(DVD REVIEW) The Mechanic

Got a chance to watch The Mechanic this week. As you know, Jason Statham is in the movie....so I don't REALLY think that I have to go over the story, just let you know how many people he kills and how many times he punches someone in the face. Buuuuut, I might as well go over the whole thing.

A "mechanic" what is commonly refereed to by most folks as a "hitman". Arthur Bishop (Statham) has been in the business for a long time. When a job is presented to him to take out his mentor Bishop reluctantly takes the job. When Steve McKenna, son of Arthur's mentor Harry, comes to the funeral and asks Arthur to train him, Arthur decides to teach the kid the trade. But when facts begin to come to light, and you see that not everyone can be trusted, you have to decide between doing what is right or doing what will save your life....sometimes they turn out to be the same.

This movie is a remake of a Charles Bronson film from the 70's, so that should tell you most of what you need to know. While this movie is somewhat of a muscle head movie, it is still pretty enjoyable. Don't worry that the story is a liiiiiitle "one note", it still turns out to be worth a rent (at last from Redbox at $1).

(MOVIE REVIEW) Lantern may have failed to rake in the Green, but it still manages to offer fans an enjoyable movie

Matthew 5:5 says that “the meek shall inherit the Earth”. Well, I don’t know when that will happen, but I do know that the summer of 2011 is when “the geek shall inherit the Earth”. This summer has been loaded with fan-boy movies like no other summer in recent history. We have already seen The Green Hornet, Priest, Thor, X Men: First Class and this week’s Green Lantern on the big screen. Not to mention that Captain America and Transformers are still to come this year. So, needless to say, I am in the dorkiest part of dork heaven…and I love it. 

Green Lantern begins with an origin story and lots of exposition about how the Green Lantern Corps, a group of thousands of defenders that harness the willpower of the universe through their rings to form whatever the rings wielder can imagine, fought to capture a ruthless entity named Parallax. Parallax derives his power from fear. When Parallax escapes his prison, he targets the one Green Lantern that was responsible for his capture, Abin Sur. When Abin Sur is fatally wounded by Parallax, the ring seeks out a replacement Green Lantern to protect earth. It chooses Hal Jordan (Reynolds). When Jordan accepts the ring he is taken to the planet Oa, home of the Corps, to train. Training is cut short when Parallax begins destroying entire planets, causing genocide, and decides to make his next target earth. Jordan must be fearless, he must protect his planet, and he must find a way to defeat Parallax. Can he fight an unstoppable force, or is another planet forced to suffer extermination by Parallax?

Right out of the box I have to say this. I built this movie up SO BIG in my mind that it would never be as good as I hoped. That being said, it was a really fun movie that has a lot of heart, a little comedy, and some truly amazing special effects (especially in 3D). Sinestro (Mark Strong) is a great character in the film and will play a larger part in the next. While I am not a big fan of Peter Sarsgaard, he played the character of Hector Hammond perfectly. 

Worth the admission? Does Ryan Reynolds look good in tights? My wife thought so. The movie is not a 10, but it is at least an 8. What was worth the ticket price alone was to get to hear the Green Lantern Oath. An amazing moment in the movie and well acted by Reynolds. Go see this movie!

Watch the credits for a bonus scene let me know what you thought of the set up for the next film. 

(MOVIE REVIEW) Super 8 is easily a 10

When is a monster movie not a monster movie? When it’s also a comedy. I love when a movie transcends its own genre. When a movie is billed as a monster movie and you sit in your seat, expecting nothing but destruction, and end up with a movie that works on so many more levels than you ever thought that it would.  J.J Abrams (producer and director) is extremely gifted when it come to delivering these types of genre crossing projects. His television shows have consisted of Alias, Lost and Fringe and feature films include movies like Star Trek, Cloverfield, the Mission Impossible franchise and now Super 8.

Super 8 gets its title from camera film of the same name. This is the particular film that a group of friends in a small town in 1979 use to shoot their homemade monster movies. When they go to the local train depot to shoot a scene they decide to shoot with an oncoming train in the background. When this train derails, they have to make a run for it. While scrambling from the fallout of the crash their camera is overturned and records the whole ordeal, and what it records is something they cannot believe. Something was in that train…and it got out. When the military comes to town and starts to investigate, all while keeping the townsfolk in the dark, the kids decide to take it upon themselves to get to the bottom of the strange events that have been recently plaguing their small town. What they find is something that they never expected, and what takes place is something that they will never forget. 

Have you ever wished that you could combine two of your favorite movies into one and see what the result would be? I have, and this movie is it. It’s like someone combined Cloverfield with The Goonies. It is full of comedy, major tear jerking moments, great acting and lots of monstrous mayhem. 

Worth the admission? Absolutely! I rarely buy movies these days, but this one will be on my shelf the minute it is released. It succeeds on so many levels and is fun for everyone. I laughed a lot during this movie but actually laughed out loud at least 3 times. That is a rare thing for me in a theater. 

If you have some favorite movies from your childhood that you would compare Super 8 to, let me know what they are.

(MOVIE REVIEW) Fans get a worthy origin story in X Men: First Class

Prequel. The word alone brings out horrible images of movies that managed to take healthy franchises and reduce them to a joke. Cruel Intentions 2, Hannibal Rising, and Star Wars: Episodes 1-3 are all equally horrifying examples of this. Closer to home for this franchise was the horrific X Men Origins: Wolverine. So, it was with great trepidation that I bought tickets for this movie over the weekend. I already had my reservations when I realized that Erik/Magneto has a completely different accent in this film than he does in the original films, but I pressed on. Thankfully I did, because what could have been a complete train wreck turned out to be a really nice addition to the franchise. 

The film follows the lives of young Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr as they begin to grow into the infamous character know as Professor X and Magneto. Charles was born into a life of luxury and learned to fit into the world and to work from the inside to help his fellow mutants. Erik first discovered his powers in a Nazi camp as he was being torn away from his mother. Once Nazi officers realized his power, they experimented on him. His torture came at the hands of Sebastian Shaw (Bacon).

 As we see them later in life, Charles (McAvoy) is attempting to work with the government while Erik (Fassbender) is on a mission to hunt down and kill Shaw and all of those responsible for his pain. When their separate quests intersect, they find that they need each other to complete the objectives at hand. They, with the help of the government, reach out to the mutant community and start recruiting young mutants to join their cause. When Shaw finds out about this, he brings his own team of mutants in to battle the newly formed group of heroes. The battle lines are drawn and lives are lost in the crossfire. Who will survive and who will be forever changed by the final conflict?

I actually liked this movie more than I thought I would. It’s fun to see the “first class” of this infamous superhero team and how they are molded into heroes. Also to be noted, McAvory and Fassbender turn in equally impressive performances. I was pleasantly surprised with their portrayals of these iconic characters. 

Worth the admission? Is The Beast blue? Of course I recommend it. Superhero films are a big part of this summer and I feel that this one held its own.

Note: There are two past/future characters that make cameos. Tell me what you thought of them.  

(Movie Review) THOR conquers the box office and the competition in its opening weekend

As I type this, my geek senses are still slightly tingling. Why? Because a movie that I never thought that I would want to see, about one of my least favorite comic book characters, actually turned out to be really good. This has given me TREMENDIOUS hope for the upcoming Avengers movie and I fully believe that the people behind Marvel Films could take the least known character in their roster and make a great movie with them. I just hope DC Comics (my favorite) can mimic this success. 

THOR starts off with a very quick origin. Odin (Hopkins), the king of Asgard, is shown to have won a monumental battle against a race of Frost Giants. Thor (Hemsworth) and his brother Loki (Hiddleston), while very young, revel in their father’s victory. Thor sees this as a great accomplishment and longs for the day when he will be king and can have people praise him for his conquests on the battle field. In present day, Thor has become a very warlike person. When his impetuous and brazen attitude threatens to disrupt the delicate truce between Asgard and the Frost Giants, Odin, in an attempt to teach Thor a lesson,  strips him of his powers and casts him out (to Earth). He awakes as a mortal and is soon aided by Jane (Portman) in his search for his source of power. Thor must find a way to get his powers back, to protect his new found friends, and to finally prove himself worthy to be king of Asgard.  

When I first saw the outline for this movie, I had my reservations about it. They, essentially, rewrite the mythology and replace “gods” (which is what Thor was in the comics) with advanced beings from another planet that were only considered deities due to their technological advancements. However, in a modern world, where more and more superhero movies are being grounded in reality, this is a much easier pill to swallow than having the actual “gods” angle explored. Also, to have the majority of the movie showing Thor as mortal really added a human element to the film that I feared would be lost. 

Worth the admission? Every penny of it. We actually saw it in 3D, which I thought was great but it gave my wife a headache. But for a large scale movie like this, I would recommend 3D if you can. 

NOTES: Stick around after the movie for an extra scene. Also, tell me if you noticed the other Avenger in the film.