Theater Review: Saving Mr. Banks

I love finding out the back stories of some of my favorite things. Sometimes they aren't what they seem, but you usually find out some pretty cool information.

Saving Mr. Banks is the behind-the-scenes process of bringing Mary Poppins to the big screen at Walt Disney Studios.

P.L. Travers (Emma Thompson) created the character Mary Poppins for children's books that she had written. And, as we see in flashbacks of Travers' childhood, Poppins is more than just a character in a book to her.

Walt Disney (Tom Hanks) promised his daughters more than 20 years ago that he would bring their favorite book to the big screen - and he began trying to court Mrs. Travers in doing so.

Travers, though, only saw Disney as that animated place - and never saw Mary Poppins as an animated feature, nor did she see it as a musical.

After 20 years, the book money has not been coming in as frequently and Travers had begun to run out of money. So, she decided to take a trip out to Los Angeles to meet with Disney and his crew about the possibility of bringing Mary Poppins to the big screen.

Of course, Travers is anything but helpful along the way. In fact, she pretty much hates everything. She forced each meeting to be recorded. I really had never heard of the practice before of pretty much fleshing out the entire movie before even acquiring the rights - perhaps it happens and we just don't hear about it.

Richard (Jason Schwartzman) and Robert (B.J. Novak) Sherman present many songs they have written for her movie - and of course they clash with her. Don DaGradi (Bradley Whitford) was the screenwriter for the film and all three bent over backwards to make things work.

The only person Travers opened up to during her entire trip was her driver Ralph (Paul Giamatti), who she said was the only American she could stand.

Though she was a pill, Disney actually understood her - in fact, she probably was the best person go through this process with her. He too once had an imaginary family member that someone wanted to purchase - and he never gave him up.

Obviously, in the end the movie ended up being made under the Disney banner - and Disney ended up getting his way with a lot of the things Travers disagreed with, including having Dick Van Dyke play Bert.

The acting, especially Hanks and Thompson, was outstanding. Thompson was so spiteful as Travers - she really got into the character very well. Hanks was great as Disney as well, it was the first time ever that Disney had been portrayed in a film.

Novak and Schwartzman both stood out as the Sherman brothers, and Whitford and Giamatti are both their outstanding selves.

In flashbacks, Colin Farrell played Travers' dad and Annie Rose Buckley, in her first film role, plays a young Travers - and I thought she was amazing in the role.

Overall, a great telling of the story - and a great use of flashbacks to allow the viewer to see why it is so difficult for Travers to allow Disney to make this into a movie.

Grade:

Theater Review: Frozen

What is that in the rearview mirror? Well, it just might be sister company Pixar.

Disney - and I mean original Disney - just might finally be back.

Starting with 2010's Tangled (though Princess & the Frog was actually pretty good) Disney has made an upward climb back into the limelight - and might even caught up to (or surpassed) animation giant Pixar.

Though Tangled had no chance of taking out Toy Story 3 in the Academy Awards, I felt last year that Wreck-It Ralph was far superior to Pixar's Brave that took home the trophy.

Well, I honestly can't see that happening again. As great as Monsters University was - there is no way they can pass up Disney's Frozen.

Frozen follows a pair of princess sisters, Elsa (Idina Menzel) and Anna (Kristen Bell), who are inseparable in their younger years. Elsa, though, has a bit of a mutation? She has the power to create snow and ice.

Once while playing with her power, she accidentally hit her sister and her parents realize that it is becoming too powerful. So, they get Anna's memory of her sister's power erased and hide Elsa in the castle - keeping out all visitors.

As time passes, Anna becomes more and more crazy because of her cabin fever and her inability to play with her best friend and sister, who stays hidden in her room as much as possible - and wears gloves to keep her powers at bay.

But, when she reaches a certain age - she must take over the thrown as the queen. And, the castle is opened and people come in to see her coronation, including Prince Hans (Santino Fontana). Due to what can only be her cabin fever issue - Anna falls madly in love with Hans in just a few hours and they agree to marry.

This news, however, sets Elsa off and her ability is revealed to the entire castle. So, she flees and leaves the entire kingdom in a state of winter.

Anna now must rescue her sister and get her to reverse the spell that is cast over the kingdom. Along her journey she meets an ice salesman named Kristoff (Jonathan Goff), his reindeer Sven and a snowman made by her sister named Olaf (Josh Gad).

I really cannot wait to go see this movie again. I absolutely loved Wreck-It Ralph last year and I might even enjoy Frozen even more. It was breathtaking.

It looked amazing, had a great voice cast, great humor and the story was amazing. It pretty much had everything a Disney movie used to have. Including unbelievable music.

Do yourself a favor and go see this - probably a few times. It is that good. I loved it.

And this song pretty much has the Oscar wrapped up as well. This version gave me goosebumps in the theater. Very powerful.



My grade for now is this, but I feel it might be bumped up with another viewing. I just can't bring myself to give a top grade after one viewing.

Grade:

Theater Review: Turbo

I am so far behind on my reviews again. I had to at least sit down and get this theater review out - especially since the film is dropping on DVD next week.

Anyway, I definitely was not expecting anything when I went to see Turbo. My parents came up to visit and took my son to see it - and I tagged along.

But, I really came away surprised - I really enjoyed it.

Turbo (Ryan Reynolds) is a snail that has the need for speed. He stays up at night watching videos of his favorite race car driver, Guy Gagne (Bill Hader) and dreaming of being a racer himself. For a snail, he might actually be one of the faster ones - but he is still a snail.

During the day, he works in a tomato garden with a lot of other snails, including his brother Chet (Paul Giamatti), who is sort of in charge of the garden crew. On his breaks, instead of eating, Turbo pretends to be fast - and it is beginning to wear on his brother, who wants him to grow up.

Turbo leaves the tomato garden for a walk one night and wishes on a 'star' to be fast, and he gets sucked up into a super charged car - and he gets soaked in nitrous oxide that gets sucked into his DNA. And, you guessed it - Turbo becomes super fast.

So, he goes to show off for the garden crew - and manages to crush most of the garden, which gets himself and his brother fired. As they fought, Chet is scooped up by a crow - and Turbo heads off to rescue him.

Both of them are soon picked up by Tito (Michael Pena) and taken back to a forgotten strip mall where he works with his brother Angelo (Luis Guzman) at a taco stand. Tito likes to race snails, and uses some souped up shells to make the snails faster - however, everyone is blown away but what Turbo can do.

Tito soon comes up with an idea to rescue the taco stand - and the strip mall. He decides to enter Turbo in a race with actual race cars - including racing against his ideal Gagne.

As I said, I went into this not really expecting much - but I found myself pretty entertained. No, it isn't the greatest animated film, heck it probably isn't even the best of the year. But, I was definitely entertained throughout, so it gets my vote of approval.

The interaction between the brothers, both Tito and Angelo, and Chet and Turbo is pretty good. The strip mall crew: Paz (Michelle Rodriguez), Bobby (Richard Jenkins) and Kim-Ly (Ken Jeong) were also pretty fun to watch. Then there were the other snails that get raced: Whiplash (Samuel L. Jackson), Burn (Maya Rudolph), Smoove Move (Snoop Dogg), Skidmark (Ben Schwartz) and White Shadow (Michael Bell) - a lot of laughs during their scenes.

Again, not breaking new ground here with this film - but for a film that I really didn't even think about seeing, I really enjoyed it.

Grade:

Theater Review: The Wolverine

I know its sacrilegious to say, but I didn't hate X-Men Origins: Wolverine as much as everyone else. I think what it comes down to the most is that a lot of people that read the comics were upset about the way things came across and how characters were represented. I never read the comics, so I don't look at it as closely.

But, it is still the worst of the series, right behind X-Men: The Last Stand. And with those two combined, a lot of wrongs needed to be righted. We got a nice, fresh look with X-Men: First Class - and here they try to give us the Wolverine story we were supposed to get.

Hugh Jackman reprises his role as Logan for I believe the sixth time in The Wolverine. And, it is probably his best performance out of all three. He has truly embraced and become Wolverine.

The film takes place years after The Last Stand and Logan is now living as a hermit in the woods - still having trouble sleeping and reliving his actions against Jean Grey. He doesn't go into town often, except to get supplies he needs - and he has basically become part of the wild.

But, hunters in the woods have set him off - and he returns to town to approach one of them. Unleashing the Wolverine despite trying to keep him dormant.

About to do go crazy on some people in a bar, Logan is stopped by Yukio (Rila Fukushima), who for the past year has been trying to locate Logan for her employer Yashida (Hal Yamanouchi).

In a flashback, we find that Logan was in a POW camp in Japan near Nagasaki in 1945. The camp about to be bombed, Logan rescues and protects Yashida from certain death.

Yashida, with a new life granted upon him, becomes one of the richest and most powerful men in Japan and is the CEO if his own technology corporation. Now on his death bed, he has asked Yukio to bring Logan to Japan so he can thank him properly for saving his life - before he dies.

But, Yashida also has a surprise for Logan - he believes he has found the ability to take away his healing powers and allow Logan to live a normal life and die in peace.

Of course, that is just the setup. What would an X-Men movie be without a ton of things going wrong, and someone wanting to take something by force. And, we get a lot of great action sequences - and some great insight into Logan's life, and a new love interest, Mariko (Tao Okamoto), the granddaughter of Yashida - who Logan soon needs to protect.

And, he must protect her as his healing abilities begin to fade away.

This was by no means a perfect film, but it was probably the Wolverine movie we should have gotten in the first place. Jackman is outstanding as Wolverine, and can easily carry an X-Men film on his own - but I was definitely missing some of the old gang.

As good as the movie was - I was even more excited by staying and seeing the credit scene. A great scene that helps setup the next X-Men installment. And, I cannot wait now.

Grade:

Theater Review: Despicable Me 2

I actually remember sort of liking the original film in this franchise, but I really had a hard time remembering a lot about it. That is odd in my house, as I have seen most of these animated films about 300 times apiece, but for some reason I don't think I have seen that one more than twice at the most.

But, with some free tickets in hand, my son and I went to see Despicable Me 2.

How can you tell a new story when the villain in the previous movie is now a good guy? Well, they figured it out pretty well. I actually think they may have improved upon the first one.

Gru (Steve Carell) is now no longer plotting to be the world's most notorious villain. Instead he is trying to be a really good dad to his three adopted daughters, Agnes (Elsie Fisher), Edith (Dana Gaier) and Margo (Miranda Cosgrove).

He is even one of the most eligible bachelors on the block, and the other ladies are looking to set him up on dates.

The Minions and Dr. Nefario (Russell Brand)? They are still there, but instead of making evil objects to help Gru, they are making preserves. That is until Dr. Nefario gets a better job offer from another villain.

Now no longer a villain, Gru still gets pulled into the game as Lucy (Kristen Wiig) of the Ant-Villain League pulls him in to help her track down  the PX-41 mutagen that was stolen from the Arctic Circle. A mutagen that can turn things into indestructible monsters.

The mutagen is thought to have been in the Paradise Shopping Mall, so Lucy and Gru setup a bakery in the mall to go undercover and find out who in the mall stole the mutagen and why they are planning on using it.

That is all well and good, and a decent story line, but the main reason to watch this movie is for the Minions. I believe after the first film the creators realized what they had with these little guys and they are featured a whole lot more in this one. Every time they are on the screen something hilarious is happening.

Also, I have to give it to the little girls as well, especially the littlest one Agnes. They were also very funny.

What is funny, though, with all of the comedians in the film - Carell, Wiig and Brand - it was the girls and the Minions that actually have you laughing. The other characters had their moments, but they were in no way the stars of this film - and it still worked.

Apparently a new film called Minions is scheduled for next year - not sure how a film of just will work, but it should be interesting and they will find a way to make it funny. I just hope they don't over do it and make them annoying with an over abundance of them.

Grade:

Theater Review: Now You See Me

I put up a small poll on my Facebook page to see what film I was seeing when I was able to get out of work early one night. The choices were Now You See Me and This is the End.

With an overwhelming, and somewhat surprising, difference in the outcome - Now You See Me won pretty easily.

So, off I went. And by the time I was seeing it, I was one of the few people in the theater - which I love.

Now You See Me is pretty much right up my alley, so I was happy to see it. I am a huge fan of films like Ocean's Eleven that have heists committed, and then give you how its done and the reason behind the heist itself. In this film, though, instead of costumes and disguises - magic is used and everyone know who is committing the crimes, but just can't seem to prove that they are.

The film stars an unlikely quartet as the Four Horsemen. Jesse Eisenberg plays J. Daniel Atlas, and is probably the most talented magician of the bunch - and he plays a little different than his usual quirky roles he has played in the past in say Social Network. He is actually sort of playing a stud - which was nice to see him play something different, and I came away liking him a little bit more.

Isla Fisher plays Henley Reeves, Atlas' former assistant who has now branched out on her own and is now more of an escape artist, ala Harry Houdini. She is also very talented, and I think we need more of her in films. Woody Harrelson plays Merritt McKinney, who is more of a mentalist than a magician. Harrelson has become one of my favorite actors over the years, he always seems to do an amazing job.

The surprise of the movie - Dave Franco. Franco plays Jack Wilder, a street magician who uses slight of hand to pretty much rob those around him. Franco sort of sticks out as not really belonging in this group of actors - sure maybe his brother James would fit in, but Dave? But, honestly, he was a standout to me. He was probably my favorite person in the movie.

So, the Four Horsemae are brought together by a bunch of Tarot cards and an unknown benefactor. They join forces to put on a handful of shows, which are sponsored by an insurance tycoon Arthur Tressler (Michael Caine).

Their show, though, doesn't just entertain the audience - it makes them wealthy. By robbing from a bank and showering the money out into the audience. But, how did they do it?

With more shows in the future, the authorities believe this will continue and FBI agent Dylan Rhodes (Mark Ruffalo) and Interpol agent Alma Dray (Melanie Laurent) are put on the case to figure out how it was done so they can pin it on the Four Horsemen.

They also bring in Thaddeus Bradley (Morgan Freeman), a former magician who now makes money revealing the secrets of other magicians' tricks. It's Bradley that Rhodes and Dray are hoping can figure out how the robberies are taking place.

I cam away really loving this movie. It had a lot of what I love, a great heist, great execution, action and a lot of comedy. Though, some forced love occurred as well - something that always seems to happen in these films. There was no real reason for it, but it didn't take away from anything.

The acting was top-notch, Caine, Freeman and Ruffalo are all outstanding actors. The lowest tiered actor was Franco, and as I said before, he stoodout to me in this film.

There are some twists and turns as well, some of which I figured out during, but it didn't take away from the overall movie. Looking forward to seeing it again.

Grade: 

Theater Review: Monsters University

For the first time that I can remember, I was actually late to a film. I read the times wrong and I showed up for the wrong showing. Luckily, I don't believe we missed much - but still, I definitely hate missing anything. Heck, I don't even like missing previews.

Anyway, onto the film.

Monsters University is the Pixar release of the year. It's sort of been a rough going for Pixar the past few years since the amazing Toy Story 3.

In 2011, they released Cars 2 which I can totally understand why. A lot of critics and adults seem to hate the Cars films, but kids love them. It's probably the most kid-centric of the Pixar films. My son loves them both and I have seen it a ton of times - I don't hate them. In fact, I still enjoy them. But, it isn't the best of the Pixar bunch.

Last year they released Brave, which was a pretty decent, fun film. But, even it wasn't quite up to the standards that we have come to expect from Pixar. It did win the Oscar, but I don't think it deserved it. Disney's own Wreck-It Ralph was a much better film than Brave, in my opinion.

So, we head back in time. Literally.

We return to the world of monsters that we loved in Monters, Inc. and our fiends Mike (Billy Crystal) and Sully (John Goodman).

But, we already know their story at Monsters, Inc. - so we are brought back in time for this prequel, to the time that Mike and Sully meet at Monsters University.

Mike is the quintessential over-achiever - and he has to be. He is going to try and become a scarer - and quite frankly he isn't scary. So, he studies and studies to get good grades and try to stand out.

Sully, meanwhile, is a legacy. And, he doesn't study at all - he parties and plays tricks on people, the perfect frat boy.

At first, of course, Mike and Sully despise each other. And, during a test, they are cornered by Dean Abigail Hardscrabble (Helen Mirren) to pass the test, and both fail and are kicked out of the scaring program.

Heartbroken, Mike makes a deal with the Dean - if he wins the annual Scare Games he can get back into the scare program. Unfortunately, he must be in a Fraternity - and must have at least six members. So, he has to do it with Oozma Kappa - a Fraternity of castoffs - Don Carlton (Joel Murray), Squishy Squibbles (Peter Sohn), Art (Charlie Day) and Terry/Teri Perry (Dave Foley/Sean Hayes).

He also has another issue, including himself Oozma Kappa only has five members - as Terry/Terri only count as one. That is until Sully himself gets wind of the deal and looks to join - against Mike's wishes, he must allow his enemy in so that he can fulfill his dreams.

A pretty fun and decent origins story of Sully and Mike's current relationship that we see in Monsters, Inc. I feel it was better than the Cars sequel and even Brave - but doesn't live up to the Toy Story sequels, and probably not even the original Monsters, Inc.

It was cool to see some of the other monsters that we see in the original in the background throughout the film. And, we get the return of Randall (Steve Buscemi), who apparently started out as Mike's roommate, and not such a bad guy.

The new characters, other than the Oozma Kappa gang, really didn't stand out. I loved Oozma Kappa though. Art was hilarious and the other members each bring something fun to the table.

The film is still carried by Mike and Sully, however, and Goodman and Crystal work so well together, which is why this film works again. And, you get to see how the two are such a good team in the future, as together they work much better than when they are apart.

Grade:

Theater Review: Man of Steel

I don't usually talk about my theater experience, but this was a bit different for me so I will start out with that. I live in a small town - it is very rare when a theater is even half full when I finally get out to the movies. I like the intimacy though - it bothers me when I am near anyone really, unless I go with someone.

Well, I went and saw this movie in a larger area - and the theater was packed. We had to sit in the front portion of the theater, which I am not a huge fan of. But, despite being so close and not having the greatest view of the screen, the movie itself went off without a hitch. Until, the theater received a power surge and we lost sound for a key part of the movie. But, I got over it - then the movie shut off completely. Finally, they restarted it (not completely but about 10 minutes before the sound went out) - I used this opportunity to use the rest room, then finished the movie. To my surprise - as we departed we got free movie tickets - not bad for a few minutes of problems.

Now onto the actual movie.

Man of Steel is yet another reboot of the hero Superman. After four Christopher Reeve-helmed films in the late 70s and part of the 80s (not to mention many other versions like Dean Cain's on 'Lois & Clark' and Tom Welling's on 'Smallville') we received the new Superman Brandon Routh in Superman Returns - and although it did extremely well box office wise, it bombed with critics and fans alike.

So, seven years later, we get yet another reboot.

After the success of the Marvel films and Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy it was only logical for DC to get its favorite (possibly second) hero back onto the big screen - and we got him in the form of Henry Cavill.

I have to admit, I have only seen the original Superman film starring Reeve, and it wasn't until a few years ago. Honestly, I wasn't that big of a fan. So, the reboot is pretty much my first real look into Superman.

Krypton is about to explode because of  years of depleting natural resources. For years, the only children born on Krypton have been manufactured - except the brand new baby of Jor-El (Russell Crowe) and Lara (Antje Traue). In order to maintain the race - and save their son - they infuse his cells with a codex of the entire Kryptonian race and ship him off to planet Earth.

General Zod (Michael Shannon), though, was banished from the planet along with those who worked with him and was able to survive the destruction of the planet. And, he promises to remake Krypton and track down Kal-El.

Kal-El, renamed Clark Kent, is raised as a regular child by Martha (Diane Lane) and Jonathan Kent (Kevin Costner). Because of the sun, Clark becomes extremely powerful and needs to learn to control those powers in order to blend in.

But, after his Earth father was killed and Zod has located him on the planet, it is up to him to protect his adopted planet before it gets destroyed.

This movie was far from perfect, but it was pretty darn entertaining - and the absolute best Superman film I have ever seen. It is also a great starting out point - I can definitely see how this film sets up so many more great films in the future.

It was a pretty good origin story, but that is the problem with new movies, the origin story - most people already know how Superman came about, but it still must be told to reboot the franchise. And, it was done well - and as much as I enjoyed it and was entertained, I do think the next set of films will be even better. Including the much anticipated Justice League film.

I actually thought the acting in the film was pretty great. Crowe and Costner stand out, and Shannon was great as Zod. Cavill is pretty new to me - but I thought he looked the part of Superman and balanced his strengths with his struggles. Even the secondary characters were great - with Christopher Meloni, Harry Lennix, Laurence Fishburne and Richard Schiff all being great actors.

I have really come to like Amy Adams, and I feel she will be a great Lois Lane, but I felt in this movie she just wasn't given that much to do. And, honestly, the romance between her and Superman felt sort of forced.

Tons of action. I mean tons. Which in a Superman film about an almost unstoppable alien race fighting on Earth, that should happen. And it was great.

Grade:

Theater Review: Star Trek Into Darkness

(HEAVY SPOILER ALERT)

If anyone out there actually follows this blog, you probably have noticed that the first Star Trek film that J.J. Abrams came out with in 2009 was probably my favorite film in many years.

There isn't many films that as soon as I walk out of the theater I think to myself 'when can I see that again?' But, the 2009 version of Star Trek had that effect on me. I absolutely loved it. And, I probably watch it more often than I should on DVD.

Anyway, I had been longing for the sequel (Star Trek Into Darkness) of that film - and the many more that I hope to come in the future. And, I made sure to run out and see it on opening weekend - pretty much opening night. But, I waited on my review, because I had to see it again before sitting down to write my thoughts.

As in the original incarnation of these films, the main characters of the film were always Spock, McCoy and Kirk - with the other characters, while not considered minor, were still secondary characters. And, that continues here.

In the first film the characters are introduced to each other and thrust into action together without truly knowing each other that well. In this film, they have gotten to know each other a little more, but are still learning about each other.

The relationship of McCoy (Karl Urban) and Kirk (Chris Pine) was strong, in an out-insult one another-type ever since they became friends at the academy. But, the relationship that seems to have grown the most is that of Kirk and Spock (Zachary Quinto). Despite still not grasping what the other is thinking, the two have a mutual respect for each other - and because of their growing friendship the jokes are getting better as well.

The difference between the old Star Trek and Star Wars was Star Trek was more about dialogue and relationships, while Star Wars brought the battles and excitement.

Here, we get both - and that is why I am absolutely loving this incarnation of the films.

Now, the movie itself.

After breaking the rules - again - and getting turned in by Spock, by accident, Kirk has lost the Enterprise to Christopher Pike (Bruce Greenwood). But, because Pike sees something special in him, he persuades Alexander Marcus (Peter Weller) into allowing Kirk to be his first officer.

Meanwhile, a starfleet officer named John Harrison (Benedict Cumberbatch) has gone rogue and set off a bomb in London. All of the fleet's captains and first officers gather to decide what to do when Kirk realizes that Harrison just might be planning a separate attack - when in fact he is, on those gathered.

In the attack, many officers are killed, including Pike. Kirk requests to Marcus that he and the crew of the Enterprise track down Harrison, who has gone into hiding on the Klingon moon of Kronos. Marcus agrees, but only if Kirk takes the 72 long-range torpedoes with them and uses them to kill Harrison without starting a war with the Klingons.

Like in Iron Man 3, the true identity of the villain is hidden. Harrison turns out to be a genetically engineered superhuman named Khan, who is over 300 years old. And, for a little while, the audience is unsure who the villain of the film actually is. For those that have watched the original films, Khan is of course a terrifying villain. But here, reality is blurred.

As the Enterprise sits unable to move in space due to a core overload - caused by tampering - Alexander Marcus and his huge starship show up to take Khan from Kirk.

McCoy and Carol Marcus (Alice Eve), who turns out to be Marcus' daughter, travel to a nearby planet to open one of the torpedoes - only to find a human inside the torpedo. Alexander Marcus had awoken Khan years ago, but left all 72 of his former crew asleep, and all 72 were hidden in the torpedoes.

Khan and Kirk join forces to take down Marcus' ship, that is threatening to destroy the Enterprise and kill everyone on board. But, Scotty (Simon Pegg) who is on board of Marcus' ship, has given them a small window to save their ship.

It is here, and only for a little while, that we start thinking perhaps the villain of the film is Marcus, not Khan. But, Kirk is not turned at all - and as it turns out it is Marcus and Khan who turn out to be the villains.

Do I consider myself a Trekkie? I don't think I was. As I said, Star Wars was always more fun to watch because of the battle scenes and lightsaber battles. But, Star Trek always had the better writing, the better dialogue, the better interactions between the characters.

What we have here, is a mixture of both. And, I can now consider myself a Trekkie. And, I am even more excited for the next installment of Star Wars with Abrams at the helm.

What he has done here is amazing. He took something that was so special to so many people and rebooted it. And, came out smelling like a rose. He still has the dialogue, the relationships and the humor from the original - and also tosses in some homage to the films as well (Khan, tribbles). But, the exciting battles are what puts it over the top.

The crew continues to shine. They did it right on the casting. They all get a little more to do this time around than in the first, Pegg probably getting the most action after Kirk and Spock.

Cumberbatch is amazing as Harrison, and Khan of course. It was the worst kept, best kept secret. Abrams released his character as John Harrison and never once mentioned the name Khan, despite the blogosphere jumping to the conclusion that it would have to be Khan. But, still not a peep - and I went in not really knowing if it was him or not - until the reveal. Which was outstanding.

With the arrival of Nero in the first film, the voyage of the starship Enterprise is now skewed and things that happened to the original Kirk, Spock and crew are changed forever. So, even with the arrival of a familiar foe, many things have changed - but some things continue to be mirrored in some sort of way.

And, the good thing is, the Enterprise hasn't even started its five-year journey yet. The embark on that journey at the conclusion of the film. So, two films down and we are just now starting the actual journey of the Enterprise - I hope we can see this journey in many films to come.

Grade:

Theater Review: Iron Man 3

I have to say it was pretty smart of Marvel to drop an Iron Man film as the first to follow last year's Avengers.

Iron Man was a surprise hit in 2008 and Robert Downey, Jr. became both Tony Stark and Iron Man - his quote at the conclusion of the first film was perfect, "I am Iron Man!".

But, as much as the original film was a surprise hit, it feels like Iron Man 2 was a bit of a let down to many movie goers. Sure, it was definitely a step backwards - especially since the villain was actually much better, but Whiplash was never really the villain he should have and could have been.

Plus, the main reason for Iron Man 2 was to pretty much setup The Avengers film - with the introduction of Black Widow and Nick Fury inviting Tony to join the Avengers Initiative.

So, now we have Iron Man 3.

I would probably put it somewhere between the original and its sequel. I feel it was better than the last one, but still can't live up to the first.

Since the events that happened in New York in the Avengers, Tony has had trouble sleeping - and has spent that time creating new and different Iron Man suits. His relationship with Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) continues to grow, but Tony's issues that he gained after almost dying in the alien invasion have strained it somewhat.

In a flashback, we learn that Tony spent a night with Maya Hansen (Rebecca Hall) and also blew off Aldrich Killian (Guy Pearce), who wanted to speak to him about an experiment he is working on.

Killian, now with a new backer, returns to Stark Industries - this time speaking to the new person in charge, Potts. But, like Tony before her, she turns him down because of the ability to possibly weaponize is product.

Over seas, a terrorist much like Osama bin Laden, is threatening the United States and he goes by the Mandarin (Ben Kinglsey). After Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau) is injured during an apparent attack by the Mandarin, Tony tells him to come after him at his home - and he does.

With Stark's home destroyed - and feared dead - he is flown to Tennessee by his suit, until it loses all of its power. Tony teams up with Harley Keener (Ty Simpkins) to track down information on some of the attacks that have been happening, and to also recharge the Iron Man suit.

After the Mandarin steals Iron Patriot - formerly War Machine - from James Rhodes (Don Cheadle) so that he can kidnap the president (after already kidnapping Pepper) - Rhodes and Tony team up 80s-cop style to rescue them both and put a stop to the Mandarin once and for all.

Pretty tough to recap this without giving things away - but I think I did. Some great surprises happen, which I honestly did not see coming.

Best parts of the film, hands down, are the interactions between Stark and the kid. It was pretty darn funny and the kid held his own pretty well with Downey, Jr. Second has to be the final battle scene.

I am not giving anything away here because it is shown in the trailer - but Stark has really not been sleeping much and he has created a ton of new suits - some of which do many different things.

The culmination has all of them coming together to take down the Mandarin and help Rhodes and Stark rescue Potts and the president (William Sadler).

If this is the final Iron Man film, it went out pretty well. The story was wrapped up in a nice bow - but it felt like there was also more to tell if it continued.

Downey, Jr. is in the renegotiating phase with Marvel for his salary to continue as Tony Stark - which no doubt will be for Avengers 2 and Avengers 3. As more and more standalone features are announced, Iron Man has not been one of them. And, I don't have a problem with that - I am fine with him continuing to just be part of Avengers and maybe cameo in other films along the way.

But, this film made a butt-load of money and I doubt Marvel (and Disney) will just stop altogether leaving this much money on the table. It's obvious people still love their Iron Man - and if they can get Downey, Jr. under contract - I really expect another film in the future.

Grade:

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Theater Review: Jurassic Park 3D

There isn't a whole lot that I can say about this movie that you already do not know. If you haven't seen it yet, you either don't enjoy these types of movies, or you may be living under a rock.

Either way, a couple year's back my local theater played Jurassic Park as part of its Throwback Thursdays (that I am not sure if they still do). And, I kicked myself for not going to see it.

Luckily, the film was re-released for its 20th anniversary and given the 3D treatment. Now, I don't think it needed to be in 3D, but everyone else is obviously doing it now - so I guess it had to as well.

Jurassic Park was originally released in 1993 when I was 12 years old. But, I did not get to check it out in the theater. My first taste of T-Rex and company came on VHS, and I really fell in love.

So, having the chance to see a loved film in the theater - after missing it a year or two earlier - I had to go and see it. And, it was just as great as I thought it would be.

Steven Spielberg truly brought dinosaurs to life in this tale - and though at the time I was really unfamiliar with almost all of the cast - I knew that all of them put in magnificent performances. In fact, the lone actor I may have recognized at the time was Wayne Knight - from his time on Seinfeld, which was actually just getting started on television.

Again, this is me trying to remember my 12-year-old self, so some of this may not be entirely accurate. That being said - I really enjoyed Jeff Goldblum as Ian Malcolm. And, as Family Guy said, Samuel L. Jackson is in almost every movie. And although his role is small, he is another stand out here.

But, the true stars of the film are of course the dinosaurs. We had never really seen something as truly realistic - at least not in the form of dinosaurs - as we do here. Not only that, but as a dinosaur lover, I was introduced to even more dinosaurs. Especially the velociraptor, which became such a big star and so well liked - the NBA expansion team from Toronto was named the Raptors.

Still, the big star was T-Rex. It's the one we all loved as a kid (truly I was a triceratops fan) and he didn't disappoint here. He was truly the King of the Jungle.

Of course, Jurassic Park spawned sequels - one of which was already written by the original writer Michael Crichton, The Lost World while another was penned just for a film feature. But, the original is definitely the crown jewel.

But, going back and checking them all out again recently definitely has me excited for more dinosaur adventures - and the success of the re-release has those involved excited as well, which has made Jurassic Park IV move along much quicker than it has in the past.

And, I look forward to it.

But, for the original - it was definitely great to go back to my 12th year of life and enjoy my favorite dinosaurs on the big screen - for the first time.

Grade:

Theater Review: G.I. Joe: Retaliation

The first film in this franchise probably didn't live up to the hype surrounding it, despite having such great star power involved. But, it was still enjoyable - despite the fact that Cobra Commander didn't look like the Cobra Commander we all hoped.

So, G.I. Joe: Retaliation was a semi-reboot, but still tied up loose ends that were left from the first film. Missing were Sienna Miller (Baroness), Rachel Nichols (Scarlett), Dennis Quaid (General Hawk), Marlon Wayans (Ripcord), Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (Heavy Duty) and Said Taghmaoui (Breaker).

Returning to the film as characters, but with different actors were Destro and Cobra Commander, so Christopher Eccleston and Joseph Gordon-Levitt did not return.

The only characters returning with the same actors were, Jonathan Pryce as the US President, Arnold Vosloo as Zartan, Ray Park as Snake Eyes, Byung-hun Lee as Storm Shadow and Channing Tatum as Duke.

(Spoilers of both films are involved)

The threat, however, remains the same - Zartan has taken over as the President, and no one knows it yet. He has framed the Joes for stealing nuclear warheads and has sent a strike team to destroy them - including their leader Duke.

As the dust settles, only Roadblock (Dwayne Johnson), Lady Jaye (Adrianne Palicki) and Flint (D.J. Cotrona) were able to survive after jumping into a nearby well.

Storm Shadow and newcomer Firefly (Ray Stevenson) have located where Cobra Commander (Luke Bracey) and Destro are being held - and gets himself taken prisoner in order to break them out - though in the end, Cobra Commander decides against freeing Destro. Storm Shadow, though, is injured from a blast and goes to a temple to recover.

Snake Eyes and his new apprentice Jinx (Elodie Yung) set out to the temple to capture Storm Shadow and bring him back to Blind Master (RZA) to answer for the death of Hard Master.

Meanwhile, Roadbloack, Flint and Lady Jaye try stop the impostor President who is blackmailing other nations into submitting to him and his new weapon of mass destruction - which he uses as to destroy London. For help, Roadblock takes them to retired and original Joe - Joe Colton (Bruce Willis).

I have heard the grumblings - and by the ratings on Rotten Tomatoes, critics have let it be known that this is not a good film.

But, I feel it may be the perfect film. The perfect film to kickoff the summer.

Summer is about explosions, stupid one-liners and beautiful people. It usually isn't about the best script, or even the best actors. It's is mostly about having fun. And, G.I. Joe: Retaliation was fun.

I had a few complaints - for instance, killing off Duke. Now sure they can figure out someway to pretend he wasn't dead, but at the end of this film he was. Channing Tatum may not be an amazing actor, though I have come to enjoy some of his work, but he has become a start. And, unless you intend on bringing him back from the dead, he is now gone from this franchise. Which, may not have been the best idea. Even those characters from the first film can still return - they were not killed.

Second, RZA is a terrible actor. The scenes with him instructing Snake Eyes had to be the most painful to watch. They could have easily gotten someone else - someone way better to play that role.

Finally, the mountain-side fight featuring Snake Eyes was absolutely amazing to watch. And, Cobra Commander actually somewhat looked like Cobra Commander - I just wish Gordon-Levitt had returned.

So, yes I liked this movie. It was fun. If you don't like fun movies - why are you watching them? If you want to watch Oscar-nominated movies alone, you have that right. But, don't continue to blast these summer popcorn flicks - what the hell are you expecting them to be like?

Grade:

Theater Review: The Croods

This was honestly a bit of a surprise. I had absolutely no interest in checking out this film, but my parents visited and decided to take my son (and us) to the movie.

The Croods is about a a family of cavemen led by their father Grug (Nicolas Cage). The cavemen have slowly started to become extinct, thanks to disease, carnivorous beasts, and others.

Grug is very overprotective of his family, which they believe is the reason they have survived while others have died. Eep (Emma Stone), Grug's daughter, is not so excited about having to stay in hiding inside their cave all of the time. So, she begins to push the limits.

Ugga (Catherine Keener) - Grug's wife, Gran (Cloris Leachman) - Ugga's mother, Thunk (Clark Duke) - Grug's son, and Sanday - Grug's other daughter, all follow everything that Grug's says. They love their cave and have no plans to ever go out and explore the world.

Eep, however, sees a glow outside the cave during the night and curiosity gets the best of her. She sneaks out of the cave and follows it - which actually turns out to be fire, something she has never seen before. The creator of the fire, though, is Guy (Ryan Reynolds), another caveman who has been out on his own and has adapted to the harsh world.

After an earthquake crushes their cave and opens up a hidden world to the cavemen, the Croods are forced to try and find a new place to hide - and use Guy as their guide. Along the way, the rest of the family begins to feel that Grug's way of life may not be the best.

I have to admit, even after seeing the trailer a handful of times this movie never really excited me. But, I guess you can't judge a movie by its trailer - because the film as actually pretty decent. Not amazing, but definitely worth seeing.

The scenery in the film was outstanding, with at first mostly brown and boring colors - but blossoming into a rainbow world.

The family itself was also pretty fun. But the funniest character had to be Guy's pet sloth, Belt - who had some great scenes, despite not uttering any real words.

Grade:

Theater Review: Oz the Great and Powerful

This was definitely a risk.

No matter how great this film could be, it was never going to live up to its predecessor. And that film came out in 1939. But, it risks are meant to be taken - and after many years it finally hit the big screen.

Oz the Great and Powerful is the prequel to the classic 1939-film The Wizard of Oz. As Wizard told the story of a young Dorothy Gale being transported to the wonderful land of Oz, here we see how Oscar 'Oz' Diggs (James Franco) finds himself transported the Emerald City.

Now, with any prequel, you already know how things are going to end - but it is interesting to see how exactly we get to the start of The Wizard of Oz.

Oscar Diggs is a circus performer and just so happens to be visiting Kansas for a performance. Diggs is a player, in more ways than one. He tricks women into falling for him - he's the type of guy to have a woman or more in each stop - and he uses tricks in his magic act as well.

After a young girl from the audience asks Diggs to allow her to walk again, and the audience quickly turns on him when he refuses to do it - Diggs and his partner rush out only to get cornered by the strong man, whose wife Diggs had recently been flirting with. So, Diggs jumps in a hot air balloon, only to get sucked up into a twister - a twister.

Here he lands in Oz and meets Theodora (Mila Kunis), a witch who believes that Diggs is the wizard that they have all been waiting for to rescue them from the Wicked Witch. She takes him to meet her sister, Evanora (Rachel Weisz), yet another witch.

Evanora, who doesn't believe that Diggs is the wizard that can rescue them, shows him a room full of money that he can have if he defeats the Wicked Witch by destroying her broom.

Along the way, Diggs meets up with Finley (Zach Braff), a small flying monkey that owes him a life debt after Diggs saves him from a lion. The two of them also meet up with China Girl (Joey King) a small china doll whose entire village and townsfolk were destroyed by the Wicked Witch's flying monkey.

That is where I will leave it - in essence it is up to Oscar Diggs to save the people of Oz from the Wicked Witch. And, despite even him not believing he is the wizard that everyone is looking for, but he will do his best to pretend he is.

My wife is probably the biggest Wizard of Oz fan that I have ever met. So, as soon as this was announced she was already in the theater. In fact, she went and saw it the day before without me - and then went again with me the next day.

It's tough to meet those type of expectations, but she loved it. I had the same issues in a similar way with Charlie and the Chocolate Factory  - which I found horrible and can never watch again.

In my opinion, Oz was pretty darn great. I thought to even come close to the original would be an accomplishment. It is odd, however, that the low point of the film may in fact be James Franco. Although he did a good job as Oz, the rest of the cast was so great that he looked to be lagging behind.

The best two, however, were the CGI characters. Finley and China Girl were both amazing characters. They had heart and humor - which tended to be lacking in a lot of the rest of the cast.

Also, I saw this in 3D. And, this was the absolute best use of 3D that I have ever seen in the theater (though I never saw Avatar in the theater - which I am told was amazing).

Finally, the bridge between the two films was done very well. We see things that build towards Wizard of Oz throughout the film, and I am sure there were even more that I missed. But, those were very cool to see and fun to pick out.

Overall, I really enjoyed the film. Does it reach the original? No, probably not. But, they took the risk and honestly I thought they succeeded.

Grade:

Theater Review: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Well, I saw this film the day after I saw Les Misérables and I am now almost two months after the fact. Seriously lacking in my review time - again.

Anyway, I boned up for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey by watching the original Lord of the Rings trilogy over a few nights. It had been a long time since I had watched them - I find them more to be one single movie instead of three, so watching one really is not an option.

But, it also reminded me just how frustrating the films being cut up into three can be. This especially happens during The Two Towers where it is pretty much just the middle part of a film - no real beginning and no real ending.

So, I was sort of prepared (unlike a few of the other theater dwellers in my showing) that this movie could again have an ending that felt flat - and I was right.

Anyway, this set of films follows a Hobbit with the last name Baggins - heard it before? Of course - but this isn't about Frodo, this is about Bilbo and it happens many, many years prior to Frodo's adventure.

Bilbo (Martin Freeman) is even more reluctant to head out on this journey than Frodo was for his. He is visited by Gandalf (Ian McKellen) and a slew of dwarfs to become their 'burglar' to retake the dwarfs' mountain that was stolen from them by the evil dragon, Smaug.

The rest of the film is a lot of what we have seen before in a bit of a different way - we see trolls, goblins and, of course, Orcs. Then it finishes with a shot of what we can expect to be a lot more of in the second film.

Did I like it? Absolutely. I now know that I can not really judge these films on one portion - because like I said at the start - this is really one epic film broken into three parts. So, I must wait - but I still need to give this portion a grade, don't I?

A lot of this is familiar, which is a good thing. But, I did find myself longing from characters of old - I was even excited when I saw Frodo, who was probably the least likable character in all of the Lord of the Rings. But, we are able to spend most of our time with Gandalf - and Bilbo is not that bad - but I am still getting to know the dwarfs, there are just so many of them and I look forward to learning about their personalities - if I ever get to.

Legolas, Aragorn and Gimli had such great chemistry in the first three films - and I may have been looking for that a little during this first film. But, we did get some familiar faces like Frodo, Gandalf, Saruman, Elrond, Galadriel and, of course, Gollum.

I definitely look forward to the next two installments, and although frustrating that I still feel incomplete - this was a great first start to this series.

Grade:

Theater Review: Les Misérables

It is not very often that a movie can get an emotional reaction from me. In fact, since I hit my 'older' days I don't think it has happened to me many times at all.

But, that is exactly what Les Misérables did to me on my date night with my wife - and subjected me to ridicule for the rest of the night (and most of the next day as well).

This film did not jump out at me at all with previews or announcements - not one time. But, my wife is a fan of it and really was excited to see it. So, we went.

I really had no idea what I was getting myself into. I guess my wife picked up on that very early on when I asked my first question, "Is this entire movie singing?" Now, in my defense I have seen many musicals in my day where the songs are dominant, but there is also still dialogue throughout the film. Not here - there was, at most, five lines of dialogue throughout the entire movie.

It was there that I began to get nervous.

But, my nervousness quickly subsided as I began to get more and more interested in the story. I soon realized that the lack of dialogue wasn't bothering me in the slightest - in fact, I hardly noticed anymore.

The film itself is pretty much about the life and trials of Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman). We first meet Valjean on the final day of his 19-year prison sentence. He was sent to prison for stealing bread for his sister's dying child - and later more years were added to his sentence for trying to escape.

Javert (Russell Crowe) is a prison guard, who only refers to Valjean by his prison number. Valjean is released on parole and is ordered to return every so often to check in. Not able to find work due to being a criminal - he is offered food and shelter by the Bishop of Digne (Colm Wilkinson). Despite the Bishop's generosity, Valjean steals silver from the church - but he is caught and brought back. Bishop takes pity on him and alerts the police that he had in fact given the silver to him. And, Valjean changes his ways - becoming a solid citizen, but breaking his parole in the process.

Now the mayor and a factory owner in Montreuil, Valjean is nearly discovered by Javert - who has been tracking him down for years. A skirmish in the factory gets a worker, Fantine (Anne Hathaway) fired. She is sending all of her money to a pair of Innkeepers who are taking care of her daughter, Cosette (Isabelle Allen). Not being able to make an honest living, Fantine turns to do anything and everything she can to make money for her daughter.

Found by Javert and nearly arrested, Valjean recognizes her and takes her to the hospital. He feels responsible for her condition and vows to take care of her daughter for as long as he possibly can.

The Innkeepers Tenardier (Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter) have been playing Fantine from the start - asking for more money claiming Cosette was sick. Instead, Cosette is treated like garbage, while their daughter Eponine (Natalya Angel Wallace) is treated like a princess.

Valjean, though, pays off the Tenardiers and takes Cosette into his care - but always keeping an eye behind him for Javert.

Years later, Cosette (Amanda Seyfried) becomes the object of Marius' (Eddie Redmayne) affection despite the fact that Eponine (Samantha Barks) is in love with him. Marius is part of the revolution against the government with his friend Enjolras (Aaron Tveit).

Now an old man, Valjean realizes that he can not look after Cosette forever and believes that Marius may be the perfect person to take over. So, he joins the revolution if only to look after Marius to make sure he does not die.

This movie was remarkable. The music was amazing - though I only truly loved a few of the songs, the rest were still very nice. Having the cast sing live on camera (instead of in a studio) was also a nice touch - it really brought out the emotions of the song and the story.

It also had some great laughs thanks to the Tenardiers. I had no idea that Sacha Baron Cohen was in this movie - but immediately picked him out, despite it not really looking like him. The pair added some much needed lightheartedness to an otherwise bleak film.

Finally the story, which mixed with the songs finally hit me at the conclusion of the film. Yes, Les Misérables struck a chord with me - something that very rarely happens. And, I thank my wife for taking me to see it. A beautifully shot and acted film all around.

Grade:

Theater Review: Rise of the Guardians

Every once in a while a new film comes out that moves into the Christmas rotation of films that must be watched each Christmas. Does this one make the cut?

After years of waiting in the shadows Pitch Black, aka the Boogie Man (Jude Law), has finally figured out a way to get past the guardians and take over the children of the world - through their dreams - in Rise of the Guardians.

The guardians are magical creatures that not only look after us - but they also bring us things every so often. The guardians - they are people we have known for ever, the Easter Bunny (Hugh Jackman), the Tooth Fairy (Isla Fisher), Santa Claus (Alec Baldwin) and the Sandman.

Years ago, the Man in the Moon created another guardian who may have been created just for this reason - to keep Pitch from taking over the children of the world. Of course, Jack Frost (Chris Pine) doesn't know this yet and for years he is left in solitude.

For the guardians, the only way to be seen and interacted with is to be believed in. The main four guardians remain strong as children in the world continue to believe in them. For Jack Frost, though, he is talked about, but mostly is not truly believed in. So, for hundreds of years before being called upon by the guardians - he is alone.

But, during this time he is also following and listening to children - which, despite being the only guardian not really believed in - he understands children even more than the others.

As Pitch begins to take over and ruin the children's belief in the guardians, Frost must grasp what he can do and figure out who he used to be and why he is chosen as a new guardian.

The film looked decent in its trailers, but I have to admit it was even better than I expected it to be. We get a new look at our beloved mythical creatures - and the voice talent is amazing. It was also nice to see the Tooth Fairy and the Sandman get just as much action as the Easter Bunny and Santa Claus.

This is definitely the perfect edition of yearly Christmas viewings. Great story, with surprising action and humor, and great heart at the center.

Grade:

Theater Review: Wreck-It Ralph

I don't think I would call myself a 'gamer', but I do enjoy playing video games from time-to-time. I have always thought 'wouldn't it be cool to play as the bad guy?'. Well, apparently the bad guys also feel that they have a lot more to offer as well.

Some time in the 1980s a video game called 'Fix-It Felix, Jr.' hit the arcade floors. The concept of the game was pretty simple: Wreck-It Ralph (John C. Reilly) likes to wreck things and selects an apartment building filled with tenants to destroy. Along comes Fix-It Felix, Jr. (Jack McBrayer) and his golden hammer to fix everything that Ralph has destroyed - and the tenants love Felix so much he gets a medal and a pie.

'Fix-It Felix, Jr.' somehow managed to stay in the arcade for over 30 years while other games of its generation broke down or lost its popularity - this game stayed in its spot, and although not played as much as it once was, still served its purpose.

In the same vein as Toy Story, where the toys were at the mercy of the children while they were played with but came alive when the children were gone, video game characters were at the mercy of the gamers while the arcade was open. But, once the arcade was closed the characters could leave their game and journey to other games, or a hub (the power strip) where a lot of characters would mingle. It was also a place for characters to live once their games were unplugged.

On the day of the games 30th anniversary, Ralph had finally had enough of being an important part of the game, but not getting any respect from Felix or the tenants of the building. He attended a support group for video game villains - who only told him not to go Turbo (who was apparently a character from a racing game who jumped to other games and caused not only his game, but other games to be unplugged).

Ralph had no plans to go Turbo, but once he returned to his game and found that Felix and the tenants were having an anniversary party without him - he crashed the party only to find out that he would never be welcome because he could never win a medal on his own.

With that in mind, he left his game and found a game in the arcade called 'Hero's Duty' where if he were to climb the tower he would be rewarded a medal and finally gain the respect he wanted. Leading the way in this game was Sergeant Calhoun (Jane Lynch). Once the arcade was open and Felix realized Ralph was missing, he took off to look for him - leaving the game unattended and it was given the dreaded 'Out of Order' sign.

Ralph was able to climb to the top of the tower and was awarded a medal, but he also awoke a Cy-Bug that stuck to his face as the two fell into an escape pod that was launched into the game 'Sugar Rush'. With a Cy-Bug and Ralph now missing, Felix and Calhoun join forces to find them both.

Now in Sugar Rush, Ralph stumbles upon Vanellope (Sarah Silverman) who ends up using Ralph's medal to enter the Sugar Rush race - in order to get it back, Ralph helps Vanellope create a car so she can win the race and also win all of the coins, which included his medal.

Pretty big recap, and I didn't even touch on anything that was majorly important - just really the setup of the actual movie.

I felt this movie was amazing. Really ranks up there with some of the Pixar films, which is saying a lot, especially coming from me who feels Pixar can almost do no wrong and is the superior in animation films. This movie had a great story and a ton of heart, which Pixar is so great at doing.

The animation in the film, however, may have been its crowning achievement. I loved so very much how each video game character looked so different and their movements were just like in a video game. The tenants in the apartment building are the best example to this - just fun to watch them. Plus, how characters like Felix and Ralph looked great, but they were a bit different looking than Calhoun, who came from a brand new game with all of the bells and whistles.

Another great thing in this movie is the layers upon layers of video game nostalgia. Sure there were a ton of things created just for this movie, but there were also a ton of cameos of characters from other video games, and other various things throughout the film that either mentioned or showed something from other video games. It was fun to do, but I am looking forward to seeing it again (probably on DVD) so I can really check them out.

A great movie - and now I am also hoping they make a Sugar Rush video game (if they haven't already). It may look like a girl's game, but man did it look like it would be fun to play.

Grade:

Theater Review: The Dark Knight Rises

I had heard a few times that Christopher Nolan was apprehensive about doing a third Batman film and I couldn't understand why. But, after seeing the film I can sort of see why he was - no matter what he put out it was always going to be compared to The Dark Knight.

The Dark Knight Rises also had another superhero film to contend with this summer that I am sure it was expecting to contend with when it was first announced - The Avengers. It's sort of odd to compare them as they are on two totally different spectrums - but you sort of have to.

Although I feel The Dark Knight Rises is the superior film, I would have to say I will probably watch The Avengers far more. It is just a more fun film - sort of like how Saving Private Ryan is a hell of a film, but I cannot watch it all of the time.

What The Dark Knight Rises was also up against was the amazing performance given by Heath Ledger as the Joker in The Dark Knight. No matter how great a villain that Nolan could cook up for the third film - no way was it going to live up to Ledger's performance.

Anyway, the final film picks up about eight years after Batman (Christian Bale) took the blame for killing Harvey 'Two-Face' Dent. All of the years as Batman has also taken a bit of a toll on Bruce Wayne - and as he stays hidden in his mansion he limps around from room-to-room.

As the guilt begins to tear at Commissioner Gordon (Gary Oldman), he is captured and brought to the new villain that has risen under the streets of Gotham, Bane (Tom Hardy). Gordon is shot, but manages to escape  despite losing a letter he had written with the truth about Dent.

Police officer John Blake (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) finds Gordon at the end of a tunnel and gets him to the hospital for treatment. Because of his detective work, Gordon promotes Blake and tells him to answer directly to him.

Blake was also once an orphan who looked up to Wayne because of all the donations the Wayne family gave to the orphanage - but he also somehow knows Wayne's true identity and tells him the city needs him to resurface.

Batman finds a local cat burglar, Selina Kyle (Anne Hathaway), to help lead him to Bane. Kyle uses the opportunity to get a program that can help erase her identity from all databases on the planet - and free her from her thieving ways.

Kyle, however, turns on Batman and turns him over to Bane in order stay alive - and Bane breaks Batman's back and leaves him in a prison in the middle of nowhere - the only way out is to climb out.

As Bane holds the city hostage with a nuclear weapon, he promises to finish what Ra's al Ghul started and destroy Gotham. With Batman out of commission, Gordon and Blake are all that is left to help save the city.

First off, my description above doesn't give the film justice. There was so much going on and all of it was so interesting and fit the story so well - just amazing story telling.

The film returns Bale, Michael Cane, Morgan Freeman, Oldman and another special guest that have been in all three movies and they continue to shine here. Newcomers Hardy, Hathaway and Gordon-Levitt were the main stars in this film and they were amazing.

Hardy was a great villain, and won't get the acclaims that Ledger did, but he held up this movie just fine as the villain. Sure, he wasn't the Joker, but Bane was ruthless and a great equal to Batman. Hathaway was simply amazing as Catwoman - I was a bit skeptical when I first heard she had signed on, but she played both sides of the fence to perfection - and wow did she look good. Finally, Gordon-Levitt - I can't really say much else about him, he has really become one of the best actors working today and here it was no different. So talented and he really shined in this film - even if he was just a cop.

Go see this movie - I am sure you already have. It is a great finale to Nolan's trilogy. I look forward to seeing it again.

Grade:

Theater Review: The Amazing Spider-Man

I have to admit that when I first heard of the reboot I was pretty upset about it. What the heck is the point? The last Spider-Man films were decent, with the last one not being released all that long ago. I really had no intentions of ever seeing this film in the theater - I may have checked it out on DVD.

But, early reviews of word-of-mouth began to get me interested, and the trailer wasn't that horrible. Then, I found myself out of work early one night and decided to give it a chance. Plus, I got to see the movie with just one other person in the entire theater, which was amazing.

The Amazing Spider-Man is a reboot all the way through. What we get here in the first film is another origin story, and if I hadn't already seen this origin story 10 years earlier with Tobey Maguire, I would have been drooling over it.

There is no doubt it my mind, this one is a much better telling of the story. It's darker, but also supplies more humor if you can believe that. When Maguire was announced as Spider-Man I had my doubts, but then I couldn't see anyone else playing him. Now, I see I was wrong again. Andrew Garfield did a marvelous job playing both Spider-Man and Peter Parker.

Though in this first film of what will probably be many, Uncle Ben and Aunt May aren't much of a factor - I am happy that they went out and got some well-known actors for the parts. In the first trilogy the two of them had tons of screen time, and I had no idea who they were. Happy to see both Martin Sheen and Sally Field fill the roles.

Being about the same age as her, I have sort of grown up with Kirsten Dunst and had developed a crush on her at an early age - so I was very happy having her in the original trilogy. However, even I can admit she didn't really do much but complain and get kidnapped. Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy looks like a much better yang to Spider-Man's ying. Already she was given much more to do than Dunst in any of the three films prior. Plus, she just has great screen presence and I liked her chemistry with Garfield.

Denis Leary plays Gwen's father and also happens to be the captain of the police force. He plays a sort of mix of J. Jonah Jameson (in that he feels Spider-Man is a menace to the city and needs to be captured) and Batman's Jim Gordon to Spider-Man.

Finally, we have the villain. With Doc Octopuss, Green Goblin, Sandman and Venom already having screen time in the first trilogy - they went with The Lizard for the big baddy in this film, which as a non-comic book reader I wasn't really that aware of, but looked like a Hulkish character (in that when he is The Lizard, Dr. Connors (Rhys Ifans) really doesn't know what he is doing).

Overall, I really liked the movie. It had everything that a good superhero should have. A good leading man, a decent villain, a solid leading lady and a nice story (which for the most part had already been told). But, I am definitely excited for the films to come - every time a new superhero movie comes out we have to have this origin story and now it's over, but they better have newer and better stories in the films to come.

The Amazing Spider-Man suffered this year mainly due to the fact that it's a superhero film (a reboot nonetheless) that came out during the same summer that The Avengers was released, when we have been building up to it for so many years with its previous films, and the final installation of Christopher Nolan's trilogy, The Dark Knight Rises. So, it already was coming out as the third best superhero film of the summer without even being released.

If you haven't seen it, I'd give it a shot. It has all of the makings of a great new franchise if they are able to make new and exciting stories in the next films that are released.

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