Iron Man 2: This was one of the most anticipated films of the summer, but it didn't reach anyone's high expectations. Some box office analysts predicted that it would make at least $400 mil at the B.O. In the end it made around $312 mil, which is lower than Iron Man's $318 mil B.O. Still that's nothing to complain about. I thought the movie was better than the original. It had more action and awesome special effects. Plus the climatic battle was better than the first. Mainly because audiences got to see War Machine in action. The villains weren't as developed as I thought they would be, and I wish they would have just stuck with one. There are also a lot of story lines going on, but they are interesting. A good summer popcorn flick and it goes on my top 10 best superhero list. I give it an 8/10.
Robin Hood: This version of Robin Hood is probably the most boring one that I have ever seen. The action scenes were frenetic and couldn't tell who from whom. Plus did I mention it was boring. Russell Crowe does his best, but it's way too long and has too much dialog for this type of movie. I give it a 4/10.
MacGruber: This is based off the SNL sketch starring Will Forte as MacGruber. Forte is a bomb technician who can use anything to help diffuse a bomb, but he always gets distracted and the bomb goes off anyway. This is a parody of the old television show MacGyver. I don't watch SNL that much anymore. Most of the ppl I liked are gone except for Bill Hader and Will Forte. I liked this film b/c it spoofed all of the 80's action flicks and built a nice short film that didn't drag on. Some of the humor is really gross at times (even for me). Some of the jokes get redudent and the premise will wear thin for some ppl. It's a solid comedy, but nothing real special. I give it 6.5/10.
Get Him to the Greek: This is a spinoff of the very funny Forgetting Sarah Marshall. It stars Russell Brand as Aldous Snow, the wild rock star who was the best thing about that movie. This film is raunchy, but it doesn't have the heart that Forgetting Sarah Marshall had. Johan Hill is in here as a record intern who has 72 hours to take Snow to a concert in L.A. Hill tries to be funny, but only gets a few laughs. The highlight of the movie is Se4an "P. Diddy" Combs, who plays a record executive. He steals the show and was funnier than expected. The film is extremely vile and raunchy, but if you can stand that then it's a good comedy. 7.5/10.
The Karate Kid: I can't believe I liked this movie. This is a remake of the first Karate Kid, which starred Ralph Macchio and Pat Morita. In that film Ralph Macchio is getting beaten up by bullies until he learns karate from Morita. Through unconventional methods Macchio becomes an ass kicking machine. In the remake it stars Jaden Smith (Will Smith's son) as the troubled kid getting beat up. This time the film is set in China so Smith really feels out of place. He meets his Jackie Chan, who is replacing Morita as the janitor/martial arts expert. In the film Smith is learning Kung-Fu instead of karate so the title is a little misleading. Jaden Smith isn't the best child actor, but he has charm just like his daddy. The landscapes are very beautiful and captures the essence of China. It's a predictable story and it's slightly better than the original. 7 out of 10.
Cyrus: A big disappointment for me. It had a good cast, which included John C. Reilly, Catherine Keener, and Marisa Tomei. You even had Jonah Hill, who can be funny sometimes. The plot is about a divorcée (Reilly) who meets a woman (Tomei) who still has her 20 something son living with her. It sounds like a good indie comedy, doesn't it? Well it fails big time. The shaky cam is annoying, the story doesn't really go anywhere, and it's not that funny. It's not even that good of a drama. Maybe the Duplass Brothers were going for a dark comedy. I don't know and don't give a @#$%. Well, at least it's short. 4 out of 10.
Grown Ups: I already wrote a review about this so I will keep this short. Grown Ups is a lazy effort, even for him. After last year's phenomenal performance in the grossly underrated Funny People, he goes back into his comfort zone. I laughed a few times, but Sandler PG-13 movies are wearing thin. The rest of the ensemble cast (Kevin James, Chris Rock, David Spade, and Rob Schneider) are wasted in a shitty screenplay. I'm still a sucker for Happy Gilmore though. 5 out of 10.
The Twilight Saga: Eclipse- I like Twilight, but I'm ashamed of it. Instead of watching good vampire shows like True Blood I watch this. I don't know why. I guess it's just a guilty pleasure. This is probably the best one in series as it kicks up the action some more and we really get to see the sparkling vampire Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) fight against the shirtless werewolf Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner) for the hand of the annoying indecisive Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart). I still don't know why they fight over her. She's not super hot or anything. There's nothing special about her at all. Oh, and the dialog is awful, the three leads can't act, and the action is clumsy. However, the cinematography is beautiful. 6.9 out of 10.
The Last Airbender: Oh yes, now this is a classic example of a Murphy's Law. Anything that can go wrong does go wrong. The source material is based off the popular Nicelodeon anime. It's about a 12 year old who is the Avatar, who can bend (control) the four elements (fire, water, earth, wind) and bring peace to the world. This film has piss poor dialog, static characters who cannot act (I'm looking at you Jackson Rathbone), and poorly filmed and uninteresting action scenes. Seeing this film in this film makes it even worse. I expected better from M. Night Shyamalan, who has been in a downward spiral even since 2004's The Village. A terrible movie in every sense of the word and a strong contender for worst movie of the year. Well, at least the location are pretty. 0.5 out of 10.
Predators: The best Predators movie since the original, but that's not saying much since the original was average at best. Instead of the Predators coming to Earth they teleport a bunch of soldiers, murders, and gang members down to their planet to hunt them. A standard by-the- book action movie that is violent, but nothing too memorable. It's still better than those God awful Aliens Vs. Predators movies. I give it a 6 out of 10.
Inception: The best movie of the summer is also one of the most original ones in a long time. This is Christopher Nolan's follow up to the insanely popular Dark Knight, which is one of the greatest superhero films ever made. Inception is about a professional thief Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio, who specializes in extracting ideas from businessmen's dreams and giving them to rival companies. This time one the heads of the company wants Cobb to implant an idea into one of his rival's head, which has never been done before. Chris Nolan is a great director who always values story over special effects, which is rare these days in a Hollywood production. Oh, and when there are special effects they are phenomenal. A great movie that requires multiple views, but it's not a masterpiece. The movie is a little long for me and they could have shaved a little time off of it. I give it an 9 out of 10.
Salt: I love Angelina Jolie because she is super hot and she kicks total ass. This a good action thriller that is tightly constructed and it has very nice action scenes. The only problem is its plot, which becomes completely ludicrous even for an action movie. It's a good spy film and in a summer of lackluster action films this is a decent surprise. 8 out of 10.
Dinner for Schmucks: Steve Carell is a comedic genius. This guy took a one dimensional character and made me laugh so hard. I'm ashamed at how much I laughed, but I just couldn't help it. It's a silly slapstick comedy that doesn't hold a candle to the original, but I still enjoyed it. 7.5 out of 10.
The Other Guys: Will Ferrell is back with an awesome film after last year's horrible Land of the Lost. The film was funnier than expected, but action scenes were average at best. Ferrell is comedic gold in this, but Mark Wahlberg just doesn't have the same comedic timing as Ferrell. Ferrell and Wahlberg still worked well together. If anything you have to see the film for the first 1o minutes with Dwayne Johnson and Samuel L. Jackson. 7.5 out of 10.
Step Up 3D: Another movie that is embracing the 3D craze. I never thought there would be a dance movie in 3D, but Hollywood continues to amaze me at what they will do to make a buck. I am personally tired of 3D because a lot of the novelty has worn off. I can only think of a few films that truly made full use of the extra dimensional. The 3D dance scenes are very well done, but that's it. You don't go to a Step Up movie for good plot, interesting characters, and good dialog. However, you can only take so much. So when they weren't dancing the film was unbearable to watch. 4 out of 10.
Flipped: Rob Reiner's latest film is set in '62, which is apparently the last year of innocence in the U.S. The film is sweet, but very sappy and chicle. The two leads are likable, but nothing that special here and it falls into corny material. Also it was just hard for me to relate to these characters at all. Maybe because it's out of my demographic, IDK. 4.5 out of 10
Eat Pray Love: A very boring movie and the first movie walked out of in a long time. I would have walked out of The Last Airbender, but my friend paid for my ticket and it would be sort of rude if I walked out. Julia Roberts plays a divorcée who goes on a journey to find herself. She eats in Italy, prays in Bali, and finds love in India. The good thing about the film is that the cinematography is beautiful and it really makes me want to go to Rome, Italy. Roberts tries her best, but she plays a self centered character who creates drama for her life and is very whiny. It's a dull romance film that wrongs way too long (2hr 13 min) and by the first hour I was tired, and walked. Good thing I saw this for free. 1.5 out of 10.
The Expendables: This is the ultimate action film of the year as it brings together the action stars of the 80's with some current action movie stars. Sylvester Stallone emsembles an all star cast that includes himself, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Randy Couture, Dolph Lundgren, Terry Crews, Mickey Rourke, Eric Roberts, and Steve Austin. Plus there are cameos by Bruce Willis and the Governator. Stallone directs his action scenes very well, but the script is terrible and the plot is nonexistent. All the dialog feels forced and any attempt at humor falls flat. It's a testoterome filled epic that is fun, but still hollow. 7.1 out of 10.
Those are the movies I've seen and it was definitely a mixed bag. Iron Man 2 is a must buy when it comes out on DVD/Blu-ray in a couple of months. Get Him to the Greek, The Karate Kid, and MacGruber are a good rental. If you haven't seen Inception, Dinner for Schmucks, or Salt, those are some good films to see in theaters. Peace out and happy moviegoing.
