War Horse

         Up for review today is another one of this year's 9 Best Picture nominees. As like many of the other nominees, I don't think it should have been in contention for the Oscar's highest honor. In all opinion this year was a bit of a dud. Thus because of that is why I believe 9 films still made the contention. The fact that only a couple of films really stood out to people caused all the voters to vote for many films to be in contention. That's my theory anyway, but let's move on to the actual review shall we.
        Well what is there too say about War Horse. It's a WWI set drama and directed by Steven Spielberg. So far, so good right? Well unfortunately it doesn't get much better from here. But let me say, the movie is not bad. It's just not great. When it comes right down to it all you have is a movie about a horse. A miraculous horse, yes, but a miraculous one that isn't real and is the main character of the movie. Thus in lies the biggest problem.
         In other movies about a horse, though the horse is the main center point of the plot of the movie it isn't your lead character. Look at Seabiscuit and Secretariat. First off, both are about true horses with amazing stories. That helps in itself. Secondly, though the story of the horse is what we're watching, there are main characters along side that help the story move forward and progress. In Seabiscuit you have Tobey Maguire and Jeff Bridge's characters and in Secretariat there's Diane Lane who carries the show. But in War Horse, there's just a bunch of supporting characters to the horse that filter in and out of the movie before you can even really form an opinion of them.
         War Horse at its core is a story of friendship between a horse named Joey and his owner Albert (Jeremy Irvine). Albert is the son of a Scottish farmer who buys Joey at an auction. Albert becomes responsible for training Joey and in turn their deep friendship begins. When the war begins, despite Albert's pleas Joey is sold to the British cavalry. From here we watch as Joey goes and makes his way through the war facing many different challenges along the way in an effort to hopefully be reunited with Albert once its over.
          Sadly, this bond of friendship is the driving force behind this movie and it just isn't strong enough. There are some good things though as there's a reason it was nominated for 6 Oscars. However, these are mainly on the technical side. The cinematography is very good as the shots of the vast Scottish landscape and others throughout Europe are quite vivid and beautiful. Plus, John Williams score is quite good as well. As for acting, I think the best job goes to David Thewlis (Lupin in the Harry Potter series) who plays the villainous landlord of Albert's family's farm.
         In the end though, there's just not enough good to make up for the bad or just average. The movie runs at 146 minutes which is far too long. If this had been cut down to a solid two hours it could have potentially helped itself immensely. However, all we're left with is an overly long war story about a horse. At least with Seabiscuit and Secretariat you had the excitement of races to drive the viewers interest. This one doesn't and like I said it just becomes a movie about a horse. Big whoop.
         Overall, I give this movie a thumbs down and 2 out of 4 stars. I'm bumping it up from 1.5 strictly for its technical achievements.  But the story in itself combined with running time only gather a 1.5 for me. This movie may still be able to be found at a random theater here and there, but otherwise you can get it on DVD and Blu-Ray beginning April 3rd. Enjoy!

Editor's Note:  My next film will be the 2012 Best Picture nominee The Tree of Life starring Brad Pitt, Jessica Chastain, and Sean Penn.

Super 8

            So how do you write a review about a movie that has been so shrouded in mystery since its title was mentioned for the very first time?  Well, I'm going to choose to do it by doing the same thing the ad men at Paramount have tried to do; and that is keep almost everything a mystery. Regardless if you like this ad tactic or not you should respect it. Is it kind of frustrating to go pay for a movie you seem to know nothing about? Of course it is. But this is something movies don't do anymore, and far to many times than not now a days do movies give too much information or jokes away in their trailers. Trust me, the mystery of not knowing practically anything just makes this movie better.
            So in case you haven't seen one of the trailers here is what information you'd be able to gather from it. Super 8 is about 6 kids in 1979 who are shooting a homemade zombie movie they witness a horrific train crash. From that crash something big and dangerous escapes and weird things begin to happen in their small Ohio town. The kids set out to try and discover what is happening in their town and why, all while trying to continue to shoot their movie and avoid the military, who has gotten involved. There's your basic outline with minimal detail.
            Now some of you may go and see this and think that its not much of a new idea. Group of kids get into something unexpected, find trouble, and so on. Sounds similar to "The Goonies" and other movies. But then again, how many truly original ideas are really coming out of Hollywood anymore? Many movies follow similar story outlines, but it's how complex each individual story is and how it's told that makes it a great movie or not; and Super 8 is well done in both regards. With director J.J. Abrams (Lost, Star Trek) and executive producer Steven Spielberg as the two big brains behind this they help create something much more in depth than what you may have come to expect from a film of this type.
            First off, the cast of six kids did a fantastic job, especially considering that they're all pretty much unknown and fairly new to the business. Joel Courtney (Joe) and Riley Griffiths (Charles), the two with the biggest workloads, are in their acting debuts, but you'd never know it from the way they interact and work with each other on screen. Elle Fanning (Alice) is probably the most experienced of the bunch, yet you never get any disparity that anyone in the group hasn't been doing this for awhile. The dialogue between the kids is what really seals the deal as it feels real. They talk to each other exactly how you expect close friends to talk to one another, with swearing and trash talk, all of the way to a complete 180 degree difference when around adults. It really helps the audience connect.
            Super 8 I thought was a great film. It was highly entertaining, with plenty of great action, and keeps you in a constant state of mystery, which will keep you intrigued throughout the entire movie as you want to know the answer to every single question. The depth and stories of the characters allow the audience to get an emotional connection with them as well. Where I think the movie faltered was at the end as I believe it didn't end as strongly as I was expecting. Now the ending was not bad, it just wasn't as climactic as perhaps I thought it would be.
            Overall, I give Super 8 a thumbs up and a solid 3 out of 4 stars. It wasn't blow you away fantastic, but it's a very fun and exciting movie that allows every audience member to feel like a kid again and go on their own crazy adventure. I recommend seeing it in theaters due to the action and if you do stick around as the credits role as there's more to see! Enjoy!

Editor's Note: My next review will be on the comedy Just Go With It starring Adam Sandler, Jennifer Aniston, and Brooklyn Decker