Underworld: Awakening Movie Review

This film is clearly the worst in the entire Underworld film franchise, which is unfortunate because while it is not necessarily an amazing set of films, they have for the very least been very enjoyable.  As someone who is a general fan of the franchise I went into this film with optimism and was thoroughly let down. As I am sure other fans were as well. Initially I was confused why it was released in theaters in January, a month that is really notorious for bad movies, but after watching it I can see why a studio would want to give it the least amount of competition at the Box Office as possible. It is an overall bad movie with very few redeeming qualities.

One of the redeeming qualities is Kate Beckinsale reprising her role as Selene from the first Underworld film "Underworld"(2003) and "Underworld: Evolution"(2006). She looks the part, sounds the part and is the part. The character of Selene should be portrayed by no one else other than Kate Beckinsale. It was great how seamlessly she slipped back into a character that we as viewers had not seen her portray since 2006. Unfortunately the film put other actors around her who were average to poor at best except for Charles Dance. Many may know him for his current role of Tywin Lanister on the television show "Game of Thrones".  In the film his appearance, although all to brief, and character radiates authority and toughness to the point where you realize that this guy is not to be messed with.

Another positive attribute to the film is that visually looks very good. Whether you watch the film in 3D or just a regular 2D Blu-Ray on an HDTV or if you had the opportunity to see it on the big screen, you will be very happy with the way it looks.  The action in the film does exactly what it needs to do, entertain the viewer.  It is fast, stylized with some slow motion, and will satisfy an action fans needs. Unfortunately what the movie gains in terms of its aesthetic and entertaining appeal is dwarfed by what it lacks in terms of plot and any kind of substance.

To me as a viewer, running time and plot pacing go hand in hand because usually one dictates another. This film has a running time of 88 minutes, which includes an opening and closing title sequence as well as recap at the beginning of the previous films in the series which featured Selene as the main character. So with all that extra time being taken up with nothing to do with the plot, you have a short film to start out with getting even shorter, to the point where to me it feels like an extended episode of television series on pay cable as opposed to an actual feature film. Due to the short run time the plot pacing is too rushed and nothing really stays with a viewer long enough to be memorable. Also the few new characters we meet have so little screen time that they forgettable, with the exception of Charles Dance who makes the most out of his screen time.

In addition to the short running time hindering the film, the plot itself also did help by being cliched and predictable.  It also uses a plot device that I am not a huge fan of, which is jumping forward in time, in this case 12 years into the future.  That is a technique that is typically used in television series where the producers believe it necessary to jump forward in time to explore certain story lines that they may not be able to do because of the threat of cancellation.  I believe the purpose of the time shift in the film is to make it stand on its own without much connection to the previous films. By doing something such as that, and having a recap at the beginning, they wanted to be able to have those not familiar with the franchise be able to jump right in and watch the film. The problem I have with that is the film is not strong enough to stand on its own(siting the problems I mentioned previously) and the odds are that if you are a fan of the franchise you will look upon it more favorably because of your familiarity with it than someone viewing it for the first time. But a fan could be disappointed because of its disconnect and reduced quality it has in comparison to the previous films, so therefore you may alienate them and are stuck somewhere in the middle.  The filmmakers were stuck with a task of trying to get new viewers and keep old ones watching and for me they did not do that. That is not to say that there can not be both first time watchers and previous fans enjoying this film because of course film is subjective and depends on the individual.

Without giving away the ending, it is left wide open for yet another film, in most cases this is supposed to make me as the viewer want more but in this case it left me asking, really? do I really want more? It felt like an ending that you see in the Resident Evil films where they purposely end on a cliff hanger to lead into another film. The film does not leave me wanting more, yes it was nice to see Kate Beckinsale as Selene, Charles Dance was a surprise, and it was good to see The Underworld style vampires and werewolves, but the film as a whole was just forgettable.  The action was visually great but there was nothing I had not seen before and can not be seen in other action films.  I am giving "Underworld: Awakening" 2.3/5 stars.

Green Lantern Movie Review

The most disappointing movie of the summer for me. My expectations may have been too high or something similar to that. I was really let down by how underwhelming this film was, when it could have been so much better. After watching Thor and X-Men: First Class I was really hoping that this would be on somewhat the same level as them and it really was not or perhaps close. But, I would have to say this is a distant third or perhaps even fourth, depending on what I think of Captain America.

Although overall disappointing, there were some things I did like in the film. I very much enjoyed the look of the film. Visually the CGI looked really good and I am confident that the Blu-Ray is going to look great when it comes out. Green lantern Suit is entirely CGI and yea it looks like it but you do get used to it. The Planet Oa looks great and the effects with the Green Lantern ring look great.

I did not have any problem with Ryan Reynolds as Hal Jordan. He does the best he can with the script that he was given. Hal Jordan is a cocky, sometimes hot headed, test pilot and Reynolds plays that role well. It is when his character goes deeper that he has trouble with. It is not so much his acting ability but the writing is poor. Despite script issues I still like Reynolds in the role. You can tell that he really was invested in this role and actually wanted to do justice for the fans. As a Green Lantern fan I appreciate him for that. If there is a sequel I hope Reynolds is the Green Lantern and they give him a better script to work with.

The rest of the cast suffered from the same problem as Reynolds, average script. Mark Strong plays Sinestro, a powerful Green lantern, who despite having little screen time was good. I would have liked to see more of him and hope there is a sequel because he will play a much bigger role. The last scene he is in is a foreshadow for a sequel if there is one and I really hope there is. Also please do not recast his role because if you look at the comics and look at Mark Strong's Sinestro they look very much a like, so the casting was good in that respect.

There are technically two villains in this film. One is Hector Hammond and the second is Parallax. They were both kind of a joke. I Parallax is essentially a giant cloud of smoke who feeds on fear. The problem with that is that it is not really a character it is just a thing and as a viewer I just do not care about Parallax. It also does not help that Parallax only appears briefly throughout the film until it gets to Earth and fights with Hal Jordan. Hammond is played by Peter Skarsgaard and he, like the others, suffers from average writing. His character is pretty basic comic book superhero villain. He is basically a genius scientist who has daddy issues, jealous of Hal Jordan/Green Lantern, and has an obsessive crush on Carol Ferris. He gains his super brain power when he is exposed to Parallax's DNA. His motives are based on anger and jealousy, pretty basic villain motives.

Blake Lively plays the love interest to Hal Jordan, whose name is Carol Ferris. Some fellow reviewers would argue that she is a miscast because a girl that looks as attractive as her would not be a fighter pilot. I do not necessarily agree with that, good writing could have fixed a problem like that. In this case they only had her fly a plane once and the rest of the time she played the traditional love interest, complete with a damsel in distress situation. Her acting was average, which was disappointing because she did a great job in the Ben Affleck Directed film "The Town." It was not so much her acting ability but it was that the writing was so average and traditional and without depth that these actors were really at a disadvantage.

If you know me the one thing I always am a stickler for is the run time of a film. I always check it before I watch a film and almost always keep it in mind while critiquing a film. When it comes to this film, the run time is just too short for my personal tastes. The film clocks in at around 105 minutes (I have seen a runtime of 114 minutes, but that time includes the credits). What Batman Begins, Superman: The Movie, and Spider-Man have in common is they all feature origins of a Super hero and are all longer than two hours. Also they are successful starts to popular franchises. My philosophy when it comes to this genre of film is longer is better, especially when you are dealing with origins.

The problem with Green Lantern is that the origin of his character and the film itself feels rushed. When he gets to Oa, the planet of the Green Lanterns, and becomes a Green Lantern, the sequences there are rushed. Basically his training involves him getting his butt kicked by Kilowog, voiced by Michael Clarke Duncan, and then by Sinestro. This entire sequence although visually nice to watch were brief. Jordan then doubts himself after being beaten by two Lanterns who were obviously more experienced then him and returns to Earth. That is it, that is all his training. It is not like when he gets to Earth he goes out and helps people so you can see him explore his powers. Nope, basically in 105 minutes, Hal Jordan goes from cocky test pilot, to Green Lantern, to fighting Hector Hammond, fighting Parallax in a climactic battle, and save Carol Ferris a couple of times from danger.

The tone of the plot was all over the place. The film felt it did not know if it wanted to be a film you take seriously or a fun action film. It tried to find some middle ground but it just kept weaving from light to dark. Just when you think the film is falling into one tone a scene will happen that catapults into another tone. One scene in particular is the scene that you see in the trailer where Hal Jordan is showing his friend that he is the Green Lantern. You would think that it is a scene that happens earlier in the film, but no it is at about the 3/4 of the way through the film. By that point in the film a tone should have been established. Perhaps the problem has to do with the fact that there are four different writers who wrote the screenplay. They could each have had different viewpoints and then combined them into some Frankenstein of a script.

The film just felt so disjointed. It felt like the writers were trying fit some mold instead of writing a good movie. It was as if they had a checklist of things they needed to put in the film and once they did that they were done. The plot felt just pasted together to fit together and there were wholes that needed to be filled but those scenes were left out. The film never took that next step, it just stayed safe with a conventional plot. There was no point in the film where I was wowed by any of the dialogue.

Overall I was let down by this film because it had potential to be a good entry into the comic book super hero genre of film. Where it ultimately failed was an average script, basic plot, and an uneven mostly light tone. Where the film excelled was in its visuals and its overall fun viewing experience. Is it watchable? Yes. Will you have a fun time watching it? For the most part yes. But, do not expect anything more than an average film. Would I recommend it? Yes, it is a fun film to watch, it is nothing special. I will have to give it 3.1/5 stars.

There may be a sequel, depending on how well the sales are for the DVD/Blu-Ray because the film made nowhere near its budget. Apparently production costed $200 million and $100 million was spent on marketing and the film only made $214.5 million worldwide at the Box Office. Also the Blu-Ray will have an extended cut which will hopefully add enough footage to fix some of the problems and improve the film.

Ip Man Movie Review

I must admit that I am a novice when it comes to Martial Arts films. Basically I watched a couple of Bruce Lee films when I was a child and thought they were cool. I have seen some Jet Li and Jackie Chan films, even Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, but that is about it when it comes to my experience with this genre. This is a genre I really have to explore more because since I was a child I have liked Martial Arts. It Started extremely early on in my life with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. My initial reaction to this film is that I loved it. I liked the acting, especially by Donnie Yen. I loved the martial arts action scenes, even though they were sometimes too brief.

This film essentially has two phases or parts, before Japanese occupation and then during Japanese occupation. The first part takes place in 1936 in Foshan, China. The place is known for its Martial Arts Masters and people travel their to learn from them. Ip Man , who is a Wing Chun Master, is regarded as the best. Here he lives a comfortable wealthy life with his wife and young son. The second part is a complete contrast of that. He has been kicked out of his home and essentially lives an impoverished life with his wife and son.

The plot although not that deep is deep enough to not make this some mindless martial arts film. This mostly has to do with a really strong performance from Donnie Yen. Directly from the start I believed that he was Ip Man. The rest of cast although I do not know them by name did well in their roles, but Yen is very much the star. The film is somewhat a biopic so the entire plot mostly revolves around him.

As I was saying the plot is deep enough to satisfy me personally. One example is the final fight. The climactic fight in the film is between Ip man and a Japanese General. What one can figure out easily enough is that it is more like China vs. Japan than simply two men fighting each other. I like the plot for its simplicity. You do not need to rack your brain in figuring out deeper meanings, the depth is there, readily available to diagnose.

What I hink sticks with most people who watch this film is how badass Ip man is in it. His level of badass is off the charts. I loved the martial art action sequences in this film. There was one part in particular that left me speechless, all I will say is that Ip man takes on ten Japanese martial artists. The one negative thing I will say is that the fight scenes were somewhat brief because Ip Man is so good that no one even comes close to his level of talent.

Despite my high praise for the film there are some negative aspects. The final battle, while awesome in my eyes, really is totally one sided and yet again over with quickly so some may view it as anticlimactic. Also the set design is somewhat lackluster. While it still looks like a 1930s China, the budget limitations show through in the set design. There really is not much character development. From the beginning Ip man feels like an already developed character, granted he does have some flaws. Also the other characters other than Ip Man really do not do much, like I said earlier the film concentrates solely on Ip Man. There is also some cliche throughout the film. Specifically when Ip Man teaches factory workers Wing Chun in order to defend themselves against robbers. It plays on that whole weaker people band together to fight agains a more powerful enemy. This next thing may be a little nitpicking but the film is not quite historically accurate or probably even accurate when it comes toe the real Ip Man life. With film based on true events or a biopic, inaccuracies and changes are expected.

Do I recommend this film? Yes. Strong acting by the lead, Donnie Yen, a plot that was easy to follow but not the point of stupidly easy. The Martial Arts action sequences were awesome despite briefness. I enjoyed this film beginning to end. The one thing I must warn about, you will need to read subtitles. There may be an English Dub version out there but I would highly suggest watching films in their original language with subtitles. My rating for this film is going to be a 4.15/5 Stars. Also if you enjoyed this film there is a sequel titled Ip Man 2.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 Movie Review.

We have come to it at last, the final Harry Potter film. Not only is it the end of the film film franchise but it feels like the end of Harry Potter, at least for me. Harry potter has been a part of my life from the late 1990s all the way up to now. I have read all the books and seen all the films. When I read the final book in 2007 I did not feel as I do now because at the time I still had a few movie adaptions to look forward to, but now there is nothing. All I have is a head full of memories. With that said the The last film will probably go down as a favorite amongst fans. While watching this film it is so difficult to not compare book to film and be objective but I will try to do my best in this review. Book lovers need to look at these films with a non-book point of view or else they will be really disappointed because the books are vastly superior to any of the films.

The stakes have never been higher, the epic scope has never been larger. This film has what the the fans of fantasy love, magic, dragons, epic battles etc. You finally get to see the Wizards and Witches do battle, there is destruction, carnage and death. Gone are the light happy times that we saw in the earlier films. The world is dark, gritty, and extremely dangerous. The wizarding world has been that way now for several movies, but now it has reached its peak in all out war. The ultimate battle of Good vs. Evil and the setting for this epic battle is none other than Hogwarts.


Yes, as already known by long time fans of the books, the majority of the last film takes place at Hogwarts in the midst of a final battle. As expected the action was amped up for this film and it was an awesome spectacle to watch. Normally I would object to such mindless action because I prefer plot and character development, but this is the 8th and final film. It also is essentially the second part of one long film. The first part is where the plot is laid out as well as the character development.


I am not a fan at all of the David Yates Directed films of the Harry Potter franchise, but the one compliment I can pay him is that he really captures the look and atmosphere well. The visual style that he chose to use for his Harry Potter films was good. The same can be said for this film as well.  The special effects for this film were on par with the previous Yates films and they did a very good job of depicting the magical world of Harry Potter.  The viewer is very much drawn into the film and that world created by JK Rowling. All of that is a credit too Yates' visual direction of his films.


Another thing I also must comment on is the acting. Throughout the entire series we have seen the young cast grow not only physically but professionally. This was a decade long film franchise that was able to maintain the core cast for the entire time. They have improved immensely in their acting ability throughout the franchise. Watching this film and then going back and watching an earlier film and one can see the difference in acting. Daniel Radcliffe especially did a good job in this film and throughout the series. Portraying the most popular literary character in the last 20 years on the screen is no small task. Rupert Grint also did well in this last installment. He has always fit the role well in my opinion. Emma Watson has been the weakest in my opinion throughout the franchise, as Hermione but she too improved for these last few films. Alan Rickman has been the most consistently great actor throughout this franchise and although he is only on the screen for a short time in this film he was still great.


The biggest gripe I have with Yates' Harry Potter films is the pacing is to fast. In my opinion it is because the films are just to short. This film is the shortest of all the films in the franchise with a runtime of 130 minutes. I know this is suppose to be the action part of the 7th film but you need to slow it down. There are also several deaths in this film that are briefly looked at and there is barely any pause to acknowledge the emotional weight of these deaths. I knew it was going to happen, the deaths of Lupin and Tonks was terribly done and if you had not read the books you would really not care at all about these characters. Those characters should have had more screen time in previous films to make the viewer actually care about their death. Also the death of one of the Weasley brothers needed more time as well, The deaths just seemed to rushed and lacked the emotional weight they deserved. The Yates films always seem to lack the extra emotion that the books were able to capture. I am not asking for an extra hour of footage but maybe 20 minutes or slightly more and you would have a film that flowed better.


There was one point in the film where it slowed down and I was so happy when it did. It was the scene when Harry views Snape's memories and the truth about Snape is revealed. Up to that point, I had the film at a 3.7 and that scene was what upped the rating for me. It was one of the non action scene that I liked. The final fight between Harry and Voldemort, while I understand why it needed to be longer than the book, started out well but grew into a bit of a mess. Especially when Harry and Voldemort were flying around Hogwarts.


Although I do have a lot of criticism for this film franchise, I still will re-watch it just because I am a fan. The franchise overall is disappointing because I feel that the later films could have been so much better had they been longer.

Also if you had not read the books you missed out on so much important details that were just ignored. But with all my problems with the series I will miss both the books and the films because I looked forward to their release. Overall I will give this film a 4.1/5 stars. Could have been better had it been longer.

First Blood: Part II Movie Review

To be honest, I probably give this more of a 2.7 or 2.8 stars. I would categorize this film as a cheesy 80s action film. For essentially the entire film you turn your brain off and watch Rambo kill people and explosions. The best part about this film is Rambo being Rambo. Yes they try to throw in an emotional factor with rescuing captured POWS in Vietnam for some reason I can not connect with it. I am too busy watching Rambo get his revenge.

The one thing I noticed in the first film was that Rambo did not talk much, well that is not the case in this film. He talks a lot more and the poor writing comes through. Especially his interaction with his love interest/guide which is really cheesy and laughable. Their brief relationship seemed forced and only necessary to force him into badass Rambo when she dies.

The action in this film compared to the last is like night and day in terms of quantity. The problem with having so much action in this film is that you see the glaring flaws in the special effects at the time. Granted I am viewing a 1985 film in 2011 but the flaws are still there.

I must admit that I was disappointed in this film. It had a chance to improve upon the first one and balance both action and story, but instead it goes full tilt action and the story is just secondary. POWs still being in Vietnam so many years after the war should be something I should take seriously but when you surround it with cheesy action and acting it loses its emotional weight. Although I had a similar problem like this with the first film, that one feels a lot more serious than this one. Do I still recommend this film? Yes, but only if you want a cheesy 80s action film to watch

Leaving Las Vegas Movie Review

One of the most depressing films I have ever seen, but the acting was incredible. Nicolas Cage won an Oscar for Best actor in 1995 for this role and he most definitely deserved it. Elisabeth Shue was also nominated for Best Actress but lost to Susan Sarandon in the film Dead Man Walking, but in my opinion Shue should have won.

Nicolas Cage's performance in this film is one of the finest I have ever seen. Could I possibly be going out on a limb by saying that, yes. But, it is definitely not a stretch to say that this was his greatest performance of his career. There comes a point in this film where you are no longer watching Cage play a role but you are literally watching a human being attempting to drink himself to death.

Elisabeth Shue also has a career performance. Her performance like Cage's is such an emotional roller coaster, mostly a depressing emotion but it is conveyed very well. Similar to Cage while watching Shue you believe that she is indeed a very lonely hooker who has finally found true love. The emotion that we see from these characters, whether it is interacting with each other or individually.

I like my films dark and gritty and this film is dark and gritty from beginning to end, with slim moments of lightness. But towards the end of the film it is just straight dark and depressing. At the end of this film I literally said " Wow, that was depressing" and it was. There is another film that made me feel like this film at the end and that was Darren Aronofsky's "Requiem for a Dream." While the imagery at the end of that film is more graphic, feeling I get after watching both films is the same. It also does something that we do not see very often, it makes Las Vegas not look like its usual bright and cool place.

The one thing that bothers me during the film is that I understand that Cage's character Ben has this plan where he is going to get all the money he can and go to Vegas and drink himself to death. He is divorced, just got fired from his job and is a depressed alcoholic. Those I all understand but the one thing is that when he meets Shue's character Sera, he falls in love with her and she fall unconditionally in love with him, why does he continue to drink himself to death? I know she is a hooker, but that is besides the point, the love is still there and it is real. Granted, yes if the film had gone the typical, happy, love conquers all ending then the film would not be as good as it is.

There is also a re-watchability problem with this film, at least for me. Like Requiem for a dream it hits with huge emotional fists, the final blow being the final scenes that just leave you reeling. So I can not see myself watching these types of films over and over again. I will also say that this film is not for everyone, the graphic, dark, and gritty nature of the film will put a lot of people off. Final thoughts is, dark, depressing, but extremely well acted, highly recommend for people who like great acting and can withstand this type of film. 4.5 out of 5 Stars.

First Blood Movie review

An interesting look at a post Vietnam Vet who is still reeling from the war, but I did not feel that it reached the emotional level it could have. There are two roles that Sylvester Stallone will be known for, John Rambo and Rocky Balboa. John Rambo is a completely different character than Rocky, more reserved, psychologically traumatized, just different.

What I like most about this film and where you are able to see what Vietnam has done to him is in the beginning and the end. The middle is Rambo being a badass and essentially going to war against an entire town's police force. Do not get me wrong while watching the film you instantly know that Rambo is a highly trained badass Green Beret. Yes the Vietnam war basically turned him into that and that is what the viewer needs to constantly remember. The ending of the film is actually where you see Rambo go through a mental breakdown and see how psychologically damaged he is and I thought that is what was missing throughout the film.

Where it loses stars with me is that the film basically slips into a popcorn action flick in the middle and then at the end it delves into the serious stuff but in a very brief moment. What I thought was odd, perhaps not negative, was that you had a main character that hardly ever spoke so we never really got to know much about him. In the final moments when he broke down is probably the most he spoke in the entire film combined.

Is this film worth a watch? Yes. It is considered a classic 80s action film and that is true, but with that expect 80s effects as well. The effects are quite dated compared to even a 90s action film. But most of what Rambo does in this film is on a lower scale, like setting up traps and things like that, while First Blood part II is where the action is ramped up. This is not the best film that has to do with Vietnam, I would suggest watching Oliver Stone's Platoon or the Legendary Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket. This film is however well known in our film culture and it is good to watch it at least once. 3.5 out of 5 stars.