Maxim’s Movie Reviews and Opinions Blog

Michael Bay continued working on the sequel, “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen“, a.k.a. “Transformers 2” in association with Hasbro written by Ehren Kruger, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman.

The plot: After Optimus Prime destroyed the Cube in the previous movie, the Decepticons have no choice to keep their race alive and dominant but to piece it together again. The information about the location of the vital piece of this energy source is in Sam Witwicky’s head, and Decepticons would have to kidnap him to get this information. Surviving Decepticon leader Skorpinox steals Megatron’s dead body from a secret US base and revives him using his own spark. Now Megatron and Starscream are coming back to Earth with force for another epic battle with humans, who forged an alliance with Optimus Prime and his friends. The whole universe is at stake.

The good: Beautiful photography. Fantastic landscapes and space-scapes, and just like in the first movie, CGI robots perfectly integrated into the environment. Obviously, a lot of thought and R&D budget went into figuring out how these robots are going to look and move and interact with surroundings. This episode also has not one, but two hot chicks.

The bad: Yes, I know, “IMAX Experience”. But don’t watch it from the front row. I don’t know how much this movie looked from the back of the theater, but from the 3rd row it looked like there wasn’t much going on in the movie except transformers changing shape and rolling over each other in the dust in a ball of metal parts. It’s like watching someone play an arcade game. The Decepticon that looked like a hot chick and had a very long tongue was quite freaky, and in one of the shots reminded me of “Terminator 3″. The Skorpinox’s spaceship looked like a rip-off from “Aliens”. The Autobots had more toy-like qualities then in the first movie – so much so that it seemed that this episode was targeting an audience of smaller children. So were the dialogs. It was nice to see John Torturro again as the obsessed Agent Simmons (except for episode where he shows off his ass), but the other new character, Leo Spitz (Ramon Rodriguez), was a lousy comical relief. It’s not clear why he had to be dragged along on the adventures of Sam and Mikaela, because he served no purpose whatsoever. What’s with robots humping humans and dogs humping each other? Is that what passes for epic these days? Just admit that this movie has no plot. All you get to see is robots fighting and a lot of stuff falling and breaking with loud bangs. There are no characters to care about. I kinda wish the Decepticons did destroy the solar system.

The summary: Great visuals replace substance, plot and acting.

The cast: Sam Witwicky – Shia LaBeouf | Mikaela Banes – Megan Fox | Major Lennox – Josh Duhamel | USAF Master Sergeant Epps – Tyrese Gibson | Agent Simmons – John Turturro | Leo Spitz – Ramon Rodriguez | Ron Witwicky – Kevin Dunn | Judy Witwicky – Julie White | Alice – Isabel Lucas | General Morshower – Glenn Morshower | Optimus Prime (voice) – Peter Cullen | Jetfire (voice) – Mark Ryan | Mudflap (voice) – Reno Wilson | Ratchet (voice) – Robert Foxworth | Megatron (voice) – Hugo Weaving | Fallen (voice) – Tony Todd | Starscream (voice) – Charles Adler

The crew: Director – Michael Bay | Writers – Ehren Kruger, Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman | Producers – Michael Bay, Steven Spielberg, Ian Bryce, Allegra Clegg, Matthew Cohan, Tom DeSanto, Lorenzo di Bonaventura, Brian Goldner, Mohammed Hassan (Egypt), Don Murphy, Mark Vahradian | Original Music – Steve Jablonsky | Photography/Cinematography – Ben Seresin | DreamWorks SKG | Hasbro | Paramount Pictures | Di Bonaventura Pictures

Talented Anne Fletcher (27 Dresses, Step Up), a choreographer, an actress and a film producer, directed “The Proposal” – a romantic comedy starring Ryan Reynolds and Sandra Bullock.

The plot: Margaret Tate (Sandra Bullock), chief editor or a publishing house, is a monstrous boss. When her visa application is denied ans she is threatened with deportation to Canada, she forces her young assistant Andrew Paxton (Ryan Reynolds) to marry her. But the scheme does not sit well with immigration officer Mr. Gilbertson (Denis O’Hare), who is determined to prove that the couple is committing a fraud. Andrew and Margaret now have to act like a couple to deceive him and Andrew’s family.

The good: I think the best part of the movie is the chemistry between Andrew and Margaret and their body language. Ramone (Oscar Nuñez) was a great character – in the small town of Sitka, Alaska, he is the waiter, a store clerk, a stripper and a priest! Also funny how employees at the publishing house were coping with Margaret’s despotic behavior. This movie should spark an increase in travel to Alaska: the scenery was gorgeous. Nice closing sequence.

The bad: The movie is completely predictable. It’s basically “Meet the parents” with a different setup. I already knew the ending and the story line right after watching the trailer. No surprises there. Also the green-screen CGI where eagle snatched the puppy was ridiculously poor quality. Many jokes were taken too far. The naked collision scene was a dead giveaway and a forced set-up. It’s also hard to believe that Andrew, who knew Margaret for three years and hated her but stayed around because of “high work ethics” despite her being a despotic and inconsiderate, would fall in love to her in three days. Is it true that all it takes is to put a man and a woman in the same room for three days and two nights? The ex-girlfriend character was a wasted potential for extra drama. The relationship between Andrew and his father (Craig T. Nelson) was under-developed.

The summary: I went to the movie with very low expectations and only because I already promised Elena to see it with her and because I felt guilty about convincing her to see “The Hangover” previously. But I was presented with a surprise – this chick flick is actually pretty good. Could be a good date movie.

Memorable quotes:

Office employee [on IM when Margaret walks in]: “The Witch is on the Broom!”

Grandma Annie [upon being introduced to Margaret]:  Do you prefer Margaret or “Satan’s Mistress”?

Random comments:

Surprisingly, the audience was about 70% male. And they laughed outloud and seemed to enjoy it. I don’t know if that’s consistent in all showings, or was it because they were trying to kill time between 8pm show and the opening of the “Transformers” – there was a lot of people in front of the theater on loan chairs.

Sandra Bullock is getting old.

Notice that the grandma was taken to hospital by a sea-plane. General aviation saves lives and really does serve America. Think about that next time your airline flight is delayed and the airline blames general aviation. According to airlines’ own data, 50% of all delays are airline’s own fault. 40% are weather-related delays (and as mid-air breakup of Air France indicates, you don’t mess with weather).

The cast: Margaret Tate - Sandra Bullock | Andrew Paxton - Ryan Reynolds | Grace Paxton - Mary Steenburgen | Joe Paxton - Craig T. Nelson | Grandma Annie – Betty White | Mr. Gilbertson - Denis O’Hare | Gertrude – Malin Akerman | Ramone – Oscar Nuñez | Bob Spaulding – Aasif Mandvi

The crew: Director – Anne Fletcher | Writer – Pete Chiarelli | Producers – Sandra Bullock, Kristin Burr, David Hoberman, Alex Kurtzman, Todd Lieberman, Mary McLaglen, Roberto Orci | Original Music – Aaron Zigman | Cinematography – Oliver Stapleton

Director Todd Phillips continues along the lines of his previous comedies, “The Old School” (2003) and “Road Trip” (2000).

The plot: The movie opens with one of the groom’s friends calling the bride and telling her the Doug is not going to make it. Because they lost him. In Las Vegas. After a crazy bachelor party night, the tree wake up in a trashed hotel room, with Mike Tyson’s tiger in the bathroom and a chicken walking around. They have to retrace their steps to find him on time to return to the wedding.

The good: Few chuckles here and there. I liked Heather Graham who played a hooker with a heart of gold and Zach Galifianakis’ character was entertaining. Rob Riggle (from “The Daily Show”) had a couple of funny moments on the screen. Great set up and opening. Nice twist with the second Doug. I liked that every character has some profound personality problems.

The bad: This comedy is not funny at all. However it is full of gross-out moments, including male nudity, fight scene ala ”Borat”, urination, blow job etc. etc. Where fantasy of script writers ran out, they substituted jokes for gross scenes that were passes for funny. The was no genuine laughter in a relatively full theater, but there was a lot of howling, Ooooos and Aaaas and “I can’t believe he just did that”. Except for Zach Galifianakis who played a colorful (but forgettable) character with a court order prohibiting him from being closer then 2000 feet from any place where children congregate, the characters are not particularly interesting. I asked three of my friends, what was the funniest moment in the movie? “They stole the police car”. Yawn.

The summary: One of the worst slapstick comedies I’ve seen. Not funny and gross. Take “Dude, Where Is My Car” and take away the humor. Is this what’s passing for funny these days?

The cast: Phil Wenneck - Bradley Cooper | Stu Price - Ed Helms | Alan Garner - Zach Galifianakis | Doug Billings - Justin Bartha | Jade - Heather Graham | Tracy Garner - Sasha Barrese | Mr. Chow - Ken Jeong | Mike Tyson - Mike Tyson

The crew: Director – Todd Phillips | Writers – Jon Lucas, Scott Moore

The plot: Jinx (Nick Stahl – Sleepwalking, Sin City, Terminator 3), a slacker who walks into a branch of  a bank to withdraw $20, and an employee of the branch/babe, Jessica (Erika Christensen – Garden of Eden, Flightplan, The Upside of Anger), accidentally get mixed up in a on-going bank robbery and gets stuck in the vault, which gives him a chip in the game of negotiating with police and the bad guys with guns.

The good:

1. The Jinx character is so silly and clueless, he messes things up for everyone – police and the bad guys. Even though the story and script are pretty low-grade, the situational comedy is quite funny with many LOL moments. Many funny dialogs. Some of them were funny because they were so stupid.
2. The moment I heard it, I was 100% certain – the voice of Nick, the mastermind of the heist, belonged to late David Carradine. He appears on screen for 5 seconds in the end of the movie. But his voice alone is more prominent then all the acting combined in this movie.
3. This movie will appeal to Friday night crowds and everyone who is upset about “miscellaneous fees and surcharges” that banks and cell phone companies nickel-and-dime their customers for billions of dollars.

The bad:

1. Low quality script and story
2. Bad acting
3. Once again, the leader of the bad guys had to be British. But all of British sophistication is not match for blunt American arrogance. Oh well. This stereotype is not worse then any other.

Memorable quotes:

Simon: [to Gunman] Just go pretend to guard the guard!

Officer DeGepse: What’s the situation?
Jason ‘Jinx’ Taylor: I don’t know. We’re fine… unless you count being locked in a vault with armed assholes outside of the door.
Officer DeGepse: Excuse me?
Jason ‘Jinx’ Taylor: No, no… not you people.
Officer DeGepse: Excuse me?
Jason ‘Jinx’ Taylor: Oh god. Tell me you’re not black or something. I didn’t mean to…
Officer DeGepse: Yep. I’m black. You got it.

Officer DeGepse: I need to know if you’re still safe and secure.
Jason ‘Jinx’ Taylor: You can say I’m safe.
Officer DeGepse: Now outline the situation, please.
Jason ‘Jinx’ Taylor: I’m safe because I’m in the safe.
Officer DeGepse: [annoyed] I got the joke, sir.

The credits: Writer/Director – Andrews Jenkins | Jinx - Nick Stahl | Jessica – Erika Christensen | Simon – Gavin Rossdale (Terminator 3, xXx, The Jackal, Constantine) | Officer DeGepse - Terry Crews (Get Smart, Street Kings, Norbit, Click, Starsky & Hutch etc.) | Nick – David Carradine | Gunman – Leo Fitzpatrick | Producers – Randy Delano, Tamara Delano, Kyle Dean Jackson, Rick Lashbrook, Brent Morris, Tim O’Hair, Darby Parker, Arthur M. Sarkissian, Peter Sussman | Original Music – Didier Rachou | Cinematography – Joe Meade