UNBREAKABLE (****1/2)- one of the coolest movies I have seen in a long, long time. It's the kind of movie where I don't want to tell you anything about the plot because it might give it all away. It's just sooo cool, and very well written. Odd camera angels and long panning shots lend a suspensful, comic book feel to the whole movie, but are a bit over used. As with The Sixth Sense (which was written and directed by the same guy who made this movie) "Unbreakable" has an unexpected ending. oh man, I can't get over how cool this movie is. Go see it. And hey, kids, it's only PG-13!
UNDERCOVER BROTHER (***)- this film could also have been called "Austin Powers: Now He's Black, Now He's Funky". "Undercover Brother" basically takes the template of a wacky, slapstick spy movie "Austin Powers" has used to such success and puts a vaguley different spin on it: rather than being a white guy from the sixties, the secret agent is now a black guy from the seventies. Here's the plot: Undercover Brother (that's the character's actual name) is a self proclaimed "Robin Hood for the 'hood"; he drives a Cadilac around and fights to restore the coolness black people had in the seventies, but then mysteriously lost. The cause of this loss, it is revealed, has to do with a sinister plot devised by "The Man", a shadowy villian similar to Inspector Gadget's "Dr. Claw", who is the leader of a secret organization of white people. The only obstacle stopping The Man from destroying black culture entirley is a group called the "B.R.O.T.H.E.R.H.O.O.D." (unfortunatley, you never get to find out what this acronym stands for... I'm assuming that scene is on a cutting room floor somewhere, maybe to be released on DVD). The Brotherhood enlist Undercover Brother to help them stop The Man, and the rest of the movie is pretty much racial jokes and slapstick action. Chris Kattan (from Saturday Night Live) shows up as The Man's head cronie, overacting to the point of not even being funny anymore (I get the impression he was one of those kids in school who would volunteer to do all the skits in history class, even though people just thought he was annoying), giving the film the "climactic battle sequence" which is apparently necessary in all movies like this. Surprisingly, for such a formulaic plot, the scrip it actually pretty funny. It's certainly not the most clever film you'll ever see, but it's got enough good points to make it worth watching at least once.
