This week's heat film reviews - Identity Thief, Jack The Giant Slayer and The Croods
This week the heat team grabbed their popcorn and Minstrels and headed to the pictures to watch the three biggest releases in Moviesville over the past seven days - Identity Thief; starring Jason Bateman and Melissa McCarthy, Jack The Giant Slayer; starring Nicolas Hoult, and The Croods; starring Nicolas Cage.
Here's what we thought:
Starring: Jason Bateman, Melissa McCarthy, Amanda Peet, John Cho
Director: Seth Gordon (Cert 15, 111 minutes)
The plot: In the profit-hungry meritocracy of Hollywood, studios are on constant alert for fresh talent capable of heading up a movie. Big bets are currently being placed on Bridesmaids breakout star Melissa McCarthy – but can she go the distance? Giving her ample scope to unleash her loopy derangement, she here plays Diana, an unhappy misfit who feeds her emptiness with a lifestyle funded by identity theft and credit card fraud. Thanks to implausible plot contrivance, her latest victim, mild-mannered Denver accountant Sandy (Bateman), takes matters into his own hands and flies to Miami to bring her back to face justice.
What’s right with it? Odd-couple road trip comedies are nothing new – Robert Downey Jr and Zach Galifianakis in Due Date is a recent example – but this one pitches the concept, and the stakes, a little higher. Diana’s imaginative lies prove reliably entertaining, as does the low-key physical stuff: she might not be able to run very far, but she sure throws a mean punch to the throat.
What’s wrong with it? With Diana also being pursued by a pair of ruthless criminal enforcers (TI and Genesis Rodriguez), whom she has ill-advisedly ripped off, as well as a determined bail bondsman (Robert Patrick), the comedy gives way to escalating action mayhem, not to the film’s advantage. The road trip format inevitably sees the pace sag, although Eric Stonestreet (Modern Family) enlivens one segment as Diana’s latest romantic conquest.
Verdict: Jim Carrey, Will Ferrell, Jack Black… Hilarious for a few movies, and then, somehow, not so much. That could happen with Melissa, but not for a while. 3/5 Charles G
Director: Bryan Singer (CERT 12A, 114 minutes)
The plot: Farmer’s lad Jack (Hoult) joins the royal rescue party when a giant beanstalk surges upwards, whisking rebellious princess Isabelle (Tomlinson) into the sky. Above the clouds: man-eating giants.
What’s right with it? Tween boys should enjoy the fighting and the snot-eating Goliaths; the youthful romance may snag a few female Hoult fans.
What’s wrong with it? Despite direction from X-Men talent Bryan Singer, there’s precious little for adults.
Verdict: With release delayed from summer 2012, the only thing this Jack looks set to slay is Hollywood’s hunger to spend huge sums updating classic fairytales. 2/5 Charles Gant
Directors: Kirk De Micco, Chris Sanders (CERT U, 99 minutes)
The plot: A not-so-modern Stone Age family discover fire, flight and an exotic jungle while fleeing an environmental apocalypse.
What’s right with it? Emma Stone’s daring, athletic and admirably full-figured Eep continues animation’s Brave-stoked yen for feisty heroines.
What’s wrong with it? An opportunity to teach a more resonant lesson about loss and self-sacrifice is squandered in favour of an upbeat, sequel-inviting resolution.
Verdict: Pitched midway between Ice Age and The Flintstones, this isn’t quite so intriguing, but still manages to be entertaining and sporadically funny. 3/5 Neil Smith
Post a Comment