National Treasure -- 2004

National Treasure

(2004)

Rated PG for violence
My Rating: 5 Stars

Nicholas Cage
Diane Kruger
Justin Bartha
Sean Bean
Jon Voight
Harvey Keitel
Christopher Plummer
Stewart Finlay-McLennan


Summary:
“In 1832, Charles Carroll was the last surviving signer of the Declaration of Independence...” It is with his last breath, this man bequeathed a clue to the one person he could: Thomas Gates. “The secret lies with Charlotte”, it read. The clue passed from his feeble hand to Thomas' sturdy one was to a treasure... a treasure beyond imagination.

Since that say, the Gates family had been searching relentlessly for it. Convinced of it's existence while others laughed at them; searching when all hope seemed gone... but finally, one of them seemed to be getting somewhere: Benjamin Franklin Gates (Nicholas Cage). He had gone through his boyhood years hearing stories about his family's history and had decided at a young age that he would follow in his forefathers' footsteps. But with one small difference: he was going to find the treasure.

After years of studying and training, Ben Gates believed he had finally found Charlotte. The Charlotte was not a woman but a ship. With the help of his navigator/computer/science geek, Riley Poole (Justin Bartha) and his sponsor, they discovered that the whims of nature had most likely landed and trapped her in ice, North of the Arctic Circle.

Sure enough, The Charlotte lay there, waiting for them. But it wasn't treasure they found in her; only a beautiful meerschaum pipe with this legend inscribed on it: “The Legend writ. The stain effected. The key in Silence undetected. Fifty-five in iron pen. Mr. Matlack can't offend.” After Ben realized where the next clue was located, he wasn't sure what to do. But he did know that stealing it was out of the question and said so. Unfortunately, his sponsor was as unscrupulous as he was wealthy and proceeded to destroy The Charlotte... with Ben and Riley in it.

Surviving this, the two made their way back to civilization. They knew they could not let something of such importance fall into the hands of Ian Howe but no one would believe that the most guarded document in the United States of America could be stolen. After trying all law enforcements in Washington D.C. and anyone else who might have even a small chance of thwarting Ian, Benjamin Franklin Gates decided that in order to do what is right, he would do something wrong:

He would steal the Declaration of Independence before Ian could.

What I Liked:
1: Two of my favorite actors, Sean Bean and Stewart Finlay-McLennan were on this film. Actually, I must admit that everyone on this film was wonderful. This is the first film I saw Nicholas Cage in and it remains my favorite. He's good in this character.
2: I love Riley. He's hilarious. You really have to be good to pull off an act like that... facial expressions, tone of voice... etc. etc.  
3: The humor. It's clean.

4: Speaking of clean, this movie is definitely a family film...
5: Even though this film revolves around masonry, etc, it doesn't ever sanction or judge the society. It leaves that up to the viewer.
6: The story was very unique and very interesting.
7: The fact that this is one of the best films I've ever seen.
8: Having a very light romance was good.
9: There is enough adventure to be interesting but not so much that kids get too scared.
10: The historical value to this story. It would be a good one for history class.
11: Very little language.

“We probably have our own satellite by now.”

What I Didn't Like:
1: Abigail's clothing is sometimes a little revealing. Nothing horrible, though.
2: One time, Abigail and Ben were changing their clothes in a store and you can see their shoulders above their prospective doors. Nothing that a screen cover can't take care of.

Things To Know:
1: There is some language but it's pretty light.
2: There is a reference to Abigail being pregnant (she's not).

This film made me interested in studying further on the subjects mentioned and read the full version of the Declaration of Independence. As I mentioned above, this film might be good for learning history in a fun way.

“Uh Ben, thee.. the mean declaration lady is behind you.”

Transformers -- 2007

Transformers

(2007)

Rated for intense sequences of sci-fi action violence, brief sexual humor, and language

My Rating: 4 Stars

Shia LaBeouf

Tyrese Gibson

Josh Duhamel

Anthony Anderson

Megan Fox

Rachael Taylor

John Turturro

Jon Voight

“What'd they get you for?”

“Uh...bought a car. Turned out to be an alien Robot. [pause] Who knew?”

I was not impressed with Revenge of the Fallen, except for the occasional good humor it had. However, I spoke to a friend about it and she mentioned that she had some friends who really enjoyed Transformers. So I felt that I should watch the original and see if there was improvement. There was. It's interesting how the sequels are rarely as good.

Summary:

Sam Witwicky is a normal kid with a normal desire for a car and girlfriend. According to his Dad, it's only if he gets three A's and $2000 that he gets the car. So he gets the A's and the $2000 and ends up with a used-to-be hotrod Camaro that has a personality.

But getting the girl is up to Sam. Or at least it seems so at first glance. If it had been left up to Sam, the typical guy (all thumbs when it comes to talking to girls) it would have been a disaster. But there's Mikaela (Megan Fox), the gorgeous girl he goes to school with but doesn't even know he exists. Sam has been in love with her for years. Amazingly, it's the car and what's under it's hood that attracts the attention of the girl.

The circumstances surrounding the car was strange from the first, but Sam didn't realize how strange until he woke up one night to the engine starting. He got to the bedroom window just in time to see the car rolling out the driveway. Sure the car is being stolen, he rushes out of his room, telling his father to call the police. When he finally catches up with his vehicle, he was astonished to find that his car was alive. Between Mikaela, the car and Sam, they stumble into some interesting situations.

At the same time, across the world, something attacked an air base in Kuwait... and yet again, something hacked into national security, then disappeared without a trace. The US is sure it's a terrorist country at first. Then, they begin to question themselves. What is that sound? What is in that picture? What about eye-witnesses? Could these be... aliens?

What I Liked:

1: It was fairly well acted.

2: Funny.

3: Had patterns of dark and light... nice mix.

4: Military sequences were nicely done. Great job guys!

5: The alien robots were funny, sweet and majestic.

6: The scene where Sam finds out about Mikaela's background, his reaction is very realistic. That was probably my favorite thing about the film.

7: Next favorite is the way Bumblebee uses the radio/t.v. to talk/communicate. I love how they use John Wayne's voice... “anymore questions you'd like to ask?”

8: I like Mikaela. She's a no-nonsense type of girl.

What I Didn't Like:

1: Crude humor

2: The way Mikaela was dressed... it really concentrates on it.

3: The language.

4: Sam's parents are too irritating and naive. How does somebody get to be that way? Lol.

5: Sam's response to Mikaela's body. The way

6: How the aliens seem to take the place of God or angels. It's not pushed heavily but it's still there. For the record, it didn't hurt my belief in God but it might hurt someone else.

If you like Sci-fi, this is a fairly good film. Go for it. :-)

Enemy Of The State

Enemy of the State

A Don Simpson/Jerry Bruckhemimer Production

Will Smith

Gene Hackman

Regina King

Jon Voight

Gabriel Byrn

Loren Den

Jake Busey

Barry Pepper

Rated R for violence, language and brief sexuality/innuendo

My rating: 4 stars for excellence

Robert Clayton Dean is a successful D.C. Attorney and happily married family man who lives in relative peace. Little does he know that his life will soon be ripped to pieces... and unless he takes drastic action, he won't get it back. Unknown to him, he has in his possession a video of a murder... a political murder. And the murderer is willing to go to all lengths to get rid of it and anyone who may know about it. The result is lots of action, some humor, some tears and a good feeling when you're done watching the film.

What I liked:

1: The wonderful relationship between Dean and his wife. In spite of their mistakes (and there were some big ones), their relationship grew stronger through each storm they weathered.

2: How Dean always had his wife and kid on his brain, regardless of what he was going through.

3: Dean's determination to live, even if it meant doing some of the stupidest, most uncomfortable things he'd ever heard of.

4: Gene Hackman's character and the relationship between him and Dean. It was an interesting physiological mix of hate and respect, that eventually turned to appreciation and, shall I say?, affection.

5: The way I totally got the story and what was happening, even though it moved very quickly.

6: Not being much with electronics, etc, I doubly appreciated how easily I could understand what each piece of technological equipment was for and how it worked.

7: This movie was extremely well acted, well directed, and all the strings were neatly tied when the movie was finished.

8: Even with the elements that I didn't care for, I must admit that nothing seemed excessive or out of place. Each scene and sequence fit very well and helped flavor the film.

9: It seemed totally 100% realistic. Being raised in a home that questions everything about the culture we live in and our leaders, I was very interested in the message of this film. And it was this: we have little privacy. As Will Smith said in an interview, “The only privacy we have is in our heads.” It's a movie that made me think and I think it's a movie that will be around for awhile because (I hope!) there are other people who appreciate being woke up.

The things I didn't like:

1: The language.

2: The sexual content... which, thankfully, was “tastefully done”. There is a scene in a Victorian Secret store, in which Dean is trying to buy some lingerie for his wife. One could cover the screen and listen to the dialog because it is important to the rest of the story. Scene two that is a little colorful is when Dean finds that nearly all his clothing is bugged or has censers. He strips down in an apartment quickly, while the older oriental lady looks on and claps enthusiastically... but Dean only gets down to his undershirt and skivvies (which, thankfully, the bad guys forgot to bug... Lol!) before he starts to run again. That actually was the most disturbing scene for me because I tend to want to respect older ladies and this one had me totally disgusted. :-P Another scene is when Dean and Gene Hackman's character film a congressman having an affair with someone who isn't his wife. The camera pans away before one sees too much and even then, you can simply cover the screen and listen to the dialog, which is also important. The final scene (that I can remember) is when Dean and his wife see each other for the first time in a few days and engage in an affectionate embrace (mostly kissing) that includes Carla wearing the lingerie he got for her. Again, it's tastefully done but personally, I would cover the screen.

What surprised me in this film:

1: The appearance Gabriel Byrne. I love his role from Little Women (2002) as Professor Baer so was pleasantly surprised with his brief but memorable appearance here.

Do I recommend this film? To a mature audience, definitely. If you enjoy a good film, with intrigue, a beautiful romance (I love it when the romance is between a married couple :-)), lots of action, a good message and all the strings tied, watch Enemy of the State.