Christmas Break Catchup Movie Reviews

Like many, I caught up on a few movies I missed during the break. Mostly recent DVD releases. If you’re curious whether they’re worth the rental, here’s my quick takes on these 2009 blockbusters and how good they really were.

The Hangover

A movie that had a lot of hype for me, and a lot of potential. One of my favorite comedy directors, Todd Phillips (from Old School and Road Trip), a winner cast, and a winning plot idea. It seemed like a no-miss. It did amazing at the box office, as well.

With that expectation, it was a very mixed bag. In the positive corner, it avoided the descent into silliness that movies of this type tend to have. There’s a lot of odd things introduced and the plot continues to get weirder and weirder each minute, but it never bails on reality. That being said, it just really wasn’t all that funny.

If you haven’t seen it by now, you’re probably not in the main target demo, and probably will just find it passable. If you like the in-your-face funny style of Old School, it’s also likely not to satisfy. If you enjoy more complex plots and a few good laugh lines (and don’t mind some rough content) it’s the movie for you.

I’d have to say I was disappointed because of my expectations, but probably wouldn’t have loved it even if I had none. It has a standard comedy premise (guys wake up in Vegas with no memory of the strangeness of the night before, just a lot of clues) and the rest is just watchable and somewhat amusing. Didn’t laugh out loud much at all.

Not a date movie, not a super funny comedy, but an interesting yarn and moves pretty smoothly.

2.5 Stars out of 4

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Inglorious Basterds

Another one that I was really looking forward to, and it just didn’t quite make the grade. Since it was Quentin Tarantino, I can’t really complain that it was a weird uneven mix of violence, dialogue, and randomness. The basic premise was strong – making the Nazis pay for their crimes vigilante style – but it just was an exhausting set of scenes to get them there.

The movie is pretty long – almost two and a half hours – and has more dialogue than any movie in recent memory. Half of the dialogue is subtitles, oddly enough. The characters are fairly memorable, but none of the interesting ones get much screen time. The scenes drag on unbelievably long to move the plot forward, and you find yourself thinking “hurry up and get to the point” quite often.

In the end, it wasn’t as bloody as Tarantino’s previous efforts, but also didn’t really seem to have a point besides the obvious. And it took a whole lot of talking to reach no real point. And good luck keeping up with what’s going on as you drift in and out of caring.

2 Stars out of 4

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Twilight New Moon

Oddly enough, since it is heavily targeted not at my demographic, New Moon ended up being the most satisfying of my viewings over the holidays. I am a mild fan of the first one simply because I like Vampire stories. I could do without some of the depressing love story, but then the movie would be 11 minutes long.

The second one has a new director, and while it is similar to the first, it is at the same time quite different in most ways. Mostly an improvement over the first, but there are still long scenes of depressing conversation about..I guess love is what they’re talking about. The suicidal kind. And lots of shirtless dudes (I closed my eyes for the scary parts).

But the backstory and action are satisfying, and the acting and dialogue were passable. The best thing I can say about it is that I’m up for the third installment – Eclipse – coming out in June. Even though I can’t really rave about the film, that’s saying a lot more than I can for everything else I watched over the holiday that was much more critically acclaimed that this teen super-angst love story.

2 and a half stars out of 4