I’m sorry for the delay in posting some recent information due to “real life” taking up my free time as of late. Look forward to my reviews on “Night in the Museum,” “Cheaper by the Dozen 2,” and “Pan’s Labyrinth” in the near future among other things. Thanks for your understanding, and check back again soon.

Enjoy!

Eragon- Let me start off with stating that I haven’t read the book, so I cannot compare the movie against it.  With that said, I thought the movie was pretty good.  I personally was interested in seeing how they portrayed the dragon.  Being a fan of dragons, I enjoy seeing how different artists view what dragons should look like and how they move.  The computer graphics used in Eragon for the dragon is blended well with the real environment, even at the points were the character walks up to and mounts the dragon in a single shot.

The story is good.  It is your basic good verses evil storyline.  If you are not familiar with it, the story is about a medieval kingdom ruled by an evil king.  A young farmer stumbles across a dragon egg and takes care of it until it hatches.  Once the dragon hatches and matures he becomes a dragon rider and eventually joins the battle against the evil king.

The acting and editing is good (again, especially the special effects), however it was a little rough in the beginning.  I give the movie a B over all and would recommend it to anyone who is interested in this genre.

Apocalypto- Waiting a few weeks for the movie hype to die down some, I went to the theatres to see Apocalypto, and I must say I was a bit surprised.  For those who are not familiar with Mel Gibson’s new movie, Apocalypto is framed around a small Mayan tribe during the 1500s.  This tribe lives in the forest and is pretty much sheltered from other tribes or the large Mayan cities.  Due to hard times in the nearby city, raiding parties are sent out to capture men and women from these small tribes and bring them in to be sold as slaves or offered as sacrifices.  The tribe in this movie has been attacked, and the lead character is trying to escape from his captors to return back to his village to save his wife.

I made some observations while watching the movie.  Gibson mixes film-rates between your traditional movie film and broadcast television, making certain scenes in the film more life-like.  Many of these film-rate changes occurred during the chase scenes, resulting in film movies appearing more reactionary and slightly blurred.  Another thing was the background history (or the lack there of) about the Mayan culture and the events during the period the film is set.  With the film being centered around a secluded tribe, the time spent within the Mayan city is limited, and therefore the time for exploring history and culture of the civilization also limited.  This is probably the weakest point of the movie itself.

Overall, it is a good movie and I recommend it to people who are interested in a change from the ordinary.  It is subtitled, so reading is required.  However, unlike the Passion of the Christ, the dialogue is shorter and more humorous, so you are able to keep up with the story while enjoying the scenery and action.  I give the movie a B, due more for the lack of background history than anything else.

Casino Royale – As I have said before, I will not spoil a movie that is currently in the theaters, so if you are looking for the inside scoop, you’ve come to the wrong place.  However, I will tell you that this movie is great!  If you have any reservations against the movie due to Daniel Craig playing James Bond, you better lose them.  He pulls off the role quite well, and I am looking forward to him becoming the franchise actor for some time to come.

To pay homage to the original version of the movie, the opening sequence is done in an old 1960’s mystery style with fixed camera angles and aged film effects.  This gives you the feeling of a new beginning for the series, while keeping some of the classic “grand” filming that you would expect from a Bond film, including exotic locations, incredible chase scenes, and death-defying stunts.

Without giving away any more of the movie, I highly recommend everyone who find action movies exciting to go to the theaters while Casino Royale is showing.  I give the movie a solid A, and it should be considered as one of the top movies of the year.  Daniel Craig plays a great Bond, and I hope he sticks with the character for many films to come.

Serenity - If you are not at all familiar with the short-lived television show Firefly which Fox mishandled and cancelled prematurely in their first season, then Serenity requires a little explanation to fully understand the shows back-story and character relationships.  Joss Whedon made a good attempt at quickly catching up the viewers on the back-story with the opening sequences of the movie.  For those of you who have not seen either the show or the movie, here is a quick summary.

In the future, the planet Earth can no longer sustain the human population.  The dominating societies remaining are the Western nations and China, resulting in a blending of the cultures and the languages together in the future.  Joss uses Chinese words in place of English when the discussion is “understood,” primarily when the actors are swearing or insulting others.  As the human population settles in a new solar system (on multiple planets), the new colonies are not what we would imagine future settlements to be like.  Many of these places are backward planets, resembling the Midwest during the dustbowl, with people riding around on horses and covered in dirt. Even the space ships are no-thrills, with small living quarters, shared common areas, and very little glitz and glamour. 

The inner, more developed planets grew in power and influence, uniting them into the “core planets” which leads to the development of the Alliance.  The outer planets felt as if they were being neglected and joined with other worlds as a resistance force known as the Independents.  A galactic battle broke out for many years, with the Independents being defeated, with their representative planets being folded into the Alliance.  One of the Independent soldiers, Malcolm Reynolds, seeks his own independence from the Alliance control by buying a transport ship (a Firefly class vessel) and takes to the skies, joined with one of his subordinates from the war Zoë.  He gradually builds a small crew, including Wash “the pilot” (who marries Zoë), Jayne Cobb “the muscle,” and Kaylee Frye “the mechanic.”  Additionally, he picks up a few passengers, primarily Inara Serra “the companion,” Shepherd Book, Dr. Simon Tam and his sister River “the psychic.”  River is the focus of attention by the Alliance due to her mental abilities . . . and the fact that her brother broke her out of an Alliance research facility.

Serenity picks up where Firefly ends, with Simon and River leaving the ship after heated words (again) between Simon and Malcolm.  Though going their separate ways, Malcolm and the Tam’s meet up in the same bar when a subliminal code is transmitted through the galactic television network, triggering a programmed mental switch in Rivers’ mind, causing her to attack everyone in the bar.  Simon is able to subdue her, but reports the brawl exposes the Tam’s and the crew to the Alliance, forcing them to get together again and flee the planet.  The Alliance pursues the group across the galaxy, leaving death and destruction in their wake.  Due to the subliminal trigger going off in Rivers’ mind, she begins to unlock hidden secrets implanted in her by the Alliance, exposing a mystery that has long plagued the outer planets . . . the Reavers.

The Prestige:  Abracadabra!  This is a great movie and I highly recommend it to anyone who has not see it yet.   The Prestige centers around two competing magicians played by Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale.  After meeting and performing together early in their careers, a tragic accident drives them apart, putting them both on a quest to develop the ultimate magic trick.  The movie is filled with numerous plots and subplots, twists and turns keeping you constantly guessing on what will happen next.  Filled with special effects and beautiful sets, this movie will draw you into the past and keep you mesmerized until the end.  I give this movie an A, and I expect this to be my movie of the year.  Go see it in the theaters before it disappears! 

Happy Feet:  Surprisingly, I thought this was a very good movie.  Dancing penguins might sound a bit silly, but when it is combined with the music of the movie, it brings everything together.  The music spans many decades and is an important part of the story.  Since this is a new movie, I do not want to give too much away, but basically the movie is about a young penguin named Mumble who cannot sing but can dance, which makes him an outcast from his community.  He searches for his meaning of life and comes across a variety of new friends and foes on his adventure.  There is a touch of environmental awareness messages in the movie, but not enough to consider it to be an Al Gore bore movie.  I recommend this movie for anyone, though there is a little “mature” conversations during the film (basically that a man and a woman get together to create a baby).  If you have not discussed this with your child before, you might be asked questions about the birds and the bees afterwards.  Over all, I give the movie a B+.