Sunday, July 22, 2012

The Dark Knight Rises - Movie Review

"The Dark Knight Rises" is the final installment in the trilogy started by Christopher Nolan in 2005. In a summer that has big comic book blockbusters like "The Avengers" and "The Amazing Spider-Man," it concludes with the most anticipated movie of the summer. Can "The Dark Knight Rises" surpass the previous mentioned movies in the box office? Can it live up to the expectations set by "The Dark Knight?"

"The Dark Knight Rises" picks up eight years later after the events of "The Dark Knight" and Batman (Christian Bale) has decided to put away the mask and begin a life without Batman. When a terrorist leader, Bane (Tom Hardy), comes to Gotham and starts his plan to destroy it; Batman and company has to do whatever it takes to put a stop to Bane's plan.

*I could go more in depth with the plot, but I do not want to spoil it.*

Everything about this movie was great; flawless. The characters were developed well, both previous characters from the other movies and the newly introduced ones in the movie. The Bruce Wayne character had really great scenes that when the audience views them, they feel what he goes through and they get emotionally drawn into Bruce Wayne's character. The same thing goes for Bane; he is such a scary villain and terrorizes everyone and everything. The audience wants to see this man go down and get rewarded with a great fight scene. Catwoman (Anne Hathaway) exceeds expectations; she was wonderful and brought comic relief to the film in the proper spots. Alfred (Michael Caine) as always was fantastic. The was very intense and it had you on the edge of your seat the whole movie. The pace of the movie is slow at times, but it doesn't hurt the film at all. Overall the writing, production, and the score were fantastic.

I am not one of those people who say "that's the best movie ever" after each movie they see; for me, this was the best movie I have ever seen. There is no one in the theater checking their phones to see what time it was or to see how much time in the movie is left. This movie had high expectations, and it went beyond them. I recommend that everyone go see this movie right away. You'll be impressed.

5 out of 5 stars

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

The Amazing Spider-Man - Movie Review

"The Amazing Spider-Man" is a superhero film that consists of action, drama, suspense and comedy. The film is a reboot of the Spider-Man trilogy that started in 2002. Marc Webb has taken the challenge of making Spider-Man his own and ready to compete with a competitive comic-book hero summer that consists of The Dark Knight Rises and The Avengers. Let's see if the "The Amazing Spider-Man" has what it takes to compete with the big boys.

Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) is very smart high school student who loses his parents at a young age and lives with his Aunt May (Sally Field) and Uncle Ben (Martin Sheen). Peter, being curious, tries to find out why his father disappeared and stumbled upon a cross-genetic that leads him to meeting Dr. Curt Connors (Rhys Ifans). Wandering around the lab, he comes across a room full of spiders and gets by one and soon realizes that he shares the traits of a spider. After learning some interesting stuff about Dr. Connors and his father, he has to balance several things: his high school crush Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone), staying away from the police captain (Denis Leary), and stopping Dr. Connors.

Andrew Garfield's performance of Peter Parker and Spider-Man was phenomenal. He had the perfect combination of shyness, awkwardness, and humor. When the scene was supposed to be emotional, he was emotional; when it called for humor, he was funny. Each scene he owned from beginning to the end. Emma Stone was fantastic as Gwen Stacy and Rhys Ifans was a great villain. And the rest of the supporting cast was solid as well. The thing that impressed me the most was the use of the web sling. He not only used it to swing, but to trip the enemies, use as a bungee cord, and shoot enemies with. The CGI was great; I liked the first person view shots of Spider-Man when he was swinging or running. The 3D was really good too; it didnt hurt my eyes or get me dizzy at all. It was perfect. The pace was good, it got you hooked early and never it never let go.

I loved the movie. I loved the Avengers, but I liked the feel of this movie. I enjoyed Garfield's take on Peter Parker/Spider-Man. Everything was great. If there is one problem I had it was that Peter and Gwen's relationship was rushed and we could have gotten and few more scenes of them building the relationship. I highly recommend this movie seeing this movie. Anyone can enjoy this film.

4.5 out of 5 stars.

bkstaReviews.blogspot.com

Savages - Movie Review

"Savages" is a thriller filled with the feel of past Oliver Stone films that Stone himself wants to get the audience used to again. Using blood, gore, and intense action sequences; "Savages" wants to give you a feel that hasn't been present in many movies this summer. Now let's see if Oliver Stone can regain his former glory and make another cult classic.

Ben (Aaron Johnson) and Chon (Taylor Kitsch) are together one of the biggest marijuana dealers in Laguna Beach, California. When a Mexican cartel, led by Elena (Salma Hayek), wants to expand their business upward and offer Ben and Chon a deal, they reject and this forces Elena to send her right hand man Lado (Benicio Del Toro) to kidnap their shared girlfriend, O (Blake Lively). Upon hearing this Ben and Chon agree to comply; but instead with intel from DEA agent Dennis (John Travolta), they concoct a plan to rescue you O and get the cartel off their backs for good.

First of all, the tone of the film clearly set in the beginning of the movie in the very first scene. It gave you since of what the movie is going to be like and also how gruesome it is going to be. The pacing of the film was great, moved from scene to scene well and there wasn't any scenes that slowed it done. It had a nice steady pace with the perfect fix of action and dramatic scenes. Oliver Stone's close ups during really emotional scenes were great, the whole shot would be the actors face and it really got you invested in that character during the close-up. The acting was pretty good for the most part. Kitsch, Johnson, Travolta, Hayek were really good; but Benicio Del Toro was brilliant. Blake Lively improved in this film, but sometimes her dialogue was really hard to watch.

Overall I enjoyed this film a lot. The acting was good, the writing was good, and Oliver Stone's take on this story was good. I'm glad to see him go back to vintage Oliver Stone. I do recommend that people see this film. It's really good. Aaron Johnson, Taylor Kitsch and Del Toro are really worth the price of admission and the movie is, lack of a better word, bad ass.

4 out of 5 stars.

bkstaReviews.blogspot.com