Red Dawn (2012) Review

America, F@#$ Yeah!

Apparently the studios felt that remaking Red Dawn would be a good idea. The original is about Soviet Communists troops invading the United States, and the only ones who can stop them are a bunch of Colorado teenagers. The inexperienced teenagers start waging guerrilla warfare against the Soviet troops under the banner of ‘Wolverines’. Yes, it is ridiculous, but it has a cult following. Probably because of its pro American jingoistic themes combined with cheesy action and dialogue. It is truly an 80's movie.

The newest Red Dawn is more ludicrous and just as dumb. Except this time instead of Russia Communists the villains are North Koreans. Originally, the Chinese invade the United States, but China is a big market for American movies, so Hollywood decides to change the story a little bit. So now we have North Koreans instead of the Chinese. This makes no sense because how can North Korea find enough people to invade the United States? Even if you ignore that fact, the movie never tells us what the Korean’s agenda is, and the movie never tells us what is happening outside the town. I will admit that the action scenes are staged well and are much better than the 1984 original.

2012’s Red Dawn is slightly better than the original just because the action scenes are better, but there is still bad dialogue, cardboard characters, and ridiculous plot lines. It is a good way to kill two hours, but nothing more.

Red Dawn - 2/5

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Review

Peter Jackson Returns to the Shire in the New Hobbit Trilogy.

I have to admit that I am not a big fan of "Lord of the Rings”. They are good movies, but not the masterpieces that fans claim it to be. They just never resonated with me. Maybe I am bias because I really do not care for the fantasy genre, with the exception of the Harry Potter films. The Lord of the Rings trilogy is epic, but the long running times for each movie is brutal, and there are so many characters that I couldn’t care less about. The films are still well made, and the actors fit the roles perfectly. For example, Andy Serkis’ portrayal of Gollum in The Two Towers has to be one of the biggest Oscar snubs of all time.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is about a Hobbit named Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman), who is swept into a quest to reclaim the lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor from the fearsome dragon Smaug (Benedict Cumberbatch). Bilbo is approached out of the blue by the wizard Gandalf the Grey (Ian McKellan), who thinks he will be useful on the journey. Bilbo also finds himself joining 13 dwarfs led by the legendary warrior, Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage). Throughout their journey they walk through the forests, walk up the mountains, walk through the tunnels, and walk through other places. Seriously though, they do encounter many deadly creatures like goblins, orcs, giant spiders, shapeshifters, and sorcerers. Eventually, the group gets separated and must escape the goblins' tunnels. While separated from the group, Bilbo meets Gollum (Andy Serkis), a creature that will change his life forever. In the process he also gains possession of Gollum’s “precious” ring that holds unexpected powers.

I have to say that I mildly enjoyed the film. The cinematography is amazing, and the Middle Earth world is just as spectacular as it is in the Lord of the Rings movies. The landscapes are breathtakingly beautiful, and it almost makes the audience want to travel to New Zealand to see these amazing sights. Martin Freeman does a great job as Bilbo Baggins,and Ian McKellan does another wonderful performance as Gandalf the Grey. Nevertheless, Gollum steals the show despite him being in the movie for about 20 minutes. In this movie he is a bit scarier as he has a taste for human flesh in this film.

However, the main problem with the film is the pacing. This film drags for about the first hour, and 13 dwarfs are introduced in this period of time. To be perfectly honest, I could not keep up with all of these characters. Of course it is always a challenge to make the audience care about them. They are not fully developed, and I could not tell one dwarf from the other. The movie picks up in the third act, but it takes forever to get there.

Peter Jackson tries to stretch out the story for as long as possible to make "The Hobbit” last for three hours. This is a mistake as the next two parts are going to drag also, we actually get to see the group encounter Smaug the dragon in the next film. So it should be somewhat more entertaining. Nevertheless, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey has its moments, but it is ultimately a journey I will not be going on again.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - 3/5

This is 40 Review

First of all I have to say that I love Judd Apatow. He produces hilarious comedies and can write some funny material. I like most of the comedies he produces, and the three films he has directed are very good. His last film, “Funny People”, divided audiences and critics alike. Personally, I loved the film and it showed that Apatow could write characters that have depth and engaging story lines. It is actually a dramedy in many ways. In his new film, “This is 40”, Apatow is going into more dramatic territory while still keeping the crude and raunchy humor intact. However, this time he delivers mixed results.

The movie is billed as the sort-of-sequel to 2008’s "Knocked Up". That film is about the repercussions of a drunken one-night stand involving Ben Stone (Seth Rogen), a stoned slacker, and Alison Scott (Katherine Heigl), a serious career-minded woman, which ends up in an unintended pregnancy. Alison also has a sister named Debbie (Leslie Mann) who is married to Pete (Paul Rudd). “This is 40” focuses on the latter couple, as they fight their way through their marriage. The growing financial troubles from Pete’s new record label and Debbie’s mid life crisis only add to the pressure.

Judd Apatow knows how to write good dialogue, as the characters seem real and developed. Many people will not completely identify with this upper middle class family, but Pete and Debbie still have problems that everyone faces once in their life like parental issues, business struggles, aging, and strained relationships. Plus Apatow delivers some funny and perspective scenes in the movie. Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann have excellent chemistry together, and Melissa McCarthy, who is hilarious in “Bridesmaids”, has a great scene in the movie that almost overshadows the rest of the characters in the movie.

However, the movie is just too long. My main rule about comedies is that no comedy should be over two hours long. This film clocks in at about two hours and 13 minutes. It overstays its welcome and you can tell. It does not help that the film can be a complete mess sometimes. Several plot lines and characters show up and are never developed. There are many characters that are wasted like Jason Segel, Megan Fox, and John Lithgow. At times I found the movie to be a little self-indulgent. This is clearly nepotism at its finest since Apatow casts his wife and his two kids in major roles. Normally I do not have a problem with this if they can act. However, he definitely could have found more talented actors.

Unfortunately, “This is 40” is Apatow’s worst film, but at least this is not a haphazard effort. This is real genuine filmmaking and he gets points for effort. I did not hate the film, but it is not a comedy that I will watch again like his other ones. I still look forward to seeing him expand out of his comfort zone and make a truly great dramedy one day.

This is 40 - 3/5