Shmee.Me

Lockout is a French film staring Guy Pearce.  It is an “original” idea by director Luc Besson.  So did the French make an action movie worth watching?  Yes, but only if you are in the right mood.

The plot behind this movie is Escape from New York in space, and for those that have not seen that movie or Escape from LA it goes something like this:  A framed Secret Service Agent has to go to a maximum security prison orbiting the Earth to save the President’s daughter from the psychopaths that have taken over to win back his freedom. This is why “original” was in quotes above.

Sadly Luc Besson is no John Carpenter, so this movie’s direction is a little sloppy, and uneven, but what is good is Guy Pearce channeling Kurt Russell’s Snake Plissken.  He is witty and funny, and the good/jerk that action movies love.  It is a shame that there weren’t better people making this movie around him because it could have been a real action gem.  Maggie Grace as the President’s daughter does her best to be a spring board for Pearce’s jerkiness, and holds her own for the most part,  but Pearce is definitely the star here.

Despite the failings of the production staff around the actors, the action is still good, and the actors do their best with what they are given, and if you are in the mood for a cheesy action flick, then this is a pretty decent option, and it is on most streaming services, so it won’t cost you a dime.

Wreck-It Ralph is a Computer Animated film from Disney Animation Studios.  It was nominated for Best Animated Film in this year’s Oscars, and many thought it should have won over Brave.

Wreck-It Ralph starts with narration from Wreck-It Ralph describing how he feels disrespected, and how thirty years of being the bad guy has taken its toll on him.  It turns out he is at a support group for video game bad guys, and they tell him to tough it out and embrace what he is, but when he gets back from the meeting it turns out the other characters from his game have thrown a thirty year anniversary party without him, so he runs out to try and prove that he can be a good guy, and should be respected.

It is obvious that all the people involved love video games.  They put in cameos from various games as well as the way they designed the games for the movie all show a great understanding of video games.  It is also fun to see this video game take on Toy Story: what happens to your games when you leave the room.

The characters, despite being from video games, are all believable and well cast, and the animation is smooth.  John C. Reilly gives Ralph’s voice a lot of heart and you believe his personal struggle to get a little love.

The Blu-Ray looks great, as most computer animated films do.  With high detail and vibrant colors. Watching a Blu-Ray like this always reminds me that even HD streaming can’t compare to disks yet.

The story may not be grandiose like a lot of other movies try and be, but it is a movie about respect and friendship, and that can be just as interesting as an epic saga.  The non-Pixar part of Disney Animation has been getting better, and Wreck-It Ralph continues this trend.

Batman: Year One is the animated version of the classic Frank Miller graphic novel following the Dark Knight through his first year.  Does the animated version hold up to the book? Not quite, but it is still pretty good.

The movie starts off with Bruce Wayne flying back in to the city, and Jim Gordon starting his new job as a lieutenant for the Gotham City Police Department, and then follows how the two start fighting crime.  Bruce becomes a vigilantly, and Jim starts to deal with the corruption in the police department.  This film also chronicles the start of Selina Kyle aka Catwoman.

It is great that this movie is as much about Jim Gordon as it is Bruce Wayne because in the end he really is the one with the most to loose: wife, child, job, and the stability of the entire city, and he chooses to do right thing anyway.  Bruce on the other hand has already lost it all.  The Catwoman parts were interesting, but I think due to the restricted time of the film they could have left her out, but she is a good counter point to Batman, and what could have happened to Bruce had he grown up in the same slums that she did.

I think the actors were trying the channel the dark mood of the movie to much and kind of came off deadpan.  Proving it is hard to replace Kevin Conroy, longtime voice of Batman.

It is a good movie and DC Universe, the animation studio in charge of the DC properties, continues to put out quality films.  Someone at Warner Brothers should think about giving these guys a shot at some of the live action films