By Bob Garver<\/p>\n
At the end of their first weekend, new releases \u201cThe Smurfs 2\u201d and \u201c2 Guns\u201d were practically tied at around the $27.5 million mark at the box office. \u201cSmurfs 2\u201d must have sold more tickets since much of its audience was children who got in for a reduced rate and therefore had to come out in larger numbers for the film to equal its R-rated rival. On the other hand, \u201cSmurfs 2\u201d (which opened last Wednesday) had a two-day head start on \u201c2 Guns\u201d, which means that the latter had a much larger day-to-day average and made money more quickly. It\u2019s hard to say which film is more popular at this point, so I\u2019ve decided to do mini-reviews on both.<\/p>\n
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\u201cThe Smurfs 2\u201d<\/p>\n
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![\"\"](\"http:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/the-smurfs-2-poster08-202x300.jpg\" "\\"the-smurfs-2-poster08\\"")
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cThe Smurfs\u201d was my choice for the single worst movie of 2011. Now the little blue buffoons are back because apparently they didn\u2019t lower their audience\u2019s IQ enough the first time around.<\/p>\n
The plot sees Smurfette (Katy Perry, delivering every line like she\u2019s on the verge of tears) kidnapped by the evil wizard Gargamel (Hank Azaria) and held hostage in Paris. Papa Smurf (the late Jonathan Winters) grabs a few second-tier Smurfs and travels to the human world where they meet up with their friends Patrick (Neil Patrick Harris) and Grace (Jayma Mays), along with their toddler son and Patrick\u2019s estranged stepfather (Brendan Gleeson), and go off to rescue her. Smurfette, meanwhile, is tempted to join Gargamel\u2019s side because it was he who created her in his lab and naughty fellow creation Vexy (Christina Ricci) argues that she can never escape her origin.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The humor is as annoying as ever. Slapstick havoc gets wreaked everywhere, painful jokes are abundant, and the film still thinks it\u2019s funny to use the word \u201cSmurf\u201d as much as possible, especially as a substitute for profanity. But I can\u2019t trash the film too much this time around because it contains positive messages about unconditional familial love and how that love doesn\u2019t necessarily have to come from biological family members. So the film gets bumped up half a star to the point where it\u2019s merely a bad movie and not the worst of the year.<\/p>\n
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One and a Half Stars out of Five.<\/p>\n
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\u201cThe Smurfs 2\u201d is rated PG for some rude humor and action. Its running time is 105 minutes.<\/p>\n
\u201c2 Guns\u201d<\/p>\n
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![\"\"](\"http:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/2-guns-189x300.jpg\" "\\"2")
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201c2 Guns\u201d is a pretty standard buddy cop movie made more tolerable by the performances of stars Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlberg. It\u2019s not exactly a career high for either actor, but it shows the kind of personality they can give to even mediocre roles.<\/p>\n
Washington plays an undercover DEA agent assigned to befriend Wahlberg, use him to help rob a bank believed to be controlled by a drug cartel, and then arrest him. Wahlberg plays an undercover Naval Intelligence officer assigned to befriend Washington, use him to rob the bank, and then kill him. They turn on each other, but soon realize they\u2019ll have to work together to combat everybody affected by the robbery, including the cartel, the CIA, and their own organizations.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a web of betrayal and violence that includes Washington\u2019s handler (Paula Patton), Wahlberg\u2019s C.O. (James Marsden), a high-ranking Navy admiral (Fred Ward), a corrupt CIA agent (Bill Paxton), and the cartel boss (Edward James Olmos). Critics seem to be gushing over the Paxton performance, with his southern-fried monologues during torture and interrogation scenes. I found them to be pretty standard for villain monologue scenes. Instead I took interest in Olmos\u2019s drug lord. There\u2019s never any question as to where he stands and he has access to a whole evil cattle ranch.<\/p>\n
\u201c2 Guns\u201d never really works as an action film, but is an effective comedy if you focus on the witty repartee involving Washington and Wahlberg. Both actors are above this humdrum material, yet their combined forces make it more enjoyable than it should be.<\/p>\n
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Two Stars out of Five.<\/p>\n
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\u201c2 Guns\u201d is rated R for violence throughout, language and brief nudity. Its running time is 109 minutes.<\/p>\n