Dave Evans's Mini-Movie Reviews

Vacancy
The abysmal Kate Beckinsale continues her campaign of cinematic assault in this tale of a young couple who finds themselves trapped in a very sinister motel. This is director Nimrod Antal's first US feature, and it's an inauspicious start. At best, this is a mildy claustrophobic B-movie. At its worst, this makes The Hills Have Eyes 7 look original.

Pathfinder
Has director Marcus Nispel been possessed by the maligned spirit of Mel Gibson? Certainly this is a far cry from Nispel's music video work (Cher, Janet Jackson etc.) and feels much more in the overblown, in a simplistic 'historical' epic vein. Here the plot concerns a fateful meeting between the Vikings and the Native Americans. Bloodshed ensues.

Disturbia
Allegedly rising star, Shia LaBeouf, plays a teen under house arrest that, out of boredom, finds himself watching his neighbors and possibly witnessing a murder. So far, so Rear Window, but where that film crackles along with a breakneck pace and witty dialogue, this flounders through it's narrative arc, fluffing the suspense and generally falling flat.

Fracture
After a string of roles playing sedate, older characters, Anthony Hopkins returns to the psychotic calm that won him international acclaim for The Silence of the Lambs. While this tale of a wily and murderous husband never comes close to that classic, it's nonetheless a tense and sinister film. The ever-excellent Ryan Gosling weighs in as an assistant DA seeking justice for the deceased.

Hot Fuzz
The British team behind zombie-farce Shaun of the Dead return for this parody of a police drama. Perhaps the genre itself is less ripe for satire, or perhaps the plot just doesn't move quite smoothly enough, but this has none of the brio of their previous outing. This film is certainly a welcomed change from drab American rom-coms, but nothing special in its own right.

Grindhouse
After the masterful Kill Bill films, Quentin Tarantino returns with this curiosity: two films, back to back, one directed by the man himself and the other by Sin City's Richard Rodriguez, in the style of Z-grade horror flicks. While this may not be in everyone's taste, it's impossible to deny that this is a loving and smart homage to a much-maligned genre.

Perfect Stranger
Think back to the technophobic days of Sandra Bullock starring in digital-thriller The Net. Much has changed, but apparently not for director James Foley who heads up this dire suspense vehicle. Halle Berry continues her firm downhill trajectory as a woman searching for clues about her friend's murder, and then finds herself entangled in an obsessive online love tangle with Bruce Willis' creepy executive.

Meet the Robinsons
CGI rears its eerily attractive head once more in this latest post-Pixar offering from Disney. Free of any big-name voiceovers and this story of a wunderkind inventor who finds himself pitted against an evil genius and transported to the future, feels solid and robust in a way so few recent children's films do.

The Reaping
Following her second Best Actress Oscar a couple of years back, Hilary Swank seems to have a career death-wish following up the Dangerous Minds re-tread Freedom Writers with this dire supernatural thriller. Here she plays an ex-evangelist who arrives to investigate a town that seems to be suffering the ten biblical plagues. Who cares?

Are We Done Yet?
How Ice Cube ever got involved in this family-targeted franchise is beyond me, but here he is once again as the put-upon lead in the sequel to 2005s Are We There Yet? Here he and his new family find themselves coming up against an unscrupulous property development when they move to the suburbs.

The Lookout
Scott Frank, the writer behind Minority Report, finds himself in the director's seat for this noirish tale of an injured high-school athlete who finds himself unwillingly involved in a bank heist. Joseph Gordon-Levitt is excellent as the lead character, showing a palpable adolescent rage married to certain strength. It's a long way from his days on 3rd Rock.

Firehouse Dog
Nauseating as it may sound, Firehouse Dog comes with good directorial pedigree. Todd Holland has worked on the low-key but excellent Malcolm in the Middle and manages to bring some of that sleight of hand to this unappealing offering. Hollywood's top canine star goes astray and is adopted by firemen, and helps out in their efforts to save their station. Surprisingly painless.

Blades of Glory
Will Ferrell and Jon Heder take the reins here as two duelling Olympic ice skaters. Expect all the standard Will Ferrell feel-good gurning and the usual cheap laughs that come from focusing on such an easy target. Sure it's funny enough but wouldn't it be nice to see someone pushing the envelope a little further?

Back to Contents