How To Be Single

How To Be Single is surprisingly good. On the surface it seems like a standard unimpressive rom-com, but it ends up not at all adhering to any of the tropes of the genre. Despite the name of the film, I had thought that the main character Alice would end up with some guy and be happy, but it completely goes against expectations. Something that was promised last year with Amy Schumer's Trainwreck, that that movie ultimately failed to deliver on.

Alice (Dakota Johnson) decides to split briefly from her college boyfriend Josh (Nicholas Braun) so she can learn how to be her own person. She moves to New York where she befriends Robin (Rebel Wilson) who teaches her how to enjoy single life. Meanwhile, Alice's sister Meg (Leslie Mann) is a career oriented doctor who decides that she wants to have a baby and embarks on the IVF process. Alice gets caught up with bar owner Tom (Anders Holm) who shows her his honest tactics when it comes to sleeping with girls and not getting attached with anyone. He does however have a crush on Lucy (Allison Brie), a girl who lives above his bar and is focused on getting married to someone soon. Alice also gets involved with David (Damon Wayans Jr.), a father who is still reeling from the death of his wife two years earlier.

The overall message of the movie is a positive one. Most romantic comedies make it seem like it's the end of the world if your story doesn't end with you meeting that person who is perfect for you. How To Be Single teaches you to just be comfortable with whatever situation you end up in, whether it's being single or in a relationship. I like the realistic way in which this film comes together. All the character interactions are completely organic and the character arcs happen the way they would in real life as opposed to a Hollywood movie. Alice doesn't get back together with her old boyfriend and even though Tom gets his chance at giving his big emotional speech, it doesn't end up working at all. Despite these positives, there are some flaws with the script. Meg comes to the realisation that she wants to have a baby after spending a few minutes with one. It's as if all her ambitions of having a career give way to maternal instincts just because she holds a baby one time. Also there's a bit of a black hole in the third act when we just flash forward to three months later without referencing anything that happened during them.

Watching this movie, I realised that Dakota Johnson can't really act, showing that acting talent isn't exactly hereditary (her dad Don was one half of Miami Vice), but in this movie it's okay because the audience is able to put themselves in the shoes of her character, despite the lack of personality. Also Rebel Wilson plays the same Australian character as in the other films she's in, making me wonder how bad her American accent is (Dakota Johnson on the other hand does quite a passable Aussie accent). Thankfully we don't see Johnson and Wilson for all the movie and the supporting cast actually has a lot of screen time. Leslie Mann has always been a remarkable actress and is great at playing serious against funny which comes in handy here. Allison Brie is fun as Lucy, but can do better. The male cast members take a back seat but are still pretty funny, especially Jason Mantzoukas and Jake Lacy, who I thought was a lot funnier here than his last role in Love The Coopers. Damon Wayans Jr. has the potential to be a hilarious actor, but sadly his role wasn't calling for it. Both Nicholas Braun and Anders Holm play serious guys as well.

How To Be Single offers a refreshing take on modern relationships that is more in keeping with reality. But if you're not into that and just want to watch an easy rom-com, this movie isn't going to hurt you at all either. Poor lead performances aren't enough to make it horrible either.

Big Hero 6

    "This may undermine my non-threatening huggable design."

Another year, another superb Disney Animation. Big Hero 6 strangely emerges as Disney's response to the critical and commercial successes of The Lego Movie and Guardians of the Galaxy, and steals the hearts of audiences in the post-Christmas movie release boom.

Hiro Hamada is a techno-genius 14-year old high-school graduate making a bad reputation for himself in the underground robot fighting circuit of San Fransokyo, a Japan-ified interpretation of San Fransisco. After being arrested for his behaviour, his college-age elder brother Tadashi attempts to coerce Hiro to enroll at his college by showing him the laboratory he works in. Hiro is amazed by the amazing inventions that his brother, his friends and mentor all create, and is inspired to join the university's science department. After meeting the sweet Honey Lemon, independent GoGo, excitable Wasabi, man-child Fred and the supportive Dr. Callaghan. Tadashi then introduces Hiro to his latest robot, Baymax, a white, inflated humanoid balloon surrounding a robotic skeleton that is built as a cuddly all-in-one medical unit. In an attempt to impress Dr Callaghan at a science fair and gain admittance to the university Hiro develops a horde of micro-robots controlling by a neural headband and after a magnificent performance is approached by both Callaghan and technological magnate Alistair Krei. After rejecting Krei's offer the building is set alight and Tadashi dies attempting to rescue Callaghan from the fire. In a grief-stricken state Hiro discovers Baymax in his brothers room and the two investigate the fate of Hiro's microbots and Tadashi's death. After they are confronted with a Kabuki-masked villain who is controlling the micro-bots, Hiro forms a superhero team by adapting the technologies that his brothers friends were developing, and employing them onto his team.

In typical Disney and Pixar style, the film is directed by a duo, Dom Hall and Chris Williams, whose work at Disney is most prominently as writers for many of their traditionally animated films, though Williams also co-directed Bolt. Being a Disney animated film, Big Hero 6 is fast, witty and vibrant in colour and design. The film works as an excellent slap-stick comedy wherein Hall and Williams, and their editor Tim Merterns (Wreck-It Ralph, Tangeled) display an enviable taste for comic timing with lingering shots repeatedly used for outstanding comic effect, and Baymax rivaling Dave Bautista's performance in Guardians as a hilarious comic foil through his literal interpretation of the world around him. The characters, both main and support, are all wonderfully animated and voiced, with Baymax, Tadashi and Aunt Cass emerging as crowd-pleasers. The action is fast and frantic, but always clear and precise, with appropriate attention given to each hero. The villain and his plot, while certainly nefarious, are nevertheless lacking the depth seen in the rest of the film, as their motivation is nearly absent for three-quarters of the movie and their deisgn is minimal.

Much like the popular Guardians of the Galaxy from earlier this year, Big Hero 6 is an even looser adaptation of an obscure Marvel comic about a superhero team, and they do battle against a horde of what amounts to be semi-sentient Lego blocks, so in some ways the films intentions are fairly unsubtle. In contrast, the internal themes of the film are revenge and grief, and how they shape the actions of people who are lost in those emotions. Hiro is absolutely lost in grief in the wake of Tadashis death and as such, when given the opportunity for revenge, he is as single-minded. The film at times addresses this as a side-effect of puberty, but overall it presents a neat and practical character arc for Hiro because these emotions change him, as well as other characters. The film's dynamic and diverse cast also set it aside from other animated features, with three Asian-American major characters, one black and one possibly Latino (at least the voice actress is) in a city depicted in a cultural mash-up. This shows a maturation of design for Disney that probably has nothing at all to do with appealing to the fastest growing cinematic audience in China. It's a good thing likely done for the wrong reasons.

That being said, Big Hero 6 lacks the thematic and tonal depths that'll resonate with adult audiences in the way that Pixar films like Up!, Finding Nemo, and The Incredibles do, but instead teenaged audiences should walk away supremely satisfied, as will kids.. While the villain is quite flat, the setting, animation, and character arcs are pretty excellent, the action and comedy live up to the high standards of these films, and it's impossible to walk away from this movie without a smile plastered on your face. Big Hero 6 leaves itself open to sequels and they would surely be welcome.

Let's Be Cops

I'm really glad that this movie points out how illegal it is to run around pretending to be a police officer, not to mention how dangerous it would be, because I reckon it's something people might (and probably already) do. But for Jake Johnson and Damon Wayans, Jr. it looks like a lot of fun. 

Justin (Wayans) and Ryan (Johnson) are two losers in their early thirties who wish their life was better. For their upcoming college reunion, they decide to dress as cops because Ryan misunderstood the dress code on the invitation. After they realise the mischief that they can get away with, they keep up the charade for a while until getting dragged into an actual organised crime investigation.

For the most part this movie is a lot of fun. There are some great montages with Johnson's character learning how to be an officer from Youtube videos and the scenes where the two of them are adjusting to this new life that they have created for themselves, but are still unsure of what they should do, are hilarious. Despite this, the film does take a turn toward the end and the climax of the film is actually quite tense (compared to the light-hearted tone that preceded it).

Wayans and Johnson make a hilarious duo in the movie and work together excellently. There are some funny scenes in which they are talking to another character and both of their reaction shots to what the other is saying is hilarious. Nina Dobrev plays Justin's love interest, Josie, but she isn't given a whole lot to do in the story which is a bit disappointing, considering her talents.

The rest of the cast are very strong. Rob Riggle gets to play a serious cop for once (as opposed to his role in The Hangover). Andy García and James D'Arcy both play suitable villains but they serve more as foils for Johnson and Wayans. Natasha Leggero and Keegan-Michael Key both have hilarious cameos that are definitely a high point of the movie.

Verdict: A fun and serviceable buddy cop comedy that has got some great gags, especially Wayans reading text messages as a black woman.