Movie Reviews
Hancock: 3 1/2 stars
Overview: Hancock is a superhero with a horrible image, and rightfully so. He's a drunk with an attitude problem, and causes extensive collateral damage in his apprehension of criminals. One man, Ray, however, is a PR agent. After Hancock saves his life, Ray begins to believe in the man and thinks he can help Hancock repair his image, starting with submitting to the law and allowing himself to be imprisoned so that the public would see him as earnest, and also so they would miss him.
Acting: The acting was good. Will Smith and Charlize Theron delivered good performances, but I think Jason Bateman took the cake on this one.
Special Effects: They were okay. Nothing to write home about, and the storm effects looked like they might have been borrowed from the X-Men movie (the first one), but they weren't bad enough to warrant complaining.
Final Thought: I was really teetering between a 3 and 3 1/2 on this movie. Perhaps my expectations were too high, or perhaps something just didn't click as well as it should have. In the end, I decided that due to Jason Bateman's awesome performance, I'd recommend that people watch this movie, but don't feel the need to run to the theatre, or buy it on DVD.
American Gangster: 4 stars
Overview: Frank Lucas is a black man in 1960s Harlem. He's the right-hand man to a black drug lord who dies and leaves no heir-apparent. Frank takes it upon himself to become that heir, and starts a heroin empire like no other. He imports his family from North Carolina as his top level people, and makes connections in southeast Asia to get his product direct from the manufacturer so that he can sell a product twice as good as his competitors for half the price. This movie is based on Frank's true story and follows Franks rise, and the DEA agent who seeks to bring him down.
Acting: Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe head up this cast with some excellent acting in and of themselves, made even better by a great supporting cast.
Reality: Since this is based on a true story (with some embellishments for the sake of a good dramatic film) and a period piece based in the late 60s and early 70s, I'll rate this on its reality. The movie is very nitty gritty, and very believable, and very in your face with it. It's just enjoyable to watch.
Review: This is a movie you'll want in your collection if you're a big fan of movies like The Godfather, History of Violence, and Scarface, and find yourself watching them over and over. I am not one of those people, however, and while this is a definite watch, there's no need to purchase since this is a once-a-year type movie.
Smokin' Aces: 4 stars
Overview: Buddy "Aces" Israel is wanted by the mob. A $1 million contract has been put out on him, and the FBI wants to bring him in to turn him into a state's witness against the mob. Along with the FBI, there are three groups of hired assassins, and a group of bail bondsmen, out to get Buddy first.
Acting: Phenomenal. The cast, in general, is good, and I was pleased with new actors Alicia Keys and Common. The clincher, however, is that Ryan Reynolds, Jeremy Piven, and Chris Pine deliver stellar performances that are full of win.
Action: The gunfight and various other combat scenes are astounding. The director went for nitty gritty realism, and it paid off, The scenes in this movie are on par with Heat for believability.
Review: Even though this is a great movie full of good action, good witty one-liners, and great acting, I am not a fan of "disconnected" storytelling, ala Pulp Fiction and Sin City, where multiple storylines are followed at once and tied together by the movie. This is the only reason, however, this movie is an 4 instead of a 4 1/2 in my book, and if you are more fond of such storytelling, you will thoroughly enjoy this movie with every fiber of your being.
Stardust: 4 1/2 stars
Overview: In England there is a small town called Wall, so named because it has a large wall that separates it from another world - a world of magic and adventure. Tristan, wishing to win the hand of a girl he is infatuated with, says that he will cross the wall to retrieve a fallen start to prove his love. He crossed the wall and finds adventure, love, magic, and a destiny he never knew about.
Acting: Solid acting all around. The movie is campy and doesn't take itself too seriously - something I admire in such a film - and even though the acting is over the top or just plain silly at times, it works well.
Special Effects: The effects are kind of nifty. They handled magic differently than has been done in the past, and it worked. The real feat of special effects awesomeness, in my book, was the air ship.
Action: There's a melee/fencing training montage which is pretty cool, followed by the necessary melee duel to use said skills, which was also done well. There's even a campy bar brawl type melee on the pirate ship which is both campy and awesome.
Review: There was no aspect of this movie that I didn't like, and it was completely enjoyable. This is doubly ironic because I had been avoiding this movie under the assumption that it would royally suck up until tonight.