Movie Review: Transformers II: Revenge of the Fallen

The 2007 movie Transformers was a huge surprise. I expected the first Transformers to be lame. Instead it was a great action movie with a decent plot and character development. I was extremely hopeful that Transformers II: Revenge of the Fallen would be as good as the first one.

About this Movie:

Transformers II takes place a year after the first movie. Sam is heading off to college. Optimus Prime has formed an alliance with the American Army to hunt down Decepticons. The Decepticons have a plan to bring back the “Fallen”, the original Decepticon, and Sam holds the key.

What I liked about this Movie:

I love fighting robots especially ones which can transform. I have always loved the concept of Transformers. Watching them on the big screen is still a lot of fun. This move is packed with action and fighting scenes. It is truly a popcorn movie that you can lose yourself in.

Megan Fox is almost reason enough to watch this movie. Megan is drop dead gorgeous and I would watch her knit for three hours.

What I did not Like:

The plot was microscopic thin in this movie. The first movie was well written and had a decent plot. Often sequels miss the importance of the plot of the original movie, that made it a great summer movie. This movie clearly missed the point.

The college scene was out of place. This is a movie that young boys want to see because transforming robots are cool. The focus on the college party scene did not really fit in. Even though the scenes with Sam’s mother being high from eating the pot brownies is very funny, it was not in good taste nor friendly for the young ones. The tasteless jokes reminded me of a Porkys or an American Pie movie.

I don’t remember any Transformers that could change into human forms. I sure do not remember any that can change into hot college babes that become Species like Terminators. I was confused which movie I was watching.

I really did not understand the oldest Transformer on Earth. Firstly, he can transform into a stealth bomber and he is an ancient Transformer? I guess you can argue that Bumblebee demonstrated that they can scan other vehicles and then transform into them from the first movie but this was a strange pick for the oldest Transformer. Secondly, how did he get the ability to teleport himself and others and why don’t other Transformers have this ability?



My Review:

I really enjoyed the action of this movie but it failed grab my imagination like the first one did. It was a typical bad plot sequel. You need to see it on the big screen for the action scenes but I would not pay full price to watch it again. Check it out as an afternoon matinee or wait for it to come to the cheap theaters.

My Grade: C+

Other Reviews

IMDB : 6.5 out of 10

Rotten Tomatoes: Critics Review: 20%-- Rotten- 3.9 out of 10

Rotten Tomatoes: Community Review: 68%-- Fresh- 6.7 out of 10

Roger Ebert: 1 out of 4 stars

Slash Films: 3 out of 10 Stars

New York Times: 2.5 out of 5 Stars

Alternative Ending for Terminator Salvation

EW.com recently broke the ending that we did not see and will not see with Terminator: Salvation. I honestly could see this ending working with this movie. The ending the studio went with was fairly predictable but allowed for this series to have more sequels. Check it out.

"There was talk on the Internet about an alternate ending where Connor dies and they take Connor's likeness and put it on top of Marcus Wright's machine body. So that it's actually a machine that's leading the resistance! And the Internet caught wind of that and people went, 'That's bulls---! We don't want that!'" (EW.com)

McG grins. "Well, that's not really what the ending was." (EW.com)

Actually, the bloggers were on the right track. Except, McG adds, the original ending actually went even further. (EW.com)

"Connor dies, okay? He's dead," McG continues. "And Marcus offers his physical body, so Connor's exterior is put on top of his machine body. It looks like Connor, but it's really Marcus underneath. And all of the characters we care about (Kyle Reese, Connor's wife Kate, etc.) are brought into the room to see him and they think it's Connor. And Connor gets up and then there's a small flicker of red in his eyes and he shoots Kate, he shoots Kyle, he shoots everybody in the room. Fade to black. End of movie. Skynet wins. F--- you!" (EW.com)

This ending would have been a huge twist and would have blown my mind. It would have bummed me out that the machines would have won.

Movie Review: Terminator: Salvation

The Terminator series is in a common situation for movies like that of the Alien , Spiderman, and X-Men movie series. The first movie was phenomenally different. The second movie was superior to the first and blew our socks off. Then the third movie was a huge disappointment. Now the Terminator series tries to bounce back with their fourth installment, Terminator: Salvation.

About this Movie:

This movie is set in the future after Judgment Day which occurs in 2018. Skynet has successfully destroyed much of the human race. The machines are in charge and gathering up what people they can find. There is an organized resistance movement which John Conner is involved. This movie tells the story of John Conner’s connection with the resistance, a new terminator, and how John meets Reece, his father.

What I liked about this Movie:

This movie was action packed from the moment it started. It was not just mindless action but rather driven by the plot of the movie. The story was decent but predictable.

All of the special effects were fantastic and beautiful, except for one. It was seamless with the rest of the movie.

I have been waiting to see life post Judgment Day since the concept was introduced in 1984’s first Terminator Movie. I love the gritty, dirty, post apocalyptic world of the Terminator. The scenes in LA destruction were very cool.

What I did not Like:

The plot was a bit predictable but not bad. It did not throw us for any loops or surprises.

There is a scene where Arnold’s face is superimposed over the body of another actor as a terminator unit. It does not last long but it was very hokey. Thankfully the face is burned away in a short period of time.

My Review:

I enjoyed this movie inside and out. I found it to be a fun ride that set up future movies. This popcorn movie was a blast of energy and cool special effects. It brought the Terminator movie series back to where it needed to be and allowed me to forget the

There was a possible alternate ending that would have made this movie mega cool but also a huge bummer in the end. (Click here to read about it).

My Grade: B+

Other Reviews
IMDB User Rating: 7.3 out of 10
Rotten Tomatoes Critics: 33% - Rotten Movie (average 5.1 out of 10)
Rotten Tomatoes Critics: 71% - Rotten Movie (average 6.7 out of 10)
Rebecca Murray: B+
Movies Online: Michael: 8 out of 10 Stars
Roger Ebert: 2 out of 4 Stars
Slice of Sci Fi: 2 out of 5 stars:

Movie Review: Star Trek

I was introduced to Star Trek in the late 70’s when of local television station would show the re-runs after school. I had already grown to love Science Fiction with Star Wars. Star Trek was a completely different animal that Star Wars but I developed quite a fond appreciation for the series.

I began my movie watching with The Wrath of Khan and I was hooked from that time on. I am glad that I missed Star Trek the Motion Picture until much later or I might have given up on this series after the first movie. I still can not stay awake during that borefest.

About this Movie:

Star Trek is a rebooting of the whole franchise as only J.J. Abrams could deliver. There are new actors playing these beloved characters. A frequent Trek plot devise of time travel changes the entire Star Trek universe and the life of our beloved James Kirk. This allows Abrams to make changes to the characters and their history without causing massive rioting with Trek fanatics. This fun reboot causes the Trek universe to be much darker and grittier than the original series portrayed.

What I liked about this Movie:

I loved the concept of changing the universe from its roots with this movie and time travel. It was a smart use of an already accepted practice in the Trek –verse (see Voyage Home and First Contact). This worked for the plot and for most of the fans.

Spock, Bones, and Scotty came to life on the screen. Zachary Quinto (Sylar from Heroes) not only looked like a younger Spock but had his mannerisms and delivery down. I was amazed at his ability to make me think he was a younger Nimoy without thinking of Sylar. He portrayed the internal struggles of Spock between his Vulcan and human sides.

Karl Urban did a great job of becoming Doctor Leonard ‘Bones’ McCoy. He brought the dry wit and fiery personality that DeForest Kelley made famous. He was the emotionally driven doctor that balances out the logic induced intellect of Spock.

I simply loved Scotty in this movie. Simon Pegg gets to be Montgomery “Scotty” Scott before he becomes the genius engineer of the Enterprise. When we first meet Scotty, he is in exile because his theories are not accepted by Star Fleet but he takes over engineering before the end of the movie.

The plot of a Star Trek movie is never it’s strong suit but some Trek movies have better plots than others. This movie fits in that category. It was well written but still contains several plot holes. But it is nothing that can not be overlooked.

This was a stunningly beautiful movie. The scenery is great while on Earth and in outerspace. The special effects were top notch. This movie had all the visual appeal that you would expect from a summer popcorn movie and more.

What I did not Like:

There were only two minor things that I did not like about this movie. There were times that I did not believe that Chris Pine was Kirk. I know that his character changed more that any other but at times I saw the actor and not the character.

Anton Yelchin laid the Russian accent on a bit thick for Chekov.


My Review:
I loved this movie. This was the best Star Trek since Wrath of Kahn. J.J. Abrams hit this out of the park and he is not a Trek fan.


My Grade: A

Other Reviews
IMDB User Rating: 8.4 out of 10
Rotten Tomatoes Critics: 95% - Fresh Movie (average 8.1 out of 10)
Rebecca Murray: A
Movies Online: 8 out of 10 Stars
Roger Ebert: 2 out of 4 Stars
Real Movie News- average rating: 5 out of 5 stars:

Movie Review: X-Men Origins: Wolverine

My good friend John Paul introduced me to the X-Men in the early 1980’s while we were in middle school. I was already an avid comic book fan that read Amazing Spider-man, New Teen Titans, Legion of Superheroes, and the Justice League. I instantly fell in love with the great characters in X-Men. The mysterious wild man, Wolverine, was the cornerstone of those fabulous heroes.

The first X-Men movie renewed my faith that comic books could be made into good adaptations. The second X-Men movie exceeded my expectations and told a good story while introducing us to some of the better known X-Men characters. My hopes were dashed with the third movie when they tried to combine two of the best known X-Men stories but not they were not faithful enough to either story and focused on special effects instead of smart writing. My hope with X-Men Origins: Wolverine was that this movie could turn the X-Men brand of movies back to pre X-3 but my expectations were for a suckfest of a movie. Yet I paid my $10 to see X-Men Origins: Wolverine on opening night.

About this Movie:

X-Men Origins: Wolverine begins with Logan, Wolverine, as a small child that is sickly in 1840. We quickly learn about family issues that cause young Logan discover his powers and to run off with his older half brother. Both of the boys are blessed with healing factors that allow them to age extremely slowly after adulthood. The boys find that they are tailor made for war with their feral instincts and healing abilities through out the decades of their life. After some time, Logan leaves the life of violence and war for the life of a lumberjack. After tragedy in Logan’s life, he finds his way back to the life of violence and revenge which subjected him to experimentation that gave him the adamantium laced skeleton and claws. The just of the movie is a simple plot of a man that wants to live his life out in peace after he discovers the horrible things he is capable of but is thrust back into a life of violence for revenge.

What I liked about this Movie:

I really like Hugh Jackman as Logan. After three X-Men movies, he has the character and mannerisms of Wolverine. I can not imagine anyone else playing this role.

This movie did a fairly good job of telling the origin to the mysterious Wolverine. Even though some of the details were changed, I believe it gave enough background for most casual X-Men followers to have a better understanding of the character and his motivation. It also explained Logan’s memory loss that plagued him for years in the comics and for three movies.

This movie was a fun movie to start off the summer popcorn movie watching. There was a lot of action and special effects while yet still having a plot and some character development. This movie will not cause you to contemplate the meaning of life but it will entertain you if you go in expecting a typical comic book movie.


What I did not Like:

This movie tried to introduce too many other characters. They brought in other X-Men characters such as Cyclops, Gambit, Emma Frost, the Blog, and many more. There was no time to explore any of these characters. It was pointless to introduce these characters and then essentially ignore most of them. Comic book movies often fail when they introduce too many bad guys but never develop them (Batman and Robin, Spiderman 3, and many more examples) but this movie had a similar problem with introducing to many super characters in general. This movie needed to stick with Wolverine, Sabertooth, Sliverfox, and Stryker.

I had a problem with Gambit and most things about him in this movie. Firstly, where was his Cajun accent? After the fantastic X-Men cartoon of the 90’s, it is hard not to expect a thick Cajun accent but it did not exist in this movie. The core of Gambit is rouge and a thief that becomes a reluctant hero but I really did not get that feel from this character at all.

Don’t even get me started on my issues with the character of Wade Wilson/ Deadpool character.

It is hard to love this Wolverine movie when we have been exposed to great superhero movies over the last year with Iron Man, The Dark Knight, and Watchmen. With the greatness of those movies in our minds, it is hard to lay down the hopes that this movie would completely rock. It did not rock but it was good for a superhero movie.


My Review:

I liked this movie and will probably buy it on DVD but I did not love it as I had hoped. But it was not as bad as I feared it might be. It was a fun movie that was worth my money but not one that I will treasure for ever. It is a must see in the movie theatre for the action sequences.


My Grade: B

Other Reviews
IMDB User Rating: 6.8 out of 10
Rotten Tomatoes Critics: 36% - Rotten Movie (average 5.1 out of 10)
Rotten Tomatoes Community:64% Fresh (average 6.3 out of 10)
Rebecca Murray: B-
Movies Online: Michael: 8 out of 10 Stars
Roger Ebert: 2 Stars out of 4
Real Movie News: 3.0 Stars out of 5.0

Watchmen Movie Review

I read this graphic novel, Watchmen, in 1986. I have hoped this story would eventually make the silver screen since that moment in time. It would have been impossible a decade ago to create a movie which would require the level of CGI to bring forth the vision of Moore to the screen. I went in with humongous expectations for this film and I was not disappointed.

About this Movie:

The Watchmen Movie is based on the popular graphic novel (comic book) miniseries from the mid 1980’s by Alan Moore. This comic defined the term graphic novel with its graphic portrayal of an alternate universe where superheroes existed and had been outlawed in the 1970’s. The life of caped vigilante is shown to be a dirty and morally off center life for many of the characters. This story was revolutionary for the comic book genre and how fans looked at their heroes.

This is not a movie for the kids. It is rated R for a reason. It has intense violence, gore, nudity (male and female nudity), adult language, and a rape scene. It is not your average comic book movie.

What I liked about this Movie:

I believe this movie stuck to the heart of Moore’s story. At 2 hours and 45 minutes, it could not add in every detail from the comic but it did bring the soul of the story to life. Unlike some other comicbook adaptations, this movie stuck to the plot and often the very tiny details rather than just borrowing general concepts and character names only.

The cinematography was beautiful and picturesque of the comic book panels. It was amazingly accurate on the details of the scenes. I dropped my jaw numerous times it was perfect on the important panels. Some of these panels were the breaking of glass when the Comedian is thrown out of the window, Nite Owl wiping his glasses, and the clock on Mars.

The casting of Rorschach was nailed. The actor that portrayed Rorschach not only had the look and feel of Rorschach but also had the voice and delivery of the lines. His every changing inkblot mask was freaky and cool at the same time. In the comic, Rorschach wore lifts to compensate for his short stature. This was not directly discussed in the film but you could visually see the height difference between character in disguise and without the mask in prison.

The cast in general was great. I really believed these actors were the characters from the book.

I loved the presentation of the 80's. It was like a trip back in time. I remember the heaviness of the nuclear race and how intense negations were to lower the stock piles. They used the popular culture of the 80's with MTV and politicians and commentators (such as Pat Buchanan) to bring in the illusion. This movie used music from the 70's and 80's very effectively. All of this helped produce the feel of the big decade on the screen.

This movie was two hours and forty five minutes long but it did not drag on at all. Every moment of the film was enjoyable from the beginning to the very end of the film. I felt like I got my money’s worth even with paying for full price tickets.

What I did not Like:

There was not much that I disliked about this movie. I could nitpick about how they left out this detail or that detail. I could complain about the changing of the big ending. But really I can not complain about those things because this movie made it work.

My Review:

I loved this movie. It was a great presentation of this wonderful but disturbing comic. It is gritty and grimy but that is the nature of the Watchmen. As a fan of the comic, there were times where I knew they were missing a scene but I am hopeful it will be on the extended edition of the movie when it comes to DVD. The scenes that were missing were not essential to the plot of the story.

My Grade: A

Other Reviews
IMDB User Rating: 8.3 out of 10.0
Rotten Tomatoes Critics: 65% Fresh (average 6.3 out of 10)
Rotten Tomatoes Community: 73% Fresh (average 7.4 out of 10)
Roger Ebert: 2 Thumbs up/ 4 Stars
Real Movie News: 4.0 Stars out of 5.0

Soccer Mom- Review

My daughter bought the movie Soccer Mom with some of her Christmas money. She really desired to see this movie because it stars Emily Osment, who plays Lilly Truscott on Hannah Montana. I reluctantly agreed to watch it with my daughter even though this movie did not appeal to me and soccer bores me.

About this Movie:

A soccer team of 14 year old girls can not win a game. Their coach is transferred to another city for his job. He tells the girls that he knows the world famous soccer great Lorenzo Vincenzo and he has agreed to be their coach.

Becca's father was her soccer coach before he died. She had intended to quit the team with her old coach, before the announcement that Vincenzo would be the new coach, but is now excited about playing again. Arrangements are made for Becca's mother, Wendy, to greet the new coach and bring him to meet the girls. Come to find out, Vincenzo only told their old coach that he would coach the girls to get rid of the nuisance of a coach. Wendy decides to dress up and masquerade as Vincenzo so Becca will not be disappointed again.

This movie is a combination of The Bad News Bears, Mrs. Doubtfire, and Just One of the Guys.


What I liked about this Movie:

This movie does teach great life lessons about practicing and believing in yourself. It does so without being overly preachy or self righteous. This movie did not take itself too serious and it does have some funny scenes with the mom trying to be a guy.

Overall the characters were likable in this movie. The acting was alright for a movie geared to pre-teens. My seven year old daughter gave this movie a thumb up.

What I did not Like:

This movie was produced by the Ladies Home Journal but they appeared to copy the plot of several old Disney movies. This was simply a retread of better movies like The Bad News Bears and Little Giants. They even borrowed the Disney standard of using a one parent home (Why does every Disney live action movie have to have a dead parent?)

It does have a scene where Wendy, who is dressed as Vincenzo is kissed by one of the other girl's mother. There is also a discussion of how her friend is not gay even though she had assumed he was because he is a hair dresser. This movie could cause discussions that families may not be prepared to discuss.

I did mention that this movie was about soccer? right? SNOOZE!

My Review:

This movie was better than I thought it would be. I went in with really low expectations and it was better than I projected. I did not fall asleep or want to pop my eyeballs out with a spoon (like with High School Musical series). Now it was not good but it was not horrible.

My Grade: C-
My Daughter's Grade: B+

Here is what other reviews have to say:

IMDB User Rating: 5.0 out of 10.0
Common Sense Review: 3 out 5 stars
Tribune (Texas Newspaper): 2 Thumbs UP
Real Movie News: 3.5 Stars out of 5.0
Film Bug: 4 stars out of 5.0