Reviews

Action: 6 / 10. There's a lot of dead space where you're waiting for something to happen, and it doesn't. I suppose this sets up the times when something does happen, but when the dead space is seen by way of a jittery camera, it's tough to take.

Plot: 3/10. We've seen it before both in this series and in many others. You've got your invisible poltergeist, your young child who can see it, your adults who can't and don't believe it's real...

Scares / Entertainment Value: 7/10 here. This part is a tough call since what scares you might not bother me and visa versa. I will say though that it's very rare for anything of this type to catch me off guard, but this one did once so props to them for that.

It was entertaining though. We went late at night and got lots of laughs and much fun commentary from the audience, but I think we had a fun group in the theater to make it happen. I didn't find it very scary, and it was rather predictable, but I guess I'd say I had fun.

Duration: 5 / 10. It's pretty short by movie standards but actually right on the length of the other two. I believe it ran just shy of 90 minutes.

Character development: 2/10. There was very little, and what was there was hardly made believable. In fact, it took me until an hour after I got home to recognize a couple of the movie elements and put them into place in my mind's sequencer. I guess in this kind of movie though, maybe we just want to be surprised so character development isn't a priority.

Actors: No one in particular.

Synopsis: My 17 year old son and I saw the movie together and had a great time. Like I said earlier, we had a fantastic audience group which really helped so if you catch it late night, it'll probably be more fun. This movie will make you laugh throughout, and there are probably half a dozen startling scenes, but for the most part they are as predictable as the rising of the sun. It is entertaining, but it's not great, and the jerky camera scenes, which accounted for about 20% of the footage, were a bit hard on the eyes. There's little depth, and the parts that were probably supposed to psych us out really weren't that threatening. The one thing that *was* truly scary -- is that it sets up a fourth movie! All things considered, I'd say it's probably worth somewhere between a 5 or a 6 so I'll give it an 6/10 just to be nice! Whatever you decide, have a great time with it, and enjoy this Halloween season!

Action: 6 / 10 on action. There are three distinct action segments of maybe 10 minutes each, and one of them is particularly fun in the, "oh yeah? Well suck on this bi-otch," kind of way, but overall, this movie is more drama than damage.

Plot: 5/10. We've seen it before. You've got your "still-in-power, evil government operative" who ran a questionable program, and you've got your "product of the program now out to get revenge" after having disappeared from the grid for a long time. The only thing left to be discovered in this one is who the players are and how they are dealt with. It doesn't seem like much effort was put into this plot to try making it unique in any sense.

Surprises / Originality: 1 / 10 here. There are no surprises (except maybe your surprise at the lack of realism in some areas). This isn't an original idea either. Think "Salt" mixed with "Kick-Ass" and maybe a touch from "Brotherhood of the Rose" or "Bourne Identity." You could write it yourself using just the above movies as a base.

Duration: 6 / 10. This is about standard length for today's movies -- around 100 minutes or so. Surprisingly, even though I was enjoying it, it felt a bit long as I got to what was the last ten minutes.

Character development: 5/10. We don't learn much from character interactions. There is an attempt to show the main character, Hanna (Saoirse Ronan), as someone who knows very little about growing up a normal child, but the attempt is clunky and abrupt at best. She makes a few faux pas in some areas (which adds an element of humor and embarrassment), but then turns in other areas into someone who seems to have a "text-book" knowledge of what youth is supposed to be. And later, she seems to want to become a different person altogether. Given her situation, these may be plausible elements; however, I thought they were just sort of thrown in and didn't flow at all. As for the other characters, what little we discover about their pasts and personalities is really just patchwork -- a couple of seconds here and there.

Actors: Cate Blanchett, Eric Bana, and Tom Hollander are the main names. Perhaps Tom Hollander gives the best performance (other than Saoirse Ronan), but he's still not nearly as convincing as he was in "Pirates...".

Synopsis: Though I've been kind of tough on it overall, I did enjoy watching it. As I said earlier, one of the action scenes was a fun "in-your-face" type which I replayed three times (yes, I rented it). What I did not get was a feeling of "wow" once I'd reached the end. I didn't feel I'd seen a truly dynamic, life-changing movie. I merely felt like I'd passed a couple of hours of alright entertainment. In addition, I felt the wrap up was abrupt like I still needed more closing information. All things considered, I give it an 6/10! See what you think.

Really, why do we go to the movies? Do we want to see an eclipse of real life, or do we want to escape into a world of wishes and dreams? Think about it; why do *you* go to a movie?

I've seen a recurring theme in reviews for this film stating the acting was weak and the story line implausible. So what?!? It's Hollywood! It's fantasy! It's exactly what we want! And this one's good -- good enough, anyway, to be very enjoyable! OK, maybe it won't be the summer's greatest movie. The acting is good, but not stellar.

Character Development: 6/10 Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) shows emotion that doesn't always appear sincere, but it's still there. Charlie (Christopher Egan) is supposed to come off as somewhat forceful and obnoxious, but the strength of his character often seems more bland than real. None-the-less, they're both likable enough, and we want Sophie and Charlie to fall in love and come together as the movie plays on. It's storybook. It's exactly the line we want to see! This movie makes you smile, and it makes you laugh. You'll get choked up at times, and you'll feel the emotion often enough. You'll identify with the theme and feel like you're there too.

Action: N/A Guys, it's a love story. There "ain't none!" No one dies.

Plot and Surprises: 4/10 The story line is not terribly original. At best, you could call it a new twist on an old idea, and it IS predictable. Maybe, just maybe, a couple of times you might not be sure what's happening next, but then it happens, and you're like, "oh yeah. I expected that."

Duration: 8/10 It's 105 minutes, and that seems just about right. The wrap up could have done with a few minutes, but in general, you're done when it's done.

Synopsis: When you see this one, expect something that's very good. It's good enough to justify the price, and the scenery is beautiful! You won't be disappointed. It's not the top of the list, and it is cliché, but it's not bad either.

Final rating: 7 / 10

Right off the bat, let me tell you this movie is not for everyone. One couple who had come in loaded with food ended up walking out of the theater within the first ten minutes. If you're a person who squeamish over insects or light gore, don't go. If you're a person who has a vivid imagination to the point where the line between reality and fiction often blurs for you, don't go. If you don't like militant strong arms or thugs running profiting from the running of slums, don't go.

What this movie is, is a very fresh perspective on sci fi and on movie making -- something Hollywood badly needs! This movie is fiction (at least I assume it is -- :) ), but it is presented like a docu-drama. It begins as if it's something real which is happening in Africa today, and we're seeing real footage of the action. It gradually turns into the third person perspective where we're overseeing the events, and then it wraps up with the final moments of the docu-drama.

Overall, it's an excellent movie! I give it a 10 of 10! It's fresh, it depicts many elements of reality (if you read into the overtones) while using fantasy to do so. There's plenty of action, a moderate amount of gore (both human and alien), an abundance of inhumanity to other living creatures, and lots of swearing, but it's also a happy story of sorts. Interestingly, the story doesn't completely resolve (true of any real-life situation).

My fifteen year old son and I watched it and very much enjoyed it, but I'm glad my wife wasn't there because she likely would not have enjoyed it. I would probably see it again in the theater if I have time, and I recommend it to all (who don't fall into the exclusion clauses above).

Happy movie-going!

Boost the hydraulics, and bring your ear plugs! In the spirit of a monster truck rally held in a domed building, this superb movie has hard-hitting, non-stop action with plenty of volume, tough warrior guys, and gorgeous, but equally tough feminine fighters! What's not to like?!? Aside from a few specifics that can be overlooked, the plot is plausible, the character interaction is believable, and the acting itself it pretty good. At times the emotion draws you in though at others -- notably a few key plot spots -- events were pretty predictable resulting in less gut-wrenching impact than desired.

All-in-all though, this is a fantastic summer movie -- the one we've been waiting for! Prepare to be entertained for you'll likely want to see it over and over again!

The story starts out with a fantastic mystery. A young, albeit antisocial, girl seems to see and/or hear things her peers do not. Told to do a project for a time capsule, she begins writing down the numbers she hears in her head. Immediately we're drawn in wanting to know more about why she is obsessed with these numbers.

When we're forwarded to the modern day, Cage happens to come by the sheet of numbers and quickly figures out what they are. OK, this is probably a bit abrupt. He's a little "too brilliant" in that area; however, we're drawn further into the mystery because some of the numbers are as yet unexplained! The picture progresses nicely, and Cage's character meets an attractive young woman who also has a child about the age of Cage's boy thus adding the secondary story of love. Also a bit abrupt, it's adds an enjoyable element to the story so we can overlook the quickness of the romantic development.

Some further action, adventure, and suspense follows, and it's good enough to push you close to the edge of your seat as we make our way toward the end of the flick, but here's where they really dropped the ball.

Cage, good father that he is, coaxes his son to go ahead and leave with some nice aliens. "It's OK," he says. "They could have killed you before but didn't."

Not only is this unsound logic (they could have killed you but didn't; therefore, they must be harmless), but no father in his right mind would ever send his son away into the unknown by having him beamed up into a never-seen-before crystalline orb piloted by creatures who felt it was in the boy's best interest to leave the father behind on Earth to die.

And it gets worse! At the end, we find these 12-something year old children paired up (male-female) and dropped off alone in the vicinity of their own individual snow white Tree of Life. How will they live? How many 12 year old kids do we know who are perfectly capable of fending for themselves???

It's an enjoyable story -- worth seeing. I give it 7/10 because the acting was good, I liked the mystery, it had a little love story too, but the ending was ludicrous as it could get.

My recommendation is it's not necessary to spend full theater prices. At least get a discount or wait for the video so you don't feel at all slighted.

This is a great episode overall. They did some really cool stuff, but as often is the case, there were a few snags too. I'm going to jump right in and point out...

Things I like about this episode: -------------------------------- Rose was back! I love the Doctor and Rose combo. It's a shame Billie had to go and do other projects! :) I wish she'd have stayed so it was fun to see her reprise her "love interest" with the Doctor again. There could have been more time with the two of them together, but at least she was present.

That leads to a second item I like -- Rose gets her requited Doctor's love. He's not the "same" Doctor, and the original Doctor was a bit "tight-lipped" about his feelings, but we are left to believe the second is "close enough," and Rose accepts this.

This episode answers a lot of questions which had come up over the past few years in prior episodes. I think they kept a list of dangling ends and worked very hard to wrap them all up.

Even though many items were wrapped up, several doors are left open for future items. For example, we could always see the parallel universe pop up again, and that would give potential reprise for Billie and David Tennant.

Martha, Captain Jack, Mickey, and so on are still in "our" universe and can easily show up again in various episodes (I certainly hope they do).

Things I dislike about this episode: ----------------------------------- Well, with such a star-packed episode, much of the cast was totally underused! Torchwood and company along with Sarah Jane and company as well as the former companions could have -- indeed, *should have* been more heavily developed. They should have had more significant rolls, and the episode could have been an unprecedented three parter! It would have been awesome!

In light of the above, the whole pair of episodes -- particularly the second one (Journey's End) seemed rushed. It's like there was so much ground to cover and so little time to do it, everything was relegated to rushed single sentences.

Rose "loves" the new doctor! Well, I like it, but it's not terribly realistic. It needed more development too!

Finally, the whole issue with the Doctor Donna doesn't sit right. The Doctor Donna is a human timelord who's mind caves, but our new "second' Doctor is a human timelord who ends up, apparently, feeling just fine. Really???

Like I said, I love it, but it had a few shortcomings, and that's why I give it 9/10 and not the full marks!

I have to admit, I was skeptical at first. I hadn't seen a Carrey movie in awhile -- the last one was Lemony Snicket's which was not too great in my opinion, but the previews and the reviews for this looked good so I figured I'd give it a chance. I was happily surprised! Jim Carrey has improved over the years -- no doubt about it, and for a start, one thing I really liked about this movie was how he took it to a semi-serious level while managing to interject humor that, for the most part, wasn't aimed at the intelligence of the average seven year old. This movie has a plot. It has drama, and to a point, it draws you in.

Carrey got rid of (well nearly) his almost constant facial contortions which had defined so many of his past movies. For this one, he relied on the personality of his character, which was placed in the potentially compromising situation of always having to say yes, to be what led the movie, and he did a good job of it.

The movie was truly enjoyable overall, and you do feel sorry for his character toward the end when he has a falling-out with the leading lady (though not so sorry that you actually want to cry yourself). The emotional level of this movie is simply, "fun." It won't "wow" you! You won't leave the theater feeling like you've run the gamut of emotions yourself or anything like that, but you won't be disappointed either. You'll leave the movie smiling. Oh, and be sure you stay through the credits!

All-in-all I give it a 7 of 10. The acting was believable, good but not great, and entertaining 'til the end. The premise was plausible, and the characters are pleasant to look at, but perhaps most interesting is how there really is a good lesson built in there for all of us to learn.

Go ahead. Take a break from holiday shopping and enjoy this flick! You'll be happy you did.

Action: 10 / 10 on action! It takes a few moments to develop, but then the action kicks off, and when it does, it just builds and builds until the climax. There's plenty of blood and gore as Rambo, sporting his trademark 50 caliber, blazes away. In fact, it's one of the few movies to shows how grizzly such an attack would be.

Plot: 9/10. Overall, I felt that "Rambo" did an excellent job of portraying a world where the typical idealistic foreigners meet the harsh realism of a barbarian world. Many of us in the comfort of our homes feel like we want to "get in and do something" about the atrocities we hear of in the news so off we go with our ivory tower attitudes having little idea of the truth and reality behind man's inhumanity to man. Rambo (the ex-soldier) is portrayed as a perfectly wisened and jaded killing machine who tells the philanthropic party what they don't want to hear -- that they're in way over their heads fighting a fight they cannot win because their approach is so dramatically different as to be not even on the same plane.

Surprises: 4 / 10 here. There are no surprises. You could write this one yourself, but it really doesn't matter. It's still enjoyable!

Duration: 7 / 10. This is a surprisingly short movie as just shy of an hour and a half. I found myself wanting a little more by the time it finished. I think we tend to develop this internal chronometer of how long a decent movie should go, and this one only went about 3/4 of the way.

Character development: 5/10. We don't learn much from character interactions. Rambo, reluctant as he is early on, seems to acquiesce in what seems to be a moment's time. There are also the typical showdowns between protagonists, antagonists, and so on, but these are quickly and incompletely developed.

Synopsis: overall, I really enjoyed the movie. Yes, it has its shortcomings, but I believe its point is important enough for people to see, and the action certainly doesn't disappoint. I give it an 8/10! Enjoy!

Not funny! Don't waste your time and money! If you've seen the previews, you've seen the funniest stuff in the movie (and by the time you hit the movie, those aren't even funny anymore though evidently some of the people in our theater thought they still were)! Overall, our theater was pretty quiet!

The acting itself was very good -- probably the only reason I could rank it as high as five, and there was one excellent piece of advice offered to Juno by her father (seen in the previews when he said she should find someone who loves her for who she truly is), but beyond that, it wasn't worth the time! Otherwise, the overall plot was not terribly believable, and the humor just wasn't there!

Summary: 5 out of 10 for positive acting skill and mild humor but lack of believability and lack of seriousness or stress in a situation which would prove very stressful.

The action, the suspense, and the ability to draw a person into the screenplay would have made this movie and 8 or 9, but the abrupt ending and lack of explanation of details left many of us in the theater wondering just what the hell had happened. Apparently it helps if one has read the book before seeing the movie.

Interestingly, I cannot recall having been to any movies recently where the audience ended up conversing with each other at the end just to figure out what was going on. We had a fifteen minute conversation with complete strangers as we left the theater, and that was because we all were trying to understand the movie. That part of it was sort of fun.

Consensus: if you'd read the book, you'll really enjoy it! If you have not read the book, you'll probably enjoy the action and suspense, but you'll be confused as hell over what is happening and why.

Let me first say I finished reading book five for the second time just a few weeks ago so it's very fresh in my mind, and perhaps that affected me.

Yes, overall, I liked the movie! It has lots of action, and it was very entertaining. However, I felt it moved abruptly from point to point, and this could spell trouble if you're not familiar with the book at all. My kids, who've read only through book three, were constantly asking me questions about what was happening.

The biggest issues I noticed were:

1) There's a WHOLE LOT of material from the book which was left out, and much of it may have been rather important:

a) No St. Mungo's at all, and the whole thing with Neville's parents was covered in, like, two seconds. No Gran either.

b) No character development of Tonks. It's unclear why her hair keeps changing colors, for example.

c) The entire "final trip" through the Ministry of Magic was truncated considerably to basically just one room.

d) Where was Buckbeak?

e) Who were made Prefects?

f) No character development of Mrs. Figg

g) Luna, the Quibbler, and her relationship to the publisher were undeveloped

h) The sorting hat never sang its "new song"

i) Firenze never came in as the new teacher

j) The whole issue with Grawp was made to seem quite harmless

k) No O.W.L.s ever took place

l) The prophecy was shortened to remove the elements about the seventh month

m) no Quidditch which means the whole part about Ron's joining the team, Umbridge cutting Potter, and so on was eliminated

n) The Order never met Harry at the landing after the train ride home which would have been a fun ending

2) Somewhere along about the half-way point of the movie, it sort of took a turn away from the book enough so that I began asking myself what was going on.

3) The educational decrees were posted, but you could hardly read them; therefore, it wasn't very clear why they were there at all.

Like I said, it's a great movie, but it really helps if you've read the book first!

"Apocalypto" is an... interesting... movie to say the least! I just finished watching it a little over three hours ago, and I'm still not sure what I thought.

On the one hand, it had non-stop action, but at the same time, it left one wondering what the action was all about. It's not necessarily the kind of action to which we can relate. Of course, the scenery was gorgeous, but the plot line took eons to reveal itself.

The thing is, I feel Mel Gibson's become a bit flaky in more recent days. It seems his last few films have had to become crusades of some sort. Unto itself, that's not all bad. The trouble is, these crusades take on his contorted version of reality, and in this particular "reality," we would be led to believe Mayan civilization ultimately fell due to corruptness and an extreme lack of morality.

While it is true that I have seen a small grouping of similar, cataclysmic reviews making points parallel to those implied in this film, I have read far more Mayan scholars and seen far more archaeological evidence such as bones and settlement remains that contradict this viewpoint. For example, some of these other pieces show how many Mayan citizens from the lowly peasants up to the important priests were anemic and likely died from complications of anemia.

Expansion and erosion remains show rapid growth had occurred in latter years with over-farming and subsequent erosion as the result. These are recognized huge problems from the times not long before the grand-scale downfalls.

Admittedly, these elements don't make a very interesting movie, and Apocalypto WAS interesting; however, I see it as irresponsible to imply otherwise and to additionally imply, through this movie, that our civilization might just be on the same downward path for the same reasons. Perhaps I missed the mark, but I believe the film's late credit reference to, "In Memory of Abel," was a reference to a certain Christian biblical story where a personal downfall came about through a similar lack of morals (a lack directly seen and implied in Apocalypto).

Watch this movie for entertainment value or, better yet, spend your time on something else!

This is a fantastic movie with non-stop action in parts, and non-stop drama in other parts! From the beginning, we are with the soldiers as they train (briefly) and then land on the beach at Iwo Jima. Sand is exploding, people are dying, and body parts are everywhere! It gives us a quick and real sense of the crudity of war.

However, much more than just action, this movie brings a deeper drama to help us understand how these seemingly ordinary men became "heros" by accident, and how this hero status was more, in cases, than they could handle.

Just a note about the drama; while it is superb and essential, it is not likely children under 15 would comprehend it sufficiently. Too much understanding of the adult world of politics and human interaction is needed to process what we see. There are also short portions of gore which could be a bit nightmarish for youngsters.

Anyway, I grew up with parents of the WWII generation, and I was fascinated by it as a boy. I read much about WWII between the ages of 11 and 12; yet, this movie taught me about the Iwo Jima experience in a way nothing else had. I left the theater a different person! In fact, from the time the movie ended 'till the credits were finished, not a person in the theater moved -- and I mean that literally! No one left! Then there was only silence until we all passed through the theater double doors. Not a word was spoken!

To wrap up, I highly recommend this movie for everyone. I feel it provides a historical accuracy we could all stand to gain. I also understand there will be a Japanese counterpart (directed by Eastwood) coming to us with English subtitles. I cannot wait to see that one too! Best wishes, and enjoy!

When you do a story with a predictable plot, you need to make that story stand out somehow. This one failed. It was relatively slow moving, not terribly intense, and we knew what was going to happen.

This movie needed to add a little something dynamic to make it more noteworthy. Perhaps they could have built up the humorous spots a bit more or even intensified the drama by having the characters seem more believable.

No matter how you look at it, you know how it's going to turn out, and there are better versions of the story out there. Save it for the rentals!

I thought this movie was super! It did a very good job of following the book's story line -- just a couple of small deviations.

The only potential issues are where the movie had to "speed up" in order to finish in time. These are spots the book readers will notice that the movie lacks some detail.

As an action / adventure movie, it did a good job living up to expectations. I'm not quite sure why anyone would rate this movie on the lower scale expect, perhaps, just to "knock it down" because of its approach on Christianity.

We need to look at this as a movie. It's entertainment. Enjoy it!