Fast And Furious 6

2 ½ Pipes out of 4

Fast cars, beautiful women and hunky men, fun for the whole family. Fast and Furious returns, without a cool title I might add, I a big way with Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Ludacris, Tyrese Gibson and the rest of the crew teaming with Dwayne Johnson and Gina Carano to take down a criminal mastermind. Diesel and company do not simply have an epiphany and join the police, no they have the ulterior motive that part of the mastermind’s crew is one of their own Leti (Michelle Rodriguez) who had been believed dead. With intertwining plot points from the previous movies, Fast and Furious 6 does a surprisingly good job of keeping the audience interested with more than explosions and car chases, of which there are many. There are a number plot choices that are questionable, for instance what to do with the woman that Diesel ended that last movie in love with. It also astounds me that the CIA cannot find a notorious criminal and in order to find them resort to hiring more criminals to find him. Vin Diesel also leaves his acting depth of the muscle man action hero when trying to show his emotion demonstrate his love for other characters. While this becomes quite awkward at times it was done with good intentions, continuing the Fast and Furious tradition of showing that through all the racing, explosions and death, values and family are what truly matter. 

The Great Gatsby

1 ½ Pipes out of 4

Similar to real estate where the 3 most important aspects are location, location, location, in movie making the most critical aspects are narration, narration, narration. The Great Gatsby had such promise and turns out to be a really good film except for the narration. Toby Maguire narrates the entire film which is not so bad but every 20-30 minutes they remove the audience from the story that he is telling and return to him in real time. It removes the audience from the narrative and it disrupts the flow of the story. With the narration being so skewed it is all but impossible for the audience to relate or care about any of the characters. All have massive character flaws and we are not exposed enough to their virtues to be persuaded to overlook their flaws. Along with problems with the narration there are large issues with the soundtrack choices for the film. With the film being set in the 1920’s one would think that the film would be set to music of the time or at least modern adaption’s of 20’s esc music. Instead the soundtrack contains modern hip hop that removes the audience again from the narrative with the drastic difference from what is being seen and what is being heard.  A good soundtrack supplements a film and helps the audience get lost in the aura and spectacle of the movie. When Jay-Z is heard rapping in the background instead of the girls who are physically singing in front of you it breaks the aura. Leonardo DiCaprio dedicates himself to the role of Gatsby as only he can giving a fresh twist on him since Robert Redford took up the mantle in 1974 and Joel Edgerton, an incredibly underappreciated actor, does a masterful job of playing the egotistical, entitled Tom Buchanan. The potential for what this film could have been had the narration breaks to Toby Maguire’s messed up future been removed and the soundtrack done with more authenticity saves Gatsby from being a complete flop but the title misleads with calling it Great.

Star Trek: Into Darkness

3 out of 4 Pipes

Benedict Cumberbatch finally has his break out role in American Cinema with the masterful portrayal of the mysterious villain opposite James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) and Spock (Zachary Quinto). In what is likely to be J.J. Abram’s last Star Trek due to his Star Wars commitment, He sends us off with an amazing sequel that was well worth the wait.  With the set up from the previous film being this new Star Trek is an alternate universe to the previous films, Abrams does a wonderful job intertwining original story lines into this new universe in diverse ways. Kirk takes his overconfidence too far and results in severe consequences and he must regain his faith in himself in order to save his crew. Spock on the other hand is still getting in touch with his human side instead of being dominated by his Vulcan logic. There is not much more that can be said without ruining a wonderful plot with twists and turns left and right keeping you on the edge of your seat all the way through. Alice Eve was a nice addition to the Enterprise crew adding a much needed sexiness to the crew without ruining it with a relationship with a crew member  Into Darkness is not a perfect film as there are a number of instances were Abrams simply kills a character simply to get them out of the way but it is still a phenomenal film. One can only hope that either Abrams returns to continue the franchise or a new director is brought in to replace him as the door is left wide open for future films. 

Lincoln

4 pipes out of 4

Daniel Day-Lewis tackles one of the most ominous historical figures of all time, Abraham Lincoln, and does so masterfully. He fully deserved the Oscar that he was given and the film itself deserved Best Picture instead of Argo. Day-Lewis humanized Lincoln for the common man after centuries of heroification. He brings out Lincoln’s faults showing us that Lincoln was a normal man pushed into abnormal situations. What was truly amazing about the film is that it focused on the little known aspect of the 13^th amendment freeing all slaves in the United States. Because Lincoln was assassinated before he could sign the amendment it is often thought that he had little to do with it. While Lewis does a wonderful job as Lincoln he is absolutely engulfed with superb supporting actors from Sally Field as Mary Lincoln to Tommy Lee Jones as Senator Thaddeus Stevens with many in between.  The script is both dramatic and witty, relieving tension with a snide remark or long winded story by Lincoln. The movie follows Lincoln in the final months of the Civil War and how he manipulated the Senate as well as the South in order to get the 13^th amendment passed. There are a number of instances that crack the indestructible moral man shell of Lincoln leaving the question did he do the right thing? Do the ends justify the means? Steven Spielberg skillfully directed the cluster of big name actors to get everything out of them, even after some might already be in the moonlight of their careers. Sitting at a whopping 2 ½ hours with only a brief battle in the beginning, it might seem to get a bit lengthy but the history and intrigue draw you in from start to finish.

The Last of the Mohicans

4 pipes out of 4

At first glance The Last of the Mohicans is simply another white take on the Native American story, glorifying the white and keeping the Native American story hidden. Upon closer inspection it helps share both the plight of the Native American while placating the mostly white audience. Daniel Day-Lewis plays a white man who was adopted by a Mohican father after both his parents were murdered at a young age. While Lewis does a masterful job as he always does in his films, it is his Native American father and brother who steal the show. Their portrayal is both honest and heartbreaking, giving the audience a partial view into the Native American colonial life, caught between war and famine, slowly being eradicated. The true relationship to watch in this film is not Day-Lewis’s character Hawkeye and the daughter of a British Colonel Cora (Madeleine Stowe), but the Native American brother Uncas (Eric Schweig) and Cora’s younger sister Alice (Jodhi May). One is obvious that will happen while the other develops slowly and with subtle cues, giving us hope for the future between Whites and Native Americans. If we take our cues from Alice and Uncas then a resolution can be found between these two parties. The film develops around the French and Indian war in the Colonies prior to revolution. There are a number of instances where the film plants the seeds of why the colonies declared independence, for instance the inability to leave their post while their homes and families were burned and murdered. The love relationship between Hawkeye and Cora seemed slightly rushed but the message behind the film and the development of the relationships between the other characters far exceeds it. The development of the villain character Magua (Wes Studi) was extremely well done in that while remaining the villain and not seeing reason, the audience gets a view into what has caused him to become this way. The Magua character demonstrates that there are no clean hands when it comes to the Native Americans be they French, British, Colonists or even Native American.

Iron Man 3

3 pipes out of 4

When you think that Jon Favreau has exhausted the broken Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), Shane Black, director of the Lethal Weapon series, throws a curve and reinvents the character. Unlike Favreau who focused on Stark’s personal faults, Black looks at the effect of New York in the Avengers took on Tony. Instead of fighting alcoholism, Stark fights anxiety. Instead of overcoming egotism, Stark must come to terms to which Iron Man really is the man or the suit. The one drawback is that again Tony and Pepper Potts’ (Gwyneth Paltrow) relationship is heavily strained by Tony’s internal battle. This seems to happen in every Iron Man film and the only reprieve where we see a happy couple is in The Avengers. Granted in this case it helps the story heavily and unlike Iron Man 2 Pepper is much more understanding as is Stark. The overall theme of Iron Man 3, as you are introduced to it in the very beginning with a voice over flashback to 1999, is that you create your own demons whether you mean to or not. Guy Pearce plays a wormy head of a think tank looking for investors believing humans where meant to evolve far beyond what we currently are. Ben Kingsley gives an interesting take on the villain the Mandarin while Rebecca Hall, who you might recognize from The Town or her golden globe nominated role in Vicky Christina Barcelona, plays the jilted lover of tony Stark and a biologist specializing in regenerative technology. Don Cheadle reprises his role as Colonel James Rhodes who is getting kind of annoying how loyal he remains to an obviously corrupt government. There are a number of twists and turns that are completely unexpected, some being refreshing and some bearing slight disappointment but they keep you invested in the story along with the characters. The main highlight of the film is Stark’s interaction with a young boy who has been abandoned by his father similar to Tony. Their cynicism towards each other and continual bickering provides constant laughs. Going onto this film not much was expected but much was received thanks to an amazing revival of the franchise by Black. Due to Black’s masterful reinvention, there now can be true excitement for what will happen in Avengers 2 and green light an Iron Man 4.