'Long Shot' (2019) Review

Synopsis: When Fred Flarsky reunites with his childhood crush Charlotte Field, who happens to be one of the most influential women in the world, he charms her with his self-deprecating humor and his memories of her youthful idealism. As she prepares to make a run for the presidency, Charlotte hires Fred as her speechwriter. A fish out of water on Charlotte's elite team, Fred is unprepared for her glamorous lifestyle in the limelight. Sparks fly as their unmistakable chemistry leads to a round-the-world romance and a series of unexpected and dangerous incidents.

Runtime: 125 minutes

MPAA Rating: R (for strong sexual content, language throughout and some drug use)

Who should see it? Adult fans of romantic comedies.

Directed by Jonathan Levine and written by Dan Sterling and Liz Hannah, Long Shot is a romantic comedy which features the unlikely pairing of Seth Rogan and Charlize Theron. Those who know me or frequently visit my blog are likely aware that I don't often watch or review rom-coms. I tend to gravitate towards the sci-fi, action, musical, or awards-oriented fare. However, I chanced seeing Long Shot based on overwhelmingly positive word of mouth, and I'm glad I did. Long Shot isn't a groundbreaking or revolutionary rom-com by any means, but it's certainly an enjoyable one!

Setting itself apart from other romantic comedies, Long Shot is imbued with sharp political commentary. Refreshingly, the political angle of the story doesn't become too ham-fisted or relentlessly attack one side of the aisle. Screenwriters Dan Sterling and Liz Hannah acknowledge the pervasive problems in contemporary political discourse, scandals, and elections with a balanced perspective and poke fun at the division along the way. If you're legitimately offended by the humor in Long Shot, then you're probably just taking it too seriously. Your political stance shouldn't detract from your enjoyment because Long Shot's about so much more than political squabbling. That's merely the set dressing. 

At its core, Long Shot exemplifies the age-old mantra to "be yourself" and not compromise your integrity for the sake of achievement. Levine, Sterling, and Hannah just so happen to present this theme in a political context. In her ambitions to become president, does Charlotte Field lose herself? It's relevant and applicable to any candidate running for office, regardless of their party. Will they stay true to their word and what lengths are they willing to go to maintain a quality public image? The outcome's predictable since Long Shot abides by the rom-com bylaws to a tee, but the film retains an honest appraisal of the contemporary political landscape along the way. And, of course, it helps that Long Shot is a hysterical affair as well! Not every joke lands, but I laughed at the vast majority of one-liners.

Given Rogan's involvement, I feel it's worth noting that certain gags involve sex/drugs because I'm aware this may repel some viewers, but these rarely degraded the picture and proved to be relatively insignificant. Long Shot also doesn't devolve into a quip-fest, retaining focus on the story at hand rather than constantly exchanging one-liners.

Anchoring the feature, Charlize Theron and Seth Rogan share a delightful rapport. Theron portrays Charlotte Field as a self-serious politician while Rogan's Fred Flarsky is an endearing schmuck. Though the match-up's impractical, the actors play well off one another. Sprinkled in the supporting cast, Bob Odenkirk, Ravi Patel, June Diana Raphael, O'Shea Jackson Jr., Alexander Skarsgård, and an unrecognizable Andy Serkis each shine in their varying roles.

Long Shot may seem like a long shot based on its premise and those involved, but the endearing romance, a pair of likable leads, sharp political commentary, and a cascade of hilarious bits ensure it's a worthwhile venture. 

Film Assessment: B

'Atomic Blonde' Review

Atomic Blonde pits audiences in the thick of the Cold War. Pre-eminent MI-6 agent Lorraine Broughton has been sent into Berlin to work alongside ambiguous agent David Percival and retrieve a list containing classified intel on several secret agents that could compromise them all and potentially prolong the lasting international anxiety.

Atomic Blonde is directed by skilled stunt-coordinator and stuntman David Leitch with Kurt Johnstad spearheading the screenplay based on Antony Johnson and Sam Hart's graphic novel The Coldest City. Leitch has worked on many renowned action films over-the-years including the likes of The Matrix trilogy, The Bourne Ultimatum, and The Bourne Legacy but he's probably most well-known for co-directing John Wick alongside Chad Stahelski. Earlier this year, Stahelski struck out on his own to direct John Wick: Chapter 2 solo, but now it's Leitch's turn.

Leitch is currently set to direct next year's Deadpool 2, which is deep in the production process at this point (but you never know what could happen with all the director drama as-of-late), and after watching Atomic Blonde I'm fairly confident he'll be able to handle things on his own there. In Atomic Blonde, Leitch turns up the stylistic flourish that propelled John Wick to prominence but the film overall winds up feeling more akin to something like Hardcore Henry, another unique European-driven action film that couldn't help but succumb to the tropes of the genre.

Lorraine may be British, but she's definitely more Bourne than Bond. Leitch takes his years of stunt experience and utilizes it to offer Theron an unwieldy and unrestrained visceral fighting style that's simply thrilling to watch. It's such a relief to be able to see what's happening onscreen in an action movie because much of the last ten years has been dominated by gratuitous shaky-cam. However, the con to this was that Focus Features took note and plastered these sequences all over the marketing. I didn't ever go out of my way to watch an Atomic Blonde trailer. I saw the marketing material for the film almost exclusively in theaters and maybe once or twice as an ad in front of a YouTube video but while watching the film, I felt as though I'd seen nearly all the action already.

There was one brutal, bare-knuckles fisticuff in a staircase that I had not already seen a glimpse of that was so intense, even I felt a little winded when it was all over. As you can probably tell by now, Atomic Blonde rests its hat on the extraordinary execution of its action. I kept hoping something would rise to challenge the action, but nothing ever did.

Atomic Blonde's story is nothing special. I can guarantee you've seen this premise at least a dozen times before. The idea of a list leaking that could jeopardize an entire agency is nothing new and I'd be totally fine with that if the surrounding circumstances were more interesting. Everything about the plotting of Atomic Blonde just felt like every other generic action movie, the only difference being I had no idea why anything happened when it was all over.

In a spy movie you expect a number of double-crosses and surprises, but it was unfathomable to me how the motivations fueling all these characters were incredibly unexplainable. When the movie was over, the friend who joined me at the screening asked if I understood exactly what happened at the end and I was unable to provide an answer. I realized I had absolutely no idea because none of the plotting made a lick-of-sense. Information will inevitably be withheld from you during a spy film, but even with the additional information I couldn't quite piece everything together.

I think even poor plotting can be excused if you still manage to invest yourself in the characters, but I even had difficulty doing that. Atomic Blonde puts an outstanding amount of effort into make the viewer think Lorraine is cool by having her confidently smoking cigarettes, drinking vodka, and kicking butt like nobody's business. Unfortunately, none of that really worked for me as Charlize Theron was as insipid as Scarlett Johansson in Lucy. Theron's performance isn't bad per-say. It's simply soulless. In trying to be cool, Theron played things straight but to such an absurd degree that Lorraine lacks a personality all together. In comparing Lorraine to Johansson's other infamous agent Black Widow, you'll find shades of a complex past buried within both individuals but only Romanov exhibits a shred of humanity. 

Sofia Boutella strides in to redeem herself from The Mummy (2017) and add further credence that her scene-stealing turn in Kingsman: The Secret Service was no fluke. Boutella's French agent's an interesting side character who doesn't have quite enough screen time to fully flesh her character out, but she serves her narrative purpose well.

In the meantime, James McAvoy runs away with another outstanding supporting turn as David Percival. Percival's an unpredictable kooky agent that held his screen presence well opposite other seasoned performers and McAvoy proves his powerful performances aren't coming to an end anytime soon.  

 

Filling out the cast, John Goodman and Toby Jones fulfill the need for governmental entities and Eddie Marsan's Spyglass was a surprising standout. One last interesting thing to note is Atomic Blonde's unabashed use of '80s hits to fill the atmosphere. It's not exactly integral to the story like the soundtracks fueling Baby Driver or Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, but it's a fun mix nonetheless.

In summary, I think you can wait to catch Atomic Blonde on cable or home media and your money might be best spent seeing some of the diverse selections that have emerged in the past month such as Baby Driver, The Big Sick, Spider-Man: Homecoming, War for the Planet of the Apes, or Dunkirk. Atomic Blonde, much like its proverbial heroine, boasts some slick style but can't carry the necessary, underlying substance. The film reminded me of Bond's favorite alcoholic beverage once it was over; shaken around quite a bit, but not particularly stirring.

Film Assessment: C+

Throwback Thursday Review: 'Prometheus'

I apologize for yet another delayed review but this week's Throwback Thursday is over Prometheus to coincide with the release of its sequel Alien: Covenant. If you happened to miss any of my Alien Anthology series of Retrospective Reviews, you can find those at the subsequent blue hyperlinks: Alien, Aliens, Alien 3, and Alien: Resurrection. Next week I'll be finishing out my series of Pirates of the Caribbean reviews as I review Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides to tie in with Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales. Other reviews you can expect to see over the course of May and June include Throwback Thursday Reviews over Cars, The Mummy (1999), Cars 2, Transformers: Age of Extinction, and Despicable Me 2 and new reviews for Alien: Covenant, Baywatch, Wonder Woman, The Mummy (2017), Cars 3, Transformers: The Last Knight, Baby Driver, and Despicable Me 3.

'Prometheus' Review

Nominated For: Best Visual Effects.

Prometheus follows an expeditionary team to the far reaches of space as they believe they've discovered a hint towards the origins of humanity. The team arrive to planet LV-223 (not LV-426, the planet shown in Alien and Aliens) and soon discover the answers they seek will lead them to horrifying conclusions.

At the time of Prometheus's release, it was ambiguous exactly how Prometheus fit into the Alien-universe. Since then, it's been given the distinction of being a quasi-prequel to Alien. This essentially means Prometheus certainly exists within the Alien Anthology but isn't a direct setup to Alien. After 33 years, Ridley Scott returned to his roots to helm Prometheus and thankfully delivered one of the Anthology's most coherent creative works in quite some time, for more on this read my reviews of Alien 3 and Alien: Resurrection. 

Even when accounting for Prometheus' flaws, distinctive and persistent philosophical ponderings surround the story. From beginning to end, Scott and his terrific technical crew paint a pretty picture using space as their canvas. Scott and cinematographer Dariosz Wolski capture exceptionally breathtaking images of the hushed, lovely landscape while the vfx team create resonant renderings that pair perfectly with the immense, spectacular sets constructed by the prime production designers. Marc Streintenfeld's sumptuous space score bodes well as accompaniment, filling the vacuum of space with ethereal tones played by a swelling, harmonious orchestra.

However, Prometheus is easily one of the most frustrating movies I've seen in recent memory because it poses plenty of questions but doesn't ever get around to granting any clear-cut answers. I'm not particularly bothered by a few dangling threads but screenwriters Jon Spaihts and Damon Lindelof leave Prometheus' monumental mysteries to be ill-defined, only painting broad strokes but never retracing their steps to refine any blemishes. I'm sure this was intentional incorporation into the grand scheme of Prometheus' philosophical nature but it's not fortuitous that they didn't fill in any gaping plot-holes. I will say that turns things around with a thrilling third act but up to that point you'll be peeved by the dumb decisions the expedition team partake in. This team is made up of intellectuals so their brainless behavior on the planet's surface is inexcusable.

Unfortunately, many of the crew members feel vaguely characterized as only the prominent players are given substantial depth and corresponding complexity. This in turn detracts from the supporting ensemble's subsequent portrayals but magnifies the principal characters. Noomi Rapace offers an excellent portrayal of devout archeologist Dr. Elizabeth Shaw, playing into the frantic uncertainty Prometheus provides. Rapace's Shaw isn't quite up to par with Ripley as a fascinating female lead but she's superb nevertheless. On the other hand, Emum Elliott showcases a steel-faced wooden portrayal of Shaw's partner and love interest Charlie Holloway. Guy Pearce also has an odd arc as an aged Peter Weyland. Charlize Theron and Idris Elba are sufficient as mission director Vickers and charming captain Janek respectively, each adding a dosage of star power to the mix. Elsewhere the crew composed of Logan Marshall Green, Sean Harris, Rafe Spall, Benedict Wong, and Kate Dickie are fine in their distinctive roles but none of the bunch bring anything particularly memorable to their characters.

On all accounts, it is certainly Michael Fassbender who steals the show. Fassbender's intricate android David is the most interesting character among the bunch as he demonstrates unconventional, individualistic autonomy. Fassbender brings a clout of gravitas that melds well with David and projects an ominous and unsettling disposition that plays out perfectly.

In conclusion, Prometheus boasts proficient performances, tremendous technical work, a splendid space score, and accomplished aesthetic but gets dragged down by presenting weighty philosophical questions and failing to conjure an adequate answer to any of them.

Film Assessment: C

'The Fate of the Furious' Review

The Fate of the Furious flips the Fast & Furious franchise on its head when Dominic Toretto suddenly betrays his team in the midst of a non-sanctioned operation. The crew then are assembled by Mr. Nobody and must partner with an unexpected ally, former foe Deckard Shaw, if they have any hope of stopping Toretto and the cyberterrorist organization behind his shifted alliance. 

If you told me that Fate of the Furious was directed by Michael Bay, I'd probably buy it due to Straight Outta Compton filmmaker F. Gary Gray's decision to switch gears into full Transformers territory. The two franchises might as well cross over at this point because they've both got slo-mo, explosions, choppy editing, and shaky cam galore! 

Gray and his technical crew absolutely deliver on piecing together ridiculous action set pieces comprised of a standard street race in Havana harkening back to the roots of  The Fast and the Furious, an absurd chase through the Big Apple involving thousands of remotely controlled auto-driven cars, and the gang casually skidding over the frozen tundra and a nuclear submarine in efforts to stop World War III to name a couple. 

Despite Fate of the Furious' best intentions at delivering a commercialized blockbuster, the film feels devoid of the energy that bolstered previous entries (possibly due to Paul Walker's absence). Now I can suspend my disbelief of nonsensical action and overlook the bad dialogue provided I'm reasonably entertained, but Fate of the Furious never quite found that niche. I can't fault the film itself for this but Universal's marketing department plastered the coolest moments everywhere on the internet so Fate of the Furious never took me by surprise. I occasionally laughed at the senseless situations the crew found themselves in or the cheap one-liners but I was rarely invested in the insanity. 

Furious 7 tied up all the loose ends of the series nicely with a neat, little bow but veteran F&F screenwriter Chris Morgan returns to unravel that with his sixth consecutive F&F screenplay. Fate of the Furious can't help but feel like an extraneous extension of the saga because of how nicely Furious 7 wrapped things up, especially when minimal character growth occurs over the 136 minute runtime and the ending seemingly leaves little room for anywhere I could conceivably see the franchise headed. One thing that especially bothered me was that there were no lasting consequences or any aftermath from choices made by these characters. It doesn't help that the characters are virtually invulnerable either, these people are practically superheroes at this point. 

On top of that, the formulaic nature of these F&F movies is becoming more and more apparent with each new installment and I'm convinced the last four or so practically have the same ending. However, two things I can credit Morgan for are writing decent hamstrung one-liners and constructing a convincing motivation for Toretto to turn on his family (probably the only surprise in the movie). Aside from that I was awestruck at how easily entertained the people around me were, they audibly gasped and aw'ed at predictable clichés I saw coming from a mile away. 

For the most part, the cast fill out their prescribed duties but it's noticeable the material they're given is rather lackluster. Vin Diesel gets to tread new waters as Dominic Toretto explores the inherent internal conflict that accompanies betrayal. Diesel demonstrated more range in this film that I feel was missing from some of his previous performances in this franchise and lent itself well to the precarious position his character found himself in. Michelle Rodriguez's scenes opposite Diesel provides the soap opera-esque relationship drama for Letty and Dom, which is incredibly melodramatic and over-the-top but somehow works thanks to the chemistry between the two. 

Amongst the supporting roster, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson hams it up as Luke Hobbs and Jason Statham's Deckard surprisingly steals the show now that he's on the good guy's side (watch out for his plane sequence that's an absolute delight and demands a spin-off). Statham and Johnson's verbal sparring turned out to be a highlight as both get a few good insults while Ludacris and Tyrese Gibson serve as supporting comedic relief with their characters Tej and Roman competing for the affections of Nathalie Emmanuel's Ramsey. Emmanuel gets to spout technical know-how and hack plenty of databases in the same vein as her role in Furious 7 but sadly has little else to do. Kurt Russell returns as the franchise's Nick Fury, Mr. Nobody, and he's brought Scott Eastwood and accomplished actress Helen Mirren along with him because clearly the ensemble wasn't crowded enough already. 

In the antagonistic department, Charlize Theron enters the fray and you'd expect a certain level of gravitas to accompany an Academy Award winning actress like Theron in a villainous role. However, Theron absolutely phones it in as Cipher, making her the blandest foe the team have come across yet. Cipher doesn't ever trade blows with the crew, which is incredibly disappointing when you take her stint as Furiosa in Mad Max: Fury Road or the trailers for her upcoming action flick Atomic Blonde into account (both of which serving as sufficient evidence she can handle an action sequence). It's probably worth mentioning to keep an eagle eye out for cameos since there were a few familiar faces I didn't expect to see and there's no post credits scene so you can race out of the theater once it's over. 

When it's all said and done, I'm not really sure Fate of the Furious was a necessary addition to the franchise. It feels driven towards financial rewards rather than furthering the characters or story in a meaningful way. Legitimate fans and casual viewers of F&F who have loved each installment and are simply seeking a good time will be more than satisfied with Fate of the Furious, but anyone hoping for an interesting continuation of the F&F family story will probably be let down. The Fate of the Furious has just about everything longtime viewers of the series have come to expect; outrageous vehicular stunts, cheesy quips, and a strong focus on family, but it fails to deliver an engaging adventurous atmosphere for our characters.

Film Assessment: C-

'Kubo and the Two Strings' Review

Nominated For: Best Animated Feature and Best Visual Effects.

Kubo and the Two Strings is the fourth full length stop-motion animated feature from Laika Entertainment, an animation studio which specializes in stop-motion feature length films. For those unfamiliar with stop-motion, it is an animation technique where an object is subtly moved and the filmmaker snaps a picture, the pictures are all edited together with small increments between the frames and so it appears as though continuous movement is happening. I'm actually a little familiar with stop-motion since I made a few stop-motion shorts as a child and I can attest to the fact that it's a tedious process, therefore I have plenty of respect for the filmmaking behind stop-motion films. I'll admit that I haven't seen any prior Laika films, but I am much more eager to give them a chance after watching Kubo and the Two Strings.

I won't disclose too much of the plot because the less you know the better, but Kubo and the Two Strings tells a classic archetypal hero's journey of a young boy Kubo in search of mystical armor to defeat evil forces who threaten him, his family, and his village.

One of the unique appealing aspects of Kubo and the Two Strings is that it feels deeply rooted in Japanese mythology; samurais, honor, family, and legacy are brought to the forefront while the score composed by Dario Marianelli has the air of Oriental inspiration. Travis Knight, president of Laika, makes his directorial debut after serving as a lead animator on previous Laika projects and he hits the mark. Knight, his team of animators, and cinematographer craft some compelling visuals and the stop-motion is seamless, so much so that in moments I forgot I was watching a stop-motion film.

The screenplay from writers Marc Haimes and Chris Butler manages to take a seemingly basic story and make it pop with Eastern influence and cool dialogue while offering laughs, heart, and a terrific story.

Another high mark of Kubo and the Two Strings is definitely it's talented voice cast. Art Parkinson brings a grounded relatable protagonist for the audience to support as he evokes childlike wonder in the young Kubo. Matthew McConaughey, Charlize Theron, Ralph Fiennes, and Rooney Mara offer up a wide ensemble of supporting characters encompassing the heroic well-intentioned Beetle, the stern protective Monkey, the malevolent Moon King, and a pair of creepy sisters.

I won't be surprised if in February we see Disney or Pixar win the Best Animated Feature, but I surprisingly can make a huge case for why Laika deserves the golden statuette after I was blown away with Kubo and the Two Strings. Kubo and the Two Strings astounded me start to finish with an original premise, terrific characters voiced by an incredible cast, endearing themes, and remarkable animation showcasing some high-brow visuals making for not only one of the best movies this summer but also one of the best films I've seen all year.

Film Assessment: A

'The Huntsman: Winter's War' Review

The Huntsman: Winter's War is the prequel/sequel to Snow White and the Huntsman that nobody really asked for. For those of you that have read my Throwback Thursday Review of Snow White and the Huntsman, you know that I was very dissatisfied with it overall and sadly have to say that is indeed again the case. However with that all being said, I liked this slightly more than Snow White and the Huntsman. When it comes down to it, it's quite easy to see that the root of many of the storytelling issues present here derive from Kristen Stewart's unwillingness to return for another installment. The screen writers and creative team had to side step her character and distance her as much as possible from the events unfolding onscreen. This wasn't too bothersome as I'm not a big fan of Kristen Stewart in general but in order to keep her out of the film, the creative team had to go back and construct an abstract backstory for Huntsman in an attempt to shift the focus to his character. Unfortunately, this doesn't quite work as well as the creative team would have liked as I found myself much more interested in exploring some of the new characters. The production had been troubled from the start as Universal had difficulty finding a director to helm the project. The studio settled on the second unit director from Snow White and the Huntsman, Cedric Nicolas-Troyan, who had never directed a feature film before. I think Nicolas-Troyan has some serious issues with placing proper focus within a scene. Fantastical creatures would fly by and divert attention various times throughout the film. Occasionally during scenes of intense dialogue all emphasis would be placed on random fairy creatures, which was quite bothersome and unnecessary. In fact, I'd daresay it was a waste of the visual effects budget that would have been better spent on action sequences, not that the action looked bad. Actually, the action looked great! The fight choreography was entertaining and intense and you could actually see what was happening as none of the action happened too quickly, although there were a few slo-mo shots that I saw as unnecessary. The cinematographer captured some beautiful imagery throughout and gave the various sequences enough time to breathe and the audience to gaze upon. This helped the film feel much lighter and more colorful than Snow White and the Huntsman, that was certainly an improvement over it's bleak predecessor. The film has many attempts at humor, but falls flat on it's face with every joke. But the film's biggest problem was that it didn't provide a reason for me to be invested in any of the characters so I lost interest easily and almost fell asleep three or four times. And this is coming from someone who stays fairly attentive and almost never sleeps during a movie (especially in theaters). Every new character was a bore, the dwarves in particular. I won't even bother listing out the actors as they put forth little to no effort and the only interesting dwarves are taken out. The rest of the cast's performances range from not even trying to decent. Chris Hemsworth is back as the Huntsman, Eric, and this time around he's much more comfortable in the role as a more seasoned actor. Hemsworth fills the role with as much charisma as he possibly can making for a great lead. He once again has a wonky Scottish accent but he at least sticks with it throughout as in Snow White and the Huntsman he occasionally slipped out of it. Jessica Chastain is decent as the Huntsman's love interest, Sara,  but along those lines she and Chris Hemsworth had some very awkward romantic scenes that were a little too long. It wasn't the chemistry that made it weird but rather the awkward long silence of the two gazing at each other that could have easily been cut out. Chastain also had an Irish accent that was just atrocious. Emily Blunt is one of my favorite modern actresses but even I have to admit that her performance as Freya the Ice Queen was just awful. This role was far beneath her and I don't understand why she would take it but unfortunately she tends to end up in projects that bomb at the box office. Almost every line of dialogue was delivered with practically no emotion, but there were glimmers of potential sprinkled throughout as Blunt was terrific in the more emotionally heated scenes. Another returning actress is Charlize Theron and she was terrific in her six to seven minutes of screen time as she just epitomized villainy. However, almost all of her scenes were in the trailers so there wasn't any shock value to anything that happened involving her character. Sadly, the film was a disappointment as I hoped for significant improvements from Snow White and the Huntsman but only got slight improvements. In summation, the film is a snooze-fest that's probably just a waste of your time.

Film Assessment: D-

Throwback Thursday Review: 'Snow White and the Huntsman'

This week I'm reviewing Snow White and the Huntsman to prepare for the release of it's prequel/sequel? The Huntsman: Winter's War this weekend that I should have a review for by next Tuesday. Next week, I'll resume more of my Marvel reviews, completing my thoughts on the Iron Man Trilogy with a Throwback Thursday Review of Iron Man 3, and the following week will do a Triple-R Review over Captain America: The Winter Soldier and then later in the week a Throwback Thursday Review of Captain America: The First Avenger and my full-in depth non spoiler review of Captain America: Civil War. 

'Snow White and the Huntsman' Review

Nominated For: Best Visual Effects and Best Costume Design.

I apologize for posting this a day late, but I'll outright say that this film is extremely difficult to sit through. I distinctly remember being fairly excited to see the film in theaters because Chris Hemsworth would be playing the Huntsman, and having recently seen The Avengers I was excited to see what he could do here. I also remember that this is one of the first films that I actually disliked seeing in theaters as I was starting to get a taste for critiquing films and having more of an opinion of movies aside from the "It was ok/good" or "I enjoyed it", and really prior to seeing this generally had positive opinions about most films. The one positive thing I can say about Snow White and the Huntsman is that it shaped my ability to critique film and allowed me to begin to form more of a stance on my opinion of all kinds of art. Prepare for an onslaught of negativity. First and foremost, the narrative is extremely flawed. There are abundant plot holes and lack of development in the plot or characters that amount to an incoherent mess. For example, many of the Evil Queen's action's didn't make logical sense despite the fact the screenwriters making her motivation clear. Like why does she bathe in milk exactly? And every character is static, showing no signs of progress or development for themselves. Really if I were to describe the film in one word, I'd be conflicted between "strange" and "boring". The strange elements are derived from many of the creative elements. The creative team must have an odd obsession with milky gooey substances because there's abundant liquid imagery placed throughout the film that was just gross. While some critics praised the visuals, I found them to look atrocious and thought they all looked jagged and unfinished. On the subject of visuals, the film's cinematography is abysmal. There seems to be almost no color palette onscreen till an hour into the film that makes the film all the more hopeless. There are a few impressive shots but the editing quickly takes away from any awe an audience member could possibly have in reaction. The editing in the entire film is off the wall as there are quite a few scenes featuring the Evil Queen with no dialogue that came out of nowhere and add absolutely no significance to the narrative or the film as a whole. The film tries many times to emulate the epic feel of The Lord of the Rings but falls flat on it's face as the action sequences suffered the brunt of the lousy editing as it has an unhealthy mixture of slow-motion and sped up footage. What I mean by this is that some portions of action occur too quickly for anyone to possibly comprehend what just happened and the slo motion is unnecessary as it's merely a slower take of a character's reaction to something that drags the pace of the action through the mud. If it weren't for the pitiful editing, the action scenes had potential to look awesome. In regards to story beats, the film tries to drag out of it's dreariness through attempts at humor and romance but none of it works. Now for the inevitable, the performances. Yikes. Kristen Stewart is awful in the role of Snow White delivering all her lines with almost no emotion or any indication she cares by lack of any facial expressions aside from a blank stare and a few very awkward faces. Chris Hemsworth is easily the best performance on display here with the only actor oozing any charisma whatsoever, and it's probably the reason he is the lead in the new spinoff/prequel/sequel? However, he has an inconsistent Scottish accent that he attempts to use that was a little bothersome. Sam Claflin is fairly decent as Prince William and fills the role well but the character he portrays wasn't given enough depth for me to care about. There's an assortment of dwarves of course, and they're utilized as an attempt to elicit humor but it never really clicked with me. Each of the actors are fairly mediocre and seem to be taking this as a paycheck gig so I won't bother listing out the actor's names. Without a doubt one of the worst performances in the film comes from Sam Spruell, who plays the Evil Queen's brother, and he embodies the personality of the over the top cheesy lame villainous stooge. The most praised performance seems to have been Charlize Theron as Raveena, the Evil Queen, but I stand to disagree. In every scene she's either screaming at everyone, spreading a malevolent gaze, or in some strange liquid. She's good in this capacity, but none of it is impressive in the slightest as the character is evil, purely to be evil. Everything aforementioned amounts to a bleak, dreary take on the classic Snow White tale that's just a snooze-fest.

Film Assessment: F

'Mad Max: Fury Road' Review

Nominated For: Best Picture, Best Director; George Miller, Best Film Editing, Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, Best Makeup and Hairstyling, Best Production Design, Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing, and Best Visual Effects.

Won: Best Film Editing, Best Costume Design, Best Makeup and Hairstyling, Best Production Design, Best Sound Editing, and Best Sound Mixing.

Mad Max: Fury Road is everything the Fast and Furious franchise wishes it could be, an insane crazy action packed film with amazing visuals and a very sophisticated story. George Miller directs the film and really manages to bring this bizarre post apocalyptic world to life incredibly well. the film is charged by it's high voltage action that really helps to elevate the film throughout with some incredible chase action sequences filled with insane stunts. The cinematography is gorgeous and seamless from beginning to end and the visual effects are a delight. Miller also wrote the film and really managed to do a phenomenal job of bringing the more sophisticated themes to the surface of this film. The performances from the ensemble in this film are top notch, although there are a few weak links. Charlize Theron makes for an awesome female lead in the role of Furiousa as one of the best action heroines in film while maintaining a sense of emotional gravitas that really adds to the character. Tom Hardy portrays the character of Max and his performance was a little bland in my opinion as his character grunts quite a bit which I found to be so strange and a bit bothersome, otherwise I'd say Hardy did a great job but was really outshone by his costars. Nicholas Hoult was incredible onscreen with a very strange character, obsessed with the film's villain but still manages to provide a captivating performance with an interesting character arc for him that comes full circle at the end of the film. Now there are a group of women who are the villain's “breeders” portrayed by Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Zoe Kravitz, Riley Keough, Megan Gale, and Abbey Lee respectively. Each do a serviceable job in their roles but aren't ever really given too much to do aside from function as a plot device to propel the chase sequence into a full two hour film. The antagonist, Immortan Joe, was portrayed by Hugh Keays-Byrne and was hard to understand at times because of his character's mask (similar to costar Hardy's performance as Bane in the The Dark Knight Rises) and felt like a very static boring villain who never quite felt menacing or all that powerful but rather very selfish. I honestly had no plans to watch this film before it was released since it looked very strange and out there for me as a film and trust me it's pretty weird. I've heard tremendous buzz about Mad Max: Fury Road since it opened in theaters with critics essentially praising it as one of one of the best films ever made and I have to respectfully disagree. I do think that Mad Max: Fury Road is a great film but I don't think I'll feel compelled to watch it multiple times, which is a characteristic I feel is very crucial to a film. I would recommend it for those who at least have some relative interest in the film. For those who think the film looks too weird, I can only agree that it is indeed strange but suggest you at least attempt to watch it and if you can't make it past the first thirty minutes without being weirded out then it's not quite worth your time. 

Film Assessment: A-