Movie Reviews By Movie Reviews Pro

Angels & Demons - Tom Hanks

Rating:

Movie: Angels & Demons (2009)

Studio : Imagine Entertainment; Columbia Pictures

Info : Click Here

Runtime : 138min

Website : angelsanddemons.com

Trailer :
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x799zs

Review:

The action starts in the Vatican after the sudden death of the Pope; simultaneously, the Hadron Collider in Switzerland successfully generates anti-matter. Shortly after this remarkable scientific achievement, one of the vials of antimatter is stolen by a mysterious stranger. After four Cardinals are kidnapped, a mysterious ransom video and note show up brandishing the word Illuminati, an ancient group infamous for opposing the Catholic Church in the 1600’s. Harvard symbologist professor Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) and his team of investigators urgently seek meaning behind the Illuminati’s cryptic clues, in order to save not only the lives of the kidnapped Cardinals, but everybody in Rome as well.

Bits of history are sporadically spoon-fed to the audience about the Church/Illuminati strife, as well as each party involved; this method allows for viewers who have not read the Dan Brown novels to closely follow along. The movie is quite suspenseful, as each discovery the team makes only leads to yet another shrouded clue in the web of Illuminati references. This, however, gets a bit tiresome as it serves for the basic architecture for the entire two hours: the result being a lot of talk and sparse action.

The recurring theme acts as a metaphor for hot-button topics of today, issues that mostly boil down to religious vs. scientific beliefs. Within the movie are characters of vacillating mentalities, such as staunch Catholic priests in addition to more progressive-minded ministers. These sorts of characters essentially bridge the gap between religion and science, in an attempt to prove how each side has its utility.

Even if you do not follow the series of novels religiously (pun intended), Angels & Demons is guaranteed to deliver as thorough entertainment with remarkable suspense. It opened worldwide on May 15 with $152 million in earnings, and is now playing in theaters.

-Daniel S.

Drama, In Theaters, Thriller Angels & Demons, Angels and Demons, Drama, Thriller, Tom Hanks

State of Play - Russell Crowe, Ben Affleck

Rating:

Movie: State of Play (2009)

Studio : Universal Pictures

Info : Click Here

Runtime : 127min

Website : stateofplaymovie.net

Trailer :

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7tyba

Review:

Featuring a star-studded roster of critically acclaimed actors, State of Play is the film adaptation of a British 6-part mini-series of the same name. The story follows an investigative journalist named Cal McAffrey (Russell Crowe) as he attempts to unearth the truth behind the mysterious death of Congressman Stephen Collins’ (Ben Affleck) mistress. Initially ruled as a suicide, Cal unexpectedly finds himself waist-deep in a quagmire of political and corporate conspiracy, a secretive web with potentially lethal repercussions for anybody that stumbles upon it. Faced with this discovery, Cal must choose between preserving his firmly-rooted friendship with Collins or risk everything to unveil one of the biggest scandals of the century.

Set in the nation’s capital, the complex yet sensible plot is particularly intriguing given that its embedded in current affairs; in this case, a lucrative military contractor is facing political opposition. However, the pace seems to drag a bit at times, as the finer details require more time to be fully ironed-out. But this isn’t an entirely bad situation, because these instances of plot development precipitate occasions of unnerving suspense.

Throughout the screening I found myself briefly wondering what sort of twist could come next, while simultaneously watching along in an unending stupor of fascination, the sort of infatuated yet vegetative mental state that only a thorough storyline could evoke.

Rarely does Hollywood produce such a tremendous work of film, where plot development, performance, and suspense are all top-notch. State of Play is more than just a political thriller, as it exposes the workings of the dying newspaper industry, their sporadic collusion with politicians, and their cooperation with law enforcement. It successfully delivers an elaborate while discernible storyline guaranteed to consume film fanatics and average movie-goers alike, thus it comes highly recommended.

– Daniel S. Edited by: Trent M.

Drama, In Theaters, Thriller crime, Drama, police, russell crowe, state of play, suspense, Thriller

X-Men Origins: Wolverine - Hugh Jackman

Rating:

Movie: X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)

Studio : Twentieth Century-Fox

Info : Click Here

Runtime : 107min

Website : x-menorigins.com

Trailer :
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7qm22

Review:

X-Men Origins: Wolverine is by far an amazing movie. The trailer of this movie promised an action endured film, and it did just that. This is possibly one of the best prequels I’ve since seen Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. The movie starts from the beginning of Logan’s (Hugh Jackman) life as a child when he discovered his mutant powers; the movie ends when he loses all of his past memories.

I cannot believe how amazing Hugh Jackman maintained his character throughout this movie! Hugh Jackman was in literally almost every scene in the movie! The movie hadn’t gone 5 minutes without showing Hugh Jackman’s sexiest man alive of 2008 body in the next scene! And with all this happening, Hugh just made it a movie worth watching.

A lot of twists and ties had turned this movie into an epic classic film. This entire film explains Wolverine’s continuous flashbacks in the first X-Men films. It also explains Wolverine’s resistance to connect with anyone. On top of that it explains how Wolverine got his name and his unbreakable metal claws! So much explanation with so little time.

That was the downside of this movie, “little time”. There was so much information and explanation that the producers had to do that was all jammed into a two hour film. I know two hours seems like it would be an extreme amount but even after the film was over there was the big essence of a “rushed film”. There was a lot of story told, yes, and there were many action scenes, yes, but it seemed that the movie jumped from scene to scene very quickly.

I would definitely see the movie in theaters as well as purchase this movie. It is an all time classic that lives beyond its standards as a prequel.

– Trent M.

Action, In Theaters, Sci-Fi, Thriller hugh jackman, mutants, origins, wolverine, x-men, x-men origins: wolverine, xmen

Obsessed - Idris Elba, Beyonce Knowles

Rating:

Movie: Obsessed(2009)

Studio: Screen Gems

Info: Click Here

Runtime: 108min

Website: areyouobsessed.com

Trailer:http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8ro58

Review :

Obsessed was an excellent movie! As I always say, “In every movie there is a lesson to be learned.” In this particular movie the lesson was to trust your spouse. What I was most surprised about in this movie was how sync it was with its trailer. Lately a lot of movie trailers have been misleading the quality and purpose of the movie yet this movie really stayed on topic.

The movie was great with grabbing my attention by making every scene vital to the movie’s purpose. Beyonce does a great job creating the emotion in a lot of the scenes cracking tears and yelling at a high frequency. Idris (main character) is great with his confused looks and sad reactions as well as his emotional aspect. Meanwhile Ali (plays the obsessed female) dropped my jaw with her forceful actions and impressive acting.

On top of everything I was really sitting on the edge of my seat throughout the entire film. I was really impressed by the thrill this movie had in every scene. I couldn’t wait another minute to find out what was going to happen. Each stressful scene just edged me wanting to know more!

Overall I can’t really say much about this movie without spoiling a bit of it therefore I am going to stop before I ruin the movie for you potential viewers out there! See this movie!

-Trent M.

Drama, Just left Theaters, Thriller affair, beyonce, beyonce knowles, cheating, crazy, Fantasy, idris elba, obsessed, psycho, scary, Thriller