Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over
While
large-scale IMAX productions have achieved stunning realism, writer and director
Robert Rodriguez’s latest film–the third following the childhood adventures
of Juni and Carmen Cortez–succeeds with quaint 3-D cardboard glasses.
Floating bulls-eyes loom before us. Frogs on pogo sticks bounce forward. Nuts
and bolts fly off disintegrating machines. Grasping hands leap from the screen.
What’s most impressive about these effects is the distinctive, spatial world
they create, all thanks to the high-definition, digital technology now used
to create 3-D movies.
The story takes place inside of a video game. The Toymaker (Sylvester Stallone,
who takes on four roles and seems to be having more fun than he’s had in years)
is about to release his newest game, which will ultimately give him control
over the minds of young players. Carmen (Alex Vega) has been sent inside the
game to disable it, but gets trapped. It’s up to Juni (Daryl Sabara) to infiltrate
the computer system, defeat each level of the game, and shut it down.
Rodriguez shamelessly borrows from many sources, including The Matrix,
Tron, The Cell, and the ever-popular video games “Donkey Kong”
and “Tetris.” Though hardly original, this set-up gives the director the opportunity
to stretch the technology to its limits. The opponents Juni faces in game situations
become our enemies too.
Rodriguez has written a witty script that explores serious themes–familial
bonds, forgiveness–not often touched upon in action films. Rodriguez knows how
to please an audience of all ages.
(Running time 1:25, rated PG)
Grade B+
Showplace
–Chuck Koplinski
How to Deal
Halley Martin (Mandy Moore)
has to learn “how to deal” with one crisis after another. Her father (Peter
Gallagher), a local deejay and a poster boy for the Peter Pan Syndrome, has
run off with a young bimbo. Her mother (Allison Janney) is trying to recover
from being abandoned. And her vacuous sister (Mary Catherine-Garrison) is about
to get married for all the wrong reasons. Further complicating things, her best
friend Scarlett (Alexandra Holden) has fallen for a cute soccer player, and,
even worse, Halley finds herself drawn to local bad boy Macon (Trent Ford).
Though this sounds like a standard teen flick, How
to Deal turns into something much more, thanks to the fine performances
of Moore and Janney, the film’s maturity about relationships, and the script’s
many
surprises.
(Running time 1:41, rated PG-13)
Grade B
Showplace, White Oaks
–Chuck Koplinski
Johnny English
Johnny English is a comedy
with an expiration date long past due. British comic Rowan Atkinson (of Mr.
Bean fame) takes on the title role as a paper-pushing bumbler for the British
Secret Service. Through a freak accident, he becomes the agency’s chief spy.
This would seem to be great news for all megalomaniacs bent on world domination
as English’s antics gives new meaning to the word “inept.”
English’s task is to stop Pascal Sauvage (John Malkovich) from stealing the
Crown Jewels and the British Throne. While the Matt Helm and Derek Flint films
of the ’60s were the first to spoof the spy film, the Austin Powers trilogy
certainly put the final nail in this coffin.
(Running time 1:28, rated PG)
Grade C
Showplace, White Oaks
–Chuck Koplinski
What other critics are saying . . .
Edited by Imran Siddiquee
Bad Boys II Two cops in Miami uncover some funny business. “Could be
the most vile creation to come out of Hollywood since Patch Adams.” (Ed
Gonzalez, Slant Magazine) Chuck’s grade: F. Parkway Pointe, Showplace
Bruce Almighty Jim Carrey is granted sovereignty over his hometown
by God. “A smart, surprisingly thought-through blockbuster, with a decent grasp
of the theological implications of its idea. . . . It’s a subtle societal critique
that it never occurs to Bruce to think of others.” (Nev Pierce, BBCi) “A fable
overwhelmed by special effects and outsized spectacle.” (Kevin Thomas, Los
Angeles Times) Esquire
Chicago Picture-of-the-year musical about the murder trial of an up-and-coming
singer. “Without a doubt the best movie musical since Cabaret, Chicago
improves upon the long-running Broadway show by Kander and Ebb in many ways.”
(Jonathan Foreman, New York Post) “A narrative that remains the same
stale blast of self-congratulating showbiz cynicism.” (Dennis Lim, Village
Voice) Chuck’s grade: B+. Esquire
Daddy Day Care Eddie Murphy runs an off-the-wall day-care center. “A
woeful miscalculation, a film so wrong-headed audiences will be more appalled
than amused.” (Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times) “Lighthearted if shy of
a lark” (Ed Park, Village Voice). Chuck’s grade: C. Rt. 66 Drive In
Finding Nemo Animated underwater tale. “An upbeat, sentimental
fable about a fearful father fish and a rebellious son who recklessly breaks
away from the school. . . Visual imagination and sophisticated wit raise Finding
Nemo to a level just below the peaks of Pixar’s ‘Toy Story’ movies.” (Stephen
Holden, New York Times) “It’s all beautiful, all right. But before long
I began to feel beaten against the rocks of that beauty. . . . After the first
10 minutes or so, it’s exhausting.” (Stephanie Zacharek, Salon.com) Chuck’s
grade: A. White Oaks, Showplace
The Hulk Whenever scientist Bruce Banner gets angry, he turns into
the title’s green monster. “The most talkative and thoughtful recent comic book
adaptation. . . . The movie brings up issues about genetic experimentation,
the misuse of scientific research and our instinctive dislike of misfits, and
actually talks about them. . . . [Director] Ang Lee (The Ice Storm) has
boldly taken the broad outlines of a comic book story and transformed them to
his own purposes; this is a comic book movie for people who wouldn’t be caught
dead at a comic book movie.” (Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times) “Will somebody
please get Ang Lee away from popular culture. . . . He’s a pedestrian storyteller
with no feel for . . . pop entertainment. . . . At last, a comic-book movie
that National Public Radio listeners can be proud to take their kids to see.”
(Charles Taylor, Salon.com) Chuck’s grade: B+. Esquire
The Italian Job Remake of 1969 caper movie. “This is a snazzy piece
of filmmaking: fluid but wittily syncopated; stylish without appearing to expend
undue effort.” (David Edelstein, Slate) “Don’t expect much more . . . than a
pleasant workout.” (David Denby, The New Yorker) Rt. 66 Drive In
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen 19th-century literary
heroes come back to life. “Is it possible for a movie to be monotonously
action-packed? ‘LXG’ may well achieve it. The picture’s violence is a
snore and its massacres are soporific. . . . It’s an extraordinary waste of
time and an astounding piece of incoherent storytelling.” (Michael Wilmington,
Chicago Tribune) “If you’ve seen the miserable trailers for this movie,
please ignore them. . . if this movie, with its literary underpinnings, sounds
at all stodgy, relax. It works wonderfully as a popcorn picture.” (Jay Boyar,
Orlando Sentinel) Marty’s grade: B. Showplace, White Oaks
Legally Blonde 2 Lovable brainiac heads to Congress to fight for animal
rights. “Moves at such a brisk, easy clip that there isn’t much time to linger
over its flaws. . . . What’s interesting here isn’t what Elle is fighting for
but the unshakable smile with which she wages her war.” (Manhola Dargis, Los
Angeles Times) “The first one was silly fun, amusing and oddly inventive;
the second is plodding, unfunny and almost cringe-worthy.” (Claudia Plug, USA
Today) Marty’s grade: D+. Parkway Pointe
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl “In . . . a
movie based on a Disney theme-park ride–the most high-flying, jaw-dropping special
effect of the summer is . . . Johnny Depp.” (Ty Burr, Boston Globe) “Depp
keeps the film delightfully off balance with his unpredictable comic weave.
. . . The unexpectedly light touch of director Gore Verbinski (The Ring)
gives the film a playful tone without sinking it into self parody.” (Sean Axmaker,
Seattle-Post Intelligencer) Chuck’s grade: B+. Parkway Pointe, Showplace
Rugrats Go Wild Second feature based on the popular cartoon series
about loud-mouthed babies. “Even with Nickelodeon’s cross-pollination efforts
and the dazzling Oderama concept, the 12-year-old babies just aren’t funny this
time.” (Allison Benedikt, Chicago Tribune) “Stick a fork in the Rugrats
movie franchise. It’s done.” (Nancy Churnin, Dallas Morning News) Rt.
66 Drive In
Seabiscuit About the legendary race horse. “Told in a surprisingly
moving way with a lot of heart and no fancy stuff.” (Roger Ebert) Parkway
Pointe
Stuart Little 2 Based on E.B White’s tales of a family and their mouse.
“The color sense of Stuart Little 2 is its most immediate and most obvious
pleasure, but it would count for very little if the movie weren’t as beautifully
shaped and as delicately calibrated in tone as it is.” (Stephanie Zacharek,
Salon.com) Esquire
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines Arnold Schwarzenegger comes back,
again, as an android fighting another, more advanced robot. “A taut, exciting
science-fiction thriller that pumps up our adrenaline without forgetting to
engage our heads. . . . The movie also plays as a more palpable cautionary tale
about humans’ ceding control to machines than The Matrix Reloaded.” (Mark
Caro, Chicago Tribune) “Mainly the problem is a weak story that throughout
seems to be building toward something it never quite reaches.” (Mick LaSalle,
San Francisco Chronicle) Chuck’s grade: B. Parkway Pointe
Whale RiderA Maori girl living on the margins of a male-dominated
culture finds new meaning in life after discovering a bunch of beached whales.
“The genius of the movie is the way it sidesteps all of the obvious cliches
. . . and makes itself fresh, observant, tough and genuinely moving.” (Roger
Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times) “Non-Maori writer-director [Niki] Caro strives
to poeticize the native sea legends (the lovely underwater whale footage is,
alas, all digital), but the aboriginal hoopla comes off as tribal ritual for
its own sake.” (Michael Atkinson, Village Voice) White Oaks
This article appears in Jul 24-30, 2003.
