Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009)

Genres

Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

Director

Michael Bay

Country

USA

Cast

Shia LaBeauf, Megan Fox, Josh Duhamel, Tyrese Gibson, John Turturro, Ramon Rodriguez, Kevin Dunn, Julie White, John BEnamin Hickey, Glenn Morshower, Matthew Marsden, Rainn Wilson, Marc Evan Jackson, Katie Lowes, Peter Cullen, Mark Ryan, Jess Harnell, Tony Todd, Hugo Weaving, Charlie Adler, Frank Welker

Storyline

Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeauf) leaves for college ready to start a normal life, but then his mind starts being filled with cryptic symbols, the Decepticons target him and he's dragged back into the Transformers' war.

Opinion

As expected, since Transformers made a lot of money, a few years after the first movie, Michael Bay came back with Revenge of the Fallen, an action flick that has quite a lot to envy to its predecessor.

The special effects are still fantastic, even better than they were in the first movie, and most of the action is still great, still, the film doesn't manage to be as entertaining as it should be mainly because of the action itself. A lot of the action sequences are too loud, too long and not very exciting. Not to mention the very disappointing battle between the good buy aka Autobot leader and the bad guy aka the Fallen that barely lasts half a minute. Seriously, Bay? You have us waiting two and a half hours for a fight that should be epic but ends up being terrible. 

To that add a story that manages to be even more stupid than before, filled with as many plot holes you can think of and underdeveloped and one-dimensional characters that aren't that interesting, and so annoying they prevent you from caring for them. And it sure doesn't help having a terrible cast. 

Another problem with Revenge of the Fallen is the humour. There are so many lame teenage jokes it's hard even to keep count and the gags are just plain stupid. Not to mention that most of the jokes aren't even funny.

But frankly I don't care, this is Michael Bay, things were going to get ugly sooner or later anyway. 

Tangled (2010)

Genres

Adventure, Animation, Comedy, Fantasy, Musical, Romance

Directors

Nathan Greno, Byron Howard

Country

USA

Voice Cast

Mandy Moore, Zachary Levi, Donna Murphy, Brad Garrett, Ron Perlman, Jeffrey Tambor, Richard Kiel, M. C. Gainey, Paul F. Thompkins, Delaney Rose Stein

Storyline

Kidnapped as a child by Mother Gother (Donna Murphy), Rapunzel (Mandy Moore) has spent her entire life in a tower, but now that a thief (Zachary Levi) has stumbled upon her, she is about to discover the world.

Opinion

I've been avoiding Tangled for years for a very simple reason, I was pretty sure it was just another Disney princess movie. And also because when I was a kid I loved the Rapunzel fairy tale and I was afraid this film was going to ruin it for me. But I was twice wrong.

The storyline is a bit different from the Grimms fairy tale, but that didn't bother me at all, neither did the fact that is pretty simple, clichéed and recalling a lot of Disney classics simply because the filmmakers were able to make that story compelling and engaging, and capable of entertaining an adult audience as well. Or at least he did for me.

Tangled's biggest strenght is easily the characters. They are very likable and well developed - although Rapunzel is the typical Disney princess - and each of them serve the purpose, especially the lovable chameleon Pascal and horse Maximus who both provide laughs throghout the entire film.

The characters aren't just lovable but they are also wonderfully animated. It's incredible all the details they all have, from the main characters to the minor ones. The settings and scenery are beautiful as well. 

And the voice cast also does a great job. With some great musical numbers/songs, they bring the story to life and they make the film more enjoybale.

Mother's Day (2016)

Genres

Comedy, Drama

Director

Garry Marshall

Country

USA

Cast

Jennifer Aniston, Kate Hudson, Julia Roberts, Jason Sudeikis, Timothy Olyphant, Shay Mitchell, Britt Robertson, Jack Whitehall, Hector Elizondo, Margo Martindale, Sarah Chalke, Robert Pine, Aasif Mandvi, Camron Esposito, Jon Lovitz, Loni Love, Lucy Walsh, Beth Kennedy, Sandra Taylor, Ella Anderson, Grayson Russell

Storyline

It follows the lives of different mothers as Mother's Day approaches. 

Opinion

Mother's Day is just around the corner so I figured what better way to celebrate than watching a movie titled Mother's Day? Well, probably watching any other movie involving moms because this one is terrible.

This is yet another film lacking a solid plot. The storylines are all over the place, there are too many of them, they lack development, and they are pretty predictable. Most of them are also filled with people making big deals out of not-so-important problems and they don't even address the important issues. So instead of exploring parents-kids relationships, they prefer sticking to the clichés of the genre, aka a man embarrassed to buy tampons, or even pronunciation the word. 

I have to admit though that Kate Hudson storyline wasn't that bad. To be honest, it's quite entertaining and definitely the highlight of the film. Unfortunately, that's all the fun we get from Mother's Day, especially because most of the jokes are either racist or about fat people.

The characters didn't get a better treatment. They are one-dimensional, undeveloped, stereotypical and utterly unbelievable characters. And just like with the storylines, there are too many of them, we don't really get to know them and therefore I didn't care for any of them.

But I have to congratulate the filmmakers for assembling such a spectacular cast, and by that, I mean an all-star cast not an Oscar-worthy cast because that's really how you trick people into watching a terrible film.

I, Frankenstein (2014)

Genres

Action, Fantasy, Sci-Fi

Director

Stuart Beattie

Country

USA, Australia

Cast

Aaron Eckhart, Billy Nighy, Yvonne Strahovski, Miranda Otto, Jai Courtney, Socrates Otto, Kevin Grevioux, Goran D. Kleut, Mahesh Jadu, Caitlin Stacey, Chris Pang, Deniz Akdeniz, Nicholas Bell, Bruce Spence, Aden Young

Storyline

Frankenstein's creature (Aaron Eckhart) finds himself caught in an all-out, centuries old war between two immortal clans.

Opinion

There's probably something wrong with me, but, in spite of the poor rating (5%) on Rotten Tomatoes, I decided to give I, Frankenstein and therefore wasted an hour and a half watching a film that is nothing but an extremely poor and sad excuse to make a Frankenstein movie. 

It's probably my fault for not reading the plot or watching the trailer, but that thing the filmmakers are trying to pass as a plot is beyond ridiculous. It has absolutely nothing to do with Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. After 30 seconds explaining how the monster was created - and not doing a good job at that either -, said monster named Adam finds himself caught in the middle of a fight between gargoyles and demons. A fight that has been going on forever and whose motivations are almost impossible to be understood because of how rushed everything. And because of that, it's also impossible to care for the characters or a pick side. 

The awful writing wasn't reserved for the plot only. The film can indeed claim cliched and stupid dialogue and equally terrible characters who lack development and a cast capable to make up for the awful script, among which Aaron Eckhart stands out in the role of Adam as he looks like the most uninterested man alive. 

Next up is the action. I would forgive the lazy writing if the action was good. But of course, this is not the case. The action sequences are bland and unexciting. Not to mention the terrible CGI the film is filled with and the horrifying makeup.