This Day in Calvin and Hobbes: April 30, 1993

Spaceman Spiff just can't seem to go anywhere without dangerous aliens popping up. What a life.

The Last Airbender Trailer 3

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The more I see of this film, the more serious it looks. Where are the jokes? Where is the humor? I will admit that the bending looks great, but "Avatar: The Last Airbender" was not all action. I don't think that I have seen the kid playing Aang do so much as crack a smile even once. I am still anxious to see this film, despite the casting choices and the seriousness, but that is mostly because I just want to get it out of the way.

Kick-Ass Impressions

I can't say that I had high hopes going into this film, having not read the comics (though I wasn't expecting the movie to be 100% true to them) and not recognizing any of the actors other than Nicolas Cage and "McLovin," but I can definitely say that I was pleased with what I saw.

My greatest fear, at least after seeing the trailers, was that "Kick-Ass" would be more of a spoof of a "superhero" movie than one in its own right, but there was certainly enough grit and action to keep the audience engaged. The best thing about the film, though, was definitely the fact that it never took itself too seriously. There were buckets of blood and copious amounts of violence, but it all just felt fun. Maybe the zany choice of music did a great deal of helping, but never before (and perhaps never again) has watching a little girl in a mask and a cape take out an entire room of drug dealers with various bladed weaponry been so hilarious.

Anyway, there really isn't too much to say beyond that. My biggest problems with the film were that too many things felt unbelievably convenient and that the acting ranged from fairly mediocre to outright cheesy. Maybe it was simply supposed to be commentary on the "traditional" superhero movie, but I just found it to be annoying.

I am awarding "Kick-Ass" four stars out of five for being gritty and fun to watch, but still lacking a strong cast and for being overly convenient. If you don't mind a great deal of violence and swearing, then "Kick-Ass" is definitely the film for you. Otherwise, you might want to see something else because you will most likely be doing some seat squirming if you choose to see this.

Prince of Persia Trailer #2

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I want to not have mixed feelings about this film, I really do, but I just can't get over some of the scenes and lines in these trailers. It could go either way at this point. I guess we will just have to wait until May 28th to find out whether or not the action can drown out the cheesy dialogue.

Repo Men Impressions

Before I get into my review, I want to put one thing to rest: "Repo Men" is in no way a "rip-off" of "Repo! The Genetic Opera". The former was based off of a novel written by Eric Garcia in 2001 (though it wasn't published until 2009), who got his inspiration from a short story he had written in 1997. In that regard, however, I am not saying that "Repo! The Genetic Opera" took anything from "Repo Men." The two films are very much different from one another and each have their own inspirations.

Now, for my review. I will start by saying that "Repo Men" was not the poorly crafted film the critics said it was going to be. The acting was solid, the cinematography wasn't too overblown, it was in no way unentertaining, and the story wasn't nearly as washed out and political as many current filmmakers would have taken the liberty to make it. To be honest, I really think that critics dropped the ball on this one, though I suppose that could be said of most critics most of the time.

First, what worked best for the film: the straightforward simplicity and the music. As I said before, "Repo Men" was not the heavy political satire it could have been. There were no corrupt politicians or business men or moral high grounds. Just a company that sold synthetic organs, people that wanted them, and individuals hired to repossess said organs if the client couldn't keep up with their payments. Also, the main characters weren't out to "take down the system." They were about 99.9% in it for themselves. That being said, the film was not overly predictable either. There were still plenty of twists and turns all the way through that culminate in an ending that will probably surprise you, though you may have seen it before. As for the music, I have to say that "Repo Men" has one of the most dynamic and well chosen soundtracks I have heard in a long time (in terms of using music not especially recorded for the film). Instead of just having songs that happen to be popular or that "sound" appropriate, the film uses songs that fit on both a rhythmical and lyrical level.

What didn't work for the film: the shallow character introductions (which hurts their development) and the ending. By the end of the film, I didn't really feel like I "knew" many of the characters and some of the people I saw the film with didn't even know most of the character's names. You see the characters do things and get a semblance of what their respective personalities are like, but you don't really get to know who they were before the events of the film or what they might be doing beyond what you see in the story. As for the ending, I don't want to give anything away, but I will say that it is one of those endings that explains a lot of the events you witness prior to it, but at the same time disappoints you for the things that it has "undone." Also, as a hint, I will say that I have seen an ending almost exactly like it in the "non-wholesome edit" of an 80's science fiction film.

I am awarding "Repo Men" three and a half stars out of five for being entertaining, relatively unpredictable, and for having a great soundtrack, but also for having weak character introductions and a fairly disappointing ending. I definitely thought that this film was worth the money I spent to see it, which is more than I can say for most of the films I have recently gone to see.