22 Jump Street: Surprisingly satisfying sequel

Today, I look at one of the more anticipated June movies this year, the follow up to the hugely successful 21 Jump Street reboot/parody.

22 Jump Street:
The crime-stopping duo Schmidt and Jenko aren't doing as well with the police work after their success at the end of the previous film. Therefore, their sarcastic superior officer sends them back to Jump Street, this time at the new headquarters in another abandoned church, which is directly across from the Korean church from the last film. They again use their fake identities (the McQuaid brothers) to infiltrate a school to take down a drug dealer, this time at a college. The duo again go through basically a reverse of the plot of the first film, but the movie is smart enough to acknowledge time and time again that it's the same film in a different setting, which is what most action movie sequels are.
     Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill are, again, fantastic as Jenko and Schmidt, respectively. They have excellent chemistry on-screen, and Tatum continually surprises me with how funny he can be. Jonah Hill is basically the same guy he plays in most comedies, but it's a role he pulls off extremely well, so I'm not bothered by it at all. Rob Riggle and Dave Franco reprise their antagonistic roles from the first film in a scene early on, now cell-mates. I know we as the audience are not supposed to like Franco, but I can't help but feel bad for the guy. He was on his way to college and had a whole future planned out and then he was tossed in a jail cell with the crazy gym teacher that Riggle plays. Peter Stormare has a supporting role as the main villain: Ghost, a violent drug dealer. Not the best villain, but because it's a comedy, I'll let the weak villain thing slide; comedies aren't known for their memorable antagonists. Ice Cube is, as always, hilarious as the volatile and angry Captain Dickson. I'm convinced this is just Ice Cube being himself and they just worked him into the movie, because he pulls off this kind of role so well it feels like this is more than just him acting. Amber Stevens fills in for Brie Larson as Schmidt's new love interest: Maya, an art student who is way out of his league. Wyatt Russell plays Zook, Jenko's new friend and star football player, who basically is the Dave Franco of the sequel, just less of a pretentious douche. Jillian Bell (Bridesmaids, The Master) portrays Mercedes, Maya's sarcastic and deadpan roommate that seems to have a negative view on everything. Nick Offerman returns as Deputy Chief Hardy, the self-aware superior of the film's stars. Despite having a very small role, he kills it, nearly every line he has is funny. Marc Evan Jackson has a small role as the odd school psychologist, Dr. Murphy. There are numerous cameos in the film, from big names such as Seth Rogen, Anna Faris, Queen Latifah, Patton Oswalt, Bill Hader, and H. Jon Benjamin (Archer, Bob's Burgers). Similar to how Johnny Depp and Peter DeLuise made cameos in the last film as a nod to their lead roles on 21 Jump Street back in the 80's, Jump Street alum Dustin Nguyen cameos as Vietnamese Jesus and David Grieco reprises his role from the old show in a credits sequence cameo.
     Speaking of which, that end credits sequence was amazing, mocking the endless sequels and spin-offs we see from successful franchises nowadays. Don't miss it, it will not disappoint. The movie is packed with self-deprecating humor and call-backs to the first film. The writing by Michael Bacall and Oren Uziel is fresh and filled to the brim with wit. The direction by the team of Phil Lord and Chris Miller (the guys behind first film, as well as The LEGO Movie, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, and Clone High) is exceptional considering these two have only made a small handful of films, most of them animated children's films.
   22 Jump Street may not be as funny or surprising as the first film (when I say surprising, I mean that no one saw it coming), but it is surprising as it is a sequel that (mostly) lives up to the hype. Self-aware to a fault, it is also refreshingly original for a film that openly says it's the same thing as the first film. I'm not saying it's never been done before, but I don't think I've seen a film like this done with this level of self-parody. 4/5 stars.
 (Image: Wikipedia)

Edge of Tomorrow: Doug Liman's futuristic take on "Groundhog Day"

Today, I take a look at the new science fiction film starring Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt.

Edge of Tomorrow:
Major William Cage is part of an international military that recruits from all over the world to fight against Mimics, a race of robotic aliens that have been fighting humans for at least a few years now. Cage is railroaded by his superiors when he attempts to blackmail his commanding officer. With no combat experience, Cage is a highly inadequate soldier. Cage is dropped into a massive and bloody battle of Omaha Beach in Normandy, France (France has been occupied and destroyed by the Mimics). However, the battle (supposed to be a surprise strike on the aliens) goes horribly wrong when the Mimics somehow become aware of the strike before it happens and effectively slaughter the entire fleet of soldiers. Cage dies horrifically in the battle, but then wakes back up, alive but with complete knowledge of the battle, and begins living the same day over and over again, waking up every time he perishes. He then meets a hardened female soldier: Sergeant Rita Vrataski (nicknamed "The Angel of Verdun" and "Full Metal Bitch"), who has knowledge of his abilities and trains him in how to control them and use them to defeat the Mimics and save humanity. Although not the most original concept (it's very similar to the Bill Murray classic Groundhog Day), the film shocked me with how entertaining and investing it was. I'm not saying it's something I'm dying to see again, but after last spring's underwhelming and dull Oblivion, I was pleasantly surprised.
     Tom Cruise plays his typical role: a man who appears oridnary and even weak, but ultimately rises up to face the challenges he's presented with and beocmes an action hero. Cruise also did his own stunts, which were very physcially demanding, another thing he's famous for. Emily Blunt was very good in her portrayal of the jaded and highly-skilled soldier Vrataski. The bad-ass heroine isn't something she usually does, so it was a welcome change of pace and I'd like to see her do more stuff like this in the future. Both her and Cruise had to actually walk around in heavy metal suits, which was physically exhausting, and she trained for weeks to be physically fit enough to play the experienced soldier. Bill Paxton (cast here due to his famous role in Aliens) plays the kind of douchey Master Sergeant Farrell, who belittles Cage from the moment he arrives at the military base the day before the disastrous battle. Paxton, as always, does a great job protraying a cocky and slightly stupid military officer. Brendan Gleeson (Harry Potter, 28 Days Later, Gangs of New York) has a small supporting role as Cage's superior, General Brigham. Kick Gurry, Dragomir Mrsic, Charlotte Riley, Jonas Armstrong, Franz Drameh, Masayoshi Haneda, and Tony Way (known for his recurring role as Dontos Hollard on Game of Thrones) play "J-Squad", a group of inexperienced and rough soldiers who Cage must befriend in order to be successful in the army. They are underdogs, much like Cage, so I really wanted to see them succeed and get the respect they deserve. Noah Taylor (another reucrring Game of Thrones actor, known for his role as the sadistic mercenary Locke) appears in a minor role as Vrataski's colleague, a scientist by the name of Dr. Carter, who has a revolutionary idea about how to defeat the Mimics. The cast are actually very good, especially considering many of them are not very famous or are only just gaining fame.
      Daniel Liman (Swingers, The Bourne Identity, Mr. and Mrs. Smith) is no stranger to action films, and is able to deliver a lot of thrills in this movie. The visual effects and costumes are also very cool, and the design of the aliens isn't the most original, but they still carried a menacing presence whenver they appeared on-screen. The movie actually has a fair deal of gruesome deaths in it, with minimal blood, which I was surprised by, but also I got to give the movie credit for having the balls to push the boundaries of the PG-13 rating a bit.
      Christopher McQuarrie, Jez Butterworth, and John-Henry Butterworth pen a pretty entertaining script, despite it obviously taking a lot from other films. I've never read Hiroshi Sakurazaka's All You Need Is Kill, so I can't say how well the movie adapts it, but from what I've read, they actually did a fairly good job.
      Edge of Tomorrow isn't the best sci-fi/military action film; it doesn't have the scathing satire of Starship Troopers or the classic moments of Aliens, but it gets the job done. The cast deliver pretty great performances for an action film, the visual effects are excellent, the action scenes are brief but they are fast-paced and sometimes emotionally engrossing (one scene in the French countryside in particular comes to mind), and the script is faithful to the source material while also adding elements to make it more entertaining to a Western audience. 3.5/5 stars.

  (Image: Wikipedia)

Top 50 Movies of All Time: Volume 3

Sorry for this installment being so late. Despite not seeing many movies this month and mostly updating this blog with stuff like "R.I.P. Tributes" and a Frozen review follow-up, I was very busy with other things (i.e. meetings, schoolwork, tests, family gatherings, Game of Thrones watching and HBO watching in general, etc.) However, I do intend to be updating more frequently, despite the impending and often dreaded/stressful end-of-the-year finals. So yeah, I couldn't quite keep on my promise to update this series every month, but what can I say, sometimes things don't go quite according to plan. I hope you all enjoyed my reviews of The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Despite my opinions on the latter being the polar opposite of my opinions on the former (which got me plenty of scoldings from my peers), I did put a lot of thought and effort into those two. If you notice, anytime I cover something that's really big in pop culture right now (such as superhero films, particularly Marvel, or Frozen or Game of Thrones), I put a lot of effort into writing those reviews. Not just because they're popular, but because I'm actually passionate about those things (well, two of those things, because Frozen is just not something I'm as passionate about as everyone else is), and am a fan of those franchises. So, agree or disagree, I hope you guys enjoyed reading them and I encourage people who disagree to post their thoughts in the comments if they want to, as long as the discussion can remain civil and not resort to just telling people to fuck off for not agreeing with you, we have enough of that on other websites. But enough about that, here's another top ten of my favorite movies, counting down from 30-21.

Criteria:
Personal opinion
No TV movies or miniseries
I can tie two films or have an entire series or trilogy in one slot

30. Alice in Wonderland: Despite this one being pretty old and dated, I still like it. It's one of those timeless movies that will be loved by each new generation who sees it (even though when it was first released it did poorly at the box office and received critical scorn, especially from book fans). Most people have at least one Disney movie in their top 50 of all time list, and this is mine. I like it partly for the animation and story, and partly because it's one of the few Disney films to actually give people the creeps. It's just a really weird, surreal, and demented kid's movie filled with weird imagery and crazy characters, and we as the audience basically become Alice: the everyday person just kind of witnessing the madness and chaos that is Wonderland. Even though I don't care for the songs in this film, and there quite a few of them, I can still appreciate the other aspects: the colorful design, the art direction, etc. If you haven't seen it yet, then check it out, it's a must-see.



29. The Three Flavours Cornetto Trilogy: Taking it's name from both the ice cream company Cornetto and the Three Colors film trilogy, this British comedy series is from the minds of Edgar Wright (writer and director) and duo Simon Pegg and Nick Frost (lead actors). The trilogy encompasses the zombie comedy Shaun of the Dead, the mystery/police drama parody Hot Fuzz, and the alien/apocalypse farce The World's End. Each is similar in style, but also unique: in each film, Frost and Pegg play completely different characters from the last. In Shaun, Pegg plays a slacker torn between maintaining a friendship and being more mature and taking responsibility, and Frost plays a dumb, lazy man who is said slacker's best friend. In Fuzz, Pegg plays an over-serious and highly over-qualified Inspector in London, who is transferred to a sleepy and seemingly perfect village in the English countryside because he is too good for his job in London, and was making other Inspectors look bad; and Frost plays a simple-minded, buddy cop film-obsessed police officer who is partnered with Pegg. And finally in World's End, Pegg plays a manipulative, selfish, and man-child-ish guy in his late 30's who is trying to relive the glory days of his high school years, and Frost plays his former best mate who is trying to move on with his life and who, like their other friends, tries to convince Pegg that their best days are behind them and to just move on. Each of these characters are quirky and weird, but also relatable to some extent, which is really hard to pull off from a writing standpoint. The films are also very funny, but shockingly violent and gruesome (with the exception of World's End, where almost all the gore is cartoonish blue alien blood), so if you're not a fan of gore or bloodshed, maybe steer clear of these movies. But personally, I don't mind it as much, so I was able to enjoy all of these films equally.



28. Spider-Man: Sam Raimi's box office record-breaking and critically praised superhero film may have some dated CGI and some cheesy acting at times, but it's one of my favorite movies because of two things: one, it's genuinely a great movie, and two, the nostalgia factor. The movie has some exceptional acting for a summer blockbuster (Willem Dafoe, J.K. Simmons, and Cliff Robertson are particularly good), and some really memorable action set-pieces, like the battle in Times Square during a block party, or the chase scene with Uncle Ben's killer, or the final fight on the Queensboro Bridge. Tobey Maguire is still my favorite Spider-Man, despite many fans criticizing him for not being emotional enough. This also marks one of Stan Lee's first cameos, which is very brief compared to his cameos nowadays. It's kind of a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment. Danny Elfman's score is also really well done, one of the most iconic superhero movie scores. After being in development hell for years and years, many were skeptical of how good this movie was going to be, considering tons of directors and writers had been signed on and then booted off the project again and again. Luckily, it all turned out okay and the movie was excellent. The nostalgia factor for me is that every time I see it, it brings me back to when I saw in in theaters when I was very young, it's kind of a profound effect, and it really makes me wish Raimi had just made a fourth film rather than have Sony reboot it with Marc Webb.



27. Natural Born Killers: Oliver Stone's crazy acid trip of a movie is a classic 90's films, and is one of the best of 1994 (along with Pulp Fiction and Leon: The Professional). Following the story of two mass murderers/lovers (Mickey and Mallory, played by Woody Harrelson and Juliette Lewis, respectively), who are viewed as a modern-day Bonnie and Clyde and pop culture heroes by the public and mass media, this film is a poignant social satire about how we as a society view celebrities and our obsession with real-life violence. Using a script originally penned by Quentin Tarantino, Stone makes this movie all his own, mixing a plethora of styles (fast-paced action/thriller, crime drama, trippy arthouse film, cinéma vérité, animated sequences, even classic sitcom format) as well as constantly shifting from bright and flashy colors to stark black-and-white. The film is also notorious for it's use of ultra-violence, and was named by Entertainment Weekly as being one of the top 10 most controversial films of all time. Not a movie for everyone, but if you like crazy 90's crime movies in the vein of Quentin Tarantino and Luc Besson, or violent character studies, or are a fan of Oliver Stone, check this one out.



26. Gattaca: Andrew Niccol's powerful dystopian film is not only a classic science fiction drama, but also a cautionary tale of what society could be like if we tamper with genetics too much. Taking it's title from out genetic code, the film focuses on Vincent, a man who is genetically imperfect (people born naturally), posing as Jerome, a highly skilled and wealthy man who is in the upper-class segment of society simply because he was born genetically perfect (or a genetically modified birth). Vincent's struggle against society and the oppression he faces is endearing, and also thrilling considering if he's caught the consequences could be dire. I've always liked Ethan Hawke; much like Eric Bana, Edward Norton, and Matthew McConaughey, I think he's an exceptional and highly underrated actor. But let's not forget the excellent supporting cast: Uma Thurman, Alan Arkin, Jude Law, Loren Dean, Tony Shaloub, and Xander Berkeley all give great performances, especially Jude Law, who plays a tragic character who befriends Vincent. There's also some minor roles/cameos from Elias Koteas, Maya Rudolph, Gore Vidal, Ernest Borgnine, and Breaking Bad's Dean Norris. This is one of my favorite science fiction films, and one of the more realistic ones. Definitely an emotionally gratifying and believable film that everyone should see at least once.



25. Fight Club: David Fincher's first big movie is also a modern classic. With a fast-paced plot, memorable dialogue and characters, and a fourth-wall-breaking narrator/lead hero, Fight Club is in a league of it's own. The cool score by the Dust Brothers and great ending song ("Where Is My Mind" by The Pixies) add to the atmosphere of the film, and the clever writing and interesting editing also make the film feel very different from any other. The character of Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt) is one of the most charismatic and crazy characters in any movie, and has over the years been praised by critics and heralded as one of the best in cinema history. Fincher's unique and slick directing style were a perfect fit for the tone of the movie, and to this day it remains a beloved cult movie.



24. Pulp Fiction: Quentin Tarantino's second venture into film is arguably his best and most acclaimed. The all-star ensemble features John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Bruce Willis, Uma Thurman, Ving Rhames, Christopher Walken, and many others. In fact, this is the film that reinvigorated Travolta and Willis' careers, which had been gradually dying down in the years prior. The movie, chock-full of cinema references, long talks about pop culture, and accompanied by an amazing soundtrack, encompasses the very essence of a Tarantino film. Not to mention the funny quips characters throw at each other during said long talks are extremely quotable and the fact that these long dialogue scenes are juxtaposed with ultraviolence. The movie is a genuine masterpiece, as it takes real skill to make a bunch of dialogue scenes about everyday life and pop culture into an entertaining piece of art; and the content of the film really fits the name: it really is like a modern-day pulp magazine, only instead of text on a page it's moving pictures on a screen. This is not only a great movie, it was a cultural phenomenon upon it's release and has gone on to become one of the highest-rated films ever made.



23. The Crow: Alex Proyas' dark and visually unique Gothic superhero film was Brandon Lee's breakout movie. Or it would have been, had he not tragically died during an on-set accident with a prop gun. Aside from that tragedy, everything about this movie is awesome. The costume designs, set design, score (by Graeme Revell) and soundtrack (which includes acts like The Cure, Stone Temple Pilots, Nine Inch Nails, and Rage Against the Machine), and acting are all above-average for a 90's superhero film, especially when considering your only competition is Batman Forever, Spawn, and Steel. A dark but somehow also uplifting revenge/ghost story, The Crow is a cult classic for a reason: it's touching, exciting, and brutal, sometimes back-to-back. It's a unique mix of action thriller, Gothic horror, revenge tale, and love story, and those things, which in the wrong hands could clash and make the film feel uneven, actually play off each other really well and make the movie enjoyable every time you watch it.



22. The Silence of the Lambs: Jonathan Demme's disturbing and nearly perfect psychological crime-thriller/horror film surprised everyone when it beat Disney's Beauty and the Beast at the 1992 Oscars, where it won Best Picture and several other awards. Anthony Hopkins' eerie and iconic performance as Hannibal "The Cannibal" Lecter made the character one of the most memorable movie villains as well as one of the greatest horror characters of all time, and earned him the Best Actor Oscar, despite only having 17 minutes of screen-time, making it the shortest role to win the award. The film also garnered the Best Actress award for Jodie Foster in one of her first big roles (her other was in 1988's The Accused), as well as Best Adapted Screenplay for Ted Tally and Best Director for Jonathan Demme. All these awards for a horror/crime movie should tell you how great it is, but if those don't convince you, look at it's score on Rotten Tomatoes, which collects not just critics' opinions, but casual viewers as well: 94%. I, having read nearly all the Hannibal Lecter novels, can say this film captures the tone of the source novel perfectly, and may even top the novel, which says a lot, as Thomas Harris is a terrific author. The film is also very realistic in it's depiction of how the FBI handles cases, as Harris was formerly a crime reporter before turning to fiction, and the film is directed brilliantly by Demme, who is mostly known for his more straightforward dramas like Philadelphia. Overall, this movie can be considered the ultimate serial killer thriller, as it packs in a ton of suspense while also functioning as a complex and intriguing three-way character study between Clarice Starling (our leading lady), Hannibal Lecter (the supporting bad guy who gets under your skin), and the film's unsettling villain Buffalo Bill (the only character in the film scarier than Lecter).



21. Memento: Christopher Nolan's twisty and very original psychological thriller stars Guy Pearce as a man suffering from anterograde amnesia, a condition which makes it impossible for him to form new memories, which he got from being attacked by a masked assailant who knocked him out before proceeding to rape and murder his wife. The man, named Leonard Shelby, spends the film trying to solve the mystery of who the man is (his only clue to the identity of the rapist is "John G.") so he can exact his revenge; but how does one solve a mystery when he keeps forgetting clues? Shelby must solve the case while also unraveling the enigma that is his own mind. The film is made more clever and unique by the way it's structured. The film is told by two interchanging sets of scenes: color sequences which are shown in reverse chronological order, and black-and-white scenes shown in chronological order, these two sets of scenes converge at the climax to reveal how they relate to one another. The way the film is structured made it as confusing to audience members as day-to-day life is to our leading character, which I think was the point. Because of this, the film was received well critically and was also a major success at the box office, because it drew people in with it's originality, great acting, complicated writing, interesting editing, and mind-blowing ending. But, the DVD also includes a cut shown in chronological order to clear things up for viewers who were still left puzzled. I prefer the more "confusing" version because if you watch the film chronologically it spoils the ending and also might leave viewers underwhelmed. The theatrical cut, however, is something really special.



Runner-ups: Gremlins, The Goonies, American History X, Kill Bill, Unforgiven, Million Dollar Baby, True Grit, Fargo, Mulholland Drive, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Unbreakable.

(Images: Wikipedia)