Texas Chainsaw: Typical slasher film that brings nothing new to the table, but is nowhere near as bad as I expected it to be. There's some good kills and a few funny moments, it's just ultimately too dumb to be enjoyable (the ending is absolutely idiotic even for a slasher movie) and the attempts for the audience to sympathize with Leatherface by providing a backstory fall flat. If it had a bit more of a brain in its head, it might have been a serviceable slice-and-dice flick.
2.5/5 Stars
Parker: Jason Statham in typical Jason Statham mode makes for another enjoyable action caper. The story is pretty engaging and well-written, the supporting cast (including Nick Noltie, Clifton Collins Jr. and Michael Chiklis as the main villain) is good and the finale is satisfying as hell. An underwhelming second act and a terrible performance from Jennifer Lopez is the only thing keeping this from being one of Statham's better films. Definitely a fun movie that's worth checking out if you're a fan of Statham.
3.5/5 Stars
Oz: The Great and Powerful: Sam Rami really dropped the ball on this one. Aside from it's striking visuals and cinematography, Oz: The Great and Powerful falls short across the board. James Franco looks confused and potentially stoned as the Wizard (his facial expression during the graveyard scene is absolutely hysterical)and doesn't really appear to be taking the role seriously at all. Milia Kunis and Rachel Weiz are below-average villains and Michelle Williams is just kind of there as Glinda the Good Witch, the only character who helps the wizard become the savior of Oz he was destined to be. The story is pedestrian is at best with very few interesting revelations as to how Oz became the savoir of an entire land of people and the ending is extremely lame and anticlimactic. There was a lot of potential to set up The Wizard of Oz (especially with an excellent director like Sam Rami at the helm), but Oz: The Great and Powerful is a prequel that has minimal magic and not really much of a reason to exist.
2/5 Stars
Side Effects: A little too complicated for it's own good at times, but this is still a pretty
solid thriller. The film takes a complete 180 in the second half
becoming a tense thriller opposed to the first half which is almost like
an oddball artsy drama. Rooney Mara and Jude Law are both excellent in
their roles and I did not see the ending coming at all (although the
setup is a bit messy.) A fitting directorial swan song (for now at least) for Steven
Soderbergh.
3.5/5 Stars
Snitch: A surprisingly really enjoyable film. Dwayne Johnson has really gone out of his
comfort zone this year with this and Pain & Gain and proven he has
some really solid acting chops outside of his typical action wheelhouse. The
scenes between him and his son in prison were wonderfully acted and
Johnson gives his character a considerable amount of emotional depth. You truly believe that this is a man that will do anything for his son and the relationship between them is the driving force behind this film. The
drug smuggling sequences could've been better, but the emotional power,
storyline and performances (Michael K. Williams and Jon Bernthal are
also great in this. I'm intrigued to see how Bernthal does in The Wolf of Wall
Street later this year.) more than make up for this film's shortcomings in the action scenes.
4/5 Stars
21 & Over: About a handful of funny moments (most of which are in the last 15 minutes) and some sincere heart at times, but it's mostly unfunny, lazy material that you've seen executed far better in a bunch of other teen comedies. The cast gives it their best effort to make this film watchable, the jokes just fall flat for the most part and there was nothing they could to do to save this film from the depths of below-average. 21 & Over is definitely one of the most forgettable and unoriginal comedies to come out in recent years.
2/5 Stars
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