CLINT HAS A BLOG

I recently had a little free time before I returned to working full time again, so I decided to check out some of the latest summer flicks. The later in the summer you get, the weaker the summer blockbuster crop is. So it wasn’t too surprising that I wasn’t blown away by 2 of the 3 films. Here are my brief thoughts on each movie:

Total Recall & Bourne Legacy

Being a male in the 18-34 target audience, it might surprise some that it was these two which didn’t impress me too much. I didn’t hate either film, but was pretty underwhelmed by them. For the most part I thought the action scenes in Total Recall were well done, but I still feel it was an unnecessary remake. If I had to choose one to watch again, I’m going with the original Schwarzenegger version. Bryan Cranston was good in his role, but his character could have been fleshed out a lot better. The love story angle of Farrell’s and Biel’s characters was pretty pointless. Overall if it had better writing, pacing and character development, it could have been a really good sci-fi action film, instead of the just ok movie that it is.

On its own, the Bourne Legacy is ok, but compared to the original trilogy it’s severely lacking. The original Bourne movie had great action scenes, specifically some great one-on-one fights. The Bourne Legacy doesn’t have any one-on-one fights and only a couple action scenes (which are mostly chase sequences). While the plot wasn’t bad, it was just kind of boring at times. I liked Jeremy Renner as Aaron Cross, and it wouldn’t upset me if they continue the series, but please bring back the action. More fights and less chase scenes please.

I’d say both are worth a rental, but don’t rush out the cinemas for them.

ParaNorman

It’s gonna upset me when that awful Adam Sandler vampire animated movie makes more money than ParaNorman. While I liked Pixar’s Brave, ParaNorman is definitely the best animated film of the year. Good story, great animation, some funny lines and sight gags, it hit the right emotional notes and overall just a fun movie. It’s a movie both kids and adults can enjoy, but I actually think adults will like it more than kids. There are some jokes here, especially one pretty bold line at the end of the movie, that will fly right over kids heads. The climax of the movie is just awesome. Not only is it my favorite animated movie of the year, overall it’s one of my favorite movies of the year so far.

Spider-Man was one of my favorite comic book characters growing up and for the most part I’ve enjoyed the movie series…well the first two movies anyway. When it was announced the franchise will be rebooted I thought it was too soon. But apparently Sony had to make another Spider Man or they would lose the rights. The original cast didn’t want to do another film, so a reboot was in order. For the most part I enjoyed The Amazing Spider-Man, but it does have some problems. It’s slightly better than the first, much better than 3, but not as good as 2.

What I liked: Andrew Garfield was better than I thought he would be at playing Peter Parker. I thought they captured Peter really well and is the highlight of the movie. Emma Stone/Gwen Stacy is a huge upgrade over Kirsten Dunst/Mary Jane Watson. No surprise that Martin Sheen was great in the role of Unce Ben. I think Sally Field was also good, even if a little underused.

What I didn’t like: Even though Garfield did a good job with the wisecracks, I still feel the film was too dark for a Spider-Man movie. There could have been more action, and the action sequences that are there aren’t pulled off as well as the original trilogy. The crane scene is stupid.

Overall The Amazing Spider-Man is just average. Garfield’s and Stone’s performances carry the movie, I hope for more and better action sequences in the sequel.

The last movie of the week was Seth MacFarlane’s Ted. Originally I planned on finishing my movie week with Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter, but unfortunately the movie times did not work out for me that day. So I called an audible and went with Ted. You probably know the Ted’s story by now, but if you don’t its about an unpopular boy who wishes his teddy bear was real. His wish comes true, Ted and John (Mark Wahlberg) become life long best friends. But there is trouble when John’s girlfriend Lori (Mila Kunis) wants John to grow up and not be with Ted so much. And of course during this time, shenanigans ensue.

The review for Ted is pretty simple, if you like Seth MacFarlane’s humor in Family Guy and his other animated shows, you will enjoy Ted. If you are not a MacFarlane fan you will think Ted is pretty stupid. I’m not as big of a Family Guy as I was during my college days, and I think South Park pretty much nailed FG’s weaknesses, but I still enjoy Family Guy from time to time. So I ended up liking Ted more than I thought I would. Not as much as the guy two rows ahead of me that was howling at every joke, but there were enough funny moments there for me to be entertained. I think Mark Wahlberg is only ok at comedic roles…well when he is actually trying to be funny, he is unintentionally hilarious in The Happening. Sam Jones (best known as Flash Gordon) was great in his brief and random role. I would have preferred if MacFarlane didn’t use his Peter Griffin voice for Ted.

Bottom line: If you like Family Guy go check out Ted, if you don’t like Family Guy skip it.