Angelina Jolie

Kung Fu Panda 2

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Kung Fu Panda 2
  • IMDB: link

Three years ago DreamWorks Animation put out a little film called Kung Fu Panda about a Panda with a destiny to learn Kung Fu and save his village from a shadowy warrior. It turned out to be one of my favorite films of 2008. While it might not be as good as the original (a film which I love to no end), the sequel brings plenty of awesome back to the screen.

Kung Fu Panda 2 fills in Po’s (Jack Black) back story as an attack on his village will lead him on a quest to discover where he comes from. Also back for the sequel are Shifu (Dustin Hoffman) and the Furious Five: Tigress (Angelina Jolie), Mantis (Seth Rogen), Monkey (Jackie Chan), Crane (David Cross), and Viper (Lucy Liu).

The film also gives us a deadly new enemy in a deranged peacock (played with malevolent glee by Gary Oldman) who wants to rule all of China by the force of a new deadly weapon which could mean the end of Kung Fu. We also get a few new characters voiced by the likes of Jean-Claude Van Damme as a Kung Fu crocodile (admit it, that’s pretty awesome), and Michelle Yeoh as the Soothsayer who holds all the answers to both Po’s past and future.

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The Tourist

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: The Tourist
  • IMDB: link

I haven’t seen Jérôme Salle’s Anthony Zimmer, the original French film on which this American version is loosely based. What I can tell is The Tourist is the kind of enjoyable summer flick you don’t usually find in the midst of family holiday flicks and more dramatic Oscar fare.

Johnny Depp stars as American tourist Frank Tupelo who just happens to be in the wrong place at the right time when the lovely Elise (Angelina Jolie) sits down next to him on the way to Venice.

Unfortunately for the math teacher, this mysterious woman isn’t so much caught up by his charms as she is using him as a stand-in for the man she loves. On instructions from the mysterious Alexander Pearce, Elise chooses a man on the train the same height and build of her former lover in order to throw suspicion away from the thief who is evading both police (Paul Bettany, Timothy Dalton, Alessio Boni, Giovanni Guidelli) and the mobster (Steven Berkoff) from who he’s stolen millions.

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Salt

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Salt
  • IMDB: link

Originally intended as a vehicle for Tom Cruise Salt was shelved and then given an impromptu sex change operation to ready the way for Angelina Jolie to headline the shoot ’em up. When your leading man becomes a leading lady the original script by Kurt Wimmer (Ultraviolet , Street Kings) had to be rewritten by Brian Helgeland (Conspiracy Theory, Assassins, Man on Fire), and director Philip Noyce (The Bone Collector, Clear and Present Danger) was tasked to make it all work. That’s an awful lot of time and effort to put into a project well before shooting was scheduled to begin. Too bad it wasn’t worth it.

Angelina Jolie stars as CIA Agent Evelyn Salt, a fugitive on the run after being accused, by the questionalbe word of a dying former Russian spy (Daniel Olbrychski ), of being part of a top secret Russian sleeper cell doomsday scenario more than three decades in the making.

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Wanted on DVD

/ / Home Video
  • Title: Wanted
  • IMDB: link

“You know when you have a dream and you’re half-awake, but still in the fringe of your brain?  Then you open you eyes and you’re so damned glad it was a dream?  This was nothing like that.”

Based off Mark Millar’s twisted comic, all-around loser Wesley Gibson (James McAvoy) gets tapped to join a secret Fraternity of Assassins after the father he never knew is killed by a rogue member.

Approached by the beautiful Fox (Angelina Jolie), Wesley is trained (beaten up repeatedly and shown how to bend bullets) by the Fraternity and becomes an assassin of fate.

If good story and sound logic is what you are looking for you’ll want to give this one a wide berth.  If however you’re looking for some of the best stunt scenes you’ve seen in some time and a fun (if increasingly ridiculous, Loom of Fate?  Oh, please!) film, then this one’s for you.  For more on the film itself read my original review, or check out December’s alternative perspective.

I’m pretty happy with the two-disc Collector’s edition, but I must admit I’m tempted by the Blu-ray.  Could the story be better?  God yes!  But for those who just want a fun flick to watch every now and then (with extras showing how they did some of those cool stunts) I think you might want to give Wanted a try.

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The Legendary Awesomeness of Kung Fu Panda

/ / Home Video
  • Title: Kung Fu Panda
  • IMDb: link

“Legend tells of a legendary warrior whose Kung Fu skills were legendary.  His enemies would go blind from over-exposure to sheer awesomeness.”

The son of a noodle making goose (James Hong), Po (Jack Black) the Panda dreams only of Kung Fu.  His wishes are granted when Master Oogway (Randall Duk Kim) names him the Dragon Warrior.

The pronouncement is met by skepticism by the Furious Five, the best warriors of the valley who include Tigress (Angelina Jolie), Mantis (Seth Rogen), Monkey (Jackie Chan), Viper (Lucy Liu) and Crane (David Cross), and sheer incredulity by their teacher Shifu (Dustin Hoffman).

Despite his large size, and even larger heart, the Panda is destined for greatness and possibly the only one who can stop the evil Tai Lung (Ian McShane) who has broken out of prison and is returning home to face the newly proclaimed Dragon Warrior and take the Dragon Scroll (which holds the secret of ultimate skill in Kung Fu) for himself.

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