G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra

--PG-13-- I don't want to spend too much time on this movie, because it is what it is. And that is a summer popcorn thrill ride. So I will review it as such. You won't be bored, and there are only a few cheesy lines. Granted the acting is a bit weak, but the action sequences more than make up for the few and far between serious moments. In a movie that runs just shy of two hours, there is easily 1 1/2 hours of action.

The action sequences in my opinion never run too long. They are well paced and perfectly timed so you won't feel exhausted at the end of the scene and it will leave you wanting more...which you won't have to wait very long for. In fact the longest you have to wait between action scenes is probably 5 minutes.

To sum up, the movie is what it is...an adrenaline fueled thrill ride that is based on an action figure that has been around for half a century.


cah

Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li

--PG-13-- I am torn...I don't know if this movie should be in the popcorn category, or the trash heap. My reasoning is if I throw trash cans up there I will have to admit I am ashamed I saw the movie, but the problem is why should I be ashamed? This is based on a video game franchise that has sold millions of copies for nearly two decades, additionally Jean-Claude Van Damme made an earlier film in this franchise back in the early '90's. So I just can't admit that I should be ashamed I saw this movie.

That just leaves popcorn, my problem here is I don't think it was even a popcorn worthy film. I saw this for another Monday morning early bird special with ten other people. Of those ten, six left during the movie, there was even a moment in which I wanted to leave...okay there were three or four.

Unlike the Van Damme version that was futuristic, cheesy and full of 1 : 1 fighting scenes, this Street Fighter incarnation was filled with story, and voice overs to explain "The Legend of Chun-Li." Which of course is the subtitle to the title Street Fighter. Ugh, the movie was filled with bad acting by Chris Klein (American Pie Trilogy), decent acting by Neil Mcdonough (Band of Brothers) and interspersed with mediocre acting by Michael-Clarke Duncan (Green Mile) and Kristin Kreuk (Smallville).

Oh Kristin! This brings me to perhaps my biggest hang-up...Kristin is not Asian, she isn't even half Asian. Since her character has a caucasian mother this could be explained away if they didn't cast younger versions of her character as Asian girls. Those girls at various stages of development looked absolutely nothing like the adult Chun-Li. Ugh!!! Huge casting mistakes, stupid directing, bad acting and limited action sequences mean I have to throw this movie onto the trash heap.





cah

The Pathfinder

--R-- When I first saw the trailer for Pathfinder I wasn't all that impressed, but thought it looked fun enough to warrant my attendance. Boy was I wrong! The only thing that was worth while in this movie was the scenery. Now, I don't know where they filmed Pathfinder but the snow covered mountains in the rich dense forests off an ocean coast was breathtaking. Other than that the acting was atrocious, the story weak, and watching another movie about a peaceful Native American society ravaged by the big bad Europeans has gotten a tad annoying.

The worst thing about this movie is I was expecting a good action flick (in fact it was the only reason I went to see it), and even the action fell well short of what it needed. The action sequences were abbreviated at best, and focused far too much on the main characters facial expression as he was killing the destructive Viking invaders. The director tried to compensate for this by giving us brief glimpses of gore and blood splatter, this again did little to make this movie worth watching.

So...to wrap this up don't waste your money, and the time being spent to watch this movie would be better served if you took a nap.

cah

300

--R--The most important thing to note about this film is that it is not a comic book movie. It is however a graphic novel adapted to film. Is there a difference? In layman terms, yes...a comic book is typically portrayed as a caricatured version of reality, where as graphic novels are far darker and more of an anthology. So when adapting graphic novels to film they have to be taken more seriously than your standard comic book movie. The most notable comic book adaptations are probably either the Spiderman series or Batman Begins. The most notable graphic novel films would be Sin City, Road to Perdition and now 300.

300 is a flawless masterpiece! From start to finish you find seamless editing, striking costumes, as well as superb acting and many other remarkable assets. While 300 bills itself as an action film (which it is) it is also far more than that. With each significant role, you find that they all have a rich meaningful back-story which adds depth and color to these characters lives and the part they play in the battle against a Persian Emperor touting himself as a God. Whether the 300 strong Spartans survive or not doesn't matter, you understand their plight and the importance of their stance against corrupt politicians, tainted prognosticators and a maniacal emperor hell bent on world domination.

Is this movie going to win the Oscar for best picture? No, but this movie wasn't made to that end. A film like this is made to make money for its financial backers and by its director for the artisctic wonder of which it is.

cah