Total Recall Review

Remakes are a tricky thing. They typically end up trying too hard to copy the original material and failing or stray too far from the original material unsuccessfully.  Total Recall is neither of those things.  Rather, it is inspired from the original classic film and offers a new spin on things that not only exceeds its predecessor, but could very well be one of the best sci-fi action films in years.

Utilizing beautifully designed sets and fantastic CGI, the director has created an amazing world that looks great but also has depth and life in this vision of the future that is part Blade Runner meets 5^th Element.  The story goes that the Earth has been ravaged by war and now only two countries remain, both at opposite ends of the planet.  In order to travel from one to the other a massive elevator of a sort is used to travel through the Earth (yes, through it) at intense speeds.  The world also suffers from over-population, making living space the most important resource in this world.  Without spoiling anything else, let’s just say that living space is the center of the plot.  And like the original film, the main hero is bored with his life and using Rekall, discovers his entire life is a lie.  This leads to some very impressive stunts, chase sequences and action that looks fantastic and flows with ease from scene to scene.  The cast of characters all have life to them and have diverse chemistry that makes their interaction enjoyable and fun.

Overall, this is a very well done film.  Better than the original and highly enjoyable every second of the adventure.  A must see.

The Dark Knight Rises Review

The final film in the Nolan trilogy.  Everything leads up to this point, was it worth it?  Absolutely.

Clearly this is a film much more centered on Wayne than it is on Batman.  Don’t get me wrong, there’s still plenty of Batman but this is more of an emotional journey for Wayne fully coming to grips with who he is and part of that his Batman's physical and inner battle with Bane, a villain who can feel no pain thanks to a device he wears over his nose and mouth.  It took me a few moments to adjust to Banes voice, but once I did I found him to be one of the most enjoyable villains of the series.  For this film, Bane was the perfect choice as Waynes emotional journey will take him all the way back to the beginning.  In some ways Bane is the physical manifestation of what is holding Wayne back from fully becoming the Batman, giving true meaning to "What do we do when we fall?" that is echoed in the first film.

Speaking of villains, we can’t forget Catwoman.  Anna Hathaway plays the role perfectly with just enough style and flirtatiousness that does a good job of matching the character from the comics and other media forms.  She also has some great action scenes and moments with Wayne.

The story is strong, introducing a new character.  A younger cop who gets caught up in the plot and not content to just sit by and follow the rules.  Without spoiling much, Bane escapes from a unique prison, obtains and bomb and holds Gotham in his grip, basically allowing the people of Gotham to live in anarchy.  No rules, no consequences…at least that’s the story.  You’ll need to see the movie to find out what’s going on. 

We also get to see a few new gadgets this time around including the brand new vehicle The Bat.  Nolan’s version of the Batwing, the flying vehicle which gets a lot of screen time and is impressive to watch in combat.

Overall I felt the film could have used a few more scenes with Batman, but aside from that and a few fanboy nitpicks based on the Batman character, this is a very strong, character driven film with great action scenes and an emotional journey that takes its toll on Bruce Wayne as well as the Batman and easily the strongest film of the series.

Teen Wolf: Season 1 Review

Ever have one of those shows that you just think are going to be horribly lame before you even see it?  I mean…the show is called Teen Wolf and it’s on MTV, it already has two strikes against it.  But being the responsible reviewer (and well…I was just bored) I gave it a shot…and you know what? This is really, really good!!  I was hooked from the start.

The first thing you can’t help but feel from the show is how much it’s like Buffy the Vampire Slayer.  I’m not saying it’s coping that great series, it just shares many of the elements that made that show great.  Strong characters, witty dialogue and some fantastic plot twists in a carefully woven story.  Yes there is romance and drama, but like Buffy it’s all balanced perfectly with a lot of great action sequences.  My biggest fear was that the romance between two of the main characters would come off corny, cringe-worthy, Twilightish.  Thankfully, it’s not.  It’s a bit more on the realistic side in how the characters react to the situations presented for them.

Story wise…well, it’s about a teen that gets turned into a Werewolf and falls in love…the twist?  His girlfriend is the daughter of a man who also happens to be the guy in charge of a bunch of werewolf hunters.  And that’s just the start of the complications…I won’t go into the details but let’s just say there are more than werewolves in town. (no, not vampires)

Over-all….I was greatly impressed with this series. It has fantastic special effects and presentation and characters that are very easy to get into right from the start. Characters that seemed shallow at first you discover have so much more underneath.  It’s fantastic and really I would consider equal to my enjoyment I felt watching Buffy.  This is a must watch and season 1 is currently on Netflix streaming.

Dragon Age: Dawn of the Seeker Review

Dragon Age: Dawn of the Seeker takes place in the same rich universe created by Bioware for the Dragon Age video games.  Now, for those that may not play video games you likely lost interest with that statement.  But don’t.  Read on.

First and foremost, this is NOT family friendly.  It’s aimed at adults.  Somewhat recently it was decided that a direct-to-video film would be released (multiple films I might add) that allows us to explore more of the world Bioware created.  The Dragon Age universe is pure fantasy and filled with complexities in religion, politics and war.  Just as rich as any novel you may read and just as exciting.  So, it seemed a perfect fit for a movie.  And you know what? It is.  I was impressed with the details and care taken to make sure this stayed true to the Dragon Age lore.

The animation was very good, especially for a direct to video.  Obviously it’s not going to be Pixar, but the type of animation they used was very stylish and slick.  Characters moved fluidly for the most part and expressed emotion well.  I connected with the characters, especially the main character Cassandra, a Seeker (similar to a Paladin).  A woman who serves the Chantry, the religious order in the world.  The plot follows a well-written political/religious conspiracy story with plenty of action and great character moments.  It just looks good and sounds equally good.

Over-all, I was sucked into the film and enjoyed every second of it (having played the games)  Had I never played any of the games I would still have enjoyed it as the film makes sure to explain enough details to allow non-fans an opportunity to understand how the world of Dragon Age works.  A fantastic film that I would recommend to anyone interested in fantasy stories.

Sector 7 Review

Sector 7 is one of South Korea’s most expensive films, taking its queue from such great classics like Alien and The Abyss.  Our story takes place on an oilrig that doesn’t seem to be drilling much oil.    Without spoiling anything, let’s just say a creature shows up with a surprising twist.  After a few murders the crew starts to suspect one of their own, not realizing until later that the devious acts are that of a large beast with tentacle like arms which come from its body.  It’s a fun film with entertaining characters and some good acting.

The film looks great aside from a few scenes near the end that are obvious green screen effects.  The creature itself is of a great design and very well animated.  There is plenty of suspense to be had here and Korea’s own action queen Ha Ji-won in the leading role has plenty of chances to show us she can be very convincing as the tough girl.

For anyone looking for a good monster flick this is one not to be missed.

The Amazing Spider-Man Review

Spider-man has always been my favorite Marvel superhero in the comics.  They always combined the perfect amount of humor, drama and action.  The previous films tried to capture those elements with mixed results.  So when I heard Spider-Man was being rebooted I had high hopes that they could finally get the character right.  And they partially did.

The first thing you notice about The Amazing Spider-Man is that the film is highly centered on the origin story again.  This probably wasn’t the best approach as we had already seen the origin story in the previous films and though there were some changes it’s pretty much the same thing.  Focusing so much on the origin of the hero tended to make the pacing of the film feel inconsistent and often times too slow.  Thankfully the character interactions really helped those slow times still feel entertaining for the most part, but a little more action would have greatly helped this films pacing problems big time.  Cutting the origin story down a little would have been a good idea.

Speaking of action it looked GREAT.  Seeing Spidey swinging and flipping around was much more exciting than in previous films and fighting a villain that had superior strength (A giant lizard man) was a lot of fun.  The romance between Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy was also pretty enjoyable and humorous.  Speaking of humor…they finally got Spider-Man right for once.  In this film the webslinger is much more funny and slings just as many jokes as he does webs.  Which is a good thing because the tone of the film is a bit darker than the average Spidey comic.

Overall this was a pretty good film with great action and fun characters but the pacing of the film and too much focus on Peter Parker himself really kept it from being GREAT.  It may not have been the perfect Spider-Man film (guess we’ll have to wait for Marvel Studios to get back the rights and make one themselves) it’s still one I enjoyed a bit more than the previous attempts.  Also, the 3D was actually really good and worth the price of admission. 

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows Review

I was a big fan of the first film. What was not to like?  You had two strong acting leads, engaging story and some highly impressive cinematography.  So, when they announced the sequel I knew it’d be a film to check out. It was…after all…elementary my dear reader.  ;)

Without spoiling too much for fear of angry hordes coming to my horse, stringing me up by my toes and making me watch 10 hours of Dora the Explorer I will make the description brief.  This film takes place a little after the first film, Watson is getting married and Holmes of course isn’t a fan.  Needless to say the honeymoon gets a little exciting…if you know what I mean.  And by that I mean merciless killers attack them on a train leading to an exciting and charismatically entertaining romp as Holmes and Watson discover the dastardly plot of Moriarty who Holmes has been tracking for sometime.

The cinematography is even more impressive this time around.  Slow motion sequences of explosions and bullets as well as the always enjoyable fight scenes.  The final fisticuffs between Holmes and Moriarty is especially impressive.  As always, sprinkled in is the witty banter between the two leads as they take a beating on this adventure.  It’s a brilliant tapestry of detailed set pieces and rich characters.

This is a film not to be missed if you at all enjoyed the first film.  If you haven’t seen the first, do yourself the favor of seeing it first and then renting this one.  It’s worth it.