Movie Reviews By Movie Reviews Pro

Orphan - Jaume Collet-Serra

Rating:

Movie: Orphan (2009)

Studio : Warner Bros.

Info : Click Here

Runtime : 123min

Website : orphan-movie.warnerbros.com

Trailer : http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8qjbh

Review:

Movies about creepy kids have long been a reliable box office draw. Usually consisting of some seemingly angelic little boy or girl who starts out all wide-eyed and innocent but in the end is revealed to be a granny-mangling demon from the bowels of pre-pubescent hell, this sub-genre has given us such nightmarish cinematic icons as Regan from The Exorcist and Damian from The Omen.

The Orphan probably sits somewhere between the above classic examples of how to do creepy kid movies and Children of the Corn (as an example of how not to). Essentially it’s a domestic horror tale centering on the troubled Coleman clan and the swirling black-hole of loss and guilt that resides at the core of the family. We soon come to learn that the black-hole is the result of the tragic loss of Kate and John’s unborn baby. Kate is in therapy for her drinking problem while John deals with things by wandering around the house in a near perfect state of semi-consciousness. And so, to fill in the hole they decide to adopt another (older) child. Enter Esther.

Believed to be born in Russia and possessing prodigious musical and artistic abilities, the delightfully polite Esther immediately impresses Kate and John with her quiet and sad demeanor and they quickly decide to take her home from the orphanage. What was interesting at this point was that Esther was not simply being depicted as a one-dimensional mini -monolith of evil, but rather seemed genuinely vulnerable and moved by her introduction to the Colemans’ (relatively) stable family life.

It wasn’t long however before the creepy kid clichés began to pile up. But still, I reassured myself, that’s okay – heck, you could argue that all genre movies are just a series of orchestrated clichés! It was in the final act though that I finally gave up on The Orphan. Back-pedaling furiously from the complex position of having created an almost sympathetic killer kid, the film-maker instead took the easy way out by inserting one of the most ridiculous “twists” to come down the pipeline since Bobby Ewing came back from the dead in Dallas. Yes, the “twist” did answer a few (unimportant) questions – but it also provoked a new one: why did I spend $10 dollars on this crap?

In the end, despite the strong first half, the only person I would recommend this orphan to is Madonna.

-Paul Meade

Drama, Horror, In Theaters, Mystery, Thriller Drama, Horror, Mystery, orphan, Thriller

The Hurt Locker- Kathryn Bigelow

Rating:

Movie: The Hurt Locker (2009)

Studio : Kingsgate Films

Info : Click Here

Runtime : 130min

Website : thehurtlocker-movie.com

Trailer : http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x91vpy

Review:

The Hurt Locker is the story the Army’s elite Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EOD) squad and their call to missions in modern-day Iraq. The story focuses on the Bravo Company, specifically commissioned to handle IEDs or Improvised Explosive Devices. We follow this company—which comprises Staff Sergeant William James (Jeremy Renner), Sergeant J.T. Sanborn (Anthony Mackie), and Specialist Owen Eldridge (Brian Geraghty)—on their 39-day tour of Iraq. We watch as they weave through each mission with their lives on the line, and as they consistently escape death, the layers of their complicated emotions and intentions unfold right before us.

It doesn’t take very long to realize that the real star of this film is director Kathryn Bigelow. Although her claim to fame up to this point might be Point Break and being the mega-director James Cameron’s former better half, this movie should cement her as a serious and formidable new voice.

The amazingly authentic script by Mark Boal aids her vision. Much like In the Valley of Elah, Boal has researched a real story in order to create a compelling fictitious one. Here, Boal imbedded himself with an actual EOD squad and fashioned himself part-journalist, part-screenwriter. And upon the viewing of this film, it will be hard to deny that he has succeeded exceptionally as both.

Jeremy Renner as Sergeant James does a commendable job of turning his performance into a bona-fide character study. As the most complex character, he gives an appropriately understated performance while maintaining a certain amount of bravura, making him fascinating to watch.

There’s a noticeable dip in the quality of the action at the end of the second act where a particular soldier goes AWOL. It’s the only part of the movie that feels a little “Hollywood.” Nevertheless, it doesn’t take away from the overall excellence of the film, and fortunately, it gets back on track shortly thereafter.

However, there is a major oversight that does affect the overall impression of this film: Although directed by a female, it is mysteriously devoid of female soldiers. For a film that’s committed to being so real and so true, it’s an unfortunate critique for a film that is otherwise virtually flawless.
 
The crux of this film lies within its final 5-10 minutes. And it’s these minutes that catapult it from being a run-of-the-mill war story to modern parable.

-Sam Henderson

Action, Drama, In Theaters, Thriller, War Action, Drama, hurt locker, Thriller, War

Year One - Jack Black

Rating:

Movie: Year One (2009)

Studio : Columbia Pictures

Info : Click Here

Runtime : 97min

Website : yearone-movie.com

Trailer : http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8wfsx

Review:

When my friend Rob proposed that we see Year One, I jumped at the chance.  Here we had Jack Black and Michael Cera, two of my favorite actors, collaborating with Harold Ramis, a comic legend.  Where could they go wrong?

 The answer: the script.  Year One is such an unfocused, unfunny mess I don’t even know where to begin tearing it apart.  The movie naturally takes place in “year one,” in which Black and Cera are two hunter/gatherers. Black, in all his manic wisdom, manages to eat the “forbidden fruit” (Biblical parallels, anyone?) and is subsequently expelled from his tribe.  In yet another parody of Jerry Maguire, Black announces that he intends to explore the outside world and invites anyone willing to accompany him.  Cera (playing essentially the same milquetoast from Juno and Superbad) volunteers, and the two are off on their adventure.

 The movie doesn’t seem to have much of a story, as the two of them meet various Biblical icons, including David Cross and Paul Rudd as Cain and Abel, respectively, Hank Azaria as Abraham, and Christopher Mintz-Pleasse as Isaac.  Mintz-Pleasse had my sides splitting as McLovin, so I naturally thought any movie with him in it wouldn’t be all bad.  Unfortunately, his comedic talents are wasted, as he has maybe nine or ten lines throughout the movie.
 
Black and Cera do what they can with the material, but they can’t save the script. We’re treated to a story that plays mostly like a series of unfinished Monty Python sketches, along with Cera urinating on himself, Cera rubbing oil on a hairy Oliver Platt, and a couple of smiles, but no laughs.  The rowdy high schoolers who populated the theater remained mostly silent throughout the ordeal.  I remained silent during, and after the movie, wondering to myself why I had paid 12 bucks to see it on opening weekend.  Although it’s nearly out of the theaters, if you haven’t seen it, I’ll steer you away from renting it on DVD or even catching it on cable.  See a Monty Python film or History of the World, Part I instead.

-Craig Wynne

Adventure, Comedy, In Theaters Adventure, Comedy, jack black, year one

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

Rating:

Movie: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009)

Studio : Dreamworks

Info : Click Here

Runtime : 150min

Website : transformersmovie.com

Trailer :  http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x9u4f4

Review:

When I saw Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen I had already heard the bad reviews: it was too long with no storyline but that Megan Fox’s boobs in slow motion made it tolerable. I wasn’t a fan of the cartoon as a kid but I loved the first Transformers movie, so I went in assuming that I would be disappointed.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is a high energy action movie, it starts out mid battle between Autobots and Decepticons and never really drops from that intensity. There is a loose story, Sam Witwicky (Shia LeBouf) is going off to college and trying to escape the responsibility that comes along with the Autobots. Though each character from the last film makes a reappearance with a brief story revolving around Sam leaving, his parents (Julie White and Kevin Dunn) are both excited and distraught and his girlfriend, girlfriend Mikela (Megan Fox) wants to break off the relationship, but in reality White and Dunn were inserted for comic relief and Fox for sex appeal. The bulk of the movie is exactly what the title says: cars, trucks, and other electronics transforming into larger than life warriors battling for the protection / destruction of earth.

These stock characters and slim storyline didn’t take away from the movie, I didn’t go into the theater thinking that I was going to see a drama, I was prepared for an action movie with huge explosions, and that is exactly what Michael Bay delivered. The 2 ½ hours flew by from fight scene to fight scene with enough emotional attachment for Optimus Prime from the first movie to pull on some heart strings. The fight scenes were a bit messy, with so many machines fighting each other it was hard to keep track of who was an Autobot and who was a Decepticon but I was enthralled, anxious to see how the movie resolved itself, and never once looked at my watch to see how long I was in the theater. Explosions and fight scenes are what the audience expects from an action movie, and that is exactly what Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen was made to be.

-Andrea Janov

Action, Adventure, In Theaters, Sci-Fi michael bay, transformers