John Carter ~ Avatar who?

John Carter (Taylor Kitsch) is a Civil War cavalry soldier who is still at war with himself, authority, and just about anyone else around him. He gets transported to Mars. The gravity on Mars is substantially less than Earth, so John Carter is 10 time stronger than the regular inhabitants. He's faster, stronger, more agile, regular Superman without the tights. As he tries to come to terms with his new environment, his sense of honor drives him to do what most honorable men do, defend the helpless.

Powers beyond comprehension are moving to continue Mars down it’s path of destruction and eventually as gets explained, destroy Earth. John Carter becomes the road block. He saves the princess of Helium, Dejah Thoris (Lynn Collins) and with the help of Sola (Samantha Morton, the daughter of the  Mars warrior creature chief Tar Traks (Willem Dafoe), he turns the tide against the evil forces.

First off, this movie was phenomenal. The computer graphics are stunning. I was blown away. Avatar move over… there’s a new king in town. This movie is based on a comic book in which a human rises to become a warlord on Mars. This movie is a winner. As with most science fiction, there are language barriers and terms unfamiliar to the audience that we need to get over, but the movie does it rather well. Remember how in Harry Potter they said "muggle" and at first no one knew what a muggle was? That kind of thing.

The hero is good looking. The princess is sexy and strong. The CG is captivating and the creatures are flawless from the fur on the giant white gorilla monsters, to the lovable facial expressions of  Woola, Carter’s dinosaur-like dog. The flying ships, the planet, the detail of the landscape blows Avatar away. I know there’s some hard core Avatarians out there who won’t stand for it. If you’re going to see this in the theater… pay a little extra to see the 3D. The mesh of CG and human actor is superb.

Disney knocks it out of the park on this one.  

Puss in Boots ~ Underwhelming..

I remember when I first saw the Puss in Boots trailer. I thought it was going to be awesome, especially for the kids, and judging by the success of Shrek, a sure hit. I don’t think that anymore. My kids weren’t very thrilled. In fact, they lost interest a quarter of the way through it. Antonio Banderas returns as the voice of Puss, and he does have some witty lines, but for the most part, it’s all been done before (like the catnip line.)

Pass and Humpty Dumpty grew up orphans in a town, where apparently no other fairy tale creatures grew up. They got into trouble together, then as a twist of fate, Puss became the town hero and Humpty withdrew to become the town scum-bag.  Later in life they reconnect with a female cat to steal magic beans from an equally mean Jack and Jill so that they can get the golden eggs from the Giant’s golden goose. Bored yet?

There’s a cat dancing scene, some funny spots from time to time, but “meh.” Don’t kill yourself trying to get to Redbox to rent it. I think it was the lack of other fairy tale characters that made it bland, and not so special. Not to mention the story really doesn't fit into the Shrek world at all.

If you kids like Shrek, try it out, but don’t be surprised if it’s a rent..not own experience. It all felt like a rip-off of Zorro.

Gone ~ finally an ending I’m happy with.

Jill Parrish (Amanda Seyfried) is crazy. Or at least that’s what the local Oregon Police department thinks. A year ago she was found in the woods claiming to escape from a kidnapping. A serial killer had thrown her into a pit in the middle of the woods, and when he finally came to kill her, like the other girls in the pit, she got away. The police searched but didn’t find anything. No pit, no evidence of abduction, no marks on Jill’s body.

Now her sister Molly is missing. Again there’s no evidence, but Jill is convinced he’s back and after her again. Molly will be dead by sunrise unless Jill can find her and the police think it’s all in her head. 

Talk about suspense. This movie was really good. It wasn’t slow. It kept you guessing, and you didn’t know up until the end who was right, Jill, or the police. I won’t give away the ending, but it was epic! Finally a movie ended in the way I could believe in. No supernatural ability of the killer to keep coming after the girl, getting up when you think they’re dead, and silly tactics like that.

“That’s what I would do.” was amusingly shouted out at the theater at the end of the movie, and they were right. Looking for a night of suspense? Put this movie on the “to do” list. 

Ghostrider: Spirit of Vengeance ~ Regular Guy vs. the Comic Book Guy

I struggle a little bit with this one because I want to remain objective, but Ghost Rider was my favorite comic book and Marvel super hero. When the first one came out, I was excited and very worried that they would mess it up, and I liked the first one for the most part. I thought the bike was cool, and they kept to the comic pretty good. The whole fighting demon things was a little lame and the soul thing was a bit boring, but all in all I liked it.

I really wanted a sequel and due to some legal issues, it was delayed. Then hearing about how Nick Cage wanted to “make the character better” and that the new director never read any of the comics, I started to lose hope. Yet here it is, and since Johnny Blaze (Nick Cage) struggles through the movie with a split personality, I thought it fitting to do this review with mine.

Let’s dive in shall we?

If you want to see a kick-ass flaming skull on a motorcycle destroy some bad guys, this movie is GREAT! Johnny is struggle to keep the Demon of Vengeance inside because when it comes out, it’s uncontrollable, hungry for vengeance, and sees every little sin you’ve done.

Close, but the comic clearly stated “innocent blood” had to be spilled. Not the stupid “illegal downloads” Cage refers to in his message at the beginning of the film. Thanks for the public service announcement against piracy, jerk.

The devil, named Roarke (Ciarán Hinds)…

Mephisto

Who?

The devil in the comic is named Mephisto, or Mephistopheles…from the first movie… you know.. Peter Fonda’s role?

Well the devil has many names.

Convenient isn’t it since they can’t remember the name they used from the first one. They can’t even stay true to the first movie. We’re all doomed.

Roarke’s vessel is breaking down, and he needs a new body to use to remain in our world, so he makes another deal with a dying woman named Nadya (Violante Placido) to have a son, Danny (Fergus Riordan) in which at a later date he can take over to rule. The only way to protect the boy from Roarke and his henchman Carrigan (Johnny Whitworth) is to have “The Rider” take him to a sanctuary of monks according to Moreau (Idris Elba) another protector.

HUH? Ok, seriously, if you want to introduce another comic book character of the time period like Damien Hellstrom, the Son of Satan, make another movie about him. The comic didn’t do so well back in the 70’s when the Devil’s kid rebelled and decided to become a super hero and this all sounds too goofy. The Devil has never needed a vessel to do his nasty work. He’s been plaguing man for year? Can you say Daniel Webster? Adam and Eve? Jesus? HEEEELLLLOOOO?

The special effects and fight scenes are fun and done well. I struggled with Nick Cage’s acting as he tried to keep “the Rider” at bay inside his body, but I’m not a very big fan of his work as it is. As he tracks down the boy and Carrigan, there are some pretty sweet fight scenes you can get into.  

Cage plays a wacko just a little too well don’t cha think? The whole weird scene where his face morphs as he keeps Ghostrider inside was in my opinion…. LAME! The fights were ok except for the rocking, twitchy thing they made the Ghost Rider do. Felt like they were trying to redo the little girl ghost scene from “The Ring.”

Ok…. That part was a bit weird for me too.

And what about them taking away….

Shhhh… don’t tell them about that part. Yeah, ok… that part was dumb, but they needed it for the plot.

Plot? They have over 100 comic books of plot already written out, villains, dram, cool art, scenery. Why do these Hollywood types think their ideas are better? They’re doing Spiderman again, but starting from scratch. Let me guess, they have more ideas on how to make one of the most successful comic books better right?

Well, I agree on that, but that’s not the subject of this review, Ghost Rider is. So if you want to see a demon thwart the Devil, kick some major butt, and destroy bad guys, you’ll like the movie.

Angel

What?

Angel? They said Zarathos was an Angel first.

And?

In the comic, he was a soul devouring demon. He was never an angel. They just did that for the part…

Shhh… you’re giving it away.

More Hollywood ideas huh? If you’re a comic-book fan, you’re in for a lot of WTF moments. I the comic, there are two Ghost Riders, the 70’s comic in which Johnny Blaze bound to Zarathos, a soul hungry demon, and the 90’s version who was a Spirit of Vengeance, bound to protect innocence and punish those who would cause them harm. If anyone would have read the comics, they wouldn’t have confused the two.

Are all comic book types as picky as you?

I imagine so.   

So you decide which one of me is right. The Regular Guy….

Or the Comic Book Guy…. psst... pick me... I am sooooo much cooler!

Act of Valor ~ Damn Few.

This movie is a unique film in that it uses real enlisted United States Navy Seals. You discover what it’s like to be part of a Navy Seal team. The movie tries to give you a first person view of what combat is like for a Seal. You’re part of the training, the action, and you feel the emotion when these brave men have to leave their families when duty calls.

I think the movie was done really well. I imagine filming a military movie can be quite complicated in that if you glorify the soldiers too much, you are seen as making a recruiting video. If you don’t do it enough, you’re seen as anti-military propaganda. I felt this movie was just right. The enlisted men had to play themselves, so it wasn’t awkward watching them interact with professional actors.  

What starts off as an extraction mission to rescue a captured CIA agent turns into a hunt for terrorist entering America with devious intentions. The Seal team follows each lead, tracking down vital information to stop them from entering America and killing innocent people. Unlike other movies you may have seen which seem unrealistic, this movie is believable.

If you’re a fan of combat movies, you’ll enjoy this movie. If you’re anti-military everything, you’ll wish to stay away. You’ve seen movies showing the training these men have gone through. Now see them put that training to use. I could not help cheering in different parts of the movie my self. 

God Bless the US Seal Teams, our military, and everyone who shows Valor, be they the police, the firefighters, or anyone else who puts themselves in harm’s way to help others.    

Dream House ~ slow to start but worth the watch.

Will Atenton (Daniel Craig) retired from his publishing job to spend more time with his wife Libby (Rachel Weisz) and daughters. They had just bought a house and he was ready to write his novel. Now imagine that you just find out a man named Peter Ward killed his family in your house, and the whole world knew it but you. Worst yet is that he recently was released from the mental hospital after 5 years of treatment. Not because he was cured, but because they didn’t have enough evidence to keep him. Even the neighbor across the street Ann Patterson (Naomi Watts) won’t tell you anything.

What if you found out that you were actually Peter Ward? Holy creepy right? Well this movie is. The issue I had with this movie is that it takes a while to get going. They spend a lot of time showing you things which seem mediocre and boring, but as the revelation that Craig is Ward occurs, the earlier parts make sense and you may be sorry you didn’t pay closer attention.

This was a new take on the typical haunted house movie. Add to that Elias Koteas and you know it’s going to be twisted. That guy sets off my “creepy guy” alarm in every movie he’s in except for when he played KC Jones in Ninja Turtles… But I digress. The movie did make me feel sad in the end, and anyone else who has seen it will know why.

It’s worth a watch with a snuggle partner on the couch. 

In Time.... not a complete waste of time... but lacking a lot.

Just finished watching the movie" In Time" where Will Salas (Justin Timberlake) and Sylvia Weis (Amanda Seyfried) live in a world where everybody lives up into the age of 25 and then they never age anymore. Downside: you only have one year's worth of time to live unless you earn more by doing menial jobs, of course unless you're the very rich like Sylvia. For people in the ghetto like Will, they live not day by day but minute by minute.

I thought the idea of this movie would be pretty cool and messed up at the same time. Imagine being able look down at your arm and tell up to the second when you're going to die. I wonder if they got the idea for this movie from the Nickelback music video? Either way I thought it was a pretty cool premise for a movie. Timberlake didn't do a half bad job of acting which was a surprise to me.

The movie is about a man from the ghetto who is given over a century of time to live by another man who has lived over 100 years and is tired of living. Unfortunately the powers that be don't like the idea of people just giving away that much time so they come after him. Will runs into Sylvia in the neighborhood called “time zones” were all the rich time loving people live. The time police come ruin the party and the only way for Will to escape is to kidnap Sylvia the showing her a life that she never knew existed as the two become time Robin Hoods as such.

All in all I liked it though did get boring in some parts. Olivia Wilde plays only a brief part which was a downside. The movie is very far-fetched so if you can't get past that this is not going to be a good movie for you. Don't count on any hot and heavy love scenes. They seem to get cut short by the time police. They also make a lot of references to Will’s father and how the rich are “stealing” time from the poor in this movie that they never really follow through with and that's another bummer.

(look familiar?)

So enjoy it for what it is. A unique world where we measure our lives by how much life we have left.