Film Review: THE OTHER GUYS (2010)

Director: Adam McKay
Writers: Adam McKay, Chris Henchy
Running time: 107 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): 12

Genre: Action/Comedy/Crime
UK Release date: 17^th September 2010

Watched on Sky+ Sunday 6^th May 2012.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

You know how sometimes you’re not too sure if you’ll like a particular film, but then you listen to all the talk about it and decide to watch it anyway. About twenty minutes in you realise you were right to have doubts in the first place… but now you’re committed. Well that’s just how it occurred with this extremely disappointing pile of fetid dingo’s kidneys of a movie. They say there’s a ‘six laugh rule’ with comedies; i.e. if you don’t laugh six times or more whilst watching it, it’s not funny. Well, one brief smile is all this got from me and that was a sight gag involving a kid sliding about on the back seat of a police car… not a good omen. Well, I think I’ve held you in suspense long enough, here’s a brief summary before I really rip into it.

When hero New York cops P.K. Highsmith and Christopher Danson are accidently killed in the line of duty by jumping off a 20 storey building (yes, it IS THAT stupid), the other cops in the department are immediately in competition to take up the mantle. Amongst them are Allen Gamble, a forensic accountant, and Terry Hoitz, a regular cop who feels he has to prove himself. Terry makes no secret of the fact that he doesn’t like his partner and has to go to the extreme of kidnapping him just to get him out of the office. By some contrivance they latch on to the case of a British businessman, David Ershon, who is planning on defrauding a lot of people to cover up an even bigger loss. As you can imagine, from here on its all car chases and the usual buddy movie stuff (I won’t bore you with the details).

Quite well made with some nice stunt work in the car chase scenes and some decent cinematography in the outdoor scenes. Performance-wise, the pick of the bunch (for me) were; Mark Wahlberg as Terry Hoitz, Michael Keaton, underused (IMO) as Captain Gene Mauch and Steve Coogan as David Ershon. Also worthy of note were; Will Ferrell as Allen Gamble, Eva Mendes as Dr. Sheila Gamble and nice cameo’s from Samuel L. Jackson as P.K. Highsmith and Dwayne Johnson as Christopher Danson.

There are many things that let this movie down, not least is the dialogue, it’s terrible! I can’t remember when I’ve watched a film where a joke is performed and then explained afterwards! It has a 12 certificate here in the UK and (I guess) if I was twelve I might have found it funny(ish), but I’m not and it most certainly wasn’t. If you want a decent cop based comedy/drama then I can recommend any of the ‘Lethal Weapon’ films, they are SO much better than this, which most definitely does not get my vote!... NOT Recommended.

My score: 4.3/10

IMDb Score: 6.6/10 (based on 76,191 votes at the time of going to press).
http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt1386588/

MetaScore: 64/100: (Based on 35 critic reviews provided by Metacritic.com at the time of going to press).

Rotten Tomatoes ‘Tomatometer’ Score: 79/100 (based on 191 reviews counted at the time of going to press).

Rotten Tomatoes ‘Audience’ Score: 57/100 (based on 137,002 user ratings counted at the time of going to press).
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/other_guys/

If you’re crazy enough… You can find me on Facebook at:
http://facebook.com/andy.steel3

FAVOURITE QUOTES:
Captain Gene Mauch: You know what, I'm going to hang onto the wooden gun.
Allen Gamble: To give me back my real gun?
Captain Gene Mauch: No. I'm going to give you this... It's a rape whistle. You blow that if you're in any trouble, and someone with an actual gun will come and help you out.
[Quietly blows the whistle]

Terry Hoitz: What is this?
Allen Gamble: It’s my car, it’s a Prius.
Terry Hoitz: I feel like we're literally driving around in a vagina.

Dirty Mike: How you fellas doin'? We about to have us a little screw party in this red Prius over here if you wanna join us.
Allen Gamble: Hey, are you Dirty Mike and the Boys?
Dirty Mike: How you know who we are?
Allen Gamble: You left a note in that car!
Terry Hoitz: [shows his badge] Police, shithead.
Dirty Mike: He's a copper, we gotta go. C'mon! Hey, grease it, boys! They're cops!
[He and the Boys run off]
Allen Gamble: You turned my beautiful Prius into a nightmare!
Dirty Mike: We are gonna have sex in your car! It will happen again!

Fosse: Hope you like prison food... and penis.

LINKS:
(Note: All were working at the time of going to press)
Official Site: http://www.sonypictures.com/homevideo/catalog/catalogDetail_DVD043396365346.html
Official Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/otherguysmovie
Trailer:

Film Review: MEGAMIND (2010)

Director: Tom McGrath
Writers: Alan J. Schoolcraft & Brent Simons
Running time: 92 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): PG

Genre: Animation/Action/Comedy
UK Release date: 3^rd December 2010

Watched at the cinema Tuesday 27^th December 2011.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

This is another of those blockbuster animated films that uses the voices of famous stars to sell it. Well that’s what I was led to believe from the hype anyway. At the end of the day I decided it wasn’t all that bad. As far as I’m concerned, anyone could be supplying the voices in this one; it’s the writing that makes it (for me). I’m sure contributions were made by those involved, but the basic storyline would have remained the same and it’s the story that holds the thing together. Of course I was also immune to the 3D because I watched it in exactly the same number of dimensions the screen has. But I digress, here’s a very brief summary before I give you my thoughts.

With their planets doomed, two babies are sent towards Earth. One lands at a mansion and is brought up in a privileged home. He has superpowers and grows up to be the good guy: Metro Man. The other, well he lands in a prison, has no superpowers, but a genius mind and he becomes the bad guy: Megamind. The pair have many battles over the years with Metro Man always finishing with the upper hand. But this time it would be different; this time Megamind has a particularly evil plan. He kidnaps Metro Man’s girlfriend, reporter Roxanne Ritchie, and lures Metro Man to his doom. But will the destruction of Metro Man give Megamind everything he wants? Well, I’m afraid the Spoiler Police would really not like me telling you that… and anyway, they’ve threatened me with the ‘forget-me stick’ if I tell.

The animation is up to DreamWorks’ usual standard, nothing particularly extraordinary about it really. I love the soundtrack, but then again, put AC/DC, Ozzy Osbourne and Guns ‘n’ Roses in there and I’m yours! (I saw at least two of them in the same bill once). Performance wise, well everyone did a decent job, so I’ll give honourable mentions to the voice talents of; Will Ferrell as Megamind, Tina Fey as Roxanne Ritchie, Brad Pitt as Metro Man, Jonah Hill as Hal Stewart/ Titan, David Cross as Minion and Ben Stiller as Bernard.

The whole story is told from the point of view of Megamind which makes for an interesting dynamic. You end up sympathising with the bad guy and that, I guess, is what makes the whole thing work. I liked the storyline, but I suspect it may have been a little too complicated for younger members of the audience. They also fall into the trap of putting little nods to older films so the parents don’t get bored, I suppose, and this is all getting a little cliché Hollywood. Still, it’s pretty entertaining over all and one that’s worth a look… ‘Recommended’.

My score: 7.3/10.

IMDb Score: 7.3/10 (based on 50,452 votes at the time of going to press).
http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt1001526/

Rotten Tomatoes ‘Tomatometer’ Score: 72/100 (based on 170 reviews counted at the time of going to press).
Rotten Tomatoes ‘Audience’ Score: 73/100 (based on 93,545 user ratings counted at the time of going to press).
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/megamind/

If you’re crazy enough… You can find me on Facebook at:
http://facebook.com/andy.steel3

FAVOURITE QUOTES:
[first lines]
Megamind: Here's my day so far: went to jail, lost the girl of my dreams and got my butt kicked pretty good. Still, things could be a lot worse. Oh, that's right... I'm falling to my death. Guess they can't. How did it all come to this? Well, my end starts at the beginning... The very beginning!

Megamind: This will be the last you ever hear of... Roxanne Ritchie! Huh?
Metro Man: [gasps] Roxanne! Don't panic, Roxy... I'm on my way!
Roxanne Ritchie: I'm not panicking.
Megamind: [smirking] In order to stop me, you'll have to find us first!
Roxanne Ritchie: We're at the abandoned observatory!
Megamind: [lunges for the control and turns off the camera on Roxanne] Nooo! We're NOT! Don't listen to her, she's crazy!

[a solar-powered laser starts to activate]
Minion: [at a monitor] Death ray readying!
Megamind: Let's see if Metro Man can withstand the full concentrated power of the sun! FIRE!
[nothing happens]
Megamind: [to Minion] Fire!
Minion: [at monitor] Still warming up, sir.
Megamind: Come again?
Minion: Warming up.
Megamind: Warming up? The sun is WARMING UP?
Minion: Just a little more and...

LINKS:
Official Site: http://www.megamind.com/
Trailer: