X-Men: First Class
(Starring James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Kevin Bacon)
Thank the mutant gods! Someone has decided to put a modicum of thoughtfulness back into the bloated, summer superhero flick. You'd think Spiderman II and The Dark Knight would've taught Hollywood how to do it. Then we suffer through the Fantastic Four films and the last two junkie clods of the X-Men franchise. This prequel is a small, welcome step back into better form.
Fassbender is a German Jew who will become the very powerful metal-bender Magneto. McAvoy is the psychic and brilliant Professor X. This prequel tells how they meet and start gathering other mutants to join their respective teams for and against the human race. Along the way, the super mutants have to save all of us from the Cuban missile crisis and an evil mastermind (Bacon).
After the combined debris of X-Men 3 and Wolverine, the franchise needed a serious reboot. The studios found their answer in gay writer/producer Bryan Singer (writer/director of the first two, better films) and director Mathew Vaughn (Stardust, Kickass). This team culls some very sound performances is what often can be a schlocky genre.
First Class may not be perfect. It takes too long to get started, the effects vary, and the plot has minor holes. Also, some early emotional scenes seem hollow, as if they were softened to appease the kiddies. However, as other recent superhero films have shown, you could do worse than this.
The Hangover II
(Starring Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zack Galifianakis)
Have you ever had a crazy, reckless, even life-threatening night of hedonism, but when you try to recreate it, the second time seems to lack magic? This drunken, drugged debauchery is a loose and messy retread of the original, now set in extravagant, expensive Bangkok.
Ed Helms is the milquetoast dentist getting married in his bride's homeland, Thailand. His friendsâ┚¬â€ÂBacchanalian pretty boy Cooper and arrogant man-child Galifianakisâ┚¬â€Âare his best men. Two days before the nuptials, these three stooges get drunk and drugged, passing out in a seedy, third world hotel room. When they come to, they find a smoking monkey, a finger, and a weird international conman. What they don't find is the bride's 16-year-old Stanford-educated brother.
Director Todd Phillips and his cast have been through this before, in Vegas. Back then, they worked with a tight script and a wonderfully random collection of clues, all of which existed in the casino hotel room. This trip, it's all sloppy and reductive. Half the laughs are because the cast is either reenacting scenes or quoting lines from the first film.
The original also said something sly about your young, reckless friends and how losing them to â┚¬Å”grow upâ┚¬Â may be the most boring mistake you could make. This film says nothing. Though The Hangover II is opulent and intermittently funny, most audiences expect more than a half-dashed, more expensive Cliff â┚¬Ëœsnotes version of the first film.
[On DVD]
You Should Meet My Son!
(Starring Joanne McGee, Carol Goans, Stewart Carrico)
God bless the good intention! Getting a small, indie film made and noticed is rough. Without a lot of guidance, these works can showcase both magic and missteps. The sweet, admirable You Should Meet My Son is a perfect example.
McGee is a darlin' little southern woman of immense heart and etiquette if not a lot awareness. She lives with equally kind and clueless sister Goans. McGee's son, the closeted Carrico, is their pride and joy. Of course, he's unwilling to come out to his matchmaking elders, even if it breaks up his LTR. After the ladies are bludgeoned with the truth, they make a swift switch and start looking at leathermen, drag queens, and strippers for their progeny's perfect mate.
It's a cute setup that would've worked better 20 years ago. The film's tone swings wildly between heartfelt moments and stereotypical camp.
The drag is nasty, and the depictionsâ┚¬â€Âof southern women and of the gay communityâ┚¬â€Âare simplistic. Several points (like the lack of costume changes) tell you this flick was done on a dime. The final moments steal from La Cage aux Folles and Mame. It's as if filmmakers had an aversion to attempting something new.
That being said, McGee and Goins are warm and funny, even in the sillier, more unbelievable parts. When they and Carrico get to act the more honest moments, the film actually is touching and affecting.
