What if... (2010)

What if... (2010)

4/10

Starring

Kevin Sorbo

Kristy Swanson

Debby Ryan

Caeden Lovato

Directed by Dallas Jenkins

What if…
What if I didn’t get to see this film? Would it have mattered?
That’s how I felt when I was done watching this movie.

What If is the Christian version of Nicolas Cage’s The Family Man (2000), and it’s a bad reinvention of the wheel.
What If is dull, and at times it just looked stupid. The comedy was not well-timed, and the adaptation of the character to his new life was rough. The whole plot that led to him getting used to his new life was weak and not well thought through. You already have the script of the movie you want to copy, so why not just copy it?

While watching, I didn’t feel the attachment to his children, which is very important. There was a time when his kids felt he was another man entirely, and then later on, there was a fatherly bond going on. What happened in between?
The producers just took a good story and made a nonsense tale out of it, stamping it with “Christian drama.”

As a strong supporter of independent films, I dislike it when I see a lot of things going wrong with some movies. I don’t know if the challenge Christian movies are having is trying to remove all the things they call evil from their movies, thinking it will make them better.
Although this is not the worst Christian movie I’ve seen, it won’t come in as average either, as it was not that good.

The movie’s plot is about a man, Ben Walker (Kevin Sorbo), who left the path that God had planned for him and went into the real world. There, Ben made a success of himself. He was happy with his money and his investments until he ran into an angel who told him that he would have to see life on the other side—to see what life would have been like if he had done what God expected of him.

Unable to get away from what had been set in motion, Ben decided to get used to the life where he is now married to his first love, is a pastor of a growing church, and is a father. All this with the hope that, in the end, God will let him return to his previous life where everything was just as he liked it.

I won’t give this movie a good rating because I know it could have been better.

Finding Normal (2013)

Finding Normal (2013)

5/10

Starring

Lou Beatty Jr.

Andrew Bongiorno

Valerie Boucvalt

Directed by Brian Herzlinger

When I read up on the movie, I was very expectant because on IMDb it seemed to have a high approval rating from the audience. But after watching it, I felt the movie is a little overrated. Now, Finding Normal is not a bad Christian movie, nor is it a shallow production. In fact, the production and setting are well done, and after watching, I have to give kudos to the actors—they did a good job. But Finding Normal is very subtle and will only fit as a good sit-at-home movie to watch with a friend, not in a gathering, as some may doze off.

Finding Normal has a story that feels more like a lift or a Christian version of Doc Hollywood. Doc Hollywood has been remembered lately thanks to Disney/Pixar, as their Cars movie is like an animated version of Doc Hollywood rather than a homegrown story from the studio. Finding Normal is also similar, as stated above—it’s the Christian version of the 1991 Michael J. Fox hit Doc Hollywood.

The movie’s plot is about a woman named Dr. Lisa Leyland, who has multiple unpaid speeding tickets and was speeding to go be with her boyfriend when she got stopped in a town called Normal. There, her unpaid speeding tickets were discovered, and she was faced with either jail time or community service.

She decided to opt for community service, where she would serve as the town’s doctor. While she was hurrying to complete her service and get out of the town, certain incidents began to happen that made her start to love the place. Soon, she was caught in the middle of deciding whether to go or stay.

Finding Normal is a good family Christian movie, but it’s very predictable, and its script could have been better if more work had been put into it.

This movie was released this year, and I believe it could have been done better. It seems the effort used in making this movie could have been used elsewhere because the movie is so predictable. It was a thought to sit through.

The long conclusion is that Christian movies are hard to make, mostly because you won’t see big studios parting with huge budgets to produce them. But when you do see a good one—or in this case, an average one—you tend to really appreciate the effort put into it, as it gives you hope that sometime soon, Christian movies are going to be just as great as their secular counterparts.

The Perfect Stranger (2005)

The Perfect Stranger (2005)

6/10

Starring

Pamela Brumley

Jefferson Moore

Directed by Jefferson Moore and Shane Sooter

The Perfect Stranger came out before  The Encounter (exactly five years before), and I think The Encounter did justice to what The Perfect Stranger tried to pass across.

Although I saw  The Encounter first, I still appreciated the work Jefferson Moore did. He took inspiration from David Gregory’s book Dinner With a Perfect Stranger and put together a screenplay that will keep you glued from beginning to end—if you’re interested in the word rather than the visuals. Although there are weak points in the script, The Perfect Stranger is still enlightening.

Like  The Encounter, the character Jesus addressed major issues that would be on the minds of many. But unlike  The Encounter, it took it one step further and addressed issues that I bet the makers of The Encounter didn’t want to touch. Issues like Mohammed and Islam: this movie took on the Islamic faith and explained why it is not the way.
It also took on idol worshipping (i.e., Hindu—although Hindu is not the only idol-worshipping religion) and made us understand that idol worshipping is not a way to get closer to God.
What I really liked is that it also addressed the issue of Christ being the only way.

The movie’s plot is straightforward. Nikki Cominsky (Pamela Brumley) is a lawyer with problems in her married life. At work, she sees an invitation to come for a dinner outing with Jesus (Jefferson Moore). Thinking it was a joke from her husband, she shows up only to meet a man named Jesus, who tells her that He is the real deal. He takes the time to address issues that bothered her faith.

Acting is where the movie starts to go south. The acting in the movie is not so great, and when you add that to the cinematography, what you have is a good movie not well done.
The movie’s progression (editing) is also another problem. If you’re not ready to see this movie through to the end to get the message, you’ll very likely sleep off.

Then there’s the setting.  The Encounter stepped it up, and I believe it’s because of financing. Budget was what made The Encounter a good watch, and budget is what made this movie not step up to meet the required criteria that would make many recommend it for everyone to see.

My conclusion is that you should see this movie for the message, not the visuals. It’s good for the soul.

We’re the Millers (2013)

We’re the Millers (2013)

6/10

Starring

Jennifer Aniston

Jason Sudeikis

Emma Roberts

Will Poulter

Directed by Rawson Marshall

This movie is not great—it lacks all the necessary things to make it a must-watch. But I have to say, I laughed all through the movie. There was a joke at every turn. The idea (to me) was different, but the execution was clichéd. Still, to be real, I enjoyed it a little bit too much, and I recommend that you watch it.

Hollywood has decided that if you want to see a PG-13 comedy, you should go watch the Disney Channel. Any comedy released today is full of sexual references and crude language. We’re the Millers is no different. There’s crude humor, high sexual references, and to add to that, some scenes are predictable.

We’re the Millers will not be well-received by many because it just looks like some writers came together, started a script, and forgot to carry it through the right path. So, what you have is a mix-up of what should be and what should not be. In the end, the movie is just a nice break from the regular crappy comedies we’re used to.

In the area of acting, Jennifer Aniston was just spectacular. She outshined her co-stars, and it was nice seeing her in a different light. In this movie, she plays Rose/Sarah, the stripper.

The movie’s plot is weird. A drug dealer, David Clark (Jason Sudeikis), is robbed of his money and stash, causing him to owe his supplier over $40,000.

His supplier decides to let David off the hook by cutting him a deal: he has to smuggle marijuana from Mexico. In the end, he’ll get a $100,000 payoff, and his debt will be cleared.

Realizing that one man attempting to get through customs will be too suspicious, he decides to hire a stripper named Rose (Jennifer Aniston), a runaway teenage girl named Casey (Emma Roberts), and his virgin 18-year-old neighbor Kenny (Will Poulter) to pose as a bogus family called the “Millers” so as not to arouse suspicion while crossing the border.

But as you’d expect, things just didn’t go as planned.

The movie did have surprises, though. Some events that occurred were just new to me. The movie also plays to the emotions a little—if you’re single, it can arouse a desire to have a family of your own.

I’ll be looking forward to seeing this movie again, and I advise you to give it a twirl. I do hope the movie gets a sequel.

Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)

Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)

7/10

Starring

Christ Pine

Zachary Quinto

Benedict Cumberbatch

Directed by J.J. Abrams

The first Star Trek movie had it all and will definitely draw you in as you start to enjoy this new family of explorers onboard the USS Enterprise.
The moment I heard there was going to be a Star Trek 2, I was anxious to go see it. The whole makeup and effects of the first movie were something that thrilled me, so I was looking and hoping for more of the same here too.

Star Trek Into Darkness is a must-watch, and it’s well arranged. The events keep coming at you at such a fast pace that I felt, somehow, in the middle, it might fail to keep up. But how dare I doubt the capability of J.J. Abrams? He kept up with the pace, and the moment you start watching this movie, you’ll sit through it and not even notice that two hours have gone by.

The addition of Benedict Cumberbatch to play Khan, a genetically-engineered superhuman and this sequel’s villain, was just tasteful. He brought in that cold demeanor we love in the Sherlock series and, in my book, outshined the lead actors (Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto).

The special effects weren’t the turn-on in this movie—it’s the story and the screenplay. It seemed every turn had something that would make your eyes bulge out.

The movie started with an explosion in a volcano as the crew of the USS Enterprise broke protocol by revealing themselves to a race that’s behind in technology. From there, we witness an explosion caused by Khan, which led to the death of Captain/Commander James T. Kirk’s (Chris Pine) mentor. Kirk, now bent on revenge, got permission to assemble his crew, including, of course, Commander Spock (Zachary Quinto), as they fly to the planet Kronos to capture Khan.

Kirk and his crew learned a lot about Khan and where he was from, and soon found out that they had been tricked into searching for him. They also discovered that Khan is a more ruthless killer than they could ever imagine.

There are many loose ends in this plot summary, all because there’s no point in spoiling the film for you, the reader.

The elements that the film is based on will surprise you. The way enemies become friends and vice versa will thrill you. So, there’s no need to read any further. If you’ve delayed getting on board with the rebirth of the Star Trek franchise, I plead with you to cease your delay and go watch J.J. Abrams breathe life into an old franchise.

Kick-Ass 2 (2013)

Kick-Ass 2 (2013)

5/10

Starring

Aaron Taylor-Johnson

Christopher Mintz-Plasse

Chloë Grace Moretz

Jim Carrey

Directed by Jeff Wadlow

I just wish I could say Kick-Ass 2 really kicked ass, but the real truth is that it didn’t. I watched it based on a review I read that said the movie, although not well-received by critics, was actually not that bad. But after watching it, I have to agree that the movie is that bad.

The only good thing I truly enjoyed in the movie is the nicknames or the code (superhero) names that many of them had. It was funny to hear, and even funnier when someone else in the movie called them by that name.
We had:

• The Motherfu@#er
• Mother Russia
• Night Bitch
• Ass-Kicker
• Insect Man

The names were just hilarious, and the worst part (or truly funny part) was when Kick-Ass’s arch-enemy, now named The Motherfu@#er, tried to rape Night Bitch. Now, rape is not something to laugh about, but there is a rape scene in this movie—sorry, I correct myself, “an attempted rape scene”—that everyone has to see.

Kick-Ass 2 was just a silly movie. Nothing at all in this movie suggested that the makers were trying to impress or make an attempt to do a good job. It was more like people coming together to make a sequel to a movie that was a hit, but they had no real fallback story to work on. So, they just put some silly things together and called it a movie.

The violence level in this movie is really high, and there are more sexual references here than in the previous movie. I really enjoyed the first movie a lot, and I was looking forward to seeing what Hit Girl had been up to after the passing of her father. In a way, I was just disappointed.

Well, what happened to Hit Girl is that she was now adopted by her father’s friend, Detective Marcus. Marcus tried to make Hit Girl quit the hero life by trying to get her involved with other female friends, which worked for some days—until Hit Girl decided that the world of makeup and gossip wasn’t for her.

Then there’s the case of The Motherfu@#er, who wanted to get even with Kick-Ass for killing his father. So, he started a team of super-villains with one notion in mind: to bring down Kick-Ass.

The events that led to the eventual demise of The Motherfu@#er’s crew were just too stupid to ignore, so you may want to see that.

Well, in conclusion, this movie is just not it. But if you crave seeing Kick-Ass getting beaten up again, then go queue up to see it.

Elysium (2013)

Elysium (2013)

4/10

Starring

Matt Damon

Jodie Foster

Directed by Neill Blomkamp

Elysium is a movie that was full of so much potential but just failed to live up to it. The whole idea may look new, but the buildup is just cliché upon cliché. Then there’s the underuse of Jodie Foster, which amounts to a total waste of the character.
All that you’ll expect to see as you watch Elysium is what they removed from it. I expected to see an extraordinary, exceptional merge between Matt Damon’s character, Max Da Costa, and the robot-like stuff they fused to his cerebral, but instead, he looked like a grown man with polio.

The political and social view of writer and director Neill Blomkamp (who co-wrote and directed District 9 (2009)) is well-received on my part: the rich seem to get better healthcare benefits than the poor.
This science fiction action thriller is set in the future (2154), where two classes of people live in separate jurisdictions. We have the rich, who live on an advanced space station called Elysium, built and controlled by a corporation named Armadyne. And the poor, who live on an overpopulated, ruined Earth, controlled by a robot police force under the control of Armadyne.

In Elysium, there are no diseases, poverty, or war. Due to advancements in technology, a Med-Pod exists in Elysium that can heal you of any disease or abnormality. It can even go as far as regenerating a damaged body part.

Things would have remained as they were until Max was involved in an industrial accident that exposed him to lethal levels of radiation, which will eventually kill him in five days.

Max, not wanting to die, seeks help from a smuggler named Spider, who agrees to help Max get into Elysium to access a Med-Pod that will save his life—if Max, in turn, helps him steal information from the man who had Max fired after the accident. Max happily agrees.
Spider, seeing that Max is struggling to even stay on his feet, arranges for Max to receive biomedical implants, including a rudimentary exoskeleton that increases his strength.

From here on, I’ll have to leave you to go watch the movie to see how it all pans out.

As far as acting goes, Matt Damon is a force that keeps on going. He was fun to watch in his anti-polio suit, but in the end, I found no reason why such a movie should have been made.

The Conjuring (2013)

The Conjuring (2013)

7/10

Starring

Vera Farmiga

Patrick Wilson

Ron Livingston

Lili Taylor

Directed by James Wan

I’m not a huge fan of horror movies because the thrill or chill you’re supposed to get is either overdone to the point that you end up hating the movie or just wishing you could shoot the director.
The Conjuring was made on a $20 million budget, which may be low compared to other top movies out there, but for a top-class horror movie, the price is about right. After viewing this movie, I can boldly say this is a must-watch. Not all the time do critics and moviegoers agree, but here’s an exception—a movie that will keep you glued.

My favorite part of watching this movie was the idea I had in my head that if I got up to go pee or moved my head, I’d miss something. So, I just sat there, glued, not wanting to be disturbed as I witnessed strange occurrences happening and two married individuals (very bold individuals) going up against the demon.
Ed and Lorraine Warren are paranormal investigators, with Ed being a noted demonologist, author, and lecturer, and Lorraine being a professed clairvoyant and light trance medium.
Some things are better left for the TV screen because I can’t imagine myself going into a haunted house like the Warrens for no reason at all. And the Perron family? They’re bold because if I witnessed something strange going on in my house, we’d all be moving out immediately.

The Conjuring is based on a true-life story concerning the events in the life of the Perron family, who experienced demonic episodes and a series of unfortunate events in their farmhouse in Harrisville, Rhode Island, in 1971. The family reached out to Ed and Lorraine Warren for help, who then came to the house to investigate the happenings and exorcise the evil.

The idea of making the events that took place at the Perrons’ farmhouse into a movie began over 20 years ago when Ed Warren played a tape of his original interview with Carolyn Perron for movie producer Tony DeRosa-Grund. DeRosa-Grund went through many ups and downs trying to get the movie made until he got a deal at New Line Cinema, and the movie went into production in 2012.

In conclusion, the movie may not scare you enough to jump off a cliff, but it will thrill you enough to keep you sitting tight. It is a good enough movie that I can ask you to go see.

The Wolverine (2013)

The Wolverine (2013)

5/10

Starring

Hugh Jackman

Directed by James Mangold

Wolverine is a top-class Marvel character who can have numerous movies based on him, and still, many won’t get tired of queuing up to see them. In my case, though, as this is the 6th time we get to see Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) in claws, it’s starting to get old. Since X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), the action has been somewhat flattened, taking a backseat as the producers make room for more drama—which may be welcomed by some and disliked by others (namely me).

This movie is far better than the last time we saw Wolverine headline the X-Men franchise, but it’s not as good as you’d want a Wolverine movie to be. The film is based on a 1982 limited comic series, Wolverine, by Chris Claremont and Frank Miller.
I believe 20th Century Fox (the owners of the X-Men rights) should step up and try to make these movies have more action. I do hope that the upcoming X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014), which will be directed by Bryan Singer (he directed X-Men (2000) and X2 (2003)), will be more enjoyable and have more engaging action than its predecessors.

This new addition to the list of Wolverine-based movies is not a grand masterpiece, as I’ve said, but I assure you that the final scenes of the movie are captivating enough to go see it. It will make you sit up as you watch Wolverine come to accept who he is—“a mutant”—as he takes on a mechanical samurai giant trying to suck out his healing powers.

All this began when Wolverine found himself stripped of his immortality after visiting Japan to see an old acquaintance, whose life he had saved earlier in the movie.

Ironically, for me, everything that led to the grand ending is just too dull and too emotionally intended to be worth the time I put into it. The only good thing about the movie is that it follows the events of the last X-Men movie, where Wolverine killed off Jean Grey in X-Men: The Last Stand (2006). After Sony decided to do a reboot to keep the Spider-Man franchise, I thought 20th Century Fox would do the same.

Although the acting is very well done, and the effects are well-tuned, for me, this is a “once is enough” movie. If I miss anything and you want to tell me about it, I’ll search for a YouTube clip of it or just let it go.

Here’s another reason why Marvel should try to get their franchises back.

RED 2 (2013)

RED 2 (2013)

6/10

Starring

Bruce Willis

John Malkovich

Mary-Louise Parker

Catherine Zeta-Jones

Byung-hun Lee

Anthony Hopkins

Helen Mirren

Directed by Dean Parisot

To be honest, RED 2 is not as loony or topsy-turvy as its predecessor, RED (2010), but it’s just as funny. It had a nice start, a bad pitch (it gets annoying after a while), but the moment Anthony Hopkins is introduced into the mix, the movie becomes a must-watch.

I can boldly say that RED 2 is not a masterpiece or going to be one anytime soon, due to the mixed reviews it’s getting. If you watch the film, you’ll see many reasons to either like it or hate it.
RED was a wonderful movie to see, but there was no need for a part 2. But since it’s been done, there’s a reason to go see it—even if it’s just to see Marvin (John Malkovich) go all paranoid and pull some stupid stunts, or just to hear his comic replies to practically everything.

RED 2 was in the pipeline after the huge financial success of RED. The writers from the previous film were called back to start work on the new one, and all the old cast members were brought back, with new additions included—notably Anthony Hopkins, who plays Dr. Edward Bailey, a mad scientist.

The movie’s plot starts with Marvin getting all paranoid as he tries to convince Frank (Bruce Willis) and Sarah (Mary-Louise Parker) that he’s being followed. This leads to his death by car bombing.
Frank is then arrested and taken to be interrogated about a job he did during the Cold War. He manages to escape after a failed capture attempt by Norton, who storms the facility where Frank is being held, killing everyone in an attempt to capture Frank and get the same information.

Frank is forced to regroup with his old team from the previous movie as they try to find out what was so important about the job they pulled during the Cold War. Some emotional sensitivity is added to this movie as Frank’s old lover, Katya (Catherine Zeta-Jones), resurfaces and causes a rift between Frank and Sarah. Also, to Frank’s disapproval and Marvin’s pushing, Sarah becomes an integral part of the group as they carry out their mission.

RED 2 has wonderful acting, nice stunts (that I bet you’ve seen before), and it drags a little before it kicks off, which is its only major downside. But when it finally does (in a predictable way), you’ll laugh all the way through.

R.I.P.D (2013)

R.I.P.D (2013)

3/10

Starring

Ryan Reynolds

Jeff Bridges

Directed by Robert Schwentke

This movie takes too long to get started, and when it finally does, it feels like something is missing.
R.I.P.D. is supposed to be a comedy/horror flick, but it fails to get any part of the genre right.
R.I.P.D. is an adaptation of a comic book series of the same name (Rest in Peace Department by Peter M. Lenkov), which was published by Dark Horse Entertainment.

The film stars Ryan Reynolds as Nick Walker (a Boston Police detective sergeant) and Jeff Bridges as Roy Pulsipher. It flaunts many ideas that have been used way back in the ’80s and ’90s. If you’ve been a fan of movies about supernatural beings, then you’ve most definitely seen Men in Black (1997) (with the whole disguise of creatures and stuff). This movie flaunts ideas from that film in ways that are too obvious to overlook.

There’s nothing fresh in this movie. All you see is a predictable plot and fine acting. Jeff Bridges’ portrayal of a United States Marshal from the Wild West and veteran R.I.P.D. officer was fun to see, though, and after that, everything else in the movie was just out of sync.

The movie’s plot is about a Boston police detective, Nick, who is murdered by his partner. During his death spell, he’s recruited to join a team of undead police officers working for the Rest in Peace Department, and in the process, he tries to understand why his partner murdered him.

After over an hour of trying to find a reason to watch this film, I have to conclude that this is not a movie to queue up to see. R.I.P.D. is missing some of the required ingredients to be a hit. It’s also doing poorly at the box office, so I smell a major loss for Universal Studios.

Ryan Reynolds has been having it tough. Green Lantern (2011) was crap, and The Change-Up was just a waste of time. His only impressive works in the last three years have been when he’s not seen—his voice acting in The Croods and Turbo (both released in 2013) was well-received, and the movies were worth watching.

Robert Schwentke was the man behind the camera in this movie. He also directed Flightplan (2005) and RED (2010), both of which were impressive. I think here, he missed it by a mile. The movie mix of comedy and death did not catch my fancy. The bad reviews on the movie will also not allow this to be a franchise.