Ed's Review Dot Com

Los Angeles Media Fund (LAMF), STX Entertainment, Southpaw Entertainment (I),

Gary Oldman, Asa Butterfield, Carla Gugino, Britt Robertson

Gardner Elliot (Asa Butterfield) was the first human born on Mars, and his birth and very existence has been kept secret by Nathaniel Shepherd (Gary Oldman) as the head of the corporation that put together the first manned mission to Mars. But Gardner has grown up and is mostly unaware of what life was like on Earth. He’s able to make contact with a young foster girl who is estranged from any contact with her classmates who enjoys talking to him. Tulsa (Britt Robertson) has no knowledge that the guy she is chatting online with is on Mars, and it’s a surprise when he suddenly shows up asking for her help to find his biological father. But Gardner has never experienced Earth’s gravity which puts his body in grave danger.

The previews of this film looked pretty good, and I expected to watch this movie, but it didn’, t last long in the theaters. The problem I suspect is that the story is rather shallow, and rather than a stunning science fiction film, this turned out to be a sweet adolescent coming of age – falling in love movie and is pretty good in that genre, but probably not what folks expected and that, and stiff competition blew it out of the theaters in record time. But is was a pretty good movie for what it tackled. The science is shaky, and there’s no great suspense. It is a lovely little romance though, and should have a great deal of appeal to the young ladies just like the fairy tales and romance stories from the past. Very warm and comforting, and if you don’t go into this looking for a super Sci-Fi adventure, you won’t be disappointed.

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Chernin Entertainment, Ingenious Media, TSG Entertainment,

Andy Serkis, Jason Clarke, Gary Oldman, Keri Russell, Toby Kebbell, Judy Greer, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Enrique Murciano, Kirk Acevedo, Karin Konoval

In 2011’s “Rise of the Planet of the Apes”, we learned that humans had developed a virus that could cure Alzheimer’s but it turned out that though it made the test apes amazingly smarter, it was deadly to humans. Now some years have passed and what’s left of the humans are huddled in San Francisco trying to survive. Meanwhile, Caesar (Andy Serkis) has risen to be a mighty leader of the ape colony living in the forest outside the Bay area. Ape has not seen man for a couple years and they assume the humans are gone, but when a small group turn up tension builds quickly as both sides prepare for an all out war. But Malcolm (Jason Clarke) sees intelligence in the eyes of the apes, and they need a big favor from them, so he takes a few people and set off to the ape’s home as they try to form a mutual but fragile peace. But with many people and apes who feel differently, peace is difficult and a great battle will result for the future of the planet if they can’t pull it off.

I was greatly impressed by the original Planet of the Apes series that they ran into the ground by releasing sequel after sequel, each one getting a little cheaper and cornier. The original was a stunning film for 1968. But when they decided to do a reboot with “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” in 2011 I thought to myself, “Oh, not, this is another classic film that doesn’t need to be remade!” They thought, however, that the technology was so advanced that it was time to do it. I was really impressed with the first reboot [Click Here for Ed’s Review of Rise of Planet of the Apes] I gave this film a solid 5 stars and was very impressed. This is now the second of a trilogy of Planet of the Apes films, and this one is far better than the first. I need to break out a sixth star for this one! I wish I had gotten to see this on the big screen, but seeing it on DVD was awesome. Though the scenery, filmography, and sets (including a devastated San Francisco) are spectacular, the character definition of both the Human characters and the Apes is excellently done. If it were not for the spectacular battle scenes that are amazing, just the development of the Ape culture itself would be enough to give this film 5 stars. The acting is fantastic, but the screen writing and directing is wonderful as well. Basically this is the best adventure movie I’ve seen this year bar none. I highly recommend this movie, and though there is a lot of war and fighting that might be frightening for younger children, certainly anyone over the advertised age of 13 should have no trouble with it. This is a wonderfully done film.

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Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), Columbia Pictures, Strike Entertainment,

Joel Kinnaman, Gary Oldman, Michael Keaton, Samuel L. Jackson, Abbie Cornish, Jackie Earle Haley, Michael K. Williams, Jennifer Ehle, Jay Baruchel, Aimee Garcia, Miguel Ferrer

Alex Murphy (Joel Kinnaman) is a Detroit cop in 2028 when he is critically injured in an assassination attempt. He has no way to survive, but OmniCorp, a huge corporation that is trying to convince the U.S. that their Robot law enforcement machines are the future. These machines are faster, smarted, are tied to the crime database, and can enforce the law as no human could. But the government of the U.S. to allow them on the street, even though they’ve won over most of the rest of the world. They see an opportunity to use a human mind and a robot body to meld the robot law enforcement robot with a human mind. But when they get too greedy, and when Alex finds some dirty officials high up in the program, they decide to terminate the project and are all set to turn off Robocop. With some help from his creator, he tries to save himself once again.

This is a remake of the `1987 film with Paul Verhoeven. When a remake is done, nearly 25 years after the original, there’s always a call for a comparison. I’m going to give that to you in just a moment. But first, let me talk to those who have never seen the original. This is a very exciting action movie with great CGI effects, fast paced, lots of battle scenes, and very intriguing to watch. It’s an excellent action film, and you’re probably best off watching this one.

Now, for the comparison. The original film had a really great impact on people because the techniques of the time were not as sophisticated as they are today. The battle between RoboCop and the ED-209 is one of the classic battles of all times. The impression this film left on those of us leaves us who are familiar with it with a fond memory. A new film is not going to compare well with that. But actually, if you can get past the fact that it is a new time, and take the new film on it’s own, it will give you a much more pleasant experience. The new film is snazzy with the CGI effects which takes a lot away from the human impact and influence that the original one gives us. I really love the original, and this one doesn’t nearly approach the feelings that the original gave us. But it still is a really good film. The first half, at least, explaining how and why it all happened, and looking closely to the change that it made on Alex and his family is especially interesting. But when the battle starts, it’s a huge CGI fest that is over the top that reminds me more of the Kung Fu films of the 70’s where 15 guys would take on the hero and the hero takes them all out. This is similar. They appear to be so in love the technology, that the story is hard to accept. It’s just blast and shoot and roll, with no real feeling. After while, you don’t really care, and there is no amazing battle between Alex and ED-209 like there was in the first one. If I was to take my personal choice of the two, I would prefer the first by a little, although I am really glad I watched the remake. I still have a yearning to go back and see the 1987 one again though and see if it was a good as I remember.

For those who remember the original, the line “I wouldn’t buy that for a dollar” was a pretty cheap tribute to the original, although I must admit that it made me laugh just the same. But I need to know what the heck Samuel L Jackson was doing? That made me think of The Hunger Games every time he popped up on screen.

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Studio Canal, Karla Films, Paradis Films,

Gary Oldman, Kathy Burke, Benedict Cumberbatch, David Dencik, Colin Firth, Stephen Graham, Tom Hardy, Ciarán Hinds, John Hurt, Toby Jones, Konstantin Khabensky, Svetlana Khodchenkova, Simon McBurney, Mark Strong

This story of the Cold War tells the story of George Smiley (Gary Oldman), a retired agent(due to a failed operation in Hungary), back into work to uncover a Soviet spy within MI6. Due to the failure in Hungary and what has happened since there are 4 senior agents who are suspect, and it’s tough to pin down who has sold out.

This film is a remake of a 1979 TV Miniseries starring Alec Guiness in the role played by Gary Oldman (Smiley). It was a much longer production, and this one probably suffered in the cutting room, trying to get it down to just over two hours. Even though I have not seen the original, I was really unimpressed with this film. It has its fans, that’s for sure. Some people love long slow drawn out spy melodramas, very short on any action, and very cerebral. I think if you’re like this, you’d be more satisfied with the book, however. Not only is the film very deadpan and extremely slow (Dare I say boring?), but a lot of it is left resolved, never explained, and just plain missing any info on it at all. This is one of those films where fans sit around discussing why this happened, and what that means.

For me, I was basically bored silly for two hours, and didn’t really care if they found the mole or not. After all, Reagan’s going to get them to tear down the wall, and the Soviet’s days were numbered anyway.
Not to dis a most likely fascinating book, the film was a disappointment. I didn’t really get into it, and was not happy with the ending in the least. I’d say skip it.

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DreamWorks Animation,

Jack Black, Angelina Jolie, Gary Oldman, Seth Rogen, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Jackie Chan, Dustin Hoffman, David Cross, Lucy Liu, Michelle Yeoh, Dennis Haysbert, Victor Garber, James Hong

Dragon Warrior Po (Jack Black) has learned that he was adapted. Mr. Ping, the goose (James Hong), is not his real father. A new bad guy has come to town, an evil peacock who wants to wipe out the Furious Five and take over China. But he holds the key to Po’s past and his real parents. It’s up to Po to lead the Furious Five and find his ‘inner peace’ so that he is able to defeat the enemy and save China.

I finally found the time to watch this film. I’ve been waiting anxiously since I accidentally walked in on the Red Carpet premier at Graumman’s Chinese Theater in Hollywood last spring. The characters were well developed in the first film, but I have to say that I was really disappointed in it. Perhaps it’s a case where I simply expected to much for it to deliver.

The characters are fun, and the action is furious. But we’re not really involved in any of it. Another reviewer described it as like “watching someone else play a video game”. That is right on. That’s exactly what it’s like. The film was all jokes and action, but did not pull me into it in any way. I have to admit I was bored through most of it. About half way through I realized that I had stopped paying attention and had missed a half hour of the film by daydreaming, so I waited another day and started it over again. I still was not involved in the story, and it just couldn’t keep my mind on the story.

All that being said, I didn’t hate the movie, I was just disappointed as I expected more from Dreamworks. The characters are still lovable and friendly, and there is some real humor in them. James Hong is especially funny as Mr. Ping who’s obsessed with noodles and radishes. I am sure the younger folk will no doubt love the movie, and anyone who’s a big Jack Black fan, or really into Kung Fu cartoons will as well. I liked it, but was not by any means blown away by it. Worth a watch if you’re interested

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