The spoof genre has kind of fell flat on it's arse... a long time ago. What started off strong with Scary Movie in 2000 - a beat-by-beat spoof of Scream - since then, spoof films have just become an excuse for jabs at popular culture mixed in with 'spoofs' (and I use that term very lightly) of random scenes from popular films.
From my opinion, it's very easy where to point the finger of blame. Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer have been responsible for some of the worst pieces of cinema in the past decade - Date Movie, Epic Movie and Disaster Movie to name but a few. It also doesn't really help that David Zucker has been riding on the coattails of Airplane and the Naked Gun films since to 1980s as proof that he is a good comedy director.
Onto Scary MoVie, and the film has somewhat of a plot stringed together. It follows Jody Sanders (Ashley Tisdale) and Dan (Simon Rex) who inherit Charlie Sheen's (playing himself) children after he dies. When they bring the children home, they start to experience strange paranormal activity happening around their home and so call in the help of Blaine Fulda (Katt Williams) to rid them of the spirit, known as Mama by their children. Along the way, Jody is aided by her ballet partner, Kendra (Erica Ash) in order to find the root of the curse and stop the haunting of Mama.
The biggest problem with Scary MoVie is that it feels strung together with dodgy editing, too much ADR (additional dialogue recording - when they redub someone's voice over the original footage that was filmed) and spoofs/scenes that have little point other than to poke fun at popular culture and films. It's not surprising to know that the film was going through major reshoots as late as January/February this year, to make the film 'more relevant'. It just felt like a film that was what the film studio wanted (with more 'up-to-date references such as Evil Dead - which consisted of one scene - and Mama which made up about 90% of the plot, including the ending) rather than what the filmmakers intended on making to begin with.
Along with the rushed and mixed up film, Scary MoVie had some of the worst acting and delivery of jokes that I have seen in a long time. I know this kind of film isn't out to win any Oscars or BAFTAs, but that doesn't mean that the actors can't at least try. Simon Rex just seemed like he was in it for the money - his goofy, stupid facial expressions can only get him so far before his character becomes annoying and boring. Erica Ash hardly even tries to be the next Brenda, because she knows that the bar was set so high by Regina Hall in the previous Scary Movies. Finally, while Ashley Tisdale does feel like the only person actually trying in her role, the jokes she is given as just painful and her delivery of the lines just fall rather flat. Basically, without the key players of Regina Hall as Brenda Meeks and Anna Faris as Cindy Campbell, Scary MoVie just feels like a cash-in attempt on a once great franchise.
Another problem with the Scary MoVie and Friedberg/Seltzer school of comedy is that quite a few of the jokes rarely translate well outside of the USA. Scary MoVie features jokes and jabs at popular culture such as Honey Boo Boo and the Housewives from Mob Wives, such as Big Ang. Lost? Well, I'd be surprised if you aren't, because this is an example of Scary MoVie taking the easy way out with it's comedy. A good joke well written can translate well across the globe, but the lazy writing and rush job filming of Scary MoVie means that the filmmakers have relied on audience knowledge of films/TV shows. Some of the visual comedy falls flat too. Take the Evil Dead parody for instance, a character cuts her tongue in two because well, that's what she does in the Evil Dead trailer. The Scary Movie franchise has now resorted to spoofing moments from trailers, considering that the film was released a week before Evil Dead - a film it is supposed to be parodying at that the audience are supposed to be aware of.
So, if you like your comedy Americanised, based on what you see on TV all the time and not very funny, then Scary MoVie will be right up your street. However, if you are hoping that Zucker is finally back on form (considering he ended up directing the majority of the film that we see on screen, despite Malcolm D. Lee still being credited as Director, then you will be sorely disappointed.
* / *****
(I've included the second trailer for Scary MoVie, because the first trailer has hardly any scenes that are actually in the film...)
Side Effects
A low key affair that's not quite as it seems. A solid effort from director Steven Soderbergh (Oceans 11, Contagion, Magic Mike) which sees Emily (Rooney Mara) put on new medication by her doctor, Dr. Jonathan Banks (Jude Law), only or her to then kill her boyfriend, Martin (Channing Tatum) in a trance like state. However, is Emily telling the truth? Why is her old doctor, Dr. Victoria Siebert (Catherine Zeta-Jones) so interested in Emily?
While Soderbergh does well with a story so full of twists and turns, his choice of actors does seem like his fan club, rather than some people who were correct for the part. Tatum was a bit non-descript as the boyfriend, not adding much to the story, and Law was playing his part a little bit too calm for someone who was being accused of assisting murder by putting his patient on untested drugs. However, stand-out performance definitely has to go to Catherine Zeta-Jones, who I thought stole the spotlight in every scene she was in. Her character was so well developed by writer Scott Z. Burns that she had a great basis to start from...
**** / *****
Oz: The Great and Powerful
I'll admit, when I heard about Oz, I was very excited. The fact that it was being directed by Sam Raimi (Spiderman, Spiderman 2 and Spiderman 3) and was starring James Franco (Spiderman, 127 Hours) just helped to boost my excitement ten fold. After probably one of the longest breaks between original film and sequel, Oz: The Great and Powerful follows on from the 1939 classic The Wizard of Oz (although legal reasons between different film studios means it's not officially a direct sequel...) the film follows magician Oz (Franco) as he is whisked into the magical land of Oz and is being hailed by all as the wizard they have all been waiting for. However, the Emerald City is soon being held hostage by the Wicked Witch of the West, but is it Theodora (Mila Kunis), Evanora (Rachel Weisz) or Glinda (Michelle Williams) who is the real Wicked Witch?
What surprised me about Oz was just how funny it was, and that the comedy was blended in so well between the tense moments (most notably any scene involving the flying monkeys) and the drama between the Wicked Witch and Oz. However, what I really enjoyed about Oz is just how well Raimi used the 3D to make the film a true experience and one that had to be had at the cinema. The water squirting out the screen from a river nymph and the flying monkey popping out from the fog were just a couple of stand-out moments. While they were a bit gimmicky, it's what 3D should be all about. Forget James Cameron and his 'immersion' 3D...
**** / *****
Jack the Giant Slayer
Following on from the tradition of taking old Grimm fairytales and giving them a modern twist, Jack the Giant Slayer tries to break the mould of recent affairs of giving them a dark edge, and Director Bryan Singer (X-Men, The Usual Suspects) makes it a family affair and crams the film full of toilet humour and corny jokes. The film starts off on familiar territory, as Jack (Nicholas Hoult) is given some magic beans, which then happen to grow into a gigantic beanstalk. However, Princess Isabelle (Eleanor Tomlinson) just happened to be in Jack's house as it's taken up into the sky by the beanstalk. With a side story about Isabelle being promised to the corrupt Roderick (Stanley Tucci), it's a race against time for Jack to save the girl from the Giants in the sky, keep her away from Roderick and then save the entire kingdom when the race of Giants manage to hitch a ride on the beanstalk back down to earth.
While I admire Singer for making a good old family pantomime film, rather than an edgy, cool dark tale of Jack and the Beanstalk, I did find myself wanting to awkwardly boo and hiss whenever Roderick was on-screen. It didn't help that Tucci's hammy acting was making him even more the pantomime villain. However, Jack the Giant Killer's main problem is that the whole film is a build up to a Helm's Deep style battle between the Giants and the kingdom. It's just a shame that the final battle itself is rather underwhelming, considering the CGI on the Giants is rather amateur and the violence is toned right down to fit with the family friendly 12A rating.
*** / *****
The Croods
Dreamworks are back with their new loveable prehistoric family, The Croods... in unneeded 3D. Eep (Emma Stone) is desperate to explore the world, but her controlling Father, Grug (Nicholas Cage) prevents her from doing so, fearing the end of the world. Soon Eep finds Guy (Ryan Reynolds), a young man who tells the family of the end of the world and the only safe place left being in the mountains. What follows is Grug, Eep and the rest of the family's first steps into an unknown world to save their lives.
The Croods is like Wreck It Ralph, in that it doesn't offer a lot new with it's story, but it's hard to criticise because it's an innocent flick for the young 'uns (I think I just find animation films hard to review!) Emma Stone continues her brilliant career in Hollywood, as she provides excellent voice work for Eep and Cloris Leachman channels her inner Betty White to deliver more brilliant voice work for Gran. While the young 'uns will love the cheesy visual humour (a Mammoth falling into oblivion as the land splits perfectly in two, is just one moment...) there is also some real heart behind the story as we realise that Grug's over protective nature was because he just loved his family so much. Awwww...
*** / *****
Stoker
The trailer for Stoker just grabbed me. It was moody, dark, chilling and very intriguing. Just who is Uncle Charles (Matthew Goode)? Why is he so obsessed with India Stoker (Mia Wasikowska)? Why is the Mother, Evelyn Stoker (Nicole Kidman) seemingly not bothered about the death of her husband? And what is she on about in the trailer, that we have children so we can learn from our mistakes?!
It did everything a trailer should do; raise questions and inspire me to see the film. However, it's unfortunate because the end product doesn't really answer a lot of the questions raised. Uncle Charles is obsessed with India because... well, he just is. Evelyn Stoker is not bothered about the death of her husband because... erm, is it because she's an alcoholic?!
However, it's not all bad because Stoker is an absolutely stunning film. Director Chan-wook Park (Oldboy, Lady Vengeance) obviously had a strong vision in mind and is an extremely talented Director in order to get the stunning shots that he did. It's just a shame that the script wasn't developed as well.
*** / *****
Identity Thief
It's a bit worrying when a film has to rely so heavily on the stars in order to sell itself to an audience. For me, it's also very worrying when a film has to rely on the makers of, the stars of, or the caterers of Bridesmaids, one of the most overrated comedies of the past decade. However, that's exactly what Identity Thief does. Starring one of the stars of Bridesmaids, Melissa McCarthy, the film follows Sandy Patterson (Jason Bateman) who finds out that Diana (McCarthy) has stolen his identity and is going on a spending spree on the other side of the country. For some reason, it's up to Sandy to get his own identity back, because there is some stupid reason why the Police can't sort it all out for him. What follows is a 'hilarious' trip across country getting Diana back to his hometown so the Police can actually do something about it.
The whole premise of Identity Thief is so weak that the comedy needed to be spot on for the film to work. Unfortunately, despite a couple of stand-out moments from McCarthy, the film is void of any laughs and dragged on for far... too... long. I'm not saying that all films should stick to one hour thirty minutes, but when you don't have a story to tell, don't stretch it out to nearly two hours.
Not much else to say really, because if you've seen the trailer for Identity Thief, you aren't missing out on much else.
** / *****
GI Joe: Retaliation
After a year's hiatus, when Retaliation should have been released last year but due to awful test screenings, the film was held back. It's not really a good start is it? But, when you are making a film to a stupidly over-the-top action film, how do you make it even more insane? Well, forget about all ideas of a plot, have seemingly random storylines (that eventually tie together) and a brilliant set piece that is ruined in all the trailers (I'm talking about the brilliant cliff side battle.)
GI Joe: Retaliation is a hard film for me to review, because in all honesty, I forgot about it quite quickly after I left the cinema. There was nothing really redeeming about it. I was so confused as to what was going on at some points that I almost lost interest and I don't know if it was a dodgy projectionist, but the 3D was a blurry mess. Just leave this one for the bargain bin when it's out on DVD/Blu-Ray. Even then, I might avoid it.
