MOVIE REVIEW: They're Watching

They're Watching (2016)

Horror, Comedy

Directed By: Jay Lender & Micah Wright

So often the "found-footage" subgenre of horror gets a bad wrap, we always like to remember the bad ones and forget the good. When this style of filmmaking is used correctly however, cool and interesting things can happen. The key to this is finding the right excuse for your characters to be filming everything they are doing. If the reason for the film isn't believable than the entire film will likely follow suit. This is the main mistake of most sub-par found-footage movies. This has also led some filmmakers to come up with new creative ways to tell these stories, like the new horror comedy They're Watching. Written and directed by Jay Lender and Micah Wright the movie centers on a home hunting reality TV show that takes its cast all over the world.

The movie focuses on those team of "house hunters' as they travel to a remote Eastern European village for a follow up with a former guest of the show. When they arrive in the town however they are met with colder reactions than expected. When they hear of a local tale involving the burning of a suspected witch who lived on the outskirts of town, things begin to get weird. It is only made worse when a few members of the crew interrupt a funeral in town and further alienate themselves from the locals. Despite the crew's best efforts to be in and out of this town as quickly as possible, things keep going wrong and before they know it they are fighting for survival against the locals and their outrageous superstitions.  

The decision to go the horror/comedy route with this story was most certainly the right choice, once you get into the story it's clear this would have gotten almost nowhere without the low-brow laughs and slightly overblown characters. They stack the film with your average horror movie archetypes and in classic fashion have them go down one by one as the threat moves closer. The film plays a lot of genre tropes and cliches, poking fun at them along the way while also using them to their advantage. This actually builds some impressive tension and mystery, making it easy to get sucked into what's going on.

The film never takes itself too seriously, which sometimes plays against itself while at others being the perfect bit of levity. There are moments though where a bit of serious horror would help move it along but instead they use it as another chance for laughs and it instead kinds of slows the story down. These moments are usually only saved by the few fun performances featured, starting with Vladimir Filat played by Dimitri Diatchenko who is here almost entirely for comedic relief but is such an enjoyable character that you never have a problem with it. Kris Lemche also gives a fine performance and is a source of many of the laughs in the film, but again is a more one dimensional character. This is the film's biggest problem, we never actually get any attachment to the characters so when they start dying we have little to no investment.  

Most of the movie is building towards its big twist ending, and although it is a fine twist and brings about a raucous ending it all kind of feels like it came from a different movie. The final fifteen or so minutes just go crazy, in some great ways and in some not so great ways. Without spoiling anything let's just say the violence is fun but the effects can be quite jarring. They throw everything at the wall in the finale in hopes that what sticks is great enough to forget what doesn't. It doesn't fully get there but I admire the ambition to do something wild and different. 

I doubt this movie will do anything to get the sub-genre more respect but for those who are a fan of found-footage horror They're Watching is another fun installment into that pantheon. At a ninety-five minute run-time they keep it short and sweet, being sure to never overstay its welcome and it simply aims to entertain. If you are looking to kill an hour and a half with something wacky then give this a shot, it's currently streaming on Netflix to make it even easier. 

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

MOVIE REVIEW: Suicide Squad

Suicide Squad (2016)

Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

Directed By: David Ayer

When we first found out that Warner Brothers was not only going to make a movie based on the popular, yet more obscure Suicide Squad comic, but that it was also going to be the third movie in the DC extended universe franchise we were all shocked to say the least. Not that there isn't a great story to tell there but because it seems odd to do a story centering on a bunch of villains we haven't been introduced to yet so early on. Well, it's now clear why it was positioned so early into the franchise, the movie is one giant bridge between the events of this year's BvS and next years Justice League movie, that's the bad news. The good news is that they have almost perfectly cast this movie and the ride you take with these characters is a hell of a good time, even if  the story surrounding them is rather clunky and oddly cut together.

For those of you unfamiliar with the Suicide Squad comics, the story centers on a group of super villains who have been imprisoned by the government and are brought together by Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) to work a task force running top secret, dirty missions for the government. In the films version they have brought together iconic villains like Harley-Quinn (Margot Robbie), Deadshot (Will Smith), and even more obscure ones like Captain Boomerang (Jai Courtney) in order to stop an inhuman threat intent on taking over the world, Under the close watch of Waller they are sent into to the city to secure a government asset and try to stop the outside threat.

The story never goes too deep and with a jumbled plot the movie finds itself going from 0 to 1,000 in the blink of an eye. We spend the first act of the film doing character introductions with each villain getting their own quick flashback to tell their tale, well, most of them. These actually work and are a source of a lot of the fun of this flick, the first forty or so minutes seem to fly by as we get quick, yet informative and action/easter egg packed back stories of the characters we are just being introduced to for the first time. Though it can sound kind of cheesy it actually goes a long way to making this movie feel like an actual comic book.

Once the introductions are done and we have been acquainted with (most of ) the team the film literally jumps right into the major plot line. Seemingly out of nowhere the movies villain is introduced and the squad is on the ground of Midway City en route to recover the asset and contain the problem. It's a bit jarring at first but once you dial into what's going on it's easy to follow, even if the villain is treated as an afterthought to the rest of the movie. 

The film's biggest issue is that we don't care about the villain and the stakes are way too high. Once the film enters the final act it's hard not to wonder where all the actual superheroes are as we watch yet again as another world ending threat attacks humanity. It all just feels way too big, not only for this team, but for their very first mission together. They want us to believe that these horrible people have bonded to the point of calling each other family in just a few hours together but the film never fully sells it. When the big emotional punches came I never found myself dialed and that's a shame really.

If you can get over the hump of a clunky story and a poor villain, which I know is a lot to ask, the rest of what this movie has to offer is pretty damn great. For starters they have cast this movie almost perfectly, which was a huge task considering how many new characters they decided to introduce here. Characters like Amanda Waller played brilliantly by Viola Davis who gives a chilling performance. Not to mention a phenomenal performance from Margot Robbie who brings to life Harley Quinn for the first time ever in live action and in an amazing way. Credit should also be given to Jai Courtney who portrays the ridiculous villain Captain Boomerang and leaves us for maybe the first time ever wanting more of him, and also Diablo played by Jay Hernandez who has probably the best character arc of the film.

There were plenty of great characters but when I left the theater I was thinking of only one, and he most certainly didn't have green hair. No, the guy who stole the show was none other than Will Smith's Deadshot and dare I say, Smith is back and better than ever. His embodiment of the ultimate assassin is as perfect as a comic book adaptation should be and after seeing what he brought to this movie a Deadshot solo outing should be green-lit immediately. 

This plays into the action of the movie as well which, despite its world threatening villain, works wonderfully even with most of the team not having any super powers. Harley kicks some serious ass with her baseball bat proving that she can more than hold her own. Deadshot steals the show pretty much every time he picks up a gun and starts a shooting gallery, especially one particular scene where does his version of a "cut and run" and it's simply brilliant. I also have to mention Diablo and Killer Croc as well who both add another type of viciousness to the battles of this movie.

I am sure plenty of you are wondering how Jared Leto's Joker panned out after he was the center of almost all the marketing for the past year. Well, I wasn't a fan of his version of this character and his entire story seemed shoehorned into this film. The time used to tell his trivial story could have been much better used developing the characters that actually matter more. The way he plays the character comes off as a bad mix of Jim Carrey's Riddler and Tommy Lee Jones Two Face, it just never worked for me and I never once believed he could be a formidable foe for Batflek. His character works fine enough in the film though and his barely ten minutes of screen-time kept me from being pulled out of the movie entirely.

Suicide Squad is far from perfect and although it is a highly entertaining movie it unfortunately furthers a few of the problems currently plaguing the DCEU. Its disjointed and there seems to be a clear difference between what the filmmakers want and what the studio wants from this franchise. This movie would have succeeded far more had it not been used as a bridge between BvS and Justice League. The stakes are way too high for an introductory story but with a stellar cast and strong performances the movie as a whole is still a damn good time. 

Any fans of the DC properties should have a lot of fun with this movie, you just have to acknowledge its problems and its easier to enjoy its triumphs. I definitely hope we see more of these characters soon, both together and in the off shoot hero stories that are coming up. They strike surprisingly good chemistry and seem to truly understand who they are supposed to be. At least they are aware of the fact that the villains of the DC universe are their biggest asset and should be used accordingly. Personally, I'm just ready for Justice League to happen so we can move on to the more intimate character stories.

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

MOVIE REVIEW: Jason Bourne

Jason Bourne (2016)

Action, Thriller

Directed By: Paul Greengrass

I don't think I will ever forget the first time I saw The Bourne Identity, the flick that kick started this franchise, and for good reason; it's one of the best action films of the modern century. I missed the movie in theaters but my dad rented the DVD as soon as it came out and we had ourselves a little late night movie viewing. We used to have a pull-out couch in the family room, so we pulled the bed out, made ourselves comfortable and shoved popcorn in our faces for two hours as we reveled in the breathtaking action that ensued - I was mesmerized. It is one of my most fond movie watching experiences with my dad and it will stick with me forever. I don't think I have watched the film in its entirety in a few years but I could still go over the whole movie almost scene for scene with anyone at anytime, it's that good. 

I am telling you all of this because I want you to know what a deep connection I have with this franchise and that I went into this movie wanting to love every second of it. Identity was followed by two good sequels, Supremacy & Ultimatum, they aren't great but they are damn good and when that trilogy ended I thought we had a kickass American action franchise that would stand the test of time. Then they made a spin-off flick with Jeremy Renner, I never saw it because I was never interested. When that movie failed the studio did everything they could to get Paul Greengrass back in the director's chair and Matt Damon back in front of the camera. They got what they wanted and now we have the fifth movie in the series, simply titled Jason Bourne.

This information is all relevant because, despite my desires for this to be one of my favorites of the year, I left the theater feeling wholly underwhelmed and tragically bored. Feeling like the shell of its much better predecessors, Jason Bourne (or Bourne *Light* as I've been calling it) once again follows our mystery assassin as the CIA try to bring him in and corrupt him once again, only this time they decided to be hip to modern trends and add a whole cyber security/Silicon Valley angle that never succeeds at getting its footing in the story. You couldn't have shoehorned in more Edward Snowden name drops if you were making the Snowden movie, it's that on the nose. Not to mention the big "tech expo" they check out in the movie feels like a scene pulled from Silicon Valley, which directly parodies and satirizes the tech world. In a film as serious as this the sequence feels totally out of place and misunderstood by the filmmakers.

Whenever I leave a movie not having enjoyed it I tend to sit back and try to find the points of the movie I truly enjoyed, as to find the few silver linings to spending the cash on a ticket. With this one I fear there are none of those moments, sadly. The trailers spoiled all of the best action shots from Bournes opening one-punch knock out to the car chase on the Vegas strip and outside of those there isn't much else to offer for two hours. That's criminal, in an action franchise known for its inventive and flashy action sequences to have a two hour film filled with dull and unoriginal fights and chase scenes is simply unacceptable. 

Matt Damon does a fine enough job reprising his role, but when your character only spits a handful of lines the entire time and is mostly expected to do good action that's not the hardest task to pull off. The big hope was that newcomers Alicia Vikander and Tommy Lee Jones would use their talents to lift the film, but due to poorly written characters and dialogue they end up just being another part of the problem with the movie as a whole. They also bring back Julia Stiles character Nicky Parsons, and succeed at wasting her entirely. It never felt like they had a full grasp on what they wanted to do with each character, having each of their storylines feeling connected by the weakest of threads. 

Okay, so the characters aren't the best and the action isn't what we'd hoped, but there is still the mystery of it all, right? The biggest draw to the first three Bourne movies is the unknown nature of his character, following him as he finds out who he is has always been the most intriguing aspect of the franchise. After three movies there isn't much mystery left though and what they do try and do this time around fails to have any real impact on the viewer. It feels like they forced in a story about Bourne's father and another government killer just so we had an actual plot line for his character. None of it ever lands or grabs the emotional response that it needs to and feels like it's because they were holding back in hopes of making at least one more story, I hate that.

When it all comes down to it the big draw to this new movie was the return of Damon as Jason Bourne as well as Paul Greengrass to the director's chair. The latter is something that always puzzled me a bit, yeah his two movies (Supremacy/Ultimatum) prior to this continued the franchise in a nice way but it was that first movie that really made this franchise a big success, and is still the best of them all. Well, that first movie was directed by Doug Liman (Edge of Tomorrow) and this newest film shows that he should have been the guy they went after to get this series going again. There are already talks of another movie, but after this I am checked out of the Bourne saga. I'll live on happily thinking of only the first three films as a perfect as can be action franchise.  

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

MOVIE REVIEW: Star Trek Beyond

Star Trek Beyond (2016)

Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

Directed By: Justin Lin

When Into Darkness came to an end three years ago it promised something in the future that longtime fans of the franchise had been looking for; adventure and exploration of the unknown. At the end of the second JJ film we see the crew of The Enterprise setting off on a five year mission to explore the unknown reaches of space. This left fans hoping that the next time we saw these guys on screen that it would be at some point in that exploration and that we would see them take on adventure rather than the apocalypse. Apparently the fans were heard, and although this films stakes may still be too high it still succeeds as a true adventure film.

After two movies with this crew their characters have been fully established and this time around we are popping in on them smack dab in the middle of a five year mission. The crew answers a distress call that they think will be a simple rescue mission but quickly turns into something much larger and life threatening. The call leads them to a mysterious and abandoned planet where they find themselves ambushed and most of their crew abducted. Now Kirk (Chris Pine), Spock (Zachary Quinto), and a handful of other popular crew members must find a way to save their shipmates and escape this planet and the people who hold it. Unfortunately for them the force in control of the planet has other plans for the crew of The Enterprise. 

I should let it be known that I did not grow up a fan of Star Trek, my dad is a lifelong fan but his love of Star Wars struck me more as a young child. Over the years, and thanks to JJ's films for making the property more accessible to me at the time, I have come to really enjoy the franchise (though I have yet to dive into the shows) so I was always slightly confused by much of the vitriolic hate for his two films. After seeing Beyond I can at least understand where they are coming from now. In a time when every blockbuster is an "end of the world" scenario it is refreshing to see something operate on a much smaller scale.

A large reason this was able to happen was a shake up in the writing and directorial duties this time around. Rather than Roberto Orci writing and JJ Abrams directing (as it was the first time films) they went a different route and got long time Trekkie Simon Pegg (who plays Scotty in the films) to pen a script that captured the essence of the classic shows and films and Justin Lin, who is best known for the Fast & Furious movies, to direct. This may seem like an odd pairing but when you see the finished product you know it was the best match. Pegg's knowledge and love of the franchise paired with Lin's ability to make a huge movie revolving around a small story (that's really what most of the Fast movies are) allowed them to craft a film that is pure adventure and intrigue. 

Aside from those changes much of the remainder of the crew stayed the same. Everyone aboard the Enterprise reprises their roles just as good as ever. They give some more development to Sulu (John Cho) and a handful of other smaller characters as well which was simply good world building. The main additions to the cast were Idris Elba as Krull, the powerful force holding the planet, and Sofia Boutella as Jayla, an alien creature who has been living secretly on the abandoned planet. Both are great in their roles, even under all their make-up, and I am excited to see more of Jayla in the future.

I'd like if more science fiction movies of the future take note of some of the things this movie does phenomenally well. For example: This film takes place entirely off of Earth, which becomes key to why the story is so spell-binding. I find it much easier, and more entertaining, to engage in an adventure story revolving around space exploration when that story doesn't actually take place on our planet at all. It allows us to buy into the world they have created, showing Earth every fifteen minutes is just a reminder that everything we are seeing is just fiction and that's no fun. 

I wish I could tell you more about how this flick captures the essence of the old shows or movies or how this story compares to those of the past, but I can't. As someone who doesn't know the property nearly as well as its countless die-hard fans all I can tell you is that in a summer where so many blockbusters have been disappointing, Star Trek Beyond exceeded my expectations by far. Its a purely fun space adventure that succeeds off of our deep love of science and science fiction. It's hard to believe many trekkies haven't gone to see this yet but to anyone else looking for great summer entertainment this should be at the top of your list. 

** It is also worth noting that, as one of his final performances, Anton Yelchin was once again fantastic as Chekov. That guys charisma was like none others.

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