I’ve watched a lot of stuff in the passed 2 months or so, here’s the skinny.

The Last Airbender Based on the first season of the Nickelodeon cartoon, “Avatar: The Last Airbender” this movie probably shouldn’t have been made. Regardless of who was involved in it, I think the show is just too much to fit into a movie, even as a trilogy. That pretty much shows up in the final product. The movie got horrific reviews, but I didn’t think it was that bad. The problem is, the movie was the skeleton of the TV show, the bare plot points to get the story to the end. The show lived on the brilliant characters that you followed and learned to love. Everyone has a story arc and that was missing from this movie. You don’t understand who anyone really is, where they are from and how they interact each other. The first season is 20 episodes, the whole show is really an epic tale. That sense of grandeur, the time, the locations, the people were totally absent from the movie. Technically it’s a well made movie, it just comes off as hallow. Watch the show instead.

Repo Men– In the not too distant future, replacing human organs is a routine procedure. Paying for them is the real challenge. Jude Law and Forest Whitaker star in this gruesome look at the future. Health and finances are on everyone’s minds these days, Repo Men is like an extreme take on where we could be headed. Repo Men are the ones who come for the companies property….you don’t own that new heart/living/kidney/other until you pay for it in full. What happens when a Repo Man becomes the person he usually cuts open? It’s a pretty cool idea with a mixed result. It’s hard to recommend to everyone (the uncut version I saw is pretty graphic) and the end leaves something to desire. It uses an old bait and switch technique to set you up for a twist, but it comes off as more of a stupid trick than anything else.

Predators– Predator has a really odd legacy to it. Everyone loves the first one, not much (cinema wise) has ever really lived up to it. From a decent sequel to some rather unconvincing spin offs with Aliens it seems like Hollywood has a hard time coming through with a solid monster movie with one of the coolest ideas for a monster around. Predators is a step in the right direction, it wasn’t as good as I hoped but there was some real fun to be had. The local is taken back to the jungle where a group of dangerous strangers are dropped into a battle ground foreign to them all. Team up to survive, or get picked off one by one. The movie retains a lot of what made the original so cool; the isolation, the uncertainty, the thrill of the hunt and the strategy to survive it. A fun cat and mouse game with a rather needless character twist near the end.

Percy Jackson: The Lightning Thief– I actually abbreviated the title from it’s way too long title just so I would be able to write less about it. This is kind of unfair to say, but this book turned movie is just trying to be the next Harry Potter but it just feels like a pale imitation in everyway. Instead of magic there is a Greek mythology angle to the proceedings (which, to be fair HP pulls a lot of ideas from) but I couldn’t find a paper thin character to really like. Maybe Brandon Jackson’s character Grover who actually has personality and does manage to be funny sometimes (which is pretty clutch for the comic relief). Feels really generic and uninteresting.

The WolfmanThis one had a rough time during production and wasn’t really received well. It’s a straight up monster movie. Just take the old werewolf story you know, the same location you know and put in some characters you don’t know. Benicio Del Toro (I’m a fan) get’s bit by a werewolf that’s he was called in to investigate which basically ruins his day. They went with the gory horror route as this Wolfman is a rough individual who doesn’t go easy on anyone. You don’t see people get attacked, you see them get straight up mauled by a hell hound. That’s the long and short of it, you’re going to be interested in that or not. Anthony Hopkins holds it down as Del Toro’s father which was another treat. It’s unoriginal, but it was made well and it kept me entertained.

MacGruber– Yeah, it’s stupid. That’s why it was good. Don’t get me wrong, more jokes than not hit the dirt with a thud, but there is some really funny shit here. The movie started as a skit on SNL that’s obviously a spoof of the 1980’s TV show MacGyver. It’s pretty surprising it took so long for someone to make that movie, but here it is. It doesn’t take itself seriously, it just parodies everything it can and flings curses out every chance it gets. If you’ve got nothing better to do, you could do a lot worse than watching this. I’m a fan of what Will Forte does, so that makes me a bit biased on this one.