Holiday Movie Reviews

Let me first apologize for my prolonged absence from the posting scene. I attribute much of this to being home for Christmas and New Years. The grand majority (nearly all) of my posts occur while I'm at work and looking to kill a few minutes. However, at home, I really only got online in the evenings when watching TV or a movie. At which point, I didn't need to kill any time and therefore, never posted. Well, to be brief, I had a wonderful Christmas and enjoyed my time with family and friends. Hopefully all of my faithful readers enjoyed the same. I know I dropped the ball on my Top 10s of 2007 (never got around to music or any other things), but I'm guessing no one lost any sleep over that. Anyway, around the Holidays, I saw three theatrical releases and figured you wanted to know what I thought about them. So in order of viewing:

I Am Legend
Starring: Will Smith....and his dog (that's pretty much it)
Plot: Smith is the last man alive after a virus turned everyone else into vampire-zombies.
My thoughts: An intense, edge of your seat movie. Despite Smith being the only character on screen for the majority of the film (there are flashbacks), you are truly enthralled and captivated. My biggest complaint is the CGI creature effects. They are fairly cheesy for a big-budget motion picture. I'm guessing too much money was spent on the sets to make New York City look completely emptied (very well done). Humorous at times, but generally intense and very much worth a viewing.
Grade: B+, 4 out of 5 stars

National Treasure: Book of Secrets
Starring: Nicholas Cage, Ed Harris, and the rest of the cast from the original
Plot: Cage goes on a treasure hunting adventure to defend his family's name after being implicated in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Ed Harris pursues.
My thoughts: An entertaining, fun movie. Don't expect a historical documentary (liberties are taken), but just sit back and enjoy. It pretty much follows the formula laid out in the first National Treasure movie. It is as an improbable a movie as you are going to find, but you will be hard pressed to find one more fun and entertaining. Biggest complaint is the Ed Harris character and his motivations...never were all that clear to me.
Grade: B+, 4 out of 5 stars

Alien vs. Predator: Requiem
Starring: uh, who cares, some guy in an Alien suit and some guy in a Predator suit
Plot: yeah, that's funny....Aliens kill humans, Predator kills humans and aliens...that's about it
My thoughts: What the original AVP should have been. It is pretty much a non-stop slugfest between the Predator and everyone else. The puny humans just are there for fodder (someone has to make new Aliens). It is unbelievably entertaining and enjoyable to watch. Don't think too hard, and enjoy your popcorn. No complaints, it served its purposes and I really liked it.
Grade: B+, 4 out of 5 stars

Yep, all three films received the same grade, but I like them for different reasons. I Am Legend was a well made unique film, that was super intense and well-acted. National Treasure 2 was just a fun ride of a movie. AVP2 was pure enterainment for a scifi geek. Who says I don't have variation in my movies?

Coming next week, my review of P.S. I Love You....yeah right.