I had actually written a normal review for this film way back when, but I lost the flash drive that it was saved on. So this is what I feel like writing!
Don't waste your time even thinking about seeing Movie 43. When I saw the film upon its release I actually had some fun with it - there are some genuinely funny moments and performances that made laugh quite a bit, but after the blessing of time I have come to realize that the film was utterly worthless and incredibly offensive for most of its run-time. Most importantly it was offensive to the host of men and women who must have been held at gunpoint when signing their contracts to star in this film.
Just don't waste your time with this movie. Just look up some of the scenes online and spare yourself that agony of what most of this film is.
Movie 43 is an utter waste of time and an embarrassment to those who starred in it.
The Bearded Bullet.
Thursday, May 9, 2013
The Place Beyond the Pines Review
The Place Beyond the Pines is an incredibly fascinating, meandering, and long-winded film that causes one to ponder...the impact of our actions today on our children in the future. To ponder where the thin red line between blatant revenge and that abstract idea of justice lies. To ponder what justice truly entails. Directed by Derek Cianfrance, Pines is a film that follows two families across almost two decades and how their actions of the past come back to haunt them in the future.
Luke (Ryan Gosling, as stoic as ever) is a tattoo-laden carnie who specializes in dirt bike/motorcycle riding and stunts. Early in the film he discovers that he has an infant child with an old fling of his, Romina (Eva Mendes). He quits his carnival job and takes work from a fledgling auto mechanic, Robin (Ben Mendelsohn). Soon the two turn to bank robberies to fill their pockets, with Luke using his new-found funds to help support the child he never knew he had. This is of course causes friction between Luke, Romina, and her new boyfriend, Kofi. A poorly-planned heist causes Luke's life to violently collide with police officer Avery's (Bradley Cooper). At this point the narrative takes an unexpected turn - a turn that I shan't say anything more about. Where the story goes from here is incredibly fascinating and was completely engrossing to watch unfold. Then a second shift happens and the story becomes something else entirely. Part of the magic of Pines is seeing these transitions play out unexpectedly; I had no idea where the story was going until it actually happened.
The themes at play revolve around justice and revenge. Cooper's Avery makes a speech halfway through the film about what justice really means and that concept applies to the film as a whole. Do money and gifts make up for being an absentee father? Does a lifetime of regret make up for mistakes made in the past? The idea of the "sins of the father" (an excellent episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, by the way) is dealt with subtly here, with actions taken by both Luke and Avery coming back to haunt them and others in the future. While I picked up on these themes, they weren't actually explored much at all and we only ever see their surface scratched.
The performances all around were just simply fantastic. Cooper continues his run of great performances (namely Limitless and The Silver Linings Playbook) with Pines. His character is incredibly sympathetic and complex. The name of the game with this film is subtlety - no one is hamming it up here. Subtle magic happens whenever Cooper is on screen with his character's wife Jennifer, played by Rose Byrne. Byrne doesn't have all that much to do with the overall narrative, but she puts in one helluva performance with the little screen time she's given. The rest of the cast is superb as well: Ben Mendelsohn, whom I usually don't like, is a fantastically strange accomplice to Luke's crimes, Ray Liotta seems to thrive in these pseudo-crime dramas and his performance is low-key and great, and Eva Mendes plays her part as Luke's struggling-to-make it ex-girlfriend. If any props must be truly handed out they would have to go to Dane DeHaan for his work as Jason. DeHaan is hit-or-miss with me (he's actually only been a miss in his small bit in Lincoln) but here he puts in a powerhouse of a performance. I can't say much about his role for fear of spoiling the film, but his character is very sympathetic as well and he pulls it off beautifully.
I purposely left my thoughts on Ryan Gosling's part for this section, the one I'll call "How the Place Beyond the Pines was the sequel/prequel to Drive." On the surface, Pines is similar in tone and style to Drive. Both are deliberately slow and rather plodding and Gosling's Luke shares many similarities to his Driver. Both are loners, become involved with a woman with a small child, have to deal with the tension of said woman's boyfriend/husband, are prone to sudden acts of violence, are quiet, calm and collected, engage in robberies to help someone else out, and are stuntmen of sorts. There's also the fact that both work for a mechanic, both of whom are somewhat dirty and greasy (figuratively and literally). In both films his character has a special/particular "set of skills." Hard to NOT think of the similarities, no? It may sound like I'm complaining here, but I'm not. Drive was my favorite film from 2011 and imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. IF Pines is intentionally borrowing from Drive then so be it. If not, all of those add up to HELL of a coincidence!
For the few people who will actually see this film, I can foresee them being very divided in their opinions. While I found much to like about it, Pines certainly takes its grand old time getting any kind of narrative traction going and takes some rather bold risks in its storytelling that will most certainly turn some viewers off. I was wholly engaged for the two-thirds of the film, until a certain character, AJ, arrives on screen and almost ruined the whole thing for me. AJ's demeanor, accent, actions, everything, just annoyed me to no end. The performance was utterly grating when compared to something like DeHaan's. I understand that this was the intention of the character - we aren't supposed to like him (but maybe we're supposed to sympathize with him? If so, the performance did nothing to attain that...) and if that was truly the goal, then it was accomplished in spades.
Pines isn't action-packed with grand explosions and cheesy one-liners (although it does feature some nail-biting, utterly gripping heist sequences). It's a deliberately-paced drama that meanders its way through the lives of this wide array of characters. Films like this don't usually crop up this time of year and is most certainly a welcome change of pace from the typical action blockbusters (don't get me wrong, the love the hell out of those films too!). I'd say definitely check it out on video/streaming when it becomes available in a few months. Just make sure to set aside plenty of time as it's almost two-and-a-half hours long.
The Place Beyond the Pines is an intriguing drama with some showcase performances.
The Bearded Bullet.
Luke (Ryan Gosling, as stoic as ever) is a tattoo-laden carnie who specializes in dirt bike/motorcycle riding and stunts. Early in the film he discovers that he has an infant child with an old fling of his, Romina (Eva Mendes). He quits his carnival job and takes work from a fledgling auto mechanic, Robin (Ben Mendelsohn). Soon the two turn to bank robberies to fill their pockets, with Luke using his new-found funds to help support the child he never knew he had. This is of course causes friction between Luke, Romina, and her new boyfriend, Kofi. A poorly-planned heist causes Luke's life to violently collide with police officer Avery's (Bradley Cooper). At this point the narrative takes an unexpected turn - a turn that I shan't say anything more about. Where the story goes from here is incredibly fascinating and was completely engrossing to watch unfold. Then a second shift happens and the story becomes something else entirely. Part of the magic of Pines is seeing these transitions play out unexpectedly; I had no idea where the story was going until it actually happened.
The themes at play revolve around justice and revenge. Cooper's Avery makes a speech halfway through the film about what justice really means and that concept applies to the film as a whole. Do money and gifts make up for being an absentee father? Does a lifetime of regret make up for mistakes made in the past? The idea of the "sins of the father" (an excellent episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, by the way) is dealt with subtly here, with actions taken by both Luke and Avery coming back to haunt them and others in the future. While I picked up on these themes, they weren't actually explored much at all and we only ever see their surface scratched.
The performances all around were just simply fantastic. Cooper continues his run of great performances (namely Limitless and The Silver Linings Playbook) with Pines. His character is incredibly sympathetic and complex. The name of the game with this film is subtlety - no one is hamming it up here. Subtle magic happens whenever Cooper is on screen with his character's wife Jennifer, played by Rose Byrne. Byrne doesn't have all that much to do with the overall narrative, but she puts in one helluva performance with the little screen time she's given. The rest of the cast is superb as well: Ben Mendelsohn, whom I usually don't like, is a fantastically strange accomplice to Luke's crimes, Ray Liotta seems to thrive in these pseudo-crime dramas and his performance is low-key and great, and Eva Mendes plays her part as Luke's struggling-to-make it ex-girlfriend. If any props must be truly handed out they would have to go to Dane DeHaan for his work as Jason. DeHaan is hit-or-miss with me (he's actually only been a miss in his small bit in Lincoln) but here he puts in a powerhouse of a performance. I can't say much about his role for fear of spoiling the film, but his character is very sympathetic as well and he pulls it off beautifully.
I purposely left my thoughts on Ryan Gosling's part for this section, the one I'll call "How the Place Beyond the Pines was the sequel/prequel to Drive." On the surface, Pines is similar in tone and style to Drive. Both are deliberately slow and rather plodding and Gosling's Luke shares many similarities to his Driver. Both are loners, become involved with a woman with a small child, have to deal with the tension of said woman's boyfriend/husband, are prone to sudden acts of violence, are quiet, calm and collected, engage in robberies to help someone else out, and are stuntmen of sorts. There's also the fact that both work for a mechanic, both of whom are somewhat dirty and greasy (figuratively and literally). In both films his character has a special/particular "set of skills." Hard to NOT think of the similarities, no? It may sound like I'm complaining here, but I'm not. Drive was my favorite film from 2011 and imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. IF Pines is intentionally borrowing from Drive then so be it. If not, all of those add up to HELL of a coincidence!
For the few people who will actually see this film, I can foresee them being very divided in their opinions. While I found much to like about it, Pines certainly takes its grand old time getting any kind of narrative traction going and takes some rather bold risks in its storytelling that will most certainly turn some viewers off. I was wholly engaged for the two-thirds of the film, until a certain character, AJ, arrives on screen and almost ruined the whole thing for me. AJ's demeanor, accent, actions, everything, just annoyed me to no end. The performance was utterly grating when compared to something like DeHaan's. I understand that this was the intention of the character - we aren't supposed to like him (but maybe we're supposed to sympathize with him? If so, the performance did nothing to attain that...) and if that was truly the goal, then it was accomplished in spades.
Pines isn't action-packed with grand explosions and cheesy one-liners (although it does feature some nail-biting, utterly gripping heist sequences). It's a deliberately-paced drama that meanders its way through the lives of this wide array of characters. Films like this don't usually crop up this time of year and is most certainly a welcome change of pace from the typical action blockbusters (don't get me wrong, the love the hell out of those films too!). I'd say definitely check it out on video/streaming when it becomes available in a few months. Just make sure to set aside plenty of time as it's almost two-and-a-half hours long.
The Place Beyond the Pines is an intriguing drama with some showcase performances.
The Bearded Bullet.
Wednesday, May 8, 2013
Oblivion Review
I'm a huge fan of Joseph Kosinski, and he's only directed two films: Oblivion and 2010's outstanding Tron: Legacy. I loved the film (Tron) so much that I've listened to its score during almost every review I've ever written, this one included. With such a strong freshman effort, my expectations were understandably high for his follow-up, Oblivion, based upon a graphic novel that Joseph himself wrote. While not perfect by any means, I enjoyed Oblivion immensely, and possibly even more than his first effort.
Tom Cruise is Jack Harper, a drone tech on 2077 Earth. He and his partner, Vicca (Andrea Riseborough) are the only remaining humans on the planet, tasked with patrolling the skies and protecting/repairing drones that are in turn protecting ginormous fusion reactors that are converting Earth's water into fuel...fuel for the rest of the human race to use on Titan, one of Saturn's moons. See, sixty years prior, an alien race known as the Scavs came from the depths of space to eradicate the human population and take our resources. "We won the war, but we lost the planet," to quote Jack. The remaining humans fled to the Tet (I couldn't help but think of the 1968 Tet Offensive during the Vietnam War whenever this was mentioned...cool story bro, I know), a space station orbiting the Earth, which serves as an embarkation point to Titan. Still with me? Cool. Most of this information is conveyed through a detail-heavy bit of exposition at the top of the film; Kosinski has a lot of ground to cover in terms of world-building, and I think he did a fantastic job.
One of the film's strengths is the world in which Jack and Vicca operate. It's still the Earth we know today...just with almost everything recognizable destroyed. Remember those Scavs I was talking about? Well before they invaded the Earth they blew up the Moon, which caused massive upheavels in the tectonic plates; New York City is almost literally underground, save for a trench between some skyscrapers and the top of the Empire State Building. Its these few elements that help to reassure us that this is actually Earth despite the alien presence and the future-tech at play.
The visual effects on display most certainly play into this feeling of reality. Jack flies a small ship that looks akin to a dragonfly, that can pull off wondrous stunts. Many scenes involving the ship were filmed practically, with Cruise actually sitting in a real version of it. No matter how good effects get, the eye can just tell when something is real. I mean, most of the time anyway! Everything just felt very tactile, despite the Tron-like sheen to it all (at least in Jack and Vicca's skylofty apartment). Honestly, this film sports some of the most impressive visual effects I've ever seen; nary a moment passed where I wasn't fully immersed in the world that Jack was flying around in. The incredible sound design also deserves much credit; every energy bolt fired from Jack's rifle pulsed in my chest. The drones that Jack is tasked with repairing are a masterful blend of these two crafts; I swear that an actual spherical drone was on-screen with Cruise at all times...and the sound-effects of their "language" and propulsion rumbled my seat. Just amazing.
Without getting into too much detail, where Oblivion will become love-it-or-hate-it is with its trope-riddled plot. The main argument against this film is that it poaches heavily from previous science fiction franchises. To name them would be akin to spoiling the film, but let's just say that the homages/rip-offs are quite apparent and abundant during the film. And I had no problem with it. Frankly, I felt like Oblivion's narrative was wholly unique and breath of fresh air, while at the same time doing very little to be actually innovative. This is a very difficult place to be in - I recognize the cherry-picking being done from movie-trope-history, but I ultimately don't care. Almost nothing is unique these days, and within a world filled with sequels, prequels, remakes, reboots, requels, and premakes what Kosinski was able to accomplish is truly astounding. Will you see the plot twists coming from a mile away? Maybe. I did with some. But others kept me guessing right up until the end.
If I'm being honest with myself, there is just very little negative that I have to say about this film. The characters aren't necessarily anything to write home about, but that's on purpose. The visuals are outstanding, as is the narrative as a whole. The score, on the other hand, while very, very good just didn't live up to my expectations from the superb Legacy (seriously, it has got to be one of the best film scores of the last decade); this time around composed by M83 instead of Daft Punk, I couldn't help but feel Tron and The Dark Knight/The Dark Knight Rises undertones were at play. And to be fair, a good bit of the Tron:Legacy score is eerily reminiscent to Inception/The Dark Knight, but I was just hoping for something a tad more iconic.
My only other gripe would be with several plot holes that crop up throughout the film. I'm completely fine with a film that has a lot going on (the aforementioned Inception springs to mind), but when something happens or someone does something that makes you stop and ask yourself, "wait, why...what?" then there might be a problem. Several times throughout the film jumps in logic are made and we're expected to fill in the gaps. Again, I have no problem with this in general, but I couldn't help but feel that maybe the film thought it was a wee bit smarter than it actually is...
Despite retreading seemingly well-worn science fiction territory, I couldn't help but feel like Oblivion was a great big breath of fresh air in today's cinematic landscape. Yes, plenty of ideas and concepts are borrowed/poached from the other franchises, but what Kosinski does with those ideas are truly fantastic and incredibly memorable. Yes, maybe Morgan Freeman's Beech was a tad underdeveloped as a character, but he didn't need to be. This is Jack's story and I'm very glad that I came along for the ride (you'll see what I did there after you see the movie).
Before I wrap this up I need to just quickly point out that the film's one "f" bomb was absolutely per-fect. So good!! Also, The Kingslayer!!!
Oblivion feels like an incredibly fresh, vibrant sci-fi action film while borrowing from quite a few franchises.
The Bearded Bullet
Tom Cruise is Jack Harper, a drone tech on 2077 Earth. He and his partner, Vicca (Andrea Riseborough) are the only remaining humans on the planet, tasked with patrolling the skies and protecting/repairing drones that are in turn protecting ginormous fusion reactors that are converting Earth's water into fuel...fuel for the rest of the human race to use on Titan, one of Saturn's moons. See, sixty years prior, an alien race known as the Scavs came from the depths of space to eradicate the human population and take our resources. "We won the war, but we lost the planet," to quote Jack. The remaining humans fled to the Tet (I couldn't help but think of the 1968 Tet Offensive during the Vietnam War whenever this was mentioned...cool story bro, I know), a space station orbiting the Earth, which serves as an embarkation point to Titan. Still with me? Cool. Most of this information is conveyed through a detail-heavy bit of exposition at the top of the film; Kosinski has a lot of ground to cover in terms of world-building, and I think he did a fantastic job.
One of the film's strengths is the world in which Jack and Vicca operate. It's still the Earth we know today...just with almost everything recognizable destroyed. Remember those Scavs I was talking about? Well before they invaded the Earth they blew up the Moon, which caused massive upheavels in the tectonic plates; New York City is almost literally underground, save for a trench between some skyscrapers and the top of the Empire State Building. Its these few elements that help to reassure us that this is actually Earth despite the alien presence and the future-tech at play.
The visual effects on display most certainly play into this feeling of reality. Jack flies a small ship that looks akin to a dragonfly, that can pull off wondrous stunts. Many scenes involving the ship were filmed practically, with Cruise actually sitting in a real version of it. No matter how good effects get, the eye can just tell when something is real. I mean, most of the time anyway! Everything just felt very tactile, despite the Tron-like sheen to it all (at least in Jack and Vicca's skylofty apartment). Honestly, this film sports some of the most impressive visual effects I've ever seen; nary a moment passed where I wasn't fully immersed in the world that Jack was flying around in. The incredible sound design also deserves much credit; every energy bolt fired from Jack's rifle pulsed in my chest. The drones that Jack is tasked with repairing are a masterful blend of these two crafts; I swear that an actual spherical drone was on-screen with Cruise at all times...and the sound-effects of their "language" and propulsion rumbled my seat. Just amazing.
Without getting into too much detail, where Oblivion will become love-it-or-hate-it is with its trope-riddled plot. The main argument against this film is that it poaches heavily from previous science fiction franchises. To name them would be akin to spoiling the film, but let's just say that the homages/rip-offs are quite apparent and abundant during the film. And I had no problem with it. Frankly, I felt like Oblivion's narrative was wholly unique and breath of fresh air, while at the same time doing very little to be actually innovative. This is a very difficult place to be in - I recognize the cherry-picking being done from movie-trope-history, but I ultimately don't care. Almost nothing is unique these days, and within a world filled with sequels, prequels, remakes, reboots, requels, and premakes what Kosinski was able to accomplish is truly astounding. Will you see the plot twists coming from a mile away? Maybe. I did with some. But others kept me guessing right up until the end.
If I'm being honest with myself, there is just very little negative that I have to say about this film. The characters aren't necessarily anything to write home about, but that's on purpose. The visuals are outstanding, as is the narrative as a whole. The score, on the other hand, while very, very good just didn't live up to my expectations from the superb Legacy (seriously, it has got to be one of the best film scores of the last decade); this time around composed by M83 instead of Daft Punk, I couldn't help but feel Tron and The Dark Knight/The Dark Knight Rises undertones were at play. And to be fair, a good bit of the Tron:Legacy score is eerily reminiscent to Inception/The Dark Knight, but I was just hoping for something a tad more iconic.
My only other gripe would be with several plot holes that crop up throughout the film. I'm completely fine with a film that has a lot going on (the aforementioned Inception springs to mind), but when something happens or someone does something that makes you stop and ask yourself, "wait, why...what?" then there might be a problem. Several times throughout the film jumps in logic are made and we're expected to fill in the gaps. Again, I have no problem with this in general, but I couldn't help but feel that maybe the film thought it was a wee bit smarter than it actually is...
Despite retreading seemingly well-worn science fiction territory, I couldn't help but feel like Oblivion was a great big breath of fresh air in today's cinematic landscape. Yes, plenty of ideas and concepts are borrowed/poached from the other franchises, but what Kosinski does with those ideas are truly fantastic and incredibly memorable. Yes, maybe Morgan Freeman's Beech was a tad underdeveloped as a character, but he didn't need to be. This is Jack's story and I'm very glad that I came along for the ride (you'll see what I did there after you see the movie).
Before I wrap this up I need to just quickly point out that the film's one "f" bomb was absolutely per-fect. So good!! Also, The Kingslayer!!!
Oblivion feels like an incredibly fresh, vibrant sci-fi action film while borrowing from quite a few franchises.
The Bearded Bullet
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
The Bearded Bullet's 2013 Film Rankings
In keeping with my new tradition, here you will find the list of films I've seen so far in 2013, ranked from my favorite to least favorite. I've had a slow first half of the year, having missed many-a-film in the March/April area. Perhaps I'll attempt to catch them on video later this year. In any case, I am endeavoring to catch up and maintain as an impressive of a list as last year's. As before, the number after each titles signifies the number of times I've seen said film. And as a side note, I lost the flash drive that had several reviews on it for films earlier this year. If I ever find it I'll most certainly publish them right away. To quote the great Brendan Fraser in 2008's The Mummy: The Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, "here we go again!" (Yeah, I can't believe I just did that either...)
1. Man of Steel (4)
2. This is the End (2)
3. Fast & Furious 6 (2)
4. Star Trek Into Darkness (3)
5. World War Z (2)
6. Oblivion (2)
7. Iron Man 3 (2)
8. The Hangover Part III (1)
9. Pain & Gain (1)
10.Evil Dead (1)
11.The Place Beyond the Pines (1)
12.G.I. Joe: Retaliation (1)
13.Warm Bodies (1)
14.Broken City (1)
15.The Last Stand (1)
16.Gangster Squad (1)
17.Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters (1)
18.Movie 43 (1)
The Bearded Bullet
1. Man of Steel (4)
2. This is the End (2)
3. Fast & Furious 6 (2)
4. Star Trek Into Darkness (3)
5. World War Z (2)
6. Oblivion (2)
7. Iron Man 3 (2)
8. The Hangover Part III (1)
9. Pain & Gain (1)
10.Evil Dead (1)
11.The Place Beyond the Pines (1)
12.G.I. Joe: Retaliation (1)
13.Warm Bodies (1)
14.Broken City (1)
15.The Last Stand (1)
16.Gangster Squad (1)
17.Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters (1)
18.Movie 43 (1)
The Bearded Bullet
Friday, May 3, 2013
Iron Man 3 Review
I have a strong connection with the Marvel films of the last five years. I've been wholly engaged since the first Iron Man rolled out of the Marvel assembly line all shiny and rarin' to go. Iron Man himself, Tony Stark, has been through the ringer in the last five years; gets kidnapped by terrorists, his mentor turns on him and tries to kill him, starts being killed by the one thing keeping him alive, has to fight a dude who was mad at his dad, and oh yeah, there's that little incident in New York where he fought friggin aliens with a super solider from a bygone era, a god from another realm, an irradiated man who smashes things...and two other people. It's this last event that has the greatest impact on Tony as a character, and helps to make Iron Man 3 the darkest and most dire of the franchise yet.
Quick note: most of IM3's plot is twisty and turny and therefore, I'll keep the spoilery bits for the end.
We catch up with Tony not too long after the events of last year's The Avengers. He's a bit of a changed man. Long gone are the "billionaire, playboy, philanthropist" days (he's still a genius). Mr. Stark now suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, or some amalgamation of it; he endures crippling panic attacks that grind the strong, confident man we know and love to his literal knees. His one driving force is to protect the "one thing he can't live without:" Pepper Potts. Tony can't sleep at night because of panic-enducing nightmares about his travel through the wormhole in New York. He spends all of his waking hours toiling away in his garage, trying to perfect his Mk. 42 armor. Robert Downey Jr. puts in his most complex and impressive performance yet as the now-troubled Tony Stark. I am thoroughly convinced that no other man, woman, or child on the planet could inhabit the role as he does.
While Tony is trying to deal with his new stresses in life, someone from his past returns to haunt him; the scientist Aldrich Killian (played oh-so-smarmily by Guy Pearce). Oh, and the leader of a terrorist group known as "The Ten Rings" (the same group that kidnapped Tony in the first film), the Mandarin, begins launching terror attacks across the globe...with one of them hitting Tony right at home, literally. The portrayal of the Mandarin, as played by Sir Ben Kingsley, will undoubtedly be the focal-point for all discussions about Iron Man 3. I thought he was superb in the role...and that's all I'll say about that.
It's this attack that sets the rest of the film in motion, with Tony having to MacGyver his way out of some very sticky (and firey) situations. It's here where we meet the unexpected stand-out of the film (for me) - a young boy named Harley. It's between Tony and Harley that we get some great "buddy" movie banter. The two share some of the most memorable dialogue and scenes of the film and were just a delight to watch.
Without getting into too much detail, I felt the story was very fresh and a nice change of pace from the first two Iron Man films; the previous entries follow a relatively similar story-and-character arc for Tony and Iron Man 3 switches that up a bit. There are most certainly some surprises along the way with regards to the Mandarin's intentions and how the story plays out. And I loved every minute of it.
While the technical aspects of the film were, on the whole, quite fantastic, there were some instances of iffy CGI - namely with Iron Man himself. There were several wide shots of IM walking across a room that didn't quite look right. I'm not quite sure why this wasn't done practically; we know RDJ can act in an actual suit, as evidenced by his birthday party scene in Iron Man 2. Perhaps he can't walk distances in the real thing. Regardless, this is just one minor gripe in a sea of incredibly well-done digital effects, with several mind-blowing action sequences that make especially Iron Man feel very small in comparison.
I may seem to be praising Iron Man 3 quite a bit, and that's because I enjoyed it immensely. If I had to pick one aspect of the film that doesn't stand out to me as being fantastic, it would have to be the film's score. I find it troubling that out of now six films, I can barely remember any of the score from any of the films (Captain America and The Avengers have one or two memorable songs but that's about it for me) and unfortunately IM3 is the same. There are two moments where the music swells, eerily reminiscent of Danny Elfman's score for Tim Burton's Batman...and those are the only two musically-memorable moments of the film. Well, that's outside of the excellent use of "Blue (Da Ba Dee)" early in the proceedings.
There are a few other missteps along the way, including various plot holes or things that just make you stop and think, "now wait a minute..." A big missed opportunity lies with Rebecca Hall's Maya Hansen. An old fling of Tony's, Maya doesn't get all that much to do in the film and as a result, her character isn't nearly as fleshed-out as say, Guy Pearce's Killian. Maya serves a specific role and that's about it. James Badge Dale's Savin meets a similar fate; he's just the muscle of the baddies and pretty much just serves that role...although it is nice to see the man getting work. He had a small but memorable role in Flight and is simply fantastic as the main protagonist for most of HBO's The Pacific.
That about sums up my thoughts on Iron Man 3. Despite some minor gripes and complaints I've gotta say that I almost unabashedly love this film. Maybe I still have PMH (post-movie high...an awesome term coined by a friend of mine), but I think this may be my favorite of the franchise (of Iron Man films). But we all know big decisions like this (where to rank films you like) take time. It takes a little more thought and processing and movie-watching (like, seeing the film ten times). You don't need me to convince you to see or to not see this film - if you've seen the rest you're probably already in for the long haul on this franchise.
If you don't want to be spoiled on anything, you'll probably want to stop here. Like, for reals. Don't scroll down. The first thing you'll read will spoil the crap outta the film....just go watch it!
********Spoiler Alert*********
Still with me? Ok...HOLY CRAP THE MANDARIN ISN'T THE MANDARIN. The marketing and trailers for this film did wonders into portraying Ben Kingsley as the Mandarin and the brains behind the Ten Rings. I had to pick my face up off the floor after the reveal that he's really just a British actor that Killian hired to be a terrorist leader. Having never read the comics I don't have any attachment to the history of these characters, and as a result, it completely blew me away that Shane Black (directing and co-writing) would have the guts to give us a villain and then halfway through the film just pull him out from under our feet. In all of the Marvel films so far, the villain is the villain is the villain. No crazy switcheroos like this! I can wholly understand the nerdrage that will emanate from this: as a friend of mine put it, imagine if the Joker wasn't the Joker. Messing with iconic characters like this can be stirring the beehive, especially when the repeat viewers are the hardcore fanbase that this will piss off.
Tony's myraid suits showing up for the final battle was spoiled in the trailers for the film, but were still quite a sight to behold. Going into the film I thought it'd be a bigger deal about the suits' differences, but that wasn't even brought up. I didn't expect Tony to go "oh, there's the space one. And there's the underwater one. And there's the Hulkbuster armor," but I was just hoping and expecting something...anything! And now they're all gone!!!!!! I've gotta give the writers credit again for not only destroying the things that make Tony Stark Iron Man, but for also removing the one literal thing that started the entire franchise. Tony's personal arc reactor is gone, and with it the shrapnel that was oh so close to killing him back in the first film. The implications of both of these actions will undoubtedly be explored in further detail in Avengers 2, but I don't wanna wait till 2015, dammit!!
And Pepper's Extremis-ified!!! This was totally spoiled for me by the trailers, considering we see her, post-fall, in every trailer the was released, but I still thought it was incredibly badass.
Regardless of what you think about the Mandarin or how some of the characters were handled, Iron Man 3 is without a doubt a blast of a time at the theater. This year so far has been just okay...nothing too spectacular (well, I thought Oblivion was), but hopefully this film is the start to a very, very incredible summer of films. Just go see it. You know you will.
And I'll leave you with a parting thought...was Killian really the Mandarin? Or were we and Tony duped into believing the swticheroo, when Trevor really IS the Mandarin? Perhaps this was an elaborate Joker/Loki plan and he wanted to be captured all along and Killian was just playing the part of the martyr for the cause of the Ten Rings? Who knows....
Iron Man 3 is wham bam of an action film and a fitting end to the trilogy.
The Bearded Bullet.
Quick note: most of IM3's plot is twisty and turny and therefore, I'll keep the spoilery bits for the end.
We catch up with Tony not too long after the events of last year's The Avengers. He's a bit of a changed man. Long gone are the "billionaire, playboy, philanthropist" days (he's still a genius). Mr. Stark now suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, or some amalgamation of it; he endures crippling panic attacks that grind the strong, confident man we know and love to his literal knees. His one driving force is to protect the "one thing he can't live without:" Pepper Potts. Tony can't sleep at night because of panic-enducing nightmares about his travel through the wormhole in New York. He spends all of his waking hours toiling away in his garage, trying to perfect his Mk. 42 armor. Robert Downey Jr. puts in his most complex and impressive performance yet as the now-troubled Tony Stark. I am thoroughly convinced that no other man, woman, or child on the planet could inhabit the role as he does.
While Tony is trying to deal with his new stresses in life, someone from his past returns to haunt him; the scientist Aldrich Killian (played oh-so-smarmily by Guy Pearce). Oh, and the leader of a terrorist group known as "The Ten Rings" (the same group that kidnapped Tony in the first film), the Mandarin, begins launching terror attacks across the globe...with one of them hitting Tony right at home, literally. The portrayal of the Mandarin, as played by Sir Ben Kingsley, will undoubtedly be the focal-point for all discussions about Iron Man 3. I thought he was superb in the role...and that's all I'll say about that.
It's this attack that sets the rest of the film in motion, with Tony having to MacGyver his way out of some very sticky (and firey) situations. It's here where we meet the unexpected stand-out of the film (for me) - a young boy named Harley. It's between Tony and Harley that we get some great "buddy" movie banter. The two share some of the most memorable dialogue and scenes of the film and were just a delight to watch.
Without getting into too much detail, I felt the story was very fresh and a nice change of pace from the first two Iron Man films; the previous entries follow a relatively similar story-and-character arc for Tony and Iron Man 3 switches that up a bit. There are most certainly some surprises along the way with regards to the Mandarin's intentions and how the story plays out. And I loved every minute of it.
While the technical aspects of the film were, on the whole, quite fantastic, there were some instances of iffy CGI - namely with Iron Man himself. There were several wide shots of IM walking across a room that didn't quite look right. I'm not quite sure why this wasn't done practically; we know RDJ can act in an actual suit, as evidenced by his birthday party scene in Iron Man 2. Perhaps he can't walk distances in the real thing. Regardless, this is just one minor gripe in a sea of incredibly well-done digital effects, with several mind-blowing action sequences that make especially Iron Man feel very small in comparison.
I may seem to be praising Iron Man 3 quite a bit, and that's because I enjoyed it immensely. If I had to pick one aspect of the film that doesn't stand out to me as being fantastic, it would have to be the film's score. I find it troubling that out of now six films, I can barely remember any of the score from any of the films (Captain America and The Avengers have one or two memorable songs but that's about it for me) and unfortunately IM3 is the same. There are two moments where the music swells, eerily reminiscent of Danny Elfman's score for Tim Burton's Batman...and those are the only two musically-memorable moments of the film. Well, that's outside of the excellent use of "Blue (Da Ba Dee)" early in the proceedings.
There are a few other missteps along the way, including various plot holes or things that just make you stop and think, "now wait a minute..." A big missed opportunity lies with Rebecca Hall's Maya Hansen. An old fling of Tony's, Maya doesn't get all that much to do in the film and as a result, her character isn't nearly as fleshed-out as say, Guy Pearce's Killian. Maya serves a specific role and that's about it. James Badge Dale's Savin meets a similar fate; he's just the muscle of the baddies and pretty much just serves that role...although it is nice to see the man getting work. He had a small but memorable role in Flight and is simply fantastic as the main protagonist for most of HBO's The Pacific.
That about sums up my thoughts on Iron Man 3. Despite some minor gripes and complaints I've gotta say that I almost unabashedly love this film. Maybe I still have PMH (post-movie high...an awesome term coined by a friend of mine), but I think this may be my favorite of the franchise (of Iron Man films). But we all know big decisions like this (where to rank films you like) take time. It takes a little more thought and processing and movie-watching (like, seeing the film ten times). You don't need me to convince you to see or to not see this film - if you've seen the rest you're probably already in for the long haul on this franchise.
If you don't want to be spoiled on anything, you'll probably want to stop here. Like, for reals. Don't scroll down. The first thing you'll read will spoil the crap outta the film....just go watch it!
********Spoiler Alert*********
Still with me? Ok...HOLY CRAP THE MANDARIN ISN'T THE MANDARIN. The marketing and trailers for this film did wonders into portraying Ben Kingsley as the Mandarin and the brains behind the Ten Rings. I had to pick my face up off the floor after the reveal that he's really just a British actor that Killian hired to be a terrorist leader. Having never read the comics I don't have any attachment to the history of these characters, and as a result, it completely blew me away that Shane Black (directing and co-writing) would have the guts to give us a villain and then halfway through the film just pull him out from under our feet. In all of the Marvel films so far, the villain is the villain is the villain. No crazy switcheroos like this! I can wholly understand the nerdrage that will emanate from this: as a friend of mine put it, imagine if the Joker wasn't the Joker. Messing with iconic characters like this can be stirring the beehive, especially when the repeat viewers are the hardcore fanbase that this will piss off.
Tony's myraid suits showing up for the final battle was spoiled in the trailers for the film, but were still quite a sight to behold. Going into the film I thought it'd be a bigger deal about the suits' differences, but that wasn't even brought up. I didn't expect Tony to go "oh, there's the space one. And there's the underwater one. And there's the Hulkbuster armor," but I was just hoping and expecting something...anything! And now they're all gone!!!!!! I've gotta give the writers credit again for not only destroying the things that make Tony Stark Iron Man, but for also removing the one literal thing that started the entire franchise. Tony's personal arc reactor is gone, and with it the shrapnel that was oh so close to killing him back in the first film. The implications of both of these actions will undoubtedly be explored in further detail in Avengers 2, but I don't wanna wait till 2015, dammit!!
And Pepper's Extremis-ified!!! This was totally spoiled for me by the trailers, considering we see her, post-fall, in every trailer the was released, but I still thought it was incredibly badass.
Regardless of what you think about the Mandarin or how some of the characters were handled, Iron Man 3 is without a doubt a blast of a time at the theater. This year so far has been just okay...nothing too spectacular (well, I thought Oblivion was), but hopefully this film is the start to a very, very incredible summer of films. Just go see it. You know you will.
And I'll leave you with a parting thought...was Killian really the Mandarin? Or were we and Tony duped into believing the swticheroo, when Trevor really IS the Mandarin? Perhaps this was an elaborate Joker/Loki plan and he wanted to be captured all along and Killian was just playing the part of the martyr for the cause of the Ten Rings? Who knows....
Iron Man 3 is wham bam of an action film and a fitting end to the trilogy.
The Bearded Bullet.
Monday, April 15, 2013
Evil Dead Review
Evil Dead is the goriest, most overtly violent and disgusting film I've ever seen. It also happened to make me more stressed out than the time I met Jessica Chobot at a gaming convention...but I digress. If you've read any of my reviews for other horror films, say Paranormal Activity 3,for instance, it's no secret that I'm not a huge fan of the genre. But I tend to watch them much for the same reason that I will force myself onto roller coasters - sometimes it's just fun to step out of your (my) comfort zone and get a little bit of a rush. Luckily Evil Dead delivered on that front...
**Minor spoilers abound**
While it's been awhile since I've seen The Evil Dead or The Evil Dead 2, I can confidently say that this incredibly competent remake/reboot shares little resemblance to its predecessors. First and foremost is our new protagonist, Mia (Jane Levy). Her friends have brought her to a familial cabin in the woods to detox from her rampant drug addiction. The drug addiction angle is clever if not wholly convenient: her friends make a pact to not allow Mia to leave the cabin no matter what she says or does. This does, however, lead to a fantastic scene in which Mia pleads to her brother, David (Shiloh Fernandez), to let her leave the cabin...after she's been chased by a demon girl and then subsequently raped by a tree root. The withdrawal angle also allows for the externalization and transition of Mia's battling her inner "demons" to the physical "demon" she must fight by the film's finale.
As my intro hinted at, Evil Dead is by far the goriest, bloodiest film I've ever seen. That might not be saying much as I'm not a connoisseur of horror, but I've been desensitized quite a bit over the years and Evil Dead still managed to shock, horrify, and gross me out. There's a moment near the climax of the film that made my horror-film-tough-as-nails friend squirm like a baby. From a bystander's view the overt and incredibly graphic violence may seem unwarranted and wanton, but I assure you that it, for the most part, is in service of the narrative and isn't there just to shock and disturb. I mean, a flipping demon is possessing people, after all!
The story is a fairly predictable one with a just a few surprising twists. People go to a cabin. Hippie guy finds evil book. Hippie guy stupidly reads from said book (seriously though, how dumb do you have to be to open a human-flesh-bound book that's wrapped in barbed wire, flip past the pages that warn "never speak it," "never read it," and then proceed to SPEAK AND READ it! "It" being an incantation of sorts that calls forth the aforementioned demon lady). Demon shows up. Demon possesses people. Possessed people do incredibly gruesome and violent things to themselves and one another. People die. Credits. Like I said, it's a pretty cut-and-dry horror story line that seems fairly derivative of other cabin-in-the-woods style films, especially after last year's fantastic The Cabin in the Woods, which tongue-in-cheekedly played off of the same stereotypical horror-film tropes that Evil Dead has in spades.
While I don't think I'll be watching this film again any time soon, I enjoyed it immensely. While the plot beats may not have been overly original and the characters fairly bland and one-dimensional, the action is superb, the violence is shockingly realistic (seriously, the practical effects on display show a mastery of the art of fake-butchering people), and the lead performance by Jane Levy is incredibly intense and utterly convincing. I applaud relative newcomer Fede Alvarez for taking insane risks and not pulling any punches; Evil Dead will punch you in the face with its shocking violence, gore, and sheer dearth of humor.
I just have to throw one last thing out there: parents, please don't even remotely entertain the idea of taking or allowing anyone under 17/18 to see this movie. In my screening there was an adult with three or four young children, ranging from probably 7-10. I literally could not stop thinking about this throughout the entire film. I mean, "fuck" is said probably five times in the first few minutes, which also includes a live burning of a girl possessed by the demon, ending with her head being blown off by a shotgun. And those are the tamer aspects of the film. I just couldn't believe it.
Evil Dead will (most likely) shock, scare, and stress you out...but is totally worth it.
The Bearded Bullet
**Minor spoilers abound**
While it's been awhile since I've seen The Evil Dead or The Evil Dead 2, I can confidently say that this incredibly competent remake/reboot shares little resemblance to its predecessors. First and foremost is our new protagonist, Mia (Jane Levy). Her friends have brought her to a familial cabin in the woods to detox from her rampant drug addiction. The drug addiction angle is clever if not wholly convenient: her friends make a pact to not allow Mia to leave the cabin no matter what she says or does. This does, however, lead to a fantastic scene in which Mia pleads to her brother, David (Shiloh Fernandez), to let her leave the cabin...after she's been chased by a demon girl and then subsequently raped by a tree root. The withdrawal angle also allows for the externalization and transition of Mia's battling her inner "demons" to the physical "demon" she must fight by the film's finale.
As my intro hinted at, Evil Dead is by far the goriest, bloodiest film I've ever seen. That might not be saying much as I'm not a connoisseur of horror, but I've been desensitized quite a bit over the years and Evil Dead still managed to shock, horrify, and gross me out. There's a moment near the climax of the film that made my horror-film-tough-as-nails friend squirm like a baby. From a bystander's view the overt and incredibly graphic violence may seem unwarranted and wanton, but I assure you that it, for the most part, is in service of the narrative and isn't there just to shock and disturb. I mean, a flipping demon is possessing people, after all!
The story is a fairly predictable one with a just a few surprising twists. People go to a cabin. Hippie guy finds evil book. Hippie guy stupidly reads from said book (seriously though, how dumb do you have to be to open a human-flesh-bound book that's wrapped in barbed wire, flip past the pages that warn "never speak it," "never read it," and then proceed to SPEAK AND READ it! "It" being an incantation of sorts that calls forth the aforementioned demon lady). Demon shows up. Demon possesses people. Possessed people do incredibly gruesome and violent things to themselves and one another. People die. Credits. Like I said, it's a pretty cut-and-dry horror story line that seems fairly derivative of other cabin-in-the-woods style films, especially after last year's fantastic The Cabin in the Woods, which tongue-in-cheekedly played off of the same stereotypical horror-film tropes that Evil Dead has in spades.
While I don't think I'll be watching this film again any time soon, I enjoyed it immensely. While the plot beats may not have been overly original and the characters fairly bland and one-dimensional, the action is superb, the violence is shockingly realistic (seriously, the practical effects on display show a mastery of the art of fake-butchering people), and the lead performance by Jane Levy is incredibly intense and utterly convincing. I applaud relative newcomer Fede Alvarez for taking insane risks and not pulling any punches; Evil Dead will punch you in the face with its shocking violence, gore, and sheer dearth of humor.
I just have to throw one last thing out there: parents, please don't even remotely entertain the idea of taking or allowing anyone under 17/18 to see this movie. In my screening there was an adult with three or four young children, ranging from probably 7-10. I literally could not stop thinking about this throughout the entire film. I mean, "fuck" is said probably five times in the first few minutes, which also includes a live burning of a girl possessed by the demon, ending with her head being blown off by a shotgun. And those are the tamer aspects of the film. I just couldn't believe it.
Evil Dead will (most likely) shock, scare, and stress you out...but is totally worth it.
The Bearded Bullet
Friday, February 1, 2013
Warm Bodies Review
Warm Bodies is Jonathan Levine's follow up to his critically acclaimed 50/50, which just happened to end up in my top 10 of 2011 list. I was bit wary going into my screening, not because I thought the film would be bad (which it wasn't), but because I feared that the film's fantastic trailer essentially spoiled the entire film. In a way it did - every single plot twist and story beat is covered in any of the trailers available online. I completely understand why this was done; its trailers played Warm Bodies out to be a light-hearted and funny rom-com, when in fact the film is much more serious in tone than I would have ever guessed.
This real-life twist isn't necessarily a bad one - I enjoyed Warm Bodies quite a bit in fact. I was of course expecting a much funnier film than what was presented to me, but I would say that it is definitely similar in tone to the aforementioned 50/50. At its heart, Bodies is a story about two incredibly opposite people (literally - one is dead and the other alive) who by happenstance come into each other's lives and eventually fall in love. R (Nicholas Hoult) is a zombie (or "corpse" as the non-dead inhabitants of the film call them) who leads an obviously mundane life. He is our unlikely protagonist; a flesh-craving undead who is compelled by a combination of memory and muscle memory to lead a semi-normal life. His path eventually crosses with Julie (Teresa Palmer) and he ends up saving her life. I won't say much more than that because there actually are some nice surprises and tidbits of events that transpire that make Warm Bodies very unique in the zombie genre. These variations from the normal zombie-film-formula are what I appreciated most about the film.
In this day-and-age of fast-paced narratives and quickly-forming relationships, it's sometimes nice to just sit back and let everything development at its own pace. Quite obviously Julie would be terrified out of her mind at the idea of being near R, and her early (re)actions are quite believable and her performance is incredibly convincing. Over time R shows her that he's different and the two develop a strange but incredibly compelling relationship. Their arc follows a fairly predictable romantic-comedy path, but because of the chemistry of the two actors and their fascinating relationship, I was wholly engaged and rooting for our unlikely lovebirds the entire film.
Warm Bodies does have a few shortcomings, unfortunately. First and foremost is the underdevelopment of John Malkovich's character, Grigio. He's Julie's father and the leader (I guess?) of the remaining human population of...wherever our characters are. The issue with his character is indicative of some of the macro issues of the film. We get some small hints at what his deal is and what his motivations are in flashbacks, but because Palmer and Malkovich get so little screen-time together their father-daughter bond is never fully formed. Because R is our protagonist, and his memory isn't that great, we aren't given much information about the world in general or what happened. In his voice-over, R explains some information but we're left not knowing simple info like what year it is or where we are in the United States.
While Bodies might be a good romantic dramedy, it is a terrible zombie film. I wholly understand what this film is trying to achieve, but one cannot simply overlook missteps in character logic, plot holes that are sprinkled here and there, and some basic facts that just don't make that much sense. I very much enjoyed some bits and pieces that subvert the zombie-genre norms, but when you say that eight years have passed since the apocalypse and there is still electricity running through the airport (where R lives), with functioning escalators, you're not doing a very good job of convincing me that this world is real. I can buy that zombies may have some muscle memory, and continue to imitate their old lives, but why does R collect all the things that he does? How is this possible? Does every zombie have a home where they put shit?
I understand that most of these complaints are null and void, considering that zombies are fictional beings with no real science to back up anything. A writer or director can have them do whatever they want considering there are no real-world examples on which to base our thoughts and opinions, but there are just basic facts and ideas at play that pulled me out of the film. If you're a fan of horror/zombie films you'll probably be disappointed with how Warm Bodies plays out, including its less-than-action-filled finale. That said, I did appreciate the incredibly well-developed relationship between our two protagonists, despite the periphery characters receiving little attention.
Warm Bodies delivers on emotion but not on horror.
The Bearded Bullet
This real-life twist isn't necessarily a bad one - I enjoyed Warm Bodies quite a bit in fact. I was of course expecting a much funnier film than what was presented to me, but I would say that it is definitely similar in tone to the aforementioned 50/50. At its heart, Bodies is a story about two incredibly opposite people (literally - one is dead and the other alive) who by happenstance come into each other's lives and eventually fall in love. R (Nicholas Hoult) is a zombie (or "corpse" as the non-dead inhabitants of the film call them) who leads an obviously mundane life. He is our unlikely protagonist; a flesh-craving undead who is compelled by a combination of memory and muscle memory to lead a semi-normal life. His path eventually crosses with Julie (Teresa Palmer) and he ends up saving her life. I won't say much more than that because there actually are some nice surprises and tidbits of events that transpire that make Warm Bodies very unique in the zombie genre. These variations from the normal zombie-film-formula are what I appreciated most about the film.
In this day-and-age of fast-paced narratives and quickly-forming relationships, it's sometimes nice to just sit back and let everything development at its own pace. Quite obviously Julie would be terrified out of her mind at the idea of being near R, and her early (re)actions are quite believable and her performance is incredibly convincing. Over time R shows her that he's different and the two develop a strange but incredibly compelling relationship. Their arc follows a fairly predictable romantic-comedy path, but because of the chemistry of the two actors and their fascinating relationship, I was wholly engaged and rooting for our unlikely lovebirds the entire film.
Warm Bodies does have a few shortcomings, unfortunately. First and foremost is the underdevelopment of John Malkovich's character, Grigio. He's Julie's father and the leader (I guess?) of the remaining human population of...wherever our characters are. The issue with his character is indicative of some of the macro issues of the film. We get some small hints at what his deal is and what his motivations are in flashbacks, but because Palmer and Malkovich get so little screen-time together their father-daughter bond is never fully formed. Because R is our protagonist, and his memory isn't that great, we aren't given much information about the world in general or what happened. In his voice-over, R explains some information but we're left not knowing simple info like what year it is or where we are in the United States.
While Bodies might be a good romantic dramedy, it is a terrible zombie film. I wholly understand what this film is trying to achieve, but one cannot simply overlook missteps in character logic, plot holes that are sprinkled here and there, and some basic facts that just don't make that much sense. I very much enjoyed some bits and pieces that subvert the zombie-genre norms, but when you say that eight years have passed since the apocalypse and there is still electricity running through the airport (where R lives), with functioning escalators, you're not doing a very good job of convincing me that this world is real. I can buy that zombies may have some muscle memory, and continue to imitate their old lives, but why does R collect all the things that he does? How is this possible? Does every zombie have a home where they put shit?
I understand that most of these complaints are null and void, considering that zombies are fictional beings with no real science to back up anything. A writer or director can have them do whatever they want considering there are no real-world examples on which to base our thoughts and opinions, but there are just basic facts and ideas at play that pulled me out of the film. If you're a fan of horror/zombie films you'll probably be disappointed with how Warm Bodies plays out, including its less-than-action-filled finale. That said, I did appreciate the incredibly well-developed relationship between our two protagonists, despite the periphery characters receiving little attention.
Warm Bodies delivers on emotion but not on horror.
The Bearded Bullet
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