Pitch Perfect 2

In about ten years, I invite you to open up a dictionary and look up the term "obligatory sequel." Next to the definition, you'll see a picture of Pitch Perfect 2. It hits all the notes needed to function as a good follow-up to a successful movie - our favorite characters return (with a couple of new faces), they face internal and external conflict, and they manage to surprise everyone by overcoming the odds and seeing their task through because they're unstoppable as a group. This is basically Cheaper by the Dozen 2 all over again, except with the Barden Bellas instead of the Baker family. But let the record show that when I was younger, I thought Cheaper by the Dozen 2 was a perfectly good movie. 

Everybody loved Pitch Perfect. And what's not to love? Anna Kendrick dominates the screen, the songs are catchy, and Rebel Wilson was still funny and not just a once-funny name with an Australian accent. This sequel gave us more of Kendrick's Beca, returned Wilson to her glory, and brought plenty of laughs. Yet despite this, it never goes beyond the expectations anyone had for it. It does nothing new, which is a disappointment, seeing how original its predecessor was. 

To recap the plot, the Bellas are suspended by the national a cappella association after an onstage mishap causes Fat Amy to expose herself to the President Obama, causing their chapter to be suspended from performing, holding auditions, or defending their title at national competitions. Distraught, the Bellas are told their only chance of reinstatement is to win an international competition, where the competition is tighter than ever. Groups from the whole world have perfected their acts, but none pose a greater threat to the Bellas than German champs Das Sound Machine (who, IMO, aren't even that fantastic).

Through a loophole, the Bellas are able to welcome in eager recruit Emily (Hailee Steinfeld), a cheeky freshman and daughter of one of the Bellas' original members. Emily brings original music to the group, something that's highly frowned upon in the a cappella community. Meanwhile, Beca, who is still seeing boyfriend Jesse (without any drama this time, thank God), starts skipping out on Bella responsibilities when she takes an internship at a music production company, where she's pushed to challenge herself in a professional setting. Also, three-time super-senior Chloe (Brittany Snow) is forced to face reality of the grown-up world, while Fat Amy finally gives in to her undeniable connection with former Treblemaker Bumper. 

Pitch Perfect 2 is a good comedy film, with smart comedic timing and a confident presence from all cast members, especially Kendrick, Steinfeld, and John Michael Higgins as one of the a cappella commentators. Musically, it never delivers a number that outdoes anything in the original, which, again, is a disappointment. But let's not dismiss the obvious fact that Pitch Perfect 2 is the obligatory sequel, and while it doesn't outdo or improve on Pitch Perfect in any ways, it works, at the very least, as a way to see some of your favorite characters in recent years again. 

Rating: 3/5

Avengers: Age of Ultron

(MoviePilot)

Had I actually written this review when I first saw the movie in May, I would've started things off by saying that Avengers: Age of Ultron is 2015's best movie so far. Unfortunately for the superhero team (and for Marvel Studios), I saw The Gift in August, which I now see as the year's best so far. But with this weekend, awards season is officially off to a start, which means that The Gift probably won't stay on top for too long. But I digress.

Yes, for three and a half months, I considered Age of Ultron to be the best movie of the year. It's an astounding popcorn film that can create a fan of the superhero genre out of even the most cynical moviegoer who just can't seem to get behind the idea of watching men in capes and costumes for entertainment. But here, similar to The Dark Knight, you can enjoy the film for being a superhero movie, but also for being an impressively-made film about (super) humans grounded in a well-thought out story. And while the story (or the film itself) might not be as impressive or well-thought out as The Dark Knight, the sequel is a step above the first Avengers film on so many levels of filmmaking and storytelling. For example, I can personally guarantee you that zero amount of screentime is dedicated to seeing the characters repairing a jet engine. Oh, and Hawkeye isn't a villain for half the movie this time. Thanks, Joss Whedon!

The sequel pits the Avengers - Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Hulk, Scarlett Witch, and Hawkeye, - against Ultron. Initially designed by Stark and Banner to help humanity, the cybernetic artificially intelligent presence backfires and sees humanity as unredeemable. In an expected unexpected superhero movie turn, Ultron plots to destroy the world. Since Ultron (voiced by James Spader) is only a program, it needs some people doing its legwork for him. It seeks out two mutants - mind-controller Scarlett Witch (Elizabeth Olsen, Godzilla) and the super-fast Quicksilver (Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Kick-Ass 2) to fend off the Avengers while it devises a plan. Of course, the good guys stop Ultron and save the day, but despite a frequent reliance on superhero cliches, the movie makes up for it with everything new and inventive it will hopefully add to the future of the genre.

From the moment the film starts, writer-director Whedon shows us we're in good hands for the next two hours. Beginning with a rousing and explosive assault in the middle of a forrest and ending with an attempt to stop a city from being used as a makeshift asteroid, the movie lets up only at the times where moments of reflection and character development remind you why you're watching and why you should care. Oh yeah, and there's the Hulkbuster too. That's pretty awesome.

Age of Ultron has raised the stakes for the Marvel superhero film. No longer are we looking at these people on screen as pretty faces being paid millions of dollars to fly around for our appeasement. Instead, we see them as characters. We hear their history, we witness their loss, we endure their struggles alongside them - and because of this, the movie about people who punch things really hard and use mind control is astounding.

Rating: 4/5

Furious Seven

http://blogs-images.forbes.com/insertcoin/files/2015/04/furious-7.jpg

Never in a million years would I expect to see myself calling a Fast and Furious movie the best of its year so far. Yet, here we are. You could attribute this to the lack of good movies that have come out in these past three months, or you could attribute it to its unmatchable sense of fun. I choose both. For the record, this is my first Fast and Furious movie, and to be honest, it’s made me want to go out of my way to see more movies in the franchise.

Furious 7 pits a ruthless British criminal, Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham), against a team of professional street racers with experience forking for the government. The group consists of Dom (Vin Diesel), Brian (Paul Walker), Letty (Michelle Rodriguez), Roman (Tyrese Gibson), Tej (Ludacris), and Agent Hobbs (The Rock). Deckard wants to avenge the death of his brother following the events of the previous film, and teams up with Mose (Djimon Hounsou) to steal an incredibly powerful tracking program from a hacker (Nathalie Emmanuel). The good guys team up for one last ride to save their lives, their families, and put a stop to Shaw.

The movie knows how to let its viewers have fun in the theater, even though it sometimes crosses the fine line of ridiculous fun and unbelievably absurd impossibility. If you thought dropping a half dozen cars out of an airplane onto a windy mountain road in another continent, landing them, and then driving them along said mountain in an insane chase scene to the point where Paul Walker ends up climbing out of a bus as it is falling off a cliff, then running up that bus to grab onto Michelle Rodriguez’s bumper as she drifts along the edge of the cliff couldn’t be made into a prolonged, irrevocably entertaining, 20-minute action scene, the you’d be completely wrong.

Yet sometimes, these scenes aren’t as fun, entertaining, or feasible. Specifically, when Vin Diesel survives falling off both a cliff and a dilapidated parking garage through the power of love, when The Rock is blown out of a glass window by a grenade, falls four stories, and concaves a car unscathed, or when Jason Statham is slammed in the face by The Rock’s Texas-sized elbow and shakes it off like it was a tree branch, I found it a chore not to mutter “bull$#!t” under my breath.

Yet despite these moments of absurdity and a final chase scene that seemed to lose itself towards the end, Furious 7 is 2015’s best movie so far, and among the most fun movies I’ve seen in theaters in a long time. It’s emotional, action-packed, and contains enough context so that Fast and Furious first timers can enjoy themselves as well.

While Vin Diesel’s prediction that Furious 7 will win Best Picture at the Oscars is a bit bold, it doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t be supporting these kinds of movies. It’d be stupid to say there aren’t better action movies as this, because there definitely are, but when action movies work as well or better than Furious 7, they’re the shining examples of why we go to the movies in the first place. It has its imperfections, but Furious 7’s full-throttle levels of testosterone that seem to exude from the screen to the audience are enough reasons to go see the movie. The substance is what’s worth staying for.

Rating: 3.5/5

A quick side note: My radio show co-hosts both gave this a 4.5/5, and they’re fans of the series. So there’s a good chance that if you liked the previous Fast and Furious movies, you’ll love this

Unfriended

http://www.unfriendedmovie.com/img/gallery/01.jpg

Unfriended is the kind of horror film that gets your wondering if its absurdity is intentional or not. My question – does it matter? The movie is entertaining. Some will say it is ridiculous and stupid, others will say it has legitimately terrifying scenes. I saw a bit of both, and found myself at the edge of my seat with intense anticipation, as well as drawing attention of every moviegoer in the theater as I laughed along to some of the death scenes. Add that up, I’d be lying if I didn’t say I would recommend this movie to people.

In a highly original approach, Unfriended takes place almost entirely on the computer screen of high school student Blaire. On the anniversary of her classmate Laura’s suicide, she Skypes with her boyfriend Mitch and their four friends. The friends recount the events that caused Laura to take her own life, which all trace back to the backlash and bullying that resulted following an embarrassing video that went viral.

Blaire and her friends notice an unknown member in their group chat who they aren’t able to remove, report, or block. Soon, the glitch reveals itself to be the ghost of Laura, which no one seems to care about at first except for Blaire (who obnoxiously and incessantly texts her boyfriend out of fear). Laura’s spirit controls everyone’s computers, contacting the group through Skype, FaceBook, Google, and even their printers. Slowly, Laura taunts all the friends with threats to kill they if they sign off, and possesses their bodies and forces them to commit suicide as their friends watch helplessly from home. As the fear heightens, the strength of their friendship is tested as secrets of their relationship with Laura and the role they played in her death comes to be known.

Unfriended has scenes of genuine tension, with one shining examples being one where two of the friends receive threatening notes through their printers which leads up to the most shocking death in the film. However, some moments are, for a lack of a better work, stupid. One scene shows Blaire and her friends facing an immediate threat, to which Blaire responds by taking a five minute diversion from the horror to bring us a head-scratching Chatroulette scene. And then we have some funny scenes, which include Laura’s spirit posting a meme after killing one of the teens.

But let’s backtrack for a second. The whole concept of Unfriended is completely absurd. The idea of conveying an anti-cyberbullying message to a teen audience through a film that takes place entirely on a computer screen is great. That had me intrigued. But the ghost in the film is of a bullied girl who committed suicide. Why did she kill herself? A video emerged after she pooped her pants. Yes, a girl committed suicide because everyone laughed at her after she pooped herself. I just laughed to myself at this idea – not at the idea of a teenager being humiliated to the point of killing herself, but at the idea of a girl feeling like there was no other way…because she pooped her pants. These days, people kill themselves for being called slut, gay, or whore, and if people committed suicide for pooping their pants, no one would make it to the first grade alive. Having said that, this definitely added to the overall feel of the film, which was, again, absolutely ridiculous.

So while Unfriended isn’t the highest quality horror film, I did enjoy it for the most part. I basked in the stupidity and actually enjoyed and commend some of the more intense scenes, and I laughed more times than I ever have in a “horror” movie. So if you go in with this mindset, Unfriended is an achievement. But if you want to be genuinely scared, watch something else.

Rating: 3/5