MCMAYNERBERRY

I'm typically not very enthusiastic about the Coen brothers comedy movies, but I heard this one was about the shenanigans of the film industry in the early days, so I was modestly excited.

So it's unfortunate that Hail Caesar is a bland, unfunny experience with only sporadic chuckles.

The Coen's assembled an A-list cast for this outing: George Clooney, Josh Brolin, Tilda Swinton, Ralph Fiennes, Channing Tatum, etc. And outside of the main characters Brolin and Clooney play, everyone else feels...squandered. Wasted in over glorified cameos. Jonah Hill's only scene in the movie was featured in the trailer. And all other members of the cast are involved in plot lines not directly involved with the main story. Like what Family Guy goes with their non sequiturs.

Scarlett Johansson is definitely the weakest link in the cast, donning a hokey and distracting New York accent as she goes about playing an actress who's pregnant during her movie's filming (oh, the irony). It just seemed like an unnecessary part of the film that could've easily gone without.

Roger Deakins is once again behind the camera and once again delivers a stunning visual palate, but it doesn't do much to help the movie from feeling dull and overall a disappointing effort from the Coen's. Though it isn't on the level of disappointing as The Ladykillers, it is far, FAR from being on the level of Fargo and The Big Lebowski.

Hai, Caesar! 5/10

You'd think Samuel L. Jackson starring in a remake of Shaft would be the coolest thing ever. Seeing as Jackson and the character are two badass mother-shut yo mouths. But the end result is disappointing.

The plot revolves around Shaft, played by Jackson, seeking to take down the son of a wealthy and powerful man. The son is played by Christian Bale, and the reason Shaft is after him is because he murdered a black man out of racial hate. But he managed to escape prison time and fled to Switzerland. Shaft gets sick,of the injustice and hands in his badge, taking a vigilante approach. His only hope is finding the lone witness of the murder and convince her to take the stand.

Here's the film's main problem. The actions he takes are not protected by the law. The cops are even helping him, and no consequences are paid. True, you want him to win, but you can't overlook he is breaking the law. The original Shaft was more of a lone wolf. Shaft here can't seem to do anything without help.

The films villains are forgettable. As good as Bale is, he's hardly there and is out of the majority of the action. Jeffrey Wright as a Hispanic gangster emerges as the main villain and is utterly uninteresting. A great villain should make you like him, even if you hate him. I don't even remember the character's name.

But I think the biggest downfall is casting Richard Roundtree in a reprisal of his original Shaft role and waste him. He's pretty much a cameo and the film ends with a promise of the original badass mother-shut yo mouth kicking some ass, but we don't get to see it.

The one thing this film needed was to be cool. It's unfortunately not.

Shaft 4/10