Sherlock Holmes Movie Review

Sherlock Holmes is a rollicking good time of a movie! Originally, I couldn’t fathom an action oriented Sherlock Holmes, who had amazing fighting skills to go along with his genius. I had no intention of seeing the film although the trailer looked pretty good. I grew up with Sherlock Holmes being a stuffed shirt bore, and really couldn’t get motivated to see the film.  My dad and my buddy Pete changed my tune with their excited synopsis of the film.  I must say that they were correct.   Sherlock Holmes has been reinvented, and he and his side kick Dr. Watson work for me.  I don’t want to go into the plot of the movie because it could spoil it, but I will say that it revolves around a mystery that centers on the possibility of black magic or new age science.  To me this film harkens back to the idea behind the original Wild Wild West with Robert Conrad, not the dud with Will Smith. In the original Wild Wild West, the heroes came across or used inventions and scientific devices that were so new that it bordered on magic. The Sherlock Holmes movie uses the same technique to great effect.

 Another great aspect of the movie was the mystery surrounding Lord Blackwood the villain and how he accomplished his various feats in the film.  The mystery of the movie was not unsolvable by any means, but the journey to see how it was resolved and how the villain pulled it off kept you guessing throughout the film.

 The fight scenes involving Holmes, which I thought I would have a problem with, were not over the top at all.  The fighting he did really fit his character, and I loved the unique way they showcased Holmes fighting genius by having him visually explain the purpose behind each attack he would make prior to making it.  It was a very intellectual and surgically precise exercise he performed that I found refreshing.

 The key to success with this film was the relationship between Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. Robert Downey Jr. (Sherlock) and Dr. Watson (Jude Law) are very convincing in their roles, and I bonded with them immediately.  The brotherly love they share on screen seems so real that I wonder if they are close friends off screen.  This film provides everything you look for in a film, great action scenes, good story, mystery, suspense and awesome character development. Avatar was good, but this is much better, Sherlock Holmes is a well rounded flick that will please all audiences.  They have already set up the players for the sequel, with the infamous Moriarty being the likely villain or player behind the scenes, and I for one am really looking forward to it.  I must also add that the score for the film was awesome, which also enhanced the Sherlock Holmes experience.

Grade: A

AVATAR 3D Movie Review

Avatar 3D Movie Review

 Today I braved deep snow and treacherous roads to go and see Avatar 3D, which was for me the most anticipated movie of the year.  When I first saw the trailers for this film, I was stunned into silence at the breathtaking visuals.  I wasn’t disappointed in the least when I sat back and watched this visually breathtaking masterpiece of movie making.  The colors and the realism of the fauna, flora and alien life forms in this movie world were phenomenal and the 3 dimensional views just made it even more awe inspiring. 

 Although the movie to me broke cinema ground visually, the story and the meat of the film itself was decent.  The story takes its pages from the history of the European exploitation of the world, in which the Europeans took what valuable resources and riches they wanted from technologically inferior foes due to their vastly superior technology.  That is the case with Avatar.  Humans have found a world rich with a valuable resource which is worth 20 million dollars a kilo.  A corporation has established a foothold on the planet to exploit the resource, much like the British East India Company of old.  Unfortunately for the sentient life on the planet, the richest deposit of the sought after ore lies under their “Home Tree”, which is a massive tree that must have been at least 300 feet tall.  The corporation attempts to negotiate with the native Navie by sending in what they call Avatars, which are human grown Navie that a human can control with his mind.  A new recruit for the Avatar program, gets his Avatar and to keep it short goes “native”.  The corporation then resorts to force and the battle between the bad humans and the good aliens begins.  Basically, this movie is Dances with Wolves in Space.

 The story was good, but it was real short on action until the very end.  For those who are thinking this is going to be some super hyper action flick, you will be disappointed.  This is a good movie that develops its characters and really makes you believe in the people, aliens and the world.  The film moves a little slowly, but it is worth it to me.  The ending was well worth the wait of course, but many people might be turned off by the slower pace and the two and a half our film time.  It took James Cameron four years and some say 500 million dollars to make this film, and I can see why. Unfortunately, although this is a ground breaking film, I don’t think people will be drawn to it in droves like they would for Star Wars or even his film Titanic.  I for one hope they do because I would love to see more films made with this kind of epic scale.  After seeing this I could really visualize the new John Carter of Mars movie they are making, which is based on the novels of Edgar Rice Burroughs, my favorite sci-fi author as a kid.

 Grade: B+

Ninja Assassin Movie Review

If you are a fan of fantasy martial arts films, then keep reading, but if you like your martial arts to be realistic, then you may want to stop here. Ninja Assassin falls into the realm of what I call fantasy kung fu, which includes extraordinary feats of prowess, phenomenal leaps, mystical fighting skills and the ability for one person to take on a minimum of twenty guys at one time. I am a fan of fantasy kung fu, and during the 80’s, I swore I was a ninja. I even went so far as to have my mom dye my dad’s old karate outfit black, so my buddy Ken and I could do ninja style commando raids against each other and others. Yes, just like Star Wars, Star Trek and Godzilla, kung fu movies have helped shape who I am.

During the 80s, ninja movies swept the USA, and were frequently shown on HBO and I soaked them up with a passion. Movies like, Ninja Scroll, Chinese Super Ninjas, Wu-Tang vs. Ninja and Revenge of the Ninja are some of my favorite ninja style movies of all time. Each one of these films falls into the realm of what I label fantasy kung fu, so will Ninja Assassin rank up there as one of my favorites in the fantasy kung fu category? Yes and no. Ninja Assassin is short on story, but filled with some special effects fighting action scenes that will have you clinging to the edge of your seat. This film is rated R for a reason. I shouldn’t have any problem with horror films after the blood, guts and limbs I saw flying all over the place. Although it was filled with some cool action scenes, the fights weren’t as memorable as some of my favorites from the past. The kill moves were great, but the fights themselves just didn’t stand out to me. The coolest part to me was how they showed the ninjas appearing out of the shadows. What I would love to see would be a scene by scene remake of Chinese Super Ninjas using today’s technology now that would be a movie. The story itself was a classic revenge tale, but some aspects of the story didn’t make too much sense, and could have been tweaked with very little effort. Regardless, I will probably buy this one on DVD to increase the size of my kung fu collection. The movie is good, but not one of my all time favorites.

Grade: B+

Roshawn: B

Kameron: Unable to attend due to movie rating.

2012 Movie Review

Every since I was a young child around 7, I have stressed and obsessed about the end of the world. I remember worrying about Nuclear Armageddon, the Rapture and all sorts of end of the world scenarios throughout my life. More times than not this has been a curse rather than a blessing for me.  With the movie 2012, thirty two years of fears were rolled into an hour and a half movie.  Everything that I could have imagined was on this film that I saw today. When I was younger I would have probably been depressed, and I would have worried daily, but with faith, I just roll with the punches.  With the technology we have to create all of these marvels of destructive movie making, I have recently asked myself, what if the people who say they saw into the future (Nostradamus etc.) were actually seeing our movies.  Wouldn’t that be a brain twister?!

Anyway 2012 has some breath taking special effects, highlighting the destruction of planet Earth, but the story itself was passable at best.  Ronald Emmerich the director of the film created a by the numbers disaster film, that to me harkened back to the days of the “Towering Inferno and Earthquake”.  The only difference between this film and those, is that humans have no where to really run or hide because the entire planet is going up in smoke.  Story and character wise, this film was as predictable as they come.  Every character scene that came up, I accurately predicted the outcome beforehand. Despite these shortcomings, I thought the scenes depicting the destruction of the Earth were worth the price of matinee admission.

 Grade: C

District 9 Movie Review

Word of mouth has been telling me for weeks that District 9 is a good movie. When I saw the trailers for it last year, I thought it was a documentary on discrimination against a people in Africa.  When I saw the end of the trailer, and it showed an alien being interrogated, I was very intrigued but still cautious because the film was being released in August.  Generally, I have observed that films released in August are usually duds, that don’t stand a chance of competing against the summer action blockbusters.  District 9 doesn’t fit the characteristics of a dud summer film.  I really liked this movie, and I am having a hard time accepting that they only spent 30 million dollars making this film.

 First of all the way the movie was filmed was unique and very creative.  The entire movie is filmed basically filmed in a documentary style format, and if you ever saw the trailers, you would be surprised that the film was about stranded extraterrestrial aliens, who are no longer wanted on Earth.  The film is definitely a homage to the movie and television series Alien Nation, but to me this film is so much better. 

 The film begins with the appearance of a huge spaceship over the skies of Johannesburg, South Africa, which is crammed with nearly 1 million malnourished insect like aliens.  Humans being sympathetic, and interested in the alien tech, transport all 1 million aliens to an area in Johannesburg, which has been given the name District 9.  Although the humans are initial excited about the prospect of interacting with an alien species, it soon becomes apparent that the aliens are very roach like in their behavior and the District that they are given becomes a slum and haven for crime.  The humans try to avoid all contact with the aliens, and they create an apartheid like society in District 9 and oppress the aliens to keep them bottled up in the alien slums.  Its no irony that the filmmakers chose South Africa as their location for this alien visitation, discrimination tale.  It is too easy to draw the parallels with the plight of the black South Africans and the aliens, but it is also ironic and funny that the descendents of the apartheid in the movie are willing to discriminate against the aliens.

 The story revolves around a bureaucrat name Wikus, who is given the charge of relocating the aliens, which the humans have negatively named “Prawns” to a concentration camp like area to keep the aliens separate from humanity.  He is a nice guy when it comes to humans, but you can see he is not too fond of the aliens.  I could easily have replaced his character with a Nazi official, and changed the story to fit his relocation of the Jews. Wikus while investigating a “Prawn” hideout is exposed to an alien liquid, and the movie shifts gears from a documentary to a fascinating action film that forces the main character to reevaluate his purpose in life and try something different.  Wikus is not a nice guy, and throughout most of the film he is motivated purely for selfish reasons, but towards the end, there is redemption.

I was blown away by this film.  It is very well crafted, with a very good story line.  The special effects were top notch and the action although unexpected was amazing.  There were some flaws in the film, such as convenient plot elements to help Wikus along the way, but they were acceptable.  This is the best film I have seen all year long.

Now am I saying G.I. Joe is as good as District 9 since I gave it an A? Heavens no!  To me these films are in different categories. G.I. Joe is a fun film in the category of Transformers or my favorite Kung Fu flicks,  but District 9 is a great movie, with a quality story to match. I would rank it up there with my all time favorite movies. 

 Grade: A+

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra Movie Review

Although I am still enjoying some vacation time, I could not resist writing this review!

YO JOE!  The hit 1980’s television show with the famous catch phrase  has finally hit the movie screen in a loud, live action summer popcorn, bubble gum fest.  I am just going to come out and say it. I loved this movie!  This movie blows away all of the Transformers movie, in regards to delivering what the fans want, which is a full scale movie devoted entirely to the GI Joe team and their battles with the up and coming Cobra organization.  In my opinion the Transformers movies delivered, but included too much fluff, which took away from the films.

For those of you not familiar with G.I. Joe, they were a series of 12 inch tall army action figures (dolls! LOL!) that were created sometime in the 50’s or 60’s.  They were G.I.s, which stands for Government Issue.  These dolls had accesories and weapons etc. Think Ken Barbie doll and mix with Rambo. I had a GI Joe doll and I remember gluing a beard on him. Anyway, in the 80’s, a cartoon was made about the G.I. Joes and their battles with a well financed terrorist organization called Cobra, which was led by Cobra Commander.  Each side the good and the bad had colorful characters with colorful names and abilities.  I knew as a kid that the cartoon series was bad, and it was even worse to me because there were never any fatalities in the show, (Darn those government regulations!) but I still followed the show pretty faithfully. Although the show was bad, it was pretty popular with a lot of youths of my generation, and the show always ended with a moral of the story, which would end with “And knowing is half the battle!”

When I saw the previews for this G.I. Joe movie, I had very limited hopes for this film, but boy was I wrong. Joes and Cobra villains are getting killed left and right in this film, and the action scenes although CGI are awesome.  This movie was a pleasant surprise, that won’t disappoint fans of the series or anyone who enjoyed the Transformers (Robot scenes only!) movies.  This was my favorite action blockbuster of the summer.

Grade: A

My Dad: A

Roshawn: A

Kameron: A++++++++++ (Thats what he said in his own words.)

Rafting on the Lehigh 09

On our second journey to the Lehigh River, we had the pleasure of having our friends the Kramers, Addisons and Wilsons accompany us on another exciting  journey down the murkey waters of the northern PA river.  We had so many good memories about the previous trip, that our excitement infected the spirits of our friends.

As we prepared our rafts for the adventure, our friends looked up to us as the “veterans” to lead the way and show them how to navigate the cool winding river near the town of Jim Thorpe.  I of course relished the role as the lead guide who would blaze a watery trail through the waters of Lehigh.  The tour, which we were a part of was lead by the Whitewater Rafting Adventure company, which had approximatly 15 dark green boats on the water.  When the river guides gave us the okay, all of us carried our rafts into the water, jumped in and started paddling. Rahesha, Roshawn, Kameron and myself made up the crew of our raft, and with our veteran skills we stroked into the forefront of all the boats in our group.  With me sitting in the back guiding our grand raft, the four of us smiled in satisfaction as we stroked in rhythm, easily outpacing  the remainder of the rafts in our wagon train.  However, as we approached a rough portion of the water, we lost our rhythm, and our raft started to spin in circles.  While spinning in circles, the other rafts from our group began to approach as they found their rhythm.  Although I was in the back of the boat, my back was actually facing front, and I was encouraging my crew to find their stroke and swing us around, when suddenly,  I felt the raft lurch downwards. I turned and looked behind me just in time to see the raft heading over a rock and down a three foot dip.  As our raft tipped downwards I fell back, and as I fell back Rahesha fell into me and we were tossed over the side along with our oars! The water was only about four feet deep, but the current was so fast and the rocks were so slippery that I couldn’t gain any purchase to stand.   I grabbed the handholds on the side of the raft, and I snaked my hand out and grabbed a hold of Rahesha’s life vest and pulled her to the boat.  All the while I could feel the cold water rushing by as we traveled alongside the boat.  Rahesha panicked a little because she thought that Kameron fell out of the boat, but he didn’t.  He however, was upset because he thought his parents were gone.  As I continued to try to gain  my orientation, my big toe hit a rock and began to throb, and one of my shoes fell off of my foot.  Once I calmed Rahesha,  I swam across the current with the raft in tow, until I came to a rock outcropping in the water that was about two feet deep.  We all jumped in the raft, thanked God and kept on going.  While all of this was going on, a nearby raft collected my missing shoe and oar, and the Wilsons had grabbed Rosahwn’s oar and we were back in business, although more humble! LOL!

Now that I have told you about our hair raising experience, don’t think we are done rafting!  This is a family float rafting trip.  There are only 3 rough areas on this trip.  The only reason why were were tossed, is because we weren’t paying attention when we came up to that little dip.  This is still a great trip for kids ages 6 and up, and everyone is required to wear life vests.  Our friends enjoyed the trip so much that we have now decided to make it an annual family and friends event.  As you can see from the pictures above it looked bad.  Picture #1 is when I began to fall out of the boat when we hit the rock.  Picture #2 shows that am already under and Rahesha is now falling in behind me. Picture #3 shows us that we are all safe and sound, and as you can see I enjoyed the experience, although my family members were shaken.  I would love to thank the Whitewater Rafting Adventure photographer, who once again took some great photos!

 I can’t wait until next year!

Harry Potter & the Half Blood Prince Review

Harry Potter is one of those rare mediums that has conquered the hearts and minds of people in the forms of books and films over the past decade.  When the Potter books came out, I had no interest in reading them because I had dismissed them as children’s books. However, once my son started reading them, and when a tough football coach colleague of mine expressed his love of the books, my curiosity was piqued.  Once I started reading the books, I was hooked on the world of Harry Potter.  The movies amazingly were able to capture the magic and wonder that was the world of Harry Potter, and they became commercial successes in the world, as well as successful movies in my own mind.

 The trend continues with Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince.  I will tell you up front, that this is not an action filled, summer popcorn film.  This is a film that continues the journey of Harry Potter and his Quest to defeat the evil Lord Voldermort.  The Half Blood Prince is not really a self contained movie, but a start to the final series of events that leads to the conclusion of the series.  This particular film revolves around Potter’s investigation into the history of Lord Voldermort and the role that his childhood nemesis Draco Malfoy has in Lord Voldermort’s plans for the wizard world.  The film also focuses on a number of romantic relationships that have been developing over the series of movies.  What I really like about the current movies, is that they acknowledge the older age of their characters and give them young adult attitudes and behaviors that are believable and can relate to teens and young adults who have grown up with the Potter films.  That being said, there are some scenes in the film that you may not feel comfortable allowing your young young children to see.  As in the books, the latest crop of Potter films have become very dark and foreboding, but the current film is still filled with laughs and fun moments that will keep the depressing events of the film at bay.

 If you have not read the books or become a fan of the movies, then this film might seem a little slow for you and may be difficult to follow, at least that is what my dad said.  He didn’t enjoy the film at all and said he fell asleep a few times.  I enjoyed the film tremendously, and I loved visiting with the characters in this world again.

 Grade: A

 Roshawn: A-

Kameron: A

Dad: C

Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen Movie Review

First off, if you didn’t like the first Transformers movie then stop here because you won’t like the second, but if you were a fan of the first movie, and you believed it was short on robots and robot mayhem, then strap in!

Transformers 2 is an adrenaline pumped, steroid using big brother of the first film.  This film is filled with more robot action in the first half an hour, then the entire first film.  Transformers 2 has been super-sized and I like it! Now many people aren’t fans of director Michael Bay who made the Rock, Armageddon and the Bad Boys films, but I have to admit I liked all of the above mentioned films.  If you want popcorn summer action, then Bay is the man.  Now if you want a complex story and characters then you made need to look elsewhere.  Bay doesn’t bring complexity to Transformers 2, and to be honest, I don’t need it.  When I saw Transformers 2, I wanted to see as many robots as possible, transforming and duking it out with rocket cannons and blasters.  I wanted to see as few humans as possible, and I sort of got my wish.  Bay continues to include humans and the traditional love story bit into the films, which are adequate at best, but serviceable to the movie.  The characters are the same as in the first film, and they are just as paper thin, but they fulfill their purpose to give a human side to the movie. 

The story is also straightforward and simple, with the Decepticons (the evil transformers) searching for their leader Megatron and a lost power source to fuel their galactic ambitions for the glory of the Fallen.  The Autobots (the good transformers) defend humanity and try to stop the Decepticons.

So if you enjoyed the first one, then you will love the 2^nd one, although there is much more cussing than in the first one. A lot more humans die in this one than in the first one.  I would say a good 8 to 10 thousand people die in this film, although they are Star Wars type deaths, which means no blood or gore.  

I did have an issue with certain elements of the film. First of all there is a scene where the mom of the human hero Sam unknowingly eats brownies filled with marijuana.  She of course acts a fool, but it had nothing to do with driving the plot of the movie forward whatsoever.  Secondly, there were some Autobot twins, which gave me a strong memory of Jar Jar Binks, although not as blatant. They were annoying and some people will complain, but they were not too over the top with their stereotypes. Thirdly, I wish these directors would stop with the shaky cam and quick cuts! I am sick of it already.

 Despite my issues, this is a fun summer sci-fi film, which fulfills its mandate to entertain therefore it has earned a solid….B

UP Movie Review

So far the summer season for kid’s flicks is batting 100%, with a homerun with Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian and now Pixar’s UP. With the glut of computer generated kids movies that have been hitting the scene over the past few years, it could have been easy to overlook this gem. The novelty of CGI movies wore off on me awhile ago, so I haven’t been as eager to see them lately. I should have known better with a Pixar flick. Pixar hasn’t made a movie yet that hasn’t touched me and thrilled me in some way. The trend continues with UP.

This movie is a heart tugging adventure that tells the tale of an elderly man (Frederickson) who years before had lost his wife, just days before they were to go on their grand adventure to South America that they had been planning since childhood. The following years he spends in seclusion and regret wishing he had taken the time to go on the journey with his life long partner. Just before being sent to a retirement home, Frederickson, who was a balloon salesman, outfits his house with hundreds of balloons and sails off in his house towards South America. Along the way he picks up a boy who is a Wilderness Scout, a talking dog and a giant bird, and his great adventures begin. If you have children or know children they have to see this movie. Adults, you won’t be disappointed either with this film. It is grounded in reality for the most part, and even the talking dog (Doug) has an explanation. The talking dog Doug is pretty funny, and his character is not portrayed as a human in a dog’s body. Doug is portrayed as a dog, and I think that perspective is hilarious and marvelous at the same time.

This film also has an emotional core that I think everyone can relate to, which is the idea of growing old, losing a loved one and being lonely. My tear ducts were trying to fire up, but I was able to hold them at bay. If you have loved Pixar’s other movie fare, such as Toy Story, Toy Story 2, Monsters Inc, Finding Nemo and the Incredibles, then you won’t be disappointed with UP.

Grade: A

Kameron: A+