The Fury crew with Wardaddy (Brad Pitt), Grady Travis (Jon Bernthal), Boyd Swan (Shia LaBeouf), Norman Ellison (Logan Lerman) and Trini Garcia (Michael Peña).
Director David Ayer gives a rundown of these men from his upcoming film FURY in the new “Brothers Under The Gun” featurette.
“Combat’s a brutal, dirty business. It’s incredibly taxing on the fighting man’s soul.”
April, 1945. As the Allies make their final push in the European Theatre, a battle-hardened army sergeant named Wardaddy (Brad Pitt) commands a Sherman tank and her five-man crew on a deadly mission behind enemy lines.
Outnumbered and outgunned, Wardaddy and his men face overwhelming odds in their heroic attempts to strike at the heart of Nazi Germany.
FURY’s crew includes Andrew Menzies (production designer, 3:10 TO YUMA), Roman Vasyanov (director of photography, END OF WATCH), Dody Dorn (editor, END OF WATCH, SABOTAGE) and Steven Price (composer, GRAVITY).
Also featuring Jason Isaacs and Scott Eastwood, the film opens on October 17.
On September 19th, 20th Century Fox will unveil the highly anticipated THE MAZE RUNNERand according to early numbers, director Wes Ball’s movieis on track for a $30 million opening when it bows next weekend.
Based upon the best-selling novel by James Dashner, when Thomas wakes up trapped in a massive maze with a group of other boys, he has no memory of the outside world other than strange dreams about a mysterious organization known as W.C.K.D. Only by piecing together fragments of his past with clues he discovers in the maze can Thomas hope to uncover his true purpose and a way to escape.
One of the most popular soundtracks Sony Music has released this year, the original movie score is from American film composer and conductor John Paesano.
Originally from Detroit, Michigan, Paesano initially studied classical music with composition professor Sally Dow Miller of Conservatoire de Paris. In 1996 he traveled to Boston, where he continued his studies in musical composition and film scoring at prestigious Berklee College Of Music.
After graduating, John headed to Los Angeles where he was able to serve minor roles along side some of the industries most prestigious composers, including Jerry Goldsmith, John Williams, and Hans Zimmer’s Remote Control Productions.
Since then, Paesano has written a range of film and television scores on his own. In 2012 he was honored with an Annie Award for Best Score for the award winning television series Dreamworks Dragons: Riders Of Berk, which is based off of the Academy Awarding winning film HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON.
THE MAZE RUNNER was recorded in Los Angeles with 80 players and during our recent phone conversation, Mr. Paesano and I discussed his stirring score for the movie, the use of orchestral instruments vs natural acoustic sound and his favorite film composers.
WAMG: Those looking forward to the film can listen to samples of your score on Sound Cloud.
John Paesano: It’s been one of the most previewed soundtracks on Sony’s Sound Cloud page. It’s beat X-MEN. It’s beat DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES. A lot of people are listening to it, which is awesome.
WAMG: Very impressive considering its just snippets.
JP: I think Fox will try to release a free preview track early for fans. What’s really interesting with THE MAZE RUNNER is that it’s had such a heavy social media presence. Even from the inception of the film – even before I met director Wes Ball – I remember a big buzz about the movie because of everyone involved with the film and the fan base on social media.
It’s been great that the fans can follow the movie’s progress on social media from the beginning and it’s been really exciting as we approach the release date.
WAMG: Fans are really looking forward to the movie.
JP: I don’t think they’ll be disappointed. You work on a film for so long and you get so close to it, so by the end, you don’t know if it’s good or bad. But I did have a break from it for about a month and I saw a preview of it, so I was able to sit back and say, “this is a really good film.” It has tested really well. It’s been tracking really well and I think the fans are really excited to see it. Wes did a great job with it.
WAMG: What originally drew you to this project?
JP: Initially I saw Wes’s work, a short he did called RUIN, where he did everything himself, including the visual effects.
Again social media – it caught fire and a lot of people saw it and loved it… including me. I had done some smaller projects with Fox, so when I found out they were doing the movie, I got involved in the mix and the film.
We’re almost the same age and we come from that era where we both grew up with Spielberg and John Williams. Those are the kind of films we were inspired by. James Cameron’s movies like THE ABYSS. We grew up liking STAR WARS, JURASSIC PARK, RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK. When I met Wes, we were both cut from the same cinematic cloth, so it seemed like a very natural fit.
I went through the process of composing some music and my agent submitted it to the producers. I was part of a very short list of candidates. I think Wes and I creatively were aligned, had the same interests and ultimately the same vision for the film. It just worked out to where he picked me to compose the music for his film. I was very fortunate.
WAMG: When you watch the clips or trailers, along with your score underneath, it sounds very massive – like a big Jerry Goldsmith film or an epic John Williams score.
JP: We’re both big fans of Jerry Goldsmith and John Williams. When Wes and I first sat down to work on the film, even before a single frame of film was shot, we had this vision to do a big JURASSIC PARK-like score for the movie. When Wes started shooting and I started trying to put music up against it, we soon realized, as much as we loved their scores, it didn’t quite fit to the footage we received. We almost had to use that as inspiration, but we really had to mold the score to fit our picture. The music really goes with the spirit of the film.
WAMG: I like how it sounds Old Hollywood.
JP: In a way it’s a throw-back score. It’s modern but sounds like old cinema. Scores are different now and this wasn’t a huge budget film. Wes didn’t have the budget like some of the $90M movies, but it was amazing what he was able to squeeze in and it stands up with all those other films. The score was another portion of it. When we first got into it, we had to make sure the footage worked with the music. It all worked out in the end and it looks amazing.
WAMG: Had you read the book beforehand?
JP: I read the book once I was officially on the project. Then I started composing off the script that Fox had sent over. The main title of the movie was my first sketch. What I usually do when I start to write a 10 minute suite is sit down with no pictures and just with the story in mind, before I have anything in my head. Once the pictures are there, then you’re locked in what you can and can’t do. But when I compose with no pictures, I can freely write whatever I want. You’re uninhibited by any visual structures. You’re not handcuffed by the picture.
Once that’s done, you take all that music and try to fit it into the film. You have a lot from which to work from. The first draft from the soundtrack “Maze Runner” was part of the initial suite that I wrote. Everything was born from that. After reading the script, it was the first thing I wrote.
WAMG: You get an idea of your theme from these clips on Sound Cloud.
JP: Without seeing the script, a lot of it stemmed from my imagination. 20 or 30 years ago, people had more time to write film scores. Now we have all this technology which allows to do it in a quicker fashion. When Jerry Goldsmith wrote ALIEN and John Williams wrote STAR WARS, the process used to take a lot longer because they didn’t have all this technology that we do today. They had much more time to work on these films scores. What happens now is we don’t have time to write suites. Composers have to write scene to scene during eight weeks and try to get it done before the film comes out.
You lose the ability to sit and live with the score and the story for awhile. Sometimes you have to figure out what doesn’t work before you know what works. There’s an experimentation process where you have to try out a bunch of different things before you know what’s working and that takes time.
Fox hired me for this film, even before it was shot – that’s very unusual. Usually a composer is hired two to three months before they’re ready to mix. I was on the film very early on. I was able to visit the set, spend some time there. I was able to absorb the story – where they were shooting, what the characters were going through. They filmed in New Orleans, so I made a second trip to the set.
During my visit to the set, which basically was a hot, muggy swamp, I remember thinking how much environmental sound there was – Cicadas and birds and all the wind blowing through the leaves. The crew built this village and I thought there is so much acoustic, environmental sound out here it would be great to capture some of it, bring it back and incorporate it into the score.
We went out there and recorded all the natural sounds from the area and the moving sets as well as beating against big oil drums with sticks and we used it along with brass and percussive instruments and then incorporated all of it into the score. When you have the time to work on the music and a longer schedule to visit the set, creatively it really enriches the score.
Plus you have to take into account what happens afterwards with a big movie – the orchestrations, mixing, recording with the orchestra. There are so many different stages. Writing is only part of it. The process is relatively quick once you figure out what works. We recorded the score for 8 or 9 days in Los Angeles at the Fox Scoring Stage.
WAMG: Do you have a favorite genre that you like to compose for?
JP: I grew up with drama, adventure movies. Big movies like STAR WARS and RAIDERS were very inspirational to me as a kid. I grew up loving John Barry’s score for DANCES WITH WOLVES and OUT OF AFRICA. The movie that got me into film scoring in the first place was Steven Spielberg’s EMPIRE OF THE SUN. That was the place where I figured out I wanted to write music for films when I got older.
JP: Animation is one of those genres where you can still be extremely musical, still be extremely thematic. It’s a very unencumbered space for a composer. A lot of scores for animated films these days are very, very musical. When you’re doing live actions films, you try to work the music to scene. You want it to be felt and not heard. With animation music, you’re right up there with the characters. It’s walking hand in hand. I love the challenges of all the different genres.
WAMG: I love HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON, especially John Powell’s score. How did you take someone else’s film score and make it your own?
JP: John Powell is a hero of mine. There’s no one better in animation than John. I got the job after a long audition process, consisting of demos and meetings. It’s DreamWorks first produced television series. They took their time with it. DRAGON was nominated for 2 Oscars and when it came time for the TV show, they wanted to stay true to the movie and what John accomplished with the music.
When I initially got it, my first thought was, “I’m so excited. I get to be like John Powell. I get to work with all this music that I love.” The next, immediate thought after was, “oh man, I have to deliver music like John Powell.” (laughs) It was one of those things – be careful what you wish for. John is such a talent and so amazing, and I wondered how I was going to live up to this?
The thing with DRAGONS: Riders Of Berk, we used John’s music as much as we possibly could, but with episodic TV, you have to be careful not to keep bashing people over the head with the same theme on a weekly basis. We used a score that was in the spirit of John’s music. The trick was to use those themes that were the fabric of the movie – Hiccup, Toothless, all the characters – and at the same time take the score in another direction and to different places. I think we did a good job in doing that. I’m very proud of that and we’re going into a third & fourth season right now. It’s moving to NetFlix and the next season looks absolutely amazing.
It just keeps getting better and better. It’s a lot of work, but I’m excited to be on it and it’s a fun challenge every week.
WAMG: Do you prefer the standard orchestra instruments like woodwinds and strings and percussion, over the “natural sounding” techniques you used in THE MAZE RUNNER?
JP: As much I love using a full orchestra, I use everything. I grew up with the classical, orchestral guys like John Barry, Jerry Goldsmith and John Williams and then as I progressed, I started listening to the modern predecessors such as Hans Zimmer and Danny Elfman. They started incorporating more hybrid sounds and the more modern elements of music with the orchestra. To me, the orchestra is another color of the score, another tool to use to convey the story.
I don’t consider myself a purist by any means, but I do think the orchestra is an essential and major component of a film score. There’s no better group of instruments to convey human emotions than the orchestral instruments. It has such range, warmth and variety. Plus it’s a sound that’s so ingrained in people’s minds of what film scores sound like because it is such an intregal part of the score.
WAMG: Thanks for talking to us and best of luck with THE MAZE RUNNER and the third season of DRAGONS: Riders Of Berk.
With just 2 weeks until THE BOXTROLLS hits theaters, Focus Features has 2 new chances for you to get the know Winnie, Eggs and the whole crew.
First up, go behind the scenes in this featurette to see how the talented voice actors at LAIKA gave the Boxtrolls a language of their own in the film. With their guttural grunts and groans, they may not sound smart, but tons of clever thinking went into creating the Boxtrolls’ unique speech.
Meet Winnie in a new clip from the film “Winnie Takes Charge”.
A family event movie from the creators of “Coraline” and “ParaNorman” that introduces audiences to a new breed of family – The Boxtrolls, a community of quirky, mischievous creatures who have lovingly raised an orphaned human boy named Eggs (voiced by Isaac Hempstead-Wright) in the amazing cavernous home they’ve built beneath the streets of Cheesebridge.
When the town’s villain, Archibald Snatcher (Academy Award winner Ben Kingsley), comes up with a plot to get rid of the Boxtrolls, Eggs decides to venture above ground, “into the light,” where he meets and teams up with fabulously feisty Winnifred (Elle Fanning). Together, they devise a daring plan to save Eggs’ family.
The huge voicecast includes Ben Kingsley, Isaac Hempstead Wright, Elle Fanning, Jared Harris, Toni Collette, Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Richard Ayoade, and Tracy Morgan.
From directors Anthony Staachi and Graham Annable and based on the novel Here Be Monsters by Alan Snow, THE BOXTROLLS will be packing theaters September 26.
For even more behind-the-scenes content, go to theboxtrolls.com and follow on Twitter (twitter.com/theboxtrolls), Instagram (instagram.com/theboxtrolls) and Facebook (facebook.com/theboxtrolls).
Director Kevin Smith’s TUSK will hit theaters next Friday, September 19. Having had its world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival earlier this month, it is also screening next week at Fantastic Fest 2014.
Read The Guardian’s early review HERE. “Silly and sick, with very little blubber, Tusk, a comedy-horror about a man who is turned into a walrus, is the first great Kevin Smith film since Dogma,” and “the result is a creepy, funny film that punctures the inflated ego of the geek made good.”
Watch Smith discuss his latest movie, and how it relates to his infamous SMODCAST, in this brand new featurette.
What would it be like if CLERKS was Tuskified? 20 years in the making…
Even Jay and Silent Bob have gone Full Walrus…
From the singular mind of writer/director and podcaster Kevin Smith, and conceived from one of Smith’s own Smodcast’s, TUSK is a story unlike anything that has ever been committed to screen before. A tale that is equal parts hilarious and horrifying, TUSK will stay with you long after the credits roll.
The film stars Justin Long, Haley Joel Osment, Michael Parks and Genesis Rodriguez.
The legions of fans of Zane’s provocative best-selling thriller ADDICTED, adapted into a major motion picture from Lionsgate and Codeblack Films, will be treated to a unique one-night event, “Addicted: Live With Zane,” the day before the film’s nationwide theatrical release, it was announced today by event hosts Lionsgate, Codeblack Films and Fathom Events.
The three companies have joined forces to give fans an early chance to see the film and participate in a live Q&A with best-selling author Zane, ADDICTED stars Sharon Leal, Boris Kodjoe, Tasha Smith, Tyson Beckford andWilliam Levy and the film’s director Bille Woodruff. The event will be broadcast live from the AMC Magic Johnson Theater in New York and audiences will have the opportunity to ask questions via Twitter as well as hear Grammy-winning recording artist Estelle sing her latest single, “Conqueror,” featured in the film.
“Addicted: Live With Zane” will be presented in select cinemas nationwide on Thursday, October 9th at 8 pm ET/ 5 pm PT with a second tape-delayed showing at 11 pm ET/8 pm PT.
“‘Addicted’ is a film people will be talking about for a long time,” Fathom Events CEO John Rubey said. “Offering our large and loyal audience the chance to have an advance look and participate with the author, cast and filmmakers is an experience they won’t soon forget.”
“We’re excited to partner with Fathom Events to bring this unique in-theater experience to the fans of ‘Addicted,'” said Quincy Newell, Codeblack Films EVP & General Manager. “This live interactive event with Zane and our fabulous cast, capped with Estelle performing her song ‘Conqueror,’ will add an extra dimension to the movie-going experience for audiences to savor.”
Tickets for “Addicted: Live With Zane” are available at participating theater box offices and online at www.FathomEvents.com. The event will be presented in more than 340 select movie theaters nationwide through Fathom’s Digital Broadcast Network. For a complete list of theater locations and prices, visit the Fathom Events website (theaters and participants are subject to change). Each online ticket purchase also allows audiences to get a free download of Zane’s new novella, Addicted With a Twist.
Based on Zane’s best-selling novel, ADDICTED is a sexy and provocative thriller about desire and the dangers of indiscretion. Successful businesswoman Zoe Reynard (Sharon Leal) appears to have attained it all – the dream husband she loves (Boris Kodjoe), two wonderful children and a flourishing career. As perfect as everything appears from the outside, Zoe is still drawn to temptations she cannot escape or resist. As she pursues a secret life, Zoe finds herself risking it all when she heads down a perilous path she may not survive.
The film also stars Tasha Smith, Tyson Beckford, Emayatzy Corinealdi, Kat Graham, and William Levy and is directed by Bille Woodruff from a screenplay by Christina Welsh and Ernie Barbarash.
Captain America (Chris Evans) and Falcon (Anthony Mackie) team up to save the day, sorta, in the brand new trailer for the romantic comedy, PLAYING IT COOL.
Billed as the “Anti-Romantic Comedy for all you True Romantics,” the movie also stars Michelle Monaghan, Luke Wilson, Topher Grace, Aubrey Plaza, and Phillip Baker Hall.
This is the story of ME (Evans), a young man disillusioned by love, who meets a breathtaking young woman, HER (Monaghan), at a charity dinner by pretending to be a philanthropist. Only one problem: she’s engaged. Yet, he engages into a platonic relationship to be able to keep seeing her.
Like a young Walter Mitty using the power of imagination and wild vignettes, HIM will stop at nothing to conquer HER heart.
Previously titled A MANY SPLINTERED THING, director Justin Reardon’s film has no release date yet.
On the heels of the successful SNOWPIERCER, it was recently announced that the Chris Evans helmed film, BEFORE WE GO, has been acquired by RADiUS. Also starring Alice Eve, the movie played at the Toronto International Film Festival and will be released in 2015. According to the press release on Deadline, Evans said, “As a first time director, I’m so excited that we found a home with RADiUS. I was really impressed with what they did on SNOWPIERCER and my film couldn’t be in better hands.”
At some point in our lives, we all get swept away and caught up in the intoxicating high of young, new love, whether its real or imagined. While fully immersed in the depth of all this romantic and emotional giddiness, it would seem nothing could tear the two of you apart, nothing except, perhaps, a sudden and frightening event that occurs of unknown origin. Consider it the newlyweds’ worst nightmare, a honeymoon gone horribly wrong, at the hands of forces beyond your control.
In director Leigh Janiak’s film HONEYMOON, the newlyweds at the center of our story experience one version of this very nightmare. Paul and Bea are swimming in their joyous new life together and no other soul nor care in the world around them even registers on their radar. The two of them are sharing some time away from their jobs, their family, friends and everything else at a little country house by the lake. One night, Paul wakes up and finds his wife missing, only to discover her still, silent body standing almost comatose in the dark woods. Something bad has happened to Bea, but the details are lost on both of them at first.
Paul, played by Harry Treadaway, is a kind, caring average Joe that is clearly infatuated with his new wife. Bea, played by Rose Leslie of HBO’s Game of Thrones, is equally in love and the two carry on with an energetic, playfully erotic honeymoon until the mysterious night in the woods. From this point on, that carefree feeling is gone and their honeymoon rapidly spirals into a chaotic chain reaction of secrets, paranoia and unsettling revelations by Paul that something has changed about Bea and she clearly will never be the same woman he married.
The sudden and abrupt shift in tone of HONEYMOON puts on the breaks of our good time watching these two likable characters getting their kicks. The jarring nature of the event in the woods shakes us back into reality then plunges us into the uncertain and nerve-racking mystery of who, what and why. Bea plays this off at first, but her gradual emotional, psychological and physical departure from her husband sets Paul on a fear-driven mission to save her, somehow. Then the strange marks and bleeding begins and Paul struggles to convince Bea she needs help, as she pleads with Paul not to pry into what’s happening for his own safety.
The premise of HONEYMOON is fueled by the intimate setting and small cast. The answer to exactly what has occurred to Bea and why and by whom, or what, is never answered and is only vaguely eluded to as fuzzy, theoretical possibilities as derived by the audiences’ own imaginations. Then again, the film isn’t about the what, who or why, but the relationship and the aftermath this event causes. This is where Leslie and Treadaway deliver the backbone of the film, which is light on special effects and supporting cast.
HONEYMOON is a character-driven horror film of the utmost psychological nature. Something clearly happened to Bea, and is continuing to happen, evolving and progressing as Paul continues to feel more and more helpless. Treadaway shows admirable range in conveying the array of emotions Paul must endure during the span of this film, convincingly portraying a man overcome by fear, confusion, anger and to some extent, even betrayal. Leslie, on the other hand, continues to show she has grit as well as sexual appeal. She can be alluring and tough, but void of emotion or frighteningly creepy when necessary.
Janiak paints an eerie modern tale of horror with human emotions and the fear of the unknown, melding classic themes of Edgar Allen Poe with body horror that evokes the influence of David Cronenberg. HONEYMOON does not fall back on special effects or simple, primal shock tactics as a crutch to keep the audience attentive. In fact, I feel as though a very intentional effort was made to avoid the use of these tactics at all costs, whenever and however possible. This, in turn, makes for a much more enjoyable and believable experience.
HONEYMOON is a slow burn. The story builds, then crushes us, then gradually rebuilds in the aftermath of the wreckage, developing an entirely new and much darker universe for these two characters than that which we were first introduced. The film does require a small amount of patience and a slightly higher tolerance for some uncomfortable moments of minimally-risque sexual horror that will have both men and women cringing and quite possibly nauseated.
Smoky bars and rundown, vacant buildings are surrounded by cheap shacks that barely pass for homes… and I haven’t even begun to describe the people. But I think you can imagine the occupants in this universe. The film-noir genre has taken a journey into even seedier territory over the years. Gone are the days where you have fast-talking detectives and two-timing gals. Now we are treated to a world of cops and crime that is caked in a thick layer or dirt, grime, and blood. Films like GONE BABY GONE, EASTERN PROMISES, THE TOWN, OUT OF THE FURNACE, and KILLING THEM SOFTLY, all have recently focused on crime and corruption on the working-class level of society. Is “poor-noir” an apt description? What about “working-class noir?” At any rate, this is a trend that Belgian director Michael Roskam also explores with his new film THE DROP. Roskam previously garnered a much-deserved Oscar nomination for his film BULLHEAD – which starred Matthias Schoenaerts who also plays an effectively intimidating figure here in Roskam’s new film. Most will make note that this is James Gandolfini’s last time on the big-screen, but unfortunately Tony Soprano’s swan song is featured in a flat and dreary crime film that attempts to tell a tale of redemption and puppy love.
At night in Brooklyn, a crime ring funnels money through dirty hands to an ultimate “drop” bar. Each week the location is different. Unfortunately for Bob (Tom Hardy) and Marv (James Gandolfini), they happen to be the bar that two low-life thugs rob one night. The investigation, led by Detective Torres (John Ortiz from SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK), creates heat for Bob and Marv and the Chechen Mafia who control the money and the bar. While walking home on the night of the crime, Bob comes across a beaten dog placed in the trashcan of Nadia’s home (Noomi Rapace). Bob soon finds himself fighting to protect the dog from his former owner and recently released convict Eric Deeds (Matthias Schoenaerts).
Tom Hardy once again proves why he’s one of the best actors working right now. Even though his character is rather static and understated for the majority of the film, Hardy creates a voice to this quiet soul that fills in some of the blanks that the story fails to fill-in for us. He’s a soft-spoken guy who frequently displays a bewildered expression. I was hoping for more of a dynamic character to push the film along, but at least Hardy gives us something to chew-on with another great vocal performance – to continue his journey through unique inflections as previously heard in THE DARK KNIGHT RISES, LAWLESS, and this year’s LOCKE.
Dennis Lehane has crafted some rich narratives on paper that have run the gamut for on-screen adaptations, from the award-winning MYSTIC RIVER, to the over-looked GONE BABY GONE, to the overwrought SHUTTER ISLAND. A short story serves as the jumping-off point for THE DROP, and Lehane is left to handle screenwriting duties here as well. This would typically be a good sign considering Lehane’s reputation, but the material leaves something to be desired as the characters often circle the same subjects in conversations round and round again. Their interactions on screen feel more like padding than actually enriching the plot.
I actually like Roskam as a director, but here he lets the material guide the film – or lack thereof – instead of being the driving force behind the film. He’s adheres so closely to the script that I often found myself wanting to re-edit the film in a manner that would be more appropriate for Roskam’s style. A small dose of his visual flare comes through finally in the closing bar sequence as envelopes exchange hands and across mirrored counters in a mesmerizing rhythm, but it ultimately feels a little too late to ignite a spark to the story. Not to mention a late in the game change in the personality of one of the character arrives completely unannounced in a cheap and all too convenient way; once again, in an attempt to create some form of spark in this drab affair.
The fact that THE DROP delivers so little without much gusto, mixed with the fact that it feels so familiar while bringing nothing new to the table, makes for an unexceptional film with a stellar cast. From Rapace, to Gandolfini, to Hardy, all three of our main leads act like lost and beaten puppies left abandoned in the night – the symbolism of the dog in the film is certainly not lost on me. However, a mediocre script handed to a talented cast and crew can only go so far to create a film to stand out from the pack. In this case, THE DROP doesn’t have much of a dog in this fight.
The entire cast of DOLPHIN TALE is back for the sequel to continue the inspiring story of Winter, whose miraculous rescue and recovery—thanks to that prosthetic tail—made her a symbol of hope and perseverance to people around the world. Kids who haven’t been exposed to too many cinematic clichés may be satisfied with more heart-tugging mix of family drama and playful dolphin-human bonding, but any adult watching DOLPHIN TALE 2 should be able to predict the bland story’s events before the tide ever changes. As with most unnecessary sequels, DOLPHIN TALE 2 takes a similar plot and spreads it thin. It’s been three years since young Sawyer Nelson (Nathan Gamble) and the dedicated team at the Clearwater Marine Hospital, headed by Dr. Clay Haskett (Harry Connick, Jr.), rescued Winter, the unfortunate dolphin with the mangled tail. With the help of a unique prosthetic they were able to save her life. The sequel opens with the death of the elderly dolphin Panama, the only poolmate Winter has ever known. The loss of Panama may have greater repercussions for Winter, who cannot be housed alone, as dolphins’ social behavior requires them to be paired with other dolphins. Time is running out to find a companion for her. Will Sawyer have to postpone his ‘semester at sea’ educational opportunity before Winter can rally? Will Winter be forced to leave Clearwater?!? Will Winter die?!?
Each setback in DOLPHIN TALE 2 provides a new opportunity for gooey feel-good life lessons about friendship, family and resilience. Having stacked the deck against the animal, the script engineers a series of miracles, from a conveniently-timed beaching of yet another injured dolphin to more aid offered by prosthesis specialist Dr. McCarthy. “I’m about to get a lesson here, aren’t I?” Sawyer says when Morgan Freeman shows up in full twinkly platitude mode to share wisdom like “When one door closes, another opens” (uttered twice!) Director Charles Martin Smith casts himself as a USDA stooge who threatens that the government will take away Winter and transfer her to a marine park…..“in Texas” (!!!). Rachel Portman’s soaring, heavy-handed score swells through one feel-good scene after another. The first movie appealed to me because I bought into the characters and the situation. Because DOLPHIN TALE 2 offers the same characters and similar situations, only less believable (true story or not), I became aware of the manipulation. Of course it’s easy to be cynical about a movie like DOLPHIN TALE 2. It’s a sincere and slick production with its heart in the right place and it may win over undemanding audiences. The characters, who are unilaterally impossible to dislike, are so darned well-meaning and saintly they may as well be wearing halos around their heads – even Rufus the pelican chips in to help find injured critters.That the film manages to be not insufferable while still being so predictable is a small tribute to its cast and crew (A minor point but a big distraction: Sawyer and his precocious girlfriend Hazel (Cozi Zuehlsdorff) rescue a wounded sea turtle they name Mavis after “the character from the Andy Griffith show”. Odd that a script throwing out so much scientific jargon would blow it on Andy Griffith trivia – there was no recurring AGS character named Mavis!) DOLPHIN TALE 2 really soars in a brief scene where Bethany Hamilton, the one-armed SOUL SURFER chick, takes a swim alongside Winter, momentarily transcending the mawkishness. They should team that pair up as aquatic crime fighters for a second sequel.
When Thomas (Dylan O’Brien) wakes up trapped in a massive maze with a group of other boys, he has no memory of the outside world other than strange dreams about a mysterious organization known as W.C.K.D. Only by piecing together fragments of his past with clues he discovers in the maze can Thomas hope to uncover his true purpose and a way to escape. Based on the best-selling novel by James Dashner.
In Theaters – September 19, 2014
Directed by Wes Ball, THE MAZE RUNNER stars Dylan O’Brien, Kaya Scodelario, Aml Ameen, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Will Poulter.
