Wednesday, May 28, 2008

May Movies

I have been spending a lot of time in the theater this month. So I thought I would share my thoughts on these movies for this week's Watercooler Wednesday.

The month started out with Iron Man. I know a lot of people are raving about this movie, but I'm not one of them. It was fine as far as superhero movies go. But it was an origin story, which meant that it took forever to get to the meat of the story. Once it did get going, it was over way too fast. And I really didn't feel like I got to know the characters well enough to spend time with them when the plot was so weak.

I also saw Made of Honor. Yep, it's a romantic comedy. But the actors were good and the movie had some funny and touching moments. It doesn't need to top any rush out and watch it moments, but if you have a chance to see it, do.

On the other hand, you need to rush out and watch Speed Racer. This would be the undergod sports movie of the month. But it is so worth seeing. I was ready to stand up and cheer multiple times during the film. And it looks incredible. It truely is a feast for the eyes. Just be sure to watch your speedometer on the way home because I felt like racing when I got out of the theater.

Now, I do have a confession to make. As much of a Narnia fan as I am, I have never particularly liked Prince Caspian. However, the trailers for the movie made me think they might have changed stuff too much. So it was with some trepidation that I went to see The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. Oh, did they change that story! Yet they managed to work some scenes and lines from the book into the story. My problem with the book has always been the slow start and back story. They cut that down tremendously, which really helped. I'm not sure I like the sub-plot involving Peter, but on the whole it was well worth seeing. And they pulled in a lot more from the book then I realized. I say this because I skimmed the second half of the book when I got home from the theater.

Finally, there's Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Since I've only watched the original trilogy a couple times, I must admit I wasn't counting down the day until I could see this one. And maybe that's why I liked it. I felt it captured the fun and adventure of the original trilogy pretty well. Now, it's not perfect. But then again, the others weren't either. I did think the ending went too far, even for an Indy movie. But I'm willing to accept that. And I definitely don't think it was more over the top then the previous films were.

So, in the order you should see the films, the list is:
Speed Racer
Prince Caspian
Indiana Jones
Made of Honor
Iron Man

And we won't discuss how many movies I've watched at home this month. And I was on vacation for a week. I think I need to get a life in June.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

You have GREAT taste in movies! :)

Mark Baker said...

Well, thank you so much. :)

Anonymous said...

the makers of Prince Caspian kept to the original story surprisingly well, all thinks considered... i heard they were going to make it into a silly pure-action flick, but thankfully this was not the case

Mark Baker said...

They upped the action, but I'll agree they kept the heart of the story pretty intact.