FLASHBACK FRIDAY: Edge of Tomorrow (2014)

Hey everyone! It's finally friday and this week I have another "Flashback Friday" for you guys. I apologize for missing the last two weeks but time can be hard to come by sometimes. This week however, I return with a great little look back on the past to another amazing Tom Cruise flick, in honor of the new Mission: Impossible. We aren't going that far into the past this time as I want to look at a film that came out only last summer. It is one of my favorites of 2014 and unfortunately barely anyone went to see it. It is Tom Cruise at his best and it delivers one of the most intelligent and original science fiction stories of the past decade. That film is the Doug Liman directed, Edge of Tomorrow and if for some reason you haven't seen this film yet, do so as soon as possible.

I don't necessarily want to look back and reflect on the movie considering it is barely a year old, but instead I want to show you guys my original review for the film that I wrote immediately after seeing it last year. For those of you who don't know, I spent the majority of 2014 working on a small project I called #365MoviesIn365Days where I watched one new movie for each day of the year. Even more so, I spent the first half of the year also writing small reviews for the movies as well. By the time this one came out however, I had faltered on my path and wasn't writing many more reviews anymore. I had to write a review for Edge of Tomorrow though and it has been sitting on my harddrive since last summer, never being read by anyone. So for your enjoyment, here is my uncut and original review of the film that I wrote a year ago.

Edge of Tomorrow

Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

Directed By: Doug Liman 

It seems we go through the same thing every summer. We are given a platter of summer blockbusters, some are good and some not so much but the main thing I hear every year is that a lot of the movies aren't smart enough. Especially when it comes to science fiction, right down to last summer’s Pacific Rim which was a masterful blockbuster yet still left many people complaining that it didn't have enough substance. Well, Edge of Tomorrow is that exact movie these people have been waiting for yet apparently none of them went to see it. Losing at the opening box office to YA novel adaptation The Fault in Our Stars it’s no wonder we aren’t given more movies of this nature. Get over your personal beef with Tom Cruise and treat yourself to one of the most intelligent Alien invasion movies I have seen in a decade.

After a meteor crashes in the middle of Europe and unleashes an entire population of aliens they call “mimics” who seem keen on taking over the planet the humans find themselves in all-out war with the supernatural to defend their home.  During the final fight for human existence they find the fate of the entire race in the hands of one man (Tom Cruise) who obtains a special gift during the battle. Every time he dies his life resets to the day before the battle.  With the aid of some special armor that turns men into super soldiers and a few fighters crazy enough to believe his stories He attempts to save the entire planet.

The basic idea of the movie is nothing new; aliens invade the planet with plans to take over and the human’s battle back with any means necessary. It’s the details that make this flick so impressive.  Every time you think you've seen enough to figure out what is going to happen they twist the story in a way you would have never thought of. Watching this I was reminded of all the Philip K. Dick adaptations and how deep the story is. The movie requires you to pay attention and piece some of it together yourself, they want you to think.  Much of this is a product of incredible editing. This movie is cut almost perfectly to give you a lot of information in a small amount of time. They have a lot of ground to cover to make the movie make sense and they do it all in a short span and it would have been near impossible without proper editing.

Another crucial component to the success of this film is the aliens themselves. With all the new movies released these days involving extraterrestrial life the design of these beings plays a huge role. Edge of Tomorrow features some of the coolest aliens I have seen in some time.  They are incredibly fast, scary, and incredibly hard to kill without the help of the super suit (another fantastic aspect of the film) and this all boils down to some high class special effects and CGI. The action sequences are stunningly beautiful and some of the most impressive of the summer so far. Considering our main character is reliving the final day of the war over and over again you are never short of excitement and mind blowing action.

Put aside all of the amazing special effects and intelligent storytelling and you still have some phenomenal acting. Tom Cruise reminds us why the world fell in love with him in the first place, if this movie isn’t a rebirth for his career than I don't know what can be. However it’s Emily Blunt who really steals this show. An incredible actress she makes the transition to action superstar with no problem.  The two battle side by side through an almost winless war fighting the same battle over and over in hopes to rid the world of this infestation. Their performances are the final touch in making Edge of Tomorrow a near perfect blockbuster. You wanted the perfect summer movie well here it is, don’t miss this one while it’s in theaters. Seeing this one on the big screen is a must. I know this summer is filled to the brim with big movies but believe me when I say this should be a top priority. 

So there it is, I hope you guys enjoy the review as well as the movie, go watch it if you haven't seen it. As always, thank you for reading and I am Zach Who Watches Movies. You can find me anytime on twitter @ZachWWMovies, smell ya later!

Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation (Review)

Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation (2015)

Action, Adventure, Thriller

Directed By: Christopher McQuarrrie

When Brian De Palma and Tom Cruise first brought this franchise to life nearly twenty years ago you would have be hard pressed to find anyone who would believe that this would not only stretch on for another four movies, but they would (with one exception) get better as they went. M:I 3 and Ghost Protocol both succeeded at bringing the franchise to another level and amping up the intensity. After Brad Bird had Tom Cruise hanging off the tallest building in the world in 2011 we were all scratching our heads as to how they could ever top that. Well, this weekend is the release of Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation and not only did Tom Cruise and Christopher McQuarrie find a way to go bigger, they have delivered easily the best film of the entire series. 

This time Ethan Hunt's (Tom Cruise) mission is simple, if he should choose to accept it. The underground terrorist organization known only as The Syndicate is finally making itself known to the world. Hunt has been chasing this myth for years with no one else believing they even exist, but this time he's finally got some hard evidence. It may only be a face but he knows it's the one behind all the worst disasters and terrorist attacks of recent memory.  Help won't be so easy for him to find this time around however as the CIA has finally succeeded in bringing the IMF down. With no organization to look to, and with Central Intelligence tirelessly hunting for him he must now use his own knowledge and specialized skill set to try and uncover the world’s biggest threat.

With each new film, this franchise finds new ways to not only keep these movies going, but to constantly impress us as film goers and make us wonder how it all was even possible. This is in large part due to Tom Cruise and his eagerness to perform as many stunts as possible. It is so rare to see a movie star of his caliber that is not only willing but actually pushes for his own stunts. He turned heads with Ghost Protocol when he was dangling from the side of the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world. It was one of the most impressive live action stunts we had ever seen and all we could wonder is how he would do it bigger the next time around?

I'm sure you have seen the trailers, all boasting this incredible stunt involving Cruise latched to the side of a giant cargo plane. The scene is absolutely stunning and Tom Cruise actually did it, he hooked himself to the side of that plane and rode into the sky...eight times. That's right, he didn't only do this once, he went up into the air EIGHT TIMES in order to get the perfect shot for his movie. Even crazier than that, this isn't even the best action scene of the film and it's in the first act. Rogue Nation kicks off on a bigger note than any other movie achieves in its entirety and then never lets up for two straight hours.

There is some beautifully brutal hand to hand combat as well, something we haven't seen too much of in this franchise so far. A big player in this side of the flick is Rebecca Ferguson, who is the breakout star of this film and the only one who can hold a flame to Ethan Hunt. The fight choreography of her style specifically is gorgeous and she quickly becomes one of the highlights of this film early on. Her performance is incredible and I am not alone in saying that I hope we see a lot more of her in the future, both within this franchise and in movies in general.

Christopher McQuarrie wrote and directed the film this time around and has shown us all he is a force to be reckoned with. This film has succeeded in bringing to life some of the most amazingly awe striking action scenes and car chases in movie history along with some of the most incredible stunts of all-time. Tom Cruise is becoming more and more like Ethan Hunt in real life with each passing year, with each new movie he does he finds a new way to push the limits of cinema and create incredible films. When you finally see the motorcycle chase or the underwater scene you will be blown away with what these guys have accomplished.

I can't give all the credit to Cruise and his cast mates however as so much of the success of this film should be credited to the stunt choreographers. The way they crafted each and every action scene is beyond comparison. They weren't necessarily doing things that had never been done before, but they were finding new ways to do it that puts the action into a new capacity that makes it feel completely original. Just the way they have punches land or cars explode, or whatever it is these people have found ways to make it fresh and new.

With plenty of old and familiar faces returning, like Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames, and Jeremy Renner as well as some newcomers like the amazing Rebecca Ferguson and Alec Baldwin, this film succeeds in capturing the original spirit of the franchise while still making it something new and different. We get to see a different side of Ethan Hunt, the more obsessive and slightly broken side of him we have never seen before. He knows The Syndicate is the greatest threat of all time and the fact no one wants to believe him makes it all the more personal. The action is bigger than ever, the story is probably the most fluent and complete of the franchise and above all else, this movie is the perfect summer blockbuster. Movies like this are the reason I made them my first love in life, leaving the theater last night I felt electric, like I had just run the IMF mission myself. Tom Cruise is one of the only people capable of making action movies that make me feel that way and it is undeniable at this point that he is one of, if not the greatest movie star of our time. Go out this weekend and treat yourself to one of the best cinematic experiences of the year.

As always, thanks for reading and I am Zach Who Watches Movies. You can find me anytime on twitter @ZachWWMovies, smell ya later!

Hear me out: Haven't we already been given the perfect "Vacation" sequel?

So I want you guys to hear me out on this one. I went and saw the new Vacation movie yesterday and it stars Ed Helms as a grown up Rusty who tries to recreate his original vacation to Walley World with his new family. The film was, let's say less than satisfactory and my review has already been posted at this point so you can get further into that here. I don't want to discuss how disappointing this film is though, instead I want to focus on another movie that I believe is really the true modern sequel to the eighties classic we deserve. It was the surprise comedy of the summer in 2013 and, unlike the new film, it hits every beat that a "Vacation" movie should.

It was about halfway through the movie when the thought first came to me, "Why didn't they cast Jason Sudeikis as Rusty?" The guy would have been perfect for the role as he embodies exactly what the guy would have been like as an adult. It didn't take me too long to figure out and remember why they didn't go after him for though, it's because he already made the perfect Vacation sequel two years ago with We're the Millers.  I know what some of you are thinking, "that silly drug smuggling movie from a few summers ago?" and you have every right to be skeptical but hear me out first. If you watch this movie in the right light it plays as a fantastic modern day Griswold adventure.

Vacation (Review)

Vacation (2015)

Adventure, Comedy

Directed By: John Francis Daley & Jonathan M. Goldstein 

For just over thirty years generations have come to know and adore the 1983 John Hughes written, Harold Ramis directed comedic classic Vacation. The wonderfully satirical landmark comedy has lived on for over three decades and is considered by many to be one of the funniest movies ever made. It spawned one of the best "sequels" of all time with Christmas Vacation, as well as European Vacation which was fine enough, and pure cash grab in Vegas years later in 1997. It has been almost twenty years since we last saw the Griswold family together and apparently someone has to pay the bills because this week we see the release of the fifth installment in the franchise. Borrowing the same title as the original film, but making it clear it is working as a continuation of the franchise and not a reboot, the new Vacation feels like anything but a Griswold family adventure.

It has been some time since we last saw our favorite dysfunctional suburban family together and since then Rusty (Ed Helms) has grown up to have a family of his own. He has a successful life and all the madness of being his father's son seems to be left in the past. That is until he overhears his wife (Christina Applegate) complaining about their yearly trip to the lake and how much they all hate it. He then takes a trip down memory lane and decides the only option for bringing his distant family back together is to hit the road and try to recreate his first family vacation to Walley World. Rusty believes it is the perfect way to reconnect with his wife and get his two sons, who have a reverse case of sibling bullying, to finally start getting along with each other. He seems to have a selective memory surrounding his original trip to Walley World however and it doesn't take long before many of the same problems, and plenty of new ones, begin to arise all over again.

This movie had sold me through the marketing, and even through the first few minutes of the movie as 'Holiday Road' blared through the speakers, that this was actually going to be a worthwhile "Vacation" franchise movie. The red band trailer was awesome and from it, I began to believe that this completely unnecessary sequel was actually going to be worth it. John Francis Daley and Jonathan M. Goldstein, who wrote and directed the film together, had the perfect opportunity to rebirth the franchise with a modern take on the suburban family satire that made the original so memorable. They had me believing through the first five minutes that they would actually accomplish this, before they literally pooped all over it.

The new Vacation isn't necessarily a bad movie, but it in no way reflects what the original pictures set to achieve. Instead of reflecting on, and poking fun at all of the new and different problems we face as a society today they opt for toilet humor and tasteless sex jokes instead. Rather than use their journey across the country to explore different kinds of people and lifestyles to show the clashing of cultures they use it as a backdrop for celebrity cameos. Even though I think the ridiculous amount of guest comedic appearances is one of the highlights of the film, they all seem to be playing cartoon characters that are only really there for a few quick laughs. Even the interesting characters, like Chris Hemsworth portrayal of a southern conservative, never seem to get much further than a few dick jokes before being left in the dust.

The decision to take the story into Rusty's life and away from Chevy Chase was definitely the right choice, but they missed the mark casting Ed Helms in the role. Either that or whoever wrote his part had no real grasp on who Rusty actually was in the first four movies. The wise ass, snarky son we loved through all of those movies is left at the wayside for a guy who you would think grew up as a poindexter. Rusty was a nerd, yeah, but he wasn't a neurotic and pathetic nerd. He had a sort of swagger and confidence to him that made him so likeable, no matter who was playing him and that all seemed to be lost with Helms rendition of him. It also makes the film significantly less enjoyable when you know this kid should have grown up into a hilariously cocky, yet super geeky guy that would have been a blast to see with a family.

The movie will make you laugh more than a few times, that's almost a guarantee as they use plenty of gross out and shock value humor to ensure their share of laughs even though the script is lacking any real story or relatable characters. Christina Applegate is great as always and the two kids are actually quite hilarious and have some of the best laughs of the film, but we never really get anywhere with their characters. We never really get why their marriage is truly faltering or why the kids have allowed this relationship between them to go on for so long. It is all quite hollow and that isn't acceptable for a movie in this franchise. If they wanted to make this raunchy, slapstick road-trip comedy with no real heart or purpose as an original movie, that would have been fine. However, if you are going to use the "Vacation" name and the beloved characters that John Hughes created thirty years ago then you should at least have the respect to at least try and make a movie in the vein of the originals.

I typically give remakes and reboots the benefit of the doubt and most of the time I praise them for trying to stray away from the original and do something different. In order to make that work though they need to capture the spirit or the atmosphere of the original and make something that respects that as well as builds off of it to create a new and different story. I don't know if I felt, for even one moment after 'Holiday Road' stopped playing, that I was actually watching a National lampoon's movie. It all just felt like a quickly thrown together, uninspired toss up that they hoped would snag them a few extra bucks while never for one moment caring if it stayed true to what it was building off of. I am actually angry that this movie is a failure, I believe this is one of the few beloved eighties franchises that could be kept alive and fresh if they put the right people behind it. Unfortunately, after seeing this, I'm hoping they just leave the franchise dead forever. Oh well, won't stop me from watching Christmas Vacation fifteen times this holiday season.

*Applegate's face says it all*

As always, thanks for reading and I am Zach Who Watches Movies. You can find me anytime on twitter @ZachWWMovies, smell ya later.

The Guest (Review)

The Guest (2014)

Action, Mystery, Thriller

Directed By: Adam Wingard

If you want proof that you don't need $150 million budget and a cast of A-list movie stars to make a high quality action movie you need look no further than 2014's The Guest. Written by Simon Barrett and directed by Adam Wingard, the duo behind such films as You're Next and A Horrible Way to Die, the two blend different genres and tropes to create an action movie more suspenseful and thrilling than any other of recent memory. These guys are a major players in the indie revolution we are currently a part of, guys like them, Ti West, and Benson & Moorhead are finding new ways with each film to breathe new life into a world of movies so many claim to be dead.

After a young soldier dies in action, leaving his family emotionally broken, a young man named David (Dan Stevens) arrives at their house unexpected. He claims to have served with their son and that he was present when he died. He doesn't come with any requests or ulterior motives; he just wants to tell the family how much their son loved him, one by one. However, when Mr. Peterson (Leland Orser) insists he stay with them until he figures out his plans for the future mysterious things begin to happen. After a few accidental deaths and a call to the military HQ they realize this man may not be what, or who he claims to be.

Typically known for their work in horror, Barrett & Wingard take what they have learned from spewing blood and guts and bring it into a new world. Although this is an action thriller from top to bottom the horror touch is present throughout and without it this film doesn't make the impact it has. From the framing to the music, this movie feels like a horror flick with highly intense action sequences replacing the scares. That's not to say this film isn't creepy, because it is. Any film that sets itself around Halloween already scores major points with me and The Guest not only does this, it utilizes the time period to its advantage. Without it the entire finale isn't possible and thus the film isn't as great. It also creates the perfect atmosphere of creepy and nostalgic, there's something about Halloween time that gives a film that awesome eighties feel to it.

The big surprise of this movie though is Dan Stevens, his performance as the war torn David is the movie and was also a pretty big risk. Dan Stevens is a British actor known best for his work on Downton Abbey and as a classically trained actor, not necessarily your first choice for an American action star. The risk paid its reward and then some though as Steven's owns this role and crafts the movie into what it was meant to be. The way he is able to shift gears from the most lovable and charming person you have ever met to one of the most frightening and deadly is awe striking and truly quite terrifying.

Aside from Steven's performance the most impressive aspect of this film is the action scenes. These sequences are not only impressive for a small budget indie film but for any action film, blockbuster or otherwise. The fight scene in the bar is one of the best shot and choreographed fights I have seen outside of The Raid films in years. I would compare it to the style of Matthew Vaughn as the action is fast paced, unforgiving, and wonderfully brutal. They want you to feel the pain when you watch someone’s leg get snapped in two or a beer bottle smashed over their face, and you do.

I would consider this movie a must watch for all movie geeks as it is a testament to what can be done when talented people are behind the camera, big budget or not. Simon Barrett and Adam Wingard have proven through their work that they not only have a unique voice but that they can make films that stand out in crowded circles. We see twenty new action movies a year, most with double the budget of this, and yet The Guest stands out as one of the best American made action movies of the past five years. Now available on Netflix streaming I couldn't recommend this movie more, everyone should see and appreciate this movie. Why should they keep making $200 million dollar movies when something as incredible as this can be made for next to nothing?

As always, thanks for reading and I am Zach Who Watches Movies. You can find me anytime on twitter @ZachWWMovies, smell ya later!