Every Sunday, Gill delves into his archive of over 800 movie reviews and randomly selects three for your enjoyment! Here are this week’s…
The Innkeepers
This film is a slow burn that leads to a decent finale, but unfortunately, I found that the build-up to the ending was just a bit too long and lacking in tension pretty severely. While the scares that occur in the final fifteen minutes or so are good, they don’t compensate for the hour and a half of set up. I did enjoy the two leads, and their characters are believable and play off each other quite well, but I found the film lacking in atmosphere. To me, it felt like just another haunted house flick, and since the scares were so few, there was little to save it from mediocrity in my mind. Maybe I’m being a bit too critical, as this felt like it was trying to be a slow burn film in the same vein as The Shining, but overall it just didn’t jazz me.
2.5 out of 5
Bridesmaids
I got a lot more out of Bridesmaids than I expected, as the film is a lot more than the trailers would lead you to expect. While the previews promote this film as the female version of a Judd Apatow comedy in the same ballpark as The Hangover, I actually found it a lot closer to High Fidelity in terms of the themes it explores. Kristen Wiig and Maya Rudolph are both terrific and deserve every bit of recognition that Bridesmaids has brought them, and the love story subplot manages not to feel cliche or overdone. All in all, I really enjoyed this movie, and if you think you can stomach the occasional gross-out gag, I think you’ll enjoy it too.
3.5 out of 5
2012
This movie is just spectacular destruction scene after spectacular destruction scene without any discernable script behind it. The writing in 2012 is atrocious, but the special effects are jaw-dropping, and the numerous, albeit somewhat repetitive, scenes of John Cusack and company fleeing from cities as they fall apart around our heroes are nothing short of ludicrous. But I can’t deny that this movie entertained the hell out of me. Maybe it’s just the wanton destruction of famous landmarks that tickled me, maybe it was the obvious and hamfisted plot contrivances, maybe it was just Woody Harrelson’s pickle-eating conspiracy theorist, but I had a great time all the way through 2012. Don’t get me wrong, folks – it’s a very stupid movie, but as far as brainless disaster movies go, it’s one of the best I’ve seen in ages.
3.25 out of 5
See you next Sunday for three more thrilling short reviews!