s272112 Reviews

Sucker Punch (2011)

Put your thinking cap on

[8/10 · 25 March 2011]

I have been absolutely pumped for this movie since I first saw the trailer for it last summer. I'm fresh from viewing it, and I have to say that it's not quite what I expected, though not necessarily in a bad way. To those who haven't seen it, two words: Do it. But be open to the fact that it will almost certainly not be exactly what you expect. Although it looks like a somewhat mindless kick ass, eye candy flick, don't be fooled: there is a pretty good story here, and its deeper than your first impression of it will be, also. Oh, and don't try and predict the ending.

After you watch it, you will need to process what actually happened, but put your thinking cap on- because its deeper than you think.

All in all, the acting was good enough (though it didn't blow my mind), the visuals are stellar (did blow my mind) and the soundtrack is amazing (where is my mind?). Definitely worth seeing. 8/10

Paranormal Activity 2 (2010)

Truly a cinematic rarity

[10/10 · 22 October 2010]

Let me start out by saying that I very rarely enjoy a movie enough to consider writing a review about it, let alone actually following through with the notion. This film is the exception. I have to preface my thoughts with the fact that I absolutely loved the first movie, and was expecting this film to be unable to top its predecessor. I was mistaken. At the risk of over-hyping this movie, it is (in my opinion of course) a nearly flawless sequel. If you are the type of person that could run with the story of the original and enjoyed the plot and film styling it possessed (ha, possessed, get it?), you will love this movie. Conversely, if you did not like the original, prepare yourself for disappointment. I have very, very few criticisms of this movie (a rarity for me), but for the sake of fairness I will share them with you. The beginning seems a touch forced, with little character development until after about 1/3 of the movie has gone by. This bothered me at the time, but the film quickly remedies this as more and more of the story is revealed. There are additional plot devices they use to connect this to the first one which some people might find a bit contrived, although I thought they worked just fine. I feel like this will probably be one of those "you either love it or you hate it" things. Aside from those things, and one minor detail I would have personally tweaked about the ending, my final complaint is only that it has an ending. At the risk of sounding repetitive, this film was truly a delight to watch. Not only did it have some tremendous "holy sh!t" moments, it had an extremely solid plot to tie it together. If you are willing to immerse yourself in the story and the environment much like with the first one, you will not be disappointed.

Gorath (1962)

I'm convinced the special effects are done with 'Hot Wheels' cars

[3/10 · 26 January 2008]

Yosei Gorasu, also known as "Gorath" in the United States is a movie about a giant asteroid (Gorath) heading for Earth, dooming our planet to destruction. How will we survive this doomsday device, you ask? Have no fear, the Japanese are here! Using ultra high-tech gear, the Japanese build rocket boosters on the South Pole to push Earth out of Gorath's path, and saving us from certain doom. Hooray!

What the movie doesn't address, however, is the fact that if Earth were pushed out of it's orbit, we would all die anyway because of our delicate climate which hinges on our distance from the Sun. Disrupt that, and Earth is going down in flames, Gorath or not. I'm not sure if this is meant to be funny or serious, but with a budget probably bordering on somewhere near $150, I have to tell myself it sucked this bad on purpose. If that's not the case, then I give the makers of Gorath an E for effort, but the movie itself I have to give an F for failure. (3/10 instead of 1/10 entirely because there are times it is so horrible it is funny.)