The Expendables 3 (2014)

For the third installment of the all out action series, the Expendables 3 leaves a little to be desired. Most of the movie is spent getting a new team together for no apparent reason. So with a good chunk of the movie getting a new "band together," there's not much time left for great action and blowing up stuff. I thought that having the cheese-fest of constant quotes from the last movie was bad enough, but I'd take that again for the third if that meant it'd be a better movie. The cast is fun. The old crew is the same group we've come to know from the other two movies. The new crew adds nothing and seems quite bland in contrast to the rest of the crew. The exception to this is Antonio Banderas. He is almost single-handedly the humor in this movie. Kelsey Grammer, Mel Gibson, and Wesley Snipes are all good additions to the cast. Harrison Ford's performance, on the other hand, seems a little lack luster. It seems that he'd rather be on any other set than this one. This makes me kinda apprehensive about his performance in the upcoming Star Wars movie. When the action finally does come, it doesn't disappoint. I just wish there was more of it. As you'd expect with an action movie, violence and language are the main "objectionable materials" in this movie.

Overall, I'd give this movie
                                  out of

Godzilla (2014)

I'm going to start this off by saying the only Godzilla movie I ever watched was the '98 film with Matthew Broderick, which I didn't think was bad, but apparently I'm in the minority. Now, fast forward 16 years and it's time for a Godzilla comeback. The movie itself was a typical "monster movie." Monster comes in, wrecks the city, fights army and/or other monster, then leaves. The cast isn't remarkable. No big names that have been "big" and "buzz-worthy" for more than 5 years. Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Elizabeth Olsen are convincing in their roles. The visuals are pretty nice looking. There's not much in the way of objectionable material other than violence and a few scenes that could be scary for small children.

Overall, I'd give this movie
                                  out of

Draft Day (2014)

8.8/10


Draft Day is not your normal football movie. In fact, this movie (SPOILER ALERT!!) doesn't even have a full game of play in it! The casting was unique, but everyone was a nice fit. It was a little weird having Jennifer Garner and Kevin Costner as love interests, but once the movie gets going, it's hardly noticeable. Tom Welling plays a pretty convincing pro quarterback. Dennis Leary is adequate as the head coach, but doesn't have enough screen time to make it a bad casting decision. As far as objectionable material, the language is really the only thing that I could find in this movie. Originally, this movie was rated R because of the language, but after some petitioning from the studio, the MPAA gave it a well deserved PG-13 rating. The story was nice and a little predictable, but in a fun way. If you're a sports fan, I would highly suggest this movie!

Overall, I'd give this movie

                                  out of

Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)

8.8/10


Guardians of the Galaxy was a fun blast into the Marvel Cinematic Universe! I believe that this will be the biggest movie of the summer. Marvel strikes again with great casting choices. I'm not a huge fan of Zoë Saldana, but she does a good job as Gamora. I've watched Batista on WWE programming for the past 10-ish years and this is one of the best performances I've seen him give. I also didn't think that having a name like Bradley Cooper as just a voice actor would do any good for the movie, but he made Rocket really come to life in this movie! I haven't had very much exposure to Chris Pratt before this movie, but he was an excellent choice as the starring role as Star Lord. Vin Diesel is also great as Groot. The cameos are also a brilliant part of this movie. As a child of the '80s, I was singing along with the soundtrack and having a great time! The action was fun and the plot was very enjoyable. By far, in my opinion, this is the most fun movie Marvel has put out thus far. I'm excited for the sequel to this movie, but not excited that we'll have to wait until 2017!! As far as objectionable material, there are a few choice words and one obscene gesture, no nudity and lots of action.

Overall, I'd give this movie
                                  out of

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014)

Ninja Turtles is a fun revamped blast from the past. With all of the internet rumors over the past 2+ years that producer Michael Bay was going to ruin the Turtles by making them aliens from a distant planet of other anthropomorphic animals, the future box office success of this reboot looked bleak.  However, after seeing this movie, I can say that all of the doom-and-gloomers weren't giving director Jonathan Liebesman the credit he deserves for helming this fun summer movie. There's not a stellar soundtrack as some other recent movies (last month's Guardians), but the background music adds to the environment of the movie. Megan Fox actually seems to be doing more than just being there for sex appeal. I was against her casting as soon as I heard it and thought the movie would be dreadful with her as April, but I thought she made for a very convincing soon-to-be investigative reporter.  The voice actors wouldn't have been my choice. They're not horrible, but with all of the previous incarnations of the Turtles that I've been through and seen, I was let down. The voices lent themselves to Turtles individual personalities, but were mostly bland. There were some parts of the origin story that I didn't think made sense. I'd go into more detail, but I don't want to spoil it for those looking forward to seeing it. 

Overall, I'd give this movie
                                  out of