Reviews

An Iron Man movie? I was worried! How could they make this work? Robert Downey, Jr. as Tony Stark? Jeff "the dude" bridges as the villain? I couldn't wait to see how this turned out!

When I left the theater, I was so thrilled! A new superhero movie to watch over and over again. Robert Downey, Jr. was perfect casting. So darn witty, funny, charming, smart, cocky, vulnerable, fun, tough. He did a great job in the dramatic moments and brought the laughs in the lighter moments. There is a real change in the character throughout the movie. Gwenyth Paltrow is beautiful and her Pepper Potts is wonderful. The chemistry between her and Downey, Jr. is fantastic. Terrence Howard does a good job playing Colonel Rhodes. You can tell Rhodes and Stark are best pals. There's a nice little tease here dealing with Rhodes character and an Iron Man suit. Jeff Bridges as the villain? So great! One of my favorite actors for sure! Paul Bettany as the A.I. (good choice) Jarvis? Another genius idea.

Jon Favreau did a wonderful job with this movie. He actually managed to pull this off, making The Avengers movie possible. Iron Man is a total blast! Favreau trusts his actors to really give their all, keeps the pace up, and the tone light. He even gets to play a role in the film, nice one Jon!

There are so many great moments: watching Tony Stark escape in the Mark I, building his signature suit, saving people's lives, battling Iron Monger, every scene with Tony and Pepper! The special effects in this film are amazing.

The final fight between Iron Man and Stane was not on par with the rest of the movie though. Maybe not epic enough, too short?

Iron Man flies by. It's a great time! Action packed, funny, great special effects, great performances especially Robert Downey, Jr. And that ending- "I AM Iron Man." Woah!

After the spectacular first one, I was definitely looking forward to Iron Man 2! Robert Downey, Jr. was so good as Tony Stark, he brought Iron Man into my top list of favorite super heroes! I was very glad to hear he was back for the sequel. He doesn't disappoint! Tony is as arrogant and hilarious as ever while still kicking butt as Iron Man. Though, this time around, he's having some issues- the arc reactor in his chest is poisoning him, he's having daddy issues, there's a new villain 'Whiplash' (a great Mickey Rourke), a competitive weapons manufacturer Justin Hammer (played wonderfully by Sam Rockwell), the government wants his suit. So much to deal with but I enjoy watching Tony deal with all of it. We also get to learn more about his father, Howard Stark. Legacy is very important in this movie.

The acting is great all around, with Robert, Sam, Mickey all having fun. Gwenyth Paltrow is beautiful as ever though her role here mostly consists of being stressed out over running Stark's company. Don Cheadle takes over for Terrence Howard as Rhodes and he does a pretty good job. I only really started to like him towards the end where I felt the most that he was Tony's best friend. Scarlett kicks some serious butt here but I thought her performance was only alright. If only the script gave her more to work with.

There are some sweet action sequences like the Monaco race/Whiplash attack and Iron Man vs. War Machine/Drones/Whiplash climax. Watching Scarlett take on all those guards was a treat! So was seeing Sam Jackson as Nick Fury. Iron Man and War Machine fighting side by side? EPIC! Negatives? Maybe too much talking, the middle portion is a bit slow, Rhodes wasn't all that likable until the end, the fight between Iron Man/War Machine and Whiplash was too brief, Whiplash felt a bit too one-dimensional which was sad when you think of how the character could have been without all the editing.

Still, Iron Man 2 is a fun sequel with a ton of humor, great lines, interesting story, heart, action, and fun performances.

TEMPLE OF DOOM! There is a lot of hate for this flick! It's not my favorite but I still have love for it. Harrison Ford rocks as Indiana Jones. The perfect fit! His little sidekick Short Round is actually useful and fun. You can tell Indy cares for this kid. Stinks Willie Scott is so annoying. A damsel in constant distress, squealing and screaming! Being pretty is not enough. Mola Ram was a creepy villain for sure.

Indy takes on the Thuggee Cult that has taken captive the children of a small village in India. If Indy gets the sacred Shankara stone back, all will be well. This is definitely a dark episode. A man's heart gets ripped out and children are enslaved. Lots of nasty bugs! There is some fun to be had though in Shanghai and the mine cart chase! The trio also jump out of an airplane on a blowup raft! Indy really gets to use his signature whip here which is a plus! He also has another fight with a huge henchman played by Pat Roach, the same guy who played the huge Nazi that gets shredded by propellers in RAIDERS.

TEMPLE OF DOOM is not as good as the other entries but that doesn't mean it's completely terrible. A change up in formula with no Nazis, Russians, or biblical artifacts. Harrison Ford is great as always as Indy. There's plenty of action and some humor. Wish Short Round came back in the other films. Check it out if you like Indiana Jones.

When they announced this sequel, I was so excited! I loved Terminator 1 and 2. I even liked 3, but it was nowhere near the level of the others. Still fun, moved the story along, a great ending with judgment day finally happening.

My excitement grew even more learning that it was set in the future with people like Christian Bale, Sam Worthington, Conrad Buff, Shane Hurlbut, and others helping out. McG was an interesting choice, wasn't too confident about him. Watching the behind the scenes, gave me a little more confidence in him because of his huge passion for the movie.

I finally got to watch the movie and I was conflicted. I loved that it was set in 2018 because it was the future but not the one we were used to. T600s were more popular. There were a few new Terminators in this one that really increased the threat for the remaining humans: hydrobots, aerostats, mototerminators, harvesters. The look and design of this movie was fantastic. I loved the silver tint, the sets, the terminators, the costumes. The action was pretty wild! Connor and co invading the Skynet base in the beginning and the Harvester/mototerminators sequence rocked.

The acting ranged from really good to decent. Anton Yelchin was a fantastic Kyle Reese! I really believed that he was a younger version of Michael Biehn's famous character. Sam Worthington was mysterious, tough, sympathetic, awesome! Wished we knew more about him. Christian Bale was a hardcore John Connor. Definitely a different version than the past few but I liked him. The scene where he sees the prisoners and the speech about his mother (Director's cut) showed his humanity. I also cared when he got tossed around by the Terminator at the end. His voice was similar to Batman's but that didn't bother me that much. Bryce did a pretty good job as Kate but her role wasn't big enough. Her pregnancy was also never addressed, not a good idea. Moon Bloodgood was a tough gal but her acting wasn't really that amazing and her romance with Marcus was silly. There were some sweet nods to the older films that I liked, including a cameo by a cgi/body double Arnold that was pretty neat. Surprise, Helen Bonham Carter was in this and no Tim Burton! She is always wonderful.

Now, this movie was set during the brink, but I never really got a feel for how desperate things were. Not enough suffering and death, especially in the camps. The way Kyle described it was way more intense and scary. There also wasn't enough Resistance vs. Skynet battles. I wished they provided more info on Marcus, addressed Kate's pregnancy, explained how Skynet knew about Kyle Reese, better writing/acting. The score wasn't so bad I thought, considering Danny Elfman scored it. That's not a dig at Danny, just never thought his style would have worked for this kind of movie. Interesting ending, though not the one they originally planned.

I liked Terminator Salvation, the idea/concept, and most of the execution. Some things weren't that great, could have been better, more explanation, maybe some scenes bringing us up to speed from when Judgment day happened and all these years later, but this was a welcome addition for me as it changed up the formula and the setting. I hope the next two planned sequels can improve on this one. Bring on the future war but don't forget about the characters!

"Don't ever EVER let them get into cars." - Hobbs

Especially when dragging a vault...yep!

I saw this movie with my best pals at a midnight showing. We had an absolute blast! I really dig the Fast and Furious franchise for it's fantastic mix of fast cars, pretty ladies, crazy stunts, fun action, cheesy dialogue and acting, and sense of family! This movie takes all of that and just cranks it up!

Picking up exactly where the last film ended, Fast Five continues the story with Dom, Brian, and Mia on the run in Rio. This time, they are being hunted by Hobbs, played by the huge and highly enjoyable Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. The tension in this pick is crazy! His fight scene with Dom is definitely one to remember! Many characters from the previous four movies are also in this one! Great idea, filmmakers! This movie is kinda like Ocean's Eleven with cars and you can tell the people making these films are having a blast.

The actions scenes in this one are wild! Justin Lin shoots his action clearly- no endless shaky cam! The vault-dragging scene is ridiculously sweet and one of my favorite scenes from the series! The train sequence rocks too! There's also hand-to-hand combat, shootouts, chases. Don't forget a ton of humor and each character has a moment to shine. The chemistry between the cast is fantastic. They are one big epic family. I like how these movies maintain a continuity between films (nice to see Vince in there.

Fast Five is a highly enjoyable, action film with some truly awesome action, comedy, drama, suspense! Stay after credits!

Death Race 3: Inferno was directed by Roel Reine, the same director as Death Race 2. It is a sequel to the prequel but still a prequel to the original which is a remake of Death Race 2000 (a classic!) I enjoy them all! As a Death Race movie, it has all the ingredients: beautiful ladies, sweet cars, guns, explosions, twists. But this time, the race goes to the Kalahari Desert. Great move! It was refreshing to have a new environment. It provided the opportunity to mix things up, add some warlords here and there, maybe cliffs, other stuff! Watching Frankenstein and his signature car rip around always rocks.

The same cast from the previous 2 entries in the series have also returned (the ones that make sense, anyway). Danny Trejo is always fun to watch. Tanit Pheonix is gorgeous and awesome. Luke Goss kicks butt, he rocks as Frankenstein. Ving Rhames is super cool. Dougray Scott plays Niles York, the baddie of the picture. He is one-dimensional, hammy, incredibly unlikable, couldn't wait for something to happen to him yet I enjoyed watching him do his thing. All the actors seemed to be having fun and it's contagious.

Sure, there's some editing issues (ex: navigator battle), bad acting, poor dialogue, plot holes, but hey, I loved it! It was fun, fast, ridiculous, entertaining, over-the-top, and knowingly so. There were some neat surprises throughout the movie, definitely at the end. Won't spoil it but I'll just say it all kind of connects in an interesting way. The makers of DR3:I have an obvious passion for these movies. An effort was made here like with the previous ones and I respect that! If you like Death Race or any other ridiculous, over-the-top, kinda movies, I recommend this one.