The Internship (2013)

The Internship (2013)

3/10

Starring

Owen Wilson

Vince Vaughn

Directed by Shawn Levy

The film felt like how the characters were portrayed to feel—when two old guys, probably in their 40s, were thrown into a mix with 20-something young adults. They felt out of place and not up to date with the current trend, which is exactly how the film felt: silly, outdated, and out of place.

I’ll go see an Owen Wilson movie anytime. Now, mix it up with Vince Vaughn, and you’ve got me by the neck. But after just one hour into this film, I felt that everyone who ever watches it won’t do so because of the bad review I’m giving it, but because they, like me, love these old guys and want to pay them some respect by going to see them act.

This movie will probably go into the Guinness Book of Records as the longest ad ever. I’m a huge Google fan—in fact, this site you’re reading this on is hosted by Google—but I was just tired of seeing that name plastered everywhere on the screen in this movie.

Bad enough that these old guys (Owen Wilson plays Nick Campbell, and Vince Vaughn plays Billy McMahon), after losing their jobs as watch salesmen, apply for a job at Google and are taken in as interns in the most unbelievable mockery of the term “interview.”
We also have to see what I’ll describe as a total stereotyping of I.T. lovers. I don’t think geeks hop around on broomsticks playing Muggle Quidditch, and if there happen to be some geeks who do, please get a life.

The movie’s story also drags on and on, with us knowing that they’ll eventually get the job, so there’s no surprise there.

The Internship looks like a recipe for a box office mishap, and it’s nothing compared to the duo’s previous work together in Wedding Crashers (2005). Here, it just seems like the story is too limited, and not enough was explored to bring out the best in it. In the area of acting, well, the guys looked a little underutilized. The comedy is just dull, and you’ll watch this movie for close to two hours without even grinning.

I won’t recommend this movie to anyone in the mood to see a good film. It’s not worth the time or the cash. Do what I do when I hear a movie missed the mark: wait for the DVD to come out and go watch it at the house of the poor unfortunate soul who bought it.

Pacific Rim (2013)

Pacific Rim (2013)

4/10

Starring

Charlie Hunnam

Idris Elba

Rinko Kikuchi

Charlie Day

Directed by Guillermo del Toro

To be honest, I can’t find a reason to tell anybody to watch this movie. The critics’ rating for this movie is too high (rated 72% on Rotten Tomatoes), which amazes me because, after about an hour into the movie, I was so tired of everything going on that I wanted to leave. It’s not the whole fiction that wore me out, but everything leading up to what some might think is a grand ending just made me want to sleep.

I advise anyone who wants to watch this movie to wait and borrow it from a friend, as I regret not only the time I spent seeing this flick but also the financial implications that followed.

When you watch movies like Real Steel (2011), which also featured robots being synced with humans, you notice that the idea of using robots to fight can be done in a fluid manner and not made to look stiff.

In the Hugh Jackman movie Real Steel, the robots were controlled by humans too, but the robots were human-sized. Here, in Pacific Rim, the robots are as large as dinosaurs and require two humans to control them. The human brain is synced with the robot’s control mechanism, and the two humans synced together for the control of these robots have their brains simulating the right and left hemispheres, which are mirrored by the robot’s CPU.

Now, these large robots are really massive, making them stiff in their movement, which is understandable but annoying. All the same, as the fight scenes were slow, it looked more like the monsters were slower themselves, making it seem like it wasn’t a fair fight from the start. The robots were meant to win.

Then there’s the theory of world destruction, which is due to some mystic alien forces that have created a portal and are sending these monsters to our planet to wipe us out. The theory is cool (Spoiler Alert), but then the whole kamikaze thing to destroy the portal at the end felt so much like the ending of Independence Day (1996). Ironically, Independence Day (1996) was also about an alien invasion.

When it comes to directing and acting, the movie had it. But to me, Guillermo del Toro had it in mind to make a Transformers movie with a difference, so he just pulled ideas together and came up with this.

As I said, I won’t be watching this movie again, and I won’t recommend it either because I keep asking myself: what is there to watch?

Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox (2013)

Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox (2013)

6/10

Starring the voice

Justin Chambers

Kevin McKidd

Michael B. Jordan

C. Thomas Howell

Directed by Jay Oliva

If you haven’t read the comic or read up about this flick, there are two things to look forward to:

1. Batman actually sheds a tear at the end.
2. Thomas Wayne (Bruce Wayne/Batman’s father) is a badass.

After a long wait to see a Flash animated movie (by that, I mean I wanted to see a Flash animated movie), DC finally delivered with Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox, a movie about Barry Allen’s desire to save his mum from being killed when he was young.
This 2013 animated movie is an adaptation of the 2011 DC comic book Flashpoint by Geoff Johns and Andy Kubert. This is also DC’s 17th direct-to-DVD animation, and DC decided to go all out with this one because it’s as dark as they come, with Reverse Flash/Professor Zoom (Eobard Thawne) causing as much trouble as he could.

Here, in this flick, the animation is above average, but the voice casting is something I truly enjoyed. The violence level was tuned up a bit, making it more violent than Batman: The Dark Knight Returns (Part 1 & 2). At the beginning of the movie, I felt the violence was a little overstretched, but later on, I felt otherwise.

The whole Flashpoint comic and this animation are enlightening for those who love the Flash and want to know more about him and how his powers function. We get educated on what happens when he runs faster than the time barrier, which explains how he and Reverse Flash can travel through time.

Sometimes, one of the difficulties review writers face is writing a review without pulling out spoilers to ruin it for the reader, so I’ll try my best.
After defeating Reverse Flash and his gang, Barry Allen goes for a run and wakes up to see that there’s an altered timeline where he is no longer The Flash.

This alteration created a ripple, where we see Thomas Wayne as Batman instead of his son, Bruce Wayne. This isn’t all—the whole Earth is coming to an end as a war between Aquaman’s Atlantis and Wonder Woman’s Amazons is about to lead to the destruction of all life on Earth.
The Flash must now team up with other heroes in this new timeline to restore it back to the way it was before.

The directing in this animation was done by Jay Oliva, who was also behind the chair for the 2012 (Part 1) and 2013 (Part 2) animated adaptations of Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, both of which had the same dark feel as this animation.

My conclusion is: I enjoyed this movie from beginning to end. Although it’s not the best DC animation out there, it’s one for the shelf, so make sure you get the DVD.

The Lone Ranger (2013)

The Lone Ranger (2013)

4/10

Starring

Johnny Depp

Armie Hammer

William Fichtner

Tom Wilkinson

Directed by Gore Verbinski

Growing up, I heard about the whole Lone Ranger thingy, his faithful sidekick Tonto, and let’s not forget his horse, Silver. But not once did I ever imagine myself watching a film about it. Disney decided, “What the heck, let’s turn this one-time radio show into a movie,” and somehow, they’re disappointed that it’s not making any money?
When you decide to make a movie of a franchise that was once a radio show, the first thing you have to look at is your audience. Disney failed to ask the most important question of all: Are the people who love Lone Ranger and Tonto still alive?

In addition, this Lone Ranger movie is 1 hour too long. The Lone Ranger himself reminded me of the character Rodney (who is popular for being well-informed but daft) in Only Fools and Horses, as he was a naïve misfit who was nothing without Tonto.

Another thing to think about is: Why is Hollywood thinking that longer is better?
Almost every movie released today is over 2 hours long. The problem with these lengthy movies is that if they’re not well-filled, they’ll make the whole movie look pointless and blank.

The plot goes like this: Ambushed by outlaws and left for dead, John Reid is rescued by the renegade Comanche, Tonto, at the insistence of a mysterious white horse, who offers to help him bring Cavendish to justice. Becoming a reluctant masked rider with a seemingly incomprehensible partner, Reid pursues the criminal against all obstacles. (Plot culled from IMDb.)

Deciding to use Johnny Depp in a movie doesn’t mean the movie is going to sell. It just means you wasted a hell of a lot of money trying to force upon us in the 21st century a show that our grandparents liked.
The makers paid a hell of a lot of money to have Johnny Depp in this movie because, in the Lone Ranger story, the Lone Ranger is the lead actor and Tonto is his sidekick. In this movie, it felt like the other way around, with Tonto being more in control and the Lone Ranger just being a plonker.

Hollywood has reached a point where new ideas and risks may fail, which is why we’re seeing remakes, reboots, and a lot of action-hero movies being done over and over again. There’s a new Wolverine movie coming out, and as I am right now, I’m sick and tired of the X-Men and anything from it. But what do you expect the studios to do? John Carter was new, and it flopped. Now, The Lone Ranger. At this rate, the only movies Disney—or anyone—will want to do will be remakes (that’s why Disney is working on remaking Jungle Book and Cinderella).

My final take is: After an hour of watching, I felt sorry for anyone who hasn’t seen this movie and is thinking of going to see it.

Despicable Me 2 (2013)

Despicable Me 2 (2013)

7/10

Starring the voice of

Steve Carell

Kristen Wiig

Benjamin Bratt

Miranda Cosgrove

Russell Brand

Directed by Pierre Coffin and Chris Renaud

When you’re watching a part two of a film, you have to bring to focus the feeling the first part left behind when you were done watching it. It’s that feeling you compare with this one. Well, overall, this movie is a little like the first but with a new adventure. So, if you liked the first one like I did, you’ll certainly like this one.
Despicable Me 2 is a 3D computer-animated family sci-fi crime comedy film and the sequel to the 2010 animated film Despicable Me, produced by Illumination Entertainment.

After Gru stole and returned the moon with the help of his adorable minions and a master plan that involved him adopting three beautiful girls, I was curious, like anyone else, to see what life would be like for the once-notable super-villain turned father.

Despicable Me 2 didn’t lack the fun that its predecessor had. The movie now had a new focus since Gru is no longer a villain—his life was much different, and his new focus became his children. The whole fun in this movie has a lot to do with Gru dealing with one of his children facing adolescence, which includes boys. The movie also added a love interest for Gru: a woman who’s just as crazy as he is.

In this second part, Gru is recruited by the AVL (Anti-Villain League) after a whole lab was stolen. In the lab was a serum that can mutate a living organism into a killing animal. The AVL teamed Gru with Lucy, and together, they’re to infiltrate a shopping mall and try to locate the person who stole the lab and the serum.

As easy as the job looked, Gru made it more complex. He suspected one restaurant owner as the culprit—not because of proof, but because the restaurant owner’s son had taken a liking to his daughter. So, Gru wanted both father and son arrested.

But things got more complicated when Gru noticed that some of his minions had gone missing, and his partner was also kidnapped. With all this happening and the responsibility of fatherhood hanging over him, Gru had to find a way to save his minions and the world from the criminal mastermind.

The voice casting for Despicable Me is one that always thrills me. I enjoy the voice casting very much, and the characters they introduce into the movies are always extreme—you either find them extremely annoying or very interesting. Despicable Me 2 is a lot of fun, and I do hope we get to see a Despicable Me 3 in the near future.

CZ (2012)

CZ12 (2012)

6/10

Starring

Jackie Chan

Kwon Sang-woo

Liao Fan

Yao Xing Tong

Directed by Jackie Chan

Don’t even dare see this movie on any screen other than HD.

After just five minutes into the film, we’re introduced to a skating stunt by Jackie Chan that was breathtaking. The only advice I have for someone with a weak heart is:
“Skip the first 5 minutes of the film.”

Most people achieve marvelous feats in their young years and spend the rest of their adult lives trying to relive the glory days (e.g., Jean-Claude Van Damme, Sylvester Stallone, and Arnold Schwarzenegger). But Jackie Chan is the opposite of that fact.

In 2012, Jackie Chan, at age 58, released Armour of God 3, named CZ12, which is short for Chinese Zodiac. The “12” represents the 12 bronze heads of animals in the Chinese zodiac. In this film, Chan is credited as the writer, actor, director, producer, screenplay writer, and cinematographer. All this, along with the marvelous stunts he performed in the movie, earned Chan two Guinness World Records for "Most Stunts Performed by a Living Actor" and "Most Credits in One Movie."

The movie has the same feel as our old and beloved Armour of God. We’re introduced to some old relics, and the Chinese Indiana Jones, JC, is sent after them. In this flick, Jackie is grouped with a team of four as they hunt these relics down.

In this flick, JC is all gadgeted up, just like James Bond, and there are some impressive camera angles that will thrill and excite you. The downside of most Jackie Chan movies is that most of the cast who star alongside him just aren’t good enough to be on the silver screen. Here, we see the same issue. Also, the movie is quite long, although I was told the American version will be 20 minutes shorter, which is welcoming.

One thing to look out for in this film: After a long dialogue about going to search for the remainder of the relics (which could have been summed up in just 10 minutes but was over 30 minutes long), we’re taken to a scene where we get to see Jackie and his team take on pirates.
That was the high point of the movie because the scenes involving Jackie and his team against the pirates were very funny, filled with thrill, and the action was intense, plagued with nail-biting moments. Another thing to look out for is that one of the pirates looked and dressed so much like Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean.

Another sad thing about the movie is that you don’t get to see Jackie do his martial arts fighting tricks until the end, but it was worth the wait.
Go see this movie.

Man of Steel (2013)

Man of Steel (2013)

6/10

Starring

Henry Cavill

Amy Adams

Michael Shannon

Kevin Costner

Diane Lane

Laurence Fishburne

Russell Crowe

Directed by Zack Snyder

Finally, I’ve seen the movie everyone’s been talking about—Man of Steel—and all I can say is, “Nice reboot, but not as great as the first Batman reboot movie.”

You have to hand it to Warner Bros. They promised us an explosive experience, and they delivered an explosive experience. The last time I saw this much destruction, two terminators were going at it in Terminator 3 (mind you, we’ve heard there will be a new Terminator trilogy coming soon, starring none other than Arnold himself).

Back to Man of Steel. I wish more work had been put into the story. For me, all this movie packed was destruction upon destruction. By the end, the first thing that came to my mind was:
“I don’t want to be the guy responsible for cleaning up the mess these Kryptonians made.”

This movie is packed with big names—from the producers to the director, down to the cast. We have Christopher Nolan, Zack Snyder, Amy Adams as Lois Lane, Michael Shannon as General Zod, Diane Lane as Martha Kent, Kevin Costner as Jonathan Kent, Laurence Fishburne as Perry White, and Russell Crowe as Jor-El. This was clearly a gimmick to bring in cinema-goers, as Warner Bros was looking to make their money back one way or another. If you’re not a comic book fan, then you must be a fan of one of these people. Because this movie is a little different from the normal Superman tale we know, and the whole action scenes just overshadow the story.

I won’t say this movie is whacked because it was fun to see, but it’s not that good either. Take away all the action, destruction, and explosions, and all you have is a lame excuse for a Superman reboot.

DC Entertainment has begun building a universe for their heroes with this movie, which showcases Superman’s life from the time of Krypton to his time on the farm, up to the point where he becomes Earth’s number one hero.
I’m glad for DC because, other than the Batman series, nothing else seems to be working for them. The stupid Green Lantern film is still in my memory as the second-worst superhero movie I’ve seen, only beaten by Daredevil.
After this, I guess the next DC film I hope to see is Flash, and if they can summon the courage to do a Wonder Woman film, I’ll definitely go see it.

With this, I know there will be more Superman to see in the near future. I do hope DC finishes introducing the rest of the Justice League crew—that is, do a movie introducing them before throwing them all together into one movie.

My final words on Man of Steel? Well, if you haven’t seen it, you should. But it’s not great.

White House Down (2013)

White House Down (2013)

5/10

Starring

Jamie Foxx

Channing Tatum

James Wood

Directed by Roland Emmerich

The movie’s twist ending is one you won’t expect, I tell you. Although I believe the ending could have been done better if the writers had actually put more effort into it, because it draws you in and just leaves you there with its final moments laughable when they were meant to be memorable.

White House Down, to me, won’t make it as a good film, mainly because Olympus Has Fallen has the same feel—and Olympus Has Fallen was quite good, if I can say so myself. White House Down, on the other hand, starts off lame, with many comic moments that just didn’t add up.
The movie had scenes that were meant to be funny but just ended up looking ridiculous. Imagine the president being pulled by the leg by a man who’s almost dead, and he delivers a line like:
“Get your hands off my Air Jordans!”
And many more of these meant-to-be-funny lines were thrown around for the first half of the movie. Then, when you’re nearing the end, the movie picks up with emotional and brave scenes, trying to draw you in and make you love it or even move you to tears. But the problem is that it was delivered a little too late. After disliking a movie for over an hour, then trying to pull off a miraculous comeback in the last 30 minutes and ending it with a crash into a mountain, there’s no way I can watch this film and recommend others to do the same.

The movie’s plot revolves around the White House being taken over by terrorists whose endgame no one was sure of. The president (Jamie Foxx) is captured, and in a weird twist of events, a rejected Secret Service applicant (Channing Tatum) is in the White House when it all happens—and his daughter gets captured by the terrorists. So, he saves the president, tries to get him out of the White House safely, and then goes back for his daughter.

I felt the director, Roland Emmerich (who also directed Independence Day in 1996, though I don’t know if he’ll be on board for the sequel), was trying too hard to deliver a punch in the final part of the movie after building up some story depth. But the story leading to that punch was just dull and misplaced.

The acting in the movie was top-notch. Many critics are praising Foxx and Tatum for their delivery and chemistry, which is very much true. But to me, the person who made me keep watching was James Woods. His portrayal of a pained father was just too much.

In conclusion, White House Down is a movie I feel the studio should have done everything they could to release before Olympus Has Fallen. Because then, for sure, we’d be calling Olympus Has Fallen the misfit.

The Heat (2013)

The Heat (2013)

6/10

Starring

Sandra Bullock

Melissa McCarthy

Directed by Paul Feig

The Heat is an all-female-led action comedy that’s as predictable as they come. The acting from Melissa McCarthy, though, proved to be something to be impressed about. Not that Sandra Bullock didn’t hold her own in this piece, but McCarthy, to me, was on a roll.

Her last comedy tryout, Identity Thief (though she had a role in Hangover III, which came out some months later), was, to me, dull and not at all funny. But this is much different. It’s funny seeing a woman being a pain and making life miserable for her police captain—a role mostly reserved for men. So this change in sex in this movie for me was a welcome change, which had my attention and made me see the movie to the end. The movie is like Lethal Weapon, but instead, we have women. The lapse in the movie is mostly the story; there are no surprises. Other than that, the Heat duo was just a formidable force. They may not have presented the funniest movie available this year, but their pairing made me sit and watch how they’d crack the case.

The movie is about two ladies: FBI Special Agent Sarah Ashburn (Sandra Bullock) and Detective Shannon Mullins (Melissa McCarthy). Both are difficult in their own ways, making it hard for them to have partners. Sarah brags too much about her knowledge and achievements, making her difficult to be around, while Shannon is foul-mouthed and violent, causing everyone in her department, including her captain, to stay away from her.

The FBI sends Sarah to take down a drug lord whom Shannon has been chasing for a while. This causes the two to meet, and their pairing is one filled with violence and rule-breaking. But the two ladies eventually warm up to each other and focus on the case rather than their differences.

By the end of this movie, you don’t feel like you’ve seen the best thing there is to see this year, but the movie is far better than anything Hangover could come up with after the first. Still, the movie is worth the time and effort the producers put into it, and I’m kind of glad it’s making enough money for the studio.
So, if you happen to be in the cinema hall and are looking for a movie to watch to kill time, The Heat is one for you—just don’t go watch it with your kids.

Monsters University (2013)

Monsters University (2013)

6/10

Starring the voice of

Billy Crystal

John Goodman

Steve Buscemi

Directed by Dan Scanlon

This has been a much-awaited sequel to the classic animation Monsters, Inc. (2001). As a matter of fact, I’ve long waited to see Pixar do something after that mess of a movie, Cars 2 (2011).

I have to tell you, after getting over the nearly irritating scene of the guys all swelling up, this movie was filled with enough razzmatazz to keep you glued to the very end. But the originality of the first—which includes the emotional tension buildup of how Sulley and Mike were going to deal with the whole “child in the monster world” issue—isn’t there. Monsters University has no tense emotional scenes. Furthermore, the way the director managed the crossover between the human world and the monster world was best done in the first. Here, it seemed the characters were too comfortable crossing to the other side.

With all that said, there’s also a continuity issue. In Monsters, Inc., Mike told Sulley that Sulley had been jealous of his looks since the fourth grade. But in Monsters University, both characters meet for the first time. I guess the makers didn’t feel like following that trend of childhood friendship.

Here’s the first twist in the movie: Mike and Sulley were actually rivals. They met at the university, both aiming to graduate as top scarers. But Sulley had the whole presence and roaring going for him, while Mike only had books. So, it was brains vs. brawn—but that battle didn’t last long, as both got themselves into some trouble that almost had them kicked out of the university. Instead, they got kicked out of the scare course. Mike then boldly suggested to Dean Hardscrabble (who wanted both Mike and Sulley out of the university) that if they entered the Scare Games (a competition where fraternities in the university compete to see which is the top scarer) and won, she would allow them back into the scare class. But if they lost, she’d get her wish of kicking them both out of the university.

From here, I know many of you will think you have the ending pegged, but trust me, you have no idea how it will go.

The movie’s final twist is what crowned it for me. It ended with picture clips showing us how Mike and Sulley rose through the ranks at Monsters University and became the top scarers we know them as in Monsters, Inc.
Monsters University is a nice comeback for Pixar and Disney after Cars 2, but it’s not as special as the first or as classy as Toy Story 3 (2010). Still, it’s worth the watch.