Review: "MONSTER HUNTER" Offers Great Subterranean Monsters... Nothing Else

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 26 of 2021 (No. 1764) by Leroy Douresseaux

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

Monster Hunter (2020)

Running time: 103 minutes (1 hour, 43 minutes)

MPAA – PG-13 for sequences of creature action and violence throughout

DIRECTOR:  Paul W.S. Anderson

WRITER:  Paul W.S. Anderson (based on upon the Capcom's video game, Monster Hunter)

PRODUCERS:  Paul W.S. Anderson, Dennis Berardi, Jeremy Bolt, Robert Kulzer, and Martin Moszkowicz

CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Glen MacPherson (D.o.P)

EDITOR:  Doobie White

COMPOSER:  Paul Haslinger

FANTASY/ACTION

Starring: Milla Jovovich, Tony Jaa, Ron Perlman, Tip “T.I.” Harris, Diego Boneta, Meagan Good, Josh Helman, Jin Au-Yeung, Hirona Yamazaki, Jannick Schümann, Nanda Costa, Nic Rasenti, and Aaron Beelner (voice)

Monster Hunter is a 2020 fantasy action film from director Paul W. S. Anderson.  The film is based on Monster Hunter, the Capcom video game for the PlayStation 2.  Monster Hunter the film follows an Army Ranger transported to another world where she must fight monsters in order to survive.

Monster Hunter opens in “our world,” the world of humans, and introduces Captain Artemis (Milla Jovovich), who leads a U.S. Army Rangers unit that is working for the United Nations Joint Security Operations.  Artemis and her team:  Lincoln (Tip “T.I.” Harris), Marshall (Diego Boneta), Dash (Meagan Good), Steeler (Josh Helman), and Axe (Jin Au-Yeung) are searching for another U.N. security team that is missing.  A strange and sudden storm pulls the team into a portal that drops them into a desert-like region of the “New World.”  In this New World, humans share the world with a variety of large and savage monsters and strange beasts.

Once in the New World, Artemis and her team are attacked by “Diablos,” a horned subterranean monster that can not only walk on sand, but can also swim through the sand like it was water.  Soon, Artemis finds herself alone with a New World human, whom she names “Hunter” (Tony Jaa).  Artemis and Hunter grudgingly agree to cooperate in order to defeat the seemingly unbeatable Diablos.  But if they escape this monster, what else awaits them and how can Artemis get back to our world?

I had never heard of the Monster Hunter video game until I read a volume of the Monster Hunter manga adaptation that is published in English in North America by VIZ Media.  The main reason that I watched this Monster Hunter film is because of the husband-wife team of filmmaker Paul W.S. Anderson and actress Milla Jovovich.  Jovovich was the star of the Resident Evil film series, and Anderson wrote and produced all six films in the series and directed four of them.  I am a fan of the Resident Evil series (which is also based on a videogame) overall, and I hoped that Anderson and Jovovich could create another fantasy-action movie series that I could enjoy.  I hoped...

I have mixed feelings about this Monster Hunter movie.  The visual effects, especially the CGI used to create the monsters and creatures of the New World are fantastic.  Diablos is a monster both fearsome and beautiful, and it could be the star of its own movie.  The spider-like Nerscyllas had my heart racing; they are creepy and bloodcurdling.  The dragon-like Rathalos is another great beast in the film and reminds me of the film version of the dragon, Smaug, that appeared in Peter Jackson's The Hobbit films.  Rathalos is also a CGI creation of exceptional beauty and awesomeness.

The action sequences are good, but they all seem to run a little long.  Killing the Monster Hunter monsters is like killing horror film villains, Michael Myers and Jason Voorhees.  Every time, you knock them down, they pop up less than half a minute later.  I get that the monsters of Monster Hunter are supposed to be hard to destroy, but sometimes it seems as if the filmmakers are stretching it all past the point of credulity.

What really hurts Monster Hunter is the awful acting and crappy characters.  I can deal with bad acting in this kind of movie, but not characters this bad.  All the characters, even Artemis, are little more than props to be tossed around and chewed up by monsters.  I think that the reason I like Monster Hunter's monsters so much is because I prefer time with them rather than screen time with these wooden, personality-absent characters.  Making Milla Jovovich's Artemis and Tony Jaa's Hunter the center of this film was a mistake.  They don't have screen chemistry, and every moment that they are together screams that they are a mismatched pair.

The rating and grade that I am giving Monster Hunter is for the visual effects and production design.  It's too bad.  I wanted this to be the start of a film series, and should there be a sequel, the film studios and production companies involved will have to do a major overhaul of the characters and cast.

5 of 10
C+

Sunday, March 7, 2021


The text is copyright © 2021 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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Review: "HELLBOY" Reboot is Hella Fun

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 12 (of 2020) by Leroy Douresseaux

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

Hellboy (2019)
Running time: 121 minutes (2 hours, 1 minute)
MPAA – R for strong bloody violence and gore throughout, and language
DIRECTOR:  Neil Marshall
WRITER:  Andrew Cosby (based upon the Dark Horse comic book series, Hellboy, created by Mike Mignola)
PRODUCERS:  Lawrence Gordon, Carl Hampe, Yariv Lerner, Lloyd Levin, Matt O'Toole, Mike Richardson, Les Weldon, and Philip Westgren
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Lorenzo Senatore
EDITOR:  Martin Bernfeld
COMPOSER:  Benjamin Wallfisch

SUPERHERO/FANTASY/HORROR/ACTION

Starring:  David Harbour, Ian McShane, Daniel Dae Kim, Sasha Lane, Milla Jovovich, Stephen Graham (voice), Penelope Mitchell, Mark Stanley, Brian Gleeson, Mario de la Rosa, Alistair Petrie, Sophie Okonedo, and Thomas Haden Church

Hellboy is a 2019 superhero, horror, and dark fantasy film from director Neil Marshall.  The film is based on the Hellboy character and comic books created by Mike Mignola and published by Dark Horse Comics.  The film is a reboot of the Hellboy film franchise, which began with director Guillermo del Toro's 2004 film, Hellboy.  Hellboy 2019 finds the title character trying to stop an ancient sorceress who is bent on destroying humanity.

Hellboy opens in the year 517 A.D.  Vivienne Nimue (Milla Jovovich), the evil “Queen of Blood,” unleashes a plague on England.  King Arthur uses his legendary sword, Excalibur, to dismember Nimue.  Because even dismemberment will not kill Nimue, Arthur has the parts of her body hidden in different secret locations across England.

In the present-day, Hellboy (David Harbour), a powerful demon who works for the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense (BPRD), returns to the organization's headquarters in Colorado.  There, he is assigned by BPRD leader, Trevor Bruttenholm (Ian McShane), his adoptive human father, to travel to London to assist the Osiris Club, an ancient English society similar to the BPRD, in hunting three giants that are plaguing Great Britain.

Meanwhile, a pig-like creature, Gruagach (voice of Stephen Graham), is on a quest to retrieve Vivienne Nimue's limbs so that, once she is whole again, she will grant him his wish for revenge against Hellboy.  Nimue, however, has other plans for Hellboy, which don't include his destruction.  Now, only Alice Monaghan (Sasha Lane), a young spirit medium, and Ben Daimio (Daniel Dae Kim), a British “M11” agent, and Hellboy stand between Nimue and Hell on Earth.

I am not a big fan of Guillermo del Toro's original Hellboy film.  It has great production values, and is a gorgeous movie fill with fantastical visual elements.  But the story is executed in a clunky and awkward fashion and the characters are not that interesting.  However, del Toro's follow-up to that film, the Oscar-nominated Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008), is one of my all-time favorite films, and I consider it to be one of the all-time best films adapted from a comic book.

Director Neil Marshall's 2019 Hellboy reboot was a box office bomb, with its worldwide box office failing to recoup even the film's production costs.  On the other hand, I think Hellboy 2019 is far superior to Hellboy 2004 and is closer to Hellboy II, in terms of quality.  In fact, Hellboy 2019 almost seems like a reworking of the plot of the 2008 film.

First, I should say that there are a few things that I don't like about Hellboy 2019.  For one thing, although I am a fan of the actor Ian McShane, I do not like his version of Hellboy's father, Trevor Bruttenholm, who seems to be nothing more than a monster fighting, soldier of fortune caricature.  Also, I absolutely hate the new costume and makeup design for Hellboy.  It is true that I prefer Ron Perlman, the actor who played Hellboy in del Toro's films, but David Harbour does represent himself quite well as Hellboy in the new film.  The new Hellboy is just too ugly.

What is there to like about Hellboy?  Most of the supporting characters in this new film don't amount to much, but Sasha Lane makes Alice Monaghan stand out as a character worthy of being next to Hellboy.  After a dry start, Daniel Dae Kim keeps Ben Daimio from being a one-note joke.  The story and their performances find a way to make those two characters fit next to Hellboy in a way that other supporting characters do not.

Andrew Crosby's screenplay for Hellboy 2019 creates a plot, settings, and characters that genuinely seem to be part of a world deeply connected to the supernatural and to otherworldly places.  Crosby fills the story's main narrative and its nooks and crannies to the point of overflowing with strange and magical beings and places.  [See Baba Yaga.]  Hellboy's back story, conflicts, and dilemmas resonate as authentic.  For instance, Hellboy's dilemma of being caught between the world of humans and the world of monsters creates a sense of drama and conflict because it makes the viewer constantly guess about the decisions Hellboy makes.  Is he going to turn against humanity and side with the monsters, at least to some extent?  [That dilemma is raised to lesser extent in del Toro's Hellboy II.]

David Harbour takes Cosby's character work in the screenplay and creates a version of Hellboy that seems plausible and worth following around in this adventure.  As Hellboy, Harbour is as good as Perlman was as the character in Hellboy II, although (once again), Harbour's Hellboy is “fugly.”

Neil Marshall takes Cosby's script and leads his collaborators into creating a rip-roaring, hell-raising action film that is probably the first true blend of the superhero and horror genres.  Marshall's film is gripping and fun from beginning to end, with only a few bumps along the way.  It is crazy and fun to watch in its craziness

Much of the commentary I came across on the Internet said that Hellboy 2019 was absolutely terrible.  What I have discovered, instead, is that this new Hellboy film is worthy of being the first film in a wonderful new Hellboy film series.  Alas, a series is unlikely to happen after the new film's poor box office performance.  I am sure, however, that via home entertainment and cable television, fans will discover what a fine film Hellboy 2019 is.

7 of 10
B+

Friday, May 15, 2020


The text is copyright © 2020 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint or syndication rights and fees.


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Negromancer News Bits and Bites from August 6th to 12th, 2017 - Update #36

Support Leroy on Patreon.

CULTURE - From TheDailyBeast:  James Alex Fields Jr. identified as the driver who barreled his car into a crowd during protests at Charlottesville, Virginia.

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COMICS-FILM - From TheWrap:  "Silver and Black," the Spider-Man universe film from Sony is due Feb. 8, 2019.  The film will feature Spider-Man characters, Black Cat and Silver Sable.  Gina Prince-Bythewood is directing.

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CULTURE - From GuardianUK:  On Friday night (8/11th), White Nationalists and white racist begin siege of Charlottesville, Virginia.

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COMICS-FILM - From Newsarama:  "Hellboy" creator Mike Mignola says film reboot (which is no longer being called "Hellboy: Rise of the Blood Queen") is closer to his personal vision for the character.

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COMICS-FILM - From WeGotThisCovered:  Substantial changes will be made to "Justice League," as an early cut of the film is reportedly "unwatchable."  The film is due for release November 17th, 2017.

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MOVIES - From YahooMovies:  The real-life "Annabelle" doll is a simple Raggedy Ann doll.

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TELEVISION - From TheWrap:  NBC is trying to reboot classic TV sitcom, "The Munsters," again.  Remember "Mockingbird Lane?"

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BLM - From RSN:  Spike Lee says he fully supports beleaguered NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick.

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ANIMATION - From YahooNews:  The "Deadpool" animated television series being developed by Donald Glover and his brother Stephen will have a tone different from the live-action film series starring Ryan Reynolds.

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SPORTS - From YahooSports:  The NBA has announced its five Christmas Day 2017 games, including a rematch of this year's championship series between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the world champions Golden State Warriors.

COMICS-FILM - From THR:  Ryan Reynolds shares a first look at Josh Brolin as "Cable" in "Deadpool 2."

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MOVIES - From THR:  Author William Gibson's seminal cyberpunk novel, Neuromancer (1984) may finally be making it to the big screen through "Deadpool" director, Tim Miller.

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DISNEY - From CBR:  Disney has announced that it is starting its own streaming service in 2019.  Thus, it will be pulling its films and television series from Netflix.  Marvel Studios original series (such as "Daredevil" and "Luke Cage") will remain with Netflix.

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COMIC-FILM - From TheWrap:  Riz Ahmed of "Rogue One" in early talks to join Tom Hardy in Sony's "Venom."

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TELEVISION - From Variety:  Louis C.K. says that he may not do another season of his Emmy-winning FX series, "Louie."

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COMICS-BOOKS - From EW:  Seven things you need to know about African-American/Latino Spider-Man, Miles Morales, according to Jason Reynolds, the author of the YA novel, "Miles Morales: Spider-Man.

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STAR WARS - From YahooMovies:  Set photos from "The Last Jedi" offer fresh clues.

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COMICS-FILM - From YahooMovies:  Kate Beckinsale explains why she once said "No" to a Wonder Woman film.

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TELEVISION - From THR:  Maya Rudolph is going to star in Fox's live musical version of "A Christmas Story."

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MOVIES - From THR:  Selena Gomez joins Elle Fanning in Woody Allen's next film.

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TELEVISION - From BleedingCool:  In the new FOX/Marvel X-Men, TV series, "The Gifted," the X-Men are apparently"no more."

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MOVIES - From BleedingCool:  Milla Jovovich may the the "Blood Queen" in "Hellboy: Rise of the Blood Queen."

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TELEVISION - From TVLine:  Peter Krause is joining Angela Bassett in the 9-1-1 drama for FOX produced by Ryan Murphy ("Glee," "American Horror Story").

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TELEVISION - From TheWrap:  David Letterman will have a short run talk show (of sorts) on Netflix.

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MOVIES - From Variety:  Milo Gibson, son of Mel Gibson, will appear in the WWII drama, "Hurricane."  Milo made his feature film debut in his father's hit 2016 WWII film, "Hacksaw Ridge."

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DISNEY - From THR:  Alfre Woodard has joined Disney's live-action remake of "The Lion King," which is being directed by Jon Favreau.

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TELEVISION - From ShadowandAct:  Filiming begins on Mario Van Peebles' supernatural drama for Syfy, "Superstition."

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TELEVISION - CinemaBlend:  Karl Urban in talks to take the lead in a "Judge Dredd" TV series.  Urban starred in the 2012 film, "Dredd," which disappointed at the box office, but later became a home video and cult hit.

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TELEVISION - From TVovermind:  X-Files Season 11 begins production.

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CELEBRITY- From THR:  Chris Pratt ("Guardians of the Galaxy") and Anna Faris ("Scary Movie," "Mom") have announced that they are separating after eight years of marriage.

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BOX OFFICE - From BoxOfficeMojo:  The winner of the 8/4 to 8/6/2017 weekend box office is "The Dark Tower" with an estimated take of $19.5 million.

From Deadline:  China leads international box office.

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COMICS-FILM - From THR:  James Gunn is writing "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" and helping Marvel Studios honcho Kevin Feige make plans for Marvel's cosmic properties.

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POLITICS - From Truthout:  Will Altering the 13th Amendment Bring Liberation to the Incarcerated 2.3 Million?

OBIT:

From People:  Country music legend, singer, songwriter, musician, and Grammy-winning recording artist, Glen Campbell has died at the age of 81, Tuesday, August 8, 2017.  Before he solo career blew up in the mid to late 1960s, Campbell was a much in-demand session musician who played on the recordings of legends like Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra, and Elvis Presley, to name a few.

From Variety:  The man in the monster suit, Haruo Nakajima, has died at the age of 88.  He wore the Godzilla suit in every "Godzilla" film from the original film to "Godzilla vs. Gigan" (1972).

From SportsIllustrated:  Former Major League Baseball manager and player, Don Baylor, has died at the age of 68, Monday, August 7, 2017.  He was the 1979 American League MVP, and he won a World Series title with the 1987 Minnesota Twins.  He was also the first manager of the Colorado Rockies.

From SportsIllustrated:  Former Major League Baseball player Darren Daulton died at the age of 55, Sunday, August 6, 2017.  He has been fighting brain cancer for 4 years.  He was best known as a catcher for the Philadelphia Phillies.  He was on the 1993 National League pennant winning Phillies that lost the 1993 World Series to the Toronto Blue Jays.  In his final year of his career, Daulton was on the 1997 Florida Marlins that won the World Series.

Review: "Resident Evil: The Final Chapter" is a Fine "Final" Chapter

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 9 (of 2017) by Leroy Douresseaux

Resident Evil: The Final Chapter (2017)
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: France/Canada/Germany/Australia
Running time:  106 minutes (1 hour, 46 minutes)
MPAA – R for sequences of violence throughout
DIRECTOR:  Paul W.S. Anderson
WRITER:  Paul W.S. Anderson (based upon the video game, Resident Evil)
PRODUCERS:  Paul W.S. Anderson, Jeremy Bolt, Samuel Hadida, and Robert Kulzer
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Glen MacPherson
EDITOR:  Doobie White
COMPOSER:  Paul Haslinger

HORROR/SCI-FI/ACTION

Starring:  Milla Jovovich, Iain Glen, Ali Larter, Shawn Roberts, Eoin Macken, Fraser James, Ruby Rose, Lee Joon Gi, Mark Simpson, and Ever Anderson

Resident Evil: The Final Chapter is a 2017 science fiction, action, and horror film from writer-director Paul W.S. Anderson.  It is the sixth installment in the film franchise based upon the Capcom survival horror video game series, Resident Evil.  This film is a direct sequel to the fifth movie, Resident Evil: Retribution.

Resident Evil: The Final Chapter opens with a history of the Umbrella Corporation, its founder, Dr. James Marcus (Mark Simpson), and his daughter, Alicia Marcus (Ever Anderson), a girl dying of premature aging.  This company and the father and his daughter are the catalysts for the creation of the “T-virus,” which creates a plague that has turned most humans into the flesh-eating zombies.

Three weeks after the events depicted in Resident Evil: Retribution, Alice (Milla Jovovich) awakens in the ruins of Washington D.C.  While searching the city, Alice is contacted by her nemesis, the Red Queen (Ever Anderson), who has an offer for Alice.  If she returns to the site of Raccoon City, where the T-virus plague began, Alice will find an airborne anti-virus that will kill every organism infected with the T-virus.  Standing in her way is Dr. Alexander Isaacs (Iain Glen), co-owner of the Umbrella Corporation, and the fact that Alice's body also contains the T-virus.

I wouldn't quite say that Resident Evil: The Final Chapter is “saving the best for last,” but it is as good as the original 2002 film and the 2010 fourth film, Resident Evil: Afterlife, the two previous high water marks in the Resident Evil film series.  This new film is visually close to Resident Evil: Apocalypse (the second film) and Retribution, but, in terms of Alice as an action hero, is like Resident Evil: Extinction (the third film).

If I am honest with you, dear reader, I have to admit that I really enjoyed Resident Evil: The Final Chapter because it is an Alice-kick-butt movie.  It's stripped-down and lean-and-mean, even with all its CGI set pieces.  The film focuses on Alice kicking butt and killing with her guns, knives, hands, and anything she can turn into a weapon of individual destruction.  There are supporting characters, like Ali Larter's Claire Redfield, but this is not the ensemble film that most of the previous films were (to one extent or another).  I like this film's mostly tight focus on Jovovich/Alice, and it seems as if this was really the first time that we saw Alice's potential play out fully.

Resident Evil: The Final Chapter is writer-director Paul W.S. Anderson's love letter to fans of this film series, especially those of us who have loved every minute of Milla Jovovich as Alice.  Even when the Resident Evil movies were not at their best, Jovovich was always in fine form.  I guess one might say that Resident Evil: The Final Chapter is also Anderson's love letter to Jovovich, who has been his wife since 2009.  As far as I'm concerned, I would like more Anderson-Jovovich love letters.

7 of 10
A-

Tuesday, February 7, 2017


The text is copyright © 2017 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for reprint or syndication rights and fees.

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New "Zoolander 2" Trailer Set Record

“ZOOLANDER 2” IS THE MOST SUCCESSFUL COMEDY TRAILER LAUNCH OF ALL TIME

THE TRAILER RECEIVED 52.2 MILLION VIEWS IN ITS FIRST WEEK

HOLLYWOOD, CA – The new trailer for Paramount Pictures’ “ZOOLANDER 2” has broken the record to become the most successful comedy trailer launch of all time. The trailer, which debuted online on November 18, 2015 and offers fans a sneak peek at the highly anticipated sequel to 2001’s “ZOOLANDER,” reached 52.2 million views in its first week of release.

“ZOOLANDER 2” is directed by Ben Stiller and features an all star cast of Stiller, Owen Wilson, Will Ferrell, Penélope Cruz, Kristen Wiig, Fred Armisen, Milla Jovovich, Christine Taylor, Justin Theroux and Kyle Mooney. The film is written by Justin Theroux & Ben Stiller and Nick Stoller and John Hamburg. Ben Stiller, Stuart Cornfeld, Scott Rudin and Clayton Townsend are producing. Jeff Mann is executive producing.

“ZOOLANDER 2”opens nationwide on February 12, 2016.


About Paramount Pictures Corporation
Paramount Pictures Corporation (PPC), a global producer and distributor of filmed entertainment, is a unit of Viacom (NASDAQ: VIAB, VIA), a leading content company with prominent and respected film, television and digital entertainment brands. Paramount controls a collection of some of the most powerful brands in filmed entertainment, including Paramount Pictures, Paramount Animation, Paramount Television, Paramount Vantage, Paramount Classics, Insurge Pictures, MTV Films, and Nickelodeon Movies. PPC operations also include Paramount Home Media Distribution, Paramount Pictures International, Paramount Licensing Inc., and Paramount Studio Group.

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Review: "Resident Evil: Retribution" is OK

 

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 4 (of 2012) by Leroy Douresseaux

Resident Evil: Retribution (2012)
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Canada/Germany; Language: English
Running time: 96 minutes (1 hour, 36 minutes)
MPAA – R for sequences of strong violence throughout
DIRECTOR: Paul W.S. Anderson
WRITER: Paul W.S. Anderson (based upon the videogame, Resident Evil)
PRODUCERS: Paul W.S. Anderson, Jeremy Bolt, Don Carmody, Samuel Hadida, and Robert Kulzer
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Glen MacPherson
EDITOR: Niven Howie
COMPOSER: tomandandy

HORROR/SCI-FI/ACTION

Starring: Milla Jovovich, Sienna Guillory, Michelle Rodriguez, Aryana Engineer, Bingbing Li, Johann Urb, Kevin Durand, Oded Fehr, Robin Kasyanov, Ofilio Portillo, Colin Salmon, Shawn Roberts and Boris Kodjoe

Resident Evil: Retribution is a 2012 science fiction-action film. It is the fifth installment in the film franchise based upon the Capcom survival horror video game series, Resident Evil. This film is a direct sequel to the fourth movie, Resident Evil: Afterlife.

After the events depicted in Afterlife, Alice (Milla Jovovich) finds herself in the clutches of the Umbrella Corporation and being interrogated by her former ally, Jill Valentine (Sienna Guillory). Alice isn’t sure what is real, as she starts encountering old allies like Carlos Olivera (Oded Fehr) and Rain Ocampo (Michelle Rodriguez).

Even more surprising, an enemy claims to be a friend and declares that he has already initiated a plan to free Alice from the clutches of Umbrella. Alice is trapped in Umbrella Prime, and a five-man strike team is coming to her rescue. More than just Alice’s life is at stake, however, as she becomes the guardian of a hearing-impaired little girl named Becky (Aryana Engineer). Now, Alice is determined that nothing stops her: not zombie hordes, Las Plagas zombies, monsters, or even lickers.

Over the years, I have read many movie reviews in which the writers described action movies, especially ones they didn’t like, as video game movies. Because it is based on a video game, Resident Evil: Retribution is a video game movie, but that’s not the only reason it is. With its fire-fights, hand-to-hand combat, car chases, shootouts, monsters, science fiction elements, and explosions, Resident Evil: Retribution is a video game doing a decent impersonation of an actual movie.

Retribution isn’t a bad movie, but the acting is poor. The script is confusing. The plot barely has a pulse. This movie is about something, but not much other than action scenes. So what is the plot? Alice has to escape? There is some human interest by throwing in a child that the female action hero must save, similar to the surrogate mother-daughter dynamic in James Cameron’s Aliens (1986).

Still, the action scenes are good, especially after the movie crawls out of the hole that is the first twenty minutes or so runtime. The special effects and fight choreography save a mediocre story. Visually, Resident Evil: Retribution is pretty, but it feels like an empty installment in what has been a good franchise.

5 of 10
C+

Sunday, January 06, 2013

Review: 2011 Version of "The Three Musketeers" is Silly, But Enjoyable Sci-Fi

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 26 (of 2012) by Leroy Douresseaux

The Three Musketeers (2011)
Running time: 110 minutes (1 hour, 50 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for sequences of adventure action violence
DIRECTOR: Paul W.S. Anderson
WRITER: Alex Litvak and Andrew Davies (based upon the novel by Alexandre Dumas père)
PRODUCERS: Paul W.S. Anderson, Jeremy Bolt, and Robert Kulzer
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Glen MacPherson
EDITOR: Alexander Berner
COMPOSER: Paul Haslinger

HISTORICAL/ACTION with elements of adventure, comedy and drama

Starring: Matthew Macfadyen, Milla Jovovich, Orlando Bloom, Christoph Waltz, Logan Lerman, Luke Evans, Ray Stevenson, Mads Mikkelson, Freddie Fox, Juno Temple, Gabriella Wilde, Carsten Norgaard, and James Corden

The subject of this review is The Three Musketeers, a 3D action/adventure film from director Paul W.S. Anderson, perhaps best known for his work on the Resident Evil film franchise. Like all the other Musketeer films, this 2011 version is based upon Alexandre Dumas père’s 1844 novel, The Three Musketeers, but this new movie re-imagines and reworks the story by adding in science fiction and fantasy elements.

The 2011 film is much like the 1993 Walt Disney version (with Charlie Sheen and Kiefer Sutherland). Both are rollicking action films that are light and fluffy fare, although neither film is well-acted. Like the 1993 movie, the 2011 movie is fast, loose, and fun.

The Three Musketeers 2011 opens in Venice, Italy at the beginning of the 17th Century. The Three Musketeers: Athos (Matthew Macfadyen), Porthos (Ray Stevenson), and Aramis (Luke Evans), and Athos’ longtime lover, Milady de Winter (Milla Jovovich), go treasure hunting. However, the Duke of Buckingham (Orlando Bloom) arrives to spoil the fun. One year later, the disgraced Musketeers are in a funk when they meet the spunky young d’Artagnan (Logan Lerman) who arrives in Paris with dreams of becoming one of the Musketeers, the King of France’s personal guards.

Soon, d’Artagnan is part of the Musketeers rivalry with Count Richelieu (Christoph Waltz), the chief advisor to King Louis XIII of France (Freddie Fox). In fact, Richelieu has hatched a plot against Queen Anne (Juno Temple), part of a larger plot against France. Queen Anne’s lady-in-waiting, Constance Bonacieux (Gabriella Wilde), implores d’Artagnan to help the young Queen, and soon the Three Musketeers plus one are fighting over land, over sea, and in the sky to save France.

The script for this version of The Three Musketeers has some good ideas, but Paul W.S. Anderson’s direction often fails the film. Quite a bit of the movie has an awkward feel, and some elements, from the actors to the technical aspects, move like big, clumsy animals. Anderson clearly wants to make a film that is sly, clever, and sarcastic, but sometimes it comes across as ill at ease and flat.

The acting is also awkward, as if the performers are either having trouble speaking the dialogue or are trying to be intentionally too clever or too glib. That also sometimes falls flat. However, there is a swashbuckling fun that is inherent in the Musketeers films that lifts any Musketeers film above its faults. So I am not bewildered that I enjoyed The Three Musketeers 2011, and that I even wish for a sequel, which is not likely to happen.

5 of 10
B-

Friday, March 30, 2012

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Review: "Dazed and Confused" Always a Winner

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 197 (of 2004) by Leroy Douresseaux

Dazed and Confused (1993)
Running time: 102 minutes (1 hour, 42 minutes)
MPAA – R for pervasive, continuous teen drug and alcohol use and very strong language
WRITER/DIRECTOR: Richard Linklater
PRODUCERS: Sean Daniel, James Jacks, and Richard Linklater
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Lee Daniel
EDITOR: Sandra Adair

COMEDY

Starring: Jason London, Rory Cochran, Sasha Jenson, Wiley Wiggins, Michelle Burke, Adam Goldberg, Anthony Rapp, Matthew McConaughey, Marissa Ribisi, Shawn Andrews, Cole Hauser, Milla Jovovich, Joey Lauren Adams, Christin Hinojosa, Ben Affleck, Jason O. Smith, Deena Martin, Parker Posey, Nicky Katt, Catherine Morris, Christine Harnos, Estaban Powell, Mark Vandermeulen, Jeremy Fox, Kim Krizan, and Rick Moser

Director Richard Linklater (Before Sunrise, The School of Rock) got the attention of a lot of young moviegoers in the mid-1990’s with his comic film, Dazed and Confused. Set during the last day of school, May 28, 1976, the film recounts the exploits of the incoming freshman class and the Class of ’77 at Lee High School, situated in a small Texas enclave. The male seniors-to-be beat the incoming freshmen with wooden paddles and the senior girls haze the incoming freshmen girls by pouring food and condiments all over them. The kids buy and smoke marijuana, buy and drink beer, make out and talk about having sex, plan parties, and listen to lots of classic early to mid-70’s rock music.

The film is very laid back, but very entertaining. It may be an acquired taste, likely popular with people who are nostalgic (those who lived it and those who only know it through media) about a kind of mid-70’s suburban idyllic, an almost pastoral setting that never really existed. However, Dazed and Confused is about an ideal, and it’s a very fine version of that ideal. The acting is so natural, and Linklater directs his cast and moves the film with such an alluringly lazy pace that suggest that this small town is a paradise or utopia.

Dazed and Confused is a tale about rites of passage and the relationship among a diverse student body of geeks, stoners, athletes, snobs, etc. with such facile grace that I wish it were real. I certainly think that every movie fan should see it at least once, especially because many may find it somewhat familiar.

7 of 10
B+

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Review: "Resident Evil: Afterlife" is Quite Lively

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 75 (of 2010) by Leroy Douresseaux

Resident Evil: Afterlife (2010)
Running time: 97 minutes (1 hour, 37 minutes)
MPAA – R for sequences of strong violence and language
DIRECTOR: Paul W.S. Anderson
WRITER: Paul W.S. Anderson (based upon the videogame Resident Evil)
PRODUCERS: Paul W.S. Anderson, Jeremy Bolt, and Samuel Hadida
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Glen MacPherson
EDITOR: Niven Howie
COMPOSER: tomandandy

HORROR/SCI-FI/ACTION

Starring: Milla Jovovich, Ali Larter, Wentworth Miller, Kim Coates, Shawn Roberts, Boris Kodjoe, Sergio Peris-Mencheta, Spencer Locke, Kacey Barnfield, Norman Yeung, Fulvio Cecere, and Sienna Guillory

Watching the opening act of Resident Evil: Afterlife, I found so many of the action scenes derivative of The Matrix trilogy and even the 2006 film, Ultraviolet, which features the star of the Resident Evil films, Milla Jovovich. But that’s okay; Inception “borrowed” from The Matrix and that did not affect the film’s box office or critical reception. [Afterlife was also released in 3D, but I saw it in traditional D.]

Anyway, Afterlife is the fourth movie in the film series based upon the Resident Evil videogame franchise. In Resident Evil, a pathogen called the “T-virus” escaped into the outside world and led to an apocalypse which turned most of humanity into Undead hordes. As Afterlife begins, Resident Evil heroine, Alice (Milla Jovovich) launches an assault against an Umbrella Corporation stronghold in Tokyo in an attempt to kill primary Resident Evil nemesis, Albert Wesker (Shawn Roberts).

Then, Alice begins the search for the friends she made in the previous film, Resident Evil: Extinction, but she only finds Claire Redfield (Ali Larter). The promise of the safe haven known as Arcadia takes Alice and Claire to Los Angeles, where they find a small band of survivors, including a suspicious soldier (Wentworth Miller) and Luther West (Boris Kodjoe), a celebrity and former professional basketball player. The city, however, is overrun by thousands of Undead, and Alice wonders if she has flown into a trap.

As much as the Resident Evil films deal with cannibalism in the form of zombies eating humans, the franchise also cannibalizes other horror, science fiction, and science fiction/horror films. So much of Afterlife, like its predecessors, seems so familiar, that I often spend my time recognizing scenes in this film as being like scenes from other movies.

That’s OK. It doesn’t matter how derivative Afterlife is as long as viewers can enjoy it, and I enjoyed this one more than I enjoyed the other sequels. In fact, I found Afterlife to be the best since the first film in 2002.

Practically everything that writer/director Paul W.S. Anderson does in Afterlife, whether they are his own ideas or borrowed, look good. This is a movie full of well-staged action scenes, and Anderson buries his audience in enough tension and the anticipation of impending doom that they won’t be able to spend much time nitpicking. Plus, that pumping score and soundtrack from the delectable tomandandy make even Afterlife’s mundane moments seem like the height of drama.

One thing that is different in Afterlife is that Anderson’s script is laser-focused on the motivations of each and every character – from the main player, Alice, to a minor character named Wendell (Fulvio Cecere), who tries to turn Alice taking a shower into his own private peep show. Character motivation makes the action, drama, and plots matter, and when those matter, the audience is interested in what comes next.

Resident Evil: Afterlife offers plenty of cool fight scenes, horror movie gore, wicked monsters, etc., but this is also a horror survival movie that will make you care about the poor humans as much as you do the creatures and special effects. Cool, Resident Evil post-apocalypse finally meets character drama.

7 of 10
B+

Sunday, September 12, 2010

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Review: "Resident Evil: Extinction" is More Apocalyptic

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 131 (of 2007) by Leroy Douresseaux

Resident Evil: Extinction (2007)
Running time: 95 minutes (1 hour, 35 minutes)
MPAA – R for not-stop violence, language, and some nudity
DIRECTOR: Russell Mulcahy
WRITER: Paul W.S. Anderson
PRODUCERS: Paul W.S. Anderson, Jeremy Bolt, and Robert Kulzer
CINEMATOGRAPHER: David Johnson
EDITOR: Niven Howie

HORROR/ACTION/SCI-FI with elements of drama

Starring: Milla Jovovich, Oded Fehr, Iain Glen, Ali Larter, Ashanti, Christopher Egan, Spencer Locke, Matthew Marsden, John Eric Bentley, and Mike Epps

Following the events of Resident Evil: Apocalypse, the recent film, Resident Evil: Extinction, presents a world where only pockets of humanity scattered around the globe remain because the world has been overrun by flesh-eating zombies. Series heroine, Alice (Milla Jovovich), hides in the Nevada desert, traveling the lonely highways on a motorcycle. Fate forces her to rejoin her old comrades Carlos Olivera (Oded Fehr) and L.J. (Mike Epps) and a group of new survivors, including Claire Redfield (Ali Larter), K-Mart (Spencer Locke), and Nurse Betty (Ashanti). They’re all part of a lonely convoy of small trucks and one school bus, trying to evade the undead humans, who were turned into flesh eating zombies by the T-virus.

Meanwhile, Dr. Isaacs (Iain Glen), a scientist from the Umbrella Corporation, the people responsible for the creation of the T-virus is seeking Alice’s whereabouts. Isaacs believes her blood is the key to finding a way to destroy the virus. He tracks to Alice and the convoy just as they arrive in what is left of Las Vegas, which is now nearly buried in sand and likely stocked with the undead.

Resident Evil: Extinction is an improvement over Resident Evil: Apocalypse, but Extinction isn’t as thrilling or as frightening as the original 2002 Resident Evil. Extinction is somewhere in the middle, but closer to the first film. Director Russell Mulcahy (best known for directing Highlander over two decades ago) piles on more visual style and flair than Apocalypse had, so the fight scenes in this film are much more exhilarating. Although often predictable, Extinction is, at times, genuinely chilling and creepy thanks to the stellar makeup on the zombies.

Yeah, the filmmakers sell us out at the end by setting up the story for another film, but what they deliver in Resident Evil: Extinction is mostly good. Bring on the next film.

6 of 10
B

Thursday, October 18, 2007

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Review: Inventive "Resident Evil: Apocalypse" is Sadly Sad

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 180 (of 2004) by Leroy Douresseaux


Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004)
Running time: 94 minutes (1 hour, 34 minutes)
MPAA – R for non-stop violence, language, and some nudity
DIRECTOR: Alexander Witt
WRITER: Paul W.S. Anderson
PRODUCERS: Jeremy Bolt, Don Carmody, and Anderson
CINEMATOGRAPHERS: Derek Rogers and Christian Sebaldt
EDITOR: Eddie Hamilton

ACTION/HORROR with elements of sci-fi

Starring: Milla Jovovich, Sienna Guillory, Oded Fehr, Thomas Kretschmann, Sophie Vavasseur, Raz Adoti, Jared Harris, Mike Epps, Sandrine Holt, Matthew G. Taylor, and Zack Ward

After barely surviving the zombie infestation/lab tragedy in Resident Evil, Alice (Milla Jovovich) wakes up in a Raccoon City hospital. Outside, Raccoon City is now a city of the stalking dead, as the T-virus that turned man and beast into the flesh-eating ghouls of the first film has escaped from the Hive into the city, and most of the residents are now zombies. Alice and a band of survivors of the new outbreak must find the daughter of a Hive scientist if they want his help to escape the city. However, Alice must also face Nemesis (Matthew G. Taylor), a creature/super soldier created by Hive scientists using the T-virus as a catalyst. They apparently also experimented on Alice in between her escape from the Hive and her waking up in a hospital. And now, Alice is quite the super girl, but will it be enough to save her and the other survivors?

Resident Evil: Apocalypse is not nearly as good as the first film, and it almost falls into the category of awful movies based upon video games. However, Apocalypse is what the first film was: a very scary zombie movie that might make someone jump from his seat. The creatures are quite effective. Who knew that a little makeup would make so many actors and extras be such convincing flesh-eating ghouls. The action scenes are warmed over video game sequences and retread action movie clichés. It is, however, nice to see Milla Jovovich and her stunt doubles flying around and kicking behinds, and the Nemesis character is actually pretty cool. Luckily, the genuinely funny Mike Epps is on hand to add some really nice comic relief. Would that he performed more house calls like this for many lame action movies.

4 of 10
C

Review: "Resident Evil" is a Top Notch Zombie Movie

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 179 (of 2004) by Leroy Douresseaux

Resident Evil (2002)
Running time: 100 minutes (1 hour, 40 minutes)
MPAA – R for strong sci-fi/horror violence, language, and sexuality/nudity
WRITER/DIRECTOR: Paul W.S. Anderson
PRODUCERS: Jeremy Bolt, Bernd Eichinger, and Paul W.S. Anderson
CINEMATOGRAPHER: David Johnson
EDITOR: Alexander Berner

SCI-FI/HORROR/ACTION/THRILLER

Starring: Milla Jovovich, Michelle Rodriguez, Eric Mabius, James Purefoy, Martin Crewes, Colin Salmon, and Jason Isaacs (uncredited)

The almighty Umbrella Corporation has a top-secret facility called the Hive where they conduct illegal viral and genetic experiments. A laboratory accident unleashes a terrible virus that transforms hundreds of resident scientists into ravenous zombies (hungry for flesh, of course) and the lab animals into mutated hounds from hell. A special military unit answers the Hive’s alarm summons; they are however not prepared to fight the flesh-eating creatures or the Hive’s diabolical and out-of-control super computer. When they disable the computer, they inadvertently release the zombies, allowing them to roam the entire complex, and all hell breaks loose. It’s up to Alice (Milla Jovovich), a Hive security officer who has suffered recent short term memory loss, and Rain (Michelle Rodriguez), a member of elite military task force to contain the outbreak, but they only have three hours to do so before the pathogen is released into the outside world.

Resident Evil is based upon videogame giant Capcom’s very popular video game of the same title. Although he isn’t a critical darling and many movie fans don’t like his work, director Paul W.S. Anderson has helmed some very entertaining sci-fi thrillers, and Resident Evil is another example of his skill at making excellent popcorn SF shockers. And Resident Evil is by no means a “good, dumb movie;” it is actually a very effective and amazingly well done (for a film adaptation of a video game) horror film. Night of the Living Dead creator George A. Romero was originally slated to direct this film, but left over creative differences. Anderson does the master proudly, as Resident Evil is a zombie movie that is just about as creepy and as scary as any other zombie picture.

The acting is mostly stiff, modern B-movie material, but the characters make excellent chess pieces in Anderson’s game plan. Fans of horror films, especially zombie films, will love this. The flesh-eating residents of the lab are some topnotch walking dead.

7 of 10
B+

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Review: "Zoolander" is Smart and Silly

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 4 (of 2001) by Leroy Douresseaux

Zoolander (2001)
Running time: 89 minutes (l hour 39 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 on appeal for sexual content and drug references
DIRECTOR: Ben Stiller
WRITERS: Drake Sather & Ben Stiller and John Hamburg, from a story by Drake Sather and Ben Stiller (based upon characters created by Sather and Stiller)
PRODUCERS: Stuart Cornfeld, Scott Rudin, and Ben Stiller
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Barry Peterson
EDITOR: Greg Hayden
COMEDY

Starring: Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, Christine Taylor, Will Ferrell, Milla Jovovich, Jerry Stiller, David Duchovny, Jon Voight, and Judah Friedlander with cameos by Christian Slater, Cuba Gooding, Jr., Tommy Hilfiger, Natalie Portman, Fabio, Lenny Kravitz, Gwen Stefani, Paris Hilton, David Bowie, and Tyson Beckford

In Stiller’s uproarious satire, Zoolander, he plays Derek Zoolander, male model and three-time winner of the “Male Model of the Year” award until he loses to a virile young rival named Hansel (Owen Wilson, Shanghai Noon). In a bit of soul searching, Zoolander returns to his coal-mining hometown in South New Jersey only to be rejected by his clan, which includes his stone faced father (Jon Voight) and a largely silent brother (Vince Vaughn). A gay fashion maven Jacobim Magutu (Will Ferrell, who is increasingly being revealed to be a talented character actor with each film) recruits a spiritually lost Zoolander to kill the Prime Minister to Malaysia. The PM’s child labor laws threaten a shadowy cabal of clothing manufacturer’s, of which Magutu is part.

Clearly, the filmmakers mean this film to be a satire of the fashion industry, but it is a thin, superficial satire, which relies on poking fun at and holes in stereotypes of which the audience is familiar. If satire preaches to the already converted, Zoolander’s brand of satire will reap boffo box office. The movie does not focus so much on the industry as it does on what the general public perceives to be the fashion industry. This is not an insiders view like Robert Altman’s Ready to Wear. This movie really satirizes vanity, self-centeredness, selfishness, and ignorance more so than fashion, clothiers, designers, models and such.

Stiller’s Zoolander is a harmless buffoon, a clown for whom one can feel love and sympathy and at whom one can feel annoyance. Although he is the lead, Zoolander is not one of those super ego characters that act like a black hole and sucks the charm and life out of interesting supporting characters. This is why Wilson can shine so much as the postmodern, globetrotting adventurer, Hansel. The secret of Hansel’s charm is not his looks but rather his disdain for the obviously superficial Zoolander. Hansel successfully feigns disdain for fashion, but forwards a public persona of one who loves rugged manly adventure. Hansel is Zoolander’s foil and provides a nice dynamic of tension that the movie needs and does not get from its assassination plot line.

Clearly the filmmakers doubted that an entire movie could be made around Zoolander’s and his cronies’ lives, so they attached the thin genre thread of international intrigue to the story. It is a concession to the idea of plot and high concept. Movies can hang on characterization and characters’ charms and quirkiness. However, many movie producers believe that a movie has to be about “something.” The belief is that it is easier for a studio to sell a movie that is described as “vain supermodels must stop an assassination attempt planned by an evil fashion designer” than, say, a movie described as “a hilarious send-up of the fashion world.”

Zoolander also fairly bursts at the seems with superstar cameos, but the main cast is so good that one quickly forgets each cameo appearance as soon as it comes and goes, the exception being the nice surprise appearance by Wynona Ryder. Stiller and Wilson are really good, and there is a bite to their rivalry and a realness to their later reconciliation. Will (“Saturday Night Live,” The Ladies Man) can bury himself in a part and make it very good, although his character Magutu did seem a bit dark for this movie.

Christine (who played Marcia Brady in the Brady Bunch movies of the 1990’s) Taylor is a competent, if under utilized, foil for the two male models, and one gets the feeling that she could have added so much more to the movie had a little attention been turned her way. Milla (Fifth Element) Jovovich is lost in make up and in a perpetual scowl, but that doesn’t hide Jovovich’s immense talent. Stiller’s father Jerry Stiller (“Seinfeld”) plays an agent; it is an awkward forced part that is at times funny and at other times, fat that can be trimmed.

The movie is very funny and snide to the point of excess. Stiller, who proved to be a capable director is Reality Bites, fills each frame to the brim in order to create the atmosphere of his comedy. From wall hangings, to signs, sculptures, and costumes, he uses the visuals to establish his humor. A scene at a gas station is so funny and so well staged that it almost guarantees us a future of excellent comedy from Stiller, and it was worth at least half the admission price.

An excellent effort by all and well worth the time.

7 of 10
B+

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