Reviews

"When I saw you, I believed it was a sign... that something new can come into this world." Plot: A civil war veteran named John Carter is magically transported to Mars which is inhabited by green 12-foot, four armed barbarians known as the Tharks, and humans who are almost as technologically advanced as we are. Carter finds he has super-strength due to his bone density. Before long he becomes involved in a war that if not won by the city of Helium might spill over to Earth.

Directed by Andrew Stanton( A Bug's Life, Finding Nemo, Wall-E) and based on the novels by Edgar Rice Burrows(who makes an appearance as Carter's nephew), John Carter is a movie that could have been a masterpiece had it not been for the terrible script. It is almost like the writers, well if you can call them that, took the script from James Cameron's Avatar, crossed out a few things, added a minor plot point here and there, and called it a day. The Tharks are the Na'vi, Mars is Pandora, even how Carter got to Mars is nearly identical to how Jake Sully got transferred into his Avatar body, etc. The rest of the plot is taken from every Disney movie involving a princess. When it isn't doing those things it's ripping off Star Wars as well. There were countless times I either groaned or laughed when making the connections. There's nothing original about it. NOTHING. Now I haven't read the books, so it is quite possible James Cameron could have ripped off them, but until I am corrected I stand by my opinion that the script is absolute rubbish. It blows my mind that the man who gave us such treasures such as Wall-E and Finding Nemo could give us such a measly script. John Carter is such a bonehead his character to the point where he becomes unlikeable. He is put into situations that he could have simply avoided by speaking up. But maybe that makes him more human, still that doesn't give him the right to be a total idiot. That isn't the fault of actor Taylor Kitsch, who does OK despite what he's been given. Lynn Collins was the perfect choice for the role if Princess Dejah Thoris. She is both beautiful and a joy to watch. Dominic Cooper and Mark Strong as always make good villains. Willem Dafoe, Thomas Hayden Church, Samantha Morton, and Polly Walker( Atia of the Julii in the short lived but fantastic series Rome) all do great as the voices of the Tharks. My only problem is the miscasting of James Purefoy(who also starred in Rome) who's role as the Princess's right hand man is so minor they could have just done without him. Still even though he has only 10 or so lines, he still manages to stand out a bit. In my opinion Purefoy should have had Cooper's role as he also would have made a good villain. Breaking Bad's Brian Kranston makes a short but good appearance. Kids will enjoy the dog-like six legged creature. He is primarily used for comic relief, but doesn't overdo it like Jar Jar Binks did in Star Wars: Episode 1- The Phantom Menace. But the greatest things about this movie are the costumes and effects. The costumes alone make this movie worth checking out and should be nominated in next year's Academy Awards. The same goes for the effects, but even those can't match Avatar's. Another thing I enjoyed was the landscape effects and cinematography. We are treated to sweeping shots of the Martian surface with ancient ruins even though it looks like Utah where it was filmed. The shots are nice but I never really felt as if I was on Mars. One final thing I enjoyed was the use of the color blue. Rather it be the blood, or the color of the characters' eyes, it really sticks out from the red and rustic colors. All in all I wasn't that impressed with it due to the fact that it IS a rip-off of Avatar and offers nothing new, but I did like a few things about it. Kids might enjoy it, but don't count on too many adults giving it high praise, because in the end, it is just another mindless action movie. Total Score: 4.8/10 Correction: Turns out Avatar did rip off the Princess of Mars books, but this movie could have still changed a few things around in order for the two films to not be exactly alike and it fails in the areas where Avatar succeeded.

"I want that man! You give him to me now, or I'm gonna take him!" Plot: A man wakes up in the middle of the desert with a strange bracelet on his arm and no memory of who he is or what has landed him in this place. He makes his way to a nearby town where he learns he is a wanted man. Not long after, strange flying machines attack the town and begin to snatch up people left and right. After all of it is over the man, who's name is Jake teams up with a wealthy Civil War vet who's son was taken and a mysterious girl who believes she and Jake can help each other. With a gang of rag tag villagers and criminals, they set out to rescue the missing townspeople and uncover Jake's past. I can't, for the life of me understand why director Jon Favreau(Iron Man 1 & 2, Elf), or any other sane person for that matter would choose to commit to such a terrible script. I have really enjoyed Favreau's other work until now. It also amazes me that Ron Howard and Steven Spielberg were actually involved in this as well. You'd think with their talent, they would have stepped in and gotten a better screenwriter to rewrite it. Writer Roberto Orci who also wrote last year's disastrous Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, is back at it again and this time doing even worse. There's no doubt in my mind that he'll win the Razzie award for worst screenplay for the second time in a row. The plot never really takes off and just lumbers along for the entire two hour run time, not to mention the laugh out loud terrible twist. Every Western and Sci-fi cliché in the book is in here somewhere. I didn't care for any of the cardboard characters. There were many times when I either shook my head or laughed at how horrible it was. Terrible writing aside, the acting isn't much better. It is painful to watch Harrison Ford, my childhood hero, mumble awful dialogue throughout the entire movie. I ask you Mr. Ford, where are my heroes? Where is the Indiana Jones and Han Solo who I looked up to? Where?! Another person I was disappointed in was Sam Rockwell. I loved him in Moon and Iron Man 2, but all he does in this is shoot off unfunny one liners. Paul Dano, who has a lot of talent wastes it here by playing an unconvincing spoiled brat. And lastly Noah Ringer. I have heard he was terrible in The Last Airbender and I assume he's no better in this. He's just annoying. The entire time I kept thinking; "Oh please just go back to the town so we don't have to hear your whining." OK but awful stuff aside, this movie isn't a complete failure. I didn't find Daniel Craig's acting to be that good nor bad. He was just OK. I have never enjoyed action movies that much but I was impressed with all of the thrilling and exciting action sequences, even if most of them are downright cheesy. Add the always beautiful Olivia Wilde to the mix and at least you have something to look at. I was also impressed with the aliens even though after the first time we see them, they aren't very frightening. They look like a cross between the Super 8 monster, the Kraken from the remake of Clash of the Titans, and a fish. But all in all, if you're just going to see it for the action, you may have a good time, but if you pay attention to the writing whatsoever, then you'll absolutely hate it. This isn't the worst movie of the year(Battle: Los Angeles takes that spot), but it's definitely in my top five. Extremely disappointing. Total Score: 3.5/10

"I've seen it... nobody believes me..." "I believe you." If E.T., Cloverfield, and The Goonies had a baby, this would be it. Plot: In 1979, A group of young friends filming a zombie movie for the local film festival witness a horrific train crash near their small town. Afterwards strange things begin happening. People go missing, dogs run away only to be found in the next county, and electronic appliances are stolen. Things get more strange when the military shows up. The friends along with one of the friend's father, a sheriff's deputy begin to realize that that was no ordinary train crash. Director J.J Abrams once again shows that he is one of the best directors in Hollywood. Keep in mind that this the guy who actually got me to like Star Trek. This isn't just a monster movie but a coming-of-age movie as well. It has elements of a drama as well as elements of a classic sci-fi/ monster movie. The main character, Joe Lamb, lost his mother in an industrial accident four months before the events of the film and still hasn't let go. His father, a sheriff's deputy hasn't really let go either. Unlike most movie nowadays, I actually cared about the characters. Each is well developed. Heck, even the monster has more character depth than most of the characters in some of the movies released this year. As for the acting, I thought it was pretty good except for Ron Eldard, who while not bad, just isn't as good as the rest of the actors. I have got to say I was impressed with Elle Fanning. I loved her performance in Sofia Coppola's Somewhere and she does just as good if not better in this. I really do think she has the potential to outshine her older sister. While there are many references to Steven Spielberg's(who produced this movie) earlier films such as E.T. and Jaws, Super 8 is a movie that stands on it's own. I'll be very surprised if this doesn't get nominated for any Oscars. This is without a doubt the best film of the summer and I'll be first in line to by it on Blu-Ray the day it comes out. Until then I'd gladly pay another 10 bucks to go see it again which I have no doubt that I will. Total Score: 9.2/10

An excellent Drama/Thriller that is a true achievement in both film and art. Before I continue I must point out that this film is NC-17. Plot: An American teenage drug dealer is killed in Tokyo. He sees his life pass before his eyes and then comes back as a ghost to watch over his sister as a result of a pact they made long ago when their parents died. A majority of the film is seen from the main character's eyes(when he is alive) which gives us a look at what he is seeing under the influence of hallucinogenic drugs. This is extremely trippy yet beautiful. (On a side note, if you a prone to having seizures, I strongly advise that you avoid watching this.) It is also shot from top-down view which gives us the feeling of hovering over the characters. It's extremely lengthy takes make this movie more amazing. The cenimatography is one of the best things about this movie. But what I found VERY creepy is the fact that the brother and sister are a little too close. Nothing physical is ever shown but it's sort of implied that the sister loves her brother a little too much. I must also say I found the abortion scene and the overly graphic sex scenes to be a little much. Also there is a ten minute long scene towards the end that made me feel extremely uncomfortable sitting there watching it. Yet I applaud director Gaspar Noe for going all out and holding back nothing. Even though there are some very explicit scenes, they don't dull the film's brilliance and I will say it is one the best films I've seen in while. This is one of those movies that you must see before you die and sitting through the uncomfortable parts is well worth it. I am deeply considering buying it on Blu-ray. Total Score: 8.5/10

A mindless action movie with no plot, no character development whatsoever, awful dialogue, and an awful script that seemed to come from an elementary school kid. A pretty stupid movie over all with few entertaining scenes. Plot: Aliens invade Earth with the intent on wiping out the human race so they can take Earth's most plentiful resource: water. Focusing mostly on the invasion of Los Angeles, the paper thin story follows a platoon of soldiers as they try to stop the alien threat. Director Johnathan Liebesman(Darkness Falls, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning) once again shows us that he is deaf to what makes a good movie. His first movie, Darkness Falls was one of the worst movies of all time in my opinion.(A killer tooth fairy? Really?) While this much better than that, this is still no where near average. I have a question, if the aliens have such advanced technology, wouldn't it just be easier to take the water undetected rather than killing every living human? By the way, the aliens look like rotten baked potatos with computer parts attached to them. Even though this movie is full of action and warfare, I found myself bored. The characters are very forgettable and most of the time I couldn't tell them apart. Aaron Eckhart's and Michelle Rodriguez's characters are the only ones I can really remember, well and that other guy with the glasses but even they didn't really have any depth. Eckhart seemed out of place here, a good actor surrounded by mediocre actors. i couldn't take any of them seriously. Another thing that really got on my nerves was the shaky camera. I realize that it was there to add intensity to the movie, but it was almost like they gave a chimp a camera. The emotional scenes are laughable even though there was one part which I found to be sad, but all of the other "sad" parts are like; "Oh he's dead. Oh well it inevitable. From the start of the movie, you almost immediately know who's going to make it and who isn't. It's just a matter of time before an alien pops out and shoots them or an explosion happens and they are too close to it. Bad stuff aside, this movie does have a few good scenes, some good humor, and some cool effects,but that's about it. This about 30 times better than Skyline. With a better script and a more experienced director, this could have been something great, but it's not. Can't we get a good alien invasion movie?!?!!? Score:3.7/10

A brutal and at times disturbing Drama/Thriller. I wouldn't call it an action movie because it's so much more than that. As violent as it is, it is also beautiful in a way. Plot: In the near future society is on the verge of collapse. School children boycott schools and begin rioting. Out of fear and desperation to regain control, the Japanese government passes an act that as punishment the chosen students must fight to the death on a deserted island in a reality show type game until there is only one left alive. This chronicles a chosen 9th grade class. Some give up immediately by suicide, others band together and try to find a way off the island, while some just enjoy the killing. Be warned this is a very violent and bloody film(but it isn't really any more bloody than Kill Bill: Vol 1). The whole concept of teenagers being pitted against each other to fight to the death is disturbing but it raises the questions; "How far would you go to survive? Would you kill your best friend or sacrifice yourself to save them?" Despite it's violence, this is a pretty good movie. This movie shows that even in the worst of situations a bond can be formed that will never be broken. Most of the characters are well developed and it's sad to see most of them meet a violent end. While watching the movie, I got a "Lord of the Flies" vibe from it and anyone who has read the book has to check this out. I really enjoyed the ending, it's touching and I don't want to spoil anything but it ends on a sort of happy note. and I will say this I shed a tear. I've heard that the sequel isn't as good but I still want to see it and see what the surviving characters are doing. As violent as this movie is, it's one of those movies you must see. See More

The 3rd best movie of 2010 in my opinion. Plot: A young girl sets out with a U.S. Marshal and a Texas ranger to avenge the death of her father. I have never particularly enjoyed Western movies, but I really liked this. Directed by the Coen Brothers(No Country for Old Men,O Brother, Where Art Thou?, The Big Labowksi, and Fargo),craft a fantastic Aventure/Drama. I still cannot believe this is a remake. I have never seen the original but judging the ratings it's got, this may be one of the few remakes that is actually better than the original. This movie is a pretty graphic movie despite it's PG-13 rating, but I was surprised to find the movie hilarious at times. Most of the hilarity comes from Jeff Bridges's character and he definitely deserves an Oscar for this. His character is a drunk and dry humored aging marshal. I'm sure his accent will be mimicked to death, just like Borat, Austin Powers and Forrest Gump's. Matt Damon plays a cocky Texas ranger and Josh Brolin plays the outlaw that killed the girl's father. All of the acting is good. Other than Bridges's performance, I really enjoyed Hailee Steinfeld who plays the girl. I see a bright future in acting ahead of her. Also I must mention Barry Pepper, barely recognizable under the make up is fantastic the short time he is on screen. I would definitely recommend this to any Coen Brothers fan and anybody looking for a good adventure movie. Even if western movies aren't your cup of tea, you will still enjoy this.

"The only person standing in your way is you." The best movie of the year in my opinion. Plot: A Ballet dancer drifts deeper into insanity as her big day as The Swan Queen in Swan Lake apporoaches. Director Darren Aronofsky(Requiem for a Dream, The Fountain, The Wrestler) gives a dark but unique atmoshere to this psychological thriller. Almost everything about this movie is perfect aside from one or two laughably bad moments. The movie has some pretty freaky moments and a few that may make you cringe but that just adds to the intensity But the best part about this movie is Natalie Portman. This is her best performance in my opinion. I'll be very surprised if she doesn't get nominated for an Oscar and I'll be angry if she doesn't win that Golden Globe she's been nominated for. She at least deserves that. She made her character so realistic. Mila Kunis is good to but she's nowhere near as good as Portman. Film makers, take note on this. This how to make a perfect film.

Note: I did not finish the book because I found it to be boring unlike the previous books. But after seeing this I'll finish reading it. Plot: The two youngest Pevensie children return to Narnia with their annoying cousin. I didn't find it as good as the previous two but still good. Maybe I'm just getting older but I found some of the characters(or it could be the writing) to be very annoying more so than the previous movies. For example, the character Lucy is always stating the obvious. Now that it comes to mind, the characters have retained their most annoying traits from the first two movies. Lucy is still too curious for her own good and Edmund still whines about how he's never able to be the one in charge and how he wants to be the alpha male. About the 3D, I really didn't see the need for it save for a few scenes. Those are pretty much the only negative things that come to mind about the movie even though I'm sure it has some minor but insignificant flaws that be easily overlooked. I must give credit to Simon Pegg for taking over the role of Reepicheep after Eddie Izzard decided not to return. While not as funny as Izzard, Pegg still makes Reepicheep a good and lovable character. Will Poulter who plays Eustace, really hit the nail with the character. He just as annoying as he was in what I've read of the book. The movie isn't as action packed as "Prince Caspian" but I will say I was most impressed with the sea serpent battle. Another small problem i just remembered was the ending. Not to spoil anything but it's pretty much the exact same as "Prince Caspian's" ending. All in all this is an enjoyable movie despite a few problems that could have been avoided if it had better scriptwriters.

Plot: On an island off the coast of Delaware, two rival families that have lived there for generations clash with each other. One family thinks the people turned zombies should stay dead while the other holds onto the slim chance that there might be cure someday or that the zombies can be taught to feed on other things instead of human flesh. It all changes when a soldier and the people with him arrive. I love George A. Romero but after this I think he's losing his touch or maybe he's just trying a different approach which in my opinion, fails. I didn't care about most of the characters and I thought it lagged at times. Don't get me wrong, it has some pretty scary parts and some pretty funny moments and I did find the cheesy twist to be OK. But it just doesn't seem like the pioneer and king of zombie movies did it. But it is better than most of the crappy straight to DVD zombie movies out there. According to the movie and my guesswork, I would say this movie takes place after Diary of The Dead(which to me takes place at the same time as Night of The Living Dead), a few days before Dawn of The Dead(not the remake if you'd even call it one because both share only some similarities), before Day of The Dead and a few months or possibly a few years before the events of Land of The Dead. I have loved all of the ...... of The Dead movies up until this one which I found to be OK. But I'm sticking with Romero till the very end.

Directed by The Strause brothers(Aliens vs Predator 2: Requiem), Skyline is a mediocre film at best and just like Aliens vs Predator 2 this movie has an awful story, awful characters, and awful dialouge. This has to be some of the worst writing in a movie this year. The dialouge is so bad it's funny with lines such as; "We need to survive." and "Don't make me hurt you." It looks like they tried to give the characters some depth but just gave up and the characters end up looking like stupid morons. I didn't care about any of them. This movie should have been called "What Not to do in an Alien Invasion" The movie never gives us a clear reason as to why the aliens came to earth other than to suck out our brains which the aliens use as a battery to power themselves and their machinery. The story is stupid because we never see what's going on elsewhere. The acting is also terrible. David Zayas got on my nerves with his speech impediment. I usually like Donald Faison(Turk from Scrubs), but he just isn't good in this, playing the sort of stereotypical black guy. Brittany Daniel, while I found her funny in Joe Dirt and It's always Sunny in Philadelphia, in this I kept thinking; "Just die already." I found the ending to be lame, stupid, and hilarious. I was like; "Really Strause Brothers, you are going to go in that direction." The only good thing about this movie are the effects but even they seem to get worse as the movie goes on. There are like two action sequences which are OK. The Strause brothers need to go back to creating special effects for movies instead of making them, because effects seem to be the only thing that they are good at. In the end all this movie is is an Independence Day rip-off.

A masterpiece despite having some very disturbing parts. Stanley Kubrick(2001: A Space Odyssey, The Shining, Full Metal Jacket, Eyes Wide Shut) brings to life Anthony Burgess's dystopian novel in which a teenage boy named Alex and his gang go around terrrorizing(assault, rape) innocent people for fun. Alex is caught after an accidental murder and sent to prison and is put through a rehabilitation program which makes him sick whenever he has thoughts of violence and sex. There were times when I cringed and turned away. The rape scenes made me want to vomit, but most of the disturbing parts take place within the first hour. After that the rest of the movie isn't that bad. What surprised me about the movie is it's underlying tone of comedy. There are a few parts that are actually really funny. The acting is top notch especially Malcolm McDowell. His character, Alex has to be one of the scariest main character/villains of all time. After seeing what he does you kind of want to see him pay the price for his actions. While I was watching the movie Alex reminded me of Eric Cartman from South Park. Cartman was definitely modeled after Alex. All in all it's a fantastic movie but I would advise that you fast forward through the disturbing parts.

Not as good a send off as I'd hoped and in a small way it's an "F you" to Saw fans. But I still didn't think it was terrible despite it's many flaws such as some pretty fake looking make-up effects(the blood is clearly pink sometimes and there are a lot of pretty fake looking bodies). A lot of the dialogue is bad and I don't know if that was intentionally played for laughs or just bad writing. Also there are never any twists which was part of the reason that made the Saw franchise so good in the first place. and not much is revealed except something I won't say because it would ruin the movie even though it's pretty obvious. The story isn't as good as it could have been. The story is what drew me in to the franchise,but in this one it's pretty bland. It has pretty much the same basic plot line as 3,4,and 6. But there are good things to be found in this movie. Most of the acting is pretty bad but there are few actors and actresses that are good such as Betsy Russell and Tobin Bell who by the way doesn't have enough screen time as he did in the previous movies. Some of the 3D effects are good even though most of the time it's just body parts, and sharp poles being flung at the audience.(by the way the gore is sometimes a little disturbing and there were a few times where I felt like gagging.) It's also nice to see most of the survivors from the previous films even though they don't really do anything to progess the story and most don't have dialogue, and are only there to show that they truly survived. All in all I found this to be a pretty disappointing ending to a good mystery/crime/horror franchise but it has good moments but if you can don't pay 13.50 for this. Wait till it comes out on Blu-ray and Netflix.

Finally a movie that balances horror and comedy almost perfectly. Yes it's cheesy but it's supposed to be. To be perfectly honest I had VERY low expectations for this movie. Plot: A group of tourists go on a haunted swamp tour during Mardi Gras and are stalked by a deformed swamp red neck. The movie stars Joel Moore(Norm Spellman for any of my fellow "James Cameron's Avatar" fans) and has some great cameos from some great horror icons such as Robert Englund from the "A Nightmare on Elm Street" series, Tony Todd from "Candyman" and a few of the "Final Destination" movies, and Kane Hodder who played Jason Vorhees in the "Friday The 13th" movies. The movie pokes fun at other horror movies as with characters like the stereotypical extremely dumb blonde, the stereotypical black dude(Deon Richmond plays the same type of character in this as he did in "Not Another Teen Movie"), the stereotypical Asian dude, and the happy old tourist couple. All of the characters are pretty funny despite poor acting jobs. But be warned, there is a lot of extremely gory scenes and deaths, so if you can't handle gore then don't watch this, heck even I almost gagged a few times. All in all despite being cheesy this movie offers some great jump scenes and some pretty funny jokes.

Plot: Follows the true story of the kidnapping and eventual murder of 15 year old Nicholas Markowitz(Anton Yelchin). His kidnappers treat him well and hes OK with it because he doesn't want to cause any trouble for his half brother(Ben Foster) who owes money to the drug dealing leader of the gang, Jesse James Hollywood(E...mile Hirsch). Written and directed by Nick Cassavetes(The Notebook, My Sister's Keeper) this movie is a change of pace from those movies, this involving many intense scenes(the last 20 minutes being the most disturbing), strong drug use, violence, and strong language(twice as many F bombs as Superbad). It's hard to believe Cassavetes wrote this but I still thought it was a good Crime/Drama. All of the actors do a good job such as Sharon Stone, Bruce Willis, and Harry Dean Stanton(Alien fans may remember him as the guy who had the Alien's inner mouth impale him through the head). Chris Marquette brings some much needed comic relief to an otherwise very serious movie. This movie is good but the last 20 minutes kinda bothered me.

Decent movie, but in my opinion the worst of the series. It didn't really serve a purpose. It didn't really do anything for the series and nothing is explained. It starts off great but as the movie progresses it becomes clear that this movie has no story whatsoever. Nothing important happens. I loved the action sequence...s, special effects, and the acting by Milla Jovovich and Ali Larter. But Wentworth Miller and Shawn Roberts who plays Albert Wesker are just awful. Spencer Locke(Couger Town, Resident Evil 3) just doesn't have enough screen time to show her potential. It's nice to finally see Boris Kodjoe on the big screen instead of a straight to DVD movie like StarShip Troopers 3. He was the best actor in ST3. Out of all Paul W.S. Anderson's movies this is his worst. This movie had potential to be good but I know there are a lot of people out there who hate is movies, but I personally enjoyed Event Horizon and Aliens Vs Predator. All in all I was excited to see this and had high hopes for it but it left me disappointed. I don't want to spoil anything but there will be a sequel which I HOPE will be better and actually have a story.

This movie answers the question; What would happen if The Blair Witch Project and The Exorcist had a baby? This would be it, a mildly entertaining but boring at times horror movie. The story revolves around a pastor who used to do exorcisms but after seeing what science has done for his disabled son starts to question his faith and goes out to disprove exorcisms thinking they are nothing more than a mental disorder. He gets a letter from a man who claims that his daughter is possessed by the devil or another demon. He goes and tries to preform his "last exorcism". The movie is well written and how they cast relatively unknown actors and actresses. The movie starts out slow and stays slow for the next hour but the at the last forty mins, it picks up and the last fifteen mins are when it gets scary. I really thought the ending was good. The thing that brings this movie down for me is the long periods of time when it's just boring. I really did not care about any of the characters. This movie is good at times but it's all been done before.See More

Alexandre Aja(High Tension, The Hills Have Eyes remake, Mirrors) knows how to make a good horror movie and a great remake(this and The Hills Have Eyes) He could be the next Wes Craven. Aja never shies away from gore and gross death scenes and this movie shows it. The people who worked on this knew it was going to be stupid no matter what and use it to their advantage.I don't like the guys who wrote the screenplay(Josh Stolberg and Peter Goldfinger) also wrote Sorority Row which I thought was downright awful. But then again I wont condemn them for one awful movie. Stolberg also wrote Good Luck Chuck, which I thought was OK besides the fact that Dane Cook was in it(who I dislike). Anyway back to the movie, I was reading that Richard Dreyfuss plays "Matt Hooper" and anybody who's seen Jaws knows that he played the character with the same name. It could be speculated that this movie takes place in the same universe. Hooper could have that the ocean wasn't his true calling and moved to Arizona. Christopher Lloyd plays a character similar to his character "Doctor Emmett Brown" in the Back to The Future" movies. Jerry O'Connell plays a character similar to Joe Francis and for anybody who doesn't know who he is, he created Girls Gone Wild. Not to spoil anything but O'Connell's character dies in a way that will make every guy in the audience cringe. But it isn't really graphic and because his character is a total jerk, it kinda makes it funny. I heard that the effects were pretty bad, but I thought they were good. I mean it's nothing like Avatar, but still. I found the gore effects and make-up to be pretty well done. and yes most if not all the scenes involving the piranhas attacking people are very graphic. If you can't handle gore, THIS IS NOT A MOVIE FOR YOU! The only real problems I had were that the dialogue was just plain awful at times such as the same line being used over and over again and that the very last scene is in the previews, so you see it coming from a mile away. To me this is a great way to end the summer and fantastic as far as remakes go.