Reviews

What a let down. I can't believe season three was written by the same people that gave us those great first two chapters. Everything felt clichéd and predictable. So shallow, cheesy and DUMB. Poor character development to say the least.

Honestly, check my history. I am a HUGE Marvel fan. Yet, after rushing out to see this thing I am stunned at how bad it turned out. Carol is a one note bore. I don't know if it was the terrible script or what Brie Larson bright to the table. In any case, just offensively bad. This is the worst Marvel film by far.

Wow... paying off ten years of excellence was mostly worthwhile and genuinely shocking. This movie assumes you are a fan and know these characters. It jumps right in to the action with no set up or exposition. You are IN this movie right from the start.

The development and ground work from the other 18 films pave the way for a truly emotional drama and mind-blowing experience. And that's just what this movie is... an experience. It's a thrill ride start to finish including genuine "white knuckle" fear for some favorite characters. A valid complaint would have to be that this is without a doubt a part 1. It's an incomplete adventure. Yet, having to sit an entire year contemplating what we saw and what's going to happen now only adds to the fun. The after credits scenes is probably the best of any Marvel film. Also, some characters really do get very little screen time. Surprised at how little Cap, Hulk and Black Panther had to do.

Overall, Infinity War is every bit as epic as advertised and a year can't fly by fast enough.

I am as big of a Marvel fan as it gets and it pains me to admit that movie is very below average in every way that matters for a film. It places a warped political commentary first and foremost and delivers intelligent entertainment a far second. In this already divisive era, we deserve better than this from Marvel. Those praising the film are doing so with a blatant agenda...not because it is good cinema!

How you make a film this bad featuring Robert DeNiro and Michelle Pfeiffer is beyond belief.

The Manzoni family is relocated to Normandy, France under the witness protection program because DeNiro turned mafia rat to save his hide. What results is spending two hours with a despicable douchebag and his wife as well as his snotty children. At least the kids were only petty criminals. DeNiro plays a murdering unrepentant scumbag that the film apparently wants you to root for. Why would anyone want this guy to survive and prosper? Plus, the needless carnage at the end of the movie is unsettling and farther makes the entire cinema experience as unpleasant as it gets. This is NOT dark comedy. It's just dark, dumb and unpleasant.

I really do hesitate to call this a "film" or "movie" because there really is no story here. It's an event put to film but there is no heart or plot at all. It's a wonderfully visual, hypnotic and captivating event in orbit. Do spectacular visuals trump the lack of character development and an actual story? Maybe in this case it does. I enjoyed it but all this hype and praise seem like trumped up bandwagon stuff to me. This movie is gaining great praise so the week willed among film fans want to attach their movie wagon to a critical winner?

Again, I give this a big thumbs up as a visual and captivating event but it's not a true movie by definition. It's an IMAX nature event with fictional death and destruction mixed in.

How many movies can you say are exactly what you expected? This is one of them for me and for those that I saw it with. I was expecting average but hoping for more. As it turns out, there really is nothing extraordinary on display at all. It's a pure violent fairy tale complete with silly plot turns and nonsensical character decisions. I liked the cast well enough but wasn't really drawn to them or in to the story. There's very limited popcorn fun (I was disappointed in the action quite a bit actually and the lack of it) and, like everything else, the CGI wasn't bad but wasn't anything worth getting excited over either. This film will be forgotten sooner rather than later by most that see it.

I can honestly say I knew nothing about this movie before seeing it and the name Wes Anderson means nothing to me. Having said that, I truly enjoyed this film.

Movies like this really should be released more in the summer months. It's a complete pallet cleanser from all the big CGI stuff that hits during blockbuster season. It's tremendously quirky and strange but absolutely delightful. There's no doubt it requires patience to view because I honestly didn't know what to think of it for the first 15 or 20 minutes. Wanting to see where this superb cast would pop up in what amounts to a kids film kept me interested but the overall tone and story swept me away. There really are some stunning camera angles and visuals on display all the way through. There's a warmth to the cartoony and bizarre story that I found to be very appealing and there were many moments where I caught myself smiling as I watched.

Honestly, I don't know what others expected but I had a low opinion of this concept before viewing the film. Maybe lower expectations matter because I found this effort to be an entertaining blend of the Snow White fable and the Lord of the Rings trilogy. To be clear, it's not an epic like LOTR but it really gives off the same flavor (fighting dwarfs, hypnotic scenery, great effects as well as textured fantasy heroes). Some will roll their eyes at comparing the two (an Oscar winning film series versus a Kristen Stewart movie?) but is the overall concept sillier than a long needless trek to throw a magic ring in to a volcano?

I also thought that two-thirds of the lead performances were superb. I've never even seen a Twilight movie so I judge Stewart based on her work here only. She delivers a soulful performance and there was real sadness behind her eyes. Hemsworth was great. It's Charlize Theron that really hurts this film. She really is Razzie Award bad as the over-the-top cheesy evil queen. EVERY scene she chews up made me cringe. Every damn one. The plot isn't grand or even smart and there are character shortcuts but I enjoyed this film quite a bit more than I was expecting.

I just loved Marvel's Avengers. I thought it was smart and the impressive cast really delivered! This movie works on so many levels and makes you draw on just about all of your emotions. I don't remember when I enjoyed a movie this much! Such cool fantasy but what makes it extra special is following this film after all the other solo efforts from each character. I enjoyed the others films quite a bit but they all delivered something different. Seeing them blend together in Avengers and the sparks that resulted was the extra special treat. Example: They blended the grounded futurist (Tony Stark) with the Norse thunder god and his angry brother in a perfect way. Same could be said for every other character. It all works. In fact, it doesn't just fit, it's a symphony and that dyconomy and difference in characters are what makes it truly great. It's why this movie stands so tall above any other franchise at the moment. Things like Transformers, GI Joe and even Star Trek all operate with monotone restrictions. Avengers covers all angles and delivers depth with its fun.

I haven't enjoyed a movie this much in years if not ever!

I'd have to classify this movie as the quintessential "pretty good but not great" film. It's engrossing but yet remarkably superficial in terms of character. It's an odd blend. I've never read the book so, there where no expectations or nuances available to add depth for me. I found the overall premise to be quite silly to be honest but once reconciling that, I bought in to the concept. Jennifer Lawerence is wonderful and really succeeds in making the viewer empathize with the lead character. It's the rest of the ensemble that are shallow as can be. The cartoonish elite government type officials, lack of coherent development and really no stand out action sequences really holds this film back. I'm sure the books deliver more because something this telegraphed really shouldn't be able to inspire the fan base that has rushed out to see and hype this movie.

A tip of the cap to director/writer Emilio Estevez for this one. He treats faith and spirituality with refreshing respect even though he plays it a bit too safe for my taste. This is a story about a father coming to grips with the loss of his son and does so honoring his memory on a famous pilgrimage, the "El camino de Santiago" in Spain. It's a slowly developing character piece that simply involves pilgrims walking while seeking something along the way. The first half of the film suffers from the attempt to separate spirituality from religion. Nothing moving or profound happens during the first half of the journey. We get walking, LOTS of walking but we also get to know the characters and are rewarded for doing so because the last half of the film really does shine. The varied motivations of his fellow pilgrims all come in to play and nothing really is what it seems with each person on the surface. Faith and purpose means different things to different people and the movie does explore that but does so with the lightest touch possible. There's no preaching or heavy-handed sermon stuff anywhere in site. It certainly is more broadly spiritual than specifically religious. It's a slow paced and ultimately light take on both spirituality and religion because it does play it safe. Audiences of faith will find it warm, reverent and congenial but not as truly satisfying because of the cautious approach. Sheen's character is a professed lapsed Catholic but it's good to see those aspects dealt with in a meaningful and emotional manner. Some aspects of his faith are seen on the journey and certainly during the climactic scene at the shrine itself. As a Catholic, I appreciated the little gestures others may not and especially the influence that St. James' shrine exerted on Sheen's character. Overall, this is a wonderful character movie.

Easily fulfilled and then exceeded all expectations. Can't wait for Avengers! Who would've thought years ago that ALL Marvel based films would rule the summer?!? Without question, Thor, X-Men First Class and now Captain America were/are the best movies of the summer. Nothing else has come close. If this summer movie season where the Olympics, I'd say Cap took the gold. First Class grabbed the silver and Thor finished fractions out of first with the bronze. Pirates, Hangover 2, Super 8 and Transformers finished out of the money and Green Lantern came up lame and didn't even finish the race. It's been a great summer. Everyone might as well label it correctly… a MARVELous summer!

I just loved Captain America. I thought it was smart and the impressive cast really delivered! This movie works on so many levels and makes you draw on just about all of your emotions. I don't remember when I enjoyed a movie this much!

I'm not really a country music fan at all but I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. It's a superb character driven film that goes way beyond any musical persuasion. The performances are remarkable and I can see why they had to release this for awards consideration. Tim McGraw was shockingly good (he can really act!)and Gwyneth Paltrow delivers a better performance than Jeff Bridges did in his Oscar win of a year ago. (Don't get me wrong, Bridges was great but Gwyneth really brought it in this role) In fact, this film tops "Crazy Heart" by quite a large margin. You really care about these characters and events of the film really throw you because it's anything but predictable.

Nic Cage is becoming the master of these kinds of movies. I'm not talking supernatural thrillers, I'm talking films that themematically start out a certain way and then flip in to the land of complete crap somewhere along the way. (The recent film "Knowing" springs to mind as an example) As the film progressed, I thought it was interesting, albeit far darker then I was expecting. By the end, the story spins off to freaky land and beyond. A movie you think could be directed towards exploring religious fanaticism or even faith itself instead spins in to a supernatural clusterflub of demons and stupidity. The ending and terrible direction absolutely ruins what was a pretty good first two-thirds of a movie. What makes this twice as bad is the fact that it's a "journey" film, meaning that everything that was set up leads to the resolution. In this case, the resolution is nonsensical and unsatisfying and negates just about anything good about the first two-thirds of its running time.

The hype for this movie is way out of proportion to its quality. I found I tolerated this film more then I enjoyed it. The story, artistic merit and even the performances have been extremely overstated. The thing I was most disappointed in was Aronofsky's direction or at least the use of his camera. I swear that 50% of this film is a steady cam shot five inches from Natalie Portman's face. 10% is more hand-cam directly on her shoulder. One thing's for sure, I hope Aronofsky leaves the hand held stuff at home when he films The Wolverine. Maybe he wanted this film to feel claustrophobic and jarring but it was very distracting and even nauseating at times.

Forget tedious expose and pointless set up, the movie delivers a crisp story and exactly the Wolverine I wanted to see. This is a pure meat and potatoes movie. Stick with me on the food analogy. I've seen some complain about subsidiary characters but when the main course is this good and this filling, who cares? Whining about Gambit, Wade Wilson and company is like whining that the mushrooms aren't as good as they should be when the steak is juicy and remarkably tasty. Great kick-ass action, remarkable visuals, a coherent plot, this is definitely the highlight of the year so far. As I like to note, a must see event film if there ever was one. Anyone that says otherwise isn't telling the truth. I can't think of a truly weak moment in the film because the pace is near perfect. It's strong from start to finish. The powerful moments resonate throughout the film, both the tremendous action and the heartfelt moments. The confrontations are simply incredible, best of the series.

Wonderful film for fan and non-fan alike. Highly Recommended.

If anyone thinks this mess of a movie and its poor presentation is a quality film then they are just fooling themselves. It's OK to praise a quality director (which he used to be... what the heck happened, Ron?) but at least let his latest effort earn that praise. It doesn't make you a true movie connoisseur to rave about an idiotic movie just because huge names are attached. It makes you a pathetic follower who can't use his or her own head and feelings to decide what is good. Forget the individual award nominations that are based on reputation. This movie is just flat out bad even if it is Ron Howard pointing the camera at Tom Hanks. They need to break up and go their separate ways because their collaboration peaked on Apollo 13 and is now destroyed in flames by Da Vinci and this terrible sequel.

Skip the movie and get the same thing from one of those crazy Tom Cruise anti-Christian interviews. Bizarre context mixed with a lot of head scratching. Preposterous movie that never let's you go with any flow or enjoy the movie on any level.