THE WRATH OF VAJRA

The Wrath of Vajra is…different. Anti-Japanese films are nothing new from the Chinese, but this film is about a rogue WWII martial art master that began a cult of warriors that worshiped the God, Hades. His recruits would come from stolen children from around the world to become unstoppable warriors. After WWII, the master is imprisoned and his former students are left to carry out his vision. Escaped student, K-29 returns to fight to the death against his “brothers” in a series of tests that include a battles against a “giant-like” master and “demon-inspired” fighter, until the final show down with the disciple/leader, K-28. The kung fu and action sequences are good, but the story is too outside the octagon for me and has too many predictable plot choices to make it a great film. However, die-hard kung fu fans will appreciate the skill sets of Yu Xing and Sung-jun Yoo. Everyone else pales in comparison.

WORD COUNT: 159

Chuck’s Grade: B-

Adam’s Grade: N/A

THOR: THE DARK WORLD hammers out an unsatisfactory ending

The sequel, Thor: The Dark World finds the title character tackling the all-to-common villain that wants to destroy the entire universe for some illogical reason that is never fully explained and never full thought out. However, it does not matter because Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and Jane (Natalie Portman) are re-united for a meet the parents episode while Loki (Tom Hiddleson) broods in prison for his past offenses. Dark Elf Malekith (Christopher Eccleston) is a formidable arch-rival for both Thor and Odin who will ultimately need Loki’s help to confront Malekith. The film is entertaining and I prefer it over the original because the characters are able to delve deeper into their relationships with one another. However, like most Marvel products the ending does not do the rest of the film justice because it hammers out an unsatisfactory ending that cannot control the balance between action and comedy.

WORD COUNT: 147
Chuck’s Grade: B-
Adam’s Grade: N/A

LOVELACE doesn’t go deep enough

The life of Linda Boreman is dramatized in the biographical film, Lovelace starring Amanda Seyfried in the title role.  Her performance along with Peter Sarsgaard as her abusive husband, Chuck Traynor and Sharon Stone as her mother are outstanding. At first, audiences are invited to witness the events that lead to Linda becoming an overnight sensation in America, but the film concludes with events that went on behind her 15 minutes of fame. The strategy works and forces audiences to realize the darkness that pollutes this industry built on sex, drugs, and abuse. However, the rest of the moving parts are mediocre because the film is unable to delve deep enough into any particular event. The film moves quickly, but since it plays the same story twice it seems like it stands still in time like a record skipping on a scratch.

WORD COUNT : 141

Chuck’s Grade: B-

Adam’s Grade: C

The Dark Knight Rises, but only so high

Everything comes to an end in Christopher Nolan’s ambitious conclusion to his Batman Trilogy. Set eight years after The Dark Knight, Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) has become a guilt-ridden recluse content with his tarnished reputation. A powerful, new villain, Bane (Tom Hardy) has a complex plan to destroy Gotham.

The Dark Knight Rises is a good film, but not a great film. Nolan tries to do too much with Bane. A “revolution” of convicts running around didn’t work well in the first film and it doesn’t work in this one either. Anne Hathaway as Catwoman was brilliantly played, but she became one of Nolan’s unnecessary moving parts, although she contribute in the end; she serves as Batman’s deus ex machina rather than something she can stick her claws in.  The expectations were unreasonably high for the third film, but it cannot be used as an excuse for some basic story problems. The Dark Knight Rises, but only so high.

WORD COUNT: 159

Adam’s Grade: B+

Chuck’s Grade for IMAX: B+
Chuck’s Grade for Standard Screen: B-

Elysium is worth the trip

Elysium is Neill Blomkamp’s follow-up film to his sleeper hit District 9. Set in the year 2154, the wealthy live on a man-made space station called Elysium while the rest of humanity is stuck on Earth working and dying for crumbs. Max (Matt Damon) agrees to sabotage Elysium, but the Secretary Defense Delacourt (Jodie Foster), and her key enforcer Kruger (Sharlto Colpey) stand in his way.

Blomkamp’s story can heavy-handed at times because this is non-fiction. The technology and special effects only enhance his metaphors about class, immigration, health care, and the environment. There is a balance, but your politics will impact your perspective and enjoyment of the film. Like District 9 it is difficult to separate the message from the entertainment. For the cast, Damon fits right in while Foster appears lost in space, however her executioner arm, Colpey is menacingly good. I look forward to Blomkamp’s next project. Despite its minor flaws and Jodie Foster, Elysium is still worth the trip.

WORD COUNT: 160

Adam’s Grade: B

Chuck’s Grade: B-

Collateral creates a disagreement

Michael Mann’s Collateral is one of the best modern noir films of the 21st Century, although my partner in crime (Chuck) completely disagrees with this statement.

Like Mann’s previous film Heat, Collateral was shot entirely in Los Angeles and the environment comes through. Tom Cruise uncharacteristically plays an antagonist while Jamie Foxx serves as the hero in this film about a hitman (Cruise) getting into a cab and “asking” the cabbie (Foxx) to bring him to five locations to carry out his “business.” I believe the stars are dynamic together and each give one of the best performances of their career, but my partner feels they are wrong for the parts. Screenwriter Stuart Beattie creates two original characters that help keep the film grounded in a game of cat and mouse. Mann allows the tension to build, which has become a trademark of his thrillers. Collateral has substance, whereas Chuck thinks he is caught up in his style.

WORD COUNT: 158

Adam’s Grade: A

Chuck’s Grade: B-

Red Eye keeps you awake

Actor Cillian Murphy’s physical appearance and soft voice allows him to portray a unique villain in director Wes Craven’s thriller, Red Eye. Craven understands most people are scared of flying to begin with and many are uncomfortable with strangers sitting next to them.  He combines these two anxieties and forces Lisa Reisert (Rachel McAdams) to experience this claustrophobic nightmare when she sits next Jackson Rippner (Murphy) on a flight to Miami. At first, Craven fans are anticipating a standard horror film with something supernatural and terrifying about to happen at any moment, but audiences quickly realize they are in store for a much different flight. It is a compact thriller with a singleness of purpose that may let some people down because of high expectations and a formulaic ending, but with a running time of 85 minutes it kept my interest on McAdams and Murphy from take off to landing.

WORD COUNT: 149

Adam’s Grade: B-

Chuck’s Grade: B-

Sleepy Hollow is lost in a Grimm-like fairy tale

Director Tim Burton’s imagination takes Washington Irving’s remarkable short story, “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” and changes the tale to fit his aesthetic leanings, but that is no surprise because Burton’s career has demonstrated his visual imagination is much stronger than his ability to deliver a narrative story from start to finish. The film is headless like its infamous villain because it is far from complete. The new direction is spooky, but the melodrama becomes too much to bear and Sleepy Hollow is lost in a Grimm-like fairy tale of witches and dark forests. Johnny Depp (Ichabod Crane) and Christina Ricci (Katrina Van Tassel) are the perfect actors for production designer Rick Heinrichs and set decorator Peter Young’s taste for the macabre, but their performances reminded me of porcelain figures stuck in a diorama.

WORD COUNT: 134

Chuck’s Grade: B-

Adam’s Grade: C+

The Courier

The Courier delivers an expected message, but in many ways it is an original film that takes the time to develop an interesting protagonist. I am sure Jeffery Dean Morgan has heard the  comparisons to Javier Bardem a million times, but his voice and countenance are so similar it is difficult to get past. This is not a bad thing because Morgan is a very capable actor that carries this film as the title character while the script continually interrupts the action with a mysterious villain calling the shots over the phone. The device does not work and should have been edited from the final copy. There are several characters actors that make their presence known, but the most notable are Lili Taylor and Miguel Ferrer as pair of assassins (Mr. & Mrs. Capo).  I appreciate the couple’s sadism and the director’s choice to hide the antagonist’s identity, but it also explains why the film went directly to video distribution.

WORD COUNT: 160

Chuck’s Grade: B-

Adam’s Grade: N/A

REPO! The Genetic Opera

Repo! The Genetic Opera is the latest cult film to emerge from the online streaming market. Released in 2008, writers Darren Smith and Terrance Zdunich’s project comes to life under the direction of Darren Lynn Bousman as a horror/sci-fi opera about a twisted corporation supplying organs parts on credit, but if the customer cannot pay, then a Repo man takes it back. The story is told through a string of Goth songs and sung dialogue about greed, addiction, and death, as well as a series of comic book frames to introduce the main characters. For me, it took fifteen minutes to become interested when Shilo Wallace (Alexa Vega) is established as the protagonist. Her solos and duets with her father (Anthony Stewart Head) are great, as well as the talented Sarah Brightman’s signature voice as Blind Mag. The costumes, make-up and dance help hide some poor casting choices. I didn’t join the cult, but I can appreciate an original effort.

WORD COUNT: 160

Chuck’s Grade: B-

Adam’s Grade: C-