Quick Movie Review: Critters (1986)

Critters is the type of film that makes you want to leave your critics notepad at the door. An easy watch and fun enough to keep our minds from wandering.

The film is set in a rural Kansas town that gets invaded by aliens in the form of small furry critters, known as Crites. The creatures have escaped an asteroid prison. Two intergalactic bounty hunters who shape shift into humans they see are in charge of capturing the Crites. The audience mainly follows the Brown family who spends all night protecting themselves and their household from everything that's going on.

The movie is funny, but not quite as much as you would hope. It's quirky for sure, and has some humorous details, but the acting is actually a little too good and the characters aren't stupid for a change, so we can't even laugh at how bad it is.

Director Stephen Herek usually does a great job with the fish-out-of-water style of comedy, occasionally displayed here. A couple years later he gets to do the same with Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure.

Critters doesn't take itself too seriously, which almost makes up for how neat and tidy it is. The writing and dialogue is deceptively clever. The intergalactic bounty hunters even develop subtly as characters from beginning to end.

At certain parts, the audience gets a limited viewpoint, perhaps for budgetary reasons, leaving us wanting more. The critters grow bigger and bigger, but we never really fully see it, which is a shame. But at the same time helps prevent any datedness by not giving us the cheap special effects that it would have undoubtedly done.

Critters feels like a B-movie, but isn't really. The film is too good for what it was set up to be, almost hurting it in the end. Perhaps it would have been better if it starred less notable actors. But the few bright and memorable moments are what keep its audience growing all these years later.

Twizard Rating: 79

Quick Movie Review: Girls Trip (2017)

Girls Trip could have easily turned into one of those comedies that gives its actors way too long of a leash when they don't know what to do with that much freedom. That's the post-Apatow world of comedy we live in. Instead, director Malcolm D. Lee knows how to harness each actor's abilities and doesn't let them riff for an unnecessary amount of time, helping with pacing despite the long runtime. 

The comedy is consistent and cohesive, never seeming like certain jokes are out of place. Impressive considering the natural flow of the dialogue with very few ad-libs. It just shows how smart the script really is and how great the actors are at delivering each punch.

The story follows four longtime friends who take a trip to New Orleans for the annual Essence Festival. At this point in their lives, the girls don't speak much anymore for a variety of reasons, both noteworthy and innocuous. Along the way, they each rediscover themselves and try to rekindle the friendship they used to have together.

Girls Trip doesn't rely on any marquee names in the comedy world to get people into the theater. And actually gives us one. Tiffany Haddish was the "it" girl of 2017 because of her performance here. And rightfully so.

The movie does what the Hangover did and what Bridesmaids was supposed to do. It gives us a cool and slick comedy that doesn't pull any punches. Adding New Orleans as the backdrop is the cherry on top.

The four girls are archetypes in a way, yes, but extremely well-understood ones. The script understands the characters it's working with as if they're real people.

Girls Trip could've easily turned into just another cameo-filled comedy--which it is at times--but never needing that to make it fun.

My only gripe is how it abruptly anchors its agenda at the end with its closing message, which is that no matter whom you marry in life, your friends should always come first. Even in a happy marriage? That might even make a happy marriage turn south. Everyone is different. Some people grow up and move on from their friends. Or friendships merely lessen as other priorities come to the forefront, like spouses and children. We might just see those friends every once in awhile for a fun weekend. But that misdirected message is delivered here as a blanket statement. A little forced, and an unfortunate end to an otherwise pretty seamless movie. 

Twizard Rating: 84

Quick Movie Review: She's All That (1999)

These types of story lines are always so painful from the very beginning. The whole movie, you can't get it out of your head that everything's going to end up very bad for everyone. The protagonist is always afraid to do the right thing. Even though failure to blurt out 2 sentences could fix everything. 

Freddie Prinze Jr. plays Zack, the most popular kid at his high school, whose equally-popular girlfriend just breaks up with him. They were a sure-fire bet to win prom king and queen. With prom coming up, Zack makes a bet with his friends that he can turn any girl into a prom queen. Even the nerdy and unpopular Laney Boggs (Rachael Leigh Cook). 

Upon looking at Cook, it seems like she's just a good-looking girl who will, undoubtedly and easily, turn into a swan as soon as you take her glasses off. And she does. But upon seeing her personality, she really does know how to act quirky and uncool. 

The filmmakers do a great job with Laney, for the most part. She stays away from the damsel in distress archetype for almost the whole movie. She falls into it once, and it's disappointing. Cook does well playing Laney as a one dimensional character, but when she gets the chance to show off her acting chops, she fumbles hard.

Her character does go through the obligatory transformation to become popular, but Laney never lets this change her as a person. She looks different, but never acts different. And she never lets the popularity go to her head. Unlike, say, characters in the movie Grease.

But the ugly duckling trope isn't what makes this movie likable. You can't help but feel like She's All That is more than just the corny teen movie it should be--with the help of solid comedic sensibilities and great out-of-the-box characters to show them off. Standouts are faded, yet self-absorbed reality TV star, Brock Hudson (Matthew Lillard), and Laney's eccentric father and brother played by Kevin Pollack and Kieran Culkin, respectively.

The film still does things like dedicating an entire scene for exposition, and trying to cram a bunch of depth into 3 minutes. But the actors go all out. They're truly convinced of the truth behind their characters, and it shows. 

This story has been done a bunch of times, and it would've been nice if this version deviated from the expected, even though I never thought for a second it was going to.

She's All That is definitely a guilty pleasure film. Which means, in this case, that we like it despite how cliche and predictable it is. Maybe because it's organically cool. Or deceptively hilarious. Or maybe because we can tell that the actual end product is exactly what the filmmakers had in mind--which is probably the most impressive thing of all.

Twizard Rating: 78

Quick Movie Review: The Faculty (1998)

Think of The Faculty as an adaptation of sorts. A movie where aliens somehow take over the humans' bodies, one by one, until all of them are infected. The film recognizes that the premise is a lot like Invasion of the Body Snatchers or The Puppet Masters, but this particular rendition is both scary and cool. And perfectly captures the spirit of teen America in 1998.

Teachers at an Ohio high school start acting weirder than normal. And a hodgepodge Breakfast Club-like group of kids discover that their behavior might be due to some weird alien parasite. They work together to solve the mystery, where they figure out they must hunt down the alien queen and kill it so the school will go back to normal.

The Faculty goes deeper than just a basic invasion. There's an obvious motive for the aliens, and the psyches of the students are discovered as well. It's not the first late-90s film to be obsessed with the self-destruction of teen America, but this time that theme coincides with an alien invasion. 

For the most part the characters walk the fine line of realistic and what we've been convinced is realistic by movies and TV. But there's one scene with Elijah Wood's character, Casey, where his parents act so unbelievably unrealistic that, for a second, it takes you out of the movie. But only because its own standards for realism within the film universe have already been established by this point.

The twist at the end may be a little predictable for anyone paying attention, but along the way the story gives you a couple smaller twists that you really don't see coming.

The Faculty is a really fun and exciting experience that you can rewatch over and over again. The cast is charismatic and the pace never slows down for you to over-think things too much. For a movie that has something to say about the teen psyche, it just as easily knows how to grab their attention and distract them for a little while. And us, too, in the process.

Twizard Rating: 95

Quick Movie Review: Rush Hour 3 (2007)

Rush Hour 3 gets a bad rap. People say that we didn't need a third Rush Hour film, but fans of the first two will disagree. Do we ever NEED sequels to comedies? Not usually. But a lot of times they can be worth it. Rush Hour 1 didn't break any new ground, so I guess we technically didn't NEED that movie either. But while we're at it, we might as well keep them coming and continue being entertained.

The concept of Rush Hour 3 is far more intriguing than in the previous film, with an actual coherent plot. This third installment begins as Ambassador Han (Tzi Ma) nearly gets assassinated when he is about to reveal the identity of the Shy Shen--a legendary individual that holds the names of the leaders of the Triads. Detective Lee (Jackie Chan) and Detective Carter (Chris Tucker) venture to Paris to find and protect this individual. The plot isn't as predictable. Plus, we get some great twists and turns.

Tucker and Chan are still pretty funny. I'd say funnier than in Rush Hour 2. Even though Tucker's leash is just as short, the jokes are better written and more unexpected than in the last film, where a lot of the humor comes from inside jokes from the first movie.

We're actually given some good action sequences, with Tucker finally "learning" martial arts and joining in on the action. There's a really impressive final fight scene that highlights the already well-complimented movie.

I wouldn't be against more Rush Hour movies. When it's all said and done, they're harmless entertainment founded on two actors' dynamic chemistry. Who wouldn't want more of that?

Twizard Rating: 83

Quick Movie Review: Rush Hour 2 (2001)

As a kid, you watch Star Wars and probably have no clue what it's really about. You know its film universe is amazing and you really wish lightsabers were real. Everything just looks cool while it's happening. Rush Hour 2 is the comedy version of that. Laugh-out-loud humor and killer action sequences with a premise that doesn't matter to us as kids. As an adult, I now see the difference between Star Wars and Rush Hour. Because I'm still not sure what Rush Hour 2 is about.

I mean, I get that Detective Lee (Jackie Chan) and Detective Carter (Chris Tucker) are together in Hong Kong and that they have to track down a criminal mastermind who keeps killing people. After Google got involved, I now know that they are trying to find out who killed two customs agents at the US Embassy. There's a gang leader, Ricky Tan, who they suspect is behind it, but they're unsure. We're also unsure. But it doesn't matter. It's all really funny.

In this one, Detective Carter isn't in the driver's seat. They're not in LA, but in Hong Kong, where Carter now has to abide to Lee and his set of rules. The premise utilizes the fish-out-of-water trope to propel most of its humor early on.

Rush Hour 2 uses the same basic formula as the first movie, except it cuts out the introductions of the characters in the beginning. This time it tries to give us a more intricate story within those confines when we don't want or need one. We're given a slower execution for a shorter movie.

The filmmakers try fishing for depth when there doesn't need to be any. Contriving unnecessary drama between Carter and Lee, which seems completely out of place. They're always teasing each other when the other one screws up, so making them actually upset at one another feels unrealistic. This is a farce. We're not that invested in the characters' depth.

Tucker isn't given as long of a leash here, which is odd because his freedom is what worked so well in this film's predecessor. Instead, Rush Hour 2 relies on inside jokes from Rush Hour 1.

Even still, the jokes work. If you just watched Rush Hour 2 by itself, you would think it's hilarious. And to a degree, it is. But viewing the movie immediately after watching the first one, you might think the comedy is a little forced.

With a step down from the first movie, Rush Hour 2 still holds up well. And just like Star Wars, I liked this movie before I cared what it was about. So why not still enjoy it now?

Twizard Rating: 79

Quick Movie Review: Rush Hour (1998)

Buddy cop movies are one of the few genres that can be made over and over again with the same basic premise and no one ever minds. Rush Hour doesn't break any new ground, but Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan have an unmatchable chemistry that makes it nearly impossible not to love this movie.

Each lead has a scene in the beginning by himself, showing his life before he meets the other. It's entertaining, but what it really does is prove how much better they are together.

The story takes off when a Chinese diplomat's daughter is kidnapped by a crime lord in Los Angeles, he employs Hong Kong's best detective, Lee (Chan), to help solve the case. The problem is, the FBI doesn't want Lee involved, so they assign an LA cop, Detective Carter (Tucker), to essentially babysit him. Carter is the laughing stock of his department because he's always bragging about himself with little evidence to back it up.

Lee and Carter don't get along at first, which adds to the humor. The two come from opposite worlds, yet they find ways to bond. Whether it's how neither of them are wanted for this case. Or how each of their fathers died in the line of duty.

Rush Hour has all the makings of a corny '90s action film. The cliched musical score backs up an even sillier series of events. But the humor is organically hilarious and the story doesn't become more complex than it needs to be, so we can see past its flaws. Over 20 years later, it holds up better than almost any comedy from that decade.

Twizard Rating: 88