Terminator Salvation

I have a few words of caution for those who are about to go see this movie. That is, remember that it is a Terminator movie. It’s not going to win any Oscars, and they were never meant to. These movies, with the exception of the 3^rd installment, are a personal favorite of mine. The reason for that is a little tricky. The first and second movies open up a huge philosophical “can of worms” so to speak. They bring about the weird paradoxes of time travel, raise questions on human nature, what it means to be human, what makes us human and a few other debatable situations of free will and fate. That’s not my favorite thing about these movies though.

What makes me love those movies is the fact that they sit right on top of those subjects, with all the potential to be very deep and insightful, and they do nothing with it. They spend 2-is hours blowing things up. It’s so close; almost a thinker movie, and then everyone gets shot.

It makes me grin every time.

This one is no exemption. Christian Bale does a great job brining us a brooding, but optimistic Jon Connor, and Anton Yelchin does an acceptable job as a teenage Kyle Reese. The real treat in this movie is the character of Marcus Wright. Sam Worthington gives a great performance as the guy you want to root for if you could bring yourself to like him. And his character has a potentially fascinating arc, and of course, it’s happily lost to everyone in gunfire.

Remember kids, it’s just an action movie. Not “best picture of the year”. Just go see it and have some fun. Oh, and it has a T-800 with the face of Arnie! That’s a real treat for the fans.

All in all: Metal Limbs and Mediocrity

Lives up to the pre-views? Yup.

Worthy sequel? To 1 and 2, yes. Forget 3. Please.

Stars (out of five): 4

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Star Trek

When I first heard about this one, I had some serious doubts. The Star Trek movies have been sucking pretty hard lately. In fact, the 9^th was so dull it was nearly unwatchable. The 10^th one just tried to follow the Wrath of Khan formula for a quick thrill, and for the most part failed. So, naturally, my first thought was that they are going to go after the old stuff, and muck that up too.

And I was delighted to find that was not the case. Every actor brought their characters alive, and most gave a new demention to them that was either drastically understated, or not there in the original. Chris Pine was an excellent choice for Kirk, and Karl Urban stole every scene he was in. even with Leonard Nimoy reprising his famous role as Spock, I often thought that he was out shined many times by Zachary Quinto. Other fantastic performances are there as well, including Bruce Greenwood, John Cho, Simon Pegg and an excellent villain by Eric Bana.

The action was quick and great, and most importantly they did not do a lot of quick crazy shots that can ruin any action movie if not done correctly.

I am looking forward to many many more. Go see it. You will thank yourself. In fact, see it twice.

All in all: Spock on Spock!

Lives up to the pre-views: Goes Boldly Beyond

Worthy sequel: Oh yes. Best Yet.

Stars (out of five): 4.5

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X-Men Origins: Wolverine

I am going to start off this review with the fact that I am not a “purist”. Moreover, I have not read the Wolverine Origins graphic novel(s), nor do I follow the comic books on a regular basis. I used to as a kid, but not so much anymore. The reason I bring that up, is because I think it has affected many reviews unjustly.

Let’s start with the good news first. The acting was much better than one would expect from a movie like this. Hugh Jackman did his usual Wolverine routine, and to be quite honest; it’s the great one we are used to. He makes watching that character very fun, if not the best part of that movie. Liev Schreiber I thought did a good job as the antagonist, a heartless self serving remorseless killer, who seems to enjoy it a little too much. There were a lot of scene stealers, who were at the top of their game, and perfect for the roles, such as Ryan Reynolds, Kevin Durand and Will.i.am. I had a feeling that Taylor Kitsch would disappoint as Gambit, and he did.

Now the bad news folks. The movie was filled with plot holes and sloppy story telling. Not only that, but there were a little too many “one liners” that just seemed a bit out of place. I am not going to go into any details on the plot holes, because it would requite some spoilers.

Overall, lots of action, explosions and all that good old mutant fighting you have come to expect from the series. Really, it’s better than the third movie, but don’t expect it to be up to par with X-Men 1 & 2; it’s definitely worth a look, just don’t think too hard.

All in all: Mutants and Mayhem

Worthy Sequel: Yeah. Better than the last one.

Lives up to the pre-views? Yup.

Stars (out of five): 3.5

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Watchmen

The movie follows two generations of the costumes heroes. The first generation having gotten old and retired, killed or just disappeared. The movie starts off in October of an 'alternate' 1985, where the second generation of heroes are forced to quit by the government, go to work for the government or continue to do the job outside of the law. When one of them is murdered (one from the first generation), the new generation investigates, and starts to unravel a huge sinister plot stretching both generations that will change the course of our world.

I had heard about the graphic novel before, but as most comic books bore me, I never thought to read it. However, it came highly recommended by some friends of mine who were very excited about the movie. So I gave it a try, and it did not disappoint. The graphic novel was brilliant. It made me very excited as well to see the movie. The movie did not disappoint either. It was surprisingly true to the source material. Very little changes and omissions were made. The characters were just as vivid and rich as they were in the book, and the director translated that to cinema almost flawlessly. The characters of the heroes are portrayed as 'human' as well, being that they have many flaws, and are definitely not the 'up standing citizens' as heroes are often portrayed in the genre.

In fact, the "heroes" torture, kill and suffer from weird personality disorders. Some have a nostalgic view of the past, where heroes are the good guys, and the lines between good and evil are black and white, and finding that is not quite the case any longer (or ever was). Some are fixed in the belief that what they do is right, and no matter what awful things they do, their ends justify the means. They vary from being amoral to nihilistic to lunatics to having no humanity at all. And those lines are not always clear either.

With characters that complicated and fascinating, and a critique of society and humanity as sharp as this, there is a reason the graphic novel made Time Magazine's 100 Best Novels list. the movie may not be destined for that much fame, but it excellently captured all of the fantastic elements of the comic. So to say the least; the movie is as deep as you look, and fulfilling on all levels.

The acting is spectacular. I even thought the worst characters still did a great job. You leave wanting more of The Comedian and Rorschach. Even with all of the story lines running at the same time, the movie is still watchable and not too confusing. The action and visual effects are very stylized, and well done. Even the long running time (2.5 hours) just fly’s by (for me anyways).

I just have one bit of advice: This is not a kids superhero movie. Leave them at home. It is rated R for a reason folks.

So who is watching the Watchmen? ...Hopefully you are. And I can only hope that you will get as much out of it as I did.

All in all : )

Lives up to the pre-views? Much MUCH better.

Stars (out of five): 4.5

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Friday the 13th

I am not a huge fan of most of the original movies. The majority of them are terrible, and the rest are barely watchable, and unintentionally humorous. The original movies reek of low budget, lack of talent and predictability. So why is Mr. Voorhees so popular then? Why even bother remaking that stuff? The answer is simple. He has made his mark as a horror icon, and deserves a movie, or movies, that will live up to the stigma he has. So, then, why the stigma? Well, it is more of ‘what is scary about Jason’ than the movies themselves scaring you. Jason Voorhees is the ugly looking possibly retarded kid who drown at Crystal Lake as a child, and has ‘returned’ (I have to use the word ‘returned’, because the ‘how’ (zombie, healing abilities, mistaken for dead) varies depending on the installment you are watching) to exact revenge on those who enter his sanctuary, and mourn the loss of his mother.

Jason, along with other zombie types, is scary because of two things. The first is that you fear his presence. His appearance, being really ugly and hiding behind the emotionless mask, is almost if not completely sub-human; and can make anyone uncomfortable. He has a towering stature that make any physical confrontation seem impossible, and the skin being dirty and almost rotten is supposed to revolt you- and does so quite well. The second thing is that he is the Big Lumbering Death, and like the story of the tortoise and the hare, he will catch up to you no matter how fast you run and kill you (even though, once again, depending on the installment you are watching he may be really slow, or quite speedy and smart).

One element is a little more complicated, and something I noticed and is probably only interesting to me. It stems from the fact that he is always killing the teenagers who are partying. I think this might make him somewhat of a contemporary version of Grendel. Take that for what you will. It makes him just that more interesting when thinking about it.

Anyways, back to the film itself. This installment, or remake- whatever, has no new input into the story. They do nothing new on the creative side, and nothing to add to the character of Jason. There is no new setting, and everything is the same as the old ones: big killer slashing his way through partying teenagers. So why see it?... Why not. Why not watch one of the most recognizable horror icons do what he does best. This time with better acting, better filmmaking, and a bigger budget and waaayyy more style and grit. Be prepared for a popcorn munching good time.

All in all: Grit & Gore Galore

Lives up to the pre-views? Sure.

Lives up to the original(s)? Yes and no.

Stars (out of five): 4

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Taken

Wow- I have been slacking lately. I saw this movie days ago, and now I just get around to posting the review. Anyways, it starts out slow, and Liam seems really sappy in the role of the retiree trying to re establish his relationship with his estranged teenage daughter. When things seem to be going well, she goes on a trip to Paris with a friend, and then is promptly abducted.
He then embarks on a hunt and find type mission with his CIA given skills, and murders and tortures his way to his daughter, who is caught up in a high class underground sex-slave trade operation.

That is really all there is to review about this show. Some of the acting is lame, and from the premiss, you have a good guess how the show will go… and from that I give it a thumbs down for creativity. But the action ans suspense is nonstop. I was on the edge of my seat the entire time. Ans I will say this too: he would make an excellent James Bond. I really believe that after this show. Liam can do gome good action.

All in all: Popin’ Caps & Popcorn Perfection!

Lives up to the pre-views? No, Better

Stars (out of five): 4

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Underworld: Rise of the Lycans

I can't think of a decent way to write a review for this movie. The mythology that they have built around these movies has a life all its own; you go in knowing exactly what to expect, or you won't go see it at all for the same reason. The first two movies ere not great by any means, but they were not bad mindless entertainment. They had action and gore and not much else, and this one was no exception. However, the first two movies were fun to watch once and then never see again. This one lacked even more than the others. I got bored at parts. The others at least had the action to fill in the gaps of bad acting and story.

This installment was more character driven, and that was a bad choice. Not only were the characters not that interesting, but the acting was a little subpar on almost every level. The story also failed to grab an interest. I found myself not really caring if the vampires or the werewolves won whatever battle this is. Not to mention that it is a prequel. I hate to say it, but if you have seen the others, you know how this is going to toss up in the end.

But, if you are going to see a movie like this, chances are you are not looking for something Oscar worthy. Chances are you are looking for a story that is only a vehicle for cool costumes, good makeup, lots of evil-doers, and violence and gore by the bucket load. This delivers just that- so if that's what you want, this is just what the doctor ordered.

All-in-all: Sucking: of the Blood and Cinema Variety.

Worthy Sequel? I thought the first two were better.

Lives up to the pre-views? Sure does...

Stars (out of five): 2

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