"HOT FUZZ" (2007) Review
I have never never seen "SHAUN OF THE DEAD". Nor have I ever seen "SPACED", the TV series that had first made British comics Simon Pegg and Nick Frost well known. And if I must be honest, I never really had any intention of seeing "HOT FUZZ" when it first hit the theaters back in 2007. Until I saw the trailers for the movie on television. Thank God I had changed my mind.
"HOT FUZZ" tells the story of New Scotland Yard police constable, Nicholas Angel (Simon Pegg), whose uber-dedication to law and order, spotless arrest record (400% superior to his colleagues), and no-nonsense personality drives his superiors (which include Bill Nighy and Steve Coogan) to promote him to sergeant . . . and reassign him to the supposedly crime-free village of Sanford. Feeling like a fish out of water, Sergeant Angel struggles to adjust to rural crime fighting (like arresting under-aged drinkers and a drunken future partner; and searching for a missing pet swan) and the slightly offbeat citizens of Sanford - especially his new partner, the affable Constable Danny Butterman (Nick Frost). What starts out as a mind-numbing experience for Angel, becomes intriguing when Sanford is rocked (well, as far as the intrepid police sergeant is concerned) by a series of grisly accidents. Angel eventually uncover the truth behind the so-called accidents. With the help of the eager Butterman (who happens to be an action movie fan) and the seemingly inept Sanford Police, Angel brings the . . . uh, guilty party to justice in a blaze of action-style gunplay.
Not only is "HOT FUZZ" one of the funniest movies I have seen in years, the screenwriters (director Edgar Wright and star Pegg) had created an array of eccentric and memorable characters that include Oscar winner Jim Broadbent (who plays Danny's equally affable chief of police dad, Frank Butterman), Billie Whitelaw ("THE OMEN" fame) and BAFTA nominee Anne Reid ("THE MOTHER"). Also portraying some of the villagers are a collection of British talent from famous action-adventure sagas - Timothy Dalton (the 4th James Bond), Edward Woodward ("THE EQUALIZER"), Paul Freeman ("RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK"), David Threlfall ("PATRIOT GAMES") and Stuart Wilson ("LETHAL WEAPON 3"). Even Pegg has appeared as an IMF computer tech and agent in the last two "MISSION IMPOSSIBLE" movies. And they are all hilarious . . . especially Dalton's smarmy supermarket owner, who reminds me of a stock villain straight out of "THE PERILS OF PAULINE".
I must admit that I truly enjoyed watching Nick Frost's Danny get under Angel's skin. Not only was he extremely funny - and witty, but he was also so charming that it was easy how he managed to break down Angel's chilly exterior and befriend the London cop. And his penchant for American action films has endeared me to his character more than ever. I suffer from the same penchant.
But the real revelation - at least for me - turned out to be Sergeant Nicholas Angel, portrayed with such humorless zeal by star, Simon Pegg. Straight arrow types usually turn out to be the hero or anti-hero's long-suffering superior or rival in many action films. And it is usually the screw-up or anti-social characters who turn out to be the main character that end up being transferred away from the action. But in "HOT FUZZ", Angel's zealous competence causes him to lose his girlfriend (Cate Blanchett in a cameo), but earn the antipathy of his Scotland Yard colleagues (who are eager to get rid of him). I cannot explain it, but is something about Angel that I found very appealing and funny. I guess I simply found him fascinating. In real life, this guy would have seriously annoyed me. But thanks to great writing and Pegg's tight performance, I found myself rooting for him. The ironic thing about Nick Angel is that he will eventually discover that his nemesis is just as anal as he. Danny Butterman turns out to be the best thing that ever happened to him.
Some critics had complained that "HOT FUZZ" seemed to long for a comedy with a running time of 121 minutes. Considering that the movie was a send-up of action movies, which usually ran at two hours, I saw nothing wrong with the movie's length. To be honest, I was too busy laughing to notice. I have to say that without a doubt, "HOT FUZZ" is one of the funniest movies I have seen since . . . one of Danny Butterman's favorite movies, "BAD BOYS 2" and "STARSKY AND HUTCH" (both released in 2003). It has become increasingly difficult to find a comedy that is smart and filled with rich characterization. "HOT FUZZ" can also boast some memorable scenes that I will never forget:
-Sergeant Angel's New Scotland Yard superiors giving him the news about his reassignment
-Angel's first night in Sanford (which includes arresting his future partner)
-David Threlfall and Lucy Punch's hilarious take on "ROMEO AND JULIET"
-Police Constable Doris Thatcher's witty repartee after dealing with one of Simon Skinner's employees
-Danny Butterman's send up on a scene from "POINT BREAK"
-Angel and Skinner's crazy hand-to-hand fight in the middle of a small-scale model of Sanford.
"HOT FUZZ" became one of my favorite movies from 2007. It is a hilariously rich and sharp tale about murder, conspiracy and a great friendship. Thank you Simon Pegg, Nick Frost and Edgar Wright for a wonderful film.
"MEN IN BLACK: INTERNATIONAL" (2019) ReviewLast year, Sony Pictures had announced its intentions to add a fourth entry to the MEN IN BLACK" movie franchise. I have to be honest. I did not receive the news with any real enthusiasm. And my feelings had failed to change when I learned the identities of the movie's two main stars."MEN IN BLACK: INTERNATIONAL" only shared a few similarities to the franchise's past three films. One of the co-stars proved to be Emma Thompson, who had returned for her second appearance in the franchise as Q, the MIB agency's director. The agency's Manhattan office also appeared in the film. And the MIB agents were up against another deadly alien trying to conquer Earth. Otherwise, there were major differences in this fourth film. Instead of Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones, "MEN IN BLACK: INTERNATIONAL" starred Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson, who had been co-stars in the 2017 Marvel film, "THOR: RAGNAROK". Most of the "MEN IN BLACK: INTERNATIONAL" locations were set outside of the U.S. in London, Marrakesh, Naples and Paris. The last difference featured the circumstances surrounding the recruitment of Tessa Thompson's character into the agency. Unlike Will Smith's Agent J, Thompson's character had become aware of the Men in Black agency years before she joined it. The biggest difference between this film and the previous three movies involved a potential threat within the internal affairs of the Men in Black.In 1996 Brooklyn, a young girl named Molly Wright witnesses her parents being neuralysed by Men in Black agents, while she helps an alien escape. Twenty years later, Agents H and High T of the MiB London office travel to Paris to stop an invasion of the Hive – a parasitic race who invade planets by merging with the DNA of the conquered species – at the Eiffel Tower using a wormhole included in the original migration to Earth. After being rejected from the F.B.I. and the C.I.A., due to her "delusions" regarding alien life, Molly tracks down an alien landing and follows MiB agents to their New York City headquarters. Caught entering the agency, Molly makes an impression on the agency's director, Agent O and becomes probationary agent status as "Agent M". She is eventually assigned to the London branch.Agent M's new supervisor is High T, who has become head of the London office. The latter assigns her to become Agent H's new partner, who has developed a God complex, unconcerned with his duties and only keeping his job due to High T covering for him. Both M and H are assigned to guard a royal alien named Vungus the Ugly, during the latter's visit to Earth. A pair of alien twins manage to fatally injure Vungus. The latter gives M a strange crystal before he dies. And the agents of the London office realizes that a MiB agent may have betrayed Vungus to the alien assassins. Due to his lackadaisical behavior, H has become the main suspect. However, this does not last long and M eventually becomes tagged as the agency's traitor. M and H take matters into their hands and decide to conduct their own investigation - an act that leads them to become fugitives from the Men in Black agency.Following the release of "MEN IN BLACK: INTERNATIONAL", many critics and fans of the franchise had rained criticism and scorn upon it. Needless to say, the movie proved to be a box office failure, despite making a small profit. It is considered to be the worst film in the franchise. While many blamed the movie's narrative; the majority of the film's negative press seemed to stem from the fact that the movie had not been directed by Barry Sonnenfeld, who was responsible for the franchise's first three films. And there were a handful of disgruntled fans who seemed to resent the presence of Tessa Thompson as one of the film's leads, due to her gender.How do I feel about all of this? I do have a few problems with "MEN IN BLACK: INTERNATIONAL". One, this movie is not funny. What I meant is . . . it lacked the twisted and sardonic humor of Barry Sonnenfeld. If I have to be more specific, the film's humor barely generated any real laughs from me. I merely found myself feeling amused by some of the more comic moments. My second problem with "MEN IN BLACK: INTERNATIONAL" was Agent H's fate near the end of the movie. I did not like it. Considering his age and recent mental condition, I thought he was unnecessarily rewarded for his actions in stopping the main villain. My final problem with the film is basically minor. "MEN IN BLACK: INTERNATIONAL" featured the character of Agent O from the 2012 film, "MEN IN BLACK 3". To me, this was an indication that "MEN IN BLACK: INTERNATIONAL" was a continuation of the previous three films. If so, I thought screenwriters Art Marcum and Matt Holloway could have hinted on the fates of Agents J and K from the first three movies. What happened to them?Despite my complaints about the film, I did not dislike "MEN IN BLACK: INTERNATIONAL". In fact, I enjoyed it very much. And this was due to certain aspects of the film. One, I found some of the movie's special effects rather impressive, thanks to the visual effects team, Stuart Dryburgh's cinematography and Thomas Brown's art direction team. I was especially impressed by those scenes featuring Vungus' death in London, H, M and Pawny's escape from Marrakesh and especially their final showdown against the Big Bad at the Eiffel Tower in Paris.Another aspect of "MEN IN BLACK: INTERNATIONAL" that I enjoyed was its cast. Personally, I thought it was first-rate. The movie benefitted from a solid supporting cast that included Laurent and Larry Nicolas Bourgeois (aka Les Twins), who did an excellent job of conveying the silent, yet physical menace of the shape-shifting aliens known as "the Twins"; Tim Blaney, who returned to voice Frank the Pug; Kayvan Novak, who voiced the royal alien Vungus the Ugly; and Spencer Wilding. I found Rafe Spall's portrayal of Agent C of the UK branch rather sardonic, yet entertaining. Emma Thompson was excellent as usual as the Men in Black director, Agent O. Rebecca Ferguson gave an eccentric, yet funny performance as an alien intergalactic arms dealer and H's ex-girlfriend Riza Stavros. Liam Neeson's portrayal of High T, the head of the MIB UK branch, struck as equally off-beat and funny. And I felt that Kumail Nanjiani gave the best voice performance of all as Pawny, the small alien warrior that Agents M and H befriend.And of course, we have the movie's two leads - Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson. Many crtics had been impressed by their screen dynamic in the Marvel film, "THOR: RAGNAROK". This led the producers of this film to cast them together as Agents H and M. And they did not fail. Thompson did a wonderful job as the uber observant and clever Molly Wright, who becomes the agency's newest recruit, Agent M. Hemsworth did an equally fantastic job in portraying Agent H, one of the agency's best agents who seemed to be suffering from some kind of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), following his and Agent High T's defeat of the Hive, three years earlier. Not only did the two leads gave great performances, they also proved that their on-screen dynamic had not dimmed one bit. If I must be brutally honest, I was more impressed by their screen chemistry in this film than I was in "THOR: RAGNAROK".I realize that many people may not agree with me on this next topic. But if there is one thing that truly impressed me about "MEN IN BLACK: INTERNATIONAL", it was the screenplay written by Art Marcum and Matt Holloway. I found it very original for a movie from the MEN IN BLACK movie franchise. The previous three movies usually introduced the Big Bad either in the opening scene or not long after the opening. I cannot say the same for this film. Both Marcum and Holloway had not only created a mystery surrounding the Big Bad, they also included a possible traitor or mole within the Men in Black agency that might be assisting the main villain. Now this might be normal in a MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE movie or some other spy thriller. But in a MEN IN BLACK film? For the first time, this franchise had created a combination of a science-fiction movie and an espionage flick. It is a pity that many critics and film goers could not appreciate this. Perhaps it would have been easier if the film had followed the franchise's usual formula.In the end, I realized that I would not waste my time lamenting on the box office failure of "MEN IN BLACK: INTERNATIONAL". It was not the first box office bomb that I ended up enjoying. And I doubt that it will be the last. Although I found the film's humor rather lukewarm - worthy more of a small chuckle instead of a belly laugh - I cannot deny that I truly enjoyed the film's narrative, along with the exciting action sequences and the talented cast led by Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson, thanks to director F. Gary Gray. Many others may have been disappointed by this film. But I was not.
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Post-Script - I recently viewed the movie on DVD. I enjoyed it even more than I did the first time I saw it. And I realized it was funnier than I had originally believed.
"JURASSIC WORLD: FALLEN KINGDOM" (2018) Review
Following the release of "JURASSIC PARK III" in 2001, I had figured that was it for the JURASSIC PARK movie franchise. Boy, was I proven wrong. Fourteen years after the release of that third film, Universal Pictures and producer Frank Marshall presented a fourth movie for the franchise, "JURASSIC WORLD" in 2015, that proved to be a major hit. Following the success of that film, it was only natural that a fifth movie would be made.
Set three years after the events of the 2015 movie, "JURASSIC WORLD: FALLEN KINGDOM" began with the United States Senate debating over whether to save the dinosaurs on Isla Nublar from an impending volcanic eruption from the island's volcano Mt. Sibo. Mathematician Dr. Ian Malcolm testifies that the dinosaurs should be allowed to die in order to correct John Hammond's mistake of cloning them. Meanwhile, Jurassic World's former operations manager, Claire Dearing, has established the Dinosaur Protection Group to save the animals. When the Senate decides not to rescue the dinosaurs, Hammond's former partner, Benjamin Lockwood, summons Claire to his Northern California estate, where he and his aide Eli Mills reveal a plan to relocate the dinosaurs to a new island sanctuary. They need Claire to help reactivate the park's dinosaur tracking system in order to locate the animals - especially Blue, the last surviving Velociraptor. Despite being estranged from him, Claire recruits Jurassic World's former Velociraptor trainer and Blue's alpha, Owen Grady, to help capture her. Accompanying them would be the park's former technician Franklin Webb and paleo-veterinarian Zia Rodriguez.
Upon their arrival on Isla Nublar at the now defunct Jurassic World amusement part, Claire and Franklin work to reactivate the park's online tracking system. Meanwhile, Owe, Zia and a mercenary team led by Ken Wheatley search for Blue. When they find the velociraptor, one of Wheatley's men shoots Blue and Wheatley tranquilizes Owen. The mercenaries take Zia with them to treat Blue's injury. The mercenary ship, loaded with the captured dinosaurs, departs for the U.S. mainland, while the dinosaurs left behind die in the eruption. Meanwhile; Claire, Franklin, and Owen manage to escape the dying island and sneak aboard in time and assist Zia in transfusing Blue with Tyrannosaurus blood. The group now realizes that the captured dinosaurs were never being transported to a new island and have been captured for another purpose. And the latter has to do with a financial scheme being involving Eli Mills and Dr. Henry Wu, behind Lockwood's back.
Despite earning over a billion dollars at the box office, "JURASSIC WORLD: FALLEN KINGDOM" received very little positive reviews upon its release. In fact, it is regarded by some as a failure. Many critics and some film goers certainly regard it as inferior to the 2015 movie. How do I feel about "JURASSIC WORLD: FALLEN KINGDOM"? I had a few problems with it. Well . . . to be perfectly honest, I had two major problems with it. My first problem centered around Benjamin Lockwood's estate serving as the setting for the film's second half. I found this rather limiting and claustrophobic. And I found myself wondering if the film's budget was responsible for this decision to limit the setting to a California country estate. The longer the film remained on that estate - especially inside that house - the more I became frustrated.
And I have a second complaint about "JURASSIC WORLD: FALLEN KINGDOM" - namely the fate of Benjamin Lockwood's granddaughter, Maisie. Why did Owen Grady and Claire Dearing end up as her guardians at the end of the movie? What happened to Maisie's nanny, Iris, who had been with the family for years? I do not recall her being killed by a dinosaur. So what happened to her? Why did she not take care of Maisie, following the death of the latter's grandfather?
Despite my complaints, I enjoyed "JURASSIC WORLD: FALLEN KINGDOM". In fact, I enjoyed it very much. Derek Connolly and Colin Trevorrow created a first-rate tale filled with tension, drama and especially comedy. I remember when the film first hit the theaters, many had complained about the movie's finale. They found it . . . illogical. Messy. I still find this complaint rather hard to swallow. The premise behind the JURASSIC PARKfranchise can be considered illogical. Frankly, considering what happened in a period of twenty-five years and five movies, I thought it was only a matter of time that the franchise would reach this point. It almost did in 1997's "JURASSIC PARK: THE LOST WORLD". However, this film took it a step further with the release of several dinosaurs into the modern world. It was bound to happen. InGen and John Hammond had opened Pandora's Box a quarter of a century ago with the creation of dinosaurs, thousands of years after they naturally went extinct. I would almost equate the creations of these animals with that of nuclear energy and weaponry. Considering the occasional misuse and mishandling of nuclear energy throughout the years, I found it appropriate that a more disastrous scenario would finally befall in the JURASSIC PARK franchise than what happened in the previous films.
"JURASSIC WORLD: FALLEN KINGDOM" is also a popcorn summer film that depends upon a great deal of action. And it had its share of some first-rate action sequences. If I must be great, I enjoyed most of the action in the film's first half. I especially enjoyed the sequence featuring the natural destruction of Isla Nublar and Owen Grady, Claire Dearing and Franklin Webb's efforts to escape from the island after being abandoned by Ken Wheatley's team. For me, it was a breathtaking sequence as the trio raced to reach the boat conveying Wheatley's team and Zia Rodriguez (kidnapped and forced to treat the wounded Blue) to the United States. But there was an action sequence in the film's last hour that also impressed me. It featured the protagonists being hunted throughout the Lockwood mansion by Dr. Henry Wu's latest creation, the Indoraptor, a creation from the DNA of Indominus rex from the last film and Velociraptor - namely Blue. For me, those two sequences featured the best of some pretty damn good action scenes throughout the film.
The movie did not feature as many breathtaking visual scenes as "JURASSIC WORLD". But there were a few that caught my eye, including scenes of those dinosaurs roaming the Earth:
But the one scene that produced a knot in my throat featured that last shot of Isla Nublar . . . and the death of the very brachiosaurus that Dr. Alan Grant first saw in 1993's "JURASSIC PARK". Director J.A. Bayona, cinematographer Óscar Faura and the visual effects team really knocked it out of the ballpark by capturing both the grandeur and the pathos of the scene:
If there is one thing I can guarantee from a JURASSIC PARK/WORLD movie, it is a first-rate cast featuring excellent performances. Jeff Goldblum returned to give a short, yet solid performance as Dr. Malcolm Campbell, one of the original visitors to Isla Nublar. "JURASSIC WORLD: FALLEN KINGDOM" featured the acting debut of Isabella Sermon, who gave an excellent performance as the young Maisie Lockwood. Trust this franchise to always hire naturally talented child actors. Ted Levine's performance as mercenary Ken Wheatley struck me as a gleeful portrayal of toxic masculinity. B.D. Wong's return as Dr. Henry Wu was somewhat briefer than it was in the 2015 movie. Yet, once again, the actor conveyed the convoluted egoism of Dr. Wu with great skill. I hope he will have a bigger role in the next film.
Toby Jones gave an entertaining, yet slightly theatrical performance as the weasely auctioneer hired by Eli Mills to help sell those dinosaurs taken from Isla Nublar to potential buyers. James Cromwell struck me as emotional, yet dignified as Hammond's former partner, Benjamin Lockwood. Geraldine Chaplin gave a skillful performance as the Lockwoods' reliable employee Iris. Daniella Pineda was brash and entertaining as the sharp-tongued Dr. Zia Rodriguez. Justice Smith proved to be equally entertaining and quite hilarious as anxiety-ridden systems analyst Franklin Webb. Rafe Spall skillfully portrayed one of the most subtle and corrupt villains in the franchise, Eli Morrow.
Chris Pratt returned as former Navy SEAL-turned-dinosaur trainer Owen Grady. I realized that many might not agree, but I enjoyed Pratt's first-rate portrayal of the no-nonsense Grady more than I did in the 2015 movie. I thought Pratt's performance was more subtle and best of all, his Grady seemed to have dropped that sanctimonious I had found slightly irritating in the previous film. Bryce Dallas Howard managed to skillfully take her character, former operations manager of Jurassic World, to the next level. In "JURASSIC WORLD: FALLEN KINGDOM", Claire's previous encounters with the dinosaurs had led her to develop an appreciation of them as sentient beings. This new Claire is a passionate animal rights activist who has dropped her arrogant disregard of the park's inhabitants. It is possible that this new passion may have slightly affected her common sense, especially during the film's last 10-15 minutes. But thanks to Howard's excellent performance, she managed to convey a sense of plausibility in the slight changes in Claire's personality.
As I had earlier pointed out, the critics did not like "JURASSIC WORLD: FALLEN KINGDOM". In fact, some moviegoers had expressed dismay at the film's ending. I had at least two quibbles with the movie. But if I must be frank, I enjoyed it very much. More importantly, I found its ending very believable for a science-fiction tale. For once, the franchise was willing to face a consequence that its previous films managed to elude so far. The movie featured first-rate direction by J.A. Bayona; a well-written screenplay by Derek Connolly and Colin Trevorrow; and an excellent cast led by Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard. Good work guys!
