Genre: Action/Adventure/Crime // Running Time: 164 minutes // Release Date:
July 20, 2012
Cast & Crew at IMDB - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1345836/
Overall
Rating: 8 out of 10
Synopsis: The story picks up 8 years after the end of The Dark Knight, and we find Gotham relatively crime free and in a time of peace. After taking the rap for Harvey Dent's murder, Batman has disappeared and Bruce Wayne has become a recluse. However, the appearance of a new villain named Bane forces Batman to emerge from hiding and try to save Gotham from total destruction at the hands of this new foe.
The movie itself is quite visually impressive. Batman's new toy 'The Bat', is much cooler than 'The Batwing' from earlier Batman films. There are a lot of great explosions, gun battles, and hand-to-hand fight scenes that are fantastic to watch (especially in Imax). That being said however, the story is not nearly as good as the previous two films in this series. Christopher Nolan seems to be working too hard to try and live up to the expectations generated from the first two films, as well as trying to tie up all the stray storylines to wrap up and put a nice bow on this series. There are a few too many flashbacks, tie-ins and otherwise distracting plotlines tied into the main story. The other key component missing from this film is that of a great villain and supporting cast. Tom Hardy's Bane is definitely evil and menacing, but nowhere near the level of Ledger's Joker from The Dark Knight. He is close to level of The Scarecrow in Batman Begins, but when you combine The Scarecrow with Ra's Al Ghul, he falls far short of the level of villainy from the first two films. His voice is also unnecessarily strange and distracting, and it was pointed out to me that it sounds like Darrell Hammond's Sean Connery impression from the Celebrity Jeopardy skit on Saturday Night Live. Anne Hathaway does a good job as Selina Kyle (who is never actually referred to as Catwoman), but in comparison to supporting characters like Harvey Dent and the aforementioned Scarecrow and Al Ghul, she also falls way short.
Convoluted plot and slightly disappointing supporting cast aside, the movie still has its positives. You still have Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman, and both of them are great (as always) in this movie. Michael Caine is especially good in this installment and you leave the theater wishing he was your butler, or father, or just your friend to give you advice all the time. The special effects and score are also great. I felt my heart pumping at times simply from the music accompanying the scenes. And as I mentioned before, there are plenty of explosions for action fans, and the hand-to-hand combat scenes in this movie are also excellent.
As a standalone movie, it would be an excellent piece of cinema. It's exciting, entertaining, and has some great characters. However, since it is part of one of the most (if not the most) popular series of movies (comic or otherwise) in the last 10 years, it will be compared to it's two predecessors and will undoubtedly fall short. It is nearly impossible to live up to the standards set by Heath Ledger, and even without his death making his performance that much more memorable, The Joker is still one of the greatest villains in movie history (in my opinon) and that is a pretty tough act to follow. Don't get me wrong, The Dark Knight Rises is still a great movie to watch, I did give it an 8/10 after all, but I would have given the first two a 9 or 9.5 in comparison. Maybe I'm just being too picky ... guess I'm turning into a real movie critic :-)
Friday, July 20, 2012
Ice Age: Continental Drift
Genre: Animation/Adventure/Comedy // Running Time: 88 minutes // Release Date: July, 13 2012
Cast & Crew at IMDB - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1667889/
Overall Rating 8 out of 10
Synopsis: Manny, Sid and Diego are stranded on an iceberg as the continents of the Earth begin to shift caused by Scrat and his never ending quest to get his acorn. The movie follows the trio, and Sid's Granny, as they drift through Earth's oceans in an effort to get back to Manny's family who are still on the continent. The group encounter giant crabs, hurricanes at sea, as well as a gang of pirates on their quest to return home.
As far as animated films go, this movie was fairly entertaining. It has a good pace to it, and for the fourth installment in this series, it's still pretty funny. As has been the case in all the movies in this series, the voice acting is excellent and each actor seems to suit each character perfectly. The addition of Peter Dinklage (Game of Thrones) as Captain Gutt only serves to make the cast even better.
The animation in this movie is more or less the same as the other three in the series. I didn't watch this one in 3D, so I can't comment on whether or not the extra money would be worth the glasses in this case.
The movie is a decent one to watch. It has a lot of excitement and slapstick comedy that generally does well with the younger audiences. Adults will still find the movie entertaining and there's a few good jokes in there just for us ... although with the internet and the speed at which kids seem to be growing up these days, they might get the jokes that you don't.
Cast & Crew at IMDB - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1667889/
Overall Rating 8 out of 10
Synopsis: Manny, Sid and Diego are stranded on an iceberg as the continents of the Earth begin to shift caused by Scrat and his never ending quest to get his acorn. The movie follows the trio, and Sid's Granny, as they drift through Earth's oceans in an effort to get back to Manny's family who are still on the continent. The group encounter giant crabs, hurricanes at sea, as well as a gang of pirates on their quest to return home.
As far as animated films go, this movie was fairly entertaining. It has a good pace to it, and for the fourth installment in this series, it's still pretty funny. As has been the case in all the movies in this series, the voice acting is excellent and each actor seems to suit each character perfectly. The addition of Peter Dinklage (Game of Thrones) as Captain Gutt only serves to make the cast even better.
The animation in this movie is more or less the same as the other three in the series. I didn't watch this one in 3D, so I can't comment on whether or not the extra money would be worth the glasses in this case.
The movie is a decent one to watch. It has a lot of excitement and slapstick comedy that generally does well with the younger audiences. Adults will still find the movie entertaining and there's a few good jokes in there just for us ... although with the internet and the speed at which kids seem to be growing up these days, they might get the jokes that you don't.
Friday, July 13, 2012
Ted
Genre: Comedy/Fantasy // Running Time: 106 minutes // Release Date:
June 29, 2012
Cast & Crew at IMDB - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1637725/
Overall Rating 8 out of 10
Synopsis: A young boy makes a wish that his new Christmas present, a teddy bear, will really come to life and talk to him and be his friend. Obviously, for the purposes of making a movie, that wish comes true, and the film follows the adventures of John (Mark Walberg) and Ted (voiced by Seth MacFarlane).
Basically, any movie that is made by the guy who makes Family Guy, and has a main character voiced by the guy who makes Family Guy, is going to seem pretty damn funny if you like, you guessed it, Family Guy. If you're one of those weirdos out there who doesn't "get" the humor of Family Guy, or finds it too crass, or too much like the Simpsons (it is), well first, stop reading my blog because we are no longer friends! And second, if you're still reading then I guess you're entitled to your own opinion.
This movie started out at a pretty high level of hilarity that I think would be tough to maintain for any movie, but they made a good effort in trying. I was laughing so hard through most of the movie that I had tears running down my face, but there were a few parts where the movie focuses in on the more serious stuff (romance, relationships, abduction, etc), and in those parts the movie seems to drag on just a little bit. However, that could also have been due to my high level of anticipation for what funny thing was coming up soon. I also couldn't get over the fact that you have the voices of Peter Griffin ("I do not sound like Peter Griffin"), Joe Swanson (Patrick Warburton) and Meg (Mila Kunis), but it's a live action movie and Meg is not ridiculed or ugly. Actually, I've watched so much Family Guy that it isn't until I see Mila Kunis that I remember her voice actually belongs to an attractive woman. MacFarlane also throws in Stewie & Quagmire's voices at one point I believe just to add to the Family Guy-esque experience.
Bottom line, the movie is pretty damn funny. I enjoyed it immensely. There's a ton of jokes, references, and random celebrity ridiculing for everyone to enjoy. And Giovanni Ribisi has a great show stealing role in this film and he is fantastic in it.
Cast & Crew at IMDB - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1637725/
Overall Rating 8 out of 10
Synopsis: A young boy makes a wish that his new Christmas present, a teddy bear, will really come to life and talk to him and be his friend. Obviously, for the purposes of making a movie, that wish comes true, and the film follows the adventures of John (Mark Walberg) and Ted (voiced by Seth MacFarlane).
Basically, any movie that is made by the guy who makes Family Guy, and has a main character voiced by the guy who makes Family Guy, is going to seem pretty damn funny if you like, you guessed it, Family Guy. If you're one of those weirdos out there who doesn't "get" the humor of Family Guy, or finds it too crass, or too much like the Simpsons (it is), well first, stop reading my blog because we are no longer friends! And second, if you're still reading then I guess you're entitled to your own opinion.
This movie started out at a pretty high level of hilarity that I think would be tough to maintain for any movie, but they made a good effort in trying. I was laughing so hard through most of the movie that I had tears running down my face, but there were a few parts where the movie focuses in on the more serious stuff (romance, relationships, abduction, etc), and in those parts the movie seems to drag on just a little bit. However, that could also have been due to my high level of anticipation for what funny thing was coming up soon. I also couldn't get over the fact that you have the voices of Peter Griffin ("I do not sound like Peter Griffin"), Joe Swanson (Patrick Warburton) and Meg (Mila Kunis), but it's a live action movie and Meg is not ridiculed or ugly. Actually, I've watched so much Family Guy that it isn't until I see Mila Kunis that I remember her voice actually belongs to an attractive woman. MacFarlane also throws in Stewie & Quagmire's voices at one point I believe just to add to the Family Guy-esque experience.
Bottom line, the movie is pretty damn funny. I enjoyed it immensely. There's a ton of jokes, references, and random celebrity ridiculing for everyone to enjoy. And Giovanni Ribisi has a great show stealing role in this film and he is fantastic in it.
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