weinuthkorrel Reviews

Minions (2015)

En Route to Servitude

[7/10 · 8 July 2015]

Before I proceed please note that I have not seen the Despicable Me movies. I merely took a chance with this one. Thankfully, I was pleasantly surprised to find it decently entertaining, despite its intended target audience and the fact that I've been around for at least 38 years.

IMDb reviewer elliemcnair and Co. have beautifully summarized the plot so I'll go straight to my 2 cents': the movie is entertaining in the sense that it has something for the young and the young at heart to enjoy, while having other things that more mature audiences can also appreciate. It was a treat to see references to British culture and pop culture such as James Bond, the Beatles, rock and roll, etc..

The people who will best appreciate this movie, however, are the fans of the Despicable Me movies or folks who love the minions' silly antics. The latter idea was what caused the move to feel like hit-and-miss for me depending on the scene. Certain jokes and scenes were humorous to me while others felt a bit flat, as if the writers were trying a bit too hard to provide something funny just for the sake of having a joke.

Overall, however, it was easy for me to to empathize and identify with the title characters' search for a master to serve. Ultimately, that is what appeals to adults: the identification with a desire to find--even create--meaning and purpose in one's life. Yes, the movie is a comedy yet it is also a metaphor for life. It is nice to know that underneath the seemingly mindless slapstick humor is a deeper meaning that all of us can resonate with, regardless of age or station.

Final Girl (2015)

Prey becomes predator

[7/10 · 8 July 2015]

There is something about hunted-to-hunter films that gets my adrenaline pumping. Final Girl is no exception.It is an entertaining movie for the aforementioned reason yet it has a few imperfections that prevent it from being even more entertaining.

The premise is simple: four male thrill-killers place would-be female victims in a "game" scenario in order to experience the thrill of the chase. Most of their quarries end up dead except for their latest "victim," Veronica.

It turns out that Veronica has been training for that one moment since childhood thanks to the mentoring of the man whose wife and child the quartet killed several years back. She uses her survival skills to turn the tables on the hunters and ends their killing spree once and for all.

The story is straightforward enough, with the rationale behind the thrill-killing at least partially (though not satisfactorily) explained. The action scenes are decently done and believable enough. For me, the highlights of the film lie in two scenes: one, where the quartet come face to face with their worst fears after Veronica drugs them; two, when Veronica attempts to "seduce" her teacher in the beginning only to be rebuffed.

Speaking of the character, Abigail Breslin does a decent job of portraying her assassin-type character. This is the first action- oriented role I've seen her in and she handles it acceptably well. However, the way that she handles it is the film's greatest strength and also its greatest weakness.

I've seen how Breslin handled her roles in Ender's Game and Maggie, and I looked forward to seeing how she handled this one. The good part about her portrayal is that she got the innocence, girl-next- door and fear portions down pat. Given her previous performances, it's no surprise at all.

The problem came in during the other scenes when she had to play the role of assassin. This, in my opinion, is where the movie could have been improved. In other words, Breslin was really good at the good girl parts, so much so that the assassin and seductress parts got left behind somewhat. There was noticeably less "oomph" when she had to switch from good girl mode to assassin mode or seductress mode. Her mentor and her assailants in the film looked more natural in their roles than she did in hers.

In all fairness to her, she looked like she was doing her best to be willful and deadly and menacing during the scenes when those qualities were called for. However, she still looked like she was groping about a little when trying to get the nuances of her character right. It may be that that was intentional and she was doing her best to act in a way that looked like she was unsure of herself (it was her character's acid test, after all). However it is also possible that she is simply not completely suited for or not used to an assassin-huntress role of that type and she is still finding her way.

In any case, I still enjoyed the movie and found it decently entertaining, if a bit predictable. Breslin's character portrayal isn't exactly at La Femme Nikita level yet, yet she can hold her own in an action film. I know that, with a little more practice, she can nail the nuances of a similar character down eventually in the future.