THE EXPENDABLES 2 - Review

The Expendables 2 rises above and beyond it's predecessor in almost every way. I admit that's not saying a whole lot, but it's true. First off, the gang spends pretty much the whole movie on their mission, so things like “character development” and “plot” get either thrown right out or breezed over. I know that usually sounds like a bad thing, but not this time.

To be honest, I feel like those two things are what bogged the first film down because none of it really paid off. It was called The Expendables, but not a single character lived up to that dark promise; that's not to say I was rooting for these characters to bite it, but it was seemingly what the movie was headed toward and might have given the film more meaning if in fact ONE character actually died. With the sequel, however, “meaning” gets punched right in it's stupid face faster than you can say “oh look, the movie is starting!”

The plot this time out is stupid simple. Jean-Claude Van Damme plays the villain, Vilain (yup) and is after plutonium, and Sylvester Stallone and crew need to stop Van Damme before he gets it. There's also a side plot thrown in about our heroes having to save some villagers that Vilain is forcing into a mine to get said plutonium, but that stuff is really only there so the film can be feature-length.

Even though Chuck Norris, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bruce Willis have pretty small roles, when they are on screen I couldn't help but smile. Willis and Schwarzenegger especially were a ball to watch killing the shit out of people together and I hope they have much larger roles in the next one. But the real treat here is Van Damme, having the most fun I think I've ever seen him have. And man, oh man, it was worth waiting this long to see Stallone and Van Damme finally kick each other's ass.

The one liners, and frankly, most of the dialogue is clunky and stupid, but with the exception of Willis, these guys can barely talk anyway so it really isn't that distracting. While there are a few surprising laughs in the film, most of the time these guys are referencing each others movies in the most ham-fisted way possible and it gets old. Everyone is having a good time here, though, and playing off each other surprisingly well.

Pretty much every ten seconds, somebody is shooting something. I gotta take a moment here and really hand it to Stallone, because that man does NOT give one damn that bullets don't actually make people explode. The action scenes are fast and brutal and most of all, FUN! Especially in the ridiculous, blood soaked finale that unites all the heroes against some really unfortunate goons. Honestly, I feel silly having written so much about this film already because all I need to say that while the film is a complete and utter mess, I haven't had this much fun shutting off my brain and watching such lavish violence in quite some time.

THE BOURNE LEGACY - Review

While The Bourne Legacy DOES start a new chapter in the series, it does NOT ask you to completely forget about past events.  In fact, the first act of this film uses the last film as a direct catalyst.  Since Bourne went ahead and made a public mess for Treadstone, they decide to wipe the slate clean and start over. Unfortunately for our new characters, Aaron Cross, who is an agent in the program, and Dr. Marta Shearing, a scientist who treats the agents, “wipe the slate clean” means lots of murder.

Cross and Shearing are played by series newcomers Jeremy Renner (The Avengers) and Rachel Weisz (she deserves better, but, The Mummy), respectively, and both actors do a good job taking the reins for this new story arc.  I should clear up that this is indeed a Bourne sequel, not reboot or even stand-alone. It plays more as a parallel story that begins as a ripple effect of some of Bourne 3’s plot points. While there is no actual appearance of Jason Bourne, there is plenty reference to his name…well, “name” and brief appearances by the key characters from the series that look like they have bigger roles yet to play in future chapters whether or not Jason Bourne returns.

Tony Gilroy, who has written all four Bournes based on books by Robert Ludlum (haven’t read those, so that’s the last I’ll mention them) takes over as director for the first time and does a decent job. He is smart with the way he films the action.  Fans of the series will be familiar and quite satisfied with the kind of action on display, plenty of running/driving, punching/kicking with some bloodless shootings mixed in.  A big criticism with the last two films was the use of shaky-cam, but I didn't notice much of the nonsense here. Gilroy was smart enough to keep the geography of the chase scenes clear for the audience, while also making sure we know who is punching who in the face. 

The film does jump around a little too much, though, with transitions between scenes being a bit sporadic.  As a big fat “for instance”, the scene that introduces Weisz’s character seemed like a flashback the way it jumped from the previous scene, but that could just be me being a little slow.

While all the actor’s involved do good work, the film lives or dies by how well Renner can succeed Damon.  I’m happy to say that Renner pulls it off playing the hunted spy who may have all his memories, but, and not to spoil much here, is still hampered by the downsides that come with being a secret agent/lab rat in a hush-hush kill everybody involved when ANYTHING goes wrong experiment.

I will say Edward Norton feels a little wasted here. He plays the big bad but all he can really do is tell people to keep chasing the main characters.  There’s a brief flashback his character has early on that tells the audience he knows Cross personally, but that’s quickly dropped. That kind of leads to the biggest criticism I have.  It’s hard to tell just how good this parallel story arc is until we see where it’s going, and this movie only puts the bigger pieces in place to leave room for the next chapter. At best, we have a shot in the arm the series needed if it is to go on, and at worst, we have a decent filler until the series returns to following our favorite amnesiac spy.

THE GREY - Review

THE GREY

This weekend saw the release of The Grey, an action thriller directed and co-written by Joe Carnahan (Narc, The A-Team). The film stars Liam Neeson (c’mon) as JOHN OTTWAY, part of an oil drilling team whose plane crashes into the Alaskan wilderness.  Soon after the initial shock of falling out of the sky, the survivors quickly realize that now they have to deal with goddamn wolves.  This becomes apparent when they’re attacked by goddamn wolves.

I liked this film quite a bit.  The characters are not exactly varied, but they are not one note either; each one gets to display a little humanity (for better or worse) here and there, so you actually care whether or not they get ripped apart by these snow-demons.  Neeson simply nails it as a man who is deeply pained by events in his past.  Not to say this film stretches him as an actor, but there’s enough here to make the audience sympathize with the character.

Even with its two hour running time the film doesn’t really drag.  On the contrary, it moves along with a trim, terrifying fierceness; almost like a feral, angry dog of some kind.  After the opening with Neeson, we meet the rest of the food.  Once we do, the film smashes them down to the ground at plane-crash-miles an hour in a really cool sequence my words will only ruin.  Soon after that, wolves happen.  And each sequence with these creatures is frightening.  Carnahan uses any digital/practical effects really well.  I honestly can’t think of one instance of obvious Hollywood fakery.  Except when people get their throats ripped out, I think that was trick photography. 

As frightening as those wolves are, and there are times when you believe these are storybook monsters, the survivors are still in the middle of Alaskan no-man’s land during the snowstorm that brought down their plane in the first place.  I’d hate to spoil the rather cruel surprises this film rightly hides from the trailers, but suffice to say that Alaska must absolutely HATE these guys.

In fact, I was waiting for a flashback scene that revealed one or two of them had sex with Alaska's wife.  So, the film works, is what I’m getting at.  It’s packed with action, and each cast member holds there own, especially that Neeson guy.  Just see the movie already.