Change Your Image
therealjuansanchez
Reviews
Wrath of the Titans (2012)
"Gods don't die." They do now."
"Gods don't die." They do now." Wrath of Titans, the latest entry in the jumble of CG dominated sword and sandal films that have spilled from Hollywood over the past few years, is unsurprisingly littered with prosaic colloquy throughout its 99-minute runtime. Sadly, these uninspired exchanges represent some of the film's stronger writing as Wrath is dominated by dialogue consisting of characters simply yelling each other's names in various states of distress. "Perseus!" "Andromeda!" "Helius!" "The Navigator!" I could have sworn I even heard someone yell out my name. "Cutter! Go home and watch The Immortals on Amazon Video. You'll enjoy it more!" It's a shame I did not listen.
Wrath picks up where its predecessor Clash of Titans left off, with Perseus (Sam Worthington), son of Zeus (Liam Neeson) and slayer of the Kraken, now living a quiet life as a village fisherman, father and widower. He is reluctant to join the latest fight to save the world, but is soon forced back into action when poppa Zeus is captured by his sinister brother Hades (Ralph Fiennes) and hell beasts, presumably Titans, are set free upon the Earth to reek havoc. So what is Hades' end game? That is where the story takes a plunge toward the absurd, even for this film. Hades, realizing the Gods are now facing extinction due to man's eroding worship, plots to kidnap Zeus and transfer his power to their evil father Kronos, imprisoned in hell stone by Zeus and Hades years earlier, in the hope that Kronos will, after freeing himself and destroying the very beings that give the Gods their power, be merciful and somehow help him secure his immortality. Uh
okay.
Adventure films need not be entirely plausible or coherent to be successful, but they must, in the immortal words of Maximus Decimus Meridius, answer the question, "Are you entertained?" There were two headed dog beasts, giant Cyclopes, spinning minotaur infantry and enough thunder and fire to squat brimstone and yet my answer is emphatically no. In fact, I prefer the messy, murky Clash of the Titans to its latest offspring, which speaks volumes since I slept through most of it.
Cutter's Advice: See it, but don't expect much = C-
Serbuan maut (2011)
Arms, legs, necks and backs get "all jacked to hell"
The Raid: Redemption is a jarring piece of genre filmmaking set to a furious pace. Arms, legs, necks and backs get "all jacked to hell" from start to finish with barely a moments rest. However, behind the havoc lies an impressive and undeniable poetry of movement on display by the talented actors and stuntmen. They are a company of dancers, flawlessly executing some the most exiting martial arts set pieces seen in recent years, and Iko Uwais, in the lead role as Rama, is their "ballerino".
The Raid is economical in the area of plot, favoring mayhem over exposition. A drug lord (Ray Sahetapy) has set up shop on the top floor of a high-rise apartment building he controls. If police can defeat the kingpin's minions, they stand a chance to take him down. There is double-dealing, treachery and a predictable plot twist baked into the story, but it all falls second to the nonstop action that defines the film and stands to cement director Gareth Huw Evans' status as a cult hero. If you enjoy martial arts and action and don't mind the occasional exploding head or broken spine, this one is for you.
Casa de mi padre (2012)
Ron Burgundy In Mexico
Casa de mi Padre makes no bones about that fact that it is not for everybody. The telenovela spoof – Spanish, subtitled in English - with unapologetically cheap production values revels in the retro and weird, proudly humming along to its daffy spaghetti western tune as if every wild moment is entirely plausible. Casa stars Will Ferrell as Armando Alvarez, a dimwitted Mexican ranchero that "loves the land more than he loves the woman." Armando is catapulted into a love triangle and drug-war when his morally corrupt brother Raul (Diego Luna) and Raul's fiancé Sonia (Genesis Rodriguez) return home to marry and take over the territory of the reigning crime lord Onza (Gael Garcia Bernal).
In a scene preceding the bloody climax, Armando, shot and left for dead, is rescued from a man-eating coyote by a talking animatronic wildcat that serves as motivator, shaman and, presumably, medical doctor. Oh my! The charm of Casa is in how it approaches its melodramatic story and outrageous characters with equal parts goof and earnest, keeping all over-the-top comedic outbursts grounded in the world it has created.
With few laugh out loud moments, the film is best appreciated for its free-spirited confidence and gleefully offbeat dialogue. The decision to interrupt an imminent battle between the anamatronic wildcat and man-eating coyote over the lifeless body of Armando Alvarez represents a missed opportunity. Note to director Matt Piedmont, we want to see a wildcat fight a coyote over Will Ferrell while he plays dead. Make it a miniature puppet battle over a mannequin if you need to, just as long as we get to see it. Actually, that would be awesome!