Saints and Soldiers: The Void Review

Jon Pardew Movie Review: 7/10

Rated: PG-13
Sexual Content: 0/10
Violence: 5/10
Profanity: 2/10
Drugs/Alcohol: 3/10

Saints and Soldiers takes place toward the end of World War II.  Two tank destroyers are ambushed by the Nazis.  Sgt. Jesse Owens, an African American soldier, gets mixed up with the unfortunate events and is not treated too kindly by some of his comrades because of the color of his skin.  His comrades later come to realize that they are wrong for judging Owens based on his skin color.

Story: 7/10

It seems that there are an unlimited amount of stories that you can pull from World War II.  I appreciate that Saints and Soldiers is a story about letting down your guard and accepting others as people.  I was not aware that African American soldiers were treated unfairly in WWII.  It isn't something that is often brought up.  It seems that racism is a constant battle and it is great to see movies that work to establish the equality of mankind.  

Acting: 7/10

For a locally made movie, the actors they got did a great job.  It might not have had big names in it but some of the actors really made the story believable.  K. Danor Gerald (Sgt. Jesse Owens) could really get into character.  His monologue he performs about his father and his race blew me away.  He may be going places in his acting career.

Cinema Photography: 5/10

Most of the movie was filmed in Utah.  It was somewhat of a distraction to see Utah in the background because I wanted to believe that it was Germany that I was seeing.  People who are not familiar with the Utah landscape will have a better time and not be distracted by this.  There are some great shots taken, and it is fun to see real tanks in action.

Visual FX: 4/10

You have to know that there are not a lot of VFX in Saints and Soldiers: The Void.  The few that they had looked good enough.  This wasn't a big budget film and it is grittier because of that.  The VFX may not have been spectacular, but they didn't distract you from the story.  

Written by: Jon Pardew

Into the Storm Review

Jon Pardew Movie Review: 5/10

Rotten Tomatoes: Nothing Yet

Rated: PG-13
Sexual Content: 2/10
Violence: 7/10
Profanity: 5/10
Drugs/Alcohol: 3/10

Into the Storm is about the devastation of major tornadoes.  Storms start hitting in a small town and you follow a father and two sons, a storm chasing crew, and two outlandish back-country red-necks.  You see how each person deals with the storm as lives are threatened and the super storm lays waste to everything in its path.

Story: 2/10

You would not want to go to this movie if you are expecting to see a great story.  It has its moments where characters demonstrate bravery eluding to some character development but that is overshadowed by the giant tornadoes and VFX.   Also, the eye of the tornado is not the only hole in this story.  There are more than a few things that didn't connect and it will take you right out of the movie if you are paying attention.

Acting: 3/10

Into the Storm's actors consist of people you may not heard of besides Richard Armitage (aka Thorin Oakenshield) who plays the father.  Perhaps because most of the actors are relatively new to Hollywood, their performances seemed rather amateur.  Most of the time I didn't feel like any of them were in any real danger even when giant tornadoes were sucking people into them.  I did enjoy the red-necks performances.  They brought the element of humor to the movie in a good way.

Cinema Photography: 4/10

The movie starts by being filmed by home video cameras, sort of in the style of Cloverfield or Earth to Echo as if it is going to be a 'found footage' type movie.  The problem with Into the Storm is that it was not consistent.  Most of the time you are seeing what the characters are filming and it brings more intense emotions because it seems more real.  Then there is a sequence of footage that blatantly is not filmed by any of the characters and it immediately reduces the intensity and made it feel messy. 

Visual FX: 8/10

The VFX are the best part of Into the Storm. Although not groundbreaking, the tornadoes did look spectacular and scary.  One tornado catches on fire which is something I have never seen before and so it was new and looked impressive.  The destruction and debris flying around looked intense, probably the closest it looks to experiencing a real tornado.   

Written by: Jon Pardew   

Earth To Echo Review

Jon Pardew Movie Review: 6/10

Rotten Tomatoes: 53%

Rated: PG
Sexual Content: 1/10
Violence: 3/10
Profanity: 2/10
Drugs/Alcohol: 1/10

3 friends are faced with moving out of the town they grew up in because a freeway will be built right through their neighborhood.  They are dealing with their emotions of leaving each other when their cell phones start doing strange things.  They decide that their phones are showing them a map and decide that their last night together will be following the map on their phone for one last adventure together.  Their phones lead them to Echo who is an alien who is hurt and needs help.  After their discovery, their night quickly turns into a rescue mission to save Echo and help him get back to his spaceship.

This movie will be compared to big name classics like E.T. or Stand By Me.  If you look at it that way Earth to Echo does not stand a chance.  That being said, I enjoyed to movie with my 3-year-old son who absolutely loved it.  It is very shaky due to their style of filming.  The whole thing is filmed by the three boys passing the handheld video-camera back and forth or you are supposed to believe that the boys are filming.  The adventure goes by quickly.  It only happens in one night which limits your time to get to know Echo.  He is cute and likable so when the movie is over you might feel like you needed more time with the little robot alien.

The story is enjoyable.  If it was made to tap into the nostalgia of being a tween, then it did the job.  Most everyone knows what it is like to have to move and say goodbye to your best friends.  If you have to move from your home when you are young like these kids, it can be really difficult.  In helping Echo, they were able to forget about their emotions during their last night together and have an adventure.  Echo taught them that goodbye doesn't have to be forever.    

Written by: Jon Pardew
     

Transformers: Age of Extinction Review

Jon Pardew Movie Review: 1/10

Rotten Tomatoes: 20%

Rated: PG-13
Sexual Content: 3/10
Violence: 7/10
Profanity: 5/10
Drugs/Alcohol: 3/10

All transformers are now being hunted down by humans and destroyed.  Their parts are being salvaged and studied.  A company in the U.S. has now unlocked the secrets and can build their own transformers.  Optimus Prime is discovered by Cade Yeager (Mark Wahlberg), who is a junk yard inventor.  Much to his daughters disagreements he helps the barely alive Optimus Prime.  When it is discovered by the government where Oprimus is located; Cade, his daughter, and her boyfriend get mixed up in a terrible transformer movie. 

A few months ago we bought a new vacuum.  We had heard about the quality of the Dyson brand and we were excited to try it out.  When I had used for the first time I was very impressed with how much dirt it sucked off the floor.  Transformers: Age of Extinction sucked much deeper then our vacuum.  In fact it was like watching a Transformer movie being sucked up a vacuum and hitting the cyclone tube.  The movie was all over the place and much of it didn't make sense.  The dialogue was even worse as the silly one liners could make you squirm.  It was as if they all took Horatio Cane's lines from CSI: Miami, chewed on them and spit them out.  The VFX were...okay with the exception of one part were there was a demonstration of some new technology.  It was being shown how they can now turn a ball of transformer material into anything and it didn't look real at all.  It looked like a cartoon!  I was surprised to see such low quality on a movie that had an extremely large budget. If there was one thing good about this movie, I would have to say the explosions.  Although the explosions were big and spectacular, they still just reminded me of the mess the

movie was.

There was one part where they ended up at The Hole in the Rock Store located close to Moab Utah. I had to laugh as I have been by this store many times.  It was fun to see it in a movie.  I just wish it was in a better movie.

Written by: Jon Pardew       

Jersey Boys Review

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Jon Pardew Movie Review: 7/10

Rotten Tomatoes: 50%

Rated: R
Sexual Content: 4/10
Violence: 4/10
Profanity: 8/10
Drugs/Alcohol: 7/10

Jersey Boys follows the life of Frankie Valli (John Lloyd Young), Tommy DeVito (Vincent Piazza), Nick Massi (Michael Lomenda), and Bob Gaudio (Erich Bergen) as they come together to create music.  Tommy DeVito, who is heavily involved with the mob in New Jersey, puts together a singing group with talented Frankie Valli and bass singer Nick Massi.  Later they bring in the key to their success Bob Gaudio who can write, sing and play the keyboard.  Bob wrote chart topping hits for the group such as: "Sherry", "Walk Like a Man", "Big Girls Don't Cry" and many others.  Jersey Boys covers the rise of The Four Seasons.  You see what they went through to become legends.  You also watch their experiences as issues came up and bad feelings are developed toward one another which ultimately leads to their fall and breakup.    

The cast of Jersey Boys was fantastic.  They could not have got a better group of talent for the job.  The actors sing all the songs in the movie, they sound just like The Four Seasons and they got that Jersey accent down perfectly.  The story flowed well with one exception towards the end where the movie jumps back in time to cover some issues that developed and then jumps forward again.  Nick Massi's rant at the end was great as he finally lets out years of built up anger towards the group.  The makeup at the end was not very impressive when they jumped forward to the 90's, at a time where the characters were much older.  Maybe it was an artistic move since the movie is based on the play, but they looked like young men with makeup on instead of genuinely aged men.

I was impressed with Frankie Valli's attitude throughout the movie.  Who knows if this is how it really happened, right? "Everybody remembers it how they need to".  But in the movie, Frankie took responsibility for all of Tommy DeVito's mess.  Tommy got into a lot of trouble and it was admirable what Frankie did.  He demonstrated true friendship without asking for anything in return.  He felt that although Tommy had a lot of problems he was the one that got him off the streets of New Jersey and that was enough.  Frankie had his back no matter what even when Tommy was stabbing him in the his own back at some points.  Life was rough for them, but the ones who worked hard came out on top in the end and gave the world great music along the way.  I still am unable to get "Can't Take my Eyes Off of You" out of my head.

Review Written by: Jon Pardew

How to Train your Dragon 2 Review

Jon Pardew Movie Review: 9/10

Rotten Tomatoes: 92%

Rated: PG
Sexual Content: 1/10
Violence: 3/10
Profanity: 2/10
Drugs/Alcohol: 1/10

How to Train your Dragon 2 continues the adventures of Hiccup and Toothless.  Not interested in the new games that the village Burk invented, the two are out charting new territory.  They run into other people who trap dragons and later Hiccup has a run in with his long lost mother who is also a dragon lover and trying to save them from the trappers.  Hiccup and Toothless join his mother in her efforts, The village of Burk joins in as well as they have epic battles with the trappers.

How to Train your Dragon 2 is visually stunning.  As you watch your breath is taken away at the scenery and the art.  It makes you want to be there with Hiccup and Toothless.  The way the snow looks, I would say that it is better than the snow in Frozen.  Hard to believe, but the art and animation really are amazing.  The story is darker than the first and opens up for a 3rd movie to make the franchise a trilogy.  Hiccup's story becomes more interesting as he and Toothless discover more about themselves and who they are.  

Sometimes it is required of us to step up and do difficult things.  Stoick is urging Hiccup to be the leader of their village.  Hiccup doesn't feel that he is good enough or strong enough to do it.  We can relate to that as we are given opportunities to do hard things.  Truth is, you never know what you are capable of until you put yourself up against the difficult task at hand.  You might even surprise yourself at how strong you really are.  It is the experiences that strengthen us.  Of course it is always nice to have good friends to stand by you just like Hiccup has Toothless.  So next time you are confronted with a difficult responsibility, take courage and trust a little in yourself.  It is amazing what people can do.

Written by: Jon Pardew   

Edge of Tomorrow Review

Jon Pardew Movie Review: 8.5/10

Rotten Tomatoes: 90%

Rated: PG-13
Sexual Content: 2/10
Violence: 6/10
Profanity: 5/10
Drugs/Alcohol: 2/10

Edge of Tomorrow is an action packed sci-fi war movie, and it is awesome!  Major Cage (Tom Cruise) does not want to go to the front line of battle against the alien army.  He is arrested and forced to go anyway. Though very inexperienced as he is he manages to kill some aliens before he dies.  He then wakes up at the beginning of the previous day.  Something happened that caused him to be trapped in a time loop.  He then tries to find Rita (Emily Blunt) every day for training.  It is up to Cage to find a way past the enemy on that looped day and destroy them.

Edge of Tomorrow is loosely based on the Japanese military science fiction light novel by Hiroshi Sakurazaka with illustrations by Yoshitoshi ABe called All you Need is Kill.  They even pay homage to the book by naming the main character Cage.  The character in the book is named Keiji, but the Americans pronounce it Cage. All you Need is Kill was published in 2004 and it was Sakurazaka's breakthrough novel.

Edge of Tomorrow is a great summertime movie.  There is a time loop but you don't lose interest because it is executed very well.  Tom Cruise does an excellent job at taking you through the time loops and making you wonder how many times he has been through this even though it is your first time seeing it happen.  The actors do a good job to bring you into the movie and experience real battle with aliens.  The design of the aliens were magnificent.  They are creatures that will haunt you.  The movie was also surprisingly but pleasantly funny.  There were about 5 or 6 times that the theater had a good laughing moment and a few more times when everyone cheered making it fun to be there.

This movie does not ask you to think much.  There is no deep philosophical idea behind it but it does make you want to have the ability to start over every day until you are able to complete a task perfectly, like a video game.  Imagine if you could have a redo on taking your final exams until you got a perfect score, or repeating a job interview until you come out doing it right and getting the job.  Perhaps you are in the middle of a huge battle with an alien army. Another interesting thought, today marks the 70th anniversary of D-Day. I wondered how much that was planned for the release of Edge of Tomorrow since the human army attacks the aliens on the beaches of France and it looks much like a D-Day type invasion. Coincidence? Probably not.    

Written By: Jon Pardew