Those Pesky Aliens Are Back..."Independence Day: Resurgence"

Independence Day: Resurgence (2016)

Rated PG-13

Starring Jeff Goldblum, Liam Hemsworth, Jessie T. Usher, Bill Pullman, Maika Monroe, Sela Ward, William Fichtner, Judd Hirsch, Brent Spiner,

Directed by Roland Emmerich

The Story:

20 years ago, the aliens invaded our world, but humanity stood tall and persevered. Now, as the anniversary grows near, it turns out the aliens have been plotting their revenge, and the world might just be doomed after all.

The tagline said "We had 20 years to prepare. So did they."

Apparently, someone forgot to tell the writers that they had 20 years to prepare a good follow up.

Which led to the major problem that audiences could not be prepared for how ultimately dull Independence Day 2 would turn out to be.

Now Independence Day itself is not the greatest movie ever made...

But man, is it a bucket of popcorn, kick back and have fun kind of movie.

20 years later, if they could have harnessed half that energy, this movie would have been awesome.

But they didn't.

They whiffed and missed with nearly any and every attempt to capitalize on whatever they got right in the first one.

Will Smith, the cocky pilot who was going to save the Earth single-handed if need be, gone.

Replaced by generic son, Dylan Hiller (Usher) who is there to inspire confidence, but is bland as cardboard.

So they add Jake Morrison (Hemsworth) to help add to the cocky, charismatic quota, but he's more insane, yelling all the time, than charismatic.

Then we have one of the most rousing movie speeches ever given in a movie, replaced by 2 proverbial "rah-rah, let's get 'em" speeches, one by Hiller that is about as uninspiring as they come;  the other one by President Whitmore (Pullman) himself.

It doesn't even come close to the goosebumpy vibes of the first.

It's like they realized, you know, we can't even begin to top that one...let's not even try.

Jeff Goldblum suffers here, just as he did in Jurassic Park 2 - He's the supporting character, not the lead. When you make him the lead, he has to carry too much of the film, and ultimately it undermines the very fun reasons why we all loved his character so much the first time.

That said, the film isn't that bad. It's one that catches the audience up on a lot of characters and situations that feel like just yesterday we saw for the first time.

The special effects are top-notch, and the story itself is entirely watchable.

It doesn't hold up like the original, but there are still plenty of little things to like about this follow-up.

Final Grade: C+

A Great Reason To Move..."San Andreas"

San Andreas (2015)

Rated PG-13

Starring Dwayne Johnson, Carla Gugino, Alexandra Daddario, Hugo Johnstone-Burt, Art Parkinson, Paul Giamatti

Directed by Brad Peyton

The Story:

Los Angeles Fire Rescue pilot Ray Gaines (Johnson) grabs a chopper and heads north to San Francisco when a series of earthquakes shakes the San Andreas fault line and threatens to personally kill Ray's daughter (Daddario).

And when it's Mother Nature vs. Dwayne Johnson...

My money's on The Rock.

:)

Look, if you like popcorn disaster movies, you're going to have a pretty good time here.

The special effects are pretty good, and crazy scenarios aside (bay area boat race, I'm looking at you) it's all pretty good stuff.

The strained marital relationship seems a bit contrived simply to set up the damsel in distress scenarios, but it is what it is.

Everyone does a great job with their roles, no tongues planted in cheeks, this is straight-up end of the world how do we survive chaos.  Giamatti excels in his role as one of the scientists that finally comes up with a program that can predict earthquakes...

Just in time to see his machine go absolutely crazy with the mother of all quakes!

If you want to see more disaster on screen than you've seen since the last Roland / Emmerich production, look no further.

Final Grade: C+

The Nic Cage Experience..."Gone In Sixty Seconds"

Gone In Sixty Seconds (2000)

PG-13

Starring Nicolas Cage, Angelina Jolie, Giovanni Ribisi, Will Patton, Delroy Lindo, Timothy Olyphant, Chi McBride, Robert Duvall,

Directed by Dominic Sena

The Story:

"Memphis" Raines (Cage) is an ex-car thief who went straight years ago. When his little brother (Ribisi) gets in over his head in a car-theft deal, it's up to Memphis to save the day, and his brother's life. He reassembles his old crew (McBride, Duvall, Jolie and more!) to get a mountain of cars stolen in one night. Meanwhile, the cops (Lindo, Olyphant) know he's up to something and are out to bust him.

This is just plain, stupid fun.
:)

I have no idea how much of this film is a remake of the 70s film by the same name, and I don't really care.

This is an all-star, popcorn film that doesn't disappoint.

And that says something, because Nicolas Cage is a myriad of disappointment on many of his films.

However, when he's on, and they're fun, there's no stopping how fun it can be!

(See Con-Air for the best example of Nic Cage/All-Star popcorn fun!)

The fact that this is a heist/caper film helps sway my opinion as well.

The movie is fun, dialogue is hilarious and the action stunts are amazing.

So many stars, many in different phases of their career (starting or peaking), but for me, it all works.

This is one of those films that if it's on, I'm watching it.

Which is why this review is coming now (better late than never) because when I had cable, I was surfing and it was on, so I watched.

Still loved it.

Great B movie fun.

In fact..

Final Grade: B+

Here's a Movie to be Thankful For... "Independence Day"

E.T. phoned home...and brought back reinforcements!

The Story:

Just days before the 4th of July, communications begin becoming disrupted across the globe as alien spacecraft descend around the globe.  What do these aliens want?  Do they come in peace?  Or are they here for more serious reasons?

How can you not like this movie?

Yet, like almost all of the Michael Bay productions, this one gets glossed over as fluff and frivolity...

But that's the point!

This is a summer blockbuster, popcorn, check your brain at the door and just have fun movie.

An all-star cast tackles their pieces of the puzzle until they are all (or at least the ones that survive) united for the final act against the aliens.

You have the scientist (Jeff Goldblum) who warns the President (Bill Pullman) about the real threat and manages to evacuate the White House minutes before destruction.

Then Marine Captain Hiller (Will Smith) who flies fighter jets but dreams of becoming an astronaut.

Plus, you can't forget crazed vet, possible alien abductee Russell (Randy Quaid) who will ultimately figure out how to stop the alien invasion.

Aside from a few shots that are slightly unbelievable, this is epic disaster that would make Irwin Allen tear up with pride.

Roland Emmerich and his writing partner Dean Devlin throw everything they've got into this one, and the movie just clips along at a great pace.

There are rarely any dull moments, it's quick plot devices that propel the storyline forward through dialogue and circumstance.

While Will Smith was considered the star, Bill Pullman gave the movie it's heart, and Jeff Goldblum gave the movie its humor in possibly my favorite role in the movie.

It's also unabashedly a flag-raising jingoistic American piece of propaganda.

So yes, it's an awesome movie.

Going on 20 years old, it's still a pretty fun ride.

I hear rumors of a sequel...

Will Smith should take a cue from the audience enjoyment from this one versus After Earth and sign up.

It was fun, and we'd come back for more!

Final Grade: B+...A-...take your pick!

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: This is the first time I've watched it in about a decade.  I forgot how fun it was.  I won't make that mistake again.

Read This Review...Or the Bunny Gets It! "Con Air"

He's got the whole world...
In his hands!

The Story:

Ex-Ranger Cameron Poe (Nicolas Cage) gets sent to prison for killing a man in self-defense.  He does his time, and when it's time to go home, he decides to hop a flight on Con-Air, a prison transport.  But not just any transport, this one is moving the worst of the worst, and they just decided to break free.  If Poe has any hope of getting home to see his wife and daughter, he's going to have to save the day.

If I say "popcorn movie", this is the movie that could easily be in the dictionary as the definition.

It's loud.
It's crazy.
It's fun.

In fact, while Cage is playing his best cajun-accented hero, he gets support from some of the best villains ever assembled:

John Malkovich. Danny Trejo. Ving Rhames. Steve Buscemi.

They're chewing up the scenery, and making Poe's life miserable.

Realizing that he has a sense of duty to a friend onboard, as well as a female marshal who will likely be killed if he leaves her alone, Poe passes up an opportunity to leave the plane and plots to save the day from inside the plane.

Luckily, he's got some help on the ground in the form of John Cusack who races to help Poe get to safety.

The movie is fast-paced, written by Scott Rosenberg who also helped Cusack with High Fidelity and went back for Cage once more with Gone in 60 Seconds.

Given that this was the first time Simon West sat in the director's chair, he knocked it out of the park.  He could never have made another movie, and I would have considered him a great one-hit wonder. 

West sort of disappeared, but came roaring back in the last few years with The Mechanic and Expendables 2 last year. 

Welcome back to the Popcorn Movie genre Mr. West, you've been missed!

Yes, I can pop this movie in, anytime and just lose myself in 2 hours of pure adrenaline fun.

It's not a perfect movie...

But it's perfectly fun!

Final Grade: A

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: I own it. I love it. I have seen it so many times, I've lost count! :)