Jordan is back again with another preview of the upcoming movies of the month.
Howdy readers! Welcome to the March issue of Coming Soon! February was a pretty standard month with scores not deviating from the average that much. Let's recap the month of love in which I didn't see a single romantic movie (mainly because they were all terrible).
The Lego Movie: I called it! Destined to be one of the best animated movies ever and a film that is not only mesmerizing to watch, but funny as could be. The Lego Movie is a hit and it's the year's best film so far. (Rath's Review Score: 9.5/10)
The Monuments Men: Slightly disappointing given the stellar cast involved but after letting it sit with me for a couple weeks I was really glad I saw it. The story it has to tell is pretty incredible. It's just a shame the technical aspects of the film couldn't be as well. (RRS: 7/10)
Robocop: Not nearly as bad as everyone expecting. Despite boring action scenes, the reboot of this 80s film updates/translates very well to the modern day and has a stellar cast. (RRS: 7.5/10)
3 Days to Kill: A film that I decided to pass on and it seems like for good reason. I can't stand generic action and it seems like 3 Days to Kill was all that and not much more.
Pompeii: It certainly could have been worse, but Pompeii doesn't do anything special with its Titanic/Gladiator mashup. The main reason is that there is zero emotion tied to a film that so desperately needs it. The destruction sure is fun to watch though. (RRS: 6/10)
Non-Stop: At the time of writing this I haven't seen the film but fingers crossed that it ends up being what us Liam Neeson fans are hoping for!
Most Disappointing: The Monuments Men (slightly)
Most Surprising: Robocop
Worst Film: Any of the romance movies
Best Film: The Lego Movie (by a mile)
Now let's take a look at what looks to be an exciting March!! As always, click the titles for the trailers.
Why It's Worth Seeing: Because it's more 300...that's why. I'm a HUGE fan of the original. It certainly is style over substance but it's darn good at what it does. I was weary of this one until I saw Eva Green (Vesper from Casino Royale) acting totally bada** in the trailers. She is a great actress and as long as the movie utilizes her correctly, we could be in for a special treat...again.
What Could Go Wrong: A lot could especially with it being a sequel for a movie that came out many years ago. I'm concerned mainly that it will tell a story that wasn't necessary after the events of the first. I'm also a bit weary that this movie wont have its "King Leonidas" that made the first so special. But then again, we had never heard of Gerard Butler before the first film so...
Why It's Worth Seeing: Wes Anderson takes a lot of pride and time to craft his cooky, fun films. Personally, I think they are a tad overrated, but you can't deny the noise they generally make around the time of their release. Budapest Hotel looks exceptionally quirky and the cast is to die for. It could possibly be one of the funniest films of the year.
What Could Go Wrong: Early reviews indicate that nothing has gone wrong and that its fantastic. But sometimes with these silly movies I find they tend to try too hard to be unique and end up coming off kind of hipster.
Why It's Worth Seeing: Aaron Paul and those glorious, sexy, multimillion dollar cars. There has been a lot of press focused on the fact that the film uses hardly any special effects and goes for more practical effects. That's great news if you are an action fan.
What Could Go Wrong: Well its a videogame adaptation so the track record isn't in its favor. The stories tend to be useless and the attempts to capture the spirit of the game usually fall flat on their face. But who knows, maybe this will be the one to break the mold?
Why It's Worth Seeing: Ok...so...I've read this entire series. It has an atrociously-written romance in it, that is true. Over the course of the three novels the author tones it down quite a bit which I appreciated and the underlying story/plot is riveting. It went to places that I really didn't think it would go and, at least in my opinion, its certainly not "another Twilight". So, much like with The Hunger Games films, if it balances the love story and the main story there is certainly potential here, especially with someone as talented as Shailene Woodley at the helm.
What Could Go Wrong: From the previews it looks like they are marketing it is a romance. This story's strengths are certainly not in that department and I pray that they are doing that just to get butts in the theater seats. Look for this one to either surprise or disappoint a lot of people.
Why It's Worth Seeing: The Muppets are hilarious 9 times out of 10 and the previous film was no exception. This one looks to be just as much fun and its got a pretty awesome cameo-filled cast too.
What Could Go Wrong: The jokes have to be witty like the last one and the film must cater to children and adults. The Muppets are always really good at accomplishing this but it's a potential pit-fall.
Why It's Worth Seeing: I sincerely can't make up my mind about this one. On one hand, it looks like it might be average as can be. On the other hand, it is from director Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan) who is awfully talented behind the lens. And we all know that Russell Crowe can lead a film.
What Could Go Wrong: How do you make a tale that most of us know backwards and forwards, interesting again? Do you deviate from the source material a lot or do you make a word-for-word adaptation? Going too drastic in either of these directions could really hurt this film
Why It's Worth Seeing: It's an Arnold action flick that actually looks to be a tad realistic/make sense. The supporting cast is pretty fun and it looks like it could be a great watch-it-when-youre-bored action flick.
What Could Go Wrong: DEA and cartel movies have been done to death lately and I worry that this one's plot will not be anything more than a good guys vs bad guys shooting spree.
MARCH OVERVIEW:
Must See (In order): 300: Rise of an Empire, Muppets Most Wanted, The Grand Budapest Hotel
On My Radar: Need for Speed, Noah, Sabotage
Predicted Dud: Divergent (sadly)
Have a great March everybody! See you again when April roles around and we get our first Marvel movie! *screams like a pre-teen girl* Be sure to come on over and follow me through Blogger at RATH'S REVIEWS and like me on Facebook HERE! I follow-for-follow 100%. Thanks again!
I am glad I'm not the only one who thought the only interesting thing in Pompeii might be the volcano blowing up. I haven't seen it, don't plan to, but I might rent it and just watch the end.
ReplyDeleteI saw Robo Cop. I wasn't overly fond of it, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. (But, I didn't even like the original.)
@James, Thanks for letting me know about the words going off page on my site. I've noticed it too, if I refresh the page it clears up, so I don't know why it has been doing it at all. Probably just to bug me.
Pompeii will eventually be on TV someday...it was born for it haha.
DeleteRobocop was one of those films that at the end of the year I wont even remember that I saw, but during my time with it i certainly didn't hate it.
Yet another month where I will not be going to the theater. Eva Green is really the reason I have hope for the Rise of an Empire as well. She is an incredibly underrated and underused actress. She was fantastic in Casino Royale and she can be drop dead gorgeous! While I won't be seeing it in theaters, Divergent interests me because a couple of my friends liked the books.
ReplyDelete-James
You should go see The Lego Movie!!
DeleteI think 300 will surprise people. I have a good gut feeling about it.
I'm really worried for Divergent the more and more I see about it. I hope Im wrong because it really does have a lot of potential.
A friend of mine really enjoyed "Three Days to Kill" -- you can read her review here. Tl;dr: it was a nice throw-back to the unpretentious action movies of the late '80s/early '90s.
ReplyDeleteIll have to check it out.
DeleteMainly I dont have a problem with generic action plots...its more generic action/stunts that really REALLY bother me.
Excellent reply, Jordan.
DeleteI too enjoy old school action movies, provided the action itself is well executed.
B2B.