REVIEW: The Croods (2013)

Animated CGI kids films are all the rage, and why shouldn’t they be? They’re profitable as hell, and these days they’ve gotten some serious street cred after films like Ratatouille, Up and last year’s luminous Wreck It Ralph have made the genre into a veritable powerhouse. No longer just for kids and silly slapstick, these days the genre boasts stories that are friendly for kids as well as compelling for adults, finding a perfect balance between good natured humor and good storytelling that anyone can enjoy. It’s a perfect commercial formula and it produces great films, like The Croods.

Director: Kirk De Micco, Chris Sanders

Starring: Nicolas Cage, Emma Stone, Ryan Reynolds

IMDb

This movie, telling the story of a family of cavemen who go on a journey to ‘the new world’ as the tectonic plates shift and throw their current world into oblivion, is drop dead hilarious. Where Wreck It Ralph and others like ParaNorman focused more on the blend of comedy with adventure and drama, The Croods is all about the comedy. The drama comes in later, and they are on an adventure, but the jokes are so prominent and so good. Every minute, the theater was busting out in laughter. The comedic timing is great and the jokes are almost all killer. Right in the opening scene you get the whole family running around trying to catch food, and Nicolas Cage (we’ll get to him in a moment) yells out “LET OUT THE BABY!” And then, well, the baby comes out roaring and biting and all.

Everything in this movie is high-speed, energetic and colorful, which adds to the excitement. It’s a very vibrant film, but while busy, it never comes off as cluttered and everything has its rightful place in each scene. Very well put together. There are also all sorts of clever little bits where the film claims that the Croods are the reason we have things we take for granted – pictures, rugs, even hugs…apparently the Croods invented all of these things on their journey in this very movie. These are all just minor bits that come and go quickly, and they’re very well integrated into the rest of the film. And they’re very funny, which is always a plus…

The acting is pretty damn good, featuring Emma Stone as lead girl Eep, who is a rebellious and single-minded woman who can do things on her own…well, Emma Stone is pretty much typecast in this role now, and The Croods nails it, right down to the ‘tough girl but still needs a boyfriend’ trope. And said boyfriend role is filled by Ryan Reynolds as Guy, in probably the first thing I’ve ever liked him in. Guy is a timid but intelligent young man who unwittingly steals Grug (Nicolas Cage…again, we’ll get to him)’s family away from him, and incites the whole movie when the family takes him hostage on their road trip to find a new home, thinking him useful.

Okay, well it’s time to address the elephant in the room here…yes, Nicolas Cage is in this movie, and he is hilarious. He plays Grug, the father of the cavemen who feels threatened by the new world full of ideas and progression, instead preferring to keep hiding in his cave. I haven’t seen Cage having so much fun with a film in years. While most of his recent roles have tended to be more somber in nature even when the movies themselves got silly, The Croods sees a return to his silliest, most over the top performances. While I can’t say the movie would have been improved by adding in some Vampire’s Kiss-esque insanity…

Uh, I think you mean "I'M A CAVEMAN! I'M A CAVEMAN!" But I digress. It IS suitably insane, and the cartoony nature of it all just makes sense, don’t you think? I mean, Nicolas Cage is already a cartoon character in every aspect aside from the fact that he’s three dimensional and resides in our world. Thank God this movie fixes that problem.

There’s a great scene near the climax where Grug, after being cast out as his family prefers staying with Guy over him, spends the night thinking of ideas. When they encounter him the next day…well, it’s pretty loony and involves him skipping around with an ugly octopus-shaped rug on his head, sunglasses on his face that he can’t see out of, and lots of slapstick. I should be annoyed at how much slapstick there is in this, but it’s all really well done and is actually funny, which is something a lot of movies seem to miss. “Slapstick” isn’t an excuse for laziness.

Of course there is the expected dramatic turn toward the end, too, and I won’t spoil it. But for all its humorous moments, the film does know how to turn down the dial a bit and work the heartstrings, producing some very fine, dramatic moments even if they do get kind of predictable. Just for once I’d love to see a film like this go the extra mile and have something really dark happen – instead of the main character looking like he’s dead and then ending up living happily ever after, why doesn’t one of these films actually have him die and stay that way? But it’s wishful thinking.

I also think it’s interesting that, really, the film belongs to Grug the most. It appears at the start that Eep will be the main character, as she gets the most development at first and is the one who sets the chain of events in motion, but in the end she sort of takes a backseat, becoming a more generic female character for this type of movie. Which is a bit disappointing, but then, on the other hand, Grug is a great character and a lot of fun to watch him develop. I’m not a father, but I like the way the movie portrays fatherhood – at first he seems grumpy and even mean at times, but he really does have his family’s best interests at heart and he does have the capacity to change. It’s a genuinely good character arc, and one of the better parts of the film.

So that’s The Croods, and without spoiling too much, I think it’s really good. It’s a bucket full of fun and has some good drama as well, with lively performances and great mise en scene throughout. It’s just a solid, enjoyable animated flick and anyone who has a heart will probably find something to enjoy in it. So what are you waiting for? Go watch it. Go watch it now.

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REVIEW: The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)

Director: Marc Webb

Starring: Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone

Website: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0948470/

Finally, we have a Spider-Man film that really captures what the character and story are really about. This is a reboot of the Spider-Man franchise that I think was the best possible move they could have done, seeing as the Raimi films…well, they weren’t exactly anything to write home about. This one, directed by Marc Webb and starring Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone, is the truest to the comics I’ve seen yet and a spectacular friggin’ movie to boot, maybe the best summer blockbuster we’ve seen this summer yet. Does that get your ears perked up? Let’s dig into why.

First, the acting is just great in this. Andrew Garfield was an odd choice to play Peter Parker, as he looked very little like what we always associate the character with being. But he does a really good job at playing both Peter as the sometimes-troubled and awkward high school student with a brilliant mind and Spider-Man as a witty, wisecracking vigilante. He’s not as outwardly geeky and soft-spoken as some past incarnations have been, but he feels more like a three dimensional, real kid, and that’s why I think this is the best Peter Parker we’ve seen on any screen yet.

The scenes where he’s discovering his powers are really cool and show the wonder of it combined with the awkwardness and absurdity that Peter no doubt feels – there are numerous bits where his newfound strength completely destroys everyday tasks like opening doors and brushing teeth. Hell, when Peter is going home on the subway right after, he wrecks an entire car and gets into a huge fight scene all by accident by hitting people when he does not mean to. There’s one scene where he’s just sitting on his bed, wide-eyed and half-crazy after seeing what he can do now, that just encapsulates everything that a normal kid would feel after having these things happen to him. It’s silent, wordless moments like this that are spotted throughout the film and really show me what a talent this kid is, and how well the director managed to use him.

The humanity of the character really comes out through Garfield’s emotive and spot-on performance. Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy, who despite playing the usual Emma Stone kind of performance – you know, the whole sassy and independent girl thing she does in every movie – this time the writing is strong and actually supports her very well. So she does a good job.

Another great performance is veteran actor Martin Sheen as Uncle Ben, who just does a really great job at playing a parental figure for such a troubled kid – you get the tender side and a more strict side, as well as just a great sense of personality and wit about him. At the end of the day, you really, really like Uncle Ben in this movie. I liked all of these characters a lot. Even if you knew nothing about Spider-Man, you could like and really care about these characters as much as you have with any movie – that is the sign of great acting and great writing.

The setting and lighting are wonderful, with beautifully lit shots of New York and some very pulpy old school-style comic book-esque locations – witness the glowering green lights and the cavernous depths of the sewers where The Lizard makes his infernal concoctions, and in contrast, the Parker house, warm and full of all the things you’d expect from an aunt making delicious things in the kitchen to movie posters and camera equipment in Peter’s bedroom. So aesthetically the movie gets it right – small stuff, but it counts. The settings all reminded me of comic books in their layouts and how they were set up.

The real meat of the movie comes from the bigger moments, though, like any time when Spider-Man is doing his thing around the city. This movie rocks some great, funny dialogue for him and some cool scenes where he apprehends all these small time crooks with his webs and super-speed and strength – they are scenes you will find in anything Spider-Man related, but they’re a lot of fun here and stand up to the past 50 years of his history with ease. One of the better moments comes when he saves a kid from a burning vehicle – I won’t spoil much else, but the grace and power with which this scene is handled are just epic, and the scene is really, really cool. The finale is a fast-paced, boiling thriller of a set-up that just rules. A great, blood-pumping finale for a great film.

The film remains entertaining whether it’s about Spidey kicking the crap out of a crook, about Peter Parker interacting with Aunt May or Gwen Stacey and her family or about Peter’s quest to find Curt Connors and solve the mystery of what happened to his dad. That’s really the mark of a first-rate script and director. The Amazing Spider-Man is one of those great cinematic moments where everything just came together like magic for a real winner of a movie.

Review: Easy A (2010) TH

Imaginary foreplay is the newest rage

"Easy A" is about a mixup that spirals out of control in a moderately populated town high school in California that blends literature, religious fanaticism, homages to '80s John Hughes flicks as well as adolescents at their peak with hormones. This is frequently narrated with snappy dialogue that's self-aware of its every move to a fault, as it often arrives at conclusions even before it allows the viewer to. It includes some humorously awkward situations of high school life, as well as pokes fun at other teen flicks even though it ironically embraces some of the same cliches. Minus the honesty and self-degradation and it's still riding as a passenger on the same train.

Olive Penderghast (Emma Stone) is overheard in the ladies room by the do-gooder Marianne Bryant (Amanda Bynes) when she tells her best friend Rhi (Aly Michalka) that she slept with a fictional guy named George despite still being a virgin to dodge going on another uncomfortable camping trip. Marianne, being the antagonist of the story and the moral crusader she is, sticks her nose high and uses the modern day equivalent of a rumor mill--text messages and social networks--to self-righteously put Olive, who was previously hidden from view, back in her place. Or so she thought. Olive has a hide thicker than a rhino and attempts to use reverse psychology on her hecklers and simultaneously fake it till she makes it about her own dating status. Marianne's lackeys come at her but she's like instant oatmeal with comebacks. After getting in trouble over calling one the "T" word, she serves detention with Brandon (Dan Byrd)--a gay kid who's made fun of and gets into fights--and he begs her to pretend to have sex with him so people will lay off his back. They go to a party so the socially elite can be a witness and both put on a noisy stir in the bedroom while none of the drunkards are the wiser.

Why this charade wasn't stopped short was because Olive has liberal, adoptive parents who still think they're cool and trust that she'll make the right choices and correct her own mistakes. The overly honest mom played by Patricia Clarkson is hilarious because she says everything the daughter doesn't want to hear and doesn't always come with the best advice. Olive goes about in seductive outfits with an "A" stitched on relating to a literature story called "The Scarlet Letter" and takes it all in with stride as to whether she's gawked at or dismissed. From what at first started out as having sympathy for Brandon, turns into a gift-card giving business where she pretends to give nooky to unconfident guys who want the status but without actually doing the physical deed. This part of the story doesn't exactly transition due to it never being explained that she's greedy or desperately needs money. Though despite her cunning wit that's twice her age, she still seems a little naive with the trappings of a teen as to what she's doing and without exactly thinking about the afterwards. It has moments of causing the pacing to get lost in the shuffle and her character development to feel up and down: one moment helping those who can't help themselves, to going with the flow and then back again when she volunteers to take the rap for someone other than a student. After a date gone bad and a meet up gone right, she wants people to revert their stances to get her life back in order until she finds out people's true colors.

"Easy A" seems like an abstinence ploy within a ploy, but I digress this isn't out to make a major point about the subject of promiscuity besides to say that you should own up to your own actions and not perpetuate notions if you didn't actually do any action. This is more sarcastic, playful and clever than roll-on-the-floor funny--partly because it seems too well scripted than naturally delivered--but it comes with a relating factor that a chunk of teens go through when it comes time for blossoming sexuality: how to tell what they like, how to go about finding it and most importantly how to do it. Not to mention double standards of girls and boys, and peer pressure to do it and then an opposite pressure not to do it. This has an original take on an age old idea that covers common ground but came with some contrived caricatures such as the I-know-exactly-what-to-say knight in shining armor conveniently showing up at just the right moment despite being peppered throughout and giving a nod to John Cusack. Is that supposed to qualify as a reward? Not to mention what sucked out intrigue was a chunk of the story feels laid out like a spoon fed blueprint with easy little chapters and nearly every nuance told to what's going on even though the story is fairly simple on its own. Fortunately this did right by not having any closing morals pushed on the audience rather than letting them choose themselves where they stand.

Director: Will Gluck (Fired Up!)
Starring: Emma Stone, Amanda Bynes, Stanley Tucci, Patricia Clarkson, Thomas Haden Church, Lisa Kudrow, Malcolm McDowell
Website: IMDB