Isaac's Film Reviews

Out of the darkness comes light. Full, spoiler-free review by Isaac Handelman With J.J. Abrams officially chosen as the helmer of Disney’s forthcoming Star Wars: Episode VII, Star Trek Into Darkness has some sky-high expectations to live up to. Not only must it prove to be a worthy follow-up to the stellar 2009 franchise reboot, but the film now has the hefty task of proving to legions of fans that Abrams was indeed the right choice to hold the reins to the two biggest science-fiction franchises in existence. Rarely do I get the pleasure of confirming that a film lives up to the hype, but Star Trek Into Darkness does . It is a grand, endlessly creative sequel that opens many exciting new doors for the rebooted franchise while paying serious homage to its source material. And it didn’t take me long to deduce the film’s high quality. Darkness opens with an awe-inspiring action sequence that I won’t spoil here. Suffice to say, it’s a sensational start to a galaxy-span...

Does Marvel's Phase Two kickoff stand up to the studio's high pedigree? Review by Isaac Handelman *Note: Contains some very minor spoilers unless otherwise noted. There comes a point in Iron Man 3 when Guy Pearce, in character as maniacal scientist Aldrich Killian, tells Tony Stark, “ Ever since that dude with the hammer fell out of the sky, subtlety’s kind of had its day.” Well, it would seem that, with the arrival of the third Iron Man film, subtlety has indeed had its day. I decided that around the time Killian, in a mad rage, began breathing fire at Don Cheadle’s ever-endearing Colonel Rhoades. And, if any doubt still existed in my mind as to the validity of my hypothesis, it was erased when Killian took off his shirt to reveal two huge dragon tattoos adorning his chest. “But Marvel movies have never been subtle; why is this suddenly an issue?” you ask. Subtlety may not be easily attainable when a film’s protagonist is a superhero, but a fine line exists between b...

Searching for depth where none exists Full, spoiler-free review by Isaac Handelman Recent films like Inception have proved that huge audiences exist for complex, narrative-driven blockbusters, which has led many studios to incorporate mind-bending stories into their big-budget pics, rather than the usual straightforward, mindless fun that blockbusters promise. These types of films have the potential to impress with intricately woven plots and the mature expectancy of their viewers to be capable of comprehending narrative complexity. Oblivion wants so badly to be held in this regard that it too often loses its way. Tom Cruise takes center stage as Jack Harper, a drone repairman on a radiation-ridden, post-alien-invasion Earth. Though humanity emerged “victorious” from the war, the planet was rendered uninhabitable in the process and the human race was evacuated to a giant floating space-station called the Tet for later transport to a permanent colonization location. As Harp...

A sprawling spectacle with intermittent stumbles Full, spoiler-free review by Isaac Handelman No matter your opinion on the film as a whole, it’s easy to get caught up in the sheer spectacle of Les Miserables . Spanning almost two decades and multiple cities and sporting a branching narrative that tells the tales of numerous protagonists, the film’s scope is admirable. Les Mis makes makes a few missteps while accomplishing the daunting task laid out before it, but it’s ultimately a memorable, one-of-a-kind cinematic experience. For those who don’t already know, Les Mis is set in post-revolutionary France, and the anchor of the tale is Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman), who, prior to the film’s opening, served a nineteen-year prison sentence as punishment for stealing a loaf of bread for his sister’s starving child. Not long into the proceedings, Valjean is released and put on a strict parole, which he promptly breaks in favor of living out his life under a pseudonym while under consta...

Getting warmer and warmer   Full, spoiler-free review by Isaac Handelman Warm Bodies really doesn’t make much sense. I mean, just take a look at the premise; a zombie falls in love with a human girl and proceeds to slowly come back to life. Not only is the setup implausible (even by zombie lore standards), but it sounds outrageous to the point of becoming just plain silly. Well, much of the time, Warm Bodies is just that: silly. What’s surprising, however, is how sweet the film manages to become by its conclusion, and the lengths to which it manages to endear its characters -- living and dead alike. In the post-zombie-apocalyptic world of Warm Bodies , the undead (dubbed “corpses”) still retain basic human features. They possess rudimentary hand-eye coordination, they can think for themselves, and they can even communicate using fragmented sentences in croaky whispers. Of course, the corpses still have an insatiable desire to -- you guessed it -- eat brains, making cooperat...

A romantic comedy chock full of silver linings. Full, spoiler-free review by Isaac Handelman Rom-coms have gained quite the deadly reputation around Hollywood, and it’s easy to see why considering the constant deluge of pathetically generic genre entries. There’s no mistaking Silver Linings Playbook for anything but a romantic comedy, and yet strangely enough, it isn’t bad. Playbook is a refreshing breath of what romantic-comedies once were, and what they have the potential to be: amusing, heartfelt glimpses at the ups and downs of complicated relationships. Playbook focuses on Pat (Bradley Cooper), a man suffering from bi-polarity who’s fresh out of a mental hospital and has moved back to his hometown and into the house of his parents (Robert de Niro and Jacki Weaver). Pat is intent on winning back his ex-wife Nikki, and intends to do so by striking a deal with recovering-sex-addict, recently-widowed Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence). The ensuing relationship between Pat and Tiffa...

From humble beginnings Full spoiler-free review by Isaac Handelman Zero Dark Thirty is not a war movie. It’s definitely not an action movie. It’s a military  thriller for about twenty minutes, and a well-written, tense political drama for an hour. That leaves about half the movie -- an hour and twenty-minutes if anyone’s counting -- to be something else. What, exactly? Well, the most accurate descriptor I can sum up would be a globe-trotting, talk-heavy bore.  Now, I relay this not to be unnecessarily harsh, nor to criticize Zero Dark Thirty ’s lack of action when it’s not aiming to be action-heavy in the first place, but the fact of the matter is, a huge chunk of Zero Dark Thirty just isn’t very interesting. Don’t get me wrong: I’m all for dialogue-heavy dramas, so long as they are well acted, dramatic, and sharply written. On one of these fronts, Zero Dark Thirty emerges victorious: Jessica Chastain’s lead performance isn’t going to win any Oscars (in fact, I’m so...