Money Talks

Year: 1997
Directed By: Brett Ratner
Written By: Joel Cohen and Alec Sokolow

RYAN’S REVIEW

OK maybe this movie doesn’t belong.  Maybe it’s simply a vehicle to showcase the talents of Chris Tucker. Talents which Brett Ratner would utilize to the max in coming years.  I love Chris Tucker, I didn’t watch all the Rush Hour movies because I had seen this one and it was enough.  The guy does a mean Michael Jackson impression; his Tony Montana is good as well but I find that one too stereotypical.  This movie was part of the family movie collection I grew up with so that’s the main reason we own it.  I don’t know if my parents would ever admit it or not but they loved Chris Tucker.  Even Friday sat on the shelf and it was probably the most out of place movie in the family collection. Chris Tucker has fallen out of the spotlight for a long time now but he had a significant role in Silver Lining Playbook so hopefully he is in the early stages of a comeback.

Is it necessary to discuss anything beyond Chris Tucker in this film? 1997 was not a time when Charlie Sheen was “winning” and when you look at his performance in this film you can understand why.  Heather Locklear has never been more than a pretty face.  Paul Sorvino is boss in everything he does but there is only so much he can do to enhance the film.  This film starts and stops with Chris Tucker and that’s all good because Tucker was quite the character in his time. What I love about this movie is it’s more Raw than the family friendly Rush Hour movies ever could have been.  I love the unfiltered version of Tucker in his element.  I thought his performance in The Fifth Element was specifically impressive and I am a loyal fan of whatever he is doing, excluding the Rush Hour movies.

This film reminds me so much of the nineties.  It seemed like the time for movies with lots of language and action with unnecessary explosions. Maybe movies like this are still being made only I just don’t watch them anymore.  I’ve mentioned it many times throughout this blog but it is the type of film I grew up watching.  I like this one by comparison too.  It’s all about Chris Tucker because it’s his humor and personality that drive the film.  The way I see them most of these films were the same.  At the end of the day the only difference was who played the lead role and how many bad guys he killed.  This is different from that as Tucker isn’t a badass killing all the bad guys but I think it still fits in with that same type of film. This has all the witty dialogue of a Shane Black film, enough fire power to compete with any Stallone or Schwarzenegger film, and a car chase with a classic automobile to boot. It works, while not Die Hard–esque enough, it still fits with that genre of action films we saw in the 80s and 90s.  That time back before mainstream internet use and before we were accessible at all times by way of cell phone.

This is a fun movie and I have enjoyed watching it again.  It’s an easily forgettable film but if you ever get a chance to see it you should give it your attention.  It is worth your time to see because it is fun.  It’s not suitable for your kids to watch but if your looking for something to kill an evening on your own with you can’t go wrong watching this one.  Chris Tucker makes the most of his opportunity and everyone else does just well enough to keep everything moving along smoothly. Under most circumstances I will tell you not to waste your time with anything made by Brett Ratner but this is a rare, possibly only, exception.  This Ratner film is worth your time to see.

AMBER’S REVIEW

I have seen this movie so many times, but in different pieces as it use to play on television all the time. We all know how stations like TBS get a hold of one movie and play it over and over and over again. This is a silly movie, but is ultimately funny and easy to watch. It is definitely one of those movies that you can watch and do something else, if just for some background comedy. I don’t really know anyone who hasn’t at least seen parts of this flick.

Well, it’s a movie poster. I guess the personalities of the characters come through in this poster. And if you didn’t know what money looks like, they illustrate it for you. The typography is red and yellow. RED AND YELLOW. Maybe it’s because anything retail makes my eye twitch. This title even has a drop shadow, so do the typography of the actor names. I think it is quite obvious that I do not like this poster. Not at all. Too staged and too retail-looking. Not a fan. Definitely not the comedic print piece to accompany this comedy.

NEXT MOVIE: Monster’s Ball (2001)

Movies Not To Watch

X-MEN: FIRST CLASS

This was too little too late from Bryan Singer, who destroyed this franchise himself over five year ago when he dumped X-Men 3 for the hopeless Superman reboot.  I had high hopes for his return to the franchise but I have been gravely disappointed.  I think Bryan Singer is a great filmmaker but I have hated him since he ruined this franchise.  X2 was an incredible movie and a great follow up to a pretty good first film, there was no reason the third film shouldn’t be just as good as the second. Out of no where Bryan Singer decided to abandon the series and it passed through a handful of people before landing in the hands of the hack Brett Ratner.  The movie was awful, despite a very good cast it was poorly made and a completely ridiculous story. X-Men: First Class is just as bad I’m afraid, I seriously doubt there will be any follow-ups to this reboot.

X-Men is part of a universe with so many exciting characters, it makes no sense to me for there to be movies made about X-Men with made up characters in it.  The third X-men movie did this exact same thing and it was ridiculous then too.  There are literally hundreds of characters to chose from and the writers are making up a girl with fairy wings that spits fire balls? This movie is dumb, but it is especially bad for the comic book fan because it’s not even remotely what it should be.  The script was very generic, the actors were awful for the most part, and it didn’t engage me at all.  Michael Fassbender was a great Magneto but honestly, I thought he was over acting at times.  Why was Havok in the movie? January Jones and Jennifer Lawrence were both bad and poorly cast.  James McAvoy seems to be under the impression that Professor X had some kind of button on his temple that activated his powers.  I think Kevin Bacon looked good on paper, but come on, were they really taking this thing seriously?

I don’t expect a movie made about a comic book to follow the story line perfectly, but it should at least remotely follow the story that its actually based on. The third X-Men movie was just like this, no respect for the original storyline.  I knew within the first five minutes of this film that I wasn’t going to like it and I suffered through the whole thing.  Don’t make the same mistake I did, I cannot get that time or money back, go see Thor (not in 3D) instead, it’s a good Marvel movie.  X-Men: First Class did offer one scene that was awesome, and it involved an incredible and unexpected cameo. I cannot stress enough how much that was the only good part, and that doesn’t make the movie worth seeing.

UPDATE: I have made a mistake, the girl with the fairy wings, Angel Salvadore, is in fact a real character from the X-Men universe.  I don’t know this character and didn’t recognize her in an origin movie because she wasn’t created until nearly 40 years after that origin.

UPDATE 2: I am leaving this post up because it does represent my initial impression of the film but my opinion has changed since.  I wrote an updated review a year or so later after watching the film again on TV.  You can read that review here.