Death Race

Paul W.S. Anderson's Death Race was the B movie of last night's double feature. As a fan of the original (Death Race 2000) I was very skeptical about this remake, homage, or whatever they want to call it. The original was part satire, part action film, and despite the extremely low budget, remains one of the most entertaining movies ever made. The update loses all the humor (and nudity) and goes straight for the action. Like most remakes, there are nods to the original that some will catch. My favorite was a voice-over cameo by David Carradine playing the original Frankenstein. In this movie it's Jason Statham who takes on the role of Frankenstein, following the original's lethal wreck. Apparently Jason Statham is the go-to-guy when it comes to making car flicks these days. While the script is anything but original, the action sequences are surprisingly top-notch. The racing scenes are just downright awesome with plenty of explosions, gunfire, and gore. What makes them even better is that little CGI was used in these sequences. This is all real old-school stunt work! So refreshing! So if you can stomach the story line, give Death Race a chance. And don't feel bad about fast-forwarding to the race scenes.

The Happening

I've never quite understood the irrational hatred some have for M. Night Shyamalan's films. Granted, his latest offerings haven't been all that great. I admit, Lady in the Water was a complete mess. But it seems like his films are judged on a completely different scale. Almost as if everyone expects him to outdo The Sixth Sense, clubbing them with another out-of-left-field twist. Well that's probably not going to happen, and I've come to terms with it. The Happening is one of the worst reviewed films of 2008. With that in mind, I sat down to watch it last night as the lead in my Saturday night double feature. Throughout the film I was awaiting something extremely lame to happen. But that never occurred. Rather, it was a fairly engaging and tense thriller. Sure, Mark Wahlberg as a high school science teacher wasn't completely believable and I could certainly take issue with the Al Gore-inspired premise. But overall, I thought it was a well made movie. Some reviewers complained that this movie felt like a long episode of The Twilight Zone. I agree, but don't see the problem with that. It certainly held my attention and at a only 91 minutes, it never dragged. Shyamalan is a very restrained and subtle filmmaker. As a result, he seemed to struggle to deliver the hard-R rating that Fox wanted, making some sequences uncharacteristically (and perhaps unnecessarily) jarring. Despite these issues, I liked the film. Not the best Shyamalan movie, but far from the worst.

Wanted

When I first saw the trailer for this movie I wasn't impressed at all. It just looked like another corny action flick designed to fill seats during the Summer. But when the movie was released, I was a bit surprised by all the positive reviews. So I decided to check it out when it came out on video. An impending project suddenly prompted me to move it to the top of the queue. Now that I've seen it I can see why it got good reviews; largely because it's far better than anybody would have expected. This is a case where low expectations work. Sure, there are a lot of gimmicky bullet time-like sequences and some truly over-the-top stunts. But unlike half-hearted action-flicks like Max Payne or the latest Die Hard, this movie is rated-R and wears that distinction proudly; somewhat a rarity for a Summer action movie. There's lots of slow motion shots of bullets going through heads and other gory stuff you'd expect from an edgy action film. It also benefits from a very solid cast, led by James McAvoy. No, Angelina Jolie is not the lead, regardless of the impression you may have derived from the advertising. But she is good in her supporting role, as is Morgan Freeman and Terence Stamp. Overall, this is a movie built to entertain. Set your suspension of disbelief to maximum levels and enjoy.

Get Smart

I don't remember much about the TV series. Though I do remember watching it. The opening credits certainly made an impression...all those doors. So when the teaser trailer came out, nearly a year before the movie did, I was immediately intrigued. Though not intrigued enough to pay $10 to see it in the theater. Like most comedies, I caught it on video and it wasn't too bad. It has a good mix of slapstick and action. Plus the cast is really good. As good as Steve Carell is, Alan Arkin probably has the best line in the whole movie; you'll know it when you hear it. My one problem with this movie (and most comedies) is that it ran a little too long. In my opinion, comedies should rarely clock-in at more than 90 minutes. This one is 110 minutes and I could really feel that extra 20 minutes drag on longer than necessary. That being said, it's still a decent movie and well worth a rent if you're looking for a few light chuckles.

The Wrestler

Out of all the award-seeking movies this season the only one I was really interested in was The Wrestler. Well it finally opened here and I saw it this weekend. It really is a great movie and is a nice recovery from Aronofsky's laughable The Fountain. But this is largely Mickey Rourke's movie. He completely inhabits the role, which might have not been too much of a stretch. My only gripe is that I knew the whole story from watching the trailer. As a result, there weren't too many surprises. It's basically a dramatization of the stuff shown in Beyond the Mat, including the small venue wrestling shows and poorly attended autograph sessions. Randy 'The Ram' Robinson is a composite of just about every major face wrestler from the 80s. There's even an Iron Sheik-like heel (The Ayatollah) played by Ernest Miller, who serves as Randy's ring nemesis. I think that's one of the awesome things about this movie. Not only does it feature an amazing performance, but it got everything right, down to the minor details. There's a Randy 'The Ram' action figure and even a Nintendo game. While it doesn't paint a glamorous image of the profession, few can deny the authenticity.

The House Bunny

I'm not quite sure why I thought this movie would be good. Perhaps it was the premise or the fact that Anna Faris was finally headlining a film. Whatever the reason, I rented it. It all started out okay but quickly devolved into a mess of college movie cliches. Basically what you have here is a facsimile of Revenge of the Nerds. In fact, entire sequences were lifted directly from ROTN. How similar? Sorority that's going to lose their charter unless they become popular? Check! A cast of social misfits, each with their own idiosyncratic behavior? Check! Run-down sorority house that gets a makeover? Check! Barnyard animal let loose in said house? Check! Awesome party/event that shows-up the popular sorority? Check! Inspirational speech that saves the sorority from certain doom? Check! Anna Faris did the best she could with what she was given. In fact, she's the only reason this movie slightly works. Seriously, I can't recall a pure comedic actress of this caliber. I'm really hoping she teams up with Rob Zombie for the horror/comedy Burn Off. As for The House Bunny, wait until it's on TNT. It's likely to run back to back in the near future, kinda like Bring It On.