I've been anticipating the third film for the X-Men series for quite awhile now. So much so that I was a bit worried about the end result. I tend to get my hopes up way too high for a film. I can say though that I was quite relieved with this installment of the franchise. It delivered what I was looking for most in the film: escapism.
The cast is extensive and the mutants plentiful even considering there is a "cure" floating around. We see the old favorites like Professor X, Magneto, Mystique, Rogue, Ice Man, Pyro, Storm and, of course, Wolverine. It's a bit obvious the studio is gleaning Hugh Jackman for a flick of his own as the fan-favorite mutant. However, since he's fun to watch I enjoyed his scene- stealing scenes. There are a plethora of new mutants to enjoy and savor - like Kitty Pryde, Multiple Man and Colossus for instance. Dark Phoenix plays an interesting, although tough to swallow, part in the interweaving of the story. For me, Juggernaut steals the show though.
So, yes, the movie lacks a bit of character development. If you're looking for long, in-depth and heart-wrenching stories of each mutant than please go read one of the slow-moving Marvel comics out today. If you're looking for well directed action than I highly suggest you see the movie. Ratner shows his chops for directing straight action with some very memorable mutant-on-mutant fighting scenes. I thought they were awesome and so did my fellow movie-goers. I always like to comment on an audience reaction - and this one was very positive.
There were some very shocking twists so head out and see X3 soon because someone may ruin the film for you. I also want to add that staying past the credits is very, very, very key. If you didn't do it you missed probably one of the coolest after credits scenes I've ever seen. For my husband, it salvaged the entire film.
X-Men: The Last Stand is not going to please all the fanboys out there. Comic Book Guy from the Simpsons would probably give the film an "F." But for the general public, this is the start of the summer movie season and this is the movie to see.
Oh no, here we go. A movie that I really thought would be a fun run turns out to be a boring!
I've read the The Da Vinci Code. I've even watched some "why the novel is not real" shows. I've went to a Bible history exhibit. I like to consider myself quite educated on all this stuff. Unfortunately, this movie isn't for souls like me. It's made for the joe-six-packs out there who probably haven't read the novel. My brother stated after the film, "I felt like I was watching a really bad history show." I concur! The History Channel is much more interesting than this film. Here's what I disliked:
1. It's fiction. So it shouldn't be a crappy history lesson. Emphasis on the crappy because what they tell you about the past is not only inaccurate, it's very boring.
2. Most of the parts of the novel I liked, like the cool art history and the Vatican scenes, are eliminated from the film.
3. The screenwriters attempt to pander to the Catholic Church with a scene that is totally unnecessary to the film. "Hey, you out there in the audience! Do you know most members of the Opus Dei are married and lead normal lives?" Oh thanks for telling me that. I needed to know that so I didn't think the psycho Opus Dei albino represented the entire faith (sarcasm).
4. The story is hacked to bits. While Brown's book was far-fetched it still worked out. Try explaining how all the plot pieces actually work in the movie. They don't.
5. The only action scene is a 2-minute car chase. The movie is over 2 hours long.
6. The "puzzles" are few and far between. And you don't even get to see the Tom Hanks character, Robert Langdon, open the major last puzzle. Bummer!
7. The writers make Robert Langdon a skeptic in the film (in the book he's very pro-conspiracy). LAME! Again they pander to the Church. Why'd they bother? People protested the movie like crazy anyway.
Good things? Acting. And of course the Ron Howard directorial style - he uses many of the same techniques he used in Beautiful Mind to flash back to olden times. Very cool stuff. The opening is great as well - it's unfortunate the film loses steam very quickly. There is also a memorable scene with Ian Mckellen's main character as he dissects Da Vinci's 'The Last Supper'. It was the only part of the film worth my admission price.
Now, I understand why people want to see the movie. I wanted to - I thought the critics were just panning it because of the controversial issues. Nope. It's a mediocre film. It will not stand the test of time and will begin to collect dust very quickly on DVDs shelves across the country. Read the book! While I don't think that is exactly literary reading I do believe it's at least memorable.
My recommendation: Wait for DVD for this film. There is no reason to see it on the big screen.
Ultimate Avengers:The Movie is a made for DVD flick brought to us by "Marvel Animated Features." A sequel will be released this August and already the studio has in the works a Dr.Strange and Iron Man animated movie. Being a big fan of Mark Millar's The Ultimates comic book I knew I would pick this DVD up but I waited for the price to drop to about $10. The film is only 71 minutes long so I felt that the original $16-$20 retail price was a bit steep.
First off, you do not have to be familiar with the comic to watch the film. There is a nice introduction to all the characters, although you only see the back story of Captain America. Everyone else is recruited as is (already a hero) to form the Ultimates and fight some alien butt. So someone who is not familiar may feel cheated out of some history. Honestly though, these characters each have such a lengthy past that it's just not possible to include it all in one film. Each could have their own movie. Hey, they all have had their own comic at some time or another. Still with the little time the makers had to work with all the individual personalities actually shine through.
The plot follows the history of Captain America, then sprinkles in appearances by Thor, Nick Fury, Iron Man, Ant Man/Giant Man, Wasp, Black Widow and, most importantly, The Hulk/Bruce Banner. They all work together (sort of) to fight a serious alien threat. When we sat down to watch my husband's only desire was to see "the Hulk bust out and tear some s&^% up." Check.
I'd read some reviews that said the animation was sub par and I don't agree with that at all. While this isn't state of the art stuff it's much better than you would see on a Saturday morning cartoon or most of the new animations on Cartoon Network. There is a ton of detail throughout the whole film and I thought it was very well done. Particularly the battle scenes are jaw-dropping cool. Much better than JLU or Batman: The Animated Series, and I love both of those cartoons.
If you like these heroes this is worth ten - fifteen bucks. The DVD extras aren't that hot and the only thing I really wanted to watch was the Avengers II first look. The "Avengers Assemble Featurette" was a bunch of egotistical comic book artists and writers discussing how great they are so I'd just skip that. It kind of pissed me off and I wish I wouldn't have watched it. The "Ultimate Voice Talent Search" was BORING. I recommend just watching the movie and the preview for the next animated film.
I had pretty low expectations heading into this movie. But being that I do like to see wham-bang special effects and I've also enjoyed Peterson's other work (Troy, Perfect Storm) I headed off to see this overhyped movie. I should also say that the original movie, The Poseidon Adventure, is my all-time favorite disaster film and I would give it my highest rating. Still, it lacks the technology available to movie makers today and was more about the acting.
This is a very fun movie. Well worth my matinee price and different enough from the original that I can recommend it. The acting is spotty at times - Matt Dillion almost ruins the movie - but by the end I was invested in all the characters that hadn't died. The underwater scenes are intense enough that I felt like I was drowning. The actual ship disaster looks pretty damn good and when it initially happened I looked over to my husband and he gave me two thumbs up. I agree. The explosions look great and the sound in our theater was amazing. I will admit that at times some of the CGI effects were a little too fake. For example, people being swept away by some of the large waves were painfully and obviously digitally inserted. Those scenes were very fast however and they didn't bother me as much as I thought they would.
Conclusion? This is an above average summer blockbuster movie. I don't think it's for everyone but if you are a fan of disaster films then I highly recommend you head out to the big screen to see it.
I haven't seen a movie in the theaters for over a month! I waited for something worth seeing on the big screen and I found that movie with Mission: Impossible 3. It's a true Hollywood flick with big explosions and tight action that I have always loved from the MI series. The beauty of the action scenes are that they aren't too fast (so you can tell what's going on) and they don't appear to be overly CGI'd. Everything looks real, which probably explains the high budget.
JJ Abrams directs the movie pretty straight, although he can at times go overboard with the shaky camera and spinning when there is dialogue scene. That's a technique best suited for television in my opinion. Still, he is a guru of the action shot, and when you see a helicopter explode it definitely made me say "wow!"
Tom Cruise is very believable again as Ethan Hunt and I have to say he was fun to watch. The supporting cast really shines through and it's refreshing to see a team at work in this film, which is very much like the original Mission: Impossible TV show. I also enjoyed the villain, played by Hoffman, although he isn't in the movie that much. Perhaps this is done to avoid making him a caricature.
And the masks? Oh, they're in there. I always love those masks.
Conclusion: You shouldn't expect to have your mind "blown away" (heh, pun intended) but this film is worth your full admission price.
