The Losers

3 out of 5 Stars



A group of five soldiers are sent on a mission to Bolivia. During the mission the colonel questions the given orders on account that there are children shipped into the target area. He takes matters into his own hands and heads in with his men to rescue the kids only to have the helicopter they are loaded into be blown up that was meant for them. The soldiers are now presumed deceased and work on finding a way to return to the states, reclaim their lives, and get revenge. Soon they have this chance when a mysterious woman helps smuggle them back in this story of revenge and conspiracy.

The Losers is a film with a story that is cliche and has been done time and again. It is another addition to the graphic novel/comic book movie genre and really is nothing new. When it comes to what is in the movie there is nothing to be excited about. The plot twists are also only surprising if you aren't looking for any. It's what we've seen before probably a hundred other times.

But the film is a fun ride. It's an action film with a little bit of humor thrown in. It's what other films this year should have been but failed at. The characters are enjoyable. It's easy to side with them. Ultimately the characters seem to vow revenge on the villain, Max, but there is also a sense of justice in that the colonel always remembers that Max killed 25 kids and that is part of why they are hunting this man. I don't think the film as a whole is that great. It's alright. But it's terribly fun to watch and kept me engaged the whole way through. It's a fun thrill ride. I love to think when I watch movies but sometimes I like to just sit back and be entertained. That's how I felt about this film and I was thoroughly glad that I saw it.

Death At A Funeral

2 out of 5 Stars



Death At A Funeral is based on the British version made just a few years ago. I didn't see the original but as far as I know they are basically the same in plot where a incredibly dysfunctional family comes together for a father's funeral and just about everything goes wrong.

As a whole this film is definitely not that good. The plot is truly mediocre and half the jokes aren't funny. It doesn't mean the film is absolutely horrendous. The cast is decent and there are some good laughs. The film really split into thirds almost. There is a third of gay sex jokes, a third of hallucination jokes, and a third of poop and everything else jokes. The only thing that is really funny is the hallucination jokes. That means about half an hour of the film. The rest is maybe a chuckle here and there but mostly groans and eye aversions.

Kick-Ass

2 out of 5 Stars



Dave Lizewski is a loser high school kid who has a dream to become a superhero. One day he decides to make a costume and fight crime, a plan that goes terribly wrong and puts him in the hospital but at the same time a whole bunch of metal is put inside his body which makes him feel little to no pain. He then continues his quest for justice and is soon met by the much more skilled Big Daddy and Hit Girl who are currently working on a plot to take down a crime organization and get revenge.

Kick-Ass is based on the graphic novel, which I've never read. But this film felt like it was supposed to feel like a superhero movie and instead feels like a teen comedy gone wrong with lots of language and violence. The "superheroes" are not inspiring and do the opposite of what they should when it comes to wanting to bring others to the party. And half of the characters aren't even heroes, just people dawning suits to get revenge. The last time I checked that doesn't follow the ethics of a hero. And of course the director has a sick sense of humor. All of the jokes involve death or gritty violence for the most part.

What I can give to the film is that the action scenes are fun to watch and the lead actors are able to carry their roles. But as a whole I found no redemptive value to this film and very little artistic merit. It's a fun and brainless entertainment action flick that I found disappointing.

Date Night

3 out of 5 Stars



Phil and Claire Foster have two kids, live in a suburban neighborhood, and all in all have a pretty mundane life. They have book club, get together with their friends, and have a regularly scheduled date night in which they do the same thing and go to the same place. Then one week Phil decides he wants to take his wife out to dinner in the city to do something different. Without calling ahead, he takes her to one of the most expensive and difficult restaurants to get into and not having a reservation takes another, a couple by the name of Triplehorn. This soon leads to them being escorted outside and soon learning that their decision has caused a hiccup in their plans, one that has put their lives in danger. Soon the Fosters are on the run trying to get home.

Date Night at times is fun. Mostly it's just decent storytelling with a good cast. It's a good idea with fun scenarios that unfortunately don't always live up to what they could be. Date Night is a comedy. Or at least it's supposed to be. About half the movie I found myself laughing, maybe less. Most of it I just tried to sit back and enjoy the ride. But I think that was the film's biggest flaw, it was made as a comedy. Most of the funny parts were in the trailer. Really it should have been a drama with comedy. I think it would have worked better. That doesn't mean that other people won't find it funny, but a lot of people I have talked to have also said that they have found the film to be not as funny as they expected.

If there is one thing I would personally praise "Date Night" for and in high regard, it is that the film is pro-marriage. Even though the Fosters don't necessarily feel happy all the time and their love life is plummeting, they work out their problems and stay together unlike some of their friends in similar situations. In a society where divorce seems to be the number one option a film with a couple that sticks it through is important. I enjoyed the film for what it was but not necessarily as a comedy. It was a mediocre film, nothing great. But it's a fun movie to just sit back and enjoy for the fun of entertainment.

Clash of the Titans

2 1/2 stars out of 5




When the story of a film is loosely based off a plethora of Greek myths there is a lot of leeway. Both the original and the remake follow many myths wrapped up into one story. In this version Perseus, the son of Zeus, is thrown into the ocean with his mother to die by the king. But Perseus survives and is raised by a fisherman. Years later when Perseus is now a man his family ends up sailing to Argos where the people have decided to defy the gods. Hades decides to let loose on the people and Perseus is the only one of his family to survive. Then upon arrival in the palace of Argos the queen decides to boast the beauty of Andromeda, her daughter, which leads Hades to plot against the humans and destroy Argos by unleashing the monstrous creature known as the Kraken. Perseus then ventures out on a quest to defeat the Kraken but only for the sole purpose of getting his revenge on Hades.

If there is one major thing I must say about this film is that it BARELY resembles the original film only made about twenty years ago. The remake is a revenge film with a shallow story, some great looking CGI, and a mighty lack of character development. When it comes down to it, even though it looks cool and there are a couple fun action scenes, the film is more epic than it should be. Characters were pulled from the original and thrown haphazardly into the script in various places where they hardly fit. The only character that seems to have any real meaning is Perseus and even then sometimes it is hard to care for him other then the fact that Sam Worthington is a pretty likable guy. But not much can really be expected from this nearly failed epic.

In the knowledge that this is a remake it must be understood why this version is so terrible in comparison. I would admit two things are better in this version; the effects and the action scenes. But that is where it stops. The original cast (for it's time) was just as good and the original story followed Perseus on a quest to defeat the Kraken to save the princess Andromeda. It was a story of heroism and chivalry, something noble. Although on occasion there was a character or two that might have seemed a little cheesy (namely Bubo the owl who has a cameo in the remake), the characters worked better in the story. In the original there was more a reason to Perseus' journey and something we could root for. In the remake we must suffer through what is thankfully less than two hours of modern day CGI action nonsense.

The other grand part of the original is that it housed one of the last great works of Ray Harryhausen, one of the greatest stop motion animators to ever work in film. Even though it is an older film the original still holds up even now because it focused more on the character and a decent story. Even the gods in the original feel like they have more purpose. And to think that I was truly excited for the remake. My advice would be, don't waste your money in theaters. If you decide to see it, wait until its on DVD. Better yet, just go rent the original.