The Heat: Short and Sweet

There are few actresses whose talents and personality I outright adore as strongly as Sandra Bullock, so imagine my glee when I discovered that she was not only returning to the cop comedy genre (generating fond memories of 2000’s Miss Congeniality), but she would also be pairing with Melissa McCarthy.  I may not have been overly fond of February’s Identity Thief, but I submit that McCarthy is a master of ad-libbing, and her reunion with Bridesmaids director Paul Feig had to foreshadow comedy gold.  When the trailers for The Heat were released, the notion of these two thesps challenging the conventions of the buddy-cop genre together was so promising that it was easy to ignore the somewhat nonsensical title and awful release posters.  Post-production wasn’t without controversy, mainly due to the major flak that 20^th Century Fox took for digitally-altering McCarthy’s face in posters to make it appear “thinner,” but this upcoming comedy film was still highly anticipated and poised for success.  In short, The Heat was going to have to royally screw itself over in order to generate disdain, so I really could have cared less about depth or narrative creativity…I was just wanted some fun and clever laughs.

My god, thanks to The Heat, Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy have formed what can arguably be classified as one of the most effective and downright hilarious comedy duos of all time, thereby generating by far the funniest film that either of the two have made.  These two are utterly brilliant and play-off each other’s differing personalities perfectly, with Bullock acting as the straight man and setting-up a premise that McCarthy expertly slam-dunks.  If you were to strip away all the humor and focus solely on the narrative, there are some pretty significant weaknesses in the overly-formulaic and highly-predictable plot, but please remember that a gripping crime story was never the main selling point.  The sheer brilliance of Bullock and McCarthy together will keep you riveted, and you have to respect the surprisingly competent moments of action and heart peppered throughout the running time.  Putting it simply, DO NOT MISS The Heat, because it is now the frontrunner for best comedy of Summer 2013.

Overall Recommendation: Very High

The Heat: Full Review

The Heat - (June 28^th, 2013): R

Distributor: 20^th Century Fox

Opening Weekend Box Office: #2 with $39,115,043

Domestic Box Office Gross to-date: $112,363,000

Gross Revenue: $128,238,000

Production Budget: $43 million

Director: Paul Feig

 

Despite the popularity and bankability of Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy, The Heat was going to be one of the harder sales amongst the numerous raunchy comedies released during the 2013 Summer Movie Season, especially when you consider its originally slated release for this past April.  Unlike the established (albeit shaky) franchise of The Hangover Part III or the unique and offbeat premises of This Is the End and The Internship, once you stripped away the star power of The Heat, potential audiences were left with a buddy-cop film.  Granted, it would be a buddy-cop story centered on female protagonists, but if you stop to think about it, did the trailers really reveal anything about the narrative other than the fact that Bullock and McCarthy were playing mismatched partners and that they were being guided by the Bridesmaids brainiac himself, Paul Feig?  In short, the success or failure of The Heat was highly contingent on the ability of 20^th Century Fox to leverage its top-billers; so you have the question the wisdom of digitally altering the plus-sized McCarthy in release posters, especially because her fans don’t give a damn about her weight and were clearly insulted by the alteration…whoops.  Looking past it all, regardless of some questionable marketing tactics, The Heat was still going to feature two of my favorite actresses, so it represented both a movie I was genuinely excited for, and one which I was hoping would smash the Summer Box Office.

Taking the notion of incompatible law enforcement partners to the extreme, The Heat introduces audiences to FBI Special Agent Sarah Ashburn (Sandra Bullock) and Boston PD Detective Shannon Mullins (Melissa McCarthy), the former of whom agrees to department collaboration in order to secure a forthcoming promotion.  Ashburn is a highly successful but arrogant and socially-awkward investigator while Mullins is a foul-mouthed and freely violent interrogator, and the two are paired together in order to bring down an increasingly violent drug ring in downtown Boston, an area which Mullins knows very well and has been investigating independently for months.  Instantly at odds with each other, Ashburn and Mullins begrudgingly trade information and begin bringing “the heat” to dealers and suppliers, but their rapid success is soon derailed by two DEA agents who order the pair to stand down.  In no mood to sit on the sidelines, the fast-growing friends employ newfound allies like rookie FBI liaison Agent Levy (Marlon Wayans) and Mullins’ own brother, former addict-turned-informant Jason (Michael Rapaport), to tighten the net on the slippery criminal organization.  Learning more and more about each other, Ashburn and Mullins begin to adopt traits of each other’s personalities, a development which will surprisingly come in handy in facing both criminals and naysayers within the regional and state departments.

Few would deny that individually, despite a few notable misses, Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy still have an uncanny talent when it comes to generating laughs; and when you put the two together in a film like The Heat, you are gifted with one of the most entertaining and downright hysterical cinematic duos in recent Hollywood history.  The narrative cleverly devotes just enough time to first establish the two offbeat characters separately, thereby generating some humorous personality quirks that enable to the actresses to hit the ground running once they finally meet.  McCarthy clearly ad-libs a majority of her lines, demonstrated with a savant proficiency that will have your eyes tearing with laughter, but the effect is sent into overdrive thanks to Sandra Bullock acting as the straight man of the duo and delivering reactions that are truly priceless.  There are those that would claim that Bullock is a little out of her league playing opposite of McCarthy, but to her credit, the veteran more than holds her own, and the film wouldn’t be half as effective without the on-screen friendship that the two share, one which could rival any blockbuster bromance.  To be fair, there isn’t much to The Heat beyond the aforementioned chemistry between the lead actresses, but it will be up to you to decide whether those shortcomings are enough to overshadow the enjoyable dynamic ultimately presented.

As hard a task as it may seem, if you are able to look beyond the novelty of Bullock and McCarthy appearing together and ignore the rapid-fire and unceasing laughs, The Heat comes across as an unoriginal and thoroughly mediocre police film.  Anyone who has ever seen a police procedural film or television show will be able to see the twists and turns offered in this narrative from a mile away, but then again, in all seriousness, I doubt that anyone was walking into the theater expecting a nail-biting mystery.  And when it comes to the supporting cast, a majority of the secondary players provide little more than filler; but again, they were not the main draw or focus of the film’s marketability…and if they can help set-up some awesome laughs…who cares?  If you really want to take a magnifying glass to the script of this raunchy comedy, rather than lament familiar territory, instead appreciate that The Heat does not take the easy road when launching a female-centric police comedy.  Much in the same way that Bridesmaids represented an effective demographic shift for the raunchy bachelor party comedy, so too does The Heat prove that a female police comedy can offer both genuine action and seriously clever humor that doesn’t devolve to obvious conventions.

For all the strong laughs generated by The Heat, a box office reality check dictates pointing out that the chances of an R-rated comedy dethroning a family comedy like Monsters University in its follow-up weekend was next to zero.  Continuing the trend of impressive secondary rankings, The Heat debuted in second place with a beefy $39 million, which to-date has grown to a domestic gross of well-over $112 million that will ultimately represent a nice profit for the modestly budgeted comedy.  And luckily, there is no other mature comedy hitting theaters in the next few months to draw ticket sales from older audiences looking for a genuine laugh…trust me, if you find Grown Ups 2 funny at all, you wouldn’t get half the jokes presented in The Heat anyway.  Fortunately, the surprising combination of heart and humor in the ending leaves the door wide-open for a follow-up chapter, and I for one will gladly line-up to see Bullock and McCarthy team together once again in the future.  For as much as I loved This Is the End, it has likely just been surpassed by this buddy-cop comedy as the single funniest film of the summer, if not the entire year…get to the theater now.           

Overall Recommendation: Very High

World War Z: Short and Sweet

Forget vampires, because between television juggernauts like The Walking Dead, frustratingly enduring film series such as Resident Evil, and genre-bending mash-ups like Zombieland and Warm Bodies, pop-culture’s preoccupation with the undead is firmly focused on decaying flesh-eaters.  So it was only a matter of time before Hollywood set its sights on Max Brook’s popular apocalyptic horror novel, even if the narrative structure didn’t necessarily lend itself to feature-length film adaptation.  Unfortunately, it began to look like even Brad Pitt’s immense drawing power wouldn’t be able to save World War Z, as the project was continually plagued with production setbacks, release delays, and rewrites…never a good sign.  And for the life of me, I really couldn’t see the logic behind the adamant refusal of Paramount’s marketing department to use the word “zombie” in any promotional material.  So with shaky development, an altogether confusing marketing campaign, and considerable box office competition, there was a very real chance that World War Z would end up a financial failure, regardless of actual quality.

Tense, frightening, and genuinely smart, World War Z is an immensely entertaining entry in the zombie genre, one which benefits greatly from the gripping pacing and a thoroughly charming performance delivered by Brad Pitt.  In portraying the early days of an extinction-level event, from riots to government response and the science behind the zombie virus, the narrative gives weight and reality to a long-established horror mythos, cleverly generating “what if” fears that will keep audiences talking long after they have left the theater.  Add-in the immersive scoring and the intense action sequences, and there is more than enough energy and thrills to keep everyone from casual fans to survival horror purists genuinely happy.  True, a few of the finer plot points are predictable, and there isn’t much in terms of cast performance beyond the top-billed A-lister, but those small shortcomings don’t tank overall quality.  For all the red flags raised during its development, World War Z emerges as a strong, entertaining, and thoroughly surprising Summer Blockbuster that demands attention and deserves critical accolade.

Overall Recommendation: High

World War Z: Full Review

World War Z - (June 21^st, 2013): PG-13

Distributor: Paramount Pictures

Opening Weekend Box Office: #2 with $66,411,834

Domestic Box Office Gross to-date: $177,087,000

Gross Revenue: $423,087,000

Production Budget: $190 million
 

In terms of preparedness for a global disaster, I may not have a fully-stocked earthquake kit or flood insurance, but you can bet your ass that I have formulated a plan-of-action for the dawn of a zombie apocalypse…so naturally, I loved Max Brooks’ 2006 horror novel that effectively reinvented the zombie genre.  Anyone who had read the book understood how the unique narrative structure would be undeniably difficult to translate into a film adaptation, so a few eyebrows were understandably raised when Paramount and Brad Pitt’s Plan B Entertainment secured the screen rights back in 2007.  Still, given my fondness for both the zombie genre and Brad Pitt’s onscreen charisma, I was pleasantly optimistic when World War Z was announced for a Summer 2013 release…that is until I caught the teaser trailers online.  I can look past the rumored rewrites and reshooting of nearly 40 minutes of film, and there was a chance that this cinematic gamble could overcome both a crowded release schedule and the lukewarm financial performance of past genre entries (aside from rare exceptions like I Am Legend)…but with lame, CGI-saturated hordes and an adamant refusal to define the titular “Z” as standing for “zombie,” I was afraid that Paramount’s marketing efforts  had failed to drive awareness among the genre’s formidable fan-base.  Early reviews were decent, and I was definitely going to see World War Z regardless of my blogging obligation; I was just praying that I would be proven wrong in my predictions that this big-budget June release, despite potential, would still represent a significant financial disappointment for the 2013 Summer Movie Season.

Featuring the early stages of an extinction-level pandemic, World War Z follows former UN investigator Gerry Lane (Brad Pitt) as his world is turned upside down by the sudden and violent appearance of zombies across the globe.  After witnessing the rabies-like virus spreading throughout Philadelphia and narrowly escaping infection, Gerry and his family are extracted by the Deputy Secretary-General and reach a safe and secure U.S. Navy vessel off the coast of New York City.  As virologists and military personnel estimate casualties of the worldwide outbreak in the billions, Gerry is tasked with helping investigate the source of the virus so that a vaccine may be developed…though he is initially hesitant, Gerry quickly agrees when it is threatened that his family will otherwise be labeled as “non-essential” and ejected from the safe-haven.  Leaving his wife Karin (Mireille Enos) and their children in the care of his former colleagues, Gerry departs with a small team of doctors and soldiers to early areas of outbreak for answers; traveling everywhere from South Korea to Jerusalem and Wales, Gerry interviews those who were the first to recognize the threat of the “undead.”  Facing immense danger from the locust-like hordes of zombies, Gerry dodges danger multiple times but notices a select few civilians outright ignored by the flesh-eaters, and unless he is quickly successful in finding a cure, humanity is in very real danger of becoming a distant memory.

Despite bearing little resemblance to the original novel, World War Z still stands as a remarkably adept and entertaining adaptation, one which provides many thrills and scares, adds weight to the zombie genre as a whole, and reinforces Brad Pitt’s tremendous skill as a crowd-pleaser.  Thanks to excellent pacing and direction, both of which are perfectly enhanced by a mesmerizing score, the story unfolds with considerable energy and cleverly injects a pulse-pounding zombie attack or nerve-wracking plane crash whenever a viewer is tempted to think that the havoc is starting to calm…audience members were jumping in their seats and screaming in surprise quite often.  And as I hinted at in the “Short and Sweet” review, World War Z adds an impressive element of realism and weight to an enjoyed but altogether dismissed element of horror fiction; whether it involves the details of the zombie virus incubation time or the bimolecular “cure” revealed in the third act, the fear and subsequent reaction to such an event is detailed so competently that the notion of a rampaging wave of undead is genuinely unnerving.  The final and pivotal piece of the equation is Brad Pitt, whose performance is effortlessly competent and charming, so much so that it is hard to imagine anyone else in Hollywood being able to single-handedly carry this blockbuster as effectively.  Putting it all into perspective, just consider that, prior to its release, World War Z had been written-off by many (including myself) as a forthcoming disaster, and the surprising defiance of those expectations both critically and commercially is what makes this blockbuster well-worth seeing.

As much as I would have loved to declare World War Z flawless given how much I enjoyed the film and how many of my previous reservations proved unwarranted, there is one particular element that is just shaky enough that it easily could have demolished the entire project.  When I first saw the trailer, I was mortified by the CGI-heavy depictions of locust-behaving zombies, but now having seen the films, the character designs behind our relentless antagonists do implement make-up and are just fine…and let’s not forget that they represent a huge step above what we saw in I Am Legend.  No, as it turns out the biggest problem lies in just how heavily the success of World War Z relies on the charm and screen presence of Brad Pitt; granted, he is the central hero and rightfully the main focus, but that doesn’t justify the presence of a useless and largely forgettable supporting cast…I defy anyone to name one character besides Pitt after the end credits start to roll.  I can forgive the one poor soul who suffers what is undoubtedly the most undignified death in the history of cinema, but it is a little hard not to notice just how much the quality of this movie would have tanked had Pitt not decided to carry the entire cast on his shoulders.  Not that World War Z would’ve been terrible without an A-lister like Pitt (remember, The American was awful despite the star power of George Clooney), but no way would this thriller have been as memorable and enjoyable, and that obvious discrepancy is a weakness that has to be acknowledged.

Make no mistake, by all normal expectations, World War Z should have been absolutely crushed in going head-to-head with a family gargantuan like Monster’s University AND being forced to weather Man of Steel’s second weekend after a record-breaking debut, but no one could have predicted the abnormally strong numbers of this late June weekend.  The top three box office earners each broke $40 million and combined for a total in excess of $190 million, and that kind of shared revenue spread is largely unprecedented, so no one will scoff at a second place debut when it stems from over $66 million in ticket sales.  So, I humbly submit that I was wrong in my financial assumption regarding what has come to represent both the highest start ever for a Brad Pitt movie (well beyond Mr. and Mrs. Smith) and definitive proof that audiences don’t give a damn about hiccups in production development.  With positive word of mouth and receipts easily approaching $400 million in revenue against a sizable budget of $190 million, there is little surprise that Paramount has already announced that it will be moving ahead with a sequel…talk about a risky gamble paying-off in a BIG way.  Given its recent successes on both the small screen and in cinemas across the land, the zombie genre is showing absolutely no signs of slowing down, so whether you are a hardcore fan of The Walking Dead or just curious and looking for an entertaining thriller at the theater, you cannot go wrong with World War Z.

                

Overall Recommendation: High