Movie Review: Fury

David Ayer (End of Watch) shows us the Fury of an American tank crew in WWII Germany.

I am a sucker for a good World War II film, and this one delivered.  It's set at the tail end of the war on the front lines in Germany, 1945.  A tank crew has lost their assistant driver/gunner and the army sends in a typist named Norman (Logan Lerman, The Perks of Being a Wallflower) to replace him.  He has never even seen the inside of a tank before. We watch as he learns to adapt and fit in with the rest of the tight-knit crew as they go help capture more small German towns.

The missions themselves are not the main focus of this film.  This is a film about the effects of war, and the tolls it takes on a man.  The rest of the crew that Norman joins consists of the commander Don 'Wardaddy' Collier (Brad Pitt, Fight Club), gunner Boyd 'Bible' Swan (Shia LeBeouf, Lawless), loader Grady 'Coon-Ass' Travis (Jon Bernthal, Grudge Match), and driver Trini 'Gordo' Garcia (Michael Peña, Everything Must Go).  These men had been serving together for three years.  They are like family, and 'Fury' (the tank) had essentially become their home.  Not only were they a close-knit group, but the war had turned them into cold, killing machines.  Norman came in green and idealistic because he had spent the war behind a desk.  He had never killed a man, and was reluctant to do so for fear of losing his humanity.  Humanity is the big theme of the film.  Don and company had become a bit detached after three years of war together.  They didn't know anything other than killing Nazis.  Slowly throughout the film, Norman breaks through to them a little.  There is a great scene in the middle of the film where they are all having dinner with a couple of German women.  Each of the characters really gets a minute to shine in this scene.  The tank itself worked as an obvious metaphor, but luckily it never felt heavy-handed.  The four original crew members put on a defensive shield all around them, but any time they are seen within the confines of the tank you see a glimpse of who they truly are inside.  Norman has to break through the shell of the tank to get inside and be accepted as part of the crew.  David Ayer did a great job of making this a 2-way street though.  Norman also has to learn that not everything is sunshine and rainbows.  The war will never be won unless people die.  He finds out the hard way that if he doesn't harden up a little and learn to kill Nazis, that others could die due to his hesitation.  As Don puts it to him, "Ideals are peaceful.  History is violent."

This film is mostly focused on being a character piece.  That being said, it never forgets that it is also a WWII film about killing Nazis.  When fighting breaks out, it doesn't shy away from showing the violence of some of the deaths.  You will see blood and body parts flying.  There is a great looking 3 on 1 tank battle in the middle of the field.  Finally it all culminates in a stand-off against a few hundred German SS troops.  This final battle is tense and gets you totally invested.  On top of the good looking battle scenes, the whole movie itself was shot just beautifully.  The cinematography was great.  Everything was dirty and bleak.  Just with the look of the film itself you could feel the toll that the war had taken on everything.

One thing I don't usually mention about any given movie is the score.  Most of the time I don't really notice the score.  I mean that in a good way.  A good score should just blend in nicely with what you are seeing.  Usually if you are noticing the music, it's kind of a bad thing and it takes you out of the movie.  This film, however, was one of the exceptions.  I was enthralled by the music.  Like the film itself, it was dark, gritty, and somber.  I noticed it without it taking anything away from the film.  In fact, it only added to the experience.  Steven Price is going to be a composer to look out for.  He also composed the score for Gravity.  That was my favorite film of 2013, and in much the same way, I noticed the music in a good way.

One final thing can not go unspoken, and that is the cast.  Being a heavily character driven story, this film would not have worked without the proper cast.  All five of the main actors hit it out of the ball park.  Logan put in a solid performance having to hold his own against Brad Pitt.  I've always been a fan of Pitt, and this is one more role that solidifies my fandom.  Shia may be a little crazy in real life, but he does have some acting ability.  This may be his best performance to date.  If he keeps this up, I may even forgive him for the Transformers movies.  I have not seen much from Jon Bernthal other than "The Walking Dead".  Like the others though, he put in his all and did a fine job.  Finally, there is Michael Peña.  I think he is criminally underrated, and horribly underused in films.  This film did nothing to sway that opinion.  As always he was a joy to watch.  On top of the great acting from each, they also had real good chemistry with each other.  You really felt their bond, and when that final battle comes, you care what happens to these guys.

Overall, I can't say enough good about this movie.  It was the whole package for me.  If you like WWII films and can handle a little graphic violence, then do yourself a favor and get out and see this film.

Rating: ********** (10 out of 10) [Go see this now!]

Memorable quote:

Wardaddy: Do you think Hitler would f*** one of us for a chocolate bar?

Movie Review: Dracula Untold

In his feature film debut, Gary Shore takes a shot at telling the origins of one of the most iconic Universal monsters in Dracula Untold.

In the 15th century, the Turkish empire was trying to take over the world (because Everybody Wants To Rule the World).  In so doing, they would take young boys from their families and train them to become ruthless killing machines for their armies.  One of these was a young boy from Transylvania named Vlad.  He earned himself quite a reputation for impaling all of his victims on wooden spikes earning him the nickname Vlad the Impaler.  He wasn't fond of what he'd become and eventually got out of the army to go back and rule Transylvania peacefully for many years.  The Turks showed up unannounced one day and decided they wanted to take the young again, including Vlad's son.  Vlad did not have the army to oppose them, so he made a deal with a master Vampire in the mountains to give him the power to stop the army.  He was informed that he would have the powers for three days and then revert back to human form if he could avoid the temptation of drinking human blood, otherwise he'd be a vampire forever.  You can probably fill in the blanks from there.

I feel like this is one of those movies I shouldn't have liked on principal, but I liked it anyway.  Some origins should be left a mystery, especially Dracula's, but somehow I got over this.  I also somehow got over the fact that they took an absolute monster and turned him into a tragic hero.  A lot of it worked based just on the performance of Luke Evans (The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug).  He really sold this character for me.  He played a man who was ashamed of what he had done in the past and was willing to make an unspeakable deal with a monster that may damn him forever, just to keep his son from having to live the same life.  He played off the struggle well too.  You could see the conflict as he tried to avoid that fateful temptation of drinking human blood.  Then something happens that angers him so much that he gives in (not a spoiler: you knew he was going to stay a bloodsucker) just so he can ultimately destroy the Turks, giving his son a chance to rule in peace.  When he does, you see that it has taken something from him and he will have the monster inside to fight forever.

One of the things that really worked well for me was the running time of the film.  It clocks in at under 90 minutes sans credits.  I've seen some complain that this does not allow for much character development, but I think that's where Luke Evans comes in again.  His is the only character that truly needs developed and he does such a fine job that you see his transition from man to monster quite well in those 90 minutes.  I do try to steer clear of other reviews when trying to review something myself, but there is one thing I have to mention.  I've seen a lot of negative comments about this movie, with the biggest gripe being that of historical accuracy.  They use actual historical figures in this film, and sure it's probably all wrong, but you're watching a film about a guy who can turn into a bunch of bats!  If anyone goes to a Dracula movie looking for a lesson in history, we have much bigger problems to deal with.  As for the character of Dracula, I don't know the full lore, but I'm sure that some things were changed to suit the story.  However, they kept in the classic attributes such as daylight, wooden stakes to the heart, crosses.  I felt they kept enough the same to not ruin the character entirely.

Another thing that worked was the special effects.  Some weren't fantastic, and some of the action got a little quick and dizzying, but a lot of it worked.  The armies of bats that you see in the trailers I thought were done well.  Also, when the vampires dealt with anything life-threatening (ie, daylight), the skin peeling from the body was quite effective.

I've already mentioned that Evans rose to the challenge of his role.  The other actors put in decent performances.  Nothing stellar, nothing bad.  Charles Dance (Alien 3) also did a fine job as the master vampire.  Dominic Cooper (Need For Speed) was okay as the Turk sultan, Mehmed, but after having seen him play an evil sadistic bad guy so amazingly in The Devil's Double, I think I hold him to an unfair standard.

This is by no means an award-winning movie.  Yes, I did enjoy the effects, and to a certain extent also the acting.  This film is not trying to be an award-winner though.  It's essentially trying to be a quick, fun ride.  In that aspect I felt everything worked well together.  It is a good movie to rent on a Friday or Saturday night with some friends when you want a fun action movie that moves along at a good pace.  It was a solid first effort for a new director, and it held me enough to want to see where else they take this new version of the classic monster.

Rating: ******---- (6 out of 10) [rental]

Memorable Quote:

Master Vampire: Let the games begin!

Movie Review: Men, Women & Children

In this day and age of texting and social media, Jason Reitman (Thank You For Smoking) takes us behind the scenes into the lives of several Men, Women & Children.

This film follows several teenagers and their parents, exploring their relationships with each other and how technology now plays a role in those relationships.  There is Brandy (Kaitlyn Dever), who has the overbearing mother (Jennifer Garner) who tracks and monitors everything she does online.  Tim (Ansel Elgort) who just wants to play his online game, but his father (Dean Norris) wants him to be the football star.  Hannah (Olivia Crocicchia) who wants to be a star, and the mother (Judy Greer) who is trying to live vicariously through her.  Chris (Travis Tope), who doesn't seem to have a real relationship with his parents (Adam Sandler & Rosemarie DeWitt), but does have an unnatural relationship with his bizarre internet porn.  And finally Allison (Elena Kampouris) who lost way too much weight to get noticed by a boy.  Her parents (J.K. Simmons & Tina Parker) seem to realize her problem, but keep their distance about it.

Did we hit all of the teenage tropes in this film?  Check.  However, the approach to these issues is one worth taking.  This film delved into the role that technology plays now with teens and even adults.  The real problem is that this great discussion piece was taken up and totally mishandled.  The tone of the film just didn't land with me.  It was trying to be a serious discussion about these relationships, which is great, but the characters were written so exaggeratingly over-the-top that it was too hard to take them serious.  The characters, especially the adults, were taken to the extreme edge of the stereotypes they were portraying to the point of being comical, all the while asking you to really invest in them.  Sandler and DeWitt have a sexless marriage.  Barely was a conversation started before he started masterbating to his son's internet porn (creepy), and then both he and his wife just jumped right into affairs.  Judy Greer got so engrossed in making her daughter look good on her website that she practically turned it into child pornography.  Jennifer Garner's character was the one I found the most over-exaggerated.  She spent her evenings reading every last word that went in and out of her daughter's phone and computer.  She also intercepted messages and deleted even the most simple, innocent messages without asking the daughter what they might have been about.  She also watched every movement her child made with the use of GPS.  I realize that there are parents out there that are quite extreme like these (and that scares the living daylights out of me), but I feel like this film took that extreme just one step to far with nearly all the characters to the point of ridiculousness.

I can say there are a couple of redeeming factors though.  One is the acting.  I thought that for what they were given, many of the actors did an excellent job.  It was good to see Adam Sandler take a more serious role again after some of his ridiculous comedies as of late.  Although Garner's character was one of the worst, I though she played it straight and she played it well.  Judy Greer had some funny and touching scenes.  The big stand-out roles, however, went to Kaitlyn Dever and Ansel Elgort.  I thought they were fantastic.  Part of that was because their characters seemed the most relatable in the film, and part was because they just simply were that good.  This was good because their little love story seemed to be the main focus of the film.

Having this one good storyline and all the good acting couldn't save this sinking ship though.  On top of being overbearing, there were also just simply too many storylines going on.  It made the film seem to go on forever.  This is one of those rare movies that at certain points had me staring at the screen wondering if we were nearing the end yet.  That is never a good sign.

Overall, like I said, this film really dropped the ball.  I think this society's addiction to texting and social media and how it is affecting us should be a serious discussion.  This film tried to take that serious route.  Heck it even had shots from a satellite light years away looking at the tiny Earth, with a voice-over from Emma Thompson talking about how insignificant we really are in the grand scheme of things.  They just needed to tone down the characters a little and drop one or two of the side stories to add more focus.  It had potential, but this is not one you need to seek out.

Rating: ***------- (3 out of 10) [don't go out of your way]

Memorable Quote:

Joan: I have installed a camera in my daughter's brain, and a seven digit pin code on her vagina.



Movie Review: Annabelle

It's October, so you know what kind of movies are hitting the theatres.  Touching movies about adorable little soul-sucking dolls like Annabelle, directed by John R. Leonetti (Mortal Kombat: Annihilation).

Mia (Annabelle Wallis, X-Men: First Class) and John (Ward Horton, The Wolf of Wall Street) are a young happy couple expecting their first child soon.  In the new nursery room of their home, Mia has a doll collection all along the wall (yikes!), and John comes home with one more for her collection.  After a terrifying event in their home, somehow the doll became haunted or possessed.  Mia and John didn't know exactly that it was possessed, but they got rid of it anyway because of it's involvement in the earlier event.  When they moved to a new apartment the doll showed up in one of the boxes.  For some unfathomable reason they decide to keep it.  It goes all boogedy-boogedy on them and they finally realize that there is something terribly wrong with it.  Then they spend the rest of the film trying to stop it with the help of Father Perez (Tony Amendola, The Legend of Zorro), because in these films the father or priest never looks at you like you're crazy when you say you have a possessed doll.  They accept it quite readily.  There's also a little help from their new neighbor Evelyn (Alfre Woodard, 12 Years a Slave), because when these things happen you can always count on a neighbor to know where to find the best book on demons.

Okay, gotta start with this: possessed or not, who the hell buys their wife this creepiest of all creepy looking dolls in the first place.  Did he not look at the thing?  Seriously.  That being said, this fact becomes the downfall of the first 20 minutes or so of the movie.  The filmmakers try to get by on a lot of just static shots of the doll sitting there looking all immobile, but creepy.  I get it, it's a scary doll....move on.  This kind of slows down the first part of the movie, but there are luckily one or two tense scenes to break up the monotony of the doll's face.  There is a home invasion scene that has a real slasher movie vibe to it that worked well for me.  The second half of the film is where it picks up a little more.  You get glimpses of the power behind the doll's possession lurking in the background and some of the scenes are just haunting and well-done.

I felt the acting quite good in this film, especially for the two leads being relative unknowns.  They played a convincing couple with good chemistry.  Annabelle Wallis had to do a lot of the heavy lifting with scenes involving only her being terrified, and I thought she did quite nicely in those scenes as well.  The supporting cast didn't have quite as much to do, but they got the job done just fine.  The doll did a fantastic job at simply being creepy.

Ironically enough, as scary-looking as the doll is, it wasn't enough to justify showing just it so many times.  This is what brought the movie down a little in my rating, because it is used too much in the beginning of the film slowing it down a little.  Other than that, the acting was perfectly fine, and a lot of the other things that were used to creep you out or give you a few jump scares, worked quite effectively.  If you love horror movies and dolls really creep you out, this might be for you.  Even if you just love horror movies, there is a lot to like in this movie.  It's a solid rental to pick up and watch at home late at night with the lights all down.

Rating: ******---- (6 out of 10) [rental]

Memorable Quote:

Nurse: I got it for my birthday from my mother.