The Gnat's Movie Reviews: Prometheus/Lincoln Vampire Hunter

[Gmen4ev]

[The Gnat]

I would like a better sound system, but with the size of TV's these days much of the affect of the theater is negated, with the exception of surround sound. And I don't see the soil point of a film as it is meant to be seen in the theaters only, if a film only works in the theaters, it loses much of it's value and would get dropped on the entertainment grade.
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Gnat's Movie Reviews

[THE DUKE]

Good write up of the A-Team. I agree exactly except I might have given the Entertainment Value an A- to go with the C+ Critical Grade. I probably enjoyed this movie more than any other I saw this summer.
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-I am bad, and that's good. I will never be good, and that's not bad. There's no one else i'd rather be, than me.
-"Our life is what our thoughts make it" - Marcus Aurelius

[The Gnat]

The Green Hornet

This film is a superhero film unlike any other. The superhero isn’t all that much of a hero and the whole plan of becoming a superhero is a plan to be a bad guy. This film is humorously self aware and deserves recognition for blending the comedic aspects of the film while maintaining an absurd and over the top action vibe going with it.

The story is that of Britt Reid, who, like Tony Stark and Bruce Wayne, has grown up with some luxury, and like Bruce Wayne has had at least a parent die while he was a young kid. It was a natural death and that isn’t what sets him off, when his father dies twenty years later, that doesn’t set him off, again it looks like a natural death. There isn’t really anything that sets him off, other then that he hates his father and decides to do some petty vandalism. While he, and his new friend Kato (who worked on his father’s cars) are cutting the head off of his fathers statue, Britt sees a couple getting mugged and decides to defend them. Things go extremely poorly, but then Kato steps in and takes everyone out with ease. Britt decides that they are going to become superheros (or just heros), but they aren’t going to make the classic mistake of being the good guys and then the bad guys can just start threatening innocent people to control them, instead, they are going to pose as bad guys and take down the bad guys. This works fairly well until Britt’s ego gets in the way, and he and Kato split up. When the big crime boss contacts the Green Hornet, to take out Britt Reid, Kato is forced with a decision and together they end up taking out the biggest crime boss in LA and a corrupt DA.

The acting in this film works surprisingly well. Seth Rogen, who seems like a very odd fit for an action superhero sort of film, does a good job as he is a bit of an idiot, and Britt Reid is written as a bit of an idiot. Jay Chou does a good job as Kato, he doesn’t have great range in his emotion, but the fight scenes are entertaining, and that is enough for this film. Cameron Diaz, and actress who I really don’t like, is fine in her role. Christopher Waltz, as the main villain is quite good and plays a needy ego-manic extremely well. The cast comes together nicely, but none of the performances as all that special, they are simply good enough to make this film.

Michel Gondry, director of Be Kind Rewind and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, does a good job with this film, and you can see the similarities, I feel, between Be Kind Rewind. The visual effects are fairly solid, but nothing spectacular, which works with Gondry’s style of filming that you really see in Be Kind Rewind, and there are some very absurd scenes as well. It also channels a bit of Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World in that it is aware that it is a comic book/superhero sort of film and Reid has a line that directly references that about being a good guy posing as a bad guy.

This film is worth checking out if you like the slightly less serious sort of action superhero sort of film. It won’t blow you away with any part of it, but each part is just solid enough to put out a very entertaining movie, and while I’m not a big fan of Seth Rogen (some of his comedies are just too predictable), in this film, he does justice to the Green Hornet.

Entertainment Value: B

Critical Value: C

Overall Value: B-
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Gnat's Movie Reviews

[atown703]

Nice review of Green Hornet.. I'll be checking it out when it comes to DVD
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PSN id - Kemikalmbalinsce

[The Gnat]

Thor



This film might be second only to the first Iron Man when it comes to Marvel world films. It is put together so nicely and precisely the fact that the dialog is hokey at points in time isn’t really noticeable, and the fact that the plot might not be 100% solid is also easy to gloss over. It simply is a fun action/adventure super hero film that is a blast to watch. Kenneth Branagh does a great job putting this all down onto the screen.

The story is that of how Thor gets banished from Asgard and the story of his redemption. Thor is a brash young prince who is more of a warrior than a leader and who can’t see how his father’s, Odin, rule is so strong when he doesn’t show off his force. When Asgard in infiltrated by ice giants, Thor along with his brother Loki and some of Thor’s closest friends decide to disobey Odin and solve the problems themselves. Things go wrong and Thor is banished from Asgard to Midgard (Earth) and separated from his hammer, Mjillnar. Odin enchants that hammer that only someone with the heart of Thor can lift it. Thor tries, but fails. It isn’t until he sacrifices himself for the good of others that his hammer returns to him. When that happens he has to deal with the disarray that has fallen on Asgard under Loki’s rule.

The acting in this film is surprisingly strong. Chris Hemsworth really fits into the role of Thor and even with some very corny lines, he delivers them in such a way that they are believable, especially in the Earth setting. There are a few other characters who are really strong, Stellan Skarsgard and Kat Dennings both outshine Natalie Portman as the humans who befriend Thor. Skarsgard is very good in his role as playing an older wiser professor who is doing research with Portman’s character, and Kat Dennings has some great one-liners that she delivers as Portman’s intern. Asgard also has some solid characters, Tom Hiddleston oozes with the kind of charm and cunning that Loki should have. And Anthony Hopkins gives a good performance as Odin. The whole cast just seems to have gelled together.

Technically Kenneth Branagh has done a good job with this film. The script is a little bit rough at times with the dialog and the plot doesn’t hold together perfectly, but for the most part it works extremely well, and Branagh has taken the short comings and hid them quite well. He got a ton out of the talent that he was given for the film and while this film has a lighter feel than some superhero films, most notably the Batman films, it is clear to see many tie ins to other Marvel universe films. There is a reference to the Hulk, an appearance by Hawkeye, and references to Tony Stark as well. Visually it is fun as well, Asgard doesn’t completely hold together in terms of CGI, but it has a royal grandeur that one would expect from the home of the Norse Gods, and the town in New Mexico where Thor lands is spot on for the comics.

Overall this was a better film than I was expecting, even with Rotten Tomatoes showing the top critic rating at 80%, I had heard about a few struggles with the dialog and plot and figured I might have issue with that. But they do a very good job of glossing it over and making it very very fun to watch, which fits very well into the world that was created for Tony Stark. It is very much worth checking out if you want to see the first giant film of the summer, and this is probably going to be one of the better ones and deservedly so.

Entertainment Grade: A

Critical Grade: B+

Overall Grade: A-
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Gnat's Movie Reviews

[THE DUKE]

Great review of Thor, mirrored my sentiments almost exactly. I thought the score was pretty strong too and agree completely with Postman getting outshone by Skarsgard and Jennings (more the role's fault than hers though, the role and their romance was just terribly conceived and written). I was a little harsher on the grade but not much and of the 34 2011 movies I have seen Thor is behind only Source Code and Rio.

Green Hornet did little for me, just didn't like it all that much, it ranked 25th of 34 and got a C grade from me. I normally like Diaz but didn't care for her in that role.
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-I am bad, and that's good. I will never be good, and that's not bad. There's no one else i'd rather be, than me.
-"Our life is what our thoughts make it" - Marcus Aurelius

[Matts4313]

did you all see thor in 3d or regular?
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[RavensTillIDie]

Very nice review!

Pretty much on par with what I was expecting. Uber excited to see this tomorrow!
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[The Gnat]

[Matts4313]

[The Gnat]

[The Gnat]

This was a well crafted fairly serious superhero film. It is a set-up story like that of Batman Begins where we find out the history of many of the key players. But it is brought together much better than Wolverine was brought together and focuses in much more on the characters in the film as compared to the action in the film, which is enjoyable to watch. Matthew Vaughn does a good job directing this well crafted story.

The story is the origin of Professor X and Magneto and their friendship and how that fell apart. It starts with Erik (Magneto) is a Nazi concentration camp where he is separated from his family. His powers are then revealed to a German guard who tries to train Erik to use his powers. At the same time Charles Xavier comes across Raven who has broken into his house to find food. She is like him in that she is a mutant and he takes her under his wing and they grow up together. Things come to a head when Moira (in this telling a CIA Operative) runs across some interesting people and she goes to Xavier as one of the top genetics experts to solve her problem. This leads to a team up with Erik who has been tracking down the German who killed his mother and trained him. Xavier rescues Erik as he tries to attack Shaw, the German, and is going to die. They team up and together locate some other mutants with the help of Hank McCoy. They form a team and go after Shaw and his team of mutants, but they have a different way of looking at things. Erik wants mutants to rule since they are superior beings whereas Xavier wants to live in harmony with the humans (if that is possible). This comes to a head and Erik kills Shaw to become Magneto.

The acting of the two leads is superb. James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender shine as Charles Xavier and Erik respectively. McAvoy has a boyish charm and optimism about him and he turns into a sort of charisma with how he can influence people. Fassbender shows off a nice dark side where you feel sorry for him but don’t completely trust his intentions all the time. Raven (Mystique) played by Jennifer Lawrence is great as well. She plays a very conflicted character torn between the fact she doesn’t look normal but she can change her appearance to be normal and the dichotomy of the two positions. Kevin Bacon is also very good as Shaw. At the beginning of the film when he is playing the role at the concentration camp he is simply brilliant, his performance falters a tiny bit as the movie progresses, but he is very strongly evil. The cast wasn’t all perfect though, January Jones as Emma Frost was beautiful to look at, but quite poorly acted. Considering that she is supposed to look like a sex symbol, that isn’t the worst thing in the world, but when paired with some of the great acting in this film, she does stick out as a weak point. Nicholas Hoult also struggles in her performance as Hank McCoy (Beast), he isn’t bad, but the role was played so perfectly by Kelsey Grammer that Hoult seems to come up just short. He has some fairly emotional scenes that he pulls of well, though. The rest of the cast is solid, but not completely memorable.

Visually this film shines through as well. It has an older quality feel to it as it takes place in the 1960′s for the most part. Vaughn does a good job creating this world where the mutants exist but humanity doesn’t really know about them. Ashley Miller, Zach Stentz, Jane Goldman, and Matthew Vaughn do a great job putting together this screenplay. The story is wonderfully character driven and while they show off a nice array of powers, they don’t get lost in showing everyone. If they had tried to, it would have becomes a mess like the second Transformers movie. But they keep it simple enough and they don’t go over the top with any of the characters.

Overall this is one of the better superhero films that I’ve seen. It has some lighter moments that makes me appreciate it more than I do a film like The Dark Knight, but it takes itself a bit more seriously than a film like Iron Man or Thor. I’m very hopeful that they can keep this cast together and make more films because it would be very enjoyable to watch and see how they end up developing the story.

Entertainment Grade: A

Critical Grade: B+

Overall Grade: A-
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Gnat's Movie Reviews

[36Mafia]

Kevin Bacon will forever be remembered by me as the rapist in Sleepers.

I agree with your write up. I liked Fassbender, MacAvoy, and Bacon. They did a good job in this movie.

[Apodrocks]

I like how you do Critical and Entertainment, that would have been perfect for me for The Tree of Life, I ENJOYED the movie but I hated other parts.. but the parts I hated, were still beautiful and well shot just not for me..
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^Packerbacker87 on the sig, thanks!