Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)Starring: Chris Evans; Hayley Atwell; Sebastian Stan; Tommy Lee Jones; Hugo Weaving; Dominic Cooper; Richard Armitage; Stanley Tucci; Samuel L. Jackson; Toby Jones; Neal McDonough; Derek Luke; Kenneth Choi; JJ Feild; Bruno Ricci.
Directed by: Joe Johnston.
Colour/124 Minutes/PG-13
When I was into comic books I was never into Captain America. American Nationalism, apple pies, boy scouts. Blah. Not interesting. As boring as Superman really. I always took Batman's side. Of course Batman is a violent, anti-social psycho -- so that may say more about me than it does anything else. Still, the idea of a meek but determined young man being selected for a top secret super soldier programme, and becoming a hero and figurehead for the war effort, isn't a bad story if you do it properly. Captain America is another big budget entry into this "let's introduce the main Avengers characters before we do The Avengers movie" series of films. We've already had two okay Hulk films, two pretty good Iron Man films, and Thor. Poor Thor. Here we get Captain's (Chris Evans) origin story, how he becomes a propaganda tool, and how he eventually decides to take matters into his own hands, becoming the man he always wanted to be, and serving his country by going head-to-head with the evil Nazi Red Skull (Hugo Weaving, who is good despite his shitty mask). It's flashy, moves quickly, and it touches on all the points it needed to connect upon. It ties into the rest of the Avengers films by the end of it (other Avengers appear, as well as the black Nick Fury, Samuel L. Jackson!). Having good actors in key and supporting roles helps hold together an otherwise light story. I like good super hero films. This is an okay one. The genre, I think, is pretty much burned-out at this point. We'll see what The Dark Knight Rises has to say about that. I'm going to say this is worth a rental if there's nothing else.
Wrong Turn 4: Bloody Beginnings (2011)
Starring: Jennifer Pudavick; Tenika Davis; Kaitlyn Wong; Terra Vnesa; Victor Zinck, Jr.; Sean Skene; Blane Cypurda; Daniel Skene; Tristan Carlucci; Scott Johnson; Bryan Verot; Dean Armstrong; Ali Tataryn; Samantha Kendrick; Arne McPherson; Kristen Harris; Dave Harms.
Directed by: Declan O'Brien.
Colour/93 Minutes/R
A large group of young, dumb, and full of cum twenty-somethings show up to be killed and eaten by cannibal mutants. This time the film is set in an abandoned mental hospital that the victims get stuck in thanks to a snow storm. We learn that the original mutant family from the first three films had their start here as patients, and at this point in time are still living there. Prequel time. Oh joy. The budget seems a tad bigger than in the previous (horrible) film, Wrong Turn 3: Left for Dead (2009), which was to the original Wrong Turn (2003) as The Hill Have Eyes Part II was to The Hills Have Eyes, both in the case of the originals and remakes, actually. Wrong Turn 2: Dead End (2007) was actually really fun. Apparently someone has been watching the very good Cold Prey/Fritt vilt (2006) and its sequel, as this film borrows from both liberally, without managing to clone the mood and style. Sadly there is no Ingrid Bolsø Berdal as a final girl here. In fact none of the victims inspire any interest. Nor do the mutants, whom the film obviously wanted to shift attention to here as the stars. But the make-up effects this time around don't do them much justice. There are a few gore gags, and some skin, that do spruce things up, but overall this film is such a boring mess. It's better than part 3, but what isn't? Rent. Maybe.
Terror Trap (2010)
Starring: Michael Madsen; David James Elliott; Jeff Fahey; Heather Marie Marsden; Andrew Sensenig; Lacey Minchew; Matt Triplett; Mark De Alessandro; Danny Cosmo.
Directed by: Dan Garcia.
Colour and B&W/86 Minutes/R
Have you seen Vacancy (2007)? Have you seen the direct-to-video Vacancy 2: The First Cut (2008)? Then you've seen this film already. A shameless and disjointed rip-off that makes most of the torture porn Hostel (2005) rip-offs look like original masterpieces. And of course, Vacancy was a bit of torture porn and a Hostel rip-off itself, wasn't it? Well, if this is its own sub genre now (Motel Torture Porn, I guess?), then Vacancy is Hostel and this is somewhere at the tail end of the Saw series. But hey, we get Michael Madsen in this for five seconds as the owner of this capture-and-kill motel set-up, where innocent victims are trapped at the motel and killed for sick fucks observing via two-way mirrors. Jeff Fahey is the only shining light here, making the most out of his scene-crewing psycho cop who rounds up victims, and keeps the motel protected from the law and any other peeping eyes. He's essentially playing R. Lee Ermey's character from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003) and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning (2006). I can forgive that rip-off though because Fahey is fucking awesome. Michael Madsen, when did you stop giving a shit? Avoid. Abort.
2 comments:
Michael Madsen stopped giving a shit before he went on Celebrity Big Brother. Reminds me of the Baldwin brothers. I still think Virginia is a doll though.
Captain America was readable only when he had a sidekick. The Falcon or Bucky Barnes. I too liked Batman but that was when followed Frank Miller from Daredevil.
Wrong Turn 4 was one of the worst flicks last year. Don't the makers realise that the people who might watch this trash have already seen Fritt Vilt. Oh and by the way last years part 3 was crap.
Good to see you back Lee.
Celebrity Big Brother? Horrified. A quick search horrified me more when I saw how many series there have been. I knew Michael Madsen will do anything for a dollar, but I thought that only was true for bad indie films. Ouch. Yeah, he reminds me of the fat Baldwin at this point -- the one who was on one of those celeb rehab shows. What a waste.
I see that Declan O'Brien directed both part 3 and this latest Wrong Turn. He improved on the last film by ripping off Cold Prey. Sigh. So great to be back!
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