Raptor and Slacker
The Paw Print
Raptor and Slacker love movies. We really love movies! And we have decided to share some of our movie thoughts with you. Sometimes we will watch new movies in theaters or on DVD, and sometimes we will watch some of our old favorites that we want to share with the world. If you have any suggestions for movies to review, please email them to raptorandslacker@gmail.com.
This week we chose movies about crazy girls doing crazy things. Here are our reviews for “Bad Teacher” and “Hanna”.
Bad Teacher (2011)
“Bad Teacher” is a comedy that stars Cameron Diaz (“There’s Something About Mary”) as Elizabeth Halsey, a teacher with some not-so-great habits. Elizabeth is a junior high teacher who continues to work after her sugar-daddy fiancé dumps her.
Courtesy Photo: Sony Pictures
Elizabeth is the epitome of a horrible teacher. She shows movies every day in class, sleeps at her desk and degrades her students. When compared with Amy Squirrel (Lucy Punch), a bubbly and seemingly perfect teacher, Elizabeth is obviously lacking something in her profession. Elizabeth also experiences pressure from a long-term substitute teacher, Scott Delacorte (Justin Timberlake) and the school’s PE teacher, Russell Gettis (Jason Segel, “Forgetting Sarah Marshall”). When the Elizabeth finds out about a monetary prize if her students score high on a standardized test, she becomes motivated to become a better teacher. She begins teaching an actual curriculum and “encouraging” her students to learn the material. However, Amy becomes suspicious about Elizabeth’s methods.
“Bad Teacher” was written by Gene Stupnitsky (“Year One” and TV show “The Office”) and Lee Eisenberg (also “Year One” and “The Office”). The movie was directed by Jake Kasdan (“Walk Hard”). This movie appears to follow in the path of the writers’ and director’s other movies.
Raptor: I enjoyed this movie quite a bit. I thought was sufficiently funny and original. I can’t think of any other movie that has a plot quite like this. I always enjoy big comedies that center on female characters. In terms of “crazy girls doing crazy things”, I thought this movie was great. The character of Elizabeth was nicely crafted and interesting. I enjoyed her antics and the actions she takes to achieve her goals. There were some scenes that I thought fell a little short of true comedy genius. I think the writers and director were trying to create funny situations, but for me, they just seemed forced and not genuine. However, I would probably say that this is one of best recent comedies I’ve seen. I admired it for the originality of the plot and the focus on female characters. I rate it a 6 out of 10.
Slacker: Oh my god if I have ever met a teacher like this, I would count the days until they got fired. The stuff that this teacher in this movie does is most likely things we wished our teachers did in elementary school. You remember wishing you could watch movies all day and never have to worry about homework or reading. I swear more and more movies are putting marijuana in at every possible scene now days. I had to admit that the typical hyper teacher cracked me up so much. She was the one that took the happy pills every morning and you couldn’t figure out how she got like that. I would give this movie 8 out of 10 even though through the whole I was like really what the crap is going on. It was funny and had an awesome ending.
Hanna (2011)
Courtesy Photo: Focus Features
Hanna (Saoirse Ronan, “The Lovely Bones”) is a 16-year-old girl who was raised for one reason. Her father, Erik (Eric Bana, “The Time Traveler’s Wife”) took Hanna into the forest of Finland and taught her to become the world’s best assassin. Hanna learns to hunt (both animals and people), hide without leaving a trace and adapt to her environment. She finally feels ready to complete her mission, to kill Marissa Weigler (Cate Blanchett, “Lord of the Rings”), and her father warns her that there is no going back after she sets her plan into action. After alerting Marissa of their location, Erik leaves and Hanna is on her own. She begins a path across Europe trying to both evade Marissa and her henchmen while also trying to complete her mission. Part of the planning before setting this plan into motion included Hanna and Erik setting a place to meet if they succeed. However, obstacles and challenges threaten the success of this mission. To add to all of this drama, secrets are revealed about Hanna and her past.
Raptor: Wow! This movie was spectacular on so many levels. I enjoyed the action and adventure elements, mixed with the emotional plot. I thought that the actress who played Hanna was very good and I predict a strong future for her career. I also thought this movie was quite original in its story. I loved that the writer and director found a way to make this movie exciting and also touching. I was completely engrossed in the story and situations in the movie, but I thought the action was a definite bonus. I think a lot of different people would like this movie. Whatever draws you to a movie, whether it’s the thrill of a chase or the strong characters, this movie probably has something you will enjoy. I give this movie a 9 out of 10.
Slacker: I’ve wanted to see this movie ever since it came to theaters. If Angelina Jolie’s character in “Salt” had a kid with Matt Damon’s character in “The Bourne Identity”, their kid would be Hanna. She is an awesome actress to play a role like this. She was sweet and caring until it was time to kill you. This movie had the action and the awesome story. It may have gotten a little dry in the middle but it moved quickly though the journey of the two main charters. If you like action movies watch it. If you like government conspiracy movies this is a good one. I would give it a 9 out of 10. For an action movie it was in depth there was a reason for the killings and the twist was cool.
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