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: 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: The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005)

The 40-Year-Old Virgin can be looked to as perhaps the breakthrough film that started this new era of comedy. It's Judd Apatow's directorial debut, and with this film, he took the teen comedy format to a whole different level, proving that the movies can be more entertaining and more lucrative if aimed towards an older audience.

Although we've seen over the years smaller examples of this method, Apatow finally proved to the world that comedies could be blockbusters too. To the extent that nearly 15 years later, a film in the genre could potentially be in a box office war with a big budget action flick.

And it's led by a not-yet-well-known Steve Carell, who plays Andy, a 40-year-old nerd who's never been with a girl before. He doesn't really have any friends, so when his four coworkers discover his purity, they vow to "help him out".

His colleagues weren't necessarily friends with Andy before, but throughout this journey, they come to be very close.

The movie's not all pro-sex. In fact, the movie takes a refreshing turn towards the end of the 2nd act. Not only is the movie very funny, but we get a great story out of the characters' varying agendas.

The film also took comedy completely off-script in a way that hadn't been done before. It felt really loose and open-ended. Comedians were able to riff for as long as they wanted to without being confined to what's on the page. And this not only enhanced the intimacy of the viewing experience, but upped the ante for comedies in the future. If a comedy wanted to compete with the likeness of Apatow and Company, it would require some people who were actually funny.

But there's a downfall to all this too. Comedies eventually tended to get way too long, and directors weren't able to tell if a scene dragged on for too long. But the best from the bunch always stood tall.

Carell's supporting cast consists of also-not-yet-well-known Seth Rogen, Paul Rudd, and Jane Lynch. Even a young Jonah Hill gets a couple scenes.

Considering all this, it's a surprise that Romany Malco, who plays one of Carell's three work buddies, carries his own extremely well amongst soon-to-be comedy legends. He gets some great lines and executes them as well as anyone could have.

Most people who hear the title of the movie will either want to see it or not want to see it. But the latter may be pleasantly surprised. Whether or not this film is for you, one can't deny how it changed the comedy landscape forever--for better or worse.

Twizard Rating: 92

Quick Movie Review: When the Game Stands Tall

It may be full of cliches and corniness, but you can't help but love this movie's heart. It stays true to itself and its story the whole time and never overuses its elements. The film's theme of not being about the individuals, but about the team, is displayed no better than during the credits when it doesn't pamper us with a "where are they now" segment. 

While the balance between each subplot could have been a little bit smoother, the way the film starts at the end of one season and transitions to a newer squad come the following season is unique. If you don't know the story you won't see where it's all going--although that doesn't mean that it doesn't get predictable at times.

It's more spiritual than your average sports film, but never comes off as preachy. While it takes notes from Coach Carter (my favorite sports movie) it keeps its own identity--which is unavoidable when talking about a true story that's as unique as this one.

A lot of the time movies like this come off as pseudo-insightful, but this one is a lot deeper than you're going to expect. And the story never gets buried under the fluff. Sure I agree that it could have had a better title, but When the Game Stands Tall is moving for anyone who was a part of a sports team.

Twizard Rating: 90