An entertaining yet moderately underwhelming movie.Everyone's talking about them, and if all this overexposure isn't going to get you to at least think about seeing the movie, nothing will. The Break Up, starring Vince Vaughn and Jennifer Anniston, really doesn't have much more going for it than said couple. Sure, there are elements of it being the great break-up movie that it claims to be, but it never really accomplishes that. The writing is incredibly inconsistent, almost as if the writers were arguing as to whether or not this should be a serious drama or a lighthearted comedy. Then as a last ditch effort, they drew straws and wrote each part on their own with total disregard to how it will fit in with the other writers' stories. On the upside, when it's good, it's very good. Jon Favreau and Vince Vaughn are just as entertaining a duo as they've ever been (see Swingers and Made), and Jennifer Anniston even shows that she can act a little bit-- this being the best performance by far of her career (this may not be saying a lot, but it's still quite an accomplishment that should be recognized). Problems arise in the total waste of time spent on the families of the couple, and even to a certain extent their respective friendships. Outside of Favreau's character, nothing is really given as far as background, so it's essentially up to the audience to fill in the blanks. Where the depth lacks though, there is a lot of heart to make up for it, and that's really what makes it a charming movie. Between the relatively well-done acting, and a breezy yet occasionally effective plot and storyline, The Break Up is well worth the time if you understand what it is: A summer movie with a bittersweet twist.
Overall Rating: 67
X-Men: The Last Stand
A film that's as engrossing as it is inconsistant.It isn't an accident that this film is rarely brought up without some passing mention of the major instability that came prior to even the shooting of the movie. While the project originated with returning director Bryan Singer, he left (and brought essentially everyone working behind-the-scenes with him) to work on the upcoming Superman film. Matthew Vaughn (long-time associate of Guy Ritchie and director of Layer Cake) then stepped in, only to back out 9 weeks later after deciding he would not be able to commit to the rigorous schedule needed to do the film. Finally, in came Brett Ratner, and just as it seemed that the dust would settle, Halle Berry essentially demanded that Storm receive a larger role in this upcoming film, thus causing a change in storyline to suit her request. All of this backstory gives a lot of insight to why this X-Men film, which is really the most pivotal in terms of plot, was all the more difficult to pull off, and trust me, it shows. The fact that this film is as good as it is really is quite an accomplishment for Ratner and company, as there was outstanding development not only of the main characters (Wolverine, Jean Grey, Storm, and even Magneto and Professor X), but also the "students" and a bevy of new characters get a chance to shine as well. Combine that with absolutely superb action scenes, a healthy dose of well-done CGI, and a few twists that will make any X-Men fanatic tingle, and you've got a very well done film. Of course, there are going to be problems in such an elaborate movie, especially given the said complications. The first problem is that Storm is in way too much of the film, and considering she was never really a major player in the series anyway, I don't see why Berry had to take it upon herself to decide that she should be the main character. The second problem, which is somewhat related to the first is that there were points in which the story seriously wasn't flowing as well as it needed to, wasting time on half-baked characters such as Angel (who is really an unfortunate waste in this movie). All that said, this is a relatively well-done movie that might be one of the first comic book films that sway more to the demands of fanatics rather than the causal fan, but should still be enjoyed by everyone.
Overall Rating: 75
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