Dan's Papers - October 13, 2006 - Dave Evans' Mini-Movie Reviews

Sarah Michelle Gellar returns in the sequel to one of 2004's most successful American adaptations of classic Japanese horror. The plot still revolves around the inexplicable and contagious fit of rage and luckily the shocks are still as sharp. This time the focus is on Gellar's character's sister, played perfectly adequately by Sister of the Traveling Pants star Amber Tamblyn.

Barry Levinson, director of the excellent Wag the Dog, is back on familiar ground with this tale of a talk show host (Robin Williams) who jokingly runs for president and wins. Sharp, funny and with an excellent cast (including Laura Linney, Christopher Walken and the ever-superb Jeff Goldblum) this is well worth a look.

Never let it be said that you walked into this unwarned. The film's star is John Cena of WWE (formerly WWF) fame and the director, John Bonito, comes with the same, ahem, pedigree. The plot concerns a returning marine who finds his wife involved in a kidnapping - not that it really matters. Big muscles, big bangs, little thought.

Martin Scorsese's on familiar territory here with this epic tale of the battle between the police and the Irish mafia in Boston. It's all very Boys Own Adventure with a strong line in honor and justice, mouthed out by a cast boasting Leonardo DiCaprio, Jack Nicholson, Martin Sheen and Matt Damon to name but a few. Not for everyone but very polished for what it is.

The continual fame of the utterly talentless and charmless Jessica Simpson is perhaps the precursor to the arrival of the Four Horseman of the Apocalypse. No longer content to haunt the radio and MTV, this sees her cast as the stunning lady for whose attention Dane Cook and Dax Shepard must fight for as they vie for the title of Employee of the Month. There is no justifiable excuse for watching this film.

Leatherface is perhaps the least enigmatic of cinema's serial killers. Freddy Krueger has wit, Halloween's Michael has a backstory, while Leatherface is mostly just a moaning screaming beast. Alas, this attempt to flesh out his history is less than impressive. Extremely gory and harsh, in the manner of the original, this lacks the empathy it so badly needs.

Oh my god, make it stop! The summer's orgy of sub-par CGI children's films shows no sign of stopping for fall with this dreadful tripe about a bear and a deer trying to escape the hunter's bullets. Like the awful Barnyard before it, this really feels like not an ounce of thought has gone into it. Vocal stylings come from bargain bin actors Ashton Kutcher and Debra Messing among others.

Director Todd Phillips, of Starsky and Hutch, Old School fame, may not have the most inspirational track record but this adaptation of the 1960 British comedy is deeply funny. The plot concerns a young man's (Napoleon Dynamite's excellent lead, Jon Heder) attempts to become a better man. With actors such as David Cross and Sarah Silverman in supporting roles, this is too enjoyable to miss.

It's been a while since Johnny Knoxville, Steve-O and Wee Man have been on our screens indulging their masochism and perhaps it hasn't been long enough. There's plenty of wince-inducing violence here and some genuinely funny (if obviously excruciating) physical comedy but the sense of excitement seems to have gone out of this circus of pain.

Allegedly the master's last martial arts film, Jet Li is going out on a high with this biopic of Chinese master Huo Yuanjia. As ever with such fare, much of the excitement comes from a visceral thrill of violence, but there is a real beauty in just watching Li move. A brutal kind of ballet.