The Green Hornet

Managed to catch this super-hyped movie saturday night. Here's the review.

Synopsis: The son of media giant Tom Wilkinson grows up under the reign of an uncaring and hateful father. 28 years in to his life, he's grown in to a childish slacker, who has done little other than party. His father dies from an allergic reaction to a bee sting and this leave Britt Reid in charge of the new corporation. After waking up to unusually bad coffee, he meets Kato, a street-raised hyper-intelligent martial arts master who works magic with cars. After a night of drunken debauchery, the two bond and become friends. Out of hate for Tom Wilkinson, and an accidental crime-fighting, the two formulate a plot to pose as criminals so that they can further destroy the crime in the city. What starts out as an innocent, drunken plan, turns in to a full-scale war with a city known crime boss, Benjamin Chudnofsky. The more havoc the two reek, the closer they get to a much larger conspiracy.

Review: Well I must warn you, if you walk in to this movie expecting it to be as great as the classic Green Hornet, you will be extremely disappointed. But this is not, necessarily a bad movie. This movie did not try to copy the original, and it shows. As one would expect from a Seth Rogen comedy, there is a significant amount of low-brow humor and slapstick. The plot was nothing to write home about, but the comedic performances by Seth Rogen and Christoph Waltz performed admirably. There was also a forgettable Cameron Diaz role, and Jay Chou had little to say throughout the movie. In fact, Seth Rogen's constant belittling and using of Jay Chou often led the audience to feel sorry for Chou, and come to resent Seth Rogen's character. With Britt Reid being the main character, this created a confusing dynamic that detached viewers from the film, emotionally. Now while the comedy was decent, the action scenes were superb. They were fantastically entertaining, with just enough tongue-in-cheek action for you to enjoy yourself. Overall, the movie suffered from Michael Gondry's poor direction and lackluster plot, but managed to salvage itself with amusing dialogue and exciting action scenes. Due to the complete lack of movies in January, this movie is a great breath of fresh air. Although, do NOT see it in 3-D. While I normally say this, I've read reviews that said about 20 minutes of the movie were actually 3-D. So don't waste your money.


Here's the Trailer

Late Release; Scott Pilgrim versus The World

Ack, I know most of my posts begin with apologizing for not posting very often, But i fear I must state it again. School started, and I'm a rather busy man. Anyhow, I know this is kind of late, but this is a review of Scott Pilgrim versus The World.

Synopsis: In boring old Canada, 23 year old Scott Pilgrim sits alone, still depressed about a break-up with a now famous musician. He is on the rebound, dating a high-school girl for kicks, and then he meets...her. Her name is Ramona Flowers, and she is the most beautiful girl he has ever met. Making his move, he realizes she is the love of his life, but with some complications. Seven, to be exact. She has seven, evil, ex-boyfriends who Scott must defeat for the future of Ramona Flower's love life.

Review: Walking in to this movie, I literally had no idea what to expect. But, I must say I was not disappointed. This movie starred Arrested Development's Michael Cera, and he did fantastic. This movie was hilarious, fast-paced, with seamless transitions, and quick, witty humor I hadn't seen in any other movie. Combine this with the fantastic visuals, and the video game like fighting sequences, and you have one great movie. Michael Cera finally had an almost, outgoing role in this movie, and his frustration with the situation was portrayed beautifully. Minor characters included his witty, gay, roommate played by Kierran Culkin, who had a minor role in Home Alone. Anyhow, this movie was colorful, fast, funny, and fresh. I imagine it to be a dawn in a whole new line of comic book based movies.

Breakdown:

• Acting: As mentioned earlier, the movie focused primarily on Michael Cera and his female counterpart, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, with some minor appearances from band members. There wasn't a lot of chemistry between Cera and Winstead, but this is mostly due to their situation in the movie. One thing I remain disappointed about is Michael Cera's acting. He was in an action movie, and he was just...boring. But that's really just how he is. 4/5

• Directing: Shaun of the Dead's Edgar Wright was the director of this movie, and he has maintained his position as one of my favorite directors. He constantly manages to make new and fresh ideas to movie-making and Scott Pilgrim was no exception to this. 5/5

• Script: I've already mentioned most of this section above, but I'll keep going. This movie featured a hilarious script, with loads of witty one-liners. 5/5

• Cast: This movie had actors that were well known, but didn't have a lot of roles under their belt. Never the less, they did a great job in keeping up with this break-neck speed movie. 5/5

• Plot: Well I can't give this a 5 only because it's not original. Only because it is based on a comic, so the writers didn't come up with this one on their own. Though I must tip my hat to Bryan O'Malley, the original writer of the comic. 4/5

So, to wrap things up, Scott Pilgrim verus The World scored a great score of 23/25. It's only downfalls were Michael Cera's boring countenance, and it's plot line being based on a comic. Even with this minor downfalls, this movie was a great addition to this relatively boring summer of cinema. This one gets my seal of approval.

DVD Release (The Losers)

Find yourself wondering, " Oh should I rent this movie?" " I don't know, I haven't heard anything about it". Well, now you will know. Tonight's movie, The Losers.

The Losers' theatrical release was April 9, 2010, and is just now coming out on DVD and Blu-Ray.

Synopsis: After a team of mercenaries are sent out on a mission, they are framed by a mysterious man on the radio. The rest of the movie is them trying to exact revenge on this man. Sound familiar?

Review: Though this movie got mixed ratings, I thought it was fantastic. It was a fast paced, and violent movie, with a tinge of comedy. If you're in the mood for some good action, this movie will satisfy your hunger. Though the acting was mediocre, and the plot was, err, recycled. *Cough A-Team Cough*

B-b-breakdown
Acting: Well it was meh. Most of these actors starred in B movies, or didn't star at all, but they performed their best. Which is always admirable, but I want a good movie. 3/5
Directing: Sylvain White was the director, and has had almost no directing experience at all. Now this isn't a bad thing, every director has to start somewhere. Unfortunately, it is never good to start on a high profile action movie, based on a comic. He was unable to bring the comic to life, which was a disappointment. 3/5
Script: Though poorly directed, I was impressed with the humor in this movie. Mr. Sylvain managed to keep a constant stream of amusing quips and funny scenario. Admittedly, being funny, it was still not enough to counteract the cliched blurps or recycled material. 4/5
Cast: Most of the cast were no pros, like Keanu Reeves or anything, but they performed admirably. But this rating is for cast, and it wasn't that great. 4/5
Plot: This movie was based off of a comic, but even though the comic came out long before the movie, the movie came out now. This is a problem because the plot is old, repeated, and seen before. MEh. 3/5

So "The Losers" got a 17/25 . This isn't terrible, remember it is a point higher than "Alice in Wonderland" which I did not enjoy at all. I recommend renting it, but I wouldn't buy this movie, as you couldn't watch this more than once. So, check it out!