BABYLON A.D.

This is probably just going to be a relatively short review. In a futuristic time, mercenary/smuggler Toorop (Vin Diesel) is an American living in a war-torn, violent, uber-ghetto Russia. He's suddenly hired to smuggle a mysterious Russian girl, Aurora (Melanie Thierry), and her guardian, Sister Rebeka (Michelle Yeoh), to America within 6 days. Along the way, a lot of stuff happens with people trying to stop them or with just trying to get across the border safely.

To start off with the good, the visuals, both special effects and cinematography, were amazing. The grittiness of Russia; the vastness of the Bering Straight; the overly-commercialized New York; the brilliant special effects—everything just worked together nicely to pull off one really good looking film.

However, one negative aspect to the visual style was the fight scenes, though only those wherein there was physical fist-fighting. It was slightly annoying in that it would constantly cut out just before the moment of impact to where you would never actually see the hit. And with both Vin Diesel and Michelle Yeoh fighting, that's pretty lame. The other action-type sequences, however, were done very nicely.

Another negative issue, and this won't really come as a shock to most, was the acting. I mean, the acting was pretty bad. And I don't just mean from Vin, but from pretty much every actor/actress in the film. And part of that might have had to do with some of the dialogue they were given, but some of it was just... eh.

The story, on the other hand, was good. The movie started off a bit slow. It doesn't really start to pick up until after the first 30 or so minutes. But after then, it gets pretty good. The movie almost comes off as more of a mystery with action than an action movie with mystery. The whole movie is about figuring out what the heck is actually going on with this girl he's transporting (even though the trailer pretty much spoils it if you pay attention closely enough). But you don't really find out until the end. And speaking of the ending, this is where the movie starts to get a bit shaky. It's interesting, but it all starts to go in an awkward direction and gets a bit choppy. And then the very end (the final scene)... I'm not sure what it was about it, but it just really bugged me. I couldn't put my finger on it in the theater, and I still can't now, but I just knew that the quick final scene was, frankly, silly and poorly done.

Otherwise, the movie was entertaining. The acting, ending, and fight scenes bring it down a bit, but the (at the very least) intriguing story and amazing visuals shoot it up a bit, as well. And I enjoyed the bit of social commentary that flowed throughout the film, whether directly or subtly. And that's really all about I have to say on it.

I Am McLovin!

(P.S. For clarification, this movie is by no means a great piece of film... I just enjoyed it in the guilty pleasure kind of way (and, again, because I really did love the visuals)).

P.E.S.T.

It's the end of August! You know what that means? Generally bad movies. But you know what? I'm excited! How bout you? PRE-EMPTIVE STRIKE THURSDAY!

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Title: Disaster Movie.

Pre-Thoughts: Ha....hahahahaha.... hahahahahaha..... No. (And I can see all the 'clever puns' already. I won't associate myself with them. I refuse!).

Pre-Score:

She's Gone From Suck to Blow!



Title: Babylon A.D.

Pre-Thoughts: Oh man, I don't care if it's Vin Diesel. The man's acting doesn't bug me. I'm totally psyched for this movie. I'm probably gonna see it tomorrow, maybe (if I don't go to this other thing I was thinking about going to). It looks so awesome. Though I have read some early reviews that made the movie sound less than average... but they were from awhile back when it was still in the editing process (like... test screenings), so it could have been fixed by now. So who knows.

Pre-Score:

A Keanu 'Whoa'



Title: Hamlet 2.

Pre-Thoughts: Reviews for this are all over the place... and I don't mean in where you can find them (because it had only been released in like... 100 theaters last week). A lot of reviews are pretty negative, and a handful argue otherwise. I'm not sure. I just know that as a literary kinda guy (and a guy who loves quirky comedies and theology), I think anything that mixes Hamlet and Jesus (with a musical number of 'Rock Me Sexy Jesus') has to be awesome. And it IS coming here, so that's cool. I might check it out some time.

Pre-Score:

I Am McLovin!



Title: Traitor.

Pre-Thoughts: Again, a movie with mixed reviews. Some say it's a boggle of good and bad. Some say it's an epic in a hollywood shell. Some say one part is good and the other not-so-much (kinda in the same way Hancock was described). But I thought the trailers made it look pretty good. And I'm not usually into political thrillers, either, so that's saying something. I might give this a look at some point, too. If not in theater, then definitely a rental. I do wanna see it eventually.

Pre-Score:

I Am McLovin!



Title: College.

Pre-Thoughts: Drake Bell and... a couple other guys... who are still in high school end up going to check out college campuses and getting mixed up in some crazy stuff... huh. At most, it'd be interesting to see Drake Bell in a lead role in something other than a Nickelodeon show or a TV commercial. And there are parts of the trailer that look kinda funny. But I don't know if I'll check this one out in theater. I'll probably see it eventually. I just don't think I'd wanna use my precious time and money (and they are precious) on it in theater.

Pre-Score:

Stop Saying Okay! Okay.

R2D2... The One With Trailers.

Just wanted to give a quick update on some random thoughts. I'm working on a new article that I'm too lazy to do right now and put up, but it's in the formation process. So here we are. I just thought I'd give some random comments on some trailers (all available trailers are linked, for those who haven't seen some that are mentioned).

-The brand new teaser trailer for Terminator Salvation has gotten my hopes up a bit. And it is Christian Bale, so that automatically boosts it up quite a few notches. Looks epic and cool.

-When the hell are they going to release the bloody trailer for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince already? The movie comes out in 4 months, and they haven't even released a teaser yet. It's ridiculous. The teaser for Twilight (which is awesome, by the way) has been out for about 2 months now, at least, and it comes out in December! Though rumors are flying that a trailer, whether it be teaser or full (hopefully full by this point in the game), is to come out with The Mummy 3. There were also rumors, though less reliable than the ones for The Mummy release, of it being released with The Clone Wars, but I wouldn't even grace that movie with my presence just to see the trailer (which I have done with movies before for a Harry Potter trailer). Whatever... just release the damn thing already.

-Speaking of Twilight, a second teaser (or at least new footage) was shown on Entertainment Tonight... it's not high quality or without narrative voice-over from the ET host, but it's still cool.

-I'm not one for political thrillers, but Traitor actually looks pretty good.

-I want to stab (in as many inventive ways as possible) whoever came up with the idea for Beverly Hills Chihuahua... and then stab them some more for putting it with that horribly so-annoying-it's-catchy song in the teaser trailer.

-Say what you want about Vin Diesel, but I'm really excited for Babylon A.D. It just looks like one awesome movie. He might not be the best actor in the world, but his action movies are always fun. This movie looks like what would happen if you mixed The Transporter with Children of Men (if the future of CoM was more high-tech). And then throw in some other awesome looking stuff...

-And some people thought Wanted looked like a Matrix rip-off? Just check out the teaser trailer for Eagle Eye. However, now that the full trailer is out, almost all similarity goes out the window, and the new trailer is awesome. I so can't wait.

-Blindness. Wow. This movie looks amazing. I'm tempted to check out the book. Spanish literature is always poetically beautiful, and the trailer for the movie alone gives that same feeling. I really can't wait for this one.

-Once again I'll mention Quarantine. The movie is a remake of [REC], an amazing Spanish horror movie, and this movie, at least from the trailer, looks like it's taking [REC] and making it even better... so here's to hoping. Though... if the ending is the same as the original movie (and they don't add to it), they totally gave the ending away in the trailer.

-Is it just me, or does it seem like the trailer for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button tells the entire movie just within its small time frame? Still, it looks good.

-The Tale of Desperaux, on the other hand, will probably be a skip for me. I attempted reading the book a while back and couldn't. I honestly couldn't get into it... though it was mostly due to the writing style (there were only a few words on each page, though the book made it feel like it was a bigger story than it really was). From my literary opinion, I don't think it's worth all the praise it's been getting. And I have no idea how they turned it into a movie... don't think I'll find out, either.

-While it is a little kid's movie (and starring the voice of Miley Cyrus), for the most part, Bolt actually looks like it could be funny... specifically the hamster in the rolling ball.

-Disaster Movie. One Word: WHY? Seriously, those movies don't even make money anymore. They're almost as bad as Uwe Boll. And none of the movies that are ever portrayed in them, or at least shown to be portrayed in them via the trailers, are even remotely close to being what the title of the movie implies. Since when were Enchanted, The Incredible Hulk, Sex and the City, Iron Man, or Juno disaster movies? The only disaster that I know of being portrayed here is The Love Guru.

Anyway, I think that's about it... all I really wanna talk about for now. Later!