Reviews by PvtCaboose91

In the realm of computer animation, Pixar and DreamWorks have always maintained the top spots, while Fox's Blue Sky animation has perpetually dwindled behind the giants with middling efforts (Ice Age & sequels, Robots, etc). Directed by Ice Age mastermind Carlos Saldanha, 2011's Rio is, alas, not going to improve Fox's animation reputation. Rio does offer a simple pro-conservation message, but not much else is going on underneath its surface - the picture is not emotionally affecting like Toy Story 3, nor as sprightly and clever as How to Train Your Dragon or as sweet as Despicable Me. Kids might be taken with the animation and bright characters, but adults will likely shrug and merely endure the flick for its 90-minute duration. Rio is distinctly average: it has its moments, but it does not always work since quality laughs are in short supply and the material remains forgettable and disposable. In an age where a family trip to the movies could almost pay for a new television, it's not good enough.

Bird-napped at a young age and shipped to the United States, Blu (Eisenberg) is a Spix's Macaw who grew up with loving owner Linda (Mann) in rural Minnesota to become domesticated and unable to fly. Into Blu's blissful life soon steps a Brazilian ornithologist (Santoro), who reveals that Blu is one of only two Spix's Macaws left in existence. With this news in mind, he convinces Linda to travel to Rio and allow for Blu to mate with the last remaining female, Jewel (Hathaway), in a bid to save the species. Yet, once united, Blu and Jewel do not exactly hit it off. However, the couple are soon stolen from the scientists; chained together and sold to a black market bird dealer. On the run, Jewel yearns for escape and freedom, but Blu simply wants to be reunited with Linda and head home. During their adventures, they are helped by kind toucan Rafael (Lopez), inseparable bird buddies Nico (Foxx) and Pedro (will.i.am), and a bulldog named Luiz (Morgan). Unfortunately, though, a malicious cockatoo named Nigel (Clement) is hot on their tale.

Somewhat charming in places but ultimately unmemorable, Rio is a typical hero's journey story merged with anthropomorphised animal activity. In other words, nobody behind the movie set out to challenge the genre. Rather than aiming for inventiveness, Rio's makers simply adhered to the standard template: anthropomorphise something inhuman, concoct a dilemma for the protagonists, throw in a villain and a few quick-witted supporting characters, add a couple of musical numbers, and present it all using flashy computer animation. In 2011, though, routine efforts like this frankly look drab. Despite computer animation's prominence in this day and age, it is evident that animators still erroneously believe they can get by on novelty alone. Sorry, no dice. Pixar's original Toy Story from 1995 worked and still holds up today because the Pixar guys did not call it a day after designing the animation. Rather, they knew the novelty would eventually dissolve, and, accordingly, they anchored the narrative in emotions, humanity and messages; mixing the groundbreaking animation with genuine depth. Rio exhibits none of this innovation.

On a more positive note, the vivacious CGI animation is positively gorgeous to behold, with the natural beauty of the city of Rio shining through in every frame. The picture particularly comes alive during a sequence in which Blu and Jewel hitch rides on various hang-gliders as they soar around the city, and it's easy to get the feeling that you're actually there. (One could even call Rio a big-budget travelogue of the titular city, which is somewhat unsurprisingly since helmer Carlos Saldanha was born in Rio.) To the credit of the filmmakers, too, there are a few good laughs and one-liners to enjoy here, but there aren't enough. Too often, Rio eschews integrity and momentum in favour of momentary laughs and ostentatious set-pieces. This likely came as a result of the "talent" involved in the scriptwriting - Don Rhymer, Joshua Sternin, Sam Harper and Jeffrey Ventimilia. Among them, these four writers are responsible for Deck the Halls, Surviving Christmas, Yogi Bear, Tooth Fairy, Cheaper by the Dozen 2, and the first two Big Momma's House movies. Oh boy...

Oddly, for a movie set in Brazil and populated with Brazilian entities, there's a distinct lack of Brazilian actors in the cast. Jesse Eisenberg is acceptable as Blu since the character grew up in America, but Brazilian characters like Jewel, Nigel, Nico, Pedro and others were voiced by distinctly American-sounding actors. Zuh? At the very least, the vocal performances are decent if unspectacular. The standout is Jermaine Clement, who imbued Nigel the antagonistic cockatoo with a great, villainous personality.

To be sure, Rio has its charms; there are a few decent laughs to be had, and greatness flickers intermittently during select sequences (the opening musical number is terrific). Taken as a whole, Rio is simply okay - the story is okay and the characters are okay. It's not thoroughly detestable or particularly tedious, but it lacks the staying power of Pixar's regular output.

5.6/10

Similar to what Paul Greengrass accomplished with 2010's Green Zone, 5 Days of War represents a merger of fact and fiction; weaving facets of the 2008 Russo-Georgian war into a predominantly fictional story about journalists caught in the crossfire. Finnish director Renny Harlin (Die Hard 2, Cliffhanger) took the director's chair here, and attempted to capture the intricacy and political complexity behind this forgotten conflict that was largely overlooked by Western media. Alas, Harlin's primary focus was on fictional story elements, resulting in a passable action-thriller diversion but a wasted opportunity which over-simplifies the historical record. While a technologically sound low-budget war movie, it had the potential - and the right creative team - to be something far more.

For the uneducated, a war broke out in August of 2008 between Georgia and the Russians. At the time, though, the world was uninterested because the 2008 Beijing Olympics were unfolding. With Georgia being invaded and suffering tremendous civilian casualties, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili reached out to the Americans and other countries only to be turned down. The skirmish which ensued ultimately caught the attention of Renny Harlin, who in turn set out to preserve the story on the medium of film. Having grown up in the shadow of the Soviet Empire, Harlin has said that he understood the tensions and complicated issues surrounding the relationship between Georgia and Russia, making him well-suited for the job. Even if he was unable to nail all of the political ins and outs of the war, Harlin's expertise in large-scale action was an asset in the creation of 5 Days of War.

In the picture's harrowing opening moments, journalist Thomas Anders (Friend), his cameraman friend Sebastian Ganz (Coyle) and other journalists are attempting to cover the Iraq War in 2007, but become caught up in a lethal shootout. The immediacy and sheer realism of this sequence is unsettling, truly giving you the sense that you are there. Anders and Ganz are rescued by Georgian coalition forces, and afterwards they head to the region of South Ossetia upon hearing of a brewing conflict. Once again, though, the pair find themselves caught in the crossfire, with an air raid bombarding the local area. Ending up with young girl Tatia (Chriqui) and other assorted locals, the journalists witness and film a barbaric execution by the Russian soldiers, and subsequently find themselves battling against Russian forces in the hope of getting the news out to the entire world.

While based on true events, 5 Days of War contains blatant fictional elements which stick out like a sore thumb, including Hollywood-style split-second timing and other contrived scenarios that damage the film's integrity. It's also disappointing to report that we never get the full sense of the scope of the skirmish, and more context is desperately needed. Opening titles akin to Black Hawk Down's beginning would have been beneficial. For a film which visibly aimed to spread awareness of what happened in 2008, 5 Days of War does very little to illuminate the circumstances and political motivations that led to the war. Not to mention, political dialogue is generally reduced to short, exceedingly cheesy sound bites. To the credit of Harlin and writers Mikko Alanne and David Battle, though, the central characters are well fleshed-out, and for the most part they feel like living, breathing, flesh-and-blood individuals whose fates are easy to care about. However, the Russians get the short end of the stick in this respect; they are portrayed as brutish villains lacking in both characterisation and motivation. Then again, it would probably be boring to give the Russian villains any depth. Ah well. Whatever.

Perhaps unsurprisingly considering Harlin's filmography, 5 Days of War squeezes every tired, well-worn war movie trope of bravery, courage and stirring speeches for everything that they're worth, on top of adopting action movie clichés such as self-sacrifice and trite "Go without me" exchanges. It's all very standard-order, and the stuff in between the action often lacks energy, so it is relieving to report that the film at least comes alive during the action scenes. For a $12 million feature, the terrific production values are to be admired. Also, this is a vehemently old-school action/war movie that's mercilessly low on ostentatious CGI. (If digital effects were used to a large degree, they are perfectly seamless.) With practical blood effects, impressive aerial photography and exhilarating action scenes, Harlin's efforts suggest a much higher budget than the figure his team were allotted. Not to mention, unlike most blockbusters which contain incomprehensible action, the set-pieces were perfectly filmed to allow you to clearly comprehend the combat. 5 Days of War's only technical drawback is Trevor Rabin's generic, unmemorable score.

In the role of Anders, Rupert Friend is a real find. A British actor recently glimpsed in such films as Outlaw and The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, Friend is an engaging screen presence. Alongside him, Richard Coyle is affable and at times suitably intense as Sebastian. Coyle perhaps remains best known for his beloved role in the BBC sitcom Coupling, yet he is well on his way to a big-time acting career outside of Coupling if he keeps maintaining this performance standard. Alas, the rest of the cast ranges from middling to outright boring - Val Kilmer is astonishingly underused and forgettable as another journalist, while Emmanuelle Chriqui's Tatia is simply flavourless. Also on hand is Mikko Nousiainen as a typical cookie-cutter villain. Even Heather Graham appears oh-so-briefly to little effect and little impact. At least Andy Garcia is to be admired for his portrayal of President Saakashvili, espousing a believable accent and filling his lines with passion.

As with any war movie, 5 Days of War has sparked controversy due to its rather one-sided viewpoint of the conflict. Then again, the same can be said for all war movies. Even if 5 Days of War is too black & white and does an inadequate job of explaining the politics, it is refreshing to see a war movie which is not concerned with portraying the American army saving the day. In fact, the U.S. military were not involved in this particular conflict at all. A bolder, more historically accurate retelling would have been far more welcome than what is presented here, but for what 5 Days of War is (a fictional action film within a non-fictional setting), it is hard to not appreciate what's been done here on some level.

6.5/10

In the same vein as the marginally successful Twins with Danny DeVito, Kindergarten Cop was an attempt to portray Austrian superstar Arnold Schwarzenegger as a comedic performer. However, Kindergarten Cop (helmed by Twins director Ivan Reitman) was designed as an action-comedy rather than an outright comedy; depicting Schwarzenegger in a typical Schwarzenegger role within comedic circumstances. Still, who would've thought that, in the course of less then a decade, the hard-ass star of Conan the Barbarian and Commando would trade in his sword and firearms for milk moustache and a soft kindergarten teacher routine? Against all odds, though, Kindergarten Cop for the most part works. Armed with an often witty screenplay drenched in one-liners and a priceless self-deprecating performance by the inimitable Austrian Oak, this is solid entertainment, even if it is uneven.

Schwarzenegger appears here as Detective John Kimble, who has been pursuing murderous drug dealer Cullen Crisp (Tyson) for close to a decade. Kimble eventually swoops in to arrest Crisp on a murder charge, but they require a reliable witness testimony to throw Crisp away for life. Thus, Kimble and his new partner Phoebe (Reed) are sent to Astoria, Oregon to locate Crisp's ex-wife and kindergarten-aged son, who are living incognito. The plan is for Phoebe to go undercover as a substitute teacher for the kindergarten class containing Crisp's son in order to locate him. When Phoebe falls ill, though, Kimble is forced to fill in. With absolutely no prior teaching experience, Kimble's assignment of handling a class of unruly kindergarten children turns out to be a particularly difficult one. Meanwhile, Crisp is determined to find his estranged wife and kid, and Crisp's accomplices are fast working towards the release of the wanted murderer...

When Kimble deals with the children, Kindergarten Cop positively comes alive with an engaging, lively comic spark. It is critical to note that, although the narrative concerns murderers and cops, the comedic elements constitute the film's bread & butter. Even though the film has a tendency to be contrived and cloying at times, it is easy to get the sense that the macho bodybuilding giant is in his natural element among children and when dispensing comedy, resulting in an utterly infectious charm. Ivan Reitman can always be counted upon to provide a fun time, with his filmography boasting such other efforts as Ghostbusters and Stripes. Thus, Kindergarten Cop moves forward at a usually agreeable pace, though the film is overlong at 110 minutes. For the majority of its runtime, Kindergarten Cop is wholly enjoyable; dishing up a handful of worthwhile laughs and leaving you with a big smile on your face. Who can complain about that?

With that said, though, Kindergarten Cop is all over the map from a tonal perspective; leaping from deadly serious one moment to light-hearted the next, implying that the filmmakers were unsure about what type of movie they were making and who their target audience was. The tonally schizophrenic picture may seem cuddly, cute and suitable for general family consumption, yet parents may find the film too graphic and casually violent for their children, what with drug dealing, brutal murder, child abuse and kidnapping being situated in amongst the gleeful cop vs. kindergarten kids antics. Kindergarten Cop carries a PG-13 rating for good reason. Thankfully, the more serious material predominantly lies in the film's peripheries, allowing easygoing laughs and a sweet, heart-warming love story between likeable characters to take centre stage in between the harder moments bookending the picture.

To state the obvious, Schwarzenegger has never been honoured for his skills as a thespian - he is primarily recognised for his action roles demanding him to perpetrate violence instead of impressing the Oscar community, making him an unlikely candidate for a comic actor. Nevertheless, Arnie's performance here is surprisingly appealing, and he carried off the comedic elements to a high standard. To be fair, though, the majority of the humour is self-deprecating, with Arnie's amusing line deliveries ("It's not a tumour!" is a bona fide classic) and awkward interactions with the kids providing plenty of worthwhile laughs.

Ultimately, Kindergarten Cop feels like two movies: a cute kiddie flick and violent cop thriller. The merging of these two films of divergent tones is not exactly cohesive, however, making Kindergarten Cop too intense for most kids and at times too cloying for some adults. Yet, if taken as a surface-level ride and a guilty pleasure (warts and all), the film is predominantly fun and charming, making it a perfectly palatable slice of entertainment for a rainy afternoon. It is nowhere near as good as Arnie's best action classics of course, but the film does its job well enough nonetheless.

7.1/10

Actor-come-filmmaker David Schwimmer's sophomore theatrical effort as a director, 2011's Trust deals with sensitive, challenging subject matter that most directors would refuse to touch with a 20-foot pole. Armed with a timely significance and a relevant message pertaining to the dangers of the World Wide Web, this is a powerful and provocative independent drama with a central premise that is neither "Hollywood-ised" nor sugar-coated. In a nutshell, Trust presents an intimate portrait of the full story behind what often amounts to an insignificant newspaper headline, and it explores the emotional traumas that emerge when an adolescent girl's vulnerabilities are cruelly exploited.

14 years old and passionate about volleyball, Annie Cameron (Liberato) is a typical teenage girl who spends the vast majority of her time chatting online, texting, or talking on the phone. Annie also has an internet dalliance in the form of a junior named Charlie (Coffey). Over time, however, Charlie gradually reveals that he is a bit older than 16, but Annie is so taken by his charms that she doesn't care about the lie. When they eventually meet face to face, though, she learns that Charlie is in fact closer to 35 and old enough to be her father. Unfortunately, the web of cunning and guilt that he spins around Annie's confused vulnerability are enough to convince her to go shopping with him and take a ride back to his hotel room. Tragedy subsequently strikes, bringing about the involvement of Annie's parents, the police, and the FBI. The repercussions of Annie's day with Charlie leads to emotional distress and a downward spiral for the family, with Annie left hurt and confused, and her father Will (Owen) struggling to come to terms with the fact that a man violated his daughter.

For years, David Schwimmer has been an esteemed member of the Board of Directors of the Rape Foundation in California. Upon hearing the story of a father whose daughter was raped by an older man she met online, the former Friends star was inspired to develop Trust simultaneously as a stage play and as his second theatrical filmmaking outing. The resulting script by Andy Bellin and Robert Festinger is lathered in an amazing attention to detail. Particularly chilling is Trust's accurate portrayal of the grooming strategies used by online predators. The subject matter could have easily been dumbed-down, but the picture was thankfully handled with consummate intelligence. At the centre of Trust are three-dimensional characters that feel real; they are flawed, and they make bad judgements. More pertinently, the film authentically captures the intimate modern connection between teenage life and technology, and it highlights the fact that adolescent judgement is often quite fallible.

Trust represents a significant change of pace for Schwimmer, whose theatrical directorial debut was the 2007 Simon Pegg comedy Run Fatboy Run. Evincing an incredibly mature filmmaking sleight of hand, Schwimmer's handling of Trust's intricate psychological and emotional terrain is delicate and downright affecting. Added to this, pacing and structure are chief among the film's main strengths. Prior to Annie's fateful meeting with Charlie, a whimsical, engaging and efficient 20-minute portion was constructed to display Annie's affectionate online interactions with him, and it's almost unthinkable that doom and gloom lies ahead. During this segment, Schwimmer conveys Annie and Charlie's correspondences by having their instant messages pop up on the screen beside Annie; thus imaginatively circumventing the potential monotony of scenes of characters simply typing at their computer.

After Annie is raped, she is not sent to a dark corner to mope and play victim - like many teens confronted with the unfortunate repercussions of their misjudgements, she is defensive; refusing to believe Charlie is a criminal. It's heart-wrenching to see how things progressively unravel in the family household, and to see how the sexual assault affects everyone differently. While Annie convinces herself the whole thing is a simple misunderstanding, the event mentally affects Will down to his very bones. And then there's the film's spine-chilling ending, which is not a cop-out, nor does it feel forced or Hollywood - it underscores the prominence of sex offenders in this day and age, how easily they can be ingratiated into society, and that things do not always pan out the way you want them to. The only drawback of Trust is that a few narrative elements are too easily glossed over (such as Will's involvement with a pervert tracker group), and there are a few potentially plot-destroying questions. For instance, why didn't the FBI check the mall security cameras for images of Charlie? And it's apparently possible to track mobile phones if the phone is so much as on, so why is the FBI unable to find Charlie's location despite knowing his phone number?

Perhaps the strongest aspect of Trust is the cast. Newcomer Liana Liberato is a particular standout, as her portrayal of Annie is emotionally powerful and excellently nuanced. Despite the fact that she was a minor during filming, Liberato was called upon to attempt a level of acting that even veteran stars have trouble perfecting, and she pulled it off amazingly. Seriously, this is Oscar material, making Liberato a young talent to keep an eye on. Meanwhile, Clive Owen's portrayal of Will is bursting with passion, which was most likely fuelled by the fact that he himself has two young daughters, making the story relevant to him. Owen's work is consistently engaging and often very stirring, which is particularly apparent during the emotionally devastating speech he delivers at the picture's end. Catherine Keener also impresses as Annie's mother. At any given time, it is easy to buy these people are being a real family since they embody the warmth that comes hand in hand with a family unit. And finally, making the most of a small role as the therapist called upon to help the family, Viola Davis is sharp, focused and believable. Other actors round out the cast roster - including the innately chilling Chris Henry Coffey as Charlie and an amiable Jason Clarke as the FBI agent - and suffice it to say, they are all very good.

A character-focused melodrama fuelled by a collection of outstanding performances by all three leads and beyond, Trust is a type of film we see all too rarely in this day and age. It is not concerned with gratuitous big bangs or special effects, and the makers refused to dumb down the material for easier mass consumption. This is also an important film rife with relevant messages, and it deserves to be seen.

8.7/10

Evidently, the success of the Twilight saga is having adverse effects on contemporary filmmaking sensibilities; perpetuating the stereotype that female audiences who enjoy romantic fantasy fiction do not deserve good genre material. After all, if the girls merrily consume Stephanie Meyer's insufferable bullshit, why bother putting in the extra effort to make something better? Red Riding Hood represents a blatant attempt to cash in on the amazingly profitable Twilight series, with the powers that be doing everything possible to recreate the phenomenon. Catherine Hardwicke (who directed the original Twilight picture) was even hired to oversee Red Riding Hood, which contains several Twilight-esque elements: sweeping vistas, moody cinematography, digitally-created werewolves, a Twilight cast member (Billy Burke), and a story of a girl torn between two young studs who cannot act. Yet, with howlingly bad writing (har har), Red Riding Hood fails as a horror, a whimsical folk tale, and as a romance. It does, however, work on occasion as an unintentional, campy comedy.

Set in the isolated village of Daggerhorn which lies in the midst of a dense wilderness, Valerie (Seyfried) pines for local woodcutter Peter (Fernandez) but is conflicted by her arranged marriage to the wealthy Henry (Irons). Daggerhorn has been previously subjected to werewolf attacks, but animal sacrifice has maintained peace for twenty years. With Valerie on the verge of running away with Peter, tragedy strikes when the wolf kills Valerie's sister and breaks the peace. Fearing for the village's safety, the local priest turns to master hunter Father Solomon (Oldman) and his team of warriors to kill the menace. Soon after his arrival, Solomon lets the worried townsfolk know that the culprit may be one of them in disguise...

Red Riding Hood is a reimagining of the well-known folktale in the very loosest sense of the word. Strip away the title, the red cloak and a ridiculous dream sequence paying homage to the famous text ("Oh grandmother, what big teeth you have!"), and all that remains is a generic story about a generic village under a generic siege by a generic werewolf. Rather than anything approaching a Brothers Grimm fairytale, the film is more like Sleepy Hollow meets Agatha Christie with The Wolfman undertones and Twilight overtones.

Red Riding Hood is a dangerously slow movie, yet one cannot call the film deliberately-paced since that would suggest the sluggish momentum was intentional in order to generate tension and draw viewers into the story. Instead, this is just a cumbersome piece of filmmaking with zero thrills and a love triangle with all the heat of wintertime Antarctica. And for crying out loud, the love triangle serves no purpose outside of making it seem similar to Twilight. (All the more to bore us with, filmmakers?) There are no shocks to experience here, nor is there any no horror to scare us with, worthwhile romance to swoon over, or forward momentum to keep us engaged. Chances are you'll fall asleep not long into the movie. And then when the horribly animated CGI wolf jumps out to growl at the camera, you'll wake up just to laugh at how ridiculous it all is. The film's concluding five minutes, meanwhile, are fucked up beyond anything that could be remotely construed as rational thought, and are unintentionally hilarious.

Every bone in Red Riding Hood's cinematic construction is adorned with the same characteristics seen in Catherine Hardwicke's Twilight film - it has a sleek sheen and a moody atmosphere that flirts with a dangerous edge, but the efforts are ultimately wasted on the soap opera-level storytelling. To be fair, this is at times a visually stunning film, and Hardwicke occasionally establishes a genuinely enthralling, accomplished atmosphere. Yet, too often the film descends into pure campiness. In particular, the wolf scenes make the film's PG-13 rating amazingly obvious, bringing about an absence of genuine terror. Whenever the wolf is on-screen, it looks like precisely what it is: a digital creation. Filmmakers need to learn that practical effects and make-up generate a far more impressive and effective filmic representation of a werewolf. Even 2010's subpar remake of The Wolfman succeeded on a visceral level because it had the freedom to be R-rated, and the werewolf was a practical creation.

Amanda Seyfried can impress when given the right material, but Red Riding Hood does her career no favours, with the script calling upon her to alternate between looking pensive and gazing into space. The rest of the performances, meanwhile, emanate absurdly forced sincerity and intensity. As Valerie's two love interests, Max Irons and Shiloh Fernandez are nothing more than catalogue models pretending to be actors - they are admittedly handsome, but have zero presence and display no evidence of acting talent at all. Veteran actor Gary Oldman was also called upon to provide the material with some gravitas, but instead submitted an absurdly over-the-top, hammy performance destined to provoke unintentional laughs. It was an easy character for the star to pull off, and he sunk his teeth into it, causing a huge ruckus while the rest of the disinterested cast stand around waiting for terror to strike or for something challenging to react to. Unfortunately, Oldman's character begins as someone interesting before the screenplay senselessly turns his Father Solomon role into a cookie-cutter villain we're meant to hate. Zuh? Also present here is Julie Christie whose portrayal of Valerie's granny lacks warmth, while Billy Burke is laughably hammy as Valerie's father and Virginia Madsen is strong but underused as Valerie's mother.

If the team behind Red Riding Hood merged a more convincing romance with genuine thrills and terror, it might have been worth revisiting the oft-told fairytale. As it is, the resultant film is a mess of scare-free horror, laughable romance, and animated mannequins trying to act. Not to mention, with a PG-13 rating rather than an R, a town dance number and a few bloodless off-screen maulings are about as graphic as the film gets. At least the campiness permits you to laugh at it from time to time, though.

4.4/10

After dabbling in remakes (2004's Dawn of the Dead) and adaptations (300, Watchmen, Legend of the Guardians), director Zack Snyder finally stepped up to the challenge of conceiving an original project to test his capabilities. The result is 2011's Sucker Punch; a polarising cinematic experience which foundered at the box office and endured a vicious critical reception. For his first original undertaking, writer-director Snyder dreamed up a candy-coloured fantasy dreamscape with traces of fantasy, steampunk, sci-fi, ninja, pin-up, manga and horror iconography within the narrative structure of a Zelda video game. Not to mention, the leads are a bunch of scantily-clad women carrying badass machine guns, and thus the film additionally represents a teenage boy's fantasy. At first glance, then, it is perhaps tempting to dismiss Sucker Punch as a cynical attempt to appeal to as many fanboy demographics as possible. Yet, Snyder had loftier intentions; crafting a visually stunning piece of action filmmaking with profound intricacies under its surface. Sucker Punch is a depressing, bleak critique of the sexualisation of women in modern cinema (and in real life), and Snyder employed a number of those clichés in a satirical fashion to tell the story.

At the centre of Sucker Punch is the youthful Baby Doll (Browning), who's sent to a mental asylum by her wicked stepfather (Plunkett) following the tragic deaths of both her mother and sister. Alas, the evil of her new surroundings further disturbs her shattered psyche, and she becomes scheduled for a lobotomy in five days. Hoping to plot an escape, Baby Doll befriends fellow crazies Sweet Pea (Cornish), Rocket (Malone), Amber (Chung) and Blondie (Hudgens). Soon, she learns that she will need five items to assist in her escape from the institution and thus the sinister clutches of caretaker Blue (Isaac). The girls' adventures are manifested in two imaginary (or are they?) dream-worlds: a 1920s-style brothel where the girls regress to get away the troubles of their everyday lives, and a fantastical dream-within-a-dream world where the girls are a squad of badass lady soldiers.

Zack Snyder is a great action filmmaker, and he makes every frame look like a painting in an era where most action directors intensely dislike such words as "tripod" and "composition". There are a lot of visually stunning moments of ass-kicking awesomeness to behold here - if you come to Sucker Punch seeking action and eye candy, the film delivers in spades. The production design and visual effects are terrific, and significantly contribute to the film's high enjoyment value. Also, the costumes for the females are everything that a heterosexual male could ask for. Meanwhile, to the credit of director Snyder, blood and gore was eschewed creatively during the fantasy sequences; making the film violent and badass without pulling punches. On top of this, the soundtrack is impeccable - the original music is pulse-pounding and energising, while the cover songs of various tunes suit the style and atmosphere beautifully. In particular, the dialogue-free opening sequence is a tour de force of visual storytelling which is accompanied by a beautiful rendition of Sweet Dreams Are Made Of This (performed by Emily Browning, who plays Baby Doll).

Sucker Punch blends fantasy in a reality in such a mind-twisting fashion that it's hard to distinguish what's real and what's imaginary. With subtle intricacies scattered throughout the movie, there are a lot of things open for interpretation, including the masterful ending. However, the big problem with Sucker Punch is that the action sequences do not always fit properly. The film carries a substantial subtext, but there's no paralleling in the action scenes. To illustrate this point, consider when Baby Doll dances while one of the girls sneaks off to photocopy a map - the fantasy scenario for this depicts the girls fighting German zombies in trenches. Cool to look at, sure, but how does covertly photocopying a map have anything to do with trench warfare and World War I? Where's the paralleling? Another misstep is that Snyder always shows the action scenes in place of Baby Doll's sexy dancing that everyone seems to adore. Added to this, Sucker Punch was edited down to attain a PG-13 rating from the MPAA, and this affects the entire production - at certain moments the film is blatantly censored, and the movie feels underdone to the point of feeling fundamentally incomplete.

As for the acting, the female leads carried out what they were required to do: look hot, be athletic in the battle scenes, and deliver their dialogue in an adequate enough fashion. If any of the actors shines, it's Scott Glenn who plays the girls' veteran, hard-ass para-military leader. Glenn's role may be heavily clichéd, but he delivered the clichés with relish.

It is the ultimate definition of irony that Sucker Punch is enduring criticism for being something that it is in fact critiquing and satirising. Scott Mendelson said it best: "At heart, it's a critical deconstruction of the casual sexualization of young women in pop culture, the inexplicable acceptance of institutional sexism and lechery, and whether or not images of empowered females on film can be disassociated with the sexual undercurrent of those same images". Heck, during one particular interview, Snyder discussed why he chose such costumes for the girls: "Someone asked me, why did you dress the girls like that? And I said, I didn't dress them that way, you did. That's what pop culture demands, not me. And that's fun for me - I love that when confronted with the exact formula that they request, they get all freaked out by it, because they're like, "wait a minute - he's right. I do like this, and maybe that's my fault."" With the thoughtful subtext in mind - as crazy as it may sound - I believe Sucker Punch may end up being studied in film classes right alongside Terry Gilliam's Brazil. There are indeed multiple layers of this film to be explored in spite of its shortcomings.

Sucker Punch's detractors will probably believe I'm reading too much into what is essentially a teenage male's wet dream, but I believe that they are not reading enough - instead of bothering to look past the special effects, people are accusing the film of being all style no substance. It's fine if you "get" the film but believe Snyder simply failed in his intentions, but those unable or unwilling to look below the surface are the ones who deserve derisive scorn. After all, it is ironic that critics are complaining about the lack of intelligent, challenging mainstream movies only to have one such movie go completely over their head. Sucker Punch could have been a better film overall - the dialogue could be improved, the characters are rather shallow, and the themes could have been better explored - but it remains an enjoyable action-fantasy with intelligence and relevance.

Brief Word About The Extended Cut: The extended cut restores almost 20 minutes of excised footage, and the restoration of these minutes is to the film's benefit. In extended form, Sucker Punch simply feels more complete. It's easily superior to the theatrical cut.

7.1/10

Especially once the noughties kicked in, Hollywood started taking fire for its notorious "PG-13-ification" of various genres. Teen sex comedies suffered one of the mightiest blows in this respect - nothing is quite as lame as a sex comedy pulling punches when it could have, and should have, been raunchy and hilarious. Thank God, then, for films like Sex Drive, which come along to remind of us of how hilarious a film can be when it has the freedom to go the distance. Loosely based on the young adult novel All the Way by Andy Behrens, Sex Drive was scripted by Sean Anders and John Morris, and it was designed to resemble American Pie and Judd Apatow's oeuvre in being a politically-incorrect, hilariously raunchy comedy with a beating heart at its centre. The film rarely misses its mark, and it triumphantly puts the "sex" back into "teen sex comedy".

Working part time at a donut establishment, 18-year-old Ian (Zuckerman) is a virginal loser with no clue about how to talk to girls, let alone flirt with them. His slovenly best friend Lance (Duke), though, gets loads of action, and is so concerned about Ian's ongoing virginity that he vows to help him remedy the undesirable condition. The solution presents itself via the internet - Ian meets a stunning blonde hottie (Bowden) online, who promises to go all the way with him if he pays her a visit in Knoxville, Tennessee...nine hours away. It is an offer Lance will not let Ian pass up. With Ian's lifelong best friend Felicia (Crew) also joining them on the trip under the impression they're going to visit Ian's cancer-stricken grandmother, the boys steal a vintage car belonging to Ian's older brother and take to the open road.

Sex Drive does not cover a lot of new ground from a narrative perspective; representing a merger of American Pie, Road Trip and Rob Reiner's The Sure Thing. However, the jokes work; the film is consistently entertaining and laugh-out-loud hilarious, making the trip wholly worthwhile regardless of its shallow plotting. There are a few quick, cheap gags, but they are almost always effective, and the talented cast clearly improvised entire segments of dialogue to add to the array of witty jokes and one-liners. Sure, humour is subjective so it seems meaningless to keep stating that the film is hilarious, but rest assured if you enjoy raunchy humour then you will doubtlessly enjoy Sex Drive. Plus, to the credit of the filmmakers, the film is taut and fast-paced, making for an enjoyable romp that at no point grows boring or tedious.

Tonally, Sex Drive is all over the map - purely outlandish in one scene, clever the next, and then sweet - but there is a method to the madness of writers Sean Anders and John Morris, who were simply trying to avoid making a cheap, throwaway slice of teen sex movie fodder. The film begins as a disposable (but nonetheless hilarious) American comedy, but eventually throws a curveball - the three main characters develop personalities, while Ian and Felicia's friendship is realistically gentle, warm and at times uncomfortable. There are a few moments which display genuine heart, especially the scenes acknowledging Ian and Felicia's mutual feelings for one another that they cannot act upon. To be fair, there is a sufficient amount of female nudity and raunchy humour to remind us of what Sex Drive truly is, but the character dynamics are more thoughtful than a more run-of-the-mill comedy. In addition, director Anders is clearly a clever filmmaker - he especially shows great innovation in scenes displaying Ian's online conversations with his internet dalliance, with the chat windows appearing in the air beside Ian like captions in a comic book. It is a creative way to visualise what would otherwise be humdrum scenes of a guy on his laptop.

Leading the hysterical troupe of actors is Josh Zuckerman (Surviving Christmas) in the role of Ian. Zuckerman is sort of a goofy mishmash of Alan Cumming and Zach Braff, and in Sex Drive he summoned the same brand of boyish zest and uncomfortable innocence that worked so well for Jason Biggs in American Pie a decade earlier. Zuckerman was given plenty of amusing material to work with, and he carried out his duties to a high standard. Playing the feisty Felicia is Amanda Crew (Final Destination 3), who's a strong performer with charisma and a winning personality to make anyone fall for her. The highlight of the bunch, though, is Clark Duke in a star-making performance as Lance. In any other film, Duke - with glasses and his pudgy physique - would be a geeky, socially-awkward misfit who's hopeless around girls, but in Sex Drive he's a smooth, debonair playboy and a ladies man who has girls fawning over him. Fortunately, the supporting characters are just as hilarious as the leads. Unleashing his over-the-top comedic side, James Marsden (X-Men) is an absolute riot as Ian's brother; endowing his role with the intensity of a rabid dog. Seth Green also shows up temporarily as an Amish car mechanic, and he's a hilarious scene-stealer.

For the DVD of Sex Drive, Sean Anders and John Morris threw together an unrated extended cut of the film which runs for an extra 20 minutes. However, this is not a traditional extended version. Kicking off with an introduction by Anders and Morris themselves, it is a cut strictly for the fans. Not only does it include additional scenes and footage, but it also features ad-libbing, outtakes, and gratuitous additional nudity (generally in the form of random naked people being green-screened into a scene for no purpose at all). The theatrical cut is the movie the creators wanted to make; the unrated cut is merely self-indulgence for the filmmakers and the fans. Definitely watch the original version first.

The premise of Sex Drive is nothing new, but this is a very funny movie regardless of where its ideas were derived from, and the writing allows the plot to feel fresh and renewed. While nothing deep, this is a genuinely fun teen sex comedy that, for last of better word, had me laughing my ass off. Viewers seeking an enjoyable few hours of R-rated comedy should find Sex Drive to their taste. The film unfortunately sputtered and died at the box office during the theatrical run, but it really is worth picking up and watching. It may even develop into a cult classic.

7.8/10

The last time that former visual effects technician Scott Charles Stewart directed Paul Bettany in a motion picture, the result was 2010's quite literally God-awful Legion. Loosely based on the South Korean comic series of the same name, 2011's Priest is an improvement over Legion...but not by much. As befitting of a former effects technician, director Stewart only seems to think in visual terms without any thought towards narrative, tension or characterisation. While Stewart is visibly beginning to improve as an action filmmaker, Priest is dull and derivative; suffering from substandard screenwriting and bland acting. Fortuitously, the film flopped when it invaded cinema screens, so perhaps there is justice in the world.

For centuries, war has waged between humans and vampires. In response, the Catholic Church trains a cadre of priests to fight with superhuman, ninja-like skill, and they whittle down the vampire population until peace is restored and the bloodsuckers become relegated to reservations. With victory secured, the church disbands the priesthood, leaving them to fend for themselves with limited job skills. Living in obscurity, the eponymous Priest (Bettany) learns that his niece Lucy (Collins) has been kidnapped by a pack of vampires led by an outlaw known as Black Hat (Urban). Priest comes out of retirement to find Lucy with the help of the local Sheriff Hicks (Gigandet). Unfortunately for Priest, his decision puts him in violation of the Church's laws; meaning that he is turning his back on God. Suffice it to say, things progress is a thoroughly clichéd fashion, with very rare deviations from standard action movie tropes.

I put this question to the filmmakers: did movie-goers really need a gothic vampire reimagining of John Ford's classic western The Searchers? Borrowing barely a sliver from the graphic novel on which the film is based, writer Cory Goodman and director Stewart have created a vampiric update of The Searchers with a bunch of additional influences. Priest can best be described as a tasteless cocktail that was mixed by a rookie bartender - it combines The Searchers with Catholicism, Blade Runner, Van Helsing, Sergio Leone, Underworld and Mad Max. Not to mention, the vampires look a lot like those licker creatures from Resident Evil: Apocalypse. Sure, the combo sounds delicious, and fanboys lacking standards may find it cool, but Priest is a failure - a soulless, over-the-top, unbelievably hammy and lethally cheesy mess with a ridiculously overzealous score and generic dialogue. It's dangerously streamlined as well - the picture predominantly rewrites vampire lore, adding hives, monstrous queens and hulking guardians, but these ideas are so underexplored and underutilised that you cannot mark this film as anything but a wasted opportunity.

In terms of strengths, Priest's opening credits showcase a Manga-style animation detailing the epic war fought between humans and vampires. What a shame that nothing else in the movie is quite as inventive as this. The main problem is that the material is played with too much of a straight face. It is possible to accept ludicrousness, but it's unacceptable for an aggressively moronic movie to pretend that it's logically sound. Added to this, director Stewart has no understanding of how to effectively build tension, and due to his special effects experience he seemed to only be interested in staging big action scenes without paying adequate attention to the connective tissue. Cory Goodman's script is of no help due to how barebones it seems to be. How ironic that Legion had too much superfluous meat on its bones, whereas Priest was left with insufficient meat. (Whether Priest's barebones nature can be attributed to aggressive editing room tactics or Goodman's script is a mystery.) The antagonistic vampires, meanwhile, were brought to life with so-so digital effects, removing any sense of threat that they might otherwise impart. Admittedly, the filmmakers pushed the PG-13 rating to its very boundaries and beyond, and it's staggering that they obtained such a docile rating with so much violence. Nevertheless, there are too many moments of awkward cutaways, keeping the material blatantly censored when it's crying out for the full R-rated treatment.

Paul Bettany should apply for a restraining order against director Scott Charles Stewart before he gets typecast as a B-movie actor with the emoting skills of someone like Steven Seagal. Bettany played the role of Priest as a series of blank stares and with a monotone line delivery that fails to give the material the intensity and gravitas it demands. His lean physicality may be well-suited for the part, but this ranks among Bettany's very worst and disinteresting performances to date. (Not to mention, Priest is a human, yet without explanation he is shown to have the skills to literally defy gravity.) As Sheriff Hicks, Cam Gigandet clearly strived to play the role as a Han Solo type, and to his credit he's not bad, but the young actor comes up short in the personality department. Maggie Q is also present, but it's clear that she was only used for her skills as a martial artist than a thespian. And finally, Karl Urban barely registers as Black Hat.

Priest was delayed numerous times before ultimately landing in May 2011, and the main reason for the delay was to give the film an unneeded 3-D conversion. There was no compelling reason at all to give the film the extra dimension other than greed, as the film is still bad no matter how you view it. Perhaps at one stage Cory Goodman's script was something more substantial, with character development and dramatic growth to develop this post-apocalyptic world beyond the action highlight reel that director Stewart ended up knocking together and delivering. Clocking in at about 80 minutes, the storytelling texture of Priest was stripped away in favour of slo-mo action beats that are not intense or exciting enough. On a visceral level, the film has enough action and impressive visuals to hold the interest of most 12-year-old boys or other adolescents, but this type of thing is simply not enough. Priest just exists - it's not outright horrible and it is watchable to an extent, but it's nothing remotely memorable.

5.1/10

Based on Clive Barker's short story The Forbidden, Candyman is a horror movie which combines elements of cinematic ghost stories, archetypal slasher/stalker circumstances and urban legends - and it is a rather solid combination at that. While the original short story was only around 35 pages in length, writer-director Bernard Rose added creative ideas and interesting additional subplots to create this 95-minute exercise in terror. However, what's most impressive about Candyman is that it scares you with ideas and gore, instead of simply just gore. There are no screaming, virginal teens in this tale - just educated, smart adults, and the audience are generally treated as educated and smart throughout the movie. Indeed, Candyman gleefully celebrates its status as a proper horror film while also possessing intelligence and creativity; two elements found all too rarely in this genre.

Helen Lyle (Madsen) is a grad student working on a thesis about urban legends with fellow student Bernadette (Lemmons). While interviewing locals about their knowledge and experience with urban legends, she learns about the insidious legend of the Candyman (Todd); a murdered black man in a fashionably long coat who haunts the housing estate of Cabrini Green and who can be summoned by reciting his name five times in a mirror. Helen also learns that the residents of a slum neighbourhood are attributing a succession of gruesome murders to the Candyman. Unafraid of folktales, Helen attempts to summon the Candyman, and all hell begins to break loose. See, the Candyman is none too happy that Helen poses a threat to Cabrini Green's belief in him and thus his very existence. Helen ultimately becomes trapped in a waking nightmare, with the police and everyone else believing her to be a deranged, unhinged serial killer.

Clive Barker's original story explored urban myths within a depressed working class area of Liverpool, England, but Candyman's writer-director Bernard Rose shifted the narrative to Chicago. The result, surprisingly, is one occasion when a location change is actually beneficial - the shift allowed Rose to use America's historical baggage and racial turbulence to construct the mythology behind the titular Candyman, whose back-story is a bold tale of a brutal race crime involving illicit love and lynch mob retribution. Using Clive Barker's story as a blueprint, Rose created a new cinematic horror monster with the Candyman; an enigmatic antihero born out of romance and racism. With a hook for a hand and armed with real-life urban legend elements (the way Candyman is summoned is reminiscent of the story of Bloody Mary), a new horror icon was created.

With all this thought behind the story, the question looms: does it actually work as a horror film? The answer is a resounding yes, as the set-pieces are imaginative and there are a number of truly gruesome images which were brought to life with visual effects that remain disturbing by today's standards. The cinematography is impressive too, as the depressing slum environments provide an ominous backdrop for the supernatural premise; generating a tense ambience. The stark views of a cold Chicago make it seem as gothic as a haunted castle, and Phillip Glass' organ/piano/vocal score compounds the gothic sensibility. Furthermore, the ostensible directorial excesses such as the voiceover narration and a few random shots of bees and skylines are all placed in context here, and therefore feel necessary. The dialogue, too, is well-written, most notably the Candyman's lines which are chilling and poetic.

More mainstream-oriented film-goers may find Candyman's pacing to be too slow, but this helps the film more often than not; Rose took his time in letting the story unfold, and saved the violence for key moments to make the scares more effective. However, the film is flawed. The climax, for instance, seems too quick and too easy - a disappointing ending to a difficult journey. A powerful conclusion would have made this film an absolute knockout. In other areas, the police are of course extremely obtuse, and there are a few inescapable clichés that come off as contrived. Ultimately, I did not come away loving the movie despite its numerous strengths.

Horror movies are not often known for outstanding acting, but Candyman is better than average in the acting category. Virginia Madsen (Michael Madsen's sister, ladies and gentlemen) placed forth a convincing performance as the bewildered heroine Helen. Madsen imbued her role with confidence and intelligence, which makes the events of the second half feel all the more tragic and degrading. Not to mention, the mix of strength and weakness in Madsen's performance contributes to the sense of mental decay as Helen's world is turned upside down. Also excellent here is Tony Todd, who utterly inhabited the role of Candyman with commendable abandon. His powerful, authoritative voice ensures you will quickly fall under his sway. Meanwhile, Xander Berkeley is appropriately slimy as Helen's professor husband, and the amiable Kasi Lemmons submitted a fine performance as Helen's best pal Bernadette. Everyone's favourite Raimi brother Ted even shows up in what amounts to a mere cameo appearance, and he is an amusing highlight.

In spite of a few script flaws and slow patches, Candyman drips with atmosphere. Though conventional scare tactics are used from time to time, the majority of the film's feeling of dread is derived from Cabrini Green's grungy, graffiti-filled walls, as well as the mix of synthesised music and operatic vocals accompanying the material.

6.9/10

Trust Clint Eastwood to step up to the challenge of directing a space-based adventure movie in the shadow of moronic films like Armageddon and Battlefield Earth. Although imperfect, 2000's Space Cowboys is a consistently engaging and humorous drama-comedy with likeable characters, and it eschews the insulting idiocy of similar Hollywood pictures. Additionally, with the cast including such seasoned, charismatic screen legends as Clint Eastwood, Tommy Lee Jones, Donald Sutherland and James Garner, Space Cowboys is immediately in a classy league of its own. One must admit, however, that this is a curious entry to Eastwood's esteemed filmography. During his long and prolific career as an actor, producer and director, Eastwood dabbled in several genres ranging from westerns to mysteries and war movies. But with Space Cowboys, Eastwood is overseeing a production involving extensive special effects and scenes set in zero gravity.

In 1958, the four men of Team Daedalus - Frank Corvin (Clint Eastwood), Hawk Hawkins (Tommy Lee Jones), Tank Sullivan (James Garner) and Jerry O'Neill (Donald Sutherland) - were the best that the American Air Force had to offer, and they were shaping up to be the first Americans in space. However, with the United States government creating NASA, the high-ranking Bob Gerson (James Cromwell) replaces the hopeful Team Daedalus with a chimpanzee. Years later, in the late 1990s, a Russian communication satellite begins losing altitude and threatens to plummet to Earth. NASA agrees to help the Soviets, but NASA engineers cannot understand the satellite's dated guidance system from the 1960s. Unfortunately for Gerson, his only hope is to recruit the system's creator, Frank Corvin, who is now a senior citizen. Frank, who still despises Gerson, only agrees to help on one condition: that he and the other guys from the former Team Daedalus can travel into space to repair the satellite.

A light-hearted, feel-good boy's movie, Space Cowboys is a convincing home run. Written by Ken Kaufman and Howard Klausner, it is entertaining and enjoyable, with an interesting story that translates to something engrossing and well-paced in Eastwood's trustworthy hands. Although the movie is primarily a drama, there is ample humour, and Eastwood handles the material with a deft hand. By endowing every character - even the supporting roles - with strong personalities, witty humour flows from their interactions without descending into self-parody. Even more surprisingly, Eastwood and the screenwriters take the story beyond the comedic to include moments of drama and tragedy, which is incredibly effective.

With a hefty 130-minute runtime, Eastwood wisely devotes the first two-thirds of Space Cowboys to setting up the characters and the story. Before the characters blast off into space and, consequently, into the possibility of danger, we have the opportunity to genuinely get to know the guys and grow to like them, warts and all. The character development is unhurried and compelling, thanks to the witty writing and the impeccable cast of screen legends. Eastwood clearly understands that action movies are more exciting and engaging if audiences care about the characters. With that said, though, a few clichéd storytelling fragments do not entirely gel, such as a barroom brawl that arises due to the clichéd hostility between Frank and Hawk. However, these shortcomings barely matter since the sense of fun never wanes. Thankfully, too, the final act is consistently gripping once the action shifts into outer space.

Those expecting Space Cowboys to incorporate aliens, space warfare, or large-scale battles should look elsewhere for entertainment, as Eastwood's film is closer in tone to Apollo 13 - it's a drama that is more about the characters than the spectacle. Space Cowboys also demonstrates that such a film can be intense and nail-biting if something goes wrong in space, and that is what happens to fuel the movie's climactic moments. Superficially, the film shares similarities to Armageddon, as it likewise involves several oddball characters going into space to stop a disaster. But the similarities end there, as Space Cowboys confidently surpasses the Michael Bay-directed film due to its quieter tone, more likeable characters, and a firm refusal to become an overblown, brainless blockbuster. NASA even consulted on the production to enhance the film's authenticity, allowing everything to feel real and plausible instead of overtly Hollywoodised. It helps that the visual effects by Industrial Light and Magic are stunning, vividly bringing the space scenes to life through old-school miniatures, enormous sets and digital doubles. Plus, with cinematographer Jack N. Green capturing the action on 35mm film, the picture carries a tangible, old-school appearance instead of a glossy digital look. Over two decades later, the illusion effortlessly stands up.

Most of the fun of Space Cowboys derives from watching the leads in their autumnal years playing geriatric space jockeys and bantering with one another. All four leads are charismatic and comforting to watch, and we can quickly grow to like these guys. Even though Eastwood also produced and directed the film, this is not an ego trip for him, with the other guys receiving plenty of quality script material to work with. Tommy Lee Jones, James Garner and Donald Sutherland all score most of the laughs and get a large majority of the side-splitting one-liners, and Jones is the one who gets the girl in the end. The sense of camaraderie within the group and the chemistry they share is tangible and charming; as a result, it is pleasant to spend time in their company for two hours. Even the supporting cast is outstanding, with actors like James Cromwell, Marcia Gay Harden and William Devane bringing their A-game to the table here. The picture commences with a black-and-white prologue featuring younger versions of Gersen and Team Daedalus, and the actors share an adequate resemblance to their older counterparts, but less effective is the decision to dub the actors with the voices of Eastwood, Jones, Garner, Sutherland and Cromwell. The voices sound distinctly older, and the resulting audiovisual dissonance is strange.

Curmudgeons and cynical movie-goers could probably find things to complain about since the storytelling is not devoid of clichés, the film does take liberties with science, and it's not exactly groundbreaking cinema. Yet, it all adds up to a fun time, and the joy of Space Cowboys is spending quality time with charismatic actors who work well together and easily score laughs. With an engaging story, several humorous moments, a pulse-pounding climax, and a heartwarming outlook on life, Space Cowboys is top-notch family-friendly filmmaking.

7.9/10