Not Worth The Risk..."Everest"

Everest (2015)

PG-13

Starring Jason Clarke, John Hawkes, Emily Watson, Sam Worthington, Keira Knightley, Josh Brolin, Jake Gyllenhaal, Robin Wright

Directed by Baltasar Kormakur

The Story:

In 1992, Rob Hall (Clarke) started a service to bring ordinary hikers of all abilities to the summit of Mt. Everest. In the ensuing 4 years, they never lost a climber. By 1996, many other upstart companies were looking to make money by doing the same thing. Just to avoid the logjam, Hall proposed taking two groups to the top with rival Scott Fischer (Gyllenhaal). Unfortunately, one of the worst storms in the history of Mt. Everest was just hours away.

This is their story.

And boy, is it a lousy one.

First, it's beautiful. The location, the scenery, all amazing. What's real and what's fake are pretty hard to differentiate, and that's great in a movie like this.

However, there really isn't a lot of suspense.

You know the storm is coming, and you know just about everyone in the cast is going to die.

And if...IF.. the way the story unfolds is the honest to goodness truth...

Well, okay, I hate to speak ill of the dead...

BUT...

This wasn't the storm's fault.

Look at the number of climbers that survived the trek up and back.

No, this was the fault of the professionals who decided to shrug their shoulders and say, well, okay hiker, we'll get you to the top instead of sending your butt back to base camp.

That's infuriating.

None of them "deserved" to die, but if you were to say this was a movie and not based on real life, then yes, several of them got exactly what was coming to them.

And several others died because of the stupid choices that were made along the way.

Ugh..

The more I type, the angrier I get.

Which is not what I want from a movie-going experience.

So, I can't fail the movie on those terms, as it's technically competent and has a phenomenal cast.

Instead, I'll just advise you to spare yourself 2 hours of misery and annoyance.

Just watch the trailer, that's where all the excitement is, and know that pretty much everyone dies.

The end.

:)

Final Grade: C-

He Always Said He'd Be Back..."Terminator: Genisys"

Terminator: Genisys (2015)

Rated PG-13

Starring Emilia Clarke, Jai Courtney, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jason Clarke, J.K. Simmons,

Directed by Alan Taylor

The Story:

John Connor (Clarke) sends Kyle Reese (Courtney) back to 1984 to protect Sarah Connor (Clarke) from the Terminators. However, when Reese arrives, this 1984 is unlike anything he was prepared for. It appears that there have been a few more time travel uses that we weren't aware of, and now the past has changed and that creates the potential for failure in the future and complete domination by the machines. Thankfully, there is a Guardian (Schwarzenegger) on their side to help even things up.

There sure was a lot of hate and anger directed at the latest installment of the franchise.

I don't buy it. No, it's not the original, nor is it T2.

But it's the best sequel they've had since then.

Sure it's a reboot, reimaging, but that's what happens when everyone in the cast has aged.

Except Ah-nuhld. We've all accepted by now that he likely is a robot and won't age.

I can also live with that.

I didn't find Clarke to be "horribly miscast" as Sarah Connor. I thought she held her own just fine. I think this was my first exposure to her work as I don't watch Game of Thrones, and nothing else on her filmography rang a bell.

If there is any real weakness in the film it is Jai Courtney.  There's something about Courtney and I haven't put my finger on it yet, but he comes across as bland and rather boring in these films.

And he should be poised as the next big action star.

He's like Jeremy Renner-lite, all of the qualities, none of the charisma.

He bogged down A Good Day To Die Hard and was rather bland in the Divergent series as well.

The film might get a little greedy with the time travel aspects this go round, but I'm okay with that.

The film never managed to lose my interest, and they kept just enough twists and turns coming to make the ride a fun one.

Hey, after all is said and done, it was an entertaining film and I'll remember it much more than Terminator: Salvation

Final Grade: B-

Pure Monkey Business..."Dawn of the Planet of the Apes"

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014)

PG-13

Starring Andy Serkis, Jason Clarke, Gary Oldman, Keri Russell,

Directed by Matt Reeves

The Story:

Ten years after the last movie, which quite frankly, I barely remembered what happened, they recap that a simian virus swept through the globe and killed lots of people. As society attempts to rebuild, Caesar (Serkis) leads his band of merry apes in the forests outside of San Francisco as they live pretty peacefully. However, when the local population enters the area hoping to get power from the dam, a tenuous peace between the apes and people is about to devolve into all out war.

At least, by the next movie.

This movie was fine, and was watchable.

Just not a whole lot really happens until the final act, and it's like they were simply setting this movie up as the bridge to Conquest of the Planet of the Apes, or whatever it will be called.

The fragile peace between apes and mankind is of course shattered... but not by who you expect!

Gary Oldman shows up and collects a paycheck!

Seriously.

He's in the movie for about 5-7 minutes total.

Anyone could have played that part. I had 20 minutes free in 2013 or 2014, I could have done that.

:)

The visuals are amazing, as usual.

I'm sure I'll be around to watch the sequel.

And like this one, I'll probably have forgotten what happened previously.

:D

Final Grade: C / C+

There Were Holes In Shia LaBeouf? Actually...Yes! "Lawless"

Lawless (2012)
Rated R for Language and violence

Starring Shia LaBeouf, Tom Hardy, Jason Clarke, Guy Pearce, Gary Oldman
Directed by John Hillcoat


I'm actually pretty pleased that I was able to use a Pysch reference for today's title.

From there, it's all downhill folks!

:)

The Story:

The Bondurant Boys: Jack (LaBeouf), Forrest (Hardy) and Howard (Clarke) are making a living in depression/prohibition era Virginia by making and selling moonshine.  Ah, but corruption creeps in with a District Attorney and his deputy Charlie Rakes (Pearce) who collect from all the bootleggers.  The boys refuse, and this sets off an escalating war as Rakes tears the countryside apart trying to bring down the thorn in his side.

Sound exciting?

It should have been.

But I found myself pushing the fast forward button on a lot of this because it was just dragging...and dragging.

For almost 2 hours.

The actors do a fine, if unspectacularly convincing me that their story is an important one.

It was mostly a series of one Bondurant doing something stupid, then working together to fix that problem.

Wash. Rinse. Repeat.

I Can't Believe They Shot Me!

Even Guy Pearce who normally chews up the screen as the malicious bad guy just couldn't pull me in.

Heck, Gary Oldman couldn't even do much, with likely the second most charismatic part in the movie, but very limited screen time.

Perhaps Oldman and Hardy were just happy to be collecting their Bat-checks?

Your mileage may vary, but I was bored.

The movie itself looked great though, so there's that.

:)

Final Grade: C-

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: Not even if it was offered as a bribe...