Chronicles Movie Review

Chronicle is a found footage film in the vein of Blair Witch and Cloverfield that follows the lives of three high school teens Andrew, Matt and Scott, who discover a meteor crater and obtain telekinesis, super strength and flying ability after a strange event that wipes out their memories of what happened.  One of the teens named Andrew films everything they do and he gets strong enough where he uses his powers to keep the camera filming hands free at all times.  As the story progresses along, the three teens powers grow and their pranks and pratfalls become larger and larger.  Andrew, the main character in this film is like an evil Peter Parker. He has an abusive father, very few friends and has always been ostracized from fellow teenagers in his community.  He doesn’t have a strong role model to tell him like Uncle Ben told Peter Parker that with “great power comes great responsibility”.  As the three friends become more and more powerful, Andrew becomes disillusioned with his life, friends and family and begins to spiral downhill mentally and emotionally.  This culminates in a showdown, which will only leave one super powered person standing.

The Chronicle of these events is the most amazing thing of I have seen this year! The Chronicle is a fresh take on the superhero genre, which makes the film even more up close and personal than your traditional hero movie fare.  Teenagers and adults alike will feel a personal connection to this film due to its realistic portrayal of high school kids who are suddenly given enormous powers.  The fight scenes seem like they would be happening right outside my window in the street.  The most awe inspiring part of the film to me is when the three friends learn how to fly and are up in the atmosphere flying and playing football.  Many may say this movie is stealing from Smallville or Heroes, but those shows didn’t even pop into my head to compare it to.  This movie is more like the Japanese anime “Akira” than anything else. All I can say is this film is amazing, funny, chilling and refreshing!

Grade: A

Roshawn: A

Kameron: A

Ron Porter’s Movie Spring/Summer Movie Round Up of 2011

Well the spring/summer movie season has officially ended for me.  I have seen thirteen movies, and I shall provide you with the final all inclusive movie rankings, from best to worst.

1. Battle Los Angeles- This movie fulfilled ever expectation that I had for a summer film.
2. Rise of the Planet of the Apes- This was an unexpected movie that cries for
   sequels! This movie was a pleasant surprise.
3. Harry Potter- The final movie of the franchise hit all of the right notes
   and had a satisfying conclusion.
4. X-Men: First Class- This movie had me thinking weeks after it was over, which
   has given it the edge over the other superhero films of the summer.
5. Thor- This was a fun superhero film that I enjoyed immensely despite my initial
   misgivings.
6. Captain America- Another solid superhero film that exceeded expectations.
7. Cowboys & Aliens- From what I hear, many people didn’t buy into the film.
   I completely disagree. I loved the concept and serious tone of the movie.
8. Hanna- A remarkable action film that had a unique story idea even if somewhat
   flawed.
9. Transformers: Darkside of the Moon- Many people hate the Transformers movies, but I
   love’em! Action, Robot Mayhem and Robotic Transformations. Enough said!
10. Super 8- A wonderful nostalgia film that brought back memories of my
    childhood, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, ET & Poltergeist.
11. Green Lantern- Not as bad as I thought it would be, but they really missed
    some opportunity with this film.
12. I AM NUMBER  4- This should have
    been reserved for Saturday morning teen shows.
13. Sucker Punch- The most disappointing film of the summer that should win one
    of those Razzy awards. Some much potential wasted.

 

Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows Movie Review

The long nine year journey is nearing its end. The final installment of the Harry Potter film series has finally been released, although it has been broken up into two installments, with one coming in the fall, and the final piece coming in the summer. Rarely have I seen a book series translate so well to the movie screen, with the exception of the Lord of the Ring. This new film, the Deathly Hallows is the last leg of the adventure for Harry Potter and his friends, as they try to locate the horcruxes which house the seven pieces of Voldemort’s soul. While looking for the horcruxes, Potter and his band are constantly on the run, hiding out from Voldemort and his evil Death Eaters.

This film is a great improvement over the last two Harry Potter Films, which were good, but not as good as this installment. The Deathly Hallows is filled with great character exchanges between Harry, Ron and Hermione as they try to adjust to their new world as fugitives and adjust the triangle of friendship they have shared for years as two of the characters grow closer than friends. Just watching the evolution of their friendship, with its good times and bad was great in itself but the action in the Deathly Hallows is also pretty exciting in this latest edition. There are plenty of magical battles, in the magic and real world as our heroes fight to stay alive and find a way to finally defeat Voldemort. This film is definitely the darkest of them all, as the characters struggle with each other relationally, but also by watching many of their friends die. Although it is dark, there is the light of hope displayed by the characters that all will be okay in the end.

This film definitely earned its PG13 rating and there are some scenes which could startle or frighten younger viewers. I am glad the filmmakers have matured the films and levels of intensity over the years as the characters have aged, and to me it fits right in with the books. Although the film is dark, it is filled with plenty of laughs that flow naturally with the film, so you won’t leave filling depressed or anything. If you have not read any of the Harry Potter books, or are not familiar with the story, then you will probably be lost with this film. Even though I have read all of the books and seen the films, I still had a little trouble remembering who all of the characters were. Regardless, I enjoyed the film immensely and didn’t want it to end. This film hit all of the right buttons for me. Bring on part II!

Grade: A

Skyline Movie Review

Skyline is your typical alien invasion movie with a Cloverfield flare, in that it is filmed from the perspective of average people who have no inside connection to the military, scientist or government involved in repelling the alien threat. The thing that sets this film apart from the other alien invasion films is the level of tension I felt throughout the mid portion of the film when the alien invasion actually commences. There were also some cool special effects sequences during the alien invasion, which had me thinking about the Rapture.

The battle sequences and the aliens themselves were fantastic, and kept me excited about the film, but the characters themselves made such poor decisions that it was hard to enjoy the movie at times. The ending of the film will definitely make you raise your eyebrows, and I would love to ask the director what he was thinking when he did it. Skyline isn’t a bad movie, but it isn’t great. Not bad for the $4, 10:30 am matinee.

Grade: C+
Roshawn’s Grade: B-

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.

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.)

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