Reviews

I had the opportunity to see Red Statee on March 5th, 2011 at the Radio City Music hall screening followed by a Q&A with Mr. Smith and cast of the movie.

I am very much a fan of Kevin's other work but after seeing the movie it's clear that this flick transcends his typical fan base. You do NOT need to be a fan of Kevin Smith to enjoy this movie or even know who he is. For starters it's not a comedy or a romance, it's a suspense/thriller/horror with a bit of psychological-ness thrown in the mix in regards to the family's religious fanaticism and how it shapes the characters. I would define this as a character driven film. There are a few action things going on but you really only care about that because you're intrigued by the multi-faceted characters.

Pros: -Great casting and acting. All of the actors, including the young boys, seemed to really understand their roles and pulled them off without a hitch. John Goodman is incredible along with Michael Parks. They really sell the part. -Interesting script. The story doesn't really unfold in the typical/expected way. By this I don't mean there a ton of "m. knight shamamalanalanama" twists, but rather the way the story progresses is slightly off-course from how you would expect it to go. -Engaging cinematography and editing. You can really tell that this movie was edited by someone who smokes (i.e. has a short attention span). Mr. Smith cut out every scrap of "fat" that would have slowed down the pace of the movie and it pays off. Additionally, the cinematography was everything you would want it to be. The majority of the movie is hand held but it's not distracting. They also do the thing where they switch to cameras mounted on the actors so you can see their perspective and it all just worked perfectly in pulling you into the flick.

Cons: -This wasn't an issue for me, but at times in the movie they go from "incredibly serious/scary" to "im making sarcastic/inappropriate jokes." I could see this pulling some people out of the movie.

All-in-all this was a great, fun movie to watch. It is not overly gory and tells a very interesting story. Definitely check it out if you are a fan of good movies! Again, you do NOT have to be a Kevin Smith fan to dig it.

Well, the summary line pretty much says it all. If you don't go into this movie expecting a life-changing experience you'll really enjoy it!

Over-all it is a great depiction of post-apocalyptic life - fans of the Fallout series will dig it for sure. Yes, there are certainly some silly moments but it's still a neat world they've created and it's fun to watch if you're into the post-apocalyptic genre.

As for the characters, Mila Kunis'character is weak but isn't a deal breaker. Gary Oldman also isn't spectacular in the role, surprisingly since it seems like a part he would excel at. He has this odd accent and goes a bit overboard with it. Denzel is spectacular, however.

Definitely a solid watch if you're feeling action.

I'd like to start off saying I'm a huge Kevin Smith fan (movies/comics/smodcasts). That said, this movie fell short of all of my expectations - especially after hearing him tote it on SModcast as a great buddy cop film.

It's definitely entertaining if you feel like a few laughs and aren't expecting too much. The concept of a buddy cop drama directed by Mr. Smith is awesome - but the execution on this was just lazy and sloppy.

-Tracey Morgan brought this movie down 2 or 3 stars for me. I like him on 30 Rock but he can only play one part... the part he plays on 30 Rock. This is also why I didn't like him on SNL - he can't ever convince me he's another character. IMO he completely botched the opening scene(which is supposed to be funny) where he was quoting all of the cop movies/other movies. That was pretty funny dialog, certainly worth a laugh, but Mr. Morgan's execution was just embarrassing (i.e. it made me feel bad for him). He didn't speak clearly and added absolutely nothing to the lines he read. It felt like he didn't want to be there.

-Bruce Willis was clearly not interested in doing this movie. He had absolutely no emotion and you never really felt like he cared about anything that happened - which is supposed to be the main plot point. On a SModcast Mr. Smith references Bruce's lack of willingness to perform the lines as Mr. Smith wanted, which was interesting to hear.

-The cinematography/editing was very poorly done. Several times I felt like I was "missing" something off screen because the shots were either too close or poorly positioned. I kept thinking to myself "Move over! I want to see what's over there!". Many of the shots also lingered way too long without any need. I'm typically patient and don't need a ton of movement, but it just became more and more frustrating as the movie went on.

-Special effects were amateur and not realistic, taking you even further out of the movie.

-The musical score was also amateur and lazy. It felt like all of the music was added by 18 different people - it was never consistent and never matched the "mood" of what was happening on screen. For example, I "high speed" chase with slow music playing.

All of that said, there were a few moments that made me chuckle, but overall it was a disappointment on just about every front. Watch it on TV or Netflix if you are looking for something to fill time, but I wouldn't go out of your way.