White House Down (2013)

Didn't I just see this film earlier this year?  Yes, the movie studios are at it again.  Seems like once a year (sometimes more), studios race out two similarly themed films, whether it's asteroids, volcanoes, or some various disaster.  This year is "White House under siege" films.

This entry in the category stars Channing Tatum as John Cale, a military veteran now working on a security detail for the Speaker of the House (Richard Jenkins).  He's the classic character where he's had issues with authority, and has never realized his full potential.  Wanting to make some changes and improve his life, he interviews for a Secret Service position at the White House, and takes his daughter Emily (Joey King) along.  Why would he take his daughter, you ask?  Well, they don't have a great relationship (shocker!), and it turns out she's a junkie for politics, so he figures the trip to the White House might begin to repair their relationship.

While on a tour of the White House, a group of mercenaries take over, killing all of the security forces and taking the remaining people as hostage.  One difference here is that this time the threat is a domestic force, rather than a foreign one.  It's not clear what they want, and even the mercenaries all seem to have different ideas of what the end goal is.

John is able to get loose in the White House and starts picking off some of the mercs.  He eventually finds President Sawyer (Jamie Foxx, yes you heard that right), and attempts to get him to safety.  John can't leave without his daughter though, so now you have the two of them running around simultaneously trying to escape, evade bad guys, and attempt to rescue John's daughter.

Olympus Has Fallen...er, um, I mean White House Down features just about every action movie cliche you could pull out of a hat.  At times the story has way too much going on, too many subplots, and wraps them up way too neatly and quickly at the end.  Every twist is telegraphed, sometimes simply by the people cast in the roles.  The second you see Jason Clarke as a someone that's there to install a new sound system in the White House theater, you know he's really up to no good.  You can't cast James Woods as the head of the President's Secret Service detail without that leading to something.  Don't worry, I'm not spoiling anything.  This all plays out very early in the film.

Here's the thing though: I actually had a lot of fun watching White House Down.  Once the action gets going, it doesn't let up for an instant.  There are great action scenes throughout the film.  Director Roland Emmerich seems to have a knack for high-octane action that's so silly you can't help but still have fun with it.  I'm not even sure if the overall silliness of some of these scenes is intentional or not.  My favorite scene of the film features a chase on the White House lawn, where it basically looks like several cars doing donuts.  It's ridiculous and hilarious, and everyone seemed to be having a good time with it.

The tone of White House Down is drastically different from Olympus Has Fallen.  Where Olympus Has Fallen has some very brutal violence, and overall more serous tone, White House Down seems to go out of it's way to throw one-liners at you at every opportunity.  Some work, some don't, and there's some pretty cringe worthy dialog at times.  I'll give writer James Vanderbilt credit for trying either way.

This film could have been edited better though.  Despite all the action, there are a few lulls here and there, and there's really no reason for this to be almost 2 hours and 20 minutes.

Channing Tatum manages to pull off another decent lead in an action film.  I was a little iffy on him as first as his character seemed to be a little too much of a screw up for his own good, but once the action gets going, he carries himself well.  Jamie Foxx is playing it pretty straight here, so he's not able to be as funny as we know he can be.  He might have been trying a little too hard to be presidential though.  The supporting cast is surprisingly strong, actually too strong for what they're given to do.  Maggie Gyllenhaal outclasses the material here, as well as Agent Broyles (Lance Reddick).  I really hope Reddick hasn't fallen into being type cast as "stern, military/law enforcement guy".  Lastly, I was really impressed with Joey King.  I've only seen her in a few small roles, but she really gets a chance to stretch here, and I think she's a young actress that's going to be one to watch for a while.

One weak part was John's ex, played by Rachelle Lefevre.  She's playing it way too calm and emotionless for the situation they are in.  I would expect a mother to be crying and screaming her head off the whole time knowing her ex-husband and daughter are inside the White House as all these explosions are happening around her, but she's way too calm.  It really stood out to me as odd.

White House Down is a dumb, cliched action film.  However, there are some great, crazy action scenes, and the film manages to be fun and entertaining.  If you haven't gotten your action fix this Summer, give this a shot.  If you go in with low expectations, you should have a good time.

2.5 (out of 5) Death Stars - Matinee-ish

G.I. Joe: Retaliation (2013) - Movie Review

All right, kids.  Remember to drink your teeth, stay in drugs, and don't do milk! Knowing is half the battle...

It's kind of hard to take a movie seriously based on a series of toys and cartoons, let alone an unnecessary sequel to one.  G.I. Joe: Retaliation is not a movie set in our universe, but an alternate one where a regular military doesn't exist, ninjas wear white and bright red, and everyone speaks in bad puns.

This review is going to be spoiler-filled, so be warned...

Some of you may remember that G.I. Joe: Retaliation was originally scheduled to come out back in June, but just a few weeks before its release, it was announced it was being pushed back to March.  The reason given was that they were going to do a 3D conversion.  I've heard many rumors that the real reasons varied from the studio understanding it wouldn't make as much money competing against the bigger, summer films, where it would do better in March (a much weaker month for action movies).  One of the more popular rumors I heard was that due to Channing Tatum's increased popularity, they wanted to go back and shoot more scenes with him to capitalize on his stardom.  I'm guessing there some truth behind all of this based on what I saw on screen.

As far as converted 3D goes, it actually wasn't that bad.  Maybe they are finally starting to get the hang of post-3D conversion. I did see this in RPX again, so that may have had something to do with the quality.  Also, there were a few scenes with Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and Tatum that felt like they were shot way after the fact.  Their scenes together, while trying to establish their friendship, seemed tonally opposite from the rest of the film and really out of place. These scenes also managed to not have any of the rest of the cast in them, which further reinforced my belief that they were pickup shots done recently to have more Tatum in the film.

While I've lightened up on Tatum, these scenes really did show me how miscast he was.  I just couldn't buy him as someone that had military training, and he still has problems with enunciating.  On the other hand, I came away from their scenes (and the rest of the film) thinking that Dwayne Johnson really needs another action film that is worthy of his charisma and physical abilities.  He truly deserves a vehicle to showcase him in an action film that puts him up there with the all-time action stars. Don't get me wrong, Johnson is the real star of Retaliation, but it wasn't made strictly with him in mind.

The good thing I will say about Retaliation is that it's definitely action packed.  I was never bored, and there are some great sequences.  The action is a bit of a mixed bag though, as there are lots of scenes that seemed to suffer from Micheal Bay-ism where you just couldn't tell what was going on or where anyone was at any point in the scene.  There were some fights that had too much of that damn handheld, shaky camera work, coupled with quick cuts.  I can't believe this is a trend that continues, when I don't know anyone that likes films that use this.

The bad part of Retaliation is just about everything else related to the plot.  The whole story was laughable to the point where I actually did laugh out loud several times at how stupid some of it was.  The movie has a ton of exposition, starting with introducing you to the characters in about the most ham-fisted way you could do it during the opening credits.  It was like how an old, 80's TV show (like the A-Team) would introduce characters.  Like I said before, G.I. Joe is set in it's own universe, but they aren't even consistent with it throughout the film, let alone the previous one.  They didn't even bother to mention what happened to all the other Joe's from the first film. Did they all die? Are they retired?  At least they had the good sense to get rid of that stupid power armor, and Snake Eyes (Ray Park) doesn't have a mouth anymore.  Retaliation burns through nearly every action movie cliche there is. It's as if writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick were playing Mad Libs for action movies, or pulling random plot threads out of a hat.

The main plot is that it's revealed early on that Zartan, the master of disguise, has taken the President's (Jonathan Pryce) identity.  I thought it was funny that he was only referred to as "President" in the credits.  They didn't bother to even give the President a name.  Anyway, Zartan, acting as the President, launches some crazy plan to kill the Joe's off and frame them as villains while freeing Cobra Commander from some totally over-the-top elaborate prison that only housed only him and Destro. I guess maximum security wasn't maximum enough for two people with no discernible super powers.  It's not like they had Magneto and Darth Vader locked up.  They break Cobra Commander out, and for some reason decide to totally abandon Destro, with absolutely no explanation as to why.  This will likely disappoint G.I. Joe fans, as Destro's kind of an important part of Cobra, and they decide to just completely blow off his character.

Only Roadblock (who wants a body massage?), Flint (D.J. Cotrona), and Lady Jaye (Adrianne Palicki) survive the attack, and it's up to them to figure out what's going on.  This part was kind of hilarious as they have puzzled together that someone must be impersonating the President, but do not just leap to the conclusion that Zartan is likely the person behind it.  They go to great lengths to prove it's Zartan, and act surprised when they confirm it.  It's as if they completely forgot about his existence, despite their previous encounters with him.  Do the Joe's not keep a database of bad guys and people they've fought against, or are they all just going from their shitty, collective memories?

But then, we transition to completely different film, where the RZA plays a ridiculous, martial-arts character, and I guess he was somehow Snake Eyes' master, or something.  Snake Eyes is training Storm Shadow's (Byung-hun Lee) sister, Jinx (Elodie Yung).  It's interesting to note that she speaks with a vaguely European accent despite that her brother is Korean.  I guess they had different parents and grew up in different parts of the world?  The two of them track down Storm Shadow (who only wears white, the most advantageous color for a ninja), and then there's some subplot about Storm Shadow's true origin.

The remaining Joe's enlist the aid of General Joe Colton (Bruce Willis), who's the original G.I. Joe, and then they all hatch some undefined plan to rescue the President and stop Cobra, who's true plan isn't really revealed until like the final 20 minutes of the film.  Their plan didn't make sense to me at all, but it involved several satellites (that Cobra somehow got into orbit without anyone noticing) that fire some rod that somehow does more damage than a regular nuke because it's 'dropped'.  Hey, I didn't write this crap.

This is a big spoiler, but it all climaxes with one of the most ridiculously hilarious endings I've seen in a while.  They actually went with the whole "hit the abort button just as the countdown reaches zero" trope.  Only when the abort button is hit, it magically causes all of the satellites to simultaneously explode.  Cobra designed these satellites with an abort function that also destroys the satellite?  Do they also drive specially designed cars that blow up when they kill the ignition?

I can't believe that director Jon M. Chu didn't stop at any point while making this film and questioned whether or not it made any sense.  Based on all the different plot threads and inconsistencies with tone, I don't think Chu could even settle on the kind of movie he was trying to me.  Were there any attempts to bring in a script doctor to fix some of the glaring plot holes and horrible dialog?  Look, I know it's a movie based off a toy, but that doesn't mean it can't have a plot that is consistent or has some kind of logic behind it.  I can forgive a certain amount of stupidity in my action films, but only up to a point.

Outside of Tatum and RZA (who was really, really miscast), I actually didn't mind the rest of the cast.  Bruce Willis appeared to be phoning it in again, but he's really not in it that much, so whatever.  I thought Adrianne Palicki was actually a bright spot, and I think the fact that she's a taller actress worked for her here.  I thought Ray Stevenson as Firefly was having a good time. He's another actor I wish would get more roles worthy of his talent.  Walton Goggins has a small role in this for some reason, and he clearly deserves better.  There's even a cameo from James Carville.

While G.I. Joe: Retaliation has some loud, fun action, and further proves that Dwayne Johnson needs to be a bigger action star, it's simply a really, really dumb film.  There's a small part of me that still enjoyed it, but I can only hope I've lowered your expectations enough so that if you do go see it, you'll benefit from that.  This is a rental, and now you know...

2 (out of 5) Death Stars

Side Effects (2013) - Movie Review

You're going to want to make sure you're sufficiently caffeinated before seeing Side Effects.

That's not to say that Side Effects will make you sleepy, but while it does have a slow build up, if you aren't paying attention, especially in the second half, you might find yourself a little lost.  There are so many twists and layers to Side Effects you may need another viewing to capture them all.  In fact, I just watched a clip of the film again that has a totally different subtext to it now that I've seen the whole film.

Emily (Rooney Mara) has been anxiously awaiting the release of her husband Martin (Channing Tatum), who's been in prison several years for insider trading.  One thing I appreciated right away was that it didn't go into too many details about what Martin did or setting him up as good or bad.  He did what he did, and now he's just interested in getting back to his life and working again.  Bogging the plot down with a bunch of financial mumbo-jumbo probably wouldn't have been the best way to start your film.

It turns out that Emily has been a long sufferer of depression, and with all the stress of her husband's release and concern about their financial future, it triggers again and she attempts to kill herself.  She sees a psychiatrist, Jonathan Banks (Jude Law), who in the process of helping her prescribes a series of anti-depressants, but none seem to work.  In fact, most of them make her feel worse.  After seeing Emily's original psychiatrist (Catherine Zeta-Jones), she suggests he prescribes a newer, experimental drug.  This is the drug that finally works for Emily, but there's a side effect, she begins to have bizarre sleepwalking episodes.  Something happens, and I won't spoil it, but it is setup by the opening scene of the film.

I was thinking about why the opening telegraphs such a big event in the film, but then I thought without that opening, would you have kept watching?  Normally, I'd be upset at the spoiler, but I think it worked here.  Otherwise, you'd just be watching kind of a drab, but well acted, story about a couple dealing with depression.  Even knowing that something's on the way, it still catches you by surprise and there was a collective gasp from the audience.

Due to the publicity surrounding these events, Jonathan's life is in turmoil and many aren't convinced he prescribed the right treatment to Emily.  Even he has his doubts, so he does his own investigation and what he finds leads him down a completely different path.  That's part of the fun of Side Effects.  It beautifully sets up many things, and has you going in one direction, but then smacks you in the face from another.  There were a few times where I thought the movie was going to play out much differently, only be surprised by what happened next.  It isn't too twisty for its own good though, or gets confusing.  The twists play out very linearly, as opposed to stuff you see in the Ocean's films where it jumps around a little.  However, lose focus for a scene or two, or pick the wrong time to go to the bathroom, and you can miss something pretty vital to how it concludes. Screenwriter Scott Z. Burns seems to have a knack for writing smart, complex stories, as shown in his previous Steven Soderbergh collaborations, Contagion and The Informant!  Side Effects is his best work yet.

It's not just the writing that's smart either, Soderbergh's way of setting up scenes through use of music or the way a scene is framed it what really makes this stand out from just being a standard thriller.  These small details are why multiple viewings may be necessary.

What is it about Steven Soderbergh and how he manages to release great films at typically slow times of the year?  Maybe that's been part of his strategy to make his films look even better by comparison (I'm kidding).  The timing of the release is a double edged sword, as it's finally the first really good film of 2013, but was it released too early in the year to still get any Oscar consideration?  If this has been released in December, I can imagine there'd be a huge amount of buzz around it. There's also lots of talk going around that this may be Soderbergh's last theatrical film, while others are saying he may just be taking a sabbatical.   If this is really Steven Soderbergh's last film, all I can say is that at least he's going out on a high note. As I fan, I have to plead with Mr. Soderbergh to please not retire.  He's been one of the most consistently good directors in the past 25 years, tackling many different genres and almost never disappointing.  Hell, he was the reason I actually wasn't dreading watching Magic Mike, and I ended up enjoying that film.

Speaking of Channing Tatum, Soderbergh seems to always get the most out of his actors, and Tatum wasn't bad again.  It's a smaller role, so he's not asked to do much, and I even noticed he seems to have cut back on his 'twang' a bit.  Catherine Zeta-Jones is also fine in her role, but Side Effects was really a two-man game between Jude Law and Rooney Mara.  I had once written off Jude Law as just another generic, pretty-boy from the UK, but he really has evolved into an good character actor, and this may be his finest performance to date.  You genuinely root for his character, and that's a credit to Law's performance. Rooney Mara in her short career has proven to be a bright actress with a brighter future.  As much as I liked her in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, I think she was even better here.  There's more nuance to her performance, but I can't say too much about it without spoiling her character arc.

It's only February, but Side Effects is easily the best film of 2013 so far.  Smart, complex, thrilling and carried by two great performances.  It may not be Steven Soderbergh's best film, but it's still a very good one, and I really hope it's not his last.  I highly recommend seeing this as soon as you can, but again, you might want to down some caffeine beforehand.

4 (out of 5) Death Stars

10 Years (2012) - Movie Review

Is Channing Tatum omnipresent?  I feel like he's everywhere now.  I suppose it's the year of Channing Tatum, and this was before they pushed back G.I. Joe: Retaliation.

I was a little leery when I heard this was yet another high school reunion movie.  We already had American Reunion earlier this year, which is an increasing disappointment the more I think about it.  How many more variations can we have on the reunion theme? Fortunately, 10 Years is what American Reunion could have been if it had any humanity about it.

The story focuses primarily on Jake (Channing Tatum), who goes to his reunion with his current girlfriend (played by his real-life wife Jenna Dewan-Tatum).  You meet most of the major players at a small pre-party gathering, hosted by former jock Cully (Chris Pratt) and his wife Sam (Ari Graynor).  They've settled down and had a few kids, but Cully is looking forward to cutting loose.  He also desperately wants to apologize for the bullying he did to several of his classmates.  There are close friends Marty (Justin Long) and AJ (Max Minghella), who both really want to see the hot, popular girl Anna (Lynn Collins).  Marty, in particular, is hoping that maybe there's potential for some reunion hook up action.  You have Garrity (Brain Geraghty), who comes with his wife (Aubrey Plaza), but she isn't too thrilled to find out how he used to be back in high school.  There's even the now-famous Reeves (Oscar Isaac), who wrote a hit song, and is anxious to talk to the girl he used to have a crush on.

As the alcohol flows, you find out more about everyone and their stories from high school.  For some of them their old high school personalities resurface, and some get nervous to talk to their old crushes.  You see how even though 10 years has passed, some are still struggling with adulthood. There is a realism to 10 Years that I don't normally see in a movie like this.

It seems that they went to a fairly small school, as nearly everyone was to be fixated on whether or not Jake's ex, Mary (Rosario Dawson), will show up.  She eventually does, with new husband (Ron Livingston), and you could feel the tension in the room.  They build up that something happened between them, but when you find out what it was it seemed a little overblown. I get that because they were homecoming king and queen that all eyes might have been on them, but it's been 10 years.  Not all high school sweethearts work out.  People grow apart and move on.  It's not that it wasn't significant, but with the way everyone was acting, I was thinking it was going to be something more earth shattering.  Thankfully, Jake and Mary get a chance to talk like adults, and the movie doesn't go down a predictable path for these two.  It might have ruined the film if they had.

As for the others, Marty and AJ do catch up with Anna, but it's funny to watch Marty become increasingly frustrated with AJ competing for her attention. Why are you cock-blocking your buddy, AJ?  Bad form!  You also spend a lot of time with Reeves and his crush (Kate Mara), and at first it seemed like they were getting too much time in the movie, but then their story has a nice payoff that made it worth watching.

Cully gets his opportunity to apologize, but as he gets progressively more drunk, he becomes a bully of a different sort.  It's uncomfortably hilarious for us to watch.  As he's shown how he can be on Parks and Recreation and The Five-Year Engagement, Chris Pratt is hilarious throughout the movie.  He was definitely the highlight.  Ari Graynor was also great as she continues to babysit him and get frustrated with his antics as the night goes on.

I almost forgot about Channing Tatum.  He was one of the producers of the film, and even though the movie primarily followed him, it felt like he took a back seat to much of the cast.  It gave the movie a sense of balance, where you didn't feel like the other characters didn't matter.  It was also cute seeing him with his wife.  They had nice chemistry on screen and are a gorgeous couple that will have super babies when their lives take them down that path.

This is the directorial debut for writer Jamie Linden (Dear John, We Are Marshall), and he did a good job of balancing a fun cast and getting good performances out of everyone.  When the movie starts, I was getting excited when I saw people like Aubrey Plaza, Justin Long, Ron Livingston and Anthony Mackie, but I was worried that the cast might be too stacked.  Fortunately, they all get to have their moments as the night goes on. Despite everyone's flaws, they all felt very real and and sympathetic.  I also appreciated that nobody came off as an over-the-top high school stereotype. 10 Years is very funny without trying too hard or going for silly and obvious jokes.

10 Years isn't breaking any new ground as far as premise.  However, it goes to show you that if you have a likable cast and don't fall prey to melodrama, you can still have an engaging and entertaining movie.  As someone that recently had his 20-year reunion, this felt like a very realistic and consistently funny look at one.  10 Years is in limited release, so I strongly recommend it as a rental once it becomes available.

3.5 (out of 5) Death Stars

Magic Mike (2012) - Movie Review

I've heard numerous complaints that this movie is a bit of a bait and switch.  I'd have to say after watching Magic Mike that they are right.  At no point in this movie did I see the use of magic anywhere in the film!  How do you have a movie with "Magic" in the title and have none of the typical fantasy elements?  I feel duped...

I kid, but I can see why some might feel a little let down.  The advertisements made it look like it was going to be more of a wild party movie, and while there is plenty of eye-candy with all of the hairless, glistening abs, what you got was a deeper look at the life of someone actually trying to get out of the business.  Oh, and there's just as much eye candy for the men as for the women.  In the opening moments of the film, you are treated to a topless scene from Olivia Munn.

You see, Mike (Channing Tatum) realizes that stripping is just a means to an end; that end being starting his own custom furniture business.  Sure, he has fun with the stripping, but it doesn't define him and he understands that there's a shelf life on doing it.  You can see from his interactions with the other strippers that his motivations are bit different.  Although, it seems that every stripper you talk to is really a student, or just kind of fell into it, but Mike seems to actually have a definite plan to get out.

Mike has money saved up, but is having a hard time getting a business loan. As most of his jobs are cash based, he doesn't exactly have the best credit.  He works multiple jobs, doing consturction during the day, which is how he meets Adam (Alex Pettyfer).  Adam's kind of a screw up and basically quits after his first day on the job.  Mike brings Adam along to one of his shows, but circumstances force Adam into the spotlight and ends up stripping.  Adam has fun with it though, and sees how much money he can make, so he decides to go with it.   His sister, Brooke (Cody Horn), doesn't seem to be too wild about his new employment, or Mike for that matter, but Mike promises to take care of him.

The first half of the movie you spend more time watching these guys dance and party, and it's easy to see why they love what they do.  It looks like a lot fun!  The dance numbers were actually entertaining, even for someone that had no real interest in seeing that initially.  About halfway through, there is a shift, and it starts to focus more on Mike trying to get out of the business, his budding romance with Brooke, and Adam's screw ups.  This is where movie gets a little gritty and you see more of the seedy underbelly of the business.  You may have heard comparisons to Boogie Nights and I'd say that's a pretty close comparison.

I've been really, really hard on Channing Tatum in the past.  I don't have anything against the guy personally, but I've just never thought that much of his acting.  However, between Magic Mike and 21 Jump Street (he was even decent in The Vow), I think it's time take the guy seriously.  He certainly has charm and charisma on screen.  If you've seen the Step Up films, we already know he can dance, but as someone that spent time as a stripper, it's a role he's familiar with.  I'm sure being able to identify with the character so well is what drew him initially to the project, and it it's clear he was able to draw from his own experience.  What can I say, you finally won me over.  Good job!

Steven Soderbergh has always been very good about getting the most out of his cast, even when working with actors not known for their skill.  He continues that trend here, getting great performances out of people like Tatum, Pettyfer and even Olivia Munn.  However, there's always an exception to the rule, and this time it's Cody Horn as Brooke.  She was just a blank slate, possessing no charisma the entire film.  It felt like she was literally reading her lines off a page without any emotional weight.  It's hard to believe why Mike would be interested in her, other than convenience, and it makes it hard to care about that aspect of the film since there's no chemistry.  It's odd because Mike's other main interest in the film is Olivia Munn's character and they seem to have much more chemistry in their short time together.

Matthew McConaughey plays what appears to be the grown up version of his character from Dazed and Confused.  You even hear him say, "All right, all right, all right..." several times in the film.  He's really great though as the sleazy club owner.  He seems to be going through a bit of a career revival recently with stuff like The Lincoln Lawyer and Bernie, but Magic Mike might just be his finest performance yet.

You've also got guys like Matt Bomer, Joe Manganiello and even the WWE's Kevin Nash as part of the crew, but they aren't given much to do other than have a few lines of dialog, dance and take their clothes off.

As you'd expect from Soderberg, there's some really interesting camera work and the movie as a whole is visually appealing. But like in Haywire, the entire film has this yellow tint to it.  His direction otherwise is great though.  He keeps taking chances and doing different types of movies, but even with his weaker ones there's something enjoy to take away from them.  The screenplay by Reid Carolin is smart, with sharp, and sometimes very funny dialog. I applaud them for making something that wasn't just all about sex or titilation, and could have been trashy like Showgirls or Striptease.

My only real complaint about the movie, once again, is the length of it.  This is close to two hours and could have been edited down a bit.  I didn't really mind the shift in tone, but the first half of the film is certainly more fun.  I think either removing the love story between Mike and Brooke, or recasting the role of Brooke with someone more interesting, would have helped.  Their romance dragged the movie down due to the chemistry problems mentioned earlier.

I can't help but wonder if Magic Mike might have sold better to a general audience with a different title.  If you can get past that and are comfortable with the fact that it's still about male strippers, Magic Mike is actually an intelligent and entertaining movie.  If you had bet me a week ago that I would have liked this movie, I would have told you to take a hike, but I was pleasantly surprised.  I don't have any problem recommending this as a matinee.  There's a lot of fun to be had here.

3.5 (out of 5) Death Stars

21 Jump Street - Movie Review

I'm writing this review in utter shock right now.  Why?  Because 21 Jump Street is actually a good movie!  The first time I saw that trailer, I was like, "Are you kidding me?  Another retread of an old TV show!"  I actually thought that trailer was kind of funny though.  However, after seeing it 10-15 times and seeing the same jokes over and over, I started to get the feeling that this was going to be yet another movie that showed you all of the funny moments in the trailer.  Plus, I am really not a fan of Channing Tatum.  Not out of any hate for the man or jealousy, but I just don't think he's a good actor.  Well, 21 Jump Street managed to do the impossible: it actually made me like Channing Tatum.

This is a good example of a movie overcoming the above mentioned point about trailers showing you all the funny stuff up front.  Plus, they ran that trailer in the ground, so it got to a point were it became unfunny and annoying.  However, many of those scenes from the trailer are done in the first 15 minutes of the movie, and even then the actual scenes used with a different line or were edited in a way to make them completely different in the context of the film.

The trailer does a good job of setting up the premise.  Two former high school 'rivals' Schmidt (Jonah Hill) and Jenko (Channing Tatum) meet up a few years later in police academy.  When they realize that their skills compliment each other - Schmidt is the brains, while Jenko is the brawn - they decide to work together and develop a genuine friendship.  This is one of the things about 21 Jump Street that surprised me.  It's actually very sweet at times.  When you see Schmidt and Jenko in high school, it wasn't so much to show you that they were rivals (as they weren't really), it was more to illustrate that they were both kind of losers in their own ways.

Anyway, once they become cops, they make a bust, but screw it up.  Due to their 'youthful' appearance, they get reassigned to an undercover program to have them pose as high school kids to 'infatrate' (misspelling intentional, you'll understand why after seeing it) a drug ring.  Once they get to the school, they do what they can to fit in and it all goes from there.

Another aspect of the movie I liked was the whole angle about fitting in and how high school can suck for some people.  As Schmidt had a rougher time in high school, he's looking at this as a chance for him to be cool, especially now that he has Jenko to help him.  On that flip side of that, Jenko quickly finds out that the things that made him cool back in high school don't apply anymore.  This leads to a role reversal with Schmidt now being the cool one where Jenko finds himself being a bit of an outcast.  Later leads to resentment and threatens their friendship, and the thing is that you actually care about their friendship.

There were lots of great 'meta' moments, especially early in the film that let you know that it's not taking itself too seriously.  21 Jump Street actually parodies a lot of things about 80's movies, teen comedies and buddy cop films.  They managed to do a really good job with all of this and keeping it fresh and funny.  Even when ridiculous things happen in this film, you are never insulted by them because it's all so good natured and it's not being passed off as realistic.

As I mentioned earlier, I actually liked Channing Tatum here.  I think they did a great job with his dialog and also having him make fun of himself.  Jonah Hill was fine, but he's basically doing what he does in most of the comedies he's in.  I'm not saying that's a bad thing though.  The supporting cast, many of whom you'll recognize for various comedies (Ellie Kemper, Nick Offerman, Brie Larson, Dave Franco, Rob Riggle) are all strong as well.  I was actually expecting to be annoyed by Ice Cube, but I found him to be really funny.  Everyone is great here!

Michael Bacall (Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Project X) did another great job with the screenplay.  You can definitely see similar elements in his screenplay as with his previous films.  The story was co-written by Jonah Hill as well.  Good job guys!  This was directed by the team that directed Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs:  Phil Lord and Chris Miller.  I think direction of the action scenes were a little sloppy, but they really got the comedy down, which was the point of the movie anyway.

Underneath it all 21 Jump Street is ultimately about the friendship of Schmidt and Jenko.  It reminded me of the better buddy cop movies of years past, with a pinch of John Hughes thrown in there.  Best of all, it's consistently funny.  I highly recommend checking it out this weekend.

4 (out of 5) Death Stars - 4 might be a little high, but I'm giving it an extra half-Death Star for surprising me.