My Short Review of Taken
Liam Neeson does his best Jason Bourne in this action movie. Neeson is an ex-Preventer who must now use his skills to save his daughter. The movie moves along at a good clip. The violence can get intense at time, but the payoff works.
Rating: Matinee
It's Wolverine, bub
X-Men Origins: Wolverine
First off, I hated the title of this film. It’s more suited as a comic book title then a film title. I think they could have gotten away with Wolverine. Non-fanboys would have known who Wolverine was, at least I think. I know he’s no Superman or Batman, but the target audience knows who Wolverine is. Well, onto the film itself.
As an origins story, it provided pretty minimal grit to understanding the man who is Wolverine in all the X-Men films. The story starts off with James / Logan as a boy and by the end of the opening credits he’s a man. The opening credits helped the film along similar to Watchmen, covering enough history to get to a fair starting point for the story. Well, what there is of a story.
I found the story weak and confusing at times. There are too many characters and story points to be compressed within the 107 minute for the film. You can’t grasp any sense of who these characters are and why you should hate or care for them. It’s cool to see Gambit and Deadpool on the big screen, but it’d just as interesting to play them in a video game then watch them in this film again.
The fight scenes were on par with other X-Men films. But oddly the special effects seem to be worse. I would say the original X-Men film had better special effects than some of the scenes in this film. If you can wait for this film to come out on DVD, I’d say do so. It should be out by the end of the year.
Rating: Rental
Puppies. Evil puppies.
Marely & Me
Another one of those feel good movies. But if you know your dog movies, then you know what’ll happen. Yeah, it happens, but not after Marely gets a hold of your heart. Wow, did I just write that? If you’ve seen the trailer, then you’ve pretty much seen the whole movie. Jennifer Aniston and Owen Wilson are likable, but there characters, and the story, really don’t go anywhere. The movie won’t rot your brain, but it won’t stimulate it either.
Rating: Cable TV
The Third Man
I was able to watch the few movies the last several weeks. A few were classics reworked on Blu-ray. The first film was The Third Man. I’ve watched it a few times before and each time I’m reminded that Orson Wells, who plays Harry Lime, portrays an ultimate scumbag very convincingly.
Rating: Matinee
I wasn’t sure what to expect when Farrah and I sat down to watch the latest Indiana Jones film. It has been nineteen years between the last movie in the trilogy – well, I guess it’s no longer a trilogy but a series of films – with many action films to wow us during that time. Could Indiana deliver the ‘wow factor’ still?
The short answer is yes.
OK, here is the Netflix summary of the movie:
Hollywood icon Harrison Ford returns to the role of the adventurous archaeologist Indiana Jones nearly 20 years after he last donned the famous fedora and bullwhip to save the world from imminent peril. Joining Ford for this latest installment of the Steven Spielberg-George Lucas collaboration are Academy Award winner Cate Blanchett, Ray Winstone, Jim Broadbent, Karen Allen, John Hurt and Shia LaBeouf as Jones’s headstrong young sidekick.
Not much of a summary, huh. The movie takes place 19 years after the last one, placing the movie action in 1957, This changes the bad guys from the Nazi to Communist Russians. The action begins in Nevada, then moves to the university where Indy teaches, to parts in South America. The action is fluid and almost non-stop, just what you expect from an Indiana Jones film.
What I Liked
It’s great to see Harrison Ford back in the saddle as Indiana Jones. After a string of so so films (e.g. Firewall, Hollywood Homicide, and Random Hearts to name a few), it’s good to see Ford not losing a beat with the Indiana character. He just slips back into character like a comfortable pair of shoes.
The supporting cast proves pretty solid as well. Karen Allen is the only returning character from the Indiana Jones mythology, and it’s great to see her next to Ford. The rest of the actors provide solid support, with Cate Blanchett proving to be a nasty foe.
As I mentioned previously, the action sequences are what you expect an Indy film. They were long enjoyable sequences, well most of them were.
What I Did Not Enjoy
Some of the latter action sequences involved a level of CGI which was noticeable. Due to the nature of the film’s content toward the end of the film (it involves some science fiction elements), the use of CGI was difficult to avoid.
Final Thoughts
It’s great to be in the world of Indiana Jones again. I say don’t hesitate and go see it. It may not live up to your previous Indy experiences, but could it really? Believe me once you hear the theme music and see the iconic fedora on Harrison Ford’s skull, you’ll forget about your expectations and just go along with the ride.
