Directed by Oliver Parker
Screenplay by William Davies, story by Hamish McColl.
Running Time: 101 minutes (1h, 41 mins.)
Rated PG (for mild action violence, rude humor, some language and brief sensuality).
Distributor: Universal Pictures
For many who don't know, Johnny English Reborn is a sequel to Johnny English, the spy parody which was released eight years ago. But I guess the first film wasn't the most memorable of Rowan Atkinson's wacky characters, which explains why I, like everyone, was surprised that a sequel was getting developed after all those years. This isn't Hollywood's doing, by the way.
Atkinson returns as Johnny, who disappeared from MI7 long ago and is living in a remote area in China. But when the agency learns of an assasination attempt on the Chinese premier, English is the only agent in contact and he must swing back into action to stop it. That's pretty much the whole premise. With that premise comes much of Atkinson's signature slapstick humor. This however features nutshots, English falling down constantly and a urinal joke. Now from that whole description, you probably think I hated this film as much as I hated Spy Kids: All the Time in the World. No, I didn't.
As Spy Kids 4 was a unnecessary sequel filled with unoriginality and a bunch of jokes involving poop, flatulance and barf, Johnny English 2 has some originality left in it- even if it is a spoof. It still suffers some problems. Mainly its script. While it has some funny moments, it never really goes anywhere and has a lot of cliched moments. Then again, it is a spoof, so you never really know if it making fun of those cliches or it's just in there. There's also a scene where English is attacking the elderly mother of MI7 Head Pamela Thornton (Gillian Anderson, with a British accent and being unamusing). That was obviously ripped from Austin Powers.
While Atkinson does good as usual, the rest of the cast sometimes fail to keep up. I already mentioned Anderson, but there's also Dominic West and Rosamund Pike, both of them great actors. West tries too hard to be funny. As for Pike, although she has some fine moments, it seems like this role is just a way for her to relive her Bond girl days. I did like Daniel Kaluuya, who played English's new partner. His scenes with Atkinson provide some laughs. Oliver Parker is the director of this, though it would have been more nicer if they brought Peter Howitt, the director of the first film, back. I guess he didn't want to do this one.
Let me just end this review by saying that while I did laugh, I didn't laugh enough. Despite it being another one of those spy movie spoofs, it's hard not to point the cliches involved in this. Some of the performances aren't really in touch with the film and the script gets tiring. I like how it's slightly darker than its the first, but overall I didn't get a whole lot much from this film. I give it ** (2 stars).
Directed by Craig Brewer
Screenplay by Dean Pitchford and Craig Brewer, story by Dean Pitchford.
Running Time: 113 minutes (1h, 53 mins.)
Rated PG-13 (for some teen drug and alcohol use, sexual content, violence and language).
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Out of all the films Hollywood recycled for this generation, Footloose is probably one of the oddest. I know many people who love the 1984 original, despite some of its cheesiness and its silly plot. Personally, I think the original is decent stuff and something that shouldn't be attempted to remake. Looks like Paramount didn't listen to that last part. What's next: Flashdance? Oops.
For those who haven't seen the original and don't know what the plot is: Big-city guy Ren McCormick (Kenny Wormald) moves to the small southern town Bomont to live with his aunt, uncle and cousins. When Ren finds out that dancing and loud music has been banned due to a car accident that killed five teenagers three years ago, one of them being Rev. Shaw Moore's (Dennis Quaid) son, he decides to challenge the law and during that time, falls in love with Ariel (Julianne Hough), the reverend's troubled daughter.
Now, I'm gonna keep this review brief since I have another film to screen. I mentioned before in this and in an earlier post dating back to August that a remake was unnecessary, but after watching this, I am surprised. With the exception of Fright Night, most remakes this year have been pretty underwheming. Luckily, this isn't. Sure, it's has the same silly plot and there's still some cheese, but between the cheese is some grit. Yes, I'm saying this remake is a bit more grittier than the original.
The performances are pretty good. Kenny Wormald and Julianne Hough are fine as the leads. This is bound to make Wormald a big star, much like what the original did for Kevin Bacon. Same for Hough, who with the number of roles she's been getting lately will be much bigger than the original's Lori Singer. Dennis Quaid is good as Shaw originally played by John Lithgow and Andie MacDowell is fine as Shaw's wife. Miles Teller is great as Ren's friend Willard, which was originally played by the late Chris Penn. Teller played the same role in the stage musical version.
Direction comes from Craig Brewer, who also wrote the screenplay with the original film's scripter, Dean Pitchford. Brewer knows things about music, as we learned from his last two features: Hustle & Flow, which brought us into the rap music world (and which got rap group Three 6 Mafia an Oscar win) and Black Snake Moan, which featured a lot of blues music. Here, it's country, rock and some rap. Brewer directs it well, even a little better than the original's Herbert Ross. In this new version, Brewer shows the car accident that caused the ban of dancing and the opening credits, where we see a bunch of feet dancing along to the title song (Kenny Loggins' original version, Blake Shelton's version appears at the end), is set on the dance floor which is unlike the original.
I'm not exactly sure if this is a better version than the original because despite some changes (especially the dancing), it does feel like the original. However, I had a lot of fun with this one. There are good performances, some awesome choreography (by Jamal Sims) and good direction. Anyone who's fresh to this will enjoy it and anyone who's seen the 1984 film will likely enjoy it as well. The audience in my screening was a mix of both those people and they clapped right after the movie was over. I give the film *** (3 stars).
It's time. You know you've been waiting for it. And now it's finally here. The first trailer for The Avengers has just been released on the web. It's enough to satisfy the fanboys (me included) out there for now, but you know that one trailer won't be enough sooner or later. You can read my opinion of it after the jump, but now, without further ado, here is a Trailerpalooza exclusive: the first official trailer for one of the most highly-anticipated films of next year: The Avengers.
Now, let me give my own opinion on this. Like I said, one trailer isn't enough, so I'll be expecting a few more as the time goes by. Not too much, though. We don't want the advertising campaign to be like Green Lantern (Not that I'm insulting the movie. I didn't think GL was bad. But it could have been better). Like many who watched the past Marvel Studios films, I have been waiting for this film since the first Iron Man in 2008 and so far from this trailer, I like what I see. Only problem is why couldn't this be filmed like the other Marvel films: in the 2:35- 2:40 aspect ratio. 1:85 is okay, but for a film like this, it just doesn't seem right. I expected more of a bigger scope when I see this in the theatres, but you know, what can you do?
It's great to see everyone back: the always brilliant Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man, the two Chris's (Evans- Captain America and Hemsworth- Thor), Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow (in that same black suit, Score!), Jeremy Renner returns as Hawkeye after that brief cameo in Thor, Mark Ruffalo replaces Edward Norton as the Hulk, which is sad, but I trust Ruffalo to play this well and after all those cameos (except for Iron Man 2), Samuel L. Jackson's back as Nick Fury. Tom Hiddleson returns as Loki, the mischieveing, evil brother of Thor. We hear him in the beginning. The only person missing from this trailer is Cobie Smulders, who plays S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Maria Hill. Hopefully, we see her in another trailer. It's gonna be nice to see her transition from TV star (you probably know her as Robin on How I Met Your Mother) to major movie star.
The director and screenwriter is Joss Whedon, who is loved by the fanboy commuinity. Buffy the Vampire Slayer was a fine show, Dollhouse was pretty good, but for me, Firefly was one of his best. Although sadly cancelled after one season, he continued where the final episode left off on the big screen with Serenity, which I also liked. To see him direct this is pretty cool, especially since a long time back, he was supposed to make a Wonder Woman movie (with Smulders in mind), but that never came through (Since David E. Kelley's television pilot was scrapped, I hope that Warner Bros. lets Nicolas Winding Refn do the Woman Woman movie). I can't judge Whedon's direction or writing, mainly because it's a trailer. I just hope that he'll do a good job. Also on a side note, for those who want to know the song playing in the trailer, it's Nine Inch Nails' awesome opus, "We're in This Together" from their 1999 album, The Fragile.
Well, that's it. That's my whole opinion on the first Avengers trailer. Hopefully, this trailer satisfies you. If it doesn't, then I wish you luck. The Avengers hits theatres May 4, 2012.
Welcome to the Thanksgiving edition of Trailerpalooza. This week is stuffed like a turkey with new trailers that include another Juno reunion between its director and writer, a bunch of guys trying to rob their boss, Marilyn Monroe in England, the return of the dancing/singing penguins, the stories of Edgar Allen Poe inspire a serial killer, we get to meet Santa's son and two Steven Spielberg flicks. So, stop what you're doing and let's get started.
First off is Young Adult, Jason Reitman's latest feature. He reunites again with writer Diablo Cody, but don't expect to be anything like Juno, their last collaboration. It's more dark like Jennifer's Body (which Reitman produced, didn't direct). You know, without the whole demonic stuff going on.The comedy-drama stars Charlize Theron as an alcoholic writer of teen literature who comes back to her hometown and decides to take back her high-school sweetheart (Patrick Wilson), even though he's happily married to someone else and has a child. It's sad that Paramount hasn't been giving it to any film festival, especially Toronto (where all three of Reitman's films have premiered), but maybe this is just their way of getting people pumped up. Who knows? The film hits select theatres December 9th and expands nationwide December 16th. After watching that trailer, you can go to /Film to watch an exclusive alternate version of the trailer, which replaces the shopping scene for a scene with a much raunchier joke.
Next up is a new trailer for Tower Heist, which follows a hard-working staff who plan to rob the penthouse residence of a wealthy Wall Street businessman. This new trailer has more hijinks than the last. The film received some controversy this week when Universal announced that three weeks after its theatrical debut, the film will hit Video-on-Demand for a huge rental price of $59.99. The controversy began when the Cinemark movie chain threatened to not show the film in any of its theatres if the studio really goes through with the VOD experiment. I have to admit that doing this three weeks after its release could probably do a little damage to its box office run, but it'll still be a popular movie. Hopefully we get another funny performance from Eddie Murphy. The film hits theatres November 4th.
The next film is My Week With Marilyn. Based on two books by Colin Clark, the film focuses on the week Marilyn Monroe spent being escorted around Britain by Clark, who was an assistant on the British set of the 1957 film The Prince and the Showgirl, starring Monroe and Sir Lawrence Olivier. What makes this film so interesting for me is that Michelle Williams is playing Monroe. Williams, of course, is a talented actress and so far, at least from what I can say about the trailer, I think she's pretty fine. We'll see if it's even better when the whole thing comes out. Also starring Kenneth Branagh, Eddie Redmayne, Emma Watson and Judi Dench, the film hits theatres in limited release November 4th.
Next up is the new trailer for Happy Feet Two. This sequel to the 2006 hit has Mumble (Elijah Wood) trying to teach his son to dance, but he encounters a penguin that can fly. To make matters worse, the penguin population is covered by ice and all the penguin nations and allies must team up together to find an escape. The trailer doesn't really get that story across well, which makes me a bit worried that this sequel will lose all the fun the first film had. It is nice to see at least some of the original voice cast back, including Wood and Robin Williams. It's also filled with a lot more new people, like Sofia Vergara, John Goodman, Brad Pitt and Matt Damon. Oh, and expect lots of singing and dancing. The film hits theatres November 18th.
Next up is The Raven, which is not based on Edgar Allen Poe's poem of the same name. Instead it follows the famous author trying to solve a series of murders based on his stories. John Cusack plays Poe, and it also stars Alice Eve, Luke Evans, Kevin McNally and M. Emmet Walsh. The way this trailer is making the film comes across is kinda cheesy and maybe that's why I'm not amused. James McTeigue is the director, but it doesn't look as stylish as his last two films, V for Vendetta and Ninja Assassin. The film hits theatres March 9th, 2012.
From there we go to Arthur Christmas, an animated Christmas comedy brought from Aardman Animations and Sony Pictures Animation. Set on the North Pole, the film follows Arthur, the nice but clumsy son of Santa Claus. When a present for a little girl is missed, Arthur must go on a mission with his grandfather and an elf to deliver it before Christmas morning. Seeing as we don't have a lot of Christmas movies being made these days, this one doesn't look like a bad one to see. Featuring the voices of James McAvoy, Hugh Laurie, Jim Broadbent, Bill Nighy and Imelda Staunton, the film comes out on November 23rd.
Now, it's time to end things off with not one, but two of Steven Spielberg's latest films. The first is The Adventures of Tintin, Spielberg's first performance capture 3D film. Based on Herge's series of comic books, the film shows Tintin as he sets to find the treasure of his ancestor Sir Francis Haddoque (Andy Serkis), with the help of a prison escapee and Detectives Thomson and Thomson (Simon Pegg and Nick Frost). This film looks amazing. As I mentioned before, Spielberg is one of my all-time favourite directors and since he's teaming up with Peter Jackson on this, that makes it even more exciting. Two new international trailers were released this week and I have them both right now. The film hits theatres in most of Europe October 26th and in North America December 23rd.
The second is War Horse, which comes out two days after Tintin's North American release. A new trailer for the adventure drama was released this week and it shows more of the story that the first trailer didn't exactly get across. The film, based on Michael Morpurgo's novel of the same name which later got turned into a Tony Award-winning play, is set during World War I and tells the story of Albert Narracott and his beloved horse, Joey. When Joey gets sold to the cavalry and is shipped to France, Albert, who isn't old enough to enlist in the army, goes on a dangerous mission to get him back. The film is already getting awards buzz, with some people even predicting the film could be in the Best Picture Oscar race. Why not? The film looks great and this new trailer still keeps that sweeping score composed by longtime Spielberg collaborator John Williams. I can expect a Best Score nomination from him. Now, I don't know if I should be in these "which Spielberg movie should I see" situations, because I want to see both. War Horse hits theatres Christmas Day.
