Movie Review: LAWLESS

LAWLESS

2012

R

"I'm a Bondurant. We don't lay down for nobody."

-- Forrest Bondurant

Lawless is a 2012 crime drama directed by John Hillcoat that is adapted from Matt Bondurant's 2008 novel, The Wettest County in the World. The story follows the Bondurants, a family of three brothers led by the eldest Forrest (Tom Hardy), who run an illegal moonshine business in Franklin County, Virginia in the midst of the Prohibition era. With the help of his brothers Jack (Shia LaBeouf) and Howard (Jason Clarke), Forrest has become one of the biggest suppliers of moonshine in the county. One day, a special deputy from Chicago named Charlie Rakes (Guy Pearce) is brought into the county in order to destroy the bootlegging businesses, and he immediately clashes with the Bondurant clan. He starts to rid the county of its numerous illegal distilleries, and he soon starts a personal vendetta against Forrest Bondurant. Youngest brother Jack finds a way to keep the business afloat, only increasing the tension between the brothers and the ever-present Rakes.

I first heard about this film about a year ago when it was still to be titled The Wettest County in the World. At the time, I took a passing glance, noticing it merely for its casting star power, but it didn't necessarily ring a bell as a must-see. When the film's trailer was released, however, something about the stylistic grittiness compelled me to at least give it a view. The film has opened to moderately positive reviews, but I can't quite say they've been entirely stellar thus far.

One of the biggest issues most critics - including myself - have had with Lawless is its screenplay. While there's definitely a strong and emotional story of family bonds and revenge hidden beneath it all, there seems to be a little too much extra storyline given to the film. At its core, the story should be about the three brothers and their loyalty to one another, regardless of how much they drive one another crazy. There were a few ancillary characters that turned out to be more important than they should have been, and it ultimately helps to bog down the story a little bit. Despite this, the film's climax and finale still prove to be quite strong, even with the obstacles along the way.

Where this film's strength truly lies is in its cast. Now, I have to start by saying that I have never been much of a fan of Shia LaBeouf. I'm sure I've mentioned this before, but there have been times where I have downright hated his presence on-screen. However, I think Lawless will ultimately be the film where we as the audience see LaBeouf mature into a legitimate actor right before our very eyes. At the start of the film, he almost seems a little bit of touch, as he often does, but by film's end, there's a power and a grace to his acting ability that I haven't seen him convey before. I have to tip my hat to the young actor for breaking out of his acting shell and transforming (pun intended) himself into something entirely different.

The rest of the cast fills out quite nicely as well. Tom Hardy continues to prove to me that he is one of the better actors working in Hollywood today. You can place his performance in Lawless right next to his noteworthy turns in 2009's Bronson and 2011's Warrior. Pearce is also great as the film's central villain, and I thought he brought the film's second-best character (behind Hardy's Forrest) to the screen. Also worth mention for their smaller, albeit not entirely necessary, roles are Gary Oldman, Jessica Chastain and Mia Wasikowska, who all manage to bring strong performances to the film.

At the end of the day, Lawless manages to bring together a very strong ensemble cast that ultimately falls prey to a less-than-stellar screenplay. Still, the strength of the performances helps to keep this film afloat, and an emotional second act gives the audience an opportunity to stay engaged and involved with the events on-screen. See it for Hardy and Pearce's performances, and be surprised by the growth of Shia LaBeouf into a legitimate actor.

Movie Review Summary

Grade: B+

Status: Should See

Movie Review: INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL

INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL

2008

PG-13

"How much of human life is lost in waiting?"

-- Professor 'Ox' Oxley

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is a 2008 action-adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg that serves as the fourth installment in the Indiana Jones franchise. Released nineteen years after The Last Crusade, this new adventure with Indiana Jones took a very different turn than its predecessors. The film opens on the 1950s, where an aged Indiana (Harrison Ford) has been taken captive by a group of Russian KGB operatives led by a Dr. Irina Spalko (Cate Blanchett). At gunpoint, Indiana helps the Russians steal a classified box from a secret warehouse, but he does not know exactly what the box's contents contain. After being returned home, he thinks himself done with the situation until a young man named Mutt (Shia LaBeouf) seeks him out to tell him that a mutual friend named Professor 'Ox' Oxley (John Hurt) has been captured by the same Russians in connection with the box they stole. The two make their way to South America to find Ox, and it is there that they learn that their friend had found himself caught in a plot to find a legendary city called Akator by using an equally legendary artifact known as the crystal skull. Indiana and Mutt start to piece together the puzzle that Ox has left for them, but the Russians are soon on their tail once again, eager to find Akator first.

I would like to start this post by telling you a story. I was a sophomore in college in Santa Cruz when Kingdom of the Crystal Skull hit theaters, and like most other Indy fans, I was rather excited to see it. So excited, in fact, that I made the trek down to the local theater for the midnight screening on opening night. The theater was sold out, and fans were lined up around the block to see Ford don the fedora for the fourth time, so you can imagine our audience's anticipation as we sat impatiently waiting for the opening credits to roll.

Fast forward to a little over two hours later, and you would have found me walking out of the theater talking nothing but trash about this film. After that first go-around, I hated it. I despised it. I though that Spielberg had found a way to destroy one of my childhood cinematic heroes. And for that, I was rightfully angry. It took me a few days, but after I thought about the film for a while, I started to come around and think that maybe it wasn't as horrendous as I had originally thought. I soon came home for the summer, and I had the chance to view the film again per my father's request, and seeing Kingdom of the Crystal Skull actually helped to open my eyes to its concepts and themes a little bit more.

I always hear quite a bit of opposition towards this film when I talk about it amongst my friends and my readers, and I can somewhat see their point. I am in now way going to spend hours here trying to convince you of why this film fits into the Indiana Jones canon - although I may save that project for a later date - but I think that I should at least tell you why I happen to enjoy the film. Because so many people did not like Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, many actually forget that it managed to secure relatively positive reviews amongst the critical community. On Rottentomatoes.com, the film holds a seventy-seven percent approval rating and holds the following critical consensus:

Though the plot elements are certainly familiar, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull still delivers the thrills, and Harrison Ford's return to the title role is more than welcome.

Even more indicating of the critical response is the film's score of sixty-five on Metacritic.com, which correlates to "generally favorable reviews." Still, so many of the fans have yet to come around, and I'm sure I know why.

Ultimately, it all boils down to the fact that Kingdom of the Crystal Skull does not measure up to its predecessors. Because those films set such a lofty bar, it would have been nearly impossible to reach that particular goal. Still, fans were deservedly spoiled by the first three installments, so why shouldn't they expect something the same, right? But enough of this vagueness. Let's talk about why I like this film.

For starters, I like the story. I think it's an original tale of something that an over-the-top archaeologist like Indiana Jones might actually find himself looking for. Sure, there are some snags here and there, but to be fair, none of the Indiana Jones flicks are perfect. They all have flaws here and there, and Kingdom just has a few more that it couldn't quite work out. But the storyline works well and flows incredibly well, and it manages to keep you wondering where it might actually be going. Let's be honest - did any of us really expect those climactic scenes in Akator? I think not, and I think that's why so many people have spoken out against it. But the story itself works and proves to be entertaining.

I also thought the cast proved to be effective as well. Ford does a fine job reprising his role from nearly twenty years earlier, and he plays the part to a tee considering how much he's aged. I also think that Blanchett was a good addition to the cast list, and her star power alone makes this one worth a gander. Some of my readers will know that I'm not much of a Shia LaBeouf fan, but after re-watching this today, I have to say that I'm not entirely turned off by his performance. It works well with the context of the story, and he's really not as central as I had remembered. John Hurt gives a fine performance in a supporting role, but it's so out there that I think most people overlooked it. Also be on the watch for decent supporting roles from the likes of Ray Winstone, Jim Broadbent and Karen Allen, who returns as Marion Ravenwood.

At the end of the day, there's no way that Kingdom of the Crystal Skull can ever be compared to the rest of the Indiana Jones franchise. However, that does not make it a terrible film. I think it's a movie that polarized a lot of viewers at the time of its release, but by giving it another chance now, I think many of them might be able to see past their original insecurities. Ultimately, it's an entertaining romp through the Indy universe, and for that, I think we should all be glad.

Movie Review Summary

Grade: B

Should You Watch It? Yes

Movie Review: TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON

TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON
2011
PG-13

Transformers: Dark of the Moon is a 2011 action film directed by Michael Bay that serves as the third and final installment in his Transformers trilogy. The film starts with a flashback to the 1960s, where a spacecraft has crash-landed on the moon, spurring the space race of the 1960s. The movie posits that the Apollo 11 lunar landing was actually a mission to recover information about the crash itself. Fast forward to present day, and we have the Autobots, led by Optimus Prime (voiced by Peter Cullen) working with the United States. The franchise's main hero, Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf) has graduated college and is now desperately trying to live his life to the standards he set for himself after achieving the status of "hero." He lives with his new girlfriend Carly (Rosie Huntington-Whiteley) and struggles with their relationship as well. One day after finding a job at a high-end company, a Decepticon attacks and tries to kill Sam, forcing him to seek refuge with his Autobot friends. The team then learns of the government cover-up from the lunar landing, sending Optimus into a fit of rage for having not been told the information earlier. He awakens Sentinel Prime (voiced by Leonard Nimoy), who was piloting the spacecraft that crashed on the moon, to try to collect devices called "Pillars" that will supposedly help defeat the Decepticons once and for all. As time continues to pass, however, a number of allegiances fall into question, and a full-on, climactic battle for the planet ultimately ensues.

You know, when I was watching this film last night at a midnight showing, I couldn't quite put my finger on what wasn't completely right with it. After writing that synopsis, however, I think I've hit the nail on the head. There's definitely some issues with screenplay with this most recent of Transformers films. It's not that the story they're telling isn't compelling; rather, I think that the filmmakers tried to intertwine one too many stories within the context of the film. Even at over two-and-a-half hours long, the plot seemed very, very crowded, and it gave me the sense that Bay wanted to throw as much into the film as he possibly could, considering this is supposed to be his last Transformers flick. When you take the screenplay all the way down to the actual story, then we're actually given something rather compelling, with a number of twists and turns to keep us guessing. But because there's so much excess weight bogging everything else down, it all just seems a tad convoluted.

While I'm on the subject of over-use of a certain facet of a film, I'd like to talk about the number of big-name actors that appear in this third Transformers movie. As is expected, we see the return of LaBeouf who actually performs better than I expected. In my breakdown of this film's trailer, I pondered whether LaBeouf's performance would exceed what he had done in the past, and while he's not blowing anyone away, you can definitely see that a level of maturation has occurred. The introduction of Miss Huntington-Whiteley is actually a very good one, and I'd dare to say she's a step up (acting-wise) from Megan Fox. We could all debate about the sex appeal of the two women, but when it comes to straight-up acting, I think I'd take Rosie any day. We do have a couple of our cast regulars, with the likes of Josh Duhamel, Tyrese Gibson and John Turturro returning; however, because of the flood of other big-name stars, I felt like their roles were pushed a little towards the background. When you've got the likes of Patrick Dempsey, Frances McDormand, John Malkovich, Ken Jeong and Alan Tudyk making appearances this time around, it'd be tough for any actor to try to push their way into the spotlight. I did think that the cast was a little over-crowded in that no one really had the chance to excel to the best of their ability. Still, it was nice to have an extra splash of flavor now and again.

As usual, some of the intangibles are rather stellar. The visual effects continue to blow me away even if they are a little too fast-moving at some parts. The action sequences in these films move so quickly that it's hard to get any real bearings on how spectacular the visuals are. Also, the musical score by Steve Jablonsky continues to impress me - he knows how to craft an excellent, action-oriented score.

Overall, I actually thought that Dark of the Moon was the best Transformers film to date. Sadly, with how unfavorably I reviewed the past two films, that's not really giving this one much credit. Still, despite it's obvious flaws, there's still plenty of entertainment to be had with this one. Just go in expecting your typical Michael Bay picture, and I'm sure you're going to have an enjoyable time.

Movie Review Summary:Grade: C+
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Trailer Breakdown: TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON

As most of you already know, the third installment in the Transformers franchise, subtitled Dark of the Moon, will be crashing into theaters this summer. I for one have been a little bit against the previous two films. Yes, they're both visually spectacular (if a little manic at times), but the acting of a certain lead named Shia LaBeouf has been so horrendously bad that I just haven't been able to get into the films. However, I'll still be seeing the next film because it's such a big-budget summer blockbuster. The most recent trailer has just been released, so I thought I'd break it down a little bit and try to figure out just what we can expect from Dark of the Moon.

So let's get on with the questions that arose while I watched the trailer...

Will there be any amount of brains mixed in with the brawn presented in this film?
I'm sure it's safe to say that there won't be, considering this is a Michael Bay picture. He's more known for his emphasis on wowing the audience with a massive overload of special effects than attempting to craft a legitimate story, but I suppose we can't completely knock it until it comes out. The first movie wasn't horrible, but anyone who saw Revenge of the Fallen will certainly agree that the screenplay wasn't the strongest in the world. I just hope there's enough intelligence infused into this popcorn-muncher to keep us all engaged.

Will the new girl be any better than Megan Fox?
For those of you who don't already know, every guy's favorite eye candy will not be returning for the third installment of the Transformers franchise. In case you hadn't heard, she happened to call Bay a Nazi or something along those lines, so you can imagine why she won't be back. In her stead, they've signed on former Victoria's Secret model and first-time actress Rosie Huntington-Whiteley. I suppose there's a strong enough argument to make for her replacement in terms of looks, but can she deliver a little more in terms of actual acting? I know that Bay doesn't really require much in terms of legitimate acting, but I always like to see the actors actually, you know, act. Seeing as she's the biggest change to the cast, Huntington-Whiteley stands to lose the most with a terrible performance.

Is it just me, or does Shia's level of acting look to be a little better this time around?
Anyone who knows me personally will know that I have very strong feelings against Mr. LaBeouf mostly because he doesn't really know how to act. I've seen him in a number of films, including both Transformers flicks, and my opinion remains steadfast. However, the limited number of appearances of his character in the trailer actually make it look as though he might be upping his personal ante a little bit. I'm not holding my breath, but a stronger performance for LaBeouf could be the push that Dark of the Moon needs to be "good" in my book.

And now for a couple of off-the-wall questions that I thought about while watching the trailer...

The bad Transformers are taking down a skyscraper while Shia's inside. Any bets that he's going to survive?
As I mentioned in my breakdown of Fast Five, every action movie trailer will have an over-the-top action-oriented scene to prove the filmmakers' skill in crafting something original and death-defying. The skyscraper scenes proves to be Dark of the Moon's attempt, and it does look rather interesting. However, it's hard to imagine that anyone could possibly survive something to destructive; on the other hand, it's just as unlikely that they're going to off three of the film's central characters (LaBeouf, Huntington-Whiteley and Tyrese Gibson) in one fell swoop. Let the ridiculousness commence.

Are those two "racist" Autobots from Revenge of the Fallen going to return?
There's no evidence anywhere in this trailer, but the inclusion of Skids and Mudflap in the second film sparked quite a bit of controversy. Many people started to call the film and Michael Bay racist for presenting such characters, so I'd be a little surprised to see them return in this flick. Then again, did they even survive that film? This entire question could be for naught because I simply cannot remember if they even made it at the end.

How many more Transformers movies are they going to make?
By this point, I'm just a little bit sick of these Transformers movies, so I decided to do a little research into finding the answer. Apparently, this will be the final film in Bay's trilogy as he plans to stop making the movies once this one is released. Bay was reported as saying, "As a trilogy, it really ends. It could be rebooted again, but I think it has a really killer ending." That being said, we should see an ultimate conclusion at the end of Dark of the Moon, but considering how much money these movies have made (the first two grossed over $720 million in the United States alone), I wouldn't be surprised if we see another attempt at the franchise somewhere down the road.


Transformers: Dark of the Moon will hit U.S. theaters in 3D on July 1, 2011.