Transformers: Age Of Extinction

Age of Extinction is the 4th in this film series. It has no returning characters from the 3rd film. The only thing that returns are voices in Optimus Prime and Bumble Bee. Instead we get all new characters. The actors in this film is Marky Mark as a Cade Yeager and his daughter Nicola Peltz. Those I would say are the main characters. You also have Stanley Tucci as one of the villains and John Goodman (I don't know why they didn't market that) as a Autobot (Hound).

Now Michael Bay, I am one of the few people that actaully enjoys some of his film. Like the Rock is a great 90's action film. I also really enjoy the first Bad Boys and the second Bad Boys be it really bad is still a guilty pleasure of mine. I also think he can be a really good director (if he wouldn't shoot myself in the foot all the time). Now Marky Mark is easily one the best things about this film. I actaully really bought him in his character. Well at least one half of his character he plays a junk man that makes things into inventions and a father. Now the inventor I had a hard time believing, but the father I could get behind easily. So most of the really good acting and dialog you will see come out of Marky Marks mouth. I also really enjoy John Goodman as the Autobot that he played and thought I have seen Peltz give a really bad performance in The Last Airbender. She is not to bad in this, actually the only other part that I really enjoyed acting wise. Oh and before I forget to mention this the action is cool and CGI is very good.

Now to the problems. I am not going to bash the film, I will admit is has a ton of flaws. To many to mention in this review. For starters the script is all over the place. The story is so bloated and completely all over the place that the story of this film really doesn't matter. The pace of the film is terrible. I mean its a 2 hours and 30 minutes and I got bored at the 1 hour mark So it was a long night for Kyle in the theater. It's just very slow or felt very slow. I don't know how he did that when at least half of the film is action. The characters once again besides Marky Mark are just stereotype after stereotype. The dialogue can go from not to bad to, me rubbing my eyes bad.  Some characters are very annoying like Peltz boyfriend who does absolutely nothing for the film and Tucci who started off very good but soon became a character that yells and screams the whole time. I can see this time that Bay actually tried to change things up. Marky Mark is a great lead character and you can really get behind him the action sense. Which really helps,because that was my one my problems with the other the main character couldn't do anything. Now he is in the middle of the action doing stuff.  There are even some darker parts, but over all this is the same film as the last 3 nothing any different. So its really hard for me to recommend this film to anybody. Besides die hard fans of this film series.

RATING
.75 out of 4 Ticket Stubs

1st half of 2014 Top 10 list/ The Grand Budapest Hotel

This is my top 10 of the first half of the year as of June 19, 2014. This list is most likely going to change with in the next 6 months, but this year has been so good with really good action films and just good films over all. That I felt like I need one of these at the half way point. I also want to see how this list will change when 2015 comes around. Now since this is my list your favorite of the year may not be on here. Also just because it is a 4 out 4 does not mean that will be better then a 3 out 4. Also there will also be a quick review of The Grand Budapest Hotel. Which I know is super late but is one of the best of the year and I need to talk about it a little.

1) Under The Skin- http://quickfilmreviews.blogspot.com/2014/04/under-skin.html

2) X-Men: Days of Future Past- http://quickfilmreviews.blogspot.com/2014/05/x-men-days-of-future-past.html

3) The Raid 2- http://quickfilmreviews.blogspot.com/2014/04/the-raid-2.html 

4) Captain America: The Winter Solider- http://quickfilmreviews.blogspot.com/2014/04/captain-america-winter-solider.html

5) The Grand Budapest Hotel- So this is were this list is going to get very long. So I will try to keep this part as short as I can. The Grand Budapest Hotel is the next film Wes Anderson. I personally really love his films. This one is easily one of his best. It has the same style as Moonrise Kingdom had, but what this film had was a lot better writing and much better story. The story is about a the concierge of the hotel and his misadventure. It has some of the best humor that I have ever seen I laughed a lot in this film very quotable. The film is very well shot. I mean really well shot. The framing alone was just great. The acting done by the whole cast is very good. So I give this a very high recommend. I will admit it does have its faults. The film is very odd and not very mass marketable not every one will like this. I can see some people will just find it very weird. Much like last year's Her( also adored that movie). So it just misses a perfect getting 3.5 out of 4 ticket Stubs.

6) Edge of Tomorrow- http://quickfilmreviews.blogspot.com/2014/06/edge-of-tomorrow.html 

7) How to Train Your Dragon 2- http://quickfilmreviews.blogspot.com/2014/06/how-to-train-your-dragon-2.html 

8) Enemy-http://quickfilmreviews.blogspot.com/2014/04/enemy.html

9)The LEGO Movie- http://quickfilmreviews.blogspot.com/2014/02/the-lego-movie.html

10) Godzilla- http://quickfilmreviews.blogspot.com/2014/05/godzilla-2014.html

How to Train Your Dragon 2

How to Train Your Dragon 2 is the continuation of the story of Hiccup. This film takes place 5 years after the first film. Much has changed since the last time we saw our hero and this is the new story. All the voice actors return from the first film. I was a super fan of the first film. This was one of the first two movies I have ever bought on BluRay (looks great by the way).

To start off, I was really hoping this film would be just as good as the first one or at least in the same realm as the first one. What I got, to say the least, was one of the best sequels I have ever seen. And one of the best kids movies to date. My all time favorite CGI animated film is Toy Story 3 (non CGI is a whole other story). I loved this film. Absolutely loved it.  The animation was so beautiful and extremely well shot, thanks once again to Roger Deakins who was the visual consultants on this one and the last one. Giving this once again a very, for lack of a better word, epic look. This whole film felt epic. It was like the Lord of The Rings, but a kids film. The voice acting was great just like the last film. The characters are back and better then ever. They even have a lot of character development for all the main cast. The theme and over all pace of the film are very good.  The theme is between family and coming of age, which I really enjoyed. The film is almost made for the kids of teenage age because there are some very dark moments. The story just over all had a very mature way of telling itself and it really doesn't talk down to kids at all.

This is one of the few films that I can say that I have almost no problems with. I mean, I'm typing this right now and still have none. The only problem that I had thought was during the film and it was the villain. I didn't think that he was imposing or very threatening. Then the film does something that I honestly didn't see coming. Which really fixed that problem. This film is a very good and well thought out. It has a great sense of humor and has one of the most epic story lines for a CGI film. It has a great score and just overall is a great time at the movies and once again is one of the best of the year. I am getting really sick of saying that. Wait, no I am not. This year has been so great that I am going to do my Top 10 of this almost half of year just because there have been so many good ones. I also want to see how it changes once the Oscar season comes around, but for now go see How to Train Your Dragon 2 it will not be a mistake.

RATING
4 out of 4 Ticket Stubs

Edge Of Tomorrow

Edge of Tomorrow is a film that stars Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt. This film is based in the near future were an alien invasion has happened and we are at war with these creatures. Now there is anther aspect to this film having to do with time travel. Not time travel per-say, but a time loop which Cruise finds himself in. Much like the film Groundhog Day or Source Code.

Now to start off a lot of people don't like Cruise. I get it. He is a bit off I will admit. I still think the man is a great actor and really knows how to pick pretty good films. Now this film had a good idea and looked like it could be a lot of fun. I walked out of this film easily seeing probably one of the bigger surprises of the year. This film is carefully directed by Doug Liman, the man behind Bourne Identity, so I was really worried about the Shaky cam in this film. It actually wasn't to bad and actually made a lot of sense where it was used. Mostly.  There are a few spots were I would have preferred something else done with the camera but for the most part its good and used well. Also the Liman's direction of the film is perfect. He balances a great tone between dark and serious action with some great lighter moments. It really does have some good comedy infused with the film. Also his pace is perfect. Nothing ever takes to long or isn't long enough and you are never once sucked out of the film. When the film starts the two-hour run time  it will fly by. Then finally and biggest pieces of this film that I really enjoyed is the characters. More the way the characters get developed and progress though the film. Cruises character has a big arc in the film and has a lot of symbolism placed with him. The film has just a enough artier moments to catch my eye. Unlike Enemy and Under the Skin where its just put in your face. This one is more in the subtext, which I really enjoyed.

I don't have a lot of negative criticism toward the film. It really is a great ride for a summer film. You get almost everything you want in summer blockbuster with this film. You get a great story, with good characters, and a lot of action and humor to keep your eyes glued to the screen. My only true real fault is like the last 30 seconds of the film. It creates a plot hole and muddy ups a great character arc. It doesn't ruin the whole film so I want bring it down much for it, but it is still there. Overall go see the film it is one of the better films this year ( which there have been a ton) and is easily going to be seen on my 10 top later this year.

RATING
3.75 out of 4 Ticket Stubs