Cry_Wolf (2005)(Minor Spoilers Review)

**This review contains MINOR spoilers, no character deaths, major reveals, or plot twists**

Troubled teen Owen Matthews (Julian Morris) receives one last shot at redemption, when his powerful father, Charles (Gary Cole) pulls some strings for Owen’s acceptance into Westlake Preparatory Academy, an excusive and upscale private school for teenagers.

Upon his arrival, Owen is invited into a new circle of friends by Dodger (Lindy Booth) and his new roommate Tom (Jared Padalecki). During a night in the campus’ chapel, Owen meets Mercedes (Sandra McCoy), her boyfriend, Lewis (Paul James), Randall (Jesse Janzen), Regina (Kristy Wu), and Graham (Ethan Cohn).  Owen is invited to play a lying game, where Dodger puts The Wolf against the sheeps. The object of the game? Lie your way into a cash prize, and the last one standing is declared the winner.

Bored and looking for a chance to spice things up, Dodger, with the help of everyone in the group, decides to bring The Wolf to life as a serial killer. But some harmless fun takes a turn for the worst, when a teacher on campus named Mr. Walker (Jon Bon Jovi) suspects something fishy about the game. Using the backstory of a real life local murder to build The Wolf‘s mystique as a killer, the game sends the entire campus into a frenzy, leading to one crucial question: Is The Wolf real?

You'll see the usual set of characters in a teen style slasher film here. Dodger is the seemingly innocent sweetheart, Tom is the cocky pretty boy/jerk, Randall is the “bad boy,” Mercedes is the attractive and clueless airhead, and Lewis is the dopey boyfriend. Owen? He’s the new kid, who tries too hard to fit in, and in the end, his never ending quest for acceptance costs him, big time.

I’ll give the nod to Lindy Booth for the best performance, and although it doesn’t last long, Booth is able to showcase a believable devious side to Dodger character. Morris is okay in the leading role, but his character has a few head shaking moments as this gullible doofus, and without Booth to prop him up, I can’t picture Morris maintaining serviceable status as the leading man. Padalecki and Wu are good for a few cheap laughs, and Janzen doesn’t receive a significant amount of screen time. Jon Bon Jovi is solid as Mr. Walker. Throughout the movie, Bon Jovi is convincing as a walking quandary, because you’re never sure of Mr. Walker’s true intentions and the motivations for his allegiances.

Cry Wolf constantly toys with the audience during the chaos to find The Wolf. Is The Wolf real or not? It’s the one question I had trouble answering during my first viewing of Cry Wolf. For me, Cry Wolf didn’t disappoint during the double swerve at the end.

Is Cry Wolf perfect? No. No it’s not. As I said before, you’ll see a set of generic slasher characters here, and Cry Wolf’s replay technique annoys me to no end.  Throughout the movie, Cry Wolf constantly replays footage for the murders involving certain participants in the game. You’ll see the footage for the first time after the group comes to a final decision on how everyone involved is supposed to die. As the murders happen, Cry Wolf replays the same footage in the brainstorming scene over and over again. Yeah, I get the point of splicing the “This is how it happens” footage with real time events, because this technique is supposed to pull a shocking reaction out of the audience. After all, you’re seeing the nightmare come to life before your very eyes. Problem is, the footage is not shocking anymore after the first time, and after a while, the replays feel unnecessary, lazy, random, and annoying.

Still, Cry Wolf keeps you guessing until the very end with a back and forth game of whodunit, and the constant teasing is more than capable of keeping you on edge, as Cry Wolf bounces between harmless hoax territory and the possibility of a real killer stalking everyone.

Rating: 7/10

Michael Jordan had another run with the Wizards after winning six championships. Brett Favre was one step away from earning a second ring with the Vikings.

As the world's definitive multi-talented superstar athlete, Trisha Bunrastar is taking an unexpected and shocking leap into a new career path. Assuming the identity of Freechelle Fantabulous, Trisha vows to fight crime and battle evildoers as a superheroine. Will she conquer her new mission? Find out more here! http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EFLI6VK

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Cry_Wolf (2005)(Spoiler Review)

**This review contains spoilers**

Troubled teen Owen Matthews (Julian Morris) receives one last shot at redemption, when his powerful father, Charles (Gary Cole) pulls some strings for Owen’s acceptance into Westlake Preparatory Academy, an exclusive and upscale private school for teenagers.

Upon his arrival, Owen is invited into a circle of friends by Dodger (Lindy Booth) and his new roommate Tom (Jared Padalecki). During a night in the campus’ chapel, Owen meets Mercedes (Sandra McCoy), her boyfriend, Lewis (Paul James), Randall (Jesse Janzen), Regina (Kristy Wu), and Graham (Ethan Cohn). Owen is thrust into the group’s weekly lying game of sheeps VS The Wolf. The object of the game is to sniff out the liar, and each participant is required to put some money into the pot. The Wolf is the liar, and The Wolf receives a hidden marking for his identity. The sheeps have to pick out the liar, and a false accusation automatically eliminates said participant from the game. The first sheep to point out the liar (The Wolf) wins all the money. If The Wolf survives, The Wolf wins all the money.

After a while, Dodger decides to spice things up by bringing The Wolf to life, using a real life local tragedy as the inspiration for his backstory. Together, Dodger and Owen create The Wolf’s attire, his weapon (a knife), and The Wolf’s mission: After murdering a local girl named Becky, The Wolf stalks Westlake for his next victim. Tom, Mercedes, Lewis, Randall, Graham, and Regina agree to play along, and each member of the group creates a storyline for the deaths of their characters in The Wolf’s killing spree.

Owen sends out a batch of fake emails to the entire school about The Wolf’s plan, and the group has some fun trying to uncover the identity of the killer at first, but the game takes a turn for the worst after a series of bizarre incidents, including Randall‘s mysterious disappearance. Unable to dismiss his past and troubled track record, Owen is a prime suspect for a series of real close-calls involving the game, including bringing The Wolf’s knife into a classroom, and Owen being solely responsible for a police officer’s last second decision to aim a gun at Mercedes disguised as The Wolf.

Along the way, Owen butts heads with one of his teachers, Mr. Walker (Jon Bon Jovi), who targets Owen as a fall guy for The Wolf conspiracy. Owen is facing expulsion for his involvement in the game, but Mr. Walker’s connections to a deceased Becky leads Owen to one troubling question: Is Mr. Walker The Wolf?

Cry Wolf features your usual set of characters in a teen style slasher film. Dodger is the seemingly innocent sweetheart, Tom is the cocky pretty boy/jerk, Randall is the “bad boy,” Mercedes is the attractive and clueless airhead, and Lewis is the dopey boyfriend. Owen? He’s the new kid, who tries too hard to fit in, and in the end, his never ending quest for acceptance costs him, big time.

I’ll give the nod to Lindy Booth for the best performance, and although it doesn’t last long, Booth is able to showcase a believable devious side to Dodger character. Morris is okay in the leading role, but his character has a few head shaking moments as this gullible doofus, and without Booth to prop him up, I can’t picture Morris maintaining serviceable status as the leading man. Padalecki and Wu are good for a few cheap laughs, and Janzen doesn’t receive a significant amount of screen time. Jon Bon Jovi is solid as Mr. Walker. Throughout the movie, Bon Jovi is convincing as a walking quandary, because you’re never sure of Mr. Walker’s true intentions and the motivations for his allegiances.

Cry Wolf constantly toys with the audience during the chaos to find The Wolf. Is The Wolf real or not? It’s the one question I had trouble answering during my first viewing of Cry Wolf. For me, Cry Wolf didn’t disappoint during the double swerve at the end.

Okay, so we’re in the final moments of the movie, and after the parking lot incident with Mercedes disguised as The Wolf, Owen is sick and tired of playing games. With no doubts to hold him back, Owen believes the real Wolf will strike on Halloween night during a full moon. In an attempt to expose The Wolf, Owen invites everyone involved to the chapel on Halloween night to finish the game. Here, Owen points the finger at Dodger for being the culprit behind it all, but a heartbroken and disappointed Dodger dismisses Owen’s claim. Owen struggles to think of his next move…until the remaining members of the group discover Randall’s dead body in a confession booth. Meanwhile, Mercedes is attacked by The Wolf in the girl’s dormitory on campus.

Searching for help, Owen rushes to Mr. Walker’s office after following Dodger’s instructions. Owen goes to Mr. Walker’s desk drawer to find his car keys, because Tom left with Regina in his car, and the campus is basically deserted. Instead of car keys, Owen finds a gun. This is the same gun that was used to kill Becky, and Owen suspects Mr. Walker as the killer, because after Dodger’s confession, Owen knows Mr. Walker shared an inappropriate student/teacher relationship with Becky before her death. Believing in Mr. Walker’s “crime of passion” motives, Owen refuses to relinquish the gun during a struggle with Mr. Walker, and Owen accidentally shoots Mr. Walker in the chest, killing him.

During the finale, it’s revealed the VAST majority of the group pulled a secret prank behind Owen’s back. Covered in fake blood, Randall was playing dead in the confession booth long enough for Owen to see him. Disguised as The Wolf, Graham scared an oblivious Mercedes in the shower. And Dodger faked her death outside of Mr. Walker’s office after The Wolf (disguised as Tom) “murdered” her. Mercedes and Lewis were the only ones, who didn’t know about the hoax.

The twist? Dodger deceived Owen into murdering Mr. Walker, because Dodger also shared an inappropriate relationship with Mr. Walker. Out of jealously, Dodger is the one, who murdered Becky in the woods, and Dodger planted the gun in Mr. Walker’s desk, and she purposely revealed the location, because she knew Owen would use the gun against Mr. Walker in self defense.

Suspension of disbelief is crucial for buying into this twist. Some will say it’s too far fetched to believe in all the steps for Dodger’s master plan. And using hindsight, there’s one scene with some obvious foreshadowing. Others might go with a different choice, but for me, it’s the scene with Dodger wearing the Red Riding Hood costume. Big hint. Still, I LOVE this twist. During the flashback reel at the end, you can see how Dodger easily manipulated and tortured Owen. Dodger saw an easy target for a sucker in Owen, Dodger used Owen’s infatuations against him, and she toyed with Owen until the very end.

Cry Wolf opens with the scene featuring Becky’s death in the woods. Of course, they don’t show Dodger as the killer. But at the end, you can see how Dodger stalked Becky in the woods at night, and when the time was right, Dodger murdered Becky in cold blood with the gun. Again, I know others might have trouble buying into it, but Dodger was the ideal choice for a shocking reveal. Booth took control of the Dodger, as this innocent young girl, who’s conflicted about her inappropriate relationship with a teacher. Seriously, Dodger is the sweet hometown girl with a mother, who teaches sixth graders, and her father works as a janitor at Westlake. WHO would suspect her as a murderer? Dodger’s nonchalant and cold response to Owen openly accusing her of orchestrating the murder of Mr. Walker? “Who would believe you?”

Is Cry Wolf perfect? No. No it’s not. As I said before, you’ll see a set of generic slasher characters here, and Cry Wolf’s replay technique annoys me to no end.  Throughout the movie, Cry Wolf constantly replays footage for the murders involving certain participants in the game. You’ll see the footage for the first time after the group comes to a final decision on how everyone involved is supposed to die. As the murders happen, Cry Wolf replays the same footage in the brainstorming scene over and over again. Yeah, I get the point of splicing the “This is how it happens” footage with real time events, because this technique is supposed to pull a shocking reaction out of the audience. After all, you’re seeing the nightmare come to life before your very eyes. Problem is, the footage is not shocking anymore after the first time, and after a while, the replays feel unnecessary, lazy, random, and annoying.

Still, Cry Wolf keeps you guessing until the very end with a back and forth game of whodunit, and the constant teasing is more than capable of keeping you on edge, as Cry Wolf bounces between harmless hoax territory and the possibility of a real killer stalking everyone.

Rating: 7/10

Michael Jordan had another run with the Wizards after winning six championships. Brett Favre was one step away from earning a second ring with the Vikings.

As the world's definitive multi-talented superstar athlete, Trisha Bunrastar is taking an unexpected and shocking leap into a new career path. Assuming the identity of Freechelle Fantabulous, Trisha vows to fight crime and battle evildoers as a superheroine. Will she conquer her new mission? Find out more here! http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EFLI6VK

Or take a trip into my special world of madness that includes comedy, horror, and the supernatural in this collection of short stories- http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EFMYZ0U

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Kick-Ass 2 (2013)

**This review contains spoilers**

After inspiring others to fight crime and clean up the streets, Dave Lizewski (Aaron-Taylor Johnson) decides to retire his Kick-Ass persona. Still inspired by her father’s mission and dedicated to keeping her promise to Big Daddy, Mindy Macready (Chloe Grace Moretz ) refuses to give up her life as Hit-Girl, until she receives pressure from Sergeant Marcus Williams (Morris Chestnut),  Mindy’s guardian and the man, who swore to protect her from any danger. Mindy tries to train Dave, so he can be a real hero without having to put on the costume, but Marcus steps in, and forces Mindy to retire the Hit-Girl persona and her life of crime fighting for good. Furious about the perceived awkward relationship with Mindy at school and a neglectful attitude, Dave’s girlfriend, Katie (Lyndsy Fonseca) dumps him in the hallways by slapping him in the face one day.

Meanwhile, Chris D’Amico (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) is still looking for revenge after Kick-Ass used a rocket launcher to murder his father. After an argument with his mother, Chris accidentally kills Ms. D’Amico by kicking her tanning bed, causing it to malfunction. Determined to get his hands on Kick-Ass, Chris assumes the identity of The Mother Fucker with the hopes of becoming the world’s first supervillian. With his inheritance and some help from his personal assistant Javier (John Leguizamo), The Mother Fucker assembles his own team of villains including Mother Russia (Olga Kurkulina), Black Death (Daniel Kaluuya), Genghis Carnage (Tom Wu), and The Tumor (Andy Nyman). Forming a stable of villains known as The Toxic Mega-Cunts, The Mother Fucker vows to destroy the city with crime, and kill Kick-Ass.

Unable to convince Mindy to become Hit Girl again and not wanting to fight alone, Dave becomes Kick-Ass again and joins a group of heroes called Justice Forever. Led by Colonel Stars and Stripes (Jim Carrey), Kick-Ass joins the team of Night Bitch (Lindy Booth), Doctor Gravity (Donald Faison), Team Remembering Tommy (two parents, who became crime fighters after their son was abducted), as a team made up of Tommy’s mother (Monica Dolan) and Tommy’s father (Steven Mackintosh), and Battle Guy, who eventually reveals himself as Marty (Clark Duke), one of Dave’s best friends.

The Toxic Mega-Cunts and Justice Forever are headed for an inevitable clash, as the police crack down on anyone wearing a mask. And things take a devastating turn for the worst, when Marty and Dave’s friend, Todd (Augustus Prew) gives away Kick-Ass’s real identity, putting Dave’s father, Mr. Lizewski (Garrett M. Brown) in harm’s way. And Mindy has a change of heart, after the most popular girl in high school and her clique pull a mean prank, forcing Mindy to think twice about being “normal.” Will Mindy become Hit Girl one last time, so she can join Justice Forever in the war against The Toxic-Mega Cunts?

Well, I’ll just get this out of the way now. Whether or not you agree with his decision to not promote Kick-Ass 2, because of the violence in this film, don’t get your hopes up for anything special from Jim Carrey. Colonel Stars and Stripes’ screen time is VERY limited, and you won’t see too much of him. Plus, Carrey’s character takes a backseat to the other sub-plots in Kick-Ass, so in the grand scheme of things, Colonel Stars and Stripes doesn’t have a significant impact on the story. Carrey is funny during his short time on screen, and you can tell he’s genuinely having fun with the character, but again, don’t go into this film expecting great things from Carrey, because you’ll be disappointed.

Moretz is still entertaining as the foul-mouthed and fearless bad ass, but as Mindy, we get to see a more vulnerable side of the character here. We saw glimpses of Mindy’s softer side with her father Big Daddy in the original, especially during his death, and the scenes where they both shared hot chocolate and marshmallows. But in the sequel, we get to see Mindy try and adjust to life in high school, as she tries to fit in. Moretz did a fantastic job of showing some emotion (most notably the scene, where she goes to Dave’s house for comfort after the prank), and showing the confliction of being torn between Hit-Girl and Mindy.

Anyway, Mintz-Plasse is appropriately annoying and loathsome as The Mother Fucker. The Mother Fucker is a spoiled brat, who uses his money to get what he wants, and Plasse is a suitable replacement for Mark Strong as the primary antagonist. The supporting cast isn’t bad. Clark Duke is able to provide a few laughs as the unapologetic comedian of the group. Lindy Booth is just eye candy for the most part, but she deserves some credit for her acting chops during scenes at the hospital with Dave, and The Toxic-Mega Cunts invasion at her home. But Mother Russia is the stand out star from the supporting cast. Having the physical presence of a scary and evil She Hulk helps, and trust me, when it comes to the scene, where she attacks the cops by herself, the trailers just show the tip of the iceberg. It’s way more outrageous and shocking, when you see the whole thing in its entirety. And don’t expect anything from Lyndsy Fonseca. Her appearances are limited to cameo status here.

So Kick-Ass keeps the vulgarity, the blood and violence, and for the most part, they maintained the raunchy edge that made the first film popular. Plus, they add in a “Mean Girls” sub-plot for Mindy’s character, and it’s not a bad idea, because it helped the audience connect to and understand Mindy’s vulnerable side. BUT Kick-Ass 2 isn’t something to brag about. You can say being something different and fresh helped the first film’s success, but Kick-Ass 2 didn’t have that luxury. The blood and the vulgar dialogue should please fans of the first film, but it felt like Kick-Ass 2 was playing it way too safe most of the time. I don’t mean safe as in watered down or restricted. I mean safe as in “let’s try our best to copy the blueprint of the first film without making any major changes” safe.

Remember how Bruce Wayne wanted to retire from being Batman in The Dark Knight Rises? But a good old fashioned beating from Bane and the bomb in Gotham changed his mind? Or more recently how Tony Stark wanted to be done with Iron Man after the trauma following the events of The Avengers? Well Kick-Ass 2 follows in the footsteps of the superhero wanting to retire for good, and leave a life of crime fighting behind them after a traumatic experience blueprint. Dave wants to be done with Kick-Ass after he promised his father he would never wear the costume again. And Mindy is reminded of who her real father was by Marcus, and the need for her to have a real childhood, so Mindy swears to never be Hit-Girl again. Problem with this formula is, we all know how it’s going to end. Somehow, someway, Dave and Mindy were going to become Kick-Ass and Hit-Girl again. And guess what? They did. They broke their promises, so they can help stop the growing threat of The Toxic Mega-Cunts. That’s the problem with this formula. It’s NEVER convincing enough to the point, where you’ll seriously believe said hero will hang it up for good, so when they actually make a comeback, it’s not genuinely surprising or shocking in the slightest.

But Kick-Ass 2 isn’t 100% through the motions and predictable all the time. The death of Chris’s mother and Dave’s father completely caught me off guard, and Hit-Girl using the shot of adrenaline to take out Mother Russia was a nice shock, because throughout the movie, you were lead to believe the stuff inside the syringe was a lethal injection, used to put someone out of their misery before an agonizing death.

And in an unrelated plot twists complaint, did anyone else notice Todd’s betrayal at the end? Todd was upset because Dave and Marty constantly ignored his efforts to become a superhero, so he tried to join The Toxic-Mega Cunts as Ass-Kicker. And guess what, Todd is the one, who revealed Kick-Ass’s identity as Dave to The Mother Fucker. After acquiring this info, The Mother Fucker sends out two of his goons to beat Dave’s father to death. After the big brawl between The Toxic-Mega Cunts and Justice Forever, Todd celebrates with Kick-Ass and the heroes? Eh, Todd is solely responsible for the death of Dave’s father, and they never mention that? On  top of that, he celebrates with the good guys like NOTHING happened, and he doesn’t have to suffer any consequences, when it’s all said and done? I’m sorry, but that’s a HUGE gap in logic that’s hard to ignore.

Still, Kick-Ass isn’t without some highlights. The final brawl was so much fun to watch, with the one on one duel between Mother Russia and Hit-Girl stealing the show. It’s a match up that had to happen, because Hit-Girl and Mother Russia are the top two bad asses and toughest characters in this film, so logic suggests both characters having to square off against each other in a “must-see“ fight to the death. And I can’t forget about Mindy’s rescue of Dave, as she’s fighting the bad guys in the speeding van on the highway. Amazing action sequence. Also, the tie-in of social media really enhanced the realism part of this film. During the beginning, a thug tries to use his cell phone to a record a fight with Kick-Ass, so he can reach “a million” hits on YouTube. And The Mother Fucker uses Twitter to brag about his feats of crime. 

I laughed a lot throughout this movie, but Kick-Ass 2 is a weird one for me. I enjoyed the film, but nothing here left me with a urge to see a part three after I walked out of the theater. It’s a satisfying sequel, and fans of the original should enjoy it, but I wasn’t foaming at the mouth for more Kick-Ass, when the credits started rolling.

Rating: 7/10

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The Impact of Kick-Ass 2's Failure At The Box Office This Weekend

Courtesy of Box Office Mojo, this weekend's box office stats: http://boxofficemojo.com/weekend/chart/?yr=2013&wknd=33&p=.htm

Sad to say, but this doesn't surprise me too much, and I don't want to sound like a bragging Captain Hindsight (nod to you all you South Park fans out there!), but I saw this coming.

The more and more I saw of the trailers and TV spots, the more I was convinced Kick-Ass 2 was going to flop at the box office this weekend. Why? I didn't see anything new. In the red band trailers, I saw all the same violence and vulgarity I saw in the first film. And Hit-Girl and Kick-Ass being conflicted about quitting the life, and wanting to be done with crime fighting for good? Eh, just to toss out a few examples, we've seen similar storylines in The Dark Night Rises, Spider-Man 2, Batman Forever, and more recently Iron Man 3.

Kick-Ass was supposed to be something new and unique. A more hardcore version of Mystery Man with bloody violence, cursing, and edge we haven't seen in too many mainstream superhero films. I know some of you will say "Hey, Mitch! What about Super with Rainn Wilson and Ellen Paige?" Well, yeah we had Super, but Kick-Ass managed to make a bigger splash on a larger landscape.

Anyway, we had the nerdy hero to root for in Dave Lizweski/Kick-Ass, and his ass kicking, foul mouthed partner, Hit-Girl. Moretz and Johnson still bring their A-Games in the sequel (review will have to come tomorrow or the day after guys, my tank is on E right now), and Mintz-Plasse is entertaining as The Mother Fucker, but Kick-Ass 2 was more of the same old, same old from the first film, with a little Mean Girls sub-plot thrown in, as Mindy tries to figure out, who she is. And as I alluded to before, they reintroduced the storyline of the heroes contemplating retirement, something we've seen too many times before, and we all know how that ends.   

There was so much buzz surrounding  the first Kick-Ass film, and while I enjoyed the sequel, I didn't leave the theater hoping for a part three. It's a shame, because with this awful opening weekend (and things aren't going to get any better next week), there's a good chance this could be the end of Kick-Ass before we see a reboot or remake in the future. Or even worse, they'll try and pull off a straight-to-video sequel.

Think of all the potential Kick-Ass had to be something different. No supernatural powers, no rich billionaire primary protagonists, and no fancy high tech gadgets or machines. And on top of all that, Kick-Ass was a fun parody of the superhero genre, and neither film takes itself too seriously. Now? The end of Kick-Ass is almost a sure thing, because I can't imagine another sequel after such a disappointing opening. And that means we'll probably get more of the same ordinary and cliched superhero films with flashy, loud special effects and stylish fight scenes, as Hollywood continues to reboot, remake, spin-off, and add sequels to the likes of Spider-Man, Batman, and other giants in the genre for years to come. Sorry, but it's going to be hard to top the likes of Nolan's Batman trilogy, Bryan Singer's X2, and Sam Raimi's Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2.