Now You See Me (2013) - Cocky stars trapped in empty construction

[ZERO]

 

+ Worst Movie of the Year

+ Most Undeserved Hit of the Year

 

 

A cast of well-dressed stars walk all over the title on this poster for Louis Leterrier's Now You See Me

An odd quartet of magicians stage big magic shows, in which they inexplicably steal from the rich and let some of their loot fly out to their audiences.

 

Now You See Me is written by Ed Solomon (Super Mario Bros. (1993)), Boaz Yakin (Fresh (1994)) and Edward Ricourt (Jessica Jones (2015, TV-series)) and directed by Louis Leterrier (The Transporter (2002)).

A depressingly bad, completely empty film, it is hard to watch Now You See Me and not lose some measure of respect for its stars, whose glow inevitably dim from this sorry affair: Particularly Mark Ruffalo (The Avengers (2012)) is enormously bad here as one half of the film's insultingly poor romance, in which he commands and yells at Mélanie Laurent (La Rafle (2010)), - until she falls for him! (You try to make sense of it.)

The stars have ego-polishing parts mostly played with the cheekbones and a bit of cocky attitude that are so hollow and toothless that one will afterwards feel like a long break from Jesse Eisenberg (Cursed (2005)) and Woody Harrelson (Rampart (2011)) as the champion sleek fellow magicians of Now You See Me. As part of the plot, Morgan Freeman's (War of the Worlds (2005)) character sells his integrity (to Michael Caine (Peeper (1975))) for 5-10 mil. $, - a situation that isn't very fictitious in this instance, one might ponder, - and he explains at one point in Now You See Me that a new sucker is born every minute here in the world.

Leterrier's movie certainly treats its audience as suckers with a ceaseless barrage of ridiculous, ugly, stressful, frenzied nonsense here, which is never fun, romantic, nor thrilling. Making Now You See Me even worse is that a huge audience actually seemed to like it.

 

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Louis Leterrier: 2013 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED VI]

2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess  

Clash of the Titans (2010) - Leterrier's CGI-stuffed remake is surprisingly good 

 

 Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 75 mil. $

Box office: 351.7 mil. $

= Big hit (returned 4.68 times its cost)

[Now You See Me premiered 21 May (New York) and runs 115 minutes. Laurent was paid 571k € for her performance. Shooting took place around January 2012 in New Orleans, Louisiana, New York, Chicago, Illinois, Las Vegas, Nevada, and in Los Angeles, California. The film opened #2, behind Fast & Furious 6, to a 29.3 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent another 3 weekends in the top 5 (#3-#3-#5), grossing 117.7 mil. $ (33.5 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Germany with 25.7 mil. $ (7.3 %) and China with 22.9 mil. $ (6.5 %). Most of the cast but not Leterrier returned for the obligatory Now You See Me 2 (2016). Leterrier returned with The Brothers Grimsby (2016). Eisenberg returned in Night Moves (2013); Ruffalo in Begin Again (2013); and Harrelson with a voice performance in Free Birds (2013) and physically in Out of the Furnace (2013). Now You See Me is rotten at 51 % with a 5.80/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Now You See Me?

Max (2015) - Marine hero dog makes Yakin's drama worthwhile

♥♥♥

+ Best Dog Movie of the Year

The Malinois star looks attentive and calm in a scene of unrest on this poster for Boaz Yakin's Max

When teenager Justin's marine big brother gets killed on duty in Afghanistan, his war-traumatized Malinois service dog Max comes home and gets taken in by Justin, who learns the truth about his brother from the steadfast Max.

Max is written by Sheldon Lettich (Rambo III (1988)) and co-writer/director Boaz Yakin (Fresh (1994)).
The film runs with a good story and a noble mission of honoring the over-looked, four-legged heroes of war, which is what propels Max upwards. The dog Carlos who plays Max is fantastic, and dog-lovers everywhere are bound to fall for this modern Lassie-type hero dog. The human stars, on the other hand, are so-so:
The mother character isn't up to much, and Thomas Haden Church (Ned and Stacey (1995-17)) is sometimes wooden in his acting as the father. Justin's two Mexican-American friends are acted with charm. And Justin is also acted well by Josh Wiggins (The Bachelors (2017)), but he regrettably botches the final scene by the gravestone.
Overall there's still more to like than dislike about this edifying, fine dog movie.

Related posts:

Boaz Yakin: 2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010) - Newell straddles too much in fair action-adventure (co-writer)
From Dusk Till Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money (1999) - Spiegel's vampire heist disappoints (story elements)

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 20 mil. $
Box office: 43.9 mil. $
= Flop (returned 2.19 times its cost)
[Max was released 25 June (Philippines) and runs 111 minutes. Shooting took place in North Caroline, including Charlotte. The film opened #4, behind holdover hits Jurassic World and Inside Out and fellow new release Ted 2, to a 12.1 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it left the top 5 in its 2nd week and grossed 42.6 mil. $ (97 % of the total gross). The tiny international gross of around 1.3 mil. $ is not fully illuminated at the film's Box Office Mojo site. Yakin returned with Boarding School (2018). Carlos the dog returned in the film's sequel Max 2: White House Hero (2017). Max is rotten at 38 % with a 4.82/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Max?

From Dusk Till Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money (1999) - Spiegel's vampire heist disappoints

♥♥

A red-tinted, murky, dusk-like darkness hangs over this poster for Scott Spiegel's From Dusk Till Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money

A gang of criminals plan to rob a bank in Mexico but before they get to it, they are attacked by some blood-hungering bats that carry a frightening virus.

From Dusk Till Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money is written by Duane Whitaker (Stripteaser (1995)) and co-writer-director Scott Spiegel (Intruder (1989)), with Boaz Yakin (Max (2015)) contributing story elements, as the sequel to Robert Rodriguez's From Dusk Till Dawn (1996). It is something as rare as a vampire heist movie, which lends it a certain 'fun-to-watch' quality.
But although Spiegel's direction has clear Tarantino ambitions, (Quentin Tarantino stars in and co-wrote the original film with pal Rodriguez and executive produced this pic), it lacks finesse: Exaggerated action and unfortunate effects mar Texas Blood Money, which also is bogged down by a sorely unengaged lead performance from Robert Patrick (True Blood (2012-14)). After the exhilarating original film, the earth-bound failure of this sequel is a shame.

Related posts:

Scott Spiegel: Hostel: Part III (2011) - Spiegel ends Roth's beloved gore franchise  

1999 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess 
Evil Dead II/Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn (1987) - Campbell, Spiegel and Raimi's crazy, gory classic (co-writer)
From Dusk Till Dawn franchise: From Dusk till Dawn (1996) - Tarantino, Rodriguez and chums' enjoyable Mexico vampire extravaganza

Listen to an interview with Spiegel here

Cost: 5 mil. $
Box office: Unknown (mainly a direct-to-video release domestically and in many other markets)
= Uncertain (but likely successful commercially)
[From Dusk Till Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money premiered 16 March (USA) and runs 85  minutes. Shooting took place in South Africa. The film was reportedly intended to be a test venture for Dimension Films of the direct-to-video market, but it was also theatrically released in several markets. The film's gross and video sales are not immediately available online, but there is a good chance the film was successful. Another sequel followed, P.J. Pesce's From Dusk Till Dawn 3: The Hangman's Daughter. Later came From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series (2014-16). Spiegel eventually returned to directing with My Name Is Modesty: A Modesty Blaise Adventure (2004). Patrick returned in The Vivero Letter (1999). From Dusk Till Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money is rotten at 9 % with a 2.7/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of From Dusk Till Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money?

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010) - Newell straddles too much in fair action-adventure

♥♥♥

 

1 Film Excess nomination:

Best Supporting Actor: Alfred Molina (lost to John C. Reilly for The Extra Man) 

 

The colorful, polished poster for Mike Newell's Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

 

The illegitimate prince Dastan of Persia launches on a dangerous adventure, when the king gets poisoned, and Dastan and a beautiful woman come to the possession of a magical dagger.

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is an adaptation of the Prince of Persia video game franchise first released in 1989, and particularly the Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time game released in 2003. The film's plot has many of the right elements, but ultimately the span between computer game style, (Dastan escapes and gets ambushed a number of times as in one of the games), and CGI on the one side and an attempt at a plot about brotherly betrayal with a smack of Shakespeare on the other is too great.

The effects are well-made, but the central time-traveling dagger is some silly nonsense. And it also weighs down that the film's obligatory black character (played by Steve Toussaint (Point Break (2015))) dies right when expected, living up to the old rule that the black character in major action-adventure movies dies.

Gemma Arterton (Byzantium (2012)) is fine if not memorable in any way, and Jake Gyllenhaal (Donnie Darko (2001)) has an undeniably nice head of hair here as well as some charisma, - but why does the Persian speak British-accent English? (I understand that this follows the games, but without any explanation for it in the film, it still feels inane.) Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time seems distinctly below Ben Kingsley (Gandhi (1982)), but he does give life to the king, even though it is Alfred Molina (The Truth about Emanuel (2013)) as a funny, ostrich race-arranging scoundrel who is the greatest pearl of the film.

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is written by Boaz Yakin (The Punisher (1989)), Doug Miro and Carlo Bernard (The Sorceror's Apprentice (2010), both) and directed by great English director Mike Newell (Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994)). It is an okay cock-and-bull story.

 

Related posts:

 

Mike Newell:  2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]

2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]

2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

Donnie Brasco (1997) - Newell's fantastic, authentic gangster tale

Watch an official trailer for the film here

Cost: Estimated 150-200 mil. $

Box office: 336.3 mil. $

= Uncertainty: Flop or big flop

[Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time premiered May 9 (London) and runs 116 minutes. The film was conceptualized by Jerry Bruckheimer and Disney as 'the new Pirates of the Caribbean.' Filming took place in Morrocco and England (Pinewoods Studios) from July 2008 - January 2009. Gyllenhaal has said that he "over-prepared" for the role by gaining 5-6 pounds of muscle. It is reported that the film suffered from overspending due to a 'rush' to finish its CGI effects for the release, although it had more than a year from end of production to release. The film opened #3 (behind holdover hit Shrek Forever After and newcomer Sex and the City 2) to a 30 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it jumped to #2 for its 2nd week before falling to #4 and out of the top 5 and grossed 90.7 mil. $ (27 % of the total gross). Its 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Russia with 21.5 mil. $ (6.4 %) and France with 16.6 mil. $ (4.9 %). The film became the highest-grossing video game adaptation, eventually dethroned by Warcraft (2016). It has sold in excess of 1.6 mil. DVDs and Blu-rays, totaling more than 33.9 mil. $. If added to the theatrical gross, this, however, doesn't change the film's flop status. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is rotten at 36 % with a 5 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time?