Tron Legacy Review

Reading this story on Slashdot got me thinking that I should write down a few words on Tron Legacy. The basic premise of the Tron films is that a world exists inside of computers. Our heros get sucked into this world and have all sorts of cool adventures. In theory, this film is a sequel to the original Tron movie which came out in the 1980s.



In practice, there is quite a bit of overlap between the two films thematically. Of course, this makes sense given that most people will not have seen the first film. The film is visually stunning full of some really cool visual effects. So if you are into that sort of thing, definitely see this movie in the theater. If you have not seen the first film, read the plot on Wikipedia or you will be a little confused I think. Overall is a good film, but not a great one: 3 stars out of 5 for me.



A few observations are in order.

• Whenever computer based life evolves, the first thing they build in their cities is a techno club. Apparently, the night clubs with techno music is a universal constant and requirement of any alien life form. (See this movie and the Matrix) Why can't the head of the resistance work in a grocery store? :)


• The computer world in this movie didn't incorporate many of the technology advances made since the first movie.  In 1982, no one had heard of the Internet. It just seemed to me things inside the computer had not changed much in 30 years.


• If the movie does at all well, expect a sequel. The ending of the movie left open quite a few possibilities.


• Definitely not enough Tron in this film. Goodness sake, the film is named after him. He deserves a lot more than a flashback and a brief cameo here and there.

Toy Story 3 is Awesome

I saw Toy Story 3 last night and it is freaking awesome. It totally lived up to its great reviews. Those guys at Pixar really know how to tell a story.



Too bad the same thing can't be said about the Last Airbender movie.

Avatar - The Review

Official Avatar Movie

Well now that I have seen Avatar in both 3d and 2d, it is time for me to drop my $0.02 on the subject.



First off, this is a great movie. A class David vs Goliath story that takes place in an amazingly detailed and interesting world. Everything just fits really well together, the plants, the animals, the floating rocks. James Cameron deserves a lot of praise for creating such a rich setting. I especially liked the night scenes with all the glow-in-the-dark plants.



In 3d, the movie works because the focus is on the story and not the 3d effects. Any 3d film I have seen in the past seems to be totally focused on cheesy 3d effects that happen every 10 or 15 minutes. This movie includes some great 3d effects, but it never forgets to tell the story first. In addition, the movie looks great in 3d. The colors and imagery are just as rich in the 2d and 3d versions. The 3d version doesn't feel washed out or blurry at all.



Much has been written about how 3d is gonna save movie theaters, blah blah blah. It still seems like a bit of a gimmick to me. It really doesn't add that much to the experience. Oh sure, it will prevent movie pirates from sending films out on the Net. But is it that much better than watching a movie at home on your own HD set?  I am not so sure about that.



In regards to the movie being preachy, I just don't buy that. There might be what, 1 or 2 statements in the entire movie that could be considered in that vein. But to me it is just a movie. The weak fighting back against the strong is as classic as it gets. Go see Avatar, you will be glad you did.



My rating. (5 out of 5)

Web Scifi show in Wired

Wired has an article on a new Scifi Web based TV series starring Rosario Dawson. You can find the web site for Gemini Division here. The show is a detective show set in the furture of course. It is my understanding it will be aired on NBC's web site in August 2008.

Kung Fu Panda Rocks!

If you get the chance, go see Kung Fu Panda. It is one of the funnest films I have seen in quite some time. Definitely fun for the whole family.

Jack Black is great. The animation is wonderful. The movie is on par with the first Shrek movie. Go see it, you will be glad you did.

Movie Review: Flyboys

Well I got an HD receiver from DirectTV yesterday. Wow is the picture amazing. I had no idea based on the demos in stores. I ran across Flyboys on Showtime HD, I think, so I taped it and watched it at dinner time last night.

Basically the movie is the story of a French fighter squadron, composed mostly of American's, during World War I. The story is pretty standard formula stuff. Young men coming of age, not prepared for the horrors of war, blah, blah, blah, blah.

The best reason to watch the movie is the dogfight scenes. Basically, you are flying around in a wood/cloth plain with a big old nasty machine gun on the front, not fun. The scenes are easy to follow and the cinematography is amazing.

Definitely worth watching. I'm giving it four asterisks out of 5.
rating: ****

Doomsday (Dumbsday?)

Well I went and saw the apocalyptic action film Doomsday over the weekend and learned some very interesting things. Before I go into the detail a quick overview is in order for those of you who have not seen the film.

The year is 2038. Thirty years prior, a killer virus breaks out in Scotland. The virus involves lots of bleeding and throwing up, and its deadly. So, the authorities decide to quarantine the entire country of Scotland. They erect a wall, mine the ocean, setup a no fly zone, no one gets out. Back to the present(future), it looks like the virus has returned in London this time. However, the authorities have noticed that there are a few survivors in Scotland. So they decide to send in the hottest babe they can find (played by Rhona Mitra, and she is hot) to unravel the mystery of the survivors and bring back a cure.

Here is what I learned about humanity after an apocalyptic event:

1. The most likely people to survive a killer virus are hair stylists and tattoo artists. Cause in the post apocalypse, everyone has a punk hairdo, lots of tattoos, and look like extras from the Road Warrior.


2. You can survive for 30 years as cannibals. I guess man jerky must keep better than beef jerky.
   


3. Even though ancient castles were designed to hold 20 to 30 people of an average size of 5' 6", if you try hard, you can get at least 200 or 300 people in one, and still have room for a Gladiatorial Arena! Humans can accomplish anything if they put their mind to it.


4. Livestock will be free to multiply like crazy. Since no farmers survive, everyone forgets how to grow crops and raise animals. See 1 and 2 above.
   

Here is what I learned about the future:

1. We will soon lose the ability to make night vision goggles. Cause they send the heroine into an area without electricity in the middle of the night, without any.


2. We will also soon forget how to make bullet proof glass. Cause the armored personnel carrier in the film has its windows broken out with simple pipes and arrows.


3. Unmanned drones will also become a thing of the past. The only intel available in 2038 is from satellite photos.


4. Cell phone networks will not change at all, cause if you find a phone made in 2008, 30 years in the future, it still works. Plus cell towers still work even when there is no electricity, I didn't know that!
   


5. You won't be able to make a GPS tracking device smaller then the size of a small flashlight.

I won't say the movie is bad, you just have to have a high suspension of disbelief level. The story is very similar to Escape from New York, with Road Warrior stylizations thrown in. My advice, wait for the DVD.