Review: Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 77 (of 2011) by Leroy Douresseaux

Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son (2011)
Running time: 107 minutes (1 hour, 47 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for some sexual humor and brief violence
DIRECTOR: John Whitesell
WRITERS: Matthew Fogel, Don Rhymer, and Matthew Fogel (based upon characters created by Darryl Quarles)
PRODUCERS: David T. Friendly and Michael Green
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Anthony B. Richmond
EDITOR: Priscilla Nedd-Friendly
COMPOSER: David Newman

COMEDY/CRIME

Starring: Martin Lawrence, Brandon T. Jackson, Jessica Lucas, Michelle Ang, Portia Doubleday, Emily Rios, Ana Ortiz, Henri Lubatti, Lorenzo Pisoni, Tony Curran, Marc John Jeffries, Brandon Gill, Ken Jeong, Max Casella, Sheri Shepherd, and Faizon Love

Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son is a 2011 crime comedy and the third film in the Big Momma’s House franchise. Martin Lawrence returns as the FBI agent who occasionally dons a fat suit to become the no-nonsense granny, Big Momma.

FBI Agent Malcolm Turner (Martin Lawrence) is a busy man. He is trying to get his stepson Trent Turner (Brandon T. Jackson) into Duke University, but Trent only wants to pursue his hip-hop dreams as the rapper, Prodi-G. Meanwhile, Malcolm is trying to get information on Russian gangster, Chirkoff (Tony Curran), so he is getting help from an informant, Anthony “Tony” Canetti (Max Casella), who has a hidden flash drive full of information on Chirkoff.

After Trent witnesses Chirkoff kill Canetti, Malcolm knows that he and his stepson have to go into hiding. Malcolm and Trent head for the place where Canetti apparently hid the flash drive, the Georgia Girls School for Arts. Malcolm disguises himself as his alter-ego, Hattie Mae Pierce AKA Big Momma, while Trent dons his own fat suit and becomes Charmaine Daisy Pierce, Big Momma’s great niece. Even in disguise, fitting in at the school is difficult. Trent/Charmaine falls for an insecure singer songwriter named Haley Robinson (Jessica Lucas). The school’s lovable, overweight janitor, Kurtis Kool (Faizon Love), is smitten with Big Momma, but, as Canetti’s friend, Kurtis may know something about the whereabouts of the flash drive.

Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son is a little better than Big Momma’s House 2 and funnier, but, of course, that’s not saying much, as the second film was stubbornly mediocre. It has some funny moments, but overall, this seems like just a second-rate kids’ comedy. For the most part, Lawrence and Jackson manage to create a credible father-son relationship between Malcolm and Trent. I bought their act as obstinate dad and disagreeable teenager; both actors manage to brew some screen chemistry in spite of the rotten script and poor character writing.

The best thing about this film is the always entertaining Faizon Love. He plays Kurtis Kool like a character that is free of a bad script and average directing and thus can make us laugh anyway. If the people involved in this franchise cannot do better than what they have done since the original film, they should let Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son be the last appearance of Big Momma.

4 of 10
C

Sunday, September 04, 2011

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"Review: The Lightning Thief" a Bad Start for Percy Jackson Films

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 60 (of 2010) by Leroy Douresseaux

Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief (2010)
Running time: 118 minutes (1 hour, 58 minutes)
MPAA – PG for action violence and peril, some scary images and suggestive material, and mild language
DIRECTOR: Chris Columbus
WRITER: Craig Titley (based upon the novel by Rick Riordan)
PRODUCERS: Michael Barnathan, Chris Columbus, Mark Morgan, Guy Oseary, Mark Radcliffe, and Karen Rosenfelt
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Stephen Goldblatt
EDITOR: Peter Honess
COMPOSER: Christophe Beck

FANTASY/ACTION/ADVENTURE

Starring: Logan Lerman, Brandon T. Jackson, Alexandra Daddario, Jake Abel, Sean Bean, Pierce Brosnan, Steve Coogan, Rosario Dawson, Catherine Keener, Kevin McKidd, Joe Pantoliano, and Uma Thurman

Percy Jackson is a fictional character and the star of the book series, Percy Jackson & the Olympians from author Rick Riordan. Percy is a demigod, the child of a god and a human. Perseus “Percy” Jackson’s father is Poseidon, the Greek god of the sea, and his mother is Sally Jackson, a mortal. The movie Percy Jackson & and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief is based on the first novel in the series, The Lightning Thief (2005)

Seventeen-year-old Percy Jackson (Logan Lerman) lives with his mother Sally Jackson (Catherine Keener) and his obnoxious, smelly stepfather, Gabe Ugliano (Joe Pantoliano), but he is clueless about who he really is. That’s about to change, because a war is brewing among the gods of Olympus. The master bolt, the lightning bolt that Zeus (Sean Bean) uses to create other lightning, has been stolen. Zeus believes the lightning thief is the son of his brother, Poseidon (Kevin McKidd), none other than Percy Jackson.

Meanwhile, Percy has the truth about his origins forced upon him. He is a demigod and even his best friend, Grover Underwood (Brandon T. Jackson), is a satyr and his protector. Percy immediately leaves his old life behind to attend Camp Half-Blood, a training camp for demigods. There, he meets other children of the gods, including the furious fighter, Annabeth Chase (Alexandra Daddario), the daughter of the goddess Athena. When Hades (Steve Coogan), the brother of Zeus and Poseidon, kidnaps Sally in order to force Percy to give him the bolt, Percy, Gabe, and Annabeth begin a quest to Underworld to rescue Percy’s mother. But they must also find the lightning thief before a war of the gods destroys the world.

Obviously, Percy Jackson stands in the shadowy of that other star of children’s fantasy literature, Harry Potter. Although Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief is directed by Chris Columbus, the man who directed the first two Harry Potter films and produced the third, this is no Harry Potter movie.

Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief just doesn’t match the quality of a Harry Potter movie, and it doesn’t even offer a great villain like Potter’s enemy, You-Know-Who. Even if I didn’t compare this Percy Jackson movie to a Harry Potter movie, Percy would still be judged as a mediocre film. The action scenes are quite entertaining, but when the film isn’t offering action, for instance, when the story focuses on character drama, it is a disaster.

The acting is acceptable, but unspectacular, and Brandon T. Jackson as the satyr Grover certainly tries to bring some levity to this stiff special effects-heavy fantasy – with, at best, mixed results. A cool sequence with Uma Thurman, however, is this movie’s best moment and is worth seeing even if you avoid the rest of the movie. Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief isn’t bad. It’s just another passable fantasy film aimed at children and their parents.

5 of 10
C+

Tuesday, August 03, 2010

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Review: "Fast & Furious" Faster and More Furious

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 44 (of 2010) by Leroy Douresseaux

Fast & Furious (2009)
Running time: 107 minutes (1 hour, 47 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, some sexual content, language and drug references
DIRECTOR: Justin Lin
WRITER: Chris Morgan (based upon characters created by Gary Scott Thompson)
PRODUCERS: Vin Diesel, Michael Fottrell, and Neal H. Moritz
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Amir Mokri (director of photography)
EDITORS: Fred Raskin and Christian Wagner

ACTION/CRIME

Starring: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Jordana Brewster, Michelle Rodriguez, John Ortiz, Laz Alonso, Gal Gadot, John Conley, Shea Whigham, Liza Lapira, Tego Calderon, Don Omar, Greg Cipes, Brandon T. Jackson, and Sung Kang

Fast & Furious is the fourth film in The Fast and the Furious franchise, but it is set before the events of the third film, The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift. The plot of Fast & Furious connects with the original 2001 film and actors Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Jordana Brewster, and Michelle Rodriguez reprise their roles from the first movie. Having them return makes it feel as if this franchise got its mojo back.

Fast & Furious opens with Dominic “Dom” Toretto (Vin Diesel) and his new crew, which includes Letty Ortiz (Michelle Rodriguez), hijacking fuel tankers in the Dominican Republic. A shocking murder brings the fugitive ex-con Dom back to Los Angeles looking for payback against a mysterious drug lord named Arturo Braga. Meanwhile, Brian O'Conner (Paul Walker), the FBI agent who 5 years earlier infiltrated L.A.’s illegal street racing underground, of which Dom was part, is also after Braga. Although he is still feuding with Brian, Dom will have to forge a new trust with the lawman if they are to have a hope of outmaneuvering the wily Braga. As they cross international lines to foil Braga, Dom and Brian are also forced to do what they do best – push the limits of what is possible behind the wheel of an American muscle car.

Even with its explosive beginning and shocking turn of events, Fast & Furious starts off slow. The character drama and set up of the plot are clunky, but the stars rise to the occasion. Fast & Furious, for the most part, is exactly that – fast and furious, so viewers will get what they expect from this franchise, but not exactly. The car chases and races are so fast and crazy that computer generated images obviously played a part in making them. The story is, overall, darker and edgier than ever before. However, Fast & Furious doesn’t seem derivative, even as part of a franchise, and in spite of some occasionally uninspired character moments, it is just plain fun to watch.

I thought I knew how much I missed Vin Diesel and Paul Walker, but I really had no idea. When they’re blazing, these two stars show us why Fast & Furious had to be and why there will be more.

6 of 10
B

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

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