Only thing you need to know about 2012 is that it was directed by Roland Emmerich. You get the entire Roland Emmerich experience in the movie 2012. That is to say, you get exciting CGI, End of the World scenario, shallow character development, shallow plots, and things blowing up every other minute. If you have watched Independence Day and Day After Tomorrow, you will have good idea of what to expect from 2012. This isn’t to totally disparage Roland Emmerich’s film. He does good job with the End of the World scenarios with the help of heavy CGI. What he fails to achieve is good plot and good character development. You watch The Day After Tomorrow or 2012 and you realize you’ve just watched bunch of explosions and catastrophes in epic proportion. But, you fail to sympathize or get a good sense of each character’s development.

The plot of 2012 is fairly similar to The Day After Tomorrow. Like The Day After Tomorrow, we witness the beginning of epic disaster at the start of the movie. You watch cities get razed and massive number of people dying within short span of time. The 2012 takes this to next level compared to The Day After Tomorrow. Somehow, the Earth gets “cooked” and the disasters start with earthquakes and massive volcanoes. We primarily follow a writer named Jackson Curtis as he stumbles across some information and sees the impending doom. He desperately tries to save his family including his ex-wife’s husband. What he fails to recognize is the fact that the governments have known about the impending doom and have started creating massive ships akin to Noah’s ark to save the humanity. Curtis must race against the time to reach the ships to save his family.

The overall premise sounds very exciting. And, the trailers and sneak peeks were all amazing. Until you watch the actual film. You go from one disaster to another with very little character development. Also, the trailers and sneak peeks are half of the movie. You can just watch them without having to miss too much of the plot. However, the movie does boast impressive CGI and great casts. John Cusack, Amanda Peet, Thandie Newton, Oliver Platt, Woody Harrelson, Danny Glover and Chhiwetel Ejiofor are all excellent actors. If there was some better character development and little better plot, the movie could have surpassed The Day After Tomorrow in every aspect. Instead, we get a shallow sequel to that movie.

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There have been countless movies and television series about Robin Hood, the legendary figure in British lore. While I have not watched every single Robin Hood movie, I can safely say that Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves is easily the best version in my opinion. This isn’t to say that the movie is Oscar worthy masterpiece. However, as an adventure/action film, this is a very satisfying movie regardless of its subject. This is the kind of movie you will almost always re watch when it is on a cable station on a lazy Saturday afternoon. You will just flip through channels and settle on watching this film again because it is still satisfying watch after all these years.

Almost everyone should be familiar with the Robin Hood story. While the exact facts and details are not known, it is generally understood that there was in fact a person who is associated with Robin Hood. The general premise is that he stole from the rich and gave it to poor peasants. This was accomplished with the help of his gang known as the “Merry Men.” As with other Robin Hood movie or television series, Prince of Thieves adds its own little twists and story to the overall lore. The story starts with Robin Hood captured by the Turks during the Crusades. He manages to escape with a Moor anmed Azeem and return to England. Upon his return, he learns of his father’s murder by Sheriff of Nottingham. He vows to avenge his father with the help of Azeem and his new friends.

Even if you know the story of Robin Hood, you will enjoy this version’s story. Kevin Costner as Robin Hood is pretty convincing even without the British accent. And, Morgan Freeman as Azeem can’t possibly be bad in any role he plays. Mary Elizabeht Mastrantonio as Maid Marian is the best movie she has done along with Abyss. With the impending release of the new version by Ridley Scott, this version will seem outdated and somewhat tame. Even so, you should be able to enjoy and appreciate this version that’s now available in high definition. Overall, this is an excellent and enjoyable film.

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While Law Abiding Citizen was critically dismissed, the movie did not flop at the box office. However, it failed to generate the buzz that might be warranted by the two big Hollywood stars in Jamie Foxx and Gerard Butler. The movie worked well as a thriller and quasi revenge film. It started out with a bang and limped toward somewhat lackluster ending. And, if you watched the trailer, you’ve watched the real condensed version of the movie. There are no big surprises. Instead, you watch series of attacks committed by Gerard Butler’s character while he is still incarcerated.

The movie opens up with brutal murder of Shelton family. Two man break in and proceed to murder his wife and daughter in front of his eyes. The police do catch both of the man. However, for expediency, the district attorney Nick Rice makes a deal that puts one guy behind the bar for ten years. Clyde Shelton, Gerard Butler, protests vehemently and begs Nick Rice to reconsider the decision to cut the deal. 10 years pass and the murderer gets out of the prison. This is the starting point for all the mayhem we witness in the movie. It turns out Clyde Shelton is former spook who specialized in killing. He orchestrates his revenge against the murderer and the justice system that failed him and his family.

Without putting out any spoilers, the beginning of the movie and premise was excellent. While predictable, I watched the revenge with some satisfaction as Clyde dealt out punishment for all those involved in the case. However, it would have served the movie better if Clyde sees the end of the revenge instead of the obligatory ending. The ending we expected is the ending we got. The director and writer had chance to really give a good ending like Seven. Never the less, it is a taut thriller worth watching. Even with the predictable ending.

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Ever since Swingers, I’ve been a big fan of Vince Vaughn and Jon Favreau. As such, I was fairly excited about their latest comedy Couples Retreat. While they had no hand in directing the movie, they were both the writers for the film. Overall, I was disappointed with the movie. Maybe Vince Vaughn and Jon Favreau are more mature and this is their idea of romantic comedy. I’m not so sure. With both of them writing, I thought the movie would be lot funnier. It even stars one of my favorite actor Jason Bateman along with Vince Vaughn and Jon Favreau.

The movie centers around four couples. Jason and Cynthia, played by Jason Bateman and Kristen Bell, are close to a divorce due to Cynthia having hard time getting pregnant. Dave and Ronnie, played by Vince Vaughn and Malin Akerman, have seemingly good marriage. Joey and Lucy, played by Jon Favreau and Kristen Davis, are planning to divorce once their daughter leaves for college. And finally Shane, played by Faizon Love, is divorced and having a good time with younger girl friend. Jason and Cynthia ask the other couples to join them in the couples retreat to try to heal their marriage. They need them to go in order to get a big discount for the group. Once they get to the retreat, they try to fix their various problems.

There are some funny moments in the movie. Vince Vaughn and Jon Favreau are always good together in comedies. The overall premise of the film was pretty weak and predictable. You can see that everything will work out and the only reason to watch is the comedy. While the movie did offer some very funny scenes, it did not have enough to keep me interested through the entire movie. The stellar comedic cast of Vince, Jon, and Jason seemed to have been wasted on this weak effort. Never the less, it is worth watching if you are a fan of Jason Bateman, Vince Vaughn, or Jon Favreau.

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Zombieland does a very good job of imitating the 2004 horror/comedy classic Shaun of the Dead. This is not a knock down Zombieland. Before Shaun of the Dead, there have not been very many horror comedy films. In fact, Shaun of the Dead spawned many clones that tried to copy the success of the cult classic. None has succeeded until now. Zombieland is without a doubt a very funny movie worthy of being compared to Shaun of the Dead. Like Shaun of the Dead, Zombieland packs in incredibly funny moments in a very classic horror setting.

The story is not atypical in horror films. The world is turning into a wasteland thanks to a virus that turns people into zombies. We’ve seen this scenario in countless other horror movies. Two main characters, Tallahassee and Columbus form an unusual bond. Tallahassee is the gun toting mad man to Columbus’ geeky underdog character. They both set out to survive in the wasteland and reach a place where it is safe from the flesh eating zombies. Along the way, they meet Wichita and Little Rock and head toward west.

What sets Zombieland apart from the other horror films is the comedy. Sometimes you forget you are watching a zombieland. Instead, movie delivers funny scenes throughout the movie. From opening scene to the final scene, Zombieland consistently delivers laugh out loud moments like running into Bill Murray or the funny rules about surviving in the new zombie infested country. Jesse Eisenberg and Woody Harrelson are perfect as two unlikely buddies slaying zombies left and right. This is without a doubt one of the funniest movies to come out last year. Everyone who enjoyed Shaun of the Dead should not miss this movie.

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As a science fiction film, Surrogates is a movie we are very familiar with. The cautionary tale of over dependence on technology and all the morality issues that goes with new technology has been explored in many previous movies. Movies like Blade Runner, Gamer, and Artificial Intelligence: AI has all explored this theme. With evolution of technology, some of these morality issues that we must deal with are getting closer to reality. This movie does nothing set itself apart from the earlier science fiction movies with similar ideas. This isn’t to say the movie is boring or lacking in any originality.

The movie opens up with destruction of two surrogate robots. Normally, this would not be a problem except that their controllers are dead as well. With the invention of surrogates, people interact and work through their surrogate robots from comfort of their home. This virtually eliminates all crimes and disease. The death of two surrogates and their controlling human counterpart brings about the investigation from FBI. The people that oppose the surrogate life style are the primary suspect. There are some twist and turns. But, it’s fairly straight forward plot with some decent action mixed in.

The movie is entertaining most of the time. The fact that overall story has been told in other movies is not that big of deal. The problem I had with the movie was the lack of “ooohs” and “aahhs” you are supposed to get from science fiction movie. Blade Runner and other good science fiction films usually deliver some very good wow factors that Surrogates lacked. I felt like I was watching a movie of the week on Syfy channel. The overall cast was ok. It would have been cool to see different actors play the surrogate instead of the younger and better looking versions of themselves. Otherwise, it is passable film and decent way to spend 90 minutes.

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I’ve always enjoyed Kathryn Bigelow’s movies including the not so great K-19: The Widowmaker. She has great sense for action movies and it shows in her films. The Hurt Locker is no exception. She takes a very sensitive subject in Iraq war and makes a non political film. This is particularly refreshing as the liberal Hollywood tends to have very strong anti war messages in most of the war films. Instead, Kathryn Bigelow focuses on the character and the job he is entrusted to carry out. There is no political message on why we invaded Iraq or whether it was right or wrong.

The story is about soldiers who have to disarm bombs. This military job is one of the most dangerous jobs in the world. Imagine walking toward the bomb when everyone else is running away from it. On a job to disarm a roadside bomb, the soldier assign to disarm it dies when the bomb goes off. Sergeant James is brought in as replacement. James has reputation for being reckless and wild. His approach is not appreciated by his subordinates at the beginning. The two subordinates think James is borderline suicidal. They go from one incident to another and face some incredibly dangerous situations.

Unlike some other movies, there is no one true evil villain in this movie. The movie portrays the dangerous job and the men who undertake the job. It’s part character study and part action movie. At the end of the movie, we don’t get the satisfaction of watching a cruel villain die or captured. Instead, we see the heroic efforts of our soldiers doing their best to survive and complete their jobs. While this might sound boring, the movie is anything but boring. The scenes are packed with suspense and action. There is not a single boring minute in the movie. I can honestly say this is one of the best war film I’ve ever watched in my life.

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The overall premise of Gamer is similar to Death Race or Japanese classic Battle Royale. Gamer is not the first movie to deal with “prisoner sport“ genre. You can even trace the idea back to The Running Man starting the current California governor. While the overall concept is nothing new, Gamer does manage to add little twist. In Gamer, the prisoner/combatants are controlled by other humans who control them like video game. This little twist does little to update the overall plot or story line from the Running Man or other similar movies.

Like The Running Man, the protagonist is wrongly accused and convicted. Kable, played by Gerald Butler, is wrongly accused of killing his friend. Sent to jail, he has little choice but to participate in a real life combat sport called Slayer. In Slayer, each combatant is controlled by other human via an interface implanted on the combatants. Once they reach certain number of games, they are released from the prison. However, none has managed to survive the game.

The plot is rather simple and predictable. You have the evil guy who put Kable into the prison for his purpose. And, you can tell that Kable will eventually get out and kill this evil guy. There’s nothing surprising about the plot. The action sequences are pretty good as expected from a polished Hollywood production. You can tell that the movie is geared toward the gaming generation who like to play the first person shooter games like Doom or Modern Warfare. While it’s not as bad as some video game movies, Gamer doesn’t stand out particularly well as a thriller or even action movie. It’s 100 minutes of mindless diversion at best.

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A perfect Getaway is an imperfect thriller movie. It is classic whodunit movie that keeps you guessing between two main suspects. The trailers and teasers for the movie did a good job of hiding the twist and keeping the audience in the dark until that “aha!” moment in the movie. The director, David Twohy, almost pulls off an outstanding movie. The only shortfall comes from the inconsistent way the characters interact and act with each other that make no sense in the end.

The movie starts with a wedding video and moves forward to the honeymoon. Cliff and Cydney are about to go on a hiking trip in Hawaii for their honeymoon. While on the island, they get the news homicide on the other island. The primary suspects for the murder are a man and a woman. On their drive to the hiking trail, they almost pick up hitchhikers who are headed the same way. They get little scared and eventually drive off without them. Once they get to the hiking trailer, they meet up with another hiking couple and proceed to hike with them to the destination.

This is the very basic plot without giving away the twist or the suspense. We are left to guess who the real killers are. The director does good job hiding the twist until the very end. However, there are very inconsistent dialogues that have no place in the film. The real killers talk as if they have no clue who the real killers are when they have private conversation. This is mystifying as the killers themselves would not have this conversation in private. Director could have done better job structuring the movie around this twist like M. Night Shyamalan did in The Sixth Sense. In The Sixth Sense, we go back and watch the previous scenes to figure out if there was any clue to the twist. We get subtle hints but nothing that contradicts the twist. A Perfect Getaway fails to achieve this. If you can overlook this inconsistency, the movie is very watchable.

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After the deal to make the Halo movie fell apart, Peter Jackson gave Neill Blomkamp $30 million to make any movie he wanted. Blomkamp promptly turned his short science fiction film into a feature length movie. Through word of mouth and positive reviews from the critics, the movie did fairly well in the box office. Even with relatively unknown cast and director, the movie looks very professional and polished. Without asking too much question, the movie stands well as a science fiction film. However, as a science fiction genre fan, I was left with a lot of question and unfulfilled expectation. Before I watched the movie, I liked the overall premise of the film of aliens stranded on Earth and having to interact with humans. However, after watching the movie, I felt little let down by the movie.

The movie opens up with the arrival of the aliens on their spaceship. While hovering over Johannesburg, South Africa, the aliens do not make any attempt to come out. The South African government sends in the troops to assess the situation. They find disoriented and confused aliens cowering in the ship. We move forward in years and see that they are settled in a shantytown called District 9. The overall story involves a weapon manufacturing firm’s quest to use the alien weapons. They get their chance when Wickus is exposed to alien substance that transforms him into human/alien hybrid that can utilize the alien weapons. While being chased, Wickus meets an alien who is attempting to get back on the ship in order to leave Earth. Together, they attempt to reverse the mutation by getting the alien back on his ship.

Taken as whole, the movie is fairly well made. It has entertaining plot line and some good special effects and action scenes. You can see the influence the Apartheid had on the director. The District 9’s setting was an actual shantytown where the poor populace inhibits. The overall treatment of aliens is clearly reminiscent of the treatment of black population by the whites in South Africa. I had no problem with the incorporation of Apartheid theme in the movie. However, I did have problem with the overall story. How can an advanced civilization be reduced to animal like creatures depicted in the movie? How can a civilization that’s capable of producing powerful weapons be reduced to being caged in District 9? The director doesn’t explain any of these questions. Instead, we are to believe a civilization that’s capable of space travel reduced to fighting over cat food. He does nothing to explain or hint a plausible story line. Instead, he focuses on the Apartheid theme and we are left to fill in the blank. With small explanation, I could have liked the movie much more. Instead, I’m left with some dissatisfaction.

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