Landmine Goes Click (2015)

Directed by: Levan Bakhia
Country: Georgia

Movie Review: The English-language “Landmine Goes Click”, set in a remote Georgian mountain region, is a low-budget tale that contains very few positive aspects, both intellectually and cinematographically. Divided into two separate parts, Levan Bakhia’s sophomore feature film addresses nothing else but a double revenge by assembling gruesome situations in an indistinct way. Most of its setbacks were detected during the first part, in which the scenario becomes a ludicrous farce, even if putting some more creativity when compared with the second one, which is a reproduction of situations already seen in other examples within the genre. Three American friends – Chris (Sterling Knight), Daniel (Dean Geyer), and the latter’s girlfriend, Alicia (Spencer Locke) - get into a jeep heading to a former war zone located in Georgia and decide to explore the region. Regardless the fact that Daniel and Chris are best friends for a long time, we’re clarified during the first minutes that Alicia betrayed her boyfriend by having a one-night stand with Chris, who nurtures strong feelings for her and wonders how she might feel about it. She answers it was a mistake and that they should forget the incident for their own sake. However, Daniel discovers the truth and elaborates an evil plan to get rid of Chris, whose jealousy grows stronger. With the help of a newly arrived friend, he assures that Chris becomes trapped when stepping on a landmine ready to explode at any moment. Dumped by Daniel, Alicia who, in the meantime, contently pronounces Chris as her officially new boyfriend, tries to do the right thing in order to free them from the difficulties. With no effective solutions, she’ll have to rely on Ilya (Kote Tolordava), a malicious Georgian stranger who popped up with his useless dog, just to play a few freaking sexual games and then rape her without a bit of condescension. The film then shifts to the uninteresting second part, when Chris, who had survived the traumatic experience, finds Ilya’s place and sets his personal revenge, aiming at the aggressor’s teen daughter. Amateurishly written by Adrian Colussi, “Landmine Goes Click” gets stuck in its own lies and gimmicks while propagating the bad vibes of the principle 'an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth'. I would call it a coarse deceit.

Anti-Social (2015)

Directed by: Reg Traviss
Country: UK / Hungary

Movie Review: Greg Traviss’ expendable heist movie “Anti-Social” was unable to find a stabilized energy and never attained the desired maturity to impress, being relegated to those mediocre attempts that rely on fabricated scenes and flimsy resolutions, which infuriates instead of satisfying, with the easiness of the happenings and the wasted time (almost two hours in this case). The story, written by the heavy-handed Mr. Traviss, is set in Central London and follows two half-brothers who opt for unequal paths in life despite their proximity. Dee (Gregg Sulkin) is a graffiti artist who sometimes has to flee from the police for painting the street walls of his neighborhood. Carrying strong social-political messages, his art is still not as much respected as he would like, but has the power to draw the attention of a German artist who invites him to Berlin. His beamish girlfriend, Kirsten (Meghan Markle), offers all the support he needs and really believes in what he does, while his older brother, Marcus (Josh Myers), makes part of a gang of four motorcyclists who are known for robbing valorous jewelry around town. Besides this risky activity, the latter is associated with the organized crime, rivaling with another dangerous gang. By using a sexy woman as bait, the rival gang manages to perpetuate a precise attack, stealing drug packages and later shooting Marcus, who, recovering at the hospital, is out of the next heist, the biggest and riskiest so far. With no time to think and a necessity for solving the imbroglio, Marcus and his gang can only rely on the conscientious Dee. Even against his nature, the artist-turned-malefactor consents to participate in the holdup as a carrier, only to protect his brother and (why not?) taking the opportunity to guarantee his own future, financially speaking. Visually unpolished and with powerless performances, “Anti-Social” probably won’t attract many moviegoers with its constant plot shifts, mismanaged drama, sugary romance, and debilitating action. It’s an embarrassing incursion into the Londoner underworld crime and the art world in general.

Yakuza Apocalypse (2015)

Directed by: Takashi Miike
Country: Japan

Movie Review: Japanese director Takashi Miike doesn’t give up trying to shock us with abhorrent films suffused with physical and psychological violence in addition to a few obnoxious scenes whose only goal is to make you feel nauseous. In “Yakuza Apocalypse”, his new maniac Tarantinoesque exercise, he bridges the yakuza underground scene with zombie horror. The result is darkly unsubstantial, disgracefully unfunny, and chaotically absurdist. The excruciating action scenes, despite kinetic, soon becomes highly tiresome while the script by Yoshitaka Yamaguchi is clearly trying to gain followers among younger crowds. The fantasy is centered on Kageyama (Hayato Ichihara), a young and brave yakuza who ambitions to be like his popular boss, a vampire who passes him the curse of becoming an immortal sanguinary criminal. The thing is that not every blood is nourishing – the civilians are good blood suppliers while the yakuza are to avoid. Along with these preoccupations, Kageyama has to fight the opponents of his gang, a bunch of crazy characters that include a dark medieval cowboy who speaks only in English and carries a sophisticated gun inside a coffin, a fierce Indonesian warrior (Yayan Ruhian from “The Raid”) who hauled the boss’ head after twisting it a dozen of times, and a destructive giant frog with superpowers. As allies, there’s a woman known as Captain whose lethal weapon is a slimy white liquid that she spouts out of her ears. But of course that “Yakuza Apocalypse” has something else besides gangs and fighting. There’s also love since Kageyama is trying to figure out the best way of dealing with his passionate impulses (both of the heart and thirst for blood) when he’s in the presence of the damaged Kyoko who’s recovering from a traumatic experience at a local hospital. It’s sad to realize that so many good ideas are wasted amidst repetitive graphical blood-spattered scenes and human torture. Prolific filmmaker Takashi Miike pulls out a tedious finale, in an ignominious head-to-head fighting sequence that determines which fighter punches harder and screams louder than the other one. The cinematography by Hajime Kanda is the only aspect that deserves attention in this pathetic vampire yakuza tale.

Fort Tilden (2014)

Directed by: Sarah-Violet Bliss, Charles Rogers
Country: USA

Movie Review: Even understanding the motivation and intentions of the filmmakers who plunge into this very New Yorker microbudget mockery, I couldn’t avoid being stupefied by its pathetic occurrences and futile tones. The story follows two roommates, Allie (Clare McNulty) and Harper (Bridey Elliott), who dwell in a fantastic apartment (the best the film can present in terms of visuals) of the trendiest Brooklyn's neighborhood, Williamsburg. Both are very competitive in terms of men, and their conversations resume to stupid sex jokes about the perfect dick and what they’re thinking to do with their vaginas. Apart from this humdrum, we follow the two clumsy protagonists in their interminable trip to Fort Tilden where they are supposed to join two young men they had met at a rooftop party. Along the way, the spoiled daddy’s girl, Harper, pays everything by check, including an iced coffee bought in a bodega located in the same ghetto where a kid steals the bike Allie had borrowed from her weirdo neighbor. The same Allie is having problems with the Peace Corp.’s chief after she has skipped work due to a faked sickness, compromising her planned trip to Liberia. There’s still time for a cranky cab trip where the Indian driver dumps them in the middle of nowhere when he finds out that Harper’s father is an executive shark operating in India. At the beginning of their adventure, Harper states that there’s nothing better than biking through the streets of Brooklyn in order to bring fresh air and fresh ideas. Well, those are attributes that “Fort Tilden” definitely doesn’t deliver because its script is not just weak, it’s vulgar! The writers/directors, Sarah-Violet Bliss and Charles Rogers, making their debut on feature film, gave life to two characters that speak, act, and think as children. The film’s climax couldn’t be more basic than Harper attempting to rape a teen guy in the freezing sea. It could have been funny, but redundancy prevails over wit.

Glass Chin (2014)

Directed by: Noah Buschel
Country: USA

Movie Review: The term ‘fighter’s chin’ is used in a figurative way to specify the ability of a pugilist to absorb blows in the chin before being knocked down. In this particular sports crime thriller, “Glass Chin” refers to the protagonist, Bud Gordon (Corey Stoll), a former boxing champion who tries to put order in his personal life after being let down by his chin. Still affected, he reacts badly when a homeless guy recognizes him and addresses his weak final fight. On the other hand, Bud feels both support and pressure whenever he returns to his New Jersey’s apartment because his confidante girlfriend, Ellen (Marin Ireland), wants him to find a propitious job. However, Bud spends his days on two very different activities: one of them is noble - training a new promising young boxer called Kid Sunshine; the other is unsafe - working for J.J. (Bill Crudup), a dishonorable restaurateur who hates everything that’s ordinary, like doing the laundry, and dedicates himself to other activities, including criminal ones. Bud is easily framed, right after he starts collecting money from a few terrified debtors under the orders of the ruthless Roberto (Yul Vazquez), J.J.’s devoted disciple, who justifies that his boss likes to own people. Restrained indignation and tremendous courage will intertwine when J.J. requests the adulteration of Kid Sunshine’s next fight. Far from the graciousness of his previous film, a fetching romance entitled “Sparrows Dance”, writer/director Noah Buschel presents us with a crude filmmaking style where the dark images overwhelm us with its objectionable looks. A lukewarm pace and a too ponderous approach didn’t help this quiet crime thriller having real thrills. Similarly, the story lets us down, being equal to other stories that we’ve seen a million times before, never adding that discerning touch that would allow emotions to come out clearly and genuinely. As for the acting, it lacked authenticity in several occasions and only Stoll sparingly seems to fit.

Every Secret Thing (2014)

Directed by: Amy Berg
Country: USA

Movie Review: “Every Secret Thing” starts holding our attention by presenting a promising package of drama and crime, but sooner than we expected and even before totally unwrapped, it becomes a huge disappointment. In truth, the potential of this story, adapted by Nicole Holofcener - the competent writer/director of “Please Give” and “Enough Said” - from a crime novel of the same name by the American author Laura Lippman, is totally inhibited by an unsuccessful direction, screenwriting, and cinematography. Only the casting, with diligent performances from Danielle Macdonald and Dakota Fanning, was passable. The film, produced by the celebrated actress Frances McDormand, was directed by Amy Berg, who deserved accolade for chronicling two disturbing legitimate cases in the documentaries “Deliver Us From Evil” (2006) and “West of Memphis” (2012), but showed serious gaps in this first fictional feature-length. The plot brings out two neighbor friends, the apparently reasonable Alice and the unmannerly Ronny, who were implicated in the disappearance of a baby child, taken from a stroller that was placed in the porch of a house close to theirs. Both were sent to a correction facility for seven years. Now with 18, they’re back, but is Alice who causes polemics by saying she has paid for a crime she didn’t commit. When another 3-year-old is missing, detectives Kevin Jones and Nancy Porter get back to the two teens, who become suspects once again. Everything was poorly done, starting with the messed-up plot and crooked details, going through a disintegrated structure and melancholic undertones, and finishing in its unappealing dark images. A couple of twists resulted pathetically inefficient since everything is too revelatory and the surprises are null. If you’re craving for mystery and thrills, skip this one.

The Age of Adaline (2015)

Directed by: Lee Toland Krieger
Country: USA

Movie Review: What an irksome trip, spanned over many decades, is presented to us in “The Age of Adaline”, an epic fantasy romance directed by the young talent, Lee Toland Krieger, who did a much interesting job in the more realistic and charming “Celeste and Jesse Forever”. Mr. Krieger takes on a script, written by J. Mills Goodloe and Salvador Paskowitz, which is not so original as desired, and with the help of a narrator, tells us the long life of Adaline Bowman (Blake Lively), a woman born in 1908 who became ageless at the age of 29, after being mysteriously hit by a lightning bolt during a car accident. This unexplainable episode forces her to constantly change identities and move out to cover her secret. Her daughter, Fanning, becomes the only person who knows the truth, aging as her mother remains young and knowledgeable. The narrative restarts in a New Year’s Eve party, this time with no voiceover, where Adaline, now under the name of Jennifer Larson, falls in love with Ellis Jones (Michiel Huisman). Tired of running away, she struggles with herself from not being able to embrace this genuine love with all her heart. After a period of caution and hesitation, she decides to give Ellis a chance. However, she will be caught off guard when she meets Ellis’ father, William (Harrison Ford), her former lover at a young age. Playing with the timeline and fortuity, “The Age of Adaline” will bring up to mind other related films, cases of “Benjamin Button” and “Big”. I can assure you that it doesn’t do better than any of them, relying on a too schematic structure, a too invariable tone that tilts to sweetness, and a few too obtuse scenes that help dragging the film down. The result? It’s too short to deserve attention.

Beyond the Reach (2014)

Directed by: Jean-Baptiste Leonetti
Country: USA

Movie Revciew: “Beyond the Reach” goes beyond the reality, failing to pass the exam due to its far-fetched situations and rushed solutions in its closing scenes. The French Jean-Baptiste Leonetti directs from a script by Stephen Susco (“The Grudge”) based on the 1972 well-regarded novel “Deathwatch” from Robb White. After a modest debut in 2011 with “Carré Blanc”, the filmmaker gives a giant step towards Hollywood, directing two celebrated actors, one from the old school, Michael Douglas (“Basic Instinct”, “The Game”, “Traffic”), and one showing much potentiality, Jeremy Irvine (“War Horse”, “The Railway Man”). The film is frustratingly trivial and never comes to something original, playing the traditional cat-and-mouse game with the same old clichés and a shameful lack of coherence and lucidity, essential conditions for it to become plausible and enjoyable. Douglas confidently plays the malicious Madec, giving life to a boastful, prosperous man who goes on a hunting trip across the blazing Mojave Desert in August. For the purpose, he hires Ben (Irvine), most likely the best guide in the state, who is fated to play simultaneously the victim and the hero. Equipped with a stylish Mercedes, a modern rifle, explosives, and all the communication needed to close his millionaire deals, the contemptuous Madec manifests an uncontrollable sadistic side after shooting accidentally a man whom he has mistaken for an animal. The best way he finds to deal with the circumstance is by incriminating the reddish Ben, who will fight to survive with no clothes nor water under the torrid sun. Invoking Peckinpah and J. Pakula, “Beyond the Reach” carries out an extremely risible defeat of a villain (a slingshot, really?), as well as the most ridiculous escape from a prison ever (anybody heard a helicopter?).

The Girl Is in Trouble (2014)

Directed by: Julius Onah
Country: USA

Movie Review: “The Girl Is in Trouble” is a discouraging crime thriller that is by turns tedious, farcical, and dull. The story starts with August (Columbus Short), a Nigerian iPod DJ (better joke of the film), being fired from Manhattan's Lower East Side club ‘The Void’. It was in this same club that he met Signe (Alicja Bachleda), a Swedish singer-guitarist who is now begging for his help in a complicated case involving a murder. The victim of the murder in question is August’s best friend, Jesus Guzman, a Dominican drug dealer whose tough brother, Angel (Wilmer Valderrama), swears revenge. The crime, enveloped by blurry mystery, took place in the luxurious apartment of the womanizer Nicholas (Jesse Spencer), a pompous rich guy who, at that time, was accompanied by Signe, enjoying an unrestrained night of excesses. Certainly, one of them is the killer, but with the word of one against the other, who is telling the truth? First-time Nigerian-American director and co-writer, Julius Onah, attempts to a stylish approach, but the result was exactly the opposite. The junky messages occasionally popping up on the screen are superfluous, and the camera moves undecidedly and ungraciously. It felt like the homework hadn’t been done, and moreover, all this was aggravated by the use of incongruous tones, lame storytelling, unconvincing performances, and very basic dialogues. Music is visibly of great importance to Onah, and still the score didn’t work at all, so intrusive it was. The obnoxious characters were so uninteresting that I could only sneer. Everything went too bad in this inexpressive tale of international contours set in Downtown NYC.

Jupiter Ascending (2015)

Directed by: Andy and Lana Wachowski
Country: USA

Movie Review: Another action sci-fi adventure from the creators of “Matrix”, Lana and Andy Wachowski, was recently released but, unfortunately, the result is too feeble to recommend. Characterization and production design stood out as the strongest aspects of “Jupiter Ascending”, a film that very early made me lose the interest in its super-stuffed plot and confusing battles. Mila Kunis and Channing Tatum star in a distant future, respectively as Jupiter Jones and Craig Wise. She leads a very boring life, cleaning houses for wealthy people, but soon realizes that her fate is to save the universe from evil hands, and consequently her life is at stake. He is an ex-soldier who will do whatever he can to protect her during the mission. The ones to be defeated belong to the Abrasax family; voracious brothers Titus and Balem, who fight for reigning after the death of their queen mother. You can find a panoply of flamboyant stuff in “Jupiter Ascending” – flying boots, explosions filling up the screen, colorful rays crossing the menacing skies, huge fancy spaceships, even talkative Godzillas with wings among other ridiculous creatures – but unfortunately these aspects weren’t enough to make it a better film. It’s pretty evident to me that the Wachowskis are going through a creative crisis, and I’m not referring to particular details but as a film in its whole, consecutively abdicating of smarter plots and memorable approaches in order to satisfy the easy consumerism of the genre they love most. I made an effort to like this but end up missing “Matrix” more, or “V for Vendetta” whose screenplay they wrote. Opposing to Jupiter, the Wachowkis’ career is descending at the speed of light. Therefore, urgent measures are now needed to save their universes.

Redirected (2014)

Directed by: Emilis Velyvis
Country: Lithuania / UK

Movie Review: “Redirected” is a gangster action comedy film made in Lithuania and UK, being the sophomore feature from Emilis Velyvis who, together with Jonas Banys, also wrote this rambunctious tale. Vinnie Jones stars as Golden Pole, the feared leader of a Londoner gang, whose esteemed ring and money becomes the aim of three greedy friends: Johnny, Tim and Ben, who just added the ‘unavailable’ Michael to their dangerous stratagem at the last minute. After seizing the ‘stuff’, the plan was to flee to Malaysia but the eruption of an Icelandic volcano thwarted their intentions, and the boys are deviated to Lithuania. Apart from the angered Michael, who was literally kidnapped to get into the plane, leaving his girlfriend in England, the other thieves just enjoy their time, partying in a local nightclub. This draws the attention of local thugs and corrupted cops, who simultaneously with the robbed gang arrived from London, will try to grab the dough and butcher its holders. The overcooked plot revealed too much impracticable coincidences and the sequence ‘caught-beaten up-captivity-escape’ was used so many times that before the first 30 minutes we’re already fed up and asking for something new. Speaking of new, “Redirected” was probably the most unoriginal film I saw last year, being a cheap imitation of the mood created by Guy Ritchie in his successful gangster films (“Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels”, “Snatch” – Vinnie Jones are on both) with the aggravating factor of adding some allegedly humorous scenes that make us more disgusted than pleased. With an anarchy that feels phony, Velyvis selected a lousy way to pass a horrible image of his country.

The Interview (2014)

Directed by: Evan Goldberg, Seth Rogen
Country: USA

Movie Review: “The Interview” is another cheap comedy taken from the minds of Seth Rogen (story writer, director, producer and actor), Evan Goldberg (story writer, director and producer) and Dan Sterling (story and screenplay writer, executive producer, and a very small role as Tech Specialist). Besides Rogen, a staple in today’s Hollywood American comedies, the film also stars James Franco, Randall Park, Diana Bang and Lizzy Caplan. Dave Skylark (Franco) is a famous interviewer for a sensationalist TV program called ‘Skylark Tonight’, where celebrities use to make ‘shocking’ revelations about themselves. His pal and show producer, Aaron Rapoport (Rogen), becomes unsatisfied with the course of the show, after finding a former college colleague whose contempt for the type of content presented made him feel bad. Taking advantage of the crisis involving North Korea and the US, Dave and Aaron are incited by CIA’s agent Lacey (Caplan) to kill the supreme leader, Kim Jong-un (Park), after they have been invited to conduct an interview with him. Once in communist land, the two friends will opt for divergent paths: Dave will take the side of the venerated president, while Aaron keeps faithful to the mission but deeply in love with Sook (Bang), a North Korean official. I found Franco’s character extremely annoying, and one more time, Rogen and company make the abhorrent win over cleverness. The type of humor presented in “The Interview” seems created by naughty kids, relying on gags about stinking penis, buttholes and poo. There is some action too, with a tiger attack being the most ridiculous scene. Too much polemic over this release, and the truth is that the world doesn’t gain anything with its idiotic story.

Revenge of the Green Dragons (2014)

Directed by: Andrew Lau / Andrew Loo
Country: USA / Hong Kong

Movie Review: Hong Kong filmmaker, Andrew Lau, achieved major success in 2002 with “Infernal Affairs”. After that accomplishment, his career has been punctuated with ups and downs. In the American-Chinese gangster story, “Revenge of the Green Dragons”, surprisingly executive produced by Martin Scorsese and based on true events, he got the company of co-writer Andrew Loo in direction, returning to the style he identifies himself the most: crime thriller. But instead of surprising us, Lau and Loo try to manipulate the viewer through repetitive words, moves, and postures coming from the obnoxious characters depicted. The narrative starts in 1983 in Flushing, Queens, where two undocumented immigrants and inseparable childhood friends, Sonny and Steven, join the criminal gang ‘Green Dragons’, encouraged by its charismatic leader Paul Wong whose bait consisted in ‘you can’t be anything but a fisherman in China’. The gang will have the fierce opposition of an FBI agent, performed in an unrefined way by Ray Liotta, who investigates a crime related to the New York’s Asian underworld. Stepping in adverse territories, “Revenge of the Green Dragons” is a depressing tale filled with cycles of violence, where the absence of creativity in the plot and taste in the execution, relegates it to those C-action movies where there’s no message and absolutely nothing to be learned. Its atrocious scenes are the only aspect that we furiously keep in mind. No positive things to take out from this weary gang scene.

War Story (2014)

Directed by: Mark Jackson
Country: USA

Movie Review: I really don’t know what American filmmaker Mark Jackson was thinking when he wrote, conjointly with Kristin Gore, his sophomore feature film “War Story”, a depressing drama executed in stodgy tones that drags itself along 90 minutes. The story follows Lee (Catherine Keener), a war-traumatized American photojournalist who returns to Sicily and tries to help Hafsia (Hafsia Herzi), a young refugee woman she had met in Libya in frightful circumstances. The latter is pregnant and desperately wants an abortion, so many times refused by the Italian medical services. She also intends to leave for France where she thinks she will have better opportunities. At the same time, Lee also contacts her former lover and mentor, Albert (Ben Kingsley). The beginning still sparked some curiosity, when I was trying to figure out Lee’s inconclusive behaviors. Was she sick? Was she a voyeur? What was she doing in Italy and how wrecked her life was? But this search only lasted 15 minutes, since my patience faded away with the slow cadence and excessive meditative atmosphere. The story somberly presents us racial prejudices, infinite sadness, and the misery of two persons who are trying to start again and gain confidence to go on. Mark Jackson’s directorial choices were questionable, like when he opted for a distant long shot of a conversation between Lee and Albert, which after a while becomes boring. In a film where I never cared about the fate of its characters, only Keener’s performance was noteworthy.

Soulmate (2013)

Directed by: Axelle Carolyn
Country: UK

Movie Review: Belgian actress-turned-director Axelle Carolyn brings us a mystery tale, involving humans and ghosts, which effectively catches the eye but heavily disappoints as a story. Audrey tries to cope with the death of her husband and finds a secluded cottage in rural Wales to recover from a suicide attempt. At night, she starts to hear unusual noises and witnessing unexplainable occurrences that lead her to conclude that there is a presence in the cottage. She resorts to the only people she know in the nearest village, Theresa and her husband, who evasively try to convinced her that there are no ghosts and the problem could be just in her head. Actually, the ghost of the former owner of the cottage, Douglas Talbot, starts to appear in a human form and talk to her. A beautiful friendship begins when they find several pains in common, but the melodramatic tones and boring conversation never awoke me from its melancholy, and not even the pale face of the ghost was sufficient to stir the insipid developments. What caught my attention were the beautiful shadowy images and autumnal atmosphere outdoors, sometimes well combined with the score of violins and cellos. A nearly perfect atmosphere that became worthless, given the dull story and failed attempts to create humor, thrills, seduction or anything else. Anna Walton’s performance was far from authentic, but nothing compared to the lousy presence of the unconvincing ghost. “Soulmate” lacked intensity, and was nothing more than a naive exercise on horror/thriller that doesn’t take us to any part of this world or the other.

Waar (2013)

Directed by: Bilal Lashari
Country: Pakistan

Movie Review: “Waar” is a Pakistani action thriller, result of the ideas from two debutants, filmmaker/cinematographer Bilal Lashari and screenwriter/producer Hassan Waqas Rana, and that’s noticeable along its two hours. The film is episodically divided, and despite a handful of good-looking images, it's disconnected, showing a lot of failed aspects. Spoken in a mixed language of Urdu and English, the film is also a frustrating blend of Bollywood sentimentality and Lollywood action. The story follows Major Mujtaba, a retired Pakistan army officer who is practically forced to defend his country from a serious terrorist threat. Used to work in the shadow, Mujtaba still struggles with the loss of his family, but eventually accepts to join the field operation leader, Ehtesham, and intelligence agent, Javeria, to dismantle the terrorist group and avoid a national catastrophe. The recurrent flashbacks didn’t work, and “Waar” simply didn’t intrigue me, nor catch my attention, nor surprised me, defrauding my expectations created when I realized this was a massive local success in its country of origin. The final physical fight was more trivial than invigorating, while Amir Munawar’s score was annoying and invasive. All the clichés can be found there – the lost, suffering heroes; the evil enemies; the same old words; the awaited conclusions… I believe this local crowd-pleaser will continue to be a cult film for many, but I couldn’t help being unexcited with the pointless counter-terrorism presented by Lashari and Rana.

Hercules (2014)

Directed by: Brett Rattner
Country: USA

Movie Review: “Hercules” was never substantial enough with its Greek mythological story. Filmmaker Brett Ratner (“Rush Hour”, “The Red Dragon”, “X-Men: The Last Stand”), whose action executions are commonly showy and made to impress the eye, forgot once again to create an intriguing mood, while the screenwriters should have added some smartness to increase the viewers’ interest. There’s nothing different here from the usual approach adopted for this kind of adventure. I’ve seen this so many times before that my indifference along the way increased substantially as the film approaches to its farcical end. Half human, half God, Hercules, son of Zeus, rushes to aid the king of Thrace and his daughter, in a battle against the forces of evil commanded by Rhesus. Reuniting his group of mercenaries, which includes among others, his storyteller nephew Iolaus, a childhood friend Autolycus who is an expert in knife-throwing, and the agile archer Atalanta, we are presented with interminable body combats, furious roars, and a sense of humor that feels more stupid than witty. Dwayne Johnson, despite the enviable muscles, seemed stuck in the disorganized, endless battles. With so much chaos and disorder and a plot that doesn’t help, “Hercules” ended up being an inefficient blockbuster, becoming one of this year’s most unexciting, staged, and inarticulate exercise on the genre. Maybe Ratner thinks his filmmaking style is much spectacular but the whole thing is just a huge fakeness, completely unable to cause positive reactions.

The Fault in Our Stars (2014)

Directed by: Josh Boone
Country: USA

Movie Review: Written by the successful duo Scott Neustadter/Michael H.Weber, formerly responsible for scripts such as “The Spectacular Now” or “(500) Days of Summer”, “The Fault in Our Stars” follows the usual teen romance, but this time with the particularity of having cancer as the main obstacle. The story, based on John Green’s novel, takes place in Indianapolis where the 16-year-old Hazel (Shailene Woodley) was diagnosed with thyroid cancer when she was 13, now metastasized to her lungs. She is an isolated person whose boring life consists pretty much in watching reality shows, going to doctor appointments, and attending support meetings at the local church. All of this will change after she gets to know the confident and unembarrassed Gus in one of those meetings. Naturally, the strong friendship established, evolves to a passionate romance that was never able to reach my emotions. The predictable story plays excessively with the couple’s extreme happiness or sadness; in the first situation, the scenes were depicted with an uncontrolled sweetness, while in the second one, the result was an exacerbated sentimentality. Everything that falls out of these two situations can be called idiotic, involving Gus’ best friend Isaac, or a trip to Amsterdam to meet the admired novelist Peter Van Houten. Craftily manipulative in its intentions, occasionally derivative, and evincing a sluggish narrative, Josh Boone’s sophomore feature “The Fault in Our Stars”, didn’t stood out in any aspect, becoming much more sloppy than rewarding.

Tokarev (2014)

Directed by: Paco Cabezas
Country: USA / France

Movie Review: After a great return with David Gordon Green’s “Joe”, Nicolas Cage falls in another minor exercise on the action genre, this time by the hand of Spanish filmmaker Paco Cabezas. The daughter of Paul Maguire (Cage), a retired former criminal, is kidnapped after his house has been broken into. A few days later her body is found dead, and everything points to the Russian mafia, in what they suspect to be a revenge for a dirty job made in the past. Maguire, thirsty to make justice, will reunite two of his trustful gangster pals, declaring open war to the Russians and triggering a spiral of violence. Writers Jim Agnew and Sean Keller worked together again after Dario Argento’s “Giallo”, in a feeble plot that leads to a complete absence of interest, as the shootings and tortures follow one another without offering something sustainable or different. Instead of a more meticulous and suspenseful approach, Cabezas opted for showy rough scenes where the connections aren’t always clear, relegating the film for those tiresome C grade movies where you cannot identify with any character, no matter how much you try to. Not even Cage’s usual competence disguised the weaknesses and banality of a bad story transformed in an even worse film. The contemptible production values didn’t help improving the triviality presented here, and the film takes us to completely dull conclusions that are much more laughable than shocking. Completed on a $25 million budget, I wonder how better this film could have been made.

Devil's Knot (2013)

Directed by: Atom Egoyan
Country: USA

Movie Review: Far are the times when Canadian filmmaker of Armenian origin, Atom Egoyan, surprised us with his raw, honest cinema. Films like “Family Viewing”, “Speaking Parts”, “The Adjuster”, “Calendar”, “Sweet Hereafter”, and “Exotica” will be forever in my mind as great films, however this “Devil’s Knot”, based on the true events happened in 1993 in West Memphis, Arkansas, where three young boys were severely mutilated and killed, is a weak effort. The case known as West Memphis Three became famous when three boys were wrongly convicted, remaining in prison for more than 18 years. Colin Firth and Reese Witherspoon starred, the former as an obsessed defense lawyer decided to find the truth, and the latter as the unconvincing mother of one of the 8-year-old victims, Stevie Branch. This disappointing drama comes in a very bad time and devoid of the best arguments and mood to triumph, since this particular case received huge attention by the press and media, having at least four amazing documentaries released about the subject matter. The screenplay, written by Paul Harris Boardman and Scott Derrickson based on Mara Leveritt’s book, uses several manipulations to force the viewers to involve themselves emotionally. The result is pretty much artificial and narratively distorted, as everything is presented in a hasty, confused, and imprecise manner. I doubt this film works, even for those who are not familiar with the horrifying story depicted. For a much more genuine insight about the case, I urge you to watch Amy Berg’s “West of Memphis”, and “Paradise Lost” trilogy.