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Movies out today: Upping the star wattage

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After last weekend’s dud set of movie releases, today’s trio of new films inject some much needed star power back into proceedings

Men in Black 3:
Screening in 2D and converted 3D is this rather unexpected sci-fi comedy sequel. It’s been 15 years since the world first met gadget-packing government agents K (Tommy Lee Jones) and J (Will Smith), the Earth’s first line of defense against extra-terrestrial troublemakers. With Jermaine Clement’s villain up to no good, J time-travels back to the 1960s to stop an assassination attempt on a much younger K (Josh Brolin). Barry Sonnenfeld directs again.

Men in Black 3 is currently sitting with an aggregated Rotten Tomatoes review score of 63%. Apparently it’s a pretty perfunctory popcorn flick that looks cool, moves quickly and avoids bloat. Unsurprisingly, Brolin and Clement are the big scene stealers. In summary: MIB3 is an improvement on 2 but is still nowhere as good as the original comic book adaptation.

The Lucky One:
Those in the market for a mushy date night movie probably want to consider this latest Nicholas (The Notebook) Sparks novel adaptation. Zac Efron is a US marine, who insists he survived an incident-filled tour of Iraq because of a photo he finds of a smiling woman (Taylor Schilling). Back in the US, and wracked with survivor’s guilt, he tracks down this lonely single mother and their lives intertwine. Gee, I can’t imagine how things are going to turn out…

If you love Sparks’s escapist romances, you’ll probably enjoy The Lucky One. However, if you need realism in your entertainment diet, beware! The Lucky One is evidently wall-to-wall coincidences, cliches and artificiality, all smothered in syrup.

The Rum Diary:
Strange how this comedy drama has slipped under the radar considering its impressive cast: Johnny Depp, Aaron Eckhart, Amber Heard, Giovanni Ribisi and Richard Jenkins. Based on the Hunter S. Thompson novel,  Depp plays a journalist who escapes 1950s New York for exotic Puerto Rico. There he drinks wildly, has all sorts of encounters with the seedy, rich and corrupt, and faces a major ethical crisis.

The Rum Diary divided critics when it was released in the US 6 months ago. Johnny Depp is fantastic as a boozy hack, and the supporting cast are also great, but the entire project apparently just shambles along without any real dramatic drive. Enjoyable but pointless.

Last Updated: May 25, 2012

5 Comments

  1. James Francis

    May 25, 2012 at 10:05

    MIB 3 is already here? Wow, talk about me being out of the loop. It’s a post-con job, though, so I won’t watch the 3D version. That means I can wait for the DVD.

    Reply

    • Noelle Adams

      May 25, 2012 at 11:10

      I was surprised to find out about the conversion myself. After all, the main point of #3 seemed to be exploiting the technology so they could play up the MIB 3/3D connection. But nope, Sonnenfeld (a former cinematographer) said he was getting better results shooting in 2D and using some top of the range 3D conversion process. But whatever… Damage is done. I’m going to be seek this out in 2D now as a result.

      Reply

    • Kervyn Cloete

      May 25, 2012 at 11:42

      Yeah the release on this one snuck up on me as well. Had no plans for the cinema this weekend, but that may just change now.

      Reply

      • Noelle Adams

        May 25, 2012 at 12:37

        Although I have to admit I’ll only be watching this one for Josh Brolin.

        Reply

        • Justin Hess

          May 25, 2012 at 13:44

          I think he’s the standout for alot of people in this film. He’s impersonation of Tommy Lee Jones is spot on perfect and apparently, when Sonnenfeld first saw what Brolin had managed, he burst into tears

          Reply

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