Ok, it’s time to come clean on this one. G-FORCE found its way onto the big screen from Walt Disney Pictures in July 2009. The “G” in this case stands for guinea pigs. Not just any guinea pigs, but computer-generated, talking guinea pigs who were trained to be FBI Special Agents. And did I mention the mole in the group? Yes, there’s a mole. And a fly with electronic surveillance capabilities literally turning him into a “fly on the wall…”
Who was this movie meant for? Kids. The trailers made no bones about it when they were promoting the film for the theater and I won’t deny it here either. When one of the most memorable lines in the movie is “Poop in his hand! Poop in his hand!” spoken in unison by a group of not-so-bright mice in a pet store, it leaves little room for doubt. My two girls (ages 4 and begged to see it in the theater and we eventually picked it up to watch on DVD.
What’s Jerry Bruckheimer doing producing this kind of film when he could be working on improving the story for the next Transformers sequel? I haven’t a clue.
But back to G-Force. The plot revolves around this special group of trained animals who can talk and use fancy equipment in the line of duty. The team consists of Darwin (Sam Rockwell), Juarez (Penelope Cruz), Blaster (Tracy Morgan), Speckles (Nicolas Cage as the mole), and Mooch (the fly, Dee Bradley Baker). Their trainer who came up with the idea, Ben (Zach Galifinakis), sends the team out on an unsanctioned mission to retrieve sensitive information from a potentially evil mastermind – Leonard Saber (Bill Nighy). Though the team does manage to survive the mission, it’s considered unsuccessful when they discover that the data they thought they had wasn’t the right data at all…
When Agent Kip Killian (Wil Arnett) comes in to take a look at Ben’s operation, the failed mission becomes the excuse needed to shut the project down. In the chaos that occurs, the team becomes separated and loses Speckles, who is presumed dead in an accident involving a trash truck.
The rest of the movie explores the team as they try to figure out what went wrong and try to stop Saber’s evil plot for world domination. Along the way, they encounter Hurley (Jon Favreau) and Bucky (Steve Buscemi).
Really G-FORCE has a top-notch team of funny actors doing voices for these characters I really wanted to like – unfortunately it really dragged in spots. On the plus side, there was a saving grace at the end – a twist ending! None of us saw it coming and it actually made the ending much more satisfying than what I was predicting.
Was this a great film? Not really. Was it as horrible as I was expecting? Not really. It was fun in spots and boring in others, so I think it broke even. I know my kids really enjoyed it, which is always a good thing. And the pet store scenes were pretty dang funny (Buscemi is a major scene stealer). Definitely a good renter if you get a chance to see it.
The version of the DVD I watched came from the Blu-Ray + DVD + Digital Copy combo back, which provides a lot of bang for your buck. As someone looking at upgrading to Blu-Ray in the next year or so, I have to admit that I really like these Combo Packs from Disney and other manufacturers. They save me the trouble of having to purchase another copy of a film when I upgrade.
In addition to the movie itself, many special features are included on the discs. Some were on the Blu-ray – “Cine-Explore With Darwin, Blaster & Their Creator,” “Bruckheimer Animated: A Look Back at His CG Work,” and “Access Granted: Inside the Animation Lab.” Unfortunately, without a Blu-Ray player I was unable to view these.
However, the DVD included all the other features including audio commentary from director Hoyt H. Yeatman, Jr. and a number of fun bits. “Blaster’s Boot Camp” introduces you to the exciting world of the G-FORCE team, including the training and various toys used (grappling hook, launch tubes, and so on). “G-FORCE Mastermind” features interviews with Bruckheimer and director Yeatman about how the project came about. It was interesting to hear the son of the director talk about coming up with the idea that his dad turned into a feature film.
Of course, the “G-Farce” blooper reel has some great scenes, especially from Galifianakis and Morgan. The cast and crew seemed to have a great time filming, which I expected due to the many comedic personalities involved.
The Music Videos I could have done without, but I know my girls enjoyed dancing to the music. And some of the Deleted Scenes were hilarious. The “March of the Cockroaches” was my favorite, with the automated boots stomping in unison to prove how hard it was to kill the buggers… and accidentally killing one of them in the process!
Though I can’t say this is my favorite Disney film in recent years, G-FORCE definitely was a hit with the kids and had some funny parts. If you have kids, I’d recommend it as a solid renter for them over the holidays!
–Fitz
p.s. Be sure to look for G-FORCE at your favorite retailer or click below!
What do you get when you mix Paul Rudd (recently in Role Models, Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Knocked Up) and Jason Segel (from How I Met Your Mother and Forgetting Sarah Marshall)? Fun times. Combine that with a great script about a budding bromance and you have a comedy with some serious hilarity.
Rudd’s Peter Klaven has become engaged to his girlfriend of eight months, Zooey (Rashida Jones). And, during the wedding planning it’s become very aware that Peter has no guy friends to speak of, whereas Zooey has several (very eclectic) girl friends she hangs out with regularly.
To fix the balance between a lack of groomsmen and many bridesmaids, Peter seeks the help of his gay brother Robbie (Andy Samberg), who works at a gym. Big brother gets tips on how to go on man dates with likely subjects. This process of course is not without its pitfalls, including a gross projectile vomiting incident with Barry (Jon Favreau) after a poker game.
After a few such incidents, Peter loses hope in finding someone to be his best man and bumps into Segel’s Sydney Fife – this great, honest guy enjoying being single in California. Peter strikes up a friendship with Sydney and we get some wonderful “guy” moments interspersed with some odd moments here and there.
The fact that Peter gets into this bromance so deeply begins to trouble fiancee Zooey, but it all gets sorted out by the end.
Beyond the main actors, I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised by Lou Ferrigno’s scenes. He stole the show in a few places (the Ferrigno/Segel sleeper hold incident comes to mind) and added a celebrity dimension to the real estate market Peter was working in.
Though I know my wife enjoyed the movie too, I felt that the characters definitely came from a guy’s perspective – especially Zooey’s female friends, who were all caricatures. One was self centered and wondering why she couldn’t find a nice guy, and another (played by Jaime Pressly) fit the profile of a wife constantly fighting with her husband and then having great make-up sex afterwards. Though I know a few folks with interesting personality clashes in their relationships, these ladies took the cake.
Beyond the movie, the DVD does include a number of extras, including a commentary track by director John Hamburg with Rudd and Segel, a “Making of…” feature, some extras, extended and deleted scenes, and an eleven-minute Gag Reel.
The “Making of I Love You, Man” describes how the project came about from a script by Larry Levin and was then contributed to by director, producer, and writer Hamburg and producer Donald De Line. This was De Line’s first producer credit, so you could tell it was a well tended project. And everyone on board from the producers, writers, cast and crew really bought into the movie concept to bring it to the big screen.
The “Extras” section includes nine different mini-features from “Whole Bunch of Tongue” to “City Slacka – Paul Rudd Tries to Get Through One Line.” Though I loved the Gag Reel, I have to say this is a hilarious string of features that had me rolling in places. I’m amazed at some of the improvised lines that didn’t make it into the movie!
Six “Extended Scenes” are also included and once again showed the improvisational gift of the cast. When Rudd starts going into the “Different Strokes” theme song at the engagement dinner, it was a stroke of genius. It’s obvious that Rudd and Segel had a great time riffing on each other at length during filming.
Also in the long list of special features are three Deleted Scenes, of which you catch glimpses of during the Gag Reel. “The Lost Man Date – Rugby” and “Gay Bowling League Night” would have been great during the film, and I’m a little shocked they weren’t included. But the “Groomsmen Photo Session” was a bit disturbing with all of their pants around their ankles. (Maybe it’s just me.)
I Love You, Man was hilarious and definitely worth seeing if you missed it at the theater. Be sure to check it out at your favorite rental or retail outlet!
–Fitz
p.s. Pick this up and other great comedies at Amazon below!
A couple of weeks ago I had a chance to catch Four Christmases with my wife at the movie theater. And I have to say that even though it’s not my favorite Christmas movie (National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation holds that spot), it wasn’t half bad!
Four Christmases stars Vince Vaughn (as Brad) and Reese Witherspoon (as Kate) as a couple who has managed to avoid their families every year at Christmas for a few years by lying about their whereabouts and heading off to exotic vacation spots. This year due to the weather, they can’t get out of the airport and are put on the spot by a TV news reporter. Oops. With the cat out of the bag (of course their families were watching), they are forced to visit four homes on Christmas Day. Who knew divorced families could be this much fun?
I have to say that Vince isn’t one of my favorite comedy actors, but somehow he and Reese worked well together. And the all-star cast didn’t hurt either.
Robert Duvall was hilarious as Howard, Brad’s (or should I say “Orlando” – “We were all named for the city in which we were conceived!”) father. Jon Favreau as brother Denver, and Tim McGraw as brother Dallas round out the all star wrestling household. But Favreau and Duvall steal the show.
Sissy Spacek played Paula, Brad’s mom, who happens to be dating Brad’s best friend from school. Can you say awkward?
On Kate’s side, you have Jon Voight as Creighton, her dad. He’s a very proper and upright fellow. And then there’s Mary Steenburgen as Marilyn, Kate’s mom. She’s found religion and a boyfriend in Pastor Phil (played by the always great Dwight Yoakam).
One of my favorite parts of the movie was when Brad and Kate agree to a “safe word” to use if things get too crazy at one of the houses. “Mistletoe” has a whole new context now. It gets used to great effect in a couple of parts of the film.
The other scene that both my wife and I dissolved into laughter over (other non-parents might not find this as amusing) was the scene where Kate held her sister Courtney’s (played by Kristen Chenoweth) baby. The baby managed to throw up on her and Brad evidently doesn’t do so well with vomit. If you’ve never had kids, you won’t know how funny it is to see people without them deal with some of the “joys” of raising children!
After seeing this movie, my own family doesn’t seem quite as weird!
If you’re looking for light, funny holiday fare, Four Christmases does nicely. It’s fun, but probably not a new holiday classic for us regardless of how much money it makes at the box office. It was great to see Jon Favreau in a scene stealing role in front of the camera after Iron Man however!
I’ll give it 2.5 out of 4. It was fun, just not all that memorable.
–Fitz
p.s. Definitely check out National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation however… It’s a classic!
According to Marvel, Robert Downey Jr. is signed to reprise his role as Tony Stark for Iron Man 2 (currently scheduled for release in 2010). Jon Favreau will be directing that one. And The Avengers movie that’s been talked about since Iron Man opened will have Favreau on board as a producer and Downey Jr. reprising his role again (though it’s not scheduled for release until 2011).
And if that wasn’t enough, Downey Jr. is signed for a third movie (with Iron Man he signed a 4 movie deal with Marvel) that is suspected to be a third Iron Man film.
Oh happy day!
This in addition to re-casting John Rhodes to be played by Don Cheadle now instead of Terrence Howard.
So I’ve been pondering this rumored casting change for Iron Man 2.
In Iron Man, James Rhodes (who will eventually become War Machine) was played by Terrence Howard. I thought he did a fine job with the role, but he did seem a little more feminine than masculine in spots. Not sure why that should be, but he just didn’t seem macho enough to be playing this rough and tumble, “I’ll take care of it” kind of Rhodie that works with Tony Stark.
Now all over the net we’re seeing that Don Cheadle will be taking over the role.
First of all, I’m a Don Cheadle fan. He’s done some amazing work in everything from Hotel Rwanda and Crash to Oceans Eleven and Oceans Thirteen. I’ve not really seen him do action movies (the Oceans movies don’t really count for me), so I wonder about the casting a bit.
But what really throws me is the size difference. Howard is a hair over 6 feet. Cheadle is a hair over 5 foot 8 inches. This is a bit of a size difference. They’re also built differently (not that you’d be able to tell inside the War Machine suit). But Cheadle doesn’t hit me as the hard hitting Rhodie character.
It’ll be interesting to see how this plays out. Maybe it’s because Robert Downey Jr. is only 5 foot 9 inches? That can’t be the only reason.
Anybody have any opinions on it?
–Fitz
p.s. If you haven’t picked up your copy of Iron Man on DVD — why haven’t you?!? Get yours at Amazon today!
As if you haven’t heard yet, I thought I’d reiterate that Iron Man is coming out on DVD and Blu-ray. Iron Man was the biggest highlight of the summer for me. (Not even Hellboy 2 could really come up to Iron Man’s standard. Neither could Indy IV or The Incredible Hulk… We’ll hope we get so lucky next summer.)
Robert Downey Jr. made the role of Tony Stark look incredibly easy, both in and out of the armor. And it remained an amazing film even on two viewings in the theater. I can onlyl hope that it stays great through future viewings at home.
I’m especially excited bout the I Am Iron Man documentary. This documentary goes through all the phases of making the film, even up to the premiere. There’s also a documentary that focuses on the special effects and one about the history of the Iron Man character.
And there are of course a few deleted scenes that may fill in a few gaps.
The Blu-ray version also sports a guided tour through the Hall of Armor. A geek dream. Makes me wish I had a Blu-ray player. [sigh]
Does everyone already have their Iron Man DVDs on order?
–Fitz
p.s. If you haven’t ordered yours, go ahead and order it at the following links:
Ok… Yes, I saw Iron Man on Friday. Yes, I loved the movie. Yes, I loved Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark. Yes, I loved Gwenneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts. And yes, this was the kind of comic book movie you only dream about. And Mr. Favreau, you’ve got my attention as a director now (though I didn’t really like the part he played in the movie itself, but oh well).
Rating:
I would also be remiss if I didn’t mention Terrence Howard as Rhodie. I thought he did a great job in the role. And I hope the brief glance at the Mark II armor means War Machine is going to be in one of the next couple of films!
That said… If you’ve been under a rock for the last several months, Iron Man is a comic book movie from Marvel Films about the origin story of the Marvel Comics hero Iron Man. (I know, hard to believe that a movie called “Iron Man” would be about a superhero named “Iron Man.” Go figure.) Tony Stark is kind of like Bruce Wayne of Batman fame. He’s a billionaire playboy. And he’s a tinkerer. That’s about where the similarity ends I guess…
Tony Stark is a drunk, brilliant man with attachment issues on a Jimmy Dean-like road to self destruction. It doesn’t hurt that he runs Stark Enterprises, which manufactures some of the most advanced weaponry on the planet. He cavorts around with supermodels and movie stars in fancy cars at all the best events, drink in hand, and enjoys his fame and fortune far too much for any mortal man.
And as in all good hero journeys… the honeymoon must end at some point, right? (more…)
Ok, I don’t know if you’re a comic book fan or movie buff, but I fall squarely into the latter category. And since I was denied comic books for most of my childhood (typical parental excuses – too expensive, read a real book, not worth reading, etc.), I developed a “fandom from afar” philosophy for super heroes and comic books in general. Iron Man was among my faves. I always liked the fact that he was a rotten bastard before he almost had everything taken away from him and created the armor…
Well, in May 2008, my birthday month next year, Robert Downey Jr. steps into the role of Tony Stark — the man behind the mask of Iron Man. I’ve been a Downey Jr. fan since watching Chaplin with Robert Downey Jr playing the titular role back in 1993. (I’m a huge Chaplin fan and thought he did an amazing job.) From the trailers I’ve seen, I think Downey will do a great job showing the playboy side and the tinkerer side of Stark.
To make the pot sweeter, it’s being directed by Jon Favreau, who I also love. I know not everybody liked Daredevil, but I thought he did a great job as Foggy. But his serious side came out when I watched Dinner for Five on IFC and he had some amazing interviews with a mix of celebrities from the film industry. I think he will do an amazing job with Iron Man just from his enthusiasm when I’ve seen him speak about the movie. So we’ll wait and see.
Who was this movie meant for? Kids. The trailers made no bones about it when they were promoting the film for the theater and I won’t deny it here either. When one of the most memorable lines in the movie is “Poop in his hand! Poop in his hand!” spoken in unison by a group of not-so-bright mice in a pet store, it leaves little room for doubt. My two girls (ages 4 and 
begged to see it in the theater and we eventually picked it up to watch on DVD.
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