Pirates Of The Caribean: At Worlds End

--PG-13-- Much like the Spiderman and X-Men series there are those that are going to see this movie because of what it is, regardless of the quality of film.

The problem with the Pirates series is that after the success of the first one the writers and directors tried too hard to make these movies more than what they are. Curse of the Black Pearl was strictly a popcorn adventure film that garnered way too much attention for its quality. Gore Verbinskey would have been better off sticking to the formula of the original as opposed to trying to make an oscar worthy film. Much like Dead Mans Chest, At Worlds End's only redeeming quality was Johnny Depp. At Worlds End like Dead Mans Chest was long, convoluted and took itself far too seriously to be good.

At Worlds End is going to make a ton of money and it has nothing to do with the quality of this movie; because this movie sucked!

cah

28 Weeks Later

--R-- Recapturing the tense and creepy mood of 28 Days Later would have made this movie good, however the director failed and instead managed to create a second rate zombie film. The first 20 minutes of 28 Weeks was exactly like 28 Days and that was very well done and excellent film making. Following that preface to 28 Weeks the movie quickly descends to a mediocre formulaic film that failed to impress.

I don't like giving away too much in these reviews so please forgive this bit of information. The way the virus was brought back was a major reach in plot and how the virus seemed to affect one individual differently than the rest of the infected was laughable. The sole individual infected "differently" had focus and a calmness that when watched cheapened the movie and the "rage" virus. Making the individual appear more like an intelligent hunter doped up on amphetamines rather than the crazed out rage infected zombies that the rest were.

This kind of "mutation" in the virus would have been understandable if all were affected this way, but as I previously said it only affected one person this way and therefore while the reaches in plot points may be forgiven the mutated virus infection was not. Making this a poor follow up to the phenomenal 28 Days Later.

cah

Spiderman 3

--PG-13-- Most everyone I talked to prior to my seeing this movie felt that it was too long and not as good as the previous 2. So when I embarked to see it I had very little expectations, and in fact fully anticipated being bored and disappointed. Since my mindset was such I found that I fully enjoyed Spiderman 3, I wasn't expecting a great film like Spiderman 2 so I was able to sit back and just be entertained. On this regard the movie was very successful.

Now, while yes there are a few boring parts all in all this was a fun and enjoyable film. I challenge all that went to see Spiderman 3 in hopes of getting a fun and good story like in Spidey 2 to see 3 again for what it is, not what you wanted it to be. The special effects, the fighting sequences and even the cheese factor were all entertaining. In fact I felt that this was probably closer to what the comics really are as opposed to the serious nature of which 1 and 2 were.

As a side note I just want to give a shout out to Bruce Campbell, does anyone play over-the-top characters better. I love that Sam Raimi has put him in all 3. Now that they have signed to make at least 3 more in this franchise I hope they keep the entertainment value up and the cast intact.

cah

Vacancy

--R-- During the first 15 to 20 minutes of the movie, the director establishes his characters mindsets and relationship. During this time I was bored and felt the movie would not be able to bounce back from such a hum-drum start. I was wrong!

Once the Fox's (Beckinsale and Wilson) start to settle down for the night, their "neighbors" start harassing them with phone call hang-ups and banging. At this point the movie becomes a better than average horror flick. What makes it so different from most other horror movies is that the prey don't make all the cliched mistakes. They remain calm and level headed enough to think and plot plausible escape options. For instance: In one scene Beckinsale falls asleep due to the medications she is taking and awakes to find her husband studying the snuff films featuring the previous rooms tenants. He was studying them looking for mistakes the killers may have made in the past or routines they follow. The purpose of course was to find a way out of this horrifying situation. Something most characters in horror movies would not even think of doing. This was just one example of what made this movie terrifyingly intense as opposed to an almost comical slasher flick.

All in all Vacancy is a solid Horror movie that will keep you on the edge of your seat and entertained throughout.

cah

The Invisible

--PG-13--The Invisible is a more sinister and less enjoyable version of Just Like Heaven which starred Mark Ruffalo and Reese Witherspoon.

The acting and pacing of this movie was off and I couldn't shake the impression that the whole thing was a dream. Everyone in the film seemed to be walking around in a daze, and if it was intentional it was a mistake because I was bored and uninspired by its lack of originality and taste. Marcia Gay Harden who typically does good work was abysmal, the star Justin Chatwin was boring and lacked screen presence. The only aspect of The Invisible that I enjoyed was the young up and comer Margarita Levieva who starred in the short lived series Vanished. While her acting wasn't amazing she at least has screen presence and a magnetism that makes you want to watch her.

cah