Star Trek: Into Darkness Review by My name is Joe...

...and I have been waiting a long time to enjoy a sequel more than I enjoyed its predecessor.

Do you remember that feeling you had when you coughed up the $13 for the Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen movie? Remember how amped up you were thinking how this movie was going to wipe the original away? Do you still get the twitch in your eye and the pain in your gut when it shows up on cable? The disappointment of transformers still haunts me to this day. I have to admit; I too had quite a bit of apprehension when I walked into the movie theatre ready to enjoy 2+ hours of J.J. Abrams brain child. Within the first ten minutes of the feature film all of my worries were put to rest.

The relationship between Zachary Quinto and Chris Pine as Kirk and Spock was both entertaining and meaningful. I loved how each played their perspective rolls with a hint of homage to the original characters, but also adding their own flare and style to the iconic personalities. At no point was I ever tired of just watching them be Captain Kirk and Commander Spock. From that anchor the cast as a whole branched out and easily swallows you up in the midst of their story.

However great the acting of Zoe Saldana, Simon Pegg, and John Cho was, they were completely eclipsed by Benedict Cumberbatch performance. He is both dramatic and intense, and he khan act the hell out any roll he’s in.

Finally, the last bit I enjoyed about this movie comes from J.J. himself. I love how he is inserting the humanity into an old and honored story. I have grown up watching Star Trek: TNG, Deep Space Nine, Voyager and Enterprise, and with the exception of Enterprise, they all leave out a believable vision of the human condition. In this new reality we get a glimpse of what it would be like to actually be a group of people tasked with exploring dangerous space and making difficult yet necessary risks to protect the ones they love. I see shadows of it in First Contact and Deep Space Nine: Tears of Angels, but I have never have seen it done so well and completely like Mr. Abrams has.

Green Lantern Review by My name is Joe...

...and one does not simply make a movie about the Green Lantern.

This is a hard movie to review for several reasons. First, it’s a classic hero movie, meaning we have seen this same type of plot, punch lines, villains and saved-at-the-last-second scenarios a hundred times. Also, this particular hero already has a long standing mythos and world vision that, regardless of what the movie is, like will undoubtedly step on the toes of its devoted fans. Finally, the hardest reason this will be a difficult movie to review is because of the high expectations one has before they even turn the blu-ray player on.

To begin you must first turn your expectation nob way down, once you have done that the movie is quite enjoyable. The story centers around Ryan Reynolds, I’m sorry I mean Hal Jordan played by Ryan Reynolds, and his childhood sweet heart turned boss Coral Ferris, played by Blake Blabahblah. If you are a fan of Ryan and his type of witty rhetoric then you will hands down love this movie, no questions asked. If you are one of those dedicated Green Lantern fans I mentioned above, then you should take the DVD in your hands and snap it in half right now. 

However, if you are someone who can for 114 minutes shut your brain off and enjoy a quick hero bash then you will kinda like this movie. It’s fast paced, humorous and full of world devouring goodness. The main character has just enough daddy issues to keep you interested in his back story and the damsel in distress seems to always be in distress. The bad guys are gross, cranially distorted lunatics with daddy issues of their own; and to top it off you get, not one, but two evil villains in this movie.

The director seems to sacrifices cohesive plot and character development for fantastic CGI and Blake Blahbablah. I hate being negative and I really did enjoy watching this movie. I cannot imagine the difficultly the production team had when they took on the task (post Christopher Nolan’s Batman) of bringing to life such an iconic super hero. 

The real shining moment in the movie is in the rendering of the Green Lantern universe. When you are brought to the realm of the Green Lantern core you see where the real care and details were spent. The actors of the other Green Lanterns are so well played you are left wishing the movie had been about them instead of Ryan Reynolds (I mean Hal Jordan, that is his name right?). So if you want to see a movie featuring the color green and big gobs of powerful bling then this movie for you.

John Carter of Mars Review by My name is Joe...

...and I love movies!

Dork Note: The Dork Review is introducing a new segment to review movies - so everyone say hi to Joe!
 
My name is Joe: I love movies, I know that many reviewers say that, but I honestly love all movies. Good movies, B-rated movies, I even like horrible movies; movies with great plots (Life of Pi) and movies with absolutely horrendous plots (Last Air Bender… threw up in my mouth a little). There is something about surrendering your imagination for several hours and allowing a team of directors, producers, animators, and key grips to take you to places that you yourself could not think of on your best day dream. I know this sounds like an excerpt from the Reading Rainbow, but it’s true. However, this is the problem I have with regular reviewers; they seem to have forgotten the simplicity of the movie experience. It doesn’t matter if a movie is believable or realistic, it’s a movie; I don’t care how the hero can pull out a rocket launcher from his back pocket, it’s awesome. I am blown away by the imagination of anyone that can put together a script, a group of actors, and some plot points and make a movie.

John Carter was one of those movies I was proud of supporting. Don’t focus on the fact that it takes place on Mars, or that fact that the whole plot of the movie is based on the fact that one does not simply fax himself across huge swathes space quicker than you can send and receive a text. I love the beauty and the audacity of what the movie is trying to do. 

The book, Princess of Mars, in which this movie is based on, was original in what Edgar Rice Burrows was trying to imagine for a different culture and a different time. Now fast forward hundreds of scfi movies (War of the Worlds, Star Wars, Starship Troopers, etc.) and you can get the impression that this genre is somewhat played out. I have to disagree.

Maybe I’m a hopeless romantic, or maybe I have a soft spot for a good guy gets the girl type movie but the way John Carter goes about it seems fresh, new, and entertaining.

The movie starts out with a young Edgar Burrows getting a summons from his rich, eccentric uncle John Carter. By the time young Edgar arrives, John Carter dies from a mystery illness and is quickly entombed. Not only does Edgar inherit all of his uncles wealth he also inherits a mysterious journal chronicling his uncles exploits around the world and the solar system. 

From this point we are taken on a journey that his both hard to believe and hard to not be entertained by. I won’t give you a point by point blow of the movie or even give away any spoilers. I will merely say that this movie is about redemption and renewal. 

John Carter lost everything, and if you have ever been in that same position you too would wish for an escape from your surroundings. The greatest point about this movie is that John felt more like an alien on earth than he ever does on Mars. Sure the story is a mix of Aladdin and Dances with Wolves but I’m not sure that’s a bad thing.

So please rent this movie and sit back and enjoy a story where the good guy gets the princess…on Mars.