Movie Review - The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies

The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies  $$$ 1/2

 

 

PG-13

144 Minutes

Starring: Ian McKellen, Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage, and Luke Evans.

Director: Peter Jackson.

          

            This is the final installment of The Hobbit series. Even though I thoroughly enjoyed the film I think it is the weakest of the three movies. That being said, I still think it is worth going to see.  

            The mighty dragon, Smaug (Benedict Cumberbatch) has been awakened and the citizens of Laketown will suffer. Smaug torches the entire town, but is miraculously killed by the human, Bard (Luke Evans). With winter setting in  and the dragon dead the humans seek shelter among the ruins of the dwarven city. And they are not the only ones interested in Thorin’s (Richard Armitage) legacy. The elves have arrived, wanting the return of priceless elvish jewelry that are among the vast wealth of the dwarven coffers. On top of all of that drama, an immense army of orcs are on the way. Da-da-daaaaa.   

            For those of you who were counting, that’s only four armies. You want to know who else shows up for this bloody party, see the movie.

                      

            Here is how I ranked the The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies:

            1. Fun – As surprising as it sounds I’m only giving a Half a MB for fun. Don’t get me wrong, the movie was fun and held my attention, but it is too focused on action and doesn’t have enough of the other elements which make for a good story. What can you expect? This is an entire movie about the battle that happens at the end of The Hobbit. I don’t feel that it was intended to be an entire nearly 3-hour movie.

            The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies gets Half a MB for fun.

            2. Story – Here comes surprise number two, following on the heels of my comments about the movie being an extended action scene I am going to applaud the writers for putting in as many non-combat elements as they did. I enjoyed the interspecies romance between Kili (Aidan Turner) and  Tauriel (Evangeline Lilly).  The golden curse storyline with Thorin (Richard Armitage) is excellent. And adding Bard’s (Luke Evans) struggle to save the people of Laketown gives some of that human element every film needs to succeed. 

            The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies gets a Full MB for story.

            3. Technical – As with all of Peter Jackson’s films the visual effects are as beautiful as they are stunning. Fantasy creatures, picturesque landscapes, and the impressive innards of the dwarven halls under the mountain.  

            The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies gets a Full MB for Technical.

            4. Acting – Outstanding on all fronts. I can’t think of anyone who turned in a lackluster performance.            

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies  gets a Full MB for acting.

 

            The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies gets a rating of 3 ½  Movie Bucks. This is one of those films that really need to be seen at the theater. A large screen and state-of-the-art sound system will enhance you movie-going experience for this movie. I suggest a matinee, but paying full price would be alright too.

 

                        Randy’s Rating System

$$$$   = Full Price    See this movie right away and pay full price, it’s worth it.

$$$     = Matinee      Catch this as a matinee or other discounted showing.

$$        = Discount     Wait until this movie reaches a discount theater near you.

$          = Rental         Wait until this movie reaches your local video rental outlet.

0          = No Sale       Don’t see this movie at any price.

Movie Review - Penguins of Madagascar

Penguins of Madagascar $$$ 1/2  

 

 

PG

92 Minutes

Starring: Tom McGrath, Christopher Knights, John Malkovich, and Benedict Cumberbatch.  

Directors: Eric Darnell and Simon J. Smith.

  

            In my opinion, the penguins were the best part of any of the Madagascar films. They have their own television show. And now they have a movie. Hooray. 

            As far as a plot goes, to celebrate the birthday of Private (Christopher Knights) the penguins break into a highly-secure facility to obtain a rare treasure and are snagged by the evil mad-scientist, Dave (John Malkovich).

            Being the resourceful flightless birds that they are they escape and find themselves working at odds with a secret organization known as the North Wind. Both teams run afoul (pun intended) of one another as they attempt to prevent Dave from unleashing his diabolical plan upon the world.

     

            This is how I rated Penguins of Madagascar .

1. Fun – A movie like this might appeal to you if you like to laugh a lot. I know I certainly enjoyed it. Watch for the celebrity name dropping done by Dave whenever he speaks to his minions. I give it a Full MB for fun.

2. Story – The story really is only there to provide a vehicle for the penguins to travel around the globe creating havoc in their own unique way. I did like the plotline involving Private and his quest to be a valuable member of the team. I give it Half a MB for a decent, uncomplicated storyline.

3. Technical – Dreamworks puts out quality films with high expectations in the technical department. This movie is no exception. I give it a Full MB for visual and audio excellence.

4. Acting – Strong performances all around. You should already know what to expect from the penguins and they deliver. Perhaps a little more so from Private. John Malkovich does an outstanding job with Dave. Benedict Cumberbatch is great as Classified. The North Wind is well-represented with Peter Stormare as Corporal. I give a Full MB for the Dreamwork-standard voice work.

Put that all together and Penguins of Madagascar earns 3 ½ Movie Bucks. It is well worth the price of prime time ticket. Although, if you have several children you probably should consider catching it as a matinee.

                        Randy’s Rating System

$$$$   = Full Price    See this movie right away and pay full price, it’s worth it.

$$$     = Matinee      Catch this as a matinee or other discounted showing.

$$        = Discount     Wait until this movie reaches a discount theater near you.

$          = Rental         Wait until this movie reaches your local video rental outlet.

0          = No Sale       Don’t see this movie at any price.

 

 

Movie Review - The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1  $$$

 

PG-13

123 Minutes

Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, and Philip Seymour Hoffman.

Director: Francis Lawrence.  

            Continuing in a fairly recent Hollywood tradition, the third book of the Hunger Games series has been split into two movies. If done well I have no problem with the practice. However, it is easy to walk away from the first half of a split novel film feeling unsatisfied. Mockingjay – Part 1 left me hanging. I’m not nearly as excited about seeing the next installment of this franchise as I had been to see Part 1.  

            In short, Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) has joined the rebellion. Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) is being held in the Capitol. Both are being used as social and political weapons for the side that holds them. While there are some great emotional scenes the exploration of the media’s role in war makes for a rather slow-moving film.

 

            This is how I ranked The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1   

1. Fun – Interesting but slow. I enjoyed watching the movie, but it has no replay value for me. Watch for the scene where the rebels attack the power plant. Beautifully done and emotionally powerful.

            Mockingjay  gets Half a MB for fun.       

            2. Story – Both sides of the conflict pitting Katniss against Peeta is interesting and solid from a storytelling point of view. Unfortunately, that may not translate well into movie-going fun.  

            Mockingjay  gets a Full MB for story.  

            3. Technical – The film looked good. The direction of the film was good. The special effects were excellent. You definitely feel that you are in a different place when you watch this film and that is really the goal.  

            Mockingjay  gets a Full MB for the technical aspects of the film.  

            4. Acting – Solid performances all the way around. However, I wasn’t as wowed with the acting as much as I have been in the past. Perhaps because this focuses so much on Jennifer Lawrence and has less screen time for the actors that have really stood out in the previous movies. I would liked to have seen more Josh Hutcherson, Woody Harrelson, and Stanley Tucci. The footage they have of Philip Seymour Hoffman accounted for some of the strongest moments in the film.  

            Mockingjay  gets Half a MB for acting.  Jennifer Lawrence, with this character, is just too one-dimensional to support a whole movie.  

            Added together, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 gets a rating of 3 Movie Bucks. It has enough special effects to suggest seeing it on a big screen with a good sound system. A matinee showing of the movie would be ideal. It may be a little slow for younger children and at nearly 3 hours in length, that could be a drawback. 

 

                        Randy’s Rating System 

$$$$   = Full Price    See this movie right away and pay full price, it’s worth it.

$$$     = Matinee      Catch this as a matinee or other discounted showing.

$$        = Discount     Wait until this movie reaches a discount theater near you.

$          = Rental         Wait until this movie reaches your local video rental outlet.

0          = No Sale       Don’t see this movie at any price.

 

Movie Review - Interstellar

Interstellar $$$

 

PG-13

169 Minutes

Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Mackenzie Foy, and John Lithgow.

Director: Christopher Nolan.  

 

            A good story, regardless of genre, is about people. While Interstellar falls comfortably into the science-fiction genre the real story is about a father and his daughter. That is what made this film so appealing to me.

            Earth has been stricken by a blight which has destroyed most of the food crops which we produce. And it’s getting worse.

            Without giving away too much of the story let me say that Cooper (Matthew McConaughey) had been an astronaut before the blight changed the world and turned him into a farmer. His daughter, Murph (Mackenzie Foy) has a ghost in her room and that leads to Cooper being recruited for a last desperate mission to save the human race.

            The down-side to all of this is that due to the principles of relativity he could lose decades of time with his family. Each decision he makes on the mission very well could impact his ability to see his daughter again. That is where the human element comes in and what in my mind made this a great movie. 

 

            This is how I ranked Interstellar: 

1. Fun – I found this as interesting a movie as I’ve seen this year. However, my wife did not. She compared it to Gravity and felt parts of it were too slow. The difference could be that I was totally focused on the anguish Cooper felt over each scenario that could delay his return to Earth.

            Interstellar gets Half a MB for fun, but for hard sci-fi fans should consider this a full MB rating.  

            2. Story – I found the treatment of this topic to be reasonably original. It definitely focuses on character and not special effects or action. Some parts of the ending were less spectacular from a story-telling point of view, but not enough to detract from my overall impression of the story.

            Interstellar gets a Full MB for story.  

            3. Technical – Wonderful special effects. The sound was great. I feel that the director did a good job with the material he was handed.

            Interstellar gets a Full MB for the technical aspects of the film.  

            4. Acting – Pretty good for the most part. Matthew McConaughey is great in the lead. The vulnerability that Mackenzie Foy displays really helps set the human aspects of the story. No real complaints about the supporting cast. It was nice to see John Lithgow again. The only real problem in this area was Anne Hathaway, who turned in a fairly dull and lifeless performance. If the audience was supposed to like this character, I feel that she failed to elicit that emotion. 

            Interstellar gets Half a MB for acting. I think a strong female lead would have made this story even stronger.  

            Added together, Interstellar gets a rating of 3 Movie Bucks, but if you are die-hard sci-fi fan consider this a 3 1/2 rating. I suggest seeing this on a big screen with a good sound system. A matinee showing of the movie would be ideal. It may be a little slow for younger children and at nearly 3 hours in length, that could be a drawback.

 

                        Randy’s Rating System 

$$$$   = Full Price    See this movie right away and pay full price, it’s worth it.

$$$     = Matinee      Catch this as a matinee or other discounted showing.

$$        = Discount     Wait until this movie reaches a discount theater near you.

$          = Rental         Wait until this movie reaches your local video rental outlet.

0          = No Sale       Don’t see this movie at any price.

 

Movie Review - The Boxtrolls

The Boxtrolls $$ 1/2

 

 

PG

96 Minutes

Starring: Ben Kingsley, Isaac Hempstead Wright, and Elle Fanning.  

Directors: Graham Annable and Anthony Stacchi.

  

            Eggs (Isaac Hempstead Wright) is a human who thinks he is a boxtroll. Unfortunately, that means he is part of a group that is hunted by Archibald Snatcher (Ben Kingsley) an exterminator with his eyes set on sitting with the social elite and sharing cheese and conversation with them.

            Things change when Fish (Dee Bradley Baker) is snatched and eggs must leave the troll’s underground home and travel the streets of Cheesebridge in search of a way to rescue his friend. 

            Except for an elevated grossness factor The Boxtrolls is a good family movie. This is how I rated it.  

1. Fun – The first half of the film was a little slow for my liking, but over all I enjoyed it. It was the second-half that provided most of the laughs for me. I give it a half MB for fun. 

2. Story – While handled well the storyline is not very original. A boy grows up in a strange society, finds out he doesn’t really belong there, and ends up saving his friends from the evil members of his own society. I just saw the animated Tarzan movie this week and they handled the same theme in a much better fashion. I give The Boxtrolls a half a MB for a reasonably well-done story.  

3. Technical – The stop-animation of this film turned me off. The characters have various levels of grotesque added to them, which might be a bonus for some viewers. I did not like the weird extra coloring on some of the characters. Mostly blues added to their faces. I found it distracting. The Boxtrolls gets a half a MB for special effects and other technical aspects.  

4. Acting – I felt that this was the films high-point. Ben Kingsley does a wonderful job as the villainous exterminator with high aspirations, but it was Mr. Trout (Nick Frost) and Mr. Pickles (Richard Ayoade) who stole the show. All I will say is that these are not your ordinary henchmen. I give a full MB for the entertaining voice work done in this film.  

            Add it all up and The Boxtrolls gets 2½ Movie Bucks. I suggest seeing it as a matinee because the big screen is the way to go with this film. It may be a bit silly and gross for adults, but children will love it. 

 

                        Randy’s Rating System 

$$$$   = Full Price    See this movie right away and pay full price, it’s worth it.

$$$     = Matinee      Catch this as a matinee or other discounted showing.

$$        = Discount     Wait until this movie reaches a discount theater near you.

$          = Rental         Wait until this movie reaches your local video rental outlet.

0          = No Sale       Don’t see this movie at any price.

 

Movie Review - The Maze Runner

The Maze Runner  $$$ ½

 

 

PG-13

113 Minutes

Starring: Dylan O’Brien, Ki Hong, Lee, Will Poulter, and Kayda Scodelario.

Director: Wes Ball.

 

I hadn’t read the book, but the trailer looked cool so I decided to see the movie and am glad I did. Now I need to read the book. 

Thomas wakes up in an elevator. He doesn’t know who he is, where he is, or pretty much anything else. He finds himself in a glade with a bunch of other teenaged boys in the center of a mammoth maze. The question on the minds of the boys in the maze and the audience as well is why are they there? That is enough to keep your attention throughout this movie and wanting to see the next one in the series.                

            Here is how I rated the film:

1. Fun – If you like a movie that places you squarely in the middle of a mystery then you should like this film. I did. The drive to find out what was going on kept me riveted.

The Maze Runner gets a Full MB for keeping me guessing.

            2. Story – This is an interesting story. The premise of placing a bunch of teens in the middle of a maze as some sort of experiment, and possibly more, is unique enough to be refreshing when so much of what we get out of Hollywood is remakes of what we have already seen. 

            The Maze Runner gets a Full MB for a an intriguing storyline.

            3. Technical – The set looked great and the special effects were excellent. In this situation it is more about setting the mood for the story and I think they accomplished that quite well.

            The Maze Runner  gets a Full MB for putting me into a brand new environment.

            4. Acting – The acting didn’t really stand out. Everyone was compentent enough that their acting didn’t get in the way of the story, but failed to grab my attention—with the exception of Aml Ameen as Alby and Thomas Brodie-Sangster as Newt. I really enjoyed watching both of these actors on screen and look forward to seeing them do more.

            The Maze Runner gets Half a MB for acceptable acting.  

            The Maze Runner gets a rating of 3 ½ Movie Bucks. I suggest seeing it at a matinee or other discounted showing. It is a little intense in a few scenes and may not be appropriate for very young children, but I do recommend it to anyone who enjoys watching a mystery unfold.  

                        Randy’s Rating System 

$$$$   = Full Price    See this movie right away and pay full price, it’s worth it.

$$$     = Matinee      Catch this as a matinee or other discounted showing.

$$        = Discount     Wait until this movie reaches a discount theater near you.

$          = Rental         Wait until this movie reaches your local video rental outlet.

0          = No Sale       Don’t see this movie at any price.

Movie Review - The Remaining

The Remaining  $$

 

PG-13

83 Minutes

Starring: Johnny Pacar, Shaun Sipos, Italia Ricci, and Alex Vega .

Director: Casey La Scala.

 

            I happened to spot this film listed at the theaters and decided to check it out because it runs along a similar theme as The Gathering novel of mine. I wanted to see what the competition was doing. Watching it made me reconsider writing any more books about the Second Coming. If people have the same reaction to my books as I had to this movie, then I owe the world an apology.

            Tommy (Johnny Pacar) is recording the events around his friends’ wedding when the events of the “Rapture” hit the Earth, leaving the unbelievers behind to face the horrifying events signifying the end of the world.

            Hail, earthquakes, violent storms all make a very brief appearance in the film and seem to have minimal effect, considering their implied severity. Most of the film deals with attacks against the population by “The Fallen.”

            This wasn’t so much a movie as a piece of propaganda designed to terrify the audience into immediately accepting God, in a specific manner of faith. Should you fail to fall into line with the correct methods of worship before the Rapture happens you will be torn to bits in a very painful way. 

             

            Here is how I rated the film: 

1. Fun – Not fun. Two scenes caught my attention and I felt they could have led to some interesting possibilities. The first is when softball sized chunks of hail started slamming into the street. I thought that the film would deal with the prophesied disasters and that would have been entertaining. The second scene is when the great trumpets in heaven are blown announcing the breaking of another seal. Perhaps it was just the fact that the theater had the sound system turned up to a ludicrous volume, but it felt awesomely terrifying—in a good way.

Unfortunately, neither of those were more than mere moments. I found the rest of the film boring and tedious.

The Remaining gets Half a MB solely for the blasting horn that has given me plenty of pause to wonder if that is what the event would really sound like.   

            2. Story – The temptation for me is to judge this section of the movie on the potential for a great story that it didn’t deliver. However, that wouldn’t be fair. The story that they did provide was dull. Since they needed something to string together all the scenes of killing people off, they added a love triangle. Since everyone dies, who cares which of the two friends gets the girl?

            The Remaining gets Half a MB for a predictable, unexciting storyline.  

            3. Technical – The special effects are decent and the trumpet in heaven bit was excellent. Technical also includes the direction of the film which I found to be totally lacking. On the positive side the film is quite spooky, so kudos to La Scala for getting that part of it right.

            The Remaining gets Half a MB for its spooky feel.  

            4. Acting – The acting talent for The Remaining was decent enough. I had a connection with Italia Ricci and Bryan Dechart. John Pyper-Ferguson did alright with the material he was given, but I think better material would have allowed him to stand out in the story. All-in-all it wasn’t painful to watch any of the cast deliver their lines, but neither was I sitting on the edge of my seat to see what they would say next.

            The Remaining gets Half a MB for acceptable acting.  

            The Remaining gets a rating of 2 Movie Bucks. I believe that the film has a limited appeal for those who adhere to the doctrine of the Rapture. Non-believers are unlikely to enjoy the film—in my opinion. If you are a believer I suggest checking it out at a matinee; you don’t want to miss that outrageous horn-blowing scene. If you are not a believer this should probably be a pass for you.

 

                        Randy’s Rating System 

$$$$   = Full Price    See this movie right away and pay full price, it’s worth it.

$$$     = Matinee      Catch this as a matinee or other discounted showing.

$$        = Discount     Wait until this movie reaches a discount theater near you.

$          = Rental         Wait until this movie reaches your local video rental outlet.

0          = No Sale       Don’t see this movie at any price.

 

Movie Review - The Giver

The Giver  $$$$

PG-13

97 Minutes

Starring: Jeff Bridges, Brenton Thwaites, Meryl Streep, and Odeya Rush.

Director: Phillip Noyce. 

 

            This seems to be the year of the misleading movie trailers. In the case of The Giver, I suspect it has hurt the success of the film. Based on the trailers I expected a typical dystopian movie for the teen market, but boy was I wrong.

            Jonas (Brenton Thwaites) lives in a perfect community. They have done away with war, violence, greed, envy, and emotion. Everyone gets up in the morning and takes their mandatory injection and then goes and does the job they have been assigned. Life is good.

            That is, until Jonas is assigned to be the next Receiver of Memories.   

            The Giver is not a fast-paced action flick. Which is not to say the film was boring. Far from it. Be prepared for a thought-provoking, emotion-provoking tale about human nature that I think you will be mighty glad you watched.

                         

            Here is how I rated the The Giver: 

            1. Fun – I absolutely loved this film. Within the first five minutes I was hooked and sat in the audience mesmerized by the story.

            The Giver gets a Full MB for fun.

            2. Story – Of the four areas which I rate a movie The Giver rates highest in story. It is well-crafted and meaningful. Lots of great emotion and it makes you think. If I could give it a higher rating for this I would, but instead will let it raise the rest of the ratings.

            The Giver gets a Full MB for story.

            3. Technical – Excellent. Some beautiful CGI. Some work with muted colors to enhance the storytelling. A nice futuristic set. All the work to make you feel somewhere else was nicely done. My hat is tipped to Phillip Noyce. I feel the directing of this film is largely responsible for the success of the story.

            The Giver gets a Full MB for Technical.

            4. Acting – Jeff Bridges, as the Giver, does a great job playing a man bearing the burden of a dark secret. Brenton Thwaites, Odeya Rush, and Cameron Monaghan are adequate as the friends entering the adult stage of their world. They neither impressed me with their acting skill, nor detracted from the movie. It is possible that I am unfairly discounting their efforts since I felt that the movie was a success. I really enjoyed the performance of Alexander Skarsgard as Father.   

            The Giver gets a Full MB for acting even though this is probably the weakest area of the film. Not bad, just not as stellar as everything else. 

 

            The Giver gets a rating of 4 Movie Bucks. I’m going to see it again and take my wife with me this next time. This is definitely one I am considering picking up for my home movie collection. I highly recommend film for adults. It may be too slow for younger audiences.

  

                        Randy’s Rating System 

$$$$   = Full Price    See this movie right away and pay full price, it’s worth it.

$$$     = Matinee      Catch this as a matinee or other discounted showing.

$$        = Discount     Wait until this movie reaches a discount theater near you.

$          = Rental         Wait until this movie reaches your local video rental outlet.

0          = No Sale       Don’t see this movie at any price.

 

Movie Review - The Expendables 3

The Expendables 3  $ 1/2

 

PG-13

126 Minutes

Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Mel Gibson, and many, many more.

Director: Patrick Hughes. 

 

            The third movie in the Expendables franchise has returned to its roots, which in this case is unfortunate. The Expendables 2 had the insight to not take itself too seriously and the cheesy action worked in that setting. However, The Expendables 3 makes the mistake of thinking that this is anything more than a gimmick that places as many of the action-hero icons into a single movie as they can possibly fit.

            As far as story goes, Barney Ross (Sylvester Stallone) breaks out a member of the Expendables team that none of us knew existed – Doc (Wesley Snipes). Then he announces that he is retiring the team because he can no longer take responsibility for the loss of mercenary lives in an insanely dangerous business. Okay, he doesn’t actually say that, I just put the situation in context.

            But—and there’s always a but—another assignment comes up; one that Barney can’t refuse. It seems that ex-Expendable Stonebanks (Mel Gibson) is not only not dead but back to doing horrible things, which in this case means he’s selling arms to the bad guys. Barney puts together a new and younger team to take out the much dreaded Stonebanks.

            

            Here is how I ranked the film: 

            1. Fun – This is one of those cases where I sat in the theater and wished the movie would end—soon. The plot, if you can call it that, was predictable and unoriginal. Because the film decide to take itself seriously this time the action scenes were just beyond the scope of anything even remotely believable. And frankly, a smorgasbord of minion killing gets boring after awhile.

            The Expendables 3 gets Half a MB for fun, for a few scenes that were fun.

            2. Story – What story? A huge percentage of the movie is dedicated to one scene right after another that depicts some armed, generic bad guys getting killed by the various members of the team. I suppose that someone deserves credit for coming up with so many ways to kill the bad guys. You know, fall on the table and shoot them, crawl under the table and shoot them, flip the table over and shoot through it to shoot them. Variety. There just wasn’t anything original about the story and it has been done so much better elsewhere. It felt like the writer just patched together a script based on all the other action movies that are out there and depended on the all-star cast to make it work.  

            The Expendables 3  gets Zero MB for story.

            3. Technical – The special effects team does a great job of blowing stuff up and making nameless thugs die. Lots of explosions. Lots of guns being fired. They get an A+ in that department. But part of the Technical rating is based on the efforts of the Director. The fact that the second film in the franchise grabbed my attention shows that how the material is handled can make all the difference between entertainment and fodder for ridicule at the workplace water fountain the next day.  

The Expendables 3 gets a HALF a MB for industry standard technical effects and the use of enormous amounts of explosives.

            4. Acting – This was a mixed bag. Stallone is Stallone. The problem is that action-heroes are usually not the best actors. When you fill a movie entirely with action-heroes you are not going to get any Oscar nods for their thespian skills. That being said, a few of the performances were entertaining and the only reason the film received a Half a MB for fun. Antonio Banderas easily handed in the best performance of the film. I enjoyed every minute he was on screen. Kelsey Grammer also turned in a good performance. I wouldn’t mind seeing him do another stint as a grubby merc recruiter. And Mel Gibson was fabulous as the villain. Considering all the trouble he got himself into, this could mark a new direction for his career. He makes for an amazing bad guy.

            The Expendables 3 gets Half a MB for acting.

         Add them up and you get a rating of 1 ½ Movie Bucks. I suggest waiting for it as a rental—if you see it at all. And if you do decide to see it you can play the Body Count game. That’s where you count how many evil lackeys are killed by the good guys. I don’t recommend it as a drinking game because you’d be passed out drunk at the end of the first act.

 

                        Randy’s Rating System 

$$$$   = Full Price    See this movie right away and pay full price, it’s worth it.

$$$     = Matinee      Catch this as a matinee or other discounted showing.

$$        = Discount     Wait until this movie reaches a discount theater near you.

$          = Rental         Wait until this movie reaches your local video rental outlet.

0          = No Sale       Don’t see this movie at any price.