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Men in Black³ (2012)
Time Travel can be Funny Too
While watching Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones reprising their roles as agents J and K, respectively, one maniac and fast-talking and the other with a face of I'm-doing-this-only-for-the-paycheck, I was thinking about a family that is invited to stay in for a couple of days with some friends but after 1 month they have overstayed their welcome. But then, Agent J travels to the past and somehow everything was better in the world, much better.
The plot: There is a secret government organization that monitors extraterrestrial life on earth on a daily basis, protecting humans so they can go on with their normal lives. When one extraterrestrial named Boris "the Animal" escapes from the Lunar Prison, he uses and invention from one inmate to travel to the past, kill agent K and several years later conquer Earth. As Agent J is the only one aware of this (explained with a sweet scene that comes until the end), it's his mission to travel back in time and save agent K and the Earth.
The Actors: Will Smith continues using all his charisma and bravura to make this a funny character, although his incessant complaint to agent K about not being open with his feelings is too much and boarding on the stupid and needy. Tommy Lee Jones thankfully has few scenes cause is clear that he is getting tired of the role. But the real revelation is Josh Brolin, who as Agent K from 1969, makes a great Tommy Lee Jones impersonation and gives the character a much needed light heart. He carries the past part and thanks to him the movie doesn't feel like a rehash of the previous two movies.
The Good: As I wrote before, once the movie takes the leap to the past, everything begins to fall into place and moves at a greater pace. We learn that Agent K is investigating several alien killings (done by Boris) and meets an Arcadian that gives him an Arcnet to stop Boris's race from conquering earth. Although the past could have been used more to enhance the difference in the society (you know, Agent J is black and is walking around like he owns the place) there are several jokes that have a good use, like meeting agent W as Andy Warhol and he begging to be "killed" because he can't stand the frivolous life: "filming this man eating a hamburger. It's transcendent". The Arcadian is also an interesting character, he can see all the possible futures of a situation and shows his powers in some key moments. The special effects are OK, Boris is threatening and funny in occasions and the launch of the first mission that set foot on the moon is used as the climax.
If you like the humor in the Men in Black movies, you will like this one, there is nothing new, surprising or profound, but the movie is really entertaining once we get to 1969. At the beginning I wasn't expecting very much but by the end I was laughing and was interested on how all would take place so I think the movie did a great job of redeeming itself.
Surrogates (2009)
The Robots are Coming
According to this movie in the not so distant future, people will be all day in bed while a robot (a surrogate) through a neural connection impersonates them, doing all the work, sweat and enjoyment of life. This works if you want to be someone else, whether another gender or to have better looks or when you're ill and cannot move or basically if you want to be immortal and a super-hero. In other words it is the perfect world
When two Surrogates (in a passionate kiss in the back of an alley) are killed, prompting their "operators" to die from a gruesome manner, two detectives are brought to the case in order to investigate, catch the killer and of course find his end game. It is very important for them to discover what has happened, because people have burnt, crashed and pushed their robotic-selves to death countless of times and there are safety measures for them not to be killed, so this case can shake the foundation of the society.
It's an interesting premise, but the execution is flawed and at times boring, there are red-herrings all over and the ultimate result is not really satisfying because you can see it coming miles away. More important, when the robot make-up of Bruce Willis is scary and at the same time campy, you know we're not in a very good movie.
The plot involves murders, conspiracies, the inventor of the Surrogates and a colony that is against robots and considers them an abomination with a self-proclaimed prophet (Ving Rhames in another very scary and campy make-up, seeing a trend here??) leading the colony into illumination and salvation. In the movies, when there is a colony like this, they always have something to do with the murders or be involved somehow.
The visual effects are useful, even if at times the robots look like they're made of plastic, but there are two well done and intriguing chase sequences that sell the great advantages of being a robot (like being shot and not dying or jumping great distances).
I wasn't looking for an award winning picture, I was just looking to be entertained or thrilled and although the movie is not completely bad or a waste of time, it mostly lands flat.
Secuestrados (2010)
Everything is better in Family
While watching Secuestrados, I was mostly thinking what is the fascination with torture porn? Watching people get beaten or beat the hell out of others has become a staple for some directors (Eli Roth) and actors. But the first time you saw one of these is gut-wrenching, by the 20th time is just
boring. I know this kind of violence is real and sometime more gruesome that what is depicted on screen, but isn't the idea to have fun and forget our problems, when we go to the movies?
Everything begins with a long take of a man waking in the middle of the forest, tied and with a plastic bag on his head. As he wanders in the forest we see (and hear) him struggle to breath. After several distressing minutes he gets to a road, gets hit by a car, the driver stops and helps him tear the plastic bag apart, the man demands a cellphone, the driver dials a number and the man tells the other person on the line to not open the door, a little girl or boy answers: "Daddy, they are here and they have shot mommy" Fade to title. (*Spoiler: This scene has nothing to do with what happens next, this is probably used to establish the modus operandi of the thieves or something, I really don't know)
From there we see a family moving in a new house, the daughter being a classic teenager who doesn't want to spend the night dinning with the family and has made plans with a friend and later that night, a break in of three men with hoods that want money and will stop at nothing to get it.
It is very straightforward plot, nothing is really surprising and all the characters play their roles well although they are not developed at all. We have the leader of the gang who is mostly relaxed, the violent that is like a gorilla with steroids and there is the one that has a little bit of conscience. On the other hand the dad does everything that is requested of him, if a little stupidly, and the mom and daughter that try to hold their own while being captive. Whether the family or the robbers or anyone in between survives I will not spoil, but really, the ending is just overkill.
Why giving it a passing grade if I didn't found the story interesting? Because the movie is visually capable, with long shots that don't have cuts and are very well staged. The acting is skillful for the genre, if at times a little corny or depending to much on screams. But images don't always carry the movie all the way and in this case the story lacks depth, meaning or gravitas. Maybe the story of the "daddy" with the plastic bag and how he escaped and end up in the middle of the woods would have been more interesting.
El infierno (2010)
Nothing to Celebrate, Indeed
While watching El Infierno, and despite the fact that I was laughing out loud, I couldn't help to be really depressed. Here is a movie that depicts a reality that thousands of people live every day, towns that have been devastated by the drug cartels, corruption by the authorities of the highest rank and perhaps the fact most difficult to bear, that with drugs you can get rich and have sex and luxury, even if you have to sell your soul and life in the process. All the actors hit the right mark, specially Damian Alcazar (whom is Luis Estrada's muse, first appearing in the equally compelling and sarcastic "La Ley de Herodes") at the beginning as a naive assistant, and then as a ruthless assassin capable of anything but betray family. We Mexicans have the curious ability of laughing of ourselves and our misfortunes, but Estrada show us the limit. We know that this happens for real in practically all the northern states and even though, we can laugh and enjoy the sarcastic commentaries, the jokes at the expense of corrupt politics and even the depiction of a controlling wife and mother (that is a given in Mexico: matriarchy) This is not to say that I didn't like the movie, it is flawless, entertaining and very, very real. Every person in Mexico should watch this movie although it is a little violent.
X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)
Excellent third (final?) installment
I was very lucky to see this movie at the worldwide premiere that took place last Monday (May 15th) at Mexico City. I have to say that for me this was the movie to see this summer, and actually it exceeded all my expectations. I have loved the previous X Men movies, and this was not an exception.
First, the story is right in all its contents, Drama: The cure that has been developed to suppress the mutant gene has a particular resonance (curing homosexuality, anyone?); Action: The war surfacing among both sides of the mutants and the humans caught in the middle of it all that , and of course the Mystery that brings it all together: The return of one very powerful character (actually anyone that has seen X-Men: United and the marketing for this movie knows exactly who I am talking about).
The action is in the right place and in the right dose, although it does take a little to kick in, and as with the previous installments the visual effects are top-notch, including of course the new entries to the teams Angel, Juggernaut and specially Beast, he looks as good as Nightcrawler in the previous installment, despite some previous concern. Moreover, the change in director is practically non-consequential, it has the great quality that was the norm with Bryan Singer (who we hope does a great job in Returning Superman to the big screen.)
Although in the other movies the acting has not been the center stage, I believe that in this particular movie, Ian McKellen and Famke Jenssen gave very good performances, particularly towards the end of the movie in which every thing is decided, including of course "SPOILER BEGINS" who dies and who loses its mutant powers because of the cure (for a hint: In the Full Trailer for the movie an image of Rebeca Romijn AKA Mystique- without her blue skin, can be seen). As a matter of fact despite the excellent quality of the movie, I am very surprise that 20th Century Fox decided to ended these successful series in the third installment, believe me when I say that it has ended because X-Men: The Last Stand sheds as many characters (or powers) as Beast sheds fur in the furniture (or for any TV fan, as 24 shed characters this particular season). "SPOILER ENDS"
Despite the good grade that I am giving to the movie, one particular was not that good: Some characters are a little (if not very) under used, with so many mutants returning and as many new some mutants being added to the mix, not all of them have that much screen time and that diminishes the impact of their stories (although they are not that important in the end to be true, but somehow it will be better to focus in some of the wide variety of mutants.) In the end, I believe this was a better movie than the previous two, it has it's heart in the right place, it's pace is solid and never lags an excellent story that at the end has as many repercussions as could be imagined.