Today we have a triple package for today. A fairy tale with a new spin, a zombie-rom-com, and a mystery about medication and people.
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Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters
Movies based on classic fairy tales
are mostly hit and miss with most people now-a-days. They're usually
turned into the cliched child-friendly story that many people know
today, or turned into the dark and twisted horror that the Brothers
Grimm had intentionally. Today, the best example of the latter, is
Tim Burton's “Sleepy Hallow,” and since then, not too many films
have lived up to that kind of legacy, until last year's “Snow White
and the Huntsman.” Today, we are also shown the next dark fairy
tale movie, “Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters.”
For the
two of you who don't know the story of Hansel and Gretel, let me tell
you. Two children, Hansel and Gretel, are abandoned in the woods by
their father, and find their way to a candy house, where they are
captured by a witch, who almost eats them. But they escape by burning
her in her own oven. That's how the story goes, but in this film, it
takes place several years later, when the two children are now witch
hunters.
Now the
idea of telling us what happened to Hansel and Gretel after their
encounter with a witch and almost getting killed is a very clever
idea. Even if the idea of them being steam-punk witch hunters is
ludicrous, they still find creative ways of making this a very
entertaining and at times funny adaption. These people knew something
like this would be stupid, but I can see they really had fun making
this idea work.
The
cast really does a good job, even for this kind of film. Jeremy
Renner's Hansel gives a performance that is him doing what he does
best. You can tell that he was having fun with this role. Not only
that, but one of the things they added was that Hansel has diabetes.
They don't actually SAY it's diabetes, but you can tell that it is,
which adds a lot of interesting development to him. Gemma Arterton,
who played Strawberry Fields in “Quantum of Solace,” plays
Gretel, and gives off a feisty turn to the character, and even though
she's given the 'strong independent woman' cliché (not that it's a
bad thing), she doesn't make it boring or one-dimensional. Speaking
of James Bond chicks, Famke Janssen plays the head-witch, and gives
it a deliciously evil presence to that character. How evil you may
ask? Well, you'd have to see the movie, since it involves spoilers
being revealed. Pihla Viitala plays Mimi, who is pretty much useless
as Hansel's love interest and show some fanservice, aside from a few
moments. But other than her helping Hansel in certain parts, she
could have been cut from the film and it would remain the same.
There's also a fanboy of Hansel and Gretel's (I am not kidding when I
say that), who has intentions of being a witch hunter himself, and he
is, unlike Viitala, becomes very useful throughout the film.
The
action scenes and 3D are very impressive, and make it what I wanted
“Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter” to be: cheesy, stupid, and fun.
Originally, this film was originally scheduled for a March 2nd
release last year, but MGM had pushed it back due to give Jeremy
Renner's popularity a little time to develop with films like “Mission
Impossible 4,” “The Avengers,” and “The Bourne Legacy.” To
be fair, I think that was a very smart move for the studio in my
opinion. This was produced by Adam McKay and Will Ferrell, which is a
very odd film to expect from them, but in a strange way it kind of
works. So cudos to them for green lighting this film.
Overall,
“Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters” is a very fun film...but it
doesn't make it anymore stupid, does it? If you plan on seeing
something like this, I'd suggest you grab a few friends and bring
them to this. It's a very fun, dumb movie, that is very enjoyable.
Rating: 8/10
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Warm Bodies
You know what I love? Zombies. More
specific, films ABOUT zombies like “Night of the Living Dead,”
“Zombieland,” “Shaun of the Dead,” and so forth. You know
what I also love? Romantic comedies, mostly because I'm a sucker for
them, but I can't help it. Hell, my favorite movie of all time is
“(500) Days of Summer,” which is in the genre of romantic
comedies. Now when both genres are put together, that sounds like an
awesome idea, which someone decided to give the public “Warm
Bodies”...and boy was I disappointed.
The
film is about a zombie in the age of apocalypse named R, played by
Nicholas Hoult. He lives at an airport that is inhabited by zombies,
where he and his friend go out from time to time and hunt for food.
During one trip, they meet, or rather 'eat,' a bunch of survivors,
save for one girl named Julie, who R has a fascination for, after
eating her boyfriend's brain. And the more he's around her, the more
he starts to feel alive, which also affects the other zombies, except
the ones called “boneys,” who eat anything with a heartbeat.
Let's
go over what doesn't work here: the premise. For those of you who
haven't heard about it, you're thinking, “this sounds incredibly
stupid.” And it is, because in the end you'll be thinking this, “a
zombie apocalypse is cured by the power of love.” Think about that,
and tell me that it ISN'T the dumbest thing you ever heard. Now I
wouldn't mid it as much, but it does get bothersome when you think
about more. I can understand that whole suspension of disbelief
thing, but...ugh...that just sounds so wrong. Not only that, but for
a comedy, it isn't all that funny. There were moments where I had
almost chuckled, but for the most part, I found the film pretty
boring. That, and I know I'm going to get hated for this, but it's
the references to “Romeo & Juliet,” like the leads being R
and Julie, the balcony scene, them coming from two different sides,
and I just found that stupid, since I don't care for that story in
the slightest.
Now you
might be thinking, what DID I find good in this movie? I'd say just
about most of everything else. Nicholas Hoult is a pretty good actor,
and he does a good job. He has that zombie presence to him, which
really sold it for me. Teresa Palmer as Julie, did an okay job, and
was at least enough to be likable. Even in some scenes that are a bit
annoying, she still manages to be likable. John Malkovich is great as
Julie's dad, but sadly he wasn't in the film enough to make it
enjoyable. Rob Corddry plays R's friend, M, and he was the guy who
managed to get a couple smiles out of me, but much like Malkovich, he
wasn't in it enough to make it worth it.
However,
the strongest point this movie has are the effects and make-up. I
mean, these zombies look real, even if the boneys are CGI. If we were
judging effects and make-up in a zombie film, I'd say this would make
it in the top 7 at best. But if I was going to a watch a film SIMPLY
for effects, I'd probably just watch something else. This film was
directed by Jonathan Levine, who had directed the comedy-drama
“50/50,” which is a big leap for him to go from that to this in
terms of effects.
Overall,
“Warm Bodies” isn't that good, but I sadly feel bad for saying
that. If you like it, good for you, but I'm still in disappointment,
especially since I was the kind of audience for this film. Though I
guess my streak of good films had to take a bump somewhere.
Rating:
4/10
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Side Effects
Steven Soderbergh is one of
Hollywood's big name directors that makes very smart films.
Beforehand, he was most well-known for the remake of “Ocean's
Eleven,” but as time went on, he has made much better films within
time, like “Contagion,” “Haywire,” and even “Magic Mike.”
And recently, Soderbergh has brought forth another one of his films,
in the form of “Side Effects,” and it is another one of the year's first films that I consider to be...PERFECT.
The
film is about a struggling woman named Emily Taylor, whose been a
total wreck for years, even with her husband returning from prison.
When she attempts suicide, she is recommended medication to help her
regain her lifestyle. But in doing so, the side effects result in her
killing her husband, and now her doctor has to find out if he's being
setup and by who.
For a
film based around the dangers of medication side effects and trust
behind the people around, this made for a very enduring film. I was
fully invested in what I was watching, and as it went on, it all
started to make sense through and through.
Rooney
Mara gives a fantastic performance as Emily, and just from the look
in her eyes throughout two thirds of the film, you can tell she's
been through some serious hell. Honestly, if this film was released a
few months earlier, she would have been up for an Oscar nomination, I
guarantee that. However, she's not quite the main character, which is
actually Jude Law as Dr. Jon Banks. Law really delivers another solid
performance in this film, and that probably comes from his
familiarity with Soderbergh. But even then, he's still an engaging
character, having his skills as a doctor to make him more of a
detective all the way throughout the film. Catherine Zeta-Jones is
also in the film, and she really does bring much to this film,
playing a psychiatrist that can easily bring Law to his knees, even
without breaking a sweat. The things she has happen to him are just
creative, and I think that really adds more to the situation and what
she and Law are in context. Channing Tatum is in the film too, but
with him being the husband who gets killed, he doesn't have much to.
Don't get me wrong, when he was on screen, he was pretty good, but
I'm just saying his role could have been played by anyone else. Maybe
it was because of “Magic Mike.”
One of
the biggest complaints I've been hearing about this film, was that
the beginning was very slow and unlikable. I highly disagree with
that, because a film that takes its time to develop, and is still
inventive makes it all the more intriguing, and by the end when they
resolve everything, it really does make sense.
Overall,
“Side Effects” is another classic that Steven Soderbergh has
delivered. It's smart, it's inventive, and is one of my favorite
films of the year. Even if you're not that much of a Soderbergh fan,
I'm sure you'll enjoy this film.
Rating:
10/10
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