The ladies head to Abu Dhabi in Sex and the City 2

Sex And The City 2
Starring: Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Kristin Davis, Cynthia Nixon, Chris Noth
Director: Michael Patrick King

Give the girls a hand. They’re back, and they’re headed to Abu Dhabi in what might be one of the most unnecessary movies of the year. That probably won’t stop any of the ladies out there who are big Sex and the City fans, but I can at least warn you, can’t I?

Writer, director and producer Michael Patrick King takes on the top three roles once again in the latest story of Carrie, Charlotte, Miranda, and Samantha as they embark on fresh exploits in the Big Apple, and abroad.

This time, Carrie, played by Sarah Jessica Parker, is having issues with her new life with Mr, Big, played by Chris Noth, and their decision that they don’t want to have children. At the same time, Carrie is worried that their relationship, now that they’re married, is starting to get a little dull and routine.

Samantha, played by Kim Cattrall, has also been invited to visit a super swanky hotel in Abu Dhabi, where the owner is putting the girls up for free for a week. As they leave though, Charlotte, played by Kristin Davis, is afraid her husband is going to have an affair with their very hot, braless nanny. Miranda, played by Cynthia Nixon, is also enjoying her newfound freedom now that she moved on from her demanding and bad-tempered boss.

Of course, what happens when you send Samantha to a country with strict laws and beliefs about sexuality? Or when Carrie, who is feeling out of sorts with her relationship, runs into her old flame, Aidan, played by John Corbett. A little trouble certainly won’t be far behind.

Spending a reported $10 million on the wardrobe budget alone, Sex And The City 2 has the fashion sense fans will expect, and for the most part the girls are back in key form. The problem is that at least some of that budget probably should have gone to a better scriptwriter and director.

King drags the story out, despite the fact that’s it’s a pretty basic storyline, and at 2 hours and 25 minutes it’s a tiring movie.

I also found myself checking my watch, and the first comic scene that drew a few laughs was 20 minutes in, and it didn’t even involve one of the main characters. The scene was also clearly dropped in for the men in the audience, and involves a hot nanny, played by Alice Eve, who runs around without a bra on, and while it was certainly funny, it’s kind of a pointless aside.

Donning my handy feminine-perspective spectacles, the film has a lot of what fans will love, mostly in the form of house-wife porn. By that I mean the kind of jokes and moments that guys may not appreciate, that and a fair amount of somewhat naked men.

I can also appreciate Sex And The City 2 as simply the equivalent of a popcorn movie for women who can relate to these four New York archetypes. Action movies spend their budgets on explosions; Sex and the City spends its budget on clothes. Simply different movies for different people.

Sex and the City 2 is still a bad movie though. Without my spectacles, this is a poorly written film, hobbling along on a few characters, with no direction. It’s also filled with appalling rich white girl fashion, a very bitchy lead character, and some truly offensive moments that treat Middle Eastern ethics as a punching bag simply because it’s somewhat amusing for the stupid American plot.

The only great thing about the film is the last ten minutes, which wraps up with one of the few moments that actually feels like it belongs, and also reminds me of some of the few episodes I watched from the original series.

Had King put a little more effort into the story, it might have been a lot of fun as a date movie, but it’s really a weak effort that will only appeal to die hard fans who weren’t somehow turned off by the awfulness that was the first Sex and the City movie.

Prince Of Persia: Sands Of Time
Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Gemma Arterton, Sir Ben Kingsley, Alfred Molina
Director: Mike Newell

Jerry Bruckheimer must be looking for another franchise, because everything about Prince Of Persia: Sands Of Time feels like it’s setting up a realm that we’ll be visiting again soon.

Starring Jake Gyllenhaal as the adopted prince Dastan; a clever, and reckless fighter who always seems to be looking for adventure, the story is set a long time ago in the land that was once known as Persia.

Dastan and his two princely brothers, Garsiv and Tus, played by Toby Kebbell and Richard Coyle, are on an errand set by their father to take care of a troublesome nearby city. On the way to their destination, however, the group of princes and their army uncovers news that the holy city of Alamut has been forging weapons for their enemies.

This news begins a seige of the city that ends with Dastan capturing a strange, glass-hilted dagger that he soon discovers has a very big secret; it can turn back the last few seconds of time.

All is not well after the battle though, and Dastan ends up caught in a conspiracy that threatens to destroy the world as he runs for his run with Alamut’s princess Tamina, played by Gemma Arterton.

Populated by cartoonish villains, including the good Sir himself, Ben Kingsley, Prince Of Persia is not exactly a terrible action-adventure, but it’s also several notches below the excitement I hoped director Mike Newell and Bruckheimer could bring to the story.

Based on the hit video game series of the same name, Prince Of Persia is still one of the best video game adaptations ever made. Sadly, that’s still not much of a recommendation since most game adaptations have been horrendously bad.

The best praise I can muster for the film is directed at Gyllenhaal and Arterton, who are fantastic together, as well as Alfred Molina who provides some necessary comic relief. Newell and his team also managed to capture the Prince of Persia stunts acceptably, rendering them as close as possible to what fans of the game series will expect.

Prince of Persia otherwise wanders a tepid threshold of special effects and storytelling. Nothing leaps out as particularly groundbreaking, but it’s good enough to entertain most action fans for two hours.

Also opening this week in select theatres…

Splice
Starring: Adrien Brody, Sarah Polley, Delphine Chaneac
Director: Vincenzo Natali

From Vincenzo Natali, the director of Cube, comes a sci-fi thriller about two scientists experimenting with life itself to create new animal hybrids. The duo push the boundaries of science and ethics, however, when they experiment with human DNA and create something with horrible consequences.

Starring Adrien Brody and Sarah Polley, the film has been receiving big praise from critics, including Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly.

“The outstanding creature effects by Howard Berger only get more astonishing as Splice splits into an eerie horror picture,” Schwarzbaum wrote, “then divides again into something out of Rosemary’s Baby.”

Micmacs
Starring: Dany Boon, André Dussollier, Nicolas Marie, Jean-Pierre Marielle, Julie Ferrier, Omar Sy, Dominique Pinon, Yolande Moreau
Director: Jean-Pierre Jeunet

Director Jean-Pierre Jeunet, known for his hit film, Amélie, brings his particular brand of whimsy back to the screen with this story of Bazil, a down-and-out orphan who seemingly has no future. Trying to make a life for himself after a random drive-by-shooting leaves a bullet in his brain, Bazil turns a salvage yard into an artist’s haven while he also plots to bring down the company responsible for his father’s death.

Micmacs is receiving great reviews for its colourful, clever style, and critics are overwhelmingly giving it high scores.

“Micmacs may not be everyone’s cup of capricious comedy, but it delivers an audio-visual picnic of surprises that makes craziness contagious,” wrote Rex Reed for the New York Observer.

Jim Sturgess in Fifty Dead Men Walking

Fifty Dead Men Walking
It has been nearly a year now since I had the good fortune of screening director Kari Skogland’s Fifty Dead Men Walking at the last Toronto International Film Festival, and I can’t help but feel a little fuzzy.

That problem isn’t a result of forgetfulness, the real problem is that I’ve had a lot of time to rethink how the film makes me feel, and I realize now that I’m still somewhat torn.

In this story, based on the life of an IRA volunteer, Jim Sturgess stars as Martin McGartland, a 22-year-old living in Northern Ireland in the early 1980s. Hustling merchandise to make a living, Marty gets entangled in a frightening political battle when he is approached by the Irish Republican Army to become a recruit. At the same time the British police want Marty to work for them, tipping them off whenever he has information that could save lives or bring down key members of the IRA.

Grudgingly accepting the roles he’s offered, Marty starts to lead a double life, with secrets that he can’t even share with his family, for fear of what might happen. The only person who really knows what he’s up to is Fergus, played by Sir Ben Kingsley, a Special Branch officer who becomes a sort of father figure to Marty.

Marty walks that fine line between these two lives he leads, but eventually there is only so far he can go before his secret could cost him his life, and the lives of his family. His secret may also face its hardest scrutiny from his best friend, Sean, played by Canadian actor Kevin Zegers.

Played as a dramatic thriller, the film has more than enough grit and mood to keep the story intense, and real. Sturgess plays Marty effectively, with loads of charm and bravado, but his performance doesn’t stray too far from what we would expect of him.

Sir Kingsley is otherwise almost invisible in this role, for both the good and the bad. He is far more restrained here than usual, which suites the role well, but it feels like he deserved more to work with.

Shot on location in Ireland, Fifty Dead Men Walking hits all the right notes, and builds itself to a pitched finale that brings everything together. It feels right, and yet, I couldn’t help but feel like the film was predictable and the script overly thin.

From the start, you know how the story will play out, and that’s fairly intentional, but it feels like Skogland didn’t take big enough risks, and neither did the screenwriter.

Skogland wrings wonderful drama from that script, pacing the film well, and finding a clever middle-ground to this story about the war between the IRA and the British police. And I am happily recommending the film, based on all the things that it gets right, including the great cast, which also includes Rose McGowan as a fiery IRA big shot. The fault I have a hard time with though is simply that the film feels far too careful about walking the line between these two sides, which ultimately lessens some of the impact of this remarkable story.

Also opening this weekend…

Funny People
Funnyman writer and director Judd Apatow is back with another comedy, but this time it’s apparently a lot more about the drama. Starring Adam Sandler as a famed comedian, who is diagnosed with a serious blood disorder, the story is as much about friendships and life, as it is about realizing ones own mortality, and what’s important in life.

Co-starring Seth Rogen, Leslie Mann, Jonah Hill, Eric Bana, Jason Schwartzman, and rapper RZA, the story revolves on Sandler, as George, and Rogen, as Ira, who come together as friends in the midst of George’s personal revelations.

Critics have been mostly positive about the film, with Ann Hornaday of the Washington Post calling it a “rare mainstream Hollywood movie that feels genuinely spontaneous, unafraid to keep the audience just a little bit confounded and off-balance.”

On the negative side of the reviews David Edelstein of New York Magazine called Funny People “insular, as if Apatow’s whole world consists of nerdy jokesters who were angry, lonely kids who got rich beyond their dreams… but are deep down still angry.”

Aliens in the Attic
Lastly, in this family movie a group of kids have to defend themselves from troublesome alien invaders who want to destroy the planet. While the parents remain oblivious, the kids will have to save the day while they’re supposed to be on vacation.

The film was not screened for the media, so it’s hard to say much more about it, except that it looks sadly shallow.

Happy New Year, movie fans. With the first DVD Tuesday of the year I take a look at five new home video arrivals, including The Wackness, Babylon A.D., Bangkok Dangerous, Pineapple Express, and Righteous Kill.

The Wackness
The year is 1994 and two, dare I say, unlikely friends, are smoking pot and trying to figure out how to make the most of their miserable lives.

Luke, played by Josh Peck, is a high school grad with a decrepit home life and a side job selling marijuana.

Dr. Squires, played by Sir Ben Kingsley, is his sometimes therapist, friend, and odd-ball father figure, who can’t handle that his young wife just isn’t that into him any more.

While Luke plys his trade, under the guise of a flavoured ice vendor, the two bond and talk about what it really means to grow up and become men. And all the while, Luke finds himself falling for the good doctor’s stepdaughter, Stephanie, played by Olivia Thirlby.

Sweet, funny, and just a little off-center, The Wackness is an addictive coming-of-age story. Standout performances by Kingsley and Peck, who have brilliant chemistry, also do more for the story than the infrequently funny asides.

Plus, the film looks great, the cinematography is moving and vibrant, and the retro soundtrack rocks.

Honestly, I wasn’t blown away by the script, or the film’s pacing, which could have been a lot tighter, but I loved The Wackness for the way it brings these two characters together. It wanders off the common ground as much as possible, and succeeds at going places we don’t see often enough.

Babylon A.D.
Vin Diesel cashes in on his tough guy attitude with another throw-away action movie.

Set in the not-too-distant future, Babylon A.D. has Diesel playing Toorop, a mercenary charged with bringing a woman named Aurora (Mélanie Thierry) to New York City. Of course, she is not all that she appears and has some funky special abilities that a new age religion hopes will give mankind hope in the age of world wide violence.

The premise is arguably intriguing, even if it is similar to numerous other films, the story falls apart once our hero is close to the end. While Toorop, Aurora, and her keeper are making their way to America, things move at top speed. And Diesel, for his part, delivers his usual routine as best as he knows how.

Worst of all, Babylon A.D. has no real idea what it wants to do with Diesel, or Aurora, for that matter. There are futuristic ideals tossed about, violence is dispensed, and rebuked, and then the ending arrives and we’re all left scratching our heads.

Don’t get me wrong, either, I’m a huge Vin Diesel fan. I’ll just admit that he’s been in some pretty bad movies, and Babylon A.D. just happens to be the latest in a long list.

In better hands, this story could have been genius, or at least half entertaining. In its current form, however, Babylon A.D. is yet another worthless example of why decent ideas don’t always survive the filmmaking process.

Bangkok Dangerous
The remake is a time-honoured tradition in the North American film industry, giving directors on this side of the world a chance at reviving hits from other countries in their own unique little way. The general problem is that, when they get their hands on them, few directors know what to do with these films.

Remarkably, the Pang Brothers, who have made quite the names for themselves throughout Asia, don’t even seem to know what to do with their own film when given the chance. In the remake of their own Thai hit, Nicolas Cage stars as Joe, a morose hitman trying to make the best of his final job in Bangkok.

Chasing down a number of local mobsters, Joe has trouble focusing on the things that have kept him alive so long. He breaks his own rules by befriending a local street criminal (Shahkrit Yamnarm), and then he starts mooning over the pretty young girl working at the pharmacy (Charlie Young).

Ten years ago, when the Pang Brothers first made the original Bangkok Dangerous, it would have been easier to enjoy this kind of film. Nick Cage was still hot stuff, and audiences in North America would have devoured this dark anti-hero persona. But, a lot has changed in ten years and there are lots of films that look and feel exactly the same. Despite the great action sequences, it’s hard to miss the fact that Cage has lost some of his edge, and he’s now playing most roles with a total lack of charisma, or charm for that matter.

But worst of all, this version of Bangkok Dangerous feels slow, and dully paced, bringing very little to the screen that you couldn’t see a better version of in television’s 24.

Pineapple Express
Seth Rogen and James Franco star in this stoner action comedy as two lovable pot smokers who get caught up in a murder cover-up that has a crooked cop and a drug kingpin ready to put them out of their misery. And apparently, this is not just a case of being paranoid.

Directed by the well-respected David Gordon Green, who wrote and directed All the Real Girls and Undertow, the film nevertheless has producer Judd Apatow’s usual wit written all over it. Crazy action sequences, silly jokes, drugs, and of course, Seth Rogen. It also appears to be one of the first major comedies Franco has been involved in to date, and could be fairly career-changing, if he’s trying to expand the kinds of roles he’s offered.

The film succeeds at being unconventional, somewhat funny, and action-packed, but I have to admit that it all felt like an average, underachieving spoof of stoner comedies the world over. With some guns and action tossed in for kicks. It’s certainly smarter, and funnier than the likes of Tropic Thunder, but not by much.

Righteous Kill
Two of Hollywood’s most memorable modern actors are back together in a film that I can only describe as a star vehicle headed for a head-on collision with failure.

Robert De Niro and Al Pacino play two New York detectives on the hunt for a serial killer who is murdering criminals, which may sound familiar to television fans. The complication is that their case seems to mirror one they already solved years ago, which suggests they may have put the wrong person in prison.

Although the two stars had a fantastic run in the film Heat, Righteous Kill looks like a bit of a mess that runs purely on name power, rather than talent. De Niro and Pacino should definitely fire their agents for even suggesting that this film was a good idea, especially considering how type-cast it makes the two look once again.

Reviews have definitely not been on the film’s side either. Just one example comes from Justin Chang of Variety who wrote that the film was, “at once groaningly predictable and needlessly convoluted.”

Canadian director, producer and writer Kari Skogland discussed her latest film, Fifty Dead Men Walking, during a press conference at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival. In attendence with Skogland were film stars Jim Sturgess, Sir Ben Kingsley, Rose McGowan, and Kevin Zegers.

The somewhat controversial drama is based on the real life story of Martin McGartland, played in the film by Sturgess, who infiltrated the IRA in the late 80s as an informer for the British-run police.

Skogland had the rare opportunity to make the film in co-operation with local Irish officials and the IRA, who both agreed to help the project if it provided a perspective from both sides of the story.