Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

( 2008 )

**** 1/2

 

Steven Spielberg and George Lucas make history again with their latest installment of the “Indiana Jones” franchise.  Harrison Ford reprises his role as Dr. Henry “Indiana” Jones, Jr.  Although the man is pushing 65 years of age, he still has his pizazz.

The last time we saw Indiana was in “The Last Crusade,” where he drank from the Holy Grail 19 years ago.  Now, we see him in the 50’s, where several problems that occurred in that era were depicted pretty well in this film.  Problems like the Red Scare and atomic bomb testings.

I really think Harrison Ford did a great acting job.  I haven’t seen this man do this great of an acting job in a long time.  When it comes to the acting of Shia Labeouf, I think he did alright, but I could have done without him.

The plot of the movie, however, is really complicated.  The storyline is a bit too crowded, and there is a major subplot that could have been completely removed from the film to make it better.  Don’t get me wrong, I love Indiana Jones, and I really enjoyed this movie.  There was just one thing I think shouldn’t have ever been used in an Indy film.  Like I say in the review, if it was a stand-alone film, or the first of the series, it would be amazing, and get my praise, but since this is a fourth installment, they owe it to themselves to make something better than that.

It’s not a huge problem for me.  I still enjoyed it a lot. There is no question that I would love to see it in theaters again. I would recommend this film to anyone looking for a good time at the movies.  Peace out!

 

 

 

 

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

( 2008 )

*** 1/2

One of my most anticipating films this summer was the next Narnia film, Prince Caspian.  I loved the first film, enjoyed every second.  However, this film just did not do it for me.  I was expecting much more from this film.

The film is about Prince Caspian trying to escape the clutch of his power-hungry uncle.  His uncle wants nothing less than Caspian’s thrown, and is willing to do anything to get it.  Even if it meant killing his own nephew to do so.  Also, when the kids arrive back at Narnia, they find themselves 1300 years from when they last visited.

Apparently while they were gone, Narnia was invaded by some evil men.  The friendly talking animals are supposed to be extinct.  So everything is in turmoil in Narnia, and it is up to the kids to fix everything up.  Understandable.

I had a few big problems with that.  The kids have been out of Narnia for an entire year, and the first chance they get, they bust out the weapon’s, and are ready to kill anything that moves.  The entire movie is action-packed.  Now, I am not saying action-packed films are bad or anything, but that’s all I saw.  There was a story, but they didn’t really take the time to flat out tell you what it was.

I was expecting so much more from this film.  I believe they owe it to themselves to make something better.  The movie in itself was actually pretty lengthy.  Even though it was long, I still think it was very rushed.

Overall, I think the movie is good enough for DVD, but not for a matinee.  You can check it out for yourself, peace out!

Speed Racer

( 2008 )

****

My first instinct watching this film, was the overwhelming knowledge that this film did not do so well, and it is unfortunate.  It’s opening weekend flopped, grossing in at around $20 million.  I wasn’t really looking forward to seeing this movie, to tell you the truth.  As it turns out, I was wrong, I really ended up enjoying it, and I’ll tell you why.

You have to get used to the concept of the film.  It is so vibrant, and so colorful, you have to blink a few times to let it all in.  I’ll admit that throughout the film, I honestly felt like I took some powerful drugs.  Everything had me dizzy. Not to mention it never stopped throughout the entire film.

Once you get around all the action and dizziness of the colors, you really start to understand the heart of the film.  It is about Speed Racer coping with the fact that his brother died in an accident years before.  Though such a terrible event occurred in his families life, he finds it his job to fill his brothers shoes, to finish what his brother had started.

I only had two problems with this film.  The first being it is too long.  The Wachowski Brothers could have made it a lot shorter, if they cut out all the unnecessary parts.  Another problem being it’s presentation.  It had too many flashbacks that blended into the actual time line, leaving me confused as to what is actually happening.

Overall, the movie really surprised me.  I never expected this much from the movie.  I was sitting in my seat the entire time saying, “Wow.”  It was a unique film.  Don’t judge a book by it’s cover, or  don’t judge a movie by its reviews.  Peace out!

The Bucket List

( 2008 )

**** 1/2

Morgan Freeman, and Jack Nicholson star in this film about two old men venturing out into the world together.  This movie surprised me, it really was fantastic.

The movie starts off with, of course, Morgan Freeman doing voiceover work.  I don’t mean to hate on Freeman’s voiceovers, but he does them in almost every movie he’s ever been in.  Though, I really felt that no one else could do a better job for this movie, than him.  If Sean Hayes was the narrator, for example, I would be concerned.  Freeman does an excellent job.

Enough about voiceover work.  The movie is all about these two men who discover they are dying, and only have a year, at best, to live.  So the two decide to embark on a adventure.  Carter (Freeman) and Edward (Nicholson) write down a list of things they wish to do before they “kick the bucket,” and put it into action.

It really is a fantastic film, full of laughter, and even some tearjerking moments for the ladies, and the occational male.  This movie left me satisfied in the end, and I will definitley buy it when it comes out.

I only have one problem with this.  Old people in love are just so weird.  Morgan Freeman plays an 81 year-old man, and there’s suppose to be this romantic scene with his wife, but really, who wants to see that?

I gave this 4 1/2 stars, it was brilliant.  Go see it! Peace out!

Iron Man

( 2008 )

*****

Let the summer blockbusters begin!  Iron Man definitely began this year’s summer blockbusters.  It’s been a while since I have seen such an amazing film. Keep in mind, though this movie is not a comedy, it was very funny.  It had the entire theater booming with laughter.  I wasn’t only enjoying this film when watching it, I was having fun with the rest of the crowd.  It was great!

Robert Downey Jr stars as Tony Stark, a billionaire weapons developer from what looks like the future.  Sure, there are a lot of questionable features this movie had.  It had computers that talked like a human, which anyone knows is impossible, but who cares?  The movie is based off of a comic book superhero, it can do what it wants.

Stark is taken hostage by terrorists, and was told to build them “The Jericho,” which was a powerful missile he created.  Since he knew the terrorists wouldn’t allow him to live, he created, with what little scraps he had, the first Iron Man suit.  From there, Stark went on to build the suit everyone knows and loves.

What I love about this movie is, Stark is human.  He hasn’t been bitten by anything radioactive.  He wasn’t caught in a nuclear explosion or anything, he is just, plain and simple, a man.  He has no powers, and that is the beauty of it!.  Much like Batman of DC comics.  Though Iron Man is cooler.  He is basically invincible, if you think about it.

I was having fun while watching this movie.  It was truly an amazing movie.  I have to give it 5 stars, and I reccomend this to everyone to check out.  Peace Out