there were many comedic moments in the film. One skit sequence was done to the Pink Panther theme. It was hilarious!      

4) Stunts - Total Thumbs Up: With all the explosions and destruction happening around them you have navy personnel being thrown left and right and they made it look convincing. Kudos to the stunt person used during the totally hilarious skit at the convenience store - priceless.

5) Locations/Cinematography - Total Thumbs Up: Some very beautiful shots of the ocean and of the Hawaiian islands crossed the screen throughout the film. And what better place to film a movie dealing with the navy than on actual destroyers and battleships? Genius.

Conclusion: The previews of this film give audiences a very different idea of what it will be about than what it actually is, which unfortunately won't work in their favor to get people into the theaters to see it. Despite the bad science in a couple of places, the film moved at a good clip and was very entertaining. The comedic moments were priceless.

Make sure to sit through the credits! There's a cute bit at the very end.

Rating: 3.75 out of 5 (Hubby's Rating: Worth Full Price of Admission)

Movie Review - Wrath Of The Titans

Wrath Of The Titans

Starring: Sam Worthington, Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes, Toby Kebbell, Edgar Ramirez, Rosamund Pike, Bill Nighy, Danny Huston, John Bell, Lily James, and more.

Directed by: Jonathan Liebesman Screenplay by: Dan Mazeau and David Leslie Johnson Story by: Greg Berlanti, David Leslie Johnson, and Dan Mazeau Original 1981 Screenplay by: Beverly Cross Original Music by: Javier Navarette Cinematography by: Ben Davis

Premise: Ten years after he defeated the Kraken, Perseus is approached by his father, Zeus, to ask for his help. With the waning powers of the gods, the Titans are trying to escape from Tartarus. Perseus says no, wanting to do his best to keep his son out of the paths of violence to comply with his promise to his dead wife. But when the violence comes to their small fishing village, Perseus has little choice. (Rated PG-13)

Review:

1) Acting - Thumbs Up: Though it's basically a simple story without a lot of extra meat, everyone was believable and even squeezed extra juice on several scenes. Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes had several great moments together. Also loved Sam Worthington's take on his last speech with Zeus - convenying a lot of emotion just by not looking at him. Toby Kebbell was fun and brought a lighter touch to a grim situation. Bill Nighy made a great Hephaestus. I loved that the owl made it back into the film at the home of his creator and had a part without having a part.

2) Special Effects - Total Thumbs Up: I cannot rave enough about the special effects - especially Tartarus and the entrance to same. Fabulous! You truly feel like you're in places so vast as to only have been capable of existing due to gods. But it wasn't in just the big things that the special effects were awesome in, but all the little touches too: Zeus's staff making little lightning bolts as it touched the ground when he walked, smoke added to the flying fireballs and fire, spit for chemical fire from the winged creatures to give it that extra touch of reality. Pegasus was wonderful! The wings truly appearing to be part of the horse. And they were even used for cute humorous effect as well.

All the creatures and monsters were very detailed down to spit and drool. Zeus's partial unraveling and the way the gods turned to sand and fell apart after expiring were inspired. The flow of lava flung by Kronos through the air was almost art. Totally outstanding work.

3) Plot/Story - Thumbs Up: Some people will think the plot too simple, but with all the awesome sights supplied in the film, and the broad strokes on family issues at multiple levels, it didn't bother me a bit. The Greek Titans and gods were probably the first ever dysfunctional family and got used here to good effect on four generations. Some eventually saw the light, others did not, and some only had it reaffirmed.

Yes, some liberties are taken with the Greek mythology, yet overall they kept it pretty straight. Anachronisms filled the dialogue, but that's about par for the course - even had Greeks with British accents. But since most will be coming to see monsters and gods at war, it won't detract much. My only real nitpick was that we really never had any real idea with who or why Queen Andromeda was at war and how they could drop it in an instant to go stop Kronos.

On the other hand, very much enjoyed the added problem of having to have the warriors not pray to Ares as they normally would. A little unexpected touch that did have consequences.

4) Stunts - Thumbs Up: Sam Worthington and his double should be given awards just for all the times the two of them got tossed around, beaten, and flung. Much enjoyed the fact they showed Perseus needing to be sewn up after the fracas at the village. Ouch! And definite kudos to all involved for having battles with things that weren't even there, and making it look fluid and real. They sold it very well.

A pet peeve of ours did surface, mainly the use of shaky cam on a few spots. Since it was used in a nightmare sequence and then very briefly in only a couple of other spots, I ignored it, but hubby was less forgiving.

5) Locations/Cinematography - Total Thumbs Up: The more believable a place looks, the easier to sell the story and this movie did it well. Not only that, but the shots of wide open skies and fields were breathtaking. The merging of real and not real together, except for one spot, were totally spot on.

6) Costuming/Makeup - Thumbs Up: The changes between Hades and Zeus during different parts as power levels increased and decreased were subtle and nicely done. Dirty, grimy faces from hard work and combat were good and mostly consistent. Even Andromeda was not squeaky clean at all times. Added some nice reality to the fantastical tale.

Conclusion: A film with loads of action and amazing special effects. Definitely a must see in IMAX 3D.

Rating: 4 out of 5 (Hubby's Rating: Better for Matinee due solely to the reliance on certain scenes to shaky cam)