Air Force One Review

Posted on September 5, 2014 by dreager1

Disclaimer, Note that this is the TV version of the film so that it has been appropriately edited down to a TV 14 rating. The original version would likely score lower and every part of the review should be correctly associated with the TV version.

I’ve seen a few airplane films recently. By “airplane film” I mean a film where nearly all of it takes place inside of the plane. It’s an interesting genre and it tends to be pretty successful. I dare say that I liked this one even more than the blackmail film and the lost kid story. This isn’t just any ole plane story either…it’s an action film! There’s a lot more fighting involved than the others and the story is solid as well. There’s a lot of tension and excitement so this film earns the thriller genre. It managed to jump into all of the right spots and I don’t think I’ll be forgetting Air Force One anytime soon!

The plot involves the strongest country in the world as they helped to liberate another area. America is doing pretty well and the President promises that they will act a lot quicker in any future situation. He stresses that America will never negotiate with terrorists and he heads for the Air Force One jet to take him back home. He’s prepared to watch the game and everything is going well…until terrorists take over the plane. The President manages to fake his escape as he hides in the back of the plane. Alone and outnumbered over 5-1, President James Marshall must fight his way to the cockpit and find a way to save the many hostages. Among them are his wife and daughter…so this just got personal.

Unlike the last few films I’ve seen, Air Force One opens up with a pretty solid start. The men in black quickly dispatch the guards and take someone away. After that, the film really starts and we get some character development for the President and his men before they enter the plane. Of course, things really begin after the plane is hijacked. President Marshall makes for a great protagonist and I’ll be sure to talk about him in a bit. It’s safe to say that the film wouldn’t be nearly as good without him.

It’s interesting to see Marshall’s plan as he goes through the plane. He definitely can’t just run at the villains so he has to be methodical about his approach. There are many action scenes, but Marshall has to try and keep them quiet so he doesn’t alert the others to his position. The hostages have basically given up. It would have been nice to see them try something, but it would likely require at least one human shield and nobody was volunteering. Ah well, we’re mostly here to see the President defeat the terrorists anyway!

I don’t really have much to say about the soundtrack. I can’t say that any of the themes were that memorable, but I’m sure that everyone will recognize the victory music when the President first gets up in the jet. I actually agree with his plan to grab the phone since making plans with the outside world could really help. Too bad it was such a complicated type of phone though.

I do think that the other countries looked pretty bad or one in particular anyway. The pilots nearly land the aircraft and everyone is ready for the quickest end to a film in ages. Unfortunately, the police officers forget that terrorists are in the plane and they don’t try to land it. Maybe they had orders not to injure Air Force One, but those would be terrible orders. As such, the plane gets away and the terrorists get a free second shot.

James Marshall is the main character and he does a great job as the American President. This guy definitely isn’t messing around and he really believes in the ideals that he sets for America. We find out that he was actually a pretty great soldier back in the day and he even won a medal. That’s good because he wouldn’t have lasted long if he didn’t have that level of experience and expertise. He takes everything in stride and Marshall never cracks. He does have a moment where he has to question his ideals to save lives, but I don’t blame him for his decision. He arguably made the right call at that point and it’s easy to see anyone making that move. It’s also easy to sympathize with James since he just wanted to watch the local Football game before all of this happened. Now he’ll never get to watch the big battle!

Grace Marshall doesn’t really get to do a whole lot in this film since she’s one of the hostages. She takes the situation pretty well and she makes sure to try and protect her daughter as much as possible. She’s a pretty good character, but she really doesn’t get any notable scenes so there isn’t a whole lot to say about her. At least she doesn’t panic like half of the guys at the White House.

I have to admit that I didn’t really care for Alice Marshall’s portrayal. She’s the President’s daughter and there isn’t anything wrong with her personality. I would actually blame it on the writer. Her lines just don’t sound natural and I can’t imagine a 12 year old girl saying them with such confidence and poise. She lets the villain know that he’s nothing like the President and how he is a bad man while the President is a hero. Noble sentiments and I can certainly see someone saying a variation of that, but she’s really calm under pressure and her voice gets pretty deep as she says this. I think the lines would have been written to make them flow more naturally and perhaps she could have delivered them a little better. It’s a mix of the acting and the script in this case. One can also get a little irritated when she interrupts the President’s talk with the air force commando (To try and get home safely) to tell him that everything’s going to be okay. Wise words to be sure…but unnecessary ones at that point in time.

The Vice President is one of the major players in this film. She definitely does not look as impressive as the President and she does her best to make sure that he is safe. On that, she disagrees with some of the other members as they just want her to blow up the plane. “Save the lives of the many while sacrificing the few.” It’s definitely something that we see a lot so there is a lot of pressure on her no matter what choice is made. I have no qualms with her character and it’s just too bad that she never really got to fight.

Egor is the main villain and he’s as unlikable as you would suspect. He’s a crazed terrorist who wants to plunge Russia back into chaos like in the days of old. I don’t think any of us figured that they’d try to make the terrorist likable and that’s a good thing. At least they didn’t go overboard in making us dislike him either. He murders everyone, but at least he’s direct. I’m sure that everyone was waiting for him to meet his end and we even get an iconic line out of it. Egor is essentially the plot device that helps the film to move forward, but he’s not meant to be much of a character.

Gibbs is one of the big players of the film since he is the one who betrays America and aids the terrorists. The film tries an interesting method in his case since the viewers know that he is the traitor from the very beginning and yet he keeps up the act for a while. It’s pretty suspenseful since you don’t know when he’s going to try to backstab one of the heroes and you always have a sense of dread. As far as the villains go, he was much more interesting than the terrorists. His final lines are intriguing as well since he plans to trick the next President as well. I don’t think that would ever work since it should be obvious to everyone that he shouldn’t be trusted. This character definitely got a lot of screen time and we shall not forget Gibbs.

The guys on the ground team at the White House were all right, but they didn’t always take the events very well. At a tough time, the official forgot which wires to cut and he had to look at a schematic. As you can probably guess, he figured out which wire to cut a little too late. Another guy is just interested in asserting his authority over the Vice President. I’ll admit that he was definitely pretty bold and he would make for a good leader, but he definitely didn’t have his priorities straight. The secretary of defense was pretty bold as well, but I don’t think that anyone believed that his plan would work for a second. The co pilot at the end with the President is pretty good, but unfortunately…we know what to expect for him. He was in a pretty bad situation at the time and there wasn’t a really clear way out.

Overall, This was a pretty solid film. It has everything that you can really want from this plot. There are some scenes where you may feel like it’s a bit of a stretch with how easily the terrorists took over, but they had to get control of the plane somehow and it could have been a lot worse. A film like this is guaranteed to have some scenes where the viewer will be skeptical and it did a good job of minimizing this. The President is pretty likable and he has to use a lot of stealth to retake the plane. We get action scenes against other jets and the villains fight on til the end. The hostages can be a little annoying since they never try to do anything, but I guess they had already accepted their eventual demise. Naturally, this is a terrorist attack film so expect some people to be shot at point blank range and there are certainly a lot of casualties. If you don’t want to watch something that is fairly realistic in that regard, then this isn’t the film for you. It never really gets graphic though as the situation is worse than the actual shots. Otherwise, this is a film that I recommend wholeheartedly and it’ll join the other classics as a solid 90s film. It’ll be tough to top this film for a while! Also, don’t worry, it’s highly unlikely that terorists could take over Air Force One so easily in real life. Our government is prepared and ready to win!

Overall 7/10

2001: A Space Odyssey Review

Posted on September 3, 2014 by dreager1

Have you ever seen a film that made you go to sleep? No, I’m not talking about the Lord of the Rings! 2001: A Space Odyssey surpasses that film in that category as the scenes are even more stretched out and the film runs for around the same amount of time. With less plot than a Saturday Morning Cartoon; A main character that makes Alex Hopper look like Tom Cruise; and an ending that would make Inception viewers cringe….we have this film! I hope that you’ve prepared yourself accordingly because watching this film is basically like throwing hours of your life out the window.

What is the plot? The film never figured that out so it’s barely worth mentioning. The first plot is about animal violence and how we descended from Apes. The Apes learned to destroy each other until they managed to become as brutal as the modern humans. After that, we go to David Bowman as he goes to the board meeting. It’s a big conspiracy between the members as they can’t let the press find out what they’re about to do. This journey will be dangerous after all so they convince everyone that there is a plague on board. David takes Frank and Hal 9000 as they head off into the great unknown. However, nothing is as it seems and the humans eventually start to distrust Hal 9000. Obviously, there is only room for one type of being so now they will have to fight. Man vs Machine!

It’s like watching a bad sci-fi film that doesn’t know if it wants to be a thriller, a political film, or a thematic sensation. As a result, the story telling is very convoluted and nothing makes sense. The writing makes the Amazing Spider Man 2 look amazing and it makes the Lord of The Rings appear to be a thrill a minute in comparison. It’s no shock to say that I’m giving this film a single star and it would be hard to say where that star came from. (Or not, Hal 9000 was pretty epic after all) Let’s quickly talk about the characters since there really aren’t many to talk about.

David Bowman is the main lead of the film, but it won’t matter all that much by the end since he has no real personality to speak of. He’s pretty careful around the news reporters, which is good and he doesn’t really gossip. He’s pretty much a no nonsense character and he seems to be pretty reasonable. Did he get a little too drastic in his plan to get Hal 9000? That’s something we’ll discuss later on. Overall, I would actually say that Bowman was a decently good main character. He was very bland and he didn’t have much of a personality, but that also meant that he didn’t really have time to make many mistakes. I can’t say that he fell into any character holes. He’s a perfectly acceptable main character.

Frank Poole is his friend/co worker. You could say that he’s a more aggressive version of David Bowman. Bowman never really voices his opinion about Hal 9000 being dangerous until Frank suggests that they take him out. Bowman was hinting at it, but he was very indecisive and he seemed to want Frank’s agreement before even suggesting it. Frank isn’t subtle like that and everything he does is direct. Because of this, Frank ends up being more likable than David and he’s the best human character in the film. Going outside when the ship is a suspect may be a little….optimistic at best, but every character makes a big error at some point right? Frank Poole was definitely a good character.

Hal 9000 is the big villain of the film. He’s famous and everyone knows about Hal 9000. Despite this, Hal 9000 isn’t actually a very big player. His screen time is a lot shorter than I would have thought. Despite this, Hal 9000 is still as sinister as I had pictured. You really can’t get past his sarcastic voice. “Hello Dave” “I can’t do that Dave” are some of his lines and Hal 9000 never lets up. He has nothing but contempt for humanity and it really shows. I can definitely see why he was remembered since he was one of the only really good things about the film. Right down to the end, Hal 9000’s voice will give you the chills and his end is probably where the film should have ended.

Unfortunately, the film did not end! After that, we just get a lot of scenes that don’t really have any relevance to them. There are a lot of meta readings that you can take from the scenes, but you can also just go to sleep and let the film end on its own. The problem with trying to have a lot of symbolic interpretations is that there is no correct answer. Once you put out a vague ending, the viewer can name any ending that they please and it won’t really be wrong. Thus, there really isn’t a point anymore. The film had no point and that’s one of the saddest parts. We never really begin to like the main characters so there isn’t a sense of relief at the end.

The whole film is really dragged out. The first 5-8 minutes of the film are pure darkness and we even have an intermission with more darkness. The final 15-20 minutes just consist of random oceans and other locations where we can appreciate the view. If I wanted a good view, then I’d pop in my Homer Price dvd and check out the realistic donuts! The main character eventually goes insane and that basically represents the audience by this point. I think it’s safe to say that you’ll lose interest before the halfway mark of the film anyway, but this would throw you off if you were still on board. Even eating a sandwich can take a while in this film as they slowly go for the food and they take forever to finish it. Don’t worry, they silently jog afterwards to burn off the calories. Another example of how the film is dragged out is the conversation with the media. “I’m not at liberty to discuss this” is something that the main character says when they try to get information out of him. What’s his next line? The same exact thing! The writers were just grasping at straws at that point as they just wanted to drag out the dialogue as much as possible. The characters make sure to cough and take deep breaths so that they can stop themselves from replying for a little longer. The camera also has a little lag to it so the scenes end up staying on the screen for longer than necessary. Not that we could expect anything less from this film!

Okay, we’ve established that the film is boring right? I could keep on mentioning this fact and give more examples, but I think you get the point. Still, that can’t be enough to give it a 1 right? Even the Lord of the Rings scored higher than that! Well, one big hole that the film charged into was the classic case of animal violence. Yes, there is animal violence in a space film that is about man vs machines. Why is animal violence present? Because the film forgot what it was about!

The first half hour or so is about a group of monkeys massacring each other. That’s it….there’s no plot, no point, and no fun. It’s just about the animals hurting each other and maturing into humans. It’s essentially a silent film at this stage and it makes the silent scenes of the Arthur tv show look profound and relevant. By this point in the film, I already had a sneaking suspicion that the film could not score above a three. Little did I know that it would never rise up from this error.

The end of the film is all about being trippy and we have a lot of inverted colors and random events that occur. You keep waiting for something to happen and it never does so you’re left with an empty feeling. This is why you shouldn’t make a film very crazy looking just so that you can try to win some awards and get recognition for being unique. Using the tried and true formula of the Mario Bros film would be much better.

Now, should the humans have decided to destroy/dismantle Hal 9000 and his upper functions? He did make a mistake with the satellite, but was it really on purpose as part of some conspiracy? I definitely think that he was trying to cover up his mistake as the film went on, but I don’t think he would have felt that it was necessary to murder the whole crew if Bowman and Frank hadn’t discussed their plan. (Talking in front of a window is never a really smart thing to do) It just seemed like the humans were a little rash in their thinking. Hal 9000 may have been in error, but he didn’t seem to be malicious. There were possibly some veiled threats in his dialogue with the main characters and if he’s so smart…then the mistake had to be intentional right? Nonetheless, while there are some doubts as to what side Hal 9000 was on, they should have given him a chance. At least wait until they’re back on the ground to disable him. Going on the offensive just wasn’t a wise thing to do in their situation. Then, sending out Frank to put the satellite back in place? That’s just asking for trouble. I can’t say with complete confidence that deciding to work with Hal 9000 would have helped them out in the end, but I do think that he wouldn’t have turned completely evil. (Not so quickly anyway)

Overall, 2001: A Space Odyssey is a lot worse than you may have guessed from the cover. There isn’t much of a plot and the events that could have taken 30-40 minutes end up stretching to around 3 hours. The director really wanted this film to be long so he used every artificial technique that he could think of to keep the film going. Because of this, over a third of the film consists of pointless aerial shots or stills of the characters thinking. The intro with the animals is also pointless and the ending doesn’t add anything to the film. The only part with any meat to it was the battle against Hal and that was all too brief. Stay away from this film and all of its animal violence. You would have more fun watching paint dry or taking a nap. The only slight positive would be the main characters, but that’s really not enough to save such a long film. This film may be known as a classic, but I’ll just know it as the film that was more tedious than Lord of the Rings. Watch the latest Star Trek film if you want a good spaceship film.

Overall 1/10

Minority Report Review

Posted on September 2, 2014 by dreager1

My expectations for Minority Report were a little higher than they were for the average film. After all, the video game was excellent with the story (almost) holding its own against the gameplay. The fact that Tom Cruise is the lead is also intriguing since he was so popular back in the day and the concept was great. I also saw a clip of it a while back and it was pretty cool how stores could find out what you wanted through an eye scan as you walked in the store. This was a film with a lot of potential, but my hopes crashed into the ground once the film actually started. This is definitely not a title that I would recommend!

The film starts out by introducing us to this new world. Pre Crime has officers who are able to go travel around and stop crimes before they actually occur. At first, I thought that they were time travelling, which would have created a lot of plot questions, but they just go to the location of the crime and stop it from being committed. This is possible through the three pre cogs that exist at their main headquarters. They can predict a murder a day before it happens or sometimes only a few hours in advance. John Anderton is the main person in charge of finding out where the murder is taking place by analyzing the visions that the pre cogs have. It’s a tough job, but someone’s got to do it! One day, the pre cogs announce that John will murder someone so now he must run for his life and prove that he is innocent! Of course, we have to wonder…is he innocent?

I guess I should start out with the beginning. We get a random bunch of scenes with people being murdered and everything is gritty and chaotic. We eventually see that this is to show how gruesome murder is and how John is around to prevent it. Then we see the scene like 5-8 more times as John tries to figure out where the murder is. Let’s not forget that we see a lady drowning about a dozen or so times as well. Murder is a main theme of the film so it’s to be expected that we’ll see a lot of it, but we don’t need to keep seeing it over and over again. Telling us what John is about to do would have a similar effect. It’s also just not a very good way to start a film. You need a beginning that makes you want to watch the film, not one that chases you away!

Also, this film takes place in the future and there’s a lot that they can do with that. Unfortunately, they never delve into any of the interesting parts. I like to see how films imagine the future to be because they can be close to the truth in some instances and far removed in others. I can see eye scans delivering personal advertisements in the far future and likewise with hover cars. (Although I doubt they’ll be building any vertical roads in the near or far future) We only get glimpses of these things and they were all more interesting than the main plot.

Why? The actual plot is a pretty sound one and it’s like a thriller with a bit of mystery in it. What stops the film from being enjoyable is the unnecessary grotesqueness in several scenes. We have a guy who’s eyeball is missing and it’s really hard to look at him. Now, in real life it’s just sad to see that happen to someone, but in a film…do we need to see this? I don’t think so since it’s just there for shock value. Another set of scenes would be the eyeball transaction. Ugh..

This was easily one of the worst collection of scenes in the film. John decides that he needs new eye balls so he goes to an illegal surgeon. This surgeon isn’t very hygenienic by the way and he used to be a bigger criminal. He’s still illegal, but this is a more subtle practice. He reminds John of this once John is paralyzed and it’s easy to expect the worst. Even without the worst happening, the whole scene is very gross and we even see John’s old eyes in a plastic bag. Just thinking about it makes me wince.

No, it doesn’t stop there! After the long transfer, John goes to the kitchen to make himself a sandwich. He ends up biting a chunk out of a mold sandwich and then he downs it with a green colored milk. Now they’re just adding insult to injury aren’t they? That was pretty gross and it certainly didn’t help the film. The Doctor’s assistant is also pretty bad and she adds nothing to the story except to make you feel bad for John.

Your suspense for disbelief will also need to be decently high to accept the fact that the Government allows Pre Crime to have so much power. Their spider bots can go into your house without a warrant to scan your eyes. I really don’t think that will be happening anytime soon. These spider bots are also not as advanced as they should be since jumping into a pool is enough to fool their heat sensors. Is that really all it takes to evade these guys? My dog Sonic would be able to sniff out the villains faster than the bots! All right, I’ve covered most of the bases for the film. Now, let’s talk about the characters.

John Anderton is the main character of the story and he certainly has a lot more drama than the average lead. After a traumatic event caused him to lose his son, John split up with his wife and became addicted to the “clear” whistle. It’s basically a drug and it’s a pretty low time for John. He works at Pre Crime to prevent murder from ever happening again. It’s definitely a move that makes sense in response to this and I don’t mind that he’s still broken up about what happened. It’s been years, but you never forget something like that. Turning to drugs is definitely going too far though since he can vent his frustration through other means.

John has his big choice during the climax of the film. Do the legal thing and bring the villain to justice or take out the gun and fire. Ethically, we all know what he should do, but it’s still a hard choice to make in person. I won’t disagree with John’s choice, but I don’t really like how he went about it. Letting the man grab the gun at one point is really not cool and it shows that John should have kept his guard up a little more. John’s a pretty good fighter and he takes on many officers from Pre Crime. The fight scenes were pretty fun even though there weren’t many of them and I would have liked to have seen more of the shockwave gun in action. John is a pretty good character overall. He made some pretty big mistakes, but he’s pretty heroic throughout. I would have liked him more though if he had skipped the drugs and also tried to help the pre cogs sooner.

Lamar is an old man who proudly helped to establish Pre Crime. He’s always wanted a chance to end murder once and for all and this was his ticket. Now he is finally preparing to retire and leave the organization to John. Then the big frame up happens and things quickly start to change. Lamar may seem like a nice old man, but I definitely don’t care for him. He doesn’t really possess any of the traits that make a character likable for me, while possessing a few that make it natural for me to dislike him. The character did well inside of his role and it was a necessary one, but I still don’t care for him. Essentially, he was a good addition to the film, but I don’t really sympathize with his plight.

Agatha is the main pre cog from the three members and she’s the only one who is shown to be able to talk with the others. (Not that the other two were really in a state to do that) She doesn’t talk all that often, but she definitely helps John out a lot when he is in a pinch. Her fate isn’t very great at the beginning since the Pre Cogs are basically forced to watch the future and alert the people to who will be murdered next. Their minds are always connected to the network so they don’t have much of a choice about anything. It’s a pretty rough way to live and Agatha finally gets her chance for freedom later on. Of course, if the cops catch her and Anderton…it’s all over. She didn’t really have a chance to become a very likable character since she doesn’t really get to adjust to the modern world. She seems like she’s a good person and that’ll have to do.

Danny is the cop who’s trying to find John during the film. He’s pretty tough and he never backs down from a fight. I typically like the type of character that he is since he is always serious about his job. Danny is going to do whatever it takes to bring John in and he never doubts his cause. I will admit that his reaction times are rather slow though and he didn’t have the greatest ending to his character arc. Luckily, he did get a solid fight scene in the film so we know that he really isn’t all talk. I dare say that he was a more likable character than the main lead although it can be debatable. Perhaps he put too much trust in the magical ball that foretold the future though…

Lara is John’s ex wife and she plays a large role towards the end of the film. I was surprised by it since it appeared like her role would be small at best. She turns out to be pretty good by the end although she certainly made her share of mistakes during the film. Given the circumstances, Lara ends up being one of the better characters in the film. I would have preferred if she could have landed a solid blow on one of the villains at some point, but it wasn’t to be.

It’s also disappointing to see the fact that the Pre Cogs are just left in the pool for eternity to help Pre Crime out. Doesn’t anyone see something wrong with this system? It’s obviously not a pleasant experience for the three Pre Cogs and someone should do something about this. It makes you wonder how ethical the world that they live in is. Sure, they’ve effectively gotten rid of murder in that area, but there are still many other crimes out there. Let’s hope the government is prepared for what comes next.

Overall, Minority Report definitely couldn’t live up to the video game. The game was awesome on all levels and this one was a pale reflection at best. They both contain many identical scenes, but the game managed to really capture you with the plot without resorting to gross moments or excessive murder displays. The film spent too much time trying to shock the audience instead of just going through the story naturally. The dark element involved in the tragedy for the main character may make him more sympathetic, but it doesn’t help the actual film. Such a move will never help the film since a happier sob story would be better. I don’t recommend this film and if you want a futuristic film that actually shows how the future will probably be in 800 years, I recommend Yugioh 3D Bonds Beyond Time!

Overall 3/10

Aladdin Review

Posted on August 30, 2014 by dreager1

It’s time for a classic film review. This title is basically the opposite of TMNT in many ways. Aladdin is a heartwarming story about a man who must risk life and limb to stop the evil plots of those who would harm the kingdom and Princess Jasmine. His name is Aladdin and he has become a very iconic figure in Disney history. Does this film deserve to be called a classic? Let’s see!

Whoops, did I already spoil the plot? Well, that was a rather vague version of it anyway. Princess Jasmine is to be married to a rich prince as per the Kingdom rules, but she doesn’t like any of them. One day, she escapes to the outside world and meets up with Aladdin. They are soon separated and now they know that they are meant to team up as they try to get back together. Unfortunately, Jafar intends to stop this since he wants the crown for himself. Whoever gets the magical lamp to summon the Genie may end up having a great advantage over the other!

Aladdin is the main lead of the film, but the title probably gave that away. He’s essentially what you would expect for the main character. He likes to defy the authorities and he steals food from the shop owners whenever he can. He talks a really good game (Like 99% of the current film protagonists) and then proceeds to get crushed by the weakest of minions. “You’re only in trouble if you get caught” is one of his most wince worthy moments since he gets caught immediately after saying this. Haven’t we seen enough characters who talk their way to the finish line only to be defeated instantly in combat? I can’t say that it’s very entertaining. Aladdin is also one of those guys who immediately falls in love at the drop of a hat and it hurts his overall character arc. He tends to hesitate a lot, which makes him fall short when the stakes are at their highest. He also tries to lie his way through situations and the fame of being a prince gets to him. He just fell into so many character holes throughout the film that I can’t say that Aladdin is one of the better main characters. He could have been good, but he was a little too generic and not someone that I could really root for.

Jasmine is a pretty decent character and it’s easy to sympathize with her plight. An arranged marriage is like a surprise dinner from your worst nightmares. Nothing will turn out as you’ve always pictured and things will just keep going downhill forever. I don’t know why the Sultan won’t just rewrite the rule, but maybe he doesn’t know that he can actually do that. Jasmine’s pet tiger is pretty intense as well and we can thank him for all of the assistance that he gave Jasmine. Unfortunately, Jasmine goes too far with her plan to distract Jafar and she just should have tackled him or grabbed the staff. It would have been a better way to stop him without degrading herself. It’s no exaggeration to say that the scene did hurt the film’s overall rating. Jasmine was a decent character, but the onslaught of romance scenes threw her down a few pegs.

Jafar is definitely a pretty weak villain. He’s just another guy who wants power and romance as he ascends to the top of the food chain. He wants to become the Sultan as quickly as powerful and he sends in his underlings to do the dirty work for him. When it comes down to a fight, Jafar must rely on his staff since he’s really not a fighter. He does get a big moment at the end of the film, but he spoils it since he didn’t think it through. He should have just protected the lamp from being touched..but he was not yet fast enough. Even without the romance, I wasn’t a fan of Jafar, but it certainly didn’t help his case. Iago was a better villain!

Iago is one of the more sinister creatures in the film since he’ll do anything for money and power. He definitely talks big and he doesn’t really back down from anyone. He’s one of those character’s who’s literally all bark and no bite, but that’s just how his character is. His personality may not be as enjoyable if he was a tough fighter, but that’s up for debate I suppose. It’s hard to see how he could turn over a new leaf, but he does know where the money and power now reside….

Abu is Aladdin’s pet monkey and he’s not one of the biggest supporting characters in the film. He has his moments though and he is probably a decent character for some. I don’t really care for him myself, but he keeps things real. He’s a decent fighter and he always goes all out although he is not quite as nice as Aladdin. He reluctantly parts with his piece of bread and he is pretty sad about the whole thing. I may like him more in the sequel…maybe.

The Sultan is one of the main sources of comic relief for the film. He only wants what’s best for Jasmine, but his thirst for fame and glory blind him to this and he tries for her to get married as quickly as possible. He lacks strength of character so he is easily manipulated by Jafar. It’s too bad for him because the Sultan is still a decent character…or he has the potential to be decent. He plays with his toys during his free time and he can talk a pretty good game. Unfortunately, it is often too little too late and I can’t really forget how he was tricked so many times. He’s charismatic, but you begin to dislike him when you realize how bad some of his decisions are.

Genie is one of the most popular characters of the Aladdin franchise and he’s definitely unforgettable. He basically has unlimited power so he doesn’t need to fear anyone. He gets tricked a few times by Aladdin, but he learns as he goes. Genie doesn’t like to be double crossed and he doesn’t really care too much for being a genie, but he puts on a tough face and endures it. He’s definitely one of the most likable characters in the film and he’s always ready with some good advice for Aladdin. He doesn’t possess a lot of “strength of character” since the lamp is always able to override what he really wants to do. Luckily, that shouldn’t be a problem for him in future appearances.

The animation isn’t bad for this film. I definitely miss the good ole hand drawn days of Disney and this one reminds you why it can be so special. It reminds me of those computer games that were all the rage back in the day. The animation is rather similar. I do think that America was significantly behind Japan at the time in animation, which explains why Transformers and Gundam look better than Aladdin. For what it is, Aladdin still looks good though and you can easily follow what is happening. There aren’t any obvious animation errors. (Although his bread almost appeared to have chocolate in it at some points) All of the character designs quickly became iconic after this film.

There are several songs in this film, but it’s not overdone like in High School Musical. My main complaint would be the fact that it’s really hard to follow the lyrics. The sound effects are too loud during the chase scene so some of Aladdin’s lines can’t really be heard and you’ll get lost midway through the song. The voices were pretty good and the songs were decent, but this isn’t the next “Everything is Awesome” or “Let it Go.” (Although I already forgot the latter one. I need to give that song a listen too….someday) So, the songs didn’t really bother me in this film since the villains didn’t play a major part in it. Nothing’s worse than seeing the villain get a few songs to himself to remind us just how sinister he is!

Unfortunately, there was one extremely wince worthy romance scene that derailed the film faster than a dog will snatch away your bacon from the table. It’s the kind of scene that can really shave a few points off of anything even if it is fairly brief. It’s just something that I don’t want to see in my entertainment and I was surprised that this was in a Disney film. Jasmine decides to distract Jafar with her fake words while Aladdin went for the Lamp. That’s already pretty terrible in itself, but I didn’t expect it to get worse. Unfortunately, words are not enough so Jasmine takes the next step, but it’s a step that should never be taken. There were a lot of other alternatives for Jasmine at the moment and she should have just tackled the villain.

This makes Aladdin look bad as well for two reasons. One, he kept on hesitating and stopping, which made things worse for Jasmine. He ultimately fails in his quest to grab the lamp as well so it was basically all for nothing. The second reason would be the fact that Aladdin allowed this to happen as well. I’d expect some “Brooklyn Rage” (Abridged term) from him and a solid punch. Aladdin could likely beat Jafar in a fist fight and he would just need to prevent Jafar from ordering the Genie to help. That really wouldn’t be too hard for him and then Jasmine could grab the lamp. So, what I’m saying is that drastic measures, which involve degrading yourself to stall the villain is basically a no no. The scene shouldn’t have happened and the fact that Aladdin still failed was pretty awful.

Aside from that scene, the film also does have a lot of romance stuff in it. That’s not typically a good thing and I wouldn’t say that it’s handled all that well here either. The flirting can be pretty irritating after a while and it’s even worse if you don’t care for the two main characters that much. Romance typically doesn’t have a place in any film and this one overdoes it.

At least Aladdin has no trouble with its pacing. A lot of events happen in the short runtime of the film and the plot changes from one scene to the next. Most of the characters got their necessary development and the villain had time for two different plans! Unfortunately, I still didn’t end up liking the characters all that much, but Disney tried. At least I did like (some of) the animal characters in this film. The tiger was hardcore and the birds were also cool. There aren’t many action scenes in the film, but they’re fairly good and the danger scenes inside of the cave of wonders are also well done. The film definitely had a lot of potential.

Overall, Aladdin is definitely one of Disney’s most well known films, but it’s definitely no all star. Frozen would wipe the floor with this film and Aladdin just hasn’t aged all that well. It should be noted that I’ve never been a fan of desert films as it is. (Although that wasn’t really a negative in this film) Aladdin can be a fun watch for the family, but there are just too many scenes that aren’t funny or enjoyable. The critical scene that I mentioned earlier is ultimately what destroyed the film for me. Of course, there were also several other romance scenes that were pretty bad. If you really don’t mind romance and are just happy to see the heroes come out on top no matter how they got there…then you may enjoy this film. Still, if you want to watch a fun animated film, I’d recommend checking out Megaman NT Warrior The Program of Light and Darkness! You won’t be disappointed as that one features the greatest character of all time and some epic action!

Overall 4/10

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Review

Posted on August 30, 2014 by dreager1

The Summer is basically over, but we’re still ready for one more big action film right? This film has some pretty steep competition since we’ve already witnessed some all stars in Captain America and Spiderman. Godzilla provided us with an unforgettable cinematic experience and Guardians of The Galaxy continued the MCU’s streak of victories. This means that the Ninja Turtles must try to defeat Robocop, X Men Days of Future Past and Transformers. Can it do this or is it already doomed to lose? The film was essentially about as good as I thought it would be and it didn’t drag on quite as much as I had feared.

The film gives us a quick intro to the turtles as we see them train and get a feel for the surroundings. (This is what the remake film for Batman and the upcoming Dr. Strange film should definitely do) We learn that the Foot Clan was a pretty powerful organization, but the cops eventually forced them to go underground. Now, the Foot Clan is prepared to rise up once again with the mighty Shredder as their leader! Splinter commands the Turtles to refrain from visiting the outside world because they are not yet ready. The Turtles don’t really care though because they have lives to save! April O Neal gets involved after she witnesses a battle between the two sides. She wants to expose the Turtles for the heroes(?) that they are, but they don’t want this. Will the Turtles be able to take down the Shredder and will April get her scoop!? The stakes have never been higher….

First off, I have to give the film some credit for the fight scenes. The battles against the Shredder were pretty intense. I dare say that they were more fun than Wolverine’s battle against the Silver Samurai. It may not be quite up to snuff with something like Cap vs Winter Soldier, but it was still very good. I dare say that the action scenes were better than I had anticipated. The iconic battle between the Shredder and the 4 Turtles atop the tower is easily the best fight, but Splinter’s battle is pretty emotional as well.

Of course, it may not be as enjoyable if you don’t like blowouts. The four turtles are literally unable to damage Shredder in their fights until the very end where the plot demands that the film must have a happy ending. It’s 4 to 1 and Shredder is basically toying with the turtles. There were several times where he could have finished them off and he just didn’t bother. The film also makes sure to show us that Splinter could also take on the 4 turtles at once since he gave the Shredder a better fight. I really feel bad for the Turtles sometimes.

The normal action scenes against the Foot Clan is a little less entertaining. The camera angles weren’t very good so it was hard to get an accurate picture of the action. It was still pretty suspenseful and epic to see the Turtles doing so well in the shadows, but we all knew who would win. I found myself missing the pizza boy from the original films a few different times.

The soundtrack is pretty generic. Nothing that you haven’t heard before. Unfortunately, it ends up being pretty negative thanks to the rap song during the credits. Easily the worst song that I’ve heard in such a mainstream film in a long time. I really don’t like rapping and it tends to make any scene a little less enjoyable. In moderation, it is possible to have a good rap song in the background, but it’s extremely rare. Mostly because I just don’t care for the beat and the lyrics are usually pretty cringe worthy. This is one film where you should make sure to dash out as soon as the credits start. Nobody’s got time for that song!

One issue with the film is naturally the romance. This is a work that is associated with Michael Bay so I’m sure that we all expected the worst. It never gets as drastic as the early Transformer films, but it can still be very annoying and grating on the ears. Michelangelo is constantly flirting, which isn’t cool. He never stops going after April and you really want the other turtles to make him back off. Unfortunately, they tend to ignore him. April’s partner also flirts a lot, although at least he does it in a classier way. If not for one scene where he shows that he doesn’t mind stooping to low levels, he would have actually been a good character. Unfortunately, it’s hard to save such a character. At least there really isn’t much here in terms of fan service, but unnecessary flirting is still pretty bad.

One big complaint that I had with the film was the lack of pizza scenes. If you’re a TMNT fan, then you’ll know that pizza is always very involved in the franchise. It only gets one or two scenes during the flashbacks and a single appearance in the modern times. They claim that it’s a Pizza Hut slice, but it bears to resemblance to any Pizza Hut slice that I’ve ever had! Even if it did have 99 cheeses on it, the actual slice should look similar. The film really dropped the ball there and the tension in the theater was pretty ominous. I think we were all tempted to leave and go to Pizza Hut for a true slice to compare it to the film’s.

Raphael is probably the best turtle from the group, although Leonardo is close. Raphael is basically the tough member of the group, while still being very nice and gentle on the inside. It’s an “epic” plot development where he confesses what he has been holding inside all these years. Everyone else ignores him and you’re supposed to feel bad for the guy. I was just waiting for the plot to continue. Raphael is pretty confident and he may be the strongest turtle, but he’s still no match for the Shredder. Raphael is decently likable, but he’s ultimately generic and he’s essentially the winner by default.

Leonardo is close, but it’s mostly because of the fact that he’s pretty silent compared to the others. He’s the fearless leader, but he spends all of his time trying to prove his superiority to Raphael. He gets one scene where he goes up against the Shredder in a one on one fight. All I will say is that the fight scene lasts for about 2 seconds and it’s very embarrassing. We don’t see anything that proves he has what it takes to be the leader. It’s one thing to be outclassed by the villain, but Leonardo never gets any big moments. He’s just there to fill in the fourth spot. Of course, that’s better than being the flirt of the group, but we’re coming to that.

Donatello wasn’t very likable and that’s because he’s the smart guy of the group. Now, why is that a bad thing? It doesn’t have to be since we have had many cool smart characters in the past. Light Yagami, Bruce Banner, Batman, etc. The problem is that Donatello wants to be “the cool guy” and he has one scene where he proves this to the others. He should just be happy to be the smart guy, but why would he be when Foot soldiers can just hack into his systems? In that case, there’s just no winning for the guy. He definitely seems to be the weakest fighter and he actually doesn’t seem to be very smart….he just uses big words to get that vibe. Nah, he didn’t work for me in this one.

Michelangelo was easily the worst turtle. His fans may be pleased at his contribution to the big fight in the film, but it’s not nearly enough to save him. He flirts with April nonstop throughout the film. It’s pretty sad and his taste in music also isn’t that good. His mind is never on the mission and he’s not very good at hand to hand combat. He actually forgets about Raphael (along with the other turtles) after the turtle had come to save him. Michelangelo isn’t exactly a team player and he never will be at this rate. Without Michelangelo, this film actually had a pretty strong chance of cracking a 7. He just brings the whole thing down since you basically have to tune him out.

April is the main heroine of the film and it’s a little scary to think that she’s more likable than the turtles. Unfortunately, she humors Michelangelo most of the time as she never tells him to give it a rest. There’s also one scene (Most of the trailers showed this) where she faints after talking to the turtles, which was rather unrealistic. She’s a tough reporter and she had already been talking to them. Why would she faint after seeing a turtle without his headband? It seemed to have been included just to be included. I guess it would help us to remember that the turtles are supposed to be scary, but it doesn’t work. Naturally, April gets her big moments where she helps the turtles take out the Shredder.

April also may not be that smart, but it could be another script issue. Her boss doesn’t believe that the turtles are real so April gathers a lot of “evidence” to prove it. Unfortunately, she doesn’t show her boss the pictures of the turtles that she got on her phone. It could be attributed to the fact that maybe she didn’t want to show this to the boss, but why wouldn’t she? She had every reason to show it to the boss since it definitely would have exposed the turtles. As long as April steers clear of the romantic advanced from her partner and Michelangelo, she should continue to be a pretty good character. She just needs to learn to do a better job of remembering what information she has at her disposal.

Sacks is one of the big players in the film. I can’t say that he’s very likable. One could say that his public role in the film is sort of like Harvey Dent’s. He’s shaking his fist at crime and he’s ready to stop the FOOT clan once and for all. Unfortunately, he’s not quite as convincing as Harvey and he is used for a lot of exposition. The exposition was definitely one of the boring moments of the film and we didn’t need another long origin story for the olden days.

Vernon is April’s partner and he wishes that she wouldn’t mind staying on the small jobs. He actually has a fair point since she’s still getting worthwhile things to report and I think April was a little too critical. The exercise convention was actually pretty good and jumping on a trampoline with other adults is hardly as embarrassing as she made it sound. If it was only her with a lot of little toddlers then maybe it would be tricky…maybe. A lot of people really wouldn’t mind considering that it will let them bring home their check. Back to Vernon, unfortunately, he isn’t quite as tough as he likes to think he is. He gets one attack at the very end of the film, but it’s not much. He does have one scene, which basically wrecks his character so you can’t really root for him by the end.

The Shredder is a pretty great villain. It’s interesting how he only talks in japanese when he doesn’t have the armor on, but becomes fluent in English with it. I’m guessing that the armor has an auto translator or something, but it’s definitely possible that the Shredder knows both languages. Nevertheless, he performs well in combat and that’s what counts. His goal is definitely a little dubious though and he better have the antidote at the ready. His fighting skills are so good that it will be tough for a sequel to top him as a villain. Although with the cliffhanger…I may not need to worry about this too much. The Shredder is definitely one of the highlights of the film.

Splinter is pretty powerful and he’s a likable fighter when he’s in on the action. That being said, I definitely disagree with some of his decisions. There’s no good reason to keep the turtles from patrolling the streets at night. The cops already took out most of the FOOT and when does he think the turtles will ever be ready? They’re already pretty tough and there’s a limit to how strong you will end up becoming. He was definitely too strict at that point, but I’m sure that he’ll lighten up from now on….although it may be too late for that.

Did I mention that the script for the film is pretty….retro? Unfortunately, this doesn’t seem to have been planned, but a lot of the lines are rather dated and they’re pretty cheesy as well. “Use an innocent as bait!” or something along those lines is uttered by the big bad Shredder! He acts as if no villain has ever done this before and his right hand woman even seems pretty shocked at the prospect. The music also quickly goes into its dramatic phase to highlight the scene as an important gamechanger. If these guys are villains, they shouldn’t have a problem with using civilians as bait. There were quite a few other lines that I could mention since they’re scattered throughout the film. I like a little cheesy dialogue in the films, but then it should be consistent and make the rest of the film cheesy as well.

I would definitely say that TMNT is a better adaption of the franchise than the Transformer films. Of course, there is less to wreck in a TMNT film, but they still covered most of the bases without depowering the turtles too much. One could argue that they’re slightly more impressive here than in their own series. I wouldn’t go that far, but they are pretty tough. The designs still look pretty terrible to me though. I seriously hope that they change the designs for the sequel and return them to how they looked in the old films or a model that looks a little bit more like the cartoons. I’m definitely all right with the Shredder’s design though since it’s pretty intense.

Overall, This film is kind of like Robocop. It’s just a fun film without anything to help it stand above the crowd. The main drawback is the excessive flirting from both Michelangelo and Vernon. Without that, the film didn’t really have any big flaws. Of course, that’s enough to hurt it a lot and the end credits scene was pretty bad as well. (The rap song hurts your ears as well) The cliffhanger may be intriguing to some and generic to others. Either way, I can safely say that I am looking forward to the next TMNT film. It should be a good one, although it won’t be great. I recommend this film if you survived through the first Transformers film to see how you compare the two. Both of them take a few shots at the original sources so that should be interesting. (Karai’s role is very disappointing for her fans and the “Cowabunga” term is used, but the Turtles look very bad in that scene…it’s one of those things) If you don’t like to see the main heroine get harassed by everyone for the entire film…this won’t be the title for you.

Overall 6/10

Ocean’s Twelve Review

Posted on August 18, 2014 by dreager1

It has been a while since I saw Ocean’s Eleven. It was a good film, but would this one be able to match up? History hasn’t been kind to sequels for a very long time. Also, throwing in a 12th member could be stretching it since most films are not ready for a huge cast. This film seemed to face a lot of problems with the cast and the budget, but it was still a decently good film. Nowhere near as good as the first one of course.

The Ocean’s 11 gang has been living their lives in luxury since their big heist in the first film. They’ve put it all behind them, but they should have known that their past would find them someday! The head honcho of the casino has been tipped off to who the members were and he pays each of them a visit. He informs them that they have two weeks to earn around 200 million dollars or they shall be destroyed. The heroes will need to pull a really big job to even dream of getting such an amount!

The first thing that I would mention is the size of the cast. Managing so many big players is tricky for a film and this one didn’t pull it off. From the original Ocean’s 11 group, not all of them get big roles. One of them basically leaves to enjoy his riches in the beginning and another one is stuck in jail for the majority of the film. 2-4 other members are there, but they barely get any lines and they’re just there for the effect. They could have called it something like the Ocean’s 6 and it may have made more sense. It’s still fun to have a large cast though and it can give a film potential as long as most of the characters are likable.

The next issue would likely be the budget. Of course, it doesn’t have to be a budget problem and it could be a stylistic choice by the director. Nevertheless, the film felt really low budget at times. The camera angles looked as if someone grabbed their handheld camera and recorded everything. We got a lot of scenes where the picture would just stop and quickly start again. It was to show how the time was passing of course, but it could have been done in a better way. The most noticeable part was definitely when the camera angles kept shifting. Over and over again until you would get dizzy in the theater. It especially happened during the stalker scenes where the camera color turned into a red background. Intriguing to be sure…but it didn’t really work. I also felt like we got cheated out of the operations. We would typically only see parts of their plan and others would be filled in through flashbacks, but as an afterthought.

Luckily, the budget and large cast don’t take away from any of the film’s pros. The opening (Not the unnecessary opening scene) where the villains goes to each hero one by one was pretty epic. I like how one of the characters mentioned Jim Crow as he was taken out of a book or something. (Likely referring to the Jim Crow laws) and one character mentioned how he always did play the race card. It was only notable because I got the Jim Crow reference and it is true that someone’s always ready to use the race card online. The character had a good comeback for that as well. It’s too bad that he got the shaft in this film. The solid opening was definitely one of the best parts of the film.

I’m always up for a good competition between secret agents so the final part of the film had a pretty cool plot. I believe that it could have been handled a little better, but the whole point is that the main characters aren’t very smart so I suppose that some parts were excusable. The scene where the rival gets through the lasers was definitely pretty good. I would have been rooting for him if not for the constant cheating.

Danny is essentially the main character of the film. He doesn’t get to eat up a majority of the screentime, but he still acts like the leader. He takes the situation in stride and the name is based on his last name. He’s a pretty good character for the most part, but the romance angle can definitely be dicey. At least he puts more effort into the whole spying operation than the others. He’s probably the most likable member of the group. He knows the stakes and he’s ready to take the win.

Terry is easily the best character in the film. Easily. This guy meant business and he’s an epic villain. He really just tells it like it is and he doesn’t use any cheap tricks. His wager may not have been very fair, but he’s the first to admit to that. 2 weeks is still a decent amount of time and if Ocean’s 11 is as good as they say…it shouldn’t be a problem. It would have been cool if Terry got to appear more, but that’ll do for now. Epic Name + Epic Character = Win. This guy seriously couldn’t get any better at this point!

Isabel is one of the main antagonists of the film. She’s pretty smart and the only scene where she doesn’t look very good is at the beginning. She’s probably not as cunning as the main characters, but she has picked up many tricks in her line of work. Stealing one of the main characters’ phones was pretty good work on her part. I don’t really blame her for going under the radar at the end of the film since the consequences for the 1077 would be pretty severe, but hopefully she keeps her moral compass on. Stealing from someone and going back to the old ways would not help her character progression.

I didn’t really care for Yen’s character. It’s really for the same reasons that I don’t care for Groot or Chewy at times. He doesn’t speak English and he is always bouncing around. He just didn’t really work in this film. At least provide us with subtitles so we can follow what he’s saying. The characters can understand what he is saying somehow, but it doesn’t make his scenes any more enjoyable. He got a bigger role than most of the other characters, which is too bad. Maybe he’ll be better in the next film.

Reuben is a pretty solid character and he’s one of the more experienced members of the Ocean’s 11. He definitely takes the whole charade a little more seriously than the others. He defeated the stock market and he has more money than all of the other members. This is definitely a guy that you don’t want to underestimate. His disguise was also more thought out than the others. (Most of them didn’t even bother with one….) I wouldn’t have minded if he got more of a role.

Rusty probably gets the largest role from the main characters aside from Danny. (And that is arguable) He used to hang out with Isabel and he jeopardizes the team’s goals more than once. He typically doesn’t regret anything because it’s all worth it to him. I did not like him though and he’s one of the more unlikable members. He let romance get in the way of the team’s glory and that’s one of the things that you are not supposed to let happen. He let his skills degrade over the years and the team may have done better without him.

Tess is with Danny and she ends up coming to help for the final case. She was all right I suppose, but I believe that her character could have been a lot better. I definitely expected her to beat up Danny at the end and she didn’t disappoint. She was just a little too generic in the film and she didn’t get any moments that really helped to separate her from the pack. Her opening scene was decent since she talked back to the villains, but that was about it. Isabel was definitely more impressive.

Linus is basically the rookie of the group. He doesn’t really understand all of the lingo involved and he fells bad about stealing from those who are not in an equal position to fight back. The other don’t harbor any doubts since their morals have already been thrown out the window. Linus decides to throw his out as well as he joins in on the fun. He was a decent character although it’s too bad that he joined the group in the first place. From a character standpoint anyway, he was basically corrupted. His ending is pretty good though and at least he got to have a short turn as the leader.

Toulour is the big rival in the film. He doesn’t really get much of a role until we’re nearing the end of the film, but he quickly makes up for this with his scenes. He really does earn his title as the greatest thief out there. It was a little too easy for the heroes to find out what his true identity was, but I guess he wasn’t really hiding it. At the end, we really have to accept that he is a better thief than the Ocean’s 11. (Especially when you consider that there is 1 of him and 11 of the other guys) His laser scene was just intense! He does cheat though so he’s not as likable as he could be. I guess anything goes in such a battle, but I would have liked to see him go for the gold on his own. He didn’t even need to cheat at that point.

Notice that I didn’t mention all 11 of the members. That’s because the rest of them didn’t really get a role in the film. They were really just there to be there and that’s not the best role to have. The old man did make the right move in leaving, but he had a pretty bad attitude about it so I can’t say that he was likable. One member was only there to complain about the team’s name and the Jim Crow one was taken out before he could really do anything. So, the film really cheated on the large cast since most of them didn’t really do a whole lot. We’ll see if they have better luck with Ocean’s 13!

The soundtrack was decently good for this film. It’s not going to win any awards, but at least I remembered a tune or two by the time the film had ended. That’s more than the average movie and the film deserves some credit for that. Now, it just needs to try to add more tunes to the sequel.

One thing that bogs the film down a little is the romance. I definitely would have been happy if they could have reduced it a little. It takes away from the story and we just want the plot to start up again. It’s all we could want in the end to be honest. The film also drags on just a little by the end, but it’s good that they made the 2 hour attempt.

Overall, This was a decent heist film. I definitely preferred the first one, but it wasn’t a bad sequel. I think it could have been better if we had gotten to see their operations all the way through and if they had cut out some scenes. We get many shots of the characters just walking around or talking to each other where the plot has to come to a halt. Seeing more of Terry would have been nice as well. Still, the writing is pretty solid in the film and the characters are decently good. There were a lot of missed opportunities, but the film did a decent job with the cards that it had. I recommend this film to those that want to see a retro thief against thief mission. If that’s not your style, I recommend checking out Justice League Unlimited for some pretty deep plots.

Overall 6/10

Need For Speed Review

Posted on August 15, 2014 by dreager1

It was finally time to watch a film based off of a popular video game series! I own several Need for Speed titles although I’ve only completed one of them so far. I plan on working on the others soon, but I’ve been focusing on my Wii collection a lot. The trailer for this film looked decent and I expected your average blockbuster with a lot of action and a small plot on the side. I basically got what I expected, but I would say that it was a little less entertaining than I would have guessed. Let’s see why this happened!

I believe that one factor is the cast of characters in the film. None of them are really that interesting or likable. Typically, you need either the main character or the main villain to be interesting to keep the film afloat. The supporting characters definitely play a big role in this as well, but none of them turn out to be very good. I’ll discuss each of the main characters now.

Tobey is the main character and after a tricky race where his bro dies, he decides to avenge him by racing in another race against the murderer. A noble goal, but I could not bring myself to like Tobey. Even before the Pete incident, Tobey never really talks and he always seems pretty gruff. Whenever he talks, it’s hard to hear him because he’s basically mumbling. He also gives Julia a hard time for the majority of the film. He does have emotional reasons to keep to himself of course, but it’s not very fun for the viewer. I found myself missing Alex Hopper from Battleship and that’s never a good thing.

Another problem is that Tobey’s supposed to be an elite driver. He does do pretty well on the track, but it’s a mix of luck and skill. At one point, he’s in the lead, but he seems to be taking it easy. The racer in third is only unable to pass him because the second place racer is holding him back. They have identical cars so Tobey should have been able to win without help. In the end, Tobey just wasn’t charismatic.

Dino is the main villain of the film. He has quite the reputation since the heroes don’t want to work with him from the get go. It actually makes them all look pretty bad for a while since the deal seemed to be pretty good. Of course, Dino quickly showed his true colors during the race. He only cares about the win and he’ll smash anyone out of his way. That’s basically his character arc. I thought that he was the leader of a mob or something, but he’s just a mean person. He’s pretty rich and he is a good driver, but not as good as he claims. Dino’s a pretty generic villain, but at least he has a cool car. He needs to win one more race to get all the money that he needs..but will he be able to do it? It’s going to be rough!

Julia is the main heroine and she knows how to drive, which is always a good thing. Her accent is always underestimated since the others seem to think that it is fake, but she always gets them to see the truth. She does have a really generic moment where she shows that she’s actually an expert in car manufacturing. Why was she pretending not to be smart before that scene? I guess she just wanted to mess with the heroes. Her plan was a little tricky since I definitely wouldn’t trust Tobey and friends to make it through their adventure in one piece. She definitely ends up helping out a lot, but her riches could be better spent at home with her PS4.

Benny easily has the biggest role from all of Tobey’s partners. He gives them a tough time because they refuse to call him by his true airborne name. (Maverick) He definitely takes the most risks as he has to keep stealing Helicopters from various places. The military, the news, etc. How does he get away with it? Plot convenience I suppose. He’s definitely a step up from the other members.

Monarch is the head honcho behind the underground races. He talks a good game and he seems to know what’s up. He’s an expert on the cars and he always calls the shots. He takes everything in stride because he’s never really in any danger. The cops have yet to find out about his show and nobody can find him. He just hosts the races and watches as everyone is taken out. He’s a pretty amusing announcer.

Anita is a character that the film seemed to forget after a while. Based off of one of the first scenes, it was easy to imagine that she would have some kind of role. Instead, her character arc is shoved to the side and she’s basically written out of the movie. She appears towards the end for her big moment, but it’s a little too little too late. Not to mention that she really should have been a little more suspicious about the mysterious circumstances around Pete’s demise.

Pete is a decent character I suppose. He doesn’t really know when to stop talking though and nearly costs his team everything. He kept on insulting the main villain when he knew that a lot of money was on the line. Finally, he was goaded into racing…and I’m pretty sure we know how that ends. Pete wasn’t a really bad character, but he definitely wasn’t the smartest one out there. If he had played his cards right, things could have turned out a lot differently. (Assuming Dino would keep his word in the first place)

Finn is another member of Tobey’s crew and he’s easily the worst character in the film. His scenes are downright cringe worthy. His worst scene is when he decides to quite his job. To do this, he strips down and makes sure to humiliate anyone. Where are the cops? The place looks like a very fancy establishment and I’m sure that security would be present. They should have taken him down before he even had time to leave the building. That’s really what should have happened. Finn doesn’t add anything to the plot and his attempts at humor really fall flat. He definitely didn’t do the film any favors.

Joe’s probably the most bland member of the team. He doesn’t really get a lot of character development. He’s the first guy to go and help Tobey so that’s something. He was really just there and I can’t say that he was a good character or a bad one. Things wouldn’t have really changed if he had not been in the film since his role was so small. Better to be non existent than to be another Finn I suppose.

You can definitely see that I did not care for the cast. Another factor that weakens them is the fact that they act like the characters from a horror film. They constantly use swear words in just about every sentence. It’s mostly because of where they’re from and they’re just used to it, but it can still be pretty annoying to hear. You hear it almost every second….nooooo.

Another weak point of the film is the acting and the romance. I never really comment on the acting, but it was pretty bad. Particularly Tobey’s acting and Julia’s at some points. Let’s throw Finn in there as well. The romance was also pretty unnecessary. It pops up out of nowhere between Tobey and Julia. I guess she admires his racing skills, but that’s no excuse to just fall for him. We have a really wince worthy scene where they both stare at each other for a really long time and you’ll want to glance at your watch. There’s also a really terrible scene between Finn and one of his co-workers. That kind of thing is not funny and not realistic either. The other members of the staff should have stepped in or at least beat Finn up.

The car chase scenes were still pretty good. There was a bunch of plot hax in them though. I don’t believe that they would be beating up on the police like this. At the very least, they would be arrested as soon as they stopped. They were visually interesting though and who doesn’t like to see cars going at such speeds? The games handle it in a much better way, but a film can only do so much anyway. As mentioned earlier, the helicopter snagging is a really big stretch for disbelief. The cops should have known about it pretty much instantly.

One more thing that should be noted the racing through traffic scenes. Of course, it happens in the games so it must happen in the film. It still doesn’t make all that much sense while you’re watching it though because the heroes should have been down for the count several times. You simply can’t weave through traffic like that and not get bumped or hit a bunch of times. They were a little too lucky here.

The soundtrack is really nonexistent, which is too bad. Car scenes should really have a good theme going. Just look at Final Fantasy VII Advent Children. The chase scenes have really good themes and it helps you appreciate just how cool they are. A soundtrack is always something that should be added to make things fun.

Overall, This film was decent I suppose. It’s not the kind of film that I would ever want to watch again, but I wouldn’t call it a downright bad film. Considering the type of film that it was, Need For Speed should have been a lot better. Using some effects from Speed Racer may have helped since that one had better race scenes. A 5 may be a little generous, but I think it’s a decent rating for a film. I don’t really recommend it, but I wouldn’t stand in the way of it either. If you don’t mind the language and you’re ready to see some races, then you may not mind the film. Just know that the film drags on for a while since it’s so long and that the characters are pretty unlikable. With that in mind, it’s your choice on whether you want to see this one. I would sooner recommend Speed Racer or Final Fantasy VII Advent Children for chase scenes!

Overall 5/10

Scooby Doo Wrestlemania Mystery Review

Posted on August 11, 2014 by dreager1

It’s time for the next Scooby Doo adventure! The franchise has always been pretty fun and it’s good to see that it is powering along. The films won’t be stopping anytime soon so the Mystery Gang can continue to prove that they are the best in the biz. This one features some famous wrestlers as well, but will they be of help to the gang..or a hindrance!? It’s going to take everything that Scooby Doo has and more if he wants to save the day!

The film opens with a poor jogger getting attacked by a monster. He puts up a fight, but he’s definitely outmatched. Can this monster actually be real!? Meanwhile, Shaggy and Scooby Doo win a contest by completing their favorite wrestling game. They can now travel to WWE city and show the world what it means to be a fan. The rest of the gang is coerced into coming along via black mail. Unfortunately, they find out about the bear incidents that have been occurring in town. They quickly band together to solve the mystery, but the stakes are high. WWE’s reputation could be tarnished forever if the bear shows up during their big event. It’s a good thing that Fred’s always prepared.

It’s definitely interesting to have real people in the film aside from Scooby and friends. Because of that, there are actually live action segments in the opening credits! I have to say that the opening was one of the best ones that we’ve seen in Scooby Doo though. The song was pretty catchy and the explosion began things off on a good note. After that, it was time to get ready for the mystery. So, quickly I shall talk about each of the main characters and also about the suspects.

Scooby Doo is basically the main character of this adventure. We already know that he’s the heart of the Mystery Inc, but we find out that he’s also the most talented wrestler in this film. His role is a little worse than usual though since he is basically a pawn in the grand scheme of things. Not a very flattering way to leave an impression eh? Let’s just say that Scooby Doo doesn’t have a lot of “strength of character” in this installment and he can’t outrun the other animals. His final fight scene almost helps to fix this, but it’s not handled as well as it could be in terms of courage. Scooby Doo is the heart of the team…but that’s not saying much.

Shaggy is also around of course and he’s basically here to get crushed by the big fighters. He gets insulted to his face at one point and he barely bats an eye. That’s a little disappointing for his fans. He’s very slow on the uptake and you can’t count on Shaggy to win the big fights. It was good to see him blackmail the others, but that was really his only hardcore scene.

Velma and Fred are basically non factors in this film. There was a good scene where Fred and Velma had to start backpedaling faster than Microsoft’s Xbox One policies when Shaggy brought out the blackmail. They definitely underestimated him and that’s not a mistake that you really want to make. At the end, we get a really generic scene where Velma becomes a huge wrestling fan and I’ll admit that it was a little sad to see. It was over the top. Daphne doesn’t do so well in this film. She becomes a little too friendly with John Cena and she forgets what Wrestling is really about. She forgot about the integrity of the sport and she also forgot to stay true ti herself and her anti wrestlingness. This was definitely one of her worst films and hopefully she steps it up from here on out.

John Cena is the main wrestler and he really looks good. He looks insanely good! The writers must have really loved his personality since he’s basically Superman in this film. He’s able to stop a giant rampaging bolder with ease. He’s always got his cell phone at the ready to accept the texts and quickly save the mystery gang. He thinks up plans on the fly like when he had to save the city from the EMP. He is portrayed to be a genius and the strongest human fighter out there. I’ll admit that he was definitely pretty awesome in this film. It goes without saying that he was the best character of the bunch.

Cookie is another one of the suspects. He’s the coach who trains all of the wrestlers and his leg was injured a long time ago during one of the matches. Because of this, he doesn’t want Ruben (Enter the next suspect) to become a wrestler. Ruben is a computer whiz, but he wants to be a wrestler and he’s sad that Cookie keeps trying to stop him. One of them’s going to have to give by the end and neither one of them wants to back down. They were both decent characters, but they were about as generic as they come. I slightly preferred Cookie to Ruben.

Time for the next two suspects. Kane is a wrestler from the old days who wants to get back into the ring. He doesn’t talk all that often, but his fists speak for him. He scares a lot of people along the way and he is a pretty mean individual. Mr. McMahon is the head honcho for the wrestling events and he always has a lot of gusto about him. He talks with pride and he seems to love the wrestling events. He’s a pretty reasonable guy and he is the one who brings the Mystery gang in on the action.

Sin Cara is my second favorite character and his design is pretty cool. It can be a little annoying to see that he doesn’t talk. Not that he can’t talk btw…he just refuses to do so. Luckily, he can talk through is dancing and (Super Indestructible) John Cena knows how to translate. Sin Cara has a lot of knowledge from the olden days and he’s a fighter, but he gets one shotted in his first fight with the bear. Luckily, he makes a comeback and he does much better in round 2. Sin Cara may lack John’s physical might, but he’s very quick and that works to his advantage.

Finally, AJ Lee and Ms. Richards round out the list of suspects. AJ Lee is your typical all star female wrestler who always wins and makes sure to verbally and physically pawn Shaggy and Scooby Doo. She never takes a loss on screen and she’s very confident. Could she be the monster? Ms. Richards doesn’t like the Mystery Gang and she’s in charge of security. She wishes that the gang wasn’t on the case and she’s confident in her tech. Nothing gets past her and she could lose her job if the bear attacks continue to occur.

The Fire Bear is one of the most intense monsters to be seen in the Scooby Doo franchise. Whoever it is, The Fire Bear has a good degree of super strength and speed. It actually knocked away a missile that Fred launched and it was able to take out several professional wrestlers even when they were teaming up. It’s the only being to ever give John Cena a good fight in the film and it kicked one fighter across a long distance. I became an instant fan of the monster!

I definitely enjoyed this film and it was one of the better Scooby Doo adventures. It had its problems of course, but it also succeeded in various ways. The soundtrack was probably the best in the series and it was pretty impressive. The theme that played before the fighters took the stage was like something out of Justice League and the opening credits were solid as well. You felt like you were going in to watch a theater film. The soundtrack definitely gets a 4/5 at the very least. It was limited, but effective.

The fights were also fun to watch. Of course, most of the blows were off screen and someone would quickly get in the way so we missed all of the elbow drops. It was still fun to see some high powered wrestling and it was pretty serious business. It was like playing an old PS1 game. The wrestler slowly picks up and opponent and you get a lot of lag before executing the move. The animation may have been choppy, but it was done in an intentional way that made it fun.

The animation is decent. It’s nothing special of course and you can’t really see much improvement compared to a few years ago. Anime from about 10 years ago can likely top it, but Scooby Doo isn’t about transcending its animation limits. It’s about having fun and the animation definitely isn’t bad.

One negative that I would have with the film is the fact that it does drag on a little bit at some points. The ironic part is that the dragged out moments all involve the gang trying to solve the mystery. I guess the wrestling part was just more interesting this time around. I tried to make the detective work more fun by making a guess based off of all the suspects. My early guess was Sin Cara..which may have been a little dicey. Nontheless, I had to stand by him!

It’s also a little sad to see Daphne being to obvious the whole time about her liking John Cena and Shaggy/Scooby Doo shouldn’t be so nervous anymore. They’ve been through a lot worse. Now, it’s for the sake of tradition and all, but I wouldn’t mind a little character development for these guys. Seeing them make the same mistakes over and over again can be a little sad.

Overall, This was a pretty good Scooby Doo film. It stays true to formula. The fighting scenes were surprisingly intense and we also got some Young Justice cameos. Don’t worry, if you miss it the first time, the film makes sure to keep on showing them until you can’t miss the scene! It was also good to see the video games finally get their props and the film was more enjoyable than most of the others. The food scenes may have lacked some heart and I’m not sure about the new scooby snacks, but seeing food is always fun anyway. I recommend this to any Scooby Doo fan and wrestling fans might like it as a nice homage to the show. John Cena definitely gets a lot of feats.

Overall 6/10

Van Helsing Review

Posted on August 5, 2014 by dreager1

It’s time for a vampire film review! After Twilight, I know that it can be a little hard to take vampire films seriously anymore. To my defense, I have always been against them. They just don’t make for very interesting characters. Luckily, we also get Dr. Hyde, Frankenstein’s Monster, and a vampire hunter. Adding in all of these fighters should help to make things better….I hope!

The plot revolves around the hunter known as Van Helsing. He’s notorious around many regions of the world and everyone has heard of him. He has quite the reputation after all. He finishes off a few monsters and his boss sends him to go meet Anna. He has to keep her alive to foil Dracula’s plans. Unfortunately, her brother has already been taken down so Dracula’s plan is almost complete. Will the heroes be able to put aside their differences and defeat him? It’s a longshot, but it may be possible!

Well, this is essentially how I pictured a film with Dracula as the main villain. I’m sure that Dracula may become a cool character someday, but I’m just not buying it. I really didn’t like him here and disliking the main villain can definitely hurt in the long run. Before we really discuss the film, let’s look at the cast involved.

Van Helsing is our lead and he’s basically the Jonah Hex of the group. He’s the confident professional who always gets his man and he doesn’t back down from a fight. That’s pretty noble is it not? Well, I’d argue that he’s all talk. His first fight scene against Mr. Hyde is supposed to show us just how hardcore he is. It only serves to prove the opposite as Van Helsing continues to brag despite being outmatched. He should have been destroyed several times during the fight and he only makes it out thanks to Hyde’s overconfidence.

After that, he gets beaten up on by Dracula’s two henchwomen before getting knocked around by Dracula himself. Van Helsing may not be human, but he may as well be for all the good that it does him. He’s just completely outmatched and that makes it tough for him to pose a threat to anyone. His personality is really generic in the end and there’s nothing to separate him from the other main leads of a hollywood film.

Anna is certainly not the next Black Widow. She takes pride in her overall ability, but it’s simply not enough in this film. Perhaps she could give the average human a run for their money, but she definitely wasn’t prepared for Dracula and his cronies. Due to her family history, you would expect her to have a little more experience. Unfortunately for for her, Anna gets thrown around for the entire film. Van Helsing even takes her out with his handy dandy sleeping gas. Anna continues to talk tough until the very end, but it’s very hard to take seriously.

How can anyone really take a fighter seriously when they talk tough and get defeated the next moment? I believe that it’s supposed to be inspirational to see the hero mocking the villains even while being kicked around, but I can’t say that it’s very good character development. Anna essentially serves as a parody to the tough female lead that we are used to seeing nowadays. She never really had an edge in any of her fights and it definitely wasn’t a fun showing for her. Perhaps things will turn around if this film got a sequel..too bad it won’t get one at this rate. At least she beats most of the other characters in the film…it just isn’t saying much.

Dracula is the big bad. He’s the head honcho and the ultimate evil in the film! His design is a little off putting since Dracula’s hairstyle is usually a little more subdued. Nontheless, it’s always good to have a powerful villain. Unfortunately, Dracula loves to squander his power as he holds it all back until it’s too late. He spends a lot of time talking to his minions and showing us why he’s such a terrible villain. It’s impossible to root for him while he’s so preoccupied in doing things that don’t really help his plan. His minions are constantly distracting him.

Dracula is also supposed to be immensely powerful, but we don’t really see a lot of this. His two guards seem to be a lot stronger than him. They could move at super speed! Dracula didn’t really show a lot of that, but he does have a good amount of regeneration at the ready. If it could have worked more towards the ending, things would have gotten pretty interesting. This is one of those times where power isn’t enough. Dracula is powerful, but he’s still not a great villain. He simply doesn’t have what it takes and that’s the way that I see it. Dracula’s brides were no better. They were mostly there to be really dramatic and help Dracula in his inevitable downfall. They didn’t have much of a role as characters.

Carl is Van Helsing’s assistant and he’s here to keep things light. It’s sad when characters are really just in a story for comic relief. Carl should at least try to be helpful and get some big moments. Technically, fans could argue that he had a crucial role at the end, but I can’t say that I buy it. They were really generic moments meant to make us like Carl a little more. No! Carl is the type of sidekick that I just can’t root for. Give him a few years to learn how to fight and improve his tech…then we’ll talk. As it stands, Carl was definitely expendable.

Frankenstein’s Monster disappears for most of the film, but he finally comes back towards the end. He’s played off pretty accurately from the book. He’s a misunderstood hero and everyone wants to destroy him as per usual. It’s definitely not fun to be a monster. His design was definitely hard to look at and while he could fight..he was pretty slow. Making him so traditional may not have been a great move. At least he helped to add to the monster count, but he was mostly unnecessary.

Igor is one of the more minor villains in the film. He defected to the side of the villains so that he could fulfill his evil ambitions….or not. I wish that it had been for such a deep reason. Regardless, Igor just isn’t a good villain. He’s very weak and he doesn’t stand a chance against any real character. He likes to hit people when they’re down, but he’s no match for a real opponent. Igor typically isn’t a likable character in the films and this one is no exception.

Velkan is a supporting character at best. He does get a decent number of scenes though and he may be stronger than we thought. There’s a plot twist that keeps him relevant for a while. Needless to say, he lacked strength of character and I can’t say that he was very impressive at the beginning of the film. Everyone looked bad though, but the overall plan was terrible. His reaction times weren’t great either and it’s a lose-lose situation. If only he had been stronger!

It should be noted that some scenes will stretch your limits for disbelief. The “plot hax” in this film isn’t concealed very well. Anna is thrown through a window and she bangs a lot of wood beams and the wall as she went crashing down. It was a pretty big blast that a human likely wouldn’t survive. Likewise, Dracula’s brides kept slapping her around while throwing Van Helsing into walls. Both of them should have been out of commission considering how powerful they were.

The biggest moment where you may have to facepalm is the final fight between Dracula and a powerful creature. By all accounts, Dracula should have crushed his opponent. The film didn’t show us anything to suggest otherwise so I don’t see why it was such a close fight. In fact, Dracula is on the defensive the entire time and he seems very worried. He should at least try to act tough on the outside since that’s what all of the heroes do anyway. This film just made the mistake of making the villains too powerful. When that happens, the heroes always have to win in really fake ways like what we saw here.

The fight scenes ranged from pretty good to decent. The final fight with Dracula is pretty fun to watch since it’s essentially a monster bout. It was also good to see Dracula’s brides take on the village. Their super speed feats were pretty impressive and they should have destroyed everyone without any real effort. The plot wouldn’t allow it, but that’s how powerful they were. Other battles were less interesting like Van Helsing versus Hyde. It was way too one sided and the fight was pretty boring.

The soundtrack was mostly absent from the film. Luckily, there is still a really good theme that plays during the ending and at one point near the beginning. It’s very operatic and that’s the kind of theme that can make a scene become a lot cooler. It would have been cool if it had played more, but it’s enough to grant the soundtrack a passing score.

Finally, the film did have some unnecessary romance. It’s squeezed in at the last second for the heroes so you can tell that they just wanted to throw it in. Dracula and his brides also have some wince worthy scenes that are pretty sad. Sure, it could be worse, but this certainly didn’t help the film win any points.

Overall, This film lived up to my hopes for a Dracula film. I’ll never like Vampires at this rate and there will likely only be a few exceptions by the end. (Strauss is epic) There was a moment where some animal violence concerned me, but the animal lived, which was great. Still sad to see it get hit, but at least it managed to tank the blast. The film mostly suffered from the fact that it dragged on for too long and it wasn’t terribly interesting. Cutting out Dracula and Frankenstein’s monster would have helped it a lot. Or, make Dracula a compelling character as he punches people out instead of biting them. That could have been a nice twist. This film felt like I Frankenstein, but the normalized version that can be more acceptable to the crowds. Unfortunately, the crowds didn’t include me this time. If you like Vampire movies, then you should like this one. Otherwise, I’d advise you to steer clear of it. Watch I Frankenstein if you want a film with lots of magical creatures going at it. Perhaps I was a little harsh on the film since it could have made more mistakes, but it definitely made enough of them. A cooler cast with better action scenes could have potentially bumped this up to a 6 if handled right. Maybe next time.

Overall 4/10

Battle for the Planet of the Apes Review

Posted on August 4, 2014 by dreager1

It’s the final installment in the Planet of the Apes series. It should really be City of the Apes instead of Planet, but that’s just how it goes. If you’ve seen my reviews for the other titles, then you’ll know that I’ve been less than pleased with the series so far. The first film was the only one that I gave a decent score. (Depending on your definition of decent) Luckily, the series ends on a relatively high note as this one definitely defeats the second, third, and fourth films. I dare say that it can even defeat the first film. Making it an uphill battle for future Ape films to defeat this one. Why was I so impressed with this film? (Compared to the others anyway) Well, this film may have been a little on the boring side for a while, but it also corrected most of the problems that I had with the series.

The plot begins in the far future. An ole Ape is telling his audience about an ape named Caesar and how he had a good adventure. We go back to the past and Caesar now rules over all. The humans had another one of their wars and everyone in sight died. The few humans who lived through it were brought to the Apes to work as slaves. Caesar likes how things have turned out and he even has a kid named Cornelius. Unfortunately, the gorillas are starting to rebel and their newfound leader is Aldo. He believes that humans should be destroyed instead of enslaved and he seems to be pretty dangerous. Caesar doesn’t really consider him to be a threat, which is either brave…or overconfident. It’s a little ambiguous. MacDonald advises Caesar to check out the recordings of his parents and they wander into an abandoned city. Turns out that some mutants (Humans who were affected by the radiation) live there and now it’s time for the war to begin anew. The mutants will launch a final counter offensive to destroy the apes once and for all. Which side will prevail!?

Caesar is back to being our lead in this film although he’s pretty distant at times. He’s technically the main character, but you almost wouldn’t know it from the way he acts. He’s grown old and some of the members are beginning to realize this. The humans essentially work as his slaves right now although he likes to think of it as a friendship in the making. Once the two sides understand each other…there will be harmony. It’s a pretty intriguing strategy, but it’s one that would likely never work. Caesar just isn’t likable by the end because he’s a little too oblivious to everything that’s happening. He never even suspects who attacked his kid and he’s pretty isolated in his little hut. He doesn’t even hear the loud sounds of war when the attack first begins and he refuses to go out because he’s with Cornelius. He’s definitely not the general that you would expect. He still does have a solid glare that he shares with the others once in a while, but it’s just not enough.

MacDonald is in this film, but it’s not the same MacDonald from the last film. This one is the latter’s brother, but he retains the same personality. He wants Caesar to give the humans more freedom, but he plays along with the system for the moment. He has big plans and they all come to the surface at the end. It’s a risky gamble and it only barely pays off. He was all right I suppose, but there’s not much to say about him. He was just there.

General Aldo is one of the main villains in this film. He wants all of the humans to be destroyed and he has several followers. Their goals are ambitious and not even Caesar can stop them. Aldo is openly rebellious and the others seem to fear him. His misplaced pride in his methods keeps him from being a likable character. Whether human or ape, both species have some bad apples. His fight against Caesar was very brief and it definitely didn’t make him look like a powerful warrior. I guess he was all talk after all.

Governor Kolp is The main villain of the film. He is the leader of the small pocket of human resistance and he definitely won’t allow the apes to keep their city. He wants his men to destroy everything so that the Apes can be their slaves once more. This guy is obviously not a sympathetic villain and he’s also pretty weak. He’s the type of guy who ends up going on a long monologue and panics at everything. He’s completely unreasonable and war is the only thing on his mind. Maybe he would be a little more bearable if he would actually fight….but he can’t. He’s a pretty forgettable villain in the grand scheme of things.

So, as I mentioned earlier, this film was a definite improvement over the last one. General Aldo and Governor Kolp are mean villains, but we don’t have to be reminded of this constantly through shocks and other such scenes as in the last film. These guys just come out swinging and they’re not all that subtle about it. The climatic fight between Caesar and Aldo is pretty serious business and while it’s short, it easily beats the last few climaxes. This was a fight that you could get behind and the stakes were real. It was very cheesy and unintentionally funny, which made it more enjoyable than the overly long revolt climax that we got last time.

Of course, that still couldn’t stop the film from being pretty boring. You never really care about what’s going to happen. After all, it’s a story about how awesome Caesar is so there are only so many ways that the film could go from there. Starting out the film as a story is never a good idea. Luckily, the film is decently short so it doesn’t have a whole lot of time to drag on. It goes through the motions and as the viewers, we just play along.

Another negative for the film would be the previously segment. It’s pretty long and utterly unnecessary. If you forgot the plot for one of the most basic franchises out there, then it’s time to go and order some Doritos loaded. We get to see most of the scenes that we’ve tried to hard to forget. From the apes leaving their suitcase where anyone could find it to the final fight scene of the last film. This flashback took up quite a few minutes and we just didn’t need it.

The setting for the film plays out like the Walking Dead. It’s a sandy area without any real kind of life. The civilization is pretty primitive and most of the inhabitants are still finding their place in the world. Enslaving the humans essentially restarted the cycle, which felt a little bit like backtracking as well.

Once again, I’ve also got to criticize the big plan of the Apes. Having everyone lie down in the middle of the road to wait for the enemies to come is a pretty terrible strategy. They could have been stepped on or shot. The odds of such a plan succeeding are pretty low. This doesn’t help to show how much smarter Apes are than humans either. They got off lucky that time, but what about the next time the humans strike? They better have their weapons ready.

Overall, This Apes film was more enjoyable than the others. It essentially did away with most of my complaints. It didn’t develop into a very solid film either, but being boring was really its only big problem. It’s like watching a LOTR film, but at least it only lasts for a little over an hour and a half. Nothing really gets accomplished in the film. The only big event in the film is the human’s attack upon them. The rest is just the Apes talking and everyone being upset about their current predicament. Yes, I definitely wouldn’t recommend this film and you’re better off watching some old Naruto re runs. There is a happy ending though so maybe the cycle can finally stop…maybe. We’ll see if the Burton remake or the latest remake will be able to get a more positive score. It’s hard to picture…but it could happen. After all, this film gave us a ray of hope.

Overall 4/10

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