Mini Reviews: The Hangover Part 2, The Dilemma, X-Men: First Class

The Hangover Part 2 - In the sequel to the super hilarious The Hangover, the wolf pack is back and this time in Thailand. It starts out much the same - a terrible phone call - and then flashes back to a few days earlier and shows you how things play out. This time around, Phil (Bradley Cooper) and Allen (Zach Galifianakis) attend Stu's (Ed Helms) wedding in Thailand. Stu is still a bit stunned from the events of the first film, so he doesn't want a bachelor party. Still, things get crazy and the three guys wake up in a dive motel one morning and can't find Stu's fiancee's little brother. Then they must retrace their steps and try to figure out what happens. Much like the first, they find the brother in the eleventh hour and relive their crazy night via pictures at the end. That's just the thing. It's sooo much like the original. And, I mean, to a certain extent that's great. Don't fix it, if it's not broken, right? But this is pretty much just a shot for shot remake in a different city with slightly different events. Is it funny? Sure. But it's nowhere near as laugh out loud crazy as the original. It's got it's moments but sequels can never really live up to their predecessors. They are inferior films by definition alone. The Hangover Part 2, unfortunately, is no different.
Grade: C+

The Dilemma - What the hell was Ron Howard thinking? He's made some pretty great films but this is sooo not one of them. Vince Vaughn and Kevin James star as besties. Vaughn is dating Jennifer Connelly and James has somehow manages to snag himself Winona Ryder. One day, Vaughn's Ronny discovers that Ryder's Geneva is cheating with a hottie named Zip (Channing Tatum). Hence, the dilemma. Should he tell his best friend? Should he wait a few days until the stress of a big work project passes? Who gives a crap? You don't care about these awful, hateful, unlikeable characters. They are all liars and cheaters. Plus, the movie is not funny at all. I didn't laugh once. And Vauhgn is someone I generally find funny. Also, I'm sorry, but if Kevin James manages to marry someone as hot and out of his league as Winona Ryder then I'm pretty sure he should allow her to cheat on him with Channing Tatum. (Just kidding!). Still, I don't have a single good thing to say about this movie and I clearly found my first possibility for Worst Movie of the Year.
Grade: F

X-Men: First Class - By no means am I a huge X-Men fan. I saw the previous trilogy. I guess I can say, overall, I enjoyed them. They had their positives and their negatives. Still, I wasn't hopping out of my seat to see this prequel. Let's just say - I was pleasantly surprised. X-Men: First Class is fun and exciting. It's got a ridiculously talented and hot young cast (James McAvoy as Xavier, Michael Fassbender as Magneto, Jennifer Lawrence as Mystique, Zoe Kravitz as Angel). The story line was a bit confusing but interesting. It seems Erik / Magneto was raised and tested by a Nazi doctor and he's now all grown up and seeking revenge. Turns out the Nazi doctor is also a mutant named Sebastian Shaw (Kevin Bacon) who is hell bent on starting World War III. Erik teams up with Charles who is now helping out Rose Byrne and the CIA. They start finding a bunch of young mutants and train them to stop Shaw and the Bay of Pigs AND the potential World War III. The movie meanders a bit, and could have lost about 20 minutes or so on the editing floor, but overall I can't say too many bad things about it. It's fun and enjoyable and what else do you want out of a comic book summer movie? Fassbender is a total bad ass as Erik / Magneto. Remember his name because he is going to be HUGE. Bacon gives a great performance as the villain of the film. There are also two really great, well done cameos in the film. All in all, X-Men: First Class is surprisingly and refreshingly damn good.
Grade: B

The Greatest (DVD)

What a hidden gem of a movie! Totally unexpected and with so much heart and emotion, The Greatest (which had a limited theatrical run back in April) is most definitely one of the best movies of the year! Right out of the gate, the cast is fantastic for such a small movie. Susan Sarandon, Pierce Brosnan, Aaron Johnson, Carey Mulligan, Johnny Simmons (!!), Michael Shannon (!!!), and Zoe Kravitz appear in the indie film.
Sarandon and Brosnan star as a couple dealing with the death of their eldest son, Bennett, (Johnson) in a car crash. They had marital problems before the death and their grief, and the different ways they choose to deal with it, is only pushing them further and further apart. In fact, Sarandon becomes closer to the man responsible for the crash (Shannon) who just so happens to be in a comma. Meanwhile, Brosnan becomes close to Rose (Mulligan), who shows up at their door one day, pregnant with their dead sons baby after only one night together. Then there is their youngest son Ryan (Simmons) who is dealing with the grief his own way, doing drugs and falling for a girl in his grief meetings (Kravitz).
It sounds like a typical melodramatic film but it isn't at all. The script by Shana Feste, who also directed, is so clever and interesting, jumping around to different moments, that the movie never fails to be interesting. In fact, most of the relationship between Rose and Bennett plays out entirely in flashbacks. (The title comes from a particularly intimate well-done moment in the film when Bennett says his one night with Rose was the greatest).
The performances are all top-notch and, really, what else would you expect from such an amazing cast? Sarandon is phenomenal as the mother in mourning, unable to let her son go and unable to accept Rose into their lives. Brosnan, whose character chooses to deal with the loss in entirely different way, is impressive as well. Mulligan continutes to show promise. She's not just a once and done actress who made a great movie (An Education) and will wither away and disappear. She's hear to stay and she's formidable, with her porcelain looks and mixture of vulnerability and toughness (she might have made a better Lisbeth Salander than Rooney Mara but I'll save that rant for another time). Then there's Johnny Simmons, who I adore beyond words. Mostly, my love for him has to do with the fact that he is super adorable. But he is truly impressive in this film. He's one part comic relief, one part ticking time bomb. There is a scene in one of his grief counseling meetings where he is devastating to watch.
It's a depressing movie to watch, for sure, but it is most definitely worth it.
Grade: A-