Movies

Admittedly, the summer movies I’ve reviewed, I’ve given bad reviews to. That’s not my fault. I am not a movie hater, as I’ve accused my friends of being. These are the people who hate every movie they see, being over critical of every aspect of every movie. Not me. And Mr. Brooks (as well as my track record) is proof. This is the first great Summer 2007 movie I’ve seen.

Mr. Brooks is about an entrepreneur, a philanthropist, a family man, a good guy. But this good guy is also addicted to murder. And he is so smart that he doesn’t get caught. He isn’t even a suspect until part way through the movie. That’s in part, due to his friend, Marshall, who is imaginary. What is so great about this movie is not only the story line, but how it’s fairly fast paced; it keeps the audience thinking about what will happen next. There are no things that go unexplained and I didn’t think it was predictable. Oh, and the acting. William Hurt, who played Marshall, was excellent.

Hurt is someone I’ve never seen or don’t remember seeing before, despite that fact that he has been in movies like The Village and Syriana. His performance as Marshall was excellent. The character he played was smooth, laid back and very convincing. He ‘helped’ Mr. Brooks commit these murdered by covering the bases Brooks ‘didn’t.’ He was able to portray this dark character in a great way. Costner and Hurt worked well together. The dynamic duo they created worked out very well. Even though Brooks was crazy, you couldn’t really tell. Then, there was Dane Cook.

Without giving too much away, you could tell Cook’s character, “Mr. Smith,” was a little crazy. That, I think, was well done by Cook. He was able to bring out the insanity in Mr. Smith that maybe we should have seen in Brooks, but didn’t because of how smart Brooks is.

Overall, the movie was excellent, and highly recommended. It’s a great thriller that keeps you thinking and doesn’t slow down. Everything that happens is deliberate and moves towards the ending in someway, even if you don’t see it until the end (ahem, or while you’re walking to your car…)

Another highly anticipated summer film. And in my humble opinion, another disappointment. Pirates, much like Spiderman, had some great parts. But for the most part, it was a film that was built up really high, and which did not deliver. Some spoilers follow.

We are left with Jack Sparrow in Davey Jones’ Locker, and Capitan Barbosa is back to get him. Why? Because the pirates of the world are in trouble, “the song” has been sung, and Jack is needed as a holder of one of the ‘nine pieces of eight.’ We are off to an alright start, except we don’t know what the song is about, what the nine piece are about, and we kind of have a new reason Jack needs to be rescued, if memory serves me correctly. I find with this film, not much is explained. There is just action, some comedy, more action. Pirates should not be that kind of film. Especially since this is a three hour continuation of another three hour film. The length of the film is my first problem.

The movie was too long. There could have been numerous pointless parts thrown out to shorten it, or to extend other parts that needed it. There was a part about the goddess Calypso that was extremely drawn out and amounted to nothing. The entire film we are told about how Calypso will sway the major fight in one way or another. Finally she is freed and she has a moment with Davey Jones, then just kind of goes away. That’s a lot of build up for nothing. And that is my second problem with the film.

The film hypes up a lot of things that turn out to be nothing. Will and Elizabeth fight. Nothing happens. The Calypso situation. Everything that happens with the Brits. The governor getting killed. That should have been expanded on a little more. And then we see new characters, like Jack’s dad (played by Keith Richards), and we think something great is going to happen. He is in the movie for a total of 5 minutes. We don’t even learn about him. He just kind of pops in to say hi. Lack of character development is my last major complaint.

It’s not just with Jack’s dad. It’s with Calypso, and even Davey Jones. And Bootstrap Bill. All of the supporting characters really. We get virtually no development in some new major characters. My brother put it best when he said all of the writers went to different rooms, wrote their own movie, and threw them all together. There was a lot going on. But it was almost a lot of nothing.

I really wanted to like the film. The first one was great. The second one was good too. But this was a pretty weak attempt to live up to the self made hype and inside jokes of the last two films.

The build up was great. Spiderman III- an older, more mature Peter Parker. Harry following the footsteps of his father. A new villan. The Venom suit. How could this possibly get messed up? Apparently in a lot of ways. While Spiderman III had some good parts (really good parts), the movie over all was an utter disappointment.

The Spiderman Template: Peter goes through a change. He loses who he ‘really is.’ He fights an epic battle where at least one person finds out his identity. The villan either dies or has a change of heart or both. Peter does change… Let’s see if III fits the mold.

Change/Loss of Self

Venom suit takes him over. He loses himself and finds a meaner spirited, more selfish version of himself. He loses MJ because she doesn’t know who he is. Again.

Click to read Spolier

Epic Battle

Peter and Harry vs. Sandman and Venom. Honestly, a pretty bad ass battle. Peter of course loses his mask. Sandman has a change of heart and JUST LEAVES. Venom is destroyed. Peter realizes he needs to be less selfish and MJ and him are back together in the end.

Now I try to be forgiving with some lame/cliche parts in comic book movies because that is their nature. But this movie was full of them. First off, everyone cries. EVERYONE. That is not necessary in a comic book movie. I know the director, Sam Ramini, wanted to be prolific and deep, but Spiderman doesn’t really serve that purpose. And then there is the “wise” butler. Michael Kane was an awesome Alfred in Batman Begins. That’s because Kane is an awesome actor. But also, we know the relationship between Bruce and Alfred. Who is Harry’s butler? There was no re pore developed in the other movies. There was also a lack of development in this movie, as well as just useless parts.

Towards the beginning Harry gets a head injury and forgets why he is mad at Peter/Spiderman. I feel like this was just a machine to cause more drama than needed. The worst part of the movie, however, was Peter when the Venom suit took him over. The Venom suit is supposed to be bad ass. Make Peter cool, but evil. However, the suit just made him a emo, almost edgy/cool guy, but still clearly a nerd. And the lameness of this went on for half an hour.

Don’t get me wrong with this movie- The visual effects were stunning. The battles were cool. But Ramini should have focused more on the story than making the movie look cool, because ultimately that’s what makes a good movie.

Amazing. Epic. Visually Stunning. 300, a movie based on Frank Miller’s comic book (the same guy who did Sin City), is an absolute ace. A movie about the 300 Spartans who stood up against the whole world, this well told story is enthralling from start to finish. The story is great (even if it’s not 100% accurate), the characters are moving and the speeches and events really hit home. To me the movie was not just about the 300 and their struggle to save their country, but it an inner struggle many of the characters faced and came to terms with.

In the movie (and possibly true to real life), Spartan boys from a young age are taught how to fight and deal with fear. They are taught that to die for your country is the greatest honor. This led to the men of the 300 to fight with their whole hearts and with conviction. You really believe that these men were dedicated 100% to the cause. The men knew what they had to do and did it. I feel that’s what every man aspires to be. The “just do it” attitude and the “man up” persona- this is how the 300 lived. And nothing showed that more than Gerard Butler’s portrayal of Spartan King, Leonidas. He was faced time after time with troubles- whether to go to war or not, leading 300 men into battle against the rest of the world and keeping the moral high, etc. And he was able to do it. He was the epitome of a true leader. But of course, no man is complete without his leading lady.

Leonidas’s wife Gorgo, played by Lena Headey, was also excellent. Her character was the reason Leonidas acted as he did and you could tell. And after he left for war, she stepped up and did what she could to help save Sparta. Beautiful and ballsy, she also did what she felt she had to do and faced troubles and adversity in order to save her country. While Leonidas was the brawn, she was the brain.

Finally, moving away from the characters, 300 was visually stunning. I’ve never seen such great cinematography. Each shot was done with such purpose and got the point across perfectly. I especially liked what they did with Xerxes. They made him seem much larger than life for most of the movie- untouchable; almost god-like. Then there was the turning point. He became more human and you could tell. That as well as the reason of the imagery and visuals made this movie.

300 was excellent and highly recommended. I wouldn’t say it’s flawless, but I found nothing wrong with it.

This movie is proof; a testament if you will, to a number of things. The first is that the internet is a powerful tool able to influence a movie, and influence it in a positive way. The movie would not have been the same if the name was really changed to “South Pacific Flight 121,” and made into a PG-13 flick. It would have been a bad movie. Because from the title you would have assumed that this was a serious movie. Because you can’t do what they did in a PG-13 movie. The second is that Samuel L. Jackson can take anything, anything, and make it awesome.

Snakes on a Plane is about a man named Sean Jones who witnesses a very dangerous man commit a murder. This man now wants Jones dead, and will do anything to make it happen. After “Exhausting EVERY OTHER option”, he decides to release deadly snakes on his plane to LA, where Sean is going to testify against him. Sam L, playing FBI Agent Nevil Flynn, must protect him.

The movie continues to surprise the audience with outrageous occurrences, continual problems, a lot of jokes and some great quotes. This movie, as a movie- as a script- is not good. However, from the script to the silver screen, it is an awesome movie that will be the most fun you have in the theater. And if you are afraid of snakes, well, so am I. It’s a movie. It can’t hurt you! Later!

Superman Returns is an excellent movie. I try to judge comic book movies on 3 things: Closeness to story line, ‘comic book lameness’, and the other movie jib-jab. So first, the other movie jib-jab. The acting was great- Brandon Routh is a kind of new kid on the block playing a pretty big roll. And he did it very well. He was able to capture the awkwardness of Clark Kent that was the reason people didn’t really believe he was Superman, and the super hero everyone looks up to in Superman. Kevin Spacey, who is always flawless, did not let the audience down this time either. He portrayed the evil genius that is Lex Luthor as a smooth criminal and an arrogant bastard. Well Done. The other actors, while I won’t do the whole list, were also great.

The visuals were Amazing! The flying was seamless, the Fortress of Solitude looked awesome, and Superman’s feats and stunts were incredible. My favorite scene is right in the beginning- his triumphant return.

As for the comic book lameness, there was very little to none. The reason I disliked Spiderman, and Spiderman II even less, was because it had a lot of lame parts in it (might I bring up Mary Jane, slow motion, water fountain….). With Superman, I cannot recall any overly lame parts. There were comic book parts to it- but they still added to the movie- when Lois and Superman see each other again for the first time, and him in space, for example. Both scenes were very tranquil and relaxing.

Finally, the sticking to the story line. They kept a lot of stuff in there that is true to the real Superman. A major example is the fact that they let people know that he gets his powers from the sun. His Fortress of Solitude and some other things that might spoil the movies for my readers. All in all, the movie was an excellent movie that I highly recommend. Not at all disappointing. Everything I though it would be and more… Later!

Minor Spoilers

X-Men: The Last Stand (X3) is the third installment of the X-Men Movie Series. I say that because I am not so sure now that it will be a trilogy. I have not heard either way, but a guy can speculate. It takes place shortly after Jean Grey’s “death,” which by now everyone should know did not actually happen. By watching the trailer, you will also know that there is a ‘cure’ for the X gene, which is what makes you a mutant. The mutants are divided.

X3 takes a darker looking into the Marvel World than its two predecessors. Not that they were light-hearted, family fun movies; X3 is just darker. With the chaos that is about to ensue, they are getting ready for an all out war. Jean Grey (aka Phoenix) is back and her powers are now unchained. She can do what she wants. There are so many twists and turns, unforeseen events and surprises that I don’t really want to talk about more of the movie, but the fight scene towards the end is pretty awesome. Kealsey Grammer as Beast was perfect, as he was able to show the eloquence of Hank McCoy and the awesome power of the Beast. Hugh Jackman did a great job as Wolverine, as always, but it seems he has an even bigger roll to fill in this one(even though it was his story in 2).

But there were some disappointments, which made me think there will be another one. The way the movie ended made you think that, for one, as it was kind of a cliff hanger. Also, in the beginning they are training, and you see a sentinel, but none make an appearance in the final battle(or any other place in the movie). We also see Angel for the first time, but there is more to his character (as well as Jean’s) that is shown in the movie. All in all I thought the movie was pretty well done, and while I am left with some questions(that may be answered when I see it again), I was happy with it. 4.5/5. Later.