Dracula Untold

Rating: 

Through a mix up at a local theater, instead of enjoying the Boxtrolls, I found myself watching Dracula Untold. (We received these tickets for free, so I was not one to complain).

Sadly, I have not yet read the original works, but I can tell you that this movie was fairly well done. From what I have gathered through the summaries on Goodreads, this movie is set before the book.(I am also very unsure after this movie if the book fits in at all.)

Vlad Dracula (Luke Evans) had a dark childhood and has found himself free of being The Impaler for the Turks for over ten years. Of course, things do not stay all that peaceful when the Turks ask for more than just the regular payment for the Sultan. They want 1000 boys for their armies as well.

There is a belief that Vlad has been killing the Turkish spies (that are not supposed to be in the country anyway) and this is payment. The truth is that there is a monster in a cave who can kill Turks with its bare hands. Is there a chance that this monster could be Vlad's hope to saving the boys so they do not go through the same torment he did?

There is a nice play on the origin of Dracula's name as well. We see the transition from "Son of the Dragon" to "Son of the Devil" with a nice bit of character development. It's a bit gruesome in some areas, although it has a little bit of something for everyone. Action, love, revenge, and an interesting ending. This movie was clearly set up for a second installment, although they could leave it as it is as well.

Fair warning: If you enjoy Twilight type of vampires - this movie is not for you. The vampires stick with their traditional powers, although CGI helped add a bit of a twist.

I enjoyed the movie and I hope you do as well.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Rating: 

It has been brought to my attention that I might be the only one in the world that had a negative view of Guardians of the Galaxy - I fully believe that it was a difference of opinion.

However, I fully swing with the majority vote on the newest Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie.

I have quite a big problem of finding my way to the theater, especially when it is discount day for college students. My friend and I were a little skeptical going into the movie, but we were wonderfully surprised.

The CGI was impressive, the actions scenes were a decent amount of time and didn't take away from the plot, the TMNT were very much themselves and acted their age (which I was actually worried about), and Megan Fox proved that she can, in fact, act. Even if her character was pointless through basically all but one scene of the movie. 

We were given some nice background of everyone at appropriate times and Mikey allowed quite a bit of comedic relief. I enjoyed the fairly predictable hero and villain plot only because I believe it added a bit of the original kid magic into the movie.

I enjoyed my time. I didn't look at my watch wondering when it would be over and I wasn't surprised for the bit of set up for a second movie at the end. 

The movie is pretty family friendly, and one I might find myself watching again.

Guardians of the Galaxy

Rating: 

My friend and I went to watch this movie to relieve stress. I went in there with low expectations. I left not disappointed.

Marvel is suiting up for something big. We are introducing characters and slowly starting to pull things together one by one. Spoiler: The Avengers group is not limited to those shown in the actual Avengers movie.

Many people told me that they loved this movie. I thought that it was stupid. I truly hope that it was supposed to come across as a comedy, because that is what the script set up for. There were vulgar lines not needed and I don't even want to know how my Van Diesel was paid for saying five words through the entire movie. Actually, he said three - his vocabulary expanded at the end.

I laughed in the correct parts, there were a couple of touching moments, but this is not a movie that I will be going back to watch any time soon. 

Just a quick summary: A bunch of criminals are thrown in jail and realize that the thing they stole could destroy the planet. Therefore, they must band together and save the earth. Which they do. They stand up to fight the main villain, only to find out later that he's not the true mastermind. 

Spoiler: We have seen this criminal before. 

Again, Marvel has a plan. I'm sure we will see it soon enough. Maybe I was just expecting a higher level of comedy or a bit more serious of a movie. Either way, this was not my favorite movie.

Until next time,

Kaity

The Purge: Anarchy

Rating: 

On July 17th, I teamed up with my friends from work to carry on a tradition before we left - seeing the next horror flick as a group. To be honest, I wasn't going to hold my breath as I entered the theater. I remember watching the first move 'The Purge' last year and coming out disappointed. Why? Because we watched the purge take place from inside a protected house of a wealthy family.

This time, we were on the streets. We were able to witness the good and ugly of society during this "American tradition". The idea that good people don't participate in the purge was ripped to shreds -I was pleasantly surprised.

This movie addressed justice and the truth behind the Purge law as well. We were given an inside look into everyone's logic for participating, even if we found the truth gruesome. We watched how the Purge changed characters into people they didn't know they could become and then have to deal with the consequences.

 Also, there was actual action. The entirety of the plot wasn't given away in the commercials, there were a few plot twists that even I wasn't expecting. The movie was raw and exposed parts of our society that we tend to ignore. It was very well done.

If you haven't seen either movie, I would recommend only watching this one. There's no ties to the first movie, except for one character who comes in at the end and The Purge, itself. Also, other than a few unpleasant gory scenes, the movie is not as much horror as intense action.

I was impressed and I would watch this one again.

Deliver Us From Evil

This past weekend, I was able to go and hang out with a very good friend of mine from high school. One of the things we decided to do was watch a newer movie we had both heard a bit about - Deliver Us From Evil.

Now, if you're not into demons or possession, this movie is not for you. Typically, I stay away from these movies myself. However, I'm a sucker for a good scare.

I'm not sure what I was expecting when I walked into that theater, but It wasn't really this. DUFE is based (key word) off an actual experience a police officer of the NYPD had. The movie as a whole was pretty good, but it dragged a bit for me. The beginning was intriguing; it gave you a hint about what may be coming, but it never fully clarified what was happening until you saw the full scene closer to the end. The next thing you knew, it was three years later and in New York.

I felt that the first half of the movie went on at a fairly quick pace. Hints were being dropped about who was involved, we learn that we can never trust painters, some phenomenal acting was done by those being possessed (especially Ms. Olivia Horton), and then it started to drag a bit. Past bits were told about Detective Sarchie, but I wasn't how sure that it was completely necessary it was. It explained a couple of things that were happening to him and his family, but immediately stopped after he confessed about it. I found that a bit odd...

The part that was hardest for me to handle was the exorcising of the demon from the veteran. That was difficult for me, mainly because of the gore. However, the random cop behind the one way mirror being used as comic relief was just inappropriately placed. 

I'll admit, I jumped a few times and hid my eyes as Sarchie's partner was attacked with a pick-axe, but it wasn't terribly scary. This was one of those movies that wasn't terribly bad, but it's not what I would rate as a high class thriller, either. 

Until next time,

Kaity