Monday, June 28, 2010

The A-Team

I'm not a big fan of movies that are remakes of TV shows. When I first saw the trailer for the A-Team, I shook my head in disgust. I was never really into the A-Team when it was on TV to begin with so I wasn't up for a dumb re-make. For some reason I decided to check this movie out and I'm glad I did.

There are movies that have a sense of realism to them like The Pelican Brief and Black Hawk Down and then there are movies like The Transporter and Commando where you have to turn off your brain during the opening scene or you'd end up saying "yeah right" the entire movie. I knew The A-Team was in the latter category so I decided to shift mind gears and go along with it. I loved the introduction to the movie. It had me hooked from the opening scene.

I also laughed out loud several times during this movie which is a plus since it was not billed as a comedy. There is some of the funniest dialogue between Brian Bloom and Patrick Wilson during one of the scenes. I also liked Bradly Cooper and Liam Neeson's characters. Rampage Jackson wasn't bad, but he's no Mr. T. I guess Jessica Biel was cast to make it even more of a guy movie.

The A-Team is overblown, ridiculous, and stupid, and I loved it! I honestly can't remember the last time I had so much fun at the movies. I'd have to classify it as a guilty pleasure. The biggest fault this movie has is the totally over the top final action scene. I was prepared for fake stuff, but the CGI effects at the boat dock looked horrible and I felt like I was watching a cartoon towards the end of the movie. Aside from that detraction, I really liked it and give it 7.6 stars.

Sunday, June 20, 2010

Clash of the Titans

I remember when the original Clash of the Titans movie came out in 1981. As a kid I was excited to see it and thought the special effects were cool, but today's technologically spoiled audience would probably just laugh at the special effects from back then. This movie was kind of entertaining, but I was disappointed overall. Below are some of my random observations.

Poseidon got ripped off. Of the three God brothers, he got less screen time than a Stan Lee cameo. Speaking of cameos, when Perseus picked up the stupid metal owl Bubo from the first movie, I was so thankful that he put it down and that was the end of it. Bubo was the Jar Jar Binks of the original.

I liked Sam Worthington in Terminator Salvation. He was alright in Avatar, but I just couldn't buy him as Perseus. Maybe it was his Aussie accent he forgot to cover up. Maybe it was the fact that he had a buzz haircut, yet every other male character in the movie had long hair.

If Andromeda was supposed to be the most beautiful woman in Argos, they should have spent more time casting or in makeup Sorry if that sounds rude. I'm sure she's a model but the thought came into my mind a couple times during the movie. While I'm on the subject of judging women by their looks, Gemma Arterton looks much better with a tan in the Prince of Persia previews than this movie.

What was up with the desert alien guys with glowing blue eyes? Seriously, was this supposed to be an episode of Dr. Who or a movie about Greek Mythology?

My other pet peeve was the whole 3D thing. I saw it in a regular theater and I kept noticing when objects would come flying out towards the screen. I reminded me of Dr. Tongues house of pancakes on Monster Chiller Horror Theater. The whole 3D thing is over rated.

On the positive side Liam Neelse, Mads Mikkelson, and Ralph Fiennes were good in their roles. Why is Fiennes always a bad guy? I will always remember him as Heathcliff, a Nazi, Voldemort, or Hades. It would be nice to see him in a comedy sometime. Maybe Dumb and Dumber 3. Overall I guess Clash of the Titans was somewhat entertaining and it made think Percy Jackson wasn't so bad after all. I only give it 6.0 generous stars and that's because I feel bad for saying rude stuff about the women in the film.

Friday, June 18, 2010

Sherlock Holmes

This review will be short but I have been putting it off for too long and I figure a lame short review would be better than a lame long one. To summarize things: I liked it. I think one reason I enjoyed it was the stylized and unique feel it had. I'm not sure if it was because of the historical time period or if was because of Guy Ritchie's is directing style.

I am not a Sherlock Holmes expert, but I thought Downey did a good job with the role. I maintain my theory that Robert Downey Jr. can do no wrong these days and has made a miraculous turn around with his career. The performances by Jude Law and Mark Strong were also good, but I didn't really get Rachel McAdams in this movie and she just didn't seem to fit.

Overall it is a light hearted, entertaining mystery movie and I give it 7.4 stars.

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Robin Hood

My anticipation of this movie has been a see-saw battle. When I first saw the previews I wasn't too excited for another Robin Hood movie, but then I saw it was directed by Ridley Scott so I was looking forward to a Gladiator type of movie. I then heard brutal reviewers bash the movie saying it was too slow and long and that there wasn't enough action. Needless to say, I didn't go in with high expectations and maybe that is why I liked it as much as I did.

I enjoyed the story since it is kind of a prequel and lays the ground work to to how the Robin Hood came to be. Russell Crowe is one of my favorite actors, but I had a hard time accepting him as Robin Hood. He seemed kind of quiet and kicked back for being the hero of the movie and this was not his best role. He had a great supporting cast of Cate Blanchett, William Hurt, Max von Sydow, Mark Strong, and Oscar Isaac. The film is visually entertaining and has a nice score. It has a more authentic or realistic feel to it then the green tights and swinging from vines versions we've seen over the years. It's definitely better than the Kevin Kostner's Robin Hood.

The movie is not without it's shortcomings. I almost laughed when I saw the French landing on the English shore in wooden amphibian landing boats. It looked like they were trying to copy the scene from Saving Private Ryan. Seeing Marion and the "Lost Boys" from Peter Pan come to battle was also a let down. There were several unanswered questions and other little details that detracted from the movie too. My kids have been watching the Robin Hood series from the BBC recently which is total bubble gum, so maybe that is why this movie's seemed so good in comparison. Despite the harsh reviews, I still give it 7.7 stars and I'm not just saying that so Ridley Scott will let me be in his next movie.

Sunday, June 6, 2010

Kid's Movie Reviews

Over the last month I have seen some movies that were made for younger viewers. It's not that I wanted to see the following movies, but I am just an awesome parent and watched these with my kids. I saw Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, The Spy Next Door, and G-Force. Since I couldn't bring myself to do an official review on each of them, I am doing a brief summary and rating of each one.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians- It was OK if you are into the fantasy type of books with parallel universes. You also might like it if you are trying to teach your kids about mythology. There is some disturbing imagery in this movie and by that I mean seeing Pierce Brosnan as a centaur. 6.2 stars.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid- I had just recently skimmed through some of the books in this series and thought the movie would be funny. There were about 5 things that made me laugh during the movie. It had some potential but overall I wasn't too impressed. 6.1 stars.

The Spy Next Door- I'm a huge Jackie Chan fan so it hurts me to see him utilized like this. If you saw the Pacifier with Vin Diesel, then you have seen this. I had a hard time staying awake. 5.1 Stars.

G-Force- This is about Hamsters who are spies for the government. Enough said. I'm getting tired of celebrity voices in animated and CG movies. 5.0 stars

All four are pretty mediocre and cheesy. If you happened to be scheduled for execution this week and are given a request for a final movie, then I would suggest you forgo the above movies. If you have kids, they will probably enjoy each of these movies. I guess that is a comment about our society. Adults frequently don't like movies they let their kids watch. That's kind of like feeding rotten food to your kids that you don't want since they aren't discriminating enough to know better.
 
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