Every Sunday, Gill delves into his archive of over 800 movie reviews and randomly selects three for your enjoyment! Here are this week’s…
Eagle vs. Shark
Eagle vs. Shark fits into a niche subgenre of comedy that you either love or hate. A strange little love story about two socially awkward misfits, this film would make a perfect companion piece with Napolean Dynamite, as the two share that similar mumblecore sense of humour based around just how weird the characters are. Newcomer Loren Horsley is terrific as the extremely shy Lily, who may not be the most forthcoming, but whose inner confidence shines through in every scene. Jemaine Clement is perfrectly cast as her narcissistic love interest Jarrod, who is such an ass that by the end I was actually delighting in how miserable a bastard he could be. Besides the story of the two main characters falling awkwardly in love, there’s a subplot about Jarrod wanting to exact revenge on a guy who bullied him in high school that has an excellent conclusion. Eagle vs. Shark is funny, sad, and sometimes both simultaneously. It’s not for everyone, but if you like that Napolean Dynamite style of awkward humour that will elicit both belly laughs and nervous chuckles, then you will enjoy this movie immensely.
3.5 out of 5
The Bourne Legacy
This fourth instalment in the Jason Bourne franchise doesn’t actually contain any Jason Bourne, which may disappoint fans of the film series. I know that I spent much of the movie just waiting for a Bourne cameo that never came, and while I also tried to accept the film as its own entity – the potential start of a new series of Bourne-related movies – The Bourne Legacy ties itself so closely to the movies that came before it that I found it impossible to do so. Jeremy Renner is a fine leading man, and after seeing him in Mission Impossible – Ghost Protocol, I was interested to see him try to take the reigns of another action franchise. He does a decent job with what he’s given, but overall The Bourne Legacy just didn’t pack the same punch as the previous Bourne movies. There are a couple of good action sequences, but all the characters talk about is Jason Bourne, to the point where I just stopped caring about Renner’s Erin Cross entirely. If the next film is a crossover between the Erin Cross continuity and the Jason Bourne continuity, then this movie might be worth it. As it is, it’s a solid, decent little action/spy movie, but doesn’t break any new ground. The Bourne Legacy will leave you wanting more Bourne, but won’t provide any itself.
3 out of 5
Wet Hot American Summer
David Lean’s first major motion picture is a surreal comedy that’s prone to running off on tangents whenever it gets the chance, but still manages to evoke those nostalgic feelings of being at summer camp during one’s formative years. The cast for Wet Hot American Summer is awesome, featuring the likes of Janeane Garofalo, David Hyde Pierce, Paul Rudd, Molly Shannon, Amy Poehler, Bradley Cooper, and Elizabeth Banks, and all of them do a great job with their characters, giving the camp the feeling of being a real, functioning place. The downside of this movie for me is that it tends to go off the rails, forgetting to keep one foot grounded in reality, as characters go on a day trip into town and promptly become heroine junkies, a space station is randomly announced to be on a collision course with the camp, and a can of vegetables gives life advice to the Vietnam vet who serves as the camp cook. These surreal touches don’t ruin the movie, but they certainly took me out of it, and overall I found the film to be inconsistent in terms of its style and sense of humour. Overall, there’s a lot to like in Wet Hot American Summer, and if you can get past the weirdness, then you’ll find an enjoyable movie underneath.
3 out of 5
See you next Sunday for three more thrilling short reviews!