Prince of Persia: the Sands of Time stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Ben Kingsley, Alfred Molina and Gemma Arterton. Directed by Mike Newell. Rated PG-13 with a running time of 1 hr. and 55 mins. Based on the video game series Prince of Persia.
A rogue prince (Gyllenhaal) reluctantly joins forces with a mysterious princess (Arterton) and together they race against dark forces to safeguard an ancient dagger capable of releasing the Sands of Time which is a gift from the gods that can reverse time and allow its possessor to rule the world.
Lets be honest none of us go to movie like Prince of Persia for great acting and a great story. We mainly go for the cool special effects the studios spent their money on. Too bad there wasn't much mind blowing action and for that Prince of Persia came off as boring. The acting is not terrible but i dont think they were given much to do. Gyllenhaal was mostly swinging around from building to building like a monkey which was odd at times. The film makers were trying to incorporate parkour in the movie but it just looks fake. Near the end there was some cool action but not nearly enough to entertain me all the way. Overall this is mediocre video game adaptation disguised as a summer blockbuster. You can defenitely skip Prince of Persia.
C
MacGruber stars Will Forte, Kristen Wiig, Ryan Phillippe and Val Kilmer. Directed by Jorma Taccone (a writer for SNL and a member of The Lonely Island). Rated R with a running time of 1 hr. 28 Mins. Based on the skit from SNL.
In the 10 years since his fiancée was killed, special op MacGruber (Forte) has sworn off a life of fighting crime with his bare hands. But when he learns that his country needs him to find a nuclear warhead that's been stolen by his sworn enemy, Dieter Von Cunth (Kilmer). MacGruber figures he's the only one tough enough for the job. Assembling an elite team of experts Lt. Dixon Piper (Phillippe) and Vicki St. Elmo (Wiig), MacGruber will navigate an army of assassins to hunt down Cunth and bring him to justice. His methods may be unorthodox. His crime scenes may get messy. But if you want the world saved right, you call in MacGruber.
First off MacGruber is not a good movie. Its also mostly full of unfunny gags and jokes. I don't really watch SNL and I have never seen a MacGruber skit. I saw the previews for this movie and thought it could be very funny. That was definitely not the case. I personally think Will Forte is NOT funny. He just comes off wierd and annoying. So him being the lead in this movie should have warned me but I still thought it looked funny. The question I have is did the movie really need to be made? There have been so many movies about bumbling idiot secret agents that save the world. The thing is that some can be really funny and you like the main character. With MacGruber he just comes off as a dick and hes pretty disgusting. So that doesnt make me like or root for the character. Believe me I like stupid gross out comedies like Step Brothers, The Hangover, Role Models and even stuff like the Austin Power movies. But to me those movies were actually funny and they had some heart and likeable characters. And how the hell did they get this supporting cast? Val Kilmer and Ryan Phillippe? I dont understand why they chose to do this movie because they were equally unfunny. There were a few chuckles here and there but not nearly enough to be a good comedy. You can definitely skip MacGruber.D
Robin Hood stars Russell Crowe, Cate Blanchett, Mark Strong and Max von Sydow. Directed by Ridley Scott. Rated PG-13 with a running time of 2 hrs and 28 mins.
Robin Hood chronicles the life of an expert archer, previously interested only in self-preservation, from his service in King Richard's army against the French. Upon Richard's death, Robin travels to Nottingham, a town suffering from the corruption of a despotic sheriff and crippling taxation, where he falls for the spirited widow Lady Marion, a woman skeptical of the identity and motivations of this crusader from the forest. Hoping to earn the hand of Maid Marion and salvage the village, Robin assembles a gang whose lethal mercenary skills are matched only by its appetite for life. Together, they begin preying on the indulgent upper class to correct injustices under the sheriff.
First off i think Russell Crowe is a decent actor and he is good playing these war heroes like the one in Gladiator and now Robin Hood. Too bad Robin Hood is not nearly as entertaining as movies like Gladiator. There is not enough action and too much talking. The trailer is chalk full of battle scenes but let me tell you there is only one big battle scene and it is in the last 20 minutes of this 2 hour and 28 minute movie. This movie is way too long and I think they could have at least cut some of the boring talking scenes to make this movie at least 2 hours. That being said this movie's cast is excellent its just the script does not allow them to do much at all. I just don't get why they would tell the origins of Robin Hood. I don't think anyone really cared where he came from they just like seeing him steal from the rich and give to the poor, but unfortunately that is not in this movie. You can appreciate what the director and crew are doing but i just think it does not work too well for an action adventure movie. The end is just basically setting up a sequel if this one does well. One person I enjoyed particularly was Mark Strong who plays the main baddie in this movie. Strong is very good at playing bad guys. He played the bad guys in Sherlock Holmes and Kick-Ass and I believe he is also going to play the villian in the upcoming Green Lantern movie. Kudos to Strong! Good acting and a decent battle climax aren't good enough to save this movie. Overall this flick is mediocre.C
Iron Man 2 stars Robert Downey Jr., Mickey Rourke, Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Sam Rockwell, Scarlett Johansson and Samuel L. Jackson. Directed by Jon Favreau. Rated PG-13 with a running time of 2 hrs. and 5 mins. Based on the Marvel comic.
The world is aware that billionaire inventor Tony Stark is the armored superhero Iron Man. Under pressure from the government, the press and the public to share his technology with the military, Tony is unwilling to divulge the secrets behind the Iron Man armor because he fears the information will slip into the wrong hands. With Pepper Potts and James "Rhodey" Rhodes at his side, Tony forges new alliances and confronts powerful new forces. The new forces being Whiplash and Justin Hammer. Oh yeah and that the thing that is keeping him alive is also poisoning his blood.
Robert Downey Jr. once again steals the show as Tony Stark/Iron Man. He is cocky but charming and you can't help but like him. Don Cheadle steps in for Terrence Howard to play James Rhodes/War Machine. Rhodey is Tony's confidant in the military and is also a good friend. It felt wierd seeing Cheadle as Rhodey just because i enjoyed the first Iron Man and I thought Terrence Howard did a perfectly good job. That being said Cheadle does a decent job and is a good War Machine. Paltrow didnt do much in the movie but that was ok because she is not super important to the story. Mickey Rourke was great as the villian Ivan Vanko/Whiplash who has a grudge with the Stark family. He played him as a straight badass and it worked for me. Sam Rockwell plays Justin Hammer who is a rival of Stark Industries and wants very badly to make Iron Man look like an antique. I thought Rockwell did a fine job though he was more funny than menacing. Scarlett Johansson plays Natalie Rushman/Black Widow. She is basically there to look at and kick some ass near the end, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that! Sam Jackson plays Nick Fury who is the director of S.H.I.E.LD. or basically the Avengers Initiative. He is trying to recruit Tony for a special team. Jackson is a great actor and to see him playing the director of the Avengers is pretty awesome. Overall I would not change the cast at all. They all did very well.
Iron Man 2 is a decent superhero movie. Downey Jr. is great as Tony Stark/Iron Man because he is so slick and funny. I have to say the movie sagged a little in the beginning. The first big action scene was a little disappointing but seeing Whiplash for the first time was pretty cool. To me Iron Man needed a third action sequence, after the Monaco scene and before the huge climax. The movie started to pick up once Nick Fury showed up and Tony Stark started to figure out how to find a new element for his suit. That is followed by the climax which was pretty damn awesome. Some great action there. Throughout the movie there is foreshadowing to the future Avengers movie. I thought it was really cool seeing those and having The Avengers start to come together and definitely stay after the credits!! Overall Iron Man 2 wasn't as great as it could have been but it was still a decent superhero movie.B+
A Nightmare on Elm Street stars Jackie Earle Haley as the infamous Freddy Krueger. The rest of the cast is full of relatively unknowns like Rooney Mara as Nancy and Kyle as Quentin. Directed by Samuel Bayer. Running time of 1 hr. and 30 mins.
Nancy, Kris, Quentin, Jesse and Dean all live on Elm Street. At night, they're all having the same dream--of the same man, wearing a tattered red and green striped sweater, a beaten fedora half-concealing a disfigured face and a gardener's glove with knives for fingers. And they're all hearing the same frightening voice. One by one, he terrorizes them within the curved walls of their dreams, where the rules are his, and the only way out is to wake up. But when one of their number dies a violent death, they soon realize that what happens in their dreams happens for real, and the only way to stay alive is to stay awake. Turning to each other, the four surviving friends try to uncover how they became part of this dark fairytale, hunted by this dark man. Functioning on little to no sleep, they struggle to understand why them, why now, and what their parents aren't telling them.
I have never really seen any of the other Elm Street movies, but i can just tell that the original will be more loved than this lame poor effort of a remake. To me the entire movie was a bunch of emo looking teens walking around, falling asleep and then getting chopped up into bits. When the teens arent being killed this movie is very boring. I just didn't care what happened to these teens because they weren't really characters. They were just there to be killed by Freddy. Haley gives his best and he wasn't the problem, but just seeing him do the same thing over and over and over got very tiring. So do yourself a favor and skip this poor effort of a movie.
D+
Prince of Persia: the Sands of Time stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Ben Kingsley, Alfred Molina and Gemma Arterton. Directed by Mike Newell. Rated PG-13 with a running time of 1 hr. and 55 mins. Based on the video game series Prince of Persia.
