Nerve (2016)

In a serious effort to catch up with 2016 movies, although not exactly Oscar nominees, Nerve came onto my radar with its discounted rental price at the Google Play store. I’m a fan of Emma Roberts. In fact, I haven’t seen many movies of hers that I disliked so I’m pretty confident that I’ll like it plus the plot looks something right up my alley.

Let’s check it out!

Nerve (2016)

Director: Henry Joost & Ariel Schulman

Cast: Emma Roberts, Dave Franco, Emily Meade, Machine Gun Kelly, Miles Heizer, Juliette Lewis, Kimiko Glenn,

A high school senior finds herself immersed in an online game of truth or dare, where her every move starts to become manipulated by an anonymous community of “watchers.”-IMDB

The world of games and reality are not unfamiliar territory and the world Nerve actually feels quite authentic in the most high stakes way. Nerve is a game of truth and dare set by an anonymous group of watchers which set around a set of rules to get to the finals with each dare being more and more risky. Nerve isn’t only a game but a server that hides its watchers behind the screen. Perhaps the side message to get from this game extends to one about cyberbullying and how easy it is to be anonymous behind a computer screen and cause irreparable harm and not have regards for the consequences while also manipulating its players for money, sometimes a lot of money. But then, you can’t clap with one hand. The players’ greed or inner satisfaction or adrenaline rush also pushes them to follow through. The game itself is set up in a believable way, depending on what crazy things you would believe others to do. Nerve is everywhere on the community and perhaps that makes it even more compelling as the directors shoot this film in a mesmerizing way, blending in colors to aid the tone, keeping it fun and dangerous and mysterious, and also using the camera angles that remind us that we are also a watcher as we follow primarily Vee and Ian on their Nerve team-up to the top.

One of the best parts of Nerve starts when we meet Vee and learn about her fears and how she really doesn’t stand up for herself or do anything for herself. All this leads to her jumping into Nerve and choosing to be a player. The first task leads her to kiss a stranger or we soon learn isn’t really one because said stranger, played by Dave Franco is Ian who had instructions to be there. See the manipulation already? However, they are asked to team-up on each of their dares amd as the movie progresses, they have a much deeper connection. Except what also starts out fun turns out to be even more chaotic. Emma Roberts and Dave Franco were great in Nerve. They embraced their role perfectly whether in the silly fun parts to the more dangerous bits, there is a great connection between them that makes it authentic and work.

There are some little parts in this one that I’m not sure works well. For one, there isn’t a fleshed out enough devotion to the side characters. The supporting cast themselves consists of a few roles. One which is done well although used in a very convenient way is Vee’s hobby hacker friend (who also seems to have a crush on her), Tommy (Miles Heizer). Tommy is a key character because without reliable and loyal friends, its hard to have progressed. Plus, he has a skill set and connections that helps. Other than him, there is Sydney (Emily Meade) who is the one who introduces Nerve to Vee and also a good friend who always wants attention and is also a player who likes to push the limits. However, what falls apart a little is the predictable conflict between Sydney and Vee. I can see how it contributes to the story especially as we step into the third act but secretly, a part of me wanted the story to be focusing on Vee and Ian and the whole Nerve issue because it didn’t feel like there was a bigger purpose. This is really the only issue I had with the movie. On the side, there was also two supporting characters which are familiar faces from Orange is the New Black who are incredibly likeable as well. They  are one of the other friends, Liv (Kimiko Glen) in Vee’s group which follows Sydney around mostly as a watcher and outside from the scene is Tommy’s friend, Hacker Kween (Samira Wiley). Finally, wildly underused is one of the somewhat “villainous” characters that show up everywhere is TJ (Machine Gun Kelly). If there was something else that should be more fleshed out would be his character who mysteriously pops up here and there but somehow has more significance in the end but never enough to make us really care.

Nerve is a really good movie. I have my opinions on the direction it chooses to take at certain moments but it is no doubt a fun and adrenaline-filled ride from the moment we start seeing Emma Roberts’ character press the Player button on Nerve and break out of her introvert and controlled world. Some characters could be more fleshed out to follow the direction of where they wanted it to end. But at the same time, if this was a story less about the petty conflicts but more about Ian, Vee and Nerve would be better and more polished. However, there’s still a lot to enjoy in this movie.

Now You See Me (2013)

The post for yesterday didn’t really happen but I did manage to squeeze in a movie on my down time and I felt like I needed a little magic in my life so I put in a movie I’ve been wanting to see since it hit the big screen but missed because lets just say, I was the only one that was enthusiastic about it.  Despite the pretty much average reviews, I still have rather high hopes for this one. Lets do it! Back on track with catching up on 2013 flicks 🙂

Director: Louis Leterrier

Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Isla Fisher, Woody Harrelson, Dave Franco, Mark Ruffalo, Melanie Laurent, Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine

Four solo magicians (Jesse Eisenberg, Isla Fisher, Wood Harrelson, Dave Franco) come together to form the Four Horsemen. In their first act in Las Vegas, they attempt to rob a bank and give back to the audience.  This alerts the FBI and the case is handed to  Dylan Rhodes (Mark Ruffalo) who is forced to team up with Interpol agent, Alma Dary (Melanie Laurent) to try and catch them.  Meanwhile, they seem to always be a step ahead.

Now You See Me is a crime/mystery thriller.  Let me first talk about why this movie drew me in.  First of all, its about magic.  I like that stuff.  I’m one of those really easily tricked people and I can never replicate or figure out how any trick is done so I’m the optimal target audience for this because I’ll just lick it right up and not really think but enjoy the show.  Second, notice the cast up there.  Its full of actors and actresses I like (if not, love).  I’ll elaborate on that point a bit later. Last, its essentially a heist flick, a thriller and a mystery, all of the above is one of my favorite genres.

Now You See Me is very much like watching a magic show.  Everything is flashy and there’s plenty of action.  The first two acts were fun and impeccable to watch on screen.  The effects were not so 2013 but more 2003 but thats okay, I’m not very nitpicky about that sort of thing. Its really just something I noticed.  The action was great and for the most part, I was pretty drawn into the movie.  The only deal was that there was something missing to pull me in completely because right near the finale, I pressed pause and was about to shower and then I noticed I had 15 minutes so I sat back down and continued on.  Usually, I don’t want to leave my chair at the end.  So I acknowledge something wasn’t there, I just can’t pinpoint what. Maybe its the connection to any of the characters…I need to think that one through again.

With that point we head into the characters.  Other than Dave Franco being a new face (which I’ve only seen before in 21 Jump Street) in The Four Horsemen, I really like the other three.  Jesse Eisenberg and Woody Harrelson worked fantastic in Zombieland so I was hopeful about their performance here and it didn’t disappoint.  I love Isla Fisher because she is quite good in a lot of the roles. Dave Franco was pretty good too and well, he has charm and style.  The Four Horsemen meshed well together and that carried a good part of the movie to a good level for me.  And then we come to our opposite party, Melanie Laurent and Mark Ruffalo.  I’ve only seen these two previously separately in one other movie before this one, I was alright with them in this.  I can’t help but feel like it could have been better, but I’m no expert at this so its just a feeling I’m getting. Finally, we have two of my favorite actors: Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman.  They may have very small roles but I pretty much have admitted that Michael Caine doesn’t have to do much and he can be totally awesome, the same goes for Morgan Freeman 🙂 Great actors can portray what they want to convey in their facial expressions and these two do it so well.

Now You See Me is really a movie that resembles watching a magic show. You either buy it or you don’t.  For me, my fascination for magic probably made me like this movie a lot more than the majority of viewers.  The cast and their chemistry with each other brings the movie to a more enjoyable level as well.  There are some part of the plot that seems to fall flat, especially nearing the end when it becomes a bit more predictable in some parts where I did guess it but it could have gone both ways.  After these are magicians, so you never know if what happens is what they planned or not.

There is no doubt in my mind that I believe this is a good movie.  I would gladly watch it again, maybe not in abundance but its one that I bought their acts and I had fun and was entertained.  Thats what matters in the end, right?

Have you seen Now You See Me? What do you think about it?

21 Jump Street (2012)

I feel like Channing Tatum is taking over my movie collection. Another one and its 21 Jump Street. I saw this about a week ago and I haven’t really been able to pinpoint how I feel about it.

Director: Phil Lord and Chris Miller

Cast: Channing Tatum, Jonah Hill, Ice Cube,  Brie Tracey, Dave Franco, Rob Riggle, Ellie Kemper, Jake Johnson

Back in high school, Schmidt (Jonah Hill) and Jenko (Channing Tatum) couldn’t be more different. However,  due to their own reasons they both ended up missing senior prom. Years later, they meet again in police academy and eventually become good friends and partners. When they get chosen to be part of the secret mission team, 21 Jump Street lead by Captain Dickson (Ice Cube) for their young physical appearances, they have to investigate disguised as brothers in high school. Much to their surprise, the high scene has changed a lot from how they remembered it and they each need to overcome their own problems to figure out who leads the drug ring in the high school and how to arrest them to prevent it from spreading out to other schools.

The best part about this movie was the bromance. Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill make for a great cop duo. Their interaction made it so funny. I’m not one to fully appreciate certain forms of humor in movies normally but this one had a few funny moments that got me.  Before this movie and just 2012 in general, I always felt that Channing Tatum had this very blank look in this face which works for the roles that he was casted in.  Some thing resembling the army/military background with some parts of him being unable to allow him to emote thoroughly. It worked alright with that character but this one, I felt like he burst out of his shell.  Of course, after that, he did Magic Mike which was totally different also.

I’m not too familiar with Jonah Hill and looking at his filmography, he’s actually voiced some parts for some pretty good animated flicks.  I wasn’t particularly pleased with his humor here by himself.  As a team with Channing Tatum, he was a lot more appealing especially when they fought like children.  The best had to be Ellie Kemper who played Ms. Griggs.  She was hilarious! I really loved Ice Cube doing Captain Dickson also.  They were the highlights of this movie.  One more mention goes out to Jake Johnson in the role of the principal of the school.  All very good supporting cast to make it even more comedic 🙂

This is pretty much an action comedy.  To me, there wasn’t a whole lot of action but the comedy was decent so its average.  It won’t be a waste of time to watch this, mostly because there are parts that prove to be surprisingly quite fun 🙂 The bromance is outstanding and you’ll have fun watching some of the on screeen chemistry go on.  It has some awkward humor here and there but it all works to its favor!

Comedy is appealing or not depending on who watches it so there really is not recommendation or not.  The best way to know is to just watch the trailer and see if that sort of thing appeals to you.  If it does, then go for it.  Its pretty enjoyable 🙂

Did you enjoy 21 Jump Street? What do you think of Channing Tatum and/or Jonah Hill?