Nutshell Review: Up

Just back from Disney Pixars newest offering, Up. First impressions are good.

The music is fantastic, utilizing a lot of classical music to full and wonderful effect. The beats are well matched, though possibly the fact that I noticed them is actually a negative. Music should accompany the scene, never overpower it, but I just couldn't help notice how well certain pieces fit the action onscreen.

And the action is rendered in stunning clarity and detail. Once again, Pixar prove themselves masters of their chosen medium. Having seen Monsters Vrs Aliens earlier in the year, the difference in quality is astounding. Everything is lovingly crafted, from the principle characters holding your attention, to the tiny flowers, bugs and landscape details all over the scenery.

Which brings me to the characters themselves. Now, admittedly, they were clichéd and, highly ironically, very 2D in nature, but they were fun and enjoyable, and I liked them. The animals that appear were probably more fun than the few humans, but I certainly wasn't annoyed at any of the characters presented.

Finally, the big part of the movie, the 3D. It seems that this is becoming more and more prevalent in modern cinema. In just this year alone, I can think of three animated movies already released and one on the way presented in polarized 3D, the style that needs the lined glasses, rather than the red/green ones. Monsters Vrs Aliens was ok, but the 3D never seemed to be quite right. It was a fraction of a millimeter off the whole time, and both myself and Claire ended up with quite the headache afterwords. We didn't get to see Coraline, unfortunately, so I can't comment on that, and I have no interest in seeing A Christmas Carol, having been less than impressed by any trailers so far.

But Up was incredible! The 3D was, for me, stunning. It worked so well. There were just a handful of moments when it shifted a little off, but 90% of the time, I loved the effect. Bit's flying out at the screen, depth and distance between characters and backgrounds, and even effective multiple layering. It has to be said though that Claire disagrees with me. She found the 3D distracting and annoying again. She says it was better than Monsters Vrs Aliens, but still not great.

The one weakness is the story. It's rather basic, simple and clichéd, and feels unusually by-the-numbers for a Pixar production. Claire felt she could not only tell where the plot was going, but could almost predict the dialogue in some places. I think her situation wasn't helped by the fact hat she couldn't immerse herself in the movie because of the 3D, while I fell headlong into the screen and only resurfaced when the credits rolled.

Well worth seeing in my opinion, though not Pixars finest hour. Then again, they may never top the perfection of Wall-E, which all members of this household are delighted to point out was a movie released before 3D became the cool thing to do.

Nutshell Review: Death Race

Here's the problem. Most of my regular readers, of which there are but a handful to begin with, are Irish. This movie will not be getting an Irish cinema general release. It's a straight-to-DVD-er. How do I guess as much?? Because I've seen it. It was in a tiny cinema on it's opening night because no-one else was screening it, but I've seen it. And, boy! Are you gonna be missing something special!!

The trailer has everything you need to know about this movie. Big guns, ridiculous explosions between cars, a threadbare plot (at best), and Jason Statham. That's it. Expect more, and be bitterly disappointed. Expect this, and it's awesome. Even more awesome is the trailer for yet another Statham movie right at the start! You can't get enough of that wonderful actor.

Death Race, for those who do not know, is a remake of a 1975 movie, Death Race 2000 produced by Roger Corman. The Roger Corman. Which Roger Corman?? This one. Unbelievably, he serves as producer on the remake as well!!

All that aside, Death Race is awesome. I can't stop saying that. Because it is! It just is. So much violence. So much death. So much fun.

Edit: Oh boy!! Not only do I suspect that this might have a slim chance of getting into Irish cinemas (if it shows up near you, go see it!), but I just discovered Tom Cruise was a producer as well! Tom and Roger. Nice.

Nutshell Reviews: Mummy 3: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor

After Mummy 2, I thought the franchise was dead. I really disliked the over-use of CGI effects, particularly during the final scenes versus the Scorpion King. I still can't understand why they didn't do an awesome fight between Brendan Fraiser and The Rock! That would have been cheaper to do than the atrocious fight we got instead.

But the trailer for the new installment, M3:TofDE, actually looked very, very interesting. It had action, humour, cool effects, a neat twist on the concept, a great cast and what appeared to be an interesting plot.

The opening 30 minutes are very boring. A good chunk of this is Rick O'Connell and the new chick playing Evey, who I really dislike, just being boring and very not funny in a "look how funny we are" kinda way. They make an awful joke at the start regarding the change in actress for Evey, and it went downhill fast from there for her. She delivered many of her lines with little flair, and seemed uncomfortable in the role. I really liked how Rachel Weisz managed to play the rough and tough, clumsy damsel, and make it enjoyable to watch. I was really hoping that this new Evie would be used as an example of how bad-ass the Emperor was and get killed. Early. On screen. With no chance for return. I would actually have preferred if Evey's character had not appeared in the movie at all, instead explaining her absence with a signing tour for her new book, or something. Her character did little in the movie to justify her presence anyway!!

But once Jet Li was brought back, things got exciting! The action kicked the movie into high gear, and it was a lot of fun. True, there were still far too many cringe-worthy, soppy moments, and it did get silly a few times. And once again, the CGI was in far too great a supply, but thus is the difficulty of bigger budgets. And the snow in the scenes in the Himalayas was terribly fake looking, particularly if anyone had to run through it, or step in it, or just interact in any way with it. It was clearly a non-sticky, non-melting, non-liquid based powdery stuff. And baddies were, while not quite immortal, ridiculously difficult to kill!

But despite all this, over-all, not a bad movie. It really was fun. I laughed out loud at a few scenes, and it was sufficiently pulp. I won't be rushing out to buy the DVD, and I might even recommend people to wait and watch it on DVD. Mummy 3: Rise of the Dragon Emperor is better than the previous movie in the trilogy, but not as good as the first one, and better than Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, but still not as good as the trailer suggests. Pity. And there are just a few changes that could have made it much better! But that's a story for another time, as it requires talking about plot details and the finale.

The Cool Exec With A Heart Of Steel

Just got back from Iron Man preview screening. It was fun. We all enjoyed it, and Claire managed to not fall asleep once throughout... well, except right at the start, but that's because we were in the cinema 45 minutes before the movie started to guarantee great seats.

The problem with describing why it's not better that "fun", means having to go into detail. Normally, I hate to comment on particular scenes as soon as a movie is released, and this is worse, as I saw the preview screening! However, I really want to voice my concerns about key scenes. If you've seen the movie, highlight below and read on. If not, wait until you have, then come back and check!!

Last warning, below this line goes into detail on key scenes. If you have not seen the movie and do not want to be spoiled, DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER!

Everything above is a lie! Iron Man is the best movie of the year so far, and I can't imagine Hulk, Batman or anything else beating it! Everything is so perfect, so well scripted, acted, shot, realised, that even Claire was freaking out about it! Even my darling girlfriend who has yet to see the new Transformers movie due to lack of interest, walked out of the cinema gushing over how good this was! Seriously. Seriously. This can easily be the best super hero movie ever made, regardless of what you currently hold in that esteemed position. For me, it is X-Men 2. A stunning blend of action and plot, with a great cast, and unexpected character development. Great sequel that built on the original. Iron Man has all that in it's opening number! Wow! Seriously. Gushing does not describe how I feel about this movie right now! Ohh! And in case you missed it first time round, there was a bit at the very end of the credits!! Seriously. The most awesome after-credit bit I've ever seen in a movie! Geek-out heaven!! I said it would never work. I disliked it when I heard rumours. I was wrong. So very, very wrong! And now I'm throwing my friends off the scent! I'm telling them all that it was "Ok, nothing special, all the best bits in the trailer". I'm lying of course, but by the time they find out, it'll be too late!!

Bwa-ha-hahaha!!!

And no spoilers in the comments please. Be fair on the others.

Well Done Agent

This review is short and sweet.

I love it, some of my friends love it, some don't. A free-roaming sandbox game from the creator of the GTA series, Crackdown puts you in the place of a future cop with a crazy suit of armour that allows you to leap small buildings, pick up trucks, snipe with a heavy machine gun, and cause company cars to transform from G1 Transformers to Bayformers. Freakin' sweet! Admittedly, that's what you can do once you have leveled up a bit, but that really doesn't take very long. I was fully dotted before even starting the last of the three city zones.

I love the freedom, the leaping around, the crazy action, the pick-up-and-play aspect. I love the leveling up process, the cell shaded animation, and the sharp dialogue. I just love how much fun I find this game to be.

But I can't recommend it. You have to play it yourself. If you can, rent it, or even better, if you're on Xbox Live, just download the free demo. The leveling up speed has been ramped up so that you can almost max-out your athletics or weapons in the hour and a bit the demo allows you have. If you enjoy it, you can pick it up for about €25-€30 new, and €15-20 second hand. That's all it's really worth. Even I know when I get stuck into my other 360 title, even the colourful graphics and equally colourful gameplay won't pull me back. Though, as a rule of thumb, I'd say that if you enjoyed Hulk: Ultimate Destruction, you'll love this.

Galactic Conquest

I love playing computer games, but find anything that makes me too frustrated is not worth my time. Often, if I get stuck on a particular level, or a certain area, I'll just give up and never go back. If a game annoys me to the point of cursing or even anger, it's not worth it (I should note that this is different from getting excited to the point of cursing. Chu-Chu Rocket had me screaming like a sailor for hours, and I loved every second of it!). I can turn it off and try again tomorrow. If I still get angry at it, then I know I'm not going to finish it. This is entirely independent of how good the game is.

A quick glance at my games on my game rack brings lots of examples to mind.

Mercenaries: Made it to the second Ace. Couldn't capture him alive. Replayed it too much. Never even got to play on the second map.

Gun: Stupid frackin' last boss. In fact, I didn't even play the last part of the game. Jp played it.

GTA: San Andreas: Got bored.
GTA: Liberty City Stories: Couldn't get into it.

Metroid Prime 2: Fish boss killed me too often, and every time I died it was a ten minute trawl back to his location. Nope. Not again.

Punisher: Started something else... damn. I liked that game. Must go back and play it again...

Add to that a list of PC games a mile long, and you see the problem I face any time I consider buying a new game. If I play it, will I enjoy it? Will I finish it? Even if I don't complete it, will I put in enough time to make it worth the price?

Mario Galaxy took up more time in my life for the two weeks after I got it than eating, and arguably breathing, did! Certainly I got far more of a sensorial response playing Galaxy on the Wii than I did with any of my meals during that time!
From start to finish, this is a masterpiece exploding with humour, creativity, intelligence and a level of complexity to make the game challenging without being frustrating. The hardest Stars to get (once more, the goal of the game) are often on the most fun levels to play, so dieing ten times in quick succession doesn't seem so bad! Collecting purple coins on a pixelated Luigi is awesome, but I've lost over 20 lives to it already and still don't have a Star to show for it.

Galaxy is the first game I've really played in a long time. It's certainly the first in a very long time that I have totally enjoyed. Every new level is a thrill, every new Star, a burst of adrenalin. While the big Stars might power the space station, it's collecting the little ones that power me forward. Races, time-trials, quests, and other challenges divert from the platforming for a while and add to the fun. And while I'm talking about platforming, returning to the classic 2D styles in a 3D game without a break in the action is beautiful to watch! Mixing those up with altering gravity fields and mind warping puzzles is just fresh strawberries on an already perfectly iced cake.

There is nothing bad I can say about the game. Sure, the two-player mode leaves the second player with little to do, but Claire loved it while I was Mario, and I loved it while other people controlled the main action. It's not much, but it's damn fun to do! The bosses are colourful and varied, the levels are amazing to play on, and the innovative gravity elements are mind bending to play with. Running around to the underside of a platform to avoid enemies can be confusing at first but you eventually get used t... no. No, you never get used to it! It's amazing every time!

If you have a Wii, you need this game. Mario 64 on the N64 redefined platforming, bringing it into the third dimension. Mario Sunshine was weak, created to fill an unusually long gap between Mario games. But Mario Galaxy is a shining achievement that Nintendo is rightly proud of!

Nutshell Reviews: Harry Potter & The Order Of The Phoenix

Stop! In case you haven't read it, I've put up a post on the rest of the Harry Potter books and movies, so read that one first and then come back.

The Order of the Phoenix had a lot going for it before the opening credits even rolled. I knew the cast were back, and I liked them. I was very happy with the edit done to the last book on translation into a movie and I had confidence that the same might be done to this one. And I had read an interview with the director of this and the upcoming sixth movie due in 2008, and he is a huge fan of Bill Nighy, so I liked him too.

Fiennes was once again astoundingly good was He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, and looks dashing in a tux! The Wesley twins, played with style and conviction by James and Oliver Phelps once again seemed to steal any scene they appeared in, even if neither ever open his mouth! My favourite character in the book, Sirius Black was wonderfully portrayed once more by the equally wonderful Gary Oldman, and new addition Imelda Staunton as Dolores Umbridge can only be described as the written words on the page given life and committed to film! She was incredible. While we're here, the rest of the cast were wonderful too, without a single weak link. I must give a big congratulations to Irish actress Evanna Lynch who played Luna Lovegood. As a character I had forgotten completely about from the book, she was memorably played by the young talent in her first role in anything ever! That's what happens with open auditions!

Moving on from the cast, the music was great! So too were the special effects. Clean, vibrant CGI made the big moments a joy to watch. The scenes of Dumbledores Army (pictured to the left) practicing in their private hide-away made for great character moments, as well as awesome special effects. Broomstick flying along the Thames sent shivers down my back, and the final showdown between Voldemort and Dumbledore was spectacular eye candy.

So the movie was great, right?

Wrong.

Everything I hated about the novel was in the movie. Harry spent most of his time whinging and whining, acting more like a spoilt brat than the shy, reluctant character he was previously. Communication between characters was worse than on the Lost island! If people were just upfront with Harry almost everything could have been avoided! Worst of all is Dumbledore, who distances himself from Harry to "protect him", but that very act causes Harry to run head first into the Death-Eaters trap!! The prophesy everyone is after, either to hear or protect tells us a fact that we have known since book one, page one! Whiskey-Tango-Foxtrot!! This is worse than a poorly written DnD plot!

And the "important character" death! Arg! When I got to that bit in the novel I threw the book away I was so frustrated! It was random, stupid and pointless, and done to a character that had itself proclaimed in that very book how useless it felt! Due to the possibly spoilery nature of the following paragraph, I'm writing it in white, so if you want to read it, just click around here, then, keeping the left button pressed, move the mouse down to highlight the paragraph, revealing the hidden text (it's better done than the blasted prophesy was!). Yes, I know most of my readers were aware of how this works, but I'm erring on the side of caution here!

The killed off character is of course, Sirius Black. Now while I admit bias on the previously mentioned fact of him being my favourite character in the series, it was obvious that Rowling had no more use for him. After his book, Prisoner of Azkaban, he only ever appeared to throw out a piece of advice to Harry or be a sounding board for Harrys frustrations. His purpose was done. His last act was to let Dumbledore use his house for their base. And then he suffers a ridiculous death. Hit by a knock-back spell that would hardly have bruised him in any other situation, he stumbles, stumbles back into a mysterious veil with mysterious voices of the dead. Could this veil be a not-to-subtle reference to the "veil of death"?!? Oh god. Yes. What a stupid way to remove a character, just so she could announce an "important character" (yeah, right.) death in the newest novel. Awful. The movie actually makes it even worse, as the scene where Sirius laments his uselessness doesn't have 400 pages of fluff to make you forget it before he meets his demise. Instead, he tells Harry how useless he is and a few minutes later, *poof* he's dead. Didn't see that one coming, did ya?!?

The Order of the Phoenix was the book that turned me off the whole Harry Potter franchise. While I was never one of the "queue for the midnight launch" kind of fans, I read and enjoyed the novels. Until Order. It was ridiculously long, padded out with more fluff than ever before. I've mentioned the flaws just a bit ago, so I don't need to here... but I will anyway, cause they were terrible and should be emphasised! Whiny Harry, useless prophesy, unhelpful secrecy and pointless death. And the movie has them all. In fact, by successfully exorcising the fluff, the bad points just get crammed together, one running into the next!

The Half-Blood Prince is the first of the novels I have yet to read, and most likely will not have by the time the movie adaptation comes out. But where Order put me off the books, the movie hasn't entirely put me off the movies. Sure, I'm not going to be preordering tickets, and I might grab a matinee to save on the entry price, but if the effects and acting are as strong and enjoyable to watch as they were in this one, it'll be worth seeing once.

But only once.

And I still won't read the damned book.

Nutshell Reviews: The Harry Potter Series

Before I post my Nutshell Review of Harry Potter & The Order Of The Phoenix, I suppose it's worth noting how I felt about the previous movies, especially as this is the fifth in the series. Likewise, I'll mention how the books hold up as I go along, just so we're all on the same page.

Philosophers Stone, or Sorcerers Stone in the US, was a good movie that set everything off. The actors were all well chosen, and the story held together on the big screen. This was great, as the book is a little weak, with a few parts reading very amateurish. Not that I'm complaining about that. It was JK Rowlings first, and she did a damn sight better that I could ever have done!

Chamber of Secrets was a great movie that I felt really surpassed the novel. The younger actors had a better feel for their roles, the teachers were flawless and it was done by almost the entire same crew as the first movie, resulting in a superior execution. I felt the whole Tom Riddle plot was handled far better on screen, or maybe it was just condensed enough to be faster and more enjoyable. I remember reading the novel and being bitterly annoyed that Voldemort was once again shoe-horned in as the big-bad, without actually ever appearing again! Somehow, viewing the movie made that less of an issue.

Prisoner of Azkaban is by far and away my favourite novel. The series took a turn for the darker, the twists and turns of the plot made it a far more enjoyable read, and the characters were really coming together. The Dementors were a cool idea, and the thoughts of a whole prison of them was chillingly frightening. But the movie fell very flat. It was too short, with loads of the book left out, as well as many important explanations in particular, the connection between the Marauders Map and James, Sirius, Remus and Peter, and a clear explanation of their childhood connection. Anyone who read the book knew what was going on, but there were many left scratching their heads. There was little excuse for this as well, as the runtime of 141 minutes was the shortest of the series to that point, and it felt it too. Finally, while the Dementors were well done, after watching the Ringwraiths in Lord of the Rings not too long before, they really could have been done much darker. I do however realise that this is at heart a kids movie, so that's a point I'll just have to accept and move on.

Goblet of Fire proves to be my favourite movie, while being the book that drove me crazy. It was so huge and full of fluff side plots that simply padded out the page count that I was glad to see the movie cut everything down. Focusing solely on the Triwizard Tournament, the movie was fast paced, lead by a confident and capable cast for both students and teachers, with a strong plot that honored the source material. The special effects were once again an improvement on the previous instalments, and the action was blisteringly paced throughout. Back up to a runtime of over 2 and a half hours (157 minutes to be accurate), I sat patiently enjoying the story until Lord Voldemorts triumphant return! And boy, was it worth the wait. Ralph Fiennes was an excellant choice, and the make-up was incredible. Walking out of the cinema I could hardly wait for the next installment, and more of Fiennes Voldemort that it would hold.

And with that all done, on to the new movie!

Nutshell Reviews: Die Hard 4.0

Ha!Take that Americans! And you too Canada! 4.0! We get the better title! After suffering the indignity of Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (because not enough of us would understand who Lois and Clark were apparently! "Yes. Hmmm. Didn't they blaze a trail across America during it's "wild years"?"). Now we get the last laugh! While you only get LFDH. (Live Free Or Die Hard, the American title has been abbreviated to LFDH, pronounced "laughed" by people unhappy with the overly patriotic title. Yeah. That gag totally works better in the spoken word, but I'm not running a video blog here, now am I?!?) However, we both lose out to the French (how often does one get to say that!), with their awesome title of Die Hard 4.0: Return to Hell!

Anyway, apart from the title, is it any good?

Is it what?!? It's freakin awesome! Here's how it breaks down:

Opening credits, plot, gun action, driving action, hacking action, driving action, explosions action, plot, fight action, explosions action, gratuitous geeky humour, plot, ninja action, gun action, driving action, flying action, explosions action, gun action, catchphrase, closing credits.

Yup. That's pretty much it. Come on. It's Die Hard. What did you expect? And it's amazing! After so many years, Willis just drops right back into the role! It's like he never left. The humour is sharp as always, and this outing is chock-full of references to the earlier three, from lift shaft explosions, broken glass, an agent named Johnson, walkie-talkie conversations with the bad-guy, and that (surely by now) trademarked vest, this has it all!

The supporting cast are great. McClanes daughter is strong willed and resourceful, like her father and his unexpected tag-along proves the perfect counterweight to McClanes all-hero actions. The bad-guys are a little dry, it must be said. They don't do much apart from die (there really must be a 1-800-henchman hotline for these guys!), although one of them sure did act as though he knew it was all a movie, and he was the villain. Also, the pilot of the F-35 that makes an appearance not only knew he was in a movie, but knew he was the good guy too, allowing him to manipulate the laws of probability and skills to pull of some insane and crazy stuff. Pity the silly git didn't read the script closer and shoot the right guy while he was at it!

The stunts are excellent, and the effects are stunning. Some of the tricks they pulled off, by whatever means they used, are just inspired! McClanes uncanny ability to get out of any situation is used to hilarious effect, and I'm sure I must have annoyed some of the more gentile cinema-goers with my laughter at some of the more crazy methods he utilises.

So is it worth seeing? Oh hells yeah! Go see it today! It's roaringly funny, heart-stoppingly exhilarating, and adrenaline pumpingly fast paced (Yay for made-up verbs!).

I'll be adding this one to my Die Hard collection on DVD release as well!

Nutshell Reviews: Burn Notice

Some of you may remember that I wrote a brief post about a new series with Bruce Campbell in it called Burn Notice that was starting up. What? You haven't read that one? It's two posts down! Go read it now. I'll wait...

...

...

Ok. Back? Did you read it? Good.

So you know the basic idea. CIA guy get fired, but worse, he gets blacklisted. Funds frozen, no chance of getting a job anywhere and stuck in Florida with his mom, what's a guy to do. This one turns MacGyver P.I.

You see, this Westen guy is good with his head, and uses it over brute strength any day he can. So he builds gadgets, rigs up listening devices, points out flaws on bullet proof doors (the surrounding walls are plasterboard... well, they are in this one!) and yes, uses duct tape to... to... well, do stuff. Very MacGyver. He also uses a gun and has no fear about killing people if the need arises, but usually such an act would be bad for his current business. So not entirely like MacGyver then!

He doesn't know why he's been given a Burn Notice, so there's one story arc right off. Cult movie god Bruce plays an old friend, and a good one too, while another contact he makes use of is ex-girlfriend, Fiona. Fiona makes me want to claw my ears off with a rusty spoon. You see, she's Irish. Actually, no. She Oirish. And ex-IRA. Oh god! Oh god it hurts. The less time this girl gets on screen for the season the better. Thankfully, Westen doesn't trust her much, so most of the buddy stuff is with Bruce's character, Sam Axe. Yay!

The writings good, there are some nice gimmicks and they're not afraid of copying, or plagiarising from other popular series. Best of all, they're not afraid of admitting it either! About halfway in my girlfriend Claire commented that this show was very like "Like MacGyver, but with more violence" and within minutes he's praising the glory of duct tape while setting something up himself! Oh how we laughed! No really. We did. I had to go back cause we missed 30 seconds of the show from it! Oh! And Westons mom is played by one half of Cagney and Lacey! I love that show!

Acting is good, the main guy is fun to watch (and a bit of a hunk for you lady viewers!), Bruce is great, and the plots are strong. Ok. Plot. I've only seen the one episode so far.

Recommend it? Sure. Give it a go. But keep the remote in your hand. Any time Fiona shows up (she looks like this), hit mute and bring up the subtitles. As soon as she's gone, back to the audio track! A simple task to make the show completely fun to watch. Even without that, it's good. Just... oh... her voice!

Now as amber (hi amber!) pointed out in the comments of that preview post, "That guy wasn't as spy-ish as I hoped", and she's right, but now that we know that the show is going for a more gadgetty feel, I'm happy to go with it. Some day we'll get a proper full on spy show, and we'll all be happy viewers, taking detailed notes for our future career in the secret-trading business necessitated by the post-apocalyptic zombie-filled nightmare world of the future we'll all be living in. Until then, this is a blast!

Nutshell Reviews: Fantastic Four: Rise Of The Silver Surfer

Ok, so I've always said I wanted to write more reviews or similar stuff on this site. I say it time and again, but I rarely get a chance to sit down and follow through with my promises. This is the compromise, nutshell reviews! Due to the late hour most of these get written, there may be grammatical errors present. Also, these nutshell reviews are open to editing and alteration at a later date, possibly even extension, if I feel I forgot something.

First up, Fantastic Four: Rise Of The Silver Surfer.

I loved the first movie that was made for this franchise, so going in the door, I knew I was going to be pleased. I'm a sucker for big flashy super hero movies, and this one filled all those categories!

The characters as as fun as the first time, with Ben and Johnny once more stealing the show! The writers obviously spotted this in the first one too, because they gave the two of them far more screen time in the sequel, and upped the crazy antics they get up to. There are a few nice nods for fans of the comics, and even Stan Lee gets an extra special cameo for this one. The Silver Surfer is incredible, looking, moving and even sounding perfect! The reflections on his body are incredibly well done. Every action seems throughout and meaningful, and he truly comes across looking as though he has the power of a comic god inside him, and every movement he does is affected by that. That, and his voice resonates with strength and determination. And Doom! I loved Julian McMahon in the first and he's even better here! He pulls of the screaming, plotting, sneering Doom with joy, clearly relishing the part. I loved seeing things begin to work out for him during the movie. He just seemed so happy, I wanted to hug him and tell him "Keep enjoying it! Cause in the third act, they're gonna kick your ass!"

The script is strong, and the dialogue is lively and fast paced. Johnny's banter in particular is well written, and executed wonderfully by Chris Evans. The action gets going early, and once it does, the movie is well paced, with nice moments of quietness between the action scenes, lending themselves to great character development. The action is top notch, and visually spectacular. And there is loads of it, another lesson learned from the rather action-light first outing. While we're on the lessons here, they certainly get around the world in the new movie. In the first, all we had was the lab and New York. Sure, we had the space station and the mountain hospital, but nothing much happened there... well... nothing actiony! I realise they got their powers on the station! London, Russia, New York and China all turn up as places to have a good fight in the sequel. As well as that we see Japan, Egypt and more as the Surfer circles the globe a few times!

Finally, Galactus. I'm not gonna ruin it. I loved what they did, others didn't. Lots of neat references, lots of subtle hints. At least this version looked like he really could consume a planet, without the need for nanomachines!

So is it a good movie? If you liked the first one, you'll probably love this. Even if you weren't all that impressed with the first movie, this still has hope. It is faster, there is more action, and the Surfer is cool, but I can't really recommend it to you.

I loved it. It'll be in my DVD collection on release!