Barely Lethal (2015)

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

First off I'm a guy not a girl and I'm not gay but I really enjoyed this. It was fun and I would definitely recommend for any young girls out there but it still good for guys to if you don't set and pick at it.

Desperate to experience the 'normal' adolescence of teen movies such as 'Bring It On' and 'Clueless', a teenage assassin flees the institution that trained her and enrolls in a local high school in this action comedy starring Hailee Steinfeld of 'True Grit' fame. The premise is ripe with potential and the film gets one of its best lines early on as Steinfeld tells a group of genuinely friendly cheerleaders "I've seen 'Mean Girls'... twice!", however, not enough is made from the notion of Steinfeld navigating her way through the high school experience based on movie clichés. Most perplexingly, she fails to pick up on the 'love is closer than you think' cliché with Thomas Mann doing the best he can in a thankless turn as the kind-hearted tech geek who has to wait the whole movie before Steinfeld realises that she wants him. The film also never quite maximises the potential of all her assassin training with the bits where she inadvertently hurts others few and far between. The fake slang that the teenagers use in the film is incredibly irksome too. There is a great running gag though with young Jason Drucker constantly finding weapons and gadgetry that Steinfeld has stashed. There is also a very funny bit in which Steinfeld and a friend discuss killing just like two normal teens discussing sex; "the first time should be special"! As for Steinfeld herself, she is engaging throughout. The best performance though comes from Rob Huebel channeling Eugene Levy in 'American Pie' as Mann's wannabe hip father who keeps trying to discuss girls with him in detail.

This is an easy little movie for those who want something silly, but not the usual way. It is true, what most people said about the movie being full of clichés, but I don't think that is a mistake here. Those clichés are a source of humour here, they jump at you and you ARE meant to notice them and not to take them seriously. Even the characters themselves go against some of them (cheerleaders, or the bathroom "actor" scene, anyone?) which makes the whole movie quite enjoyable. And the relationship between Hardman and the little girls? It's so cute and funny, it made me smile every time.Of course, no movie is perfect. This has some problems as well. The story is a bit under-developed, all that stuff that they put in it would have needed a lot more time to form properly. Sometimes the way that the characters act/react just makes you want to roll your eyes. But it's not THAT bad, or at least no worse than any other movie.All in all, I think this is a perfect movie for those nights when you just want to switch off and laugh for a while. I'd definitely recommend it.

It's also very aware of 90s teen comedies and movies in general. Samuell L. Jackson might be the scariest, cutest drill Sergeant ever. A fine line he has to walk and he does a fine job. Jessica Alba seems to be content in playing smaller roles now (or at least that's what I've been seeing of her lately).The main focus lies on the teenage girl who's our main character and represents the more film educated younger audiences nowadays. That is played out well and what you can also like, is the fact that she's empowered and strong. Even though I also always say, it's just a movie, it's nice to create "role models" like that. Obviously I don't mean to be exactly like her, but to believe in yourself and go your way (something of a message this movie also has apart from just trying to be entertaining).