Reviews

This film is like Cards Against Humanity: The Movie. Its insulting. Its stupid. Its racist. Its definitely violent. Once you overlook the concept of "President Sarah Palin" (and for the jokes involving propaganda, it honestly couldn't be anyone else), its actually quite humorous.

It not a great movie and it has a slow start, but its definitely better than average and once it picks up, it really keeps its momentum. Its also an equal opportunity offender. Its not quite as good as Blazing Saddles, but its definitely in that direction.

I say watch it. You may be surprised.

Seriously. Take the current version of Doctor Who, give it guns, more eccentric companions and a tour bus instead of a police box and boom, you got Buckaroo Banzai and his band of Hong Kong Cavaliers. There is no doubt in my mind that the current Doctor Who series was almost entirely based on this film.

The best part of this film are the trio of villains played expertly by John Lithgow, Christopher Lloyd and the late Vincent Schiavelli. These guys are awesome. Vincent's dead, but goddamn it, we need more productions with John Lithgow and Christopher Lloyd together. The in- fighting between these characters is just a complete joy.

Unfortunately the same can not be said for the good guys in this film. There is so little happiness to be found in this group as the tone is almost always somber despite the eccentricities of the main protagonists. Between Buckaroo Banzai trying to screw his dead wife's long lost twin sister, the gunplay (which just comes across as a letdown given the level of sophistication in the dialogue), the total nonchalance to which each team member performs their duty. Its just too dry for what this movie was attempting to create.

Its worth a viewing, but not much afterthought.

I resisted seeing this film for the longest time for two reasons. One, I refuse to encourage or financially validate the remaking trend in Hollywood. Two, the trailer made it look like a Twilight rip-off. But, after being told by two different theaters in one night that the late night showings for Man with the Iron Fist had been canceled, I finally decided to shell out a buck twenty at a redbox for a rental.

It wasn't bad, but it wasn't great. It was basically a fan service film dedicated to everything that wasn't present in the first three films. First the good changes - Peter Parker is no longer a chronic whiner and as Spider-Man, he is a jokester which adds all the lightheartedness this film needs. Denis Leary nails his performance as Captain Stacy.

The rest of the changes was mediocre to flatulent. The worst being the automatic vaccine dispensing computer that took less than 8 minutes to make a completely untested vaccine for a biological compound that specifically targets lizard-based (not spider-based... that's important) genetic mutations.

Granted, in any science fiction film you have to make machines do magical things. I mean that's why they call it Science Fiction. There's just so much that's unnecessarily silly and it really depends on your personal ability to suspend disbelief. So go see it and make the choice for yourself.

Not much to say about this film's plot. All the scenes are appropriately emotional and the actors are all good at their respective roles, but the plot is just a standard revenge plot.

The villain has the same basic storyline as the villain from GoldenEye. He's an ex-British spy out for revenge and Javier Bardem plays him like Heath Ledger's Joker, complete with a disfigured face and a complete nonchalance towards explosives.

And the third act of this film was just spinning its wheels in reheated gibberish. The bad guy comes in referencing Apocalypse Now and the heroes counter with Home Alone.. Really? And even though MI6 knows exactly where Bond is running to, they can't send reinforcements, why? It all leads up to a fan service epilogue. Its not bad, per se... but its really just so paint-by-numbers at this point.

I'm not going to say Daniel Craig isn't a perfectly good James Bond. He's a great Bond, but so far, his villains are really weak. I want the genocidal mad-men and sinister organizations back. What we have now just feels like a series of briefly enjoyable, but ultimately empty one-night stands.

There are no scary scenes in this film and only one pseudo-startling "large marge" reveal. The R rating is only because the kids swear a lot. That's it. Seriously. This film is about as scary as the average Goosebumps episode - only its three times as long and its predominately shot with a blue filter.

I think its obvious that in Denmark (where the film originated) one can not show the amount of violence that films can show in the USA. So the filmmakers attempt to create intensity by implying dread... which it completely fails at. We learn in the first minute where the creature's origin is, so there's never any real intensity. The creature's goals and abilities are poorly defined so we have no idea why scenes are unfolding in the way they are and not according to how they unfolded in previous scenes. Its just a mess.

Its like salsa that's too mild to be considered anything but a letdown.

This was one of the first recommendations I got from the Cinema Snob website based on his review of the film and his interview with Bill Oberst Jr. I wasn't expecting much since its an asylum film, but I honestly enjoyed it. I found myself drawn to some of the characters being portrayed and Bill Oberst did an excellent job as Abraham Lincoln and its a completely serviceable zombie film.

Of course it has its problems. The CGI effects are incredibly cheap looking (duh, its The Asylum, get over it) and the plot is fairly simplistic. Its basically a standard zombie film which includes historical figures. If you can overlook that, then you should be able to enjoy the film without much difficulty.

The first lines of this film describes in detail the concept of having no reason behind certain aspects of a storyline. This in itself sounds like a very comforting scenario. Without the requirement that every questionable action and event must be explained, a person can sit back and let a ridiculous concept like an "animate killer tire" massage his or her mind for a while.

This concept however does have its limits. Unfortunately, this film plods over those boundaries with the elegance of a drunk rhinoceros. One scene in particular which deals with the aftermath of eating poultry created an emotionally toxic atmosphere between the filmmakers and the audience from which the film simply could not recover. The scene may have worked under different circumstances, but since the person who championed the idea of a film with no reason and the person who masterminded this scene for a specific reason were one and the same, it defeats its own meta-reasoning and the concept of showcasing a film which is based on "no reason" falls apart.

Ultimately, the film makes one wonder what came first: the idea to make a film about stuff that happens for no reason, or the idea to make a film about a killer tire. If its the former, then its a mediocre art film disguised as a b-grade horror film. If its the latter, then its b- grade horror film using half-assed style to justify its ridiculous existence.

I can neither recommend this film nor muster the energy to actively dislike it either. It exists upon itself and structurally fails upon itself as well. Take it for what you will.

I can't help but be a little reminded of Sergio Aragones' take on Marvel Comics where all the marvel characters had gotten together to face off against the Seagoing Soarer, only to be reminded that whenever Marvel comic characters assemble in large numbers they must always fight amongst themselves, regardless of the reason or the consequences.

Its the same with most buddy cop movies. Such introductory films require a little adversarial tension in order for headstrong individualistic alphas to come together and overcome the foe that is bigger than either could handle alone. Lethal Weapon. 48 Hours. Tango and Cash. The Last Boyscout. Red Heat. Etcetera. Etcetera.

This is the same basic formula that the Avengers follows. Its a buddy cop film with more explosions and the Hulk. The animosity here, however, tends to come from the machinations of Loki, and the general distrust of working with a secret organization, albeit one with our best interests in mind.

The characters are not two dimensional caricatures. Each with their own emotional weaknesses and psychological strengths. The development is meager, but adequate for an action film. One moment of blatant Chekov's Gun exists where a character's devotion is called into question and then takes on a "suicide" mission at the end of the final battle. I'm not quite willing to call it lazy writing at this point, but it is painfully reminiscent of the "you're a valued part of the team, too" episodes that every 80's cartoon series had. Multiple viewings may be needed to come to a final verdict on that minor and relatively unneeded subplot.

The only other minor gripe I had with the film is that there was very few scenes where the heroes worked together in a fight. A couple more well choreographed fight scenes involving multiple heroes would have been welcome, but its nothing more than a minor inconvenience.

The Earth's Mightiest Buddy Cop Film.

The powers of the gods are dwindling and the gods are slowly fading into oblivion. Monsters are being raised from wherever. Buildings are sliding all around the place. And there is no reason to care about ANY of it.

Ares and Hades are villains just as we've seen in nearly EVERY Greek mythology based storyline. I just want to pound my head against the wall every time I see this cinematic flatulence.

The love interest from the first movie is gone and instead of recasting the part, they just kill off the character. Bobo the Owl makes another cameo in this movie, playing the role of Wilson the Volleyball from Castaway. The blue ents are gone... I guess the action figures must not have sold that well.

When the Titan emerges (and it is the ONLY titan in the movie), he looks like the lava Titan from Disney's Hercules. The Titan shouts a lot, but hell if I could ever understand a word he said.

At least Perseus doesn't look like he came from the Jarhead Clan anymore. But he is still an idiot. Zeus comes to him in the beginning of the story to tell him that the world is coming to an end and he needs his help. Perseus refuses because... get this... he refuses to leave his son. Apparently despite having god blood in his veins he is still unable to think far enough in advance to realize that if the world comes to an end, he'll be leaving his son permanently.

The roles of Hades, Zeus and Hephaestus were really good, but three good performances just could not save this turkey from its bad writing and a dreadfully boring plot riddled with clichés.

Five Years Earlier...

When Ghost Busters arrived on the scene in 1984, it was a phenomenal success. It was a roller coaster of charm, thrills and wit for all ages. Following the film there were plans to make it a TV series, but the funding simply wasn't there. Instead it was made into a series of animated series aimed for the kiddie audience that about half of the movie was intended for. Mind you the animated series was respectively dark for its time and in order to bring more humor into the series, the producers brought in a comical sidekick in the form of one of the Ghost Buster's first spectral nemeses. A ghost referred to behind the scenes as Onionhead, but would come to be known as the gluttonous Slimer.

In many ways Slimer represents the nature of favoring marketing over substance. he was R2D2 without the subtlety and about half as useful. Fortunately the writers of the sequel foresaw this issue and he only makes two useless cameos in the film and never completely embarrasses the film by making it interact with the main characters.

Unfortunately the taint of marketing over substance didn't end with Slimer. The majority of the film is seasoned with similar laziness. The main characters are reduced in the very beginning to underdogs again instead of the heroes they were at the end of the first film. This eventually leads to a redemption scene in which the antagonist is a despotic judge who for some bizarre reason chooses not believe in ghosts, despite the fact that a 50 ft giant ghost was captured on live television during the climactic battle of the first film only five years ago.

Also returning is Dana Barret who plays the mother of the impending victim, Oscar. In the original film, Dana was a victim because she simply lived in the wrong apartment complex. Now her baby is the impending victim because... he's cute? I have my own personal issues with the use of babies or young children as plot devices because it eliminates any real drama. Nothing ever happens to these kids (Hollywood wouldn't dare risk it) and so no legitimate dramatic tension can be established by placing them "in harm's way". I'll get into the laziness of Oscar's character a little later. Dana portrays Peter's love interest again, because it would have made too much sense for them to simply still be together after the events of the first film and her character is just a little too well-adjusted for someone whose baby daddy just left her with a newborn for a job in Europe.

Slightly less lazy is the return of Louis Tully and his new love interest, Janine Melnitz, whose character is disappointingly reduced to a sexually aggressive caricature. While the chemistry between the two isn't entirely absent, Annie Potts' character was better in the first film as a snarkier assistant at odds with her employers and a thing for intellectuals. Louis Tully is Louis Tully, but unfortunately for Rick Moranis, his character role this time around is downgraded by the two aforementioned cameos with Slimer.

The meat and potatoes of the plot is established with the introduction of Vigo the Carpathian. A despotic sorcerer and tyrant whose spirit exists in a painting bearing his likeness. His main weapons of choice are a Renfield-like servant who is given vague supernatural abilities and is only slightly less annoying than Andy Dick and a powerful, spiritually charged sludge that manifests and feeds on negative emotions. The latter would have had a better execution if they had come up with a better solution to dealing with it other than happy, cheerful slime and serving the oldest possible cliché of objectified good versus objectified evil. Vigo's plan is to take over the world (Of Course!) and in order to do so he needs to possess a human body and that someone is baby Oscar.

This leads us to the true laziness of using a baby for a plot device. Oscar's character is entirely unnecessary except to serve as a springboard to bring Dana and Peter back together because we need to revisit this relationship from the first film. Also, it is obvious that Vigo intends to begin his reign from very beginning and yet he favors a host that would be relatively defenseless and lacking in basic communication abilities. It is also seen through his actions that he could possess practically any other human so the question begs why not choose any older child in New York City from ages 8-13 instead of learning how to walk, talk, feed yourself and use a toilet all over again.

Plot and general character laziness aside, the effects are decent but the music lacks the pop of the 'original' score from Ray Parker Jr (with my own respects to Huey Lewis and the News). Perhaps hip hop was not the way to go with this film.

Despite its flaws, its still a very watchable and moderately enjoyable film. It still manages to produce some genuinely creepy and funny moments which is what a Ghostbusters movie should have and it was nice to see Ernie Hudson's Winston Zeddemore do more in the film than be a stand-in fourth and the main four characters are still true to form. Its definitely worth a watch or two.

Its still not quite as good as the Puppet Master series as it lacks the stop motion filming, but its a good premise. A merciless sadist of a father has his daughter bury her dolls and then buries her along with them. When a toy collector unearths one of the dolls, the dolls arise from the shallow grave as well as the vengeful spirit of the young girl.

The execution, however, wasn't as good as it could have been. In one scene a girl's face is bitten and the wound is there before the doll can attack that spot. Some of the scenes get tossed around randomly. And the victims, despite being less than 10 feet away from the door, never actually get around to running out the door. The final confrontation is clunky and so is the manner in which they stop the dolls.

If you like animated dolls in these films, its worth a short watch as its run time is just a little over an hour.

Who'd have ever thought that the USA would have to import its violence. But its true. In the quest to ever lower the bar for how far Hollywood will go to grab a buck, they finally made a movie about children slaughtering each other with a PG-13 rating.

How did they accomplish this? By shaking the camera mercilessly and never showing any actual penetration. In effect, its about as violent as any three stooges movie without the zany sound effects. Dogs mauling kids; either off-screen or in the shadows. Killer wasps; more shaky camera work and muddied CGI. If it wasn't for the cannon blasts signifying the deaths of the contestants, there would be no way to know what happened to most of the characters in the arena.

I'm not saying this movie is stupid, its actually pretty good. Its just not a good action film and its almost too juvenile for what should be a more dramatic piece. The violence is all done off-screen or through the use of shaky cameras so there's no sense of imminent danger. The other sacrifices are ignored so entirely that there's no feeling that the main character wouldn't make it to the end. There is a scene where a friend of the main character is impaled with a spear and there is no weight to the scene or the memorial scene that follows, its just another minor character dying off screen.

This movie is more of a satire on reality TV game shows, but they don't do enough viewer reaction to important scenes (as they did in The Truman Show) to really monopolize on that satire. Only one scene attempts to capture that moment, but the gestures expressed between the character in the game and the audience are lost to those that haven't read the book. If you wish to find a better satire of reality TV game shows and socially acceptable violence, I recommend the movie Death Race 2000 with David Carradine and Sylvester Stallone.

The best reason to see this movie is Woody Harrelson's character of a psychologically damaged and alcoholic winner from a previous tournament. He steals the show in every scene he's in.

Its good, but it could have been better.

This is the kind of comedy that will never die. Perfect comedic timing. Zany slapstick. Modernized humor without the stench of self-important douchebaggery. There's one fart joke, but the rest of the humor is as honest as it gets.

The movie is separated into three acts, each one with its own title image featuring the faces of the new stooges. Chris, Sean and Will are picture perfect as Moe, Larry and Curly with all mannerisms copied perfectly. You will never think you're not watching the original.

The plot is simple and the dramatic scenes are never too heavy. The boys have to raise nearly a million dollars to save the orphanage in which they were raised. They don't have a band to put back together, so they hit the road seeking ways of to save their beloved home. Along the way, the boys bumble their way into a sordid tale of sex, lies and murder.

For those of you worried about the appearance of the Jersey Shore crew, don't worry. They aren't on screen that often and when they are, they're usually getting smacked around by Moe.

If you don't find this movie funny, then there must be too much iron in your drinking water.

This movie is fantastic. If this first movie of a great series, the mythology is implied lightly, but beautifully. The characters are likable. The scenery is natural. The aliens are enjoyable. The villains are rational, but not reasonable; immortal, but not invulnerable.

There are of course some flubs in the dialogue. Most notably that the native martians have their own names of the planets in the solar system (which makes sense) but one of the central cities in the plot is known as Helium and one alien makes a reference to Hell (which makes less sense).

One thing I wish they could have gone into greater detail on was the beginning of the war between the red and the blue. I'm certain it has metaphoric parallels to the American Civil War - especially considering the hero in question was a captain in the Confederate Army.

Regardless, its incredible fun. Go see it. Go see it twice.

This movie is a very comical and heavily cynical look at a fictional side of the kids television show industry. It uses concepts of corrupt children's charities, degenerate kiddie show hosts, and predatory marketing techniques to smack around the commercialism of television shows that target kids.

Unfortunately this movie came out only six short months after 9/11 - a tragedy that shook the world and made cynicism take a back burner for a desperate need for hope. Well ten years of political uselessness later, that cynicism is back and as strong as ever.

Its a terrible shame this film was overlooked because this film is really enjoyable from start to finish. Its twisted, vulgar and charming all at the same time. Danny DeVito, Jon Stewart, Danny Woodburn, Edward Norton, Robin Williams, and the beautiful Catherine Keener all bring their A-Game to this feature and it works on nearly every level.

Very few movies can make you cheer for the Irish mob.

Final Grade: A

In 1990, the world lost one of its greatest creators of perfect childhood memories. In his short time on this earth, Jim Henson shared his great craft with so many people through so many mediums. Among his first creations an easy going dog, Rowlf, a witty frog that became his trademark amphibian, Kermit, and a frackle that would later become Gonzo the Great. These creations mixed with many others became the cast of the great comedy variety show The Muppet Show known to many who grew up in that era as one of the most iconic shows of its time.

Then after three successful movies, an animated spin-off from the third film, and Jim Henson's tragic demise, the Muppets fell into disrepair. Jim Henson Productions was passed around from owner to owner while it limped along and a few less than stellar films were released along with a failed revisit to the variety show routine (the absence of many of the original characters may have had something to do with that). The future appeared bleak.

Until now.

This movie is near perfect. It brings back the old crew with similar antics as seen in the original Muppet Movie. It develops new muppets well. It utilizes cameos for quick gags as the original films did. It pays homage to the original Muppet Movie without trying to reinvent what the muppets were. It even utilizes great comedic actors like Jack Black, who plays an unwilling guest star to the new Muppet Show. the music numbers are brilliant. If you had a childhood that was invested in Jim Henson and you did not cry during the Rainbow Connection bit, you have no soul.

About the only downside was all the extreme close-up shots of muppets attempting to interact with people and dancers in the background. The director should have taken a better look at how muppets interacted with people in The Muppets Take Manhattan. This will definitely have to be addressed in future films. I hope this film brings back a solid franchise.

9.5/10

Its suspenseful without stupid jump scares and its engaging without being gory. Hollywood could learn a few things from this film. Likewise, the filmmakers of this film could learn not to affix a camera to a crane when filming a cameraman getting grabbed by a troll. But no one's perfect.

This is a great monster movie as well. Its an intelligent look at what would have to happen in order to have trolls exist in the real world. It goes into biological depth as to why some trolls have more than one head, and why trolls will either explode or turn to stone in daylight. It looks at the tools used by this singular troll hunter when he interacts with these giant behemoths and just how much his job sucks because it is so secretive and how he gets no respect because other hunters think he's a poacher.

I understand there is an American version heading down the pipes. If they make one, I hope Mike Rowe makes an appearance. I think that would make for an awesome "Dirty Jobs" tie-in.

This is easily my favorite "found footage" film. You should rent it.

Seriously. If you've heard one stupidity-driven sermon, you've heard them all. The one Parks gives in the beginning is way too drawn out and takes way too long. If you must watch the beginning, wait until they kids pass out and then skip ahead to the point where they start saran wrapping the guy attached to the cross and go from there, you really wont miss that much.

The ending, however, is hilarious and classic Kevin Smith. The final dialogue at the end given by John Goodman is near perfect. It could have used some jump cuts showing some of the scenes they were describing (the headbutt, the horn, the prison rape), but its still worth the watch.

This is an interesting take on the haunted house motif. Here the house "lives" off the bodies of its victims. Unfortunately this house doesn't take many victims on its own and when it does, its doesn't do as much as it could with them. For example, when a couple of bodies are disposed of within the house, there's an off-screen crunching sound and signs that the house is growing stronger from the nourishment, but these scenes are not that creepy.

Also there are a couple of scenes that are entirely pointless and make little sense overall including a black shadow that roams around in a couple of scenes and tries to look scary but ultimately doesn't do anything.

The film does excel in showing how the house distracts and separates the group even after the protagonists tell themselves not to split up when searching the house. Also, I'm glad to finally see a movie that realizes that eye trauma does not necessarily equate to death.

A couple of lame jump scares aside, this film produces a creepy atmosphere similar to what Rose Red created, but not quite as intense as 1408. Its far from bad, but it could have been a lot better.

Thor is an interesting film, but I'm not sure whether to say its worth seeing or not. There is a lot that is good about this film and a lot that sank to the bottom of the barrel. The special effects are decent for the most part except that the Frost Giants' facial make-up looks like ass and the multiple Loki illusion scene looks like it was thrown together with a bad video editor at the last minute.

The plot revolves around Thor being banished to Earth in order to teach him humility and self-control in the face of conflict. The best parts of the film are those that derive themselves from the whole "alien in a strange land" motif that lends itself from '3rd Rock from the Sun' and 'Mork and Mindy'. Unfortunately the film lacks any kind of serious introspection that the aforementioned series each had that would bring about this kind of change that Thor needed. Instead we get emotional conflict and bonding that varies consistently between totally forced and half-assed.

The most solid performance in this film is the role of Heimdall, played by Idris Elba, because he's the only Asgardian who isn't treated like a happy-go-lucky dork. Volstagg is the only one who should really stand out as a happy-go-lucky dork because that's who he is. Loki wasn't bad either, but it was difficult to follow his emotional turmoil as his goals and manipulations change throughout the film.

Worst performance easily goes to Natalie Portman, who has absolutely NO chemistry with Chris Hemsworth and whose character does just mind-bogglingly stupid things throughout the film (think Lois Lane without the journalistic integrity). Another odd choice was Anthony Hopkins as Odin. Not that he didn't do his job relatively well, but only a few times, while watching Odin on screen, did I think to myself that I was watching a character other than Anthony Hopkins (in truth, his staff commanded more presence on screen).

Overall Grade: C+

Not a great film, but not as horrible the run of the mill torture fests that have been pumped out as of late. The torture scenes are, for the most part, very badly acted out (with the notable exception of Emily's character) with very little blood (there's more blood in an Indiana Jones fight scene), but also very poetic as each bully and princess is confronted with their own crime and "punished" accordingly.

Granted this film probably wont do for school bullies what Fatal Attraction did for adulterers, but its definitely a step in that direction. Don't believe me? Take a look at the message boards for this film and look at all the posts coming from people scared that people are going to take this film literally.

As you watch this film, please remember that society and its shared ethics are based on a willingness to co-exist. When all is said and done, what have you done to make people want to co-exist with you? When people are no longer willing, will someone be coming for you?

This movie is the best it can be for being what it is. The film is extremely formulaic, taking from Dances with Wolves as well as Starship Troopers. However, regardless of how trite the plot is, the film remains nothing but absolute enjoyment from beginning to end. The scenery is gorgeous, the aliens lack in character building from a lack of dialogue but are still fun to watch, and the CGI blends seamlessly with the live action.

This film is like going to a restaurant and getting a Five Star Spamburger. Yes its still Spam no matter how you slice it, but it'll be the best Spam you've ever had. So sit back and enjoy the taste.

That's not saying much mind you. In the original movie the transformers were treated like punching bags and punchlines. No real interaction with the story or other characters at all. This movie, in that respect, is slightly better, but while, in a few scenes, where the transformers are treated like actual characters, this movie also does some really dumb things.

The most glaring example of this added stupidity are the 4chan brothers; twin Autobots that do nothing but talk smack throughout the entire movie. The one scene where they aren't talking smack is so ridiculous, that its not even worth mentioning.

A couple of less impressive moments include a paper-thin Decepticon that somehow manages to hold onto and hide a large chunk of the cube from the first movie, a female Decepticon that transforms into a human female with a three foot prehensile tongue (the tip of which remains as a tongue even when she is in robot form, because the audience is not expected to know what the long appendage reaching from her mouth is referring to), and a tiny Decepticon whose most treacherous act is to hump Megan Fox's leg for far too long. Bumblebee's stupidity was seen in the trailer so it should come as no surprise when he starts bawling like a 3 year old that doesn't get its way.

Also the plot includes finding this key which five Autobot "Primes" died to protect by merely burying it in a pile of rocks and turning their bodies into the shrine which housed it. This "sacrifice" makes absolutely no sense except that Michael Bay needed, for the sake of the final fight, all the other Primes to die so that only Optimus Prime would be left to kill off the Fallen, which only a Prime can kill - its never explained why nothing else can kill this robot. Maybe its like the 4th directive from Robocop, I don't know. This is not a movie you can put a lot of thought into.

There are a couple of good things in this film. Soundwave makes regular appearances as a communications satellite and is never found out during the length of the film - which is surprisingly good writing. Also, Shia Lebouf is far less irritating in this film than he was in the first one, which is a major plus.

All in all, not bad. I was honestly expecting it to be much worse.