"Snow White and the Huntsman"

Richard's Review: 3 1/2 stars

"Snow White and the Huntsman" plays like the love child of the Grimm Brothers and The Hobbit. It is dark in tone and in look, with just a few hi ho ho's provided by the Seven Dwarfs. That'll be my last bad Snow White joke, I promise. The first hour is a gothic fairy tale and the second hour is more an action movie. But through it all Charlize's Theron's bug-eyed Grand Guiginol performance remains constant.

In this twist on the familiar fairy tale Theron is Ravenna, an evil queen so obsessed with being the fairest in the land she condemns the dead king's lovely daughter, Snow White (Kristen Stewart), to a lifetime of solitude and captivity. When the queen's gossipy mirror-on-the-wall tells her that Ms. White will one day reclaim the throne, Ravenna does what any evil monarch would do. She decides to eat Snow's heart, thereby ensuring immortality and the throne. Luckily Snow escapes and fulfills her destiny with the help of a handsome huntsman, ("Thor's" Chris Hemsworth), a childhood friend (Sam Claflin) and eight diminutive allies (Ian McShane, Bob Hoskins, Ray Winstone, Nick Frost, Eddie Marsan, Toby Jones, Johnny Harris and Brian Gleeson).

"Snow White and the Huntsman" may be the fairest movie of the summer, and I'm not referring to the fetching Charlize or Stewart, or the chiseled Hemsworth or Claflin but to the look of the film. It is majestically bleak, blending stark realism with fantasy elements to create a look rich in detail. With much of the colour drained from the palette the movie has a dark foreboding feel which helps shape the narrative.

First-time director Rupert Sanders knows how to establish atmosphere, it's too bad he isn't as skilled in storytelling.

The look of the film is great. From the sets to the creatures (very cool tree troll and some airy fairies), to Ravenna's evil wardrobe every detail is spot on. But the script often relies on banalities.

The talky bits aren't nearly as interesting as the yelling bits (thanks to Theron's unhinged performance) and the action sequences. When Theron is chewing the scenery -- or her favorite snack, beating bird hearts -- the movie is great fun. When it slows down to up the word count, it's less so.

Stewart brings her usual brooding intensity to the film, this time matched with an English accent. Hemsworth has fun in a physical role that does not involve throwing a giant hammer. But as appealing as they both are, "Snow White and the Huntsman" becomes something other than a beautifully shot teen retelling of the story only when Theron is lets loose or the band of small-sized warriors are on screen.

"Moonrise Kingdom"

Richard's Review: 4 1/2 stars

"Wes Anderson specializes in idiosyncratic films rich in detail and populated with dysfunctional people. "Rushmore," "The Royal Tenenbaums," "The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou," "The Darjeeling Limited" and even his stop motion animated "Fantastic Mr. Fox" are studies in human behavior with liberal doses of humour and melancholy.

Some find his films a bit too clever, but there is real beauty in every one of them and not just in his wonderfully composed shots. What is obvious, particularly in his new film, the coming-of-age tale "Moonrise Kingdom," is a love of humanity in all its forms. They may be eccentric pieces of work, but they're heartfelt.

The year is 1965, the place is a New England island town called New Penzance. On one side of the island orphan Sam (Jared Gilman) is a 12-year-old Khaki Scout disliked by the rest of his troupe. He's unstable, they say. Dangerous. On the other is Suzy (Kara Hayward), an unhappy girl who lives in what looks to be a giant dollhouse with her parents (Bill Murray, Frances McDormand) and three younger brothers. In love and united in their outsider status, they run away, going on an extended camping trip. Search parties are launched, led by the Sheriff (Bruce Willis) and Scout Master Ward (Edward Norton). But true love prevails and these soul mates will not be kept apart.

Adjectives like beautiful and lyrical spring to mind when I recall the movie. Anderson is the anti-David Lynch and a dysfunctional Norman Rockwell who peels back the veneer of typical life not to reveal a seedy underbelly as Lynch does, but the best in human nature.

Anderson's characters don't always start in a good place, but circumstance usually pushes them to explore the better side of their psyches.

As usual Anderson brings out nice performances from his cast. Murray returns for this eighth collaboration with the director and Willis puts aside his usual "Die Hard" bravado to play a sad, small town cop. and But Jason Schwartzman steals the show in a cameo as a fast-talking camp councilor. The real stars, however, are Gilman and Hayward, who both hand in complex performances as troubled kids.

Also present is Anderson's usual attention to detail and unerring eye for composition.

More importantly though is his sense of character. It's clear that Anderson cares about his characters, and with this film he establishes himself as one of the great humanist directors working today.

The level of eccentric filmmaking in "Moonrise Kingdom" won't be for everyone, but the film's warmth and gentle humor earn it a big recommendation.

"Piranha 3DD"

Richard's Review: 2 1/2 stars

Any movie with a title like "Piranha 3DD" comes with a certain level of expectations. Does it meet them? Well, yes. There are piranhas, it's in 3D and the double entendre extra D is amply on display as well.

This movie takes place some time after an underwater tremor unleashed thousands of prehistoric piranhas, turning the nubile teen swimmers of Lake Victoria into fish food. This time the cold-blooded killers get all bitey at a family water park (where apparently topless women are encouraged to jump up and down) run by a sleazy business man (David Koechner) who refuses to believe that the fish could migrate into his pool through the illegal well he dug to save money on water. Pretty soon though, the waters run red and as beach bunnies are being gobbled even David Hasselhoff, the world's most famous lifeguard, goes to battle against the hungry fish.

Here's some advice for visitors to the Big Wet Waterpark: Don't order the fish fingers at the lunch stand. You won't like what you get.

Whether moviegoers will like what they get in "Piranha 3DD" depends on your level of expectation. This sequel to 2010's "Piranha" contains more horror than humour.

Gallons of gore are spilled, there's the strangest, bloodiest sex scene of recent memory and there are some tense scenes of piranhas almost nipping at the heels of the usual assortment of hotties that populate these kinds of movies. But the fish are so fake looking it's hard to imagine getting this worked up over a dollar-store rubber piranha.

This film might have worked better as a Saturday matinee movie if it was funnier. Ving Rhames gets a laugh as a deputy whose legs were eaten in the first movie when he bellows, "Bring me my legs," before going to war on the fish. Hasselhoff also tries to raise a smile in his extended cameo, but the laughs are as water logged as the premise of the film.

"Piranha 3DD" delivers on the promise of its title, but little else.