Underworld: Rise of the Lycans (2009)

I am a pretty big fan of the Underworld series...well I don't know about big fan, I don't have a tattoo or anything, but I do have all three movies.  And Underworld:  Rise of the Lycans fits snugly in between Underworld and Underworld Evolution.

When I heard Kate Beckinsale wasn't doing Underworld:  Rise of the Lycans I was slightly disappointed, because it's Kate Beckinsale.  Then I started to see previews and I was like "Isn't that Kate Beckinsale?"

Nope they got us.  Rona Mitra plays Sonja the daugher of Viktor (Bill Nighy).  She even got me a couple years ago in a movie called Doomsday where it took me the whole movie to convince myself she wasn't Kate Beckinsale.  Maybe I'm alone in this but I'm pretty sure she landed this role because of her close resemblance to Kate.  That being said she did a pretty good job.

Underworld:  Rise of the Lycans is of course a prequel to the other two Underworld movies.  This is Lucian's (Michael Sheen) time to shine.  This Underworld focuses on the life of the first Lycan to be born a human child, which I guess means he gets a British accent and the ability to change any time he feels like it.

It's during the reign of Viktor when Lucian is born.  Because obviously there are like 3 or 4 vampire kings and they take turns.  The others sleep forever...almost literally.  Viktor takes "mercy" on the child and allows him to live.  He trains him to be a werewolf blacksmith I guess and uses him to make other werewolf/human slaves.  But UH-OH...Lucian hooks up with Viktors daughter Sonja (the aforementioned Kate Beckinsale look alike contest winner.)  So you can imagine when he finds out this makes daddy Vamp seriously peeved.  And that pretty much starts a centuries long war.

So I've had this movie for almost 6 months now and I just now watched it.  I guess I was pretty sure that it was going to be so stupid, but it wasn't...well it was but stupid in a good way, I still liked it.  Actually my only problem with Underworld: Rise of the Lycan is they Werewolves...they were kind of cheesy looking in the face...just sayin'.  I can't remember what they looked like in the first movies but with CGI the way it is there's really no excuse for the way those Lycan looked.

Other than that it was a pretty good movie.  What may bother some people, and it was like this in the first couple Underworlds, is how dark and bleak the scenery is.  Almost every scene is grey, dark, and completely void of any vibrant colors.  The most vibrant color you see in this movie is blood, and there's quite a bit of that.

Yeah I liked it...it was fun.  Rent it.  I'm not even disappointed that I bought it because I really liked it.  Definitely a bluray rental.  Unless you want to buy it...I did.

3.98 Stars...

Oh...Underworld four is scheduled for 2011

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Law Abidning Citizen (2009)

"It's going to be biblical."

Wow...This movie was pretty brutal...quite a bit of death. 

Gerard Butler, Jamie Foxx, and that one guy from Star Trek: The Next Generation (Colm Meaney).  Yeah I go back that far.

Law Abiding Citizen opens up with Butler's family being murder...brutally.  Skip ahead to the trial and Foxx decides to cut a deal.  This makes King Leonidas very angry...er Clyde (Gerard Butler).  So skip ahead 10 years and Butler gets "biblical" and starts killing everyone.

A lot of tension in Law Abiding Citizen and quite a bit of gruesomeness...I'm pretty sure that's a word, spell check isn't hitting me with a red line of misspelled fury...Anyway, some great build up to some pretty intense scenes and a couple trickerations (apparently not a word) thrown in.

In the beginning of this movie you're really pulling for Butler's character, Clyde.  Then he kills the first two guys (the two who broke into his house and killed his family.)  The first death is like..."Ew."  The second is like..."They aren't going to show that right?  AAAHHH!"  Like I said this movie is brutal, but the first two did deserve it.  Then he starts killing EVERYONE else!  And you start pulling against him...kinda.  I was hoping the whole time that there would be some kind of redemption in it for Clyde.  But no luck as the violence quickly escalates. 

I almost hate it when they make you sympathize with the psychotic killers.  They're doing terrible things but somehow you still feel bad for them.  Of course I begin to lose that feeling near the end as Butler was just getting out of control.

That said, Butler and Foxx did a GREAT job.  Besides Leonidas (because I love this character) most of his roles aren't very deep.  He impressed me mucho grande in Law Abiding Citizen though, he really played the role perfectly.  You know how sometimes you watch a movie and you're like "You know who would have been better."  Not Law Abiding Citizen.  He did such a good job I'm pretty sure he was the only one for this part (well, not counting Russell Crowe...he can do anything.)  And Foxx put in a pretty good performance like he always does.

I'm just saying this movie is really good.  Really brutal but really good.  If you can handle a tad bit of violence I suggest you see this one.  I bought it, but it could be a renter...i'm not dying to watch it again it wasn't AMAZING, just pretty good.

4 Stars...

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Everybody's Fine (2009)

Have you heard of this movie?  I sure hadn't just stumbled across it.  I had no idea what it was about...just that it had Robert De Niro, Kate Beckinsale and Sam Rockwell...you notice I left Drew Barrymore's name out?  It's because she's terrible at everything.

But De Niro, Beckinsale, and Rockwell I like.  So I picked it up.

This turned out to be a pretty good movie.  De Niro's character was great, mainly because it's ROBERT DE NIRO!  He's having trouble coping with how little he sees his children since the death of his wife.  So after they all cancel a planned family get together De Niro sets out on a trip to visit each one of his kids.

I'm not going to say this movie was amazing, but I will say that it was good and that I really liked it.  I may have almost even cried just sayin'.  But I'm a wuss when it comes to movies, I almost cry a lot!  Stupid UP...

De Niro does a great job and so does everyone else...except for you Drew Barrymore...because you're horrible and no one likes you.  Well maybe someone does...but I have no idea why...

This movie is kind of slow and most definitely story driven.  Unfortunately there are no shootouts or any kind of action sequences in Everybody's Fine, just an interesting story with a kind of twist ending.  Not really a twist...things just kind of get explained to you at the end.  The end of the movie was pretty emotional. 

Through the whole movie you know his kids are keeping something from him and he knows too.  You just have to stick with it to find out.  Everybody's Fine definitely dragged in a couple places mainly places occupied by Drew Barrymore who is, I think we all can agree, a terrible actress...just sayin'

If you get a chance you should rent this one, it's a pretty good movie, just expect to be bored a couple times.  If you don't like movies without sex and violence this one may not be for you.  Otherwise if you think you can handle a pretty clean movie than this one may be for you.

3 stars...Netflix it.