#108. Monsters - Review

Monsters Poster 2010

Highly regarded for doing a lot with very little, director Gareth Edwards took an economical approach to his latest sci-fi road movie Monsters, creating a fascinating world inhabited by beautifully surreal extra-terrestrials and the humans that must survive them. When American photographer Andrew Kaulder (Scoot McNairy) Monsters film 2010is on assignment in Mexico to document the alien life forms that have settled there, he is unwittingly tasked with the unfortunate job of escorting his boss’s daughter back into U.S. territory. When things predictably don’t go as expected, the would-be adventurers must survive the trek through the dangerous “Infected Zone,” a quarantined area of Mexico that has been taken over by both the creatures and American bombing raids. Not nearly as showy as the Peter Jackson produced District 9 (2009), Monsters is a more delicate fare, concerned less with how much destruction they can generate on screen, but instead the very personal effect such destruction has had on its American protagonists. Injected with a pacing that may be too slow for some, Monsters sacrifices frills for substance, something that I welcome amidst the increasingly calculated sci-fi films as of late. Also similar to District 9 was Monsters’s admittedly heavy-handed socio-political context. While subtler than 9’s metaphorical take on South African apartheid, Monsters’ message concerning the ongoing immigration problem had between the U.S. and Mexican borders is simple and on-the-nose. Thankfully Edwards suppresses any extreme urges, keeping the film balanced and leaving any and all conclusions up to the audience. Monsters film 2010

Monsters is a film that deserves to be seen for all its merits, least of which are the filmmakers’ graphical and artistic abilities.  Kaulder and his companion Samantha Wynden (Whitney Able) take a journey of self-exploration that culminates in an arrestingly passionate climax that is as beautiful as it is captivating. For me, it was a much-needed experience.

If you have taken the time to watch Gareth Edwards’ film Monsters then let me know what you thought in the comments section. If you haven’t seen it yet, then I cannot recommend it more highly, and I am happy to tell you all that it is currently streaming on Netflix. Like always, please take the time to click the “share” button below and help get ControllerUnplugged out there.

#107. Drive Angry 3D - Review

Drive Angry 3D banner

A movie with this much promise, this much leeway, should not be this boring! What is being dubbed “Cagesploitation,” Drive Angry 3D falls in line with most of Nic Cage’s cinematic endeavors of the last decade or so. He shows up, he grimaces, he screams, and then he collects his check. I am a huge Cage apologist, and although I was unable to defend The Wicker Man remake, I am usually able to find at least a modicum of enjoyment from most of his films. Well, Drive Angry is not Wicker Man bad, but not nearly as genre bending envelope-pushing cinema that it claims to be. For a film called Drive Angry it really should have more driving. I am not joking, Cage is behind the wheel of a car for maybe 40% of the film, and I would hardly call him angry, closer to “concerned” or perhaps “focused.” Cage’s performance is oddly subdued, playing his escapee from Hell as a loving father instead of a man that busted through the burning bars of eternal damnation for deserved retribution. The film’s “big-bad” is a modern-day witch lazily performed by Billy Burke who I recognized from a so-so episode of Monk, seems like a poor-man’s Michael C. Hall. Amber Heard is gorgeous, and actually looks like she is having some fun. Not surprisingly William Fichtner steals every scene he is in. I love this guy, like J.K. Simmons and Jeffrey Wright, he should just be in every movie ever made – ever.

William Fichtner in Drive Angry 3D

The action is pretty exciting, the dialogue is campy, and the plot is impressively ridiculous. I loved the David Morse cameo, and the 3D was serviceable, but completely unnecessary. This is a fun flick, mostly for the right reasons, but not the balls out no-nonsense/all-nonsense B-movie spectacle I had hoped. 

#106. Rango - Review

Rango posterWhy did the armadillo cross the road? Isn’t it obvious? No? How about the lizard, why did he cross the road? Well, in the case of Rango, the titular reptile in Gore Verbinski’s newest animated film, that is exactly what he needs to figure out. Rango is a richly inspired film that promises greatness, but unfortunately falls back on old family film platitudes to get the job done.

When aquarium-grown Rango is accidently discarded by his owners in the middle of (an oddly busy) desert highway, the lizard involuntarily sets off on an adventure to not only survive, but also find himself in the process. The 1^st act of this film is pretty brilliant, setting up a unique animated existential escapade that would pin its protagonist to the cutting board in an effort to dissect every aspect of his scaly id. The humor is subtle and hilarious, whimsically firing jokes and references quicker than your grandad’s sawed-off. Regrettably, once our hero arrives in the aptly named town of Dirt, an arid soon-to-be ghost town whose dwindling water source promises death, Rango becomes less Cuckoo’s Nest meets Mad Max and more Chinatown meets Gulliver’s Travels. While still entertaining, I was never able to shake the feeling of disappointment I had considering how exceptionally distinct Rango could have been.

Rango film

Still, this clever western is worth your buck, and I would vote to see it on the big screen. This is Industrial Light and Magic’s (ILM) first animated feature, and I was beyond impressed. Rango is gorgeous, even setting a bar far above that company with the emoting lamp. There is a craftsmanship at work in this film that must be seen, and I cannot wait to watch it on Blu-ray in a few months.

If anyone has seen Rango, let me know what you thought, especially if you think I was too hard on it. If you liked this review than please click the “share” button below and link the site so we can try and get a conversation going!