Nanny McPhee Returns

Released back in March in the U.K., Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang, re-titled here as Nanny McPhee Returns, is the sequel to 2005’s Nanny McPhee. Both films were conceived by actress/writer Emma Thompson from Christianna Brand’s Nurse Matilda books. I didn’t see the first one when it came out, but I suggest you don’t miss this one.

Nanny McPhee (Thompson) is an ugly-looking variation of Mary Poppins. "When you need me, but do not want me,” she tells her charges, “then I must stay. When you want me but no longer need me, then I must go."

This time, she enters the household of Isabel Green (Maggie Gyllenhaal), whose husband is off in World War II, leaving her with her three naughty kids, their two rotten cousins and a scheming brother-in-law (Rhys Ifans) who wants her farm. Only Nanny McPhee can provide the magic that can bring on a happy ending.

That’s the basic plot of the film, but in the meantime, there is much to be seen. Such sights include a flying motorbike, a Busby Berkley number with piglets and even a baby elephant. These are just a few of the enjoyable scenes in this feature.

This feature also has a nice ensemble of actors in fine roles. Amongst the cast, the highlights are Ifans as a perfectly smug villain and Dame Maggie Smith as Isabel’s daffy employer. Meanwhile, Gyllenhaal as Isabel makes for a perfectly convincing Brit.

Thompson, who won an Oscar for writing Sense and Sensibility, and her director, Susannah White, have made this feature perfectly accessible to anyone who haven’t seen the first. They have also made it perfectly accessible to kids and adults alike, and that is a real accomplishment.

The Expendables

The whole purpose of The Expendables is to gather every big action star in the same movie. One such star, Sylvester Stallone, co-wrote and directed what should have been a decent action-filled timewaster. Yet, for some reason, it’s not.

The heroes of this film are a team of mercenaries led by Barney Ross (Stallone) and his right-hand man, Lee Christmas (Jason Statham). Their mission, that they choose to accept, is to go into the country of Vilena and takeout its evil dictator General Garza (David Zayas), and his rogue ex-CIA backer, James Monroe (Eric Roberts). And to save the General’s daughter (Gisele Itié). Yup, that’s about it.

When Christmas lops off a Somali pirate’s upper-half with a rocket launcher in the first scene, you’ll know that this film’ll be bloody. And indeed, the rest of the film has hands flying off; guys getting shot and even a broken neck. It’s the same over-the-top action that populated such films as The Terminator and Die Hard.

And yet, the problem is that the characters are so-so. I didn’t think the characters were that interesting, not even Stallone’s Rocky IV nemesis Dolph Lundgren as an ex-Expendable turned bad. In fact, I viewed them, and consequently, the action scenes, with a big indifference.

They appear in just one scene, but Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger, as the men who give Ross the mission, got the best laughs in the picture. There are some funny moments in the film too, but unfortunately, not enough.

The advertisements proclaim this film as “the manliest movie ever.” The truth is, I’ve seen better, both this summer and on TV.

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

Although it originated as graphic novels by Brian Lee O’Malley, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World plays much like a living video game. Filled with a basic plot and beyond basic visuals, this film is one worth waiting all summer for.

Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera) is a Toronto slacker who plays bass in a band, once dated singer “Envy” Adams (Brie Larson) and now dates High Schooler Knives Chau (Ellen Wong). His precious little life is disrupted when rollerblading New Yorker Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) comes in. He ends up dating her, leaving poor Knives behind.

Ramona’s seven previous romances, led by insidious record producer Gideon Graves (Jason Schwartzman) assemble into “The League of Evil Exes,” whose members come one at a time to try to kill Scott for daring to win Ramona’s attentions. Their duels involve Scott and his rivals momentarily showing off superhuman abilities that don’t seem out-of-place in their world. Defeated enemies even turn into piles of coins- and no one dares question that.

Its director and co-Writer, Edgar Wright superbly stages the fights with the choreography of musical numbers. The first ex, fireball throwing Matthew Patel (Satya Bhabha), even has a catchy musical number in his scene. End result is action scenes done well by a combination of actors and FX.

The cast is just great, especially the actors playing the exes, who steal their scenes. Chris Evans as jock movie star Lucas Lee and Brandon Routh as psychic Vegan rock star Todd Ingram are the highlights of the evil league. Kieran Culkin also steals scenes wonderfully as Scott’s sarcastic gay roommate Wallace, as does Anna Kendrick as Scott’s Sister Stacey.

This film has to be seen to be believed. It embraces comic bookish action, video game visuals and a decent romance story (when one stops to think about it). If there’s any flaw, then it’s an overload of visuals. In the end, however, that shouldn’t kill the overall experience of this unique picture.

The Other Guys

Earlier this year, the Kevin Smith directed Cop Out, a cop movie spoof, opened to poor reviews with proportionate box-office results. I didn’t see that one, but I did see The Other Guys, another cop movie spoof, and this one is quite worth it.

The Other Guys are Gamble (Will Ferrell) and Hoitz (Mark Wahlberg), two NYPD detectives stuck at desk duty. Meanwhile, the city’s top cops are the wildly reckless Highsmith (Samuel L. Jackson) and Danson (Dwayne Johnson). The latter pair gets all the glory, while the former pair does not.

And then Highsmith and Danson get killed. Stupidly.

While the frontline cops try to fill the void, Gamble uncovers some financial scheming by investment banker David Ershon (Steve Coogan). With Hoitz as his unwilling partner, Gamble sets off to save the day. Somehow.

As with MacGruber, this film shows just how dumb action film clichés are. Up until they bite it, Highsmith and Danson are walking dumb action film clichés. And they work hilariously well.

As for the rest of the film, it’s also done well thanks to its stars. Ferrell is quite reliably silly, and Wahlberg makes for the perfect, would-be straight man of the duo. As their boss, the goofily deadpan Captain Mauch, Michael Keaton makes for the third-best character in the film. I could go on about the other actors here, but I'll stop here.

Its director, Adam McKay, worked with Will Ferrell before, beginning with Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgandy. The action comedic tone they establish early on makes up for a few unclear twists later on (I won’t spoil those). As long as you let yourself have fun with this one, you will.