Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters

Last time we saw teenage demigod Percy Jackson, he was saving the world from another angry demigod who stole Zeus's lightning bolt to use as a weapon to destroy the world. In Sea of Monsters, Percy, Grover, and Annabeth are still training at Camp Half-Blood, a hidden wilderness refuge for demigods until they reach their full potential.  Things seem to be going well until a mechanical bull crashes through the force field protecting the camp and wreaks havoc among the campers. Percy and his friends subdue the bull, then find out that former friend-turned-enemy named Luke is back for revenge. It seems that Luke is still angry at his father Hermes for abandoning him, so he attempts to exact his vengeance on his father (and ultimately the world) by releasing the god Kronos from his imprisonment. Percy and his friends must summon every ounce of power and courage in them if they have any hope of stopping Luke from his plans of resurrecting Kronos.

For a movie based on a series of children's books, Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters was actually pretty decent. I liked the first one, Percy Jackson and The Lightning Thief, better; however Sea of Monsters was a good installment. What interested me about the first one was the engaging story, decent action, as well as a few positive messages and certain allegories I could not help noticing throughout the film. For instance, I found it pretty funny that they made Hollywood, of all places, the entrance to hell. I wondered if that was intentional, or if they just had to choose a location so they randomly chose Hollywood. In the book the entrance is through a recording studio in Los Angeles called Dead on Arrival. Gambling is seen as a detrimental vice. Several main characters are willing to risk their lives for each other and for the greater good. There were others, but I cannot think of anymore at the moment.

Unfortunately, all of the connections I made with The Lightning Thief were lost in Sea of Monsters. It felt like it did not have the sincerity and the heart that I found in The Lightning Thief. The story was way too predictable, and a subplot involving a long-lost half brother of Percy's who happens to be a cyclops was a little unnecessary in my opinion. I still enjoyed the film overall for what it's worth, and I realize this is a kid's flick based off a popular children's series so I wasn't expecting an Oscar-winning performance. That being said, it still could have been so much more entertaining. I found myself less engaged than I was in The Lightning Thief. I do hope they continue with the series because I hate it when a series is left unfinished, but I also hope that the next installment gets back to the spirit of the first film. If all else fails, then I might suggest doing what The Chronicles of Narnia did, which was wait a few years before coming out with the next film in the franchise. Otherwise I would go ahead and reboot the series completely. If you are a fan of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians book series and/or the first film adaptation, then you will most likely enjoy Sea of Monsters. Otherwise I would probably skip it.

Elysium

Late in the 21st century, the Earth has become drastically unfit to live on for some people due to a rising crime rate and pollution, among other things. A project was started by the world's elite to build a space station that orbits Earth called Elysium. This little haven is run by a ruthless head of security named Delacourt. Delacourt uses any means necessary (including actions which some might consider illegal) to ensure Elysium is not infiltrated by the inhabitants down on Earth.

Max is a factory who just wants more than anything to get off Earth and make his way into Elysium. He even goes so far to promise a childhood friend named Frey that he'll take her up there someday. There's just one problem - Max is a career criminal. His record keeps him from earning the massive amount of cash to get his ticket into Elysium. So Max grudgingly turns from his life of crime and goes to work for a factory making robots. For awhile he seems to be doing well for himself, until one day when he gets in an accident at the factory resulting in Max taking in lethal doses of radiation. After the accident Max is told he only has five days to live. Trying to find an alternative, Max realizes that the only way to save himself is to return to his life of crime by breaking into Elysium and using their healthcare system.

If you have ever seen the first feature film by Neill Blomkamp titled District 9, then you should pretty much know what to expect from Elysium. Blomkamp does a fantastic job with Elysium of not only creating a great general sci-fi flick, but also inserting his own ideas about politics and human nature. I wasn't a big fan of District 9, so I was a little hesitant about seeing Elysium but surprisingly I greatly enjoyed it. Elysium isn't perfect though. Some of the fight scenes looked like it came straight out of a video game, and one or two scenes in particular looked like it was trying to imitate The Matrix. The more realistic action was better, though your typical R-rated graphic violence. Probably the most gruesome (yet slightly unbelievable) scene was when one character gets their face blown off by a grenade, somehow survives and then has their face reconstructed by a machine. It initially was quite jarring to see his face completely blown off.

Despite all that, I absolutely enjoyed seeing Matt Damon as Max, Jodie Foster as Delacourt, and Sharlto Copley as an evil mercenary used by Delacourt to hunt down Max. I also appreciated the fact that Elysium wasn't just a stereotypical sci-fi action flick, but actually had a deeper purpose. I would definitely recommend seeing Elysium if you're tired of seeing mindless action flicks that only care about violence, car chases and explosions. Since it is rated R, I want to caution parents before they let their kids see it. This is still a violent action movie with a lot of graphic violence and harsh language.

Lee Daniels' The Butler

For years, Cecil Gaines has quietly fought against racism and the stereotypes of African Americans in the shadows by serving as a boy on a plantation where he saw his father murdered in front of him, to ultimately serving seven Presidents as a butler in the White House later in life. His servant's heart and attitude gained him the opportunity to work for some of the most powerful men in the free world. His son Louis, on the other hand, is tired of standing by and tolerating how he is treated due to the color of his skin. Louis turns to more outspoken means of taking a stand against racism. He starts out doing rallies and sit-ins at diners as a way to protest. After being arrested multiple times for his "crimes" Louis falls in with the Black Panther movement. Cecil and his son become estranged because of their differences in opinion. It takes Cecil's wife Gloria nudging Cecil to mend the relationship years later before they overcome their issues and Louis finally begins to see just how much his father has done in his own way to fight racism while working as a butler in the White House.

Lee Daniels' The Butler is a powerful tale based on the true story of a man named Eugene Allen who stayed in the White House a few years longer than the fictional Cecil Gaines did. It is a movie that is sure to receive a bit of Oscar buzz. The Butler does take quite a few creative licenses involving Cecil Gaines and each of the Presidents he interacts with. However, what it changes for entertainment purposes does not take away from the core message of how one man stood in the face of adversity and from the shadows helped the movement to change the attitude towards racism. Forest Whitaker is perfectly cast as the fictional Cecil Gaines. Whitaker should be up for an Oscar for his portrayal of Cecil. It is not as jarring in its portrayal of harsh racism as 42 was earlier this year, but it still was effectively hard to watch at times. I would highly recommend moviegoers not miss this one.

2 Guns

DEA agent Bobby Trench has been working undercover for almost three years trying to nail a Mexican drug kingpin named Papi Greco. Time and time again it feels as if he gets close, but then Papi slips from his fingers once more. Trench's boss is getting a bit anxious to seal the deal, so he puts the pressure on Trench to work harder to bust Papi. Navy intelligence officer Marcus Stigman, on the other hand, is under pressure from his own superiors to pull off a heist of Papi's drug money, rumored to be around 3 million dollars. Neither of the two men are aware of their real motives - they each think the other is just a common criminal. What neither of them also realize is their superiors were lying about how much cash is in Papi's bank: there is really just over 43 million dollars. Trench and Stigman have to figure out the truth about why there's more money than expected while running from Papi's cartel and others who want them dead if they want to come out of the ordeal alive.

I went into 2 Guns thinking it was going to be a stereotypical R-rated action flick. What I didn't realize is it is actually an action COMEDY - and a hilarious one at that. I laughed even harder than I did watching The Heat. The camaraderie between Denzel Washington as Bobby Trench and Mark Wahlberg as Marcus Stigman was some of the best (and funniest) interaction I've seen in awhile. 2 Guns is one of the very few R-rated comedies that I feel like I can totally recommend without many reservations. The jokes do get a bit crude at times, but I still found it pretty hilarious. Wahlberg had some of the best lines throughout the film. The only thing I didn't like was the ending: it felt like it suffered from the same problems that RED 2 had, one of them being too many characters switching sides so much it was hard to keep track of who was good or bad. Despite that, 2 Guns still ended up being a great action comedy that I think most adults will enjoy (I don't recommend it for young kids as it is rated R, but for young adults 17+ I would recommend it).

Monsters University

For as long as he can remember, Mike Wazowski has dreamed of being the top scarer - a monster who creeps into children's rooms at night in order to elicit screams from them to power the monster world. He's worked hard since day one to fulfill his dream. He finally gets the chance of a lifetime by being accepted into Monsters University, the top scaring school for monsters. As he settles in to his new classes, he meets a big, blue, furry monster named Sulley. Sulley arrives at Monsters University hoping to live up to his family's name in the scarer business. The two college freshmen butt heads at first, as Sulley fits in with the 'cool' monsters, and Mike fits in with the misfits. As the year passes, they each have their problems: Sulley feels he doesn't have to study due to his family name and natural scariness, and Mike is told by the dean that he doesn't belong in the School of Scarers because he's not scary enough. As a result they are thrown out of the school until they see a shot at redemption - The Scare Games. To compete in the Games they must join a fraternity and build up a team that can take on the other fraternities in the Games. Unfortunately the only fraternity that will take them in is the Oozma Kappa, a fraternity of misfit monsters who seem less likely than Mike Wazowski to succeed in their goal of being a scarer. In a desperate attempt to help them out, Mike makes a wager with the dean: if they win the Games, they can be let back into Monsters University. If they lose, their whole team will be thrown out of the school. Mike, Sulley, and the rest of Oozma Kappa must work together if they have any chance of winning the Games and making it back into the school.

I loved Monster's, Inc. as a kid, it was (and still is today) one of my favorite Pixar movies. When I first heard that a sequel was being made I was surprised; I felt that the ending of Monster's, Inc. was a great ending and didn't need a sequel. After I heard that it was going to be a prequel, and not an actual sequel, I felt a bit better; I thought it would be interesting to see Mike Wazowski and James P. "Sulley" Sullivan as college students. I was right, the end result was fantastic. It was a joy to enter the world of monsters again. Monsters University is just as wonderful as Monster's, Inc. was about 12 years ago (hard to believe it's been that long). Go see it if and when you have the chance.

RED 2

Retired C.I.A. agent Frank Moses and his spy friends are back in the sequel to the 2010 smash hit RED. Frank, his girlfriend Sarah, and Marvin are blacklisted again when a document surfaces naming them as co-conspirators in a Cold War-era mission called Nightshade that involved a nuclear scientist, a nuke, and a plan to destroy the Soviet Union; and so they must go on the run from an onslaught of contract killers after them. In order to clear their names they must figure out why the information about Nightshade is being brought up after so many years, and who exactly was the one that leaked the information. Along the way they run into several old friends, including MI6 operative Victoria, a dangerous contract killer named Han Cho Bai, and a former flame of Frank's named Katja. Friendships are strained as all the players involved have ulterior motives regarding Nightshade. However, they all put aside their differences when they realize that the world is at risk from a nuclear explosion and possible war breaking out.

I absolutely loved the first RED, I thought it was a great blend of action and comedy. RED 2 is no different. The story does get a little confusing when most of the characters start switching sides more often than I could keep track, but it is still hilarious. I do wish Morgan Freeman could have returned in the second one, I loved his character in RED. Byung-hun Lee, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Anthony Hopkins were great additions to the cast, especially Hopkins and Lee, they had me laughing out loud quite a bit with some of the best lines. I still thought the first one had a better story and a few more laughs, but RED 2 was a great installment in the series. I'm actually hoping there is a RED 3. I've heard rumors that a third installment has been put in the works to be released by next year, so we'll see if this happens. For fans of the first RED, go see RED 2. You won't regret it.

The Great Gatsby

Based on the book by the same name, a young man named Nick Carraway's life is changed forever when he takes a job as a bond salesman and rents a house next to a large mansion owned by the mysterious reclusive man named Jay Gatsby. As Carraway gets to know his dashing, mysterious neighbor he finds out that Gatsby knew his cousin Daisy Buchanan and her husband Tom, and that Gatsby and Daisy had been romantically involved several years prior. When Gatsby realizes that Nick is Daisy's cousin he tries to get Nick to secretly invite both him and Daisy to have tea at his house. Nick reluctantly agrees, and in doing so he sets off a series of events that will challenge the bond between both friends and family.

I'll be honest, I have never read the book, so I didn't really know what I was getting myself into. I kind of had an idea on what to expect from listening to other people who had read the story talk about it. I was hoping that watching the movie would spark an interest in finally picking up the book and reading it for myself. Unfortunately, I ended up being extremely bored and almost walked out of the theater when I saw it. To be fair, it is visually stunning, filled with vibrant sets and dazzling imagery; the story however, is slow and plods along for longer than I felt it needed to be. I did enjoy the performances, particularly from Leonardo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire. I also liked the messages of how money is a fleeting thing and only lasts for a little while but love lasts forever. Besides the story, my only other complaint was the ending. I felt the ending was a little to, for lack of a better description, happy for me. From what I've heard of the story, it's a depressing cautionary tale about how one can try to fill their life with money and possessions but in the end will feel empty inside, and I didn't feel the movie portrayed that as well as it could have. So far I have heard nothing but great reviews, so maybe I need to read the book and then sit down and watch the movie again. For now though, I have to say I was disappointed in the result.