Kick-Ass 2

With the country still in the grips of a super hero craze, it's only natural that Kick-Ass, an underground comic about real people attempting to emulate the superheroes they idolize, gets its sequel to.

Kick Ass-2 picks up 2 years after its predecessor. Dave, after all but hanging up the Kick-Ass mask, feels the urge for action, and reconnects with Mindy (aka Hit Girl) who is failing at balancing life as a High School freshman and a martial arts crime fighter. Also in the aftermath of the first movie, Chris D'Amico (Formerly Red Mist) takes vengeance in his hands and begins assembling a group bound for chaos and destruction.

As a side note to this review...As with the first Kick-Ass movie, the trailers are extremely misleading in my opinion. The trailers are very geared towards the comedic aspect of the film. While the film certainly has it funny moments, this movie is much closer to a dramatic action movie.

The writing and feel of the movie was similar to Kick-Ass, which is important to the continuity of the series. One thing that wasn't there, was the innocence from the first movie. While the argument could be made that the first movie exposed these characters to the real world consequences of being a hero, I missed the wide-eyed optimism from the first movie. Another thing that I was not crazy about, though this stayed true to the comic book, was the name that Chris D'Amico chose as his villainous mantle. 'The Motherfucker' to me just does not seem to embody the dark side of this character, though it is a spot on representation of the 'spoiled brat didn't get his way' aspect of the character.

The actors did a pretty good job of maintaining their characters in this movie. Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Chloe Grace Moretz have obviously grown with their characters, and did bring a more adult feel to the movie. Jim Carey did a great job as Colonel Stars & Stripes, and put his very unique twist on the character that makes me like him as an actor. I think some of the superfluous characters are harder to get around, though the entire point of the movie was to take the personal experience of the one individual who stood up and expand it to a community that he inspired.

The appearance of the movie was the most jarring for me. Added to this movie was word bubbles, scene change descriptions, and even animated character facades, something completely in the other direction of the first movie, and I didn't really appreciate it. It brought an almost infantile aspect to a movie that is anything but childish. Also I am not a fan of the style of graphic generated bloodshed that has lately become very hip, just because it doesn't look even close to real (better than the kool-aid blood of the 70's and 80's, but still takes me out of the movie.). Also there are a couple scenes where the violence is just too overdone, even for a movie with a 15 year old ninja.

Final Judgement:

While it was obviously made in the spirit of the first movie, the addition of comic book-like graphics, the overpowering number of characters that are introduced, some overkill on violent scenes, and a certain loss of character from our hero makes the movie inferior to its predecessor, but still a pretty good watch, especially for fans of the first movie.

Score:★★★★★★★☆☆☆

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Elysium

If you had five days left to live, how would you spend it?

Elysium follows ex-con Max de Costa, a production line worker who is given a death sentence after being exposed to high amount of radiation. While he lives on Earth, which has become a slum since the wealthy had retreated to the space station 'Elysium', he is unable to cure his sickness, but is given the chance to break into the futuristic utopia.

The writing, like Blomkamp's last masterpiece, District 9, is wonderfully fresh. This is the kind of future I really crave to see in a Sci-Fi movie.  The older generation of Sci-Fi felt too sterile and clean, it's nice to see spaceships in the same movie as a grill made out of an oil drum. Incorporating social issues that we face now in this futuristic dystopian world obviously comes naturally to Blomkamp. While District 9 tackled racism and immigration, Elysium looks at class warfare and health care. 

The acting in this movie was fantastic. Matt Damon, as he almost always does, has an amazing performance in this movie. I was a little thrown off by the quasi-french accent Jodie Foster had throughout the movie, but that is a minor detail. The gold star of the day however, goes to Sharlto Copley. I loved this guy as Wikus in District 9, his breakout performance,; and his portrayal of Murdock in the A-Team movie was flawless, but this role was going to be a test as his first villainous role, and like a champ, he knocked it out of the park. I truly believe that Copley is probably one of the most underused actors out there compared to the quality of the performance he gives.

The cinematics is beautiful in this movie. The scenes that cut from the slums of Mexico to the paradise of Elysium are really amazing, going from the dusty, dead, and overcrowded to the pristine opulence is definitely a smart artistic choice to have. My only nitpick that I can find here is that Kruger's ship looks very reminiscent of the alien technology from District 9. I can understand how this happened, as Blomkamp is most likely the one who created the 3D model (his previous job was doing artistic 3D models that decorated the covers and pages of the magazine 'Popular Science'), but I would have liked to see something just slightly different.

Final Judgement:

Too often these days, do we hear the words 'Must See' attached to a movie. I would classify very few movies as a movie that someone "must watch". That being said, Elysium is one of those movies. To be honest this was the movie I was waiting for all summer to see. A perfect blend of creativity, beauty, and raw emotion. Frankly I was worried this movie wouldn't live up to the high expectations I was putting on it, but it blew them away. This is not only worth the ticket price, it may be worth a second ticket just to soak it in again.

Score:★★★★★★★★★★

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We're the Millers

Get 2 tons of pot from Mexico to Denver...easy, right?

Jason Sudeikis and Jennifer Aniston headline this comedy where a middle aged drug dealer is forced to carry an unspecified amount of marijuana across the boarder, and to give him the guise of an innocent family, recruits his neighbor; a stripper, the boy accross the hall, and a homeless runaway girl.

The writing was decent in this movie, jokes were spaced nicely, they seemed pretty fresh. The overall plot isn't particularly new, reminiscent of a couple other movies, but still unused enough to feel like a movie we haven't seen a million times.

The acting, like any comedy, is where the movie shines the most. Sudeikis, as always, is brilliant at his delivery and definitely is the talant that sells this movie. Aniston delivers a mostly adequate performance, but does have moments that will make you laugh. The two kids in the movie, Emma Roberts, but especially Will Poulter also deliver pretty solid performances.

With most comedies, many of the visual aspects of the movie take a back seat to focus on characters more than explore for artistic shots, one disappointing aspect about this though, is that for the dialogue being so strong selling that the character's all call Denver home, it would have been nice to see the Denver skyline. It was pretty easy to tell this was not shot in Denver at all, as a resident of the mile high city.

Final Judgement:

It's a decent movie, but this is the type of comedy that before you buy a ticket, you are more than likely already aware if you will like it from seeing the previews. Nothing was revolutionary in the field of comedy here, but it certainly is better than a lot of other comedic movies out there. If unsure, this would still be a solid movie in your netflix queue.

Score:★★★★★★☆☆☆☆ 

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Percy Jackson II

The son of Poseidon is back to save the realm from being destroyed...again.

 Percy Jackson, after the events of the first movie, finds himself in a slump, losing confidence in himself after not performing quests and tasks measurable to those seen in the first film. Soon though, he is hurled into a mission to find the legendary Golden Fleece.

The acting is in line with the first film, though by far the greatest cameo title goes to Nathan Fillion, filling the role of Hermes like a champ (look for a subtle Firefly reference!), there a close second with Stanley Tucci as Dyonisis. I am however, very disappointed that they had to recast Pierce Brosnan's role with Anthony Head. While I had no issue Anthony's performance, recasting a role in a series, no matter how large or small (I'm looking at you, Dumbledore!) brings you out of the movie.

The movie was gorgeously shot. It was a treat seeing a high budget imagining of a Hippocampus, and the other monsters are equally as fascinating.

The writing is what you would expect coming out of the first movie. You have the returning hero in his sophmore slump...yadda, yadda, yadda. Like the first movie there are parts that feel well written, and other parts that are pretty campy and predictable. The biggest issue for me, and this is more than likely a jab at the novels themselves as opposed to the script, is that these tales of Percy Jackson reference that character like Hercules, Perseus, and Odysseus were real people, then introduce characters, such as Medusa in the first movie, that were killed by these legendary heroes.

Final Judgement:

If you liked the first movie, it is a safe bet you will be more than happy with this sequel. While it is in the same spirit of the last movie, it is obvious that the characters, and the plot are growing up a bit. Despite that, this would make a good family movie night that will entertain kids and adults.

Score:★★★★★★☆☆☆☆

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2 Guns

Washington. Wahlberg. Going head to head with anyone who gets in their way, including each other.

 '2 Guns' follows to deep undercover agents, a DEA agent (Washington), and a Navy Intelligence Agent (Wahlberg), who are unknowingly on the same sting. After their sting leads them to rob the same bank, they end up with more then they bargained for. More money, more enemies, and more problems.

 I didn't do much research on this movie, so I was kinda blown away by how much I liked it.

 I have always been a fan of Denzel, and it's hard for him to disappoint. Wahlberg, while he can be hit an miss, nailed his part in this movie. More importantly though, is that the chemistry the two had together felt very natural, and very organic. While they aren't technically cops, the dynamic of the two together will have you reminiscing of movies like Lethal Weapon.

The cinematics were pretty much what you would expect out of an action movie. gunfire, explosions, car chases, etc. None of these were bad, but nothing new and impressive.

The writing, while nothing extremely out of the box, still felt nice. Punchlines were spaced well between the intense action scenes, giving your eyes and brain some relaxing time. What I didn't expect was the serious moments, that Denzel of course handled like a pro.

Final Judgement:

While it may not have been as out there as some of the other movies this season, I would say this makes a good movie to see in theaters. You won't be disappointed with the good mix of action and comedy.

Score:★★★★★★★☆☆☆ 

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The Wolverine

The poster child of the mutants is back, and out to kick some serious komono. Can the X-men franchise keep the momentum of First Class?

'The Wolverine', easily enough, follows the character of the same name. Wolverine, aka Logan, aka James Howlett, is living in the wilderness, hiding from the world after the events of X-Men 3. He is located by a man he saved while he was a POW in a Japanese prison in WWII. He is offered the chance at walking away from his powers, to end his mortal suffering.

This movie was a pretty big miss for me.

Acting is what you would expect from the run-of-the-mill X-Men movies, not the quality First Class teased us with. While Hugh Jackman may have delivered a performance slightly above X3 or Wolverine: Origins, the parts of him that shown we overshadowed by the overall drab pall of 'action movie acting' (I like to call it 'Statham-itis') where the only emotions were pretty much anger, fear, and the punch line.

The cinematics were pretty decent. Color palettes changed pretty drastically over the movie, but changed to adopt to environments, which is nice. My only beef is that it sometimes looked as though the placement of where Wolverine's claws come out were inconsistent...while this seems like kind of a nit-picky thing to look at, Wolverines claws are almost a separate character, how important they are to his identity, so even an inconsistency of half an inch is huge here.

The writing was pretty disappointing. I honestly would have trashed the script for something else. I think referencing the gigantic bomb of X3 as often as they did in the movie was a horrible decision. I think X-Men: First Class was a clean slate for 20th Century Fox to try and springboard back into the super hero genre, but referencing possibly the worst of all the mutant movies as a central plot theme was basically hamstringing themselves. There are literally hundreds of storylines revolving specifically with Logan, but they chose to build a story on the wreckage of a catastrophe, instead of a solid foundation.

Final Judgement:

The Wolverine took a step back from the leap forward the X-Men: First Class gave us. par for the course acting and an incredibly disappointing story make this a movie that you should wait to netflix. Luckily though, we can all look forward to X-Men: Days of Future Past to try and pick up the ball where Wolverine dropped it

Score:★★★★★☆☆☆☆☆ 

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