Oh, God! CR: #19

This week's review is another random choice. I'd only heard about it, but never seen. I was afraid it would be dated and old, like most movie before the 80's. But I was happily mistaken. This week's movie is the classic...

Let's Begin

PLOT

Jerry Landers is your typical grocery store assistant manager, he does his job very well, he has two kids, and a wife who all love him. Then one night, Jerry is given a letter requesting him to meet with "God". Obviously thinking it a joke, Jerry takes no mind to it, until he can't seem to get rid of the letter. He even tears it to pieces and it comes back brand new. He decides to meet with "God" and soon discovers that this is no joke. God has chosen Jerry, a hinted at atheist, to deliver his message that he is not dead and that there is hope, we have the tools to make the world better. When Jerry tries to give the message, the situation completely goes out of hand Jerry is left with some hard choices. He has to depend on his God-given abilities to help him get God's message out.

PROS

You might be reading this and thinking, "That seems like they"re making fun of religion!". Well you're somewhat right. While the film does poke fun at religion, it only pokes at what is wrong with it, and embraces what I like about religion. It never becomes a pro religious movie, it just tells you how it is, and has God explain things that make more sense that anything a "fake" christian could ever tell you.

There are many scenes where, like most people, Jerry is asking God the questions we all want to know. And he does answer them, and they make a ton of sense. The writers were obviously very religious, but they understand what their religion is actually about.

Gorge Burns is a perfect fit for playing God. He convinces you that he is God.

The courtroom scene is one of the best I've seen. It's a quiet scene that goes from chuckle comedy to thought-provoking ideas. And God's speech during this scene, let's just say I was falling asleep until He started to speak, even though he was talking very monotone.

The ending is bitter-sweet, more on the sweet side, but still bitter. It's realistic and makes sense.

CONS

The scenes without God aren't that entertaining. While they can be funny, they just aren't that interesting. While God is never far away from making an appearance, you're just hoping it would come sooner.

The movie is very dated. While only in the first 30 min. or so, it's still a problem.

CONCLUSION

I really enjoyed this film. While I'm not a religious person, this is the kind of religious movie I like. It's not afraid to poke fun at itself but it gets the religion it's in fact making fun of. Full of laughs and thought-provoking, this deserves the title of "Classic film".

RATING

WALK TO

The Avengers: NR #24

Well this is a HUGE and innovative week for Hollywood. This is the first huge superhero movie of the summer and the first time 4 different film franchises have been in the same movie together. I've been excited for this for a long time. It's been teased to us, it's been in our face for 3 years, and it's finally here. And I'm happy to say, like so many people have already said... YOU WERE WRONG LEON, HA HA!!! ...Sorry, I lost my cool there for a second. This week's movie is...

Let's Begin

PLOT

The Tesseract is a device of unknown origin that is a doorway to worlds not yet discovered by man, and Director of S.H.I.E.L.D, Nick Fury, has it until Loki, brother of Thor, steals it away. Loki intends to use the Tesseract to bring an alien army he's made a deal with to take over Earth in an act of peace (WHAT?!). With all hope lost, Nick Fury assembles a team of the greatest warriors and minds of our time. Captain America, Thor, Iron Man, The Hulk, Black Widow, and Hawkeye. They must defeat Loki, take back the Tesseract, and try not not to let their ego's get in the way.

PROS

Joss Whedon's writing and directing is what make this whole movie work. Whedon, creator of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer", "Angel", and "Firefly" is a master of ensemble casts, giving them all something to do, and comedy. It all works perfectly here and everyone gets a moment to shine.

The writing style for the characters are no different than from their own movies. Iron Man sounds like Iron Man, Thor like Thor, and Captain America like...well you get it.

The ones that don't sound like themselves? Well they become awesome. Black Widow, who was boring and worthless in "Iron Man 2" becomes one of the most interesting and cool characters in the film along with Hawkeye.

The Hulk is done right in this film. They do something new with him, making it seem more like a threat to have him around then a God send. They even make it scary and sad at points. Until the third act of course. At that point, he becomes the most awesome thing that you have ever seen. My three favorite moments are all from The Hulk.

With Whedon being the master a comedy he is, you'd think the movie would be funny right? Wrong, IT'S ABSOLUTELY LAUGH OUT LOUD FALL OUT OF YOUR SEAT FUNNY. I missed a ton of dialogue because either I or the audience was laughing so long and hard. 

The action is fun and exciting. I found myself at the edge of my seat and staring in awe at many points.

CONS

All of my CONS are nitpicks that mean nothing when compared to the film as a whole, so just skip this.

CONCLUSION

This is what Summer blockbusters used to be. It has all of the stuff of big dumb action movies that we get every year, but what makes it different is the writing and characters. It makes this 2 hr and 22 min. movie seem like an hour and a half. You never want it to end. This was such a fun movie, I believe the audience was a big part, laughing and clapping along with the film. I love this movie and is a very promising start to this badass looking Summer.

RATING

RUN TO 

P.S. To understand the joke at the beginning, go to this link

http://my.spill.com/profiles/blogs/the-avengers-audio-review