Sin City: A Dame to Kill For

Actors:  Mickey Rourke, Jessica Alba, Rosario Dawson, Bruce Willis, Jaime King, and Powers Boothe, Josh Brolin, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Eva Green, Dennis Haysbert, Ray Liotta, Christopher Lloyd, Jamie Chung, Jeremy Piven, Christopher Meloni, Stacy Keach, Lady Gaga, Alexa Vega, Julia Garner, Juno Temple

Rating:  8 out of 10, I liked this sequel to one of my favorite movies of all time.  This one has the same groundbreaking digital effects scenery of the first where most of the action is in black and white with just a few objects colorized.  My favorite character, the indestructible Marv, was back pulverizing anything in his way while Miho decapitated henchmen by the bushel.  This was a prequel in some ways since when we last saw Marv he was riding an electric chair. Some of the other returning characters were dealing with events from the first movie.  I really liked this second movie but it didn’t have the same dark edge of the original, it was a little too brightly lit.  There were some new characters introduced who more than held their own led by Joseph Gordon-Leavitt and Eva Green (or more correctly Eva’s breasts).  Sin City is like film noir on some amazing performance enhancing drugs.  It doesn’t apologize for being violent or absurd but revels in it.

MVP:  Gordon-Leavitt as the cocky Johnny, lucky in everything except parentage

Maleficent

Actors:  Angelina Jolie, Ella Purnell, Isobelle Molloy, Elle Fanning, Vivienne Jolie-Pitt, Janet McTeer, Sharlto Copley, Sam Riley

Rating:  8 out of 10, Disney, ever ready to wring every last dollar out of their franchises, decided the wicked witch of the Sleeping Beauty saga needed her reputation rehabbed.  Angelina Jolie was tone perfect for the lead role as the misunderstood fairy queen.  She’s become such a pop culture icon that you forget what a talented actress she is and her eyes eloquently tell most of the story.  It was cool seeing all the images from the original story brought in with a new meaning as we see the story from the “evil” queen’s side as she battles to protect her people from the humans.  The movie sometimes pushes the cute level a little too much (we are talking Disney here folks) and applies the typical Disney hammer to make points that could have been more subtly introduced.  All that being said, it was a fun watch.

MVP:  Jolie, very eye eloquent in the title role

Hercules

Actors:  Dwayne Johnson, Ian McShane, Reece Ritchie, Ingrid Bolsø Berdal, Joseph Fiennes, John Hurt.

Rating:  7 out of 10, Noted thespian Dwayne “Rock” Johnson holds forth as the legendary muscle man. Since this was a Bret Ratner film you are obligated to donate brain cells before entering but it turned out to be pretty entertaining as they play his god like prowess as an ancient con game. This is the part Johnson was born to play as he has the physique and athleticism to make Hercules come alive. Most guys who’ve attempted the part are so muscle bound they couldn’t turn their head without committing the entire body. Johnson’s also a better actor than most give him credit for and he’s surrounded by a supporting cast of really fine actors. Since it’s ancient times they all speak with British accents though.

MVP:   Johnson in the role he was born to play