Tag Archives: Three-Stars

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince (Theaters)

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The latest Harry Potter installment is one of the biggest movies of the summer. Anyone who has read the books or is just familiar with the film versions knows that the series is soon coming to an end, and the tension and anticipation is really starting to ramp up at this point.  I’ve never read any of the books, but I have seen each movie up to this point, therefore my background is a bit limited.  With the exception of the last movie, The Order of the Phoenix, I felt that each film got progressively better with the introductions of more interesting characters and the insurmountable threat posed by Voldemort and his followers.

Let me start by saying that the trailers for this film are a bit misleading. I know there are still two more movies after this one, but I thought that this movie would end in some type of epic magic battle. Sadly, the movie ended with a bit of a whimper. There are quite a few cool sequences throughout the film, but the whole time I was expecting the action to really get crazy.  Maybe it is because I haven’t read the books and so I can’t appreciate the details and events in this flick as much as a reader of the series, but I just felt a bit starved for action throughout the film.

The focus in this film is mainly on the three main characters and their foray into early adult hood. While I have no idea how old the characters are supposed to be in the novel, from the looks and vibe of the film I would say they are roughly around the equivalent of seniors in high school.  Seeing as how we have grown with the same cast since they were children, the fact that they are finally starting to outgrow their roles isn’t quite as distracting as you would think.  I can also accept the fact that most of the occurences in the film revolve around hormones, which also seems natural at this point in the characters lives.

The action in the film is minimal, which is somewhat understandable given that the focus is on how the characters and the dynamics of their relationships with one another have evolved. However, I couldn’t help but feel that we’ve seen ALL of this before to some degree in the other films. Hermione’s simultaneous attraction and disgust with Ron Weasley. Weasley’s goofy comic relief.  Harry modestly wrestling with his celebrity status. These are all issues that have been addressed before, yet they seem to dominate a lot of the movie. This is all fine, but could they at least have thrown in some more Wizard on Wizard action towards the end?

I know this film has received some great reviews, with many people stating that this is the best movie so far. I guess for me, I felt this one was a bit anti climatic. Some people already know about the event in the ending, however even with the inclusion of such a significant occurrence, I just wasn’t feeling it as I thought I should have.

The acting in this film is all top notch. The young cast has really grown into their roles over the years and have become the physical embodiments of their respective characters. At this point, it would be nearly impossible to picture anyone else playing these roles.  The real standout of the cast is by far Alan Rickman’s portrayal of Severus Snape. Since his first appearance, he has been one of the coolest and most interesting characters in the HP universe.  While he doesn’t have a ton of screen time in this one, the scenes he does appear in definitely command attention.

Perhaps if I was more into the novels, I would have enjoyed this film a lot more. I felt like it was just more of the same old stuff we’d seen in the past 5 movies. The movie wasn’t bad at all, I just expected a bit more from the series, especially this far along in the game. I still have hope for the 2 upcoming films based on the last book, The Deathly Hallows. Hopefully everything that has been built up to this point will pay off huge dividends in the final acts.

Push (DVD)

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When I first saw the trailers for ‘Push’, the similarities to Marvel’s X-men were overwhelming. Being a big X-men fan, I decided to pass on seeing the movie in theaters. Fast forward a couple of months and the movie is now on DVD. After seeing it on the video store shelf I decided to check it out.  While the two series have their similarities, Push has enough of its own vibe going on to distinguish it from other similar franchises.

The storyline follows two groups of mutants. One group comprises a special government unit, called the Division, who seek to capture and study all mutants in order to advance both technology and human ability in general, no matter the cost. Then you have the other group, who simply go about living their lives and using their powers however they please. (I don’t remember them being referred to as mutants in the film, but let’s just call a spade a spade here.)  The Division has been conducting experiments to produce a drug that will enhance the abilities of any mutant dramatically. The problem is that out of all the test subjects, no one has survived the injection except for one woman, named ‘Patient Zero’. Immediately after being injected, she escapes and takes the last syringe of the drug with her. The Division then goes about trying to recover her by any means necessary while a small group of mutants seek to find her for themselves with the hopes that she has the key to bring down the Division and put an end to their persecution.

 That is the plot in a nutshell. Each mutant has various abilities. For example, ‘Watchers’ can see the future, ‘Movers’ can move things telepathically, and ‘Pushers’ can push suggestive thoughts into other people’s minds to get them to do whatever they please.  For being a brand new franchise, the film has a pretty good budget and the majority of the special effects are first rate. The movie also has some of the most colorful palettes I’ve ever seen in a film, as almost every shot is bursting with lush visuals.

 The movie stars Chris Evans (Johnny Storm/Human Torch from the Fantastic Four movies) as Nick, a ‘mover’ enlisted by ‘watcher’ Cassie (Dakota Fanning) to help her recover Patient Zero in order to bring down the Division. Evans’ role is awfully similar to his other roles. If you can picture his Fantastic Four character with different powers then you can pretty much envision his performance in this film. Fanning’s character is a bit of a departure from her normal roles as she plays a street tough teenager.  At least I thought she was supposed to be tough until the first action scene in which she screamed so horribly my ear drums almost popped.

 That’s pretty much it. The movie isn’t great, but it’s not bad either. It will definitely keep you entertained for most of the film and is well worth a rental. The real star of this one is the special effects, which as mentioned previously, are top notch and allow for some pretty engaging action sequences. Overall, you can definitely do a lot worse than this movie and while it won’t exactly blow you away, it won’t put you to sleep either.

Year One (Theaters)

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When I first saw the trailers for this movie, it looked flat out hilarious. In fact, it was one of the summer comedies I was really looking forward to. I like Michael Cera’s humor, and Jack Black, when funny, is a straight up riot. The premise of the film, while similar to other flicks before it, looked to give a unique take on a familiar idea.

Year One stars Michael Cera and Jack Black as two hunter/gatherers who are exiled from their tribe and wind up going off to discover the world.  The film has some solid laughs, but by the end of the movie it unravels into plain silliness with a lot of the humor losing steam by the final act. It is a pretty entertaining movie, but it has difficulty keeping its premise amusing for the duration of the film. From the start of the movie, the cavemanish setting is funny, with the two leads exchanging one liners and jokes. Despite the fact that there is NO historical accuracy to this movie whatsoever, the humor and setting held up resonably well at first. By the time the ending rolls around, neither Black’s nor Cera’s humor is strong enough to keep the movie afloat.

Year One is not a bad flick by any means. It is an entertaining comedy that will definitely have people busting up. The problem is that there isn’t really enough material to keep the laughs consistent up until the film’s conclusion. By the end of the movie everything kind of devolves into a silly farce.  There are people who will find the movie amusing from start to finish, however with the caliber of comedies these days, the film leaves the audience wishing for a bit more than what they are left with. Unless you are a huge fan of Jack Black or Michael Cera, I would recommend waiting for video.  There are better movies out at theaters that are well worth the price of admission.