Movie Review #54: X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)

For the final chapter of the X-Men trilogy, the franchise changes directors from Bryan Singer to Brett Ratner. And I'll be honest, he wouldn't have been my first choice. Or even a name that would have crossed my mind.

In X-Men: The Last Stand, a "cure" to the mutant X gene. Because of that, a war is started between Magneto's army called The Brotherhood and The X-Men.

Many die-hard fans of the comics despise this film for straying away from the lore. I haven't read the comics, but I have heard that this film strays from the lore almost as much as Oliver Stone strays away from historical facts. But since I am not familiar with the source material, I wasn't too bothered. But what I did not care for was the script.

The dialogue was riddled with cheesy jokes. There are also some parts of the story that I felt weren't explained very well. Like the fact that Jean Grey has a split personality and that other personality is completely evil. They barely explained that storyline and they should have developed that more considering that storyline becomes a huge part of the film! Some of the new characters introduced barely got any development whatsoever. Like the character of Angel. I think he's a cool character and his story sounds pretty interesting. He is the son of the creator of the cure and it would have been interesting to see how he and his anti-mutant father would have interacted. They show that like twice and only for a minute or two. His character appears in one scene and then reappears again once you have completely forgotten that he's even in this film! And it's like that for the entire film!

The one positive that I can give the film is easily the most action-packed and the action is very well filmed and highly entertaining. It is very clear that enormous budget went towards making the visuals look great instead hiring someone to make a better script.

Final Report: X-Men: The Last Stand might lack character development and great dialogue that made the first two films great, but the great visuals and fantastic action scenes will be able to satisfy the casual fan like me. (But maybe not so die-hard fans of the source material).

Movie Review #53: X2 (2003)

I watched this movie for the first time about a year ago and the only thing that I remembered about was that I thought it was too long. Having now just re-watched it, my opinions have change drastically.

In X2, the X-Men band together with Magneto and Mystique to defeat a man who is controlling Professor X to wipe out all the mutants.

As I previously stated, the only thing that I remembered about X2 when I first saw it were:

1: I felt it was too long (which is weird because I have never complained about a films length).
2: The character of Nightcrawler stole the show for me.

Having now re-watched it, I now completely disagree with my previous complaint about the films run-time. Although my opinion about Nightcrawler still stands.

I'm not sure why I didn't realize how good of a movie this really is when I first watched it. X2 has everything we liked about the first X-Men and improved upon it!

The script is very well written. They got rid of the cheesy jokes from the first film which is a definite improvement. The visual effects in X2 look much better than in the first X-Men.

The characters get more fleshed out. X2 takes place after the first X-Men and they talk about how the events of the first film have impacted them in this film. I like when that happens. That personally was one of the best parts about Iron Man 3. They even introduce a few new characters, but the one that sticks out in my mind the most is Nightcrawler. Nightcrawler is my favorite character because I just love the powers that he has. He also has a German accent which makes him even cooler. I really hope that in X-Men: Days of Future Past they will bring him back in some way. And on a side-note, Storm actually served a purpose in this film!

Final Report: It may have taken me a second viewing, but I have come to the conclusion that X2 is a sequel that is superior to the first due to the increased character development, intriguing story and another solid script.

Movie Review #52: X-Men (2000)

I don't know what's harder to comprehend. The fact that this movie came out 13 years ago, or that the special effects for Wolverine's claws look better in this movie that came out in 2000 than they did in a movie that came out in 2009!

X-Men is directed by Bryan Singer and this was perhaps the first movie to help propel the "Superhero Movie Renaissance" that we are currently going through. After this and Spiderman were released, the studios realized that they would be able to make some easy cash on superhero flicks. And here we are today.....

Due to the fact that this film is 13 years old(!), many people forget about this movie. And because they have forgotten this film, they forget how awesome it is! I re-watched it today and I completely forgot that it still is a really great movie!

All of the characters are great. As I said in my review of The Wolverine, Hugh Jackman is the living embodiment of the character Wolverine. He owns the role of Wolverine. I honestly can't imagine anyone else playing the role of Wolverine. If you can, tell me in the comments who you think a suitable replacement for Jackman. Please do so, I am curious.

Patrick Stewart is fantastic as Professor Xavier, but the real standout performance is Ian Mckellen as Magneto. He owned the role. His performance is one of the most memorable in the history of Marvel movies. The characters of Cyclops and Jean Grey are also pretty cool. The only supporting character that I don't care for is Halle Berry as Storm. I think that if she wasn't in the movie at all, the film wouldn't be any different. It wouldn't have changed the ending of the film at all.

The script is really well written. It incorporates character development, a great story and some occasionally funny moments. Even though the visuals were top-notch for the time they came out, the stunt work is great.

Final Report: X-Men might be the oldest film of the "Superhero Movie Renaissance", but it still holds up. The story is fantastic, the cast is kicking, the script is solid and the effects still hold up pretty well. It is X-cellent!

Movie Review #51: The Wolverine (2013)

If any of you guys were wondering where I went, the answer would be in Iowa visiting family. And during my time there I was able to catch a screening of The Wolverine. So enough catching up! Let's review.

When I first heard that Fox would be releasing another solo Wolverine movie, I figured that the only reason for it would be as an apology for X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Even if Fox's intentions weren't to please the fans but instead to just make some easy cash, we still have a new solo Wolverine movie whether we asked for it or not.

In The Wolverine, Logan is reunited with an old friend who gives him the opportunity to become mortal so he can live a normal life and die happy. And through a series of events this ends up happening. When I saw the first trailer, I wasn't impressed. Nothing really jumped out at me to convince me to watch this. After watching it I have never been more wrong about a movie before.

This is definitely the most different of all the X-Men films and one of the most different Marvel movies because it is surprisingly dramatic. This is completely unlike the first Wolverine movie because The Wolverine was personal, dramatic and serious while X-Men Origins: Wolverine was cheesy and goofy. You could tell that the people making this actually cared about it. And I gotta say that I cared about what happened to the characters! Up until the last 20 minutes, the film was mainly dialogue based. With the exception of a ridiculously awesome fight scene on a train, the action was grounded in reality for the most part. The entire film takes place in Japan and the Japanese culture was captured so beautifully. It was incredibly immersive.

All of the actors were fantastic. Hugh Jackman goes without saying because he really is Wolverine. He shall be Wolverine even when he gets too old to play the role. I forgot to mention this earlier but in the film, Logan has to serve as a bodyguard to a girl. I really enjoyed their scenes together. They had great chemistry together and their dialogue was interesting. I really liked the character of the girl he has to protect. The girl is played by Tao Okamoto and she might be one of the most beautiful women I have ever seen in my life. I kid you not. See it for yourself if you don't believe me.

The only big issues I had with the film were that the last 20 minutes felt completely different from the rest of the movie. You knew where it was going and was rather cliche. Even though the final act had the most action, it wasn't the most interesting to me. I was more interested in the relationship between Logan and Mariko, the girl he was protecting. Another issue was the villain. The villain is a mutant named Viper but when I was watching her, everything reminded me of Poison Ivy from Batman & Robin. And that's never a good thing. Stan Lee also didn't make a cameo. It makes sense why he didn't because since the film takes place in Japan, he would stick out like a sore thumb!

P.S: Whatever you do, do not leave when the credits start. There is an extra scene that will tell you about the next film, X-Men: Days of Future Past. Don't miss it!

Final Report: The Wolverine is more or less the solo Wolverine movie that we have been asking and waiting for. Even though this isn't perfect, it makes X-Men Origins: Wolverine look like Batman & Robin!

Upcoming Review News: Starting on Monday, I will review all of the previous X-Men movies. Those films being X-Men, X2, X-Men: The Last Stand, X-Men Origins: Wolverine and X-Men: First Class. So if you aren't an X-Men fan, I apologize because next week will be nothing but X-Men!

Movie Review #50: Pacific Rim (2013)

When I saw the first trailer for Pacific Rim, I thought it looked like Transformers verses the Cloverfield monster. After now seeing the film, it is nothing like Transformers at all. These robots make Transformers look like ants!

Pacific Rim is directed by Guillermo del Toro whose has directed both the Hellboy films. I personally love the Hellboy films and I like his directorial style because he uses a lot of great makeup and effects. He understands how to blend CGI with practical effects in a way that doesn't look fake or cheap.

In Pacific Rim, giant monsters known as Kaiju have emerged from a rift in the Pacific Ocean. The only way to defeat them is to fight them with massive robots called Jaegers that are controlled simultaneously by two pilots whose minds have melded together and locked in a neural bridge. If you don't understand what I just said, then watch the movie. They explain it far better than I ever could and the way they show it is really cool.

Instead of going on and on about the Jaegers and Kaiju, I'm going to talk about the wide cast of characters because even though we went to see robots fighting monsters, it's the characters that get us invested in the story and the matter at hand.

Our main character is played by Charlie Hunnam and even though he was kind of generic, he was likable enough and you bought him as the hero. But anyone could have played his character. His co-pilot played by Rinko Kikuchi is far more interesting. Her character was really cool, sweet tough and adorable. Idris Elba gave the best performance by far. He plays the general in charge of the Jaeger Program and he gives the Bill Pullman speech from Independence Day which was awesome. There are these two scientists played by Charlie Day and Burn Gorman who are basically the comic relief but they actually serve a purpose to the plot. Charlie Day's character was one of my favorite parts of the film.

But the best part of the film are the action sequences. The visuals are astounding to say the least. The fights are also well shot. It isn't like watching Transformers: Dark of the Moon, you can actually tell what is going on during the epic fights.

Final Report: The human aspect might not be incredibly deep but let's face it, we didn't go to see this movie for the human aspect. We went to this to see giant robots fight giant monsters in all their giant glory. Pacific Rim is a jaw-dropping spectacle that must be witnessed on the big screen.

Movie Review #49: The Mummy (1999)

I am planning to see Pacific Rim either this weekend or sometime next week. Until then, here's this to tide you over.

The Mummy is about a group of people on an archeological dig to find the lost city of Hamunaptra. But while there, they accidentally awaken a mummy.

The Mummy is a movie that I watched when I was growing up. It is actually very similar to Raiders of the Lost Ark in many ways.

• It has a likable hero.
• It has the element of adventure.
• It has action and well-made visuals.
• It has humor.
• It has a gorgeous love interest.
• It has a wise-cracking, sarcastic sidekick.

The elements aren't delivered as well as they were in Raiders, but it is still well done for what it set out to do. Even though I have been comparing this to Raiders of the Lost Ark an awful lot, I am not comparing the two films on which is better. I'm just saying that there are multiple similarities between the two. But if I had to say which film is better I would have to go with Raiders because it is one of my all time favorite films.

One thing that The Mummy does very well is that it doesn't take itself too seriously. It is self aware of the fact that it is pretty silly. There's even a time when a character made a remark about something that happened and said something like, "That seems to happen a lot around here." The movie knows what it is. Like in the Expendables 2, it can both poke fun at itself while still being an entertaining action movie.

Another thing I should mention is the mummy. That mummy freaked me out as a kid. There are also some things that will freak out younger kids like that one guy who got his eyes gouged out and his tongue ripped out. Freaky stuff man.

Final Report: Even though it borrows heavily from Indiana Jones, The Mummy is over-the-top silly fun.

Movie Review #48: Tremors (1990)

I watched this movie for the first time early this year and it occurred to me that the Spongebob Squarepants called "Sandy, Spongebob and the Worm" is a blatant parody of this movie. I don't know why but I just find that interesting.

Tremors takes place in a small isolated town that reminds me of the town from Rango. The natives of the town have to defend themselves from these strange underground creatures that are picking them off one by one.

What sets Tremors apart from other creature features is that it doesn't take it self too seriously. You can tell that the actors are all having a great time in their roles. This movie could have been completely different if it was overly serious. Luckily, the script is filled with funny characters and great humor. Oddly enough the script was written by S.S. Wilson and Brent Maddock who also wrote the script to Wild Wild West..........
I don't think I need to say anything else.

Perhaps the most memorable part of the film are Reba McEntire and Michael Gross's characters. They play a couple that are convinced that the end of the world is near. They have a bomb shelter that is stocked to the brim with rifles and ammunition. And they face off against one of the creatures in one of the most ridiculously over the top scenes in any monster movie. I swear I could not stop laughing in that scene. If you haven't seen Tremors, watch it just for this scene.

Final Report: Tremors doesn't take it self seriously and that works for it. It's silly, cheesy ridiculous fun. It is a B movie at its finest.

Movie Review #47: Aliens (1986)

I could review both Alien and Aliens but I haven't seen Alien in a while and the only thing I remember from it were the nightmares it gave me. But I just watched Aliens for the first time today and I need to write about it. Now.

Aliens takes place 57 years after Alien and Ripley's ship is recovered while she was in cryogenic stasis. She later learns that the planet from the first film, LV-426, became colonized during her sleep with no one but her knowing of the Aliens. After communications with the colony is lost, it is up to her and a group of marines to see if there are either survivors or Aliens.

I liked Alien when I saw it for the first time. It was well-made, well acted and consistently terrifying but it was really slow. That is the biggest and only flaw I had with the film. It's a personal critique but it's what I feel. With Aliens, the first 45 minutes are fairly slow but after that it is a full-blown, adrenaline-pumpin', slam-bang, pulpy, guns-a-blazing alien shoot-em up if there ever was one.

I'm not going to downgrade the film because the first 45 minutes were slow because they used that time for character development. During this time they gave us insight into the personalities of the characters. Dwayne Hicks is the love interest for Ripley, Carter Burke is the wimpy guy from high up in the companies rank. Bishop is the android and Hudson acts all tough but he completely breaks down when he's scared. Which brings me to my next point that Bill Paxton's character Hudson is the best and funniest supporting character. He delivers a couple really funny lines during some very tense moments that really lighten the mood. The character of Ripley is a very revolutionary character in cinema because before Alien, there had never been a strong, tough female action star before Ripley and Sigourney Weaver killed the role!

After the 45 minutes of character development, the action begins and the action does not stop until the final credits appear. It's great, scary and incredibly well made. This was made before the age of CGI, and all of the set pieces were built and it looks stunning. James Cameron really captured the atmosphere of the planet. It looked moist, humid, pulpy and very fitting. James Horner's score is also great. The Aliens looked phenomenal. They looked so ridiculously lifelike that I'm amazed that they weren't CGI. The production value and set pieces are flawless and this movie almost is too!

Final Report: It is all a matter of opinion on which Alien film you believe is the best, but for me Aliens is far superior. This sequel falls into Empire Strikes Back territory as a sequel. Yeah, it's that good.

Movie Review #46: The Thing (1982)

It's rare for a remake to be more well known than the original. Rare, but not impossible.

The Thing is about a group of scientists in Antarctica who are confronted by a shape-shifting alien that is slowly killing the scientists off only to take their form.

I personally think that The Thing is a lot like Predator. Here's why:

Even though there are scenes of action throughout the film, you wouldn't call it an action movie. There are moments throughout the film where the tension keeps building until it snaps like a guitar string getting tightened.

Both The Thing and Predator focus on the hunt from the perspective of the prey. That's why it is more of a thriller/horror movie than an action movie because of how well-crafted the tension was.

The visuals in this movie are incredibly well-crafted. Since this was made in the 1980's, this was before when every film was filled with and abundance of CGI. All of the visuals were hand-made and it clearly looks like a lot of time was invested into making them look nothing short of spectacular. Without giving away any spoilers, there is a scene when the monster bites off one of the scientists' hands in one of the goriest and craziest ways possible. My jaw dropped watching that for the first time.

The film also captures the human element of the film. All of the actors give great, paranoid performances that felt very realistic for the situation they're in.

Final Report: The Thing is an intense, claustrophobic, paranoia inducing sci-fi horror film with visuals that hold up better than the visuals of some more recent films.

Movie Review #45: Cloverfield (2008)

With Pacific Rim coming out this week, it would seem appropriate to review movies that have to do with either monsters or robots. And after watching the first trailer for Pacific Rim, I instantly thought of Cloverfield so how could I not review this?!

The film follows a group of friends who were at a friends going-away party. But at the party, a monster/creature rampages through New York City.

I personally am not a horror movie fan. I think that horror movies are a dime a dozen. So many different horror movies come out each year and there ends up being one or two that are worth remembering. If you're lucky! I could care even less about the "found-footage" horror style. That type of film-making may have worked for The Blair Witch Project and Paranormal Activity, but it is now overused and unoriginal now.

So if you couldn't pick up on my not so subtle opinions on horror films, I am not a fan of them. But this movie interested me because J.J. Abrams is a producer and I have enjoyed just about every film he has had a part in. And after watching the trailer and seeing the Statue of Liberty's head crashing in the street, my interest was a bit more than perked.

So me, not being a horror movie advocate, rented this movie and I can honestly say that this was pretty good. Almost great! For a PG-13 horror film, even though it didn't give me nightmares, I was creepped out watching it.

I thought that the hand-held, found footage would get on my nerves. I thought that it enhanced the experience. It felt pretty realistic for a monster movie. The special effects didn't look cheap. It actually looked like a "found footage" movie with a budget. The scenes that they showed of the monster looked great. I was bummed that they never really showed us what the monster looked like. I hope they will show the monster more clearly in the sequel, if they ever do make a sequel. Unless they did and they called it Super 8...

Final Report: Cloverfield is a creepy creature feature that does what it sets out to do very well. Albeit a very short creature feature.

Television Review #7: Fringe The Complete Series (2008-2013)

Yes, with today being Independence Day, it would only seem fitting to review Independence Day now wouldn't it? But sadly it wasn't available at Family Video and I really needed to post something. So I decided to talk about one of my favorite TV shows of all time.

Fringe is one of the most intelligent science fiction shows of recent memory because it does something that not many TV shows do: It makes you think. After watching the pilot episode I was captivated by the story, characters and the questions it left you at the end. Fringe isn't a show that you casually watch. You need to be invested into the story because it becomes confusing and if you aren't invested, you will get lost.

The show is called Fringe because it revolves around Fringe science. Fringe science deals with things that are on the realm of possibility. Things that haven't been proven possible but theoretically are. And they way that they show and explain it is really well done. I would explain more about the show, but with a show like this it is better to go in with an empty mind.

All of the acting in the show is really great. With each season, the acting gets better and better. In one season without giving anything away, Anna Torv's character Olivia undergoes a personality change of another character and her performance was so accurate to the way that character sounds and acts it's almost freaky. John Noble plays Dr. Walter Bishop who is this unbelievably intelligent scientist and during the shows five season run, he was snubbed for a Golden Globe and an Emmy. Which is a real shame.

The show is created by J.J. Abrams, and it shows. If you have seen Star Trek and Super 8, you can tell that they were created by Abrams because there's an engaging story, great dialogue, quick humor and lens flares. Oh my are there lens flares. I'm re-watching the show and I am just realizing how many lens flares there are in each episode! I never noticed them at first. Weird isn't it?

Final Report:  Due to the consistently solid acting, likeable characters, intelligent writing and a captivating story, Fringe is an incredible show.