Reviews

Let me start by saying this is my favorite story of all time. The book is something I've held dear for much of my life, and the original film is one of my favorites. I was extremely skeptical about going into this series due to complaints about the animation, the acting, and the writing. But I didn't have a problem with any of them.

Let's start with the animation. Honestly I really liked it (to my surprise). Viewed in HD, the downs are beautifully green and the rabbits look great. There is only one place it didn't look so great, near the end of the final episode. Otherwise it looks very beautiful.

Voice acting is great as well. Boyega and McAvoy carry the show, and both give fantastic performances with tons of emotion. Kingsley, as always, gives a fierce performance as the General as well, giving life to a villain that I actually felt threatened by, just as much as the original film.

Writing was where I was especially worried. Things tend to get butchered when brought to screen. But I would say this series is much more faithful than the original film to the source. There is one particular sequence missing from this that I would've liked to see that was in both the film and boom, but it is not important in any way to the plot.

I have three complaints about this series. 1) I know all the characters like the back of my hand. But they are so incredibly hard to tell apart in this series. I was finally starting to figure out who was who by the end, but it's so hard to tell. 2) Silver isn't in this story. I can understand the exclusion of Pipkin, but Silver was hands down my favorite rabbit and was incredibly important in the source. 3) It doesn't include my favorite quote, found in both the book and the film. "Go ahead and try, you crack-brained slave driver!" - Bigwig

Watch this. You'll enjoy it. It is beautifully done and has themes for everyone. They talk with a big vocabulary, so it may be tough for kids to understand. But it's an incredible adventure story that does justice to Richard Adams's vision. In fact, I would say represents his vision more than the film.

Right away, it was pretty obvious that this movie was going to be a pretty run-of-the-mill family movie. I probably could have told you exactly what was going to happen for the rest of the movie after watching 5 minutes (although I'll admit that I mispredicted the ending). The adult characters' dialogue is all pretty cheesy, and it is pretty obvious right away who the good guys and bad guys are. But for some reason, I still loved this movie and consider it one of the best movies I've seen in theaters this year (I work at a theater, so that's saying a lot).

The movie of course relies heavily on the relationship between Pete and Elliot. If the filmmakers don't convey their fondness of each other well, then the entire movie is a bust. But it was all done perfectly, especially given the limited amount of screen time that the two have together. And especially considering Elliot can't even talk, it amazes me that the filmmakers were able to make me feel so strongly about him.

The two child actors were absolutely wonderful. As was Robert Redford. I couldn't help but compare this to the Jungle Book because of the child main actors, and overall I definitely enjoyed this more, and even felt that Pete and Elliot were a more lovable dynamic duo than Mowglie and Baloo, which is hard to beat.

If I had to make one complaint about this movie, it would be the final scene. I won't go into details about what happens, but it completely caught me off guard and left me with a few questions. But overall it really doesn't detract from the overarching plot, so I guess it isn't that big of a deal.

I tried to enjoy this movie, even though I knew it wouldn't be anything special. I will admit it was good enough, but had so much more potential. The greatest scenes were ruined by cheesiness and camera shots that have been done so many times in movies that it is made easy to call out what will happen next. However, this wasn't my biggest issue with the movie.

This is rated PG-13, so obviously the violence cannot be gory in any way. So a note to the director: when someone slashes another's face with a sword (an act that would be very bloody, as we've seen in many R rated movies), DO NOT show the face! Either keep the face out of the shot and let the audience imagine how bad the wound is, or make it gory and risk the R rating! Instead, the director shows the face after it gets slashed, but there isn't a mark on said face, even though they just got hit with a sword! And this happens several times throughout the movie...it really takes away from the fighting sequences when there's no actual wounds on anyone.

Characters are very poorly developed. The only thing I took from this movie was that Mr. Eko from LOST and some really ripped guy are trying to be like Maximus and defy Rome.

Enough bad. This movie was an entertaining hour and a half. The length is perfect for the material. The ending came fast but it was fairly well done, a lot better than I assumed it would be. The action was interesting and frequent enough to keep my attention, despite a love story that I frankly could care less about due to the fact that I don't know anything about the characters. It's worth a rent, but maybe not the $10 at theaters.

This movie doesn't have a real inspirational protagonist, and its goal is not to give you such. It is simply to tell a story of a unique man in history. While watching the movie, I related it to a true Forrest Gump. Historical events are the backdrop to this movie, and if you are familiar with the time period, you'll hear plenty of historical references from the many portrayed presidents.

For a history buff, this movie gives entertainment on so many levels. You'll see presidents debating historical events, freedom rides, Little Rock Nine, and the KKK. Some is used with actual footage, others with reenactments. But it is all done very well. The cast is strangely chosen, but fairly well chosen nonetheless. While it seems actors were chosen based on their status rather than looks (in comparison to the people they portrayed), they do well with their portrayals.

The title seems a little misleading. Only half of this movie was about The Butler himself. The other half was focused on his unlikable friends and family, leaving you wanting the camera to just go back to Cecil, because watching him shine shoes is much more interesting than seeing an obnoxious neighbor hit on his wife. Like I said, MOST of the cast does well. But John Cusack as Richard Nixon? Really? I could not have heard of a worse choice. Not only does he not look like Nixon in any way, but his character has the appearance of a young stressed out guy rather than a paranoid old man. In my opinion, Tommy Lee Jones would have been a much better choice. Also, a death of a primary character occurs at the end of the film, but it is so undramatic that it is up to par with Bane's death in the Dark Knight Rises. It could have been done much better. Finally, the movie took place over many years. Yet the characters' looks don't really change throughout the film, and then they suddenly drastically change. I wish it would have taken notes from A Beautiful Mind.

Overall, despite its issues, I would recommend the Butler to history lovers and movie lovers in general. I think it is worth one viewing at the least, just to learn of a unique yet unknown man who had served the United States for years with no credit to his name. It can be a long movie, but for many, it is worth it.

This movie really served one specific purpose. I think its goal was to give a true Wolverine movie for the fans, and scratch X-Men Origins: Wolverine from their minds. And it does exactly that.

The movie's plot is based on a comic, so expect to see a lot of references to other Marvel things in the movie, some subtle, some obvious. The special effects are very well done in almost every instance, and the claws actually look real this time around. Of course, this movie isn't going to be like the Dark Knight trilogy (which it seems a lot of people relate superhero movies to these days). It has cheesy dialogue that one can only expect from Wolverine. But they make it work well.

One thing I truly disliked about the movie was an unavoidable issue. Bone claws. I think it is safe to say that nobody likes the bone claws. I know they were necessary, but they aren't in any way "cool"...Also, I feel like the ending was a little abrupt, and it didn't show how Wolverine recovered from the events of the film.

As you probably know by now, make sure you stay past the credits. I practically started crying with excitement when I saw this hidden ending. If you are a true X-Men fan, you can probably form an idea of what/who is in the ending, but it was absolutely perfect for said fans nonetheless.

I'd definitely recommend it to any superhero lovers. But you may want to brush up on your Wolverine knowledge (watching Origins would suffice) if you want to understand the movie.

This movie had an amazing opening scene. I knew from that moment that the movie would be fantastic. Not up to par with the Dark Knight series, but fantastic nonetheless. The opening scenes finally end, along with my hopes for this movie.

The acting is pretty dang good, I will admit. But it could not save the movie from being what it is-a large buildup to one of the longest action scenes of your life. Honestly, they turned the movie into a contest to see who could destroy more buildings. It got so repetitive after the first few punches, that by the end you just want it to be over. And the way it actually does end is one of the stupidest things I have seen in a movie, leaving you wondering "Why didn't that happen at the beginning of the fight..."

I have never been a huge Superman fanatic. I like him, but not enough to actually know much more than the basics. I felt this movie was geared for the hardcore fans, who know every fact about him. To be honest, I had no idea what was happening half the time in this movie, partly because of how chaotic it was, and partly because I know next to nothing about Superman himself.

As we left the midnight premiere (one of my friends actually left early, due to how much he disliked it), I have never heard so many people say such bad things about a movie. The most common phrase was "let-down". I would frankly not recommend watching it, except for the opening scene and fantastic acting by Russell Crowe (as always).

I did not think, going into this movie after reading reviews, that this movie would be good in any way. Going in to the theater with this mindset, I was actually pleased with what I saw.

With the premise given, you cannot expect much from a movie like this. You will expect a shoot-em-up with some pretty cool action scenes. Well, that is what you get. None of the characters are very likable, only because you never know too much about them. But something about them just makes you care.

The movie really is unrealistic in almost every way, but who would want a realistic movie in this setup? The main character would be dead in seconds...where's the fun there? Acting is pretty good, but nothing really memorable.

Overall, I did enjoy this movie. It is definitely intended for older audiences. It reminded me of Taken, but on a larger, more close- quarters, less personal scale. I would say it is worth a weekend rental, at the least.

A Beautiful Mind is a true masterpiece. This is a movie that I take pride in showing to my friends. It is extremely unique. The main character is selfish, socially awkward, and very weird. But somehow, Crowe makes us connect with him through his amazing acting, and actually puts us in his shoes. By the time the movie ends, you will most likely be looking up John Nash's true story just because you connect with him in the movie (I would not recommend looking up the true story until after watching the movie, because it will spoil a twist in the movie). The acting is better than almost anything I have ever seen. Russell Crowe gives an amazing performance (as always), and you'd almost expect it to say "Actual Footage" at the bottom of the screen. The movie has everything: love, action, tragedy, twists, and suspense. Definitely a must-see for every being on earth.

I will admit that I did enjoy this movie very much. My only real problem with it was the over-use of special effects. While the effects are fairly well done, they just get very old by about 10 minutes into it. Thankfully, it seems the director realized this, because the effects die down after about two-thirds in. The story seems to be fairly accurate to the book, besides some minor details. It is much more theatrical and overly dramatic than I expected, but this is not due to actor fault. Instead, it is what was intended of it. The acting is superb, in almost every case. I, unfortunately, never did read the book, and I can only assume that some of the unexplained scenes in the movie are explained in the book. Some parts of the movie left me with only ASSUMPTIONS of what is happening, which I was kind of disappointed in. Overall, it seemed well done, besides special effects overuse and some plot holes. Definitely an enjoyable experience.