The Star Wars trilogy ends with this movie so it really needs to be a good one! The trilogy started out on a high note with the first film, but the second one wasn’t quite as good. This one beats the second film, but could it match up to the first film? I don’t think so and during the review you will find out why!

The plot involves Luke Skywalker as he needs to free Han Solo and help his friends. That’s the plot for the first 30-40 minutes and from there we realize that Luke and Han need to disable the force field so that the rebels can destroy the Death Star. To do this, Luke may have to confront Darth Vader. This may be tricky because of the whole “I’m your FATHER!!!!” plot twist, but we hope for the best while expecting the worst. It’s a pretty basic plot overall, but the villains are intent on stopping Luke Skywalker from succeeding.

All right…..there are some pretty iffy moments going into this so I suppose that I’ll get one of the big things out of the way first. That would be Luke Skywalker’s personality and overall skill set. In this film, he is an experienced fighter who presumably knows a lot about the Force. Well, he looks pretty bad in this film and I still have to wonder how I became a fan of this guy. It must have been somewhere in the expanded universe, but I believe that I may have only liked him in theory. That does happen sometimes, where I like someone because he/she should be cool in theory, but when I actually see the media…I’m underwhelmed. That may be what is happening in this case which would mean that I actually do not like Luke.

His very first scene is pretty bad as he makes a deal that endangers the lives of his friends. It’s one of the worst plans that I have ever seen since Luke walks into the base completely unprepared. He doesn’t have his Lightsaber on him and he nearly loses to a random beast. Luke is not very adept at The Force, but it doesn’t look like any being is in the movies. The Force is a much greater power in the expanded universe. (Just check out Star Wars Unleashed!) Skywalker makes a great number of mistakes which also include the fact that he throws away his weapon in the climax of the film. He definitely did not think that one through and what really makes this scene a sad one is the fact that the villain was unarmed and would have lost.

I’m afraid that isn’t all of it for Luke’s mistakes. He also hesitates for a very long time while his friends are being incinerated in front of him. He can potentially stop this by defeating The Emperor and going over to help, but he has no time for games! There’s also a vehicle chase scene where he seems to forget how to use The Force to stop objects, but he may not be skilled enough to use that ability. I’m sure that there are more moments like the ones that have been mentioned, but Luke is definitely not a likable main character. He talks a really good game, but he can’t back it up. It’s also a little disappointing how he barely seems to be more skilled than the average human with a sword. Unfortunately, there is another character who didn’t look very good in this film.

Darth Vader has definitely fallen a long way since the first Star Wars film. In this one, he’s nothing but the Emperor’s lackey. He basically does whatever The Emperor wants and he acts like a complete slave. At least he mentioned a plan to overthrow the Emperor in the last film, but this time he seems content to just serve him. In the end, Darth Vader has his big moment, but I feel like he hesitated for a little too long. It was nearly too late to do anything by the time he stepped in. He was also very weak since Luke was able to defeat him with ease once he got serious. Darth Vader performed decently when Luke wasn’t fighting back, but once it was a real fight…there wasn’t really any contest about who would win. Unlike Luke, I do know that Darth Vader is a good character thanks to the EU. I have seen Darth Vader in the comics and I can say with certainty that he was a much better character in the ones that I have read. He’s also vastly stronger as he would be considered pretty low tier in the movies. Please Understand that I may have appreciated the characters more if I did not already know about their cooler appearances…but alas, it is too late for that.

Unlike the previously mentioned characters, Han Solo actually shows some signs of improvement. It’s a win/lose scenario as he gets better in some aspects while worse in others. On one hand, he seems to have matured and he doesn’t flirt nearly as much as he used too. On the other hand, he’s not as much of a rebel as he used to be and he seems to have mellowed out. Still, he’s a much better character than he was so I give the film props in that regard.

Leia is still around, but her role is definitely smaller and she doesn’t get many action scenes. She still knows how to use a gun and she manages to defeat several scouts who were masquerading as Storm Troopers. It was too bad that she was captured by Jabba, but it was pretty much unavoidable thanks to Luke’s awful plan. She wasn’t a bad character by any means, but I suppose that she was pretty unmemorable in this one.

Boba Fett is the guy who steals the show and aside from one questionable scene, he does a good job. Believe it or not, he actually gives Luke a decent fight and he’s not someone that you will want to mess with. He has a pretty cool demeanor and he seems pretty experienced. He has an air of confidence about him and he reminds us all why he is the top agent around here. I wouldn’t mind a whole film about Boba Fett since that would be pretty awesome. His role is pretty brief and there are some inaccurate moments, but they tend to happen, we just have to try and tune them out.

We’ve still got C-3PO and R2D2. They’re as annoying as usual and R2D2 continues to get them into some pretty big messes. If R2D2 would actually listen to C-3PO once in a while, then maybe the heroes would stand a chance. That being said, he is prone to giving bad advice at times so you won’t always want to trust him. Chewy is also still around and he gets to yell a lot, but that’s really all that he ever does. I don’t think that he’ll ever make the transition to being a likable character, but they can’t all be winners right? That being said, we had more annoying characters than usual in this film.

The Ewoks were terrible and I mean terrrrible characters. Every minute that they were on screen made me cringe inside. A part of me died whenever they would defeat a Storm Trooper and I’m not exaggerating when I say that they may have been some of the worst supporting characters that I’ve seen in a movie that was part animal in a very long time. They were responsible for 90% of the film’s cheesy scenes and moments of innacuracy. They definitely should not have been in the film.

The Storm Troopers don’t get the respect that they deserve in this film. They’re trained professionals and they should be defeating all who get in their way. One of them managed to defeat Luke in a high speed battle/race which is saying something, but that was their only really good scene. They would easily defeat the Ewoks so it was a little upsetting that they did not. There was also a decently large amount of plot hax in the whole climax since the rebels should have been completely wiped out. They were vastly outnumbered and would have been incinerated very early on, even without the Star Destroyers.

The Emperor himself is a pretty underwhelming character as well. Not only is he a very old person, but he’s not exactly the best close combat fighter. He’d quickly be overwhelmed by anyone with a decent amount of ability and his plans don’t really make any sense. Why Darth Vader works for this guy is completely beyond me. Lando is around…and he stays around for the whole film while not really doing anything. Granted that he’s still a decent character overall.

Unfortunately, the film falls into the holes that the last one fell into like the animal violence part. There is less than the last film, but it’s still sad that it had to happen. There isn’t really much romance to distract from the plot in this film, but to make up for that, we have a lot of inaccurate scenes that are just sad to watch. We also got to see a great villain wrecked throughout the movie. Princess Leia also had a very unnecessary costume change for a short part of the film and we have to remember that the Ewoks are a major negative to the film. This movie definitely made its share of mistakes, but we’ve also got the positives as well.

Boba Fett was a solid character and he never backed down from a fight. He was a brave man until the bitter end! The fight scenes were solid (When Lightsabers were involved) and Luke’s Lightsaber looks a lot more formidable than his old one. This one is a green blade that is very thick and looks pretty menacing. The film is pretty fun to watch and it won’t drag out all that much even though it is very long.

Overall, Star Wars was a pretty solid trilogy and I can see why it is so legendary. It was a fun watch from start to finish. While Yoda really didn’t end up contributing at all by the end of the trilogy, we got to see some good fights and establish a new universe. The end of the trilogy leaves a lot of room for a sequel and it would appear that the sequel will be coming out at some point in the future. The expanded universe will continue to grow for this series and you can expect a Star Wars related review to come out on the blog at some point within the next few months. I can safely recommend this film and it’s actually a solid jumping on point for new Star Wars fans, although the first film is the best so I would recommend that one the most. I wonder if the Prequel trilogy is as good as this one….

Overall 5/10

There are many film series that fall into the sequel trap. After having a great start, they start to relax and the sequel falls into the ground. (Spider Man 2. It wasn’t awful, but it was easily the weakest of the trilogy. Still a decent film though) The first Star Wars film was better than I had anticipated, but could the sequel hold its own? The climax fight is definitely better than the first film, but this one falls into more traps than the first one and is definitely not in the same league.

The plot of this film picks off from the first one, but a lot of time has gone by. The rebels are currently based on an icy planet and Han Solo has decided that he needs to leave since the bounty hunters are after him once again. This time they aren’t ordinary bounty hunters since the legendary Boba Fett is among them! He doesn’t have time to leave as the rebels quickly evacuate the planet and he heads off with Princess Leia as they attempt to escape from The Empire. This subplot gets a lot of screen time and some can even make the case that it is the main plot as they travel across the unknown.

The other plot involved Luke Skywalker as he heads off to star system because Obi Wan Kenobi’s ghost told him that he should. He meets the fan favorite character, Yoda, and he starts to train. Those are the two main plots in the film and they both come together by the end. Were the plots engaging? Welll….that’s where things get tricky.

The first film was definitely a lot better in the plot area. Luke training for The Force wasn’t that great since it was mostly Yoda trolling him the whole time. It’s great that Luke can get stronger, but it wasn’t the best plot. Han’s plot was a lot more interesting, but he flirted a lot more than in the second film and it could definitely get tiring.

Yoda is a pretty big Star Wars fan and just about everyone likes him, but I’m definitely not a fan. He’s supposed to be the wise guy who’s been through thick and thin, but isn’t that what Obi Wan is for? Yoda also gives out some awful advice during crunch time and advises Luke to stay and train while his friends get terminated. Luke’s a little too cool for that and he quickly heads off, even though Obi Wan doesn’t help matters either. Yoda would likely be a cooler character if we could see him fight or do something really cool, but right now he seems like he’s all talk. Before the twist, he was also acting pretty strange.

Luke is a mixed bag in this film. On one hand, he is definitely more experienced in this film and he makes the Hero move towards the end. That being said, he had a pretty awful intro where he was actually defeated by an ice beast in one hit. He managed to get out of the cave, but then he couldn’t withstand the icy wilderness and was taken down for the count once again. It was pretty hard for Luke to rise up the personality ranks after such a performance. He was also caught up in Princess Leia’s charms and didn’t really take it all very well. In the end, I still don’t really care for the character in the film series, but I like him overall. He was decently good during the final battle although I think he could have put up more of a fight.

Han Solo is hardly the greatest character in the roster and he definitely needs to show more alertness while on the job. As long as Chewbacca is with him, I don’t think that they’ll be doing so well with their spaceship. Chewbacca definitely tries, but he’s still not very likable. Dying didn’t do Obi Wan any wonders either. If Han spent more time on beating up enemies and less time flirting, then maybe he could be more of an admirable character.

Princess Leia hasn’t gotten any better during this film either as she is still leading everyone on. She’s pretty much chosen Luke over Han, but why should she choose at all? They’re at war with The Empire so she should have more important things to think about. I’m not even going to mention the two droids as they didn’t really help matters and basically held Luke and Han back the whole time.

It’s time to get into some of the mistakes that cost this film some points. The first one is definitely the animal violence. The first film steered away from this for the most part, but this one just couldn’t escape. We have the opening scene where Luke’s camel (type of creature) is slaughtered by the ice monster and then Luke takes off the poor beast’s arm. Later on, Han cuts one of the creatures open after it dies from the cold. Those scenes were definitely in bad taste and I couldn’t forget them as the movie went on. From that point, the film was definitely not going to pass the first one.

That was the big hole that the film fell into, but I had some minor complaints with other parts as well. This film definitely had a lot more romance than the previous one and it made all of the characters act pretty loopy at times. Finally, the film had some pacing problems. I wouldn’t call the film boring per say, but the best scenes were easily the ones with the villains. Lando’s plot with Hal was decent enough and it was much better than Luke’s, but it still had some dull moments. This is one of those cases where I think that it may have helped to cut out a solid 30+ minutes.

At least Darth Vader was still a pretty solid villain. The plot twist about his master could have completely destroyed everything, but this is where you’ve got to look at this objectively. Darth Vader is just using this guy and he’ll betray him soon enough….is what we’ve got to think. This is the only way that Darth Vader can stay as an imposing villain and it’s the only explanation that I want to believe at this point. “I’m YOUR FATHER!!!” is probably something that you’ve heard a lot at this point right? Well, the twist never gets old and we’ll never forget that line.

The film is less action packed than the first one with only a few scenes that contained any fighting. For the most part, I would label this film as an adventure as opposed to an action. The final fight makes it all worth it since Darth Vader battling Luke Skywalker was the best Star Wars fight to this point. It may have been a little one sided, but Luke gave it his all and that’s what counts!

I do have one last complaint although it’s relatively minor. The music score in the first Star Wars film was very good and I can see why it has been renowned for this. Unfortunately, the music in this film isn’t nearly as good and I can’t really think of any solid tunes. I think this leads up to the point that the second film just didn’t feel as theatrical. Everything, from the special effects to the music made it feel more like a tv film than a theater film. The Lightsaber action is great as always, but it would have been cool to see some more movement in the actual fight.

Overall, this is still a solid film, but definitely not on the same level as the first film. Yoda and the animal violence help to bring the overall score down among other factors. Luke is still not the protagonist that I remember from the good ole days (Although he showed a glimmer of this as he ditched Obi Wan and Yoda to go save his friends) and Darth Vader seems pretty depowered. I’m confident that they will repair some of these mistakes in time for the sequel since every trilogy needs to end on a really solid note. This is still a solid film to watch and may be a nice jumping on point for new fans, but I’d recommend IV a little more since it’s a better movie. Watch out for Luke’s big jump towards the end as you watch the film!

Overall 5/10

Limitless has a pretty interesting plot and it solves several of the problems that modern movies tend to face. While this won’t exactly be an Oscar winning movie, it’s a pretty fun watch. I can’t really say that I was aware of this film before I saw it, but I don’t expect that I’ll be forgetting it anytime soon.

The film is about Eddie and how his life is not going so well. He’s back to being alone and his book isn’t going along so well. He has a serious case of writer’s block and he hasn’t even started yet! Obviously, this guy’s in trouble, but how will he overcome this? Someone that he vaguely knows ends up giving him a pill, which Eddie swallows. Suddenly, he’s a brand new person who lacks any sort of moral compass, but is also a lot smarter.

While his friend gets murdered and other thugs wish to destroy Eddie, Eddie must use his new abilities and do something cool with them. Will he use his powers for good or evil? That’s what you must ask yourself as Eddie takes to the streets. Of course, Eddie may not be the only one with this new drug. The drug essentially wakes up your brain so that you are able to access all of it. It has some deadly side effects, but Eddie feels that it may be worth it.

Eddie is definitely not a great character as power corrupts and he was never known as a man of great virtue. He mainly uses his abilities for his own personal gain and he also makes a lot of sloppy mistakes. How can someone be so smart and yet, not be smart at the same time? Eddie is constantly slipping up and he also ends up forgetting that he’s a pretty good fighter while he has the pill. He definitely could have used the pills to be a much better fighter and protect the world, but he’s no hero. Of course, you probably already figured that since he did resort to using drugs.

Aside from Eddie, we’ve also got Carl. Carl was the best character in the film and he’s good at blackmail. This guy knew the score right from the get go and he seems to be a very intimidating person. He’s pretty smart and he’s always getting Eddie into a tight spot. He’s a fun character and you’ll want to stick around for the ending and see him at work.

Linda is one of Eddie’s friends and I can’t say that she was a great character either. She has her own fight scene which was epic, but she ended up being friends with the wrong guy. Eddie is a bad influence and he ended up dragging her down with him to the pit of shame. That same pit is where the rest of the characters reside. The villains are generic thugs and they shouldn’t be taken too seriously. They really only get to do a lot of damage because Eddie ends up making some bad choices.

The soundtrack is really good and it shows that there is no excuse for a live action film to not have one. The main theme was epic and in the first minutes of the film, we’ve already got a really good piece of music going. The scenery is pretty fun too as the camera goes very fast in first person mode.

There are some scenes that may be a little hard to believe as well. One of them would be when a guy (Armed with a knife) charges into the park and murders some people as he chases Linda. It’s a pretty park and there seemed to be a lot of guys around, so why did nobody notice what was happening? It was a bit of a stretch for me, but it could have been worse. I also didn’t buy the fact that Eddie had another drug in his box at one point in the film. You wouldn’t miss something that obvious, especially with super brain power. I could mention the fact that the villains break into a fortified house that’s barricaded by steel, but maybe that’s pushing it.

With such a plot, there are bound to be inconsistencies so it could definitely be worse. The ending was pretty great and Eddie finally did something that I had been waiting for during the film. It only makes sense that he could pull off such a feat, so it was a question of when. The ending may also be ambiguous depending on how you look at it, but I like to think that he’s on the level this time. At any rate, we can only hope that he’s telling it like it is.

One of the negatives of the film is the large amounts of romance. Once Eddie unlocks his powers through the drugs, he starts to act like James Bond. It’s regrettable that the protagonists of many films turn out to be very corrupt and despicable people when they obtain power, but that’s the sad truth of Holywood. The scenes are all very wince worthy and you’ll need to try and skip them or maybe just take the time to go to the kitchen and warm up some mac and cheese.

Overall, this was a decently good film. The film had some negatives, but most films tend to have those. The film also had some decently good positives so it’s got a foot in both worlds. The music and plot were good, but the characters and romance dragged it down. Aside from a few scenes, the violence isn’t very bad either, but those few scenes can make or break a film right? This can be a fun film to watch, but if you want a true film about a guy who’s very smart, check out Bleach Memories of Nobody

Overall 5/10

Paranormal Activity is a pretty famous horror film and it’s almost considered a household name at this point. I believe that I can safely say that every big horror fan has seen it at this point. I’d definitely heard of the film, but I’d never gotten around to seeing it before. Could it match up against the Ring or the Grudge? Let’s find out!

Disclaimer time! This review is of the edited version that you may come across on TV, which edits out the language and tones the film down to an acceptable rating. Naturally if I were reviewing the uncut version, the score would be lower. Either way that’s an impossibility since I don’t watch R rated films. Now back to the review!

Paranormal Activity uses a shaky camera which is always a bad sign when you really think about it. Maybe it adds a sense of horror to the movie, but I think that you don’t need to have a camera to generate that effect. I’ve never been a fan of the whole shaky camera technique and it may have wrecked Cloverfield. That being said, it worked well for the scenes where it wasn’t moving, but was left on the tripod. Night vision always looks pretty intense in movies.

It’s still intense how they were able to do the whole film inside the house and in the backyard. That could have gotten old if a lot of films had done this already, but it’s so unique that it was fun. I didn’t really find myself missing the outside world at any point. Considering the low budget that the film had, this one definitely did well. This is why we really don’t need to have huge budgets to make a decent film.

The main characters are Katie and Micah. Katie is worried because a demon has been following her around for a long time. We don’t know how long the demon has been following her, (Not at the beginning anyway) but we can safely say that it has been for a while. She decided not to tell Micah for a while, but now he knows…and he’s ready! Micah thinks he’s ready at any rate, but how can you beat an invisible, intangible demon?

Well, this demon isn’t very fast, which definitely helps Micah’s case, but it’s also supernaturally strong. Micah uses powder to follow the demon’s movements, but Katie believes that he’s letting them follow his tracks. The demon even leaves clues for them to follow which is pretty thoughtful of him.

Katie calls in a Professor/Doctor type of fellow, but he’s no help. He senses how disturbing the whole affair is and quickly dashes out. We don’t see him again and it’s safe to say that he may have survived this ordeal. Sometimes the tactical retreat option actually works, but I can’t say that it made me like the character.

Katie and Micah panic a lot, but I guess it’s to be expected. I can’t say that I liked either character, but when do I like the main characters of a horror film? Micah was able to overpower the demon at one point, but did the demon just let him think that? Also, you do have to ask several questions. “Is Katie the demon?” It may not seem like it at first, but she does have moments where she will go in a trance. Perhaps she just gets possessed once in a while or maybe she’s finally cracked. During the ending where she yells and the Micah goes to help, I think that the demon may have just been sending him into a trap. Katie did mention that the demon may have left a trap for them earlier in the film. The demon may be more cunning than we realize.

The ending is pretty epic and while Micah doesn’t look so good, it’s to be expected. I like to think that he put up a decent fight, but it’s possible that he went down without dealing much damage. Since we are stuck with the camera, we have to miss out on the intense fight. The ending definitely shows that the demon is in control, but we’ve still got to consider the Katie is a demon theory. It would explain how her picture got into the attic, maybe she put it there? Either way, if she isn’t the demon, it doesn’t matter. The demon can possess people whenever it wants and there’s no defense against the supernatural powers that it possesses. If only the military had gotten involved!

So, in the end this was a pretty good horror film. I’d say that it wasn’t nearly as creepy or scary as The Grudge or The Ring, but it would be hard to top those 2 in that area. No animals get taken down for the count which is shocking, but definitely epic. I can see why many people like the series and I recommend it for horror fans. That being said, you should definitely watch out for the shaky camera!

Overall 5/10

I wonder how many of you readers remember Flightplan? It’s one of those movies that seemed to slip by many people. I can’t say that I’ve heard of it before, but you have to admit that it has a pretty cool poster. It’s slightly misleading and my one complaint is that she looks more horrified or shocked than determined and upset. Still, I’d say that the poster came out well and looks like a thriller/horror movie.

Flightplan involves the main character (Kyle) and her daughter (Julia) as they decide to board a plane. David Pratt had fallen off of a building, so they were going to bury him in Long Island. Julia seems to be worried since they were in a pretty seedy neighborhood, so Kyle made the logical choice and hailed a cab. They made it to the plane safe and sound, but that’s where things get dicey for the main characters.

Julia had wandered off to the side when she saw a nice snack. That’s never a good habit and Kyle warns her about that. Unfortunately, when Kyle takes a nap in the plane…Julia is gone! Even worse is the fact that she wasn’t on the Plane list and everyone claims to not have seen her. Obviously, she never got on the plane, but the heart that she drew is still there, not to mention that her Teddy Bear is still around. Kyle decides to check the entire plane, but she’s running low on suspects. There are two shady looking figures in the front, a really, overly cheerful guy in the back, a mean flight attendant, two irresponsible flight attendants,….The Captain! Maybe the suspect list isn’t as small as I had thought. Of course, if Everyone claims to not have seen Julia, could the entire crew be in on it? Julia must race against time as she tries to find Julia before the crew can arrest her.

Flightplan was a pretty solid movie, but it had some moments that were tough to believe. I won’t say whether she was hallucinating the whole thing, or if it happened. If it was the latter, wouldn’t someone notice a little girl being abducted? The crew was remarkably slow on the uptake in this film and nobody was willing to do what needed to be done. I can’t say that I was a huge fan of Kyle either, but she definitely beat the crew. Towards the end, the government gets involved, which definitely increased the stakes. There isn’t really a soundtrack on the film, but since there aren’t too many action scenes, it wasn’t necessary…right? Having a soundtrack is always a +, but not having one won’t hurt the film. (Of course, having one Would help the film) I’d recommend this film if you like classic mysteries and thriller films. Of course some scenes may make you facepalm.

Overall 5/10