More movie reviews

Hi All,

Long time reader, first time poster...

Brandee and I have also been going to the movies a lot this summer. We haven't seen Oceans 13 or Die Hard yet, but I thought I'd give some of my opinions on the movies so far:

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - I think this is my favorite movie of the summer so far (still holding out for Bourne Ultimatum and Hot Rod). I read all the books after I saw the first 3 HP movies and before the fourth and up to this point, wished I had seen all the movies before the books, because I've found the movies (although awesome) have left some cool stuff out from the books. Order of the Phoenix, the book, was good but I thought to make the movie they were definitely going to need to cut a lot out. I think they did a great job of editing the book and the special effects were great.
Grade: A, good film adaptation, another HP hit

Transformers - Like Rod, super-Transformer fan. Unfortunately, my favorites were Bumblebee and Soundwave, so I was a little dissapointed in their new bodies (at least I think that was Soundwave). I saw this opening day as a company outing from eBay. If/when you see the movie, you'll understand why eBay was so quick to rent out a couple theaters. Anyway, I thought this was a really good movie and even better if you weren't that into Transformers in the 80's. Pretty typical action/sci-fi movie. Amazing special effects, world-saving heroes, and a story line that is a lot better if you don't think about it. One thing that irrated me a little was that when the Autobots and Decepticons were in robot form, they basically all looked the same (especially Megatron and Starscream). I never knew who was fighting.
Grade: B+, action, robots, nostalgia

Ratatouille - OK, so I'm a little biased towards Disney and especially Pixar. Pixar movies have been tops on my list every time they come out and Ratatouille is another hit. I think this is the first time I didn't really recognize many of the voices (you'd think Janeane Garofalo's voice would be distinct, but add a French accent and she totally fooled me). It's a great story and has lots of laughs. No need to talk about the animation, you've seen it before and it's better again. Brandee and I always try to rank the Pixars after a new one is release and I think my list is now: Toy Story, TS 2, Incredibles, Ratatouille, Cars, Monsters Inc. Finding Nemo, Bugs Life. But that's not to put any of them down, they're all awesome and anything after Toy Story 1 & 2 can switch daily.
Grade: A, Pixar, fun, Will Arnet

Fantastic Four Rise of the Silver Surfer- I actually liked the first one better. I was really hoping for something special given that growing up the Thing and Silver Surfer were 2 of my favorite superheroes (OK, i thought the Thing was named Rockman, but still, he's rock!). Anyway, if I had fallen asleep during the movie, I don't think I would have missed much. The Silver Surfer was pretty cool as far as effects go, so if you just like effects, I guess it's worth it.
Grade: C-, ummm...Jessica Alba with burnt looking hair?

Shrek 3 - First previews looked horrible, second preview looked pretty good, movie...not too bad. I've liked both the first 2 movies a lot, and pretty much went in hoping this movie didn't bomb. With that expectation, I really liked movie. It definitely wasn't as good as the first two, but it didn't put them to shame either. The story was interesting and Donkey and Puss in Boots were funny. Not really much else to say.
Grade B+, favorite guest cameo: John Krasinski (Jim from The Office)

The other two 3rd movies in the series, Pirates and Spiderman have been out for a while and I'm tired of typing. I'd say both are good enough to continue possible conclude (who knows) their respective series'. Neither as good as their sucessors. Both will make the DVD library and get B's.