Here Come the Summer Super Movies

GREEN LANTERN
ACTION/FANTASY

I am very glad DC is expanding their superheroes besides Superman and Batman. Hal Jordan (Ryan Reynolds) is an expert pilot who is reckless and aimless is chosen by Lantern Corp after Abin Sur (Temuera Morrison, Jango Fett ,StarWars2 Attack of the Clones) plane crashes on earth after wounded by an evil force called Parallax. Hal is transported to Oa for training, and he feels he is not up to the job. We all know he is and he proves himself in the end.

The movie is expensive and it shows. Some critics say it's cheesy, but I do not see it. It is entertaining as a movie as a comic adapted to the movies, though maybe not to the diehard fanboys and fangirls. Ryan Reynolds is good as Green Lantern but I don’t think Hal Jordan was reckless in the comics. Mark Strong as Sinestro is brilliant!!! He is Green Lantern’s mentor. His voice is eerie and you just know he will be a villain very soon.

Blake Lively (Gossip Girl) is hot as his love interest. DON’T jump up as soon as the credit come on!!! Stay a few minutes for a startling scene!! Some sequels get better, and I do hope this is one of them.

X-MEN: FIRST CLASS
ACTION/ADVENTURE

Here we go again. Comic book fans may feel different about the film than just a movie fan. I am judging it as a movie. It is about the beginning of Professor Charles Xavier (James McAvoy, Wanted, King of Scotland) and Erik Lehnsherr/Magneto (Michael Fassbender 300, and the TV show Hex), and how and why they started the X-Men. This is an intelligent version of the X-Men franchise. It has action, but is not action packed!!

There a lot of subtitles like a foreign movies!!! The two actors are amazing especially Fassbender. He is very INTENSE!!! There is a reason he is that way. The guy kills in unique ways and as much as tolerable for a PG-13 movie. Sebastian Shaw (Kevin Bacon) is evil as can be, and January Jones as Emma Frost just as wicked, sexy as Shaw’s mutant assistant. Hank McCoy/Beast (Nicholas Houit) looks like a furry toy. Jennifer Lawrence is good as Mystique, a shape-shifter who wants to be “normal.”. She is sometimes when the shapely actress tries to be a teasing teenager.

SUPER 8
SCI/FI

In the summer of 1979 in Ohio, while teenagers make a movie, a train crashes with something inside that was not meant to get out. The flick is like “The Goonies meet Alien”!!! There is a lot of drama in the popcorn film--very rare indeed, and Elle Fanning (Dakota Fanning’s sister) is very good as Alice, whom two guys have a crush over. Glynn Truman as Dr. Woodward is important to the story and he was excellent, even if he was only in it briefly.

It is not as good as the hype, but it was good as a teen drama that turned into action science fiction flick. J.J. Abrams (Star Trek---the reboot) is a good director and he keeps you guessing, but the payoff was weak. I can see why it made money, but I can also see it drop box office after one week.

Pandas, Pirates, Hanging Over

HANGOVER PART 2
COMEDY

If any movie advocates for staying sober, this one and the first one is it!!! Each time these guys get drunk outrageousness comedy follows. If you’ve seen “Hangover” you practically saw the sequel, only this time it is in Bangkok. The guys have misplaced someone and they have to remember what they did to find him. It is a lot more vulgar than the first but young guys love this stuff!!! There is a rendition of “Allentown” included that does not go the way singer Billy Joel intended. This movie is R-rated for a reason--not for kids!!! Some freaky situations!!! I hear there may be a third!! Guys, go to rehab!!!

PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN 4: ON STRANGER TIDES
ACTION/ADVENTURE/FANTASY

I am not crazy about this franchise but it is well made and it has Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow. He is Bugs Bunny – he gets into the incredible trouble and gets out with a smile. The story is about Sparrow who has a map to find the Fountain of Youth. Blackbeard played wickedly by Ian McShane and Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) will do anything to find the treasure. Keira Nightley and Orlando Bloom are not in this movie but Penelope Cruz is and she is a sexy con-artist who may or may not be Blackbeard’s daughter. It is a popcorn film for sure.

KUNG FU PANDA 2
ANIMATED/ACTION/FANTASY

I hate sequels especially bad sequels but that is not the case with this movie. It is about Po who has to find ‘inner peace’, finds out who his real parents are and stop the evil peacock Shen. Jack Black is very good voicing Po the Panda. He can be awkward but he eventually gets it right. Gary Oldman as Shen is just perfect. I don’t know how they made such a beautiful creature as a peacock so vicious is genius. The story, the animation is just great but it is a little sadder than the first and their maybe a third!!! This great for kids, teens even adults!!!