10) 'Green Lantern'
Rating: 4/10
The first bad movie I've seen all year was a real disappointment for a lot of DC fans and, whether they liked the movie or not, they know the kind of devastation it caused to the character's movie-universe in the future. Ryan Reynold, Blake Lively and Mark Strong were all good in their respective roles but they just weren't given enough to do and they were so underdeveloped that you just couldn't help but ask yourself: Why do I care? I know I sure didn't care. The action sequences weren't much better either (including a completely out-of-nowhere scene where the hero just crashes threw the wall and fights the bad guy without any explanation
AT ALL) and the film is all-around completely forgettable. 'Green Lantern' makes the 'Fantastic Four' movies look like 'First Class'. Terrible movie.
9) 'Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides'
Rating: 6.5/10
While it's not up there with the first film's level of fun and adventure, 'On Stranger Tides' works well at returning the franchise to it's swashbuckling ways. Add to that some very fine performances by newcomers to the series Ian McShane (Blackbeard) and Penelope Cruz (Angelica) and you've got a nice matinee-sized adventure to thrill the family.
8) 'Unknown'
Rating: 7/10
This is a solid little "one idea, one concept" action thriller with Liam Neeson giving his usual strong performance as a man who has lost his memories in a car chase and wakes up to find his wife with another man. While all of the performances are solid and some of the action scenes are really tense, the film disappoints in a variety of areas because it doesn't find the strength to develop the story enough. Nevertheless, the film is still extraordinarily satisfying (especially for such a early release in the year).
7) 'Super 8'
Rating: 8/10
While I was expecting a lot more out of this film, I still walked away from it satisfied. It didn't "WOW!" me, but it did it's duty in providing a summer blockbuster that's a real adventure. I really liked all of the stuff with the kids, although sometimes they seemed to be trying a little too hard to be funny, and the stuff with
the alien attacking was terrifying... until the ending.
The alien needed a little more development as a "character" instead of just being the force to be reckoned with. Anyhow, besides some minor quibbles, this is still a movie that's worth seeing either during a local matinee screening or a full-price with friends. I do recommend seeing it in theaters though because I didn't find that it'll hold up on DVD/Blu-Ray.
6) 'Thor'
Rating: 8/10
This was just as good as I had hoped it would be. 'Thor' is strongly entertaining from start-to-finish and a major improvement over Marvel's last effort, 'Iron Man 2'. Probably the best thing about this movie are the performances, especially from Chris Hemsworth (Thor) and Tom Hiddleston (Loki), which elevates the material. The direction in this film, of course, also helps quite a bit in elevating the material past the camp-value that it could have had; my hat goes off to Kenneth Branagh who allows there too be enough time spent on both Earth and Asgard. While I do have some problems with the film, the pacing and runtime of the film, the problems are overshadowed by all that is good with the film.
5) 'Fast Five'
Rating: 8.5/10
What a surprising installment in this seemingly never-ending franchise. 'Fast Five' works on so many levels in being an all-out action flick. Ironically, the only detractor is the fact that they didn't include a street race taken place in the mid-section of the film, which feels oddly cut-out for running time purposes, and it's amazing array of cliches. Still, while the film suffers from many cliches, it sometimes uses those cliches to surprise the audience; for example, one character on the team is promoted as being a traitor but something happens to him that audiences may not expect. 'Fast Five' is a record-breaker and a refreshing kick-start to this dying franchise.
4) 'American: The Bill Hicks Story'
Rating: 9.5/10
Being a fan of Bill Hicks and his comedy, you know I had to see this one... and I finally did. This is one of the greatest documentaries I have ever seen. The way in which they decided to tell this story is perfect because Bill's life was the perfect story to be told, which is deeply inspiring and utterly brilliant. If anything, the only complaint I had with it was that it made me want to watch his stand-up right afterwards because of all the little snippets they throw in there and I sometimes had no idea who was speaking (I got lost when it was between Bill and his two friends at the ranch). But, besides that, this is an easy recommendation even if you don't even know the guy. He was a brilliant man who will continue to inspire the world in which we live.
3) 'Source Code'
Rating: 9.5/10
I wasn't a fan of 'Moon' like most people are. I find that it's a "one watch" experience with virtually no replay-value because all of the mystery has been solved for us by the ending. Still, it was a strong directorial debut from Duncan Jones and his sophomore effort is certainly no sophomore slump. 'Source Code' is a great film which is almost flawless, except for the fact hat it's too darned short. Clocking in at a little over 90 minutes, I was somewhat disappointed to see that we couldn't spend more time with Gyllenhaal and the others aboard the train; there's a point where it was obviously cut-down as we just get to see FX-shots of the train exploding and the passengers inside. However, this is still just a minor detractor in an otherwise excellent sci-fi thrill-ride.
2) 'Limitless'
Rating: 10/10
Easily one of my favorite films of the year. This is a film that I found to be utterly flawless and absolutely enjoyable. Bradley Cooper is amazing as Eddie Morra who takes the NZT pill and finds that his mind is limitless to ideas and the escapism of certain scenarios. This film is phenomenal and works in the style of 'Fight Club', but also works as an origin story of a man who can either become a hero or a villain in his near-future. What would you do?
1) 'X-Men: First Class'
Rating: 10/10
I had a nice feeling about this movie
before all of the buzz begun piling up and, even with all of the outstanding praise, I loved it. I don't remember the last time I've been so satisfied by a comic-book movie; yes, 'Dark Knight' didn't do it for me. Unlike other comic-book films, here's a film that's able to focus on multiple characters and villains and make them all work in the film's duration. The performances are outstanding, some being worthy of an Oscar-nomination or two, and the direction is first-rate. Bryan Singer proves, once again, that he was rightfully chosen to kick-start the series and lays trust in director Matthew Vaughn to reinvent the series once more. This is easily the best comic-book film I've ever seen and one of the best films of the year, period. Perfection.
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