Insurgent: Of the slew of dystopian YA novel adaptions that have hit theaters since the first Hunger Games film was released in March 2012, 2014's Divergent was easily the strongest. Shailene Woodley was excellent in the lead role, the action sequences were well-crafted and above all, the film was gripping as all hell. The second installment in the franchise, Insurgent, has pretty much the same strengths as the original, except this time the proceedings are more efficient. The one glaring problem with Divergent was that it took a bit too long for the main story to develop and made the film run 15-20 minutes longer than it probably should've. With the setting and stakes of the film's world now firmly established, Insurgent is able to get right down to business, which allow this to be a more briskly-paced and action-packed film than its predecessor. Woodley is once again the driving force of the film with her fantastic performance as the film's heroine Tris Prior, but Theo James, who plays her love interest Four, gives a substantially better performance than he did the first time around. There's a real budding chemistry between Woodley and James that should only grow stronger in the final two films of the series. The only thing that really bugged me about Insurgent was the ending. Given the extremely tidy note this ends on, I have absolutely no idea how they're going to drag out this narrative for another two films. Insurgent more than likely won't silence any of the original's detractors, but fans of the series should be very pleased with this thoroughly entertaining sequel.
3.5/5 Stars
Get Hard: I'd be lying if I said Get Hard isn't one of the most juvenile, predictable and occasionally wildly insensitive comedies to be released in recent memory. That being said, it's still pretty damn funny. The first 30-35 minutes are pretty shaky with very few jokes actually landing, but once the relationship between James King (Will Ferrell), a yuppie executive who's been sentenced to 30 years in prison for embezzlement and fraud and Darnell Lewis (Kevin Hart), a parking garage attendant who lies about being previously incarcerated to King and is subsequently hired by him to prepare him for life behind bars, develops in the second half of the film, the laughs are pretty consistent. The cliche-ridden (cue dozens upon dozens of prison rape and blow job jokes) screenplay from Key & Peele writers Ian Roberts and Jay Martel and Tropic Thunder scribe Ethan Cohen (who also directs) is rescued by the talent of its two leading men. Ferrell and Hart work great together and their collective comedic prowess makes this material far more effective than it should be. While Get Hard is undeniably weaker than expected, the electric presence of Ferrell and Hart are still enough to make it worth a watch.
3.5/5 Stars
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