Tuesday Releases: A Good Day To Die Hard & Warm Bodies

June 4, 2013 / Leave a Comment

JUNE 4TH, 2013

IDENTITY THIEF // Surprisingly touching yet never overly hilarious, “Identity Thief” is a rather neutral comedy. Never quite over-the-top but never quite reaching a level of plausibility, both in action and relationships, Jason Bateman and Melissa McCarthy deliver as best they can in this odd couple, road trip caper that does not find its footing until far too late into the film. Bateman plays quiet guy Sandy Patterson who must go from his simple life in Colorado to Florida in order to bring back the woman, played by Melissa McCarthy, who stole his identity. Since she’s being chased by scorned drug dealers, she is obliged to road trip across country with Sandy in order to clear his name. Both actors embrace their roles and throughout the course of these typical hijinks, they actual come out three-dimensional.

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A GOOD DAY TO DIE HARD // Plain and simple, “A Good Day To Die Hard” leaves an impenetrably bad taste. For an action film on its 5th installment, “Good Day” is dull and uninspired. The dialogue begs the question whether anything is actually said in the film, with a cycling of absentee father remarks and the screaming of each others names. The villains are scattered, haphazard, and void of any real personalities or traits (despite a random carrot and dancing moment which came off like an after thought) of any kind to keep them interesting, let alone distinguishable from one another. At times I questioned whether the filmmakers had ever made an action film before or if they had even seen an action film prior to producing this one, as there is zero suspense and zero question whether the main characters are going to survive. Even the film work at its core is flawed, as I sat questioning whether I could tolerate the entire film during its first chase scene which can only be described as erratic, implausible, unbearable, and nauseating. While unable to focus on any element on screen with the abysmally ill-paced editing and jarring floating camera, there was literally no style or rhythm to the cut, causing me to constantly look away from the screen. Down to even the sound design, the film fails, with some of the worst foley work I’ve ever witnessed, including comical punch noises and crashing that compares to a child’s interpretation of the sounds produced. John McClane (played by Bruce Willis) was an after thought to the plot, placed in the film solely to place it under the “Die Hard” umbrella. Although Jai Courtney has an extremely bright future as an actor, this film does not showcase that in the slightest bit. Had any attention been placed on making this film exciting and epic, and had it lived up to its wonderful and intriguing marketing (half the scenes from the trailer are absent), this could have been the film to beat all “Die Hard” films. Instead it becomes explosions connected by moments building up to more explosions, rushing past any form of storytelling or character growth.

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WARM BODIES // Helped mainly by its quirky script, well-rounded soundtrack, and talented performers in Nicholas Hoult and Teresa Palmer, “Warm Bodies” rises slightly above its obscure subject matter of a zombie falling in love with a human and produces a comical and heartfelt film. Not quite as innovative as you’d hope it would be and not stylish enough to reach the ranks of “Zombieland”, Jonathan Levine’s heart is in the right place and the passion he has shows clearly through dynamic voice-over narration and the rich quality of the images on screen. The fact of the matter is, there are just too many implausibilities required to overcome for one’s mind to be allowed completely over to the filmmakers vision, including but not limited to talking zombies, the ability for a dead heart to suddenly come back to life with no complications to that person, and the mere thought of a woman falling in love with a dead piece of rotting human meat, though none of this is the actors’ faults, who play their roles with ease. There was something big missing from “Warm Bodies” and although I cannot place my finger on it, it was solely missed.