Review – Page 3 – David Raitt

Film Review – Elysium

While spaceships and gadgets are sometimes pure fun, the best science fiction also explores ideas, examining the present human condition through the metaphor of future worlds. Elysium starts along this path well, but then abandons its ideas for a brute-force ending that leaves it drowning in missed potential.

Read the rest of my review at Oakville.com – click the title link.

Film Review – 2 Guns

More action-buddy movie than neo-noir, 2 Guns follows a classic formula: trigger-happy good guys on the run from trigger-happier bad guys, and everybody chasing the money. That description could apply to any number of movies, and that’s really the problem with this one – there’s nothing outstanding causing it to rise above.

Read the rest of my review at Oakville.com – click the title link.

Film Review – The Wolverine

Comic Book Movies are about big, flashy displays of super power and loud, thunderous battles, with the fate of the world at stake. Or are they? The Wolverine superbly bucks this trend by giving us a smaller, more personal take on comics action. In fact, it’s only at the end, when it tries to become a full-fledged Comic Book Movie, that it impales itself on its adamantium claws.

Read the rest of my review at Oakville.com – click the title link.

Film Review – Pacific Rim

I may be speaking mostly for the boys here, but what kid (or kid at heart) doesn’t love a giant robot? Especially one you could climb inside and control, and big enough to let you use a cargo ship as a club to bash an equally gigantic alien monster? If that’s your fantasy, Pacific Rim gives it to you, and maybe a little extra, too.

Read the rest of my review at Oakville.com – click the title link.

Film Review – Despicable Me 2

2010′s Despicable Me was a humourous, heart-warming, and original sleeper hit about James Bond-type supervillains battling each other, more for reputation than world domination, and one such villain who gives it all up to savour the joys of fatherhood. Despicable Me 2 is only occasionally funny, and shares none of the other qualities of the first. Kids may enjoy it, but otherwise it feels like the sort of soulless, quickie sequel that animation houses often churn out on DVD.

Read the rest of my review at Oakville.com – click the title link.

Film Review – The Lone Ranger

Though they fall in an out of fashion with the public, Hollywood still loves a good Western. And as the studios continue to mine yesterday’s pop culture heroes for new action franchises, The Lone Ranger must have seemed like a safe bet, especially with Johnny Depp starring as the masked Ranger’s companion, Tonto. But, as Tonto himself says here, anachronistically: “Not so much.”

Read the rest of my review at Oakville.com – click the title link.

Film Review – Monsters University

Pixar’s 2001 Monsters Inc. remains my favourite film to come out of the celebrated animation studio, not only for its brilliant premise, but for the fact that it seemed to be a wonderfully realized one-off story, immune to disappointing sequels. It’s pleasantly surprising, therefore, that Monsters University is a fun film – still not on par with the original, or even other Pixar greats, but better than average.

Read the rest of my review at Oakville.com – click the title link.

Film Review – Man of Steel

Back in 1978, Superman became the first major comic book hero to receive the big screen blockbuster treatment, long before such movies became Hollywood’s bread and butter. After a failed attempt to revive the original Superman franchise in 2006, the Last Son of Krypton has returned again for a proper reboot, courtesy of producer/co-writer Christopher Nolan (of the recent Batman trilogy) and director Zack Snyder (who has brought us other well-received comic book adaptations like 300 and Watchmen). With Man of Steel, they give us a very good retelling of Superman’s origin, though it falls short of full marks due to some unnecessary excesses.

Read the rest of my review at Oakville.com – click the title link.

Film Review – The Internship

Some movies get a bad rap merely by being misclassified. The Internship is billed as a raucous comedy, and the previous films of its stars Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson probably reinforce that expectation. On that score, it’s already received some negative press and poor showing at the box office. But it’s really more of a feel-good story with some laughs thrown in, and on that score it’s a perfectly enjoyable little movie.

Read the rest of my review at Oakville.com – click the title link.

Film Review – Now You See Me

In a not-uncommon display of studio one-upmanship, two movies about high-profile stage magicians have premiered this Spring. The Incredible Burt Wonderstone was a flawed comedy. Now You See Me is a detective thriller, and by far a better movie, though it’s best you don’t try looking too far up its sleeve.

Read the rest of my review at Oakville.com – click the title link.