Grown Ups

Release Date: June 25th, 2010

Click here for the Grown Ups Trailer.

Lenny Feder(Adam Sandler), Eric Lamonsoff(Kevin James), Kurt McKenzie(Chris Rock), Rob Hillard(Rob Schneider) and Marcus Higgins(David Spade) are 5 friends who reunite after 30 years to mourn the death of their Junior High basketball coach, Coach "Buzzer"(Blake Clark), who led them to their first, and only, championship. The friends and their families gather in New England for the funeral and decide to spend the following 4th of July weekend in the very same lake house they celebrated their victory in 30 years ago.

While at the lake house Lenny, along with the rest of his friends, are shocked to find that their kids would rather sit inside and play videogames so the group forces them all to stay outside and find new ways to amuse themselves. When the families gather later the first night at a local restaurant, Lenny runs into his old nemesis Dickie Bailey(Colin Quinn). Dickie still holds a grudge about their basketball game 30 years ago, claiming that Lenny was out of bounds and challenges him and his friends to a rematch to which Lenny declines.

Later on at a 4th of July barbecue, the families run into Dickie and his friends again, who try to challenge the group to a rematch only this time Lenny and his friends agree. The game goes back and forth for a long time but, due to the players being old and out of shape, everybody quits except for Lenny and Dickie who bring out their sons to continue playing with them. As the game winds down, Lenny has a chance to make a game winning shot, exactly the same as he did 30 years ago. However, Lenny intentionally misses the shot, giving Dickie a sense of victory.

At the fireworks later that night, Lenny and his friends watch fireworks with their families, having an increased appreciation and love for one another. The weekend accomplished what it was intended for by bringing all the families closer together and helping them realize what was truly important in their lives.

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Adam Sandler has been one of my favorite comedians for a long time now. He has a history of making some insanely funny, albeit over the top films and was one of the funniest cast members on Saturday Night Live. That being said, Sandler has taken a different turn in his comedic ways, shifting focus from all out comedy explosions like Happy Gilmore and The Waterboy to more subdued comedies that always find a way to add in some life lesson like Click or Funny People.

For me, this new style of comedy doesn't really work well for Sandler. While these movies are all, for the most part, pretty good films, they lack the classic Sandler humor that made him great in the first place. The same goes for the other actors in the film like Chris Rock, who hasn't done a film in many years, David Spade, Kevin James and Rob Schneider. All of these actors seem to be reverting to a more mild mannered form of comedy. This could be due to the fact that all the actors have been making movies for quite some time, with the exclusion of James. They seem to be slipping into what I like to call the "Eddie Murphy Complex". Now that most of them are married and have kids, they are trying to make movies that they are comfortable with their kids watching, just like the last 20 Eddie Murphy movies.

That all being said, this wasn't a terrible movie and it did bring out some genuine laughs. The comedy in this film wasn't as subdued as in some films but it was definitely more family friendly. The film wasn't as funny as I had hoped it would be but nevertheless it still made me laugh and when you bring in 5 actors that are known for comedy its going to happen. I thought all the actors in this film did a great job. The main 5, Sandler, James, Rock, Spade and Schneider were all pretty standard and delivered up to par performances. Salma Hayek, Maria Bello, Maya Rudolph, and Joyce Van Patten, who played Sandler's wife Roxanne, James' wife Sally, Rock's wife Deanne and Schneider's much older wife Gloria, respectively, all did a nice job too. They were all such different characters that it made for a nice hodgepodge of personalities to blend together.

It seems that Sandler always puts the same 7 people in all of his films and this one is no different. Supporting character like Steve Buscemi, Tim Meadows and Colin Quinn are all familiar faces we have come to see in Sandler films and I find it kind of nice to have them there. It's kind of like a "Where's Waldo" game when you watch the film, trying to find the Sandler regulars.

Overall this wasn't a bad film, but it wasn't a great one either. Sandler has been lacking of late with his films on the comedy front. I think he needs to revert back to his old school ways. However, I do like a serious Sandler every now and then and those of you who saw Reign Over Me know what I'm talking about.

Standard acting, above average laughs and a decent life message make this one of Sandler's decent family films. Definitely not his best and definitely not his worst, Grown Ups succeeds as an average film.

I give Grown Ups 6.75 games of arrow roulette out of 10.

The Last Airbender

Release Date: July 1st 2010

Click here for The Last Airbender Trailer.

In a world where people can harness and control the four elements of wind, water, earth and fire, one individual stands supreme, the Avatar. The Avatar has the unique ability to learn how to control all four elements and is tasked with keeping peace between the four nations. But the last Avatar went missing nearly 100 years ago. Since then, the Fire Nation has declared open war on all other nations and has completely wiped out the Air Nation and begun enslaving both the Water Nations and Earth Nations.

The threat of Fire Nation dominance over the world seems almost complete until a two young members of the Water Nation, a young warrior named Sokka(Jackson Rathbone) and his water bending sister Katara(Nicola Peltz), find a young boy frozen in a globe of ice. When they release the boy, they realize that he is of the Air Nation and the last of his kind, Remembering the stories that the Avatar was to be born of the Air Nation, Sokka and Katara determine that this boy is the Avatar.

The Avatar has reincarnated himself as Aang(Noah Ringer), you young boy from the Northern Air Temple. Aang doesn't realize that he has been frozen for nearly 100 years. Sokka and Katara take Aang back to their tribe where Young Prince Zuko(Dev Patel), son of Fire Lord Ozai(Cliff Curtis), is waiting. Zuko was exiled by his father and determines that the only way to get back into his good graces is to capture the Avatar and deliver him to his father.

Aang agrees to go with Zuko if he promises not to hurt any of the villagers. While aboard Zuko's ship, Aang quickly escapes and is picked up by Katara and Sokka on Appa, Aang's pet flying bison. Sokka and Katara tell Aang that they will travel with him on his journey. The Only way for Aang to defeat the Fire Nation is to master all four elements. Aang, Katara and Sokka make their way to the Northern Water Tribe where so Aang can learn water bending from a true master.

Zuko learns of this plan and the Fire Nation attacks the Northern Water tribe in order to stop the Avatar. Fire Lord Ozai realizes that there is only one way to stop the Avatar. A comet, known as Sozin's Comet, pases by the world of the Avatar every hundred years. The Fire Nation benders are able to draw power from it as the comet makes their bending impossibly powerful. In order for Aang to defeat the fire nation he has to master the four elements before Sozin's Comet arrives in 3 years.

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Ok so I am a HUGE fan of the Nickelodeon cartoon Avatar: The Last Airbender, the basis behind this movie. The cartoon brought something different to the normal hodgepodge of animated crap that decays the minds of today's youth. It had plot, entertainment, humor, drama, action and anything else you could want in a good show. So needless to say that when I saw the first teaser for The Last Airbender I was giddy, to say the least. And then I saw that it was being directed by M. Night Shyamalan and I thought "no no no! Why him!" Let's face it, after The Sixth Sense and Signs Shyamalan's movies have pretty much sucked. But then I thought, "well this already has a set plot and characters and storyline, he can't possibly throw something in there to completely ruin it." I was wrong.

To say that M. Night Shyamalan ruined this movie is an understatement. He literally took the pure joy that was the cartoon and beat it to within an inch of its life and then proceeded to run over it with a combine while laughing at it. Almost everything about this movie was wrong, from the over exaggerated bending moves to the dull, lifeless characters to even the mispronunciation of the characters' names Shyamalan just didn't get anything right.

Lets start off with the characters. Noah Ringer plays Aang and here we have our first mistake. This kid was purely horrendous. Ringer was emotionless, lifeless and tried to act better than he really can. The original character is supposed to be fun loving, charismatic and energetic and Ringer was anything but all those. Nicola Peltz, who plays Katara, was equally as bad. While she was slightly better than ringer, its only like saying that cat poo is better than dog poo. The we have Mr. Rathbone. Jackson Rathbone, who many of you may recognize from those Twilight movies, plays Sokka, Katara's older brother. Shyamalan decided to take the most unserious character from the show and try to make him into a badass leader. Well Mr. Shyamalan, mission failed.

The only salvageable performances came from Dev Patel, who played Prince Zuko, and Shaun Toub who played Zuko's uncle Iroh. Patel's performance wasn't bad considering he is an Indian actor playing and Asian character! Toub wasn't hard;y in the movie enough to get screwed by Shyamalan so kudos to him. Nearly all the characters were lifeless. Even Aang's pet flying bison Appa and his lemurbat MoMo (who was only seen maybe twice) were emotionless, as opposed to the cartoon where they added life and comic relief.

My next gripe is with the dialog and mispronunciation of names. Sokka, Aang and Iroh were the top three mispronounced names, oh, and even the word Avatar was pronounced with long "a" instead of a short one sometimes. Is it really that hard to insert the DVD of the cartoon into the DVD player and listen to how they pronounce the names? I mean seriously? The bending effects were cool. I will give the movie that. When there was actual bending and fighting going on the movie did good though the actions used sometimes to perform the bending were too long and drawn out which seemed completely pointless.

The opening credits have given anybody who has seen the show or movie regret as it stated "Book One: Water" which, of course, was the name given to the first season of the cartoon implying that there are two more movies that are being made. I feel that their only hope of success is to find a new director and writer. And while I am not particularly fond of different actors being brought in to play the same role as somebody else, the next movies could definitely benefit from it, especially in the title character of Aang.

Overall M. Night Shyamalan managed to take a beloved Nickelodeon cartoon that was one of the best ever created and turn it into a steaming pile of crap. If you have never ever seen the cartoon then there is the vague hop that you may find something in this film to like. But for those of us who were fans the original source material, this film just does not simply live up to our heightened expectations.

I give The Last Airbender 5 six-legged flying bison out of 10.

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The A-Team

Release Date: June 11th, 2010

Click here for The A-Team Trailer.

Deep in the heart of Mexico John "Hannibal" Smith(Liam Neeson) is on a rescue mission to save his teammate Templeton "Faceman" Peck(Bradley Cooper) from a renegade Mexican general. En route to Face, Hannibal enlists the help of disgraced Army Ranger Bosco "B.A." Baracus(Quinton Jackson). The two manage to free Face and escape to an army hospital to enlist insane chopper pilot H.M. "Howling Mad" Murdock(Sharlto Copley). The four men flee the hospital with the General in pursuit, narrowly escaping death multiple times thanks to the incredible, and unbelievable, flying of Murdock. The team makes their way across the American/Mexican border where the general's helicopter is destroyed by an United States Air Force Jet.

"Eight years and eighty successful missions later", the four men have become the most highly-regarded, elite combat unit in the United States Army and are stationed in Iraq. A C.I.A Agent, Agent Lynch(Patrick Wilson) arrives one day an informs Hannibal and his commanding officer General Morrison(Gerald McRaney) that Iraqi insurgents are in possession of a United States Mint printing press as well as U.S. Treasury plates and have printed over $1 billion in counterfeit money. Lynch wants Hannibal and his team to retrieve the plates. At the same time, DCIS Captain Charissa Sosa(Jessica Biel), who coincidentally was Face's ex-girlfriend, arrives in Iraq and informs Face that he and his team needs to stay away from the plates and out of Baghdad.

Hannibal finds out that the mercenary group Black Forest, who was working with the U.S. Army, is going to be retrieving the plates lead by their leader Brock Pike(Brian Bloom). Hannibal disregards General Morrison's orders and stages an unofficial "Black ops" mission to retrieve the plates. Hannibal and his team return successfully from the mission and go to meet with Morrison. On the way Morrison's jeep is blown up with Morrison presumably dead. Hannibal realizes it was Pike and the rest of Black Forest but is unable to stop them before they make off with the plates.

Hannibal and his team are charged with Morrison's death and the stealing of the plates and are dishonorably discharged and sentenced to 10 years in separate Federal Prisons. Six Months later, Hannibal breaks out of prison with the help of Lynch and the C.I.A. and reassembles his team. Hannibal along with Face, B.A. and Murdock stage a plan to find Pike and the plates and clear their names. But there is more to the plates than Hannibal realizes which unfolds into a deeper and darker plot than expected.

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Who doesn't love an action movie based off of one of the most beloved t.v. sitcoms from the 80's? That's what I thought. The A-Team comes from director Joe Carnahan who tries to out his own spin on the iconic show without sacrificing what made it great in the first place. Carnahan brings together a great, if not extremely mixed cast for this film. The A-Team has everything from UFC fighters and Award-winning actors to upcoming Hollywood stars.

Let's "Face" it (ya get it? "Face"?......whatever) nobody looks at a trailer for The A-Team or hears about this film and thinks "man I can not wait to see the gripping plot or the award-winning story". People come to see this movie for the action, the explosions, the gunfights and the humor and on that front this film really delivers. The story isn't immaculate, and the acting isn't something you are going to find in a some big movie like The Shawshank Redemption. But that isn't the point of this movie. The point is the action.

Oh, and if you want realistic action then find another movie, because you won't find it here (and I'm not sure you should even be looking here). The action in this movie is definitely high octane, face melting action and it comes at you from start to finish. As the lovely Jessica Biel states towards the beginning of the movie "these h=guys are the best at what they do and they specialize in the ridiculous" which couldn't be closer to the truth. From barrel rolls and mid air stalls in helicopters to floating a semi trailer with airbags to even trying to fly a tank (yeah, you read that right) the action never gets dull. That is one of the main reasons I loved this movie. It was fun to watch. With all the serious movies coming out lately like Avatar, Shutter Island or even The Crazies a movie with over-the-top, insane and unrealistic action like this one is a welcome break.

I said earlier that you won't be coming to this film for award-winning acting. That being said, I was not trying to imply that the acting was terrible. Quite the contrary. The overall cast of the film did a pretty good job making everything flow. Liam Neeson performed wonderfully (I mean he's Liam Neeson, come on now). He really seemed to capture the original character of Hannibal from the television series. Bradley Cooper is proving to be one of the hottest new actors in Hollywood right now. He shows his range a little bit in this film bouncing between funny man, ladies man and action man. I was really impressed with Quinton "Rampage" Jackson's performance. When you think of a big, tough UFC fighter you don't typically think big Hollywood movie. However Jackson didn't seem out of place at all with the cast and showed that he could hold his own in acting. My favorite performance was from Sharlto Copley. The South-African native proved he could act with his performance in District 9 and he followed it up nicely with The A-Team. He was, without a doubt, the comedic relief in the film. Copely did a great job pulling off a American southern accent and made himself very believable.

This movie was packed with insane action, some very nice laughs and came out to be just a straight good time. On all those fronts it succeeded. Was it a contender for an Academy Award for Best Picture? No. Was it a contender for an Oscar Nominee for Best Screenplay? Probably not. Does anybody really think of seeing this movie in the hopes of receiving any of those qualities? Absolutely not. This is movie is good for what it is and set out to be, an action flick. If you wanna see a ton of stuff blowing up, a bunch of insane stunts that would most likely never happen in real life and if you wanna laugh your butt off then you should definitely hit up your local theater and check out this movie. Sure the plot was a little predictable but who cares? You get to see "Rampage" Jackson body slam somebody into a freight tank and Sharlto Copley cook with gunpowder. What more do you need?

I give The A-Team 9 Flying Tanks out of 10

Toy Story 3

Release Date: June 18th, 2010

Click here for the Tory Story 3 Trailer.

Andy has grown up and is on his way to the big, adult world of college, a place that doesn't really have a place for fond childhood toys. Knowing that Andy is leaving, Woody(Tom Hanks), Buzz Lightyear(Tim Allen) and the rest of the toys are worried that they might be put in the attic or worse, thrown in the garbage. Andy intends to take only Woody with him to college and begins to put the rest of the toys in a trash bag bound for the attic. But when Andy's mom mistakes the bag for trash, she pitches it to the curb. Thankfully the toys escape the garbage truck and make their way into a box of donated toys bound for Sunnyside Daycare. Woody joins the toys only in an attempt to draw them back to Andy with no luck as the toys believe Andy pitched them to the curb intentionally.

As the toys arrive at Sunnyside they are warmly greeted with open arms by the multitude of toys already at the daycare, including the "leader" of the toys Lots-o-Huggin' Bear(Ned Beatty) who goes by Lotso. All the toys are content on starting a new life at Sunnyside except for Woody, who is intent on remaining Andy's toy. Woody tries to persuade the toys to return to Andy's with him to no avail and begins the trek back home alone. Lotso tells Andy's toys that they will be a part of the "caterpillar room". Everything seems great until the children return. The children in the caterpillar room are ruthless toddlers whose knowledge of playing with toys extends as far as how many pieces they can stick up their nose.

Woody, in the meantime, made it as far as the street until he was picked up by a sweet little girl named Bonnie from Sunnyside who took Woody home to be with her toys Chuckles the Clown(Bud Luckey), Mr. Pricklepants(Timothy Dalton), Trixie(Kristen Schaal), Buttercup(Jeff Garlin), Dolly(Bonnie Hunt), the Peas-in-a-Pod and Totoro. Woody explains that he just came from Sunnyside to which Bonnie's toys tell him that the daycare is a deathtrap for toys. Woody returns to Sunnyside to find that his friends are being imprisoned by Lotso and Buzz, who has been reset to demo mode by Lotso.

Time is running out for Woody and the rest of the toys. Andy will be leaving at any moment for college and the toys will be left behind. Woody stages a desperate escape with the help of all the toys in the hopes that they can escape the perils of Sunnyside Daycare and the evil grip of Lotso and his posse of toys and make it back to Andy before they are lost forever.

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So it isn't a new statement to say that the people at Pixar are the undeniable leaders in animated film and Toy Story is the title that put them on top of the game. It has been nearly 11 years since Toy Story 2 graced our cinemas and a staggering 15 years since the original Toy Story was created. Now many people are hesitant when seeing the third installment of a movie and most third pieces are just a quick cash in on a name or character (need a remind you all of Spiderman 3?). However, Toy Story 3 stays true to everything that made the original two films incredible and captivating and truly brings back what it was like to be a kid and live life through imagination.

One of the best thing about this film is that the creators managed to bring back nearly every one of the characters from the previous films as well as the original voice actors. The list of stars in this film is anything but short. Tom Hanks and Tim Allen return as our favorite Sheriff and Space Ranger duo Woody and Buzz Lightyear along with Joan Cusack as Jesse, Don Rickles as Mr. Potato Head, Estelle Harris as Mrs. Potato Head, Wallace Shawn as Rex, John Ratzenberg as Hamm, R. Lee Ermey as Sarge and even John Morris, who has played the voice of Andy in all three films. Pixar also brings in a ton of new characters voiced by some popular actors like Ned Beatty as Lotso, Michael Keaton as Ken, Jeff Garlin as Buttercup, Bonnie Hunt as Dolly, Timothy Dalton as Mr. Pricklepants and even Whoopie Goldberg as Stretch. The voice acting is incredible in this film and all the actors managed to bring their characters to life and give them all a unique persona.

The great thing about the past two Toy Story movies is that the stories have been so amazing and magical that you can not help but fall in love with them no matter your age. These films have a unique way of taking you back to your childhood and reminding you what it was like to be a kid. Thankfully Toy Story 3 doesn't stray from the fantastic story telling that made the first films great. Some sequels and threequels (as I like to call them) have stories that become stale. But that is definitely not the case with this film. Pixar manages to give us fresh new characters as well as a fresh new plot and struggle for our toys to face.

I'm not going to lie, this film was definitely more stressful and dark than the other two. Sure we all found Sid from the first Toy Story to be creepy and in desperate need of a hug but this film had giant mongo baby dolls with a tendency to twist their heads around, clapping monkeys with terrifying eyes and horrific screams, giant trash slicing blades and an incinerator that slightly resembled the flaming eye of Mordor. There were times when I literally thought it was the end of Woody and the gang and just when the stress would almost become to much to bear, a lighthearted silly scene would burst in to save the day. It might sound odd but there is just something about sitting in a packed theater with nobody under the age of 13 and hearing people gasp, scream, shout for joy and clap at a movie about toys.

There is not an age group on this planet that can not like this film. It takes you back to a simpler time when instead of engaging in realistic, computerized entertainment, we used toys that could do nothing more than lay there and were brought to life by our imaginations. Toy Story 3 is an incredible, fantastic, imaginative and beautiful story that channels the inner child of every single person that watches it. The long wait was well worth it and did not disappoint in the slightest. Incredible voice acting, an amazing story and a visually beautiful world culminate into a film that is nothing short of magnificent. If you loved the first two Toy Story films (how could you not) then Toy Story 3 is something that you HAVE to see.

I give Toy Story 3 10 Ken's Dream Homes out of 10.

Get Him To The Greek

Release Date: June 4th, 2010

Click here for the Get Him To The Greek Trailer.

Aaron Green(Jonah Hill) is a driven, idealistic young intern for Pinnacle Records, one of the top labels in the music business. Pinnacle has taken some heavy financial losses and the head of the company, Sergio Roma(Sean "Diddy" Combs), gathers all the interns and has them start pitching ideas. Aaron proposes to have legendary rocker Aldous Snow(Russell Brand) do a 10 year reunion concert of his best show performed at the Greek Theater in L.A.

Sergio agrees to the idea and sends Aaron to London to pick up Aldous and take him first to a performance on the Today Show and then to the Greek Theater in 72 hours. Aaron arrives in London to find Aldous, who has been consuming large quantities of both alcohol and drugs since his girlfriend Daphne(Elizabeth Moss) left him and took custody of their son Naples. Instead of listening to Aaron and going back with him, Aldous goes off to multiple bars and parties dragging Aaron along with him. Aaron finally convinces Aldous to make his way to America but Aldous always has some trick up his sleeve to delay their arrival.

Aaron must fight through Aldous' true rock personality, multiple parties, gallons of alcohol, a little bit of drugs and a few shots of Absinthe in order to Get Him To The Greek. If Aaron fails, his career (and maybe his whole life) may go down in one blown out fiery train wreck that only true rock 'n roll can produce.

Get Him To The Greek is a spin-off/sequel to the 2008 comedy film Forgetting Sarah Marshall which reunites director Nicholas Stoller and stars Russell Brand and Jonah Hill. I came into this movie knowing that it would be funny. The previews all looked hilarious and I am a fan of both Jonah Hill and Russell Brand. I expected the movie to make me laugh, what I did not expect was for this movie to make me cry, sweat and hold my stomach to keep from collapsing at just how funny this film truly was.

Produced by Judd Apatow, you can pretty much guarantee that the humor in this film is going to go down the twisted path of raunchy, perverse humor. The great thing about this film though is that it manages to do this in a way where it lays it on thick but doesn't smother you with it. The jokes are so widely varied that they do not become stale at any point and they really make you guess just what exactly is around every corner.

The humor in this film comes from three main sources, well two main sources and a third almost main source, and those are the likes of Jonah Hill, Russell Brand and Sean "Diddy" Combs. I find that some comedies these days fail because they try to add to many characters. With too many characters, you have too many people trying to be funny and it is too hard to spread it all around. In the case of Get Him To The Greek, the main humor is focused on Hill and Brand with "Diddy" coming in at the perfect moments and adding his special blend of humor. Hill, Brand and Combs all have completely different styles of humor which blend together into this margarita of magic that leaves your sides hurting from all the laughter.

I have never really seen Brand in a movie before. I have seen him do stand-up but some of the best stand-up comedians do not make the best actors. That being said, I thought Brand was amazing. He delivers a lot of humor in his facial expressions but his timing is also great. He knows exactly how to deliver some of those crucial lines that can make or break a funny scene. On the flipside, director Stoller felt the need to add in some semi-serious scenes for Brand in order to show off a different side of the character. In these scenes Brand did well though I am not sure anybody would be able to watch an entirely serious Russell Brand performance.

Hill was his typical self adding in some very hilarious awkward comedy. His character was so different from that of Brands which made their interactions that much more appealing. Hill makes you feel for his character and feel bad for him as he tries so desperately to get Brand's character to the Greek. With all the bad things that happen to Hill in the film you can't help but feel a little bad for him........a little bad as you maniacally laugh your face off at his expense. And then you come to the performance of Sean "Diddy" Combs. Where to begin on him? Diddy's performance actually showed that he is serious about acting. He seemed to take the role seriously (as seriously as you can take a role in this film) and he proved that he can handle a real acting gig. His antics were so crazy that I literally thought he was going to rip off somebody's appendage and beat them with it.

This movie is a breakout comedy and I am calling it this year's Hangover. I haven't laughed this hard at a movie in a while and this is definitely one I would go see multiple times in theaters. Hilarious performances from Jonah Hill, Russell Brand and Diddy come together in this cavalcade of comedic greatness. If you are looking for something to literally make you fall over laughing then look no further than Get Him To The Greek. You honestly will not be disappointed.

I give Get Him To The Greek 10 Strokes of the Fury Wall out of 10.

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

Release Date: May 28th, 2010

Click here for the Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Trailer.

As a boy Dastan(Jake Gyllenhaal) was an ordinary orphan until one day, while running from a group of Persian guards, he was approached by by the King of Persia, King Sharaman(Ronald Pickup), who adopted Dastan as a son. Fifteen years later Dastan, along with his brothers Tus and Garsiv, plan to attack the Holy city of Alamut under the assumption that the city is selling weapons to the Persian's enemies.

Once the city has been captured, Dastan finds an ornate dagger, which he keeps as a trophy from the battle. King Sharaman arrives in the city along side his brother Nizam(Sir Ben Kingsley) and holds a celebration in the main hall of the Alamut Palace. During the celebration, the princess of Alamut, Princess Tamina(Gemma Arterton) is brought before the king as a gift for Tus. Tamina, who is escorted by Dastan, realizes that the dagger he carries is the mythical Dagger of Time that she is entrusted to protect.

During the celebration, Dastan is framed for the murder of his father and flees the city along with Tamina. Nizam, who has gained the trust of Tus and Garsiv, organizes a hunt for the Dastan for the sole reason of acquiring the Dagger of Time, which has the ability to rewind the very fabrics of time itself. With it Nizam plans to rewind time to his childhood where he saved his brother from a lion. Nizam plans to let his brother die so that he may one day become the King of Persia. Dastan, along with Tamina embarks on a journey to save not only himself and the dagger, but the world as he knows it.

I know what you are thinking, "Oh great, another video game based movie. Just another way to disappoint me." Well if you are thinking that then shame on you for hating it before you see it! Sadly, the fact is that most movies based on video games do suck something awful. In this adaptation of the incredibly popular 2003 game, Jake Gyllenhaal and director Mike Newell attempt to do what seems to be impossible, make a good video game based movie and for the most part, they succeed.

If you are familiar with the Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time video game then you know that the concept for a great movie is extremely possible. The game offered incredible visuals (for its time), an insane combat system, intense acrobatic platforming and a game mechanic that truly changed the way you solved puzzles and defeated enemies. Now, incorporating this into a movie worthy of sitting through is the tricky part. So now for the review.

I am going to start if with my complaints first. Being a huge fan of the game, the biggest disappointment I had with the film was the story. The movie plot and story was entirely different from the game story and I think that the only thing that the two had in common was an acrobatic prince, a sassy princess and a time-controlling dagger. Lets compare them side-by-side. In the game, the Prince was born a Prince and had no name. In the movie he was an orphan adopted by the king and was named Dastan. The game: enemies were sand creatures that possessed the bodies of other people and were brought on by the betrayal of the king's trusted adviser called The Vizier. The movie: the prince fought humans and was betrayed by his uncle.

Those are the major ones though the Princess' name was changed from Farrah to Tamina and the story took place in the city of Alamut mainly as opposed to Persia like the game. But, while there were gigantic differences from the game to the film plot, the film plot was still very entertaining.

One of the main aspects of the game was the extreme agility of the Prince and Gyllenhaal seemed to display that perfectly. The nimble, high flying and crafty free running in the movie instantly brought me back to my times with the game. The film's combat was also very good. The Prince in the game uses many acrobatic moves to dispatch his foes as does Gyllenhaal in the film. The fight scenes with the Hashshashins towards the end were particularly entertaining.

While the fighting was great, the movie is called The Sands of Time so it would seem that this is an important concept. The Sands of Time are controlled by a device known as The Dagger of Time. It allows the user of the dagger to rewind time for one minuet and only the holder is aware. The scenes where the dagger was used to rewind time were, in my opinion, incredible. I felt that they truly captured the spirit of the game and how the time elements were controlled. Not only did they look amazing and added a new stylization, the really just felt genuine.

Performance wise Gyllenhaal made a very convincing visual Prince. There has been a lot of controversy over a white actor portraying a Persian character but I think that Gyllenhaal had a very close visual resemblance to the game character. The only thing that didn't make sense was the Prince, and all the other characters', accents. They were all done with a British voice with a slight Middle-Eastern draw. The game characters spoke the same way but I just find it odd.

Gemma Arterton did fine as Princess Tamina. She wasn't annoying or helpless like some female characters can be and she seemed to have good chemistry with Gyllenhaal. I was very pleased with Sir Ben Kingsley's performance. Kingsley is such a well-defined actor and his role as the main antagonist was a perfect fit. Had the director not changed the character to an Uncle and left it has a Vizier, Kingsley still would have been amazing because I think he played more like that character. Alfred Molina added in a perfect blend of humor to the action packed movie, bringing the audience down from the adrenaline rush to allowing them to catch their breath.

Overall, if you look at this movie as just an original move, it does pretty good. The story is unique and the acting is good. Add that to great action and some stylish visuals and you have a solid all around experience. If you, like me, come into this seeing it as a video game based movie, then you are in for a surprise. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time the best video game based movie to date. It may stray drastically far away from the original game's plot, which is strongly disappointing, but the film does do a fantastic job of recreating the epic feel and style that the game had. Let's just hope they don't do the unthinkable and make a video game based off of a movie based off of a video game (that would almost be too much).

If you are looking for a solid move to see, then you should definitely check this one out. If you are looking for a movie based on a video game that doesn't completely suck then you will definitely want to see this film. Had the film stayed with the original plot then it's score would have been higher but it is still a good film.

I give Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time 8 Suicidal Racing Ostriches out of 10.

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.