JAWS

As a critic, I have watched a lot of movies that have been released since my conception in 1997, but I must say my favorite movie of all time is before my time. And that movie is Steven Spielberg's Jaws. Released into theaters June 20, 1975, it put fear into the hearts of audiences all around the world while simultaneously creating the phenomenon we now call the "Summer Blockbuster." With a movie with such a simple plot (A small summer town is being terrorized by a killer great white shark and it's up to the town's sheriff, a marine biologist and an eccentric fisherman to find it and kill it), you would think that it was the plot of a "B movie" just from reading it but I kid you NOT, this is not the case with Jaws! Thanks to a $9 million dollar budget provided by Universal Studios, an all-star cast of Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw, and Richard Dreyfuss, and a film under the superior direction of a young, but brilliant Steven Spielberg, this movie turned out to become an "A+" action, adventure, "creature feature" filled with enticing suspense and gory horror that I enjoyed from the first minute to the last minute. One of the many things that impressed me with Jaws is that it is not plagued with horror movie cliches. Throughout the movie, I was brought to actually care for each of the main characters while instantly feeling each and every emotion they felt from sympathy to terror. Plus, in a generic horror movie, you are suppose to root against the antagonist a.k.a the killer. In Jaws, I fell in love with the antagonist, which is obviously the Shark. Thanks to an excellent score performed by John Williams, the legendary Jaws theme song adds the element of fear in the film as well as escalates the tension in the water when the Shark approaches. Jaws is the PERFECT MOVIE. Yes, there are many movies in existence that are considered the perfect movie but without any argument, Jaws is one of them. It was a pleasure to watch this film, over...and over... and OVER AGAIN! Jaws gets a perfect 5 out of 5.

King Kong (2005)

JBang Reviews presents "King Kong (The 2005 version)" This version of King Kong is a long one at best, but in the end, it is a rewarding experience. King Kong is a remake of the original film from 1933. I recommend you watch it if you're not afraid of stop-motion apes. One thing among many other things that King Kong does right, is not make the same mistake that King Kong 1976 makes, and that is the movie takes place in the time period of 1933 instead of the current time period it came out in. That decision dignifies the film's respect towards the original film as well as honors its origins from 1933. It also makes dire situations more believable. Since these characters are using smaller and basic, less-evolved weapons against larger and dangerous beasts of Skull Island, it places men in a role they are unfamilar with, and that is "the bottom of the food chain." Although, Kong is the star of the movie, his character is under-appreciate unless he is accompanied by Ann Darrow, his "somewhat love interest?" I say "somewhat?" because I am confused as to what kind of love Ann and Kong are portraying. It can't be a "When a man loves a woman..." kind of love because well...Giant Ape + Human Woman = Beastiality, Disturbing Awkwardness, and Guaranteed Death. So it's logical that maybe it's either a Brother-Sister love or most likely, an obsessed infatuation on Kong's part. But what's weird is that Ann showcases feelings for Kong, too. Yet, she kind of displays them as if Kong was her pet dog. Also, when you add in the "Jack Driscoll Effect," the fact that Ann is also physically and emotionally attracted to Jack, you add all the varibles up and the results come out to Kong is actually being "Friend-zoned" by Ann, and that's "Not Cool Bro." No One likes the Friend-Zone. Anyhow, the CGI is Incredible!!! It helps bring the world of Skull Island to life and also creates some amazing Monster Mash Moments, such as my favorite scene in the movie, Kong vs 3 T-Rex like Dinosaurs while trying to keep Ann safe. The movies also does a great job at getting us to care for each of the characters introduced in the movie, including Carl Denham, who is surprising played well by Jack Black. He portrays Carl as someone whose actions aren't exactly motivated by greed but more motivated by being recognized as someone great and important. He is a desperate man, which makes him all the more scary when he slowly transforms into a maniacal madman hell-bent on capturing Kong. A piece of this movie that is very important is the music. The film's music is composed by James Newton Howard. It perfectly captures the curiousity that comes with Skull Island, the intensity that comes with fights and chases, and most importantly, the connection Kong and Ann have when they are with each other. My only complaint about this movie is that it takes SOO LOOONG to get to the action of Skull Island. It literally takes about an hour of New York, character introductions and one long ass boat ride just to get to this excitement. But other than that, King Kong holds a spot on my Top 10 favorite movies. If the last 20 minutes of King Kong doesn't have you bawling your eyes out, then you need to see a psychiatrist. King Kong (2005 version) gets a 4.5 out of 5.

JBang Reviews present G.I. Joe: Retaliation: Last Saturday I saw the latest G.I. Joe movie and even though there was alot of hype for it, I'll be honest and say it didn't impress me. Now don't get me wrong, I love action movies but this one was pretty short and simple: explosions and special effects. I do give credit to the costume designers that have made the movie look more like a live issue of its former comic book counterpart but as for the Dwayne "the Rock" Johnson, "I do not smell what you are cooking" and I certainly do not wish you luck against John Cena at WrestleMania. It was pretty hard to follow the plot until I finally hit the end and realized it was just stopping another terrorist attack. Retaliation was a very different movie as compared to the first movie, Rise of Cobra, which was much more entertaining. I give Retaliation a rating of 2 out of 5.

 

Jbang Reviews present: White House Down. I'll be honest, I had no anticipation to see this movie. I wanted to see "This is the End" but the theater I went to was no longer showcasing it, so I figured I had the money and the time, so I spent it on White House Down and I did not regret it. It was a great movie! It was well constructed and action packed. There was not a single dull moment and I loved the chemistry delivered among the characters. I also liked the way the villians of the movie were portrayed. Instead of machines being killed one after one, the villians showed emotion when one of their own were killed, whether it was anger or aggravation. Now I know, alot of our movies in our generation are more remakes and sequels rather than originals. Hell, a movie titled "Olympus Has Fallen" came out earlier this year with the same plot, but while watching "White House Down" I got more of a "Die Hard" feel from it. Somewhat ordinary guy with military or law enforcement history get's himself and someone he loves (his daughter in this case) in deep trouble where he must find a way out of it while at the same time, save everyone else from the threat presented. Yep, pretty "Die Hard" to me. Although there were "surprises," they were pretty perdictable but overall it was a good movie and I enjoyed the time I spent watching it. I give it a 3.5 out of 5!

JBang Reviews presents "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire." Catching Fire is a deep work of art. Personally, I have never read the books, but to be honest, that was a good thing for me because I was more surprised at events that occured during the film rather than expecting them because it happened in the book. The movie brings back Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark, the 2 victors from the 74th Hunger Games, as they continue to live life after the traumatic events that occured in the first film but what they don't realize yet is that Katniss's actions from the first film has inspired a revolution among districts in a plot to overthrow the Capitol, the official government of Panem, in the mist of another annual Hunger Games. Although different, Catching Fire is better than the first film and is one of the best films I've seen all year. The special effects in this one is better than the first one. Where as the first film's CGI felt like something created in a movie maker application on a Macbook Pro labtop, this film's CGI looks more professional and realistic. I was also surprised that this movie wasn't as gory as the 1st one. Sure there might be one or two scenes that might be "hard to watch" but nothing extreme enough to make it a Rated R movie. Plus, my favorite thing about this movie is that it makes the characters that have no choice but to participate in the Hunger Games "likeable." In the first one, besides Rue and Katniss, all the characters seemed merciless and unforgiving and it was hard for me to like them because their intentions were unclear or they were just mean-spirited. But in "Catching Fire," I enjoyed characters like Finnick, Beetee, Johanna and others. Some were sarcastic and some were snarky, but each of them had a likable characteristic. Now, that we're down with the compare and contrast, I must say the most important thing I liked about this movie though was that it puts desperation in a fight with morals in a title match where a chance to change the world and a chance to fight back against the system is on the line. I love rebellion movies as well as underdog movies and the Hunger Games: Catching Fire, to me, has become one of those inspirations movies that might inspire underdogs to fight back against the system and I applaud that, but just like any good sequel in a saga, the second one always leaves us with that question mark and rest to sure, this one does not disappoint. I give "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire" and 4 out of 5.

JBang Reviews present: "The Wolf of Wall Street." The Wolf of Wall Street follows New York Stockbroker Jordan Belfort, portrayed by Leonardo DiCaprio, and his rise and fall as result of illegal stock manipulation and so and so. "The Wolf" is a pretty good movie but it is an incredibly LONG one. The movie rolls for exactly 179 minutes and is one minute short from being exactly 3 hours. Although long, it is entertaining in multiple ways. Whether it's from laughing at Jonah Hill and DiCaprio saying and doing stupid stuff or whether it's getting pumped up from the multiple speeches DiCaprio gives to his workers as a form of inspiration, the movie also let you think about " is it really all it's cracked up to be as a rich person living the life of luxury?" There is a certain Yin Yang to this movie. But one thing I couldn't help but dislike in this movie (besides its length) is the excessive sex scenes and drug usage in this movie! I understand...This is a Rated R movie, but come on, if you tallied up all the sex scenes in this movie, you would come up 30 minutes worth of porn (we all know what porn is, so don't be childish about the reference) I would not recommend seeing this movie with your parents but it kind of forces you to do so because of its "R rating." How awkward a situation that would be? Anyway...the way drugs are utilized in this movie serve as a gateway to the movie's funniest moments but also as it got closer to the end, the usage of drugs also served as a gateway to one of its most tense moments. There were many moments in "The Wolf" where I thought it should have ended, but when it finally did, it left me puzzled because it wasn't necessarily a "straight-forward" ending but in a way, it leaves more to the imagination of the viewers that way. And that's a good thing depending on how you see it. I give the "Wolf of Wall Street" a score of 3 out of 5.

J-Bang Reviews Presents: "Thor: the Dark World." Thor 2 was surprisingly a really good movie. When I saw the first movie back in 2011, I was kind of dissappointed because they had an introduction film for the Superhero/Norse God "Thor", and what they do is decide to take away all of his powers for most of the film until the climatic finale. For me, personally, it goes without saying that the sequel is way better than the original. Thor was finally able to show off what he is capable of with his superpowers. Plus the stellar special effects flatter the usage of his superpowers and the Asgardian world around him. Something I did realize though was that during the action sequences of the film, I got a combination of a "Star Wars/ Lord of the Rings" vibe as a result of all the elves, trolls, and starship battles in the sky. And there were some moments of the film, that felt random, unrealistic and hallucinogenic, but then I realized, they were on Asgard, not Earth, so the rules of logic were thrown out the window. One of the few things I didn't like about the film was the villian a.k.a the leader of the dark elves, Malekith the Accursed. He had no charisma, barely any dialogue and he reminded me of a dull version of General Zod from "Man of Steel," nevertheless, the film kept its excitement and drama besides him. The film was surprisingly long as well, but it is understandable considering how much is happening inside the film. One of the best parts of the film is Tom Hiddleston, reprising his role as the infamous Loki, the villian from the Avengers. Loki was entertaining and sarcastic, but also, and most importantly, unreadable. It was hard to read his emotions and figure out his motives which made anything he did all the more shocking and spontaneous. For someone we are suppose to hate, I loved him. True to what's now becoming normal for Marvel movies now a days, Thor: the Dark World delivers action, adventure, humor, and twists that will keep you entertained throughtout the fun filled movie. I give it a 3.5 out of 5!

JBang Reviews Present "The Wolverine." Last week I saw "The Wolverine" at an AMC theater in Baltimore and I was shocked to see what I saw in The Wolverine. I was expecting to see what has now become a cliché superhero plot: a new villain enters a certain town and bullies all the other people smaller and weaker than him and it is up to the superhero to stop him. But that is not what I got from the Wolverine. What I saw was the depressing truth of being a superhero like Wolverine. I mean it must be cool to be a guy with a healing factor so strong, he is literally indestructible but the fact that he can't even die from old age, it must be troubling for someone to find something worth living for after 200+ years. This movie focuses on the curse of immortality and how far people will go to either end it or to grasp it. I believe the film does a good job of letting the audience realize that, especially since the true villain of the movie isn't revealed until the end. Plus, this movie is not a sequel to the 2009 movie "X-Men Origins: Wolverine." It's really just a solo sequel to "X-men: The Last Stand" the 3rd movie in the franchise released in 2006. "The Wolverine" is a good movie, it just doesn't feel like a superhero movie. It feels more like a drama/ cinematic documentary rather than an action/ adventure although it is labeled under the action/ adventure category. I give "The Wolverine" a score of 3 out of 5. And always remember, when watching a Marvel Movie... stay during the credits!

JBang Reviews present: Fast and Furious 6. Yes, I know, I probably am one of the last people at Crossroads to see this movie but "hey" at this point in my life, I have alot more free time than usual so I'm using it to watch movies. Anyhow, Fast and Furious 6 is a really good movie. It's smart, suspenseful, full of action and entertainment. Usually when I watch a Fast and Furious movie, I have 2 things in mind: car races and chases. At this point, the fast and furious saga has become a cliche almost but that hasn't become the case since "Fast Five" in 2011. From the first scene of F & F 6, I became mesmerized with the opening credits montage of where the the movies have gone so far while jamming to the music stylings of 2 chainz and Wiz Khalifa in the background. Sure, from the first chase, my eyes did have a problem trying to keep up with all the action considering it was set at night time, but my eyes adjusted as the film continued. Don't hate me for saying this but I enjoyed the villian known as Owen Shaw in this year's film. He was a true example of "Knowledge is power" and just when it seemed that the story was about to end, he came back with a twist that kept the story going and made it more interesting. He was unpredictable and his intelligence is what made him scary. Also, I didn't mind the multiple love stories that were evolving throughout the film. I thought they were cute, and really did bring out the emotion of sympathy and romance while in the middle of all the action that was going on throughout the film. In general, there is always room for love in movies. "Fast Five" was my favorite movie out of the saga. That was until I watched "Fast and Furious 6." Now they're both tied for #1, lol, until the next guaranteed Fast and Furious film arrives in theaters. I give Fast and Furious 6 a 4 out of 5.

Jbang Reviews presents "Man of Steel." Today, I went to the neighboring theater of Rave Motion Pictures to see "Man of Steel." I don't usually watch movies based off DC Comics, since I am a dedicated Marvel fan but I decided to at least give this movie a chance since I did indeed enjoy the movie "Dark Knight Rises" which was directed by the producer of this movie, Christopher Nolan. First thing I have to say is that this movie is SOOO LOOONG. It starts off with an emotional scene filled with sacrifices but after that, the movie was slow in capturing my interest. I mean it takes an hour or so filled with flashbacks and discoveries before it gets to the first fight scene where the special effects truly live up to their full potential. But when I finally got to the end, I looked back through the film's moments to realize this movie isn't about fight scenes and OMG moments, it's more about heroic actions and how they define the characters perpetrating them and how they are viewed by society and later determined whether they were good or bad decisions. In my opinion, this was not the best Superman movie. Perhaps the best Superman movie has yet to made and maybe there is a chance that the sequels or the remakes will be better but until that happens, "Dark Knight Rises" continues to be my favorite movie out of the DC Comics Universe and I will continuing watching and enjoying the action packed and comic relief stylings from the Marvel Cinema Universe. It was hard to grade this movie how many other people may have loved it because they like emotional storylines where the main characters struggle with the morals they are raised with in an entertaining out of this world way, but I’m not everyone else (sorry) and to me, this sucked. It doesn’t suck as bad as “Green Lantern” but it does suck. I give it a 2 out of 5.

JBang Reviews present: The Amazing Spider-Man 2. This movie had so much hype going into it. This “what I considered to be an unnecessary reboot by Sony” was continuing its attempt to make a perfect Spider-Man universe by releasing the Amazing Spider-Man 2, with more villains, more storylines and more cheesy one-liners. Hmmm…Sounds familiar. Didn’t Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 3 promise the same thing, as well as Joel Schumacher’s 1997 train-wreck, Batman and Robin movie? Well, yeah. And as bad as those movies were, this movie is no different. The movie starts off pretty well, Peter Parker’s new and improved costumed Spider-Man chases one of three of the main villains, Aleksei Sytsevich a.k.a Rhino throughout the streets of New York. It’s a funny and face paced action scene that stays true to the culture of Spider-Man. Unfortunately after that, it’s just character introductions. In terms of “Pros” for this movie, I loved how they handled the relationship between Peter and Harry Osborn. It was complex and truly expressed the fact that Peter was Harry’s only friend, and Harry was Peter’s only friend (Gwen doesn’t count because she’s Peter’s girlfriend). This dynamic made it even more heart-breaking when Harry turned in the Green Goblin. As a matter of fact, Harry was the best villain in this movie. The producers said that Electro would be the main villain for the film but evidently, I was disappointed with his portrayal. This is where the “Cons” begin. Before his transformation, we are suppose to feel bad for Max Dillion, played by Jamie Foxx, but instead, just like his character, he disappears. It’s his birthday and nobody cares, not even OsCorp, which make him work through the night when a freak accident occurs making him Electro, a supervillian that can control and create electricity. The fight scenes he has with Spider-Man are impressive and are heavily dependent on CGI. What upsets me though is that after Spider-Man confronts Electro for the first time in Time Square, he completely forgets about him and the next 45 to 50 minutes is spent on Peter trying to find out what happened to his parents and trying to handle his relationship with Gwen Stacy. Another thing I didn’t like was that Electro motives toward trying to kill Spider-Man and control New York are “unbelievable,” and by that I mean it seems he’s getting mad over nothing. His reaction is an overreaction, and because he overacts over the smallest of things, it makes it harder for me to feel bad for him. Electro could have been made into something stellar and actually scary but in the end, he just becomes a wasted opportunity and a failure of a Spider-Man villain. Overall, after the Time Square scene, the movie actually becomes dull and boring until the grand finale, and even that feels rushed. Plus, in the first “Amazing Spider-Man” movie, I had a problem with it being too short. In this movie I have a problem with it being too long, and for a movie being too long, I wouldn’t have had a problem with that if it had more action sequences and a solid plot to focus on, but in the case of this movie, it has multiple plot lines to get lost in, 3 scenes that total up to maybe 20 minutes of action and endless character development. The best thing about this film is a more comedic Spider-Man and the inclusion of a more vengeful-insane like Green Goblin. Other than that, the movie fails to “amaze” me. “The Amazing Spider-Man 2” gets a 2 out of 5.

JBang Reviews presents Captain America: the Winter Soldier. Wow! Just Wow! If I had to describe the Winter Soldier in 2 words, it would be "game-changer." Before I get into that statement a little more, I must revoke my earlier claim that this movie could be as good as "The Dark Knight" based on Rotten Tomatoes earlier documented score. After watching both in their entirety, both movies are incomparable to each other. Both serve a different plot as well as a different atmosphere. Anyhow, back to the review...the reason I call it a game changer is because it doesn't follow the traditional Marvel Superhero movie formula, which is Intro, Fight, Joke after Joke, Final Boss Battle, Easter Egg after Credits, then done. Captain America doesn't follow this formula. As advertised, it is pretty much a political thriller with Superheros and Spies but to REALLY appreciate the full SHOCK VALUE of the twists and turns that come along with this movie, I strongly suggest you watch the first movie as well as either read a few Captain America comics from back in the day or do some research on www.marvel.com. The Winter Soldier happens to also be the most brutal Marvel movie to date. You can hear every bone breaking move the Captain delivers and when you hear a shield made out of pure vibranium smack someone straight in the face, the sound of pain is memorable. Right, Lucas Kirby and Danny Karp?The movie also does a great job in character developement. Whether it's through flashbacks or speeches as to why they fight, you feel a sense of either gratitude or connection towards the characters. Plus the villians themselves are very memorable whereas the vallians in Thor 2 and Iron Man 3 are much more forgettable and unclear. In my opinion, what I think makes this movie way better than Iron Man 3 and Thor: the Dark World is that this movie's plot is much more realistic. Sure, Super-Soldiers frozen in time and "transendent" A.I. are improbable, but the fact that the realism is that anyone can die because they are still made out of real flesh and bone, unlike the supernatural Thor and Invincible Iron Man, it what builds suspense throughout the movie as well as a sense of connection among the characters and the viewers. I used to think Captain America was, well, the most expendable hero out of the Avengers: Iron Man, Hulk, and Thor, but this movie explored the true potential of Captain America and the worth of his value to any team he is one. He is a VALUABLE asset and symbol to not only the Avengers but AMERICA!!! This is by-FAR the best Marvel Movie out of the phase 2 lineup since the Avengers came out. Sorry not sorry for the essay but this movie gets the score of 4.5 out 5.

Hello J-Bangers. This is your Captain Speaking, THE Jonathan Brown. Welcome to J-Bang Reviews!!! This site is where you come to find out whether the latest movies are good enough for you to see or not. Here at J-Bang Reviews, we score movies on a scale of 1-5. Our reviews may extend from one short paragraph to a long essay. It truly depends on the movie. So...YEAH! Hopefully this will evolve into something fierce and revolutionary. Have fun and "May the Force Be with You."