The Dark Knight Rises- Review

Release Date: Jul 20, 2012; Rated: PG-13; Length: 164 Minutes; Genres: Action/Adventure, Crime,Drama; With: Christian Bale, Anne Hathaway, Tom Hardy and Joseph Gordon-Levitt; Distributor: Warner Bros.

The Dark Knight Rises concludes Christopher Nolan's dark and triumphant Batman trilogy. For seven years, Nolan's reboot has reached acclaim and this final Batman flick has easily been one of the most anticipated movies of all time.

After eight years of no Batman, a terrorizing masked pro-wrestler has come to burn Gotham to ashes with a master plan to overthrow the higher classes. After his stock market stunt he leaves Wayne Enterprises wiped out financially. Bruce Wayne reaches out to Miranda Tate (Marion Cotillard), a millionaire who can help Wayne. Selina Kyle (Anne Hathaway), a cat burglar also known as Catwoman, comes across Wayne after steeling his mother's pearls but is also after a "clean slate", that Wayne can give her. John Blake (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is a young cop who is nothing short of heroic. Nolan provides us with many new characters and manages to present them as fresh instead of overwhelming.

The Dark Knight set the bar very high for this movie and with the absence of the Joker, who Heath Ledger made one of his most memorable performances of, finding another villain who could top that brilliance was seen as almost impossible. Bane (Tom Hardy), a B-list villain was something of a genius idea. A villain who is as powerful as Batman and makes Batman's job nearly impossible. Although we didn't get the humor that we were left with by the Joker and still, Bane doesn't quite live up to the Joker's glory, Hardy did leave us with a  great villain and Nolan succeeds at making this B-lister feel like an A-list villain. The mask does take away a bit of personality but Hardy does give an impressive performance only using his expressions with his eyes and body language. You will leave the theater with the epic and evil voice that Bane provides us with, done so well, stuck in your head. The presence of the other new characters like Catwoman and Miranda Tate also help make up for the missing Joker.

Nolan's final Batman film doesn't fall short of it's predecessors. The legend ends with one of the greatest superhero movies of all time. We are left with a truly triumphant finale. A

The Amazing Spider-Man- Review

Release Date: Jul 03, 2012; Genre: Action/Adventure; Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Rhys Ifans and Denis Leary; Distributor: Columbia Pictures

The Amazing Spider-Man is a comic book adaptation with the holes that most superhero movies have, filled in. Marc Webb ((500) Days of Summer) knows how to use his actors and keep you enthralled in every aspect of this adaptation.

In this Spider-Man reboot, we see more of everything. We find out more about Peter Parker and his family, and we get a better understanding of why he put himself in the hero spotlight in the first place. Webb gives us a better feel of Peter Parker entirely. What we thought was just an outcast at school with a crush is much more. We see that Peter has a challenging life at times and understand him better as a person and a hero.

The Amazing Spider-Man has a star cast. Andrew Garfield was born to play Spider-Man and made me forget about what I thought may have been one of the best superhero movies. He plays a perfect shy, dorky, funny, awkward, challenged Peter Parker and an inspiring hero. Emma Stone is stunning (as always) as Gwen Stacy and shines throughout along with the rest of the cast. Its safe to say this cast was near perfect and never misses a step.

Marc Webb excels in what seems to be his specialty. This could have just been a romance between Garfield and Stone, and I still would have been fascinated by his ability to create such emotion that connects with his audience. The Amazing Spider-Man accomplishes plenty. Visually, emotionally, comically, heroically, this is one of the best movies of the year so far and one of the best comic book adaptations I've ever seen! A-

Brave- Review

Release Date: Jun 22, 2012; Length: 94 Minutes; Genre: Animation; With:Billy Connolly, Emma Thompson and Kelly Macdonald; Distributor: Walt Disney Pictures


Brave is the latest feature from Pixar, and we continue to be wowed. Brave is visually magical and original. It also continues with what seems to be a theme this year of gutsy heroines (Katniss in The Hunger Games and Snow White in Snow White and the Huntsman).

Merida (Kelly Macdonald) is a princess who longs for adventure. She's accompanied by her three little brothers (who are nothing but trouble and comedy), her father, King Fergus (Billy Connolly) and her mother, Queen Elinor (Emma Thomspon) who is trying to prepare toward betrothal to the right lord. As any child would, she rebels and runs off into the forest - that is filled with legends she's told of and the magic she and her mother believes in - and comes a cross a witch that changes her fate.

It's a story about fate, but seems to be more about the relationship between mother and daughter. Brave delivers the emotion. Visually, it's breathtaking and Pixar never seems to fail in that area. It's funny, entertaining for all audiences and it's original but, although it is original, it's predictable.

We've heard this story many times in many ways. Brave takes off on a good start but never seems to fully satisfy. You hear stories of legends and magic (and fate, of course) and yes, Brave does deliver, there is legends and magic, but while Brave is off to a good start, it never fully satisfies. It's bark was bigger than it's bite. B

Snow White and the Huntsman- Review

Release Date: Jun 01, 2012; Genre: Action/Adventure; With: Chris Hemsworth, Kristin Stewart and Charlize Theron; Distributor: Universal Pictures

Rupert Sanders' adaptation of Snow White is a dark one no less. Snow White and the Huntsman has received a lot of attention for many reasons. No doubt going to be a blockbuster hit, we were teased with its beauty in the trailers, the mega cast (Chris Hemsworth, Kritstin Stewart, Charlize Theron and Sam Claflin) and the Lord of the Rings mixed with Alice in Wonderland (2010) take on the classic story. Let me inform you when I say Alice in Wonderland I don't only speak of its art direction and visual effects but also how disappointing it was. 

Snow White and the Huntsman is ravishing. The cast is one of the best parts of this fairy tale adaptation. Eliminating everything we know Kristin Stewart for (the Twilight saga), she did an exceptional job. From the beginning, her performance was the best I've seen and made it easy for me to watch her. Charlize Theron is one of the finest actresses of our time and pushes every performance of hers further than what we've seen before. Her first meeting with the huntsman (Chris Hemsworth) is a moment you wont forget driven by both their strong performances. 

Visually stunning, Snow White and the Huntsman will capture your attention and possibly keep you enthralled not only by the performances but the visual effects and makeup. These play one of the biggest roles in the movie being that its what got our attention from the start. As visually fascinating as this movie is, it was a miss.

With so much anticipation running through my mind, I never thought a wrong turn would have been taken. Although Snow White does have plenty in store that will leave a fair amount of audiences satisfied, I felt as if everything I was hoping for in the movie ended up getting cut and put only into the trailer. There was no chilling score (at least not one that I noticed) and the battle scenes seemed dull at times. I also felt as if Sanders got caught up in the blockbuster beauty and forgot about the story which is possibly one of the reasons why it ended up bland at times. 

In the (rushed) end, Snow White and the Huntsman was a fresh take and a beautiful vision for what could have been. A miss it was, but it missed in style. B-

The Avengers (2012)- Review

Release Date: May 04, 2012; Genre: Action/Adventure; With: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Mark Ruffalo, Jeremy Renner and Samuel L. Jackson; Distributor: Walt Disney Pictures

Joss Whedon's action packed Marvel adventure The Avengers is a success in almost every way possible. With such a big cast and many important characters, juggling them all would be something hard to accomplish, making sure they all get their screen time and we get to see their point of view, but for Whedon, making such movies to their fullest potential seems to be in his nature.

The best part about The Avengers is that Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Captain America (Chris Evans), Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and Loki (Tom Hiddleston) are all apart of this one (very best) Marvel blockbuster. Each with their own unique introduction (and all giving exceptional performances), you get the chills every time one is introduced and they continue throughout the movie.

The Avengers initiative was something introduced to us in Iron Man 2 with our first look at Black Widow and Nick Fury, director of S.H.I.E.L.D., but it wasn't ever forced until needed. Now that Loki, the god of mischief (brother of Thor, god of thunder) made Nick Fury very desperate, he has no choice but to initiate The Avengers. What brings Loki back? He still doesn't sit well with his adoptive bother having all of his glory with being king of Asgard and plans to destroy the world by stealing the Tesseract (a cosmic cube that can open a portal to another planet) and  with his army of aliens.

The Avengers is taken at a steady pace, focusing on the heroes themselves and their relationships with each other developing (they don't like one another at first). While this goes on with the most necessary humor (I'm not being sarcastic) and some action between them we learn more about how Loki's plan is working with getting captured and unleashing his army and how The Avengers work together.

From beginning to end The Avengers is one of the most successful action packed comic book adaptations ever. You couldn't ask for more with everything it serves to fans of all ages. The visual effects are great as expected, and the action is the best I've seen. This was also the first time I could say that the Hulk was portrayed successfully in a way I'm sure almost everyone enjoyed. A-

Cabin in the Woods (2012)- Review

Release Date: Apr 13, 2012; Rated: R; Length: 95 Minutes; Genres: Horror, Thriller; With: Chris Hemworth, Richard Jenkins; Distributor: Lionsgate

Right off the bat you are introduced to a scene that makes you ask yourself if you're in the right theater. With what seems to be a joke at first, ends up being more than the horror movie they led you to believe it is and more than anyone would expect it to be with an inventive story that drives the entire movie. That's exactly what makes Cabin in the Woods a one-of-a-kind.

Five friends head off on a vacation to non other than a cabin in the woods. How did they discover this cabin? Its supposedly Curt's (Chris Hemsworth) cousin's who recently bought it. On their way they encounter an old strange man who somewhat warns them of what happens at the residence with his best attempt to be creepy. without suspecting anything, they head off to the cabin anyways and have a good time. After watching them have a good time the only way college students know how to have a good time, we are then introduced creatively to what sets this movie off into its horror, all hell breaks loose and we are able to put the pieces together as we watch the thrilling and funny horror movie we don't get too often.

Drew Goddard and Joss Whedon are geniuses. Cabin in the Woods (Goddard's directorial debut) is wildly original from beginning to end. What seems to be the typical horror movie you may have been expecting, takes everything to another level with nothing you have ever seen before and real humor, which is exactly what horror movies lack. I think we've seen enough of daring teenagers getting slaughtered for whatever reason. Cabin in the Woods is a fresh new look on what more can be done with movies. B