This is not a kids’ movie. You think that would be obvious considering that the word ass is in the title, and it’s not referring to a playful donkey, but apparently not. Also, if you’re one of those numerous people I’ve heard say they thought this is a kiddy flick, check the rating foolio! It’s rated R. Not R as in a Roaring good time for the whole family, or R as in Run, don’t walk with your toddlers to this film, but R as in you’re Risking getting kicked out of the theater if you are under 17. So now that we have that cleared up, go see this movie. Honestly, I wouldn’t even bother reading the rest of this blog. But, since I’ve already seen it, I can take the time to write it.
This movie is relevant. Not in the way that superheroes are now strutting around the streets of your city, but in that the humor and characters are what’s funny now. This is a movie in the tradition of Superbad. This is Superbad 2.0. Superbad 2.0 with superheroes. I know! It sounds awesome! Why are you not at the theater already? Oh, right, because I’m so charming and you can’t leave without knowing what other brilliant and witty things I’m going to say. Keeping the dream alive baby.
Of course, the whole socially awkward teenage boy bit has sort of been done to death, but at least the dorks/coolest people you will ever see in this movie are really entertaining to watch. The main character is completely endearing and you can’t help being entirely drawn in by his story. Let me just say it’s not a normal story, and that’s part of what’s great. Another part is that he frickin’ dresses up like a superhero! The combination of pure reality and comic book style melodrama makes this film a joy to watch. Anytime you begin to get swept into the fantasy of the movie, you’re hit with the authenticity of real life problems. The little girl superhero (the one who may have made you believe that this was a kids’ movie) is the most violent character in the film. At first this is weird. But, then, it’s amazing. I mean she kills a lot of people. Like there is blood everywhere. This is definitely a violent movie, but it honestly didn't really bother me. Normally, you might say that that reflects poorly on me, but everyone in the theater was cracking up, so if you feel like being critical, blame society. Did I mention Nicolas Cage is in this movie too? Neat, but not a big deal. Basically, it's fun to watch. Which you should know already because you should already be in the theater!
I think I just need to get this out of the way because I fear that otherwise it will seep into the rest of the review. This shouldn’t have affected my viewing of the movie, but I have to say it did. Even when Miley Cyrus is not making any particular face, her cheeks and mouth still do this strange drooping thing, like she’s pouting, all the time. It really bothered me. It made her already moody character seem even more disgruntled. Now I will move on to evaluate the movie and her acting without thinking of that.
Liam Hemsworth is a good-looking young fellow, and I admit to having seen movies purely because they have other similarly attractive fellows in them. However, he was not the reason I saw this film. But, by the end, I felt I needed to say I’d seen it for him as a defense. I was unimpressed with the writing and the majority of the acting in this film. Characters like the troubled red-headed girl seemed unneeded. While a few extra scenes before the two teens declare their love for each other would have been nice. It’s true that the story is rather tragic, but is that supposed to be enough? Liam Hemsworth and Greg Kinnear both did fine jobs. But, the performance I was most moved and impressed by was the young boy, Bobby Coleman. I won’t ruin it for you, but there’s a scene near the end that is heartbreaking because of his excellent acting. Watching someone like Cyrus is always hard to do because as an actress and star she comes with so much baggage. I tried to let all that go, but I have to say, I couldn’t help feeling that her fame got her the role someone else could have performed better. She played a teenager, angry and grumpy and ultimately not such a bad person, but nothing Cyrus did left me feeling connected to her character. The dialogue she said often seemed random and cliché, a hard effect to accomplish, but it actually made me think that perhaps she was improvising (also, I saw an interview where she said she never learned her lines, so that may have affected my opinion as well). If not, than it truly was the writers’ fault because this stuff was akin to the dialogue catastrophe of Star War III. I could see how this could make a good novel, as I’ve heard it is, but too much was missing from the film. Partly because of the time issues that don’t allow a director to include all of a book I’m sure, but also because the commitment didn’t seem to be there. I’d skip it.
I’ll admit that my curiosity about this film mostly stemmed from my love of Lost and Emilie de Ravin. I was also probably tempted to see if Robert Pattison could play a character that wasn’t part of a beloved fantasy series. I may be the only person, but I was not let down by either actors. Although the first scene seemed a little cliché, (and frightening since I live in New York) I found most of the movie to be charming and enjoyable. Certainly the plot of an angsty college student has been done before, but at the least, this was an interesting study of family dynamics and how they truly affect the people we become.
The love story was not an epic one by any standards, but I think I prefer it that way. It seems more natural to have your college boyfriend/girlfriend just be one part of the mess that is your life. Stories that are only about love ignore the many other aspects of everyone’s lives that can drive them crazy just as much as a new crush can. Pierce Brosnan did not seem nearly as out of place as I assumed he would, and in fact, gave a rather multi-dimensional and moving performance. Equally surprising and delightful was the young Ruby Jerins, who played a child stuck in the middle of family tragedy with grace and humor. Although, Pattinson’s character may have been written as an obvious uncontrollable and lost twenty-something, he was able to draw me into the story and remind me that such a boy doesn’t have to be a cliché. I was a little unsure how to feel about da Ravin’s family situation in the movie at points, and her character didn’t have the depth that Pattinson’s did, but she still put in a good performance as a quirky and intelligent young woman.
As to the ending, I did not know what it was going in. I hate having movies, books, anecdotes, anything ruined for me by knowing the ending. If you don’t know the ending, keep it that way. I found it startling, and I was incredibly affected by it. I hope this doesn’t give it away, but it really struck me that there are about 5,000 other stories that could end that way. We saw only one story.
I found this movie disturbing. Not in the “scary movie that really creeped me out” way, but in the “this happened, and the U.S. did it” way. The story may be fiction, but the circumstances are not. I found myself completely disgusted with the bombings and destruction shown in this film. The jarring scene in the prison where Iraqis were kept and tortured was almost too terrible to watch. And the constant reminder that there were no weapons of mass destruction, and that there was no legal reason for the U.S. to intervene and suddenly decide which people they should “punish” reinforced all the negative feelings about the U.S.’s choice. No matter which political party you are a part of here, I don’t think you can watch this movie without seriously questioning not only our government’s actions, but also our lack of response to these actions. The public was largely aware of what was going on in Iraq, perhaps not to the full extent, but the rest we could have pretty easily surmised. I think that this effect was the biggest accomplishment of the movie. Certainly the plot was entertaining to watch and the acting was quality, but the gruesome reality of what the situation in Iraq was and is stays with you after you leave the theater.
Although the intent of making the movie look more like a documentary with the handheld camera work was good, the actual effect was overwhelming. Often it actually hurt my eyes to look at the screen. Even though this technique was irritating, it accomplished its overall goal of simulating reality. It gives the feeling that you are running behind the soldiers on their missions and puts you in their shoes. Matt Damon played an excellent good guy, but the movie’s ability to leave you questioning what is good and bad added some dimension to the character. I think I respected Damon more for being a part of a movie with such an intense message than for his acting necessarily. If you go, expect more than the average Damon action flick.
I am one of the lucky few that got to see any early screening of this biopic about Joan Jett’s first band, The Runaways. I was also extremely honored to have Joan Jett actually attend the screening and speak afterwards. Now, I don’t want to make this about my personal experience, but let me just say, she’s pretty awesome. Just cool, in the original meaning of the word. Now on to the movie.
First off, don’t skip this one just because you may have hated Kristen Stewart in The Twilight Saga. Cut her some slack, Bella Swan is written as a pretty annoying character, how’s she supposed to play it? Anyway, her portrayal is appropriately nothing like the character she plays in the vampire flicks. You may have heard the same rumors as me, that Joan Jett made Stewart cry on set, but quite frankly, I don’t care. Stewart had a great performance. After seeing Stewart in the movie and then being able to see the woman she was playing standing in front of me in real life, I was impressed. Jett also had nothing but good things to say about Stewart and her performance. And even if all this doesn’t quite convince you, let me tell you, this movie is more about Dakota Fanning’s character, Cherie Currie, than Jett. And Ms. Fanning is all grown up. I’m sure she’ll be sick of hearing that by the end of publicity for this movie, but there’s no way of avoiding the subject. Fanning is edgy. I know, who would have guessed that that little charmer from Uptown Girls would grow up and put on a corset and lingerie and perform rock ‘n roll; not to mention portray a hard into drugs and extremely sexually free young woman. Not me, but she pulled it out. She committed to the role, and I believed it. Both also did excellent jobs actually performing the music themselves. That’s all Fanning when you see her singing.
It’s also hard for me to resist a movie with music, especially such great music. And, the fact that the women producing this music were starting a revolution for women in the industry only left me cheering for them more. There was definitely a sense of authenticity to the time, and all the costumes were believable and very stylish (some even appearing to be exact replicas from the actual band). There were a few too many hazy, drug-induced scenes for me, but it did give you a kind of rush (most certainly intended) that can somewhat put you in the minds of the girls in the band. Because of it's genre it also tends to focus a lot more on the "wild" lives of the girls than the music, something that you can accept as part of a rock 'n roll movie or hate. But, if you’d like to see a piece of rock ‘n roll history and the making of a band (and some great actors), I wouldn’t miss it when it comes to theaters.
If you want to see the original Runaways perform "Cherrybomb" go to this link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zG5LkU4646E
There are better recordings of it though. You can find one if you google cherry bomb runaways.
Yes, the title is too long. I lose interest just while listening to it in the trailer; one of the reasons the marketing team appeared to have some trouble with this film. Another big reason you may not know about it is because it came out the same day as Valentine’s Day, which was destined to be the box office favorite. A lot of people may have forgotten about it after opening weekend when any marketing that was taking place seemed to have stopped. But, as for me, I’m glad I choose this film, despite my annoyance with the title.
It’s fun to watch, and when it comes down to it, if a movie achieves that, you can’t ask for a ton more. The characters were extremely enjoyable to watch, and the surprisingly star-studded cast, although adding to the cheesiness, was certainly entertaining. It almost seemed like this was supposed to be a blockbuster, what with the big Hollywood actors, first class director, and epic plot, but somehow it got lost along the way to theaters. I recommend going out and finding it. The younger actors all did great jobs, especially Logan Lerman, who is sure to make teenage girls swoon with his boyish grin and self-confidence befitting a god. The female lead, Alexandra Daddario, was also a pleasant surprise. It’s become ever so rare to have a teenage girl play a character that isn’t a boy-obsessed, princess in distress, but that’s exactly what Alexandra does (You go girl!)
The plot is fast-paced and delightful in it’s recreation and integration of ancient Greek stories into the twentieth century. The setting changes rapidly and the heroes are constantly bombarded with new, if not slightly ridiculous, obstacles. It’s true that some of the circumstances and set/costumes designs are a bit cliché, but it feels okay to laugh at this, like it was planned to add to the comedy of the movie (which is already substantial from the fairly clever script). So, if you’re looking for a laugh and a bit of fantasy, hit it up.
