CAPSULE REVIEWS: Cradle 2 The Grave, Gerry, Tears of the Sun, Versus and Hero

Matthew Goltz
20 March 2003

Cradle 2 The Grave:
I can't say I went into the theater with high expectations on this hip-hop actioner, yet I was greatly surprised to find how much wild and crazy fun it was. Completely unsubtle, and loveable for it, this movie from director Andrzei Bartkowiak (Romeo Must Die, Exit Wounds) plays like a mish-mash of the more successful elements of his previous two offerings while upping-the-ante on the surreal action it offers. While Jet Li and DMX don't make the most sparkling of partners, they come alive whenever there's an ATV to be jacked or a Toughman Competition to be disrupted. They're actually only part of an ensemble cast including Gabrielle Union, Kelly Hu, Mark Dacascos, Tom Arnold and Anthony Anderson (only the great Steven Seagal seems to be missing from this acting troupe). Inventive and ridiculous fun every minute.
*** stars out of four

Gerry:
Gus Van Zant's new film (though "photographic essay" might be a more apt description) offers the audience so little in terms of definition or information that it barely qualifies as a movie at all. Largely improvised on-the-spot by actors Matt Damon and Casey Affleck, the film revels in its vagueness, practically daring the viewer to stay through the entire piece. The images of the desert itself are often striking, and the leads do have a goofy charm. But while one can applaud the artists' intentions and admire their goal of creating challenging cinema, none of that makes the film any more involving or even interesting. "Two men get lost in the desert and talk nonsensically until (something happens)." Things never really get beyond that description and Gerry becomes little more than a curiosity.
**

Tears of the Sun:
The tribal, religious and political conflicts of Africa serve as the backdrop for this military action drama starring Bruce Willis as a rescue squad commander who breaks from his assigned mission, the recovery of missionary Monica Bellucci, to help a group of refugees being hunted by extremists. The film is not the load of macho-war-heroics one would gather it to be from the ad campaign; it's more expressionistic in it's long silent passages and moral high mindedness. It succeeds exactly where films like Windtalkers fail; by keeping the action more dramatic than overblown, the characters more withheld than talkative and the message more noble than cliched. Former music video director Antoine Fuqua (The Replacement Killers, Training Day) has come far in his short time. During the film, I recall thinking that the jungle can really only be so interesting, visually. Fuqua seems to agree and chose to eschew rapid visuals in exchange for some suspense. The script could have used one more pass on an ensemble-interaction level. But one has to admire when, in these uncertain times, a war movie and it's characters are allowed to "cowboy up" and take a stand.
***

Versus:
This Japanese marriage of crime, martial arts and horror is easily the wildest and most gory film I've seen since Ichi The Killer and nearly as much fun. Best described as a cross between Reservoir Dogs and Night of the Living Dead (with a little Highlander thrown in); criminals meet in the wilderness and all supernatural hell breaks loose. As with Ichi, the less one knows going in, the better. The deceptively simple storyline gives way to flash, dash and grizzly, often hilarious carnage. Ryuhei Kitamura directs this inexpensive-looking action-comedy impressively and provides twists, turns, screams and laughs making Versus an economical slaughterfest destined to become a cult classic.
***

Hero:
This Academy Award nominee for Best Foreign Language Film is a gloriously photgraphed, edited, scored, directed and performed film combining the lyrical beauty of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon with the tragedy of Shakespeare and the scope of Akira Kurosawa. The story of a Warrior (the impressive Jet Li) detailing his amazing battle exploits to his King (Daoming Chen) is told using the most beautiful of imagery and most dazzling of martial arts, making this film unlike any I've seen before. Extra praise goes to the actors (among them Maggie Cheung, Tony Leung, Donnie Yen and Ziyi Zhang) for never allowing the splendid visuals overpower their performances. Raising the Kung Fu action film to an entirely new level, filmmaker Yimou Zhang has fashioned a soulful, cerebral motion picture that entertains as much as it challenges and captivates. A side note: The 98 minute cut of Hero screened in China and currently available on licensed, imported DVD's had been edited (over twenty minutes has been removed) at the behest of Miramax Films. A "Director's Cut" DVD is reportedly being prepared, restoring the lost material, and Miramax may or may not release that extended version into American theaters this summer. Either way, Hero demands to be seen on the largest screen the viewer can find. It's as impressive as it is important and will likely be remembered fondly in filmgoers' minds -- no matter what version in which it's seen.
***1/2 (for the 98 minute version)