Movie Review: 'Journey 2: The Mysterious Island'

Journey 2: The Mysterious Island Starring Josh Hutcherson, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Michael Caine Directed by Brad Peyton Rated PG

As a movie reviewer, when I sit down and write my thoughts on a particular film, I sometimes need to alter my process.  I really can't rate something like Journey 2: The Mysterious Island on the same scale as last year's Drive, or 50/50, or anything with a deep or complicated plot and characters.  But as a family film, it does its job really well, and makes it so both kids and adults will be entertained, without alienating either with humor or or questionable situations.

A few years after Journey to the Center of the Earth, we find Sean Anderson (Josh Hutcherson) at odds with his mother for moving them away from his friends, and marrying Hank (Dwayne Johnson).  However, after receiving an encoded transmission from his grandfather Alexander (Michael Caine), Sean and Hank find themselves heading for the Pacific ocean in search of The Mysterious Island, as written by Jules Verne.  To get there, they team up with helicopter pilot Gabato (Luis Guzman) and his daughter, Kailani (Vanessa Hudgens), and end up going on a roller-coaster ride of giant insects, tiny elephants, and probably one of the most extravagant uses of 3D technology yet.

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Movie Review: 'Chronicle'

Chronicle Starring Dane Deehan, Alex Russell, MichaelB. Jordan Directed by Joss Trank Rated PG-13

Yup, it’s another found footage movie.  But this time it came at the price tag of 15 million dollars, so they don’t exactly have the whole “no money” excuse for using the format.   Does the quality of the film let us overlook the tired format, or are you going to be rolling your eyes at just how obsessed those characters seem to be with that camera?

Chronicle stars Dane Dehaan as Andrew, an introvert among introverts.  He’s the one who buys and, for the most part, uses the camera that acts as our view into most of what happens.  Forced to deal with his home life (a drunk father who is an exaggerated version of pretty much every drunk father in every movie), and bullies at school, he uses the camera as a barrier from the outside world. When his cousin and only friend Matt (Alex Russell) convinces him to come to a nearby rave, he joins up with Steve (Michael B. Jordan) and discovers a mysterious crater.  Inside, the three find a mysterious crystal, and three weeks later, they have telepathic abilities capable of stopping a baseball.  A bit later, they can move cars.  Eventually, their abilities get strong enough that they’re flying around, dodging airplanes.  This power isn’t something that they have the discipline to handle, however, and as emotions run high, things start to get out of control.  You don’t get any awards for guessing just who goes crazy with power.

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Movie Review: 'The Woman in Black'

The Woman in Black Starring Daniel Radcliffe, Janet McTeer, Ciaran Hinds Directed by James Watkins Rated PG-13

The Woman in Black is solid proof that a movie doesn’t have to be original in order to be worth your time.  It’s traditional, straightforward, and predictable.  It also happens to be scary as hell, which is where it really matters.

Daniel Radcliffe, in his first major non-Potter role, plays Arthur Kipps, a young lawyer whose wife died while giving birth to his infant son.  As he lies on the verge of unemployment, his firm gives him one last chance: he must travel to the home of the recently deceased Alice Drablow and arrange for the selling of her house.  Upon entering the small countryside village the mansion is located, he discovers a frightened and superstitious town.  It’s hard to blame them, though, with their eerily high number of deceased children.  As Arthur gets closer to the truth, he begins to notice more and more strange happenings.  Eerie stares from the townspeople, noises bumping in the night, and mysterious figures appearing in the distance and then vanishing all make appearences in this movie, giving a good hint as to its traditional nature.

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Movie Review: 'The Grey'

The Grey Starring Liam Neeson, Dermot Mulroney, Frank Grillo Directed by Joe Carnahan Rated R

The Grey is an odd mix of a survival, horror, action, and drama.  It does each of these elements well, with a noticeable lack of special effects.  It's ability to blend each element, well, I'll discuss that in more depth soon.  But, more than anything else,  it hangs on the ability of Liam Neeson to hold the audience's interest with sometimes just him, alone, giving his lines or even without words.  Love him or hate him, one thing is for sure; the man can hold the screen like few actors can.  Oh, and he really is a badass.

Working in northern Alaska as a guard against wolves, Ottway (Liam Neeson) says he feels most comfortable around the ex-cons, felons, and those generally wanting to get away from society.  In a way, he fits in; yet, something about him stands out.  This becomes even more apparent after a violent plane crash results in him surviving with six others, few resources, uncertain where to go, and a large pack of wolves that are rather unhappy with them in their territory.

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Movie Review: 'Red Tails'

Red Tails Starring Nate Parker, David Oyelowo, Cuba Gooding Jr., Terence Howard Directed by Anthony Hemingway Rated PG

Some people say action films are nothing but mindless movies running around without a heart and soul with the protagonist set out to accomplish one thing - defeat the antagonist and his henchmen.  Transformers is a film that fits that criteria, same with Crank and countless others.  There are other action films with a heart, mind and soul, like last years Drive (though Drive is walking a very fine line between action and drama).  And then they’re films like Red Tails.  The story is horribly portrayed, the characters aren’t well rounded, the director lacks any motivation, the editing is slovenly spliced, the acting is C-grade, at best, and the action is unexciting and stale. 

 

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