2009 Movies

Now that the summer blockbusters are done, time to do a movie roundup for 2009. I'll probably need to do another roundup for the later-in-the-year movies. They tend to be horror or serious drama though, which doesn't appeal to me as much. Favorites are: Star Trek This "reboot" of the Star Trek franchise is superb! Strong storyline, cast, effects. It manages to avoid the usual time-travel cliches that make sci-fi movies such a drag. Leonard Nimoy is, as usual, a treat as old-Spock and all the new guys stepped into their roles admirably. The update to the Enterprise is excellent. It keeps all the classic lines. As with most sci-fi movies, I did have to turn off part of my brain that cringed from the science, but definitely a most enjoyable movie. Angels and Demons Another well-executed adaptation of Dan Brown's novel. Luckily, I read the book years ago and the plot was only vaguely remembered. The Vatican is a grand setting and they managed to keep the suspense up for most of the movie. GI Joe - Rise of Cobra Good solid action movie. The transfer from comic to big screen was done well, though the "accelerator suits" were an obvious attempt to up the special effects quota to attract Transformers/Halo/etc enthusiasts. Watchmen I only vaguely recalled the original comic mini-series plotline when I watched this movie. That turned out to be a good thing since I didn't have too many expectations to shatter. The pace could have been faster, but it has a good balance of action and exploration of cold-war themes. Up Another great Pixar product. A bit on the kiddy side for me but still quite entertaining. I never was a fan of the prehistoric-lost-world type of setting, so maybe that's why it doesn't score that high for me. And then there are those that fall a tad (or more) short: Monster vs. Aliens Very entertaining movie. Again very kiddy, but quite fun to watch. Underworld - Rise of the Lycans Good addition to the Underworld franchise, but as a prequel, it suffers from the usual "I know what is going to happen already". Push The problem with trying to use precognition (predicting the future) is the ease with which to make it different for the good guys and the bad guys. The good guys should suffer from the same plot detriments of "if I change the present, the future changes". Not a bad movie, but could have been better. Gamer Another movie that could have been much better, though it is still good. I can really imagine the technology in-use and abused in the way described if it becomes available. However, other than that one tid-bit, the plot was average with elements similar to all sorts of one-man-against-the-world/government/corporation/evil-dude. District 9 I liked the plot, special effects and ending of this movie. But the main human character was just such a wimp for most of the movie that I couldn't stand watching him. Night at the Museum 2 Fun but not very exciting. For most of the movie, it seem like someone flipped through a few history books and decided to add historical figures to the story without integrating them. Fast and Furious 4 Yawn. What is this, a video game? Oh yah. It is. Transformers - Revenge of the Fallen Oh bad. Very bad. So very very bad. Explosions galore but suffers even more than the first movie from the glaring plot holes, inconsistencies, lack of character development (yes, the robots are characters and not props!). Finally, the "need to watch, but don't feel like it right now" list. Most of these are from series where I have had disappointing experiences: Terminator 4 X-Men Origins - Wolverine Land of the Lost Harry Potter 6 - Half Blood Prince All in all, a pretty good year of movies.