Gary Wolcott's "Mr. Movie" column has appeared in the Tri-City Herald since 1992. The Tri-City native now lives in Portland, Ore., and watches about 250 movies each year. This member of Portland's association of movie critics, Far From Hollywood, believes movies are made to be seen on theater screens and should be seen there and not on television screens. Have a question for Mr. Movie? Click on "Add Comment" below. Mr. Movie has joined Twitter. Follow him here.
In the real world, Shelton who is merely stabbed a couple of times and not killed would be a suspect. That might have made a more interesting premise.
When the two men are nabbed, district attorney Nick Rice is more concerned with his conviction ratio than justice. So he cuts a deal. The leader of the two does 10 years in the slammer in exchange for testimony against his co-conspirator, who gets the death penalty. He didnt want to kill anybody.
Naturally, no-justice gets the patient and righteously angry Shelton planning. Ten years later, he kills the two killers and begins a life-and-death, cat- and-mouse game with Rice. It ]turns out that Shelton is a trained killing machine.
Revenge has never been so bland. Much of the fault for the failure of Law Abiding Citizen lands at the feet of its two equally monochrome stars Jamie Foxx and Gerard Butler. Given characters with some energy, both actors are passable. I know, Foxx has an Oscar and was brilliant as Ray Charles, but one character doesnt make a career. What has he done since?
Like Foxx, Butler has his moments, but most of what he does could be done better by other actors.
To give them credit, the plot is seriously flawed, and that isnt their fault. Once the set-up is in place, the story has nowhere to go that you haven't already been dozens of times.
Director F. Gary Gray best known for the comedy Friday and writer Kurt Wimmer (the forgettable The Recruit) need to see more chop-and-slash flicks such as the new horror chain, Saw or some of the oldie but goodies akin to Halloween, Nightmare on Elmstreet and Friday the 13th. Their creators know a lot about creative kills.
Nothing Shelton does to Rice and his cohorts is remotely interesting. What Gray and Wimmer are able to do is come up with an excellent twist ending.
Its too bad the ending didnt come an hour earlier.
Mr. Movie rating: 2 1/2 stars
Rated R for violence, gore and language. It opens Friday, Oct. 16 at Regals Columbia Center 8 and at the Fairchild Cinemas 12.
5 stars to 4 1/2 stars: Must see on the big screen
4 stars to 3 1/2 stars: Good film, see it if it's your type of movie.
3 stars to 2 1/2 stars: Wait until it comes out on video.
2 stars to 1 star: Don't bother.
0 stars: Speaks for itself.
The virus — or whatever malady is chosen — kills almost everyone and there is no cure. Civilization breaks down into violent tribal sectors or some such negative scenario. Or a huge chunk of civilization is killed off, and violence and tension ensue. Then the cure is found and everybody lives happily ever after.
While there are variations on the theme — like Outbreak, The Andromeda Strain, 28 Days Later and Stephen King’s king of them all, The Stand — the plot lines of either version offer few surprises.
'Journey 2: The Mysterious Island' not worth the trip
I think Journey 2: The Mysterious Island is a sequel. It’s ill-defined but it appears to be the next step after 2008‘s Journey to the Center of the Earth . The tie is Josh Hutcherson’s character Sean Anderson. He and his dad — done by Brendan Frasier — went to the center of the Earth.
No word in the sequel about what happened to dad.
New to the cast is Dwayne Johnson — AKA the Rock. He’s Sean’s stepfather, Hank. They have no relationship. When Sean gets into trouble with the law, Hank steps in and learns that Alex is a Vernian. Those who think author Jules Verne’s books are more biographical than fiction.
35th Annual Portland International Film Festival begins
The 35th Annual Portland International Film Festival has begun. It runs through February 25. For film fans this one is loaded. There are 140 films from 36 different countries — 93 are features and 46 shorts.
Portland isn’t that far from Tri-Cities art film lovers. This entry reviews a few films from the first weekend and Monday. I’ll be posting reviews throughout the series until its conclusion February 25th.
'Contraband' a rare January movie that doesn't tank
Studios dump movies in January.
This month is when the biggies released between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day begin to fade and the studios begin dribbling award-worthy art films out to smaller markets.
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