Movie Review American Assassin

American Assassin (2017) 

Directed by Michael Cuesta

Written by Stephen Schiff, Michael Finch, Edward Zwick, Marshall Herskovitz 

Starring Dylan O'Brien, Michael Keaton, Sanaa Lathan, Taylor Kitsch 

Release Date September 15th, 2017 

Published September 16th, 2017 

American Assassin stars Dylan O’Brien as Mitch Rapp, a normal college age kid who we meet while he is vacationing in Ibiza with his beautiful girlfriend. Just after she has accepted his marriage proposal, terrorists sweep over the beach, killing dozens of people in an all too plausible scenario that calls to mind the Paris nightclub attack. Among the dead is Mitch’s new fiancée while he is wounded in the leg and shoulder but narrowly survives.

Cut to 18 months later, a dejected Mitch is now sporting a full beard and a whole set of new muscles on his thin frame. We watch as he corresponds with Muslim terrorists via a private chat network. Mitch is getting himself recruited to become a terrorist with the goal of getting all the way to the man who organized the attack on the beach that killed his girlfriend. What Mitch doesn’t know is that the CIA, specifically deputy director Irene Kennedy (Sanaa Lathan), is in on his private messages and are set to spoil his chance at vengeance.

Once Mitch is the hands of the CIA, he is turned over to a secret training organization headed up by a badass former Navy Seal and spy named Hurley (Michael Keaton). Hurley doesn’t think Mitch is emotionally stable enough for the kinds of missions he trains people for but soon enough Mitch proves to be one of only two recruits with the capability to keep up with Hurley and with a major mission coming up to stop a nuclear bomb from being built, there is no time to waste on whether or not Mitch is ready or not.

American Assassin moves at a brisk pace. Director Michael Cuesta may not have a great ear for dialogue based off the leaden, exposition-laden jargon of American Assassin, but he has a terrific eye for action. The opening assault on the beach in Ibiza is frighteningly real and graphic. Some will consider the scene exploitation but I feel it accurately reflects where the story is heading without being disrespectful to real-life tragedies. This is the kind of attack that we’ve seen before and the way Cuesta captures it is intense and jarring.

Find my full length review in the Geeks Community on Vocal 

Movie Review Something New

Something New (2006) 

Directed by Sanaa Hamri 

Written by Kriss Turner 

Starring Sanaa Lathan, Blair Underwood, Simon Baker, Donald Faison

Release Date February 3rd, 2006

Published February 2nd, 2006 

Sanaa Lathan's career hasn't blown up into the full blown stardom that I predicted it would after her luminous performance in 2000's Love & Basketball. She was well reviewed in the TV movie Disappearing Acts opposite Wesley Snipes and deserved more attention for her silky, sexy performance as a music journalist in 2003's Brown Sugar.

Her career hit a sad bottom with her attempt at action stardom in Alien Vs Predator. Back in her comfort zone, in the romance genre, Lathan essays yet another smooth, confident and sexy performance in Something New an interracial romance that is as much about race as it is about romance, a combination that similarly themed films can rarely pull off.

In Something New Sanaa Lathan stars as Kenya, a corporate lawyer with little time for a personal life. She is on the fast track to becoming the first black female partner at her law firm. Just because work dominates her life doesn't mean she doesn't think about the things she wants in a man but her standards are far too high for the average man she might meet in a club while hanging out with her friends.

Kenya's romantic life is upended in the most unexpected way when she decides to hire a landscaper. The landscaper is Brian Kelly, a ruggedly handsome outdoors type who goes nowhere without his yellow Labrador retriever. Brian is the least likely love interest Kenya has ever met, and did I mention he's white. Nevertheless, from the moment he began work on her backyard he had his eye on her and she in turn had her eyes on his chiseled biceps.

Naturally, race plays a role in this romance as Kenya's friends and family treat the romance as a fling or passing interest. Kenya's brother Nelson (Donald Faison) is rather horrified by the idea of his sister and a white guy, and even goes as far as to set up a more suitable date for Kenya. Blair Underwood plays Mark and it's a credit to his skills that he takes an underwritten, eye candy role and gives it some depth.

Directed by music video director Sanaa Hamri, in her feature debut, Something New strikes a strong balance between its racial politics and its romance. Sanaa Lathan and Simon Baker have a fiery, sexy chemistry that puts the racial aspect of the relationship in the background. When two actors are so sexy together; their complexion quickly becomes secondary to the voyeuristic pleasure of watching them together.

The film takes the racial aspects of the story head on, confronting the African American perspective on interracial dating which is far more complex than the simpleminded hatred attributed to white people. The feeling of betrayal and a history of negative stereotypes weighs on an interracial couple and while this never becomes the over-arching subject of Something New, the film does a good job of demonstrating the issues.

Part of the fun of Something New is the strong female perspective of the film. Written by Kriss Turner and directed by Sanaa Hamri, with a strong performance by Sanaa Lathan, Something New oozes strong femininity that goes beyond mere girl power. Something New is thoughtful and humorous in its examination of its female characters, not just Lathan but also the wonderful Taraji P. Henson as Lathan's best friend Nedra.

There are no simple stereotypes of women, or men or, more specifically, black women in Something New. The last is a very specific mention because the stereotypes of black women in movies, with examples like Phat Girlz and just about any inner city drama, are becoming cartoonish and offensive. Something New blows away those stereotypes by crafting female characters who are unique individuals and not merely an assemblage of typical characteristics.

There is another fun aspect of Something New and that is how the men of the film are treated like eye candy in ways usually reserved for women. Often when it comes to sexuality in movies the titallation is meant for male audiences. Something New offers a rare slice of beefcake as director Sanaa Hamri uses her camera to leer longingly at both Simon Baker and his rival Blair Underwood.

There is something almost feminist about the ogling of male eye candy In Something New, a sexy statement of equality, if you will.

Sanaa Lathan has seemingly given up on being a star on the big screen. Taking a regular gig on the TV geek show Nip/Tuck, Lathan seems content to make her mark on the small screen. Here's hoping that she will occasionally come back to the big screen for strong romantic parts like the one in Something New. Yes, these are niche roles with no promise of big time success or stardom but she is just so good in these roles. It would be a shame if she gave them up.

Something New is a romantic comedy with brains and a heart and a strong libido. The film deals with race and feminism with light hearted romantic comedy touch. It's not an Oscar worthy drama but as genre pictures go, I wish more films had the care and thoughtfulness of Something New.

Movie Review: Alien Vs Predator

Alien Vs Predator (2004)

Directed by Paul W.S Anderson 

Written by Paul W.S Anderson

Starring Sanaa Lathan, Raoul Bova, Lance Henriksen

Release Date August 13th, 2004 

Published August 12th, 2004

In my research for reviewing Alien Vs Predator, one recurring theme kept coming up that absolutely fascinated me and that was the highly pretentious indignity of Alien fans who cannot fathom the idea of their beloved character being teamed with the Predator. Regardless of the fact that comic fans made Alien Vs Predator the fastest selling independent comic in history, Alien fans remained indignant. They were likely egged on by star Sigourney Weaver who famously dismissed any involvement of her Ripley character in an AvP project. 

Despite the outrage, Alien Vs Predator has finally made it to the big screen and maybe those fans were right to be so upset. Where the Alien has been dramatized by such action auteurs as Ridley Scott, James Cameron and David Fincher, Predator had the capable John McTiernan and Stephen Hopkins. Now both franchise characters come under the hack guidance of Paul W. S. Anderson, a director who has far more scorn than any director of his limited experience. Maybe Predator deserves this but Alien may in fact have deserved better. 

Alien Vs Predator's place in both franchises timeline is murky at best. It is set in modern times, after the Predator's have battled Arnold in the jungle and Danny in L.A but long before Ripley began kicking Alien ass. As the story goes a millionaire industrialist named Charles Bishop Weyland (Lance Henriksen) has discovered something beneath the ice in Antarctica that could be the most significant archaeological discovery in history. 

Using his vast fortune, Weyland puts together an international team of scientists and archaeologists to dig 2,000 feet into the earth and uncover this major find. This being unfamiliar territory for human beings, Weyland calls on one of the very few people in the world who can navigate the Antarctic, an environmental scientist named Lex Woods (Sanaa Lathan). Lex will prepare the crew including archaeologist Sebastian (Raoul Bova) and a cast of edible extras for the difficult trek. 

What the group discovers is indeed remarkable. It's a temple that combines the architecture of the ancient Mayans, Incas and Cambodians. Inside the temple is a complex technological maze that randomly shifts its walls in ways that something that old should not be able to do. Eventually they come to realize that the temple and its inhabitants are not human and there is more than one non-human in the place. Our human protagonists find themselves in the midst of an ancient Alien ritual that pits two awesome species against one another that could end with the destruction of mankind. 

That's as spoiler free as I can be without giving away which side the humans must choose in order to survive. I can say that, box office willing, there will be a sequel so don't look for a tidy resolution. Does it matter that I spoil things or not? No, but some people will sample this film whether I trash it or not so for those brave souls I have been discreet. With that out of the way, let's get to the trashing. 

Director Paul W.S. Anderson wrote and directed Alien Vs Predator and the hack style he brought to his previous films, Resident Evil, Mortal Kombat, Event Horizon, et al, is in full effect here. He should be banned from writing in the future as his ear for dialogue is akin to recent George Lucas, without the imagination. The story is credited to Anderson which is somewhat curious and controversial. Fans of the comic book will recognize the character arcs of the Alien and Predator rivalry as well as that of Lex who is very reminiscent of the Japanese heroine in the Dark Horse comic series. Anderson is the only one with a writing credit though the creators of Alien and Predator films do get character credit. 

It's understandable why no one would choose to sue for credit on Alien Vs. Predator because as it is on the big screen I can imagine people not wanting to be associated with it. 

Maybe the most egregious error of the film is it's PG-13 Rating. This clearly studio-ordered commercial choice compromises the one thing this film had going for it: the possibility of some serious headsplitting gore. Once you agree to the compromised PG-13 rating you have to keep the blood to a minimum and the deaths to their least horrendous. Immediately you lose one of the great Alien set pieces in which the Alien children explode from human chests. This spectacularly gory scene has been a staple of the franchise and here it lasts all of one second! And that one-second shot is nearly bloodless and very cheap looking. 

The film is deathly serious and could use a little humor. Not that there aren't laughs, there are laughs but they are the unintentional kind like when a character is introduced and immediately begins talking about having been away from home for too long and can't wait to get home to his kids. Like a teenager having sex at Crystal Lake, this characters fate is sealed the moment he whipped out the baby pictures. 

Poor Sanaa Lathan. This terrific young actress has had a run of good performances, mostly in romantic dramas like Love and Basketball, Disappearing Acts and Brown Sugar. Most recently she was a Tony nominee for Raisin In The Sun on Broadway. What possessed her to take on this character is beyond me. In the future, she might read the script before accepting a role, that is the only explanation I can think of for her to taken this gig. 

You might say it's noble of Paul W.S. Anderson to continue the tradition of female action heroes but as thinly written and characterized as this character is, she may have set back the cause of female action heroes for years to come. Unless you like your action heroines running and screaming in terror before luck and a very male extra-terrestrial figure enters to save their lives. 

I will say that the film does thrill when Aliens and Predators go mano a mano but the film takes a bad dialogue laden while to get to that first fight. The subsequent fights are such that you can keep score on which species is winning and that is at least momentarily involving. It's involving until one of the species wimps out and becomes an ally of the humans. The last thing anyone wants is for either the Alien or the Predator to be sensitive but that is what we get near the end. 

Now I can see why Alien fans were so upset about this film. Though their venom, or acid blood if you prefer, may be better aimed toward Paul W.S. Anderson than the Predator.

Movie Review Out of Time

Out of Time (2003) 

Directed by Carl Franklin

Written by David Collard

Starring Denzel Washington, Eva Mendes, Sanaa Lathan, Dean Cain

Release Date October 3rd, 2003 

Published October 2nd, 2003 

In his last leading role, Denzel Washington won an Oscar exploring his dark side in the cop thriller Training Day. It was Denzel's first time on the wrong side of audience sympathies, and he pulled it off magnificently. If only more roles were as well written as that one. If only his latest role, as yet another cop, had been as well written as Training Day, but it's not. It's not a bad film but as it's written it's a convoluted little thriller that toys with the audience one too many times.

Denzel is Matt Whitlock, Chief of Police in tiny Branyon Key, Florida. A town so small that the chief walks the main thoroughfare checking to see if the doors are locked, and it doesn't take long. Chief Whitlock's personal life is nowhere near as simple as his job. He is separated from his wife Alex (Eva Mendes) and is seeing his ex-high school sweetheart Anne (Sanaa Lathan) behind the back of her husband Chris (Dean Cain). Chris and Matt are also enemies and have been for a number of years. Chris is a former quarterback who was cut from his team and now works as a security guard, something Matt can't help but remind him of.

Even more complicated is the fact that though Matt is sleeping with Anne he still has feelings for his wife and wishes they could stay together. The plot kicks into gear when Matt accompanies Anne to a doctor’s appointment where she is told she has cancer. She unfortunately doesn't have the money to pay for treatment, but Matt might. Recently the Banyon Key police department busted a drug dealer and took into evidence some 450 grand. Matt thinks he can take the money to help Anne and while the case is in appeal, he will have plenty of time to replace it.

From there the film moves into its most exciting moments, Anne and Chris supposedly die in a fire in their home and all evidence points to Matt. Worse, his ex-wife is the investigating officer. So, Matt, with the help of his medical examiner buddy Chae (John Billingsley), must solve the case while preventing Alex and his fellow officers from discovering the evidence that implicates him.

This is a very dense narrative that twists and turns and at many points is quite enjoyable. However, it's also rather conventional in the sense that you have seen this setup more than a few times. It's a rather typical noir that doesn't escape the predictable formula. Denzel Washington in a noir mystery is certainly not bad thing, but Out of Time isn't a good enough movie for Denzel. 

All director Carl Franklin can do with the script written by first time screenwriter David Collard, is make it stylish and Franklin succeeds for a good portion of the film. With help from Cinematographer Theo Van De Sande, Franklin takes great advantage of the warm, tropical, color palette of his small-town Florida locale.

The most appealing element of the film is not surprisingly Denzel Washington. The film nearly succeeds on his credibility alone. Sadly, Washington can't quite make this script work on his own. It's just too convoluted, too reliant on coincidence, chance and “only in the movies” type moments. The final confrontation of the film is really disappointing because it is the same climax that every other film of this genre has. It's as if it's required to happen this way.

Out of Time is not a bad film, it's stylish and well-acted but it jerks you around too much to be a successful piece of entertainment. If you’re forgiving of cliches and don't mind being played with in rather obvious ways, then you might like Out of Time. I almost did.