Spring Breakers (2012)

I was a big fan of "Kids" and expected the same amount of intellectually subtle social commentary in this movie. I could not wait to get out of the theater.. If I had not paid so much for my ticket, I would have gotten up and left halfway through the movie. IT IS AWFUL! It is astonishing to me that this generation finds a movie this horribly scripted, filmed, and thought-out to be good. It is not controversial, racy, or thought- provoking. It gives no insight, message, or underlying theme. It isn't that I do not like controversial, bad-ass, or vulgar films.. I do. This film offered none of that! I love films that give insight into a generation or group of people that others do not generally interact with; but this movie did not even accurately portray these things. I want this movie to get buried forever.

Fmovies: I rarely write reviews it's been ages since the last one but am writing this to vent out some frustration. To think this film currently has a 6.3 rating and generally favourable reviews elsewhere is really strange. There is booze, sex and drugs but you need something of substance to make even a half decent film, this doesn't even come close.

Acting is poor, girls are largely annoying and there is nothing happening whatsoever, it makes no sense, it just dwells on the over importance of spring break, there is no character development and it's a total waste of time, I was bored. It plods along pointlessly for an hour gets decent for 10 minutes and finishes off with a meaningless ending.

I haven't seen After Earth and yes it may be disappointing but it will never be this bad, it's a shame a film like that would get such bad reviews, I mean at least they have tried something, Spring Breakers doesn't even do that, the plot has more holes than a string vest.

If I was to think about a top 10 worst films list this would most likely be on it, it is definitely one of the worst I have seen in years I would have gave it a 1 but it does have a catchy soundtrack for the younger crowd, some scenes are well shot and James Franco does pretty well for his part which does however start becoming repetitive like everything else due to the poor script. Very overrated not everyone will agree but I'm sure some will, especially if they have seen or watch after this review.

I can't describe the elation I felt leaving Spring Breakers--truly one of the best films to hit mainstream cinemas in a long time. It was a breath of fresh air amidst all the cookie cutter romantic comedies, dramas, action films, and horror movies that plague modern cinema. The stamp of a good film is the impact factor--how long it stays with you when it's over. Spring Breakers was a film that stayed with me long after leaving the theater. It didn't evaporate from my mind as soon as I hit the parking lot. This film affects you and leaves you in a mood long after the credits appear.

Those seeking a fun "party film" will be disappointed. The TV ads, poster, and cast have probably misled some viewers into thinking this is a cross between The Hangover and Project X. Don't let the cast or the marketing fool you--this is not a "feel good" movie. It's a dark, exciting, tragic look at modern youth culture that doesn't so much as revel in the pop culture sensory overload as hold up a mirror to the audience so we can see some of ourselves in these kids. And if you're like me, you'll find this kind of self-reflection very disturbing. More than once, I was disgusted and enthralled with these characters, not knowing whether I should feel amused, angry, or sad. This is truly the best deconstruction of modern culture I've seen.

The movie starts with our main quartet of female characters struggling to find a way around the fact they don't have enough money to travel to Florida for that much-hyped, almost mythical annual rite of passage nearly every college kid in the country has to face at some point: spring break. Selena Gomez is easily the most likable member of the cast--a young girl struggling to balance her Christian faith and values in the moral wasteland that is college life. One moment we see her praying in church, and the next she's passively condoning the fact that her friends have just robbed a restaurant in order to obtain the rest of the money they need to make it to Florida. In one poignant monologue, she speaks of the monotony of life and how everyone is depressed because they wake up and see the same things every day. Her desire to go on spring break is almost spiritual in nature--a soul-searching journey in which she just wants to be someone new and be free.

The spring break party scenes are manic--loud music, hypnotic imagery, and disorienting colors all come together like some kind of dream. The fun soon ends once the girls are arrested for using narcotics at a wild party. They have two options: pay a fine, or remain in jail for another two days. Out of money and unwilling to call their parents, the girls languish in jail until a mysterious visitor posts their bail. Enter James Franco as Alien, a white gangster with gold teeth, dreadlocks, and a ton of money and guns to go along with his criminal tendencies. Franco truly breaks out in this performance, becoming someone I never could have imagined he'd be able to pull off back in his Spider-Man days. His intentions are murky and the film never misses an opportunity to make us feel uncomfortable witnessing his interactions with the girls. It's at this point that the film takes a drastic turn into even darker territory, the trip slowly proving itself to be more than a few of them bargained for. Thus begins the tragic slide into the dark nature of these characters, as they find themselves participating in and doing things bound to seduce the audience into an awe-struck state more than onc

Spring Breakers fmovies. This is a strange film. On the one hand, it looks likes an extended music video, filled with mindless scenes of teenagers having one big party. On the other hand, there's clearly more to it. Some characters are so one-dimensional and cartoon-like, that the whole film becomes a sort of mockery of the modern teenage culture. This ambiguity is very clever, because the film appeals to a teenage audience as well as to the art-house audience Harmony Korine is usually associated with.

But at the same time, this ambiguity stands in the way of 'Spring Breakers' being a really good film. Unlike other serious movies about teenage culture, like 'Thirteen', 'Ghost World', Korine's own 'Kids' or the recent 'The Perks of Being a Wallflower', this film looks too easy. The temptation of showing lots of girls in bikini has been stronger than the ambition of trying to tell something meaningful.

Still, there are some nice moments. The hold-up in the restaurant is beautifully filmed from the window of a car slowly passing by. It's nice that, later on in the film, the director shows some short moments of what happened inside the restaurant. I would have liked more ambitious film making like that, and less footage of wild parties.

I have to say, that watching this movie was a total spur of the moment decision on my part and I walked into this completely unaware of what I was getting into. While watching it, I felt my senses were assaulted, but there was more to it than what I was able to discern viscerally. Therein lies the greatness of this movie. It makes you think about what images are being thrown at you and why. The image is obviously that of what the youth of our age are sold as 'the good life': money, drugs, sex and partying. This is the American Dream. This movie follows 4 girls who do despicable acts, who behave with such depravity and who are shallow to the core, that watching this can be painful at times. But that is the whole point and people who walk out of this feeling as though they have had their time robbed of them or are too disgusted by what they see are missing the point. I am not an elitist movie critic in no sense of the word either, but I know a shock movie when I see one.

I have to say that visually this movie is beautiful (and no, I am not referencing the nudity here, ha-ha). It is a dark, dreamy, neon- nightmare. I give credit to the movie for this because it is candy for the eyes. Production wise this movie is solid, as is the direction. You feel as if you are in a dream, with it's poignant use of slow motion, and I suppose that is the effect they were looking to achieve. In this aspect they succeeded with flying colours - literally. There's also a beautifully crafted scene during their robbery of a restaurant that features one of the girls rolling the car around the building, catching glimpses of what they were doing inside. A very good piece of cinematography.

The cast were great too. I can't really say too much for the female cast as they did all act well in their respective roles. James Franco on the other hand really stood out and delivered a superb performance in what I would say is one of his more challenging roles, because the character himself is just so unlikable and unlike anyone he has portrayed before. He definitely made this movie, and without him in it it would seem to be missing a magic ingredient. Time and again Franco proves his worth as one of the great actors of his generation. He obviously knew that this movie's worth exceeded the majority of our expectations.

It seems the point of this film is lost upon most, which is a shame, though I can understand why. On the surface this appears to be a shallow and uninspiring piece of crap theatre with no motive beyond showing us some tits and ass. It is so much more. I love movies that make me think, even if they are at the time disturbing to watch. Well, this is what we are supposed to enjoy watching, after all. This is what our media, our 'culture', our idols depict as the epitome of what constitutes the good life. We are told to live our youth to the full. Is this not what they do throughout the movie? Are you not entertained? No?

Isn't that just it though? The truth hurts. This is the truth of what our youth aspire to. Sad, ain't it. Maybe I should give this a 1 star rating. I'm sure that's what the director would want me to do.

Faith, played by Selema Gomez, and her three very close friends plan to escape their boring college dorm lives to attend a massive Spring Break party. In order to pay for their getaway, her three friends commit an unthinkable act of terror. Their Spring Break vacation turns out to be a non-stop party of drunken drug use and sexual perversion that lands them in prison. This is when Alien, played by James Franco, bails them out and a new type of party begins.

With a dub-step softcore porn music video opening sequence, it is uncertain if Spring Breakers is glorifying the demoralizing activities portrayed or if it is a satire. Even when the film is not flashing to what looks like stock footage of a Girls Gone Wild Spring Break special and we are with the girls, the framing seems to have been done by a sex addict. This will be one of the most uncomfortable experiences Selema Gomez's fans will ever experience. For parents, this will be an absolute nightmare. Younger male audiences, on the other hand, will think they've found their new favorite movie. When the girls are introduced to Alien the film feels like it gets a new director. The feeling of a Girls Gone Wild narrative feature film is lost and we are filled with a great sense of dread. Who is this guy who calls himself Alien? We even find ourselves afraid to find out what he has planned for these young girls he has bailed out of prison.

As we continue through the second half of the film, it becomes very clear that we are in fact watching a satire. A horrific and effective satire. This is done though exposing the character of Alien and much credit must be given to James Franco, this is him at his best. Through the course of the film we go from fearing him, to laughing at him, to feeling sorry for him. The film is worth watching just for Franco's performance. The girls do an excellent job as well. These are easily two of the most frightening female characters ever put on-screen.

Spring Breakers is written and directed by Harmony Korine, the writer of Kids and director of Gummo. If you've seen anything he has written or directed you already know what you are in for. It has the core of a Natural Born Killers story wrapped in layers of what would be if Terrence Malick directed Girls Gone Wild.

What ends up becoming an annoying distraction is the repetition of dialogue we hear over and over again, playing in a loop. It's understood we are in the girl's shoes, things are spiraling out of control and the editing helps get that across. Some of it works but in the end, we've heard the same things so many times it is as if Korine is hammering the message of his satire into our heads, almost desperate to prove it has a point. Through the story it's meaning is made clear, no reason to over-use certain Malick-like editing techniques to over-state what the story has already made obvious.

The core story is genius. The way in which the story is told is split between things that play out like a master at work and a new filmmaker still experimenting.