Fall Movie Preview Spectacular! Part 2

Taken 2

Release Date: October 5^th

Directed by Olivier Megaton; Starring Liam Neeson, Maggie Grace, Famke Janssen, and Rade Šerbedžija

Sequels to action films as relatively straightforward as 2008’s Taken tend to be cheap cash-ins and narrative retreads of old ground, but Taken 2 appears to be something different. Something clever, ambitious, and altogether intriguing. I really like the core concept, that Liam Neeson’s rampage from the first film comes back to bite him in the ass as Šerbedžija’s character seeks revenge for fallen comrades.

Action heroes so rarely need to confront the death tolls they inflict, so it’s a refreshing change of pace. The trailer also shows Maggie Grace getting in on the action this time around, along with plenty of requisite Neeson badassary. It’s one of the better, clearer pieces of marketing I’ve seen this year, one that definitely gets me pumped for a sequel I never necessarily thought I’d need.

Frankenweenie

Release Date: October 5^th

Directed by Tim Burton; Starring Charlie Tahan, Frank Welker, Winona Ryder, Catherine O’Hara, Martin Short, and Martin Landau

With the exception of Sweeney Todd, Tim Burton hasn’t been on top of his game in a decade, and while I hope for the best, I don’t know if Frankenweenie will be his resurgence. This stop-motion film is based on Burton’s classic 1984 live-action short about a boy who resurrects his dead dog, and while the short is one of the highlights of Burton’s entire career, he’s a very different filmmaker now than he was back then.

Will he be able to recapture the charm and emotional depth he nailed so many years ago? Is there any point in trying? Can the story work stretched out to feature-length format? I simply don’t know, and the trailers have been far too bland to give any sort of indication as to the film’s actual direction. I very much like that Burton is shooting in black-and-white, and stop-motion obviously fits the story well, but unless Burton has something radically fresh and insightful to say with the material, the remake may not be worth the effort.

Continue the Preview on the next page…

Previous Next

obloodyhell

What made Taken so good was really pretty simple: Luc Besson wrote it and produced it. I’ve yet to see anything with Besson in two “construction” roles (writer, director, producer) that wasn’t at least good, often very good, sometimes excellent…. even the stuff he has only a single role in the creation of, often do well enough. Liam Neeson’s talented acting was just icing on that cake. So I expect Taken2 to be decent at worst.

Pitch Perfect looked remarkably lame on concept, but… from the trailer it looks like it has just enough irreverence and snark to pull off not being some dumbass Glee ripoff.

Butter sculpting…? Looks just weird enough to work.

The only concern with Argo is that George Clooney produced it. That suggests it’s going to reflect enough of his ultraliberal viewpoint that it will successfully turn off audiences. There’s a reason certain movies and TV series over the last 10-odd years have generally fallen flat on their faces — they reflect a view of America that isn’t in keeping with that of the American people, but instead reflects the attitude of the Hollywood Elites. Clooney is one of those. If he chose to produce it, it’s because he liked something he saw…. and that bodes ill for this movie’s primary message.

Alex Cross looks decidedly uncerebral.