Movie Review #62: The Lone Ranger (2013)

Why am I reviewing a movie that came out almost two months ago? I figured that since I start school on tuesday, this would be my last chance to go see a movie in theaters to review. And since The Lone Ranger only just came to my local theater, the stars have alined for this to happen.

In The Lone Ranger, an older Tonto tells the story of the Lone Ranger of how he came to be and the adventures he had.

Contrary to some people, I am a fan of Gore Verbenski's films. Curse of the Black Pearl is one of my favorite action films of the new millennium. I also like Dead Man's Chest and At World's End. So when I heard he was going to make a big screen adaptation of The Lone Ranger, I was excited because he would be making another western and his first western was Rango which I completely adore. But then the reviews came pouring in claiming this to be a huge turkey. This made me put off seeing it until now. So I went in hoping to get at least something like a western Pirates of the Caribbean. And did I get that? At times yes, but with the good parts there is most definitely bad.

Armie Hammer as the Lone Ranger was actually one of the biggest issues I had with the movie. In the original Lone Ranger TV show, he was always the main character and Tonto was his sidekick. It rarely felt like that. I like Armie Hammer, but I don't think that he has grown enough as an actor to play a lead. Especially in a movie like this. Now you might say that Johnny Depp just stole the show. I disagree because look how his name is listed first on the poster above. You could say because he is the more well known name, but I say that the script was written with the intention that Tonto would be the lead instead of The Lone Ranger. It's like how in the Transformers cartoon it focused on the robots. But in the live action Michael Bay movies, the focus was towards the humans and the Transformers were supporting characters. That's not how it should be. For Transformers or The Lone Ranger.

My biggest issues with Johnny Depp is that he is playing Captain Jack Sparrow only coated a different layer of white makeup. Hopefully in the future he will get to do more roles like Public Enemies where he actually gets to give a serious performance.

The only character that I really dug was William Fichtner was the villain Butch Cavendish. I got behind him as a villain because he was really entertaining and menacing and the scenes he's in aren't cartoony. William Fichtner is an actor that has a recognizable face but you don't know his name. He might even end up being the only good part about the upcoming Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie!

The runtime could have been shortened by at least 30 minutes. At times it was kind of boring. There are some elements of the film that could have been cut out because the story is very large and some of the story arcs could have been done without.

On a technical level, The Lone Ranger does not disappoint at all. The $210,000,000 budget is very evident on screen because the action set pieces are well crafted and highly entertaining. The last 20 minutes were the best part of the film because the William Tell Overture played and the finale began with a train chase sequence that had me smiling from beginning to end.

Final Report: While The Lone Ranger isn't in the running for best movie of the year, it isn't the worst of the year by any means. If you are going to see this, either see it at the budget theater or wait to rent. It definitely isn't Wild Wild West 2 by any means!

News: James Spader is Ultron!

I just returned from vacation up north without any internet access or wi-fi. So when I came home and checked IMDB this was the biggest news. I'm not sure how long this has been out so this might be old news to some of you.

I don't know, but what I do know is that Marvel announced that James Spader will be playing the villain Ultron in The Avengers sequel titled The Avengers: Age of Ultron. There has not been any confirmation on whether he will be doing only the voice of Ultron or a motion capture performance like Mark Ruffalo did as The Hulk in The Avengers.

I think that this is an excellent casting move. James Spader is a very talented and underrated actor and it is good to see him getting more mainstream roles.

The one role of his that sticks out to me the most was him as Robert California on the eight season of The Office. He was the only good part about season eight. In a sense, he was the villain of The Office that season and he was fantastic. Spader also has the perfect voice for Ultron.

"That guy creeps me out, but... he might also be a genius"

How do you feel about this? Are you psyched for Spader to kill it as Ultron or are you hesitant? I'm pretty sure we can all agree that this is better casting news than Ben Affleck as Batman. With all this casting news being announced I have a feeling that we are going to get our first Star Wars Episode VII actor announced. Fingers crossed!

News: Ben Affleck is Batman!

Holy Huge Casting News Batman! Ben Affleck has been confirmed to don the cape and cowl and play Batman in the upcoming Man of Steel sequel coming out July 17th, 2015. Henry Cavil will return as Superman and so will Amy Adams as Lois Lane.

I almost couldn't believe my eyes when I read the headline on IMDB. Of all the people rumored for the role, his was one that I didn't hear much about. I was predicting it would be Josh Brolin or Karl Urban. But I was hoping that Michael Keaton would return. That would have made me so happy. But since it is now Ben Affleck, my feelings are mixed ones.

Pro: He looks the role of Bruce Wayne. I can totally buy him as Bruce Wayne.
Pro: He has got the body for it.
Pro: He is a well-know face in Hollywood.
Pro: He has won two Oscars.
Con: Neither of those Oscars were for acting.
Con: He only gives good performances in films that he has directed like Argo.
Con: The last time he played a superhero was in Daredevil. Need I go on?

The emotions I am feeling with this are a mix of excitement, fear, terror, depression and optimism. I am still trying to wrap my mind around this. But hey, at least it isn't Clooney!

What say you my fellow readers? Please comment below. (It makes me happy!)

Movie Review #61: Olympus Has Fallen (2013)

I never had the chance to see this film in theaters, but since it just came out to rent this is as good a time as any. But this does not mean that I will also be reviewing Roland Emmerich's White House Down because that looks completely awful whereas this looks fun. Stupid but fun. And that is all I want in a film like this.

In Olympus Has Fallen, Koreans have taken over the White House and it is up to Gerard Butler to save the day. The plot is pretty simple because in a film like this, you really don't need complexity.

Is this film original? No.
Is it familiar to past, superior action films? Heck yeah.
Is it enjoyable? Totally!

I had a blast with Olympus Has Fallen because after the first 20 minutes it is straight up, 100% guilty pleasure action. The action is very reminiscent of gritty, realistic '80's - '90's action films like Die Hard. In fact, this could/should have been Die Hard 5! Or at least the 24 movie that they have been teasing at making for years. Is a 24 movie still in the works? I'm not sure if it is anymore because Fox is bringing 24 back for another season. Time will tell I guess.

Gerard Butler plays our hero and he is a great hero. He carries the film for the most part and he does a really good job. He needs to star in more movies like this and less romantic comedies. That needs to happen. Aaron Eckhart and Morgan Freeman are also good, but that shouldn't be a huge surprise to anyone. The script does what it has to do for a film like this, which is to get the ball rolling. I'm just glad that the dialogue isn't corny or cheesy.

Even if the concept of The White House getting taken over isn't very realistic, the action has a sense of realism. When Gerard Butler throws a punch, it looks realistic. The CGI on the other hand was not. It wasn't awful, but it could have been better. That didn't take me out of the film though because I was having too much fun!

Final Report: Don't go into Olympus Has Fallen expecting it to tide you over until Terrence Malick's next project because this is 100% guilty pleasure action. And I am perfectly fine with that!

Movie Review #60: Prometheus (2012)

Of all of the films to come out last year, no film was quite as controversial as Prometheus. You either liked it, loved it, hated it or despised it so much that you burn every copy you find. But I am here to set the record straight!
..... Actually, I can't set the record straight because this is 100% my opinion so that would be very biased of me .....

In Prometheus, a group of scientists discover a clue to the origins of mankind and they set on a journey to find our creators.

The reason why people were so psyched for Prometheus was that from the trailers, it looked like a prequel to Alien. People thought that it would make sense considering Ridley Scott directed Alien and Prometheus. As it turns out it isn't. Prometheus isn't a prequel to Alien. Prometheus merely takes place in the same universe as Alien does. The upcoming sequel might end up connecting to Alien, but that's up for debate. I think that the fact that Prometheus isn't a sequel is the why many people hate this film. Here is my reasoning:

Some people went into Prometheus expecting that all of the questions they had about Alien would be answered. As it turns out it wasn't a prequel and that is why many fanboys were incredibly let down; because none of their questions were answered. Apparently some people only like movies that explain things to them because they are too simple minded to use a little thing called "thinking" and they don't want anything in a movie to be left up to the imagination. Even though that is half the fun for some movies. Sorry, I just get very defensive against all the Prometheus haters.

Now for the actual review:
Prometheus is a phenomenal sci-fi horror film. The cast consists of Noomi Rapace, Charlize Theron, Idris Elba and Guy Pearce. All give great performances, but Michael Fassbender out-shined them all. He plays David, and android and he is so fantastic. The visuals are astounding. Prometheus is worth seeing on a visual level alone. They are even more praiseworthy considering very little CGI was involved. For the most part, practical effects were used. And for that, I tip my hat to Sir Ridley Scott. Well done sir.

My biggest issue is that the script is inconsistent at times. There is this scene where a scientist gets freaked out by a dead body, but when he encounters a creature they haven't seen before he wants to touch it! I don't understand that at all.

Final Report: Even though the questions we had about Alien aren't answered, Prometheus is still a visually arresting science fiction adventure with a terrific performance by Michael Fassbender.

Movie Review #59: Armageddon (1998)

The biggest question that I have about this film isn't about all of the scientific inaccuracies. It's that I don't understand how a film nominated for so many 7 Razzies got inducted into the Criterion collection?! Two Michael Bay flicks yet not a single Spielberg film? What's up with that?!

In Armageddon, an asteroid the size of Texas is headed straight for earth and it is up to a team of skilled oil drillers to land on the asteroid, drill into the rock and detonate a nuclear weapon to blow it to bits and save the Earth. 

Armageddon is directed by Michael Bay and I am not a huge fan of his films because his films are like Roland Emmerich films. They are entertaining and visually well-crafted, but the biggest problem lies in the script. Don't get me wrong, I do like a few films by Bay and Emmerich. But the majority of them I could do without.

Yet to my surprise, Armageddon was actually a lot of fun! The all star cast works well with each other and it is very clear that they're having fun. What really surprised me was the considerable amount of emotion. You actually feel and fear for the characters and what they're going through. And the ending actually mad me the slightest bit emotional. I don't know if it was subject matter or Aerosmith's "I Don't Wanna Miss A Thing" playing in the background, but that just hit me for some reason. The action was incredibly thrilling and intense. The action in this film is incredibly fast-paced, quickly edited and close up that really immerses the audience in the environment.

As I previously stated, the biggest problem with Michael Bay's films lies with the script. And that is true for Armageddon. It's pretty cheesy.The humor is exactly what I expected in a Bay film. A lot of the jokes come off as cheesy and lame, but there are definitely a few chuckles to be had. The funniest actor in the whole film was Steve Buscemi. Not only is Buscemi a terrific actor, but for some reason he is great when it comes to comedy. Ben Affleck and Liv Tyler's characters annoyed me. I understand the purpose they served in the film was to include a romantic subplot, but it was either cheesy, sappy or annoying. Sometimes all three at the same time.

Final Report: Armageddon is a cheesy, explosion and mayhem filled blockbuster with a surprising amount of intensity and emotion. This is a huge guilty pleasure of mine. I'm not entirely proud of that fact but I stand by what I said.

Movie Review #58: Moon (2009)

After seeing Elysium, I have sci-fi on the brain. And I'll be reviewing three great movies about the deep dark void called space. That doesn't mean Star Wars or Star Trek. Because that would be way too easy. That's a review for another time.

Moon is directed by Duncan Jones who is actually the son of David Bowie. It would have been interesting if Ziggy Stardust himself made a cameo in this. I would have dug that.

Sam Rockwell plays Astronaut Sam Bell who is finishing up his three year service on the moon. But during the last few days of his service, he discovers something that is completely mind-blowing. I am not going to say what it is because that would ruin the entire film and all the fun about it!

With the exception of a couple minute long flashback scenes and the occasional vocal help of Kevin Spacey voicing the computer GERTY, Sam Rockwell is the only actor in the entire film. His performance is incredible be he really does carry the entire film. His performance is even more incredible when you discover what the huge plot twist it. The twist is so great that not even M. Night Shyamalan expected it!

Rockwell aside, the entire film looks incredible. The props look incredible. The design of the moon base reminded me of the tech in Oblivion. The production design is great and impressive considering the estimated budget is a meager $5,000,000. Everything on an visual level looked immaculate.

It's really hard to talk about this movie without spoiling it. If you haven't seen Moon yet, watch it. You'll love it. If you have already seen Moon, then re-watch it!

Final Report: Moon soars due to Sam Rockwell's Oscar worthy performance and a solid script, making Duncan Jones a director to keep an eye on.

Movie Review #57: Elysium (2013)

I have been fascinated with Elysium far before the first trailer was released. The only thing I knew about the film was that it was from the director of District 9 and starred Matt Damon. After knowing those two things I didn't even need a trailer to entice me to see it!

Elysium takes place in the year 2151 and all of the rich people actually don't live on Earth, they live on Elysium. It is an enormous space station that looks like the hood ornament to an old Cadillac. But that's beside the point. Elysium is basically the Garden of Eden: A perfect paradise where there is no sickness because they have these medical beds that can cure anything.

But as for the middle class, they live on Earth and it is in rough shape. They entire planet looks 100 times worse than Detroit does now. And for reasons that I will not talk about, Matt Damon has to break into Elysium.

While I was watching Elysium, you could easily tell that this was film was made by Neill Blomkamp because if you have seen District 9, you can easily see the similarities between the two films. But the most evident similarity is the underlying social commentary. But the political message is much more blatant in Elysium than in District 9. The message of the film is all about healthcare and at times, it is so in-your-face that it will take you out of the moment. But since I don't care much for politics, that didn't bother me. I just wanted to say that as a disclaimer because I am positive that there are people out there who didn't like this movie because of the way the message was handled.

I personally was able to overlook the social commentary and I ended up having an awesome time with Elysium! Matt Damon has never been this tough before. Even in the Bourne films! He was fantastic, but the character the stole the show was Sharlto Copley's character Kruger. If you don't know who Sharlto Copley is, he was the main character in District 9. He played a mild-mannered guy in District 9, but he plays the most detestable piece of scum in Elysium. I was starting to hate his character so much that I felt sick watching him inflict pain on Matt Damon's character. He is one of the best villains in recent memory. The one thing that threw me off was his accent. It was hard to understand what he was saying. He looks like a scarier Josh Brolin but talks like an African Jason Statham. I'm not blaming the guy because of the way his voice sounds, I just found it fairly unusual.

The visuals were completely astonishing. They looked very realistic and the slow-motion was used very sparingly and only used when it should be. The only problem I had with the film on a technical level was that there were a couple moments of shaky cam that could have been handled much better. Leave the shaky cam to Paul Greengrass. He knows how to use it in a way that looks good.

Final Report: Elysium's political message might come off as too in-your-face for some, but if you can overlook that aspect, you will be able enjoy the film for what it was: An intense, visually stunning, violent, action packed sci-fi thriller that this summer movie season needed.

News: Peter Capaldi is The 12th Doctor!

Now I have never talked about movie or television news before, but an important news story has surfaced that I want to talk about.

Today, BBC America revealed that Peter Capaldi will play the 12th Doctor. When I heard this news I wondered two things:

1: Who is Peter Capaldi?
 2: Is this good news or bad news?

So after hearing this, I quickly scrambled to IMDB to research his filmography. As it turns out, he has an extensive career in movies and television shows. Most notably his BAFTA award winning role on The Thick of It. He also won an Oscar for writing and directing a live action short film in 1994. Even though the Oscar wasn't for acting, he is still the only Academy Award winning Time Lord and that is okay in my book.

Now I have not watched The Thick of It. In fact I have not seen the majority of what he has been in. But this does make me even more interested. For starters, he's an older actor playing the Doctor. That makes me very happy because my favorite Doctor, Christopher Eccleston, was an older actor. I believe that having an older actor as the Doctor makes the show more mature, grown up and dare I say darker. Also, from what I have read I have heard that he can be very funny so there is no need to be concerned about the humor.

So with an older actor leading the show, I can only hope that Doctor Who will become a darker and more adult show because even though I like Matt Smith, the show has been on the decline since he joined.

Doctor Who ain't just for kids anymore you 14 year old fan-girls out there! And I couldn't be more pleased.

*If you like me talking about important film and television news, then please tell me in the comments and I will try to do more of these for news that I find important.*

Movie Review #56: X-Men: First Class (2011)

Originally, X-Men: First Class was basically meant to be X-Men Origins: Magneto. But instead of that, they decided to make a prequel. And that could either go the way of Rise of the Planet of the Apes and be completely awesome, or the way of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace and be disappointing. Let's hope for the first.

X-Men First Class takes place in 1962 and in order to prevent the start of World War III, the government enlists the help of Mutants to stop this from occurring.

I was going to review this movie without re-watching it, but I decided to not post this review on Friday and revisit the film and I am glad I did so because this movie gets better every time you watch it!

What makes First Class is the well written script and the cast. Like the first two X-Men films, this script evenly balances fantastic action set pieces, great character development and fantastic performances from the whole cast.

James Mcavoy plays a young Professor X and it was really cool to see that Xavier wasn't always a stoic, wise bald guy. He was actually an incredibly intelligent ladies man! It was really funny seeing him flirt with girls because this guy later becomes Patrick Stewart as Professor X and can you honestly seeing Patrick Stewart hitting on girls? That's what I thought.

Jeniffer Lawrence plays Mystique and they explained and went in depth with the relationship she had with Professor X and Magneto. The other X-Men introduced like Havoc, Banshee and Beast were great, but the one that stole the entire film was Michael Fassbender as Magneto. I have loved Fassbender in everything I have seen him in like Inglorious Basterds and Prometheus, but this is my favorite performance of his because he captured all of the anger and despair Erik went through so perfectly.

One of the more surprising performances came from none other than Kevin Bacon. He plays Sebastian Shaw who is the main villain of the film and he's fantastic! Of all the times I watched Footloose, I never imagined that the guy dancing around in a warehouse would ever play a menacing, German speaking mutant hellbent on starting plunging the world into World War III. Or a villain in general. That was oddly specific.

The only character I had a problem with was January Jones character of Emma Frost. I thought she felt out of place, unnecessary and uninteresting. Although there is a cameo that might be the best cameo in the history of cameos. I'm serious about that.

Final Report: X-Men: First Class is the best X-Men film to date because it included all of the elements that we loved first two films and none of what we didn't care for in Last Stand and Origins. It also reminded us why we loved X-Men in the first place.

Movie Review #55: X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)

If you are on-the-fence about becoming a fan of the X-Men franchise but you didn't care for X-Men: The Last Stand then I am almost positive that this film won't win you over.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine is exactly what the title says. It is the origin story of Wolverine. In particular, his relationship with his brother Victor and how his entire skeleton got coated in adamantium.

As I previously said in the beginning, if you didn't like X-Men: The Last Stand, then you will like X-Men Origins: Wolverine even less because it has the same problems from The Last Stand and even a few new ones.

For starters, we are introduced to so many new characters like Gambit and Wade Wilson who later becomes Deadpool. Those are two of the coolest characters in the entire X-Men universe and they don't get fleshed out at all! What they did with the characters of Gambit and Deadpool is exactly what they did with the character of Angel in The Last Stand. They just include cool characters for the sake of adding characters that they fans like. I liked Taylor Kitsch as Gambit. His performance didn't bother me, but I don't think that Ryan Reynolds is cut out for the role of Deadpool.

Hugh Jackman is a great actor and he is still great as Wolverine because he is really perfect for the role of Wolverine. I highly doubt that I will ever complain about Hugh Jackman in anything. But the one thing I will complain about are Wolverine's claws. They look awful! They look so fake and cheap. They also have a slight blue tint to them which is strange.

Even though I sound like I despise this film, I actually don't mind it as much as other people. I am simply pointing out all of the flaws I found in this film, and it has a lot!

Final Report: I don't hate X-Men Origins: Wolverine. I really don't. I can watch this movie and have a fun time. But it could have been much better to say the least.