SweetPea and I went and saw this on the spur of the moment Sunday. I had heard good things about it and the preview looked funny. It's possible that I so rarely suggest seeing a film in the theatre that SweetPea (who loves going to the movies) will agree to just about anything if it means we get to go.
Wanderlust is billed as: "Rattled by sudden unemployment, a Manhattan couple surveys alternative living options, ultimately deciding to experiment with living on a rural commune where free love rules."
While Wanderlust was not quite Bridesmaids level hysterical, it was definitely funny, with laugh so hard you cry moments, and didn't rely on crude, gross or slapstick humor. Wanderlust walks the fine line between creating charicatures and people that, yes, we probably all know someone just like.
The story, overall, is the generic romantic comedy story arc, but it's a worthwhile presentation with humor, characters you can empathize with, and an ending that doesn't completely turn its back on the "intentional community" of Elysium.
I'd give this movie a rating of: I want to own this.
It is a visual & audio feast. Beautiful girls, gorgeous details, explosions, fights, music that fit perfectly. I think it's a very well done, fun, fiery flick, with an overall theme that:
You have all the tools you need. Now fight.
And how often do we need to be reminded of that?
I definitely recommend it if you're looking for some candy to veg out to for a couple of hours.
Spoiler Alert: This review contains plot spoilers. If you're interested in seeing this movie for yourself, you might want to skip this post & come back later. Consider yourself warned.
Probably the only thing you really need to know about this is that it stars Renee Zellweger.
Don't get me wrong. I totally love her. But she pretty much doesn't belong in anything other than a romantic comedy. Preferrably starring Hugh Grant and/or Colin Firth.
I'm just saying.
So basically what you have here is Renee Zellweger Does a Horror Flick. Which means it's kind of white washed. It's not as gory as it could be. It tries to be more psychological than it needs to be. And when it gets down to the dirty, "gotta do what you gotta do" part? You really can't tell that's where you are based on Renee's acting. She finally has to say it for you to realize that's what's happening.
Ouch.
Because SweetPea is obsessed with watching DVD "extras" before the movie, particularly with horror films, we had seen extra scenes and alternative scenes, including the alternative ending. I'm really happy they went the direction they did, because, as I'm sure you know, I am really over the "twist" ending that has become standard with horror movies.
You know.
The "It's over... But is it really over?!?" ending, ala The Crazies, Paranormal Activity and just about every freaking other horror movie that's come out in the last couple of years.
Case 39 actually ends, and you have a pretty good sense that it's going to stay ended. Maybe they'll make a sequel. Maybe not. Get it, Hollywood? You can totally end the first movie and still make a sequel. Not hard.
I do have a big beef with the trailer. I'm glad I didn't see it until after we watched the movie. The trailer makes it seem very much like something's is after the girl. In actuality, it becomes pretty clear early on in the movie that it's the girl, herself, that's causing all the horrors.
I know trailers are designed to get you to come watch the film, but it's not cool for them to be blatantly misleading. Boo on that.
I'd give it a rating of: meh
The Verbosery Recommends:
If you're looking for a psychological thriller involving kids, watch The Grudge or The Orphanage instead.
I was really excited about it because it seemed like it was all the right kinds of bizarre suspense gory thriller. And because SweetPea brought it home as a peace offering for also bringing home The Tooth Fairy and She's Out of My League. And pretty much anything that SweetPea brings home to make something up to me is going to be my kind of horror movie. Because she has a love/hate relationship with them, and usually won't rent them on her own.
Unless they're classics. Or the sad, pathetic C Rated movies. You know. Lower than a B rated movie.
Anyway, my expectations were pretty high for this and, you know, I don't even know why I try anymore.
::DISCLAIMER::
This review will contain spoilers. If you want to be surprised, don't read it. Go watch it, then come read it and then leave me comments with your thoughts. Danni. (heh)
::END DISCLAIMER::
The basic premise of the movie is that the local townspeople start acting strange. Like homicidally strange. There's also some kind of decomposition while alive going on and a certain amount of coming back from the dead. Kind of like zombies, but not.
These types of movies generally go one of two ways:
A slow buildup with character development, buildup of the problem and the main characters working to figure things out or solve the problem.
OR
A rapid buildup where things seem to be normal and then explode in a short amount of time. Not a lot of character development early on and usually not a lot of opportunity for the main characters to start working things out.
The Crazies? The Crazies did neither.
It acted like it was going to have a nice, slow buildup, but just as it started to get into character development and building up the problem, it suddenly exploded into a full blown military concentration camp, sealing off the town nightmare.
The main characters are a young married couple, the town sheriff and the town doctor, his deputy and her assistant. Of course they're all separated at first and of course the men go back for the women and then they go about trying to sneak away from town & the military camp to safety, while trying to avoid the heavily armed military presence and the other escaped crazies.
Oh. And of course the doctor is pregnant.
You figure out pretty early on who will live and who will die. The action doesn't seem to have any specific pace or direction. There are some fairly predictable scares but also some pretty cool gory scenes and explosions.
The ending was so played. I mean... I don't know if people in Hollywood somehow still think this is a new & fresh idea, but the whole "It's over... But is it really over? (dun dun duuunnnnn!)" is seriously played and you can see it coming from a mile away.
Hollywood? Get over it. I really wouldn't mind if a really intense, suspenseful, good horror/thriller flick had a reasonably happy ending. That, you know, ended the movie.
Anyway. The Crazies didn't truly stink up the joint, but it didn't meet my expectations and sort of fell flat.
I'd give it a rating of: Fair to Middling
PS: I think I might be starting a regular movie review on here. You know. As we watch movies. If you think my Internets Radio posts are strange, wait until you get a load of our movie watching choices!
