Ed's Review Dot Com

1492 Pictures, CJ Entertainment, Hyde Park International,

Adam Greaves-Neal, Sara Lazzaro, Vincent Walsh, Sean Bean, Jonathan Bailey, Agni Scott

Based on the novel by Anne Rice called “Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt” this is the story of Jesus (Adam Graves-Neal) as a young boy. As the young boy is learning who he is, the family heads out after their hiatus in Egypt. King Herod, from when the child was born, is now dead, and his sons have split the kingdom of Judea into North and South portions. The son who has the southern part was still terrified of the rumors of the Messiah who is foretold, and sends the Roman Severus (Sean Bean) out to find and kill the boy. But young Jesus is determined to figure out his role and many things he still doesn’t completely understand just yet.

This is a generic religious story, as the producers and directors did definitely try to stay true to what might have happened without offending all the different flavors of Christianity of the world, but because there is very, very little information in the Bible about the childhood of Jesus, the writers (and the author) have to take a LOT of liberties and ultimately don’t claim to be telling the true facts, but more a feel for what it might have been like. As such, it is a beautiful film. There aren’t any good films about the youth of Jesus, and it’s nice to think about what it would have been like to be born this special, but as a child, not understanding all of it. I’m sure it took time to learn the whole scope of his mission. The scenery in Italy where most of the film is recorded is beautiful and suits the feeling of Israel perfectly. They purposely chose unknown people to play the holy family so that we would not be distracted by familiar faces. This was an excellent move. This is not a pushy film, not proselyting in any way, and it feels like a biography, yet it is true to the religious beliefs and sensitive to them. It’s a very good balance. This is not “The Greatest Story of All Time” nor “The Ten Commandments”. With a small budget, but a lot of love and care, they crafted a really well made movie without the need to go all out. Less is more in this case, and this is a fine film. Hint: IF you have the DVD, it might be worthwhile to listen to the commentary track after you’ve watched the film. It’s very well done.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Millennium Films, Gerard Butler Alan Siegel Entertainment, LHF Film,

Gerard Butler, Aaron Eckhart, Morgan Freeman, Alon Aboutboul, Angela Bassett, Robert Forster, Melissa Leo, Radha Mitchell, Jackie Earle Haley, Sean O’Bryan, Waleed Zuaiter

President Asher (Aaron Eckhart) is in London along with many other world leaders to attend the funeral of the British Prime Minister who mysteriously died. Suddenly a major terror attack breaks out killing many and destroying most of the cultural landmarks of London. The President has been captured and his only protection is a secret service agent Mike Banning (Gerard Butler) who was with him when he was taken. Terrorists have taken the upper hand and the forces of good have to try to foil their attempt to bring chaos to the world.

I can imagine the thrill the folks had at the close of World War II watching great films about the bravery of the soldiers, sailors, and airmen who defeated the Axis powers in this horrible war. These movies were built around the real events of the great battles of that war. Today, things are much different today. We chip away at the enemies day by day, but we don’t have the great victories to cheer like they did in the past. So today we get fictional accounts of grand events that have not really happened. We don’t have much to celebrate anymore, it seems, and our brave heroes are out there, but we are much more concerned about what’s happening with JayZ and Beyonce or Kim and Kanye, and the rest. This is a grand adventure, very graphic with lots of blood and gore, but with lots of excitement and suspense. The acting of the good and bad guys is very good, and the action is non-stop. It’s got a great soundtrack, and super explosions and special effects. This is a very good film, if you like adventure, and well worth checking out.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Stereo D, Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation,

Jeff Goldblum, Bill Pullman, Liam Hemsworth, Jessie Usher, Maika Monroe, Sela Ward, Judd Hirsch, Angelababy, Joey King, Vivica A. Fox, Brent Spiner, Charlotte Gainsbourg, William Fichtner, Deobia Oparei, Gbenga Akinnagbe, Patrick St. Esprit

Twenty years have passed since the original battle for freedom from the aliens was fought. There is a new lady president (to show it’s fiction) and the original President Whitmore is much the worse for wear, but his daughter has grown and is now an emissary to the white house. Captain Hiller is long gone, but his son, Dylan (Jesse T Usher) is a crack pilot and ready to step in to his fathers shoes to fight off the aliens once again who have come back, this time more than double the size of the last time. This time Earth has no chance, but they are going to give it their best shot. They have been improving over the last 20 years, but have they done enough?

This is a big budget blockbuster summer film that falls a little short. There is no way to match the scope of the first one, which caught us all by surprise. They did a really good job of bringing back the major characters and it’s easy to age them 20 years, since the original was released in 1996, 20 years ago! The story is done very well, and the characters are good. Furthermore, the special effects are extremely well done. The battle scenes are awesome, and I was totally entertained throughout the entire film. It’s a very well done movie, and very worthwhile to watch. So why the bad press, and the less than stellar box office? Well, there is no choice but to compare this to the experience 20 years ago of the original, and that’s a no win situation. If you were to watch these back to back now, it would become very clear how well done the new one is, and how the old one is 20 years old, but this is not a remake, it’s a sequel. A long after 20 years in the making sequel. I think they did an excellent job as well, and if this was a brand new story, It’s probably five stars, but you can’t help but compare the feeling you had coming out of the first one, completely exhausted and blown away, and the way you come out of this one thinking, “It’s not as good as the first one”. I probably is better, but can never be seen that way. It’s just a fact of human nature that the awe and wonder of the first one can’t be recreated. But I am glad to know what happened to this alien bunch and can’t help hoping they get what’s coming to them. Just don’t let the naysayers get to you, and go see it while you can.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Movie Rentals Releasing Tuesday July 12, 2016

• The Divergent Series: Allegiant
• The Dresser
• Everybody Wants Some
• Green Room [Click Here for Ed’s Review]
• Miracles From Heaven
• The Preppie Connection
• Road Games
• Stressed to Kill

Hanna-Barbera Productions, Warner Bros. Animation,

Frank Welker, Mindy Cohn, Grey Griffin, Matthew Lillard, Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Eric Singer, Tommy Thayer, Jennifer Carpenter, Garry Marshall, Penny Marshall

A horrible ghost starts haunting KISS World amusement park where the rock band KISS is set to play and have chased all the kids away . It looks like the park is going to close until the Mystery INC. gang show up to help, only to find that they’ll have to work with KISS themselves to find the cause of the haunting. That’s not a problem as the gang are major KISS fans anyway as they search to expose the cause of the haunting.

I was definitely not impressed a lot with this movie, although I have to admit I have never been a major fan of Scooby-Doo! in the first place. When my kids were small I used to watch a good many of them, but quickly found them to be all the same. Well this hour and a quarter Saturday Morning cartoon is a little longer, but follows the exact formula of everything else they have done. It’s a TV Animation direct to DVD film that was made, obviously, to make a buck or two from the Scooby and Shaggy fans out there, and it’s good for that. Also, bringing KISS into the mix means that they are able to take the same material that could be a 30 minute cartoon TV show and blow it up to 78 minutes by including many of the classic KISS songs. That is actually one of the highlights of the show as KISS still kicks butt after all these years. So fans are going to like it, but I’m not sure (unless you want to hear the KISS tunes) that the average joe like me is going to care for this very much. Just be aware when you go in that it’s not a feature film. It’s a TV Cartoon with long music breaks. If you don’t expect a lot, you won’t be disappointed.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog