Movies

I’m a little behind on this one.  Actually, I’m just behind on writing, I saw the movie opening week.  The A-Team was a fun ride.  It didn’t take itself too serious and it made it that much better.  They included all the absurdity of the TV show and it worked.  The team is best at what they do.  There is always a plan and the plan always comes together.  Well, usually.  It was nice to finally see the origin of the team and find out why B.A. is scared to fly.  I’ll you a hint, it’s Murdock’s fault.  It was also good finally see some people get killed.  Maybe it was just an 80s television thing but how can you fire that many round and no one ever gets hit? 

Overall, this was easily one of my favorite movies in a long time.  The ending CGI was not up to par with recent films but I can over look that when combined with the total awesomeness of the over all movie.

I decided this movie would be worth it to watch at midnight.  It would be the first midnight showing I attended in a few years.  I was totally right.  While Iron Man 1 was nearly perfect in it’s execution, Iron Man 2 was almost as good.  I’d easily give a 90% compared to the first.  There were a few scenes that should have been cut down a little, Sam Rockewell was a little over the top, and the end battle was a little anti-clamactic.  Don Cheadle was good as Rhodey and it was nice to see John Favreau’s role expanded a little.  And as with most Marvel movies, be sure you stay and watch for the scene after the credits.

I’m not even sure where to begin with this movie.  From the very beginning you knew it was going to be interesting because of the giant Hasbro logo projected on to the screen.  You are reminded from the start that this was nothing more than a 30 minute toy commercial back in the 80s.  Never the less, I really wanted to like this movie.  And for the most part I did enjoy it inspite of several groan worthy scenes.  The dialoge was bad.  The action was great.  The story was beyond thin.  Did I mention the action was great? 

Honestly the action sequences are the only good thing about this movie, which is good since it’s supposed to be an action movie.  But it didn’t completely pull off being a GI Joe movie.  While the characters were a mismatch of skills and training, like the cartoon, everyone looked the same.  There were no cool different costumes to distinguish people.  They all wore the same black body armor that could easily have been in any other action movie.  The fight choregraphy was very well done though I found it hard to believe anyone could move easily in the costumes.  The weapons were very cool, even if there were no red and blue lasers.  It was pretty fun watching the different ways the Vipers got killed.  And the fact that they killed at least one Joe was something which did put the movie ahead of the cartoon. 

Over all I would wait to rent this one night when you have nothing else to do.  Or maybe check it out at the dollar theater if you really want to see it on the big screen.  If you really want to watch a good GI Joe movie, check out GI Joe: Resolute on cartoon network or DVD when it’s released.  It’s what The Rise of Cobra should have been.

Lately the internet seems to be buzzing about the new Trek movie.  People are bashing it and complaining about how much JJ changed things.  Well, from what I saw it’s still very much Star Trek.  Transporters?  Check.  Big ship that can do faster than light?  Check.  Phasers?  Check.  Surly Doctor, Conflicted Vulcan, and laugh in the face of danger Captain?  Check, check and check.  Overall I’d say the movie was very entertaining.  Not a great movie by any means but definitely better than some of the more recent Star Trek movies.  Did JJ change things?  Of course he did.  It’s a relaunch to stale story that hasn’t been told in years.  He updated it, polished it and made some adjustments that I found very exciting.  A “true Trek fan” might not enjoy it but this movie was made for a new generation of new fans who probably don’t even realize who William Shatner is other than being the guy on the Priceline commercials.  And it works.

Wow.  This was supposed to one of the most anticipated movies of the year.  I can sum it up in one word: Matinee.  Save your money and watch a matinee showing.  The movie started out with promise and just went down hill from there.  Everything from the gophers, to the refridgerator and tarzan just kept eating away at the goodness.   Then the end happens and pretty much ruined it for me.  Overall the actors did a good job.  I enjoyed Ford and Shia.  For some reason people seem to have a hardon for hating Shia but I like him.  Ford easily slips back into the role of Indy. The dialog is classic Indy as are the sound effects.  The soundtrack is familiar and comforting as are the punching sounds and the crack of the whip.  All these things made me want to like the movie.  I *really* wanted to like this movie.  Unfortunately, I can’t.

***SPOILER TIME*** (highlight to read)

So Indy can hide from a nuclear blast in a fridge and not get radiation poisoning from looking at the mushroom cloud.  Okay I can accept this.  He is Indiana freakin’ Jones after all. Of course Speilberg and Lucas just love the CGI so there are some gophers and monkey and ants.  (Though the ants were actually really creepy.)  Lots of fighting, wise-cracks and good Indy fun.  Eye-roll factor was raised exponentially by Mutt swinging from the jungle vines a la Tarzan in a feeble attempt to make a connection between him and Indy’s use of the whip. Then, instead of following with the theme of the series (religion) they decide to switch from Mayan religion to aliens.  And not just aliens, but interdimension aliens.  Aliens that the Mayans worshipped.  Instead of just making the crystal skull being an artifact the Mayans created, it’s actually and alien skull.  And when the alien skull is brought back to the “temple” and reattached to the body of the alien, well bad things happen.  And the icing on the crap cake?  The “Close Encounters” spaceship leaves by creating a nice interdimensional portal and destroys everything. 

***END SPOILERS***

We watched Pirates 3 last night.  I won’t say I’m disappointed but it definitely wasn’t as good as the previous two.  At three hours (with previews) it was just too long.  They could have cut a good half an hour out just by cutting back on the special effects.  There were some places where you couldn’t help but think, “Wow, ILM is just trying to show off.”  Scenes that should have last 30 seconds were stretched to minutes.  Then, to top it all off, I’m not sure I like the ending.  I won’t spoil it for anyone though.  You can predict it if you pay attention but I was hoping I would be wrong.

PS – There is something after the credits so stick around.  It isn’t vital to the story but it’s worth watching.