Sucker Punch

** stars

There are only a few movie titles that define how you feel after you've seen the movie itself. Sucker Punch is just that, a sucker punch to the gut after withstanding a long and strenuous fight. Zack Snyder's idea for Sucker Punch is electric: four women who are trapped in an insane asylum try to escape through their imagination in a fantasy world. Because after all, what else do you have in solitary confinement other than your own world?

What makes Sucker Punch a failure is in its execution, too much style and not enough substance. Snyder did such an amazing job with Watchmen (although it's impossible to repeat the success of its source material) because his style matched perfectly with the novel's substance. 300 was also successful because it was an entirely new direction of graphic novel filmmaking. Legends of the Guardian: The Owls of Ga'Hoole succeeded solely because of Snyder's vision and not much else. Here with Sucker Punch, it's as though he was trying to make the holy grail of trash movies. Instead, it just looks like trash.

It's too bad, because I was really looking forward to this one. Why not have a movie with four women kicking ass? Women deserved to feel empowered when they go to the movies just as much as men do. The mistake this movie makes is what ultimately happens to these characters. The third act of this film will make women feel powerless and men feel like scum.

The story revolves around Baby Doll, a young woman who is sent to the creepiest insane asylum known to man by her abusive stepfather. She meets four other young and abused women, all who seem to have access to infinite amounts of makeup. In what Baby Doll believes to be the doom of her existence, she decides to escape to an alternative reality where defeating bizarre creatures and extinct soldiers is the key to finding the ticket to freedom.

The transitions in-between the two-worlds are made possible by Baby Doll's ability to dance in front of the entire staff and inmates, all of which are in total awe of her talent. When she dances, we are taken to another world. The fantasy world is filled with stupendous visual effects, but without a reasoning behind the characters' motives in this fantasy world, we are forced to accept this world the same way the four girls do: escapist entertainment.

Which would be fine, if the dialogue wasn't so painful to listen to. The acting is stiff and forced, and it's unfortunate to see such talents like Carla Gugino and John Hamm reduced to nothing but odd and out-of-place cameos. I would have enjoyed Sucker Punch a little more if it chose to take itself a little less seriously when it came to the fate of these characters. Once the movie starts to pick up steam, it comes to a crashing halt created by unnecessary melodrama.

Battle: Los Angeles

* star

Battle: Los Angeles is a mind-numbing experience, one so full of ineptitude and incoherent action that it literally traps itself within itself. Aliens have invaded earth and it's up to a group of Marines to save the day. From what exactly, the absolute destruction of a city? Downtown L.A is already in ruins quite early in the film's storyline, yet we think a group of marines in Santa Monica has all the answers? Battle: Los Angeles becomes so compiled with trash that I started to wonder if there was anyone left on the planet fighting against these creatures besides the group we are forced to focus on.

Aaron Eckhart was born to play this kind of role. It's too bad the script lets him down. His character, Marine Staff Sergeant Michael Nantz, has just retired. BUT THEN, HE IS FORCED TO GO BACK TO WORK TO FIGHT OFF ALIEN INVADERS! AH! Sorry for the corny explanation. But that's what Battle: Los Angeles entails: corny explanations followed by moments of loud explosions. Repeat this concept a dozen times and you got yourself a certifiable March madness movie that's sure to open above $30 million. Luckily for the film and the financiers behind it, they banked on the stupidity of the American public.

I almost feel jealous for Michael Nantz, because he had the opportunity to both retire and then come back to be the hero of heroes. In the real world, you're lucky if you can just retire. But enough banter of the film's relativity towards modern society, because that's certainly not what the intent of the film is. If anyone knows what the real intent is, let me know and I will credit you of your findings in this review.

I'm all for alien invasion movies. All I ask from the aliens is a reason for the attack and all I want from the humans is for them to be smart enough to be able to detect the millions of falling spaceships crashing to earth that apparently satellites can't pick up. Sure, they think they're just meteors at first. But even if that were the case, why would people take that news so nonchalantly? Meteors can be just as if not more dangerous than the actual aliens, so why does it have to be another race that we are so scared of?

Actually, I wouldn't even call these aliens a race. They look like leftover junk parts from movies like I, Robot, Independence Day, District 9, and every other alien/robot invasion movie ever made. I have mentioned before that my big complaint about Hollywood right now is their lack of timing in releasing event movies. Everything is either in the summer or holiday season. So while I was excited to see what could have been a fun blockbuster in March, Battle: Los Angeles drops the storytelling bar even lower than what it already was. Thus, Hollywood deserves to be in the slump that it's in.

March 2011 has given us Battle: Los Angeles, Sucker Punch, and the election of Chris Dodd as the chief lobbyist for the Motion Picture Association of America. April 2011 has Fast Five scheduled as its biggest movie premiere. The hope that a great movie which will save the industry seems to be scheduled far away into the distant future. Hopefully in that time, it will not include a Battle: Los Angeles sequel named after another city.

The Adjustment Bureau

**1/2 stars

Matt Damon seems to have the unfortunate luck of being in promising, but eventually delayed movies. Last year, he was fantastic in the very underrated and horribly marketed war thriller, Green Zone. That film was original tentative for a fall 2009 release, which means a potential awards contender. However, it was bumped back to March to due unknown reasons. Well, not really unknown, but the educated guess would be that studios suggested the film could make more money in a less aggressive movie season. They were wrong. The movie opened to $14 million and became a flop for Universal. It's sad because it was one of the best movies of 2010.

Now, here's The Adjustment Bureau, another delayed Matt Damon movie bumped to an early March release date. However, this film does not follow the same merit Green Zone deserved, and instead is a harmless romantic science-fiction thriller about old men with cool hats who monitor the entire planet. My guess about its delay would be because the theatrical trailer resembled another film you may have heard of called Inception, and at the time, who the hell wanted to compete with that? The Sorcerer's Apprentice was supposed to be the counter-programming of Inception and look how that turned out (it was one of the biggest bombs of last year). In the end, counter-programming for Inception is like saying 3D works for every movie.

The Adjustment Bureau is loosely based off the Philip K. Dick short story, Adjustment Team. Damon plays up-and-coming politician David Norris, who is on his way to becoming one of the country's leading leaders. I say that in ridiculous fashion because there's no real indication as to what his end goal is (until the end twist which I certainly won't give away) so for now, just go with the fact that David Norris is about to have his dreams come crashing down because of every person's kryptonite: love.

David meets a beautiful dancer named Elise Sellas (Emily Blunt) in a bathroom after a tough election defeat. Instantly, they connect. This is believable because of the talents of Damon and Blunt, who share the chemistry necessary to pull off this attraction in a matter of moments.

The twist in this romance is that they were never supposed to see each other again after their first encounter. We discover that the Adjustment Bureau, basically a group dressed like extras in Mad Men, control and monitor the entire world, meaning that everything must go according to plan. Their plan. What's suitable, yet bittersweet is director George Nolfi's choice to take the simpler approach and basically uses only this mythology to tell the story. David and Elise aren't supposed to be together because it's not apart of the plan. Defying complex explanations allows more authenticity to our modern society, where us regular people do not know what the plan is created by those above us. The result is a relevant and mildly entertaining thriller.

Although with this simplicity comes missed opportunities. I wanted to know why David Norris was the spotlight on this. Why a politician? Why must the fate of the world rest on just two people and their love? I would have liked The Adjustment Bureau's ending to have given us more than just a wild-goose chase, something many films stoop to as the cowardly way out.

Rango

***1/2 stars

The fact that Rango is the best film so far in 2011 is bittersweet. Sure, it's Gore Verbinski's best movie to date, Johnny Depp is perfectly cast, and it's an absolute refreshing experience of animated imagination. However, the fact that this is the best movie so far this year is a sure sign of Hollywood's weakness. This is not a negative comment on Rango, but a disappointed moviegoer who is clinging on to any positive emotions he can.

Back to the film. What a weirdly creative and wildly uncontrollable ride this is. Depp brings his usual offbeat charisma to his chameleon character Rango, a hero without a story, so says the owl mariachi band who give us the breakdown fourth wall style. When Rango is thrown into chaos by flying out of the pet life and into a wild one (a bump in the road throws him out of his owner's movie vehicle), he hits the Mojave desert to search for the Spirit of the West. Upon his journey, he discovers Dirt, an old and small western town made up of desert animals. Because of his initial actions of playing tough in front of a dirty bar crowd, he receives the honor of becoming the Sheriff of Dirt. But when the town is low on its water supply, Rango is thrown into a world of corruption. He wants to know why the Mayor of Dirt, who is a turtle, is not worried about the water supply. Is he up to no good? Picture Fievel Goes West meets The Man With No Name. The latter here especially considering when Rango meets the Spirit of the West. You'll know what I'm talking about when you see it.

What's fascinating about Rango and its mythology is how this chameleon living in modern society discussing his own story about being a hero is shoved into the morals of a past century, and through his knowledge of the modern world, he fits the role of the genius outsider, even though it couldn't be farther from the truth. The film's message is simple: so long as you are given the opportunity, you have a chance to achieve your destiny and discover your own Spirit of the West. Rango's fate was decided by a bump in the road, something that we can all relate to.

Note: Rango is an even finer film for refusing 3D and sticking to its roots in 2D. Hopefully, many others will follow suit.