NeHaud

I will be honest. First time I saw this, I absolutely LOVED the movie up until the conclusion. It was an awesome movie, complete with jump-out-of-your seats moment and suspense, coupled with a good dose of nostalgia and comic relief. I have nothing to complain about this part of the movie. It is flawless. The first part is good enough to earn a rating of 8 from me, which seems appropriate enough... I will not talk about it, lest I ruin the amazingness for someone.

And now comes the ending...

Now, I appreciate an action movie ending on a softer note...it can be very refreshing and original, unlike the heart-stopping action packed conclusion one finds (though, I am not opposed to them...I just like a little calm now and then.) I was pleased when it became apparent that there would be no mass shoot out between the alien and soldiers. Such a ending was appropriate for this film. Yet...there came the unexpected...which I should had expected coming from the duo of Abrams and Spielberg...

We were suppose to feel sorry for the alien.

I'm sorry, I can't bring myself to do so. Even after buying this movie and viewing it again, I cannot. As the kids come to the realization that it is "sad" and "only wants to go home," all I can picture in my brain is the shot where it's chowing down on that person's leg, or the multiple scenes it ate innocent civilians. Whoa...did I miss something? Did being sad and homesick make up for the crime of killing God knows how many people?

Is it likely that kids, in real life, would come to this conclusion? I believe not. This is not the cutsie E.T. with his glowing finger. This is a giant alien with a taste for human flesh. I would accept a simple ending with the alien escaping, perhaps looking dramatically down at the world as it take off into the sky, vowing revenge or some other nonsense as the kids look on with relief, glad to have escaped the man-eating alien.

The messages Abrams intended are clear. Not everyone is as they seem, everyone deserves to be treated good, and so on. Yet these messages just don't click when the subject of these themes eats half the town.

Overall, this ending is a perfect reminder of why I made that promise to hate all of J.J. Abrams work since he destroyed my favorite TV show as a child (a certain TV show about trekking about the stars...) Super 8 had an amazing beginning, and my expectations were raised tremendously, yet they fell with the concluding scenes.

Oh...on a side note rant...why the heck would the teacher release the alien so near to his town???? He obviously new the alien was dangerous and hated people, as revealed by his tapes...did he really not think that the alien would destroy his home town and eat everyone? Perhaps even his own students? Personally, if I were in this situation, I might perhaps, oh, I don't know...crash my car into the train in a more isolated location. It's not like roads only cross train tracks at train stations. But, who knows! Perhaps he was sick of his town and wanted this to happen. Heck he probably gave the alien a list of names for him to take out...but, in all seriousness, this strange plot twist really confuses me...

*a minute after writing this review, I changed my rating to a 7, which is much more accurate depiction of my view of the movie as a whole

Let's be honest- we all love a good villain. Not one of us can say there hasn't been a movie where we have like the villain more than the hero. A classic example would be the Disney animated movie cartoon. Which of us hasn't fast forward through "I Just Can't Wait to Be King" to get to "Be Prepared" or skipped "Part of Your World" in order to see "Poor Unfortunate Souls"? Villains just always seem to put on a great show that we, as the audience, love to watch. In recent children's movies, directors have taken an advantage of this love. Movies in which the villain is the main character have begun to surface. I loved this idea when I first heard it mentioned, but my excitement was ruined with my viewing of Despicable Me. This movie was alright, and there were some pretty funny scenes, but overall the movie was cliché and mediocre. I watched Megamind with hesitancy, wondering what I would get, but to my pleasant surprise I really enjoyed this movie. The movie had a great plot and perfect voice actors to match the characters. The story was basic yet enjoyable, a perfect balance found in successful family films. All in all, this movie has me yearning for more movies with the villain in the forefront.

Who would have ever thought that Michael Caine and Robert Duvall would ever be in a movie together? These two actors have played such opposite characters in their acting careers that putting them together in a movie would be a major task...however, this movie not only succeeds in the pairing but also excels in it. The two actors support each other magnificently, making the movie such a treat to watch. The movie is uplifting and such a blast, masterfully combining comic relief with more serious themes. (I nearly died laughing when Michael Caine said the word "ain't," never dreaming in a thousand I would hear the British actor go country.) The movie is a perfect "coming of age" story, with good morals and lessons. I don't want to go into too much detail with the movie, less I ruin some truly amazing scenes, but I recommend it for any family movie night.

I will admit it- some of my favorite movies of all time are children's cartoon movies. The heart-warming themes, innocent plots, all feed into my memories of my happy childhood. Sadly, many recent children's movies have been a major disappointment to me...Over the Hedge grated against my nerves, The Wild bored me (and was a total rip-off of Madagascar, which was a very good movie), and Hoodwinked Too destroyed my love for it's prequel (darn you movie!). However, when I saw the commercial for this movie, the story intrigued me. The colors were brilliant and fun to look at, the story seemed cute (even though not very original...), and the main character seemed somewhat tolerable for a children's movie hero. The movie was as I summarized- cute. It wasn't anything too special or magnificent, but simply cute. The voice acting wasn't very impressive, but it made up for it with it's vivid scenery, enjoyable music, and lovable hero. The story was, of course, cliché, but it was a fun cliché. It seemed to know it was not very original, but it embraced this and didn't try to pretend that it was, and instead focused on visually pleasing the audience. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this movie, however it could never compete with some of the great cartoon classics (I.E. Beauty and the Beast, which is my all time favorite movie!). It is instead, I repeat, cute.

Now, we all have seen how fourth installments of a series can end (cough cough Star Wars...) and we have come to shrink away from such movies. The second sequel creates an air of wariness...the third sequel sends suspicions skyrocketing...yet a fourth? How are we, as the audience, to take this? I was unsure how to approach this movie, but I went with an open mind, subconsciously doubtful due to my (opinion of course...) recent disappointments with the second and third Pirate movies, but, to my surprise, this one rose to the same admiration in my eyes as the first one did. It downplayed the fantasy air as the first one did, cleverly mingling it in the the plot, and did not shove it in our faces as the second and third so rudely did. It even managed to throw in some history lessons for the kids, regarding the history of Ponce de Leon in his search for the Fountain. The only thing that really sticks out in my mind that I did not like was the death of Blackbeard. Mind you, that was some pretty amazing special effects with the skeleton and such, yet it troubled me. Blackbeard was a real life figure...and we know how he met his demise...and, trust me, it was not by the hand of a whirlwind of lethal water. I did not like the twisting of historical facts presented here...and another matter regarding this subject, why on earth would Angelica be willing to save him? Didn't she earlier scheme with Jack that she was going to betray him and perhaps use him as the sacrifice?* Perhaps I misunderstood, but this was what I gathered...however, all in all, this was a great movie.

*Edited version: I recently went to see the movie for a second time, and apparently I was mistaken...she never planned on harming her father. The scene she was discussing this was very confusing...

What has become of this fascination beginning to arise throughout the audiences of the world? We seem to have become blind to the repetition of the same old story plots that have become clichés...this movie is perhaps the pivotal story of this movement The story found in Avatar has become a tired one...a man enters into a more primitive society than his own and learns to love it and gains the heart of the chief's daughter. As I watched the movie, I found myself expecting Grandmother Willow's face to appear in the tree of life, or for Stands with Fists to be cutting herself once again beneath the tree...heck why not just throw in Kevin Costner in for Worthington's role instead?

Have we become blind to such plots directors use over and over again, thinking we are too ignorant to see past this guise? After one hundred years of movie going, we as a mature audience must demand for new ideas, or at least story's with a little more originality. No amount of million dollar computer graphics should be able to buy our demand for originality...

How I miss the actors from the mid 20th century...they were dashing, courageous, and above all- gentlemanly. I wish sometimes I had lived during these golden years, to have the chance to meet these actors in their prime. Flight of the Phoenix offers me a small chance to accomplish this dream. There are many famous actors of this era featured, all artfully blended together, none overpowering the others. Stewart and Attenbourough are two of my favorite actors, and to see them side by side is a special treat. This story of character studies if wonderful food for thought, and will stay on your mind for a long time to come.