Paranormal Activity 2 - Review

Nothing like a fun scary flick to get you in the mood for the Halloween season. I really enjoyed the first Paranormal Activity. It was gimmicky yes, but it had a suspenseful concept, chilling performances, some great jumps and scares, and is one of the few films to use the "found-footage" concept well. It was the surprise hit of the season, striking a chord with audiences and critics, therefore making a sequel inevitable (A horror sequel??? wow... how original)

Most of Paranormal Activity 2 takes place before the events of the first movie. While the first followed the hauntings of a young dating couple, Micah and Katie, PA2 centers around the family of Katie's sister. The family includes Katie's sister Kristi, her husband Dan, their teenage daughter Ali, and their newborn son Hunter. After a mysterious break-in that left their home trashed, the family installs some security cameras throughout the house. Once the cameras go in, unexplained and seemingly paranormal activity (hey that's the name of the movie) begins to happen with a strange entity pursuing the innocent family.

I could make this the easiest review ever by summing it up like this... Did you like the first one? If you did, then you'll probably enjoy this one too. If not, then I doubt this one will fair any better. And there is where Paranormal Activity 2's biggest fault lies... its more of the same. Aside from having a moderately bigger budget and more camera's at its disposal, there are no major differences. Then again, I suppose if it ain't broke, don't fix it. The story may not be any special and a number of plot holes are pretty distracting but it certainly works in most of the same ways the first one did as well, and it some ways does it a little better.

If there's one thing PA2 does as well as the first, its in building suspense. It does follow a certain pattern and it takes a little while for anything interesting to start happening, but once things get moving, its a fun ride. About halfway through, things really start getting weird, making it easy to forgive the so-so opening. Also like the first, it boasts an eerily effective sound design, utilizing creative sound effects to amazingly creepy and suspenseful results. The visuals and "ghostly effects" are once again used in a minimalistic manner, using little to no cgi but upping the ante from the first. Its definitely best watched in a full theatre, so everyone in the audience will collectively scream at the numerous jump moments. You never know whats around the corner and what's coming next... and that's what makes these movies so fun.

The new characters work well for the most part. The teenage Ali was a welcome addition as an intelligent young individual whose performance was believable and convincing. The mother, Kristi, was somewhat hit and miss. She was the most frequent victim of the entity, and you do have a bit of a connection to her, even if she's not always the smartest. Her husband, Dan, is easily the most unlikeable character in this movie. At first, I didn't have much against the guy, but his actions in the 3rd act are so incredibly stupid, that I couldn't stand him anymore. I won't spoil anything, but when you see the movie, you'll know what I mean. Maybe that was an intentional choice by the filmmakers, but it didn't work for me.

Overall, director Tod Williams gives us a surprisingly enjoyable and suspenseful followup. Its not as good as the first, is quite gimmicky, and it wouldn't be nearly as entertaining without a theatre full of rowdy people. But if you're looking for a fun scary flick to watch with a group of friends this Halloween, this is definitely a good choice.

My Score: 3.5 out of 5!


Happy Halloween Everyone!!!

Red - Review

Seriously??? Its another team-up action movie trying to recapture the campy fun thrills of 80s action! Well, I guess they don't really bother me that much, I just think its kind of funny how 2010 has been the year of action teams, from The Losers, The A-Team, The Expendables, and now Red.

This action/comedy is very loosely based on a DC Comic about a group of former government agents who are forced out of retirement to complete a new mission. Leading the team is retired Black Ops CIA agent Frank Moses (Bruce Willis), living a quiet and lonely life. His only real enjoyment comes from his friendship with Sarah Ross, a young customer service representative from the pension office who craves adventure. After Moses is attacked by a hit squad, he and Sarah take off to get his old Black Ops back together and find out who is behind the attack. He is then joined by aging ladies man Joe Matheson (Morgan Freeman), the mentally unstable Marvin Boggs (John Malkovich), Russian agent Ivan Simanov (Brian Cox), and bad-ass M16 agent Victoria (Helen Mirren).

That cast is enough to catch anyone's attention. Unlike The Expendables, which consisted of veteran action stars, Red features a cast of versatile and mostly Oscar-nominated actors (though Bruce Willis is, of course, the film's main action star). With such seasoned acting veterans, you would expect nothing short of greatness, and for the most part that's true. Bruce Willis has been doing his shtick for almost 30 years now, and it's still really entertaining. Morgan Freeman is great as always too, pulling off the suave old man routine like one would expect. John Malkovich was great as well, doing the insane H.M. Murdock-type role, and looking like he was having a blast while doing it. The show stealer has to been Helen Mirren! Its not often that you see Oscar winning dames using a minigun in a comic book action movie... I think she probably had more fun than anyone. You also get good performances from Brian Cox as a Russian spy, Karl Urban as the CIA agent pursuing the team, and a decent cameo from Richard Dreyfus.

The action scenes are more or less what would expect, but there were a few stand out moments. I already mentioned Helen Mirren's chain gun scene, so I won't talk any more about that. There's also a memorable moment in a shootout with John Malkovich involving a pistol and a rocket launcher, but I won't say any more than. The action is entertaining, the cinematography is very well done, and the editing is quite slick. Not a whole lot to complain about on the action front... it should satisfy.

Of course, with the good does come the bad. As I mentioned, most of the cast pretty much rocks, but Sarah, the only younger member of the team, played by Mary Louise-Parker is easily the weakest actor in the movie. Her performance is awkward, predictable, and painfully unfunny. On top of that, her character contributed so little to the story, that you could have easily taken her out and the main plot would have suffered no loss whatsoever. I guess they felt the need to add in the obligatory action movie love interest... bummer.

The rest of the story is a bit of a mixed bag. The concept is clever and most of Red is able to stay interesting. Some of the jokes are pretty funny and the characters all contribute some good humor to the action-filled plot. Its hard not to love these characters, and you can see why actors of such caliber chose to take these parts. However, aside from a few moments for Karl Urban's CIA agent questioning where his loyalties should like, there's hardly any character development. The plot itself takes way too many predictable turns and a few holes prevent the story from being something truly special. Its not a horrible script, but without the great cast adding their own flair, I would have probably forgotten about it by now.

Overall, a (mostly) good cast and some fun action scenes make Red worth a watch. Its at least worth a matinee price... go check it out.

My Score: 3 out of 5!

The Social Network - Review

You know how you know that a director is talented? Its when he or she can take a movie that consists mainly of a bunch of people doing nothing but talking and typing, yet still making it entertaining. Granted the quality of the dialogue plays a huge role too, but its the director who has to bring it all together. Of course its not like David Fincher had to prove himself for The Social Network. With a resume of quality flicks including Fight Club, Se7en, Zodiac, and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Fincher has certainly made a name for himself (so much so that one can easily overlook Alien 3). So with Fincher tackling a movie about the creation of one of the biggest pop culture icons of all time, how does it turn out?

The movie is based on the true story of Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg, played by Jesse Eisenberg, who would go on to become the world's youngest billionaire. The story starts in 2004, when Zuckerberg was a student at Harvard. Along with his good friend Eduardo Severin (Andrew Garfield) and a few others, Zuckerberg begins development of a Harvard-exclusive social networking site known as TheFacebook. The sites becomes a hit and prompts the team to expand the site to other schools. As the site continues to develop, the team begins to face a number of problems including strained friendships, unstable business partners, and numerous lawsuits.

First off, The Social Network boasts one of the most entertaining scripts of 2010. That's quite a compliment when you consider that the movie is mainly comprised of a bunch of nerds talking to each other and writing computer code. When that said formula consists of interesting and dynamic characters, a flashback story-arc, and some of the best dialogue I've heard in a movie, its easy to see why The Social Network is so entertaining. The way in which the story develops can be a bit predictable at times and there are no huge plot twists, but there were enough surprises along the way to hold my attention. It is an interesting story that happens to be based on fact. With a true story this intriguing, its easy to see why such a seemingly thin premise works so well. Its not so much a movie about Facebook, or even its founder, but rather a character study of greed, power, and betrayal among passionate and intelligent individuals.

Jesse Eisenberg leads in a pool of very talented actors. I was first introduced to Eisenberg in 2009's surprisingly excellent Zombieland. Here, he once again shows some serious acting chops as Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, bringing what will likely become his trademark eccentricity. He can be hard to read sometimes, but that works to his advantage. Zuckerberg is reported to be a gifted computer whiz and a very peculiar person, something Eisenberg has down to a tee. Andrew Garfield also delivers an excellent performance as Facebook co-founder and Zuckerberg's best friend, Eduardo Severin. He shows some talent as well, which is good to know considering that in two years we'll be seeing him don the red tights of Spider-Man in the 2012 reboot of the series.

The rest of the actors brings their own charms to an enjoyable and entertaining cast, but there's one more actor I need to address. Justin Timberlake... he really surprised me. I remember watching Black Snake Moan a few years back expecting him to be a terrible actor, but I was wrong. Now, with his role as Napster founder, Sean Parker, he's really shown that he has some extremely impressive acting abilities. His charisma, delivery, and overall demeanor made him the perfect choice for the role. Timberlake is a damn-good actor, I would have never guessed that a few years back.

A great script and great talent just isn't enough for a movie like this. The Social Network also boasts some of the most impressive camerawork and editing I've seen in quite some time. In order to make a movie that is essentially nerds writing code, some stellar technical work is crucial. The editing is quick, every shot is perfectly placed, and the great musical score only adds to the enjoyment. It kind of reminded me of the the 90s techno thriller movie Hackers, only not as over-the-top, colorful, forced or silly (despite the fact that Hackers is one of my all time guilty pleasures).

Unfortunately, the movie isn't perfect. As I said, the script is great, but the ending comes off as a bit abrupt. It only barely wraps up the few story without providing all the necessary closure. Not to mention it came off quite over-dramatic, which is a huge red flag that the movie wasn't 100% truthful. A few parts could have been explained a bit better too. For instance, they barely mention exactly how Facebook differed from other social networking sites. Yes, it was the first one made specifically for schools (or rather just Harvard at the beginning) but in a time where Friendster and Myspace were huge, they never really explained why Facebook was so revolutionary.

Most of the complaints I have about The Social Network are very minor. This is easily one of the most entertaining, intelligent, and dynamic movies of the year. If you're on the fence about seeing this, I seriously recommend checking it out. Its definitely worth the price of a movie ticket, and I wouldn't be at all surprised to see this one get some Oscar nominations.

I give The Social Network 4.5 out of 5!