First of all, this movie is the biggest shocker of 2011 for me. I was planning on seeing a pretty bad movie going into it, but everything is explained and I ended up really liking this film. I will indeed see this one again! What really drove this movie was its screenplay and fantastic computer generation, including Andy Serkis' performance in the motion capture of Caesar. The apes looked VERY realistic!
James Franco returns to the screen after his Academy Award nominating role in "127 Hours". He plays Will Rodman the lead scientist at a corpoation named GenSys creating a retrovirus called ALZ-112 which is supposedly the cure for Alzheimer's Disease. To test this compound, the company analyzes it on apes. One of these apes being tested gives birth to an ape later named Caesar and the compound is passed to him genetically. However Caesar's mother tries to protect him and breaks out of her containment and disrupts a board meeting and is killed by security. This event shuts the lab down and all the apes are then put down by the "ape guy" Robert Franklin played by Tyler Labine. Franklin is unable to put down little baby Caesar and asks Rodman to take him in and care for him. Rodman takes Caesar in as a pet and studies him throughout its life. With being born with ALZ-112, Caesar gets smarter and smarter.
John Lithgow plays Charles Rodman, Will's father, who suffers from Alzheimer's Disease. He is the influence for Will to create this compound. After seeing that it worked on Ceasar, Will uses it on his father. Charles wakes up the next morning better than ever. This ends up backfiring later on because Charles' body develops antibodies that fight off the ALZ-112 and his Alzheimer's symptoms come back with a vengeance. It is for this reason that ALZ-113 is developed which is delivered in aerosol form. This compound however works on apes with brain functionality, but is highly contagious and fatal to humans . Robert Franklin administers this compound to all the new apes and contracts the virus accidentally and the virus starts to spread among humans like wildfire at the end of the film.
This film is a reboot/prequel to the 1968 "Planet of the Apes" starring Charleston Heston and there are many references to the original all throughout. Assuming that the sequels lead to a full-scale remake, the ALZ-113 virus will be the explanation behind what happened to all the humans on earth after the astronauts crash-land.
This movie is definitely worth checking out; I think you'll enjoy it. Although it won't get any kind of attention from the academy, I call this the best film of 2011. I give it 4.5 stars!
Monday, January 2, 2012
Monday, August 8, 2011
"Captain America: The First Avenger" Review
Is it a problem for one actor to be playing two different Marvel characters? According to the movie industry, apparently not. Chris Evans jumps back into the Marvel world by playing Captain America. Many might know Chris Evans from his previous Marvel character he starred as: "Johnny Storm" or "The Human Torch" in the "Fantastic Four" movie series. Other movies you might recognize that star Evans include "Cellular" and "The Losers". Chris Evans continues to be one of the best upcoming actors of this generation in my opinion.
I realized about a quarter of the way into this movie that it was going to show how Captain America truly became Captain America. However, SOME scenes about this back story were overdone and went on too long. More than half of the movie was this back story. Overall, however, the movie kept me entertained.
All of Marvel Studios' films connecting to "The Avengers", coming out May 2012, has yet to let me down. Like all Marvel Studios' films, the cutting from scene to scene was solid. The rest of the editing was very well done. The cinematography was lacking, but it isn't like the movie needed much of it anyway.
Also starring in this film, playing "Johann Schmidt/Red Skull", is the long-lost Hugo Weaving. I was excited by this casting because I personally think Hugo Weaving is a good actor and I haven't seen him in a movie since "The Wolfman". He did a splendid job and made an enticing villain.
One of the co-stars of this movie was Haley Atwell who played "Peggy Carter". She did a smashingly good job and delivered many comedic support lines all throughout the movie.
I always have to give it to Tommy Lee Jones who plays "Col. Chester Phillips". He's a very respectable actor and I love seeing him. His age wasn't a factor, he gave a solid performance.
I liked this movie; it served its purpose of entertaining me. Would I see it again? I probably would upon release to DVD/Blu-Ray. I am glad I saw it on the premise of being up-to-date for "The Avengers" movie. Will we see these heroes even after "The Avengers" films are released? Only time will tell...
I give this movie two out of five stars.
I realized about a quarter of the way into this movie that it was going to show how Captain America truly became Captain America. However, SOME scenes about this back story were overdone and went on too long. More than half of the movie was this back story. Overall, however, the movie kept me entertained.
All of Marvel Studios' films connecting to "The Avengers", coming out May 2012, has yet to let me down. Like all Marvel Studios' films, the cutting from scene to scene was solid. The rest of the editing was very well done. The cinematography was lacking, but it isn't like the movie needed much of it anyway.
Also starring in this film, playing "Johann Schmidt/Red Skull", is the long-lost Hugo Weaving. I was excited by this casting because I personally think Hugo Weaving is a good actor and I haven't seen him in a movie since "The Wolfman". He did a splendid job and made an enticing villain.
One of the co-stars of this movie was Haley Atwell who played "Peggy Carter". She did a smashingly good job and delivered many comedic support lines all throughout the movie.
I always have to give it to Tommy Lee Jones who plays "Col. Chester Phillips". He's a very respectable actor and I love seeing him. His age wasn't a factor, he gave a solid performance.
I liked this movie; it served its purpose of entertaining me. Would I see it again? I probably would upon release to DVD/Blu-Ray. I am glad I saw it on the premise of being up-to-date for "The Avengers" movie. Will we see these heroes even after "The Avengers" films are released? Only time will tell...
I give this movie two out of five stars.
Sunday, May 1, 2011
"Fast Five" Review
The main characters from all the past Fast and the Furious movies get together for their "last job" and formulate the best Fast and Furious movie of the franchise to date. All previous roles are reprised: Vin Diesel (Dominic Toretto), Paul Walker (Brian O' Conner), Jordana Brewster (Mia Toretto), Tyrese Gibson (Roman Pearce), Ludacris (Tej Parker), Sung Hang (Han Lue), Matt Schulze (Vince), Tego Calderon (Tago Leo), Don Omar (Rico Santos), and Gal Gadot (Gisele Harabo). Also included in this movie is Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson (Lucas Hobbs) playing a DSS agent, who never misses his man, is assigned to obtain and arrest Dom and O'Conner. He is assisted by a rookie Rio patrol officer, Elena Neves played by Elsa Pataky, who Hobbs gets initially for as a translator.
The movie takes place in Rio when Dom comes up with a plan to get out of the game by making one last heist. This plan is to steal the money of the most powerful man in all of Rio named Hernan Reyes played by Joaquim de Almeida. Reyes is a businessman and a Brazilian drug lord. Reyes has a henchman named Zizi who is played by Michael Irby. Dom and O'Conner contact everyone and bring them all together to execute this plan. However, after complications occur and Hobbs hot on their tail they are forced to change things up in order to pull off the heist.
The movie is filled with action sequences with a really solid screenplay. There's plenty of comedy for everyone to enjoy and the acting is about the same as you'd get from any previous installment. The film is definitely worth the trip to the theater and is by far the best film of the entire Fast and Furious franchise. I'd rate this movie 4 out of 5 stars.
The movie takes place in Rio when Dom comes up with a plan to get out of the game by making one last heist. This plan is to steal the money of the most powerful man in all of Rio named Hernan Reyes played by Joaquim de Almeida. Reyes is a businessman and a Brazilian drug lord. Reyes has a henchman named Zizi who is played by Michael Irby. Dom and O'Conner contact everyone and bring them all together to execute this plan. However, after complications occur and Hobbs hot on their tail they are forced to change things up in order to pull off the heist.
The movie is filled with action sequences with a really solid screenplay. There's plenty of comedy for everyone to enjoy and the acting is about the same as you'd get from any previous installment. The film is definitely worth the trip to the theater and is by far the best film of the entire Fast and Furious franchise. I'd rate this movie 4 out of 5 stars.
Monday, April 4, 2011
"Limitless" Review
Bradley Cooper is back and this time there's nothing he can't figure out. Cooper plays an author named Eddie Morra who just received a contract for a book and gets writer's block. He's walking down the street and happens to run into his ex-wife's brother Vernon Gant played by Johnny Whitworth. Whitworth claims to be working for a pharmaceutical company and gives Morra a clear/see-through pill which apparently enhancing certain enzymes in the brain. Morra gets home and takes it and after a small amount of time suddenly can think of everything, even things he didn't remember seeing from years beforehand came back to him. Morra, while on this pill, was able to write a huge section of his book. Morra goes to Gant's apartment, who gave him his business card, for more of the pills. He goes out to run a few errands for Gant, who was banged up from someone or something, and when he returned, he found Gant dead on his couch. Morra finds Gant's stash of pills before the police arrive.
This pill is called NZT-48 and Morra uses it to manipulate things like the stock market and gains a lot of money in record speeds. This lands him a huge job with Carl Van Loon, a powerful businessman played by Robert De Niro. However to get to this point he had to borrow money from a thug named Gennady played by Andrew Howard. This gets him into some trouble for he forgets to pay Gennady back his $100,000. Instead of paying Genaddy his money back, he starts supplying Gennady with NZT. Morra stops taking NZT after he goes through a day where he starts appearing at certain places to which he does not remember how he arrived at. He then learns from his ex-wife that if you stop taking NZT after a certain amount has been consumed, you die. It is for this reason that he regulates his dosage and finds out a way to produce more and runs for Senate.
Cooper continues to be one of the top grossing actors in Hollywood for this movie after three weeks since its release has gathered up 69.8 million dollars in revenue for the box-office. Robert De Niro delivers a solid performance as he always tends to do. Although this movie was obviously not the best movie I've ever seen, it was still entertaining and kept my attention all throughout. I'd give this movie a three out of five stars.
This pill is called NZT-48 and Morra uses it to manipulate things like the stock market and gains a lot of money in record speeds. This lands him a huge job with Carl Van Loon, a powerful businessman played by Robert De Niro. However to get to this point he had to borrow money from a thug named Gennady played by Andrew Howard. This gets him into some trouble for he forgets to pay Gennady back his $100,000. Instead of paying Genaddy his money back, he starts supplying Gennady with NZT. Morra stops taking NZT after he goes through a day where he starts appearing at certain places to which he does not remember how he arrived at. He then learns from his ex-wife that if you stop taking NZT after a certain amount has been consumed, you die. It is for this reason that he regulates his dosage and finds out a way to produce more and runs for Senate.
Cooper continues to be one of the top grossing actors in Hollywood for this movie after three weeks since its release has gathered up 69.8 million dollars in revenue for the box-office. Robert De Niro delivers a solid performance as he always tends to do. Although this movie was obviously not the best movie I've ever seen, it was still entertaining and kept my attention all throughout. I'd give this movie a three out of five stars.
"The Lincoln Lawyer" Review
Matthew McConaughey finally takes a step away from his usual "showing off of his abs" to where he belongs, in the drama genre with his new movie "The Lincoln Lawyer". McConaughey plays the role of Mickey Haller, a corrupt lawyer who wins any way he can; no matter what he has to do. Haller and his investigator Frank Levin, a retired police officer played by William H. Macy take on a client named Louis Roulet played by Ryan Phillippe. Roulet, of course, claims to be innocent and shares his side of the story to Haller and Levin. However, as Haller finds out more and more information, he starts to realize that Roulet may be withholding information from him along with figuring out that Roulet may be connected with a case of a past client of his. As the movie progresses the intensity certainly builds. However, the movie does feel a little dry at times, but the movie never leaves you high and dry, it picks right back up and pulls you back in. I would give the movie four stars out of five.
This is Brad Furman's first film as a director that has made it to theaters. His only previous known work is a film from 2008 entitled "The Take". "The Lincoln Lawyer" is based off of Michael Connelly's novel "The Lincoln Lawyer" who said, "I've seen the film; and I really love it. I think Matthew does a wonderful job of capturing the character of Haller." (http://www.michaelconnelly.com/Book_Collection/Lincoln/Movie/movie.html). The movie also stars Marisa Tomei (The Wrestler), Josh Lucas, John Liguizamo (Ice Age), Michael Pena (Crash), and Bob Gunton (The Shawshank Redemption). If you haven't seen "The Lincoln Lawyer" and it sounds like it spikes your interest, click on the link below and it will direct you to Rotten Tomatoes that features the film's trailers:
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/lincoln_lawyer/trailers/
This is Brad Furman's first film as a director that has made it to theaters. His only previous known work is a film from 2008 entitled "The Take". "The Lincoln Lawyer" is based off of Michael Connelly's novel "The Lincoln Lawyer" who said, "I've seen the film; and I really love it. I think Matthew does a wonderful job of capturing the character of Haller." (http://www.michaelconnelly.com/Book_Collection/Lincoln/Movie/movie.html). The movie also stars Marisa Tomei (The Wrestler), Josh Lucas, John Liguizamo (Ice Age), Michael Pena (Crash), and Bob Gunton (The Shawshank Redemption). If you haven't seen "The Lincoln Lawyer" and it sounds like it spikes your interest, click on the link below and it will direct you to Rotten Tomatoes that features the film's trailers:
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/lincoln_lawyer/trailers/
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