Movie Review: The Avengers (2012)

 Avengers, The (2012) Poster
Avengers, The (2012) Poster

My Rating:

 Buy from iTunes Store

This evening I saw the movie The Avengers at AMC Theater, Pacific Place, Admiralty, Hong Kong. One of the movies from my Must See Movies list, and the following is my movie review.

A highly anticipated movie ever since the appearance of Robert Downey Jr. with a cameo in The Incredible Hulk (2008). After seeing the actual movie I am starting to think this was over hyped.

This motion picture version of The Avengers reminds me so much of movie Transformers. The plot is predictable and slow, the dialog is poor without any chemistry among the characters.

Definitely not a movie worth watching in 3D or IMAX. If you have other options at the box office go with them.

Rating Legend:

 Must watch before you die
Must watch before you die

 Wait for the Blu-ray
Wait for the Blu-ray

 Buy from iTunes Store
Buy from iTunes Store

 Rent it on iTunes
Rent it on iTunes

 Waste your time elsewhere
Waste your time elsewhere

Movie Review: Super 8

 Super 8 500x150
Super 8 500×150

My Rating:

 Buy from iTunes Store

This evening I saw the movie Super 8 at AMC Cinemas, Pacific Place, Admiralty, Hong Kong. One of the movies from my Must See Movies list, and the following is my movie review.

Wow… this movie got right into it at the start. We only have to wait about 15 minutes to receive a spectacular train crash, then kept a steady pace throughout. It has the spirit and style of E.T. and Close Encounter of the Third Kind all over it. Even though Steven Spielberg only receives the “producer’ credits we can see much of his influences in the movie.

On the other hand the director, writer and producer, J.J. Abrams is famous for his hands in the hit TV series: Alias, Lost and Fringe. Abrams also has some motion picture to his credits including some of the biggest box office winners: Mission: Impossible III and Star Trek, but it also includes some of the busts like Cloverfield. The latter is what cause me to be weary about purchasing the tickets, but I believe Spielberg will not associate himself with anything bad which reassures me.

Like Spielberg’s E.T. that launched the careers of Drew Barrymore and Henry Thomas, this movie also introduces two new child actors: Joel Courtney and Riley Griffiths, of whom did a much better job than the so call veterans in the movie: Ron Eldard and Kyle Chandler.

We should watch Courtney’s development to see if he develops into the star that Barrymore did minus the drug addictions or follows the paths of Thomas. Courtney portrays a kid who recently lost his mother and has a great passion for makeup and model making. He practices his passion by helping his kindergarten friend, played by Griffiths, with a no budget movie. One night while filming bought them close encounter with a major government cover up.

This is definitely a must see for 2011 and for fans of children adventures and E.T. aficionados.

Rating Legend:

 Must watch before you die
Must watch before you die

 Wait for the Blu-ray
Wait for the Blu-ray

 Buy from iTunes Store
Buy from iTunes Store

 Rent it on iTunes
Rent it on iTunes

 Waste your time elsewhere
Waste your time elsewhere

Movie Review: X-Men – First Class

 X-Men: First Class 500x150
X-Men: First Class 500×150

My Rating:

 Wait for the Blu-ray

This afternoon I saw the movie X-Men: First Class at AMC Cinemas, Pacific Place, Admiralty, Hong Kong. One of the movies from my Must See Movies list.

This is another prequel to the X-Men franchise, with the first being X-Men Origins: Wolverine. This time it did a good job providing ample amount of background to the characters: Charles Xavier, Erik Lehnsherr (aka “Magneto”), Raven (aka “Mystique”) and Hank McCoy (aka “Beast”), which we were introduced in the past three X-Men movies: X-Men: X-Men, X-2 and X-Men: The Last Stand. The movie offers fans and non-fans of the franchise opportunities to understand why the characters behave the way they do, and why they are segregate into two groups.

After four previous versions of the franchise one will expect the story to be over done, to our present surprise this is not the case. It has the spirit and excitement of the franchise, while bringing the audiences back to the cold war era where the US government seeks the mutant’s assistance in preventing a nuclear war.

This is a well made sequel to one of my favorite franchises. If this movie is an option at your box office, it will guarantee an exciting evening out.

Rating Legend:

 Must watch before you die
Must watch before you die

 Wait for the Blu-ray
Wait for the Blu-ray

 Buy from iTunes Store
Buy from iTunes Store

  Rent it on iTunes
Rent it on iTunes

 Waste your time elsewhere
Waste your time elsewhere

Movie Review: Source Code

Poster

My Rating: 3Stars

This afternoon I saw the movie Source Code at AMC Cinemas, Pacific Place, Admiralty, Hong Kong. One of the movies from my Must See Movies list.

It stars Jake Gyllenhaal (as Captain Colter Stevens) and Michelle Monaghan (as Christina). Without giving away the plot, it is about a military pilot (Captain Stevens) who wakes up inside someone else’s body and had to figure out what happened.

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Movie Review: Limitless

Poster

My Rating: 3Stars

This evening I saw the movie Limitless at UA Cinemas, Times Square, Hong Kong. One of the movies from my Must See Movies list.

This movie has an original story. It is about a down and out writer who receives a custom drug from his ex-brother in-law, which helped pick himself out of his slump. He later finds out the drug is not as described by his dead in-law, and comes to the realization of its deadly effects.

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Movie Review: Avatar (3D)

Poster

My Rating: 4Stars

This afternoon I saw the movie Avatar 3D at UA Cinema, Times Square, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong. One of the movies from my Must See Movies list.

Before I went to see the movie I questioned my decision to pay the extra cost to watch the 3D version of the movie, but after watching just the opening credits I realized I had made the right decision. Above all the three times Oscar winning Canadian director, James Cameron wrote and filmed this movie with digital 3D cameras in mind. Therefore to experience the movie as Cameron originally intended, one will definitely have to watch the 3D version.

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Movie Review: 2012

Poster

My Rating: 2Stars

This afternoon I saw the movie 2012 at AMC Theater, Admiralty, Hong Kong. Another one of the movies from my Must See Movies list.

Normally I make a point not to get into details of the plot of the movie, but I will make an exception for this movie. The movie is about the destruction of the Earth due to solar flares causing the core of the Earth to over heat and making the crust unstable.

Like many recent movies from Hollywood, this movie also attempts to teach the audiences a lesson. This time the lesson is about the fragile planet Earth and how everything are interrelated. Unfortunately, this will be the only good thing to take away from this movie.

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Movie Review: The Time Traveler’s Wife

Poster

My Rating: 3Stars

This evening I saw the movie The Time Traveler’s Wife at UA Cinema, Times Square, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong. Another one of the movies from my Must See Movies list.

The movie’s plot is different from what the title implies and not unlike the 2001 Kate & Leopold with Meg Ryan and Hugh Jackman, or the 2006 The Lake House with Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock. All three movies use the concept of moving between times to deliver a love story that cannot happen.

In this latest movie, Eric Bana (Henry DeTamble) of Hulk fame, delivered a very good performance playing the time traveller who has no control of which time he jumps to or when.

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Movie Review: Surrogates

Poster

My Rating: 4Stars

This afternoon I saw the movie Surrogates at UA Cinema, Times Square, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong. Another one of the movies from my Must See Movies list.

Like the many other Bruce Willis movies in the past Surrogates also had a chase scene.

The plot is a fairly typical, but the story had a future element to make it fresh, but not so much so that present day audiences cannot relate to. The movie updated the audiences the background of the story’s past 14 years in the first 5 minutes of the movie. This became the premise for the pace of movie. As it is one of the shorter big Hollywood productions at just 89 minutes.

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