[Review] The Dark Tower

The Dark Tower is one of many Stephen King properties to hit movie and TV screens this year. And well, it's the unfortunate rubble of the bunch. For the record, I'm not familiar with the source material, but the film itself plays out like a slice of bad YA fiction.

In another realm exists The Dark Tower, a forceful structure that holds the universe together. There, the last Gunslinger (Idris Elba) and the Man in Black (Matthew McConaughey) are locked in an eternal standoff. Meanwhile, Jake (Tom Taylor), a young dreamer who everyone else thinks is crazy, finds a portal into this place and teams up with Gunslinger in order to prevent the tower from toppling.

This is one of those frustrating genre flicks that manages to feel overstuffed and underdeveloped at the same time. And for all the awkward exposition that's tossed around, everything in this western sci-fi world feels very vague, nondescript, and one-dimensional -- much like the story's main character Jake, who's as indistinct of a protagonist as they come -- with nothing but a blank "chosen one" tag on his head. Idris Elba is great for what he has to work with here, and his character is undoubtedly cool, but his Death in a Suit foil Matthew McConaughey seems remarkably out of place.

Some nice scenery and unique set designs pop up along the way. And there's monsters and demons and people with tearaway flesh and teleporting and prophetic visions, but none of it ever amounts to anything too terribly interesting. There might be a compelling story to tell in here somewhere, but the execution is faulty--making this version an unstable, crumbling dud.

( 4.5/10 )

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[Review] Columbus

Columbus, Indiana is where director Kogonada's quaint little film draws its title from. It's a meditative and keen-eyed character study about two drifting, discontent souls.

John Cho plays Jin, a Korean translator who finds himself stuck in Columbus while his renowned architect father is in a coma. There, he meets a local named Casey (Haley Lu Richardson, The Edge of Seventeen), whose scholarly dreams are put on hold to take care of her recovering addict mother. The two begin to bond over their shared conflicting emotions about the uncertain structure of their paths.

It's perfectly fitting that this film is shot with a very modernist aesthetic -- its artful frames exquisitely capture the town's prominent architecture and handsome interior design, punctuating the lines and the angles and the symmetry of it all. Cho and Richardson give empathetic and intriguing performances, and the story moves at a gentle pace -- almost serene. But it's so beautiful, so perceptive, and so thoughtful that it sits levels above the dreaded "boring" label. The script ruminates on the complexity of families, relationships, history, physical and mental health, and the roadblocks toward aspirations.

In a striking contrast to its settings, Columbus craftily exhibits that life can't always be carefully measured or planned, despite the blueprints one lays down. In fact, life is anything but symmetrical.

( 8/10 )

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[Review] Jigsaw

I don't know if anyone was asking for another Saw film, but a new one has been dumped on us whether we like it or not. The only good thing I can say about Jigsaw is that it's short. But even though it clocks in at just 80 minutes, it's still 80 minutes too long.

Basically the same setup as the others -- a group of strangers trapped in a warehouse are forced to endure and escape a series of tortuous "games". As the victims pop up in grisly scenes around town, law enforcement identifies the killings as the work of the infamous John Kramer. But it can't be, can it? He's been dead for 10 years! The film repeats this in case you didn't get it the first time.

Jigsaw never adds any fresh pieces to the already tattered franchise. It's aggressively more of the same, and it's loathsomely repetitive and void of surprises or shock. Any sense of intensity is dwindled to a shrug. You could probably garner more satisfaction from a "Criminal Minds" episode. And despite all the sharp objects and needles, the story feels more pointless than ever. The face-grinder, throat-choker, and laser contraption setpieces might give hardcore fans a brief rush, but I think most filmgoers are either desensitized to or just plain sick of this sort of thing. And a problem that plagues this series is that there's no reason to really give a damn about these characters. Some of the decisions they make are so stupid that they probably deserve to die a brutal death.

Jigsaw is like an actual jigsaw puzzle - in that once you've done it once, you're probably a lot less compelled to want to do it again.

( 4/10 )

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[Review] Thor: Ragnarok

Dropping in as the third solo Thor installment and the I lost count addition to Avengers universe, Thor: Ragnarok is a wildly warping adventure of cosmic revelry.

Suiting up again in the role he was born to play, Chris Hemsworth returns as Thor, and this time around, the God of Thunder finds himself stranded on the other side of the universe without the help of his trusty and powerful hammer. From there, Thor encounters old faces and new on his crazy journey back to Asgard, as he attempts to save his kingdom from mass destruction.

First of all, this film is all over the place. But I don't necessarily mean that in a bad way. As long as you can get down with all the dimension-transporting, an incredibly loopy tone, and the film's ever-quirky sense of humor, you're in for a mega fun time. Director Taika Waititi, who has a bunch of indie and international gems under his belt (including What We Do in the Shadows and Hunt for the Wilderpeople), makes an impressive leap to blockbuster fare -- his signature eccentricities come through in the film's spunky and colorful visuals as well as the kooky characters. Jeff Goldblum shows up as an amusingly flamboyant persona called Grandmaster, while Waititi himself voices a rocky fellow named Korg (this guy rules), who's one of the film's biggest sources of comedy. The script is stuffed with witty exchanges, hilarious one-liners, and tons of slapstick with gut-busting timing.

Along the way, this jamboree blasts through trippy, psychedelic, fantastical, godly and mythological worlds, as if a mighty set of hands squeezed elements from Guardians of the Galaxy, Doctor Strange, Star Trek, and Lord of the Rings and pounded them together into a frenzied fever dream. Speaking of Lord of the Rings, a couple of alums show up here, including Karl Urban and Cate Blanchett -- who superbly plays Thor's long lost evil sister Hela. Also great is Tessa Thompson (Creed) as a warrior with a significant past.

This film doesn't exactly subvert the Marvel formula, but it does what people love about these movies really, really well -- and without taking itself too seriously. Simply put - Thor: Ragnarok is a smash.

* 8.5/10 *

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[Review] Brawl in Cell Block 99

Even though he's mostly known for his comedic chops, actor Vince Vaughn is no stranger to the darker and serious roles, and that's exactly what he pulls off in the rough-and-tumble Brawl in Cell Block 99 -- a ruthlessly violent crime drama of intense prison life, gritty fisticuffs, and skull-crushing.

Vaughn plays Bradley, a former heavyweight boxer turned heavyweight drug-runner. Oh yeah, and he has a huge tattoo of a cross on the back of his shaved head. Anyway, when an exchange turns deadly, Bradley winds up in prison where he must fight to stay alive -- quite literally.

Shot in a brooding light, this thoroughly engrossing film gets off to a deliberate and strategic start before throwing its haymakers. It's directed by S. Craig Zahler, who helmed last year's cannibal western tale Bone Tomahawk, so you know you're in for some unflinching mayhem, especially as the prison setting practically takes on the form of a dungeonous battleground.

It takes a few moments to get used to seeing Vince Vaughn like this, but he does the hardened tough guy part very well here. It also helps that his character is given dimension beyond the exterior. He's a wisecracker; he has a strict moral compass; and he's very matter-of-fact about his situation and self-aware about his own contradictions. And that's essentially what the film is about -- crime doesn't pay, but some people are driven to it and dig deeper and deeper -- until there's no way out.

( 8/10 )

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