The Rotten Watch is back after a strong showing last week. Let's keep the critical ball rolling. This week, Nic Cage is back doing what he does best: breaking out of hell to blow s#$t up. Meanwhile, Owen Wilson gets a break from being married to someone way hotter than he'd ever get in real life.
Remember, I'm not reviewing these movies, just predicting their final Tomatometer score. Let's take a look at what This Rotten Week has to offer.
Drive Angry
Okay, let me get this straight just so we’re all on the same page. Nicholas Cage, for one reason or another, is killed by a some kind of Satanic cult. He then breaks out of Hell in order to stop the same cult from killing his little baby granddaughter. And then he does what any reasonable person does after escaping from the depths of the real Sin City: drive around in cool cars blowing crap up and spouting off snarky one-liners to everyone who stands in his way. Drive Angry everyone!
If anything, this flick seems like some weird mash up of other Nic Cage action movies. It's got Gone in 60 Seconds's (25%) cool muscle cars, Ghost Rider's (27%) breaking out of hell theme, Con Air's (56%) propensity for over-the-top explosions, and every other Nic Cage action movie's dialogue. So yeah, this should be a fun ride.
One reason director Patrick Lussier's (My Bloody Valentine - 56%) latest film won't end up in the bottom quarter of the Tomatometer is that the whole production does have the feel of something not taking itself too seriously. Critics may pick up on this and give the review a bit of a pass. I think that happens here, with the score reflecting a group of people heading into the theater knowing they are getting shoot 'em up, blow 'em up, one-liner 'em up action flick. The Rotten Watch for Drive Angry is 40%.
Hall Pass
One thing we can say about the Farrelly Brothers' movies, they're remarkable consistent in the Tomatometer. Outside of a couple of outliers in There's Something About Mary (83%) and The Heartbreak Kid (31%), their movies fall within 50-60% range almost without fail. This makes sense, considering their brand of humor is not for everyone and their storytelling is usually in the good, but not great, area.
The Farrelly Brothers typically create goofy and likable characters who don't get that the joke is on them. This plays well enough on the big screen. Which leads us to Hall Pass, with Owen Wilson and Jason Sudeikis given a week off from their way-too-hot-and-forgiving wives (Christina Applegate and Jenna Fischer) in order to sow some wild oats. A clever enough concept that appears to have a couple of laughs here and there. But in typical Farrelly fashion, Hall Pass looks like a movie that never quite gets to the heights Ben Stiller, Cameron Diaz and Brett Favre reached more than a decade ago.
I wish Owen Wilson, and his comedic chops, were enough to push the Rotten Watch a little higher. But, alas his career's been all over the place with hits like Wedding Crashers (75%) and Starksy and Hutch (64%) overshadowed by massive duds like You, Me and Dupree (21%), Drillbit Taylor (26%), and How Do You Know (30%). It looks like the Farrelly Brothers keep it close to the middle again. The Rotten Watch for Hall Pass is 51%.
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Recapping last week:
It was a nice little run for the Rotten Watch as every prediction fell close to the mark.
It wouldn't take Nostradamus to anticipate Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son (Predicted: 10% Actual: 8%) being an epically crappy flick. That said, cutting it within two percent is a nice win. At one point during the week I thought it would end up with a zero. Thankfully, some critics have some pretty low standards. Meanwhile, Unknown (Predicted: 48% Actual: 56%) ended up a shade more positive than I thought, but within ten percent is nothing to scoff at.
I Am Number Four (Predicted: 42% Actual: 27%) was another disappointment for the "Hey I'm young, good looking and have super powers" genre. How sad. I always want these flicks to crush it, and they never fail to just blow hard.
Next week Matt Damon gets an attitude adjustment, Topher Grace leaves the 70's and heads into the 80's, Johnny Depp plays the chameleon and Vanessa Hudgens dates a really ugly dude. It's going to be a Rotten Week!
