Movie Review: Thor: The Dark World (3D)

Very entertaining, but a few things keep it from being great. The film follows up nicely from the first “Thor” film and “The Avengers.” All the major storylines with each character gets addressed in some form. The designs of all the characters and sets took what they had in the previous film and add a bit more grittiness to everything. However, there’s a very Star Wars vibe to all the new technology and many of the action sequences. This is not a bad thing, but there’re a few moments in the finale where the humor is almost too much. It’s not Jar Jar Binks bad, but it kills the mood a bit. The dynamic between the main characters keeps you invested, particularly between Loki, Thor and their parents. This includes an incredibly moving and visually stunning sequence in the middle of the film. The new villain, Malekith, is a bit of a letdown. While he looks cool and is a major threat, his motivation isn’t much more than him being then him being evil. There are two post credit scenes to watch out for. One a few minutes in and one after the credits are completely over. I ended up seeing the 3D version of the film, which was not bad as far as 3D goes. It was almost worth it just for the exclusive “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” footage.

***1/2 out of *****

Movie Review: Carrie (2013)

Nothing really special, and yet another remake that we probably didn’t need. It’s been a long time since I’ve watched the original “Carrie.” I don’t remember much of it, but after watching the new version, I read the plot summery. Basically, there’s little difference between the two films. Aside from the injections of modern technology like cell phones and the internet, there’s not much new worth mentioning. The film itself is entertaining enough to keep my interest throughout, but knowing how the story ends, it kept me from investing too much into the characters. The acting overall is a bit bland, with only the two main roles featuring any acting of interest. And even then, Julianne Moore as Carrie’s mother never does much more than convince u that she’s the “evil crazy religious lady.” Chloe Grace Moretz has a more nuanced performance as Carrie, but with a role lacking a lot of dialog, her acting consists of a lot of flaring her nostrils and giving us a few wide-eyed stares.

**1/2 out of *****

Movie Review: Kick-Ass 2

Overall entertaining, but the film never seems totally focused. The main plot is fairly flimsy; held together mostly by the character arcs and only coming together at the end of the movie. Of the three major character arcs, Hit-Girl’s is easily the most interesting, but it does get a little weird with a “Mean Girls” inspired plot. In and out of costume, Hit-Girl is really the star here and you always want more of her. Kick-Ass’ storyline hits and misses. He’s at his best when interacting with his Justice Forever teammates. I think those who haven’t seen the first film will probably be the least satisfied with Kick-Ass himself, since his motivation for being a superhero is only touched upon in the sequel. The portions of the film dealing with the evolution of the film’s villain never seem to reach their potential. Every time things get interesting, there’s an odd twist that takes things in a different direction. Most of the supporting characters are fairly one-dimensional, with Jim Carey’s Colonel Stars and Stripes being the most interesting. The film’s humor is pretty strong, with some good one-liners and funny moments throughout. The action scenes are bloody and fairly realistic, but the overuse of CGI blood tends to stand out as a distraction. There’s a post-credit scene that I missed, but it didn’t sound like anything really worth staying for.

*** out of *****

Movie Review: Elysium

Well-put-together film, and is strong in many aspects. The acting is top-notch, with Sharlto Copley making the most of every scene that he’s in. Matt Damon and Jodie Foster also deliver. The effects are excellent, creating a believable futuristic world that features people living in squalor and others in decadence. The story is pretty good, keeping things interesting for the most part. The movie is surprisingly violent, and along with in the profanity, it really gives it a gritty feel and keeps it grounded. The action scenes are pretty cool, but sometimes they use an odd camera move that was a little distracting.

***1/2 out of *****

Movie Review: The Wolverine

Very solid film, but never truly excels. They did a lot right with this movie and very little wrong. Hugh Jackman is flawless as Wolverine. He has everything down as this character by this point. I thought all the other heroes were well-played, even though they lack any super powers. Rila Fukushima has the right amount of attitude and style to bring Yukio to life and made her a credible “bodyguard” for Logan. Tao Okomoto is very likable as Mariko and her relationship with Wolverine seem organic and flow nice with the story. The villains of the film are its weakest point. Viper is not very interesting, and never seems to have any true motivation. It was already bad enough that they altered the character so extremely from the source material. The way they handled The Silver Samurai was just strange and led to an unsatisfying plot twist. The story itself was good and generally kept things moving. A few of the action sequences felt a little flat, but the Japan setting helped give everything a unique feel. I also thought they did a great job of making this a stand-alone film, while still making enough references to connect everything together. There is a scene a few minutes into the credits and it’s worth staying for as it gives a hint of things to come.

*** out of *****

Movie Review: Pacific Rim

Overall pretty entertaining, but fell a little short of most fronts. The story wasn’t anything too groundbreaking, but it’s enough to keep you invested in what’s coming up. This movie has a strong concept and it works overall: Giant Robots fighting giant monsters with the fate of humanity on the line. While these battles are well-done and well thought-out, everything seems to go down at night, or underwater or underwater at night, making it difficult to keep track of what’s going on and which robot is fighting which monster. The lead characters are all given enough backstory to flesh them out, but there always seems to be something lacking. For example, there’s other teams assisting in fighting off the monsters, but they feel like stereotypical background characters thrown in just to have an international team of robot pilots. There are a few moments of humor that break the tension, but I thought they could’ve slipped in a bit more without making things feel like a comedy. The finale brings together all the elements to a conclusion that has you emotionally invested in the fate of the characters and makes the journey worthwhile. There is a brief scene after the credits that I didn’t catch, but it didn’t sound like it was anything that important.

*** out of *****

Movie Review: World War Z

Pretty bland Zombie film, with very few scares and only a moderate amount of tension. Quick note, I have not read the novel that this film is based on, but I hear that it’s substantially different. The thing that usually makes zombie films scary is the overwhelming amount of the undead that plague the lead characters. While there is a global epidemic of death and destruction, we only see fleeting glimpse of it, and the heroes tend to avoid the worst of it. With the exception of wide shots, the zombies tend to be heard and not seen. Their high-pitch Tasmanian Devil-like sounds are unnerving, but they’re not on screen long enough to truly make an impact. Also, cutting from the characters out in the middle of the chaos and the ones in safety breaks too much of the tension. The story is OK, moving along at a logical pace, but it leads to hard to swallow tale of survival, luck and problem solving. While Brad Pitt is an interest protagonist, the rotating group of survivors he meets are either one –dimensional or intriguing but left behind as Pitt moves along with the story. Another thing that makes zombie movies terrifying is watching as the dead devour the living, but thanks the PG-13 rating, we see a few bites and very little blood. The final sequence is probably the most tension-filled point in the movie, but it’s too little, too late to pull the movie out of mediocrity.

** 1/2 out of *****

Movie Review: This Is the End

Pretty solid comedy. The concept of “real” actors facing the Apocalypse could’ve failed easily, but with the cast of this move, it’s works perfectly. Everybody plays a funny caricature of themselves, with Michael Cera an early standout. There’s a bit of a jarring shift in tone when all Hell breaks loose, which also removes most of the cast from the movie. It seems to put a stop to all that would’ve been funny here, but once it settles in, things get good again. Almost all the comedy comes from the characters interacting with each other and it’s one of those movies that you find yourself smiling throughout. There’s a few standout scenes that are funny on screen but don’t sound that great if you describe them. Sometimes, just some of the back and forth between the characters gets funnier as it goes on. Also, the soundtrack really adds something to the film, merging funny visuals with just the right music.

**** out of *****

Movie Review: Man of Steel

Pretty underwhelming. There was just something missing throughout this movie. It seemed to have no “soul.” All the actors did an OK job, but their characters never seemed to get fleshed out. Henry Cavil made a good Superman, but the overuse of flashback rushed Clark’s journey and made it difficult to identify with him. There’s a lot of changed to what one would expect from a Superman film, and I spent a lot of time wondering how they would “fix” some of this stuff going forward with a sequel in order to keep with the classic mythos. Luckily, the ending seemed to set things into the right direction. I was unimpressed with the Kryptonian designs. The planet itself was a Star Wars with a hint of The Matrix, while their armors were too “Alien space jockey.” The action is too out of focus and there’re too many zooming in shots. The climactic battle has some great moments, but them Superman and his foes repeatedly crashing thought buildings gets old, especially when it appears that a lot of innocent people die on the background. It seemed like Superman was too caught up in his fights too worry about who’s getting hurt around him. Sure he’s fighting for his life, but you would expect him to take the fight someplace private.

** 1/2 out of *****

Movie Review: Fast & Furious 6

Enjoyable, but nothing special. The story is fairly straightforward, despite the plot twists and the improbability of it all. There are a few good action sequences, but they are all so over the top that it’s almost unintentionally funny. The final action takes place at night, which makes it difficult to see what’s going on and keep track of who’s doing what. All the characters are likable, and get their chance to get involved, but Tyrese Gibson really brings some funny moments. There’s a final scene a few minutes into the credits that not only ties this film to one of the previous movies, but makes you really interested in a sequel.

** 1/2 out of *****