"The Hangover 2"
Richard's Review: 1 1/2 stars
The action in "The Hangover Part 2" starts as so many bad benders do, with the simple words: "Come and have a drink with me and the guys" and ends after as debauched a ride through the streets of Bangkok has ever been committed to film. The first time around, in 2009, the day after the night before adventures of the Wolfpack -- Bradley Cooper, Zach Galifianakis and Ed Helms -- was fresh, even charming in an alcoholic haze kind of way. This time out the guys have all the charm of stale beer breath.
The set up is similar to the first film. This time around Phil (Cooper) and Alan (Galifianakis) are groomsmen at their buddy Stu (Helms) Thailand wedding. One thing leads to another and they wake up in a grotty Bangkok hotel room, minus one of the wedding party, Teddy (Mason Lee), Stu's bride-to-be's brother. To find him they must re-enact the first movie... er... turn Bangkok upside down.
"The Hangover Part 2" has a severe case of sequelitis. It tries to please the core "Hangover" audience by presenting a familiar -- some would say photocopied -- plot, but also introduces new, darker humor in an attempt to keep things fresh.
Neither is really successful. The recycled plot points borrowed from the original -- Stu writes a song about their adventures, there's the Tyson tattoo, hookers and the mystery of a missing friend -- don't work as well the second time through and the movie's dark tone dampens many of the laughs.
Ed Helms spends much of the movie screaming, "I can't believe this is happening again," and frankly, by the end of the first hour, neither can the audience.
Galifianakis brings most of the laughs to the movie, but his unbalanced brand of humour is hit and miss and the character Alan is better in small doses, not as the main fount of funny.
There is nothing as hilarious here as the first movie's tiger in the bedroom or the closing credit's Polaroids. If these guys decide to go for a third binge, perhaps they should call Dr. Drew first.
"Kung Fu Panda 2:
3 1/2 stars
"Kung Fu Panda 2's" all star mix of action, slapstick and furry fists of fury makes for a mighty kid friendly martial arts movie.
The story begins with a fable about Shen (Gary Oldman), a peacock hungry for revenge after being kicked out of his kingdom by his parents. Unless he and his fire breathing weapon are stopped it could mean the end of Kung Fu, but how can Kung Fu stop a weapon that can stop Kung Fu? That is the question Po (Jack Black) and the rest of the Furious Five (Angelina Jolie as Tigress, Jackie Chan as Monkey, Lucy Liu as Viper, Seth Rogen as Mantis and David Cross as Crane) must ponder as they try and save China and their sacred martial art.
"Kung Fu Panda 2" doesn't exactly improve on the original, a surprise hit from 2008, but it maintains status quo. The new film is a little sketchier with the story -- there is a subplot about Po's real parents that only appears to have been included to add some heart to the mostly action storyline and to set up a threequel -- which seems to take a backseat to the frenetic, but kid friendly, action scenes, but it's buoyed by some high kicking animation and good voice work from the leads, particularly Jack Black and Oldman, as Shen, the silky voiced villain.
The 3D doesn't get in the way of the beautiful animation, and actually adds a layer of excitement to the action scenes. The animation, both in the present day scenes and Po's vibrant anime inspired sequences, is a cut above any other non-Pixar work out there.
The film, like all good martial arts films is heavy on the action scenes, but the best stuff isn't the big set pieces but the smaller set pieces. When Po, disguised as a parade dragon eats a baddie and then digests him and... excretes him out the back end of the costume it's imaginative and kid-tastic fun. The wilder scenes are nicely put together but the smaller intimate scenes have more punch.
"Kung Fu Panda 2" is just one of 27 sequels hitting theatres this year, but so far it's one of the better ones.
"Daydream Nation" DVD
Richard's Review: 3 1/2 stars
Daydream Nation chronicles the year in Carolyn Wexler's (Kat Dennings) life in which "everything happened."
A precocious teen, she seduces her handsome English teacher (Josh Lucas) by writing an essay about her favorite historical figure -- Monika Lewinsky. She's a savvy big city girl, but hasn‘t quite figured out life or love in her new town.
Complicating matters is an amorous gym teacher, a serial killer and a sweet but troubled boy named Thurston (Reese Thompson).
Textured with equal parts humor and drama this smart school story cleverly details the complicated, confusing aspects of teen life in a fresh, interesting way.
"Gnomeo and Juliete" DVD
Richard's Review: 3 stars
"Romeo and Juliet" is arguably the best known of Shakespeare's plays. Certainly it is his most loved romance and is one of the most filmed plays of all time.
Among the modern versions of the two young "star-cross'd lovers" are a classic big screen MGM adaptation starring Leslie Howard and Norma Shearer, the musical "West Side Story" and an anime rendering about two rival ninja clans fighting each other.
Perhaps the strangest reimagining of the story, however, hits screens this weekend. As the title suggests, "Gnomeo and Juliet" replaces the human protagonists with garden gnomes. That's not gnormal but then again, this isn't your garden variety kid's flick.
Set on Verona Drive, the movie takes place in the back gardens of feuding neighbors Mr. Montague and Mrs. Capulet. Their dispute isn't the only grudge on the block however. While they are away at work or asleep at night their garden gnomes come to life and do battle. Divided into red and blue gardens, every night the gnomes kick some grass in an effort to sabotage one another. The whole situation comes to a head when Gnomeo (voice of James McAvoy) and Juliet (Emily Blunt) fall hopelessly in love after a chance encounter.
"Gnomeo & Juliet" isn't a strict translation of Bill Shakespeare's play. In other words, and this is not a spoiler, it doesn't end in gnomacide. Other than that the themes of the original are in place -- like the forcefulness of love, love as a cause of violence and the individual versus society -- but that's for eggheads and this is for kids.
In the movie the high-falutin' themes have been winnowed down to nice teachable moments for the tots about tolerance and not judging a book by it's cover, or in this case, a gnome by the color of their hat.
Parents will likely get a kick out of the nods to classic movies -- there's the chariot race from "Ben Hur," the bucket scene from "Flashdance" and "American Beauty's" bed of roses to name a few -- and the equally classic Elton John song (he's a producer on this along with his husband David Furnish) but overall this is pitched at young children.
The best thing about "Gnomeo & Juliet" is the animation. Each of the colorful gnomes has a distinct personality and the animators have carefully recreated the weathered ceramic look of real garden gnomes.
The downside is kind of dull voice work -- surprising because the cast is a who's who, including Michael Caine, Maggie Smith and Ozzy Osbourne and even duller 3D. But despite the lack of really memorable voices the story carries the day to create a fun family-friendly film.
