Saw Star Trek Into Darkness on Friday night. I can't really give this some in-depth review, as I barely had my brain on watching it. Not that it didn't have some undercurrent philosophical questions involving the Prime Directive, or what it means to obey orders when someone you truly care about is about to die. Its just the ST nerd in me always enjoyed the space battles more than anything else, and this movie really didn't have a fair one. Wish they could have grown more than two characters just a little, but its a movie, and there is so little time. Also, I read a lot of reviews going into the movie and holy fuck people nitpicked the shit out this movie. So what if Spock pops and does nothing. So what if old girl was in underwear for 5 seconds. Jesus Christ, somethings just can just be there. Still give it 8/10
Fast 6 I've never been a true-blue fan of this series, probably because the first three were worse than terrible. The last two were a big improvement, and it's tradition that I always take my wife to the theatre so watch her favourite movie franchise (she would dump me for Vin in a second, I'm sure of it). So, we have Fast 6, which is a step back from the last one. Not as exciting or action-packed as Fast Five, still stupid, but there are good things: 1) The Rock's Guns. Still constantly oiled up and twice the size of the last film. Also, his character is much less grating than the idiot who single-handedly brought down the last film. He has humour and gels well with Ludacris and Tyrese, who make some great jabs at the Rock's character that are obviously fan-influenced. 2) Tyrese Gibson. This guy needs to go the way of Mark Wahlberg and try straight-up comedy, because he's completely earnest with it and has perfect comedic timing. He is easily the highlight of the cast. 3) Paul Walker (of all things). For the first time, seems like he feels emotion and expresses depth. His character for the first time in his entire career is compelling. I love that Euro number he drives during the ridiculous tank chase scene. Then, there's the bad. Much of the action (most of it) takes place at night and is hard to see. Some of the film's dialogue is really cringe-worthy, even for a cheesy action franchise. The dumbest of all has to be the director Justin Lin (whose career is probably over after this series) who forces the viewer to accept the fact that Michelle Rodriguez (or any cast member for that matter) could stand up to Gina Carrano in a fight...twice. Name me somebody in the movie that square-jawed hottie couldn't murder in thirty seconds with her bare hands. It's silly watching her and Rodriguez fight "evenly", there's simply no comparison to the two. Of course, there the suprise character cameo at the end (which also ties up a long-awaited plot hole), which is a great sign because we may FINALLY get a good villain for this series. I don't get it-- they've hired really good character actors for these roles in the past films: Rick Yune, Joaquin de Almeida, Luke Evans, John Ortiz... all good actors, playing the kind of broad, one-dimensional villains usually reserved for shitty 80's action movies. We can hope whats-his-name can add some real grit. 5.5/10
Fast 6 on a scale of F&F movies gets a 8.5/10 with F&F 1 and 5 both being 10/10s. What dirty said 100%. Some of the super cheesy jokes which I could appreciate for the cheesiness fell completely fucking flat and I'm an easy audience, its just like they didn't want to do more than 2 takes and they did it at the end of the day. So this movie actually takes place before F&F 3? Interesting.
Man of Steel TL;DR: Best Superman movie ever. Dark Knight > MoS > DKR. The Good: I'm not a Superman fan. I make the same complains most Batman fans make about how boring and undynamic of a character Superman is. The only times I've enjoyed him in the comics is when he becomes a megalomaniacal fascist that Batman has to reign in. That said, I do enjoy the lore of his life growing up in the Kansas plains, trying his best not to destroy our way of life by accidentally becoming our new messiah but not sitting idly by as bad things happened to his neighbors (one of many reasons Smallville was so much better than Lois & Clark). The first hour of the movie was a surprisingly tight narrative. While Bruce Wayne may be a more interesting character, they managed to make Clark Kent a more relatable character. They also really nailed the relationship dynamic between Superman and his two fathers. It's the Harry Chapin of comic book movies. Michael Shannon was a great bad guy. They also found a way to incorporate the effects of Kryptonite without actually having somebody hold out a hokey, glowing rock in front of Cavill's face, which was nice. And as overwrought as some people might find Zach Snyder's over-CGI'd, excessive slow-mo style, it definitely fits well with a superhero that can fly beyond the sound barrier. Especially when he's flying through mountains and buildings and stuff. The Bad: It would never fucking end. I enjoyed the action scenes and explosions. In fact pretty much the last hour and a half of the film is on fire. But instead of spreading the action throughout the film, they put the three main battle scenes nearly back to back while taking a few quick breaths to cram in an unnecessary love story, a survivor story, a military story, and a few other extraneous plots. I didn't hate Amy Adams as Lois Lane, but don't have Superman swoop in between battles to give her a first kiss. That's something that can wait for the inevitable sequel. And Laurence Fishburne shouldn't have had more than 10 minutes of screen time. It also had a few annoying superhero cliches. Millions of people being killed, but it's alright because the few characters we know are still alive. Superhumans punching each other repeatedly with no noticeable effect because they're fucking superhuman. While they avoided so many things I hate about the Superman story, they apparently had no choice but to fall into a couple of the inherent traps. Overall: I'd strongly recommend it, but catch an early showing. 4/5 Shirtless Jeff Goldblums
Man of Steel. I agree, the first hour was fucking epic. The music was probably one of the best scores of the modern era, Hans Zimmer did himself proud. Michael Shannon was a fantastic villain, until the very end. This movie starts with one of the most beautiful sci-fi scenes I can remember, it's literally Chris Nolan going "Avatar? Pssshhhhtttt....." The scenery in Kansas does come off as authentic, but it did have a hokey, "Amurica, fuck yeah" feel to it that reminds me of the Transformers series. The solid acting behind Supes really made this stand out. Costner's scenes really drive the son/father relationship home in the Kansas backdrop. This movie lives up to the hype of a summer blockbuster, hands down. The only problem I had with this movie is that Supes/Kent doesn't really have a personality. It's too Christ-like, so they did a great job of keeping his dialog to a minimum and setting up the plot so that his decisions aren't really decisions. This allows you to project on him, but in an odd way. TDK was much more interesting, this was much more emotional. With the Batman movies, you are trying to follow his logic, with Superman you are trying to understand his heart. Also, the character actors (Goddamn, there are a lot of them) get a bit too much time. The Lois Lane subplot could have had about three quarters of it cut out with no discernible difference. Why is an alien super-being attracted to the chick that looks like Pam from the Office with a pointy nose? Half of his character development is devoted to portraying him as this messianic figure, so why the romantic twist? Finally, there is very little in the way of comic relief, which can be exhausting. The last several action sequences felt like your senses were being drummed. In a few of them, so much happened so quickly, loudly and intensely, you get the sensation that you have to watch it again. SPOILERS: Spoiler Goddammit, someone teach Nolan and Snyder how to kill a villain properly. A quick twist of the neck and that's it? Fuck that, it was pathetic. Other minor complaints: why was Lane given a flak jacket and put on the plane? Why was Kent conspicuously drinking Budweiser? Why didn't they deal with the incredible fallout more directly? All things considered, I will watch this movie again, and could be persuaded to see it several times. The Koreans fucking hated it, but between the acting, music and stunning action sequences that portray this stuff with a bit of real-speed and scope, it's as good of a Superman movie we will see. The Easter eggs, subplots and speculation for sequels will begin, but this movie is one of the best all-around summer movies I have yet seen. Also, for sheer eye candy, the German woman playing Faora-Ul is ridiculous. I would gleefully watch this woman take a meaty dump on another woman...or at least that's what the German actresses I am familiar with are most known for.
Man of Steel: I'm going to go at this from a bit different of a perspective. It was phenomenal, action packed, etc. However, holy fuck was it violent. There were some 4 and 5 year olds in the theater, and honestly, they had no business being there. I had my 9 and 10.5 year old with me, and as they've handled the Avengers and all the related movies with no sweat, I figured a Superman movie would be fine. In hindsight, even though they know it's all fake, etc, I probably would have left them home. Sure, they loved every minute of it, but... For those of you with kids under 10, I would think long and hard about going. Yes, I know it's rated PG13, but most kids love all superheroes, etc and parents are known to show some latitude in what they feel their kids can handle. This definitely is NOT Christopher Reeves' Superman.
Man of Steel Most of the criticisms have been mentioned before but I was kind of put off by the Michael Bay squared use of CGI. It didn't help I saw it in 3D. I thought the film started off strong on Kyrpton but then the second act was kind of off kilter when they'd cut to non chronological order flashbacks. I also thought some of the side stories involving everyone not Superman were boring, except for the critical under use of Christopher Meloni (they probably could have combined his part with the black military guy). I too was also was surprised at the lack comic relief. Nolan pulled off a serious comic book movie and had non hammy comedic moments. They had maybe two or three and most of them were cringe worthy (kissing and alien joke and the army girl having the hots for Superman). Even though the action was relentlessly hammering your senses it was still a fun summer movie. I don't think it's a true classic, still a lot better than Bryan Singer's Superman. 7/10
World War Z: What needs to be said, really? It's not the book. It's not even close to the book. Generic globe-trotting thriller featuring fire-ant zombies who don't even do anything (or have anything done TO them) on camera since the flick's rated PG-13. Excellent UN/WHO propaganda piece tho!
My 9 year old found the zombies amusing. He was more scared from the trailer for The Conjuring before the movie. Still, it was entertaining.
The Heat It was...... formulaic and like every other buddy cop movie you've ever watched. The R rating was under used, couple of fucks here and there but Bridesmaids this was not. I would still knock the bottom out of Sandra Bullock. McCarthy is great at this physical comedy and tries to carry the whole movie, it just didn't work though. She is still very funny but it felt as though she was toning it way down. Not a bad way to kill a few hours for 5 bucks. 4/10
Lone Ranger. This movie was abjectly retarded. It's a mild spin on the Pirates of the Caribbean formula. Armie Hammer is not a real name, nor should he be a real human being. It's like Wild Wild West, only retarded in a more fundamental way. The plot makes sense in the way that a four-day PBR bender in Arizona is recounted to you by a hipster who uses the word "amazing" too much. The movie does give some commentary on the treatment of native Americans and Chinese that's different than what you learned in elementary school. The good: the horse tricks were genuinely funny, the music wasn't bad, Finchtner as the villain was legit, and if you like the Pirates series (or at least the first two), then this won't be too bad. Also, Barry Pepper as the cavalry leader was pretty fucking awesome, actually. The bad: pretty much everything else. The woman playing the obligatory love interest was fugly with a mouth that reminded me of DonkeyLips from "Salute Your Shorts". I defy anyone to explain why Helena Bonham-Carter was in this movie, as her entire character served no purpose. The widow/kid subplot was annoying and pointless and neither actor had enough time or skill to make me care if they lived or died. The cross-dressing character was creepy and pointless. The movie had nothing to say, no over-riding purpose, and it was too long and complex. If you've got kids that have never seen Westerns, maybe they will like it. Maybe.
This isn't that recent, but GI Joe Retaliation. This movie, taken as cinematic fare, was retarded. However, it stayed faithful to the cartoon premises that we all remember: cool ass toys, guns, colorful "soldiers", cool vehicles and in the cartoon, the scantest shadow of a plot. This movie was 100 minutes long, thank God. It could have been stretched to two hours but for fucking what? It could also have been compacted into just about 45, which would make it perfect for a Saturday morning cartoon double header. The good: The Rock, despite being in every movie I've seen this summer, is surprisingly able to carry this nonsense quite well. The fight scenes are surprisingly well done, especially the ropes scene. Bruce Willis is continuing his "I'm too old for this shit" schtick, which wasn't terrible here, surrounded by the Rock and a bunch of 20-something underwear models. The hoo-rah military hard-on shit makes sense here, so it's not as weird as Transformers. The bad: If you are above the emotional maturity of 9, this will bore you to shit. It's a live-action adaptation of a cartoon, and it maintains that maturity level well. Nothing here cannot be appreciated at face value, there is no deeper message, something that the great kid's movies tend to sneak in. It's well-trod ground as a story, so don't expect surprises because there won't be any. Finally, what in the blue balls of duck fuck is RZA doing in this movie as an Asian kung-fu master? I can forgive the Korean actor playing a Japanese guy (seriously, that rage is at his agent and it's not faked), but what the fuck? Focus: This movie is for the professional wrestling watcher, the monster truck rally attendee and the resident 9 year old boy in your life. It hits that mark well, but falls short of anything above or beyond that.
Monsters University Without Boo in this one, how could it compare to the original anyway? Void of both the charm and the laughs that made the first so endearing, prequels are almost always bad ideas and this is no exception. Pixar needs to admit they stopped trying and fire everybody, this is their worst film yet. 4/10
Pacific Rim. Go watch this movie in 3D. It's worth it. This is not an adaptation of something else, and it was fun as hell to watch. The actors are all people you've barely heard of, but who gives a shit? This movie embarrassed Transformers in nearly every way, except for no romantic subplot. It, like Man of Steel, hammers your senses, but it was worth it. The epitome of a summer blockbuster, so enjoy.
Pacific Rim was the bomb titties. Best summer action flick Ive seen in a while. Doesn't try to be too deep and is self aware enough not to take things too seriously. I too recommend seeing it in 3D. Somehow was able to keep the action huge with amazing CGI that doesn't become the mess I thought Man of Steel was. This is an Anime nerds wet dream including maybe the best anime to live action casting/acting/delivery you could imagine for a weird Asian girl. Seriously the moment the girl came on the screen I though I was watching a live action anime cartoon. I think Charlie Day might have been miscast. I just couldn't shake him from his role on Always Sunny. I mean he plays Charlie as Charlie the weird super genius. While playing Charlie as Charlie in another role didn't really affect a movie like Horrible Bosses, it just kind of take you out of the whole universe this movie was in. His subplot conflict with the other super genius might be the weakest of the film. Fun characters, lots of actions, HUGE FUCKING MECHAS, can't ask for more. 9.5/10