This will be a packed entry, reviewing Angels and Demons, Terminator Salvation, Up, The Hangover, The Taking of Pelham 123, The Proposal, and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. I know, with Transformers rounding out the review, I am about a month behind. I guess that's what happens when family life begins and this isn't my day job, haha. (That and NCAA Football 10 came out a few weeks ago and I've occupied a lot of time with that too.)
Here are the ratings of the two movies I reviewed last month:
X-Men Origins: Wolverine - 6.5
Star Trek - 8.5
And now the main attractions:
Angels and Demons
Tom Hanks and director Ron Howard team up again to make another film interpretation of a Dan Brown novel. I am not that big on reading books (kind of surprising, huh?) so I had not been exposed to reading Brown's novel, so I went into this with no real expectation. By itself Demons stands pretty well. The film is a big whodunit mystery/chase with some nice surprises.
Compared to the first installment of the character Robert Langdon series The Di Vinci Code, it is pretty much on the same level entertainment-wise. Demons is more action and a little less story and character development, but works well with everything that goes on in the plot.
Not a bad summer flick. If you still have the opportunity, see this in the theater.
7.0
Terminator Salvation
This film had a lot going against it from the beginning: not directed or written with any assistance from Terminator's creator James Cameron, being directed by cheese McG, and there is the whole Christian Bale rampage on one of the crew members during production. All of this topped off with the disappointment that was Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, there was a large uphill climb for this movie from the beginning.
I don't hate McG, I just didn't think he would be able to be serious long enough to make a decent Terminator movie (he did direct the Charlie's Angels remakes). I was mistaken. Although it is short on actual story, I would have to say that I liked this movie. It is popcorn and it does have some corny references to the previous films, but this succeeds in being entertaining and has enough action to carry the thin storyline. Sam Worthington really stands out in this film.
Although not the classic the first two Terminator films were, definitely worth a watch or two.
7.0
Up
I feel the need to preface this before my review...I'm a Pixar fan. I believe their only miss so far has been A Bug's Life (not that it was a bad movie, just was not as good as the rest of the Pixar lineup). Disney/Pixar is just a hit-machine, just as Disney was a hit-machine in the early 1990s.
Up is probably Pixar's finest achievement in story and concept. Hard to believe but somehow these Pixar characters feel more relatible than most of the characters in live action films. It takes you on an emotional rollercoaster of an old man who had lost the love of his life as he attempts to keep a promise he made to her. Not to say this isn't humorous and fun (how did they make it both sad and fun all in one movie?). Like any Pixar movie, very kid friendly (I took my two year old son to see it in the theater).
Probably the best film of the summer when it is all said and done.
9.0
The Hangover
I'll admit, I was very skeptically going into this movie. This type of comedy is usually hit or miss. I do like this style of comedy but was scared it would be a let down.
Far from it. This is the surprise of the summer.
The Hangover is the story of a group of friends trying to retrace the steps they don't remember taking the night of their friend's bachelor party...a friend they lost and are trying to find. Outrageous and over the top on occasion, The Hangover is full of hilarity. Bradley Cooper shines in this comedy. Great cameo by Mike Tyson. Not a film for everyone but definitely a hit.
Great for multiple viewing with so many quotable scenes.
8.5
The Taking of Pelham 123
I'm a big Denzel fan, so it was nice to find out he was going to be in a movie this summer. Pelham 123 is a heist flick, John Travolta being the hostage taker, and Washington the reluctant hero. This is director Tony Scott and Washington's fourth film working together.
There is enough tension to keep someone entertained, but not enough for it to be a great movie.
It is nice to see Travolta in something again, but as a villain his aggression and cursing dialogue seems very forced. Denzel is decent but it seems he is kind of just dialing in the performance here. What is kind of funny here is actors John Turturro and Ramon Rodriguez are in dramatic roles in this film and then in comedic roles in a movie to come out two weeks later (the last reviewed movie here).
Might want to wait to rent this one, but it'll be a pretty decent Redbox movie.
6.5
The Proposal
For those of you who have read previous stuff from me (all you Xanga users remember HopelessHero?), you will know that I'm not opposed to the chick-flick. I will joke every once in a while about chick-flicks, but when it comes to romantic comedies I usually like them. It is the dramatic chick-flick I'm usually hesitant to see.
With that said, The Proposal was very formulaic and predictable...as most rom-coms are. But it is pretty funny. And I like funny. I usually like Ryan Reynolds and I've always liked Sandra Bullock (except in crappy sequels like Speed 2 and Miss Congeniality 2). So all-in-all this movie is pretty fun.
Good date movie to take your significant other.
7.0
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Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
The biggest blockbuster of the summer. With the summer now close to its end, this movie will probably make the most money of any movie this year. Off of the success of the first movie, Megan Fox and Shia LaBeouf became huge stars. But what could they do to make a sequel to the first movie? I'll let you watch and find out.
As far as a summer movie, this is probably definitive. Big explosions, big action, lots of CGI, cheesy comedy, and a couple of contrived heartfelt moments. If you come into this movie expecting that, then you will not be disappointed. My argument has always been that director Michael Bay will never make a masterpiece, but he will give you a popcorn summer movie. Every single time. And I like a good popcorn flick. I will say that Revenge is about 45 minutes too long, but I didn't really have anything better to do that Saturday.
If you like action movies and just want to turn your brain off for a couple hours, go see this movie.
7.0
Well, the summer is almost over, and there are still some movies I still plan on seeing before it is all said and done. So you know what that means...more reviews to come!
Here are the movies I still want to catch before the summer is out, hopefully I'll get to see them:
Here are the movies I still want to catch before the summer is out, hopefully I'll get to see them:
Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian
Public Enemies
Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs
The Ugly Truth
Funny People
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra
District 9
The Time Traveler's Wife
Inglorious Basterds
There are other movies out that I will either wait on seeing or probably have no intention seeing (Land of the Lost and Harry Potter being the latter):
Drag Me to Hell (in the safety of my own home)
Land of the Lost (wow, how did they ever sign Will Farrell to this movie?)
Year One (looked like could be either really funny or flop-o-licious)
Bruno (Sasha Baron Cohen seems like a one-trick pony to me)
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (haven't had any interest in any these movies since the first)
Next entry, we'll continue the College Football Preview with the Meat Life's Five Predictions!
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