[Review] The Wave (Bolgen)

If you want to see a solid alternative to the typical Hollywood natural disaster flick, look no further than Norway's The Wave. (Not that I have anything against last year's Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson epic, San Andreas.)

Kristian (Kristoffer Joner) & Idun (Ane Dahl Torp), along with their two kids, are a perfectly happy family living in a small Norwegian village located near a set of mountains. Kristian, a geologist, is beginning to notice some alarming signs of an impending shake-up. And he isn't wrong. The serene and picturesque landscape, as well as the family's well-being are upended when a massive rockslide tumbles into a fjord and causes a powerful flood.

The story's beginning stalls for a great while in order to build quiet dread and anticipation. In fact, the main event doesn't hit until after 45 minutes in. But once it hits, it really hits, and the film launches into emergency chaos. It's safe to say that this is an intense experience. Everything is so crisply shot, and the camera's focus makes sure to emphasize the jarring shift from how a scenic destination can turn into a destructive danger zone within minutes.

The film demonstrates impressive technical prowess along the way, from the visual effects, to the direction within large amounts of water, and the sound design which often creates an effect of being submerged underwater. Some scenes are even reminiscent of James Cameron's Titanic. And the money shot of the approaching colossal wave is enough to make your heart pound out of your chest.

The Wave cuts back on any cheesy melodrama, it takes place in the now (instead of decades into the future), and it's steeped in treacherous realism--which all bodes well for a sudden catastrophe.

7/10

[Review] Triple 9

Woody Harrelson, Casey Affleck, Anthony Mackie, Norman Reedus, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Kate Winslet, Aaron Paul, and Michael K. Williams is an amazing ensemble cast for a gritty crime thriller. So the big question arises: Is the rest of the film as serviceable?

Set in a grim underbelly-like Atlanta where guns and drugs seem to grow from the cracks of the pavement, Triple 9's intricately detailed premise involves a lot of different parts and key players, so I'll just give you the gist of it: A group of thieves and dirty cops conspire to pull off a dangerously high stakes heist. And of course, it doesn't quite go as planned. If that isn't rough enough, the crew is also entangled with the Russian mafia, which is never a good thing.

Director John Hillcoat, who has a couple of great titles to his name (The Proposition, The Road), finds himself in messier and not-so-subtle territory here. So you kind of just have to sit back and submit yourself to the non-stop pulp, chaotic setpieces, and the ugliness of it all. The problem is that the film threatens to implode, and you might become desensitized to everything taking place on screen, as it all sort of becomes a big murky blur.

There's only so many Mexican gangbangers, stock Russian Mob types, informant prostitutes, greasy bankrobbers, and Alonzo Harris-es (Denzel Washington's character in Training Day) that the first 30 minutes of a movie can throw at you before you feel like you might get hit with a kitchen sink. And the cast--while all great--don't get a whole lot of opportunity to differentiate from each other. It's a major case of character overload. Still, the film packs some tense thrills as long as you can get a grip on who is who and what is transpiring, although this leads me to believe that this thing probably could've fared much better as a killer TV series on a Netflix platform or something.

Triple 9 is far from the top tier of this genre, but if you're a hardcore fan of this stuff either way, you probably won't be too disappointed.

6.5/10

[Review] Zootopia

Walt Disney Animation Studios continue to deliver the goods with their latest outing, Zootopia. Not only is it a fun, clever, and fast-moving story, but it also slyly (as a fox) espouses some significant social messages. Yes, humanitarianism in a film that contains nothing but animal characters.

Judy (voiced by Ginnifer Goodwin) is a relentlessly determined rabbit who leaves the farm life behind in order to fulfill her dream of becoming a police officer for the diverse metropolis of Zootopia (there's a wonderful montage sequence of the place when she first arrives). After graduating top of the class from the police academy, she is frustratingly designated to parking duty by Zootopia's police chief Bogo (Idris Elba). But eventually she maneuvers her way into being lead detective on a "missing mammals" case, and she enlists the help of a hustling fox named Nick (Jason Bateman).

From here, the film shifts from a colorful and cheery bunny-in-the-big-city story to a straight up detective noir mystery with an elaborate plot. It still contains a decent amount of humor though, beyond the abundance of available puns. There are some blatant references to The Godfather and "Breaking Bad" that turn out to be more amusingly fitting than they have any business being. There's also a hilarious and well-executed scene where Judy and Nick enter a DMV to run a license plate number, and the whole establishment is run by sloths. It's something you just have to see.

As mentioned earlier, the film provides some straightforward commentary on timely social issues. The themes span from tackling prejudice and corruption, to breaking through constructs in order to be whatever you want to be, as well as doing your best to make the world a better place. The same overtones were addressed in a similar way during 2014's lovely animated bear & mouse tale, Ernest & Celestine. These are highly agreeable concepts of acceptance that you think would be universal common sense by now, but considering that one of the culprits of the problems addressed in Zootopia is currently deep in the U.S. presidential race (in real life), these things cannot be overstated or echoed enough.

Zootopia has plenty for all to equally enjoy. Plus, animals are cool.

8.5/10

[Review] The Lady in the Van

The legendary Maggie Smith (a lot of people will know her as Professor McGonagall from Harry Potter) stars in The Lady in the Van--a "mostly true story" about an amusingly odd pairing.

Set in Camden Town, London during the 1970s. Alex Jennings plays the stately Alan Bennett (real life author and the writer of this film). In his own driveway, there happens to be a homeless woman living out of her rusty old van. This woman is the eccentric and stubborn Miss Mary Shepherd (Smith). The Lady in the Van revolves around Mary and Alan's unique relationship, as well as Mary's surprisingly poignant and revealing backstory.

It sounds like a vague cliche, but there's a certain set of pleasant, easygoing films with likable lead characters that are often described as "immensely watchable", and this is one of those films. There's a consistent sense of charm here, emphasized by the playful and theatrical musical score. The tone is feathery and comical, while also containing some emotional depth. Maggie Smith's performance is completely terrific. She's lively, vulnerable, mysterious, nuanced, and also very respectful of the subject.

In fact, the film is so light on its feet that, aside from Maggie Smith's greatness and the story's affecting ending, the rest risks being forgettable. Still, if this sounds like you're type of thing, The Lady in the Van is an easy one to recommend, and its cleverness makes sure to get the last laugh.

7/10

[Review] Gods of Egypt

If you've glimpsed at any of the recent box office headlines, you know that Gods of Egypt plunged into theaters like a wretched deuce during this past #OscarsSoWhite weekend. To be fair, this film appeared to be a steamy stinker from the very beginning, and it's almost lucky that not a lot people paid attention to its messy, sloppy, and un-wipeable release.

The film's intro sequence scans the Egyptian land, and the visuals look worse than most video games that were made over a decade ago. And evidently, the Earth is indeed flat during this time period (paging B.o.B). The opening scenes between the youthful Bek (Brenton Thwaites) and Zaya (Courtney Eaton) make it known that director Alex Proyas apparently didn't care about the acting in this movie being corny and terrible. Then we meet King Horus (or Jamie Lannister) in a scene that has a Game of Thrones porn parody vibe to it. At this point, I'm just hoping that Gods of Egypt can at least function like an unintentionally funny clunker, but it doesn't even succeed in that way.

Eventually, Gerard Butler shows up, adding to his wildly impressive streak of being in awful movies (that aren't animated). Chadwick Boseman (42, Get on Up) is basically the only African American actor in the main cast, and it's practically the cinematic equivalent of "I have a black friend." But the biggest crime of all might be that the filmmakers didn't just embrace the ridiculousness and bring in Nicolas Cage for the leading role. If that had been the case, this would be a cult classic. The tone is perfectly ripe for some Nic Cage greatness, so this is a major missed opportunity. I mean, the guy literally has his own pyramid tomb waiting for him after he dies. How could they NOT cast him in this?

The constantly loud and intrusive music attempts to compensate for the poor excuse for spectacle that is taking place on the screen. It's never quite clear what the hell is going on in this movie. Every character in the script is crudely under-established, and next thing you know, they're warping into winged creatures that you might recognize best from The History Channel's "Ancient Aliens". And I'm not making this up, but there is an actual sequence where Jamie Lannister's beast incarnation gloriously flies through a large rippled circle that seems to symbolize an anus.

There also is a scene in here that involves a herd of elephants hauling dumpster-like containers of gold. For a moment, I thought the filmmakers might have been self-aware about this thing being a heap of crap, but ultimately there isn't anything gold about Gods of Egypt, so it doesn't even get points for that. This very well may go down as one of the worst films of the past few years, and it'll be in many "How did this get made?" discussions, that is--if enough people even bother to see it. (Seriously, who okay'd this?) But instead of being praised for being so-bad-it's-good, it's going to be lambasted and blasphemed on all parts, like the massive pile of ungodly trash that it is.

2/10