Hit and Run

First Hit:  Felt like it was put together in a hurry – low craftsmanship – yet it was enjoyable with a solid set of points.

Stay in the present. People can change. Forgiveness of oneself and others is important. And, how a person shows up to you now may be different from how they were in the past. I liked these points.

However, does this film make them well? Not really and that is the down fall of this film. Hit and Run is a title that is more about how the film was made than the action in film itself. Yul Perkins a.k.a. Charles Bronson (played Dax Shepard) is a man who in a witness protection program and guarded by a totally incompetent Sheriff, Randy Anderson (played by Tom Arnold).

Not sure why this character had to be this incompetent throughout the movie only to show up in the last few scenes as competent – but that is part of the problem of this film. Then you have Annie Bean (played by Kristen Bell) who is a very beautiful woman, living with Charles, and who is going to lose her job in a local college but gets a chance to head up a nonviolent communication school in LA. This causes Charles to talk about his real past, name, and why he is in a witness protection program.

Yul was once a bank robber with Alex (played by Bradley Cooper) and Neve (played by Joy Bryant) and drove the getaway car. Alex’s introduction into the film was one of the more interesting scenes of late. He loves dogs, doesn’t want them mistreated, and sees a dog who is unhappy in front of a store, makes a few comments to the owner, and from there, the violent tendencies of Alex are brought forth.

The story is about settling scores, forgiveness and making a new life. Shepard as writer, co-director and actor is obviously more than he can handle.

The film felt rushed in execution, the writing for some parts (Arnold’s and his own) was amateurish.

As an actor Shepard does not command the screen but does make other in a scene stand out. Bell is perky and refreshing but I’m not sure this was the part for her. She almost seemed out of place. Arnold was mostly unwatchable. His nervous quirkiness ended up on the screen as someone completely lost as to what to do. Cooper was actually the most interesting to watch. His relaxed way in how he expresses his violent nature in this part was very good and I liked him a lot. Bryant was OK as Alex’s sidekick who was once engaged to Perkins. Dax Shepard wrote the script and also co-directed the film with David Palmer. The script was unpolished and bumpy at times while the direction and whole feel of the film was rushed - sort of hit and run.

Overall: This mostly chase film is amateurish, however there were moments of laughter, action and wisdom.

Premium Rush

First Hit:  An entertaining and “fun ride” kind of film.

The ending was never in question, but what makes this film very watchable is the bike riding through Manhattan.

We’ve all seen bike messengers in our major cities, and it’s always fun to speculate what their world is like. Does this film do this, probably not, but it does provide one person’s view as to why it is the right job for them right now. Wilee (Yes, his nickname is Wiley coyote), played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, is a former law school student who discovers he’s just not the gray suit type of guy.

His job as a bike messenger gives him pleasure he cannot find anywhere else. His bike is a point of pride because it has one gear, cannot coast and has no brakes. He always has to keep pedaling and because of this, he’s in perpetual motion riding through the city full-on, all the time. He “sees” options through the various obstacles which confront him on a moment by moment basis and finds his path through them.

The film takes place over a 2 hour time period when he picks up an envelope and delivers it by 7:00 PM. Not a big deal right? It is to a cop who needs to get a hold of the same envelope. The cop Bobby Monday (played by Michael Shannon), has a huge gambling debt and getting the envelope’s contents and delivering it to his debt holders will excuse his debt and the death he caused.

Wilee’s girlfriend Vanessa (played by Dania Ramirez) wants a different lifestyle so she is trying to break up with him. She’s tired of the rough and tumble life of a messenger. Vying for her attention is Manny (Wole Parks) who rides a bike with multiple gears and brakes and claims to be a better rider and man than Wilee.

To bring a level of laughter to this film, there is an ongoing sequence about a bike cop (played by Christopher Place) trying to chase down Wilee because he breaks bicycle laws and runs red lights. As I said, the fun in this film is the riding and Wilee’s avoiding being caught by Bobby for one reason and by the bike cop for another.

Gordon-Levitt is outstanding in both attitude and physicality as Wilee. I believed him in this role. Shannon had just the right level of being stupid, arrogance and bullying in the various type scenes he was given. Ramirez was OK, added some female energy to the film but it was not necessarily needed. Parks was very good as Gordon-Levitt’s competitor for both Ramirez and bike riding. Place was wonderful as the determined bike cop who was going to get his man. Aasif Mandvi as Raj the bike rider’s dispatcher was perfect. David Koepp and John Kamps wrote a fun script and story that didn’t dawdle. Koepp did a wonderful job of choreographing some great bike riding scenes and made it feel as I would imagine it to be like riding in NYC – dangerous.

Overall: This film is very watchable, fun, and very entertaining.

The Bourne Legacy

First Hit:  Very disappointing and I hope that this isn’t the legacy film for this franchise.

The one thing I liked about the Bourne series is that Matt Damon, although having an amazing physical prowess, came off as a normal caring guy.

In this offering, Aaron Cross (played by Jeremy Renner) uses drugs to aid in his physical and mental enhancements. We are introduced to Cross while he is submerged in semi frozen lake in what appears to be Alaska. While on his way to some other remote place, he’s popping green and blue pills. He also takes a sample of his blood. He reaches his destination and is supposed to have his blood tested.

During this opening sequence we have flashes to some poorly created urgency about the “Operation Treadstone” or “Operation Blackbriar” being found out by congress. Somehow Eric Byer (played by Edward Norton) is in charge of some unit which seems to have some juice but we never know with whom or why.

Half the time he speaks in doublespeak urgency about how these programs are going to be found out so he decides to kill all the drug induced agents. Cross, now being hunted by the government, and running out of meds/drugs, decides to find a creator of the meds Dr. Marta Shearing (played by Rachel Weisz). He hopes to continue being drug smart and drug strong.

The film tries to give us a reason why, but I didn’t buy it. Else the film is filled with chases and killings. The only time I got interested or excited was when they brought up Jason Bourne’s name, I was hoping Damon was coming to save the film – no such luck.

Renner is good at the physical stuff but unfortunately he had a poor script and story. Weisz did her best with the role and like Renner, they good with what they had but there wasn’t much of a storyline for them to work with. Scott Glenn (as Ezra Kramer) was reinstated in this film from the earlier Bourne films in a minor role and it showed. Norton tries really hard with a bad story and I’m starting to wonder about his choice in films. Stacy Keach (as Mark Turso) was mediocre in a poorly conceived role where his character's participation is questionable. Tony and Dan Gilroy wrote a poorly conceived story and script, while Tony did a fair job of directing this mess.

Overall:  It is extremely unfortunate that this film is named “Legacy” because it left a bad taste in my mouth.

Total Recall

First Hit:  I enjoyed this version more than the 1990 version.

Unlike “The Dark Knight Rises” (see previous review), the opening sequence sets up the story well.

The point of the opening sequence of a film like this is to set us up to get our buy-in, to have us suspend our reality and invite us into a story.

Total Recall does this and that is why I enjoyed it. Douglass Quaid, aka Houser, (played by Colin Farrell) is stuck in a life he doesn’t understand. He goes to work making robot enforcers in Great Britain from Australia by getting on and riding the “Fall”.

The Fall is what people call the vehicle which transports people through the only two habitable places on earth, Great Britain and Australia. Its path is through the middle of the earth and when it reaches the core there is a few minutes of gravity suspension because gravity switches its pull.

Australia is called the colony and everyone there is poor. It is ruled by Great Britain and Chancellor Cohaagen (played by Bryan Cranston) and they suppress everything for control. There, of course, is an underground group fighting the rule and Matthias (played by Bill Nighy) is their leader. Quaid’s wife Lori (played by Kate Beckinsale) is a cop and works a lot of nights investigating and killing the rebels.

We learn quickly, she’s one of the best and toughest investigators. Douglas, in his frustration with his life, goes to “Total Recall” which promises dreams that make you feel good. His visit takes us into a new story of what is reality and what is truth.

Although an unbelievable story, it works because the actors, script and direction allows us to believe it.

Farrell is very good and strong in both the physical challenges of the role but by also giving us a true sense of being lost and wanting to find the truth. Cranston is great as the Chancellor. Beckinsale is so strong in her physical role and was fun to watch. Jessica Biel (as Melina) was very good and shows strength in this physical role. Nighy is good in a limited but pivotal role. Kurt Wimmer and Mark Bomback wrote this effective screenplay while Len Wiseman gave this film believability, fun and action.

Overall: Enjoyable version of this story and worth the price of admission.

The Dark Knight Rises

First Hit:  A real waste of 164 minutes.

The beginning of an action thriller film needs to draw the audience in with intrigue.

This film starts off with lost mediocrity and because the beginning is not set well, the rest of the film fails. Not that there aren’t fun, interesting, and exciting moments, but the slowness and overly complex development of a unexceptional plot was wasteful of my time.

Christian Bale (as Bruce Wayne/Batman) looked bored and grateful that this will be the last time he has to pretend he’s the king of Gotham’s crime fighters. That the film hinted that Joseph Gordon-Levitt (as Blake) will become “Robin” in some future encounter was unfortunate. What worked? Anne Hathaway worked.

She played the petty thief Selina and every time she was on the screen, you watched her. She brought humor, intrigue, and something different than the dull overly scripted film that continued to unfold. Michael Cain as Wayne’s manservant Alfred, made an attempt to bring drama and passion to this film, but it was seen as just that; attempting to bring drama to a dying film.

One of the worst ideas in characters was having the evil enemy Bane (played by Tom Hardy), talk through a device covering his mouth which made him sound silly, not menacing. I could go on and on about how unengaged this film was with telling a good story but I won't. 

Frankly, the film was a poor semi-showcase of visual effects and overly dramatic storylines which meant little because the set-up was so piss poor.

Bale, looked and acted bored with the role and film. Gordon-Levitt was reasonably good and brought energy to a dying film. Hathaway was engaging and delightful and the only reason to sit through the bloated story. Cain was wasted in this role although he did try to bring emotion to a heartless film. Hardy’s character was minimalized by the voicing device. There are a whole host of others who were part of this film that didn’t make it any better despite their wholehearted attempts. Jonathan and Christopher Nolan wrote a wasteful overly complex lifeless script. Christopher Nolan directed this and I’ve no idea of what he was trying to give the audience but it felt as though he didn’t care a whole lot.

Overall: Bloated, overly developed and stupidly complex – don’t bother.