Robocop is a name that I’ve been familiar with for a long time, but I had never seen him in action. When I heard that he would be having a new film; I was largely indifferent. I was sure that it would be fun, but I figured that it could be years until I actually saw it. Instead, I ended up seeing it at the theater. It was essentially as good as I thought it would be, which can be seen as a good or a bad thing.

Alex is an ordinary cop and he’s one of the few policeman left who has not turned to the dark side. He’s on the case as per usual when an explosion basically takes him down for the count. To save his life, a medical group quickly puts him inside of a suit that will enable him to live. The main drawback being that the government (Ok, not really the government, but his handlers) can take direct control of him whenever they please. Alex doesn’t like this and he needs to make sure that nobody can stop him from enforcing the law. He’s going to have to use all of his abilities to pull this off!

Alex is a pretty good main character and he’s a hero through and through. Well, he does go all out in the ending which may make his hero status a little murky, but before that he was known as a heroic cop. He got the job done and villains could not mess with him. After he becomes Robocop, he’s still a good character, but he doesn’t really get his will back until the end. I can sympathize with how he doesn’t want anyone to see him in his new form. It’s pretty tough to look at and it could traumatize his kid. Alex was easily the best character in the film, but from here on…I shall call him Robocop!

I’ll admit that the beginning had me a little worried. It starts off in a small village with robots and humans working together in harmony. I didn’t mind the harmony part, but deserts, underwater, and places without a lot of buildings don’t make for great scenery. Luckily, we quickly move to the big city and the scene wasn’t that bad. I’m not sure what the point of the suicide bombers was, but I suppose that they give us a sense of dread and show how against drones America is. Which brings us to another point of the film….

America is actually pretty smart this time around. We decided that we didn’t want a bunch of droids infiltrating America so we put a stop to it. Patrick has a TV show where he tries to convince people to allow droids in America, but it’s tough to stop an American when it comes to politics. The show was one of the better subplots because I always like to see TV scenes. Patrick is a decent character, but his final line is unnecessary. Unfortunately, you know that it’s coming. You can seriously guess what he’s about to say before he even says it thanks to his actor. As with Wolverine, it’s somehow become a part of his character. Until then, Patrick kept his cool at least.

Meanwhile, I actually didn’t mind Alex’s kid that much. Usually I don’t really care the kids in a movie because they can be a little annoying or just add filler to the story. I could sympathize with this kid a lot more because he was actually supportive of Alex’s predicament. He taped all of the sport games and waited to watch them until Alex came home. Unfortunately, Alex wasn’t able to watch it with him and that’s where things got sad for David. (The son) He also has a tough time going to school because of Alex’s image being ruined on public TV. (Alex was forced to ignore him as well since he was hijacked)

Clara is a decent character and she makes the tough call to have Robocop be created since Alex wasn’t in a position to personally agree. The decision may not have been universally appreciated, but she did have to make a choice and the scientists probably would have went along with the process anyway. It’s good that Clara made things hard on the villains for a while, but she does end up underestimating them at the end.

Rick is one of the big antagonists and I can’t say that he’s a likable character. He’s basically there for us to dislike him and he’s also pretty weak. Robocop would have taken him out instantly if not for all of the protocols. Rick talks tough, but he’s one of the many characters who cannot back it up with action.

Dennett is the main scientist and it’s hard to root for him as well. He helps the villains for a while and he definitely doesn’t make it easy for Robocop. At the end he realizes that things may have gone too far, but things went too far a long time ago! Either way I would have been surprised if I had liked the scientist, they usually aren’t my favorite characters.

Raymond is the mastermind behind the whole operation and his power is only matched by his terrible planning skills. He does make sure to have a lot of backups for his plan, but it was doomed to fail. I’m sure that the American citizens were going to realize that something was up. Raymond is the type of guy who will take a hostage, but he won’t fight Robocop one on one. If not for Robocop’s limitations, the final battle would have been a lot quicker. Raymond just wasn’t an interesting villain.

Jack is Robocop’s partner and he’s a pretty tough guy. He may not have looked very good during the detective work at the beginning, but his reflexes were just a little off. He still had his gun at the ready and he did pretty good. Considering how corrupt the police is, it’s good to know that we’ve got another cop on the side of the law. Once Robocop is fully operational, Jack doesn’t really get to appear much. He’s going to need an upgrade for the sequel!

The soundtrack wasn’t really memorable. It may appear that this is the case a lot recently, but it’s not just in recent films. Many films suffer from having a very unmemorable or just downright generic set of themes. This one may not have been very generic, but I just can’t recall any of the themes. This was definitely no Man of Steel or Avengers in that regard!

The battle scenes were fun when they happened, but we didn’t get enough of them. Robocop is great with a gun and they could have stylized the fights like the Terminator films. The best fight scene is probably when Robocop has a test battle against the droids and the trainer. We get some action in the climax, but the robots were very big so it wasn’t a real fight scene. Robocop would shoot them and keep on shooting them until they were down for the count. We need another humanoid in order to make this a fair fight. I’m confident that a sequel would have more fighting.

Overall, this was a good movie. I wouldn’t say that it was great, but it was a decent starting point. I would have liked some more action and I think that Robocop should have snapped away from the mind control a little sooner, but those aren’t huge errors. I would definitely be interested in watching a sequel and the franchise has a lot of potential in it. I recommend this film if you enjoyed the original Iron Man or if you like a good robot story. It’s light on action so you’ll want to be watching it for the emotional values…maybe. Just watch it if you want to see what life could be like in the future with droids all over the place.

Overall 6/10

The final Star Wars film to date that the proper numbering is now here! It was always a bold move to name the films with roman numerals instead of numbers and it turned out pretty well. It makes the films even more memorable. There’s a lot of pressure on Star Wars Episode III because Episode II wasn’t very good and episode I was still not quite up to par with episodes IV, V, and VI. The films had been going downhill (Except for the fun Clone Wars film) so we needed something to change. This film is a lot more serious and we get to see how evil Anakin is. Let’s launch into this!

The film starts off with a lot of action as Anakin and Obi Wan have their rematch with Emperor Dooku. It has been several years since the last film, but he can still hold up against the Jedi warriors. One thing leads to another and Anakin ruthlessly destroys Dooku. At that time, Dooku was already unarmed and completely helpless against Anakin so we can already confirm that Anakin is pure evil. Palpatine was goading Anakin on, but it’s not much of an excuse.

From there, the plots start to diverge. Obi Wan is in charge of defeating General Grievous and bringing him back to the base so that they can end the war once and for all. Unfortunately for Obi Wan, he is outnumbered dozens to 1 and he’s no Starkiller. Eventually, it comes down to a 1 on 1 fight with Obi Wan and General Grievous. It’s a pretty intense fight and this plot was much better than the main one.

The main plot deals with Anakin Skywalker…the main villain of the film. There are other big villains in the film, but Anakin must be considered as the main villain. Basically, Palpatine continues to gain his trust while also alienating Anakin from the Jedi Council. Anakin is pretty mad that the Jedi don’t seem to like him and this doesn’t get any better when he forces his way into the council. Anakin finds out that Palpatine is a Sith and warns the Jedi. Can 4-5 of the strongest Jedi in the world take on Palpatine while teaming up? Well, you may have to wonder about the answer, since Darth Vader Anakin joins in on the brawl. Next, Anakin decides to destroy all Jedi and Jedi apprentices while also destroying any life form that goes near him and becoming Palpatine’s pawn…or should I say, Darth Sidious’ pawn!?

All right, let’s talk about Anakin’s descent into madness. (It’s too bad since he was so cool in Soul Calibur IV) Anakin has always showed that he would turn evil ever since Episode II. He was completely unlikable in that film and he stays that way in this film. He’s cool for the first few minutes as he fights Dooku, but then he goes and destroys the villain for no good reason. He instantly faded into oblivion at that moment and I definitely did not buy his redemption act a few minutes later as he tried to carry Obi Wan to safety. Way too soon and it doesn’t stop the fact that Anakin is with the dark side.

Things only get worse as Anakin makes all of the wrong decisions and makes things hard on everyone. The Jedi would trust him more if he didn’t always hang out with Palpatine and he should respect the Jedi’s judgment since The Force rarely steers them wrong. He gets on the council, but then he’s still makes a racket because he did not become a Jedi Master. Did he really think that he would ascend to that rank without taking the Jedi Trials?

Things get to their low point for Anakin when he gets a vision of Padme dying during child birth. He decides that he needs to have enough power to prevent her from dying and this blinds him to the fact that Palpatine is a Sith for a while. Palpatine makes it perfectly obvious from the very beginning of the film, but Anakin isn’t exactly The Hulk, so he doesn’t piece it all together. Anakin decides that he will do whatever Palpatine wants so that Palpatine can grant him the power to defy death. Palpatine continues to make mistakes and heavily implies that he’s basically making it up or he doesn’t have the level of power necessary, but it is too late. Anakin is ready for complete servitude and he will do whatever Palpatine says without question. Most heroes who turn to the dark manage to question some things, like attacking their friends. (Sasuke didn’t murder Naruto even though Itachi wanted him too and Vegeta didn’t cross the line and hurt his friends either when Babidi “controlled” him.)

Anakin lacks the strength of heart that the other characters possessed and that’s basically the bottom line. I never liked him from the start of the trilogy and it ended with me disliking him as well. I have to say that I wouldn’t like the character at all if it was just the films that we were talking about, but I like Darth Vader in the comics and video games which helps to tip the balance in his favor. He’s definitely a good example of how to make the wrong choices and basically be the opposite of someone like Goku. Some characters like Medaka Kurokami are far too noble to commit such vicious acts as Anakin, and even mind controlled, she had enough inner strength to prevent herself from causing any permanent harm to her friends.

Obi Wan gets a pretty big role in this film and while he has a tendency to get knocked out at the wrong times, he does manage to keep it together when it counts. He’s a pretty skilled warrior and he looks good during the final battle. He also puts up a solid fight against General Grievous and he was one of the better characters in this film. He tried for everyone to have a happy ending, but Anakin made that impossible, so they were forced to have a climatic fight!

Padme doesn’t get as big of a role in this film since some of her scenes were cut out, but she still tries to convince Anakin to turn to the light. Anakin’s too far gone and even though his objective was to save her, he barely comprehends this anymore and nearly takes her down for the count. Obi Wan convinces him to stop, but it makes you face palm whenever you think of Anakin.

Yoda is definitely at his best in this movie and he finally shows off his abilities. Don’t get me wrong, we all knew that Yoda could fight. He proved it in the last film, but they’ve been hyping up his abilities as possibly being the strongest Jedi, so it was about time that he got to truly fight. The outcome of the fight may have been disappointing, but it was good to see him fight again after so long. I still can’t say that I’m a big fan of the character, but I can safely say that he was much better in this film than in the previous ones.

General Grievous is a pretty big villain in this film and he’s definitely fun. His Lightsaber skills may not be on par with Obi Wan or Starkiller, but he makes up for this by using 4 Lightsabers. He was beating Obi Wan in the Lightsaber battle, but eventually Obi Wan gave up and just used The Force to win. This shows that Grievous is a very powerful combatant and he is one of the stronger Star Wars characters. He was likable, so it’ll be fun to see him in the video games. He came in very suddenly and didn’t last very long, but his appearance was very impactful like Jango/Boba Fett.

Count Dooku gets a pretty small role, but his abilities are definitely impressive. The fact that he can take on two powerful Jedi at once is something that can be bragged about. He may not be as powerful as Darth Vader or the all powerful Starkiller, but he may be in the top 5 Strongest Star Wars characters. If so, that’s definitely a feat. Chewie also gets a role and it’s a pretty good one. Apparently, Chewie was an extremely hardcore/powerful fighter whose ear piercing roar was not his only weapon. It’s too bad that he could not appear any longer. R2D2 and C-3PO are still around, but what could I say about them? They’re essentially the same and if you (did not) like them, then you still will (not).

Mace Windu finally gets to fight in this film and it’s a pretty solid scene. He is the only Jedi capable of standing against Palpatine and he manages to get the upper hand. He’s easily one of the strongest Jedi out there and it’s a shame that he did not get any other fight scenes before this one. I have to say that I gained a lot of respect for him, since he is not all talk as the other films have made him out to be. Granted, Mace Windu did fight a little in film II, but even C-3PO could defeat some droids.

Palpatine gets a big role in this film and it’s still hard to take him serious. You can’t help, but grin when he pulls off a fancy spin tackle and destroys three Jedi in a matter of seconds. I know that he’s tough, but that’s a little insane. What about The Force!? Well, either way it was definitely interesting. I’m glad that Mace put up a better fight. It’s a little scary to remember that Palpatine will get away with everything for years and years until Episode VI. I definitely don’t care for him, but you have to admit that he did the one thing that many villains want to do..he conquered the Galaxy!

If I had to name a negative in this film, (Aside from any talking scene that involved Anakin) it would be the unnecessary kids scene. We know that the kids don’t make it since the Jedi go (seemingly) extinct, so do we really need to see Anakin destroy them? We already knew that he was pure evil and a despicable person, but seeing the kids die was definitely a little much. I could also due without the Padme giving birth scene, since those always make me shudder. The process looks overly painful considering the technology at their disposal.

So, this film was definitely the darkest in the series. Was that wise? Well, the fight scenes were awesome in this film and it got to go back to its roots. The film starts out with battles in space, which is all kinds of awesome. As mentioned earlier, the Lightsaber duels are also great and easily the best ones in the series. We got at least 3-4 of those, which is more than usual. I definitely don’t mind having a somber end when the action is this good, as long as “dark” doesn’t mean unnecessarily violent. Without the kids scene, I thought that the film handled it pretty well. All of the Jedi dying so easily was pure plot hax, but you had to expect that at some point. There wasn’t a logical way to have so many powerful fighters be defeated.

The franchise will continue with the next film in a few years. That will definitely be fun and there are a lot of ways that they can play it. I’m expecting Luke Skywalker to appear and maybe be the main character, although it’s not very likely. All I know is that there better be space battles and the new main character should definitely be an improvement over Luke and Anakin. I hope that Starkiller also gets a movie because that would be awesome.

Overall, this was a solid Star Wars film. It is definitely darker than the others so you probably wouldn’t watch this one quite as often, but it did end the saga. Anakin wasn’t likable, but he makes for a villain that you really want to defeat. I recommend this film if you are a Star Wars film, but if not, it makes for a good film to watch before Episode VI. This way you can see what the fate of these fighters is. This film still couldn’t beat Film IV, but it definitely beat I and II. It dragged on less than films V and VI, so I dare say that it may have beaten those. You’ll like this film if you enjoyed The Dark Knight, but if you want something that’s a little happier, check out the new Star Trek film.

Overall 6/10

The Day After Tomorrow is a disaster movie that shows us the perils of Global Warming. Instead of melting and all of us dying from the water, we are faced with a different threat that may be just as grave. The World is freezing over and there doesn’t seem to be anything that humanity can do. Will we survive or will we perish?

There are several “main” characters in this film, but the true main character would be either Jack or Sam. My money’s on Jack, but they both get a pretty big role. Jack tries to warn everyone about the grave threat that they now face, but they don’t believe him until it’s too late. Jack must now venture through the frozen cities to find his son before it is too late. Will he arrive in time? His son is also keeping busy as he tries to stay alive while at the library with his friends, a librarian, a guy who likes books, and a guy who’s with his pet dog as they try to survive in this world. They decide to wait out the storm, but can they resist the frozen embrace of nature? There are other plots including Jack’s wife as she tries to save the life of a kid in a pretty serious condition and a group of researchers who are gathering a lot of information, but have no way of getting outside their residence.

The film does have some pretty nice fake out moments. There is one scene where this guy is eating at a shop and looks pretty nervous as the cops come around. He gets a few lines and we quickly figure that he’ll be one of the main characters. As he makes his get away; the character gets destroyed by an ice ball. Most of the other citizens in the area are quickly defeated as well, which is bad news for the area. Until the figure dies, you figure that he would be a main character so that was nicely played.

The special effects are pretty fun to watch and we get to see New York City destroyed for the first time in days! I’ve always found it amusing to see the city decimated in so many films because we get to see which threat can defeat it first. Will it be Chitauri, Cloverfield Monster, Apes, Kaiju, Thunder, or Giant Marshmallows? Either way, New York always puts up a pretty good fight! The “science” of it all may not be very realistic, but you can ignore that since this is a film and just watch the action!

The film was moving along at a solid pace until a very unnecessary scene that involved some Wolves. It was nice to see that they escaped their confines, but it quickly got worse as they fought the main characters. Animal violence shouldn’t have been included in this film and it definitely hurt the film. Why did they have to add this!? The other main animal looks pretty good as he survives throughout the whole film with a grin. He shows the world that he’s a true dog and gets to take a nice bite out of a hot dog and essentially has more to eat than the other characters. He also knows when its time to bark and he keeps everyone nice and alert. No cruel fate befell him and that was a good move.

The film did a good job of portraying the United States and I’ve always been a fan of the Government scenes. Right when they called in The President; I knew that things were about to get real. He makes the tough calls and his final scene is pretty intense. He acts pretty confident the whole time and he was a solid character. The Vice President is intriguing since he took The News surprisingly (heh) well. He gives Jack a pretty hard time throughout the film, but I suppose that anyone would have done so, considering his lack of data. The Vice President also did want to save the people in the North so he’s not all bad. He didn’t see eye to eye with the main character, but he did want to save as many people as he could.

Jack is a pretty solid main character and he’s a determined person. He goes a long way to try and save his son while also trying to convince the Government of how grave the threat is. He may have been a little snippy while briefing The President and pals, but he was in a rush and needed to hurry to his son, so it was understandable. He just gave them the quick plan and he headed out. He’s definitely one of the better main characters that we’ve seen in a while and he does a good job of taking charge and thinking ahead.

His two partners are not so lucky and it’s hard to like any of them. The older one is around, but he’s not very useful and he just doesn’t get much screen time. The younger one isn’t likable from the start and he doesn’t seem to realize the gravity of the situation that has befallen the Earth. Janet is not usually one of Jack’s partners, but she comes to help out in this time of desperation and she provides them with a lot of data via satellite. She’s a pretty high ranking person so she definitely helps a great deal, although her role is not very large in the film. She’s definitely better than Jack’s two flunkies partners.

I have to say that the kids subplot was not nearly as interesting. Sam and his two friends are a part of a big school competition when the disaster strikes. I just didn’t enjoy the three of them so much. Sam is always making a grimace when he’s on screen and his emotional moments are not that great. His phone call with Jack also didn’t go so well since he could have made sure to say that he was okay at the end. Instead he paused as the water flooded in. I didn’t like his “Rival” either and the best part of that subplot were the supporting characters.

The guy and his dog were interesting figures from the start. The guy is pretty quick and he knows how to survive in this cruel world. He’s the main source of humor in the film and he does a good job of making everyone look bad while he continues to survive. His dog is very sensitive to disturbances in The Force nature and he always gives the characters a form of early warning. The Librarian was helpful and essentially saved the kids’ lives as she let them into a nice room where they were able to keep warm. The guy who liked books was also solid since he made sure that the great authors could stay safe. This guy plans ahead and was ready to save Western Civilization at any cost! There was another person in there and she put up a pretty good argument as to why one of the authors wasn’t that good, but that was basically her only role.

One other flaw that I would have for the film (Aside from an extremely unnecessary and pointless scene involving a guy who almost ignored a phone call and jeopardized more lives by not issuing a Tornado watch and the Animal Violence) is the ending. It’s tough to have a real ending in any disaster film because we can’t exactly “fix” the Earth. Whatever effects have happened will not be corrected in a short time and they will be felt more many years. That being said, the ending was very abrupt and basically if you lived in America…you’re doomed. America’s been evacuated and now we have to live in Mexico. For the people who are not rich….they’re doomed. Also, there just isn’t going to be enough room for all of the Americans so it’s essentially the beginning of the end. When you really think about it, Humanity is down for the count.

In Disaster films, my favorite parts are always the set up (Meeting each of the characters and getting ready for them to join up to survive the upcoming threat) and the beginning of the onslaught. When the disaster first strikes, it’s cool to see everyone’s reactions and what they plan to do about it. Things usually get more slow paced from there and this film is no exception, but it’s not incredibly dragged out. The film is still enjoyable in the later stages, but as per usual, I enjoyed the first half of the film a lot more. The best destruction scene would definitely be the Wave of Water that attacked NYC. It was a pretty good batch of special effects and it reminded me of a recent Avengers episode. (A villain flooded NYC, but surprisingly there wasn’t any property damage and they dried off the buildings while not letting anyone die before dinner. Pretty impressive and Completely believable)

Overall, this was a pretty fun film. It’s probably not meant to be “fun”, but that’s what happened in the long run. There are a lot less fatalities than you would expect and nearly all of the big characters survive. (You do feel bad for the dozens of people who ran out into the freezing snow without a set destination in mind and not bringing along any food or utilities, but they must’ve had a great plan if they left the comfort of the Library for that. The cop did do a good job of taking charge and completely blowing Sam away in the verbal debate. At least 90% of the people went with him, which shows who has the better debating skills) It may not have a great amount of replay value, but it still has a decent amount, considering the (disaster) genre. I recommend watching the film if you like to see Apocalypse/End of The Earth scenarios and also view how the Government acts upon the knowledge. The character roster is decently good and Jack is a solid protagonist. The film is solid on just about all accounts so you can still watch it just to see the dialogue and the special effects. This is also a good film to prepare you for the upcoming Godzilla film, which will feature a Lot of devastation!

Overall 6/10

The Mask is one of those films that I had heard about, but it dropped off of the radar for me. I remember seeing it while at a cool technology store that I used to be around, but then it closed. From that short clip, it definitely looked intriguing. The plot is definitely pretty intense…but could the film stand up to the hype?

Well, this film was definitely better than I would have guessed. The main character is Stanley and things have been pretty rough for him yet. He’s known as a pretty nice guy, but things don’t tend to turn out his way. A car drives through a puddle and wrecks his attire, he also gets ripped off and has to get a new car. One day, he finds a mask in the ocean and decides to take it home. What harm could it cause anyway? After putting it on, Stanley gains super powers and he can basically bend reality to his will. Definitely a useful power to have right?

The plot isn’t all fun and games as the gangs get to business. Tina is sent to the bank as an undercover agent to help them prep for the heist that will be coming up. Is she truly evil or can Stanley help her join the side of justice!? Dorian is the main villain as he wants to get rich and defeat Niko so that he can be the biggest criminal in town. Will Niko be able to stop this guy?

That’s essentially the plot in a nutshell. The film doesn’t really need to have a deep plot since you’re mainly in it to see how The Mask can keep on trolling everyone. The film hits a lot of the high notes that many films do not reach, but the only thing keeping it down is the fact that there is a lot of romance in the film. Tina’s first scene is in slow motion for dramatic effect and Stanley’s friend isn’t very chivalrous. Tina also has to use her charms to distract the main villain and another villain also fools Stanley. There’s also every scene at the night club involving dancing and singing. It certainly could be worse and you could quickly skip those scenes to maximize your enjoyment of the film. Still, the film has more romance than I would have expected.

Aside from that, the movie was very fun. Stanley was a pretty fun protagonist for the most part, mainly because of his overacting. His lines could get intense and his facial expressions make him as much fun to watch as Agent Ward. (Agents of SHIELD) The characters are really exaggerated in this film and that helps to set the mood. The cops were pretty good in this film and they were some of the better characters out there.

The main cop suspected Stanley pretty early on and he did a good job of rounding up the villains. He may not do a very good job of keeping the prisoners, but that’s hardly his fault. His partner isn’t very smart and he keeps up the trend of the character who’s so unsmart that it’s hard to believe. Stanley’s landlord was also a pretty good character and she had a shotgun at the ready. She’s an example of how a well prepared citizen should always be.

Of course, there was one character who completely out shined all of the others. That would be Milo, Stanley’s dog. Milo knew the score from the beginning and he’s a very smart dog. He plays a mean game of Frisbee and he’s able to jump very high. He plays a critical part in the movie and I’m glad that a film finally portrayed the dog accurately. Let’s just say that Milo dominates whoever is opposing him in every scene. He’s a large part of why the film was so good. He reminds me of my dog in a lot of ways. His power, His speed, His intelligence, and many more attributes.

The best scene in the film that didn’t include Milo was the police ambush when The Mask left the park. It was intense and also good to see the cops actually looking good for once. There were dozens of them outside and they were armed to the teeth. These guys definitely weren’t messing around, but The Mask always finds a way to stop them.

The Mask is an intriguing character because his reality warping powers seem to be limitless, but everyone takes it in stride. At one point, he breaks the fourth wall and the other characters just go with it. When he utilizes super speed to rob a bank, the cops just seem mildly surprised. It may be another one of The Mask’s abilities or just something to add to the comedy. Either way, I was definitely a fan of that part so I’m glad that they added it. It gives the film another layer of fun and excitement.

Overall, this film was pretty fun. It has a nice mix of comedy and action and there is a fight in the climax so you won’t end the film on a barrel of laughs. I would definitely recommend this film and it’s a unique experience. I can almost guarantee that you haven’t seen a film quite like this. It’s how you may expect a live action looney tunes film to look. Aside from the excessive romance, there really isn’t anything that’s majorly wrong with the film. It’s solid in all areas and is a well rounded film. The final twist in the ending is pretty great and leaves room for a nice sequel. (Which they totally should have done. The character who ends up with the mask in the ending could have made for a great main character!) Remember to be on the lookout for Milo when you watch the film!

Overall 6/10

Rope is a classic film that was made by Alfred Hitchcock. You’ve probably heard of him and I’ve seen some of his other films. I believe that I already reviewed one or two, but if not, now you’ll get to witness one. Rope is a classic mystery where the main characters (Well, really only Brandon) decide to tempt fate and see if their “Perfect murder” will come out all right.

The film starts out with David dying. It’s too bad since I’m sure that he could have been a decent character…hopefully anyway. The two murderers are the main characters; Brandon and Phillip. Brandon decides that the murder won’t be perfect unless they invite some people over and make this a fair contest. Brandon wants to test his intelligence against theirs and he also wants to feel the thrills of danger. Phillip is mortified, but he’s never able to stop Brandon from doing whatever he wants. The guests start to come in and things are going well….until Rupert walks in!

Rupert quickly became the best character in the film as he proceeded to completely obliterate Brandon’s chances for success. Brandon’s pretty cunning, but Rupert is an inquisitive person and he won’t be stopped so easily. The irony of the matter is that David’s body is in the same room with everyone. They are using the box that he is in, as the dinner table for the party. There are a lot of close shaves, but can Rupert actually solve this mystery?

The film is pretty suspenseful and it goes by quickly. The film basically takes place in the main room and they just talk for a while. A movie with nonstop talking may seem boring at first, but you never feel bored. I’m not sure if this would work in a modern movie, but I enjoy the dialogue in really old movies. Brandon makes for a pretty likable antagonist, but Phillip can be pretty annoying. He’s a villain, but he’s always doubting himself. Phillip keeps on getting nervous, but it’s far too late since he already committed the deed. Phillip nearly jeopardizes the mission several times and he does crack towards the end. The rest of the characters were pretty uneventful and they were mostly there to add drama. They never seemed to piece together the clues, but I like to think that they would have at some point.

This is a pretty fun film and I’d recommend it. The film isn’t very long and it holds up well. There may not be a lot of action or special effects, but not all films need that sort of thing. A lot of action can’t hurt, but this film manages to pull through without it. The mystery isn’t for the audience, which may be disappointing for some people, but then this would be a completely different movie. If you want a mystery to solve, check out Sherlock Holmes.

Overall 6/10

All right, as you guys may remember from my review of the first film, the film was pretty good and had a nice chunk of action, without getting too dark and generic. The first film had a pretty satisfying ending, so what would the sequel do?

Well, the plot is decent as Frank and his partner Marvin are framed because someone leaked an article claiming that they know about “Nightshade”. Frank wants to stay retired, but things get personal when someone makes an attempt on Marvin’s life. With Sarah goading him on the whole time, Frank finally accepts that it is time to return to the field. Unfortunately for them, “Nightshade” is pretty important, so every big organization on the planet is after them. M16, CIA, etc. There are a lot more villains that are out to destroy Frank and his allies this time around.

The soundtrack is pretty solid and you’ll remember the music for a while. The brief Death Metal music was interesting and the main theme that plays whenever they switch countries is pretty cool. The overall atmosphere of the film is still pretty light as it was in the first film.

Red 2 contains a lot of explosions and action throughout the first film, but Frank himself, doesn’t get to take up most of the screentime. This time he has to share a lot of it with other fighters such as Han. Marvin’s still pretty smart and seems to be the most capable agent in the field.

Frank himself is about the same as he was in the first film, but not quite as good. He’s still pretty tough in a fight, but he’s constantly worrying about Sarah and actually pulls a rookie (Or should I say, James Bond) mistake as he falls for someone’s charms and that person drugs him. He looked pretty bad for a while, but during the climax he’s back to the usual. Unfortunately, there are some things that you can’t come back from, and that error is one of them.

Marvin still has a lot of plans up his sleeve and he’s always ready for just about anything. He hasn’t changed much, which is good, but arguably the pressure gets to him towards the end as he makes a crucial phone call. I’d say that he was easily the best character once again, but Han gives him some pretty good competition for that title. Han was a solid addition to the cast and he’s pretty skilled. I dare say that he could possibly defeat Frank, but it would be close. He’ll definitely remind you of Storm Shadow while he’s fighting and his scenes are definitely cool. (Him popping out of nowhere with the machine gun is definitely one of the best scenes in the film)

Sarah is much braver than in the first film and she’s much more enthusiastic than Frank is about the situation. She enjoys being an agent now, but she suffers from her competition against Katya. She ends up using pretty unheroic methods to get the mission done and I don’t believe that “The End justifies the means” logic. She is still a better character than Katya, but I preferred her depiction in the first film.

Katya is the agent from Russia. She’s pretty high ranked and can get bailed out of jails within an hour. Her fighting skills don’t seem to be as good as the main cast’s, but she doesn’t get to fight that often. She was a pretty bad character and I can’t take her seriously as a “villain”

Victoria gets a small role in this film. M16 needs her to prove her loyalty by destroying/capturing Frank and his cohorts. The film really tries to show us how great a shot she is, but…she never hits the opponents. In one scene, a really loud death metal song plays as she dramatically takes out her gun. She takes out the opponents….after about a dozen+ shots. She was all right in this film, but not one of the better agents. She’s still better than Ivan, who gets a really small cameo/guest star role. It’s a pretty bad role and won’t help me gain respect for the character.

The final villain of the film is pretty intense and he manages to take on a battalion of soldiers while behind bars and not containing any guns or bullets. It’s pretty intense, but makes you feel bad for the army guys. Sleeping on the job doesn’t pay. The explosion at the end looks pretty cool and was a nice way to end the action scenes.

So, Red 2 is a pretty solid addition to the franchise. I wouldn’t say that it was as good as the first, but it was a good film. It suffered from more romance than the original and less hand to hand fight scenes, but the soundtrack kept it afloat. The car chases were also pretty intense and I think that a sequel would be fun. The ending in this one makes a sequel more likely than the previous film’s.

Overall 6/10

Priest is a Vampire action film that came out back in 2011. I’m not usually a Vampire fan, but I’ve always liked one series on the subject. (Records of a Fallen Vampire) Does this movie change my mind about Vampire films? Well, they stick away from the biting cliche (For the most part) but the Vampire look like zombies for the most part.

The film starts out by telling us that Vampires came and started slaughtering the humans. So they called in the Priests. (In an animated scene that may make you wince if you don’t have a stomach for violence. Of course it is animated, so maybe you’ll let it slide) The Priests have some mild superhuman abilities (Like Captain America) which makes them strong enough to fight the Vampires. Throughout the film, the Priest doesn’t seem that superhuman, but superhuman enough to win most of his battles. The world has lived in peace for ages and they believe the Vampire threat to be over. One day, a girl is kidnapped by Vampires, so her friend enlists the help of The Priest to save her. The Priest goes to help, but now the other Priests are ordered to take him down.

Priest is a pretty good main character and he does what he can to help save the world. He’s made a lot of sacrifices, but he believes that he’s done them for a good cause and he always does what he thinks is right. The Church doesn’t see eye to eye with the Priest, so he is forced to renounce his vows and become a fugitive. “To go against the Church, is to go against God!” is the Church’s catchphrase, but the Priest seems to know that the line is completely false and he continues to have faith. The only moment that seemed a bit sketchy was when he interrogated a Vampire. I still have never believed that good guys have to resort to such crude methods. (Take Superman. He interrogates all right, but in a more heroic way) The Priest didn’t seem that strong, but he still did some decent damage to the Vampires.

The Priestess arrives later on in the film, but with her quick close combat skills and athletics, she makes quick work out of a lot of zomb-Vampires. She didn’t look so good in her initial appearance, but she made up for it during her later fights. The Vampires never knew what hit them!

Hicks is the friend of Lucy (The girl who was kidnapped) and he comes along for the ride. The problem is that he’s a mere mortal wielding a gun. He doesn’t stand a chance against the Vampires and is quickly dispatched when the battles start. Adding him was to make us have a human to root for I suppose. He could have been worse, but I can’t say that he was a great character.

We can’t forget about Black Hat! He’s the main villain of the film and his abilities far surpass that of the main cast. He’s faster and stronger than the Priest and he sees everyone in slow motion. Because of that, he completely dominates in every fight that he’s in. I always get worried when a character is so much stronger than the others because it means that the ending will have to have some major plot hax. (Plot Hax = A scene that wouldn’t really happen, but needs to happen so that the heroes can win. Or the opposite) Black Hat made for a pretty good villain. His only negative scene would probably be losing control at the end. I thought he had more will power than that, but overall that didn’t stop him from being a compelling villain.

The Council at the Church were pretty uninteresting characters. They refuse to believe in the Vampires and are quick to judge others. In the future, the Church seems to have been corrupted. Or at least, the Church definitely seemed a little off. The title makes it obvious that the film will have some religious elements, and it definitely does. The main character claims to draw strength from God and all of the good guys supposedly believe in him. Of course, the main characters murder many vampires, breaking one of the 10 Commandments every other second. Was it necessary? It’s one of those moral questions that you will need to ask yourself. At least the Priest never seemed to break any of the others and seemed to be a pretty honorable guy.

Overall, it’s a decently good film. You should be warned that the violence is very excessive and you probably wouldn’t want to take your kids to watch this film. The action can get as intense as Bleach, but luckily there are only a few cringe worthy scenes. (Animal violence) The fight scenes are decent and while there are missed opportunities in the film, it did a decent job of capturing the future. (Much better than the Hunger Games, but it’s no Final Fantasy) (Actually, now that I’ve brought it up. The film has a lot of resemblances to the Final Fantasy VII Advent Children movie. Same type of motorcycles, The City is extremely similar, hmmmm…) Anyway, if you like Vampire movies, then this is a good one to check out. If you’re looking for a futuristic action blockbuster, then head on over to Tron Legacy.

Overall 6/10