Summer Movie Roundup

It was an uncharacteristically rainy summer weekend here in Chicago so I decided to spend some quality time indoors and catch a couple of movies, one in the theater ("Superbad") and one on Netflix ("Zodiac"). I figured that it has been a while since I have reviewed movies on the blog, so here are mini-reviews of those two movies as well as another very good film ("The Bourne Ultimatum") currently in theaters that I saw a couple of weeks ago.

"The Bourne Ultimatum"
The third installment in the Bourne series, "The Bourne Ultimatum" is, in my opinion, the best of the three. Matt Damon reprises his role as Jason Bourne, trained CIA assassin, and continues his international ass kicking in the name of finding out who the real Jason Bourne is. Covering locales such as Tangiers, London and New York City, he dispatches a variety of hitmen sent by Noah Vosen (David Strathairn), one of the keepers of the secret CIA training program known as Treadstone. However, Bourne has an ally in Pam Landy (Joan Allen) who attempts to assist him in discovering the true origins of his recruitment and training by the CIA. Agent Nicky Parsons (Julia Stiles) also returns to provide Bourne with some help in his quest to uncover his identity and bring down Treadstone.

The sequence in a London train station and a rooftop chase scene in Tangiers followed by some vicious hand-to-hand combat between Bourne and a would-be hitman are but two of the scenes that take your breath away. In fact, the entire movie seems like one non-stop chase scene with each set piece seeming to top the last. Paul Greengrass, who directed the previous Bourne film, is back again and brings the same frenetic energy and hand held camera work to create a documentary style that is very effective. If there has been a better action movie this year I have not seen it.

"Superbad"
The winning comedy team of producer Judd Apatow and writer/actor Seth Rogen is back again (see my review of their last project "Knocked Up" in the June 2007 archive) with this update on teen sex romps such as "Fast Times at Ridgemont High," "Porky's" and "American Pie." The premise of the film is all too familiar: A group of geeky, outcast students see their time in high school coming to a close, and realize that their window of opportunity to party, drink and hook up with girls is closing as well. Enter the trio of said geeks Fogell (Christopher Mintz-Plasse), Seth (Jonah Hill), and Evan (Michael Cera). Seth and Evan are best friends who have been inseparable throughout high school, united largely by the fact that they were amongst the least popular kids in school. Their sidekick is Fogel who, according to Roger Ebert in his A- review of the film, "is so unpopular, he is unpopular even with them."

Early on in the story Fogel is able to procure a fake ID, and the scene where he reveals its details - his name is McLovin and he is a 25 year-old organ donor from Hawaii - and takes ownership of his new identity is hilarious. Less effective is a subplot with Fogel and two cops played by Seth Rogen and SNL's Bill Hader. The Rogen and Hader characters are in the film too long - perhaps because Rogen co-wrote the script - and take us away from what should be the focus of the plot, which is three friends and their quest for truth, justice, alcohol and the hottie from home ec. That said, this movie is a raunch-filled tour de force that will remind you what you loved (and hated) about high school and just how simple life was when it was all about girls, booze and parties.

"Zodiac"
Now for a movie that would never be shown in a double feature with "Superbad." "Zodiac" is a sprawling, intense, well directed account of the people and events surrounding the serial killer known as the Zodiac who terrorized the San Francisco bay area in the late 60's and early 70's. Based on former San Francisco Chronicle cartoonist Robert Graysmith's book, the film chronicles the killer's exploits and the effect it had on four individuals involved with the case: Graysmith (Jake Gyllenhaal), the cartoonist and Eagle Scout whose obsession with the Zodiac pushes him to keep investigating long after the police have moved on to other cases; Paul Avery (Robert Downey Jr.), a hard living reporter at the Chronicle whose dogged pursuit of leads causes him to butt heads in particular with Inspector David Toschi (Mark Ruffalo) and his partner, Inspector William Armstrong (Anthony Edwards).

Directed by David Fincher ("Seven," "Fight Club") , the film works as a period piece, a police procedural and a drama. It shows how a demented and yet at the same time compelling figure such as the Zodiac killer can get inside the heads of so many people - when he is not busy shooting them in the head - and affect the general psyche of a city that is being held hostage by his actions. It is a long film at over 2 1/2 hours but I never really felt like it was dragging. If you missed this one in the theaters, as many people did, definitely check it out on DVD.