22 JumpStreet - Bromance of the year!

22 JumpStreet  : 

 BROMANCE OF THE YEAR!!

          After a series of tepid bromances and worse sequels to such films, comes 22 Jump Street that did what was hitherto considered impossible: a skilful followup to a hugely popular bro flick. I honestly went into this film hoping that the talent of Jonah Hill and to some extent Channing Tatum would make a palatable film that wouldn’t force the franchise to see a Hangover kind of fate.

Scenes from 22 Jumpstreet

          The story picks up from the 2012 prequel 21 Jump Street where Morton Schmidt (Tatum) and Greg Jenko (Hill) on an undercover mission, join high school to unearth a drug cartel. In the latest offering, the duo join college after tracking down keywords through communication spying to find the supplier of a drug called WhyPhy. In the process of the investigation, Schmidt and Jenko drift into different friends’ circles, largely owing to their need to align with similar minded pals. Despite moving in different directions, with distractions in the form of female attention and jock-bonding for Hill and Tatum respectively, they follow through with the case in a manner similar to the prequel. Mistaken deducing of crooks, friendship fallouts, good guys revealed as quite the shady ones and even a finale chase pretty much sums put whatever is there of the plot. But what Phil Lord and Christopher Miller do is make the film entirely about the bromance. Yes there are women in their lives — Jillian Bell as Mercedes is charming in her deadpan-ish role — but the focus never waivers from Hill and Tatum. In fact, the filmmakers have gone as far as giving Tatum an arc with his soul-searching phase. Even that doesn’t come across as contrived and Tatum does an excellent job of being the hunk ruled by his heart more than his mind.

 

          Among the women, Amber Stevens is average, though to be fair to her she barely has much to do. Ice Cube reprises his role as the potty-mouthed Capt. Dickson who helms the assignment. Peter Stormare plays Ghost and frankly should’ve got a little more meat since he is the principal villain in the film. But perhaps one can excuse Lord and Miller for reducing Ghost’s screen time after watching the entire film until the end credits. Special mention must be made about Wyatt Russell (who played Zook) and Jimmy Tatro (who played Rooster) for playing the quintessential jocks to the hilt. Forgive them for driving the wedge in the bromance because plot aside, they have put out impressive performances.

 

Anyone would want to own this right?

          The beauty of the film lies in its lines. The plot is same ol’ same ol’ but the lines are updated, contemporary and show that the makers have made the effort to keep in touch with frat houses of today. That said, the writers take goofy humour to another level and it makes one feel a part of the fun one imagines the makers had while filming it. Unapologetic, unabashed fun that occasionally straddles with crass lines, the lead actors put together a kind of bond that seems like it’s stemming from genuine bromance.

 

With moments like Jenko sincerely asking his partner “Did you know I used gay slurs in high school? I didn’t even know I was a homophone”, the film offers quick wit and clumsy demeanour in equal measure.

 

Bros before Hoes

          One of its greatest plus points lies is the fact that 22 Jump Street makes no attempt to go out of character as a sequel and sticks to a formula that worked superbly for the first part. It doesn’t take the success of the prequel all that seriously and puts the characters and the writing for that matter, right where they were in 21 Jump Street. The prequel itself was a satirical tribute to the 80s TV series of the same name and the latest one spares no opportunity to poke fun of all things contemporary. Even if it means cocking a snook at the Michael Bay kind of mindless films. Oh, the irony, you say? Not quite.

 

          Watch this film for the honesty with which a mindless buddy flick is made and hopefully one would realise that it takes a lot of intelligence to play dumb.

 Almost perfect, but MOVIEDUST101 will only give it 4/5 stars ~

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The Purge : Anarchy - WHAT WILL YOU DO IF YOUR COUNTRY CARRRIES OUT THE PURGE?

The Purge: Anarchy is a step down from the original in terms of narrative (and that’s saying something), but the basic promise of the series – thrills, kills, and mayhem – is still fulfilled in satisfying fashion.

The Purge: Anarchy returns us to that nightmare vision of America in which “The New Founding Fathers” decree that for one night a year, all crime (including murder) is legal. This time, however, instead of one family’s ordeal within their home, we follow a would-be vigilante, a married couple stranded in the slaughterhouse of downtown, and a mother and her daughter from the projects, as they all collide in a desperate bid to escape the worst maniacs and predators roaming the streets.

But as the night of horrors wears on, the vigilante and his charges begin to realize that The Purge is about much more than the primal release people celebrate. As they begin to understand the designs and intentions behind the blood and chaos, the rag-tag group of survivors find themselves on the front lines of a social revolution.

The Cast of ‘The Purge Anarchy’

          The first Purge used a scaled-down setting and intriguing (or stupid, depending how you feel) premise to create a flawed but ultimately thrilling story about complacency and social inequality in the vein of Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery”. Well, writer/director James DeMonaco returns to script and direct this sequel, which attempts to blow the doors of The Purge open into a wider look at both the mayhem and larger socio-political ideas involved with this savage ritual. The end result is another B-movie thriller that keeps things tense and somewhat satisfying moment-to-moment; however, a birds-eye view of the story, characters and themes at work inAnarchy quickly reveals just how thin and nonsensical this sequel is underneath all the fright and carnage.

Visually, DeMonaco once again excels at building tension and then executing (no pun) thrilling action/horror encounters. Unlike the first film – where the single-setting format created a sense of restricted and repetitive movement - Anarchy‘s bigger setting allows for a more traditional, linear, dark odyssey thriller that actually works in the film’s favor. The combination of tight urban streets, dark alleyways and cramped apartment complexes allows DeMonaco to stage a fun mix of both scare and action sequences. That’s about the best thing The Purge: Anarchy has going for it: the non-stop pace and tension tends to propel you through the mess that is this story.

GOD in ‘The Purge Anarchy’

          It’s whenever the thrills relax into slower sections of paper-thin pontificating that The Purge: Anarchy‘s reach far exceeds its grasp. Woven into the not-so-sub-text is a sloppy revenge fantasy aimed at the Occupy crowd, which boggles the mind with contradictions between its preachy message and the onscreen carnage. This is a movie in which the those fighting against a culture of gun violence and economic inequality run amok pump as many bullets into as many bodies as the alleged bad guys do. It’s righteous revolution to the tune of an AK-47; as an attempt at serious commentary, The Purge: Anarchy is pretty much laughable. 

          Frank Grillo (Captain America: The Winter Soldier) once again proves to be a solid character actor – and in this case, an effective leading man. He’s rough, tough, yet gruffly sensitive and witty too. There will likely be more center stage roles in his future. Real-life couple Zach Gilford (The Last Stand) and Kiele Sanchez (The Glades) get a suitable arc as a troubled married couple targeted by a group of teenage hunters. Sure, it’s your basic cliche slasher movie setup (troubled couple reconciles through tribulation), but it’s a relatively solid subplot to the film, nonetheless.

Frank Grillo in ‘The Purge: Anarchy’

          Not so solid is the story arc involving poor waitress Eva Sanchez (Carmen Ejogo), her politically radical daughter, Cali (Zoë Soul) and Eva’s father, Papa Rico (John Beasley). The film positions Eva as the first (ergo, the main) character we encounter – yet she never develops beyond being the rattled dead-weight member of the crew. Conversely, Cali is the stereotypical horror movie character whose questionable logic makes you roll your eyes. While Soul tries to infuse, well, soul into her critically minded youth, speaking with a child’s earnestness and naiveté  - in the context of a horror movie – just makes you look like easy pickings. It’s not an endearing quality. Beasley’s presence is truly pointless, and aside from being hollow vehicles to inspire Grillo’s character development, Eva and Cali are not characters who ever seem to justify their presence in the narrative.

Other character actors like Jack Conley (Fast & Furious), Michael K. Williams (Boardwalk Empire), Justina Machado (Six Feet Under) and Noel Gugliemi (Training Day) show up for some pivotal cameo roles – along with a few other players who are best left to surprise.

Carmen Ejogo and Zoë Soul in ‘The Purge: Anarchy’

In the end, The Purge: Anarchy is a step down from the original in terms of narrative (and that’s saying something), but the basic promise of the series – thrills, kills, and mayhem – is still fulfilled in satisfying fashion. Some people may find the raucous, half-cooked political overtones rousing, but many others will find them silly and distracting. However, the mix of lofty (but dunderheaded) social critiques and freaky mayhem is what The Purge franchise is all about, for better or worse – and even as diluted product, Anarchy is still a bit of guilty pleasure fun.

FROM MOVIEDUST101

WE GIVE IT A SOLID

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Dracula Untold

DRACULA UNTOLD

          Like the original novel, on which the film is very loosely based on, the screenwriters have taken most of their inspiration from Vlad the Impaler, a 15th century Transylvanian prince. The story begins with a handsome, kind-hearted, and generous Prince Vlad (Luke Evans) ruling over his kingdom, swearing to never return to war again. He finds himself in a dilemma when an evil sultan (Dominic Cooper) demands 1000 boys for his army, including his son. With nowhere to turn, he ventures off into the mountains to ask the aid of an evil monster (Charles Dance) he once encountered. He strikes a deal with the creature, who grants him all his powers. But in order to return to human form again, he must refrain from drinking blood for three days. He finds himself impaired by the usual problems faced by vampires – sunlight, silver, crucifixes and an undying thirst for blood.

           As a result, audiences are treated to spectacular fight sequences (similar to any one of Peter Jackson’s offerings) where we see our hero single-handily take on large armies with the use of his new found powers (which includes turning into a group of bats, traveling at lightning speeds, super strength, super hearing and the ability to control certain aspects of nature). Your average explosive CGI superhero flick stuff. Those looking for a darker tale of a frightening monster will be bitterly disappointed. Instead, Dracula Untold desperately tries to humanise the character by making him a hero (there is even a moment where the Prince of Darkness prays in a church for God to help him control his lust for blood). It seems most out of place when you find yourself routing for an evil figure to win, knowing what he will eventually become. Although certain aspects of the film’s goth ambience and it’s monsters will cause a few scares, the film sticks to it’s PG-13 certificate, with gore and sexual references kept to a minimum.

          The real win for Dracula Untold is it’s lead, Luke Evans. Amidst a forgettable supporting cast, he is solid and believable in every instance, with his brooding charisma carrying the majority of the film. While he isn’t in the league of Max Schreck, Christopher Lee, Gary Oldman or Frank Langella, he simply doesn’t have the same material to work off. Nevertheless, he finds enough room to make the character come alive, with frightening bursts of anger balanced well with quieter emotional moments.

           Dracula is one of the most popular and important literary characters of all-time. And unfortunately, even with the newly imagined backstory, Gary Shore is unable to offer anything new or exciting. It does enough to keep audiences entertained, but for everything it does right there are two wrongs attached. Still, the fight sequences are ridiculously fun.

I GIVE IT A 3.5/5 STARS!

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The Equalizer : What Do You See When You Look At Me?

       The Equalizer 

   It’s sometimes easy to forget that Denzel Washington’s resume is as full of action thrillers as it is stocked with weighty dramas that cry out for awards. But “The Equalizer” is a high-impact reminder. Yes, it is part “Man on Fire,” part “Taxi Driver” and outright based on the ‘80s TV series of the same name that starred Edward Woodward as a former covert operative turned guardian angel for helpless victims.

          If "The Equalizer" lacks gravitas, it is fairly sturdy as far as pure entertainment goes—and the actor takes his stealth vigilante as seriously as he does his Oscar-nominated performances in "Flight" or "Malcolm X," pulling out that patented charm as well as considerable deadly force. Unlike many of those AARP card-carriers in "The Expendables," Denzel, at the ripe age of 59, is still dependable as a man who gets the job done when the meanies run amok, and who still draws a crowd at theaters when he does so.

          "The Equalizer" is especially noteworthy since it pairs Washington again with Antoine Fuqua, the director behind his Oscar-winning role in 2001’s “Training Day.” But don’t expect any “King Kong ain't got shit on me” histrionics in this caper. Washington’s Robert McCall exudes a serene calm while living a low-profile Spartan-like solo existence as a clerk at a Boston area Home Depot-like emporium.

          While his co-workers treat him with respect and count on him for advice, they also wonder about his past. He jokes with a couple young guys that he used to be a Pip—meaning one of Gladys Knight’s backup singer/dancers—and they almost buy it as Washington pulls off some smooth old-school moves.

          His McCall was a pip all right. The kind of pip who can pre-visualize a potentially explosive situation with brilliant Sherlock-level precision, and dispatch would-be assailants with swift and often grisly violence. He also employs a watch timer to judge how long it will take to wipe out a threat. Usually, it is within seconds.

          We sense he hasn’t had to use these special skills for a while. Instead, this apparent insomniac spends his nights sipping tea while reading classics (including “The Old Man and the Sea,” “Don Quixote” and “The Invisible Man,” titles that all comment on his current status) in an all-night diner that Edward Hopper would appreciate. But he soon will be called upon to pull his fighting skills out of hibernation after meeting a sweet-but-wounded teen call girl who hangs out at the restaurant between clients.

          What could be an uncomfortable relationship between retired killer and an underage prostitute who goes by the name Teri is sensitively handled. And it helps that Chloe Grace Moretz keeps her moppet’s precocious sexuality in check, and instead makes a sincere connection with this lonely widower, even revealing her dreams to be a singer. But when she doesn’t show up for her usual late-night dessert after a brutal beating by her Russian pimp has landed her in the hospital, McCall is ready to return to duty.

          From there, it is a game of cat and mouse as Washington hunts down the perpetrator and his thugs at a Russian restaurant. Part of the fun, if you want to call it that, is how the baddies always underestimate him. And pay quite the price in doing so. Let’s just say you might regard corkscrews in a whole new way after this ugly confrontation.

          Of course, there is a Mr. Big above the pimp, a gangster ironically named Teddy whose torso is like a Sistine Chapel for Satanic images. Marton Csokas sneers with sardonic relish and gives us someone truly hissable to root against, especially as it becomes apparent how deeply these Eastern European no-goodniks are engrained in corrupt activity in the U.S. Meanwhile, Teddy’s boss is eager to locate the mystery avenger who is knocking off his workers and undermining his lucrative businesses. 

         Fuqua likes to turn the act of violence into a sort of crude ballet, complete with repeated images of flowing water, as if washing evil away. All that is fine, although it keeps “The Equalizer” from being as lean and mean as it could be. While some might decry the ludicrous showdown that unfolds in the darkened aisles of McCall’s mega-store workplace, I got a kick out of watching Washington turn everyday hardware supplies into lethal weaponry. Then again, I have been a fan of mayhem occurring in a place of commerce ever since "Dawn of the Dead"’s climactic zombies-vs.-humans battle that takes place inside of a mall. 

          Basically, “The Equalizer” is an average-Joe blue-collar version of a comic-book avenger, secretly stalking those responsible for abusing and preying upon innocent citizens. And this film acts as an origin story with an ending that suggests a new franchise is afoot. It might not be bad for Washington to stay in the action game in a series that at least acknowledges those who qualify for a senior discount can be crusaders, too.

 I give it a solid 4 stars!

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Guardians Of The Galaxy ; is it worth the watch?

                                I’m still trying to figure out how Guardians of the Galaxy works. It’s a movie set in an unfamiliar universe, it introduces several new characters with diverse backstories on numerous worlds, and features a talking raccoon, a fighting tree, familial death, and multiple villains, all set to seventies and eighties pop music. On paper, there’s no way the movie should work. But not only did writer/director James Gunn find the perfect mix to make it work, Guardians of the Galaxy soars. All of those elements marry each other just right to tell a singular, direct and entertaining story. Along the way there’s room for jaw-dropping and innovative action, beautiful visuals, robust characterizations and more laughs than probably all the other Marvel movies combined. Yes, Marvel has another winner in Guardians of the Galaxy. Read the rest of our Guardians of the Galaxy review below.

                          Guardians of the Galaxy is instantly set. There’s an emotional, heartbreaking first scene, followed by a surprising and wacky second scene and then a cool, Indiana Jones style action scene. Those are the three main components of the film. As the story presses on, all three of those tones are interlocked in a beautiful balance. Things never get too emotional without a joke. Things never get too action packed without some heart, and nothing’s excessively comic at the expense of action.

       

                                The story focuses on the five main characters, and the way in which these radically different beings form a bond. Each character – Star Lord (Chris Pratt), Gamora (Zoe Saldana), Drax (Dave Bautista), Groot (voice of Vin Diesel) and Rocket (voice ofBradley Cooper) – is given just enough back story and setup that they have specific personality goals to achieve over the course of the film. Rocket Raccoon has an inferiority complex, Gamora has daddy issues, Star Lord has mommy issues. Even though they’re comic book badasses, everyone is flawed and vulnerable in some way. Those character pay-offs, in tandem with the story pay-offs, give the film numerous chill-inducing moments.

                                In particular, the three actors who actually appear on screen shine in the movie. Pratt is a worthwhile and formidable hero, Saldana is a vexing foil and Bautista is the perfect straight man. Throw in two hugely charismatic CG creations (each excellent in their own way) and no matter who is the center of any particular scene, it’s exciting and enjoyable.

A lot of that also comes from the fact the film is infused with the sensibilities of James Gunn’s previous work. The whole film teems with sly dialogue, funny asides and dark humor. There’s even a joke about bodily fluids in the movie (not that one or that one. THAT one), all of which give Guardians a rewarding unpredictability.

                                This is the first time Gunn has been given a huge canvas and he embraces it. Every action scene feels like it’s crafted by someone who has finally been set loose to create ideas they’ve dreamt of for years. Each action scene has something you probably haven’t seen before, which is pretty awesome. Scenes like thousands of ships combining to form a mesh barricade or Star Lord piloting one ship, while still inside another ship, make the film feel like the biggest action film of the summer.

                                But really, what holds Guardians of the Galaxy together is its humanity. Sure there’s lots of action and humor but it’s the quiet moments, the pauses, the knowing glances, that make the experience feel so wonderful. That humanity (or whatever passes for humanity when talking about Rocket and Groot) grounds an otherwise fantastic movie as something we can all relate to.

I                                f there’s anything negative to say about the film it’s that Gunn has made a Disney movie. It rides the line of its PG-13 rating content wise but never demands much of the audience. There’s very little subtext or subtlety. Very few beats aren’t laid out to easily digest, save for some of those quiet pauses. Not that a movie like this needs them, but with such a diverse cast of characters and locations a hint of deeper meaning would have enhanced the story.

                                Anyway, I could gush endlessly about the good things in Guardians of the Galaxy and that’s probably why it works. Pretty much every single element, no matter how crazy or simple, explodes off the screen into a wholly satisfying, entertaining theatrical experience. It might just be my favorite Marvel movie to date.

WE GIVE IT A 3/5 STARS

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Lucy : "What If We Were Able To Use 100% of our brain capacity? "

LUCY

                Imagine a stranger-in-a-strange-land revenge thriller about a wide-eyed Anglo bombshell (Scarlett Johansson) who gets kidnapped and abused in Taiwan by nasty, sweaty, shouting Korean gangsters and then escapes to seek justice. Then imagine this same movie starring, say, a lightning fast kick boxer who can knock a dozen opponents' teeth out before they can raise a single fist. Now imagine this same movie injected with a dose of apocalyptic science fiction, with the woman gaining strange powers as the story unfolds. Then envision midnight-movie touches mixed into the filmmaking: flash cuts of predators and prey enhancing otherwise typical scenes of plans being hatched; monologues about brain capacity and the true meaning of time coupled with psychedelic visions and wormholes and explanatory objects materializing from thin air.

That's Luc Besson's "Lucy," a thriller about an American woman who gets kidnapped into service as a drug mule bearing an experimental synthetic hormone, accidentally absorbs some of it, then sheds her physical, intellectual and perceptual limitations. I could describe five or six other kinds of movies that in some way also echo "Lucy." Sections may remind you of the original "The Matrix" and the last hour of "Akira," and the final ten minutes play like a Greatest Hits of science-fiction "trip" movies. You've seen a lot of the individual situations and filmmaking techniques in "Lucy" as well. In fact, you'd be hard pressed to identify one idea, scene or element in the picture that is not a cliche.  

But the total package feels fresh. From the minute that Johansson's title character suffers a beating in captivity that ruptures the drugs in her stomach and releases them into her bloodstream (a Yankee nightmare), the film enters a realm of continual delight, though not always surprise. There's no point naming any of the other major characters, as there really are no other characters, only types: the arrogant fat-cat drug dealer (Choi Min-Sik) who thinks he can control the short blond drug mule and learns the hard way that he can't; the brilliant, deep-voiced scientist (Morgan Freeman) whose theoretical studies of the human brain's untapped potential make him an information source and then finally a kind of partner-savior to Lucy; the handsome nice-guy Parisian cop (Amr Waked) who assists Lucy during her climactic mission to acquire more of the experimental hormone to ingest and become whatever it is that she's becoming: a 1950's sci-fi monster, probably—the kind that cannot be killed because everything you shoot at it makes it stronger and hungrier.

Lucy is little more than a type herself a representative of humanity in its un-mutated, non-super state. Johannson's mid-career transformation from husky-voiced ingenue to intensely physical matinee idol is one of the more fascinating arcs in American cinema. It's only her control over her body, voice and eyes, and maybe our awareness that her performances in this movie, "Her" and "Under the Skin" are all of a piece; Lucy even uses the phrase "under the skin" at one point! That stops "Lucy" from being tiresome. Her work keeps us from realizing that Besson's script has botched the chance to tell a deeper story, one that's not just bombastically exciting and superficially clever, but quietly tragic.

"Lucy" starts with shots of the prehistoric ape-woman Lucy and periodically returns to her throughout the story, not-too-subtly comparing the heroine's transformation to that of the species itself ("from evolution to revolution," to quote one of the script's more pungent phrases). And yet there are only two moments that make us really understand and empathize with Lucy as something other than a cipher who represents the un-evolved human. One is an early scene of her being terrorized and abused by Taiwanese drug thugs: Lucy's abject helplessness here is hard to watch. The other occurs deeper in the story when Lucy realizes she's about to embark on a terrifying and probably one-way transformative journey and phones her mom. The scene is shot mostly in tight closeup. The dialogue has a goofy Proustian boldness: "I remember the taste of your milk in my mouth ... I want to thank you for a thousand kisses that I can feel on my face."

Lucy trying to connect to the computers
 and electronics all around her

That scene is so brazenly powerful that in retrospect it made me wish the main character had gone on a journey with more emotional gradations. Heck, I'd have settled for more than the two that Besson deigns to give us: "Oh, my God, these guys want to kill me" and "I am God, watch me kill these guys." When the hormones enter Lucy's bloodstream it's as if a switch has been flipped. The heroine starts speaking in monotone and tilting her head at looming men like a quizzical bird regarding a worm that it's about to devour. She's woman-as-Terminator. The Terminator is a great movie monster, but there's a reason why it's a supporting character in the films that bear its name.

Like many films by Besson—"The Professional," "The Fifth Element," "The Messenger" and other high-octane shoot-'em-up, "Lucy" starts out riveting but becomes less engaging as it goes along. It keeps introducing potentially rich narrative veins and then failing to tap them. It too often falls back on gunplay and gore just when you think it might finally delve into the notions that it keeps serving up with such fanfare (the falseness of the idea of uniqueness; the self-defeating nature of a species "more concerned with having than being"; time as "the one true unit of measure").  

Morgan Freeman as Professor Norman

Nevertheless: "Lucy" is a fun, confident work. It's fast and tight and playful even when it's sadistic and violent, which is often. It lasts about 90 minutes and change but feels longer in a good way, because every second is packed tight. It's full of itself, yet it still keeps winking at you. It wants to be taken seriously, but not so seriously that you don't laugh at (and with) the sight of Lucy strolling into a gunfight wearing nosebleed heels, or making enemies writhe like marionettes on invisible strings. The movie is alive. It pops! 

FROM ALL OF US AT MOVIE DUST, THIS MOVIE DESERVES  4/5 STARS!

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