The Karate Kid

"Be kind of hot if I won this thing, huh Mr. Han?"
"Be kind of hot if you would Focus."

I was kind of excited, but very apprehensive when I saw the trailer for this last year. I was excited to see Jackie Chan play Mr. Miagi's role, but scared to have my youth ripped apart along with many other terrible remakes. I have wanted to see this movie for a while and finally decided to get out of the 105 degree heat and take my son along with a friend and go check it out. I'm happy to say I was not disappointed.

I was happy to see that the same story line was followed, minus Karate being replaced with a more exciting Kung Fu. I was very impressed with the acting skills of Jaden Smith. He had a crying scene and I was in awe of how well he played it. It was very obvious that he learned Kung Fu. The fighting scenes were much better than expected. The only two complaints I had were that: 1. a handheld camera was used to film 90% of the movie. It was not as bad as other, but I was dizzy before going in to the movie and that did not help. 2. was the finial fight. The final big kick that we all loved so much and practiced in the quiet of our room, just in case a bleach blond with bullying issues cornered us, was traded in for some horrible, horrible front, spinning, back kick. It was so out of place that it completely took me out of the movie. One stupid kick and this movie would have been a million times better.

The scenery was fantastic as expected. There were some fantastic shots of the Forbidden City, the Great Wall and a temple on top of a mountain. The movie, like the old one, starts with the family leaving their home and settling in a new place. In this film the move to Beijing. The shots of the city are great. I would smile as I would see a connection between the new and the old film. The bad guys getting water dumped on them or The aqua colored door of Mr. Miagi/Han.

I was very happy I was able to see this with my son. I remember going to see a few of the Karate Kid movies with my dad. I was not feeling good one day and stayed home from school. He took the day off and drove me to the theatre and we watch Karate Kid 2 and a similar story happened for Number 3. No I did not see the Next Karate Kid in the theatre. I wouldn't mind of they made the second one, as long as they did as good of a job as they did on this one.

8.75 out 10

The Bounty Hunter

"Life is making mistakes."
"Death is wishing you had made more."

I usually don't get to watch a movie in the front room unless it is at 7 in the morning. I am usually putting boys to bed or giving them baths. Last night I made it through a whole movie. My sister-in-law had picked up The Bounty Hunter with Jennifer Aniston and Gerard Butler. The basic story line of the movie is that Gerard Butler's character is a former officer who is now a bounty hunter. His next bounty is his ex wife Nicole played by Jennifer Aniston.

There are many laughable moments in the movie. I mean that in a good way too. Nicole has a guy who follows here who wants to be her boyfriend. He is a 2nd bit of comic relief who get into the wrong place at the wrong time. The jokes and lines between the two leads are witty and enjoyable, but not much that we have not seen before. I did enjoy the movie though. I also enjoyed leaning over to my wife and asking the golden question once again..."Do you think they will end up together?" I was hushed up by all three women in the room.

The acting is good and the plot line is fun. I wish it could have had a stronger ending, but you do not find many good ones in a rom com. Most just stick to a pattern of a quick happy ending. The movie was worth a rental. I'm not sure about buying a copy unless it was in the $5 bin. Well maybe a little more if your getting it as a gift for a special someone who thinks Gerard Butler is a "Cutie Pie."

7 out of 10

The Sorcerer's Apprentice

"I'm afraid of flying on planes."
"Well today's you lucky day 'cause I brought and eagle."

After one week of playing tour guide in DC for my family my wife said she wanted to go see a movie. All I wanted was a nap. She finally convinced me to go to a movie. My conditions: (1.)no chick flick and (2.)Tade had to come with us. So we narrowed down to Karate Kid and The Sorcerer's Apprentice(TSA). I thought TSA would be more humorous since it had Jay Baruchel, from How To Train Your Dragon and I'm Reed Fish, and since Nicholas Cage is OK I decided on that one. It was an added bonus that the potential love interest was Teresa Palmer, from cute blonde who played the Hotel heiress from Bedtime Stories.

After coming off of The Last Airbender I was not a hard person to please. I don't know if I like it because it was good or if I was desperate to have it removed from my subconscious.

The Story is about a guy named Dave who is a distant relative of Merlin the Magician and the "chosen" one to defeat the evil...(witch?)who is trapped in a nesting doll. Yes, I'm serious a nesting doll. Dave meets Nicholas Cage's character, Balthazar, who because his "Master" and trains him, or begins to train him, on how to be what he is destined to be, and to prepare him for his fated battle against the evil Morgana.

The movie is filled with cliche's and semi funny jokes. I was willing to forgive them for that thanks to great effects and the quick humor of Dave. Over all I actually really like the film. Again, it was because of the quick wit of Dave and Balthazar. My son liked it and Heather did too. I recommend it if you are looking for two hours of AC, some popcorn and a few good laughs go ahead and check it out.

7.43 out of 10

The Last Airbender

"I taught him that."

Over a Memorial day BBQ a good friend suggested that I watch the anime series Avatar: The Last Airbender. I got a few episodes in and my son was hooked. He was very excited to see that there was a movie being made about it. I was reluctant. I have never been very impressed about a Nickelodeon remake of anything and this was no different. The effects were good. The acting was terrible. If this were a silent movie it would have been much, much better.

The Last Airbender is about a brother and a sister who find a boy in the ice. He is the Avatar, the person who can bend all four elements (glorified Thai Chi),and is supposed to beat the oppressive Fire Nation who have oppressed and enslaved the others.

I can't say that the acting was the worst, (well yes I can) but it was not helped by the fact that the lines they were given were terrible. I understand that it is hard to take a whole season ofwhich a TV series and cram it into 2 hours, but I have not seen it that badly done in a few years. I'm talking to you Twilight.

4 out of 10