'Narnia,' 'Step Brothers' hit DVD shelves
By Bruce R. Millerbmiller@siouxcityjournal.com | Posted: Sunday, November 30, 2008
Angelina Jolie kicks butt in "Wanted," the one DVD release that should give you reason to pause this week. If you slo-mo the slow-motion scenes, you may even be able to tell how they did the special effects.
It's a good film n not a great one n that bears watching more than once.
The one that most people will buy? "Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian."
Truly, it was more fun when those "Narnia" kids were rummaging around in the closet. Now, in "Prince Caspian," they're merely sorting someone else's sweaters.
In the new "Chronicles of Narnia," the Pevensies take a backseat to Prince Caspian (Ben Barnes), a deposed ruler who's determined to get his rightful throne. He's spirited away by a trusty adviser, then told to watch out because an evil relative is out to do him in.
Also left in the lurch? The Narnians, who don't quite have a lion, a witch or a wardrobe on their side.
Traveling (much like the "Harry Potter" kids) by train station, Edmond, Peter, Lucy and Susan size up the situation, then go to work. Lucy (Georgie Henley) spots Aslan, the lion. But no one else seems to believe. So, she's charged with taming the beast. The two boys train some ragtag troops (and get to put their own dueling skills to the test). Susan (Anna Popplewell) makes eyes at Caspian.
It's all very Errol Flynn but it doesn't seem quite as metaphoric as the first "Narnia" film. Oh, sure, the witch and the lion make cameos but isn't there more to the series than a couple of guest appearances?
Director Andrew Adamson spends too much time in battle. The troops are so vast you think this is a remake of "Braveheart."
By the time the bad guy is given his marching papers, we're ready to surrender.
"Prince Caspian" isn't a bad adventure, just a routine one. It clanks around like many others, then gallops to an expected finish.
Also: 'Step Brothers'
Someday Will Ferrell will pull a Jim Carrey and decide to do a very serious role. Until then, we can enjoy the silliness that is "Step Brothers."
Totally implausible, utterly laughable, the Adam McKay film finds Ferrell and John C. Reilly as unlikely siblings. Their parents wed, forcing the two fortysomething deadbeats into the same bedroom.
Both suffer from arrested development; both are petulant kids in middle-aged bodies. Both can't stand the idea of sharing.
Still, they reach an impasse when they realize just how much they're alike n and how much they hate Ferrell's brother (Adam Scott), an obnoxious bully who drops names better than Kathie Lee Gifford.
The step brothers are forced to get jobs n which drives another wedge n and grow up. The game plan isn't solid, but it does get the string of sight gags off the dime and onto some kind of story path. Naturally, McKay wants to tell bigger truths. Ferrell and Reilly aren't anomalies. They're really the director's way of commenting on college grads who return home n and don't want to leave. He gets in several good licks about priorities, then shows how hatred can bond better than Super Glue. Ferrell's last-minute awakening is weak, but it does bring the film to a logical conclusion. That's pretty good, too, considering it's nothing more than a two-man show peppered with four-letter words.
It's a good film n not a great one n that bears watching more than once.
The one that most people will buy? "Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian."
Truly, it was more fun when those "Narnia" kids were rummaging around in the closet. Now, in "Prince Caspian," they're merely sorting someone else's sweaters.
In the new "Chronicles of Narnia," the Pevensies take a backseat to Prince Caspian (Ben Barnes), a deposed ruler who's determined to get his rightful throne. He's spirited away by a trusty adviser, then told to watch out because an evil relative is out to do him in.
Also left in the lurch? The Narnians, who don't quite have a lion, a witch or a wardrobe on their side.
Traveling (much like the "Harry Potter" kids) by train station, Edmond, Peter, Lucy and Susan size up the situation, then go to work. Lucy (Georgie Henley) spots Aslan, the lion. But no one else seems to believe. So, she's charged with taming the beast. The two boys train some ragtag troops (and get to put their own dueling skills to the test). Susan (Anna Popplewell) makes eyes at Caspian.
It's all very Errol Flynn but it doesn't seem quite as metaphoric as the first "Narnia" film. Oh, sure, the witch and the lion make cameos but isn't there more to the series than a couple of guest appearances?
Director Andrew Adamson spends too much time in battle. The troops are so vast you think this is a remake of "Braveheart."
By the time the bad guy is given his marching papers, we're ready to surrender.
"Prince Caspian" isn't a bad adventure, just a routine one. It clanks around like many others, then gallops to an expected finish.
Also: 'Step Brothers'
Someday Will Ferrell will pull a Jim Carrey and decide to do a very serious role. Until then, we can enjoy the silliness that is "Step Brothers."
Totally implausible, utterly laughable, the Adam McKay film finds Ferrell and John C. Reilly as unlikely siblings. Their parents wed, forcing the two fortysomething deadbeats into the same bedroom.
Both suffer from arrested development; both are petulant kids in middle-aged bodies. Both can't stand the idea of sharing.
Still, they reach an impasse when they realize just how much they're alike n and how much they hate Ferrell's brother (Adam Scott), an obnoxious bully who drops names better than Kathie Lee Gifford.
The step brothers are forced to get jobs n which drives another wedge n and grow up. The game plan isn't solid, but it does get the string of sight gags off the dime and onto some kind of story path. Naturally, McKay wants to tell bigger truths. Ferrell and Reilly aren't anomalies. They're really the director's way of commenting on college grads who return home n and don't want to leave. He gets in several good licks about priorities, then shows how hatred can bond better than Super Glue. Ferrell's last-minute awakening is weak, but it does bring the film to a logical conclusion. That's pretty good, too, considering it's nothing more than a two-man show peppered with four-letter words.
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