Drive Angry 3D

RATING:*** (3 stars)

When an evil cult kills his only daughter and his infant granddaughter, a man escapes from Hell to bring them to justice.

By all rights, I was expecting very little from Drive Angry. As you can see from the trailer below, it looks like very classic B-movie action fare... and ended up as a riotous good time for everyone in the sparsely populated theater. Now you will get plenty of action--perhaps not as much as some other films, but certainly enough to satisfy most people. Where Drive Angry, I think, really shines is when you couple that action with the dry and sometimes dark comedy wrapped around it.

Perhaps not so surprisingly, the effects in the film are rather well done. Visual effects one comes to expect since less than a certain standard just doesn't fly for audiences these days, but the sound effects were given extra "pop" and really help the adrenaline of the film as a whole. The plot is fairly loose and doesn't get very deep, but that's really just what this kind of film needs--light on drama, heavy on action, and with enough comedy to prove that it might not be taking itself seriously.

May or may not be worth your theater money (there is no 2D option for this one), but a solid rental that I would highly recommend.

Trailer

Unknown

RATING:*** (3 stars)

After his cab goes plunging into the freezing waters of Berlin, a man awakes in the hospital four days later to learn that no one--not even his wife--has been looking for him. Upon going to his wife, he is presented with the possibility that he is not who he thinks he is.

Unknown is an exciting thriller that is going to keep you guessing, and for those who loved Taken (2008), this is in the same vein of thriller films--albeit with less action and more suspense. Liam Neeson stars as our leading man, Dr. Martin Harris, who loses his identity after a crash and fights to prove who he is through almost the entire two hours. The supporting cast of January Jones, Diane Kruger, and Aidan Quinn are great casting choices and they help really make this film work by never allowing you to quite believe you have it figured out.

There a plenty of good things to say about Unknown, from the great casting to the well-established pace of the film, even to one of the best choreographed chase scenes of the last few years; in the end, however, it suffers just as almost all thrillers do in that your desire to watch it multiple times is very low. For many people (myself included), the only time you will watch Unknown is once in the theater--and you will certainly enjoy it. But you probably won't have a desire to watch it again because so much of this movie revolves around the twist that is spoiled once you see it, really destroying its replay value. That being said, you will really love this movie the first (and perhaps only) time that you'll see it.

Trailer

The Mechanic

RATING:*** (3 stars)

An elite hit man takes on an apprentice and teaches him everything he knows, but the young learner also has a connection to one of his former victims.

Jason Statham stars as Arthur in this straight-ahead action movie, with Donald Sutherland, Ben Foster, and Tony Goldwyn in supporting roles. Really nothing notable to speak of in this film. There is lots of action and some particularly great scenes when "missions" are being executed, but there are no twists that you won't see coming from a mile away. There is even a nice few laughs to be had throughout. Depending on your personal tastes, it may or may not be worth seeing in the theater, but a great popcorn flick for when you can watch it at home.

Trailer

The Dilemma

RATING:*** (3 stars)

When Ronny catches the wife of his best friend and business partner cheating, he struggles with finding a way to tell his friend while they struggle to focus on an important business venture.

Almost everything about The Dilemma is pretty straightforward, two couples that are best friends dealing with stress and generally humorous circumstances. Nothing particularly exceptional or unfortunate about this film, but there are a couple things I want to point out.

First, the characters themselves--particularly Ronny (Vince Vaughn) and Nick (Kevin James)--come off as very real. They seem to have just the perfect ratio of flaws-to-charm that makes them relateable without being tragic characters in and of themselves. Secondly, perhaps the best parts of the movie are the beginning and the end where we are watching these characters try to work out their business deal with Chrysler. Whereas the actual meat of the film dealing with the infidelity seems to drag and is a rollercoaster of laughter and blah, the relatively unimportant scenes dealing with the sidestory of this business deal are incredibly well done and almost makes for a better story.

Trailer

TRON: Legacy

RATING:**** (4 stars)

Twenty-five years after the disappearance of Kevin Flynn, his son Sam goes to investigate his old office where apparently a call was made from a line that has been disconected for years. Sam is transported into the virtual world his father created and has been trapped in, and fights to escape and save them both.

The sequel to the popular cult favorite from 1982 about the virtual reality program, and to the films benefit the major actors are back reprising their roles: Jeff Bridges as both Kevin Flynn and Clu, and Bruce Boxleitner as both Alan Bradley and Tron. This time we are also introduced to Kevin's orphaned son Sam Flynn (Garrett Hedlund) and Quorra (Olivia Wilde), a program within the virtual world that has allied herself with Kevin Flynn while he lives in exile.

Noticeably the visuals for TRON: Legacy have gotten quite the upgrade since the first film, and they really make everything come alive. Perhaps even better than the CGI was the very clever use of 3D in this film, much as color was used in The Wizard of Oz--the film does not switch to 3D until we are in the virtual world, and helps to further differentiate that otherness from reality. Everything about the TRON universe has been given a similar kind of slim, barely noticeable makeover that just makes a huge difference on the large scale that the whole world really just jumps off the screen.

The same things that people didn't like about the original film are present here as well, namely character development and plot. With the exception of in this case a single character, all of the characters are very static throughout the film. The plot is nothing fancy either, just another take on the reunion with estranged family with a "save the world" twist thrown in. To detract from TRON:Legacy on those two points, however, is silly because this is not a film pretending to masquerade as a powerful drama. From beginning to end, this is merely a fun film with some spectacular use of CGI and creative use of 3D. Obviously to fully enjoy the 3D, you'll have to catch it in theaters.

Trailer