Here are a few movie reviews that I had started before going on vacation. Might as well post them now.
Transformers
I really enjoyed Transformers and GI Joe during the mid-80's. (Yes, I was in college at the time. Deal with it.) I preferred GI Joe, but they were very similar shows, depicting two personality-rich groups of antagonists locked in eternal, yet peculiarly non-lethal, combat. So, I was somewhat interested to see the new Michael Bay CGI fest. I was even more interested because my son, Ben, was very excited. It's always fun seeing a movie with an excited Benjamin.
I liked the movie. The CGI was VERY well done. The action was good and there was a decent amount of humor. I was surprised that there was actually a surplus of plot; they could have cut out a couple of completely irrelevant sub-plots without issue.
What I didn't like was the complete lack of character development of the Decepticons. Megatron doesn't come into the story until very late and Starscream had only two lines. Really. These were some seriously underdeveloped villains.
For the record, Ben loved it. "Greatest movie ever!" he told everyone as we left the theatre.
Live Free or Die Hard
Just to make everything clear, here's my position on the Die Hard series.
Die Hard was a classic action movie. It reinvented the genre in ways that still reverberate in movies today. Die Hard 2 suffers from a completely ridiculous evil plan, is not remotely plausible or particularly good. Die Hard 3 is very good as a movie, but was originally written as a Lethal Weapon script and it shows. Making McClane an alcoholic outsider within his own police force was a lame cliche that did a major disservice to the character. Still, the movie itself is clever and interesting.
The new Die Hard is closer in tone and style to Die Hard 3 than the first two in the series in that it free-ranges over multiple locations. McClane is divorced (boo) but is no longer an alcoholic and obviously a respected police officer (yea). The evil plot to disrupt all media (TV, Internet, etc.) from a semi-trailer is goofy and there are some silly action sequences, but for the most part, the movie works. It's entertaining and interesting. Bruce Willis has always been good in the role and doesn't disappoint here.
The Simpsons Movie
I saw this with my family while on vacation. I loved the first 30 minutes or so but when the plot gets going, the movie loses some steam. Still, there were very funny bits throughout and my overall reaction was that I enjoyed it.
One thing that really bothers me is that The Simpsons Movie suffered greatly from that now nearly omni-present malady, the over-inclusive trailer. I had seen a great deal of this movie through commercials and trailers before ever setting foot in the theatre. The studio definitely gave away way too many of the jokes in the promotional material.
And here's my one big Simpsons fanatic nit. As any Simpsons fan knows, the Springfield equivalent of Arnold Schwarzenegger is the awesome Rainier Wolfcastle. Bizarrely, through the movie they have now established that Arnold Schwarzenegger is real in the Simpsons universe, looks and talks just like Rainier Wolfcastle, and that he is President of the United States. Why didn't they just make Wolfcastle the President? Were they afraid it was too subtle a parody? It was a very odd choice.
Still, any movie that unleashed the super awesome Spider-Pig on the world is okay by me.
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