Reviews

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

X-Men: First Class

The initial previews and screenshots for this "X-Men" prequel made it look like a shameless cash-in on the once compelling, now stale franchise. Thankfully, those initial impressions were grossly misleading. "X-Men: First Class" is a return to form for the series and delivers some great context for the story of the original films. It's not without its flaws (some cheesy dialogue, unnecessary sexual content) but the overall movie is very well done. The two young leads (James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender) are excellent and really supply the heart of the movie. This one's worth a look.

Bryce ***
Chase ***1/2
Landon ***
Logan ***

BANGERANG SCORE: ***

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

War Horse

"War Horse" is a beautifully shot film with a tremendous John Williams score to go along with some incredible big budget set pieces. It's just too bad that it doesn't have a very good script to match. There's a good story to be told here, but director Steven Spielberg struggles to bring it all together. The movie relies too heavily on the horse (who is obviously limited in its acting ability) to drive the movie while having the human characters come in and out of the story without really giving us time to invest in them. Some of the dialogue is groan-worthy and the young actors are often pretty one-dimensional. It's not a bad movie by any means but certainly more is expected from such a legendary director.

Bryce **1/2
Chase **1/2
Landon **1/2
Logan **1/2

BANGERANG SCORE: **1/2

Monday, January 23, 2012

Rio















Blue Sky Studio's latest outing "Rio" is a hit-and-miss flick.  It's actually a very beautiful movie.  It's intricately animated and filled with a swirl of amazing looking color designs.  Needless to say, it's easy on the eyes.  If only the dialogue and characters were as crisp and fascinating as the visuals.  Some characters can be occasionally really funny while others are irritatingly annoying.  The director tries to throw in a musical mix into the concoction and it just doesn't mix very well.  This isn't a bad movie at all, and it's sure that kids and young teenagers will really enjoy it.  Anybody older, maybe not quite as much.

Landon **1/2

BANGERANG SCORE: **1/2

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Thor

"Thor" is quite a bit different than any other super hero movie ever grace the silver screen. The premise alone is extremely unique (what other comic book character is based in real-life Norse mythology?) and it's all the better for it given the endless wave of super hero movies these days. The special effects are tremendous, the characters are likeable, and the story actually carries some solid dramatic weight. This is one of the better additions to Marvel's movie library.  Even if the "The Avengers" was never in the works, "Thor" would still be a really good movie on its own, which is much more than I can say about the other recent "Avenger" prequels. Definitely see this one.

Bryce ***
Chase ***

BANGERANG SCORE: ***

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

Many would argue that Guy Ritchie's second entry in the "Sherlock Holmes" canon is more of the same thing and to a certain degree, it is. The story moves a little too quickly, back-stories are still pretty flat, and some of the content (especially with Holmes' brother) felt totally out of place and unnecessary. So why does it still receive a recommendation? While it still has its problems, this "Holmes" film is executed much better than the first time around. It's funnier, better looking, the action is fantastic and the dialogue is much more clever and focused. Even though the narrative is hard to follow, it's much more interesting, throwing in themes of tyranny and European domination. Many who didn't like the original outing may not be won over by this second film, but those who enjoyed the first film will like this one even more. It's a lot of fun and definitely worth your time

Landon ***

BANGERANG SCORE: ***

Friday, January 20, 2012

Super 8


















Director J.J. Abrams attempts to bring us this generation's version of "E.T." or "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" with "Super 8" and is pretty successful. He does a masterful job replicating the look and feel of the classic 70's and 80's Spielberg films. It's hard not to admire the themes of mystery and child-like wonder Abrams conveys in the movie as well as the themes of family, friendship, and heartbreak. Unfortunately, the kids in the film uncomfortably curse way too often and the story telling isn't quite as polished as the aforementioned classics. Nevertheless, this is a very good movie with good performances, great special effects and a terrific score that definitely gets our recommendation.

Bryce ***
Chase ***
Landon ***1/2
Logan ***

BANGERANG SCORE: ***

The Muppets

The Muppets return to the big screen in this fun and nostalgic retread of the classic franchise. It's not quite a homerun, but "The Muppets" does enough to wet the appetite of longtime fans who grew up with these characters. However, it runs a little too much on nostalgia and probably won't win very many new fans. The original songs by Bret McKenzie of "Flight of the Conchords" fame are fantastic and add a fresh element to the tried-and-true Muppet formula, but if you weren't into the Muppets growing up, they probably aren't enough to justify the price of admission. If you were, this is a pretty good stroll down memory lane.

Bryce **1/2

BANGERANG SCORE: **1/2

Thursday, January 12, 2012

Moneyball
















The premise of "Moneyball" is one of the most unique and fascinating in the history of the sports genre. It's a day-to-day look into the professional life of a major sports general manager, and it's a very good movie. Brad Pitt is excellent as Oakland A's GM Billy Beane, a brash sports executive who changed the way teams are built in the major leagues by focusing more on raw numbers than gut instinct. The film tries to be part biopic, part sports movie, and part business drama but doesn't quite tie them all together as neatly as it could have. However, this is the best sports movie in years and definitely deserves a look.

Bryce ***
Chase ***
Landon ***
Logan ***

BANGERANG SCORE: ***