Archive for the ‘Movies’ Category
Gotham City has mostly recovered from being nearly stripped down by R’as al Ghul, the Scarecrow and Gotham’s local mob boss, Carmine Falcone, and the city’s inhabitants have settled into a routine of normalcy.
Part of that normalcy is the ever vigilant Batman (Christian Bale) prowling the city at night, rounding up all the escaped patients from Arkham Asylum. He’s given hope back to the people of Gotham and all seems well. Especially with the appointment of Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) as the District Attorney, who promises to end corruption in the government and law enforcement and deter crime in the streets. The time that Bruce Wayne no longer needs to don the Dark Knight’s dress seems to be imminent.
However, with Batman nearly crushing the local crime syndicate, the criminal leaders get some help from the Joker (Heath Ledger) who leads Batman, via a trail of bodies, on a game that will answer the questions: “Can the Joker break the Batman?”, “Will the Joker succeed in destroying good and hope and bring Gotham City down into Chaos?”
All the actors played their parts well from Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox to Maggie Gyllenhaal, who replaced Katie Holmes, as Rachel Dawes, but none so well as Heath Ledger. Of all his roles, this final one is his best. He didn’t just act the part, he lived it. Personality and mannerisms are a given, what he did was bring the Joker to life. Posture, ticks, inflections—every element of the character felt spot on. Great action sequences and a few twists aside, The Dark Knight is well worth the full price of admission just for Heath Ledger’s performance as the Joker.
How does a century old assassins guild with members that have mastered gun use to the point where they can impart curve in a bullet’s trajectory, like the massé shots in billiards, sound to you? What if they added the ability to increase their heartrate to incredible levels and pump an excess amount of adrenaline in their bodies to react faster than normal men and women? Sounds pretty interesting?
Well, that’s what Wanted is made up of and while it’s no Summer Blockbuster, it’s a decent action flick worth watching in the theaters for a matinee price.
The story revolves around a young man named Wesley Gibson (James McAvoy) going through life apathetically. He has a deadend job, mean boss, cheating girlfriend, and an all around crappy life. Until he encounters Fox (Angelina Jolie) in a convenience store and his life turns upside down. He learns about his father, who left him and his mother when he was just born, and learns the lineage of weavers turned assassins that have gone through the ages killing people according to fate, maintaining balance in the world.
The film is based upon a comic miniseries by Mark Millar, which I’ve never read so can’t comment on how faithful the movie is to the written piece. However, the action scenes were great and there were some segments that caused chuckles in the theater. There was one scene that didn’t make sense after watching the entire movie, but still looked cool at the time. All the actors, ranging from Morgan Freeman to James McAvoy did a pretty good job. One actor I was pleasantly surprised to see was Konstantin Khabensky who is the main protagonist in Nightwatch and Daywatch (film adaptations to the wonderful books by Sergey Lukyanenko).
All in all, Wanted is worth watching in the theater to see those bullets curve and home in on their targets, but I’d say catch it at a discount.
Zohan is an Israeli counterterrorist soldier and darn good at his job (as well as pleasing the ladies), but has a dream of becoming a hairstylist in New York, even working at the Paul Mitchell Salon. Faking his own death, he sneaks into America and finds out that materializing his dream job is a little more difficult than beating up terrorists.
You don’t mess with the Zohan was a pretty good movie. It induced a copious amount of laughter from my friend and I, as well as the other viewers in the theater. It’s not necessarily a must-see movie, but if you’re wanting to watch a movie out, I’d recommend it.
Most of the comedy range from dumb humor (for example, that slo-mo flying kick you see in the trailer) to sexual jokes (things like hidden nudity scenes akin to Austin Powers), but no matter as most are appreciably funny. And of course, there are some jewels that come out from left field and cause an uproar of laughter. “Teh funneh” is in no short supply.
It’s amusing to note that there are real life people that Adam Sandler took inspiration from for his role. Three brothers (Nezi, Shaoul and Shalom Arbib) are former Israeli soldiers and have become hairstylists in California.
If you can appreciate the humor, there really isn’t any drawbacks to the movie. However, if you’re looking for intelligent comedy, you won’t find much of it in You Don’t Mess with the Zohan.
If I had to sum up The Incredible Hulk in one word, it would have to be “action.” There seemed to be nonstop conflict in the movie, whether it was from locals in Brazil hating on Bruce Banner or armed forces trying to take down the Hulk. I don’t recall there ever being a dull moment where I was left thinking, “What’s next?” However, it wasn’t on-the-edge action, it was just palpable; stuff you’d expect to see in any superhero movie.
The CG was impressive, much like the previous Hulk. What I enjoyed about this “reset” though was the fact they didn’t blow the mutation out of proportion. They kept it as real as you could expect from such a concept. And honestly, it seemed that the CG and action was what really kept this movie together, with the acting being a bit on the lower threshold.
Edward Norton did a good job as Bruce Banner, but I think Eric Bana did better. Edward Norton’s physique in the movie really accentuated the colossal difference in relation to the Hulk and he did pass of as a nerdy scientist, but it just didn’t feel right. Liv Tyler, as much as I think she’s hot, just didn’t fit as Betty Ross. I kept thinking, “Arwen.” Of course, the previous Betty was Jennifer Connelly and she’s my all time favorite actress, so perhaps I’m just being biased. The actor, William Hurt, playing General Ross did very well coming off as a jerk and Tim Roth did a great job as the main antagonist, Blonksy. But I’m thinking, take this movie’s CG and storyline and the previous movie’s actors and you’ll get something superior.
I also appreciated some of the comedy elements in the movie, particularly a scene at the tail end. All in all, I’d say The Incredible Hulk was a 6 or 7. It’s worthy of a rental and I’d even bump it up to matinee level, just because any action film is best seen on a huge screen with loud speakers.
I love my action flicks, but I’m also a sucker for romance films. The Lake House is a romantic comedy starring Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock. Both are lonely individuals trying to make a fresh start for themselves. Complete strangers not really separated by space but by time and only connected via a glass house on a lake and a scruffy dog.
The story takes place in two timelines. For Alex (Keanu Reeves) it’s 2004, while for Kate (Sandra Bullock) it’s 2006. The two meet by correspondence through the lake house’s mailbox. As the shock of what they’re able to do wears off, they begin to open up to, and fall in love with, each other.
There are very few “time bending” themed movies that I like, particularly due to the ease with which time paradoxes occur and the equal ease that they are unobserved by the writer. However, I found The Lake House more enjoyable than not. I have many friends who are unimpressed with the acting talents of Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock, but I feel that they did a good job with their characters in this film. The cinematography was also very good; the imagery and colors were vivid and impressive.
There was a niggling at the back of my mind that this movie was a remake or adaptation and I was quite pleasantly surprised to discover that The Lake House was, in fact, a remake from a Korean movie (Il Mare). Yet the thought in my mind was referring to The Love Letter.
Although I really enjoyed the film, if one was perceptive enough, s/he could guess the various plot points, which is probably one of the reasons I liked it; my guessing the events leading to the ending before they were revealed.
All in all, I’d recommend The Lake House worth renting.
