Synopsis:
A naive but brilliant weapons manufacturer has his eyes opened when a missile demonstration leads to a life-changing experience. Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) is all about weapons, girls, and money. He’s never questioned the direction of his company, Stark Industries, which was founded by his father, a scientist on the Manhattan Project. While in Afghanistan for a weapons demonstration, Stark is seriously injured during a kidnapping. Now he requires an electromagnet to repel shrapnel from one of his own weapons from reach his heart. Seeing the error of his ways, he develops mechanized armor (the Iron Man suit) powered by the small and ingenuitive arch-reactor to free himself of his captors and right the wrongs his weapons have brought upon the world. At his side are his computer AI, Jarvis, his military-liason-best-friend Rhodey (Terence Howard), and his lovable assistant Ms. Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow).

Review:

Seeing as its a little late to review the movie, I’ll keep my likes and dislikes about the film itself brief, ok, maybe not that brief.

Acting: This by far is the strongest aspect of this movie. Robert Downey Jr. (let’s call him RDJ for short) is great as Tony Stark. Though I’m a semi-Marvel junkie (Amazing Spider-man, Ultimate Spider-man, Ultimate Fantastic Four, etc…), I’m not too familiar with Stark’s character. I can’t speak for the trueness of the portrayal, but I can say that RDJ makes Stark the center of this film, not Iron Man. RDJ is funny, but beyond that, you can see Stark’s problems with drinking start to show. You can also clearly see the character’s transition from genius playboy to superhero.

Gwyneth Paltrow is nothing more than window dressing for the cast. She’s a good actress, but her character didn’t have to do much. Terence Howard on the other hand was perfect as the sidekick, with just enough seriousness to make it funny. The reference to War Machine was fun. Of course, the little cameo at the end was also great but I’ll save that for those who haven’t seen the movie yet.

Effects and Action: I can’t complain about the effects. Most of the films today have a certain CGI clean look to them. Its hard to say that this is superb effects, but they’re in no way shabby. Iron Man looked impressive in every battle sequence. The sequences with Iron Man and the jets was incredibly fun and the fight with Iron Monger was intense, albeit short. I guess that would be my one comment, the movie was light on the action, or at least it felt light on the action. Its not like I was left feeling like I needed more, but if you look at the number of fight sequence in the film, there weren’t a lot.

The Media: By media, I mean the actual Blu-ray discs (BD). The BD version of the movie comes with a host of featurettes and extras. Because I’m a little dorky, I bought the special edition from Target that looks like the Iron Man mask. It sports a bunch of making of documentaries (all in HD), the film of course, and deleted and extended scenes. I have to say, some of the deleted material was fun to watch, and the making of had some interesting facts. In the suit-test sequences, they had RDJ in a wire rig that held his arms and legs as opposed to his waist. This gave the scene a touch of realism, because he was balancing himself with his hands and legs, just like Iron Man.

Fuzzworthy?: Most definitely. For a Marvel fanboy, RDJ stalker, or BD collector, this is a must own. If you don’t like comics, action movies, or anything staring Robert Downey, Jr. then stay away. I definitely recommend the purchase, its all around fun, with good effects and some nice acting. Not HD’d yet? No worries, single- and double-disc SD dvds are available everywhere.

Iron Man (Ultimate Two-Disc Edition) [Blu-ray]

Superman Returns @ IMDB

Synopsis:
After a mysterious five year absence, Superman (Brandon Routh) returns to Earth to find a world that has learned to live without him. His life as Clark Kent seems to pick up where it left off, but the love of his life, Lois Lane (Kate Bosworth) has moved on and now has a five year old child. Now the Man of Steel must find a way to deal with the cost of his absence and take on the most notorious criminal mastermind of all time, Lex Luthor (Kevin Spacey). Superman Returns continues the Superman saga but picks up after Superman II.

Review:
Its difficult to think that this new incarnation of the Man of Steel could possibly compare to the one imortallized by the late Christopher Reeve. In truth, no one can play Clark Kent like Reeve could, but Routh was not bad. I’ll be frank, I felt that if this movie was going to crash and burn in a ball of kryptonite laced flames, it would be Routh’s fault. I have nothing against him personally, but he got selected for the part strictly on his appearane. He supposedly looks like Christopher Reeve, but I’ve never seen the resemblance. He didn’t do a bad job and he seemed to get the dorkiness of Clark Kent correct.

The rest of the cast was ok. One stood out above the rest though. Spacey’s rendition of Lex Luthor was great. He has the same ambitions as the Hackman version of Luthor, but he more evil. Spacey seems to harness the ego-maniac withing and does Lex Luthor justice on the big screen. I feel there may have been someone better suited to play Lois Lane than Bosworth, but I’m not exactly sure. She did an ok job, but she doesn’t compare to Margot Kidder.

The action and effects were spectacular. This was another slight point of concern. I would have been terribly dissappointed if every scene where Superman is flying looked like Neo did in the Matrix Reloaded. He shouldn’t look like a video game character and luckily he didn’t. There are some truely awesome sequences in this film and its quite clear why they needed such a massive budget.

Considering other recent summer blockbusters, plot is an important thing to consider. Sometimes hype and effects/action sequences are used to compensate for a weak plot. That’s not the case with Superman Returns. There is a pretty substantial plot with good character development and ties for future films. The writers were true to the main characters. The only thing that might raise an eyebrow is the secret that is revealed at the end of the film. I’ll leave it to you to judge that part of the plot.

Overall, I highly recommend this movie. Its got a great plot, good acting, awesome action and its just plain entertaining. This one is a must see in the theatres simply because the big screen and the sound make a big difference. Though I rarely say this, this one is worth the primetime ticket. Go out and see it, you won’t be dissappointed.

Synopsis:
In the near future, the end of the world has come and gone. A Third World War has ravaged the world and mysterious plague killed thousands in Great Britain. But through it all “England Pervails” as a totalitarion state under the leadership of High Chancellor Sutler (John Hurt). Using a mask of Guy Fawkes of the famed Gunpowder Treason, a vigilanty known only as “V” (Hugo Weaving) uses his amzing agility and strength to open the eyes of the British people. He is unwavering in his use of terrorist tactics until he meets a young girl named Evey Hammond (Natalie Portman). Will V succeed in saving Britain?

Remember, remember the fifth of November,
Gunpowder treason and plot.
We see no reason
Why gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot!

Review:
A friend of mine said it best as we were leaving the movie theatre: “It’s rare that you see a perfect movie, and this was a perfect movie.” I can do little but agree with him. This movie was amazing and I could find nothing wrong with it. V for Vendetta is an adaptation of graphic novel/comic book series of the same name by Alan Moore. This movie was action packed, dramatic, touching and enthralling.

I loved the action in this movie. The effects were flawless and brought V’s agility and strength to life on the big screen. But what I loved more is the wit that V uses to abuse his enemies. His dialogues and monologues in the movie are brilliantly written and quite amusing. But despite wit, you never lose site of the seriousness of the situation. Hugo Weaving did an amazing job as V. I didn’t think you could really “act” per say behind a mask, but this movie made me realize that you can. To make V as strong a character as he his, you need a talented actor and they definitely made a good choice.

I do not hold Natalie Portman in high regard. I can’t say that I’ve seen many performances by her that were amazing (Garden State and The Professional are examples of her better work). I can say that I’ve grown in my respect for her after watching this film. She didn’t carry the movie by any stretch of the imagination, but she did a good job in a supporting role. Kudos to Ms. Portman.

The only question I have in my mind is what is the true reason this movie is so good. Is it the source of inspiration or is it really the director/producer/cast/etc.? Is it possible to have such good material to work from that any competent person could making a stunning film? I don’t know. I hope to purchase V for Vendetta, read it, and find out. I reserve that judgement until I’ve read the graphic novel.

My recommendation, go out and see this movie. The theatre I went to charged primetime prices for matinee showings of this movie, price gouging in my opinion, but it was worth the price. This is definitely a big screen experience and I thoroughly enjoyed. I don’t think you’ll be dissappointed. I am already anxiously awaiting its release on DVD (which I will also review of course). Until then, I’ll have to find other dvds/films to review.

Synopsis:
When things go terribly wrong at a Martian research facility, the marines are sent in to secure the situation. Sarge (The Rock) and his team of marines must fight genetic abominations hell-bent on eating them while protecting the gate back home called the Ark. Crazy weapons and hand-to-hand combat bring all of the action from the hit game to the big screen.

Review:
I gave this movie three out of five stars, but that rating needs a few qualifications. I have to say that the movie was entertaining. It also was a pretty good adaptation of a video game to a movie. For a bad adaptation, see House of the Dead. Let be honest though, this movie didn’t have anything that screamed “great!” I’ve seen action movies that grab you and they really keep you engaged for the full two hours. It was definitely entertaining, but it doesn’t quite compare to movies like The Transporter or Kiss of the Dragon.

I definitely liked the lead characters, Sarge and John Grimm a.k.a. Reaper (Karl Urban). Sarge is a hardcore marine that follows orders and gets the job done. Reapers is a marine with a troubled past but a conscience that matches his skill with weapons. They give you just enough backstory for Reaper that it keeps things interesting. They picked a good actor for the part. Urban plays the role well. And of course, the rock rarely dissappoints.

The one scene that I feared would bring the movie to a screaching halt is the “first-person” season. This is the clip you see in the trailers that looks like you’re playing the game. Luckily, they used the scene in an acceptable way. It wasn’t nearly as bad as I feared. I also liked what they did with the end the of the movie. I won’t spoil the end, but it was a nice change from the typical endings to action flicks. I would say Doom is definitely worth a rental, but it makes for a questionable matinee flick.