Skyfall

It has been four years since the last James Bond movie, and for a while there was a legitimate concern the Quantum of Solace would be the last James Bond movie with MGM going bankrupt.  That would have been a horrible way to end the series.  But here it returns to its glorious form a perfect mix of what we have come to expect from both the character in relation to the series and Daniel Craig's spin on the character.  Skyfall is a perfect blend of what we should expect from James Bond living in today's world.  

No matter what Daniel Craig does with the rest of his time as the world's most famous spy. All of his work will always be compared to Casino Royale.  And in that respect it probably doesn't live up to the near perfect reboot of the franchise.  But if you were to treat this movie independently of the franchise the story is compelling and the actors shine.  The only hint of hindrance comes from some of the moments that every James Bond movie has to have and the audience expects from a movie like this 

At 44 years old you have to wonder how many more movies Daniel Craig has in him.  Already in his third installment in the series they already play up the angle that he may be too old too still be a Double-0 agent.  Yet his haunting blue eyes and slick coolness still aid him in being perfect for the role, for now.  Cool as ever and he is still able to nail the action sequences even if they don't come as often from when he first started the series.  

Sam Mendes does a fantastic job with the story making it more of a thriller than a straight up action flick.  He forces his character to come to terms with who he is for the dramatic parts and still directs terrific action sequences.  Most notably the opening which immediately grips you in.  To his credit he finally gives Judi Dench a role she can firmly grab onto instead of just a bit part.  It is a shame to have wasted all the potential of the character throughout the series but it was wonderful that someone finally let Dench be Dench 

Hitting the 50th anniversary of the series the movie hits the moments that you have to.  From the drink order to the action sequences to the music.  But somehow after all this time it is still impossible to get sick of all the moments that we already know are coming.  What is different about this movie from the previous two installments is that they have fun with some of the cliches that we are expecting the movie to have.  This movie has a self-referential humor about it that was missing from Quantum of Solace.

The best part about this movie though is without a doubt Javier Bardem as the main Bond villain, Silva.  As he walks onto the scene with bleach blonde hair and knowing what he can do as a villain from his time at No Country For Old Men there is a high expectation, and he knocks it out of the park.  He plays the part completely over the top which is what you usually expect out of a Bond villain and that was a fun change of pace for the series.

This movie seemed to provide a solid mix of the realness that the other two Bond movies that garnered Casino Royale such praise with the campiness that we have come to expect.  Like the previous two movies, Craig still plays a darker, harder version of the Bond character. He leaves the over the top acting and many of the one liners to his nemesis   This is a Bond that is updated to the times, and for that I think we can all be thankful.  B+

Alex Cross

This review of Alex Cross is brought to you, much like the movie, by Cadillac: The New Standard Of The World.  It is also brought to you by the letters F and the letter C for completely cliche.  This movie offers nothing original to the genre, the writing is filled with one liners.  The plot and characters seem more like they come from serialized daytime TV dramas than they do from James Patterson.  And the camera work is too stylized for its own good.  I don't know if I can find one redeemable moment from this movie but I will do my best.  Tyler Perry tries to step outside of his usual comfort zone and perform to a much broader audience but the product that comes out is far beyond his control of anything close to bearable.

Some of you may remember Alex Cross from the Morgan Freeman movies "Kiss The Girls" and "Along Came A Spider."  In "Alex Cross" he plays a younger version of the character.  One that got his start in Detroit before moving to Washington D.C. to become a renowned profiler.  Tyler Perry seems to be a natural pick for the movie, he has a huge following and one would hope that a movie like this could supply him with a broader audience.   There just wasn't much for him to grab onto with this role and for that his potential big push for more on-scene roles without the Madea suit may be put on hold.

The story can't get anymore simple.  It is brilliant cop vs. a sadistic killer.  The story seems more along the lines of an episode of  CSI than anything else.  The story has almost every cliche cop moment in there.  There is just no depth to this movie.  In his first walk through of the murder he is investigating he has the entire scene figured out.  But we as the audience, unless you are familiar with the character, have no background to set this up.  We are just supposed to accept he is brilliant and move on.

Afterwards come a series of awful one liners from partner Eddie Burns which helps us connect to his character.  But he is supposed to be a little dopey so not too much credit can be given for nailing the one part that is supposed to seem simple.  Then Cross goes back home to a family we have no emotional attachment to.

The entire movie is a paint-by-numbers cop movie, you know every role to the movie.  As soon as Jean Reno walks on the scene you know he is destined for be a more integral part of the plot. Matthew Fox looks the part of a dangerous psychotic having underwent an intense diet for the role.  Fox's physical transformation into the role was actually one of the things I was excited to see but as soon as he opens his mouth he seems as out of place as everyone else.

We are supposed to fear Matthew Fox and he shows how dangerous he can be in the opening sequence.  But in an attempt to gain a larger audience they keep the movie to a PG-13 rating.  So instead of seeing any of the violence you get highly stylized camera work that become more distracting than anything else.

The only moment that comes close to being surprising happens half way through the movie when someone close to Alex dies (I guess I should have said spoiler alert, but you're not going to see this movie so who cares).  But there is just no emotional attachment so what should come off as a tender and possibly tear inducing moment comes off as forced instead.

Hasn't Detroit gone through enough, just when you think they are getting somewhere with Detroit making the World Series a movie like Alex Cross comes out and they will have to claim it as its own.  Tyler Perry has no business being an action star and that is proven here.  But what may be most upsetting about the whole movie is that they have already green lit a sequel.  F

Argo

If Argo did anything besides make me grab a complete stranger in the movie theater for fear of the hostages lives, it was prove once and for all that Ben Affleck is a great director.  He has proven his stuff in the past with Gone Baby Gone and The Town, but Argo has affirmed that he can direct the crap out of anything.  It has the perfect mix of tension, action, drama, and laughs and may be one of the best movies I have seen all year.  You may expect a dry telling of a hostage negotiation you have never heard of, but Argo is a masterfully crafted story that will have you on the edge of your seat. 

The movie is a hodgepodge of emotions.  Going in I thought this would be a political drama mixed with action.  Here Affleck mixes everything from politics, to insider Hollywood humor, to a thriller-drama.  Anyone could have messed this movie up, but Affleck squeezes every possible drop of emotion out of every scene.   He captures the perfect feel of the movie, from panic in the embassy right down to a grainy camera work that movie goers would have seen in the late seventies.

Right as all the information seems overwhelming in DC, Ben Affleck's character Tony Mendez comes up with his plan to free the escaped hostages held up in a hostile Iran.  They plan to free the six that made it out of the embassy by going into Iran as a movie company looking to scout a desert location.  It is at this point that Mendez goes to Hollywood to create a back story for their fake movie.  There they meet two Hollywood producers played outstandingly by John Goodman and Alan Arkin.  Throughout the California scenes the dialogue is littered with inside Hollywood jokes that everyone in the audience is able to enjoy.  They create laugh out loud moments that help to relieve the audience from becoming too overwhelmed.  And while Goodman is good Arkin is great, he steals all the big laughs.  Laughs I wasn't even expecting to get when I first sat down to watch this movie.

If the first half of the movie is about the planning and the set-up then the last half of the movie is about the execution of the plan.  The drama and tension is set high in the first 10 minutes of the movie as the Iranians take over the U.S. embassy, so by the last 45 minutes of the movie I was literally on the edge of my seat and if I didn't biologically know I had to take in oxygen at least every three minutes I wouldn't be able to tell you if I breathed.  I didn't know this story at all before watching this movie, and since it was recently declassified chances are you didn't either.  My biggest suggestion is don't look anything up.  Allow this story to happen and allow yourself to experience the gamut of emotions that Mr. Affleck wishes you to experience.

The only mistake that Ben may have made is casting himself as the male lead.  I don't agree with all the criticism he has taken in the past about his acting, I actually believe he can be a good actor, especially when he is playing a d-bag.  Here he is supposed to be a patriotic stoic thinker.  And that is what he is, almost to a cardboard cut out precision.  He is so stiff in the movie, and it stands out even more by the cast he puts around him.  Even the hostages as unrecognizable actors do a better job than this household name.  I wonder if anymore could have been made of the movie if he had cast someone else in the lead, but hey he is directing, I'd probably cast myself too.

Argo has it all, and does a great job at hooking you into the material.  While every part of the movie was great, there was no point in which I was hoping they would cut to another scene.  I was engulfed in all of it.  Come award season expect some major praise coming for Argo.  A

Premium Rush

"I live my life how I ride, no gears, no brakes," This is just one of the lines that come out of our protagonist's mouths.  But how could you possibly be rooting for any bike rider after living in the city for as long as anyone has. Bikers are  the bane of both city drivers and walkers, full of hipsters, weaving in and out of traffic, running red lights whenever they feel.  Bikers are the worst.  I'm sure you my biker reader are a perfectly fine human being, but as soon as you hop on that bike you become my sworn enemy.  How could you possibly root for a biker, even with a lead character that is so usually dynamic as Joseph Gordon Levitt.  Here he is not asked to do any kind of acting he just needs to keep moving because "if you stop, you die.  That's how I live my life."  Ugh this is just the worst kind of character.  Premium Rush is a fully ridiculous chase movie that doesn't go anywhere and doesn't do it all that fast but is mostly just inconvenient because they think they are better than red lights.  This movie is a lot like bikers, it is just the worst.

Joseph Gordon Levitt plays the character Wilee, beyond praying that this is a nickname and not a parent's attempt to pigeon hole a child into growing up to be a complete d-bag.  While he excelled at law school, he chose not to take the bar because wearing a suit at this age scares him.  That part I get, hey I'm in radio I feel the same way.  But that really is the depth to his character.  I have no idea what JGL is doing in this movie, he's been on such a roll in all his movies and only getting better and better.  Here they just seem to want him to be an urban surfer which tries to elevate bike messenger-ship to an art form and a way of life.  And besides Michael Shannon that may be the character with the most depth.  All he is really asked to do is pedal faster.

The supporting cast mostly speaks in out of breath gasps, which is understandable as all they do is ride their bike all day.  So it is hard for any of the younger actors to gain any kind of connection with the audince.  The only actors of any kind of note are Aasif Mandvi as Wilee's dispatcher who is getting a knack for a being a d-bag who can dish out one liners and Michael Shannon.  Shannon plays a corrupt cop who is trying to get his hands on a package that Wilee is delivering.  Shannon also seems to be the only actor who understands how ridiculous the premise of the movie is and allows his character to be over the top in his villainy.  All the other young actors from his girlfriend, to the girl he is delivering the package for, to his rival in the company who just wants to prove he's faster with his gear shifting bike, because obviously this movie has a character who is just there to be a jerk, provide very little to the movie.

The movie isn't about the actors though, its about the action.  At the heart of this project it is a chase movie.  Cops, rivals, time, they all are after Wilee, which is weird since it was usually the coyote chasing the road runner, but that is besides the point.  He is chased by both less skilled bikers where the main threat are pedestrians and opening doors, and then there are cars as well which have the advantage of not being able to go everywhere a bike can especially in a grid locked New York City.   It is just like a movie full of car chasing except you know without all the speed and drama of car chases.  Director David Koepp uses New York effectively as a backdrop for the movie.  The most distracting feature though is when he digitizes his movie by putting a clock of the screen, or using a map to show the route he needs to take it really takes the viewer out of the action.

This is nothing substantive to Premium Rush.  And the all the chase sequences are slower and more annoying to watch then any chanse sequence out there now.  And the whole movie is just that, a bunch of slower chase sequences.  At a brief 90 minutes it still feels like a bike ride over all of New York City would still be more exciting.  The over the top acting of Michael Shannon may be the only saving grace of the movie and that is only if you like over the top ridiculousness.  In fact that's a great way to describe this movie: ridiculous.  D