Aylmer to Zazzoo and Beyond: Thriller

Showing posts with label Thriller. Show all posts

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Insidious Chapter 2 - Review

Insidious Chapter 2
(2013 - September 13)
Horror | Thriller
1 hr. 46 min.

Rated: PG-13 Intense sequences of terror and violence, and thematic elements.
Grade: B-

Director: James Wan
Writers: Leigh Whannell (screenplay, story and characters), James Wan (story)
Stars: Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne, Barbara Hershey | See full cast and crew

The famed horror team of director James Wan and writer Leigh Whannell reunite with the original cast of Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne, Lin Shaye, Barbara Hershey and Ty Simpkins in INSIDIOUS: CHAPTER 2, a terrifying sequel to the acclaimed horror film, which follows the haunted Lambert family as they seek to uncover the mysterious childhood secret that has left them dangerously connected to the spirit world.

Two years ago Insidious (2011) racked up a slew of positive reviews to the surprise of most everyone and on its way to a $13.3 million box office for its opening weekend. The film then showed staying power when it lasted an impressive five months in the theaters earning a total box office of $97 million world wide, pretty remarkable for a film produced on a skant $1.5 million budget! 2011’s Insidious absolutely earned its sequel and Insidious Chapter 2 jumps right in where the first film left off.

If you havent seen Insidious, I think you will find Insidious Chapter 2 a bit confusing or at best, somewhat hard to follow. It's been a couple of years and even though I liked Insidious I didn't remember the story all that well and consequently it took some work to remember what was going on with the family. Especially since we just recently saw Patrick Wilson in another James Wan film, The Conjering, (which is still in its first run at the theaters) and it can be easy to fuse the elements of the two films.) Perhaps it would be a good idea to rent Insidious and refresh your memory before you go to see Insidious Chapter 2.

As a primer I've included the trailers for both Insidious and Insidious Chapter 2

and a bonus scene from Insidious

Josh Lambert (Patrick Wilson) has just returned from 'The Further', the spirit world, with his astral projecting son, Dalton (Ty Simpkins), and the family believe that they no longer run the risk of losing another Lambert to the spirit world. The family has now temporarily relocated to grandma’s (Barbara Hershey) house, Josh’s mother, but almost immediately after they arrive the bumps in the night, the eerie baby monitor noises and shadowy figures start returning and it has become very apparent that Josh didn’t return from 'The Further' alone.

Insidious Chapter 2 opened very appropriately on Friday the 13th. All the stars from the first film are back for the sequel.

I don't think that this sequel is as quite as good as the original installment, part of that is due to the surprising twists of the first film that are no longer so much of a surprise in the sequel. Yes, it still has some goosebump raising moments, some very creepy scenes and some gotcha scares but the novel surprise elements from the first film have lost a little of their edge. Incidentally, Insidious 3 in on the way.

Director James Wan on the job at the haunted house.

Cast

Patrick Wilson Rose Byrne

Josh Lambert Renai Lambert

Ty Simpkins Barbara Hershey

Dalton Lambert Lorraine Lambert

Lin Shaye Steve Coulter

Elise Rainier Carl

Leigh Whannell Tom Fitzpatrick

Specs Bride in Black/Old Parker

Friday, September 6, 2013

Riddick - Review

Riddick
(2013 - September 6)
Action | Sci-Fi | Thriller
1 hr 59 min

Rated: R | Some sexual content and nudity with very vulgar sexual inuendos, strong language and graphic violence.
Grade: C+

Director: David Twohy
Writers: David Twohy, Jim Wheat (based on characters created by), 3 more credits »
Stars: Vin Diesel, Karl Urban, Katee Sackhoff | See full cast and crew

Riddick, the latest chapter of the groundbreaking saga that began with 2000's hit sci-fi film Pitch Black and 2004's The Chronicles of Riddick reunites writer/director David Twohy (A Perfect Getaway, The Fugitive) and star Vin Diesel (the Fast and Furious franchise, xXx). Diesel reprises his role as the antihero Riddick, a dangerous, escaped convict wanted by every bounty hunter in the known galaxy. The infamous Riddick has been left for dead on a sun-scorched planet that appears to be lifeless. Soon, however, he finds himself fighting for survival against alien predators more lethal than any human he's encountered. The only way off is for Riddick to activate an emergency beacon and alert mercenaries who rapidly descend to the planet in search of their bounty. The first ship to arrive carries a new breed of merc, more lethal and violent, while the second is captained by a man whose pursuit of Riddick is more personal. With time running out and a storm on the horizon that no one could survive, his hunters won't leave the planet without Riddick's head as their trophy. (c) Universal

After seeing the trailers for this film I went into the theater with very low expectations...I was surprised, pleasantly. For the genre, for what it is, I found myself drawn in by it. I liked it. Some of the CGI was very unimpressive, particularly some of the landscapes but overall pretty effective.

The audience was very much a Riddick fan base and seemed to be very much in to the movie. They appeared to be having a good time and were getting the insider references that were going over my head. Admittedly I am unfamiliar with the Riddick franchise, so I went to Wikipedia for some background:

Richard B. Riddick, more commonly known as Riddick, is a fictional character and the antihero of four films in the Riddick series (Pitch Black, The Chronicles of Riddick, the animated movie The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Fury and Riddick), as well as the two video games The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay and The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena. Actor Vin Diesel has played the title role in all of the Riddick-based films and video games so far.
Within the canon of the series, Riddick is shown to be a highly skilled predator - he is extremely mobile and stealthy, especially for someone of his size, has a vast knowledge of how to kill almost any humanoid in a variety of ways, is an extreme survivalist, and is notoriously hard to contain. He is also, self-admittedly, a dangerous convict and murderer - yet despite this, he is sometimes shown to perform moral or even atypically heroic actions, usually against his own better judgment and survivalist nature.

Riddick is a Furyan, a warrior race obliterated by a military campaign that left Furya desolate, and is one of the last of his kind. One of his most defining features are his eyes, a characteristic inherent in a certain caste of his species (The Alpha-Furyans), although he implies in Pitch Black that they were "shined" by a back-alley surgical operation. This allows him to see in the dark with no difficulty at all, but also renders his eyes incredibly sensitive to concentrated light, ergo he wears tinted welding goggles for protection.
Riddick was once a mercenary, then part of a security force, and later on a soldier. He is also an experienced pilot.

The Riddick saga has a fairly dedicated fan base. Listening to the comments of people at the theater it was surprising how many knowledgeable fans that were there for a midnight showing.

I liked Vin Diesel's performance, the supporting cast was also good for the genre, this isn't Shakespeare after all, we're not expecting classic performances but you want to watch the movie without the acting blatantly distracting from the experience, so that you can become immersed in the storytelling.

The one big disappointment was the language and gratuitous nudity, both completely unnecessary. The film could have been good entertainment for a much broader audience without these two distractions. The most egregious for me was the graphically vulgar sexual banter and quips, and of course, the only character, Luna, who shows any religious faith is belittled for it and is dismissively portrayed as weak, foolish and cowardly..."Hooray for Hollywood" and it's not so subliminal Godless agenda. Without these negatives I might have given Riddick a grade of B-. However, after seeing this third installment I just might in fact be interested in checking out the earlier films on DVD, although I never go as far as to play one of the video games.