The Quotables Review: Bitesized Edition (#9) UK

UK Film Releases | Friday 8th March 2011

After a bumper week of box-office releases last week, there are only 3 major releases this weekend: The Roommate, and animated features Mars Needs Moms and Rio. Last week’s films will also be screening at most cinemas, so don’t forget to check out last week’s Quotables Review to see what’s out.

The Roommate

Gossip Girl’s Leighton Meester stars alongside Minka Kelly in this dramatic thriller. College student Rebecca finds that her roommate Sara has a bit of an obsession, and she’s the subject of her “enthusiastic” affections.

Covering tediously familiar territory, this is only enlivened by the appearance of Billy Zane’s fashion guru in a grey check tam-o-shanter declaring his love of Yves Saint Laurent… File under guilty pleasure.
— Tim Evans, Sky Movies

This premise would normally lead to all sorts of exploitation movie mayhem, but in the hands of Danish director Christian E Christiansen, it becomes a bloodless, charmless bore.Cat lovers may be unnerved, but fright fans will just yawn their way to the exit.
— Ken McIntyre, Total Film

Mars Needs Moms

In Disney’s latest 3D animation, a young boy named Milo gains a deeper appreciation for his mother after Martians come to earth to abduct her. Leaving his chores behind, he takes off on an adventure to save his Mom.

The skill level of this motion capture animation is getting better all the time. So Mars is accomplished at every level. But the three most important things in movies are story, story, story so the movie never comes off as the considerable achievement it truly is.
— Kirk Honeycutt, Hollywood Reporter

As the various forces convene, building up to a climactic battle sequence, the plot’s preposterousness becomes irrelevant; its primary goal, at this point, is to deliver thrills…. On a technical level, “Mars Needs Moms” is well assembled and proficiently directed. Production design, however, appears to be such a pastiche of sci-fi classics that one can only hope it’s intended as homage.
— Lael Loewenstein, Variety

Pick of the Week: Rio

Midwestern Macaw Blu is a happily owned parrot residing in small-town. When his owner, Linda, discovers he’s not the last of his kind, they head Tio to Blu’s female counterpart, Jewel. After arriving, Blu and Jewel are kidnapped by animal smugglers. Animal antics ensue.

Disliking Rio would take an immense amount of will. It’s generic – given just a list of character descriptions, you could probably lay out a rather accurate sketch of the plot. But it’s made with so much verve, voiced so charmingly, and with such tropical colour daubed excitedly into every inch of the screen that stimulation is not optional.
— Olly Richards, Empire

In the film’s favour, the 3D is crisp, richly realised and endowed with exquisite depth of field. But all that eye-candy counts for little when the jokes fall flat, the Latino songs lack lustre and the script is so ineffectual. ‘Rio’ isn’t totally devoid of merit – it could just do with a lot more zip and zing in its tail feathers.
— Derek Adams, Time Out

What are you off to see this weekend?

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