Plot of Fear (1976)

PLOT OF FEAR

I had no idea what to expect when first getting ready to view "Plot of Fear". Was it a horror film, a drama, a Poliziotteschi? To my surprise it ended up being a giallo, but an atypical giallo as it doesn't follow the blue-prints first set forth by genre greats Mario Bava and Dario Argento.  Due to this it may alienate a few fans of the genre that live and breathe the Bava/Argento formula but for me it was a breath of fresh air making it a rather unique Italian film experience.

The audience gets a shock right away with a guy getting strangled to death by a dominatrix. After the opening credits another brutal killing occurs with a woman beat to death with a wrench on a public transit bus. Two violent killings this early in the film... what is this film going to turn into? Each killing has a picture cut out of a children's fairy tale book left at the crime scene and a detective finds that all the killings trace back to an upper class orgy party where a prostitute was accidently killed after having a heart attack when the host and party-goers playfully joked they were going to feed her to a pet tiger (?!?!). Things get a little more complicated when our detective gets involved with one of the women at the party and has to find the killer before she becomes the next stiff at the morgue.

"There are two types of gialli in this world my friend... those with mysterious gloved killers and those without"

Italian films are known for low budgets but the production value for "Plot of Fear" is quite lavish. Beautiful and colorful sets and locations highlighted gorgeous cinematography and lighting. Director Paolo Cavara, director of the wonderful giallo "The Black Belly of the Tarantula", knows what it takes to make a visual feast and loads the film with all the staples of Italian cinema with tantalizing shots, steamy sex scenes (including an orgy while watching a hilarious erotic cartoon), and brutal violence (including but not limited to burnings and car accidents).  His direction is aided by a unique flashback structure to the plot and by some talented cast members including genre actor John Steiner and Americans Tom Skerritt and Eli Wallach.

Any plot that surrounds a dead hooker has to be interesting

What plagues many gialli is the weak leading character and sadly "Plot of Fear" falls prey to this fault as our lead detective (Michele Placido) just isn't overly enthralling. At least this time the character is a detective instead of an average Joe solving the case outside without police involvement like every other giallo in the genre. The killer, for my taste, is also hinted at too early in the film and the score is a bizarre second rate acid rock score reminiscent of Gary Sherman's "Raw Meat".

One of the many grisly death scenes

Even with its few faults, "Plot of Fear" ends up being something a little different on the menu for fans of the genre and not just another clone of the Bava/Argento formula. You won't find any gloved and masked killers roaming the sets here but the interesting flashback structure, loads of steamy sex and other oddities (like a prostitute being scared to death by a pet tiger) is easily enough to make this well worth buying for Italian film buffs. The RaroVideo DVD release is amazing unleashing this rather rare giallo into the United States for the first time in gorgeous anamorphic widescreen and a load of special features. Also included is the original Italian track with subtitles for the purists and the English dub for those that prefer cheesy dubbing. Visit their website for more information or to purchase the disc.

 Written By Eric Reifschneider

Xtro (1983)

XTRO

Like many films from my childhood, I rented or bought based on titles and box artwork alone and what could be cooler than a film that began with a letter "X" and featured a deadly, ugly-ass alien on the cover artwork? Far be it from me I was in store for one of the most schizophrenic, convoluted and all around fucked up films I had ever seen  that would seriously screw up my whole outlook on life!

We open with a loving family vacationing in their village home when the father gets abducted by aliens. Years later, out of the blue, the father shows up again to rejoin his family. Two problems: 1) his wife has moved on with a new lover and 2) he is now a bloodsucking ugly fuck of an alien! Now daddy wants to change his son into a skeletal alien and take him to his new home, but not before he kills many people in gruesome ways along the way.

"Take me to your leader!"

I can't explain how thoroughly fucked up this film is. First of all director Harry Bromley Davenport goes out of his way to make this one of the most gory, grotesque and nauseating  films I have ever seen when it comes to bloody special effects effects. Blood is the name of the game and when you think Davenport can't out due himself, he shows a women, recently impregnated by an alien, give birth to our abducted father as a full grown man in mess of blood and guts flowing from between her legs. It's a jaw-dropping and gut-wrenching sequence that the film has become widely known for.

This scene can't possibly end well

The plot is an absolute mess with crazy ass shit happening all over the place. Our abducted father melts phones, eats pet snake eggs but the film hits the 'bat shit' crazy button when our young boy brings his toy soldier to life to kill his bitch of a neighbor. Where the fuck did this scene come from? Hell a demonic midget clown and a black panther even make an appearance to make the audience think they've gone into complete hysteria!

This G. I. Joe still emotes more emotion than Channing Tatum

The cast of British actors is surprisingly good for this type of gore flick (including the sexy future Bond girl Maryam d'Abo doing a full frontal nudity scene) and the film does have a really bleak, morbid and bizarre atmosphere that I dug, but I do suspect the atmosphere was all by complete accident. Overall "Xtro" is just a schizophrenic mess with everything but the kitchen sink thrown into the plot to shock and awe the audience. This schizo feel and morbid atmosphere is actually what makes "Xtro" worth watching, if one can get past the awful screaming synthesizer soundtrack provided by none-other than the director himself. For fans of the fucked-up, grotesque and bizarre, "Xtro" is definitely a must watch. Followed by two completely unrelated sequels.

 Written By Eric Reifschneider

Transporter, The (2002)

There is something charismatic and enjoyable about "The Transporter". I won't lie to you and tell you that it's a great film whose acting and story will redefine modern action films. It doesn't. It's a full throttle Luc Besson film where the ridiculousness of its premise is only carried through by the extensiveness of its action and charm of its lead. Often enough "The Transporter" is a silly plot hole riddled film whose by the numbers story rarely breaks action film formula for more than a few seconds. That being said it has three things going for it. 1) Jason Statham in his 'I'll kick your ass and charm you at the same time' mode. 2) Action sequences done by Corey Yuen. 3) A nonchalant attitude towards anything you can bitch about. These three things make "The Transporter" one of the most ridiculously fun action films of the last 20 years.

Frank Martin (Statham) is the best of the best when it comes to transporting cargo. He never asks questions, he sticks to the deal, and he's arrogantly effective at it. He's an expert at driving and evading and he never breaks the rules. When a deal goes sour and a ruthless business man tries to kill him, Frank decides the rules have to be void and he goes out to get his due only to find that the humanity within his cold killer heart might take him too far as he attempts to help a young woman (Qi) in need.

If you think he's waiting, you're already dead.

"The Transporter" is rarely a top quality film, but the sheer enjoyment that I receive from watching it overrides any of that. Luc Besson can take the oddest and most simplistic story, make it outrageous, and somehow pull it off with style. Co-directed by Leterrier and Yuen, the combination of action and a lead character we love to watch tear shit up is lethal. Statham owns the role as Frank Martin (the role that really kick started his career as the leading action star for this generation) and his ability to be both scary, funny, and heroic is innate to this film working. He chews up scene after scene and even when the film gets really ridiculous like parachuting onto a semi from a crop duster or the 'oh damn!' over the top attack on his house, he owns it like it isn't as stupid as it is. This ability to transverse the silly plot, through both Statham and the directors, makes "The Transporter" significant fun.

"I'll bet your left knee I can make this shot."

It also helps that "The Transporter" never falls into a 'modern action' routine of over shaken cameras and too much editing. The fight sequences are simply stellar. The hand to hand combat is over the top and intense with gun fights galore, a knife fight in the middle of a bus, car chases, and a throw down on an oil spill where Frank uses bicycle pedals on his feet to keep balance. Yes, it might be over the top and ridiculous - but Yuen plasters the film with amazing choreography and enough charm to make all of it memorable and flashy. Without the gimmicks of camera tricks.

When all else fails cover yourself in oil. Except when putting out fires. That's just a poor choice.

It's understandable why "The Transporter" became the go to action franchise in the last decade. Statham owns as the lead and the basic story can go a thousand places with ridiculous moments and action packed set pieces. Perhaps not the high quality film some would want to see (I would have liked to see a stronger leading lady for the film), but it does everything it can with what it has to win you over. Blood Brother approved!

Written By Matt Reifschneider

Wicker Tree, The (2010)

THE WICKER TREE

When I first heard that Robin Hardy was going to make a sequel to his celebrated 1973 cult classic "The Wicker Man" I first became very skeptical as any self respecting fan would. The original "Wicker Man" is a film I hold very close to my heart and one of my all time favorite films. It's been almost 40 years and sometimes good things are just better left alone and the dreadful 2006 remake helped prove the saying to be mostly true. The film actually feel from my thought process as it was going through development hell for a number of years and I was actually shocked to see it at a local store as a U.S. distributor finally picked it up. Curiosity got the best of me and though it doesn't come near the impact of "The Wicker Man", it actually wasn't entirely dreadful offering enough differences in plot and approach to make it worth a watch for fans.

The plot has a cowboy Christian couple from Texas (one being a famous country singer) heading to a remote Scottish island (that has been having missing persons epidemic for the last 40 years) in order to convert the Pagan heathens to see the light. People who have seen the original film (and god forbid it's shit remake) know the island's deadly secret and soon our quirky couple we find out there will be blood for sacrifice.

Trying to burn away the memories of the 2006 remake

Hardy's approach to this sequel and spiritual successor is far more laid back with his tongue firmly placed in his cheek. Sure there are moments of creepiness but overall its far more of a satirical affair with plenty of black humor. Like the original there is still plenty bizarre eroticism to make viewers raise their eyebrows and keep interested. Christopher Lee, star of the original, makes a brief appearance but health problems kept him from having a larger role but Graham McTavish is evil enough to fill those large shoes as the intriguing leader of the pagans.

A wicker tree just is quit as menacing as wicker man

The major problem with "The Wicker Tree" is that it's pace moves up too fast lacking the subtle eerie build-up of the original. What's even more of a disappointment is that the tense, haunting ending everyone has come to expect is lacking and by the end the film peters out leaving the audience drained and thoroughly disappointed with the wrap-up.

No caption is enough to explain this bizarre sex scene

The basics of the plot shares many similarities to "The Wicker Man" but the approach and tone is different enough to help it stand on its own and make it worth a watch for fans and the curious. Hardy again has created an entertaining picture looking into modern day Paganism and I dug the many moments of black humor, but the poor build-up to a less-than-stellar ending will ensure "The Wicker Tree" will always be condemned to wither in the shadow of the mighty "Wicker Man" and it isn't enough to wash away the bad memories of the Nick Cage remake, which ironically most people will probably think this is a sequel to. 

 Written By Eric Reifschneider

Shaolin (2011)

Our friends at Well Go USA have certainly done the cult world a favor. They bring over some of the best modern Asian cinema that the industry has to offer with the likes of the "Ip Man" films and "The Man From Nowhere", so any release of theirs is guaranteed top quality. This of course is only heightened by the fact that "Shaolin" is a star studded film of some of China's top talent. Produced and directed by Benny Chan, starring Andy Lau, Nicholas Tse,  and Jacky Wu (credited as Wu Jing), with action direction by Corey Yuen. With names like that attached, there is no way that this film could be bad.

A vicious warlord Hou Jie (Lau) has arisen to become one of the most powerful that China has ever seen. His paranoia for power leads him to heavily depend on his protege Cao Man (Tse), but when a sting against one of his allies goes massively wrong Hou Jie is left with nothing in his life. His status: gone. His family: gone. His drive: gone. He finds himself at a Shaolin temple he previously mocked as a broken man, only to discover that the hatred in his heart was only craving peace. When his protege Cao Man comes looking for him, Hou Jie will have to lead his brothers of Shaolin against a formidable force and correct the biggest mistake of his past life.

Andy Lau and Nicholas Tse come face to face..and face to elbow.

Martial arts films are fairly rare anymore, particularly on this side of the Pacific Ocean, and ones that contain the heart and soul of "Shaolin" are true gems. This is a film that not only entertains with its highly adventurous visual style and stunning action set pieces, but it looks to build these grand characters anyone can relate to with moral lessons and mountainous character arcs. It accomplishes both with flow and charisma. Never coming across as preachy in the ways of Shaolin, but never letting the depth of its story and people slip through the cracks either. Benny Chan does a remarkable job balancing out the action to the story and it truly highlights the accomplishments of "Shaolin".

Jackie Chan just counting how many Benny Chan movies he has been in.

The obvious main attraction to the film though is the stunning work of Andy Lau. The man never ceases to impress whether its with his comedic timing, action films, singing (he sings the main title song for the film), or his unbelievably real dramatic work. He simply owns this movie. He does it all. He rips on our heart strings while kicking ass and singing songs. His supporting cast helps substantially with Tse giving us a cold hearted and vicious villain and two great roles for Wu Jing and Jackie Chan, whose 'special appearance' credit is a full on supporting cast role with character arc and everything!

Occasionally some poor CGI moments show up, like an awkward chariot battle over computerized cliffs that has great pacing but doesn't look up to par as the rest of the film, but beyond that "Shaolin" is damn near the perfect film. The fighting is intense and well choreographed with dibs to the explosive finale that brings the house down. Martial arts fans will not be disappointed with the entertainment of the film in these parts are there is plenty to get the heart racing.

An explosive finale to "Shaolin". No, seriously...a lot of things blow up.

"Shaolin" is all the best aspects of a martial arts film rolled into a massively entertaining and emotional jaunt. With characters to love and hate, action to blow you away, and writing that brings out the true heart and soul of why martial arts can be an integral part of human existence - "Shaolin" does it all with style and magic. A must see for an self respecting martial arts fan.

Written By Matt Reifschneider

Ghostkeeper (1982)

GHOSTKEEPER

During the late 70s and early 80s there was a tax shelter in Canada for filmmakers and with the promise that all money spent on filmmaking could be written off come tax time, movie making began to bloom as investers were looking for ways to liquidate their assets. What's the easiest type of film to market and make a profit? The horror film of course so a surge of Canadian horror films began to fill theaters and up until the recent DVD release from Code Red, one of the most obscure of these Canuck films to locate was the eerie  "Ghostkeeper". After all these years was the film reel worth dusting off? Lets pop in this bad boy and see.

We open with a couple with a rocky relationship and their slutty friend snowmobiling through the Rocky Mountains when they come upon an old abandoned hotel. They are forced to take shelter due to a blizzard (which they were warned about... dumbasses) and find the hotel is inhabited by a creepy old hag, a bitch that doesn't like to answer questions and keeps warning that she has some children roaming around somewhere. Predictably one of the characters disappears and the other two are on the fight for their lives as they discover the grisly secret kept in the basement.

Stanley Hotel... eat your heart out

At first glance "Ghostkeeper" can be seen as cheaper Canadian clone of "The Shining" mixed with a heavy dose of "The Sentinel", but this is not an entirely fair assessment. Sure there are many ties one can gather between the three films, like the snowbound hotel setting and the sentinel-like guardianship angle, but the filmmakers tried to do something different with the film, like introducing the native American legend human eating legend of Wendigo.

No one smokes more ominously than our ghostkeeper

In praise of the film I have to say the filmmakers succeed in creating an ominous, creepy atmosphere aided by the isolated setting and natural lighting. However the plot is unfocused and the dialogue is for the most part clunky, but a scene did crack me up when one of the characters talks about being a hooker and seducing a substitute teacher. The whole Wendigo aspect of the plot seems to be shoehorned in with not much revealed about the creature and the mythology behind it.

It's feeding time...

I wanted to like "Ghostkeeper" more than I did but the slow burning plot builds to an ending that wasn't worth the wait.  The gloomy setting and eerie atmosphere still makes it worth a watch for horror fans but don't expect ample amounts of gore and nudity that accompanied most of the horror market at the time. "Ghostkeeper" leans more towards the classy, spooky side of the horror genre and it's a damn shame it didn't have a stronger plot to make this the lost classic it was made out to be my many horror fans. The Code Red DVD is terrific and the best this obscure movie is ever going to look. It's limited to 500 units so if your a collector then you better order fast!

Written By Eric Reifschneider

Hell Up in Harlem (1973)

HELL UP IN HARLEM

Aka "Black Caesar's Sweet Revenge"

Even before the "Black Caesar" reel spun to an end after it's first theatrical showing, American International Pictures new they had a huge moneymaker and demanded a sequel. Writer/director Larry Cohen was more than happy to obliged but only one problem kept his sequel from reaching the Godley Blaxploitation stature of the original.... it was AIP wanted the sequel yesterday and the mega rushed production rears its ugly head throughout the entire running time of this quickly made, but still enjoyable sequel to the monumental Blaxploitation classic "Black Caesar."

The plot picks up right after the first film ended with our title character (Fred Williamson returning) dying in the ruins of his childhood home, clutching the ledgers that contained evidence of every corrupt political and influential individuals in New York. His dad comes to his rescue, saving his son and soon it's daddy and son hitting the streets take sweet revenge on all the politicians that put a hit to have our Harlem godfather killed.

The Black Caesar is back... and cool as ever

The first major problem with this sequel is that it was made so quickly after the first film that Fred Williamson was already busy with another film obligation. Instead of waiting till he was done, Cohen was forced to start shooting the film without his main star and thus a stand-ins had to be used in many shots. Cohen does his best to use clever editing techniques and camera angles to try to hid the fact the actor wasn't there for the entire shoot but it still comes off rather choppy and obvious, taking me out of the picture momentarily.

Williamson is so badass he can even sport a skin tight diving bikini with straight face

The second problem is Cohen's plot seems condensed to fit into an standard running time. There's enough material here to drag out the engaging story of our black godfather into two more films but apparently AIP didn't feel so Cohen's script moves along too fast, with too many subplots for audiences to keep up.  By the time the ending comes around I just felt hallow due to all the subplots not being resolved properly in the amount of time allotted.

Black Caesar about to take some sweet revenge

Considering all the challenges and brick walls Cohen faced with making this sequel, he still did a credible job and surprisingly, for the most part, makes the film mostly work despite all the flaws caused by its rushed production. Williamson is likeable as ever in his cool yet dark antihero role and I dug the expanded role of his father (Julius Harris, doing a wonderful job). The James Brown-less music is also commendable making this flawed sequel still a must see for fans of the original.

Bonus Praise: The film was original made as "Black Caesar's Sweet Revenge" but the producers demanded a title change as this was released so close to the first film that they were afraid people would mistake this sequel as the first film. I don't quite understand this as both "Shaft" and "Slaughter" had similarly titled sequels with "Shaft's Big Score" and "Slaughter's Big Rip-off". However, despite the title change, I have to say "Hell Up in Harlem" is a badass title. If one must change a film's title, make sure it's badass like "Hell Up in Harlem."

 Written By Eric Reifschneider

Human Centipede 2 (Full Sequence), The (2011)

It's still hard to believe that "The Human Centipede" has such a cult following. Actually, it's not hard to believe. It's the kind of film ripe for that kind of dedicated cult status. I just happen to not consider myself part of that lucky bandwagon. Yet, the almost required sequel, "The Human Centipede 2 (Full Sequence)" compelled me back into the world of schlocky medical horrors with its rather unique spin on the formula and its artsy visuals. Unfortunately, this return to ass-to-mouth hell is rarely better than the original one and often comes off as snobby in its attempts at being artistic.

Martin (Harvey) has become obsessed. He watches the film "Human Centipede" over and over again while fantasizing about making it his own reality. When opportunity affords him to be able to accomplish his dream of creating the ultimate 12 person human centipede by kidnapping unknowing victims in the parking garage he works at, Martin spirals down into a madness where his fantasy about the film overrides a life that never understood him.

Just like me, he's desperately looking for an end to this franchise.

The oddity that "Human Centipede 2" takes place outside of the realm of the original film is almost as clever as the film sells it. Perhaps not all that original that a film would self-reference its previous entry as a film (see the "Scream" sequels and the vastly superior "Wes Craven's New Nightmare"), but it's a paradox that occasionally works. Including one of the actresses from the first one playing herself and his book crafted from artwork and articles about the film is clever. Other times though, it simply feels as though director/writer Tom Six is just prodding his own ego by believing his film is far more than it is. This is, however, the one aspect that does overly work in the film and takes the franchise in a unique and less treaded path even if it doesn't always succeed at selling it as well as we've seen it done before.

Tsk tsk. What do they teach people in art class nowadays?

Beyond this intriguing direction, "Human Centipede 2" tends to be insanely predictable as a horror film. It proceeds in a by-the-numbers manner as we are introduced to our protagonist/antagonist Martin (who speaks not a word in the entire film on a side note - a ballsy move) and his awful existence where he is treaded on in all the cliche ways by an overbearing mother and abrasive people around him. It's all hum drum as it proceeds to get stranger and stranger, more nightmarish if you will, until it cascades into the second half. This half is an all out torture fest of gross out gags and irrelevant violence where it completely loses its story and randomly throws in details that seem asinine. It gets so ridiculous that it almost becomes a joke. Scenes of rape, torture, and a disturbing birth...oh yes a birth...are bombarded on the viewer while the film forgoes any of its artistic merit (with its black and white visual style and speechless main character) to fall straight into exploitation territory.

I'm sure Victor Frankenstein had a similar reaction when taking in his abominable creation too. 

"Human Centipede 2", like the original, is a film that works on a gimmick. Sometimes the gimmick sells, thanks here to a very creepy lead performance, but more often than not its un-consumable exploitation that plays off on just trying to get the audience to cringe and gag in a gore filled hurricane finale rather than staying with its story. Fans of the original are sure to love it for its cheesy writing and focus on extremes, but as for a smart and well made horror film...this sequence is far from full.

Written By Matt Reifschneider

Avengers, The (2012)

The saying 'too many cooks in the kitchen' is regularly true. Immense talent all pooled together into one film tends to make for a mediocre experience (here's looking at you "Ocean's Eleven" remake) as a film struggles to balance it all while still keeping focus and drive. This was the main fear for this "Avengers" film, not to be confused with the incoherent 1998 Americanized Brit spy film, as it weaves together the massive talents of the Marvel Cinematic Universe into one epic film. Fret not, nerds and action connoisseurs, as Marvel's "The Avengers" is in the very capable hands of Joss Whedon and the end result is a spectacular film fueled by insanely strong characters, writing, and action set pieces. 

When S.H.I.E.L.D. and the ever watchful Nick Fury (Jackson) - pun intended - lose an alien energy force known as the Tesseract, last seen in "Captain America", to the conniving Loki, last scene hurling through space in "Thor", the desperation of the organization reaches an all time high. The powerful Loki looks to unleash an army from another world onto Earth. In an attempt to thwart the impending doom of the world, Fury gathers the greatest individuals together for battle. Iron Man (Downey, Jr.), Bruce Banner/Hulk (Ruffalo), Captain America (Evans), Thor (Hemsworth), Black Widow (Johansson), and Hawkeye (Renner) are gathered to create an ultimate force...but can they put aside their egos and attitudes before it's too late?

A Norse God and a WWII soldier...taking the term 'allied forces' to whole new levels.

Hate me if you will, but my skepticism for "The Avengers" actually working was deep. Each of these characters were strong enough to hold their own films (some with sequels already and others with sequels in development), so could Whedon actually divvy up the screen time to make everyone happy without losing the overall scheme? Not only did writer/director Whedon pull this off, but he did it with style and punch to spare. With visually killer shots of epic proportions, some of the best action/CGI work yet, and charisma out the ass - "The Avengers" might be the best Marvel film yet.

He just found out that Fox cancelled Whedon's "Firefly" only after one season.

The amazing cast is back and doing their best. As easy as it would be to assume, Downey, Jr. once again steals most of his scenes as the arrogant and cynical Stark/Iron Man, but the assembly of actors never really seems to try to out do one another. Just like how these heroes must overcome their egos in the film, throwing together the talent in this film seems to work out its kinks. Whedon's strong dialog in the first half of the film easily eclipses its very character and plot heavy script (although if you haven't seen the entries leading up to this - do so immediately as it heavily pulls details for all of the Marvel Cinematic Universe films) and really builds up how the latter half will play out. The time is separated nicely between all the characters and smoothly transitions between individual stories into the main plot and never does one feel like one character get's more time than the rest. Even our resident villain Loki rarely seems to lack screen time and his sneering and sinister identity makes for a great baddie even on the second time around.

"Why do my solo movies SUCK?!"

With the strong writing and character work of the first half, comes the second half where it all explodes. It's as if Whedon felt the need to match his writing abilities with his visual ones. After all this character work and set up, he doesn't let us down. The attack and subsequent destruction of a flying invisible aircraft carrier (that really doesn't need as much explanation as one would assume) just wasn't enough, so it briefly breaks before going into an all out invasion of Manhattan by flying mechanical reptiles. Shit hits the fan and watching our heroes battle it out in the air, on the ground, in giant flying robot snakes, on the sides of buildings, through buildings, and more is like an action fan's dream come true. Explosions, baddies flying around, cars flying around, Iron Man flying around, Thor flying around, Hulk bouncing around...its damn ridiculous. IN ALL THE GOOD WAYS.

Although I'm not sure how the following individual sequels for these heroes are ever going to top this, "The Avengers" is a spectacle not to be missed. It occasionally feels like it doesn't explain enough to its details, but the great characters, banter, and action more than make up for the few minute flaws it has. This is not only a film for fans, nerds, and action connoisseurs - but its a film meant to entertain. Period. An amazing way to kick off the summer season!

Written By Matt Reifschneider