Movie Reviews

I have seen a LOT of movies recently! I think I've been to the movie theater three times in the past two weeks...crazy stuff. But after seeing all of them I figured I'd write out what I thought of each movie.

Wreck-it Ralph: FANTASTIC MOVIE. I absolutely loved it. It's kind of like Toy Story, but with arcade games instead and it was so well-made. Completely original, great story line...one of those that you leave the theater and just feel wonderful about life. And it was SO funny! The best part about the humor was that it was straightforward enough that kids got it, but there were some one-line zingers that referenced things that adults encountered when they were kids, like older video games. Perfect family movie that everyone can watch. I think I definitely want it on DVD when it comes out.

Les Mis: I was really impressed with how they did this film...everything from the live singing, to how they incorporated scenes from the book that weren't in the original Broadway musical, to the creativity of the camera angles, to how they changed some lyrics/songs and it really added to the movie. My first reaction after the movie was over is that Anne Hathaway is my absolute favorite actress. She was...what's a word that means 'better than phenomenal'? YEAH. SO GOOD. My second reaction was that I hated Russell Crowe as Javert. My dad's seen the movie (he and I are MAJOR Broadway buffs) and he actually didn't mind him, but I just couldn't get past the fact that he really didn't have the vocal chops. He could sing, yes. But was it on the same level as the others? Absolutely not. And you could tell singing wasn't his strong suit because I felt like he didn't act that much. I didn't get any emotion out of his performance...felt like he was concentrating too hard on hitting the right notes to really get into character. But that's just me and my angry rantings because I expected more. :P Sidenote: I'm seeing the stage version of Les Mis this upcoming weekend in Philly and I'll get to have my powerful Javert then, so I'm looking forward to that. :) Other comments about the movie...Hugh Jackman as Jean Valjean I adored. I feel like he really carried the movie, both with his singing and the emotion he brought to the screen. He was great. And I cried so much...like three times during the movie. The story is just so amazing..it gets me every time.

The Hobbit: I LOVED THIS MOVIE. I know some critics were disappointed with it as it compared to the original trilogy of the Lord of the Rings, but I thought it was amazing. And yeah, it is different than the first three but that's because it's a totally different story, with completely different characters, and set in a different time period. DER. They did SUCH a phenomenal job with it. Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins was pure brilliance. He BECAME that character and had a flawless performance. And I loved the dwarves...and what was great was they all had their own personality, which I imagine was hard to do since there's so many of them! The filming was extraordinary, and even though some of the CGI was over the top, it was understandable with the sequences they had to film. Great movie, can't wait to see it again and for the others to come out.