vinyarb

I was so stoked to see “Now You See Me”. Just think about it. A heist thriller, only with magicians planning the heists with cool sleight of hands and outlandish trickery!

And look at the cast! Jesse I’m CEO, Bitch! Eisenberg, Mark Ruffalo, Woody Harrelson, Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman! There’s even James Franco’s brother!

There was just so much going for it. Well, I guess it’s true that expectations inevitably kills satisfaction.

Four independent magicians, via a secret mysterious tarot card invitation, convene and form a collective group known as “The Four Horsemen”. After getting funding from insurance magnate Michael Caine, they open their show in Vegas.

For the finale of their opening show, they invite a member of the audience to help them “rob a bank”. He is teleported to a bank in Paris, activates an airduct, and the money is transported through the airduct out onto audiences in Vegas.

Voila! A Pepsi can! Which will play a crucial plot point in World War Z!

Following the show, FBI agent Mark Ruffalo was assigned to investigate the case. They had no evidence of theft, and had no choice but to free the horsemen. Mark Ruffalo then goes to seek the help of magic debunker Morgan Freeman to help explain their tricks in order to try and catch them in the act for their next show.

As can be expected of a game of cat and mouse, the cat is always a step behind, while the horsemen go through their acts. What is the ultimate play for the Horsemen? Who is the mysterious fifth horsemen, if you will?

Will the horsemen succeed in pulling off their final show, and reveal the end-game?

They do and it is, but The Prestige this is not.

At the end of the day, after all the smoke and mirrors have dissipated, you find that all you’re left with, is a dull fake thumb.

Rating: 4/10

With 2 terrorist attacks White House movies out within 3 months of each other, there’s bound to be lots of comparison between them both.

The premise for both films are very similar as well. The White House is compromised after a complex terrorist attack disables the defense system and holds the President hostage. It is up to one man to fight back and rescue the most important person in the world!

Olympus has Fallen consists of a more serious looking cast, with Aaron Eckhart playing the President, and Gerard Butler the one-man army. White House Down has Channing Tatum playing the hero, with Jamie Foxx as the POTUS.

Olympus has the more impressive action sequences, while WHD has the lighter, comedic touches that makes the film easier to sit through.

Pity, I think if both movies were mashed up, the result would have been one better, tighter film, rather than two very average actioners.

If push comes to shove, I’d say I enjoyed White House Down slightly more because it has more heart.

Also, Channing has a bigger.. gun.

Rating: 5/10

I’m conflicted about anthology films. On the one hand, there’s not enough time to build up the story, characters don’t usually have proper arcs. On the other hand, more stories, things escalate at a much quicker rate, and in this case, more horror!

I didn’t really like the original V/H/S, but they’ve really tightened the sequel. And the best part is, you don’t even have to wade through the first to appreciate the second.

There are 5 stories, including the framing story, and at a running time of 96 minutes, we’re given slightly less than 20 minutes per story:

Tape 49

Two private investigators take on a case of a missing college student. On entering the student’s home (at night, of course), they find a stack of VHS tapes, as well as a still recording video on it.  The man goes to explore the house for clues, and he instructs the lady to plow through the tapes to see if there’s anything useful in locating the boy.

This sets up the story, and it is through this method that we’re exposed to the other stories. The payoff for this framing narrative naturally comes right at the end.

Phase I Clinical Trials

After a horrible accident that leaves a man’s right eye blind, he undergoes a new implant technology that restores his eyesight with a camera. In return, the camera will record everything he sees for research purposes.

I can haz Google Lenz!

If you’ve seen either version of The Eye, you’ll know what happens next. A “bug” in the camera-eye results in the young man starting to see things that go bump in the night.

He then meets a young woman who’s also recently undergone a similar operation for her ear…

Can they survive this together? Well, where’s the fun in that?

A Ride in the Park

This segment is filmed using a Go-Pro mounted camera, and is a POV-styled segment on a cyclist taking his bike for a spin in the park. Things quickly go south, and I think for the first time in cinematic history, we actually get a zombie POV short! I actually enjoyed this segment the most, because it’s mainly a lot of fun.

Safe Haven

A film crew gets invited into an Indonesian cult to film a documentary about what the cult does behind their closed doors. Unfortunately for them, the founder of the cult has other plans.

In terms of scope and jaw-drop factor, I think this one takes the cake.

Slumber Party Alien Abduction

This is exactly what the title says, which sounds awesome, but I felt was the weakest link in all the stories. Not quite sure why this was the last story in the entry, cos it sort of brought down the highs from ‘Safe Haven’, and almost let the entire film down with a whimper.

The shaky cam was employed too much, the action too dark, and the sound too drowning, that half the time, I didn’t know what was happening.

Still, on an overall, we got 2 decent stories, 2 awesome ones, and a forgettable dump.

That’s still pretty good in my books!

But seriously, if they were to produce a third offering, they should consider naming it DVD. At the very least.

Rating: 7/10