REVIEW: Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows - Part 2

Daniel Radcliffe - Harry Potter
Rupert Grint - Ron Weasley
Emma Watson - Hermione Granger
Ralph Fiennes - Lord Voldemort
Michael Gambon - Professor Albus Dumbledore
Alan Rickman - Professor Severus Snape
Evanna Lynch - Luna Lovegood
Helena Bonham Carter - Bellatrix Lestrange
Bonnie Wright - Ginny Weasley
Maggie Smith - Professor Minerva McGonagall

This is a film I personally have been waiting to see for 4 years. I have been reading the Potter books since the first one was released in the late 90's. After I read the first book, I wondered just how the story would all end. You can perhaps say I've been waiting to see this film for almost 10 years then. After I read the "Deathly Hallows" book, I knew the final film would be HUGE. Not just in the size of the battles, but the size of the movie. The US version of the book has over 700 pages! It was necessary to split the final book into two films. While the first film I thought was a giant tease building up to this film, it set the course of what will be the final confrontation. Like most fans, I was annoyed that we had to wait this long for part 2, simply because I wanted to see "Part 2" immediately! With that, let's take a quick look back at all of the Potter films.

Most of you reading this already know the story and what is going on and what happens. Some of you only have watched the movies and don't know what will happen, so I will try not to reveal anything. From the trailers and the fact there are no more books, you know this is it. This is the final battle between Harry, Ron, Hermione and the students of Hogwarts taking on Voldemort and his Death Eaters. Many characters die in an epic final battle on the Hogwarts grounds and friendships will be put to the test.

Think of "Part 2" as a 2 hour long final confrontation, while "Part 1" was the build up. Continuing the story from "Part 1", Harry, Ron and Hermione are searching for the last remaining horcruxes so they can finally kill Voldemort. In case you don't know by now, after destroying the horcruxes that contain pieces of Voldemorts soul, Voldemort becomes mortal once all pieces are destroyed. While they are searching for the horcruxes, Voldemort and his army are planning an assault on Hogwarts. Voldemorts goal is simple, conquer the wizard world and the Muggle world. Only Harry can stop him.

Here is honestly the best way to go into this film. Think of the third Matrix movie. The plot was already there. You know the characters, the story, the mission of both sides and what needs to happen. "The Matrix" introduced us to all of the characters and an innovative and amazing plot. "Reloaded" was building up to the final confrontation and in "Revolutions", You just sat back and watched everything come together. "Deathly Hallows Part 2" was not the best plot driven Potter film. However, it is certainly the most exciting and heart racing of all of the films and it leads to what we all wanted to see for 8 films: Harry Vs. Voldemort.

The film is a marvelous visual effort. The special effects are spot on and the acting performances from all of the cast was excellent as well. The way Daniel Radcliffe acted as Harry was more special than the others. Even though he knows he is the only one that can stop Voldemort, he is still terrified of death and what he must do in order to finally defeat Voldemort. The way Daniel Radcliffe portrayed this confident, yet scared hero was amazing. Rupert Grint and Emma Watson as Ron and Hermione respectively were both excellent. I say Emma is excellent, but she could just stare at a camera for 2 hours and I would love it.

The person that I felt for the most, just like in the book, was Snape. If you read the book, you know what I'm talking about. The way his story unfolds in front of Harry's eyes was portrayed brilliantly. It even got a few of the people in the theater choked up.

Neville Longbottom was probably my favorite character as far as how his role was in the film. When he comes from nowhere and helps Ron and Hermione when they need it most, the guy sitting next to me starting chanting "MVP! MVP!". Neville kicked ass.

The Good

- YOU WILL NOT BE BORED WITH THIS FILM. Like I said before, all of "Part 1" was a build up to this and you have been waiting for years to see the final confrontation. No, the entire film is not one giant battle. You actually see plot lines unfold. You will walk away very satisfied.

- The visual effects are spectacular. They are worth at least a consideration from The Academy to nominate this film for visual effects.

- The acting was spot on and what these actors did is make you feel like their life's are in danger and bring you into their world.

- The end of this film is a very satisfying conclusion to the franchise and does the book justice.

- Bellatrix Lestrange's death. That got a HUGE applause from the audience.

- The score and background music gives you a rush. That is just me being a fan of movie scores though.

The Bad (AKA "Nitpicks")

Let me reassure you one thing: The following are really nitpicks. I loved this film. However, as a writer for this site it is my responsibility to let you guys know what flaws are in the film also.

- Like all films adapted from books and in previous Potter films, there are some minor plot changes in the movie that are different from the book.

- Voldemort, while evil as hell, has some stereotypical "movie bad guy" quotes. Like his "Only I can live forever!" line in the trailers. He also seemed a bit more... human. In the previous films he appeared in, he was this insane, psychopathic madman. In this final film, he seemed vulnerable. Although he is nervous because his horcruxes are being destroyed, he shows it just a little too much sometimes.

- I had no problem with it, but I heard people commenting on the appearance of aged Harry, Ron and Hermione at the very end at the train station. While the scene was almost identical to the book and I personally had no problem with the make up work, some audience members commented saying it wasn't realistic enough.

- The length of the film was a little shorter than what I was expecting. Give the movie just 10 more minutes and a tad bit more fighting and it would have been better. However, for what is in these 130 minutes, it is VERY satisfying. These "complaints" are really just me nitpicking.

In closing, "Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows Part 2" is the epic finale we all knew what was going to be. The film exceeds every and all expectations and concludes the Harry Potter story in a 2 hour long epic finale. Great visual effects, great acting, great film. What more can you ask for? Well worth the money. I've been a Harry Potter fan since I was 12. Now at almost 25 years old, watching this film brought me right back to my 12 year old self. A very satisfying conclusion to a part of my childhood.

OVERALL: 9/10

Written By: Hammy
Twitter: @BrainstuHammy

REVIEW: Transformers - Dark Of The Moon

Sam Witwicky: Shia LaBeouf
Carly Spencer: Rosie Huntington-Whiteley
Lt. Col. William Lennox: Josh Duhamel
Dylan Gould: Patrick Dempsey
Charlotte Mearing: Frances McDormand
Seymour Simmons: John Turturro
Dutch: Alan Tudyk
Bruce Brazos: John Malkovich
Robert Epps: Tyrese Gibson
Jerry Wang: Ken Jeong
Ron Witwicky: Kevin Dunn
Judy Witwicky: Julie White
Optimus Prime: Peter Cullen (voice)
Sentinel Prime: Leonard Nimoy (voice)
Megatron: Hugo Weaving (voice)

Transformers: Dark Of The Moon is what a Transformers movie SHOULD be, and what the first 2 films should have been. My problem with the first film, it took half the movie for the Autobots to appear. My problem with the second film, everything. Michael Bay finally listened to the fans and gave us the movie we all wanted. Let me first start out by saying if you're looking for great acting, character development, fantastic plot, etc. then don't see this movie. However, if like me you grew up with the cartoons, toys & comics and wanted to see the true essence of these characters brought to life, then this is it.

"But Hammy, Michael Bay just uses explosions and mindless CGI effects! He sucks!". Let's check Michael Bays reputation: Big explosions, CGI, great shots of hot women all with some slight character development. The majority of the audience for this film is men in their late 20's to early 30's who grew up watching the cartoons, played with the toys, love women, love seeing things blow up and understand the characters and the plot. You don't need to introduce a new plot. It's already there! Decepticons are bad and want to take over the world. Autobots are the good guys and stand for justice. All you need to do is just replace how the Decepticons are going to take over the world and the location of the final fight. Mix in some fighting, big explosions and you got yourself a movie. It isn't that complicated and it quite frankly annoys me when critics and fans shit on the movies because they expected fantastic acting and character development. The first film was a great introduction to the characters for a new audience. The second film, if not for the constant sexual/racist jokes, Sam's annoying parents and the humiliation of watching Devastator be turned into a mindless Godzilla villain with those awful wrecking balls as a scrotum, should have been a good movie. This third film took every single bad thing about the first two films (not enough robot fighting, too much sexual jokes, too much human fighting, Sam's annoying parents, those stupid racist twin bots, slowed down shots of Megan Fox running just to have shots of her running in slow motion, etc.) and corrected them.

Now, the film itself. The Ark, an Autobot ship escaped Cybertron during one of the final battles that ultimately destroyed the planet. It crash landed on our Moon in 1961, therefor fueling the space race between the USA and Russia. The Apollo 11 mission was to check out the wreck, where Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin discovered the remains of Sentinel Prime and his crew. Fast forward years later, Optimus Prime and the Autobots are now helping nations from destroying themselves and starting wars. They later encounter Shockwave on one of their missions and discover the humans haven't been fully honest with them and realize that the wrecked ship on the Moon has the power to help rebuild Cyberton. That is all I'm going to say about the plot because I don't want to spoil anything for you guys.

Let's start with the bad news about this film. First, there is not enough Shockwave and Megatron action.

The trailers have you believe that Shockwave is a big villain and he's there to lead the Decepticons. Nope. The movie doesn't even explain where Shockwave came from. He's just... there. Megatron, still damaged from the previous film, is now a huge truck.

Megatron is supposed to be fearful and the leader of the Decepticons. He just isn't in this film. It almost all of the time focuses on Sentinel Prime. While that's ok and all, I just would have liked some more action from Megatron and Shockwave. You see Shockwave in maybe 3-4 scenes tops and Megatron doesn't fight at all until the very end. Shockwave also doesn't speak that much. He say's 2-3 lines, fires his gun and growls a lot. *SPOILER ALERT!* You know that large worm looking thing that eats through the building in the trailer? That's a monster controlled by Shockwave. Only spoiler I'm giving.

Second, why does Rosie Huntington Whiteley have such a major role in this film? She shouldn't have had as much screen time as she did. Also, what is the deal with her running around in heels during the final confrontation?

She does look good though...

Now let's get to the good news. First, Sam's annoying parents have hardly any screen time! I don't know about you, but I couldn't stand those characters.

Second, TONS of robot fighting and the humans assist the robots. Unlike in the previous films where it seemed like the robots assisted the humans. All of you who complained "Not enough robot fighting! FAIL!!!" will be happy. While I'm on the subject of robot fighting, I was in awe of just how much ass Optimus Prime kicks in this movie. Oh, Optimus FINALLY has his trailer that is filled with weapons, which is awesome.

Third, Sam isn't that much of a pussy as he was in the previous films. He actually grew a pair and takes charge during his confrontations with Dylan Gould, Carly's douche of a boss.

Fourth, the space bridge. Yes, they actually call it the space bridge just like in the cartoons. What the plan is for this device I won't reveal, but it is a key point in the movie.

Finally, the movie isn't filled with hot women running in slow motion just to have hot women running in slow motion. While hot women running in slow motion Baywatch style isn't bad, for a movie about fighting robots, it's not necessary. There is one blatant shot of Rosie Huntington Whiteley in nothing but her underwear in the beginning of the film. She is a Victoria's Secret model, so really, you can't complain about that.

This film is everything you can ask for in a Transformers film. I strongly suggest you check this out. As long as you go into this film expecting a movie about fighting robots and explosions and not about deep plots and deep character development, you will be fine.

SUMMARY: Transformers: Dark Of The Moon is the Transformers movie we have wanted and have been waiting for. It took the essence of the characters and eliminated all of the flaws from the previous two films. Yes, there are lots of explosions. Yes, if you're new to the Transformers story, you probably won't understand what's going on. Yes, Michael Bay is the same old Michael Bay as far as he directs the film. However, this time, it actually works. If you go into this movie expecting brilliant acting and deep character development and plot, you will be disappointed. However, if like me you grew up watching the Transformers cartoons, played with the toys and read the comics, you will absolutely love this film. If you expect to see the Transformers cartoons brought to life the way they should have been, this is the film for you. Ignore the bad things you read about this movie. This movie kicks ass. Thank you Michael Bay for finally giving me the Transformers film I've wanted for years.

RATING: 8/10

Written By: Hammy
Twitter: @BrainstuHammy

REVIEW: Doctor Who - Good Man Goes to War

Note possible spoilers…

I’m pretty sure this episode of Doctor Who will go down as one of the best. There were so many amazing things rolled into this one hour that there is nothing to say about the episode other than epic!

We learned who River Song is…but before we get to that big moment, lets start with The Doctor and his army. We met some old enemies that became new friends and were reminded how awesome and dangerous The Doctor can be. Amy, locked away in a place called Demon’s Run with the creepy eye patch woman, about to give birth, has now had the baby.

The opening speech is both heartbreaking and uplifting as well as perfectly narrated over Rory being badass. Yes, Rory is a badass in this episode and The Last Centurion makes his greatest of appearances.

The fight wasn’t that long but there were some great twists during it. However, once again the show proves it can lull you in with a false sense of security. Narration can sometimes take away from a show but the narration in this episode proved essential and became a character of the episode itself. The poem spoken by River Song is both haunting and perfect over the actions of the characters in their scenes.

Even if there were some throwaway characters, they were used for the right reasons, and they were necessary for the moments that made the episode. I give this episode a solid 10, because I saw no flaws, nothing that took away from the episode and nothing that didn’t make this episode perfect.

I’ve known for a while now that Doctor Who hires the right people and the acting in this episode is top notch. If you don’t feel awful for Amy by the end of it, you are officially dead inside. Matt Smith has grown into his role as The Doctor and this is the episode that proves it. I know Tennant is the favorite and I loved him but Smith is my doctor and this is the episode that sealed the deal.

Moffat proves that he knows what he wants to do with the characters and shows us all that he’s had a plan all along ever since he introduced us to River Song in season 4. Because yes, this is when we learned her identity and while some may have guessed it early on it doesn’t matter, the build up and ultimate pay off of the reveal is in the acting and the moments between the characters, not the truth of who she is.

The scene is memorable because of The Doctor’s anger and his sudden and hilarious reaction when she shows him the truth. This is a mid-season finale, and it cleared up the previous cliffhanger and resolved the current predicament while still giving everyone more to chew on until the show returns.

What should also be noted is the hilarious title of the return episode and it’s perfect placement after the reveal.

Let’s Kill Hitler…I can’t stop laughing, the fall can’t come soon enough.

Written By: Ariel Schmiedhauser
Twitter: @SchmidHappens48

REVIEW: Doctor Who - The Rebel Flesh / The Almost People

Note possible spoilers…

As you’ve probably noticed I’m reviewing certain episodes of season 6 and when the second half of the season premieres I’ll review every episode. Now lets get to the review shall we?

The Rebel Flesh began as a typical monster-ish episode where we were taught that everyone deserves to live, and it picked up with a war going to ensue between doppelgangers and their human counterparts. Now while I enjoyed the Rebel Flesh for what it was, it’s the Almost People, the second part of this two parter, that will go down in history, mostly for that ending.

The Rebel Flesh begins with the Doctor, Amy, and Rory, going to an island inhabited by workers who use living flesh to create ‘gangers’ of themselves to work with the dangerous equipment. If one dies, they just create a new one. But a solar storm causes everything to go awry, as per usual on Doctor Who.

The gangers just want to live and so on and so forth, and while the episode is certainly enjoyable, I always favor the second parts of the two parters for the payoff and boy was there a payoff in The Almost People.

With the Doctor encountering his own ‘ganger,’ at the end of The Rebel Flesh, it was time for some antics with the two Doctors and to teach Amy a lesson about how the flesh is still human. With some characters deaths, and the problem solved by the end of The Almost People it was time to go back to the TARDIS. However, there was one last twist that no one saw coming.

Throughout the season Amy has been seeing a woman with an eye patch pop up every so often and no one else can see her. The Doctor reveals the shocking truth, the reason they had to come to the island, and why Amy was suddenly in labor when she didn’t look pregnant. Its this ending, an ending that would make the Lost writers cry because they couldn’t write something this awesome, that makes The Almost People a historical episode.

You react physically when you see the truth, when you watch the scene unfold and you realize all along that you’ve been fooled. Your jaw drops and you utter one gasp as The Doctor explains it. The acting on the show has always been top notch and you feel every word and its that ending that makes the wait for the next episode unbearable.

Written By: Ariel Schmiedhauser
Twitter: @SchmidHappens48

REVIEW: Doctor Who - The Impossible Astronaut / Day of the Moon - Series 6 Premiere

Note possible spoilers…

After leaving off last season, or series if you live in the U.K., The Doctor is back and better than ever. The opening is funny and a bit cute which should be a warning because what comes next is anything but cute.

The real story begins with Amy, Rory, and River Song reuniting with The Doctor in Utah. With the ominous words that he’s been running way too long, the tone shifts and there is an immediate sense of dread. That sense however disappears rather quickly, luring you back in, something the show uses masterfully, before the shock comes.

Within the first ten minutes, your jaw will drop, I don’t want to ruin it, but it’s good. There is drama that unfolds afterwards before it all disappears in one hilarious moment. Again this is something the show does very well and uses it to its advantage.

Now its time to get to the real story, 1969 America, where our trio, and River Song, will have to solve a mystery. There’s a mysterious child stuck in a space suit and something called the silence, a continuation from series 5.

Part one, The Impossible Astronaut, begins with the shocking opener and concludes in much the same way. We also learn there is a dark day approaching, one that involves River Song and The Doctor. The Impossible Astronaut is the tip of the iceberg and the conclusion in Day of the Moon is as rewarding as it should be.

Day of the Moon begins strongly and doesn’t let up throughout the entire episode. We learn Amy didn’t kill the child in the space suit, thankfully, and that they know the silence exists. The silence, by the way, is forgotten once it is no longer visible.

The conclusion on how to fight the silence is clever and traditionally Who, because the episode isn’t really about the silence, it’s about the child. Because as much as the silence will be the antagonist this season, and I’m sure they will be back, seeing the ending of Day of the Moon creates more questions and more agonizing theories.

I rate the two parter as one episode, because neither can be watched without the over and it is a solid 9. The episode is dramatic, funny, scary, and loaded with the charm that all the fans of Doctor Who have come to love, myself included.

Written By: Ariel Schmiedhauser
Twitter: @SchmidHappens48

REVIEW: Nikita (The CW)

Nikita: The Show You Should Be Watching...

Maggie Q - Nikita
Shane West - Michael
Lyndsy Fonseca - Alex
Aaron Stanford - Seymour Birkhoff
Melinda Clarke - Amanda
Xander Berkeley - Percy
Tiffany Hines - Jaden
Ashton Holmes - Thom
Rob Stewart - Roan

In retrospect, the CW may not be the network that boasts the most diverse shows, they all tend to be about spoiled rich kids “struggling” with life. However, this past tv season, the channel took what I think is a big gamble in picking up Nikita.

The show doesn’t fit the mold as in it doesn’t target the same audience that most of the shows on the CW do. And for that reason, the show thrives and makes the network more than what it has become. Nikita doesn’t even fit into the old WB days, but for the same reason that its excellent for being different, its also fitting to be on the CW.

The show is based on the movie and original series La Femme Nikita, and the premise is simple. There is a secret organization within the government called Division, Nikita escaped and is now hell bent on stopping Division.

Each episode deals with a central issue but also folds into the overlying goal, which is to destroy this organization. Nikita and new recruit/mole Alex have differing stories but with similar results. They both live to fight another day.

The storytelling is smart and every episode ties together almost perfectly. Nearly every question you find yourself asking is answered almost immediately. And while the show began as a mission of the week type situation, it quickly grew into a well thought out action series.

The turning point has to be the episode “Resistance,” which dealt with Nikita learning more about the entire operation of Division and Alex in a test of will that was both intense and disturbing. The flashbacks within this episode also revealed very important pieces to an already unraveling puzzle.

The acting on the show is top notch which is also something of a rarity in a CW show, I’m looking at you One Tree Hill. Maggie Q as Nikita and Lyndsy Fonseca as Alex are so well cast and so perfect for their roles, you’ll find yourself worrying for their characters from the Pilot. The supporting cast is also excellent, Melinda Clarke as Amanda makes anything Emma Frost ever did in the X-men comics look tame. She’s probably more of a terrifying villain than Xander Berkeley’s Percy, who is a calculating and smart villain, as only the best kinds are. Percy is a calm villain, he doesn’t scream and he rarely becomes unhinged, the same can be said for Amanda, except to a larger degree. She is always calm and she gets all the information she needs from you, whether you live through it or not.

There are multiple villains that were introduced throughout the season, such as alternate organizations to Division and a back story for Alex that leads into bigger things for her future. There are wins and there are losses and the heroes don’t always destroy the villains. Sometimes they settle for a grey area and sometimes that’s all that’s the only solution.

As stated earlier the fact that the show is such a break from the general format of the CW, barring Supernatural of course, is what makes it special. And for that very reason, being on the CW, makes me like it more. There is a certain style to it that makes Nikita, to put it bluntly, awesome.

The creators and the writing staff know what they want to do, they know where they want to take the story, and executives at the CW network should let them. It doesn’t need sappy romance, though there is some of that, and even the romance is handled smartly. Everything has a purpose, and each episode can take the viewer on a whirlwind of emotions. The endings on mid season episodes alone are shocking enough to bring you back for more. The stories are smart and the characters are smart, and overall I would rate the season an 8 out of 10. If only for the fact that CW execs, tried to input some of their usual format into the show, but it dissolved quickly and thank God it did.

Trust me on this, when season one comes out on dvd, buy it, don’t hesitate just get it. Watch this show, its well worth the time, and bring on season 2.

Written By: Ariel Schmiedhauser

REVIEW: Green Lantern - Emerald Knights (DVD)

Reviewers note: this is part two of my three part series where I review a few things Green Lantern related since the movie came out. Part one was of course the movie, and part 3 will be of a Trade Paperback of my choosing. This part will be of the recently released Green Lantern: Emerald Knights dvd…..

Nathan Fillion – Hal Jordan
Elisabeth Moss – Arisia Raab
Jason Issacs – Sinestro
Arnold Vosloo – Abin Sur
Henry Rollins – Kilowog
Roddy Piper – Bolphunga The Unrelenting

A few years ago on the eve of the release of The Dark Knight DC released an animated anthology series about Batman that was similar in format to that of the Animatrix was for the movie The Matrix. Fast forward to this year and DC has now done the same for the recently released Green Lantern movie.

The first thing I should bring up is if you saw Green Lantern: First Flight then you will recognize the animation designs because they decided to use the same style from that movie with Emerald Knights. This in no means makes this a sequel which will clear up some confusion considering this had one Lantern who was a veteran in First Flight now being a rookie in this one. I like this style and think that should another GL animated movie be made that they stick with this style because it is a slick style.

There is a story in this that links the other stories together. Former Guardian Krona has been detected leaving the anti-matter universe through the sun near Green Lantern Corps home planet Oa. It is decided that all members of the Green Lantern Corps head to that sun to await the arrival of Krona.. During this Green Lantern Hal Jordan is explaining the Corps to new recruit Arisia Raab.

The first story he tells her is about the first Lantern. Not the first one to get a ring but the first one to make constructs and really learn the full use of the Rings themselves. This was an interesting story to watch because this was one I haven’t already read in comic form but it was a great and sensible way to kick off the series of stories.

The second story Hal tells Arisia is about GLC drill instructor Kilowog. It is about his time training with the Green Lantern Corps under previous drill instructor Sgt. Deegan who is basically the GLC equivilant to Gunnary Sgt. Hartman in Full Metal Jacket. This is the first case of where I already know how this story ends because I had already read it in comics. Doesn’t mean it wasn’t good just that I knew what was coming which took away from the surprise factor. There was one bad thing about it which I will touch on when I talk about the cast.

The next story is about the character Liara. For those of you unfamiliar with the Green Lantern mythos she is basically their equivilant to the character Psylocke in X-Men even down to her uniform in comics. This is a story that wasn’t fresh in my memory so I was able to look at this in a similar way that I looked at the first of the stories told here.

After this story we are told about the story of Mogo who is a Green Lantern that is a living planet and how warrior Bolphunga, who is trying to kill the mightiest warriors in the galaxy to prove he is unbeatable, wanted to fight this Green Lantern who at the time he was unaware was an actual planet. The story mostly involves Bolphunga trying to find this lantern but it is still effective in establishing the story of Mogo.

The last story Hal tells Arisia is about his predecessor Abin Sur. Well actually Sinestro tells her the story but this is a story that I was familiar with but it was told in a different way. It is based on the story originally written by Alan Moore and then re-done during the 2000s by Geoff Johns where Abin Sur is told of a prophecy about the end of the Green Lantern Corps. In the comics it involves “The Blackest Night”(just a foreshadowing of the future in Moore’s story and a lead in to an event in Johns’ version) but this time it involves Sinestro rising with his own corps against the GLC which imo kinda foreshadows a Sinestro Corps War. This ended up being one of my favorite stories of the anthology because they took a story that was told numerous times and made it different enough where it didn’t feel like same old same old.

The segment that links this ends with the corps battling Krona and this is a nice battle to watch unfold. I won’t spoil the ending but it is a funny ending. It was a great way to tie everything together though so it works wonderfully here.

As for the voice acting Nathan Fillion(from Firefly and Castle) does a top notch job as Hal Jordan. If he weren’t already 40 he’d have been an excellent choice to play the character in the movie. Elisabeth Moss(Mad Men and Get Him to the Greek) does an equally excellent job as Arisia. Another good voice acting example here is Jason Issacs(Lucius Malfoy in the Harry Potter movies) as Sinestro is very fitting for the character and Arnold Vosloo(The Mummy 1 and 2 and GI Joe) does a decent job as Abin Sur.. On the flip side Henry Rollins(should I even say what he has done?) is not good as Kilowog. Not saying he has a bad voice for this kinda work but his voice does not fit the character of Kilowog at all. He would do a better job voicing a jarhead marine than that of Kilowog. Roddy Piper(WWF and They Live) does an okay job as Bolphunga but nothing to really shout home about.

Overall I would give it a 4 out of a 5 because it was really good but not much I didn’t already know. This is more meant for people new to Green Lantern but I still enjoyed a lot about it.

Written By: Mike Falcone
Twitter: @BrainstuFalcone

REVIEW: Green Lantern

Ryan Reynolds - Hal Jordan / Green Lantern

Blake Lively - Carol Ferris

Peter Sarsgaard - Hector Hammond

Mark Strong - Sinestro

Temuera Morrison - Abin Sur

Jon Tenney - Martin Jordan

Mike Doyle - Jack Jordan

Nick Jandl - Jim Jordan

Dylan James - Jason Jordan

Leanne Cochran - Janice Jordan

I decided over the course of the next week I would celebrate the debut of the Green Lantern movie by doing a 3 part review series. The first one will be for the movie itself, one for Emerald Knights, and one for one of the TPB's from Green Lantern. So without wasting much more time here is my interview for Green Lantern…..

This is going to be one of the most difficult reviews I will make and I knew this as soon as it was decided that I would do reviews on this site. Now that has no bearing on my thoughts on the movie but more on how the thoughts on the movie would be viewed. If I give a good review there will be people who consider me biased because I am a big fan of the character and the Green Lantern mythos. If I give an overly critical review then I am called a nitpicking fanboy who can’t realize that not everything can be exactly like it is in the comics.

It took me all day to think of if I could do a review without bias…..then I realized that every movie review has some form of bias in them some of which are more technical or personable and less about the source material. Now enough about me what did I think of this movie?

I personally liked it but I thought it could have been better.

Now time to explain that. First let me go into the bad of this movie. The writing is the biggest culprit. You could tell that there were problems with the fact that 4 people made the script. Now it wasn’t that 4 people wrote bits and pieces but more the way that one guy made a script, then they realized it was so bad that it took 3 people in different stages of development to make it not as bad. I will blame Greg Berlanti for the majority of it because he originally wrote the screenplay for it. I mean there was one scene that was so bad that I had douche chills when I was reading what it was. We have a lot of repetition of adjectives, no transition, and really it put more pressure on the actors.

The editing crew also didn’t do the movie any favors which can be a pace killer too. If not for the fact that the writing wasn’t the best this would have been more glaring.

Now with the cast I will say this Ryan Reynolds surprised me. I had my questions about if he could pull off playing Hal Jordan but while he didn’t hit a home run with the role he convinced me that he had the chops to play the character. While it feels like him being himself early on by the end of the movie he ends up being the closest to an exact duplicate of Hal Jordan you would hope to get. I went from hoping for a reboot to get a new guy in there to hoping for a sequel with a better script.

Blake Lively was kinda in the middle for me because I don’t know for sure if her acting was iffy or if it was her doing her best with what she had. There were moments where she was really good and moments where she was dull. I will just have to hope when Green Lantern 2 rolls around that we get a better script to answer this question.

Peter Sarsgaard, who is a good actor, started off with a really good embodiment of Hector Hammond. He had that creepy essence to him which felt just like the character as written by Geoff Johns in his run on Green Lantern. But then as the movie progressed he overacted and ended up getting a failing grade in my book. He was over the top and goofy. And his scream is probably the most annoying scream you will ever hear in a man.

As for the rest of the cast just as I expected Mark Strong nailed it as Sinestro. The character had a regal quality in the comics that is hard to translate to film but Strong did it and I couldn’t be happier with how he was. There was solid voice work from Michael Clarke Duncan as Kilowog and Geoffrey Rush as Tomar Re. Temuera Morrison, you might remember him as Jengo Fett in Star Wars episode 2, was also solid as Abin Sur the alien who died so Hal Jordan could get his Green Lantern ring.

As for the effects first you could tell there were people who worked on Lord of the Rings involved. There were aspects of the Green Lantern Corps’ planet Oa that made you think of LOTR. The character effects were good for some and just ok for others. The suit was well generated except for some certain spots but the constructs were amazingly done. The main villain Parallax was basically a cloudy monster but looked really cool.

With everything factored in it was a fun movie and is your typical summer popcorn flick. And while I liked it the one frustrating aspect is that the writing held it back from being DC’s Iron Man which I think this movie had potential to become. If not for the fact that there was a ton of promise in this movie the writing and editing would have been enough for me to blast this movie but there was just enough right to warrant another viewing and definitely a blu-ray buy. I just hope that Michael Goldenberg (who did minor re-writes for this movie as a favor to director Martin Campbell) gets to be the only writer and makes a script similar to that of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix(which he wrote the script for).

All in all I give it a 3 out of 5. Just enough to enjoy it but still acknowledging that there were factors holding it back from being great.

Written By: Mike Falcone
Twitter: @BrainstuFalcone

REVIEW: X-Men - First Class

James McAvoy - Charles Xavier

Michael Fassbender - Erik Lehnsherr / Magneto

Kevin Bacon - Sebastian Shaw

Rose Byrne - Moira MacTaggert

Jennifer Lawrence - Raven / Mystique

January Jones - Emma Frost

Nicholas Hoult - Hank McCoy/Beast

Álex González - Janos Quested / Riptide

Jason Flemyng - Azazel

First class is x-hilarating! What I believed was going to be a huge let down showed me that crappy trailers don't mean the movie will bomb. First class is easily the best X-men movie to date. from the get go it's obvious this is a prequel to all previous X-men movies, but little did I know they would actually connect. the opening scene is the original opening to the 1st X-men movie but extended to reveal more of a young Magneto's past.

First class serves as the jumping point for all of the X-men movies. It tells the story of how it all began and how two great friends become mortal enemies. Strange enough there are a few gaps that were created that don't match up correctly with the original trilogy.

This movie is the perfect mixture of story, character development, action, and awesome CG effects. Unfortunately, not all of the characters are widely recognized and feel more like they are filling in roles more than they are holding their own. I will admit even I didn't know who were a few of the new mutants.

I truly enjoyed this film and I believe newcomers who are not familiar with X-Men can enjoy this movie. Since it's the telling of how everything was started, anyone can easily follow the plot and can understand what is going on at all times.

I give this film a 9/10.

Written By: Stalin Lopez

REVIEW: Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

Directed By: Rob Marshall

Johnny Depp - Captain Jack Sparrow

Penélope Cruz - Angelica

Ian McShane - Blackbeard

Geoffrey Rush - Captain Hector Barbossa

Kevin McNally - Joshamee Gibbs

Sam Claflin - Philip Swift

Àstrid Bergès-Frisbey - Syrena

Greg Ellis - Lt. Cmdr. Theodore Groves

Damian O'Hare - Lieutenant Gillette

When I first saw "Curse Of The Black Pearl" in 2003 I thought this was another one of those "look at this, another gimmick movie. Even with Johnny Depp, this won't be that interesting". I was blown away by the first film. Over the next two films, "Dead Mans Chest" & "At Worlds End", I became frustrated, confused and quite frankly annoyed with Disney for taking such a simple concept and overdoing it. I mean, it's a movie about pirates! How hard can it be? Disney managed to let the movies run their course and after the conclusion of "At Worlds End", I thought the series was done. When I first heard they were making a 4th film, I thought this was gonna be the final nail in the coffin for the series. I walked into the theater not expecting much. I thought I was going to be very disappointed. I'm very happy to say that I was 100% wrong.

"On Stranger Tides" revived the magic and simplicity that the first film introduced us with. We know what the plot is. We know what the characters goals are. We know who is on what side. We also know Johnny Depp will steal the show as Jack Sparrow. Surprisingly, the real star of the show in this movie is Geoffrey Rush as Barbossa.

The film takes place just a few years after the events of "At Worlds End". Jack is still seeking his ship (at this point, he will take any ship) to find the fountain of youth. Barbossa is now a commander in the royal fleet serving the Kings crown. Mr. Gibbs, Sparrows trusted first mate, is still staying loyal to his Captain. These are the only characters from the first 3 films that are in this movie. Everyone else is new, which I think was a great decision to not include Will & Elizabeth Turner. To me, those characters died out after the end of the third film. A new cast of characters was a great way to revamp the series.

Lets get to the good news, which I'm happy to say, there is a lot of good things going on in this movie the viewer will like. Lets start with Johnny Depp as Jack Sparrow. You know him, you love him and every hacky comedian wants to do a great impression of him.

Every womans facial expression when Captain Jack first came on screen.

Next is the very lovely Penelope Cruz, who plays Angelica, a former love interest of Sparrow and the daughter of Blackbeard.

Besides her great performance as Angelica, well, just look at her. Her looks alone sold me. She didn't even have to talk & yell with that wonderful Spanish accent of hers.

Yep, I just made this creepy. Apologies.

Moving on, the movie never got boring. There was more than sufficient battles and action sequences when the heat picked up. Johnny Depp as Jack Sparrow made you laugh when there weren't guns blazing. Above all else, you knew what was going on in the film with all parties. Everyone was after one goal, unlike in "At Worlds End", where the 5 main characters were each after their own prize. This made the movie so simple to follow.

Now lets get to the bad news, which again I'm happy to say, there isn't a lot of it. I do have one complaint. You may have noticed I haven't mentioned Blackbeard at all. Let me ask you something...

Does this look intimidating to you?

That is my one and only complaint. Blackbeard is the main antagonist in the movie. He is hyped as the most dangerous pirate of all time. All other pirates tremble in fear when they hear his name. The thing is though, he wasn't that intimidating. Sure, he did the usual threats like "if I don't make it to the fountain, you won't either". He killed one or two people and his ship even has giant flamethrowers in front of it. Not to mention having zombie officers on board. You would expect all of this along with his appearance to be just a bad, tough villain. I'm sorry, but he just wasn't. He seemed, well, soft.

The film concludes with a great battle and an ending you will enjoy. Stay after the credits, as the post credits scene sets up for another sequel.

SUMMARY: Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides wipes the floor with the previous two films. Dare I say it's even almost as good as the first film, "Curse Of The Black Pearl"? I really enjoyed this movie and you will too. Ignore the critics and ignore the current 35% Rotten Tomatoes rating. Go see this film.

RATING: 8/10

Written By: Hammy
Twitter: @BrainstuHammy

REVIEW: Bridesmaids

The chick flick for men...

Kristen Wiig - Annie Walker

Maya Rudolph - Lillian Donovan

Rose Byrne - Helen Harris

Ellie Kemper - Becca

Melissa McCarthy - Megan

Wendi McLendon-Covey - Rita

Jill Clayburgh - Annie's mother

Kali Hawk - Kahlua

Chris O'Dowd - Officer Nathan Rhodes

Rebel Wilson - Brynn

Matt Lucas - Gil

If a comedy can keep me laughing consistently throughout the running time of the film, then this movie has done its job. With Bridesmaids, the new comedy starring Kristen Wiig and Directed by Paul Feig, the film goes above and beyond the call of duty to deliver tear inducing laughter.



The film rests on Kristen Wiigs performance, but the supporting cast is impressive in their talents as well. Even Rose Byrne, who’s mostly done dramatic work I.E. Sunshine and the FX series Damages, manages to deliver laughs by playing the bitch. Out of the supporting cast though it’s Melissa McCarthy who steals the show with nearly every line of dialogue she delivers.

The storyline of the movie centers on Annie’s (Wiig) best friend Lillian’s (Maya Rudolph) wedding and her responsibilities as maid of honor. The movie isn’t afraid to be low brow when it needs to be and it benefits from it. There’s a sequence involving food poisoning that is both hysterical and disgusting.

This is a movie that guys wouldn’t be ashamed to admit they like while girls will most definitely love it. If men want to take their girlfriends on a date night movie and not groan or roll their eyes at another stupid romantic comedy, this is the movie to take them to. There are a few elements of a romantic comedy but ultimately it is a hardcore consistently funny comedy.

The funniest thing about the movie is the fact that you can’t imagine everything being scripted. It doesn’t take anything away from the movie, but when watching Bridesmaids there is no way everything was written down.

SUMMARY: The movie has a very natural flow to it where you can watch it and enjoy it without feeling like it is dragging on. Bridesmaids is a movie that can be viewed multiple times and never get old. With a movie produced by Judd Apatow, what else would you think it was going to be?

Written By: Ariel Schmiedhauser

REVIEW: Thor (2)

Chris Hemsworth - Thor

Natalie Portman - Jane Foster

Tom Hiddleston - Loki

Anthony Hopkins - Odin

Stellan Skarsgård - Erik Selvig

Kat Dennings - Darcy Lewis

Clark Gregg - Agent Coulson

Colm Feore - King Laufey

Ray Stevenson - Volstagg

It’s safe to say that on May 6 the 2011 Summer movie season officially kicked off with a bang when Thor came out across the globe. This movie had some high expectations considering it was the next movie in a line of Marvel movies that link to the upcoming Avengers movie and well the last franchise that was part of this set of movies were the highly successful Iron Man movies. It also had the distinction of having no middle ground pre-hype. People thought it was either going to be amazing or it was going to be complete shit.

Fortunately for us moviegoers it was not complete shit. Actually it was pretty awesome.

Well awesome considering it was an origin movie. While not as good an origin movie as Iron Man (which featured a spectacular performance by Robert Downey Jr and had a few people put it up there with the Dark Knight), it had something that set it apart from the typical origin movie. It wasn’t showing how a man got his powers and became this spectacularly heroic being. It was more a movie about how he had those powers but was in need of a reality check. You pretty much got the action right away before is ceded to the plot until it was mixed with more action which for a story like Thor that is the perfect formula. What it also introduced was the realm of Asgard which is depicted wonderfully.

With everything established as quickly it helps out the people who have little to no patience with stuff like plot and character development(which Thor also had but a lot of people like to bitch and moan when the hero isn’t in costume fighting right away).

As for the acting, Chris Hemsworth did a decent job as the title character and Anthony Hopkins made for a great Odin. The actor I really want to spotlight is Tom Hiddleston as the role of Loki. He made Loki into the perfect storm of emotion and sneaky bastard which was spot on for the character. This movie is to him as Inglorious Basterds was to Christoph Waltz in terms of introducing most of the world to an actor. As for the rest of the cast, Natalie Portman and Stellen Skarsgard proved to be good supporting pieces to the cast and it is always great to see Kat Dennings in anything.

The Warriors Three was casted perfectly. You had Ray Stevenson as Volstagg (he is known for playing The Punisher in Punisher: War Zone), Joshua Dallas as Fandral, and Tadanobu Asano as Hogun (you might remember him as Kakihara in Ichi the Killer). Also in the movie shortly was Rene Russo as Thor’s step-mother Frigga.

There is one actor I will point out due to the controversy that his casting started. Despite what the mullet wearers on white supremacy sites will say, I think Idris Elba was perfect casting for Heimdall.

He was stoic but had a sense of all knowing which you need for the person who can see anything he wants on all the realms. I also laughed when people got pissed by the casting of a black man to play Kingpin in the Daredevil movie because in my opinion, sometimes you have to cast for acting ability over appearance. Considering Kingpins attributes, Michael Clark Duncan was perfect casting and considering Heimdalls attributes, Idris Elba was perfect casting for the role. It’s not the actor’s fault that the original artist painted the character in a wall.

There was also plenty linking this to the Avengers. Clark Gregg returns as the Shield Agent Coulson, which he played in Iron Man 1 and 2. They had a continuation of scene that was hidden at the end of Iron Man 2 which shows why it looked like a cookout around Mjolnir. There was a cameo of Jeremy Renner as Clint Barton/Hawkeye where he actually got dialogue in it. And of course there is a post-credit scene that I will not describe but comic fans will have a full out nerdgasm once they realize the object in the scene.

SUMMARY: I’d say this is a really good origin story. Not as good as Iron Man or Batman Begins, but better than most of the rest. 4 complaining fanboys out of 5.

Written By: Mike Falcone
Twitter: @BrainstuFalcone

REVIEW: Thor

Chris Hemsworth - Thor

Natalie Portman - Jane Foster

Tom Hiddleston - Loki

Anthony Hopkins - Odin

Stellan Skarsgård - Erik Selvig

Kat Dennings - Darcy Lewis

Clark Gregg - Agent Coulson

Colm Feore - King Laufey

Ray Stevenson - Volstagg

Chris Hemsworth takes on the role of Thor, the God of Thunder, and I must say he owned the character. Tom Hiddlestom also did a great job bringing the believability of Loki to the big screen. Personally, I don't know a whole lot about Thor to begin with to be perfectly honest. But I do know the basics behind it to know what to expect.

To those who are not familiar with Thor this movie does a pretty good job of telling his story. He is the son of Odin, ruler of Asgard, he is a proud, mighty warrior, and a stuck up arrogant brat. You can't help but like how much of a badass he thinks he is and watching him back it up puts to rest any doubts.

Thor is next in line to the thrown when an enemy, the Ice Giants, sneak in to the kingdom and cause a mess of things. Thor won't leave it be and attacks the Ice Giants head on. This causes the start of a new war and his father is not pleased. He is so pissed off that he casts out his own son and strips him of his power. He would regain his power only if he learns to be humble on earth.

Long story short, Loki (Thor's brother), is now king and turns things to the worst and its up to Thor to bitch slap him and straighten things out once again.

The story I'm familiar with is that they are in fact gods, but in the movie they are only an alien race from a different galaxy. Apparently, that is the original concept from the original comic. also, I understand that it's a movie and they only have so little time to try to show how Thor grows as a character, but for me i just didn't feel it realistic enough. it looked like such a short amount of time for such a huge change near the end of the film. oh and at times if you pay attention his cape looks like something you could find in party city.

SUMMARY: I'm gonna have to give it an 8/10. Badass effects, great acting in the 2 main roles, and just a plain good time. Plus it sets up the coming Captain America movie.

Written By: Stalin Lopez