REVIEW: Kung Fu Panda 2 in 3D

MOVIE
Kung Fu Panda 2

CAST
Jack Black, Angelina Jolie

RATING
PG

RELEASE
May 26, 2011

DIRECTOR
Jennifer Yuh Nelson

STUDIO(S)
DreamWorks Animation,
Paramount Pictures

RUNNING TIME
1 hour 30 minutes





STARS
****








REVIEW:

Is DreamWorks becoming the new PIXAR? Hell YES!! Ever since the original Kung Fu panda came out in 2008, DreamWorks Animation has been on a non-stop winning streak. Before going into the latest Kung Fu Panda, I was very skeptic on how good this 3D sequel would turn out. From the trailers released, I had a feeling that this movie would go back to the crappy DreamWorks films like the horrendous 'Shrek The Third.' Luckily, DreamWorks has actually gone past adult humor and bathroom jokes to make an animated sequel that has the action of the 2008 original, the comedy of any PIXAR movie, and the heart of last year's fantastic 'How To Train Your Dragon.' As shocking as this may sound, Kung Fu Panda 2 is the Toy Story 2 of 2011. It was simply breathtaking, with spectacular animated 3D to go along with the package.

SYNOPSIS (Courtesy of MovieTickets.com)
Po is finally living his dream as The Dragon Warrior, protecting the Valley of Peace alongside his friends and fellow kung fu masters, The Furious Five. But Po's new life of awesomeness is threatened by the emergence of a formidable villain, who plans to use a secret, unstoppable weapon to conquer China and destroy kung fu. He must look to his past and uncover the secrets of his mysterious origins; only then will Po be able to unlock the strength he needs to succeed.

This may come as a shock to some, but I'm not a fan of Shrek 2. While I think the movie's good, I just don't think it's as good as most thought. Don't get me started on Shrek The Third, because most of the people who experienced it thought it was complete trash. The Madagascar movies were okay, but the sequel was only better because the first one wasn't that great. So I was worried that DreamWorks was only making this for the extra cash they'll grab. But once I got out of the theater, I realized that this movie could be the bastard sequel of the Toy Story and Shrek sequels. Despite the sometimes disadvantage of only 6 people in the theater during a 3:30 show on a Thursday afternoon, I had a spectacular experience watching a slew of Asian animals kicking some serious ass. The first thing I would like to praise was the 3D used.

Despite Pirates having the advantage of being shot in 3D, and Thor had spectacular 3D action sequences, it's the Panda who deserves your extra 3D money. The 3D in this movie was unbelievable. DreamWorks may be the 3D g-ds of the 21st century, because they take 3D into great use. Whoever has seen a 3D movie in the last two years are well aware that the glasses tend to dim when you put them on, making the colors less attractive and some sequences hard to see. With this movie, the colors may be dim, but they still glow and bright your eyes up like the 4th of July. Not just that, but the creatures look more alive and more vivid than they ever looked in the first installment. For those who dislike 3D, so be it. However, for those who have no choice but to take younger ones to see this in the added dimension, I can assure you that you'll be happy being forced to add the dimension and $5 to each ticket you buy.

The action sequences are absolutely stunning, yet sometimes over the top. Nevertheless, they're still eye-popping and full of awesomeness. In fact, the first action sequence we get, with Po and The Furious Five fighting off a group of bandits has to be the best musical fighting sequence since West Side Story. This has some of the most intense fighting scenes that I've ever seen in an animated kids movie. This adds a lot to the average moviegoers experience, yet may be too intense for younger kids. This movie has a lot of comedy as well, that will appeal to both kids and adults who like Jack Black and the other actors in this movie. The movie will also appeal to parents because of its short running time of 90 minutes. This means that kids won't be squirming in their seats like they probably were in the 140 minute long Karate Kid movie last year. They'll have fun, and you'll have fun, that is if you like action, comedy, 3D, and stunning animation.

Kung Fu Panda is THE animated movie of the 2011 summer season. It has everything you want in an animated movie and more. PIXAR fans will love it, kids will be blown away, and parents will be happy because the movie isn't too offensive or irrelevant to go over their kids heads. This movie isn't smothered in bathroom or fat jokes, yet we get them here and there. I have a feeling that this series will go on for a long time, yet every installment will be better than the last. DreamWorks actually announced that they're planning to make four more Kung Fu Panda movies, making six in total. You could call it "The Kung Fu Panda Saga" if yoau must. However, I believe that with the creativity that DreamWorks has, they'll be able to repeat their success over and over again with this series, like how PIXAR did with the Toy Story Trilogy. These of course won't be as superior as the Toy Story series. However, I think that the Kung Fu Panda movies are and will be more enjoyable than the entire Shrek series, including the excellent original film. This sequel may not be another Toy Story 2, but it sure as hell is waaaaaay better than Shrek 2. If there is a good sequel out this weekend, then that sequel is called Kung Fu Panda 2. I'd rather hang out with a giant panda than get drunk with Bradley Cooper.




PREVIEWS YOU MAY SEE:

Mr. Popper's Penguins

Cars 2

Zookeeper

The Smurfs

Puss In Boots

The Adventures Of Tintin

REVIEW: Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides 3D

MOVIE
Pirates Of The Caribbean:
On Stranger Tides

CAST
Johnny Depp, Penélope Cruz

RATING
PG-13

RELEASE
May 20, 2011

DIRECTOR
Rob Marshall

STUDIO
Walt Disney Pictures

RUNNING TIME
2 hours 16 minutes








STARS
***1/4










REVIEW:

When Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides opens up, we soon find out that Jack Sparrow (Captain) is wanted for piracy, former pirate Captain Barbossa now works for the British government, and everyone is looking for the legendary Fountain of Youth. This time however, Jack has some advantages to take control of on the new voyage. Firstly, Orlando Bloom (Will) and Keira Knightly (Elizabeth) are nowhere to be found, so their sappy romance story won't be filtering our action packed minds. Second, you're favorite sidekick pirate Gibbs is back to assist our bumbling yet smart anti-hero. Third, and possibly the best of all of the reasons, our beloved Captain Jack is joined by the fierce and hot female pirate that is Penélope Cruz. With these things to remember, you're going to have a fun time at the movies, as On Stranger Tides is not only the best Pirates movie to date, but it's also one of the best movie that I've see this year, and that's saying something since I'm comparing this movie to Source Code and Hanna.

Like I previously said, we find ol' Captain Jack wanted for the crime of piracy. Escaping from the British, Jack is on a quest to gain eternal life with the help of the Fountain of Youth. On the way however, Jack encounters the king of pirates, Blackbeard as well as his daughter Angelica, whom Jack once had a fling with back in the day. Meanwhile Captain Barbossa, now working for the British is also looking for the Fountain with some help of Jack's right hand man, Gibbs. Who will be the one to gain eternal life, and what kind of dangers will they face on the way?

This is exactly what audiences would expect from a Johnny Depp/Disney adventure movie: lots of action, much more of comedy, and plain 3D awesomeness. Since this is a Johnny Depp movie, why not talk about him first. As always, Mr. Depp plays Sparrow with originality and with tons of humor. I actually think that this movie had the most humor out of the other three. Johnny Depp has been and always will be a gifted comedian. He has a real bond with Jack Sparrow, and I personally can't wait to see him put his pirate gear on once again if they come out with a fifth movie. The rest of the cast listed on the poster I believe are all Academy Award winning performers. Two new characters introduced into the series are Blackbeard and Angelica, played respectively by Ian McShane and Penélope Cruz.

The best thing to come in this movie is the chemistry of Depp and Cruz. I love how they keep a solid love/hate relationship going on throughout, as it adds much more to the fun of the movie. As for Ian McShane, he is just a cool pirate when playing Blackbeard. You don't fear him like you would with Voldemort or Gollum, but he is still a really cool villain and a nice presence when Geoffrey Rush isn't on screen. As for Mr. Rush, he is always a badass when he's on screen. Well, usually it's during the battle sequences when he's a badass. However, he is always a great presence when he's on screen, and will always be an awesome anti-hero.

With every great movie there has to be a corny sub plot. You know how in the first three movies we had Will and Elizabeth there just for the corny love plot? Well in this movie, we have a religious sailor falling in love to a mermaid whom Blackbeard captures to gain access into the Fountain. It's an unnecessary storyline, yet helps keep the flow going so the movie doesn't become boring. It may be another love story in an adventure movie, but these movies wouldn't be the same without them. Hasn't anyone learned about corny love stories from Star Wars or Lord of the Rings?

Unlike Thor, I felt that Pirates used it's 3D rather well. This movie, like Avatar was shot with 3D cameras, so it felt like you were looking through a Disney portal into the world of Jack. Of course this movie has the occasional "in your face" moment as seen in the trailers, but those come once in a while and you get used to it instead of dodging it in your seat. Plus with the 'shot in 3D' advantage, you get to see the surroundings with perfect depth, as well as not have everything pop out at you all of the time. I would strongly recommend the 3D for this movie, mainly for two reasons: 1.) who can't resist seeing Johnny Depp pulling off crazy stuntwork in 3D? and 2.) the visual effects in this movie are stunning in 3D. Even if you're not a 3D fan, there's probably no choice for you since you'd have to travel to giant multiplexes in order to see movies in 2D these days. Though believe me when I say that Pirates was meant for the 3D experience, and it's clearly shown in this movie. Now if only they used 3D for the epic final battle in At World's End...

I've never been disappointed by any Pirates movie in the series. Luckily, this movie was no exception to the trend. I laughed, i jumped, i was amazed. This series isn't losing any steam, so I hope Disney will be smart enough to keep this series coming. I want to see what's going to happent next to Captain Jack and Barbossa. Plus from the post-credits scene that I saw, there's no doubt that the audience will be begging for a sequel. This movie, like I said is well worth the 3D ticket, as the characters look more real than they did in 2D, plus gives the movie a sort of 'looking through the window' feel. The casting is great, the action is unbelievable, and the deadly mermaids scene will make you jump out of your seat and creep you out at the same time. Have you ever seen 'Jennifer's Body'? I haven't, but I'm guessing that the mermaids scene in this film might be like Megan Fox's character in the latter film. So in case you didn't get the message quite yet, I loved 'On Stranger Tides,' and I can't wait to see a Pirates of the Caribbean 5. Oh and before this ends, two quick things: 1.) STAY AFTER THE CREDITS! 2.) look out for the cameos when Jack takes an unexpected turn at the beginning of the movie (I'm not counting Keith Richards) Do you like summer fun? Well the summer of 2011 is only getting started, and Pirates 4 continues the trend of great summer flicks.

REVIEW: Thor 3D

MOVIE
Thor

CAST
Chris Hemsworth,
Natalie Portman

RATING
PG-13

RELEASE
May 6, 2011

DIRECTOR
Kenneth Branagh

STUDIO
Paramount Pictures,
Marvel Studios

RUNNING TIME
1 hour 55 minutes





STARS
***1/2










REVIEW:

I wasn't sure what to expect from Thor. To me, the previews made the movie look like a superhero movie that no one has ever seen before. This could have been either a fantastic superhero movie, like Iron Man, or a mediocre turnout, like both Fantastic Four movies. Still, this is a Marvel movie with an awesome cast, so there was really no choice for me not to see this movie. Luckily, the final turnout was a superhero movie that had great acting, awesome visual effects, and great references to the rest of the Marvel universe. This movie, along with the Iron Man movies and this summer's Captain America are all leading up to the much anticipated Avengers movie next year. Though I didn't enjoy this as much as I enjoyed the Iron Man movies, Thor is still an enjoyable start for the summer movie season, and only appetizes our superhero taste buds before The Avengers is released next year.

Arrogant yet wise, Thor is next in line to succeed his father, the all mighty Odin. However on the day he was to be crowned, Thor reacts when the Frost Giants (corny name, right?) are supposedly attempting to reclaim their power that Odin once took from them centuries before. As punishment for starting up an unwanted war, Thor is banished to Earth, with his only way of reclaiming power is pulling his hammer out of a magical stone, which will only be released when one truly earns the power of Thor. At the same time, Thor's mischievous brother Loki is planning on destroying Thor, Odin, and the rest of the universe once he becomes Odin's successor.

The Marvel movies always have never been superior before Iron Man. They released many duds like Daredevil, Fantastic Four, and Spider Man 3. Though once Marvel took filmmaking into their own hands, the pre Avenger series was born. Even when I had my doubts about Thor before it was released, I still had a feeling that Marvel would continue to surprise its audience with fantastic movies. Well, only if you count X-Men Origins: Wolverine as being an exception to this, which i personally don't. The casting in this movie was pitch perfect. In case you didn't recognize Chris Hemsworth, who plays Thor in this movie, he played Kirk's father in the opening 10 minutes of 2009's Star Trek. He was funny, charming, and quite an awesome action star. He brought life into this somewhat unknown Marvel character and made it his, something that Tobey Maguire did in the Spider-Man movies. He also has the same charm and charisma that Star Trek co-star Chris Pine had when he played Kirk. I see this guy becoming a huge star, and I can't wait to see him again when The Avengers comes out next year.

The other cast members, including recent Academy Award winner Natalie Portman and the legendary Anthony Hopkins play their parts with power. What that means is that they played their parts perfectly. The other main newcomer in this movie is Tom Hiddleson, who plays the mischievous Loki. He is the second best character in this movie, behind Thor of course. You could feel the pain and anger that he had throughout the movie, so in some ways you felt sorry for him. At the same time however, you also wanted to see Thor kick his evil ass into hell, if there is even one in that movie universe. That's how I like movie villains to be: a person who you can both hate and care for dearly. The supporting cast members in this movie are what give this movie the final kick to be great.

Thor has been released in a post-converted 3D version, which I happened to get to see. While the 3D was good, it really wasn't necessary for this type of movie, due to almost half of the movie being just talking between characters. Yes I can admit that the action scenes looked pretty awesome in 3D. But that was the only thing cool about the 3D: the action sequences. However, the 3D in this movie was one of the best post-conversions that I've ever seen.

The movie was made to be a good superhero movie, yet was also made to have very corny subplots and dumb characters. The corniest thing about this movie was the fact that it had villains that were known as "Frost Giants." I understand that they were the actual name of the characters back in the comics, but Marvel could have at least given them a more interesting name instead of making them sound like they're from a little kids show. I also felt that they weren't advertised very much, even though they were some of the movie's main villains. Other than the Frost Giants, there were also Thor's three best buddies, who helped steal a dash of comedic flare out of Thor's persona. They were funny, but they could have been a bit more serious than they seemed. But hey it's a Marvel movie, so you know that the movie will be dumb at times.

It may not be my favorite superhero movie of all time, Thor is still a worthwhile movie that is pure fun and nothing more. It has everything you'd want and expect in a typical superhero movie. Actually, it has everything you'd want in a Marvel movie, since DC movies usually tend to be much darker. This has the comedy of Iron Man, and the action of The Incredible Hulk. With those two elements combined with the norse g-d in this movie, you know that you're seeing a really good movie. I'd recommend anyone who loves a good summer movie to see this movie.





PREVIEWS YOU MAY SEE:

Pirates Of The Caribbean:
On Stranger Tides

Super 8

Green Lantern

Transformers:
Dark Of The Moon

Captain America:
The First Avenger

Cowboys & Aliens

Conan

Columbiana

The Three Musketeers

"TRI"-VIEW: The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy

SERIES
The Lord Of The Rings

CAST
Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen

RATING
PG-13

RELEASE(S)
2001-2003

DIRECTOR
Peter Jackson

STUDIO
New Line Cinema (Warner Bros.)

RUNNING TIME(S)
1.)2 hours 58 minutes,
2.)2 hours 59 minutes,
3.)3 hours 21 minutes





STARS
1.)*** 2.)*** 3.)****












REVIEW:

I never got around to writing seperate reviews for the Lord of the Rings movies. I don't know why, I just never got the time to do so. But after finishing watching the series with Return of the King, I decided that instead of writing three seperate reviews, I would just review the series as a whole. So let's take a look at The Lord Of The Rings. This is one of the most critically acclaimed movies series' of all time, telling the story of a young hobbit's journey to destroy a ring to make peace with middle-earth. I wasn't much of a fan after the first film, Fellowship Of The Ring, and the second film, The Two Towers was just barely better. But then I saw the final film in the series, Return Of The King, and instantly loved it, despite going on for an extra 25 minutes after it's riveting climax ends. This series isn't a favorite of mine, but it surely is very entertaining.

The movies are action-packed throughout, visually astounding, and so freaking long! If you're butt gets exhausted easily, then may want to watch these movies in separate parts. Each movie runs just about three hours, and if you keep checking your watch throughout the movies, then the experience will only feel longer than it is. So just for a suggestion, if you do watch these movies I'd suggest hiding your watch or electronic device somewhere and just let yourself get immersed into the fantasy world that is Middle-Earth. If you let this happen, you will surely not regret it. These are good movies, just so you know. They can get a little boring, but they are still pretty entertaining.

The casting was spot on for every character, despite never reading the books and not liking some of the characters. The best character in my opinion was Gollum, played by the fantastic Andy Serkis. In fact, the opening of Return of the King, which explains his frightening back story was in my opinion the best scene in the entire series. I actually believe that the openings of each movie are the best parts in the series, because they are just so brilliant and they know how to get their audience pulled into the movie. But for me, the openings of the first two movies were the most intriguing.

Now getting back to the characters, they were acted out well. However, there were so many sub stories that I couldn't care less about what Gandolf or Aragorn were even doing. The only thing I wanted to know was, what the hell was going on with Frodo, Sam, and the ring? All that the others were doing was either walking around the woods, talking to one another, and discussing Frodo, the ring, and their plans to wage war. These characters weren't perfect, and there were too many stories in my opinion, but the Lord Of The Rings series is entertaining.

They may not be as spectacular and epic as the Harry Potter series, but the Lord Of The Rings trilogy is an entertaining, long, and visually astounding movie series that can get a bit draggy, yet still have the viewer's attention at the same time. I know many people who dearly love this movie series and can watch them over and over again. I'm unfortunately not one of those people who are die hard fans who would go so far as to get elf ears and start speaking the elf languages in these movies. These movies to me are ones that I could watch every once in a while and say "Ok, this isn't that bad of a movie" every time. These are movies that anyone should see, since they are just so incredible when it comes to special effects. Gollum looks so real when he's next to the real actors.

So let me summarize by saying this: the visuals were outstanding, the acting was okay for what it was, yet there were too many storylines, the movies are so incredibly long, and so many characters that you couldn't even remember everyone's names. But other than those particular reasons, The Lord Of The Rings is solid entertainment that will hurt your butt, yet still keep you entertained throughout. It won't be the greatest trilogy you will ever see, (well it may be for some) but it'll be good fantasy entertainment to keep you in the now. If you want high quality fantasy entertainment from a sublime director, then go out to a local video store and pick up The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy. Fair warning though: never look at your watch while watching the movies because it'll only make everything go slower, and watch these movies on seperate days, so A.) your butt won't get sore, and B.) you can think about what you just watched. Keep those reasons in mind, and you will enjoy The Lord Of The Rings.

REVIEW: The Conspirator

MOVIE
The Conspirator

CAST
James McAvoy, Robin Wright

RATING
PG-13

RELEASE
April 15, 2011

DIRECTOR
Robert Redford

STUDIO(S)
Roadside Attractions, (Lionsgate)
The American Film Company

RUNNING TIME
2 hours 2 minutes






STARS
***3/4









REVIEW:

When I first found out about The Conspirator, I had no intention of ever seeing it. I just thought it was another political documentary playing. In fact, the first time that I ever saw a trailer for this movie, let alone find out what it's about was about two weeks ago. The movie did look intriguing, but I figured that I would wait for it on DVD or pay per view. But in a twist of events, my grandparents invited me to attend the movie with them. Me being the kind of person who would never pass up a movie opportunity of course tagged along. And now here I am, still amazed by this movie, telling you what I thought. The Conspirator is a well acted, sometimes violent, and most of the time shocking and sad film that helps people learn about real events with the help of Hollywood. Needless to say, The Conspirator is a movie you would want to put on your must see list.

Only one bullet killed President Abraham Lincoln in 1865. But more than one person was involved in the assassination. One of the accused is Mary Surratt, an owner of a boarding house whose son, John Surratt was a main conspirator in Lincoln's assassination. In a time of revenge and anger, the government would stop at nothing to get anyone accused of conspiring with Lincoln's death to be killed themselves. Mary's only chance of freedom lies in the hands of Fredrick Aiken, a soldier in the Civil War who too wants Mary dead. Mary claims to be innocent, yet she won't give her son up. It's up to Fredrick to save this woman before the grieving government do what they think is right for the sake of taking revenge over their president's death.

I would've given this movie a perfect four star rating. But I just couldn't give it a perfect rating for one particular reason. I believed that they could've had more scenes with Robin Wright in them. Ms. Wright is a great actress and was terrific in this movie, but I felt that a couple more scenes with her in it, letting her spend some more time with the audience watching her story would've made this a perfect movie. But nevertheless, the performances in this movie were superb. I give the most props to James McAvoy, who's performance as Fredrick was one of the best performances I've seen this year. It's possibly better than Jake Gyllenhaal's performance as Colter Stevens in Source Code, which is also one of the best movies of 2011 so far. In my opinion, his performance is Oscar worthy and should be considered for at least a nomination. Heck, almost all of the performances in this movie are Oscar-worthy. For the performances alone, this is quite a fantastic movie.

Robert Redford is a master at his craft, and clearly knows how to bring a true story to the silver screen. I don't think that any other director could've brought this story up as a movie properly. Yes, I'm even including the great Steven Spielberg in this opinion. Mr. Redford knows how to turn what is just any other social studies subject and make it into a movie where you don't even feel that you're learning anything. If school was made into movies like this, I would probably ace every test given to me by the teachers. In fact, this movie is just appropriate enough to be shown in social studies classes when learning about Lincoln and his assassination. Not just because it teaches the audience about true and shocking history, but also gives us pure Hollywood entertainment that will satisfy any movie buff. This is one of the must see films of 2011, and it should be seen by any student or history buff. If you haven't seen The Conspirator, the least you can do is catch it when it's out on DVD, that is if you have no intention of seeing it in theaters.




PREVIEWS YOU MAY SEE:

Circumstance

Everything Must Go

The Tree Of Life

Beginners