The Fast & the Furious: Tokyo Drift Blu-Ray Review

Rated PG-13 (Reckless and Illegal Behavior involving Teens, Violence, Language and Sexual Content)

Running Time: 1 Hour & 44 Minutes

Cast:

Lucas Black-Sean Boswell

Shad Gregory Moss/Bow Wow-Twinkie

Nathalie Kelley-Neela

Sung Kang-Han Lue

Brian Tee-Takashi/”Drift King”

Sonny Chiba-Kamata

Leonardo Nam-Morimoto

Jason Tobin-Earl

Keiko Kitagawa-Reiko

Lynda Boyd-Ms. Boswell/Sean’s Mother

Brian Goodman-Major Boswell/Sean’s Father

Vin Diesel-Dominic Toretto

Directed by Justin Lin

They moved the action to Japan but it's still the same damn film.

Note: Part of "The Fast and the Furious Trilogy" Blu-Ray set.

“The Fast & the Furious: Tokyo Drift,” the third entry in the famed car porn franchise is a sequel in-name only, lacking any connection to the previous two films and seems like it was meant for the direct-to-DVD market with its no-name cast. The film’s only high point in this dull, uninspired affair is a surprise cameo at the end but you can hardly call it a surprise when it was spoiled in the film’s promotional material. In fact, its release just reeks of desperation on Universal’s part as they were willing to move ahead and discard all of the main characters just to make a quick buck from gullible moviegoers. Yes, there are flashy cars and scantily-clad young women but that’s all this film, and the franchise as a whole, has to offer. Fans will eat up “Tokyo Drift” like ice cream but for everyone else, this is a laughably bad film with weak performances and a clichéd story. It even botches its one saving grace with choppily edited, repetitive racing scenes.

Sean Boswell (Lucas Black) is your typical, everyday American teen who loves cars a little too much. Unable to keep his ego in check, Sean gets into a street race with a local jock but both end up totaling their cars in the process and are arrested by the police. The jock is quickly released thanks to his wealthy parents but Sean is faced with jail-time as this is his third offense. To avoid going to prison, Sean’s mother sends him off to Tokyo, Japan to live with his father, who is stationed there as a U.S. naval officer. Sean is warned by his father not to stir up any trouble or he will be sent back to the U.S. to serve his sentence. After some minor culture shock, Sean makes a new friend nicknamed ‘Twinkie’ (Shad Gregory Moss/Bow Wow) at school, who peddles American goods and introduces him to the underground street racing scene. While there, he strikes up a conversation with a pretty girl from class named Neela (Nathalie Kelley) but her boyfriend, Takashi (Brian Tee), the nephew of a local Yakuza boss, warns him away. Sean does not back down and Takashi challenges him to a race. His associate, Han Lue (Sung Kang), gives Sean his car to use. The race goes badly for Sean as he lacks the expertise to ‘drift,’ which involves intentionally over-steering with the car skidding sideways while braking and accelerating in tight turns. Han meets Sean at school the next day and explains that he’ll be working for him to repay the debt for damaging his car. The two become fast friends and Han begins teaching Sean how to drift. Neela and Sean grow closer but when a jealous Takashi discovers that Han has been stealing money from him, he vows to take him and Sean down.

The only thing that “Tokyo Drift” does right is setting the film in Tokyo and director Justin Lin takes full advantage of showing off the neon-drenched city every chance he gets. The rest of the film is generic and forgettable. In fact, it becomes unintentionally hilarious as everything is treated too seriously. Lin throws in some ‘drama’ about outsiders sticking together and taking responsibility for your actions but it comes across as pandering rather than empowering. It even makes some big statement about how drifting makes you alive and is such a life changing experience! That last part was sarcasm. The film comes off as hypocritical even as it clumsily imparts moral lessons while reveling in its loose values and materialism. We have the prerequisite rebel who is out of his league in a culture he does not understand (and makes little attempt to) who runs afoul of the local gang and has to beat him at his own game to win the girl. It all comes off like a flashy, sexualized version of “The Karate Kid,” only with cars. Han even quotes Mr. Miyagi at one point! The film also fetishizes young Japanese women to appeal to the wet dreams of Caucasian men, as all of them are dolled up wearing small-sized clothes and mini-skirts as if it this were a hentai. What of the races themselves? Well, the only praise I can muster is that it feels more grounded compared to the physics-defying stupidity of “2 Fast 2 Furious.” However, they’re poorly edited together with constant cuts of the cars skidding around and a shot of the driver looking overly-serious. All the races end up looking the same because Lin employs this style for all of them.

The cast are merely accessories to the cars and as such, deliver weak performances. It doesn’t help that the characters are vapid and paper-thin to begin with. Lucas Black’s cowboy routine comes off as annoying and his Southern drawl makes him sound like a drunk. Bow Wow’s ‘Twinkie’ (where do they come up with these names?!) serves absolutely no purpose at all. Nathalie Kelley is the obligatory love interest who bats her eyes and recites cringe-inducing dialogue about cars and the nature of life. Brian Tee is your stereotypical Asian gangster, who leers and grimaces in every scene he’s in. Finally, there’s Sung Kang as Han Lue, who looks like he’s ready to fall asleep.

In contrast to the film, “Tokyo Drift” looks and sounds amazing on Blu-Ray. This is a very colorful film with a pristine transfer that shows off the sheen on every car and the day-glo lights that pervade the Tokyo cityscape. Blacks are inky and deep although flesh tones do lean toward a slight yellowish hue. Audio is loud but not aggressive with all the cars skidding about. Sound effects such as the clicking of gears or the turning of the brakes are never drowned out amidst the noise. Dialogue is also crisp and clear although sometimes the accents make it hard to understand what is being said. This is another demo-worthy disc from Universal. The special features are largely fluff pieces with the only piece of interest being the over-enthusiastic audio commentary delivered by Justin Lin. He even outright admits that’s its nothing but a bunch of races strung together by a threadbare plot. At least we know he set his standards pretty low from the start.

“The Fast & the Furious: Tokyo Drift” was released on June 16, 2006 to negative reviews with 35% on Rotten Tomatoes. It failed to ignite the box office, coming in at third place in its weekend debut with $24 million, a far cry from the previous entries. The film still made a respectable gross of $158 million worldwide, enough to convince Universal to green-light a fourth film which finally reunited the entire original cast. Of course, now the franchise is as strong as ever if bereft of any artistry, imagination, you know, things that make a good film. About the only praise I can muster is that “The Fast & the Furious: Tokyo Drift” is not as mind-numbingly dumb as the last film but quoting the Angry Video Game Nerd, ‘that's like saying the sh*t that I took last night was better than the sh*t I took the day before.’ The franchise never rose above mediocrity in the first place and this film continues the tread. Hypocritical story, weak performances, and poorly edited races make “Tokyo Drift” a waste of everyone’s time and should’ve been dumped in the DVD bargain bin where it belongs.

Final Rating: 1.5 out of 5

“I have money, its trust and character I need around me. You know, who you choose to be around you lets you know who you are. One car in exchange for knowing what a man's made of? That's a price I can live with.”

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2 Fast 2 Furious Blu-Ray Review

Rated PG-13 (Street Racing, Violence, Language and some Sensuality)

Running Time: 1 Hour & 47 Minutes

Cast:

Paul Walker-Brian O'Conner

Tyrese Gibson-Roman ‘Rome’ Pearce

Eva Mendes-Monica Fuentes

Chris 'Ludacris' Bridges-Tej Parker

Devon Aoki-Suki

Cole Hauser-Carter Verone

Thom Barry-FBI Special Agent Bilkins

James Remar-U.S. Customs Agent Markham

Jin Auyeung-Jimmy

Amaury Nolasco-Orange Julius

Michael Ealy-Slap Jack

Mark Boone Junior-Detective Whitworth

Matt Gallini-Enrique

Roberto 'Sanz' Sanchez-Roberto

Directed by John Singleton

Who cares about the actors when you have flashy cars?

Note: Part of "The Fast and the Furious Trilogy" Blu-Ray set.

With the unexpected box office success of “The Fast & the Furious” in 2001, Universal was quick to announce a sequel. After all they had a new moneymaker on their hands and that’s the only thing that counts in Hollywood these days! However, both Vin Diesel and director Rob Cohen were unavailable as its production schedule conflicted with their action film, “xXx,” at the time. For the sequel, most of the cast was replaced with new characters with John Singleton set to direct. Singleton is famous for his critically-acclaimed 1991 film, “Boyz n the Hood,” which depicted African American life in poor South Central Los Angeles. For his work, Singleton was nominated for Best Director and Best Original Screenplay at the 1992 Academy Awards, making him the youngest (at age 24) and the first African American to be nominated. I do not know what motivated Singleton to direct “2 Fast 2 Furious” but it makes the tepid achievement of the original look like a masterpiece. The film is nothing more than a cash-in with a retread plot and mind-numbingly dumb dialogue and action scenes. A more appropriate name would be “2 Dumb 2 Stupid.”

After the events of the first film, Brian O’Conner (Paul Walker) is a cop no more and now makes a living in Miami by participating in illegal street races through his friend, Tej Parker (Chris ‘Ludacris’ Bridges). After winning one such race, the police arrive and Brian is promptly arrested. He is brought before U.S. Customs Agent Markham (James Remar) and his former handler FBI Special Agent Bilkins (Thom Berry), who offers him a deal: his criminal record will be wiped clean if he agrees to work with them to infiltrate and take down a ruthless drug lord named Carter Verone (Cole Hauser). Brian agrees on one condition: he gets to pick who he works with. This person happens to be a former childhood friend named Roman ‘Rome’ Pearce (Tyrese Gibson). Their reunion ends in a fist fight but eager to have his record wiped as well, Roman agrees. The two are assisted by another undercover agent, Monica Fuentes (Eva Mendes), who liaisons as Verone’s girlfriend. To take Verone down, Brian and Roman must put aside their differences if they are to come out of their mission alive.

Forgive me for being vulgar, but the plot of “2 Fast 2 Furious” is a pile of sh*t. Vin Diesel’s presence in the first film made it bearable to watch but with him gone, there’s just no reason for this sequel to exist other than to reap money from brain-dead movie-goers. It’s all a tired retread but with a different set of characters who manage to come off even less compelling compared to the original cast. Of course, the real reason for everyone to watch is the races. As always they are flashy and overdone, with its MTV-style editing, rap music and numerous scantily-clad women gyrating around. It just borders on being ridiculous, no wait, it is ridiculous with the cars breaking every law of physics. I bet Isaac Newton is rolling in his grave now. Dialogue is also laughable with every other word being “man” or “brother.” Maybe it’s too much to expect a bunch of street racers to actually speak in proper English when they’re all cartoonish racial stereotypes. Like the original, I find myself struggling to say much about “2 Fast 2 Furious” with its nowhere plot, dull characters and loud races that serve nothing more than to turn our brains into mashed stew.

Paul Walker is the only main cast member returning and his acting ability has not improved one iota. His attempts to act ‘hip’ or ‘gangster’ is cringe-inducing to watch. Model-turned-actor Tyrese Gibson fares better as Roman; he has a lot of energy and seems to genuinely enjoy his role. I would probably be more lenient on this film if it just featured him. Eva Mendes serves no purpose other than to shake her assets and provide eye-candy to horny thirteen year old boys. Devon Aoki…also serves no purpose other than to shake her assets and provide eye-candy to horny thirteen year old boys with an Asian fetish. Cole Hauser comes off as some sort of James Bond villain reject as he orders his minions and tortures crooked cops with rats in a bucket. Yes, rats in a bucket. I wonder why the villains are always drug lords in these types of films. Are they victims of the economic crisis that they cannot find any other illegal profession to work in? There’s also Chris ‘Ludacris’ Bridges as Tej Parker, Brian’s partner-in-crime who probably signed on due to the amount of bikini-clad female extras on the set.

As part of “The Fast & the Furious” trilogy box-set on Blu-Ray, “2 Fast 2 Furious” looks every bit as good as its predecessor. Stylistically, the sequel looks indistinguishable from the original; there’s still some slight film grain and the colorful cars pop out of the screen with visual splendor. Flesh tones still lean toward a ‘hot’ orange hue. As if it couldn’t get louder, this film ups the ante in the audio department with cars whizzing by with their engines revved up. It’s an aural experience that will thrill fans of the film. The special features look extensive but they all end up being glorified commercials. The only thing worth a listen is the audio commentary from director John Singleton, who sounds like he had fun making the fun. His enthusiasm tapers off at the end though. To appeal to the series’ primarily male fan-base, there’s even a featurette called Tricking Out a Hot Import Car and is hosted by Playboy Playmate Dalene Kurtis. Yes, expect intelligent and detailed analysis from her.

Released on June 6, 2003, “2 Fast 2 Furious” received negative reviews with 36% on Rotten Tomatoes. It did exceed the box office gross of the original with $236 million worldwide so yes, another pointless sequel was made, released in 2006, this time featuring none of the main characters from the original! I believe online film critic James Berardinelli speaks for all of us when he remarks, ‘The mind-numbing stupidity of Hollywood decision-makers never ceases to amaze me,’ although at this point it shouldn’t be a surprise. If you love car porn and women flaunting their assets and hate to use your brain, “2 Fast 2 Furious” is the film for you. For everyone else, if you possess a modicum of intelligence, avoid this flick like the plague. It’s not even like we have high expectations; we just want to be entertained for two hours, not treated like morons.

Final Rating: 1 out of 5

“Come on, man. Guns, murderers and crooked cops? I was made for this, bro!”

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The Fast & the Furious Blu-Ray Review

Rated PG-13 (Violence, Sexual Content and Language)

Running Time: 1 Hour & 47 Minutes

Cast:

Vin Diesel-Dominic Toretto

Paul Walker-Brian O'Conner

Michelle Rodriguez-Leticia ‘Letty’ Ortiz

Jordana Brewster-Mia Toretto

Rick Yune-Johnny Tran

Matt Schulze-Vince

Johnny Strong-Leon

Chad Lindberg-Jesse

Jeffrey Atkins (Ja Rule)-Edwin

Noel Guglielmi-Hector

Ted Levine-Sergeant Tanner

Thom Barry-FBI Special Agent Bilkins

Stanton Rutledge-Muse

Reggie Lee-Lance Nguyen

Directed by Rob Cohen

 

Little did they know that this film would be the only thing keeping their careers alive...

Note: Part of "The Fast and the Furious Trilogy" Blu-Ray set.

Boy, Hollywood sure makes a lot of pointless sequels and no other franchise is as pointless as “The Fast & the Furious.” The original film was released during the summer of 2001 and raked in the dough at the box office with $207 million worldwide against an estimated $38 million production budget. Seeing it as a goldmine, Universal made a sequel, and another, and another, until now we have “Fast Five” (Why do the titles keep getting shorter? Is the sixth one just going to be called “Fast”?), the fifth installment to be released on April 29, 2011, the weekend before the official summer movie season begins. “The Fast & the Furious” is the epitome of style over substance. Sure, the cars and women are good looking but it all adds up to a vapid and yawn-inducing experience due to its paper-thin plot and poorly developed characters.

Brian O’Connor (Paul Walker) is an undercover cop working for an LAPD-FBI joint operation to investigate the world of illegal street racing. There have been a number of high-profile, semi-trailer truck hijackings where millions of dollars of merchandise has been stolen. Brian is to find the perpetrator and bring him or her to justice before the truck drivers take matters into their own hands. Using his job at an aftermarket auto parts store known as The Racer’s Edge, Brian makes contact with Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel), an elite street racer who leads a motley crew that includes his girlfriend, Leticia ‘Letty’ Ortiz (Michelle Rodriguez), his two friends Vince (Matt Schulze) and Leon (Johnny Strong), and mechanic Jesse (Chad Lindberg). Brian enters into an illegal race with Dom and two other racers but loses. The police arrive and Brian manages to get into Dom’s good graces when he saves him from being apprehended. Dom accepts Brian as part of the team and begins helping him repair a badly damaged 1994 Toyota Supra as repayment of his debt for losing the race. Brian at first suspects Dom’s rival, Johnny Tran (Rick Yune), of committing the hijackings but when he turns out to be innocent, evidence points to Dom as the perpetrator. However, Brian’s mission becomes complicated when he falls in love with Dom’s sister, Mia (Jordana Brewster) and he becomes torn between bringing Dom to justice and betraying his new-found friends.

That little summary makes “The Fast & the Furious” a lot more complicated than it seems and in fact, the story is so simple, uninspired, and generic that it could only be written by thirteen-year-old boys driven by testosterone. I was not expecting something that was going to win Academy Awards but when you start finding the street races themselves boring, you’re in trouble. I’ll admit the races are slickly directed with confidence by Rob Cohen (and they’re packed with scantily-clad women) and those who have a strong interest in cars will come away with a smile but they all start blurring together and look the same by the second hour. Still, they’ll keep you awake but once the wheels stop spinning and the ‘plot’ takes center-stage, everything falls apart because nothing is compelling at all. The film harps about brotherhood and sticking by your friends no matter who they are and what they do but the relationships are so superficial that I could care less about what happens to them. The editing is of the MTV-variety; there are lots of quick cuts, flashy effects, slow motion, and a soundtrack that will only appeal to urban audiences. I find myself struggling to say much about “The Fast & the Furious.” It’s purely an audiovisual experience and if that’s what you’re looking for, than you’ll come away satisfied but for everyone else, this is an empty, soulless experience that is so pre-occupied with looking ‘hip’ and ‘cool’ to the detriment of everything else.

None of the cast is required to do any actual acting other than to look good on-camera. That being said, Vin Diesel’s larger-than-life presence and deep baritone voice make the film somewhat bearable to watch. Paul Walker is just the pretty, blond boy who can’t act if his life depended on it. He seems to speak all his dialogue as if he were some low-level gangster. Michelle Rodriguez is once again playing the tough chick but she leaves little to no impression in her underwritten role. While Jordana Brewster does bring a wide-eyed innocence, she is nothing more than the token love interest dressed as if she’s going to a party.

“The Fast & the Furious” arrived on Blu-Ray in a trilogy box-set in 2009 that includes “2 Fast 2 Furious” and “The Fast & the Furious: Tokyo Drift.” The picture quality looks excellent, if overly processed. Slight film grain is present and while flesh tones lean toward a ‘hot’ orange, the colors are very vibrant thanks to the numerous cars on display. Detail is excellent whenever someone pops the hood and we get to see all the doodads inside. This is a very loud film with heavy bass due to its soundtrack and the constant revving of engines. If you have a nice surround sound system set up, this would be nice demo material to show off to your friends. There’s a healthy dose of special features. There’s an audio commentary or if you so please, you can activate a feature where an icon would show up and if selected, it takes you to a short video clip of Cohen commenting on the scene being shown. The making-of is only a paltry eighteen minutes, followed by various fluff pieces on the editing, visual effects, deleted scenes and music videos.

“The Fast & the Furious” was released on June 22, 2001 to mixed reviews, with 52% on Rotten Tomatoes. Some critics accepted it as a guilty pleasure while others just wrote off the film as being another dumb summer flick. As mentioned at the beginning, the film was a box office success with $207 million worldwide, enough to warrant a sequel or two (or four). People do enjoy these films but I’m not one of them. It’ll take a lot more than flashy cars and under-dressed women to impress me. “The Fast & the Furious” offers little else to anyone other than action junkies and car fanatics, and despite the well-made car chases, it is just not enough to make this film rise above mediocrity.

Final Rating: 2 out of 5

“I live my life a quarter mile at a time. Nothing else matters: not the mortgage, not the store, not my team and all their bullsh*t. For those ten seconds or less, I'm free.”

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Super Review

Rated R (Scenes of Graphic Violence, Language, Some Sexual Content and Drug Use)

Running Time: 1 Hour & 36 Minutes

Cast-

Rainn Wilson-Frank D'Arbo/The Crimson Bolt

Ellen Page-Libby/Boltie

Liv Tyler-Sarah Helgeland

Kevin Bacon-Jacques

Nathan Fillion-The Holy Avenger

Gregg Henry-Detective John Felkner

Andre Royo-Hamilton

Michael Rooker-Abe

Sean Gunn-Toby

Stephen Blackehart-Quill

Don Mac-Mr. Range

Rob Zombie (voice)-God

Directed by James Gunn

Before the Guardians of the Galaxy, there was...the Crimson Bolt!

James Gunn’s latest film, “Super,” is all kinds of f*cked up in that it makes “Kick-Ass” look like it was made for babies. While both bear some passing similarities in their exploration of ordinary, everyday people dressing up as superheroes, Gunn’s film is a different beast altogether as it’s not afraid to offend and push the envelope. Gleefully hilarious with its dark comedy and shockingly brutal violence, “Super” unfortunately falls short due to its disjointed tone, leaving its themes ultimately muddled.

Frank D'Arbo (Rainn Wilson) is an oddball loser who works as a short-order fry cook at a local diner. As indicated by his color-penciled drawings, the two happiest moments in his life is his marriage to Sarah (Liv Tyler) and when he assisted a police officer in apprehending a purse-snatcher. However, Frank’s life comes crashing down when his wife, a recovering drug addict/alcoholic, relapses into her old ways and leaves him for Jacques (Kevin Bacon), a strip club owner and drug dealer. He does everything to try to get his wife back but all it gets him is a butt-whooping by Jacques’ goons. After praying one night, Frank has a surreal dream where he is literally touched by the finger of God and meets a television superhero called the ‘Holy Avenger’ (Nathan Fillion). Taking this as a sign to battle evil, Frank creates a homemade costume and calls himself ‘The Crimson Bolt!’ His motto: ‘SHUT UP, CRIME!’ His first foray into crime-fighting ends in disaster and he goes to the local comic book store to research on superheroes without any powers. He picks a giant pipe wrench as his weapon and brutally beats up criminals, no matter how small their crime. Frank’s goal is to use his costumed persona to take down Jacques and get his wife back. Things get even crazier when the comic book store clerk, Libby (Ellen Page), teams up with Frank as his kid sidekick ‘Boltie.’

“Super” is all kinds of crazy rolled into one. “Watchmen” explored the thin line between hero and sociopath but this film just kicks that line to the curb and revels in its violence. Once Frank puts on the suit and becomes the Crimson Bolt, he just loses it as he whacks people with his pipe wrench or dropping cinder blocks on their faces, screaming, ‘Don’t steal, don’t deal drugs, and don’t molest kids!’ Frank takes this so seriously that when he sees someone cutting the line at the movie theater, he suits up and gives him a good ol’ trashing. When a woman comes to defend the person, she gets hit in the face too! It’s all hysterical stuff yet slightly uncomfortable, and I like the fact that Gunn is unafraid to pull his punches. Libby one-ups Frank in sheer craziness once she becomes Boltie, cackling manically as they deal with criminals. At one point, she repeatedly stabs someone with claws resembling X-23 and dressed in nothing but her bra and pants, she slams a car into a thug about to shoot Frank, breaking his legs. Her immense joy at doing this cannot be described! She definitely has a couple of screws loose and that’s already a big understatement. Ultimately, Frank becoming a mentally unhinged superhero is his way of dealing with his wife leaving him and his sudden loneliness. He did everything right but is unable to see what went wrong in his marriage. Being the Crimson Bolt gives him a temporary sense of purpose, a measure of control over his directionless life but after getting his wife back, then what? Did it ever occur to him that she may not him back? Gunn tries to walk the fine line between dark comedy and drama but does not entirely succeed, leaving many of its themes buried under a sea of violence. The constant tonal shifts gives “Super” a disjointed feel as it is unable to decide whether it wants to be a dark superhero satire or an exploration into a person’s total nervous breakdown.

The film is filled with some great performances and Rainn Wilson (Dwight Schrute from NBC's "The Office") is perfect as Frank D'Arbo. There’s a bit of Schrute in Frank with his deadpan delivery but Wilson digs deeper to find the right mixture of quirky desperation and loneliness that actually makes us sympathize with him. Ellen Page has been typecast in ‘smart aleck’ roles but here she’s something totally different and takes the psychotic angle to the max, stealing the film. Libby is a lonely soul like Frank and her scenes where she clumsily tries to seduce him are funny and a little sad. She pokes her…lady-parts and remarks, ‘It’s all gushy!’ and practically rapes Frank but it’s presented in a tongue-in-cheek way. I must also say that she looks quite sexy in spandex. Kevin Bacon is always good in any role and it’s no different here as slime-ball Jacques. The weakest link is Liv Tyler, who isn’t convincing as a recovering drug addict; she’s just…too good-looking. Nathan Fillion, who starred in Gunn’s “Slither” back in 2006, also makes an appearance as a ridiculous Christian-themed superhero called the Holy Avenger. There are a few jabs at Christianity but in a rare instance, the jokes end up falling flat.

“Super” premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 10, 2010 and is in limited release since April 1, 2011. If you live in New York City, the film is only playing in two theaters and will hit video-on-demand on April 13. Reviews have been mixed with 44% on Rotten Tomatoes as critics found the tone wildly uneven. Made on a small budget of approximately $2.5 million, “Super” is rough around the edges and will most likely break even once it arrives on Blu-Ray and DVD. It didn’t seem like many were interested as the theater only had about twenty to thirty people. “Super” is not for everyone and most will be put-off or outright offended at its violence. Gunn is unable to maintain a consistent tone but there’s enough to like in this twisted little film to give it eventual cult status.

Final Rating: 3.5 out of 5

“SHUT UP, CRIME!”

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Insidious Review

Rated PG-13 (Thematic Material, Violence, Terror and Frightening Images, and Brief Strong Language)

Running Time: 1 Hour & 43 Minutes

Cast:

Patrick Wilson-Josh Lambert

Rose Byrne-Renai Lambert

Barbara Hershey-Lorraine Lambert

Lin Shaye-Elise Rainier

Leigh Whannell-Specs

Angus Sampson-Tucker

Ty Simpkins-Dalton Lambert

Andrew Astor-Foster Lambert

Directed by James Wan

"It's not the house that is haunted. It's your son."

When director James Wan and writer Leigh Whannell made their debut in 2004 with the film "Saw," it was a breath of fresh air thanks to its unique premise and introduced us to a new horror icon, Jigsaw, played by Tobin Bell. With a $103 million worldwide gross against a measly $1.2 million production budget, "Saw" jumpstarted a new horror franchise with six sequels but unfortunately it devolved into gratuitous blood and gore, losing what made the original so well-regarded in the first place. Part of it might have been Wan exiting as director and only staying on as executive producer with Whannell. Wan’s next films, "Dead Silence" and "Death Sentence," both released in 2007, received negative reviews and failed to repeat the box office success of "Saw." Now, Wan and Whannell reteam for "Insidious," a film that returns to the tried-and-true Haunted House theme with a few wrinkles thrown in. "Insidious" is not entirely original but with its strong cast and tense atmosphere, Wan has created a truly frightening experience that mixes the best elements of "Paranormal Activity," "The Exorcist," and "Drag Me To Hell."  

Josh (Patrick Wilson) and Renai Lambert (Rose Byrne) are a happily married couple with three children, one baby daughter and two sons named Dalton (Ty Simpkins) and Foster (Andrew Astor). They have just recently moved into a new home but their optimism is short-lived as one morning, Josh finds that he is unable to wake up Dalton. The doctors say there is nothing neurologically wrong but for some strange reason, he is trapped in a deep coma-like sleep. Three months later and their son’s condition have not improved but strange occurrences begin to take place at the house. They start off small, like objects moving and doors being opened but they soon escalate, with a demonic voice heard on the baby monitor and ghostly apparitions appearing out of nowhere. Renai becomes so frightened that the family is forced to move to a new house but the paranormal occurrences still continue. Josh’s mother Lorraine (Barbara Hershey) contacts her friend, who happens to be a psychic and an exorcist named Elise (Lin Shaye). After investigating the house, Elise reveals that it is not the house that is haunted, but her son and that a demon seeks to possess his body.

Stylistically, "Insidious" bears a resemblance to Sam Raimi’s 2009’s "Drag Me To Hell" in that it uses sound effects to build a suspenseful atmosphere rather than spilling buckets of blood. For the most part, the film relies on tried-and-true Haunted House clichés during the first half and the inspiration from "Paranormal Activity" (Oren Peli serves as producer) is clearly felt as the strange occurrences start off small and escalate further. What sets it apart is the ‘Boo!’ moments and you’ll certainly jump out of your seat, exclaiming 'Holy Sh*t!' There's no traditional music build-up and it all happens in the most innocuous scenes where it's just people conversing, you relax your guard and bam, it hits you full force with a blaring, dissonant noise. This keeps us on edge as we don't know what Wan might throw at us next. "Insidious" also isn't afraid to get a little ridiculous and there's a nice humorous moment when we're introduced to two ghost hunters named 'Specs' (Leigh Whannell) and Tucker (Angus Sampson), who clumsily comb over the house using their fancy doo-dads. Things get even more far-fetched once Elise arrives and explains what's happening (it involves astral projection), culminating in a crazy séance like Raimi's film. There's also a palpable sense of drama as Josh and Renai are unable to grasp what's going on and feel terrified but more importantly, helpless to save their son. "Insidious" utilizes many elements that have been done to death in other horror films but Wan polishes them to maximum effect and adds a few wrinkles to create a unique experience. What's even more astonishing is that he made this film with less than a million dollars! Once again it goes to show what you can do with only a handful of money combined with a creative vision.

The acting is above-average for a horror film and Patrick Wilson and Rose Byrne are entirely convincing as a married couple who finds their lives abruptly disrupted, recalling Ellen Burstyn's role in "The Exorcist." Barbara Hershey (last seen in "Black Swan") is Josh's mother, who knows more than she's letting on and despite the role being way out there, Lin Shaye manages to play Elise with an entirely straight face. The rest of the cast includes Leigh Whannell (who serves as writer) and Angus Sampson as amateur Ghostbusters who inject some levity into what is a bleak and hopeless situation.

Premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 14, 2010 and released on April 1, 2011, "Insidious" has received somewhat mixed reviews with 59% on Rotten Tomatoes. Critics found the third act shaky but it still remains as 'a very scary and very fun haunted house thrill ride.' It is competing with two other films, Duncan Jones' sophomore effort "Source Code" and the live-animation flick "Hop." While it may not set the box office on fire, the film should come in at third or fourth place with approximately $10 to $15 million and seeing as it's made on the cheap, that's already a resounding success. There was a respectable turn-out at the theater but like all horror films, it was plagued by teens who just couldn't keep their f*cking mouths shut. Not a single drop of blood was spilled but Wan has taken a less-is-more approach with "Insidious" and while his ideas aren't all that original, he utilizes all the right elements and manages to surprise us once again!

Final Rating: 4 out of 5

"It's not the house that is haunted. It's your son."

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