I had a blog under a different name for several years, which I am going to plagiarize in order to maintain my continuity. It goes back a ways. The entries will all be placed within in the correct order, but not the same chronological date as when I first reviewed them. I am moving to a new blog because I want the name to be different, and thus to re-purpose thebertmanblog for another use.
I will bring all of the reviews from the old blog to the new blog and then pick up at the latest, Captain Ameria and Spiderman. Stay with us, we are To Be Continued...
Monday, April 28, 2014
Another Movie Blog
Really? Another Movie Blog? There are already way too many movie blogs in cyberspace, but I just can't help myself. I've always loved action and adventure movies, science fiction, and comic books. We are living in a Golden Age of Entertainment, where the sketches and drawings of fantastic adventurers colored with ink and printed on cheap paper in decades past, now provide a rich source of unending stories, both nostalgic and earth-shattering at the same time.
My name is Bertman. I am the technician of Nerds in the Wood, nerdsinthewood.com. I love hiking, science fiction, ale, good food, fantasy adventure games on computers, gadgets and devices. I'm not great on social networking, but I have some ability. I am expert with the handheld GPS. It can be used to navigate while hiking. Mostly I ave the power of Metaphor: I have an uncanny ability to relate real life situations like formatting a disk to imaginary systems like farming and gardening.
I was raised on comic books and science fiction. I read my first few comic books at the age of four. I remember Flash, Green Lantern, Batman and Superman. That was when the first issues of Spiderman were made. The first words I learned were invulnerable dimension, universe and alien. There were super-powered beings who looked out for anything bad, watching over people like guardians.I was a child in a military family, living in a country where I didn't speak the language. Because we were moving every couple of years, it was difficult to make friends. Being new in town made me a victim of bullying due to being a nerd and a weakling.
I had lots of time, so I read lots of comic books. We didn't even have a TV until I was 10. I remember The Justice League, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Batman and Robin, and Green Arrow. I learned about the dangers of Kryptonite, and of a destroyed planet with the only survivors being Superman, Supergirl, the dome-encased Argo City, the Bottle City of Kandor, and the criminal inhabitants of the Phantom Zone. Then there were the bad guys, Lex Luthor and Braniac, and the imp Mxyzptlk. Of course, being a voracious devourer of comic books, I also read Richie Rich, Sad Sack, Casper the Good Little Ghost, Hot Stuff the Little Devil, Archie and dozens, nay, hundreds of other titles.
You could see where the concepts they used could expand the ability to think beyond the mundane, to imagine things. Of course, one would frequently be accused of living in a fantasy world, and one would be made fun of and laughed at. Well, I will show them whose laughing now!
As I got older, I read more books, by authors like Asimov, Heinlein, Clarke and Herbert. I watched Star Trek when it first came out, the 60's Batman series, Lost in Space, the very first Planet of the Apes and 2001: A Space Odyssey. As a teen, I collected comic books. I had a collection of several thousand Marvel titles, like the Hulk, Iron Man, the X-Men, Thor, The Avengers, and many, many more. I bought them used in thrift stores, read them and bagged them, and dragged them around until I was in my 20's, then sold them. I often regret having sold them, but I needed the money.
The last few years have been great for movies about comic book characters. I can't even name all of the movies that were based originally on comic books, and on what are now called graphic novels. I do make it a point to see every sci-fi and comic book movie that comes out. There have been quite a few really good comic book movies lately.
This blog will review my picks of movies. Comic book adaptations, science fiction, fantasy, and movies based on video games, all are fair game. Stay tuned!
To be continued.....
My name is Bertman. I am the technician of Nerds in the Wood, nerdsinthewood.com. I love hiking, science fiction, ale, good food, fantasy adventure games on computers, gadgets and devices. I'm not great on social networking, but I have some ability. I am expert with the handheld GPS. It can be used to navigate while hiking. Mostly I ave the power of Metaphor: I have an uncanny ability to relate real life situations like formatting a disk to imaginary systems like farming and gardening.
I was raised on comic books and science fiction. I read my first few comic books at the age of four. I remember Flash, Green Lantern, Batman and Superman. That was when the first issues of Spiderman were made. The first words I learned were invulnerable dimension, universe and alien. There were super-powered beings who looked out for anything bad, watching over people like guardians.I was a child in a military family, living in a country where I didn't speak the language. Because we were moving every couple of years, it was difficult to make friends. Being new in town made me a victim of bullying due to being a nerd and a weakling.
I had lots of time, so I read lots of comic books. We didn't even have a TV until I was 10. I remember The Justice League, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Batman and Robin, and Green Arrow. I learned about the dangers of Kryptonite, and of a destroyed planet with the only survivors being Superman, Supergirl, the dome-encased Argo City, the Bottle City of Kandor, and the criminal inhabitants of the Phantom Zone. Then there were the bad guys, Lex Luthor and Braniac, and the imp Mxyzptlk. Of course, being a voracious devourer of comic books, I also read Richie Rich, Sad Sack, Casper the Good Little Ghost, Hot Stuff the Little Devil, Archie and dozens, nay, hundreds of other titles.
You could see where the concepts they used could expand the ability to think beyond the mundane, to imagine things. Of course, one would frequently be accused of living in a fantasy world, and one would be made fun of and laughed at. Well, I will show them whose laughing now!
As I got older, I read more books, by authors like Asimov, Heinlein, Clarke and Herbert. I watched Star Trek when it first came out, the 60's Batman series, Lost in Space, the very first Planet of the Apes and 2001: A Space Odyssey. As a teen, I collected comic books. I had a collection of several thousand Marvel titles, like the Hulk, Iron Man, the X-Men, Thor, The Avengers, and many, many more. I bought them used in thrift stores, read them and bagged them, and dragged them around until I was in my 20's, then sold them. I often regret having sold them, but I needed the money.
The last few years have been great for movies about comic book characters. I can't even name all of the movies that were based originally on comic books, and on what are now called graphic novels. I do make it a point to see every sci-fi and comic book movie that comes out. There have been quite a few really good comic book movies lately.
This blog will review my picks of movies. Comic book adaptations, science fiction, fantasy, and movies based on video games, all are fair game. Stay tuned!
To be continued.....
Tuesday, August 20, 2013
Elysium
Rating: 3 Shurikens
Elysium is a science fiction film set in a bleak future 150 years from now, where most of the Earth is overpopulated and in really bad economic shape. All of the rich people have moved into a space station in orbit around the Earth called Elysium. It is like a huge gated community in the sky, where all of the people are cured of disease, and labor is performed by androids.
Elysium has a lot of fascinating science fiction concepts that date back to the 1940's. There is Elysium itself, a centrifugal force space station that is like a giant wheel. There are machines that scan people's bodies, and can detect and cure diseases and injuries. There are 'droids, (the robots, not the phones) that move like people, and can communicate verbally. There are spaceships that can make suborbital space without multistage rockets. The weapons still fire bullets, although the ammunition is more advanced. No ray guns. There are exoskeletons that allow humans to have the strength of androids. Some of the technology is awesome, but the computers haven't changed much in the future of Elysium. They are running a variant of Unix or Linux. The screens are LCD and they still have actual keyboards with keys that are buttons. They use laptops that are a lot like what we have today. I guess some things will never be improved, after a point.
Elysium is a science fiction film set in a bleak future 150 years from now, where most of the Earth is overpopulated and in really bad economic shape. All of the rich people have moved into a space station in orbit around the Earth called Elysium. It is like a huge gated community in the sky, where all of the people are cured of disease, and labor is performed by androids.
Elysium has a lot of fascinating science fiction concepts that date back to the 1940's. There is Elysium itself, a centrifugal force space station that is like a giant wheel. There are machines that scan people's bodies, and can detect and cure diseases and injuries. There are 'droids, (the robots, not the phones) that move like people, and can communicate verbally. There are spaceships that can make suborbital space without multistage rockets. The weapons still fire bullets, although the ammunition is more advanced. No ray guns. There are exoskeletons that allow humans to have the strength of androids. Some of the technology is awesome, but the computers haven't changed much in the future of Elysium. They are running a variant of Unix or Linux. The screens are LCD and they still have actual keyboards with keys that are buttons. They use laptops that are a lot like what we have today. I guess some things will never be improved, after a point.
Matt Damon plays Max Da Costa, an ex-convict who has decided to go straight and work for a living. He is on parole for criminal activities, and has a job in a factory that produces androids that will work in Elysium. As some of the story is related in the form of a flashback to his youth, we see that Elysium has been in orbit for some time, and that it is a goal for a lot of people to go there and get access to the machines that can cure their diseases, but which the inhabitants of Elysium jealously guard from the huddled masses. Damon played Jason Bourne in The Bourne Identity, The Bourne Supremacy, and The Bourne Ultimatum, and also played in The Adjustment Bureau.
Jodie Foster plays a politically-motivated but very corrupt Secretary of Defense Delacourt Rhodes, who is responsible for protecting Elysium from invasion by the riff-raff who still live on Earth. Jodie Foster has been in many films in a long career, and she still looks good. As Delacourt, she is willing to do pretty much anything, including reprogramming Elysium's computers to make herself President. She orders a rich businessman, John Carlyle, who runs the plant where Max works, to rewrite the code of Elysium's computers. He stores it using his brain as a sort of portable disk drive to bring it into Elysium. It has an encryption scheme that is fatal to anyone who downloads it wihout the proper codes. William Fitchner plays John Carlyle, and has the appearance of the villain's lackey. He had roles in this year's Lone Ranger and in Contact, which also starred Jodie Foster.
Max has an industrial accident, caused when a machine jams and he goes inside a radiation disinfecting chamber to unjam it. His boss orders him to go inside, but as soon as he clears the jam, the door slams shut. Max is trapped inside and is exposed to a deadly dose of radiation, for which death is an inevitable outcome after five days. He sees his only hope as getting to Elysium and accessing the cure machines. He goes to see a criminal mastermind named Spider, played by Wagner Moura, who puts him in an exoskeleton, so that he can get to Elysium. Capturing Carlyle is the ticket in, and so he goes after Carlyle.
Now, Delacourt Rhodes has an agent who lives on Earth, and who she uses to do certain work that is off the books. His name is Kruger, and he is one of the more interesting characters in the movie. He is strong and ruthless, seems to have no concern for anyone, and is willing to do anything necessary to get the job done. Kruger is played by Sharlto Copley, who starred in the brilliant District 9 in 2009. Kruger is sent to rescue Carlyle, and to bring him safely to Elysium.
Alice Bragga plays Frey, who is Max's girlfriend, whom he has known all his life, as seen in the first few flashback scenes. They lost touch, but after his industrial accident, Max runs into her at the hospital, where she works as a nurse. Bragga starred with Will Smith in I Am Legend, and in the 2010 movie, Predators.
The movie is fairly exciting, with some really good action scenes and decent special effects. The acting is also pretty good, especially Sharlto Copley and Jodie Foster. Damon plays the same kind of action role as he did in the Bourne movies. The whole premise of the film is that the rich have sucked the life out of Earth and dragged it all up into the sky, leaving the rest of humanity to suffer in squalor and harsh conditions, while they live in the ultimate gated community.
It all boils down to affordable health care, and the goal seems to be getting access to the machines that keep the people of Elysium alive and healthy. It is rather unrealistic to extrapolate that level of care over 10 billion people, but they try to do a movie about it. It is hard not to root for the poor people, but it doesn't make for a great film, but maybe a good political statement. I enjoyed it in spite of the message, but I was a little disappointed that that was the motivation, not love.
At any rate, I would not really go to the theater to see this one, as it will be quite adequately served by a smaller screen, and there needs to be movies that you haven't seen yet when they come out on video. I would wait for Elysium to come out on video, except I already paid for a ticket. I give it 3 Shurikens for the science fiction concept development, and the pretty high quality villainy of Copley and Foster, and for decent special effects and fight scenes.
Now, Delacourt Rhodes has an agent who lives on Earth, and who she uses to do certain work that is off the books. His name is Kruger, and he is one of the more interesting characters in the movie. He is strong and ruthless, seems to have no concern for anyone, and is willing to do anything necessary to get the job done. Kruger is played by Sharlto Copley, who starred in the brilliant District 9 in 2009. Kruger is sent to rescue Carlyle, and to bring him safely to Elysium.
Alice Bragga plays Frey, who is Max's girlfriend, whom he has known all his life, as seen in the first few flashback scenes. They lost touch, but after his industrial accident, Max runs into her at the hospital, where she works as a nurse. Bragga starred with Will Smith in I Am Legend, and in the 2010 movie, Predators.
The movie is fairly exciting, with some really good action scenes and decent special effects. The acting is also pretty good, especially Sharlto Copley and Jodie Foster. Damon plays the same kind of action role as he did in the Bourne movies. The whole premise of the film is that the rich have sucked the life out of Earth and dragged it all up into the sky, leaving the rest of humanity to suffer in squalor and harsh conditions, while they live in the ultimate gated community.
It all boils down to affordable health care, and the goal seems to be getting access to the machines that keep the people of Elysium alive and healthy. It is rather unrealistic to extrapolate that level of care over 10 billion people, but they try to do a movie about it. It is hard not to root for the poor people, but it doesn't make for a great film, but maybe a good political statement. I enjoyed it in spite of the message, but I was a little disappointed that that was the motivation, not love.
At any rate, I would not really go to the theater to see this one, as it will be quite adequately served by a smaller screen, and there needs to be movies that you haven't seen yet when they come out on video. I would wait for Elysium to come out on video, except I already paid for a ticket. I give it 3 Shurikens for the science fiction concept development, and the pretty high quality villainy of Copley and Foster, and for decent special effects and fight scenes.
Monday, August 19, 2013
Kick-Ass 2
Rating: 2 Shurikens
What to say about Kick-Ass 2? Let's just say that it was nowhere near as good as Kick-Ass. I waited a long time for this sequel and I was really looking forward to it. Dave Lizewski is Kick Ass, played by Aaron Johnson. Chloe Moretz plays Hit Girl, albeit a little older and not as cute. Christopher Mintz-Plasse returns as the son of the mafia boss was killed in the first Kick Ass. He was called Red Mist, but has decided to take a new name, The Motherf****r. I can't even bring myself to spell it.
The Kick-Ass character inspires other people to become crimefighters. Most of these people are like Kick-Ass himself, in that they have no business fighting crime; they have no abilities and no superpowers. Kick-Ass and several of his inspired followers form a group led by The Patriot, who is played quite convincingly by Jim Carrey. Jim Carrey does have some experience in comic book movies having played The Mask and the Riddler.
A lot of the appeal of the original Kick-Ass was that it was one of those high school movies with lots of alcohol and sex but kick ass two goes right into the toilet for a lot of its humor. Hit Girl has a weapon that causes diarrhea, and it really takes away from the enjoyment of the movie. Not to mention that hit girl has aged quite a bit and is no longer convincingly young. She seems to be playing a character several years younger then she was in the first movie, although not that much time has passed that she would age so much. Chloe Moretz seems to have her own particular style that's herself and not really Hit Girl.
There is lots of violence and death, and the story is mildly interesting, but overall, I think I could have walked out of the theater before it was halfway over and I would have been much better off. The ending leaves it open for a sequel, which I will probably go see simply because it could be as good as kick ass one, you never know. Anyway, I give it 2 Shurikens, and recommend waiting until late after the little kids have gone to bed to watch it on a DVD. I wouldn't recommend paying extra for Blu-Ray.
What to say about Kick-Ass 2? Let's just say that it was nowhere near as good as Kick-Ass. I waited a long time for this sequel and I was really looking forward to it. Dave Lizewski is Kick Ass, played by Aaron Johnson. Chloe Moretz plays Hit Girl, albeit a little older and not as cute. Christopher Mintz-Plasse returns as the son of the mafia boss was killed in the first Kick Ass. He was called Red Mist, but has decided to take a new name, The Motherf****r. I can't even bring myself to spell it.
The Kick-Ass character inspires other people to become crimefighters. Most of these people are like Kick-Ass himself, in that they have no business fighting crime; they have no abilities and no superpowers. Kick-Ass and several of his inspired followers form a group led by The Patriot, who is played quite convincingly by Jim Carrey. Jim Carrey does have some experience in comic book movies having played The Mask and the Riddler.
A lot of the appeal of the original Kick-Ass was that it was one of those high school movies with lots of alcohol and sex but kick ass two goes right into the toilet for a lot of its humor. Hit Girl has a weapon that causes diarrhea, and it really takes away from the enjoyment of the movie. Not to mention that hit girl has aged quite a bit and is no longer convincingly young. She seems to be playing a character several years younger then she was in the first movie, although not that much time has passed that she would age so much. Chloe Moretz seems to have her own particular style that's herself and not really Hit Girl.
There is lots of violence and death, and the story is mildly interesting, but overall, I think I could have walked out of the theater before it was halfway over and I would have been much better off. The ending leaves it open for a sequel, which I will probably go see simply because it could be as good as kick ass one, you never know. Anyway, I give it 2 Shurikens, and recommend waiting until late after the little kids have gone to bed to watch it on a DVD. I wouldn't recommend paying extra for Blu-Ray.
Thursday, August 15, 2013
The Wolverine
Rating: 4.5 Shurikens
The Wolverine seems to be in the continuity of the first 3 X-Men films, with Famke Janssen reprising the role of Jean Grey, who was Marvel Girl, Phoenix and Dark Phoenix in various X-Men comic book series dating back to the early 1960's. In this movie, she is the same Jean Grey that died at the end of X-Men 3. Her interaction with Logan is a dream, and it is hard to tell whether she exists in another realm, trying to seduce Logan into joining her, or whether she is actually a dream construct of Logan's own mind. I lean towards the comic-bookish explanation that she is somehow disembodied, but not really dead. It seems that people hardly ever die in comic books.
The movie begins with Wolverine in a Japanese POW camp, very close to Nagasaki, and just as the atomic bomb is being dropped. A Japanese soldier is releasing prisoners as a couple of B-29's is flying in, seemingly for an air raid. Logan acts as if he knows it is the A-Bomb coming. I don't get how he would expect that, being locked up in a hole in the ground in Japan, and given that all of the activity surrounding atomic weapons at the time was highly classified. The Japanese Soldier frees Logan from his prison, and Logan pulls the soldier into the hole, so they can wait out the destruction. The soldier's name, we learn, is Yashida, who is played by Ken Yamamura.
Much later, we see a troubled Logan in modern times, and having dream conversations with Jean Grey. He is living in the forest in the Yukon, and drinking a lot of whiskey. When he goes to town for supplies, he is picked up by a Japanese girl named Yukio, who was sent to bring him back to Japan. Yukio is played by Rila Fukushima, a relative newcomer to the acting scene. She plays a very good action heroine, with skills as well as poise. Yukio is a mutant with precognitive abilities who was rescued as a child from orphanhood and raised as a companion for Yashida's granddaughter, Mariko, played by Tao Okamoto.
A very-much-older Yashida is dying, and has sent for Logan because, ostensibly, he wants to thank Logan, and to say goodbye. Yashida offers Logan a cure for his regenerative power that keeps him alive. We learned in X-Men Origins: Wolverine that Logan was born before the civil war, and that he has a mutant ability to regenerate damaged tissues almost instantly upon injury. This makes him really good in a fight, because if he gets cut or stabbed, he heals right up as good as new and keeps on fighting. This also keeps him young and makes him immortal in a sense. Yashida realizes that Wolverine is immortal, and offers him the gift of transferring his mutant abilities to someone else, so that he can live out a normal ordinary life and die of old age.
Yashida has grown quite rich over the years, building a huge industrial corporation. He has hired a blond woman doctor as his oncologist. There is something malevolent about her, and it turns out very soon that she is also a mutant, called the Viper. Played by Svetlana Khodchenkova, the Viper has a snakelike tongue, and can exhale poison gas and caustic venom, as well as being immune to all poisons herself. Viper is based on a villain from the comic books, with quite some artistic license invoked. Svetlana Khodchenkova is an accomplished actress, but new to American films. Ultimately, something happens to Logan, which actually causes him to lose his regenerative abilities, and which the Viper is involved in. The story unfolds with Logan being beat up and shot but unable to heal.
Yashida has a son, Shingen, played by Hiroyuki Sanada, who is the father of Mariko. Sanada played in Speed Racer, among other roles. There is some tension between Shingen and his daughter Mariko, and when Yashida dies, he leaves his estate to her, which makes Shingen really mad. This is somewhat of a subplot that develops later. Yashida, being from a well-positioned family, has a follower that watches over Mariko after his death. His name is Harida, played by Will Yun Lee, who was in the movies Elektra and the 2012 remake of Total Recall. Harida is a Samurai and a Ninja, with great bow and arrow skills. When Mariko runs from the Japanese mafia after her father's funeral, Logan goes with her to protect her, and Harida follows. We learn that there is some history between Mariko and Harida.
The movie is filled with action and lasts well over 2 full hours.The plot is very involved, with lots of twists and turns, and remains exciting from beginning to end. some of the fight scenes are filmed way up close, so that you only see a part of the movements, and this detracts from the quality of the action scenes. For example, you see the sweep kick, and the villain falls down, but you don't see anybody's legs. Otherwise, the film is engrossing and the action is pretty intense. Plus, there are lots of minions between the Yakuza, the Ninjas and Yashida's own securty guards, so the body count is pretty high. There are places where it is obvious that people are dying, but they keep it from being too gory. This is also a function of close camera views which leave parts of the action outside of the screen area.
I highly recommend this movie to everyone who likes action, even if you are not a comic book fan. Other than the closeness of the cameras to the action, the story is enjoyable, and the characters are realistic. I give it 4.5 Shurikens for action and intensity. Go see it, and soon!
Saturday, August 3, 2013
Despicable Me 2
Rating: 1 1/2 Shurikens
I enjoyed the first Despicable Me very much, and I couldn't wait to see what the sequel would be like. I am a sucker for a good cartoon movie, although theatrical animation these days is way beyond cartoons. Steve Carrell does very well as an animated character's voice, always making his voice intonations match what the character is doing. He reprises his role of Gru, the evil super-villain, who once stole the moon from the sky.
Kristen Wiig is the voice of Lucy, who works as an agent of the AVL, or Anti-Villain League. She kidnaps Gru and takes him to meet with the head of her organization, to recruit him into a mission to find the thief of a secret mutating formula. After he reluctantly agrees, he opens a cupcake shop in the mall where he meets Eduardo, who reminds him of another villain from the past, El Macho, voiced by Benjamin Bratt. Eduardo owns a Mexican restaurant.
Of course, there are the three cute girls, the oldest being Margo, who is very mature for her age, and played by the voice of Miranda Cosgrove. Agnes is the youngest, played by Elsie Fisher, and Edith is the middle one, voiced by Dana Gaier. Dr. Nefario, played by Russell Brand, is still working in Gru's underground hideout supervising the numerous little yellow Minions in the development of a line of jams and jellies. As the results are less than stellar, Dr. Nefario decides to quit and go find some more sinister villain to work for. I'm not a big fan of Russell Brand, as he plays a stupid guy really poorly, or is in movies that are all about how funny it is to be stoned or drunk.
There are a few laughs, but I will get straight to the point. I should have taken a clue from the previews, which show the Lucy character saying "lipstick taser!" and kicking up one heel. Whenever Lucy is on the screen, the whole thing becomes laborious, and the voice does not inject any emotion into the character. My impression is that Wiig is sitting a little too close to the microphone, and that she isn't really watching what is going on as she voices her part. She has been the voice of animated characters before, such as in How to Train your Dragon, and also the first Despicable Me, so she should have some experience.
The minions are also way overplayed, in situations that lack anything funny about them. The only real funny parts are right when Dr. Nefario decides to strike out on his own, and when Gru is trying to keep Margo from getting to close to Eduardo's son. The character of Edith is actually very cute, but is only in the movie for about three minutes.
I was disappointed by Despicable Me 2. I actually should have gone to see something else, but I have homework to do, as it were. My recommendation is to wait for the video comes out, and then goes on clearance sale. There are many better movies to be seen, and I give this one a rating of one and a half Shurikens, mostly on the portrayal of Gru by Steve Carrell, and a couple of laughs, but way too much stupidity to be funny.
I enjoyed the first Despicable Me very much, and I couldn't wait to see what the sequel would be like. I am a sucker for a good cartoon movie, although theatrical animation these days is way beyond cartoons. Steve Carrell does very well as an animated character's voice, always making his voice intonations match what the character is doing. He reprises his role of Gru, the evil super-villain, who once stole the moon from the sky.
Kristen Wiig is the voice of Lucy, who works as an agent of the AVL, or Anti-Villain League. She kidnaps Gru and takes him to meet with the head of her organization, to recruit him into a mission to find the thief of a secret mutating formula. After he reluctantly agrees, he opens a cupcake shop in the mall where he meets Eduardo, who reminds him of another villain from the past, El Macho, voiced by Benjamin Bratt. Eduardo owns a Mexican restaurant.
Of course, there are the three cute girls, the oldest being Margo, who is very mature for her age, and played by the voice of Miranda Cosgrove. Agnes is the youngest, played by Elsie Fisher, and Edith is the middle one, voiced by Dana Gaier. Dr. Nefario, played by Russell Brand, is still working in Gru's underground hideout supervising the numerous little yellow Minions in the development of a line of jams and jellies. As the results are less than stellar, Dr. Nefario decides to quit and go find some more sinister villain to work for. I'm not a big fan of Russell Brand, as he plays a stupid guy really poorly, or is in movies that are all about how funny it is to be stoned or drunk.
There are a few laughs, but I will get straight to the point. I should have taken a clue from the previews, which show the Lucy character saying "lipstick taser!" and kicking up one heel. Whenever Lucy is on the screen, the whole thing becomes laborious, and the voice does not inject any emotion into the character. My impression is that Wiig is sitting a little too close to the microphone, and that she isn't really watching what is going on as she voices her part. She has been the voice of animated characters before, such as in How to Train your Dragon, and also the first Despicable Me, so she should have some experience.
The minions are also way overplayed, in situations that lack anything funny about them. The only real funny parts are right when Dr. Nefario decides to strike out on his own, and when Gru is trying to keep Margo from getting to close to Eduardo's son. The character of Edith is actually very cute, but is only in the movie for about three minutes.
I was disappointed by Despicable Me 2. I actually should have gone to see something else, but I have homework to do, as it were. My recommendation is to wait for the video comes out, and then goes on clearance sale. There are many better movies to be seen, and I give this one a rating of one and a half Shurikens, mostly on the portrayal of Gru by Steve Carrell, and a couple of laughs, but way too much stupidity to be funny.
Monsters University
Rating: 4.5 Shurikens
Pixar's release for 2013 is the sequel to the 2008 Monsters, Inc. It is a story about the monsters that are hiding under the bed when the lights go out at bedtime. Pixar is genius when it comes to making movies that are entertaining and funny, and able to be enjoyed by everyone, no matter how old or young. I am a big Pixar fan, making sure to see every single movie they make in the theater at the time it is released. Toy Story and Cars are favorites of mine, and Monsters, Inc. is another.
John Goodman plays the voice of James P. Sullivan, the monster known as Sulley. Billy Crystal is the voice of Mike Wazowski, the yellow monster with a single very large eye. Monsters University is a prequel to the original Monsters, Inc. The movie takes them back to college days, after a very cute intro of a very young Mike Wazowski going on a field trip to Monsters Inc. He is inspired to become the world's greatest scarer. Then, fast forward to the first days of school, where he meets his dorm roommate, Randy. Randy is the nerdy younger Randall Boggs, Mike and Sullie's boss in Monsters, Inc., voiced by Steve Buscemi.
Mike then encounters Sullie in the first sessions of the Scare program. He studies hard, while Sulley coasts along on his natural abilities and the reputation of his father. Mike learns that he is just not that scary, in spite of the fact that he studies hard and has really good grades in the academic aspects of being a scary monster. For Sullie, everything just comes naturally. Sulley joins a top fraternity, Roar Omega Roar, but doesn't last long. He then joins the misfit fraternity Oozma Kappa, with Mike, and they compete in the intra-fraternity competition.
Other old monsters make make appearances, and a whole slew of new monsters is introduced. There are the members of Oozma Kappa: the two-headed Terry and Terri, who doesn't always agree with himself. Slug is the member who hosts the fraternity in his mom's basement. Don is the adult student who has been in sales all his life but is going back to school in late middle age.
The movie is very entertaining, as I have come to expect from Pixar. They don't seem to be able to produce crappy movies. It is great for children, and also for anyone who has ever gone to a big college, as there are things that only adults can truly appreciate.
I give this one four and a half Shurikens for many good laughs, and a seemingly effortless but highly entertaining movie, including decent plot and good character interactions which seem very natural, even though the monsters are completely imaginary.
Pixar's release for 2013 is the sequel to the 2008 Monsters, Inc. It is a story about the monsters that are hiding under the bed when the lights go out at bedtime. Pixar is genius when it comes to making movies that are entertaining and funny, and able to be enjoyed by everyone, no matter how old or young. I am a big Pixar fan, making sure to see every single movie they make in the theater at the time it is released. Toy Story and Cars are favorites of mine, and Monsters, Inc. is another.
John Goodman plays the voice of James P. Sullivan, the monster known as Sulley. Billy Crystal is the voice of Mike Wazowski, the yellow monster with a single very large eye. Monsters University is a prequel to the original Monsters, Inc. The movie takes them back to college days, after a very cute intro of a very young Mike Wazowski going on a field trip to Monsters Inc. He is inspired to become the world's greatest scarer. Then, fast forward to the first days of school, where he meets his dorm roommate, Randy. Randy is the nerdy younger Randall Boggs, Mike and Sullie's boss in Monsters, Inc., voiced by Steve Buscemi.
Mike then encounters Sullie in the first sessions of the Scare program. He studies hard, while Sulley coasts along on his natural abilities and the reputation of his father. Mike learns that he is just not that scary, in spite of the fact that he studies hard and has really good grades in the academic aspects of being a scary monster. For Sullie, everything just comes naturally. Sulley joins a top fraternity, Roar Omega Roar, but doesn't last long. He then joins the misfit fraternity Oozma Kappa, with Mike, and they compete in the intra-fraternity competition.
Other old monsters make make appearances, and a whole slew of new monsters is introduced. There are the members of Oozma Kappa: the two-headed Terry and Terri, who doesn't always agree with himself. Slug is the member who hosts the fraternity in his mom's basement. Don is the adult student who has been in sales all his life but is going back to school in late middle age.
The movie is very entertaining, as I have come to expect from Pixar. They don't seem to be able to produce crappy movies. It is great for children, and also for anyone who has ever gone to a big college, as there are things that only adults can truly appreciate.
I give this one four and a half Shurikens for many good laughs, and a seemingly effortless but highly entertaining movie, including decent plot and good character interactions which seem very natural, even though the monsters are completely imaginary.
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