Haywire

Gina Carano, Ewan McGregor, Antonio Banderas, Channing Tatum, Michael Fassbender

Directed by Steven Soderbergh

Rating: B+

Mallory (Carano) is not your average black ops agent. After completing a successful mission in Barcelona to retrieve a kidnapped journalist, Mallory is sent to Dublin where she is supposed to go undercover with an MI6 agent, Paul (Fassbender). However, Paul has different orders and tries to kill Mallory after the job. Mallory has to fight for her survival while any police force is on the lookout for her and find the people responsible for her planned execution.

Haywire is an action thriller that Hollywood has taken a new spin on. This film is not the average action movie where people can fight and escape with minimal cuts and bruises. When Mallory gets hit, she gets hit hard and it shows. When she falls down after climbing down a building, she doesn't get up and run like it didn't affect her. She stumbles and the audience can obviously see that it was not easy to get up and keep moving.

Haywire's plot isn't over-dramatized. There isn't enough time in the film for character build up so it's hard to get the audience to sympathize for Kenneth, Mallory's ex, or Paul, who is just trying to do his job. The film follows Mallory as she tells her story by starting with her getting closer to the people trying to kill her. She explains to an innocent bystander who ended up being carjacked and taken hostage by her how she ended up running from the police as she hunts for her former boss. The suspense keeps building up as Mallory gets closer to her enemy.

Carano is someone audiences should look out for in the future. Haywire is one of the first few films she's appeared in, though it isn't her first action fighting film. In 2009 she was played a part in Blood and Bone, an underground fighting club type of movie. Next year she'll be appearing in the sequel to Percy Jackson and the Olympians.

While Fassbender may have a brief role in Haywire, as an actor he is busy enough. After appearing in four films in 2011, Fassbender has a few projects up his sleeve for the coming year. He's proven to be a versatile actor, from portraying a classic Mr. Rochester in a remake of Jane Eyre, to being "mutant and proud" in X-Men: First Class, and playing a troubled man with an addiction in the film Shame. Fassbender is an actor worth remembering to watch out for.

Back to Haywire, if you're looking for a good action/crime thriller to see, this is worth checking out. Don't be fooled by the "R" rating because there is not enough in this film to be truly "R". Yes of course there is action, but is there an absurd overuse of cursing? No. There is no sex scenes, only a brief kissing scene. Other than that, this movie should really be rated "PG-13". It's short and to the point, so it can't be a complete waste of time.

Sleeping Beauty

Emily Browning, Rachel Blake

Directed by Julia Leigh

Rating: C

Lucy (Browning) is just trying to pay her bills and go to school so she takes whatever job is offered. From cleaning up tables, to being a lab rat, Lucy finds an ad in the paper for lingerie waitresses. Clara (Blake) is the employer who tells Lucy there is always room for promotion, which the next step would be becoming a Sleeping Beauty. Clara sees that Lucy is ready for promotion and invites Lucy to her house for her next job. All Lucy has to do is drink a brew that will put Lucy to sleep for a few hours. What Lucy doesn't know is what goes on while she is asleep. It isn't until she becomes overwhelmed with her life that she wonders what is happening to her while she is sleeping.

My first reaction after watching Sleeping Beauty was that it was one of the most interesting movies I have seen. The film is a bit slow and it feels as if there are many holes missing because we don't know who Birdman is in relationship with Lucy or how they met. Neither do we know why does her roommate's boyfriend have such a problem with her? The movie focuses on Lucy's jobs. We get a glimpse that she is desperate to make ends meet by participating in an experiment and cleaning up tables.

Playing Lucy could not be an easy role. Emily Browning's portrayal of a young college student struggling to make ends meet is heartbreaking. She gives up her body to be able to pay the bills by letting old men gawk at her in lingerie, and then later having a few hours alone with her while she's unconscious. Browning does an excellent job making Lucy come to life. We see how she holds it all in but after so much that has gone wrong, she lets it out with bursts of screaming at the end. It gives the audience a glimpse that everything is not all right with Lucy.

Sleeping Beauty may be a difficult film to get through for those who are not interested in the genre. I would definitely recommend it for those who like independent films like Beginners or Hunger. If you are in a courageous mood for something different, then I would think that Sleeping Beauty is worth checking out.

The Girl Who Played With Fire

Michael Nyqvist, Noomi Rapace, Lena Endre

Directed by Daniel Alfredson

Rating: B

The Girl Who Played With Fire is the sequel to The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, however, this is the sequel to the Swedish version. Lisbeth Salander (Rapace) is wanted for a triple murder, something she has nothing to do with but everything to do as well. Her prints are on the murder weapon and the police are hunting her down. Blomkvist (Nyqvist) is one of the only people to think she is innocent and he does everything in his power to find proof supporting that as well as finding out who the real murderer is.

Over my winter break, I decided to get into the Millenium trilogy so I could watch the American version of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo before it hit theaters. (See my review for it here.) Since the American version for the sequel has yet to be made, it was great that I could still see the sequel, even if it is in Swedish.

Daniel Alfredson did a good job with placing what is important in this sequel. The book has a lot of information going on so it is hard to choose what to show. The Girl Who Played With Fire has a fast pace to it and does not drag on forever so viewers don't feel like turning it off. The book mainly shows the police side of the investigations which was omitted in this film. It might have been interesting to see their point of view instead of just Blomkvist's. Both the police and Blomkvist are doing their own investigations so it would have been interesting to compare how far they both go.

Rapace did a great job as Salander. It does not seem like an easy role to play. Rapace portrays a believable character that makes the audience wonder how she does it. Salander does not have a big role in this sequel, as she is mainly concerned with hiding out.

I would recommend reading the book rather than seeing this version though because the book gives more information and can help visualize what is going on. The Girl Who Played With Fire was definitely an interesting watch. If you don't mind reading subtitles, then give this movie a chance.

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

Daniel Craig, Rooney Mara, Christopher Plummer, Stellan Skarsgard

Directed by David Fincher

Rating: B

When the Millennium trilogy hit bookstores, the author Stieg Larsson became a hit, only he was not alive to see it. Larsson died of a heart attack in 2004, leaving an unfinished fourth novel incomplete. However, the trilogy has done profitably, according to his website. The series has sold over twenty million copies and Larsson was the second bestselling author in 2008.

In 2009, director Niels Arden Oplev first came out with The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo in Sweden. Now two years later, American director David Fincher has successfully produced an “American” version with better known actors to play main characters Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomkvist.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo takes place in Sweden, where Mikael Blomkvist has been deemed “guilty” for libel against Hans-Erik Wennerstrom. The best thing for Blomkvist to do would be to go under the radar. Henrik Vanger has an interesting task for Blomkvist: to find out what exactly happened to his granddaughter Harriet and which one of his family members killed her. Seen as a waste of time in Blomkvist’s eyes as the mystery occurred forty years ago, Blomkvist takes the job as Vanger promises to give him what he wants: a secret to take Wennerstrom down.

Anyone who has read the book could only imagine how difficult a task it would be to get into character with Lisbeth Salander. White-as-a-sheet, piercings everywhere, no respect for anyone, Lisbeth is her own boss. Rooney Mara, who takes on this role, does an excellent and convincing job. Mara immerses herself in the role; actually getting the piercings Lisbeth has in eyebrows and private parts. She loses a little bit of weight to look like the skeletal Listbeth and cuts off most of her locks. Mara’s acting deserves to win an Oscar.

Daniel Craig steals most of the movie as the leading male character, Mikael Blomkvist. While Craig plays a reasonable role, the one factor that could not fully convince me of his character is his accent. While yes, viewers in English-speaking countries are watching it in the natural language, Blomkvist is supposed to be Swedish. Craig speaks with his natural English accent, not Swedish. Most of the characters convince you of their role because they make an effort to have some sort of Swedish accent.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo does have some very explicit scenes which could make some viewers uncomfortable. While the movie is quite lengthy, almost three hours, the pace is fast enough to keep viewers from checking for the time. The plot really pulls the audience in so that viewers are not yawning too many times. Like many films based off of novels, this particular film strays from the path a bit. Overall, David Fincher did include scenes not shown in the Swedish version which makes this up-to-date film more appealing.

Overall, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is rated “R” for a reason but that should not keep adults from watching it. It is an exciting, fast paced thriller worth the watch.

Tangled

Mandy Moore, Zachary Levi, Donna Murphy

Directed by Nathan Greno, Byron Howard

Rating: B

This is a story about Rapunzel (Moore) and how she came to live in the tall tower. Just as Rapunzel was being born, her mother was dying. There was a magical flower that heals people not far from her town and people went out to look for it to save the queen. When they found it, they brought it to the queen and soaked it in water for her to drink. It saved her and Rapunzel was born with healing powers through her hair. Mother Gothel (Murphy) steals Rapunzel so she can keep living forever. One day Rapunzel meets Flynn Rider (Levi) by accident after he hides from guards in her tower. Rapunzel is dying to leave her tower to see the magical stars that appear every year on her birthday. She must persuade Flynn to take her out or he'll never see what he stole again.

Since Tangled came out in movie theaters, all I've heard is how great it was. It wasn't until this past January that I finally saw one of the most highly recommended movies from my friends. It's safe to say my expectations were high. Tangled was nothing like I thought it would be. I had no idea what the movie was about but I didn't realize Flynn would be a thief or that Rapunzel's hair had healing powers. It was a fun movie to watch but I couldn't say it was the best movie ever.

In my opinion, there was too much singing. Of course, what else could I expect from a Disney movie? It was cute and Pascal, Rapunzel's pet chameleon was funny. Rapunzel herself was full of innocence and had learned quite a few skills after living in a tower for almost eighteen years. Flynn was your average thief-turned-good at the end of the movie. Tangled had the humor and action that kept an audience interested but it won't be on my top favorite movies.

Tangled is fun for children as well as adults. It's worth buying because it is a movie children probably would want to watch over and over again. I should probably re-watch it to judge it again.

The Adventures of Tintin

Jamie Bell, Andy Serkis, Daniel Craig, Nick Frost, Simon Pegg

Directed by Stephen Spielberg

Rating: B+

Tintin (Bell) is a reporter with quite the talent for investigating. Rackham (Craig) is on the hunt for buried treasure and takes Captain Haddock (Serkis) as hostage. Haddock's ancestor is responsible for the buried treasure and has given clues as to where it is. Tintin helps Haddock escape and they both travel around the globe with Rackham not far behind.

The Adventures of Tintin is a fun movie to watch. Not only that but there are so many reasons to go see it! First of all, read the cast list. Tintin has an impressive list of celebrity voices. Second, Stephen Spielberg is the director. Just look at how many great movies he's directed and been involved with: E.T., Jaws, Jurassic Park, Super 8. Third, the animation in Tintin is incredible. It is styled so realistically that audience members aren't sitting in there seats watching pure animation (like Shrek). Instead, viewers almost forget that it isn't real people doing the stunts but characters. That is one of the best parts of animation; you can get away with more crazy stunts than you can in real life. For example, in one scene Tintin is flying a plane that runs out of gas. Captain Haddock then gets out of the plane, sits in front of the windshield and burps into the engine. That can't happen in real life.

Many people might misjudge The Adventures of Tintin because they have never heard of it before. On the contrary, many people in French speaking countries (or grew up around French people) will have heard of it. Tintin was a comic book created by Herge in 1929. In fact, Spielberg even premiered The Adventures of Tintin in French speaking countries a few days before its release in the United States.

Don't let the theatrical trailer fool you. The Adventures of Tintin is definitely worth seeing and is fun for all ages.

Beginners

Ewan McGregor, Mélanie Laurent, Christopher Plummer

Directed by Mike Mills

Rating: B-

Oliver Fields (McGregor) grew up with bad examples of what a happy marriage should look like. He tends to be the one to leave a relationship, even if it was not so bad. Then his mother dies and a few months later his father, Hal (Plummer), decides it's time to come out of the closet and experience a lifestyle he's suppressed for so long. Oliver soon loses his father to cancer and is battling his own sadness until he meets Anna (Laurent). She is an actress and leaves Los Angeles some short months in order to work. This is a relationship Oliver wants to work but will he decide to leave her too?

The reason why I wanted to watch Beginners is because I saw this huge movie poster at the movie theater and it looked kind of artsy. Plus it had Ewan McGregor in it, who in my opinion, is a great actor who knows how to not get type-casted into the same role. He has played the singing role (and has a remarkable voice in Moulin Rouge), the gay role (I Love You Phillip Morris), and even a jedi (Star Wars). This man has talent.

In all honesty Beginners is slow enough to put viewers to sleep and has, in the case of watching it with my parents. It's one of those movies viewers need to pummel through but it is worth it. I stuck with it to the end, paying attention, and it was good. The movie is visually appealing; by that I mean it's filmed like an artsy, indie-film. The chemistry between Oliver and Anna is not the typical romance we find in most movies. They are both sad but there is something there between them that makes it work. They make each other happy, though not typically "curing" each other of their sadness. There is still some ground that needs to be covered between the two.

While Beginners may not be the funnest movie to watch, Focus Features (which produced this film) has produced other great movies. When I find out a movie has been made by Focus Features, I get excited because I know that most of the time it will turn out to be a great movie. So if you have the patience to sit through a slow movie (and at least an hour and a half so not too long!), then I definitely recommend renting Beginners. I have a feeling that Beginners is going to be one of those movies you won't want to watch for another year but find yourself in the mood for it six months later.