The Wolverine

The Wolverine

Photo courtesy of of 20th Century Fox & Marvel

With the plethora of superhero movies being produced recently, the bar was set high for Hugh Jackman's performance in this late July release. 

In general, this film deserves a C+. The acting, costumes, and casting were nothing special but the action made this film worth staying to watch. 

To compare this movie with others in the X-Men category, it was truthfully not as exciting or informative, in terms of character or story development, as 2011's X-Men: First Class. 

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R.I.P.D.

R.I.P.D.

Photo courtesy of Universal Pictures

If you enjoyed the Men in Black series, this is right up your alley!  Starring Ryan Reynolds, Jeff Bridges, Kevin Bacon, and Mary-Louise Parker, this July release is not superior in it's comedy or special effects, however, it proves itself with creativity and casting. 

This supernatural comedy deserves a C-, as it proves to be superior to the second MIB, but certainly no better than the first or third.


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Upcoming Review: R.I.P.D.

R.I.P.D.

WWZ, The Lone Ranger, & Monsters University

These reviews have been a long time coming!  The next one will be up much sooner.  I am making that vow as of now!


World War Z

This poster is property of Plan B Entertainment, et. al.

Let's get real here, 2013's best zombie movie was Warm Bodies, but that's a matter of opinion.

Brad Pitt stars in this apocalyptic film that explores yet another zombie takeover.  If you can't get enough of The Walking Dead, maybe this will be your new favorite movie.

One of the impressive features of this film was certainly the portrayal of zombie mobs.  Sometimes zombies are portrayed as being slow, but this film puts that idea to rest.  These brain-eaters could outrun a cheetah!  Okay, so that's a bit extreme, but when you throw together masses of running zombies, it makes for a truly frightening experience. 

Another factor of this film that was great was the various "cures" for the spread of the disease, which I won't spoil for you here.

If you are looking for a thrilling apocalyptic flick, look no further!




The Lone Ranger

Property of Walt Disney Pictures

 If you haven't yet had your fill of Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter being their usually unusual selves, this is one just for you!

This Disney film has been marketed as being a family-friendly film but it leans a bit too far on the violent side to be truly appropriate for the whole family.  At times, viewers and critics described the 149-minute film as being slowly paced, which may help to add enough room for young minds to process so much violence, but I'm not so sure Disney found the right balance.

As a more mature viewer, however, I want to express that this movie was a really fun summer release with great action scenes, good acting, and a pretty interesting story.  I don't typically give ratings, but I would give this a 8.0 out of 10.0!









Monsters University

Property of Walt Disney/Pixar

 I'll be totally honest here, out of these three movies, this one was my absolute favorite.  Plus, I think it was better than the first Monsters movie AND totally family-friendly. 

As usual, John Goodman and Billy Crystal were great as the voices of Sullivan and Mike, respectively, but the whole cast of this movie was really what made it worth the watch.  The voice actors include (but are not limited to): Steve Buscemi, Helen Mirren, Sean Hayes, and Aubrey Plaza.

If you are looking for a feel-good, clean comedy to watch on one of these hot summer days, I think you've met your match.











As always, thank you for reading!
Feel free to comment with any suggestions, questions, etc.!

Now You See Me & This Is the End

Now You See Me

A perfect summer release, with equal parts suspense and fun.

Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Isla Fisher, and Dave Franco play a group of spunky magicians-turned-heist professionals under the close watch of an FBI official (Mark Ruffalo) and an ex-magician out to serve justice and disprove their tricks (Morgan Freeman).

Too much more would make for a spoiler, but it is certainly worth a watch if you can catch it in theaters or when it makes it to your movie rental platform/store.   


  
This Is the End

Actors playing themselves in a comedy about the end of the world.  Sounds awesome, right?

Think again.  For a potentially tasteless movie, this brought tasteless to a new level.

It wasn't all bad though.  It featured some really great cameos of celebrities that aren't usually known for their comedic work.

It had some really funny parts, but it ended up feeling like a chore to watch after a while with a great deal of forced humor.   

If you want to see it, I'd wait until it hits Redbox.






(The featured artwork is not my property.)


Thank you for reading!

Upcoming Review

World War Z

Man of Steel

Artwork property of WB Pictures

I will admit, prior to watching Man of Steel, I had mixed feelings.  On one hand, the casting was amazing (Amy Adams as Lois Lane, that's positively brilliant), but I had been disappointed when comparing DC to Marvel; it felt like a case of gloom vs. fun.

If you have skepticism about spending the money to see Man of Steel, you shouldn't.  It is one of the best made superhero films I have ever seen (and trust me, I've seen my fare share of the recent ones).  As I like to describe him, Superman (Clark Kent/Kal-El), is the perfect combination of Thor and Captain America...an attractive guy from a far away planet with a first-class dad and a passion for doing the right thing without killing everyone (not to mention his color scheme being quite similar to CA).

This film was a great way to start re-telling the story of Superman.  It provides a phenomenal back-story and evolution of his character that really allow any viewer to become fully involved in the hero's story.

As I mentioned earlier, the casting of this film was one of it's most memorable features.  There could be no better actress to play momma Martha Kent than Diane Lane, while Russell Crowe shines in the role of Jor-El (biological father of our beloved superhero).

To rave a bit more about my new big-screen favorite, the action scenes do not disappoint.  It is a fear of mine that action will get out of hand and detract from the value of the story of a film (looking at you Transformers 3).  With this newest portrayal of the Superman story, there is a successful balance of heart-pumping action with real cause for building smashing.

[Try it, you'll like it.]



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