Reviews

Christina Aguilera and Cher in a movie about singing. Surprised? No, not really. Do female musicians ever play any other role? Think Crossroads, but this time it’s Ms. Genie-in-a-bottle instead of Britney Spears.

Burlesque is a story about a small-town girl Ali (Aguilera) who moves to a big city in order pursue her dreams of stardom. She finds herself in a club that is struggling to stay alive. Ali lands a job there and works her way up from being a waitress to headlining its nightly dance show.

One thing I gotta say about the movie is that it is absolutely flat. There are no high highs and low lows – it’s so hard to feel any emotions for Ali. She’s never really in the pits or in the clouds – she’s just… there. Ali basically goes through the whole movie without a hitch, it’s like the “perfect” story, except that it isn’t perfect. The sub characters didn’t really help either. They don’t have any depth and are the perfect example of cut-out, stock characters.

Despite the predictable, flat storyline and clichéd characters – the movie isn’t terrible. The songs and dances in the movie are top-notch and worth the price of the ticket alone. Awesomely choreographed, and well written, the dances and songs are what you came here for. You don’t have to bother about the rest of the weak story if you’re just there for the music and performances. You’d probably be better off with the soundtrack and accompanying music videos. Maybe someone should just cut the movie up and release it like that. Burlesque gets a 5/10.

Seth Rogen and Jay Chou star in this hilarious super hero movie to kick off the year. I’ve never really seen the original The Green Hornet series (besides clips about Bruce Lee kicking ass) so I’m not exactly sure if it’s supposed to be a serious show, but The Green Hornet just takes an action-loaded movie and throws in Seth Rogen’s brand of humor to spice things up (it was co-written by him after all).

The Green Hornet tells the story of Britt Reid (Rogen), son of a recently deceased millionaire who is suddenly in control of a huge newspaper empire. Wanting to do something meaningful with his life, he decides to start a life of crime-fighting, with his deceased father’s servant, Kato (Chou). The storyline isn’t anything to shout about (don’t expect any twists or surprises), but the jokes and gags in between keep the whole show entertaining throughout.

Seth Rogen is his usual self. Britt Reid/Green Hornet seems to be a combination of all his past characters, except now he’s rich and has access to cool gadgets. Jay Chou does alright in this movie and as usual he’s mumbling more than he’s speaking but he does play a pretty convincing Kato. He’s probably not going to reach the legendary status of Bruce Lee, but he’s not terrible at what he does either. Who knows, we might see him in more Hollywood productions after this stint. Christoph Waltz as Chudnofsky is a believable bad guy and does a good job of killing his own men.

It’s nice seeing Seth Rogen acting with cast who aren’t members of the “Apatow crew” – it’s not his usual role to be a super hero, so it’s pretty refreshing. The chemistry between Rogen and Chou reminds me of the Jacky Chan/Chris Tucker from Rush Hour, and that isn’t a bad thing. This movie won’t be winning any awards, but it is pretty good way to kick start the year. Green Hornet gets 7/10.

With a couple of animation hits under their belts in the recent years, can Dreamworks release another one this year? I’m here to tell you, yes, they can.

Megamind tells the story of a super villain, Megamind (played by Will Ferrell), who manages to defeat his arch-nemesis, Metroman (played by Brad Pitt). After his victory, he does everything he wants without any hindrance, which eventually gets boring. Falling into depression because he has nobody to battle him, he decides to raise a new super-hero to be his new arch-nemesis, Tighten (Jonah Hill). But things get out of hand when the new super-hero becomes more evil than him.

With an all-star cast of Will Ferrell, David Cross, Tina Fey, Jonah Hill and Brad Pitt, you know you’re in for a treat! Megamind has jokes from the get go. Though they aren’t as ridiculous as recent offering such as The Other Guys, or vulgar as Get Him To The Greek, or as snide as any of David Cross’s stand-up material, it’s still a laugh-out-loud affair. The movie starts off as a super-hero spoof in the beginning and takes on a life of its own after the introduction. The storyline was good- enough twists and turns to keep me happy, and it was paced well. You’re not gonna walk out of the cinema feeling, “oh my god, that was the best movie I’ve ever seen!” but you’ll definitely enjoy it all the way while you’re in the cinema.

The visuals in this movie are great as well. Expect to see similar sort of treatment in live-action super hero movies in the future. The characters are all very memorable, especially Minion. Fishbowl-heads always get my attention. Metro Man looks special enough, while retaining the generic super-hero look. And Megamind looks the part- sinister and idiotic at the same time. Is it just me or are short-haired girls the in thing right now for animated movies? Monsters Vs. Aliens, Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs, Bolt..where are the long haired damsels? (Oh wait, Rapunzel is coming soon.) There’s nothing jaw-dropping here, but you’d be hard-pressed to find something to call ugly or visually unappealing.

Overall, Megamind is by no stretch what you would call a brilliant movie, but it is highly entertaining and will have you laughing from start to finish. It is one of the better animated movies this year. If you’re looking for a lighthearted super-hero comedy, Megamind is right up your alley. Megamind gets 7/10.