Prince Of Persia: The Sands Of Time

Definitely a wild ride of a movie and an excellent start to the summer blockbuster season.  Jerry Bruckheimer does it again with an engaging, action packed, roller coaster of a movie.  Mr. Bruckheimer, often times gets panned by the critics as his movies generally suffer from a lack of detailed plot... focusing more on action sequences to keep people entertained.   The Prince Of Persia does follow this same formula and you pay attention you can instantly tell you are watching a Bruckheimer movie.   That being said, I STILL really liked Prince Of Persia.   The plot line, although a bit weak, was substantial enough to get the audience from one amazing visual to the next... and it also logically tied everything together.  The action sequences were of course amazing...  and everything you expect from a summer movie.   Casting Jake Gillenhal, on the other hand I am not too sure about.  Not that he isn't a good actor... but this is his first foray into the action movie genre..and I had a hard time swallowing it.   Gemma Atterton did a MUCH better job though, playing the female lead.   If you are looking for a good pop corn movie to start your summer off right... you could do worse than Prince Of Persia.  (4.0/6.0)

Letters To Juliet

Some of my male friends might be clamoring to have my "man" card revoked after learning that I went to see this movie but REALLY it was actually pretty good.   :-)  After watching the trailer I was a bit intrigued about this movie.  The trailer made it seem like it might be a good romantic drama, without going overboard on the sappiness.  Much to my relief I was right... Letters To Juliet, I would characterize as being more of a drama about a womens search for a lost opportunity, with a touch of romance thrown in.  The views of Verona and Sienna are BEAUTIFUL... and the movie is worth watching just to see these in themselves.   Vanessa Redgrave plays an excellent part as the women looking for her former "soul mate".   The story line, like I said earlier, is light and easy to follow and doesn't bog down into sentimentality.  A good movie to take a wife or girl friend to that won't make you squirm in your seat or fall asleep out of boredom.   (4.0/6.0)

Robin Hood

Despite the lack luster reviews that this rendition of the popular legend is getting I thought that this was one of the best that I have seen.   This is NOT the Robin Hood that you are used to seeing though.  Although I would probably call it a origins story as opposed to a re-imagining of previous movies.   The movie is set during the time BEFORE the man who becomes to be known as Robin in the Hood starts his famous campaign to take from the rich and give to the poor.  One of the things I liked was that they didn't portray Robin necessarily as a hero born.. but more like a man shoved into the role because of circumstances and a sense of justice.   Left to his own devices he would have rather have gone on into obscurity.   Russell Crowe plays a fantastic part..  as an understated hero.  SO much better than the annoying false bravado and "goody goody" part that Costner played.  Cate Blanchette is also excellent as Lady Marion... The cinematography was also fantastic which isn't surprising coming from Ridley Scott.   He is WELL used to making movies on this scale...  Gladiator.    If there is one nitpick its with some scenes that felt kind of contrived.  Without going into details and spoiling anything.. there was a few scenes that felt...  well... like they were put in to please the producers as opposed to being logically part of the story.  This is a small thing though and doesn't detract from the overall movie too much.  This is definitely a movie worth seeing at the theaters...  (4.5/6.0)

Iron Man 2

This was an excellent second act to the Iron Man story.  I must admit I was a bit nervous going into this one.  The first Iron Man was such a great movie and generally speaking sequels never work.  In this case the boys from Marvel entertainment did a fantastic job coming up with both an intriguing story and a bad guy on par to take on Tony Stark and Iron Man.   The romantic chemistry between Tony and Pepper is ratcheted up a notch and the addition of Scarlett Johansson's character Natasha Romanoff also adds a bit of sexual tension between the three.  The action cinematography was on par with the first Iron Man movie and the acting was superb from Downey, Paltrow, Johansson, Rourke and Cheadle.   Those of you seeing it at the theater make sure to stay past the credits to see a teaser clip from an upcoming Marvel movie.   Definitely worth seeing at the theaters.  (5.0/6.0)