Journey 2: The Mysterious Island in IMAX 3D

Movie: Journey 2: The Mysterious Island in IMAX 3D

Genre: adventure-thriller

Synopsis: Another movie treatment of the Jules Verne Classic and a sequel (sort of) to Journey to the center of the Earth.  Sean (Josh Hutcherson) – from Journey to the Center of the Earth – is now 17.  He is obsessed with finding his grandfather (Michael Caine) who vanished 2 years earlier.  After he gets a clue from a mysterious radio signal, Sean convinces his stepfather, Hank (Dwayne Johnson), to take him to the South Pacific in search of Jules Verne’s Mysterious Island.  Once there, they hire a helicopter pilot (Luis Guzman) and his daughter (Vanessa Hudgins) to fly them to where the think the island is.  They find the island, but discover that surviving the island, much less escaping, is going to be a bit of a problem.

My two cents: This was a fun and entertaining movie. Some nice special effects, a lot of humor.  Ity would have been nice if they could have managed to have Vanessa Hudgins sing a song (rather than The Rock).  It requires some suspension of rationality to accept a lot of what happens – but if you do, you will be entertained.  What I do not understand is why someone does not do a movie that actually follows the original novel. I read this novel in the 5^th or 6^th grade and it still stands as one of the best novels I have ever read.  There is plenty to keep your attention without having to resort to giant crabs, giant lizards, giant bees or any of the other gimmicks recent versions of Mysterious Island seem to require.

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The Vow

Movie: The Vow

Genre: romantic drama

Synopsis: Leo (Channing Tatum) runs a recording studio.  Paige (Rachel McAdams) is a sculptor.  They are married and madly in love.  Following a car accident, Paige loses the last five years of her memory.  From her perspective, she still lives with her parents, is still in law school, and is engaged to another man.  The movie follows Leo as he struggles to rekindle Paige’s love for him.  It is a lot tougher to do than he thinks.

My two cents: I really enjoyed this movie.  I was intrigued by the whole idea of a couple being so in love with one another one moment and the next moment one of the couple having no idea who the other one is.  I always enjoy Rachel McAdams.  I think this is the first movie I have seen with Channing Tatum where he really showed some acting chops.  Although I knew the movie was based on a real case, I kept thinking that it sure seemed like it was straight from a Nicholas Sparks book.

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Movie: The Woman in Black

Movie: The Woman in Black

Genre: horror

Synopsis: Arthur (Daniel Radcliffe) is a widowed lawyer in 1England in the early 1900’s.  He firm sends him to a bleak town in the middle of nowhere to close the estate of a deceased client.  From the time he arrives, everyone in the tow does their best to get him to leave without visiting the estate.  From the time he first sees the desolate mansion, Arthur starts seeing ghosts and bad things start happening to children in the town.  Arthur insists on staying on the job and is determined to solve the mystery of why the mansion is haunted.

My two cents: This definitely does not make my “A” list for horror films.  I felt that way too much time was spent with things going bump in the night – strange things happening – before we finally learn why all this is happening. I spent most of the movie just being bored.  Although not Daniel Radcliffe’s fault, every time I saw him, all I could think was “it’s Harry, where is his wand?”.

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Chronicles

Movie: Chronicles

Genre: SciFi-thriller

Synopsis: Three high-school friends find what seems to be some kind of spaceship buried in the ground.  Shortly after their exposure to it, they begin to display telekinetic capabilities.  The more the use these abilities, the stronger their powers become.  Eventually there is a falling out between them leading them to a climactic battle.

My two cents: A pretty decent sci-fi movie.  I liked the way the boys kept their abilities to themselves (at least for a while) and did not use them to do anything special . . .  just to have a lot of fun.

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