Reviews

First of all: what was with the singing? The Hobbit was very much parallel to the LOTR trilogy in regard to storyline and setup (meet, different battles, let's meet the dwarfs, let's meet the elves). There are also a lot of instances that are cheeky nods to the originals (i.e., Gandalf sending a butterfly instead of a moth to get help). Fans of the series will probably get a kick out of them.

I haven't read the book, so I don't know how similar in story arc its supposed to be. To me, it seems a little tired and "hey, this worked last time, let's basically follow the exact same thread but change up the characters." The animals (inc. a dragon with a gold hoard that would make even Scrooge McDuck jealous) are simply AMAZING. To me, they were by far the coolest aspect of the movie.

If you liked the LOTR, you'll like this. You probably won't be as blown away by it (or maybe you will) but you'll find it enjoyable.

But, seriously, fire whoever wanted all of that singing.

This movie is executed as well as possible given the storyline and interest in maintaining truth. It's based on real-life events at a McDonalds, and the fact that this happened is really, really pathetic.

As such, the movie does a good job at shining a light on the seeming inability for people to think for themselves these days, let alone challenge authority. Especially when said authority is absolutely ludicrous.

The movie follows Becky (Dreama Walker, of 'Don't Trust the B in Apartment 23' fame) as she is the victim of a "prank" in which her manager is misled into sexually assaulting and demeaning her. The "pranker" is someone on the phone pretending to be a cop. And she listens to this guy. Seriously. Doesn't this fill you with distress that people are this gullible? Each day there are people with info. on you in companies such as banks, etc., and there are people like this that will mindlessly listen to a random phone call.

Kudos to the producers, directors, and actors for taking on such a role. It is definitely something that is not enjoyable to watch given the content, but that is the whole point. It's well done, just not amazing.

I was recommend to watch this film, and I was a little dubious. Trolls? Trollhunters? Trollhunters that replace dead troll carcasses with dead bear carcasses?

To my surprise, it was a pretty good movie! It was clever in the right places, and funny. It had a lot of interesting details that made the movie. It is found footage, so if you don't like that genre, you probably won't be a big fan, but I think that applies to any found footage film if you feel that way (and then you're missing out on some real gems).

Overall, I would recommend watching it. It was an enjoyable movie and I felt happy I gave it a shot.

SPOILER CITY.

This could've been great if the writers hadn't fallen to half-assed movie clichés such as: - ex-wife now someone else's ex-wife so naturally will be wife again. - 30-year-old woman as 16-year-old trying to get driver's license - thinking you could get away with hiring Borat's wife for the final scene (not the writer's fault, but didn't stop me from laughing) - making the daughter consistently make the dumbest moves (really? You couldn't move your dumb ass flip-flops from the window?) - daughter dating nasty ass scrub who lives in a frat house, much to dismay of father ... and more.

That being said, once this movie got into the 40 min. mark and got to what it does best (namely, Liam Neeson kicking ass) I let go of all of the laws of logic and enjoyed the movie. Sorry, doesn't get much better than Liam Neeson being clever and kicking ass.

If you liked the first Taken, you'll like this after the 40 min. mark. Try to suspend your disbelief that the daughter can actually accomplish anything.

Sidenote, the '10 things we learned from Taken 2' in the message board thread is hilarious.

Food for thought: Why didn't gang boss man's other sons join the fam. biz? Espec. if they would avenge daddy boss man?