MOVIE REVIEW 16

You know what has always bugged me?  Movie reviews that take a "I'm so much smarter than you" route.  Every movie review I have ever read takes this approach.  They sit there and with a fine tooth comb and condemn every aspect of the movie or they praise the intellectual aspects of this cinematic experience.

Me, I just want a simple review.  Did the movie achieve it's goal.  How was the acting?  Was the script/story any good.  Was the movie entertaining.  Add a positive comment.  Add a negative comment.  Finally make a simple scale and rate that movie accordingly.

It's not asking for much.

Reading a movie review shouldn't have to be a chore.

So let's make that scale

   1.  Punch me in the FACE, because that's gonna be better than this movie.
   2.  I will never watch the movie again
   3.  Did I actually pay to see this?
   4.  I wish I saw it on cable.
   5.  I'll only watch it if its free on cable.
   6.  Can't find the remote...so I guess I'll watch this
   7.  This is better then the other stuff that's on.
   8.  I will watch the movie again
   9.  I CAN'T WAIT to watch the movie again
 10.  This movie WILL be owned, in any form because it's that damn good!!.

Now let's review some movies...



The Karate Kid (2010)

Let me start by saying I am a fan of all the KK movies. I am a child of the 80's so the original will have a special place in my memories, as do a lot of the iconic 80's films. But with all that said, the Original KK was predictable, the acting was weak, the story was the usual 80's coming of age storyline and the one endearing factor was Mr Miyagi.

The updated version holds true to the original story, where the there's a new kid getting bullied and has to learn to stand up for himself, with the help of a wise mentor.

The story was good, the acting average (although seeing Jackie Chan do something that required more acting and less action was a pleasant surprise) the plot predictable and the characters weren't always believable.

This version of the movie, does a better job at fleshing out the story, it also does a lot of subtle and wonderful homages to the original. If you're looking for academy award winning material, you won;t find it here. What you will find is a pleasant, inspirational and moral family movie.

7/10


Prince of Persia - The Sands of Time

The fact that this is based on a video game leaves me a little worried.  For some reason, when it comes to movies based on video games (with the exception of the Resident Evil movies) are always lacking in substance and story.

I was pleasantly surprised by this movie.  It your usual summer blockbuster with lots of special effects and your all start cast.  But what I wasn't expecting was that it had a pretty decent story.  The story was pretty good, the acting was very good albeit they had a strong cast of very good actors, the storyline lends itself into making this a very a profitable and multimovie franchise and the special effects were amazing.

This is of course an action adventure movie, and in and of itself , doesn't have many surprises.  But it is a fun ride from beginning to end. 
7/10



Youth in Revolt

Although an entertaining film, I never know when or if I should ever take this movie seriously.  Micheal Cera does a wonderful job of playing dual roles in this movie, but even when he's being his "bad" self he's still endearing.

Like I said it is an enjoyable film, with a coherent storyline, decent plot, wonderful actors and believable (although slightly exaggerated) characters.  This movie does a great job of being both innocent and pompous with situations that are quite over the top, while being tongue in cheek during the same situations.

But I'm still not sure whether I actually liked the movie...and I'm not sure whether or not I will watch the movie again, but I was entertained...if not a little befuddled.

6/10


Iron Man 2

I wanted to love this movie.  I thoroughly enjoyed the first one and I love everything that Robert Downey Jr has been in. but I felt underwhelmed by Iron Man 2.  The special effects were amazing and the acting was above average.  But in the end I just didn't care.  I had no emotional investment in the battel between good and evil.  It didn't matter to me who would win the "epic" battle.

Although the 100 MPH banter between Pepper and Tony almost mad the movie for me...almost.

When super hero movies set the bar high for themselves, sometimes, they just don't reach that level again.  And in my humble opinion, Iron Man 2 fell just short of greatness.

5/10