The Heat

Special Agent Ashburn is a tough, by-the-book FBI agent who is up for a major promotion but only if she can catch a high-profile drug dealer who has never been identified except by a name: Julian. In order to catch Julian and stop the drug ring Ashburn must head to Boston and work with a street-wise cop named Mullins who prefers to work alone. Ashburn and Mullins butt heads and try to outdo each other until they realize that Mullins' brother is somehow involved, so they put aside their differences and work together to bring down the drug dealer and save Mullins' brother.

I'm usually not a fan of R-rated comedies, there are very few that I would recommend due to the comedic content being extremely crude and not all that funny. I would prefer comedies stayed in the same vein as early comedies such as The Princess Bride, Cool Runnings, Robin Hood: Men in Tights, or even more recent ones such as Hitch and Mr and Mrs Smith. The Heat doesn't shy away from the harsh language and vulgar jokes, but I did find myself busting out laughing more often than I would have originally thought I was going to. I went in mostly expecting to hate it, yet at the same time willing to give it a chance. That realization puts me in a difficult position because I would love to recommend The Heat, yet I feel like I should exercise a bit of caution in recommending this to people. Since it is rated R, and a lot of the content is pretty crude I would caution parents to preview it before they allow their kids to see it. For the rest, The Heat really is funnier than most R-rated comedies out there. If you can withstand a bit of crude humor then you will enjoy The Heat.

Man of Steel

On a distant planet called Krypton, a man named Jor-El attempts to plead with the leaders of his people to evacuate the planet due to its core turning volatile and making the planet a time bomb about to explode. When Jor-El fails to convince his leaders to evacuate he enacts a plan to evacuate his son to safety so at least their civilization is not completely annihilated. Before Jor-El is able to complete his mission, however, a ruthless Kryptonian General named Zod attacks the Kryptonian leaders in a coup to save the planet. Zod's coup fails to stop Jor-El from sending his son out among the stars and can't save the planet from exploding and as a result for his insubordination is sent to a place of limbo called the Phantom Zone. Jor-El's son's ship crashes in the field of an older couple by the names of Jonathan and Martha Kent in Kansas who raise the baby as their own. It isn't until Clark Kent is an adult that he begins to understand where he truly came from and the purpose for his being sent to Earth.

Man of Steel is the highly anticipated reboot of the Superman franchise that has been rumored to be the beginning of DC Comics' goal of introducing the Justice League to the big screen. While Man of Steel is quite possibly one of the best Superman films to date, it does have some pretty major flaws. It felt like the story was rushed at times so the audience didn't get a fair chance to really get to know any of the characters. The classic romantic relationship between Clark Kent/Superman and Lois Lane is barely touched upon, reduced to little more than an onscreen kiss near the end of the movie. Man of Steel also completely lost a chance to show the audience Clark Kent trying out his abilities when he first figured out he was different everyone else. The one thing I disliked the most was the way in which the story kept jumping from between the past and the present showing Clark as an adult and a kid. It was hard to keep track of what was a flashback and what was the present.

I did love Henry Cavill in the role of Clark Kent/Superman and Michael Shannon as General Zod. I felt they both had a great chemistry onscreen. Amy Adams as Lois Lane was great also, but I felt her character could have been developed a bit more than the story allowed. I absolutely loved Russell Crowe as Jor-El, he had some of the most memorable lines in the movie.

"You will give the people an ideal to strive towards. They will race behind you, they will stumble, they will fall. But in time, they will join you in the sun. In time, you will help them accomplish wonders." If you know anything about the Superman legend, then you have also probably heard the comparison between Superman and Jesus Christ. It has never truly been a perfect comparison, but one can't help but see the similarities. Man of Steel is filled to the brim with spiritual content that can't help but make Superman out to be a savior of sorts. Superman willingly and peacefully surrenders himself to the government to build trust between him and the rest of humanity; he takes the time in the heat of battle to help out a fallen soldier or move an innocent bystander to a safer place. When Clark Kent is torn between surrendering himself to the government or not, he takes refuge in a church and discusses his predicament to the priest there. The priest advises him to take a leap of faith in deciding his next move.

Man of Steel is not a perfect film by any means, but it is solid enough to keep fans of Superman happy and casual movie goers also entertained. It is worth seeing at least once or twice. I personally can't wait to see where this story gets taken to next and whether there really is going to be a Justice League film in the near future.

Fast & Furious 6

Dominic "Dom" Toretto, Brian O'Conner, and the rest of their group of adrenaline junkies/international criminals have traded in their fast-paced lifestyle and settled down in Rio de Janeiro. They're all enjoying retirement until out of the blue Luke Hobbs, the federal agent that has been chasing them, catches up to them. Instead of arresting and turning them in, however, Hobbs give Dom a proposition - help Hobbs catch a former Special Ops officer named Owen Shaw who has gone rogue trying to build a high tech bomb with the ability to wipe out an entire country's communications. As leverage for their help, Hobbs drops an even bigger bomb (metaphorically speaking) - Letty, Dom's former girlfriend, is alive and working for Hobbs. Dom feels he has to find out for himself if Letty is still alive so he, along with the rest of his team, agrees to help Hobbs catch Shaw.

Fans of the Fast and Furious franchise who might be worried the series might be losing steam need not worry anymore. Fast and Furious 6 is still a high octane thrill ride that is well worth the price of admission. It doesn't quite beat Fast Five as the best in the series, but it comes pretty darn close. The one thing I've loved about the Fast and Furious franchise (besides the really cool fast cars) is the theme of family is consistent throughout the franchise. It is still the case here. Dom feels it's his duty to go after Letty and bring her back home where she belongs. Even when she initially rebuffs him he still pursues her in the hopes of her returning to her roots. Dom emphasizes that "you don't turn your back on family, even when they do."

The things I haven't liked about the series (and is frequently the case here) is the over-the-top stunts that don't really seem humanly possible to attempt. Probably the biggest moment that had me going "how is that possible?" is a stunt where Dom's group is on the highway and out of the blue two characters jump from opposite sides of a bridge off the roof of their cars and safely land on top of another car before either of them were smashed by a tank. There's another scene shown in the trailer where several cars take down a 747 by shooting cables onto the wings and attach the cables to their cars to bring it down.

Despite the many elaborate stunts that shouldn't be humanly possible, Fast 6 is a fantastic thrill ride with a positive message about family that is sure to make fans of the series happy and ready for the next (and final) installment.