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Unfortunately the movie isn’t so good…

I enjoyed the remake of Clash of the Titans, I don’t compare it to the original with Harry Hamlin because it’s a different version and each has their merits. Wrath of the Titans however is just the cash cow follow up and it’s painfully apparent.

The script is OK but seems to be written just for the sake of setting up certain effects scenes. The dialog is forced and cookie cutter driving the story from one pretentious scene to the next. The basic idea here is that the gods have become weakened since people don’t pray to them anymore and the father of the gods and the underworld, Kronos, is now gaining strength and seeks to destroy the earth and everyone in it. Since the gods are weak, it’s up to their demi-god children to save the universe. Perseus (son of Zeus) steps in to free his father (who’s been captured by Hades and Ares) and stop the evil Kronos from wiping out mankind.

The directing is pretty bad here too. Some of the actors just seem confused at times as to what exactly they’re supposed to be feeling/doing. Rosamund Pike’s Queen Andromeda comes up particularly lost throughout the movie; it’s almost like the director couldn’t figure out what he wanted her to do and was just shouting things from the sidelines like: “look scared, no wait, look strong, no wait, now order your troops around, oh hang on, look scared again!”.

Most of the actors are decent but seemingly phoning this one in. Noone seems to be trying too hard and it shows; even Bill Nighy (who I’m a big fan of) is sort of cartoony in this, but not in a good way. I think he’s supposed to be a comic-relief kind of character but comes off really out of place. Liam Neeson (who seems to be in every 3rd movie out these days) and Ralph Fiennes are both average and uninspired. Sam Worthington as Perseus is usually trying too hard or not hard enough. Either way, he’s sort of bland and looks stupid in the costume / gear they designed for him. He doesn’t look like the son of god, he looks more like he was shopping at a greek war gear thrift store, his costume design appears cheap and like it was designed as an after thought.

The effects are the only reason to see this film. I was fortunate enough to catch this in 3D and on the big screen. Many of the visual elements come off in an amazing way and some of the 3D is pretty great. A good number of the shots however (such as the scenes with the cyclops) are super-cheesy and obviously created for a 3D presentation. I went back and forth between being wow-ed by certain aspects and annoyingly distracted by others. The scene with Kronos exploding out of the mountain is pretty damn cool though.

Overall, I wouldn’t waste a dime on this in the theater again or as a rental on Netflix but it would probably be worth a look on a decent HD television on cable if there isn’t much else on.

reviewed by Sean McKnight

From the get go, the movie doesn’t stop until the whole thing has played out before you even know it’s over. It’s assumed that you know who everybody is as there’s not a lot of backstory other than to fill in some gaps here and there, particularly between Hawkeye and Black Widow, although I have to admit I didn’t find their story especially interesting or necessary. Gratefully, they don’t belabor the point too much…

No, instead most of the story revolves around Loki, his quest for vengeance, and the army he’s bringing to Earth to carry out his plans for dominance and power. Luckily SHIELD has been preparing for such an invasion since Loki’s last visit in the Thor movie. Hence the Avengers initiative to unite the world’s heroes and save the planet.

I’ll let the story speak for itself from here on out. Suffice it to say that watching The Hulk, Iron Man, Captain America, Hawkeye, and Black Widow alongside Nick Fury all kicking ass is much fun. Part of the good times is watching how the Avengers try to get together in the beginning but end up beating the crap out of each other in the process. Watching Thor vs The Hulk, Captain America vs Iron Man vs Thor, and so on is pretty much most comic book fans’ wet dream. I know I enjoyed it very much as these were all heroes I collected the comic books of when I was a kid. Watching them interact and fight both each other and together is something I’d never thought I’d see that life-like on a big screen. I was very happy to see this movie realized as it is a blast to watch.

The humor is there too and hits you unexpectedly at times. You expect Tony Stark’s quippy one-liners, so that’s a given, but some of the more subtle moments is where the more engaging humorous moments occur. I especially enjoyed the exchange between the Hulk and Loki.

The effects are of course, top of the line. The battle in New York is wonderfully epic. My only complaint is that some of the alien force and the Hulk look decidedly CG at times. I have yet to see anyone really nail down the Hulk in a way where he doesn’t look CG. I would like to see Peter Jackson’s WETA take a crack at it.

Overall, it’s a great movie with a great lineup of talent. Joss Whedon writes and directs and has turned out a film you really should catch in the theater if you can. Then there’s the actors: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Samuel L. Jackson, Gwyenth Paltrow, Powers Booth, Harry Dean Stanton and Paul Bettany as the voice of Iron Man’s AI buddy Jarvis.

Don’t forget to stick around through the credits and keep your eye out for Stan Lee.

reviewed by Sean McKnight

One of the things I love about it is the action. You can actually see it. He doesn’t hide it with a bunch of shaky cam crap that you see in the latest action movies. And while the stunts are huge, they don’t come off as impossible. Batman is flawed and takes his share of spills.

Great political story as well. Intrigue within a corrupt city that constantly keeps the need for Batman going. Then comes the Joker with a few drums of gas and a couple of bullets. He comes after the mob, he comes after Batman, he comes after Harvey Dent, he comes after, well, pretty much everyone in Gotham. The tension in the film goes up and up with each burst of the Joker’s presence. That tension is brilliantly created by Nolan’s sense of space, style, timing, composition and direction along with a now historic, classic and influential performance by Heath Ledger and the visual and audio elements that compound the feelings all the more. There’s the slow build in sound whenever the Joker is starting to get crazy, it’s a constant sound, it raises the hair on the back of your neck in a menacing way.

I’ve only seen Harvey Dent played once before and that was in a Batman we’d all like to forget, so I won’t go there. Suffice it to say that Aaron Eckhart’s Harvey Dent sets the bar for the character from here on, same as Ledger’s Joker. Eckhart plays a great ambitious politician, but he plays the flip side (pun intended) as Two-Face with equally intense conviction and delivery.

The writing is for lack of a better definition, perfect. The back and forth of it between Batman, Dent, and Gordon and the Joker, Two-Face and the mob is done in such a way that keeps you guessing while rooting for the good, despising the bad (while still maintaining a fascination with the characters and performances) and loving the drama of it all. Gotta love the detective stuff Batman does too. Re-creating the finger print from the reconstruction of a bullet is much fun.

I enjoyed watching Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne and Batman (and yes, I’m fine with the voice, I get where they’re going with it). Bale interacts nicely with Michael Caine as Alfred and one of my favorites, Gary Oldman as Jim Gordon. I think Bale has a convincing way of playing Wayne both as busy billionaire as well as the Dark Knight and the physicality that goes with him. I’ve been a big fan of Christian Bale since he did American Psycho, the guy plays his roles really effectively with passion and conviction in whatever he does.

The threat of Batman’s identity is woven in here in more than one way adding another layer of tension. Again, all well constructed within the writing. It’s the kind of movie you have to watch about 3,425 times (and I have) to appreciate every part of it, much like Nolan’s Inception.

I could go on and on, but…

Since it’s the second biggest movie of all time, you’ve probably seen it. If you haven’t, see it, if nothing else but to see a film that will be forever a classic and one of those films that influences filmmakers for generations to come.

reviewed by Sean McKnight

You know the story and you’ve probably seen the movie so I won’t go into the story too much. Suffice it to say, I love this story – the details, the set up, the machine world vs the matrix, the whole thing. I found the writing something I got very wrapped up in this as I’ve always liked the idea of AI getting out of control and what would happen. The clash of chaos and order, man vs. machine, it’s all good. The omens of us polluting our planet, the over-reliance on machines, people becoming complacent and ignoring what’s going on around them. Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?

The visual components are stunning. The effects are top notch and have helped to set the bar for our effects standards today. The final fight in Zion with the sentinels is overwhelming and awe-inspiring as is the design of the machine city – a dark mechanical metropolis with an infinite amount of AI running around infesting every nook and cranny. The level of detail and thought behind the designs of the sets, the clothing, the way the CG is designed – all displays from people that are passionate about their craft and very talented at what they do.

The actors are at their peak with this final installment in the trilogy. Keanu Reeves delivers the Neo you come to expect. Reeves still comes off wooden at times but rallies at the right points and keeps you rooting for him nonetheless. Hugo Weaving pulls out his best cold machine Smith (who’s got a little human in him now to boot and it shows) and makes you glad that he’s both the villain and that the ending isn’t going to work out so well for him. Carrie-Anne Moss as Trinity is beautiful, dangerous and strong but has some great moments of vulnerability too. Laurence Fishburne is the MAN as the prophet Morpheus; he’s compassionate and powerful with convincing conviction about his beliefs and Neo. Jada Pinkett Smith, Monica Bellucci, Harold Perrineau and more are included in the talented cast.

The Wachowski brothers wrote and directed.

A great, epic ending, to a great, epic story.

reviewed by Sean McKnight

The catch is, they have to follow the rules bestowed upon them by the organizers. Any violation of the rules constitutes the red light going on and the experiment ending with no payoff.

The premise is very familiar – trying to play with people’s nature and see how they’ll react. I didn’t think I’d be surprise and I wasn’t for the most part. What I found disappointing was the sloppiness of the timetable. It doesn’t seem to take long for a bunch of people who are supposed to be pretty average in terms of who they are to melt down and descend into chaos. Less than 5 days in fact. Really? Is it that bad in the fake big house you’re getting out of in 2 weeks? The lapse into violence, insanity and even rape (wow, the sex addict guy can’t go 3 days before he starts to rape inmates?) is just not very believable.

It also seems like the characters shift and intensify too quickly. Everything feels too quick in fact. The set up feels very set up unfortunately. There are some good actors in here too with Forest Whitaker as the lead guard going off his rocker with power and Adrien Brody as the gentle hippy that discovers he’s got a violent side. They both do well in there roles but some of the script makes their roles feel contrived. The lineup also includes Maggie Grace and Cam Gigandet.

I caught this On Demand, it’s worth a view to form your own opinion as there are some interesting aspects to the film, it’s not bad at 1 in the morning but I wouldn’t go out of my way to pay for it.

reviewed by Sean McKnight

The story is detailed enough to keep readers enthralled, but the movie allows concrete realization of  many aspects of the post-apocalyptic USA portrayed in this story. Fans will thrill to the fashions of the capitol, Donald Sutherland’s portrayal of President Snow, the technology that makes the games possible, and on and on. In that way, the movie is superior to the books.

Readers of the trilogy will be disappointed at some of what was left out, however. The burgeoning romance between Katniss and her hunter pal, Dale, is basically gutted. The backstory involving Peeta saving Katniss from starving by  giving her some bread that he was to feed to his hogs is murkily rendered at best. The backdrop of black marketeering and near starvation is largely left out. Given the empty spaces in the plot, I recommend that viewers see the movie and read the book to fill in the blanks.

The movie is well rendered, nonetheless. The story is presented without an overbearing soundtrack, using instead, environmental sounds. The scenes of the city life in the capitol is presented in much more detail than Katniss’ murky and dark home, the coalmining District 12, but it is, arguably, a more interesting venue. The scenes of the actual Hunger Games are crisp, and well edited. Jennifer Lawrence is both fetching and believable as Katniss Everdeen (everdeen….everdying?). I would, however, have preferred more giblets and splatter, and feel that the story’s violent immediacy was sacrificed for the sake of younger viewers.

The way is paved for  a series of movies using the book’s characters, President Snow, stylist Cinna (a pleasant surprise from Lenny Kravitz), former District 12 winner and candidate advisor Haymitch (Woody Harrelson could have taken this character a bit further), Katniss, Peeta, and so forth.

Particularly well executed are the media circus aspects of the Hunger Games themselves. Stanley  Tucci is very solid as tv flack Ceasar Flickerman, and he leaves room for the character to grow. The sacrificial lambs are made into a twisted reflection of our own recent fascination with so-called “reality television”. Our society’s obsession with style over substance is probaqbly the single most evident theme in the story, and one which we are invited to reconsider numerous times. There is a intimation here of the lives we have seen warped and destroyed by our own need to have celebrities made into cultural “sacrifices”.

This bit of entertainment is pretty much required viewing. You will feel left out if you do not go to see it, and you will not be ready to enjoy the sequels. You will not feel cheated if you pay full price for a ticket for this one. I rate it four arrows through the heart.

Kevin Bolshaw

Very well written – Tom Cruise plays Col. Claus von Stauffenberg who ends up in a position which allows him to get close to Hitler. On his way there, he aligns himself with various dissenter’s of Hitler’s Germany. They think the SS has gone too far and that Germany will be destroyed by the Allies unless they relent which Hitler is unwilling to do. As a result, much of the higher levels of the German Military outside of the SS start to band together with politicians and others like von Stauffenberg, who introduces the plan to overthrow and assassinate their leader. Dialog is well written and carries the plotline through very effectively, also due to the talented lineup…

Speaking of which, the impressive lineup includes: Kenneth Branagh, Bill Nighy, Tom Wilkinson, Terence Stamp, and Eddie Izzard all of whom give great performances. I especially liked Bill Nighy’s delivery and emotion. Cruise tries a bit too hard at times but overall does a nice performance as well.

The film is really well directed by the talented Bryan Singer. The look and feel of the film is very authentic and compliments the tone of the script with efficient fluidity. This is something a little different for both Tom Cruise and Bryan Singer and while there may be a few rough patches here and there, I thought they pulled together an overall strong film about this historic and tragic event.

This isn’t a high action Tom Cruise film, it’s more dialog and character driven in terms of delivery and pacing. History buffs will also be interested in this one.

Definitely recommend a viewing.

reviewed by Sean McKnight

Despite the familiarity and predictability of the story (and it’s super-predictable) The Losers is still a guilty indulgence to experience once. There’s some slick elements to the visual presentation that make it fun to watch. Unfortunately this only seems prevalent during the first 10 minutes and the last 5 including the credits. The way it’s shot and edited have this initial cool, comic book feel to it that you end up missing when you realize they dialed it back. It would’ve been better to remain consistent and cut back on the over-used shakey cam that becomes tedious and gives you a headache.

I’m not going to beat the storyline to death as it’s one you’ve seen multiple times. Suffice it to say the writers followed a formula and did a mediocre job of it although it has some cool quirky moments with some of the characters (like Chris Evans’ assassin-nerd). It’s always fun to see how the characters are developed in a film like this, in this film they’re ok, but not great.

Jason Patric’s bad guy comes off just kind of weird and forced while Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s good guy leader is decent but still lacks something that other frontman bring to the table. The rest of the performances are stock and forgettable although Zoe Saldana is someone that lights up the screen.

Was ok but I wasn’t overly impressed with it. The ending is especially unsatisfying, they should’ve worried more about a solid storyline and less about sequel money…

reviewed by Sean McKnight

The Hunger Games is a contest of survival with each district issuing 2 tributes (1 male, 1 female) that compete in a battle to the death with the last person standing as the winner as a form of punishment to each district to remind them not to rebel again.

Enter Katniss Everdeen who volunteers to compete in place of her sister after she ends up being on the crap end of a lottery to draw contestants. Katniss and her male counterpart end up in training with the other contestants while being mentored by a former winner from their district in the form of Woody Harrelson’s Haymitch Abernathy.

If you’ve liked films such as The Running Man or The Blood of Heroes, then you’ll probably enjoy this. The storyline is familiar but compelling and modeled uniquely in this form. The writing and design paint a colorful but also destitute landscape in the future. The design of the costumes of the nobles is really eye-catching, colorful, and extravagant. While the design of the commoners is very plain and stark; nice contrast between the 2 classes of citizen.

The action plays out with a lot of intrigue and intensity. My only complaint is that the whole shaky cam  thing is waaaaaay overused again. So much actual action is missed that it’s just plain hard to watch at times. Other than that, the confrontations between the contestants is both fierce and sad as the combatants fight for their lives.

The actors are all on their game so-to-speak and deliver passionate, inspired performances, especially Jennifer Lawrence, Elizabeth Banks, Woody Harrelson and Stanley Tucci. I really enjoyed watching Lawrence played the conflicted, emboldened Katniss character in particular.

Great writing, acting, design, direction and performances. Good stuff, go see this one in the theater!

reviewed by Sean McKnight