Ed's Review Dot Com

Paramount Pictures, Hasbro, Di Bonaventura Pictures

Shia LaBeouf, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Josh Duhamel, John Turturro, Tyrese Gibson, Patrick Dempsey, Kevin Dunn, Frances McDormand, John Malkovich, Peter Cullen, Frank Welker, Hugo Weaving

Director Michael Bay takes us back to 1969 and the first landing on man on the moon in the 3rd installment of the Transformers series. An event prompted NASA to investigate but shortly later the curiosity waned and the space program closed down. Flash forward to the present and we find out that the trouble between the autobots who promote piece and the decepticons who want to dominate the world, is not over. The good guys are tricked into bringing the end of world to pass. Meanwhile Sam Witwicki (no not the one eyed green guy from Monster’s Inc) has been sidelined, gone back to school after losing his hot girlfriend only to be befriended by a new English hot girlfriend. He’s not very happy being sidelined and not able to find work after college after being a hero. But he’ll be called into action again when things get really tough.

This is a much better film than the first two in my humble opinion. This one has a plot and a storyline that makes more sense, and it’s somewhat easier for a weak guy like me to follow. In the previous movies I couldn’t tell the good guys from the bad. This time I could tell who was fighting who, and for some reason it was easier for me to tell the decipticons from the autobots. Besides, Leonard Nimoy has a pretty hefty part as the autobot leader before Optimus Prime, known as Sentinel Prime. He even gets to quote some of his lines from Star Trek to the delight of the audience who I have a feeling is a lot of the same people. Yes, this film has great action and great adventure. The CGI is awesome, and the battles and creatures are awesome. It’s nearly the perfect film, but I can’t rate it perfect due to one fatal problem. Shia LeBeouf’s love interest Carly Spencer (Rosie Huntington-Whiteley) is absolutely dreadful. In the words of my daughter who saw the 12:01 AM premier showing, “Who would have ever thought the actress they hired would make us actually miss Megan Fox!”. She’s absolutely right. This new gal is terrible. She’s a bit of a looker, although seeing those HUGE lips on a big screen is downright scary. (Why do actresses pump up their lips in some kind of Angelina Jolie envy? It’s horrible looking). Her part is crucial all through the film, and she just didn’t carry it. Granted, Megan Fox was about the worst part of the first two as well, but at least she had the decency to try to stand off to the side and look delightful. This girl tries to be a warrior and just doesn’t pull it off. Poor Sam has bad luck in the girlfriend department and needs to try a little harder in Transformers 4.

Otherwise, the action is fantastic, sound is fantastic, and special effects are fantastic, so it’s a must see for the summer. Along with the last Harry Potter and the latest Pirates of the Caribbean, this is definitely one of the 3 or 4 must see films of this summer! Enjoy!

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Heyday Films, Moving Picture Company (MPC), Warner Bros. Pictures

Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Ralph Fiennes, Alan Rickman, Helena Bonham Carter, Tom Felton, Michael Gambon, John Hurt, Robbie Coltrane

All good things must come to an end. When we left Harry and Ron and Hermione in Part One, Valdemort had just stolen the elder wand giving him supreme power which is not good for the good guys. The three friends have been tracking down and destroying the horcruxes one by one, each one weakening Valdemort a little more. So now that he’s at his weakest is the time for Harry to try one last time to destroy him. But there is so much we still don’t know. Professor Snape finally shows his true colors and his memories fill us in on the story of what happened prior and on the night of the Potter family’s demise and the thing that started Harry on his quest. It an awesome battle and one that might destroy everything we know, including the beloved Hogwarts School we’ve all come to know and love over the years. Face to face Harry and Valdemort battle to the bitter end, but we know Hermione and Ron and a few surprising other heroes will come through with the help he needs in the end.

This was a nearly perfect ending to the story we’ve all been following for the last decade or more. There is enough warmth, mystery, suspense, treachery, and down right good fun that makes this a fitting end to the story. I chose to pay the price of 3 movies and watch this one in IMAX 3-D and it was well worth it. The two hours and ten minutes flew by, and the wrap up at the end of the story is very satisfying to see what happens to those that survive the final battle. What awesome special effects and CGI characters. They are all believable and have been so much fun over the years.

MINOR SPOILER BELOW:

If this movie suffers from any minor weakness, this must be it. I once played a video game for weeks called Diablo. We were chasing the very devil himself in Diablo and it got harder and harder until it was nearly impossible. Finally you walk around a corner, and there he is!! The final battle! Diablo was much weaker than the regular monsters three levels above him, and you’re left with a…..”Is that all there is?” finish? It was a bit of a disappointment preparing for armeggedon and getting a wimpy Satan who is killed without much effort. Well, Valdemort really goes down pretty damn easy too. But the difference here is that all that the good guys did before to weaken him and take away his advantages made him pretty lame in the very end, but he got what he deserved.

END SPOILER

By now we all know the characters and the actors who portrayed them, so there is no need to go into great length about how they performed their roles. Professor Minerva McGonagall comes through, as does some of the others, in a big way. Hagrid is here, he survived till the last battle, and even Neville Longbottom manages to help out after all when he’s needed. No more need be said about the dastardly Snape who, as I said, showed his true colors and made his position perfectly clear. All in all it was a great ride. The sound was awsome, the picture crystal clear on the IMAX screen, and the whole adventure superb. The only down side was that 3/4 of the way through the previews, a family with a bunch of little children came in and sat right behind us. The kids rattled bags and packages, kicked the seat, and talked and talked throughout the whole film. It’s annoying when people do that. It’s way over the heads of a 4 or 6 year old, and they get bored in a 2 hour movie marathon. I would have gladly coughed up the price of a babysitter to have some peace and quiet in the theater for a movie of this magnitude. I am becoming a fan of the idea of over 21 theaters where children and teens are not permitted. It sounds like a better idea every time this kind of thing happens.

Enjoy the end of Potter, and hopefully with the great quality of sound and picture, you won’t have some little kids detract from the experience.

Here is the link to my review for Part 1.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Movie Rentals Releasing Tuesday July 19, 2011

• Limitless [Click HERE for Eds Review]
• Take Me Home Tonight
• Potiche (French)
• Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules (Netflix)
• Cedar Rapids (Netflix)

Blind Wink Productions, GK Films, Nickelodeon Movies

Johnny Depp, Isla Fisher, Abigail Breslin, Ned Beatty, Alfred Molina, Bill Nighy, Stephen Root, Harry Dean Stanton, Timothy Olyphant, Ray Winstone

Rango (Johnny Depp) is a Chameleon who, being able to shift to his surroundings, naturally wants to be an actor. He performs his plays in the terrarium in which he lives along with such friends as a wind up fish and half a kids doll. Needless to say because these are lifeless objects, they do not perform up to the standards of Rango. But a sudden accident finds Rango stranded all alone out on the highway in the middle of the Mojave Desert until he meets Beans (Isla Fisher). Walking to find water brings him to the town of Dirt, a failing town full of reptiles and the like with no water. One by one the residents are giving up, selling off their land and moving out of Dirt. Rango finds many opportunities to carry on his craft of acting, and becomes the Mayor and sets out to save Dirt. But there are some really evil outlaws waiting to see that Rango doesn’t make it through the day.

This is a successful animated film. Rango is such a lovable character, that we feel for him as he lies and bluffs his way into the minds and hearts of the people of Dirt, making them believe that he alone can find water and save the town. But he’s bit off a bit more than he can chew, and it looks like curtains for poor Rango and the end of Dirt. Rango works because the story is so clever and the character is very fun to watch. We know Rango’s a buffoon and has no idea what he’s doing, but he’s so intent on helping the town and the people he has come to care very much for that he wants to do it so bad. This film is as good as any live action western, and has a lot of good values and reasons to keep you interested in what happens. I was expecting to be disappointed, but I wasn’t. Try as I might, I couldn’t look away and the movie pulled me in right away and kept me riveted throughout the film to the closing credits. Nickelodeon has done a fine job with this film, and should be commended. I recommend Rango for adults and children alike, as it’s a good story, sure to keep everyone’s interest.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Columbia Pictures, Happy Madison Productions

Adam Sandler, Jennifer Aniston, Nicole Kidman, Nick Swardson, Brooklyn Decker, Bailee Madison, Griffin Gluck, Dave Matthews, Kevin Nealon, Rachel Dratch, Minka Kelly, Heidi Montag

Danny Maccabee (Adam Sandler) is a plastic surgeon who had one really bad experience getting dumped just before his wedding. At first he kept the wedding ring because his heart was broken, but shortly he learned that an easy way to pick up beautiful young girls is to complain about how his wife beats him and abuses him. But when he meets one girl who really may be the one, his lies start to grow. Not wanting to admit the real reason for the ring, he recruits his office assistant, Katherine (Jennifer Anniston) to pretend to be his estranged wife along with her two kids. On a trip to Hawaii, they all go along, and the lies pile up until no one can keep anything straight. It’s one catastrophe after another.

This was a very well done film, and not bad at all. Sandler is funny, and the kids are perfect as the scheming little rascals that he deserves. The scenery in Hawaii is fabulous. I want to go there! Jennifer is really cute in this film, and it’s no wonder she caught Danny’s eye. Why he would want to pass up on that for a kid in a bikini is beyond me. There are a lot of other strange folks who get into the act as well, as everyone plays Danny for something in this film! Seriously funny and well worth watching. It’s got laughs throughout and Sandler plays a relatively normal guy in this film, not one of the crazy characters like Little Nicky, Waterboy, or Billy Madison. He lets some of the other guys take the crazy parts and plays it fairly straight here. But of course he throws out a few zingers, as you would expect, and is really a nice guy in this movie. I enjoyed it and recommend this for someone in the mood for a decent romantic comedy.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog