Category Archives: Four Stars

Gamer (DVD)

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When I first heard of the premise for Gamer, it almost resulted in an instant facepalm. It seemed like Running Man meets Matrix meets a bunch of bad ideas. Throw a role to a token rapper (in this case Cris ‘Ludacris’ Bridges) and you’ve got another cheesy, hot off the press generic actioner…..right? At least that is what I thought initially. Now that I decided to bite the bullet and watch the movie, I must say that now I am a believer. Gamer is actually a solid film.

The premise behind Gamer is that in the near future, humans can exert mind control over other humans. The catch is that this whole process is voluntary, or at least it is supposed to be. Multiplayer Online Role Playing games are being played utilizing real people called “actors.” Actors undergo treatment to have their minds altered in ordered for them to be controlled. They then rent themselves out to an anonymous user who pays a fee to contol the actor as their in game avatar. The first game, titled “Society” is like a SIMS using real people. Its success led to the release of another game called “Slayers” in which the avatars are player controlled, death row inmates who are pit against one another with the hopes of being released after surviving their 30th match. There are a few more layers to this story, but that is pretty much the gist of it all.

The film was directed by Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor, the same guys responsible for the Crank movies with Jason Statham. Gamer show a bit of an improvement in their style. the camera and cuts are not as sporadic and seizure inducing as they were in the Crank films. There are just enough snappy edits to give the film a real ‘digital’ feel. You get the impression that you are receiving a feed of the movie and that helps with the immersion factor as it plays in perfectly to this world themed on connectivity.

Gerard Butler gives a solid portrayal of death row inmate Kable Killer. Watching Butler, you really get the impression that this guy is a lethal killing machine as he dispatches with wave after wave of enemies..like he was in a videogame almost! Michael C. Hall is decent as Castle, the main villain responsible for creating this mind control system. The film also features an appearance by the awesome Terry Crews, who many will recognize from White Chicks, The Longest Yard, and a number of other comedies. It is good to see him in a physical role like this as he is obviously built like a linebacker and just looks vicious. Sadly, his role here is a bit wasted as I thought his character had so much more potential in this film. There are other actors in this movie, but the film never really stops to focus on them at all. Besides that, there really isn’t much acting going on, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing in movies like this.

Gamer is a really good film, but not great. It doesn’t break into any new territory that we haven’t seen before, but it is worth watching for its stylized brutality alone. Action fans who aren’t looking to get too deep into a movie’s plot will surely like this film. Overall this movie is well worth renting as it should keep you entertained for its entire hour running time.

Sherlock Holmes (Theaters)

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I’ve never been much of a huge reader. I remember having to write book reports back in the day and stumbling on to a series of Sherlock Holmes books. After my first book, I was pretty hooked. Sherlock was an amazing character and I was fascinated by how he could figure out so much from just the smallest details. The only movies about him that I can remember were the PBS films where he was a skinny wierd looking dude in a double billed hat puffing on a pipe. Fast forward to the present and Guy Ritchie has recreated the Holmes mythos for a whole new generation of moviegoers. Add in Robert Downey Jr. as Holmes, Jude Law as his faithful partner Dr. Watson, and a Christmas Day release and you have the potential makings of a great movie experience.

This film, while not without its weakpoints, is a fun thrill ride from start to finish. Director Guy Ritchie, best know for films like ‘Snatch’ and ‘Lock, Stock, and 2 Smoking Barrels, does a great job of modernizing Holmes while keeping him grounded in his native Victorian era. Perhaps one of the most noticeable differences is that this Sherlock is very well versed in all forms of combat. At first I thought it was a bit of a gimmick to make the movie more action oriented, but the way it was handled is excellent. Holmes is methodical in each of his attacks, often thinking out his plan of attack before executing it. Downey makes this entirely believable as you see Holmes’ genius as it applies to combat.

Jude Law as Dr. Watson is excellent as well. Previous characterizations always pictured Watson as an overweight bumbling sidekick whose only purpose was to give Holmes a reason to explain his brilliant conclusions to. Law’s character is none of these things and yet he is so much more. He is, in many ways, Sherlock’s equal. You really get to see him function more as a partner than as a sidekick. Perhaps what makes this movie work the best is the chemistry between Downey and Law. In fact, the two complement each other perfectly. Watson is the ying to Holmes’ yang. From the opening of the movie that foreshadows the end of their partnership, it is instantly clear just how much the two complement one another whether they realize it or not.

As good as this movie is, it is far from perfect. Rachel McAdams gets top billing as American hustler Irene Adler, a former flame of Sherlock’s. While McAdams is a great actress in most of her films, she seems a bit underutilised in this movie. Her performance isn’t bad, I just expected a bit more from her. In the grand scheme of things, this is fairly minor. The biggest problem with this movie is that the mystery that the plot is built around is so weak. What was great about the Sherlock Holmes stories was that the mysteries were so ingenious that it would take a super genius to solve, which is exactly what Holmes is. The mystery is this film is very Scooby Doo-esque. It almost seems like it was written in reverse. they found a crazy solution and thought- how could we turn this into a mystery plot. For a series known for the complexity of its puzzles, this film definitely falls short.

Overall, this is a good film that will keep you well entertained throughout. Downey and Law are excellent and their interactions definitely make the movie. McAdams is decent but she looks amazing. While I did feel a bit cheated at the end when Holmes was explaining how he solved the various mysteries in the case, the movie as a whole was still very good. There is also some foreshadowing at the end, alluding to a possible future appearance by Sherlock’s famous nemesis Dr. Moriarty. This is similar to last year’s Dark Knight, in which the Joker was briefly alluded to in the first film and then the second film was made and it completely blew the first, already excellent, film out of the water. I’m hoping the same thing will happen here if Ritchie is signed on to direct the sequel. Bottom line is this is a good film and perhaps Downey fans best chance to get a fix until Iron Man 2 drops in May.

Avatar 3D (Theaters)

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It’s been 12 years since James Cameron set box office records and literally transformed filmmaking as we know today with Titanic.  It’s interesting to note every movie geek, critic and average joe/jane knows the name James Cameron despite only having a handful of films out.  Though he took a long break from directing, he had some other side projects producing and getting in touch with mother nature to keep him busy.  Oh and he’s also been working on a movie that he claims will change the way we watch movies…forever.  Pretty bold statement there Jim.  Whenever a movie is hyped so much, it’s rare you walk away dumbfounded and speechless after viewing it.  Does Avatar live up to the bold claims of Mr. Cameron?  Hell YES!!!

So let’s get the story (or lack thereof) out of the way.  The story is about Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), a former marine who lost his legs during battle,  awakened from cryogenic sleep to replace his deceased twin brother who was involved in a highly prioritized  scientific expedition on planet Pandora.  Pandora is home to the Na’vi people, a blue skinned 20 ft. creature that resembles the characteristics of a Native American tribe.  Pandora’s natural resources are worth billions to humans and would love to get their hands on all that cheddar.  Unfortunately, the tribe of the Omaticaya are colonized right over a huge lump of it which poses a mining problem to the humans.  Using advanced technology, the humans created Avatars, or an embodiment of a life form, in this case a Na’vi which was created by human and Na’vi DNA. 

Humans will assume these Avatars through mind control and mingle with the Na’vi, hoping to gain their approval and cooperation.  Jake Sully volunteers for the mission to communicate with the Na’vi, gain their trust and convince them to move elsewhere.  Sounds familiar so far doesn’t it.  I won’t get into it too much but that’s basically the plotline of the film.  In spite of that, there are many underlying political themes throughout the film.  The basic plot of humans wanting a natural resource by any means reminds me of the Bush Administration seeking oil in Iraq.  There is also one scene where the man in charge says they will “fight terror with terror”…scary ain’t it.  But this isn’t about politics so I will get to the real reason why you should watch Avatar 3D.

Plotline aside, it is a visual feast!  I’ve seen some movies integrate 3D into their film but not like this.  I’ll be honest, the first 10-15 minutes was a little awkward for me.  I sat there thinking, this isn’t gonna work.  But slowly, you kind of forget what you’re seeing.  If I can put it into words, imagine yourself there but only 5-10 feet away from what’s going on.  In fact James Cameron said it best, it’s like looking at another world through a window, you can practically touch it if the pane of glass wasn’t there.  James Cameron manages to pull you in this fictional world that feels so real without you even knowing it.  Sooner or later, an hour has passed and you’re just sucked in to Pandora forgetting the lame plotline and knowing subconsciously how it will end.  The experience of watching this film just pulls you into the story and makes you feel what the characters are feeling like you’re really there.  Everything just works beautifully.  James Cameron once again set the tone for revolutionary filmmaking.  We were astonished when he sank the Titanic, and now words can’t describe what James Cameron has done once again. 

In conclusion, there is much to be desired in terms of plotline but I commend Mr. Cameron for taking a simple formula that everyone can follow and just making it his own.  I mean we can laugh now at how silly we were for watching Titanic more than once in the theaters but you gotta admit, at the time it was real good.  The same applies, we may have seen this story before but I have never experienced it quite like this.  Though the runtime was a bit long (about 160 mins) it didn’t affect me at all and I never felt it dragged.  All in all, if this is how movies are to be made, then we have a lot to look forward to!