Ninja Assassin

In seeing the previews for Ninja Assassin, I thought that it was just going to be another poorly dubbed martial arts movie with fake looking fight scenes. In hindsight, Ninja Assassin couldn't be further from that assumption, and I was very pleasantly surprised. The film follows a young ninja named Raizo as he is raised in an orphanage that teaches all of the orphans to become cold-blooded killing machines. This orphanage belongs to one of nine ninja clans, and once Raizo escapes, he finds himself a hunted animal being stalked by others in his clan. If caught, Raizo faces death for his desertion. With the help of an INTERPOL agent, Raizo is able to return to his old orphanage and confront his old master.

As I said before, I was really surprised at how well this martial arts film was done. The actors and actresses were trained martial artists, and I mean legitimately trained. As a 15 year practitioner of martial arts myself (and co-author of My Karate Kicks, a martial arts weblog), I know that there is a distinct difference between being trained for a role and training to fight. These actors were trained fighters before they were anything else, and it really made a huge difference in the film. Overall, I'd give the film 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day

In what is sure to be another cult classic, Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day, seems to leave off right where the original Boondock Saints left off. When a popular local cleric is murdered in the same style as the Saints, all signs point to the vigilantes return to Bean town, except for the fact the cops on the case know the Saint's style, and they know that it wasn't them. Before long, however, the Saint's are back in Boston, with the help of a Mexican friend. Their mission is to find whoever tried to set them up, and...well...dispense some vigilante justice. The film does more than continue the Saint's story, it also gives some background into their father's life as a furniture craftsman, and how he became a killing machine himself.

All in all, I thought this film had a great story, and furthermore, it was left wide open for a third movie. I also thought that the introduction of some new characters to the franchise was both healthy and necessary for the franchise to stay afloat. It's been a few years since we've seen the Saints on the big screen, and the new characters helped to add a lot to the story. Overall I'd give this film 4.3 out of 5 stars.

A Christmas Carol

Charles Dickens' classic tale of A Christmas Carol comes to life once again, this time, with Jim Carrey playing the jaded, money-grubber named Scrooge. The movie, as expected, tells the story of Scrooge and the three spirits of Christmas Past, Present, and Future, sent to scare Scrooge straight out of his greedy ways. The re-telling does a good job of presenting the story in an updated fashion, this time focusing more on the ghosts themselves, while still telling the story accurately.

Overall, I thought the animation was excellent, along with Jim Carrey's performance as Scrooge. There really isn't much to say about the story itself, because it's been told so many times, but I do find the coupling of Robert Zemeckis and Disney quite interesting, and a good pairing at that. Overall I'd give this telling of Dickens' classic tale a 4 out of 5 stars.

New Moon

What was easily the movie with the greatest amount of hype attached to it, New Moon hit theaters at midnight on November 20th, 2009 to throngs of tweens, their mothers, and their grandmothers awaiting to see the next chapter in the Twilight Saga. New Moon tells the story of when Edward, in an effort to protect Bella, leaves her as he goes off to Italy to pay a visit to the Volturi, the group responsible for enforcing the laws of the Vampires. This naturally puts Bella in a funk that lasts for nearly a year, until a project rebuilding dirt bikes draws her closer to her old friend Jacob Black. There is more to Jacob than meets the eye, and Bella finds this out the hard way when Jacob has to transform into a Warewolf to protect her. This naturally creates a problem for the young heroine, because ancient lore says that Vampires and Warewolves have a long history of hatred for each other. This leaves Bella in the middle of a war between Vampires, who have Edward, and Warewolves, who have Jacob, who she gets quite close with in the film.

On the surface, New Moon looked like an upgrade from Twilight, and from a film making prospective, it truly was. The effects were better, along with the general flow of the plot. What bothered me about the film was that there wasn't much substance underneath the valor of shirtless warewolves and pale, sickly looking vampires fighting over a somewhat less-than-helpless heroine. The other point of annoyance that I have with the film is that, at 2 hours and 10 minutes, I found it to be too long. Overall, I see progress with the Twilight franchise, which is good, but I'm also hoping that the next two installments, Eclipse and Breaking Dawn, are better than New Moon. I give this film 3 out of 5 stars.

2012

Marketed as an Apocalyptic thriller, one might assume that 2012 is just another Armageddon-type flick out to make a political statement. Perhaps the absence of such a statement is why I was so pleasantly surprised by the film. First of all, seeing this type of movie in digital projection on a floor-to-ceiling screen was an amazing experience within itself, and the Cinemark Theater in Robinson Township, Pennsylvania really delivered on the experience part of the movie. In terms of the movie itself, 2012 tells the story of the Earth and its shifting tectonic plates a few years into the future. This causes catastrophic disasters worldwide, and forces the governments of the world to band together for the sake of humanity. John Cusack turns in a good performance as writer Jackson Curtis, who travels the world trying to find refuge for his family as the world crumbles, quite literally, below their feet.

I really thought that this was going to be another one of those "oh-look-we're-destroying-the-planet-and-it's-all-America's-fault" type of movies, but to my surprise, it wasn't about any one specific country doing anything wrong. Granted, there were some moments in the film where there were clashing points of view, but I didn't feel like one point of view was being praised or demonized more than the other. Overall I give this film 4 out of 5 stars.

This Is It

Regardless of your personal views of Michael Jackson the man, in my opinion, audiences should enjoy This Is It, the documentary of the making Jackson's last tour, because of the musical quality of the film. This Is It tells the story, through unseen footage of rehearsals, of how Jackson's final tour came to be. Audiences, however, get more than just a glimpse into the show itself. Rather, they are immersed in the nuances of Jackson the man, and all of the baggage that Jackson has carried with him throughout his life. The most interesting part of the film, by far, is the drastic contrast between when Jackson has a good day rehearsing, and when he has a bad day. On the bad days, it is clear that he is merely going through the motions, where as on a good day, he is enjoying the music, and focused on the show with all that he has in him.

Another part of the show that was enjoyable was the level of technical mastery by the dances behind Jackson. It is clear that those people have not only danced all of their lives, but they also have the "it" factor. The skill to mimic Jackson's moves and mannerisms with unsurpassed clarity and excellence. What the film amounts to is a look inside Jackson's music, and the internal struggle of a man who's been emotionally torn for quite some time. I give this film 4 out of 5 stars. If you want to see it, however, you'll have to hurry. This Is It only stays in theaters for another week, so see it while you can.

New Theater Review: Cinemark 16

In the first ever new theater review here on Opening Night Review, I had the opportunity to see Inglorious Bastards at the new Cinemark 16 in Robinson Township, Pennsylvania this past weekend, and have to admit that I was incredibly impressed. Of course, being a brand new facility, the theater was extremely clean, but the positives that the theater provided went far beyond the cleanliness of the theater itself.

The Cinemark 16, located in the Settler's Ridge development, along with several other new shops and complexes, boasts floor to ceiling screens in their XD digital projection theaters, leather seats, and surround sound. It appears that they will show newer movies in the digital projection theaters, and as weeks pass, they will move those movies to film projection to make room for newer releases. The theater's hallways are decorated with coming movie posters, as you might expect from any movie theater. What makes this Cinemark unique is that they also have framed reproductions of classic movie posters from films showcasing stars like Charlie Chaplin and other legends of cinema.

The amazement doesn't stop there. The theater also features a self-serve style concession stand that works in the same fashion as a grocery store. While staff members will fill your popcorn bag for you, patrons are free to fill their own bags with candy or pick up as many boxes of candy as they would like. Drinks are from the soda fountain, and also self-serve. When patrons are ready to go into the theater, they pay for their food at a cashier (again, much in the same way you would at a grocery store), and then they are free to proceed into the theater.

The new Cinemark can accommodate 2300 people total; 240 for their large XD digital projection theater alone. Simply put, it is my new first choice in seeing any new film, and I would recommend it to anyone who wants a good night out. Even the pricing is better than the other theaters in the area, from $6 matinees (before 6 pm), to $8.25 full price movies ($8.75 on Friday and Saturday nights), Cinemark has made sure that movies are somewhat affordable.

Being that it was the opening weekend, and the facility was extremely clean, I would give the new Cinemark 16 screen theater in Robinson Township, Pennsylvania five stars out of five. A perfect rating for a perfect cinema experience. Hopefully Cinemark keeps up the great work, and continues to provide a quality option for a good time.