Friday, May 24, 2013

Fast & Furious 6 (2013): Review

Tonight I went and saw Fast & Furious 6 and I was hoping that it would be alright but it did not really meet my expectations. My expectations where not that high, as I like the Fast and Furious franchise and it is quite low on plot and high on chasing.  This movie did have a lot of action and went from sequence to sequence with little concern to focus on the stringing together or plot/character development.
Fast & Furious 6 starts with flashbacks of the previous movies that would make absolutely no sense to anyone who didn't see the movie and I feel that this movie took too long introducing what was going on.  I think it was a little too convoluted and I think it would have been better if the plot wasn't twisted to bring back Letty, played by Michelle Rodriguez.  This might be because I am not a fan of Rodriguez as an actress and I think that she is very flat when acting, plus her voice seemed different then it was in the past. Anyway, it felt really forced to bring here back and I think it would have been better to just bring the crew back together and kept going in a forward motion with the story instead of trying to recapture the past.
Fast & Furious 6 brings back the main character's from Fast Five and has Don (Vin Diesel) and Brian (Paul Walker) coming together to help Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) to stop thief's from stealing something that would be very bad. This wasn't explained that much.  They are motivated by the knowledge of Letty being alive and working for this new crew but that she has lost her memory and doesn't know any of them.  Lots of fights and actions sequences are abound.
Like I said I felt that the story was convoluted and it just didn't really work to bring back Letty and I think that there were too many characters.  The number of characters were difficult to follow and I even know the previous stories.  For people who do not know the main characters and the stories from the other movies, this move will be quite confusing.  I didn't like that the focus was not on driving and racing.  It seemed like it was more focused on just being an action movie and not a racing action movie.  I didn't like how there were so many hand to hand fight scenes.  When I think Fast and Furious I think of racing and cars, not action stars who can fight.  I wanted the actors behind their cars more. 
The plot didn't really flow and some of the things thrown in where cliche and just there to string the action scenes above.  It also did the thing that I don't like, where the action is really tight and it is hard to watch because of it.  The positive is that it didn't try to go for 3D, it was just regular 2D.  I think it would have been better if it went back to the core of these movies and focused on the cars and the chase. I do not think there was need to focus on Dwayne Johnson and I am tired of him being thrust into other franchise, he is not needed in every action movie or franchise. This goes back to the negatives of the hand to hand fights.
The positives are that besides the first ten minutes it was exciting and had lots of things blowing up and being smashed.  It seemed like destruction was key in this movie and I like a good action scene.  Surprisingly the majority of the interactions of the cast (excluding Rodriquez and Johnson) was fantastic.  I liked the quips and comments that they threw at each other were great nuggets sprinkled through out and I especially enjoyed the interactions between Tyrese and Ludacris.
I am hoping that for the next installment, the production craziness is dialed back and the focus is on the character interactions (who's chemistry is great) and the car chases.  These characters are not action spy guys. The end of movie shows where Fast & Furious will go from and how the cast of characters has been pruned.
Although I was slightly bummed that it was not as The Fast & The Furious that I would have liked to have scene, this movie keep the action and adrenaline up and was worth the watch for those who like actions movies with little development or substance and it was enough to make me want to go back and watch the series which I own on DVD.

My Rating: 2-

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Man of Steel: Official Trailer #3

The new Man of Steel Trailer has been released. Watch below:


This trailer really helps to up my excitement for this movie, as it focuses on the villain Zod and the peril of the movie and Superman's need to be a hero.  I am super excited for this movie to just be released already.

Don Jon: Official Trailer #1

The first official trailer for Joseph Gordon- Levitt's full length writing and directing debut Don Jon (nee Don Jon's Addiction).  Watch here:


If you have heard anything about this movie, the trailer does not introduce any new information but you get to see (and hear) the actors in their characters.  It is interesting to hear Gordon- Levitt and Scarlet Johansson with their Jersey accents and it is weird because I don't think of them with that accent in my head.  It also introduces Julianne Morre, Tony Danza as supporting characters.

I have been excited about this movie since I heard about it when my sister was an extra on set and told me about it. I followed its success at its release at Sundance and the progression through reduction of its name.  I am very excited for it and hope it is as good as I have heard.

The trailer gives a basic set up of the movie, that Don Jon lives his life and has an addiction to porn.  He meet a girl who is obsessed with romance movies, and then there are problems due to his porn habit.  I am looking forward to the next trailer that will hopefully give a bit more.

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Star Trek: Into Darkness (2013): Review **NO SPOILERS**

Tonight I went to see the very first showing I could of Star Trek: Into Darkness and unless this is the first time you have spoken with me lately or read my blog, then you know that I have been super excited and waiting impatiently for this movie to come out.  I was happy to get tickets to the first showing offered tonight and I am happy to say that this movie met my expectations and I absolutely loved it. I think it was absolutely fantastic and exciting.
I am trying very hard not to disclose any significant spoilers in this post and have reread what I have written to try and make sure that there are not any slips.  I will be posting a more extensive review later on this weekend or next week (after I see it again) which will explore my thoughts on the movie when I do not care about giving away spoilers, but because I saw the first possible showing I will hold these for later.
Anyway now on to the review.
Like I said, I have been very excited for this movie to come out and I have been wanting to see it since the Star Trek (2009) reboot was released when it reignited my enjoyment of the Star Trek Franchise.  I liked what J.J. Abrams did with this and liked the cast. With Star Trek: Into Darkness, all of the main characters are brought back and I think that everyone who was well cast in the first movie was even better in this one, as they have had a chance to really settle into the characters.  I liked that this movie blended character interactions and action/excitement; to resonate with me emotionally so that I care about what is going on with the characters, while adding in the big explosions and fight sequences, along with a sprinkling of the fantastic star trek humor.  I liked that there were some Star Trek nuggets mixed in throughout the movie and I am looking forward to going back to watch this movie again and try and find more then I noticed on first look.
Star Trek: Into Darkness follows Captain James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) and Spock (Zachary Quinto) on a mission against the villain played by Benedict Cumberbatch.  Cumberbatch was fantastically casted and really draws me into believing that he is the big threat that he is made out to be; that he could actually take on Kirk and Spock as well as lead the threat against Star Fleet.  There was continued development of the relationship between Spock and Uhura (Zoe Saldana) and I liked that there relationship dynamics were fostered as well as their interacions with Kirk.  Scottie (Simon Pegg) was hilarious and I seemed to be giggling at all of his antics and responses to what was going on.  Bones (Karl Urban) kept saying his sarcastic comments and being there when he was needed.  Chekov (Anton Yelcin) comes out a little bit and gets thrown into the mix of having to use his engineering info and Sulu (John Cho) shows that he has backbone when he needs it.  The dynamics between the characters really works for me and it presented that their relationships have continued although we were not there to see their journey.  Knowing the characters ahead of time and being a fan of the first movie, it was easy for me to follow everyone, but someone who is not really familiar with all of the characters may have difficulty seeing where everyone fits in, but I think if you do not try to hard, everything will make sense.
Overall, I liked the balance and there were only a few moments were the fight scenes were dragged out but I liked how there were placed and separated by character interactions.  This movie did the thing that I don't like whit the close shot fights but because it was more focused on explosions and the environment of the ships/ people there were the wider shots that diminished this annoyingness.  I also want to point out that I did not like how the warp drive was done with the streams coming out of the engines.  I kept wanting more of what I picture in my head with everything going quickly with the stars zipping by.
I liked that there was some foreshadowing within this movie and that things were sprinkled which parallel and/or completely swapped things for the original storyline but this was a continuation of what was presented in the first film. There was also one fantastic nugget in the middle of the film which I absolutely loved, loved.
I missed the computer, voiced by Majel Barrett wife of the creator of Star Trek, but I know that there was no way to get around this as she sadly passed away in late 2008 weeks after completing her voice over for Star Trek (2009).  I did miss her presence within the film.
Basically I loved this movie and really want another one to come out soon.  I do not think this will happen as J.J. Abrams is slotted to work on other projects but a girl can dream that she will not have to wait four more years for the next one. I would recommend that everyone should watch Star Trek (2009) and then go see this movie.
I saw it in 3D but do not think it is necessary.  Yes there were things that jumped out and came into the audiences but I continue to think that these do not really add to the experience and is overdone. 

My Ranking: 3+

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Star Trek (2009): Recap

With Star Trek: Into Darkness being released this week and that I am scheduled to see it during a sneak peak on Wednesday, I have decided to recap the original J.J. Abrams reboot.  This will contain spoilers so if you don't want to know what happened in the first movie, stop reading and go watch it.  Seriously go watch it, it is a fantastic movie.  If you want a recap keep reading.

Star Trek (2009) is one of my top five favorite movies and I am super excited to see the sequel to it.  This movie stars the following.

Main Characters:
Spock Prime (Lenard Nimoy)
James T. Krick (Chris Pine)
Spock (Zackary Quinto)
Dr. "Bones" McCoy (Karl Urban)
Uhura (Zoe Saldana)
Scottie (Simon Pegg)
Sulu (John Cho)
Chekov (Anton Yelchin)

Nero (Eric Bana)- Villain

Other Characters
Captain Pike (Bruce Greenwood)
George Kirk (Chis Hemsworth)
Winona Kirk (Jennifer Morrison)
Sarek (Ben Cross)- Spock's Dad
Amanda Grayson (Winona Ryder) Spock's Mom

This movie starts with a thunderstorm in space where Nero's ship comes through it upon the Federation ship where George Kirk is station. This ship is attacked by Nero and George Kirk is killed while saving the crew and his wife who has just given birth to James Kirk.  It is great because the parents are played by the future god of thunder Thor in movies and the the soon to be savior of the fairytale world on television.  This is a nugget that I now enjoy but at the time, it was just some guy and that female Doctor form House.  Anywho back to the story.  While Kirk is being raised on earth and getting into trouble, Spock is having to cope with having a Human mother while being on Vulcan. It also shows the struggle Spock has to control his emotions and his relationship with his mother.  He chooses to take his own path and go to Star Fleet.
We come upon Kirk who is a major screw up and he finds himself at a bar with StarFleet guys where he meets Uhura.  This starts that back and forth betweens these two and the running gag of only knowing Uhura's last name.  Kirk meets Pike who implores him to live up to his father and Kirk of course decides to join up.  On the shuttle ride from Iowa, he meets his best friend to be Bones, who many quips throughout the movie come form.
Jump forward to a few years later where Kirk is set to take for the third time the Kobayashi Maru but before this we have to see the lady's man side of Kirk with a green alien female.  We then fine Kirk beat the unbeatable Kobayashi Maru and this brings him in juxtaposition to Spock who had helped to run this supposedly unbeatable scenario.  With Kirk in trouble with the academy, Nero attacks Vulcan and everyone is called to a rescue mission.  Kirk is smuggled on board, we meet Sulu and Chekov as well as establish Uhura as a linguistic genus.  It is discovered that Vulcan is under attach from Nero and that Nero wants Spock to suffer for the destruction of his planet.  Pike is kidnapped.  Kirk and Sulu fight some Romulons and Chekov is introduced as fantastic with a transported.  When Vulcan is destroyed, Spock witnesses the death of his mother and starts to crack. We discover that there is a romantic connection between Spock and Uhura and Spock exiles Kirk onto a ice planet, when he runs into Spock Prime who gives the background of Nero and his hatred of Spoke Prime for not saving his planet in the future.  They venture to a station where the meet up with Scottie and Spoke Prime manipulates the situation to get Kirk and Scottie back on the Enterprise.  Kirk is motivated to take Captainship of the Enterprise and keep Spock in the dark about Spock Prime. 
There is a scuttle between Spock and Kirk, where Kirk gets Spock to crack and takes the title of Captain on the Enterprise.  The decision is made to go after Nero and try and save Earth from being destroyed.  Spock pulls himself back together in enough time to go with Krik onto the Romulus ship, and rescue Pike.  Spock discovers that there are things he doesn't know about the whole scenario and sets to destroy Nero's ship.  Everything comes together with Spock and Kirk on the same side and destroying Nero and his ship.
For the ending we see Pike promote Kirk officially to captain of the Enterprise and Spock taking his rightful spot as first officer.  We end with shots of the main Enterprise characters in their rightful places and primed for more missions to come.

I am super excited for Into Darkness to come out and cannot wait to see it.

Star Trek (2009): Review

Because Star Trek: Into Darkness is released this week and I am super excited to see it tomorrow I decided it was time to re watch the J.J Abrams' 2009 reboot Star Trek.  If you do not know, Star Trek (2009) is the new movie based on the original Star Trek television series but that it puts a new spin on the series by focusing on the origin story and working the timeline in order to keep some similarities with the original plot but also to be able to work some new magic into the series.  This movie is one of my top five favorite movies and I have been anticipating the sequel to this prequel reboot since it was first released.  If you know me, you will not be surprised to hear me say that I am ridiculously excited and so glad that I was able to get tickets to the sneak peak on Wednesday.
When I re watch this movie, at the beginning a get more enjoyment from it then I used to because now that Chris Hemsworth as Geroge Kirck, Captin James T. Kirk's father and this is the movie that really brought him to my attention prior to his staring as Thor.  It also has Jennifer Morrison as his mother and she was more well know at the time but has been eclipsed by Hemsworth.  Anyway back to the real stars of Star Trek.  This movie brings back all of the main characters for the original series and I really like that it takes it time to introduce each character in succession, instead of throwing them all in at the beginning.  This allows time to understand who each of the main character's are and to be able to see their role in the story.  The main characters are James T. Kirk, played by Chris Pine.  He is the swashbuckling Captin of the U.S.S. Enterprise who cares for his crew and doing what he needs to in order to get things done, even it is does not mean doing the most logical things.  Spock, played by Zachary Quinto, who is a half Vulcan, half Human Commanding Officer, who is struggling with his emotional suppression and logical mind, while dealing and creating a relationship with Kirck.  Uhura, played by Zoe Saladana, who is the linguistic specialist. Sulu, played by John Cho, is a pilot/ physicist and in this movie has experience as a master fencer.  Scottie, played by Simon Pegg, Chief Engineer, who is the quirky, energetic, engineer genies who comes to the rescuer when more power is needed.  Bones or Doctor McKay, played by Karl Urban, who is Kirk's best friend and Doctor on the enterprise.  Checkov, played by Anton Yelchin, is the young blood who is very handy when needed.  He is not an original character but I like him in this movie.
Like I said, this is a prequel reboot of the original Star Trek television series and takes a new branch in the the star trek universe when the original Spock, played by the legendary Lenard Nimoy, is sent back in time due to being unable to save a future Romulus.  I very revengeful Romulus Captain Nero, played by Eric Bana, is set to destroy the Federation and both Spocks, there is lots of action and suspense to see what will happen next.
This movie has a little bit of all the things that I like in a movie.  It is a sci-fi movie and is a Star Trek movie.  I am a fan of both and was very excited when this movie came out.  It works in humor and action, as well as giving you time to appreciate and differentiate the characters as they are introduced.  Although It works in different character and plot arcs I like how it does that. I especially like that it adds the romantic tension between Spock and Uhura. Like I said this is one of my favorite movies, and I enjoy watching it over and over.

Another fun thing about this movie is it shows the alluded to instance between Kirk and the Kobayashi Maru and how Kirk comes to beat this supposedly unbeatable test.

My Rating: 3+

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Tyler Perry Presents Peeples: Trailer

Also coming out this friday is Tyler Perry Presents Peeples the most recent Tyler Perry self titled movie.  See the traler below:


This comedy seems to be the latest rendition of the sweet girl bring her boyfriend home who they family will not approve of and high jinks happen.  I may see this in a few weeks if I am wanting a no though, predictable comedy.