Associated Press
August 17, 2008 12:15 am 'Fly Me to the Moon' Rated G 2 stars A well-intentioned exercise at blending education and family entertainment, this 3-D animated tale ends up being only mildly educational and not all that entertaining. The story of three flies that tag along with Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins on Apollo 11's moon shot is reminiscent of the moment in "Apollo 13" when the TV networks decide against airing a live feed from the astronauts. The reason? NASA had made space travel so routine, at least until that moment on the ill-fated flight, that it became boring. Likewise, despite its unusual story line, the movie is routine and on the cusp of boring for audiences accustomed to such meatier animated flicks as "WALL-E" and "Kung Fu Panda." Director Ben Stassen, whose company nWave has pioneered 3-D films for large-screen IMAX cinemas, has crafted a technically proficient cartoon whose decent visuals are held to Earth by cute but dull characters, bland action and uninspired dialogue. The voice cast includes Christopher Lloyd, Nicollette Sheridan, Tim Curry and Adrienne Barbeau. 'Star Wars: The Clone Wars' Rated PG 21/2 stars While anything remotely "Star Wars" is potentially a welcome trek for hard-core fans, this will be a mixed thrill given that the saga returns to the big screen as a cartoon. George Lucas' prequel trilogy was so overloaded with computer-generated imagery that the digital animation of "Clone Wars" isn't that big of a leap. The somber tone of those three movies — chronicling the downfall of Anakin Skywalker from snotty teen to black-hearted Darth Vader — is gone, replaced with a variation of the campy humor and camaraderie that characterized the original trilogy. Still, a "Star Wars" movie should be an event. Whether because of its cartoony format or its relatively lightweight story, "Clone Wars" definitely is not an event. It's a fairly fun if forgettable little adventure that hurls Anakin and the rest of the gang into a kidnapping conspiracy and rescue amid a galactic civil war between clone soldiers and android troops. The movie is a glorified introduction to the "Clone Wars" animated series debuting this fall on TV — almost certainly a more appropriate home for a cartoon version of "Star Wars." 'Pineapple Express' Rated R 21/2 stars The formula is pretty familiar by now in these Judd Apatow-produced comedies. A couple of buddies get into trouble, and as they try to bumble their way out of it, their friendship only grows stronger. There's even a word that's been coined for this pop-culture phenomenon: the "Bromance." "Pineapple Express" tries to breathe some fresh life into this comic genre by turning it into a serious action movie. But because it tries to be both, it doesn't completely work on either level. Seth Rogen and James Franco have great chemistry, though — not surprising, since they're both longtime Friends of Judd who co-starred on his TV series "Freaks and Geeks." Rogen also co-wrote the script with lifelong pal Evan Goldberg, with whom he wrote the script for "Superbad," which was inspired by their geeky adolescence. This time, Rogen plays a slightly more functional version of his "Knocked Up" slacker: His Dale Denton is a process server, but he's still dating a high-school girl and makes frequent trips to his pot dealer. That would be Franco's affable space cadet Saul Silver — a wildly different role for the actor, best known as the pretty-boy bad guy in the "Spider-Man" movies. Saul sells an inordinately strong strain of weed called Pineapple Express, which gets him and Dale into trouble when it tangles them up with a dirty cop (Rosie Perez) and a homicidal drug lord (Gary Cole). "Pineapple Express" is at its best when it's about these two guys getting to know each other by talking about absolutely nothing. But then it turns into a generic action picture, full of fist-fights and shootouts and explosions, in an obvious effort to be as broadly commercial as possible. 'The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2' Rated PG-13 2 stars Yes, the pants still exist, but now they're covered in patches and jewels and etched with the memories and dreams of the four young women who've been wearing them. And they still travel — to New York and Vermont, Turkey and Greece, and points in between. But the magic in those jeans, and in the bond that linked the friends who've shared them over the years, seems to have faded. The sequel to 2005's surprisingly tolerable "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" finds our eclectic group of heroines a little bit older and wiser and a lot less connected to each other. Makes sense that they'd go off to college and begin forming separate lives, but the film from director Sanaa Hamri ("Something New"), taking over for Ken Kwapis, feels disjointed, too. It bounces from one girl's story line to another's without much tonal cohesion, and it doesn't help that the situations the characters find themselves in are often soapy and contrived. (The script from Elizabeth Chandler is based on the second, third and fourth books of Ann Brashares' series of novels.) One consistency remains, though: America Ferrera pretty much steals the whole movie out from under her co-stars as the quick-witted Carmen, who's now studying drama at Yale. Tragic Tibby (Amber Tamblyn) is at NYU film school and, somewhere along the way, transformed herself into a Goth version of Liza Minnelli. Gorgeous tomboy Bridget (Blake Lively) is playing soccer at Brown and struggling to heal from her mother's suicide. And quiet Lena (Alexis Bledel) is an art student at the Rhode Island School of Design. Stuff happens, then they giggle about it all afterward. 'Brideshead Revisited' Rated PG-13 21/2 stars An unimpeachable yet ultimately unmoving adaptation of Evelyn Waugh's classic novel about social ambition, religious conflict and doomed love. There's nothing wrong with director Julian Jarrold's film: The cast is fine, the production values solid. Everything is meticulously appointed in the traditional high style of a Merchant-Ivory period piece. As in "Becoming Jane," Jarrold's Jane Austen tale from last year, it's all beautiful — but bland. The whole endeavor just rings a bit hollow, especially condensed to two hours, compared to the epic 11-episode miniseries from 1981. Maybe we've changed too, though. The ideas that homosexuality could serve as a source of torment, and that differences in class and faith could create irreparable rifts in a relationship, seem rather archaic now. And so the chief sources of tension in Waugh's novel, which might have been perceived as incendiary when it was published in 1945, have lost much of their punch. Screenwriters Andrew Davies and Jeremy Brock have made a few tweaks to the text (which the Waugh estate approved) but the meat of the story remains intact. Aspiring painter Charles Ryder (Matthew Goode, in the role that made Jeremy Irons famous) becomes enraptured by the aristocratic Marchmain family and, specifically, with their ancestral home, Brideshead Castle. Charles first meets the decadent dandy Sebastian (Ben Whishaw) while at Oxford and the two quickly fall into a close friendship. Then he becomes smitten by Sebastian's sophisticated sister, Julia (Hayley Atwell). Emma Thompson is, unsurprisingly, an intimidating force as the family's rigidly Catholic matriarch, Lady Marchmain. 'The X-Files: I Want to Believe' Rated PG-13 2 stars The makers of the new "X-Files" movie have done themselves a disservice in coming up with the elongated title, "The X-Files: I Want to Believe." Really, it just invites a whole bunch of bad jokes which, unfortunately, are justified. It's easy to imagine how they might go: I want to believe another "X-Files" movie is necessary, 10 years after the first one came out and six years after the pioneering sci-fi series went off the air. I want to believe it's worth my time and money, even if I wasn't a fervent devotee of the TV show. And I want to believe that Mulder and Scully still have the same chemistry they once did — a big reason the series developed a cult fan base. Well, David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson do slip comfortably back into the roles that made them superstars in the 1990s, but the movie itself from director and "X-Files" series creator Chris Carter never feels like anything more than an extended episode. In deference to the show's many mysteries and twists, we won't give anything away here. We'll just say the plot involves a missing persons case, severed body parts and some creepy hunts and chases through the snow. In writing the script, Carter and longtime collaborator Frank Spotnitz have come up with a stand-alone story, one that doesn't require expertise in "X-Files" minutiae to follow, although they've also left some nuggets for loyal fans along the way. Amanda Peet and rapper Xzibit co-star as FBI agents on the case, with Billy Connolly as a fallen priest who may or may not be experiencing psychic visions. 'American Teen' Rated PG-13 3 stars Nanette Burstein's documentary doesn't tell you anything you didn't already know about high school. It can be a rough time, even if you're pretty and popular. Kids divide themselves into cliques. They can be mean to each other. Pressure can come from all sides — from parents, coaches, fellow students and mostly from within. But the intimate way in which Burstein tracks the lives of a group of seniors in small-town Indiana brings this familiar subject to life, and it should make viewers feel nostalgic, regardless of how long it's been since they walked those crowded, chaotic halls. Burstein follows several traditional types at Warsaw Community High School: a bossy rich girl who runs the school; a basketball star hoping for a college scholarship; a band geek who longs for a girlfriend; an artsy young woman who dreams of becoming a filmmaker; and a heartthrob who falls for a girl outside the popular crowd. If this sounds like a John Hughes movie you've seen a million times before — or all of them at once — you're right. The poster for "American Teen" even features the five young stars arranged in the same pose as actors from "The Breakfast Club," which is probably too cute for its own good. But they're all so engaging, it's hard not to get drawn into their daily dramas. And except for some obvious staging on Burstein's part, their ups and downs, doubts and dreams, all feel vividly real. 'Step Brothers' Rated R 11/2 stars The title is "Step Brothers." You know, because there are two of them. But Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly are essentially playing the same person, which is the movie's fundamental, irreparable flaw. As 40-year-olds who've never left home and are forced to share a bedroom when their parents (Mary Steenburgen and Richard Jenkins) get married, Ferrell and Reilly are stuck in the same state of arrested development. There's no odd-couple tension, no witty banter, just a prolonged, painfully unfunny game of one-upmanship in which each actor is trying to outdo the other in one-note obnoxiousness. You wouldn't want to spend two hours with one of them, much less both. Sure, they display slight personality differences — Ferrell's Brennan wears vintage T-shirts with Pablo Cruise or The Judds on them, while Reilly's Dale prefers Yoda — but they're cut from the same kitschy cloth. The humorously awkward chemistry these actors shared as NASCAR teammates in "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby" is gone, because the script makes no room for it. Which is strange, because Ferrell co-wrote the screenplay with his old friend, director Adam McKay, with whom he collaborated on that previous comedy. (Reilly shares a story-by credit.) As you watch the movie, it doesn't take long to realize that their creative process consisted of sitting around, cracking each other up with adolescent gags, and then writing it all down. Whether the rest of the world will be doubled over with laughter seems irrelevant. 'The Dark Knight' Rated PG-13 3 stars It's difficult to separate the movie from its mystique. Even under ordinary circumstances, "The Dark Knight" would have been one of the most hotly awaited movies of the summer blockbuster season. The loss of Heath Ledger to an accidental prescription-drug overdose in January has amplified the buzz around the film — and his crazed performance as the Joker — to extraordinary levels. Nothing could possibly satisfy that kind of expectation. This comes pretty close. Christopher Nolan's film is indeed an epic that will leave you staggering from the theater, stunned by its scope and complexity. It's also, thankfully, a vast improvement over his self-serious origin story, 2005's "Batman Begins." As director and co-writer with his brother, Jonathan (David S. Goyer shares a story credit), Nolan has found a way to mix in some fun with his philosophizing. Ambitious, explosive set pieces share screen time with meaty debates about good vs. evil and the nature of, and need for, a hero. Batman (Christian Bale) has been that guy. Now, he's not so sure he should be anymore. He's protected Gotham fiercely but the new district attorney, Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart), seems to be putting a dent in organized crime with help from Lt. Gordon (Gary Oldman). Then the Joker arrives to send the city into chaos — and Nolan was wise enough to give Ledger plenty of room to shine, albeit in the actor's indelibly perverse, twisted way. There's nothing cartoony about his Joker. Ledger wrested the role from previous performers Cesar Romero and Jack Nicholson and reinvented it completely. 'Mamma Mia!' Rated PG-13 2 stars ABBA songs are, of course, evil in musical form. Just try getting "Dancing Queen" out of your head once it's burrowed its way in there. "Waterloo," too, is especially pesky. But "Mamma Mia" might be the most tenacious tune in the 1970s Swedish pop group's canon. The insanely catchy hit inspired a hugely successful Broadway musical a decade ago and now is the basis for a big, summer movie. "Mamma Mia!" is a massive mess, but it's fun — exuberantly goofy, sloppily crafted fun, especially if you're not in the mood for thinking too hard. (Phyllida Lloyd, who directed the stage production, makes her filmmaking debut here.) If it works on any level at all, it's through the sheer radiance of Meryl Streep, clearly having a blast letting loose as its star, the former rocker chick Donna. Watching the woman who is considered the greatest actress of our time writhing around in overalls on top of a barn or belting out numbers in a spandex jumpsuit and platform boots can indeed be a hoot. Streep was a fan of the show — and it's evident. And she can indeed sing — a talent that's been on display in bits and pieces in previous movies, most recently "A Prairie Home Companion." Amanda Seyfried ("Mean Girls," "Big Love") is also solid as her daughter, Sophie, who is getting married on a Greek island and invites three of Donna's former flames to determine which one is her father. Christine Baranski and Julie Walters are splashy scene-stealers as Donna's best friends and former backup singers, but not everyone fares so well. Pierce Brosnan and Stellan Skarsgard should never be allowed to sing in public again — unless it's karaoke night and copious amounts of alcohol are involved. 'Meet Dave' Rated PG 11/2 stars Meet Dave. Or don't. Eddie Murphy doesn't particularly seem to care one way or the other. Essentially phoning in the broad, family friendly shtick that has become his trademark over the past decade, Murphy stars as both a human-sized spaceship that has landed on Earth and its itty-bitty captain, who's at the controls from inside the head. It's a high-concept premise from screenwriters Rob Greenberg ("Frasier") and Bill Corbett ("Mystery Science Theater 3000"), but the execution is mostly lowbrow. Director Brian Robbins, whose "Norbit" with Murphy last year looks like a bold slice of comic genius by comparison, runs through a variety of bland fish-out-of-water scenarios in workmanlike fashion. Ed Helms, Gabrielle Union and Kevin Hart co-star as some of the tiny beings who help run the ship, with the likable Elizabeth Banks going completely to waste as the human who befriends him. 'Hellboy II: The Golden Army' Rated PG-13 3 stars Words don't really do justice in attempting to describe the wondrous array of misfits and monsters Guillermo del Toro has concocted here. Truly, his is a world you have to experience for yourself to appreciate fully — if you dare. In following up the original "Hellboy" from 2004 and his Oscar-winning 2006 masterpiece "Pan's Labyrinth," the director has outdone himself in both absurd humor and wild imagination. The visuals are the star, of course. But the sequel, which del Toro scripted from a story he co-wrote with "Hellboy" comic book creator Mike Mignola, wouldn't be nearly as much fun without Ron Perlman returning as its wisecracking, beer-guzzling, kitten-nuzzling hero. Not only does Perlman completely get del Toro's twisted sense of humor, he thrives on it. As the film's title character, who grows from boy-devil to man-devil to reluctant, noir-style crime fighter, Perlman shows not just perfect comic timing but also an irresistible ability to laugh at himself. This time, Hellboy and the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense must stop a power-hungry, underground prince (Luke Goss) from awakening a dormant army of indestructible golden soldiers. Also returning are Selma Blair as Liz, Hellboy's (literally) fiery girlfriend, and Doug Jones as the sophisticated fish-man Abe Sapien.
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