The Green Hornet Movie Review 6.5/10!

So, the Green Hornet. A classic old school action hero. I resist saying comic book hero, because he really isn't. He got his start as the hero of a radio serial and most people remember him because of the television show, which starred Bruce Lee as Kano. He became a comic book hero well after all of this. That being said, in today's culture he is at best a third tier hero character. He has waned in the public eye and honestly, I think most people probably don't even know who he is. I kind of wonder how many people who only nominally follow comic heroes got him mixed up the Green Lantern, or Green Arrow. My guess is quite of a few of them. That makes this movie quite a risk. Unlike a lot of franchises, this one doesn't really have a large built in fanbase. Actually, it doesn't have much of a fanbase at all.

All that aside, I really did enjoy this film. It compiled a pretty decent cast, although they are really under utilized. I get the feeling that Seth Rogen enjoys hearing the sound of his own voice. Jay Chou is no Bruce Lee, but he does well enough, and he and Rogen seem to play well off of each other. Cameron Diaz isn't much in this movie, her role could have been played by just about anybody. I am not a huge Diaz fan, but the fault is not really her rather than the fact there just really isn't anything special about that role. Generic love interest #3, come on down. Christoph Waltz is very quirky and entertaining, but with him as well, it really felt like he could do so much more.

This movie has some rough edges, and I think the biggest part of it is the lack of a likeable character. Rogen just is kind of a jerk in this movie. Even after he decides to "cleanup" he still is just a jerk. It's Rogen's normal loveable dope character, just take out the loveable part. And since he had a lot of control of this movie, he gave himself LOTS of lines. Way more than was really required. A few times during the film I found myself rolling my eyes and saying "ok lets just get on with it."

That being said, I really did enjoy this movie. Despite the douchebaggery of Rogen's character, I will really felt this hero had a little more of an everyman feel. If you take out the wealthy partying media mogul aspect. It probably has more to do with the fact the Green Hornet had no powers, and no special skills. The one downfall is that it really plays out like a fratguy version of Kickass, which is kind of unfair since the Green Hornet is an old idea, but I could see today's pop culture thinking that sort of thing. Final verdict. See it.

Tron: Legacy Movie Review 7/10!

Tron is a nerd movie. There is no question about it. It is a movie that has a cult, nerd audience. Not everyone who likes it is a hardcore nerd of course, but most of the hardcore nerds love the original. I am a hardcore nerd, and I have seen the original, but I am one of the exceptions to this rule. So, although I did enjoy this movie quite a bit, and I didn't enjoy it quite as much as a lot of the fans did. It has also been years since I have seen the movie, so I really watched this movie with a pretty clean slate, trying to be as objective as I could. Still, I thought this was a pretty quality film, and I enjoyed it quite a bit.

What this movie does well, it does really well. The grid feels dark and menacing and wondrous, like a surreal world that mimics the real world, which I suppose was the intent. The action scenes are really quite amazing in 3-D, but there are fewer of them than you might expect. The scenes with Tron and with Jeff Bridges after he stops being a hippy are both really good. Now as a comment on Jeff Bridges. In Actuality, he kind of mails this performance in. He is capable or doing a lot more, basically, this character was the Dude, but in Tron world. It was still good of course, because Jeff Bridges is just cool in general, but I really got the feeling that he wasn't really doing anything except being himself. I bet his takes were all done in one shot more or less. It kind of had that feel to it.

Bottom line, this is a pretty decent film. If you liked Tron you will like this one, but this is not the type of film that will transcend genre and be enjoyable to people who are not already a fan of the franchise or the genre.

True Grit Movie Review 9/10!

A statement I have heard several times in the last few months was "True Grit? That's a movie they shouldn't remake, people should just leave well enough alone." Well, there are two things to address here. Firstly, they are not attempting to remake the movie True Grit, rather this is another adaptation of the novel written by Arkansas Novelist Charles Portis. This happens all the time, people remake novels in a variety of different ways. Secondly, people tend to look at John Wayne with rose colored glasses. His role of Rooster Cogburn is unquestionably the defining role of his career, and the stories of how he labored during filming make it pretty legendary. But the truth his, John Wayne as a person is more iconic than John Wayne the actor was talented. He was a larger than life personality that played the kind of roles that people wanted to root for, and that the country needed. However, he was not the most gifted in terms of raw talent. Jeff Bridges is.

As for the movie, frankly, its fantastic. What I was most surprised about was how funny this movie was. You don't get this from the trailer. Jeff Bridges comic timing is dead on, and the comic dynamic between Matt Damon, Bridges, and newcomer Hailee Steinfield is absolutely fantastic. This film has a small and intimate cast, and they must have spent a lot of time together, because the chemistry between them is rare, and has a very authentic feel to it. Aside from the acting, the movie is also beautifully shot, and creates that sweeping western feel that is much needed, but not always obtained, in creating a great western. It really creates a feeling of being on the trail, and of traversing the wilderness.

As a resident of Arkansas, I am glad to point out that a large part of this movie takes place in Arkansas, and that the town of Jonesboro is mentioned. I kind of like that.

I am keeping this pretty short, because honestly, there isn't much to say. Its a fantastic film, and I don't really want to give much of it away because I want everybody to go see it. SO GO SEE IT!