Turbo is pretty to look at, not terrible, but also nothing new. You could sit through far, far worse movies, especially ones that you are dragged to by children.

But it also doesn’t cover any new ground. This movie is like someone said, “You know what movies are good? Cars. Ratatouille. Wreck-It Ralph. And Talladega Nights.Let’s make a movie about a misfit animal with a secret desire to be something that he’s not, and also he wants to race. So, let’s make him a snail. Nailed it. Next. . . ”

And thus you have Turbo. It’s pretty to look at, not un-fun to watch, but utterly predictable and somewhat uninspired.

The best part of the movie, for me at least, was revealing to my five-year-old Avenger-obsessed son that the lead racing snail was the same guy as Nick Fury and Mace Windu. Unless you count the 3D preview of How to Train Your Dragon 2. THAT was mind-blowing.

Other than the really nice animation, the voice cast here was also excellent. Ryan Reynolds plays the eponymous Turbo whose name is actually Theo. He and his brother (Paul Giamatti) work harvesting tomatoes from a backyard garden. You know, like snails do. And it’s from this brother relationship that the heart of the movie comes from. There’s great parallels with the owners of “Dos Bros Tacos” (Luis Guzman and Michael Pena) with one brother as the dreamer (who finds the snails and decides to race them) and the other the “realist” who is trying to keep his brother from getting hurt. Like I said, this is familiar ground.

And then there’s a loveable band of misfit sidekicks. First, the snail racing crew led by Samuel Jackson and including Snoop Dogg. Oh, and a second band of misfit sidekicks for the humans, including Ken Jeong (Community, The Hangover) as an elderly Asian woman who runs a nail salon? Maybe a little too on-the-nose there, Ken.

Then Bill Hader rounds out the cast as some weird amalgamation of Gusteau from Ratatouille and Jean Girard from Talladega Nights (ironically, all three are French?) who is at first mentor and then rival to our little snail Turbo. And Kurtwood Smith shows up as the grumpy head of the Indy 500 who has to be told that there is no rule that a snail can’t race. . . . sigh. You see what I mean. Predictable.

The one bit that wasn’t completel predictable is also the thing that will keep this movie from aging well. Guess how word gets out about Turbo being a racing snail? A viral video, a la “Double Rainbow” or “Bed Intruder” or “Dead Giveaway” where a kid yells “Whoa!! That snail is fast!” Ugh. Not only is the conceit completely lame, it’s done poorly. Those three earworm songs I mentioned a second ago were all the brainchildren of  The Gregory Brothers, and this, by comparison, sounds like it was written by a roomful of suits trying to ape their style and overcome obvious lack of earworm virality by getting Snoop Dogg to rap over it like it was a second-rate Katy Perry song.

So, there are parts that are dumb, but for the most part this movie is a paint-by-numbers digital animation kids movie. But not completely unenjoyable.

However, with much better options currently in theaters for kids (Monsters University, Despicable Me 2), I suggest you save this one for DVD unless you really, really want to see a snail race in the Indy 500.

2 1/2 stars

Enter for the chance to win an admit-two pass to the special advance screening of THE WOLVERINE on Tuesday, July 23 in Salt Lake City by texting the word WOLVERINE and your zip code to 43549! (ex. WOLVERINE 80302) THE WOLVERINE opens in theaters on July 26!

www.thewolverinemovie.com

The following first appeared on The Huffington Post.

There were plenty of reasons to be disappointed in America over the weekend. Most of them have much more gravitas than this issue, but this one is no less important.

You see, Grown Ups 2 did more money at the box office than Pacific Rim for their opening weekends. In fact, Grown Ups 2 beat by at least $4 million.

This is a travesty of the highest order.

Pacific Rim is perhaps the best summer movie of the year, hands down. It’s an original idea, it’s a good story well told, and it’s from Guillermo del Toro, one of our most visionary directors. It’s a masterful deconstruction of summer movies as a genre, transforming into the film Michael Bay only hoped he could make. I was so taken with the movie, I had to go back and see it a second time, dragging my kids to see it with me this weekend. Not only did they love it, canceling the apocalypse is about all they’ve been talking about.

Every trope you’d expect in a summer movie is worked from a completely fresh angle in this film. It’s filled with strong heroines, powerful minority characters, and there’s not a negative racial stereotype to be seen.

And it’s full of brilliant, subtle social commentary: for instance, building a wall won’t keep the undesirable elements out, whether those “undesirables” are three hundred foot Kaiju looking to destroy a city or an immigrant looking for a better life.

Ever since I interviewed the screenwriter, Travis Beacham, and got a read on his passion for the project, I had an inkling this film would be special, and it was.

We got something Hollywood never gives us: an original story with new characters on a massive scale.

And what did America do? They went to see drivel like Grown Ups 2 instead.

There’s a reason that reviews for Grown Ups 2 were embargoed, it’s hovering at the 7 percent mark on Rotten Tomatoes. Pacific Rim, on the other hand, is receiving rave reviews and hovering closer in the 70-80 percent range.

Sure, Grown Ups 2 is “critic proof,” but we should know better, shouldn’t we?

Grown Ups 2 is never going to inspire further exploration into its universe. Its characters and built world aren’t so interesting that we’ll want games and stories told in it. There’s nothing rich about it and there’s nothing enriching about it. It’s pure lowest common denominator. And maybe that’s why it came out on top in the United States.

Look at this exclusive peek at a rendering of Gipsy Danger, the main Jaeger in Pacific Rim.

Artist Todd Slater put this dazzling piece of art together for Odd City Entertainment . After seeing images from the film, the artist said, “I was immediately struck by the
scale of the Jaegers versus the humans. These pictures served as a reminder of how fragile human life is and I decided to create my image around this thought. I wanted to depict these giant machines as the protectors of humanity from the mysterious beasts that have emerged from a portal beneath the ocean.”

Do you think that kind of artistic epiphany and introspection would be possible with Adam Sandler’s latest film?

I’m thinking not so much.

We deserve better, America. Pacific Rim is that much better. But if we don’t support it, we won’t get more of them. Instead, we’ll get dark and gritty, like today’s Superman. But everything Man of Steel does wrong, Pacific Rim does right. Everything Man of Steel did right, Pacific Rim did better. It’s truly the summer movie we deserve. And we won’t get more like it if we don’t vote with our dollars.

Let’s get our collective act together and put this movie over the top. We’ll all be better for it as a movie-going public.

I’ll thank you for it. Guillermo del Toro will thank you for it. Our children will thank us for it. Our children’s children will thank us for it.

Bryan Young is an author and the editor-in-chief of the geek news and review site Big Shiny Robot.

According to Latino Review (who is always absolutely on point with this stuff), Marvel is in serious internal discussion and they have decided on their man for Doctor Strange. Some fancasting/popular rumors I’ve seen floating around, like Benedict Cumberbatch, Nestor Carbonell, and Viggo Mortenson (oh wait no that was just me) are waaaaay off the mark. According to Marvel, the man for the job is none other than …

Joseph Gordon Levitt?

Sorry friends and neighbors, but insert “WAH WAHHHHH” horns in for me. What an uninspired choice for Marvel’s tier two anchor film. Don’t get me wrong – Levitt is indeed awesome, but Marvel has so far either reignited careers or out and out began them with their super hero casting, and this seems to be very safe and boring. Maybe they think that Strange is too obscure a title and therefor needs a big name career attached to the project? I still say “meh.”

Enter for the chance to win an admit-two pass to the special advance screening of R.I.P.D. on Thursday, July 18 in Salt Lake City at 7:00 PM by texting the phrase LIVING DEAD and your zip code to 43549! (ex. LIVING DEAD 80302) R.I.P.D. opens in theaters on July 19! www.ripd.com

Chim chiminey, chim chiminey, chim chim cher-ee! They’re making a movie about the adaptation of Mary Poppins by Walt Dis-ney I was excited about this film before, but after seeing the trailer, I’m agog. Just look for yourself:

Mary Poppins sits as my favorite Disney movie of all time, my favorite film musical of all time (and will for all time until they make that adaptation of Into the Woods starring Mandy Patinkin I have in my head), and sits in my top 10 favorite films of all time. I love the Sherman Brothers’ music (I wrote the In Memoriam for Robert when he passed away last year) but most of all, I love the story. Yes, it’s a story about cockney chimney sweeps and elaborate dance numbers on the rooftops of London, it’s about jumping into sidewalk chalk drawings and having a jolly holiday with Mary,  but what always struck me the most was the story of the family. Delinquent children, absent parents, a nanny to come set things right. As I grew older and had kids of my own, and had to spend increasing amounts of time at the office away from my awesome kids, I always have to remember Mr. Banks, lest I fall prey to his shortcomings myself. This scene. . .this scene gets me. Every. Time.

“Father, you can have the tuppence. . .”

And so it’s no wonder the title of the film is Saving Mr. Banks. As we hear in the trailer:

PL Travers: Mary Poppins is not for sale! I won’t have her turned into one of your silly cartoons. Walt Disney: Says the woman who sent a flying nanny with a talking umbrella to save the children. T: You think Mary Poppins has come to save the children? Oh dear. . . *** D: So it’s not the children she comes to save. It’s their father. It’s your father.

This looks like all the best bits of Finding Neverland, an amazing cast, and a whole hell of a lot of nostalgia. Remember how the internet flipped out over a fake image of Ryan Gosling doing a Disney biopic? I think people are going to flip their Mickey ears over this when it hits theaters Dec 20. Just look at that cast. Tom Hanks as Walt Disney. Emma Thompson as author PL Travers. Even the small parts are filled with amazing talent: Paul Giamatti and Bradley Whitford both show up in the trailer. (According to imdb, Giamatti plays Travers’ hired chauffer for her time in LA, and Whitford plays Don DaGradi, co-screenwriter and animator– as integral as he was to the creation of Mary Poppins, I assume we see much more of him in the film) And then. . . BJ Novak and Jason Schwartzman as  Bob and Dick Sherman, respectively. OMFG. Can I pretend that this Bob Sherman was also one of Aldo Raine’s Inglorious Basterds? (Robert Sherman walked with a cane, having been shot in the leg while serving in WWII, during which time he led a squad liberating the Dachau concentration camp). So, I’m going to keep thinking that. What we don’t see in the trailer is also the people playing Travers’ real-life family in several flashback sequences that we see in the trailer. This includes her alcoholic, n’er-do-well father played by Colin Farrell. Legit. Having just seen Pacific Rim, I wasn’t sure if I was going to be excited for any movie the rest of the year. This excites me. If it has half the heart of its inspirational material it will be one of the most moving pictures of the year. Next August will be the 50th anniversary of Mary Poppins. It went on to be the most successful box office hit for the studio ever and was nominated for and won a record number of Academy Awards for them. 50 years ago right now they would still be in production on the film. Let’s think about that as we look forward to this film.

Yesterday, we got a sneak peek at the cover of Entertainment Weekly’s Comic Con issue which featured Spider-Man facing-off with Electro, giving us our first good look at Electro and the costume he’ll be wearing. Today, we have a bunch of new images from The Amazing Spider-Man 2, courtesy EW (gallery below).

Featuring shots of Spidey in action, Electro looking menacing, The Rhino struggling with a bout of road rage, and Gwen smiling, these photos really give us our first official clear glances at the film, especially regarding Electro. Frankly, I like the look of Electro. I think this villain may be one of the more difficult to adapt to a Spider-Man movie world and I think they have done a bang-up job with his look. He actually looks like a guy who got jolted with electricity (the burned ears) and is now empowered by it (the cool lighting effects) – yet, he’s still recognizable as the Electro from the comics, namely Ultimate Spider-Man.

Also, I’m really digging Spider-Man’s costume changes. The bigger eyes, the darker tones (though, I quite liked the lighter colors of the previous film’s costume), and the lack of sneaker-looking boots. For me, it really conveys a look that Peter has grown up a bit since the first film and perhaps has started to settle into his role as a superhero – and every hero needs a well-put-together costume.

I really enjoyed the first film, despite some of its issues and the fact that we, once again, had to endure his origin story. I am very much looking forward to what’s in store for us when Spider-Man tangles with some more villains in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 when it hits theaters on May 2, 2014!

[Source: Spiderman News]

What do you think of Electro’s look? What about Spider-Man’s new duds? Are you or are you not looking forward to this film? Could I ask you anymore engaging questions to start a dialogue in the comments below? You know the drill: Sound Off!

You can follow Arse-bot and all the pointless thoughts he puts out into the interwebs on Twitter @Arse_bot

I went into Park Chan-Wook’s “Oldboy” completely blind. I knew absolutely nothing about the film. It was a truly unforgettable experience. As such, I hate to let you know that you can now watch the trailer for Spike Lee’s remake – especially if you haven’t seen the original. Nonetheless, here it is:

I’ve been having a long time debate about seeing this move, simply because I think Americans should just bite the bullet and watch some damn subtitles once in a while.  I am sympathetic to those who have a hard time following subtitles while watching a movie (and if you are ever tempted to watch the dubbed version of the original – DO NOT), but think far too many people chalk it up to not wanting to read. To which I say “feh.” But damned if Josh Brolin doesn’t look amazing in this, and Samuel L. Jackson is a member of the Fart on a Snare Drum Club, so I will definitely be forking up for a matinee ticket to this one.

And to those in the know… Does this trailer imply a wildly different movie to you? I am not conveying this as specifically as I could, which reminds me: Please, for the love of Jeebus, NO SPOILERS IN THE COMMENTS!! Hit me up on twitter if you’d like to discuss in detail.

If you’ve ever been to this site before, you know that we like Big Shiny Robot!s. It’s kind of our thing. If you’ve read the site for a long time, you’d probably know that we’re big fans of Guillermo Del Toro as well.

It’s no wonder we’d be interested in this film.

I’ve been interested in it from the beginning, given Del Toro’s body of work, but I’ve tried to stay as far away from the hype as possible. I’ve watched a couple of trailers and had an extensive conversation with Travis Beacham, the writer of the film, but that’s about it.

But even staying away, I couldn’t help but feel some glimmer of excitement before I saw the film.

Now, settling into this movie, and having little frame of reference and expecting nothing more than giant robots fighting giant monsters, I wasn’t expecting a well-written, smart take on all the classic summer movie tropes. I wasn’t expecting to love this film so much. I wasn’t expecting to be completely blown away. I wasn’t expecting such a wholly engrossing film.

Pacific Rim tells the story of a world ravaged by monsters that come up out of the sea without warning and terrorize the population. The human response is to build giant robots to fight them.

That’s about all I was hoping to get. I was surprised to find a well-constructed world with that lived-in feel we all hope so much for in science fiction films. I was also surprised to find gravitas in the shared sacrifice of destruction caused by the Kaiju. That was, for me, one of the chief problems of Man of Steel. We were supposed to buy the human response to the Kryptonian invasion and instead we were given two dopey military men and they worked to stop Zod. The public in danger was represented by Perry White and we weren’t given a sense whatsoever of the human cost. Where Man of Steel failed in that regard, Pacific Rim knocks this out of the park. When a Kaiju attack happens, there’s a cost to all of humanity. Del Toro came as close to capturing national sentiment from something like, say, 9/11, on a global scale in this film. The world came together to fight this and it’s represented in all of the choices made about the film. Even if you like Man of Steel, you’ll have to admit that it’s simply done better here.

Del Toro imbued this film with the visceral feeling that ALL OF HUMANITY was at stake here, and that we could very well lose.

The film establishes its world and the stakes of it quickly and we’re left caring about who wins in the the fight between the giant robots (called Jaegers) and the Kaiju.

We’re also given a hero’s journey story, a few of them, from different characters, that all build to one of the most satisfying climaxes I’ve ever seen in a summer movie.

Every trope you can imagine from a big summer movie is on display in this film, from the rousing pre-battle speech and the gruff jock with a problem, to the down on his luck hero getting verbally abused by his commanding officer. Every twist and every turn of the classic summer film, which seems to be a genre on its own, is paid homage to in Pacific Rim, but it’s made fresh in every instance.

For most summer movies like this, Transformers, Battleship, etc. you’d be told, “Turn your brain off and you’ll enjoy it.” Not so with Pacific Rim. It’s a brilliant, careful reconstruction of this type of film and you’re rewarded for thinking deeper about things. After three days of processing this film, everything seems to get better with continued mental digestion, always a good sign for any film.

That’s not to say Pacific Rim doesn’t look pretty or punch hard enough. This movie is gorgeous and the fight scenes are spectacular. There are so many moments where the audience is practically begged to stand and cheer, but we were all too respectful of each other to actually do it.

Another thing I loved about this film was how it treated women and minorities. The woman in this film isn’t a love interest, she’s not a damsel in distress, and she’s not white. Mako, the female lead, is strong, kick-ass, and has to overcome reservations of her fighting on the frontline. She proves herself more than capable, though, and makes me twice as happy knowing I’m going to be bringing my daughter to this film. The other strongest supporting character is played by Idris Elba, who is the badass Marshal Stacker Pentecost. He gets so much cool stuff to do and be the guy in charge of everything.

It’s so much fun, it’s disgusting.

Seriously, this film made me happy in a way I haven’t been able to be in the theatre for a long time. Even Iron Man 3 didn’t provide it. It was so clearly put together by people who have a love of monster movies, but also great films. There were nods to classics like Chinatown, but also spiritual nods to things like Raiders of the Lost Ark and Star Wars. It was just a well-told, cleanly written story.

Hands down, this is the best summer movie of 2013, and I don’t see any on the horizon that can touch it.

The only question is: how soon until Marvel throws money at Del Toro to step into the Marvel Universe? Could you imagine him directing a picture with Dormammu as the bad guy?

I just got the chills.

Pacific Rim is not without its problems, but all of its enjoyable features more than make up for it. I’m giving this movie a perfect score.

See it, now and often. If it fails, then it’s your fault they don’t make good movies anymore.

Seventh Son? Never heard of it. A quick Google search tells me it’s based off the Spook’s Apprentice series by Joseph Delaney, which I have also never heard of, either. Then again, I don’t get out much. Check out this trailer for the movie, though…

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQt6lYJHIOA

I’ve always been a sucker for a bit of fantasy in my movies, but aside from Lord of the Rings, nothing has really set the box-office world on fire. Here’s hoping Seventh Son proves to be a hit for Legendary and Warner Brothers later this year! Regardless, I would pay money to watch Jeff Bridges and Julianne Moore play Scrabble, so sign me up!