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There're movies out there, and I gotsta reviews'em!
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-new-Transformers-new-
Executive Produce Steven Spielberg and Director Michael Bay re-envision the massively followed, iconic franchise known as the Transformers! A young man holds more than he knows when he is pursued by strange robots in the guise of ordinary cars. They seek the Allspark, which the Autobots would use for bringing life back to their home planet Cybertron. The Decepticons seek the device to abuse its power in the name of their lord Megatron!
First, I want to say this: WWWWWWWWWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-HHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!
This was a fun, great movie to watch. As a from as far back as Generation 1, it was great to hear Peter Cullen reprise Optimus Prime. Hugo Weaving, I think, did just as good a job as Megatron as Frank Welker (who did the voice in the movie game). Each actor, either on screen or voice, played their parts well (with a couple exceptions that I'll get into later).
If your a big enough doofus (*ahem*...me), you'll see nods from Gen1, Beast Wars, and a wee bit of Beast Machines. If you wanna get technical, you could say Sam's quip about the 'bot being "Japanese" could be a reference to the lackluster TF anime we've gotten in the last several years, and/or the Diaclones I've heard so much about but know nothing of.
There were a couple things that left me wondering. Like why Bumblebee seemed to try and get Sam into Mikeala's pants. And why Ironhide was so trigger-happy with the humans. They could have portrayed his warrior character without him seeming homicidal. And while there was nothing bad with the main characters' dialogue, I found it weird hearing LeBouf say things like "Autobots" and "Allspark". I think it's just that I personally avoid fanboyish conversations with "normals".
Now to the inevitable bad points. First, Anthony Anderson didn't need to be in the movie. I think the guy can be funny (when he's not being vulgar), but being "the only man in the world" to decipher Cybertronian glyphs, and lives within spitting distance of a secure government facility? Meh. There are more convincing ways to do what he barely did. Then there's Sam's mother. She could go. That remark about "Sam's Happy Time" was stupid and pointless. If they'd taken out those two characters and used their time to throw in more focus on the Transformers, it would have been much better. And that bit on Air Force One with the President charicature? Bleh. Lastly,
A lot of fans complain about the changes made from the source material, but it was nothing bad. Change can be good, folks. The CGI was superb and the cast (with noted exceptions) was choice. See the flick with the open mind and enjoy. A-
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-new-Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer-new-
While Reed and Sue prepare for their nuptuals, a strange entity is barreling for Earth. The First Family of Marvel Comics must set aside personal desires for the greater good, which leads to some unpleasant alliances.
Much like with X2, this far exceeded it predecessor. It mixed comedy action and drama and maintained a good family dynamic. Johnny's problem with the powers offered a fun aspect that also played well into other areas of the film. On a different note, those who've read Ultimate Extinction will recognize a particular line from Reed in the film.
The Silver Surfer looked great. His powers, his form, and the stunts were flawless. I think they put in just the right amount of his back story that we needed. As for how they portrayed Galactus...I didn't hate it, but I will say it was unique. It also lent itself to unaswered questions.
There was a moment in the final fight that didn't make sense (how Johnny retains all the powers). The very end was a tad cliche and how Reed and Sue finally settled the marriage issue felt a little off. I know it was intended to be in good fun, but still. B+
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-new-Shrek the Third-new-
King Harold has fallen ill and on the brink of death. Shrek, who's been fullfilling the kingly duties, tires of the royal lifestyle, and is unsure of his qualifications when Frog King's dying words are for him to fill the throne. Fortunately for Shrek, there is another. Fiona's cousin Arthur. Questing for the new king with Puss in Boots and Donkey, Shrek recieves news that he's going to be a father. Meanwhile, Prince Charming seeks to reclaim what he lost, and gets some help along the way.
This movie was at least as funny as the second, and the animation, if anything, went up a notch. They throw in every character from the previous films that didn't die (kinda like with the Austin Powers films), and the characters still play off each other well.
That said, this was simply more of the same. Just as with the first two, Shrek explains how he's an ogre among men. Do they think we forgot the big green guy was an ogre? Also, there was a moment of "girl power" that I think could have been played a little less..."girl power"-ish. If the future Shreks they're talking about making are just going to be more of Mike Meyers talking about how hard being an ogre is while Antonio Banderas seduces cats and Eddie Murphy talks funny...I may pass. B-
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Spider-Man 3
Things seem to be going great for the wall-crawler. The public at large is accepting him, he's got the girl of his dreams, and Pete is considering a proposal. Unfortunately, a downside is bound to happen. A new face emerges from the night Uncle Ben was shot. Edward Brock Jr. arrives at the Bugle to usurp Parker's position. The darkness within Peter begins to emerge with a little...help. The visuals were on par with the past movies. There didn't seem to be as many "amazing" acrobatics like leaping through a narrow opening in a bridge, but there's more to Spidey than villains and impressive stunts. This was more of a character-driven film. While I thought there were too many villains, they all had a purpose in the main point of the story; they all fit in their own way. I think, with enough tinkering, we could have had just Osborne and Sandman, have the same story, and leave Venom to be the focal foe in another film (like he "deserves" to be...fanboys). But, at the time they were making this, numerous people involved (MacGuire, Dunst, director Raimi) were saying this'd likely be the last one. That may've been a factor. Some minor gripes of mine are that they could've better developed the "villain team-up", given New Goblin a normal mask that didn't take itself off, and better elaborate on that confession about Norman's demise. And maybe downplayed that walking montage of an over confident Parker by just a WEE little bit. One thing I'm sick of is fans whining how bad this film was. It wasn't. I can understand being upset that there wasn't enough Venom, but it wasn't ABOUT him. It was revenge, redemption, forgiveness...all wrapped in web-themed tights. The ball may've been dropped a couple times, but overall, this wasn't nearly as bad as some whiney fanboys will tell you. A-
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Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
Will Turner, Elizabeth Swan and the crew of the Pearl are led by the resurrected Captain Barbosa to retrieve Jack Sparrow and the legendary vessel. Even after they manage such a feat, they still have to deal with grim Davey Jones and the ruthless man manipulating the events in his own favor. As with the previous films, the visuals are impressive and Sparrow's antics are amusing. There were some unveiled twists that I saw coming at the last minute, but no less interesting. One character was sort of deus ex machina'd off with little explaination (you'll know who when you see it). Swan was overdone with the whole "girl power" thing, I thought. The stunts weren't as "whoa, that's nuts" like you saw in the first two. That was more supplimated with an increase in gruesomeness. I'm not talking blood pouring out, but there were more swords being shown going through people. Someone even got shot IN THE HEAD. In a DISNEY film. There're talks of more Pirates, but there's the matter of if there are stories worth telling. We know Jack is wacky, we've seen the guy with the wooden eye and the one pirate he's always beside. We've seen enough Swan and Turner. We may be done with all this. Even so, the film was at least was good as 2, if not as stunt-filled. A
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