Genre: Action/ Crime/ Mystery // Running Time: 115 minutes // Release Date: February 10, 2012
Cast & Crew at IMDB - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1599348/
Overall Rating: 9 out of 10
Synopsis: A young CIA agent played by Ryan Reynolds has his usually boring and uneventful post at a CIA safe house in South Africa thrown into chaos when the arrival of a highly wanted fugitive results in an all out assault on his safe house forcing him to take the fugitive and run for his life.
This movie would have gotten a little higher rating, but I found the last 30 minutes or so to drag on a little too much for my liking and that kind of skewed my overall evaluation I think. That being said however, this movie was fantastic! I'm a huge fan of Denzel Washington, especially when he gets to play a villain role. The way he acts and talks and just his general presence when he's on screen is incredible and is definitely something other actors should learn from and try to adopt into their acting style.
There is also a large element of conspiracy and mystery in this story, which when combined with the great acting, makes this movie really fun and interesting to watch. Then on top of that you add some well shot, exciting car chase scenes, random gun battles, and some high speed hand-to-hand combat scenes, the movie becomes pretty much the epitome of what an action movie should be. Yes, it even has explosions!
I strongly recommend this movie. I would even go so far as to say that this is the best movie I have seen this year. If you're one of those people (apparently the average person), who only sees three movies a year, this should definitely be one of them. Unless of course you don't like action movies ... and if that's the case then I guess I have nothing further to say to you.
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengence
Genre: Action/Fantasy // Running Time: 95 minutes // Release Date: February 17, 2012
Cast & Crew at IMDB - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1071875/
Overall Rating: 6 out of 10
Synopsis: The sequel to 2007's Ghost Rider, revolves once again around Johnny Blaze, who is now hiding out in Europe in hopes of outrunning his curse of transforming into the vigilante Ghost Rider. He meets up with a priest who recruits him to help prevent the Devil from possessing the body of a young child which will serve to give him a true human form and increased power on Earth. "I don't save people!" ... possibly the most over-acted line in the film.
This movie wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be, it wasn't drawn out or too long, which left almost the perfect amount of time to cram in a bunch of high action scenes. That being said, it's not really a good movie, but you do have to go see a movie like this with a certain mind set, namely, this is a popcorn, comic book movie and as such you should expect a lot of ridiculous action sequences and not too much in the way of a story. Nicholas Cage is, well, Nicholas Cage. People complain a lot about Keanu Reeves being the same in all his movies, but what about Nicholas Cage? I find him to be pretty much the same guy in just about everything. Especially his action films. Except for Con Air, where for some inexplicable reason, he did that stupid accent and ruined what could have been a decent (might be reaching here) film.
Basically, the plot is super easy to follow and the movie doesn't drag on too much. The 3D was relatively decent, but not so spectacular that you should pay extra to see 3D over a cheaper 2D version. The action sequences and stunts were generally pretty cool. It's a comic book movie, expect cheese, explosions, and moderate level acting. If you enjoy just having an hour and a half to turn your brain off and just watch some mindless action, you'll probably enjoy this flick. If not, well, don't say I didn't warn you.
Cast & Crew at IMDB - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1071875/
Overall Rating: 6 out of 10
Synopsis: The sequel to 2007's Ghost Rider, revolves once again around Johnny Blaze, who is now hiding out in Europe in hopes of outrunning his curse of transforming into the vigilante Ghost Rider. He meets up with a priest who recruits him to help prevent the Devil from possessing the body of a young child which will serve to give him a true human form and increased power on Earth. "I don't save people!" ... possibly the most over-acted line in the film.
This movie wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be, it wasn't drawn out or too long, which left almost the perfect amount of time to cram in a bunch of high action scenes. That being said, it's not really a good movie, but you do have to go see a movie like this with a certain mind set, namely, this is a popcorn, comic book movie and as such you should expect a lot of ridiculous action sequences and not too much in the way of a story. Nicholas Cage is, well, Nicholas Cage. People complain a lot about Keanu Reeves being the same in all his movies, but what about Nicholas Cage? I find him to be pretty much the same guy in just about everything. Especially his action films. Except for Con Air, where for some inexplicable reason, he did that stupid accent and ruined what could have been a decent (might be reaching here) film.
Basically, the plot is super easy to follow and the movie doesn't drag on too much. The 3D was relatively decent, but not so spectacular that you should pay extra to see 3D over a cheaper 2D version. The action sequences and stunts were generally pretty cool. It's a comic book movie, expect cheese, explosions, and moderate level acting. If you enjoy just having an hour and a half to turn your brain off and just watch some mindless action, you'll probably enjoy this flick. If not, well, don't say I didn't warn you.
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (3D)
Genre: Action/Adventure/Fantasy // Running Time: 136 minutes // Release Date: June 26, 1999
Cast & Crew at IMDB - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120915/
Overall Rating: 7 out of 10
Synopsis: The story follows the adventures of two Jedi Knights, Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson) and Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) as they set out to settle a trade dispute on the planet of Naboo and end up playing pivotal roles in something far more vast and complex then they could have ever imagined. (But seriously, you knew all this right?)
When this movie originally came out in 1999, I was working at the Cineplex Odeon in Lethbridge, Alberta. On opening night, during the soldout midnight shows, the projector in theater 6 had a melt down and I had to go in front of 200 or so people (mostly nerds) and inform them that they could go home to bed because the show would not go on. I had popcorn thrown at me, lots of hateful things shouted, and one guy with a great sense of humor who came out after my speech and suggested I get out of there quick because a bunch of guys with black glasses taped in the middle were looking to kick my ass. I made the local paper as "the management sent some kid down to deal with the crowds while they hid in their office". (I was 20). I also spent a lot of time watching the parts of this movie that I enjoyed most, mainly the pod race and the sweet lightsaber duel at the end of the film. Fortunately for me today, the film did not break down and I was the only nerd in the theater, which was also pretty awesome!
Anyways, being a big Star Wars fan, I was pretty pumped when this movie was released. Not camp outside a movie theater for a week to get tickets pumped, but pretty pumped none-the-less. Needless to say with almost 20 years of build-up and hype and super high standards and expectations, this movie let a lot of people down. I thought the movie was pretty damn awesome myself, but I can see where people would get upset. I mean it boils down to simple math really: Liam Neeson & Samuel L. Jackson as Jedi = +6, Young Yoda = +5, Pod Race = + 3, Double bladed lightsaber = +3, The first not super slow, awkward Star Wars lightsaber battle = +10, and the general Star Wars awesomeness = +5 which gives us (let me get out my calculator) 32 points. Then you have the introduction of probably the most hated character in the Star Wars universe, if not any movie ever made, Jar Jar Binks. And that alone is about -30 in my books, which left this movie pretty much at a zero. Today however, that balance was toppled over and pushed back into the plus side by the addition of 3D technology. Not all the movie really needed a 3D touch and it doesn't seem to do much when it's actors and stage sets anyways, but considering a large majority of this movie is CGI, there was a lot of opportunity to 3D it up, and Lucas and the boys did just that. The pod race alone was worth my price of admission, but there was also a space fighter battle and the underwater through the core part that were both greatly improved as well.
Basically, if you're a Star Wars fan - See it you must! Enjoy it you will!
Cast & Crew at IMDB - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120915/
Overall Rating: 7 out of 10
Synopsis: The story follows the adventures of two Jedi Knights, Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson) and Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) as they set out to settle a trade dispute on the planet of Naboo and end up playing pivotal roles in something far more vast and complex then they could have ever imagined. (But seriously, you knew all this right?)
When this movie originally came out in 1999, I was working at the Cineplex Odeon in Lethbridge, Alberta. On opening night, during the soldout midnight shows, the projector in theater 6 had a melt down and I had to go in front of 200 or so people (mostly nerds) and inform them that they could go home to bed because the show would not go on. I had popcorn thrown at me, lots of hateful things shouted, and one guy with a great sense of humor who came out after my speech and suggested I get out of there quick because a bunch of guys with black glasses taped in the middle were looking to kick my ass. I made the local paper as "the management sent some kid down to deal with the crowds while they hid in their office". (I was 20). I also spent a lot of time watching the parts of this movie that I enjoyed most, mainly the pod race and the sweet lightsaber duel at the end of the film. Fortunately for me today, the film did not break down and I was the only nerd in the theater, which was also pretty awesome!
Anyways, being a big Star Wars fan, I was pretty pumped when this movie was released. Not camp outside a movie theater for a week to get tickets pumped, but pretty pumped none-the-less. Needless to say with almost 20 years of build-up and hype and super high standards and expectations, this movie let a lot of people down. I thought the movie was pretty damn awesome myself, but I can see where people would get upset. I mean it boils down to simple math really: Liam Neeson & Samuel L. Jackson as Jedi = +6, Young Yoda = +5, Pod Race = + 3, Double bladed lightsaber = +3, The first not super slow, awkward Star Wars lightsaber battle = +10, and the general Star Wars awesomeness = +5 which gives us (let me get out my calculator) 32 points. Then you have the introduction of probably the most hated character in the Star Wars universe, if not any movie ever made, Jar Jar Binks. And that alone is about -30 in my books, which left this movie pretty much at a zero. Today however, that balance was toppled over and pushed back into the plus side by the addition of 3D technology. Not all the movie really needed a 3D touch and it doesn't seem to do much when it's actors and stage sets anyways, but considering a large majority of this movie is CGI, there was a lot of opportunity to 3D it up, and Lucas and the boys did just that. The pod race alone was worth my price of admission, but there was also a space fighter battle and the underwater through the core part that were both greatly improved as well.
Basically, if you're a Star Wars fan - See it you must! Enjoy it you will!
Monday, February 13, 2012
One For The Money
Genre: Comedy/Action // Running Time: 91 minutes // Release Date: January 27, 2012
Cast & Crew at IMDB - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1598828/
Overall Rating: 5.5 out of 10
Synopsis: An unemployed and severely broke woman named Stephanie Plum (Katherine Heigl) ends up getting a job as a bounty hunter for her cousin's bail bond business. As luck would have it, her first target is a man whom she has some history with and holds a pretty serious grudge towards. As she learns the ins and outs of bounty hunting and starts to uncover things about the case, she discovers that being a bounty hunter is not quite as safe as selling lingerie at Macy's.
Despite my serious reservations about seeing this one in theaters, it was the movie choice of someone else and also paid for, so I guess I can chalk that up as a plus. The movie starts off a bit slow for my liking, but seems to pick up the pace a bit towards the end. I was pleasantly surprised with the storyline of this movie, as it managed to have enough twists and turns to keep me interested more or less the whole way through. There was also a fair amount of comedy thrown in which made the movie seem borderline fun to watch.
I'm not an overly huge fan of Katherine Heigl, but she was pretty hot in this movie and she ends up next to naked at one point, so that may have worked to counter balance my pre-conceptions about her work and definitely resulted in the movie getting a slightly better rating.
All in all, for a romantic comedy, this movie was alright. There's some good action stuff - guns, fighting, explosions, and such for the guys, as well as an interesting, if not predictable, romantic story for the ladies. But seriously, am I the only one who didn't know Katherine Heigl was that ... what's the word ... voluptuous?
Cast & Crew at IMDB - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1598828/
Overall Rating: 5.5 out of 10
Synopsis: An unemployed and severely broke woman named Stephanie Plum (Katherine Heigl) ends up getting a job as a bounty hunter for her cousin's bail bond business. As luck would have it, her first target is a man whom she has some history with and holds a pretty serious grudge towards. As she learns the ins and outs of bounty hunting and starts to uncover things about the case, she discovers that being a bounty hunter is not quite as safe as selling lingerie at Macy's.
Despite my serious reservations about seeing this one in theaters, it was the movie choice of someone else and also paid for, so I guess I can chalk that up as a plus. The movie starts off a bit slow for my liking, but seems to pick up the pace a bit towards the end. I was pleasantly surprised with the storyline of this movie, as it managed to have enough twists and turns to keep me interested more or less the whole way through. There was also a fair amount of comedy thrown in which made the movie seem borderline fun to watch.
I'm not an overly huge fan of Katherine Heigl, but she was pretty hot in this movie and she ends up next to naked at one point, so that may have worked to counter balance my pre-conceptions about her work and definitely resulted in the movie getting a slightly better rating.
All in all, for a romantic comedy, this movie was alright. There's some good action stuff - guns, fighting, explosions, and such for the guys, as well as an interesting, if not predictable, romantic story for the ladies. But seriously, am I the only one who didn't know Katherine Heigl was that ... what's the word ... voluptuous?
Monday, February 6, 2012
Chronicle
Genre: Drama/Action/Sci-Fi // Running Time: 83 minutes // Release Date: February 3, 2012
Cast & Crew at IMDB - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1706593/
Overall Rating: 4 out of 10
Synopsis: The movie centers around 3 high school seniors who develop telekinetic powers after finding a strange glowing rock in a cave near a party they were attending. As they learn to control and develop these powers, they quickly discover that not everyone in their group is capable of handling the responsibilities associated with these new found powers and things rapidly spiral out of control.
I don't know what it was exactly I didn't like about this movie, but this is one of the worst movies I've seen in a while. At least with Shark Night, I expected to watch something terrible, but this one kind of took me by surprise. The acting wasn't spectacular, but it wasn't horrendous, and the premise is something I find very interesting and has a lot of potential, so I'm not entirely sure where it went all wrong. Maybe it was the super annoying, motion sickness inducing, Blair Witch-esque, first person camera thing. Or maybe it was the fact that for such a short movie, the plot really seemed to drag itself out at the beginning, and then struggle to wrap up at the end, which is never a good thing. I think if it had not been for the fantastic 'battle scene' in the last 10-15 minutes, I would have given this movie a much lower rating.
Basically, don't waste your money on this in the theater and maybe don't even bother with the DVD, unless you're really into the idea of superpowers and stuff like that. If that stuff interests you, 83 minutes on DVD probably won't be the end of the world, if not, I'd recommend skipping this one.
Cast & Crew at IMDB - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1706593/
Overall Rating: 4 out of 10
Synopsis: The movie centers around 3 high school seniors who develop telekinetic powers after finding a strange glowing rock in a cave near a party they were attending. As they learn to control and develop these powers, they quickly discover that not everyone in their group is capable of handling the responsibilities associated with these new found powers and things rapidly spiral out of control.
I don't know what it was exactly I didn't like about this movie, but this is one of the worst movies I've seen in a while. At least with Shark Night, I expected to watch something terrible, but this one kind of took me by surprise. The acting wasn't spectacular, but it wasn't horrendous, and the premise is something I find very interesting and has a lot of potential, so I'm not entirely sure where it went all wrong. Maybe it was the super annoying, motion sickness inducing, Blair Witch-esque, first person camera thing. Or maybe it was the fact that for such a short movie, the plot really seemed to drag itself out at the beginning, and then struggle to wrap up at the end, which is never a good thing. I think if it had not been for the fantastic 'battle scene' in the last 10-15 minutes, I would have given this movie a much lower rating.
Basically, don't waste your money on this in the theater and maybe don't even bother with the DVD, unless you're really into the idea of superpowers and stuff like that. If that stuff interests you, 83 minutes on DVD probably won't be the end of the world, if not, I'd recommend skipping this one.
Friday, February 3, 2012
Journey 2: The Mysterious Island
Genre: Adventure/Comedy // Running Time: 94 minutes // Release Date: February 10, 2012
Cast & Crew at IMDB - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1397514/
Overall Rating: 6.5 out of 10
Synopsis: A teenage boy named Sean (Josh Hutcherson) receives a radio message claiming the existence of a fabled island from a Jules Verne novel and believes it to be from his currently missing grandfather Alexander (Michael Caine). With the help of his mom's new boyfriend Hank (Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson), who conveniently enough, was an ex code-breaker in the Navy, he uncovers the location of the island. After quickly convincing the boy's mother of the merits of the trip, the pair set out to find the island, and hopefully the whereabouts of the missing grandfather in the process.
While this movie is definitely not the greatest movie ever made, it definitely isn't the worst. I'm still not a huge fan of 3D movies, mainly because not much of the movie is actually improved with the use of 3D technology. However, I did get to see a trailer for Star Wars Episode 1 in 3D so I'm excited to see that series hit the theaters again! This movie is sadly much the same as the previous attempts at 3D movies, and while a few bits here and there 'pop' out at you, for the most part, the 2D version will give viewers an identical experience for less money. So if you're given a choice, see it in the cheaper 2D format.
If you haven't seen the first movie of this series, Journey to the Center of the Earth, I wouldn't be overly concerned. None of the characters carry over, and there's no real plot ties other than the first movie is loosely based on a Jules Verne novel as well. I have seen both movies and I must say that I found this one to be much more enjoyable than the first. It could be because The Rock is more fun to watch than Brendan Fraser, and you also have Michael Caine who is always good, even if the movie isn't. The story is pretty far-fetched and ridiculous at times (flying on giant bees), but it is a movie based on the idea of finding an island where the sizes of things is reversed, so you kind of have to take it with a grain of salt. As far as family films go, this one isn't terrible. It's got some good jokes and one-liners, lots of action and adventure, the CGI is pretty good, and there's even some adolescent romance between Sean and Kailani played by the attractive (I checked her age to make sure I could say that) Vanessa Hudgens. You even get to hear The Rock sing and play the ukulele and he's surprisingly decent ... never thought I'd get to say that. If you aren't dying to see it, wait for the DVD and save yourself a few bucks. But if you need a family film that's not a cartoon, this one is entertaining and fun.
Cast & Crew at IMDB - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1397514/
Overall Rating: 6.5 out of 10
Synopsis: A teenage boy named Sean (Josh Hutcherson) receives a radio message claiming the existence of a fabled island from a Jules Verne novel and believes it to be from his currently missing grandfather Alexander (Michael Caine). With the help of his mom's new boyfriend Hank (Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson), who conveniently enough, was an ex code-breaker in the Navy, he uncovers the location of the island. After quickly convincing the boy's mother of the merits of the trip, the pair set out to find the island, and hopefully the whereabouts of the missing grandfather in the process.
While this movie is definitely not the greatest movie ever made, it definitely isn't the worst. I'm still not a huge fan of 3D movies, mainly because not much of the movie is actually improved with the use of 3D technology. However, I did get to see a trailer for Star Wars Episode 1 in 3D so I'm excited to see that series hit the theaters again! This movie is sadly much the same as the previous attempts at 3D movies, and while a few bits here and there 'pop' out at you, for the most part, the 2D version will give viewers an identical experience for less money. So if you're given a choice, see it in the cheaper 2D format.
If you haven't seen the first movie of this series, Journey to the Center of the Earth, I wouldn't be overly concerned. None of the characters carry over, and there's no real plot ties other than the first movie is loosely based on a Jules Verne novel as well. I have seen both movies and I must say that I found this one to be much more enjoyable than the first. It could be because The Rock is more fun to watch than Brendan Fraser, and you also have Michael Caine who is always good, even if the movie isn't. The story is pretty far-fetched and ridiculous at times (flying on giant bees), but it is a movie based on the idea of finding an island where the sizes of things is reversed, so you kind of have to take it with a grain of salt. As far as family films go, this one isn't terrible. It's got some good jokes and one-liners, lots of action and adventure, the CGI is pretty good, and there's even some adolescent romance between Sean and Kailani played by the attractive (I checked her age to make sure I could say that) Vanessa Hudgens. You even get to hear The Rock sing and play the ukulele and he's surprisingly decent ... never thought I'd get to say that. If you aren't dying to see it, wait for the DVD and save yourself a few bucks. But if you need a family film that's not a cartoon, this one is entertaining and fun.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)