Movie Marathon

Went on a movie marathon over the weekend and finished three.

Ted – About a teddy bear who came to life, I originally planned to watch this with Jeanne. But Leslie and Raine warned me that it’s not for kids. So I watched it, without Jeanne. It’s a comedy about a 35 year old with the aforementioned teddy bear that he never outgrew. Yeah, sometimes we never outgow our teddy bears aka our childhood. You know those people, those who always say “Because you/he/she/they…” and never taking cognizance of their own part of events. In this case, it’s always because of teddy bear. Poor teddy. Good thing he can talk and defend himself. There are also fun cameos of Sam Jones (Flash Gordon! Yeah I’m an 80s kid) and Tom Skerritt (Top Gun! Another 80s kid thing) and Ryan Reynolds (finally something not 80s: 2010 Sexiest Man Alive). Rating 2/5

Premium Rush – Shows that you can write an interesting yarn about anything. Who would’ve thought that a movie about bike messengers would actually be interesting? It’s a movie about a bike messenger who got a delivery for something that turns out to be worth a lot of money. Of course, somebody has to be after the money for it to be interesting. That’s the premise and amidst a lot of bike-to-bike and bike-to-car chases turned out to be quiet entertaining. Rating 3/5

Fire with Fire – Nothing notable, just a run-of-the-mill action movie. It’s about a fireman who witnessed the leader of a white supremacist outlaw gang (black gangsters are passe, these days they play semi-good guys) kill a convenience store owner and his son. For Jeremy’s protection, he was put into the witness protection program. Now I’m sure you have noticed how it seems to always becomes more dangerous when someone gets admitted into the program. And, not surprisingly, that’s exactly what happened. Soon hired guns were gunning for the fireman and he figured the best way to get out of the mess is to gun for the gang leader. Fighting fire with fire, yeah. But a Glock 21 helps, too. Fun enough action fix. Rating 2.5/5

The Dark Knight Rises

Yesterday, Michelle and I watched the third and last installment of Christopher Nolan’s Batman Trilogy. I am a big fan of Batman and of Nolan’s first two Batman films, Batman Begins and The Dark Knight and it’s no different with this latest and lastest.

Gotham City is no longer the crime-ridden city it once was. Because of the Batman’s and the police’s effort, the organized criminals have been all but wiped out. However, due to the events in The Dark Knight, the Batman is Gotham’s most wanted and hasn’t been seen in years. Of course, he’s still there, in his Bruce Wayne persona, in his manor. And just when you thought he can’t get any more dark, brooding, and tormented, he is. Yes, Christian Bale remains the best Batman.

However, under the peace and order, in the sewers, in a veritable subterranean city-under-a-city, lies a growing threat. Led by a mysterious villain named Bane, an army is hard at work and growing in strength. Bane can’t really measure up to The Joker of Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight but he can certainly stand on his own. He seems to be a brute but reveals a quite sophisticated plot to destroy Gotham City.

Bane’s plot unfolds and eventually culminates in extreme mayhem as Bane and his army of criminals battle it out with Batman and his army of policemen. Think Transformers but a whole lot less convoluted. And if there’s anything better than real military hardware it is Batman’s gadgets.

Christopher Nolan’s Batman films were never your ordinary superhero movies. The story was definitely not simplified. The politics and social commentary is especially not something the average superhero “graphic novel” fanboy deals with on a daily basis. This is a serious film that just happened to be a superhero movie.

Rating: 5/5

 

 

Soldier of God

Soldier of God takes place in the Holy Land during the time of the crusades. It takes off in the aftermath of the Battle of Hattin, probably the single, most disastrous defeat for the crusaders. René, a member of the Knights Templar was wounded during the battle, captured, and taken for ransom.

For those unfamiliar with history, the Knights Templar is a Christian military order that gained fame (and notoriety) during the Crusades. All members of the order take take vows of poverty, chastity, piety, and obedience. The knights of the order are practically warriors priests. In fact, they’re the elite troops among the crusaders.

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Underworld: Awakening

If I look back the past few years, I’d be hard-pressed to name an action actress more badass than Kate Beckinsale. Yes, the lead of romance movies like Serendepity and Pearl Harbor. Now, after a short absence, she’s back in the franchise that launched her action career.  She reprises her role as Selene, a vampire “death dealer” (that means exactly what it says). The story  is frankly ho-hum: The humans found out about vampires and lycans and, with the help of UV flashlights and silver bullets, set out exterminating them. Fast-forward 12 years later and Selene awakens from cryo-stasis, freed by a mysterious benefactor and soon after escapes from captivity. She later finds her liberator, not her mate as she expected, but her progeny. She also finds a world where humans are still vigorously hunting the remnants of the vampires but strangely less so the lycans. Digging through the mystery, she finds a powerful pack of lycans planning on harvesting her daughter as a source for biological fixer-uppers. That’s a big no-no and she proceeded to shoot and slice through the lycans in the coolest, most impossible, matter-of-fact way possible. Did I say Kate Beckinsale is badass? Hell, yeah!