Movie in 3D

Captain America 3D review

Captain America is based on a comics book character created in the 1940s, before Marvel even existed, you will find action, sci-fi, adventure and romance in this movie, all of the necessary ingredients for a good time. Joe Johnston, the director, does a really great job transporting the viewer in time injecting a second World War time period classic looks and feel to the movie, Chris Evans is a perfect choice of actor for the role of a weak and schmuck guy turned superhero.

Captain America was filmed in London, Manchester and Liverpool (United Kingdom) and Los Angeles in the US. This is a 3D post-production film, a few of the scenes are worth watching in 3D but mostly it is a shoddy and poor 3D conversion that in occasions darkens the colours and lacks detail.

Synopsis: During the second World War a young American man who has been found unfit for the army redeems himself by volunteering in a secret experiment to create super soldiers what turns him in Captain America, a superhero leading the fight for America’s ideals.

Director: Joe Johnston
Writer: Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely
Starring: Hugo Weaving, Chris Evans, Hayley Atwell
Runtim: 124min
Rated: PG

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Family friendly 3D film

The Smurfs is a 3D CGI film based on the 1980s animated series of the same name, which in turn was based on a Belgian’s comic books saga and comic strips, the film is composed of hybrid real footage, shot in New York, combined with computer generated characters of little blue beings wearing a very characteristic hat, The Smurfs.

This family friendly 3D film will easily keep kids entertained due to the simplicity of the storyline, adults who have seen The Smurfs cartoons in their childhood will likely also like watching this adaptation as they will already be familiar with the plot and it might revive the nostalgia of those times. The film has many humorous sketches to entertain parents but if you are not familiar with the little blue beings it won’t be that much fun for you and I would call it a mediocre film for adults and a great movie for children under 10, the film has a smattering of sweet scenes around, this is your average kids commercial movie, you will get what you probably expected, no more, no less.

The 3D version of The Smurfs has been very well achieved, the textures are next to perfect and in some scenes it really looks as if the objects are all around you.

Synopsis: Little blue creatures living in a magical world, The Smurfs, inadvertently cross into human beings territory while being chased by an evil wizard, Gargamel, who wants to capture them, The Smurfs will have to find a way back to their village before the evil wizard tracks them down.

Director: Raja Gosnell
Starring: Hank Azaria, Neil Patrick Harris, Jayma Mays, Sofia Vergara
Runtime: 86 minutes
Rating: PG

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Cars 2 3D review

A Pixar Animation Studios film distributed by Walt Disney, Cars 2 (2011) is the sequel to the successful Cars (2006) film involving much of the original cast, (out of respect for Paul Newman, who died in 2008, the Doc Hudson character does not appear in the film) this animated film is full of comedy action with lots of automotive puns, it appears geared towards young kids, Nascar fans might still like to watch it, and parents will not feel specially entertained, unlike the first part, Cars 2 fails to create complicity in between the characters and the audience, the story and script seem to have been put together in a week.

This CGI animated film seems to have been created just to pull money out of the success of Cars part 1 without placing too much effort into it, Cars 2 does not live up to the expectations it is definitely worse than the first part and one of the worst Pixar films, the 3D version of Cars 2 does not improve it excessively, besides some firewall explosions and awesome rendering of skylines and cities there isn’t much that justifies paying extra to watch this film in 3D, it sure enhances the experience but it does not produce enough WoW factors that make it a must see in 3D film, to top it up the film has a slight anti-oil and pro environment message which is not even appropriate for a car racing story and hypocritical from a company, Disney, who to be the best of my knowledge does not use recycled materials to produce Cars 2 merchandising.

It has been released too a Cars 2 soundtrack, with songs written and composed by Michael Giacchino, and a video game with the same name published by Disney Interactive Studios, the PlayStation 3 game of Cars 2 is compatible with 3D gameplay, the soundtrack is available in CD and digital download.

Synopsis: Star race Lightning McQueen and sidekick Mater leave small town Radiator Springs to compete in the World Grand Prix race leading them to travel around the world, they both get embroiled in an international espionage plot and find themselves torn in between winning the race and assisting in a top secret mission.

Director: John Lasseter & Brad Lewis
Scriptwriters: Ben Queen, John Lasseter, Brad Lewis, and Dan Fogelman
Voices: Owen Wilson (McQueen), Michael Caine (Finn McMissile), Lloyd Scherr (Fillmore)
Runtime: 113 minutes
MPAA Rating: G (General)

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Pirates of the Caribbean 3D film

Pirates of the Caribbean 4 is shot in 3D, it is not a converted movie, the film is being released in Disney Digital 3-D, IMAX 3D and the traditional 2D. This is the first Pirates of the Caribbean film where fictional characters are based on real life historical figures, the pirate Blackbeard, George II of Great Britain, Henry Pelham and Ferdinand VI of Spain they have all existed for real.

An action packed adventure 3D film under the direction of Rob Marshall, the return of Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow, Disney announced that Depp has been paid $55.5 million to return, Penélope Cruz as “Captain Jack’s equal”, Geoffrey Rush as Captain Hector Barbossa, Astrid Berges-Frisbey as a mermaid, Stephen Graham as “Scram” and Sam Claflin as “Philip, a youthful missionary”.

Pirates of the Caribbean On Stranger Tides was shot simultaneously in Hawaii, the United Kingdom, Puerto Rico, on the island of Palomino, and Los Angeles, California, the soundtrack was composed by Eric Whitacre with Hans Zimmer (second and third film soundtrack composer) and Whitacre’s wife, Hila Plitmann.

Fans of the Pirates of the Caribbean saga will love this film, there isn’t anything new that would push people to watch it otherwise, I found this film as good as the last three ones, with nothing exceptionally better or worse, more adventures, more fantasy, more humorous, beautifully shot scenes and spectacular fun for the whole family.

Synopsis: Captain Jack Sparrow  unexpectedly meets an old female friend, she unconventionally convinces him to get aboard of the legendary Blackbeard pirate ship to start a quest in search of the mythical Fountain of Youth, they will later discover that captain Hector Barbossa is after said fountain too on behalf of the King of England.

Technichal details:
Director: Rob Marshall
Writers: Ted Elliott, Terry Rossio
Starring: Johnny Depp, Penélope Cruz and Ian McShane
Music: Eric Whitacre, Hila Plitmann, Hans Zimmer
Rated: PG-13
Runtime: 137 minutes

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3D superhero epic film

Thor is a hammer wielding Norse god (German paganism) associated with thunder, based on this background, Marvel created a fictional comic hero character, finally adapted for the big screen, Thor in 3D.

Thor the film delivers all of the goods you can expect from an epic movie, a credible storyline, intrigue going on from minute one until the end of the movie, twisted turns during the whole movie keeping viewers on the edge, action, and love, I did find Natalie Portman role in the movie to be low level thought, the romance part of Thor the movie could have been improved, the rest of the plot in Thor the film rivals Superman and the Iron Man, anyone who likes super heroes movies will be happy it went to watch it.

The movie visual effects are stunning, the reproduction of the realm of Asgard is outstanding, with fine high towers and beautiful space landscapes that are a pleasure to watch, however I did not see any specific special effect in Thor 3D movie that justifies paying more to see the 3D effects, you will enjoy it the same in 2D.

Synopsis: The arrogant and powerful warrior Thor, son of Odin, recklessly pushes his people to the brink of war against old enemies, his father castes him out of the fantastic realm of Asgard and sends Thor to live amongst humans on Earth where Thor soon becomes one of their finest defenders.

Technical details:
Director: Kenneth Branagh
Written By: Ashley Edward Miller, Zack Stentz, Don Payne
Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Anthony Hopkins and Natalie Portman
Running Time: 1 hr. 55 min.
Rated: PG-13

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Rio (2011) 3D film

Synopsis: Rio is comical crazy animated 3D comedy that starts with a rare exotic blue macaw natural from Brasil named Blu taken to Minnesota where he grows up and is domesticated by a shy bookstore owner called Linda.

Years later an ornithologist will identify the macaw as the last male of his species and convince the owner, Linda, to fly with Blu to Rio de Janeiro in Brazil so that he can mate with a wild female macaw named Jewel and ensure the survival of his kind, that is where things will start to get complicated.

Review:Rio is a film from the makers of Ice Age, highly visual and colourful with rhythmic music and dancing, most of the film settings happen in Brazil, with a very typical Brazilian scenery, loose summer clothing, beaches, traditional Brazilian songs mixed up with contemporary tunes of artists like Jamie Foxx.

The vivid soundtrack greatly enhanced the story as it moves along, if you watch Rio in 3D you will also appreciate a constant barrage of birds flying towards the audience, the kids will probably love this, not sure about the adults, Rio story plot isn’t as clever as Ice Age but it is entertaining and the visual effects are better, a predictable animated film  with brilliant animated graphics and refreshing music, it is not a must a see movie but you will not regret having paid for the cinema ticket if you do.

Rio is released on 8th April in the UK and 15th April in the USA

Director: Carlos Saldanha
Producers: John C. Donkin, Bruce Anderson and Chris Wedge
Music: John Powell
Studio: Blue Sky Studio
Film Length: 1 Hour and 36 Minutes

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This Sony Blu-ray 3D movie release has a very cool liner art inside the case everything on Resident Evil: Afterlife 3D version has been taken care of so that it looks like the real thing but the pack also contains a 2D version. The film menu matches both versions, one small advice, try and avoid looking at the film menu as it spoils part of the final act of the film.

Synopsis: In a world ravaged by a virus infection, turning its victims into the Undead, Alice continues on her journey to find survivors and lead them to safety.

Cast: Milla Jovovich, Ali Larter, Kim Coates, Shawn Roberts, Sergio Peris-Mencheta
Director: Paul W.S. Anderson
Genres: Action Thriller ActionHorror

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