March Movie Reviews

All right, saw 11 movies in March, and I'm back on track for 100 movies. Here we go. (All * are out of 5.)

Drive Angry 3D - * - Can't recommend this movie to anybody. The storyline is dumb, the acting is bad, and there's not a lot of action. You'd think a movie called Drive Angry would have a couple good car chases. The 3D was above average though.

Rango - ** - It seems like the first trailer for Rango came out over a year ago. In all that time you would think that Gore Verbinski was making the movie better, but apparently he was counting the money he was making from Pirates of the Caribbean. It wasn't a bad picture, but with the big names and director I was hoping for more.

The Adjustment Bureau - **** - After I first read that this movie was being made I got excited for it. I like Matt Damon and Emily Blunt, and it's based on a Philip K. Dick short story. The leads have great chemistry and are very likable and the story never slows down. It keeps you entertained the whole way through. It's also nice to see a sci-fi movie without a set up for a sequel.

Take Me Home Tonight - * 1/2 - The only thing eighties in this movie was the music. Outside of that there's no reason to have this movie set in that time period. Dan Fogler was the one shining light in a cliched, formulaic romantic comedy.

Mars Needs Moms - ** 1/2 - Another movie from Robert Zemeckis using his motion capture technology he used on Beowulf, A Christmas Carol, and The Polar Express. Visually it's very impressive, but a little weak on the storyline. At one point I was hoping to see a little flashback to Total Recall (you'll know what I'm talking about if you see it). And the interspecies relationship was really awkward and creepy.

Battle Los Angeles - *** - The first hour is really entertaining and action packed. Then the second hour drags on with speech after speech. Think Bill Pullman in ID4. We might see Battle Miami, Battle New York: SVU, and Battle London before too long.

Red Riding Hood - 0 - Not one redeeming quality to this movie. Poor casting, poor writing, poor directing. Even the set design and costumes were terrible. I'm talking sci-fi original movie quality, without the low budget charm. No idea how Twilight could be worse than this, but I'm sure it is.

The Lincoln Lawyer - *** - A good legal drama. McConaughey is actually pretty good, as well as the rest of an above average cast including William H Macy and Marisa Tomei. You could really tell it was based on novel though. I could almost see the beginnings and ends to chapters. Also, this is how I think Ryan Phillipe is in real life. Not a lot of acting here.

Limitless - *** - A great idea, but not much done with it. What would you do if you had a pill that made you the best version of yourself? Apparently you borrow money from a loan shark and don't pay him back right away. That's the big dilemma in the movie. He makes 1.2 million dollars in 4 days, but neglects to pay off the loan right away. WTF. The plot line with Robert De Niro is much more interesting, but doesn't have any real payoff. If it had stolen a little bit from Darren Aronofsky's Pi, and had corporate headhunters trying to find his secret and steal his pills it would have been much better. Instead, we have a Russian loan shark as the main bad guy.

Paul - *** 1/2 - I love Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. There's not a better comic duo working right now. But I think Edgar Wright knows how to use their talents better than Greg Mottola. Not that Paul isn't funny or good, but I could see the similarities in the writing and acting as in Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead. The thing missing was the director. I believe if this had been directed by Edgar Wright that it would have been just as good as their first two pictures. Instead we get a good comedy, but not great.

Sucker Punch - **1/2 - Scantily clad girls, robots, zombies, WWII, steampunk, and orcs. What's not to like. Zack Snyder has a unique visual style, but goes overboard with it here. It's an amazing looking film, but there's just so much being crammed in that you never really get a chance to warm up to the characters. Hopefully he tones it down a little for the new Superman.

I'm down to 74 movies to go after 3 months. Hopefully the quality starts to pick up as we get closer to the summer months, because this is starting to become a bit of a grind. Anyhoo, I say check out The Adjustment Bureau, and leave the rest.

May the Force be with you,
CHUD