Get Hard Review

I wanted to enjoy Get Hard. I like Will Ferrell; he's been in plenty of good movies. I also like Kevin Hart. I think that he's a good stand-up comedian whose talent unfortunately hasn't yet translated into quality film. When I first heard that he was working with Will Ferrell, I was hopeful that this would be the film that would get people to take him seriously... until I saw the trailer. The movie itself wasn't much better.

Will Ferrell plays a wealthy businessman who, after being promoted, is falsely accused of fraud, and sentenced to prison. He then asks for the help of Kevin Hart, a poor car wash owner. Ferrell pays Hart to prepare him for prison life, unknowing that he has never been to prison.

When the name of the movie is an innuendo, you don't expect subtlety. But much of the humor in this movie is offensive without being funny. Aside from a few moments of lowbrow hilarity, the rest of the movie seemed kind of stupid.

Most of the weight of this failure falls upon Farrell's shoulders. His character is so annoying for most of the movie. The first shot of the movie is a shot of him crying without any context, and it feels out of place. This was probably used to make him look weak so that they could show his transformation, but it really makes him look too weak and kind of dumb. Which is what his character pretty much is. He is not stupid in a charming way like many of his other characters.

The rest of the writing is idiotic. Apparently, Kevin Hart's character believes that the only way to prepare somebody for prison is to force him to pick fights with strangers for no reason, and, at one time, make him give oral sex to a male stranger. There is plenty of dirty, offensive humor, but a lot of it is not that funny. There is a common theme of having them say innuendo, mostly involving the phrase "get hard", to make them look like a gay couple, but it seems to be more offensive than funny. Before Ferrell is arrested, there is some satire of the lives of rich people, but, with some exceptions, it doesn't have the same bite that it wants to have.

Overall, despite a few good parts, Get Hard is a waste of two funny talents. These actors' talent can not save this movie from its juvenile humor and bad writing.

1.5 out of 5 stars

Dead Snow: Red Vs Dead Review

It has been a long time since I have done a review of a movie I saw on Netflix, but when I saw that this movie had been added, I figured that I was going to watch it, which led to me deciding I was going to review it. This is a sequel to a Norwegian horror comedy Dead Snow, which has gained an underground following. I didn't see the original before then, but I streamed it before I saw this one.

Before I start, here's some information about the first one, and what I thought of it (I probably should have written a review of it, but too late now). It told the story of a group of people who go to an isolated cabin, and get attacked by Nazi zombies. I thought the first half of the movie was pretty generic: college students go to a secluded cabin, get attacked, I've seen this a thousand times before. It isn't until about halfway through where things started to pick up. It was at this point where it really showed the campy thrills and dark humor that comes from a movie about Nazi zombies. In these parts, it resembled movies like Shaun of the Dead and Zombieland more than a hardcore scary movie. This part was good, but as a whole the movie was just average. So I was starting to have doubts about this one. But I watched, because the trailer made it look pretty good, and I heard it was getting better critical reception than the original.

In this one, the survivor from the first movie has been framed for the murders that happened, and his severed arm has been accidentally surgically replaced with a zombie's. While on the run, he finds out the same zombies who attacked him, are now set on attacking a city in an attempt to conquer the world, and he, along with a group of other people, are the only ones who can stop them.

And if that sounds like a more ridiculous plot than the one above, that is because it is. But this isn't necessarily a bad thing; if anything it makes it more comically over-the-top.

This was a very funny movie. It was like the original, minus the boring formulaic segments, making it much better. It increases the scale of the original, but doesn't sacrifice the campiness. There are a few plot holes and some jokes fall flat, possibly because they didn't translate very well (though there was an English version shot - which is the one that I watched - it was originally in Norwegian). But in the long run, it is still a pretty entertaining film.

This movie is not for everyone, there is plenty of gore and disturbing sequences. But if you like horror comedy or zombie movies than this might be good for you. This movie is indeed better than the original.

4.5 out of 5 stars