The World’s End

The World’s End

Directed by: Edgar Wright Starring: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Martin Freeman, Paddy Considine, Eddy Marsan, Rated: R for pervasive language including sexual references. Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright have brought us a pair of films that manage to be several things at once: “Shaun of the Dead” was a romantic comedy, a zombie movie, and a coming-of-age flick; “Hot Fuzz” was a buddy cop movie, a conspiracy thriller, and a tale about finding a place you belong where you least expect it. They continue this pattern with what they’re calling the third installment in “The Cornetto Trilogy,” “The World’s End.” It’s a sci-fi thriller, a story about the difficulty of becoming an adult, and a look at the importance of friendship. Back in high school, Gary King (Simon Pegg) and his friends were an inseparable group. After graduation, they attempted a legendary pub crawl in their tiny hometown, The Golden Mile: twelve pubs, have at

Read More

Kick-Ass 2

Kick-Ass 2

“Kick-Ass 2,” the follow up to 2010’s “Kick-Ass”, seems unsure of what exactly it wants to be. The first film was an (admittedly very, very violent) exploration of what happens when ordinary people try to be superheroes, and the psychological toll that takes on ordinary kids. The sequel seems to be trying to continue that theme (and the violence) but also examine identity, compare the trials of adolescence to the trials of fighting crooks, the importance of genuine friendship, and throw in a little slapstick, juvenile humor for good measure. It’s kind of a mess, and how much you like it (or indeed, whether you like it at all) will depend heavily on your tolerance for incoherence and whether any of the elements included are dealbreakers.

Elysium

Elysium

The rich live highly privileged lives, in complete luxury and with access to phenomenal health care. Everyone else (the vast majority of humanity) lives in slums, dangerous places with brutal police, uncaring bureaucrats, and general misery. Oh, and it’s 150 years in the future, and all the rich people live in space. Welcome to “Elysium,” a science fiction film as low on science as it is on subtlety.

The Wolverine

The Wolverine

Directed by: James Mangold Starring: Hugh Jackman, Rila Fukushima, Tao Okamoto, Svetlana Khodchenkova, Haruhiko “Hal” Yamanouchi, Will Yun Lee, Brian Tee Rated: PG-13 for sequences of intense sci-fi action and violence, some sexuality and language The last big time we saw Logan, aka The Wolverine (Hugh Jackman), he was cradling the body of his beloved Jean Grey (Famke Janssen) in his arms, having killed her to stop her alternate personality from destroying the world. When we catch up with him in “The Wolverine,” he’s living in the middle of nowhere, only walking into town for occasional supplies. What draws him out of his self-imposed exile is a request from an old friend: Yashida (Haruhiko Yamanouchi) has sent young Yukio (Rila Fukushima) to find Logan and bring him to Tokyo. Back during World War II, Logan saved Yashida’s life and the man, now a wealthy industrialist, says he wants to repay his debt before he dies.

Read More

RED 2

RED 2

Directed by: Dean Parisot
Starring: Bruce Willis, Mary-Louise Parker, John Malkovich, Helen Mirren, Anthony Hopkins, Byung-hun Lee, Catherine Zeta Jones
Rated: PG-13 for pervasive action and violence including frenetic gunplay, and for some language and drug material

The gang of agents marked Retired: Extremely Dangerous are back for another adventure in “RED 2,” helmed by director Dean Parisot (“Galaxy Quest”). If you enjoyed the silliness and action of the first film, this one will not disappoint. If you missed the first movie, you’ll need a strong grip on your suspension of disbelief and a willingness to take a lot of things on faith. Those who insist on character development, a lack of plot holes, and seriousness should give this one a pass.

Pacific Rim

Pacific Rim

“Pacific Rim” is one of those movies where the trailers don’t do it justice, but can still make it pretty obvious whether you want to see it or not. If the idea of Guillermo del Toro (“Hellboy,” “Pan’s Labyrinth”) directing a movie in which enormous robots fight enormous alien sea monsters fills you with glee, run – do not walk – to the movie theater and see this film if you somehow haven’t already. If you think that concept sounds stupid, or dislike big, loud movies, stay away.

The Lone Ranger

The Lone Ranger

The Lone Ranger is an American icon from a time long past. He lived on the radio and on black and white TV sets in a time when cowboy sagas and problematic portrayals of Native Americans were a big part of popular culture. When Gore Verbinsky and the rest of his “Pirates of the Caribbean” filmmaking crew set out to remake “The Lone Ranger” they clearly tried to give that some thought – word has it that they had Comanche advisors to help with authenticity, for example. But they also wanted to please fans of the original material, plus fans of their own material. The result is a bizarre mishmash of the awesome and the cringe-inducing. I’m sure there are folks who will love this movie (and there’s a fair amount to like!), but I am not one of them.

World War Z

World War Z

Directed by: Marc Forster Starring: Brad Pitt, Mirelle Enos, Daniella Kertesz, Fana Mokoena, Pierfrancesco Favino, Ruth Negga Rated: PG-13 for intense frightening zombie sequences, violence and disturbing images Every so often a film tries to be two or more things that seem incompatible. In some cases, this succeeds – but most of the time, it fails, and fails hard. “World War Z” is in the latter category: it’s too tame to be a good zombie movie but too scary to be a good international thriller. As we follow Gerry Lane (Brad Pitt) around the world trying to find the source of a zombie virus outbreak, there are plenty of individual scenes that work, but the film as a whole just doesn’t gel. The first act of the film works well enough: we follow Gerry, his wife Karin (Mirelle Enos), and their two children through a normal morning, with the news playing in the background occasionally

Read More

Now You See Me

Now You See Me

If you like heist movies, sleight-of-hand magic, and snappy dialog, you are in for a treat: “Now You See Me” mixes elements of the traditional bank heist movie with the world of professional magic (both up-close street magic and big-stage Las Vegas magic). Add in some interesting conspiracy elements, a director who knows how to make a film with great economy of time and footage, and you are in for a treat.

Furious 6

Furious 6

The latest outing in the “Fast & Furious” franchise is another romp packed full of fast cars, beautiful people, gunfights, fisticuffs, and explosions. If you’ve somehow missed out on the previous films, don’t worry: this is not a series built on complex character and plot development. If you’ve seen any team heist movies and/or car chase movies, you’re set. This is a ridiculous film, and a ridiculously fun ride if you’re willing to hang on.