Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

A rogue Prince joins forces with a mysterious Princess to save the world from an ancient evil and return a mystical dagger to it's rightful sanctuary.

I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised by this movie. I went in with little or no expectations and it was charming, fun, and very much echoed the world of Pirates of the Caribbean.

This isn't a great movie, but it was entertaining to watch and had a fun imaginative storyline. The plot itself is a tad predictable but still well written. The casting was interesting, Jake Gyllenhaal is fun and does a decent job with the British accent, a through back to Lawrence of Arabia or Spartacus I presume? Alfred Molina is, as always, brilliant and stole every scene that he was in.

Again a fun family film for the summer.

*** See it

Rated PG-13 (for violence)

Sex and the City 2

The girls are back and it's two years later. Carrie is married. Charlotte is overwhelmed with motherhood. Miranda quit her job, and Samantha is going through menopause.

Ok so I went into this not really expecting much. I wasn't a fan of the first movie, I thought it was so overly dramatic and didn't have enough of the humor or comedy that the series had. Well this one definitely didn't skimp on the comedy. In fact it was so over the top that it seemed almost slap stick. The dialogue seemed forced. And the delivery was horrible. The whole girl power plot line seemed staged, stupid and a little late in the game.

It was corny and campy and never truly addressed issues that 45-60 year old women face in today's world in a comedic or dramatic manner. It was a huge disappointment but nevertheless I am sure many people were happy to see the four of them back on the big screen again.

* 1/2 Rentable

Rated R (for sexual content and language)

Just Wright

Leslie Wright is a physical therapist and a die-hard New Jersey Nets fan. When the star player, Scott McKnight, gets injured Leslie is hired to help him get back into the game before the playoffs.

Just Wright is just wrong. I’m so sorry. I know that I tend to be harsh on movies and even more so with this particular genre, nevertheless, this movie was really pitiful. Now don’t get me wrong, I like Queen Latifah. I think that she does a great job in practically everything she is in. Her co-star however, Mr. Common, is just that.

I think I can best sum up my over all thought of this movie with one word. Awkward. In fact at one point in the movie this word slipped out of my mouth loud enough for the row in front of me and behind me to break out into a fit of laughter. Yeah, Awkward.

* ½ Rentable

Rated PG (for some suggestive material)

Iron Man 2

Tony Stark is back as Iron Man, as he continues to provide world peace while the US government wants his one of a kind, hi-tech suit turned over to the people. Some "people" don't want to wait for it to be turned over and take matters into their own hands.

It's a fun movie, well done and well acted, but it's not one of the rare sequels that out does its predecessor. The opening and ending are exciting and keep you interested. It does get a little bogged down in the middle, as Mandy said, trying to decide whether to be it's own movie, set up Iron Man 3 or set up The Avengers. While the Avengers stuff is interesting, especially to the die-hard fans, however it's not really necessary for this movie. I also felt like the climax of the story kind of comes out of nowhere and is a little unexpected...but still works. The special fx are great and overall it's a pretty good start to the Summer blockbuster season.

**1/2 out of 4 - See it

Robin Hood

King Arthur, now bankrupt and ruined from the crusades, leads his army home. They pillage and plunder their way through France back towards England. In battle the King is killed, leaving Robert Locksley, advisor and friend to the late King, to return the Crown back to England. On his way, Locksley’s entourage is ambushed and slaughtered by the French. A small group of English archers, led by Robin Longstride, come upon the scene and are able to recover the Crown. Robin promises the dying nobleman that they will return the crown to England.

I can only imagine that one was bored out of their mind just by reading my synopsis. Just think what it was like sitting through the two hour and twenty minute movie. That’s right, wince away. So this whole movie is a prequel to the story that we know to be Robin Hood. Which is fine. I can totally get behind, the story behind the story. I get it. But this was just so….off.

First, the set up of the set up: It took about 45 minutes just to get the characters back to England, by the time they got there, I didn’t care anymore. Second: The characters that you recognize in the classic tale, mainly the merry men, i.e. Little John, Will Scarlett and Friar Tuck are oddly assigned the comic relief of the flick, but it comes in awkwardly late in the story and the humor doesn’t fit the tone of the movie itself—they then disappear and you forget about them entirely. The Sheriff of Nottingham is a buffoon and in the movie a total of 6 minutes. Prince John isn’t threatening as a villain and you never take him seriously as the antagonist. I will say that I really like the idea of the cast, namely Russell Crowe and Cate Blanchett, who did a great job here – but the material itself was just pitiful.

* ½ Barely Rentable

Rated PG-13 (for violence)

Iron Man 2

Tony Stark is Iron Man and the government, press, and conglomerates alike all desperately want to get their hands on his technology. Tony takes on world peace as a personal duty and is unwilling to share his secrets fearing that they will fall into the wrong hands. However if necessity is the mother of invention, then perhaps it could be said that greed in the mother of emulation.

Well it’s a sequel. And as most sequels tend to do, it did not live up to its predecessor. Nevertheless, I was still entertained. It was a tad lackluster and the story kind of gets lost within itself as it tries to simultaneously set up both Iron Man 3 and The Avengers. It lacked the sharp, edgy wit of the first one. The dialogue is a tad campy and again I got a little bored towards the end.

However the casting was spectacular; specifically Mickey Rourke, who was totally underused as the villain. I mean this guy is way creepy. Like John Malkovich creepy and he just isn’t utilized as he should have been, which was unfortunate. Robert Downey Jr. was again perfect in the role and Scarlett Johansson was surprisingly fun.

Not amazing but a fun kick-off for the summer season.

** ½ See it


Rated PG-13 (for violence and language)