Category Archives: Film Reviews

Reviews of new films

The Lego Movie

Awesome. Totally cliché and cheesy, but awesome. It’s meant to be totally cliché and cheesy, so it works. Laughs everywhere and laughs over laughs. If laughing adds to your life then this movie should be medicine. Not only are there a ton of moments just outright funny, but there are references to other films at every turn. I’m sure I didn’t catch all of them, but there were a ton that I did catch, so who knows how many more there are.

Now aside from the jokes the animation was awesome as well. I’ve always loved playing with Legos and seeing such perfect animation with them was awesome. The fact that pretty much everything could have been done with stop-motion with actual Lego blocks is incredible. There was a great cast and each was perfect for their role.

So do I recommend this film? Absolutely.
Everything is awesome.

The Monuments Men

Excellent movie. Not your typical World War Two action film, which was good. If they had made it like other war films I would have been mad. Different subject within the subject, it should have a different feel. It didn’t have much action in it, but I still really enjoyed it. Had a great cast as well, and as always, they did a great job acting. I really felt a connection with the men, and that is a compliment to the writer, director and actors (one of which qualifies for all three of these). They managed to turn what could have been a boring movie had it been done incorrectly into a very good film that deserves a lot of credit.

As for how real it is, I cannot say. A lot of these war films I know a lot about the subject, but I admit I had never heard of the Monuments Men before this film. I will definitely be looking more into them in the future, but I can’t say how close this movie was to the real events as of now. If you do know, please feel free to leave a comment.

I highly recommend this one to everyone. Even if you don’t generally watch war films, definitely get to this one. I’m sure you will be pleased. I’m always happy when there are good films that bring to light less known parts of wars and the heroes in them. I don’t care if you go for the subject or the movie itself or the cast (all good reasons and you should go for all three), but you need to watch this one.

Anchorman 2

Not worth it. I’m serious, this film is not worth the money. Crude to the point of un-comfortableness pretty much the entire time. There were not as many laughs as I had hope. It did have its moments, mostly the fight scene, which was a tribute to the best part of the first one. Other than that one scene it was pretty terrible. Not really anything else to say about it. If you really want to watch it, then at least wait until you can rent it for a dollar.

Lone Survivor

…Holy cow. Completely blown away by this film. Both as a movie and an incredible true story this film is completely awe-inspiring. I can’t imagine going through what is depicted here. The fact that he went through that and still wrote about it and still functions today is proof of how strong people can be. Our military is full of incredible heroes that give everything for us, just as the people in this event did. I am proud and incredibly thankful for this. This film also shows us that people in the Middle-East aren’t bad and that they are often heroic and sacrifice a lot for us as well.

Aside from the heroics this was incredible as a movie. It was down-to-Earth and put you there with them. The camera work gave the scenes the feel they needed. Without the visuals that were offered by the director I don’t believe this movie could have worked as well as it did. The actors did an amazing job as well. I have no idea how hard it would be to film many of these scenes. One thing that I was really impressed with and glad about was how real the combat felt. In most Hollywood movies the combat is glorified and polished and overall unrealistic. In this movie if felt real and sounded real and was true to what I have read and heard. The equipment acted as it actually does. Grenades and RPGs were realistic, not super-powered explosives like in most movies. The gunshots sounded real as well, not weird twangs like other movies. The suppressors changed them realistically, not silenced them like Hollywood appears to believe they do.

This movie earns a 15/10 easy. I was very moved and impressed at the same time. Black Hawk Down and Saving Private Ryan are two of my favorite movies, but this one may have passed them and even others I have reviewed on this blog to take very top spot on my list. Watch it. That’s all I have to say. It is difficult to watch, but it is very much worth it. Everyone should watch this movie in their life. As soon as possible. Just trust me and watch it.

The Book Thief

This is not the kind of movie I usually watch. That being said, I’m glad I did. This was one of the more moving movies to come out recently. I admire this film in every way. The story was incredible and moving, giving a great view of a German family in World War Two, so kudos to the original novel author. The characters were believable and extremely likable, so again, kudos to the author. The visuals were great as well. The way the scenes were cut together and layered in some places was genius. The actors portrayed their characters beautifully.

I am very impressed with how Germany and the German people are portrayed. It shows how they are normal people that are likable and have normal likes and dislikes. They behaved how many of us probably would in their situation. It always bugs me when normal German people of the time are portrayed as harsh and evil.

Overall I was moved by this film. It was beautiful and is one of the best films I have seen, despite not being my usual kind of movie. Watch it. That is all.

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Enjoyable. That’s what I have to say about this film. I enjoyed watching it and think they did a pretty good job with it. It is almost 4am, so I won’t elaborate much more, for fear that I will make a fool of myself. I will say that they differed from the book a bit more than the first one. As a fan, this was slightly disappointing, but from a movie maker standpoint, it was necessary. If they hadn’t changed some of the pieces that they did, then the movie would have been boring or terrible. One issue that I did have with it though was the animation. Animation is great in that it allows so much more to be done in movies, but I think it is all too common now that directors take the easy way out and rely on the animation. That was the case with this film. There was animation everywhere, and I understand that there are some things you can’t do without some effects, but I feel that Peter Jackson got tired of making the films and handed it over to the CGI artists. The worst part is: you could tell. It was pretty obvious when there was animation going on. In other films you can hardly tell that it isn’t a real actor or something, but there were many parts in this film that it was painfully obvious. I feel that they should have used more real action and less but better CGI. Despite this I am still a fan and likely will be for the rest of my life, but I may stick more to the Lord of the Rings.

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

A quick note before I begin this review: I made the rather unwise choice of reviewing each of these films after my first viewing. I generally don’t get as much out of the movie since I’m only seeing it the first time and am too engrossed in what is happening. Given this information, please forgive any lack of real analysis.

Back to the review: This film was excellent. If you are a fan of the books, you must see this film. The movie has pretty much everything that was in the book and did a great job portraying it. The visuals were beautiful and I feel the effects were used effectively too if you don’t mind the repetition. As I’ve said for a number of movies: the futuristic technology is wonderful in this film. These hovercrafts were eye candy to me. Back to something more to do with the film. The acting was good as well. The casting of new members was excellent and the characters were portrayed perfectly, I especially applaud Sam Claflin in his portrayal of Finnick. The story was emotionally tiring, but any of you who have read the book know this. One last comment: it is decently long. I’m glad for this because it allowed them to put a very large portion of the book into this film, but it does take up a good deal of time.
In summary: Very little bugged me about this film, just one or two places that it deviated from or left out a piece of the book. Other than that I must say, this movie receives high marks from me.

Elysium

Short review: Good.

I wouldn’t say it is my all-time favorite, but it still gets a positive rating. The style of the film was great, mirroring the setting. Can’t really bash much on this film. I’ve always been a fan of Damon and this film doesn’t disappoint. The film is definitely not one for the kids or the weak of stomach. There is some gore involved in this movie and they don’t really hold back. This movie also appeals to the geeky side of me with some wicked technology. This is not a great review, but forgive me, I’m tired and sick. In short, I recommend this movie for those interested in this type of thing, but view only at your own discretion.

Thor: The Dark World

This movie is one of my all-time favorites. It has a perfect balance of humor and seriousness and epicness. Yes, I just said epicness. The storyline was epic and heroic. The characters were epic and heroic. But there was also a lot of humor thrown in there. The entire theater was brought to the point of tears at some parts. You can always count on Marvel to find that perfect recipe.

On a more serious note, they did a great job with this film. The storyline is similar to previous superhero movies, and continues the story well, but it has its own twists and is fresh and unique. The characters are as great and believable (as much as any superhero can be) as always and there is a lot of growth where there needs to be. The visuals in this movie are amazing as well, I love how our animation technology has progressed. The geek inside of me also loves the alien technology as well.

Before you watch this make sure you have seen the other recent Marvel movies. If you do not have time to watch them all, at least make sure you have seen the original Thor and the Avengers, otherwise you will not understand what is going on or understand some of the references. Not that I believe anyone thinking about seeing this movie hasn’t seen them already.

That’s all I have to say on this movie, I’d hate to give any spoilers. Now I cannot wait for the next Captain America, keep cranking them out Marvel!

Gravity

First off, let me tell you: watch this in 3D if possible. This movie is all about the visuals and those visuals are made so much better by 3D. How good are the visuals? Let me put it this way, if it doesn’t win and Oscar for them then those awards are seriously messed up. Very few, if any, films come close to this one in terms of visuals.

Now, I realize visuals aren’t enough to make most people watch a movie, so I will also tell you that it is great in other areas too. The story kept me engrossed and tense through the entire movie. The characters were real and believable and played excellently by the actors. This is another one of those films that I was skeptical that they could make it good, but once again I was proved wrong, this is an excellent movie.