Review: Super 8

If “ET” and “LOST” got together and had a baby, that baby would be “Super 8.”

And the child that came out turned to be pretty good looking.

From Writer/Director JJ Abrams (the man who created “Lost” and “Alias” for the small screen and directed “Mission: Impossible III” and the 2009 reboot of “Star Trek”) and Producer Steven Spielberg (do you really need to know his resume?), the pair takes audiences not only back in time in the film’s setting but also with the type of film that it is.

While the comparisons with “ET” are inevitable, such as with this Andy Greenwald piece from Grantland that suggests it’s more of homage than a blatant rip-off.

Review: X-Men - First Class

2011 just may be the year of Marvel Films.

In a two month span, Marvel will give movie goers three more additions to their franchise, with the latest additions to complete the backstory for the 2012 release of “The Avengers,” (“Thor,” which will be reviewed soon and “Captain America: The First Avenger” being released on July 22) and the meat in that Marvel sandwich reboots the highly successful “X-Men” film franchise with “X-Men: First Class.”

Review: Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

This summer is the summer of the repetitive sequel.

“Fast Five” led the way with other sequels such as “The Hangover Part II,” “Cars 2,” “Transformers: Dark of the Moon,” “Kung Fu Panda 2” and new chapters in previously established series’ like “X-Men: First Class” and “Rise of the Planet of the Apes.”

The film leading the way in that regard is “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.”

Much like with the “Star Wars” saga, the fourth movie is the start of a new saga that holds over some of the same characters but the overall general idea of the movie remains the same.

Review: The Hangover Part II

Any handyman will tell you, if it’s not broke then you don’t fix it.

And thus, we get “The Hangover Part II.”

Courtesy of Legendary
Pictures

While some have lambasted the film for being a copycat of the first in just a different location (right down to the “Wolfpack” being attacked by an Asian man), I argue that’s exactly what audiences wanted and Director Todd Phillips gave them.

This is a sequel that was done right.  The film brought back the three man stars (Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms and Zach Galifianakis) with Phillips returning to direct.

After all, aren’t most sequels just re-hashes of the original with slight changes?