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Reviews
The Dark Knight (2008)
Oscar Worthy
One of the best films of the year. In 2005, I walked out of Batman Begins with a huge smile on my face! I could not wait for this sequel.Batman Begins was everything I wanted in a Batman film, it had tons of action, superb acting and direction, nifty camera work, and a story to tell. It was the Batman film I have been waiting for. Now this is probably one of the best comic book superhero films of all time.
As Kevin Smith said, it really is the Godfather Pt. II of comic book films. The acting is it's chief strength in this movie. Christian Bale is the best Batman/Bruce Wayne of all time, thank god Maggie Gyllenhaal replaced Katie Holmes, and Heath Ledger god rest his soul. Ledger was the perfect Joker, even better than the great Jack Nicholson. Ledger's performance is so terrifying, and he brings depth, realism, and fear to his Joker. I really hope they give him an award. The film has a great supporting cast, including Aaron Eckhart as DA Harvey Dent, who becomes Two-Face, Gary Oldman as Lt. James Gordan, Michael Cain as Bruce's trustworthy butler, and Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox. Christopher Nolan again will blow you away with this one, as he did in Batman Begins. The action scenes rock, and they don't look fake at all the stunts are amazing.
The Dark Knight tops The Incredible Hulk and in a few ways tops Iron Man. I would say this is right next to Spider-Man 2 one of my personal favorites. This film is completely flawless, and it is one of the best films of 2008, and a movie you must see! Just like Spider-Man 2, The Dark Knight is a nimble sequel that improves upon the original in almost every way possible! The story is so well written, and the script just keeps the film going and moving in a good pace, and I was never bored with the sub-plots, or even the love triangle between Bruce Wayne, Harvey Dent, and Rachel Dawes.
The run time is long, but I must tell all who read this review, that it is the fastest two-hour thirty-minute epic I have ever seen in a long time. Not a minute in this film I was thinking, oh they should have cut at least seven or eight minutes. This is an Oscar worthy film, I know the Acadmey will not give it any recognition, because they are just not fair. Like all those other superhero flicks that do deserve nominations besides special effects, like Batman Begins, Spider-Man 2, X2:X-Men United, this year's Iron Man, or many, many other comic book flicks that are Oscar worthy.
In closing The Dark Knight is a masterpiece, and will not disappoint fans of Batman, and this is a comic book movie for non-comic book fans, and it'll leave a lot of fan boys wanting more. I know I did, and I hope the third chapter of the Nolan series will come out soon, and top this one.
Spider-Man 3 (2007)
Spidey Has A Dark Side
The first "Spider-Man," was enjoyable. It had a colorful look, with spirit and energy. Then came "Spider-Man 2," the best sequel, and the best superhero film, about a troubled hero choosing between life as Spider-Man or as Peter Parker. Walking out of "Spider-Man 2" left me fulfilled and with a smile on my face and I immediately started counting the days until the release of "Spider-Man 3," and couldn't wait until May 4th arrived. Finally, Friday May 4th, 12:00am.
In line for two hours pumped and excited, watched through it, and was it worth it? Yes, but not what I expected. There were some good and some bad. The great part about the film was obviously the jaw-dropping action sequences, which gave me goose bumps just watching Spidey go into action, saving Mary Jane and fighting the villains, especially the final battle scene where it was a two on two battle with Spidey and Harry, and Venom and Sandman. The visual effects were put to great use, and should earn an Academy Award nomination. The CGI and stunt folks do such a brilliant job of creating monsters and smashing buildings and crashing cars that we almost take it for granted. The symbiote looked fabulous, it was a puddle of goo into something aggressive. One thing that impressed me the most was how Alvin Sargent's script was able to juggle so many characters and make them relevant, "Batman Forever" this is not!
However there are some cons. There was no point of Gwen Stacy. She just comes and goes. There are some very cheesy moments in the film. Maguire tries hard, but Peter's boyish enthusiasm seems more like annoying dork with just a better suit at this point - and when Spidey goes dark, there's none of the menace or inner turmoil of, say, Christian Bale's Batman. At one point Peter Parker undergoes a personality and style makeover that makes him look and act like he's the unknown third brother from "A Night at the Roxbury," making a scene at the jazz club, and for a second, I forgot what I was watching. Did I mention Kirsten Dunst singing more than once? There are far too many sluggish scenes of Peter and Mary Jane and don't even get me started on Harry's butler, who makes a speech late in the film that could have saved a lot of people a lot of trouble if he had just said something earlier! Thomas Haden Church gives an excellent portrayal as Sandman. In this film the script gives Sandman a real great story and should have been the main antagonist along with Harry. I was enormously disappointed with Venom, and yes, I am a fan of the character. Topher Grace gave a right performance, but there was no point to Venom in the film. He just comes and goes; such a waste of a character. Venom's design looked awesome and cool with the webbing's and just the way how his appearance was, but he and Spidey didn't go one on one, they just fought very briefly, and plus Venom didn't have much dialog.
Overall, "Spider-Man 3" doesn't entirely flatten the franchise. I walked out partly satisfied, but kinda disappointed. It's a fun candy-eye popcorn adventure comic book flick, "3" doesn't live up to the first two films, however it's worth the price and there's plenty to enjoy, and comfortable to sit through. 7/10.
Spider-Man 2 (2004)
The Best Superhero Movie
Spider-Man 2 is the way how they should make a superhero movie.
We start out with Peter Parker having a crappy job, and keeps getting fired all the time, and live in a bad apartment, and is always late for work, and for class at the university. His relationship with his best friend is not going well, Harry blames Spider-Man for the death of his father(Green Goblin). Things aren't going well with Aunt May she has no money, and Mary Jane the love of his life is getting married. Not getting what he wants, Peter loses his powers as Spider-Man, and give up for good, having a normal life just as Peter Parker. Things go well, not until Peter's hero Dr. Otto Octavius a good-hearted nuclear scientist, who wants to create a first-ever successful self-sustaining fusion reaction for the welfare of mankind. He is a hero of Peter's, being the subject of his paper on fusion power, and the two become good friends. However, when the fusion experiment fails, Octavius is bonded with his handling equipment, four artificially intelligent mechanical tentacles. These convince him to carry on his dangerous experiments no matter the cost, in memory of his wife who was killed in the accident, and is dubbed Doctor Octopus by the Daily Bugle. Harry and Doc Ock make a deal, for Spider-Man in trade for the tritium. Spidey and Doc Ock have one awesome, spectacular, amazing fight in the subway trains, after Ock holds MJ hostage. Then Spidey is beaten and Harry unmasks Spider-Man and is stunned to discover that his sworn enemy is also his best friend. Peter awakens and convinces Harry to reveal Octavius' whereabouts so he can rescue Mary Jane. Spider-Man finds Doctor Octopus in an abandoned warehouse on a waterfront pier, where he's restarted his fusion experiment. After defeating Ock, Peter reveals his true identity to Octavius, who is dazed and whose tentacles are temporarily incapacitated, and pleads with him to stop the machine. Determined to end his doomsday experiment before it causes more harm, Octavius uses his mechanical arms to collapse the floor of the building, plunging the fusion device into the water below and him along with it. Mary Jane sees Peter without his mask and realizes that he is Spider-Man, but Peter tells her they can never be together, as he will always have enemies. Back at the Osborn Mansion, Harry hallucinates his own father, tells him to avenge his death, he finds all the goblin gear, learning his father was the Green Goblin. At the end of the film, Mary Jane leaves her wedding and finds Peter in his apartment, telling him that she has decided to be with him, despite the risks. She persuades Peter to finally let her in while accepting the need of his vows by letting him respond to a sudden call for help.
The acting is great Toby MaGuire does an excellent job as the tormented superhero who can't have his own life, and what he wants. Alfred Molina as Doc Ock was well acted. I really think he should have gotten a nomination for best supporting actor, a really great villain an the best one. Kirsten Dunst as MJ, breath taking, she was much better in this film, as the love life of Peter Parker. James Franco as his best friend, who blames spidey for his father's death, and angry at Peter for taking pictures of spidey, a great set up there. The cast was excellent!
Spider-Man 2 is the true way to make a comic book film. The sub plots worked very well, and this film shows true emotions, it's sweet, has very good romance between Peter, and MJ, and real feelings to one another, yes the actions scenes are jaw dropping and amazing, along with the incredible special effects. Spider-Man 2 has a human story, keeping its parallel plots alive and moving.The movie demonstrates what's wrong with a lot of other superhero epics: They focus on the superpowers, and short-change the humans behind them. It gives a good message, and doesn't be preachy about it. This the best comic book adaption next to Batman Begins, X2, and the original Superman. I liked many other superhero films such as Hulk, Daredevil, Fantastic 4, Blade, and more, but not enough to recommend, but Spider-Man 2 is in another category: It's a real movie, full-blooded and smart, with qualities even for those who have no idea who Stan Lee is. Spider-Man 2 is the superhero movie that would blow away, and fill amazement with comic book fans, and it's also a comic book film for people who don't like comic book films. For those of you who don't like Spider-Man, or just not into comics, watch it, you just might be surprised. 10/10
Spider-Man (2002)
Here Comes The Spider-Man!
Spider-Man is one awesome comic book adaption. I think they got it right after years being held in development. This film displays great acting chops from Maguire as Peter Parker and a great menacing performance by Willem Defoe as Norman Osborn. Sam Raimi certainly knows the Spider-Man origin story very well. The film does have a couple of minor inaccurate changes, but this Spider-Man film is executed very well so in some ways it works, for example like his organic web shooters.
Tobey MaGuire was the right choice for the nerd teenager Peter Parker. The moral of the story as long with the origin of the story, and it is very well told. I didn't like Kirsten Dunst as MJ. Shedid an okay job, but any other actress could have done better. WillemDefoe as Norman Osborn/Green Goblin, was superior! Defoe's characterwas very menacing and evil, and so mean and nasty, he did a fine job there and there was nothing wrong with his part of the movie, I also like the way how Norman would treat Peter more like a son he would have than his own son Harry Osborn played by the amazing James Franco. Rosemary Harris as Aunt May has a full screen time, not just a cameo, and Cliff Robinson as Ben Parker, Peter's uncle, has a really great scene with Tobey, "With Great Power Come Great Responseiblity."
Spider-Man is filled with excitement and a lot of cartoony fun, although the visuals look sort of out of date, but it is not something to take away from the movie. The visuals got a lot better when the sequels came along, as did the action. X-Men may have started the superhero genre, but Spider-Man really set the standard and popularized it.
Director Sam Raimi is a master at pacing, and is able to move the story without any subtle changes and disjointed plot holes. The film moves at a right pace and he certainly has an eye for action sequences.
This is one comic bookfilm they got right. Spider-Man is a well told superhero movie which brought super-stardom to Tobey MaGuire.
Son of the Mask (2005)
SSStupid!
Amazingly enough, I now have a worst movie to talk about. I wanted to walk out of this film, now looking back at the experience I wish I had. Son of the Mask is just a stupid film with Jamie Kennedy. The mask has now fallen into a new owner Tim Avery, which give him new fond powers like in the original Mask, and his son has special powers too while pregenting his wife under the spell of the mask. Here I thought Dumb & Dumberer was the worst Jim Carrey sequel, but sorry to say Son of the Mask is much, much, much worse. I can see Jim Carrey vomiting, say how can they make a movie like this? The first mask had some comic elements and some potential to the character as the mask, and had it's ways being a cartoon character, resulting, half human, and half cartoon, and never before, a human actually performed as a cartoon character. Here, Son of the Mask is just, nothing actually, there was nothing to it, I did not laugh once throughout the entire film, there was no story to it at all. What a disappointment to the original mask film. Basically there's just a lot of running around, and a lot of noises, the film tries to copy some famous cartoons, used in the original film. Haven't any of the producers, learned from Dumb & Dumberer? Come on!
Animorphs (1998)
Animorphs
Animorphs is a 26-episode adaptation made by Nickelodeon of the Scholastic book series of the same name.
Like the other popular children's book series of the 1990s, Goosebumps, Animorphs also became a television series. Unlike Goosebumps, which aired on the Fox Network in the United States, Animorphs was aired on the cable network, Nickelodeon. Many fans of the Animorphs book series, including myself felt that the television series strayed too far from the story lines that Animorphs fans around the world had become very familiar with, which may have led to the show's cancellation after just two seasons.
One of the show's main story lines, about a mysterious disc given to the Animorphs by Elfangor, was invented for the television series and was never a part of the book series.
Many of the animals that the main characters could morph were changed for the book series. For example: Jake's main morph in the books is a Siberian Tiger, but in the TV show, he morphs a White Bengal Tiger. In the books, Rachel's signature morphs are a African elephant and a Grizzly Bear, but in the TV series, she only morphed a bear once, and never morphed an elephant; her signature morph in the show was a lion. Marco, in the book series, often morphed a male Silverback Gorilla, but in the TV series, his battle morph was a Wolf. Cassie, who in the books used a Wolf as her battle morph, only morphed a horse in the TV series. Tobias, whose first morph was his pet cat, then the Red-Tailed Hawk, and many other animals where he got his powers to morph again by the Ellimists', only as a hawk.
Also, the aliens in the television series were rarely shown. The Andalites and Hork-Bajir, who play such a large role in the books, were replaced with mostly humans in the television series. Visser Three and Ax, both of whom have Andalite bodies, mainly appeared in their human morphs. In the books, Ax and Visser Three appear in human morph only a handful of times, and for only short periods of time. The Taxxons, another alien race that was very prominent in the book series, was nonexistent in the television series.
I felt that since the television show aired on Nickelodeon, a lot of themes, battles, problems, and issues raised in the books were either downplayed or completely eliminated so that the show could be considered G-Rated instead of PG or PG-13. Nickelodeon's other shows at the time, which included the kid-friendly shows Kenan & Kel, The Journey of Allen Strange, All That, Figure It Out, and Cousin Skeeter, were all very non-controversial. Many of the themes common in the Animorphs books, including morality, slavery, and death, simply did not fit in with those of other Nickelodeon shows.
I was an Animrophs fan when it first aired, and read all the books written by KA Applegate. I felt, if the show somehow aired on abcFamily, or WB, it would have done better, and could have been a hit like Smallville, I had no problem with the cast, except Boris Cabrera who plays Marco on the show, Jake played by Shawn Ashmore was decent, Shawn is later famous for X-Men, who plays Iceman, Christopher Ralph was an excellent choice for Tobias, a thoughtful loner. Nadia Nascimento, and Brooke Nevin were good choices for Cassie, and Rachel. The special effects, the morphing scenes where just spectacular to watch, it was quite impressive for that time.
Animorphs was somewhat a fun show to watch, it had some moments, and some great episodes, but compared to the books, yes, the books are obviously better.
The Mask (1994)
SSSmoken'
The Mask is one heck of a movie. I saw this when I was 5 yrs. old, and was scared at first, but then I saw it again, and I was laughing my pants off. In the opening shots of The Mask looks like a low-budget film underwater, with a iron chest resting for ages, until it is unlocked, and a mysterious Mask comes out of the chest and is founded by a nerd loser, bank clerk Stanley Ipkiss. Once he puts it on, it brings his innermost desires to life. The Mask is sort of a mix with Lonney Tunes character, with Tasmanian Devil, like the spinning tornado, as the Mask transforms, dying on a thugs arm like Bug Bunny, Tex Avery's Wolf at the Coco Bongo Club. As a result, the character played by Jim Carrey is half real, and half cartoon. The Mask has great comic elements, and is laugh out funny, Carrey gives his best performance as a cartoon character. This is a smart film, making you believe it's like a cartoon film, and also helped Cameron Diaz with her career, along with Jim Carrey. It's smart, funny, hip, and SSSomken!!!!
Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut (1980)
Donner's Cut
Superman II Richard Donner's Cut, is more close to the first Superman movie. Finally, we see Kal-El and Jor-El what they were talking about all these years. We see them having good, and difficult relationships as father and son. Donner brings back some spectacular scenes, from the past original he intended it to be. The fights between Zod, Ursa, and Non were a lot more longer and more exciting. The beginning was a much better start, and the ending was great! In Lester's cut of Superman II, they didn't bring in Jor-El, Marlon Brando's character in because of financial reasons, instead they bring in his mother. The ending was really great because, the magic kiss in Lester's cut, Clark cannot kiss Lois Lane. However, only Superman can kiss Lois Lane.In Donner's version of Superman II, it's the same ending as the first. He spins the world back. I thought the producers got greedy over this movie. This is the true version of Superman II.
Jaws (1975)
Jaws
Jaws is one of the films that will forever leave a mark on you. It's terrifying and will continue in generation after generation to keep people afraid of the water. Jaws was pure great adventure/horror film, that will continue to tap your fear against sharks and the ocean. For director Steven Spielberg, this was a huge turning point for him. Jaws is a landmark classic, and started the blockbuster generation, and one of the first movies to reach the $100 million dollar mark. Jaws is one of my favorite films of all time. I think this is one of Spielberg's best work, for a first time director. Spielberg is a very smart and talented director. Steven Spielberg's terrifying blockbuster is one of the most brilliant, enduring, action-suspense movies of all time.Jaws is a phenomenon, and today it is still one of the highest grossing films of all time. The visuals of the shark will wear of anytime soon, but yet who cares, it's not about the special effects. It was the 70's, and for that time around, the shark looked pretty real. I really hated the sequels to this film. It just killed the the first film, and it just made me sick to look at. All three sequels, especially the four one, were not as close as the first Jaws. Jaws 2 was more of a teen flick, which I thought wasn't a serious film. Jaws 3 (3-D) took place in Seaworld which I thought was a very stupid idea. Jaws the Revenge, a shark stalks a 60 year old woman and takes revenge on her! What is up with that? I mean what was Universal thinking! I recommend this film to all, it is tense and an enjoyable film that will have you scream and jump out of your seats.