Die Hard (1) (Reviewed by Chuck)

3/4 stars

I know I'm a little behind the times here, I have never seen Die Hard 1, all the way through before - just bits and pieces.

NYC cop, John McClain, arrives in L.A, to attend a Christmas Party with his estranged wife - at her employers office tower. While - at the same time - terrorists are on their way to hi-jack the building and steal company bearer bonds, lots of them.


The ClearPlay Experience.
After 2 hours, I was sad that the wacky adventures of Indiana McClane were over. Yes it was loud, exaggerated, and chocked full of profanity, but I was having a great time.

Die Hard (1) (Rated R) - with ClearPlay shields at maximum - has a common sense rating of PG-13. I don't have any reservations about letting my kids watch this after they are 13+. I was left with a bloodless, profanity-free & excessively violent-free thrill ride, with some automatic weapon dog fights scattered through out the 2nd and 3rd act.

Yes, it sounds strange to say it was a good movie without all the elements that one would think would make the movie exciting, but how McClane continues to outsmart the terrorists is where the fun is, not watching blood spatter or hearing someone rattle off the f-bomb in a witty manor. Fans of the show know the John McClane one-liner I'm talking about.

Put another one in the victory column for ClearPlay!


Die Hard (1): ClearPlay, is PG-13 for:
Dead bodies and Violence (multiple instances of semi and fully automatic weapon use, gun fights, fisticuffs, and explosions.)

Despicable Me (reviewed by Chuck)

2.5/4 stars

When I first walked out of this movie it was an easy 4 star movie because it was so funny, but then after a day or so I had time to reflect on what was funny and what didn't make me laugh.

For starters the plot that the trailers explained was excellent: Super villains battling for #1 super bad guy acclimations. But I was surprised and slightly disappointed to find that there was a hint of 3 men and a baby to this, where the primary character #2 super villain, Gru is trying to out do #1 bad guy, Vector. Gru see's orphaned girls trying to sell cookies and how easily they get into Vector's inpenetrable layer, and decides to adopt them to fulfill his own selfish needs. Where the trailers I saw never explains how the girls fit into this, I was disappointed to have the focus of the movie shift from "1-upping #1 super villain," to "give the orphan girls a home."

I found Steve Carrel's acting to be thoroughly enjoyable and his Russian accent simply added to how enjoyable his character was, however the situations he's put into don't add much too make the movie something stellar. In fact Gru's little yellow minions steal the show, much like Skrat from Ice Age does for the Ice Age trilogy, which is a shame, because this movie had a lot of potential. I found myself wanting more minions than Gru's wacky baby sitting adventure.

All in all, much like Ice Age is cute to watch, you end up wanting to have more of the comedy relief than you do the main players, which means Dream Works again puts more emphasis on the sub-componants of a movie and leaves it's primary elements lacking.

Knight & Day (Reviewed by Ed)

3.5/4 Stars

 

A single girl en route to a family wedding gets swept up in a fight between a rogue government agent and the FBI in this globe-trotting action comedy from director James Mangold (Walk the Line, 3:10 to Yuma). June Havens (Cameron Diaz) is preparing to board a flight back home for her sister's wedding when she literally bumps into Roy Miller (Tom Cruise) in the middle of a busy airport. A few minutes later, they're making small talk on the plane when June excuses herself to the bathroom, and all misery breaks loose in the fuselage. By the time June emerges Roy has killed everybody on board, including the pilots. After crash landing the plane in a darkened cornfield, Roy tells June that she should expect a visit from government agents, but warns her that by cooperating with them she risks almost certain death. The following day, Roy's prediction comes true when June is confronted by an imposing gang of government spooks who come under heavy fire while bombarding her with questions about her mysterious traveling companion. Suddenly, Roy is back, and he's once again whisking June away to safety. But what do the agents want, and why do they insist that Roy is the one to be feared, and not them? Before long the girl who never traveled far from home is off on a wild adventure that will take her from the tropics to Austria, France, and Spain. Somewhere amidst all of the confusion and gunfire, June begins to forge a bond with Roy. Unfortunately, it's never quite clear whether her unpredictable protector is one of the good guys or the bad guys, and by the time Roy reveals that he's attempting to protect a valuable new energy source, there's no time for questions..

http://www.fandango.com/knightandday_v495346/summary

 

I have to say that Tom Cruise, in my mind, does it again.  It’s a shame that he’s said and done things in the past that has soured so many movie goers to not want to see his movies anymore.  Once again, Tom Cruise shows why he is a great actor and a fabulous action star.  At 48 years old Cruise still has what it takes to make an action movie a must see.  His fight scenes (especially in the airplane) reminded me of an older Matt Damon/Jason Bourne style which is always fun to watch.  Cruise has done the action movie so many times in the past and “Knight and Day” is no slouch.  Cruse and Diaz have great chemistry in this movie and both of them play off of each other very well.  This is one of those movies where you don’t expect Tom Cruise to be so funny but he pulls it off in a very natural way. 

 

Yes this is an action movie but it’s not your typical shoot em up, blow up everything in your path movie (although there is some of that in the movie), it’s more of a hybrid of action/romance/comedy all tied up together. 

 

Are there cheesy things in the movie?  Absolutely!  It does at times exaggerate the action but does it in a way that doesn’t offend the viewer, but instead adds to the humor of the movie.  I could see how some people would be turned off by some of the stunts if they didn’t have a fun bone in their body.  It’s a movie where you just shut off your critical brain for a few hours, grab some popcorn, bring your spouse and have a good time.

 

In typical Hollywood fashion there are the sexual innuendos and language that they could do without. Diaz drops the “F” bomb one time in a conversation and, once again, it really doesn’t need to be said but what else do we expect from Hollywood?

 

I think ClearPlay will do pretty good at taking out what needs to be taken out.  There may be some parts of the movie that might not make as much sense in ClearPlay mode but for the most part it should work out well.

 

Rating of whether I would see the movie again:
1 = Definitely not!
2 = Probably not.
3 = Maybe.
4 = Probably.
5 = Absolutely!

Would I see the movie again in the theaters? 3.5
Will I rent it on DVD and watch it at home? 5 (If I don’t buy it)
Would I buy the movie? 5 (If I don’t rent it)

 

"Knight and Day" is rated PG-13 and features strong violent action (gunplay and shootings, brawling, knife play and stabbings, explosive, fiery and vehicular mayhem, and violence against women), scattered strong profanity (including one usage of the so-called "R-rated" curse word), brief bloody imagery and some suggestive references. Running time: 110 minutes.

The Last Airbender (Reviewed by Ed)

2 stars out of 4


The world is divided into four kingdoms, each represented by the element they harness, and peace has lasted throughout the realms of Water, Air, Earth, and Fire under the supervision of the Avatar, a link to the spirit world and the only being capable of mastering the use of all four elements. When young Avatar Aang disappears, the Fire Nation launches an attack to eradicate all members of the Air Nomads to prevent interference in their future plans for world domination. 100 years pass and current Fire Lord Ozai continues to conquer and imprison anyone with elemental "bending" abilities in the Earth and Water Kingdoms, while siblings Katara and Sokka from a Southern Water Tribe find a mysterious boy trapped beneath the ice outside their village. Upon rescuing him, he reveals himself to be Aang, Avatar and last of the Air Nomads. Swearing to protect the Avatar, Katara and Sokka journey with him to the Northern Water Kingdom in his quest to master "Waterbending" and eventually fulfill his destiny of once again restoring peace to the world. But as they inch nearer to their goal, the group must evade Prince Zuko, the exiled son of Lord Ozai, Commander Zhao, the Fire Nation's military leader, and the tyrannical onslaught of the evil Fire Lord himself.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0938283/plotsummary


Now let me preface by saying I’ve never seen ANY of the Airbender cartoons so this review comes from that point of view. I’m starting to wonder about this so-called summer blockbuster season. There have been a handful of movies where the trailer has looked REALLY GOOD and then you find out that the movie doesn’t live up to what you expect. Some perfect examples have been Prince of Persia, Clash of the Titans, Iron Man 2 and now add The Last Airbender into the mix. Again, what looks so good in the trailer doesn’t translate onto the big screen. To me, Hollywood is losing a battle that they better turn around or viewers will cut back on their movie going experiences.

The Last Airbender has a lot of potential (just like the other 3 movies I referred to), but this film falls short where the other ones don’t...acting! I can’t remember the last time where I saw a movie where just about every character forgot what they learned in acting class. This was the biggest problem with this movie, which says a lot because the plot was pretty choppy as well. When you have bad acting and a poor plot it’s tough to enjoy a movie like this even when the special effects and fight sequences were pretty good.

Watching this movie I found myself dozing off a few times because I just wasn’t into it. I’ve seen almost every movie M. Night Shyamalan has made and to be honest I’ve really enjoyed 2 of them (The Sixth Sense and Signs) and the rest of the ones I’ve seen (The Village, Unbreakable and Lady In The Water) were average movies that I liked but wasn’t overly ecstatic about them. This movie probably was at the bottom of all the movies he’s done and I’m wondering if he is committing theatrical suicide. Mr. Shyamalan needs to hit the reset button and if he decides to make the second Airbender movie then I hope he does so by doing us all a favor and forcing every single cast member to go back to “Acting 101” class.

Like Clash of the Titans, this movie was not shot with 3D cameras and they made the conversion after the movie was filmed. Fortunately I didn’t see this movie in 3D and from what I’ve heard it’s not visually good in 3D.


Rating of whether I would see the movie again:
1 = Definitely not!
2 = Probably not.
3 = Maybe.
4 = Probably.
5 = Absolutely!

Would I see the movie again in the theaters? 1
Will I rent it on DVD and watch it at home? 2
Would I buy the movie? 1

"The Last Airbender" is rated PG for violent action and imagery (elemental attacks, martial-arts battles, fiery and explosive mayhem, as well as violence against women and children). Running time: 103 minutes.