Screen Rant » Movie Reviews

‘Moonrise Kingdom’ Review

Kofi Outlaw — Fri, 25 May 2012 21:53:57 +0000

Screen Rant’s Kofi Outlaw Reviews Moonrise Kingdom

When I reviewed Fantastic Mr. Fox a few years back, I (at the time) considered myself in the camp of those who don’t care for director Wes Anderson’s brand of filmmaking. With Fantastic Mr. Fox Anderson clearly turned a corner, marrying his high-brow focus with a bit of child’s play, to create something at once youthful and fun, while still insightful and witty on an adult level. Moonrise Kingdom, I can proudly report, takes this new trend in the filmmaker’s evolving style a step further, and has only expanded my growing respect of the Anderson’s skill as both a writer and a director.

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‘Chernobyl Diaries’ Review

Ben Kendrick — Fri, 25 May 2012 19:16:27 +0000

Screen Rant’s Ben Kendrick reviews Chernobyl Diaries

At first glance, many moviegoers will assume that Chernobyl Diaries is just the latest entry in the found-footage genre – considering the film’s trailer is chock-full of awkward shaky cam footage (the movie is also based on a story by Oren Peli, creator of the Paranormal Activity franchise). Despite Peli’s involvement as creator and producer (Bradley Parker directs), Chernobyl Diaries is actually a much more standard horror project – featuring known actors (including musician Jesse McCartney as well as Jonathan Sadowski from S#*! My Dad Says) and an omniscient camera that follows a group of friends as they enter a restricted area and subsequently get picked off one at a time by mysterious inhabitants.

Without the found footage craze to fall back on, does the eerie Chernobyl backdrop and ...

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‘Men in Black 3′ Review

Ben Kendrick — Fri, 25 May 2012 14:00:27 +0000

Screen Rant’s Ben Kendrick reviews Men in Black 3

It’s been an entire decade since we last caught up with the Men in Black - even though the time travel premise for the third film had already been pitched back in the MIB2 days. Instead of fast-tracking Men in Black 3, the film wasn’t officially announced until 2009 – with a number of re-writes and further production delays to follow.

In spite of the setbacks, Men in Black 3 has made it out of production and into theaters, relying heavily on the team (minus MIB screenwriter Ed Solomon) that made prior entries such a success, including: director Barry Sonnenfeld, producers Walter F. Parkes and Laurie MacDonald, as well as stars ...

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‘What to Expect When You’re Expecting’ Review

Ben Kendrick — Fri, 18 May 2012 21:57:27 +0000

Screen Rant’s Ben Kendrick reviews What to Expect When You’re Expecting

Modern ensemble comedies have seen plenty of success in recent years with edgier offerings like Bridesmaids, Horrible Bosses, and the recent Think Like a Man, presenting plenty of fresh laughs as well as contemporary social satire. Whereas other films have explored the ins and outs of bromance, wedding party fiascoes, and modern relationships in general, director Kirk Jones (Everybody’s Fine) tackled one of life’s most joyful (and painful) subjects with What to Expect When You’re Expecting: pregnancy.

However, with other contemporary “pregnancy” comedies such as Knocked Up and Baby Mama (plus Twilight Breaking Dawn: Part I, however unintentionally) still making viewers laugh on blu-ray and cable syndication, can What ...

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‘Battleship’ Review

Kofi Outlaw — Fri, 18 May 2012 16:02:39 +0000

Screen Rant’s Kofi Outlaw Reviews Battleship

Let’s just get this out of the way up front: Battleship the movie has little to do with the Hasbro board game that it is based on – other than the fact that it involves Naval battle on the high seas. What we get instead is a slice of popcorn summer fun from director Peter Berg (Hancock, The Kingdom); a movie that unabashedly celebrates the valor of the men and women of the armed forces.

The story revolves around Alex Hopper (John Carter star Taylor Kitsch), a smart, capable, and totally reckless young man who is chaperoned by his older brother and guardian, Navy Commander Stone Hopper (Alexander Skarsgård). ...

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‘The Dictator’ Review

Kofi Outlaw — Wed, 16 May 2012 15:20:13 +0000

Screen Rant’s Kofi Outlaw Reviews The Dictator

Sacha Baron Cohen is best known for creating comedic characters that often walk the line between silly caricatures and sly social satires that mirror our own stereotypes. Ali G: Indahouse, Borat and Brüno were all clear evidence that Cohen has something relevant to say, and that he has no problem having a little fun (sometimes at our expense) while doing so.

With The Dictator, Cohen has offered up his most cohesive (and possibly instigative) film yet – but whether he’s laughing with us or at us, or whether or not you enjoy the punch line, are the questions hanging over this send-up of politics, personal philosophies, and everything in ...

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‘The Road’ Review

Kofi Outlaw — Fri, 11 May 2012 21:46:09 +0000

Screen Rant’s Kofi Outlaw Reviews The Road

The Road is a three-part tale of murder and ghostly revenge that begins with three teens sneaking out of the house and absconding with the family car for a night of joy riding. When they discover the main road is blocked by traffic, the teens opt for a detour down a remote access road that takes them into the heart of darkness. They soon find themselves lost and driving circles around some strange limbo .

If being lost in the dark wasn’t bad enough, the teens begin to witness horrific supernatural phenomena – bloody figures who appear and vanish out of nowhere, etc. – and the unthinkable encounters quickly drive them to a mad panic. Meanwhile, as the three teens’ absence ...

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‘Dark Shadows’ Review

Ben Kendrick — Fri, 11 May 2012 15:00:27 +0000

Screen Rant’s Ben Kendrick reviews Dark Shadows

When moviegoers (and classic TV lovers) first heard that Tim Burton and Johnny Depp would be reuniting yet again for a “reboot” of the 1960s gothic soap opera, Dark Shadows, the response was mixed. Despite the pair of fan-favorite filmmakers, many Dark Shadows faithful protested the film for fear it would (stop me if you’ve heard this before) ruin their childhood (or, at the very least, undercut fond memories of the original show) – or rely too heavily on the, now trademark (and for some, tired) Burton/Depp schtick.

On the other hand, plenty of movie-lovers were, nonetheless, excited for the project – as it could offer a fitting “return to (gothic) form” for Burton.

Now that the film is out, we can safely say ...

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‘Get the Gringo’ Review

Kofi Outlaw — Fri, 04 May 2012 16:08:47 +0000

Screen Rant’s Kofi Outlaw Reviews Get the Gringo

In Get the Gringo Mel Gibson plays a no-good veteran crook (credited as “Driver”), who winds up in a Mexican prison after literally crashing the border while making his escape from the cops. That unhappy arrival is compounded by the fact that the millions in cash that Driver stole from a notorious crime boss is immediately lifted off him by some corrupt Federales.

Driver finds himself as the only ‘gringo’ (white man) in the Mexican prison town known as “El Pueblito,” where anything goes (except for escape) and crooks like Javi (Daniel Giménez Cacho) and his enforcer brother Caracas (Jesús Ochoa) run the show. Driver quickly acclimates himself to his new surroundings – pulling of ...

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‘The Avengers’ Review

Kofi Outlaw — Wed, 02 May 2012 20:32:37 +0000

Screen Rant’s Kofi Outlaw Reviews The Avengers

Marvel’s The Avengers is not just a film – it’s a cinematic event. The culmination of half a decade of movie-making, five different films introducing us to characters, stories and worlds of Marvel’s shared movie universe – not to mention, the life-long dreams of fanboys and fangirls all over the world, who have been dreaming to see their favorite superheroes onscreen together long before Marvel Studios began making it a reality.

Now that the Avengers is here, the question is: Does writer/director Joss Whedon (Serenity) deliver a film that lives up to fans’ massive expectations and functions as a great summer blockbuster for causal moviegoers?

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‘Sound of My Voice’ Review

Kofi Outlaw — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 20:52:36 +0000

Screen Rant’s Kofi Outlaw Reviews Sound of My Voice

In Sound of My Voice we are confronted with an immediate question of faith, as would-be documentarian Peter Aitken (Christopher Denham) and his girlfriend Lorna (Nicole Vicius) are brought into a local cult to meet its leader, the beautiful and mesmerizing Maggie (co-writer and star Brit Marling). The rabbit hole gets even deeper as Maggie reveals an implausible story to her new recruits: she claims to be a traveler from the future (2054 to be exact), sent back to gather those faithful who are ready to be trained in how to survive (both literally and figuratively) in the harsh era to come.

Peter and ...

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‘The Raven’ Review

Ben Kendrick — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 15:00:27 +0000

Screen Rant’s Ben Kendrick reviews The Raven

The titling of director James McTeigue’s Edgar Allan Poe thriller, The Raven, has no doubt confused plenty of would-be moviegoers ever since the film was first announced back in 2009. Instead of a retelling of Poe’s most famous poem, The Raven is actually a fictionalized narrative centered around the final days of the writer’s life – recasting Poe as a reluctant but brave hero that, along with a determined Baltimore detective, attempts to solve a string of grisly murders.

The re-imagined historical figures genre has become a new testing ground for Hollywood, most notably with Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter on the horizon (FYI: Edgar Allan Poe makes a guest appearance in the novel), where writers can take household names – and put a ...

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‘The Five-Year Engagement’ Review

Ben Kendrick — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 14:30:27 +0000

Screen Rant’s Ben Kendrick reviews The Five-Year Engagement

Judd Apatow has become one of the biggest names in Hollywood comedy – largely because of his ability to blend over-the-top gags with heartfelt character stories. In one way or another – as writer, director, or producer, Apatow has been connected to hits that include Bridesmaids, Pineapple Express, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Knocked Up, along with plenty more. That said, not every Apatow-produced film has been a slam-dunk with audiences (we’re looking at you Funny People, you too Year One) and, as a result, the filmmaker has seen his fair share of box office (and critical) bombs.

Is The Five-Year Engagement - directed by Nicholas Stoller (Get Him to the Greek) and starring “camp Apatow” veteran Jason Segel ...

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‘Safe’ Review

Kofi Outlaw — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 12:45:27 +0000

Screen Rant’s Kofi Outlaw Reviews Safe

In Safe, Jason Statham stars as Luke Wright, a former NYPD cop turned cage fighter, whose world is shattered when a Russian mob kills his family and places him under (a very strange) mandate of living exile: the mob will watch Wright’s every step, and kill anyone he gets close to. The imposed purgatory transforms Wright into an alcoholic vagabond, wandering the streets of NYC in misery and isolation.

Things change for the disgraced cop when he runs across a brilliant young girl named Mei (Catherine Chan), who is being pursued by the same Russian mob that killed Luke’s family – and also a Chinese Triad and squad of corrupt cops that Wright disgraced once upon a time. Luke decides to flip the script ...

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‘Think Like a Man’ Review

Kofi Outlaw — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 22:48:29 +0000

Screen Rant’s Kofi Outlaw Reviews Think Like a Man

Ensemble romantic comedies are often sweeping and superficial looks at the so-called entirety of the dating scene, rather than an investment in a single, deeper story about love. Films like He’s Just Not That Into You or any of the holiday-themed ensemble rom-coms of the last few years – Valentine’s Day, New Year’s Eve - are successes in large part because they attract a wide net of viewers with their star-studded casts. However, Think Like a Man has an uphill battle in that regard, since it features a cast of primarily African-American stars.

The real question (as always) ...

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‘Marley’ Review

Kofi Outlaw — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 16:50:09 +0000

Screen Rant’s Kofi Outlaw Reviews Marley

Many of us think we know Bob Marley. Years upon years of listening to the superstar reggae musician’s seminal works – not to mention his revered position within the zeitgeists of so many cultures – has fostered a natural sense of familiarity with the iconic figure, who stares out from the front of our tee-shirts or wall hangings with all the prominence of a religious figure.

If there is one thing to be said about the new documentary Marley - which looks back over life and career of Bob Marley – it’s that it clearly demonstrates the reality that many of us who think we know Bob Marley still have a lot to learn about the actual man, and the realities of his ...

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‘Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan’s Hope’ Review

Kofi Outlaw — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 21:45:37 +0000

Kofi Outlaw Reviews Comic-Con Episdoe IV: A Fan’s Hope

Morgan Spurlock’s latest documentary focuses on a small slice of Americana, rather than commenting on the entire apple pie (see: Super-Size Me, Greatest Movie Ever Sold). It also keeps the prolific documentarian behind the camera, rather than in front of it. Whether you’re a fan or not of Spurlock’s previous documentary features, you’ll want to know going in that you’re going to get something slightly different with Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan’s Hope - in every sense of the term.

Many people today (in America and well beyond) know about the San Diego Comic-Con. Every July, geeks, nerds, movie studios, media outlets and pop-culture enthusiasts of all types ...

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‘The Three Stooges’ Review

Kofi Outlaw — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 18:05:08 +0000

Screen Rant’s Kofi Outlaw Reviews The Three Stooges

In their homage to the classic Three Stooges comedic trio, directors Bobby and Peter Farrelly (Dumb and Dumber) transport bumbling oafs Larry, Curly and their leader Moe into modern times as three strange-looking babes abandoned on the doorstep of an orphanage. For an emotional core, we’re treated to a setup in which a young Moe is nearly adopted by a caring couple – only to be traded for another boy when he insists that his Stooge brothers also be brought along for the good life.

From there the story breaks into three interlocking vignettes presented as individual Three Stooges episodes, in which Moe, Larry and Curly – now ...

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‘Lockout’ Review

Ben Kendrick — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 17:57:27 +0000

Screen Rant’s Ben Kendrick reviews Lockout

Despite a solid headliner in Guy Pearce, the underwhelming marketing for Lockout, which makes the project look like a direct-to-DVD experience, has been enough to cause a lot of moviegoers to forget that the film was actually developed by well-known thriller writer/director/producer Luc Besson (The Fifth Element and Taken). While Besson outsourced directorial duties to untested feature co-helmers, James Mather and Stephen St. Leger, the fan-favorite producer was still instrumental in crafting the Lockout story – as well as overseeing production.

As a result, it’s no surprise that Lockout features plenty of Besson’s staple calling cards: most notably a snarky and rough-around-the-edges (but charming) leading man, as well as some hard-hitting action set-pieces, among other things. However, do Mather and St. Leger successfully carry Besson’s concept across the ...

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‘The Cabin in the Woods’ Review

Ben Kendrick — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 12:50:27 +0000

Screen Rant’s Ben Kendrick reviews The Cabin in the Woods

The ups and downs of The Cabin in the Woods release delay had little to do with co-writer and producer Joss Whedon, or writer-turned-director Drew Goddard’s movie; rather, the horror genre hybrid was simply caught in the middle of the MGM Studios collapse. Despite a few big names being attached to the long-withheld project – Avengers star Chris Hemsworth and director Joss Whedon - does The Cabin in the Woods actually offer a fresh and enjoyable horror experience? Or is the film little more than a middle-of-the-road effort that could have easily been left on the shelf?

Much like Eli Craig’s tongue-in-cheek effort, Tucker & Dale vs. Evil, The Cabin in the Woods is far-from ...

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