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thedarksteps
Reviews
Godzilla (2014)
Too much trite storyline, not enough stomping
While I like the new design and the fantastic CG, this Godzilla movie is kind of like the Lorax... the name of the movie has little content of the main character; The Lorax was only in "The Lorax" for about 8 minutes of the movie, unfortunately that's about all the screen time Big G gets, the rest is uninteresting unpolished plot that makes you wish they would just "get on with it" as Monty Python said. Godzilla movies are kind of like porn, nobody watches it for the storyline they watch it for the action, so talk less and pound more.
Also, critics and many reviewers are laying into this movie saying the storyline was bad or that the acting was sub par... it's Godzilla, do you expect Meryl Streep to make a 3 minute cameo and rack up yet another Oscar ? This is a popcorn movie, it's meant to sell tickets and to show the Japanese how to make a movie that doesn't involve someone wearing a $2M suit for some weird on screen cos-play action. You dump a $160M in and hope you make twice that back, who cares if every Big G fan walks out feeling like a comic con fan who doesn't get the autograph he stood in line for.
If there is a sequel to this movie, make it more like Pacific Rim with tons of action and very little story or dialog. I mean really, how much story do you need? 50 story lizard has a beef with mankind and his only means of dealing with his aggression is to stomp the **** out of everything that the minuscule little primates built. 120 minutes of Godzilla goodness, 3 minutes of dialog. Someone go make that movie, I'll wait.
World War Z (2013)
Story driven not gore driven
Think Contagion mixed with a dash of George Romero's original Night of the Living Dead. This movie is about the virus that is taking out the world instead of the zombies that result from the virus. It's about finding the source or at the very least a means to find the ever elusive, patient zero. If you're looking for gore and zombies that are missing half their heads but still moving like an Olympic runner, this will not be your movie.
There is little to no gore as gore is not necessary to move the plot along, nor to spice up otherwise lackluster plots or sub-par actors. This movie is not about edge of your seat blockbuster action and gratuitous explosions, it's about Brad Pitt and his adventure in trying to save the world. The story is simple, pretty much the same as most, Extinction Level Event brought on by a viral outbreak; not of man but of nature. The progression of the story does however meet with your usual action movie problems where main characters can escape pitfalls that background characters nor real people would be able to. There are also the usual moments where there are your usual build ups to the very last second of safety, like someone holding a door open until the very last second and then shutting that door with a horde of zombies with the force of a locomotive being held back by doors that wouldn't be able to hold if there were not main actors on the safe side of it.
Despite the pitfalls within the story and the action movie formula, it does lend a sort of judgement day feel to, but because more time is spent carrying the plot forward, there isn't enough time to spend in certain locales to give the sense of extinction. Similar to Contagion, it's implied more than dwelled upon. Unlike Contagion, there's no real sense of loss and without that it's hard to care when certain characters die or become endangered. Brad Pitt's character, not having a background in medicine or virology is able to come to a viable conclusion on how to combat the infection a little too quickly given that some of the world's best medical minds have been hitting brick walls in 10x the time it takes him.
This is not The Walking Dead, or Resident Evil, or any of the _______ of the Dead movies. If you're expecting anything like this, you will be disappointed. If however you go in with the Contagion drama mentality where there is in fact a plot beyond ready, aim, fire, reload, you may enjoy this film. The premise of the virus does have its merits based in reality to a small degree, more so than a T-Virus or the dead rising from the grave because of some apocalyptic biblical prophecy. This movie is rated PG-13, think about that as well. By no means is a family movie, especially for children who have a history of blowing things out of proportion or some level of pessimistically imaginative anxiety, I was one about 30 years ago and my parents regretted it every time.
Overall, this movie should entertain, unless you're looking for a mouthful of human flesh in the mouths of the zombies and blood spewing or spraying out of open wounds. If read the book, then you may want to wait for it to come out on Blu-ray or DVD. But if you want something to make you think for about 20 minutes and wonder how Pitt is going to save the world and more importantly his family, then give it a shot.
In reference to the 3D version, it was converted to 3D not actually shot in 3D, so there tend to be errors here and there that your brain will not be able to decipher and thus will detract from the experience. See 2D if this kind of thing bothers you, as it did me. Also, this movie is not worth the price of concession stand refreshments, do your eating and drinking before you get to the theater at more economic prices or sneak something in. Save that money and buy a ticket to another movie after this one.
Man of Steel (2013)
o.O
Great special fx...
Nice to know that the people in charge of the effects knew what they were doing, too bad no one else did theirs. I thought maybe if I saw the movie, it would answer many of the questions that pop into my head whenever I see or think about superheroes. I figured for the amount of money spent everything would be good, but it wasn't. Superman's integrity is put into question by his actions or at times inactions relating to the protection of the human race. Maybe he's more like Zod than he wants to believe as he precariously and remorselessly aids Zod in laying waste to Metropolis. It's nothing more than a grudge match, similar to the one in Superman 2 almost 33 years ago but with more death and destruction. If you want to know what it might have been like at ground zero when the World Trade Center collapsed, Snyder is more than happy to accommodate you, but it was just a terrorist that did it. The terrorist had help from the good guy this time around. Clearly Superman was just as concerned with his box office sales as Snyder was. "If I fight Zod a place that nothing will get destroyed and no one will be harmed, will people really pay to see me? Probably not, sacrifices must be made."
Beyond that, nothing to see here, it's just your above average Bruce Willis action hero movie, but with better a director and a much bigger budget, steered into theaters by one of the world's best known monikers.
Honestly, I really don't know why we write reviews of movies, plays, music, or art. We all have to experience it for ourselves before we can count or discount anything.
Love it or hate it, it is what it is.
The 5 star rating is for the special fx, the rest of the movie gets a zero.
Evil Dead (2013)
Garbage; no offense to the stuff that fills trash cans
It's interesting how the budget for the original was around 3 hundred- thousand dollars and this movie's budget was around 14 million dollars and the original was exponentially better simply because the had to try back then. I think if the budget for this one had been barely a million dollars it would have delivered but instead it just delivered another rehash of the same movie that has been released every few months for the past several years; stupid characters you care nothing about getting involved in something that will lead to their demise in the most unrealistic manner the director can come up with.
This is the work of a lazy director who seems to follow a similar formula as most actions movies. The body count matters not the storyline. There's no point in telling people not to see it, they will anyway. Some will like it, some will love it, and others would like to kill Sam Raimi for producing it because he just allowed some nobody director to urinate all over it.
Waste your money on another bad movie that has come out recently, so many to choose from that are more than halfway worth the small fortune you'll be dishing out. This movie could be called many things, Evil Dead is not one of them. Cabin in the Woods 2, The Last Exorcism 2 1/2, Possession 2... and so many other letdowns. This one is almost as bad as Halloween 3 back in the 80's, it had nothing at all to do with the other 2 movies, someone just used the name to make more money than they would have had they name it Random Unscary Movie I.
If you love this movie, you cannot call yourself an Evil Dead fan, you don't know what it means to be Dead.
Movie 43 (2013)
Misleading trailer
I was hoping that someone was finally going to cater to those of us with depraved senses of humor, I loved the trailer and wanted to see this so bad that I went to the 10:30 showing on Thursday the 24th. The first skit was moderately funny, but the rest, well... if you've seen the trailers then you've seen the funniest parts already. No point paying $8+ to see this thing.
Fortunately for me, I work at a movie theater and didn't drop a dime on it, making it that much easier to walk out on it. I had just seen the Best of Rifftrax one showing earlier and I laughed more at it than I did Movie 43. SNL is funnier and I hate SNL. When I got home I had to put on something really funny to cleanse my palette of this Cleveland steamer.
I love the kind of humor contained in the trailer so I'm not one of those people putting this movie down because it's extremely lowbrow. If Haunted House is still showing and you have to choose between this and it, choose Haunted House, this movie isn't worth what Anna Farris wants her fiancé to do.
The movie should be considered a spoiler for the trailer instead of vice versa.
Ted (2012)
Truly an American Classic for all you Seth McFarlane loving bastids
It kind of reminds me of an Adam Sandler movie, except funny. This is the most I've laughed at a movie in years. Sure Hall Pass was pretty good as was Horrible Bosses and even The Hangover 2, but this was all of those rolled into one movie. I just wish McFarlane would make a Family Guy or American Dad movie and definitely make it at the very least, rated R.
And ladies, Ryan Reynolds and Taylor Lautner are in this movie, how bad could it possibly be? I'm gonna see it again tomorrow night and if I can find a babysitter, lie to my wife by telling her that the new Medea movie is sold out, we'll have to see Ted instead.
Do not miss this movie you bastids.
Tron: Uprising (2012)
Like the idea of the show
While I like the storyline and the idea of the show as well as most of the art work and CG work, I hate the Aeon Flux character style. On the bright side for me, Bruce Boxleitner is actually doing Tron's voice. I know that sometimes Disney isn't willing to drop the money to get the original voices from a movie title for a series based off the movie title. If you can't get Nathan Lane to do Timon on the series, find someone who can do a really good version of Timon. And I know that Bruce hasn't done many big screen roles, but the two that he has done that I can think of, both characters were Tron. Plus it's good to see that while Captain Sheridan is gone, Tron is not.
The show has good action for a Disney Channel show. Great cast of some really top shelf voice talents. Never would have thought that Frodo Baggins would be in a TV series. Plus, ever since the first Terminator movie, I've liked Lance Henriksen in most roles he's played; I'm glad he's playing Tesler, he has that dark voice about him. I wish they could pull Keith David(known for many roles both voice and big movies(voice of Goliath(Gargoyles) and voice of Spawn(HBO Series))) or Peter Cullen(Optimus Prime, original series and all 4 movies.) in as well.
I'm sure Disney may even have a game title in the works for this show, although I hope it abandons the Mirror's Edge style game-play and goes back to first person(Tron 2.0 PC game, circa 2005) or third person(similar to Tomb Raider).
The show is dark, not just in environment, but in the storyline as well, as characters actually die... derez, but same thing as the character or back ground character is no more. Very odd for a Disney Channel show; killing off characters instead of writing them out. And I love it. And yes, it keeps the dark environment with neon highlights. I just hope they never use pastel neon, then it will feel like a grid done during the 80's influenced by Miami Vice.
The music is straight out of the movie and sometimes it seems it is placed better in the show than it was in Legacy. Also, the music track isn't overwhelming in volume as it was in the movie either. I realize that having Daft Punk do the music was a big deal, but sometimes it seemed like the music was a main character instead of just background. Which is where it stays in the show.
Prior to this show, I only watched 2 other shows and no other TV; Big Bang Theory and Hell's Kitchen. But I'm more than willing to break my no-TV embargo for this show. I'm glad to see that Disney is keeping the Tron universe alive this time.
I just wish they could have gotten Jeff Bridges to do some voice work for Clu when he occasionally appears.
Prometheus (2012)
Did any of you actually watch the movie?
I just watched a midnight showing of this movie and I thought it was great. However, I've been reading numerous reviews where people are completely getting lost on the content and context of the movie.
Some of you keep asking some of the same questions which were all addressed had you actually been paying attention. One that keeps appearing throughout many reviews is: How is it that the planet is so big and the place they choose to land has the "temple"? First off, they called it a pyramid not a temple. Second, David said that the planet was a military installation and that the pyramid was basically a hangar. Most military installations have multiple hangars, also David said there were other ships. You people were either sleeping or went into the movie with a preconceived notion that this was going to be an action movie like the last 3 alien movies.
Another question that seems to be recurring is: If the Jockeys wanted to kill us, why would she go to their home world to talk to them? If you listen to the inflection in her voice, talking is not what she has in mind. She means to expose them to the organism they created to wipe out not only humankind, but presumably any of their other creations on several other worlds that are referenced on the star map that David is standing in the middle of.
How can David work their technology so easily? David has studied many other languages of Earth, as a synthetic he has the processing capabilities of a computer of the era, and using linguistic skills as well as knowledge of human language, deduces that if they created us then they also created our language(s). Which would mean there would be some degree of understanding if he were to successfully make a few educated guesses. Seriously, do you people even know how science works? Why was Weyland implying that he is dead but in fact is on board without the crew's knowledge and why? Weyland was hoping that Shaw's theory of the "Engineers" was accurate and they did in fact exist. If that were the case, he hoped that because they were so advanced that they must also be civilized and would possibly prolong his life and reverse the effects of aging. Weyland was also in contact with David even while being in cryo-stasis, constantly being updated by David and adding new directives to David's ultimate purpose on the mission. Which is a repetitive story device in all the alien movies; secure the organism within one of the crew members and freeze it for the trip home.
How did David know she was pregnant with an alien fetus? Because it was his intent to have her impregnated by exposing her boyfriend to the organism. It would work through his system, get into his "change purse" and when he made a deposit in her "vault" she would then carry the organism.
This movie was really good, if you happened to be paying attention and didn't go in wanting to see a heart pounding, cliché action movie. You either need to see it again or read the book adaptation, because most of you are posing questions about the movie that would be obvious to a high school student.
Battleship (2012)
Why do aliens always lose?
They've mastered technology that by comparison makes us look like we're still in the stone age yet for some reason we always seem to win. It's like tribal warriors in some part of the world taking out our military war machines with bows and arrows; similar to how Avatar played out.
Independence Day, War of the Worlds, Cowboys & Aliens(really applicable reference), Battlefield: LA, and so many others, where the aliens with technology light years ahead of ours with forces outnumbering ours 10 fold or more... and yet the humans always win.
Sure there are casualties and fatalities by the masses of unimportant undeveloped background characters that you really don't care about, but humanity as a whole survives after pushing back the alien onslaught.
This movie is comparable to all the above mentioned movies, but doesn't compare to any of the good sci-fi movies with just a tad bit of realistic outcomes. This is a money spender movie, meaning you drop $10+ on the ticket, $20-$40 on concessions, and $100+ paying a psychiatrist to help you come to terms that you wasted nearly $100 on a movie you should have waited to see on NetFlix or Redbox.
Fortunately for me, I work at a movie theater and saw it for free, but that's 2+ hours that I could have been doing something constructive like playing video games, sleeping, or paying tribute at the porcelain temple that resides in everyone's homes.
Suspension of disbelief has to come in to play in order to watch and enjoy this movie. Don't go in expecting to see a great movie with great special effects; go in expecting to see great special effects with adequate acting by some.
I usually love movies like this, but when it is the same rehashed storyline that has been told since moving pictures first hit the big screen, it has gotten too old to enjoy. Hopefully MIB 3 will cleanse my palette of this rotten tomato of a movie, if not, I can only hope that Prometheus can redeem the genre of alien movies. Maybe I should start writing action movies; it's not like you really need a plot, you just need a production company willing to drop a couple hundred million dollars to make it.
A polished turd is still a turd.
The Avengers (2012)
I usually hate superhero movies
I was highly dubious going into the theater for this movie, almost walked out before it started. I work at a movie theater and therefore didn't spend any money on it, so leaving before it started would not have had any negative effect on my bank account. The only reason I stayed, I was already there and I don't go in to work for another 14 hours.
As stated in the subject, not a superhero movie fan, not even a comic book fan, not since my 20's. That being said, I knew very little about the characters and thus had no preconceived notions about how they should be represented... except for Hulk. While I didn't like the Edward Norton version or the post 9/11 watered down violent first movie, I did actually like how he actually looks like the actor portraying him. The other two movies, Hulk was almost a separate entity, completely losing facial notoriety of his weaker self. Plus, he actually has human facial expressions instead of just gritted teeth and growling.
As I said before, not a comic book fan, went in knowing very little if anything at all of Black Widow or Hawkeye. Honestly, I thought Hawkeye was a DC character, but I guess I was wrong. Never really liked Cappy or Thor and didn't like Iron Man until RD,J. started playing him. So basically, I went in with little knowledge of the modern characters and only really was looking forward to one out of six.
Without giving anything away, this movie was the best thing I've seen in years. I've always been more of a Transformers fan and I thought those movies were epic, visually as well as story and acting power. I never dreamed I would rank the Avengers above my beloved Transformers, but here I am doing just that. Some people state the movie was too long, agree to disagree. Movies like this should always be a minimum of 2 hours, this movie could stand to have been a tad longer. Which I'm sure it will be when it comes to bluray. I'm sure some of the hardcore comic book or superhero nerds will find exception to this review and the movie itself, someone is always disappointed. I'm just glad I was not one of them... although if I had been, I got in for free and had little ventured but 2 hours and 15 minutes I would never get back.
In about 9 hours I'm going to wake up and take my kids to see it, looking forward to the 2 hours and 15 minutes running time, because once the movie gets going, it just about takes a brick wall or the Hulk's six-pack to stop it. If you're a hardcore superhero nerd you will see it, if you are not a hardcore superhero fan and like fun unrealistic action movies, this one is for you.
Hope there's a sequel.
Batoru rowaiaru (2000)
Troubling and somewhat illogical, depending on how you interpret it
I think the biggest problem I had with the film is the fact that they were recruiting students that were in school instead of the 800k students that were skipping school. Unless they were possibly counting on the concept that seems evident today not only in the world's youth, but also in society, where almost everyone wants to be on some reality TV show in order to gain an almost infinite amount of fame, if for only 15 fleeting minutes.
If that had been implied or more clear then I could have better gotten on board with it, however, these students had no idea what the BR act was nor did they know what the hell was going on. Unless the above was true, it would seem like the BR act would increase the dropout rate, simply because no one would want to make it to the 9th grade and possibly be part of this 'game'.
Also, I think a problem with the English translation, may create some degree of disturbia, to borrow a term that doesn't really exist, for Western viewers. In the version I was watching and possibly the only version, the subtitles used the word 'mock', in reference to what the children were doing to adults. Perhaps the translation should have been 'dishonored'. In traditional Japan, honor was regarded above everything else, as such, if children were to dishonor their families, the family would demand they commit Seppuku, ritual suicide, in order for the family to regain its honor. I don't know if Modern Japan holds honor in the same regard or not, but that would make a little more sense to me than the word, 'mock'.
And perhaps it would have been a little more compelling if I knew from the story that these students were the bad students from what some Americans would call Alternative School, where the reprobates go. But it almost seems that some of the students were at the top of the class in Japan. But maybe that was to also show that no matter how intelligent or civilized that one may be, given a life AND death situation, some may resort to uncivilized acts of cowardice just to survive.
Also, in many of the reviews, people say that the gore in this movie is excessive. When I read that I was thinking of pretty much all of the American 'horror' movies that have been made since the 70's. But in reality, I think the gore was really on par with current American television. It was neither excessive nor overplayed, in my opinion. As an example of excessive gore, since I could really do without it in most movies, the movie High Tension was excessive or pretty much any movie made by Rob Zombie.
I don't really get into movies like this anymore, a friend from work recommended this to me, having talked to him about another film that I revere as a great B movie; and along this same genre possibly the best that was ever made, Death Race 2000, the original Roger Corman film not that crappy Jason Statham remake. The great thing about DR2000 was it was intended to be a comedic commentary about basically the same thing that was implied here, an alternate path that the human race has taken.
All of this said, if you're into the weird movies that employ the idea that it is okay to view teenagers getting killed by some unknown character wearing a mask, i.e. hockey mask, Halloween mask, Ghostface, etc., then you may actually like this film. Or at the same time, since it does have more of a storyline than what would be considered in 'normal' American horror movies, you may not, since it does require you to think a little more than watching Ghostface running around killing teenagers.
If you were in this situation, what would you do? I would like to say that I would either kill myself or abstain from killing and let someone kill me, but since the circumstances depicted are extreme and I cannot actually put myself into such circumstances on a hypothetical basis perhaps I cannot say that I would do the above.
If certain things in the movie had been clearer, then I may have given it a better rating and review, but as it was made, somewhat vague in all its details, I would say watch it first and think about it later.
From most of the reviews, I expected it to be total garbage, but it was actually entertaining at face value.
Maybe I should read the book.
Tron: Legacy (2010)
If saw it when you were 12 years old
No Spoilers in this review.
I saw the original when I was 12, way back in 1982, I've been waiting for some kind of a sequel ever since. Disney had originally began making a sequel back in the early 2000's, but it got canned, at the time I was seriously frustrated that it had, but having played the corresponding PC game Tron 2.0 I'm glad they canned that one.
The movie goes above and beyond the first, obviously in CG, but more importantly in the plot line. I'll admit, much of it was predictable, but what isn't nowadays? Some of the music by Daft Punk seemed a little out of place from time to time, but mostly contributed to new feel of the universe. A much darker universe than the first, but you can see that in the trailers.
There's a disclaimer at the beginning of the 3D version that tells you the movie was not filmed in 3D, but that it was converted to it, despite that, I still think the 3D version was worth the extra $3.50, even though I didn't have to pay it, being an old movie fan working at a movie theater has its benefits.
I don't think there will be a sequel in movie form, but a game that follows Tron: Evolution might be possible.
Either way, if you've been waiting 28 years for a sequel, this is certainly worth the wait, if you're new to Tron, who knows.