Upcoming Movies: September 2012

[Note: I went to see "Premium Rush" but still don't have time to do a review.  Highly recommended!]

September 1

"Cosmopolis" (http://cosmopolisthefilm.com/en) - Riding across Manhattan in a stretch limo in order to get a haircut, a 28-year-old billionaire asset manager's day devolves into an odyssey with a cast of characters that start to tear his world apart.

September 7

"The Words" (http://www.thewordsmovie.com/) - A writer at the peak of his literary success discovers the steep price he must pay for stealing another man's work.

"The Cold Light of Day" (http://www.thecoldlightofday.com/) - After his family is kidnapped during their sailing trip in Spain, a young Wall Street trader is confronted by the people responsible: intelligence agents looking to recover a mysterious briefcase.

September 14

"Resident Evil: Retribution" (http://www.residentevil-movie.com/site/) - Alice fights alongside a resistance movement in the continuing battle against the Umbrella Corporation and the undead.

"Arbitrage" - A troubled hedge fund magnate desperate to complete the sale of his trading empire makes an error that forces him to turn to an unlikely person for help.

September 21

"Dredd" (http://dreddthemovie.com/) - In a violent, futuristic city where the police have the authority to act as judge, jury and executioner, a cop teams with a trainee to take down a gang that deals the reality-altering drug, slo-mo.

"End of Watch" - Two young officers are marked for death after confiscating a small cache of money and firearms from the members of a notorious cartel, during a routine traffic stop.

September 28

"Looper" (http://www.loopermovie.com/) - In 2072, when the mob wants to get rid of someone, the target is sent 30 years into the past, where a hired gun awaits. Someone like Joe, who one day learns the mob wants to 'close the loop' by transporting back Joe's future self.

"Hotel Transylvania" (http://www.welcometohotelt.com/) - Dracula, who operates a high-end resort away from the human world, goes into overprotective mode when a boy discovers the resort and falls for the count's teen-aged daughter.

See the full gallery on Posterous

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"The Bourne Legacy"

When the Bourne series premiered over a decade ago, it's groundbreaking and made Matt Damon a bona fide action star.  It's a gritty, grounded action film.  The actions were realistically audacious.  Instead of heavily stylized, longer range shots, the hand-to-hand combat seemed realistic and performed with bravado.  The "parkouring" into compact spaces looked cool. And the chases and crashes were spectacular.   At the same time, we're also engrossed in a human story.  We had a real hero, Jason Bourne, who's not a superhero or James Bond, one that we cared about and rooted for. 

Tony Gilroy, co-writer of the Bourne trilogy, takes the helm as director (replacing Paul Greengrass) this time with "The Bourne Legacy."  While Greengrass and Damon are out of the picture, 'Legacy' has some of the look and feel of a Bourne movie. 

"There was never just one."  Jeremy Renner ("The Avengers") is Aaron Cross a super agent of "Project Outcome."  The story runs parallel to the "Bourne Ultimatum," where the powers pulling the strings behind the scene (Edward Norton and Stacey Keach), are in panic mode due to the threat of being exposed to the public, courtesy of Jason Bourne. 

There are references to Operations Blackbriar and Project Treadstone from the trilogy.  The impact of Jason's actions reverberate throughout different government agencies.  It's severe enough that a decision is made to wipe out the programs as part of the cover-up, along with its super agents and the doctors who help create them.  One of the doctors survives the massacre, Dr. Marta Shearing (Rachel Weisz, "Runaway Jury").  Once Aaron and the good doctor realize that they have a deadly target on their back, they have no choice but go on the run together.  The story starts rather slow but once the first explosion and shooting rampage begin, it maintains its tense pace till the end. 

Acting-wise, Norton is good as always.  He does the best with the material he's given.  Weisz has a couple of intense scenes that stand out.  Whereas Jason Bourne is a more appealing character, I think it's also because he's a real human being.  Aaron Cross, while still human, is genetically-altered and chemically-dependent.  He depends on "chems" or super pills to survive.  The blue and green pills are part of the regiment to maintain the enhancements to his physical abilities and stamina, such as strength and agility, and mental capabilities, such as intelligence, sensory perceptions and pain suppression.  Damon may be the only Jason Bourne, but Renner is a decent replacement.  As a programmed operative, he shows rare moments of quiet desperation and vulnerability.  And judging from his scene-stealing performance in "The Town"), Renner is capable of going further if provided with a more compelling script. 

The actions, without a doubt, are the best parts of the movie.  There are exhilarating extended sequences of foot and motorcyle chases throughout the tightly packed and frenzied streets of Manila and Bangkok, where Aaron and Marta attempt to outrun local police, SWAT team, and one particularly determined CIA super agent.  The latter is almost comical in his Terminator-like determination to pursue and kill at all cost.  Having Asia as a backdrop is a refreshing change of scenery from Europe. 

In the end nothing is resolved; the movie is clearly set up for a sequel (think "Salt" from 2010 starring Angelina Jolie).  While it may not be satisfactory, both protagonists seem to be in a good place - at least for now.  I, for one, look forward to seeing the next chapter of Aaron Cross' adventure.

http://www.sdentertainer.com/arts/reviews-arts/bourne-legacy-movie-revie/

DVD: http://tinyurl.com/9kxcrt8
DVD (blu-ray): http://tinyurl.com/8l99jjk

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"Total Recall"

"Total Recall" (directed by Len Wiseman) made a splashy, star-studded appearance last year at Comic-Con and it's the non-superhero sci-fi flick I was most looking forward to see this year. Inspired by a short story by Phillip K. Dick "We Can Remember It for You Wholesale" and a remake of the 1990 film with the same title starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sharon Stone, its escapist concept is a dream. Who wouldn't want to go on a virtual world where all your fantasies come true?

In a dystopian future, most of the earth is uninhabitable after a global chemical warfare. Living space is the most valuable asset. The only remaining land mass are the United Federation of Britain (UFB) and the Colony. People from the Colony (the have-nots) travel daily across the globe through the earth's core to UFB (the haves) via a planetary commuter train called "The Fall."

Colin Farrell ("Fright Night") is Douglas Quaid, a factory worker from the Colony. He's married to his childhood sweetheart, Lori (Kate Beckinsale, "Whiteout"), an emergency paramedic. Restless with his mundane existence of living in a wet, dark and dingy Colony, assembling synthetic cops every day and getting passed over for a promotion, Douglas visits Rekall, a company that promises to provide the ultimate virtual vacation.

At Rekall, a visitor is implanted with a memory, containing a fantasy life that he or she always dreams of. The only caveat is the fantasy has to be just that, fantasy, it can't have any resemblance to any part of the real life or the brain would get blown out. For Douglas, his fantasy is being a spy agent. Unbeknownst to him, however, he was one, in the past. He just didn't know it since his memory was erased and implanted with a false one. Things go awry in an instant. UFB officers and robotic soldiers resembling stormtroopers from Star Wars storm in, killing everyone in sight and capturing him. To avoid capture, Douglas innately reacts and decimates the armed officers with force.

From the point of discovery, Douglas is on the run for his life. There are quiet, disorienting moments where he's trying to putting together pieces of his life and figuring out his real identity. "What is real?" "If I'm not me, then who am I?" The most nail-biting moment involves a standoff where Douglas must determine whether what he's going through is real or fantasy and he's still hooked into a machine at Rekall. Wouldn't reality is just what our brain perceives what it sees? His true identity is tied to the UFB and a key to a larger plan plotted by its chief, 'Cohaagen' (Bryan Cranston), beyond disarming a group called the Resistance, led by 'Melina' (Jessica Biel, "The A-Team") and 'Matthias' (Bill Nighy) and labeled as terrorists.

The story and characters are spoonfed quickly without much development. It's a non-stop action fest to the finish. And that's where the movie excels. The action sequences, from fierce fights to chases, crashes and shootouts through rooftops, tunnels, elevator shafts and roadways, are dizzyingly dazzling. While it's not easy to swallow Biel as a fierce fighter, Beckinsale is terrific as a ruthless assassin. The honors also go to set design and special effects. The futuristic universe include vertically stacked structures suspended in mid-air, sleek hover cars, elevated byways, gravity reversal elevator train, hand-implanted cell phone. The design of the Colony (formerly Australia) is interesting with its neon-lit Hong Kong style.

There's nothing really memorable about "Total Recall," but it fits the bill as a mindless summer blockbuster. It's a cool thrill ride.

http://www.sdentertainer.com/arts/reviews-arts/movie-review-total-recall/

DVD: http://tinyurl.com/8f5j2fh

DVD (blu-ray): http://tinyurl.com/8qjbkja

Comic-Con 2012

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