Review: Mad Max: Fury Road

Confession I've never seen the original Mad Max. That said, I really enjoyed this movie. It's basically a really long crazy ass car chase. The violence is highly stylized and strangely satisfying (if you're the type that enjoys violent comedies).

Tom Hardy plays the male lead Max. A wanderer who is captured by a gang of rebels and taken as a living "blood bag" on a road race to reclaim the "treasures" (beautiful breeding "wives") stolen by Charlize Theron's character, Furiosa. Theron is attempting to take the girls to an Eden-esque area where they'll be safe and cared for. She knows the place exists because she was taken from their as a small child. Hardy escapes from his captors on the road and after an extended negotiation he joins Theron in her quest to reach Eden.

This high energy fast paced go go go! movie definitely has summer blockbuster written all over it and I for one have high hopes that audiences will enjoy it as much as I did.

Review: Pitch Perfect 2

Disclaimer: light spoilers
tl;dr
"You're gonna miss me when I'm gone" Yes, yes we did miss you Pitch Perfect! Now you've finally come back to us and you're still making me smile. Anna Kendrick, Brittany Snow, Rebel Wilson reprise their roles as the Barton Bella's, but instead of a joke of the viral web they've turned into 3x acapella champions. For the first 10 minutes of the movie. Then it's back to their familiar stomping grounds of being in danger of losing everything! Hailee Steinfeld plays an incoming freshman, a "legacy" or daughter of a former Bella, who is dead set on being one of the sisters.

The music in the sequel is less sing along friendly than in the first movie, except for the 90's throwback riff-offs (hello MMMBop!) and the song the Bella's close their World's number with. Which is an original song, something that has never been done before in the acapella world (except for when Glee did it back in season 2).

I personally really wanted more Skylar Astin screen time. His chemistry with Kendrick in the first movie definitely helped us root for her (and the Bella's) but unfortunately their relationship is more of a footnote in the sequel. That doesn't mean there's no romance in this rom-com but there are no "stakes" in the pairings. Remember that in the first movie the Bella's vowed to not get involved with a member of their school's rival acapella group!

tl;dr If you liked Pitch Perfect you'll most likely like Pitch Perfect 2. There are more jokes but less music.

Review: SPY

Disclaimer: light spoilers, feminism, and profanity ahead.

tl;dr
This movie is funny. It's funnier than you might expect it to be but it's funny in a very Melissa McCarthy way. The jokes and physical comedy are vulgar, profane, and play strongly on the fact that she is an overweight woman. (This fact is supposed to make everything she does unbelievable, amazing, and hysterical.) It's not that the jokes fall flat, or that the bits don't work but it does feel that McCarthy has played this character before in the 2013 film The Heat, which was also directed by Paul Feig.

While The Heat felt like a natural follow up to the movie Bridesmaids (which Hollywood still thinks of as a surprising blockbuster hit) SPY feels more like a farewell to the all girls comedy club. McCarthy and her Bridesmaids co-star Rose Bryne, along with new comer, Miranda Hart, let the boys (most notably Peter Serafinowicz) do some heavy hitting of their own.

While the men are allowed into the club, it's definitely the interaction between the women that carry this movie. McCarthy's hot potato banter with Bryne is wonderfully funny and weird while Hart's moments with the former echo back to the female friendship aspect that so many loved about Bridesmaids. McCarthy's character, Susan Cooper, has a very real moment in the film when she sits down with the (female) head of the CIA, Allison Janney, and realizes that her career has been put on the back burner because of a man.

Although, it's also this same man who is the reason why Cooper takes on the mission that gives her her first field assignment. Whether you think this is movie has anything to add or say about feminism in the US is entirely up to you. I will say that Susan's motivations aside, the character's refusal to believe what everyone tells her is the best lesson to take away from all the jokes and action. When everyone says you can't; fuck them.

tl;dr Funny movie where Melissa McCarthy stars as a awkward CIA desk agent who is a secret bad ass. GIRL POWER!