Dave's Movie Review Page

I have been going to the movies on a regular basis and thought to offer a review of some.  So here is a new page where you can get my take on what is worth your time and what is a waste.  Feel free to disagree if you wish.  You are also free to ignore this information as well ;-)

September 29th 2011 - Killer Elite:  A supposedly true story about British SAS assassinations of an Oman oil Shake's sons and the revenge killings ordered by him.  Holding Hunter hostage, the shake demands Danny kill the three men responsible for his son's deaths.  The fact that they are SAS trained assassins is only a minor inconvenience.  Danny has adventures that end killing 2 of his friends / accomplices.  The ending is left open so they may be thinking sequel... Its an OK movie, but I wouldn't bother.

September 15th 2011 - The Debt:  Spoiler alert (as if I could ruin this movie ;-) Advertised as a thriller it falls seriously short.  Tired Nazi hunter story circa 1965.  Turns out they didn't get the bad guy after all, but they lied to cover it up.  So the ex-mosaad woman is called upon to kill the recently surfaced target before he can reveal the lie.  Some decent acting, but just can't overcome the weak script / concept.  The most low key thriller you will ever see.  Save the planet and your money!

September 8th 2011 - Planet of The Apes: Save your money!  Again Rotten Tomatoes misleads.  Using the same CGI technology as Avatar is the best thing that can be said about this movie.  Even given the silly premise, you have to be pretty much brain dead to believe that an injection of a miracle virus would make an ape intelligent over night.  As a dedicated Sci-Fi addict I am accustomed to suspending belief.  This movie requires belief be broken completely.  Spoiler Alert:  The ending is so far fetched I don't know where to start.  Suffice it to say that you are still safe from intelligent apes while entering Muir Woods National Monument beyond the Golden Gate Bridge.

August 11th 2011 - Cowboys and Aliens:  This one is kind of cool. although the critics were pretty hard on it.  As usual I am not sure what the critics expected.  The director is Tim's brother Jon Favreau.  Perhaps they thought Jon should have done better with a low budget summer flick.  Whatever... go and enjoy it.

August 4th 2011 - Captain America:  A fun movie with an odd ending (no spoiler).  A hapless 50# weakling not more than 4 feet tall tries to join the Army to fight in the war.  He is turned down every time, but recruited by a German scientist for special forces.  He does miserably in basic training, but manages to be the best with brains and courage.  He is selected for the initial trial of the secret weapon, a machine invented by the doctor and built by Tony Stark.  He is turned into a 220# 6' 5" hulk and becomes the poster boy for recruiting.  Eventually he gets to go defeat  evil forces and be a real hero.  Just what you expect and did not disappoint (me).

July 28th 2011 - Harry Potter and The Deathly Hollows (2nd look):  I like to see movies I like more than once on the big screen.  Sure I will buy the DVD one day and watch it to death, but even a decent home theater setup can not match the big sound and the big screen.   Watching a second time reveals nuances passed over initially and I was surprised at some of the content I had simply missed entirely.  Probably a function of seeing it at 1:30 AM ;-)  Anyway it made me nostalgic, so I went and bought the other Potter movies I did not already have including Part one of the Hollows.  Recently I watched The Half Blood Prince on DVD.  First time since it came out (except maybe on TV), enjoyed it as well.  Personally I hope they continue the story.  I am sure there is plenty to do in the wizarding world that will keep us interested.

July 14th 2011 - Harry Potter and The Deathly Hollows (double feature):  The local theater did a double feature with part 1 at 9 PM followed by part 2 at 12 AM.  What a zoo (in a good way).  They had several theaters running at the same time so maybe 400-500 folks watching the movie.  Lots of young witches in costume ;-)  I think we are most surprised by the plot twists at the end.  No spoiler here, but certainly the saga could be continued.  I think you will be satisfied with the thoughtful treatment of these characters we have come to know for so long.  Go and see for yourself.

July 7th 2011 - Transformers Dark of the Moon 3D: An ambitious project for a comic book movie.  Lots of CGI and 3D effects.  Somehow you stop noticing its in 3D, it seems natural now to watch a movie with "depth".  I found myself watching the autobots "transform" and thinking the artists can't make up their mind how they do it.  It seems like a random process of moving parts.  Some critics hated this movie --- audience loves it.   It is a great summer movie with lots of eye candy.  The girl and the cars are very sexy.  The battle scenes have good tension, if not edge of the seat anxiety.  The script is what you expect (more or less).  An entertaining use of 2Hrs and $8 ;-)

June 30th 2011 - Super 8: Kids in 1979 making an 8mm zombie film accidentally photograph a train crash the air force is trying to cover up.  A bad-ass alien life form on board has escaped and the air force wants it back.  The film is sweet in the handling of the kid's interactions with each other.  Easy to see them as real characters (hard to do most times).  Some good suspense here, not to mention a great train crash!

June 23rd 2011 - Green Lantern 3D:  So so script and weak direction.  Ace test pilot, Hal Jordan, has to defeat two super automated fighter jets and does so, but freezes thinking about his father who was killed in a similar jet crash.  Give us all a break... So, he has been an ace test pilot for a long time, but just when he succeeds, where no one expected him to, he freezes... yeh right.  Ok its not a great movie, but the CGI is awesome and the evil Paralax would be best seen in 3D.   Worth the extra $ for 3D.  PS One of the trailers was for the new Transformers (great 3D effects).

June 9th 2011 - X-Men First Class: Sucks... Admittedly I am not a big fan of X-men,  but the last one I saw was way better than this.  You are never drawn into empathy for the characters nor perched on the edge of your seat with anticipation.  Not even chuckle, although 2 or 3 in the audience did laugh once. Another case of Rotten Tomatoes deceiving me.  I guess I should give more weight to the negative reviews.  Barely good enough to be worth the $5 matinee.

May 12th 2011 - Thor:  Legendary characters with comic book treatment in 3D.  The CGI depiction of Asgard is pure eye candy.  It has to make comic book illustrators green with envy.  I think the actors did a good job with their characters.  Thor's transformation to a caring hero from a self centered brat with magic powers was a bit forced; it basically comes out of no where.   He turns around his entire personality after a couple of hours on Earth and intends to sacrifice himself to save his instant girl friend and some humans.  But of course, that is what heroes do after all, so we forgive the creative license and enjoy the flick.  Caveat; this is a film that doesn't get a lot of bang from the 3D buck.  Many of the scenes are too dark for depth to stand out.  You might consider saving the 3D premium and seeing it plain.

May 5th 2011 - Fast 5: Action flick with Vin Diesel & Dwayne Johnson so you know what to expect.  Credibility is strained at every turn however.  Their plan is to rob a South American drug lord after a jail break so they have enough money to disappear forever.  Sounds good, but they soon need a crew and some very expensive toys to pull it off.  Not to mention being chased by some of the best bad ass federal agents alive.  So if you ignore the unlikely appearance of a couple of million bucks in toys, equipment and a 5 ton safe, its all good.  There are several intense chase scenes with a seriously twisted one near the end.  No spoiler, but I don't know how they did it without killing anyone.  Definitely worth a look, high marks for entertainment value.

April 21st 2011 - Limitless: After sitting in his squalid apartment for weeks, hoping for inspiration, a down and out, wood be writer, gets a dear john send off from his up and coming girlfriend.   Out of money from the advance he got to write a book, he is at a low point when a chance encounter with his ex-wife's brother gives him a chance to cage a few drinks.  The ex-brother in law seems to be doing well enough, finds out his situation, then offers him a special pill worth $800.  He takes the pill and right away he writes several chapters of the book and takes it to his publisher.  The rest of the movie plays with the possibilities in pharmaceutical memory and intelligence with a subplot about losing and regaining the source of the pills he needs to keep up his abilities.  It is an OK movie that never really gets you on the edge of your seat.  Anticlimactic ending leaves you cold. Surely they could have done better.

April 14th 2011 - Source Code: Decent action movie with a sketchy plot.  Some edge of seat action, a romantic interest and boy gets girl twist.  You may not be real impressed, but likely not disappointed either.

March 31st 2011 - Paul:  Rotten Tomatoes really got this one wrong! Usually I tend to agree, but this movie purely sucked.  I have never walked out of a theater, but this one was cause.  The cliché humor is sophomoric at best and the protagonists are just plain lame.  The worst part is that I think the director intended them to be that lame.  When the pair from the UK walked into a biker bar for dinner it was too much.  No one in their right mind would stop for dinner at a biker bar even if they are from the UK.  I happened to catch a review by Ebert on PBS and they both gave it thumbs down.  Unfortunately I had already wasted my time and the $6.00.  I will keep this one in mind when evaluating future Tomatoes reviews.  They obviously have a much lower opinion of our movie going mentality than I thought. 

January 19th 2011 - Green Hornet: Read the reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, they are as good as any I would make.  I thought the idea of the Green Hornet as a bungling, playboy, thrill-seeker was lame.  It did nothing for the movie.  One reviewer said Kato stole the show and I agree he did a very good job playing the role.  I did get several laughs, some from stupidity and some from great lines.  They seem to have left an opening for a second movie... I would advise against it.

December 30th 2011 - True Grit:  This is a tough one...  In a sense it is a very hard edged movie.  Maybe the old west really was that violent or maybe just the Cogburn character is.  The PG13 rating is misleading, the images are more than disturbing.  Some are gratuitously graphic.  I probably saw the original with John Wayne some time past, but don't recall the details.  I doubt it was this graphic or as hard edged.  Lots of critics and regular viewers liked it, I am not sure I did.

December 17th 2011 - Harry Potter and The Deathly Hollows: Liked it enough to see it a second time.  Like a lot of flicks, seeing it again reveals details missed the first time.  I do like J. K. Rawlings work!

December 2nd 2010 - Harry Potter and The Deathly Hollows:  I liked it

November 18th 2010 - Unstoppable:  An action / suspense film worth seeing.  Not as intense as Inception, but then not much else is or has been.

October 21st 2010 - RED (Retired Extremely Dangerous): An engrossing film... Not so much suspense as it is a dark exposition of the character's character.  At least one of the characters gets out on the plus.

September 30th 2010 - Legend of the Guardians:  A visually stunning CGI flick about a world of owls.  Young owls are forced to choose sides not really knowing what it is about.  A pair (brother & sister) escape to find the Guardians and learn what it is to fight evil.  Pretty standard fare for a summer movie.  IE Reasonably entertaining, suspenseful in the right places and with an aw-shucks ending.  It has a PG rating, but parents should be advised that it maybe too violent for very young kids.  Critics not thrilled, regular public liked it by a good margin.  I agree that it was worth the $5 ticket.

September 23rd 2010 - The Town:  This is a movie about bad guys and cops with an improbable love story line. IE. One of the bad guys falls for a victim (the bank manager they robbed).  Some reviews point out how predictable the movie is and it is true.  Some reviews say it is exciting and a fine way to spend a couple of hours and this is also true.  Go see it when the theater has the matinee special, you probably will be satisfied.

August 27th 2010 - Took my own advice and saw Salt again :-)

August 19th 2010 - Expendables:  This movie got a rating of 39% positive at rotten tomatoes... I should have paid more attention and seen Salt for the second time.  The sheer scope of the violence is hard to describe.  At least with Salt the violence had a point.  I have lived a sheltered life I guess.  

August 12th 2010 - Inception second look:  More than one review said a second or third viewing might be necessary to explain the action and reveal more detail.  I was surprised at the nuances I missed the first time.  There were several parts of the plot that stood out the second time.  Seeing it the second time did not dull the impact of the suspense and in fact clarified the end of the movie.

August 5th 2010 - Sorcerers Apprentice 2nd look: The reviews for the current crop of movies were not great, so I will take a second look at one or more.  I like this movie and will look for the DVD down the road.

July 29th 2010 - Salt:  A female Bond... in reverse.  She is a Russian double agent trained in childhood for unquestioning obedience and planted in the CIA.  While the action is intense, it is also somehow hard to believe she can take down 4 or 5 armed men at once or jump from the top of an elevator shaft or from rooftop to rooftop of moving trucks (three times!).  So OK, you need to be uncritical when going to see a summer thriller and it does deliver on entertainment.  I liked the twist at the end as well. Do ya think there is a sequel in the works?

July 21 2010 - Inception: This is a real edge of the seat thriller.  The movie doesn't waste a lot of time setting up the plotline.  The action picks up steam fast and the suspense never stops.  You quickly forget where they really are and get sucked into the action, which is intense.  Some good acting in this movie as well as some folks you will all recognize.  A definite must see movie.

July 15th 2010 - Sorcerers Apprentice: This one got some mixed reviews, mainly based on the director's & Nicolas Cage's reputation.  I don't know what the various reviewers expected.  I think it is just a typical Disney summer movie production.  I like / liked the Shrek movies and if you did too, you will enjoy this one as well.  It is kind of sappy (like Shrek), but they manage to entertain with good special effects and high powered villains.  The apprentice, Dave Stutler, is played by the actor JAY BARUCHEL that did the voice of Hiccup in How to Train Your Dragon.  I liked Hiccup in Dragon.  Maybe that has something top do with liking this movie.

July 8th 2010 - Eclipse: I had not seen any of the Twilight Saga, but was intrigued by the reviews and the 52% rating at rottentomatoes.  I liked the movie overall, probably because I had no preconception from the earlier installments, one of which is said to have sucked bad.  I liked the fact that it wasn't one of those dark horror movies, but one that actually made a credible attempt to portray werewolves and vampires in a "realistic" light.  This is a good movie to take your girl or wife to.  She will like the story and you won't think it sucks ;-)

July 1st 2010 - The Last Airbender:  This movie got killed by the critics.  It was given a rating of 8% at rottentomatoes!  I went to see it anyway based on the trailers I had seen.  I walked out thinking the acting deserved no more that a 3 of 10.  The main actors were kids that did not seem to have any energy or experience acting.  One reviewer suggests it is the director's fault in not getting a good read by the kids.  I don't know, but it detracted seriously from the movie.  That said, I enjoyed the story and the effects were intriguing.  A lot of imagination went into creating the sets, especially the Fire Nation's Vessels.  An entertaining, if slightly disappointing, movie with moderately good action scenes and effects.

June 17th 2010 - The Karate Kid: Pretty much what you expect it to be.  It was entertaining, if a bit slow developing.  Jackie Chan (Mr. Han) gives a good performance taking the "Kid" on a journey into a China few see.  One element they could have dropped is Mr. Han's fixation on the tragic death of his wife and son in a traffic accident.  IMO it added nothing to the plot or the character except perhaps as a nod to explaining Mr. Han's exclusiveness.  If you missed it, go rent the DVD, you will enjoy it!

June 3rd & April 15th: How to Train Your Dragon:  If you can't guess from the fact I went twice, get a grip!  I really liked this movie.  The plot is sweet, even with the Vikings trying to kill the dragons at every turn.  You gotta love Hiccup, a 50 pound weakling in a land of 300 pound mounds of mussel.  Where the men are men and the women are too.  If you haven't seen it, I won't spoil it, but the plot develops in a completely unexpected direction with a great ending.  I bought the DVD!

May 27th 2010 - Shrek:  If you liked the other Shrek movies, you will probably like this one as well.  I though it was good for a family oriented Disney movie.  It manages to keep you in suspense until the very last, so kudos to the staff.

May 20th 2010 - Iron Man 2:  Great new gadgets and indestructible flying suits the government wants for itself.   Naturally Tony Stark doesn't want to play, so there is a whole subtext going on with a senator involved with a mad scientist who want to steal the suit (gee wonder what will go wrong there?).   All's well that ends well (of course).

April 15th: How to Train Your Dragon: See June 3rd above

April 8th 2010 - Clash of the Titans: This one features Sam Worthington (of Avatar fame) as Perseus.  Some reviewers found Perseus lacking and I mostly agree.  Compared to the performance he gave in Avatar, this one seemed pretty dead-pan.  It is a good action movie and well worth renting for a "night out".

April 1st 2010 - Alice in Wonderland: Johnny Depp was good, the rest, not so much.  If you are going to do a remake, it is a good idea to do it better than the first one, don't you think?  For all the flashy effects and dazzling scenes, it falls short.

January, February & March 2010 - Avatar:  I saw this one 12 times and own the DVD.  The vision James Cameron brings to the screen is so realistic, it compels you into the Na Vi world without any room for skepticism.  It is very easy to simply get lost in this idyllic world.  The effects brought to life for this movie are not likely to be matched any time soon.  The studio gambled $400 million over 4 years and created a true block buster.  That is way too much money to risk for most studios to attempt a copy.  The plot is kind of tired and predictable, but that is easy to overlook while you are immersed in his world.  In case you can't tell, I think this is the best movie I have ever seen and I have seen nearly every Sci-Fi movie ever made.  It is also the highest grossing movie of all time and by such a wide margin it may really be for all time.

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