Reviews by kgbelliveau

When creating a film that resonates with an audience, one of two things need to be present. Strong acting, or a story that can carry enough emotions despite the mediocre performances. Prisoners has both strong acting and emotional story that as it develops continues to increase the emotional stakes for every character involved.

Detective Loki is doing all he can to find two missing girls, but for Keller Dover nothing will be enough until his daughter is home safe. Dover takes matters into his own hands and decides to interrogate the suspect using his own tactics.

Prisoners has enough emotion to last a long time, and knows exactly when to add more thanks to the haunting visuals created by director Denis Villeneuve. Just when things seem dark enough, Villeneuve incorporates a camera trick that makes it even more ominous and eerie. As the film progresses the stakes are set pretty high for the people involved, but Villeneuve takes his time approaching the climax with a striking precision that very directors have. He waits for the correct moment to drop every twist, he waits for the perfect timing to grab the perfect reaction from these more than capable actors. He makes sure the audience is hooked by always knowing the time to reveal a key piece of information. It is never too much to process as far as plot goes, but very seldom does the result end up generating a positive emotion. This film is difficult to handle, the darkness and chilling atmosphere of the realistic story on display makes the emotional fallout devastating on more than just a film basis.

The reason these emotions are always so difficult to handle is because of the actors portraying them. Jackman is at the top of his game. His emotional range as an actor is tested multiple times during this film and not once does he falter. Jackman gives off one of the finer performances I have seen him give. He never sets himself up for allowing too much emotion. He displays a wide range from anger, fear, sadness and guilt. Yet over the course of this films run, those actions are all part of the phenomenal character development. Gyllenhaal falls in nicely, playing the quiet detective assigned to the case who begins to find himself emotionally invested in the case at hand. Gyllenhaal seems quiet and reserved, saving his display of emotions for the thrilling climax. It's not to say Gyllenhaal was boring in the early going but once again a testament to the fact Villeneuve knew exactly how to capture the scene.

Prisoners is a slow burning film, which can be an immediate turn off for certain people. The script written by Aaron Guzikowski allows for this film to be exactly what it needs to be, which is a gripping, haunting piece about how frightening this world can be. This film will resonate with you, maybe not because of that one memorable scene. Maybe not because of that long winded action scene that was full of explosives, but because of how simplistic most of the set pieces were. Nothing about this film was either narratively complicated or visually complicated, but it makes a poignant social commentary about morals and how far is too far.

Easily one of the finest pieces of drama so far in 2013. Compelling, emotionally gripping and darkly realistic. Enter Prisoners knowing it will be in your mind long after you watch it. Nothing about this film is easy to handle. Definitely recommended for those who want a film that will grip them from start to finish. Jackman and Gyllenhaal are perfect in this film, don't pass this one up.

When entering a slasher flick you have to expect there will be genre clichés. You’re Next had most of them present, but played them off with a sense of dark twisted humour while still maintaining the disgusting gore.

After what was supposed to be a family reunion to celebrate their parent’s anniversary, The Davison family soon finds out they are in for a night full of bloodshed and terror.

You’re Next doesn’t exactly provide anything new to the home invasion story within the first half hour of the film and generally takes a long while to build the thrill at the Davison home. For the first few scenes, the family seem very immature and childish until a dinner scene results in an arrow to the knee, Oops I mean face. After that of course like many horror films the family decides to start making horrible irrational decisions like sending one of their own out into the darkness by themselves. Except the killers are one step ahead of them and have planted a trap waiting at the door. This was actually one of the more shocking moments because it was unexpected and brutal.

Still You’re Next only really gets going when we learn that protagonist Erin has a natural instinct for fighting back against these low-level thugs. She grew up learning survival skills and begins to start making these intruders look like imbeciles. It is only at this stage does You’re Next actually begin to show signs of having life as its own creative film. Sharni Vinson proves to be a force as Erin, creating a badass horror chick who takes it upon herself to change the course of the night.

After Erin begins her dominance over these killers and you start to have a character to root for, yet the fear of these intruders is thrown out the window. They begin to make mistakes, and become bumbling fools who are in way over their heads. It is a bit of a refreshing take on the genre seeing one of the good guys actually gain some leverage, but it ultimately falls short of because of predictable slasher cop-outs and not so shocking reveals.

You’re Next may not be the greatest film to ever be shot for the big screen, some of it may be cheesy and unnecessary, but You’re Next has a level of black humour that is rarely executed well in horror films. You are a fan of these types of films, You’re Next may be just the horror film you are looking for.

When Michael Bay’s name is plastered all over a film we have come to expect big explosions, terrible plot structure and very minimal performances from the main actors. Pain and Gain is entirely different from the rest of Bay’s body of work, but still inhabits some of his old tendencies, including the terrible plot structure that never quite allows this film to even make one bit of logical sense.

Daniel Lugo is a fitness nut, who wants want everyone else has, a big house and fast car. He decides that the American dream is his for the taking, and a long with two friends set out to secure the assets of a known criminal. As they get started, the three friends are in over the heads from the moment it begins and they are forced to go with the flow or face losing the one thing they have worked hard for, which is the American dream.

The first act of this movie made logical sense. We had Daniel Lugo unhappy with this life had been living, so he sets out to change that. Cool, typical Hollywood story about wanting more then one deserves. The first act is filled with exactly what every other story of this nature is filled with, good looking men and women, fast cars, fancy houses, fancy clubs and big money. Then the actual movie begins, and it transcends into jokes about erectile dysfunction, cocaine addiction and racial issue. Then it just becomes a film that wants to be so over the top it needs to remind you that it is still in fact based off a true story. How much of this was true, and was as comical as the film presented it is probably about 10 per cent of what actually happened in real life. This film was really just scoff worthy, because when you thought there had been enough jokes about Adrians penis not working properly they dropped another one, and another one and another one. I think you get my point; it wasn’t very hard for them to be juvenile as much as possible.

Bring in two of the most well known big men currently working and you have yourself a recipe for an interesting cast. Mark Wahlberg does nothing as the lead actor in this film, it was far from a memorable performance from him. I’ve seen Anthony Mackie show his talent before and he did so on several occasions in this film, but really the lone bright spot was the performance from Dwayne Johnson. He actually gave a layered performance, allowing himself to appear vulnerable and emotional instead of just the rough and tough action star he usually is. Johnson is actually the scene stealer in this film, right from the early going.

Other then when Johnson was able to steal the scene, it fell flat with its airhead characters and brainy schemes to make these guys look and adequately appear to be complete imbeciles. Nothing about this film feels genuine and authentic, it’s a mixture of the same comedy, same stupidity and same mediocre acting we have come to expect from a film of this nature. Pain and Gain is not the good film it could have been, simply because it opts for quantity of quality. It opts to be that film that goes to all lengths to re-iterate how messed up these events are, but it never really captures the heart of the story. The American dream can be the root of all evil, which should have been the focal point of the film, not a parade of buffoonery that should best be left to the circus.

Pain and Gain is certainly fair from the best film of 2013, perhaps up their with Spring Breakers for the most absurd plot and weird visuals, but never amounts to much except big men becoming even bigger.

With nothing more then an Origin story to be told, director Zach Snyder makes Man of Steel perhaps the most impressive visual film yet out of any comic book adaptation but the lack of unpredictability leads Man of Steel into familiar territory.

After Kal-El is sent to earth as a baby from his dying home planet of Krypton, he is taken in by Martha and Jonathan Kent. The Kent’s help him hide his secrets from the rest of the world but ultimately know one day he will have to reveal himself. This day comes when General Zod threatens human existence unless Kal-El gives himself up.

Man of Steel has a surprising amount of action right from the start, which is a typical Zach Snyder trait. The problem is there always needs to be substance before there is action strewn about the screen. The opening of this film too me was just too much to start with. Opening with a nice quiet picturesque scene at the Kent farm and a crashing spaceship would have been nice, then flashback to what happened on the planet Krypton.

The film does redeem itself rather quickly as the scenes of Clark travelling are rather well shot and realistic. These scenes completely capture what it is like to be an outsider and how lonely the world was for Clark Kent because of the secret he was holding in all these years. These scenes are distant for a reason, which is the perfect way to introduce the powers of Superman. He helps people, leaves to never be heard from again. These were probably my favourite scenes from the movie, because they held an important key to Superman’s character, his humanity.

Enter Lois Lane, who ties the entire film together really. She meets Clark during an expedition to the glaciers where the two of them are aboard a kryptonian ship. She writes about it for the Daily Planet but everyone dismisses it. So naturally she digs deeper and begins to learn the true story of Clark Kent. This was perhaps the part of the movie that I dislike the most. It was reliant on the same back story we had already heard, it featured no forward progress to the plot and was just an excuse to have more scenes featuring the iconic character of Lois Lane. Amy Adams did a great job portraying the feisty attitude of Lane, but at times during the middle act nothing seemed to happen that was valuable to the end result. At least not until General Zod re-appeared.

Michael Shannon. Let me say that again. Michael Shannon. What an amazing villainous portrayal and such a fun one to watch. His ruthlessness and entire design was to stop at no cost to save Krypton. Watching every ounce of sanity drop from this character was fantastic and Shannon becomes the heart and soul of this film. His fine acting is accentuated by the character’s inability to feel empathy and compassion for anything but the greater good of Krypton. When Shannon was on the screen, the scene itself was five times better because of his presence.

Shout-out to Lawrence Fishburne’s portrayal of Perry White and how he used the performance to pay respects to long time legendary CBS reporter on 60 minutes Ed Bradley. Fishburne’s character of White even had his ear pierced paying homage to the late great reporter.

With all that being said and my wishy-washy feelings towards this reboot of the Superman franchise, there is potential that the sequels be more game changing a little less formulaic then this.

When you globalize the zombie pandemic for a summer blockbuster there is potential to create a film that has great visuals. The problem is then creating a story that makes you feel for the core set of characters whose survival is the key piece of the puzzle. World War Z creates these types of scenarios, but ultimately falls victim to genre cliché while still remaining an entertaining piece of summer cinema.

After the zombie outbreak, United Nations worker Gerry Lane is sent world wide to try and find the cure before there is no hope left for humanity.

When you take a face like Brad Pitt and make him the focal point of your want to be poignant zombie adventure you will most certainly peak the interest of fresh out of school moviegoers looking to see some zombie action. Add in the PG-13 and you are sure to appeal to wider audience, while at the same time alienating those who wanted to see a politically poignant and efficient zombie film that had some violence left in it.

What World War Z became was a world wide let’s out manoeuvre zombies and stay alive film, which is not to say it became in awful film in doing so but it did take away from the idea this was about the chaos and fear of the widespread pandemic. For almost 2 hours we had Brad Pitt’s Gerry Lane frantically avoiding these zombies that could travel quickly and kill almost instantly and we only got one or two good glimpses of the damage they could cause.

That being said it is time to focus on what World War Z did just right. It was fun, the cinematography was wonderful, the scene set in Israel with the zombies climbing the wall was one of the most chilling and well executed scenes in a long while. The suspense in this movie was off the charts, right from the beginning all the way to the thrilling climax. World War Z director Mark Forster used small elements of horror to near perfection, creating a suspense that was unlike any other in a summer blockbuster. The action was non stop, in your face and done on an incredibly grand scale, most notable the scene at the wall in Jerusalem.

Then what happens is World War Z hits that barrier of becoming either a mildly violent film with a predictable ending, or the insanely violent zombie film that chooses to make the ending bleak but real. It opted for a traditional happy family reunited ending, causing the emotional back drop of the film to be meaningless. The whole point of the film is that world had been flipped upside down and the society we knew was crumbling and one man had the ability to see this globally and the ending is merely him and a small group of survivors talking about the world will hopefully one day be what it was. Sorry dude, and writers of this film but if the world ever goes to hell as depicted in World War Z, it seems like things are going to be a little worse for the time being and that sticking together is the key way to survive.

World War Z is a fun summer movie, with suspenseful action but never develops into the game changer it could have been. The zombie effects look cool, and the damage they do is beyond awesome to see, but it becomes full of typical summer blockbuster elements. Action, Action, Action and now substance is what World War Z developed into. Enjoy it for it is, a beautifully shot film full of great action and global set pieces.

When your friends are all A-List celebrities, what is the best plan? Ask them all to be in your movie about the end of the world and have the plot set at one of their houses. It is a foolproof plan, if the comedy is top notch and in the case of This Is The End the comedy was indeed outrageously top notch.

Jay Barcuhel flies in from Canada to spend time with his old buddy Seth Rogen and after an afternoon of smoking weed and playing games the two decide to attend a housewarming party at James Franco’s house. Joining them are A-list celebrities including Craig Robinson, Jonah Hill, Aziz Ansari, Mindy Calling, Rihanna, Michael Cera and Emma Watson. As the night takes a turn for the worse and the apocalypse descends upon them, the group of rag-tag celebrities must learn to bond in order to survive.

Written by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg the hilarity ensues the moment they walk through Franco’s front door. We are treated to outrageous performances and hi-jinks that lead up to the impending doom, but I’ll get to that. First off, Michael Cera’s portrayal of a oversexed and cocaine loving version of himself was the first early treat this film had to offer. This was the weirdest Cera has had the chance to be yet and it was stellar to see him representing an offshoot of his real life persona, albeit the exact opposite of who he really is but still fun because of the ridiculousness of the entire situation at hand. The cameos from Jason Segel and Kevin Hart were also perfectly timed and took a backhanded shot at Segel’s long running sitcom How I Met Your Mother.

Despite the hilarity that took place during the party, the real show gets under way when Jay and Seth take an adventure to the local convenience store to buy a pack of smokes. Jay, much to the dismay of everyone else sees people being beamed up into the sky. As things get out of hand and chaos ensues the group of comedians find them holed up in Franco’s house trying to ration the food and water supplies to the best of their ability.

It then becomes an improvised end of the world comedy, with situations that were taylor made for the talent involved in this film. Franco and McBride going back and forth was gut wrenchingly funny, while Jonah Hill, Craig Robinson, Seth Rogen and Jay Baruchel added their witty brands of comedy to the mix. Add in a cameo appearance from Emma Watson and what you get from these guys is one of the most awkwardly presented scenes in a long while.

However, the best part of this film ends up being the ability of the entire cast to laugh about the poor choices they have all made, allowing the humour to not only be about the apocalypse happening right outside Franco’s front door, but it allows it to be self-depreciating allowing these guys to call each other out in the most absurd ways possible. When you let Seth and Evan handle the apocalypse, it is inevitable that movie heads down a weird path. This movie becomes a lot darker and lined with religious tones then I had expected. It adds a layer of complexity to the level of humour that Seth and Evan are used to. Amongst these guys who can’t seem to put their differences aside, they not must deal with repenting for their past mistakes in order to get them to heaven.

The coolest part of this film is that it is made for long term fans of the crew involved. Those who understand all the one liners about their previous films and real life will get a kick out of this film. It is a lot of fun from start to finish and you are guaranteed to laugh if you like this brand of humour. This film is certainly not for everyone, and goes out its way to offend people and be off the wall. Be careful when deciding to this, especially if you do get offended easily by raunchiness and overt sexuality. Despite that, it is fun for the whole family (just make sure your whole family is over 18)

Some movies just have the we have seen this all before look about them. Can we fault a movie for having this type of plot, or is it merely just a product of a generation transfixed by big time explosions and big time action scenes with little or thought towards making a lasting statement. The problem there lies in, because many of these fairly typical movies of which are being spoken have the potential to make social and political statements. Yet they just simply don’t and what we are left as an audience is just another shoulda, coulda, but didn’t film.

After his son Jason is sent to prison for drug related crimes, John Matthews will do anything to get him released. After agreeing to work with the DEA, Matthews uses an employee of his business named Daniel James to help him get access to some of the drug runners in town.

Are we simply just not used to this from Dwayne Johnson. Is this just not the same tired old heroic performance from him that he has done countless times. All the arguments have been heard that this is a more fragile, vulnerable performance out of him. One might be able to give him props for that if it wasn’t one of the worst performances of his career. He just never looked or fit the bill. Everything seemed to play out perfectly, his lines seemed forced, his character never really taking shape. Perhaps I am being the Debbie Downer about the performance he did give, but with the talent that surrounded him Johnson just became the man wishing he had the talent to carry this film. If youre looking for pure muscle and adrenaline perhaps Johnson is the perfect man for the job; but if you are looking for skill, honesty and realism perhaps his counterpart in this film Jon Bernthal is the man of the hour. Skilfully, articulately, but not surprisingly proved to be the stronger link between the two of them, providing exactly what a typical action movie needed a character we could care about.

When you lose focus on the central character and his overall mission, the whole idea of the film seems pointless. At points during this film, Daniel James felt more like the main character whose eventual fate I cared about then whether or not Jason made it out of prison in the end. Perhaps it is because he is the key to all the other characters having an impact on the plot, or the fact that Bernthal is a solid actor but for some reason Daniel James the everyday man is just a much better character then John Matthews the heroic business man.

There is little about this film that is redeeming beyond the fact Jon Bernthal is fantastic, the middle act becomes fairly typical and never really goes anywhere, eventually setting up for an ending that is beyond absolutely ridiculous (a hard place to reach). Even despite the flaws at some point during this film you will root for either John or Daniel. It is that type of a film, with an under dog story that does pull you into its grasps. You may be like me and choose to root for Daniel James, or you may choose to root for the clichéd action hero, either way if this film makes its audience lock onto a certain character, the writers have done their job properly.

So far in the 2013, Jon Bernthals performance in this film stands as one of my favorites. I dig the guy. He has potential, I saw that while he was on The Walking Dead and he shows it here again. The future is bright for this guy, and one day he will be headlining films. Snitch is solid fun, don’t take it too seriously with its political and misguided messages. Enjoy it for a good character drama, with a decent story.

Now You See Me is a summer film that builds up suspense with grand illusions and some fun trickery, but perhaps making the big twist a little more unpredictable would have been much more suspenseful and fulfilling.

The Four Horsemen (Eisenberg, Fisher, Harrelson and Franco) are brought together by an unknown horse and hit it big when during the final act of their show they rob a bank all the way in Paris, France while performing in Vegas. This gets the attention of the FBI and Agent Dylan Rhodes (Mark Ruffalo) is assigned to the case. As the Horsemen promise more two more shows and even bigger rewards, the FBI must try and remain one step ahead of the magicians.

Lead by an incredibly talented cast, Now You See Me is a fun action adventure right from the start. The illusions are grand, creating a suspenseful feel to a slowly becomes a thriller film. Eisenberg is fantastic as the fast talking, arrogant and self righteous Daniel Atlas, the ringleader of this group of magicians. Eisenberg uses his signature style of speaking, but this time he shows his range by acting more arrogant then nervous. Harrelson plays the mentalist of the group, who uses his ability to read people and play them in any situation to his own advantage. Franco is the smooth criminal type of the group, the quick on his feet card shark type who knows how to get out a jam. Last but certainly not least of the four main leads is the vixen and female David Copperfield Henley Reeves played by the lovely Isla Fisher. She was incredible, her performance right up there with some of her more notable ones. When you make these four incredible actors share the screen and action sequences, there is plenty of room for fun and excitement.

The problem with Now You See Me is not in the acting department, it is in the writing one. With Act One, probably the most solidly written elaborate heist plot in a long time, Act 2 decides to follow suit with an even more intriguing revenge plot. Unfortunately that leaves little room for Act 3 to outdo the first two and so screenwriters Ed Solomon, Boaz Yakin and Edward Ricourt decide to make it just another movie that becomes a typical thriller, by creating a chase scene that results in the grandest of endings but never really means anything because by this point too many hints have been dropped and too much is actually happening that you begin to lose interest in anything but the magic happening on screen. The rest of it is a boring lacklustre investigative film, coupled with a cheesy romance subplot that results in one the most not so shocking reveals.

When you lose the investment in a cast like this, you know something has been done wrong. This one falls primarily with the writers, because director Louis Leterrier created one of this year’s most jaw dropping films. The visuals, the set pieces, the action scenes were all so grandiose and magnificent it was one of the few things that kept this movie solidly entertaining from start to finish. When the film is always trying to play mind tricks on its audience, the biggest one to figure out should be the final pay-off of whodunit.

In a 2013 that so far seems to be heading in the right direction, Now You See Me is definitely one of the most enjoyable films so far despite the flaws it does have. They are unavoidable but if you can deal with them, you will find yourself invested in the characters and the overall plot.

When you have a million dollar idea, what is the best course of action? Exploit it. At least it seems like that was Todd Phillip’s plan for his wildly successful Hangover series.

The Wolfpack are taking Allan to Arizona where he is sent to enter a rehab facility to help him deal with the fact he has never grown up. While on the road, the men are run off the road by a ruthless drug dealer named Marshall and told they have 3 days to find Mr. Chow or Doug will be killed.

The Hangover Part 3 is different in style then the first two, because the Hangover title is irrelevant here because no actual Hangover occurs (at least not in the plot of the overall film). It is merely featuring the same characters from the first two, trying to track down Mr. Chow a known criminal and psychopath. Somehow it just fell flat, perhaps it was the more serious undertones most of which were not funny or simply it was just the fact that this movie was nothing more then a cash grab.

Cooper, Helms and Galifianakis returned for what is hopefully the last film in the franchise. There are literally no more Hangover stories that are worth telling and hopefully Todd Phillips realizes this. The “It Ends” tagline better hold true for a trilogy that started off strong and ended on such a bland note, but it will all depend on the box office.

There was very little about The Hangover three that was redeeming, except for maybe John Goodman, Ken Jeong and the small return of Heather Graham and the child from the first film. Jeong has always been the best part of the series, his enigmatic and zany Chow serving to be the point of ridiculousness of which the series bases it self around. Goodman proved to be an intimidating antagonist for the trio of lead characters, but was rarely overtly humorous and was a tad bit too serious for what was supposed to be a comedy film. The scene between Galifianakis and Melissa McCarthy was downright hilarious and very short which is why it stood as one of the best scenes in the film.

Going into this film there was very little left in terms of story telling and yet it somehow got stretched into a downright boring filmed, filled with off the wall antics that just seemed misplaced and misguided. Some of it was funny, some of it was awful. It was the way sequels tend to be, terribly erroneous with no spark of originality for it to be even considered. It was there, and that is really the only way of describing the way in which viewing this film felt. There was nothing legendary in this film like there was in the first film. The sad part of this film is funniest scenes in the film was a short two minute scene that appeared half way through the credits.

See it only because you have seen the other two, but this needs to be last film or the Hangover four will probably receive terrible reviews across the board.

The thing Syrup gets right is the fast paced, dialogue about marketing an image. The rest of the movie, is mostly just melodrama and terribly designed character structure. A few good scenes is definitely not enough to make this a thoughtful film in anyway, but it is an interesting look into the world of corporate marketing.

Scat comes up with a million dollar idea for an energy drink, but because his naïve he fails to get the trademark and his idea stolen by his friend and former room mate Sneaky Pete. Scat must learn to trust his new business partner Six, even when he begins to develop feelings for her.

Amber Heard was the perfect choice for the mysterious, sexual and image based Six. She exudes sex appeal on and off the screen, and proved with 2011’s The Rum Diary that she has the talent to take on harder roles. The problem here is not her performance. She was fun to watch, keeping the mysteriousness of her character ever present. The problem here was the lack of character growth in between the moments in which Amber was able to shine as the star of the film. The rest of the cast proves to be rather useless, with Kellan Lutz barely speaking a word through-out the film and Shiloh Fernandez looking smug the whole time, even though his character and performance were nothing fantastic.

The idea of Syrup was all about image, that we fall in love with the image we are told to. That if anyone can sell their image well enough, we will fall hopelessly in love with their product. To a certain degree, I accept this is a fancy message for a film. There is always more to the billboard, the image, the sex appeal then what we see on the surface. On the inside there is a person who has worked hard, created something and must deal with the wave of non-supporters. This is why Six is the best character, because we only ever know her as Six. She has firmly planted this persona around herself and she believes that is who she is.

The rest of the film falls short of capturing real emotions correctly. The characters and situations are just planted in the right place to help the film flow, but they hold no real value to the plot and change nothing a long the way. It is exactly the movie it sets out to be, adding no real layers to help convey the overall message.

Syrup could have been a much better film, but is too immature in it’s foundations to become a good movie about how each decision we make has consequences. It tries to be that film, it tries to make mature decisions but it fails to do so on more then just a superficial level. Without the appealing performance from Amber Heard this film would have been terrible, guaranteed.