Movie Review: A Perfect Getaway (2009)

Genre: Thriller

Director: David Twohy

Starring: Timothy Olyphant, Milla Jovovich, Steve Zahn, Kiele Sanchez, Chris Hemsworth

Running Time: 97 minutes

Synopsis: Newlyweds Cliff and Cydney (Steve Zahn and Milla Jovovich) are enjoying their honeymoon in Hawaii when they hear about the grisly murder of another couple. While on a long and scenic hike in a remote region, they encounter passive aggressive hitchhikers Kale and Cleo (Chris Hemsworth and Marley Shelton), then wilderness-loving couple Nick and Gina (Timothy Olyphant and Kiele Sanchez). With danger lurking, Cliff and Cydney have to carefully assess their new acquaintances.

What Works Well: Writer and director David Twohy invests in a patient build-up and introduces three distinct and well-matched couples with notable quirks. When the thrills kick-in, gruesome details are balanced against an irreverent attitude. The locations, scenery, and colours are often stunning, providing an animated backdrop to the willing cast, with Timothy Olyphant a standout as an army veteran with useful skills.

What Does Not Work As Well: The central mystery is relatively easy to spot, and while the third act becomes more humorous, it also veers into preposterous territory.

Conclusion: A frivolously lethal honeymoon adventure



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Movie Review: The Fifth Element (1997)

A science fiction comedy thriller, The Fifth Element is a rollicking if sometimes messy space adventure.

A prelude shows friendly advanced aliens arriving in the Egyptian desert in 1914 and spiriting away for safekeeping four stones from a hidden chamber in the pyramids. The stones, protected by a lineage of priests, are needed along with a mysterious fifth element to ward off a force of evil that attacks Earth every 5,000 years.

In the year 2263, an unstoppable evil in the form of an indestructible energy-sucking dark massive planet is hurtling towards Earth. The allied aliens attempt to provide assistance but are intercepted by the mercenary Mangalores, working on behalf of evil industrialist Zorg (Gary Oldman). Enough organic matter survives from the destroyed alien ship for scientists to recreate the woman-like Leeloo (Milla Jovovich), an agile warrior and potentially humanity's only chance for survival, if only she can communicate in a decipherable language.

Leelo is soon on the run, and stumbles into the flying cab of Korben Dallas (Bruce Willis), a disgruntled ex-special forces member. Korben is eventually tasked with retrieving the stones, which are hidden with an opera singer performing at an elite resort planet. Zorg and the Mangalores are also chasing the stones, while Korben teams up with Leelo (who gradually teaches herself English) and high priest Father Vito Cornelius (Ian Holm) to try and save humanity.

Co-written and directed by Luc Besson, The Fifth Element is an original, highly imaginative and enjoyably campy sci-fi romp. Although the plot often makes little sense and some aspects (including most of Chris Tucker's contribution as a celebrity DJ) offer more noise than quality, the film generates enough loony energy to ride over the bumpier bits. Besson creates a fast-paced fantastical and colourful future filled with flying cars, space travel, floating cities and alien species, but with the same mostly dumb and narcissistic humans in the middle of it all.

The comedy and action are well balanced. Korben's sardonic resignation is a perfect fit for Bruce Willis' persona, while the lithe Leeloo emerges as the best thing about the film. Jovovich finds a deft comic touch as the super-smart but communication-challenged humanoid created to save Earth but nevertheless befuddled by all that is going on around her until she finally teams up with Korben. Together they not only make for an effective off-kilter buddy duo but also give The Fifth Element a beating heart amidst all the lunacy.

And Besson makes sure to also infuse plenty of action into the latter half of his adventure. When Korben tangles with Mangalores the big guns open up, and The Fifth Element becomes a surprisingly potent action thriller, but with tongue always firmly in cheek.

Wild and wacky, The Fifth Element wows.

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Movie Review: Zoolander (2001)

A sharp no holds barred satire of the fashion world, Zoolander is a wild ride through a haughty industry.

When Malaysia's newly elected President promises reforms to end cheap child labour in the garment industry, the evil barons of the fashion world are sent into a panic. Top designer Mugatu (Will Ferrell) is tasked with plotting an assassination of the President. He identifies none-too-bright top fashion model Derek Zoolander (Ben Stiller), who works for a model agency run by Maury Ballstein (Jerry Stiller), as the perfect sap to be unwittingly recruited as an assassin.

Unfortunately, Zoolander, despite his famous Blue Steel "look" and miniature cell phone, is plunged into a personal crisis of confidence when reporter Matilda (Christine Taylor) publishes an unflattering profile in Time magazine and then he loses his model-of-the-year crown to the much-too-cool Hansel (Owen Wilson). This does not stop Mugatu and his top henchwoman Katinka Ingabogovinanana (Milla Jovovich) from launching their plan to brainwash Zoolander and turn him into a martial arts assassin to the tune of Relax by Frankie Goes To Hollywood.

Co-written and directed by Ben Stiller, Zoolander is successful at drawing good and sustained laughs out of abject stupidity. Stiller sharpens his knives and does not try to be respectful. This is an all out assault on stupid models, corrupt business owners, and laughable designers, and the film mercilessly pokes away at the parties, the prancing, and the attitudes. The only rational character in the entire movie is the reporter Matilda, and she acts as the outside observer lifting the lid on the vacuous, corrupt and exploitive underpinnings of the industry.

The highlights are many. Zoolander and Hansel engage in a walk-off duel, a melange of boxing bout and showdown at high noon judged by none other than David Bowie. The brainwashing scene featuring psychedelic Mugatu images is a classic riff on The Manchurian Candidate. And the conspiratorial contribution of hand model Prewett (David Duchovny) gives the assassination plot and the broader fictional history of the fashion industry's involvement in high profile deaths pop culture legitimacy. Stiller even finds time within the 89 minutes of running length for a "going home" sojourn to the "coal mines of New Jersey", where Stiller reconnects with his roots including dad Larry (Jon Voight).

Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson and Will Ferrell find the perfect material to complement their madcap brand of improvisation-rich comedy, and they all deliver. Stiller infuses enough naive self-doubt into the Zoolander character to make him an appealing central figure, while Hansel's effortless ability to exude chill domination is flawlessly matched to Wilson's persona.

Ferrell is liberated by wild makeup and lets loose as the out-there designer Mugatu. His launch of the homeless-inspired Derelicte line is not only a sharp jab at the fashion world's lack of ethics, but also sadly inspired by a real campaign. Zoolander spots the weaknesses in its target trade, and attacks with ferocity and a devious smile.

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The Movies Of Milla Jovovich

All movies starring Milla Jovovich and reviewed on the Ace Black Movie Blog are linked below:

Dazed And Confused (1993)

The Fifth Element (1997)

Zoolander (2001)

Resident Evil (2002)

Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004)

A Perfect Getaway (2009)

Resident Evil: Afterlife (2010)

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The Movie Star Index is here.

Movie Review: Resident Evil: Afterlife (2010)

A tired series looking for reasons to continue churning out the installments attempts a 3D version. It doesn't matter: Resident Evil: Afterlife may as well be a Roadrunner cartoon, the franchise that started with the engaging original Resident Evil has degenerated into a choppy sequence of contrived theatrical set-pieces, exaggerated, outlandish and devoid of any emotion.

Alice (Milla Jovovich) has developed superhuman powers due to her unique DNA bonding with the mysterious T-virus, developed by the evil Umbrella corporation. Alice can now clone herself, and the movie opens with an army of Alices attacking and eventually destroying the Tokyo headquarters of Umbrella, and apparently killing Umbrella leader Wesker (Shawn Roberts), who himself is also infected with the T-virus.

Alice flies a small plane to Alaska to try and find the mythical town of Arcadia, an apparently virus-free community ready to reboot humanity. She reconnects with her friend Claire (Ali Larter), but there is no town of Arcadia. Claire and Alice fly down the coast and arrive at a devastated Los Angeles. They land on top of a large prison building, where a few surviving humans are holed up, surrounded by hordes of zombies, and wondering how to escape to the real Arcadia: a large container ship off the coast of LA. A few battles later, the human survivors with Alice's help make it onto Arcadia, which is actually controlled by Umbrella and the healthy-again Wesker, and being used for further nefarious virus tests. Alice and her buddies need to stop Wesker once and for all, but the one certainty is that before the credits roll, yet another sequel will be set-up.

The massively computer-aided action sequences play out like exquisitely choreographed ballet dances, bullets and bodies flying, twirling, and catapulting in all directions, and are certainly artistic, but they do not a movie make, and this is all that Resident Evil: Afterlife has to offer.

Jovovich and Larter go through the motions, projecting abject boredom, and looking forward only to the part where they cash their cheques. The other cast members were picked up from the corner store of discounted cardboard action movie rejects. Director Paul W. S. Anderson appears to be content building a comfortable but unambitious resume filled with sequels and derivative bottom-crawling actioneers.

The Resident Evil series is proving a theory that was once unthinkable: even an activity as fun as killing countless zombies can become tedious.

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Movie Review: Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004)

A sequel that stays tight to the course charted by the original, Resident Evil: Apocalypse picks up the futuristic story of the zombie infection caused by the T-Virus as it spreads through Raccoon City.

Alice (Milla Jovovich) emerges from a hospital facility run by the Umbrella corporation, where she has been kept sedated and injected with managed doses of the virus to change her DNA and turn her into a more proficient fighting machine. Alice finds chaos on the streets of Raccoon City: the virus is spreading uncontrollably and most of the population is infected. The zombies have taken over the streets. In response, Umbrella seals the city, leaving Alice and other survivors trapped along with the remnants of military teams who were trying to help quell the outbreak.

Alice teams up with disgraced former police officer Jill Valentine (Sienna Guillory), and a few military types and other survivors. Alice is contacted by Umbrella scientist Dr. Ashford, the T-Virus creator who has been extracted out of Raccoon City but needs help to rescue his trapped daughter Angela. In return for saving Angela, Ashford will help Alice find a way out of the carnage. Finding and rescuing Angela means killing many more zombies, infected dogs, and other evil beings, and matters are complicated when Umbrella unleashes a heavily armed Nemesis monster (another T-Virus related experiment) to add to the chaos, along with plans to nuke the city.

Moving the action from the artificial Hive underground facility to the urban environment provides Apocalypse with less of a designed video game feel, but also makes it indistinguishable from most other zombies-on-the-loose movies. To compensate, Apocalypse benefits from adding Guillory as the ultra-cool and seriously deadly Jill Valentine. The tandem of Guillory and Jovovich manage to simultaneously celebrate women as the main zombie-killing heroines, and entrench the credentials of the Resident Evil series as a young male adult fantasy.

Wrapped in a polished-enough package, Apocalypse delivers exactly what it promises: mild entertainment in the form of mindless zombie killing action, adding little that is new but not leaving out any of the admittedly limited elements demanded by the genre.

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Movie Review: Resident Evil (2002)

A futuristic zombie movie based on a video game series, Resident Evil contains plenty of action, some mild shocks, numerous extras doing the zombie walk, and buckets of inoffensive special effects.

It's the future, and The Umbrella corporation is the world's largest and most dangerous corporation. In an underground weapons research facility called the Hive, the lethal and highly infectious chemical agent known as the T-Virus is released by an intruder. The 500 researchers at the facility are infected and killed, but the virus provides enough of a kick to keep the dead moving and seeking blood -- chemical zombies of sorts. The central computer that runs the Hive, nicknamed the Red Queen, shuts down the place to avoid the infection spreading to the surface, where residents of the large Raccoon City metropolis are unaware that the Hive even exists below them.

An Umbrella military team is sent into the Hive to clean up the mess, and they take with them Alice (Milla Jovovich), head of the Hive's security but suffering from amnesia. They are soon engaged in running battles with hordes of hungry zombies, deranged dogs, and even more dangerous large pink creatures with long tongues. To make matters worse the Red Queen does not appreciate the intrusion and activates her defence systems. The military team is decimated; Alice fights for survival and gradually uncovers her role in the conspiracy that resulted in the bloody mess.

Video games rarely translate well to the big screen, since games are built for active player engagement while movies are a much more passive experience. Resident Evil adds just enough plot and characterization to hold itself together as a movie, and director Paul W. S. Anderson throws massive amounts of mayhem and some humour at the screen to cover up the lack of substance. Milla Jovovich fulfills her function as eye candy in the form of an action doll, but casting an actress with limited range as a character suffering from amnesia is just asking for an overdose of blank stares. Michelle Rodriguez as a member of the military team is a much more animated and engaging zombie ass-kicker.

Resident Evil does not pretend to be anything other than a pseudo-science evil corporation zombie movie targeted at a young male audience. It achieves its objectives, but the bar is set quite low.

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