Sex Tape (July 2014)

Official Australian release date: 17/7/14. Viewed: 19/7/14.

Director: Jake Kasdan

Actors: Cameron Diaz, Jason Segel, Rob Corddry, Rob Lowe, Jack Black

Genre: Comedy

Rating: MA

‘Sex Tape’ is a quick, simple comedy with a good cast. Very straightforward storyline – married couple with kids tries to get the romance back, so they decide to film themselves having sex. It then is synced to all their friends’ iPads and they have to retrieve them. I would like to say hilarity then ensues, but it doesn’t.

The cast, mostly Segel & Diaz, plus Corddry & Kemper, Lowe & Black are all quite charming/engaging in their own way, but the main fault with the film is that it’s all been done before. Sure, it’s a new premise, but it’s based on the same old “couple-trying-to-get-their-mojo-back” plot and sadly there’s not that many laughs to be had. A few chuckles here and there, but no truly funny laugh-out-loud moments.

Basically, the best bits are in the trailer and if you’re going hoping to see nudity, there’s – unfortunately – plenty of Segel’s butt! That is counteracted by a little bit of Diaz’s butt & side-boob, but nothing to really write home about!

Overall: Funny in parts, but nothing special.

Gav's Rating: 2.5 stars. 

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (July 2014)

Official Australian release date: 10/7/14. Viewed: 16/7/14.

Director: Matt Reeves

Actors: Andy Serkis, Toby Kebbell, Jason Clarke, Gary Oldman, Keri Russell

Genre: Action / Sci-Fi

Rating: M

‘Dawn of the Planet of the Apes’ does a great job of continuing the story from ‘Rise of the Planet of the Apes’, without picking up directly where it ended or doing any gimmicky flashbacks. The graphic of how the simian virus spread was quite original and the opening shot of Caesar – and indeed the first 15min or so – does a great job of showing so much, without needing any talking.

The setting is still Muir Woods in San Francisco, but a lot has changed, with the apes now living peacefully and successfully in the forest and the humans a desperate mess in the city. I was amazed by how quickly I was cheering for the apes and, if not despising, then at least not caring for the humans at all! Caesar (Serkis), Koba (Kebbell), Blue Eyes (Thurston) & Maurice (Konoval) are the main stars here, with Dreyfus (Oldman), Malcolm (Clarke) & Ellie (Russell) merely making up the numbers. It’s great to have Serkis back as Caesar, the “king of the Apes”, with such nuanced and believable body language and facial expressions. Hard to believe he has gone from obscurity to the world’s greatest motion-capture actor in just over 10 years! He’s now responsible for three of the biggest characters of all time – Caesar, King Kong & Gollum – and he’ll be in ‘Star Wars: Episode VII’ next year!

So much happens in this film – it’s tense and dramatic in parts, then a full blown war in others and a political tug-of-war in others, and often times both “sides” are trying hard to do right, but something prevents that. It’s definitely not boring and flies along, looking great, and importantly too – sounding great, with a nice score underneath and throughout.

Seeing as this is the seventh film in the franchise (no one counts Burton’s 2001 remake, right?), it definitely leaves you wondering and anticipating what will happen in the third of the “prequel trilogy” and see how they link them to the original 60s/70s films. It will also be amazing if they have the third prequel made by 2016, considering how much CGI & motion-capture detail they will need for the epic ‘conclusion’…

Overall: Talking-monkey-riding-a-horse-shooting-a-gun: sounds ridiculous & stupid, but once you see how it fits into this film, you’ll see how cool and relevant it is!

Gav's Rating: 4 stars. 

22 Jump Street (July 2014)

Official Australian release date: 19/6/14. Viewed: 10/7/14.

Directors: Phil Lord & Chris Miller

Actors: Jonah Hill, Channing Tatum, Ice Cube, Amber Stevens

Genre: Comedy / Action

Rating: MA

Is ‘22 Jump Street’ as good as ‘21 Jump Street’? Quite possibly, which is a big achievement, seeing as the original was one of the better comedies of the last 10 years! This film has just as many laughs – if not more – and does a great job of poking fun at itself and the ludicrousness of most Hollywood sequels.

There’s a few more car chases, but they’re unconventional and quite amusing with the commentary the two leads provide.  A fair bit of the humour comes from the fact that their undercover disguise as college-age students (i.e. they should be 18-21), which is totally unbelievable, seeing as Hill is 30 & Tatum is 34. Plenty of referencing the first film and stupidity of repetition in sequels (mostly by Offerman’s Chief of Police – “EVERYTHING is EXACTLY the SAME”!) and even casting the bad guy from ‘Bad Boys II’ – Peter Stormare – as the villain in this!

Pretty good support cast - the Yang Twins are great as the across-the-hall stoners, Stevens is good as the love interest and Ice Cube has more to do in this film, which is a good thing and leads to a few hilarious scenes.

Best bit of the film? Probably the many joke sequel posters/trailers they show! Highly entertaining and just plain funny to see how far they can stretch a premise. Quite reminiscent of ‘Tropic Thunder’, but definitely had the crowd in stitches! I do hope they make a third film, but if not, both 21 & 22 Jump Street will stand as some of the best action/police comedies ever made.

Overall: Great sequel with plenty of laugh-out-loud moments and plenty of charisma to boot.

Gav's Rating: 4 stars.