the william tell overture makes everythingsound more epic, even this simple cold open is vastly improved with some music. throwin a costume change, and a western-themed background, and we've got ourselves a show.not that i need any of those fancy gimmicks, after all this is movie night! hello and welcome to movie night, the onlyreview show not afraid to critique a picture seven months after its release. i'm your host,jonathan paula. tonight we'll be taking our second look back at some of the bigger blockbustersfrom summer 2013, beginning with "world war z". after its june 21, 2013, this 116 minute apocalypticthriller based on the max brooks novel of
the same name tripled its $190 million budgetat the worldwide box office. in a move we've seen dozens of times before - this dramaticzombie movie opens with a montage of real world news reports hinting at the coming infectionthat'll wipe out the human race - and stuck at the center of it all is our resourcefulfamily man, brad pitt; who must do whatever he can to save his family, and rescue humanity.he's relatable, believable, and more than capable in the lead role. mireille enos, daniellakertesz, fana mokoena, and david morse deliver great, if minor performances given their frighteningsurroundings - especially james badge dale, who is slowly making a name for himself inkey supporting in big-budget films, after beginning his career a decade ago as jackbauer's sidekick on "24". elyes gabel is featured
briefly as a scientist, who stoically warnspitt that "mother nature is a serial killer. no one's better. more creative." scenes inthis pg-13 rated film can be particularly violent, especially the gruesome transformationprocess after someone becomes infected - quickly turning them into a blood-thirsty animal.the overlying plot is a familiar and tired one... but executed here with such dark realism,as entire cities are written-off with a single line of dialogue. this genre, inherently alwaysforces the viewer to wonder what they would do in a survival situation - and that's wherethe emotional power and suspense for this story is derived. from a purely action-orientedstandpoint, a grippingly shot and directed sequence where pitt's family races throughan overrun apartment building for a helicopter
extraction is nerve-racking and intense. whilegroups of the zombies often look like cgi rag-dolls and much of the blood looks decidedlyfake, the close-quarters combat and visuals however are excellently handled and edited;with the guttural growling of the infected and marco beltrami's tense music underscoringevery scene. with not much in the way of writing or plot, this boils down to a well-paced,non-stop action thrill ride... with pitt globe trotting from one lead to the next like he'shunting for carmen sandiego. smartly, director marc forster opts for a low-key and dramaticclimax, rather than an explosive action sequence, and the movie is better because of it. notparticularly nuanced or original, there's still enough excitement here to warrant repeatviewings. "world war z", a "visceral and gruesome
zombie action." now let's go to the commentsto hear your thoughts. we both rated "world war z" a seven. whileneither of us were really impressed with the formulaic plot, the action and tension certainlyworked well, allowing us both a good enough reason to call this a cool movie. now fortonight's poll question: what's your favorite zombie film? leave your response as a commentbelow. tonight's second review is for "the lone ranger" the latest effort from the actor, producer,director trio that brought us the massively successful "pirate of the caribbean" quadrilogywas released worldwide on july 3, 2013. based on the famous 1930's radio series of the samename, this hugely hyped $250 million dollar
adventure epic was unfortunately a commercialdisappointment, with its $260-million international take failing to earn back its marketing andproduction costs. in easily his largest role to date, armie hammer stars as the title character,a recently deputized texas ranger who tracks down vicious criminals to avenge his brother'sdeath... with the help of a curiously eccentric and bizarre native american played by thealways amusing johnny depp, who sternly advises, "there come a time, when good man must wearmask." as an on-screen duo, the winklevoss twins and captain jack sparrow make an excellentteam... their witty back-and-forth chemistry comprising most of the film's lighter moments.i was struck however at how violent the picture was at times, especially for a disney. onegruesome scene has the nasty and deformed
bad guy, played expertly by one of my favoritecharacter actors - william fichter - gutting a man's heart out of his still-breathing body.tom wilkinson, barry pepper, james badge dale, and helena bonham carter round out the talentedsupporting cast - with good, if under featured roles. set in 1869 texas, this pg-13 ratedfilm has all the trappings of a classic western; large set pieces, a grandiose score from hanszimmer, plenty of thrills, one-liners, damsels in distress, dastardly villains, and courageous,uncompromising heroes. at 149-minutes long however, it's extremely drawn-out and poorlypaced - each individual scene works great; but there's just too many of them. a particulardrain on the run-time is a pointless wrap around plot involving a small child hearingthe entire story in flashback - it never amounts
to anything, and could have been done awaywith entirely. ridiculous unrealistic at times, this is escapist hollywood cinema at its finest,which plenty of strong emotional tension, interesting interplay between the characters,and easy to follow action - thanks to director gore verbinski's attention to detail in eventhe most hectic of scenes. when an updated and extended version of the instantly iconicwilliam tell overture swells to full volume during the insanely entertaining climax, it'sabsolutely impossible not to smile and enjoy the swashbuckling spectacle. logistically,it doesn't always make sense, but this final 15-minute sequence, which sees two separaterunaway trains racing each other on parallel tracks with all the good guys and bad battlingit out for justice and their lives - is positively
incredible, seriously one of the most inventive,well-choreographed, and entertaining scenes in recent movie history - even throwing ina nod to "back to the future iii" for good measure. with sharp and beautiful visualsof monument valley, slick and effective editing, and immersive sound effects - this pictureis fantastically accomplished on a technical level. although awfully slow to get going,when it finally does - this is a wonderful experience i'll definitely watch again. "thelone ranger", "enthralling extravaganza overcomes boring beginning." here's what you had tosay about the film in the youtube comments. now, our scores for "the lone ranger"... asix and an eight. while everyone criticized the lengthy runtime, and some poor plot elements,you enjoyed the action and western elements,
ranking the movie good. perhaps going intothe film with low-expectations helped, but despite its lackluster second act... the rapturousfinale more than saved this picture, especially when you have that awesome music - i thoughtthe movie was great. as we enter a new year, there's plenty of new movies to get excitedabout, so check out the movie night archive channel for my trailer commentaries, and anorganized library of all our past reviews. last up tonight, "2 guns". this light-hearted action film easily doubledits $61 million dollar budget after its august 2nd, 2013 release. following the success theyshared with 2012's "contraband" director baltasar kormã¡kur and mark wahlberg have teamed againto produce this 109-minute adventure, based
off the graphic novel series of the same name.wahlberg has never been a particularly strong, or even believable dramatic actor... but inthe right roles, like this one here - he is undeniably entertaining and charismatic. hestars as a cocky, navy intelligence officer who finds himself on the wrong side of a botchedundercover operation after he discovers his partner, denzel washington is himself an agentfor the dea. the academy award winning actor is, as expected - impeccable in the secondlead, and what comes as a surprise is how effortlessly he bounces off of wahlberg. theiralmost jovial sibling-like rivalry and partnership is this picture's strongest aspect, very reminiscentof the gibson/glover pairing in the "lethal weapon" franchise. with a wink and a laugh,the two are immense fun to watch, as they
literally wait to the last second to makea decision, with wahlberg confidently remarking, "i got a plan. i mean, i'm capable of comingup with a plan." although adept playing opposite washington for the second time, paula pattonis underutilized as the female foil, but thankfully she shows off her gorgeous body on more thanone occasion. edward james olmos, james marsden, and bill paxton make up the film's trio ofvillains - each one bringing something unique to the picture; especially paxton as the mysteriousand uncompromising bad guy, who has no issue playing russian roulette as a means of interrogation.the r-rated story has a few twists along the way, but is otherwise your average, decently-paced,run-of-the-mill investigation plot delivered through typical and conventional cinematography.the score from michael tronick is similarly
forgettable, but never out of place. the moviedoes exactly what it needs to, and delivers some competent thrills, laughs, and even somesuspense - like when washington quickly ducks into a freezer after deliberately blowingup an entire building to escape searching naval patrols. despite having a plot far toocomplicated and convoluted for its own good, this is an innocent, shut-your-brain off typeof action film where the good guys stop the bad guys, and becomes friends in the process.it isn't anything special, but it's a decently realistic time i wouldn't mind watching again."2 guns", "stereotypical action with perfect casting." now let's read your opinions onthis picture in the youtube comments. "2 guns" on the rate-o-matic... a six anda six. we all agreed that wahlberg and washington
were the shinning element of this picture,with the plot being its weakest. you thought it was good. i especially some of the supporting-cast,and the fun action sequences. i'll rate it a good as well. plenty of other great moviesin theaters recently, so let's read some of your tweet critiques. if you see a new movie in theaters, tweetyour review with the #jpmn hashtag. next week we'll be reviewing three recently releasedpictures, "the wolf of wall street", "grudge match", and "jack ryan: shadow recruit", whichopens nationwide on the 17th. if you get a chance to see these films, share your opinionsby voting in the polls below, or by leaving a comment review. if you'd like to watch moremovie night reviews, check out the "related
videos" on the right, or click subscribe tobe notified of all new content, and be sure to follow me on twitter, facebook, or google+for updates between episodes. once again, my name is jonathan paula, thank you for watchingand listening. until next time, have a good movie night!
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