Transformers Age of Extinction Should Have Had More Dinobots

                The Transformers franchise is FINALLY free of Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox.  Depending on your personal taste this may be a good or bad thing but for me it’s liberating.  I always felt the one thing holding those films back was the awkward character acting brought to the table by the two stars.  That being said, having Marky Mark come on board as a replacement isn’t too much better but at the end of the day the reason anyone is watching these movies is to see Optimus Prime and the other Transformers duke it out in all their epic, mechanized glory so who really cares.  On this front, Transformers: Age of Extinction did not disappoint. 

                This installation in the popular series takes place five years after the Battle of Chicago which saw the death of Megatron.  Humans have become distrustful of the Transformers and break all ties with them forcing each one to go into hiding.  A secret CIA operation is deployed to eliminate the remaining Decepticons but its vengeful leader is also focused on destroying the Autobots.  He feels the world will never be safe while any of the Transformers, good or bad, are on the planet.  Cade Yeager (played by Mark Wahlberg) is an inventor who comes across a broken down truck he hopes to salvage for parts.  The truck turns out to be a rusty and wounded Optimus Prime and Cade, along with his daughter Tessa gets sucked in to all the drama surrounding the alien, metal titans as Optimus is forced to flee the encroaching CIA operatives and their vile Transformer bounty hunter Lockdown who is on a personal mission to find Prime. 

                This installation, much like the previous Dark Side of the Moon, gives us background into the history of the Transformers and the effects they’ve been having on Earth for millennia.  Secrets are revealed which put the future of both Earth and the Transformers in a questionable light as Optimus and his Autobots must decide whether the humans are worth saving.  As is the case with any Michael Bay big budget blockbuster there isn’t a whole lot of substance to the movie.  The point is the special effects, fight scenes, and explosions of which there is an ample amount.  Wahlberg’s relationship with his daughter feels forced and cliché as he spends the entire movie more focused on her hidden relationship with boyfriend/amateur racecar driver Shane than the imminent destruction of the planet and the unrelenting battle of good and evil.  In addition, the Dinobots have a very small role to play which was immensely disappointing as the trailers focused almost exclusively on the addition of the gigantic prehistoric behemoths.  Still, what we did get to see was spectacularly awesome and made the entire movie for me.  On top of this is the introduction of Galvatron, a new villain with a hidden secret you’ll have to watch to find out.  If you were a fan of the other three films then you will enjoy this installation as well.  It feels just like the others and is a somewhat logical continuation of the story line with some fun new additions to keep you interested in what’s going to happen next.     

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 Knocks It Out Of The Park

                For the first time in a while a movie’s sequel was just as good as its predecessor.  The Amazing Spider-Man 2 was everything I had hoped it would be.  Giving us insight into Peter Parker’s past, as well has his present and in some ways his future, the film painted a picture of Spider-Man as a larger identity; one that is bigger than Peter Parker.  Again starring Andrew Garfield as Spidey and Emma Stone as his beautiful girlfriend Gwen Stacy the film picks up largely where the last left off making it a logical continuation.  While I was skeptical at first of the idea of having multiple villains, I think it ended up working really well.  Multiple villains was the downfall of Spiderman 3 and ultimately led to that franchises downfall.  Here however it makes sense as we get to see the rise of Electro, played by Jamie Foxx.  Electro acts as the main story line villain and takes up the majority of Spider-Man’s crime fighting time.  However, the rebirth of the Green Goblin was what I was most interested in and I feel as though the film did a splendid job with his character. 

                Returning home from boarding school, a young Harry Osborn inherits his dying fathers company only to learn his father’s disease is genetic giving him limited time to live.  His growing anger with his father, himself, and Spider-Man for refusing to help leads Harry down a dark path.  The films rendition of the Green Goblin is spot on and more true to the comic books than the previous Toby McGuire trilogy in which Willem Defoe portrayed a fully masked version of the high flying supervillain.

                Incorporating Peter Parker’s daily struggle of trying to mix his civilian life with that of Spider-Man’s is important and something every good superhero movie must touch on.  His indecisiveness is a focal point for the film and one that reveals a deep internal struggle brilliantly portrayed by Garfield.  I would definitely watch the movie again as there was so much crammed in to its two hours and change that a second viewing would only serve to enhance the first.  With plenty of action, emotion, and little laughter, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 was a home run.

WHAT NO MOTHRA?! Godzilla Sacrifices a Strong Plot to Stay True to the Originals

I had extremely high hopes when it came to the 2014 reboot of Godzilla.  As a kid, I used to watch all the classic Godzilla monster movies with my dad and brother and they were some of the coolest movies I had ever seen.  I always appreciated the fact that at the end of the day, Godzilla is one of the good guys.  The destruction he causes is collateral damage; a necessary evil to prevent the destruction of the world.  After several attempts to recapture the magic of the early Godzilla monster flicks, I had given up hope that we would ever see the blue breath wielding “King of the Monsters” in his true form ever again.  I’m happy to say that this film proved my wrong, but it wasn’t without its faults.

                The films plot centers around Joe Brody, a supervisor at the Janjira Nuclear Plant in Japan and his son Ford.  Over a decade after a mysterious earthquake destroyed the plant, Ford travels back to Japan to assist his father who has been trying for years to determine the true cause of the disaster.  They come to realize that a cover up has been in place and that the “quarantine zone” around the destroyed plant is really a containment area for a “massive, unidentified, terrestrial organism” which the scientists call a “MUTO”.  After the MUTO escapes and a second one emerges thousands of miles away, the military personnel and scientists alike defer to Ishiro Serizawa (played by Ken Watanabe) who is a member of Project Monarch a secretive agency set up in the 1950’s to study Godzilla, a large monster discovered during nuclear testing in the Philippines.  Serizawa insists that Godzilla will help them save the world from the monsters and after much convincing the three titans are allowed to fight it out to the death.

                The film was a massive success in the overall sense.  Similar to the Godzilla films of the 50’s and 60’s, the movie was simply the sudden appearance of two evil monsters and the necessary arrival of Godzilla to preserve balance in the world and destroy them.  Godzilla was back to being the “good guy” so to speak and ends up being cheered on by the very humans who were initially trying to destroy him.  The ending scenes in which Godzilla actually gets down to brawling with the MUTOs are spectacular.  Godzilla looks just like he’s supposed to with the massive stegosaurus-like plates running down his back and the stubby nose and face which look almost canine.  His roar has the same pleasing echo as his earlier counterparts and when he leans back and unleashes his radioactive blue fire breath the movie reaches its cinematic, monster movie apex. 

                However, while plot holes and storyline flaws are easily overlooked in the now campy Godzilla films from 50 years ago, they are harder to get past in today’s modern cinema.  The plot was very chunky and felt like we jumped from one thing to the next almost as if you could tell when one page of the screenplay ended and the next began.  This made the movie feel blocked out and almost episodic, as if it was a miniseries condensed into a feature film.  Brian Cranston plays Joe Brody whose character turns out to be a disappointment rather than a strong focal point which I was really hoping for.  All in all, I felt happy at the end of the film.  I got to see what I wanted which was an accurate portrayal of my favorite movie monster in all his epic glory, destroying the monsters in a heroic battle which looked marvelous with today’s special effects.  I just wish the plot and character development was better thought out.  I would have loved to know more about Project Monarch and Watanabe’s character Serizawa.  But I guess there is always hope for a sequel because as is the case in every true Godzilla movie, the King of the Monsters slowly makes his way back into the deep sea abyss from whence he came waiting until the time he is needed again.

Divergent - Another Poorly Done YA Novel Adaptation

Here we go again, another YA novel movie adaptation which tries to capitalize on the popularity of the Hunger Games but fails miserably.  This would be fine if it hadn't happened a bunch of times already (I’m looking at you Mortal Instruments).  Divergent capitalizes on the public’s current obsession with dystopian science fiction but fails to create a story which is either emotionally charged or particularly exciting 

                The story focuses on Beatrice, a citizen of the destroyed city of Chicago 100 years after the “end of the world”.  She lives in a society separated into five factions which are designed to keep people in line based on their personality traits.  Beatrice belongs to Abnegation which is the selfless class and the ruling government body.  However, at the age of 16 every member of society is allowed to choose which faction they wish to be a part of.  Once the decision is made, there is no going back.  Beatrice much decide between the safe decision of staying with her family or the hard decision of leaving them behind forever and joining the military faction Dauntless which she has always envied.  If she joins them and fails, she risks becoming faction-less and having to live on the streets with no food or shelter.              

                Before choosing, Beatrice is evaluated only to find out that she is a Divergent meaning she fits into not one but three categories.  Her evaluator hurries her out the door and tells her never to speak of this.  Divergents threaten the system which has kept this society in line for over a century and are thus eliminated.  When the time comes, Beatrice decides to join Dauntless and leaves her family behind to start her new life.  The trials are difficult but she manages to pick herself up after every fall and keep working at it, determined to succeed.  Eventually, Beatrice finds herself at the center of a plot to overthrow Abnegation by the intelligence faction Erudite.  Beatrice must work together with her Dauntless instructor Four to try and save her old faction. 

                The story has more holes in it than I know what to do with and was predictable from start to finish.  There are so many questions, which makes it difficult to take the concept seriously.  Why don’t the faction-less rise up and overthrow the others?  Why does no one have any desire to leave the city of Chicago?  Are there other settlements around the country or the world?  It’s been over 100 years since the end of civilization and no one has once thought about trying to contact other pockets of survivors?  Are we meant to believe that Chicago was the only place to survive?  And these are just the big questions!  Beatrice’s decision to leave her faction and join Dauntless is supposed to be emotional because she will never get to see her family again and yet she takes a Saturday stroll to see her brother in Erudite one afternoon as if it’s no big deal.  I could go on and on.  In the end, the issue is that humans are far more complex and free thinking than this system implies.  It just wouldn't hold up for the 100 years it has.  

                Now let me take a minute to confess that I haven’t read the books.  Many of these questions may be answered in subsequent sequels.  But the questions weren’t the only problem with the film.  The sub par romance between Beatrice and Four was predictable and completely unnecessary.  The films climax is over in 15 minutes and even that is far too long as a mind controlled Dauntless army stands ready to shoot every member of Abnegation awaiting only the Erudite leader’s final command.  But in typical Bond villain fashion, an exorbitant amount of time is wasted allowing Beatrice and Four to save the day.  

                Overall, the film felt hurried and poorly thought out.  When this genre is done correctly, it can make for an exciting film for all ages as in the case of movies like Enders Game or Percy Jackson and the Lightning Theif.  But Divergent was a prime example of a movie that left WAY too much to the imagination which for someone over the age of 18, was hard to overlook.  Unless you can relate to Beatrice on a personal level (i.e you’re a teenage girl who doesn't feel like she fits in, but can overcome any obstacle if she puts her mind to it) than the film just isn't for you.

Noah - Slightly Embellished, But That's a Good Thing

Noah was a standard Russell Crowe epic with breathtaking effects and a story which was slightly embellished (this is Hollywood we’re talking about).  Personally, I am not a religious person so I had little knowledge of the story of Noah and the Ark besides the two of every animal detail which I’m sure almost everyone is aware of.  That being said, the film didn't

seem to stem too far from truth.  The tale begins with Noah as a boy witnessing the death of his father.  It shows that from an early age, Noah was made brutally aware of the evils of humanity.  Fast forward many years and we find an adult Noah who is living peacefully with his wife Naameh (played by Jennifer Connelly) and their three sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth.  After having several dreams of a great flood and witnessing the growth of a flower at his feet, Noah decides to take his family to seek advice from his grandfather Methuselah.  After escaping the clutches of the same ruthless band of people who had a hand in his father’s death, Noah and his family make it to the scorched land inhabited by the Watchers, fallen angels who've lost touch with the Creator because of their willingness to help Adam and Eve after the Fall.  Along the way, they pick up the orphaned Ila (played by Emma Watson) and welcome her into their family.  After reaching the top of the mountain, Methuselah (expertly portrayed by Anthony Hopkins) informs Noah that he was chosen by the Creator to save the animals, the so called “innocents” from a great flood which is supposed to wipe out the Creator’s biggest mistake, humans.  Noah accepts and after planting a seed from the Garden of Eden, given to him by Methuselah, witnesses the immediate growth of a massive forest.  Upon seeing the work of the creator right before their eyes, the Watchers agree to help Noah build the Ark.  Throughout the course of the film Noah is faced with difficult choices and does his best to carry out the Creator’s wishes, even when it means potentially killing members of his own family.  While at first I was skeptical, the movie turned out to be very entertaining.  I enjoyed learning the back story of Noah’s lineage and Anthony Hopkins portrayal of Methuselah is worth the price of admission in and of itself.  Stunning visual effects and some emotionally charged moments between Noah and other members of his family contribute to the success of this film for sure.  Not only that, but the embellishments make the film feel more like a Sci-Fi/Fantasy movie than a biblical epic which is a good thing because if you are not a religious person, the movie can be a little much.  However, as with other stories from the Old Testament the fantastical elements make for a compelling and captivating film which was fun to watch and didn't just feel like a Sunday school lesson.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes - Simply Superb Sequel

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes was spectacular.  The follow up to 2012’s amazing Rise of the Planet of the Apes which rebooted the famed franchise, Dawn continues in the same vein with action packed tension and emotional depth.  Taking place ten years later, we find the world devastated by the Simian Flu, the deadly virus which kills humans and boosts apes intelligence that was shown spreading worldwide at the close of the first film.  Still in the woods outside San Francisco, Caesar has built a developed community and is the leader of a new generation of apes living in peace.  This is until a chance encounter between a group of humans led by a man named Malcom, and Caesar’s son Blue Eyes alongside a fellow ape.  One of the humans with Malcom shoots Blue Eyes’ friend and the group flees.  Caesar decides to lead a large number of apes to the human settlement in a show of force.  Riding into town on horseback and clearly establishing himself as the leader, Caesar addresses the human colony telling them if they stay on their land, the apes will stay on theirs.  This would be fine if it wasn’t for the hydroelectric damn near the ape’s village which the humans desperately need for power.  Malcom convinces their leader Dreyfus (played by Gary Oldman) to give him three days to attempt to make peace with Caesar.  Friendships are created and loyalties broken as Malcom and Caesar attempt to preserve peace contrary to the wishes of Dreyfus who arms the humans for conflict and Koba, Caesar’s second in command who despises humans for the treatment he received under their care before the outbreak.  The film is a cinematic triumph as you sympathize with both the apes and the humans.  Neither is in the wrong, and despite the emergence of one distinct villain over the course of the film, everyone involved is just trying to survive and make a life for themselves.  The scenes between Malcom and Caesar are by far some of the most powerful as Caesar comes to realize that there are plenty of decent humans left and that despite his naïve point of view, there are plenty of evil apes.  The film contrasts the societies of the apes and humans in wonderfully unique ways to show that while we are different, we are very much the same.  This realization of equality is all the more heart wrenching as the two sides fall deeper and deeper into a conflict which will inevitably lead to all-out war.  Dawn of the Planet of the Apes has proven that the first film was not a one hit wonder and that the newly revamped franchise is only going to get better and better.  The film is still playing in some theatres so go see it while you still have the chance!

The Lego Movie is a Must See

The Lego Movie was……fantastic!!!  I was skeptical when my wife asked me to bring this one home as the commercials showed me nothing more than a movie which was designed for kids to capitalize on the current extreme popularity of all things Lego.  I was sorely mistaken.  The film was laugh out loud funny from start to finish and brought back countless memories through the movies references to classic Lego sets new and old.  The film is an underdog story at its heart and focuses on Emmet Brickowski, an standard construction worker mini figure who goes through the motions of his everyday life in Bricksburg.  Everyone conforms to the rules of society and no one asks any questions.  They all eat the same food and watch the same show, a hilariously simple comedy called “Where Are My Pants?” which is an hysterical take on generic daytime sitcoms.  The point is that Emmet doesn’t have a single original or imaginative thought.  Then one day, he returns to his job site and bumps into the attractive, hair flipping, mysterious girl Wildstyle who is attempting to retrieve The Piece of Resistance to stop the evil President Business from unleashing the devastating power of the Kragle and destroying the known world.  After falling through a hole at the construction site, Emmet ends up finding the Piece and Wildstyle tells him that the prophecy dictates he is “The Special” and is destined to save the world.  Emmet is sucked into an adventure which leads him through the other Lego realms including the Pirate Sea and the Old West.  With the help of Wildstyle, the ancient wizard Vitruvius, Batman, and many other recognizable Lego faces, Emmet learns to become a Master Builder and unleash his imagination in ways he never thought possible.  With Will Ferrell as President Business, Morgan Freeman as Vitruvius, Will Arnett as Batman, and Elizabeth Banks as Wildstyle, the film has an all-star comedic cast which manages to insert plenty of jokes aimed at the older crowd watching the movie.  In the end, the secret behind the Kragle and President Business is revealed in an outcome which is both heartwarming and a tad predictable.  If you’re a fan of Legos then you MUST see this film.  Even if you aren’t it was still a hysterical movie that will no doubt appeal to children and adults alike; a perfect pick for family movie night.

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty is Straight Out of the Imagination

Ben Stiller is almost always hit or miss for me.  Sometimes he knocks it out of the park and other times his roles feel forced or too artificial.  That is not the case in The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.  The film was spectacular and was laugh out loud funny with imaginative explosions that keep the viewer questioning reality.  Walter is someone all of us can relate to.  Literally everyone who has ever worked a boring 9-5 and yearned for more can relate to Walter’s bouts of severe daydreaming and his constant desire to live a more exciting and fulfilling life.  Ironically employed by LIFE magazine, Walter works in the dark basement photo department meticulously cutting, trimming, and organizing the magazines photos as their negative assets manager; a very important job which goes completely unnoticed by the corporate big wigs upstairs.  Walter constantly imagines himself in distant lands on crazy adventures or wooing the girl of his dreams (played by Kristin Wigg) by scaling frozen mountain peaks or saving the day from certain destruction.  And yet he is always brought back to reality by whoever notices Walter “zoning out” and staring off into space (which happens often).  His life takes an unexpected turn however when he receives a packet of photos from famed photojournalist Sean O’Connell who informs him that negative #25 captures the “quintessence” of life and should be used for the cover of the magazines upcoming final print issue.  The only problem is that #25 is missing and Walter knows that it will mean his job if he can’t locate it.  Walter assumes the only way to find the negative is to find Sean, his adventurous hero who he’s gotten to know purely through his letters and photos.  Walter uses clues from the other negatives and embarks on a journey to find Sean.  Along the way he ends up doing what he has always dreamed of, living life to its absolute fullest.  Breaking out of his comfort zone and taking risks for the first time ever Walter realizes that his dreams are not so out of reach and that life can truly be as magical and awe inspiring as he’s always imagined.  Everyone who watches this film will no doubt see some of themselves in Walter Mitty.  We can all relate to wanting more out of life and wishing we could take off to far corners of the world on crazy adventures.  What makes the movie so special is that Walter decides to just do it.  He pulls the proverbial trigger and makes us all believe that we can make our dreams come true.

The Grand Budapest Hotel Was Exquisite

Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel was just as whimsical, hysterical, and beautiful as I expected.  Anderson’s film making is unlike anyone else in Hollywood, past or present.  His movies are tiny snapshots into intensely imaginative worlds which transport the viewer directly into the scenes and make you feel as though you are not merely an observer, but a participant.  His characters are both relatable and outrageous to the point of being almost caricature-like.  In this, his latest film, Anderson takes us to the Republic of Zubrowka, a fictional land in the European Alps where a once regal and well respected hotel known as The Grand Budapest has fallen into sad disrepair and is inhabited only by the occasional estranged guest.  It is there that we meet the hotels owner, an elderly and seemingly well off man named Zero Moustafa who agrees to tell his story, and how he came to be in possession of the finest hotel that ever was.  Flashing back to the eve of World War II, we find Zero as a young lobby boy, recently hired at the Grand Budapest under the supervision of the greatest concierge to ever grace the profession, Monsieur Gustave H. (expertly portrayed by Ralph Fiennes).  Monsieur Gustave treats every guest as if they were a member of his family and his attention to detail is equaled only by his commitment to perfection.  Taking Zero under his wing, Gustave sets about showing him the ropes in a dry, satirical manner which is both hysterical and admirable.  One guest in particular strikes a chord with Gustave, the elderly and wealthy Madame D.  The two form a romantic relationship and after her unexpected death, she bequeaths her invaluable painting “Boy With Apple” to Gustave, enraging her evil son Dmitri Desgoffe-und-Taxis who vows to destroy Gustave and take back “Boy With Apple”.  Hilarity ensues as Gustave and Zero set about hiding the priceless painting as they make a pact to never reveal its location and Gustave agrees to make Zero his sole heir.  I won’t go any further into the story as things spiral out of control, Zero falls in love with a local bakery girl, and the hotel is occupied by a military force.  To find out more you will have to watch the film.  Overall, I couldn’t have been happier with the movie.  All of Anderson’s usual crew make appearances including Bill Murray, Jason Schwartzman, Ed Norton, Tilda Swinton, Jeff Goldblum, Owen Wilson, Harvey Keitel and others, including newcomers Saoirse Ronan and Jude Law.  Anderson continues to show an incredible eye for cinema with sets and camera shots that defy modern conventions.  A remarkably unique story is the result and one that will not disappoint.

Star Wars Episode VII Cast Announced!!!

FINALLY!  We can all breath a sigh of relief now that the cast of Star Wars Episode VII has been officially announced and all the heavy hitters from the original trilogy will most definitely be reprising their roles.  No more beating around the bush Harrison Ford!  Fans will get to see all their favorites.  Ford as Han Solo, Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker, and Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia along with the towering Peter Mayhew as Solo's partner Chewbacca and the two lovable droids C-3PO and R2-D2 played by Anthony Daniels and Kenny Baker.  In addition, the new cast has been announced and includes Adam Driver and Oscar Isaac who worked together on the critically acclaimed Inside Llewyn Davis last year, and CGI heavyweight Andy Serkis who rose to fame playing the roles of King Kong, Caesar in Planet of the Apes and Gollum in the Lord of the Rings Trilogy.  To see the entire cast sitting together and going over scenes drives home the fact that this film is most definitely a reality.  With a slated release of December 2015 we still have plenty of time to speculate as to the events of the film but for now, knowing that fans will get to see their beloved characters return to a galaxy far far away after over 30 years is enough.  Read the Rolling Stone article below for a more complete list of actors and words from director J.J. Abrams.

Star Wars Episode VII Cast