Pain and Gain

Throughout the years of reviewing films, there have not been many movies that ended up confusing me. Now I don't mean plot wise, there have been many films such as "Inception," "Total Recall," or "Minority Report" and have provided plenty of my confusion in my mind. I mean the film as a whole being confusing to me. Being confused by decisions made by directors or screenwriters, confused by ways an actor attempts to portray a character, or, in the case of "Pain and Gain," confused why a movie 

even exists. 

The very scattered plot of director Michael Bay's latest action comedy is based around a true story in which three Miami body builders led by Daniel Lugo (Mark Wahlburg) attempt to rob a rich client of his wealth so that they can help "make America a better place." After a few failed attempts, the three kidnap him and interrogate him until he signs away his riches to the three men. The later half of the film then shows how they use this new acquired wealth and how in the end, it leads to their very downfall (don't worry, from the very beginning you know how the film is going to end). 

But make no mistake, this is no Robin Hood story, quite the opposite actually. In fact, allow me to give a little more insight on the true story around which Bay has created his new piece of popcorn eye-candy. The film is based off of newspaper articles from 1999 that told that story of the "Sun Gym Gang." This gang brutally kidnapped, tortured, and murdered several victims in order to steal their money. Not a nice thing to hear about right? Well, Michael Bay must have thought the opposite because in his film, he tries to make the story of these criminals (two of which are currently on death row in Florida) into a comedy and tries to make these killers into heroes. That is more disturbing then anything I saw in the film...which is saying something. 

Now I will give Bay a little credit because "Pain and Gain" does have a little more thought and commentary than the "Transformers" films that he has spent his time on for the majority of the last decade. The film serves as a commentary on the American Dream and many of the ideas and dialogue spoken by the characters can give way to some discussion on work ethic and the idea of the American Dream itself and how to properly and improperly work to attain it. Unfortunately, the fact that the film contains little to no redemptive value all but ruins the value of any commentary that film seeks to provide. 

It isn't the case of bad acting, Dwayne Johnson does a great job of playing a Jesus-loving ex-convict that steals every scene he is in with his jokes and persona. It isn't that the script if full of cliches or corny dialogue, in fact the script itself was clever. But while there are a lot of little problems with "Pain and Gain," problems that seem present in every Bay film (the plot drags thirty minutes too long, the story is plagued with unnecessary and vulgar sexual content and humor, uneven pacing etc.), the real problem lies in the heart of the film...or lack thereof. Though this film is billed as a comedy, I could only leave it feeling more disturbed than humoured. And yes...the whole film is still just confusing to me. I give it one star out of four.

"Pain and Gain" has a running time of 129 minutes and is rated R for bloody violence, crude sexual content, nudity, language throughout, and drug use.  

G.I. Joe Retalliation

   The first modern "G.I. Joe" film that was released back in 2009 had a few things going for it. It had some great action sequences, an awesome ninja, and a "rising star moment" for the now very popular Channing Tatum. Overall though, the cheesy popcorn flick was critically panned and only moderately successful. Therefore I was relatively surprised when they announced a sequel. However I was very excited by the news that Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and Bruce Willis would help reinvent this sequel into a possible improvement on the original. But did they succeed?
   Plot wise, "G.I. Joe: Retaliation" seems to pick up right where the first film left off. Zartan, one of the leaders of the evil organization known as Cobra, has used nano-technology to disguise himself as the President of the United States (both of these characters are portrayed by Jonathan Pryce). In his plan to break Cobra Commander out of prison, Zartan must first use his Presidential influence to wipe out the G.I. Joe division by framing them with treason. And after a deadly missile strike, all of the G.I. Joes are left dead....except for three, one of them being Roadblock (Dwayne Johnson). Along with his two companions that do nothing to move the plot along, the three remaining Joe's must stop this new plan of Cobra before they unleash devastating nuclear weapons.
   Now "Retaliation" is almost like watching two films because while all of this is happening, the amazingly awesome ninja known as Snake Eyes (Ray Park) is on a mission of his own to hunt down his enemy, Storm Shadow(Byung-hun Lee). Storm Shadow, who is also a member of Cobra, is responsible for breaking Cobra Commander out of prison and he might know things that could help the Joes get the upper hand. These two plot lines of Roadblock and Snake Eyes eventually come together in the end of the film.
   Now first off, props to Dwayne Johnson for being the go to guy for starring in sequels to films and making them better. Johnson's appearance in the fifth "Fast and Furious" film helped give the franchise its most successful entry in years, and later he appeared in the sequel to "Journey to the Center of the Earth" and that movie also outperformed its predecessor. It seems that Johnson has done it again with "G.I. Joe." He is a great action star and brings the same likability and intensity that he usually brings with him to the role of Roadblock as well (even though he does not speak in rhyme like his character did).
   The Rock is one reason to see the film, the other reason is Snake Eyes. This silent ninja is one of the coolest action characters out there which is why it is a shame he wasn't in more of the film. Every action scene with his character is a thrill to watch and it's always great when a character makes an impression without speaking a word of dialogue.
   Unfortunately for the most part, my thoughts on this sequel are very similar to my thoughts on the original. The action might be a lot of fun by it is help captive to several elements, the first being over-the-top plot elements. Now I can handle a lot of things in a popcorn flick, but when Cobra Commander blows up the entire city of London, and probably towns around it, that is when I start shaking my head in disapproval.
   Another thing that got on my nerves were pointless characters...way too many of them. I already mentioned how Roadblock's two companions are pretty much useless and do nothing to move the story along, I wish it had just been Roadblock and Bruce Willis' General Joe who really was not in that much of the film (much like "Expendable 2," he was used more for ticket sales). And on the Cobra side of things, I know they needed a "big guy" to fight the Rock, I just wish it could have been a more interesting character than Firefly...I wish it could have been Destro.
   Which brings me to my next point, perhaps the thing that for some reason annoyed me the most. For some crazy reason, the director decided to give poor old Destro the cold shoulder and not even include him in the film. He gets a second of screen time, being held inside a tube beside Cobra Commander, only to be told by the Commander, "You're out of the band," a line that made my cringe and wonder if that was really Cobra Commander under the mask. Well, hopefully "G.I. Joe 3" which has already been announced, will see the return of the number two cobra baddie.
   And yes the dialogue is cheesy, but you know what, it's the same way with"Transformers" saga, "Van Helsing," and a bunch of other action films that I still enjoy anyways. I can put aside the cheesiness, and most of the other problems with the film (except for Destro not being in it). In the end, I did not walk out of "Retaliation" feeling disappointed, nor did I walk out particularly impressed. It is an action film that stations itself in the realm of Hollywood mediocrity. But kids will love it, and if you love some great action you will have a good time as well. I give it two stars out of four.
   "G.I. Joe: Retaliation" has a running time of 90 minutes and is rated PG-13 for intense sequences of combat violence and martial arts action throughout, and for brief sensuality and language.