This week I got the chance to check out two films that couldn't be more different from one another: After Earth and Now You See Me. After Earth looked interesting, as one friend described it "The Pursuit of Happyness in the future", but I, like most movie-goers, was on the fence about it.
The trailer for Now You See Me however, had me super giddy-I could not wait to check this one out.
Let's get this one over with, After Earth:
The more I heard about this film, the more I was dreading the idea of seeing it. I love Will Smith, I can't think of a single film he's ever done that has disappointed, I wanted nothing but continued success for him and his son Jaden.
But After Earth just couldn't deliver. It was cold and stifled. Being a futuristic film, it was obviously beautifully made, but the visuals could not save it.
The story goes like this; Earth was abandoned a long ass time ago. The human race found a new planet to park ourselves on and, uh-oh, there's already a race of super ugly, meany aliens living on it. Humans, being awesome like we are, said, hey we need to live here. So of course we battled these guys and eventually took over. Before winning the war however, we learned these aliens could only hunt us by scent, they could smell the pheromones created from our fear. Will Smith is a super soldier who learns how to completely mask or ignore his fear, "ghosting" as they call it, and he becomes a legend. Unfortunately, this legendary reputation causes a rift between himself and his son. The son enrolls in a training program for young military recruits as a means of trying to please his father and gain some attention.
Will comes home from a mission and learns Jaden has failed to move up in his training program, his wifey suggests he bring his son along with him on his next trip in the hopes that they might reconnect. Great idea mom.
Unfortunately, the ship they're traveling in hits an asteroid field and is torn to bits, causing it to crash land on an unknown planet. Will and Jaden are the only two to survive however, both of Will's legs are broken. The ship broke in two and the only hope they have for rescue, lies in a distress beacon located at the tail of their ship, over 100 kilometers away from where they are.
It is now Jaden's chance to prove himself and save them both. They have crash landed on Earth and our planet is crazy ya'll! The temperature fluctuates dramatically almost without warning and all of the animals have reverted back to their prehistoric sizes and natures.
Oh yeah, and because this is an M. Night Shyamalan directed production, there's a crazy alien on the loose that they just happened to be transporting on the ship that crashed (of course that sucker survived too), awesome!
So Jaden, an untrained civilian who previously failed his military training course, is now responsible for finding the beacon and rescuing them before they both die.
This movie had a lot. Unfortunately, it didn't have enough. I liked the visuals, I liked the idea of the story and all, but it just didn't deliver at the end of the day. There was no warm and fuzzy feeling once everything was said and done, and this is a Will Smith production! Can you believe it? I walked away from a Will Smith movie feeling "meh", such a shame! It was a father/son story and there was no "aww" moment, there were no tears to be shed. NO WARM AND FUZZY! Mr. Smith, I WANT my warm and fuzzy!
I hate giving bad reviews and while I didn't hate this one, I wouldn't suggest anyone pay to view it. If it's on HBO or something, go for it. But don't bother with RedBox I'm telling you, it can wait.
Now for the pick-me-up, Now You See Me:
Hooray!! This one was a ton of fun! Full of stars and jam-packed with awesomeness, Now You See Me is the definition of Summer Blockbuster. This film totally makes up for the magical let down that was Burt Wonderstone. If you want some razzle dazzle and a rush of action and suspense, this is one to see!
Mark Ruffalo plays a big time detective that is pulled away from a major case because a group of Vegas magicians reportedly robbed a bank in Paris during one of their performances.
He interviews the four, comprised of Woody Harrelson, a mind reader; Isla Fischer, an escape artist; Jesse Eisenberg, a card counter; and Dave Franco, a pick pocket. Mark can't get them to talk and he can't figure out how they could have robbed a bank in Paris while performing on stage in Vegas at the exact same time. Here comes Morgan Freeman. Mr. F plays a former magician who now debunks past and present magic acts for a very popular television series-he basically makes money off of exposing other people's tricks. He helps walk Mark through the illusion that was the bank robbery and also provides hints as to what the group might attempt to do next.
I don;t want to give anything away so I'm going to stop here. Let me just tell you, this movie is an absolute thrill ride and a boat-load of fun! Please, do yourself a favor and check this one out! Far warning, it's one you can't fall asleep while watching, you need to pay attention-not Memento attention, but you need to be able to follow it throughout. Go, go now!
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