Category: Announcement

#1 Lee Daniels’ The Butler from Weinstein Company opened at #1 with a gross of $24.6 million in 2,933 theaters.  Budget was $30 million.

#2 We’re The Millers from Warner Bros. held at #2 with a gross of $18 million (-32.0%) in 3,325 theaters (+65).  Total gross to date is $69.7 million.  Budget was $37 million.

#3 Elysium from TriStar fell from #1 to #3 with a gross of $13.7 million (-54.1%) in 3,284 theaters.  Total gross to date is $56 million.  Budget was $115 million.

#4 Planes from Buena Vista fell from #3 to #4 with a gross of $13.4 million (-39.8%) in 3,716 theaters (+14).  Total gross to date is $45.3 million.  Budget was $50 million.

#5 Kick-Ass 2 from Universal opened at #5 with a gross of $13.3 million in 2,940 theaters.  Budget was $28 million.

#6 Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters from 20^th Century Fox fell from #4 to #6 with a gross of $8.8 million (-39.2%) in 3,080 theaters (+49).  Total gross to date is $39.3 million.  Budget was $90 million.

#7 Jobs from Open Road Films opened at #7 with a gross of $6.7 million in 2,381 theaters.  Budget was $12 million.

#8 2 Guns from Universal fell from #5 to #8 with a gross of $5.8 million (-48.4%) in 2,471 theaters (-557).  Total gross to date is $59.5 million.  Budget was $61 million.

#9 The Smurfs 2 from Sony/Columbia fell from #6 to #9 with a gross of $4.8 million (-48.9%) in 2,349 theaters (-1,518).  Total gross to date is $57.1 million.  Budget was $105 million.

#10 The Wolverine from 20^th Century Fox fell from #7 to #10 with a gross of $4.5 million (-43.7%) in 2,058 theaters (-809).  Total gross to date is $120.6 million.  Budget was $120 million.

#11 Despicable Me 2 from Universal fell from #9 to #11 with a gross of $3.9 million (-33.9%) in 1,818 theaters (-577).  Total gross to date is $346.1 million.  Budget was $76 million.

#12 The Conjuring from Warner Bros. fell from #8 to #12 with a gross of $3.88 million (-41.4%) in 2,001 theaters (-649).  Total gross to date is $127.8 million.  Budget was $20 million.

The combined gross of the top 12 movies this weekend was $121.4 million.

Sources:
Box Office Mojo

Since the events of the first Kick-Ass movie, Kick-Ass himself, Dave Lizewski has laid low and tried to resume a normal life. The same can also be said of Mindy Macready, also known as Hit-Girl. Mindy has sworn to her guardian, Detective Marcus Williams, that she’d lie low and try to be a normal kid. But in the wake of their first adventure, Kick-Ass and Hit-Girl have inspired more normal citizens to don costumes and fight crime in their own way and now both Dave and Mindy are feeling the need to get back into their former lives. In the background, Chris D’Amico, formerly known as the Red Mist, now seeks revenge against Kick-Ass for killing his father and begins to build a plot that will affect Dave and everyone he knows.

That’s the premise to Kick-Ass 2 the sequel the original Kick-Ass movie from director Matthew Vaughan based around the comics created by Mark Millar and John Romita Jr. I’ve not read the sequel comic series, so I can’t necessarily say exactly how faithful this is, but if this movie is any indication, well it’s making me want to order the collection for the sequel sooner than later. Matthew Vaughan is only connected here as the producer of the film and now it’s in the more than capable hands of writer/director Jeff Wadlow, who for my money anyway, has made a sequel that’s superior to the original film. Wow- Kick-Ass 2 was just a lot of fun!

Kick-Ass 2 is certainly just as profane and violent as the original film, but it also feels to me like there’s quite a bit more heart here and genuine emotion in all of it’s main characters, Dave, Mindy and even Chris D’Amico and that’s what makes it rise just a little bit more for me. It absolutely looks fantastic and big kudos go Wadlow’s way for keeping the same comic book aesthetic that Matthew Vaughan had in the first film. One of my favorite points in the movie involves Kick-Ass joining up with a team of crime-fighters organized by the hero known as Colonel Stars and Stripes. For me, this scene brought to mind the movie Mystery Men with it’s misfit heroes and tremendous heart and while I was already enjoying this up to that point, that just sort of notched things up a little further.

Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Chloe Grace Moretz and Christopher Mintz-Plasse all return from the original film as Dave, Mindy and Chris respectively. In the first film, Moretz literally stole the show and she does a terrific job here as well, but it’s a little more tempered than it was the first time. Taylor-Johnson is certainly very likable and still rock-solid in his part and even taking it further to really build himself up physically for this. The real surprise here for me in the main cast though is Christopher Mintz-Plasse. I wasn’t exactly thrilled with him in the first movie, but here he’s ratcheted things up considerably and has made for a villain that you can totally get, even if it’s in the broadest of ways. Where he really excels is in a scene where he has to go to jail to talk with a former associate of his father’s. This scene leaves an indelible mark on Chris D’Amico and Mintz-Plasse just thoroughly convinces you of that.

There’s lots of good support here as well, both Clark Duke and Augustus Prew return as Dave’s friends Marty and Todd and they’re certainly fun to watch. Donald Faison and Lindy Booth are two of Dave’s associates in Justice Forever, Dr. Gravity and Night Bitch and both really add to the fun. John Leguizamo plays Javier who sort of acts as Alfred to Chris D’Amico’s twisted Bruce Wayne and again, he’s fun to watch and really adds more to Chris D’Amico’s character. But the real stand-out for me in the support area is Jim Carrey as Colonel Stars and Stripes. Yeah, Carrey’s certainly been on the record as denouncing the movie for it’s extreme violence, and yet it all sorta goes away when you see him on-screen here. He absolutely looks like he’s having a ball with the part and as a character certainly does much to further inspire Dave Lizewski.

What can I say? I had an incredibly good time with Kick-Ass 2, going so far to say that I enjoyed it even more than the original (and I had a good time with that as well). It’s a terrific looking film that just rejoices in keeping the same aesthetic that you see in John Romita Jr.’s art from the comics and yet for all of it’s violence and profanity, there’s genuine heart and emotion here as well making you care for the characters even more. One little word of note, stay through the end credits as there is a final scene that basically says things aren’t as final as they seem. If you enjoyed the first film, you’ll have a ball with Kick-Ass 2. Highly, highly recommended.

Honestly, if someone would’ve told me that I’d willingly be going to see a movie starring Ashton Kutcher, I probably would’ve just laughed in their face as I’m not exactly what you’d call a fan. But, I’ve always been an Apple Computer guy and more specifically a Macintosh user. I’ve sworn by Macs since the SE days and still use them today. So when I hear that Ashton Kutcher is playing Steve Jobs in a docudrama about Jobs’ life, well I have to take notice and I also have to admit, Kutcher certainly looks the part.

Jobs is the story of the rise of college drop-out Steve Jobs to becoming one of the most creative and honored entrepreneurs of our time. This follows Jobs’ career from building Apple Computer out of his parents’ garage all the way to the introduction of the iPod in 2001. Jobs comes to us from director Joshua Michael Stern who prior to this directed the movie Swing Vote starring Kevin Costner (which I have not seen). The fodder is certainly here for an entertaining movie and it’s been seen before in a fine effort from the TNT cable network, an adaptation of the book, Pirates of Silicon Valley that contrasted the rise of both Steve Jobs and Bill Gates (starring Noah Wyle and Anthony Michael Hall respectively). Unfortunately, this theatrical effort doesn’t exactly do much to make it more than a glorified TV movie, feeling more like an outline that hits the high points, but finds little to glue it all together much less make you feel the drive that Jobs had.

This feels like it’s missing entire chunks of Jobs’ life like explaining further about the deep friendship between Jobs and Steve Wozniak, who many see as the heart of Apple. Further, this tells us of Jobs’ rejection of his pregnant girlfriend and his daughter, but then later picks up with Jobs taking his daughter into his life with only a simple scene of Jobs looking at one of his daughter’s letters being the transition point. These are, at least to me, two very key points in Jobs life that brought about a personal change that allowed him to come back to Apple in 1996, and yet there’s little here to help illustrate that.

The way this is all put together feels extremely rushed and by the numbers, and as far as I know, that just might’ve been Stern’s intent, but it fails on making this magnetic storytelling. Jobs really needed to look at something like David Fincher’s The Social Network and develop something that would’ve told this story in a more effective way, maybe not with the same sort of edge that The Social Network has, but with something that better illustrates the passion behind the creation. As an avid Mac user myself, I think going for a route in that direction at least would’ve been more of a draw for me as I know just how passionate Mac users can be about what they create with their machines.

As I said at the start, I’m not really any sort of fan of Ashton Kutcher’s, but I do have to give him credit for taking this part and at least looking like he’s done his homework. Now with that said, I still think he falls a little short here looking more like he’s doing an impression than inhabiting a part. When I see one of his co-stars, Josh Gad (who plays Steve Wozniak) soldiering a motherboard, I get the impression that Gad knew what he was doing, but I don’t get the same vibe off of Kutcher’s performance. Further support is provided by Dermot Mulroney, Matthew Modine and J.K. Simmons (playing Mike Markula, John Sculley and Arthur Rock respectively) as the corporate body of Apple that wrests control away from Jobs. It’s serviceable work but that’s about it.

As a Mac user, I really wanted to like Jobs a lot more and there are certainly parts here that I did enjoy (the scenes where Steve Wozniak leaves Apple and where Jobs loses control of Apple come immediately to mind). But it still feels like there’s way too much missing that could’ve made this a more full experience. Sure, it’s certainly understandable that you can’t get in every little point to fit into a two-hour time frame, but still Jobs needed another pass at the script to get something that felt like a little more than a script outline.

#1 Elysium from TriStar opened at #1 with a gross of $29.8 million in 3,284 theaters.  Budget was $115 million.

#2 We’re The Millers from Warner Bros. opened at #2 with a gross of $264 million in 3,260 theaters.  Total gross to date is $37.9 million.  Budget was $37 million.

#3 Planes from Buena Vista opened at #3 with a gross of $22.2 million in 3,702 theaters.  Budget was $50 million.

#4 Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters from 20^th Century Fox opened at #4 with a gross of $14.4 million in 3,031 theaters.  Total gross to date is $23.3 million.  Budget was $90 million.

#5 2 Guns from Universal fell from #1 to #5 with a gross of $11.2 million (-58.4%) in 3,028 theaters (+3).  Total gross to date is $48.6 million.  Budget was $61 million.

#6 The Smurfs 2 from Sony/Columbia fell from #3 to #6 with a gross of $9.3 million (-46.8%) in 3,867 theaters (+1).  Total gross to date is $46.5 million.  Budget was $105 million.

#7 The Wolverine from 20^th Century Fox fell from #2 to #7 with a gross of $8 million (-62.4%) in 2,867 theaters (-1,057).  Total gross to date is $112 million.  Budget was $120 million.

#8 The Conjuring from Warner Bros. fell from #4 to #8 with a gross of $6.6 million (-49.1%) in 2,650 theaters (-465).  Total gross to date is $120.7 million.  Budget was $20 million.

#9 Despicable Me 2 from Universal fell from #5 to #9 with a gross of $5.9 million (-41.6%) in 2,395 theaters (-812).  Total gross to date is $338.5 million.  Budget was $76 million.

#10 Grown Ups 2 from Sony/Columbia fell from #6 to #10 with a gross of $3.6 million (-54.1%) in 2,102 theaters (-973).  Total gross to date is $123.8 million.  Budget was $80 million.

#11 Turbo from 20^th Century Fox fell from #7 to #11 with a gross of $2.4 million (-62.3%) in 1,771 theaters (-1,214).  Total gross to date is $75.1 million.  Budget was $135 million.

#12 Blue Jasmine from Sony Classics rose from #14 to #12 with a gross of $2.3 million (+26.2%) in 119 theaters (+69).  Total gross to date is $19.7 million.  Budget was $6 million.

The combined gross of the top 12 movies this weekend was $142.3. million.

Sources:
Box Office Mojo

By the end of the 21st century, overpopulation and pollution have made conditions around the planet deplorable. The ruling bodies and rich upper class have retreated from Earth and now inhabit the orbiting space station known as Elysium. Elysium’s technology is so advanced that every home has a miraculous medical device in it that can literally cure anything. The space station wards off attempts at invasion by the lower class to get to that technology.

Max De Costa, was an orphan from the streets who grew up doing what he had to do to survive. As a young boy, he made a promise to his best friend, a girl named Frey, that one day he’d get them both to Elysium. Now, Max is doing his best to live a straight life; he works in a factory that builds service robots, but one day, Max gets trapped in a chamber that seals the robots with radiation and he’s exposed to a lethal dosage. Max has five days to live and now will do anything in an attempt to keep himself alive, including running a mission that will upset the balance of power with Elysium.

Elysium is writer/director Neill Blomkamp’s follow-up to his fantastic debut from a couple of years ago with the Oscar-nominated District 9. Blomkamp thrilled audiences with his socially-relevant tale of aliens who were segregated in South Africa’s Johannesburg, and audiences took note of his technical skill as well as the dramatic chops of actor Sharlto Copley. Blomkamp’s attempting to do the same thing with Elysium but with mixed results, though for the most part, I find the film to still be highly watchable.

With Elysium, Blomkamp handles his social issues and his characters in a much more simplistic way than he did in District 9, and this will no doubt be the dividing line for whether most will like the movie or not. The characters are all pretty much one-note, in particular the characters that are from Elysium, there’s a lot of science fiction cliches at work and there’s a lot of things that happen more due to story convenience than feeling natural. This feels more like juvenile science fiction than anything else (and I’m not using “juvenile” in a derogatory way here) and as such, it’s probably not going to strike most the same way that District 9 did.

Now to Blomkamp’s credit, the film has a fantastic look (very cool to see visual futurist Syd Mead credited for the concept illustrations), some really high-charged action scenes and visual effects, and it moves at a pretty brisk pace. This, at least to me, still made the film fun to watch even with it’s story and character simplicity.

Blomkamp’s cast includes Matt Damon as Max, Jodie Foster as Delacourt (the Secretary of Defense for Elysium), Sharlto Copley as Kruger (a deep cover Earth operative for Delacourt), Alice Braga as Max’s lifelong friend, Frey, William Fichtner as John Carlyle (the head of the company that Max works for) and Diego Luna and Wagner Moura as Julio and Spider respectively, two people who Max worked with when he was working outside the law. It’s a good cast, but they’re saddled with mostly one-note characters. Damon does his best to remain affable in a tough situation as well as doing a great job with the action scenes. Jodie Foster, at least to me, gives off some sort of sense that there’s something beneath her surface that absolutely believes that her ways of defending Elysium are the best ways. Sharlto Copley is a far cry from what he was in District 9 playing a very lethal character who’s just, well, insane with what he’s doing. Fichtner (a perennial favorite actor of mine) fares worse here with a character that’s even more one-note than what he played in the Lone Ranger, and yet I can’t blame him for that as I’m sure everyone here is just enforcing Blomkamp’s vision.

Even though I’m coming down on aspects of Elysium, I still had an enjoyable time watching it, but still it just could’ve been so much better thad Blomkamp invested a little more time into filling this out a bit more. Like I said above, if you look at this as pure juvenile science fiction, then it fares a lot better, but if you’re looking for something that’s going to be a good companion piece to District 9, I expect that you’ll find Elysium to be lacking.

#1 2 Guns from Universal opened at #1 with a gross of $27.1 million in 3,025 theaters.  Budget was $61 million.

#2 The Wolverine from 20^th Century Fox fell from #1 to #2 with a gross of $21.3 million (-59.9%) in 3,924 theaters.  Total gross to date is $94.6 million.  Budget was $120 million.

#3 The Smurfs 2 from Sony/Columbia opened at #3 with a gross of $17.5 million in 3,866 theaters.  Total gross to date is $27.1 million.  Budget was $105 million.

#4 The Conjuring from Warner Bros. fell from #2 to #4 with a gross of $13 million (-41.3%) in 3,115 theaters (+93).  Total gross to date is $108 million.  Budget was $20 million.

#5 Despicable Me 2 from Universal fell from #3 to #5 with a gross of $10.1 million (-38.3%) in 3,207 theaters (-269).  Total gross to date is $326.4 million.  Budget was $76 million.

#6 Grown Ups 2 from Sony/Columbia fell from #5 to #6 with a gross of $7.9 million (-31.5%) in 3,075 theaters (-183).  Total gross to date is $116.2 million.  Budget was $80 million.

#7 Turbo from 20^th Century Fox fell from #4 to #7 with a gross of $6.2 million (-54.7%) in 2,985 theaters (-824).  Total gross to date is $69.3 million.  Budget was $135 million.

#8 Red 2 from Lionsgate fell from #6 to #8 with a gross of $5.6 million (-40.5%) in 2,755 theaters (-261).  Total gross to date is $45.1 million.  Budget was $84 million.

#9 The Heat from 20^th Century Fox fell from #8 to #9 with a gross of $4.6 million (-33.1%) in 2,074 theaters (-310).  Total gross to date is $149.5 million.  Budget was $43 million.

#10 Pacific Rim from Warner Bros. fell from #7 to #10 with a gross of $4.5 million (-41.7%) in 1,803 theaters (-799).  Total gross to date is $92.9 million.  Budget was $190 million.

#11 The Way, Way Back from Fox Searchlight held at #11 with a gross of $2.7 million (-20.8%) in 1,001 theaters (+115).  Total gross to date is $13.6 million.  Budget was unknown.

#10 Fruitvale Station from Weinstein Company fell from #10 to #12 with a gross of $2.6 million (-43.3%) in 1,086 theaters (+22).  Total gross to date is $10.9 million.  Budget was unknown.

The combined gross of the top 12 movies this weekend was $123.3 million.

Sources:
Box Office Mojo

#1 The Wolverine from 20^th Century Fox opened at #1 with a gross of $53.1 million in 3,924 theaters.  Budget was $120 million.

#2 The Conjuring from Warner Bros. fell from #1 to #2 with a gross of $22.2 million (-46.9%) in 3,022 theaters (+119).  Total gross to date is $83.9 million.  Budget was $20 million.

#3 Despicable Me 2 from Universal fell from #2 to #3 with a gross of $16.4 million (-34.1%) in 3,476 theaters (-344).  Total gross to date is $306.8 million.  Budget was $76 million.

#4 Turbo from 20^th Century Fox fell from #3 to #4 with a gross of $13.7 million (-35.5%) in 3,809 theaters (+3).  Total gross to date is $56.2 million.  Budget was $135 million.

#5 Grown Ups 2 from Sony/Columbia fell from #4 to #5 with a gross of $11.6 million (-41.6%) in 3,258 theaters (-233).  Total gross to date is $101.8 million.  Budget was $80 million.

#6 Red 2 from Lionsgate fell from #5 to #6 with a gross of $9.3 million (-48.3%) in 3,016 theaters.  Total gross to date is $35 million.  Budget was $84 million.

#7 Pacific Rim from Warner Bros. fell from #6 to #7 with a gross of $7.7 million (-51.9%) in 2,602 theaters (-683).  Total gross to date is $84.2 million.  Budget was $190 million.

#8 The Heat from 20^th Century Fox held at #8 with a gross of $6.9 million (-25.7%) in 2,384 theaters (-305).  Total gross to date is $141.3 million.  Budget was $43 million.

#9 R.I.P.D. from Universal fell from #7 to #9 with a gross of $6.1 million (-52.2%) in 2,850 theaters (-2).  Total gross to date is $24.6 million.  Budget was $130 million.

#10 Fruitvale Station from Weinstein Company rose from #17 to #10 with a gross of $4.6 million (+520.7%) in 1,064 theaters (+1,030).  Total gross to date is $6.3 million.  Budget was unknown.

#11 The Way, Way Back from Fox Searchlight rose from #13 to #11 with a gross of $3.4 million (+56.6%) in 886 theaters (+582).  Total gross to date is $9.1 million.  Budget was unknown.

#12 Monsters University from Buena Vista fell from #10 to #12 with a gross of $2.9 million (-44.3%) in 1,470 theaters (-716).  Total gross to date is $255.5 million.  Budget was unknown.

The combined gross of the top 12 movies this weekend was $158 million.

Sources:
Box Office Mojo

Following the events of the third X-Men movie, Wolverine (also known as Logan) has left the group being haunted by his having to kill Jean Grey. The mutant is being tracked by another mutant, Yukio. Yukio is in the employ of Yashida, a soldier who Wolverine saved during the bombing of Nagasaki. Yashida is now on his death bed and asks Wolverine to protect his granddaughter Mariko, as he suspects that she is about to be in danger, because she is set to inherit Yashida’s huge tech company. At the same time, Yashida tells Wolverine that he can end Wolverine’s personal torment and take away his healing power, so that he may now live out his life a normal man.

This is the premise of The Wolverine, the latest in the series of X-Men movies and also the latest movie from director James Mangold, who’s previously directed movies like Cop Land (a big favorite of mine), 3:10 to Yuma and Identity. While I like Mangold, he wouldn’t have necessarily been my own first choice to direct a movie like this and in fact he wasn’t. The Wolverine was originally set to be directed by visionary director Darren Aronofsky (Pi, Requiem for a Dream) who ended up bowing out because this was going to take him away from his family for too long. So Mangold gets the gig and at least by my own reckoning, turns in a pretty enjoyable film.

The Wolverine is loosely based on one of the earliest Marvel Comics mini-series centered around Wolverine written by Chris Claremont and drawn by Frank Miller. That generally serves as the springboard for the film and other facets are added, in particular the villains of the piece, Viper and the Silver Samurai. This plays with the comic aspects a little on the fast and loose side, but it all still seemed fitting to me. The big thing though is that this movie is far more of a character study than anything else and Mangold paces it accordingly. The Wolverine isn’t a big blockbuster that goes for explosions and destruction at every turn and personally, I found that to be quite refreshing. I’ve seen some already complain that this is nowhere near being what they expect out of a movie associated with the X-Men franchise, and I get that, but just don’t agree with it. It does feel different than the other films in the series, but not to the extent that say Iron Man 3 feels from it’s predecessors. Iron Man 3 tried to change the entire flavor of the series, whereas with The Wolverine it’s more of a side story that’s definitely still in the same universe.

Now with all of that said, that also leads to what I think is a problem with the film for those that aren’t exactly that familiar with the character (or at least as familiar as die hard fans are). Basically, I tend to think that you just can’t come into this blind, you would’ve need to have seen all of the other films (with maybe the exception of X-Men: First Class in order to appreciate the set up. More than likely, if you are seeing this, then you have seen the other films, but for those that haven’t, you’re probably going to be asking quite a few questions.

I think the film has a terrific look to it and the action scenes are especially nicely done, in particular a fight on the top of a bullet train that’s terrifically executed. Some have found the third act of the film to be clunky with it’s twist that’s thrown in with the Silver Samurai character and the idea that Viper isn’t exactly the most developed of villainous characters. This didn’t really bother me at all as the focus wasn’t really on these characters for the movie other than being a means to an end for the character of Wolverine. I think doing more there would’ve actually made for a clunkier film and just detracted from the film’s main drive, which is exploring the character of Wolverine, which in turn leads to the strongest factor in the entire movie and that’s actor Hugh Jackman.

This marks Jackman’s sixth outing as the character (which I believe has to be the record now for actors consistently playing the same character in a comic book based film) and we know he’s already committed to the next movie in the X-Men series and if Jackman had his way, he’d play Wolverine in an Avengers film as well. That’s commitment to the character and for me anyway, it still looks like Jackman is having a great time with it. This is the role that put this actor on the map and it’s nice to see that he’s just not ready to toss it aside at all. There’s real poignancy to the character and in the midst of that, Jackman has found a way to still make him very likable and very much someone we want to keep following. I can’t wait to see what he does in the X-Men: Days of Future Past movie.

Jackman’s got some really solid support here, in particular with actresses Tao Okamoto and Rila Fukushima who play Mariko and Yukio respectively. Okamoto’s Mariko contains a strength and drive similar to that of the Jean Grey character and it’s easy to see how Wolverine is attracted to her. Fukushima’s Yukio is a developing mutant who has qualities that seem quite similar to those of Anna Paquin, who played Rogue in the X-Men films. They’re both engaging actresses and I tend to think that their chemistry with Jackman is pretty strong. Speaking of Jean Grey, Famke Janssen returns to that part here in a series of dreams/hallucinations that Wolverine experiences and it’s nice to see her back in the part. Haruhiko Yamanouchi plays Yashida and it’s a solid character part that serves the present day proceedings. The most advancement we see with that character is more in the World War II flashback scenes when Yashida is played as a younger character by actor Ken Yamamura. Svetlana Khodchenkova plays Viper and this is easily the one character that I’ve seen the most hate for out there. They find her out of place and over the top and the most lacking in character and motivation. I really liked her look and thought it was cool that she was more of a throwback to a classic sort of villain.

All in all, I thought The Wolverine was quite a bit of fun. This X-Men side-story is a cool little character study that’s made even more appealing due to Hugh Jackman’s considerable acting strengths. It’s still satisfying to me as an action film and it’s a little bit of a change of pace for a summer action movie as it doesn’t go for the same sort of widespread destruction that’s more prevalent right now. I’m a fan of the previous films in the series (to varying degrees) and The Wolverine still seems like it fits and continues the series nicely. And speaking of continuing the series, stick around for awhile during the end credits for an additional scene that nicely sets things up for X-Men: Days of Future Past. This is a nice teaser for things to come and I can’t wait to see it.

#1 The Conjuring from Warner Bros. opened at #1 with a gross of $41.9 million in 2,903 theaters.  Budget was $20 million.

#2 Despicable Me 2 from Universal fell from #1 to #2 with a gross of $24.9 million (-43.3%) in 3,820 theaters (-183).  Total gross to date is $276 million.  Budget was $76 million.

#3 Turbo from 20^th Century Fox opened at #3 with a gross of $21.3 million in 3,806 theaters.  Total gross to date is $31 million.  Budget was $135 million.

#4 Grown Ups 2 from Sony/Columbia fell from #2 to #4 with a gross of $19.9 million (-52.1%) in 3,491 theaters.  Total gross to date is $79.4 million.  Budget was $80 million.

#5 Red 2 from Lionsgate opened at #5 with a gross of $18 million in 3,016 theaters.  Budget was $84 million.

#6 Pacific Rim from Warner Bros. fell from #3 to #6 with a gross of $16 million (-57.1%) in 3,285 theaters (+10).  Total gross to date is $68.3 million.  Budget was $190 million.

#7 R.I.P.D. from Universal opened at #7 with a gross of $12.7 million in 2,852 theaters.  Budget was $130 million.

#8 The Heat from 20^th Century Fox fell from #4 to #8 with a gross of $9.3 million (-33.6%) in 2,689 theaters (-439).  Total gross to date is $129.3 million.  Budget was $43 million.

#9 World War Z from Paramount fell from #7 to #9 with a gross of $5.2 million (-44.3%) in 2,066 theaters (-937).  Total gross to date is $186.9 million.  Budget was $190 million.

#10 Monsters University from Buena Vista fell from #6 to #10 with a gross of $5.1 million (-51.8%) in 2,186 theaters (-956).  Total gross to date is $249.1 million.  Budget was unknown.

#11 The Lone Ranger from Buena Vista fell from #5 to #11 with a gross of $4.4 million (-61.9%) in 2,273 theaters (-1,631).  Total gross to date is $81.3 million.  Budget was $215 million.

#12 White House Down from Sony/Columbia fell from #8 to #12 with a gross of $1.5 million (-61.1%) in 1,454 theaters (-1,112).  Total gross to date is $68.5 million.  Budget was $150 million.

The combined gross of the top 12 movies this weekend was $181.1 million.

Sources:
Box Office Mojo

Nick Walker is a Boston police detective with much on his mind. On a recent drug bust, he and his partner, Bobby Hayes, unexpectedly recovered some mysterious gold pieces that weren’t part of the bust. Both of the detectives took the gold without reporting it, and now this deed weighs heavily on Nick. The next day, Nick tells his partner that he’s going to report the gold, but won’t say a thing about Bobby keeping his- and then both are sent out on a major operation. As this operation is going down, Bobby shoots Nick dead. At that moment, Nick believes he is about to get his final judgement, but he’s yanked away and brought before a woman known as The Proctor. Nick has just discovered that he’s dead and The Proctor is the Boston bureau chief of the R.I.P.D., the Rest In Peace Department. The job of the R.I.P.D. is to protect and serve the living from creatures who refuse to move peacefully into the afterlife, known here as Deados.

Nick is made an offer to serve a 100-year term with the R.I.P.D. and he quickly accepts and just as he accepts, he learns he’s to be partnered with an R.I.P.D veteran, old West Sheriff Roy Pulsifer, who’s not exactly thrilled to have a partner. Something’s brewing in the Deado community and now it’s up to Walker and Pulsifer to put a stop to it.

R.I.P.D. is the latest comic book to movie adaptation and it comes to us from director Robert Schwentke, who’s best known for directing another comic-to-film adaptation, Red (which I haven’t seen) and the Jodie Foster thriller from a few years back, Flightplan (which I have seen and the less said the better). I’m a comic book fan, but I’ve not read R.I.P.D., so I can’t really say how faithful this is to it’s source.

If you’ve seen the trailers for R.I.P.D., then more than likely you’ve gotten a vibe off of them that’s a lot like the Men In Black movies. Not knowing the source material, I can’t say if that’s exactly the same there as well, but it’s certainly evident with the film. The whole film is virtually staged and set up just like the first Men In Black movie, but doesn’t exactly have the same style (or it’s own style) with it’s execution, making for a final piece that’s just sort of there and nothing else. Schwentke does a good job of making his main players look really cool (all scenes that you’ve seen in the trailer), but offers up little else. One neat little piece here is that when back in the world of the living, the R.I.P.D. officers have completely different appearances- for Nick Walker, it’s an old Chinese man (played by veteran actor James Hong) and for Roy Pulsifer, it’s a supermodel (played by supermodel Marissa Miller), that little juxtaposition of character types is pretty clever and when it’s used on-screen, it offers up some pretty nice moments, but not enough to really make R.I.P.D. stand out. Even with that, the rest of the movie still feels like warmed-over Men In Black.

I mentioned that Schwentke makes his main players look cool, I just wish it was the same with the visual effects as well. The Deados, when exposed, take on monstrous appearances that definitely feel like CGI models and don’t exactly feel natural to the rest of the movie. This could certainly be intentional, and while I’m not opposed to visual effects that look more theatrical than natural, there’s still something here that just feels a little off.

Ryan Reynolds plays Nick (marking his fourth comic book movie) and Jeff Bridges plays Roy. Reynolds is OK here, but there’s nothing real distinctive about the part. Bridges hams it up as the Old West lawman and not necessarily in a good way. Some of his lines just come off as unintelligible gibberish making me wish he would’ve shown a little restraint with his character. Mary-Louise Parker plays The Proctor, and for me anyway, she’s the really bright spot in the cast, having a distinctive style about her and some pretty snappy line delivery. You wouldn’t know it by seeing the trailers, but Kevin Bacon is in the film as Nick’s former partner, Bobby Hayes and our villain of the piece. Bacon’s serviceable in the part, but again, like so much else in the movie, it’s a by-the-numbers villain.

R.I.P.D. has a few good ideas, but it’s over-shadowed by being too much like Men In Black, and doesn’t do much to really stand apart from that. It’s not a horrible movie by any means, but in comparison to a lot of the other big summer fare, it just comes off as average more than anything else. I do think it’s watchable, but I’d also advise to maybe wait until it hits cable or Netflix streaming to take the plunge.