Tag Archives: Two Stars

Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (Theaters)

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Exhibits coming to life at a museum was a fun idea the first time around. The second time : EPIC FAIL. After the huge success of its predecessor, a second installment was inevitable. With most of the original cast returning to make their second appearances, I actually had high hopes for this film. However, after watching this feature, it was plain to see that Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian was just another one of Hollywood’s attempts at making money by covering up a lame storyline with a massive budget of special effects and CGI.

It was really unfortunate considering the star power that this film had at its disposal. Ben Stiller returns as Larry Daley, the museum’s night watchman, but never quite lives up to his expectations. Stiller was wooden and mechanical, and he looked as if he were in it for the paycheck rather than for his entertainment value. Robin Williams and Owen Wilson were used so sparingly that it was a complete waste of money to cast them in this film at all. William shows up for a short scene or two without ever really being a part of the plot and Wilson is basically used as a plot filler rather than a true character in the script. With such a load of talent, I was appalled to see them utilized so sparsely.

Despite all the sub-par acting, there was a lone bright spot in the film who’s name was Amy Adams (Amelia Earhart). Adams is easily the best character in this movie who employs her charm and genuinely fun nature to help brighten up what was otherwise a dull and sullen cast. With little help from her peers however, Adam’s performance is overlooked and ultimately lost in the horrible muck which N.A.T.M boasted as their script. Another notable character was Hank Azaria, who plays Kah Mun Rah. He had put together a few good scenes, but there were many moments where I felt he overplayed his character and tried too hard to be funny rather than let it just come naturally. Some of the dialogue involving his character get particularly annoying during the final scenes of the film.

Overall, Night at the Museum : Battle of the Smithsonian was just another one of Hollywood’s summertime ploys and making some serious dough. With its star studded cast, and past film’s success, it rode out boldly onto the red carpet with one thing in mind : Make Money. If you haven’t seen it yet, I suggest you wait for its release on DVD. If you already have spent your money, your just another sucker like me, who got pulled into a rather mediocre production.

Synopsis:

Ben Stiller returns as Larry Daley, the unfortunate night watchman who continues to encounter living and breathing museum exhibits in Night at the Museum 2: Escape From the Smithsonian, 20th Century Fox’s tent-pole sequel from director Shawn Levy. Scott Frank, Robert Ben Garant, and Thomas Lennon provide the script, with Chris Columbus returning to handle producing duties. Amy Adams (Enchanted) and Hank Azaria join the returning cast of Robin Williams, Ricky Gervais, and Owen Wilson in the 1492 and 21 Laps Entertainment co-production. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide

Terminator Salvation (Theaters)

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I’ve always loved the Terminator series. James Cameron’s iconic first two films are two of my favorite movies of all time. T3 Rise of the Machines, was no where near the greatness of the originals, but for every thing it did wrong it managed to do something right, and the movie overall was pretty good. Which brings us to Terminator Salvation, the latest sequel to feature another director’s take on Cameron’s universe, which brings us to the forefront of the future war between John Connor and humanity vs. the ruthless Skynet. 

Salvation, directed by McG, tells the story of the future human resistance fighting for survival against the all powerful Skynet. This is a battle that Terminator fans have dreamt of ever since the future glimpses from the first two films.   A battle torn earth being ravaged by Terminator robots in all of their metal exo-skeleton glory.  To say that there is a lot of substance involved in the treatment of this portion of the story is an understatement, however Salvation has no such substance at all.  The plot is disjointed and feels almost like a bunch of trailers sewn together than one complete movie.

There isn’t much story so I won’t get into that at all, instead we’ll examine the major players. Christian Bale as John Connor is decent at best. I am a big fan of Bale’s work, but he really seems to have phoned in this performance. I understand he is supposed to be the battle hardened bad ass version of Connor, but he does little except yell and snarl his lines. I admit the previous incarnations of Connor were a bit whiny and annoying, but they were also very human and gave decent insight in to why Connor is the way he is and how he eventually morphs into the great leader he is destined to be. It is as if Bale just did his own take on the character, reducing him to someone who barks every line spoken and it’s a mystery as to why anyone would want to follow him in the first place.

Then there is Anton Yelchin as Kyle Reese, the man Connor sends back in time to father…Connor. I think this kid is going to blow up in all kinds of movies in the near future. While I was convinced that no one could rival Michael Biehn’s portrayal of Reese from the first Terminator, Yelchin does a decent job.  Most will recognize him as Chekov, from the newly revamped Star Trek, yet none of the goofiness of his other portrayal makes its way into this film. This Kyle Reese is all business. He does a good job of portraying Reese as a teenager and he shows the audience exactly how he becomes the the Kyle Reese we are introduced to in 1984.  Its a shame that Bale didn’t take a similar approach to his portrayal of Connor.

This brings us to the wild card of the cast, Marcus Wright played by Sam Worthington. Worthington is decent as the troubled Marcus, the only noticeable thing is his Australian accent creeping out every other line. I think they should have just let him run with the accent, after all it worked for Arnold in previous films.  Anyways, Worthington is decent, but his character is a bit awful. For those of you who don’t know  SPOILER ALERT ……….Marcus was a death row inmate who donated his body to science, only to wake up unknowingly transformed into a Terminator. Thats right. Marcus is a “human” terminator that can feel emotions, make decisions, but still has that cool metal skeleton and all of the other perks that come with being a Terminator.  This would actually be one of the decent plot devices the film has, if it weren’t so highly publicized repeatedly in the trailers. Then again the film doesn’t do a good job of disguising this fact. Marcus wakes up naked in a lightning storm looking for clothes. Insert “you might be a terminator” comment here.

Finally, we have McG’s directing. Technically, his directing is pretty good. He manages to maintain good shots that capture the action so there isn’t that disorienting feeling of wondering who is getting hit and whats going on.  As far as emotionally, he doesn’t really seem to get too much out of his actors’ performances. Either that or everyone on this production is on the exact same page in their visualization of the Terminator universe, which would be a shame. The effects and new Terminators in this movie are all pretty cool, but to be honest most of it seems like a scaled down version of Transformers. While a lot of the action looks pretty good, it is nothing we haven’t seen done better in other movies before and definitely not solid enough to salvage the entire film.

Perhaps the biggest thing about this movie is how meaningless it is ultimately. Nothing happens in the end and nothing is resolved, other than the ball being dropped. There is a scene in which Skynet captures Kyle Reese. Rather than just killing him and effectively preventing the birth of John Connor, they simply hold him to use as bait. This is obviously a huge fumbled opportunity and it captures the essence of the entire film perfectly.

There is so much potential, or was so much, in the future story of John Connor and the resistance, yet this film managed to obliterate any desire to see what happens. Its obvious that they are trying to milk this into becoming perhaps a new trilogy, as evidenced by the lack of any resolution in this first film. But it also becomes clear that trying to strecth out what they currently have is like watering down water.  Usually I would tell people to just check it out on their own, but I can’t honestly recommend this film in theaters. I would tell even the most die hard fans to wait for DVD. If this movie is any indication on the future of the franchise, consider it terminated…hehe.

Angels and Demons (Theaters)

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Between the Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons, most will agree that A&D had the far superior storyline. With such high expectations coming into this film, I must admit that I wasn’t overly impressed with Ron Howard’s translation of A&D onto the silverscreen. Much like the Da Vinci Code before it, I found it very difficult to appreciate this film because I was such a huge fan of the literature. With so many important aspects of the story being left out or abridged, it really didn’t feel like the same story at all.

The film itself wasn’t a total wash, and will probably peak the interest of those who haven’t read the books or are just looking to be entertained. Unlike The Da Vinci Code which stayed true to its script, A&D was far less pretentious than its predecessor and was definitely much better paced. Set primarily in Vatican City, A&D had a lush canvas to work with, and it felt as if I were taking a free tour through Rome itself. The cinematography was stunning to say the least, but with little more to offer than a few “postcard” quality shots, this film still falls quite short.

To his credit, Ron Howard tried his best to answer the call of the heavily criticized Da Vinci Code. Rather than staying true to the script, he along with his team of screenwriters attempted to create a film far more appealing to its general audience by writing a script which moved at break neck speed. In this case however, he probably should have kept with original. Although a tad better than the Code, A&D still fails by epic proportions.

I’d recommend you skip this one in the theaters and wait for it on DVD. Its not worthy of its price for admission.

Synopsis: Angels and Demons re-teams director Ron Howard and star Tom Hanks for the sequel to their international blockbuster adaptation of Dan Brown’s novel The Da Vinci Code. Although the book Angels and Demons was written before the novel The Da Vinci Code, the movie transpires after the events of the earlier movie. Hanks stars as professor Robert Langdon, the most respected symbologist in the United States, who uses his knowledge in order to decode a symbol on the skin of a murder victim. The clues put him on the trail of an international conspiracy involving the Catholic Church. Ewan McGregor and Ayelet Zurer also star in the Sony Pictures production. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide