Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Warner Bros. Pictures

Rated PG

Running time: 153 minutes



Warner Bros. Pictures Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is one of the best Harry Potter movies. From the first shot of Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter, you can see how the actors, like Emma Watson and Rupert Grint, as well as the movies have grown up. Instead of a children's magical film with dramatic elements, as the first few films were, the Half-Blood Prince is an adult dramatic film with magical elements. As a result of which, I was more focused on the film than comparing it with the book by J.K. Rowling as I did with the other movies. This is also one of the few films where you do not have to know the books to understand what is happening. This is an acting and story driven film instead of a digitally enhanced driven film like Transformers 2.

While a student at Hogwart's, a school for wizardry, Harry Potter is entrusted by the school's headmaster Dumbledore to learn about a secret memory from the potions teacher Jim Broadbent who taught former student Tom Riddle, now the dark wizard Lord Voldermart. While there are some light-hearted moments with the students all falling in love with each other, the focus of the movie is on discovering the dark secret behind Tom Riddle/Voldermart. The film is rated PG, but there are a couple of intense scenes which I think is much closer to a PG-13 rating. The ending is a shocker - except for those who have read the book. I read the book, and the ending still made me teary-eyed. These child stars have grown up in their roles as actors and as a result their maturity has made the film very dramatic.

At the end of the movie, as I watched the end credits and listened to the music, there were groups of the audience still in their seats discussing the film. That is the result of how much the film has had an affect on the audience. The general consensus was that they enjoyed the film as much as I did.

Rated PG for violence. Running time: 153 minutes.

Pancho
All people smile in the same language.

 Pancho's Movie Reviews

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra

Paramount Pictures

Rated PG-13

Running time: 118 minutes


Click below to watch the G.I. Joe: The Rise of the Cobra trailer.



A weapons dealer, Christopher Eccleston, whose company has supplied the U.S. military with weapons, has made some warheads with nanotechnology that eats metal. The G.I. Joe team must stop this turncoat and his Cobras from destroying the world's city capitals.

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, based on the Hasbro Company toys and the comic book, is set in the near distant future, so the futuristic technology could be acceptable. Certainly the high energy digital effects make some of it acceptable. Otherwise, the technology detracts from the realistic version of the military that started out the movie if it was set today. The G.I. Joe team, that technically does not exist, is made of the best special operations soldiers from around the world - which differs from the comic of which the team was all-American special operations. This is a rather upsetting idea to me as the term "G.I. Joe" is a World War II term which referred to the American soldiers.

The best characterizations come from Channing Tatum as Duke and Sienna Miller as the Baroness - as well as the characters Snake-Eyes, Ray Park, and Storm Shadow, Byung-hun Lee. With so many characters, you never really get to know the other Joes or Cobras aside from the stars of the movie. The relationship with Scarlet, Rachel Nichols, and RipCord, Marlon Wayans, is different than their relationships in the comic and in the movie this relationship somehow demeans Scarlet as a person, although the women in the film are very smart. If they kept the relationship with Scarlet and Snake-Eyes, that would have developed both of these characters since Marlon Wayans has enough talent to develop his own character on his own if they had just let him go to town.

Rated PG-13 for violence. Running time: 118 minutes.

See book review:
G.I. JOE - THE RISE OF COBRA

Pancho
All people smile in the same language.

Star Trek

Paramount Pictures

Rated PG-13

Running time: 127 minutes


In Paramount Pictures update of the TV series. the movie is very true to the spirit of Star Trek. It brings the crew of the starship Enterprise together for the first time, and is very optimistic and fun with a level of intensity that is more than a typical TV episode of Star Trek. There are a couple of plot points which changes traditional Star Trek canon, but this might make for interesting story-telling for future films. With Spock, Leonard Nimoy, going back in time, this film is on a different timeline than the TV series. It was nice to see George Kirk, Chris Hemsworth, as the father of James T. Kirk, Chris Pine.  Zachary Quinto is perfect as the young Spock. I could see him as the original Spock in the 1960's TV series. Anton Yelchin was appropriatlely very young as Chekov. As Simon Pegg, who plays chief engineer Montgomery Scott, says "I like this ship!"

Rated PG-13 for violence. Running time: 127 minutes.

Pancho
All people smile in the same language.

Pancho's Movie Reviews

Terminator Salvation

Warner Bros. Pictures

Rated PG-13

Running time: 115 minutes




Terminator Salvation is I think one of the best Terminator movies. It does not deal with time travel - but the actual war with the computer network Skynet and the Terminators. This time you get to see the different kinds of Terminators - with Skynet building even more new models. Christian Bale is great as John Connor - although he is in only half the movie. The other half of the movie focuses on criminal survivor Sam Worthington. There is one continuous CGI tracking effect with Christian Bale and a helicopter in the beginning of the movie that to me makes the entire movie. I almost wish the rest of the movie was like that one shot. Anton Yelchin, who plays Chekov in Star Trek, plays Kyle Reese in this film. I did not recognize Anton Yelchin until I saw the credits, which shows how good of an actor he is. For those of you who are not familiar with the Terminator films, Kyle Reese is an important part of the Terminator saga. Considering what will happen with Reese, it is interesting to see his development in this movie with Christian Bale as John Connor searches for Reese.

Rated PG-13 for violence. Running time: 115 minutes.

See book review:
Terminator - Salvation - From the Ashes 


Pancho
All people smile in the same language.

Pancho's Movie Reviews

The Hangover

Warner Bros. Pictures

Rated R

Running time: 100 minutes




The Hangover is about four guys going to Las Vegas for a bachelor party. It gives new meaning to "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas" or more appropriately "What happened in Vegas?" After a wild night, the guys can't remember what happened, and spend the rest of the movie figuring out what happened that night - especially since they misplaced the groom-to-be. This film seems like an adult version of Superbad as all sorts of outrageous events happen to the guys, one of the guys even had a Las Vegas wedding. Too bad the baby is not as involved with the story as the trailer makes it out to be, which means the movie is NOT a remake of Three Men and a Baby as the marketing campaigns make it appear to be.

Rated R for sexual situations and violence. Running time: 100 minutes.

Pancho
All people smile in the same language.

The Proposal

Touchstone Pictures

Rated PG-13

Running time: 108 minutes



The Proposal, the story of Canadian boss Sandra Bullock coerces her American executive secretary Ryan Reynolds to marry her - or she will be deported.

While cute and predictable, The Proposal is a cynical version of While You Were Sleeping as Sandra Bullock switches from her usual good girl character - to a bitchy character. In fact, many of the story elements were the exact opposite of While You Were Sleeping. The most obvious comparison of the two movies is the wedding scene as her opinion of Reynolds upgrades from lowly secretary to prodigal rich son with a loving family. If you don't mind feeling as if you have seen this movie before, then this movie is for you.

Rated PG-13 for sexual situations. Running time: 108 minutes.

Pancho
All people smile in the same language.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

Paramount Pictures/ DreamWorks SKG

PG-13

Running time: 150 minutes





Paramount Pictures Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, is an action-packed sequel to Transformers. Shia LaBeouf goes off to college, but is accidentally downloaded with mysterious symbols into his mind whose symbols the Decepticons are after. The Autobots must now protect Shia from the Decepticons.

I think Revenge of the Fallen has a better story than the first Transformers as the Decepticons seek control of the Fallen, Tony Todd. However the climax had so much action that I do not remember how the climax actually ended, and some of the characters had no strong conclusion and just seemed to vanish. The Transformers, both Autobots and Decepticons, were so mechanized that when they were battling, I had difficulty telling who was who - especially since they did not seem to have much characterization to begin with. These were just battles to me and I did not care about who was battling. It is incredible how much computer software can create such an intense level of detail - now the problem is to learn how to use the software without overwhelming the audience. Unless you are a die-hard fan, you can not tell which Transformer was which and even then that could be difficult since in the battle scenes they all look alike. As a result, I was much more interested in the human characters than the Transformers themselves - and the Transformers are what the movie is supposed to be all about.

Rated PG-13 for violence. Running time: 150 minutes.

Pancho
All people smile in the same language.