I'm torn because it's late and my first instinct is to write really short reviews like; "Thor" sucked.
My journalistic integrity (or whatever it might be) implores me to at the very least explain myself; "Thor" sucked because it was all window dressing, it lacked soul, or perhaps a Biblical analogy would be it was a whitewashed tomb.
Perhaps that's a little excessive, but it gets to the point and hopefully steers anyone reading this from even renting this movie in the future. If I had to rate these movies I am reviewing tonight, "Thor" would definitely be the second to last movie that I would recommend. Check that, it would be one of two movies that I would not recommend ever due to the fact that it would be next to impossible to convince me that there was any redeemable value in watching this movie. I bet most of you are thinking "what a dork, why'd he even go see such a stupid movie?" Good question, my only answer is that I did it for you, kind of like taking a bullet for someone you love.
"Fast Five" was actually fun.
Yes, that was the review.
"Rango" was a highly entertaining experience, yet I was dissapointed with the overall message of the movie. The animation and character developement here was wonderful. The filmmakers were not aiming low to reach children, rather they made a rich and interesting film that will appeal to anyone who enjoys a good movie. I especially liked the "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas", "Apocalypse Now" and "Singing in the Rain" references. Johnny Depp never felt like just Rango's voice, rather this animated lizard was another great Depp performance, which speaks highly of the animators and director, Gore Verbinski. Unfortunately the movie falters in its bleak worldview. Sure the main character, Rango is a hero, yet he is operating in a world where only personal gain matters. Heroes and villans are only seperated by how much they are willing to hurt those around them in pusuit of their desires. I was thinking earlier this evening about how important a director can be to the tone and spirit of a film. Look at the last two James Bond movies for example; by all accounts Daniel Craig's second outing as Bond should have been so much more, but the change in directors between the films caused a major discrepency. I suggest that you look at Gore Verbinski's earlier films, and it will become clear why "Rango" is a great film with a very empty outlook on humanity.
Oh yeah, and that is actually one of the movies I would recommend.
It's the "bad sequel" which I won't even mention by name that I would highly suggest that any and all avoid. I'm guessing that I've already said too much and most people who wanted to see this movie already have, so they too know why I'm raving against it, and those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about have no desire to see this movie anyways, so really, what's the point?
Moving on to the final film of the night; Jess and I just got back from seeing the newest "Pirates of the Caribbean". I really enjoyed it, I found it to be a great improvement on the last two installments. I don't want to get into all the reasons I disliked parts 2 and 3 (Keira Knightley) rather I would like to focus on what made part 4 enjoyable. Captain Jack is a wonderfully created character, and this movie spends most of its time with him. I never could really get interested in all the side stories and the political wrangling that went on in the previous films. Maybe when you have too many poplular actors in a movie it becomes necassary to give them something to do. What this film got right was letting us see how Depp's Captain Jack interacts with those other characters. There is a special chemistry between Geoffrey Rush's Barbossa and Jack, which director Rob Marshall takes full advantage of. There's enough here to make the journey back to the glory days of pirates seem worthwhile, without being bogged-down by the part 2/part 3 stroyline or the overpaid/undertalented actors that were so distracting in earlier outings.
Look, I actually reviewed 2 out of 5. That's got to count for something.
