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How to Train Your Dragon 2 (2014)
Somehow, Dreamworks has made a film that tops the original and all Dreamworks films before it.
How to Train Your Dragon 2 is the sequel to the classic Dreamworks animated movie How to Train Your Dragon. It continues the story of Hiccup, but this time, he's leading up towards adulthood. He's also traveling and trying to find new land. While on an adventure, he comes across dragon hunters, who are building an evil dragon army. It's up to Hiccup and his friends to stop them. I know it doesn't sound much; part of it is because I can't give a good synopsis for the life of me, but this movie takes everything that the first How to Train Your Dragon had and makes it better. And this is coming from a guy who thinks that How to Train Your Dragon DreamWorks' best work. Although it's not anymore. Now, DreamWorks' best work is How to Train Your Dragon 2. I realize that I do a terrible job telling the stories of movies, but trust me; the story here is really good. Not only does it expand the mythology of the world and stories of the characters, but it creates a plot that is much darker than the original. The setup is excellent, the pacing is perfect, and the conflict between the characters is fantastic, which brings me to how well developed these characters are. Almost all of the characters in this movie are relatable in some way. DreamWorks does a great job with these characters. The CGI animation is some of the best I've ever seen. Every shot is beautiful from the worlds to the character models to the animation itself. There were a lot of breathtaking visuals in this movie, including some shots that looked live action. It was a sight to behold. Something that both the first movie and this movie have are, no surprise, dragons. I love the dragons. All of them have great designs, personalities, and bring a lot of comedy to the movie. Most of the laughs that came from this movie were from the dragons acting like your common household pet. It's adorable and hilarious at the same time. One of this movie's greatest strengths is the heart. There are some genuinely emotional scenes in this movie. Some are very sweet, some are very sad, but no matter what the case, it will get you emotional and probably make you draw a tear or two. I didn't cry in this movie, but I completely understand if someone does. Something that really surprised me in this movie were the action scenes. I knew they were going to be good, but I didn't expect them to be awesome. This movie had some exciting, exhilarating, fast paced action scenes that had my heart pounding and a smile gradually grow on my face. The action was so fun to watch. If I had one complaint, I'd say I think the villain is a little on the generic side, at first mainly. As the movie goes on, he becomes more menacing and ends up as a great villain. However, at first, I thought he was a little weak. He does have that generic villain eye scar thing though. Overall, I think this movie is amazing. A combination of beautiful animation, great characters, fun action, lots of heart, and every other good thing I mentioned makes for a great experience. I was having trouble deciding if I liked this or X-Men Days of Future Past more, but I decided on this because this is the only movie of the year where I wanted to see it again right after I left the theater. And if a movie can pull that off, it's deserving of being a favorite of the year.
X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)
Not only is this the best X-Men movies, but it may even be the best movie of the year so far.
The X-Men has always been my favorite superhero group. It just has so many cool characters with awesome powers that really play off each other well. So, naturally, I was excited for this movie. I'm the kind of person that likes all of the X-Men movies. Yes, even X-men 3 and X-men Origins. Not only is Days of Future Past another great movie in series, it just so happens to be my favorite. This movie takes place after both X-Men 3 and X-Men First Class. I know, that's normally impossible, but you know, time travel. Anyway, the Sentinels have appeared and killed all the mutants. The team, including the villains of the story, rationalize that the only way to stop them from killing everyone is to stop Mystique from killing the head scientist guy from the past who built the things. Why they have to do this is explained in the movie. So Shadowcat, who can send people back in time in this movie, has to send someone back to convince young Xavier and young Magneto to help stop her, and Logan (Wolverine) volunteers. Is he able to save everyone in the past to make for a better future? This is the best synopsis I've ever done. I love the story in this movie. It's very well written and really makes you think. Normally, time travel plots will have plot holes in them and things that just make no sense. This movie does a great job filling those plot holes and making every aspect of the time travel element make sense. I also really like the characters. The characters are all well acted by their actors and have good chemistry between each other. Hugh Jackman still kills it as Wolverine. People might be tired of constantly seeing him in these movies, but he's too awesome for me to be bothered by it. James McAvoy is a fantastic young Xavier, Michael Fassbender is a fantastic young Magneto, and Jennifer Lawrence is a fantastic Mystique. However, Jennifer Lawrence's delivery on a couple pieces of dialogue seems dry. Not all of them, thankfully, but just a couple. This movie also introduced the character Quicksilver. I know, he was in the after credits scene of Captain America Winter Soldier, but in this movie, you really get to see him do stuff. And he is awesome! He's charming, he's funny, he's got an awesome power, and his hair design is just cool. And he is the central point of my favorite part of the movie. I'm not going to spoil it for you, because it's just too genius to be spoiled. The look of this movie is awesome. The movie is shot so very well and the special effects are absolutely stunning. The action is really exciting, intense, and fun. Lots of care was put into this movie, and it was so refreshing to see. And let's not forget the ending of this film. This ending is the absolute perfect way to end a movie. How the final throw down leads to this conclusion is just mind boggling. As I saw this, I was thinking to myself, "Now that's how to reboot a franchise". It's really awesome. If I had one nitpick, other than Jennifer Lawrence's few lines of stale delivery, is that the story has maybe a little too much. I mean, the story is about time travel, it's not going to be straight forward. Maybe if they took out a singular plot line, then it would've been perfect. I dunno, I just felt like the movie was giving me a little too much. However, I didn't really care. Overall, this movie was fantastic. It was everything I was hoping it would be and did not disappoint in any way. If you are a fan of Marvel, X-Men, or even the aspect of time travel, then watch this movie. This is one of the best that this year has to offer.
Godzilla (2014)
The awesomeness is strong with this one.
I have been anticipating Godzilla since the beginning of the year. The trailers just looked so awesome! So today I saw it. Here's what I thought of it. You already know what the plot of this movie is. A giant monster comes to the city and wrecks stuff. And in this adaptation we have Bryan Cranston, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and Elizabeth Olsen. In this movie, Bryan Cranston plays an engineer who has suspicions that the government is hiding stuff. What will he discover? If you're guess is Godzilla, then you are correct! Honestly, I found the story in this movie to be kind of forgettable. Don't get me wrong, I thought it was fine, especially with this source material, but nothing really stood out. Within the story, I mean. With everything else
that's a completely different ball park. Let's start with the performances. First off, Bryan Cranston was awesome. You all knew he would be awesome. Even the people that thought the trailer looked stupid probably thought he was going to be awesome. And he is. However, he isn't in the movie very much. It kind of feels like he's shoehorned into the movie so that they could get more people into the theater, but I didn't really mind that much. Aaron Taylor-Johnson is the absolute main character in this film (besides Godzilla, of course). He does a pretty good job in this movie. Some people might think his delivery is a little emotionless and dry, but I thought it suited his character well. He's a military soldier who had to fight in some pretty tough wars. He's not going to be all drama filled. The cinematography is impeccable. Everything was shot so well it feels like you're actually there. And that helps the fantastic special effects. Godzilla and the other monsters in this movie just look so awesome. One of the things that I like this movie is that it focuses one the humans. It is about Godzilla, yes, but it follows the journey of the humans. It's like The Walking Dead. Zombies are in the movie, but it's not about the zombies. It's about the people in the show (and no I've never seen The Walking Dead but I really do want to). While this is a good thing, I wish Godzilla was in the movie more. When you seem him he's cool, but I want to see his coolness more. That's my one true negative to this movie. The first two-thirds or so of this movie is build up. It's a little slow, but it's necessary and it works in this movie's favor. And then, when that last third hits, HOLY FREAKING COW! This movie becomes so awesome! It's intense, it's exciting, its action packed, it makes nerds across the world have an orgasm! Who on earth could not think the end of this movie is awesome!?!? The fight scene at the end of this movie that will make so many jaws just drop right to the floor. And mine did a good deal of that fight. Overall, this was a great movie. While I found the story to be forgettable and the lack of Godzilla to be problems, I enjoyed the movie a lot. If you want some intense monster fight scenes, then you need to see this movie. If you couldn't watch the beginning because you thought it was too slow, just wait. I thought this movie was awesome and I can't wait so see it again.
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014)
The Amazing Spiderman 2 is a fun sequel that doesn't quite live up to its predecessor.
The Amazing Spiderman 2 is a continuation of the Amazing Spiderman series, in case you didn't know (you probably already did). Peter Parker has been doing his Spiderman thing for a while, and he's pretty much pro at life. He's a famous superhero, he's graduating high school, and he's got a hot girlfriend. But then, circumstances happen. And movie happens. BEST SYNOPSIS EVER! I was looking forward to this movie. I did enjoy The Amazing Spiderman quite a bit and I was hoping the sequel would be good. It was, but the first is still better. Let's start off with some things that I liked. Andrew Garfield is the best Peter Parker that we've ever had. He's charming, he's funny, he's a good actor, and he just flat out looks like he can be Spiderman. Everyone else does a really good job, too. Emma Stone was a great Gwen Stacy, Jamie Foxx was a good Electro, and Dane Dehaan was a good Harry Osbourne. I would say Paul Giamatti was a good Rhino but
we'll get to that later. The action is a lot of fun. It's fast paced, exciting, and just a thrill to watch. There's lots of punching, kicking, flipping, and electricity. You can easily tell that a lot of care was put into the action to make it look awesome and it certainly does. There is a little slow motion, but it takes such a small part of the action that it's hardly noticeable. The best thing about this movie is its look. I mean, this movie is just gorgeous. The cinematography is excellent, the city is really cool to look at, the special effects are awesome. That's really the best part of the look. The special effects. Especially Electro's electricity. Having all that electricity running through Jamie Foxx's body was just really cool to look. And when he uses that power
yeah. It's awesome. However, there is a fair amount wrong with this movie. For starters, the story. Don't get me wrong; the story is good. It's written well and it follows the comics pretty well (Or so I've heard. I haven't read any of the comics. Shoot me.). But, the problem with this story (or stories, as I should say) is that there are too many. This movie suffers in the same way that "3 Days to Kill" suffers in which the many plot lines makes the movie look focus. At one point, Spiderman is trying to spend time with his girlfriend. At another, he's trying to find the secret behind his parent's disappearance. At another, he's trying to hide his identity from his aunt. At another, he's reconnecting with an old friend. At another, we have Gwen Stacey's side story. At another, we have Max's (Electro's ) side story. At another, we have Harry Osbourne's side story. It's just too much. Another problem I have with this movie is the same problem I have with the first Amazing Spiderman; the villains. I do think, as a whole, the villains were executed better in this movie than in the first. But, each villain has their own flaws that make them not as strong as they could be. And since there are three, I feel like I should go over each one of them separately. First off, we have Max becoming Electro. Now, when Max actually becomes Electro, he's pretty awesome. But before, he acts way too cartoony. I mean, I get it, Max is supposed to be obsessed with Spiderman, but I feel like it was overdone to the point of being corny. The delivery just took me out of the movie. Next, we have Harry Osbourne becoming Green Goblin. I think Dane Dehaan was absolutely fantastic as the character. This guy does a great job at being evil. However, I didn't care about the character. When you have this villain that pretty much drives the story like Harry Osbourne does, I want to connect with this character. That's the great thing about the first Spiderman trilogy. Before he turned, Harry Osbourne was a really awesome, likable guy. I just didn't like or care about the Harry in this movie. And then we have Paul Giamatti as the Rhino. There are so many things wrong with this. First off, the Rhino is only in this two and a half hour movie for about two minutes. He's pretty much here to set up the Sinister Six plot line, I get it, but if you're in the movie for that little and for no purpose, then what's the point? Second, the delivery is way too over the top. I get it, he's supposed to be a crazy killer, but Paul Giamatti's deliver is just so poorly done. He just looks stupid. Third, WHY THE HECK DOES THE RHINO HAVE A ROBOTIC SUIT? He's supposed to have a skin-tight rhino suit that he can never take off. I mean, the robot suit would be okay if it looked cool, but I wasn't impressed. It really just looked like it was thrown together last minute and they threw Paul's face on it. I did not like this. If you wait until the end to see what after credits clip will be here to segway this movie to the next
you will be disappointed. Don't worry, there is an after credits scene, but it's just a promo for an upcoming Marvel movie. This movie is not worth staying until after the credits unless you want to see Jennifer Lawrence kick butt. Overall this was a pretty fun movie. The acting was great, the chemistry worked, the look of the movie was just fantastic, and the action was fun to watch. However, these certain setbacks prevent this movie from being a completely worthy sequel. If you walk into this movie thinking this is going to be the definitive Spiderman movie, then you will probably be disappointed. But, as it stands, I really enjoyed this movie and I wish this series the best.
Transcendence (2014)
If you like plot holes, snail crawl pacing, and boring Johnny Depp, then this movie is for you!
I was really excited for Transcendence when I saw the trailer. It looked very interesting and I was excited to see how the movie would pull of a human turned AI story. And it looked like Johnny Depp was going to play someone less charismatic, which, to be honest, needed to happen eventually. I walked in hoping this would be a great movie. I walked out a sad, disappointed puppy. This movie stars Johnny Depp and Rebecca Hall as a married couple. And what do you know, they're both scientists. Johnny Depp has a press conference in which he tells the audience that he has a vision of technically creating a god to have a watch over all the people to keep them safe. After the press conference, he's shot with a bullet laced with radiation, in which he has 5-6 weeks to live. Then, his wife gets the idea to upload his consciousness to a computer. And then
stuff. That's really the best I can describe it. Why? Because this movie is so confusing. This type of movie is supposed to get you to think and to try to fit puzzle pieces together. That's what a smart psychological movie should do. Transcendence tries way to hard to be smart and its logic becomes all over the place. If you think about this movie long enough, you'll be able to dissect certain plot points to the bone and realize how little sense they make. This leads to lots and lots of plot holes throughout the entire movie. The script in this movie is pretty weak. There are some lines that are just flat out dumb. For example, somewhere in the movie, Johnny Depp is able to use a different body to talk with the body can move its mouth and Johnny Depp's voice come out. . And he uses this to talk with Morgan Freeman. I can't remember what Johnny Depp said, but he said something. Anyway, his wife brings Morgan Freeman's character and Cillian Murphy's character to the lab, where they see the visual representation of Johnny Depp's character. And then, Morgan Freeman looks shocked and say, "Will?" That's Johnny Depp's character's name is, by the way. So, here's why this is dumb. Morgan Freeman already heard his voice through someone else's body, so he should be able to expect that the consciousness of Johnny Depp is there. But no. He acts scared and surprised that he is still alive. That is just lazy. The biggest problem Transcendence has lies in three words: It's. So. Slow. I'm going to be honest here. This is probably the most boring sci-fi movie I've ever seen. It's slow, uninteresting, and had me twitching in my seat, just anxious for something interesting to happen. Sure, there was a little bit of action, but here's the thing; one, there were about two actions scenes in the movie with occasional punches or gun fires sprinkled in the rest of the movie. Two, the action scenes were very short. And three, every punch thrown and bullet shot lacked the impact that it should've had. Action is supposed to make you feel the pain along with the character. There's as much impact as a fight in elementary school. I also didn't like the characters that much. They were all one dimension with no depth whatsoever. The worst offender is, actually, Johnny Depp. And yes, I know, he's supposed to be. He gets turned into a supercomputer and supercomputers have no emotion. But I was thinking this before he was turned! His character was just so flat! Not only that, but some characters were there just to be there. There's no rhyme or reason. They were just there to fill in extra screen time. And the sad thing is that that's what Morgan Freeman's character was reduced to. Yes. I said it. Morgan Freeman in this movie is absolutely useless. However, there is one character, and actor, that I liked. In fact, he is actually the best part of this movie. It is Paul Bettany as Max Waters. I liked this guy. He was likable, funny, had the most depth out of anyone, and had the best emotional scenes. This guy is a great actor and was easily the best thing in this movie. He wasn't the only thing I liked about this movie. I liked the cinematography. I thought it was shot well with lots of cool scenes. The special effects were pretty sweet. It was cool seeing all the particles fly into the sky, forming everything that was destroyed around it. It was a sight to behold. I also liked the message of the movie, as paper thin as it may be. The message of this movie is that there is life after death. I think this is a great message to teach. If they developed it more, I probably would've liked this movie a little better. But sadly, it is what it is. Overall, Transcendence was a huge disappointment. I wanted a smart, dark, and even creepy sci-fi movie. But instead I got plot holes and some extremely slow pacing. Do not go out and see it in theaters. Watch it at the dollar movie at most. And even that's too generous. You might as well just give this movie a pass.
Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
Iron Man 3 and Thor The Dark World should start taking notes.
The Phase 2 Marvel Avengers tie-in movies have been kind of under a dry spell. Sure, Iron Man 3 and Thor the Dark World were entertaining, but they were no where near capturing the essence of the Marvel movies like The Avengers and before did. However, if there was any movie to bring light into this phase 2 of Marvel movies, it would be Captain America the Winter Soldier. Ever since the first trailer came out for this, there was lots of promise. So the question is, was that promise fulfilled? In this movie, Steve Rogers is still getting used to the new world after being frozen and whatnot. He has been taken up by SHIELD to do missions. During a mission, he discovers a secret behind SHIELD that could put everyone's lives in jeopardy. So Captain America, along with Black Widow, has to discover this secret and put a stop to what's going on. And even encounter the Winter Soldier. I loved the plot for this movie. It was well written and it certainly got me engrossed into the movie. One of the things that made the story shine was how it developed the characters. It made you really care about them and in some cases, fear for them. The acting in this movie is well done. Chris Evans does an awesome job as Captain America and I can't picture anyone who could play him better. Sam Jackson was a great Nick Fury, Anthony Mackie was a great Falcon, Sebastian Stan was a great Winter Soldier, and Scarlett Johansson was a great Black Widow. It's also just fun to look at Scarlett Johansson so
yeah. The action in this movie is some of the best I've ever seen. It contains action that looks real, brutal, and gritty. You feel every hit that's blown. The action's exciting and certainly made me giggle with excitement. And yes, guys can giggle. Despite all of this, I have a couple minor, nit-picky complaints. First is that I feel there are a couple scenes that feel out of place. The movie as a whole is pretty consistent with its necessary scenes, but there are a couple parts in the movie that seem out of place. (SPOILER WARNING!) One of them is the scene where Captain America meets with the girlfriend he left behind back in the 40s. It is a nice scene in its own right, but it feels out of place because nothing like this happens for the rest of the movie (SPOILER OVER!). This doesn't happen a lot, though. There's probably about three of these out of place points. I also wish that the Winter Soldier was in this movie more. The Winter Soldier is an absolutely awesome character and he certainly is a menace. However, I think that he wasn't in the movie quite enough for this movie to be called "Captain America: The Winter Soldier". Maybe about ten more minutes of screen time would be perfect. Overall, Captain America: The Winter Soldier was fun, exciting, intense, and funny without the humor completely overshadowing the material. This is certainly one of the best Avengers tie-in movies. Yes, The Avengers movie itself is still my favorite in the series, but it's a close call between Iron Man and this. This is, without a doubt, my favorite movie of the year and you absolutely need to see it. And don't leave before the credits. Just saying.
Noah (2014)
It may look beautiful, but the content of Noah makes for an ugly, ugly film.
When I first heard about this movie I was very concerned. It certainly had potential to be great, but I didn't know how they would execute it. The last thing I wanted this movie to be was an environmental message. Well, do you know what this movie is? An environmental message! Because Hollywood! This movie is based on the Bible story of God flooding the earth to save man. He does this and trusts Noah by building an ark and repopulating the world with people and life. That's the Bible's alliteration. The movie is quite a bit different. I will start out with positives. The acting is very well done. Everyone does a great job really transforming into their roles. Russell Crowe does well, Emma Watson does well, Logan Herman does well, and Jennifer Connelly was absolutely fantastic. She was definitely the shining star in this movie. The cinematography was absolutely fantastic. It was beautiful with all the landscape and water and stuff. How the movie was shot was absolutely masterful. It does feel like it's disjointed at times from switching from the normal shots to the montage shots, but it was still awesome. The cinematography was easily the best part of the movie. The action scenes were cool. They were intense and just thrilling to watch. You really feel the impact of every blow. And at some points, these moments are downright disturbing. It's something that's hard to explain, but if you've seen this movie, you know why. Despite all this, there are some things that really got under my skin. First off, I feel like this movie was a little too slow. There's a lot in this movie, and there's just moments when you wish that something interesting will happen. I don't mind a movie being slow, but when I start fidgeting in my seat, that's a problem. I also feel like this movie is a little too long. They could've cut about twenty minutes out of it and it would be perfect length. No movie should every have you keep thinking, "Is the movie almost over yet?" And then there's the obvious one. This movie drifts far apart from the source material of the Bible. Now, I am religious, so it's probably no surprise that this would bug me, but hear me out. I am perfectly fine if a movie has absolutely no religious aspects from a religious story. That doesn't bother. What does bother me is how this movie handles it. This movie treats Christians as the bad guys. Noah has to do things that aren't necessarily the most pure or nicest things ever, and this movie plays it like its God's fault. This made me mad. Like I said earlier in the review, this movie has a serious environmental message. This shouldn't bother me, really, it shouldn't, but here's the thing. This is the story of Noah we're talking about. Noah from the Bible. The story from the Bible states that God is wiping out the earth because man is wicked and once the flood stops, they will be born again and learn from what they've done. God flooded the earth to save man and he kept the animals because he liked them. The movie states that God flooded the earth because "nature" and "the animals" needed to be saved from all the evil people that eat meat because every single bad guy in this movie eats meat. This is the exact opposite of what the Bible story is. Not only that, but it's just not true. Sure, the environment is important, but not as important as the life of a human being. It's messages like this that really anger me. Overall, I do not think this is a bad movie. In fact, it's quite good depending on your viewpoint. It's how the movie handles its own source material that really makes me not like it. If you enjoy this movie, that's fine. It's just not for me.
Frozen (2013)
This movie deserves every ounce of attention it's been getting.
I realize that I am way late for this bandwagon. However, I just recently saw this with family, so I might as well make a review considering how big it is. The movie is about a princess who discovers that her sister has special ice controlling powers. Afraid of all the harm she caused and will cause, she runs away. The princess, who I believe is named Anna, must go and find her and help restore peace to the world and even there selves. And after this movie ended, I completely understood all the hype. I found this premise to be fantastic. Disney has always done a great job of making princess stories interesting and this is no exception. What makes this story even cooler is the magic part. It brings some well needed conflict to the table and helps the movie really succeed in what its showing. The voice acting in this movie was great. Everyone played the part that they needed to play. There was no wink link in any of the acting. And the singing was great. Everyone that sang had a great voice and suited their songs well. The best song was obviously Let it Go. I mean, honestly. Everyone loves that song. I also thought the characters were great. They were entertaining and, at the same time, relatable. They brought lots of charm to the table. My favorite character? Olaf. Obviously. I also like the chemistry between the characters. They worked will with each other, which made the movie all the more pleasant. This movie is funny, yes. There are quite a few witty moments that will have you chuckling, or in some cases, laughing out loud. However, the parts that stole the show were the scenes with the most heart. They were full of emotion and managed to tug on my heart strings. Hard. Finally, the animation is absolutely beautiful. Normally, animation in Disney movies look pretty good, but this movie just looks fantastic. Especially the scenes where there's ice forming everywhere. Those scenes are awesome! Despite all of these many good things, I have a couple negatives. First is that this movie feels unbalanced with songs. The beginning of the movie is jam packed with songs. There are so many song moments at the beginning of the movie that there are very few near the middle and none at the end. I feel like if they spread out the songs some, it would feel like every part would get an equal opportunity of music. I also was not a huge fan of the very beginning. I thought it was a little cheesy. Not the entire beginning, though. Really just up until the princesses become adults. I didn't think the very beginning was bad. I just thought it was a little over the top. This next point is not really a negative; it's more of a wish. I kind of wanted to see more of the ice princess's point of view. As much as I liked the true main character, I wanted to see more of the ice queen. I wanted to see more of her coping with these powers and struggling with the life she has. It's a minor complaint, but it's something I wish happened. Overall, this was a great movie. It had everything that makes a Disney movie really shine. I completely understand all the press it's been getting. It was in the top five at the box office for 3 months, and there's good reason why. If you haven't seen it yet, you should. It's a great animated movie for the whole family.
Divergent (2014)
This movie is enjoyable, but the structure of its own plot prevents Divergent from a worthy watch.
Divergent is based on the popular teen novel by Veronica Roth about a post-apocalyptic society where everyone is divided into factions based on what trait the have, be it bravery, kindness, selflessness, etc. I have read the book and I will be honest; I was not a huge fan of it. I thought it was good, but there was some things wrong with the story that I couldn't look past. But we aren't here to talk about that, are we? I wasn't originally wanting to see Divergent, but my mom wanted to, so I decided to watch it. After watching the movie, I can safely say that it's
alright. I'm going to start this review with what I liked about the movie. First off, the acting. I thought everyone in this movie did a good job. Shailene Woodley did a good job as Tris, Kate Winslet did a good job as Jeanine, Theo James surprised me with his performance as Four. In my opinion, the person who stole the show was Jai Courtney as Eric. He did a fantastic job being a menace. I also thought the action was cool. It was fast paced, intense, and had guns. Lots and lots of guns. The only thing I didn't like about the action was that it took so long to get there. All the action-y stuff happened with about 20 minutes left in the movie. Not that it was a necessarily bad thing. Seeing all the initiates go through training was pretty cool. This movie, as well as the book, just has an interesting premise. An entire world that's divided into colonies defined by their attributes is just cool. It may be borrowing a little too much from The Hunger Games, but I don't mind. Now I must talk about what I didn't like. First is, actually, the romantic relationship between Tris and Four. I know! Criticize me all you want, but it's my opinion! I felt like their romantic relationship felt unnecessary and almost out of place. This was, in fact, one of my biggest complaints about the book. Look, I think romance in movies and books are just fine. In some cases, they're actually done very well. This one just didn't click with me. Another complaint was that this movie seriously lacked tension until the last 20 minutes or so. Characters get into the life threatening situations, but for most of the time, I didn't feel tense or worried at all. I will admit is that part of it is because I read the book, but that doesn't really matter. The movie is pretty predictable and you can expect what's going to happen next and how they will get out of the situation. You may feel tense in these moments, but I didn't have that feeling, which kind of bummed me out. While I didn't love the book, one of the things I enjoyed was that it had really tense moments. The movie seemed to butcher those moments, in my eyes. The movie's biggest problem is how it handles the source material. Don't get me wrong, it follows the book pretty well. It's how the movie uses the source material that is the fault. This movie zips by important plot points way too fast, leaving you with a "wait, what?" or a "well that just happened" mentality. It goes too fast for you to actually care about what's at stake. I may have a lot to criticize, but Divergent is still a decently enjoyable movie. It's worth a watch, but I wouldn't go full price. See if you can go on a matinée or rent the movie off of RedBox. It is not as good as the book, but the movie is good enough to get some enjoyment. And I hope Shailene Woodley goes far in her acting career. She is very good and I have a feeling you will be seeing more of her very soon.
RoboCop (2014)
While this movie tries hard to entertain, it just simply falls flat.
RoboCop is a remix of the original 1980s version. I have not seen the original, but I know that it's considered a classic. I mean, why else would they remake it? Today, my dad and I went to see the movie at matinée. And after the movie ended, I'm kind of glad we didn't pay full price. This movie stars a cop named Alex Murphy. He's like your average everyday guy, until his car blows up, with him in blast radius. It's not just blast radius, it's "I open the car door and stick my head through the door" blast radius. After this happens, a group of scientists make him a robot body and use this body to help the cities be more safe. And then conflict ensues! I know the basic idea for this movie has been done before. It is a remake, after all. I just have to capitalize on how cool this premise. Having someone being placed in a robot body has always intrigued me, and this brought my fantasies to life. Thank you, movie, for doing that! I also like the special effects. There are first person scenes of RoboCop scanning, analyzing, and doing whatever killer robots do. These scenes are really cool and make it feel that you're actually staring through the eyes of a robot. All the other special effects look good, too. The gunfire, the robots; RoboCop's body armor looks epic. Visually, this movie looks stunning. I think the action scenes are pretty cool, too. They aren't very intense or thrilling, but they are cool looking. My favorite part of the movie was the night vision fight scene. So cool! However, there are only three fight scenes in the whole movie, which kind of capitalizes on the quality of the rest of the movie. My biggest problem with this movie is the characters themselves. While this movie is acted well, all the characters come off as flat, one-dimensional, and generally unlikeable. Not the main character, not his wife; not even Gary Oldman's character was very likable. When certain bad things happen to the characters, I would just be thinking, "I don't care that much." It makes the movie feel unpleasant. This movie also suffers from having too many characters. There are a lot of people in this movie, and very few of them are capitalized upon. In fact, there are a few characters that could've been taken completely out, and the movie would be no different. For example; Jay Baruchel. He's the marketer in the movie, and that's all we no about him. All he does in this movie is talk business. There's no need for him. The story, while fine, also feels like it drags. Somewhere around the middle of this movie, I start thinking, "where is this going?" It feels too long and a good portion of time could've been taken out completely and nothing significant would be altered. Finally, there is no specific "wow" moment of this movie. Sure, there are cool scenes, but none of them stand out. Not even the night vision fight scene, which, stated earlier, is my favorite part of the movie. But when I saw that scene, I thought, "this is cool" instead of "this is awesome". It's things like that that can lower your experience at the movies. Overall, RoboCop is alright. It's entertaining while it lasts, but there's nothing to ride home about. This is a movie where you see it once, find it entertaining, and then never see it again. Then, a few years down the road, that movie will randomly come to your mind, and then you'll question on if you saw it or not. It's worth one watch, sure, but don't pay full price. It's not worth it.
Birdemic: Shock and Terror (2010)
Shock and Terror is completely right.
Last night, I went to a local movie rental store with my grandparents to rent some movies to watch. We rented two movies. First, we rented Saving Mr. Banks. It's a fantastic movie, I suggest you watch it. Second, we rented this. This was more for my pleasure because I knew neither of them would like it. So, this morning, I sat down and saw it. Oh boy
This movie stars a guy named Rod. He's your average marketer until he meets the girl of his dreams. They go out for a little bit, and then all of a sudden, a huge swarm of birds attacks the city! And that is literally the entire plot. The story is just so random. It's almost like a really crappy sitcom for a while then BIRDS! HOLY CRAP BIRDS! What I love most about the "plot" of this movie is that the first forty minutes or so is completely worthless. This movie is about birds attacking the series, so why is there so much relationship and work drama? Plus, there are scenes that don't make sense. For example, at one point in the movie, a guy goes to the main character's house about making a deal to install a solar panel to the house. What does that have to do with the plot? Absolutely nothing. Nothing new was added to the plot, none of this is ever mentioned again, so
why? What's the point? The cinematography is absolute crap. The camera never steadies and focuses on the right thing. Every shot looks like it belongs in a home movie. There are some shots that feel completely random and just out of place. It just looks awful. The editing is even worse. The scene transitions are beyond choppy with so many, many jump cuts. There are literally four jump cuts in the same exact scene at one point. Plus, this movie has that audio static you get when recording with a low budget camera, only in this movie between every scene the level of static changes. And sometimes it goes away altogether. Hey Nguyen- I don't know if you've ever heard of this before. It's called a boom-mike? It's really neat! It makes all the sound sound much crisper without all that audio static. But I see you wasted your entire 10 dollar budget on CGI, so what's the point of telling you this? Speaking of CGI
ugh
the CGI is poop! It's the kind of bad that you can't describe just because of the sheer amount of awful it withholds. It's just
bad. All the CGI is put into birds, explosions, and blood effects. Do you think you could've tried a little harder? The birds are absolutely ridiculous. Not only are they animated like crap, but they just make no sense. These birds literally dive-bomb towards the city, kamikaze style, and explode on impact. Also, they have no actual entrance or exit in the movie. After forty minutes of the bullcrap that is the story, the birds just appear and start attacking everybody. No explanation why, they just do. And at the end, they just fly away like it's nothing. There's no reason why they should. There's no indication of anything that happens that would drive the birds away. This plot hole makes the movie all the more pointless. Now I have to touch on the acting. The acting rendered me speechless. Wooden does not begin to describe the acting. Everyone seems like they're phoning it in, and even that is being too generous. Everyone does an absolutely awful job. Especially the main character. He brings a whole new level of awful to the table. I've seen better acting from the people that are in the home videos on AFV. And they aren't even acting! I just
I
I can't! I can't do this! Overall, Birdemic Shock and Terror is horrendous. The acting sucks, the CGI sucks, the story (or what little there is, anyway) sucks, there are scenes that make no sense, the cinematography looks like it was done by a toddler, the audio is grating, the characters are annoying, everything just sucks! And do you know what the cherry on top is? THIS MOVIE IS AN ENVIRONMENTAL MESSAGE. I'm serious. The characters in the movie say that "global warming" is the cause of all this. Bullcrap! What a cop-out! In terms of quality, this movie is definitely the worst movie I've ever seen. I still like it better than Battlefield Earth, though. Score: 1.0/10
3 Days to Kill (2014)
This forgettable action movie struggles with its plot, or should I say, "plots".
Well, Kevin Costner is back. Sure, he was a small role in The Man of Steel, but this is the first starring role that he has, to my knowledge. He went back to his routes to star in an exciting action film. For the record, I use the word "exciting" loosely. In 3 Days to Kill, Costner plays a hit-man/CSI agent guy who gets plagued with a disease. When this happens, he tries to tie bonds with his wife and his daughter, whom he has not seen in ears. During this, the CSI, or whatever company he works for, asks him to kill one last target. In return, they will give him an experimental drug that would possibly help his illness. So, in recap, Kevin must kill a guy, cope with his disease, and get reconnected with his family. Sounds enticing, doesn't it? I'm going to go ahead and start out with the best thing that this movie had, and that's Kevin Costner himself. He was so awesome! He had that "I am not afraid of anybody and I will take you down if I had to" mentality. He was really cool. I also thought his relationship with his daughter was cute. It starts out kind of annoying, because his daughter starts out a brat. But after awhile, they start bonding, and you actually care about their relationship. However, this works against itself within the plot of the movie. This movie suffers from having too many plot lines at once. There's a plot line of Kevin reconnecting with his father. There's a plot line of Kevin assassinating this one guy. There's a plot line of Kevin struggling with this disease. There's a plot line of the family that invades Kevin's home (That part could've been taken completely out of the movie, by the way. It was very unnecessary and would make the movie no different if it was not there). The list goes on and on. With all these plot lines, it makes the movie feel very disjointed and feel like multiple different movies. If it had one plot line and just stuck with it, this would be a much better movie. All these plot lines also affect the action, or should I say the lack thereof. There's not a whole lot that goes on throughout the course of the movie. There's a cool action scene at the beginning, a cool action scene near the end, and in-between, is mostly story fluff. Sure, there are a few throw downs here and there, but they are very short-lived. Let's also not forget how predictable this movie is. It's so obvious what's going to happen. This movie pretty much plays out exactly how you think it's going to play out. Don't worry about surprises here. Because there aren't any. Overall, 3 Days to Kill is dull. While Kevin Costner kicks butt, the plot overcomplicates itself and loses focus. If you want to see this movie, I would wait for this movie to come out in the dollar movie, or at the very most, matinée. Sorry, Kevin, but this movie wasn't great. Just keep hoping that Draft Day is a success.
The Lego Movie (2014)
The Lego Movie is a really fun movie that can be enjoyed by everyone.
If you asked me about The Lego Movie back around September to October, I would've said, "Pfft
A movie about Lego's? That's dumb!" One day, in November, I was on the front page of YouTube, and I saw that The Lego Movie trailer was up. So I decided to watch it. And I cracked up. That's what got me excited for this movie, making it an honorable mention for my Top Ten Anticipated Movies of 2014 (go ahead and read that, if you can, please). So today, I invited some friends, and went to go see the movie. And boy, did I have a good time. The movie stars you average joe Lego figure named Emmet. He's nobody special, completely blends in with the crowd; he's someone that would be completely forgotten. However, his life completely changes around when he touches the relic and discovers that he is the prophecy. He then is tasked to stop President Business from doing his evil deeds. In case you didn't know, this is some serious business (haha pun). I'm going to start out with the visuals, and let me tell you
they're OK. Yeah, I'm just kidding. They're absolutely wonderful. Everything looks gorgeous and actually looks like a Lego world. Everything is made of Lego's to a realistic degree. It almost looks like stop motion. That's also another reason why I like this movie. All other Lego forms of media all had weird, almost spaghetti kind of animation. This movie actually looks like how Lego's are supposed to look. It's a joy to watch, and even quite beautiful. The voice acting is absolutely perfect. Everybody does an absolutely fantastic job in this movie. I personally thought Will Arnett, Will Ferrell, and Morgan Freeman did the best jobs. Everyone still does excellent. What I also liked about this movie is the humor. Most of the jokes at the beginning of the movie weren't very funny, but after a while, the movie takes a turn to hilarity. This movie is just fast paced, non-stop, laugh out loud moments. It has it all, from slapstick comedy, to pop culture references, to the jokes that whiz over kids' heads. It's absolutely entertaining. My true negatives have to do with the story. I think the whole concept of a movie entirely of Lego's is genius, but the story is nothing special. I mean, it's still a solid story, but there's nothing that really stands out. It's kind of predictable, and it's a storyline that you've seen multiple times in kids/family movies. The story isn't bad by any stretch of the imagination, but it doesn't push any boundaries, and that isn't good enough for me. I also think that this movie is a little too long. There are multiple Lego worlds showcased within this movie. With this combined with the plot where a lot of things are happening kind of makes the movie drag out for too long. I feel that if they took out one of the Lego worlds, then this movie would be perfect length. This movie is about, I'd say, ten minutes too long. Overall, this movie is a blast. The animation is beautiful, the jokes are hilarious, the characters are highly entertaining. My favorite character was Batman, and his introduction was my favorite part of the movie. This movie also had a lot more heart than I was excepting, which is always a plus. This is not an animated family movie that's in the same caliber as movies like Toy Story or The Lion King, but it's a fun ride that shouldn't be overlooked. And let me finish by saying, January, thank you for being over so that the good movies can come out.
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013)
This was the movie that I was hoping to get!
The Lord of the Rings trilogy is some of my favorite movies of all time. In fact, I would say that Return of the King is my favorite movie in general. When the first Hobbit movie came out, I enjoyed it, but it was nothing like the first journey to Middle Earth. Now the second Hobbit movie is out, and let me tell you, expectations were high. And let me tell you, I enjoyed this movie almost as much as the original trilogy. This movie continues the story of the Hobbit where everybody has to get to the mountain. On the way there, they meet people, have battles, and ride in barrels. I know, that synopsis was terrible. Just trust me that it's a fantastic story. Is it as epic as the original trilogy? No, but it's still well written and has an interesting premise. That's always good. What also helps escalate this movie are the characters and actors. The characters feel more relatable in this one than in the last and they're capped off by solid acting. Martin Freemen makes a fantastic Bilbo, Ian McKellan is still awesome as Gandalf, Orlando Bloom does a great job, everyone does a very well done performance. There are a few characters that feel shoe horned into the movie, like Legolas and that one chick elf I forgot the name of, but they are awesome. Not only do they have great fighting scenes, but they're just awesome as well. What I also like about this movie is that the dwarfs seem more relevant. In the first movie, the dwarfs didn't have a whole lot of material to work with and seemed forgotten in the mix. In this movie, however, they've got more dialogue, more action scenes, and more screen time. It made me pay attention more to the dwarfs, which I was glad happened. Now we move onto the fights. Holy crap. They were exciting, they were intense, they were fun, they were chaotic, they were awesome. One of my favorite action scenes in the movie was the water barrel scene. Everyone is hiding in barrels out of an Elvin prison and there's fighting and arrows and death and pure awesomeness. I hope they turn it into an amusement park ride. I would definitely attend that. And now, we get to the part that everyone's waiting for. Smaug. This guy is my favorite movie character of the year. And it's a dragon! He was big, menacing, had amazing voice work done by Cumberbatch, and he just looked so cool. During the scenes with him, I was frightened. I was literally frightened by this dragon. That is how awesome Smaug is. He is easily my favorite part of the movie. Overall, Desolation of Smaug was a breath of fresh air for the Hobbit trilogy. It had a great story, solid acting, awesome action, a freaking dragon that stole the show, and the ending. THAT ENDING! This is one of the most "holy crap, cliff hanger" endings to a movie I've ever seen. I will not spoil anything; that will need to be something you should see. This is one of my favorite movies of the year and I cannot wait to see it again.
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013)
Catching Fire is a great movie that manages to do everything much better than the original.
Catching Fire is the highly anticipated sequel to The Hunger Games. Obviously. Now, I must say, The Hunger Games series is one of my favorite book series. They're well written, intense, and just downright cool. As for the first Hunger Games movie, I enjoyed it too; however, I do like the book better. I was excited for Catching Fire and my hopes were high. Was it as good as the original Hunger Games movie? No. No it wasn't. It was BETTER! LEGASP! Let's start off with the story. If you have no idea what The Hunger Games movies/books are about, then A: you live under a rock, and B: it involves a society where the government forces kids to go into a yearly tournament where they kill each other. Catching Fire is about the tributes revolting against the government in a tournament where all the previous victors are fighting each other. In the book series, Catching Fire was my favorite. And it translates very well to the big screen. It's got an interesting plot, it's well written, and it really shows us what a society of this caliber is like. Just awesome. Not the actual society, the story. The story is awesome. Yeah. The acting in this movie is great. Let's start off with Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss. She's awesome. She's very stoic, yet becomes emotional and/or ready to throw down when she needs to. Katniss is just an awesome character and Jennifer Lawrence owns the role. And she's kind of good looking. That helps too. She's also surrounded by other good actors. Josh Hutcherson does a good job, Liam Hemsworth does a great job, Elizabeth Banks does a great job, Woody Harrelson does a great job, Philip Seymour Hoffman does a great job, and the guy who plays President Snow (I forgot his name, shut up) did a great job. There isn't a weak link in any of the acting. Catching Fire fixed some of the flaws that The Hunger Games had. One of them is the shaky cam. The first movie had so much camera shaking in it, it got me extremely nauseous and I had to leave the theater. This movie has a very still camera most of the time. It helped me see the action and the people better. Thank you, new director! Something else this movie fixed from the first is the chemistry between Katniss and Peeta. In the first movie, their chemistry felt very stale and unbelievable. In this movie, it feels real. They worked great together in this movie. However, there are a few things that I need to address for this movie. This isn't really a negative; it's just a heads up. Before you see the movie, I'd suggest reading the book, if you haven't. There are some things in the movie that will make much more sense if you read the book. Plus, if you haven't read it, you'll think the ending will be very abrupt. Again, it's not a negative; I'm just letting you know. A negative that I have with the movie is that there's no wow factor. There isn't a scene that really stands out. Sure, the acting's great, the actions intense, and the movie itself is well shot, but there's no scene that will make you say, "Wow. This movie is epic." I was just hoping there would be a standout performance somewhere. I also feel that the movie pretty much ignored Haymitch's backstory. In the book, Haymitch had a long, elaborate backstory on how he entered The Hunger Games and won. In the movie, it mentions it a couple of times, but never goes into real detail. It's too bad, because Haymitch has a great backstory. Oh well
Overall, Catching Fire is a great movie that's marginally better than the first. It has great acting, awesome action, no shaky cam, and an interesting plot. I have high hopes for this movie series and hope the Mockingjay movies succeed.
Thor: The Dark World (2013)
Thor: The Dark World is an enjoyable superhero movie. If only it were more...
Thor: The Dark World is a movie I have been waiting for a long time. I really enjoyed the first (no matter how average people thought it) and the trailer for the sequel looked awesome. And I hoped it was awesome. Was it awesome? Almost. This movie takes place a few years after The Avengers. The nine realms are at peace until all of a sudden, evil is released. Best synopsis ever. As plots go, it's pretty good. It stays true to the superhero formula and has a couple of plot twists. One is a complete surprise, one is completely predictable. However, there are a lot of plot holes in this movie. Often in the movie, I was scratching my head thinking, "Wait, how would that work?" That kind of detracts from the movie a little. Now, I'm going to be straight with you. For the first forty minutes or so, I was thinking, "Okay, this movie is having a hard time going anywhere." Yeah, it starts out rough. The beginning of the movie starts out rather dull. It had a hard time pulling me in and keeping me invested. But, when things started going down and punches were thrown, that's when things got interesting. It turned out to be a fun movie, but I wish it had the same charm from the beginning. Speaking of charm, this movie is very funny. It's the funniest Marvel movie since The Avengers (which isn't saying much because the only other Marvel movie that came out after The Avengers is Iron Man 3, but it's still the funniest). There were chuckle moments and even moments that had me laughing out loud. However, there were some jokes that felt stale. Most of them came from Kat Denning's character. I think she's very cute, but she didn't really have that much of a point in this movie. The action is what you'd except in a superhero movie; action packed awesomeness. And that's what this movie has. It was just cool seeing Thor wipe out a bunch of people with his hammer. IT'S SO SATISFYING! Overall, this movie is good. It isn't quite as good as the original Thor, but I still enjoyed it. It's definitely a worthy successor to The Avengers and it's definitely worth checking out. And it has not only an awesome Stan Lee cameo, but also an awesome cameo of a certain Avenger. No spoilers, just saying.
Non-Stop (2014)
This fun, yet absurd, thriller is definitely worth a watch.
I first saw the trailer for Non-Stop while looking on the internet. I had never heard about it, but it starred Liam Neeson, so, in my mind, it was a pretty good incentive to watch the trailer. So I saw it, and I got super excited. It looked really intense, and that's exactly what I was hoping for walking in. So, did this movie satisfy? I'd say yeah. The movie satisfied pretty well. In Non-Stop, Liam Neeson plays an air marshal, who's taking a flight to London. On this flight, he gets a message from someone in a disclosed network, saying that that person will kill someone in the plane every twenty minutes. And then, lots of suspenseful happenings ensue. I use the word "suspenseful" for good reason, because this movie has exactly that. Non-Stop does a great job instilling tension throughout the movie, always leaving you guessing throughout. You never feel at ease throughout the movie, and the movie does well capitalizing on that. I also give props to Liam Neeson in this movie. He does splendid being an awesome, albeit broken, character. And I don't mean broken as a bad thing. I mean broken as he has struggles in his life, and he clearly shows it in the movie. Everyone, as a whole, does good in this movie, like Julianne Moore, but Liam Neeson is the real star. While there aren't many throw downs in this movie, the action is still exciting to watch. You feel every hit, every gunshot, every slice (yes, slice); it's all intense. Despite all this, there are a couple of things that bog the movie down from greatness. First is your suspension of disbelief with this movie. There is a lot in this movie that just seems unrealistic. There's no possible way for this guy to kill someone on this plan every twenty minutes exactly. I saw this movie with my dad, and even he joked about it. He said the message should've been, "I will kill somebody on this plane every twenty-ish minutes." Things like that kind of take me out of the movie. Also, there's nothing really that memorable about this movie. Sure, it builds tension well, but there's no scene that really stands out. I have a feeling that this movie will be easily forgotten in the future. Overall, this movie was good. It wasn't quite the "hijacking thriller" I was hoping for, but it was pretty darn close. Do you have to see this movie right now? No. But I would suggest you see it, because it is an enjoyable movie.
Ender's Game (2013)
This is a really cool sci-fi, but it doesn't match up to the book.
Ender's Game is a movie based on the book by Orson Scott Card. It's about a boy named Ender who is brought into this military academy to destroy an alien race. It's been a while since I read the book, but when I read it, I enjoyed it. It had a great story, interesting characters, and it was well written. When I saw the trailer, I got pretty excited. Was it as good as the book? No, it wasn't. Let me get that out of the way. However, I still enjoyed it. Let me start out with the acting. It was very good. Harrison Ford did great, Ben Kingsley did great; Asa Butterfield did a surprisingly fantastic job. He has a bright future ahead of him. Heck, all of the kids were awesome in this movie. Usually when there are child actors in a movie, they're usually terrible (Don't believe me? Watch The Last Airbender. You'll understand). Not this movie. There are a lot of terrific kid actors in their! A couple of them were hit and miss, but a good majority of them were great. The story of this movie is still the same as the book and it's still really good. It has heart, it has moral dilemmas, it has conflict. It has everything you want in a good sci-fi movie. What I like about this movie is that they kept a good chunk of it similar to the movie. I'm glad they didn't drastically change the story. I am very grateful. However, some of these changes come at a cost. One of those costs is Ender's backstory with his family. In the book, he had a long backstory about how he was distant from everybody except from his sister and the military was changing that to make him distant from everybody in general. The back story, in my opinion, was one of the best parts of the book because you really cared about Ender. In the movie, the backstory felt one-dimensional. The connection between his family didn't feel believable and there was no character development with his brother or his sister, which happened in the book. That kind of disappointed me. Now, there was a certain point in this movie where I thought, "Okay, this movie is starting to drag on. Let's get to something interesting." Yeah, it gets really slow at a point. The book has the same slowness, but it balances story development with training perfectly. This seemed to have more training sequences than it should have. I feel that they could've shortened some of those scenes to make them not as slow and more interesting. Just my opinion. Overall, Ender's Game is a solid movie adaptation of a book. It's well acted, the story is great, the CGI is awesome, and it's well shot. However, Ender's thin backstory and the moments of slow pacing bog the movie down from being amazing. Is this the sci-fi movie of the year? No, I don't think so. That award goes to Gravity, in my books. But, you should still go watch Ender's Game. It's very enjoyable and very cool.
Captain Phillips (2013)
This is an absolutely intense ride that you don't want to miss.
Captain Phillips is based on the true story of Somali pirates attacking a cargo ship. And Captain Phillips captains the boat. Go figure. Now, I discovered this movie in a weird way. I was at my friends house and we were about to go to an event with the neighbors. We were just about to leave the house and I passed by the TV. I glanced at it, walked passed it a little bit, stopped, turned back, and watched the whole commercial. It was a commercial for Captain Phillips. After I saw it, my thought was, "I WANNA SEE THAT!" So I did. Here's what I thought. Like I said in the intro, this move is based on a true story where Somali pirates invaded a cargo ship. That is a cool premise on its own, but the fact that it actually happened makes it all the more interesting. And it gets to a level that I was not expecting. I'm not going to spoil it, but let me just say most of the captivity does not take place on the boat. And I think that works. The acting in this movie is superb. Everyone did a great job. Tom Hanks did amazing, especially at a scene at the very end of the movie. He pretty much hits his lowest low at that point and it's effective. The Somali pirates also do a great job and they're brand new to acting. That's right this is their first movie ever and I think they're actually pirates. Either that or the director didn't tell Tom Hanks that they weren't pirates so that he would be at his best. Either one works. This movie is shot very well, too. This movie was created by the director of the Bourne trilogy, so you know it's going to be shot well. It has a lot of shaky cam, but it's the kind that works (Take that, Michael Bay!). This movie will definitely be a contender for Best Director at the Oscars. My only complaints about this movie are, for one, there are some parts where the movie slows down a little. It doesn't detract from the movie at all, but it can get a little boring. It also feels to run a little bit too long. I think they could've cut out about fifteen minutes or so. Other than that, it's very superb. Overall, Captain Phillips is a fantastic movie. This is definitely in the running for best picture at The Oscars, though I think it will lose to Gravity. If you haven't seen Captain Phillips, watch it. It's fantastic.
Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)
This is a very fun sci-fi movie that shouldn't be missed
Before I start this review, I might as well tell you the story that happened during my movie experience. I was watching the movie with one of my friends, when all of a sudden, I had to use the bathroom. I went out of the room and used the bathroom. When I walked out, I went into the theater room. What I noticed was that my friend was gone and there was a couple sitting in the seats we were sitting in. I also noticed that it was the end of the movie. I was so disappointed! So I walked out of the room and I saw, at the other end of the hall, the sign showcasing "Star Trek Into Darkness". I walked into the wrong theater! So I walked back in, sat next to my friend, and watched the movie. So, I saw the ending of this movie twice. Not that it's really a bad thing. Now that we got that out of the way, Star Trek Into Darkness review. In this movie, Kirk made a mistake of showing his hi-tech fancy doohickeys to a primitive planet while trying to save Spock's life, getting him demoted to a pilot status. During this time, a man named Khan is doing bad things on the Vulcan planet Kronos. Kirk is sent there to stop him. Okay, now onto the review. The story is great. It's intense and kind of dark. You can really connect with the characters. I really like how all the main characters are likable, with great acting to match. At a few points, during the movie, I was having a conversation with myself about this; "Was this the best casting choice for Kirk?" Yes. He may seem awkward at times, but he is awesome. This movie is intense! There's lots of gun battles, chase scenes, ship battles, fist fights, and even one character crunching another character's skull in (I can still hear that sound). They are really cool and always keep you on edge. This is a sci-fi movie, so you know it's going to have special effects. These are good. They've got color, they've got detail. Excellent. The only real complaint I have with this movie is the occasional dorky film direction and line. There aren't very many, but they are noticeable, especially early on. Speaking of which, the first few minutes of the movie weren't all that special. Yes, it's intense, and yes, it forms the central plot, but I feel it could've been done better. It seems like it started off too fast. Overall, this movie is excellent. The cheesy moments and too fast beginning are definitely overshadowed by the great acting, thrilling story, likable characters, intense action, and sweet CGI. I think this is better than the first, and the original was amazing. The movie was so good, it was shocking.
Iron Man Three (2013)
Iron Man 3 is an enjoyable, albeit disappointing, conclusion to the Iron Man trilogy
If there was any movie that I was really excited for at the beginning of the year, it was Iron Man 3. The trailers of that movie looked awesome! Recently, I went to go see the movie with my entire middle school. Was it as good as I thought it was going to be? Not quite. In this movie, Tony Stark is having a moral crisis. He's having nightmares and he's gotten crazy with creating suites. Meanwhile, a new villain named The Mandarin comes in and threatens America. Tony must find out the secret behind the Mandarin and discover himself as well. Okay, now onto the review. The story of Tony Stark is good. It shows more of an intense, serious side of Tony, which is nice to see. But it is ruined by the plot behind The Mandarin. It's really dorky and cheesy. It tries to be funny, but it comes off stupid with one of the most unnecessary plot twists ever. I'm not going to spoil what happens, but it's disappointing. It's too bad, because the first half of the movie was doing great! When the plot twist happened, it got ruined. Another problem I have with the movie is the humor. I know they're trying to be funny and quirky, but some of the jokes come out forced and unnecessary. I was kind of hoping it would be more serious, dark, and intense. Nope. The jokes are still funny and definitely chuckle worthy, but some of them weren't needed. What also bugged me was that Iron Man 3 didn't have enough Iron Man in it. Yes, Tony Stark made a lot of suites, and yes, he fights in them, but that's about it. This is more about Tony Stark as a person, and not as much as him as Iron Man. They could've called this movie "Tony Stark- The Movie" and be just fine. You may think I hate this movie from the looks of it, but the movie is actually pretty good. It had a lot of good elements, like the acting. The acting is good and believable. Sometimes you can see the stress in people. I may have complained that there isn't enough "Iron Man" in the movie, but it's also pretty good. It makes Tony a really believable and relatable character. I like how he acts less of a playboy and more of a man with his own weaknesses and more vulnerability. This is nice! I like this! The best part of this movie is the special effects. They are amazing. (WARNING: SPOILER ALERT): My jaw literally dropped when Stark's tower collapsed. (SPOILER OVER) They looked so realistic and cool! Very flashy! The fight scenes are very flashy as well. It's pretty intense and exciting. It's probably the most brutal Iron Man movie yet! Overall, the movie was good, but disappointing. It had a lot of good elements, like the story behind Iron Man, the acting, the believability of Tony Stark, the special effects, and the fight scenes. What really hurt the movie was the Mandarin plot. It's a good movie, but it's not as good as Iron Man 1 or 2. It's still definitely worth a watch. Just don't expect A+ quality material.
Oblivion (2013)
This movie had all the potential in the world, but it ended up as a slow, confusing mess.
Hello! This is Garrett with my first movie review! To start off, I'm doing a recent Tom Cruise movie, Oblivion. This movie is set in the future. The moon has exploded and Jack Reacher and his partner, who I forgot the name of, have to repair these drones for some organization. But weird things happen, yeah, it's kind of hard to explain. Okay, now onto the review. The story itself is pretty good. It brings us an interesting plot that is pretty thought provoking. But, it's really confusing! All these weird things happen and the movie doesn't do a great job explaining the situation, leaving some obvious plot holes. It's one of those movies where you have to see a lot of sci-fi movies to truly get. The acting is pretty good. It's nothing phenomenal, but it's still pretty good. The characters themselves are bland an uninspired. The only truly likable characters are Jack Reacher and Morgan Freeman (because, you know, he's Morgan Freeman). All the other characters are completely one dimensional. The character developments and relationships aren't much better. They're pretty weak and not well explained. I want to know what happened in the past, not just small snippets. I want to know what got the characters in this state. It doesn't do good explaining. The action scenes are pretty cool. They're flashy gun battles that really keep you on the edge of your seat, but they're interrupted by really, slow, boring, uninteresting character developments. At least the movie did justice at the end, which wrapped up the movie in a great way. The dialogue is, for the most part, pretty good. There are some lines that come off cheesy and pointless. It's a small complaint, but it is noticeable. Overall, the movie was decent. It had a good plot and sweet action only to be interrupted by weak character developments and confusing plot twists. The movie is still enjoyable, but it's not what it could've been. If you want to see it, rent it. It's not good enough for a buy.
Man of Steel (2013)
People are being too harsh on this movie- Man of Steel is awesome!
Out of all the movies that come out this year, the one that I was most excited for was Man of Steel. The trailers looked so awesome! Yesterday, I saw the movie. Was it as good as I thought it was going to be? Two words: Heck. Yes. The story is really good. It's the normal Superman story we all know, but with a darker twist. It seems more serious and intense than having the destruction of Krypton be a sheer coincidence. You also see flashbacks of Clark Kent (that's Superman's earth name) getting used to his powers and how different points in his life made him the man today. I liked this. You could see how much he struggled. Superman in the past just seem overpowered and couldn't really be taken seriously. The Superman in this movie is relatable and shows his vulnerabilities in a great way. The only part that I needed explaining on was how his dad was able to put his personality, appearance, everything, inside a machine to reanimate himself with (I hope that made sense), but it's nit-picky and not too confusing. I also liked the more serious tone. Most superhero movies have more humor in them to take break apart the more intense scenes to show the light-heartedness of the movie. This didn't do that. It kept the flow of the movie going really well. There are a few funny moments, but nothing that distracts you from the content of the movie *cough* Green Lantern *cough*. The acting is great. They picked the perfect actor for every single character. They also seemed very relatable and realistic. Even Superman, which is pretty hard to pull of, since he's, you know, almost invulnerable. The action is some of the flashiest and intense I have ever seen in a superhero movie. There's crumbling buildings, gun fights, people getting stabbed, punching, kicking, throwing people through buildings, explosions, neck snapping, and more. And it's awesome! It's so fast paced and intense, it will keep you on the edge of your seat. I love it. The special effects are some the best I've ever seen in a superhero movie. Everything looks so realistic even though you know it's all fake. My favorite parts with the special effects all are in Krypton. That planet looked awesome. This movie had the special effects that Green Lantern could've had. Overall, this movie awesome. Pretty much everything about the movie was awesome. Anything I didn't like about it are so nit-picky and small, that I'm not putting them in here. This is, so far, my second favorite superhero movie of all time, behind The Avengers.
Battlefield Earth (2000)
This movie still gives me nightmares.
I watched Battlefield Earth today. Um
yay? If you don't already know, Battlefield Earth is considered the worst movie of all time. When my dad and I recorded it on the DVR I was thinking, "Oh boy, this is going to be hilarious." Is it hilarious? Yes. Is it bad? Yes. Is it painful to watch? Oh yeah. Those who haven't seen this movie may be wondering, "What's so bad about it?" I'm wondering, "Where do I even start?" How about we start at the plot. It's garbage. Basically, a race of aliens called the "Psychlos" take over Earth following a nine minute battle (yes, nine minutes). A thousand years later, the last remaining humans become hunter-gatherers. But, the Psychlos come back to use the Earth as a mining facility. Terl, played by John Travolta, is furious for not being allowed to return to his home planet, decides to use the humans to mine gold for himself. But one dude named Jonnie Goodboy Tyler decides to revolt with the other prisoners. Huh. Is it just me, or is that really stupid? Plus, there are really idiotic plot elements that are impossible and hilarious. For example: A group of tribal men, who was never even mentioned until halfway into the movie, get into a flight simulator and train to take down the Pyschlos. About an hour later, there going all "Star Wars" fighter jet on them. How is that even possible? It takes years to learn how to fly, how were they able to master it in one day? There's more, but if I talked about all the mistaken plot elements, it would become really, really long. This movie is also based on Scientology. It's a controversial religion made by L. Ron Hubbard. It is, according to dictionary.com, "a belief based on a person being an immortal spiritual being whose survival depends on him/her and his/her attainment of brotherhood with others and the universe." Not only is that A, fake, but it's also B, stupid, and C, a horrible excuse for a plot element. I swear, there are so many things wrong with the story of this movie. The acting is really bad, which is kind of sad because some of them are decent actors. Like the main character. Is he a decent actor? Yes. Did he do a good job in this movie? No. No he didn't. But no one, not a single actor could compare to the sheer awfulness of John Travolta. Terl is the most obnoxious, annoying, stupid, douchebag of a character I have ever seen in my life. He thinks humans are stupid, he's the smartest alien ever, and has the gut busting cackle. After watching this movie, I started literally hating John Travolta. When you think of a sci-fi movie, you think of CGI. Yes, Battlefield Earth has it, but it sucks. I've seen B-movies with better special effects than this movie. Everything looks fake, the lasers are copy-paste with a ripple effect when it hits, the explosions lack impact, the scenery is bland, and the flight simulator scenes look like an alpha stage of an FPS game. It just looks bad. The cinematography is some of the worst I've ever seen. It gets way to close to their faces and looks like it's filmed at a sideways angle. Plus the editing is really choppy. There are way to many unnecessary slow motion scenes. I swear, there are at least 70. Plus some lines of dialogue are repeated more than once in an overly dramatic way and some just come out with no sound whatsoever. And the transitions to the next scene are literally the exact same every time! I-it just RRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGHH!!! Speaking of dialogue, that's something else that sucks in this movie. Everything that everyone says is really cheesy. Some of the lines are totally unnecessary too. The most unnecessary come from John Travolta. Everything he says is dumb. Literally. Every. Sentence. Overall, this movie is like a bomb detonating in your stomach. If there's anything redeemable about this movie, it's the soundtrack, which is somewhat decent (I use that term loosely). This is one of those movies that you don't watch because you want to enjoy quality film. You would want to watch this if you're with your friends and you like to make fun of terrible movies. As a B-Movie, it would have been decent because of its humor (yes, the movie is pretty unintentionally funny). As a full fledged movie in theaters with box office numbers, which it is, it is an abomination for the eyes. Do not watch unless you're ready to make fun of it. That's the only way you'll get entertainment out of this piece of crap.
Gravity (2013)
Gravity is one of the most beautiful, gripping, intense, moving, and downright satisfying movies I've ever seen.
Have you ever seen a moment in a movie where it gives you a certain feeling inside? I like to call them "Pixar moments". We've all been there. We see a Pixar movie (most likely Toy Story, Toy Story 3, and every movie in-between) and we feel something. It's a combination of satisfaction, heart, and strong emotions. That's the impact that Gravity left on me, but instead of one part of the movie, it was the entire thing. This movie stars Sandra Bullock and George Clooney who are astronauts. They are on their normal day job when all of a sudden, lots of debris flies at them. Sandra Bullock gets separated from them and she has to find her way back to Earth. I am really bad at describing movie plots. And it's to describe this one because it is so well written and well executed that I don't want to spoil it. Not only is the plot very intense, but it's also realistic. Astronauts have to deal with this all the time and it's a scary thought when it does happen. That's also something I should bring up. This movie does a great job at keeping you on the edge of your seat. There's lots of destruction, but with the added bonus of zero gravity and no oxygen, it makes for one heck of a ride. And I like how the destruction looks and sounds. When you see the debris fly, you know that crap is about to go down. And let's not forget that in space, there is no sound, so when debris does hit everything, it's not a loud crash, but a quiet thud. It's like the sound that is made when you tap a microphone. It's very well done. The acting is well done, too. Sandra Bullock definitely stole the show. She does a great job at reacting to her surroundings and doing her scenes in general. George Clooney had a great performance, too. His character is the confident, talkative type and that really worked for this role. He even looks like an astronaut. That's a plus. The cinematography is some of the best I've ever seen in my entire life. The camera displays everything in a swooping motion, like the camera is in space, too. And how the scenes are set up is just amazing. I heard that every scene they had to do was choreographed so specifically. They had to know when to move and when to react to things. That added to the realistic factor and I liked it. And know it's time for the big one; the special effects. HOLY GUACA-STINKING MOLE! They are, without a doubt, the best special effects I have ever seen in my entire life. Everything looks absolutely beautiful from the stars, to the sunrise, to the Earth itself. It really feels like you, the viewer, are in space with them and that adds to the movie a lot. Overall, this movie was a masterpiece. This is one of those rare movies where while viewing, you can't think of anything you wished you would've liked changed or done differently. Gravity is in my top four favorite movies of all time (up there with the three Lord of the Rings movies). I loved this movie and I can't wait to see it again on Saturday. If you haven't seen this movie, please, please, please, watch it. This movie is amazing.