Archive for the 'Sequel' Category

Rambo

Published
by
Chalupa
on November 6, 2008
in Action, Kidnapping, Sequel, Thriller and War
. 0 Comments

Before I even start, I must admit that I had been avoiding the 4th Rambo installment for a while.  It just seemed a little ridiculous to me that Sylvester Stallone would be doing another Rambo and another Rocky movie.  It was only after several friends tried to assure me it was good, that I decided to add it to my Netflix list.  Now, after seeing it, I must admit that Rambo totally redeemed Rambo III.

I think one of the big factors contributing to the worth of this film was Stallone stepping in as a writer, and directing the film.  He’s obviously had a lot of experience acting, writing, and directing and was aware “the people” would not abide more of the same considering what happened with Rambo III.  Another contributing factor was Stallone trying to shed some light on the atrocities currently happening in Burma.

Action.  If there’s one thing this movie has, it’s action.  I’m pretty sure Robin would say something along the lines of, “Holy belt-fed machine guns, Batman!”  Liz walked in and saw a short clip during one of the featurettes on the DVD and uttered, “gross!”  I must say I wasn’t grossed out, I actually thought it was kind of cool.  That must be the little boy in me.

The story was pretty general.  Rambo helps some people, against his initial instinct, and eventually ends up saving them.  I really appreciated the “wandering warrior” theme that has prevailed throughout the series.  Parts of the original score were also worked into this score which reall tied the films together.  The execution of the story is really what made it work for me though.  Stallone really pulled off the Rambo character as an older version, still searching for meaning in his life and slightly enraged at the atrocities around him.

If you’re even a tiny bit a fan of First Blood, I highly suggest you check this one out.  It’ll be well worth your time.  I only hope Rambo V builds off of the success of Rambo.

Rating: ★★★★☆

The Dark Knight

Published
by
Chalupa
on August 4, 2008
in Action, Based on a comic, Black Comedy, Crime, Drama, Mystery, Sequel and Thriller
. 0 Comments

Liz and I were able to catch the latest installment in the Batman series over the weekend.  We’re both glad we were able to catch it on the big screen.  After all the buildup, hype, and raving reviews, we finally got to see what everyone was talking about.


I was very impressed with Batman Begins and I wasn’t in any way disappointed with The Dark Knight.  I’m already looking forward to the next one.  Heath Ledger did an amazing job with The Joker.  I was reading someone’s comments somewhere and they were talking about how they’ve never been a Ledger fan until now.  They also never realized how menacing and diabolical the Joker could actually be, and after thinking about Jack Nicholson’s portrayal from 1989, they realized that Nicholson was just delivering the same role he had been for the previous 20 years or so.  You may or may not agree with that, but it was a little mind blowing to me.  Maybe I haven’t seen enough of Nicholson’s films, but I’ve never quite understood why people are so enamored by him.  Yeah, he has some good films out there with great performances, but I’ve never been that impressed.  It’s really too bad Ledger isn’t with us anymore for any follow-up films.

Often times in sequels, it’s hard to make something that lives up to the original.  I think Christopher Nolan did a good job in raising the bar by bringing in the Joker, but there’s always room for some improvements.  I don’t think Christian Bale had to really act that much this time around.  The gutteral “batman voice” got a little annoying and old, but it makes sense he was talking differently to try and hide his identity.  Aaron Eckhart did a decent job.  I’ll always remember him as Nick Naylor from Thank You for Smoking.  It’ll be interesting to see if he makes a comeback in the future.

I think Gary Oldman had a much more active role this time around.  He’s such a great actor and it’s nice to see him able to spread his wings a bit.  I liked Maggie Gyllenhaal more than Katie Holmes in the role of Rachel Dawes.  She also fit in pretty well.  It wasn’t like some films where actors change for a particular character and the whole time you’re confused as to who exactly that person is.  Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman were wonderful as usual.  Some friends of mine complained after the first film that they were grossly underutilized.  I kind of agreed, however, it was nice to actually have a “real” actor play the role of Alfred for a change.  I was just happy to have a live body in the role.

Some of the scenes with the Joker are a bit disturbing, but this is rated PG-13, so there’s not a whole lot to worry about.  They cut away at just the right moments in certain scenes.  Liz and I both said we got a little bored in the middle, but overall we thoroughly enjoyed it.  I would highly suggest getting out and seeing this one before it leaves the theaters.  You won’t be sorry.

Rating: ★★★★½

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

Published
by
Chalupa
on May 22, 2008
in Action, Adventure, Based on a book, Based on a novel, England, Family, Fantasy, Remake, Sequel and WWII
. 1 Comment

If you were disappointed by the first film in this more recent series, I think you might enjoy the second installment. I thought The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe was too kid-like and G-rated for my tastes. Don’t get me wrong - I enjoyed it, it’s just that I thought a lot more could have been done with the fight scenes. I do realize this series was C.S. Lewis’ response to J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings and it wasn’t necessarily made for adults, but it could still be way cooler. If you didn’t know, they were pals back in the day and hung out at the same pub. They both decided to make something for the kids and these two great literary works are what came of it. I should know this because the university I attended and currently work at has a big part of their library dedicated to Mr. Lewis and an exact replica of said bar…

Anyways, back to the movie - I really enjoyed what was done with Prince Caspian. I think Andrew Adamson did a fine job at stepping up to the plate and directing something worth seeing. If you didn’t know, he did direct the first film along with a couple of the Shrek films. He’s also slated as a producer on The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader set to come out in 2010.

If you’ve seen the BBC versions, you might be aware that Warwick Davis played several roles throughout those films. I’m not sure what he’s most famous for because he played an Ewok in Star Wars. He was also in Willow, the Leprechaun movies, Labyrinth, and many others more recently. He’s really made a career for himself as being the guy that gets into suits. He happens to play Nikabrik in this film and Liz and I thought it was really cool to see him in a movie with Peter Dinklage, another amazing actor who has also made a great name for himself.

Seeing the progression of these two movies, if there’s one to be seen, reminds me of the Harry Potter series in the way that it grows in age appropriateness with each installment. I really hope these films continue in this manner. I’d also like to see them tackle the last three books that the BBC never got to, The Horse and His Boy, The Magician’s Nephew, and The Last Battle. It’s always been my opinion that these three are the coolest of the seven, and also the hardest to make due to needed special effects.

Rating: ★★★★½

Appleseed: Ex Machina

Published
by
Chalupa
on March 11, 2008
in Action, Animation, Anime, Based on a comic, Based on a graphic novel, Conspiracy, End of the world, Foreign, Future, Japan, Martial Arts, Sequel and War
. 1 Comment

This is my first-ever sponsored review. I haven’t done anything like this before. If you’ve never heard of Appleseed: Ex Machina before, you should know it’s an Anime sequel to Appleseed. This film does come from Japan, but the Region 1 DVD release has been dubbed into English. Directing this film is the legendary Shinji Aramaki. I say legendary because this man has been very influential in the world of animation and the drawing of cartoon machines. This guy worked on the drawings and designs of the first Transformers toys, MASK, the Genesis series, and Fullmetal Alchemist. Producing this film is John Woo of action and martial arts fame.

If you know anything about Anime, you know it’s a style of animation from Japan. John Woo happens to be from China. The two of them working together, in a creative manner, is nothing short of amazing due to the long history of being at odds that their two countries have. The fact Woo is involved leads a lot of credibility to the project and puts the film on the radars of many potential fans. Even though Woo is known for his fight scenes, there’s the element of emotion that many miss. The emotion and depth to the characters and story turns a film like this from being just eye-candy into a truly wonderful work of art. You’ll definitely see his influence in scenes where slow motion, creative fighting styles and lots of bullets are used.

The word Anime is really just an abbreviation of the English word animation and has its roots in Japanese Manga. Anime is traditionally hand drawn, but computer animation is becoming more and more common. Having majored in computer science as an undergrad, I know a tiny bit about the work and processing power it takes to make cartoons and animated films. The 3-D animation is this film is nothing short of amazing. Everything looks so realistic from the body movements, facial expressions, fully animated jaws, backgrounds, sceneries and landscapes. The visual aspects of this film are breathtaking.

I haven’t seen the original film, Appleseed, so I may be a little clueless to the story. I think this is a good thing when it comes to a review because I have no pre-conceived notions of what’s happening. Ex Machina takes place in a futuristic, post-apocalyptic world. At some point in the past there was a global, non-nuclear war which took out pretty much everything. Olympus is a Utopian-like city where peace and order stand with the help of its elite fighting force, the ESWAT. This isn’t the only city in the world though. There are still other countries and governments. There are also three types of people: humans, cyborgs, and bioroids. I’m going to assume you already know what humans and cyborgs are. Bioroids are clones, genetic copies, of real people made with the best technology available. They also lack some of the bad qualities that seem to contribute to the not-so-great aspects of humanity.

The three main characters are Deunan, a human, Briareos, human turned cyborg, and Tereus, a bioroid that is a copy of Briareos when he was human. I’m sure you’re already imagining the drama between the main trio. Deunan and Briareos were partners back in the day and continued to be after he was severely injured and turned into a cyborg. As far as I can tell, they exist in the original film. In Ex Machina we find ourselves in another classic, Confuscist battle of good versus evil; there are organized terrorist attacks trying to bring down the peace and order of Olympus.

In the midst of peace talks between all the countries and governments of the world, humans and cyborgs are being turned into mindless zombies. These remotely controlled drones are being made to massively attack anything of strategic value in the city. At first it is thought the cyborgs are just susceptible to rogue, controlling frequencies, but humans are being affected too. Are Deunan, Briareos, and Tereus susceptible to this mind control? Will they be able to take down a terrorist mastermind that makes Dr. Octopus look like a distempered man-child? Well, I couldn’t really tell you or I’d be ruining the movie for you.

I highly recommend this film. I think it will be dearly loved by existing Appleseed fans. It is a great addition to the already wonderful Anime genre and there’s enough story, action and drama to keep everyone else wanting to find out what happens next. Rent it or buy it, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

Rating: ★★★★½

Bourne Ultimatum

Published
by
Chalupa
on August 16, 2007
in Action, Adventure, Assassination, Based on a book, Conspiracy, Mystery, Sequel, Thriller, Trilogy and Twist
. 0 Comments

If you were a fan of the first or second movies, Bourne Identity or Bourne Supremacy, I can pretty much guarantee you’ll love the third installment. This isn’t another one of those tragic trilogies that took a good thing and drove it into the ground…Matrix, cough, cough. They kept it coming and kept improving things throughout the series.

There’s some faces you’ll recognize and there’s also some new ones. You already know Jason (Matt Damon), Nicky Parsons (Julia Stiles) and Pamela Landy (Joan Allen). Some new faces you might recognize are David Strathairn, Paddy Considine, Albert Finney and Scott Glenn. I was really excited to see Paddy Considine in here. I hope this boosts his career a bit. I thought he was amazing in In America, enjoyed him in Cinderella Man and loved him in Hot Fuzz. Everything kind of comes full circle this time around. You find out how things started, who is responsible for everything and as always, nobody can quite catch Jason Bourne.

Once again the government goes after Bourne to cover their tracks, and end up creating even more of a mess that needs to be covered. This time there’s no playing around though. If you know what the word “ultimatum” means, the movie definitely lives up to it.

I don’t really have much else to say about this. I loved it. Go out and see it. Tell us your thoughts.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Published
by
Lij
on July 21, 2007
in Adventure, Based on a book, Based on a novel, England, Family, Fantasy and Sequel
. 1 Comment

There’s nothing I can say that hasn’t already been said about Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix, which came out more than a week ago. I only saw it last night, shortly after re-reading the book. The last time I read it was when I bought it at Heathrow Airport in the summer of 2003, after my sister’s wedding in Nepal. I had planned on buying the paperback when it came out, but as soon as I saw the book in the airport bookstore, I had to have it.

The same thing happened in 2005, when I saw Book Six (Harry Potter & the Half-Blood Prince) in a bookstore in Lourdes, France.

Then, the same thing happened today — the release date of the final book — when I was at the mall running an errand. There it was, staring me down, and I was forced (forced!) to buy Book 7, Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows.

I like Harry Potter a lot. I think that JK Rowling is a creative genius. I would love to have even an ounce of her creativity and ingenuity for myself.

I guess I’m telling you all of this because unless the movie just sucked, I was going to love it. This is a biased, unfair review, because I LOVE Harry Potter & The Order of the Phoenix. I love the storylines, the character conflicts, the absolute perfect portrayal of what it’s like to be 15. I love the book so much, and that meant that I could only love the movie. Oh, and I love Sirius Black.

The best moment of the whole movie, I think, was when Harry confessed to his godfather Sirius, “I’m angry all the time.” The darkness of the story lets us know that a major part of this anger comes from the connection between the Dark Lord Voldemort and Harry himself, but the honesty of the story tells us something else: it’s also because he’s 15, and when you’re 15, you have little control over your emotions.

Sure, the director of Movie #5, David Yates, tried to cram a whole lot more than he should have into the movie. But how could he not? Also, he does a great job of knowing what to leave out: Hagrid’s story of living with the giants, the emotional saga of Harry’s banishment from Quidditch, the lengthiness of Dumbledore’s eventual conversation with his favorite student about the history of the prophecy in question.

Yates also knew what was essential: the relationship between Harry and Sirius, first of all, and then Harry’s emotional state. We’ve seen Harry abused and defeated through four books/movies, despite his victories. In the fifth chapter, it’s finally taking its toll. He’s tired, and he’s unsure of himself.

And that’s what Yates does so well to capture. He understands that exhaustion and that weakness, and he shows it to us plainly and honestly. The movie definitely has flaws, but despite them, it’s a really, really good story.

Letters From Iwo Jima

Published
by
Chalupa
on June 11, 2007
in Drama, History, Sequel, WWII and War
. 0 Comments

This is Clint Eastwood’s sequel to Flags of our Fathers; showing the Japanese viewpoint of the battle for Iwo Jima. It stars some of the same actors and I thought it was much better than the first installment.

Ken Watanabe does an amazing job portraying General Tadamichi Kuribayashi trying to beef up the fortifications and defenses of that tiny island in the last ditch effort to defend their homeland. He and other officers knew it was a losing battle before even going there.

There’s not many war movies out there, made by American studios, that show the “enemy’s” point of view. Especially not in the World War II era. I think it’s a good thing to view them as fellow human beings than savages. I think Eastwood did a good job pointing this out in a couple scenes where one side shows compassion for a POW and gives them medical treatment. At the same time there are other scenes showing brutality, but that’s also what happens during a war.

Being a huge fan of war movies, I would recommend Letters from Iwo Jima over Flags of our Fathers. This movie is more about the people fighting the war than epic battle scenes. Other movies like this would be Thin Red Line and Paths of Glory.

28 Weeks Later

Published
by
Chalupa
on May 12, 2007
in Drama, Graphic Violence, Horror, Sci-fi, Sequel, Thriller, Twist and Zombie
. 1 Comment

If you didn’t know, this is the sequel to 28 Days Later. They are, in a sense, zombie movies, but they’re done with class. There’s great acting, great dialog, great cinematography, effects, etc. I think these movies stand by themselves quite well. If you didn’t catch the first one, you should be able to go and watch the sequel without feeling clueless.

Danny Boyle and Alex Garland directed and wrote the first one and produced the second. So even though it’s technically not the same director, Boyle still had a hand in what went on. These movies have shock value. They make you jump. If you’ve seen either, I assume you know what I’m talking about. What I’m proud to announce is that 28 Weeks Later takes it up a notch and still makes you jump a little.

Totally different actors. We don’t actually see anybody from the first film. Going in, I was kinda wondering what had happened to Jim and Selena, etc. Maybe they survived, maybe they didn’t. We don’t actually know for sure. I think I like it better that way. Everyone did well acting. As far as I know, this is the most violent role Robert Carlyle has played. Definitely a bit more aggressive than his character Begbie from Trainspotting. Also recognized Catherine McCormack (Spygame and Braveheart), Jeremy Renner (SWAT and North Country), Harold Perrineau (Oz, Romeo + Juliet, Lost) and Rose Byrne (Wicker Park, Marie Antoinette, Casanova). It was interesting to see the plot in both movies being driven by children.

One things I must really applaud is how the chaos was filmed. When you had people running around and being chased, eaten, etc. They shot it from the perspective of the victims - running around wildly and panic-stricken. However, it wasn’t so crazy that you felt dizzy or motion-sick. There were also key images that were shown so that you knew exactly what was going on.

I’m interested in taking a look at the soundtrack. The previews had Muse, but the score during the movie was all themed music and no recognizable songs. We have the soundtrack to 28 Days and love it. Hopefully this one will be good as well.

Boyle and Garland were both criticized for being way too optimistic in the first film. I think that was because most of the people lived and you assumed they were rescued and lived happily ever after. Obviously something does go wrong though because there’s a sequel. It would be interesting if there was a third installment - maybe 28 months later or something like that. Depending on where they went with it, the film could be just as good or really bad. There’s a lot more I’d like to discuss and talk about, but I wouldn’t want to ruin the movie for you. That said, I highly recommend this one.

Clerks II

Published
by
Chalupa
on August 17, 2006
in Comedy, Cult film, Independent, Racism and Sequel
. 0 Comments

I would like to start this post by saying that I am a huge Kevin Smith fan. I’m not really sure why. I remember when Clerks came out back in ‘94 and seeing commercials on TV for it. It looked so interesting and fascinating. I wasn’t really allowed freedom in choosing every film I wanted to watch back then so I didn’t actually see the movie until almost five years later.

Since then I’ve always been interested in anything Kevin is working on. Much of Kevin Smith’s work is vulgar, crude and offensive (depending on your view points) and many people have asked me why I submit myself to such filth. I’ve never really had a great answer other than, “I just like it.” Kevin often explores controversial topics that many artists are afraid to approach. I once heard Kevin talking about how his brother is gay and has problems watching movies because he has problems connecting to them. The guy always seems to get the girl. Well what about the other people out there in the world?

Homosexuality is just one topic Kevin has tried to present in a humorous manner off and on in many of his films. He is also the creator of Jay and Silent Bob and is in fact, Silent Bob himself. Smith also has this amazing fan base of cult-proportions that is a mystery to many. I think I may know part of the reason for this. Ready? Kevin Smith. That’s it. This guy has charisma. He’s funny, he’s cool, he’s personable, and he seems like the kind of guy that could be your friend. Seriously. This is just an average guy who loves movies, but isn’t stuck up and a little crazy like Quentin Tarantino.

So the movie….I’ve been digressing upon many a rabbit trail here. Clerks II is a continuation of the Dante and Randal story we were first introduced with back in ‘94. Only now they’re 10 years older and still dealing with some of those same issues from a decade ago. Oh, and did I mention the sequel is in color?

Kevin has definitely made a big name for himself in Hollywood, in the comic book world, and in the hearts of many around the world who pine after a persona as cool as one of Smith’s characters. Who wouldn’t want to throw water on an annoying customer like Randall? Who wouldn’t want to have girls fighting over them like Dante? I’m sure a lot of you wish you could say anything and everything on your mind like Jay. Did you know there are heroines as well? There’s Alyssa Jones, Veronica, Caitlin Bree, Rene Mosier, Brandi Svening, Bethany Slone, etc, etc. Oh yeah, and then there was Dogma where Alanis Morissette played the part of God.

So anyways, Clerks II. Originally titled Passion of the Clerks, I assume this was to poke fun at Mel Gibson. This was even back in 2004 so this was way before Gibson decided to torpedo his career with a drunken tirade at police officers. In this latest installment we get to Dante and Randal back at it again. Working together, getting each other into interesting situations and inadvertently terrorizing some of the general public in the process. There is also another return of Jay and Silent Bob and great performances by Rosario Dawson and Trevor Fehrman (new to the Smith films).

I would be lying if I said this movie was clean and unlike his other films. I was definitely shocked in a couple scenes. Once again, as usual, the bar was raised. Interestingly enough, the MPAA gave the film an ‘R’ rating immediately. Usually his films have to be edited to make an ‘R’. The movie is definitely a bit slow in the middle and almost seems to drone on for bit, but there’s a dynamite ending. I’ve heard some critics complaining about the end of the film, but think if you understand the progression of the previous 5 films than it will make complete sense to you too.

I found this movie entertaining and enjoyable. However I would not reccomend this to anyone who is not already a fan of Smith’s previous works. Definitely an acquired taste, it could be hard to fully appreciate jumping to the end of this series without starting at the beginning. A bit like the original Star Wars trilogy in the sense that each film can be watched as a seperate entity, but it really helps to see the full picture.

Samurai Trilogy 2: Duel at Ichijoji Temple

Published
by
Chalupa
on July 1, 2006
in Action, Adventure, Based on a novel, Based on a play, Biography, Drama, History, Japan, Samurai, Sequel and Trilogy
. 0 Comments

This is the second installment of the Samurai Trilogy and I’d have to say I liked this a little bit more than the first. Towards the end all I could think of is Kill Bill: Vol. 1. I know that Quentin Tarantino is a big asian film buff and I would be surprised if this wasn’t one of his influences. At one point you have Takezo challenging someone to a duel. Instead of facing Takezo, his 80 minions plot and plan an ambush to try and kill him. Surprisingly enough, Takezo outwits them and kills many of them with his sword. At one point he even has two swords. Sound familiar? I’m looking forward to part three.