262 replies to this topic

[TheHSBR]

Ok so I wanted to open a discussion of the major sci-fi movies this summer so far. Ill open with:

Thor
I had high expectations for this film and to me it just fell flat. Everything was beautiful in it and had the perfect combination of CGI and good ol fashioned prop building. However, the story just fell flat. I thought it was slow moving and I became bored with the story pretty quickly. I'm not sure if Im a big enough Thor fan to truly enjoy this and I think Thor will be much more palatable to me within the team setting of the Avengers.

Green Lantern:
I was put off from the very beginning with this film because of the silly CGI costume. The costume itself wasnt as bad after viewing the film but the CGI mask to me was utterly ridiculous. I thought the CGI landscapes were created well but there was just too much CGI in this and really didnt look "real" enough to me for me to suspend my disbelief. This story too was very slow moving. The writers just wanted to hammer home every minor point within Hal's origin story and it just seemed like an eternity. When we did get to the battle, i was nonplussed. I thought the villians were poorly chosen and Parallax could have been much cooler. I really wanted to see Sinestro put on the yellow ring (if you dont like spoilers read the title of the thread!!) and was denied that as well. I thought the one bright spot was Ryan Reynolds who I think is just excellent and Blake Lively wasnt too bad either (to look at mainly...realy not much beyond that.)

Transformers 3:

I heard a lot of talk about this one before I went to see it, but I read nothing about the story to keep myself surprised. Some cool things: Nimoy voicing Sentinel Prime...that blew me away because I had no idea he was participating...all the Trek references in the film...the foreshadowing in the beginning when some of the bots are watching Trek and Spock is going crazy destroying stuff. I also thought the the robots looked the best in this film as well. As for the story, it was slightly better than the Transformers 2 but honestly not by much. I dont think the story even varried much from that presented in TF2 with the same plot devices being used again. I thought the story itself moved a bit more logically but i found myself looking at my watch here again. I also didnt like the concept of the Decepticons using aircraft/vehicles in order to fight. Ummm...why not just transform into that to begin with instead of jumping into a fighter jet? I also didnt like not knowing which Autobot was which and why they keep switching each movie even though they arent being killed. Now heres where I am going to take some heat...I really miss Megan Fox in this one. I didnt think I would but her rplacement makes Fox look like an Oscar winner. Fox and Shia had a chemistry on screen together that even if you didnt like her acting, the chemistry was there. Rose has nothing of that. She has little personaility, her accent was out of place, she was too tall for Shia and basically she was extremely stoic IMO. I thought her perfomrance was more for her to get more modeling gigs than it was to become anything resembling an actress. To me they couldnt have cast a worse person. I know Shia said he's out for any future offerings and to be honest, I think this franchise has run its course...unfortunatly I dont think for a second that there wont be another installment of very little story, robots blowing up a city, and robots blowing up each other.



So basically Im holding out for Captain America which I do have high hopes for.

[VulcanFanatic]

You must not have waited until the credits for Green Lantern were over when Sinestro DID put on the yellow ring! I thought Green Lantern and Thor were ok, having never read the Green Lantern or Thor comics i really didnt know much about them so i didnt have any real preconceptions about what the movies would be like. Green Lantern was almost like watching a live action comic book with so much CGI and Thor was a little silly with the humor but they were both good popcorn movies and worth the watch i think.

[TheHSBR]

well that helps a bit. Im actually getting kind of tired of this after credits stuff. I always wonder if there is and if there isnt. Isnt there a way to let the moviegoer know definitively?

EDIT: I just watched the final scene on youtube and that needed to be in the movie itself. It seems like a pretty big plot point if they plan on doing a sequel with the yellow ring and here I would say a majority of the audience will not see it. Save superfluous stuff for the after credit stuff say like all of the Avengers stuff with Fury that basically ties the universe together but isnt needed for that specific franchise's storyline.

[JMW326]

I really enjoyed Thor and thought it fit in well with the other Marvel movies that will be joining together for Avengers.
Green Lantern was fun. It got bad press and horrible reviews for nothing. Saw it twice and loved it both times.
Transformers was great once you got past the silly stuff at the beginning. By the end it turned out to be the best of the three.

Personally I go to movies to enjoy them. Not to nit pick them. I think to many people set themselves up for disappointment with to high expectations and thinking that everything that comes out needs to be bigger and better than the last one. What ever happened to just going to a movie to enjoy a movie?

[Gothneo]

Well, I didn't go to see GL or Transformers because they got such bad reviews, and I've found that basically, if movie doesn't score > 80% on something like Rotten Tomatoes, it will be disappointing.

As a huge Thor fan (I have a run of Thor comics that starts from about #180 to the present ,which is about #620), I was a bit disappointed by the film. Tom Hiddleston did a marvelous acting job and Chris Hemsworth's effort was solid as well, but after that, it was a bit weak for me. The warriors three weren't done justice at all, and I felt they served only as a distraction and the story would have been better served w/o them. I also didn't care for some of the "retconning", such as making asgardians "space aliens", but I get why it was done.

I felt no real chemistry between Thor (Helmsworth) and Jane Foster (Portman), and while early on Thor did have a thing for Jane Foster in the Comics, Thor's true and only love was pretty much always Sif... and they really didn't do Sif any justice either IMO.

Finally, the story was just a bit weak for me, it didn't quite work, but it was a solid effort, and I will watch it again when it comes out on red box, and I suspect I will enjoy it a bit more when I do.

I really like movies, good movies, and pretty much all genres, but for me a good movie is the combination of good acting, a good story, and good cinematography, and sadly, they seem to put out more movies every year, but fewer and fewer are able to pull it all together.

I also saw X-Men: 1st class, I liked it better than Thor, but only slightly, mostly because (again) the way they retconned Sebastian Shaw. But I thought the story worked a bit better than Thor.

Both movies had more pluses than negatives, and maybe I'm getting too old and cranky for some of these types of movies, because, I just didn't feel like they were worth the $9+ ticket price. Maybe I just got used to the price of tickets hanging around between the $4 and $5 range that they were for the better part of 15 years from the mid 80's to the 2000's... in the last decade the average ticket prices have basically doubled.

I'll probably skip Capt America, based on the previews. But if it has good enough reviews, I may see it.

[TheHSBR]

Im also becoming more critical even though prices in my area havent jumped up as much. I can remember paying between $7-8 as a kid and now they are about $10 for standard viewing. I hold all of the new comic movies against Iron Man. Here is a recent production that I think blew every other comic movie out of the water. If I find myself looking at my watch even a few times the movie has pretty much failed because Im no longer interested if even for a few moments. When the first comic movies came out I was overwhelmed with actually seeing SpiderMan or DareDevil onscreen. That novelty has worn off and I hold these films to movie making criteria. Im not going to see my favorite character on the big screen because most of these movies dont fill that category for me (Deadpool will if done correctly). As silly as it may sound I think Trek 09 was the last good movie I saw at the theatre and before that it was Iron Man. I also think that the previews for Cap look pretty good and Im hoping that Tommy Lee Jones just didnt throw his name in the movie for only the money. He usually doesnt do films that are complete junk.

Goth I find it funny that you mention Shaw being retconned but dont mention the fact that the original "first class" is completely different...lol.

[Gothneo]

Ha! yeah, I had issues with that too, but for some reason Shaw stuck in my craw a bit more. They did pull a bunch of characters into the story, like "Angel" who didn't appear in the comics until about 10 years ago... But I think the thing that bugged me was the way they retconned The hell fire club into a kind of "Mutants will rule the world" club, and upped Shaws abilities. The original premise would have worked even better IMO.

And yes, Iron Man 1 was phenomenal! It was everything I love in those types of movies... I thought Downy Jr was perfect. Spot on... and I actually despise Downy Jr, both as an actor and a person, but He really pulled that roll off.... so much that, as I've said even though I don't like Downy Jr, I spent considerable cash to have a Hot Toys Iron Man version of him!

IM 2 was another solid effort, but not as good as IM 1.

The Dark Night and IM 1 I can watch again and again!

Most of these movies aren't outright terrible, but only a few really shine like those two.

[Gothneo]

I'll probably skip Capt America, based on the previews. But if it has good enough reviews, I may see it.

Well, the reviews of Cap on RT and MC weren't bad, so a friend and I went to see it, and we both agreed that it wasn't bad.

MC Score was 67% while RT is 72%, and I thought it was right there at about the the 70% or so mark. It had some small issues, but overall I thought it worked.

Between Cap A, Xmen 1st class & Thor, I think I liked Cap the best of them all!

And this really surprised me.

What worked for me was they kept true to the basic origin. Rogers "character" displayed true humility and a heroism. My only critiques are that, at times, Chris Evans comes off a bit as a dufas, and there are a couple parts of the film that need to pick up the pace and move the story forward a bit quicker, however, in a 2 hour movie, these were brief enough that they didn't detract IMO.

I gave it a thumbs up and was pleasantly surprised by it.

[VulcanFanatic]

My Brother went to see it on friday and said that he really enjoyed it, so i may have to go see it myself.

[JulesLuvsShinzon]

I've got to say that I saw the Captain America movie trailer and thought it looked about the dumbest thing going - rivalled only in dumbness by the trailer for the Bad Robot/Spielberg outing Super 8. The only thing that made me want to make a return visit to the Odeon was The Woman in Black and that doesn't come out until the Autumn.

I was sitting in the theatre in my Real 3D glasses awaiting the start of The Deathly Hollows Part 2 and pondering the paucity of decent summer movies - apart from the one I was about to see that was, and I couldn't help but think "shouldn't there be a trailer for a Star Trek movie in there somewhere?"

Anyway, The Deathly Hallows Part 2 was enjoyable and a good summing up of the 8 movie franchise - even if they did mess with the plot a bit. Mind you, I don't think this was shot in 3D (with two cameras) and the upscaled 3D (much like upscaled HD) isn't as good, although the final battle with its sweeping views of Hogwarts and the dramatic landscape of Scotlandshire (or wherever) does make one feel satisfyingly airsick if you sit in the very front row like we did!

[Gothneo]

I've got to say that I saw the Captain America movie trailer and thought it looked about the dumbest thing going - rivalled only in dumbness by the trailer for the Bad Robot/Spielberg outing Super 8.

I have to agree. Based on the trailer I did not think Captain America was going to be a good movie at all. But it did surprise me. Its not going to win any awards, but as an avid comic book fan, and particularly as a Marvel comic fan, somehow it worked for me.

some of the effects where they "rescale" rogers as a 90 lb weekling are a bit off and inconsistent. And once he takes the serum and get big, they have a bit of a campy section where he's selling bonds, but it all serves a purpose, and the characters attitude of no job is too small to do your part and serve your country is a good message IMO.

And I think that's why it worked for me. The message was simple and forthright, just like the original Cap A Comic, the action scenes reminded me of the comic and we well done, and the red skull made a great protagonist.

I haven't seen Deathly hallows yet... will wait for it to hit the red box for $1

[JulesLuvsShinzon]

Yeah, they show Roger's transformation in the trailer and it's like "Ooooh!". Can you just imagine if you could order one of those machines on the internet? Women everywhere would be leaving trails of beer and porno mags and peanuts just to lure their man within reach of the doorway and then SLAM!!!!! Throw the switch and you have an instant hunk! LOL! I just thought that was so funny!! I really don't think the film makers would have got away with a cabinet that turns Rosie Barr into Angelina Jolie ... unless it was a gross-out movie and in the worst possible taste!!!

Mind you, when you catch The Dark Knight Rises you may well think that Tom Hardy spent some time in cooking in that cabinet because he'd never squeeze into that shiny Shinzon suit now!

I just don't like Cap.n A's suit!!! It's so naff!!

And on the subject of men's bodies, for some completely gratuitous reason both Rupert Grint and Daniel Radcliffe remove their tops although, somehow, the effect doesn't quite top the "Oooooh!" factor. The excuse is that they rode on a dragon and bailed out into a lake, but Grint looks a bit pudgy in his hipster jeans and Daniel Radcliffe has a kind of rampant Brazillian straking past his belly button like some giant caterpillar climbing out of his boxers! You just don't think of Harry Potter, boy wizard, in that way - maybe he got carried away waving that wand when he was trying to grow some shavable hair on his chin!

[Gothneo]

I just don't like Cap.n A's suit!!! It's so naff!!

Well... I can understand that... he is kind of wearing the American Flag, and your British.. so yeah I get that!

I should suspect that this might be to your liking better Jules?!




A bit of Cap Brit?!

[FHC]

I can always count on Jules to find a way to get Tom Hardy into a thread.

[TheHSBR]

I dont think Cap beats IronMan for the top spot but I may argue that it comes close to my secnd place comic movie. I think it may be the first time a movie has improved the origin story of a character.

[Gothneo]

Oh, no way is it better than Iron Man or The Dark knight!

I think I liked Spiderman and Spiderman 2 better also, but Cap is a really solid effort, much better than many recent offerings in the comic genre. I was really pleasantly surprised by it.

[JMW326]

I loved Cap. Definitely one of the top 3 best superhero origin movies of all time.

[TheHSBR]

For me only time will tell on Cap. When I first saw Spiderman 1,2,3 I thought they were all pretty good. None have stood the test of time for me. So for me, I will have to wait and see. Did anyone else get the feel that Cap was a lot like Indiana Jones? I thought the whole movie had same feel with the overthetop heroics and action sequences.

[JulesLuvsShinzon]

Ooooh! A prime bit of British Beef! Well, you know, I always fancy a hunk that flies the flag - or at least wears it on his chest! LOL!

And, as for getting Tom Hardy into a thread - I guess when The Dark Knight Rises comes out then no one can accuse me of being off-topic!

Expect some full particpation in this thread when that one makes and appearance in cinemas!

[Gothneo]

For me only time will tell on Cap. When I first saw Spiderman 1,2,3 I thought they were all pretty good. None have stood the test of time for me. So for me, I will have to wait and see. Did anyone else get the feel that Cap was a lot like Indiana Jones? I thought the whole movie had same feel with the overthetop heroics and action sequences.

SM3 was a wreck IMO. I still like SM2 the best out of them all.

Well... since Cap has been around since the 40's and Jones came about in the early 80's I'd say Jones has more of a Cap America Feel to it! The movie seemed pretty on parr with the comic origins, which had been around for sometime, so I'm going to say no... I didn't find myself thinking about Indiana Jones during the movie. Jones was a mix of intellectual and bravery, whereas Rogers is more about Patriotism and bravery... I dont think many people would accuse Cap America of "over thinking" a situation.

And, as for getting Tom Hardy into a thread - I guess when The Dark Knight Rises comes out then no one can accuse me of being off-topic!

I don't think anyone was accusing you of being off topic! I think FHC was just taking a small poke at your obsession