Spy: The third pairing of Paul Feig and Mellisa McCarthy is yet another success story for the comedic dream team. Feig shows a clear affection for spy films a la 007 and Mission Impossible and that love and knowledge of the genre allows to accurately skewer all of its tropes. McCarthy brings her usual manic comedic energy and top-flight talent to her role as Susan Cooper, a veteran FBI agent sent into the field for the first time to stop a Bulgarian crime kingpin (Rose Byrne, showing her hilarious work in Neighbors was no fluke) from selling a nuclear weapon to a similarly notorious American crime lord (Bobby Carnavale). Spy sputters a bit of the gate as it sets up its central conflict and develops Cooper as a character, but once Cooper sheds her nervousness about being in the field and the hardened British spy Rick Ford (Jason Statham, who run away with the movie by brilliantly skewering the overly macho archetype he's made a career off of playing) the fold, the jokes start landing and the film subsequently hit its stride. Spy doesn't have as many as belly laughs as Bridesmaids or The Heat, but it's a still rock-solid comedy that further solidifies McCarthy and Feig's standing as one of the most powerful actor/director combos in Hollywood.
3.5/5 Stars
Entourage: It's been nearly four years since we last heard from Vince, Johnny Drama, Turtle, E and Ari. But as soon as Entourage starts, it feels like this colorful band of goons had never left your television. The Entourage film beautifully tows the line between being the perfect continuation for fans of the show and a fitting introduction for people who have never seen the HBO series the film is based on. The bond between the five leads (Adrian Grenier, Jerry Ferrara, Kevin Dillon, Kevin Connolly and cast MVP Jeremy Piven) is as authentic as ever and writer/director Doug Ellin is able to recover gracefully from the show's late season woes with a script full of great dialogue and laugh-out-loud gags. People that are easily offended and/or are bothered by a non-stop barrage of cameos and glorification of the celebrity lifestyle should steer clear, but anyone looking for a raunchy, engrossing and most importantly, fun as hell summer movie, look no further than Entourage.
4/5 Stars
Mad Max: Fury Road: After spending the last twenty years crafting long-forgotten kids films like Babe: Pig in the City and both Happy Feet films, Australian director George Miller has made his return to the post-apocalyptic action franchise that put him on the map in the late 70's/early 80's with Mad Max: Fury Road. The long-delayed fourth installment of the Mad Max series has largely been hailed as a masterpiece and one of the greatest, if not the greatest action film of all-time. To be frank, I just don't see it. The blueprint of a good action film is to have numerous great action scenes, likeable heroes that the audience can root for and a charismatic and/or menacing villain who serves as a formidable opponent for the film's protagonist. Mad Max: Fury Road has none of those things. The long-cut action scenes are too repetitive and cluttered to be memorable, the heroes are bland and one-dimensional, the film's villain is beyond lame and worst of all, the film's is mind-numbingly corny without even an ounce of irony. If Miller had not taken this ridiculous world full of live-action cartoon characters so god damn seriously and thrown some variation into the action scenes, the results probably would've been much different. Not even the typically great Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron can get out of this film unscathed. Hardy mumbles his way through a wholly forgettable turn as the titular character while Theron lacks the grit required to make a battle-hardened character like Furiousa work. That being said, Hardy and Theron are awards-worthy compared to Hugh Keays-Byrne performance as the film's villain Immortan Joe. Keays-Byrne sound like a confused child every time he delivers a line and is firmly in the running for least menacing oppressive warlord in the history of cinema. The whole plot of the film hinges on how evil and ruthless Immortan Joe is and no matter how hard the film tries you to sell on that fact, Keays-Byrne's corny trainwreck of a performance prevents him from being even remotely imposing. The film's heavy use of practical effects and feminist agenda in the male-centric world of action films are worthy of praise, but it's not nearly enough to save Mad Max: Fury Road from being an underwhelming viewing experience. I'd be shocked if this doesn't end up being the most overrated film of 2015.
2/5 Stars
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