X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)

4/5

X-Men: Days of Future Past reignites the fire that made the X-Men movies such hits. The story is set at some ambiguous time in the future, in which mutant-killing machines named Sentinels are continuously hunting the last of the mutant race. Fortuitously, Ellen Page's character can send people back in time, and Hugh Jackman's character has the "healing power" to withstand going back to the 1970's and changing the course of human--err, mutant--history. (I'm still not sure how going back in time is physically damaging to the human body, but I guess the producers wanted to milk the Wolverine cow for as much advertising power as they could.)

The movie feels a little over the top, with a depressing post-apocalyptic vision of the future and an overwhelming sense of dread permeating the entire movie. The stakes in action movies just seem to get bigger and bigger with every franchise sequel. But there is one truly magical scene early on in the movie (when the younger generation of mutants break Magneto out of prison) that is filled with such levity and fun, such imagination and creativity, to make you think you were in a different movie. Unfortunately, after that scene, the movie returns to its aggressively-serious, doom-filled march.

I'm sure the comic canon fanatics will have complaint after complaint with the creators playing fast and loose with characters, backstories, and time travel, but the fact remains that the latest X-Men movie is one of the rare action movies that remains a mystery despite a predictable plot progression. Although you know the general trend of what happens, it keeps you on the edge of your seat wondering not just who will live and who will die, but how exactly all the details play out. The story is a bit convoluted and probably has its fair share of plot holes, but the action is astutely-directed, the editing is exciting and tight, and the production value is excellent. It's one of the best entrants in the X-Men series and a fantastic summer blockbuster.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1877832/

Prometheus (2012)

3/5

Ridley Scott's Alien quasi-prequel Prometheus is one of the most frustrating films I've seen recently. It has a lot of big ideas, thought-provoking dialogue, and terrifying science fiction coupled with unanswered questions and endless let downs. It is undeniably awe-filled but also incredibly unsatisfying. The movie starts with what I assume is the dawn of man in an infuriatingly ambiguous but visually stunning introduction. And it continues in much the same manner; every positive that the film contains is perfectly balanced by a negative. Crisp cinematography coupled with poor pacing; inspiring dialogue matched to flat acting; and stimulating thematics married to simplistic answers. At the end of the movie, I was left grasping at straws, remembering scenes of horror and moments of wonder and always wishing they gave me more than what they did. This is obviously required viewing for any fan of Ridley Scott or the Alien series, but it's only going to irritate everybody else.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1446714/

Haywire (2011)

4/5

Steven Soderbergh's Haywire is a tightly-paced action thriller about a covert ops agent (Carano) who is double-crossed by her boss (McGregor). If the plot feels tired and rehashed, that's because it is. Story-wise, nothing about this movie is all that new or interesting, despite the scriptwriter's best efforts at infusing it with twists and turns. Two things make this movie good, and two things only. One is the directing and the other is the fighting. And there are a lot of fight scenes. Soderbergh avoids the frenzied over-editing you find in lots of modern action films and keeps the camera far enough away so you can actually tell what's going on. The fighting feels authentic thanks to the lead, Carano, who is an MMA fighter and American Gladiator. Unfortunately, she's not a great actress. Her lines are cold and hard, so half the time she manages to sound like a badass and the other half she sounds like an idiot reading a script. If you know what to expect going in, this movie will more than live up to your expectations, but it's far from a genre-bending production.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1506999/

X-Men: First Class (2011)

3/5

X-Men: First Class is just another mediocre superhero movie. The movie tracks the origins of Professor X (McAvoy) and Magneto (Fassbender) when they battled together against a common enemy, Sebastian Shaw (Bacon), during the Cold War. The plot is trite and unoriginal, the side characters are forgettable cardboard cut-outs, and the dialogue is nauseating. And Beast is just laughable. The rest was a mixed bag. The special effects were either seamless (yay) or appallingly bad (boo). The action sequences were usually pretty tense and exciting. What the movie had going for it was the character development in the young Xavier and Magneto. They were given much more depth and humanity than in the previous X-Men movies, but unfortunately not enough to recommend this movie to any but the most devout of comic book nerds. Overall, I was thoroughly underwhelmed by this movie.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1270798/

Inglourious Basterds (2009)

4/5

Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds is a stunning film, but it is by no means Tarantino's best. The story follows several tracks that all converge on one night for the premiere of a German propaganda film called Nation's Pride (fake trailer here). The first track is that of a group of merciless Jewish Nazi-killers known as The Basterds, led by Lt. Aldo Raine (Pitt). The second and third tracks concern a young Jewish girl named Shosanna (Laurent), who just barely escapes with her life after SS Col. Hans Landa (Waltz) kills her entire family. There are a few more tracks involving actors and actresses and translators and Hitler as the movie closes in on its explosive finale, but I'll leave that to you to experience when you watch it.

One thing that really irked me was that the intro credits, the musical style, and even the chapter narrative structure are all straight-up stolen from, or at least strongly reminiscent of, Tarantino's last stand-alone project, Kill Bill. The problem is that those aspects weren't even the best part about Kill Bill, which leads me to believe he's running out of creativity. For example, the Samuel L. Jackson narration, which probably seems cool on paper, ultimately feels empty on screen (mostly because he has nothing important to say). Also, while better than most movies, the dialogue in Inglourious Basterds isn't as luscious as I know he's capable of, and I feel the replay value will probably suffer as a result. Despite these disappointments, Tarantino is effective at building tension from simple situations and maintaining it over a 2.5 hour movie through stellar cinematography, lighting, and editing, which are all up to his usual exquisite form. I definitely recommend this movie to Tarantino fans, just understand that there's nothing revolutionary about it. In fact, it sits rather low on my ranking of Tarantino films. But it's still a quality film that's worth watching.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0361748/