Review – Star Trek Into Darkness

With Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Simon Pegg, Benedict Cumberbatch. Written by Roberto Orci & Alex Kurtzman & Damon Lindelof. Directed by J.J. Abrams. Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi action and violence. 132 minutes.

Open letter to the top executives at Paramount: Yes, everyone knows that the “Star Trek” franchise is a very important part of your company and that STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS – the second in the rebooted film series – is crucial to your success not only this summer but this year. However, the cowards and cretins in your publicity department seem to think that unless the media is “managed,” the legion of Trek fans around the world won’t go. Have you learned nothing from the fact that people even went to see the “Star Wars” prequels? By allowing some “special” critics to see the movie early while making most of us in the U.S. wait until the film’s opening night – even as reviews were already pouring in from overseas – all you have done is made a lot of critics angry, ensuring that whatever negative reviews the film gets will be even nastier than they might have been. Fire these idiots. They obviously know nothing about “Star Trek,” its viewers or, indeed, the movie industry.

As for the film itself, it’s nice to report that the movie didn’t need to be “managed” at all. It is, in fact, precisely what was needed after the reboot four years ago. The 2009 “Star Trek” worked despite a weak and confusing script, because the casting and characterization was so spot on. Chris Pine was fine as the impetuous young James Kirk, Zachary Quinto and Karl Urban were astounding as Mr. Spock and Dr. McCoy, and the rest of the crew – Zoe Saldana, Simon Pegg, John Cho, Anton Yelchin – were entirely in sync with their roles. Audiences accepted it because it was a fresh introduction to iconic characters. Director J. J. Abrams and his collaborators neatly got the franchise out from under the burden of four decades of what was or wasn’t “canon” by hitting the reset button.

Having served, in effect, as the pilot for the new series, the next film had to develop a solid story. It does, and details will not be spoiled here. After a mysterious man known as Hamilton (Benedict Cumberbatch) launches a deadly attack on Starfleet headquarters on Earth, Admiral Marcus (Peter Weller) sends the Enterprise off to a supposedly uninhabited area in Klingon space to take him out. It’s a delicate matter because the Federation can’t risk launching an attack in the area and getting caught. Then it gets complicated.

Pine, Quinto and Urban do a marvelous job of bringing new life to the Kirk/Spock/McCoy tensions even as it will seem familiar to longtime fans. Cho as Sulu and Yelchin as Chekhov are a bit underused in this outing, but get their moments. Saldana, as communications officer Uhura, and Pegg, chief engineer Scott, have slightly more substantial roles.

As the story develops, fans will figure out where it’s going, which is why the new twists on the material keep it entertaining. It’s not simply a story we know with a new cast and more up-to-date special effects.  It’s a reshuffle that has a few surprises in store. By film’s end, it is clear that Abrams really needed two films to fully complete his reboot. The next “Star Trek” movie will be even more eagerly anticipated because the elements are all in place now, and future editions will have more room to maneuver having convinced the fans that this is the real deal.

Whether you’re a longtime fan or a newcomer, “Star Trek Into Darkness” delivers. Now if we can only convince the idiots at Paramount that there’s a reason the “Star Trek” franchise has survived for nearly fifty years. Big hint: it’s not because the movies and TV shows were kept from the critics, many of whom are eager to celebrate Gene Roddenberry’s bold vision when given the chance.•••

Daniel M. Kimmel is a veteran movie critic and author of a host of film-related books. His first novel, Shh! It’s A Secret: A Novel About Aliens, Hollywood and the Bartender’s Guide has just been released. He teaches at Suffolk University and lives in Somerville, Massachusetts.

Review – The Great Gatsby

With Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire, Carey Mulligan, Joel Edgerton, Elizabeth Debicki. Written by Baz Luhrmann & Craig Pearce. Directed by Baz Luhrmann. Rated PG-13 for some violent images, sexual content, smoking, partying and brief language. 143 minutes.

THE GREAT GATSBY in 3D. Just like F. Scott Fitzgerald intended, right? Two things you need to know right up front: First, the movie is no masterpiece, but it’s not the train wreck it might have been. Second, do not waste your money on the 3D version. It’s interesting in a few scenes – like the parties at Gatsby’s mansion – and is otherwise wholly unnecessary. It’s a gimmick to part you from your money as are most 3D films, and it’s not worth it.

As to the film itself, one wishes Baz Luhrmann had pursued a career as an art director rather than as a filmmaker. In many ways the film is a visual feast, with costumes and sets that bring to life the 1920’s New York of our collective unconscious. Unfortunately, this is the same director who gave us such movies as “Romeo + Juliet,” “Moulin Rouge” and “Australia.” His famous debut, “Strictly Ballroom” is now over twenty years old. When you hear the soundtrack which mixes period music by the likes of Cole Porter and George Gershwin with selections by rap star Jay-Z, you know you’re dealing with someone whose agenda has little to do with fidelity to the story he is telling.

For those who haven’t read the book or seen the four previous film versions of the story, our focus is Nick Carraway (Tobey Maguire), an everyman who was born with the right bloodlines. He’s not wealthy, but he comes from good stock, went to Yale, and now works on Wall Street. His cousin Daisy (Carey Mulligan) married Tom Buchanan (Joel Edgerton) and they live among the old money in East Egg on Long Island. Nick lives in West Egg, among the nouveau riche, right next door to the mysterious Jay Gatsby (Leonardo DiCaprio).

Fitzgerald’s classic novel works on multiple levels, and the film hits the key moments and memorable lines like the Stations of the Cross. From Gatsby’s belief that he can continually reinvent himself to Nick’s selflessness to the self-absorption of Daisy and Tom, Luhrmann and co-screenwriter Craig Pearce make sure you get what you’re expecting. Look, there’s Gatsby showering Daisy with his custom-made shirts. There’s the sinister Jewish gangster Meyer Wolfsheim – who “fixed” the World Series – oddly, played by Indian actor Amitabh Bachchan.

While the film is not a total disaster, it fails in some ways. It’s too long. The 3D is wholly unnecessary. DiCaprio ‘s line reading of Gatsby’s calling everyone “old sport” – something he picked up in his social climbing – sounds like “old spore,” as if he expects them to turn into ferns. Luhrmann’s visuals, stunning as they are, rely too much on CGI effects. When characters race from Long Island to Manhattan, as they do repeatedly through the film, we’re always aware that most of their journey is computer magic as the 3D actors stand out against their 2D green screen backdrops. Seeing this in actual 2D could only improve its realism.

As for the cast, they were desperately in need of a director who could guide their performances. DiCaprio’s entrance as Gatsby a half hour into the movie is masterful… until he opens his mouth. A director like Martin Scorsese (who directed DiCaprio in such films as “The Gangs of New York” and “The Departed”) would have done a much better job collaborating with the actor.

Ultimately, “The Great Gatsby” is about shallow people. Nick, the great observer, watches them self-destruct or run away from any responsibility. In spite of this being the fifth film version, perhaps no movie can really do it justice. Baz Luhrmann is the latest director to take on the challenge, but the result is a movie that might play best with the sound off. Ironically, the first “Gatsby” movie was a silent.•••

Daniel M. Kimmel is a veteran movie critic and author of a host of film-related books. His first novel, Shh! It’s A Secret: A Novel About Aliens, Hollywood and the Bartender’s Guide has just been released. He teaches at Suffolk University and lives in Somerville, Massachusetts.

Review – Iron Man 3

With Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Guy Pearce, Ben Kingsley. Written by Drew Pearce & Shane Black. Directed by Shane Black. Rated PG-13 for sequences of intense sci-fi action and violence throughout, and brief suggestive content. 130 minutes.

There’s a certain pleasure in being able to say of a comic book action hero movie that one doesn’t want to give away too much of the plot to avoid revealing the numerous twists in the screenplay. After the disappointing “Iron Man 2” – which was the usual sequel that redid the first film only louder – IRON MAN 3 seems to have learned the lessons of last summer’s “The Avengers.” By making us care about its superhero as a person, we’re willing to go along for the ride about almost everything else.

It’s several months after “The Avengers” and Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.) is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. If people start talking about “aliens” or “New York” he starts to hyperventilate and lose focus. Indeed, he goes days at a time unable to sleep, a seemingly minor plot point that eventually pays off in a big way.

Stark has scaled back his involvement in his business, leaving it to Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) to run, and seems to have retired from the superhero business as well. He has been replaced by his friend Col. James Rhodes (Don Cheadle) who wore a similar Iron Man suit as “War Machine” but is now renamed “Iron Patriot.” However Tony finds himself drawn back into the fight when his security chief and former bodyguard Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau, director of the first two “Iron Man” movies) is put into a coma following a mysterious explosion. Claiming credit for a series of violent attacks is a mysterious international terrorist known as The Mandarin (Ben Kingsley), who may or may not have some connection with the equally mysterious industrialist/scientist Aldrich Killian (Guy Pearce).

Downey’s performance is impeccable. He gets that he’s not simply playing a comic book character for the fourth time but a character who is evolving. He’s as snarky as ever, but now he’s realizing that his actions affect other people, often people about whom he cares about deeply. His interactions with a young boy (Ty Simpkins) who becomes crucial to the plot are priceless. The cast as a whole works quite well but to say anything further would give away too much. Likewise the script by director Shane Black and Drew Pearce constantly surprises. There will be one or more moments where your reaction will be, “Wow, I didn’t see that coming.” Of course you will be expecting a gag scene at the end of the closing credits, and you won’t be disappointed.

The action scenes are also top notch, including a rescue of a group of people in free fall from a plane that has to be seen to be believed. As with the climactic action set piece, we assume that at least some of what we are seeing is special effects, but Black avoids the mistake too often made in such movies. We see that the actors were clearly there and strenuously playing their roles at least some of the time. The only flaw is the unnecessary post-production 3D conversion which adds nothing to the film.  Don’t waste your money on it.

“Iron Man 3” kicks off the summer movie blockbuster season, even though summer is weeks away. Like the first robin of spring, we can only hope this is a sign of more good things to come.•••

Daniel M. Kimmel is a veteran movie critic and author of a host of film-related books. His first novel, Shh! It’s A Secret: A Novel About Aliens, Hollywood and the Bartender’s Guide has just been released. He teaches at Suffolk University and lives in Somerville, Massachusetts.

Review – Pain & Gain

With Mark Wahlberg, Dwayne Johnson, Anthony Mackie, Tony Shalhoub, Ed Harris. Written by Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely. Directed by Michael Bay. Rated R for bloody violence, crude sexual content, nudity, language throughout and drug use. 120 minutes.

One guesses that the real life crime story – involving kidnapping, extortion, and murder – wasn’t anywhere near as amusing as depicted in PAIN & GAIN. Taking a break from his special effects-driven “Transformers” movies, director Michael Bay has crafted a violent action comedy that has the advantage of having a strong cast.

Mark Wahlberg plays Daniel Lugo, the “mastermind” of a plot to kidnap Victor Kershaw (Tony Shalhoub) and steal everything he owns. Lugo works at a Miami-based gym as a personal trainer but believe he deserves more, especially after going to one of those “how to be a millionaire” self-help meetings. He recruits fellow body builder Adrian Doorbal (Anthony Mackie) and Paul Doyle (Dwayne Johnson), an ex-con who has found Jesus.

The first part of the film is their working their way up to the crime and then pulling it off, although they are utterly inept. The comedy is on the dark side, though, and since we know that real people were injured or died in the course of their crimes, it’s not always easy to keep things light. Matters get more complicated when the money starts running out and the trio need to pull off a second operation, this one involving a porn king (Michael Rispoli). At this point the now-penniless Kershaw is in hiding, since the Miami police refuse to believe the bizarre story of what happened to him. Instead he tries to interest a retired detective (Ed Harris) to take on the investigation.

At two hours, the movies seems a bit long, but Bay does know how to film action whether it’s straight-ahead drama or a darkly ironic sequence as when they try to murder Kershaw. Bay keeps the film moving. What engages in the audience is the portrayal of the kidnappers as nice guys who stupidly turn to violent crime even though they’re bad at it. Since the film opens with Lugo surrounded by cops we already know where the story is going.

Wahlberg manages to pull off the trick of making us believe his character is utterly clueless. He’s motivated to succeed but can’t see more than a step or two ahead. Mackie’s character is so overdosed on steroids that he has to go to a clinic to deal with chronic impotence, which is where he meets his romantic interest (Rebel Wilson). Stealing the picture is Johnson who once again goes off in a new direction as an actor. He manages to juggle Doyle’s violence, his sweetness, his lack of intelligence, and his sincere religious beliefs in one complicated but nevertheless interesting mix. Shalhoub and Harris also turn in solid performances.

Audiences willing to put up with the violence – which includes cutting up and destroying body parts – may find the dark humor here appealing. However it should be noted that given the recent events here, inept criminals involved in maiming and killing don’t seem terribly funny at the moment. “Pain & Gain” may find its audience, but this might not have been the best week for it.•••

Daniel M. Kimmel is a veteran movie critic and author of a host of film-related books. His first novel, Shh! It’s A Secret: A Novel About Aliens, Hollywood and the Bartender’s Guide has just been released. He teaches at Suffolk University and lives in Somerville, Massachusetts.

Review – The Big Wedding

With Robert DeNiro, Katherine Heigl, Diane Keaton, Amanda Seyfried, Topher Grace, Susan Sarandon, Robin Williams, Ben Barnes. Written and directed by Justin Zackham. Rated R for language, sexual content and brief nudity. 90 minutes.

At the sneak preview for THE BIG WEDDING, viewers were advised not to try to record the movie. If there were any lawbreakers in the audience attempting to do so, guaranteed they were erasing the recording on the way home. This train wreck of a movie makes one wonder what kind of salacious info writer/director Justin Zackham has for blackmail purposes to get a cast like this to agree to appear in a movie this bad.

The opening scene sets the tone. Ellie (Diane Keaton) has returned home for the wedding of Alejandro (Ben Barnes) and Missy (Amanda Seyfried). Alejandro is the son she had adopted with her ex-husband Don (Robert DeNiro). She slips into the house she once shared with Don who does not see her when he comes in with Bebe (Susan Sarandon), her former best friend who now lives with Don. He begins to perform oral sex on her until Ellie makes her presence known.

Laughing yet? Or are you supremely embarrassed? The film quickly goes downhill from there. The two other adult children, Lyla (Katherine Heigl) and Jared (Topher Grace), have their own issues. Lyla has just left her husband and seems to get ill at the sight of babies. Jared is a successful doctor who, nearing 30, is still a virgin because he’s been holding out for true love. There’s more, much more, but the key plot element supposedly driving this attempted farce is that Alejandro’s very traditional Catholic mother from Colombia – who gave him up for adoption so he could have a better life in the United States – will be attending the wedding and she believes that Ellie and Don are still married. They are soon pretending to be so, even though Bebe is the one who is catering the wedding. Hilarity does not ensue.

If all this doesn’t signal how horribly unfunny all this is, consider the arrival of Robin Williams as Father Moinighan. The last time he played a cleric, in an equally failed comedy, was in the 2007 film “License To Wed.” Note to future filmgoers: if the usually talented Williams is wearing a clerical collar, go running in the opposite direction.

What were they thinking? Based on a French film that apparently has never been released here, this is a movie about self-absorbed twits. At the rehearsal dinner, Alejandro’s Colombian sister (Ana Ayora) decides to come on to Jared by unzipping his fly and fondling him under the table. When Don and Ellie have to spend the night together, naturally they ending up having sex. The next morning Don is bragging about how he was “laying pipe” for 40 minutes.

Justin Zackham, who wrote “The Bucket List,” does a disservice to cast and to the audience with his screenplay and direction here. Ironically, Katherine Heigl, who has a number of cinematic crimes of her own to answer for, comes off best here, perhaps because her character is the least cartoonish of the lot. She can’t save the movie on her own, but perhaps there is hope for her in the future.

However, one has to report that there is no hope for anyone unfortunate enough to attend “The Big Wedding.”•••

Daniel M. Kimmel is a veteran movie critic and author of a host of film-related books. His first novel, Shh! It’s A Secret: A Novel About Aliens, Hollywood and the Bartender’s Guide has just been released. He teaches at Suffolk University and lives in Somerville, Massachusetts.

Review – Oblivion

With Tom Cruise, Morgan Freeman, Olga Kurylenko, Andrea Riseborough, Melissa Leo. Written by Joseph Kosinski and Karl Gajdusek and Michael Arndt. Directed by Joseph Kosinski. Rated PG-13 for sci-fi action violence, brief strong language, and some sensuality/nudity. 126 minutes.

Jack (Tom Cruise) lives on a post-apocalyptic Earth. As he tells us at the start of OBLIVION, the planet was destroyed in a war with invading aliens which, by the way, we “won.” However, Earth can no longer support life. Now the remnants of humanity are in an orbiting space station while Earth’s water is sucked up to be transformed into power for our new life on Titan, one of Saturn’s moons. Jack and Victoria (Andrea Riseborough) live in a special station on Earth supervising the drones which protect those generators against the remaining alien “scavengers.”

That’s an awful lot of backstory, but director Joseph Kosinski – who co-wrote the script based on his graphic novel – soon has us following Jack as he zooms around in his really cool flying machine. The house he and Victoria live in also really cool, complete with a transparent pool. Neither the home nor the vehicle makes much sense – why is the house way up in the air and jutting out from its support at an angle? – but they look really, really cool. Really.

You may already be suspecting that something more is up, but that would be giving away the rest of the plot. While “Oblivion” is neither stupid nor dull, it is shallow, having only its few plot twists to offer along with the impressive special effects. What it doesn’t have is much in the way of character development or a need for the cast to stretch their acting muscles.

All of the characters are essentially plot devices. Jack and Victoria have had their memories wiped – “for security reasons” – which raises a number of issues. She is counting down the remaining few days they have left on their Earthbound assignment. Will they be getting their memories back? The movie eventually answers that question but it does mean these two characters have little in the way of background or motivation.

Oscar winner Melissa Leo is a face and voice on a video screen for Mission Control. Morgan Freeman shows up as Beech, the leader of the rebels. We learn little about him or why he is their leader, and his only point in the story is to rebel against… well, that would be spoiling. The most interesting character may be Julia (Olga Kurylenko), a survivor of a fallen spacecraft who has also been appearing in Jack’s dreams. Yet she, too, has little in the way of character development, simply revealing new information about herself as the story requires.

No doubt some critics will go for the cheap pot shot by saying that “Oblivion” is aptly named since that’s where it’s heading, but that would be unfair. If this was the worst of the year’s many science fiction epics, it would be a very good year for the genre. The only ones who will be really disappointed are those who wanted something engaging instead of what amounts to little more than entertaining eye candy.•••

Daniel M. Kimmel is a veteran movie critic and author of a host of film-related books. His first novel, Shh! It’s A Secret: A Novel About Aliens, Hollywood and the Bartender’s Guide has just been released. He teaches at Suffolk University and lives in Somerville, Massachusetts.

Are “Oblivion” and “Wall*E” the same movie?
Click below to find out!

Review – 42

With Chadwick Boseman, Harrison Ford, Nicole Beharie, Lucas Black, Andre Holland. Written by and directed by Brian Helgeland. Rated PG-13 for thematic elements including language. 128 minutes.

Let’s just say it right out: the first great film of 2013 has arrived. 42 is the story of how Jackie Robinson (Chadwick Boseman) broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball when owner Branch Rickey (Harrison Ford) hired him to play for the Brooklyn Dodgers. It is a home run.

One can’t overstate the story’s importance not only in baseball history but in American history. World War II had ended and African-American veterans returned home, where Jim Crow laws still prevailed in a number of states and blacks were second-class citizens. Rickey, moved by his religious beliefs and his passion for baseball, decided he was going to do something about it, and sought out Robinson to be the first non-white player in major league sports.

For those who didn’t live through it, the scenes of crowds booing Robinson simply because of the color of his skin are shocking. The open racism of the Philadelphia Phillies manager Ben Chapman (Alan Tudyk) – screaming the “N-word” while Robinson is at the plate – is beyond appalling. However writer/director Brian Helgeland doesn’t turn this in an Afterschool Special with an “important lesson.” We see the impact this has on Robinson and the people around him. Watch the evolution of Dodgers star shortstop Pee Wee Reese (Lucas Black), who goes from rejecting a move by his teammates to refuse to play with Robinson to publicly showing his support and friendship… after being threatened if he did so. There are numerous moments that make solid points without giving us a concussion in the process.

Indeed, Helgeland’s emerging directorial skills have finally caught up with his established screenwriting credits, which include “L. A. Confidential” and “Mystic River.” He knows when to underplay the material and when to let fly, as in a scene where Robinson – humiliated but unable to respond because that would be giving the bigots what they want – goes into a walkway behind the dugout and lets loose with the emotions he’s had to keep pent-up inside. Later we see the education of a young boy accompanying his racist father to a game as he reacts to what he sees around him.

Helgeland is aided by a stellar cast. Boseman, a TV actor with some minor film credits, commands the screen as Robinson, showing us just how hard it was to win the larger fight by simply being a great ballplayer. This is a star-making turn. Harrison Ford turns in the performance of his career as Branch Rickey. It’s not too early to start speculating about next year’s Oscars, and whether his studio will position him to be nominated for best actor or best supporting actor. Ford lets us see that Rickey is a true American hero as well.

The supporting cast is similarly strong and surprises us at every turn, from John McGinley as sportscaster Red Barber to Max Gail as a retired manager brought in when the Dodger’s regular manager is suspended for the season. Nicole Beharie’s portrayal of Rachel Robinson shows how her love and dignity provided a much needed anchor in her husband’s life, while Andre Holland plays a black reporter covering Robinson who has to sit in the stands with his typewriter because the press box is still segregated.

“42” instantly enters the pantheon of great baseball movies, but it’s much more than that. It’s a history lesson about America and about how, no matter how painful it might be, in the end we struggle to do the right thing.•••

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Daniel M. Kimmel is a veteran movie critic and author of a host of film-related books. His first novel, Shh! It’s A Secret: A Novel About Aliens, Hollywood and the Bartender’s Guide has just been released. He teaches at Suffolk University and lives in Somerville, Massachusetts.

Review – Evil Dead

[SEE THE NSFW RED BAND TRAILER HERE]
With Jane Levy, Shiloh Fernandez, Lou Taylor Pucci, Jessica Lucas, Elizabeth Blackmore. Written by Fede Alvarez, Diablo Cody, Rodo Sayagues. Directed by Fede Alvarez. Rated R for strong bloody violence and gore, some sexual content and language. 91 minutes.

Some thirty years, ago a young unknown filmmaker named Sam Raimi had an idea for a movie about five people in a remote cabin who would become possessed by demons and start to kill each other off. Many young filmmakers have broken into the business by making a splash with horror films, and Raimi has gone on to a strong career. That movie was 1981′s “Evil Dead.”

Now, in 2013, some filmmakers (including Raimi and his star Bruce Campbell, who are among the producers) have decided that what we needed was not an original horror movie, like last year’s similar and far superior “Cabin In The Woods,” but a remake. As with remakes of movies like “Halloween” and “A Nightmare On Elm Street” and “Night of the Living Dead,” this EVIL DEAD is a curio. It’s interesting to compare how effects or acting styles have changed, but for a film about demonic possession, it is surprisingly soulless.

The premise is that five young people have gone to a remote cabin. Mia (Jane Levy) is a drug addict and has asked her brother David (Shiloh Fernandez) and some friends to help her go cold turkey. She complains about weird smells and they discover a bunch of dead animals and a strange book in the cellar. Now if you found a book bound in human skin and wrapped up with barbed wire, with warnings on nearly every page, would you start trying to translate it? Eric (Lou Taylor Pucci) does, and soon, strange things start to happen.

Since the movie is essentially a gore fest, there’s no need to go on about the plot or acting. This is a movie in which no less than three arms get dismembered, a character goes berserk with a nail gun, and a woman is beaten to death with part of a broken toilet (after she’s been drenched in blood that’s vomited on her). This doesn’t even get us to the climactic showdown involving a chainsaw. We know and care little about these characters once things get underway so often the reaction isn’t fright but, “Ooh, that must hurt!”

When Raimi got money to do the sequels “Evil Dead 2: Dead By Dawn” (essentially a remake) and “Army Of Darkness,” he mixed the horror with a healthy dose of humor. The frights were real but the screams were mixed with laughs. This new version is a pretty humorless enterprise, except for a quick cameo after the closing credits (and, no, it’s not Samuel L. Jackson inviting the survivor to join “The Avengers”).

Uruguayan director Fede Alvarez makes his feature debut here, and he makes the big gore moments play out to maximum effect. If the pacing is sometimes a bit lumbering at least he gets some memorably grotesque images out of it. Yet other than giving Raimi a chance to mentor a director who was 3 years old when the original film came out, there doesn’t seem much reason or need for this “Evil Dead.”  Rather than going for something safe and formulaic, the young Raimi went all-out to shake up viewers with something they hadn’t seen. It might have been better for Alvarez if Raimi had encouraged the new director to do the same.•••

Daniel M. Kimmel is a veteran movie critic and author of a host of film-related books. His first novel, Shh! It’s A Secret: A Novel About Aliens, Hollywood and the Bartender’s Guide has just been released. He teaches at Suffolk University and lives in Somerville, Massachusetts.

Review – The Host

With Saoirse Ronan, Diane Kruger, Max Irons, William Hurt, Jake Abel. Written and directed by Andrew Niccol. Rated PG-13 for some sensuality and violence. 125 minutes.

Based on “Twilight” author Stephenie Meyer’s novel, THE HOST owes a tremendous debt to movies like “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” and “The Puppet Masters.” These are stories where humanity is invaded by alien parasites who take over their bodies and lives. However, in the hands of writer/director Andrew Niccol (“Gattaca,” “In Time”), the result is occasionally challenging, dealing with both the science fiction elements and the teen angst at the heart of the story.

Earth has become a peaceful planet with most of the humanity taken over by “souls” from another world. Only a few humans are still free, and the “souls” do what they can to track them down and claim them. When we first meet Melanie (Saoirse Ronan), she is fleeing from them, coming close to death. She is captured and healed and then a “soul” is implanted in her, that of a being called “Wanderer.”

What’s unusual is that Melanie’s human consciousness doesn’t disappear, but fights with Wanderer for control of the body. While Melanie is forced to take a back seat, the two vie for much of the film. The Seeker (Diane Kruger) had been hoping that Wanderer would access Melanie’s memories as to the location of other rebels, but it becomes obvious that Wanderer is ambivalent about this. Soon, Wanderer is on the run.

This is where we get into “yearning adolescent” territory. Melanie is seeking not only her younger brother, but also her boyfriend Jared (Max Irons), both hiding in a secret human enclave run by her Uncle Jeb (William Hurt). The possessed humans are immediately recognized by their weird eyes, and so Melanie is treated as an alien “it.” Some of the humans come to realize that Wanderer – now called “Wanda” – isn’t like the other aliens and that Melanie may still exist. This leads Ian (Jake Abel) to become attracted to Wanda, and vice versa, creating a romantic triangle that may really be a rectangle.

As the humans figure out who they can trust, and Seeker gets more out of control, the science fiction nub of the story are two consciousnesses – or souls – inhabiting one body. The aliens turn out to be more complicated than they seem at first, although like the mythology in the “Twilight” series, it’s not very well thought out. If they are as benign as many of them appear to be, how can they be blind to the moral dilemma of eradicating a species by taking it over? This is something that the late writer Octavia Butler handled with far greater subtlety and complexity in her landmark Xenogenesis trilogy.

Ronan appears young and callow but handles the demands of a story where she is essentially playing two characters being torn in different directions. The payoff isn’t quite as satisfying as might be wished, proving both too convenient and a little too obvious in setting up a sequel. One hopes that Andrew Niccol could have the leeway to do more films on the order of “Gattaca,” but he has no need to be embarrassed by this effort. If making a Stephenie Meyer adaptation far less annoying than any of the “Twilight” movies helps him get his next project, it will have been worth it.•••

Daniel M. Kimmel is a veteran movie critic and author of a host of film-related books. His first novel, Shh! It’s A Secret: A Novel About Aliens, Hollywood and the Bartender’s Guide has just been released. He teaches at Suffolk University and lives in Somerville, Massachusetts.

Review – Olympus Has Fallen

With Gerard Butler, Aaron Eckhart, Morgan Freeman, Dylan McDermott, Angela Bassett. Written by Creighton Rothenberger & Katrin Benedikt. Directed by Antoine Fuqua. Rated R for strong violence and language throughout. 119 minutes.

Part “Die Hard,” part “24,” with a dash of “The West Wing,” the action-thriller OLYMPUS HAS FALLEN asks you to suspend your disbelief. However, that’s not quite the same thing as checking your brain at the door. Yes, this is about one man up against a heavily armed group of terrorists, but if you’re willing to go with the flow, it’s a slick and engaging action film with some solid performances (although the violence may be a bit much for some).

In a prologue, we meet President Benjamin Asher (Aaron Eckhart) and his wife Margaret (Ashley Judd), whose lives will shortly be changed forever. Mike Banning (Gerard Butler) is the “special forces” veteran who heads up the president’s Secret Service team, and who will pay the price for what happens. Eighteen months later, Banning is no longer part of the detail although still in the Secret Service, so when a well-planned attack of the White House occurs, he races over there to be of use. This is where you have to suspend your disbelief: as agents and others are being cut to ribbons, Banning manages to start taking action.

The President is in a bunker beneath the White House, but the White House is now under the control of Kang (Rick Yune), a North Korean terrorist who is several steps ahead of the Americans, including the head of the Secret Service Lynn Jacobs (Angela Bassett), Speaker of the House Trumbull (Morgan Freeman) who is now acting President, and the U.S. military. Oh, and the president’s young son is still loose in the White House as well.

If that’s not enough, there are plenty of plot twists in store. What director Antoine Fuqua (“Training Day”) provides is enough plausibility that you don’t question the details until long after the houselights have gone up. The details ring true, and it helps to have a cast that includes those mentioned plus Dylan McDermott, Robert Forster, and Melissa Leo. As each new element comes into play you wonder first how Kang will respond and then what Banning’s counter-move will be. In one tautly-played scene, a rogue former Secret Service agent working for Kang is sent to take out Banning. Fuqua lets the tension build as wait for the moment when Banning will realize what has happened.

Of the three leads, Morgan Freeman is the old reliable pro. It’s not one of his more memorable performance,s but he’s just so good at it you don’t care. Eckhart is suitably presidential and has some moments where we see the man behind the title. The one who runs away with the film is Butler, who seems much more comfortable as an action star than he has in his less action-oriented films. He plays Banning not as a superman tossing off pre-fab quips, but as a solid professional who is doing what he’s been trained to do. Incredible as the proceedings are, his performance keeps the film grounded.

“Olympus Has Fallen” is the movie equivalent of the paperback thriller you bring to the beach or for a long plane trip. It grabs you from the start and then returns you to your seat two hours later. It’s a great ride.•••

Daniel M. Kimmel is a veteran movie critic and author of a host of film-related books. His first novel, Shh! It’s A Secret: A Novel About Aliens, Hollywood and the Bartender’s Guide has just been released. He teaches at Suffolk University and lives in Somerville, Massachusetts.