Arts & Entertainment
Movie Reviews: A 'Tasteless, Ridiculous' Seth Rogen/James Franco Comedy
Find movie reviews and showtimes for theaters in the south metro.
Editor's Note: All reviews and information aggregated from Moviefone and RottenTomatoes.
Want to catch a movie this weekend? Here is Patch's roundup of movies playing at the three theaters in the south metro: Burnsville's Paragon Odyssey 15, Marcus Rosemount Cinema, Apple Valley’s Carmike Cinema and Great Clips IMAX Theatre at the Minnesota Zoo.
New this weekend:
This is the End
One sentence plot: The comedy This Is The End follows six friends trapped in a house after a series of strange and catastrophic events devastate Los Angeles.
Rotten Tomatoes viewer score: 88
Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 81
Reviews:
"As long as Rogen and his buddies are just as self-involved, crude, obnoxious and hopefully exaggerated versions of themselves, things stay pretty funny." NPR Full Review
One sentence plot: Wedding Crashers duo Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn reteam on this Shawn Levy-directed comedy as two out of work salesmen who have to compete as interns in a tech company in order to score a job.
Rotten Tomatoes viewer score: 96
Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 32
Reviews:
"Director Shawn Levy's work has, as always, all the edge of a tub of margarine - he's the guy who did "Night at the Museum." And "The Internship" has the air of a promotional video for Google." New York Post Full Review
"The premise, like the whole movie, is far-fetched but enjoyable." Associated Press Full Review
----
The Purge
One sentence plot: In The Purge, a speculative thriller that follows one family over the course of a single night, four people will be tested to see how far they will go to protect themselves when the vicious outside world breaks into their home.
Rotten Tomatoes viewer score: 96
Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 47
Reviews:
"After a wickedly promising start, this pointed political satire quickly deteriorates into a fairly routine, if sporadically quite effective, home-invasion thriller." New York Post Full Review
"The Purge clearly has a lot on its mind, but it never really manages to express it." Entertainment Weekly Full ReviewAfter Earth
One sentence plot: A crash landing leaves teenager Kitai Raige (Jaden Smith) and his legendary father Cypher (Will Smith) stranded on Earth, 1,000 years after cataclysmic events forced humanity's escape.
Rotten Tomatoes viewer score: 97
Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 15
Reviews:
"'After Earth' is a work of hubris magnified by multiple miscalculations, the kind of film that would cause Ed Wood to excuse himself and skulk to the exit." Star Tribune Full Review
"Jaden is fine at running, jumping, fearful trembling, and affecting steely resolution. He doesn't yet have his father's charisma; perhaps to help him out, dad opted not to bring that charisma to the set." Village Voice Full Review
"Basically, this is Smith and his real-life son, Jaden (both affecting ridiculous mid-Atlantic accents) talking the audience to death for something like 90 minutes before the closing credits." New York Post Full Review
----
The Hangover Part III
One sentence plot: "The Hangover Part III" is the third and final film in director Todd Phillips' record-shattering comedy franchise.
Rotten Tomatoes viewer score: 88
Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 27
Reviews:
"The first movie left you with an exhilarating rush. All that Part III leaves is, well, a hangover." Rolling Stone Full Review
"The Hangover Part III gives off such a stench of creative decay that it hardly seems possible that even Phillips or his co-writers have any use for the movie themselves." Time Magazine Full Review
----
Fast & Furious 6
One sentence plot: The Fast and the Furious franchise continues with this sixth entry from Universal Pictures.Rotten Tomatoes viewer score: 98
Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 76
Reviews:
"True, the movie doesn't know when or how to put the brakes on. It does, however, understand precisely what it is." The Los Angeles Times Full Review
"A borderline ridiculous, over-the-top demolition derby that also happens to be a perfectly constructed low-IQ blast." Entertainment Weekly Full Review
One sentence plot: When the crew of the Enterprise is called back home, they find an unstoppable force of terror from within their own organization has detonated the fleet and everything it stands for, leaving our world in a state of crisis.
Rotten Tomatoes viewer score: 89
Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 86
Reviews:
"Abrams boldly goes into Star Trek Into Darkness, and crushes it again. It's more fun and more intense, without giving less to the characters." Rolling Stone Full Review
"J.J. Abrams's Star Trek Into Darkness, the sequel to his prequel, delivers the goods, even if some of the goods are less than fresh." Christian Science Monitor Full Review
"I thought it was really fun, an inventive, surprising rethinking of some of "Star Trek's" most hallowed inventions, but I'm not wedded to the source material as gospel. Trekkies will think it's a desecration. So, pick your side." Arizona Republic Full Review
----
The Great Gatsby
One sentence plot: "The Great Gatsby" follows Fitzgerald-like, would-be writer Nick Carraway (Tobey Maguire) as he leaves the Midwest and comes to New York City in the spring of 1922, an era of loosening morals, glittering jazz, bootleg kings, and sky-rocketing stocks.
Rotten Tomatoes viewer score: 98
Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 40
Reviews:
"Frenzied and overwrought, Baz Luhrmann's The Great Gatsby is a glitz-filled folly." USA Today Full Review
"The result is less a conventional movie adaptation than a splashy, trashy opera, a wayward, lavishly theatrical celebration of the emotional and material extravagance that Fitzgerald surveyed with fascinated ambivalence." New York Times Full Review
"Where this 'Gatsby' fails, it at least does so with imaginative and verve; where it succeeds, it finds poetry." Seattle Times Full Review
----
Iron Man 3
One sentence plot: Marvel's "Iron Man 3" pits brash-but-brilliant industrialist Tony Stark/Iron Man against an enemy whose reach knows no bounds.
Rotten Tomatoes viewer score: 99
Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 80
Reviews:"But for all the clanking armies of iron knights on display to dazzle the eager kid in each of us, this summer epic rings hollow. There's no one home inside the suit." Rolling Stone Full Review
"This installment actually flirts with satire, sending its hero-in-a-can on a vengeful mission against a mad, bearded jihadist before yanking the rug out from under the neocon story line. There are some good laughs as well." Chicago Reader Full Review
"The 'Iron Man' films turned Mr. Downey into a huge star, but the role has gradually, maybe inexorably, swallowed him." New York Times Full Review
Do you plan on seeing any of these movies? Have you seen them already? Leave a review of the films with a comment below.
This is the End
One sentence plot: The comedy This Is The End follows six friends trapped in a house after a series of strange and catastrophic events devastate Los Angeles.
Rotten Tomatoes viewer score: 88
Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 81
Reviews:
"As long as Rogen and his buddies are just as self-involved, crude, obnoxious and hopefully exaggerated versions of themselves, things stay pretty funny." NPR Full Review
"This is one of the most tasteless, ridiculous and funniest comedies of the 21st century." Richard Roeper Full Review
Man of Steel
One sentence plot: A young boy learns that he has extraordinary powers and is not of this Earth.
Rotten Tomatoes viewer score: 97
Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 60
Reviews:
"If you like your summer-movie explosions huge, "Man of Steel" delivers. But it seems as if it might have delivered even more than a glorious noise." Arizona Republic Full Review
"[Cavill is] a superb choice for someone who needs to convincingly convey innate modesty, occasional confusion and eventual strength." Los Angeles Times Full Review
Other movies in theaters:
The InternshipOne sentence plot: Wedding Crashers duo Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn reteam on this Shawn Levy-directed comedy as two out of work salesmen who have to compete as interns in a tech company in order to score a job.
Rotten Tomatoes viewer score: 96
Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 32
Reviews:
"Director Shawn Levy's work has, as always, all the edge of a tub of margarine - he's the guy who did "Night at the Museum." And "The Internship" has the air of a promotional video for Google." New York Post Full Review
"The premise, like the whole movie, is far-fetched but enjoyable." Associated Press Full Review
----
The Purge
One sentence plot: In The Purge, a speculative thriller that follows one family over the course of a single night, four people will be tested to see how far they will go to protect themselves when the vicious outside world breaks into their home.
Rotten Tomatoes viewer score: 96
Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 47
Reviews:
"After a wickedly promising start, this pointed political satire quickly deteriorates into a fairly routine, if sporadically quite effective, home-invasion thriller." New York Post Full Review
"The Purge clearly has a lot on its mind, but it never really manages to express it." Entertainment Weekly Full Review
----
After Earth
One sentence plot: A crash landing leaves teenager Kitai Raige (Jaden Smith) and his legendary father Cypher (Will Smith) stranded on Earth, 1,000 years after cataclysmic events forced humanity's escape. Rotten Tomatoes viewer score: 97
Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 15
Reviews:
"'After Earth' is a work of hubris magnified by multiple miscalculations, the kind of film that would cause Ed Wood to excuse himself and skulk to the exit." Star Tribune Full Review
"Jaden is fine at running, jumping, fearful trembling, and affecting steely resolution. He doesn't yet have his father's charisma; perhaps to help him out, dad opted not to bring that charisma to the set." Village Voice Full Review
"Basically, this is Smith and his real-life son, Jaden (both affecting ridiculous mid-Atlantic accents) talking the audience to death for something like 90 minutes before the closing credits." New York Post Full Review
----
The Hangover Part III
One sentence plot: "The Hangover Part III" is the third and final film in director Todd Phillips' record-shattering comedy franchise.
Rotten Tomatoes viewer score: 88
Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 27
Reviews:
"The first movie left you with an exhilarating rush. All that Part III leaves is, well, a hangover." Rolling Stone Full Review
"The Hangover Part III gives off such a stench of creative decay that it hardly seems possible that even Phillips or his co-writers have any use for the movie themselves." Time Magazine Full Review
----
Fast & Furious 6
One sentence plot: The Fast and the Furious franchise continues with this sixth entry from Universal Pictures.Rotten Tomatoes viewer score: 98
Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 76
Reviews:
"True, the movie doesn't know when or how to put the brakes on. It does, however, understand precisely what it is." The Los Angeles Times Full Review
"A borderline ridiculous, over-the-top demolition derby that also happens to be a perfectly constructed low-IQ blast." Entertainment Weekly Full Review
----
Star Trek into DarknessOne sentence plot: When the crew of the Enterprise is called back home, they find an unstoppable force of terror from within their own organization has detonated the fleet and everything it stands for, leaving our world in a state of crisis.
Rotten Tomatoes viewer score: 89
Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 86
Reviews:
"Abrams boldly goes into Star Trek Into Darkness, and crushes it again. It's more fun and more intense, without giving less to the characters." Rolling Stone Full Review
"J.J. Abrams's Star Trek Into Darkness, the sequel to his prequel, delivers the goods, even if some of the goods are less than fresh." Christian Science Monitor Full Review
"I thought it was really fun, an inventive, surprising rethinking of some of "Star Trek's" most hallowed inventions, but I'm not wedded to the source material as gospel. Trekkies will think it's a desecration. So, pick your side." Arizona Republic Full Review
----
The Great Gatsby
One sentence plot: "The Great Gatsby" follows Fitzgerald-like, would-be writer Nick Carraway (Tobey Maguire) as he leaves the Midwest and comes to New York City in the spring of 1922, an era of loosening morals, glittering jazz, bootleg kings, and sky-rocketing stocks.
Rotten Tomatoes viewer score: 98
Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 40
Reviews:
"Frenzied and overwrought, Baz Luhrmann's The Great Gatsby is a glitz-filled folly." USA Today Full Review
"The result is less a conventional movie adaptation than a splashy, trashy opera, a wayward, lavishly theatrical celebration of the emotional and material extravagance that Fitzgerald surveyed with fascinated ambivalence." New York Times Full Review
"Where this 'Gatsby' fails, it at least does so with imaginative and verve; where it succeeds, it finds poetry." Seattle Times Full Review
----
Iron Man 3
One sentence plot: Marvel's "Iron Man 3" pits brash-but-brilliant industrialist Tony Stark/Iron Man against an enemy whose reach knows no bounds.
Rotten Tomatoes viewer score: 99
Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 80
Reviews:"But for all the clanking armies of iron knights on display to dazzle the eager kid in each of us, this summer epic rings hollow. There's no one home inside the suit." Rolling Stone Full Review
"This installment actually flirts with satire, sending its hero-in-a-can on a vengeful mission against a mad, bearded jihadist before yanking the rug out from under the neocon story line. There are some good laughs as well." Chicago Reader Full Review
"The 'Iron Man' films turned Mr. Downey into a huge star, but the role has gradually, maybe inexorably, swallowed him." New York Times Full Review
Do you plan on seeing any of these movies? Have you seen them already? Leave a review of the films with a comment below.
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