Ed's Review Dot Com

Marvel Studios, Paramount Pictures, Albuquerque Studios,

Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Tom Hiddleston, Clark Gregg, Cobie Smulders, Stellan Skarsgård, Samuel L. Jackson, Gwyneth Paltrow, Paul Bettany

Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) is head of S.H.I.E.L.D. brings together a collection of the greatest Marvel superheroes, most of which have been put out to pasture due the danger they bring. There’s Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), The Incredible Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Captain America (Chris Evans), Black Widow Scarlett Johansson), for starters. Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) has been turned by evil demigod Loki (Tom Hiddleston) and his brother Thor (Chris Hemsworth) shows up to help defeat the evil Loki. Loki has stolen the device that allows him to open a portal and bring in his army of alien warriors, and only The Avengers with a little help from their friends have a chance to defeat them.

Let me first say, that I am not general a comic book hero fan in the least. But I truly think this is the best of this genre ever. It helps a lot if you have seen the previous movies, as this one ties it all together. From Thor to Hulk to Captain America, the First Avenger, to the Iron Man movies. These all tie the characters together and a pretty good at getting the facts straight, which is important to the true fans. It’s a real treat to see all these wonderful characters together. Rather than one hero which saves the world, each of these guys have to use their special talents together to survive. Plus they need a little help from the outside, and a lot of luck to get by. It could have been easy to feature the most popular and strongest heroes the most, but this film does a great job of giving every Avenger his time in the spotlight. Truly no one is really more important than the others. (That, of course, is open to a lot of debate I’m sure.) Dealing with these big ego’s gives Nick Fury fits.

One weird thing was using Robin Sherbatsky (Cobie Smulders) from How I Met Your Mother, as one of the key officers on Nick’s team. Every time I saw her, all I could think of is Robin.

But seriously, this is a great adventure movie that goes strong from the opening through the credits, and never gives you a chance to sit back and relax. At the same time it has a lot of heart, a great deal of humor, especially with the interactions of the Avengers themselves, and some epic battles, special effects, and some of the best damn explosions I have ever seen. Despite the fact that the box office is SO huge for this film, (It made back it budget in the first weekend), this is a film that you ought not miss in the theater. The shock and awe from the rest of the audience and the big screen and wonderful sound systems make it well worth the money. I saw it in 3D, and though it really didn’t add a great deal to the film itself, I’m glad I paid the extra $3.50 for 3D. It was a beautiful and breathtaking film. I loved it, and highly recommend it whether or not you’ve seen the prior films. It’s a great story within itself.

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Fox 2000 Pictures, Regency Enterprises, Bagdasarian Productions,

Justin Long, Jesse McCartney, Matthew Gray Gubler, Christina Applegate, Anna Faris, Jason Lee, Alyssa Milano, David Cross, Andy Buckley, Tucker Albrizzi

The Chipmunks and the Chipettes are on a cruise vacation when accidentally they are carried overboard and end up on a desert island. But is it really deserted? Things get really weird as the Chipmunks try their best to get along and survive being castaways.

This is the 3rd in the recent Chipmunk movies. The first one felt really nostalgic and it was fun to see the boys again. The second was a bit tedious, and this one is nearly awful. But the kids, especially really little kids are probably going to love it. But it’s not one of those films that work well with adults and kids alike, so now that it’s out on DVD you can bring this home, and let the kids go at it while you pay bills or cook dinner! It’s really a good kids film. It doesn’t have anything bad in it, and the kids will really like it. But I gave it a middle rating, but actually I’d say that’s an average of 4 or 4.5 for those under 12 and definitely about a 2 for those over 12!

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Prospect Park, Utopia Pictures,

Lucas Black, Robert Duvall, Melissa Leo, Deborah Ann Woll, Robert Bear, Brian Geraghty, Madison Burge, Jerry Ferrera, Sarah Jayne Jensen, Joseph Lyle Taylor, Josh Painting

Luke Chisholm is having a bad week. He is a debuting pro golfer, and his pushy father is his caddie. On the last hole of a championship match he should have won, he had a huge meltdown and lost his cool and got a 14 on the last hole. To make it worse, the golf channel got it all of film, and now he’s a goat everywhere he goes. Furthermore, his father just walked out on him. So driving aimlessly he sees a surprising site and didn’t notice a bull standing in the middle of the road. Before he knows it, he’s in a ditch and stuck in the tiny Texas town of Utopia for a week while his car is being repaired. But he meets Johnny Crawford (Robert Duval) a pro golfer who promises to change his life if he stays 7 days in Utopia.

It has been a long time since I’ve seen a true G rated movie. Heck, even Disney Cartoons pull at least a PG anymore. But this is really interesting film. It’s about golf, naturally, but there are a lot of good life lessons here too. This is obviously a christian movie, but without any push towards proselytizing you in the least. They let golf tell the story. Robert Duval is great. He’s patient, and completely believable as the crusty old golf pro who’s out to teach a young guy to slow down and enjoy life a little. There are a lot of lessons.

There are a lot of complaints that this is a rip-off of “Cars”. Well, it’s surprisingly how identical the story is, and the lesson is almost the same. Additionally, there is not an ending to this film. At the critical second of the final touchdown, they cut away to an advertisement to a web site. You’ll want to go to the website to see the ending, but that is a cheesy way to advertise the sequel and sell a few more books! But all in all, this is a wonderful film, and one you can catch on Cable or as a downloaded film. It’s a minuscule budget (not sure how they afforded Duval). But there’s nothing not to like about this movie. I highly recommend it for the whole family! This is a great morality story!

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Illumination Entertainment, Universal Pictures,

Zac Efron, Taylor Swift, Betty White, Ed Helms, Danny DeVito, Rob Riggle

Ted (Zac Efron) sees the girl of his dreams, red haired Audrey (Taylor Swift) who is a fan of trees. But in the town of ThneedVille, there are no plants, no flowers, no vegetables, and none of the beautiful Truffula Trees. So Audrey has painted some one her house. Infatuated with Audrey, Ted sets out to find a tree for her. He is told to visit the once-ler who lives in a tower outside town. The Once-ler tells his story about how all the trees were lost and a magical creature called The Lorax who speaks for the trees.

This digitally animated film is based on The Lorax, a book by Dr. Seuss. Naturally a lot of filler material had to be added to a small children’s book, to make it a full length film. There are 4 musical numbers which help to fill it in, and an added back story about a greedy little guy, Mr. O’Hare who took advantage of the Once-ler’s mistake to build the artificial city so that he could sell fresh air. But mostly the movie is very faithful to the book.

The Lorax is a somewhat darker story than most Dr. Seuss stories. But it’s a good thoughtful tale of waste and greed and conservation. I often wondered how far to the left the dear Doctor was, but I think he wasn’t a radical tree hugger. I think he was a reasonable thoughtful man who truly wanted to tell good stories with good values. And certainly they are entertaining. So I don’t think this is a “think green” piece. I think kids will love this story for the colors and the characters. The music is pretty good. For the older folks, the character of Grammy Norma (Betty White) is really funny. She has some of the best lines in the film. The world of Dr. Seuss is brought to the screen in beautiful 3-D.

I really enjoyed this film. It’s fun, and interesting. It’s clever and smart. It’s good for the whole family. There are a lot of critics of this film, mostly by those who haven’t seen it yet. Like many things, people jump on the bandwagon to hate it before they see it. But after seeing it (I went in thinking it was going to be a disaster) I found myself won over. It was a whole lot better than I expected, and I hope people will give it a chance.

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Studio Ghibli, Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Dentsu,

Bridgit Mendler, Will Arnett, Amy Poehler, Carol Burnett, David Henrie, Moises Arias

The Clock family, Mom, Dad, and Arrietty are tiny people, only 4 inches tall, who live in the walls of a family’s house. These “Borrowers” make expeditions into the house to get only items that are essential, never taking things that will be easily missed, or that they don’t need. But there is a young boy who is very sick has come to live in the house to rest and recover before surgery. When he spots Arrietty, things get dangerous for the little people, as they know that being seen by a human can be very bad for borrowers. This guy though is intrigued with the though of the little poeple and wants to meet and become friends with Arrietty and her family. Meanwhile, the housekeeper Hara (Carol Burnett) is also obsessed with the idea that little people may be living in the house, and set her heart on exterminating them once and for all.

This is a Japanese film, directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi, and brought to the big screen in America by the Disney folk at Buena Vista, this is a story based on the classic children’s book, “The Borrowers”. I remember not only reading this book myself, but reading it to my boys when there little, so the concept is rather interesting. But this is a real Japanese film, much like “Spirited Away” which Disney brought to the US some years ago. For fans of Japanese animation, this film is sure to please. We hit the theaters on Saturday afternoon with 4 grandchildren in tow. We took up a whole row across the front of the theater, and it was a fantastic experience. I enjoyed the film, and from the looks of the grandchildren, they enjoyed it as much as I did.

It’s colorful, and charming, and the soundtrack is really good. The characters are very well developed, and it’s an engaging story. For a cartoon feature, it’s got everything going for it. There is a separate cast for the US and the UK versions, and of course, an original Japanese cast.

Essentially, this is a really nice film for the whole family. I enjoyed it a lot, and recommend this to share with your kids. It seems to be a time when there are not a lot of kid films out there, and I’m sure this one will be enjoyed by the little ones. If you don’t get a chance to watch this in the theater, at least take a look at it once it comes out on DVD. It’s a well done little animated film.

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