TrippDigital Reviews

The Avengers (2012)

Amazing!

[10/10 · 5 May 2012]

Flashback to 2008. I was clapping my hands along with many others in a packed theater as the end credits of Iron Man rolled on the screen. But as the credits finished, a hush fell over the crowd. A new scene played out, in which we were introduced to Nick Fury. A collective gasp was let out by those of us in the know when he said the word "Avengers".

Four years and four films later, that little tease has become the biggest and best superhero movie of all time.

One of the best things about the Avengers is that there's no need for an origin. Thanks to the other films, we already know these characters and have seen them in action. This allows the filmmakers to get the ball rolling quickly. And boy, does it ever roll. It hits the ground running and doesn't stop until the end. But that doesn't mean it's just a mindless action movie. The character development here is great and the chemistry is amazing. You feel their frustration when the group falls apart and share in their triumph when they "assemble".

Simply put, it's the most entertainment I've gotten out of a film in a very long time. Seeing those characters together on the big screen spoke directly to the 10 year old in me. I can't recommend it enough. Even if you've never read a comic book in your life, you will enjoy this movie.

Lost Boys: The Thirst (2010 Video)

Frog Overkill

[4/10 · 19 October 2010]

I love The Lost Boys. It's without a doubt one of my favorite films of all time. A couple years ago, I saw that a sequel had been made, Lost Boys: The Tribe. I knew before I even hit the play button that this wasn't going to measure up to my beloved 1987 classic. That state of mind allowed me to watch The Tribe and not be too critical of it. Was it a worthy follow-up to its predecessor? No. Of course not. But I didn't expect it to be. Although flawed on nearly every level, I did find some redeeming qualities in the film. Now, two years later, yet another sequel has been made, Lost Boys: The Thirst. I watched it with that same mindset I had for The Tribe and , I'm sad to say, I was still very disappointed.

Lost Boys: The Thirst takes two of the most recognizable and cherished figures from the original and tries to turn them into the main characters. An idea that doomed the film from the beginning. Don't get me wrong. I love the Frog Brothers. I think they're two of the greatest supporting characters in movie history. Emphasis on SUPPORTING Characters. Neither Corey Feldman nor Jamison Newlander have the charisma to be leading men. Feldman's uber-macho voice was funny in 1987 when he was a preteen vampire killer. But now that he's grown, it seems so forced that it borders on pathetic. And Newlander's acting is so bad that I didn't even complain that he's barely in the movie.

Lost Boys: The Thirst gets some brownie points for trying to be original and not copy the first film too much, which is what The Tribe attempted to do. As a matter of fact, this movie does too good a job establishing itself as a stand-alone film. To the point where it doesn't even feel like it belongs in the Lost Boys series. Sure, there are references to old characters and even footage taken directly from the 1987 original, but to be honest, seeing that just made me want to watch the first movie again.

All in all, The Thirst is a big disappointment. Even if your expectations are already low.

Still Waiting... (2009 Video)

Has it's flaws, but still enjoyable

[7/10 · 2 August 2009]

I was a big fan of Waiting. Even though I've never worked in a restaurant, I could somehow relate to the plights and pitfalls of the food service industry. A lot of that had to do with writer Rob McKittrick's great script. Now, years later, Rob has penned the sequel to his cult classic and the results, though not as satisfying as the original, are better than you might think.

Still Waiting moves the action to a new Shenanigans restaurant where manager Dennis is having some problems. Not only is he having trouble with his personal life, but his restaurant is also facing a crisis. They're losing business to the newly-opened Ta-Ta's Wing Shack next door. So much business in fact that corporate is threatening to shut Dennis down unless he can meet his quarterly expectations. He has one last day to make the $9000 he needs to keep his restaurant open and maybe even get a promotion.

With a new restaurant comes a new cast of characters. There's Agnew - a young waiter who's so sarcastic and hateful that he doesn't even realize he's slowly turning into a racist; His girlfriend, Allison, who just started working at Ta-Ta's; Joshua - a guy who's so overworked that he has nightmares about his job; Hank - the bartender who dreams of hitting the big time with his band; Amber - the waitress working to pay her tuition, and Mason - the young cook with a lisp who's hopelessly in love with Amber. There's also a few returning characters. Like Naomi, in all her spiteful alcoholic glory. And Calvin, who's gone from being a love-struck loser to total ladies man and manager of Ta-Ta's. Other old faces show up as well, but I don't want to spoil it for you.

The characters are, sadly, not near as good as the original Shenanigan's gang. It's no fault of the actor's either, The mostly unknown cast make the best with what they've been given. The characters this time around are just not as interesting. For example, I could've done completely without the Joshua character and would've like to have seen more of the Mason-Amber mini-plot.

The story is a bit weak as well. Whereas in the first film, amidst all the dirty jokes, there was a story about that point in your life where you have to ask yourself "Just where am I going?": Still Waiting doesn't seem to have anything other than the "are they gonna make enough money?" plot. You'd think they would, especially with the new girl at the Wing Shack subplot, but it's just not there.

All in all, Still Waiting has it's moments. It's pretty funny and way better than the majority of direct-to-DVD sequels out there. If you loved the original, you'll probably like this one. Key word being "like".

X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)

Not quite X2, but still worth watching

[8/10 · 30 April 2009]

After three hugely successful films, Marvel's X-Men franchise returns with a prequel of sorts for arguably the series' most popular character: Wolverine.

Hugh Jackman once again dons the claws and sideburns to become Logan, a mutant with the ability to heal from any wound. It's this power that brings him and his brother Victor (also a mutant, but with more cat-like features and agility) to the attention of US government agent William Stryker, who is putting together a special forces team of people with abilities to carry out dangerous missions. After spending years with this group, Logan decides he's had enough and leaves to start a normal life. But that is soon interrupted when Stryker reappears to warn him of a new danger. Motivated by revenge, Logan volunteers to take part in the Weapon X program, where his bones are surgically enhanced with an indestructible metal. But once the truth about the program is revealed, Logan finds himself pitted against some of his former colleagues, including his own brother.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine combines tons of action with good doses of drama and lite humor to make one of the more enjoyable X-Men films to date. Hugh Jackman turns in another great performance as the title character and Liev Schreiber's turn as Victor AKA Sabretooth is fantastic. He and Jackman have great chemistry and the scenes in which they appear on screen together are the highlights of the movie. The main flaw of the film is the use of supporting characters, especially Gambit. He just feels out of place in the story, as if the filmmakers included him merely to please the comic book fan-boy crowd. Plus the actor portraying Gambit, Taylor Kitsch, doesn't even bother speaking in the Cajun accent his character is famous for.

All in all, despite some character issues, X-Men Origins: Wolverine is an entertaining entry to the growing franchise and a step up from 2006's messy X-Men: The Last Stand.

Stay Alive (2006)

Stay Alive? More like Stay Awake

[1/10 · 30 January 2007]

The Plot: A group of young people with ridiculous names (Hutch, Swink, Phineaus, and October)are brought together by the death of their equally ridiculously named friend Loomis. After the funeral, they decide to divide up their late friend's belongings. Among them is a video game called Stay Alive. The group decides there's no better way to show their grief than to all partake in a little virtual bloodshed. But the more they play, the more they realize the connection between the game and the death of poor ol' Loomis.

The Production: This film is just another entry into the latest Hollywood craze of low-budget PG-13 horror aimed at cashing in on the junior high school crowd. The direction is sloppy to say the least with quick, music video style cuts that make the action difficult to follow. The dialog is so bad that it actually kills brain cells. The plot itself is so full of holes that we never even learn where the game came from or why those who play it die.

The idea behind this film, although not entirely original, had some promise. But the poor execution on both sides of the camera make this one big dud.

If you've ever got a craving for a "killing someone in a video game makes them dead in real life" horror film take my advice and skip Stay Alive for the superior Brainscan.

The Wizard (1989)

A Commercial Classic

[8/10 · 25 February 2005]

A touching drama about a young boy's quest to help his autistic younger brother and a troubled young girl they meet along the way running from her own demons.....

Okay, so it's mostly just a 90 minute commercial for Super Mario Brothers 3, but it's also a great road movie with plenty of classic 80's quotable material ("I love the Power Glove. It's so bad."). It has a good soundtrack as well.

I think if a person sees the film for the first time nowadays they might not enjoy it as much as those who saw the film growing up and enjoy that oh so good feeling of nostalgia.