Movie Review: Brave

Disney/Pixar has done it yet again. Recovering from last years disappointing Cars 2, Brave is a beautiful journey of love and relationships. The film begins with the introduction of Pixar's first main female character, Princess Merida. We see her first as a young girl on a trip with her parents. Merida wanders of into the forest, and discovers the willo-the-wisps, which according to her mother, Elinor, can lead a person to their destiny. Her father, King Fergus, is then attacked by a bear. We cut to Merida as a teenager. She is being instructed by Queen Elinor on every aspect of being a princess, while Merida simply wants to let loose and use her bow and arrow. A tournament is held to determine who will marry Marida, the competitors being the first sons of different clan leaders. None of them possessing any noticeable skill, Merida decides she will shoot "for her own hand." After this, Elinor and Merida quarrel, and Merida rips her mother's prized quilt of their family. Merida, tired of her mothers treatment, decides to visit a witch (voiced by the terrific Julie Waters, of Molly Weasley fame), and get a spell that will change her fate. I do not wish to reveal to much more, as this is more a movie that is better experienced when you do not know what will happen before hand.

The performances in this movie were terrific. Kelly MacDonald, who previously played the Grey Lady in the final Harry Potter film, does very good voice acting (with a terrific Scottish accent!), and really conveys all the teenage angst that Merida is going through. Billy Connolly (Boondock Saints) and Emma Thompson (Professor Trelawney in the Harry Potter films) do well as Merida's parents, and convey dealing with Merida's teenage angst. One of the best things about Brave was the scenery. Pixar has really outdone itself. The visuals of the surrounding Scottish Highlands was truly beautiful. All of the characters were very defined, as were the animals used. The film just overall looked terrific. The plot of the movie was also well developed. I have read reviews talking of the "unoriginality" of the plot, but this analyzation of mother/daughter relationships has never quite been done in this fashion. The ending was quite emotional, and, just like Toy Story 3, had me on the verge of well-deserved tears. Overall, a moving and beautiful film. Pixar is back at it.

Rating: A

On a side note, the Pixar short film that played before Brave, La Luna, was very nice. It looked beautiful, and had a great and creative idea. Well done.

Movie Review: Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

Based on Seth Grahame-Smith's novel of the same name, ALVH is quite a dragging and lackluster adaptation of terrific and original source material. Set throughout Lincoln's life, VH begins as Lincoln was a boy. He sees a friend being beaten by a slave owner, and decides to take action, leading to the death of his mother by vampire. We cut to his teenage years, where he has vowed to kill the man that caused the death of his mother. He meets Henry, who saves him from said vampire, and then trains him to, yes, hunt vampires. Henry makes Lincoln vow to sever all personal connections, and never become serious with anyone ever again. So Lincoln is sent to a provincial little town, where he proceeds to kill several vampires at the order of Henry. He then meets Mary Todd, and they get married within 15 minutes. We then skip to Lincoln becoming President. He is now an older gentleman, who has since gotten rid of all his vampire hunting materials. The Civil War is looming, and the south decides to hire vampires in order to beat the north at Gettysburg. So Lincoln decides to ransack all the houses in Washington, and melt all the silver available, then put it all on a train to the south, all of which only takes a day apparently. The silver is delivered by the Underground Railroad, much to the dismay of the "Elder Vampire" who invaded the supposed silver train. The vampires (and south) are defeated at Gettysburg. The movie ends with Lincoln heading off to the theater with Mary Todd (a scene that actually made me chuckle. It was rather silly how the filmmakers presented it.) And that's the end of the movie. 

Overall, this was just a very hard movie to enjoy. Benjamin Walker does well as Lincoln, commandeering all of Lincoln's bravura in his speeches and actions. Most of the other performances were very one dimensional, without any development throughout the course of the film. The movie was so rushed, that it was hard to keep up with what was going on. One thing would happen, then another thing that made you completely forget about what just did happen. There was a Harriet Tubman cameo that was blink and you'll miss it, which could have greatly enhanced the story. There were some enjoyable scenes, mainly when vampires were involved. The action scenes were great, but they were very few and far in-between. I also think that the movie took itself a *little* too seriously. It's a rewritten history story, but it was very muddled, and didn't make much sense. The original novel was great, inventive writing, but this adaptation was just stale. I expected much more. For people who have not read the novel, it may be entertaining. What a shame. 

Rating: C

Movie Review: Prometheus

Ridley Scott's long-awaited sci-fi epic, Prometheus, has finally landed. Amongst rabid predictions from fans on whether or not this was a prequel to his previous franchise Alien, it now seems that Prometheus is exactly that, although being a standalone film apart from the Alien franchise. Prometheus opens in what is presumably Earth, with the "Engineers" (who created us) creating us. This scene looks beautiful, showcasing many beautiful natural structures. We then skip to the year 2089, where Dr. Elizabeth Shaw and Dr. Charlie Holloway have discovered yet another painting in a cave showing people worshipping a large figure, which holds planets. We then go 2092. The ship Prometheus is heading to an undisclosed planet in order to find the "engineers", and discover why we were created. We are introduced to David, a very human-like cyborg, played masterfully by Michael Fassbender. Then we meet the rest of the crew, various scientists, the pilot, Janek, and Meredith Vickers, played by the wonderful Charlize Theron. The crew lands, and goes to explore the presumed location of the "engineers". This is when things go awry. All Hell breaks loose, the Doctors discover that their creators are now trying to kill the entire human race, and they must be stopped. I don't want to reveal too much, although I will say the ending definitely sets up for a sequel, and ties in to a movie that already exists.

Overall, this was a fantastic film. Starting with the look, everything was beautiful. The nature scenes were gorgeous, the ship was pulled off very well, and the alien planet looked very...alieny. The costumes were nice, mainly the space suits worn by characters throughout the film. The main character performances were very good. Noomi Rapace continues to do well as lead female characters as Dr. Elizabeth Shaw. Idris Elba does well as the pilot of Prometheus, Janek. And again, Charlize Theron steals the show as Meredith Vickers. I don't understand why she must die in every movie. She's phenomenal. Her combination of beauty, evil, and sarcasm makes her roles. The plot of the film was also very well put together. It had the right combination of thought-provoking exploration and suspenseful action. I have read some bad reviews of the film, criticizing it because it does not "live up to Alien". That's the whole point! This movie is not supposed to be a horror movie about aliens popping out of peoples chests every 10 minutes. It is supposed to be a standalone movie that ties in to Alien, but is not in direct relation to Alien. I believe people would enjoy it more if they went into the theater expecting a good, thought driven movie, and not a sci-fi horror movie about Aliens. Overall, a terrific film that lives up to the hype.

Rating: A+

A king has his reign, and then he dies. It's inevitable.

Movie Review: Snow White and the Huntsman

This adaption of the classic Snow White tale goes back to its Grimm beginnings, pitting the Evil Queen Ravenna against Snow White in a battle for the kingdoms. Ravenna tricked her way into power, taking advantage of the King's loneliness, then killed him and took over his kingdom. She locks his daughter, Snow White, in the tallest tower for many years. Her "mirror on the wall" tells her that since Snow White has come of age, she is now fairer than the Queen (haha, yeah right), and so the Queen decides to have her killed and consume her heart, giving her immortality. So, Snow White escapes into the dark forest (on a white horse that appears out of nowhere). She is then hunted by, you guessed it, the Huntsman, who then joins her on her quest. They then met the dwarves, providing some much needed comic relief. Snow White meets her long lost prince, gets poisoned by the apple, goes to sleep, then gets awakened. She returns to the kingdom, fighting ensues, Ravenna dies, and Snow White becomes Queen. However, it is frustratingly left absent to whether she gets with the Huntsman or the Prince. It's the same Snow White story, just not the Disney version.

The best thing about this film are the performances. The dwarves were technically pulled off very well, putting actors heads onto dwarf bodies, instead of just using dwarves. Chris Hemsworth does well as the Huntsman. Kristen Stewart is not terrible in her role as Snow White, she just has the same look on her face throughout the whole movie, literally, and she shows no emotion, even while Hemsworth reveals his love or when she becomes Queen. The best performance, however, comes with Charlize Theron as the Evil Queen, Ravenna. She truly embodies the nature of evil, and even when she ages greatly, is still the most beautiful thing on screen. She's just fantastic. Aside from the performances, the plot and pacing of the film suffer. Around the middle hour, the film lags greatly, and provides no action or comedic relief to keep viewers entertained. Kristen Stewarts performance brings the intensity of the film to a screeching halt, due to her lack of feeling. The look and sound of the film are great. The costume designers did a fantastic job at dressing the Evil Queen. Special effects and set design look beautiful as well. And the soundtrack is done very well (and sounds very similar to the Mermaids track on the fourth Pirates of the Caribbean film). Overall, it's a great looking film with some good performances (mainly from Charlize Theron), but due to a very slow middle part and Kristen Stewarts emotionless performance, the film doesn't obtain it's full potential. Plus, I don't understand how the Mirror believes Kristen Stewart can surpass Charlize Theron. It's not possible.

Rating: B-

Movie Review: The Dictator

Admiral General Aladeen, the leader of the fictional country Wadiya, is Sacha Baron Cohen's fourth outing as somebody that is not Sacha Baron Cohen. General Aladeen has recently come under pressure from the United Nations about his Nuclear Weapons program, and has been requested to come to New York to meet with the UN, or his country gets bombed. Once in New York, he is kidnapped by the extremely racist yet very funny John C. Reilly, and is forced into the streets without anything, anyone, or anywhere to go. In short, he must find a way to prove to the public that he really is General Aladeen, so that he can sign a new treaty to turn Wadiya into a democratic society. That's about all there is in terms of story.

The film is filled to the brim with racist and insulting one-liners, which are all very funny, because they make fun of everyone. Cohen is an equal opportunity offender. The many supporting roles in the film, including one by Anna Farris as an organic store owner who falls in love with Aladeen, are also very funny. Although being one of the most offensive and racist movies I've seen, The Dictator never fails to make you laugh, and deep down, has an even deeper message about stereotypes that exist in the country. Cohen is a genius when it comes to movies like this. Although filled with plot holes and outlandish schemes to get Aladeen back in the throne, The Dictator, so far the funniest movie I've seen this year, does not disappoint.

Rating: B+

Movie Review: Dark Shadows

When you see this movie, you know that it's Tim Burton. From the sets, the characters, the effects, the source material, everything. There's Tim Burton basically written on the walls. This is Burton and Johnny Depp's ninth movie collaboration, and is a very loose adaptation of the cult 1960's T.V. "soap opera" of the same name. We follow Barnabas Collins, played by the wonderful Johnny Depp, who is the heir of the Collins Seafood Company fortune and business in the 1800's in Collinsport, Maine. He has a fling with a maid named Angelique, who also happens to be a crazy witch. Barnabas eventually falls in love, only to have his intended lured to her death by Angelique, and being turned into a vampire by her. He is chained in a coffin and buried, only to be discovered by a (very unfortunate) construction crew a few (hundred) years later. He is now in the 1970's, his seafood business is in shambles, and his beloved mansion CollinWood is rundown and overlooked by quite a bizarre array of characters, headed by Elizabeth Collin Stoddard, played by the fantastic Michelle Pfeiffer. He is also joined by her daughter, Carolyn, (Chloe Grace-Moretz), her brother, Roger, (Johnny Lee Miller), her nephew, David, the groundskeeper, Willie, and Davids psychiatrist, Dr. Julia Hoffman, played by the lovely Helena Bonham Carter. Each of the supporting characters have their own supernatural secrets, most of which are disappointingly kept secret until the near end of the movie. Angelique is still living in Collinsport, and is the seafood business that has kept the Collins out of business. She is still bent on revenge, and does everything in her power to stop Barnabas from ever finding true love again. The ending is satisfying, yet ends with the viewer wondering what will happen next.

Overall, the movie had a terrific look, with many relics from the '70's present, such as lava lamps and music from the era. It is often interspersed with humor, sometimes a little too much humor, but nonetheless providing some relief from the dark story line. The plot drags quite a bit, especially near the middle of the movie. Barnabas trying to get used to the new era is quite funny, and shows off the acting skills of Johnny Depp. Not the best Depp/Burton collaboration (that has to go to Sweeney Todd), it's still a very entertaining, good looking, and well directed and acted movie, despite the various problems in the plot and script.

Rating: B

Carolyn: "Are you stoned?"
Barnabas: "They tried stoning me, my dear. It did not work."