The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Connor's Movie Review

Movie Title:    The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Released:   December 2012

Movie Rating:  PG-13

Star Rating: ««««     

Movie Summary:

“The Hobbit” takes place in Middle-Earth, before the events of “The Lord of the Rings” (LOTR) Trilogy.  The movie tells the story of how homebody hobbit Bilbo Baggins is unexpectedly recruited by a band of warrior dwarves to reclaim their home that was taken by the dragon Smaug.  Bilbo reluctantly agrees.  Led by the wise wizard Gandalf, he and the dwarves set off on an adventure to the Lonely Mountain, where the lair of the great dragon lies.  The company faces many enemies and dangers along the way.  Bilbo discovers and “claims” a simple, gold ring during the journey, but the hobbit is unaware that this ring is forever tied to the fate of Middle-Earth.

“The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” is a satisfying prequel and fantasy film, with a surprising amount of humor, as well as fascinating visual effects and epic action sequences.  The film offers much for LOTR fans, but moviegoers will have to wait for the next 2 installments that conclude director Peter Jackson’s prequel trilogy of “The Hobbit”.                                                        

                    

“You shall not pass”….this awesome movie!

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The Movie Critic, Connor

Rise of the Guardians

Connor's Movie Review

Movie Title:    Rise of the Guardians

Released:   November 2012

Movie Rating:  PG

Star Rating: ««« «

Movie Summary:

“Rise of the Guardians” tells the story of how the Guardians (Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, and Sandman) dedicate their lives to protect the children of the world who believe in them.  When Pitch, a.k.a the Boogeyman, attempts to spread fear throughout the world, the Guardians recruit a new hero to join their side: the mischievous Jack Frost.  Jack is trying to piece together his “identity” from before he received his frosty powers.  Together, the Guardians set out to stop Pitch and destroy fear once and for all. 

“Rise of the Guardians” is a smart and exciting animated film with some impressive action sequences, amazing animation, and a strong heart.  The movie also has some good performances, particularly Chris Pine as Jack Frost.  Equally impressive is that this animated movie has no rude humor!  Amazing!  

                 

Rise and dash away to catch this awesome movie!

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The Movie Critic, Connor

Skyfall

Connor's Movie Review

Movie Title:    Skyfall   

Released:   November 2012
Movie Rating:  PG-13

Star Rating: ««««

Movie Summary:

James Bond is back! Agent 007 “retired” after a fateful mission goes wrong, but now he is called back into service to finish the mission.  British intelligence agency MI6 has come under attack by a cyberterrorism organization, led by criminal mastermind Raoul Silva.  Silva, bent on revenge, plans to wipe out MI6 and its leader, M.  Bond sets out to stop him and protect MI6 at all costs.  He soon realizes that this mission is far more personal and dangerous than he had ever expected.

“Skyfall” is undoubtedly the best Bond film I’ve seen.  Packed with surprising emotion, as well as exciting action sequences and great performances, this “Bond” film delivers.

 

The Sky will fall if you don’t see this movie!  

 

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The Movie Critic, Connor

 

Wreck-It-Ralph

Connor's Movie Review

Movie Title:    Wreck-It-Ralph

Released:   November 2012

Movie Rating:  PG

Star Rating: ««« 1/2     

Movie Summary:

Setting in an arcade called Lutwik’s, video game characters perform their daily “jobs” whenever a child puts a coin in the slot of their game.  Wreck-It-Ralph lives in an arcade game called “Fix-it-Felix Jr.”.  His job, as the villain, is to wreck a high-rise apartment home inhabited by people known as Nicelanders.  However, he is always stopped by the hero of the game, Fix-It-Felix, who always manages to save the day with his magic golden hammer.  Ralph, tired of his villainous “occupation”, longs for another purpose in his life, and he soon discovers a chance to become an instant hero.  He sets off on an epic, game-trotting quest for redemption.  However, his clumsy actions accidentally unleash a deadly virus that threatens not only the game in which Ralph resides, but the entire arcade.  Ralph must do everything he can to stop the virus before it spells “game over” for the arcade forever.     

“Wreck-It-Ralph” is a clever, vibrant and occasionally funny animated film, with some exciting action sequences and hilarious “gamers only” puns.  The movie is very promising, but unfortunately, rude humor (which sadly is present in most movies today) wears it down.  The CGI/hand-drawn animated short preceding the film, “Paperman”, is one of the best short films I’ve ever seen.    

      

Game on and head to the theater to see “Wreck-It-Ralph”!

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The Movie Critic, Connor

Hotel Transylvania

Connor's Movie Review

Movie Title:    Hotel Transylvania

Released:   September 2012

Movie Rating:  PG          

Star Rating: «««

Movie Summary:

Life sure is hard….when you’re a monster.  In this movie, we are introduced to Count Dracula, an immortal vampire who does everything he can to protect and shield his daughter Mavis from the human world.  The Count comes up with an idea: why not build a place for all monsters to relax while staying away from the humans?  So he decides to build a grand hotel known as Hotel Transylvania.  Living there with her dad, Mavis begins to yearn for adventure and longs to explore the human world, but her father refuses to let her.  On Mavis’ 118^th birthday party, an unexpected visitor arrives at the hotel~~ a human (gasp!) by the name of Jonathan.  He soon takes a liking to Dracula’s daughter, and then things start to get a little monstrous.      

 “Hotel Transylvania” has its share of funny and touching moments, including clever monster jokes and some hilarious moments poking fun at contact lenses, Twilight, and the Invisible Man.  However, the load of rude humor that accompanies the film could have been toned down a lot.                                                                                 

“Check In” to “Check Out” this movie---it’s a ««« Hotel!

 

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The Movie Critic, Connor

The Bourne Legacy

Connor's Movie Review

Movie Title:    The Bourne Legacy

Released:   August 2012

Movie Rating:  PG-13

Star Rating: ««««   

Movie Summary:

According to the title, an avid movie watcher might assume that “The Bourne Legacy” is a sequel to the famous Bourne series, but it’s not.  In fact, the original actor, Matt Damon, who played Jason Bourne, isn’t in this release! 

In “The Bourne Legacy”, we are introduced to a new agent, Aaron Cross.  He is a spy of Outcome, a top-secret government intelligence agency, similar to the Treadstone organization of the previous films.  In Outcome, agents are trained and given increases of intelligence, strength and stamina, with the help of special enhancement pills.  When Eric Byer, one of the leaders of Outcome, is forced to shut down the program and eliminate all agents, Aaron is forced to go on the run.  The agent is joined by Marta Shearing, a doctor who worked for the drug-supplying company that gave Outcome spies their “powers”.  Wanted by both Outcome and the national government, Aaron and Marta risk everything to escape and survive. 

“The Bourne Legacy” is a solid reboot that lives up to its predecessors, containing a satisfying amount of action, suspense, and thrills.  Despite the absence of Matt Damon, Jeremy Renner does a great job in portraying new action hero Aaron Cross, and he suitably lives up to Bourne’s “Legacy”.                          

Born again, try out this new version of an old Legacy!

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The Movie Critic, Connor

The Dark Knight Rises

Connor's Movie Review

Movie Title:    The Dark Knight Rises

Released:   July 2012

Movie Rating:  PG-13

Star Rating: «««      

Movie Summary:

Director Christopher Nolan completes the Batman trilogy in “The Dark Knight Rises”.  Bruce Wayne has long since abandoned his secret identity of Batman, as he took the blame for the death of district attorney, Harvey Dent, a.k.a the villainous Two-Face.  He decides to retreat into hiding and lives a miserable, lazy life in his manor, along with his loyal butler, Alfred.   Years later, when an evil criminal terrorist, known as Bane, takes over Gotham City and threatens to destroy it, Wayne decides he must suit up once again to save the city.

“The Dark Knight Rises” has some impressive action sequences and great performances, especially with Anne Hathaway as the sly Catwoman and Michael Caine as Alfred.  However, the movie seemed to drag on for a long time and should have focused more on Batman, instead of Bruce Wayne and the evildoings of Bane.  “The Dark Knight Rises” is a good movie, but I wouldn’t give up 3 hours to see it again.              

“Tell all your friends… Batman is at the theaters again!”

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The Movie Critic, Connor

The Amazing Spider-Man

Connor's Movie Review

Movie Title:    The Amazing Spider-Man

Released:   July 2012

Movie Rating:  PG-13

Star Rating: ««««   

Movie Summary:

“The Amazing Spider-Man” is a remake with the same formula as the first original “Spider-Man” film, but a very different story with different characters, including the main role.  Peter Parker is a teenage misfit who has been raised by his aunt and uncle.  Peter has very vague memories of his parents who left him as a young boy.  After finding a suitcase containing some of his father’s mysterious scientific work, he longs to find the truth of why his parents abandoned him.  He soon discovers that his father’s work is linked to his former partner, scientist Dr. Curt Connors.  While exploring the scientist’s lab, Peter is bitten by a radioactive spider and is gifted with some “amazing” superpowers.  When a member of his family is suddenly murdered by a criminal, Peter vows to bring the killer to justice.  After time, Peter realizes that the citizens of the city are in need of a hero to protect them, which begins his legacy as the infamous superhero Spider-Man.  Dr. Connors’ extensive studies and research on cross-species genetics goes too far when he combines his DNA with that of a reptile, which produces some very disastrous results.  The scientist ends up a major threat to the city, and Peter, as Spider-Man, risks everything to stop Connors.  Our hero’s quest for justice becomes jeopardized when the New York City Chief of Police labels his secret hero identity as a threat to the city as well. 

“The Amazing Spider-Man” is a good movie that has a great deal of emotion, as well as some cool action sequences and impressive special effects.  The movie also has some great performances by the main roles, especially Andrew Garfield, as Peter/Spider-Man.  This superhero film makes a great popcorn movie and a surprisingly solid remake.  Isn’t it a coincidence that the last name of the movie’s director is Webb? J

Swing on over to the theater to see this “Amazing” movie!

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The Movie Critic, Connor

Brave

Connor's Movie Review

Movie Title:    Brave

Released:   June 2012

Movie Rating:  PG

Star Rating: ««««

Movie Summary:

“Brave”, the latest film from Pixar Animation Studios, is set in a distant kingdom in Scotland, ruled by King Fergus and Queen Elinor.  Their oldest daughter Merida, the princess of the kingdom, doesn’t enjoy living the life of royalty.  She would rather live a life of adventure in the Scottish wilderness and practice archery.  However, Merida’s mom, Elinor, wants her to live like a proper princess should.  Merida refuses to listen.  When three Scottish warrior clans travel to the kingdom to compete for Merida’s hand in marriage, Merida is furious.  The princess refuses to accept any of the proposals and runs away into the wilderness.  There she encounters mystical beings called will-o’-the-wisps, which lead her to the home of an elderly witch.  She asks the witch to make a spell that can “change her fate” by changing her mother.  The spell unfortunately takes a turn for the worse, and Merida soon realizes the consequences of her selfish actions.  She must work to make things right by breaking the curse before it remains permanent. 

In my opinion, “Brave” did not meet the same standards set by past Pixar films.  The movie contained some rude humor and some scary scenes.  I liked the amazing animation and interesting storyline.  The movie had a lot of heart, and there were some very touching moments.    

              

Be “Brave”, lad, and venture to the theater to see this great movie! 
  

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The Movie Critic, Connor

Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted

Connor's Movie Review

Movie Title:    Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted

Released:   June 2012

Movie Rating:  PG

Star Rating: ««« 1/2     

Movie Summary:

Alex, Marty, Melman, and Gloria return for another globetrotting adventure in “Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted”.  Living in Africa, Alex and the gang begin to miss living in their original home, the Central Park Zoo in N.Y.C.   Meanwhile, the devious penguins, led by Skipper, leave in their newly built plane to party in Monte Carlo.  They have also broken their promise to go back to Africa to take the zoo animals back to New York.  Alex devises a scheme to get to Monte Carlo to convince the penguins to take them back to the Central Park Zoo.  When attempting to do so, they end up causing more havoc than they meant to create by attracting attention from evil French animal control officer Captain Chantel DuBois.  Chased across France, Alex and friends discover another solution to get back to the Zoo: joining a traveling circus, whose next stop is New York!  The zoo crew wins the approval of a failing circus group and decides to help them expand their worldwide audience by revamping their circus performances.  Hot on their trail is Captain DuBois, who stops at nothing to make sure that the zoo animals are captured.

“Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted” isn’t quite as funny as the first two films, but it is still a lively and fun family film.  “Europe’s Most Wanted” is also improved by some funny performances by the main characters, especially Ben Stiller as Alex.   The colorful circus sequences of the movie are very impressive, colorful and energetic.  “Madagascar 3” makes for a good time, but it isn’t quite “The Greatest Show on Earth”.

 You are "Most Wanted" at the theater to see this movie!

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The Movie Critic, Connor

The Avengers

Connor's Movie Review

Movie Title:    The Avengers

Released:   May 2012

Movie Rating:  PG-13

Star Rating: ««««1/2

Movie Summary:

“The Avengers” sets as scientists of the mysterious government agency, known as S.H.I.E.L.D, investigate the Tesseract, an extremely powerful cube of infinite energy that can open a portal to the depths of space.  Just when starting to do so, however, the evil god of mischief Loki, returning from Thor, comes and steals away the Tesseract.  Nick Fury, leader of S.H.I.E.L.D, learns that Loki plans to take over Earth (what a surprise!) by using the cube’s power to open a portal to the planet of the alien clan Chitauri.  He wants to recruit them for his army. Fury and his team decide that the only thing to do is to begin the Avengers Initiative. S.H.I.E.L.D assembles a group of legendary heroes, consisting of Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, Hulk, Black Widow and Hawkeye to fight Loki and his army to defend Earth.  But before that can happen, the heroes must learn to trust one another before they can truly team up and save the world!              

“The Avengers” is a fun and action-packed superhero flick that is guaranteed to satisfy superhero fans alike!  Make sure you have watched all the Marvel films before seeing this, and trust me, it’ll help you more fully understand the connections, events, heroes and villains of the movie.  Although it can get a bit violent at times, “The Avengers” displays a great amount of emotion and humor, amazing special effects and some truly thrilling action sequences that far surpasses some of its Marvel predecessors.                          

              

“Assemble” your “team” and see this “super” movie! 

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The Movie Critic, Connor

The Hunger Games

Connor's Movie Review

Movie Title:    The Hunger Games

Released:   March 2012

Movie Rating:  PG-13

Star Rating: «««1/2

Movie Summary:

“The Hunger Games” sets in the future, where the land that was formerly North America is now separated into 12 “districts”, all ruled by an evil government led by President Snow and his representatives.  Every year, the government authorities choose a teenage boy and girl to participate in the Hunger Games, a televised competition in which the participants from each district must fight to the death until one competitor remains.  Katniss Everdeen is a brave, determined teenager who helps her poor family, consisting of her mother and her sister Primrose, survive by hunting game for their food.  On the day of the Hunger Games, Primrose’s name is unexpectedly picked, but Katniss bravely volunteers to take her sister’s place in the competition.  Katniss and Peeta Mellark, the strong-willed son of a baker, are chosen for District 12’s competitors.  When training for the Games, the two begin to form a strong relationship.  Soon, Katniss finds herself cast into a deadly and extremely dangerous game of survival as she and Peeta struggle to escape the Games alive. 

“The Hunger Games” is a very emotional and often intense movie that contains some language.  I found the plot to be very concerning, but I believe that the message of this film is to convince us that this, in a way, is reality.  Some of us will do anything to win and are driven to extremes.  Like the main characters of the film, we are going to be put to the test during various times in our life.  We must stand strong and never give up, but always remember that winning isn’t everything.   Developing your character as a child of God is by far a greater accomplishment!  “Hunger Games” has some strong performances, particularly by Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson, as Katniss and Peeta.  Overall, I thought “The Hunger Games” was a good movie, but at times it can be hard to watch.

              

See “The Hunger Games”, and may the odds be ever in your favor.

 

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The Movie Critic, Connor

The Lorax

Connor's Movie Review

Movie Title:    The Lorax

Released:   February 2012

Movie Rating:  PG

Star Rating: «««1/2

Movie Summary:

“The Lorax” sets in Thneedville, a “plastic and fake” town without nature or anything growing in the city limits, except for the residents.   The movie’s main hero, a young boy named Ted, longs to impress his neighbor, a girl named Audrey.  She tells Ted that she desperately longs to see a living tree.  Ted sees his chance at helping her and sets out to find a real tree.  His journey takes him outside the city, where he discovers a vast, dark, and empty land.  Meanwhile, Mr. O' Hare, the man in charge of the town of Thneedville, doesn’t want Ted to leave the city.  Ted soon discovers the eerie home of the Once-ler, a strange old man who’s stayed cooped up in his old home for a very long time.  He tells Ted his story, told in flashback, as his longing to create weird products, which he calls Thneeds, leads him to cut down all the Truffula trees in a peaceful valley occupied by animals.  He inadvertently calls upon the Lorax, a legendary creature known as “the Guardian of the Forest”, who warns him not to chop down the trees, but is continually ignored.  As the Once-ler’s empire rises when he makes more Thneeds, the animals of the valley are forced to find a new home, because he has destroyed their land to create his products.  The Once-ler soon realizes what he has done, and spends the rest of his life regretting what he did to the animals’ homes and to the trees.  Now, he gives Ted the last Truffula seed to plant, and the boy takes off to change the world and help the people of Thneedville realize that destroying nature is wrong.  He is aided by his spunky grandma Norma and Audrey.  Evil Mr. O’ Hare learns of his plans and plots to stop him from destroying the future of his city. 

“The Lorax” is a very good movie.  I liked the storyline and the film’s message about conserving nature, but I thought that it needs additional humor.  Overall, I think that “The Lorax” is a great family film.                    

When deciding what movie to see, relax, just head to the theater and see “The Lorax”!

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The Movie Critic, Connor

The Secret World of Arrietty

Connor's Movie Review

Movie Title:    The Secret World of Arrietty

Released:   February 2012

Movie Rating:  G

Star Rating: ««««    

Movie Summary:

This movie focuses on borrowers, miniscule people who hide in the walls and floors of houses, who “borrow” small items from humans to make their living and survive in their tiny makeshift homes.  Arrietty is a brave, adventurous young girl, a borrower, who lives with her parents in their small house, located in the walls of a small garden home.  Arrietty is very thrilled when her father invites her to go with him on her first “borrowing” trip.  A curious Arrietty asks her parents what would happen if a human spotted a borrower.  They tell her that the human’s curiosity will lead them to be obsessed with trying to find the borrower and his home, forcing the borrower and his family to flee to another residence where they can live safely.

Living in the small garden home with the housekeeper, Hara, is an emotionally and physically ill young boy named Shawn, who is taken there by his aunt to temporarily live because his parents are too busy to care for him.  Arrietty’s first borrowing trip doesn’t go as planned when Shawn catches her attempting to borrow an item in his room.  Arrietty’s father thinks that they will have to move because Shawn has seen his daughter.   Arrietty doesn’t believe that this human boy is going to hurt her and her family, so she sets off to discover the big world, where she officially meets Shawn for the first time.  They begin to develop a strong friendship.  Shawn promises to hide and protect Arrietty from those who wish to harm her.  Meanwhile, Hara (who doesn’t know about borrowers and Arrietty’s friendship with Shawn), begins to suspect that something strange is going on.  When the housekeeper discovers Arrietty’s home and kidnaps her mother, the adventurous borrower and her new friend, Shawn, put everything at risk to rescue her mother. 

“The Secret World of Arrietty” is a very family-friendly movie, and I enjoyed it.  This is my very first anime (Japanese animation) movie, and I was very impressed.  The hand-drawn animation of the film was amazing and the colors were extremely vibrant.  The movie director and the crew obviously put a lot of work into this movie and they did well!  When watching the movie, I had a sense of amazement and awe as I experienced the borrower’s world, actually feeling like I was the borrower myself.  At times I thought that the movie was a tad slow and it could have been a bit more exciting, but overall, I had a very good time watching this movie.                                        

                    

This is no “Secret”….this movie is worth going to!

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The Movie Critic, Connor