Man of Steel

 

 

 

Jean, This is a big time, big screen event in my mind. The theater I went to was literally packed. I have not seen that since "Iron Man 3". It has a great cast of actors and Henry Cavill is a great looking Superman, in or out of the blue tights and red cape. The actors all hold up their roles in fine fashion. And there is almost non-stop destruction as you near the end of the movie. ( It is long at 145 minutes ) Be prepared for almost complete high-rise building destruction and explosions etc. to the point that when you get to  destruction overload, the screen goes all white. (This happens 3 or 4 times.) I would see the next Super man movie now that they have spent so much time in exposition of the early days in Krypton. I really do not care about Kal-El or Jor-El or the Codex, etc.. My audience was there to see Superman rescue helicopters from a collapsing  deep water drilling platform or catch Lois Lane at the last second after she falls out of a plane. Which they did see. I thought Amy Adams and Henry Cavill made a good couple  but there is very little romance but lots of action and destruction.  Too bad they did not have more humor such as "That is not an S" or " They say after the first kiss, it is all downhill" or " To me he is just hot". This is one big action scene on another, maybe Christopher Nolan had something to do with that.  Dad

 

The Previews were:

 

300: rise of an empire

R I P D

White House Down

Paranoia

The Worlds End

The Hobbit, The desolation of the Smaug.

The Internship

Jean, This is not a case of the sequel being better than the original. This is a mediocre comedy at best. I think the supporting characters are stronger than the two leads. The one joke is that those two guys are complete technology know-nothings, That becomes stale very fast. (Have they been asleep for the last 20 years?) The story line revolves around a summer intern class and the 5 or so tests they have to pass as teams of 5 members. (Are you proficient in programming in the C ++? or playing the Hogwart's game holding on to broomsticks  (Quidditch?)) This is a great commercial for working at Google Campus and all the perks that come with it. It is also a great look at the Bay Area from the air or Golden Gate Bridge and just working in the Bay Area is shown as a  plus. There is a black Star Wars t-shirt with gray letters that is quite prominent in the movie.  Dad

 

P.S. The previews are:

 

R.I.P.D.

We're the Millers

The Way, Way Back

Kevin Hart's " Let Me Explain"

Now You See Me

   

Jean, If this movie was as interesting as the first 20 minutes, it would be a very enjoyable movie. But after the introduction, we go off onto more outrageous and beyond belief stunts of magic and attempts at big score robberies than can be imagined.  Add to that the chase to find out what is going to happen next and who is the mastermind behind all this unbelievable visual effects chaos gets more frantic. When it is explained and the mastermind is revealed you will say to yourself "come on, you have to be kidding me". (Even the all-knowing character played by Morgan Freeman can not figure out the identity of the crime genius. I think that is because the answer is so improbable, that it just cannot be.)  Dad

P.S. The previews were:

Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Before Midnight

Closed Circuit

Much Ado About Nothing

The Butler

RED 2

Kon-Tiki

Jean, This is a surprisingly good family action-adventure film. It is based on the real story of Thor Heyerdahl and his balsa wood raft trip  of 5,000 miles from the coast of Peru to the Polynesian Islands in 1947. it was to prove his theory on the settling of Polynesia from the east rather than from the west. It has more action than I expected, with the arrival of the whale shark, the adventure with the shark school and the wild shark on deck and the phosphorescent fish at night. Some of the scenes reminded me of "Live of Pi" with their whaleboat in the vast sea. It is such a good looking film. The after lives of all the crew members is also interesting as well as their real life experiences during WWII.  Dad

 

The previews were:

 

Populaire (French Film)

Kings of Summer

Much Ado About Nothing

Unfinished Song

Star Trek - Into Darkness

 

Jean, This is one of the best action, sci-fi movies you can expect to see. Space never looked better on the big screen. And the USS Enterprise never looked faster, more technically advanced and can that spaceship take the blows that are sent her way. The destruction scenes are a marvel as well as the images of cities of the future. And the scenes of   fighting  or jumping on the edge of great heights were almost too much.( I felt uncomfortable looking over those cliff edges.)

The cast members also took a lot of blows, as their punches sounded like Mike Tyson was throwing them. I did not see any "fall off" from the first one these done in 2009.  J.J. Abrams really did bring back this film series in a big way. The villain was a very formidable character, almost too smart for the rest of the cast. My theater was nearly full for a Friday matinee and there was applause at the ending and they reacted every time the Enterprise went off at hyperspeed or warp speed or whatever that was.  Dad

 

P.S. There is humor too. Our audience laughed out loud at what happens after Office Uhura says to Spock "Don't hit him, we need him to save Captain Kirk." Also walking out I heard this said by a couple of the audience "Who's the Blonde?"

 

P.P.S. The previews were:

 

Anchorman, The Legend Continues.

Despicable Me 3

Elysium

Much Ado About Nothing

World War Z

The Great Gatsby

Jean, This is a big time, big screen motion picture experience. I saw it with three other people. I know some of the critics are saying it is excessive in it's presentation of such scenes as the 1920's parties, and the homes and cars and car chases even the initial appearances of some of the main characters. The big visual effects scenes are almost all gone by one third into the film and they are something to see. Then the film morphs into a quite dramatic one which leads to a big dramatic payoff. And the cast members are all easily up to their rolls and especially Leonardo De Caprio. He is surprising in his taking over of the role of Jay Gatsby. He not only delivers the goods but you can not help but compare his performance to previous Gatsbys and he takes no safe route but really puts himself out there. You are believing in him even before the big dramatic scenes towards the finish. (Joel Edgerton also comes through being much more than a boorish oaf or a rich spoiled bully in Tom Buchanan.) This is also a great looking film and it must have cost a lot of money. But leaving the theater you are thinking that all that money is on view, up there on the screen. (The hip-hop music controversy is a non-event. There is more George Gershwin than anything and the hip-hop where it is used is strictly scene-specific.) This is a big film to see on the big scene. (We saw it in 2D for various reasons and felt we did not miss anything,) Dad

 

P.S. The previews were:

 

August:Osage County

Before Midnight

Gravity

The Kings of Summer

Much Ado About Nothing

The Hangover III

Iron Man 3

 

 

 

 

 

Jean, This has to be the funniest and most humorous of all the super hero movies. It has fine visual effects of explosions and buildings or shipyard structures crashing in slow motion. The iron man suits are being propelled around like a lot of shooting stars as well. But it is those comments by Robert Downey Jr. who gives us another pitch perfect  performance as Tony Stark. And his one-liners and comments throughout this movie are just grrrrreat. Also his movie trivia references come thick and fast, and make for a even more fun movie. Whether he is playing Tony Stark or Sherlock Holmes, he gets into a zone and you can not help but enjoy the ride. There are a few plot twists but it does not seem to matter as you are homing in on that darn Downey Jr. This has to be a big blockbuster of a movie and I think you get your money's worth. (We had one lady in our audience who almost did not stop laughing as she would reconsider one of the last of the Tony Stark's  comments and would laugh over it a second time.)  Dad

 

 

P.S. The previews were:

 

The Lone Ranger-(long)

Much Ado About Nothing

White House Down-(long)

The Kings of Summer

Man of Steel-(long)

Thor, The Dark World