blackdoug

A lot of talk had been thrown about that the first Avengers was the best adventure film ever made, knocking out classics like LOTR, Raiders of the Lost Ark and Spider-Man 2. Well, Age of Ultron actually did what many thought of as impossible. It tops the first Avengers film. How do you top a masterpiece? By delivering the same fun, action and humor but adding more complexity and more depth. Whedon and company should be commended for taking it to the next level even if most people thought those heights weren't even possible given the love for the first film.

I guess it shouldn't be such a surprise because Marvel has set this up from the start and have done so delivering some instant classics along the way. Most every solo hero film has been rewarding in some way or another. In this instant classic, they combined the greatness of what we've already seen but added even more epic elements. No other franchise gets individual solo films to develop a film's characters. They had the budget and the right guy in place and he made it all work. Most everyone is calling AoU the best sequel ever made but it may just be the greatest adventure film of all-time.

The marketing for this film failed big-time. The movie itself is far better then expected and as advertised. The trailer and TV spots chose to focus on what turned out to be exaggerated tales within the story itself. I like the grounded take on the character and how Hercules allowed the legend to exceed reality for a purpose. The Rock delivers the goods if not the actual gods.

The story is basic but with an interesting twist halfway through. His band of warriors all worked well and served to advance some sort of a plot and add emotion where there otherwise would have been none. While certainly not a great or even memorable film, it deserved better than to bomb at the cinema.

I hate to bad mouth this movie because somewhere underneath the stupidity and paranoia lies a meaningful cautionary tale and an interesting premise. Still, this thing is so bad and so nonsensical that it defeats its own purpose.

It's just all levels of terrible no matter what the intent or how earnestly they try to present the perils of a big soulless government. The title and a few lines of the film imply Christian prosecution but that subject matter is basically ignored in favor of a crazed anti-government storyline. I can't even call it a plot line because there is no coherent plot or character development.

On a side note, all I could think of watching Bruce Davison was that "Senator Kelly" has taken his mutant hating propaganda to the next level.

Given certain restrictions and parameters, I honestly don't think they could have done this material any better. Minor logic flaws do not in any way inhibit enjoyment of the film. This IS "apes on horses shooting guns" but done with surprising depth and emotion. The story is meat and potatoes basic but done intelligently. There is a surprising lack of dialogue with a LOT of ape subtitles but it all works well. This may be the best blockbuster that utilizes the least amount of actual dialogue in history. The ape's FX really is as amazing as most are saying but it's the other CGI that kind of disappointed me. Scenes like the bear kill and the interaction with baby ape seemed awkward and poorly done for some reason. It's almost as if the film was using different FX houses and not everything meshed. Again, that's just a minor quibble in a very good film.

I do wonder if there's anywhere left for this franchise to go. Anything from this point forward would seem tedious unless they don't go full Planet of the Apes and keep the humans in the game and spin off a drama/war story element. Probably the high water mark for this franchise, it's best to simply enjoy the moment.

"That's a bad idea but then again I'm all about bad ideas." – John Goodman's fat Transformerbot.

That line sums up this mess and maybe a majority of Michael Bay's career. Frankly, this bad idea didn't work for me on any level at all. I really hated this effort start to finish. Everything is decisively stupid and every attempt to deliver anything resembling real dialogue or real emotion is an absolute insult to the viewer. The only aspect that falls more flat were the numerous attempts to inject humor. Nothing was remotely funny and every effort is injected at the weirdest time in the worst way possible. This has to be the absolute worst big budget blockbuster I've paid to see in years.

The bloated running time only serves to insure that most viewers will leave with some level of a headache after sitting through this brain- damaged mess for three hours. The finale is cartoon crazy and visually interesting with Dinobots going nuts and ships and cars dropping from the sky. Also, they kill their "Jar Jar Binks" early on and that was a bonus. So, those two aspects save the film from being a complete 0/10 but just barely.

I thought I knew what to expect after having seen the other Transformer movies but this time around I didn't feel entertained or in awe of anything. In fact, I actually groaned when they movie shifted to China because I knew that there was a lot of running time left to endure.

BTW- anyone else irked by how the US government is so very evil here but Communist China will rise to protect it's people in danger? I know that's box office pandering more than any type of political commentary from a mindless movie but it still sits wrong.

It's less the foodie film that I was expecting but it's well crafted with all the big league cameos fitting the storyline perfectly. Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson and Dustin Huffman all pitched in for one or two scenes and all are very effective. This is Favreau's baby and it feels that way. Like the passion displayed by his chef character, it's clear that this film is a labor of love and that flavor comes across even though there really isn't very much meat to the script itself. I did enjoy the coming to grips with social media aspect the film puts forth. Watching a 40-something man with real talent and a real life having to try and care about Twitter silliness was refreshing to see.

Overall, this film sits like a well timed and tasty light snack in the middle of all the heavy summer blockbuster gut busters.

This is exactly what it advertises itself to be. At least that was refreshing. It's completely mindless and almost every single character is either extremely shallow or irritating and often both.

As badly as this is written, somehow Leslie Mann makes it work for her character. She manages to make the viewer actually care about her somehow. She simply puts it all on the table and her boldness mixed with her charm manages to rise above awful material. The rest of the cast is, frankly, terrible. The cheating husband is such a dumb cartoon character. Cameron Diaz has grown genuinely unpalatable. Kate Upton tried her gorgeous best but it's clear even the director had to try and cut around her acting shortcomings. I smell a few Razzie nominations for this mess.

I'm glad I avoided the build up and the factions taking sides with or against this movie. I saw it without reading the reactions of others so that I could judge it for myself.

To me, it felt like an insanely boring riff on a LOTR film. The lessons of the Bible tale are all in place but it felt like you had to mine for them in order to find them. There certainly are comments about respecting life (pro-life), respecting God and other deeper issues. There's even something for vegetarians and environmentalists to chew heavily on. I really did like the final overall message of being worthy of second chances. Still, it's a tough film to rate because it's Aronofsky through and through. Occasional BEAUTIFUL visuals splashed throughout a strangely constructed film. (It's pure visual poetry when Noah tells the tale of creation.) Overall, I found this film not nearly as rewarding and not nearly as rich or as interesting as I was expecting.

Personally, I found the first hour or so of this film something to endure rather than enjoy. You could almost cut all three "passing of the horse" scenes and the movie would be better for it. Even though the "Heidi" segment adds some weight to the conclusion, it's just not worth it in terms of pace and story. Once Joey's owner enters the war the film works quite well. Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan sensibilities kick in and even with the outright sap it's quality entertainment. Until that, it's a tedious and sentimental mess of a movie. If anyone but Spielberg would have his name on this I think a lot of people would be calling it a collage rip off of other films. The Gone With The Wind/Searchers ending being a prime example.

I have to say that I hated this movie.

3/10 and that's being nice. I found just about every character to be unrelatable and genuinely unlikable. I didn't find much funny at all. Not poo in the mouth or CGI child abuse or Reynolds pleasuring himself or sex crazed pregnant women or most of the stuff they threw at the screen.

This was an absolute "make faces at the screen" disaster early and not funny in the least to me. Somehow it rises out of the 0/10 category range and finds some heart and interest as both leads learn their predictable lessons. The complete douchebag character grows up a bit and the whipped family man learns to relax. Somehow, if the viewer hasn't walked out on the film by then, you care just enough to see how it plays out. At least I did and about halfway through I didn't think I would be around for the entire running time.

Rise of the Apes is a convoluted mess that has received unwarranted praise simply because people seem to be studying the CGI monkeys and are forgetting that they are suppose to tell a story at the same time. It's true that's it's a disturbing story but it's more disturbing that it's presented in this fashion and people think of it as entertainment. Are some critics in the can for this one? Why else would they praise this crap?

The movie and the concept are as ridiculous as one might expect. I mean, not just bad but actually laughably ridiculous. This "smart" monkey revolt would've and could've been put down easily and when a film crosses that believability line, it never comes back. I guess we had to get to the start of "The Planet of the Apes" somehow but they hammer it home in such a brainless fashion that maybe the writers of this film need smart serum. The first two acts are poorly paced but if you like a final act where fake looking chimps and gorillas break stuff then this is your movie.

Just like X2, First Class is a film classic that will endure and resonate for years to come. Bring on the Next Class!

Both Erik and Charles are two of the coolest and most charismatic characters to ever hit the big screen. Now I know why Magneto was reading "The Man Who Would Be King" in X2! I really love this film. The acting is superb and the dialogue is rich. Every character feels believable. No cartoonish villains, every side of the issue is presented by people who believe they are the ones who are in the right, and honestly felt that way. This movie delivers on its characters, and the action scenes are there only to advance plot and build character, and that's the best kind of action sequences. The X-Men have hit their stride again and while still at Fox... go figure!

Xavier is a fleshed out and complex character. Mystique proves why she's a fan favorite. Magneto is a vicious but charming and persuasive bastard. Hank is a tragic and endearing figure. Alex is filled with emotion. Darwin is pure empathy. Emma is as sexy as sin. Shaw is a perfect villain. The FX is Oscar worthy. What's not to love?

Not as bad as Caddyshack 2 as some are claiming but probably because The Hangover was no classic like Caddyshack. So, it has less farther to fall. The Hangover 2 is a below average follow up to an above average comedy. I really didn't share the over-the-top love for the first film even though I did enjoy it very much. The same can't be said for this go around. This particular incarnation isn't all that witty, sexy or even gross enough to distinguish itself from any number of similar comedy efforts. I hope fans of the first haven't set their expectations too high because this thing really isn't that funny. Releasing it in the summer means it will fade from memory FAST as other more entertaining films are released in this jam packed season.

Bromances may have been all the rage a few years ago but I think most of us are sick of films like this one at this point. The writing is full of lazy clichés and the lowbrow alleged laughs on display are completely dumb and almost never funny. I couldn't decide who was more irritating Zach's character, Bradley and his arrogant one-liners or the thought that the writers of this trash actually got a huge paycheck to draft this nonsense. The Hangover 2 is a lifeless and empty comedic experience.

Instead of a sequel to a funny film all they've given us an insanely unfunny and unlikable film. Way to cash in but phone in a sequel.

This film was a HUGE disappointment for me. This movie didn't advance the classic first film. In fact, it kind of ruins that film for me now. Knowing what happens on (and off that bridge) makes me never want to watch my Bourne Identity DVD ever again. The Bourne Supremacy was just a rehash and a dull one at that. The whole Russian trip just felt tacked on because they realized that they needed more filler for this film. You can almost hear the script writers say, "Hey, how about we add a car chase here...just like the first film." Why use Julia for only one scene? Why leave this character is worse shape then the first film? This could've and should've been so much better. HUGE disappointment here.