Fast & Furious 6 Rated: PG-13

Tory Says: 

I can’t wait to see it again…that should just be my review right there. I loved it. My husband got me into the Fast & Furious franchise. I’d never seen it because I thought they were “a guy’s movie”. So after Fast Five came out and I loved it, my husband sat me down and we watched the other four. (After all, I had to know who Letty was and why it was such a big deal that she was “back.”) Not a huge fan of Tokyo Drift but I’m getting off subject. By the way, all of this I saw in XD with a migraine and the sound at a ridiculous level…so that should tell you how much I loved it. I was in pain and didn’t want to leave. Lol.

In Fast & Furious 6, the plot is pretty simple. Since Brian and Dom made off with $100 million in Rio, the whole team is off living their lives, spending their money and Brian & Mia have started a family. Hobbs (played by The Rock) has been tracking skilled drivers led by Shaw (Luke Evans) and his second in command, Letty, (Michelle Rodriguez) who everyone thought was dead! The only way to stop Shaw is for Dom and his team to take them down.  If they can pull it off, everyone gets full pardons and they all get to go home.

Ok…so let me get the bad stuff out of the way. At times it was a bit far-fetched but that’s the fun in it!! That’s pretty much all I have to say that’s bad. Ludacris and Tyrese are hilarious as always and part of what make the film. The message about family is part of what makes these films great. They ALWAYS have each other’s backs! So many questions are answered about Letty that it made what happened make sense for me. Let’s face it. This movie isn’t going to win Best Picture at the Oscars but is it a lot of fun? YES! The soundtrack is awesome and the cars had my hubby drooling. If you think I loved it, he loved it more.

I give this one a 9 out of 10…loses a point for the tank and the airplane because “yeah right” but it was awesome and we will be seeing it again this week! If you liked the others, you love this one. It’s that simple.

Harry Says: (guest blogger for Cat)

I am a big fan of the franchise and this lived up to the expectation and hype. I really enjoyed the movie. It was two hours of great "escapist" entertainment. I don't think it was meant to or promised anything more than that and it delivers that in spades.

Almost the entire crew is reunited for this adventure. All of the core crew anyway and they all deliver.

Vin Diesel is at his stoic best. Softly growling his lines in a way that totally fits the character. Exactly the same way he did it in all the other movies. Something to be said for consistency. Paul Walker had to bring more "Bad Ass" to his character for this movie and he did it quite well. Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson proves again it was perfect casting for him to play Special Agent Hobbs. His straight forward bravado takes what could have been a caricature and makes him real.

The movie itself had all the over the top action you could ask for. Great fight scenes and of course phenomenal car chases. As long as you are OK with "Movie Physics" it's a great fun ride.

There was also a lot more humor in this movie that the past ones. Out loud laughing by the audience through out the movie.

They did a decent job of explaining the Letty situation and if you stay for the credits they actually explain "Tokyo Drift".

So the chronology inside the Furious universe is 1,2,4,5,6 and then 3.

Which I thought was rather clever to bring all the movies together. 

It can stand on it's own but is much more enjoyable if you have seen the other movies. I rate it 9 out of 10.

Spoiler Alert ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I hate it when they kill off characters! Han did not have to die at the end of Tokyo Drift. Before the end of this movie it was an anomaly, now it's explained and makes sense in the time line. But he and Giselle dying SUCKS!!!

Star Trek: Into Darkness Rated: PG-13

Cat Says:

Ok, first off I have to admit I've been a "fringe fan" of Star Trek. One of those wives who go with her husband to see the movies but doesn't really watch it at home? The series has been on our tv but I only half watch it. So, a fringe fan. However when they brought out the first of this rebooted series a couple of years ago I really enjoyed that movie and wondered where they were going to take the franchise next and was it going to be just as good. Well, they proved they could make one just as good.

Star Trek - Into the Darkness picks up pretty much where the last one left off. Kirk, played once again by Chris Pine, is as full of himself as always which leads them into a whole bunch of trouble, almost gets Spock killed and basically messes up his career path. Fortunately for him a new villain appears on the screen...or should I say, an old one. Kahn. This newly stylized version of Kahn, played by Benedict Cumberbatch is a menacing and viscious as you could hope for him to be. His plan is revenge on the current Admiral, played by Peter Weller of Robocop fame, and he will do anything he needs in order to carry out that revenge. For the first time it is not Kirk's job to explore the Universe, it's his job to hunt down this almost unstoppable force and find a way to stop him.

The effects, as always, are completely believable. The acting is great, everyone is perfectly cast and does their jobs beautifully. The violence is comic book variety and you don't actually see the more intense violence but are aware of it just the same. So it earns a PG:13 rating with the hand to hand battles and inferred violence just off screen. Something to be aware of for the younger members of the family. But then following the convoluted story will be harder for the under 8 crowd anyway.

It is fairly clear where they are going after this movie. They have introduced some characters from the series that the fans will be familiar with. They used part of familiar story lines but switched it up a bit which was interesting. Not being a "fan boy" this didn't bother me but it might bother a true die hard fan. So far I'm hearing great stuff from the die hards so I'm not worried. It's fairly predictable, which I don't mind at all in my Sci-Fi flicks, but it does get touching and does travel the familiar paths of what friendship means, how friends become family and how important that is to your life. There were a few "it wouldn't work that way" or "oh yeah, he'd just wait till the guy recovered before he'd punch him again" moments which, in my book, lost a half point but over all I give this one a 9.5 out of 10. And, yes, due to the effects, if you can, go see it on the big screen.

Barbara Says:

Ok, I give up. They are making much better movies out of comic books nowadays.  Those that came before were, as far as I was concerned, crap.  Laughable in some cases.  But I have really enjoyed all the Iron Man movies and the last Superman movie.  Really liked The Avengers with all of the guys and girl. But have to say this last Iron Man was awesome and the Star Trek movie today was really great. I am a complete Trekkie fan and have been from the very first one.  But only the `real ones' not the one that tried to follow in their steps. J.J.Abrams and his people did an outstanding job of picking the perfect cast to do this series. They have what it takes to give life to the story and take us on a trip into outer space that makes us gape in awe.  Loved the scene where Spock actually cried. Knew that guy had a soft spot.  Chis Pine does a really great job and without making us think he is a bit stuck on himself because he is so quick to see how to solve problems.  He follows the space ship motto ~He dares to go where no ones else will ~ and I for one want to go right along with him. As was said in Dicken`s ~ More, please? ~ and hurry. This gets a 12 out of me.

Nate Says: (Guest Blogger for Tory)

I saw Star Trek: Into Darkness (2D) opening Friday.  Launching back into the storyline not long after we leave the end of Star Trek the crew is back for action and adventure on the high starscape.  My original concern from previews was that too much time was spent on earth in a series known for exploring “where no one has gone before”.  All concern was soon rendered superfluous as the balance between intrigue on planet and across space had a good feel and flow.  To be expected are gorgeous graphics of the new NCC-1701 inside and out and the realms it traverses.  Equal attention is given to the earth cities and action that occurs therein.  For the consummate Trekkie there are many nods and asides sprinkled throughout the movie to make you grin but not to detract from the experience for the non-initiated.  The plot traces the echoes of Star Trek: Wrath of Khan while highlighting the differences in this new timeline and giving enough twists to maintain a new tone for the new generation of Trek movies. 

Despite all graphics and story ultimately a movie rests its success on the actors within it and I feel the new crew of the Enterprise did justice to their characters and the Trek universe.  The end leaves me wondering which direction will be taken in the next installment and hoping to see the Klingons play a role as the image of Quo’nos lingers.  Oh, and I want one of those bat’leths! I give it 8 out of 10.

Iron Man 3 Rated: PG-13

Tory Says:

I went to see Iron Man 3 with my hubby at the drive-in. Now something you need to know, I had never even heard of Iron Man before I saw the first one. So I don’t have any prior knowledge of the cartoon or comic books. With that said, I LOVED this one!!! They did so many things right!!!

The storyline is that once again Iron Man is being threatened only this time in his own home and it is affecting the people he cares most for! The villain is known as The Mandarin and even though there is a twist, it gets pretty bad for Tony, Pepper and the rest of the cast!

The effects were in my opinion flawless. There isn’t just one or two Iron Man suits anymore…there are almost 50 that they had to create…each one a little different! I loved that. It got to show Stark’s OCD and his inability to shut his brain off since everything that happened in New York (aka The Avengers movie) Also, he meets up with a little boy in this film and I love their interactions. Stark doesn’t dumb down anything for the kid, he just treats him like an equal (for the most part) and that’s wonderful and so rare in adults! My absolute favorite part was that they show more depth to Tony & Pepper’s relationship. This is no longer something semi-serious, this is someone that he cannot live without. I’m a girl who likes a good love story in my action movies so this works perfectly for me but not too overpowering for the guys! Guy Pearce and Ben Kingsley are fantastic as the villains of the film and they even give Don Cheadle’s character more screen time!

All in all, I would say that this film was better than the second Iron Man but not quite as good as the first! Even with that, I would still give it a 9.5 out of 10! I will own this one and probably watch it again and again. If your kids liked and were able to see the first two Iron Man films, they can see this one. Violence of course but it is “comic book” violence. I definitely think that if this is your type of film, it is a must see this summer!

Cat Says:

I have to start off by saying that I'm wishy washy on the "comic book" movies. I love Batman but never a Superman or Spiderman fan. I did like the Hulk, but the Edward Norton version and am just "meh" on the Thor movie. But I did love the first Iron Man film and the second one was fairly good. So I was curious about how they would make this third installment new and engaging. Well, they had to go out on a limb and the ending is a bit ambiguous on where the franchise is headed but it was definitely more original than I expected.

Quick rundown on the plot. Bad man wants to control the world, has taken his scheme as far as he can go and wants Tony Stark to help him. Of course, Tony says no, bad man gets his way in a round about manner and it's up to Tony and, in a smaller part, "Rhodie" and Pepper, played by Don Cheadle and Gwyneth Paltrow, to help save the day. Now the fun part is that Tony and his Iron Man counterpart are virtually dismantled along the way and he is forced to start from scratch. This is done with the help of a kid, Harley, played by Ty Simpkins, who nearly steals the show every time he's on screen. The bad guy, played here by Guy Pearce, has a few twists up his sleeve that make him none so easy to defeat so that makes it a whole lot more interesting than the last villain Iron Man faced in #2. Finally Sir Ben Kingsley has a wonderful role that he really seems to have a fun time playing so it's fun to watch.

Lastly there is Robert Downey Jr. who seems custom made for this role. He can play the arrogant rich jerk very well, flashbacks from his early years in Hollywood maybe? But over the three films he has added a seriousness to the Tony Stark personality without taking away the arrogant smart ass in the process. It's a much deeper character than most of the comic book super hero's have developed. Only Batman comes close. I chalk this up to the talents of RDJ rather than his writers. Some of the lines would seem ludicrous uttered by most actors but RDJ makes the ring true. As I said, Tony Stark seems to be a custom fit. 

Unfortunately, these twists keep you from getting too comfortable with the characters so it is a bit unsettling along the way at times. Yes, you know Iron Man will win in the end but you do end up wondering if the cast with survive intact or if this is the end of the Iron Man run way too often. Those writers had a bit too much fun tweaking the story line to give any sort of sure footing for the audience. It took away part of the fun of Iron Man for me. Not much...about a point...but it's just enough that I don't like it quite as much as I did #1. More than #2 but not more than #1. 9 out of 10 points for me. As with the past Iron Man movies, lots of violence, simulated death and mutilation so appropriate for 8 and older.

Barbara Says:

I am giving Iron Man 3 a 10.  It was enjoyable and action packed.  New bad guy (a play on words) Guy Pearce is always a  bad man. But he so good at it. I, of course, love Robert Downey Jr in anything.  He is one of our best actors.  So glad he got his act together before he killed himself.  Miss Pots gets kidnapped by Guy  and the chase is on to save her and the President. I like Paltrow as an actor and the people who give her a hard time just tee me off.  I also like Don Cheadle a lot.  He is a really good actor and should make more movies where he is the star. But all together these actors make up a good action flick with a human side when it shows what one can live with, and without. That the person who makes you feel is worth more then anything else. Tony Stark brought his life down all the way to the ashes (really) and built it all back up because he came to know that some things in life are worth dying for. A good time can be had by all with this movie (it even has surprises) and no scenes to bar the children who want to see it. I, for one, do not like giving away too much of a movie. It is like someone telling you the ending to a movie before you get to see it. So buy a ticket if you like action movies and sit back to enjoy.

G.I. Joe: Retaliation Rated: PG-13

Cat Says:

Ok, so sort of a disclaimer here. I went to go see the first GI Joe and, honestly, except for one small snipet of the movie, I don't remember it. So I'm going to go out on a limb here and say I didn't really like the first one but didn't hate it either. Just Meh. But today I went to go see the new one because my husband, who did like the first one, wanted to go see it. Yup...Major Wife Points here. So keep in mind, one of us is Meh and one of us is YEA going into this movie for this review.

Sadly, we both agreed that this was another Meh movie production. He was disappointed because the film didn't stick to a Comic Book feel or an Action Flick feel, it was wishy washy on both sides. But let me give you the low down on the story first and then I will give you my reasoning for my score.

So the film opens with the squad successfully completing a mission together and then some family time with Roadblock's family. Then they go on another mission and all hell breaks loose. Cobra rears it's ugly head, the Joe's are betrayed and now they are out on their own to bring Cobra down and, yes, save the world. 

Unfortunately there are way too many "Oh Please" moments in this film to make it enjoyable. For instance, one scene where Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow face off, Snake Eyes has an Uzi in his hand while Storm Shadow has ninja stars. He throws one and Snake Eyes uses a repeating burst to shoot it out of the air...not to shoot Storm Shadow, just the star. Thus giving Storm Shadow time to not just throw one more star but 3, then 5, as Snake Eyes shoots them out of the air...without taking out Storm Shadow with the Uzi! OH PLEASE! There are many many moments like this that totally take away from the action.

However there are some good things about this movie too. The hand to hand combat is well done. The special effects are believable. And the Rock and Bruce Willis are...well...The Rock and Bruce Willis doing what they do best...being tough guys with the smart ass lines. 

We both left the theater in total agreement. This is 6 out of 10. Not quite crash and burn but mighty close.

MOVIE SPOILER MOVIE SPOILER MOVIE SPOILER MOVIE SPOILER

Do NOT read unless you want a major detail to be spoiled for you...

Channing Tatum, as Duke which is the main character in G.I. Joe, has very little time in this movie. He's in the first mission scene, he's in the family time scene at Roadblock's house but then he's one of the crew killed off when they are attacked on the second mission. Ok, ok, they didn't show a body but they ended the movie letting you believe that he's dead. For the Comic Book fan this was truly a betrayal of the franchise. You don't make a Batman movie and kill off Batman, or a James Bond and kill off Bond. Apparently you also don't make a G.I. Joe and kill off Duke. So I think from that moment, which was about 30 minutes into the movie, it was a lost cause for my husband. Since I didn't realize the significance of this I lasted about 15 minutes longer before the Oh Please thoughts were piling up too high even for me. I don't know if Tatum is just too big of a star now or had other commitments or what the deal was but "the fan" wasn't happy with the demise of the main character. Apparently this was a good 2 points off the score he gave for this review. So there you have it...you have been warned.

Nate Says:

(Guest blogger for Tory)

I went with my wife to see GI Joe: Retaliation at the drive-ins.  The plot picks up where the first movie left off with the Joes seeming victory leaving them free to work other missions while the remnants of Cobra plan their payback in the shadows. 

There are very large changes in the cast that I fail to understand.  The first movie introduces core characters but there were many more that could have been drawn upon for a second movie.  In an odd twist, many characters do not return and no reason is given while a paltry few are added, and one killed early on.  There is also the pet peeve I have about a character should be played by the same actor, particularly when it is a primary one, in this case Cobra Commander.  Be that as it may, by any measure this movie falls short of the first one.  There is a good amount of action as one would expect from the trailers and the previous installment and these are the high points although the action at times is a bit contrived as is much of the comedy they attempted. 

Zartan is by far my favorite character in this movie as he at least attempts to bring some dimension and flair to being the bad guy.  The scene at the summit is as close to the admixture of action/comedy/suspense that I had hoped would be brought to this film, particularly since its release was delayed and I cannot see any level of polish anywhere in the movie that would require such a change in schedule. 

In summary:  Explosions-check, Evil Plots-check, acting-fair, storyline-mediocre, casting-what???  If a third movie is in the works, please expand your character pool for both sides, I wouldn’t say no to Serpentor as an antagonist if just to mix things up.  Also, if you can’t make the comedy work in the action don’t force it, just blow more stuff up.  It’s nicer than straining your writers and the viewers patience.  A 5 out of 10 experience.

Oblivion Rated: PG-13

Cat's Says:

We went to go see this on our son, Jack Harper's, 12th Birthday. Since the character in the movie is named Jack Harper, we thought it would be the perfect movie for our son's day...since Tom Cruise is his favorite actor it was beyond perfect. I will start off the review by saying that I love Tom Cruise movies and Sci-Fi. I don't have a high expectation threshold for either. Pretty much give me some Aliens verses Humans, let the humans win without anyone important to the story dying and I'm happy. So I was thrilled when I found this story to be a lot deeper than expected. Sci-Fi does tend to have superficial stories so I was surprised to find that this one has many layers of story line.

Basically the story is about an Astronaut/Tech named Jack Harper who is working his last few weeks on Earth before moving to an off planet colony to join the rest of the humans. All that is left is the last draining of the oceans before moving on. Earth had been invaded by aliens 60 years before. They destroyed the moon creating natural destruction of the planet and so the humans had to be moved off planet. It is the job of Jack Harper (Tom Cruise) and his partner/lover Vica (Andrea Riseborough) to maintain the equipment that is draining the oceans and, specifically, the battle drones that are protecting the equipment from the aliens that want to destroy everything. But Jack has these strange dreams that haunt him about a woman and an Earth that existed a decade before he was born. Dreams that seem to come to life when he finds a downed ship and lifepods...one of which contains the woman who has been haunting his dreams. His world turns upside down from that moment on and nothing is what he thought it was or as it seems. There is a major twist right in the middle of all of this that completely turns this story right upside down on it's head. 

The story is great, Cruise and Morgan Freeman make it fun to watch and the special effects are amazing. It earns the rating due to the battle scenes and one implied sexualized scene. I would say that this is good for kids 8 and over because of the complex story. Smaller kids may not be able to follow it well. I also give this a 9 out of 10. I want to go see it again in the theaters and we will own it as soon as it comes out on Blu-Ray. It really only loses one point because I wanted more backstory and character development on Freeman's character and his groups part in all of it. I have a feeling a bunch of that ended up on the cutting room floor to keep the film to just a bit over 2 hours.

Barbara Says:

Always a fan of Tom Cruise. He delivers a telling performance every time as far as I am concerned.  

The basis of this movie was worth my time, but have to say it seemed a bit over long. If you are a person who reads a lot you can predict the story line pretty well. That is not to say I did not enjoy this film because I did. As a family I would say we all had a good time. After all,that is what we go to the movies for; to be entertained.  

There was a lot of action and space craft with Aliens.  All with a sweetener of a love story. It is most definitely a big screen movie. The evil Aliens come to take over the Earth and wage war. You are given the view of the aftermath of that war and the fate of humans in the year  2077. 

So buy the popcorn and soda and get good seat. Fasten your seat belt for the space ride. For just a good afternoon spent in the future I give it an 8 out of 10.

Tory Says:

Let me start by saying that I am a Tom Cruise fan so already I thought I would probably like this film. I had seen the previews for this film and I felt they didn’t do it justice. There are all these different aspects to the film and all these little mysteries that I wasn’t expecting! My husband and I really enjoyed it!

Tom Cruise plays Jack Harper (Love the name!) who is one of the last people left on Earth after our moon was destroyed, a huge battle was fought and Earth is now basically a wasteland.  I feel me saying any more than that will cause me to give away key plot points and I won’t do that!

I found the special effects flawless. It really made me feel like this world existed and not like Cruise was in front of a green screen. Part of the fun for me was that the Empire State Building is featured in a lot of the movie and having actually been there, I thought they did a fantastic job of it being “ruined.”

I felt the film kept me on my toes and always wondering what would happen next. I wasn’t expecting that at all. I thought this was just another sci-fi film and it is far from “run of the mill.” I do think it earns its PG-13 rating because there is violence, the “F” word is said once for effect but mostly because the storyline is probably too complex for the average child under 12. I happily give this an 8.5 out of 10 for great effects, great acting, good story and interesting concept. It felt a little long but I found myself craving just a little more “wrap up” at the end. I think even people who aren’t “sci-fi” fans will like this one!