The Tourist

The Tourist
Directed by: Florian Heckel von Donnersmark (no, seriously. Look it up.)
Cast: Johnny Depp as Frank Tupelo
Angelina Jolie as Elise Clifton-Ward
Paul Bettany as Inspector John Acheson
Timothy Dalton as Chief Inspector Jones
Rated: PG-13

*The following may contain spoilers*

Overview
"It all started when he met a woman..."
Frank Tupelo is an American tourist, exploring the beauty of Italy. As Frank zips through the countryside, a beautiful woman on the train sits down next to him. She introduces herself as Elise and the two talk the rest of the trip and Elise invites him to her hotel room. A stunned Frank accepts her offer, unaware of the chaos that is about to ensue....

Positive Attributes
Frank cares deeply for Elise, and she appears to care for him as well. Both risk their lives to save the other. Elise even tries to ditch Frank so that he will stay safe.

Negative Attributes
Elise's love interest, a mysterious man named Alexander Pearce, is a thief who stole $224 million euros from the British government, using Elise and Frank in his plot to avoid the government.
*SPOILER* Elise is an officer in the British government who went rogue for a year after getting close to Frank. Due to her mixed emotions, she makes some rather unethical decisions throughout the film. In the end, her government uses her as bait to lure Pearce, even to the point of threatening her life.
Elise and Frank kiss passionately, though Elise says it is to fool the agents who are following them.

Summary
This movie was extremely difficult to review, as you might have been able to tell. The whole plot was centered around an upcoming, yet obvious twist, thus making it hard to discuss without giving anything away. As such, this summary will also be rather difficult.

The Tourist is a very telling example of almost all the movies that are released these days. Like most "thrillers" with a "plot twist", Tourist was easy to watch, predictable and over-explained every plot point. Apparently, Hollywood now has a "no-idiot-left-behind" program. As a result, every movie is spoon-fed to us with no real thought needed while watching them. Like I said, Tourist fails to break that mold.

While Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp both perform well, the script was off, its pacing weird and the superstar balance just wasn't there.

*Spoiler Alert*
The major plot twist was that Frank turns out to be Pearce, who has undergone massive facial reconstruction.
My main problem with this twist is that it was all hinted at throughout the movie; the government mentioned facial reconstruction and they thought Frank was Pearce the whole time.

An even bigger hole is the fact that it is made abundantly clear that there are no actual photos of Pearce, only sketches. So, this raises the question of why did facial reconstruction even need to be a part of it. In theory, the whole plot could have been pulled off without any obscure, multi-million dollar surgery. Similarly, Elise did not know that Frank was Pearce, which also seemed pointless.

In my mind, the overall weak movie that is The Tourist could have been a much better movie if a) there was no facial reconstruction in the story at all and b) Elise had known the whole time, making the whole thing to be a scam to get away with the money.

That's enough of my rant. To finish up, Tourist originally had a lot of potential but was ruined in the final script. In the end, this movie is definitely not worth paying full price to see. If anything, wait until it's on DVD and give your money to Redbox.

Personal Rating: 4 of 10
Plot: 4
Sexuality/Sensuality: 1
Drugs/Alcohol: 1 (wine is consumed.)

Tangled

Tangled
Directed by: Nathan Greno, Bryon Howard
Cast: Mandy Moore as Rapunzel
Zachary Levi as Flynn Rider
Donna Murphy as Mother Gothel
Rated: PG

*The following may contain spoilers*
Overview
Disney has always been known for its one-of-a-kind renditions of classic princess movies. They've covered everything from Snow White to Cinderella to The Princess and the Frog (though, I'm pretty sure that one was just to get those racism charges dropped). Needless to say, Disney has touched on just about every princess movie in existence so it really was only a matter of time before they retold Rapunzel's story.

Tangled is the telling of Rapunzel, with Disney's beloved twist. The main center of conflict is a very special sunflower, which is said to have grown from a drop of the sun that fell to the earth (Yes, because when a flaming ball of magma hits the ground, it grows a pretty flower). Mother Gothel, a witch (because there has to be at least one) finds the flower and discovers it has magic healing powers, which she selfishly uses to continually make herself younger and hides the flower for herself.

The neighboring kingdom to the flowers secluded island is ruled by a beloved king and queen who are expecting a baby. When the queen gets sick in the middle of her pregnancy, the king and his soldiers set out to find the magic healing flower. Uncovering it from Mother Gothel's hiding place, they uproot it and return to the kingdom where the flower is made into soup that heals the queen. The queen then has a beautiful baby girl with shining yellow hair. Mama Gothel puts two and two together and realizes that this kid is now the source of regeneration she needs to keep herself looking 40, instead of 400. However, Rapunzel's hair loses its power when it is cut, forcing Mother Gothel to do the only sensible thing left and kidnap the newborn and raises her as her own child.

Rapunzel spends the next 18 years of her life living in a secluded tower, where her "mother" visits her and uses her hair's power, while Rapunzel secretly dreams of exploring the world. Then, on her 18th birthday, unsuspecting thief, Flynn Rider arrives at the tower and things get Tangled.

Positive Attributes
Rapunzel obeys her mother for 18 years, without question and even asks permission to leave before she disobeys and leaves the tower.
Flynn is a thief, but is inherently good and stays honest on the deal he made with Rapunzel on their journey.
Eventually, Rapunzel and Flynn fall for each and Flynn does everything possible, including breaking out of jail and risking his life to save her.

Negative Attributes
This is a Disney movie, so there isn't a whole lot of "adult" negativity. As for the kids, however....

Mother Gothel can look pretty creepy at times, particularly whenever she hasn't made herself young.
Flynn is a thief, so he...steals things.
Rapunzel and Flynn go to a pub filled with bad guys, all of whom are made to look pretty creepy and most seem to be drinking some type of alcohol, though it's never specified.
Magic does play a small part in the film and Mother Gothel chants an incantation to get the hair to work.
Several fight sequences take place and many guards and thugs are knocked unconscious.
*SPOILER ALERT*
In the end of the film, Flynn gets stabbed and blood is shown. Mother Gothel is tripped and falls out of Rapunzel's tower but is reduced to dust before she hits the ground.

Summary
Tangled is a very refreshing dose of Disney ingenuity, especially considering some of the things Disney has forced it's audiences to endure over the last few years. Tangled, however, is a perfect blend of humor, romance and classic princess tale, with a beautiful touch of Disney magic. Good, clean and entertaining, Tangled will be a hard juggernaut to beat in the box-office this holiday season.

Personal Rating: 9 of 10
Plot: 8.5
Sexuality/Sensuality: .05
Spiritual Aspects: 1 (magic)
Drugs/Alcohol: .05

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1

Directed by: David Yates
Cast: Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter
Emma Watson as Hermione Granger
Rupert Grint as Ron Weasley
Ralph Fiennes as Lord Voldemort
Rated: PG-13

*The following may contain spoilers*
Overview
12 years ago, J.K. Rowling released the first book in her Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone. Since then, the tales of the young wizard have become an international phenomenon that spawned LEGO sets, toys, costumes, video games and, of course, a film franchise. With each novel having its own film adaptation and the seventh book being split into two movies, Harry Potter is the most successful film franchise of all time. Last weekend, the box office was once again swarmed as fans swept into theaters to catch Part One of the epic finale to the Harry Potter saga. But, did it live up to the hype?

Positive Attributes
As in every movie and book, Harry, Ron and Hermione are best friends who remain loyal to each other, no matter what. Though they do have their differences, they overcome them to help each other out.
Other characters throughout the movie risk their lives to protect Harry.

Negative Attributes
Most of the characters use magic throughout the film. Though it is never said where this magic comes from, some might have a problem with that.

Deathly Hallows is by far the most violent installment of the franchise. The wizard war is in full swing and casualties are had on both sides. Harry's owl is shot down, mid-flight. Ron's brother George loses an ear and blood is seen running down his face. Dobby, a house-elf, gets stabbed with a knife. Hermione has "mudblood" carved into her arm. We don't see the carving, but she screams and writhes and blood is seen trickling out of the cut. Several characters get shot with stunning and sometimes killing spells and all receive cuts and bruises. One character speaks of being attacked by a werewolf and his face has three deep scars as proof. Hermione has to shoot Harry with a "blistering jinx", which causes his face to contort and swell and Ron's arm "splinches" and is shown ripped apart. Voldemort takes a wand from a rotting hand inside a tomb and kills several people.

This movie contains teenagers, so it also contains: hormones. Harry and Ginny, his girlfriend-he-still-has-feelings-for, kiss passionately. Ron and Hermione obviously have a thing for each other, but Ron gets jealous of Hermione's relationship with Harry and leaves. Later, an evil device uses his jealousy against him, showing Ron images of Harry and Hermione kissing while apparently naked.

My Problem With It...
Perfectly adapting a book for a movie is impossible, and is made even harder when you are only adapting half of a novel at one time. I understand this, but even still, there were several bumps in the film that made me flinch.

Things are going to get cut in the transition and I understand that, I really do. What i don't understand is cutting them and then continuing as if the audience knows what's going on. Example: Kreacher.
In the 6th book, Dumbledore tells Harry that Kreacher, a house-elf, now belongs to him, and must obey Harry no matter what. In the seventh book, Harry uses this skill to his advantage in a rather important plot point. This plot point was included in the movie, but with no reason as to why Kreacher was obeying Harry. Now, I understand that this was really the 6th movies fault, but given the wonderful job David Yates did of skimming over everything else he missed, you would think there would be a line that went something like, "oh, yeah. Dumbledore told me Kreacher has to obey me now, guys". Saved non-readers a lot of confusion and would have eased a bit of choppiness.
Along the same lines, Harry's invisibility cloak and a certain letter were disturbingly absent in the film, both of which become important to the plot of the next film. However, I'm giving the crew the benefit of the doubt here to see how/if they recover from missing those this time around.

As for the rest of the film, I was very pleased. The cinematography was fantastic, showing the passing of time while hitting the important parts of the story and keeping it from becoming boring. As I said, I'd like to see the invisibility cloak, as well as a bit more exploration into the Dumbledore drama next time around, but otherwise, I was very pleased with the whole thing.

Summary
A lot more could have gone wrong, way more than I mentioned above, but, overall, the director and cast did a fantastic job.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 is a well-rounded, emotionally charged film that beautifully follows the book better than any of the others. It ends on a cliff-hanger and leaves the audience steeped in anticipation for Part 2. Despite its minimal faults, part one of the Harry Potter finale lives up to it's reputation and surpasses it's predecessors. Now, if only the fans can survive until July...

Personal Rating: 8 of 10
Plot: 9.5
Sexuality/Sensuality: 1
Spiritual Aspects: 9 (if you look at it that way)
Drugs/Alcohol: .5

The Next Three Days

The Next Three Days
Directed by: Paul Haggis
Cast: Russel Crowe as John Brennan
Elizabeth Banks as Lara Brennan

Rated: PG-13
*The following may contain spoilers*
Overview
What wold you do to prove the innocence of someone you love? That's the question John Brennan (Crowe) must answer when his wife is wrongly accused of murder.

After a fight with her boss, Lara Brennan is arrested the next morning after police have found her boss dead in the parking garage. Another employee saw Lara leaving the scene and the police found her fingerprints on the murder weapon, as well as the victims blood on her jacket. She is pronounced guilty and thrown in jail, where she lived for three years, leaving her schoolteacher husband and 3-year old son on the outside.

Despite incriminating evidence and a judges ruling, John Brennan refuses to accept that his wife is guilty, but even his lawyer says it may be time to give up hope.

Creatively, the film is broken up into three parts: The Last Three Years, a broad time from the night before she got arrested to the climax of the film that shows what life is like in the Brennan home without Lara. It then moves into The Last Three Months, a little narrower time period in which the plot begins to take off. And, finally, it goes into The Last Three Days before the movie's finale.

The Last Three Years is rather slow, just showing what John's life is like without his wife. He drops off his son, he teaches his classes and then they both go and visit Lara in prison. It's a rather depressing cycle as we see each of them deal with the consequences of a life separated by bars.
The Last Three Months is where the plot really begins to move. Realizing that his wife will never be proven innocent, John decides to look into breaking her out of prison. So, he turns to a man named Damon, played by none other than Liam Neeson.

Honestly, who else could there be?

Damon, having broken out of prison 4 times himself, gives John the secrets to getting his wife out of jail, and John starts to believe he can pull it off. But, Damon asks, can John become a killer, a thief? Because that's what it will take.

John decides to go for it, consulting YouTube, getting passports and making his plans. Then, it all comes down to The Last Three Days.

Positive Attributes
John and Lara love each other very much and do their best to maintain a healthy relationship and do what's best for their son. John never doubts Lara's innocence, saying that he knows who she is, even when she tries to push him away by telling him she was guilty.
Despite the rocky status of their relationship, John's father loves him, and after he figures out John's plan, he covers for him.

Negative Attributes
John breaks a LOT of laws, starting with trying to break his wife out of prison. He also shoots a drug dealer, beats up a few guys, has one man die in his back seat, buys illegal drugs while looking for forged passports, steals drug money, sets a house on fire, buys a gun, breaks into a medical van, steals a car and lies to his mother.

John gets beat up pretty bad by two thugs.

It's alluded to that John and Lara have sex in their car the night before she's arrested. Nothing but Lara's messy hair and John's inside-out shirt is shown. At dinner the same night, a woman wears a very low-cut shirt and flirts with John in front of Lara. A mom at the park tries to flirt with John as well, but he denies her.

Olivia Wilde is the "mom at the park". That's commitment.

One usage of the f-word and several of d**n. Lara and John drink wine at dinner.

*SPOILER ALERT* In the end, audiences are shown that Lara was in fact innocent. I think this is Hollywood's way to justify the crimes. But, no. Kids, don't try that at home.

Summary
The Next Three Days was very well written. It made you think to keep up and it was very cool to see it all come together. Though it drug a bit in the middle, it always picked back up quickly.
I'd definitely recommend this movie to those who enjoy a decent amount of suspense, but I don't think it would be very "re-watchable".


Overall Rating: 6 of 10
Plot: 6 of 10
Sexuality/Sensuality: 1 of 10
Drugs/Alcohol: 1 of 10

Unstoppable

Unstoppable

Directed by: Tony Scott
Cast: Denzel Washington as Frank
Chris Pine as Will
Rosario Dawson as Connie
Kevin Dunn as Gavin

Rated: PG-13

*The following may contain spoilers*
Overview
Who rides trains anymore? Outside of New York, I think the number is slim. So then, why would it be necessary to teach a group of 6 year old's the basics of train safety? Oh, right. It wouldn't. But, it does create pointless drama that this movie can show in the commercials to make it seem interesting. And that's pretty much how they fill two and a half hours.

Unstoppable tells the story of two train operators, one rookie, named Will (Pine) and one veteran, Frank (Washington), who are teamed up for the day to pick up some random cargo train and haul it across town. As one might expect, the rookie doesn't really want to be here and the veteran doesn't like his laziness. Before the movie really gets going, both men have yelled at each other and have resigned themselves to silent glowering. It really is very touching (sarcasm).

Meanwhile, two lazy bums at the train yard desperately want to get lunch. Controlled by their hunger, they decide to "quickly" move a train. This plan results in one of them getting in the engine of half-mile long train, start it moving and then hops out of the moving train to go shift the track...LEAVING THE TRAIN MOVING. The train then randomly starts moving faster and the employee can't catch up mainly because he looks like this:

Emergency option: He can eat the train

So, he ends up face down in the dirt a the train speeds past him, heading towards three heavily populated areas with no apparent hills to stop it. Oh, and Fatso forgot to set the emergency brake so, that option is out too. The next two hours are filled with all kinds of stupid dramatic situations, only two minor explosions and the big, evil shipping company's ideas to stop it.

Denzel and Chris only decide to jump in to help after the 1 and a 1/2 hour mark.

That is seriously the ENTIRE plot. Yeah. It was bad.

Positive Attributes
Frank and Will both care for their families very much and bond through the drama.

....that's it.

Negative Attributes
The plot. It was terrible. Not only was it just REALLY lame, it had several holes. For example, I know that Fatso (also known as Dewey) is an idiot and made to look like one, but seriously, dude. Why would you hop out of a moving train? The whole reasoning for why the train was careening down the tracks was stupid. Also, Denzel Washington saves the day by running on top on the train cars and leaping the gaps. If that's possible at 75 miles an hour, why couldn't Fatty or his partner grab onto a car further back and make their way to the front. Instead, they just stand there looking at it.

With this exact expression.

And, like I said in the Overview, the train full of kids serves no real purpose. That's not even why they were trying to stop the thing.

The language in Unstoppable was terrible. Throughout the movie, the f-word was said once, a** and a-hole were said a total of 6 times, BS was uttered 3 times, Jesus' name was abused 5 times, b**** was said 3 times and, to top it all off, GD was said 10 times and s*** was said 11 times. Will's foot gets pinched in-between two car connectors and is shown covered in blood.

The move itself was just not filmed well, either. Shot both from a third person view and like live newscast, the transitions were shaky and confusing at times. All the shots depicting the action, such as Denzel running on top of the train are jumpy and out of focus, leaving you dizzy and confused.

Every action sequence kind of looks like this.

Other notes: A man crashes through a window, a train derails and explodes with a man inside, and a police car flips and smashes. Will speaks of pulling a gun on a cop and Frank's daughters work at and are shown in Hooters.

Summary
Unstoppable is proof that commercials make things better. I honestly enjoyed watching the commercial more than the actual movie. While Denzel Washington was convincing in his role, Chris Pine seemed to overact and came off as an annoying, angry know-it-all. On top of that, the supporting actors just seemed weak, not very committed to their roles and the end result was a boring, slow to start but quick to finish wannabe action/suspenseful movie.

Personal Rating: 3 of 10
Plot: 2.5
Drugs/Alcohol: 1

Megamind

Megamind

Directed by: Tom McGrath
Cast: Will Ferrel as Megamind
Brad Pitt as Metro Man
Tina Fey as Roxanne Ritchi
Jonah Hill as Tighten/Hal
David Cross as Minion
Rated: PG

*The following may contain spoilers*
Overview
There are only two other animated movie reviews on this site: Toy Story 3 and Despicable Me. I don't see many animated movies, in theaters (I watched How To Train Your Dragon on DVD the other day, though and it was amazing). Occasionally, though, an animated movie will come out and catch my interest. Megamind was one of them.
I'll admit, when I first heard of it, I thought it seemed stupid. Then I saw a commercial and thought it would be another unoriginal, "all-the-funny-parts-in-the-commercial" superhero spoof. And then, I heard the plot. I accidentally watched an interview with Jonah Hill, the voice of Tighten in the movie. During said interview, he outlined the basic plot of the movie (wihout even calling "spoiler alert." Jerk). It was at that moment, I knew I had to see this film.

Megamind is quite possibly Dreamworks' best creation yet. It tells the tale of two aliens who are jettisoned to Earth as their two respective planets are sucked into a black hole (this is never explained). The bigheaded, blue one crashes in a prison yard, while his human-looking rival lands in a rich families living room. The film follows the life of the blue alien who, after a vicious childhood, adopts the name Megamind and becomes the supervillian rival to the other alien, a superhero named Metro Man, who can fly, shoot lasers, has super strength and "amazing hair."
*SPOILER ALERT*(that's how you do it, Jonah Hill) Megamind succeeds after many failed attempts and ends up killing Metro Man. Now, he rules the city, but quickly learns that its not all that fun when you've got everything in the world.

Positive Attributes
Megamind doesn't necessarily want to be evil, he just feels that he has to be, since Metro Man is the hero. *SPOILER* As a result, he eventually swaps roles and takes up the mantle of superhero.
Roxanne continually says "Good will always rise up to conquer evil." This is very broad and generic, as well as totally necessary to the plot, but I think it portrays a decent life application with it's "good will conquer evil" thing. Megamind insults his best friend and treats him like dirt, but later admits his wrong and asks for and receives Minions forgiveness
*SPOILER* Roxanne and Megamind develop feelings for each other, and even though Megamind originally lies to get close to her, she forgives him, saying it's not what we look like, it's who we are (paraphrased).
Roxanne is always very nice to Hal, (the guy who likes her and continually asks her out) no matter how creepy he gets. This teaches girls that, no matter how creepy a guy can e, always let them down gently. They might take it personally and try to kill you. (Just kidding. That only happens sometimes, ladies.)


Negative Attributes
Not a whole lot of "bad stuff" in the grown up department, but this is a kids movie, so:

Megamind has a taste for classic rock music and plays several hardcore songs, including "Highway to Hell".
Megamind gets beat up several times, and there are bits of slapstick violence throughout. Metro Man is killed with a giant laser that blows up the building he is in, and his skeleton lands in front of Megamind. They're are several references of "butt-kicking" and one shot of Megaminds behind tightly wrapped in leather.
During training, superhero Tighten is shown melting the face of a Megamind dummy with his laser eyes. Tighten is considerably violent, blasting the city and destroying buildings.
Hal and Tighten are both obsessed with Roxanne and give off creepy, stalker-like vibes. When she rejects Tighten, he goes on a rampage and threatens to kill her.
Megamind and Roxanne sip what appears to be champagne at dinner.

Summary
Megamind provides a rare mixture of comedy, action and good, clean fun. To many "childrens" films take it too far these days (Shrek, Dreamworks' earliest work is a prime example), but Megamind does a terrific job of steering clear of all things dirty, perverted or in the toilet, proving that you CAN have a successful, clean family movie. Two thumbs up, Dreamworks and three cheers for Megamind.

Personal Rating: 3 cheers, or 9 of 10
Plot: 9.5 of 10
Sexuality/Sensuality: 0.2 of 10
Drugs/Alcohol: 0.2 of 10

RED

RED (Retired, Extremely Dangerous)

Directed by: Robert Schwentke
Cast: Bruce Willis as Frank Moses
Mary-Louise Parker as Sarah Ross
John Malkovich as Marvin Boggs
Helen Mirren as Victoria
Morgan Freeman as Joe Matheson
Karl Urban as William Cooper

Rated: PG-13

*The following may contain spoilers*

Overview
John McClain, er, uhh, I mean, Frank Moses is a bored, retired CIA black-ops operative who spends his days talking to a girl he's never met that works at the pension office. She seems to be his only contact with outside world. Needless to say, he misses his old job.
So when a strike team of US soldiers come knocking on his door with a gun full of bullets, he's prepared for action. He successfully "McGyver's" their sorry behinds and sets off to figure out why the CIA wants him dead, gathering a rag-tag team of retired operatives (and that chick from the pension office) as he marches to the F.B.I.'s front door.


Positive Attributes
THIS MOVIE HAS BRUCE WILLIS AND MORGAN FREEMAN. It really shouldn't NEED anymore positive elements. In fact, that should just be the end of my review right there. But I'll keep going anyway.
Frank cares for Sarah very much, but is in no way creepy about it. Which is hard to do when you're a guy that looks like he's fifty, liking a girl who (with the miracle of technology) looks like she's 25. But, hey, it's Bruce Willis, so who cares, really?
The movie has Bruce Willis AND Morgan Freeman.
The fight scenes are pretty much some of the greatest I've ever seen.
Perhaps the coolest thing about this movie is it's attention to detail. It's based on a graphic novel (read: grown-up's comic book) and the director does a good job staying true to it's original form; the guns are a little too big, the fight scenes are a little too awesome and the camera angles are done so that it really feels like you're watching a moving comic book.
The movie also stays true to the comics original awesomeness because IT HAS BRUCE WILLS AND MORGAN FREEMAN.

Proof that Hollywood cares.

Negative Attributes
This movie has Mary-Louise Parker as the love interest. I don't dislike her, per say, she's just not Bruce Willis' level of awesomeness.
One use of the f-word and several uses of s***.
The gun battles and fight sequences can get a little rough, while still being totally awesome. i.e., several people get thrown into and through walls.

Summary
RED is not an award winning movie. It does not speak about the trials of war or the hardships of the falling economy. Instead, it's a kick-butt movie where Bruce Willis can jump out of a spinning police car and walk towards the bad guys sedan and blow it up with a single pistol clip.
RED is a movie that pumps you up and makes you feel like an American. It stays true to the comic and has just the right mixture of action and humor to make it worth a watch.

And, come on, who doesn't love this stuff?

Personal Rating: 8 of 10

Plot: 6.5 of 10
Action/Violence: 7 of 10
Drugs/Alcohol: 1 of 10

It's Kind of a Funny Story

It's Kind of a Funny Story

Directed by: Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck

Cast: Keir Gilchrist as Craig
Emma Roberts as Noelle
Zach Galifianakis as Bobby

*The following may contain spoilers*

Overview
Every single one of us has thought of running away. There comes a point when the burdens of life are too heavy to bear any longer and we imagine what it would be like to just run away and leave it all behind. This same fantasy plagued the mind of Craig, a teenage boy whose dreams of escape manifested into slightly over-dramatized thoughts of suicide. Instead of killing himself, however, he runs away. Convinced that he his mentally unstable, Craig checks himself into a mental hospital, planning to leave the next morning in time for school. Instead, he is asked to spend a week in the hospital to see if it helps. The next five days help Craig discover that his world isn't as crazy as he thinks.

Positive Attributes
The film shows the patients as human beings, not a bunch of weirdos that need to be locked up. Craig interacts with them, becomes their friend and learns from them. In this way, Funny Story seems to break the somewhat standard stereotype that those with mental illnesses are different and shows them as the lovable people they are.
Craig befriends a patient named Bobby, a sweet man who is suicidal like Craig. Despite being different, Bobby embraces who he is, despite what others, including his wife, say about him. Bobby does his best to maintain a steady relationship with his young daughter and it's obvious that he cares for her.
Craig also begins to hang out with a young girl named Noelle. Sweet and mysterious, Craig and Noelle are instantly attracted to each other and are used to display the simple, sweet and naivety that is love. They spend their first couple "dates" in the hospital, drawing and spending time with the other patients.
Craig has several friends who try to make fun of him for being where he is and the other patients as well but Craig stands up for the others.
Despite feeling upset about spending a week in the hospital, Craig opens up and learns and grows from the experience.

Negative Attributes
Craig harbors a crush on his best friends girlfriend, Nia for the first part of the movie. He tries to juggle his feelings for her and Noelle, but fails when Nia comes to the hospital and makes a move. The two are shown kissing and falling onto Craig's bed before they are interrupted. Nia leaves and Craig shouts that he loves her. The next day, he's in love with Noelle. (Fickle, much?)
Due to the crush element, Craig imagines Nia in a tub and we see her bare leg. She also wears low-cut tops throughout the film.
Craig and Noelle are showing kissing in a picture-like freeze frame.
Craig suffers from nervous vomiting which is shown twice on screen.
Footage is shown at the beginning of the film of Craig climbing out onto a bridge and preparing to jump, before his parents stop him. Noelle admits to having an addiction to cutting, with several scars on her arms and face. She never says how she got them.
Multiple uses of the s-word, as well as a picture of Noelle holding up her middle finger. Craigs friends briefly talk about drinking and doing drugs.

Summary
Funny Story is an all-around fantastic movie. I honestly cannot describe in words why exactly I like this movie so much. It could be the beauty it finds in every little thing or the majesty of Zach Galifianakis playing basketball. Either way, Funny Story has an overwhelming charm that will touch your heart.

Personal Rating: 9 out of 10
Plot: 8
Sexuality/Sensuality: 2
Spiritual Aspects: 0
Drugs/Alchohol: 2

Life As We Know It

Life As We Know It

Directed by: Greg Berlanti

Cast: Katherine Heigl as Holly Bereson
Josh Duhamel as Eric Messer

Rated: PG-13

*The following may contain spoilers*

Overview
What happens when two, average people, each with their own lives and plans, are thrown together as a hesitant set of parents to the recently orphaned child, named Sophie, of their married best friends. While dealing with their own conflicting emotions of grief over their friends deaths, and their growing feelings for each other, Life As We Know It tells the beautiful story of overcoming tragedy and creating something beautiful from it.

Positive Attributes:
Despite having separate careers, lives and personalities (Holly owns her own pastry shoppe and "Messer" hopes to become the director of a sports booth), both Holly and Messer put their differences aside for the sake of giving Sophie an easier and better life. They both continually try and do what is best for the girl, trying their best to remain a normal family.In the end, they both admit they love each other, as much as they love Sophie and that the three of them are a family...

Negative Attributes:
However, a marriage between the two of them is never implied or shown in the movie. Before the adoption of Sophie, Messer was a "player". He continually makes references to bedding women (we see several instances of "the morning after") and we see him shamelessly flirt, kiss and seduce several, before and after he begins the family with Holly and Sophie. Despite living together, it notably takes quite a while for the two of them to sleep together. However, they did so out of marriage, so that's a no-no. On top of that bit of fornication (which is never shown, save for some kissing in the shadow and the removal of Messer's shirt), the two then make some "special brownies" using some marijuana that was referenced once before in the film. Messer seems to constantly be consuming alcohol, and drops a few expletives throughout the movie. He also provokes several (unwanted) sexual innuendos and comments from the ladies of the neighborhood.

Summary:
Life As We Know It is a touching, heartwarming movie that boasts both good acting and a fairly refreshing plot. It has it's bumps along the road, both in the plot and in the content, but overall, audiences walk away feeling good. While it may not win any awards, I definitely recommend Life as a feel-good/date-night movie that encourages perseverance, love and the power of family.

Personal Rating: 8.0 out of 10
Plot: 6
Sexuality/Sensuality: 5.5
Drugs/Alchohol: 3

My Summer in Movies

Oh, my poor, neglected little blog. I'd like to apologize once again for letting you fade into dark corners of my mind. But, I'm back now, and I promise to take much better care of you now!

The same goes for you, my dear readers. I'd like to apologize for forgetting about posting (though most of you probably forgot I even did this :P). However, during my short-lived forgetful stage since my last review of Killers, I managed to see 12 different movies, all of which I forgot to review. But, to make up for it, I will now rate them in the order of favorites to waste-of-money and give short reviews on each! So, here ya go; My Summer in Movies!!

1. INCEPTION
Easily my favorite movie of the summer and currently top of my Favorite Movies of All Time list. Inception is an original work written and directed by Christopher Nolan and if you haven't seen it by now, go, get in your car and go wait at the theater until the next showing. Its fantastic. It remains impossible for me to accurately give a detailed review of its awesomeness without giving anything away, but here's what you need to know: the plot is terrific. The visuals are dynamic. The acting is great. And the language is minimum. Now go see this movie....

Ok, ok. I'll summarize the plot as much as possible. Basically, Leonardo DiCaprio plays a criminal named Cobb who can't go back to America but desperately wants to see his kids. His job (which kinda got him exiled from America in the first place) is to manipulate peoples dreams and extract information. A man named Saido comes and offers to wipe his record clean, IF Cobb can use the dreams of a CEO of a rival company to bring it down. And....that's pretty much all I can tell you. The plot thickens and the visuals get cooler, all the while keeping the audience entertained and focused on whats happening, instead of losing them in technicalities. I give it a 9 out of 10. Now, go watch it.

2. TOY STORY 3
My second favorite movie of the summer has got to be Toy Story 3. Even though it's animated, it's Pixar and I only know of one teenager who was not crazy excited (she knows who she is) for this third and final installment of Pixar's first and greatest series. Let's reminisce, shall we?

The first Toy Story installment released in 1992, and was the story of what happens when the toys in a child's bedroom come to life when left alone. Obviously, this was the realization of a fantasy that many children, myself included, had and, as such, spoke to the souls of children everywhere! Pixar pulled it off beautifully, telling the story of Woody (the current favorite toy) being replaced by Buzz Lightyear, a cooler, more advanced toy. In this way, Pixar also connected to the children who might have felt that they themselves were not as cool as some of the other spacemen that they hung out with. However, the creation of Buzz and Woody sparked one of the greatest feuds of all time: are you a cowboy or a spaceman? I have yet to decide. Toy Story also marked the coming of a new age of technology, as it was the first full-length, computer animated film.
Toy Story 2 released in 1995, bringing with it pure joy and happiness to children everywhere. Toy Story 2 is one of the only sequel's ever to retain, perfect and expound upon the original charm and wit that is the original. But, Pixar did so with gusto and successfully wove new characters, challenges and original plot into the continuation of the Toy Story saga. Also, it's just pretty dang impressive. I firmly believe that no one but Pixar could have successfully made three movies about toys, each better than the last. But they did.
Toy Story 3 released the summer of 2010 and I, personally, did not expect much. Why I sill doubted Pixar, I do not know, but I looked forward to Toy Story 3 simply out of anticipation for the childhood nostalgia the film would no doubt bring about. I didn't know the half of it. Toy Story 3 is no doubt the best film in the series. Again, Pixar brought in new characters and plot and pulled all the elements together wonderfully to create yet another stunning visual display of childhood fantasies that entertained both children and adults alike...oh, and not to mention, it made everyone who had seen the first two movies cry like a baby.
(Writer's Note: My dad would like for me to mention that Toy Story 3 spoke to the hearts of all the fathers that took their kids to see it when they were young, especially when the same kids are now going off to college, like Andy. Love you, Dad.)

3. SCOTT PILGRIM VERSUS THE WORLD
Scott Pilgrim Versus the World was made for a specific audience; the audience that loves vintage video games, action films and Michael Cera. Scott Pilgrim was made for nerds. And it was made beautifully. Based on a series of graphic novels, the filmmakers did an amazing job of bringing forth the correct visuals, sounds and dialogue to make this movie feel the way it was meant to; like a live-action arcade game on steroids...with Michael Cera.

4. DESPICABLE ME
Despicable Me, is yet another animated movie that pulls at your heartstrings. I have a soft spot in my heart these days for plot originality in movies and Despicable Me delivers with a cute, original story and lots of laughs. The somewhat predictable and totally adorable tale follows a man named Gru (Steve Carell), an "evil mastermind" who's latest plan involves three orphan girls that he adopts. Of course, Gru eventually begins to care for these girls despite himself, but not before audiences are shown just what it takes for an evil mastermind to become a dad.


5. DINNER FOR SCHMUCKS
Dinner for Schmucks is definitely an either/or kind of movie. You either love it, or you hate it. Personally, I loved it. The mixture of Paul Rudd's natural awkwardness, coupled with Steve Carell's lovable zany and weird character make for a hilarious movie. They also do a good job of allowing the plot to provide most of the humor. These days it seems like too many "comedies" have a serious plotline and attempt to create the humor simply with dialogue. However, Dinner for Schmucks manages to remain a truly funny movie about accepting those who may be a little...ok, a lot different than you.

6. THE OTHER GUYS
The Other Guys is one of those comedy movies I mentioned in Dinner for Schmucks. It relied a little too much on funny dialogue to compensate for an overly-serious plot. Granted, Will Ferrell is the king of witty improv. However, Mark Wahlberg doesn't quite live up to the task. Even still, they make quite a dynamic duo with Eva Mendes' supporting role icing on the cake, this buddy cop movie is worth your time.

7. THE LAST AIRBENDER
Before you judge the seventh movie on my list, let me explain. Although this live action adaption of the beloved "Avatar: The Last Airbender" tv show was a total flop, it holds this position in my list because of the fun I had seeing it. My friends and I gathered together and made our own costumes and represented characters from the show. So, although the movie tanked (lack of any humor, left several of the shows main plot points out and dont even get me started on the "bending"), the best part was the experience of seeing it with my nerdy friends ;)

8. RAMONA AND BEEZUS
Definitely the winner of Cutest Movie of the Summer, Ramona and Beezus is based on Beverly Clearly's classic story of the bond shared between two sisters. Selena Gomez does a fantastic job as Beezus in her debut role on the silver screen, conveying both love and annoyance in the appropriate older sister fashion. While this one won't win any awards, you definitely walk away feeling good and with a slight urge to hug a young child (I do not recommend acting on this impulse).

9. LETTERS TO JULIET
Letters to Juliet is a very touching story. Boasting both originality in plot and good acting, as well as a rare lack of sex or language, Letters to Juliet is, in my opinion, the perfect romantic movie. While it is predictable, the characters are portrayed well enough to keep you engaged throughout, instead of growing bored after the first 10 minutes. While it is no longer in theaters, I do recommend renting it if you need a good, clean family movie.

10. KNIGHT AND DAY
Knight and Day could easily be renamed as "Mission impossible, with a Girl". While sporting big time names, like Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz, the film is sorely lacking in both depth and believability. Yes, I am considering that it's a spy film, but Cameron Diaz knowing how to kill a guy in one move after being ignorant for the rest of the movie seems a bit far fetched. Overall, Knight and Day is a movie that had great potential in the beginning but when it came time to put it into action, the end result was a mildly entertaining, mediocre film that couldn't decide whether it was funny or a spy-flick.

11. CHARLIE ST. CLOUD
I know what you're thinking, and no. Charlie St. Cloud is not number 11 simply because Zac Efron stars in it. if that were the formula, it'd be number 12! ZING! Seriously, though. Zac does do a pretty good job with his character. However, the whole premise of the film just kinda weirded me out. Without going into too much detail, Charlie St. Cloud ended up being a kind of Sixth Sense kind of movie, but with less Bruce Willis. Overall, it wasn't painful....it was just kinda..."really, that's what they came up with?".

12. ECLIPSE
I know what you're thinking, and yes. Eclipse is at the bottom because it is the third movie in the Twilight franchise. Granted, I was excited for the first. But then my brain came back after finding my manhood and I hated it. The second one was a torturous event filled with half-naked "werewolves" who all seem to be WAY too comfortable with each other. And finally, the third installment was an estrogen-filled, bundle of hormones of this so-called "love story" that not only ruined vampires and werewolves for nerds everywhere, it also ruined the fight scene between the two species that has only ever been seen in Underworld by putting one in this movie. Needless to say, I despised this movie and the only reason I attended was because my best friend made me go because it's our "tradition". In my defense, I cheered louder at the Harry Potter 7 commercial at the beginning than any of the fan girls did at Jacob's abs. I'd tell you not to go see it, but there's really no point.

Well, there's my summer! At least, the part of summer that I spent in the movie theater! See you soon, readers!!

Movies I'm Looking Forward To:
Easy A (in theaters)
Takers (in theaters)
Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (Sept. 27, i think)
The Adjustment Bureau (2011)
Voyage of the Dawn Treader (December)
Due Date (Nov. 5)
Morning Glory (Nov. 10)

Killers

Killers

Directed by: Robert Luketic

Cast: Ashton Kutcher as Spencer Aimes
Katherine Hiegl as Jen Kornfeldt Aimes
Tom Selleck as Mr. Kornfeldt
Katherine O'Hara as Mrs. Kornfeldt

Rated: PG-13

*The following may contain spoilers*

Overview:
Killers is a rather fitting title, as it has many descriptions: Assassins. Murderers for hire. All of these are the same thing; people that kill for money. And now, there's a *slightly* romantic comedy on the subject. And it's everything you would expect from a movie about assassins; we have explosions, guns, car chases and...a baby. Yep. A baby in a movie about assassins. Didnt see that coming, did ya? But, what did you expect from an Ashton Kutcher movie about his successful marriage to Katherine Hiegel, all the while he is, in fact, a spy. Of course, all of this was revealed in the commercials, resulting in very few unforeseeable (and very weak) plot turns left for the rest of the movie.

Positive Attributes:
The Aimes' care very deeply for each other. Spencer originally drops out of the spy (meaning "killing") game to be with Jen, forgetting to tell her about his previous career choice since it will obviously never become an issue in their marriage...yeah, right. Even still, despite this lack of foresight on Spencer's part, he does his best to protect Jen from their KILLERS (ha ha. get it?) and she eventually forgives him for causing her repeated near-death experiences throughout the film. Spencer is also excited to be a father and when Jen threatens to leave him, he fights to keep her around. And, whenever she doubts herself, Spencer drops everything to comfort her and build her up. Jen and her parents have a very close and somewhat awkward relationship, though it is clear that they would do anything necessary to protect her from harm, something that seems to be missing in Hollywood these days. *Spoiler* At the end of the film, Jen demands complete honesty from her parents and husband and all of them spill their secrets willingly.

Negative Aspects:
Violence. Lots of violence. *Spoiler* The entire neighborhood and just about all of the couples friends turn out to be sleeper agents, ordered to kill the two whenever they receive the command. As a result, Spencer has to use his slightly rusty assassin skills to "eliminate" just about every additional character in the film, revealing a decent amount of blood, a lot of bullets and guns and several car accidents. Granted, that's severely less than you'd receive from a typical movie about assassins, but in a romantic comedy, it's a bit much. In the area of expletives, both Jen and Spencer cuss repeatedly ("due to the high stress situation, of course", Hollywood says). Spencer uses s**t like a verb and Jen says d**n more often than any others. Gods name is taken in vain several times. Jen speaks of a Russian diplomat who "got squeezy" with her on a plane. On their first date, Jen asks Spencer to take her dress off, but only because she can't breathe in it. She immediately replaces it with a towel while Spencer looks away. When they first meet, Spencer is shirtless and accidentally "follows" Jen to the beach as she looks over her shoulder, discretely checking him out.

Summary:
I was not expecting much in the way of plot when walking into the theater, and sadly, I was not surprised. Unfortunately, what it lacks in story, it seems to make up for in bullets. It seems as though Killers attempts to create the ever-elusive "chick flick" that contains enough of a girl movie (happy marriage, hot guys and babies) to entertain the ladies, while combining it with enough action and guy things (Katherine Hiegl, explosions, bullets and nice*ish* cars) to entertain the men that accompany their girlfriends and wives to these things. We'll call this uncreatable movie a...well it's an uncreatable movie! And Killers falls far short of the standard to be anything close to that. The action and drama don't balance out enough, leaving you feeling adrenaline overload on some occasions, while just enduring extreme cheesiness during the rest. I think my friend Aaron summarizes this film perfectly by saying, "it's cute, in an everyone-dies kind of way." Killers won't be winning any awards, but it's a decent film to watch if you're extremely bored with nothing else to do...or if your girlfriend asks you too.

Personal Rating: 5 of 10
Plot: 4 of 10
Sexuality/Sensuality: 6 of 10

P.S. Be sure to check out my friend Aaron Scholz's (quoted above) awesome blog at www.write-kind-of-sword.blogspot.com!

The Karate Kid (2010)

The Karate Kid (2010)
Directed by: Harald Zwart
Release Date: June 11, 2010
Cast: Jaden Smith as Dre Parker (The Karate Kid)
Jackie Chan as Mr. Han (Karate Instructor a la Mr. Miagai)
Zhenwei Wang as Cheng (Dre's crush)


Rated: PG

*The following may contain spoilers*
Overview:
Ok. I'm just going to go ahead and say it: I was not excited for this movie at all. First of all, I didn't think you could recreate the original "Karate Kid". I was afraid that they would just recycle the original storyline, just set in China. And, no offense to Jackie Chan, but I could not see him as Mr. Miagi. Thankfully, I was happily mistaken. This movie was not at all a remake, but instead, an addition to the Karate Kid legacy (and a much better addition than those other three sequels, I might add).

Positive Attributes:
Let's start with the positive attributes (in my opinion) about the plot. First off, this movie sets itself apart from the original in two ways. First, the *karate* kid is 12, as opposed to Daniel, the original karate kid, who was 18. Second, only about a minute and a half of the entire film is set in America; the rest takes place in China. As a result, Dre is pretty much the only american we see for the next two and a half hours, and the dialogue flits back and forth between English and Chinese, giving it a brand new, foreign and unique feel, removing all traces of the original film from your mind. Also, the acting in this movie feels more real than any in the original. Perhaps it's the lack of teenage angst and terrible "Brooklyn accent" from Daniel that we endured in the first movie, or maybe it's because all the Kung Fu moves are performed by people that can already practice them, or the actings simply better. No matter the reason, audiences can actually sympathize with Dre and what he's going through and are kept entertained throughout the entirity of the two and a half hour film. Finally, I have to comment on Jackie Chan's character; the 2010 version of Mr. Miagi. In this version, his name is Mr. Han. Although he's still a maintence man, he develops a much deeper character throughout the film than the original, creating a deeper connection with the audience than the original did. And he pays homage to the original tutor in small ways; not only is he a beast at Kung Fu (I mean, he's Jackie Chan!), he trains Dre through seemingly simple and meaningless task. And finally, we see him waxing a car in one scene in the traditional "wax on" with the right hand and "wax off" with the left. In addition to homage to the original film, filmmakers included Dre's leg being intentionally broken by the opposing team, similar to the original film. Now, on to the ACTUAL positive elements.

As with the original film, karate (or Kung Fu, depending on who's talking in this movie) is promoted as a force used to keep the peace, not to make war. As such, Dre is taught by Mr. Han to fight honorably (kind of an oxy-moron, if you think about it), unlike the kids tormenting him are taught in their "real" dojo. Friendship is also greatly valued and viewed positively. Dre attempts to make friends with the boys tormenting him, even after they beat him up. Also, he only considers himself to be friends with the girl he likes, never anything more. Dre calls Mr. Han the "best friend [he] ever had" and the two share several touching moments of compassion throughout the film. Respect for adults is a key theme as well. Mr. Han teaches Dre to obey his mother the first time she asks anything of him and eventually, the "bad kids" bow in respect to Mr. Han's superior teaching.

Negative Attributes:
The violence in this movie is pretty high for a PG rating. Granted, there's not alot of blood and it makes for some pretty sweet action sequences (like when the little Chinese thugs vault things like ninjas!), but a few of the fight scenes were intense enough to make me cringe and squirm and may prove a little too much for the younger ones. Also, the dojo in which the little ninjas train carries and teaches the mantra: "no pain, no fear, no mercy", resulting in Dre's beatings going a bit too far a couple times. The tournament at the finale also gets a bit intense with some insanely awesome fighting sequences and then when the "real" (meaning "bad guy") instructor orders his kids to break Dre's leg, it gets brutal, with kids targeting the leg repeatedly and showing no mercy yet again. On the language front, Dre mentions getting his "a** kicked" several times, to which Mr. Han responds "no more a**". Dre's mother takes Gods name in vane once or twice. One other thing I didn't like was the fact that Dre and his crush, Cheng, share a kiss on their first "date" (keep in mind that they are twelve). Also, Dre and Mr. Han travel to a temple of karate on top of a mountain during which Mr. Han speaks of chi, a force that lives and controls everything (which Dre then compares to Star Wars), revealing a somewhat spiritual undertone to Kung Fu.

Summary:
I was really impressed with this movie. What more can I say? It was well made and exposed a new generation to the legacy that is the Karate Kid (hopefully they won't ruin said legacy by watching the other three movies). Jackie Chan lives up to his own legacy by recreating while staying true to the original character and Jaden Smith comes alive in his first starring role and creates his own legacy by removing the Brooklyn accent from the movie completely and proving that he's got his dads talent in the movies. In conclusion, this isn't the first Karate Kid, or even a good remake. It's a brand new franchise of it's own.



Personal Rating: 8 of 10
Plot: 8 of 10
Sexuality/Sensuality: 1 of 10
Spiritual Content: 2 of 10
Written by: Christopher Murphey (screenplay)

The A-Team

The A-Team
Directed by: Joe Carnahan
Cast: Liam Neeson as Colonel "Hannibal" Smith
Bradley Cooper as Lt. Templeton "Faceman" Peck
Quinton "Rampage" Jackson as B.A. Baracus
Sharlto Copely as Murdock
Jessica Biel as Charisa Sosa
Rated: PG-13
*The following may contain spoilers*
Overview:
Its 1983 and every pre-teen and teenage male is turning on their television set, anxiously awaiting the sound of a trumpet playing that pure, red-blooded, All-American theme music. Then, there it is: a huge, black, tricked out van comes barreling through the desert toward the screen. And the audience goes wild, excited and ready for the newest episode of The A-Team. Fast-forward to June 11, 2010. Opening night of the big-screen version of the A-Team tv show. Before the credits start to roll, we seen two guys try to shoot Hannibal, B.A. beats up a garage of full of thugs and Face is seen with a Latino woman, both in robes and it's mentioned that they've slept together, even though she's married...albeit to a bad guy that's currently trying to kill the two of them. Face even begins to drop the f-word (the first of two times in the film), but is cut-off midstream. This very quick and somewhat telling, opening scene provides enough of a foundation for parents of younger children, and teens as well, to be cautious of the rest of the film.

Positive Attributes:
The film does display many great messages about friendship, loyalty and obeying authority, all of which are great lessons that everyone should learn. However, these themes begin to get a little obvious throughout the movie and among the explosions, punches and bullets.

Negative Attributes:
Multiple references are made to "Face" (Bradley Cooper) being a player. Not only is it mention that he slept with a married woman, he mentions something "done in a bedroom" while listening to a CD and once tells a jail guard that she "left something on the bed" in his cell and she picks up a thin, red piece of fabric (its unclear what exactly it is, but judging by her smile, its implied that it's underwear). In the same jail cell scene, a couple magazines are briefly seen with pictures of women on the front. The language is a lot less than most PG-13 movies, but still more than I usually like. Multiple exclamations of s**t pepper the particularly on-edge, adrenaline-fueled scenes (such as when B.A. is hanging out of a helicopter). Jesus and God's name are both taken in vain several times, God's is paired with d**n 4 times. And finally, B.A., one of the main characters names stands for Bad-A**. The violence may also be a little too much for younger audiences, but less blood appears than in normal action flicks. The only appearance of blood I can recall is when one character gets shot in the arm, and bleeds a bit in view of the camera. We see the wound again later, being stitched up by a doctor.

Summary
I was incredibly excited for this movie, ever since I saw the first commercial. I mean, Liam Neeson and Bradley Cooper, two of my favorite actors, together in the same movie?! Yes, I had to see this. As a result, I was at one of the first showings opening weekend. And i must admit, I walked out of the theater in awe. Despite the negative aspects mentioned above, this movie had everything I look for in a film. The plot was pretty good, with several twists that were only visible about a minute before they were revealed. The actors each portrayed the characters beautifully and convincingly (my favorite was Murdock). And of course, it had all the crazy, unbelievable, yet still amazing stunts that one would expect after seeing the commercial. Also, it kept most of the good parts out of the commercial, keeping a few surprises in store for the audience. Honestly, the entire A-Team film can be described in three great words from Hannibal: "Overkill is underrated." So, for everyone looking for a good, fun action movie at the box office, I would recommend The A-Team. Yes, it has its faults, but its one of the cleanest and best action films I've seen in a long while.

Personal Rating: 8.5 out of 10
Plot: 9 of 10
Sexuality/Sensuality: 2 of 10

Iron Man 2

IRON MAN 2

Directed by: Jon Favereau
Cast: Tony Stark/Iron Man - Robert Downey, Jr.
Lt. Colonel James "Rhodey" Rhodes - Don Cheadle
Natalie Rushman/Natasha Romanoff - Scarlett Johannson
Pepper Potts - Gwyneth Paltrow
Justin Hammer - Sam Rockwell
Ivan Vankov - Mickey Rourke
Nick Fury - Samuel L. Jackson
*The following review may contain spoilers*


"Oh, it's good to be back!" This line is one of the taglines for Iron Man 2, one of 2010's biggest expected summer blockbusters. And, oddly enough, it sums up my feelings about this poor, little, semi-neglected blog of mine! As such, I apologize, dear readers, for waiting so long to update it. Hopefully I will be able to better keep up with it over the summer! But for now, here's my review of Iron Man 2.

Robert Downey, Jr. returns to the big screen as Tony Stark/Iron Man for round two of the comic-book-based movie franchise. But, before we jump into the film, why don't we begin with a little history of Iron Man.
Iron Man was created by Marvel comic writer/editor, Stan Lee, in 1969, making his first appearance in an issue of Tales of Suspense that same year. Initially, the entire point of Iron Man's character was to allow the comic to explore more current/reality-based topics. Tony Stark runs a weapons company (Stark Industries) left to him by his deceased father. As shown in the first Iron Man movie (2008) and true to his comic book roots, Iron Man was created after his alter-ego, Tony Stark, suffered a near-fatal heart injury from some enemy captors. His captors then ask him to create a new type of weapon for them, but he instead builds a superhuman suit, which he then uses to escape captivity. Afterwards, Tony quickly decides to use the suit to protect people, becoming Iron Man.

In the 2008 adaption, Tony was captured by a group of Afghanistan terrorists, due to America's situation in Afghanistan at that time. Similarly, in his debut, Stark was captured by Russians during the Cold War. And thus, Iron Man began as a way for Stan Lee and the comic books to explore more current themes and, hopefully, boost the American morale.

Stan Lee used Iron Man as a straight-laced, do-gooder, focused entirely on protecting the United States, and never dealing with any personal problems of his own (you won't find any Spider-Man type angst in these comics). He was, literally and figuratively, a robot, programmed to boost the nations spirits with quick-witted one-liners and cool, terrorist-zapping lasers. Iron Man was a hero without a soul, a perfect protector. But all that is about to change...

Iron Man 2 begins 6 months after the conclusion of the first Iron Man movie. Our heroic tale begins in Russia, as we witness a depressed and half-drunk Russian guy, named Ivan Vankov, helping his ailing father. But, not surprisingly, daddy kicks the can after a few minutes of coughing. BUT WAIT! Turns out, the old croaker is an ex-business partner of Mr. Howard Stark (our leading man Tony Starks own father and founder of Stark Industries) and just so happens to have these plans for the super-mega-awesome power generator that Tony Stark built and placed in his chest in the first movie and that now powers the Iron Man suit. Papa dies, and as the opening credits roll, Ivan begins to work on his own generator and what appears to be another Iron Man suit.

Next, we cut to Tony Stark as he kicks off the Stark Industries weapons expo in New York. And even though he's surrounded by cheerleaders and alcohol, all is not well in the world of Tony Stark. *SPOILER* Turns out, Tony's dying. The generator that is keeping him alive keeps burning up and leaking toxins into his blood. And the generators burn up even faster when he uses the handy-dandy Iron Man suit. However, in typical superhero arrogance, Tony refuses to tell anyone what is wrong, searching for his own cure. On top of all of that, he also has the federal government cracking down on him, demanding that he sell the Iron Man suit to them. However, Tony "assures" them that he can handle anything the world can throw at the U.S.

Soon after, Ivan shows back up, sporting a fancy new generator and an semi-upgraded Iron Man suit that features two energy whips. Catching Tony off guard, he ends up whooping him pretty bad for a few minutes, all in front of the press, thus shaking Tonys arguments that he is the "only weapon America needs" to pieces. Needless to say, Tony is losing control of his newly formed superhero-world and learns he doesn't know how to handle it.

After his Ivan encounter, the toxins in his blood get dangerously high and Tony begins spinning out of control after trying everything he can think of to slow down or reverse his condition but with no luck. He soon excepts that he is going to die and cannot stop it, so he decides to party like there is no tomorrow. The breaking point comes at his birthday party, when he gets drunk and uses the Iron Man suit for party tricks and ends up wetting himself, still in the suit. It's at this point that his best buddy "Rhodey" steps in. He takes a previous generation Iron Man suit and audiences are granted a "clash of the Iron Man's" battle throughout Tony's Californian estate. After the battle, Rhodey takes Tony's suit, and flies straight to the government, forcing Tony to realize that he is out of options, friends, and time.

*SPOILER* In comes S.H.I.E.L.D., the superhuman law-enforcement team (the founders of the Avengers; they have had cameos in both the original Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk) with the answer to Tony's problem. They give him a box that belonged to his father and that contains several diagrams, blueprints and designs. And all of them say that they are the key to the future...and that only Tony can figure them out. After watching an inspiring old video in which his father literally speaks to him, Tony begins figuring out the plans and crafts a new element, one that will solve his problem of burned out generators.

This is as far as I will take my plot summary, so as not to spoil the ending. Keep in mind I've left out a few characters that are rather crucial so as to stick to the main point of the plot. Now, onward to the summary!

Summary:
Personally, I loved this movie. Not only were the visual effects astounding, the plot and acting was great as well. Early on in my review, I mentioned that Iron Man was originally a robot, never dealing with his own problems. This movie changes that and Hollywood proves that not every change in a superhero movie is a bad one.
With all the struggles Tony faces throughout the movie, audiences see that, despite his fame, genius and money, he's still just a regular guy, struggling to keep up with the demands of a superhero life. Hollywood humanizes Iron Man, and I personally like the change.

The plot of this movie was rather excellent by superhero-movie standards. There was a lot more going on than just battles and supervillians. Characters were deepened, relationships were strengthened and partnerships were formed. There was a great deal of character exploration done in this film. Pepper Potts, for example, grew in her role and we began to see just what her goals, thoughts, and motives are, as well as her true feelings for Tony. With all this growth, I have high hopes for the already rumored Iron Man 3 (2013).
Marvel also did an excellent job of tying in many underlying elements that tie the superhero world together, helping to make Iron Man 2 the launch pad for the Avengers that it is supposed to be. But all of these details are covered in my in-depth, spoiler-filled Avengers Movie post.

As for the Sexual Content in this sequel, it was much less than I anticipated. Considering the several awkward scenes in the first movie, I was honestly expecting to be bombarded with sexual innuendos and content throughout the film. Thankfully, I was pleasantly surprised. With the exception of Scarlett Johannson's character, the film significantly lacked anything resembling the first movies content. The one scene I feel even mentionable is the first Iron Man scene at Stark Weapons Expo where Iron flies down and lands on the stage surrounded by a group of "Ironette Dancers", who sport low-cut tops and short-shorts as the dance onstage for about two minutes.
The only other problem in this area comes from Scarlett Johannson's character, Natalie Rushman, who sports low-cut, cleavage-baring dresses throughout the film. She also turns out to be a S.H.E.I.L.D. agent and her uniform at the company is a skintight leather getup that still somehow allows her to flaunt her flexibility. Also, while once changing into aforementioned costume in the back of a car, audiences see her sporting a white, yet rather un-revealing bra for several seconds.

Drugs/Alcohol is also pretty scarce here. Several characters drink at a few parties and Tony gets drunk at his birthday party and holds a bottle of champagne for most of the scene.

Well, there you have it folks. Iron Man 2 in a very large nutshell. I give this movie a 8 on a scale of 10 and highly recommend you check it out in the theaters. Also, be sure to check in on the Avengers Movie post after you watch to catch up on all the hidden things you might have missed!
Hope you enjoyed this review and I should hopefully see you in the next couple weeks with a review of Robin Hood.

Peace!
Spencer Stephens

Category Ratings (1-10pt scale)
Plot: 8.5
Sexual Content: 3.5
Drugs and Alcohol: 2
Violence: 7
Spiritual Elements: 0