The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

 "Where did you go, if I may ask?"

"To look ahead."

"And what brought you back?"

"Looking behind."

Bilbo Baggins (Freeman) lives comfortably in his family hobbit hole in the Shire.  His peace is interrupted by the appearance of Gandalf (McKellen), a wizard, who is planning an adventure.  Despite Bilbo's reluctance, he ends up with a home full of dwarves.  The Dwarves are planning a dangerous mission to return to reclaim their home and sizable treasure in the Lonely Mountain from the dragon Smaug.  The 13 Dwarves: Thorin (Armitage), Balin (Stott), Dwalin (McTavish), Bifur (Kircher), Bofur (Nesbitt), Bombur (Hunter), Fili (O'Gorman), Kili (Turner), Oin (Callen), Gloin (Hambleton), Nori (Brophy), Dori (Hadlow), and Ori (Brown); are superstition and need an additional member to their team.  Bilbo reluctantly agrees to be their burglar and the journey begins.

Bilbo is not accustomed to adventures and the dwarves question his abilities and are not sure if he will survive the trip.  They are pursued by an old enemy: Azog (Bennett), the Orc leader who killed Thorin's grandfather.  With trolls and goblins in hot pursuit, and the emergence of a new evil, can the dwarves reach their home.

In 1937, author J.R.R. Tolkien published "The Hobbit" a fantasy novel for children.  The novel was widely revered and led to demand for more stories about Middle Earth.  Tolkien obliged with "The Lord of the Rings" series.  In the 2000s, director Peter Jackson began filming the Lord of the Rings series.  Over a decade later, he turned to Middle Earth to bring "The Hobbit" to life.  To tell as much of the story as possible, the novel was cut into thirds, with plans to release the films over a three year period (much like the LOTR films).  After the success of LOTR, expectations were high for this series.

I am currently rereading "The Hobbit" in preparation to watch the film (I wanted to be one of those people that could point out what changed from the novel).  Jackson wisely chose to open the film with familiar faces: Ian Holm, as old Bilbo, and Elijah Wood, reprising his role as Frodo.  The story opens moments before the action of Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring.  It is familiar and helps to establish Bilbo as the lead role.  The film is a sweeping epic, that sticks near the source material... while making changes for the lay audience (and to help tie everything to the LOTR films).

It was well-done, and I look forward to the sequel, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012) 169 minutes
Rating: PG-13 for extended sequences of intense fantasy action violence, and frightening images
Director: Peter Jackson
Starring: Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins
Ian McKellen as Gandalf
Richard Armitage as Thorin
Ken Stott as Balin
Graham McTavish as Dwalin
William Kircher as Bifur
James Nesbitt as Bofur
Stephen Hunter as Bombur
Dean O'Gorman as Fili
Aidan Turner as Kili
John Callen as Oin
Peter Hambleton as Gloin
Jed Brophy as Nori
Mark Hadlow as Dori
Adam Brown as Ori
Manu Bennett as Azog

Journey 2: The Mysterious Island

"Told you it'd work."

"You were right. I can't believe we made it."

"It's Jules Verne, man. You gotta believe."

After intercepting a coded signal, Sean Anderson (Hutcherson) breaks into a research center to boost the signal, until he is caught by the police.  His stepfather, Hank Parsons (Johnson), helps Sean break the code, which leads to 3 classic books about islands: Jules Verne's "The Mysterious Island", Robert Louis Stevenson's "Treasure Island", and "Gulliver's Travels."  The books combined give the locations to the island.  Hank is skeptical but agrees to take Sean to Palau to find the island.  They convince helicopter tour guide Gabato (Guzman) and his daughter Kailani (Hudgens) to help them find the island.

They helicopter is sucked into a storm and crashes onto the island.  The begin exploring and find that the books were based on fact.  Elephants and similar animals are tiny, and insects and typically small animals are gigantic.  They are chased by a giant lizards, but are rescued by Sean's adventurer grandfather, Alexander (Caine), who sent the coded messages.  But the island is slowly sinking into the ocean and they cannot call for help.  Can they find a way off the island before it sinks to the bottom of the ocean?


In 2008, Walden Media decided to turn Jules Verne's book "Journey to the Center of the Earth" into a 3D family friendly film.  The film was successful enough that Walden Media decided to make a sequel.  Once again the story is based in classic literature, pulling heavily from Verne, and bringing in "Treasure Island" and "Gulliver's Travels".  I have to admit, I have never read anything by Verne (I know, I know, I'm a terrible English major / literature fan)... but I now own several of his works.

Brendan Fraser, who starred in the original film, was unable to appear in the film due to scheduling issues.  He was replaced by Dwayne Johnson as Sean's step father.  Johnson is decent, but I miss Fraser's character.  Josh Hutcherson, as Sean, is the only actor to return to the franchise.  Once again he is fine in the role, and carries the franchise.  Hutcherson is a popular actor and one of the stars of the Hunger Games franchise.  Kristin Davis is wasted in the small role as Sean's mom... the character isn't entirely necessary in the series.  Without Fraser, it was necessary to add another Anderson adventurer to the film.  Michael Caine was a good choice for the role and is entertaining as Alexander.  Luis Guzman is comic relief as Gabato.  Vanessa Hudgens is ok as Kailani, but doesn't get to do much.

The story is interesting and works well.  Like the first film, there are many apparent 3D moments where random things are launched at the screen to maximize the 3D.

An entertaining, family film that will hopefully spark some interest in the literature that inspires it.

Journey 2: The Mysterious Island (2012) 94 minutes
Director: Brad Peyton
Starring: Dwayne Johnson as Hank Parsons
Josh Hutcherson as Sean Anderson
Michael Caine as Alexander Anderson
Luis Guzman as Gabato
Vanessa Hudgens as Kailani

Warm Bodies

"I'm totally lost. I mean, I'm literally lost. I've never been in this part of the airport before."

The world is overrun with zombies, known as corpses, who wander the streets in search of their next meal.  They can't remember their lives or speak.  R (Hoult) is a recently deceased corpse who collects knick-knacks as he wanders.  His whole changes when he encounters a group of human gatherers.  After killing the group leader, Perry (Franco), R eats his brains and gains Perry's memories.

Perry's memories cause R to rescue Julie (Palmer), Perry's girlfriend.  He hides Julie and they begin to form a strange friendship.  He starts to speak and feel, and affects the other corpses.  Their relationship puts them in danger, as they are a threat to the paranoid humans, led by Julie's father Grigio (Malkovich), and the violent Bonies.  Can humans and corpses have a happy ending?


In 2010 author Isaac Marion imagined a new twist on a love story, specifically Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet": a love story with zombies.  He originally worked on the concept in a short story titled "I Am a Zombie Filled with Love."  The novel became a YA hit and naturally, it joined the ranks of popular YA novels to receive a big screen adaptation.

Zombies are popular in film; I have reviewed several horror comedy films about zombies (A Little Bit Zombie, Last of the Living, ParaNorman, Shaun of the Dead, Wasting Away, and Zombieland).  This is a different take on the genre, with much less blood and gore (don't get me wrong, it's still there, but it isn't traumatizing to watch).  It was a smart move, allowing the film to ride the zombie hype, while still appealing to teen girls.

The film has a great cast.  Nicholas Hoult has excellent comic timing and an expressive face.  His running monologue draws the audience in from the beginning.  He was the perfect choice for the role (I haven't read the novel, so perhaps his isn't... but he is great in the film version of the character).  His leading lady is Teresa Palmer, who is typically cast as the lead character's girlfriend / crush... but finally gets the opportunity to step into a leading role.  She is fine here and has good chemistry with Hoult.  Analeigh Tipton is funny as Julie's best friend Nora (the Nurse in "Romeo and Juliet").  She is more of an audience surrogate, who has Julie's back but doesn't always understand what she is thinking / doing.  Dave Franco doesn't get to do much as Perry, but makes the most of his screen time.  As usual Rob Corddry is funny, he might be funnier here since he doesn't get to talk as much.  Although John Malkovich has a small role, he is a dominating presence in the film.

It is an ok movie, but not the best... apparently Marion wrote a prequel and is working on a sequel to the story, so don't be surprised if there are more films to accompany this one (even though it seems to have a clearly defined ending).

Warm Bodies (2013) 98 minutes
Rating: PG-13 for zombie violence and some language
Director: Jonathan Levine
Starring: Nicholas Hoult as R
Teresa Palmer as Julie
Analeigh Tipton as Nora
Rob Corddry as M
Dave Franco as Perry
John Malkovich as Grigio
Cory Hardrict as Kevin

The Heat (2013)

"I was married for six years."
"Was he a man of hearing?"

Sarah Ashburn (Sandra Bullock) is a successful FBI Agent, with a high closing rate.  But none of the other agents like her.  She is sent to Boston to find a drug kingpin that one can identify.  Arriving in Boston, she learns that Rojas (Reasons), the low level dealer she needs to question, is in custody of the Boston PD.  He was arrested by Boston cop Shannon Mullins (Melissa McCarthy), who is territorial with her arrests.

The two instantly clash, but are forced to work together to bring the dealer to justice: Ashburn has the knowledge of the case and the FBI resources, while Mullins has the street smarts and local contacts.  The case hits close to home when the drug dealers force Mullins newly paroled brother, Jason (Rapaport) to get involved.  And to question him, they need to visit Mullins family, despite the animosity between Mullins and her family, who can't forgive her for arresting Jason.  Their investigation is aided by the head of the Boston FBI, Levy (Wayans), with input from their respective bosses: FBI Director Hale (Bichir) and Boston PD Captain Woods (Wilson).  Can they put aside their differences to save the day, or will their tactics get them placed on probation?

Two of the biggest female names in comedy: Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy.  Bullock is a popular rom-com star.  Yes, she has made a few serious films... but she is known for her comedy, specifically her physical comedy (The Proposal, Miss Congeniality, etc.).  McCarthy is a TV star (Gilmore Girls and Mike and Molly) and the breakout star of 2011's comedy hit Bridesmaids.  Their combined star power is a major draw for the film and they do not disappoint.

Paul Feig also directed Bridesmaids, and decided to stick with what works.  It is a raunchy film with strong female leads.  It is funny, but the language was a bit much (mostly coming from McCarthy)... they could cut out about half of the language and still have an entertaining film.

The film is well-written, and gives the leads strong material that fits nicely in their respective wheel-houses, with plenty of physical comedy.  The plot is solid, but not overly memorable, with the film focusing more on the relationship between the leads.  They have a solid supporting cast, particularly the Mullins family.  They work well together and combined with McCarthy, and get some great lines (watch the scene where they interrogate Ashburn OR when they pack everyone into a van).  Other well-known comedians have small but memorable roles that elevate the film.

A funny buddy-cop film, that follows all the characteristics of the genre, while still throwing some surprises at you.

The Heat (2013) 117 minutes
Rated: R for pervasive language, strong crude content and some violence
Director: Paul Feig
Starring: Sandra Bullock as Sarah Ashburn
Melissa McCarthy as Shannon Mullins
Demian Bichir as Hale
Marlon Wayans as Levy
Tom Wilson as Captain Woods
Dan Bakkendahl as Craig
Taran Killam as Adam
Michael McDonald as Julian
Michael Rapaport as Jason Mullins
Spoken Reasons as Rojas