REVIEW: The Lorax 3D

MOVIE
The Lorax

CAST
Danny DeVito, Ed Helms

RATING
PG

RELEASE
March 2, 2012

DIRECTOR
Chris Renaud

STUDIO(S)
Universal Pictures,
Illumination Entertainment

RUNNING TIME
1 hour 26 minutes





STARS
***1/2










REVIEW:

Around this time last year, a little animated movie named 'Rango' came out and fell into the hearts of many audiences over the world.  Universal Pictures and Illumination Entertainment, the creators of 'Despicable Me' and 'Hop,' have decided to bring another Dr. Seuss tale to the big screen.  To be fair, the last Dr. Seuss movie we had was 2008's 'Horton Hears a Who,' which was released by 20th Century Fox and Blue Sky Studios instead.  Luckily that movie was great, so Dr. Seuss' name wasn't shunned by pop culture and adult jokes.  Four years have passed, and voice talents like Danny DeVito, Ed Helms, and Betty White have all come together to bring audiences all over the world 'The Lorax.' 

'The Lorax' is the tale of a town called Thneed-Ville, where everything is made of plastic and people like it that way.  One day a boy named Ted, as a result of trying to impress a girl he likes, goes outside of town limits and discovers a man named the Once-Ler, who tells him the story of The Lorax and how all the trees have been destroyed.  The trailers for this movie were okay, but nothing great.  I was surprised and happy to see how much I enjoyed 'The Lorax.'  The animation is superb, the story is stretched out nicely, and the voices are brilliant.  'The Lorax' is already an early contender for best family movie of 2012, and that's not just because there haven't been many family movies to come out this year.

The thing that surprised me the most about this movie is that it is in fact a musical.  That's right, a musical.  From the movie's hilarious opening number to the final closing song, the soundtrack to this movie is top notch and very fun to listen to.  There is a song that Ed Helms sings in this movie showing how evil the Once-Ler becomes, and it is as of right now the 'Man or Muppet' of 2012.  The opening number of this movie that introduces audiences to the town of Thneede-Ville is both hilarious and a bit weird, because you can tell that this town is pretty insane.  It's actually pretty ironic that Zac Efron and Taylor Swift, both singers/actors, don't cast a single note in this movie when it comes to singing.  For a movie not advertised as anything more than a comedic family environmental awareness flick, the soundtrack makes 'The Lorax' funnier, more energetic, and better than it would've been without the songs.  The voice cast is just as good, if not better.

The voice cast in this movie is surprisingly really good.  Danny DeVito has this sort of charm that goes along with this quirky orange fluff-ball.  His voice is even quite strong when some of the dramatic (yes, there are dramatic scenes in this movie) parts come into play.  Ed Helms is also a surprisingly strong voice playing the Once-Ler.  He portrays the Once-Ler in both the flashback scenes and when he's talking to Zac Efron's Ted in "present" day.  Helms' voice is both funny and energetic, proving that he knows exactly what he's doing with his career. (Aside from 'Meet Dave')  Zac Efron also surprised me as Ted, a boy trying to get the girl he loves.  Really the only complaint I can make with Efron is that it just doesn't fit his character, which is a 12 year old boy.  I doubt he could've gone through puberty that fast, but hey that is how life works sometimes.  

After her horrendous role in 'Valentine's Day,' Taylor Swift comes back for voice acting, and she's pretty good too.  She is a sweet, innocent girl whose only dream in life is to see an actual tree that's not made of plastic.  She wasn't needed for the movie, but she was good.  And of course, there's Betty White as the cooky old grandma.  There's nothing much to say about her other than she is hilarious.  This film is just another example of how older women can be the funniest part of a movie.  That's all there needs to be said about her.  Overall the entire cast was really good, and they help give the movie some of the comedic energy needed.

The only complaint I can give about this movie is that it feels longer than 86 minutes at parts.  I don't like when my butt starts getting sore in a movie that's less than 90 minutes, nor do I think anyone likes that.  Other than this little thing to bear with, 'The Lorax' is a fun, upbeat, and awesome family movie that teaches kids a really good message about the environment.  The voices are great, the songs are hilarious and energetic, and the message of the film stays true to the heart.  I personally am not a fan of the Pixar movie 'WALL-E,' so seeing that movie combined with the quirkiness of 'Cloudy with a Chance ofMeatballs,' the animation and heart of 'Despicable Me,' and the imagination of Dr. Seuss had me captivated throughout.  There aren't many family movies out there at the moment, so why not make it a fun day with you and your loved ones.  Trust me parents, you will have a fun time despite some of the jokes feeling too childish.  If you want your kids to become the next generations of saviors for Planet Earth while getting some laughs and 3D images along the way, then do yourselves a favor and take them to see 'The Lorax.'  

MINI-REVIEW: Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance 3D

MOVIE
Ghost Rider:
Spirit of Vengeance

CAST
Nicolas Cage, Ciarán Hinds

RATING
PG-13

RELEASE
February 17, 2012

DIRECTOR(S)
Neveldine/Taylor

STUDIO(S)
Columbia Pictures,
Hyde Park Entertainment

RUNNING TIME
1 hour 35 minutes





STARS
**









REVIEW:

It's time to kick off the superhero season with some good old Marvel fun, right?  I know 'Chronicle' was the true beginning of the superhero movie season, but 'Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance' is the start of Marvel's biggest year yet, so of course it's required to be reviewed.  Not many people were fans of the 2007 'Ghost Rider' film, also starring Academy Award winner/ what is now considered to be laughing stock of Hollywood Nicholas Cage.  To be fair, I give Cage credit for wanting to be in as SNL says "every movie ever made."  However I wish that Mr. Cage would be in more good movies than bad movies.  That's right everyone: 'Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance' is not a good movie at all.  It basically takes a typical exorcism story and combines it with bad acting, decent special effects, and unnoticeable 3D.  Nick Cage, along with the rest of the cast is terrible in this movie.  

There is one scene in the movie where Cage is trying to prevent the Ghost Rider from unleashing himself while he's interrogating some dude working for the devil.  I swear it may be the most ridiculous scene you may see in a movie this year.  The only actor in this movie who gives a decent enough performance is Idris Elba, aka one of the stars of my least favorite movie of 2010, 'Takers.'  He was the only person in the entire cast to actually try to be good.  Overall 'Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance' is a mess of a movie, pure cheesiness, and a huge disappointment.  The story is weak as hell, the acting is atrocious, and it just wasn't very good in general.  I've heard that the 'Crank' movies, also directed by Neveldine/Taylor are pretty good.  I hope they are, because it seems that the 'Ghost Rider' franchise has now been beaten down to a pulse.  At least we have 'The Avengers' to look forward to...

PREVIEWS YOU MAY SEE:

Casa De Mi Padre


Battleship


The Hunger Games


Marvel's The Avengers


The Dark Knight Rises


The Amazing Spider Man




 

MINI-REVIEW: The Secret World of Arrietty

MOVIE
The Secret World of Arrietty

CAST
Bridgit Mendler, David Henrie

RATING
G

RELEASE
February 17, 2012

DIRECTOR
Hiromasa Yonebayashi

STUDIO(S)
Walt Disney Pictures,
Studio Ghibli

RUNNING TIME
1 hour 35 minutes




STARS
***3/4










REVIEW:

Computer animation may dominate the box office and audiences in the U.S. and other parts of the world, but anime is what dominates Japan.  In fact, I believe that Japanese anime is the best type of animation out there.  Sure their characters may look the same as everyone else and CGI is more realistic, but anime looks stellar and unlike anything people ever see in regular movies.  That's why I was more than excited to see Studio Ghibli's latest movie 'The Secret World of Arrietty.'  'The Secret World of Arrietty' is an adaptation of the story of 'The Borrowers,' in which little people take things that we humans don't really notice are gone at all, for example a pin or a cube of sugar.  One night on their annual borrowing quest, a human boy sees Arrietty, the next generation of the borrower family, which soon threatens the existence of the tiny family as the rest of the household realizes what lives under their floors. 

I believe that the purest sound in the entire world is the sound of a child's laughter.  Sure some may find the sound unbearable, but to me I just smile and listen in awe of how innocent and special that noise sounds like.  'Arrietty' is as pure, innocent, and sweet as any movie gets.  The voice talent is good, the story is charming yet predictable, and throughout its short running time I just felt my soul being lit up by the joy in the film.  This reminds me of when 2011's 'Winnie the Pooh' came out that nobody really saw it but those who did love it.    If you get the chance to see this movie, odds are you'll really enjoy it.  It opened up in the U.S. recently with voice dubs from some Disney Channel celebrities, so that gets your kids in.  Adults, trust a 15 year old who shouldn't be into these types of movies: check this movie out when you can.  It's sweet, pure, and a lot of fun.  Studio Ghibli can't really do any types of wrong in their films.  Whether it's in the smallest theater of a multiplex or in the comfort of your home on a Friday night, 'The Secret World of Arrietty' is a delightful treat for you and you're younger kids.

PREVIEWS YOU MAY SEE:


The Lorax


Chimpanzee


Brave


Finding Nemo 3D

REVIEW: Act of Valor

MOVIE
Act of Valor

CAST
Active Duty U.S. Navy Seals

RATING
R

RELEASE
February 24, 2012

DIRECTOR(S)
Mike McCoy, Scott Waugh\

STUDIO
Relativity Media

RUNNING TIME
1 hour 48 minutes





STARS
***1/2










REVIEW:

Do you ever wonder who helps keep America a safe and "perfect" place from terrorist threats and acts that may come our way?  If you ask both adults and kids, they will say the army and the soldiers.  However the difference between an adult and a kid is that kids only see these adults, sometimes even their parents, as people trying to save the world and be heroes.  Adults and teenagers 12-18 especially know that there is more bloodshed that you want to think about, as well as they fear that they may never see their recruited loved one again.  Sometimes kids in the 12-18 range forget about all of the emotion and just enjoy killing others in the 'Call of Duty' games.  With 'Act of Valor,' audiences don't just get a war movie, they get an experience.  

Unlike typical war films like 'Red Tails' and 'Battle: Los Angeles,' 'Act of Valor' takes us into the world of a group of real life U.S. Navy Seals attempting to stop a terrorist act from pulling through.  What is so unique about the movie is that first time directors Mike McCoy and Scott Waugh decided to use real active duty U.S. Navy Seals to be in the film, with the added factor of no major celebrities being in the film as well.  This is one of the boldest film projects to have been made in the past couple of years, and the final result is intense, heartbreaking, and pretty great.    'Act of Valor' is a very well done war movie that moviegoers should be seeking out this weekend.

Because the actors in the film are the real U.S. Navy Seals, the performances weren't the highest in quality.  In fact, they kind of sucked.  However if you're going to bash on this movie just for the actors solely, then I say shame on you, because these guys aren't even professional actors to begin with.  The movie was made to show the emotion and tension that goes along with war, and I believe that that mission has been accomplished.  You see the soldiers spending last nights with their families, as well as the moments where the soldiers say goodbye, realizing that they may never see their loved ones again.  The emotions can get even higher when you see these brave men in combat.  The action sequences performed by the soldiers are absolutely spectacular.  Not only do they engage you into the action, but they also let you see exactly what a Seal is seeing.  It was kind of like watching a first person shooting game go down on a huge movie screen. However unlike a video game, the injuries and gore in this movie look very realistic.  If there is any given reason to actually see this movie, it's for the action sequences.  If you can get over the crappy acting done by the soldiers, then the action scenes will unquestionably take your breath away.

I have a feeling that 'Act of Valor' will surprise the audiences who are brave to check this movie out.  This is going to be that hidden gem that people ignore until DVD where the true experience should be in a theater.  Sure the acting isn't the best it could be with professional men and women, but that doesn't matter here because there is both a compelling story based on real life events that have happened to the Seals before, as well as some of the most spectacular action sequences you will see all year.  Directors Mike McCoy and Scott Waugh really know how to bring you into the action and heartbreak in the lives of these brave men of the U.S.  Even though they aren't the greatest of actors, the U.S. Navy Seals are great heroes to root for throughout the movie, and that's not just because we live in America.  

Whether you know someone who is in the Army or you have sat in front of a TV shooting virtual terrorists, this movie will make you feel the pain that these families go through on a daily basis.  The whole "actors are real U.S. Navy Seals" promotional campaign may be gimmicky, but once you sit down with your popcorn and soda in hand, you are in for quite an experience.  I bet that I won't remember 'Act of Valor' very well by the end of the year.  Having said that, I can say now that this is a well done, action packed, heartbreaking war movie.  Check it out if you can, because odds are this will be booted out of theaters in the next few weeks.

REVIEW: Chronicle

MOVIE
Chronicle

CAST
Dane DeHann, Alex Russell,
Michael B. Jordan

RATING
PG-13

RELEASE
February 3, 2012

DIRECTOR
Josh Tank

STUDIO
20th Century Fox

RUNNING TIME
1 hour 23 minutes




STARS
****









REVIEW:

In the past 13 years, the only types of "found footage" movies made were literally found in the horror genre.  That kind of explains why nobody has even tried to make a shaky cam movie without something trying to kill humans in the supernatural aspect.  Sure 'Cloverfield' was a monster film, but it still had a beast trying to kill idiotic New Yorkers.  The only film to explore things other than horror and monster movies was the 2010 flop 'The Virginity Hit.'  In the first three months of 2012, we have two new found footage movies.  The first of those films is 'Chronicle,' a superhero film that is actually the origin story of a villain.  'Chronicle' is about three high schoolers, two of them fairly popular and the third an abused kid that's filming everything going on, who discover an underground cave encasing a huge crystal barrier that's making a creepy humming sound.  Upon coming out of the cave, the three boys realize that they have telekinesis and can perform a lot of tricks using their minds.

Unlike other superhero films, this movie focuses on how these three guys are just playing around with their powers rather than doing anything for the greater good.  That alone makes this movie more creative than more recent superhero and found footage movies.  In 2011, we had a lot of huge surprises in movies, including but not limited to 'X-Men: First Class' and 'Warrior.  2012 may possibly outshine 2011, because we've only just entered February and the superhero film nobody expected to be good is superb.  Blending thriller, drama, and comedy in with the superhero/sci-fi genre, 'Chronicle' exceeded all of my expectations and has a solid chance of being remembered by the time we are all counting down to 2013.

For a bunch of unknown actors, all three of the main leads are fantastic.  Michael B. Jordan, the smallest character of the three main leads plays the popular future school president/jock of the group, and of course he is the comedic relief of the movie.  When he tries to be funny, he succeeds at being funny, which is needed because the movie gets very dark in its final half hour.  He reminded me of a young, high school version of Anthony Mackie, who was very successful in many good movies last year.  I still wish that we could've seen more of Jordan's character before he left the movie.  I guess the attractive jock of the group is Alex Russell, who plays Matt, the cousin of the main lead of the film, Andrew.  The first scene with Matt shows him clearly trying to make his wimpy cousin cool and more relatable.  As the movie progresses, you start seeing and feeling that Matt actually cares for his cousin, even though the cousin becomes a homicidal maniac.  Matt also shares the love story with a girl who loves to film life as well as Andrew does.  It does get a bit clichéd there, but you really don't care about it and just go with the flow of the story.  After talking about the bronze and the silver contestants of the film, let's talk about the golden champion.

Dan DeHann plays Andrew, the antagonist of the film and the one shooting every single minute of his current high school life.  While Andrew is the antagonist of the film, you actually feel for him because of what happens to him on a daily basis.  He gets bullied at school, ignored by his cousin most of the time, and he is abused physically by his father while his mom slowly dies.  If you think this is a spoiler, don't worry.  This all happens in the first 10 minutes of the movie.  Never once have I actually wanted the villain to beat the heroes of the story and possibly take over the world.  You actually feel the pain that Andrew has with every issue he has in his life, which I admire to a very high degree.  DeHann himself is fantastic as Andrew.  In some ways, the character himself reminded me of Harvey Dent/Two-Face in 'The Dark Knight.'  While you want him to die in the final scene of the movie, you can clearly see why he wants to do what he wants to do.  He was manipulated by a serial killer, and Andrew had the same thing happen to him in this movie, only The Joker was represented by his father and the school bullies.  If these three guys don't get any acting roles in the near future, then there won't be any justice in the world.  After all, we live in a society where Taylor Lautner and other teen actors are at the top of the movie scene, so why can't these tal

First time director Josh Tank, along with creative partner/screenwriter Max Landis have together created a masterful superhero movie that shows us exactly how the superheroes would first react to getting their superpowers.  Using the found footage method not only engaged the audiences into the story but it also made you feel like you were in on all of the action.  The final battle sequence has a very unique structure where it takes the audience into several different points of views as to what is going on at the moment, and I found that creative and awesome.  Not to mention that the acting by the three main leads was fantastic for their first starring roles.  Seriously, there will be no justice in this world if these three guys don't get any good acting gigs in the future.  The special effects, because this movie was on a ham sandwich budget, looked pretty fake, but that didn't take away from the film at all.  This is the first movie of 2012 that you really must go check out for yourselves.  It will strike many chords inside you, plus make you laugh here and there.  Superhero films always show the audience the heroic duties of a superhero.  Why can't they ever show the origin stories of how they first got their powers?  That is exactly what 'Chronicle' is, and for that it is a superb movie, and already one of the best movies of 2012.

PREVIEWS YOU MAY SEE:


This Means War


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Project X


Silent House


Battleship