Thursday, May 27, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Mercury

Film shorts

Adrenaline Rush: The Science of Risk

Not reviewed (NR, 38 min.) Marc Fafard's 2002 Imax movie examines the risks of skydiving and BASE jumping, and includes footage of an experimental jump using a pyramid-shaped parachute based on a 1485 design by Leonardo da Vinci. Filmed in the Mojave Desert, the Florida Keys and the fjords of Norway.--AA

Breakin' All the Rules

1 1/2 stars (PG-13, 85 min.) In Daniel Taplitz's flimsy romantic comedy, self-help guru Jamie Foxx inadvertently hooks up with cousin Morris Chestnut's gal (Gabrielle Union). The actors are blissfully indifferent, the film instantly forgettable. With Peter MacNicol.--AA

Ella Enchanted

2 stars (PG, 94 min.) Anne Hathaway enlists Minnie Driver to find fairy godmother Vivica A. Fox and falls for Prince Hugh Dancy. When it comes to fresh, fractured fairy tales, Tommy O'Haver's Cinderella spoof, based on Gail Carson Levine's novel, is a wannabe. With Cary Elwes.--TM

Envy

2 1/2 stars (PG-13, 99 min.) When Jack Black invents a spray that vaporizes dog poop, and gets rich, best friend/neighbor Ben Stiller seethes with jealousy. Despite its stars' genial chemistry, Barry Levinson's film never rises to the level of great comedy. With Christopher Walken, Rachel Weisz.--JC

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

4 1/2 stars (R, 107 min.) Jim Carrey learns he's been erased from ex-lover Kate Winslet's memory. From this simple idea, director Michel Gondry and screenwriter Charlie Kaufman forged a characteristically complex mix of romance, black humor and existential philosophizing. Given the scarcity of films this good, Jim's advice to Kate, knowing how their romance will end before it begins, seems apt: "Enjoy it." With Kirsten Dunst, Elijah Wood.--AA

Godsend

1 star (PG-13, 102 min.) In Nick Hamm's unscary horror flick, Greg Kinnear and Rebecca Romijn-Stamos have their dead 8-year-old (Cameron Bright) cloned by doctor Robert De Niro. A godforsaken, pyromaniac ax murderer B-movie.--AA

Haunted Castle

Not reviewed (PG, 38 min.) Aspiring rock star Jasper Steverlinck visits dead mom's spooky English mansion and learns that rock 'n' roll really is the devil's music, in this 2001 3-D Imax horror flick from Belgian director Ben Stassen.--AA

Hidalgo

1 1/2 stars (PG-13, 136 min.) Joe Johnston's plodding, Middle Eastern horse race saga is jingoistic twaddle. Why are we surprised that Muslim fanatics want to destroy Western civilization? With Viggo Mortensen, Omar Sharif.--AA

I'm Not Scared

4 stars (R, 108 min.) [Io non ho paura] Gabriele Salvatores' beautiful film develops through the eyes of serious 10-year-old Giuseppe Cristiano, who discovers a dark, gaping hole. This chilling fairy tale begins as a touching, coming-of-age drama, shifts into mystery/horror, then rights itself as an unusual thriller. A thoughtful description of a specific childhood moment, when our awareness of a complex, adult world makes us know nothing will ever be the same. (Italian dialogue, English subtitles.)--JC

Johnson Family Vacation

1/2 star (PG-13, 97 min.) Cedric the Entertainer, Vanessa Williams and kids (Bow Wow, Solange Knowles, Gabby Soleil) drive across country. Christopher Erskin's debut is a flimsy pretext for a bunch of unfunny setpieces.--AA

Kill Bill Vol. 2

4 stars (R, 136 min.) Quentin Tarantino triumphantly returns. Vol. 1 was the perfect ferocious prologue for this quiet study of love (man/woman, mother/child, warriors/leader). Amid the waxing philosophical, the Bride (Uma Thurman) continues her quest to kill the murderers of her wedding party (Michael Madsen, Daryl Hannah) and mastermind (mesmerizing David Carradine).--TM

Laws of Attraction

1 1/2 stars (PG-13, 90 min.) Peter Howitt's threadbare romantic comedy has Julianne Moore as a divorce attorney desperately in need of a good briefing, and Pierce Brosnan as the rakish rival happy to oblige. For no apparent reason, other than to drag the cast of Waking Ned Devine from retirement, the couple heads for Ireland. With Frances Fisher, Parker Posey.--JC

Man on Fire

1 1/2 stars (R, 146 min.) Dakota Fanning's bodyguard Denzel Washington unleashes bloody vengeance when she's abducted. Tony Scott's directorial affectations (slow-mo, handheld camerawork, elliptical editing) render his Mexican kidnapping drama unwatchable, overwhelming everything in this dismal remake. With Mickey Rourke, Christopher Walken.--AA

Mean Girls

3 stars (PG-13, 97 min.) In Mark Waters' high school satire, 16-year-old Lindsay Lohan seeks to destroy the power of glam girl clique, the Plastics (Rachel McAdams, Lacey Chabert, Amanda Seyfried). Tina Fey's adaptation of Rosalind Wiseman's book Queen Bees and Wannabes feels like a formula retread of Heathers. But being derivative doesn't mean it isn't entertaining. With Tim Meadows.--AA

NASCAR: The Imax Experience

2 1/2 stars (PG, 48 min.) Simon Wincer's flagrant promo flick is expensive entertainment that requires tiresome 3D glasses to watch. But it delivers some of the visceral, ear-shattering excitement of race day. Narrated by Kiefer Sutherland.--AA

New York Minute

2 stars (PG, 91 min.) While Ashley Olsen delivers a speech, twin sister Mary-Kate tangles with truant officer Eugene Levy. Then the twins get kidnapped by a goon who's after a valuable microchip. Director Dennie Gordon has a crude way with physical comedy, but the storyline charms. Junk filmmaking, but not so horrible.--ADV

Ocean Wonderland 3D

Not reviewed (NR, 44 min.) Filmed in the Bahamas and Australia, this Imax doc features rays, sharks, dolphins and other marine life in glorious 3D.--AA

The Passion of the Christ

2 1/2 stars (R, 127 min.) Mel Gibson's gory crucifixion drama, with blood-spattered Jim Caviezel, isn't apt to inspire; it must merely be endured. With the inevitable accusations of anti-Semitism, Mel must have known he was asking for trouble, and priceless publicity. His pedestrian style only exacerbates the agony. With Mattia Sbraglia (Caiaphas), Hristo Naumov Shopov (Pilate), Maia Morgenstern (Mary), Monica Bellucci (Magdalene). (Aramaic and Latin dialogue, with subtitles.)--AA

The Punisher

1 star (R, 123 min.) Vigilante Thomas Jane unleashes vengeance against gangster John Travolta for killing his family. Apart from slick stunts, Jonathan Hensleigh's remake has zero merit. With Laura Harring, Rebecca Romijn-Stamos, Roy Scheider.--AA

Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed

2 stars (PG, 85 min.) Fred (Freddie Prinze, Jr.), Daphne (Sarah Michelle Gellar), Velma (Linda Cardellini), Shaggy (Matthew Lillard) and Scooby (Neil Fanning) chase a mastermind monster maker. Raja Gosnell's sequel to his 2002 cartoon spinoff is endearingly goofy.--TM

Shrek 2

3 1/2 stars (PG, 105 min.) The sequel barrels along, with Shrek and Fiona (Mike Myers and Cameron Diaz) companionably passing gas on honeymoon, before returning home to Donkey (Eddie Murphy) and an invitation to visit Fiona's parents (John Cleese, Julie Andrews). A maniacal stew of pop culture, mythology, and fairytale characters that's lively, entertaining and occasionally quite funny. With inspired Fairy Godmother Jennifer Saunders and show-stealer Antonio Banderas as Puss-in-Boots.--JC

Super Size Me

3 1/2 stars (NR, 96 min.) Nobody is shocked to discover that fast food's potent mix of fat, sugar, and carbohydrates can be bad for you. But for his exposé, in the tradition of Michael Moore's anti-corporate crusades, Morgan Spurlock decided to eat nothing but McDonald's for 30 days. He also investigates childhood brainwashing (Happy Meals, Ronald McDonald, in-house playrooms) and school lunch programs packed with empty calories. Spurlock fails to address the underlying issues of race and poverty, and the fact that affordability is a consideration. For many Americans, a lifetime of conditioning and convenience may have effectively erased all other options.--JC

13 Going on 30

1 1/2 stars (PG-13, 98 min.) Teenager Christa B. Allen wakes in the body of her older, magazine-editor self (Jennifer Garner). Gary Winick's predictable, retro romance has an insidious moral: a woman's place is firmly in the home. A movie liable to make smart, sassy 13-year-olds get pierced, tattooed and deflowered quick. With Kathy Baker, Judy Greer, Mark Ruffalo.--AA

Troy

3 stars (R, 163 min.) Brad Pitt buffed himself to superhero proportions to play warrior Achilles, though he was born to play cowardly seducer Paris (Orlando Bloom), who abducts Helen (Diane Kruger) from husband Menelaus (Brendan Gleeson) and hides behind big brother Hector (Eric Bana). Director Wolfgang Petersen and writer David Benioff fashioned an authentic Greek (rather than Hollywood) hero. But Pitt isn't enough to support a production drowning in $200 million worth of stone, metal and poorly integrated digital sequences. A valiant but ultimately doomed affair, as hollow as the Trojan horse itself. With Brian Cox (Agamemnon), Peter O'Toole (King Priam).--JC

Van Helsing

1/2 star (PG-13, 131 min.) Stephen Sommers' witless attempt to blend Dracula, Frankenstein and The Wolf Man with unconvincing CGI effects is a pop-culture stew of brain-numbing blandness. 007-style vampire hunter Hugh Jackman hooks up with Kate Beckinsale to fight Dracula (Richard Roxburgh) and Kate's lupine brother (Will Kemp). One incoherent, high-decibel setpiece after another.--AA

Walking Tall

1 star (PG-13, 85 min.) The Rock (Dwayne Johnson) again pretends to act in Kevin Bray's remake of the 1973 revenge fantasy. Fabulously inept filmmaking. So little talent, so many clichés.--JC

Young Adam

4 stars (NC-17, 93 min.) Sex and death are inextricably linked in David Mackenzie's Scottish noir, based on Andrew Trocchi's novel, in which sociopathic drifter Ewan McGregor seduces Tilda Swinton, wife of coal barge operator Peter Mullan. Murder, mystery, and courtroom drama set against an authentic 1950s landscape of drizzly waterways and dank city streets. A rare movie that uses sex to reveal personality. There's no joy, except the pleasure of watching.--JC

Reviews by: AA: Anthony Allison; ADV: Anthony Del Valle; JC: Jeannette Catsoulis; MP: Mike Prevatt; TM: Tammy McMahan