FURIOUS 7

Universal Pictures

Rated: PG-13

Running Time: 137 Minutes

Click below to watch a movie trailer of Furious 7.



In Universal Pictures Furious 7, Vin Diesel and his crew must find Jason Statham - who is targeting Diesel's "family" after what Diesel did to Statham's brother, Luke Evans.

In the seventh movie in The Fast and the Furious movie series, Diesel, former LAPD Paul Walker and the rest of their crew, Michelle Rodriquez, Tyrese Gibson, and Chris "Ludacris" Bridges have returned to the United States to live normal lives after getting amnesties from Diplomatic Security Service agent Dwayne Johnson - until rogue special forces assassin Statham seeks revenge against "the team that crippled his brother."

The three previous movies of the Fast and Furious films were set between 2 Fast 2 Furious and The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift. Furious 7 is the first film to take place time wise after Tokyo Drift.

The move was released in 3D internationally, which is the first for a film in the series to be released in 3D.

My favorite action scenes were the car drop scenes. These scenes were done for real using a Lockheed C-17 Hercules as well as a C-130 Hercules and various camera angles.

I was not crazy about the fact that Djimon Hounsou was a secondary bad guy in the movie. As much as I like Hounsou, his character distracted from the intensity of Statham's character being the main bad guy. It is also kind of disappointing that Hounsou is being typecast as a villain. I have lost track of how many bad guy roles he has played. I also was not crazy about the fact that the crew never used voice activated headsets, but instead used handheld radios while driving. Considering that their rides are under dangerous conditions, using the handheld radios were rather distracting.

I was expecting Johnson to be playing a major role in the movie, but his role was basically taken up by the leader of a covert ops team Kurt Russell. Russell's character was fun, and I was never quite sure which way he was going to turn.

This is my first Fast and Furious movie, so I am just getting to know these characters. I did not have to see the other movies to enjoy these characters and their relationships with each other. I immediately got that family feeling from them, with Diesel as the patriarch. Actually the whole movie had that family feeling in the film, especially with Jordana Brewster as Walker's wife. It was rather sad seeing Diesel dealing with Rodriquez loss of memory of their relationship together. I think this is a fun, and sad movie to watch.

This movie is mostly known as Paul Walker's final movie. Walker's name is not shown in the opening credits. I thought that I might have missed seeing his name while watching the credits - despite Walker being a major character in the movie, even if he only did half of the filming - and was disappointed in not seeing his name. I realized while watching the movie that the producers would have saved his name for the tribute in the end credits. The movie had to be rewritten and had the rest of the movie filmed with body doubles - including Walker's brothers Caleb Walker and Cody Walker doubling for Walker, with Walker's face CGI'd over their faces. The Walker brothers also provided voice over for Walker's character. The movie does have a logical reason why Walker will not be in any future movies of the Fast and Furious series and I was satisfied and sad with it. Actually with the loss of Walker, I would not be surprised if computer hacker Nathalie Emmanuel becomes a new member of the crew.

At the end of the movie there is a tribute to Walker, including footage from previous Fast and Furious films. You could feel that the filmmakers really wanted to honor Paul's legacy. The movie ends with the dedication - For Paul.

Rated PG-13 for violence and language. Running time: 137 minutes.

Pancho
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MACHETE KILLS

Open Road Films

Rated R

Running time: 107 Minutes


Click below to watch a movie trailer of Machete Kills.




In Open Road Films Machete Kills,  ex-federale Machete, Danny Trejo, is recruited by U.S. President Carlos Estevez to stop insane revolutionary Demian Birchir from south of the border from launching a nuclear missile targeted at the White House.

Written, Directed, and Produced by Robert Rodriguez, this is the third of the Grindhouse fake trailers made into movies. I have always liked Trejo's character, ever since Spy Kids. This is the first non Spy Kids movie that Trejo, Alexa Vega, Antonio Banderas, and Robert Rodriquez have collaborated on - although this is an adult role for Vega, who I think is hot.

I have always been a fan of Trejo, and it is nice to see a little development to his character after the lost of an uncredited Jessica Alba and of Trejo's relationship with his one-eyed associate Michelle Rodriguez as well as his handler Amber Heard - and that Trejo tells Rodriguez that the problem of the nuclear weapon and who is behind it is not just for the Mexican people, but for the whole world. And of course you can not have a character named Machete without Trejo using machetes. I also liked the armoured car Trejo used to run the Mexican border wall.

One of the things I liked about this movie, man-hating madmousille Sofia Vergera goes especially crazy - after the lost of her escort daughter Vanessa Hudgens - with Vergera's machine-gun breasts.

This is Lady Gaga's film debut, who - along with Walton Goggins, Cuba Gooding, Jr. and Antonio Banderas - plays the chameleon hit man El Camaleon. This is also Mel Gibson's first bad guy role. I also liked the fact that the film introduced Carlos Estevez as the President - Charlie Sheen's first credited role under his birth name due to the film's Hispanic theme.

Since this is a Robert Rodriguez low-budget film - the violence is bloodily graphic, almost humorous. I miss the low-budget entertainment factor that is missing from the big budget star films.

At the beginning and the end of the film there is a low-quality scratched up prevue of coming attractions, of the style of the Grindhouse trailers, of the movie sequel - Machete Kills Again... in Space. Since there is a listing for this movie sequel in developement on IMDB, I am looking forward to having fun seeing Machete Kills Again... in Space. Maybe they will show the Star Wars landspeeder car again like they did in this movie.

Rated R for graphic violence, language, sexual content. Running time: 107 Minutes.

Click below to watch another movie trailer of Machete Kills.


Pancho
All people smile in the same language.

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Battle: Los Angeles

Columbia Pictures

Rated PG-13

Running time: 116 minutes



In Columbia Pictures Battle: Los Angeles - Los Angeles is being invaded by aliens from space and a U.S. Marine unit defends the city against them.

Staff Sargent Aaron Eckhart decides to retire, after losing his men in a previous tour - when the aliens arrive under the guise of meteorites. He now has to lead his men, who distrust him to keep them alive - especially the brother of a Marine killed under his command. Also leading the men is 2nd Lieutenant Ramon Rodriguez, fresh out of Officer Candidate School as the Marines are sent in to evacuate some stranded civilians from a West Los Angeles police station. Amongst the civilians is veterinarian Bridget Moynahan who helps dissect an alien. Along the way the Marines pick up a squad of friendlies, including Technical Sargent Michelle Rodriguez from the U.S. Air Force who was sent on a recon mission to search for the aliens Command and Control center.

Inspired on the real events of the 1942 Battle of Los Angeles, this is an intense film of a homeland invasion. Done in the style of Cloverfield and told from the point of view of the Marines, the shaky-cam might be a distraction in the beginning - but is soon ignored as the action starts. The initial breaking news stories adds to the realism of the film. The film deals with intense urban street fighting, ground combat. There is very little air combat action, despite the use of helicopter troop carriers and the drone foo fighters. As a Los Angeles local, it was nice hearing them mention Los Angeles streets, so you can track the Marines progress through the city. The intense action amongst our neighborhoods makes you wonder what it would really be like if our homes really were invaded - and not necessarily by aliens. You do not really get a good look at the aliens and for a while I was not sure if the aliens were drones or aliens in battle armour.

The film really is about the story of the Marines and not the aliens, and there were times that I teared up as I related to what happened to the Marines. The actors trained with the Marines, so their depiction was very believable, as I am sure their characters were as well. It was nice that the movie opened on 03/11/11 as 0311 is the Marine Corps Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) for Infantry Riflemen. The film was such a positive movie that at the end of the film the audience cheered. As the Marines say: Retreat? HELL!

Rated PG-13 for violence. Running time: 116 minutes.

Pancho
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Avatar

20th Century-Fox Film Corporation

Rated PG-13

Running time: 162 minutes


















Click below to watch the Avatar trailer.



James Cameron's Avatar, by 20th Century-Fox Film Corporation, is about Marine paraplegic Sam Worthington going to the planet Pandora to join the Avatar program - a program in which he inhabits a native giant body avatar. The humans on the planet are mining a rare mineral and the Marines provide security for them. Worthington is assigned to make contact with the natives and as he learns and interacts with the natives - Worthington realizes he is on the wrong side.

This is basically the story of the Vietnam war, or of any superior culture overwhelming a primitive society. It was much more interesting watching the scientists and Worthington learning about the natives and the planet, than it was in dealing with the Marines who were hardly shown during the first half of the film. The only Marines you really get to know are Worthington's friends, including the woman Marine pilot Michelle Rodriguez. You also get to know the Marine Colonel in charge Stephen Lang. Worthington in the beginning was not believable as a veteran Marine with extensive experience. This was especially in contrast with the trailer of The National Guard that was being shown at my screening just before the movie started, and of how professional the Guard are. As the alien Zoe Saldana told the inexperienced Worthington, "You are a baby!" While not being in the military, I have a feeling that the depiction of the Marines used in the movie is not entirely accurate. But after a rigorous training by Saldana to make Worthington become one of her people, Worthington becomes the resourceful hero Worthington is destined to be.

On a technical level, I saw this movie in 3-D. It is rare that I watch a 3-D movie, it all depends on what movie is available at the time I am able to go to the movies. The real D 3D glasses that I was given were able to fit over my glasses, but did not fit properly and I had to hold the glasses in place for me to watch the movie comfortably. As a movie-goer, holding the glasses is rather tiresome and most of the time I just let go of the glasses and not watch the top of the screen. Traditional 2 dimensional film making does not always work for a 3-D movie, but for the most part the movie was enjoyable in 3-D.

Rated PG-13 for violence. Running time: 162 minutes


Pancho
All people smile in the same language.