This is a film that I definitely remember from the theaters. The trailer played a few times and it always looked pretty interesting. I wasn’t expecting an all star, but I had some pretty decent hopes for the film. While the film seems to lose some of its edge during the end; I can safely say that it surpassed my expectations. This is how you do a film about Walter Mitty!

The plot involves Walter Mitty and his life troubles. He has a pretty decent life, but there’s a new coworker in town by the name of Cheryl. Walter wants to become friends with her, but he’s too nervous. He works up the nerve to send her a message, but it doesn’t work because his account is empty. Walter ends up calling Todd (Todd works at the company) and that becomes a subplot for the film. Adding more troubles into the mix; Walter is attacked verbally, mentally, and even physically by Ted Hendricks. Ted is here to fire as many workers as he can and he’s also here to destroy the magazine that Walter works for. (Life) It will now be completely digital! (The same fate may hold true for video games 100 years from now if Nintendo does not stand strong)

That’s the prelude to the plot. Things get interesting when the legendary Sean O’Connell sends a group of photos to Walter, but one of them is missing. Ted threatens to fire Walter if he doesn’t turn up with it by the next time they meet. Walter must use the other 20+ photos to track Sean down. He’ll have to travel across volcanoes, oceans, mountains, and go to as many countries as it takes. Walter isn’t coming back until he gets that photo! His life may have been dull before, but now he’s going to have more excitement then he can handle.

Walter Mitty is a pretty excellent character. Robocop, Captain America, Will Caster, Crawford; Walter beats them all as far as protagonists go. He has a habit of going into daydreams, which get him into a lot of trouble. The daydreams are typically awesome, but I’ll go into them more towards the end of the review. Walter is a nice guy through and through. He is definitely determined as he travels across the planet. Throwing away his wallet may not have been a great move, but the circumstances were pretty tricky. I’m not excusing the action, but just noting that things had gotten tricky. Walter gets teased at his job because of his tendency to zone out, but he takes it in stride. He didn’t have many faults and I was definitely rooting for him in the big fight.

Ted Hendricks is the main villain and he’s pretty intense. He’s the sterotypical mean boss that likes to mock everyone who gets in his way. As with many bullies; Ted makes sure to single out the most exploitable character and then focus on him. Unfortunately for Walter; Ted decided to pick him. Ted also fits into the “not very bright” cliche and he mistakes McDonald’s catchphrase for Life’s. (Admittedly, I don’t know what Life’s motto is either, but he probably should have found that out) Ted goes as far as throwing objects at Walter and things climax in the elevator. (AKA, the best scene of the film) Ted is easily one of the best villains that I’ve seen from a live action comedy film.

Edna Mitty is Walter’s mom and she does pretty well. She actually tried to tell Walter some important things, but he was already in dreamland. Nontheless, she saves his life through her cooking and helps out a lot. She’s a fun character and while she doesn’t get may scenes; she proves that it is always important to have a good dessert at the end of a meal. Not to mention that Edna also brings up the infamous…Papa Johns! (Walter and Papa Johns have some history together)

On the other hand, I did not care for Odessa Mitty. She is Walter’s sister and there was something off about her. She didn’t really seem too nice and she needs to prioritize. Maybe things just aren’t working out at the moment with the play and that’s why Odessa is off her game. We’ll never know without a sequel I suppose, but that’s one character that could have been cut out.

Cheryl is one of the main characters of the film and she helps Walter in his mystery. She was taking a class on that sort of thing so she is pretty well equipped to handle this. She has a kid who needed help on his skateboard and Walter gladly showed him the ropes. Cheryl’s a decent character and she got a pretty big role. Plus, Cheryl has a pretty epic dog and he immediately stole the show. Dogs are epic and they make every film at least 20% cooler.

Stretch Armstrong is simply fantastic and seeing him in the movie was pretty great. I admit that Odessa did a good job in giving the toy to Walter, but at the same time….I can’t really gain respect for her because it was technically not the best move. If she had given a better reason for giving it to him, then I would have been okay with it. Still, Stretch was great and he gave us the best scene in the film!

I can’t say that I liked Sean O’Connell. He got incredible amounts of hype for the entire film and he doesn’t appear until the very end. Nobody could really live up to that kind of hype and while Sean is a good guy…he just wasn’t very likable. That’s just the way it goes I suppose. I’m definitely satisfied with his appearance being limited.

Todd was a pretty fun character. He took things in stride and he is a very trusting fellow. He really seemed to have Walter’s best interests at heart and I can’t imagine a better customer service employee. This guy had everything down to a fine art. He comes through for Walter when it counts and he gave a lot of helpful advice. I won’t be forgetting Todd anytime soon.

Hernando was similar to Todd in some ways. He was also a good friend to Walter and he always gave his tasks 100%. Hernando may not have gotten a great deal by the end, but he took it pretty well. He managed to save his plans and he even told Walter that they should evaluate themselves instead of letting others do it. This didn’t work, but it was a sound plan in theory and it made sense.

The various Dream Sequences were the best part of the film. Jumping into the burning building was fun and then the extended action scene that we got was awesome. The actual fight scene used a surprising amount of CGI and it looked like Man of Steel. That’s definitely how you do a fight scene and it came so suddenly. Stretch Armstrong must be a toy that everyone really wants! Needless to say, that scene was one of the major reasons as to why I enjoyed the film so much. You really need to see it to believe it. Walter was so hardcore in his dreams….

It should be noted that the romance in this film is not as bad as one would usually expect. There is some romance and while we could have cut it out without altering much of the plot; it could definitely have been worse. The romance develops, but nothing really happens since the characters are mature and taking things slowly. If only we could get more of this in modern films.

The one big negative would be that the film does drag out during the second half. About 80% of my chuckles were from the beginning scenes. The actual journey isn’t quite as fun and that’s because the film takes itself a little too seriously. We get less comedy and more drama as the film closes. I wouldn’t have minded if they had just stuck with the comedy. It was working! Towards the end; Walter stops having the dreams since his character development is occurring. Some scenes that could have been cut out would be, The drunk guy in the bar scenes, part of the trek up the mountain, and various scenes from his travels. The travels were my least favorite part of the film, but they weren’t really bad. They just took up more time than they should have.

Overall, this was a pretty great film. As far as comedies go; I’d say that it’s one of my favorites. It managed to defeat Old Dogs and Tower Heist, which is pretty impressive. I really don’t have many flaws with this film, but cutting out some scenes could have helped. Shorter is sometimes better and this was one of those times. I definitely recommend this film if you want a good laugh or want to experience an epic fight scene. The ending can be a little sad for some of the characters, but everyone doesn’t always get to have a happy ending.

Overall 7/10

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

I have to say that I never realized how many horror posters this film got. I definitely would have been disappointed if I went in after just viewing those, but I wasn’t expecting a horror movie when I went in. I was expecting a film with Johnny Depp where he actually looked bearable. That can’t be right…can it? My brother got some advance tickets so I got to see the film before it officially came out and things got intense. Pizza in one hand and a water bottle in the other, I wasn’t leaving until I’d seen the entire film!

The plot involves a man named Will Castor and he’s pretty smart. He is working on building a sentient A.I. that has a will of its own and is capable of making decisions. Things are going pretty well for a while, but then the building where he is in gets infiltrated by a terrorist organization that is against technology. They shoot him and murder some of his associated as they effectively shut down the program. Will now has the only computer that works and he is doomed to die. His only chance is to become the A.I., but will he still be human? Humanity must decide whether they can trust Will or not and the terrorists aren’t going to stop until he’s taken down. Man vs Machines…the war to end all wars has begun. Let’s just hope that we fare better against Will than we did against Skynet!

There actually aren’t a whole bunch of characters in this one. There are only a few important ones that need to be mentioned and who better to start off with than Will? As you can tell from the trailers, Will becomes one with the A.I. and now he has the power! The Government quickly starts to fear him and the terrorists are unnerved. This doesn’t really deter Will and he does a lot of great things with his new abilities. He can help people heal from disease and give them superhuman abilities as well. That’s not a bad deal and he can also keep people safe.

We don’t get to see it much, but with his internet abilities, Will has a lot of control over the planet. Think about what you could do if you completely controlled the internet. It would be pretty incredible. Unfortunately, that’s not something that we really get to see since it’s more about how Will is helping the environment and trying to convince people that he’s an okay guy. Not all of his moves are the right ones, but I’ll get into that later on in the review.

Evelyn is Will’s partner through the film and she tries her hardest to make sure that Will makes it into his A.I. form in decent shape. She was pretty good during the beginning of the film, but I gradually began to dislike her as the film went on. I’ve never liked it when the characters start to distrust the main character because he’s grown too powerful. I expected her to be a lot more understanding towards the end and it just didn’t happen.

At least Evelyn doesn’t fall as far down as Max. Max is basically Will’s best friend, but the instant that Will transcends the limits of the physical body; Max turns against him. He fears what he does not fully understand and he also doesn’t want to understand. Max gets kidnapped by the terrorists and things continue to get worse and worse for him.

Naturally, you’ll understand why I don’t like Joseph. As with Evelyn, he turns against Will pretty quickly. Even before he turned to the “dark” side I didn’t care for him. He was a little too chummy with the FBI and if you’ve watched any film in the last 30 years…you never trust the FBI. They are usually just around to be infiltrated or blown apart by the CIA. Given how big his actor was, I thought that Joseph would get a larger role. Ah well, he didn’t really add much to the plot.

Donald was one of the more likable characters. Why? He’s open about being untrustworthy and he’s basically bad to the bone. He believes in using people to take the fall for him and he doesn’t matter how he solves a case…just as long as he solves it. Donald doesn’t appear for very long, but he was a nice change of pace from the other characters.

Bree is the final character that I should mention. She’s just one of the terrorists, but she seems to be the main one or at least the most important member. She gets Max to exit the bar and get mugged and she’s also the one who continues to talk tough for the duration of the film. I can’t say that she’s a likable villain and I can’t take her seriously as a villain, but at least she had a gun. That automatically made her more prepared than the rest of the terrorists.

We have a pretty colorful cast, but they just weren’t that enjoyable. Will did some shady things, but for the most part he was helping humanity. I can see why they were upset when his cybernetics became capable of possessing people, but why couldn’t Evelyn just tell him that she didn’t approve? Throughout the whole film, she never walks up to Will and directly tells him to stop. It’s a little tough on the viewer because you almost feel bad for Will. He really does his best to make Evelyn feel comfortable in this tough future, but she doesn’t make things easy on him.

Will may have made a few mistakes, but he also did a lot of good through his new knowledge. He could have revolutionized medical treatment and stopped Global hunger. He would have essentially solves all of Earth’s big problems if humanity had let him. Power corrupts, but Will seemed to be strong willed enough to stop that from happening to him. Sure, Will got rich very quickly, but he did it by using advanced logic to place stock, bets, and trades. He didn’t seem to do anything illegal.

As such, it’s hard to sympathize with the other characters. If Will had won, then it would have been a victory for many. An innocent man ends up dying because of the terrorists, but the government doesn’t seem to care and more of Will’s “friends” take it in stride since it’s for the greater good. I’ve never liked traitors like that and these characters were no exception.

The soundtrack for the film is decent. I liked the theme that played during the end credits, but I can’t say that I really remember any of the other tunes. Well, having one memorable tune definitely beats having none and that final piece helped to win back the horror element that we had been waiting for.

The film isn’t very violent, but we do get a few intense scenes. One guy is beaten up very badly and then Will has to use his super science to save him. That scene can be a little disturbing visually since his injuries look so gruesome. We get a few people beat up here and there, but nothing gets any worse than the medical scene. It would have been more of a problem if we got too many scenes like that, but there are only a handful of scenes with violence and the rest is back to the norm. We don’t really get much romance in this film although I’m pretty sure that I remember an unnecessary flashback. It could have been cut out.

Overall, this was an all right film. It’s basically what if story with a lot of drama. The film could have went many different ways with this plot and they went for an emotional route. I believe that the film would have done better if it had gone for horror or action, but I suppose that a film can’t do that every time. It’s not a bad film and you should enjoy it if you like the concept, but there’s also no amazing reason to see it. If you want another take on a what if future involving robots, then it may be time to check out an edited Terminator film.

Overall 5/10

It makes sense that a film would eventually use this powerful word as its title, but who would have guessed that the plot would involve a circus? I’m pretty sure that everyone was surprised to hear that, but we courageously kept on watching. Is the film intense enough to earn such a title? Well…it tries.

This is an example of a film that I had never heard of until I had seen it. Still, that’s how you find some of the best hidden gems! (The One!) The plot revolves around Monica Rivers, a circus owner, as mysterious happenings start occurring. Her circus performers are being picked off one by one. Coincidentally, they all started happening once a man named Frank appeared. He was very good at the role of the first victim and quickly took his job. Could there be any links between these unrelated accidents? More importantly, will the mass murderer be stopped or will the circus performers continue to be taken down for the count!?

Monica is the main character, but it’s really hard to root for her. I believe that we’re supposed to view her as the villain and then sympathize with her as the film goes on, but that just didn’t work for me. She values profit over people and explains this many times. She also makes sure to keep several of the characters interested in her so that she can have the joy of turning them down each time. Not really main character traits eh? All right, let’s talk about the other suspects characters.

Dorando is a character who owns part of the circus and he feels deeply saddened when the murders start. He’s not the type of guy to stand for something like this, but he also doesn’t dare leave. His only chance is for Monica to buy him out and then he could move away, but the chances of that are slim. Dorando wasn’t very likable either since he kept letting Monica push him around the whole time. Still…what if it’s part of his plan!?

Frank is the obvious suspect, but maybe it’s obvious because he is the villain!!!!!! He shows up right when the murders start happening and he obviously wants to make some money. He starts resorting to black mail and he also wants to be more than friends with Monica. This guy’s a bad apple in every meaning of the word and he even hits a reporter. There is also a dark past involving his last circus act…..hmmmmm. You really hope that he’s the culprit since he’s not likable either.

Angela doesn’t appear until we’re pretty late into the film, but she’s Monica’s daughter. She was kicked out of school for being a trouble maker and now she wants to be in the circus. Monica tries to shield her from the rumors that she is bumping everyone off, but Angela quickly finds out. Then again…what if she already knew and she was actually the murderer!? Things get interesting when she joins the knife throwing act….

I could keep on mentioning suspects for ages and ages! Still, I want to give you three more before I move on. We have Matilda, who is really interested in stirring up trouble. She suspects that Monica is guilty and she decides to prove it. Is this just a diversion so that nobody will suspect her!? Gustavo is a knife thrower and he realizes that things are getting a little dicey. The people aren’t really thrilled with Matilda and that doesn’t translate well for him. When he adds Angela into his act…he may have made a fatal enemy. That is…unless he is the enemy! Finally, we have Bruno! He’s the most loyal companion of them all and he’s the only one that Matilda can trust. Sounds a little too good to be true eh? There are definitely a lot of suspects in this one!

I’m always up for a good murder mystery, but this one just didn’t work. First of all….it’s a very long time between deaths and plot progression. We get to see a lot of Circus Shows and even the Cops get involved. I did like the Detective, but the shows could drag on. I liked the puppies, but who doesn’t like a good puppy right? The film wasn’t two hours, but it definitely felt like it was!

The violence is also surprisingly intense. It’s not always bloody, but the deaths themselves are what makes it intense. You have peaceful deaths like Superman blowing up random aliens…and you have Jason Todd deaths. This film had most of the latter. Seriously, some of the deaths will probably make you wince a little inside. The final one was ironically the most tame. This definitely felt like it was one of the original slasher films.

Finally, I’ve gotta take a shot at the soundtrack. The reason being….that it was not existent! When you don’t have any likable characters and a story that drags on for a while….you need the music! It’s just something that you can’t really get around. The film just wasn’t very thrilling and the final twist didn’t work.

Yes….the twist! Well, the murderer is revealed at the end and I didn’t agree with it. This person must be extremely talented at deception and possess a good deal of money to pull this off. It just doesn’t make sense unless there was an accomplice to the crime or some of the other characters felt like murdering someone. It definitely takes away from a murder mystery when the murderer doesn’t make any sense.

Overall, I wouldn’t say that this was one of the better slasher/mystery films. The final plot twist about the murderer really did not make sense and I find it a little hard to believe. It really feels like there must have been a second murderer involved, but maybe I’m overthinking things. Still, if you want to enjoy a classic murder mystery or a case of epic proportions, check out Rope or Dial M for Murder. This film can stay in obscurity for now and we can wait for a reboot to fix things.

Overall 3/10

This was definitely one of the most anticipated films of the year. If not for a certain other film that was arriving in a month, it definitely would have taken the title for me. I’m not going to deny that Spiderman has a slight shot at taking Captain America down….but it’s very unlikely! The Winter Soldier is definitely one of MCU’s best entries and it won’t be forgotten anytime soon! Spoilers approach depending on how you look at it…but I’d probably count them as spoilers.

The plot starts off with Steve Rogers as he humiliates the Falcon in a friendly jog. He’s called onto a mission and he takes on the mighty Batroc. Things get dicey from there as Captain America is told that SHIELD cannot be trusted. They’ve been infiltrated and now our Avenger must find a way to stop the world from falling into chaos. Good thing he’s got Black Widow and the Falcon to back him up! Another thorn in Cap’s side is the fact that an assassin known as the Winter Soldier is out to stop him.

The plot is definitely solid since conspiracy stories always have potential to be interesting. Still, we’re going to need a solid cast and some good fight scenes to make this work. Luckily, Captain America makes for a good main character. He may not be as charismatic as Iron Man or as epic as Superman, but Cap is a solid character. He’s finished adjusting to the new world in this film and he’s used to taking on missions. Has Captain America become the next GI Joe? Surprisingly, Captain America doesn’t seem to be the type to take prisoners quite as much as he used too.

It is loosely up for debate though since we can’t tell how badly he is harming his opponents. Captain America does hit a few humans with his shield in a powerful swing and I can’t see how they would be okay after that. He also throws his dagger into someone’s hand to stop him from pulling the alarm, which seemed to be added to make the film “gritty.” So, how much I like Cap really depends on how he handled the foot soldiers. I’m going to give him the benefit of the doubt and say that he just knocked them all out, which saves his character. I can’t say that I care for his Steve Rogers “form” but it may be that he just doesn’t have an opportunity to get any really good scenes. We only get to see him panic when Widow steals his flash drive (Serious panic as he quickly attacked her) and then let the Winter Soldier humiliate him. Rogers definitely overreacts when the going gets tough.

Black Widow is one of the main supporting characters and this time she has her electronic stingers. I’ve never been a fan of the Black Widow and there have only been a few exceptions. She was all right in the Iron Man anime and she was tolerable in both of the Avenger TV shows. It was really the movies that made sure I was not a fan. She didn’t seem to have a reason to be in Iron Man 2 and her scenes in Avengers made me root against her. (Banner had finally found his safe haven!) I will say that she looks better here than in the other two films, but she’s definitely not going to be one of my favorite MCU characters. She’s the hardened SHIELD agent so she makes sure to hit villains once they’re already down. Amidst all of this, at least she got a decent role to herself unlike the next character…..

The Falcon! I’ve never really minded the character and he’s actually enjoyable in the comics…usually. The problem with his role in the film is the fact that it was completely filler. They did not need him to be in the film and things would have worked out. Just about anyone could have put on a pair of tech wings and then proceeded to save the day. In his climatic fight, he couldn’t even take the quick win. Strength isn’t everything, but there weren’t many other scenes for the Falcon to prove his toughness. The Falcon wasn’t a bad character…he was just out of place. I’m sure that he could be a decent assist character in a future MCU film.

Nick Fury is around and he gets the usual hype, but this is not his most commanding appearance. He gets into a fight with the Winter Soldier and he gets into a disagreement with Captain America which is pretty impressive, but also a dangerous way to play the game. If you’ve been watching the Agents of SHIELD, then you know that Fury can be a little…dicey. His decision to have Black Widow nearly compromise the opening mission was also shady. His ending is pretty tragic and sudden, but maybe it was the right thing to do. Fury is a decent character, but he made some pretty rookie mistakes towards the end.

Maria Hill gets a brief role towards the end. She doesn’t get to appear for very long, but she does play a critical role in the film. She takes out her opponents pretty easily and coordinates the plan at the end. I dare say that she looked a lot more impressive than Agent Sitwell.

The Winter Soldier was the hyped villain for this film. They make sure to throw loads of hints that he’s Bucky from early on. Of course, you may have suspected that from the trailers and TV spots. Nonetheless, I’m sure that it was a shock for some moviegoers. I can’t say that I would have been very shocked because I probably wouldn’t have remembered Bucky from the first film. He wasn’t very memorable and he wasn’t my kind of character. Why has Bucky turned to the dark side? You’ll need to see the film to learn that!

Captain America fights the Winter Soldier a few times and they’re pretty evenly matched. I’m more than a little skeptical at the Winter Soldier’s rifle knocking Cap away from his shield, but I can let that go for now. Winter Soldier holds his own in his fights against Cap, but that’s usually because of his metal arm. Still, the Winter Soldier is a pretty epic villain and he’s much better than some of the other MCU threats.

Director Coulson doesn’t get to appear, but I thought that he deserved a mention…carry on!

The Winter Soldier isn’t the true mastermind behind everything. The real leader is not quite as cool and he can’t really fight….but he can talk a really good game. The more “heroic” he started to sound, the more that I knew that he couldn’t be trusted. I can’t forget to mention the fact that Stan (The Man) Lee makes his triumphant return. Someone actually steals something while he’s on duty, but that’s probably bad news for the miscreant!

I would talk about Agent 13, but she doesn’t really do much in this film. She gets a few scenes, but she’ll likely get a bigger role in the next film. The writers will need to make sure that she is not too similar to Black Widow since that can be a quick mistake. As long as she doesn’t bring Rogers into the dark side, she should be a decent character. I can’t say that her final showing was very impressive in this film though.

I’ve heard that this was known to be a lot more violent than the other MCU films. I can’t say that I noticed while watching the film, but I suppose that it was more violent than previous installments like Thor and Iron Man 2. That being said, there were no scenes that really made me cringe like in the Avengers. I wouldn’t say that the violence was over the top and the worst scene in terms of violence would probably be Bucky’s flashback or Cap’s dagger throwing scene. The gunshots weren’t too bad since they’re just basic wounds that disappear quickly.

Admittedly, I completely do not remember the film having a soundtrack. I was probably too caught up in all of the scenes and intense battles. Winter Soldier’s theme is the only one that I remember, but it was pretty good. That’s enough to give the film a thumbs up in the music category.

The film did a good job in not increasing the outlandish Captain America feats. In Avengers we saw Cap block Thor’s hammer and also jump from an enormous height without a parachute. In this film, Cap looks tough, but it’s definitely more realistic. Jumping from the glass building may cause some concern, but it’s definitely a lot more believable. Cap had a lot of trouble with Batroc, but that’s just the way that the ball bounced I suppose. It does hint that Batroc is at around Winter Soldier level. The hand to hand fight scenes in the film were definitely fun and are some of the best in the MCU. Getting some more fights like this in the next Cap film would be fun and maybe he can try these tricks on Ultron in Avengers 2.

Naturally, you’ll want to stay after the credits! There are two scenes this time. The first one shows two fighters who have been captured and they’re basically at the end of their ropes. Who are they and what do they want with us!? I wasn’t really a fan of that scene, but the second one is pretty intense. We get foreshadowing that will come in handy if you missed part of the ending. It’s basically an alternate way to end the film.

The film goes pretty smoothly and there is only one slow part. Things drag on a little when Black Widow and Cap go to search for the truth. We get some hijinx at the mall and then we get an “epic” confrontation with an old foe. I’m not going to say that they should have cut out those scenes, but I wouldn’t have minded if they took up a little less time. They had a really unnecessary scene where Black Widow and Cap have to pretend that they’re dating and their conversations were pretty awful for a while. This is not what I want to see in my superhero films!

Overall, this was a very good film. There isn’t much in the way of negatives for me. I addressed the part of the film that was a little slow and Cap’s portrayal may be a little dicey. For once, I think it’s okay that the other Avengers didn’t appear since the threat was pretty minimal. (It was a big threat, but they wouldn’t have known the full scope of it) The fight scenes definitely gave the film an extra boost and it didn’t really fall into any major holes. Superhero films should aspire to be like this one and now Winter Soldier can join the elites! (Avengers, Ghost Rider, Spider Man 3) I can safely say that it is the best MCU stand alone film. If you’ve liked any of the previous ones, then I highly recommend it.

Overall 8/10

Resident Evil may not be the greatest film series out there, but I will admit that the posters for this installment were pretty good. It was a tough call between this one and “Project Alice-Activate,” but I believe that I made the right call. Can the film possibly match up to its usage of one of the greatest titles of all time? I don’t think so!

All right folks, you’ve heard it all before. Zombies are among us and the heroes are powerless to stop them. Well, things are a little more dire than they had been because Humanity is essentially extinct. There are still humans around, but instead of a few billion, we’ve probably got around 1000. That’s a number that I constructed out of thin air since they don’t really tell us, but if the water has evaporated in many oceans…how will the humans stay alive? Most of the world is just one giant desert at this point.

There are two main plots that merge by the end. Alice is on her own and she must continue to travel while remaining undetected by the government that is trying to track her with a satellite. Meanwhile, Carlos, Claire Redfield, and LJ are still around. It’s unknown what happened to Jill, but I’m sure that she’s busy defeating zombies. The three “heroes” are trying to survive in a desert along with many expendables and one shot characters. They are attacked by a large number of zombie crows, which quickly reduce their numbers. Alice saves them with her new abilities and decides to join their ranks. Unfortunately, this brings along the Umbrella group and all of the zombies.

I won’t say which characters survive this assault, but it’s definitely not a large amount. Their only glimmer of hope is a book that someone left behind. It circles a lot of locations and the heroes immediately realize that the meaning is obvious. There is an area of land that the zombies have not found yet! The group prepares to head out, but they will have to deal with a monster!

Alice is still the main protagonist, but she doesn’t look as good as she did in the last film. Sure, she is vastly stronger than she was, but power doesn’t always equal greatness. It’s impressive that she can destroy someone with a kick, but it doesn’t change the fact that she was knocked out by mere mortals. She handles herself pretty well for the most part, although she should have won with less effort. All of that said, she’s still the best character in this film by a long shot.

Next, we’ve got LJ. He’s definitely a shadow of his former self and I can’t even say that he’s a likable character anymore. He was funny in the last film, but not in this one. He looks pretty weak as he’s overpowered in a surprise attack from one of the zombies. That’s one character who couldn’t stay cool.

We’ve also got Carlos, but he has the same problem as LJ. It’s to a lesser extent, but Carlos isn’t as cool either. He’s not the seasoned veteran that we remember from the good ole days and he doesn’t know when it’s time to take the win. He takes down a lot of zombies, but it’s not very spectacular. Still, he wasn’t a bad character and that’s what counts.

We also get some new characters, but they’re not extremely important to the plot so we can essentially skip them. Wesker appears, but it’s in a very small role so he barely needs to be mentioned. I will say that he’s pretty cool in this film and definitely the best villain. He keeps the other villains in line from his hologram for a while. Any scene with Wesker was typically epic and we also got some great tunes during that moment.

Isaacs is the main villain of this film, but he’s not very exciting to watch. He also doesn’t make for a great villain because he’s weak and generically evil. He gets a power up towards the end of the film, but it doesn’t help him become a better villain. Power doesn’t save the day, only will power and determination can truly stop the zombies.

Now it’s time to get into the multitude of negatives for the film. First off is the obligatory fanservice scene. This time it takes place in the very beginning of the film as a clone of Alice goes through the same events from the first film until she dies against the defenses. It’s one of those moments where you can’t help but sigh in disbelief. Having this scene for three films in a row is definitely a bit much.

Next up, would be the violence. The first two films were already extreme, but this installment brings it to a whole other level. It’s what I would expect from something like The Walking Dead. Also, it contradicts the fact that their blood should be frozen or more solid like in the first two films. Nope, in this one we get large spurts when they are destroyed. Additionally, Alice uses swords a lot more in this film so that gives the film an excuse for the added violence.

The crow scene is also tough to watch because it mixes the overwhelming violence with animal violence. That’s definitely a losing combo in any form of media and it definitely did not help the film. We also get more dog violence to destroy the film even further. Basically, we had every kind of violence that you would expect from a zombie film and too a high level. That’s reason enough to back away from this film.

One negative that is introduced in this film is a very boring background. The second film had the city as a backdrop which was awesome and the first one was in a cool lab. This film largely takes place in the desert and that’s one of the worst areas that you can ever be in. It means that every scene will lose some interest points and that every area looks the same.

Well, at least the soundtrack is still good. The techno theme that occurs when the villain base appears is very good and it’s a highlight. It’s really the only memorable theme from this film so it has fallen, but it’s still good. One great piece of music can save an entire soundtrack if it is performed accurately. The ending is also pretty intense. Resident Evil typically has great endings so that was to be expected. The ending definitely implies that the next film will easily be the greatest in the franchise. Is that what happens? Well, we’ll be finding out very soon!

Overall, this was the worst Resident Evil film so far. The cast of characters, soundtrack, and amount of negatives were all worse than the first two films. This one didn’t have any great fight scenes (Although the last one was a good display of super powers) and Jill disappeared for no discernible reason. It has been years since the last film, but they could have at least made a reference. I definitely would not recommend this film due to the animal violence and large amount of negatives. If you want to watch a film that promises danger and excitement, then check out the original Transformers G1 movie!

Overall 2/10

*Disclaimer, this is a review of the edited version of the film so that it is TV-14. The uncut version would likely get a lower score*

It looks like it’s time for the sequel to be reviewed! Well, after the first installment in the movie franchise, we can expect that the soundtrack will still be excellent. Will the rest of the film manage to surpass the original or is it doomed since it’s a sequel? Looks like it’s time to find out!

The film takes place immediately after the first one and we even get an early scene to show us what happened before the ending. Scientists quickly head into the facility that Alice and friends were in, but they’re overpowered and the zombies escape into the cities. We jump into the near future and see Alice grab her shotgun and get ready for some action. Meanwhile, the zombies take over the city and the Umbrella corporation shuts off the area. There are a few different plots at first, but eventually they all merge together.

Jill is one of the top notch officers of the city and she takes out a few zombies with ease as she heads to the outer perimeters of the city. Unfortunately, Umbrella quickly locks it down and they have their men shoot at anyone who gets too close. Meanwhile, Carlos and his team of trained professionals try to take down as many zombies as they can. Unfortunately, they realize that Umbrella has abandoned them and now they must try to live through this. Finally, LJ is just trying to live through this. He didn’t start this fight….but he may just survive it!

The plots are all completely separate at first. After all, this is a pretty big city and having a few different subplots makes sense. Eventually, Alice, Carlos, and Jill meet up with LJ and they prepare to leave the city. The only way out is through a helicopter, which is there to take away a few government officials and Nemesis. A scientist will tell them where the helicopter is once they rescue his daughter. His daughter is currently hiding out at a school, but that area may not be safe for long!

Alice is pretty intense in this film because she finally has her memories back. That’s a pretty good boost by itself, but Alice has also gotten superhuman abilities thanks to the experiments that were done. She’s essentially the strongest character in the series now right? Well, she does get a super enemy of her own to fight. Alice is a seasoned pro in this film and it’s always good to see that. It may be hard to call her a hero, but it’s definitely good to be her ally.

Nemesis is the final boss of this film and his abilities are definitely comparable to hers. He may be physically stronger than Alice, but they are nearly equal in that area. Alice’s big edge is definitely her speed and she’ll need it since Nemesis comes equipped with a handy rocket launcher/missile launcher. There is a big twist about Nemesis, but you’ll already know it if you saw the original film.

Including Jill in this film was pretty cool since she’s essentially the only Resident Evil character that I knew aside from Wesker and Chris. Unfortunately, while she does look great in her first appearance, she’s quickly out shined by Alice. Jill is only a human so it’s not inaccurate that Alice would outperform her, but Jill could have looked better. She was essentially a non factor during the second half of the film. She could have learned a few things from Chris.

Carlos was another one of the main characters and he’s also human. The big difference is that he still looks really good. He’s not at Alice level, but he takes out around 100 zombies and many of the guards who protect the helicopter. He was the best human character in the film and he was how I picture Chris Redfield to be. I thought that he was Chris for a while there. He held out against the zombies for a while and that’s no small feat for a man with a gun.

LJ is the surprise hit of the film. This guy definitely plays for keeps and he gets some of the best scenes in the film. At one point, it’s LJ vs Nemesis. All I’ll say is that LJ is confirmed to be in the sequel; can Nemesis say the same? LJ has a pair of golden guns and he’s prepared the whole time. He adds some comedy that the film really needed and it’s actually decent comedy. Not something that you typically see in any action film, much less a zombie film. He also owns a Cadillac, which is easily the greatest car company of all time. He confirms this towards the end of the film, right before he completely pulls one over the entire cast. That’s what I like to see from new characters that want to prove themselves in an established franchise. Let’s not achieve a Giant Condor performance folks.

That’s basically all of the major characters. I could mention the main villain, but he’s as generic as they come. Let’s head into the holes, which unfortunately…always overpower the positives in this franchise. First would be the excessive violence issue. It’s to be expected since this is a zombie film and all of the characters use guns. That being said, it makes The Lord of the Rings look tame! You’ll be seeing zombies get destroyed in every way possible and a lot of humans are also taken out. Every scene is sure to come with a pile of violence.

The film actually goes a step further than the last one since we get significant animal violence. At one point, a few zombie dogs attack and you can probably guess what happens to them. I own a really cool, amazing, super dog myself so I find it inexcusable when dogs, or any other animal, get hurt in a film. As a famous man once said, “It’s disruptive, it’s undisciplined….” I completely took the quote out of context, but it works perfectly for this film. It’s unnecessary and completely destroys whatever score the film was going to get. Some series manage to survive through that like One Piece, but it has over 600 episodes to try and get away from that. This film only has around 90 minutes to make me forget…and I did not forget! One of the characters even insults the dogs and he’s quickly eaten. Why must the humans be as unlikable as the villains!? I can’t even……

Anyway, another unnecessary addition was the Alice fanservice scene. Why do we get one of these scenes in Every single film? I’m pretty sure that there is one of these scenes per film, but I can’t verify until I see the 5th film. The first 4 had them and that’s already sad. The excuse this time is that she was knocked out/died and taken to a research facility which pulled a Wolverine origin on us. After the scene is over and Alice has her outfit from the end of the first film, she quickly murders or gravely injures the staff that was there. It’s “hardcore” and all, but the first part could have been cut out. Why couldn’t she already be in full uniform instead of in stasis?

Are there any other negatives? Well, the rest is the more minor things, routinely expected to be in these films. These include: Zombies, Language, Unlikable characters, etc. That being said, the cast of characters was better than your average horror/slasher film so that’s some progress.

Let’s get back into the positives! The soundtrack was great as expected and this series continues to impress in that area. We get some perfect battle themes and a lot of cool sci-fi as well. The soundtrack is 5 stars and while Avatar may have gotten a Grammy for its soundtrack; it can’t hold a candle to this film.

Another positive is the fact that this film plays out more like a superhero film. That will continue for parts of the next film and the beginning of the 4th as well. Since Alice is stronger than the MCU Avengers is superhuman, she can do a lot of things that she couldn’t before. This includes her super speed and a large array of athletics. There’s even a pretty good one on one fist fight at the end with Nemesis. The fact that the whole film takes place in the city instead of in a facility is another major positive.

Overall, it’s better than the first film in some areas like the action and setting, but it also has some downfalls like the animal violence and fanservice. The franchise has potential to be a winner, but it’s probably going to take a reboot to generate a higher score. That, or just changing up most of the staff that is working on these films. I want something that’s more of a summer blockbuster with laughs and aliens. Make it happen guys!

Overall 2/10

*Disclaimer, this is a review of the edited version of the film so that it is TV-14. The uncut version would likely get a lower score*

How can a film about people fighting zombies not be an instant global hit? We’ve seen what the Walking Dead did right? (Although, I’m sure that it was a one hit wonder. We won’t be seeing another Walking Dead with that much success) That being said, I’ve never liked any zombie film that I’ve seen or heard about. Zombies are some of the worst enemies that can appear in a film and their only competition would be Vampires of Werewolves. That being said, this film is based off of a video game, which is always cool!

The plot of the film involves a woman named Alice, although she is missing from the very first scene. The first scene starts out as most films start out. There are some employees who are having a good ole time and you may figure that this will be the feel good film of the year. This quickly changes when a vile is dropped and horror ensues. Meanwhile, with the real plot, Alice has lost her memories and she doesn’t have time to gather them as a team of trained professionals breaks into her(?) mansion and quickly take her to a secret passage. These guys want to get to the bottom of the tower so that they can shut down an A.I. that has gone rogue. Alice doesn’t fully understand what is happening here, but she goes along with them. (It should be noted that she’s not really given much of a choice) The group also runs across a police officer and another guy who has amnesia. It’s all pretty routine at first, but can these trained professionals possibly take down such an advanced computer?

Notice that I did’t mention the zombies. That would almost be a spoiler since they don’t arrive until we’re decently late in the film. The reason that it’s not a spoiler…is that zombies are the whole point of Resident Evil. It’s like when Godzilla doesn’t appear for a very long time in his Final Wars film. We all know that he will appear…it’s just a question of when. The zombies are what you would expect from this kind of film. They’re mindless, slow, but get a lot of help from plot hax and sheer numbers. Traitors in the midst of the heroes are also welcome additions to their army.

I should get into the negatives before I go into some of the other details and positives of the film. One negative will be the unnecessary fanservice scene. (Spoiler alert, we get one of those in basically every film. The 4th film may be the only exception, but I may have just forgotten something) The scene is likely there to make sure that I take some points away from the film, but there are classier ways to do that. The scene could have been worse, but it stays for way too long. Luckily it was just that one scene..sort of. The very ending can be a little dicey as well.

The other negative would be the sheer violence in the film. You can immediately tell why this film got such a strong rating when the laser scene pops up. Action violence will always be around in a zombie film, or any kind of action film. Still, the film goes way over the top in this area and that’s another way to take out some points. The scenes where they destroy the zombies actually isn’t extremely violent, (yet) but the zombies themselves look pretty gruesome. Whenever they bite one of the humans, it may make you wince a little.

There is also some unnecessary romance that involves Alice’s previous life. (Not literally, but before her amnesia) It’s not around for too long, but the scenes are pretty unnecessary and they’ll make you wince again. That’s essentially it for the negatives, but those are pretty critical. Let’s go to a happier section as I list the positives for the film!

The soundtrack is easily 5 star worthy. It’s one of the best soundtracks that I’ve seen in a live action film and it can hold its own against any other. It’s really cool to see the schematics of the base because we get a really cool theme going. It gives us a video game impression while also making the film 20% cooler. The ending theme of the film is also great and really makes you hyped for the sequel, no matter how much you liked or disliked this film. The soundtrack is just that good!

Another positive for the film would be the very ending. It’s easily one of the best endings in cinematic history. Not only does the ending pave the way for a sequel, but it shows us what the true scope of the zombie threat is. These guys are playing for keeps and it’s up to Alice to stop them once and for all. It’s really rare to see such an ending make it onto the big screen and it was a good move.

The film does have a final boss and this guy is more of a beast than a zombie. He gets stronger whenever he consumes another person and his abilities may be limitless at this point! He’s very durable and while he may not be completely bulletproof, he can definitely endure a lot of shots. Unfortunately, the way that the heroes beat him is pretty gruesome. Still, this guy was definitely a powerful final boss and he caused a lot of damage.

The real villain would be the Red Queen A.I. She was pretty cool and you could definitely sympathize with her if not for the fact that she murders everyone in her path. It may be the voice that makes her amusing, or the fact that she’s basically in control the entire time. She’s essentially the mastermind of this whole film.

Alice is the main character and she’s a decent protagonist. She doesn’t have her full memories so she’s not as powerful as she usually is. She learns how to fight during the later portion of the film and by the end, she seems to be at her peak once again. Can she truly stop the zombies with her shotgun? Well, we’re going to find out!

Matt is the police officer of the group and he even comes equipped with an emotional backstory. He’s a decent character as well and he does try to get to the thick of things. This guy is tough, but fighting zombies takes more than a handgun. (Unless the person in question is a trained professional) The ending will likely be pretty sad for his fans, but nearly every character in the film gets a sad ending as well. Matt is not alone!

One of the things that helps the film, is the overall atmosphere. It feels like a mystery while adding in some thriller and horror elements. The film did a good job of mixing the three of those together. This is essentially how I would picture a Metroid film if it came out. The atmosphere would be perfect for that kind of film.

Overall, this zombie film was better than the others that I’ve seen, but it could still use a lot of work. While the film had many pros, it had many cons as well. The violence was definitely over the top and unnecessary additions like the main character’s medical capture at the end definitely bring the film down. It’s definitely not the kind of film where you walk away with a big grin on your face. One also feels bad for the monsters. At least the edited version took out most of the language and the soundtrack is sill solid. I can’t really recommend this film, but you may enjoy it if you like zombie films and don’t mind the excessive violence. For minors, your best bet for a good horror film is to check out Batman Phantasm. I actually recommend that Batman film as a solid alternative to all horror fans! I will be reviewing the second film soon, which adds some more positives, while also falling into some new holes.

Overall 2/10

A mission to Mars always sounds fun, but it’s not something that I would want to do. Those voyages take way too long and space isn’t my thing. Still, the plot has is intriguing since space films can always add aliens and it’s hinted at in the plot. Was this film a success or did it turn out like most other space films? Let’s find out!

I’ve always been a big fan of alien/creature films. They’re always fun to watch and the films always have potential to be great. I usually end up dishing out low scores to those films because they make a lot of mistakes, but I always get my hopes up when a new one comes out. Unfortunately, this film may disappoint you if you’re looking for some solid aliens!

The plot involves a group of characters as they head off to Mars. The only one that you need to remember is Luke, as the rest of the crew is quickly destroyed by what seems to be a Kaiju. Luke quickly radios for help, but then the channel is cut. On Earth, they know that it’ll take a long time to get to Mars and Luke may already be dead. That’s definitely not going to stop our heroes! Jim, Terri, and Phil are some of the members who are a part of the new crew. They know the risks and while they are not prepared for any hostile encounter, they have determination on their side! Let’s just say that they’re in for a surprise when they finally make it to Mars!

Well, that’s the general plot and it’s a decent way to start a film. We got a party scene at the beginning, which is supposed to help us relate to the characters and maybe even sympathize with them. That part wasn’t bad and it was definitely an explosive beginning when the monster appeared. Unfortunately, nothing really happens after that. The rest of the film is basically set up for something that doesn’t even get to happen. A little on the sad side eh?

There are aliens in this film, but they have a very generic design. I have to say that they were also some of the worst aliens that we’ve seen in a while. On one hand, they seem to have almost limitless power as they hint that they are the ones who created humanity, or at least the ones who made the animals. They started the evolutionary process. You may be trying to suppress a laugh during the big scene that showcases this, but you may as well let it out. These “all powerful” aliens are quickly forced to retreat when an asteroid shower takes out their planet. So much for their technology and powers!

One part of the film that may annoy most people is the decision that Jim makes. It basically means ditching his whole race and also trusting the word of a being that he’s never truly met. That doesn’t seem like a smart move and it makes Jim unlikable. It’s impossible to agree with this choice, at least for me. That’s why I was glad that the other characters didn’t choose the same path.

I also noticed that this film was PG. I think that a PG rating doesn’t really suffice. The scene where the Kaiju murders the team is pretty intense and PG-13 worthy. Some films do skirt that edge nowadays and Prince Caspian is a good example of that. Still, this film isn’t very violent and that is really the only scene that gets intense. The rest of the film plays it safe and we don’t get any real action scenes. There are some emotional moments in the film, like one guy (not literally) self destructing so that someone else wouldn’t die in a rescue attempt. Still, watch that first Kaiju battle and tell me that the film should be PG!

This film is essentially why I’m not a fan of space movies that do not involve aliens or creatures. Being in space is like being underwater of in the dessert. Those scenes just aren’t interesting in movies and that’s the case here. The scenes could have been worse and they were decent, but they just didn’t mean anything in the end. The film was very misleading and maybe the score would have been better if we didn’t get the Kaiju scene.

See, the Kaiju scene was very intense and it hinted that there were creatures on Mars. I won’t spoil the “epic” twist, but there is no life on Mars. That scene was just meant to trick the audience and keep people watching. There were so many ways that they could have achieved that part in a better way. It was pretty sad when the twist happened and I’m sure that many viewers were not pleased.

Aside from being very uneventful and disappointing, Mission to Mars did have some things going for it. For one thing, there are no really big negatives to the film. It didn’t fall into any of the usual holes like Animal Violence. The film may not have achieved a lot of success in its pros, but the fact that it doesn’t really have any cons, helps it to get such a rating. A 4 isn’t exactly Oscar worthy, but it’s not bad considering the genre and lack of action. Comparing it to some of my recent reviews, this would technically be one of the higher rated ones.

The characters were decent for the most part, but many of them went south. Luke essentially cracked after the Kaiju attack and Jim didn’t make a great move. Self-Destructing isn’t going to help anyone in my books and the other characters were just around. I suppose that I liked the commander who allowed the mission to proceed, but he didn’t get a whole lot of screentime. Maybe he’ll get some more next time!

Overall, this is not a space film that I would recommend. I guess it would be like watching Apollo 11 or Gravity. Space isn’t a great backdrop for me unless there is a lot of action. I like seeing people inside of spaceships or objects in space, but not space itself. A Metroid setting would do very well, but we also need the sci-fi that accompanies that. Adding in aliens just helped to confuse the audience, since it never really amounted to anything. Most of the drama and suspense comes from ship malfunctions and other disasters. They’re sad, but I don’t think anyone paid 20 dollars to go and see people plug the leaks of a space ship. We came for aliens and explosions! If you like realistic space films, then I’m sure that you would like this film. It’s just not my cup of tea. If you want to see a really epic space film, check out DBZ: Broly The Legendary Super Saiyan!

Overall 4/10