Man of Steel (2013)

Similar: The Dark Knight

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Rating: 5!
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Some are saying that it was bad and some good but hey that's pretty much every movie. You can't take anything seriously since half the time people that review movies seem to hate movies all together.

I love Superman. Adore, idolize, you name it. He is the good in all of us, especially when we don't want to be. I aspire to be more like him in the ideal that if everyone was the absolute best that they could be, this would would actually be a wonderful place.

I get so sad when people talk about Superman being "cheesy" or "too strong" or anything else that takes away from what he stands for. Man of Steel finally portrays a calmer Superman. Not the kind of Superman that will save kittens from a tree (although that's still pretty nice since he doesn't need a ladder). In a theatrical movie, he is finally the Superman that would do absolutely anything to protect humans. Not individual humans but all of us. The writing was superb, the cinematography made me grin, and the cgi was beautiful. It felt a little bit video gameish but I honestly don't care. If you actually filmed someone being punched around the skyline, it wouldn't look real anyway.

I could narrow it down but the entire cast blew my mind. I was uneasy at first about some of the choices (Amy Adams and Russel Crowe to be specific (they ended up being of my favorites)) but all of them just nailed it. Just wonderfully.

The plot is away from the regular origin story but if anything it feels like one of the many alternate universes that DC has so that works too. New things can be refreshing. Goyer and Nolan are my new favorite writing team.

Also basically no comedy and a ton of collateral damage. Heads up. It's one of those real types of movies.

Hans Zimmer got better again, by the way. I'm actually currently listening to the soundtrack. It is stunning, gorgeous, and a perfect fit for the Man of Steel.

Everyone else making the film should win everything. Basically.

So yeah. It's another Super Perfect and it won't go away even though I did just get back from seeing the movie about 3 hours ago (for the second time. The first time was yesterday at the 12:25 am showing also. First time I've seen the same movie twice in two nights. Also IMAX 3D is gorgeous for this movie) I know that this high isn't gonna go away. This movie was spectacular and I hope you enjoy it somewhere near as much as I did because I believe that Superman is a fantastic character and could always use more fans.

Iron Man 3 (2013)

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Rating: 3!
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Iron Man 3 was really good. I was happy to see Marvel back on the big screen and this is definitely the best Iron Man to date although it ties the first one in ratings for me because the downsides are too noticable. But I can sum this movie up in bullet points.

Good Parts:

• Felt like I was watching a comic book. They got actual problems across especially the traumas that are focused on.
• Pepper was a badass. Finally. This was so wonderful to see Paltrow being awesome. She's always had the wit but it was nice to see her as more of an active role.
• Guy Pearce makes any movie better. I will defend this with my life. His ability to portray basically any character type makes him such a good bad guy.

Bad Parts:

• It felt like I was watching a slightly tweaked Dark Knight Rises. The pacing felt very similar.
• Mandarin = Bane. Very key differences but the setup was similar.
• Tony's house being destroyed = Bruce's time in the pit.
• Clean Slate...
• Pepper = Selina
• Harley = John Blake

I think that something the Iron Man movies are lacking is a villain that you can actually fear. Things go bad but not really too bad. The villains in Iron Man seem like very good obstacles that Tony runs into that will improve who he is. And they are all related to him in some way. There isn't just a random villain that would come in and mess things up. Killian was like that mostly but it was still partially due to Tony's poor character in the past.

I enjoyed this movie a lot. It's fun to watch and I'd definitely hope that people will see it. I was just sad by the story line that I've seen before and the lack of a thrilling villain.

The Avengers (2012)

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Rating: 4!
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This movie is definitely one for the record books. In more ways than one. The Avengers has an amazing cast that is not limited to Robert Downey, Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Jeremy Renner, Tom Hiddleston, Clark Gregg, Cobie Smulders, Stellan Skarsgård, and Samuel L. Jackson.

Awesome movie reasons
#1 -- The build up. Marvel did this perfect. It wasn't just a random mash-up of characters that you don't know and have never heard of. The set up with the other five movies was wonderful. It also helped generate the hype for this movie that has made it the 3rd highest grossing movie of all time (without inflation and from wikipedia's numbers which I really don't see any reason why they would be wrong).

#2 -- The cast. All of the people in this movie are wonderful. Each actor/actress has perfectly kept their character from their respective movies and were allowed to build on them when they interact with the others. Stark and Banner make a fun duo as well as the Thor/Hulk interactions which have always been as hectic as possible. Clark Gregg as Agent Coulson is the perfect balance to all of the superheroes and gets to show his geeky side, too. A surprise visit from Cobie Smulders was interesting. I could only see her as Robin from How I Met Your Mother but she grows on you. And Nick Fury is just awesome. And Hiddleston is a wicked awesome Loki. He gives the perfect creepy-guy feeling and I couldn't see anyone else pull him off. Again.

#3 -- Joss Whedon = a god among directors and writers. No other way to put that. He let everyone be themselves with their character and gave for a fun story. A very fun and great story. I was really impressed for how they are setting this up. This is the director of Dr. Horrible and creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. He is awesome. Bow down to him.

#4 -- The rest of the crew. The producers, writers, effects (are amazing), props, and everything. This movie echoes the production of Lord of the Rings to me. Everyone cared about making this movie amazing. And that happens with most movies, but the time and involvement involved to have five movies made as a set up for this one is incredible.

#5 -- The fact that this isn't just a superhero movie. It's an epic superhero movie. The chemistry for everything was just amazing. Characters that balanced with their lines. Awesome effects. And the fact that the story of the Avengers is just shy of 50 years old. Everything that was done to make this movie good happened. No one messed it up, whether it be companies, or people, or actors.

I've already seen this movie three times with plans to see it for a fourth and I don't think that this is wasted money at all. The only thing I don't like about this movie is that it will eventually have to leave theaters.

If superheroes aren't your thing, then at least this is a good story. In my personal opinion, anyone that doesn't like this movie has lost their childhood. If you argue with that then anyone that doesn't like this movie just doesn't want good to defeat evil.

I will stand by my love for comics and I'll recognize when something isn't a good portrayal of them. And this is quite possibly the greatest superhero movie that could ever be created.

But I guess that we'll just have to wait for July 20th...

The Incredible Hulk (2008)

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Rating: 4!
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The next Avengers movie to be released was The Incredible Hulk starring Edward Norton, Liv Tyler, Tim Roth, and William Hurt.

This one is a partial sequel to the first Hulk movie back in 2003 with the setup origin story being in the credits, which is really nice. The rest of it basically follows Bruce Banner (Norton) trying to get back to the U.S. to get the data he needs to have Mr. Blue help him figure out a cure. Meanwhile, Emil Blonsky (Roth) is tasked by General Ross (Hurt) and wants to learn more about the Hulk's powers.

I loved this movie much more than the original one. The Hulk (2003) wasn't all that bad but the flow of this one and with the plot sticking a little closer to the comics with the introduction of the Abomination. The Hulk himself looked pretty good. There were moments when you could tell he was just graphics but it didn't hurt the flow of the movie too bad.

The story was pretty good. It was just a typical movie and had some exciting scenes in it. The chemisty between all of the characters were very good for this movie. The Incredible Hulk had more major characters, being a contrast from Iron Man, and this was very well done, notably the interactions of Betty Ross (Tyler) and Banner and between Ross and Blonsky.

This movie was a nice combination with Iron Man being released just a month after. It was one of my less favorites from the series of Avenger movies but still great nonetheless.


Tomorrow for Avenger's Week is Iron Man 2!

Iron Man (2008)

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Rating: 4!
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Iron Man kicks off Avengers Week starring Robert Downey, Jr., Jeff Bridges, and Gwyneth Paltrow.

This is how superhero movies should be done. Iron Man has given us a different take on the superhero that The Dark Knight gave us. It's actually interesting timing that these two came out in the same year since they are counterparts for both of the major comic labels.

Tony Stark (Downey, Jr.) lives everyday as he wishes, being a billionaire playboy genius who took over his father's military defense company, Stark Industries, after a car accident made him lose both of his parents. While selling weapons in Afghanistan when his convoy is attacked and he is taken hostage to build his newest weapon, the Jericho missile, for a terrorist group known as the Ten Rings. After seeing what his weapons really do, he escapes and decides to live his new lease on life as someone who defends the country with his new armored suit.

Robert Downey, Jr. is brilliant. I hadn't seen him in too much but I knew that i loved him as an actor. When I saw that he would be doing Iron Man, I freaked out. Not only is he prefect for the role, he looks like Tony Stark. I had no problem whatsoever seeing him as Stark while watching it. He has said that he pulled his own life experiences into Stark's personality with this being the main reason that the director, Jon Favreau, hired him on. Jeff Bridges takes on an amazing role as Obadiah Stane with his large presence and commanding voice. Paltrow provides the perfect touch as Stark's assistant Pepper Potts. Potts adds the right amount of serious comedy to flair up Stark's odd personality.

The CGI is wonderful and makes me want his suit. Completely. The writing is very well done and gives Stark the perfect amount of arrogance mixed with self-reflection and character building that isn't over the top. He experiences the right amount of mental stress, deception, and loss that doesn't completely change who his is. This is evident most in Iron Man 2. He retains who he is while gaining a very specific goal that he works on. While a character like Batman has his whole life driven on the one turning point in his young life, Stark is already an adult. His personality is already created and etched into who he is. They acknowledge this and they happily retain his narcissistic arrogance.

This movie doesn't obtain a perfect status due to it's lack of impact. It is still just a superhero movie that deals with the main character's origin story. There is more to it, but fundamentally it is just that.

In the Avengers franchise, Iron Man would definitely be my favorite and if you haven't seen it yet, please do. This movie works very well as a stand alone movie or with the series but it definitely can be seen as more than just another superhero movie.

The Adventures of Tintin (2011)

NEW PLAN!

The Expendables will still be done tomorrow but in its place for my girl's birthday will be The Adventures of Tintin by Stephen Spielberg and Peter Jackson!



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Rating: 4!
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The Adventures of Tintin does some amazing work. Starring Jamie Bell, Andy Serkis, and Daniel Craig, the movie dives into the world of Tintin and his dog Snowy (who is an awesome dog) and their hunt to discover what is so amazing about the fabled vessel, The Unicorn. He finds a companion in Captain Haddock, who is a descendant of the ship's captain, and is sought after by the villain of the story, Sakharine.

The movie is filmed using performance capture, which is mothion capture but with the added details of facial expressions, fingers, etc. A good similarity would be Beowulf or Gollum from The Lord of the Rings trilogy. The amount of detail in this movie is astounding. The facial expressions and details to the characters, such as their hair, the reflection and behavior of light, and the interactions with their surroundings are phenomenal. There are times when I actually had trouble being able to tell if this was animated or not. This movie would also be one to see in 3D if it is at all possible still. The film doesn't need it as it worked perfectly fine in 2D but there were a few shots where one could tell it was originally released for 3D.

Something that I found wonderful about Tintin is that with the way the motion capture is so wonderful, one would think that this could have been a live-action film. But the movie hits certain points where it falls into the realm of cartoons and the wonderful working of animated physics. This lands the movie perfectly in the middle of the two. It looks so real but acts like a cartoon.

The voice acting was perfect as well. Jamie Bell did a perfect job as Tintin. An odd aspect to Tintin is that you cannot really tell his age very well. He looks as if he could be 14 but as he is a reporter, I would guess in the mid-20s. Captain Haddock was portrayed by Andy Serkis (who is no stranger to motion capture or Peter Jackson) yet at times I could hear what very much resembled Gerard Butler. A few lines came through as clearly Serkis but his work here just adds to his amazingness. The last major character was played by Daniel Craig and he was tough to peg as well. Now and then I heard James Bond come through but on the whole he sounded quite different as well. A fun addition to the minor cast is Simon Pegg and Nick Frost as Thomson and Thompson, two police characters that look identical.

The plot was based off of three different comics of Tintin that was written by Stephen Moffet at first. I believe he left the team after being offered Doctor Who (who could blame him?) and it was picked up again by Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead) and Joe Cornish. While I thoroughly enjoyed the plot, which felt much like Indiana Jones, I found it a bit see-through. It is an adventure movie and not a mystery but I started to feel like i was watching the movie play out what I had already guessed. To me this is what fell shy of perfect for Tintin. Good news though is that Tintin is expected to be a trilogy and I believe will do even better with Jackson and Spielberg at the wheel.

The Adventures of Tintin does a spectacular job at bringing Hergé's classic comic to life and is well worth investing the time (a short hour and 47 minutes) to become familiar with Tintin and his dog Snowy.




The Expendables and From Paris with Love are both up on the menu for tomorrow!