MAY, 3


DRAGONLANCE: DRAGONS OF SPRING DAWNING

Action / Fantasy
Cast: Ewan McGregor, Brendan Fraser, Anne Hathaway, Ian McKellen, Jessica Alba, Dakota Fanning, Tim Roth, Ron Perlman, Vin Diesel, Cary Elwes
Director and Producer: Guillermo Del Toro
Screenwriter: Richard Franzwa

Box Office: 97 mill.
Net Gains: 40 mill.

Stark’s Reaction:
Let’s admit it: those numbers are a big disappointing for a movie like this. After the big success of the two previous installments, I could not expect such weak turnout. Maybe its excessive length or simply a certain exhaustion of the fans of the saga can be the reasons of this unexpected result. Painful.

KITE

Action / Drama
Cast: Emma Stone, Russell Crowe, Garrett Hedlund, Ron Perlman, Jeremy Piven, Ken Watanabe, Carla Gugino
Director: Paul Greengrass
Screenwriter: Dawson Edwards

Box Office: 73 mill.
Net Gains: 53 mill.

Stark’s Reaction:
You just cannot ask for more with this kind of movies not suitable for all audiences. Very nice numbers that more or less meet the expectations I had about this release.

THE UNDERCOVERS

Action / Comedy
Cast: Steve Carell, Renee Zellwegger, Emily Osment, Jake T. Austin, Andy Garcia
Director: Chris Weitz
Producer: Steve Carell
Screenwriter: Steve Connors

Box Office: 232 mill.
Net Gains: 198 mill.

Stark’s Reaction:
And yes, here is the big surprise of the week! In fact, the first nice surprise of the Season! One of those box office’s turnouts I do not expect at all! First ‘+200’ of the Season and a delicious surprise. It compensates, at least for me, the unexpected disappointment of ‘Dragonlance’.


DRAGONLANCE: DRAGONS OF SPRING DAWNING

‘The third installment of a successful saga is often a dangerous moment. Specially if it pretends to be also the final movie of the franchise. Authors feel obliged to end the series with a blast and to outperform the previous movies. They also try to avoid routine by making a bigger, more complex o more spectacular movie than its predecessors. And that often makes them fall into excesses. This third ‘Dragonlance’ movie reminds me what happened with other third installments of iconic CMP’s sagas: Trax’s ‘Star Wars’ or Taylor’s ‘The Forgotten’. Again, the third installment tries to beat the two previous ones being longer, having a more twisted plot or looking for new visual impacts… and fans do not react as expected. When taking a saga to extremes, usually the general audience loses interest in it and only the most devoted fans stay loyal to the new movie. This ‘Dragonlance III’ is too long, too complex, too ambitious in all senses that it has produced the opposite effect than wanted by Franzwa and Del Toro: audience has turned its back to it, exhausted by such an excessive proposal.’
-Charlie Kiggs

‘Del Toro has reached the pinnacle of his visual talent with this huge production. He had shown before in other films his inexhaustible imagination. But never before he had been able to display all his visionary genius like in this movie. The Dragonlance Trilogy will be remembered as a landmark in the fantasy genre. No other previous attempt in CMP to build up a fantasy universe – ‘Dungeons and Dragons’, ‘Magic – The Gathering’, etc – was able to leave the track in the fantasy genre this saga will. Do not consider Del Toro anymore a minor moviemaker specialized in freak proposals ala ‘Hellboy’. His name has joined now the Olympus of the main authors of the fantasy genre with these movies.’
-Tim Reeve

‘’Dragons Of Spring Dawning’ is one of those movies in which, together with the theatre ticket, should be given a guide of characters, scenarios and conflicts to follow the film. The movie wants to cover so much that you just get lost in the mess of that huge fantasy world. All the virtues of the second movie of the saga – the best of the three – turn into excesses here. And even the spectacular visual power of the film loses strength after the great second installment of the series: after all, novelties soon become routine. Guillermo Del Toro has tried to build up a fantasy universe and a fantasy tale even bigger than ‘Lord Of The Rings’ but the paradox is that maybe he has gone too far in his eagerness to show the most fantastic universe ever seen on a big screen.’
-Roy Winslow

KITE

‘When Dawson Edwards gets tough, the tough gets going… Well, besides the stupidity of that quote, it’s true. Edwards has proved before how well he manages with tough stories – ‘Fallen Kings’, ‘The Cool’, ‘Get Down’… - but this time he is tougher than ever. ‘Kite’ adapts an ultra-violent anime without complexes. Edwards’ screenplay and Greengrass’ staging do not avoid or lessen the extreme violence of the original source. And turning it into live action images, the story becomes even tougher and disturbing. Both Edwards and Greengrass have made a very intelligent choice. Edwards does not bother to make any of the characters nice to the audience. He does not try to justify or forgive their evilness. They all are what they are. And Greengrass films the story with a deliberate coldness, keeping a certain distance from the events going on. That way, the result is a cold and sharp story in which violence is exposed without being judged in a most realistic and captivating way. A must see, if you have the guts to.’
-Vic Carter

‘It is very disturbing when you are watching an extremely violent movie like ‘Kite’ and you feel at the same level sickened and hypnotized by what you are watching on screen. ‘Kite’ is as disgusting as fascinating. There’s something about those bunch of heartless characters that keeps you trapped to your seat feeling a deep rejection but at the same time wanting and needing to know more about them. Wonderful work by Greengrass, who covers with talent some weaknesses of the screenplay – a bit twisted and confusing at some moments -, with some reminiscences in the visual style of ‘Wanted’, that underrated comic adaptation with Angelina Jolie and James McAvoy that, in my opinion, was another excellent redefinition of what a modern violent movie should be. And an excellent work of all the cast, with an inevitable special mention to Emma Stone, who perfectly mixes an apparent fragility with a chilling cold killer instinct.’
-Jackie O’Callaghan

‘It is funny the very different relationship of Hollywood with sex and violence. The original ‘Kite’ is a brutal anime full of hard violence and also hard sex. But that balance changes when Hollywood industry has put its hands on the story. The extreme violence is respected. Greegrass’ movie does not avoid the extreme violence of the original anime. In fact, some of the most violent sequences are shot with almost a gory style, not avoiding a single drop of blood (remember here those bullets exploding inside their heads shown in the most realistic way). But when it comes to sex, this movie drastically reduces the sexual content of the original anime (the explicit sex between Stone and Crowe’s characters in the anime is not much more than implied here). Hollywood has never had problems showing the most brutal violent sequences. But still is too conservative with sex. It’s a funny different morality full of hypocrisy. That does not steal a single point of quality to this very interesting movie. But I just wonder what the reactions to this movie would have been if Edwards and Greengrass would have dared to make a fully loyal adaptation of the original.’
-Chris Burgess

THE UNDERCOVERS

‘Some times, simplicity is the key of success. There is absolutely nothing remarkable in this movie. The plot is a hundred per cent predictable. The characters are all stereotypes. The jokes are easy. The ending can be guessed even before the initial credits are over. There is no real suspense or intrigue. But… it works! Steve Connors has decided to leave aside his adaptations of sophisticated console games or his ambitious sci-fi stories to write a flat action comedy for all the family. And Chris Weitz has directed it without trying to transgress correction in any way. And the surprising result is a major blockbuster. And the only reason of that unexpected and huge success is very simple: you don’t have to be a fan of any specific movie genre or a particularly demanding moviegoer to enjoy this simple movie. Just pay the ticket and you won’t be dazzled, moved or amazed. But you will have a good time. As simple as that.’
-Anne Roman

‘’The Undercovers’ is an unofficial remake of the 1987 movie ‘Stakeout’. Connors has replaced the sexy Madeline Stowe with the sweet Renée Zellwegger. He has also replaced one of the cops of that movie (Richard Dreyfuss and Emilio Estevez) with two young tv stars. But the rest of the movie respects the comedic moments, the outcome of the plot and the friendly tone of that movie. And the formula has worked again. Steve Carell feels so comfortable in his character – very similar to his Maxwell Smart of ‘Get Smart’ – and the rest of the cast play their roles without bigger effort. The result is a pleasant movie that may not deserve at all the enormous success it has had but at least does not insult or offend the intelligence of the audience. Recommend this movie to people who enjoy popcorns.’
-Andrew Stampton

‘CMP proves with this movie the experience it has gained as Studio. More than a screenwriter or a director’s movie, this is a Studio’s movie. Everything has been perfectly designed by the Studio to make money without taking major risks. The movie has a nice plot that has been tested before (‘Stakeout’). The lead star is a reputed comedian everybody feels sympathy for. His main supports are two popular teen stars from Disney Channel. The film promises correct doses of action and comedy without sex, gross humor, violence or any other disturbing element. And the marketing campaign has been wisely oriented as a family movie, perfect to spend a family evening at the movies. A perfect product. There are other stories for taking risks and looking more innovative or creative. This time, CMP wanted to play safe. And the Studio has shown they know how to do it.’
-Lilly Stevens