Battle: Los Angeles (Sony) tries to stage Independence Day in the style of Black Hawk Down, viewing an alien invasion from the perspective of soldiers on the ground. As in Black Hawk Down, elite American fighters beat back swarms of insurgent warriors, but in the chaotic sprawl of Los Angeles instead of the streets of Mogadishu. It isn’t a bad idea for a movie, but two hours of noisy effects, shaky handheld camera moves, and war-movie clichés shouted at top volume make for a uniquely unpleasant viewing experience…
Red Riding Hood (Warner Bros.) has one thing going for it that everyone can appreciate: lush cinematography with bold colors and painting-pretty compositions. The rest of it is strictly for the Twilight-fandom crowd, with a Twilight-aping story that puts a vapid heroine between two broody love interests, and adds a werewolf haunting their generic fantasy village for spice, plus Gary Oldman hamming it up for grim laughs…
Critics mostly piled onto Hall Pass (Warner Bros.), the latest comedy from the Farrelly brothers, the once-celebrated directors of There’s Something About Mary and Kingpin. But while the premise of two married dudes given a week off from marriage might fairly be described as cynical at best, sexist at worst, there film has an appealing sweetness that’s long been the Farrellys’ secret weapon. Owen Wilson and Jason Sudeikis are likeable as the dudes in question, and the film’s light, self-deprecating tone makes it work better than it should…
The true-life story of the rise and fall of Cleveland gangster Danny Greene in the ’70s might have been a fascinating Middle American twist on the genre, but every element of Kill The Irishman (Anchor Bay) feels as if it fell off a truck. Christopher Walken, Vincent D’Onofrio, Val Kilmer, Linda Cardellini, and Paul Sorvino fill out a formidable supporting cast, but Jonathan Hensleigh’s attempts to parrot GoodFellas put his own film in an unflattering light…
Though Big Momma’s House 2 seemingly brought the saga of Big Momma and her house to a natural conclusion, Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son (Fox) not only returns Martin Lawrence to drag, but suggests that his cross-dressing, crime-solving antics might carry on to the next generation after he enlists his son in his latest case. It’s as good as it sounds.