Having to go to ground after the events of the first film, the four horsemen are toey. These guys are performers, they need an audience. Well no Isla Fisher’s character – she’s not in this film. Anyhow, they (Jesse Eisenberg as Atlas, Woody Harrelson as McKinney, Dave Franco as Wilder and joined by Lizzy Caplan as Lula) come back, with the help of Rhodes (Mark Ruffalo), but there is a new player in the game – Walt Wabry (Daniel Radcliffe) a millionaire eccentric who loves magic. Now Bradley (Morgan Freeman) and Tressler (Michael Caine) also need to come back, and we have a lot of fun. Big magic, big tricks, no idea about what’s going on and then BAM things get fun. It’s ace in the same way the first one is ace. I doubt they’ll make another, but I kinda hope they will.
The world of Metropolis is reeling from Superman’s battle against the bad guys in the last Superman film. Batman’s not happy with this and wants to stop Superman, and they’re unaware being controlled by the new and evil Lex Luthor. And then there is Wonder Woman?
Ok, I got really lost. I wasn’t sure what world we were in… was it after the Christopher Nolan Dark Knight films? No. But it was after the recent Superman? Yes. So, Superman lives in Metropolis? Yes. And Batman lives in Gotham? Yes. So, they are nearby? Apparently. How does Wonder Woman fit in? I’m still a little confused on that one.
I enjoyed the fighting and stuff. And I quite like Henry Cavill as Superman, and Amy Adams as Lois. Jesse Eisenberg was great as Lex Luthor – I think he was the highlight of the film for me. Ben Affleck as Batman? No, he didn’t work for me. Perhaps I could have enjoyed this more in a cinema, perhaps I would have followed the whole thing a lot better, but as it was I felt like it was a totally confusing mess.
Ovbiously, set in Rome, To Rome With Love follows several plot lines that flow over each other and could easily be separate films.
There’s the opera plot, with Woody Allen and Judy Davis playing parents to Hayley (Alison Pill), a visiting American student who falls in love and becomes engaged to a very handsome Italian. Allen’s character discovers a talent in Hayley’s soon-to-be father-in-law that, I recall, was a plot from the Brady Bunch back in the seventies. This plotline was ridiculous and drove me nuts, but luckily I felt the rest of the film made up for it.
There’s the mysterious character plot, which covers architect Jack (Jesse Eisenberg) having to entertain his girlfriend’s best friend Monica (Elliot Page) who is visiting. Jack’s girlfriend is studying and has exams, so leaves the two of them alone despite the number of men who have fallen in love with Monica over the years. Alec Baldwin plays the mysterious character of John, a highly successful architect who is hanging around like an imaginary friend to Jack, pointing out how pretentious Monica is, and how inevitable the story is. Despite the fact that I have no inclination to assess and interpret this character, I liked this plotline.
Then there’s the newlyweds who are planning to move to Rome for the husband to work for his family, but through a series of misunderstandings, he ends up taking a prostitute around with his sombre relatives and she ends up in the hotel room of a famous actor.
And finally, Roberto Benigni, ah, the wonderful Roberto Benigni, who plays an average office worked who suddenly has extreme fame thrust upon him for no reason. Too wonderful, and delightful, and fabulous.
I quite like short stories, and this film was just like a collection of little short stories. It’s not a big, important piece of work. It’s just delightful, and what a beautiful and amazing setting. I’ve not yet been to Rome. Now, I really, really want to.
J. Daniel Atlas (Jesse Eisenberg), Merritt McKenney (Woody Harrelson), Henley Reeves (Isla Fisher) and Jack Wilder (Dave Franco) are four magicians (of different varieties) who are brought together by a mysterious other, they don’t know why. They appear as a big new act in Las Vegas; “The Four Horsemen” and do a performance that lead FBI Agent Dylan Rhodes (Mark Ruffalo) and Interpol Agent Alma Dray (Melanie Laurent) investigating their every move. The magicians are being bankrolled by multi-millionare Arthur Tressler (Michael Caine) and the authorities are being assisted by a magician who now makes his money revealing tricks, Thaddeus Bradley (Morgan Freeman). But who is who, and what is really going on?
I’m not a massive fan of magic. It’s not that I don’t get it; I reckon I get as wowed as most people. I just don’t really care how it’s done. I’ll go along for the ride if I must, but I’d be just as happy avoiding it. What I do like is a really clever film that has everyone one step ahead of everyone else… or, at least, you never really know who is doing what for who and why. And I really, really love that moment at the end of a heist film where everything is revealed, or the final plan takes place. Spy films, too. What is really ace about this film is that there are several times when all this happens. It is fast, constantly confusing and totally amazing.
I always say that I can’t stand horror, but it seems I am developing a soft spot for horror/comedy. Not that I’ve seen too many films in this genre. 100 Bloody Acres, Sean of the Dead, I can’t think of any others. There must be more.
Zombieland takes place after something has happened – it’s unimportant exactly what – but America is overrun by Zombies. There are few survivors, and those that are alive may be more interested in saving themselves than working as a team.
Enter Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg), a geeky college student who has quickly developed a series of rules to keep himself alive. When he comes across Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson) they form an unlikely partnership who end up being challenged, hindered and assisted by sisters Wichita (Emma Stone) and Little Rock (Abigail Breslin).
The film is funny and violent. Possibly violently funny, although definitely hilariously violent. I’ve not been a huge fan of Eisenberg, but that’s mostly because I really couldn’t stand the character he played in The Social Network and have not really moved on from here. Columbus was the perfect role for him – geeky, a bit shy but not afraid to use a semi-automatic weapon. And then there’s Bill Murray. Ah, bless you, Bill Murray.
ireckonthat 