Movie Review: Bulletproof Monk

Bulletproof Monk (2003) 

Directed by Paul Hunter 

Written by Ethan Reiff, Cyrus Voris 

Starring Chow Yun Fat, Seann William Scott, Jamie King, Karel Roden 

Release Date April 16th, 2003 

Published April 15th, 2003 

The question has been asked since Chow Yun Fat made his American leading man debut in Replacement Killers: Can the Orient's top gunslinging action star translate his popularity to American audiences? With the $100 million dollar success of Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, you might think the question has been answered. But in reality it hasn't. Crouching Tiger was a departure for Chow Yun Fat, a familiar Asian face that made Crouching Tiger's mystical nature more palatable to American audiences who normally shun movies with subtitles. The real test for Chow Yun Fat's star power comes with his return to action leading man in Bulletproof Monk.

In Monk, Chow Yun Fat is the nameless protector of ancient scroll that if read aloud would give ultimate power to the reader to remake the world for good or evil. In 1943 our nameless hero gave up his name to become the protector of the scroll. He is immediately attacked by Nazi soldiers whose leader, Strucker (Karl Roden), is familiar with the scrolls. After fighting off the Nazis and making a daring jump off a tall mountain, it's off on a 60-year journey to protect humanity.

There is, of course, a catch to being the protector of the scroll. After 60 years you must turn the scroll over to a new protector. So now in New York 60 years later, the man with no name must seek out the scroll’s new protector while dodging the Nazis who have been tracking him the whole time. While running through the New York subway system attempting to evade Nazi captors, our hero meets a young pickpocket named Kar (Sean William Scott) who helps him save a little girl who has fallen on the subway tracks. 

Kar happened to be running from the police at the time. The two escape into the subway tunnels before either one can be captured. Our hero is impressed with Kar's selflessness in helping him, while Kar simply finds our hero to be strange and takes the opportunity to lift what he thinks is his wallet before leaving him in the tunnel.

Of course our hero is no dummy, he tracks Kar to a subway tunnel where Kar has accidentally wandered into the lair of a criminal gang lead by a man called Mr. Funktastic. No I didn't make that up though I wish I had. A fight ensues as our hero simply watches as Kar fights the gang including a girl named Jade (Jaime King) who is oddly attracted to him. Kar holds his own and escapes when Jade convinces the gang to let him go. What Kar doesn't yet know is that the fight holds special significance to our nameless hero who is convinced it's part of a prophecy and that Kar may be his replacement.

This sets up the film’s formula action, which is somewhat predictable. However what isn't predictable is the effective chemistry of Chow and Scott and the goofy energy that both bring to their cheesy dialogue. Thankfully, dialogue is kept to a minimum. Bulletproof Monk director Paul Hunter shows a strong control over what he's doing in his first feature, keeping the action pace up and playing to the film’s strength.

The action isn't anything you haven't seen before, there is plenty of Matrix style effects. What makes the action in Bulletproof Monk work is the energy and liveliness the stars bring to it. As they go through the obligatory teacher-student training session, both stars use their charisma and energy to make a very typical scene fun.

Chow Yun Fat has been accused of sleepwalking through his first few American films and he's not exactly ebullient here. Still, there is a little glint in his eye and a sly smile that he employs to great effect. He looks like he's having a lot of fun, especially in scene where he spars with Scott while eating a bowl of Cocoa Puffs. You can see he's very pleased with himself throughout the scene and it's really very funny.

The film has its troubles, such as the lame villains who are something from an 80's action movie. Former model Jaime King needs a little more work, as it is she seems to have a future in roles like this but not much more. The real disappointment comes from the character Mr. Funktastic, who is greatly underused. Why introduce a character with such a memorable moniker and then not use him?

I was really surprised how much I laughed during this film and very surprised that most of the laughs were intentional. By that I mean that's what the film was going for. So many modern action films are out of touch with the ridiculousness of their plots, but Bulletproof Monk knows it's goofy and plays to it.

Movie Review: Cube Hypercube

Cube Hypercube (2003)

Directed by Andrzej Sekula 

Written by Sean Hood, Ernie Barbarash 

Starring Garant Wyn Davies, Kari Matchett, Grace Lynn Kung, Matthew Ferguson 

Release Date April 15th, 2003 

Published April 29th, 2003 

In 1998, a pair of mathematically themed films gained cult followings in multiple festival showings. One was Darren Aronofsky's first masterpiece Pi. The other was a uniquely constructed, low budget sci-fi movie called Cube. The inventively low budget Cube was a series of interconnected rooms that make up a seemingly inescapable maze that can only be properly traveled through a mathematical equation. Using minimalist sets and unknown actors, Cube became a cult favorite.

No one was surprised then when Lions Gate announced a sequel. In fact there was little surprise involved at all in the making of Cube 2, a joyless exercise in low budget sci-fi. Building on the same conceit of the original, Cube 2 begins with a group of strangers awakening inside a giant cube. Tiny doors lead them through a maze of varying realities and the only escape is a mathematical equation that leads to the end of the maze.

This time, there are 8 contestants including a psychopath played by B-movie star Geraint Wyn Davies from American Psycho 2. Well, he wasn't always crazy but watching yourself die a couple of times and killing the same person a few times will drive a man a little nutty. The hero of the film is a plucky blonde therapist named Kate (Kari Matchett). Kate, along with a blind genius played by Grace Lin Kung, wander through the various realities followed by Davies’ psycho killer.

Of course Cube 2 isn't about it's story or characters but rather it's special effects which get all the attention in the DVD features. Some of the effects are quite attention grabbing, while others are a little cheesy. The opening credits sequence is eye catching and impressive.

If your watching for the gore that was present in the original you will be disappointed, though there are plenty of dead bodies there is surprisingly little gore. That is likely because Director Adrzej Sekula spent most of the film’s budget on his computer effects and surprisingly polished look, leaving little left over for the buckets of fake blood you might expect from a low budget sci-fi sequel.

What's not impressive about Cube 2 is the characters and dialogue which are maddeningly lame. As is the ending which devolves from sci-fi to cheesy thriller and sets up Cube 3, though that is not official. Based on the cult following of the original Cube, Cube 2 should do quite well in the straight-to-video market. It's not as bad as most straight-to-video trash but another sequel is not justified by this lame reworking of the original.

Movie Review House of 1000 Corpses

House of 1000 Corpses (2003) 

Directed by Rob Zombie 

Written by Rob Zombie 

Starring Sid Haig, Bill Moseley, Sheri Moon Zombie, Karen Black 

Release Date April 11th, 2003

Published April 10th, 2003

Horror fans have been buzzing for three years about rocker Rob Zombie's first foray into feature films, House of 1,000 Corpses. Based on Zombie's unique music videos and avowed love of classic horror films, fans of Fangoria have been foaming at the mouth in anticipation of what Zombie could produce. Now after three years of studio leapfrogging and MPAA kowtowing in an attempt to avoid the kiss of box office death NC 17 rating, House Of 1,000 Corpses is finally receiving a limited theatrical run. Was it worth the wait?

House begins as the story of four college kids in the late 1970's on the road writing a little travelog about kitschy roadside attractions. It stars a couple of unknowns alongside a couple of where-have-I-seen-that-guy-befores who make the mistake of picking up a hitchhiker on a dark rainy night. The hitchhiker is named Baby, a sexy looking blonde with a laugh like a kitten in a blender and personality to match. A flat tire leads the kids to Baby's house where her brother will supposedly use his tow truck to help them get it fixed. Unfortunately, Baby's family is completely insane and demonically obsessed with a dead serial killer known as Dr. Satan.

As the kids wait for the car to be fixed on the night before Halloween, the family, led by mom (horror staple Karen Black) and Otis, the family's top psycho, prepare to raise Dr. Satan from the grave.

Zombie brings his trademark visual style from his music videos and paints a unique horror canvas with poorly focused cameras and the occasional intercutting of black and white scenes from classic horror films so numerous you can't keep up with them. Zombie, long a fan of horror classics from the black and white era, seems to want to recreate the aura of those films but can't resist falling back on the horror cliches of the more modern era the 1970's. Indeed House Of 1,000 Corpses has much more in common with Texas Chainsaw Massacre than any of the black and white movies Zombie claims as inspiration.

There is nothing wrong with an homage to 70's horror movies but House Of 1,000 Corpses seems more rip-off than homage. Outside of Zombie's visuals, everything in the film seems a direct lift from Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

The film's most fatal flaw however is its lack of interesting characters. The characters we are supposed to sympathize with are one-note characters that are either whiny or obnoxious. The villains are over the top obnoxious and, rather than being frightening, they are simply annoying. Zombies fail to create a rooting interest on either the side of good or evil. A good horror film has to have a character to cheer for whether it's Jamie Lee Curtis in Halloween or Freddy in Nightmare on Elm Street. House of 1,000 Corpses never provides that charismatic character that holds your interest beginning to end.

The lack of a rooting interest leaves the film to rely solely on the director’s skill with visuals and set pieces. As successful as Rob Zombie is with those elements, it's not enough to hold an audience's interest. 

Movie Review: Anger Management

Anger Management (2003) 

Directed by Peter Segal 

Written by David S. Dorfman 

Starring Adam Sandler, Jack Nicholson, Marisa Tomei, Woody Harrelson, John Turturro 

Release Date April 11th, 2003

Published April 10th, 2003 

All the promise Adam Sandler showed in Punch Drunk Love quickly dissipated with his animated disaster 8 Crazy Nights. His producer's credit on Rob Schneider's The Hot Chick showed Sandler's recommitment to the stupidity that made him the idol of the fraternity crowd. I was set to write him off completely until I saw the trailer for Anger Management and the unlikely teaming of Sandler and the legendary Jack Nicholson. Many figured that with Nicholson involved, it could not possibly fail, and in box office terms, it won't. However, the possibility of creative failure was there and indeed realized with a poorly constructed script that even Nicholson can't overcome.

In Anger Management Sandler is Dave Buznik, a put upon office worker shy to the point of extreme introversion. It seems that everyone in Dave's life takes advantage of him except his very accepting girlfriend Linda (Marisa Tomei). While on a business trip Dave is accused of assaulting a flight attendant. Though it's clear that the mild-mannered Dave did not attack anyone he is still convicted of assault and sentenced to anger management therapy with a man named Buddy Rydell (Nicholson).

Dave is sent to Buddy's anger management class with an assortment of crazies including Luis Guzman, John Turturro and cameos by Bobby Knight and John McEnroe. Through more unfortunate circumstances, Dave is involved in a barfight and is sentenced to even more therapy, a new treatment that involves Dr. Rydell living with Dave and turning his life upside down.

The plot machinations that lead to Buddy and Dave living together make a certain amount of sense and to that point in the film the plot seems to unfold logically. However, cracks show throughout as the script by David Dorfman strains to combine realistic characters and over the top set pieces. The relationship between Dave and his girlfriend is sweet, believable and well played by Sandler and Tomei. However, the roadblocks placed in front of them by the plot are too stupid and contrived to be believed. 

There is also the film's strain to make room for unnecessary celeb cameos by the aforementioned Knight, McEnroe, Heather Graham, Derek Jeter, Roger Clemens and former New York mayor Rudy Guiliani whose cameo is uncomfortably tied to the film's plot.

The trailer for Anger Management showed so much promise and was so well done that it makes the film itself all the more disappointing. The promise of the trailer seemed to be a departure from Sandler's past histrionics from The Waterboy and Big Daddy and a move toward a more sensible and smart approach. The appearance of Jack Nicholson only seemed to further imply that. Unfortunately, the film is more of your typical Sandler: fart jokes, dick jokes and other various inanities.

Don't blame Jack for this one, every great actor will occasionally do a picture just to pick up a paycheck. Sandler has been just picking up a paycheck his entire career, save for Punch Drunk Love which as more time passes seems like it's from some alternate universe. On the other hand, maybe it just goes to show what a truly amazing talent P.T Anderson really is.

Movie Review Head of State

Head of State (2003) 

Directed by Chris Rock

Written by Chris Rock, Ali LeRoi 

Starring Chris Rock, Bernie Mac, Dylan Baker, Nick Searcy, Lynn Whitfield 

Release Date March 28th, 2003 

Published March 27th, 2003

Just over a year ago rumors of two competing film projects about unlikely guys who become the first black President sparked rumors of a feud between the film’s respective creators. Both Chris Tucker and Chris Rock wrote and prepared to direct the competing projects and many wonder if there was some bad blood between the actors. Both quickly put those rumors to rest and now Chris Rock is the first out of the gate with Head Of State, a politically charged satire that combines Rock's biting stand up material with Farrelly Brothers style overstatement.

Rock is Mays Gilliam, an alderman from the poorest neighborhood in Washington DC. When Mays makes the news for saving an old lady and her cat from a house explosion, the headlines bring him to the attention of a shady Senator (James Rebhorn). The Senator needs a guy like Mays Gilliam because his party's Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates have just been killed; their planes ran into one another. Because the candidates were already pretty far behind in the polls and the other party's candidate (Nick Searcy) is the current Veep, a war hero and Sharon Stone's cousin, the party is ready to throw in the towel. They need a candidate that they can throw to the wolves and pave the way to the next election.

So Mays is the man and with the help of campaign advisors Martin Geller (Dylan Baker) and Debra Lassiter (Lynn Whitfield), he sets out to lose just like he's supposed to. That is until May's brother Mitch (Bernie Mac) sets his little brother straight. Stop reading the speeches you're supposed to read, quit sucking up to the special interests and just tell the plain simple and hard-to-accept truths. Once turned loose Mays actually starts connecting with voters to the dismay of the Senator and his opponent.

The film is not about its story, it's about the jokes and it's packed with laughs from beginning to end, all of them with Rock's searing satirical touch. The political humor that comes from May's speeches comes directly from Rock's standup and it's just as brilliant as it was in Bring the Pain and Bigger & Blacker. Some may be uncomfortable with Rock's take on white people in general, but it's done in a clearly satirical way and those who are too uncomfortable with it may just feel it hit too close to home.

Some critics are missing the point of Head Of State attempting to contextualize the film’s realistic characters and its over the top set pieces. None of the Head of State should be considered as reality. It's a satire with a serious point of view that takes some shots that will make many people uncomfortable. Some have compared Rock's political stances in Head Of State with those of Michael Moore and they aren't far off. They are the individual concerns of every American something Rock and Moore seem far more in touch with than any politician does.

While Rock's direction is definitely that of a rookie, he can only get better; his scriptwriting is pro level. It's funny and intelligent. The script and the film have respect for the audience’s intelligence and it will leave with as much of a smile on your face as it leaves you with issues to discuss.

Movie Review The Core

The Core (2003) 

Directed by Jon Amiel 

Written by John Rogers 

Starring Aaron Eckhardt, Hilary Swank, Delroy Lindo, Stanley Tucci, D.J Qualls, Richard Jenkins

Release Date March 28th, 2003 

Published March 27th, 2003 

It's not often when screenwriters make the news. When John Rogers, the co-writer of The Core, wrote in to Aint It Cool News to dispute a review that questioned the film’s science, more than a few of us took notice and had a little laugh at his expense. Granted, no one wants their work made fun of, but when you make a movie as unabashedly out there as The Core, you can't expect it to be welcomed as if it were written by Carl Sagan. 

Sci-fi films have a horrible track record of including actual science in them and the aspiration to put real science in a movie like The Core is like asking Beverly Hills Cop to include real police procedures. No one goes to disaster movies for a science lesson, they go to watch landmarks explode. The Core blows up Rome and San Francisco, mission accomplished.

Aaron Eckhart heads up an ensemble cast as Dr. Josh Keyes, a physics professor at some anonymous college. In the midst of a lecture on the layers of the Earth, Dr. Keyes is called out of class by a pair of humorless G-men. Taken on a jet to Washington D.C, he reunites with a fellow scientist and friend Sergei Levesque (Tcheky Karyo, in a rare non-villain role). The two are asked by an army General (Six Feet Under dead guy, Richard Jenkins) to theorize what environmental factors could cause a group of people with pacemakers to simply drop dead without warning.

The answer, after much lucky guessing by Dr. Keyes, is that the Earth's core has stopped spinning causing it's electromagnetic field to go haywire. Not only has it caused pacemakers to stop, but also birds have lost navigating ability and are falling from the sky. Also falling is the space shuttle which has flown off course and nearly crashes in L.A, saved only by the wits of it's plucky navigator Major Rebecca Childs.

So now that we know what's wrong, there are two questions remaining. Number one, how did this happen? And number two, how do we stop it? Thankfully, the film’s trailer has already told us both of those things. A weapon that causes earthquakes has gone too far thanks to the miscalculations of it's inventor Dr. Zimsky (Stanley Tucci). Conversely, crazy scientist Dr. "Braz" Brazzleton has a vehicle with the ability to tunnel all the way to the core. Once there, nuclear weapons can be dropped to kickstart the core. Apparently, no one had jumper cables.

To the science issue, I have no idea and really don't care if the science is real. What matters is if the film is any good. Some geologist writing somewhere said that the film has as many accurate notions as inaccuracies and that the inaccuracies are those that are necessary for dramatic purposes. WHATEVER!

Let's get to the important stuff, how cool are the explosions. Well let me tell you in the words of the late John Candy in an old SCTV sketch, stuff blow'd up, blow'd up real good. The special effects aren't spectacular but they are entertaining in a modern day Ed Wood sort of way. The Golden Gate Bridge explosion is a cheesy treat and when Rome blows up, watching the reactions of the extras running from the Coliseum is priceless.

The Core is a bad movie but in the camp sense it's genius. Whether intentional or not The Core is full of laughs from the effects to the characters. I especially liked Stanley Tucci who seemed to be channeling Dr. Smith from Lost In Space with his whiny smugness. And kudos to Delroy Lindo for assuaging his usual calm cool persona for a geekier frazzled genius demeanor that you don't expect from him.

The Core is just plain goofy and in that sense it's a lot of fun. Though it needs to be greatly pared down from it's two-hour plus runtime, it nevertheless delivers a fun little distraction.

Movie Review: View from the Top

View from the Top (2003) 

Directed by Bruno Barreto 

Written by Eric Wald

Starring Gwyneth Paltrow, Christina Applegate, Mark Ruffalo, Candice Bergen, Joshua Malina, Kelly Preston, Rob Lowe, Mike Myers

Release Date March 21st, 2003 

Published March 21st, 2003 

Of the many odd ripples from our country's greatest tragedy, none seems less important than it's effects on Hollywood movies. It's an effect still felt today, as films that were made around the time of 9/11 finally reach theaters. One of the films shelved after 9/11 was the flight attendant comedy View From The Top. One is left to wonder what kind of movie View was when it was conceived and what it became after the tragedy. Suddenly jokes involving air travel simply aren't funny and as a filmmaker, you have sensitivities to care about that never existed before. It must have been more excruciating for such a light comedy to have that mantle to bear, and it's one that likely ruined any chance the film had of being a hit.

View From The Top stars Gwyneth Paltrow as Donna Jensen, the daughter of a Vegas go-go dancer and an alcoholic father. Donna, living in a trailer with her well-past-her-prime mom, desperately wants out of the trailer and thinks she has a way with a new boyfriend. Unfortunately like everything else in her life, the boyfriend (played in cameo by Buffy's Marc Blucas) let's her down and dumps her in a birthday card. Nevertheless, Donna's pluckiness and spirit lead her to another opportunity to better herself. After seeing a woman on TV talk about the wonders of being a flight attendant, Donna sets out to travel the world. Of course at first, she has to settle for the Laughlin to Fresno route of an economy airline that specializes in drunk gamblers. Hey, everyone has to start somewhere.

Along the way, Donna makes friends with her flight attendant mentor (Kelly Preston) and another trainee (Christina Applegate). She also makes a new love connection with a struggling law student played by Mark Ruffalo. Donna doesn't have time for a relationship though as she and her friends fight their way into another airline, the high class Royalty airlines. Here, Donna actually meets the woman who inspired her to become a flight attendant (Candace Bergen). In addition, Donna becomes the star pupil of a flight attendant teacher played by Mike Myers.

Though Donna seems destined for the big time, international first class to Paris, she somehow fails and ends up doing commuter flights out of Cleveland. It's not all bad though as while stationed in Cleveland she reunites with the law student and they begin a tentative romance. However, it is then that Donna does get her international route and must choose between her career and personal life.

On the surface, View From The Top seems pretty straightforward, but upon watching you see it become quite confused. Director Bruno Barreto never settles on a tone for the film. Early scenes of Paltrow's Donna living in squalor seem like a Jerry Springer satire. Then as Donna becomes more sophisticated and grown up, something Paltrow is so good at projecting, she is confronted by characters that seem to be in entirely different films.

While somewhere toward the middle of the film, Paltrow and Candace Bergen seem to channel the elegant humor of an Audrey Hepburn movie, Mike Myers is doing Jerry Lewis and Christina Applegate seems a refugee from the aforementioned Springer show. Ruffalo seems to fit somewhere in the middle while seeming capable of fitting either tone if given proper direction.

Again, I wonder how much the film changed after 9/11. It was always a comedy but how much of the humor or even the story was forced to change for the sake of sensitivity. Is it possible that a more coherent version of the film existed before? I guess we will never know. As it is, View From The Top is yet another line on Gwyneth Paltrow's resume. While not great, it does note her amazing range. If given the chance I'm sure she could have made one of the two movies in View From The Top work.