REVIEW: The Wackness

STARRING: Ben Kingsley, Josh Peck View Trailer RELEASE DATE: 07/03/2008 (some cities) DATE SCREENED: 06/25/2008 The Verdict GOOD - See it in the theater

The Wackness is set against the backdrop of 1994 New York City. Rap music was dominating the airwaves, and Biggie Smalls was a new artist. Rudy Gullaiani has just begun his first term as Mayor, with a tough anti-crime stance that included crackdowns on relatively minor offenses such as graffiti, turnstile jumping, and aggressive "squeegeemen".

The story centers around a troubled teenager named Luke (Josh Peck), who has just graduated from high school. Luke is a quiet small time weed dealer, who loves rap music and brazenly sells weed from an ice cream cart in Central Park. He describes himself in the film as "most popular of the unpopular". One of his clients is the step father of a classmate, psychiatrist Dr. Jeffrey Squires (Ben Kingsley). Dr. Squires trades therapy time for the weed. Eventually, Luke begins to open up about his inability to find a girlfriend and his troubles at home. His parents are constantly arguing and having money problems. Luke is feeling the pressure to be the breadwinner in the family, and is depressed that he has never had a girlfriend. Dr. Squires encourages Luke to go out more and find a woman, but what he doesn’t know is that Luke has a huge crush on his step daughter Stephanie (Olivia Thirlby). It turns out that Dr. Squires is unhappy in his marriage, so he begins to spend time hanging out with Luke. In one of the film’s funnier moments, they end up in a bar, where Dr. Squires has a make-out session with a young pot-head played by Mary-Kate Olsen. Hanging out with Dr. Squires helps Luke make his move on Stephanie. Of course, the Dr. is not happy with this when he finds out. Luke and Dr. Squires do get past that issue and explore New York, selling weed together, and trying to help each other deal with their depression.

The Wackness is both a comedy and a drama. Seeing Ben Kingsley get high smoking on a bong is certainly funny. At the same time, it deals with issues of family, relationships, drug addiction and depression. I was completely drawn into the story. We get interesting relationships between all the characters. There is the romance between Luke & Stephanie, the strange friendship between Luke & Dr. Squires, and the bad marriage between Dr. Squires and his wife (Famke Janssen). It may sound corny that Luke & the Dr. can become friends and help each other while dealing weed, but it’s funny and actually seems to make sense in the context of the film. Josh Peck gives the best performance as Luke, but we get good performances from everyone involved, even Method Man as Luke’s drug supplier. This is a small independent movie that I hope will find an audience. See this in the theater, assuming you can find it.

REVIEW: Hancock

STARRING: Will Smith, Charlize Theron View Trailer RELEASE DATE: 07/02/2008 DATE SCREENED: 06/23/2008 The Verdict GOOD - See it in the theater

Will Smith kicks off the 4^th of July holiday with the release of Hancock, the kind of action packed summer blockbuster that he hasn’t done in a few years. With comic book superheroes dominating the box office, he is taking a risk by making an original superhero movie, without the built-in fan base and proven successful storylines of a comic book hero.

The film opens with Hancock laying on a sidewalk bench in a drunken stupor. He is awakened by a kid, who chastises him for not helping out with a police chase that is taking place on live TV. Hancock reluctantly flies off with his bottle of liquor to intervene. In the process of capturing the criminals, he leaves an unnecessary trail of damaged roads, cars and buildings. It turns out that many in the city of LA hate Hancock, as his style of crime fighting sometimes causes more harm than good. When Hancock saves Ray, a Public Relations executive played by Jason Bateman, from being run over by a train, probably killing the conductor of the train in the process, the crowd turns on him. Ray steps up to Hancock’s defense, thanks him for saving his life, and invites him to dinner. Ray’s son is Hancock’s biggest fan, but his wife Mary (Charlize Theron) is not happy that Hancock is around. Ray convinces Hancock that he can be a superhero that people love, with his guidance. Ray helps Hancock clean up his image by accepting jail time for the damages he has caused, and then coming out a jail without the drinking problem, with a new costume, and new friendlier attitude.

Things are going well for Hancock, until he discovers that he is not the only super powered being in LA. Actually, things are going well for us as movie goers until Hancock discovers that he is not the only super powered being in LA. Up until that point, I was watching a funny movie, with an interesting story and good special effects. Then the movie takes a convoluted turn with a ridiculous story of Hancock’s origin and his relation to the other super powered being. We do get to see them fight all over the city, so maybe I shouldn’t be too hard on the bad writing. Taken as a mindless summer action film it’s entertaining enough to keep people happy. The crowd at the screening cheered at the end and most people seemed to leave happy. Movies based on popular comic books already have great storylines that can be adapted to film. Hancock did not have that advantage, and it shows. My feelings are mixed, but it’s worth a trip to the theater. The summer of the superheroes will continue with Hellboy 2 and The Dark Knight.

REVIEW: The Incredible Hulk

STARRING: Edward Norton, Liv Tyler View Trailer RELEASE DATE: 06/13/2008 DATE SCREENED: 06/09/2008 The Verdict GREAT - See it opening weekend

Marvel Studios set the bar extremely high with Iron Man. The film is a hit with fans and critics alike, and has made $538,741,611 worldwide as I write this review. The idea of Marvel Comics making the movies of their own comics, as opposed to selling the movie rights to another company, seemed to be a stroke of genius. Expectations suddenly skyrocketed for the upcoming 2nd release from Marvel Studios, The Incredible Hulk. Marvel had bought back the movie rights after the disappointing results of the Hulk that was directed by Ang Lee, and made $245 million worldwide. It wasn’t a bust, but still didn’t deliver the money that was expected, and fans all over cursed Ang Lee for the changes he made to the Hulk’s origin, and the art house style of the picture as a whole. I personally thought the action sequences were phenomenal and made up for the boring family drama in the movie. Marvel promised a more true to the comics and TV show adaptation, and after seeing Iron Man I had no doubt that was what I was going to get.

The Incredible Hulk starts off with flashbacks of the Hulk’s origin. We get just the basics of his origin, with the rest of the crap from the previous movie thrown out. Bruce Banner (Edward Norton) is experimenting on himself and accidentally exposed to high doses of green gamma radiation, right in front of the love of his life Betty Ross (Liv Tyler). This causes the transformation into the Incredible Hulk, which the military, led by Betty’s father General ‘Thunderbolt’ Ross (William Hurt), unsuccessfully tries to capture. The film then picks up basically where the last film left off. Bruce is in hiding, in Brazil, learning martial arts and relaxation techniques that will supposedly prevent him from becoming the Hulk even in the most stressful situations. Bruce works at a bottling plant by day, while working to find a cure for his condition. He is assisted by an Internet friend known only by his handle as “Mr. Blue”. When a drop of Bruce’s Blood winds up accidentally making its way into a bottle of juice shipped to the U.S., General Ross is soon in Brazil with a military contingent, led by Emil Blonsky (Tim Roth). The military soldiers have no idea what they are getting in to. Bruce transforms into Hulk, kicks some military butt, and is gone again. Bruce and Mr. Blue need data, so Bruce must go back to the U.S. and attempt to steal data from a military computer. He is reunited with Betty, who it turns out has a copy of the data he needs. Meanwhile, Blonsky is willing to risk his life being injected with experimental drugs to make himself into a Super Soldier, so that he can be the one to take down Hulk. The experiment works and Blonsky gets his 2nd chance at capturing the Hulk, but he is still not even close to the Hulk’s match. Bruce and Betty take the computer data to Mr. Blue, who turns out to be a scientist in NYC named Samuel Sterns. Sterns has been cloning the blood sample Bruce had once sent to him, and making various concoctions based on it. The military crashes the party once again, and Bruce is tranquilized and captured before he can turn into the Hulk. Blonsky desperately wants his Round 3 with Hulk, and forces Sterns to inject him with his concoctions based on Bruce’s Blood. This causes Blonsky to transform into a hulk like creature called Abomination, who then goes on a rampage through Harlem. General Ross is forced to release Bruce, so that the Hulk can engage in a final showdown with Abomination.

The Incredible Hulk is more than just a movie about the Hulk. It is brilliantly written to not just set up the Hulk sequels, but set up what I’ll call the Marvel Movie Universe. Upcoming Marvel movies include, Iron Man 2, Thor, Sub Mariner, Captain America, and The Avengers. Hulk includes references and characters that only the serious comic fans will realize are references to some of these upcoming movies. The obvious appearance by Robert Downy Jr. makes the tie-in to Iron Man obvious to everyone. It seems as if all the Marvel Studio owned heroes will eventually appear in the same Avengers movie in 2011. That would have been impossible if Marvel had continued to sell away the movie rights to their characters. For fans of the Hulk, there are characters that we know will later become villains in subsequent Hulk sequels.

For the average moviegoer, you don’t need to know anything about the comics. The movie still stands on its own as a great summer action film. The special effects are better this time around, and with the martial arts training Bruce learned in Brazil, the Hulk knows how to kick ass more so than the last time. The love story between Bruce and Betty seems to be just enough to keep the ladies happy and show that the Hulk is not just a mindless monster, without becoming boring. There are even a couple of cameos to make the fans of the TV show smile. I was on the edge of my seat as the Hulk and Abomination ran towards each other right in front of the Apollo Theater, and the fight did not disappoint. They beat each other down, up and down the street, smashing everything in their path. In the end, Bruce is forced to recognize that maybe he doesn’t want to be cured of becoming the Hulk, but learn how to control it.

I couldn’t be more excited about the movies in the pipeline for Marvel Studios. As a big comic fan in the ‘80s and early ‘90s, Iron Man and Incredible Hulk are the kind of movies I’ve dreamed of. Although I love the Spiderman movies, Spiderman 3 totally botched the appearance of his #1 villain Venom. Although I enjoyed X-Men 3, they total botched the appearance of Phoenix. These are the kind of blatant and stupid mistakes that Marvel Studios will not make. The comic book storylines are proven, and following them as close as possible is always best. Movie studios always eventually think they can write better stories, or create a better villain, when they can’t. Incredible Hulk has a lot of competition at the box office, but I hope anyone reading this will rush out and see it opening weekend.

REVIEW: Kung Fu Panda

STARRING: Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman View Trailer RELEASE DATE: 06/06/2008 DATE SCREENED: 06/03/2008 The Verdict GOOD - See it in the theater

Dreamworks Animation has been facing an uphill climb in its attempts to prove it’s not a second rate animation studio in comparison to Pixar. While Pixar released another world-wide blockbuster in Ratatouille last year, Dreamworks released Bee Movie. Although profitable, Bee Movie was a disappointment critically and financially. For 2008, Pixar is releasing Wall-E, while Dreamworks gets the jump on them with the release of Kung Fu Panda. I have an extensive collection of kung fu films, as it’s my favorite film genre, so a movie about a kung fu fighting panda piqued my interest much more than Pixar’s film about a robot.

Kung Fu Panda is a family friendly film, set in a world where animals talk and live together in harmony. A panda named Po (Jack Black) spends his nights dreaming of being a kung fu master, while spending his days working in his father’s noodle shop. An average day is interrupted with the announcement that master Oogway, and old turtle, will select a kung fu master as the Dragon Warrior, the fighter destined to fulfill some ancient prophecy. Kung fu master Shifu(a small red panda voiced by Dustin Hoffman) assumes the Dragon Warrior will be one of his students, called The Furious Five. The Furious Five are composed of Tigress (a tiger voice by Angelina Jolie), Mantis (a praying mantis voiced by Seth Rogen), Crane (a bird voiced by David Cross), Viper (a snake voiced by Lucy Liu), and Monkey (a monkey voiced by Jackie Chan). Po crashes the ceremony at the last minute, and he is selected as the Dragon Warrior. Master Shifu argues that the panda was only there by accident, and Oogway responds that “there are no accidents”.

The rest of the film follows the standard kung fu movie patterns. A snow leopard named Tai Lung escapes from prison and is on his way to claim the Dragon Warrior title. It turns out that Tai Lung was Master Shifu’s prized student that he treated like a son before Tai Lung turned to evil. According to the prophecy, Po must be the one to defeat Tai Lung. Master Shifu must somehow train Po, who is well versed on the history of kung fu, but is a fat, lazy, silly panda. Po is excited to be learning among his kung fu heroes, but the odds are stacked against him. In a short time frame he must bond with the Furious Five, who want Po to go home so they can defeat Tai Lung, and somehow learn enough kung fu to fulfill the prophecy.

As someone who loves kung fu movies, I can tell that the makers of Kung Fu Panda share my love of the genre. The movie doesn’t make fun of the genre, but shows how timeless the themes of these movies are. The humor comes from Po’s difficulties in training and his interactions with his teacher and fellow students. When it comes time to fight, these animals really fight. The film contains some of the most inventive and exciting kung fu showdowns that you will ever see in an American film. Jack Black seemed perfect for the voice of Po. The voice work is actually good all around, although I don’t think Jackie Chan had more than a couple of lines. At approximately 90 minutes, the movie never has a dull moment. I was either laughing or enjoying the kung fu action. This is a movie that people of all ages can enjoy. At the screening, the kids and adults were laughing and everyone seemed to leave smiling. See this one in the theater.

REVIEW: You Don’t Mess With the Zohan

STARRING: Adam Sandler View Trailer RELEASE DATE: 06/06/2008 DATE SCREENED: 05/27/2008 The Verdict NOT GOOD - Wait for cable

Adam Sandler is one of the biggest stars in Hollywood. He has produced, written and starred in multiple blockbusters. If he produces and stars in a movie, the studio can bank on an over $100 million domestic gross. But I just don’t get it…
As far as I’m concerned, Adam Sandler has only made one funny movie, Waterboy, and one good serious film, Reign Over Me. I do not see what people love about him to make them rush out to see crap like I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry. His latest film, You Don’t Mess With the Zohan, is more of the same silliness people have come to expect from a Sandler comedy.

Zohan (Sandler) is some kind of super anti-terrorist agent in Israel, screwing as many women as possible on his off days, and killing terrorist with ease when called upon. Zohan secretly dreams of coming to America to be a Paul Mitchell hair stylist. Zohan fakes his own death while fighting his arch nemesis The Phantom. He moves to NYC, where he quickly finds out that his old fashioned hair styles will not get him hired by Paul Mitchell. He is forced to take a job sweeping hair at a small salon in an Israeli/Palestinian neighborhood. He eventually gets a promotion to hair stylist, where he becomes popular with the older women by first styling their hair, and then taking them to the back room to earn his tip. His "unique" methods have old women lined up around the block waiting for an appointment. Zohan is soon recognized by a cab driver (Rob Schneider) who wants to become famous by taking out the great Zohan. Of course, the cab driver botches every assassination attempt. Eventually, the Phantom is called to America to finish off Zohan in a final showdown

The film is full of Israeli/Jewish jokes and stereotypes, many of which I just don’t understand. There is a running gag about Hummus that made no sense to me. I guess Jewish people eat a lot of hummus? The laughs were few and far between for me. Don't Mess With Zohan is funny when Zohan is styling hair and servicing his clients, but bored me otherwise. The story is completely predictable, with an overall moral that Israelis and Palestinians can live and work together in harmony. Do we really need an Adam Sandler comedy to tell us that? If you like Adam Sandler’s previous work, you will probably enjoy Zohan as well. The crowd at the screening seemed to enjoy it. He probably has another $100 million hit on his hands, but I’m glad I didn’t have to pay to see it. Wait for cable.