My biggest complaint is that there is NO character development.  Even by the end of the movie, it doesn’t feel like there’s any sense of serious family, or even comradery, between Ang, Katara and Sokka.  The movie makers tried to abbreviate over 8 hours worth of entertainment (the first season) into just 100 minutes.

On a related note, the movie had so little time to pack in so much material that a few scenes were voiced over by Katara’s character to literally summarize what they didn’t have time to show.  “This character and this character quickly became close friends.”  Also, there was a very short (I’m guessing like 15 seconds short!) montage of Ang protecting villages, and then the antagonist makes mention of “those times you defended those villages.”  … Really?

Don’t get me wrong – this movie had potential; it probably would have made for a good story if it had been made into two movies rather than one.  Unfortunately, the fact that this *could* have been a good movie saddens me all the more.

While sitting in the theater, I thought to myself that, if I had no knowledge of the animated series, its possible I may have considered walking out of this movie.  As it is, I got up to use the restroom in the middle of it, checked my watch and thought, “Ugh, its only been an hour.”  My friends joked they thought I had completely left the theater.

Here’s some comments of this movie as compared to the show – no need to worry about spoilers, even if you haven’t seen all of the first season.

This is NOT a lighthearted movie. Ang never laughed; he smiled only once in the whole movie – and unfortunately, that is *not* an exaggeration.

Some characters were better portrayed than others.  Serious-Katara was well done, and I felt Zuko was portrayed well, but it was also odd because the movie seemed more like *his* story rather than Ang’s.

Sokka’s character was nothing like his animated counterpart.

Most of the names were not pronounced as they were in the series, which really bothered me.

And it turns out Momo was literally an afterthought.  They filmed a scene after the fact to introduce him, but in all his other scenes, he was CGed in only after fans complained he wasn’t going to be in the movie.

But Appa was cool.

I’ll say that, if you’re a fan of the series and want to see Avatar: The Last Airbender, I won’t hold it against you.  But don’t say I didn’t warn you.  But if you can help it, don’t spend money on this movie.

Grade: D-

That’s right.  If this was class, Shyamalan would have to do it all over again.  And frankly, this deserved to be a much better movie.

Just so you know where I’m coming from, I enjoyed the original 1981 version of the movie for what it was.  Don’t get me wrong, the visual effects were pretty darn bad even for the ’80s, but that aside, it was a well-told story.  This newest retelling of the story seems very … rushed.  It only runs 106 minutes.  Uh, that’s less than two hours!  There simply isn’t enough time to properly tell the story, so this movie did not have time enough to reach its full potential.  Unfortunately for me, this doesn’t make me scoff at the movie, but I lament that its makers didn’t give it the full time it deserved.

A friend of mine commented that the movie didn’t take itself too seriously.  In this case, combined with its short running time, it hurt the level of awesome this movie could have achieved.  The writing could have been better; certain characters never got used to their full potential, and Hades … well, while his special effects were BAD ASS, he spent most of his time on camera sort of slinking about.  More like Wormtongue l from Lord of the Rings.  Its just a matter of opinion, but I didn’t much like the portrayal of Hades; I would imagine the lord of the Underworld to have a much stronger presence.

Finally, this version of Clash suffers from an over-use of “shaky cam”.  I understand its use as a story-immersion tactic and, when well executed, I have no problem with it whatsoever.  But when there’s an action sequence and its unsteadiness makes me want to look at anything but the screen, its poorly implemented.  Plus, because most of the enemies are CG or in makeup, it would be nice to get a better look at them.

Despite its flaws, I still find Clash to be an enjoyable movie and I’m definitely glad that I got to see it on the big screen; you should do the same.

A for action, B for visuals, and C for storytelling.  So I guess:

Overall Grade: B-

#5 – Kick-Ass

Based on the widely popular comic book, Kick-Ass isn’t your dad’s superhero movie.  Aaron Johnson plays Dave Lizewski, a kid that decides to take the law into his own hands and creates the “superhero” vigilante persona of Kick-Ass.  Directed by Matthew Vaughn (Stardust, Layer Cake) and based on Mark Millar’s writing, this movie is rated R for a reason.  Don’t expect them to pull any punches or hold their tongue.  This movie’s been hyped to be brutal, and that’s part of what we’re looking forward to.  Oh, and don’t let Nicholas Cage’s presence in the film turn you off to it (trust me).  Kick-Ass might not have super powers, but he’ll kick your ass! Look out for this one on April 16th.

#4 – Tron Legacy

This one’s been a long time in coming, but we’re ready.  In the nearly 30 years since the first Tron’s release (1982) , Disney’s surrealistic computer world has earned quite the cult following.  Until now, only video games (Tron 2.0, Kingdom Hearts 2) have let us venture back into the world of Tron.  Golden Globe winner Jeff Bridges reprises his role as the eccentric game devolper Kevin Flynn.  Also returning is Bruce Boxleitner who portrayed the original film’s namesake and the real world “user” of Alan Bradley.  Of course, what would Tron be if it didn’t try to push the technological barriers like the first one?  Well, Disney is presenting this one in 3D, which after seeing Avatar, I’m totally up for experiencing.  This one is scheduled to hit the big screen on December 17th, and I know I can’t wait.  End of line!

#3 – The Last Airbender

M. Night Shyamalan’s live-action adaptation of the beloved animated series is destined to be one of the most interesting films of the year.  There’s a lot of talk about whether or not the man that brought us The Sixth Sense and Signs can make a kid’s movie, but I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.  Noah Ringer makes his film debut as Aang, the young Air Bender destined to bring peace to the world by defeating the evil Fire Nation.  The Last Airbender blows into theatres on July 2nd.

#2 – Clash of the Titans

Sam Worthington (Avatar, Terminator: Salvation) stars as the Greek hero Perseus in this huge remake.  The Harryhausen special effects of the 1981 film are gone, the plot’s a little different, but the adventure is just as epic.  Hades (Ralph Fiennes) is out to take down Zeus (Liam Neeson), and Perseus, the mortal son of Zeus, volunteers defeat the God of the Underworld and his minions.  Directing this epic is Louis Letterier (The Incredible Hulk).  Damn the gods on March 26th!

#1 – Iron Man 2

I am Iron Man!  Okay, no I’m not, but Robert Downey Jr. is!  Director Jon Favreau kicks it into high gear with his second outing with the Marvel Superhero.  Returning alongside Downey Jr. as Tony Stark, we’ll see Gwyneth Paltrow back as Pepper Potts, Favreau himself continues as Tony Stark’s driver Hogan, and Paul Bettany (A Knight’s Tale) continues to voice Jarvis, Stark’s computer.  Don Cheadle is taking over the character of Colonel Rhodes, who will don the War Machine suit.  This time, the villain is Whiplash, a brilliant psycho out for revenge, portrayed by award-winning actor Mickey Rourke.  Also joining the cast is Scarlett Johansson as the beautiful but deadly Natasha Romanoff, also known as Black Widow.  Oh yeah, also keep an eye out for Samuel L. Jackson to be back as Nick Fury.  This could be the biggest movie of the year, and all of us here are eagerly anticipating it’s release on May 7th!

Honorable Mentions - Here’s a few more that we’re looking forward to, but just didn’t make the cut.

Robin Hood – Directed by Ridley Scott and starring Russell Crowe, this classic tale is getting its latest rendition on May 14th.

Prince of Persia: Sands of Time – Directed by Mike Newell and starring Jake Gyllenhaal, this game-to-movie adaptation comes out May 28th.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Part 1) – The first part of Harry’s final adventure hits theatres November 19th.

In a simple word, this movie is fun.  The visuals are stunning, the action is gripping, and the characters are vibrant.  Chris Pine plays a young, energetic James T. Kirk that exudes the care-free machismo one would expect from the intrepid Captain-to-be.  Zachary Quinto’s Spock is fascinating, evidencing his devotion to the off-set direction given to him by Leonard Nimoy.  And, Simon Pegg as Montgomerry Scott is a real treat, stealing each scene in which he appears.  John Cho, as Hikaru Sulu, and Karl Urban, as Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy, equally provide quality performances, as does the rest of the cast.

Of course, as much enjoyment as there is to be had, there are a couple issues I should mention.  The plot, while interesting, isn’t heavily explained.  There is one moment of explanation in the middle of the film that felt forced.  Abrams has a reputation for obtuse, unrevealed plots, and I assume that the film’s exposition exists simply because someone told him that it was necessary.  Eric Bana’s villainous, psychotic character of Nero, while decently played, felt two dimensional.  Again, his reasons for being a bad guy were forcibly explained.  There is also a bit of that “shaky-cam” bull that I can’t stand.  Not too much, thankfully, but enough to make me grumble a bit.  Seriously, Hollywood, stop it!

For you Trekkies out there, especially the ones that are apprehensive, go and see the movie.  Understand that this is an alternate reality from what you already know.  Don’t worry, the timeline you know and love remains seperate and intact, this is merely a new one.  The characters, while slightly different, remain mostly true to the originals.  Oh, and if you’re one of those that heard that Spock gets mad and said, “But, Spock doesn’t get mad!” I want you to know he has a very good reason to be mad, even for a Vulcan.

All in all, an exciting film that wonderfully reboots the Star Trek franchise.

Grade: A- (91%)

P.S.  If you want a greater understanding of the plot, I highly recommend the comic book Star Trek: Countdown published by IDW.  I read it before I saw the movie, and I’m very glad I did.  It’ll probably answer many questions you might have.  If you want the abridged version of the comic’s plot, go read Path to 2409: 2387 over at Star Trek Online.

What i mean to say it that the Wolverine movie will cause you to loose brain cells. I know this sounds harsh, but you would be much better off learning to do any number of things that cause items to collide with your head, than to waste your life watching this movie. Wolverine fans around the world are most likely calling for my head to be removed with the signature trifecta of blades, but i don’t care. I am writing this out of concern for all of you. If i can just help a handful of you to not watch this movie, then i will have improved the world a great deal. …I believe. Well lets get to the reasons.

1- Special Effects.

I have read plenty of comics and watched plenty of cartoons with Wolverine in them. And i know that one of the big draws to them is seeing what sorts of badassity he will come up with when using his claws. Seeing all of the over the top crazy stuff he can do is no big deal when you are staring at a piece of artwork. When a character like Wolverine steps into the real world its a whole new set of rules. You have to make it believable. Movies like Iron Man, and X-2 were really good at finding the right balance between over the top cool, and subdued reality. This movie doesn’t bother with that line. It tries to replicate all sorts of stuff from the source material, without any concern for how stupid it looks in reality. You can spend all the money in the world CGing something, but it won’t cover up stupid. Problem is this movie didn’t even spend all the money in the world on special effects. They almost all looked lame and rushed.

2- The Dialogue

I don’t know enough about writing or acting to know exactly where the fault for this should go. I just know that almost every line came of as insincere or lame. Even the classic arms spread, sky shot of Wolverine going AAAAAARRRRRGGGGG!!!! was lame. And for a Wolverine fan, that is a true crime. I don’t know how many times i saw characters staring emotionlessly into space while thoughtlessly regurgitating lines. After a while i couldn’t help but giggle to myself every time someone said something. It was that ludicrous. There was nothing clever or sincere in the entire movie.

3- The harm done to the characters

This is the last one i am gonna rant about, and for the true comic fan this should be the biggie bub. I couldn’t resist putting bub in… Anyway, i’ll start with good ol Wolvie. So much signature stuff was screwed up but i have to start with retorts. Wolverine goes through the movie and only pulls off one decent badass retort. How could the film maker’s let this happen? That should be enough to convince any fan that the movie is crappy, but i’ll continue. Stryker was lame. What sorta made X2 for me was a real good badguy, and Brian Cox hit it outa the ballpark with his Stryker. I know they needed a younger actor, but this Stryker was so lameified that it taints the entire character. Sabertooth… Honestly i had very little problem with Sabertooth, but every time he ran animal style he looked like he was floating over the ground. It sorta imasculated an otherwise badass character. And to finish it off i’ll just say Deadpool was lame. I am real tempted to ruin some big things about the movie, but i will respect it that much. All i can say is that if you were really looking forward to seing how well Ryan Rynolds would do as the crazy killer, you will be disappointed. Very very disappointed.

So that wraps up my review. I know it has been a long wild ride, but i truly felt everything needed to be said to fully explain my position on this movie. Figure out how to loose brain cells some other way. Just avoid this movie. I don’t care if you are the biggest Wolverine fan in the world. This film will only hurt you.

I give this movie a 32% positive review.

Let’s face it, Brendan Fraser is one of those big actors who can only portray one character. But because I rather enjoy that character and he fits for this movie, I don’t have a problem with that.

Journey had an element of humor whose degree didn’t quite fit with the movie. In many action movies, there’s a subdued sense of humor that adds to the experience but don’t distract from what’s going on. In Journey, the humor just wasn’t integrated very well – there were times when I shook my head and thought, “Now that’s just silly.”

I understand that when going to see a movie based on Jules Verne’s Journey to the Center of the Earth, some sense of reality needs to be checked at the door. But even so, there is a spot or two where the physics just don’t make sense! Giant floating magnetic rocks. Ok, I’ll buy it. But there should still be a positive and a negative … There’s a bit where they’re stuck in a vertical tunnel of magnesium with the level of lava quickly rising and Fraser is trying to ignite it. Uh, shouldn’t it be igniting from the lava? Hey, I’m no scientist, but …

The visual affects were pretty neat and the actors’ reactions were affective enough to instill in me a sense of wonder at the sights of the center of the Earth. But really, that’s what this movie is about, isn’t it? So it at least achieved its goal. But looking back on it, 92 minutes isn’t long enough to set the stage, find the center of the earth, have a few adventures, and get back out again. I was left with a feeling of, “… that’s it?”

All in all: its kind of like a Disneyland kiddie ride. Its kinda fun, short, but definitely leaves something to be desired.

Recommendation: If you stumble upon it on TV sometime, watch it for kicks … as long as its free.

Grade: C

I really liked Batman Begins. This one blew it out of the water! I came out of the movie theater giddy; this movie is easily among my top 5 favorites. It doesn’t have what you’d call a “twist” ending, but when its over, you want to see it again real soon so you can pick up all the small details.

Go see it! Chances are you’ll want to see it more than once on the big screen.

Edit: I know this isn’t exactly a review, but I don’t know who was supposed to actually review the movie and I didn’t want to step on anybody’s toes.  If and only if the reviewer(s) don’t share my enthusiasm for this movie will I go into more detail about why this movie is among my favorites.  I hope that clarifies my vagueness.

Grade: A

There’s a good chance that I’m the only one in this group that enjoyed Speed Racer. It was not cinematic gold but it kept me mostly entertained for the two hours and fifteen minutes of its running time. I guess in some fairness I have more history with the series than anyone else in the crew. I was introduced to the show while in middle school and it was rather like a joining of two awesome things, James Bond-esque cars and animation. I had a bonding with the silly plots and the weird cars that crisscrossed in a weird wonderland of joy. I doubt I’ve seen the entire series, just bits and pieces but they all had this feel to them that was really unique.

Fast forward to a little before this summer. News of the Speed Racer the movie is bubbling up, and a few preproduction stills are passed to the press, especially the early shot of the Mach 5, and my little kid self pops up and says “New Speed Racer?” and then did an excited little dance. Then I find out the Wachowski Bros. are doing it, my hopes dipped a little; still disappointed with the way the second two Matrix films went. But I still held out hope. Then the first trailers were dropped on us.

My hopes were not dashed by the trailers … but my expectations were changed. This was the first glimpse of race footage … and well it was odd. The tracks were these insane roller-coaster looking monstrosities that looked more at home in a video game than Speed Racer and the intensity of the colors was want to make my eyes bleed. But that thought lead me to something of a personal revelation about the race style, it was less like the classic F1 style and more like F-Zero. Once my mind had accepted that I wasn’t so thrown off by how the race scenes looked like acid trips. I was still rather nervous about the whole premise though, since it seemed like my memories of Speed Racer were being tossed aside in favor of the super sugar eye candy special effects. Despite reservations I was still really looking forward to seeing the film since to my adolescent self a Speed Racer movie would be fun if nothing else.

Well I finally came to a screening of it. Before going into the film I had read two reviews on the web, the lowest and the highest on Google. The person who gave it the lowest review was watching it because it was his job. He was reasonably fair but with no attachment to anything it seemed he really just didn’t care. The other reviewer was more inline with how I ended up feeling about the film; noting too amazing but it an enjoyable distraction. So slightly primed for the best and worst of the reviews I ponied up my ticket fare and walked into the theatre.

-=-=-=-

While my eyes adjusted to the monochromatic closing credits, I was still seeing sweeps of technicolor across everything. I mused that I was quietly at peace with the experience. I had some gripes but all in all I was quite pleased.

• The look of Speed Racer was by in large still intact.
• The races were the more interesting and important elements of the film and they were quite good at that.
• The Mach 5 was resplendent in all its CGI gloss.
• Racer X was a cool as ever.
• Speed won the race and got the girl, just like Brian Boitano would do.

Almost everything I expected was in the film. OH! and the air jacks were done expertly, handled with such style and panache that they leveled several of the lamer elements. My inner purist geek was pleased to see the classic Speed Racer pose still made and appearance and that his original costume also was in it for quite some time. But that didn’t quite cover some of the elements that left me cold.

Obviously no film is quite perfect, although there are many that make a good run at it, and such there are places that I wish had been done better or were just too much.

• The first one that comes to mind is the “duel” between Speed’s hub shield and the other driver’s tire spike. OMG that was so ridiculously lame. If they had collided and then separated and then used their cars to try and maneuver their weapons into position I would have been fine, but … they reach for little joysticks have a fight with the spike and shield like they were at the Ren Faire. I don’t know who dreamed that up but, no. Not OK.
• Next is the fight between Team Racer and the low level mafia group on top of the mountains. It was kinda fun for the first minute … but after that the speed lines and the hyper cut style of the scene became wearisome and I wanted to get back to the racing because that was rather cool. I doubt the fight was very long but it felt like it was really dragging on.
• Trixie is suddenly a ace class driver. This is huge mis-step, that could have been easily avoided. A turn on the simulator or some other race thing where Trixie does as well or better than Speed, during one of the flash back sequences could have dodged this bullet by a mile.
• This last one is more of nit pik but the geek purist in me needs to say something. Speed did not drive the Mach 5 in the final race. I know why they did it and I understand why they did it … but no. The Mach 5 > Speed Racer, the original japanese title was Mach 5 Go Go Go! In many ways the Mach 5 is more important than the driver. But that’s largely an issue of semantics and personal feelings.

With all these considerations I’d say this is a good low brow sort of film. The visual crush of the graphics is like a sugar induced adrenaline rush. I doubt it will induce epileptic seizures but it is very very bright and there are times when there are lots of flashes during the races. The overall effect to me was that it wasn’t Speed Racer yet it was so very much like it that I had fun. There are some elements that may go over kids heads, but that’s not always a bad thing, might give them something to reflect on if/when they watch it again. So it’s a good popcorn/cotton candy movie, less like steak and potatoes.

Grade: B, 80% — A solid effort with a few fumbles along the way. Over all fun. Kick back and let the technicolor flow over you. Be aware my sense of nostalgia may be tainting the score about +10% or so.