I should start off by pointing out that I Hate Michael Bay. Everything he has done has been terrible, his scenes are nothing more then set ups for the next big CGI filled explosion. The man knows nothing about character development, as the actors are equal props in his movies. That being said I went into this movie hoping to give it an equal chance to prove me wrong. What ended up happening is everything I thought it was going to be and less.
Plot: 1/10
The Plot from what I can gather is about the previous leader of the Autobots returning and revealing that he is actually working for the Decepticons. This leads to Sentinel Prime unleashing a technology that would help bring their home planet of Cybertron to Earth, enslaving humans to the robots and using our resources to rebuild the now barren planet. In a well done movie this plot actually seems like something worth checking out but here its really just becomes another subplot in a movie full of useless and boring subplots like; Sam looking for a new job or Sam jealous of his girlfriends rich and handsome boss, Sam feeling like despite the fact that he has saved the world he is a nobody. Also the whole time I am watching this movie I am thinking to myself dear lord didn't we just see this play out in the last two movies. Michael Bay has no idea on how to set up a scene and it really shows
Characters: 2/10
Don't let that 2 fool you there were absolutely no characters in this film trust me. Sam Witwicky played blandly by the equally bland and hopefully soon to be forgettable Shia LeBeouf is whinny and and the straight face expressions on his face are there the entire movie, when he is not yelling for Optimus. His new girlfriend who has a name but for the moment lets call her Not-Megan Fox cause that's what she is. That's not to say that Megan Fox is a good actress because she is not but I never thought I would watch a movie and be wishing for a Megan Fox performance. The US government is apparently run by morons cause they think that they can control alien lifeforms that can take the form of giant robots. The robots are played OK but how hard is it to really voice iconic characters like this. Also a waste of time was the final battle scene between Optimus Prime and Megatron, lasting maybe 30 seconds.The only character who gave me any enjoyment was Agent Simmons played by John Turturro, who is trying to at least have fun with his character, damn I wanted to movie to be about him every time he is on screen. The problem here is none of the characters are given enough time to really develop and give us a reason to care about what they are doing, scenes with the human characters go nowhere fast and they feel like you are watching a 2 hour long trailer for the movie.
Setting: 5/10
I know that this is called setting but I also think that his includes the visuals of the movie and Michael Bay does no a thing or two about visuals. The movie itself and the visual effects are really done well and you do get a decent picture painted. That being said again this is all a retread of the past two movies and thus its no longer special is it. Yeah we have the robots but we have already seen that give us something exciting now but alas we are given the same formula and of course we are all going to eat it up. I am not immune to this I feel for it with the Star Wars prequels each time hoping that the last film wasn't just that one bad film in the series. You know watching robots kill each other isn't a hard concept to do and for the most part in the last two films Michael Bay has gotten that down, except now he knows that he doesn't have to try.
Dialogue: 1/10
Some of the lines in this moving seem more like what you would expect from a professional wrestling show that you find in the backyard of your cousins friends house, or that episode of South Park who did the same thing. I guess its not so much that because the characters are boring that the dialogue is not tolerable but its the fact that the characters haven't been given a chance to develop to make what they are saying even mean anything. This also brings me to the other thing that drives me crazy about Michael Bay. Michael Bay loves America and that I have no problem with, but his movies are all about Freedom and why America kicks ass. Every time Optimus gives a little speech its about freedom and how tyranny will never be allowed on his watch. Dear lord by the time I was done with this movie I was sick of freedom. Also of course these scenes are done with an American flag in the background to drive the point home. You get the feeling that the lines are meant to make us think of the war on terror and most of us are trying to put that behind us.
Overall: 2/10- EPIC FAIL
This movie was everything I thought it was going to be and less. Michael Bay has said that this is his last movie in the series and we can only hope that means that we never have to see this crap again. This isn't even bad anymore its really sad that this movie is going to get the money that its getting because like myself with the Star Wars prequels sad fan boys will rationalize that because it's Transformers it deserves there hard earned cash. The only think I liked at the end of the day was that I did not pay for this pop culture abortion.
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Monday, June 27, 2011
Green Lantern Review
The Daily Complainer loves movies. Since I was a kid i have been fascinated by first the bright colors of a Disney animated film. As I have gotten older I have come to see movies differently. That being said it really does take a lot to impress me so when I say that I like a movie or that it was a great movie you know that i really mean it. That being said we move on to Warner Bros. summer comic book answer to Thor and Captain America, Green Lantern, based off the comic book of the same name.
SPOILER ALERT!!!!!!
This movie starts with an introduction of a brief history of the Guardians of the Universe and Parallax. Parallax for you not into comic books is meant to embody fear. It then mentions Abin Sur defeating and trapping Parallax which is undone in 30 seconds after a few explorers are devoured by Parallax and then attacks Abin Sur causing him to go and find a replacement due to his fatal injury. Although just barely shown this scene is really just to get the plot in motion, I compare it to the dialogue between Luke and Obi-wan in the first Star Wars when discussing the fall of Anakin. Thus we are introduced to Hal Jordan as portrayed by Ryan Reynolds, who is a big bright spot in this movie, a bright green light if you will. Hal a test pilot for Ferris Aircraft's which is where we are also introduced to our love interest for the movie Carol Ferris played by the lovely Blake Lively.
This review will be broken down as such:
Plot
Dialogue
Characters
Setting
Overall
Plot- 5/10
The Plot while not horrible suffers from the fact that this movie was written as a comic book and not a movie but I will get into that when we talk Dialogue. The basic premise of this movie is about overcoming fear, much like another Warner Bros. DC movie Batman Begins. This is painted with the help of Parallax which is meant to symbolize fear. Our main character Hal Jordan's attempt to overcome fear due to the fact that he has the image of his dad dying stuck in his head. This wasn't done subtly either everything in this movie is very overt. At every chance they get they always mention that fear is the enemy of will, it drives what the lanterns do, also when Hal confronts the Guardians he tells then that what they fear is admitting that they are afraid. Also when Hector Hammond and Hal Jordan face off Hector states that he has embraced his fear. Overall the plot suffers from too many things going on and nothing being too developed.
Dialogue: 4/10
As much as I hate to admit it the dialogue in this movie is terrible. This isn't what you would expect in a Hollywood film, but a comic book. Before you say its a comic book movie that's the key word movie. Having a very charming Ryan Reynolds say some of these lines do make up for it but sadly much like the plot everything is very overt there is no subtly in this movie. You need subtly make a movie work no one wants to just be told everything they want to be able to think it over and form there own opinions, at least that's what i like.
Characters/Actors: 8/10
The saving grace for this film is the casting and the characters they portray. Ryan Reynolds was the last person I would have picked to play Hal Jordan. When I heard he was going to play the greatest Lantern of all time I shuttered. However watching him on screen I saw Hal Jordan not that Ryan Reynolds disappeared into this character he just was Hal Jordan. Blake Lively plays the standard love interest with a slight twist. She is a strict boss that clearly cares for Hal but understands that he is clearly living with fear. Also watching her save Hal was a great twist on the damsil in distress. Carol Ferris also while being a love interest also kinda serves as best friend as well, by that I mean she helps the hero realize that its not being fearless its overcoming fear by facing it. Hector Hammond goofy looking, in my theater everyone laughed when they saw him. He was never really developed and it would have served better if the movie was more focused on differences between Hector and Hal. Also he really didn't need to be in this movie, they would have served better if it was about Hal vs. Parallax if you really want to make this movie about fear.
Minor characters like Kilowag and Sinestro are done really well, really putting into are heads that Hal has a long way to go and making him doubt his abilities.
Setting: 9/10
Beautifully done is the settings for Oa, and while I have my issues with CGI its not going anywhere so we must learn to take it. Along with the settings is the fact that the Green Lantern costume is adapted to whoever is where it. Also the different life forms are shown to really be different from each other.
Overall: 6/10
SPOILER ALERT!!!!!!
This movie starts with an introduction of a brief history of the Guardians of the Universe and Parallax. Parallax for you not into comic books is meant to embody fear. It then mentions Abin Sur defeating and trapping Parallax which is undone in 30 seconds after a few explorers are devoured by Parallax and then attacks Abin Sur causing him to go and find a replacement due to his fatal injury. Although just barely shown this scene is really just to get the plot in motion, I compare it to the dialogue between Luke and Obi-wan in the first Star Wars when discussing the fall of Anakin. Thus we are introduced to Hal Jordan as portrayed by Ryan Reynolds, who is a big bright spot in this movie, a bright green light if you will. Hal a test pilot for Ferris Aircraft's which is where we are also introduced to our love interest for the movie Carol Ferris played by the lovely Blake Lively.
This review will be broken down as such:
Plot
Dialogue
Characters
Setting
Overall
Plot- 5/10
The Plot while not horrible suffers from the fact that this movie was written as a comic book and not a movie but I will get into that when we talk Dialogue. The basic premise of this movie is about overcoming fear, much like another Warner Bros. DC movie Batman Begins. This is painted with the help of Parallax which is meant to symbolize fear. Our main character Hal Jordan's attempt to overcome fear due to the fact that he has the image of his dad dying stuck in his head. This wasn't done subtly either everything in this movie is very overt. At every chance they get they always mention that fear is the enemy of will, it drives what the lanterns do, also when Hal confronts the Guardians he tells then that what they fear is admitting that they are afraid. Also when Hector Hammond and Hal Jordan face off Hector states that he has embraced his fear. Overall the plot suffers from too many things going on and nothing being too developed.
Dialogue: 4/10
As much as I hate to admit it the dialogue in this movie is terrible. This isn't what you would expect in a Hollywood film, but a comic book. Before you say its a comic book movie that's the key word movie. Having a very charming Ryan Reynolds say some of these lines do make up for it but sadly much like the plot everything is very overt there is no subtly in this movie. You need subtly make a movie work no one wants to just be told everything they want to be able to think it over and form there own opinions, at least that's what i like.
Characters/Actors: 8/10
The saving grace for this film is the casting and the characters they portray. Ryan Reynolds was the last person I would have picked to play Hal Jordan. When I heard he was going to play the greatest Lantern of all time I shuttered. However watching him on screen I saw Hal Jordan not that Ryan Reynolds disappeared into this character he just was Hal Jordan. Blake Lively plays the standard love interest with a slight twist. She is a strict boss that clearly cares for Hal but understands that he is clearly living with fear. Also watching her save Hal was a great twist on the damsil in distress. Carol Ferris also while being a love interest also kinda serves as best friend as well, by that I mean she helps the hero realize that its not being fearless its overcoming fear by facing it. Hector Hammond goofy looking, in my theater everyone laughed when they saw him. He was never really developed and it would have served better if the movie was more focused on differences between Hector and Hal. Also he really didn't need to be in this movie, they would have served better if it was about Hal vs. Parallax if you really want to make this movie about fear.
Minor characters like Kilowag and Sinestro are done really well, really putting into are heads that Hal has a long way to go and making him doubt his abilities.
Setting: 9/10
Beautifully done is the settings for Oa, and while I have my issues with CGI its not going anywhere so we must learn to take it. Along with the settings is the fact that the Green Lantern costume is adapted to whoever is where it. Also the different life forms are shown to really be different from each other.
Overall: 6/10
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