The Counselor

 

MPAA/Content  R [AC, AL, N, SV]

Distributor  20th Century Fox

Technical  HD  2.35:1

Genres  CRI DRA THR

Runtime  117 mins.

Country  USA UK

Budget  $25M

 

CAST

Michael Fassbender, Penélope Cruz, Cameron Diaz, Javier Bardem, Brad Pitt, Bruno Ganz, Rosie Perez, Sam Spruell, Toby Kebbell, Édgar Ramierez, Rubén Blades, Natalie Dormer, Goran Visnjic, John Leguizamo, Emma Rigby & Dean Norris

 

CREDITS

Director: Ridley Scott; Screenwriter: Cormac McCarthy; Producers: Ridley Scott, Nick Wechsler, Steve Schwartz & Paula Mae Schwartz; Director Of Photography: Dariusz Wolski; Production Designer: Arthur Max; Editor: Pietro Scalia; Costume Designer: Janty Yates; Music Composer: Daniel Pemberton

 

THE SYNOPSIS 

Counselor (Fassbender) enjoys a Texas morning romp in the sack with his lovely girlfriend Laura (Cruz). Later, he attends a party at the house of the wealthy-but-shady drug kingpin Reiner (Bardem) and his girlfriend Malkina (Diaz) to discuss getting into the dangerous but lucrative drug business with the Mexican Cartel. Reiner advises against it—but the Counselor is ambitious.

Reiner sets up a meeting with another shady dude, Westray (Pitt)—who also advises the Counselor to stay clear of this business. No dice. To get the ball rolling, Counselor visits one of his clients, Ruth (Perez), currently serving time in jail. She asks that he bails out her biker son “The Geen Hornet” after he is arrested for speeding.

Turns out that Hornet is a valued cartel member heading towards the pick-up spot where a sewage truck loaded with drugs is waiting. He never makes it to the spot as a criminal named “The Wireman” (Spruell)—hired by the scheming Malkina—kills him on the highway. Sadly, Westray later informs the Counselor that the Cartel has implicated him as the one responsible for having Hornet killed and the drugs stolen.

What follows is a series of crosses-and-double-crosses when Reiner is killed by Cartel members as they try to capture him. The Counselor tries to flee with Laura after Westray disappears—but she is captured by the Cartel. Death and tragedy follow the Counselor as Malkina pulls the strings on he, Westray and The Cartel.

THE CRITIQUE

THE COUNSELOR is a real disappointment. There…I said it straight-up. It is hard for me to say, as the movie was directed by one of my all-time favorite directors: Sir Ridley Scott. Swear to God—the man is my idol. As a film scholar and filmmaker, I am a Scott acolyte true and true. So why has he made his worst movie since the underwhelming Matchstick Men (2003)? And don’t even get me started on the disappointment that Prometheus (2012) was…

But I digress. The movie was written directly for the screen by lauded Pulitzer Prize-winning author and playwright Cormac McCarthy (whose books All The Pretty Horses, The Road and No Country For Old Men became film adaptations themselves—with the latter winning the Best Picture Oscar^® of 2007). What should have been a terse, sinewy thriller turns out to be a dull, talky exercise in cold indifference. Zzzzzzzz… Cormac, I respect you as an author—but please, leave the screenwriting to those more qualified! See how well No Country For Old Men turned out? Oh—and by the way: read his Pulitzer Prize-winning The Road; it is a masterpiece slice of post-apocalyptic Americana.

Back to Sir Ridley, who directs THE COUNSELOR with little of the style and cinematic effervescence that he has practically patented in his many years of helming classics such as Alien (1979), Blade Runner (1982), Gladiator (2000), Black Hawk Down (2001) and countless others that are milestones in Cinema. Here, his auteur presence is so non-descript that it is really mind-boggling.

Sir Ridley’s director brother Tony Scott (the helmer of such classics as Top Gun, True Romance, Crimson Tide & Man On Fire) died during this movie’s production—which has since been dedicated to his memory. We lost a great filmmaker when Tony died—and Ridley surely felt the same (more so, he lost a brother)…so the idea & theme of Death must’ve hung in the air while making a movie about death. Still, this flick suffers from a dead script.

For such a bad movie, there sure is a cast of familiar faces abounding. I’m a big fan of Fassbender (underwhelming in a role that Christian Bale could have probably done better), Bardem (overwhelming in his über-producer Brian Grazer-style hairdo), Pitt (taciturn and sleazy), Cruz (radiant as always) & Diaz (see below)—but I get the funny feeling that some or all of these actors have been miscast. As I understand it, Diaz took the role after Angelina Jolie turned it down—which is weird, as I could see Jolie totally sodomizing a Ferrari more that I can Diaz.

Oops, did I give away a totally surreal part of the movie? Yes, you read right: Cameron Diaz f**ks a car to orgasm (hers, I mean) while the Bardem character watches in erotic horror. I would have watched the sequence again (several times) to make certain of what I was seeing—but there is no rewind button at the movie theater. Well, there’s always YouTube.

Production values on this relatively low-budget $25 million (boxofficemojo.com) movie are solid across the board.  THE COUNSELOR was shot in the USA, United Kingdom & Spain—the latter two standing in, respectively, for Southwestern USA and Mexico. Kudos to long-time Scott production designer Arthur Max (Gladiator, Black Hawk Down, Kingdom Of Heaven, Prometheus) for pulling it off.

THE COUNSELOR was lensed by veteran Polish cinematographer Dariusz Wolski (The Crow, Crimson Tide, Pirates Of The Caribbean series, Prometheus)—one of my favorite cameramen. I’ll say this: the HD-widescreen photography (captured utilizing the terrific RED Epic camera system) is one of the few pluses here. Wolski’s lensing captures the warmth of the desert as well as the cold, sterile ambience of the Counselor’s home and the ultra-modern gleam of modern London. Nicely done, indeed.

The imagery is abetted by a solid cutting schema courtesy of Scott’s long-time editor Pietro Scalia (Oscar^®-winner for JFK & Black Hawk Down; also edited Gladiator, Black Hawk Down & Prometheus) and colorful costume design by another long-time Scott artisan Janty Yates (Oscar^®-winner for Gladiator; also clothed Kingdom Of Heaven, American Gangster & Prometheus). As you can see, the technical categories are the only redeeming factors here—hence the 2-star rating instead of my original 1.5-star evaluation.

 

THE BOTTOM LINE

In a rare case of the doldrums, Ridley Scott’s THE COUNSELOR underperforms as a movie—and that is a crime! Even with the cache of the Ridley Scott directing, a large cast of famous faces peppered across the screen, strong production values and exotic locations to boot…this one is DOA as a thriller and as a character study. As a viewer, I’d sue—but then my own counselor would simply declare that I saw this movie of my own volition.

Verdict: GUILTY…for sucking!! The sentence has already been handed out: FAILURE AT THE BOX OFFICE. Case closed.

 

 

 

IMDB:                    http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2193215/

Wikipedia:             http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Counselor

Official Site:          http://www.thecounselormovie.com

Kick-Ass 2

MPAA/Content R [AC, SL, GV]

Distributor Universal Pictures

Technical HD 2.35:1

Genre(s) ACT/COM

Runtime 103 mins.

Country USA / England

Budget $28M

 

CAST

Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Chloë Grace Moretz, Clark Duke, Morris Chestnut, Donald Faison, John Leguizamo, Lindy Booth, Olga Kurkulina & Jim Carrey

 

CREDITS

Director/Screenwriter: Jeff Wadlow;  Producers: Matthew Vaughn, Adam Bohling, Tarquin Pack & David Reid;  Director Of Photography: Tim Maurice Jones;  Production Designer: Russell De Rozario;  Editor: Eddie Hamilton;  Costume Designer: Sammy Sheldon Differ;  Music Composers: Henry Jackman & Matthew Margeson

 

THE SYNOPSIS

New York City.  Three years after his initial heroics, Dave Lizewski (Taylor-Johnson) has put away his alter-ego Kick-Ass now that his actions have inspired ordinary citizens to help fight crime.  His partner, violent wunderkind Mindy Macready aka Hit-Girl (Moretz), still roams the streets—meting out justice while mourning the death of her hero father, Big Daddy.

Normal life does not suit him, so Dave trains anew with Mindy—against the wishes of her guardian (and Big Daddy’s former cop partner) Marcus (Chestnut).  Convincing her that vigilantism is not the life for a young lady to lead, Mindy gives up her Hit-Girl persona to begin a normal, screwed-up teenaged existence.

Elsewhere, and mourning the death of his Mafia kingpin father at the hands of Kick-Ass & Hit-Girl, a now-unhinged Chris D’Amico (Mintz-Plasse) shrugs off his Red Mist persona and becomes The Motherf***er.  With his family’s vast wealth now at his fingertips (after accidentally killing his mother, via tanning bed), The Motherf***er recruits the worst offenders—including a scary, platinum-blonde, former KGBer named Mother Russia (Kurkulina)—and establishes an underground lair …replete with shark tank and big shark.  It’s on now!

Kick-Ass aligns himself with a secret organization known as Justice Forever—headed by the zealous Col. Stars And Stripes (Carrey); sexy Night Bitch (Booth)—who commences a love affair with Dave; the geeky Dr. Gravity (Faison); Battle Guy aka Dave’s best friend Marty (Duke); and a few other brave citizens who wear their masks proud.  The group of vigilantes bust up crimes around the city with aplomb.

The only hero missing is Hit-Girl…who spends her days as Mindy: high school student and slumber party victim.  Poor Mindy hates the bourgeoisie lifestyle and the glaring phoniness of her new BFFs.  After the girls play a mean trick on her, Mindy retaliates with trickery of her own and is suspended from school.

The Motherf***er lets loose his dogs of war—who splinter Justice Forever.  Stars And Stripes—in reality, a former mob enforcer—is beheaded by Mother Russia while Night Bitch is almost raped and murdered.  Kick-Ass escapes, but his father is murdered by The Motherf***er’s goons while in jail when the cops arrest him for claiming to be Kick-Ass.

Mindy remasks herself as Hit-Girl and comes to the aid of the remaining Justice Force members.  They descend on villains’ lair and set about to rid the city of these evildoers.  With Hit-Girl at his side, Kick-Ass does just that.  And you just know that someone takes a header into that shark tank!

 

THE CRITIQUE

Sequels to good movies are plentiful.  However, good sequels to good movies are as rare as Keyser Söze’s Facebook profile!  Let’s look at it this way: sequels like The Godfather Part II (1974), Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (1980), Aliens (1986) and Die Hard With A Vengeance (1995) match—and sometimes supercede—their predecessors’ brilliance.  Most others, like KICK-ASS 2, repeat much of the original movie’s novel conceits but doesn’t augment it by standing on its own merits.

As with most sequels, the plotting is a continuation of the original.  However, the downside here is that what was whimsical in Kick-Ass has become old hat now.  The filmmakers know this, so they pump up the violence quotient instead—and believe me, KICK-ASS 2 really earns its R-rating.

Taking over the reigns from Kick-Ass’ original director Matthew Vaughn (who serves as a producer) is director/ screenwriter Jeff Wadlow (Never Back Down, Cry_Wolf)—who does a serviceable job on helming duties.  Working with a name brand (thanks to the success of the Kick-Ass…which, in turn, is based on the popular comic books by prolific writer Mark Millar & artist John Romita, Jr.), Wadlow does the smart thing with the characters and plot by causing several years to pass—thereby allowing some growth and development for all.

The cast is game, with Taylor-Johnson bulking up for his return as Kick-Ass—though I found his role to be more reactionary than in the original. Moretz’s Hit-Girl was an adorable-but-psychotic extension of teen girl angst in Kick-Ass; here, she has matured and been allowed to refine herself…up to a point of course.  The girl still has a mean kick!

Supporting players are solid, with Kurkulina’s Mother Russia stealing all of the scenes she’s in; while Mintz-Plasse’s characterizations as The Motherf***er are simultaneously amusing and annoying.  The one factor that intrigues me is the casting and inclusion of Jim Carrey in what turns out to be an extended cameo as Col. Stars and Stripes.  I would have liked to have seen more of his backstory as a former mob enforcer shown to us on the screen.

Production values are top-shelf across the board for this $28 million production (boxofficemojo.com), which was shot in Toronto, Canada; New York City and London, England.

The handsome, HD widesceen-lensing is courtesy of veteran British cinematographer Tim Maurice Jones (The Woman In Black, director Guy Richie’s Revolver, Snatch & Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels).  And while I’m still not a total convert to HD-photography, the imagery is indeed pleasing to the eye—so much so that the kaleidoscopic costumery of designer Sammy Sheldon Differ (Kick-Ass, Black Hawk Down, X-Men: First Class) stands out as one of the movie’s stronger points.  The characters and costumes really do mesh.

The terrific production design by Russell De Rozario (Kick-Ass) feels quite organic.  He had the enviable task of making locations shots in Toronto, Canada and London, England look like NYC’s outer boroughs of Queens & Brooklyn.  Interiors have their own charm, ranging from Stars and Stripes’ cluttered war room to The Motherf***er’s villainous lair…replete with shark tank and big shark.  Sharp cutting by veteran editor Eddie Hamilton (Kick-Ass, X-Men: First Class, Resident Evil: Apocalypse) and terrific stunt work round out these particulars.

 

THE BOTTOM LINE

KICK-ASS 2 lives up to the title, but has a hard time topping it’s predecessor’s unique style and satire.  The sharp humor is present—but its heart has grown a tad numb.  Still, colorful characters, good direction and solid production values (cinematography, costumes, etc.) give this sequel a leg up…and right into the nearest crotch!

 

IMDB:              http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1650554/

Wikipedia:      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kick-Ass_2_(film)

Official Site:    http://www.kickass-themovie.com/