Category: Theatrical Review

A former Mexican Federale gets caught up in a plot to assassinate a United States Senatorial candidate and now he’s out for revenge.

That’s all that I’m going to say about the story to the newest film from co-directors Robert Rodriguez and Ethan Manaquis, the long-awaited Machete.

Well, it’s not really been that long a wait. The character Machete first made his appearance as the first of the four “fake” trailers in Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez’s Grindhouse back in 2007. For me, Grindhouse was the best movie of the year in 2007, it’s just a shame that it failed miserably at the box office. Grindhouse celebrated the exploitation film genre through both it’s content and it’s presentation. It promised a different experience to a whole new generation of moviegoers that just didn’t embrace it theatrically, and it was a shame, I really wanted to see that continue as it’s own series of films. But y’know, I get it’s failure, it didn’t do anything wrong (in fact it did everything right) it was just something that people did not want to see (sort of like the Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World of 2007, a movie that I myself just didn’t care to see).

But fortunately, that hasn’t stopped some creative minds from returning back to the exploitation genre, and while they don’t carry the bells and whistles of Grindhouse recent films like Piranha 3D and The Last Exorcism carry a similar sensibility, so it gives me hope.

Now on to Machete itself. After a nice opening sequence that sets up Machete’s origin (and is a nice salute to Grindhouse – set in 2007 and using similar techniques with film scratches) we move to today and the start of the plot that I described in the first paragraph. Once we’re in the present day, the film dispenses with Grindhouse scratchiness and remains clean throughout. That’s of course just with the quality of the presentation, the sensibility is still there. The rest of the movie is pure exploitation goodness, complete with massive amounts of violence, over-the-top characters and just a wee bit of gratuitous nudity. And it is a lot of fun, though I do have a couple of criticisms, both pretty minor.

This even takes the time to offer it’s own commentary surrounding illegal immigration today. Now this isn’t new in the exploitation genre, a lot of the films made back in the day had their little social message as well, they just didn’t get overly caught up in it, and they were wise to do so. If you’re going to see this and know what you’re getting into, then what you want to see is a very cool title character doing the things that he does best, which is doling out his own special brand of justice. Machete delivers that in spades and it has a great time doing it. This isn’t a blatant comedy, but it’s certainly not meant to be taken seriously either.

What is serious though is the level of talent this film has going for it, and most of it comes from Machette’s creator and co-director, Robert Rodriguez who has his hand in everything including the movie’s excellent score and it’s suitably appropriate visual effects. Hell, it wouldn’t surprise me if he didn’t cook for the crew at some point either. To me, he’s one of the most talented creative forces in movies today- he knows what he wants and he always gets it and he’s willing to put himself into it fully to get it.

Veteran character actor Danny Trejo gets a big moment to shine as the title character. Now Trejo is the real deal and if you want proof of that, then you should check out the excellent documentary about him and his past life Champion (and if you have Netflix Instant Play, that film is available to watch right now). He’s a definite tough guy and this film just amplifies that. He’s there to be super-cool and that’s it. And he is, his look is terrific and whenever he gets ready to do his thing, it’s right on the money.

That same image though presents some limitations and that’s mostly with driving things forward. That comes through with the other characters. Jessica Alba plays an immigration officer who not only represents the legal side of the immigration argument, but she looks damn good doing it. Robert DeNiro and Don Johnson play two of our villains of the piece. DeNiro plays the Senator who’s been the victim of the assassination attempt due to his views on illegal immigration. He’s a pure cartoon here (as are all of the villains) and one of the funnier bits showed just how quick he was to change his point of view when his back was up against the wall (well, maybe he’s not such a cartoon after all). Johnson is much more single-minded, and while I don’t think he necessarily did anything to stand out, he didn’t do anything wrong either and it was still fun to see him here.

My favorite members of the cast though (aside from Danny Trejo) are Jeff Fahey, Steven Seagal and Michelle Rodriguez. Fahey plays the Senator’s aide and he’s just having a ball here. Even more than the other villains, Fahey brings just a little more of a sleaze factor to the whole thing, and I tend to eat that stuff up. Steven Seagal gets his first villain role with this movie playing the crime lord Torrez who’s at the root of Machete’s origin. Again, like Fahey, he’s really chewing the scenery and looks like he’s having a grand time doing it, and that does translate. He also faces Machete in a final fight and this is where one of my minor criticisms lie. While the fight is good, I wish it had been just a little more over-the-top than what it is. Ten years ago, it would’ve been. It’s well-played considering the actors’ ages, but I would’ve liked a little more. Michelle Rodiguez plays Luz, the leader of the illegal immigration circuit. She looks terrific, better than I’ve ever seen her look on-screen before and she just has real presence in the movie. To me, one of the film’s signature images belongs to her, when she exits from an ambulance clad in skimpy black leather ready to kick ass and take names.

My other criticism also comes form another member of the cast, and that’s with Lindsay Lohan being cast as Fahey’s daughter. When we’re first introduced to her, she’s being “rescued” from her father from a night of debauchery and it’s basically hard to take that scene seriously in light of her recent problems. Now sure, you could say it’s authentic, but unlike Trejo’s authenticity, this works against things. It’s not unbearable by any means and really, the problem’s not necessarily entirely hers or the crews. It’s more a matter of unfortunate timing.

Machete is a lot of fun but, like the other recent exploitation styled films, it won’t be for everybody. Some will get caught up in the film’s social message, and I can understand how that might hurt everything for them. I had a great time with it and certainly wouldn’t mind at all to see sequels. It’s great to see the Grindhouse still going with something like this and again, I can just hope that it will continue and I’ll leave with my plea to Rob Zombie to please, please, please make a full-length feature of Werewolf Women of the S.S.

The Reverend Cotton Marcus is a man on a mission, and he believes in his own way that it is a mission for God. Marcus is a moderately successful preacher with his own showy and persuasive style. Since the birth of his son, suffering from defects, Marcus has lost his faith but still believes that he does perform a valuable service for people even though he’s way more pragmatic about how it relates to he and his family. Marcus has performed exorcisms in the past and he’s seen that others have performed exorcisms that have led to the death of their subjects. Now, Marcus is making a documentary film that will expose the secrets behind these exorcisms. He’s contacted by a man named Louis Sweetzer in rural Louisiana to help his daughter Nell, and is about to face more than he ever expected.

The Last Exorcism is a low-budget horror film from producers Eli Roth, Strike Entertainment and directed by Daniel Stamm. Now I’m not really familiar with either of Stamm’s other movies, but I’m definitely familiar with work coming from Roth and Strike Entertainment. Roth of course directed Cabin Fever and the Hostel films, all of which I enjoyed very much. Strike Entertainment was behind the Zack Snyder re-make of Dawn of the Dead and I hold that remake in the same high regard as the original. So having this producing crew behind The Last Exorcism had me looking forward to the movie. For the most part, I think it delivers, though I do have one small problem with it.

This film is shot in the same fake documentary style as movies like The Blair Witch Project, Quarantine and last year’s big smash, Paranormal Activity and right off the bat, I know that will be a big turn-off to a lot of viewers. Whether you see it as an over-used gimmick or you’re just turned off by the shaky hand-held camera style, if you’re turned off by this, then just avoid it at all costs. Personally though, I love this way of filmmaking. It throws you smack dab into the middle of things and doesn’t do anything uncomfortable in it’s set-up. It also doesn’t rely on overly flashy effects, and due to the hand-held camera work, forces you to rely more on your imagination for the real horror.

But, there is a problem within this presentation and it’s just by the fact that the creative team decided to use some minimal music in some scenes to both heighten and dull some of the moments. Now I can understand why they did this. If you check all sorts of movie messageboards, you can certainly see that some are turned off by this style. So, in my opinion, I can see the addition of music to be a tool used to say that this is more your traditional sort of movie rather than the fake documentary. I think it was a mistake to go that route though and the film as a whole would’ve been much more effective had they chosen to exorcise the music from it.

That’s my only gripe. The rest of this, I thought was very well-made for the style of film. It features a nice twist, that I certainly didn’t see coming, at the end. I thought that was a nice little throwback to some horror movies of the 70s. The best part though is the earnest performances from it’s cast.

Patrick Fabian plays Cotton Marcus and he’s really good, sort of coming off to me as what you’d get if you crossed Jeff Daniels with Marjoe Gortner. A good portion of the start of the movie is used to put us in Cotton’s shoes and Fabian has a great charisma that made me want to join him on the road. I’ve also got to give high marks to both Ashley Bell who plays Nell Sweetzer and Louis Herthurm who plays her father, Louis Sweetzer. Bell is appropriately sweet and innocent until the moments of possession sinks in and then she’s just as appropriately creepy. Herthurm was the only cast member who I was familiar with, having seen him in all sorts of character parts in the past. He gets some real shining moments here and certainly has some believable conviction.

I did enjoy this, though as I said it loses some marks from me for it’s unnecessary use of music. As the credits started to roll, I overheard the couple sitting behind me making their comments. The woman really liked the movie while the man with her said “It’s cheesy.” Well, I just had to ask him why. And I know I took him by surprise with that, but still I was genuinely curious. He took a moment and said “It was fake.” to which I immediately asked “How could it be “real?” (though I admit it’s hard to emphasize the quote portion of that) and I didn’t get an answer. Again, I understand that, I was putting the guy on the spot and I can certainly understand if something like the inclusion of music added to that. I tend to think that he more wanted to see a more traditionally-produced horror film and was just turned off by this film’s obvious low-budget approach. I think that will be the case with most who do see this, but regardless, I still had a great time with it.

Pretty simply, every year, the small resort area of Lake Victoria sees it’s population rise thanks to the influx of thousands of college students wanting to party their brains out for spring break. This year is no exception, but with one addition: a small earthquake hits opening a fissure in the lake bottom, releasing thousands of prehistoric piranha on an unsuspecting spring break populace.

That’s the premise to Piranha 3D, the latest film from horror director Alexandre Aja. It’s also a remake of Joe Dante’s 1978 film Piranha, recently rereleased on DVD as part of Shout! Factory’s Roger Corman’s Cult Classics. And it’s one hell of a good time, especially if you enjoy over-the-top exploitation movies.

This movie lets you know what you’re in for right from the start with it’s opening scene. Featuring a cameo appearance by Richard Dreyfuss, playing a fisherman named Matt, singing the song, “Show Me The Way To Go Home,” this scene acknowledges the intentions of the original movie (being a Jaws rip-off) and sets you up for the wild ride that you’re about to take.

That wild ride is very bloody, very violent and filled with gratuitous nudity (it very much earns it’s R rating- this one isn’t for kids). It’s all in glorious 3D and just fun as all get out. Like the original, everyone here knows just what kind of movie they’re making and it’s all played very straight (with one notable exception), just like it should be.

Previously, Alexandre Aja made the very effective French horror film, High Tension which got him a lot of notice. From there, he headed up the remake of Wes Craven’s The Hills Have Eyes and gave us a fun ride with that as well. After that, came the thriller Mirrors with Kiefer Sutherland, that I wasn’t quite a s enamored with.

When I first heard Piranha 3D was coming, I was looking forward to it, though at the time I hadn’t seen the original movie. Since seeing the original, and knowing that Aja was attached to it, that raised my expectations quite a bit and I wasn’t disappointed in the slightest.

While this varies in story points from the original, structurally it runs the same course with it’s set-up, character introduction, a couple of mini-climaxes and an ending that even uses the same escape scenario. Characters are simply drawn and serviceable to what we really want to see.

It looks great and runs counter to the visuals of Aja’s other movies with tons of bright color and detail. The visual effects with the piranha is pretty obvious CGI work, and by that obviousness, very suitable to the exploitation feel of the movie.

We’ve got a good cast in this film and as I said above, they know what kind of movie they’re in and they go with it. Elizabeth Shue plays Lake Vicotria’s sheriff and it’s really cool to see here do something like this. Ving Rhames is her bad-ass deputy who has his own way of dealing with the piranha. Stephen R. McQueen plays Shue’s son, who’s the hero focus of the film, and he’s suitable to the movie, though more of the fun is being had by the bigger names. Those include the above-mentioned Richard Dreyfuss, Jerry O’Connell and Christopher Lloyd. Dreyfuss, is purely there for the set-up and I thought it was very cool that he did it. O’Connell plays a Joe Francis (Girls Gone Wild) type of character as the over-the-top Derrick Jones. Jones is in Lake Victoria to shoot his latest video, Wild Wild Girls, and right from the start, you pretty much know what’s going to happen to him in the end. Christopher Lloyd is the notable exception that I alluded to above. He plays the town expert who informs the sheriff of just what she’s dealing with. Right from the moment we see him, he’s in his full Doc Brown glory and chews more scenery than the piranha do. But y’know, I really wouldn’t have it any other way. It doesn’t deter from anything else that has happened in the movie up to that point and really just emphasizes the movie’s fun factor.

I think the 3D is just terrific here. It’s a shame that earlier in the year we had to have some movies with tacked on 3D, because they just took away from the real fun that you can have when a movie is legitimately made with 3D in mind. Like Step Up 3D, Piranha 3D uses it’s gimmick very well with not only immersive depth of the environment but with plenty of reach-out-and-touch-it moments. It works great for all of the piranha scenes and it’s really well-used with an underwater erotic scene that Derrick Jones is filming.

Piranha 3D ain’t for everyone, that’s for sure, but then that’s the case with most exploitation movies. Make no mistake, this is pure exploitation and if that’s you’re thing (it’s mine) and you’re willing to let your hair down, you should have a great time with this. As a remake, I’d put this on the same par as Zack Snyder’s remake of Dawn of The Dead, a movie that can stand right alongside with the original. With Robert Rodriguez’s Machete around the corner, and with Piranha 3D out now, it’s great to see that these sort of movies are still getting released, especially in the wake of Grindhouse’s failure to do big box office. Now we just need Rob Zombie to make a full length version of Werewolf Women of the S.S.

Barney Ross is the leader of a group of mercenaries called The Expendables and they’re about to take on a job where they overthrow a dictator in a small country called Vilena.

That’s about all I’ll say about the overall story to The Expendables, the long-awaited movie from director and star Sylvester Stallone that gathers together some of the greatest ever stars of action movies. Has it been worth the wait? Well, I certainly think so.

Since making Rocky Balboa a couple of years ago and then following it up with Rambo, Stallone’s been showing up that he still has the chops to make a darn good movie, and The Expendables just adds to that, and in my opinion surpasses those two great movies.

This is a cool throwback to 80s action movies with some modern techniques thrown in. The story and character interaction remind of the sort of thing that we would see from writer Shane Black (the Lethal Weapon movies) and that’s very cool, as every character gets a chance to have their little bit of spotlight in the movie.

Yeah, it’s high-charged action but at the same time, it has those moments where it’s allowed to breathe and spotlight more than just moving from action sequence to action sequence. It’s also very self-aware of the type of movie that it is, but it’s not a mocking self-awareness, it’s all played straight.

But really, the main thing that we’re going to see this movie for is just it’s terrific assemblage of action movie stars. And while Stallone is the lead, it never once felt to me like he was dominating the movie, this really felt like an ensemble film. But he is the glue that holds it all together and he’s extremely solid.

And what a cast- Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Randy Couture, and Terry Crews form the rest of The Expendables and Mickey Rourke plays a former team member who’s since retired from the life but still hangs with his pals. Statham has been one of my favorite guys to see in movies for awhile now, and he doesn’t disappoint here. He and Stallone have the tightest relationship amongst the group and their chemistry is very good. In the action sequences, while all of the guys are very effective, Statham tends to standout to me with an intensity to his moves that just looks authentic. Jet Li is given top billing in the movie, though his part is a little smaller than Stallone’s and Statham’s, but he also gets the chance to provide some cool comedy relief as well as have one terrific fight sequence with Dolph lundgren.

But it doesn’t stop there, of course we have the uncredited appearances of Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger that have certainly been pushed strong in the trailers for the film. Stallone, Schwarzenegger and Willis are just together for one scene, but it’s a good one. Willis plays the man who’s hiring for the job and Schawarzenegger is the head of a rival mercenary group. Willis brings the intensity to the scene and Stallone and Schwarzenegger take some funny shots at each other. It’s very short, but it still feels like your genuine moment that’s a special thing if you’re a fan of big-ass action movies.

And it still doesn’t stop, Eric Roberts is absolutely terrific as the villain of the piece and Stone Cold Steve Austin plays his right hand man. Roberts looks great here and he’s just a commanding presence whenever he’s on screen. Austin has few words, but when they’re delivered, they’re authentic. He literally goes toe-to-toe with Stallone in one fight sequence, and hands Stallone his hat.

The Expendables is the last of the big three “Men on a Mission” movies for the year (the other two being The Losers and The A-Team) and I have to say, it’s my favorite of the bunch. It’s a rollicking ride that’s self-aware without spoofing and delivers the good with some prime action sequences and big stars. It’s also left open-ended, so there’s the chance for sequels and I hope Stallone and company return for more (and hopefully work with other action stars as well, like Steven Seagal, Jean-Claude Van Damme, and Dwayne Johnson amongst others). Fun stuff and highly recommended.

I used to make fun of these movies.

Yep, I just had no appreciation for them whatsoever, and so they were something that I just made fun and had contempt for.

That all changed a few years ago when Fox premiered So You Think You Can Dance. Now here’s the deal, I had no intention of ever watching this show when it premiered. American Idol had just finished another season, and I was ready to move on. The day that SYTYCD started, I had just gotten a a new DVR from my cable company and along with getting that DVR, I was also now getting High-Def access. I got this late in the day, and so once it was all installed, I was flipping around to see what I could see in glorious HD. SYTYCD was just starting and I kept the TV on that channel for the first audition and man… it just struck me the same way that a great painting does, this dancer I saw in action was a beautiful piece of live action art.

So I continued to watch the show, and just got hooked. Every episode, I always see something that’s just absolutely amazing. The panel of judges, always headed by Executive Producer Nigel Lythgoe, just had a great and positive energy about them and always handed out praise and constructive criticism to their contestants. The show’s host, Cat Deeley, is to me, a positively magnetic personality and she does a fantastic job hosting this show. She’s, in my eyes, the best of the hosts of the various talent shows that are on the air now.

But the main thing that got to me about the show was just it’s sheer celebration of it’s artform, encompassing all forms of dance. On American Idol, I’d actually grow to actively dislike some of their contestants, but that rarely happened with SYTYCD (only once so far). There’s a lot of joy to this show, and even for someone with two left feet like myself, there’s a lot to appreciate. And this went even further, because I started watching America’s Best Dance Crew as well, and that just gave me even more to appreciate.

Adam Shankman has been one of the regular judges on the show for the last two seasons and I knew he was one of the producers of the Step Up movies. Because of that, I eventually saw both Step Up and Step Up 2 The Streets on cable and had a pretty good time with them. On top of that, it doesn’t hurt that Shankman was behind this year’s Oscar broadcast, delivering what I thought was the best Oscar show that I’d seen in a long time.

So, when I finally saw the trailer to Step Up 3D, I was finally ready to want to see one of these movies theatrically. When this opportunity came up through The Trades], I jumped at the chance to go see it. Recently on SYTYCD, Cat Deeley said something to the effect that Step Up 3D is the kind of movie that their viewers should go see, and I have to say, she’s absolutely right.

Step Up 3D starts with one of the characters from Step Up 2 The Streets, Moose as he’s about to start college at NYU. Everyone thinks Moose has this dancing thing out of his system and now he’s ready to start his life in the real world and concentrate on his studies to be an engineer. Well, right off the bat, Moose inadvertently gets involved in a dance showdown with a member of a dance group called The Samurai, and Moose pretty much schools this guy. Moose catches the eye of Luke, a budding filmmaker who has his own dance crew called The Pirates and right away, Luke drafts Moose into his crew. But Luke and his crew have their own problems. The building that they’re staying in is about to be foreclosed on and their only chance to save the building is to compete against the top dance crews in epic B-Boy battles. At the same time that Luke is showing Moose around the building, a young lady named Natalie catches Luke’s eye with her own moves. Now Luke has what he needs to put his crew on the map and save their building… though it won’t quite be that easy.

Now, Step Up 3D won’t win any awards for originality in it’s story, but really that’s OK, it’s story acts as a frame for some really spectacular dance sequences. When it comes right down to it, if you’re going to see this movie, that’s really what you’re wanting to see and director Jon M. Chu really delivers the goods.

But coming back to it’s story, yeah, it’s heavily derivative, the characters are pretty shallow and there’s a few holes that you could drive a truck through, but y’know, it just didn’t bother me. You’ve got a very amiable cast at work here (even if they are shallow) and more than anything else, like SYTYCD, it’s a celebration of dance and for fans of this, that will probably suffice, it certainly did for me.

Chu’s shooting this almost like a classic Technicolor musical. There’s a kaleidoscope of bright colors and exquisite detail in every single shot. The dance numbers themselves are mostly shown full on and though there are some cuts, those cuts are spare making you feel like you’re watching a live show more often than not.

And it’s all presented in beautiful 3D! Yeah, there’s a lot of bellyachin’ going on these days about the overuse of 3D in movies and for a lot of those productions, I’m right there with you. But when something like this comes along that’s specifically shot for 3D and takes full advantage of it, well that’s when the pluses of 3D loom large. This isn’t tacked on 3D by any means and it works on both ends creating immersive environments as well as giving you that reach out and touch it effect. For me, this is the best live-action 3D that I’ve seen in a movie so far.

While this movie won’t win any acting awards, I still thought that our main three characters, Luke, Natalie and Moose were likable characters and actors Rick Malambri, Sharni Vinson and Adam Sevani certainly look good and do serviceable jobs. There are a few SYTYCD alum in the cast as well, most notable being Season 4’s winner Joshua and one of the finalists from Season 6, Legacy. The one that’s a real treat to see though is from Season 4 and this year’s All-Star cast and that’s Stephen “tWitch” Boss. For my money, tWitch is the best pure performer that I ever saw on the show. In this current season, he had one of the real standout moments with a routine that he performed with early favorite Alex Wong choreographed Napoleon and Tabitha D’umo (do yourself a favor and check this out on Youtube). tWitch is pure support here, and while he’s not given the chance to stand out like he does on SYTYCD, it’s still a genuine pleasure to see him in this film and I just hope that he gets the chance to do more in the future (and maybe even more than just dance, I thinks he’s got those kind of chops).

So if you’re a fan of dance and musicals, by all means see this (it’s not just Hip-Hop in this movie, there’s also a nice ballroom number and a terrific salute to the type of thing that Gene Kelly would do later in the film) and see it in 3D. This 3D doesn’t disappoint in the slightest and thanks to the talent of director Jon Chu and his fine cast of dancers, you’ll see some things here in live action that will rival some of the more ambitious mechanical and digital effects of other movies. If you’re not a fan… well, a few years ago, I wasn’t either and I’ve certainly had my eyes peeled in recent years. Step Up 3D could go a long way to giving others a big appreciation for the art of dance.

A woman named Evelyn Salt is held captive in North Korea. The North Koreans believe her to be a spy and even under extreme torture, Salt denies it (though it is true), maintaining that she’s an executive with a petroleum company. Eventually though she’s released in a spy exchange. It was something that she hadn’t expected, but it was done thanks to efforts of her boyfriend, Mike Krause, a German arachnologist who is something of a big deal. His looking into this threatened to make a huge international stink, and so Salt’s CIA superiors decide to arrange for being freed.

Two years later, Salt’s cover is still good and things are going well for her. One day though, a defector comes in from the cold. A master Russian spy named Orlov who reveals a plot to kill the Russian president scheduled to happen in the United States. Orlov tells that this will happen due to a deep cover operative placed within the CIA- an agent named Evelyn Salt. Now Salt is on the run in order to supposedly clear her name.

Salt is the latest movie from director Philip Noyce and screenwriter Kurt Wimmer. Noyce is best remembered for his work on two of the Jack Ryan movies, Patriot Games and Clear and Present Danger. Wimmer is certainly no stranger to the action genre, having written movies like Law Abiding Citizen, The Recruit and the remake of The Thomas Crown Affair. Wimmer’s better known (at least to me) for the two movies that he wrote and directed, Equilibrium and Ultraviolet. I think they’ve delivered a pretty fun movie here, with just a few quibbles on my end.

It’s been awhile since seeing Philip Noyce do this kind of big action movie, and he hasn’t lost his touch. The action scenes here are genuinely thrilling with one of the big highlights being a chase scene near the start of the film. The pacing of this film is pretty balls to the wall all the way through, though you never get lost in it.

Salt’s story revisits the days of the Cold War in a big way, offering up it’s own comic book take on a huge Russian master plan. Now I’ve seen some complaints regarding it’s realism, or lack of, and I have to say, this didn’t bother me. It might’ve if this had some sort of mocking quality to it, but it doesn’t. It’s all handled very straight with some solid conviction all around.

Angelina Jolie plays Evelyn Salt and I think she does one hell of a good job here. She looks terrific (as always) and she’s one of the few actresses around who I think can pull off this kind of action and make it convincing. She’s backed up with some fine support from Liev Schrieber and Chiwetol Ejifor. Daniel Olbrychski plays Orlov and does a nice job as this Russian master spy. He’s mainly there for story exposition, but certainly carries the authority to pull it off.

Some of my quibbles though are in the casting. I think this should’ve gone a little bigger with it’s casting of both Mike Krause and the President of the United States. I’m sure that both August Diehl (Krause) and Hunt Block (the president) are doing just what’s asked of them, but there’s not a whole lot more. And while their casting doesn’t really hurt the movie, having actors who could’ve brought a bit more to it could’ve added a lot more. Andre Braugher is cast as the Secretary of Defense and he’s only seen in a single scene near the end where he barely has anything to do- and so to me, an actor of his calibre is wasted. He could’ve served this movie better being cast as the President of the United States.

Now the next quibble goes into spoiler territory, so if you don’t want to be spoiled, then skip this paragraph. Almost from the moment he’s introduced, you sort’ve suspect that something is up with the character that Liev Schrieber plays. Indeed by the movie’s end, you find out that there is indeed something going on with him. Now I really like Schreiber and I think it would’ve actually been pretty cool had they defied convention with his use and maybe have had another CIA agent introduced at the start to take on what Schreiber ends up doing. It would’ve been nice to see him more in the good guy role here. Again, like with the casting of the president and Mike Krause, this doesn’t really hurt the movie, but it really could’ve improved if this had just defied convention a bit.

Still, even with my quibbles, Salt is a lot of fun and hopefully the start of a new franchise for both Jolie and Philip Noyce. I had a great time with this.

Dom Cobb specializes in the world of corporate espionage. He has a reputation for being the best in the business for finding the deepest of corporate secrets. He does this through the infiltration of dreams and using a specialized technology that lets him and his associates construct a shared dream world. Once their target is in this world, then their secrets are pretty much Cobb’s for the picking, but only because of Cobb’s advanced use of the technology and deep understanding of the human subconscious.

Cobb’s talents though have made him a wanted man in the United States, and since the death of his wife Mal (related to their work in dreams), he’s desperate to be able to come back to the States and be a real father to their children. Dom gets his chance thanks to a ruthless corporate head named Saito. Saito wants Dom and his associates to infiltrate the dreams of a corporate rival. But instead of taking a secret from him, Saito wants Cobb to implant an idea through a process that they call Inception. Inception has never been performed successfully, but Saito has promised Cobb that if he can perform this, Saito will use his connections to clear Cobb’s way to get back to his family.

Of course, Cobb accepts the mission and what follows is one hell of a terrific and extremely smart ride.

Inception is the much awaited new film from director (and writer) Christopher Nolan. Nolan of course made huge waves with his second film, the low-budget Memento and has since become a real power player with Warner Brothers since helming Batman Begins and The Dark Knight (and about to go even further with him shepherding the next iteration of Superman for film). Inception, from what I understand, has been an idea that he’s been developing since making Memento. That long thought and planning is very much evident on the big screen.

I tend to think of this film as the sort of thing you might get if you mashed art house guys like Peter Greenaway (who’s been known to make movies where he’s set himself some specific rules for how his films unfold) and David Lynch (who’s readily dealt with dream interpretation in his past work) with just a touch of a hardcore action filmmaker. This combination doesn’t exactly make for what one tends to think of as a typical summer blockbuster. Yet, it really does work. And further, this harkens back to Memento, giving you the type of movie that you can watch again and again just to see how all the pieces work together.

This film is a mix of two things: an intense character study and your classic caper film. On one end, we get a very intense character with Dom Cobb and Cobb has a pretty dark past with the death of his wife, Mal. This is so ingrained in Dom that even in the midst of a shared dream world, Mal will manifest herself and threaten the entire operation. As this progresses, Dom must come to grips with his involvement in his wife’s death while still staying on point with the task at hand.

On the other end, we have the classic caper film- and as with all good caper films, we have some clear rules for how things are supposed to play out. Of course though, nothing ever sticks to the plan in the end of these movies and everything gets incredibly screwed up.

Add in the idea of dealing with deep layers of the subconscious and you’ve got some pretty impressive meat to chew on here.

It’s all skillfully handled and a lot of credit has to go to the editing of the film- especially in the film’s second half where eventually we end up seeing Cobb’s team dealing with the main dream and then three stages of dreams within the main dream. This could easily become confusing if you don’t have a deft touch on the cutting room floor. As complicated as this becomes, it’s never confusing to follow- as long as you’re paying attention. Kudos to Mister Nolan and film editor Lee Smith (Smith should get an Oscar nomination for his work here).

Inception certainly looks terrific thanks to some pretty smart production design and the sure eye of cinematographer Wally Pfister (who’s worked on every Nolan film except for Following). I also have to give high marks to Hans Zimmer for a knockout score- it’s not atypical of his previous action work and it’s particularly effective as the caper plays out.

None of this would work if you didn’t have a cast that’s ready to convict to the ideas here in spades, and fortunately Nolan has that cast. Leonardo DiCaprio plays Dom Cobb and there’s a lot of similarities here to what we’ve seen from him earlier in the year with Shutter Island (I wasn’t that taken with Shutter Island on the first viewing and certainly owe it another shot down the road). The difference here is that it wasn’t as apparent to me what his final resolution was going to be as it was in Shutter Island. What DiCaprio brings to this though is a an intensity that feels authentic to a man who spends a deep amount of time and study to the dream world and knowing just how harmful that world can be. He’s the anchor here, but as we find out, you’re just not sure how sturdy that anchor is and DiCaprio is pretty convincing on that end.

DiCaprio’s got a lot of excellent support. Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays his right hand man, Arthur. Gordon-Levitt’s certainly come a long way since Angels in the Outfield and Third Rock From The Sun. Now he’s strictly support here and does a solid job of being Cobb’s second. But even as support he gets a true area to shine in one of the film’s most innovative and imaginative action scenes in the caper’s second dream stage. This scene, even though it’s skillfully edited with the other layers, is a standout and you have to figure a lot of credit goes to Gordon-Levitt’s conviction to make this play just right. Ellen Page plays Ariadne who becomes Cobb’s new Architect for building a dream world. Page is one of those actors that you can always see has a brain in her head when she’s on-screen. It pays off here handsomely as she tries to figure out everything she can about Cobb’s demons.

Tom Hardy and Dileep Rao make up the rest of Cobb’s team. Hardy plays Eames who acts as the Forger and can literally shapeshift himself in the dreamworld to play specific people in the subconscious. Dileep Rao plays Yusif who acts as the sedative supplier to the team and has his own special concoction that can work through three layers of the subconscious as well as connect up to 12 people at one time. Both are solid, but Hardy really stands out here with his own brand of self-confidence.

It doesn’t stop there either. Ken Watanabe plays Saito, the man who wants Cobb to do the job. There’s just one catch, Saito wants to go in with Cobb’s team and see firsthand that the job gets done. Now Watanabe’s good here, but I have to admit I had a little trouble following some of his dialogue in some places. Some of that though I chalk up to the theatre that I saw this in and where I sat, so I expect something different when I’ll next see this. Cillian Murphy plays Robert Fischer, Jr.- the Mark. Up to the point where we first see him, this whole film has centered around Cobb and his team. So Murphy has to do his best to give you a pretty rounded character in a short amount of time and he certainly does here. Tom Berenger (man, it’s cool to see Berenger in a movie like this- sort of like how cool it was to see Rutger Hauer in Batman Begins) plays Browning, Fischer’s advisor and he’s certainly good there, but he gets to go in for double duty when Eames assumes Browning’s identity in the dream world and he brings in some nice subtleties.

Finally though, I have to give extremely high marks to Marion Cotilliard who plays Mal, Dom’s wife. First, she’s just gorgeous, an absolutely beautiful woman but that’s just the surface. She’s the root of Cobb’s own problems and so whenever she comes on screen, then she’s got to carry a lot of weight and a lot of presence and she certainly does. And as we get further and further in, she has some pretty heavy and harrowing moments that are indelible.

This isn’t the first time that we’ve seen a movie that has dealt with the world of dreams and the perception of reality. Dreams have been dealt with in things like Dreamscape and the anime Paprika. Reality has certainly been dealt with in things like The Matrix movies, The Cell and Vanilla Sky. But rarely do we get to see something that takes it as far as what Inception does (The Matrix[ films being the ones that next do it best in my mind). This is the sort of film that demands being seen again and again. Oh, I certainly had a satisfying experience the first time, but there’s just so many layers of depth here that certainly makes me want to see it again). Don’t miss this one, make it a point to see it in a theatre on the best screen you can- you’ll be glad you did.

Without a doubt, another film that will definitely figure in as one of the best that I’ve seen for 2010. Inception is highly, highly recommended.

When you see the logo for Robert Rodriguez’s Troublemaker Studios, you can pretty much bet that if you enjoy genre entertainment, you’re in for a good time.

Producer Robert Rodriguez was pretty much given carte blanche from 20th Century Fox to do something with the Predator franchise. And I think that he and director Nimrod Antal have got something pretty cool here.

Predators starts with our main character, an American mercenary, plummeting from the sky to the ground below. He’s just wakened up and realizes that he has some sort of parachute around him, but he can’t activate it. It activates on it’s own at the last moment and this mercenary lands in the midst of a steaming jungle. One after another, others also land. All of them are warriors from other cultures with one seeming exception, a doctor. They all form a reluctant truce to try and find who tossed them out of an airplane. Well, soon our little band of warriors find that they’re no longer on Earth and they’ve been brought to an interplanetary game reserve. They realize that they’re the game and they’re being hunted by the most fierce hunters in the galaxy, the Predators.

What follows is a pretty cool cat and mouse chase story with this fierce band of prey trying to outwit and escape from the Predators. Oh, there’s really nothing new here, though a new twist is thrown in with the Predator race, but that doesn’t really matter. If you’re familiar with the other Predator movies, you pretty much know what you’re going to get, and that’s some slick and brutal science fiction action.

Predators delivers on that count for sure. While this isn’t anything overly complex in how it’s set up, director Antal manages to have his action unfold logically and for the first half hour of the film, really builds up a nice sense of dread. Our characters are all of the two-dimensional variety, but again, with this series, that’s not really a detriment. And there are some nice bits thrown in along the way, though you really won’t find yourself necessarily identifying with any of these folks, other than just through their desire for survival.

It all really looks good, and in some scenes, I almost get the feeling that Antal and Rodriguez are channeling the art of Frank Frazetta in some places. The visual effects are really nice and of course, with a movie like this, the main standout is more in make-up effects. When you have the best in the business, KNB EFX Group, handling that, you know you’re in good hands.

Another huge plus for the movie is it’s musical score by John Debney which is basically repurposing Alan Silvestri’s scores from the first two Predator movies. With this series, it’d be wrong to do anything any different.

Now as I said, the characters are all two-dimensional (again not a bad thing) but still you want a cast that can give it all some credibility and fortunately, they have a good cast here with a couple of surprises for me anyway.

Adrien Brody leads the cast as our American mercenary (and yeah, he does have a name, but it’s left unrevealed until the end of the film- the name itself isn’t really a big deal, but it’s revelation is something of a turnaround point for this character, so I’m not going to reveal it). Now I’d never expect to see Brody head up this sort of action film, but I have to say, he’s really got the chops to do it. His character seems the most hardened out of the entire cast, so much so that he’s the most ready to sacrifice everyone else for his own survival. As far as I’m concerned, he’s had a pretty good year this year with genre entertainment with both this movie and earlier this summer with Splice. He’s an intense character, not a lot of joy in this man, but you definitely get the feeling that he’s having a good time doing this sort of part.

He’s backed up with a solid supporting cast that includes Alice Braga, Walton Goggins, Topher Grace and Laurence Fishburne. Fishburne comes into the movie a little later as previous bit of prey who’s managed to survive in this environment for quite a long time, and as such, he’s a little off his nut. It’s still good work from him though, and again, he’s just the right sort of guy to give this some credibility. the real surprises for me though were Alice Braga and Topher Grace. I’ve not necessarily been a fan of either previously. The last thing that I saw Braga in, Repo Men, she was quite the drag in that film. But here though, she holds her own well with this group of hardened guys, being both tough and having a little maternal quality to her. Topher Grace was really unexpected. He plays the doctor amongst this crew. I really don’t want to reveal anything further about his character, but I’ll just say that for me, this might be the best thing that I’ve ever seen him do, so take from that what you will.

And of course, this wouldn’t be a Robert Rodriguez film if Danny Trejo wasn’t in it in some way or another. Trejo’s here and doing just what we want him doing, playing the badass. Even better though, is that running with Predators we get the trailer for the next Rodriguez movie, which will be Trejo’s starring vehicle, Machete which we first saw with Quentin Tarantino’s and Rodriguez’s Grindhouse and is already looking like it might be some of the most fun on the big screen this year, but I digress…

Predators is just a whole lot of B-movie fun and it really helps to put this franchise back on the map again. I’m not going to denigrate the Aliens Vs. Predators movies (I actually really enjoy them), but it’s nice to see them back in their own movie. You’ve got a rock solid cast here, a great look, terrific visual and make-up effects, and the music that you want to hear with this franchise. By all means, see this one.

M. Night Shyamalan, I really was rooting for you.

After making a big splash with movies like The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable and Signs, an M. Night Shyamalan movie was something like a mini-event when it would come along. These were nice movies that embraced genre filmmaking and all punctuated with a twist of some sort, and they resonated with audiences Then came The Village and Lady In The Water. Things got a little more ponderous. While I like these, I don’t like them to the same extent that I like the other three movies. Then came The Happening, Shyamalan’s only venture into R-rated territory and things really devolved. The movie was ill-cast, there was little credibility to what was on screen and overall it was just plain laughable… and not in the good way.

But I like M. Night Shyamalan, I really do, and so when I heard he was going to adapt the Nickelodeon cartoon, Avatar, The Last Airbender, I was hoping that he was going to succeed with something that didn’t rely on his past formula.

With it’s alternate history setting, The Last Airbender tells the story of the four nations of the Earth, each represented by different elements- Water, Air, Earth and Fire. All are kept in check by a being known as the Avatar, who has mastery over all of the elements. 100 years ago (from the present day shown in the movie), a young boy named Aang was chosen to be the next Avatar. Aang was part of the Air Nation and has mastery over the element. Aang didn’t want the responsibility and ran away. He got into trouble and found himself encased in ice only to be discovered 100 years later by Katara and Sokka, two siblings part of the oppressed Water Nation. In the time that Aang was gone, the harmony that the other nations had was no longer in place. The Fire Nation sought domination over the rest of the tribes and now rule the world. Aang now accepts his responsibility, but in order to succeed, he must first master the other elements. He sets off on a journey with Katara and Sokka at his side to first master Water.

The Last Airbender is a loose adaptation of the first season of the animated show. Shyamalan’s got a difficult task here in that he has to encapsulate that first season (20 episodes) into something that can run a reasonable time in movie theatres, and honestly, I think it was more than he could handle. The way the movie plays out, it’s almost as if the season was broken down into a bare bones outline without any of the glue that binds it all together. Of course liberties are taken, and I expected that they would, but some just seem to come out of left field. The biggest of these is just a mispronunciation of Aang’s name. I mean this is just about as basic as it gets- you already have 20 episodes of a show that pronounces the main character’s name in a pretty exact way. That’s right in front of you, so why ignore it?

So that’s the starting point and from there, everything else falls. Characterization hardly exists here. One of the big charms of the animated series is that Aang likes to have fun along the way and he develops a real bond with Katara and Sokka. Well, that fun aspect of the character is almost entirely lost here. There’s little bits in Noah Ringer’s performance as Aang, but it’s real threadbare (and no I don’t blame Ringer or any of the other actors for this). The bond with Katara and Sokka is just there. There’s nothing to show how it develops, it’s just there to move things forward. The only character to have any real sort of development is Prince Zuko played by actor Dev Patel (best known for his role in Slumdog Millionaire). Zuko is the disgraced son of the leader of the Fire Nation. He seeks to gain redemption by being the one to find the Avatar and bring him back for his father to control. Patel does a pretty good job with the character and at least by what’s shown on-screen, he gets the chance to show that he’s not just one-note.

The rest of the cast I think looks really good here, this script just uses them more as placeholders more than giving you something to really care about.

Now I might be willing to forgive the lack of characterization if there was more flow in how events happen here. Like I said above, this plays out as if it was just a plot outline with high points to hit. It hits the points, but it’s disjointed in how it goes from point A to B, it just happens without any real continuity. And when there is continuity, it’s told to us in either narration by Katara or long passages of dialogue by other characters. There’s nothing else to give us any real resonance, it just moves forward.

The animated series is also known for it’s action and the action on the show is quite good. It looks like Shyamalan has studied the action work of directors like The Wachowski Brothers and Zack Snyder and he tries some pretty cool stuff here, but it just doesn’t carry the same impact that you’d get from the Wachowskis or Snyder. They have a real affinity for action and I just don’t think that’s in Shyamalan. He’s never really been a guy to deal with this sort of fast-paced action in the past and I just don’t think that’s something that’s been real important to him. It shows here.

Now I only recently started to watch the animated series. I never watched it when it was on Nickelodeon originally. I only watched the show because I knew this was going to be Shyamalan’s next movie and I wanted find out a little bit more about it before going into the movie. I thought this whole thing was going to be little too “kiddie” for me. I was pleasantly surprised. The series is a whole lot of fun and it’s really sucked me in. Everything is there to craft a good live action movie out of it and yet Shyamalan misses the boat on just about every point. To it’s credit, as I said above, the cast certainly looks good in their parts. The production design is pretty decent and overall the visual effects are very nice. James Newton Howard provides a pretty stirring score. All nice parts, but the man in charge just can’t bring them all together. As the credits roll, the first thing you see is “Written, Produced and Directed By M. Night Shyamalan” and so there’s only one person to blame for the whole thing and that’s really unfortunate. I really did want him to succeed with this and get back on the right track.

One final note, this movie is being presented in 3D. I did not see it in 3D. After seeing Clash Of The Titans, I was pretty much in the camp that if it was a movie where the 3D was simply being tacked on- I was going to avoid seeing the 3D version and save myself a bit of money. I read a few things about the 3D in advance of this and if there was anything that was universal in what I read, it was just that the 3D wasn’t very good. So obviously, I can’t comment on that. It doesn’t matter though, all of the other elements are so far gone here, that even a good use of 3D couldn’t save this mess.

I’d still like to see M. Night Shyamalan succeed, but after the universal drubbing this movie has been getting (and justly deserved), I’ve little hope that that will ever happen again in a big Hollywood production. This one’s right up there with Robin Hood and Jonah Hex as one of the worst that I’ve seen this year.

Near the end of the Civil War, Confederate officer Jonah Hex turns on his commander, Quentin Turnbull as Turnbull is about to lay waste to a hospital full of innocents. As a result of this, Hex in turn kills Turnbull’s brother, Jeb. The war is over and Hex is living a peaceful life with his wife and son. Quentin Turnbull catches up to Hex and enacts his revenge upon him, killing his wife and son and forcing Hex to watch as it happens. In a final moment of torture, Turnbull takes a branding iron and leaves his mark on Jonah’s face. Left for dead, Hex is revived by an indian tribe and as a result of their rituals, now has the ability to talk to the dead.

Hex now makes his living as a bounty hunter and he’s good at what he does, with his vengeance fueling his path. Quentin Turnbull resurfaces and now wants to take vengeance on the entire United States and he plans to with an ultimate weapon designed by Eli Whitney. President Ulysses S. Grant thinks that this bounty hunter, Jonah Hex, is the man to go after Turnbull and thusly, enlists his aid.

And so that’s the basic premise of Jonah Hex directed by Jimmy Hayward, who previously directed Horton Hears A Who from an original screenplay from Neveldine & Taylor, who have previously made Gamer and the Crank movies. Neveldine & Taylor were originally supposed to direct this as well, but left due to creative differences and so, from what I understand, their script was heavily altered.

Jonah Hex is also the latest comic book-to-movie adaptation out there. Now, I am a comic fan, but I was never a devout Jonah Hex reader. I’ve read a story or two with, to me anyway, always his most memorable stuff from writer Michael Fleisher (and now his latest series by Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray is getting much acclaim). Now even though I wasn’t a fan, I do know a little something about the character and one of the things that I know was that Hex never had any sort of paranormal abilities.

I go into most comic book adaptations knowing that liberties will be taken, but this one seems to come at us right from left field. It doesn’t really help that the whole way in which Jonah acquires this ability is told through a bit of animation and voiceover. And while the animation is nice in it’s limited sort of way, it doesn’t really have any sort of weight for how the use of this power plays out. It’s there to speed things up and get us right into the action. Because this does get sped up, well there’s not a whole lot here to really get invested in.

The whole movie suffers from an edit job that seems more like a salvage operation more than anything else. There’s lots of jump-cutting from scene to scene and not really a lot of glue to hold the whole thing together. Oh sure, it’s plot does progress forward, but it does so at the expense of making this a fuller experience. As such there’s really little to care about when it comes to our main character. From what I understand of the character in the comics, there’s a lot more to him than this two-dimensional drive that he has here.

Now none of this is the fault of lead Josh Brolin who plays Jonah Hex. when I first heard Brolin was taking the part, I thought it was pretty cool, especially since Brolin was coming off of some high-profile work in things like American Gangster, Milk and No Country For Old Men. I think Brolin has certainly invested himself here, and it’s seen through little bits with his character. But as to a big picture, it’s hard to tell, because the editing of the film doesn’t really allow anything to breath.

Much ado has been made about Megan Fox being in this movie. She plays Lilah, a cold prostitute who has a warm spot in her heart for the disfigured Hex. My expectations were pretty low for her coming into this, and while she’s only on-screen for a short portion of the movie, I actually think she does a pretty decent job with what she has (and this isn’t really making huge demands on her, considering what’s on screen) and certainly looks good. My bigger problem is with John Malkovich who plays Quentin Turnbull. Now I’m a fan of Malkovich’s, but here he comes off more disinterested than anything else. There’s no magnetism to the character and you’re sort of hoping you’ll get him as he was in Con Air or In The Line Of Fire but it’s more like he’s just reading the lines and waiting for the check to clear. Even though I’m saying that, it’s still a little hard to fault him due to the editing of the movie and it’s bigger concern to just get action on the screen more than letting anything develop.

Other members of the cast include Michael Fassbender, Will Arnett, Tom Wopat, Michael Shannon, Aidan Quinn and Jeffrey Dean Morgan who’s uncredited as Quentin’s brother Jeb. Everything here from these guys is certainly serviceable, with standouts being Fassbender, who’s definitely eating things up being Quentin’s right hand man, and Morgan who has a pretty good scene as Hex raises him from the dead.

To the movie’s credit, it does have a nice look to it and in the words of SCTV’s Big Jim McBob and Billy Saul Hurok, they blow things up real good. But that’s about it. The way this is edited, it doesn’t want to do anything fuller let alone do anything that could make it be a nice western adventure. Of course though, I have to wonder just what they had originally which would cause this, and unfortunately, I doubt we’ll ever find out. It’s a shame, there’s a lot of talent here and (from what I understand) a rich comic book mythos to mine from and it’s all squandered away.