All posts by Tim Lammers

Movie review: ‘Furious Seven’

Paul Walker and Vin Diesel in 'Furious Seven'

“Furious Seven” (PG-13) 3 stars (out of four)

All engines are a go in “Furious Seven,” the seventh installment in Vin Diesel and Paul Walker’s blockbuster “The Fast and the Furious” film franchise. Instantly throwing any sense of logic out the window, the hot-rod movie is as dumb as a box of rocks, yet revels in every second of its ridiculousness. That’s because as implausible as it is throughout its exhausting 137-minute run-time, “Furious Seven” is also outrageously entertaining.

The premise of “Furious Seven” is fairly straightforward: A lethal, ex-British Special Ops soldier, Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham), is out for revenge after the loss of his brother — and he wants to make Dominic Toretto (Diesel) and the mercenary crew responsible pay with their lives.  Toretto and company (Walker, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson and Chris “Ludacris” Bridges”), however, can stop Shaw in his tracks if they can locate a high-tech terrorism device called “God’s Eye,” which can locate any person on the planet in an instant.

Also back for “Furious Seven” is Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, but his appearance really only bookends the movie as the franchise introduces Kurt Russell as Mr. Nobody — a shady, whimsical government heavy who hires the crew to locate the rogue computer device.

As big as Diesel, Walker and company have become thanks the franchise, the true stars of “Furious Seven” are the muscle cars and souped-up vehicles that scream across the film’s international scenery, purposely drive off cliffs and soar though one skyscraper in Dubai to the next.  Above all is a wild sequence where Toretto and his crew parachute their vehicles into a heavily-guarded foreign territory, proving that the sky, truly is the limit for the film’s dizzying action sequences.

While classified an action crime drama, “Furious Seven” is often laugh-loud funny with its hammy dialogue and over-the-top, clichéd, 80s action movie-like macho characters. It has a so-bad-that-it’s-good quality that’s completely infectious. In fact, the only sense of seriousness the film has is when the late Walker shows up on the screen, reminding us of the tragic accident that took his life in November 2013.

Naturally, there’s a highly emotional send-off for Walker at the film’s conclusion, as director James Wan strings together a tear-jerker flashback scene recounting his appearances in all the “Fast and Furious” movies. Even more beautiful is how Wan constructed a lyrical exit for Walker from the series that couldn’t be any more appropriate as the film franchise heads down new roads.

Tim Lammers is a veteran entertainment reporter and a member of the Broadcast Film Critics Association, and annually votes on the Critics Choice Movie Awards. Locally, he reviews films for “KARE 11 News at 11” and various Minnesota radio stations.

Christopher Nolan to appear at Walker Art Center career retrospective

Christopher Nolan and Matthew McConaughey on the set of 'Interstellar'

Celebrated filmmaker Christopher Nolan will be the subject of the Walker Art Center’s Dialogue and Retrospective series in May in Minneapolis, the museum announced this week.

Nolan, who most recently directed and co-wrote with his brother, Jonathan, the sci-fi blockbuster “Interstellar,” will kick off the retrospective, “Christopher Nolan Through Time,” with a Dialogue with Variety’s Scott Foundas May 5 at the Walker.

The Nolan retrospective  is a huge deal for the Walker, which kicked off its Dialogue series 25 years ago with Clint Eastwood, which I attended. Since then the movie program at the museum has hosted career retrospectives with the likes of Jodie Foster, Tom Hanks, Joel and Ethan Coen, and most recently, “12 Years a Slave” director Steve McQueen.

Read more about the Nolan retrospective here. In addition, check out the interview I did with Nolan for the theatrical release of “Interstellar” last November. The film, which is now available on digital platforms, will be released on DVD and Blu-Ray (Paramount Home Distribution) next week. Also, look out for my interview with Jonathan Nolan for the home video release next week.

See below more about the Christopher Nolan retrospective on the segment I did Friday on KARE 11 in Minneapolis.

Movie reviews: ‘Home,’ ‘Get Hard’

'Home'

“Home” (PG) 2 1/2 stars (out of four)

“Big Bang Theory” star Jim Parsons brings a sparkling voice performance to a lovable loser of an alien in “Home,” a DreamWorks Animation family comedy feature that will mostly hit home with the 8-and-under set and leave adult viewers itching to get, well, home.

Parsons voices Oh, a member of the friendly alien race called the Boov that invades Earth and relocates its residents to own utopia in a separate corner of the planet in Australia. Lost in the relocation shuffle, however, is Tip (Rihanna), a young teen girl hoping somehow to be reunited with her mom (Jennifer Lopez) on the other side of the planet.

Befriending Oh, Tip and the misfit set off to find her mom; but before along the way encounter trouble with the Boov and its leader, Captain Smek (Steve Martin) and the race’s sworn enemy — who has located the Boov thanks to a bumbling mistake by Oh.

“Home” offers mostly humor that the kid set will enjoy, unlike previous DreamWorks offerings like “How to Train Your Dragon” and its sequel, as well as the “Shrek” series, which appeal to all ages. And while adults won’t find the proceedings as nearly as entertaining as the younger audience members, there’s no question the animation is as gorgeous as anything DreamWorks has ever offered; especially, the ever-changing iridescent-colored aliens. Not surprisingly, Rihanna and Lopez songs pepper the soundtrack to help liven up the action (a move that was also clearly designed to bolster record sales).

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“Get Hard” (R) 2 stars (out of four)

Will Ferrell is back with yet another oafish, misinformed character (does he play another kind?) in “Get Hard,” an average comedy that survives on the likability of Ferrell and his winning co-star Kevin Hart. A politically incorrect comedy in its blunt observations of racial stereotypes and the prospect of prison rape, the success of the film solely depends its audience’s tolerance for the film’s button-pushing material. If you’re easily offended, “Get Hard” is not a movie for you.

Ferrell stars as James King, a multi-millionaire California businessman who, proclaiming his innocence, skips a plea deal and goes to trial on fraud and embezzlement charges after being accused of bilking clients out of millions. Sentenced to 10 years in maximum security at San Quentin prison with 30 days to get his affairs in order, King mistakes his car washer, Darnell (Hart), for an ex-con, and hires him toughen him up so he won’t be victimized in prison.

While “Get Hard” does its best to stretch out its one-joke premise, it only sometimes hits big with its laughs and other times completely misses the target. It’s also hopelessly predictable, and if not for the talents of Farrell and Hart, probably never would have been made in the first place.

Tim Lammers is a veteran entertainment reporter and a member of the Broadcast Film Critics Association, and annually votes on the Critics Choice Movie Awards. Locally, he reviews films for “KARE 11 News at 11” and various Minnesota radio stations.

Movie reviews: ‘The Divergent Series: Insurgent,’ ‘The Gunman’

Theo James and Shailene Woodley in 'Insurgent'

“The Divergent Series: Insurgent” (PG-13) 3 stars (out of four)

The battle of the young adult, dystopian novels-turned-movies continues with “The Divergent Series: Insurgent,” the second in a four-film series that’s trying to keep up with the popularity of “‘The Hunger Games” phenomenon. And while “Insurgent” falls short of those aspirations again, there’s still enough in the movie to warrant fans’ attention.

Shailene Woodley returns as Tris in the post-apocalyptic city of Chicago, where the city’s residents are divided into five factions based on different virtues: Abnegation (those who are selfless), Amity (peaceful), Candor (honest), Dauntless (fearless) and Erudite (intelligent). The system is devised to prevent anyone willfully acting out on their own and threatening the other residents of the city.

Tris is seen as a danger because she transcends the categories as a Divergent, and at the end of the first film, she, along with her Divergent boyfriend Four (Theo James), began to threaten the regime established by the iron-fisted Jeanine (Kate Winslet).

In “Insurgent,” Jeanine has taken to extreme measures, first by eliminating an entire faction on her way to hunting down the Divergents – namely Tris and Four – who are now on the run. Her mission is to capture and eventually kill the Divergents; but first find the most powerful one and put him or her through a series of brutal psychological simulations in an effort to unlock the greatest mysteries of their society.

Unless you’ve recently watched “Divergent” again, it takes a bit of time to re-acclimate to the story and characters, but once the action kicks into high gear, “Insurgent” is a fairly engaging movie. Again, while “The Divergent Series” doesn’t hold a candle to the much more compelling “Hunger Games” films (although it boast much bigger and bolder special effects), there are enough interesting plot turns and unexpected character developments to make you wonder what’s going to happen next.

“The Gunman” (R) 2 1/2 stars (out of four)

Despite a great cast, “The Gunman,” the latest directorial effort from “Taken” helmer Pierre Morel feels, well, like another “Taken” — but this time substituting Sean Penn for Liam Neeson.

Penn stars as Jim Terrier, a contract mercenary who assassinates the minister of mines in the Congo. Asked to flee and leave his life – and girlfriend, Annie (Jasmine Trinca) – behind after pulling off the high-profile sniper job, Terrier returns to the Congo to work for a humanitarian organization eight years later, only to find that his past has caught up with him and somebody wants him dead.

After catching up with one of his former mercenaries, Cox (Mark Rylance), in London, Terrier skips over to Spain to relocate Felix (Javier Bardem) – only to learn that his former friend is now married to Annie. After finding out he was double-crossed by Felix in more ways than one, Terrier finds himself on the run once again, realizing Annie and another old mercenary friend, Stanley (Ray Winstone) are the only people he can trust.

It doesn’t take long for viewers to realize that Penn’s character in “The Gunman” has a “particular set of skills” a la Neeson’s Bryan Mills, and he knows how to use them despite a brain condition that occasionally forces him to stumble and fall. In a few obligatory shirtless scenes, Penn is certainly built up enough to take on the bad guys, and much like Neeson in the first “Taken,” has the gravitas to make his lethal actions seem believable.

Although the film has its share of intense moments punctuated scenes of ultra-violence, “The Gunman” ends up being a fairly predictable crime thriller. There’s no doubt that Morel has a handle on the genre, but in the end it feels like any number of different action films, with the exception being that it’s populated with great actors (including Idris Elba) who are trapped in the doldrums of a limiting plot.

Tim Lammers is a veteran entertainment reporter and a member of the Broadcast Film Critics Association, and annually votes on the Critics Choice Movie Awards. Locally, he reviews films for “KARE 11 News at 11” and various Minnesota radio stations.

Tim Burton Book 2
Click book cover for info on how to buy!