It’s time for the much awaited sequel to Star Wars Episode I. We are getting closer to the original trilogy since 10 years have passed in the story. With Anakin as the main character (Or at least one of the main characters) this would have to be a success…right? Unfortunately, this is easily the weakest Star Wars film to date and it’s about time that we see why!

As is the norm with films in the Star Wars series, there is more than one plot going on in this movie. Obi Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker are hired to protect Senator Padme since there are those that would wish to defeat her once and for all. She does not want to be terminated, but she does want to know who’s behind all of this and suspects Dooku. The Jedi laugh this off since Dooku was a Jedi and thus, he cannot be evil. The Jedi seemed to be pretty proud of themselves for coming up with this fact and brushed the notion aside. If only they could use The Force to find out!

Later on, Obi Wan is called away to locate the bounty hunter who is after Senator Padme so he is forced to leave his post. Anakin and Padme head off on their own adventure to find out what has happened to Anakin’s mother. There are a lot of plots that happen within the movie, but since they all continue from each other, it’s hard to go into more depth with them. Needless to say, a big war could occur if things do not stop very quickly!

So, what went wrong with this film? The plot sounds like it has potential and Anakin gets a big role! Well, let’s start off with Anakin’s portrayal. He looks awful in this film and you just want him to stop appearing after his first few scenes. He’s one of the worst main heroes of a movie that I’ve seen in a while and he’s as annoying as Russio. He may not be quite as bad as someone like James T Kirk, but he is definitely pretty low. He constantly pesters Padme about how they should be together and he can never stay professional. He’s always talking back to Obi Wan and even disagrees with Padme when they are in front of a lot of important people. He also basically admits that he prefers a dictatorship to democracy and starts his way to becoming a villain. It’s inevitable that he turns evil, but he does so in a very bad way. He comes off as more of a throwaway villain who talks a good game, but is really desperate and not really that tough.

An example of this is during the climax when he attacks someone and is quickly defeated in a single blow. After a long time, Anakin wakes up and is quickly dispatched by another blow. He looks so awful that you are likely to cheer in the theater when he is defeated, but it doesn’t do wonders for the character. He was definitely not handled well in this film and if not for the expanded universe he would be a pretty awful character right now. (He looked bad in Episodes V and VI as well)

The next big flaw in the film is that it does not live up to its name. For starters, what happened to Star Wars being about battles in space? We don’t really get any of that anymore and I miss the days of fighting in space. It was so much fun back in the day and now we only have ground fights. They’re pretty good, but it’s still inexcusable. Also, the title is Attack of the Clones, but they do not fight until the end of the movie, during the climax. That can definitely be disappointing if you are looking forward to seeing the Clone/Storm Troopers in action.

Another negative would be the excessive romance in the film. It’s handled poorly and the writing was just terrible and the plot for the scenes was even worse. Padme and Anakin were just friends back in the day, but Anakin has become a very twisted person who is not satisfied anymore. She constantly tells him that they can never be together, but he keeps pestering her until they are. That’s definitely not a good romance and it was sad that she weakened in the end. Instead of a happy moment, it was just a wince worthy scene that will make you cringe inside. As you can guess, I do not like Anakin at all in this film and the same goes for Padme.

The scene where Anakin finds his mother and finally rescues her also should have been cut out. She was kidnapped days ago and she’s still alive. Sure, this gives Anakin more of a sad back story so that he’ll have more reason to turn evil, but he was already clearly on the path to becoming a Sith anyway. If we needed another sad element, they just could have had her be destroyed by the Sand people and then Anakin saves her. That would have been a lot better than having her still be alive to quickly die right when he arrives. The scene was definitely a little too gruesome and also hurts the replay value of the story.

Not everyone looked bad as Yoda finally backed up all of his tough talk and he got to fight. It is definitely more than a little hard to take him seriously at this point, but he proved that he is a skilled combatant. He is fast, but his lack of strength could be a bit of an issue. He definitely looked more impressive than the other Jedi, who are reduced to cannon fodder in this film.

That’s another problem that I have with the Jedi. I do not like any of them in this film and while Yoda and Obi Wan may not be bad characters, I don’t really care for them either. The Jedi actually lose to random blasts and Jango Fett took one of them down for the count. The Jedi have never looked very impressive in the films, but they looked even worse than usual in this film. At least half of them were slaughtered by random droids and it would appear that the Force did not find favor with them. The Jedi appear to be stronger than average Cops, but they’re still only at about Chitauri level. Average humans could feasibly defeat them if they’re good with a gun. The Jedi could use the Force in much better ways, but they do not seem to comprehend this.

At least Jango Fett was a cool character. He is a solid fighter in his jetpack and he effortlessly defeated a Jedi. That’s a pretty solid feat and he also managed to defeat Obi Wan Kenobi. The way that he lost at the end was pure plot hax and just an excuse to finish up the movie. After seeing him in the Bounty Hunter game, I can definitely say that he wouldn’t have died like that.

Emperor Dooku was a pretty sharp fighter and definitely tougher than I would have guessed. He made the Jedi look like kids as he was completely annihilating them without effort. It was a sad day for the Jedi, but a pretty happy day for Dooku. Maybe he could take on Darth Vader or Darth Maul in a fair fight. C-3PO, R2D2, and Jar Jar Binks all make cameos. They’re about the same as usual, but C-3PO is pretty intense as he actually betrays the Jedi at one point and probably took a few of them down with his lasers.

The fight scenes in the film are pretty intense which is always a good thing. The effects hold up well and we are in the 2000’s so I should expect no less. The Lightsabers still seem to be easily breakable, but it’s fun to see them clash. We also got a brief hand to hand fight scene with Obi Wan and Jango Fett. The effects for Jango’s booster are also pretty good.

Finally, we do have another big negative and it is the excessive animal violence. At one point, the “heroes” are thrown into an arena with three giant monsters. You can probably guess what happens to the animals and it isn’t pretty. It was really unneeded, but a lot of films tend to make this mistake nowadays. It is pretty disappointing to see and I will always have to take away points for such awful scenes.

Overall, I did not care for this Star Wars film. Not only was it the worst one in the series, but it was not even close. This film was a lot more negative than positive so the low rating should not come as a huge surprise by the end. The film had potential for great things, thanks to the action and Jango Fett, but it was not to be. I can’t say that this helps my hopes for the next film in the series, but it can’t get any worse I suppose. I do not recommend this film and if you want a real space adventure, check out Gurren Lagann!

Overall 3/10

All right, it’s time to review this popular film! I was fortunate enough to get to see it on Thursday night for the 8 o clock showing. Not bad eh? Got to beat the midnight screening by a few hours which was awesome and I probably should have written my review right then and there, but I like to digest it first. I usually have stronger opinions about a film after a few hours/few days have passed. I’d say that one day is plenty for this one and I’m ready. I didn’t really care for the first film and thought that the book was much better. That’s basically the same feeling that I got from this film which was definitely better than the first one, but not by much.

This review will mostly try to stick away from spoilers that occur during the film, but I can’t really avoid the spoilers from the first film….so bear with me on that. As we all know, Katniss ended up winning the Hunger Games on her last run as she thought of the berries plan. Peeta was spared and the world was saved! (Peeta went along with the plan, but it was basically her strategy so he was just along for the ride) Snow isn’t very happy about this and he forces Katniss and Peeta to tour the districts as they watch people get beat up and destroyed. They try (Unsuccessfully) to keep their composure as they go around deceiving people, but it’s not working.

Snow decides that he’ll force them into entering….The Hunger Games! This time, only the winners are allowed into the prestigious tournament so the stakes are going to be a lot higher. This also means that nobody is truly safe since the government could always pull a fast one…but I guess we already knew that from the first film eh? Let the Games begin!!

All right, where to start! There’s definitely a lot to say about this film and unfortunately, a good amount of it is negative. Let’s start off with the positives and work our way from there. The camera is much better for the fight scenes and it’s good overall. There are a few scenes where the camera does move very quickly during the fight scenes, but the improvement is definitely noticeable and it should be perfected by the next film. The training area for the tributes is a lot more hi tech and it makes the whole thing feel more like a serious training ground.

The costumes for the characters are also a lot better and while I can’t put my finger on which costumes they remind me of, they definitely seem familiar. These are more like battle costumes than what they wore in the first film and it’s good that they’re more experienced. Katniss is ready to win this time…or is she?

All right, positives are over! It’s time to get down to the nitty gritty. Let’s tackle one of the larger problems first. This film mixes several factors that I don’t like in a film: Romance, Animal Violence, Acceptance, and Corrupt Governments that mess with everyone. I’ll delve into each of these factors and I suppose that I should start with the romance.

Where to start! Peete and Gale are around of course. Gale doesn’t appear for very long, but he definitely makes sure to have his share of romance in those scenes. Peeta appears a lot and he also gets a pretty substantial amount of romance. Naturally they all revolve around Katniss as she leads them both on. I want to say that she doesn’t intend to make fools out of them, but it’s really hard to debate that. Katniss wasn’t very good in this film, but when you keep in mind that there weren’t really any good characters in the film, it helps to even things out. There was also a very unnecessary scene in the elevator that dragged on for wayyyyyyy too long and made Peeta and Haymitch look like chumps. Definitely one of the worst scenes in the film and if that’s not easily the worst scene in any film….you know that you’ve got trouble!

All right, let’s get into the Animal Violence. Well, we have forest animals getting hunted by villains guys like Gale and then we have Katniss shooting birds out of the sky. As if that weren’t enough, then we get a scene where baboons (Or a similar creature) attack the main characters and there are many casualties. We also get to see Fish being eaten which is pretty distasteful. I definitely had to take some serious points away from the film for this transgression and it was not something that I would forget.

Ready for the Acceptance? You’re probably wondering why that’s a bad thing so it’s time to get into a little bit of depth for this. It basically ties into the final negative as well which is that the people know who the villains are. Everyone knows that President Snow is a dictator and that he must be stopped, but nobody is powerful enough to stop him. Katniss and Peeta decide to work for the guy which helps to soil their morals as they watch other people get beaten up and destroyed. Either way Snow is going to continue on his path to eradicate everyone so why should they play along as all? It seems to be that they’re just making things worse by doing this when they could be making things better by fighting back.

On a side note, we had the “Hardcore” moment that most films try to gun for several times in this film. When the characters go on TV and are interviewed, one of them says the “Hardcore” word and everyone in the audience laughed and cheered. It makes me wonder if they would have clapped and cheered if the character had switched the word to Forget and still finished the line. Probably not, which is sad. I couldn’t take the character seriously anyway since she was basically out of her league.

This film deals with a lot of tragedy and sadness as Katniss gets to several of her friends beaten up and murdered in front of her. It’s sad for Katniss since she can’t really fight back and she just has to move on to the next thing each time. It would be good if she could try to avenge them and take Snow to jail, but that’s essentially impossible right now.

I’d say that the film overdoes it with all of the tragic moments. Snow is evil and he’s going to murder everyone…we get that. So is it really necessary to see him murder everyone and then see everyone stand back and watch? One scene was almost comical when the new general met the older one. Everyone knew what was about to happen except for the general himself which can definitely be tragic. Everyone who is around Katniss seems destined to die and this is one of those film series that won’t have a happy ending. There is far too much death and destruction for that.

This brings me back to the whole escapism thing. The film is just far too depressing and tragic to be a truly great film. It’s like Sucker Punch and Paranormal Activity. Whatever positives are in those films will always be overshadowed by the sense of dread and desperation that they emit. It’s the reason why films like Man of Steel and Avengers will always take down X-men and The Dark Knight. The film had some light moments scattered here and about, but it was pretty dark for the most part. I would say that it was even darker than the first

Finnick was one of the only Hunger Games participants who actually got a role. Most of the others either died off screen or just appeared for a few minutes and then vanished. Thinking about it, we actually don’t get many human fight scenes. The characters either go up against wild animals or are just running away from traps for the whole games. Some of the contestants weren’t even fighters which lowered the chances of a good fight scene even more. There isn’t really a soundtrack for the movie, but did you expect one?

Another sad thing is that Katniss should have been a good character in theory. She’s the hardened veteran who is back for one last time to destroy the other opponents. It sounds good on paper, but she starts to have stress attacks and the delusions overtake her. She’s also forced to do things for the camera which is pretty demoralizing. She should have just fought back and saved herself the humiliation. Katniss was also ready to lose to the general without a fight which was definitely another bad thing.

The ending of the film is a good and a bad. On the good side, it’s a perfect cliff hanger and in thoery, it’s how most great films should try to end. This is how I’d want Avengers 2 to end and then lead into Avengers 3. Picture the last line spoken in this ending and just increase the scale. It would be a pretty awesome way to end the film. On the negative side, Katniss is supposed to look very menacing and hardcore in the ending, but it didn’t really work. The scene was just way too long and she couldn’t pull off the facial expression.

Overall, this wasn’t one of the better films out there. There were just way too many negatives for me to count it as a good film. If the film had taken out the romance and animal violence it would have helped, but the film would have only risen to a 5 or maybe a 6 at most. If they had made the film happier and added some fight scenes, then maybe I could give it a 7. Sadly I can’t really expect that much more from the sequel since the book wasn’t even as good. This film was disappointing since I did think that the trailer was a big step up from the last one. The run time was also pretty good since it was nearly 2 and a half hours long and made up for the fact that the actual games take a very long time to begin. Unfortunately, I don’t have any hopes for the next one. This could be the beginning of the end, but if you liked the first movie then you’ll probably like this one as well. There was also a poison scene that I didn’t care for since it was a little too graphic for me but…I should probably end there. Check it out if you wish, but I’d sooner recommend playing Pac Man at your local computer!

Overall 3/10

The Sixth Sense is a film where the title should tell you what to expect. This film deals with the supernatural and it’s up to the main characters to stop them. This film is decently well known and I’m sure that you’ve heard about it at some point in your life. If not…well, it’s not like it’s the end of the world…I hope.

The main character of the film is (arguably) Malcolm. The kid who goes by the name of Cole is also very important to the story, but I never cared for the character. More on that later, but it’s time to get into the plot. Malcolm has always helped people get through their problems by having a nice chat and then slowly getting them ready to solve their challenges. After one kid went off the deep end, Malcolm must now redeem himself by helping another kid.

Cole is having a lot of problems right now, so he’ll be a prime candidate for Malcolm. Cole is considered an outsider by the other kids and he’s pretty withdrawn and keeps to himself. Can Malcolm get this kid to become one with society and break through the barriers that keep him from the rest of the world? A better question might be….does he really want to be with the rest of the world? The other kids are pretty mean and petty after all.

That’s basically the plot of the movie and while it’s pretty simple, that gives the film more time for character development. I didn’t like Cole, but let’s go into the history of that. I’ve never really cared for kid characters when it comes to live action films. They’re just not as sympathetic and I only like them in anime or cartoons. Cole was no exception and he could have been higher if he had taken the fight to the undead, but he decides to save the world instead. (In a way) The ghosts were definitely malicious enough to warrant a counter offensive.

Let’s talk about Malcolm. He’s a pretty solid character and he definitely seems to know his stuff. He nearly defeats the kid in their first battle of wits and he always seems to know what to say. He has to help the kid while also worrying about personal issues of his own. It’s tricky, but Malcolm does what he needs too. He may not be the strongest fighter out there, but at least Cole has someone who can defend him if need be. One of Malcolm’s enemies is the part time worker at the ring shop, but let’s just say that he’s no match for Malcolm.

They were really the only two big characters. The Mom and Wife (Separate characters) are both decent characters in their own right, but they don’t get to appear a whole lot so we can’t totally judge them. We can judge the Mom depending on the aftereffects of the Dungeon game, but the film ends before that. If the kids are still walking with Cole, then we’ve got a problem.

There were some plot hax in the film, but nothing completely devastating. One that would come to mind is the final plot twist. I don’t plan on spoiling that in the review, so you’ll need to check it out. That being said, it’s hard to believe that someone did not notice this twist until the very end. There should have been many things that would not make sense to the character prior to the ending. Well, let’s not dwell on it I suppose…

Overall, this was a decent “horror” film. Cole isn’t very good, but Malcolm is a solid character. There’s no soundtrack to speak of and a very small cast overall. If you want a scare, then this isn’t the film for you. It’s more of an emotional story that happens to feature the supernatural. There may be some gross or scary moments in the film, but nothing that will scare you for life. On the other hand, the film is pretty uneventful and some may find it a little boring. Watch at your own risk I suppose. As long as you like the kid and the plot, you should enjoy it.

Overall 3/10

Pitch Black is the first film that features Riddick (Or Carolyn, depending on how you look at it) as the main character. The poster definitely promises a horror film that will keep you at the edge of your seat. Does this work as a horror film? More importantly, what about those fight scenes!? Find out all of that and more as the review unfolds.

A crew’s spaceship goes through space, but something goes wrong and there is a fatality. It’s definitely a quick way to start the film and I’m sure that not many were expecting the cast to be whittled down so quickly. They crash land on a mysterious planet and quickly gather their bearings. They had been transporting a dangerous prisoner by the name of Riddick. He definitely wasn’t to be trusted, but what would they do with him now? Riddick does make an escape attempt, but things don’t go so well.

Another member of the crew is devoured and then the cast finally realizes the gravity of the situation. They release Riddick and decide that they’ll need to work together in order to get out alive. The plan is simple: They will grab the power cells and use them to launch their solar powered ship out of their and maybe get back to their planet. (Earth…..right?…) Unfortunately, the inhabitants of this planet have ideas of their own.

Well, one thing that makes this film interesting is the use of the 3 Suns planet. Since the planet has 3 suns, the film has a green edge to it. It feels like you’re watching a black and white film, but slathered with a green paint. It was pretty interesting to watch and it was definitely unique. Of course, once the planet gets dark..it stays dark. Riddick is able to see through the dark with his eye, but will that be enough of an edge to survive?

The monsters/aliens in this film are similar to Pterodactyls. They can fly and one good bite could prove to be the end for a human. As far as physical strength goes, they’re about as tough as an average wild animal. Like a Bull for instance, so a human may be able to overpower one of them, but it’s not so simple. Not everyone can use what they’ve learned on paper to keep a Shark’s mouth closed so that he can’t bite them. The aliens are quick and they usually come out during the dark. (I wonder why….)

The cast isn’t very strong in this film, but that tends to be the norm. Carolyn becomes the leader, but it’s more of a “By Default” type of position. “The end justifies the means” seems to be her way of thinking. Towards the end, she has her hero moments, but she did take time to make her decision. I’m not saying that she’s an awful character, but not a great one. Riddick? Well, he’s your average thug villain, who may have the potential for good in him. I don’t know about this, but when he’s properly goaded, he can be tricked into doing the right thing. He’s decently skilled, but not extraordinarily so.

John is another member and well….there is a plot twist about him. He’s pretty unlikable and you could say that he’s the main villain. It’s ironic since Riddick was supposed to be the big villain, but John seems to have less morals and is probably deeper into the side of evil. Does he make it through the film? Erm…..when was the last time, the “jerk” character made it to the end? Not going to say if this guy breaks the trend, but think about it.

Now, disclaimer time! This review is based off of an edited version that I saw, which edited out the language and made the film a TV 14. So, unless you can find an edited version, this film has a Ton of excessive language. The violence can also get pretty graphic, so if you’re squeamish about people being ripped apart and heads getting crunched….you may want to skip on this one. So, if you’re thinking about bringing a kid to watch this…I’d advise against that. Just a fair warning from your epic blogger DReager1!

So, in the end, did this film work as a horror film? Well, I guess we had a couple of “Jump out” moments, but the film had more tension than actual scary scenes. I guess, if you found Jaws scary, then this should fill the bill. There isn’t really romance in this film, but do I recommend it? For those of you who like horror/alien tales, you’ll probably enjoy it, but there are definitely better options out there. If you’re looking for a “deep” plot and some epic dialogue…what are you doing here? This wasn’t exactly a great film and calling it “good” may be a bit of a stretch. I can’t say that it was my favorite, but it’s better than some other horror titles. like Haunting in Connecticut If you want a movie that will chill you to the bone, check out Bleach: Hell Verse!

Overall 3/10

Colombiana is one of those films where the protagonist has a gun and you just know that someone’s going to take his last walk. The poster gives you a Salt/Tomb Raider feel so this could be good news if you enjoyed those films. One thing that didn’t help was the trailer, which I found to be pretty awful personally. The actual movie is better than the trailer, but was it good enough to be considered a good movie?

Cataleya is the main character of the film and some may consider her a Hero. If you consider Light Yagami, The Punisher, or the Superior Spiderman as heroes, then by all means! She would definitely be heroic, but I don’t really consider those guys to be heroes. Goku, Superman……Bionic Bunny! Those guys did their duty and stayed with their morals. Cataleya’s big mission is to avenge her parents and destroy anyone who gets in her way! It will take some time to climb up the mafia list, so she makes a name for herself as she bumps more and more people off.

The plot is pretty basic which is (Almost) always a good thing. This means that the film can spend less time on the plot and more time on the action. There is also a character by the name of Danny. (Hardcore name, but awful character) Saying that he was an awful character is a bit strong, but I definitely did not like him. I don’t know…I just felt that he was a disgrace to such a cool name. Ignoring that guy, there weren’t many subplots in the film. We had the cliched FBI vs CIA fight, (Which never gets old! Honestly, it’s always the best part of the films) I wasn’t really sure who to root for. I guess I would go with the FBI, but they’re always so much weaker for some reason. I wish that this plot would have gotten more screen time, since it was pretty intense.

This film does have a lot of romance which can definitely bring down the movie for you. Cataleya and Danny are already not good characters, so this helps them to be that much worse. Danny tries to be a “tough guy” and even gets some “hardcore” lines. Unfortunately, they don’t make him a more endearing character. Cataleya’s uncle is supposed to be someone that we can possibly root for, but the opening scene already shows that he’s a complete villain. Why root for him? Of course, Cataleya also becomes a villain so I guess everyone’s evil this time. I bet even Danny had a secret agenda.

So, would I recommend this film? Well, the film has some action scenes and one hand to hand fight, but there are also some things that hamper it down. The romance is a bigger subplot than usual and the character cast is astonishingly unlikable. Cataleya’s scene where she spits out the disk is pretty gross and can also be a quick turn off. There’s the usual summer blockbuster violence, but I can’t remember anything that was unthinkably violent or wince worthy. If you’ve seen Jaws or Terminator, then you’ll be okay……if you want a real movie where the main character uses a gun…I don’t know what to tell you. (Maybe when this film gets a sequel, we’ll have something) If you want to watch a show where the main character has a gun, check out Black Cat!

Overall 3/10

Vertigo is a pretty big movie from the late 50’s. I’m sure that most of us know what the term Vertigo means, so I’ll skip that part. Alfred Hitchcock tends to make a lot of mystery movies and this one is no exception. The actual mystery doesn’t start until the later part of the film, unless you debate whether there’s a….Ghost involved! Let’s see how epic this film turned out.

Joh-Scottie is the main character of the film and he’s pretty terrible, but more on that later. He’s a retired detective who had to stop being a policeman when he led someone to their doom. It was an accident and the guy practically lunged off of the roof, but Sco-John knew that he needed to retire. Now he lives the happy life, no stress, no pressure! Unfortunately, someone wants him to complete one last assignment. (Sound like James Bond or Batman yet?) Jo-Scottie accepts and his mission is to follow the man’s wife: Madeleine. He fears that she is being possessed by a ghost. Sc-John follows her to a lot of placed and eventually she jumps in a river. Her body is able to float amidst the water so at least there is no chance of drowning, but John- I mean Scottie! Decides to save her. She escapes yet again and John is back to square one. Is she being possessed? Is she just insane!?

The film had a very weak cast, but films tend to do that. The best character was easily the judge when they took the main character to court. This guy knew what he was talking about and he saw through the main character’s act with ease! This guy was definitely an intellectual and not someone who should be messed with. John/Scottie suffers from delusions and he basically cracks towards the second half of the film. I would have felt bad for him, had he not been such an awful protagonist. You can’t even call him a hero since his short sighted, immoralistic (Is that a word? Well, now it is!) actions quickly turn him into the antagonist. Towards the end, you aren’t even sure who you should root for anymore! (I decided to just watch the two villains duke it out with an expression of horror on my face!) It’s really too bad, since the main character was pretty good at the beginning. He stayed solid until he took on the mission, which is where he slowly (But steadily) went downhill. The other characters were pretty unmemorable, but Judy Barton made some pretty big mistakes. Sometimes you shouldn’t wear things from the crime scene….

Overall this movie wasn’t one of Hitchcock’s better films. I do applaud the fake out endings, (Did you think that Avengers had a lot of those? This one has around 5 different scenes where the film “ends” and then starts up again. It was pretty epic, but one of the fake endings beat the real one. Only one of them though, I did enjoy the real ending since it was a pretty epic twist) but it wasn’t enough to keep the film afloat. It was just too long and suffered from the main characters. I recommend the film if you want to see a film where the main characters gets to leap across buildings, but otherwise, check out Man of Steel. He may not jump over them, but flying’s pretty good as well!

Overall 3/10

Alright, The Grandmaster is a film that many of you may not have heard of. It is based off of a “True story”. Ever heard of Ip Man? Well, he’s Bruce Lee’s teacher and apparently he was extremely tough. The film likely exaggerated his strength, but that was the fun part, so we should definitely let it slide. Usually films that are based off of real life are pretty awful, but since this one is action oriented, maybe that won’t hold true.

The Grandmaster starts off with an ambitious beginning. Ip Man has a big fight against a group of warriors and he skillfully makes short work of them. All of his opponents go down pretty quickly except for one warrior who manages to put up some resistance. There is never a question of who will win the battle, but I’m glad that at least one warrior tried to do something. The whole scene was very cool, but there was one problem with it….This scene completely destroyed the rest of the film. Sometimes, you should try not to start out so epic. This is one of those rare occasions. The problem is that the rest of the film doesn’t feature an abundance of fights and the ones that came up were cool…just not quite as cool. The first scene set the tone, but the rest of the film just dropped it.

The film stayed at a solid level for a while as Ip Man becomes the representative for the South. He faced various martial artists of the South who used different fighting styles, but Ip Man proved to be much better than the others. The fights did make for some pretty epic scenes. One of his opponents mixed different fighting styles together, which is a pretty good way to fight. Ip Man’s form of Kung Fu only uses three different signs, but they are sufficient to win battles.

Ip Man also took on Gong Er. She was a pretty skilled fighter and the first to “Defeat” Ip Man. It was decided that whoever broke a piece of furniture first, would be the loser. At one point Ip Man tries to save Gong Er, but she didn’t need his help and that’s what led to his downfall. With the exception of one scene, this was where the movie deteriorated quickly. Ip Man left the country and wars broke out. People died and the audience felt like snoozing.

Luckily, we still had one fight scene left (2 If you count Ip Man’s fight for the teaching position). Gong Er challenged Ma San to avenge her father. Ma San is a pretty skilled warrior and he was known as the strongest in the North. It’s a shame that he never got to challenge Ip Man. Gong Er and Ma San have a pretty solid fight and they both give it their all. The loser is humbled and the victor goes away feeling triumphant. After such a fight, I would expect nothing less!

The film should have ended there, but we get another half-hour of people talking, people dying, and people talking some more. You start to wonder what happened to Ip Man. Towards the end of the film, he vanished for a while and stopped being the main character. Gong Er replaced him in that regard and we got to see a little of her past. Gong Er and Ip Man were definitely the best main characters of the film. (Though I suppose that is not saying much.) Gong Er stayed strong to her vows and Ip Man beat up as many people as he could.

The Grandmaster is a film that suffered greatly from its length and lack of interesting characters. Had the film been cut down to around 70 minutes plus add some more fight scenes, this could have been one of the better films of 2013. I can’t say that I highly recommend this film, but if you like documentaries, then you should enjoy it. If you are willing to spend some money to see a good fight scene, you can also just come in and check the first few minutes. Of course, if you want a movie with real hand to hand fight scenes, check out Tekken Blood Vengeance!

Overall 3/10

The Adjustment Bureau is a film that had a very good concept. Before I get into the plot, the poster should already tell you that this isn’t your average romance film! The stakes are pretty high and these beings may be the toughest antagonist since Jaws! I had heard of this film, but never got to watch it until recently.

The Adjustment Bureau is about a guy named David Norris. We spend the first few minutes starting to like the main character. The fact that he’s named David, means that he’s a tough guy, but it all goes downhill when the newspaper reveals that he made a critical error in judgement. He retreats to the bathroom, but Elise beat him there. David gets newfound inspiration from this extremely cringe worthy scene and goes back to make his speech. It’s really “heartfelt” and “emotional” so the fans quickly look up to him. David takes it all in and gets ready for the next day.

Unfortunately, there’s a shady fellow watching him and trying to make him spill his coffee! The guy isn’t very good at his job and falls asleep. Instead, the coffee falls on Elise. David jets to his job, but all of his coworkers have been taken down…he’s next! David must evade all of the officers if he is to escape. Unfortunately, they are “heavenly” beings (Who don’t act very heavenly) and they have powers beyond comprehension. Of course it does take 2-3 of them to finally subdue David…….

The Adjustment Bureau is in charge of making sure that things go according to the Chairman’s Master Plan. David decides that his fate is for him to decide, but they grab his paper and destroy the only means of contacting Elise. Can he ever find her again? Not to mention that The Adjustment Bureau will be attempting to stop him at all costs!

Well, the film had a great concept, but the execution wasn’t that good. The idea of a Dictator God is definitely intriguing and the real world would be a very depressing and scary place if that were the case. Also this “God” isn’t very good as he continues to alter his plans and lets his “Angels” wreck havok upon the city. David actually knocks one of them out and there’s something that you should know….they are very weak. Their hats allow them to cross time and space, but without them? They’re as good as human!

The film also had some things that were definitely a stretch. The Adjustment Bureau is in charge of managing the entire world, everyone’s life is managed so that they comply with the plan. So, how can about 100 guys, take care of billions of humans? Not to mention that the humans tend to be pretty defiant and collateral damage can get high. At one point, they try to stop David, but in the process they change the fates of around a dozen taxis and also cause a car crash. David even mentions how that doesn’t seem to be logical. It definitely isn’t! They’re changing more fates than they’re fixing them.

The “Hammer” gets a lot of hype since he never fails. Unfortunately, he makes the mistake of going up against David! There wasn’t really any likable characters in the film. David’s assistant was all right, but he was brainwashed very early on, so is that truly him? I think not! The Chairman seems to be pretty intense, but he should have appeared. With his abilities, maybe He could have defeated David.

The film’s concept was definitely ingenious, but it suffered from the poor execution. The film also added an extremely large dose of romance which hurt the film even more. It felt like a romance film with a thriller subplot. This plot would have been a lot better for an summer blockbuster or an anime film. If you want a thriller involving a mysterious organization, then I recommend checking out The Matr-Bleach.

Overall 3/10

Citizen Kane is a pretty classic movie and it’s gotten some very positive reception. Citizen Kane didn’t do so well in the box office, but having a lasting legacy can be more important in the long run. Old black and white films are usually pretty cool because they’re so retro, but does this film succeed?

The plot revolves around a group of news reporters who want to find out the truth about the man known as Mr. Kane. So, most of the film is a series of flashbacks, with the main plot only appearing once in a while. I think that the news reporters subplot was the best part of the film, which is why it’s too bad that it didn’t appear for very long.

Mr. Kane is a man who started out trying to be an honest business man who looked out for the people. As time went by, he started to stray from that and he did some pretty immoral things. Mr. Gettys called him out on this and things got dicey for Charlie Kane. Charlie’s newspapers also started to change as he started to drift away from them. Charlie ends up not being a really likable character and his life gets more alone by the year.

Jerry Thompson is the best character of the film. He follows up with the leads about Mr. Kane and he’s a pretty mysterious figure. One second he will be around, and the next second he’ll be gone. Even at the end, he manages to troll the other reporters with the astounding fact that the word “Rosebud” probably didn’t mean much. Did he actually find out what the word meant or not? You’ll have to watch the film to find out. Thompson is definitely the character that you’ll want to keep an eye on.

Citizen Kane drags during some of the flashback scenes, but the reporter scenes are good. I’d say that all in all, this is an average (non action) live action film. It could have used some better characters and a decent soundtrack, but considering that it was from the early 40’s, it can get away with it. Still, 10/10 worthy? I don’t think so, but it’s still a decent film. I’d recommend checking it out if you like drama films or really old films. If you’re looking for a deep and dangerous mystery about who Citizen Kane was, then you may want to keep on going to Sherlock Holmes.

Overall 3/10

The Hitch Hiker is a movie that had a unique idea, but it wasn’t handled the best way possible. Two guys are heading out to go fishing, but they pick up a hitch hiker on the road. He turns out to be evil and he’s got a gun. None of the two are brave enough to try anything and they must do everything that he says. Can they get enough nerve to do something or will they die!?

Well, the two main characters are very frustrating to watch. They let slip over 100 chances that they could have used to escape. Sure, seeing a gun can be unnerving, but there are two of them and one of him. If they both rushed him, they would have done just fine. Not to mention that if they quickly tackled him when he wasn’t expecting him, he’d only be able to get off one shot. It’s a risk that they definitely should have taken. It’s better to die on your feet than to die on your knees after all. Now some would argue that it was better to just go along with the guy and hope that he doesn’t destroy you, but not in this case. He tells them multiple times that he is going to destroy them when he’s good and ready. So, either way they’re going to die. Might as well put up a fight before you go down right?

The film is pretty short and it’s barely over an hour, but it drags on a bit. It’s really just them in the car and making little stops for the whole time. The police get involved and show why they’re the best in the biz, but I would have liked to see them appear a little more. There’s also a very unneeded scene where a dog dies and that definitely took some points away from the film. Animal violence in any film is pretty sad and always unneeded. That’s why real films like (The Avengers and Man of Steel) don’t resort to such things.

Overall, if you want to watch a movie about the good ole times before cell phones, then maybe give this one a shot, but to be honest, I wouldn’t recommend it. You’d be better off checking out the legendary Twilight Zone series. This film may not have been the best, but at least the cops finally got their due respect.

Overall 3/10