G.I. Joe Review

Although its bit a late (not as late as the 24 review), here's my review for the summer flick "G.I. Joe":

I think many critics make a review before they see the movie. They see trailers, clips, think about previous movies made by those people, if its based on something, judge it by that, and anything else they can think of. Stereotyping movies is what critics do a lot. I'm not saying always, but its obvious that sometimes this happens.

Critics hear the word "Hasbro" and immediately think that it will be terrible. Probably because "Revenge of the Fallen" has given Hasbro a bad name (sorry McKay!). But G.I. Joe shouldn't be blamed for what that movie did, but for some reason, I think it has.

You are not watching this for academy award material. You won't see incredible acting or amazing cinematography or anything spectacular for that matter. Your going to see some explosions, some action, some more explosions, some more action, and you get the idea. Keep that in mind.

The weirdest part about G.I. Joe is the effects. You've probably seen the great special effects from the trailers, but they don't show you when they ran out of money. I'm not joking, there are some scenes that look like an animated movie, and others that look incredible.

Now to the acting. Its not good. The only big name really in this is Dennis Quaid. All the rest are people I've never heard of. That negatively effects the movie a lot. There laugh out loud moments where the acting is so unbelievably bad. Plus, the writing isn't that good either, so put it together and you really can't take this seriously.

But thats the point: if you don't take this movie seriously, and you enjoy it for what it is, you will like it. You know from the trailers if you will like it or not. I personally thought it was fun and action packed, but there will be people who won't like it. Its not stupid like Revenge of the Fallen, so don't stereotype it for that excuse for a movie (haha, that was a complete exaggeration). G.I. Joe is its own thrill ride, and its one heck of one.

B

Beyond the Sherwood Forest

I just heard about this today, and apparently it was on last night (too bad I missed it). But, from the trailers on youtube and the poster, it looks pretty good. It had two actors from smallville: Erica Durance (Lois Lane) and Julian Sands (Jor-El in the episode "Kandor", great episode, by the way). It's a TV movie about Robin Hood and this dragon creature. Here's the poster and trailer:

Stuntman Ignition PS3 Review

Graphics: Although not technically great, there's is plenty of enjoyment as you drive across an earthquake while avoiding lava, seeing people on fire, then watching your replay and ask yourself "Was that really me? I'm not that good. Or am I?" 8.5/10

Story: Its probably one of the only games where you are in a movie (not like a real movie like Spider-Man, but you know what I mean). There needs to be more kinds of games like this. We don't need another Call of Duty, make something original like this! (sorry for yelling at game developers) 9/10

Sound: Although the directors usually tick me off quite a bit, the sound effects, explosions,and everything else sounds great. 8.5/10

Gameplay: This game is based on trial and error, which I don't like very much. You are redoing a lot of levels just because you got too many strikes. But, once you get over that, there is a ton of fun to be had here in Stuntman. All the, well, stunts, are fantastic to do and fun to watch. Its really redundant, but fun nonetheless. 8/10

Multiplayer: Some fun split-screen (actually I have to admit I haven't tried them yet

Overall: Stuntman is original. There's not much like it. I got it for $10 bucks, and that's a steel (actually free because of the Black Friday buy 2 get 1 free deal). This is a great game, don't miss it. 8.5/10

Ryan Reynolds's Plays Green Lantern

Both this and a Deadpool movie are scheduled for 2011

Happy Thanksgiving! Here's my 24 pilot review

Since there won't be any new Smallville episodes till January 22nd 2010 (still counting the days!), I decided to get started on a new show. I picked up 24 the other day, and here's what I think.

Similar to alien movies/tv (see V pilot review) and disaster movies/tv (see 2012 review), there are a lot of espionage movies (come on Hollywood, give us something different!) Well, not quite as many as alien movies, but still, there's 007, M:I, etc. So what makes 24 special?

Well, for one, its not all about the special effects. As a 14 year old boy, you wouldn't expect this, but a movie isn't a movie if its all special effects (*cough* Transformers 2 *cough*). It needs to have an good story with good characters. 24 is just that. The best part about 24 is the suspense. You don't know who you can trust, how its going to turn out, or anything.

The thing that 24 does different is it's "Real Time" editing. Real Time is in quotes because every episode has to cover an hour but with the commercials it only has about 40 minutes. Anyway, what happens is you see something on the screen, it goes smaller and another scene appears at the same time. So you are watching two things at once (if that makes any sense at all). It does kinda give you a headache, but this only happens like once or twice in the pilot, and usually the scenes were directly related. It makes 24 different than 007 or Mission: Impossible, which is good.

I have high hopes for 24. The story can take plenty of different directions, which is a reason I want to keep watching. Another reason is that they are talking about making a 24 feature film (not like Smallville: Absolute Justice, this one's in the theatres!) Plus theres a TV movie called 24: Redemption that takes place between season 6 and 7, so there are a lot of motives to keep watching. This isn't the new Smallville, but trust me, its good.

Land of the Lost Review

Sometimes movie makers think their geniuses when actually they are complete idiots.

Haha, thats a harsh statement for Land of the Lost, especially considering I actually enjoyed it. Its whole "This is a cheesy movie and that's the joke" feel of the movie has two positive aspects. For one, it doesn't take itself seriously at all. And secondly, its outright hilarious.

But first, I'm going to get into the "movie makers think their geniuses" crap. This was their grand idea:

Okay, lets make a remake of the Land of the Lost 70's show. Lets make it a comedy. Lets have Will Ferrel play the part. (So far pretty genius, right?) Lets make some seriously offensive and crude jokes so we lose our audience. The kids won't watch it if its PG-13, and the adults won't want to see it because it's too kid-ish. Yeah I know, what were they thinking?

That really limits your audience. The only appeal would be ages 12-15 (and thats stretching it). Luckily, I am 14, and although I think the bad jokes are just cheap humor, most of Land of the Lost is just fun craziness. Will Ferrel plays the goofy character his plays in every movie, which I don't see how anyone could think its getting old.

So pretty much this is all you need to know: Don't let the little kids watch it. Its pretty violent (never in a purposely disturbing way, but an ice cream man's arm gets bitten off by a T-Rex), and its pretty crude (no details necessary). But, with this is mind, Land of the Lost is a fun adventure that is funny and exciting at the same time. Its hard to give this one a rating because of all these factors and that how much you like it will be based on your age, but here it is:

B+

Trine PS3 Review

Trine is a $20 downloadable game on the PSN. Here's my review:

Graphics: Trine is beautiful. Period. The artwork is fantastic and it gives the game a story book feel but still giving it a fitting dark tone. Trine looks better than a lot of real PS3 disc games. Actually, its better than most. 9.5/10

Sound: Narrator kind of detracts for the dark tone that the graphics are trying to create, the voice acting isn't all that great, but the music sounds like an epic movie score. 8.5/10

Story: Not the most intricate of stories, but its not shallow either. Its one of the first downloadable games that actually has a story (Fat Princess doesn't count). 8.5/10

Gameplay: The game is a mix of action, platforming, and physics-based puzzles. It all fits together to be incredibly entertaining. Each character has their own special abilities that will help with each of the elements of the game. The game is fun, but it makes you think as well. The gameplay works very well for Trine. 9/10

Multiplayer: Some great co-op here.

8.9/10

Trine is a great example of how a downloadable game can actually be better than many disc-based games. Although the price is a little higher than most other downloadable games ($19.99), its completely worth it.