Dr. Seuss' The Lorax

Dr. Seuss' The Lorax - Dirs. Chris Renaud & Kyle Balda (2012)

"I am the Lorax, I speak for the trees. I speak for the trees, for the trees have no tongues."

The work of Dr. Seuss has captured the imaginations of countless children and will continue to do so for generations to come. The same cannot be said for the cinematic adaptations. Universal's live-action versions of The Grinch Who Stole Christmas and The Cat in the Hat are glaring blemishes to the legacy of the good doctor. The early cartoon versions had it right, keep things short and sweet. Seuss only needed ten or fifteen pages and a few sentences (in rhyme) to engage the reader. The filmmakers inject all the usual tropes like romantic subplots to pad the story out to feature length. This leads us to Dr. Seuss' The Lorax, the second of Seuss's creations to be adapted into a computer animated film. Fox's Blue Sky Studios previously released Horton Hears a Who! in 2008, but Universal and Illumination Entertainment are ones behind Lorax. Illumination debuted with Despicable Me, one of the best animated films of 2010. They stumbled with the live-action Hop, but don't get all the way back on track here.

The Lorax begins in Thneed-Ville, a walled community where the citizens live in the lap of luxury and prize their elaborate automobiles and parking lots. Everything is artificial in Thneed-Ville, the trees are battery operated and the flora is inflatable. The Mayor of Thneed-ville, Aloysius O'Hare (Rob Riggle) has become an extremely wealthy man by selling the townsfolk purified air delivered to their homes in bottles ala Arrowhead. Young Ted (Zac Efron) has a crush on the lovely Audrey (Taylor Swift), who yearns for the day when she might see a real, honest-to-goodness tree. Following the advice of his Grammy Norma (Betty White), Ted sneaks outside the walls of Thneed-ville and finds a barren and blackened wasteland. The only person living in the desolation is a strange hermit named the Once-Ler (Ed Helms), who relates his story to Ted.

Looking to make his fortune, the Once-Ler traveled to the lush valley that was teeming with swomee-swans, bar-ba-loots, and humming fish. What really catches the Once-Ler's eye are the truffula trees, topped with brightly colored tuffs of fur, which he needs to knit Thneeds, a multi-purpose sweater that everyone will need. Felling the first tree summons the Lorax (voiced perfectly by Danny DeVito), a diminutive orange creature with a bushy mustache. Serving as the protector of the forest, the Lorax pleads with the Once-Ler to leave the valley be. The Lorax's appeal for sanity falls on deaf ears as the Once-Ler builds an ominous factory to mass manufacture Thneeds and chops down every tree. Without trees, he can no longer produce Thneeds and his whole operation shuts down. Worse yet, the land has been rendered uninhabitable by the smog and pollution from the factory. The Once-Ler entrusts the last truffula seed to Ted in the hopes he can return the valley to its former glory. However, O'Hare will do anything to stop Ted from planting something that will give his customers air for free.

Conservative pundits have singled out The Lorax as part of a nebulous left-wing conspiracy to brainwash children into hating corporations and hugging trees. I'm speaking of pundits, specifically from Fox News, which is ironic considering Fox produced In Time, a movie with an overt pro-socialist message. Anyone capable of an iota of rational thought will see The Lorax as a film railing against unchecked excess. It's not subtle about it either. Not when the Once-Ler has a huge poster of himself emblazoned with the phrase, "Too big to fail." An opening musical number introduces life in Thneed-ville as the citizens laud their consumerist culture and blissful ignorance. Another number, "How Bad Can I Be?", sees the Once-Ler justifying his rampant greed and willful disdain of the environment as simple free market Darwinism. The songs themselves were composed by John Powell and co-writer Cinco Paul. They aren't memorable, but they are catchy and innocuous in a Disney Radio sort of way.

All this talk about liberal agendas overlooks the fact that The Lorax was produced by a major corporation in the most corporate of ways. The script rings hollow and feels like it was run through a wringer of focus groups right down to the casting of Teen Choice Award winners Zac Efron and Taylor Swift, plus Betty White as the sassy, snowboarding octogenarian. Also, I highly doubt Dr. Seuss ever envisioned the Lorax as a shill for General Electric, Mazda SUVs, and IHOP pancake combos.

"Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better…it's not."

Dr. Seuss' The Lorax doesn't come close to competing with Pixar. It's more diverting than thought provoking. The movie may not convince kids to plant a tree, but it will entertain them long enough with loud noises and bright shiny things.

Rating: ** (*****)

Magic Mike

Magic Mike - Dir. Steven Soderbergh (2012)

Magic Mike could easily be dismissed as "that male stripper movie." Indeed, the ad campaign seems to sell it as fun times with a beefcake bonanza. The fact that 98% of the audiences I saw attending the screenings opening weekend were female deems the marketing a success. However, don't go in expecting Magic Mike to be a campy, gender-reversed version of Showgirls. The movie is surprisingly deep and a bit of a bummer. You can thank director Steven Soderbergh for bringing a little substance to all the glittery thongs and bare buttocks on display. Magic Mike is the male companion to Soderbergh's The Girlfriend Experience with a dash of Flashdance and Boogie Nights thrown in for good measure.

The titular Magic Mike is played by Channing Tatum, who was inspired to make the film by his time working as a male stripper after dropping out of college. The screenplay was written by his producing partner Reid Carolin.

By day, Mike is a part-time construction worker and owns an auto detailing van though we never see him do any of the latter. At night, he is the star attraction at Xquisite, located in the heart of the bustling nightclub scene of Tampa, Florida. Mike doesn't want to strip forever. He has aspirations of running a custom furniture business. He crafts tables from the flotsam and jetsam that wash up on the beach. That encapsulates one of the primary themes in Magic Mike, finding a purpose for the unwanted debris of society. Right on cue, Mike meets Adam (Alex Pettyfer), a college dropout sleeping on his sister's couch. Adam blew a football scholarship after punching out his coach and gets fired on the first day by the foreman. Safe to say, he has impulse control issues.

Mike takes Adam under his wing and nicknames him, "The Kid," where he joins a small cast of well-toned studs that includes Big Dick Richie (Joe Manganiello), Tito (CSI: Miami's Adam Rodriguez), Ken the living doll (Matt Bomer), and former dancer turned emcee Dallas (Matthew McConaughey). As Adam descends deeper into his hedonistic lifestyle, Mike finds potential for a fresh start and a pure romance with Adam's sister, Brooke (Cody Horn).

Magic Mike is a lot more thoughtful than the ad campaign would have you believe. Yes, there is a lot of flesh with Tatum dancing up a storm and dusting off his Step Up moves. The club isn't a normal strip club, but a dance revue where the men perform elaborate skits dressed as firemen, sailors, soldiers, and cowboys. Yes, there is the obligatory number set to "It's Raining Men." Surprisingly, the film has more female nudity than male as we get a Tatum butt shot within minutes quickly followed by a topless Olivia Munn.

The story is steeped in the current zeitgeist of country's economic fallout. This theme is never more apparent than a scene in which Mike fails to secure a small business loan (he's considered distressed) from a bank representative played by Breaking Bad's Betsy Brandt. Mike rifles off a great comeback line, "I watch the news. Ya'll are the ones who are distressed." Magic Mike shares similarities with The Wrestler in that both feature protagonists selling their bodies to survive. While Randy the Ram destroys his for the entertainment of the fans, Mike must keep his in pristine condition. The comparisons go further when you note that one of the strippers is Kevin Nash, a 7ft. tall former professional wrestler. Nash is in his fifties and has two bad knees due to a litany of injuries. In the movie, he is Tarzan and dances in a loincloth with an obvious leg brace because he doesn't know how to do anything else. He's the cautionary tale, the road where Mike may be headed.

Mike himself is played with easy-going charm by Channing Tatum, who has never been considered one of today's great thespians. But, Soderbergh knows how to utilize his actors within their own limitations. He made Gina Carano into a believable action star through stoicism and a terse amount of dialogue. In The Girlfriend Experience, he had porn star Sasha Grey exude a cold detachment that could have been a wooden performance in any other movie. In Magic Mike, he lets Tatum be himself, a loveable lug who sometimes stumbles over his own words. Tatum's scenes with Cody Horn are some of the film's best. When Soderbergh keeps the camera at a distance, he makes it feel as if the audience is eavesdropping on a pair of young lovers. The reviews of Horn's performance are all over the map. A few critics have bashed her for being cardboard or that she only got the job because her father, Alan Horn, chairman of Walt Disney Studios and former president of Warner Bros, who produced Magic Mike. I choose to give her a thumbs up. Just like Tatum, Horn gives a naturalistic performance. You cannot say the same for Alex Pettyfer, who lacks the charisma and presence of his co-stars, particularly Matthew McConaughey. The handsome actor with the trademark Texas drawl has undergone a career resurgence. No longer content with doing crappy romantic comedies with Kate Hudson, McConaughey has taken on daring low-budget projects with directors such as Soderbergh, Richard Linklater (Bernie), Jeff Nichols (Mud), Lee Daniels (The Paperboy), and William Friedkin (Killer Joe). He exudes McConaughey-ness in the role of Dallas and draws your attention whenever he is on screen, not just because of his shiny washboard abs. There's also a hint of a dark side to his character, someone who isn't above exploiting his employees.

Soderbergh gives everyone a unique look. He takes the nocturnal world of the Tampa club scene and washes it with an orange and yellow glow. During a scene where Mike and Adam attempt to snare a couple girls to their club, Soderbergh shoots it from a high angle long shot where they are just a few bodies in teeming sea of humanity. He then flips it to a closer low angle where the girls are hooked and they are now the only people in the world. Another memorable shot is of Big Dick's namesake appendage being fluffed by a pump, which is in the foreground corner of the screen and slightly out of focus with Adam in the center background staring quizzically at it.

Magic Mike isn't an entirely original story. It's a tried and true cautionary tale of show business with all the requisite dangers of sex, drugs, and backstage drama. But, the cast is superb and Soderbergh gives it his unique stamp.

Rating: *** ½ (*****)

The Dark Knight Rises

The Dark Knight Rises - Dir. Christopher Nolan (2012)

"You don't owe these people anymore, you've given them everything."

"Not everything…not yet."

Warning: This is a spoiler heavy review. If you have not seen The Dark Knight Rises, read the relatively spoiler light reviews by Ranjan Pruthee and I at Movie Metropolis.

Christopher Nolan revolutionized the way we think of superhero movies. Just as Richard Donner's Superman made you believe a man could fly, Nolan's Batman films made you believe a man fighting crime dressed as a giant bat could exist in the real world. Nolan's Batman was to the Tim Burton version what Burton's version was to the campy Adam West TV series. Nolan stripped the Bat of his most outlandish elements and grounded it in a gritty, realistic setting. Batman Begins detailed the origin of the Caped Crusader in a manner never seen before on the big screen. Nolan traced every step of Bruce Wayne's arduous journey to becoming the Batman. Its sequel, The Dark Knight, became a massive pop culture event and one of the highest grossing movies of all time. You can thank an unforgettable performance by the late-Heath Ledger as the Joker, Batman's greatest arch-enemy. Dark Knight also succeeded because it didn't look or feel like a typical comic book movie. It was Shakespearean tragedy done in the vein of a neo-noir crime film ala Michael Mann. The bar was set incredibly high for The Dark Knight Rises, the epic conclusion to Nolan's Bat-trilogy.

Eight years after the events of Dark Knight, Gotham City has eradicated the plague of organized crime. A thousand criminals have been locked away without parole thanks to the Harvey Dent Act. The victory has come at a high cost as the Batman accepted the blame for the murderous acts of Gotham's fallen district attorney. The cover-up has eaten away at Commissioner Gordon (Gary Oldman), who is left alone. His wife and children have left him and his staunchest ally has disappeared. Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) has hung up the cape and cowl and retreated back to Wayne Manor amidst rumors of becoming a Howard Hughes-esque shut-in. His time as Batman has taken its toll on his spirit and his body, walking with aid of a cane and mourning the loss of Rachel Dawes.

Before the Batman can fade into the mists of myth and legend, a new evil arrives in Gotham, a masked mercenary known as Bane (Tom Hardy), born and raised in a hellish Middle Eastern prison. Fashioning himself a latter day revolutionary, Bane is the rare foe who is both physically and mentally a match for Batman. Bane isn't cut from the same cloth as the cowardly and superstitious lot our hero generally faces. He draws first blood after hitting the Gotham stock exchange and ruining Bruce Wayne's finances. Bruce is forced to wrest control of Wayne Enterprises with the help of Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman) and Miranda Tate (Marion Cotillard), a new board member who provides him with much needed comfort. As Batman, he must combat Bane's loyal army with the assistance of an earnest beat cop named Blake (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and Selina Kyle (Anne Hathaway), a slinky thief working her own agenda.

The screenplay by Christopher & Jonathan Nolan (with story credit to David S. Goyer), borrows from several comic book sources such as Knightfall (in which Bane and Batman first do battle), No Man's Land (where Gotham is cut off from the rest of the nation by government order), and Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns (where an aged Batman is forced out of retirement). The latter is fitting since Nolan utilized many elements from Miller's Batman:Year One in his own re-telling of the Caped Crusader's origin. Indeed, Dark Knight Rises brings the series full circle by drawing many parallels to Batman Begins. Much like Bruce Wayne, Bane was trained by Ra's al Ghul (w/ Liam Neeson returning in a brief dream sequence) forcing Batman to battle an old and familiar threat in the League of Shadows. Those familiar with Knightfall will know Bane breaks the Batman's back and then tosses him into the prison, which resembles the family well he fell down as a child. Once again, Bruce must re-train his mind and body for the inevitable rematch.

"And why do we fall, Bruce? So we can learn to pick ourselves up."

I've always considered Christopher Nolan to be the cerebral Michael Bay. Nolan is a master at visual spectacle. We've seen what the director is capable of in Inception with massive cityscapes folding in on themselves and a jaw-dropping scene from Dark Knight involving a somersaulting 18-wheeler. Dark Knight Rises is no different as Nolan uses the IMAX format to its fullest. The film opens with a stunning prologue, done mostly with practical effects, where Bane hijacks a plane in mid-air. There's also a thrilling chase sequence as Gotham Police pursue Batman through the streets and the much ballyhooed implosion of a football field. In addition to the Tumbler and the Bat-Pod, Batman's latest weapon is the Bat, an aerial assault vehicle that glides through the labyrinthine urban landscape.

Nolan's skills as an action director have improved since Batman Begins and the set pieces in Rises are less choppy and more coherent. Nolan imbues his sense of style with a substance ripped out of the headlines. The Dark Knight was all about the Joker shattering the illusion of post-9/11 unity with Batman enacting totalitarian measures by tapping into the city's cell phone signals. In Rises, Bane presents himself as a champion for the oppressed and an enemy of economic inequality. The Nolans draw inspiration from A Tale of Two Cities with Gotham descending into a Dickensian winter under the occupation of Bane's forces. His followers toss the wealthy out of their homes and drag them in front of a kangaroo court headed by Dr. Jonathan Crane (Cillian Murphy) aka The Scarecrow.

These ideas are hammered in by the evolution of Gotham City from the stylized Chicago of the previous picture to an analogue of New York City. Wall Street and the Queensboro Bridge have been transplanted to Gotham with Trump Tower standing in for the headquarters of Wayne Enterprises. Yet, Nolan merely dresses the film up with these heady themes without fully drawing upon them. Sometimes they feel like parlor tricks meant to distract the viewer from obvious plot holes and inconsistencies that creep up once you have allowed the film time to absorb. The Dark Knight ended with the intriguing promise of a Batman shunned by the public he protected, hunted by the police, and once again feared by the criminal underworld as a wanted murderer. Instead, the threequel leaps forward where Bruce Wayne has improbably put Batman out to pasture. Yet, this plot element has its upside. Comic book movies depict the hero at the beginning or the prime of his career and never when his body has broken down. Bruce is forced to wear a high-tech leg brace to compensate for his knee injuries. However, his injuries are quickly forgotten after a clichéd training montage. Also, it doesn't make a lot of sense to transfer Dr. Pavel's blood to the anonymous corpse since the CIA would still be able to check DNA or dental records.

Some might be disappointed that Dark Knight Rises is the closest of the trilogy to a traditional superhero film with a city held hostage and a madman with an Armageddon device. But, is there really anything wrong with that? And when Batman is flying away with the nuke, did anyone else hope he'd say, "Some days you just can't get rid of a bomb."

Christian Bale gives his best performance of the series in Dark Knight Rises, even if he does overdo the growly Bat-voice. Bale has a rich supporting cast to draw from though many of them are criminally underutilized. Michael Caine returns as the steadfast Alfred, who serves as the heart of the film as well as an instrument of clunky exposition. Nolan still has a rough time dealing with exposition without having characters simply standing around and talking at convenient times. To me, it's just as hard to believe Alfred would abandon Bruce as it was when Michael Gough's Alfred let Vicki Vale into the Bat-Cave.

Joseph-Gordon Levitt instills more to the character of Blake than what was written on the page. As we learn in the end, his first name is Robin, Nolan's unique take on the Boy Wonder. Blake is an amalgam of the first three Robins. He's an orphan like Dick Grayson, a hothead like Jason Todd, and possesses a deductive mind like Tim Drake. Blake ultimately feels shoehorned in and his arc would have had more emotional resonance had he been introduced in the preceding installments. Although, these quibbles are remedied by JGL's performance and the money shot of Robin in Bat-Cave as the platform rises before the end credits roll.

Aussie actor Ben Mendelsohn gets to chew scenery as the unscrupulous John Daggett, an executive trying to take control of Wayne Enterprises. The brimming ensemble also includes Brett Cullen as a congressman, Game of Thrones' Aiden Gillen as a CIA Agent, Matthew Modine as one of Gordon's lieutenants, Juno Temple as Selina Kyle's sidekick Holly Robinson, and Thomas Lennon in a funny uncredited cameo as Bruce Wayne's doctor.

The Batman has often been overshadowed by his rogues gallery. Without a doubt, The Dark Knight was anchored by Heath Ledger, who won a posthumous Oscar for his turn as the Joker. Rather than go with a more renowned foe such as the Riddler or the Penguin, Nolan chose Bane, who was once portrayed as a monosyllabic henchman in Joel Schumacher's Batman & Robin. Here, Nolan's interpretation of Bane is akin to a horror movie monster like Michael Myers or Jason Vorhees. He is brought to life in chilling fashion by Tom Hardy, who has played volatile and physically imposing before in Bronson and Warrior. No easy feat as the British thespian's face is hidden throughout the movie by a cumbersome gas mask. Hardy relies entirely on his eyes, body language, and a posh accent that belies his hulking frame. Think Hardy's Patrick Stewart impression from Star Trek: Nemesis meets Darth Vader. He is Bane, the gentleman's terrorist.

"If someone stands in the way of true justice, you simply walk up behind them and stab them in the heart."

The Clown Prince of Crime has stood has as Batman's most infamous archenemy because he is the yin to his yang. Where Batman represents order, Joker represents pure anarchy. He is a self-professed "agent of chaos." Bane is Batman taken to the extreme. Both come from tragic backgrounds. Both have the discipline (and myopic obsession) to train their bodies to peak physical condition. Bane's moral compass, however, points in the opposite direction of the Caped Crusader. He also lacks the support group that Bruce had in his trio of father figures: Alfred, Gordon, and Lucius. Bane is sold as a zealot believing in his own twisted brand of social justice and that's undercut by a third act twist. In the worst kept secret ever, Miranda Tate is revealed to be Talia, the daughter of Ra's al Ghul, with her own obsession to complete her father's work and cleanse Gotham City. Again, we have a child of pain driven by a mission that they are deluded to be in the right. All of Bane's talk of liberation is for naught as he becomes a mooning lapdog to Talia. Talia, a fascinating character from the comics, is played wonderfully by Marion Cotillard. She is alternately a love interest and a formidable antagonist, but her story unfolds in a rushed manner, as if they decided to compress decades of books into a matter of minutes before killing her off.

The most surprising highlight of Dark Knight Rises is Anne Hathaway as Selina Kyle, never once referred to as Catwoman. Many fanboys bemoaned the casting of Hathaway and the look of her costume. Most of them were the same who criticized the casting of Heath Ledger and re-design of the Joker. Naysayers be damned, Hathaway gives this cat some serious claws. She is a strong and sultry femme fatale and brings a necessary injection of fun and wit to Nolan's usually grim and ponderous tone. If I have to make another Star Wars reference, her Catwoman is the Han Solo of Rises, a scoundrel with an ambiguous code of ethics. As for the costume, it works within context of the world Nolan has created. The goggles serve as a high-tech burglary tool while doubling as cat ears. Even her stiletto heels serve as functional offensive weapons. Hathaway is so good that I want to see her in a spin-off. Perhaps, a prequel, Catwoman Begins?

No review of Dark Knight Rises would be complete without mention of the score by Hans Zimmer. If the soundtrack comes off as bombastic and overbearing it is more the fault of Nolan than Zimmer. Nolan does drown out some scenes with the music cranked all the way to eleven. One of the film's best sequences is the initial fight between Bane and Batman with bone breaking body blows serving as the only score. Yet, Zimmer does some of his best work on Rises. He kicks off the prologue on a pitch perfect note with the spooky introductory notes to "Gotham's Reckoning." The composition builds to a crescendo with thunderous drum beats and the ominous chanting of "basara basara deshi deshi."

Yes, you can scrutinize The Dark Knight Rises to death. Or you can sit back and enjoy the visual spectacle that Christopher Nolan has crafted. Epic in scope and grandeur, Dark Knight Rises is a film meant to be seen in theaters on the largest screens possible. This is the grand finale befitting of Nolan's Bat-franchise.

Rating: **** (*****)

American Reunion

American Reunion - Dirs. Jon Hurwitz & Hayden Schlossberg (2012)

In 1999, American Pie was a smash hit thanks to an assortment of lowbrow gags that have become ensconced into pop culture consciousness. Movie fans will never forget the sight of Jason Biggs humping a warm apple pie or the shapely Shannon Elizabeth stripping to her undies. Universal certainly raked it in as the film made over $235 million worldwide off a scant $11 million budget. The studio was quick to strike while the iron was hot with two sequels and a string of direct-to-video spinoffs with Eugene Levy as the only original cast member. After nine years since the last Pie picture was released theatrically, Universal resurrects the franchise with American Reunion.

Jim (Biggs) and Michelle (Alyson Hannigan) are happily married with a son, but find it difficult to be intimate with one another. Following in the tradition of its predecessors, Reunion opens with the hapless Jim caught in an embarrassing situation as he attempts to pleasure himself. The couple hopes that their upcoming thirteenth high school reunion will give them a chance to reignite the flame. By the way, I know tenth, fifteenth, and twentieth anniversary reunions are a thing, but the thirteenth doesn't seem that big a deal. In any event, Jim is excited to see all his old buddies again. His plans are crimped when he has to fend off the amorous advances of Kara (Ali Cobrin), a high school senior he once babysat.

Kevin (Thomas Ian Nicholas) has become a successful architect and a slightly domesticated husband. Oz (Chris Klein) is now an NFL analyst for a cable sports network with a young supermodel girlfriend in Mia (Katrina Bowden). He's also the butt of a few jokes for his appearance on a Dancing with the Stars-type reality show. Finch (Eddie Kaye Thomas) dropped off the radar, but returns just in time with tales of traveling the world. Then, there's Stifler (Seann William Scott), who the others have been trying to avoid because he hasn't changed much.

Nearly everyone from the first film has returned in some small fashion with John Cho & Justin Isfeld as the MILF Guys, Chris Owen as the Sherminator, Natasha Lyonne as Jessica, and Shannon Elizabeth as Nadia. They are joined by new cast members Dania Ramirez, as a former band geek turned hottie, and Rebecca De Mornay (who still looks stunning at 52) as Finch's Mom.

The reins of the franchise have been handed off to Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg, the writers behind the Harold & Kumar series. If anyone knows potty humor, it's them. However, the jokes just aren't funny or as outrageous as previous installments or even movies like 21 Jump Street or Knocked Up. Time has just passed them by. We get the requisite boob shots when Jim is forced to sneak an unconscious and naked Kara into her house without her parents knowing. Another prominent gag finds Stifler defecating into a cooler.

This wouldn't be too much of a problem if the character moments had any semblance of depth. Poor Thomas Ian Nicholas generally gets the short end of the stick as the writers struggle to find anything interesting for his character. In a rehash of American Pie 2, Kevin has an awkward encounter with his ex, Vicky (Tara Reid). Oz goes through the same thing with his former flame, Heather (Mena Suvari). These storylines highlight just how terribly written the female characters are in Reunion. They are either thinly drawn lovesick girls or nymphomaniac party skanks with the exception of Alyson Hannigan, who really deserves better. The one B-story that yields some fruit belongs to Levy as Jim's Dad, who looks to get back into the singles game following the death of his wife. He winds up romancing the original MILF, Stifler's Mom (Jennifer Coolidge).

As Thomas Wolfe once wrote, "You can't go home again." The central theme of American Reunion is all about living in the present without looking back at the past through rose-colored lenses. If only the filmmakers took those same lessons to heart, then we wouldn't get this bland and humorless sequel that simply did not need to be made.

Rating: * ½ (*****)

The Amazing Spider-Man

The Amazing Spider-Man - Dir. Marc Webb (2012)

British journalist David Quantick coined the phrase, "Pop will eat itself," in regards to the way in which pop culture constantly recycles what came before. In more esoteric terms, pop culture is the Ouroboros, the symbolic snake that consumes its own tail. This leads us to The Amazing Spider-Man, Sony Pictures attempt to call a mulligan on its lucrative Spider-franchise.

It's only been ten years since Sam Raimi brought the wall-crawler to life with Tobey Maguire donning the red and blue tights in the titular role. Spider-Man is widely regarded as one of the finest comic book adaptations, but Raimi and company were just getting their feet wet. "Spider-Man 2" was the rare sequel that topped its predecessor in nearly every way. Unfortunately, too many cooks spoiled the broth that was Spider-Man 3. Despite pulling in nearly $900 million worldwide, the conclusion to Raimi's trilogy was lambasted for its slapdash script and overabundance of characters. Mindful of the criticism, Raimi was ready to make it up to the fans and went to work on Spider-Man 4 with John Malkovich attached to play the Vulture. But, studio execs weren't happy with the story causing Raimi and his cast to depart.

In Raimi's place is the appropriately named Marc Webb, whose only previous directorial effort was the rom-com (500) Days of Summer. The screenplay is credited to James Vanderbilt (David Fincher's Zodiac), Alvin Sargent (who worked on the previous trilogy), and Steve Kloves (Harry Potter). English actor Andrew Garfield, who turned heads with his turn as Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin in The Social Network, replaces Maguire as Peter Parker. Raimi was an ardent admirer of the old school Spider-Man and his films captured the spirit of the Stan Lee & Steve Ditko era. The Amazing Spider-Man borrows from the Ultimate Spider-Man series by Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Bagley, which rebooted Spidey for the modern era. Trouble is, it had been nearly forty years since readers had seen Peter as a teenager coming to grips with his newfound powers. For movie-goers, a scant five years have passed since Spider-Man was last seen in theaters. Sony would have been better off simply continuing the franchise with a new cast and crew. Changes in creative teams happen all the time in comics, after all. Instead, Sony has decided to start from the beginning with a new hook revolving around the mystery of Peter Parker's parents, his so-called "untold story."

The Amazing Spider-Man opens with a young Peter Parker being left in the care of Uncle Ben (Martin Sheen) and Aunt May (Sally Field). His parents, Richard (Campbell Scott) and Mary (Embeth Davidtz) disappear into the night before dying in a plane crash. Flash-forward to today and Peter attends Midtown Science High School where he harbors a crush on the beautiful Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone). Stacy is an equally brilliant student, who favors mini-skirts and thigh high boots. She interns for Richard's former colleague, Dr. Curt Connors (Rhys Ifans), one of the top researchers at OsCorp. It is there that Peter receives his fateful bite from a genetically enhanced spider. If this all sounds familiar, it should.

All the major events that comprise Spider-Man's origin are present. Peter's bullying at the hands of Flash Thompson (Chris Zylka), the bite, and the death of Uncle Ben are told in slightly differing fashion from the source material and Raimi's films. These scenes may be different, but they are hardly unique. Amazing adheres too closely to the basic structure of Raimi's Spider-Man as well as other comic book movies. Gwen is now the romantic lead rather than Mary Jane Watson. Gwen's father, Captain George Stacy (Denis Leary) of the NYPD, fulfills the antagonistic role once held by J. Jonah Jameson. He is hell bent on arresting the masked menace known as Spider-Man. The primary villain, the Lizard, repeats what had already been done with Willem Dafoe's Norman Osborn. In Spider-Man, Osborn desperately injects himself with an experimental serum that drives him mad and turns him into the Green Goblin. In Amazing, Dr. Connors desperately injects himself with an experiment serum to re-grow his missing arm. The results drive him mad and transform him into a scaly and monstrous creature. Amazing even includes another sequence of rah-rah, post-9/11 patriotism as New Yorkers band together to assist their web-slinging hero.

The one element that is supposed to set the reboot apart is the mystery of Peter's parents. Their deaths have been touched upon in the comics, but none of those issues are well-regarded. Indeed, their subplot is one of the least interesting aspects of Amazing. It's also one of the many plotlines that are dropped halfway through the picture. Peter's search for the truth about his mother and father along with his quest for the killer of Uncle Ben are forgotten by the mid-point as Spidey focuses on defeating the Lizard. The former is no small loss as it seemed to hint that Richard Parker may have mucked around with his son's DNA. Other tidbits from the trailers and marketing materials have also been excised leaving the final product with a haphazard feel. Amazing is also a tangled web in terms of tone. The filmmakers want gritty and realistic, yet utilize cartoonish facets like the Lizard's dastardly plot to mutate all of New York City into reptilian creatures. And don't ask about the scene where Peter refines his Spider-agility inside an empty warehouse ala Kevin Bacon in Footloose.

The Amazing Spider-Man never finds its footing visually either, despite the improvement in technology since 2002's Spider-Man. Some of the effects are good. The way in which Spidey swings across the city and his contorted poses are reminiscent of Todd McFarlane's artwork. A brief POV sequence looks as if it came from a video game and NYC appears awfully artificial. The Lizard is by far the weakest screen villain in the Spider-Man franchise. Yes, weaker than Venom or the Sandman from Spider-Man 3. He's a clichéd baddie hampered by poor design work and shoddy CGI. Marc Webb is clearly out of his element when it comes to action. A moment where Peter confronts a group of thugs in a subway train is indicative of many American action movies. Too many close-ups and rapid editing that reduce the scene to a series of disembodied limbs.

The reboot's greatest strength lies with its cast. Andrew Garfield had the unenviable task of following in the footsteps of Tobey Maguire. Garfield looks more like the comic book version of the character, specifically the one drawn by Humberto Ramos with his poofy hair and lanky frame. Garfield's Peter Parker is less of a loser than Maguire's and has more confidence. He rides a skateboard and isn't afraid of standing up to a bully though he gets his ass kicked. He's also more of a wiseacre and more of a science whiz. This Peter has honest-to-goodness webshooters of his own devising, which should please sticklers upset by the organic shooters. Perhaps, we'll see the Spider-tracers in future sequels?

Garfield has excellent chemistry with Emma Stone and their scenes together are the best parts of the movie, particularly their first awkward steps towards a sweet teen romance. Their performances make you forget that they are too old to be playing high school students. While I think Kirsten Dunst is a fine actress (I enjoyed her turn in Lars Von Trier's Melancholia), Stone is an upgrade as the love interest. She's also not a helpless damsel in distress, but a strong female character assisting Spider-Man with her intelligence. The supporting cast is uniformly good with Martin Sheen being inspired casting for Uncle Ben and Rhys Ifans doing a splendid job as the tortured genius. Sadly, none of them get enough screen time to leave a lasting impression.

The Adequate Spider-Man may not have the same ring as The Amazing Spider-Man, but it is a far more accurate description. Most folks know that Sony must continue churning out Spider-Man flicks in order to retain the rights. One can't fight the feeling that the reboot merely exists as a blatant cash grab. It retreads old territory without offering anything distinctly original.

Rating: ** ½ (*****)

Lockout

Lockout - Dirs. James Mather & Stephen St. Leger (2012)

Luc Besson is an action impresario. The French filmmaker once directed two highly acclaimed action pics in La Femme Nikita and Leon: The Professional. Since then, he's produced a whole slew of shoot-em-ups like The Transporter, Taken, and Colombiana. Lockout is the latest thrill ride churned out by the Luc Besson factory.

Lockout can best be described as Escape from New York in outer space. It is the year 2079 and the most dangerous criminals are incarcerated in MS One, a maximum security prison orbiting the planet. The inmates are also kept in suspended animation. Emilie Warnock (Maggie Grace), the daughter of President Warnock (Peter Hudson), comes on board to assess any effects the stasis process may have on the prisoners' minds. The one convict they decide to revive and interview happens to be Hydell (Joseph Gilgun), the most dangerous and psychotic one aboard. He quickly releases all the other inmates who proceed to systemically kill the majority of the prison's staff. The President is forced to turn to the one man who can save his daughter, a man so badass he needs only one name. That man is Snow (Guy Pearce), a former CIA agent arrested by the Secret Service and accused of murdering one of their agents. Snow reluctantly agrees to mount a rescue, partly to reach a comrade on MS One, who possesses evidence that may exonerate him.

Lockout is straight B-grade material. Co-directors James Mather and Stephen St. Leger, who penned the script with Besson, have the same cookie cutter visual style as other Besson disciples like Louis Leterrier, Pierre Morel, and Olivier Megaton. The special effects aren't anything to crow about with a freeway chase being particularly laughable due to video game graphics. Other similarly ridiculous sequences include an agent shooting himself in the head to save oxygen for Emilie followed by Snow injecting her through the eye with a stimulant. Eat your heart out Pulp Fiction. The story and the action are unapologetically derivative. In addition to John Carpenter's cult classic, Lockout rips off Die Hard with Snow pulling a John McClane as he crawls around the station's air ducts while bemoaning his fate. There's even a Star Wars sequence as attack ships stage an assault on the penitentiary.

Maggie Grace once again assumes the role of damsel in distress and the always hammy Peter Stormare is great as the Service's slightly sinister chief. But, the whole movie hinges on Guy Pearce's performance as the prototypical action hero armed with only his wits and a bevy of corny one-liners. He won't win an Oscar, but he is a helluva lot of fun.

So bad, it's good is the best way to describe Lockout, a film whose sheer awfulness is highly entertaining. Don't demand too much from Lockout; just check your brain at the door.

Rating: ** (*****)

The Best Films of 2011

It took me like four months to finish my year-end lists for 2011, but they are online over on Livejournal. Here are the no-frills lists.

The Top 25 Films of 2011

1. Drive - Dir. Nicolas Winding Refn

2. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy - Dir. Tomas Alfredson

3. The Artist - Dir. Michel Hazanavicius

4. The Tree of Life - Dir. Terrence Malick

5. Midnight in Paris - Dir. Woody Allen

6. Shame - Dir. Steve McQueen

7. Melancholia - DIr. Lars Von Trier

8. Beginners - Dir. Mike Mills

9. Meek's Cutoff - Dir. Kelly Reichardt

10. Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol - Dir. Brad Bird

11. Hanna - Dir. Joe Wright

12. Take Shelter - Dir. Jeff Nichols

13. Attack the Block - Dir. Joe Cornish

14. Weekend - Dir. Andrew Haigh

15. Once Upon a Time in Anatolia - DIr. Nuri Bilge Ceylan

16. The Turin Horse - Dir. Bela Tarr

17. Martha Marcy May Marlene - Dir. Sean Durkin

18. The Kid with a Bike - Dir. The Dardenne Brothers

19. A Separation - Dir. Asghar Farhadi

20. Contagion - Dir. Steven Soderbergh

21. The Muppets - Dir. James Bobin

22. The Skin I Live In - Dir. Pedro Almodovar

23. Margin Call - Dir. J.C. Chandor

24. Le Havre - Dir. Aki Kaurismaki

25. Captain America: The First Avenger, Thor, X-Men: First Class (tie)

Top 10 Documentaries of 2011

1. Bill Cunningham New York - Dir. Richard Press

2. Project Nim - Dir. James Marsh

3. The Interrupters - Dir. Steve James

4. Senna - Dir. Asif Kapadia

5. Tabloid - Dir. Errol Morris

6. The Arbor - Dir. Clio Barnard

7. Bobby Fischer Against the World - Dir. Liz Garbus

8. Nostalgia for the Light - Dir. Patricio Guzman

9. Cave of Forgotten Dreams - Dir. Werner Herzog

10. Being Elmo: A Puppeteer's Journey - Dir. Constance Marks

Best Animated Films of 2011

1. Rango - Dir. Gore Verbinski

2. A Cat in Paris - DIrs. Jean-Loup Felicioli & Alain Gagnol

3. The Adventures of Tintin - Dir. Steven Spielberg