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Reviews4
aka_4200's rating
First off, I would like to reiterate a little bit of what other people are saying, this movie is nothing like the typical Friday night flick. When most people think of a Liam Neeson movie, they think of a B.A. action packed movie where Neeson is almost emotionless. This movie however showed a completely different side to Neeson's typical character and in fact opened him up to a new genre of actors. Yes, in this movie there is a lot of swearing, (over 150 F words used) but please be realistic when you judge that, because in a real survival situation with drillers, you are not going to be watching your mouth. I felt everything in the movie was not out of the ordinary, but in fact easily relatable to anyone who has been lost in the wilderness for more than a few hours. Another key factor that added to the movie was that the characters truly played their roles well. Each character started off as a callous strong-headed jerk, but as the movie progresses, they finally start to break down and realize the situation. This movie I believe was a true thriller, but no way whatsoever a positive movie, it is filled with constant death, mutilation, and vulgar scenes most parents would not want their kids seeing, so the age limit is probably 16+ minimum. Now onto the reasons I didn't like the movie. Well first off, we all know this movie is about some survivors being hunted by wolves, but I just felt as if the movie was dragged on a little longer than it should have been which in turn can make it a little redundant. I mean anyone who has seen a horror movie would be able to predict which character was going to die at each point. I felt as if some of the death scenes were as unoriginal as a, "Your mom joke" but keep in mind I say some not all. The second reason that prevents a higher score for this movie is the fact that although you did learn a little bit about the people, you never really had a connection with any of them. There was no single person that you could truly describe with confidence, and made it so they were all mysterious. Even Neeson, the main character, you never find out what happened to his wife, or why in the beginning he was depressed. Now finally, contrary to the vague descriptions on the people, there was also a question on the story line. For example, what was it that caused the airplane to go down? This was what annoyed me the most. You see Neeson sleeping at one moment and then the next the plane is in half and hurling towards the ground. I feel that we should have been shown exactly what happened and why they plane is just disassembling in mid air. However, I am not saying this is a bad movie, I personally felt the movie was above average, but not what I expected. This can be interpreted as a good thing, but I like to keep a neutral tone. Many say that the ending is very frustrating to most, but if you can figure things out then you should have no problem at all with the ending. I personally would recommend seeing it, but it is not a movie you will want to watch again I would assume.
Whenever I decide to do a review about a movie, I always like to look at the "Loved it" reviews, and the "Hated it" reviews. The fact that I saw 43 "Hated it" reviews astonished me. However, most of them said almost the exact same thing, "Cliche... Predictable... Unoriginal..." Anyone who reads these reviews will undoubtedly expect the bad things, but now to give my point of view and hopefully make up some people's minds about this movie. First off, when I first saw this movie, I noticed the vivid color and amazing scenery portrayed right off the bat.
In the beginning you are introduced to Rio in it's natural habitat and then you are introduced to Blu, who is captured and shipped to a town in Minnesota. He is found by a young girl, Linda, and she vows to take care of the little Blue Macaw. This is where the true adventure begins because it shows Blu's normal life, and in a flash Blu is traveling towards a 'foreign' land known as Rio De Janeiro. Linda is running her book store as usual, when a man approaches her and after much convincing and begging he gets Linda to consider his proposal to keep Blu's species alive.
Once I saw how Rio is portrayed I was stunned and completely awestruck at the detail, roads, and beaches; almost identical to the actual city itself. As said in the beginning of the movie, Blu is the last male of his kind and just recently they have found the last female of his kind as well. As the usual love story goes the relationship between Blu and his new female counterpart, Jewel, is rough, but through an extraordinary adventure of meeting two hip-hop birds, a very helpful toucan, and a drooling dog, Jewel and Blu experience Samba, hang- gliding, and riding on a trolley at sunset.
There is only one bad thing that I could find with this movie, and that is when the adventure is over, I didn't want it to end. With this movie you get a connection with the characters and feel as if you were actually on the journey. All the way to the last credit in the movie I couldn't wait to watch the movie the next night. There were absolutely no flaws and the music was very catchy and mesmerizing, especially the samba song.
However, if someone were to ask me if there should be a "Rio 2", I would have to say no. This movie could not have been any more perfect. I feel a sequel would only end with people having a bad taste in their mouth, but I could be wrong. I would see the sequel, and who knows maybe I would be just as surprised as the first time I saw this movie. I hope this review is helpful and I hope that if you had any hesitation for seeing the movie before that you have made up your mind. This movie is a high recommendation by me.
In the beginning you are introduced to Rio in it's natural habitat and then you are introduced to Blu, who is captured and shipped to a town in Minnesota. He is found by a young girl, Linda, and she vows to take care of the little Blue Macaw. This is where the true adventure begins because it shows Blu's normal life, and in a flash Blu is traveling towards a 'foreign' land known as Rio De Janeiro. Linda is running her book store as usual, when a man approaches her and after much convincing and begging he gets Linda to consider his proposal to keep Blu's species alive.
Once I saw how Rio is portrayed I was stunned and completely awestruck at the detail, roads, and beaches; almost identical to the actual city itself. As said in the beginning of the movie, Blu is the last male of his kind and just recently they have found the last female of his kind as well. As the usual love story goes the relationship between Blu and his new female counterpart, Jewel, is rough, but through an extraordinary adventure of meeting two hip-hop birds, a very helpful toucan, and a drooling dog, Jewel and Blu experience Samba, hang- gliding, and riding on a trolley at sunset.
There is only one bad thing that I could find with this movie, and that is when the adventure is over, I didn't want it to end. With this movie you get a connection with the characters and feel as if you were actually on the journey. All the way to the last credit in the movie I couldn't wait to watch the movie the next night. There were absolutely no flaws and the music was very catchy and mesmerizing, especially the samba song.
However, if someone were to ask me if there should be a "Rio 2", I would have to say no. This movie could not have been any more perfect. I feel a sequel would only end with people having a bad taste in their mouth, but I could be wrong. I would see the sequel, and who knows maybe I would be just as surprised as the first time I saw this movie. I hope this review is helpful and I hope that if you had any hesitation for seeing the movie before that you have made up your mind. This movie is a high recommendation by me.
The first word I can say about this movie is, wow! Now once again I know that I enjoy animation movies more than anything but this is one of my top 5 favorites. Kung Fu Panda 2 when I first saw the trailer looked like a typical sequel and kind of a corny ending line, "This could be the end of kung fu..." despite the fact that I liked the first movie. However, the past tense of my sentence pretty much tells where this review is headed, not to mention the stars, but onto the review.
I am only going to choose four of the many characters to talk about for understandable reasons. Po (Jack Black) obviously going to be the star of the movie has excellently transitioned into the role he played. During the first movie, he was socially awkward and never took kung fu seriously, but in this movie it really makes it feel as if he has been shown the ropes a little more and he has matured significantly. For example he is enjoying himself with the Furious Five rather than trying to fit in, and he is also more comfortable with his technique, shown during fighting sequences.
Tigress (Angelina Jolie) I feel was a lot more accepting in this movie, which does not necessarily fit her description of the previous movie, but once again maturity comes back into play. On the other hand though I feel she is a little too accepting though. I don't know if this was deliberate, but she kind of has a relationship with Po unlike any of the other members of the Furious Five have. The boat scene is a perfect example of this because she tries to get Po to open up to her, and for those who have seen the movie, the jail scene where she gets the truth out of Po. Perhaps Dreamworks did this on purpose, but I guess I will just have to wait and find out.
Master Shifu (Dustin Hoffman), not really a major character in this movie, actually he is more of a minor one. Shifu looks like he has aged a lot more and he is trying to feel his inner peace as if his job is nearing completion. Now I added Shifu in here because he did contribute to the movie, as little of it as he was in. Shifu in KFP was a master to the Furious Five and Po, and only a master, but in KFP2 he is more of a father figure to them. He gives them the direction that he believes is best for them and the valley, and he is no longer intolerant of Po. When Shifu summons Po, Po interrupts Shifu's inner peace by stumbling and making loud noises, but Shifu just shrugs it off and guides Po to his next phase of training.
Now for the final character which made this an excellent movie, Shen (Gary Oldman). Now this character was one of my favorites. In most animation movies you can look at the antagonist and he will be able to fit into society and not be a threat unless he/she wants to be, but from the very beginning he is just a fearful figure regardless of what he is trying to do. Shen shows the true antithesis of good by just being ruthless, unforgiving, and down right murderous. It does not matter what is in his way he will destroy it or get his minions to do it. That is one of the excellent things about this franchise, the villain was truly a villain. Like Tai Lung (Ian MacShane), he was feared by the Valley of Peace just by hearing his name, same with the name Shen, it just struck fear into the hearts of the people.
These four characters really did add to the movie, but this movie also had everything built into it. Not only did it fill the previous holes from the first movie, where is Po from? Who are his parents? How did Mr. Ping get Po? All of these questions are answered in this movie, it is almost as if this is a prequel-sequel. It is as if the first movie was a rope with stray ends and the second movie weaved all the ends together to make it flow perfectly. Normally when I watch a movie I can find a few things that are just ridiculous, but I brush them off, not in this movie though, it was pure excitement, humor, and enjoyment throughout the whole thing. If you are debating going to see this movie, the decision should be to see it, well worth the money and well worth the time.
I am only going to choose four of the many characters to talk about for understandable reasons. Po (Jack Black) obviously going to be the star of the movie has excellently transitioned into the role he played. During the first movie, he was socially awkward and never took kung fu seriously, but in this movie it really makes it feel as if he has been shown the ropes a little more and he has matured significantly. For example he is enjoying himself with the Furious Five rather than trying to fit in, and he is also more comfortable with his technique, shown during fighting sequences.
Tigress (Angelina Jolie) I feel was a lot more accepting in this movie, which does not necessarily fit her description of the previous movie, but once again maturity comes back into play. On the other hand though I feel she is a little too accepting though. I don't know if this was deliberate, but she kind of has a relationship with Po unlike any of the other members of the Furious Five have. The boat scene is a perfect example of this because she tries to get Po to open up to her, and for those who have seen the movie, the jail scene where she gets the truth out of Po. Perhaps Dreamworks did this on purpose, but I guess I will just have to wait and find out.
Master Shifu (Dustin Hoffman), not really a major character in this movie, actually he is more of a minor one. Shifu looks like he has aged a lot more and he is trying to feel his inner peace as if his job is nearing completion. Now I added Shifu in here because he did contribute to the movie, as little of it as he was in. Shifu in KFP was a master to the Furious Five and Po, and only a master, but in KFP2 he is more of a father figure to them. He gives them the direction that he believes is best for them and the valley, and he is no longer intolerant of Po. When Shifu summons Po, Po interrupts Shifu's inner peace by stumbling and making loud noises, but Shifu just shrugs it off and guides Po to his next phase of training.
Now for the final character which made this an excellent movie, Shen (Gary Oldman). Now this character was one of my favorites. In most animation movies you can look at the antagonist and he will be able to fit into society and not be a threat unless he/she wants to be, but from the very beginning he is just a fearful figure regardless of what he is trying to do. Shen shows the true antithesis of good by just being ruthless, unforgiving, and down right murderous. It does not matter what is in his way he will destroy it or get his minions to do it. That is one of the excellent things about this franchise, the villain was truly a villain. Like Tai Lung (Ian MacShane), he was feared by the Valley of Peace just by hearing his name, same with the name Shen, it just struck fear into the hearts of the people.
These four characters really did add to the movie, but this movie also had everything built into it. Not only did it fill the previous holes from the first movie, where is Po from? Who are his parents? How did Mr. Ping get Po? All of these questions are answered in this movie, it is almost as if this is a prequel-sequel. It is as if the first movie was a rope with stray ends and the second movie weaved all the ends together to make it flow perfectly. Normally when I watch a movie I can find a few things that are just ridiculous, but I brush them off, not in this movie though, it was pure excitement, humor, and enjoyment throughout the whole thing. If you are debating going to see this movie, the decision should be to see it, well worth the money and well worth the time.