X-Men: First Class Character Profiles

Director: Matthew Vaughn
Stars: James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Rose Byrne, January Jones, Nicholas Hoult, Kevin Bacon, Jason Flemyng, Zoë Kravitz, Lucas Till, Morgan Lily, Oliver Platt and Edi Gathegi
Rating: PG-13
Release Date: June 3, 2011

Plot Summary: X-Men: First Class unveils the epic beginning of the X-Men saga – and a secret history of the Cold War and our world at the brink of nuclear Armageddon. As the first class discovers, harnesses, and comes to terms with their formidable powers, alliances are formed that will shape the eternal war between the heroes and villains of the X-Men universe.

With X-Men: First Class hitting theaters in a couple of weeks I'm sure there are questions about which characters we will be seeing in the film and the back-stories in which these characters have. This film will eventually lead to more films in the franchise so First Class gives an origin story of some of your favorite Marvel mutants so with that said lets get started.

PROFESSOR X

Played in X-Men: First Class by: James McAvoy

What You Should Know: An original member of the X-Men, bald, paraplegic Professor X, aka, Dr. Charles Xavier, is the founder of Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters, a scientific genius, and the putative leader of the group. He is an extraordinarily gifted telepath who can read and control minds. He uses his powers to promote peaceful co-existence between the mutually distrustful human and mutant races.

In the Marvel comics mythology Charles Xavier is the son of a Brian Xavier, a nuclear scientist and Sharon, a housewife. When his biological father dies, Sharon Xavier remarries Kurt Marko, a colleague of Brian’s, who brings his son Cain along and into the family. Sharon later dies and a fight between Xavier and Cain results in a lab fire that kills Kurt Marko. Cain never forgives Xavier and wrongfully blames him for his father’s death. Cain later is transformed into the Juggernaut (played by Vinnie Jones in X-Men: The Last Stand, though there appears to be no familial connection in that mythology).

Charles fights in the Korean War alongside his stepbrother Cain, and, after the war is over, works as an orderly in a clinic for Holocaust survivors in Haifa, Israel. There he meets Eric Lehnsherr, the future Magneto. Xavier realizes that Lehnserr is a very powerful mutant and that, though fast friends, they have very different views on the mutant-human relationship. Lehnsherr sees in humans their potential to commit genocide, something he fears will be done with mutants. The friends part ways.

Xavier travels to the Himalayas where he encounters an alien named Lucifer who is planning a full-scale invasion of the planet. Charles thwarts Lucifer’s plans and the alien retaliates by dropping a stone block on him, leaving him forever crippled. Returning to the United States, Xavier founds his School for Gifted Youngsters. His first students are Beast, Iceman, Angel, Cyclops and Marvel Girl; the original X-Men. He also creates Cerebro, a special machine that augments his powers and allows him to detect mutants the world over.

MAGNETO

Played in X-Men: First Class by: Michael Fassbender

What You Should Know: A powerful villain who appears at the very dawn of the X-Men comic mythology, Magneto is really Holocaust survivor Max Eisenhardt. He is an extremely powerful mutant who has the ability to generate and manipulate myriad forms of magnetism.

In the Marvel universe Max sees his entire family murdered before his eyes and then is sent to Auschwitz where he witnesses the full expression of the Holocaust horror. He survives the ordeal and meets a gypsy named Magda. They move to the Ukraine and later produce a daughter, Anya. Further persecution from a mob causes Max’s powers to first burst forth. He slaughters the mob (and, incidentally, half the village) that has set fire to his home but he can’t save his daughter, who perishes. Magda flees him, terrified of his power, although she carries his unborn twins (later to become the Scarlett Witch and Quicksilver). Eisenhardt changes his identity to Eric Lehnsherr and leaves the U.S.S.R.

It is in Haifa, Israel where meets his friend and lifelong nemesis, Charles Xavier, aka Professor X. They both work as orderlies at a clinic for Holocaust survivors and tentatively discuss hypothetical scenarios about mutant humans. They eventually reveal their secret gifts when opposing a Nazi hunting for Third Reich gold. But their opposite views of humanity drive them apart, Xavier believing that humans and mutants can peacefully co-exist while Eric is convinced that they are Homo-superior and the eventual, logical, evolutionary expression of mankind. Xavier leaves to continue his travels and Eric with the Nazi gold, which he uses to bankroll his future. Lensherr then creates The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants (aka The Brotherhood), a collective of like-minded mutants who believed themselves besieged. They included his—unbeknownst to him—children, The Scarlett Witch and Quicksilver, along with a shifting roster of characters including Mystique and Toad.

Much like Xavier’s school, Lensherr tries to establish a home for mutants, using an asteroid, a conquered South American country, an orbital satellite and eventually, the island of Genosha. The island rises as a beacon to mutants who wish to live separately from humans and, under Magneto, becomes a powerful nation. But, the island is mercilessly attacked by Cassandra Nova, Xavier’s evil twin sister (one unbeknownst to him), and the Sentinels, giant mutant-hunting robots (that appear during the simulation scene at the beginning of X-Men: The Last Stand). An estimated 16 million mutants are killed in the genocide. Later battles leave Magneto the island’s only inhabitant.

MYSTIQUE

Played in X-Men: First Class by: Jennifer Lawrence

What You Should Know: Raven Darkhölme, aka Mystique, is a blue-skinned, yellow-eyed shapeshifter and mimic. She cannot only imitate nearly everyone, she also has excellent athletic prowess and knowledge of martial arts, making her a dangerous adversary. She is an assassin who eliminates many mutant affair officials and is one of the leaders of The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants.

In the comic mythology, Mystique’s origins are shrouded in mystery; no one knows her true age. She is married to an infertile German baron but he discovers she has been shapeshifting to have dalliances with other men and she kills him.

She later also has a female lover and companion named Destiny (aka Irene Adler), whose power is to be able to foretell the future. Together they raise the orphan Rogue from a child to young adulthood. But Mystique is also the lover of Sabretooth (aka Victor Creed) and the mother of several other heroes and villains in the Marvel universe including (SPOILER ALERT: Nightcrawler).

BEAST

Played in X-Men: First Class by: Nicholas Hoult

What You Should Know: One of the original X-Men, Beast, aka Dr. Henry “Hank” McCoy, is a mutant intellectual stuck inside the body of monstrous, constantly evolving, creature.

Beast appeared in X-Men #1 in September of 1963. Originally Hank McCoy looked like a man, though with ape-like hands and feet. He was agile and dexterous on all four limbs which, combined with great strength, coordination and speed, made him more like a hairless simian-turned-gymnast than the Beast we know today. Regardless, his combined talents made him a welcome addition to Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters. At the Academy he was able to concentrate on his studies and improve his substantial intellect. Outwardly, over time, Beast grew more animalistic. He became hirsute, with the color turning from grey to blue. Later, his entire physiognomy changed and he went from being ape-like to a hulking feline form, with pointed ears and canine teeth.

Inside of Beast, however, is a Renaissance man. McCoy is, at once, a scholar and a super-scientist, specializing in genetics, mathematics and biochemistry. He is the science and math instructor at Xavier’s School for the Gifted.

He appears, albeit briefly, and in human form, in X2, being interviewed on the TV in a bar where Grace (really Mystique) picks up Magneto’s brutal prison guard. X-Men: The Last Stand he was played by Kelsey Grammer, where he had a much more prominent role as the Secretary of the Department of Mutant Affairs, a special envoy to and diplomat for the President of the United States.

EMMA FROST

Played in X-Men: First Class by: January Jones

What You Should Know: Emma Frost, the scantily clad superhero with a predilection for white outfits, was originally a villain in the X-Men mythology. She appeared as the telepath, The White Queen, a member of an elite worldwide organization of the super-rich called the Hellfire Club, run by the ruthless mutant, Sebastian Shaw.

Frost was one of four children born to demanding, wealthy parents in Boston. Somewhat a rebel, Emma rejected the family business, her inheritance, and her comfortable upbringing. She did not reject, however, the world of money and power. Ever resourceful, she moved her way up in the world of business and academia using her brains, her looks and her mental telepathy. She eventually became the CEO of her parents’ company , head of the Hellfire Group, and headmistress of the Massachusetts Academy, a mutant school which competed with Xavier’s School for Mutants. Frost changed radically, however, after one of her own sisters, Adrienne, tried to blow up the Massachusetts Academy, killing some students. Enraged, Emma hunted down and killed her sister in cold blood.

Emma then moved to Genosha, the mutant refuge created by Magneto, and became a teacher there. After Genosha was attacked by the Sentinels (the mutant-hunting robots) and most of the population was wiped out, Frost again transformed. She gained the ability to turn her outward shell into pure diamonds, making her nearly invulnerable (save for one flaw in one diamond, her Achilles’ heel). Now accepted by the X-Men, Frost began a psychic, non-physical affair with Scott Grey, aka Cyclops.

Even after the affair was exposed, Emma Frost remained a member of the X-Men, probably because of the outfits.

Frost was played in X-Men Origins: Wolverine by Tahyna Tozzi. In the film, she is the younger sister of Kayla Silverfox, which is different than the comics.

AZAZEL

Played in X-Men: First Class by: Jason Flemyng

What You Should Know: A demonic mutant from ancient times, Azazel is a villain in the X-Men mythology and the father of Nightcrawler (we’ll leave the identity of Nightcrawler’s mother out, since it may be a spoiler for some). Azazel has the ability to teleport across long distances, sometimes even from dimension to dimension.

In the comics Azazel is an extremely powerful creature who claims the entire world as his own. In addition to his teleportation abilities he can generate bolts of energy, as well shapeshift. Trapped by angels in another dimension, Azazel found he could breach the void for brief periods of time using his powers. He further discovered that he could access a world more easily if he had fathered a child in it.

In an attempt to free his demonic brethren of old, Azazel summoned his numerous children, including Nightcrawler, to the Isla Des Demonas where he expected them to sacrifice themselves. Their deaths would ensure that the portal to the prison dimension would be opened. His plans were thwarted by the X-Men and Azazel vanished.

First Class is the first on-screen appearance of the character in the four live-action X-Men films.

DR. MOIRA MACTAGGART

Played in X-Men: First Class by: Rose Byrne

What You Should Know: Dr. Moira MacTaggart is one of the foremost authorities on human genetic mutation. She lives and works on Muir Island, off the coast of Scotland. In the books, she is now deceased, the first human casualty of the Legacy virus. Rahne Sinclair, her former ward, was a member of the New Mutants, X-Force, and X-Factor. Dr. McTaggart was known for her fierce determination, her sympathy to the mutant cause, and her ability to argue even Professor Xavier down.

SEBASTIAN SHAW

Played in X-Men: First Class by: Kevin Bacon

What You Should Know: A mutant, Shaw possesses the ability to absorb kinetic energy and transform it into raw strength. He is the leader of the New York branch of the Hellfire Club, an exclusive secret society bent on world domination, although to the public, he is a legitimate businessman and ordinary human. He once funded the mutant-hunting Sentinel program to keep it under his thumb.


ANGEL SALVADORE

Played in X-Men: First Class by: Zoë Kravitz


What You Should Know: Driven out of home by her abusive step-father, fourteen-year old Angel Salvadore slept in the woods, where her mutant nature manifested itself in the form of a protective cocoon. Emerging, Angel was shocked to discover she had grown fly-like wings. She was found by the U-Men, a group of humans who harvested mutant body parts to graft onto themselves. Before they could make Angel their next unwilling donor, she was rescued by Wolverine and taken to the Xavier Institute. Angel reluctantly enrolled as a student, and was soon forced to help the Stepford Cuckoos and Beak oppose an assault by the alien Shi'ar Imperial Guard. Angel was subsequently placed in the Special Class taught by the mutant healer Xorn.

Later, during a flight class, Angel accepted a dare to kiss Beak, unintentionally causing him to fall in love with her. To her own surprise, Angel began to fall for him as well, and on a school camping trip they snuck away to have an intimate encounter before they were attacked by U-Men. With Xorn's help, the U-Men were defeated, and the Class returned to the Institute in time to help quell a riot fomented by Quentin Quire. Angel subsequently told Beak she was pregnant, and laid eggs on the ceiling of a shack on the school's grounds. She was implicated in an attempt on the life of teacher Emma Frost just before her eggs hatched, but it was ultimately revealed that she had been mentally controlled by rogue Stepford Cuckoo Esme.

Soon after, Xorn was coerced by an unknown party into believing he was the X-Men's nemesis Magneto, and the Special Class were convinced by Esme, one of the Stepford Cuckoos, to serve as his Brotherhood until his defeat by the X-Men. Later, Beak became unhinged from time and joined the reality-hopping Exiles team, leaving Angel and the children to believe he had abandoned them. During the Scarlet Witch's reality warp, Angel lived a life as a successful and childless plus-sized model with no memory of Beak. She was briefly possessed by the reality-altering mutant Proteus before he was forced out of her body during an encounter with the Exiles. Near death, Angel was healed by a regenerative serum the Exiles had obtained. After reality was restored, both Angel and Beak discovered they and all of their children, excepting Tito, had lost their mutant powers.

HAVOK

Played in X-Men: First Class by: Lucas Till

What You Should Know: Alexander Summers AKA Havok is the younger of the two sons of Christopher Summers, a United States Air Force Major and test pilot, and his wife Katherine Anne. The family were flying back from a vacation in their vintage airplane when they crashed into a scout ship of the intergalactic Shi'ar Empire, setting the wooden plane ablaze. Their mother pushed the brothers out of the burning plane with the only available parachute, allowing them to escape capture by the aliens.

The two boys were hospitalized for injuries they sustained during their landing. Alex left the hospital after two weeks and was placed in an orphanage in Omaha, Nebraska that was secretly run by the master geneticist Mister Sinister. Alex was soon adopted by the Blanding family, who had lost their son Todd. However, the family were still traumatized by their loss, and treated Alex as if he were Todd. (Unknown to Alex, his brother Scott would become the hero Cyclops and join the X-Men.)

Sinister continued to monitor Alex whilst he lived with his foster family. When he noticed the first stirrings of Alex's mutant powers, Sinister incited the local school bully Vincent, who had caused Todd's accident, to attack Alex. The subsequent stress caused Alex's mutant powers to manifest and he incinerated Vincent. Sinister then placed a genetic lock upon Alex to curtail the development of his powers.

Havok generates powerful “plasma blasts”, an ability he has had difficulty controlling. He is the son of Corsair, the younger brother of the X-Men’s Cyclops, and the older brother of Vulcan. He often resents Cyclops’ authoritative attitude and reputation as a model X-Man. In contrast, Havok and his longtime love interest Polaris have had a love/hate relationship with the team, often finding themselves roped into it. Both were also members of the 1990s-era Pentagon-sponsored mutant team X-Factor. After X-Factor disbanded, Havok starred in Mutant X, a series in which he explored a strange alternate reality. He has since returned to the X-Men, later taking over his father's role as leader of the Starjammers to bring Vulcan's reign over the Shi'ar to an end.


BANSHEE


Played in X-Men: First Class by: Caleb Landry Jones

What You Should Know: An Irish mutant, Banshee possesses a "sonic scream," capable of harming enemies’ auditory systems and causing physical vibrations. He is named after the banshee, a legendary ghost from Irish mythology, said to possess a powerful cry, although the banshee spirit is invariably female. A former Interpol agent and NYPD officer, Banshee was always a decade older than most of the X-Men and had only a relatively short tenure as a full-time X-Man. He was, however, a mentor of the 1990s-era junior team Generation X.

So there you have it. Hope this helps identifying these characters in the film when X-Men: First Class hits theaters on June 3rd!

2011 Summer Movie Preview: Indie Flicks

Source: reelmovienews.com

There are many indie films coming out this summer - some more well-known than others, but indie's provide a great alternative to those popular blockbusters everyone's talking about. The biggest problem with Indie's is that they come out in limited release, so they are not available all over the country. But they also usually come out on DVD/Blu-Ray sooner, so you should be able to see them fairy soon after their theatrical release. Check out our guide to some of the best indie films coming out this summer!


Midnight in Paris (May 20) - A family explores the meaning of life on a trip to Paris that changes everything. The movie explores the idea that people think others' lives are better than their own.

The Tree of Life (May 27) - The Tree of Life focuses on the eldest son, Jack, who is trying to reconcile a complicated relationship with his father (Brad Pitt).  As an adult (played by Sean Penn ), Jack finds himself lost in the modern world, seeking answers to the meaning of life.

Beautiful Boy (June 3) - A couple must face the worst news a parent will ever have to face - their son has been shot and killed at his University. Things get even more devastating when they find out their son was the shooter.

Love, Wedding, Marriage (June 3) - Eva is a happy newlywed who also happens to be a marriage counselor.  She is thrown into a bit of a loop when she finds out her parents are getting divorced.

Submarine (June 3) - Oliver Tate has two missions in life. One is to lose his virginity before he's 16 and the other is to stop the connection between his mother and her ex-lover who has shown up in her life. He meets a girl that just might help him do the first one, but the second one might be a little harder.

The Art of Getting By (June 17) - The film follows George and Sally, a pair of teens who become unlikely friends.  George has manage to get through high school without doing much of anything, whereas Sally is a popular, but complicated girl.  The two share a special bond.

A Better Life (June 24) - A gardener from East L.A struggles to keep his son away from the bad influences in the area and create a better life for him by doing landscaping work for the city's wealthy landowners.

The Perfect Host (July 1) - A man turns the tables on a bank robber who's hiding out in his house by making him the subject of a weird and twisted dinner party.

The Devil's Double (July 29) - An interesting look at the house of Saddam Hussein through the eyes of a man who was forced to become the double of Hussein's sadistic son.

Higher Ground - (August 12) - Higher Ground follows the a couple, spanning from the '60s to '80s, who have dedicated their lives to God by joining a small hippie church. The film explores the relationship between the couple and the rest of this tight-knit, eccentric community.


Circumstance (August 19) - A family in Iran must learn to deal with their children as they grow up.  Their daughter is sexually rebelling and going her own way and their son is developing a dangerous obsession.

Our Idiot Brother (August 26) - A idealist man is forced to move in with his three overachieving sister, causing both inspiration and havoc in their lives.

Weekend Box Office Analysis (May 13-15)

Well with no big wide releases happening this weekend, expectations were that Marvel Studios Thor would secure another week at number one. And they were not wrong. The God of Thunder took in $9.2M on Friday, $15M on Saturday and an estimated $10M on Sunday for a Weekend of $34M (-48%). That brings its domestic total to $115M and its worldwide cume now stands at $300M. Paramount/Marvel expected Thor would be down only about 50% week on week and its looking like it's only off 48% for its 2nd weekend, which would be a much better hold than Fast Five's a weekend ago (that dropped 68%).

This weekends biggest new entry was the Universal all-girl comedy Bridesmaids which blew away all expectations. On Friday the comedy brought in a suprisingly high $7.8M followed by an even better $10M on Saturday, leading to an estimated total of $24.4M for the weekend. Wow!! The studio had originally said it would be happy with $17-19 million -- well they got quite a bit more. There had been talk that female driven comedies had been put on hold until they saw how Bridesmaids did so this bodes very well for the future of women-heavy comedies. No longer will the likes of Will Ferrell and Adam Sandler be relied upon to open comedies.

Universal always seemed to have faith in this $32.5M-budget pic from the start, mostly pinned to the pedigree of mogul Judd Apatow's banner behind it. Weeks of decent tracking popped dramatically going into this weekend, especially in the "unaided awareness" category. It went into this weekend with great reviews from the Los Angeles Times and The New York Times and 90% on Rotten Tomatoes. With strong word of mouth, theres no reason why Bridesmaids cant make back its budget by Thursdsy night, but if thats a bit too optimistic, look for the Universal flick to be in the black by close of play on Friday. Universal were very clever with their marketing here, careful not to label it a "chick flick", a "wedding movie" or a "rom-com" but instead named it "The Hangover for women".

In third place was the Universal smash hit, Fast Five, down only 42% from the previous weekend, this pic, now in its third weekend is still going strong - much stronger than many in the industry had predicted. This is how Fast Five's weekend is looking, Friday $5.9M, Saturday $8.9M, which gives a $19.5M estimated weekend cume and pushes its domestic total to close to $170M and its worldwide total to close to $370M.

In fourth place was a new entry from Sony Screen Gems. Priest 3D went into the weekend on the back of some awful reviews and a unspectacular start last weekend in the UK -I for one though really enjoyed it and defended it in my review that I posted on The Reel Scoop several days ago. And the weekend results, similar to Bridesmaids are very good. On Friday Priest brought in $5.5M, Saturday $6M, which is looking like a $14.5M weekend cume -this is very much ahead of studio and industry wide expectations. Sony expected this young male-targeted Screen Gems post-apocalyptic horror pic to do only between $10M-$12M even with its Friday The 13th release date and higher 3D ticket prices.

This vampire movie elevated by the casting of Paul Bettany as the battle-hardened rogue warrior was all about the fangs in its marketing strategy. Screen Gems did well with its marketing, hitting the bullseye with its target audience, including screening footage with coordinated cast panels at both ComicCon in San Diego and WonderCon in San Francisco. Fangoria also hosted a special 3D footage screening attended by Paul Bettany and Scott Stewart in New York. Sony however, do believe strongly that Priest will perform much better overseas, but this higher than expected opening will certainly bring some comfort to the execs.

The rest of the top 10 looks like this:

5. Rio Friday $1.4M, Saturday $3.8M, Weekend $8M, Estimated Cume $124M
6. Something Borrowed Friday $2.3M, Estimated Weekend $7.0M Estimated Cume $26.1M
7. Jump The Broom Friday $1.9M, Estimated Weekend $7.3M Estimated Cume $25.2M
8. Water For Elephants Friday $1.2M, Estimated Weekend $4.1M Estimated Cume $48.4M
9. Madea's Big Happy Family Friday $550K, Weekend $2.2M Estimated Cume $49.8M
10. Soul Surfer Friday $475K, Estimated Weekend $1.8M Estimated Cume $38.9M.

Exorcismus Review

Every now and then a movie comes along that tries to recreate "The Exorcism" film and dive into subjects such as demons, possession and The Devil himself. Most end up repeating what we've already seen before and are no better than their preprocessors while SOME are successful at putting there own spin on the sub-genre and that's all we can hope for in the end right? Well Exorcismus falls into the latter category as this film proved that just because you use something that has already been done, doesn't mean originality is completely out of the window.

Exorcismus follows the story of Emma Evans (Sophie Vavasseur), a home schooled teenager who finds herself possessed by an angry demon. One day Emma has an unexplained seizure and she quickly comes to the realization that a demon has entered her body which causes her to do and say things that she has no recollection of. Emma immediately reaches out to her Uncle who is a Priest and gives her obvious options she can take to get rid of the demon. Emma's parents don't believe her claims of the "supernatural" deeming her issues are more psychological than anything. They send Emma to see several shrinks but that only leads to more episodes and even more out of body experiences. Her parents eventually change their minds once they witness her possession first hand during a scene where she levitates off the ground for several seconds after having yet another seizure. The next step is obviously to have an exorcism as is the case in a number of these movies! Meanwhile Emma's uncle, the Priest has his own set of issues which is revealed later on in the film.

The events following the exorcism are both shocking and disturbing but at the same time different than anything you will see in other exorcism type films. Director Manuel Carballo went above and beyond to insure that Exorcismus wouldn't be just another run of the mill supernatural film and he did a hell of a job in doing so. The film was creepy and scary at the same time and kept me on the edge of my seat throughout. You think you know what to expect when you see movies like this but the surprises throughout and the climax at the end was surely an unexpected one.

I highly recommend you check out the film but locating it might be the hard part. The film has at least three titles that I am aware of having been released in foreign markets previous to it's U.S. release. Exorcismus is the official title for the Spanish horror film but the actual Spanish version of the film is titled, "La posesión de Emma Evans". The film made it's U.S. debut this year under the name "The Possession of Emma Evans" so these are the names to look out for if you plan on seeing this film.

4 out of 5 stars

Priest Review

Priest Review
Starring: Paul Bettany, Cam Gigandet, Maggie Q and Karl Urban
Director: Scott Charles Stewart
Running Time: 89 minutes.

Since anyone alive can remember, Man and Vampires have waged war. Neither side ever truely being victorious. The Vampires would unleash destruction at night, while the Human armies would use their weapons during the day. This went on and on... and on. Humanity finally retreated, under the governance of the Church. Huge cities were built, defended by Vampire Hunters, the Priests -- a group of specially trained warriors, who were experts at being Vampire killers. Once the Vampire threat had been eradicated, the Priests were disbanded and were made to return to a normal life. However, when a Priests family are attacked and kidnapped outside of the city walls, it is up to him and a local sheriff to locate his missing family and discover who is behind the attack.

First off, let me say I am not a big fan of 3D. I have always felt it was a gimmick, just another way of making money. The majority of 3D films that have released in the last year were shot in 2D and merely converted up into 3D. In these cases, I think the film is spoiled and looks worse than if you were watching in 2D. However, those that are shot in 3D and released in 3D can look awesome. And this is one such example. The 3D here really looks fantastic. From the ash falling from the sky, to the views from above looking down on Cathedral City, to the CGI effects of the Vampires themselves, the 3D really does work a treat. The visuals of the Vampires and the "waste lands" are at times scary real. I was very impressed with the detail and effort in bringing the cities and blood suckers to life.

While the story is very basic, Priest is at the same time very entertaining, very fast paced and never dull or boring. At a running time of only 89 minutes, you get the sense that makers stuffed as much in as they possibly could. However, I still get the feeling that if they had a bit more time, they could have done a better job with the mythology and back-story of the Vampires and their origins. A lot is mentioned of a Vampire Queen, yet she is only briefly featured and alot is mentioned about the past, a few flashbacks would have been ideal -- for once.

The acting is solid. Paul Bettany has carved himself out a niche playing these kind of religious-hero type roles. And Cam Gigandet gets to shine in his supporting roles. I have long been a fan of his in movies such as The Unborn and Pandorum and it is nice to see him finally in a "big" movie.

All in all, a good, fast paced, enjoyable, popcorn entertainent summer movie. Nothing too difficult to understand, and in fact, this may suprise you at how much you actually enjoy it. And without spoiling, the possibilities for sequels and spin-offs are endless. I have a feeling we arent through the Priest-verse just yet.

4 out of 5 stars

Fantasia 2000 Review

Fantasia 2000 was a beautiful concept with an unfortunately vain and forgettable execution. I refuse to not acknowledge the artistic brilliance in a few of the animated segments and the choice of classical composition. But unlike it’s predecessor, the experience of watching it left me with a feeling of incompletion. A good portion of the film is filled with unnecessary fluff consisting of celebrity cameos and a literal “cut and paste” job from the previous motion picture. I imagine a room of corporate executives sitting in a sterilized room throwing large sums of money in a brown burlap bag and chucking it at the doorstep of their animation studios with a sign stapled to the side reading “Get to work!” Every time this film comes to mind.

Ok, I understand that this is not how this project was conceived. Walt Disney himself hoped to make the original Fantasia a constantly evolving project, reproducing it with new segments replacing the old ones. But he could never get the funding and

the idea was ultimately abandoned. Roy Disney, Walt’s nephew, reimagined that concept in the 1970’s, and in a nutshell, managed to finally get the project green lit in 1990. Before we begin, I’d like to address the source of the heat I emit in this tyrannical diatribe. You’d probably be right to say that I am judging this film a little too harshly. But that is because I am. Fantasia set the bar of expectation too high for this movie to strive for any less than pure perfection. The only way a sequel could ever stand up to Fantasia is if it were air tight, without giving into the use of any cheap tricks to win the audience over. But of course, they couldn’t leave enough alone.

Phew…Sorry. I needed to vent. Let me clear the air a bit with a compliment or two. Many of these

segments are beautiful. What sticks out for me is the segment of Rhapsody in Blue, the animators taking a great deal of inspiration from Al Hirschfeld and his work. The Firebird Suite is bold and iconic and creates a feeling of humble inadequacy when one is faced with the blunt force of a natural disaster. However the greatest segments are too few and far between for me to consider the film as a whole anywhere close to perfect. Fantasia had absolutely no down time, bringing to us one entertaining segment after another without the loss of momentum (if you could excuse the intermission). Fantasia 2000 manages to awkwardly stumble into place on the wrong foot right from the start. We begin with a fairly good sequence to Symphony No. 5 in C Minor (a Beethoven composition) followed by a long and mediocre one of flying humpback whales brought to “life” through the use of disappointingly dated computer animation. Though the composition of the music (Pines of Rome by Ottorino Respighi) was nice to listen to, it just couldn’t flavor the blandness of the sequence. A good portion of the sequences felt forgettable. I have little to say about them, because I just don’t care to watch flamingoes fight between themselves over a yo-yo.

Also (this really slowed the pacing for me) the re-use of the Sorcerer’s Apprentice was conspicuous and incredibly out of place. Comic magicians Penn and Teller introduce this sequence with great respect for the source material, and I do thank them for it. But I just can’t imagine who though it was a good idea to literally cut the scene from the original and paste it into the sequel. If I wanted

to watch the Sorcerer’s Apprentice, I would have stayed home, parked my ass on my couch and popped Fantasia into my DVD player. The worst part is the more I try to think about it, the more I get frustrated because I can’t understand who

thought this idea would work. Sure, the original concept was for the sequel to have three sequences from the first Fantasia, but the idea was clearly scrapped. This is a serious critique I have for this film. Let this also be an important lesson to all film makers who hope to make a franchise. In your sequel, unless you wish to make a flash back, it is probably a bad idea to take an entire sequence from your first movie and edit it in as a major part of your film. All this does is make me wish I were either watching the original or wanting to take a bathroom break, as I’ve already seen this sequence a thousand times over. Please show me something I haven’t seen before!

Finally, we come to my favorite topic of discussion as to why I can’t enjoy this movie the way I want to, Let’s talk cameos. Sometimes, it’s a lot of fun to be watching a film, really getting into it, then suddenly seeing a celebrity you may recognize from something else you enjoy. It makes you feel as though the movie is respected by the people you respect yourself, officially legitimizing the piece as credible. But when a film brings in a significant number of familiar faces, the movie no longer feels like its own entity, but a patchwork doll stitched together with occasional intervals of original substance. Sure, there are many exceptions to the rules (usually, the overuse of cameos can work for a parody or a satire, like Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog or The Blues Brothers…I’ve never seen the Oceans films, but I hear they are good too). But who can really focus on what is going on when the content of the film takes a short break to give us all a chance to bask in the glory of such celebrities as James Earl Jones, Steve Martin, Bette Middler and many others? Maybe you, but not me. Sure I like them, but the film should stand alone without the use of these individuals. Get to the cartoons already! By the way, I am not counting the segment with Mickey Mouse, because he is interacting with the conductor, the one celebrity who should remain consistent.

Let me wrap this up; I’m sure I have enough hate mail for this review as it is. This movie was not a bad one. It was a disappointing one. When someone says the word “Fantasia” (outside of the singer from American Idol) what is the first thing that pops in your head? Is it Mickey Mouse fighting a battalion of water bucket wielding broomsticks? Is it Chernabog raising the dead in a sleepy little town? Is it dancing mushrooms or ballet dancing ostriches? I’d imagine it is probably something along those lines. But why is it that nobody remembers Fantasia 2000? Sure, those of us around during its theatrical release remember all the commotion and hype the film had stirred up. We may remember something about Donald Duck and Noah’s Arc or a giant Firebird flying out of a volcano. But overall, the film was forgettable and felt more like a flash in the pan than a legitimate sequel to one of the greatest movies ever made. I can recall walking out of the theatre, thinking to myself that it wasted too much of my time in the beginning and ended way too soon, because the only iconic sequence was saved for the end. The next time anyone asks me to describe this film in a nutshell, I only have one word for them…forgettable.

That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

2 out of 5 stars.