Immortals (2011)

One man must rise against an unstoppable army, lead
his people and become Immortal...

This is loosely based off the stories of Theseus as
he goes on a quest to find the Epirus Bow and stop the
Evil King Hyperion. I wanted to see this becasue
the trailers looked very cool and I'm a fan of all the
Greek Mythology. Now this was quite the film all the action
and effect shots were amazing. The fights and the action were

very quick and brutal. This movie for one doesn't
pull any punches. Its uncompromising, Unflinching, vicious,
bloody and basically gory. Some scenes might make
you want to turn your head and wince, namely
the "Ball Busting" scene.

There are exploding heads and bodies in slow motion! Even though the
slow motion fights were very impressive they are extremely graphic
and...in 3D! with blood splashing towards you.
Speaking of 3D it was pretty good effect especially in the fast and
slow paced fights and yes there was even nudity..Nudity in 3D!

I would all so like to say I liked the production design as well as the
costumes they were excellently done. I loved all the various masks
Hyperion and his army wore. The Designs were all Unique and interesting
especially the one for "the Minotaur" Even though the production
design was very good they didn't do alot on a big scale it seemed that this
all tood place in the same general area. There was some Interesting landscapes
but not much. I think alot of the production went into the fine details.

One of the things That I thought really sold the movie was the music .
The Sound Track for this was incredible! The acting wasn't bad either
Mickey Rourke does a great villain and the guy soon to be the
New Man of Steel (Henry Cavill) was very good as well I would have to say
I believed in this anger and this reasons for rising up. as for Freida Pinto
she did well also especially in one key scene, you'll probably know the one
I'm talking about...

As for the story I felt it was kind of loose it reminded me of things like
Gladiator and the Scorpion King. The whole film seemed like it was a cross
between 300 and Clash of the Titans (2010). One of the major problems I had
with it was the depiction of the Gods to me they didn't seem very God like..
I for some reason expected something more I felt the Gods in movies like
Percy Jackson and Clash of the Titans (2010) were better compared to the ones
in this, but in the end..

If you are looking for some deep hysterical epic this is not that. If your looking for
something driven by pure action and visual effects then I think this is the one for you.

Real Steel (2011)

First off the main reason I went to see this
is becasue I like robots. and this has plenty of them!
and I would have to say that they make this movie
drip with cool but this movie is not only cool but it
is heart felt as well the human aspect is just as important
as the flashy robots duking it out.
the story is basically about this down and out
boxer (played by Hugh Jackman) who is trying to make
a living with a broken down old robot on the fringes of
the Sport. Then he finds out that the mother of this son has
passed away and he is the sole guardian of the young
boy (played by Dakota Goyo). he makes a deal with his
sister in law's husband to take the boy for the summer
while they go on vacation, as well as some money for signing the kid over to them.
both father and son are not thrilled to be together
but they try to make the best of it.
During a scrounging mission for parts in a junk yard
for parts they come across a broken down old robot named Atom
and take him back were they are staying at and have him fixed
up by Jackman's mechanic/roommate/childhood friend/Love interest
Bailey Tallet (played by Evangeline Lilly) the robot Atom
comes off as something special, something worth keeping and
the father and son go on the road and fight there way up
the ladder to an actually main event title shot for the
robot boxing league and along the way the boy learns more
and more about his father and the two bond over this shared
experience and Jackman's character learns that there is more important
things in life then money.

Now I know the story seems somewhat simplistic and it is
true, while watching this I leaned over to my friend that
went with me and said "I know where this is going, I know what
is going to happen" and sure enough I was right.
Now even with that I can't say it took way from the movie
at all. because the old saying goes "its not the destination
that matters its the journey" and I thought going from the
opening to the end credits was a very nice journey.
I would have to say that the movie itself was well crafted
it was excellently written as well as acted. I felt this
was a very powerful movie aside from all the robot action
which of course was expertly done and overly exciting
the Robots and the robot effects were jaw droppingly good.
but the human element was well handled. this wasn't
a movie that was all about the flashy robots but actually
had emotion and a very human feel to it.

Around the end of the movie was this really touching moment
where the boy gets to see how great this father was as a boxer
while he uses Atoms "Shadow Mode" (The robot mimics what the
control person does) and Evangeline Lilly character
gets to see him pretty much "fight one last fight"
that moment is so emotionally charged you want to jump up and
cheer.

Also talking about emotion I thought at many times the
robot Atom was developing a personality, as if he was becoming
alive with thought and feeling all its own..
There was a scene were Atom is sitting on a table and his
body is a bit slumped forward but its head is tilted towards
a full length mirror and it looks like it is looking at itself
as it is looking at its own reflection.
I thought for sure at that moment that the eyes would flash
or blink or it would say something or move in someway that
would show you that it had a spark of life.
It didn't of course but it makes you think that it did.

In the end this film was very good from start to finish
and alot of people were saying that it was just like
"Rocky but with Robots" and I would have to say that
the comparison is pretty correct, that is how I would
describe it its this generation's "Rocky" but that
aside this movie was amazing and I would have to say that
it is a must see.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)

Now I wanted to see this due to its prequelness
How did it become a Planet of the Apes?
it all apparently started with a brilliant young scientist played
by James Franco who is the leading expert in all things
to do with the brain as he works to solve and cure the mystery's
of Alzheimer's disease. What he is doing is very noble and
come from the heart because he wants to save his father
(played by John Lithgow) from the crippling disease.

He Develops a cure which seems to work on a Ape which
has been dubbed "Bright Eyes" but after and tragedy
in the lab they loose the ape, but Franco is left
with a small baby ape who is the new born son
of "Bright Eyes" Franco's character brings the
baby ape home to his ill fathers delight and
the two of them name the small chimp Caesar.

They soon find out how special this lil chimp
is as the experimental drug has been passed on
from mother to son and as Caesar's intelligences
grow the two men begin to raise his as a human child.

As Caesar becomes more intelligent by the day
and proves how much of a miracle the drug is
Franco's character uses it on his father which
in turn reverses the effect of Alzheimer's
for a short time.

After a incident with a neighbor involving
Caesar and his growing curiosity Faranco's
character along with his new Girlfriend and
veterinarian Caroline Aranha (played by Freida Pinto)
come to the decision that it is not right to
keep Caesar cooped up in the house and decided
to take him to a local national park and
show Caesar the beauty of the world and
and what it is like to be...free.

But sadly not everything goes so smoothly
as Caesar begins to question his place in
"Man's World" as well as the
treatments no longer having any effect
on Franco's father and after a second
incident with a neighbor Caesar
is taken from everything he has know
and is put in a Animal shelter.

Caesar quickly becomes displeased with humanity
and feels as though Franco's character has turned
his back on him even though he does do everything
he can to bring him home. Caesar rises to the
head of the other apes and starts a revolt while at
the same time franco tries to fix his
miracle cure with disastrous results...

First off I though this was an amazing movie.
it is truly one of the best of the year.
I liked how they included things such as lines and
saying from the original films. The acting
on this was no less then perfect. I really enjoyed
the performances from everyone especially
Andy Serkis who truly brought the ape of
Caesar to life. The writing was very good and
there was some "monkey business" going on
as in some jokes by the CG Apes.
But I would have to say the effects were
breathtaking and showed true emotion in their
presentation and animation.

Now I did want to say that the neighbor guy was a
real jerk. I felt that he was a total hot head in
both instances with Caesar. The first
one where he was going to hit him with the bat was
in my view uncalled for.
Also for the second with the car was as well he should
know that the old man (John Lithgow) was not well and
has Alzheimer's and that is no reason to be a jerk to him
Also true having Alzheimer's is not excuse either but still
the guy next door could have been a little more understanding.
As for Caesar attacking him well Caesar was protecting
his "family" from someone who was being overly aggressive
and yes that is no excuse either but still
I think the guy next door brought it upon himself.

Also the young guy at the animal sanctuary I believe he got what
he deserved as well. he was the greatest example of being a jerk.
If you want respect from the animals you have to show them respect.
that is why Caesar didn't want the other young guy hurt becasue he
didn't do anything to the apes unlike the one that was spraying
them with the hose and using the cattle prods on them.

Now even though this movie had a good story and I enjoyed
it, it does leave mw with a lot of questions..
mainly how does this fit into either version of "Planet of the Apes"?
it doesn't seem to line up with either the Charlton Heston version
or the Tim Burton version featuring Mark Wahlberg.

Both take place in the future where both Heston and Wahlberg
are space explores who get sucked into a lets say
"Time Anomaly" which shoots them into a even further future
where earth is apparently ruled by a society of super
intelligent talk apes.
But then again this movie take place in present day...
How does this fit into the already established continuity?
Personally I thought this in a way synced up with
the Tim Burton version best due to the ending of that film.
and I was told there was a scene in after the initial credits
so I thought you would see the main ape from Burton's appear in the
POD and changing the past leading to the end of Burton's version but
that didn't happen instead you get a somewhat explanation on how
the human population declines, but that still doesn't explain
how the intelligent apes from San Fransisco get to places like
Australia and Japan? Also how do you get back to the first
film? Where astronauts crash on "the planet of the Apes"?
If your really paying attention there is new footage on a
TV in the background about the first maned mission to Mars and then
in a following scene you see a Newspaper headline saying the
shuttle has been lost in space. Which you could say is an
explanation and how this links up but I feel that it is so off
to the side and "blink and you'll miss it" that is feels more like
they are just covering their ass story wise then anything else.

But other then that is this an amazing movie and is worth seeing
it has a good story, some nice action and amazing effects. you shouldn't
be dis a pointed.

Colombiana 2011

I had a More detailed review of Colombiana but
sadly I can't seem to find the Text Document that it was
typed up in... but anyway I hope this is good enough:

I would have to say I really enjoyed this film I seen
the few trailers that were shown and I thought
that it might be a good movie and I wasn't wrong.
The story basically follows the character of
Cataleya (played by Zoe Saldana who played Neytiri
from Avatar) it starts out as she is a little
girl and her father is working undercover for the
US government, and he is found out and
he and his wife are killed but Cataleya escapes and makes her way to the US embassy
and from there to the US to live with her Uncle who is actually a high level Hitman.

With revenge in her heart and mind, re reluctantly trains her to become an
assassin for hire known as "Colombiana", when she is older she starts picking off
various people in hopes that the people who killed her family surface, which they
eventually do and she begins to take them out one by one until she gets up to the
head boss.

Like I said this was a really good movie, I enjoy and support the female
action heroes. I find they at times can be just as good if not better
then a movie staring a Male lead. I liked the various scenes
where you can see her struggling to lead a "normal"
while at the same time persuading this job of killing
people for money. It was very interesting to see the conflict
between her having a day to day life and her job.

I also thought that the acting was very well done as well
as alot of the action and stunt work, was pretty impressive
especially the whole sequence in the police station.
I thought that was pretty cool.

In the end I thought this was a very good action movie
and also a really good revenge story as well it was some what
classic in a way but it didn't feel like it was, it felt like a whole
new concept.

If I were to sum this movie up and relate it to something
I would say it was similar to The Punisher (2004)
being that it had almost the similar themes.
but like i said I thought it was really well done and was a very good watch.

X-Men: First Class (2011)

Now I'm going to be the first to say that I went
to see all 4 previous "X-Men" films
I remember going to see the very first "X-Men"
opening night in 2000 and I have seen
all of them since and I have enjoyed each and everyone.

I don't have any complaints about them at all.
They were very good and I'll always
think they were good. I have also enjoy
the X-Men for many years in every media
be it comics, animation, video games or the movies.

I would have to say I was kind of concerned
about this whole "First Class" thing at the very start and whated to see how it
played out. After viewing the movie I would have to say those doubts were
greatly unfounded. This movie is excilent.

It is a Origin story of how "the X-Men" came to be. It starts off brilliantly with the
scene in the concentration camp much like the first did. There was alot of talk about
giving Magneto his own film, but I thought that would be unwarranted being this servers
the purpose. I like How they followed both Erik Lehnsherr / Magneto and Charles Xavier
separately right up until they met becasue both of them had there own story and unique
perspective on life and the people around them.

Also you get to see pretty much everything, The from the creation of Cerebro
to the blackbird, to How Magneto gets his helmet, to How the characters get
their superhero/villain names, why Mystique sides with Magneto, to the accident
that cripples Charles and the mistake Hank McCoy makes that turns him into "The Beast"

The movie covers so much ground but it doesn't seem to move fast it doesn't rush
things, this move gives everything it wants to say and do time to say it and do it.
also this film is not only a superhero film but some what of a period piece
being that it takes place in the 1960's (when the first issue of The Uncanny X-Men came out)
and uses the back drop of the Cuban Missile Crisis as a back drop to help propel the story.

But at its core this movie was a story about two friends of different points of view
and what they built together and the events that would that would break this friendship
and set off one of the greatest feuds and rivalries in all of comic book history...

Now with that said I would like to say this film was truly amazing the script
was impressive all the characters were pretty much as you see them in the books
the writing was amazing just the conversations of Erik and Charles were making me
smile so much. there was great dialog in this at times it can be very funny,
as they hint about what the future will hold. Also some very humorous scenes
such as the appearance of Wolverine.
I was kind of leery about him being in it, but then again my fears were put
to rest and the scene was very funny. I would have to say it was akin to the appearance
of Arnold in The Expendable. This is long before his appearance in X-Men and he is still
suffering the effect of loosing his memory at the end of "Origins" you just seem him of a
minute and he has one line and its funny.

Alone with the excellent writing was the excellent acting.. I loved everyone in their
part especially James McAvoy as Charles Xavier and more importantly
Michael Fassbender as Erik Lehnsherr / Magneto. This guy was Magneto he owned
that part as a young Erik Lehnsherr and just exuded power and evil when he finally
embraced it. I thought he did an amazing job as one of the most Baddest
Bad Guys of all time.

Also lets not forget Kevin Bacon as Sebastian Shaw. I have to mention him to be part of the
6 degrees of Kevin bacon, LOL! Now he was a good villain in this but then again
he is good in pretty much everything and was excellent in setting up the man
that would be come Magneto.

The Visual effects were of course spectacular, they refined Mystique's transformation.
and the "Teleporting" effect As well as I thought Emma Frost's Diamond form was very cool. I thought the Beast make-up was very well done, as well as things like Banshee's scream and Darwin's "survival skills"
I was just amazingly impressed with this whole movie from the costume design, to sets
to the comic and fan references like The hellfire club. I can't say anything bad about
it at all. This is one of the best movies this year.

The Roommate (2011)

Well I remember seeing the ads for this and
thinking it would probably be similar to films
like "Single White Female"
which I wasn't wrong.

Your basic story revolves around a girl named Sarah
(or Sara if you prefer) who is from a somewhat small
town who came to The University of LA to study
fashion design. She rooms up with a girl who at the
start seem a little be eccentric at first by the name
of Rebecca the two become friends but
as the story unfolds Rebecca becomes a little
bit more unhinged..

you can tell first off that this is going to be a slow
decent down when Rebecca is not very social and feels
possessive of Sarah when others are around.
and you can tell she is pretty crazy when she does her first
crazy thing by do the thing with the ear rings and not even flinching.

While Sarah is out doing the college things new life and new friends
Rebecca becomes more and more obsessed and stalkerish.
She even starts to eliminate and attack those who would
threaten her and Sarah's relationship.

Attacking the girl in the shower and the Teacher as well
and disposing of the poor little kitten! what was done
to the kitten wasn't the nicest thing.

You can tell Rebecca has gone completely nuts when she takes
out the knife and cuts her stomach with it after beating
herself up. In the end it has a classic ending the 2 girls
fight it out and one looses.

all in all the movie wasn't even scary. it did get slightly creepy
after Sarah finds out that Rebecca is not the greatestt person in
the world. the movie does use familiar things so it wasn't
very new if you see it all before. I can see some direct to
video sequels in this movies future.

two thing I notice though was Sarah's boyfriend Stephen
reminded me of Ryan Reynolds and that they actually used
Wikipedia in this and not something made up like "Infoshare"
like a lot of movies do. anyway this movie was ok but like I said
it was seen all before.

Monsters (2010)

Now I wanted to see this for a while I remember seeing the very first trailers
for this and thinking wow! this looks so cool! so I recently had a chance to
view this film and I have to say I am somewhat disappointed.

First off the opening text was very slick and gave a good
explanation about what is going on in the film.

you basic Storyline is as follows:

Six years ago NASA discovered the possibility of alien life within our solar system. A probe was launched to collect samples, but crashed upon re-entry over Central America. Soon after, new life form began to appear and half of Mexico was quarantined as an INFECTED ZONE. Today, the American and Mexican military still struggle to contain "the creatures"...... Our story begins when a US journalist agrees to escort a shaken tourist through the infected zone in Mexico to the safety of the US border.

Now the film did have an explosive start but then quieted right down
sadly for a film called Monsters there wasn't very many in this movie
I was expecting alot more action and maybe some frights but this had
none of that really. Like I said it had an explosive start
where it showed them quickly fighting one of the creatures. then you
don't really seen another creature again until an hour later
and then again about 20 mins after that.

I can't really comment on the creature design, you never get a
a really good look at them, they only appear at night time in
the dark you never see them walking about in the daylight
I would have like to have gotten a good look at them.
I can't even tell you what they are they looked like giant
squids with crab legs. I thought there would be all different
sizes and shapes of creatures running around but there is just
these giant crab legged squids things...?

Now the movie itself was alright, I felt the acting
to be very believable and realistic as these two people
made there way to the US border. it didn't feel scripted
it was just like 2 people just talking in general and
getting to know each other.

One of the things I thought was funny was the scene with
the ferry tickets where the guy is like it will cost $5000
dollars I was thinking that's alot. and then the "ferry man "
is talked down to $3000 by the male lead Andrew Kaulder (played
by Scoot McNairy) also who names there child Scoot?
anyway.. that night he and female lead Samantha Wynden
(played by Whitney Able) head out on the town and get drunk
as she goes back to her room and his advances are shot down
he goes out and gets more drunk! why is this important?
well lets just say after getting drunk he ends up having
"a problem" with their passports and they have to go back
to the "ferry man " who tell them no passport no ferry
yes this is even after they have payed this guy the money!

So they ended up with the option stay there for 6 months
or pay this guy $10,000 now!(crazy I know) for someone to take
them threw the "infected zone" they end up working something out
and they are off.

Now there isn't really much going on in the "infected zone"
you would think this would be crawling with creatures
but nope they just mosey on through.
there was a scene where they are on a boat and it breaks down
in the middle of the river at night fall. and there is an
eerie scene with a submerged fighter jet which was somewhat cool
and then they are on their way again.

One of the nice things about this is while they are
going through the the "infected zone" there are plenty
of nice scenery shots which were very impressive.
they have their Monster encounter and that doesn't last long
and that is about it.

Once back in the US there is a scene with some crazy
homeless woman which was kind of strange and kinda funny.

Now like I said I was somewhat disappointed with this I
didn't think it was as good as I thought it would be
I thought there would probably be more creatures and more
action and just generally more going on.
I did like how the 2 main actors fit together I felt that it
was good casting and that they made a good couple.

I just wish this movie had more. it was alright but I
probably wouldn't watch it again.