Focus review

FOCUS:

A THRILLING AND OCCASSIONALLY HUMOROUS CAPER WITH THE FRESH PRINCE OF BEL-AIR!

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** out of 4

WARNER BROS. PICTURES

Will Smith and Margot Robbie in Focus

            From directors Glenn Ficarra and John Requa (I Love You Phillip Morris, Crazy Stupid Love) comes their first attempt at a dark comedy, much like Seven Psychopaths and Jim Carrey’s The Cable Guy. The dark comedy I am referring to is known as Focus, and there is certainly an aspect of the film that keeps its focus, and that’s The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air himself, Will Smith (Men in Black trilogy, The Pursuit of Happyness, Ali) but unlike his 2013 Shyamalan collaboration (After Earth) or 1995 and 2003 “Bayhem” messes (Bad Boys and Bad Boys II), he is enough to keep your interest, even if you don’t like or follow the film’s story.

            I honestly didn’t know what I was getting myself into when I decided to see this movie, I came in with an open mind, despite the mixed reviews and I prayed that the Will Smith charm would shine through even if I don’t like the movie, because most of the time whether a movie is good or bad, Will Smith is charming enough to make it worthwhile, with the exceptions of After Earth and Bad Boys, but everything else, solid Smith delight.

            Thankfully when the film started, the charm of Will Smith shined through and I ended up enjoying the film as a whole, not just for Smith but the story kept me guessing and there’s more talented actors brought in to be equally entertaining as Will.

            Will Smith stars as con man, Nicky Spurgeon who is a professional at stealing valuable things from people’s pockets without them noticing and making a profit off the items. Whether it’s a wallet, rare jewelry, or a wad of cash, his eyes are all over it.

            That is until he meets a beautiful young woman named Jess Barrett (Margot Robbie-About Time, The Wolf of Wall Street) and he becomes romantically attracted to her when he shows off his stealing tricks to her. So the two of them become partners is stealing people’s personal items and making a fortune off it, oh and lots of gambling.

            However she gets too close to comfort around Nicky and he breaks up the relationship. Three years later, Jess becomes the ultimate femme fatale and appears in Buenos Aires as the opposing side to Nicky’s scam, a billionaire racecar owner.

            As Nicky continues going through with the scam, Jess throws his plans for a loop and himself out of the game.

            Overall, Focus is a decent thriller as well as an amusing dark comedy, most of the enjoyment is thanks to Will Smith, but Margot Robbie does a fine enough job as the love interest. It’s not as heavy with violence as Coen Brothers or Quentin Tarantino dark movies like Pulp Fiction or Burn After Reading, but some intense moments are present during this movie, so be a bit cautious.

            But the violence is not the focus of the movie, it’s the story and the characters and they’re developed well. The story is complex, but not as complex as a Christopher Nolan movie, so there may not be a reason to watch it twice to understand it all, but it does keep you guessing and you’re unaware of what’s going to happen to the characters.

            I wouldn’t say it’s one of Will Smith’s masterpieces like Men in Black, Ali, or The Pursuit of Happyness, but if you want something that will tease your brain, thrill, and make you laugh with Smith charm, this one’s not a bad film to check out, just make sure you Focus on it.

Kingsman: The Secret Service review

KINGSMAN: THE SECRET SERVICE:

JAMES BOND MEETS KICK-ASS!

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** 1/2 out of 4

20^TH CENTURY FOX

(From left to right) Colin Firth, Samuel L. Jackson, and Taron Egerton in Kingsman: The Secret Service

            Director, Matthew Vaughn (Stardust, Kick-Ass, X-Men: First Class) strikes back with a film adaptation of Kingsman: The Secret Service, based on the Marvel Icon comic book series by Kick-Ass writer, Mark Miller and Watchmen co-writer, Dave Gibbons. Apparently Vaughn made the decision to direct this after he dropped out of directing 2014’s X-Men: Days of Future Past, and thankfully, despite the fact I enjoyed Vaughn’s direction for X-Men: First Class, Kingsman is a smart, stylish, and edgy spy comedy and it’s his second film adaptation of a Mark Miller comic book, the first being Kick-Ass back in 2010.

            The film plays like a combination of James Bond, a hyper-violent action movie, and The Avengers (Not the Marvel comic book movie, the British spy TV show that was adapted into a cinematic mess in 1998), while still throwing in some original concepts and spy gadgets that we haven’t seen before. It’s no Bourne Ultimatum, but it’s certainly exciting and fun enough to come out of the theater satisfied.

            The film is about a young man named Gary “Eggsy” Unwin (Taron Egerton-Inspector Lewis, The Smoke) who is a troublemaking teenager who loves stealing cars and causing trouble. He is shortly caught by the police and taken to jail, where he eventually meets a mysterious man known as Harry “Galahad” Hart (Colin Firth-The King’s Speech, Nanny McPhee, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy) who works for a secret organization known as the Kingsman.

            Galahad recruits Eggsy to become a Kingsman agent and save the world from the evil Richmond Valentine (Samuel L. Jackson-Pulp Fiction, The Avengers, Django Unchained) and his blade-footed assistant, Gazelle (Sofia Boutella-Dancing with the Stars) who plan to hypnotize all the people in the world and have them all fight each other to the death.

            Galahad, Eggsy, second Kingsman student, Roxy (Sophie Cookson-Moonfleet), and Kingsman teaching instructor, Merlin (Mark Strong-Sherlock Holmes, Kick-Ass, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy) must find Richmond Valentine’s hideout, assassinate him, and save the world before V-Day (Oh, the irony!).

            Overall, Kingsman: The Secret Service is a very fun film and one of my favorite films of this year so far. It’s nice to see something fun, goofy, and a movie that doesn’t take itself seriously, especially after watching a large cluster of Oscar gold (Selma, American Sniper, The Imitation Game, etc.).

            The cast of characters are very enjoyable to watch and filled with charisma with Colin Firth as a perfect choice as a top Kingsman agent who kicks ass with a gentlemanly personality and despite being in a smaller supporting role, Michael Caine takes advantage of his screen-time as the leader of the Kingsman who I can best describe as Alfred from The Dark Knight Trilogy if he did a bunch of shady shit under people's noses. Samuel L. Jackson is hilarious as the villain who is this cartoonishly evil mad genius with a lisp and a completely bonkers plot, he just made me smile while he did evil things in the film even more so than previous Joker portrayals.

            I haven’t read any of the comic books, but from what I got out of this movie, it certainly made me want to read them. A similar response I had when I saw Kick-Ass in 2010.

            If you’re a fan of spy films like James Bond, Bourne, and especially over-the-top action films with a sense of humor, you’ll have a blast with Kingsman: The Secret Service. It’s a stylized, funny, and entirely fun spy adventure with charming characters, witty dialogue, outrageous action scenes, and solid direction by Vaughn, Manners Maketh Man indeed. 

The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water review

THE SPONGEBOB MOVIE: SPONGE OUT OF WATER:

SUPER ABSORBENT WITH A BUBBLE BLAST OF ENERGETIC FUN, HUMOR, AND SOME HEARTWARMING MOMENTS AS SWEET AS ICE CREAM!

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** out of 4

PARAMOUNT PICTURES AND NICKELODEON MOVIES

(From left to right) Sir Pinch-a-Lot (Mr. Krabs), Sour Note (Squidward), The Invincibubble (SpongeBob, The Rodent (Sandy), and Mr. Superawesomeness (Patrick) saving the day in The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water

            November 2004, Nickelodeon’s enormously popular cartoon series, SpongeBob Squarepants gets the theatrical treatment in The SpongeBob Squarepants Movie, I was a huge fan of SpongeBob growing up, I loved watching the show on Nickelodeon, I had tons of toys, books, Nickelodeon magazines, video games, and a selection of DVDs of the show. When I first heard they were making a SpongeBob Squarepants movie to be released in theaters, I was very excited and could not wait for its release.

            When the movie first came out, I went to see it during its opening weekend; it was a Saturday evening with my mom, little sister, and school friend at the Seattle Oak Tree cinema. I remembered lots of laughing and creative situations when I saw the movie for the first time like the scene with the giant scuba diver (The Cyclops) and SpongeBob and Patrick Star escaping Shell City with David Hasselhoff, it was a joy on the big screen and it was met with positive reviews and was a box office hit, so naturally a sequel would be in the works.

            In comes The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water, SpongeBob’s second appearance on the big screen and the first Nickelodeon cartoon movie to be released theatrically in a long time. I need to be honest, when I first saw the trailer before the recent Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie (coincidentally another Nickelodeon movie project), I didn’t know what to make of it, was it going to be another solid SpongeBob movie or a box office failure that could ruin SpongeBob forever.

            Thankfully when the movie was officially released in theaters, it wasn’t just as good as its 2004 predecessor, but it manages to be even better than the first, which is what all great sequels do (Spider-Man 2, Shrek 2, How to Train Your Dragon 2).

            The film is set at sea as an evil pirate named Captain Burgerbeard (Antonio Banderas-Spy Kids, Shrek 2-4, Puss in Boots) steals a magic book that allows him to make anything he writes in the book come true and thus becomes the narrator of this movie, kind of like a Spanish Patchy the Pirate. He tells a group of talking seagulls (some of which voiced by the extremely talented Billy West, Rob Paulsen, and Kevin Michael Richardson) the story of how he stole the secret formula of the undersea fast food sensation, the Krabby Patty, the iconic burger of the popular Bikini Bottom restaurant, The Krusty Krab, the workplace of our favorite happy yellow sponge, SpongeBob Squarepants (voiced by Tom Kenny). Once the Krabby Patty formula in taken, SpongeBob and his penny pinching boss, Mr. Krabs (voiced by Clancy Brown) blames his long time business rival, Sheldon J. Plankton (voiced by Mr. Lawrence), owner of the foul Chum Bucket, which makes sense because Plankton has been trying to steal Mr. Krabs’ secret formula for years.

            When they find out Plankton is innocent, SpongeBob, along with his lazy, dim-witted best friend, Patrick Star (voiced by Bill Fagerbakke), karate expert land squirrel from Texas, Sandy Cheeks (voiced by Carolyn Lawrence), Mr. Krabs, and Plankton “Te-Am” up to get the Krabby Patty formula back from Burgerbeard, by leaving Bikini Bottom and going to the surface before Bikini Bottom is destroyed.

            Overall, The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water is an absolute delight for kids and long time fans of SpongeBob Squarepants, like me. With its bright and colorful animation, energetic action, very clever jokes and visual gags, it manages to capture the SpongeBob charm and bring it to a new dimension.

            The jokes and gags I think are the best parts of the movie, they are so odd and bizarrely creative that they’re absolutely hilarious, from Plankton going into SpongeBob’s brain to look for the formula, to a continuous race against time through a time machine, and a talking realistic dolphin that is apparently the SpongeBob equivalent to God, these are very funny and creative ideas. The climax where SpongeBob and friends become superheroes and battle Burgerbeard had me laughing hysterically in the theater, I was probably louder than any of the kids watching it, that’s quite an accomplishment.

            When I first walked into the movie, I was a little concerned they were going to jump right into the live action and CG scenes and not give Bikini Bottom enough screen time. Thankfully I had nothing to worry about, the film had plenty of time in Bikini Bottom and knew exactly when to go CG and live action and I welcome that because I’ve sat through plenty of terrible Hollywood films based on cartoons that literally exploited it to no end (Alvin and the Chipmunks, The Smurfs, Garfield, etc.).

            If you’re a fan of SpongeBob or just looking for a fun family outing at the movies, then why are you still reading this review? Just go see Sponge Out of Water, it’ll have plenty of colorful animation, characters, and humor for the kids, and creative and clever writing for the parents, it was a wonderful trip down some childhood nostalgia and I’m looking forward to see what’s next from Paramount Animation and Nickelodeon.

            It’s Absorbent Fun At Its Finest

Jupiter Ascending review

JUPITER ASCENDING:

A VISUALLY DAZZLING BUT FORGETTABLE WACHOWSKI SCI-FI EPIC!

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: ** out of 4

WARNER BROS. PICTURES

Channing Tatum and Mila Kunis saving the Earth and universe in Jupiter Ascending

    

        The Wachowskis (The Matrix trilogy, V for Vendetta, Speed Racer) return with their latest sci-fi adventure full of eye candy, Jupiter Ascending. To best describe this film is to ask this question, what do you get when you put The Matrix, Star Wars, and Guardians of the Galaxy, with a splash of Star Trek into a blender? Well, you pretty much get Jupiter Ascending, a visually impressive thrill ride with cool special effects, action, and sexy young protagonists...yeah, that's about it.

            The story is not fleshed out very well and it’s a shame since the Wachowskis were great at setting up interesting premises with The Matrix and some scenes from The Matrix Reloaded, but then they started to go downhill with their storytelling with The Matrix Revolutions and Speed Racer. The plot for this movie isn’t exactly helping them tell something good again because it's very derivative of other, better sci-fi films (Essentially a poor man's version of Star Wars or The Fifth Element minus the charm).

            The film is about a young woman in Chicago named Jupiter Jones (Mila Kunis-Family Guy, Ted, Oz: The Great and Powerful), who has an extremely stressful life, living with her Italian family, she gets woken up by her aunt every morning to make coffee and she has a job as a toilet cleaner. (She really hates her life, sounds an awful lot like Meg Griffin from Family Guy, doesn’t it?) Until she is visited by a genetically engineered ex-military hunter from outer space named Caine (Channing Tatum-21 Jump Street, Magic Mike, The Lego Movie), armed with a space gun and hover boots (Sounds like Star-Lord doesn’t it?) who takes her away from Earth and sends her to outer space where she is apparently part of a royal space family, basically she’s the Princess Leia of this movie.

            Jupiter must make a decision that could change time and space forever, go back home as a house cleaner or rule the universe as a queen. Unfortunately that decision must wait as there is an evil ruler of lizard-like beings that resemble the aliens from Zathura known as Balem Abrasax (Eddie Redmayne-My Week With Marilyn, Les Miserables, The Theory of Everything), who wants Jupiter to send over Earth’s fate to him, so he can rule the world.

            So Jupiter, Caine, and a group of galactic hunters must stop Balem before the Earth becomes his. Also, there’s a secondary antagonist in the form of a space prince who wants Jupiter to be his wife and a bounty hunter who resembles Ronan from Guardians of the Galaxy who wants to take out Caine.

            As you can tell, the film has a pretty rough time developing all of these characters, but compared to an awful movie I reviewed today, Jupiter Ascending definitely had better characters, despite the fact not many of them being developed that well, except for Tatum, Kunis, and Redmayne.

            Overall, Jupiter Ascending is definitely an ambitious project, very heavy on special effect light shows but light on story and substance. Reminds me a lot of my thoughts on the Wachowskis’ Speed Racer movie from 2008, visually colorful but very lacking in story and characters though the Speed Racer movie has more of a nostalgic connection to me as I saw it when I was 14.

            Channing Tatum and Mila Kunis’ performances are fine, nothing spectacular but nothing terrible either even if the writing for them isn't especially good, they tried to make something out of it which I appreciate. Eddie Redmayne on the other hand is amusing to watch because he really doesn’t belong in this movie, his voice is quiet and not very intimidating for a villain and when he goes over-the-top it becomes funny, one of the most delightful failed performances of the 2010s.

            However, much like The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions, Jupiter Ascending’s plot relies on a lot of exposition at the expense of the audience's investment in the story or characters. Kunis and Tatum give fine enough performances, but in terms of their characters I did not care for either one of them because of how underdeveloped they are as the film decides to focus more on philosophy and themes of identity and purpose surrounding Kunis' Jupiter...yet ironically her character is written so blandly, emotional investment goes right out the window.

            Despite some dazzling visuals, a cartoonishly over-the-top Eddie Redmayne performance, and sparks of ambition, Jupiter Ascending is an unfortunate misfire from the Wachowskis. I wouldn't call it a complete dumpster fire, but given that it's from the same filmmakers who brought one of the most groundbreaking action films of all time back in 1999, it falls flat compared to the first Matrix.

Seventh Son review

SEVENTH SON:

LORD OF THE RINGS MAKES FANTASY LOVE WITH DUNGEONS & DRAGONS AND THE DUDE FROM BIG LEBOWSKI!

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: * 1/2 out of 4

UNIVERSAL PICTURES

Ben Barnes, Jeff Bridges, and Julianne Moore in a battle between humans and witches in Seventh Son

            From director, Sergei Bodrov (Mongol) comes a visually impressive fantasy adventure that literally borrows from pretty much every single fantasy film in the genre, from The Lord of the Rings to the dreadful Dungeons & Dragons, I am of course talking about Seventh Son, based on the novel, The Spook’s Apprentice by Joseph Delaney. I haven’t read Delaney’s book, but as a moviegoer, the premise and characters are very cliché and unoriginal, you name it, the young farm boy who is a weakling but learns to become a hero, the old advisor, the evil sorceress who becomes a dragon, and a blandly written love interest for the hero.

            In a time long past where humankind and the supernatural have been fighting in an everlasting war, an evil power is about to be unleashed upon the world when an evil dragon witch, Mother Malkin (Julianne Moore-Crazy Stupid Love, Altman, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay: Part 1) plans to lead an army of supernatural transforming witches and destroy humanity for good using a powerful stone to awaken the Blood Moon and regain the witches’ power.

            The only person who can stop her is a Spook advisor known as Master John Gregory (Jeff Bridges-Tron, The Big Lebowski, Iron Man) who is training farm boy, Tom Ward (Stardust, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, Sons of Liberty) to become a hero that can put an end to Malkin’s wrath. Problem is he’s not very strong and has a terrible shot with throwing daggers and swords to boot.

            So Master Gregory and Tom must train long and hard if they are to defeat Malkin’s army of supernatural terror. The army consists of witches that can transform into giant lizard monsters, dragons, bears, and other menacing creatures and an army of witch soldiers, led by Radu (Djimon Hounsou (How to Train Your Dragon 2, Guardians of the Galaxy) who is apparently a new character that was made just for the movie and does not appear in the book.

            During their journey, Gregory and Tom meet two companions, an ogre-like creature that delivers the pain and heavy lifting and a beautiful young teleporting witch named Alice Deane (Alicia Vikander-Anna Karenina) who Tom falls for and gives him information about Malkin.

            Overall, Seventh Son is an incredibly weak fantasy film; almost nothing original is present in this flick. However the special effects and creature designs can be a lot of fun, Jeff Bridges is always a joy to see, although I’m not a fan of his accent in this movie, and Julianne Moore is a great villain as Mother Malkin.

            But I wish everything else could be just as enjoyable as the effects, Bridges, and Moore. The story lacks in both detail and originality, most of the characters are fantasy movie stereotypes with not much new added to them, and it lacks consistency, one witch can teleport while the others can only fly and there’s a giant flaming skeleton knight in Gregory’s chamber that Tom has to fight but the movie doesn’t explain why it’s there and what’s its backstory, I’ll take watching the Eragon movie again over this, YES, I JUST SAID THAT!

            With that said, Bridges and Moore are worth admission price and some decent effects and 3D, story wise, not a damn chance. I guess if you’re a fan of the original book, you may find something to enjoy in this film, though I’m not entirely sure seeing how I have not read the book, but as a moviegoer, I got some small bits of amusement out of it, but if you want something more entertaining and clever, come back to me when the Jupiter Ascending and The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water reviews are written and posted.