Summer Movies, Parts Two, Three and Four

Continuing right along...

At one point in "The Hangover," beleaguered groom-to-be Doug admonishes his future brother-in-law with the phrase, "Not funny". I couldn't agree more. "The Hangover," among many other things, is largely not funny. It's certainly a letdown from Todd Phillips, whose "Old School" follow-up really should have been better than this.

Zach Galifianakis is a lone highlight in this otherwise rote, by the numbers buddy comedy, so if nothing else, this movie should launch a promising career for him. The rest of the cast is underwhelming at best, and downright unlikable at worst. At the complete opposite end of the spectrum from Galifianakis is Bradley Cooper, whose character is so thoroughly despicable from beginning to end that I can't even be bothered to remember the name. There's nothing funny about him; he's just a dickhead, and he remains unchanged by any of the events of the film.

Good comedies should try to have a heart at the center too. "Old School" did this. Same for "Superbad," hell, even "Step Brothers" had some kind of emotion at its core. This film lacks any heart at all. The hugest insult, however, is in the ending credits, which are set to a montage of honest-to-goodness, laugh-out-loud pictures from the actual bachelor party, which owing to the film's plot none of the characters can remember. Each photo is funnier than the last, and I left the theater wondering why those hadn't formed the story of the movie. At least that film would have been funny.

Anyway, on to better things. First up is Up, Pixar's latest offering. Needless to say, the film is quality, but quite another thing entirely is how eerily close this film comes to the sublime. It's still too soon for me to tell for sure, but based solely on one viewing, as opposed to two or three of "WALL-E," I will venture that "Up" is Pixar's best film to date. From the opening montage detailing Carl's romance with his wife Ellie, who dies before the main plot begins, to the very end, where Carl fills the void left in Russell's life by the young boy's good-for-nothing dad, "Up" is sheer joy, tugging at your heartstrings and ultimately making you feel good about life, the human experience, and yourself. Twice in this film I found myself crying, once because the film was legitimately sad, and once because I was so overwhelmed with happiness (not to be confused with sentiment; the film is never cheesy). It is unbelievable how good this movie is, and the next film notwithstanding, I think I'll crown this one the best film of the summer. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if Pixar went for two in a row; like "WALL-E" last year, "Up" may very well be the best film of 2009.

Finally we come to the juggernaut. Yes, folks, Star Trek is every bit as good as you've heard. JJ Abrams and crew have distilled everything that has made the franchise work into the perfect starting point for a new series of movies. The film has heart, it's entertaining, the action is satisfying; simply put, "Star Trek" is textbook on how to make a summer blockbuster. Is it a great film, as those things go? Certainly not. It lacks the literary merit of even it's television sibling "LOST," but hell if it isn't an incredibly satisfying movie. No one understood better than Gene Roddenberry that more than anything else, these things are meant to be an escape from reality. It's good to see that JJ Abrams is carrying the torch so well.

The Hangover: D
Up: A+
Star Trek: A-