The Hangover III

2013 - 3/5

Being the third and final movie in the Hangover trilogy, I knew I’d watch it in theatres. The first Hangover was very original and funny. The second was pretty much the exact same thing, except it was set in Thailand rather than Las Vegas, but not as funny. Considering the second movie was pretty much a re-hash of the first, I didn’t really know what to expect with Part 3. I knew it had to be different, but even after having seen the trailer, I didn’t really get what the plot was.

For those of you who haven’t figured it out, the plot isn’t similar to its predecessors. Now that I think about it, I’m pretty sure there was no drinking at all. Part 3 is based around the Wolfpack (Phil, Stu and Alan) searching for Mr. Chow. They are doing this because their friend Doug has been kidnapped by Marshall (John Goodman) and his hooligans. Marshall is doing this because he is after Chow and he believes the Wolfpack are the only people that can bring Chow to him.

I actually enjoyed the storyline. I didn’t mind that it had nothing to do with the Wolfpack getting drunk or roofied and blacking out, and having to retrace their steps to figure out what happened the night before. The plot was simple, it made sense and it flowed very well. It was never choppy. I also really enjoyed that this movie incorporated some things from the previous 2. I liked these throwbacks, and it reminded the viewer of certain details/parts that they may have forgotten about.

I have no problems saying that I got several genuine laughs throughout this movie. The comedy was very situationally based, and not forced at all. It’s very obvious when a movie adds a certain scene/situation into a movie just for the sake of adding that one laugh, but it never works because it just didn’t fit right; when it comes to this movie, that didn’t happen at all. Again, everything flowed very well. The script was consistent and every character had great dialogue.

Alan (Zach Galifianakis) stole the show. He was the star – he is the reason why you should see this movie. The guy was hilarious in every scene. Solid performance. I know a lot of people are saying that Alan has gone from being the lovable idiot to being a jerk, but I still see him as a lovable idiot. Bradley Cooper and Ed Helms were good too. These 3 guys make a great trio. They’re individual character traits blend together very well.

I was so happy to see Melissa McCarthy and John Goodman in the trailer for this movie. Goodman has been one of my favourite actors within the last 2 years, and to see him as a mob boss in a comedy movie was great! There is nobody, and I mean NOBODY, better than McCarthy that could have been picked to pair up with Alan. It was as if these 2 were meant to be on screen together.

Overall, if you've seen the other 2 movies, you should definitely watch this one. It's better than the second, but not as good as the first (and I say this because the first was the original, so that merits a higher ranking).

***SPOILER ALERT***
When McCarthy was first introduced, I knew she’d get married to Alan. I have a feeling that that wedding night will result in a Hangover 4 (or at least a 3.5), even though this one is supposed to be the last. Also, Doug wasn’t in the hotel room.

Fast & Furious 6

2013 - 3.1/5

I’d by lying if I said that I wasn’t going into this one without any expectations – after all, there were 5 movies before it. This movie started off strong and I was really into it. I like the direction it took with regards to how Fast Five ended, and pretty much why a 6th installment was created. After the 5th one, I was curious to see what exactly would happen in the 6th.

I’ve decided to add my thoughts on the movie on its own, and the movie as apart of the franchise.

As a franchise:
When it comes to the Fast & Furious franchise, I’ve liked the 1st, 4th and 5th ones. Number 2 and 3 were write-offs for me. Since 2001, when the first one came out, I think these movies have come a long way, and this franchise has gotten better and better (aside from 2 and 3). They’ve upped the ante every time, yet they’ve managed to stay pretty close to the original story.

For the movie itself:
I thought the plot was okay, and I was able to roll with it. As a movie goer, I am willing to suspend belief for the sake of entertainment value. I was very entertained throughout this entire movie, however, there were some points in which it pushed my movie-believability limit. I can’t say it ruined it for me because it was entertaining.

I liked the pace, but a few of the racing parts happened a bit too fast on screen, so at times it took a couple seconds for my eyes to catch up.

I found that this movie was more cheesy than the 4th and 5th movies, but pretty much on par with the 1st. The script isn’t any better than the other movies in the franchise, however, the banter between Tej (Ludacris) and Roman (Tyrese) was so well done. These 2 work so well together and they added a lot of great comedic relief.

I did like Paul Walker - still hot; Vin Diesel suited his role - my friend pointed out that his height was very inconsistent throughout the entire movie (I didn't notice); Dwanye Johnson was great as Hobbs - I still think he was a great addition to this franchise; Jordana Brewster is still useless as always; Sung Kang did an fine job as Han; Luke Evans did a good job as Shaw; Gina Carano was terrible as Riley - I hated her facial expressions and her crappy acting.

This movie is not without its flaws (which I've decided not to get into), but I did like it and I would recommend it to others.

REVIEWS:

The Fast & the Furious (2001)

Fast & Furious (2009)

Fast Five (2011)

 

Hit & Run

2012 - 0/5

This is one of those types of movies, in which someone, probably Dax Shepard, decided that he wanted to be some sort of race car driver*. This movie sole purpose was so that he can drive around in really fast cars. A plot was created to make this movie, and here we are.
(*= IMDB - trivia section: Shepard did his own stunt driving).

-It was hard to follow where they were; and although there was a time-deadline, it really didn't add anything to this movie.

-Even with the expensive cars, the movie felt on the low-budget side.

-The characters weren't too bad, but it was obvious that some were created specifically for that scene (even if it didn't really have a solid purpose).

-Some parts of the script went a bit overboard; I don't necessarily mean subject matter, but more so that the conversation just kept going.

-The choice of music didn't fit most of the scenes it was paired with.

-My friend mentioned that the title of the movie had nothing to do with the content.

-I kept waiting for something to happen, and nothing really did.

-A lot of moments didn't add up to anything.

-It is listed as a comedy, and the trailer shows that, and Shepard added a lot of dry slapstick humor, but it didn't come across the way he intended.

-An extremely forgettable movie / little to no entertainment value.

-Would not recommend - has zero redeeming qualities (and I include the nice cars in that category).

I really didn't want to give this movie a zero, but I didn't like anything about it.

***SPOILER ALERT***
-Pretty much any car 'chase' scene was so choreographed. It felt as if they were going through an obvious course like you'd see on TV car commercials.

The Great Gatsby

2013 - 0/5

I did not see this movie in 3D. I didn't see a point in doing so.

First and foremost, I will state outright that I wasn’t much of a fan of the book. With that having being said, I will admit that I was expecting to walk out of this movie not liking it. The reason as to why that didn’t happen has to do with the movies concept of “being within, and without”. That, and that alone made it so I walked out the movie, not knowing 100% what I think, until I let it soak in. That’s not to say I didn’t have my issues with bits and pieces of the movie, but nevertheless, when a movie makes you think after the fact, I can’t make any quick decisions with regards to a rating.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: I typically know the general rating I will give a movie within the first 20 minutes. Within the first 20 minutes of this movie, I didn’t really like it. By the end of the movie, I still hadn’t figured out what numbered rating I’d give it (out of 5). It's a movie that I feel that I should be giving a higher rating, but it doesn't deserve it.

The first half (or possibly the first two-thirds) of the movie was very eccentric and highly stylized. Everything from the music, the scenery/setting/props, to the extremely over-acting was too much for my liking. Some of the visuals were good, but everything put together, not so much. I am familiar with Baz Lahrumann’s work, so I feel as if I need to take that into consideration when thinking about the overall message the movie is trying to get across and how BL chose to do that. It’s something I need to chew on for a couple of days.

The only notable actor was Leonardo DiCaprio. My friend pointed out that he did a really good job showing how much Gatsby loved Carey Mulligan’s character Daisy. There were times in which the close up’s of DiCaprio’s face took away from the character. I say this because, the close up’s allowed the viewer to see DiCaprio’s age. While reading the book I pictured someone younger than DiCaprio, so that's probably why that was an issue for me.

When it comes to Carey Mulligan herself, my friend went on to say that it was hard to see what about her he loved so much; and I couldn’t agree more. Mulligan’s acting and character falls flat, so it was hard to buy the chemistry between her and Gatsby. She didn't really show any emotion.

As for Toby McGuire, I will say that I did like his narration throughout the movie. However, my problem with him lies in pretty much everything else. I don’t think he looked the part at all. I have always thought that he was a very lull actor (in the majority of movies I’ve seen him in). Yes, the movie is called The Great Gatsby, but, Jake is the narrator. We’re seeing the story through his eyes. That’s why I liked the narration, but on screen, he was the weakest link.

There were parts in which the music worked, and other parts in which it didn’t. This movie was produced by Jay-Z, which I didn’t know – which meant I wasn’t expecting the music to gear towards that genre. Jay-Z and Beyonce isn't exactly Jazz.

May 14th update:
I just realized that I didn't mention anything about the script. To be honest, there wasn't much there. You'd think that this movie would have a great script that would captivate you; considering it was based off a Scott Fitzgerald book (of the same name). Aside from Gatsby saying "old sport" and the "within and without", I can't say there's anything else I liked.

I gave the idea of being "within and without" more thought, and I came to the conclusion that it can't be attributed to the movie; it came from the book. So even that can't save the movie. What it comes down to, is that I didn't like anything about this movie.

The movie itself, as a whole: the acting, characters, plot, the message, script, costumes, settings, music, ect, didn't come together the way the book did and the way it should have. I did say that I didn't like the book, but that doesn't mean I didn't appreciate it. There is no way that DiCaprio's acting could carry the movie.