Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian is just another Hollywood big-budget sequel.

The reason why I went to watch this is because the first one was such a good family movie. It has humour, suspense, slight action and in depth plot and character development.

The sequel, unfortunately, is far from that. Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian is about Larry Daley who found a better job since the first movie and has now moved on to a different life. Little did he knows that his friends at the Museum of Natural History are about to be shipped and stored at the famous Smithsonian Institute. Long story short, he now has to save little Jedediah and Octavius from a pharaoh who is trying to take over the world. Sounds weird. Because it is. It feels like the writers were out of ideas.

So what they do was they throw in a hell lot of characters including Kahmunrah, a crazy pharaoh who is trying to rule the world, Albert Einstein, Abe Lincoln and even Darth Vader.


The story seemed rush and some parts didn’t make sense. For example, why did Kahmunrah threatens to suffocate Jedediah in an hour-glass when Jedediah is just a little statue who will most probably come back to life the night after even if he ‘died’ today?


But negativity aside, I have to say that the actor that really stood out was Hank Azaria, playing the villain Kahmunrah. He was loud and funny and not to mention he even voiced Abe Lincoln and The Thinker. Ben Stiller was just his usual self. And Amy Adams was fun and very adorable as the female pilot Amelia Earhart, but the gung-ho attitude gets old pretty fast.

The special effect and the score of the movie were okay. Not too good, not too bad.

Overall, Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian is just another Hollywood big-budget movie that has a massive room for improvement and really could’ve done so much better.

I Love You, Man; A new take on the “bromance” genre.

I Love You, Man is a whole new take on the “bromance” genre. It shows the love between two men and ho they build it up. Before anyone shouts Brokeback Mountain, here’s the deal: I Love You, Man is about what happens when a ladies’ man turn out to have no close male friends at all and have to befriend a very testosteroned-up guy just so he could have a best man at his wedding. The movie also shows how he tries out with a few different guys (even a homosexual man, by mistake) before he finally found his true friend.

Sounds simple enough. But what really made this movie was not the plot but the realistic dialogues, the funny intended awkward silences throughout and the whole concept of it.


The writers and filmmakers did a great job bringing us a not-so-usual romance movie laced with good acting and unfamiliar soundtracks. It doesn’t have anything you might expect from a usual Hollywood movie (I’m not going to spoil anything, but I’m sure you get it).

Funny man Jason Segel (Peter’s new friend Sydney Fife) did a great job. So did Rashida Jones (Peter fiancé), Andy Samberg (Peter’s gay brother) and the other cast members. But the star of the movie is, obviously, Paul Rudd. He plays Peter Klaven, a nice ladies man, who don’t usually drink, who don’t really hang out with dudes, and just not good with socializing. He can’t even make up a nickname. He's trying to be cool when he's really just not.


The jokes are pretty grossed out type (not those ‘smart’ ones). Some might love it, some may not. But all of them are mildly-amusing so the movie really doesn’t have any dull moments.

All in all, it’s a perfect comedy for anyone who just wants to “chillax” or just hang out with friends or significant others.

Angels & Demons; Effective for those who have yet to read the novel.

I know there has been a lot of complaint about the changes done in the movie Angels & Demons; from the twist ending even to the storyline. But as a person who hasn’t read the novel, I see the movie as a very effective thriller. The storyline is very complicated yet interesting. The suspense is intense. I love the twist ending. The acting, though not Oscar-worthy, is anything you might expect from a summer movie. The editing is done very well. And the special effect is marvelous (hint: the explosion scene). The movie itself is such an eye-candy (it’s like a tourism video of Rome). And the movie seems to be like a visualization of a novel. Watching it feels like you’re reading a book.



Angels & Demons is a sure movie for anyone who wants a bit of suspense, intensity and mystery, and also for those who like thought-provoking stories.

Recommended.

Star Trek; Phenomenal!

Director JJ Abrams has outdone himself this time with this new Star Trek reboot/prequel. It simply tells the story of the early days of Captain Kirk and Mr Spock from the Star Trek we all know and love. But the difference between this and the original TV series and movies is that this Star Trek has the privilege of special effect visualization whereas the old Star Trek are focused mainly on the narrative. So in a way, this Star Trek can actually show us what the original can only describe.


The visual effect is astounding! JJ Abrams managed to create something as massive as a planet and the USS Enterprise look so real. It is like we are there. To add to the realism, there are creative uses of lens flare (those lights that are reflected at the screen throughout the movie) that makes it look like the camera is actually out there filming the scenario.


The soundtrack is epic. It has the combination of orchestra and choir which really complement the sequence shown.


I also like the fact that there are several silent scenes showing the outer space. One where the Romulan drilling vessel is attacking the Federation starship. The Federation starship is damaged, a silhouette of a crew member drifting in outer space with explosions and shooting still going on in the background, yet there is no sound. And when Kirk and Sulu dive from the Enterprise to enter Vulcan, there was only silence until after they enter the planet’s atmosphere. Usually, a sci-fi film would ignore the fact that sound can’t travel in vacuum to make a scene seem cooler. But the fact that Star Trek acknowledges this just adds more to its realism.


Regarding the acting; everyone was great. The star of this movie is, obviously, Chris Pine as James T. Kirk, showing off the character’s rebellious and cocky, and ultimately, leadership side. Zachary Quinto playing the iconic Spock was logical. He may not have the same deep and commanding voice Leonard Nimoy has, but the other resemblance of characteristic is undeniable. The rest of the crew -- Zoe Saldana as Uhura, Karl Urban as McCoy, John Cho as Sulu, Anton Yelchin as Chekov, and especially Simon Pegg as the babbling Scotty – did a appraisable job forming a team that would make Star Trek lasts throughout the ages. And of course Leonard Nimoy himself had no problem taking back the role of the original Spock.


This movie is for everyone. No matter if you’re a trekkie, a film-addict or just a casual movie-goer, you will be purely entertained as I did.


The directing by JJ Abrams is superb. The editing and camera angles are sleek. The storyline and the storytelling itself is very engaging; holding your breath and grabbing your attention in the most mind-numbing sequence, Star Trek is everything a summer blockbuster should be like.

Deadpool Spinoff is a Go!

This could be good news for some, or it could be the worst.

But it’s official according to Yahoo! Movies.

After (the dreadful) X-Men Origins: Wolverine, 20th Century Fox has announced that Ryan Reynolds will reprise his role in his own spinoff movie.

The 32-year-old Canadian actor will again star as Wade Wilson a.k.a. Deadpool, nicknamed the "Merc with a Mouth", who is a high-tech mercenary known for his wisecracks, black comedy, satirical pop-culture references and willingness to break the fourth wall.

Fox also announced that the sequel to X-Men Origins: Wolverine are already in works. The sequel, which marks the fifth time Hugh Jackman playing the animalistic mutant Wolverine, will focus on the X-Men comic's samurai storyline; the Japanese locale setup for which is teased after the blockbuster film's end credits.

Aside from that, Ian McKellen will also reprise his role as the main villain in the X-Men universe, Magneto, in his own spinoff movie X-Men Origins: Magneto.

And that's not all. Also in work right now is X-Men: First Class, intended to be about the young Cyclops, Jean, Beast and others who attended Xavier's school with them, written by The O.C. creator Josh Schwartz.

In my humble opinion, Fox really need to slow it a bit.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine; the workprint

I've finally got the X-Men Origins: Wolverine leaked workprint. I know it has been out there for a while now. I just decided not to ruin the movie experience by watching it. But now that I've watched the movie, I guess it's okay to see the workprint.

Here's a quick review:

If they actually released the workprint (rather than the movie itself) into cinemas, the review that I'd write for it would pretty much be the same as the review I wrote for the movie.

The end.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine has great storyline, but poor story-telling

X-Men Origins: Wolverine tells the story of Logan a.k.a. Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) who grows up as a mutant who can regenerate himself and has bone claws sheath in his hands. He kills the man who killed his father before finding out that the murderer was his real father. His brother, Victor a.k.a. Sabretooth (Liev Schreiber), ran away with him. They stick together until they’re adults and fought in countless wars throughout the ages before ultimately joining a team of mutants a man named Stryker (Danny Huston) put together. This team however is not what Wolverine thought they would be and left. Six years passed, and Stryker comes up to Logan with a favour to ask because most of the team members are found dead. And that’s pretty much the basic storyline.

THE GOOD: The storyline itself. This prequel/spin-off is what fans of the franchise had been waiting for. It supposedly answers the question about Wolverine's origin that was brought up in X-Men 2. The acting is also a good aspect of this movie. Hugh Jackman really embraces the character Wolverine and he really unleashes his anger so effectively that we can feel his rage.


Schreiber makes a good animalistic Sabretooth that would hunt down anything he is pointed at. And Ryan Reynolds got Deadpool spot on with some witty lines and a great action scene. The action sequence is another factor. The fight scenes are only a few minutes in length, but it was good while it lasted.

THE BAD: The CGI looks very cheap! It looks like they started it well (the opening credits was real art) but then fell short on money. Never had I seen Wolverine claws look so fake. The teleportation ability of Wraith (Will.i.Am) looks like something from the 80’s sci-fi. What happened to the way Nightcrawler teleports in X2 (which was a CGI masterpiece)? And furthermore, just like in X-Men 3, a lot of characters are killed of pre-maturely and/or badly miscast.


And although I said the story itself is good, the way it is being told is not. They didn’t make good use of the flashbacks, or twist or anything that will keep the suspense. None of the scenes are as dramatic as they should or could have been.


Gambit (Taylor Kitsch), another factor that made fans eager for this movie, was so downplayed. He only uses his card-charging power in one scene. The rest are just him using his staff to jump and run around.

Now about Deadpool. He is a cool character with a cool and funny actor playing him. They got mostly everything about him spot on (save for the costume). The witty lines and the characteristic are there. But they didn't handle the character correctly. Deadpool was never develop throughout the story. We know nothing about him except that his name is Wade and he's really good with swords, and suddenly he became an abominaion with the combined powers of Cyclops and Wraith and some other mutants.This movie didn't do Deadpool justice at all.

THE BOTTOM LINE: X-Men Origins: Wolverine is a movie that only fans should see. It’s nowhere near X2, but good enough if you just want to know about Wolverine’s past. Another good thing about this movie is that it makes you want to watch X2 all over again.