Category Archives: Fantasy/Sci-Fi
Flash Movie Review: The Avengers
None of us need to worry, we are all safe and well protected to go to the movies, for the Avengers are here. I have to tell you, this is how you make a science fiction movie. The special effects were great but not overbearing with a strong story. And what I thought was most important, the film did not take itself too seriously. Kudos to Joss Whedon for writing a witty, fun screenplay and for his even, well paced direction. Iron Man, played by Robert Downey Jr. (Sherlock Holmes franchise, The Soloist), delivered such great lines in his rapid fire delivery, pay attention closely. Nick Fury, played by Samuel L. Jackson (Star Wars franchise, Lakeview Terrace) was part of a top secret agency who brought a group of super heroes together to save the Earth from the evil Loki, played by Tom Hiddleston (War Horse, Thor). For those of you not familiar with the character of Loki, I suggest you rent the movie Thor to get the history of Thor and his brother Loki. But do not worry, you would not be lost if you chose not to see it. The movie was 2 hours 22 minutes long and I did not look at my watch once–a very good sign for me. There was enough action, humor, explosions, fights and egomaniacs to fill up the IMAX screen where I saw this amazing film. If you go or should I say when you go see this movie, make sure you stay to the end of both sets of closing credits.
3 1/3 stars
Flash Movie Review: The Pirates! Band of Misfits
With some hesitation, I went to the early showing of this animated movie. As I suspected, the theater was packed with parents and their children. Don’t get me wrong, I knew this movie time would attract more children then a late night showing. The talking, eating, fighting and crying of various kids did not wipe the smile off of my face, though. Granted the father seated behind me who left with his crying child within the first 30 minutes, was enough reason to smile as far as I was concerned. However, this humorous movie had enough jokes, sight gags and fun claymation to keep me entertained. I thought the comedy had a bit more sophistication to it, geared towards the adults in the audience. Possibly the wonderful visuals would be enough to entertain the younger ones. The Pirate Captain, voiced by Hugh Grant (Music and Lyrics, Love Actually), was determined to finally win the Pirate of the Year award. Setting sail to plunder unsuspecting sailing vessels, the Pirate Captain knew the competition was stiff with Cutlass Liz, voiced by Salma Hayek (Frida, Once Upon a Time in Mexico) as one of the competitors. Both actors did an admirable job in their roles. For me, the stand out performance was from Imelda Staunton (Vera Drake, Harry Potter franchise) voicing Queen Victoria. The story, I felt, dragged out too long; but, I enjoyed just sitting and watching the beautiful art of claymation.
2 3/4 stars
Flash Movie Review: Hop
When I am not teaching my classes, some days I can be found in aisle 9, candies and cookies, of my local grocery store. The rush I get while I peruse the assortment of delicious treats was the same feeling I felt at the opening scene of this combo animated and live action movie. My television screen was filled with delectable sweet delicacies from the Easter Bunny candy factory. I enjoyed the beginning of this fanciful film. The story was about the Easter Bunny’s son E.B., voiced by Russell Brand (Arthur, Get Him to the Greek), who did not want to take over for his Dad and become the Easter Bunny. Instead, E.B. wanted to become a famous drummer, running away to Hollywood to fulfill his dream. It was at this point of the movie where things began to fall apart for me. Enter James Marsden (Enchanted, Hairspray) as Fred O’Hare, an unemployed slacker who accidentally injured E.B. with his car. From the wonderful opening the rest of the movie was lackluster with primitive humor. What could have been an interesting story just never clicked with me and I found myself being bored. Out of the choices available to see an animated, fantasy movie; I felt like I just pulled out the green Life Saver from my assortment pack–my least favorite flavor.
2 stars — DVD
Flash Movie Review: Lockout
I am all for cutting corners where one can to save some money. In my heyday you should have seen my coupon prowess. But what was the studio thinking when they saw a script like this one which had Bruce Willis’ name written all over it? Maybe Bruce’s asking price was too high and the studio went instead for a discount. So they chose Guy Pearce (The King’s Speech, Traitor) to play the role of wrongly convicted, smart mouthed Snow. Not that Bruce has cornered the market on quick-witted, sarcastic retorts; but, I became bored early on with Guy’s attempts. Here is the story in a nutshell: Snow was offered his freedom if he would agree to rescue the President’s daughter Emilie Warnock, played by Maggie Grace (Taken, The Jane Austen Book Club), who was trapped inside an outer space prison, when overtaken by the prisoners. Granted, not the most original of ideas and the movie studio did not just stop there in their frugality. I found the special effects, for this day and age, lackluster and unexciting. The one object I found cool could be seen in the trailer–the space-aged motorcycle ridden by Guy Pearce. Okay, so it looked like a pimped out Bat-Pod. Remember, the producers were trying to save some change. As you may have gathered, I did not find too much to like in this movie. All I was hoping to accomplish was some space out time with a thrilling fun science fiction movie. Instead I felt a dose of reality as I watched this cheaply made movie that should have gone straight to DVD.
1 2/3 stars
Flash Movie Review: The Cabin in the Woods
For those of you who have known me for some time, you must be shocked to see me review this horror film. I am not a fan of the slasher horror movie genre. The only tip off I had regarding this movie was Joss Whedon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly) was the producer and one of the writers. With trepidation, I found an empty seat in the theater and prepared myself to be visually assaulted with blood and guts. The story started with five friends (comprised of your stereotypical jock, stoner dude, intellectual guy, grounded female and the party girl) who take a road trip to a remote cabin, for a mini vacation. At first I thought what an unoriginal premise; this was going to be one of those typical horror story setups. Not to give anything away, but I was so wrong about this movie. The script was smart, humorous with a splash of satire. I would not label this as strictly a horror film; instead, I would call it a hybrid of a science fiction horror movie. The story was wildly original and was finely executed (pun intended). Besides having Chris Hemsworth (Thor, Star Trek) in the cast, I felt Richard Jenkins (The Visitor, Let Me In) as Sitterson and Bradley Whitford (Kate & Leopold, The West Wing-TV) were perfect together. The best way to view this film would be to go in with as little information about it. I would even recommend you bypass the trailer below. Just remember its roots were in the horror genre, so there were gory bloody scenes.
3 stars
Flash Movie Review: The Water Horse
With imagination one can create incredible experiences, where some will remain in fantasy and others will lead to a new reality. As for the creature known as the Water Horse; I fully accepted it as being real in this film. It was easy to do with this beautiful story which was accompanied by excellent CGI effects. I was very surprised how much I enjoyed this DVD. Angus MacMorrow, played by Alex Etel (From Time to Time, Millions) was a lonely Scottish boy living with his mother near the shores of Loch Ness. It was the 1940’s and his father was off to war. One day while out by the shore, Angus found an unusual rock. Taking it back home for further inspection, the young lad found it to be a curious puzzle. Confiding in their handyman Lewis Mowbray, played by Ben Chaplin (Me and Orson Wells, Ways to Live Forever), Mr. Mowbray explained the legend of the Water Horse to the curious boy. The trick, however, was whether Angus could keep everything a secret–even when English troops were setting up camp to defend the nearby waters from German submarines. An ideal movie for the entire family; I cannot imagine anyone not being charmed by this layered, enjoyable story.
2 3/4 stars — DVD
Flash Movie Review: Sucker Punch
Everyone, please step aside and let this generation’s new Spice Girls take center stage. These young women, though dressed seductively, were all about the “girl power.” The only difference, or you may think there is no difference, was they could not sing or act. What a poor excuse for a movie; I felt I was watching a video game. The story, if you wish to call it that, was about an abusive step father who hauled off his step daughter to a mental institution, after her mother had died. To prevent her from telling authorities about what he had done to her and her sister, he paid off the warden or top administrator to have her lobotomized. Doesn’t this sound like a fun story? My favorite part of the story had to do with this unfortunate girl being dubbed Babydoll, played by Emily Browning (Sleeping Beauty, The Uninvited), who has a speical gift–when she dances, she can put people into a trance. While she dances her mind enters an unconscious, alternative world where she learns how to plot her escape. I do not believe you need any more information about the story; you get the idea I am sure. Among those joining her in this plan were Vanessa Hudgens (High School franchise, Journey 2: The Mysterious Island) as Blondie and Jena Malone (Into the Wild, Pride & Prejudice) as Rocket. Except for the art direction, this movie was simply wrong on so many levels. The CGI effects were not enough to keep me from being bored by the story. I believe this movie will interest a small range of people: young males.
1 1/2 stars — DVD
Flash Movie Review: Mirror Mirror
What do you think the Grimm brothers would have thought about this movie version’s twist on their original story? My guess would be none too happy about it; for I am afraid this mirror needed some polishing if it wanted to reflect a happy audience. Please do not get me wrong, there was nothing horrible about the movie; it just came across disjointed for me. On the plus side it was colorful, had a couple of good special effects in it and had kid friendly humor. The queen was played by Julia Roberts (Closer, Erin Brockovich) and it seemed she was having fun with the role. Some of her lines had a sickly sweet, sarcastic coating that played off well against the rest of the cast. Where I had an issue was the Snow White character, played by Lily Collins (The Blind Side, Abduction). I did not feel she had any chemistry with the other actors, especially with what should have been the most important one, Prince Albert played by Armie Hammer (The Social Network, J. Edgar). The story line of this movie was a combination of parts from various fairy tales. When Snow White’s father the King mysteriously disappeared from the kingdom, her stepmother the evil Queen took over the throne. Letting her true colors come out, she started to treat Snow White like a pseudo Cinderella. As you can see, I found the story odd. But in the scheme of things, this movie was harmless and acceptable for a family outing. Instead of casting a charming spell on you, this film will only cast a forgetting spell.
2 stars
Flash Movie Review: Wrath of the Titans
This is today’s lesson: size does not matter, when it comes to making an evil character. Just because a character is the largest one on the screen doesn’t make them the meanest or scariest. The character I am referring to is Kronos, father of Zeus, Hades and Poseidon. Though the studio had the key pieces to make a blockbuster of this movie, they did not follow through in taking the parts and expanding on them. The perfect example was the Kronos character. After draining the power from Zeus, played by Liam Neeson (Taken, The Grey), the audience was led to believe this power would give Kronos the energy to break free and destroy the world. At least that is what Hades, played by Ralph Fiennes (Harry Potter franchise, The English Patient) was telling us after he imprisoned his brother Zeus in the underworld. Talk about your family dysfunction. The hero coming to save Zeus was his son Perseus, played by Sam Worthington (Avatar, The Debt). I give credit to Sam, for his role appeared to be a truly physical one as he was being beaten and thrown around. As I mentioned, the pieces were all here: from the love interest, to family betrayal, to battle scenes, to the love between a father and son. However, the story was not able to glue these parts together and create some excitement. It was not like I was totally bored with this movie; there was some good special effects that entertained me. But at one point of the movie I did wish they would have brought back the Kraken and let it destroy everyone in the movie, so there would not be any further sequels.
2 stars
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