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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 27 June 2016

Kevin Hart is no stranger to the buddy comedy genre.  He’s played the “straight guy” opposite Will Ferrell in Get Hard and played the “funny guy” opposite Ice Cube in the Ride Along franchise.  Dwayne Johnson has plenty of credits to his name but this is the first time (in my memory anyway) that he’s part of defined comedy duo.  We’re more accustomed to seeing Johnson as the hero in big-budget action flicks (Fast 7, San Andreas) or as the single lead in board-reaching comedies (Tooth Fairy, The Game Plan).

Central Intelligence opens with a high school flashback.  Calvin (Hart) is the most popular senior in his class and everyone believes he’s going to do great things with his life.  He’s fit, he’s sporty, he’s intelligent, and he’s got a great girlfriend.  None of those descriptors would apply to Robbie (Johnson).  He is teased for being overweight and has no friends.  There’s a horrible moment where a group of bullies drag him from the locker room showers and parade him naked in front of a school assembly.

Slipping 20 years forward to the current day, we learn that the paths of these characters has changed significantly.  Calvin is an unhappy forensic accountant who isn’t respected by his work colleagues.  His home life is also a little bumpy with his wife (Nicolet) suggesting they see a marriage counsellor.  On the flip side, Robbie is now a gifted CIA agent with the body of a Greek God.  His secret to getting into shape?  Hitting the gym for 6 hours every day for the past two decades!

The three-person writing team needed to find a way to bring these two guys together and they’ve gone with a goofy premise.  Those within the CIA believe that Robbie is a double agent who is selling valuable satellite codes on the black market.  With seemingly no one he can trust, Robbie gets in touch with Calvin via Facebook and forces him to help.  He needs to use Calvin’s forensic accounting expertise to clear his name and identify the real criminals.

Central Intelligence is a film that feels low on ideas.  There’s a sequence in a warehouse where Calvin argues with Robbie about whether he is “in” or “out” with regards to this escapade.  A similar scene takes place a short time later in Calvin’s office.  Could they have not come up with something different to laugh about?

Johnson’s character is also a struggle to wrap your head around.  Robbie talks and acts like a hyperactive high school teenager throughout much of the film.  You may think it is part of some elaborate act but I wasn’t much wiser as the end credits started to roll.  A scene involving Jason Bateman (in a small cameo) only added to the confusion.  How did this guy become such a successful CIA agent given his emotional baggage and warped view of reality?  Why doesn’t he haven’t any friends despite his post-high school transformation?

Some jokes hit the mark.  Johnson and Hart argue back and forth and there’s the occasional barb or unexpected comment that will leave you chuckling.  Unfortunately, these two actors can’t save a script so poorly conceived.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 15 June 2016

A total of 6 sequels are being released in Australian cinemas during June but two of them stand out because of the length of time “between drinks”.  Next week, we’ll finally get to see Independence Day: Resurgence some 20 years after the release of the original.  The gap isn’t quite as large in this case but given that 2003’s Finding Nemo was Pixar’s biggest box-office hit up until the release of Toy Story 3, it’s a little surprising that we’ve waited 13 years for a follow-up.

The storyline here isn’t overly adventurous.  The 3-person writing team have played it safe.  In the original, Marlin (Brooks) and Dory (DeGeneres) went in search of the missing Nemo who had been captured by scuba divers in the Great Barrier Reef.  This time around, it’s Dory who is need of help.  She wants to locate her mother and father who she hasn’t seen in many years.  She can’t even remember how they became separated due to her short-term memory loss.

The film isn’t afraid to mock its own premise.  Reluctant to go on another adventure, Marlin is quick to state that “crossing the ocean is something you should only have to do once in your life.”  He doesn’t really have a choice though because he feels indebted to the irritating Dory.  Perhaps “irritating” isn’t the perfect word but her continual forgetfulness, which is drummed home again and again, is a challenge for people to deal with.

Their search for Dory’s parents takes them to a marine park in coastal California.  There, she meets an assortment of new characters including a whale shark (Olson), a beluga whale (Burrell), and a sly octopus with a missing tentacle (O’Neill).  They all have a part to play.  So too does Sigourney Weaver in a humorous cameo that will be over the heads of most kids.

Despite the odd adult reference, directors Andrew Stanton and Angus MacLane have stuck with the winning formula of entertaining children first and foremost.  The characters are adorable and the storyline is very easy to follow.  There are also plenty of positive, life-affirming messages about the importance of families and how they come in many shapes and forms.

Audiences of all ages will undoubtedly enjoy the beautiful sea landscapes which are rich in detail.  Everyone will have their favourites when it comes to the cast but I’ll always have a soft spot for Albert Brooks who gets his fair share of laughs as the cautious, conservative Marlin.  Other big-name stars landing roles include Ed O’Neill, Ty Burrell, Diane Keaton and Idris Elba.

As the major family film being released over the June school holidays, it’s clear this will be a huge hit.  It’s a more than adequate sequel to a much loved animated classic.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 23 June 2016

I like Richard Linklater’s approach to filmmaking.  It never feels like he’s trying to tell you a story.  Rather, he just wants to you spend time with a few characters to see what you make of them.  In the Before Sunrise trilogy, we listened to Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy talk for hours about life, love, the past, and the future.  In the Oscar-nominated Boyhood, we were shown a few key moments in a boy’s journey to becoming a man.

Everybody Wants Some is Linklater’s latest outing and his approach is no different.  It’s set in 1980 and is centred on a guy named Jake (Jenner) who is about to start his first year at college.  He’s not particularly interested in classes or academia.  Jake’s major passion is baseball and he’s keen to make an impact on the college’s already successful team.

While Boyhood was spread over 12 years, the timeline in Everybody Wants Some is far more limited.  Jake meets his housemates in the opening scene (they’re all part of the baseball team) and over the next 3 days, they party hard, they smoke weed, and they drink alcohol.  Two topics dominate almost every conversation – women and alcohol.

That’s pretty much it.  There are no huge character transformations and there are no shock twists.  This is an observational comedy that captures an era that some will vividly remember.  Linklater certainly does.  The film is semi-autobiographical in the sense that he attended Sam Houston State University in 1980 and was a member of their baseball team.

The guys in this story are confident and free-spirited.  They are living away from home for the first time and are free from the rigid shackles of high school.  They have big dreams and high expectations.  They’re ready to have fun, cruise through college, and make a name for themselves as a professional baseball player.  It’s the only career they have in mind and there’s no back up plan.

The film is careful not to judge or praise these characters.  There’s no epilogue that shows their post-college life where they’re working for pittance at a fast-food restaurant and struggling to pay their bills.  That would noticeably change the movie’s tone.  It’s simply showing you what life was like, rightly or wrongly, for student athletes who are part of the college system.

The 1980 setting also allows the crew to have fun with music, sets and costumes.  The outfits these characters wear are hilarious and it makes you wonder if these fashions will ever come back into style.  The soundtrack includes iconic songs from The Knack, Blondie, Van Halen and the Sugar Hill Gang.  They frequent several clubs/bars in their travels that cater for lovers of disco, punk and country music.

As much as I admire Linklater, this doesn’t quite have the same impact as his previous work.  Hard questions are not asked of these characters and there’s very little in the way of conflict or drama.  It’s like hanging out with a drunk friend – it’s entertaining for a while but then things start to become tiring and repetitive.  I was definitely ready to go home after spending 2 hours with this group of guys.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 15 June 2016

Warcraft: Orcs & Humans was a video game released back in 1994 that you played on your personal computer.  This is back in the day when you needed several CDs to install the program and the computer graphics weren’t all that flash.  It was set in the fictional world of Azeroth where human and orcs fought against each other in pursuit of victory.

I know this not from experience.  That’s just a summary of what I gleaned from a Wikipedia article.  I was never much of a video game player so I never played the 1994 release or any of the sequels that followed.  The same goes for the almost 30 Warcraft novels that have been published at a rapid rate since 2000.  This movie is my first introduction to the characters.

We’re told by way of introduction that there has been a war between humans and orcs for as long as people can remember.  This film chronicles where it all began.  The orcs had destroyed their own world and, after using a mysterious portal to travel to the land of Azeroth, they are intent on annihilating the human inhabitants and claiming the world for their own.

It’s just a matter of who has the strongest muscles and the most powerful weapons.  Magic also has a part to play.  The humans are led by King Llane (Cooper) who has called upon the services of the Guardian (Foster), a strange man who keeps a low-profile but has magical powers at his disposal when required.  The king’s expansive army is led by the wise Anduin Lothar (Fimmell) and he is assisted by a young sorcerer (Schnetzer) and a captured orc (Patton).

Almost as much time is spent following events from the perspective of the orcs.  They are ruled by Gul’dan, a ruthless dictator who doesn’t like being questioned or challenged.  He’s assembling his own army and is preparing to attack the humans.  Not all the orcs are villainous though.  Durotan leads an influential faction and he is wondering if there’s a possibility for humans and orcs to live together in harmony.

I’ve said this before but I often feel guilty when a studio takes a chance on something new and it doesn’t quite payoff.  Hollywood takes too few risks these days.  Warcraft: The Beginning contains plenty of detail… perhaps too much so.  It took me a long time to get my head around these characters and the way in which they weave their magic.  It was also a struggle to adjust to the orc’s muffled accents.

The orcs are the more interesting group.  The division amongst them makes for some interesting conversations.  More of this was required instead of the repetitive fight sequences that are heavy on special effects and not particularly exhilarating.  A few twists have been thrown into the finale but it’s a long wait to get there.

It seems that Chinese audiences were a lot more positive than me.  The film was released last weekend and grossed $156m USD in its first 5 days.  That’s the biggest opening in history for a movie in China.  In comparison, it made just $24m during its opening weekend in the United States.  The popularity of the video game in China in addition to a fierce marketing campaign paid huge dividends.  Those figures alone will ensure a sequel.  Hopefully a few more subplots will be wrapped up next time.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 23 June 2016

Tragedy has a way of uniting people.  In 1996, when the world was attacked by an alien race, the people of the world came together and emerged as the victors.  We’re told early in Independence Day: Resurgence that “world peace” has held strong in the 20 years since that fateful day.  Rather than waste time fighting each other, governments across the globe have been working together.  They’ve created armies, weapons and security outposts that can be utilised if the aliens should ever return.

That day is now.  Before we get to that though, the film spends roughly 40 minutes on character introductions.  Will Smith played the major hero in the original but for whatever reason, he hasn’t returned for this instalment.  His character has been killed off but his memory is not forgotten.  A painting of the late Captain Hiller is displayed prominently in the White House and his son, Dylan (Usher), is a valued member of the International Legacy Squadron that helps guard Earth.

Bill Pullman has returned but he is no longer the President of United States.  He keeps a low profile out of the public eye and is terrorised at night with dreams of another alien invasion.  His intelligent daughter (Monroe) works as a White House aide and she is currently dating an enthusiastic pilot (Hemsworth) who has been posted to the Space Defence Station which orbits the planet.  Let’s not forget Jeff Goldblum who returns as a scientist with an offbeat sense of humour.

This is a film with a few too many characters.  Judd Hirsch, Brent Spiner and Vivica A. Fox reprise their roles from the original while William Fichtner, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Sela Ward and Angelababy are amongst the new additions.  They have a part to play in the film’s plethora of subplots.  There are family arguments, romantic connections, power struggles, and heroic deeds.  If you get bored with something, just wait a minute and a new storyline will develop.

Let’s cut to the chase though.  The majority of audiences will be drawn by the fact it’s a sci-fi action flick.  After being defeated 20 years ago, the same alien species has returned to finish what they started.  They want to use their hi-tech machinery to draw energy from the planet’s core and in the process, annihilate every living thing.  The humans will have to use their brains to come up with a plan and use their brawn to implement it.

Independence Day was the highest grossing film of 1996 and it was also one of my favourite films of that year.  It found the right balance of light-weight humour and action spectacle.  This sequel tries to adopt the same formula but it doesn’t feel as compelling.  Perhaps it’s a sign that times have changed.  The cool flight battle sequences reminded of the recently rebooted Star Wars franchise but when I look deeper into the comparison, I realise that Star Wars: The Force Awakens has more to offer in terms of narrative and character interaction.  This all feels too easy and simplistic.

You can still have fun watching it though.  The aliens are freaky and you can’t help but root for the humans as they valiantly try to get the upper hand.  The ending also offers up room for more films.  We may have waited 20 years for this sequel but I was suspect we won’t be waiting a similar length of time for a follow up.