Transformers - Dark of the Moon Review

Transformers - Dark of the Moon

Directed by: Michael Bay
Starring: Shia LaBeouf, John Turturro, Rosie Huntington-Whitely, Patrick Dempsey, and John Malkovich

Michael Bay. People call him the dictator. The director with a high list of demands. Megan Fox parted ways with him before the filming of Transformers 3 because of his high demands. However, these demands do equal results in his movies, and Transformers: Dark of the Moon is no different. You need to be in great shape to survive the long drawn out action scenes that are sprinkled through out the movie. The action scenes that add an extra hour or more to the run time of all his films. But it makes the perfect summer blockbuster.

It takes place 3 months after Sam graduates from his Ivy League college. Sam struggles to find a job having no experience besides saving the world twice. Shia LaBeouf is great as always as Sam Witwicky, personal friend of the Autobots. Sam lives with his new beau, Carly Spencer who replaces Megan Fox’s character (In the script it’s said that Makayla breaks up with Sam and leaves him). Carly is played by Victoria Secret model Rosie Huntington-Whitely (She’s even given some slow motion scenes that could be worthy of a lingerie commercial). As the movie continues you on, Sam is once again faced with saving the world and salvaging his romantic relationship. You watch as some of your favorite Autobots are destroyed, and not brought back to life. You get some great supporting performances from John Malkovich, and Patrick Dempsey who pull Transformers 3 out of the same path as its predecessor.

Transformers 3 is a great 2 hr and 34 minute action packed adventure. With enough explosions, and swinging robots to keep any adrenaline junky happy. The downside is that script is very empty, and at times not even there. Character development is good for the first 45 minutes but begins to fizzle out into just action sequences by the end of the movie and then a Linkin Park song hits the theatre speakers as you would come to expect.

In hindsight they should of incorporated Bumblebee more. Not so much with saving Sam, because that was the one part of Bumblebee’s role that stayed. But more as a character to help develop Sam. Instead, Optimus had most of the screen time. He did however, offer his famous lines of advice that opened, drove, and ended the movie. All in all, it still a movie to see. The first Transformers movie in 3D, and something that can keep your eyes occupied.

5.5 out of 10

Bridesmaids Review

Bridesmaids

Directed by: Paul Feig
Starring: Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Ellie Kemper, and Melissa McCarthy

When you see from the guy who brought you “40 Year Old Virgin”, “Knocked Up”, and “Superbad”, what do you think? That it has a lot to live up to? I think so. Bridesmaids is a Judd Apatow comedy. So that means you’ll see: witty dialogue, physical comedy, and many sexual references. However now, all of these things are being delivered by a line-up of leading ladies instead of Seth Rogen, Steve Carrell, and Jonah Hill. And with that let me give you the gist of the film (SPOILER ALERT!)

Annie (Kristen Wiig) is love rejected woman with no self esteem. No scene shows it better than the opening segment between her and a hilarious Jon Hamm (Madmen, The Town) that showcases an awkward sex scene which ends in the morning with Annie having to climb over his front gate to leave. As the beginning of the movie progresses we are shown just why she is at this stage of her life, and how the tough economy killed the dream that she had followed of owning her own bakery. But nothing hits Annie closer to home then when her best friend of 20+ years tells Annie that she’s getting married.

Kristen Wiig is the perfect cast for this role, using her much acquired improvisational skills from Saturday Night Live to benefit every scene. And for once, Hollywood does a movie that doesn’t have an unrealistically beautiful star  playing an everyday Jane like Annie. It gave it a more realistic feel, and made the scenes with Annie just that much more sad, and comedic.

The movie progresses around the months leading up to the wedding. The other bridesmaids really remind you how important it is to have a complete ensemble cast, even in comedy film. And like most happy endings, Annie is able to find herself and a man who loves her for who she is. But its discovered in a quirky and unbalanced manner much like a good time at a bar on college night.

There are many different scenes throughout the film that had me spitting out my drink, and choking on my popcorn (By the way, you have to love the random inclusion of “Hold On” by Wilson Phillips as such a key memory in the movie). With this being the first movie screening I’ve seen, I wasn’t disappointed at all. Bridesmaids delivered anything that it may have promised, and truly exceeded the expectations that any of its trailers set. I had no idea how funny this was going to be, and was planning it being a cute chick flick. It’s not that at all, it’s the next produced classic to add to Judd Apatow’s resume.

7.5 out of 10

Thor Review

Thor

Directed by: Kenneth Branagh
Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Anthony Hopkins, and Natalie Portman

Grab your hammers and helmets for this comic tale of about the God of Thunder! A powerful but arrogant warrior who is cast out of his world of Asgard by his father and banished to earth. While on earth, he learns what takes to be a true leader, and hero.

Okay, so Thor isn’t one of the most believable superhero tales that Marvel has created but every fan takes it for what it is. Knowing this, you have to go into the theatre with your taste for realism on a vacation. Thor doesn’t possess much of it. However, that doesn’t stop it from delivering a +1 on the right side for Marvel movie adaptations. Daredevil was crap, the first Hulk was crap, the second Hulk was reasonably good, but besides X-Men and Iron Man, that was it…until now.

Thor needed to be quality, otherwise the Avenger Movie coming out next summer wouldn’t be worth a matinee ticket (and still may not, I have my doubts). So how did Thor do? Very well actually. Marvel is beginning to find their formula for success and it consists of the right balance of humor, plot, and action much like that of Iron Man. Several times during the movie I found myself smirking at witty dialogue or choking on a funny situation. Not to mention how great Chris Hemsworth does as the mighty Thor, son of Oden. Natalie Portman plays a safe but enjoyable role as the muse of Thor who offers to help him because of the mystery that lies behind him. Anthony Hopkins is an honorable and wise, Oden. In this movie we also get a nice cameo of Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye who is tempted to almost take out our hammer wielding hero in one part of the movie not too long after Thor arrives on earth.

Throughout the movie, action is a constant, and at times it got a little busy but it always seemed to remain true to an underlying plot, and direction. For comic book fans, much of Thor almost seems like a large preview for the Avengers movie, constantly connecting the dots that intertwine the heroes in the graphic novels. Yet in the end, you don’t leave confused, but satisfied that the Avengers Movie is one step closer to be the epic movie that its suppose to be.

7 out of 10

Paul Review

Paul

Directed by: Nick Frost, Simon Pegg
Starring: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Seth Rogen, Kristen Wiig, and Jason Bateman.

Have you loved seeing Seth Rogen as your friendly neighborhood stoner? The actor who will not disappoint you when it comes to at least toking up once in every movie that stars him (besides Funny People, but lets be honest it was his first movie after dropping like 30 pounds). Well then meet Seth Rogen as a rude, foul mouthed alien who smokes a little bud in Paul. I personally love Seth Rogen’s movies, so I was going to see this eventually one way or another, but I decided to check it out on the big screen instead of Red Box.

The movie is about two nerds from the UK, who decided to take an American road trip to visit all the famous alien landing sites, but before that it was a quick stop to Comic Con. And that’s where our story begins. Along the way while driving to all their destinations, they come encounter with Paul (Seth Rogen) who is escaping from Area 51, when he finds out that he was going to be killed and used for stem cell research. After much reluctance and pant pissing, the two nerds played by Simon Pegg and Nick Frost (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz) eventually agree to help out a desperate alien in need. Through this crazy ride, they meet Kristen Wiig, Bill Hader, and Jason Bateman.

This movie is the perfect movie for nerds and geeks. Star Trek, Star Wars, ET, Men In Black, and just about any other sci-fi movie you can think of. However its hard to grip if you aren’t big into any of these movies, or can’t really grasp British humor. And for those people, Seth Rogen’s performance will carry you to the very end as he delivers that American comedic touch that keeps you familiar with the movie. By the way you have to love the Jesus Girl gone Dirty played by Kristen Wiig, and the want to be FBI agent performance by Bill Hader.

The movie was strong in many aspects, but lacked a strong story line. Also the comedy was strong but inconsistent at times, and lagged through parts of the movie. Comedy is never perfection, and this movie isn’t any different. But you will have a great time regardless! Paul is worth the money for the movie, and if not, definitely a Red Box rental.

6 out of 10

Limitless Review

Limitless

Starring: Bradley Cooper, Robert DeNiro, and Abbie Cornish

Director: Neil Burger

Usually when you talk movies, you are talking performances, whether good or bad from an actor or actress. I have yet to see a movie where I am not talking about that exact thing, until now. That wasn’t to say that Bradley Cooper’s or Robert DeNiro’s performance wasn’t admirable, but the idea behind LIMITLESS was much more appealing. In a movie where Bradley Cooper was the main character, the concept was actually the leading role and it carried the movie to the very satisfying end.

Bradley Cooper is Eddie Morra, a stagnant writer who struggles to find a way out of rut that he’s got his life into. Until he meets his ex brother in law who opens his world to a drug that allows him to access 100% of his brainpower rather than just 20. Through many twists, and turns in the story as well as an excellent supporting performance from DeNiro as Carl Van Loon, Eddie Morra realizes that he can’t keep living until the next fix (SPOILER ALERT: Even getting so desperate that he drinks a dead man’s blood to get the drug into his system).

People could say that this movie aligns directly with drug addiction and they’d be right. But the visual effects make this one hit that you want to stay on again and again. I’m not promoting drugs, but I am promoting this visual ride that you won’t regret as we head into the summer movie line-ups. LIMITLESS is just that, a no holds bar on anything you thought about action, and intelligence. Plus who knew that Bradley Cooper could hold his own so well as a leading man.

6.5 out of 10

Rango Review

Rango

Starring: Johnny Deep, Isla Fisher, Ned Beatty, and Bill Nighy

Directed by: Gore Verbinski (Pirates of the Caribbean)


Alright, so first off. Nickelodeon teams up with Paramount for a movie. Sounds like crap without even hesitating. Any Nickelodeon movies that were made in the past were usually straight to DVD or made for TV, because they didn’t have the caliper to survive box office numbers. Yet Rango is NOT at all what I was expecting. In fact in many ways the visual effects were even more effective than that of any Pixar movie (including names such as Toy Story, Finding Nemo, and Wall-E).

Rango was visually stunning, down to the very last scale of a lizard. Throughout the movie, Rango constantly tested your eyes to make sure they were in fine tuning for the trees, to the textures of the characters’ faces, to the colors and the images in the sky. Rango takes advantage of every color in the palette to tell a story about a lonely lizard who struggles to find an identity after much time being spent by himself in an aquarium with a dead bug, a sexy doll with a missing head, and a windup goldfish. Rango is an actor of sorts, but once he’s force to live in civilization, he’s not sure what role he’s suppose to play.

The movie is strongly based around western movie clichés but with that, finds ways to parody them or cleverly alter what made them cliché to begin with. The dialogue in the film is very witty, and creative. Like a line that Rango (Johnny Depp) says, “I think your metaphor just ruptured by spleen”. At times the dialogue and themes even ride the line of Family movie and PG-13 down to very last chapter of this self-proclaimed hero’s tale. Themes of self meaning, and contemplation of life are sprinkled in right before the climax of the movie. We even see subtle hints at suicide that aren’t obvious enough for a young audience, but easy to pick up for an adult.

Regardless of its small bits of darkness, Rango is a fun and enjoyable ride through the mid-west. You may even need to put on your spurs, or in Rango’s case find a gun belt that fits. A great round of supporting voices such as: Isla Fisher (as Beans), Ned Beatty (Mayor), and Bill Nighy (Rattlesnake Jack) that help Johnny Depp carry along this beautiful tale about identity and belonging. And for those who are fans of the movie Unforgiven, then you’ll love the CGI cameo before the climax. Amazing! All in all this movie was something that anyone could enjoy, with slapstick humor and fantastic dialogue.

8 out of 10

Hall Pass Movie Review

Hall Pass

Directed by Bobby & Peter Farrelly (Something About Mary, Me Myself & Irene)


Starring: Owen Wilson, Jason Sudeikis, Cristina Applegate, Jenna Fischer

A dating movie, a singles movie. Almost anyone allowed to be admitted to it’s R content will enjoy it. This is probably one of the best comedies that I’ve seen since the Hangover. What movie am I talking about? Hall Pass. Hall Pass is about Rick and Fred, two married men who are granted a week free of marriage. During this week, their wives give them the opportunity to have an affair in the hopes of improving their marriage after the week’s over. By the end of the movie, it’s the wives who realize that this “hall pass” was actually for them and at the same time the husband’s realize just how good they had it all along. Even good enough for one of them to pass up a bare-chested Nicky Whelan (Scrubs, Halloween II) who speaks a sexy Australian accent.

For those who are tired of Owen Wilson’s quirky single man role, this could be considered his breakthrough as he plays Rick who is married to Maggie (Jenna Fischer). Owen Wilson plays the 30 suttin father of two, who struggles with reality of not being able to be another woman ever again. Of course he’s not as bad off as his buddy Fred (Jason Sudeikis) who is forced to publicly expose himself in the driver seat of car because his wife won’t have sex with him. One line in the movie summed it up best, “No one ever told me when I was a teenager that I’d still be jerking off even after marriage.” Hall Pass is effective not only because of Jason Sudeikis witty lines but because it’s supporting cast. Stephen Merchant (The Tooth Fairy), Larry Joe Campbell (Killers), and Richard Jenkins (Fun with Dick and Jane) who help make almost every moment laugh out loud. I don’t want to give away the meat of the movie but Hall Pass is a must see movie, and as cliché as the movie announcer guy makes it…this is certainly one of the best comedies of the year to date.

7 out of 10 stars