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.

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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.

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Theater Review: The Avengers

Not only was I able to get out and see a brand, spanking new movie, but I was able to see it on opening weekend. And, I am actually going to post something on it the very same day I watched it.

I know, alert the newspapers.

Now, this is one of the films this summer that everyone and their brother is going to see. So I will not bore you with a running plot, and I really hate doing that for new movies anyway.

The Avengers has been a film that has been in the eyes of the movie studios since they even thought up Iron Man a few years back. This is where they wanted to end up, and thanks to the films leading up to it (the Iron Man series, Thor and Captain America) and their success, it has gained a huge following.

People were going to come out and see it. That was pretty much a given, and judging by the near record breaking numbers at the time of this post, the people did come out. But, would the film itself actually pan out?

The issues that have plagued many comic book film adaptations in the past is that once they get rolling, they feel they can do no wrong - so they introduce more and more characters, in most of these films those characters are usually the villains. The original Spiderman trilogy (and maybe to a lesser extent the first Batman) slammed us with far too many villains in one film - and it suffered because of it.

So, with all of these heroes coming together for one gigantic film, would it work? Or, would there just be too much going on that the story suffered?

In this instance, and I know that due to its success (and hell even the film itself) that there will be at least a sequel and possibly more, but for this film it worked tremendously.

Captain America: When we last left Steve Rogers (Chris Evens) at the conclusion of Captain America he had just fond out that he had been woken up from a freeze and it was no longer World War II. Since then it sounds as if he has not really adjusted to the new world he is forced to live in, is not sleeping and is spending most of his time in the gym. Rogers is the military man of the group, and does most everything by the book. So his pairing in this group is difficult at first, but when given the opportunity to lead his instincts take over and the rest of the group falls in line.

Iron Man: At the conclusion of Iron Man 2, Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.) has been reestablished as the CEO of Stark Industries after Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) relinquished it back to him. Since then it appears that Stark and Potts have continued their romantic interlude, and Stark is surprised when Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg) pops up to bring him back into the Avenger Initiative, since Stark was thought to be too narcissistic to be able to join. Of course, Stark believes he is the leader of the group and clashes with most of his fellow members, especially Rogers. But, when the time comes for battle Stark may just prove that he can put other people before himself.

Thor: Thor (Chris Hemsworth) is still struggling with the fact that his brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston) is attacking the world that he loves and protects in Earth. It appears that Loki is not just looking for a kingdom to rule, but revenge on his brother for growing up in his shadow and taking over Asgard, even though he thought it rightfully belonged to him. Thor struggles with the fact that he is part of a group that may eventually kill his brother, even though he believes it should be him to take him back to Asgard.

Hulk: Not really sure which Hulk this one comes from, but I am guessing it was Edward Norton's version. Here, Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) has 'quarantined' himself off in Cambodia. He is tracked down to help with the initiative, and to find a way to locate the Tesseract, which Loki has stolen. Banner is a genius, but we all know that behind him The Hulk is always lurking to come out. So, the others must be careful not to get a reaction out of him and accidentally unleash the beast.

S.H.I.E.L.D.: We have slowly been introduced to a number of the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents throughout the other films. Agent Coulson, for one, has been in most of the films leading up to this one. He has even sort of become a friend to some of the heroes, especially Stark and Potts. Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) is the head of the program and despite the Avengers Initiative being terminated, brings it back when Loki lands on Earth. Agent Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johannson), aka Black Widow, was introduced in Iron Man 2 so we get a bit of what she is capable of. Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner), aka Hawkeye, has a tiny role in Thor but he was a bit of a mystery and quite possibly the person we knew the least about. Finally, Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders) is introduced in this film and appears to be third in control behind Fury and Coulson.

That is a lot of characters, and thankfully they were weaved together expertly. Each one was able to have his own moments in the film, but no one character truly overshadowed the other. One would think that with the success of Iron Man and the clout of Downey, Jr. that this could have become another Iron Man film, but that didn't happen which is why it worked so well.

It also looked amazing. Plus, we all expect the great action scenes and there were a ton of great ones. The film was not lacking in action. But, what was unexpected was the amount of comedy that was sprinkled throughout the movie. There were many times in my theater where people were literally laughing out loud.

I have to say, I have loved Iron Man, Captain America and Thor, and I still do. But, I really enjoyed Hawkeye in this film - and I FINALLY loved The Hulk.

In the previous installments, The Hulk was just way too large, in my opinion. Here, we understand that he is big, strong and mean, but he was only a few feet taller than the other characters, which was perfect. In the others, he was about the size of a house. Far too big. And, in this film, he was given some great things to do - which gives me hope that with the proper person The Hulk may just have a good solo movie in him. One can only hope.

Finally, being able to bring the amount of characters from different movies that were written and directed by different people and have it all come together like this was just masterfully crafted. Each character has so much behind them and each film has so much going on in it, and all of that is on full display here. It was just a great meshing, which honestly really surprised me.

It was all I could hope and more. I was already looking forward to seeing it again when I walked out. And for that to happen means it was an outstanding film. Do yourself a favor and go check it out. But, who am I kidding? I am sure you already have.

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Theater Review: Star Wars: The Phantom Menace 3D

It's pretty much a known fact that I am a huge Star Wars fan, and although I do feel the prequel trilogy is a bit subpar compared to the original trilogy, I still find the need for them and have learned to enjoy what they do have to offer.

That being said, I know I am not going to chance anyone's feelings about the films. If you are like me and have learned to enjoy them, then you already enjoy them. But, if you like to pick things apart and truly hate the film, there is no way that I am changing your mind.

So, I was able to take my family to see Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace 3D in the theater. Say what you want, but being able to experience a Star Wars film on the large screen is truly spectacular. The first time I heard John Williams' epic score as the crawl came on the screen always gives me goosebumps. And, it did again when I heard it this time.

My son has really started to enjoy the Star Wars franchise, much like I have. This was his first experience seeing one of the films on the big screen - and I am very excited that he was able to get that experience.

I guess I will just talk about a few parts of the film. The Phantom Menace, although needed in my opinion, is probably the worst of the six films.

There are two things, however, that The Phantom Menace has that may be superior to some of the other films.

First, the pod race. That is one of the most breathtaking scenes in the entire franchise. And, seeing it on the big screen - and in 3D - was spectacular.

Second, Darth Maul. I have said it before, but it is worth repeating, Darth Maul (Ray Park) is one of the best villains ever created. And, he hardly gets any screen time - and even gets killed off (though if you follow the Clone Wars this may not be true) near the end of the film. Maul was experienced in the Force, had martial arts training, and carried a double-bladed light saber - how cool is that?

Plus, he took on two of the most powerful Jedis - killed one and was surprised by the other. That is a great villain - and I am sad that we got saddled with Count Dooku over two films while Maul was limited to part of this one.

Now, the 3D portion of the film. If you are expecting crazy 3D like light sabers coming out of the screen at you, don't bother. This is the type of 3D that I enjoy - it shows the depth of the images and I felt it worked amazingly well.

I am truly excited to see each and every film in this franchise, and it is only going to get better as the movies progress. I wasn't expecting for these releases to take six years to finish, but I guess they are trying to coincide with the 40th Anniversary of the original Star Wars when Return of the Jedi is finally released.

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40/50: Pulp Fiction

I don't know what took so long for me to finally watch this. Despite thinking I knew most about the film itself, I was still blown away.

Pulp Fiction is basically the telling of a series of events, not exactly told in chronological order.

It was a lot less bloody than I was expecting, but that was ok because it didn't take anything away from the actual film.

As good as the story was, the best part about the film was the dialogue. I absolutely loved the dialogue in The Social Network because it was so smart and it seemed like each and every word was so important. I got that same feeling when watching Pulp Fiction. Most of the film really has no important dialogue, but the way it is spoken in the film - even about a stupid quarter pounder with cheese - it seems important.

Anyway, the film mostly revolves around a man that we do not actually see for most of the film. Marsellus Wallace (Ving Rhames) is a crime lord, who employs two hit men, Vincent Vega (John Travolta) and Jules Winnfield (Samuel L. Jackson). Wallace also makes a deal with a boxer, Butch Coolidge (Bruce Willis), to take a fall in a match and make Wallace a ton of money.

Those are the two main stories of the film. Two other smaller stories involve Vega and Wallace's wife, Mia (Uma Thurman) - you know that iconic dancing scene, right? The final story is both the beginning and the ending of the film, featuring a couple of wanna-be criminals, Pumpkin (Tim Roth) and Honey Bunny (Amanda Plummer).

The absolute best part of the film are the scenes involving Travolta and Jackson. The dialogue between the two of them is amazing and I haven't laughed so hard in a long time. Just perfection in words.

This was my second Quentin Tarantino film (Jackie Brown being the other), and this was much better. I hope the other Tarantino films are as good as this one - I am very intrigued now and can't wait to see them.

Grade:

Die Hard Tetralogy

I had to watch Die Hard: With a Vengeance for a project I had to do in my math class. And I didn't want to watch the third movie, without at watching the first two.

I swear I had watched these movies before, but after I got through the three of them I realized, that I may have only seen the third one - despite recognizing a few scenes in the first two, I don't think I have watched them as a whole.

So, this week I watched the Die Hard Tetralogy - including last year's release of Live Free or Die Hard.

Instead of large reviews each film, I will do what I have been doing with smaller reviews of a handful of movies - but as a whole I would have to give this tetralogy an Excellent grade.

Title: Die Hard.

Starring: Bruce Willis, Bonnie Bedelia, Reginald VelJohnson, Paul Gleason, William Atherton and Alan Rickman.

Brief Synopsis: John McClane (Willis) is heading to LA to be with his estranged wife Holly (Bedelia) and his two kids. Holly had moved to LA for a job, leaving NY police office McClane behind. After arriving at her office during a Christmas party, Hans Gruber (Rickman) and his gang take over the building in an attempt to steal a large amount of money. And it's up to McClane to save the day.

Opinion: I have to admit I love a good, smart villain and Rickman's Gruber was outstanding. He had thought of basically everything to get away scott free with a ton of money, and it was fun to see everything play out. What he didn't count on was McClane - who is truly an every man's hero.

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Title: Die Hard 2.

Starring: Bruce Willis, Bonnie Bedelia, William Sadler, William Atherton, John Amos and Dennis Franz.

Brief Synopsis: McClane is visiting his wife's parents for Christmas and is currently awaiting Holly's arrival at the airport. That same afternoon, General Esperanzo is being transported via plane to the area. McClane becomes supsicious when he finds two men in the baggage department of the airport - but receives little help from Capt. Lorenzo (Franz). Col. Stuart (Sadler) and his men take over the airport and all the airport guidance systems in order to free Esperanzo. Of course, McClane proves to be a one-man army again to take down the villains.

Opinion: I still enjoyed this film, but it was lacking a lot of what the first one had. Plus, it almost tried to copy the first one as McClane was all alone in saving the day. Sadler was pretty good as the villain, but not as great as Rickman's character in the first film. Still a solid showing, but probably my least favorite of all of them.

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Title: Die Hard: With a Vengeance.

Starring: Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson, Larry Bryggman and Jeremy Irons.

Brief Synopsis: A criminal mastermind, Simon Gruber (Irons) has stolen gallons of a liquid bomb which is set off in downtown New York. Gruber is also holding a grudge against McClane for killing his brother, Hans. So, he enlists McClane - and later Zeus Carver (Jackson) - to play a handful of games, including riddles and math problems, in order to save a school.

Opinion: This film was highly entertaining, and although I was not sure if giving McClane a partner would work - it truly did with Jackson's performance and the two played very well against each other. Irons still wasn't up to the task of Rickman's performance, but he was very convincing as Simon. The riddles and games as a diversion was also very clever and pretty entertaining in trying to figure out along with Carver and McClane.

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Title: Live Free or Die Hard.

Starring: Bruce Willis, Justin Long, Timothy Olyphant, Maggie Q, Kevin Smith and Mary Elizabeth Winstead.

Brief Synopsis: 12 years after the last film, McClane is a police lietenant and is given the assignment of tracking down and bringing in a computer hacker, Matt Farrell (Long). What he doesn't realize is that Farrell has accidentally helped Thomas Gabriel (Olyphant) take over the world's computers - and cause a "fire sale". McClane has to keep Farrell alive, track down Gabriel and also rescue his daughter Lucy (Winstead) before Gabriel shuts down the entire coutnry.

Opinion: A bit updated as the events take place in 2006 or 2007, which was very interesting to see McClane adapt. He has never been happy with technology, and seems even further behind now. Not technically a sidekick, Long was very entertaining as Farrell - and Olyphant was a great villain, who technically thought he was a do gooder.

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Jumper

I have to admit, I have been pretty anxious to see this film since I first saw a trailer for its release like a year and a half ago.

I am not able to run out and see many films in the theater, so this was one of those that sort of got pushed to being watched on DVD. So, I was finally able to check Jumper out on Sunday.

I was a bit apprehensive, because of some of the reviews I have read from my fellow bloggers whom I respect. But, I was not disappointed. Sure, the movie wasn't Oscar-worthy or very deep - but it was very entertaining.

I think Hayden Christensen has been given a bit of a bad rap because he was Anakin Skywalker in the Star Wars prequels. Everyone believes that he is a wooden actor because of his dialogue, but I think those people should look at the original trilogy - most of Star Wars dialogue is wooden.

I think if people want to check out Christensen in a new light, perhaps check out Shattered Glass and to a little lesser extent Life As a House.

Anyway, back to the film.

David Rice (Christensen) is a jumper - someone who can jump to any point in the world (as long as he is able to see it - either through his eyes or a photograph). He first notices this when he tries to rescue a snowglobe he tried to give his crush, Millie (Rachel Bilson) that was on top of some ice. He falls through, and before drowning jumps himself into a public library.

Rice's homelife is pretty terrible - his mother (Diane Lane) left when he was five, and his father is pretty much non-existent. So he leaves home, starts robbing some banks with his new ability and starts living the high-life in a penthouse apartment.

However, due to his bank robbing and constant jumping - he appears on the radar of Roland (Samuel L. Jackson), who is a pladin, or a person who believes God should be the only person to have such abilities - and thus tries to hunt down and kill jumpers.

On a trip to Rome with Millie, Rice meets up with another jumper, Griffin (Jamie Bell), who is a little more experienced and tries to warn him that he is being hunted.

Like I said before, this isn't Oscar-worthy material, but the effects were pretty amazing. And it was highly entertaining for just a quick hour and a half film.

I sort of get the feeling that they were setting up some sequels with the whole mother situation - and hopefully that happens, or else the ending sort of doesn't really make too much sense.

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