Robin Hood

Release Date: May 12th, 2010

Click here for the Robin Hood Trailer.

Late in the 12th Century, Robin Longstride is a common archer fighting in the Third Crusade under King Richard the Lionheart(Danny Huston). In the last battle of the war, Robin, along with his nephew Will Scarlet(Scott Grimes), friend Allan A'Dayle(Alan Doyle) and fellow soldier Little John(Kevin Durand) are put in stockades following a brawl the injured the king. After Richard's death, the men escape and plan to return home to England after 10 years of fighting. While headed for the fairy, Robin and his men come across the kings royal guard who had been ambushed by Sir Godfrey(Mark Strong), an English Knight with French lineage and allegiance. The only Knight still alive is Sir Robert Locksley of Nottingham, who wishes Robin to return his sword to his father.

Robin finds the King's crown and sees an easy attempt home. Robin and his men assume the identities of the Knights and proceed to return the crown to England. Upon arrival they witness the crowning of the new king, King John(Oscar Isaac), Richard's younger brother. John immediately imposes harsh taxes on the kingdom and sends out sir Godfrey to collect them, not knowing of the knight's true allegiance. Godfrey uses his power to try and stir up Civil War in the kingdom, which would allow the French King to easily take over England.

Robin obeys the wishes of the deceased Sir Robert and returns to Nottingham where he delivers the sword to the Knight's father, Walter(Max Von Sydow) and Sir Robert's wife, Lady Marion(Cate Blanchett). As Godfrey continues to create unrest in the kingdom and the French King and his army move closer to the coast, Robin must unite the people of England to fight under the newly appointed King John or face an imminent take over by France.

Russell Crowe and director Ridley Scott team up for the fifth time to bring you a story of how a man became a legend and how a common archer became the most wanted outlaw in all of England. This film is a different, and refreshing, take on the traditional story of Robin Hood. As opposed to being a refurbished story of the typical outlaw adventures of Robin Hood and his band of Merry Men, this story seeks to tell you how and why Robin Hood became an outlaw.

I love how this film took a step away from the traditional story. I mean, how many times can you watch the same story over and over again? It was good to see how the character we have come to love over so many years became who he is. Origin stories are always interesting to me because most of the time we do not think about how our favorite characters in film and literature got to where they are.

Scott was definitely trying to go for a more realistic approach to the classic tale. There was much more action and story than there was romance as we have seen in previous Robin Hood films (for example Kevin Costner's take). They also didn't try to glam up the characters. Both Blanchett and Crowe looked like common people which, you could tell, was supposed to represent the Crusade's take on Robin and the poor living conditions of the people in England. For me it made everything appear as it may have in those times.

I thought the cast of the film was fantastic. Crowe played an excellent Robin. We already know that Crowe has action prowess from his films like Gladiator, 3:10 to Yuma and Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World. Blanchett was a very different Lady Marion. In the past, Marion is typically striking beautiful and elegant. However, Blanchett's Marion was gritty, real and was shown as more of a commoner than someone of higher class society. I actually prefer Blanchett's Marion to any other I have seen. Mark Strong and Oscar Isaac were both dubious villains. Strong was a clear villain throughout the entire film which gave you a nice character to hate. Isaac's character was sort on the fence at times. At first he was a spoiled prince, then he was the harsh king, followed by a king uniting his kingdom to fight the french and then finally going back to the villain King John.

I liked the co-characters of Will Scarlett, Little John and Friar Tuck, played by Scott Grimes, Kevin Durand and Mark Addy respectively. There parts were not major, which I was disappointed in, but nonetheless they did add to the fantasy of the film. Should Scott ever decide to throw out a sequel to this film these roles would be greatly increased and would do very well.

The action of the film was pretty good. There wasn't a total onslaught of fighting, just some good battles speckled throughout the film leading up to a climactic battle on the south coast of England against the French. I am a sucker for archers. I love archery and I love seeing it in films. The archery in this film, along with the other fight scenes were done really well though I thought there could have been more, especially in the end battle. While the end battle was good, it was slightly short and didn't feel as epic as it should have.

Overall, Robin Hood was a good. It was a great, new insight into the legend and it was awesome seeing how the outlaw came to be. A top notch cast performed great and director Ridley Scott made a film worthy of holding the Robin Hood title. If you are a fan of other Robin Hood movies then this one is definitely for you but it also has an appeal that will draw in all sorts of audiences. Do not expect to get tied up on the romance between Robin and Marion or the outlaw adventures but be prepared to see why all of that is the way it is.

I give Robin Hood 9 Merry Men in Tights out of 10.

Kick-Ass

Release Date: April 16th, 2010

Click here for the Kick-Ass Trailer.

Why hasn't anybody ever tried to become a real-life superhero? That is the exact question and point of Kick-Ass. Dave Lizewski(Aaron Johnson) is you average everyday teenager who wonders why nobody has ever tried to be a crime fighting superhero. After being mugged one day while a bystander watches and does nothing, Dave decides enough is enough. Buying a scuba suit from eBay and arming himself with fighting batons, Dave begins to wonder the streets looking for people in need and his first case comes sooner than expected. Walking home from school, Dave encounters the muggers who attacked him earlier breaking into a car. Dressed in his costume, Dave tries to fight off the muggers who end up stabbing him and leaving. As Dave staggers away he is struck by a car, which then drives off and leaves him as well.

Due to his accident, most of Dave's skeleton is covered with metal plates and his nerve endings are fried removing his ability to feel pain. Dave then opens up a MySpace account for his new alter ego, Kick-Ass, who has made city wide news after a video of him defending a man against three gang members hit the internet. Because of Kick-Ass' stardom, the girl of Dave's dreams, Katie Deauxma(Lyndsy Fonseca) asks Kick-Ass to take care of a guy that has been harassing her. Kick-Ass goes to the guys apartment only to find out that he is a violent drug dealer. As the man goes to kill him, Kick-Ass is saved by Mindy Macready, a.k.a. Hit-Girl(Chloe Grace Moretz) who kills all of the drug dealers with help from her dad and former police officer Damon Macready, a.k.a. Big Daddy(Nicholas Cage). Big Daddy and Hit-Girl think Kick-Ass has potential and tell him that they could all work together and that they will be in touch.

Kick-Ass goes on with his day to day life only to find out that the drug dealers Hit-Girl and Big Daddy killed were working for Crime Boss Frank D'Amico(Mark Strong), the biggest crime lord in New York. Kick-Ass also realizes that D'Amico thinks Kick-Ass is killing all of his men as opposed to the real threats, Hit-Girl and Big Daddy who have a personal vendetta against the entire D'Amico crime family. D'Amico begins to formulate a plan to kill Kick-Ass and the only way he is going to survive is with the help of Big Daddy and Hit-Girl.

If I could describe this movie in one word it would be epic, bu I personally believe that the only way to describe this movie lies within the very title, this movie was Kick-Ass! It blended a great mix of well-known actors like Nicholas Cage and Mark Strong with some excellent up and comers like Aaron Johnson and Christopher Mintz-Plasse and Chloe Grace Moretz. It took the comic book movie genre and turned it on its head creating one of the most unique and entertaining comic book movies ever.

Where to begin on this film. Well for starters, let me talk about the subject matter. This is not your mother's superhero/comic book movie. Its violent, graphic and contains more curse words than an episode of South Park. But it all works. The movie, directed by Matthew Vaughn, is an adaptation of the Marvel comic book series by Mark Millar and is one of the best adaptations to date. It follows the story very closely and does its best to stick true to the characters and capture the same feel that the comics were trying to impose. As far as comic book movies go, this one will definitely rank at the top of the list.

The film also had an amazing cast and amazing characters. A lot of times, movies either try to get as many big names in as possible or they try to keep most of the big names out. Kick-Ass tried to fuse that together by incorporating big names with small names and everything in between. Rolling out the big league names are acting greats Nicholas Cage and Mark Strong. Cage did a phenomenal job as vengeful ex-cop Damon Macready/Big Daddy. The character seemed to form a mix between "Elvis and Adam West" (who we know was the original televised Batman) coming from director Matthew Vaughn. What I liked most about Cage's performance was his awkwardness. Looking at him, you would never guess he spends his time hunting down and killing mob members and drug dealers. Sometimes when he talked under his alter ego of Big Daddy, I got feelings of William Shatner's Captain Kirk from Star Trek. It made the character seem like an odd ball which I thought worked perfectly. Strong also did great as crime boss frank D'Amico. Strong had the intense style of a hard core killer mixed with the humorous aspects of the family man that he also played.

Vaughn also did a great job of blending in great up and coming actors like Christopher Mintz-Plasse and Lyndsy Fonseca, with some rather unknowns like the lead Aaron Johnson and the show stealing Chloe Grace Moretz. Mintz-Plasse was awesome as Red Mist, another wannabe superhero who signs on to help out Kick-Ass. Mintz-Plasse has already a nice resume under his belt with such movies as Superbad, Role Models, and Year One and can now add another notch with Kick-Ass. Aaron Johnson, being that he was in every scene, was very well cast as the title character. He really brought the movie together and did a great job of making a real, down-to-earth character. However, the real show-stealer goes to the young Chloe Grace Moretz. Moretz has one of the most "controversial" roles of the film playing the 9-year old mob murdering Hit-Girl. Let me just tell you that if you are offended by a girl of this age saying some very crude words and packing enough hacking and slashing to make Kill Bill look like The Andy Griffith Show, then please walk away now.

Moretz was fantastic and was really the star of the show in my opinion. She took on the mature role extremely well and showed that she has some real acting chops. A lot of people were "offended" by her role, like that twat Roger Ebert. Well to that I saw get over it. This movie is rated "R". That means it probably isn't good for young children or the faint of heart. But what many people fail to realize is that the movie is also fiction. When you get so offended by something then you can no longer discern fact from fiction and it is you who needs some help.

Sorry about the rant and back to the review. The action in this movie was violent, intense and a wicked good time. It rivaled the action of many other comic book/superhero movies and Hit-Girl packed enough punch to make Bruce Lee flinch. The film also incorporated some very funny themes. This movie will have you laughing just as much as it will have you wincing at the sheer amount of damage that is dealt with each crushing blow from our heroes. I also thoroughly enjoyed the music in this film. Soundtracks are very important and the right music can make that perfect scene that much better which is the story with Kick-Ass.

Overall Kick-Ass is one of my favorite movies of the new year and will definitely be high on my list of overall amazing comic book movies. The characters were great, the acting was great, the action was great. An all around great movie for those who are not easily offended.

I give Kick-Ass 10 mob murdering little girls out of 10.

---

For more posts on entertainment and technology visit our PC Game Tech Blog

Sherlock Holmes

Release Date: December 25th, 2009

Click here for the Sherlock Holmes Trailer.

In the damp, dark streets of 1891 London, Sherlock Holmes(Robert Downey Jr.) along with his friend and partner Dr. John Watson(Jude Law) are in a race against time to stop Lord Henry Blackwood(Mark Strong)from performing a ritualistic human sacrifice. Holmes and Watson arrive just in time and arrest Blackwood. Three months later, on the day of his execution, Blackwood requests a meeting with Holmes at which point he tells him that three more people will die and that their deaths will change the very nature of their world. After this meeting Blackwood is hanged and pronounced dead by Watson himself.

After the execution Holmes is approached by Irene Adler(Rachel McAdams), the only person to ever outwit him. Irene offers him a job from her employer to find a missing person. In the meantime, Blackwood has been said to be risen from the dead and seen walking away from his own tomb. As Holmes investigates deeper into Blackwood's mysterious resurrection, he is led to the Temple of the Four Orders, an occult-dabbling secret society to which Blackwood previously belonged. The order wishes for Holmes to find and stop Blackwood as they believe he will attack them. Holmes deducts that Blackwood is attempting to cast a spell based off of the mythological sphinx, requiring Blackwood to kill for 4 different animal constituents. Holmes realizes that the fourth and final murder is the English Parliament. Holmes, Watson and Irene then race across London in an effort to find Blackwood and stop him before he can complete his takeover of all of Parliament.

It has been quite sometime since audiences have enjoyed a full featured Sherlock Holmes film and director Guy Ritchie aims to brings us a new and reinvigorated Holmes and Watson. Ritchie's direction of Holmes is one that we have not seen in the typical movies and shows based on the great detective. Robert Downey Jr. gives us a more bohemian Holmes. What I found particularly intriguing was how Downey and Ritchie's Holmes was a more physical character in the sense that he really knew how to take a man down. Reading other reviews I have seen a lot of negative feelings towards the brawling nature of the new Holmes with people saying it isn't how the character is supposed to act. Downey's Holmes does some serious fighting in this film but it is different from your typical "beat-em-up" fight scenes. Holmes, as we all know, is a master of detail, science and precision and all of those characteristics show in his fighting style. As Holmes analyzes his crime scenes and other situations for exactly the right way to do something, he does the same for his fights. Before a few major fights in the film, Holmes is shown, in slow motion, beating up his attacker while simultaneously describing what he is doing and what effect it will have on his opponent. Its kind of like you are in Holmes' head. Then the scene rewinds and you see Holmes' analysis in action. Many people who are great fans of the original written Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle say that Downey's fighting Holmes seems more closely true to the original character portrayed in the books.

But Holmes isn't the only one who can deliver a punch. Jude Law's John Watson character also had his own array of impressive fighting moves. Law's Watson was not the bumbling character typically seen in many adaptations of the classic character. The film made a point of reminding you of Watson's history as a soldier, doctor, womanizer and gambler which added depth to the character. Law had said in an interview that there was unexplored material in this film and that he was intrigued by the films exploration of Holmes and Watson's friendship. I think Downey and Law had an excellent chemistry between the two of them. Law's Watson was essentially the voice of reason in Holmes' life and his main companion in everything he did. I liked how Ritchie explored the relationship between the two characters. He showed how Holmes would have been effected if Watson were to discontinue working with him and how much Watson was apart of Holmes and vice versa.

The overall theme of the film was entertaining and the story was intriguing, like most Holmes stories are. I found the clash between Holmes' science and Mark Strong's character of Lord Blackwood's "magic" to be an interesting conflict. It made for an interesting twist in the film as well as a nice challenge for the great detective. Now anybody who has read a Sherlock Holmes novel or seen a visual adaptation knows that Holmes greatest weapon and asset is his attention to detail and his ability to perceive even the most minute detail of his surroundings. An interesting thing Guy Ritchie did with this is that he showed how Holmes' greatest asset was also his greatest curse. In a scene between Holmes', Watson and Watson's fiance Mary Morstan(Kelly Reilly), Holmes sits in a restaurant awaiting the arrival of the other two. While waiting, we see that Holmes is analyzing every single thing that is going on around him and we also see the strain it is putting on him. Only when Watson and his fiance arrive is Holmes snapped out of his near trance. I found this aspect to be very interesting and I loved how it showed a different side of the iconic character.

Overall I was impressed with Sherlock Holmes. I thought that this new envisioning of one of the most iconic characters in all of literature brought a much needed new life that has the potential to not only keep traditional fans interested but also grabbing the attention of new fans like myself. This film has a little bit of everything in it from smarts to action to humor to magic. Everybody can find something to like in this film. Why not start the new year off with a new movie?

I give Sherlock Holmes 8 Double-billed hats out of 10 (Note: Surprisingly, no iconic double-billed hats were used in this film)