Movie News Weekly Digest

AWARDS, ANNOUNCEMENTS
As I'm sure you heard, Whitney Houston died this weekend. RIP.

Rango took home most of the hardware at this year's Annie Awards.

The Art Director's Guild spread some love around to Hugo and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

FEATURES
Cinema Blend reviewed their top 10 Super Bowl commercials.

The New York Times gave us the 50 best uses of songs in movies.

John Williams celebrated his 80th birthday and Empire picked his 80 best pieces of music.

Cinema Blend gives us their 7 favorite film amnesiacs. 

The Hollywood Reporter takes a look at the Star Wars empire and sat down with George Lucas for a brief interview in which he claims Han never shot first. (Trying to stay calm right now.)

NEW PROJECTS, PICK-UPS, and DETAILS
The Wolverine sequel has been slated for July 2013.

Vin Diesel let some news slip regarding the plot of the new Riddick film.

Sony picked up Sundance darling Smashed starring Mary Elizabeth Winstead.

Joseph Gordon Levitt has set up his directorial debut and will work with Scarlett Johansson.

The live-action Jetsons movie is still in production and has hired a new writer.

Johnny Depp will produce a film about Damien Echols, a member of the West Memphis Three.

After a tumultuous pre-production run, Bradley Cooper's Paradise Lost has been dropped by Legendary.

Jon Favreau will direct a pilot for JJ Abrams' Revolution.

Ridley Scott has signed on to helm The Counselor by Cormac McCarthy.

A sequel for X-Men: First Class is in the works as is a reboot for The Fantastic Four (thank God).

CASTING BITS
At first Harrison Ford was in talks to join the Blade Runner sequel...and then he wasn't...and then maybe he is again.

Jane Levy took over Lilly Collin's role in the Evil Dead remake.

Russell Crowe said he was not involved with the Robocop remake.

Michael Biehn signed a 3-picture contract with Aspect Film and all three films will be shot back to back.

Amy Adams will star in and produce An Object of Beauty.

Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson will reteam for Shawn Levy's Interns.

Denzel Washington will join Mark Wahlberg in 2 Guns. 

Natalie Portman has jumped on board for not one but two Terrence Malick projects. 

Morgan Freeman will star opposite Tom Cruise in Oblivion. 

Christopher Plummer and Frank Langella will join up for an HBO film about Muhammed Ali. 

Saoirse Ronan has been tapped to star in The Order of the Seven which used to be a Snow White adaptation.

Hailee Steinfeld joins Scarlett Johansson and Mark Ruffalo for Can a Song Save Your Life.

Angelina Jolie confirms that her next project will be Malificent, of Sleeping Beauty fame.

In Home Viewings: "Apollo 18"

In 1972, the crew of Apollo 17 made the last manned moon landing. Shortly after their return to earth, NASA cancelled the flights of Apollo 18, 19, and 20, respectively, and instead turned focus towards the creation of the space shuttle. At least, that’s what the government wants you to think. (Cue the ominous “conspiracy” music.)The found footage within Apollo 18 would have you believe that the Apollo 17 mission was just the tip of the iceberg. With John (Ryan Robbins) orbiting above the moon, Nate (Lloyd Owen) and Ben (Warren Christie) descend upon the surface for a secret mission, carrying a payload provided by the Department of Defense. Their two day mission takes a strange turn, however, when they find a Soviet landing craft and the body of a cosmonaut not far from their own landing spot. Soon weird things begin to happen and before long the two astronauts find themselves under attack from a mysterious presence that always seems to evade eyesight. When Nate is injured and begins to show signs of infection, it is left to Ben to try to get the pair back to their orbiting shuttle before it’s too late.

The found footage genre, which has become far too prominent in recent years, presents a challenge for me. As a concept, I think it’s rather intriguing. There are things that you can do with a found footage narrative that you can’t do with the standard storytelling and when done right, it can create an atmosphere that feels more realistic than it would be otherwise. I think it’s that presence that brings me back to found footage flicks. The problem is it’s almost never done right. In the same way that 3D has been bastardized by bad filmmakers with bad films that use the technology for evil rather than good, found footage is mostly used as a crutch for lazy, uninspired storytelling. It is used, essentially, as a gimmick more often than not rather than a tool for crafting a quality film.

Apollo 18 is the personification of that last paragraph. As a concept, it is thoroughly intriguing to me. It asks the question, “Why haven’t we been back to the moon?” and pretty soon I found myself wondering the same thing. I’m anything but a conspiracy theorist but still, the base of the film worked for me. I also think the decision to have almost the entire film take place with only two characters was a brave choice even if it didn’t come together seamlessly. But beyond the concept, Apollo 18 falls flat on its face, a perfect illustration of what bothers me most about this genre. Director Gonzalo Lopez-Gallego attempts to build suspense, even terror, throughout but he never manages to pull it off. Very little happens throughout the film’s runtime and what does happen is completely swallowed up by the boredom that the slow pace inspires. And instead of trying to do anything unique or fresh, instead Apollo 18 represents a check list of generic gags and gimmicks that plague the average found footage film.

On top of all this, Apollo 18 isn’t frightening in the least. I tire of film critics attacking suspense films and thrillers for not effectively scaring them out of their seats. But a film billed as a sci-fi horror flick needs to pack at least a bit of a punch and this film is decidedly punchless. Weak dialogue and plot holes can be overlooked (see: The Blair Witch Project) if your film is bringing legitimate scares but every time Apollo 18 tries to ramp up the scare factor, I found myself yawning and wondering how much more I had to sit through. It is lazy, half-hearted filmmaking that could have done much more with the concept it had to work with.

Trailer Time: "Seeking a Friend for the End of the World"

The first trailer for Seeking a Friend for the End of the World debuted today and I must say it has piqued my interest. The concept is somewhat different (let's just hope they stay away from Another Earth territory) and I am an unabashed fan of Steve Carell. Plus, I'm always willing to get behind a smart-looking romantic comedy in hopes that it'll be a worthwhile date movie instead of the painful drivel that has taken over the genre. So on June 22nd, I'm in. How about you?

In Home Viewings: "Midnight in Paris"

Gil (Owen Wilson) and his fiancée Inez (Rachel McAdams) aren’t a particularly good match. Gil is a successful screenwriter who would prefer to be a struggling novelist while Inez is an upper-class snob who prefers Beverly Hills’ brand of culture to that of the Old World. During their vacation to Paris, Gil and Inez spend their days touring with Paul (Michael Sheen) and Carol (Nina Arianda), Inez’s insufferable friends, and their nights dining with Inez’s parents. As Gil becomes more infatuated with Paris and less happy with Inez, he begins to take midnight walks around the city to clear his head. On one of these walks he is beckoned by the occupants of an antique car to join their party, an invitation which he graciously accepts. When he arrives at the party, however, he realizes that he has journeyed back in time to the Roaring ‘20s and comes in contact with celebrities of the past such as F. Scott Fitzgerald (Tom Hiddleston) and Ernest Hemingway (Corey Stoll). Each night he journeys back to the past and upon his return to the present each morning, he finds his transition more and more difficult and leading to the inevitable confrontation between Inez and himself.

I’ve never been a big fan of Woody Allen or his films. It’s not that I don’t think he makes quality films; it’s that I’ve never really enjoyed his particular sense of humor. Maybe more to the point, I’m 28 years old which means very, VERY, few of the films Allen has made in my lifetime have mattered whatsoever and those that do matter haven’t resonated with me. In fact, Midnight in Paris is probably the first Allen movie made in my lifetime that actually made an impression on me. I’m not quite so willing to jump on the bandwagon so aggressively as to add this film to my personal top ten list, but it’s a tremendous improvement on most of Woody’s recent works.

There are three types of characters in the standard Woody Allen romance:

1. The Woody character - Woody inserts himself in basically every one of his films whether he plays the protagonist himself or farms the role out to another actor;

2. The Muse - There’s always someone or something that inspires, confuses, or otherwise entices the Woody character;

3. Everyone else - Everyone other character in a Woody Allen film is generally some form of jerk who doesn’t understand the Woody character.

Midnight in Paris is no stranger to this formula. One of the reasons this film works so well is the brilliant performance of Owen Wilson. Gil is, of course, Woody’s representation of himself within this film and Wilson plays perhaps the best Woody Allen yet (besides the man himself). Wilson exemplifies the neurosis and idiosyncrasies needed for the Allen character with flair and he delivers the requisite banter exquisitely. The Muse, in this case, is not a person but rather the collective that makes up Paris in the ‘20s. Gil falls head over heels for the glamour and the nightlife, the writers and the musicians, the dancing and the garb. He is inspired by a generation that he feels is significantly better than the one in which he was born. Everyone else is, well, everyone in Gil’s real life. Inez, her parents, and her friends are all, quite simply, horrible, boring, and obnoxious people. This is always the part of the Woody Allen Equation that bothers me, as I’d prefer it if at least one character outside of Woody and the Muse could act like a real human. In this case, however, I think Allen does a great job of playing down the stupidity of “everyone else” while focusing more on the glory of the muse and the life Gil so desperately desires. I found myself rooting for him in a way I can’t always manage in a Woody Allen film. It is a stunningly shot, richly structured film that presents a thrilling, beautiful portrait of Paris in what is undoubtedly Allen’s best film in 25 years.

Trailer Time: "The Bourne Legacy" and "The Amazing Spider-man"

I expected to do a Trailer Time post after the Super Bowl this weekend but honestly, I wasn't all that impressed with the slim pickins the big game offered. This week, however, we've been treated to two big releases.

The first is an early look at The Bourne Legacy which opens in August. Have to say, I'm really excited about this one. I love the original Bourne trilogy and while I'm bummed that Matt Damon isn't around for a new batch, I think Jeremy Renner is essentially a perfect replacement. This teaser doesn't show us a whole lot but it does give the impression that it will fit in well with the first series.

The second newbie is a full trailer for The Amazing Spider-man. We were treated to a teaser spot last year which mostly highlighted the new suit. This trailer takes us much deeper into the plot and gives us our first look at the villain, The Lizard. I'm still not convinced this movie needs to exist, but it does look good.

Review: "The Grey"

There’s never been any question that Liam Neeson is not a man to be trifled with. Whether he was freeing Jews in Schindler’s List, avenging the defilement of his wife in Rob Roy, or giving the only worthwhile performance in Phantom Menace, Neeson has always been a charismatic and thoroughly believable leading man with an edge. 2009’s Taken took that to a whole new level, though, and simultaneously changed the culture (and relative importance) of the ridiculous action film and Neeson’s overall impression. When the trailer for The Grey started making the rounds, my friends and I had a grand time comparing it to Taken and joking about how nature didn’t stand a chance against a Liam Neeson throat chop. (In fact, I should probably just put together a timeline of the text messages we exchanged and let that stand as my review.) I very much enjoy the ridiculous notion that Neeson is engaging in some sort of gladiator-like event in which Hollywood sends their most blood-thirsty champions to battle him and he unceremoniously dispatches them: Serbians (Taken)? No problem. German spies (Unknown)? No problem. A tank falling like an anvil from the sky (The A-Team)? No problem. Finally, in a last ditch effort to save face, Hollywood called upon CGI wolves with a taste for human flesh. How could Neeson possibly stave off such an onslaught?

John Ottway (Neeson) is at the end of his rapidly fraying rope. Left alone by his wife and with very few marketable skills, he winds up in the Alaskan wilderness, hired to shoot wolves that threaten the safety of the roughneck employees working on a pipeline. He has nothing to live for and is on the verge of suicide. But on his way home to Anchorage, his plane crashes and he finds himself as one of seven survivors in the middle of a winter wasteland. Ottway springs into action, gathering up the survivors and formulating a plan to hike out to safety. But before his plans can come to fruition, the small group is beset upon by a pack of hungry and blood thirsty wolves who furiously pick off the survivors one by one. With the wolves at his heels, the blistering cold in his face, and no definite sense of where he is, Ottway finds his desire for death put to the test.

The success of Taken has created a two-sided phenomenon in my mind. On the one hand, at nearly 60 years old, Neeson’s career has hit a new stride that very few actors are able to achieve wherein millions of younger viewers will see whatever movie he is in, at least in large part, because he is in it. That’s where I’m at, anyway. I know if I’m going into a Neeson film, I’m going to have a darn good time and I’m going to be impressed with what a boss the man is. On the other hand, however, it’s difficult to go into a Neeson action movie and not expect Taken Part 2. In my mind, Unknown was Taken: Germany, The A-Team was Taken with Friends, and Battleship will be Taken: Alien Invasion (all of this leading up to, of course, Taken 2 which comes out later this year). That feeling makes it difficult to transition to a different concept if a given film aspires to be something other than an unofficial Taken sequel.

And that’s where I’m at with The Grey.

When you’re expecting Liam Neeson to be himself (a grade-A boss) and just kickpunch the crap out of every wolf who happens to cross his path, it comes as quite a shock when it turns out that the wolves are actually far more up to the task of killing Neeson than any group of Serbians ever were. There is a lot more at play than meets the eye with The Grey and that serves as both a pleasant surprise and a bit of a letdown. I was not prepared for the deep, philosophical undercurrent that runs through every aspect of this film. As I adjusted, I found that for the first two-thirds at least, the two sides of the film (the awesome, butt-kicking side and the deeper, serious side) complemented each other quite well. And for a while director Joe Carnahan had his cake and ate it, too: his in-depth exploration into the darker elements of the human soul went hand-in-hand with Neeson’s general awesomeness, including his utterance of one of the five greatest tough-guy quotes I can ever remember (seriously, this movie is worth seeing just to hear him threaten one of his fellow survivors with one of the most blunt, harsh, and menacing statements I’ve ever heard).

But I confess the conclusion of The Grey has me perplexed. Without spoiling anything for anyone, it’s fair to say that there essentially isn’t a conclusion. It closes on a note that is about as ambiguous as you’ll ever experience, perhaps one step short of the masterful/infuriating (depending on your opinion) close to No Country For Old Men. Just when you think the film is going to ramp up into a fresh round of throat chops and jump kicks, the screen goes black and the closing credits roll. And if I’m being totally honest, I still don’t know how I feel about this. I admire Carnahan’s willingness to take a risk and there’s no questioning the quality of the filmmaking involved here. But it takes a special film to properly execute the non-ending-ending and I’m not sure that The Grey qualifies. The conclusion flips the course of the film on its head and makes you reconsider its overall focus and while that could be considered a stroke of genius, it didn’t completely work for me. All said, The Grey is a complex, worthwhile film but not one that I’m ready to anoint as a “great” action flick. I guess I’ll have to hold onto that title until Taken 2 rolls around.

The Week That Was and The Week That Will Be

I'm finally getting around to working on some changes around here in terms of layout. The big move is the Twitter feed to the right. I haven't had time to do Movie News Today lately and I'm thinking it won't be feasible in the future. So have a look at the news links I favorite as they appear in that bar and I'm hoping I'll be able to do a brief summary at the end of each week. We'll give that a go and see how it works! I'll also be posting more reviews on a regular basis in the future, something I've gotten away from recently. Thanks for sticking around!

I did a guest post for my friend, the Focused Filmographer, that went live (in two parts) over the weekend. Please check them out here and here. 

It's early (WAYYYY early) but Harrison Ford has been approached concerning the possibility of his joining the cast of Ridley Scott's hypothetical Blade Runner sequel. I don't even know how to feel about any of this to be quite honest. 

Jane Levy has taken the place of Lily Collins in the remake of Sam Raimi's Evil Dead. Levy is the star of ABC's new hit Suburgatory which I highly enjoy. It would be too easy to say she's an Emma Stone starter kit but that's exactly what she is so I'm going to say it: Levy is an Emma Stone starter kit. 

NPR has a fun article on the Movie Titles That Might Have Been. Check it out!

Cinema Blend picks their 10 favorite commercials from this year's Super Bowl. Gotta say, worst collection of Super Bowl ads in recent memory. 

Weekend Box Office Returns

Solid, solid weekend overall. Chronicle performed surprisingly well with both audiences and critics and you’d have to say that The Woman in Black falls into that category as well. My guess is word of mouth on Chronicle helps it grab a solid second week while most of the people who plan on seeing Woman did so this weekend. We’ll see! Big Miracle was a big loser, however, and its $40 million budget doesn’t look so great right now.

1. Chronicle - $22M

2. The Woman in Black - $21M

3. The Grey - $9.5M ($34.75M)

4. Big Miracle - $8.5M

5. Underworld: Awakening - $5.6M ($54.35M)

6. One for the Money - $5.25M ($19.66M)

7. Red Tails - $5M ($41.32M)

8. The Descendants - $4.6M ($65.52M)

9. Man on a Ledge - $4.5M ($14.7M)

10. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close - $3.92M ($26.79M)

New to DVD

What I’ll Be Renting This Week

Project Nim (2011) - Bob Angelini, Nim Chimpsky

This documentary focuses on a New York couple in the 1970s that took in a young chimpanzee and raised him as a human child. I’m always up for a good documentary and this one has been on my radar for a while. Also, what ever happened to monkey-related research? I don’t mean genetic testing like we see in Rise of the Planet of the Apes; I mean good old fashioned monkeys learning to read, monkeys going to space, etc. It seems like that was a bigger part of my childhood than it is my adulthood.

What No One Should Ever be Forced to See EVER

Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 1 (2011) - Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, Taylor Lautner

In a perfect world, these books and films wouldn’t exist. But since they do, would it be too much to ask for the studio behind these films to actually attempt to make them good? Even devoted fans of this series came away admitting that this one is a heap of rubbish and if that wasn’t enough, the trailer was one of the worst of 2011. Blerg.

What I’ll Be Buying This Week

A Fish Called Wanda (1988) - Jamie Lee Curtis, John Cleese, Kevin Kline

There are not just a whole lot of ‘80s comedies that hold up 20+ years later. Wanda is one of them. I saw this for the first time very recently and I laughed…a lot. In fact, it was one of the better “first viewings” I had last year. High quality comedy.

Also New

A Very Harold and Kumar Christmas (2011) - Kal Penn, John Cho, Neil Patrick Harris

Anonymous (2011) - Rhys Ifans, Vanessa Redgrave, David Thewlis

Fireflies in the Garden (2008) - Ryan Reynolds, Willem Dafoe, Julia Roberts

Downton Abbey: Season 2 (2011) - Hugh Bonneville, Laura Carmichael

New to Blu

Lady and the Tramp (1955) - Barbara Luddy, Larry Roberts

It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad Mad World (1963) - Spencer Tracy, Milton Berle, Ethel Merman

Dangerous Liaisons (1988) - Glenn Close, John Malkovich, Michelle Pfeiffer

A Star is Born (1976) - Kris Kristofferson, Barbara Streisand

Love Story (1970) - Ali McGraw, Ryan O’Neal

Dream Girls (2006) - Beyonce, Jamie Foxx, Eddie Murphy

The Cat in the Hat (2003) - Mike Myers, Spencer Breslin, Dakota Fanning

Coming to a Theater Near You

I haven’t been doing the Weekend Movie Guide the last few weeks, an oversight for which I apologize. I will try to get back into over the next few weeks. Until then, I guess we’ll have to be content with using this space for such endeavors. My RT score predictions were fairly solid last week, though Big Miracle came out unexpectedly fresh and Chronicle did MUCH better than I would have expected. This week brings us a wide variety of new films that could end up bringing in a solid overall total.

Safe House - Denzel Washington, Ryan Reynolds, Vera Farmiga

With each viewing of this film’s trailer, I become a little more convinced of its merits. Two months ago I thought it could be a decent-enough winter action film. A month ago I was starting to think it could possibly end up being “good.” Now I’m at least half-convinced that this is going to be awesome. This world needs Denzel shooting guns and acting the villain, not chasing runaway trains. Perhaps more important, Reynolds needs a hit and I expect being around Denzel will bring out the best in him. Rotten Tomatoes prediction: 73%

The Vow - Rachel McAdams, Channing Tatum, Sam Neill

My favorite part of the marketing campaign for Vow is the ardent way in which the studio wants to make sure that you know that this movie is just like The Notebook. McAdams is “from The Notebook”, Tatum is “from Dear John”, and it’s based on a book by Nicholas Sparks, “author of The Notebook.” As the world’s biggest Rachel McAdams fan who isn’t actually affiliated with her, I would really, really prefer if she wasn’t in this. I expect it won’t be the worst romance in the history of film, I just think it will be tired and limited, like all of these films are. It would be just peachy if McAdams could somehow swap places with Reese Witherspoon in This Means War. Rotten Tomatoes prediction: 45%

Journey 2: The Mysterious Island - The Rock, Josh Hutcherson, Michael Caine

It’s safe to say that I follow film pretty closely, as this space will attest. So when I say that it took me some time to figure out that this was a sequel to Journey to the Center of the Earth, understand that it comes from someone who (ostensibly) knows his stuff. This is a confusing film because of: A.) The Rock randomly replacing Brendan Fraser and B.) The Fact that Journey even warranted a sequel. I had honestly forgotten that it was a film until recently. Can’t imagine this will be well received. Rotten Tomatoes prediction: 30%

We’ll also be treated to a wider expansion for Rampart (Woody Harrelson), the limited opening of Perfect Sense (Ewan McGregor, Eva Green), and the 3D release of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (Liam Neeson, Ewan McGregor), previously known as “The Most Frustrating Movie I’ve Ever Seen” until Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close stole the title last week. 

Guest Post - Ranking the Best Picture Winners

My pal Terrence over at The Focused Filmographer is on vacation this week and asked me to do a guest post for his blog. I chose to rank the last 20 Best Picture Winners. The first part of the column went live today and the second part comes tomorrow.

Please jump over and check out Part 1 and Part 2 and be sure to leave your own comments.

Review: "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close"

I know that I’m quite prone to hyperbole. When describing a movie I’ve used the terms “best”, “worst”, and “favorite” more than any man should. I’ve tried to curb that desire over the last couple of years and I now think long and hard before I jump off the hyperbolic ledge. So when I say that Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close is the most frustrating movie I have EVER seen, please know that I do so after a serious amount of consideration.

Oskar Schell (Thomas Horn) is a troubled boy, stricken with a set of social disorders (never defined in the film but readily apparent) that only get worse when he experiences “the worst day ever.” His father, Thomas (Tom Hanks), was in the World Trade Center on 9/11 and died in the building’s collapse. The loss leaves Oskar struggling to make sense of his life while his mother, Linda (Sandra Bullock), drifts further and further away into depression. A year after the tragedy, while snooping around in his father’s possessions, Oskar discovers a mysterious key labeled, “Black.” Feeling that his connection to his father is slipping away, Oskar postulates that the key must be a part of one of the numerous adventures his father sent him on. With the help of a mysterious mute (Max Von Sydow) who rents a room from his grandmother, Oskar begins a cross-city search for the owner of the key who he believes will be able to tell him something about his father.

The story contained within EL&IC is truly spectacular. It is equal parts beauty and heartbreak, a haunting and yet triumphant narrative that should draw a natural connection from its audience. Obviously the 9/11 overtones make up a portion of the emotion within the film but the real value is found in Oskar’s struggle to remain in touch with his father and as a byproduct the distance from his mother. Make no mistake, at times this story is gut-wrenchingly painful and difficult to endure but at the core of the sorrow there remains hope, a combination that elicited quite a response from me. When describing the narrative to a friend I got choked up and nearly broke down, an action that isn’t typical for me (I’m a movie crier, sure, but I’m usually done with it after the movie is over). I realized how deeply the story had affected me after the fact, so to speak, and that’s what makes this such a frustrating movie: while the narrative is fantastic, virtually everything else about this movie is a bloody mess.

Okay, to be fair, the acting of the supporting players isn’t a mess. Hanks is charming as always in his limited screen time and as the film goes on, Bullock’s character displays more depth than originally expected. Von Sydow, too, makes every second of his wordless appearance count, a performance worthy of his Oscar nomination. All of them, however, are overshadowed by Oskar and I don’t mean that in a good way. Oskar is, quite simply, a beating for the majority of the film. The fault does not belong with Horn, a young actor who does an excellent job with what he was given to work with. The problem is that director Stephen Daldry makes Oskar excruciatingly annoying in order to illustrate his various ticks and issues. At times you want to ignore all the stuff this kid has been through and just tell him to shut up. Actually, it’s not “at times”; it’s almost all the time. Oskar grated on my nerves and Daldry’s insistence on playing up his idiosyncrasies essentially strips this film of its rightful impact. Add in a HORRIBLE, painful voiceover that never seems to stop, a distracting and obnoxious score, and a few truly bizarre production choices (a man falling from the WTC building in disturbing detail, for example) and what you’ve got is a sloppy, haphazard mess of a film that undercuts the power of the narrative.

Numerous times over the last few years I’ve said that a given film contains 20 minutes of a good film that can’t quite escape the trappings of mediocrity (or something to that effect). EL&IC is different: it is 20 minutes of a GREAT film, an ICONIC film, that is maddeningly handicapped by incessant and infuriatingly poor choices from Daldry and his writing team. It is a frustrating and infuriating cinematic experience that perfectly illustrates the term, “what could have been.” 

In Home Viewings: "Killer Elite"

After his last job goes badly, Danny (Jason Statham), a world renowned hitman, leaves the game and moves into isolation in Australia. His mentor, Hunter (Robert De Niro), keeps taking jobs and before long he gets himself into trouble with a Middle Eastern sheik. In order to win Hunter's freedom, Danny must take on that inevitable "one last job", a contract that will require him to kill three former SAS agents who were connected to the deaths of the sheik's sons during a military operation. Danny assembles a team and sets out to fulfill the contract, an easy any task for a man of his skills. He draws the attention, however, of Spike (Clive Owen), another former SAS agent and a member of a secret society known as The Feathermen, who takes it upon himself to prevent the hits from taking place and to bring Danny in for interrogation.

I didn't expect much from Killer Elite, a sentiment I attempt to take in with me whenever watching a Jason Statham movie. I assumed the plot would be thin and the dialogue would be to the level of a third grader and I was willing to accept that as long as the movie delivered quality action sequences and a general good time. In essence, I did my part by bringing a low standard and a good attitude to the table. Unfortunately, Killer Elite failed to carry its share of the load. This movie is so bad that I almost didn't write a review because I'd already wasted two hours of my life by watching it and didn't want to give up another hour or so to writing about it. I'm sad that I didn't see it earlier so that I could include it in my "Worst Movies of the Year" list because it DEFINITELY should own a place in the bottom five. Simply put, there is absolutely nothing to like about this film. Nothing.

Killer Elite manages to squeeze every action movie cliche you can think of into its plot. You've got the "one last job" element at play. You've got the mentor-mentee-bad-guy relationship thing happening. You've got the villain who's really not a bad guy and he shows it by shooting people in the knees (crippling them for life) instead of killing them. And the list goes on. It's embarrassing how unoriginal and completely uninspired Killer Elite really is. With a cast as talented as this one is, the least director Gary McKendry and writer Matt Sherring could do would be to create a plot and an atmosphere in which the actors could thrive. Clearly no one in the cast cared about making this movie. I've sadly come to expect that from De Niro in these settings (that's one of the most depressing statements I've ever made in this space) but even Statham seems completely disinterested, like a man who knows he's working on a doomed project. This is a guy who goes all out in Crank, a wretched film that only made it to theaters because Statham rocks it so hard; how bad does the on-set vibe have to be for that guy to not care?

None of this would make Killer Elite a "Worst Movie of the Year" candidate (probably) without the following issues:

1.) The plot is so overly complex that it's next to impossible to follow from a logical standpoint. By that I don't mean that it's "smart" or "over my head." I mean that it's a jumbled, convoluted mess that was structured poorly in the first place and probably edited poorly in re-writes. This is a bad, extremely thin plot that doesn't make a bloody bit of sense and in order to cover those holes, the writer(s) adds in a whole bunch of junk to make it look more complex than it really is. There are approximately 100,000 worthless plot twists and turns in this movie and I'm probably under valuing that number.

2.) More egregious in my book, pretty much every character in this film makes idiotic decision after idiotic decision and these decisions are the only way that the plot can keep moving. This is perhaps my least favorite movie trick ever; it's the main reason I hate horror movies. If your plot depends on your characters making decisions that no human with the IQ of a three-toed sloth would make, then it's a bad plot and you should stop making your movie. In Killer Elite, every character operates under the three-toed sloth line. Keep in mind, these are all highly trained, intelligent covert agents who have only lived as long as they have because they were, presumably, good at making decisions and keeping themselves alive. But that doesn't stop them from running off into the path of a large truck or not searching a known enemy for weapons. I'm pretty sure even my wife knows that if your adversary is strangling your colleague and they're close enough to touch noses, you probably shouldn't shoot said adversary in the back of the head with a high-caliber pistol because, gosh wouldn't you know it, the bullet is likely to go through and kill your friend, too. Unfortunately for one of the characters in this movie, another highly-trained, super-awesome special agent did not know this scientific fact.

Basically what I'm saying, dear reader(s), is that you absolutely should not see Killer Elite. I know it looks like it could be fun, I know it looks like the perfect, "It's Midnight and I've Already Watched Sportscenter and this Just Came on HBO" movie. But trust me, it isn't. Save yourself and stay away.