Isaac's Film Reviews

Dawn of a new age. Film review by Isaac Handelman Summer blockbusters are in a time of upheaval. Studios are becoming more willing to take on risky ventures as audiences show an increasing willingness to buy tickets to films based on outlandish properties and unconventional setups. Still, the basic “good vs. evil” archetype has remained a relative staple of tentpole pics. If Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is any indication of the direction in which blockbuster filmmaking is moving, then that could be the next ingrained element to go. Using the word “ballsy” to describe the film’s approach seems quaint; calling Dawn of the Planet of the Apes a “eureka” moment feels more fitting. Embracing moral ambiguity and throwing almost any semblance of “the good guys” or “the bad guys” out the window from the get go, Dawn is an absolute delight: a summer blockbuster that almost never gives its audience the slightest indication of which side to root for. Screenwriters Mark Bomback, Rick J...

Cruise control. Film review by Isaac Handelman Tom Cruise’s newest action vehicle Edge of Tomorrow , despite its prominently featured robotic suits, is anything but mechanical. Directed by Doug Liman of Bourne Identity fame, this sci-fi action blockbuster showcases surprising ingenuity alongside its less surprising, though still impressive, action spectacle. Driven by one of Tom Cruise’s most memorable performances in years, Tomorrow may just be the best movie to yet emerge from 2014’s summer season. Cruise plays against type as Captain Cage, an advocate of a recently developed brand of super-armor outfitting Earth Defense soldiers who are attempting to ward off the assault of a terrifying alien species called Mimics. Cage, not a soldier, is inadvertently thrusted into a pivotal battle against the Mimics: an all-out assault by mankind that’s effectively humanity’s last hope to emerge victorious against the alien scourge. Cage is not the battle-hardened, unkillable veteran...