I, Frankenstein

(Spoiler Alert! - sorry, I had too many rants not to have a couple of spoilers in this one)

You may be wondering why I even bothered going to this. 

Right now I'm wondering the same thing.

I usually don't put much stock in what the critics say about a movie, I just go to see it myself, then make a judgment.  While I am not really a Shelly fan in general, I have seen various inventions of this tale in film version, and I was curious about this one.  As much as I hate to admit it, this time the critics were right.  Should the trailer have given me a clue?  Yeah.  But, call me a glutton for punishment, I thought it'd be fun to see a reinventing of the tale. 

Except that it wasn't a reinventing.  It was an epilogue . . . a very long epilogue . . . a very dumb epilogue.

The premise is that Frankenstein's monster is immortal and has been rescued by this group of gargoyles who are the guardians of humans against demons.  Yeah . . . fun.  I thought it might be like Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter in terms of an interesting twist.  It wasn't.  Even with Miranda Otto and Bill Nighy, it was a slow movie.  There were several times that I wondered how much longer it would be.  I also thought that if I saw another shot of the monster's boots stomping, I would leave.  There were several fun action sequences, but the ending flew by and the middle dragged - not to mention that my two favorite characters died in the middle.  The CG gargoyles were okay, but when you finally see Miranda Otto's character become a gargoyle, it was an inferior version than the rest.  Bill Nighy makes a good villain, but he could only do so much with a bad script.  Eckhart really tried to put a new spin on the monster (rechristened "Adam") but one the shift from swift, flexible killing machine in one scene to stomping brute the next was a bit crazy.

Overall, if you want to have a laugh with friends, see it in a dollar theater.  Otherwise, just don't bother.

Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruite

I am always skeptical when you follow a classic set of movies such as Patriot Games and Clear and Present Danger with sequels.  Ben Affleck's Ryan was far too different and lacked the edge and emotion that Harrison Ford put into the character.  I was worried about two things going into the movie: the first was that Chris Pine as Jack Ryan would come across as James T. Kirk in a business suit and some kick-butt moves. The second was the casting of Kiera Knightly, since most of her roles are essentially the same character and her portrayal of them is nearly always the same, just in a variety of period costumes.

All I can say is WOW!  That was a brilliant thriller!  Pine's performance was fantastic.  I never saw Kirk in his performance.  He somehow managed to take on some of the Ford-like qualities of the original Ryan character, while making it his own.  Gone was the cocky Kirk facade and a very human, Jack Ryan came through.  I was equally surprised at Knightly's performance.  She was much less her traditional character and the few times that it seemed like it might not work, Pine or Kenneth Branagh appeared to help save the day - and the scene.  I was also pleasantly surprised at Kevin Costner and the chemistry with Pine as his mentor.  When Branagh first came onto the scene as a Russian, I was rather skeptical as the performance seemed to start off a little rocky, but he ended up mastering the accent (a definite must), and in general, this was a great blockbuster with which to start the year.  I wish I had seen more about this when it was in the works, but it certainly didn't disappoint. 

I know that Chris Pine would never be chosen to be Bond, simply because he's American.  But this is certainly the next best venue for him.  I would highly recommend traveling to see this film at a decent theater!  It's worth the price of admission!

The Nut Job

First of all, you at least have to love the name: The Nut Job.  It's just fun.  And, to be honest it is a cute movie with cute characters.

That being said, probably the biggest hang-up for some people was that it was a bit reminiscent of the movie Over the Hedge.  The animals in a park are trying to steal food from humans and there are a lot of leadership issues along the way.

I will give this movie several bonus points for giving the side story of the other bank robbers a classic film feel with 1940s style clothing and mannerisms.  Additionally, the voice cast for this film is phenomenal!  Liam Neeson, Brendan Fraser, and Katherine Heigel are just three of the lead vocals for this film - and they do a great job.

I'm not sure that I would recommend traveling very far to see this movie, but I certainly would recommend seeing it at your local theater if one is available.