Cars 2

There are several factors that made the Pixar film "Cars" not as successful as the rest of its blockbuster brethren.  One of which was such a wooden lead in Owen Wilson's Lightning McQueen. Audiences (mainly children) really liked Larry the Cable Guy's wisecracking, hick, tow truck.  The other was the somewhat lackluster story of a sports hotshot who learns to slow down and enjoy life.  Something with a little bit more action and pizazz was what I felt like the story needed.  Thus, both these issues are addressed in "Cars 2" with the focus shifting more on Mater the tow truck, and the film switching gears (hahaha) to a spy thriller flick.  Not only that, but with the main character status now thrust upon Mater, the new side-character is a James Bond-esque, tricked-out, gadget car named Finn McMissile, voiced by Michael Caine.
The plot essentially puts our Nascar Wilson into a world grand prix, giving the animators an excuse to flesh out (so to speak) the world that these sentient cars live in, integrating three distinct human cultures (Japanese, Italian, and English) with a very automotive twist.  But back to the story at hand, Mater gets mistaken for an American spy car, and Michael Caine and his female tech car put the hapless, completely clueless, tow truck on a wild espionage ride involving a bad car mafia and the race Owen Wilson is in.
And while it is not as amazing as "Up" or "Toy Story 3," it is still a great film, leagues better than its predecessor. But what do you expect, it's from PIXAR!

Also, moral of the story was kind of better handled in Kung Fu Panda

Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker

This film is one of my personal favorites among movies that come from TV series:  It highlights all the great aspects of the show, condensing all the coolness and what fans and nonfans want to see into a feature-length film, and as a bonus, pays homage to the precursor series.  The “Return of the Joker” gives a unique return of a classic villain to the Batman mythos set in the futuristic setting of the Batman Beyond series.  With such a threat returning to Gotham, Bruce Wayne tells his new protégé to hang up the cowl.  Despite the old man’s best efforts though, it gets personal when the Joker’s cronies attack all whom Terry McGinnis holds dear, including Bruce.  It’s then we learn of the sad story of Robin II (in this universe anyway) in that he was driven completely bonkers and thus became a mini-me of the Joker. This pushes Batman over the edge and beats the crazy clown within an inch of his life. The Joker actually reverses the fight and almost kills Batman, and, depending on whether you saw the network censored version or not, dies either from unawareness of his environment or from the Robin he twisted into himself.  This leads to another whodunit case with future Batman following an intricate trail, leading to fights, false leads, death traps, and thrilling car chases.  Like I mentioned before, it showcases all of the new Batman’s gadgets and skills to take the Joker down, (including the through-the-wall-microphone in his fingertips and appropriate use of Ace the Batdog! Nobody remembers those things!).  As par the course for animated Batman movies, the twist is amazing and the ending somewhat sweet if not bittersweet, but at least it does give a good “and so the adventure continues” vibe.

This film, I feel, also satisfies some comic fans in that it shows Joker doing something horrible to a Robin, and it having a lasting effect on Batman.  In the comics, one of Joker’s most infamous deeds is slaying the 2nd Robin with a crowbar and an explosion while Batman got there too late.  This being the lighter, more kid-friendly version (just a bit), they couldn’t do on-screen death and thus they dropped the character of Jason Todd, going directly to the 3rd Robin, Tim Drake.  As the Joker points out in another incarnation, “Where’s the fun in that?”  I feel like they showed the Tim-Drake-is-now-another-Joker as a way of having this villain do an equally appalling act to Batman’s allies, leaving a lasting devastation to the Bat-family in the aftermath.  Thus horrible things can happen and still make it appropriate for younger viewers who should not be subjected to kids getting beaten to death by an evil clown.
This film is topnotch overall.

So instead of this:

 you get to have your nightmare fuel from this:

Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman

The mystery’s solved: she’s not a homosexual. There. I ruined “Batman, Mystery of the Batwoman” for any comic book purists who expect animated adaptations of the Batman mythos to actually be completely translated 100%.  Interestingly enough, this movie came out years after Batman: The Animated Series, the New Batman Adventures, Batman Beyond, heck, even Justice League Unlimited was done airing, so it is very refreshing to go back to the dark & grim city which started this universe affectionately named by the fans the Dini-verse.  A mysterious silver-suited, hi-tech Batwoman starts terrorizing the Penguin and his organized crime, and Ol’ Bats himself takes it upon himself to stop this lady from doing crazy and dangerous vigilantism…Alfred said it best in the movie, “As they say on the street, ‘I ain’t touchin’ that one.’” Just to keep us on our toes, three new women are introduced into Bruce Wayne’s life, throwing red herrings left and right so that even the Great Detective is questioning who is that mysterious masked not-man? The film comes to a climax when ol Ozzy calls in Bane to fight the Dark Knight aboard a flaming ship and Batwoman helps out in what can only be called an epic three-way.  The end shows Bruce possibly having a new fling in his life, but then anyone who has watched Batman Beyond knows it’s not going to last…what else is new?
The movie itself is a great throwback to the Saturday mornings and after-school TV-blocks of some of our childhoods, keeping the aesthetics of the New Batman Adventures along with a new story and new characters without discounting old favorites (Barbara Gordon gets a speaking cameo even…she’s not the Batwoman either).  Batman is in his A-game for fighting, gadgets, sleuthing, and menacing voices without sounding like he’s gargling gravel (looking at you Christian Bale). Good movie for Batman fans…but not the hardcore comic book fans because the Batwoman’s not a red-headed lesbian.

Without spoiling anything, the secret of the Batwoman here is like this:

Batman: Mask of the Phantasm

The one who is vengeance and the night with pointy ears encounters a kindred spirit in “Mask of the Phantasm” in another vigilante on a personal vendetta. This one targets mobsters who essentially ruined the life of one of Bruce Wayne’s old flames, who is slightly different from his other romantic pursuits in that that he actually had feelings for her and could’ve settled down with her, thus leading him to NOT go running around in his underwear throwing boomerangs at crooks.  Of course, with Batman being a tragic character (mostly) she has to leave Gotham and Batman comes to be.  What’s interesting is how they tie in the Joker to all this backstory, making the feud between Bats and him all that more intense with the 3rd party of the Phantasm also being part of the action.  Again, the big mystery throughout the movie is who the Phantasm is and how does that affect Batman. It’s actually a good twist in that it affects him both as dark knight and as millionaire playboy.  Movie ends with not so much a happy ending, but a return to status quo with some hope of survival on all parties (Joker included because hey, he’s just too much fun).

Best nod to continuity in the DC animated universe ever!

Batman: Year One

The animated film “Batman: Year One” might as well be relabeled, “Jim Gordon: Year One,” since he is more of the focus of the film than the titular character.  Bruce Wayne’s, and by extension Batman’s, part of the story seems tacked on just so that people unfamiliar with the character will know who the crazy vigilante dressed up like a creature of the night is coming from. Gordon himself is no slouch at taking down bad guys, usually from his own so-called allies, so it’s a weird feeling seeing him do the beat-downs instead of the Bat. The film also explores his relationships, not only to the rest of the rotten cops of Gotham, but to the good ones and with his wife. Generally, I feel like the movie makes the audience want to root more for Gordon’s triumphs over Batman’s, despite his many cool fights and narrow escapes.  Catwoman has a brief subplot going on as well, but it’s quickly dropped almost as soon as she dons her costume. 
On the other hand though, the movie plays very similarly to “Gotham Central,” an old comic series that focused on the honest police of Gotham trying to figure out crimes in their twisted city with Batman and his fellow costumed crime-fighters making guest appearances.  If you liked that comic series, or if you want a brief look into the Dark Knight’s bumpy bumpy start, you’ll like this movie.

 Quite possibly how to make James Gordon even more crazy awesome is to make him a Pokemon

Super 8

Basically, if you’ve seen a Spielberg movie, you’ve seen “Super 8.”  While nothing in this film is completely original, it is still a great smorgasbord of the clichés of any movie starring kids getting involved in things much bigger than themselves.  Of particular interest is that this cast of preteens are budding filmmakers (one possibly being a younger Spielberg himself, and another being mini Michael Bay), so part of the intrigue of the movie is to see how the story they’re making is coming together while more intrigue is heaped on the shenanigans going on in their sleepy little 1970s-era town.  If it’s not the weird electrical mishaps, it’s the conflict of the recently widowed single father and his awkward relationship with his little protagonist.  If it’s not the military covering up their big bad secret from the townsfolk, it’s the love interest of the protagonist being told “you are not to see that boy again” from her guilty alcoholic father.  If it’s not the infrequent abductions straight out of horror movies (yes, complete with them screaming and clawing as they’re dragged off-screen), it’s the chubby kid’s bluster and fluster about his zombie film not having enough “production value.”  And as the credits roll, we get the best part of this entire big budget blockbuster by watching the low-budget, so-bad-it’s-good, zombie flick the kids put together.

Overall, it’s a great film with a lot of suspense, action, unintentional comedy springing from the innocence of youth, and surprising amounts of heart.

Spoilery coolimage!:

Kung-fu Panda 2

Despite my dislike of Jack Black, I suppose it really boils down to my distaste of his obnoxious performances in his movies.  However, with "Kung-fu Panda 2" I've come to realize that it's really not the man, but the kinds of films he chooses to partake in; if the story is amazing, no amount of Jack Black ridiculousness will ruin the overall experience.
Instead of a ferocious, daddy-issues-prone, ultimate warrior snow leopard, the main villain is Gary Oldman's best villainous voice in an albino peacock bent on taking over China. Not only is this bird an accomplished martial artist in his own right, but he has mastered the art of the cheap-shot fireballs from Street Fighter and Dragonball. Instead of chi however, he makes due with fireworks and a giant iron cannon. Oh and he might have massacred all of our main protagonist's hometown.
Thus begins a grand adventure of restoring justice in ye old kung-fu film style with a panda, a tiger, a crane, a praying mantis, and a monkey. Aside from the wacky hi-jinks, beautiful animated choreography despite animal physiology, and jokes thrown faster than ninja stars, there is also a surprising amount of character development and relationship-building for both the titular kung-fu panda and Angelina Jolie's Tigress.
Overall, a film full of humor, action, golden storytelling, and heart with a simple Aesop of overcoming the past and looking forward to the future.

Final battle with the evil peacock and his firing squad went a little like this and a little bit of this mixed in.

Captain America: The First Avenger

As far as superheroes go, I’ve always considered Captain America to be not quite as good as other examples like Superman, Spiderman, or even Batman who has no superpowers.  However, despite his lack of really attention grabbing powers, his 2nd attempt at a movie “Captain America: The First Avenger” is a pleasant surprise with what they can do with the character.  If you’ve seen enough superhero flicks you can probably guess the specific order in which the events occur:
Average Joe is seen struggling with real life.
Average Joe is gifted to become a superman (this time with SCIENCE!).
Mentor of the Average Joe is killed, thus spurring the new hero to seek justice/fight the enemies who sent the killer.
New hero becomes a tool for the media and the government for propaganda’s sake.
New hero becomes disgruntled with role and then does something super heroic (like save nearly 200 POWs from super science Nazis).
New hero is actually hero now and given cooler costume and equipment.
Montage of excellence and fighting bad guys.

More tragedy.

One last heroic stand (usually with all the supporting characters).
Final confrontation with the evil boss-man.

And then, never-happily-ever-after because you crash into an iceberg and get trapped until Inuit children break you and your bison out of suspended animation until you’re revived in present day and Samuel L. Jackson in an eyepatch puts you in a superteam?
Still, despite the clichés of the superhero film being out in full force, the movie really makes you emote with the main character, before and after transformation, and it really lets you feel good for all his victories.  Hugo Weaving as the main villain, a protosuperman, is great for his Agent Smith-like demeanor and villainy. Tommy Lee Jones had a side role, but was played his cool-old-guy role very well. Overall, super film for a superhero who was subpar in my book.

For Captain America, it's always an open invitation.

For a more entertaining (spoiler-filled) review, go here.

Green Lantern

While not as well-known as Batman or Superman, the DC superhero Green Lantern is distinct by having the unique power of having a magic ring (actually alien science) that makes anything out of green light and the user’s imagination.  That being said, now you know why his movie has been greatly anticipated by many a DC comic nerd.  However, the film was met by humongous criticism not only by hardcore fans who could recite the names of every Green Lantern Corpsman by heart, but by the average movie-goer who expected a superhero film with lots of epic fights, explosions and gigantic green baseball bats that could clobber even the largest of space monkeys.  The direction the director was trying to go for it seems to focus more on the emotional connection aspect of the film; some might even call it the “human” aspect, which left us with only a bare minimum for the action, the sci-fi, and the superhero-y aspects.  And despite the power of the ring having endless possibilities for constructs, it appears the writers didn’t have the imagination necessary to wield the rings since not that much thought was put into fights or just using it the ring for the heck of it.  The ultimate enemy was a bit too easily vanquished if it was supposed to be the physical embodiment of Fear and the psychic bighead wasn’t that much of a threat either. 

Overall, a good film for DC comics fans (and fans of Ryan Reynolds in general), and even then, might be a bit disappointed.

Someone's just a tad bit enraged he wasn't even mentioned in the film...just a bit.
Also, even though I am thoroughly disdainful of mashed up pseudo-trailers, the idea of Nathan Fillion as Hal Jordan is too good to pass up: