Summer Reviews: May Movies Recap

Kung Fu Panda 2
Score: 7,5/10

The trailer of “Kung Fu Panda 2″ claimed that the film comes with ‘double the awesomeness’. For a change, though suffers a bit from being familiar, it still manages to be full of fresh action and adventure. Also silly sight gags aren't going to be absent altogether in a film about a seriously weighty Kung Fu master, but “Kung Fu Panda 2” has more interesting things to say, and takes the time to say them. In this sequel, Director Jennifer Yuh who was responsible for some of the most thrilling scenes in the original film, has given the story a darker edge and added emotional depth to a one-note concept while pulling off what good sequels do – upping the ante, creating personal stakes for the heroes, answering questions, and making us care even more for the characters we already know. Screenwriters Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger also have penned a delightful story that is full of adventure, heart and some surprises. The animated characters and back ground sceneries rendered in computer-animated 3-D, include stunning vistas of water, mountains and treescapes, are fantastic though most of it goes by too quickly to be fully appreciated. Each character is given the perfect amount of time to show their fighting chops during these action scenes, where the kung fu swiftness and style easily hearkens to Jackie Chan films from the 90′s. Jolie has some real life to her role now while Black shows some dramatic chops and of course Gary Oldman as Lord Shen is just as vocally intimidating as Ian McShane.


The Tunnel
Score: 8,5/10

A true underground horror film, Carlo Ledesma’s “The Tunnel” is an exclusively torrent released movie that’s much much better than any faux documentary horror releases in cinema this summer. The crowd financed Australian horror following an investigation into a government cover-up over an abandoned reservoir project, which intended to use a network of abandoned train tunnels under Sydney. “The Tunnel” consists of video footage taken by a TV crew on both HD and night vision cameras also material taken by CCTV and webcams, which made it a completed documentary that differs from other similar style films. The disused underground train tunnel setting beneath Sydney is very creepy and the tension is superbly built from the beginning where the background to the story is established to the ‘edge-of-your-seat’ thrilling conclusion. The performances from all the actors are also excellent and often very believable. It may be tempting to compare it to 'found' footage films such as “Paranormal Activity” or the earlier, groundbreaking “The Blair Witch Project”, But I can say that this Australia’s own is likely more sophisticated and better conceived than both.
It seems Ledesma plan to upload the film to torrent sites to make it free to viewers has been paid off because he's actually landed distribution for the movie in the process of his unique scheme. Website Torrent Freak reported that the film will be released on physical DVD to be distributed by Hollywood giant Paramount Pictures.


Jane Eyre
Score: 8/10

This gloomy, atmospheric, and captivating new film adaptation for Charlotte Bronte’s classic “Jane Eyre” lies one of the most compelling stories ever told. Director Cary Fukunaga has found a way to re-tell the plot that centers around being rich or poor, being haunted by the past and power relations, and he has done it so marvelously since his varied approach works to the story’s advantage. Mia Wasikowska brings a quiet intensity to her role as the titular character. We root for her as she is beaten, bullied and marginalized and yet still triumphantly soldiers on. Michael Fassbender plays the iconically tragic Rochester with all the wit, fierceness, and agony you could wish for. He will charm you in the same way he does Eyre, and you can’t help but feel the electricity between the two. The settings of the film are splendid and the interpretations of some of the scenery and locations fit quite nicely with what would be expected from descriptions from the book. This film was an interesting, creative twist on the novel that didn’t take gross liberties with the original story, in addition it showcased one of the finest Jane ever cast for an “Eyre” film.


Insidious
Score: 7/10

There are a few nods to “Poltergeist” in this James Wan’s new horror, but there is nothing wrong with giving an acknowledgment to one of the greatest haunted house movies of all time. “Insidious” can actually deliver on the horrors and the visual effects were creepy and did the film a justice. Patrick Wilson and Rose Byrne pitch in formidable performances as exasperated parents while Lin Shaye in a supporting role of the woman psychic is superb as she delivers a chilling albeit difficult part “so authentic” that it will surely steal every scene she’s in. However, there are a few odd portents sprung upon the viewer right at the beginning which unfortunately, weren’t successfully held through to the ending. It’s like the creators had a bunch of ideas that they started with but didn’t know where to take them, so they kept them in the film as vestigial plotlines.


The Detective 2
Score: 4,5/10

Ultimately lacking the uniqueness and dynamism that made the first film worth mentioned, this second effort of Oxide Pang, one of the Pang Brothers, in the hope of recapturing his smart and spooky 2007 supernatural thriller failed miserably. Though supported with the same cast and crew also the mesmerizingly mystical environment of Bangkok, there was actually nothing engaging in this shoddy mess sequel. Even solid performances from Aaron Kwok who’s back as the quirky private detective Tam and other cast also can’t help a lot this time.


Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
Score: 7/10

Johnny Depp is very quirky entertaining once again as Captain Jack Sparrow in this fourth yet 3D installment of the franchise that started out as a theme park ride. This time out Jack is off to search for the Fountain of Youth and as expected he will encounter some strange sea creatures such as zombie pirates, monster mermaids, voodoo, and Penelope Cruz. Cruz plays a lady pirate who used to have a thing with him while British actor Ian McShane transforms into the evil Captain Blackbeard, and Geoffrey Rush is return as Sparrow’s eternal frenemy Barbossa. The movie did seem to drag in the beginning or it just took a while for things to get going but once they did, it paid off. There are furious battles, spectacular prosecutions in exotic locations and all the trimmings for grandstanding, but Depp’s clownish spirit, when the first film came out in 2003, doesn’t feel the same anymore. And yes, the film is in three dimensions, but as in “Thor”, these effects give more headache they are necessary or even well used.


Children…
Score: 7/10

This South Korean suspenseful drama is based on a true yet unsolved murder case from the early 1990s that is known among Koreans as the “disappearance of the frog children.” In 1991, five elementary school students told their parents that they were going to hang out on a nearby mountain to catch frogs. They never came back. Directed by Lee Kyoo-man who made a name for himself when he won a grand prix during a Korea Motion Picture Festival with his eccentric film “Despair” also 2007 thriller “Return” which he voiced his directorial seductiveness in a thriller genre. Now, in this newest effort, Lee offered the lost children’s story from an engaging viewpoint that sways between fact and fiction.
In the movie, a TV producer, the devastated parents of the missing children, a professor and a detective all take different stances on the case and in the end one of the parents becomes a primary suspect. In reality, the case morphed into a national scandal. Instead of resorting to a whodunit plot, the film focuses on the nature of human desire and how two career driven men use the case for further their own ambitions. Presented in Lee ‘s neat visuals, however some could notices that “Children...” bear a resemblance to 2003 hit “Memories of the Murder,” which also was based on another unsolved mystery of a serial killing in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi, in the early ’90s.