Some quick thoughts on movie that have been bombarding the multiplexes in the past few weeks.
Star Trek: The characters in this movie behave as if they already know how they will end up years from now. If I were on the deck of the USS Enterprise and
this James Kirk was at the helm, I would seriously contemplate mutiny. Not once in the whole movie does he demonstrate why the rest of the crew would be willing to walk over broken glass, barefoot, if he asked them to. His ascension to the captain's chair from the not-so-lofty perch of a First Officer is simply because the script demands it. He is crude, insolent, ill-tempered, and selfish to the extreme. Good qualities in a dictator, not a leader of a multi-cultural spaceship. The franchise has been rejigged by JJ Abrams, but I am not so sure of its future. (Sure, it will make tons of money and have many sequels, but that is not what I mean).
Angels and Demons: Tom Hanks reprises his role from
The Da Vinci Code. And when I say reprises, I mean exactly that. He tries his best but is unable to elevate the movie beyond the level of a time-pass movie. Revelations and discoveries do not come with a sense of awe. The movie spends more time with fights and explosions and does not pause to exploit the stunning architecture and vistas that Rome (and Vatican City) accord. As Hanks hurtles from one church to another, it becomes a blur, and at this point I am hard pressed to recall
any of the details of the movie, even though I have read the book multiple times. If no more Langdon movies were made, I would not cry out in protest. Sadly, there is a new
Langdon book on the horizon and I am sure a movie will follow soon enough.
Terminator Salvation: First up, a confession. When I heard that
Christian Bale was going to play John Connor, I raised my expectations for the movie. After all, he would not act in a movie that would render him anonymous, would he? Well, not only is he anonymous, he plays second fiddle to a guy who may or may not be a cyborg. Either way, that cyborg (so, I spoiled it for you, but the trailers reveal as much) is more human than John. Multiple times in the movie, John is shown listening to tapes his mother left behind and he knows the future is no longer what his mother predicted it would be. Yet he deludes himself into making decisions, time after time, that try to recreate that future. Confusing? Well, not as confusing as the direction the movie series is headed towards. When you know your father before he knows you, and years before he even meets your mother, trouble is brewing in some screenwriter's mind, I promise. There are two more Terminator movies in the pipeline. I wonder if the director will realize that watching Terminators throw John Connor around for 30 minutes is neither dramatic nor is it an interesting climax to the movie. Seriously! It is as pointless as the car chases in James Bond movies where the villain's henchmen are shooting bullets at Bond while chasing him around hairpin bends. Everyone knows how it is going to end, so quit trying to dramatize it. Instead spend some more time showing how John Connor may be
thinking or plotting his way out of a tight spot. Now that would be so much more fun.
X-Men Origins: Wolverine: Save your money. A colossal waste of time. The titular character has three displays of emotion - anger, sadness, and confusion. And sometimes all three together. But mostly it is just anger. We know that Wolverine is almost indestructible but it does not stop folks from fighting him about 7 different times in the movie (and I am probably underestimating this). Okay, let me elaborate on that. They fight him
the same way each time. Dude, it did not work the last 6 times, what makes you think it will work now? Try something different. *sigh* I went in with low expectations but even the special effects were too choppy to be sensational, and the movie was beyond redemption.
Hugh Jackman better read the script before he signs on for the next edition or else his best work may end up being when he hosts the Oscars.
Star Trek: The characters in this movie behave as if they already know how they will end up years from now. If I were on the deck of the USS Enterprise and this James Kirk was at the helm, I would seriously contemplate mutiny. Not once in the whole movie does he demonstrate why the rest of the crew would be willing to walk over broken glass, barefoot, if he asked them to. His ascension to the captain's chair from the not-so-lofty perch of a First Officer is simply because the script demands it. He is crude, insolent, ill-tempered, and selfish to the extreme. Good qualities in a dictator, not a leader of a multi-cultural spaceship. The franchise has been rejigged by JJ Abrams, but I am not so sure of its future. (Sure, it will make tons of money and have many sequels, but that is not what I mean).
Angels and Demons: Tom Hanks reprises his role from The Da Vinci Code. And when I say reprises, I mean exactly that. He tries his best but is unable to elevate the movie beyond the level of a time-pass movie. Revelations and discoveries do not come with a sense of awe. The movie spends more time with fights and explosions and does not pause to exploit the stunning architecture and vistas that Rome (and Vatican City) accord. As Hanks hurtles from one church to another, it becomes a blur, and at this point I am hard pressed to recall any of the details of the movie, even though I have read the book multiple times. If no more Langdon movies were made, I would not cry out in protest. Sadly, there is a new Langdon book on the horizon and I am sure a movie will follow soon enough.
Terminator Salvation: First up, a confession. When I heard that Christian Bale was going to play John Connor, I raised my expectations for the movie. After all, he would not act in a movie that would render him anonymous, would he? Well, not only is he anonymous, he plays second fiddle to a guy who may or may not be a cyborg. Either way, that cyborg (so, I spoiled it for you, but the trailers reveal as much) is more human than John. Multiple times in the movie, John is shown listening to tapes his mother left behind and he knows the future is no longer what his mother predicted it would be. Yet he deludes himself into making decisions, time after time, that try to recreate that future. Confusing? Well, not as confusing as the direction the movie series is headed towards. When you know your father before he knows you, and years before he even meets your mother, trouble is brewing in some screenwriter's mind, I promise. There are two more Terminator movies in the pipeline. I wonder if the director will realize that watching Terminators throw John Connor around for 30 minutes is neither dramatic nor is it an interesting climax to the movie. Seriously! It is as pointless as the car chases in James Bond movies where the villain's henchmen are shooting bullets at Bond while chasing him around hairpin bends. Everyone knows how it is going to end, so quit trying to dramatize it. Instead spend some more time showing how John Connor may be thinking or plotting his way out of a tight spot. Now that would be so much more fun. 
X-Men Origins: Wolverine: Save your money. A colossal waste of time. The titular character has three displays of emotion - anger, sadness, and confusion. And sometimes all three together. But mostly it is just anger. We know that Wolverine is almost indestructible but it does not stop folks from fighting him about 7 different times in the movie (and I am probably underestimating this). Okay, let me elaborate on that. They fight him the same way each time. Dude, it did not work the last 6 times, what makes you think it will work now? Try something different. *sigh* I went in with low expectations but even the special effects were too choppy to be sensational, and the movie was beyond redemption. Hugh Jackman better read the script before he signs on for the next edition or else his best work may end up being when he hosts the Oscars.
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