Review: Taken 2

When I look back at the first Taken, what made it great was that Liam Neeson’s grim no nonsense vibe really fit the character and he had enough physicality left in the tanks to back it up.  The result was a resurgence in his career that saw him recast as the kind of total bad ass one might imagine Jason Bourne would become during his AARP years.  In fact, Neeson’s perceived age enhanced both the role and the film as it legitimized his character’s experience and made you believe that his Bryan Mills could remain three steps ahead of his less cerebral European antagonists.  In Taken 2, Neeson’s Mills is still very sharp (perhaps a little too sharp), but seems to have lost a bit in the physicality department and because of this, the film fails to deliver in the same way its predecessor did.

The plot follows Neeson’s Mills as he finds himself in Istanbul for work with Maggie Grace’s Kim and Famke Janssen’s Lenore in tow.  A group of Algerians led by Rade Serbedzija’s Murad plots to capture and murder Neeson and his family to avenge the deaths of the Algerian sex traffickers from the first film.  It’s not a direct rehash the way The Hangover 2 is to The Hangover, but it is in the same neighborhood.

Nuts and bolts action movies must have strong pacing, expertly framed action scenes, good use of foreground and background visuals, and a handful of defining moments to divert attention from what typically tends to be thin plot lines.  Unfortunately, Taken 2 comes up short nearly across the board.  While part of the blame for this has to be heaped on writer Luc Besson, that the movie lacks the pace and urgency of its predecessor ultimately falls on the shoulders of director Olivier Megaton.  Handed the keys to a property featuring an interesting protagonist with a deep fan base, Megaton fails to weave a taut narrative and he frames the action in a way that robs Neeson’s Mills of his well-established physical credibility.

As for Neeson, the four years he’s spent away from the character looks and feels like fourteen years.  Clearly time has taken its toll.  Neeson does not seem up to the challenge of playing the physically imposing former CIA operative and it seems that Megaton and his creative team amp up the use of unsteady cameras to mask Neeson’s hand-to-hand combat deficiencies.  Another issue I had was the increased focus on Neeson’s skills of detection.  Instead of cool filler between action sequences, these scenes are drawn to the fore and are so overblown that they take matters well beyond the breaking point of the suspension of disbelief.  At one point I felt like I was watching a cross between an episode of CSI and Chris Farley’s Haru from Beverly Hills Ninja.

As for the supporting cast, four years ago Maggie Grace looked and acted like a vibrant fresh-faced young woman, but those qualities are sorely missed in this outing.  For the majority of film, she seems drab and disinterested as she goes through the motions.  Famke Janssen is given a more robust role this time out, but Janssen - never known as a strong performer – does little with the opportunity.  Emotional engagement in her Lenore is paramount to the success of the film as much of the tension is tied to her peril, and thus Janssen’s supremely pedestrian performance truly weakens the film.  Rade Serbedzija as Murad Krasniqu and his band of nameless goons also are culpable for much of what is wrong with this movie, as they never seem to represent a legitimate physical or cerebral threat.  A hero is only as good as his villains are bad, and this is a major factor as to why Neeson’s Mills loses much of his luster.

I really wanted to love this movie.  I was ready for a fast paced riveting narrative with action and chase scenes that would capitalize on the old world aesthetic of Istanbul.  Unfortunately, not only is Taken 2 completely void of the fun and panache of the first film, the action sequences are muted and the logic somewhat flawed.  I wouldn’t recommend that you run out to watch this film, because I can’t envision a scenario where one would walk out of the theater fully satisfied, but as a Netflix movie it has some value.  It’s mildly entertaining and utterly forgettable and probably a reasonable way to pass the time in the comfort of your own home.

Standout Performance: D.B. Sweeney.  Not so much for anything he does in this movie, but because I don’t think I have seen him in anything since The Cutting Edge.  Toe pick!

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Review: Battleship

Well, it’s official.  Taylor Kitsch has absolutely no range as an actor.  I thought I would announce that here because it’s probably not a well known fact since according to theatrical box office numbers, most of you have not seen any of his movies.  Having just completed the third leg of the Year of the Kitsch (John Carter, Savages, Battleship), I can tell you that he delivered the same performance in each of the movies and that of the three, his work in Battleship was the most onerous. 

When the creative team pitched this film, they probably convinced the fine folks at Universal that they had the winning formula – an amalgamation of Armageddon, Friday Night Lights, Pearl Harbor, Independence Day, and believe it or not – just a tiny bit of Titanic; action director Peter Berg to go along with the long-haired dude from Friday Night Lights; and Rihanna and Brooklyn Decker to provide some eye candy for the young male audience.  And as if all this were not enough to ensure a successful summer popcorn flick, this movie would be based off of Hasbro’s board game, Battleship. 

Unfortunately, someone forgot to tell the powers-that-be that the core members of this target demographic probably have never played a board game – let alone Battleship, and those old enough to remember the game would probably consider the premise downright silly.  Still with Peter Berg, director of Hancock, The Kingdom, Friday Nights Lights, and The Rundown, attached to the project and an astronomical budget (upwards of $210M), I had some hope that a entertaining film could rise from the rubble.  Sadly, I was wrong.

Forget the silly association to Battleship and the requisite tedious steps taken to tie back to that Hasbro property, because this is a nuts-and-bolts alien invasion movie set out on the ocean.  There’s nothing new about the premise and unfortunately no acting, no action choreography, and no set design is able to compensate for this banality.  It truly feels like a case of "been there; done that."  Many of the scenes in the film remind you of something you’ve seen somewhere only done better, and if any of your hopes for this movie were pinned to the presence of Liam Neeson, then forget about it.  He’s pure window dressing.

As for the cast, Kitsch is his usual low rumbling monotone self, exuding very little presence.  He doesn’t have the shoulders to carry a movie let alone a big budget blockbuster, but given the right role he can be of value to a cast (as in Savages).  Also along for the ride are Brooklyn Decker and Rihanna, two women who are not known for their acting chops and it doesn’t take long to be reminded of that in this film.  Alexander Skarsgard, Jesse Plemons, Peter MacNicol, et al are adequate at best and do not do enough to warrant much more than a passing mention, and my best guess is that Liam Neeson probably put in a few days of work at most on this set.

But really, this movie isn’t about the cast.  It’s about the spectacle and of course the silly association with Hasbro.  And while it is very mediocre, it certainly is not the worst movie of the year.  I can’t in good faith recommend it, but I am not vehemently against it.  If I were still living up in the northeast and it was a miserable winter night at the end of a long week, I could see the value in mindlessly watching this film.  But really, if you want an alien invasion film, there are so many better choices.  Ditto, if you are looking for a war epic or even a nautical thriller.  There is no shortage of replacements.  What you have then in Battleship is a movie not bad enough to despise but not good enough to remember.  At the end of the day this kind of cinematic mediocrity is relegated to that figurative place where forgotten movies go while Universal execs are left to lament a $200M investment in Taylor Kitsch (though they can take comfort in knowing that they have company in Disney).

Standout Performance: Tadanobu Asano gets a participation award for having to carry the scene that most tediously tries to evoke memories of the board game and for his attempt to sell that scene with such conviction.  

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Review: Wrath of the Titans

One scene in Ted that really resonates with me is when Mark Wahlberg and Seth MacFarlane describe the 80’s cult classic Flash Gordon as “so bad but so good.”  I don’t know if a movie has ever been more accurately described in five simple words.  Another movie that I think falls into that category is the original Clash of the Titans starring Harry Hamlin.  The earnest attempt at special effects and the hit-and-miss acting all came together to produce one for the ages.  So when they released a remake in 2010 starring Sam Worthington, I had an inclination that I would be disappointed.  And I was.  The movie was unremarkable in every way.

The $493MM worldwide theatrical gross of course warranted a second installment - Wrath of the Titans - and to quell the worries of a somewhat disappointed fan base, the message was put out that part two would be better because it would not be encumbered  in the same way Clash was by the original film.  A canonical origin story is always an easy target for the blame game.  Having seen Wrath of the Titans, I think that the freedom to flesh out Perseus, Zeus, and the other Greek deities in an original script by Dan Mazeau is more a detriment than a strength, because Wrath is a flimsy story populated with one-dimensional characters, logic leaps, and what generally feels like lazy writing.

This is particularly disappointing to me because I love classical studies.  So much so, that I minored in it at THE Brandeis University.  The literature, mythology, architecture, and linguistics – I studied it all as an undergrad so whenever a movie grounded in classical literature gets produced, it always piques my interest.  Part of the problem is that as of late there have been too many of these films – Clash, Wrath, Immortals, and to a much lesser extent Percy Jackson – and they’ve all begun to blend together into one nondescript mass of long hair, generic gods, and British accents.

The movie is not terrible, it is just not good in any way.  In the movie, a hollow threat brings cause for the principle characters to get back together to take up arms.  Unfortunately, the cast appears to be going through the motions as they try to sell the plot.  As I mentioned in my review of Man on a Ledge, I believe Sam Worthington is a very limited actor and should not make any more movies not directed by Jim Cameron.  His listless approach seems to have spread throughout the cast like a pandemic as Liam Neeson and his typical middle-aged badass bravado is sorely missing, while Bill Nighy, Rosamund Pike, and Ralph Fiennes – three very good actors – bring absolutely nothing to the table.

There really isn’t much more to say about this film.  I feel like I have already spent too much time trying to find an interesting way to say this movie stinks and that you should not rent it.  There are countless other movies that can take you back to the days of gods and humans without lulling you into boredom.  As for the movie's beleaguered star, here’s hoping Sam Worthington turns things around as 5 of the last 6 movies I have seen starring him have been overwhelmingly underwhelming. 

Standout Performance: No one in this film warrants distinction.

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Review: The Grey

If you haven’t noticed, Liam Neeson has carved himself a nice niche as an action star.  In a genre where chiseled jaws and artificially augmented biceps inflict most of the damage, Neeson (Taken, A-Team, and Unknown) is showing that grey beards can still kick butt on screen and at the box office.   His latest flick - The Grey - is two hours of mental and physical warfare expertly captured on screen by Joe Carnahan.

The plot places a spiritually broken Ottway (played by Neeson) stranded in the Alaskan wilderness with a battered group of rough necks after a plane crash.  Stranded and lost, the band of misfits must overcome brutal weather conditions, deep physical injuries, and packs of vicious wolves to ensure their survival.  It’s the mental and physical fight to live that defines the plot and makes this film not only about the men themselves, but also about the loved-ones they’ve left behind.  You never see them onscreen in the present, but their presence in the stricken psyches of those men is strongly felt.

Liam Neeson does a fantastic job of playing a damaged man teetering on the edge.  You can almost see the baggage he is carrying embedded within the creases of his weathered face.  As for the rest of the cast, Dallas Roberts, Dermott Mulroney, Nonso Anozie, Frank Grillo and Joe Anderson serve as Neeson’s fellow plane crash survivors.  Each do an admirable job infusing distinct personas into characters that could have easily become faceless mechanisms for plot advancement.  Grillo as Diaz particularly stands out for taking his character through the full spectrum of emotions associated with death. 

From top to bottom, The Grey is a well-made movie.  The challenge of the elements and the ever-present sense of danger are palpable – so much so that the film feels like a visual form of punishment.  By time the credits rolled, I felt fatigued and a bit of despair.  Whatever a feel-good-movie is to you, this film is the exact opposite.  So if you are wondering if this is a quality movie, then the answer is a resounding yes.  As for whether it is an entertaining one - that is best left to be decided by the individual and his/her preferences.

Standout Performance: Kudos to Dermott Mulroney for starring in a movie that does not have the word “Wedding” in the title.

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