Movie review time! I've decided to cut my reviews post up into smaller, more managable pieces - better for the digestive tract. The reviews are in alphabetical order, but if you don't see a particular movie on here, it's probably because I haven't got around to writing about it yet. Another movie review post will follow soon, with more summer and fall flicks commented upon for your pleasure. Enjoy.
1408: I'm not a big horror movie fan, but the idea and story behind 1408 is really intriguing. A haunted hotel room that no one is allowed to stay in because everyone who has in the past dies/commits suicide. I didn't think much of it until the end, where ***SPOILER WARNING***SKIP TO NEXT MOVIE IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW*** you find out that the room is basically an alternate reality that will continue to repeat the same day over and over again until the guests ultimately kill themselves, since that's the only way to escape the repeating horror.
The Bourne Ultimatum: After seeing this movie, I can safely say that the Bourne trilogy is one of the best action series out there. Most series tend to start out really well, and then they start to lack in quality. But Bourne was really good. The suspenseful/action-packed storyline is really what does it for these movies - well, that, and the action sequences, and the acting, and... okay, so it's all really good. This final movie has the best hand-to-hand fight scene I have EVER seen in a movie.
Children of Men: Wow. As far as futuristic films go, this one is probably my favorite. The plot is sooooo interesting - a world where all women are barren, save the one woman who miraculously got pregnant and now must be protected from all harm and even the government (since they would just do a bunch of testing and take her baby away). Director Alfonso Cuaron cooks up another winner with this movie.
Evan Almighty: Definitely not even on the same level as Bruce Almighty. This one is geared toward a more family-oriented audience than Bruce. It's decently funny, and I love Steve Carell, but when you're expecting something similar to Jim Carrey's performance in Bruce, you're totally let down for this movie. There were bits and pieces of the movie that were great and hilarious, and others that just dragged on and on. Decent Friday-night-with-the-family-eating-pizza kind of movie, though.
Fantastic Four: The Rise of the Silver Surfer: This was a grand hour and a half waste of my time. You could pretty much get the gist of the entire movie out of the trailers. I considered getting up and leaving (which, to date, I have only done in one movie - Eragon), but I sat through it because I'm a superhero movie fanatic. Unless you're a huge Fantastic Four fan, I would not recommend spending any money on this one.
Knocked Up: Wow, where do I even begin? H-I-L-A-R-I-O-U-S. Very, very vulgar - so parents, please don't let your children watch it (unless you think they're old enough). Made by the same guy who did The 40 Year-Old Virgin and Talladega Nights and Superbad (he's just rolling out the blockbusters!). If you're okay with watching the vulgarity and the drug use, then I highly recommend this movie. It's even got a nice, sweet story to back it up. Ha.
Live Free or Die Hard (Die Hard 4): Continuing the Die Hard legacy, Bruce Willis returns to the silver screen. To be honest, I've never seen Die Hard 1-3. But as action movies go, this one was pretty good. The action sequences (cars flying, bullets flying, debris and people flying everywhere...) were really well done, even if unbelievable at times. The plot was somewhat inventive, but intriguing all the same... how many "world domination by evil guy" movies involve said evil guy shutting down every communications system in the U.S.?
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End: I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU SAY, I ABSOLUTELY LOVED THIS FREAKING MOVIE!!! There are lots of people out there who will tell you that Pirates 3 was a three-hour waste of time. I strongly disagree. The graphics are PHENOMONAL, the acting is SPECTACULAR, the music is MIND-BLOWING (FYI, I love most super-dramatic orchestrated music for epic films), and the storyline is SO AMAZINGLY AMAZING. Maybe they could have split the movie in half, making movie 3 about getting Captain Jack back, and movie 4 about making it to "world's end". But still, if you liked the first Pirates, I think you'll like this one. The second is questionable.
***NOTE: At this point in time, I'd like to add that I believe Johnny Depp is one of the best actors Hollywood has ever seen. He's such an incredibly versatile actor, playing in roles that require entirely different personas, emotions, accents, characters, etc. Compare his characters in Cry Baby, Pirates, What's Eating Gilbert Grape, The Libertine, Finding Neverland... the list goes on. I fully respect Johnny Depp as an actor, even if he does wear tacky red suits to Red Carpet events.
Ratatouille: A touching story about a rat chasing his dream of becoming a chef. This movie is great; it has humor, it has emotion, it has the great animation that we've come to expect from Disney and Pixar, it has the "lesson" that is learned (humans dealing with
good rats in the kitchen)... the only qualm I have about this movie is the fact that they are RATS. And they're cooking the food...? But if you put that aside and remember that this is fiction, it's a cute movie that's good for people of all ages.
Surf's Up: Now, I saw the trailers for this one and thought "Why'd they rip-off Happy Feet?" But the fact of the matter is, animated penguin movies were just on fire in the box office. I only saw half of this movie (due to technical difficulties), but what I saw, I liked. It's definitely more of a kid's movie, and they used Green Day songs way too much in the film, but it's still a funny little break from reality.
