Quick Movie Review: Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Repo Men, Red Baron & From Paris With Love

I've now realized that I should not pay attention to Rotten Tomatoes when choosing to watch a movie. After watching three movies that I thoroughly enjoyed, Red Baron, Diary of a Wimpy Kid and From Paris With Love, and seeing that Rotten Tomatoes had them on the rotten side of the scale, I realized one very important thing; reading reviews about a movie, or seeing how other people rate it, prejudices you towards the movie before you've even seen it, when the only thing that should be affecting your enjoyment of a movie is simply you. Whether you like it or not shouldn't be interpreted by what another person liked or disliked.

With all three of these movies on the lower end of the scale and one of my favorite films, The Book of Eli, also having been given a poor rating, I came to the conclusion that you alone should interpret your level of enjoyment of a movie, not someone else.

So with that said, who wants to hear my reviews of the following movies and become prejudiced about them?

Here goes...

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. It perfectly captured the minds of thousands of children who suffered through that awkward stage of adolescence. Its plot was clear, crisp and straight to the point. It's characters, especially the main character's best friend, Rowley, really seemed to connect with me. My childhood was similar to both the title character and his chubby companion.

And I think that that's where Diary of a Wimpy Kid is at it's best. Connecting with older audiences who've already been through the experiences depicted in the movie and who can now look back on it and laugh at the absurdity of it all.

Rating: 8 (Close to excellent)



Repo Men: If there's one word that would describe this move, it would be this, screwy.

Repo Men had it's moments, but it was simply a hollow movie filled with far too many twisting plot lines and unnecessary gore. Once you feel like it's finally acquiring it's pace, once Jude Law's character receives the artificial heart, it drops off into an entirely new premise. Romance. Why? Truthfully I have no idea.

In addition to the unnecessary plot line, Repo Men's ending was abhorred. [Spoiler Warning] Basically, it returned to a scene from a remarkably forgettable moment about two thirds of the way into the movie, and revealed that the character's mind alone had fueled everything from that point onward, and that the movie had in fact ended there. I never have, and never plan on swearing on this blog, but I think a certain 3 letter abbreviation comes to mind when watching the final 10 minutes or so.

Rating: 4.5 (Below average)


Red Baron: A fantastic war drama that sports breathtaking visuals, fantastic fight scenes and a deeply intriguing story of one the world's last known war heroes who struggles with the humanity of war and love itself.

Red Baron, though dry at times, follows the exploits of Manfred von Richthofen, none other than the Red Baron, from his time as an inexperienced fighter pilot to the ace of World War I Germany that he is remembered as today.

Quite a few critics bashed The Red Baron for it's historical inaccuracies, and I usually get frustrated myself when a so called 'historical film' varies from it's source material, but for once, I didn't care. Besides, there's so much obscurity revolving around The Red Baron, his life and untimely death, that the movie can almost get away with it.

The movie's fight scenes, almost exclusive to the skies, were absolutely gorgeous! I don't think that I've ever seen a better looking fighter pilot movie. Ever.

If you're a fan of war movies, you've got to see this film!

Rating: 8.5 (Close to excellent)


You can catch some of the exceptional action scenes in the trailer for the movie bellow.

http://www.firstshowing.net/2010/01/15/awesome-aerial-dogfights-in-the-red-baron-official-trailer/


From Paris With Love: Action packed and humorous, my affection for From Paris With Love is accredited to one single thing. The hilarious, over the top acting of John Travolta. From start to finish, Travolta's character of Charlie Wax was a shoo-in for funniest assassin in a 2010 film. What? You've never heard of that category in the Oscars?

The plot follows as this. A diplomat's assistant working in the US embassy in Paris is in the process of becoming a spy for the United States. He's eventually assigned a partner, (Travolta), who's particular way of getting the job done is incomparable.

Wax is an incredibly funny character to watch. He's downright lethal, but at the same time, you can hardly take him seriously as he admits that his one true weakness, one that will eventually be the only thing in the world that can kill him, is a Parisian hamburger.

One particular scene, involving his partner's SUV, had me laughing for quite some time. My recommendation? Rent it, watch it and then come back here and leave a comment about how funny you thought the above mentioned scene was.

Rating: 7 (Above average)


Thanks for reading, following and commenting!