Blade Runner 2049 spoiler free review

I fell asleep.  In the theater, at 1pm, after a full nights sleep, I fell asleep.  I have watched and enjoyed the original film.  The original film was visually stunning and the first movie representation of cyberpunk that was ever filmed. 

This movie was also very beautiful.  Vast colorful landscapes of ruined cities or a metropolis. 

I woke up, the music was loud and I feel it was meant to be unsettling. So when I fell asleep, I didn't stay asleep long before I was jolted awake.  But I would eventually start to doze again.  Maybe they did that on purpose.  In test screenings people had to have been drifting off and the director just had the sound engineers pump up the volume in certain spots to get people paying attention again.

The story just wasn't captivating.  Every aspect of it has been done before in a more fluid and coherent fashion.  The visuals themselves aren't even groundbreaking, sure it is a beautiful movie but is that any different than Interstellar, Oblivion, After Earth (shudder).  Without a compelling narrative, pretty isn't enough.  I understood Ks motivations, but not the motivations of others that set him on his path.  We are told that new replicants are needed in large numbers and a new way has to be devised to produce them more quickly almost in the same breath as the character orders replicants killed.  The twist was obvious to me, not the reveal, but the twist. 

Overall, this movie makes the ultimate movie sin.  It is boring.  It might be an amazing film, but I am not a film person.  I like movies.  As a movie I enjoyed the Netflix original The Babysitter, that I had just watched prior to going to the theater, much more than Blade Runner.  I realize they are different genres, but one entertained while the other put me to sleep. 

Kids probably won't like it and it has sex scenes and shows bewbs.  scfi violence.  

Ant-Man spoiler free movie review

Behold, in the year of our lord 2015 a hero will emerge that may at first go unnoticed because of his stature.  Word will spread of his deeds and his renown will grow!


Saw Ant-Man this weekend.  Let me tell you, it was great.  I think I enjoyed it more than age of Ultron.  It just hit the right note.  I am not a huge Ant-Man comics fan.  I did read the Scott Lang origin story and an issue where he gets a job working for Tony Stark.  Classic Ant-Man was never really my thing, though.  I worried about Marvel's ability to put up a hero that would be believable in a battle against super-powered opponents.  I saw the movie because I trust Marvel.  They have not abused that trust to this point. 


This movie should have come out on Father's Day weekend as Fatherhood is a huge theme in this movie.  It covers absent fathers, distant fathers, step fathers, father figures, and redemption.  I think it handles the relationships pretty realistically, even in the context of and separated from realism, comic book universe. 


The action was amazing. They really surprised me with how they handled the fight choreography and the use of Ant-Man's powers.  They managed to make the combatants in the fight completely serious and still infuse humor into the fight scenes.  In the climactic fight scene you don't get the Spider-man, I am not really taking this seriously, banter (that is fine for Spidey, it his thing).  The characters are fighting and it feels like a fight,  hate on one side, and a defensive attitude on the other, lightened up by secondary scenes and plays on setting.  This created the perfect tone. 


Go see this movie, heck, take your dad to see this movie, you both will enjoy it immensely.  If you don't have a dad, take someone else's.  My girls took me, and the movie was all the better for it. 

The Wolverine- Spoiler free movie review

Hugh Jackman brought the Wolverine to the screen this weekend with his 5th film playing the character. I guess you could say 6th if you count his cameo in First Class. This take was much better than the last outing, X-Men origins: Wolverine. I know, how could it get worse? The good news is that the trailer is right; this is the Wolverine movie that fans have been waiting for. It isn't as light as Avengers and it isn't as dark as Dark Knight. It falls somewhere in the middle where I think it should. I can say that it was a more entertaining film than Man of Steel. Acting: Jackman was able to make the character seem somewhat fresh. After all these outings, that is fairly remarkable. The Japanese cast were very good as well. I thought the portrayal of viper was a bit over the top, but everything about that character was over the top. It was a contrast to the more human wolverine and not a different mutant every scene. The story borrows heavily from The Ronin storyline from the 80s, this is not a bad thing. It isn't 100% faithful, no where near, but you can tell they were trying and it was closer than anything else the Fox/X-Men franchise has put out. They even had the iconic image from the comics of Logan filled with arrows. The smaller scale fits the Wolverine character as a man that heals well and has claws can't really be expected to save the universe by his lonesome. Thankfully, this one isn't a cameo filled extravaganza where you have to try and figure out how Emma Frost is Silver Fox's little sister that somehow is deaged from the first class movie. It did manage to surprise me in a few spots. The movie was a lot of fun and you should stay for the stinger.

Chernobyl Diaries (2012)

I have been aware of this movie for some time but haven't got around to seeing it until now.  Part of that is because the previews made it look like a found footage type movie, and I am really tired of those.  Good news; it isn't a found footage movie.  Bad news; It might as well be as it is a single camera that bounces around all the time and you don't get a clear shot of the monster until the end. 

The plot is about some extreme tourists that take a tour of Pripyat, Ukraine, the site of the Chernobyl reactor meltdown in 1986.  Of course things go wrong and our tourists are stranded there. 

The acting isn't all that great, the Australian guy was probably the best out of the bunch. I don't think the writing was all that great either, though.  The dialogue between the brothers didn't feel natural.  The characters continually make the most idiotic mistakes.  There didn't seem to be a payoff of character development, revelation, or redemption.

Take this one or leave it.  It isn't very scary and is horribly shot, directed, written, and acted.  You can watch it, just don't pay money to do so.   

X Game (2010)

No it isn't a movie about fliping motorcycles or spinning on skateboards.  X Game is a story of bullying and revenge.  The movie has some okay Gore, it isn't quite over the top like Tokyo Gore Police or Machine Girl.  It wasn't a bad movie and it kept my attention, but it is hardly a memorable movie.  Psychological horror fans should enjoy this. 

House at the End of the Street(2012)-Spoiler Free

I remember seeing the trailers for House at the End of the Street last year and thinking that I needed to see it.  Then it came and went in theaters and I forgot about it.  I don't think it really made a buzz and that is a bit of a shame as the movie wasn't bad. 

Jennifer Lawrence stars as Elissa, a city girl just moving to a rural environment.  The house next door is infamous due to a double murder that happened there.  Turns out the son of the couple married, Ryan (Max Thieriot) still lives in the house.  Elissa, of course, falls for this quiet damaged boy. 

Jennifer Lawrence puts on a much better performance than she did in the Hunger Games as she does seem to have some chemistry with Thieriot.  Thieriot himself plays his part very well.  The mother's (Elizabeth Shue) dialogue comes across as strange.  She keeps saying things like "I am trying to be your mother" that I suppose indicates a back story of an irresponsible mother.  The mother is, however, a doctor, so, I can see absent but not really irresponsible. 

Overall- It was a pretty good movie that plays well as a horror/thriller.  I think it sets itself up for a sequel but don't know if the returns will ever justify making one.  There is some language and I think the PG-13 rating is pretty much accurate.  I might let my 12 year old watch it if she stated interest. 

I Saw the Devil-Movie Review

I Saw the Devil is Korean thriller from 2010.  It stars Byung-Hun Lee (Storm Shadow from G.I. Joe) and Min-Sik Choi (Oldboy, Shiri).  It is probably one of Korea's most violent movies.

I watched this with a group of friends as part of a horror movie double feature.  The first movie we watched was Cabin in the Woods and we all loved that one and were wondering how we were going to follow it up.  XBMC (X Box Media Center, great way to organize your media in a visually pleasing manner) had this in the horror genre and had it rated higher than Cabin in the Woods and The Thing from 1982.  While my collection of horror is not the most complete, it has some pretty good movies in it and having this as highest rated was intriging, so we all decided this would be the second movie.  We were not disappointed.

The story is a simple revenge plot.  Kim (Lee) is after the serial killer that killed his wife (Choi).  The story does take some twists and turns along the way.

The acting was excellent.  Korea is very good for comedies as the actors tend to over emote, but there was none of that here.  The acors brought the weight into the performance that it deserved.  We attempted to watch it with English language dubs, but quickly changed our mind.  Watch this one in Korean with subtitles.  The English language dub is horrible. 

Overall, it was a great movie.  Not sure it was horror unless you consider man as the scariest monster their is.  I do.  It is our twisted minds that created all these monsters in the first place.  The only problem seemed to be the ability of the characters to recover from harm.  20 bashes to the skull with a metal pipe is going to kill anyone on Earth.  Maybe he should have worked the body with most of those strikes.  If you liked Silence of the Lambs and Taken, this one should be great for you.  I have heard it compared to Oldboy, but I still haven't seen Oldboy.  I don't think kids are ready for this one.  It was almost a 19+ in Korea. 

Cabin in the Woods-Spoiler Free Movie Review

Wow, just wow.  I came into Cabin in the Woods with just the most basic information; the cabin was a construct being controlled.  This isn't a spoiler as it is revealed from the very start.  The rest of the movie was a surprise to me though.  A great surprise at that.  There were three other people in the room and this movie had us all laughing and groaning in sympathetic pain.  It had us hook line and sinker. 

The story was good and a pretty unique take on your general horror movie fare.  It doesn't seem that original at first (group of kids going on a road trip to a cabin) but quickly becomes very intriguing. 

The cast are amazing.  The people in the "lab" are great.  Thor does a pretty good job.  The red head (Kristen Connelly) was scortching hot.  The stoner guy was the perfect comic relief.  There is even a cameo at the end that was excellent.  Slasher films aren't known for their acting but this one is very good. 

Overall, it was a great movie that everyone in the room enjoyed a great deal.  We were doing a double feature and were really worried that the movie that followed it would be a massive let down in comparison.  I say the movie is probably okay for 13+, but only for horror fans as the film can be satirical to the genre and some jokes can be missed.  If you like horror movies, you should get a pretty good kick out of this one.  I give it 5 out of 5 slashes. 

Have you seen it?  What did you think?

John Carter-Spoiler Free Movie Review

John Carter of Mars was disappointing.  It was...too Disney.  I understand that some changes would be needed in order to make the movie work, but the end result of the movie is almost unrecognizable from the book it was based on.  Some of the changes I liked and some of them I didn't quite care for.  I thought the Red Martians should be more read or at least more different than humans on Earth.  The Tarks and Woolah were entirely too cute to be considered threatening. 

Ashli, who has not yet read Princess of Mars, thought the movie was great.  Maybe I will get her to do an unbiased review.  As I feel that reading the book less than a year before watching the movie, may have ruined things for me. 

If you can't tell from the above picture I am in love with Lynn Collins.  This may be compounded by the fact that I was already in love with Deja Thoris. 

Super-Spoiler Free Movie Review

I like Rainn Wilson and I like super hero movies, so this movie looked right up my aisle.  I was not disappointed. 

Story-Frank is a sad sack type of character whose wife/world leaves him for her drug dealing boss.  This spurs Frank into action to become the Crimson Bolt. 

Acting- The acting was done well.  What would you expectect from the all star cast they have lined up in this movie. 

Overall- this movie is a very dark comedy and will not be for everyone.  It is kind of like Kick Ass in concept but the execution of Super is much different.  It is also very different thematically.  While Kick Ass was entertaining (at least hit girl was), Super is trying to do more than just entertain and I think it succeeds wildly.  This one will eventually reach cult status. 

American Horror Story-spoiler free review

FX, known for pushing boundries, debuted their new show, American Horror Story.  It is Rated TVMA for sex, violence, language, and brief nudity.  Yep, it had all of those things, a lot of all of these things.  This might be the raciest thing not on a pay channel right now.  So, be warned.

Horror wise, the show sets up the mystery of the house in the first 5 minutes and only builds it from there.  The sex scenes are actually somewhat contextual as they fit into the story, but don't get me wrong, they are definitely gratuitous.  I imagine this show will stir up some controversy.

Overall, the acting was done well, the special effects were good, and the story was very intriguing.  I will most likely be tuning in.  The wife didn't care for it at all, but she doesn't like horror and really doesn't go for the gratuitous sex scenes.  Make sure the kids are in bed for this one.  

oh, the young maid is hot!

Devil (2010)-Spoiler Free Review

We all though M. Night was the devil, but he isn't here.

M. Night produced and wrote Devil.With his recent history (I am looking at you The Happening and Airbender) I wasn't really looking forward to this one.  I also wondered how good a movie about people stuck in an elevator with the devil could be.  He redeemed himself a bit.

Plot- Five people stuck in an elevator.  The lights will flicker and one of them will die or get hurt.  Who is doing it?  Actually, that is just part of it as one of the security guard builds the mythology of the Devil coming to Earth to torment souls before he takes them to hell.  The story was actually really good and a pretty good mystery.  It had a good story outside of the elevator and a pretty good twist.

Characters-  I wasn't familiar with any of the actor's but they provided really good performances.  They were engaging and pulled you into the story.

Overall-  It was a pretty good movie that surprised me.  I didn't think it was scary but my 10 year old did.  She wanted to see it so I let her.  She said it was good.  While I think it isn't a child's scary movie it is kind of light for an adult horror movie.  It fits fairly well with his other movies.  Kind of horrorish but more of a mystery.  I would go 13 and up on this one due to gore.  

Priest (2011)- Spoiler Free Review

Whew, sorry about the hiatus.  Had a family situation to attend to, was trapped in the gulf coast due to a hurricane... in New England, and I had promised the girls some things before they went back to school (six flags and camping).  So it has been a busy two weeks.  On to the review!

Priest-  I wanted to see this in the theater.  It just looked really cool and looked like the type of movie that would really pop on the big screen.  I have not read the graphic novel but my give it a look now.

Plot-  Vampires are the monsters that haunt the night and the Catholic Church and their Priests are our only hope.  The movie starts with humans as victorious, but trouble is stirring.  Our hero asks to investigate and is denied the right, but defies his orders and goes out of the fortress city in search of the truth.

Characters-  The priests are supposed to be emotional voids.  Being a cold blooded killing machine can do that to you, but we do get to see some emotion and the audience is able to identify emotionally with the priest without him losing that tough/hard edge.  The Maggie Q character is instrumental in this and the movie would not have worked without her.  She had great chemistry with the priest.

Special effects-  The monsters were really cool, but there was something off on the motorcycle through the desert scenes.  The animation sequence at the beginning was really cool and I can see an animated sequel being done in that style.

Overall-  It was a pretty good movie.  I enjoyed it and watched it with the girls and they seemed to like it too.  It had them jumping in some spots.  I would recommend it to almost anyone.  Parental discretion due to bloody violence.  This one was fun.  

Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell- spoiler free review

In Susanna Clarke's novel Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell takes place in an England were magic has all but faded away.  Magicians no longer practice magic, but only study people that did.  Two men are prophesied to bring back English Magic. 

This book takes place in early 19th century England only that England has a rich heritage of magic that culminated in the rule of the Raven King in Northern England.  Clarke does an amazing job of populating the landscape with her magical history and varied, interesting characters.  The story creeps slowly forward like a snowball picking up momentum until you are hit with an avalanche.  I personally think that it starts picking up with the introduction of Jonathan Strange.  I guess you could call me a Strangite. 

The excellent characters drive the story.  This book is not so much about the revival of English magic as it is the relationship of Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell (excellent title there Susanna).  Seemingly secondary characters also play very large roles in the motivations of the main characters if not stepping up for their own share of the action. 

While the subject matter would put this book squarely in the fantasy genre, it is unlike any fantasy that I have read before.  It fits the fantasy genre in about the same way that The Prestige was science fiction.  It adopted the concepts, but told a different type of story that only loosely holds to genre norms. 

It was an excellent novel and I have found myself unable to recommend it to enough people.  It is a bit on the long side; coming in at just over 1,000 pages, but once you get into it the pages just seem to melt away.  Almost as if by magic.

Green Lanter-Spoiler Free Movie Review

My wife and children took me to see Green Lantern this weekend for Father's Day.  It was just what I wanted.  They knew this because I told them I wanted to see it Sunday afternoon.  I did give hints but they were too subtle.  I would say things like, "it is really neat that Green Lantern is coming out on Father's day weekend, and do stuff like put on my Green Lantern T-shirt on Sunday.  Anyway, on to the review. 

Characters-  I had questions about the casting going in to this.  I felt that Ryan Reynolds would have been better suited to a Kyle Raynor GL than a Hal Jordan.  He stepped up and it was pretty good.  You got to see Hal grow into the ring somewhat.  Hector Hammond was spot on, Sinestro had the look but the voice was distracting.  It was just way different than the superfriends voice that still gets used in my head when I read a GL comic.  Blake Lively is still the big question mark.  She wasn't bad, but I wasn't reading CEO and pilot.  One of my favorite character parts was watching Hal as he learns to fly with the ring.  The character is a pilot and flight without a plane should truly delight a pilot and Reynolds was able to capture that. 

Special Effects-  In the credits there were at least six special effects studios involved.  The effects were pretty consistant and the only times they were a distraction was during two scenes with GL either flying or taking off.  Other than that, the movie was gorgeous.  I watched it in 2D, so I can't comment on 3D.

Plot-  This is really where the movie didn't quite measure up.  It was like they wanted to tell too much story.  Earlier I mentioned that Hal grows into the ring with the somewhat identifier.  I hate to say it but a montage of heroics may have been in order.  My biggest problem was with the pacing.  Every writing class I have ever heard of tells their students to show and not tell.  In movies, this should be much easier because it is a visual format.  Green Lantern tells a lot.  The movie is full of exposition.  GL has a very dense history with lots of little intrigues and twists, especially since John's run on the book.  But you can't just explain all that in the movie, it should be shown or revealed over the course of the series.  My wife didn't get all of that and was pretty confused about the guardians and Sinestro.

I can hear people now.  You think you could right a better screen play.  Why yes I do.  My story would have centered on Hammond as the only villian, not had Abin Sur's back story, probably would have had more training on OA and might have hinted at Paralax for a sequel. 

Overall- It was an entertaining movie.  Having a back ground education in Green Lantern comics helped me with the exposition but irked me when they tweaked things.  I left the theater happy, but left thinking Earth was the only planet with life or problems in sector 2814.  Some parts may be scary for younger children, but the movie was pretty family friendly. 

Sucker Punch Spoiler Free Review

I have seen Sucker Punch and I liked it.  I would say think Inception meets Beautiful Mind.  You will read, probably have read some bad reviews of this movie.  I don't think that all of them are quite fair.  They say that there is no story, but I think there is.  The story just may be more complicated than they expect.

Story-  Babydoll's step-dad is a gold digger.  Her mother dies and leaves everything to her daughters.  This of course leads the step father to get mad and to take actions that will end up with Babydoll in an insane asylum.  Once in the asylum, Babydoll imagines herself in a brothel.  When music is played in the brothel, Babydoll imagines herself in a series of fantasy worlds armed with a handgun with stylish cell phone charms and a katana.    An escape plan is hatched and it in the fantasy world that the items needed for escape are gathered.  The one weakness is that once we enter the world of the brothel, the viewer is forced to imagine the corresponding sequences that are happening in the real world of the asylum.  This is where the negative reviews come from.

Characters-  You meet virtually all of the girls in the fantasy worlds.  Because of this they are all playing roles.  You get snippets of their asylum personalities and stories, but what you mainly get is Babydoll's image of them.  As such, they are not developed much.

Martial Arts-  Although this movie is full of sword play and fighting it is all fantasy based.  Some of the moves may be real, but the are so stylized and over the top that any authenticity is lost.  The fight scenes are definitely something to see though.  Mind blowing, which leads to our next category.

Visuals-  Lets be honest, this is the real reason to go see this movie.  The action is over the top.  The fantasy world is beautifully rendered and flawless.  There are clockwork-zombie-nazis, orcs, dragons, stone samurai, and robots and they all look real and move the way you would expect.  Sometimes the effects can pull you out of the movie as they just don't blend well, but Sucker Punches graphics pull you in completely.

Overall-  This is a movie about empowerment.  That is what the fantasy worlds are all about.  The movie has a message and if you think about what is happening in the real world to not only inspire the brothel world, but also to regress baby into a deeper fantasy world, the movie is much more potent.  Although the theater was full of teen boys, the only thing they are going to get out of it is the pretty. This movie was made for a more thoughtful audience, but it looks like they don't get it.  The movie was designed with PG-13 in mind, but could have been a lot better had they gone for R.

I will recommend this one for 16 plus age group.  You know from watching the previews if you want to see it or not.  While there is a story and it is deeper than most give it credit for, if you watched the trailer and it didn't appeal to you, the story isn't going to salvage anything.  I can only think of one thing that the movie was missing; motorcycles!  Come on Zach Snyder. 

*Originally posted at Practical Black Belt.

Perfect Getaway(2009)-Spoiler Free Review

There are few things in life that you want to go more perfectly than your honeymoon.  In Perfect Getaway, we follow a honeymooning couple in Hawaii when there is a report that there has been a murder of another honeymooning couple and the killers could possibly be on their island.

Milla Jovovich, Steve Zahn, and Timothy Olyphant star in this thriller that keeps you guessing.  Thor, I mean Chris Hemmsworth, co stars as a guy with a DNR (Do Not Resussitate tattoo on his chest. 

Plot-  It is a murder mystery.  I won't give up any more  than that.  It was very entertaining.  Not sure how plausable the story was, but it was fun. 

Characters-  The story takes place over a two day period of time, not a lot of time for character growth, but the film makes up for it in character depth.  Everyone did a fine job of acting.  I really like Steve Zahn and his wackiness.  Milla Jovovich has always been there for me when Natalie Portman would spurn my advances, so you know I love her.  Olyphant plays his character pitch perfect. 

The movie does an excellent job setting up the location as someplace that is pretty empty and remote.  The perfect getaway as the title would give away.  It made me want to go backpacking while the danger of the situation made my wife never want to go camping again (she said this out loud during the movie).  The movie thrives on this conflict of having the perfect honeymoon vs. returning to safety. 

Overall, this wasn't a bad little picture.  It is one that you will likely have to watch twice, but the performances don't make that seem like a chore.  This is also a movie best walked into blind.  If you know too much about the movie it is going to ruin it.  Luckily it wasn't a huge draw in theaters and not many people are talking about it.  This one could be okay for teens, but is aimed at adults. 

Meth is one crazy drug. 

The Crazies- Spoiler Free Review

I heard this movie was pretty good, so I tracked down a copy.  I remember something about when it came to the theater, but I am sure it did poorly and no one made a big deal about the DVD release.  It is a remake of a movie that I have not seen from 1973, I believe (too lazy to look, but not so lazy that I won't waste a sentence explaining why I didn't look).  It stars Timothy Olyphant (from other movies starring Timothy Olyphant) and a bunch of people I have never heard of.

Plot- Yeah, you have been here before.  Even if it wasn't a remake, this is the plot to several zombie movies with some subtle changes.  The movie keeps a pretty quick pace and does an excellent job of setting mood and building suspense.  The military is punching bag, which is over done and not fair to people that are in or have been in the military. 

Characters- As the action takes place over the course of about 3 days, you can't expect too much character development, but there wasn't any really.  Characters act in the way that you expect them to act.  The actors all did well in their one dimensional roles, but the deputy puts forth the most memorable performance.

Cinematography- A lot of the movie was too dark.  I was watching at night with the lights out and I couldn't make everything out, this may have been to help establish the mood, but it was distracting.  It is possible that this is just a problem with my equipment so let me know if you experienced anything different. 

Overall-  It was decent way to pass some time.  It will make you jump in a couple places and that usually makes a movie worth it for me.  It is a retread plot that doesn't say anything.  This movie is happy just being a horror movie.  I would keep the kiddies way from this one as it is pretty gory and intense at places.  There is also some language.  If you like zombie movies (technically they were not zombies, but they were) you should enjoy this movie.  Just don't expect any social commentary.

On a seperate note is Timothy Olyphant just a poor man's Bill Paxton?


 

Boneshaker-Spoiler Free Book Review

Cover of Boneshaker (Sci Fi Essential Books)

Boneshaker, by Cherie Priest, is a steampunk novel.  Full disclosure:  This is only my second purely steampunk novel and while I love the steampunk cosplayers, I am not to hot on the literary sub genre. 

Boneshaker was a Hugo nominee.  My thought after learning that was "why?"  I mean, don't get me wrong, it was entertaining enough, but I don't think it is the best representative of great science fiction writing and may not be the best example in the steampunk sub genre. 

Plot-  It is steampunk so there has to be air ships and it has to take place in the 17 or 1800's.  Check on both accounts.   Seatle is a walled city.  A digging apperatus, the titles namesake, has burrowed beneath the city and released a poison gas.  For whatever reason a 200ft wall is built around the perimeter of the city to keep the gas in.  16 years later the wife of the man that releases that gas must return to the city in order to rescue her son that went in looking for answers. 

Characters-  The mother character is Briar- She is the most fleshed out character and the most likeable as well.  Her son, Zeke, isn't really likeable at all.  Sometimes I wondered why Brior is saving him at all.  I think Priest meant to write an unlikable character here though as it would give him room to grow (this happens a little, but. . .)  Most of the secondary characters don't get much more than a cursory backgroung, which is a shame, as I would love to know why they want to live inside the walled city. 

Overall it is an entertaining book with plot holes that you could drive cars through.  It comes across more as a book written to capatalize on current trends than as a book by someone with a passion for those trends.  Read this book for its strong female characters as it does have those.  I would recommend this book to they YA crowd as it strikes me in that vein.  History buffs need to stay away from all things steampunk as they do a lot of playing with history.  Science people will need to suspend disbelief on a pretty regular basis as well.  It was a light read.

Avalon High-Spoiler Free Review

Avalon High was a made for TV, Disney channel production. It is based on the novel of the same name by Meg Cabot (Princess Diaries). The premise of the story is that the characters of Arthurian legend are reborn into a group of high schoolers.


Plot-They had to play around with the characters and plot from the original and the remakes and crafted something pretty original. The target demographics are teens so it isn’t too deep. The story makes some nice twists and turns that I wasn’t really expecting. Overall it was a fun interesting take on a story that shouldn’t be original.

Characters- This is your stereotypical high school with stereotypical archetypes. The characters do grow somewhat, but none of them really ever surprise you with any transformation. The actors for this movie were not big names and most of them not even Disney channel staples, so that may have added to already shallowly written characters coming across even more one dimensional. I have not read the book, so I can’t comment on the source material.

Overall- it was a fun movie and a great way to introduce a younger generation to Arthur and his knights of the round table. It wasn’t great, but for YA it was pretty good. My wife loved it and my oldest daughter really got into it, too. So, it may be more of a girl movie. My review might be tainted by the fact that I had just finished reading Mists of Avalon a couple of weeks before seeing this. Last I checked this was free on Disney On Demand, and I am sure they rerun the heck out of it. I would suggest this to movie for ages 7-16 primarily, adult women will likely enjoy it more than adult men.