Reviews

Matt and I love movies.  We don't see too many in the theater anymore, but over the last month a few have come out that we were too excited about not to catch on the big screen.  I thought a review was in order :)

First we saw Wolverine, a prequel/spin off to the X Men movies, which we both loved.

Wolverine was pretty good.  It's the type of movie that has benefited from time and space; the further away from it I get, the more fondly I remember it.

Hugh Jackman is in the best shape of his life.  Not that I've known him for long (or at all) but this has got to be tip-top physical form.  For anyone.  Did you see this picture of him in People?  

This man was born in 1968.  Nineteen-sixty-eight.  Wow.

Anyway, Wolverine was fine.  I'd give it 3.5 of 5 stars.  Good backstory, nice character

development, fun action scenes.  The effects were lacking, the CG obvious at times, but overall, not bad.  The movie reviewer for our local paper (The Salt Lake Tribune) said this: 

"The filmakers couldn't decide what to cut out, so they threw everything into the pot and hoped for the best.  The results are half interesting, but half filler"

And I agree. 

The following weekend we saw Star Trek.

When I was 9 or 10 I found The Next Generation on reruns in the afternoon when I got home from school.  I watched only 3 or 4 episodes (loving them) before my dad found out and started to make fun.  That was the end of that. 

When Matt and I were dating he took me to see a Star Trek movie.  I remember being a bit lost, but enjoying it enough.  He tells me we actually saw one or two Star Trek movies besides the one I remember...but I have no recollection of those.

At any rate, I have no Star Trek background.  I am certainly not a Trekkie.  But this movie almost makes me wish I were.

Amazing, amazing, amazing.  I loved every single second of it.  

The most incredible accomplishment (IMO) was a complete lack of cheesiness.  They included all these great sayings, mannerisms, etc from the original without the typical corny behavior that most movies like this can't resist.  When Bones says "Dammit, Jim, I'm a doctor, not a physicist!" He does it without a dramatic pause, without a smirk, without the emphasis that would have made it cheesy.  It's fantastic.

JJ Abrams directed, proving that his genius knows no bounds.  Everything the man touches (with the huge and horrible exception of Cloverfield) turns to gold.  Thank you, JJ Abrams, for Lost and Fringe.  I love you.

Anyway, Star Trek is the first movie in YEARS that I would consider seeing more than once in the theater.  It made my top 10 list before it was even half over - and then got better.  If you haven't seen it...DO!

5 of 5 stars, obviously.

This past weekend we say Terminator Salvation - the movie we have been psyched about for months.

I tried not to let my expectations get out of control.  It's just that the trailers for the movie were so well done...maybe they pumped it up too much.  Either way, Terminator 4 fell a bit short of where I was hoping it would.

The character Marcus Wright (played by Sam Worthington, yum) completely stole the show. Christian Bale was secondary, at best.  The character Kyle Reese (played by Anton Yelchin) was also a bit of a scene steal-er.

John Connor in this movie didn't turn out quite like I pictured him.  The John Connor I expected would have been a bit more open to working with the machines - after all, he sent a Terminator back in time to protect himself as a teenager!  In his past (and future) he's worked with the terminator played by Arnold twice before, yet in this movie he's horrified at the thought.  Even when he gives in he does it half heartedly. The John Connor I expected wouldn't have sat around listening to his mommy's audio tapes so damn often, either.  Please, John!  Grow up!

The character development was seriously lacking.  John's wife, Kate, may as well not have been in the movie for all the importance she had.  They never even mentioned the fact that she was (heavily) pregnant.  Jeez!  You'd think carrying the heir to the savior of the human race would at least deserve a passing thought.

John himself had NO development.  Perhaps the screen writers thought the previous movies were enough of a backstory?  They weren't.  Last we saw John he was just a teen - I'd assume he's done some growing, had some life experiences since then.  But maybe not.  Either way, you'd never know!

Marcus had the most complete history, yet it was severely lacking.  We know that his brother and 2 cops are dead "because of him" and that he's being put to death for his crimes - but that's it.  He insists that he's "not a good guy" yet proves time and again that he is.  Seems like there should be a lot more to him.  10 minutes worth of flashbacks and conversations would have gone a long way here.

Kyle Reese and his mute dependent, Star, were such warm-fuzzy characters.  I only wish I'd had a 5 minute explanation about why they were alone, how they rigged up their terminator-smashing booby traps and how they came to be together.  

Blair was the most ridiculous character.  When we meet her she's a total bad-ass.  She's not just beautiful, she's a fighter pilot, spy, soldier.  Doesn't need Marcus's help, not even to get untangled from her escape parachute that's tangled in a (powerless) power line tower.  Then she's almost raped, saved by Marcus and is suddenly cuddling up to him to sleep, telling him he has a strong heart and using his chest as a pillow.  She becomes a bad-ass again to help him escape the resistance, standing up to her commanding officer, John Connor.  Yet when Marcus and John come back from destroying the enemy she's clinging to her man once again, tearing up as he makes the ultimate sacrifice.  She seemed a bit bi-polar to me.  As a writer, it must be nice to be able to mold a character to whatever the current scene needs without worrying about what their actual behavior as a real person might be.

I went on a lot longer than I'd planned about the lack of character development.  Didn't realize it bothered me quite that much.

Despite all that, there were dozens of parts in Terminator Salvation when I looked at Matt (who wore a grin matching my own) and whispered "that was awesome!"

The action scenes were great, the effects were fantastic.  

The direction (McG - love him!) was wonderful.  The script, however, could have been so much better than it was.  I hope if they continue with this franchise they'll do it in a more complete way.  I hesitate to give it 4 stars...though I liked it better than I did Wolverine.  3.75 stars from me.