Red 2 Rated: PG:13

Barbara Says:

I had seen the first movie Red with Bruce Willis, Mary Louise Parker, John Malkovich, Helen Mirren and loved it very much.   So I was excited to see Red 2.   It delivered.  We laughed so hard at times. Yes,there are always some pretty far out stunts but so funny you forgive them. Because after all  they are Retired and Extremely Dangerous.   Anthony Hopkins is there to do his acting chops and have fun too.  Saw premier the other night and writers of the movies called Malkovich  BACON.  Because they said he was just like it-everything is better with John in it. Have to say he is as crazy and yet smart as a raccoon after your trash can. Hopkins built a bomb in his younger day and hid it. The English shut him away in an insane asylum .  That is where our guys go to get him and find the bomb before bad guys in the CIA can get it first. And the race is and here comes Brucie coming up the back stretch and John is moving to the middle with Helen and her sub-machine bring up the rear. Then along comes Mary to win the race.  Good fun. Out of 10 I give it a solid 9 just for giving me a lot of laughs.

Cat Says:

I had reluctantly seen the first Red and loved it. It was a fun story, fun actors basically making fun of their characters, great script writing. Playful dialog which I love. So I was excited to see the second one and worried all at the same time. I've seen so many sequels just trying so hard to out-do themselves that it ruins them and I was afraid this one would do the same.

Basically here is the "plot". The old crew, Willis' character in particular, are blamed for an old cold war incident so everyone is out to get them and the bomb that was created by a "mad" scientist (Anthony Hopkins). So now, with the help of John Malkovich and Mary-Louise Parker, as his ex-partner and his ditzy combat yearning girlfriend, they go and try to figure it all out and save the day. Along the way they join up with Helen Mirren and Byung-hun Lee (assassins orginally hired to kill Willis and Lee delivers one of the best lines of the movie!) to face the bad guys. Catherine Zeta Jones has a part in here as a Russian Spy but her character never really gels and is fairly forgettable.

So...the actors are great. The stunts are over the top, one of them clearly borrowed from Wanted, and tons of fun. The one liners are epic. So that all makes this over the top fun. As long as you don't take it seriously you will have fun with it. Now the down side.

It feels disjointed. It's really hard to describe it but it just feels "off". They are not really clear what is going on and where the story is headed until at least half way through the movie. Like they forgot to give you a "set up" at the beginning of the movie. But just as you are thinking "where IS this going" they distract you with another hilarious one liner. But this disjointed feeling kept me from completely getting into the swing of things. So while I had fun with it I can only give it a 7.5. By all means, go see it on the big screen if you are looking for a fun date night or something fun to go see but if movie money is tight this year you could wait for DVD and be just fine.

Parental advisory. There is a LOT of killing going on here and complete casualness about it. One scene has the Mirren character chatting on the phone to Willis while calmly disposing of a body. While tongue in cheek for an adult, a kid could internalize it negatively. So keep this in mind for children under 13. 

White House Down Rated: PG-13

Barbara Says:

Sometimes Hollywood just does not make sense to me.  While the new release, called White House Down, is not a bad movie and I am a real fan of Channing Tatum`s, this movie is almost a carbon copy of Olympus Has Fallen with Gerard Butler.  I have to say that Butler`s film was the better one. It had a more believeable style to it. That is not to say I am sorry I went to see this one because it was enjoyable and had funny scenes and the audience clapped at the end.  

The setting is of course the White House and it is taken over by the bad guys.  Jamie Fox plays the President and Channing Tatum is the ex-serviceman who is a bodyguard to the Speaker of the House. He takes his daughter with him when  he applies for a secret service job (gets turned down) and then they join a guided tour of the White House. These men, who all hold a grudge against the President, are slowly filtering into the place by one means or another. They take over and Tatum gets the President back from some of them but loses his daughter to them. Lots of action and it runs so close to the Butler film that you know just what is coming all along the way. But it is not a bad way to spend a night out and I for one can always sit and stare at Channing for 2 hours. Out of 10 this gets a 7.

Pacific Rim Rated: PG-13

Cat Says:

Headed out to the movies again today to see Pacific Rim. I had been looking forward to this movie for two reasons...Transformers and Guillermo del Toro. I figured the creatures and graphics would be incredible! So off we went to the opening showing.

One of the reasons I loved the first and last Transformers is that you are supposed to take it seriously. Sure, there was some laughs but they were not campy. The reason I hated the second Transformers is because it resorted to campy comedy way too much. And thus the flaw in Pacific Rim. The previews led me to believe that it was like the first Transformers. It is much more like the second one or Hellboy. That is fine if you loved both of those movies. In fact, my husband didn't mind the camp but then he loved Hellboy. Unfortunately the camp wasn't like say, The Fifth Element (which we adore), it was more like trying to insert Medea into The Notebook. Seriously bad.

Quickly the story is about aliens who attack up from the ocean and not the sky. The creatures are definitely up to del Toro's reputation level. Fantastically done! The graphics are also up to his level. You don't feel for a single second that what you are seeing isn't realistic. The group of Rangers has been fighting the creatures for 7 years when our story opens and the fight continues on for another 5 as the creatures adapt to the battle and we play catch up.

The main characters, beginning with the leader of this group, Stacker played by Idris Elba (who we LOVE from the British Series Luther) does a really great job with the role of the commander in chief of this group of "Rangers" who begin as a military squad and end up as a rebel alliance. I have come to hate the "Braveheart" speech that seems to be in every single movie now that has a battle. But, for once, I didn't hate this one. Elba delivers a short but perfect speech that fits into the movie easily.

Our hero here, Raleigh Beckett played by Charlie Hunnam, is one of those "great guy" types who valiantly goes "once more unto the breech" after a tragic accident leaves him out of the loop for 5 years. He is paired up at the Hong Kong station with a protoge of Stacker's, Mako played by Rinko Kikuchi. She has all sorts horrid memories from losing her family to the creatures, known here as Kaiju (which means Strange Beast in Japanese) and is determined to become a Ranger and pilot the huge Jaeger robots (which means Hunter in German). 

Now here are the issues. There are two scientists (played by Charlie Day and Burn Gorman) at the helm here as well. And, of course, they are part of the reason we figure out how to defeat the beasts. However, for whatever reason, the decided to write these two characters as total buffoons. They are complete caricatures. Funny voices, weird twitches, manic every moment of the movie. Every time they were on the screen it would break the spell for me. I'd roll my eyes in irritation for a few moments and they would finally be gone and we could go back to the movie. Unfortunately the writers decided that those two characters were just not enough for this movie and they decided that Ron Perlman, as Hannibal Chau, needed to be added to the story. The character is supposed to be a Kaiju body part farmer and dealer. And, apparently, as far over the top as you could possibly make him to be. He embodies the comic in comic book in a big way...all the way down to the little mid credit scene. These three characters, and the fact that no-one can seem to communicate life or death information by anything but by being in person face to face...apparently cell phones, or phones of any sort, don't work anymore??...really killed this movie for me. 

Unfortunately the great effects and creatures just can not make up for the poor writing and acting in this movie. With the opening scenes I was thinking this was a 9...then it dropped to an 8 with the arrival of the scientists and then to a 7 when Perlman entered the scene and ended at about a 6.5 when, once again, a cell phone just couldn't be used for the delivery of crucial information. My husband, who likes the campy comic book style movies, gives it a 7.5. I don't think I can recommend this one to anyone who didn't like Hellboy and he can only marginally recommend it himself. If your movie money is tight this summer then maybe you should wait to see this on Dvd.

Man Of Steel Rated: PG13

Tory Says:

For Father’s Day we went to see “Man of Steel” at the drive-in. Let me start by saying I am not a Superman fan. Actually I find the idea of his “secret identity” ridiculous. I guess it’s because I wear glasses and I know I look pretty much the same with or without them. Haha. Getting back to the film, it was not at all what I was expecting. I thought it was going to be a little about Krypton and Superman’s family, the Kent’s who raised him, his work at the Daily Planet, love affair with Lois Lane and then a fight scene with “the bad guy.” Nope!

 

The film is almost 2.5 hours and I think it could have easily been 2 hours and a better film if they had taken out some of the fight scenes. Most of them were inflated. Also, they used them to showing off how much the special effects budget was and how much destruction could come of two basically invincible beings fighting each other. There got to be a point where I was thinking “I get it. He’s invincible. Get to the point.” It felt slow and to be honest, didn’t have a lot of actual storyline.

 

I will say, the acting and graphics were wonderful. I thought that Henry Cavill made a fantastic Superman and I was so much happier with Amy Adams as Lois Lane. The villain, General Zod, was played by Michael Shannon. Now I had no issues with his acting but I found the character of Zod to be lacking. I didn’t find him a threat or even scary…the technology that he used to attack Metropolis was scary but not the character himself.

 

So all in all, I would give this a 7 out of 10. In no way was it a “bad movie” but I can say I was disappointed. With Christopher Nolan being attached to the project and with what he did with the Batman franchise I guess I had my hopes a little higher…even if it was Superman. I don’t think there was anything too scary for kids in this. If they saw The Avengers or any Marvel film in the last few years, this is pretty much the same as far as content. However, let me say this, if they make a second one, I think I would be much more interested in that storyline than this one!

Cat Says:

So to start off, I'm not a comic book fan. I think I've read maybe three in my whole life so, no, I don't know a thing about the Superman story except what they have put on T.V. I was never a fan of the black and white T.V. show, not a fan of the Christopher Reeve series of movies, never watched Smallville on T.V and a marginal fan of the last version, Superman Returns. So I was pretty tentative to go see this one. However I'm a huge Christopher Nolan fan and how he rebooted Batman and, in my opinion, finally got that right. 

Today my husband, who is a comic book fan, and I went to go see Man Of Steel. They start out with the home planet of Krypton and outline how the society is and how it ended. One of the things I liked about this movie is that it made it clear that General Zod isn't some psycho, he's been genetically programmed to protect his people, at any costs, at any lengths. It really helped to see this guy as an ultimate warrior and not some crazy monster. It made you understand why he would go to such drastic measures in this movie. He's not supposed to be scary, he's supposed to be ruthless and determined and, while I'm not a fan of the actor who portrays him, Michael Shannon, I did love this new version of the character.

I have also had an issue with the "you don't know me when I put on my glasses" thing for Superman and here they have just begun down that pathway. It will be interesting to see where they go with it. This movie covers how he tried to stay undercover with his abilities and once he finds himself in a position to show them to a human he moves on and goes underground again, moving from job to job, location to location. This is how he finds himself in the position of meeting Lois Lane. He's working in a civilian go-fer position at a military site in Alaska when she, sniffing out a story, finds herself in the same place. It is also here that he finds his origins. Lois gets to see this up close and personal. So, in this version, Lois knows who he is from the very beginning. She is smart and resourceful enough to keep finding him even while he keeps trying to hide. This is a wonderful change for this character and for their personal story!

So you know the general story, Zod finds him, battle ensues over the Earth and, while taking out most of Smallville and a good chunk of Metropolis, Superman prevails. Some have had an issue with how this ends. I think it ended perfectly. They set it up perfectly for a sequel and we both felt that we are very interested in seeing the sequel!

There are some issues we did have with the film. The graphics, for the most part, are impressive. There were points where it was thin but most of it is fairly impressive. The biggest issue I have is with the alien spacecrafts. It really irritates me when they make things that are supposed to be from another world look like things from this one. In the opening Jor-El rides on a creature that resembles a dragonfly...well, a dragonfly mixed with a lizard mixed with one of those things from Tremors. But it was a creature so I was cool with that. But then Zod shows up in a ship that looks just like a big black beetle. HUH? The main ships look like they took a jellyfish and gave it crab legs. HUH? Please, people, imagination here? 

For the most part the film was well written. Great cinema it is not, but over all, pretty good stuff. Except for one line...Zod says, in the end, that it can only end one way...either Superman dies or he dies...uh...isn't that TWO ways? LOL! Ok, had to chuckle and roll my eyes at that one. Someone should have caught it and reshot it. Zod isn't an idiot in this film. He is written as being extremely smart and resourceful. Along those lines, none of the characters are written to be idiots. This isn't for camp which, in my opinion, has been an issue in all of the previous versions of the story. As with Batman, this edition is a much more dark and serious version and I like it! 

We were both very happy with all of the casting. I'm not a huge Russell Crowe fan (A Good Year is the best one from him in my opinion) but he is perfect here. My own, personal, heartstrings were pulled when Jor-El and Lara are forced to send their son away to never see him again as well as the once scene that deals with Clark's adoption by Martha and Jonathan Kent (played very well here by Diane Lane and Kevin Costner). So this movie isn't all about blowing things up, it's about family as well and raising your kids to be the best person they can be as they grow up and enter the world. Henry Cavill was great in this role as was Amy Adams as Lois Lane. I'm hoping they will return for another story...after all, we still need to meet Lex Luthor right? I'm giving it a solid 8. Worth seeing on the big screen.

Despicable Me 2 Rated: PG

Barbara Says: 

Really liked the first one and this one was just as good.  I love those Minions. They are just so darn cute.   They make the movie for me. Love is in the air for Gru and it is sweet to watch.  It is of course the same old really bad guy verses used to be bad guy (well,sorta) but with those little guys doing their funny stick.  Will have to watch it again sometime as I missed a few little bits because of an asthma problem.  But saw enough to recommend it for just about all to see and enjoy. The bad guy has kidnapped those cuties and turned them into purple monsters that eat everything and it is up to Gru and his new love, Lucy, to save them and the world. Out of 10 I give it a solid 8 for fun.

Tory Says:

Did you like the first Despicable Me? Good because the sequel is EVEN BETTER!

The plot for the second film is pretty simple. The AVL (Anti-Villains League) wants to recruit Gru (voiced by the wonderful Steve Carell) to help them find an evil villain who stole a secret artic lab. Gru being an ex-villain and finally getting adjusted to life as a Dad, at first resists. Finally he agrees to help his new partner Lucy (voiced by Kristen Wiig) set up in the local mall where they suspect the villain is hiding out.

As always the minions steal the show but I found myself not only giggling at Lucy but actually laughing out loud at parts! I think that this is by far Kristen Wiig’s best film! Gru is just as funny, bumbling and heartwarming in this film as the first. I love that he really does want the girls to come first and in this film, even has to battle the idea of Margo dating!!

I laughed and laughed and laughed at this one. Actually, everyone did! At one point I laughed so hard I was crying but I won’t give away that part…just that as usual minions were involved! My 2 year old loved it. He sat through the whole thing and cracked up whenever the minions came on. (Did I mention they steal the show! lol)

Honestly, I think this is one the whole family will love and want to own. I’m actually giving it a 10 out of 10 because so rarely does a film leave me wanting to re-watch it the second I got out of the theater. 

Cat Says:

My husband and I went to go see this today. We were surprised we loved the first one so much and were looking forward to seeing the second one. And the theater was full of families with kids that ranged from age 2 to well, us. 

As mentioned in the other reviews, this movie is about what happens after the first movie as Gru tries to become "family man". The Anti-Villain League gets a hold of him and recruits him to find a new villain who is trying to take over the world. Along the way he finds love and all ends happily ever after. 

It is a fun little movie. We didn't like it as much as the first one but close. The problems I had with it are ones that parents of small kids will want to pay attention to and use as guidance. I'm only going to use two examples, so I don't give the movie away, but in the beginning (as seen in trailers) Gru is kidnapped. Now the trailer shows him getting tasered (something to really think about your kids seeing in the first place) but what the trailer doesn't show is him getting out of the trunk and then being hit by her car before being kidnapped again. Later in the movie one of the minions, turned into a mindless killing machine (yup, might want to think about that for a moment) crashes through the house window to attack the kids. There were kids screaming at this second point in the movie. It went from kid movie to kid horror flick. As I mentioned...these are just two examples. So keep that in mind if you have a kid under 6 who might be scared easily.

For us adults it was a funny collection of Spy vs. Super Villain and is laced with plenty of references to the last 4 decades of music, stereotypes and spy flicks. The only real complaint we had about it is that they tend to focus on the Minions as main characters a lot more than the first one. So there are long sequences where the Minions where singing or talking in their own language that were a bit like watching a foreign film with no subtitles. Cute but a bit too long. The first movie was an 8.5 out of 10 but this one only rates a 7 in my book. Still fun to go see but if money is tight then it can wait for DVD.

Monsters University Rated: G

Tory Says:

We saw Monsters University with a mixed group of adults and kids. I think it is safe to say everyone had a great time!

Basically this movie was a prequel to Monsters Inc. It introduces more about who Mike & Sully were and how they met at college. What I loved most about this movie was the seamless transition. I really felt like I could watch this one and then go home and watch Monster’s Inc.

Not only did my 2 year old enjoy it but so did both my husband and I. As usual Pixar’s animation is practically flawless and the voice talents were perfect. I didn’t realize there were going to be SO many big names in this one! The idea that you don’t have to be what everyone wants you to be and that you will find people who accept you and love you just for who you are…I love that! It is a great message for everyone but especially kids.

My kiddo didn’t find anything to be “scary” in it but our friend’s little girl (who is almost 6) did “peak through her fingers” at a few scenes. Honestly, I think that if they can sit through Monstrs Inc. then University should be no problem! It is closer to 2 hours so be advised when bringing little ones. For me, this one gets a 9.5. I can’t find too much fault in it but I rarely give out a 10. (But trust me, I WILL be buying this one…and maybe even seeing it again in theaters!) 

Cat Says:

We went to go see Monsters University with a large group ages 18 mos to 50 years. We all loved it. The story takes place a few years before Monsters Inc. but by the end of the movie they have brought you fully up to speed.

The movie follows Mike through the experiences in his childhood that led him to wanting to work on the Scare Floor at Monsters Inc to how he meets Sully and how they become best friends while attending Monsters University.

What I love about this film are all the life lessons it covers. Believing in yourself, dealing with not being popular as well as the pressures of being popular, making new friends, teamwork, and persevering even when it looks like the chips are stacked against you are all covered here. Kids take away some great lessons while enjoying a very entertaining film. 

The animation of the first film blew me away. Sully's fur looked SO real. Well, they have advanced quite a bit since then. There is one scene where the bus looks so real it is more like they added animated characters to a real bus! It is amazing.

The film is a tad bit long for the little kids. With previews it is 2 hours long. While all the kids really loved it some of them napped for part of the film. All of the adults loved it. I'm giving it a 9.5. One of the few "sequels" that stands up just as wonderfully as the first film!

Barbara Says:

My friend and went to see Monsters University and while it was an enjoyable film to watch if there is nothing else to see we were not as impressed as the first one. Loved the Monsters,Inc. Loved Mike and Sully and the purple lizard.  But this one was too long and even we adults became restless.  We had children becoming bored around us too. Granted it had some very good life lessons in it and gave some back ground on the friendship.  But out of 10 we gave it a 7.  Now we very much enjoyed the little clip before the movie about `The Blue Umbrella'. It was sweet and very inventive.