Crisp Criticism - "Pacific Rim", "The Lone Ranger", "Despicable Me", "White House Down"

by

Julien Faddoul

Pacific Rim

As a war between humankind and monstrous sea-creatures wages on, a former pilot and a trainee are paired up to drive a seemingly obsolete special weapon in a desperate effort to save the world from the apocalypse.

Imperceptible, inaudible and, for the most part, dull. One feels a boy-hood charm and an admiration toward Japanese Anime that is never fully being realised due to asinine commitments to a non-genre: The American Summer Blockbuster. Any attempt to convince or compel is quickly aborted when the budget comes into play. A tired film by a tired filmmaker.

d – Guillermo Del Toro

w – Guillermo Del Toro, Travis Beacham

ph – Guillermo Navarro

pd – Andrew Neskoromny, Carol Spier

m – Ramin Djawadi

ed – Peter Amundson, John Gilroy

cos – Kate Hawley

p – Jon Jashni, Mary Parent, Thomas Tull

Cast: Charlie Hunnam, Idris Elba, Rinko Kikuchi, Charlie Day, Ron Perlman Rob Kazinsky, Max Martini

The Lone Ranger

A Native-American warrior recounts the untold tales that transformed a lawyer into a legend of justice.

A somewhat fascinating catastrophe: A $250 million action-comedy nobody asked for, based on a duo of characters nobody remembers, with a star who seems to have stopped trying altogether. It couldn’t really have succeeded, could it?

d – Gore Verbinski

w – Ted Elliott, Terry Rossio, Justine Haythe

ph – Bojan Bazelli

pd – Jess Gonchor

m – Hans Zimmer

ed – James Haygood, Craig Wood

cos – Penny Rose

p – Jerry Bruckheimer, Gore Verbinski

Cast: Johnny Depp, Armie Hammer, Tom Wilkinson, William Fichtner, Barry Pepper     James Badge Dale, Helena Bonham Carter, Ruth Wilson

Despicable Me 2

A super-villain is recruited by the Anti-Villain League to help deal with a powerful new super criminal.

An animated sitcom that is worse than most.

d – Pierre Coffin, Chris Renaud

w – Ken Daurio, Cinco Paul

pd – Yarrow Cheney

m – Heitor Pereira, Pharrell Williams

ed – Gregory Perler

p – Janet Healy, Christopher Meledandri

Cast: Steve Carell, Kristen Wiig, Benjamin Bratt, Miranda Cosgrove, Russell Brand, Steve Coogan, Ken Jeong

White House Down *

A Capitol policeman attempts to save his child and protect the president from a heavily armed group of paramilitary invaders.

An interesting and engrossing attempt by its director to see if his brand of action cinema remains applicable 15 years after he was king. The result is silly, fake, at times boorish, but never less than fun.

d – Roland Emmerich

w – James Vanderbilt

ph – Anna J. Foerster

pd – Kirk M. Pertuccelli

m – Harald Kloser, Thomas Wanker

ed – Adam Wolfe

cos – Lisy Christl

p – Roland Emmerich, James Vanderbilt, Brad Fischer, Larry J. Franco, Laeta Kalogridis, Harald Kloser

Cast: Channing Tatum, Jamie Foxx, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Jason Clarke, Richard Jenkins, James Woods, Michael Murphy, Joey King