'War Dogs' Review

Wednesday evening I attended an early screening of War Dogs with no idea what to expect seeing as the film was marketed as a crime drama based on a true story and came from the director of The Hangover, Todd Phillips. Would it be serious or would it be hilarious? I had no idea and now that I've seen it, I can shed some light for those apprehensive to checking it out.

'War Dogs' Review 

War Dogs tells the real life story of a pair of friends, David Packouz and Efraim Diveroli, who became arms dealers, bidding on smaller military contracts for a large profit margin. War Dogs wasn't as lighthearted as I expected judging on the  marketing material that made War Dogs appear as though it would take the true story concept and show the outrageous things these arms dealers would get themselves into and it delivers on that promise, to an extent. 

Todd Phillips brilliantly submerges the viewer into an uneasy state the further these arm dealers get into these larger government contracts. I found myself more and more engrossed with the film as the running time wore on as the protagonists actions and morality became increasingly more questionable. This was in large part to Phillip's exceptional direction and the incredible screenplay penned by Phillips and co-writers, Stephen Chin and Jason Smilovic. The writers expertly explain the logistics of complex military contracts and the greedy perspective of actual "war dogs", emphasizing that they see war as a prime opportunity to make profit. 

As for the performances, Miles Teller makes for a fascinating entry point into the film, David Packouz is the more relatable of the two leads. As he gets nearer and nearer to the grungy side of arms dealing, the audience becomes more anxious and I feel that Teller's performance did a great deal to channel these feelings. His character lends voiceover narration somewhat reminiscent of that to be found in The Big Short or The Wolf Of Wall Street and War Dogs is similar in nature to both films. 

However, Jonah Hill steals the show bringing a complex shifty demeanor to Efraim Diveroli that only makes his character more and more intriguing as the events proceeded. Diveroli is edgy, sarcastic, and only a short fuse away from blowing up and Hill brilliantly captures that characterization. His chemistry opposite Teller is virtually unmatched as they have electric charisma onscreen together and have some tense scene that will leave you on the edge of your seat as you worry for their safety despite their questionable decisions. 

Bradley Cooper also gets a great supporting role as a shady middleman and is terrific in the capacity used. Don't expect too much screen time from him though as the nature of the role means he's quite elusive. 

While War Dogs wasn't quite what I was hoping for it to be, I can say I was pleased with the end result and that my reflection upon the film has only made it more engaging. War Dogs features two remarkable leads, a thrilling unbelievable story, and precise direction making for one of the summer's biggest surprises as the summer blockbuster season draws to a close.  

Film Assessment: B+

'Fantastic Four' (2015) Review

I will admit I have been concerned about how this film would turn out from the beginning with rumors of very troubled production, the fact that they were changing tradition and cast a black actor as Johnny Storm but failed to make his sister Sue Storm the same ethnicity instead saying she's adopted, the look of Doctor Doom, and the fact that this is the only incarnation of the Thing not to wear a pair of pants. So I went into this film with very low  expectations, especially after seeing the dreaded reviews but tried to remain optimistic since sometimes I don't agree with the majority of critics but sadly that is not the case here. This reboot is a jumbled mess but the sad thing is that it's apparent the trouble comes from behind the camera. The story is incoherent with no theme or central message, the tone of the film proved to be very inconsistent, and the script was ridiculous at times. This movie is very boring and almost entirely chocked full of exposition with little to no action. It also takes a team who are usually depicted in a light setting and tries to mimic the Christopher Nolan Dark Knight Trilogy by having a darker tone but this proves to be very unsuccessful. There are specific scenes or gags in the film that you can tell screen writers wrote to be intentionally funny but it doesn't really come across in the dark setting. I'm unsure if 20th Century Fox or Josh Trank is to blame for what has occurred because there are various conflicting reports. Trank even tweeted last evening that a year ago he had a great film in mind that was ruined due to studio interference. This does seem likely since he was practically removed from the project and there were many reshoots done but in the end it does't matter since it's very unlikely there will be a sequel. I will admit there are a few aspects I enjoyed about the film. There were many great concepts that just seemed to be developed poorly, the cast was terrific, and the visual effects looked amazing. The cast is very talented and each gave admirable performances with what they were given. I particularly enjoyed Miles Teller, Jamie Bell, Michael B Jordan, and Kate Mara in their respective roles. Miles Teller made a very convincing Reed Richards and had great chemistry with Jamie Bell who did quite well in the role of Ben Grimm. One of my biggest complaints about the film prior to seeing it was the look of the Thing and I must say that I have changed my opinion for the most part. I did like the CGI look of the Thing that was much more expressive than the 2005 adaptation but I still think it's ridiculous that the Thing didn't have pants. All of the other team members were given some form of a suit except the Thing. Unfortunately Michael B Jordan and Kate Mara, who played Johnny and Sue Storm, didn't have much to do in the film and there was so much potential to explore their adoptive sibling relationship in this adaptation that was simply ignored. Despite the good performances almost none the the actors really had good chemistry or worked well as an ensemble cast like for example The Avengers cast as these actors seemed to work better independently other than off of one another. Toby Kebbell portrays the film's villain Victor Von Doom, a while back it was reported he would be an internet blogger with a different name but I assume they reverted back after fan backlash, and he does a decent job but once he is transformed into Doctor Doom the character is ruined. He has absolutely no motivation, looked ridiculous, and is simply a stereotypical powerful villain that must be stopped because he wants to destroy everything. I did really like most of the visual effects though, especially the effects used for the Fantastic Four's power set. Throughout the film there are many cool conceptual ideas that weren't quite able to flourish for some reason that might work more effectively in a sequel. Overall, I will admit the film wasn't awful but it wasn't good either, it was just "alright". I do believe that with the proper guidance a successful sequel could be made thanks to the talented cast but I doubt it will even be greenlit. If you were remotely interested in the Fantastic Four at all, I'd advise that you go see either Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation or Ant-Man as better substitutes for a fun action film. 

Film Assessment: F

'Whiplash' Review

Nominated for: Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor; J.K. Simmons, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Film Editing, and Best Sound Mixing.
Won: Best Supporting Actor; J.K. Simmons, Best Film Editing, and Best Sound Mixing.

This will be the last of my reviews of the films nominated for Best Picture this year at the Academy Awards and I really enjoyed this film. The best things about it for me was how well it was edited, the sound editing, and the performances. Miles Teller was incredible and I was amazed at how well he was able to play the drums in this film, I do however understand why he wasn't nominated for Best Actor. The other standout performance was J.K. Simmons that did a phenomenal job portraying a complex character that manipulates young musicians, etc. If J.K. Simmons doesn't win Best Supporting Actor I will be very surprised as he was astounding. I enjoyed the story and all of the editing in this film. Overall this is a very entertaining film that I highly recommend, definitely one of the better of the films nominated for Best Picture.