I Am Movie Critic

It's funny how we base our judgment on what we see initially, even before we have the opportunity to judge something in it's entirety. Nope this isn't going to be one of my incredibly pensive, overly somber and dramatic entries. I'm talking about movies! As I've mentioned before, one of my favorite past times when I'm bored is pretending to be a critic. LOL. It's that time of year again, and the Hollywood popcorn movie machine is now on overdrive.

Based on movie trailers I've seen this year, the summer movies that I said I was definitely going to see were Ironman, Hancock, and The Dark Knight. Wanted wasn't one of them. The Movie trailer just wasn't interesting enough--- it looked as boring as Wall-E. Also, the premise looked a little too similar to The Matrix. Even the title of the movie sounded very ordinary.... but because of good word of mouth, I decided to give this film a try--- and I'm very glad I did!

I haven't been blown away by the action scenes and special effects I see on screen ever since The Matrix. Yeah, there was Batman Begins--- but the action scenes in that movie were more straightforward, while the action scenes in Wanted were so slick and stylish--- for lack of a better term, that I couldn't help but stare. There are enough twists and unexpected events to keep you glued to the screen. There's even clever humor to let audiences take a breather from all that action.

There's a lot of action scenes, tons of explosions, tons of blood spilled, there are lots of casualties, and the film even has a killer soundtrack--- what more can you ask in an action movie? This is the best popcorn movie Hollywood has churned out this summer, and it's definitely the action movie to beat this year. 5 stars out of 5!

on the other hand...

I really wanted to see Hancock based on the trailers they've been showing, and I just watched the movie earlier today. Will Smith stars as a drunken, filthy, irresponsible person gifted with superpowers. That doesn't really fit the superhero profile, does it? With such a premise, Hancock had the huge potential to go beyond the usual summer blockbuster movie fare. It could have offered a glimpse inside the mind of a protagonist we're not accustomed to--- the anti-hero character, dissecting his thoughts, his aspirations, his motivations. It could have been an effective deconstruction of the superhero mythos that we've all grown familiar with--- that superheroes aren't perfect; when their powers are taken away, they're just like the rest of us, each with his own nuances, imperfections, idiosyncrasies. Heck, It could have been an in depth study into the human psyche. It did start out strong, and for the first third of the movie you'd think it would live up to that potential--- but somewhere along the way, it flounders. It seems as if the filmmakers didn't really know which direction to take, and it is very evident onscreen. In the end, instead of being extraordinary, Hancock is nothing but ordinary. 3 stars out of 5.