Friday Archives... "Push"

Push (2009)

Rated PG-13

Starring Dakota Fanning, Chris Evans, Camilla Belle, Corey Stoll, Cliff Curtis, Ming-Na Wen, Djimon Hounsou

Directed by Paul McGuigan

The Story:

In a world where people with abilities are utilized as weapons, The Division is looking to create a drug that will enhance these abilities. Until today, all test subjects died when they received the drug. However, Kira (Belle) is the first patient to survive, and she has escaped. Now being tracked by Henry Carver (Hounsou) and his cohorts, her only hope seems to be a young girl (Fanning) who can see the future and Nick (Evans), a telekinetic who she can't remember.

I think I last this film in 2009, so watching it again was almost like watching it again for the first time.

I remembered little bits and pieces, but that's like watching a trailer for a movie, and then seeing that part played out in the movie itself. A little deja vu, but nothing that ruins the experience overall.

Had this movie starred anyone other than Chris Evans, I likely would not have watched it the first time, and since I own it, apparently I liked it enough to pick it up from Blockbuster in the previously viewed movie sale.

Sidenote: I miss being able to pick up used DVDs at Blockbuster for a good deal.  ::sigh::

So this takes place back when Evans had already been Johnny Storm, wasn't yet Captain America and seemed to be taking parts in movies that had a superhero feel to it.

The man has been typecast, but I'm grateful for it, because he plays the parts very well.

Amusingly as we watched the film last night, it was fun to see how many actors would go on to the Marvel Universe in the future.  Apparently, they were just testing the waters for it on this film.

Taking place in Hong Kong, the city itself gives the movie a gritty, crazy comic book feel.

The special effects themselves aren't too bad, and really for a modest budget B movie, this film succeeds on that level.

Worth a look if you missed it the first go-round, or if you vaguely remember it from 7 years ago.

Final Grade: B-/C+ range

Twilight's Humble Beginnings.... "Catch That Kid"

Catch That Kid (2004)
Rated PG For Language

Starring Kristen Stewart, Corbin Bleu, Max Thieriot, Jennifer Beals

Directed by Bart Freundlich

Maddy (Stewart) loves to climb, just like her dad.  She's out climbing buildings, towers, whatever she can find.  However, her dad suffered an injury climbing Everest, and only a very expensive experimental surgery could save him.  Maddy figures she will enlist her two best buds (Bleu & Thieriot) and they will rob the bank where Maddy's mom (Beals) works installing a new security system.  They're only going to take enough to cover the operation, and Maddy swears she'll pay it back.

Still a better love story than Twilight.

Sorry, you knew it was coming.

So, looking over Stewart's credits, and this was one of her first roles for the girl that would grow up to drive all the vampires and werewolves batty.

Meh, I still don't see it.

But here, she's still just a kid, and the boys are enamored by her.

The boys, well Bleu grew up to move to High School Musical, and this was Thieriot's first movie, and he's gone on to many other films as well.

So not bad for the cast, all three have grown up to stay in the spotlight and they haven't lost their minds.

Yet.

Someday I Will Be Followed By The Supernatural!

The movie itself is cute enough, and employs a fun way to rob the bank that works to make an exciting final act to the film.

We had seen it once back in 2004, and I remembered that everyone had enjoyed it.

Picked it up from Blockbuster's going out of business sale and we gave it a spin.

Eh.

A decade later... while it was okay, it wasn't nearly as good as any of us had remembered.

No harm no foul though.

Final Grade: C+

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: Well, I own it.  Time to put it in the vault, and we'll crack it open for the 20th anniversary. :)

No Rest For the Weary..."R.I.P.D."

When there's something strange...

In your neighborhood...

Who ya gonna call?

The Story:

Nick (Ryan Reynolds) is a cop who gets killed by his partner (Kevin Bacon).  Suddenly he finds himself landing a new gig in the Rest in Peace Department.  He is teamed with Roy (Jeff Bridges), a wild west lawman who's been doing this for years, but hates having partners.  Too bad, so sad, because the boys are going to have to learn to work together, and fast, if they want to prevent the impending apocalypse!

So, why does everyone hate this movie?

I don't know.

The trailers made it look like Ghostbusters meets Men in Black.

Mission accomplished.

The premise is fun: the dead that refuse to leave this world are hunted by the spirit world's best cops. 

It's a supernatural buddy cop film!

The cops of course look different to us humans: Nick is a Chinese man (James Hong) and Roy is a woman (Marisa Miller).  The effect is used to amusing potential throughout the movie.

However, therein lies the problem with a film with so much promise to its premise.  There was a lot of great potential to this story to live up to Ghostbusters or Men in Black...

And it never quite makes it.

It's fun, but not FUN! It's good, but not GREAT!

When you aim to be an amalgam of two science fiction/comedy classics, you've got to pull out all of the stops and not just rely on upgraded special effects to wow the audiences.

That said, the leading men, especially Bridges though, seem to enjoy what they are doing and give a fun performance as lawmen from the other side of the pearly gates.  Reynolds is shoehorned into the straight man role, and maybe that's part of the problem.

His mouth and sarcastic wit are his selling points, and when you have him playing the straight man reacting to the new crazy world that he's thrust into, he doesn't get to react as cleverly as he should, or at least, as audiences expect him too.

While it's not the greatest movie of the year, it is nowhere near the worst movie ever to grace the multiplex as many people seemed to think this year.

It's a movie with unrealized potential that could have been much better, but the bar maybe was set too high going into it.

The trailer told us too much, and made the comparisons inevitable.

Sometimes less is more, that would have been good advice for the trailer.

Sometimes less is less.  That might just sum up the movie.

Final Grade: C+ish

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: I picked it up from Blockbuster sight unseen, not having done that in ages.  Don't regret the purchase, just wish there had been more for me to like.

Here's a Movie to be Thankful For... "Independence Day"

E.T. phoned home...and brought back reinforcements!

The Story:

Just days before the 4th of July, communications begin becoming disrupted across the globe as alien spacecraft descend around the globe.  What do these aliens want?  Do they come in peace?  Or are they here for more serious reasons?

How can you not like this movie?

Yet, like almost all of the Michael Bay productions, this one gets glossed over as fluff and frivolity...

But that's the point!

This is a summer blockbuster, popcorn, check your brain at the door and just have fun movie.

An all-star cast tackles their pieces of the puzzle until they are all (or at least the ones that survive) united for the final act against the aliens.

You have the scientist (Jeff Goldblum) who warns the President (Bill Pullman) about the real threat and manages to evacuate the White House minutes before destruction.

Then Marine Captain Hiller (Will Smith) who flies fighter jets but dreams of becoming an astronaut.

Plus, you can't forget crazed vet, possible alien abductee Russell (Randy Quaid) who will ultimately figure out how to stop the alien invasion.

Aside from a few shots that are slightly unbelievable, this is epic disaster that would make Irwin Allen tear up with pride.

Roland Emmerich and his writing partner Dean Devlin throw everything they've got into this one, and the movie just clips along at a great pace.

There are rarely any dull moments, it's quick plot devices that propel the storyline forward through dialogue and circumstance.

While Will Smith was considered the star, Bill Pullman gave the movie it's heart, and Jeff Goldblum gave the movie its humor in possibly my favorite role in the movie.

It's also unabashedly a flag-raising jingoistic American piece of propaganda.

So yes, it's an awesome movie.

Going on 20 years old, it's still a pretty fun ride.

I hear rumors of a sequel...

Will Smith should take a cue from the audience enjoyment from this one versus After Earth and sign up.

It was fun, and we'd come back for more!

Final Grade: B+...A-...take your pick!

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: This is the first time I've watched it in about a decade.  I forgot how fun it was.  I won't make that mistake again.